THE NFBC MAIN EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT AT 390 TEAMS!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:41 am

First of all, THANK YOU to all of our die-hard participants for fully supporting the NFBC this year. I'll admit that I was very worried about what the economy would do to our contest this year, but it's reassuring to know that we have assembled so many die-hard baseball fans that even in a tough economy they are still willing to come back to compete in our unique contest. Thank you very much.

Right now we are sitting at 293 main event signups, leaving us with less than 100 spots among the four cities. We still have a lot of veteran NFBC owners who I know will be signing up soon, which is great. We'll obviously still need several new members to reach our goal of 390, but wherever we eventually land I'm very happy with the way 2009 is turning out. The Friday auctions are also almost all full and our Sunday events are strong as well.

We also have 175 teams already for the NFBC Online Championship, leaving us with only 125 guaranteed spots for that debut event. We haven't even announced the car we're going to give away yet for anyone who can win both overall titles and we're on pace to sell that out.

I know we'll get to 300 and we'll likely go above that to fill out each league perfectly with 12 teams as that will be a juggling act down the stretch. But I love the direction that event is going and I know we'll sell that out. Best of all, we have so many new players in that 12-team format and adding new players in a down economy is really tough to do. Thanks to all of our new members for joining that debut event.

So again: THANK YOU!!! We are off to a great, great start and I can promise you that I'll be in a good mood in Las Vegas, even if I lose every Thursday NCAA bet. And trust me, I'm betting on EVERY GAME that day!!

I'm going to relax before our weekend of baseball fun.

I'll keep updating this thread down from 100, so stay tuned. I enjoy watching every new signup come in and right now we're getting almost 100 per week among all of our live events, satellite leagues and online championship. It's an exciting team. Thanks again.

[ March 12, 2009, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

751542 · Post by **751542** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:55 am

WOW....great job...less than a month for me i arrive on tues eve....st. pattys day...wwwhhhheeehhhheeewwww!!!!

Sack · Post by **Sack** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:18 am

Greg:

Having the year off from the NCAA tipoff has really added to the excitement of having that back as part of the NFBC weekend in 2009.

Looking forward to Thursday and all the games. Might even sneak in a few Friday in the AM before the drafts begin.

[ February 18, 2009, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Sack ]

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 6:54 am

Nice job all... Please get RW to create some buzz by listing the number of spots left in the ads and update it every few days.

Also, zero e-mails from RW on this event, yet too many on Snapdraft and baseball draft kits.

Come on RW, Greg can't do all of this by himself.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:16 pm

Originally posted by Sack:

Greg:

Having the year off from the NCAA tipoff has really added to the excitement of having that back as part of the NFBC weekend in 2009.

Looking forward to Thursday and all the games. Might even sneak in a few Friday in the AM before the drafts begin. I hear ya Kenny. Everyone I talk to who is coming out to Las Vegas seems to have a little extra zip to them this year. It's like everyone seems to need a vacation, everyone seems to need an escape from this awful winter and everyone is looking forward to the excitement of March Madness. Me included on all three counts.

The good news for all of us is that Easter will not fall during March Madness for 100+ years. When it does occur again, I won't be running the NFBC anymore!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:17 pm

Originally posted by RoundTrippers:

WOW....great job...less than a month for me i arrive on tues eve....st. pattys day...wwwhhhheeehhhheeewwww!!!! You're going to have a green hangover when I see you on Wednesday, aren't you??

Pick out some NBA games for us that night so we can kick off the gambling weekend on a winning note.

Man, I'm ready for this one. Let's get it on.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:10 am

We now have more than 300 teams signed up for the main event, leaving us with fewer than 90 spots left among the four cities and online. Thanks everyone and let's fill this up. Once we do, we can pick the leagues and the draft spots. Thanks everyone.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:34 pm

Just a heads up that while we now have more than 305 signups for the main event, it looks like we also got another signup for the $650 mixed Auction League in New York, bringing our total there to 12 teams. That means we have THREE SPOTS LEFT for the $650 Mixed Auction League in NY. C'mon, let's fill that one up. Thanks all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:53 pm

We now have less than 80 spots left overall as we welcome back Cory Schwartz of MLB.com fame to the NFBC's main event. We now have one spot left in New York before we fill up our sixth main event league in the Big Apple. Welcome back Cory and best of luck once again.

Sack · Post by **Sack** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:37 am

Starting our 10th League in Vegas! That is going to make for some great atmosphere and one very big room!

Greg, is this the highest we've ever had for a live draft?

751542 · Post by **751542** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:42 am

WOW

....we are rolling!!! lets get half of the signups this week!!! go get em greg!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:24 am

Originally posted by Sack:

Starting our 10th League in Vegas! That is going to make for some great atmosphere and one very big room!

Greg, is this the highest we've ever had for a live draft? We had 10 full leagues in Las Vegas last year for the NFBC and I think we'll get there and then some this year. We still have four LV teams who finished in the Top 100 overall last year who haven't signed up yet, so we still have some stragglers out there. I agree, Las Vegas is going to have a great atmosphere this year as we are headed towards five auction leagues on Friday afternoon and 10 or more main event leagues on Saturday. Let's close this out strong over the next three weeks.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:52 am

Originally posted by RoundTrippers:

WOW

....we are rolling!!! lets get half of the signups this week!!! go get em greg!! This is the week I make friendly calls to our New York participants to get them officially in. We have 90 signups for New York right now after having 135 last year. We have a lot of guys who said they are going to sign up later, but I'd hate to see anyone get left out who wanted to play. It's time for good ol' Greg to get them signed up and officially in before I leave next week for LABR.

The sooner we sell this out the sooner we get the draft spots pulled. Let's do it.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:38 am

We're one spot away from a 21st full main event league as we welcome back Marc Ewing-Chow of Los Angeles and David Zwickel of New York City to the Las Vegas big dance on Saturday, March 21st. We now have 138 teams there; 12 more spots left for a 10th full league. Awesome everyone and thanks.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:41 am

We also have 200 teams for the NFBC Online Championship, leaving us with 100 guaranteed spots left. Thanks all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:41 am

We now have less than 70 spots left for the NFBC's main event as we're working on our 22nd league overall. I made a LOT of phone calls and e-mail contacts today and the New York signups are going to come in strongly very soon. I see a lot of guys waiting until the next billing cycle before signing up, which is fine by me.

They've contacted me and told me to hold a spot if they start going fast!! No problem.

We've added three teams to New York today and now have more than 320 for the main event. Let's keep it going folks and fill this baby up!!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:49 am

Okay, I'm working late tonight, on the phone with my New Yorkers and getting teams to commit to the main event before we sell out. We now have more than 325 teams for the main event and we're going to fill up our 22nd league soon enough. Don't delay if you want to reserve a spot this year because we have a bunch of folks waiting on the fence, waiting for that next credit card billing cycle to pass before officially jumping in. This should be a wild finish. Thanks all.

freddiezee · Post by **freddiezee** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:56 pm

Greg,

What is your goal date, as far as reaching 390 teams? At a rate of 5 per day, you would reach that total on Wednesday, March 11th. If you get to 390 on the 10th or 11th, is it possible that the draft slots/leagues would be drawn on Friday the 13th?! That would make them more unpredictable than ever!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:52 pm

Originally posted by freddiezee:

Greg,

What is your goal date, as far as reaching 390 teams? At a rate of 5 per day, you would reach that total on Wednesday, March 11th. If you get to 390 on the 10th or 11th, is it possible that the draft slots/leagues would be drawn on Friday the 13th?! That would make them more unpredictable than ever! Well, I've set the KDS deadline for Wednesday, March 11th, so I think your estimation is dead on. That's the goal, but we still need 64 signups over the next 14 days to pull that off. I think we can do that, but we'll see. It would be great to announce the leagues and draft picks on Friday the 13th, though, and that is the goal.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:46 pm

Okay, we filled up our 22nd main event league tonight, 330 paid signups in all, and we're starting to work on our 23rd league now. That means we have less than 60 spots left among the four cities. Awesome and let's fill these up so that we can pick the draft spots in two weeks...or sooner. Thanks all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:48 pm

Double good news in Chicago tonight with the return of George Puhl. He became our 50th team for the main event, leaving us with 10 spots left there before we close out that city. He also grabbed a spot in the $650 Mixed Auction League as we now have 13 owners in Chicago for that one, leaving us with just TWO SPOTS LEFT there. Great, great job this past week Windy City folks and let's fill up that auction league there.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:16 am

Okay, we're happy to report that John Fousek of Rapid City, South Dakota has grabbed a main event team and a $650 AL Auction League team in Las Vegas, which means we're officially into our 23rd main event league. It also means we just need three more owners to fill up the $650 AL Auction League in Las Vegas. C'mon, let's fill that one up for five live auctions at once in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, March 20th. Thanks John and welcome aboard.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:17 am

NINE SP0TS LEFT for the main event in Chicago as we welcome David Bowen of Columbus, Ohio back to the NFBC in the Windy City. David finished 27th overall last year, but only third in his league, so he's ready for some revenge. Welcome back David.

Every team from the Top 30 overall is now back for the 2009 main event. Only three teams from the Top 50 are missing, but I think two of them will be back soon.

Let's keep this going and fill up that fourth main event league in Chicago soon.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:22 am

EIGHT SPOTS LEFT IN CHICAGO FOR THE MAIN EVENT!!!

Glad to have Pat Sorge of Schaumburg, Illinois back in the main event as he becomes our 52nd team in the Windy City. You'll remember Pat when you see him on Draft Day, that's for sure. In a post in the non-baseball forums, Pat posted this:

Topic: I won't be pulling my hair out on Draft Day:

Because I won't have any!!! My name is Pat Sorge and I have been in the NFFC for 2 years and this will be my 2nd year in NFBC. I have joined up with St. Baldrick's Foundation, which has an annual event in March to raise awareness and money for children with cancer. My (very small) sacrifice is to have my head shaved in public to show solidarity with children that lose their hair due to cancer treatment. What I'm hoping to do is raise money through my family, friends and associates. Then it dawned on me. There are many great folks that I compete against every spring (NFBC) and fall (NFFC). So I asked Greg and he said throw a message out here...Thanks Greg! Anyway here's the link to St. Baldrick's website where you can find more information on where your donations would go if you so choose.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants ... 009-332562#

I usually don't do this sort of thing so I'm sorry if it offends anyone that I'm intruding on our fantasy board but I think this is a very worthy cause. Thank you for taking time to read this and I'll be the guy trying to grow his hair back at the draft in Chicago! Also I'll gladly buy a round of drinks to whoever donates! Atleast the Chicago group. Again thank you in advance and good luck this year guys and gals!

Sounds like a good cause. Pat's a good guy, so don't be afraid to support him if you can. Thanks all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:26 am

We now have 52 spots left for the main event in Chicago as we're making a nice run in the Windy City today. Let's welcome back Pat Sorge of Schaumburg, Illinois as he returns for the main event on Saturday, March 21st at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Pat joined the NFBC last year and led his Hit Squad to a 13th place finish in Chicago League 3, but he's going after a money finish this year. Welcome back Pat and good luck with your fund-raiser. Oh, and best of luck in the hunt for this year's $100,000 grand prize and the $5,000 league prize.