)There was a lot of doubt from Greg and Tom that an NFBC Super Draft, (originally before it became an Ultimate Draft) especially one that was going to be 100% live, would actually fill at $2500 a pop...In what was a foreshadowing of things to come, I filled it in a week with some of the best of the best in all the NFBC. As a matter of fact, there was a Hall of Famer and what was close to a half million dollars in lifetime NFBC earnings at the draft table for the inaugural season. But that wasn't enough for me. I really wanted to hype it and put the whole event over the top. I pushed Greg and Tom to pursue getting radio coverage of the event on SiriusXM. It ended up being the first time ever a non-industry, high stakes, NFBC fantasy baseball draft was ever aired nationally on Fantasy Sports Radio. I found and purchased the mother of all fantasy baseball travel trophies to be awarded the winner of the league each year with their name engraved upon it. And of course there had to be a crown for the proper coronation for the presentation of the trophy as well.
But what else? Of course! There needed to be special league jerseys for the first season! So I had these specially designed and ordered which have since been changed from the original inaugural-season-only white, to the black and gold that they are today representing New York and now the Ultimate. There was also baseball goodie bags and related themed snacks for all the participants along with different swag that I've had designed and given out here and there throughout the years. Given the spectacle of the event, what better way to add to it even further than to also bring in a celebrity draft facilitator which has now been the famous, Adam Ronis, for the last several years...oh, and a celebrity draft "assistant" in the likes of female powerhouses from the sports/fantasy industry in both three-time Figure Olympia Champion, Davana Medina (recruited by me from my own gym in NJ), and then succeeded by Lisa Ann Corpora, former porn star turned fantasy sports analyst which have made for some rather interesting competitor interactions for sure.
As an added wrinkle and yet another unique feature of this draft which I instituted, there was the creation of the "Iron Balls" KDS draft spot draw immediately before the start of the draft. So rather than the competitors receiving their draft spots up to five days prior to the start of the draft generated by computer as per the usual norm in the NFBC, now the competitors would get their draft spots by random draw of baseballs with their laser engraved names on them from a bucket as performed live by me the first year, then by the previous year's league champion, and now currently as has become tradition, by our celebrity draft facilitator, Adam Ronis, himself. Where initially this idea was met with some serious consternation by the competitors, it is now become one of the most anticipated and exciting highlights of the draft that everyone looks forward to!
And a draft event like this wouldn't be complete without an after-party. So it has been the tradition since the inception of the league that once the carnage and brutality of the draft are complete, all of the league's competitors make their way to a New York City restaurant for a midnight steak dinner and drinks now in our own private limo bus that I rent for all of us to shuttle us back and forth in style and luxury! Truly an epic evening from start to finish.
There been seven different league winners over the years, with only two of us repeat champions: Yours truly, and longtime NFBC high stakes veteran and near senile senior citizen, Joe Thelen. We still don't know how he does it after all these years, but rumor has it he's some sort of fantasy baseball revenant.
So just seven competitors in all have had the honor and good fortune of hosting the MTM Ultimate Trophy for a year: Marc Perlmutter, Andre Bourcier, Mike Mager, Jason Duponte, and Billionaire David Einhorn; with Joe Thelen and me, two times each. I'm also the only one who has gone worst to first, winning the title in the second year of the league! 
Virtually every year, it comes down to the last week or so deciding the title, and at one point in 2019, less than 10-12 points separated 1st through 12th place as late as the beginning of September, the closest margin of victory over the course of the season that late with this many teams involved in any 15 team high stakes draft in NFBC history which speaks to just how competitive this league is and how no one gives up fighting until every game of the MLB season is played!
So listen in to the premiere draft in the NFBC tomorrow night with pre-draft coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. and the live draft coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST by Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm), Dr. Roto (Mark Bloom), and Raphael Rabe (Rotoballer) as we school them all on just how the real experts do it with a $5000 entry fee and a $40,000 league championship prize on the line!
