2005 NFBC Feedback Thread

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 9:50 am

I second the suggestion to move the draft one week closer to season start. It would still be sweet 16 weekend for NCAA fans but the crowds are way less and rooms way more plentifull. We also need to keep track of the conexpo convention and never hold it while they are in town. The casinos and airport were a mass of human flesh and table games were all $25 minimums.

Other than that everything went extremely well. Holding the auctions in their own little rooms was a great improvement over last year and the main event was spread out and comfortable.

Bravo Greg and Tom another great experience. Now I've got to decide whether to return to Vegas next year or go to Tampa and catch a few games and lay around the beach.

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:03 am

Originally posted by Corkedbats:

quote:Originally posted by Spyhunter:

Hi,

!

Thanks again, and I look forward to winning

Regards,

Chris Throop _________________________

Chris,

"look forward to winning"? I hope you were talking about the girl scout league you joined back home, not the mixed league vegas auction I did with you. You have more question marks on your team than "the riddler" from batman.

If all the ? come through for you, you might finish top 15.

Good luck to everyone in Vegas Mixed 2.

Mike McSunas [/QUOTE]Lol, well, since it is only a 15 person league, I assume I can finish top 15 !!

With my offense led by Pujolis, Nomar, Manny, Rolen, and with high upside guys like Berkman and my pitching headed by Sheets, the only question is how far ahead of you I will finish

Fortunately for you, your team has too much speed so you can run from my big bats, but you can't hide

Should be a blast!

Chris

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:34 am

Team 13 in NY League 4 wins the award for "best T-shirt"...It read... " *73 Got Steroids? "

Cellar Dwellers · Post by **Cellar Dwellers** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:48 am

Thanks, that was me. I had that shirt made up especially for the draft.

science69 · Post by **science69** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:18 am

Brady did a great job in the Ultimate auction. He had a lot of patience and kept his cool with the phone set up, and it got done quickly and smoothly, GOOD JOB.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:48 am

I was in the Ultimate Auction in New York, and heard that Brady was the auctioneer in Vegas. Which begs the question, "Who's Brady?"

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:08 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Greg, I was in New York for the $5K ultimate auction (along with two other teams). While we did have some technical issues in the beginning, I thought it went pretty smoothly after that. The key was having at least one facilitator on a headset, plus a "going-once, going-twice" that worked for both cities. As I indicated on another thread, the time to complete all 15 rosters--including reserves--took more than an hour LESS for the ultimate auction than the $650 NY/Chi auction.

I know that things were a little frustrating in the first half hour, but I hope that you will not close out the possibility of doing future mixed-city auction events. Even in our little 3-owner room in New York, I think everyone really had a great time. Glen, that's great to hear. I just got back from Las Vegas this afternoon and will scan the boards more closely tomorrow. I thought I'd start with this one before hitting the hay MIGHTY early tonight.

Trust me, I was never more tense that during the first five minutes of the Ultimate Auction League. I was disappointed that we couldn't partition the room in Las Vegas (that WILL be done next year) between the auction participants and the draft participants and then we stumbled out of the gate trying to get the teleconference auction going. We had some frisbee phone setup in Las Vegas that was impossible to use. In fact, I called the AV guy and asked "what is that f---ing frisbee telephone doing in our room! Can't we just get a hand phone?" I was livid, but then when I came back in Brady had taken charge of that auction and him and Rocky ran that auction smoothly from that point on. I thought every owner in each city had a fair shot at every available player.

That being said, I hope to fill that league up in Las Vegas next year. I want this to be a very intense league this year and then we'll see what happens next year, but my goal would be to eliminate the teleconference auctions in baseball if at all possible. But let's not make that decision until October.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:25 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

I was in the Ultimate Auction in New York, and heard that Brady was the auctioneer in Vegas. Which begs the question, "Who's Brady?" That would be Brady Tinker, one of my best friends in the fantasy sports industry. Brady and I met in 1997 when I was asked to appear on a two-hour fantasy baseball TV show for Prime Sports that involved Norm Hitzges. Brady was a salesman for the show at the time, but by August we were both invited to appear on the Fantasy Football Weekly TV show that was on Prime Sports. I flew from Wisconsin each week to Dallas and Brady and I really hit it off. Brady continued to do the show for baseball and football for the next 5 years with Tony Dorsett (okay, he replaced me), Goose Gossage, James Lofton and John Kruk. He's involved in Dallas TV today, but he comes each March to help with my Trade Conference and the NFBC. He's a good guy who did a great job in all four events he ran in Las Vegas, although his back was killing him so much he laid down on the floor during the breaks.

Don't golf with him for money. He's a scratch golfer.

Rototitan · Post by **Rototitan** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:13 pm

I have a suggestion to make. For those who request it, I would like to have access to an outlet for my computer. I realize those of you who don't use computers say tough, but I was disappointed to discover that I had to bring 4 battery packs with me to Vegas, when the teams in LV League 1 were able to use an extension cord and a power strip to power their computers. However, we were told in these message boards that this would not be allowed. I only request that everyone have a fair deal here. If one person can use the electrical outlets, then everyone else should be allowed.

Rototitan · Post by **Rototitan** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:15 pm

Originally posted by Rototitan:

I have a suggestion to make. For those who request it, I would like to have access to an outlet for my computer. I realize those of you who don't use computers say tough, but I was disappointed to discover that I had to bring 4 battery packs with me to Vegas, when the teams in LV League 1 were able to use an extension cord and a power strip to power their computers. However, we were told in these message boards that this would not be allowed. I only request that everyone have a fair deal here. If one person can use the electrical outlets, then everyone else should be allowed. Ooops sorry "for those who request it, we should have access to an electrical outlet"

Still tired from the sleep deprivation

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:20 pm

Originally posted by Rototitan:

I have a suggestion to make. For those who request it, I would like to have access to an outlet for my computer. I realize those of you who don't use computers say tough, but I was disappointed to discover that I had to bring 4 battery packs with me to Vegas, when the teams in LV League 1 were able to use an extension cord and a power strip to power their computers. However, we were told in these message boards that this would not be allowed. I only request that everyone have a fair deal here. If one person can use the electrical outlets, then everyone else should be allowed. Teams were allowed to use extension cords to power up their laptops? Was this while the draft was going on or was it only on the breaks?

if this were allowed while the draft was taking place, it would seem to be very unfair. my laptop died on me while the draft was still going on. had to resort back to some make-shift papers.

[ March 22, 2005, 09:23 PM: Message edited by: Gordon Gekko ]

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:20 pm

Rototitan · Post by **Rototitan** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:22 pm

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Rototitan:

I have a suggestion to make. For those who request it, I would like to have access to an outlet for my computer. I realize those of you who don't use computers say tough, but I was disappointed to discover that I had to bring 4 battery packs with me to Vegas, when the teams in LV League 1 were able to use an extension cord and a power strip to power their computers. However, we were told in these message boards that this would not be allowed. I only request that everyone have a fair deal here. If one person can use the electrical outlets, then everyone else should be allowed. Teams were allowed to use extension cords to power up their laptops? Was this while the draft was going on or was it only on the breaks? [/QUOTE]From what I could see, during the draft.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:28 pm

Originally posted by Rototitan:

From what I could see, during the draft. Greg,

Can you comment on this? I asked a number of times, including a week before the draft, at the auction, and at the draft...every time the answer was "No". i will wait to hear from you before responding. no sense in getting "pumped up" if it didn't happen.

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

As far as the extension cord, you can't hook your laptop up to an outlet during the draft, so if you bring a laptop bring plenty of batteries.

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:30 pm

The Chicago draft in league 1 went very well once we got started. We had a bit of a snafu getting someone on a teleconference from New York due to some travel difficulties or whatever. I can't remember the names of the guys running the draft and the guy that put up the names but I thought they were both very, very good. I thought that the speed of the draft was just perfect, everyone got their minute to make a decision and things went on from there. It was a bit of a distraction to hear names from the other drafts and it did seem like our league sometimes drafted a player right after he was announced in another league. I was in position 15 which placed me right next to the bar which is a good thing except when the other groups get breaks before you do so you get everyone looking over your shoulders and talking loudly to the point where it sometimes became a bit hard to hear the names being picked, then again maybe it was just my old age showing. But the real improvement that I think you guys need to make and we discussed it with Tom is that you need to get up to date with the current technology and have a staff member type in the names on a PC even if you don't use something more sophisticated then an EXCEL spreadsheet and have it displayed on a big screen. This would be great for draft and even better for auctions where all the dollar info you need to know could be kept up to the minute for everyone to see. I also worked the mixed auction in Chicago and I struggled to keep up with finding the players label, writing down the amount, and putting it up on the board once the draft got in to the later rounds when folks had little money to spend and many players went for a buck. All in all it was a blast as always!

Nevadaman · Post by **Nevadaman** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:11 pm

Eddie, Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I was off the computer all day. I plugged all the teams into Shandler's MACK engine just for the hell of it. You look pretty competitive in most areas except for BA which is very low: .265! WHIP also seems to be a concern, especially if you have to use Tsao a lot to get saves. I actually like Tsao's talent and think he may surprise, but I don't have the stones to bet $5000 on that possibility! I think your picks of Cabrera (17)and Hafner (77), were at least a round too early, but time will tell. I don't like using a 6th round pick on a utility player. It hurts your flexibility too much.

I know this is debatable, but I don't like Podsednik. He helps in two cats and kills in three. I need more out of the 44th overall selection. Although, Podsednik is all over the place on everybody's sheet. One nitwit I listened to after my Saturday draft, said his system had Pods ranked #1 overall!! I thought that was the most insane statement of the whole weekend, or maybe of my entire life!

I love how you started the rotation (Schmidt and Oliver Perez, but there isn't much after that. I would have tried to squeeze in one more solid guy, but maybe Davis and Bedard can step up. I think you got good value on Berroa. After his disappointing 2004, he was underrated a bit.

At any rate, we can both be thankful we don't have Bonds! I'm very happy with my team and I can't wait for the season to start!

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:14 am

Nevadaman thanks. What team is yours. Im not worried about cabrera , at 21 he can only go up. He's already a 30 100 100 man ,and hit 291.Im hoping his steals can jump from 5 to 10.I agree with bavg, i tried to keep an eye on it as the draft went on. I took nevin over burrell just because of avg. Took bradley over finley too , i think bradley will hit 300 again with more steals. Finley hit 271 last year and is now 40.Last i took atkins over hinske just for avg, i did my best i hope those 3 moves help.Hafner is a 300 hitter and im hoping cabrera ,atkins and bradly follow suit. Thanks for taking a look

Heffer · Post by **Heffer** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:30 am

personally I think you should have to play six or seven starters and two or three relievers, not just load up on saves and low inning guys. You can't do stuff like that on offense (13 outfielders wouldnt be fair) , so why can you do this on the pitchers side

Jackstraw · Post by **Jackstraw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:08 am

I finally have recovered from Las Vegas and I have a few kudos, complaints, and suggestions.

KUDOS:

1. Brady is by far the best facilitator I have ever seen. Clone him and every draft and auction will go extremely smooth.

2. LV 2's draft went pretty good. The facilitators weren't the best, but they did a good job. Even with one telephone drafter, it went pretty smooth.

COMPLAINTS:

1. Too much, too fast, all at once. By Saturday everyone was worn out from the previous events. Even on Friday's AL 1250 Auction you could tell that the girls and Brady were worn out. I think that hurt the auction the most. Last year, Brady was on top of everything, telling stories, cracking jokes, cutting up with people. This year you could tell he was in a hurry and tired. Don't get me wrong, he was still great, but he could have been better.

2. Face it, in Vegas, if you are in the AL Auctions, you aren't going to the reception and hearing the guest speaker. Two years in a row and haven't heard a speaker yet and had very little time to socialize with people outside of my leagues.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Drop any rules about computer usage. If you get lucky and can plug-in, good. If you have twenty seven battery packs, then better. If you operate only off of paper, then great. The only thing is that if you plug in you have to make sure that you don't have your cord out in a walkway. Personally, I think having a laptop can hurt you. Having paper is a little cumbersome to work through but it is usually straightforward. Over the past two years, I have seen people using laptops and they seem much less organized. They are usually the ones who are taking the most time.

2. Have one of the facilitators use a laptop to track picks, money, etc. Have everyone bring a floppy disk and then save the info for them. That way we don't have to worry about typing everything in, which a lot of people are doing during the draft.

3. Make this a five day event. NL Auctions one day, AL Auctions the next, the NFBC Draft the day after that, Special Leagues the next two days, or whatever order works best. Hell, if you can afford to play in this league then you can afford to take extra time off. To make this thing survive, we need to find a way to make time for people to socialize and build comraderie. Everything this year seemed too "rush, rush" rather than relax and enjoy.

4. Make the NFBC Poker Tournament a regular event after the draft.

Jackstraw · Post by **Jackstraw** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:17 am

Oh yeah, one other thing... For everyone that is complaining about the pitching strategies that seem to be very popular this year, get over it. The draft and auctions are dynamic events and strategy is a huge part of the game. If people use this strategy to try and win (which is possible) it is up to you to try and counterattack during the draft. The draft is not just where you go in and pick your favorite players or who you think will do the best, but it is also like a battle to stop other teams from getting what they need. If you can't act and react during the draft or auction, then you are at a disadvantage that changing the rules won't be able to help. In short, the NFBC makes the rules and we should figure out how to manipulate them to our own best advantage.

steve · Post by **steve** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:23 am

I WAS IN NY 2 PICK 8 I HAVE TO SAY THAT THE DRAFT WAS FUN AND OUR FACILITATOR WAS GREAT. HE WAS REALLY INTO THE DRAFT.THE OTHER TEAMS SEEMED VERY GOOD AND EVERY THING WAS IN ORDER... GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE,,STEVE FROM PICK #8 (ABC FIRE)

Kevin D · Post by **Kevin D** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:56 am

Get pumped Gekko. There WAS a power strip in LV #1. We were in that league and they ran the cord to the strip under the table to the center of the "U" right next to us. They were powered that way for the entire draft. No need to power up or charge batteries during breaks. They had continuous juice.

[ March 23, 2005, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: Kevin D ]

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:00 am

Can anyone quote the exact rules on electricity? I can't find anything specific anywhere?

I realize the NFBC has stated they will not be responsible for providing electricty to each person. Did they also strictly forbid people from using plugs if they were within reach of their draft location?

I didn't pay any attention to all that, I'm a paper pusher.

Dyv

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:01 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

quote:Originally posted by King of Queens:

I was in the Ultimate Auction in New York, and heard that Brady was the auctioneer in Vegas. Which begs the question, "Who's Brady?" That would be Brady Tinker, one of my best friends in the fantasy sports industry. Brady and I met in 1997 when I was asked to appear on a two-hour fantasy baseball TV show for Prime Sports that involved Norm Hitzges. Brady was a salesman for the show at the time, but by August we were both invited to appear on the Fantasy Football Weekly TV show that was on Prime Sports. I flew from Wisconsin each week to Dallas and Brady and I really hit it off. Brady continued to do the show for baseball and football for the next 5 years with Tony Dorsett (okay, he replaced me), Goose Gossage, James Lofton and John Kruk. He's involved in Dallas TV today, but he comes each March to help with my Trade Conference and the NFBC. He's a good guy who did a great job in all four events he ran in Las Vegas, although his back was killing him so much he laid down on the floor during the breaks.

Don't golf with him for money. He's a scratch golfer. [/QUOTE]Brady's the man - we had a good time in the 2 auctions he ran on Friday.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:05 am

Originally posted by Dyv:

Can anyone quote the exact rules on electricity? I can't find anything specific anywhere?

I realize the NFBC has stated they will not be responsible for providing electricty to each person. Did they also strictly forbid people from using plugs if they were within reach of their draft location?

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

As far as the extension cord, you can't hook your laptop up to an outlet during the draft, so if you bring a laptop bring plenty of batteries. i called tom on the phone before the draft and he told me the same as above. also asked him at the auction and draft...told me the same thing. to my knowledge everyone in chicago was held to this rule/standard.

i had 4 outlets less than 5 feet away from me, and i still couldn't fire it up while the draft was going on