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As I was walking out of the Vegas Main Event, I ran into Greg. He put his arm around me (in a fatherly way!) and asked something like, "Well, did you have fun on Christmas Day?" "NO!", I responded, still reeling from the John Lackey news, which I got about 6 rounds late!



Having time to digest that bit of unfortunate news, I found myself thinking of the good times had this year in Vegas. Seeing that I'm not in the Super League (or whatever it is called) or the Ultimate, I thought I'd post some of my observations and experiences:



-Thursday night dinner at Marguerittaville with Greg, Jill, UFS, sportsbettingman, Rt and others = GOOD TIMES! Why did only RT and I have Patron shots? Lance didn't live up to his reputation, I thought he'd drink more! Greg celebrated his 50th birthday, complete with guy on stilts making him a ballon hat shaped to read the number "50"...quite impressive and pics to prove it are floating around. It wasn't really his 50th, but GA went along with the joke and was a good sport about it.



- After dinner the sportsbook...why didn't I piggyback UFS's pony bets???? John had a nice W-L record going, good job...especially considering the end races were picked soley on names!



-How great is it to meet people and put a face to MB names? Chest Rockwell, Latham, Doughboys & Walla Walla I now know what they look like!



- Nice touch for the NFBC to give out jerseys to last year's League Champs. I spent the extra bucks and had mine personalized. Thinking about it now, instead of my team name, I should have had "Ryan Braun, marry me!" stitched on it.



- Aren't auctions brutal? And back-to-back ones are a biatch! I was wiped from the NL $650 one, only to come back for the AL $1300 one. Luckily I had a partner, Captain Hook. I was in charge of the NL auction and good thing it was first, cuz like I said, I was spent after it. And how about the good Captain looking after me in the AL and getting Josh Hamilton (aka "My Boy") on our team. Not sure why people didn't bid us up on him. I mean, it is common knowledge that I would walk to the end of the world for Josh Hamilton!!!!! Oh, and special thanks to Captain who gave me his rookie card before the AL draft!



- I enjoyed sitting next to reigning $1300 AL Auction Champ Eddie G., although Hook put a moratorium on Eddie's "BAM!"'s...something about giving Hook a heart attack I think. Although Eddie did get at least one in (and I wasn't prepared for it and almost jumped outta me seat). Wish I could remember what player/price that BAM was for.



- Can't wait to see how the AL Auction plays out. Especially Childs' team. He wasn't afraid to shoot his wad almost in the first hour alone! He said he got the players he wanted for the most part and I respect that, even if it meant no money left for the end game.



- I'm a red-head and a female, both of which are rare in fantasy sports. But low and behold there was another female red-head in the NL $650 Auction! The comparisons stop there, as she was pregnant and I am not! Kudos to the pregnant lady! She had game too! Last year she took 2nd place in the NL!!! I say way to represent the Ginger Nation!



- In the NL I got bid up by RT on Ryan Theriot and Brandon Lyon and Hook's wasabi and something potato chips gave me a stomache ache. Oh, I got both players and in one instance that will be a good thing and in the other the jury is way out!



- Back to the AL Auction, gotta give it up to Brady as the auctioneer and the Denver girls Jan & Claire for keeping that puppy moving!



-Did I mention we got Josh Hamilton??!! $22!!!!! I saw that RT paid $25 in the $650 NL (still a bargain!)...this is called payback for getting in a bidding war with my over THE RIOT & Lyon!!!



- I have no idea on the happenings of Friday night. I had a total of 6 hours sleep the past 48 hours, so I headed straight to my room after the AL auction. I would have mustered up the strength to go out if there was a FISHER type party happening, but that is football, so I digress!



- XMAS MORNING!!!!!!!



- I brought my video and fully intended to film the happenings, but Doughboys made a post on our LV League 7 thread. Something about me being busy with a camera (and having a crush on Josh Hamilton and Polanco...true that!). Giving it some thought, I concluded, what the heck was I thinking trying to film the event. This is baseball, not football!!! I could draft and film in football, but not baseball. Baseball needs my full attention!



-I drafted from the 9 hole and just knew I would have a choice between Ryan Howard and Chase Utley (why is he falling?). In fact, my psychic abilities were spot on for my first three rounds, as it went exactly how I planned: Ryan Howard, Curtis Granderson & Brandon Webb.



- Juan Pierre went in the 5th round of our draft. It was the team's 1st OF. Personally, I would have choose to build my outfield at that point around MY BOY! But this team was an outside of the box thinker, as he went Russell Martin in the 2nd and Joe Mauer in the 3rd, along with his snub of MY BOY!



- I sat next to Nick Cassavettes, who's film, "She's So Lovely" I worked on. Unfortunately, I got no industry favors. He snagged me about 5 times. The one that got me most was Ryan Theriot. I had just told a friend during the break I was going to take Theriot next and I knew it was way early for him. So, what do I hear out of Nick's mouth, "I know this probably 3 rounds too early for this guy, but I want him... Ryan Theriot." ARGHHH!!!!





- It's the 6th round , aka Josh Hamilton round, and I call out "Nick Swisher". What??? True, I leave my piece of eye candy for someone else to snatch up. But, guess what? Believe it!!!! My Baby Daddy makes it back to me! OH, HAPPY DAY!!!!



-Where's the food????? Greg, how about some sandwiches next year?



- It was great to see and/or meet: Da Bears, Dickie V (thanks again! ), bjoak, Sack (whack the sportsbooks!), CC, sportsbettingman, UFS, RoundTrippers ( ) , Chest, Doughboys, Hard Heads, David Longood, Latham, Jan & Claire, Jim Nicola, Eddie G., Jesse, KLN, Captain Hook, Brady, Jim Christie (class act!), KJ Duke & Mrs. KJ Duke (shoot, are you two married?? Married or not, great couple!), Todd, Lawr, Jill & Greg (I'll wear a Bucky hat for football just for you!). Sorry if I left someone out...and sorry I didn't get to see some folks too!



- Even though Santa left me a lump of coal in my pitching staff stocking, it was still a great Christmas Day! And strangest thing happened on the drive back to Los Angeles, it started snowing! I kid you not, it was quite surreal to be in the high desert and see Joshua Trees covered in snow. It was a beautiful sight and the perfect way to end the trip.



-Love to hear other observations and experiences...hear's to a fun and fruitful 2008 season!!!

Awesome write up. Wish I'd been there.

Really great post Jules, as I am truly looking forward to joining the NFBC Main next year, and meeting you and others I have yet to meet in Vegas THIS year for the NFFC!



Good luck with your team!

That was great stuff!!!

Jules, it was great to meet you, kid.

I went down to spring training before going up to Vegas and saw your heart throb tearing it up down there. I've made a mental note to send him a little something in the mail guaranteed to take him off his "program".

It was great to see all the old friends and meet the new, I won't start naming everyone but it was especially good to see the other parts of the advisory board.

I did miss out on seeing and thanking Perry for his help in Arizona. Thanks Perry, much appreciated!

It was a very Frank Capra-like weekend (sorry youngsters) and the snow on the joshua's must have topped it off for you, Jules.

Good luck to all.

Dan - sorry I missed you on Saturday...or at ST - but hey there are two weeks left



Jules - great post. It was a wild ride through the NL auction - that damned RT getting in our way; and how about Jason changing up his gameplan trying to avoid us...still don't think that pitching plan works. JC and Katherine and all the other returning players - good luck in your battle for second place



AL should be very tight - will be interesting to see if Shawn can work his magic on the second half of his team - but he did snake us out of a few players.... now if Adenhart can just start in April while Lackey is vacationing...just saying.



Main events were delicious...although I did see different teams from some of the Usual Suspects - we will see how the zigging vs zagging went as the season unfolds. Todd - sorry about the end of the second stanza - go with your gut. Lance - you need better lists, but their is early FAAB bidding (frankly I am against that - put more weight on the draft and let things settle for at least a week (sorry Greg).



Good Luck to ALL - another great year with all of you (that should include a nix on Greg Morgan for taking soooo many of my players late in the draft)

Ok, 1 draft under my belt. What a learning experience. Next year, I'm coming dressed in costume, either as Mick Jagger singing "You can't always get what you want." or I'm buying a taffeta party dress and doing my best Patsy Cline impersonation of "I fall to pieces."



It was great to meet some of you, wish I could have met more. Many thanks to Greg and the whole staff on a first class production.



Play Ball!

Great post, Jules. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice write-up Jules, you're one of the gang that I think everyone enjoys seeing each year. ....... when I accidentally won Josh Hamilton in the Ultimate Auc tonight, I was thinking "Jules would be proud".



If I wasn't so tired I'd write a little more too, but I'll just say thanks to Greg and all the people in my leagues and those to came up to say hello for the competition and the sportsmanship in these lges. I really can't see ever missing a season of the NFBC.



[ March 17, 2008, 01:38 AM: Message edited by: KJ Duke ]

Originally posted by KJ Duke:

Very nice write-up Jules, you're one of the gang that I think everyone enjoys seeing each year. ....... when I accidentally won Josh Hamilton in the Ultimate Auc tonight, I was thinking "Jules would be proud".



If I wasn't so tired I'd write a little more too, but I'll just say thanks to Greg and all the people in my leagues and those to came up to say hello for the competition and the sportsmanship in these lges. I really can't see ever missing a season of the NFBC. KJ, there are no accidents! Josh Hamilton on your team was meant to be! Did you get caught bidding him up? How much? Have I mentioned he is batting clean-up and not sitting against lefties...whatever you paid = BARGAIN!!!

Awesome post Jules and couldn't agree more on putting the faces with the names! I had a blast Sunday facilitating the Unltimate, aka Big Boy, Draft and getting to see how the champions think. Mike and I had a blast and are already planning our trip for next year! Next year we will be there so we can hopefully hang with the rest of the crew instead of donating to the MGM all night and day.

Good luck to all of you, except the 14 wonderful other owners in LV10

Originally posted by RedRyder:

quote:Originally posted by KJ Duke:

Very nice write-up Jules, you're one of the gang that I think everyone enjoys seeing each year. ....... when I accidentally won Josh Hamilton in the Ultimate Auc tonight, I was thinking "Jules would be proud".



If I wasn't so tired I'd write a little more too, but I'll just say thanks to Greg and all the people in my leagues and those to came up to say hello for the competition and the sportsmanship in these lges. I really can't see ever missing a season of the NFBC. KJ, there are no accidents! Josh Hamilton on your team was meant to be! Did you get caught bidding him up? How much? Have I mentioned he is batting clean-up and not sitting against lefties...whatever you paid = BARGAIN!!! [/QUOTE]I bid $18 expecting him to go a few bucks higher. In retrospect I think I paid full market price, but I'll be looking for an upside surprise from my $30 Texas combo, Hamilton-Blalock.

I'm glad to see that Shawn filled my role in bidding high, hard, early, and often Good to know that there was somebody there to keep you guys in check!



Good luck to all you AL auctioners in Vegas! I'll see y'all again next year.

Jules; it was great to meet you and draft with you in League 7 (sorry about Lackey); we should have a fun and competitive league; thanks for the kind words;



Luny (Jim Christie)



PS: I was fried after the $650 NL Auction and then Sack went on to do the $650 mixed, no way for me...



also, I agree, very nice to put faces with names; I had a great time.

I sat in on the Super Draft on Sunday and watch it; I am planning on doing another next year.

Forgot to mention KJ Duke is a class guy...

Originally posted by Lunatic:

Jules; it was great to meet you and draft with you in League 7 (sorry about Lackey); we should have a fun and competitive league; thanks for the kind words;



Luny (Jim Christie)



PS: I was fried after the $650 NL Auction and then Sack went on to do the $650 mixed, no way for me...



also, I agree, very nice to put faces with names; I had a great time.

I sat in on the Super Draft on Sunday and watch it; I am planning on doing another next year. Jim, I didn't know Lunatic was your MB handle, good to know!



Can't wait for LV7 to be loaded, I need to get some free agent bids in place and start posting some pics on the MB.

Thanks Jim, nice of you to say - I seem to get along well with lunatics for some reason

Nice meeting you.

Jules great post, the auction was a blast .Good time hanging out with yourself and the Captain and everybody else in the AL league auction.I did get a couple BAM'S in but one real BAM, that would be Figgins for 26.After buying Crawford for 42 and Sizemore for 32 i didnt think i could afford Figgins , going in i was ready to pay up to 32 but after the first buys i couldnt go any more than the 26 BAM BAM. Jules i have to admit when you got Hamilton you got off a pretty good BAM yourself.The auction was a great group and some tough competition .I thought Greg Morgan and Ron Krause came away with strong teams.

It was christmas and just had a great time, every year we meet new people and put the message board names with the faces,awesome.

Jules it was great chatting with you Saturday. Sorry dear I just will be unable to "gift wrap" him for you this year. Good luck to the Pimpin' Trigger Jr. this year. Take Care Yo Bad Self----Dickie V

First of all, thanks for the nice post Jules. I do hug a lot of my NFBC members in a fatherly way after drafts because I want them to be happy with the 30 presents they just opened. When they're not happy, then I'm not happy. But win or lose, I could tell that just about everyone in that Flamingo ballroom had a good time on Saturday and that's always good to see.



I think one thing all of us that do the NFBC and the NFFC can agree on is this: Damn, baseball is longer than football!!! You can do two events in one day for football, but if you do that in baseball you feel like you just did SAT exams back-to-back. I was fried on Friday and then we hosted the main event and a three-city Super Draft League on Saturday night. 14 hours after we started working on Saturday morning, Chris and I finally went to dinner and felt so tired it was unreal. Then it was back to hosting four Sunday events. But at least everything went smoothly and I can rest easily now.



One thing few people realize in Las Vegas is that the entire event is run by just three of us: Me, Chris and Jill. Sometimes I wonder how we do it, but everything always falls into place and we get everyone taken care of and everything done in a classy way. I love it when folks tell me how great our staff is when our staff fits on my one hand. It's a labor of love for all of us -- Tom also has only three with him in New York and it's the same in the other cities -- but it's great when everything goes off as planned.



In Las Vegas, Brady is a big help as he controls those high-priced auction leagues with ease and he entertains like one of the crew. Jan & Claire also do a great job of keeping up with him in the leagues he runs and Rex is also special for us. He brings about 10 workers for us on Saturday and that always helps. Our facilitators this year were fabulous in Las Vegas and I heard they were good in other cities, too. That helps a lot.



I'm glad my Las Vegas participants had fun. I know I did too and if anyone had more Corona's during the entire week than me I'd like to see him!!! It's tradition now and when folks see me with a Corona in my hand, they know things are going smoothly!!



Good luck to one and all this season. Christmas Day is over, but we still have 26+ weeks to play with our toys. And at the end of the season, someone is going to win $100,000 and many of you will divvy up almost $900,000 in prize money. Is that awesome or what?



Signed, Santa Claus!!



[ March 18, 2008, 04:49 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Great post Jules and it was good to see you again.



I enjoyed my first NFBC main event very much and as always Las Vegas was a ton of fun. Greg, you can sign me up already for the 2009 NFBC!!



The good news is that it is only five months till we all get together again for football at the FI$HER party.

Jules:



Great write up, was nice to share a few minutes post draft on Saturday with you and some of the CDM crew.



Jim "Lunatic" Christie was correct, that 2nd Auction was a killer. I went to $21 on Phillip Hughes in a battle with Kent. May have won the battle and lost the war.





The Venetian Sports Book covered my meal expenses ( no small tab ) thanks to some Balmoral racing. Poor LUNATIC sat on the sidelines when I finally got lucky.



Have a few ducketts on Soriano @ 20-1 to lead the majors in HR'S and for NC to win it all at 4-1. Not to mention way to many parlays fro Thursday & Friday. So maybe I've given a few back.



Best of luck in 2008.



KM



[ March 18, 2008, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: Sack ]

Originally posted by Sack:

Jules:



Great write up, was nice to share a few minutes post draft on Saturday with you and some of the CDM crew.



Jim "Lunatic" Christie was correct, that 2nd Auction was a killer. I went to $21 on Phillip Hughes in a battle with Kent. May have won the battle and lost the war.





The Venetian Sports Book covered my meal expenses ( no small tab ) thanks to some Balmoral racing. Poor LUNATIC sat on the sidelines when I finally got lucky.



Have a few ducketts on Soriano @ 20-1 to lead the majors in HR'S and for NC to win it all at 4-1. Not to mention way to many parlays fro Thursday & Friday. So maybe I've given a few back.



Best of luck in 2008.



KM I think you actually felt bad for schooling the auction newbie there. I enjoyed competing against you and chatting with you over the weekend. I guess Hughes at 2 bucks over Verlander and Haren is not a great idea. However, my pitching staff sure could have used him. Good luck this season-

[ March 19, 2008, 12:03 AM: Message edited by: Latham ]