NFBC Chicago Returns To Sheraton Northbrook In 2022

[Greg Ambrosius]

For the 19th straight year, the NFBC will host live events in Chicago. We will once again be at the Sheraton Northbrook and we will have two days of live events in what has almost become a local league for those participants.

We've had a Main Event overall champion (John Pausma) and an Auction Championship overall champion (Vince Clemente) come out of Chicago, so the talent is definitely here. And we're going to honor John Pausma for his induction into the NFBC Hall of Fame first in Las Vegas on March 26th, but again in a special way in Chicago. How can you not come to Chicago just to run up the bar tab on John's account??

Come on, let's fill up the NFBC Auction Championship on Friday, April 1st at 4 pm CT and let's fill up the Main Event on Saturday, April 2nd at Noon CT. I'd even host a $350 or $750 Rotowire Online Championship after the Main Event if there was enough interest. The Sheraton Northbrook has been fantastic with us and they easily let us switch dates this year, so the more beer I can buy there the better. Thanks.

We have had a great run in Chicago during these last 19 years and our STATS corporate office was just down the road from the Sheraton Northbrook. Dean Peterson, formerly of STATS, has run this event for us the last 5-6 years and we appreciate his loyalty and enthusiasm that he brings to these auctions and drafts. Dean is actually moving to Wisconsin this summer, so he won't be such an easy resource for us after this year. He said he would travel to host these next year if needed, but there's no guarantee that we will keep Chicago after this year. That's not a threat; I just know that it will be tougher to do without Dean in the area.

Anyway, let's make this year's Chicago's live events a special one by honoring John in a special way and by filling up at least one Main Event on Saturday and the Auction Championship on Friday. We haven't assembled a full crew in Chicago since 2019 and the health situation is so much better now. There are no vax or mask mandates in Chicago, so what do you say? Do you want to PLAY BALL in Chicago?

Let's fill up two leagues and then we'll try to bribe Dean to return in 2023, which will be our 20th anniversary season. Sound like a plan??

Okay, I'm going to push hard for both leagues. Here's the current signup lists:

NFBC Chicago $1500 Auction Championship
Sheraton Northbrook
Friday, April 1st, 4 pm CT
1. VINCE CLEMENTE

NFBC Chicago Main Event
Sheraton Northbrook
Saturday, April 2nd, Noon CT
1. Brent Grooms
2. John Pausma
3. Christopher Cosley
4. Douglas Roth
5. Jason Gill
6. VINCE CLEMENTE
7. Kelly Uganski

[Greg Ambrosius]

This is not a post I want to make, but I have to do it anyway:

CANCELLED: CHICAGO LIVE EVENTS

We just couldn't get the momentum to fill up an Auction Championship league or a Main Event league in Chicago and thus I have to inform everyone who was attending that we have cancelled the live events at the Sheraton Northbrook. We've hosted live events every year (except 2020 because of Covid) in Chicago since 2004, but unfortunately that run is coming to an end.

We had 7 owners who were still signed up for the Chicago Main Event on Saturday at Noon CT and I've informed them that we will be moving them to the Main Event Online at Noon ET. We had 8 owners signed up at that time, so if everyone agrees to the change we will have a full league and will announce draft spots this afternoon.

That will be a good league and we'll have great competition and great camaraderie in that one.

I feel bad about this announcement, but the reality is what it is. Chicago was a fantastic venue for us for a number of years and the participants will agree that those live events felt like an annual local league of the same guys. The Auction Championship league filled each year and we had multiple leagues in the early years and even a couple of Main Event leagues not too long ago.

But times change and it became inevitable that our run in Chicago was coming to an end. This year a lot of former Chicago drafters went to Las Vegas, got bit by the bug of the Las Vegas NFBC experience and said they will continue to come back to Las Vegas. I love it, but it showed me that Chicago's tenure was over.

I have a feeling the Chicago folks will still be competing against each other in the Auction Championship and Main Event, just in Las Vegas and/or New York City next year and beyond and we'll always remember Chicago fondly. John Pausma won the Main Event overall title from Chicago and Vince Clemente won the Auction Championship title from Chicago. The city helped recruit Hall of Famers, national champions and a number of great competitors.

But it's time to move on. Thanks all and I apologize for the late cancellation notice. I gave it as long as I could before reality told me what to do. The Sheraton Northbrook has been fabulous throughout and they understand and will work with me on our agreement. Thanks for the memories Chicago and best of luck to those now drafting in Saturday's Main Event Online league.

[Navel Lint]

……. End of an era?

My first NFBC event was in 2007, it was an online Satellite league. Dave Van derStuyf easily won that league. I didn’t know it then, but I was going to have plenty of opportunities to finish behind Dave in the standings for years to come.

In 2008 I competed in my first Main Event. We were at the Donald Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont. I had no idea what to expect. It was an amazing yet intimidating experience. To walk into a giant hall with multiple draft tables set up and dozens of fellow fantasy baseball players preparing to draft teams was a sight I won’t ever forget. That first season I got to meet George Kleeman. Those of us that played in Chicago over the years considered George to be the patriarch of the NFBC-Chicago. I also met other players that I would come to know over the years including Paul Weber, Kim Dettmann, David Geisinger and Brent Grooms.

In 2009 we were back at the Stevens Center and we celebrated the victory of 2008 Main Event Champ Robert Jurney before the draft. We had 4 Main Event leagues that year. It was the most we ever had in Chicago.

2010 was an event that will never be forgotten by those of us that were there. The drafts were held at the Cubby Bear in Chicago. The bar is directly across from Wrigley Field and we had a beautiful view of the stadium marquee. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing about the place. On Friday night for the auction there was a live rock band playing on stage directly below us, at times we had to pause the auction or shout out our bids to be heard. On Saturday we had four Main Events in a room that should only fit two. The chairs from the different leagues were literally back-to-back touching each other and the two long sides of the table were only three feet apart. I did get to meet Dan Kenyon that year. After posting back and forth on the MB it was great to talk face to face. I can’t believe it’s been 12 years, but I got a chance to spend a couple minutes with Dan again in Vegas last weekend for the first time since that Chicago league. It was great to see him again.

Since then, we’ve had an event at Arlington Race Track, but mostly we have been in Northbrook, IL. Our league numbers have dropped from 3 to 2 and then down to 1 over the past four or five years. During that time, we’ve had some great people that we’ve had a chance to compete against including players like Karl Mische, Rich Kulaski, Max Ogden, Vince Clemente, Rob Nolter, Kyle Brinkman, Mike Diedrich, Gary Cutler and too many others to mention.

But the best thing about all these years in Chicago is the great group of friends that I have made in the NFBC. A core group of guys, Dave Van der Stuyf, Jay Lyons, Doug Gruber, Chris Cosley, John Pausma, Rob Giese and Matt Anderson. We have gone to dinners together, card shows, baseball games in Chicago and on the road and have year-round text chats. It’s been worth every 12th place finish to be a part of this group.

So…… This sounds like it could be the end of Chicago, and as Greg mentioned it looks like we will have to take our show on the road to Las Vegas full time. If it is the end, I want to thank Al and Dean from Stats, they were our hosts every year and did a great job. I also want to thank Greg, Tom and everyone else at the NFBC for hosting events in Chicago and bringing all of us together. It’s been fun.