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Okay Windy City, are you ready for some baseball? Let's get it on starting tomorrow with the Auction Championship at 4 pm CT.



We are hosting this weekend's events at Trackside Arlington Park, the OTB area outside of the main track venue. Here's a look at that facility and the directions to it:



http://www.arlingtonpark.com/node/485



We have free parking at Trackside, so just park to the left of the white building. There will be plenty of parking available for NFBC members. There is a very nice restaurant inside Trackside with all of the tracks around the country, so don't be afraid to go inside and check out your luck on the ponies!! It's a nice venue.



We are located in the banquet room area just to the left once you enter the building. We have just one auction on Friday and the whole room to ourselves!! We have food at the midway point and a friendly bartender this time. Enjoy guys. Your auctioneer and our lead person in Chicago this year is Rob Benetti of Mokegan, Illinois, who won our $100,000 in the NFFC in 2006!!! Treat him like a king folks.



Saturday we start at high noon and I want everyone there at least 15 minutes before the start. We have two full leagues and one phone hookup with me in Las Vegas. Rob is running the show again and we have several STATS folks from nearby working the room. We follow with one Live Double Play at 6 pm.



If you need help at all, contact me at [email protected] or at 715-254-5553. Enjoy and let folks know which hotel you're staying at tomorrow or Saturday so that folks can gather together. Good luck and have fun.

Hey Hey, it's time for some baseball in Chitown!



If anyone is running late or has any issues at all, feel free to call or email me at:



[email protected]



708-259-7278



Rob Benetti



Two graded stakes with Derby implications this Saturday are: The Louisiana Derby at Fairgrounds and The Spiral at Turfway Park. Let's win some money Saturday!

There's my man Rob!! See, you can even handicap for the folks who are coming there. It doesn't get any better than that from our lead man. Good job and have fun with these baseball folks. You're in good hands with Rob B.

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Rob Benetti of Mokegan, Illinois,

Rob, did Mokena and Waukegan merge, and nobody told me? lol

Greg's been doing that for a while but as long as the checks come to the right address.....



It will be good to see you tomorrow Jack. Dinner after the draft?

Rob, it will be a pleasure to meet you and everyone else there tomorrow.



Thanks for the info Greg. This is really my first foray really into the NFBC. I have experience with the NFFC but not so much on the baseball side. I am drafting in the Chicago auction tomorrow afternoon. I drafted in one the DP Live drafts in Vegas last week.



Rob, I am also one of Greg's volunteers to help out with the Mains on Saturday, so just let me know where and when you need me.



SS

Originally posted by Rob B:

Greg's been doing that for a while but as long as the checks come to the right address.....



It will be good to see you tomorrow Jack. Dinner after the draft? I'm leaving for Maui early the next day, so I'm not sure if I will have time or what any post-draft plans will be. I haven't even packed yet. Let's see when the draft ends. See ya later.

Originally posted by The Mighty Men:

quote:Originally posted by Rob B:

Greg's been doing that for a while but as long as the checks come to the right address.....



It will be good to see you tomorrow Jack. Dinner after the draft? I'm leaving for Maui early the next day, so I'm not sure if I will have time or what any post-draft plans will be. I haven't even packed yet. Let's see when the draft ends. See ya later. [/QUOTE]If the auction goes like it did last year, you might be heading straight to the airport after the draft. I was kinda wondering why you weren’t in the Main this year, I guess Maui is a good reason.



I wish I was entered into the auction again this year, but I couldn’t guarantee that I was going to be able to attend.



Good Luck to everyone and I’ll see some of you guys Saturday.

I first wanted to publicly thank Rob B. For being our auctioneer last night. He did a phenomenal job, thanks.



It seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves, I know I did being that it was my first baseball auction. We drafted with a great bunch of guys, should be fun!



Two guys I missed out on that I'm sorry I did were Bourjos and Trumbo.

Great auction last night. Rob did a heckuva job. It ran as smooth as one could have ever hoped. Food was good, bar was available till 9:30 PM, though we finished at 10:30. The hosts from Arlington were cordial and very helpful in making the draft a good experience. The room was ours and whatever we needed, they took care of.



Thanks to the NFBC, Stats, and Trackside at Arlington for making this happen. My only request for next year would be possibly starting the auction a couple hours earlier. It might be nice to "unwind" while the night is still a little young. Work schedules may be the obstacle for change, and I understand that.



GREAT JOB ROB

I would like to also mention that a great job was done by all. Thanks for a great evening.

I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself this past weekend. What a great group of folks.



Scott, It was great to meet you and thanks for all of your help today. I look forward to hanging with you in the future.



Bill, As always, folks like you make this experience special. Great guy and I look forward to seeing you again in September for the football drafts. Yes, there will be football this year!



For all of the folks in the auction, thanks for your patience as I took lead for my first baseball auction. I got some really good feedback from all of you which should help me if I get the chance to be the auctioneer again. I promise to shave off an hour next year just by dropping some of the extra verbage and going faster into the 1-2-sold cadence.



Every draft I experience solidifies my belief that it's not the venue or even the game itself that makes these events special. It's all of you.



Big thanks to the folks at Stats, all of the facilitators who did a great job and most of all to you folks - the paying customers who make these events special!



Another round of thanks to the staff at Arlington Trackside as they did a great job providing excellent food and superb service. Night and day from last years NFFC draft. It's shame we are going to outgrow that room next year.



The bad news is that I have to start studying baseball just to speak the darn lingo moving forward. Thanks a lot Greg!



[ March 27, 2011, 12:37 AM: Message edited by: Rob B ]

Chicago was great! Trackside was a big step up from the Cubbie Bear although we did miss the band bellowing below us. Rob and the gang at Stats were fantastic as were the accomodations. Kudos to all involved!

great job at both the auction and main. rob was great ,stats great, track side great. food was even good. good luck all.

I’ll echo some of the thoughts already expressed here.



Arlington Trackside was much nicer than our previous Chicago locations. Last year we were at The Cubby Bear across the street from Wrigley Field. Their room was small and the four leagues that we had literally forced owners from different leagues to sit back to back. This year we only had two full leagues and one partial phone league, but there would have been plenty of room for four full leagues.



The food was good and they did a fairly good job of timing the buffet to the scheduled 10 round break. We also had a second meal break for the 12 team DPlay in the evening and they offered a different menu from the afternoon Main Event lunch.



Rob B. was our on-site coordinator and he did a great job of setting everything up and making sure that all the owners had what they needed to make the draft run smooth. I wasn’t there for the auction draft on Friday night, but I talked with several owners that did participate and they all had good things to say about Rob and the way he ran the auction.



Rob also helped me out with my camera. Last year I made a short video of the events in Chicago and I will be putting one together again from this past draft. Rob was kind enough to find some time in between taking care of all his duties to shoot some footage for me. You can look for that video to be posted sometime this week.



All the people from Stats were nice and our league facilitator did a good job. I had a conversation with Stats on-site coordinator for the event (I am embarrassed to say I don’t remember his name) and I feel very confident about the upcoming season with regards to the backend product that they are providing the NFBC.



Finally, as usual, it was a pleasure seeing and talking to the other owners that were in Chicago this past weekend. The Chicago location has yearly produced fewer owners than the Las Vegas and NY area sites, and as a result we have all gotten to know each other better because of the small group and being in the same couple of leagues together year after year. Of course while it’s fun knowing you competitors better as people, it’s really a pain in the a$$ when the same people beat me season after season . And on that note, even though Chicago attendance was down this year, I hope that Greg will keep us going as a live site. I know that St Louis and the On-line option has taken some of our group, but Chicago has a very solid core of owners and with Stats being in Chicago we should remain as the Midwest site for the NFBC.



[ March 28, 2011, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: Navel Lint ]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents here.

Make no mistake, I loved everything about the Las Vegas experience, especially seeing Andy and Kent and everybody else.

Chicago is a different animal. The NFBC is held in a big city like Chicago, the feeling though, is more like a small town.

The 'regulars' like Russel, the Dave's, Mike, and several others make you feel like you just moved into their town and they have the welcome wagon at the ready.

It's a swell option for the landlocked.



On the other hand, I wanted Carlos Marmol on my Main teams this year, from that perspective, I'm happy that I wasn't in Chicago this year. Those hometown guys and closers go fast there!



[ March 29, 2011, 08:36 AM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

I'll probably be back in Chicago next year. I'm glad to hear things went well last weekend. I had to do the draft online because of work travel this year.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

.



On the other hand, I wanted Carlos Marmol on my Main teams this year, from that perspective, I'm happy that I wasn't in Chicago this year. Those hometown guys and closers go fast there! I have to admit, if I can get a Cubs player on my roster I try and do so. This year I was unable to get any current Cubs, although I did get a former Cub, Kyle Farnsworth .



No Cubs on my roster will make Opening Day easier though. Last season for the Cubs home opener I had two of my Main Event starters pitching in that first game. I went to the game rooting for a 1-0 Cubs win. And although the Cubs did win the game and Dempster got the win, a combined 11 earned runs in 9 innings from Ryan Dempster and Doug Davis weren’t the highlight of my day. So at least this Friday I can go and just enjoy the game without having to worry about my ERA.

I posted some photos from the Chicago drafts.



Link > 2011 Chicago Live Draft Images



I have some videos to post when I get back from vacation next week.



[ March 30, 2011, 09:56 PM: Message edited by: Rob B ]

Originally posted by Rob B:

I posted some photos from the Chicago drafts.



Link > 2011 Chicago Live Draft Images



I have some videos to post when I get back from vacation next week. Thanks for sharing, Rob. Pleasure getting to talk with you for a little bit after the main event draft.



Will look forward to the videos when you post the link.

Rich