St. Louis Venue Review

[JohnP]

Draft Room: a bit tight for the 15 teamers but worked out fine.

Tables: small square restaurant / bar tables that were sticky, didn't line up with eachother, etc. Maybe rent some regular skinnier / longer banquet tables? Would have made things a bit nicer and roomier.

Food: food for the breaks was average. Food at the restaurant / bar was good I thought.

Facilitators: Guy calling out the names was bad - knew about 10 of the 450 names. The Elfrink kid was money! Most of the times he heard what the player was saying and had the sticker before the facilitator tried to phonetically repeat the name. The gal putting the stickers up was great as well.

Small things: No player eligibility sheet like previous years. No lanyards for the NFBC tag. No baseball player card that usually goes with the tag. No check in?

Overall: There is still nothing like a live draft no matter where it is and what kind of venue it is in. I had a blast and it was great to meet many of the other players. It's like a family reunion without the bad stuff (walla walla wasn't there). Thanks Greg and Tom!

[chest .rockwell]

I love every nfbc draft, but St Louis may have been my favorite. I agree the facilitator could have been a lot more knowledgeable. However, I did not really notice it because he was very nice and the other staff more than made up for it. Most smooth board work of any draft I have been in.

I am like a lot of guys who do not care about the spread. If I did and was looking for a good return on my money event fee wise I would be livid. The food off of the menu was great that you paid for. The spread as part of the draft was a total failure. Something tells me if Greg were there it would have been addressed. In the overall scheme of things certainly something to stress needs to be better next year, but no big deal.

Great job overall!

[Gekko]

i heard t.hunter went in the 17th round of this draft. good catch whoever got him

[chest .rockwell]

i heard t.hunter went in the 17th round of this draft. good catch whoever got him

missed him by one pick. Three players went much later than ADP Hunter was the only one I was interested in. Berkman and Asdrubal being the other two.

[Gekko]

i heard t.hunter went in the 17th round of this draft. good catch whoever got him

missed him by one pick. Three players went much later than ADP Hunter was the only one I was interested in. Berkman and Asdrubal being the other two.

i'm wondering how in the hell he even made it to the 17th? i mean 15 owners had to pass on him in the 15th and 16th rounds? not sure how that happens...

[chest .rockwell]

i heard t.hunter went in the 17th round of this draft. good catch whoever got him

missed him by one pick. Three players went much later than ADP Hunter was the only one I was interested in. Berkman and Asdrubal being the other two.

i'm wondering how in the hell he even made it to the 17th? i mean 15 owners had to pass on him in the 15th and 16th rounds? not sure how that happens...

Well it is obviously one of the weaker venues. That is because any venue you are not in is weak. At least that is what history I mean you have taught us even though the facts completely do not support it.

My reason for passing on Hunter in 14 and 15. In 14 the last guy I really liked for MI was there (in hindsight that was my worst pick)- 15 the last speed guy I liked was there. 16 it was between Hunter and Colby Lewis- Hunter now is being slotted at U and there was just a lot more inventory for U than starting pitcher. So I missed him by one pick at 17 and then went Kubel at 18 for utility.

[Gekko]

Well it is obviously one of the weaker venues. That is because any venue you are not in is weak. At least that is what history I mean you have taught us even though the facts completely do not support it.

My reason for passing on Hunter in 14 and 15. In 14 the last guy I really liked for MI was there (in hindsight that was my worst pick)- 15 the last speed guy I liked was there. 16 it was between Hunter and Colby Lewis- Hunter now is being slotted at U and there was just a lot more inventory for U than starting pitcher. So I missed him by one pick at 17 and then went Kubel at 18 for utility.

chest - u should get that chip off your shoulder. i would have made the comment if hunter went in the 17th round at ANY venue

[Midfield Thinkers]

I plan on going to St. Louis every year. Had a great time...met a lot of good people...plenty of space in the room but not so much on the tables. Facilitator Jim was weak in the beginning but improved as the day went on. I did not hear many picks and did not hear the facilitator repeat them well. But the XII that night was done very well even though most picks were over the phone. The board work was as efficient as could be. Will never see better.

The chicken at the Main Event was delicious but I only ate a few bites cause too excited to eat. The young waiter was outstanding and worked about ten hours always timely meeting my teams requests. I give the restaurant high marks.

Meeting Mr. Wiegert from CDM was the highlight of the day. Finally met the man behind the name. Got to sit next to him during the XII draft and it was very entertaining. Great guy. Hope to see him again.

I would like to wish everyone luck...but I can't...I need it all for me.

[headhunters]

as usual john p was spot on. great group of guys. nice to meet kent. a great guy. delta thunder are a great team and followed their stud pitcher strategy. don. paul and mike were great to talk with. gecko- 2 things- where is kelly johnson on your team? and second- YOU came on our thread and criticized ONE guy falling. please please drive to st louis and draft. kent is just not going to take crap from you and quite frankly i am not going to either

[Cowboy Joe]

Was anybody able to catch the NCAA tourney while in St Louis? If so, how was that experience?

[headhunters]

this is really really bad. i did not know it was in st louis until sunday when it came on my tv " from st louis" !! gezz, this fantasy stuff is getting ridiculous.

[Gekko]

gecko- 2 things- where is kelly johnson on your team? and second- YOU came on our thread and criticized ONE guy falling. please please drive to st louis and draft. kent is just not going to take crap from you and quite frankly i am not going to either.

1. i had 2 second basemen after round 2. no room for him
2. i said one team got good value and wondered how everyone passed on him in rounds 15 and 16. IF YOU THINK THAT IS GIVING YOU CRAP, HERE'S A SUGGESTION, GROW UP

[Greg Ambrosius]

First of all, thanks to all of the great NFBC owners who make St. Louis feel like a special home league each year. We kept St. Louis on the schedule this year because we had a good group of owners from the Midwest that we knew we would fill it up, we had a good venue and we still had good friends in St. Louis who could run these leagues for us. The two NFBC XII phone hookups went well and I thank Jim and Corey for working all three drafts for us.

I'll bet that place was hopping with the NCAA games going on at the same time. I hope the atmosphere was good. I trust the camaraderie was great and hopefully Jim and Corey did their best during the Main Event. Corey's brother Kyle was set to run the Main Event, but SiriusXM called on Wednesday night and told him he had to fly to New York to broadcast the Tout Wars auction. Jim filled in on short notice and took time out of his family weekend to bail me out last minute. Don't be so hard on him; he was called out of the bullpen for this duty.

Should we return to St. Louis again next year? Should we stay at a restaurant or just host this at a more sterilized venue like the Sheraton hotel? You folks let me know and we'll plan accordingly, but I'd love to stay First Weekend in the Midwest somewhere and I'm happy with the costs/number of leagues/camaraderie and competition here. Give me some feedback.

If there's a complaint on food, well, it's a restaurant!! I expected the food to be the best there. I'm not sure what happened to the buffet, but going forward we'll just let you order off the menu after the draft. There, problem solved. Hopefully they opened the beer bottles without any problems and those tasted good in the heart of Budweiser Country.

Good job all. Your rosters are loaded and now LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! You guys were great and you handled the NFBC XII phone hookups marvelously. Thanks again.

[headhunters]

greg- couple of points: 1) again the staff was great, the waiter also. 2) to order off menu is perfect! the beer was great. haan even drank caronas when sam adams was available- i don't know maybe a tribute to you. 3)atmosphere- just fyi- that place is not in st louis. i liked it and would come back for sure- but it was not hoppin. downtown probably was. it was just just a nice bar.

[chest .rockwell]

Greg

For every one thing wrong with st louis there are ten right. IMO they just jipped you on the buffet a bit. I would let folks order off of the menu and tell them you expect a cleaner room. When I first heard someone complain about how dirty the tables were I thought how petty until my arms literally stuck to them. The service was excellent. You are in a zone of an a right now and any suggestions would make it an a plus.

[charliew]

The venue was great, the restaurant which is now The St. Louis Sports Hall Of Fame Restaurant (Pujols is gone, take down that stupid statue!) actually made the room larger than the last time we were in it for a draft. Jim, Cory and the lovely lady did a great job.
I really enjoyed talked with the CDM customers and discussing all things fantasy baseball. But what I really like the most was everyone letting Adrian Gonzalez and Joey Votto fall to the 12 spot so I could gobble up both. All teams in the league look very competitive and it should be a great summer competing with everyone.