Thank You New York

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:38 am

We're not officially done yet at Citi Field but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who took part in our events here in New York this year. The staff at Citi Field is outstanding and make my job so much easier and it was great to see so many familiar faces and new faces taking part in our events this weekend. I had a lot of fun and I hope everyone did too.

So thanks to all of you for taking part in New York again this year. I hope you enjoyed our events as much as I enjoyed running them.

Jim Christie · Post by **Jim Christie** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:29 am

Tom,

It was a pleasure to finally meet you. Citi Field was FIRST RATE. What a venue.

I was not crazy about the bar stool at the round table for DP Live, but hey, nothing is perfect.

You calling me over for the live interview on Sirrius Radio Fantasy show with Scott Engel made up for it

The Citi Field tour on Saturday morning was great.

All-in-All I would come back to NYC but I think my wife is looking forward to Las Vegas in 2012.

76erfan · Post by **76erfan** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:52 am

echoing Jim....fantastic weekend Tom!

Food was good. talking baseball with everyone was fantastic! Tour was good even though us Phillies fans got made fun of

Good stuff. cant wait for baseball on Thursday!

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:00 pm

Thank you Tom. The event was great again, but what else is to be expected. Yes Kent, time for another shot.

Tom, it was great seeing & chatting with you again. As I stated after the AC drafts, it's always great meeting the people you read and read about on the boards or play against in online leagues. It's one of the coolest things if not the coolest about these live events. Saturday I got to meet and chat for the first time with great guys like Jim Christie, Rich McCormack, and others as well as reupping with some cool familiar faces like Jeff Dobies, Marty Bedell, Mike Edelman, Ken Magner, Roy Ericson, Craig Kielinski, Michael Cobb, Ryan Carey, Andy Saxton, Jason Duponte, Ante Meich, and others and yes even Mike Massatto.

It was also both fun and exciting getting interviewed on the radio with Sirius prior to the drafts (even with Mike Massatto

) and again during the first break by Rotoexperts. What a blast!!

A funny story...... After Mike and I were interviewed, the hosts of the show asked if we'd mind fielding a question or two from the radio audience. The first question was a real softball, what do we think of the caller's "sleeper" pick, Jay Bruce? I was asked to answer that one and gave my thoughts on why Bruce isn't a sleeper and how he was moving up pretty steadily on the draft boards I've seen.

OK, now it was Mike's turn. The caller's question....

In the caller's AL only 18 team auction draft, could Mike please provide dollar values for the Red Sox middle infield to the second decimal point?

Of course, Mike's answer......Silence. It might have been the first time I've heard Mike quiet since I met him. I'm exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. Classic moment that I enjoyed immensely.

Thanks again Tom, I had a ball.

[ March 27, 2011, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: Glenneration X ]

kgrady · Post by **kgrady** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:40 pm

Another good draft experience at Citi Field. I like the fact that the food was available before the draft. The radio broadcast was an added bonus. One criticism however. They were way too anxious to push us out the door once the drafts were over. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the live draft is chatting with others while looking over the draftboards throughout the room. Unfortunately that was cut way too short.

Kevin

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:57 pm

Originally posted by kgrady:

One criticism however. They were way too anxious to push us out the door once the drafts were over. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the live draft is chatting with others while looking over the draftboards throughout the room. Unfortunately that was cut way too short.

Kevin Agreed. If I recall correctly, Citifield put a hard deadline on the time we could spend drafting the Saturday night Super last year and we were forced to rush through the draft to finish within that time frame. Maybe someone should have a little chat with them prior to reupping the contract next season about this rush rush attitude they've exhibited two years running.

Even as a Mets fan, I found them pushing us out yesterday more than a bit annoying.

Ryan C · Post by **Ryan C** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 3:09 pm

Big thumbs up for NY!!

Tom and the gang from Wisconsin did a great job. Friday was fun up in the Promenade club overlooking the field. Our Live DP draft was run smoothly, even with having to coordinate with a guy who had to leave via cellphone.

Great as always to see some old fantasy friends/competitors from seasons past like Ken Magner and his son Kenny, Jared Eagle, Glenn X, Ante Meich, The Martino Bros. and Roy Ericson while meeting some new friends from the DP as well in Brian Feldman, Jim Christie, Tim McCarthy, Andre Bourcier Travis Livingston and putting faces to many of the names in the ME draft I facilitated. I enjoyed facilitating for a second straight year on ME day and hope the guys in my draft enjoyed the day.

We were a little slower finishing than a couple of the other drafts - so time was short afterward as Kevin mentioned. But I did bump into him on the 7 train home and spotted his NFBC hat - so we rode together and talked about our drafts. A nice way to kill a train ride and end another great NFBC weekend in NY. Good Luck to everyone.

mlbbug · Post by **mlbbug** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 4:11 pm

Hey Glenn,it was my pleasure to meet you in person and put a face to the name. That's the great part of the Main Event,namely the live draft aspect that let's you connect on a human level to those competitors who might otherwise be only a faceless team name or message board name.Likewise,I enjoyed saying hello to Ken Magner and son,Artie Rastelli,Jared Eagle(who I tied with in '08 in the yr. with 2 extra games that counted for in-season stats),Chris Talbott(who I sat next to again this yr.) and,of course Glenn Lowy. Hope to see you all in person next year and especially look forward to competing against(and hopefully beating) Glenn, Ken and all the other players in my league this year. Now let's play same baseball!!!

mlbbug · Post by **mlbbug** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 4:29 pm

Forgot to mention the great job that Tom Kessenich and staff did in New York on Saturday. As previously stated by others, the food spread was out early eliminating the long lines that we had to endure last yr.Last year, I remember having barely enough time after the first break to grab a few quick food items and then having to bring the food back to my seat getting there just in time for the start of the next round. Putting the food out early let you grab a bite before the draft started and eliminated the mad dash at the breaks.I expect even greater things for the NFBC in the coming years with class guys like Tom and Greg in charge!

Rich McCormick

Astoria,NY

"Don't look back,something might be gaining on you"---- Satchel Paige

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:09 pm

Originally posted by Glenneration X:

Thank you Tom. The event was great again, but what else is to be expected. Yes Kent, time for another shot.

Tom, it was great seeing & chatting with you again. As I stated after the AC drafts, it's always great meeting the people you read and read about on the boards or play against in online leagues. It's one of the coolest things if not the coolest about these live events. Saturday I got to meet and chat for the first time with great guys like Jim Christie, Rich McCormack, and others as well as reupping with some cool familiar faces like Jeff Dobies, Marty Bedell, Mike Edelman, Ken Magner, Roy Ericson, Craig Kielinski, Michael Cobb, Ryan Carey, Andy Saxton, Jason Duponte, Ante Meich, and others and yes even Mike Massatto.

It was also both fun and exciting getting interviewed on the radio with Sirius prior to the drafts (even with Mike Massatto) and again during the first break by Rotoexperts. What a blast!!

A funny story...... After Mike and I were interviewed, the hosts of the show asked if we'd mind fielding a question or two from the radio audience. The first question was a real softball, what do we think of the caller's "sleeper" pick, Jay Bruce? I was asked to answer that one and gave my thoughts on why Bruce isn't a sleeper and how he was moving up pretty steadily on the draft boards I've seen.

OK, now it was Mike's turn. The caller's question....

In the caller's AL only 18 team auction draft, could Mike please provide dollar values for the Red Sox middle infield to the second decimal point?

Of course, Mike's answer......Silence. It might have been the first time I've heard Mike quiet since I met him. I'm exaggerating a bit, but only a bit. Classic moment that I enjoyed immensely.

Thanks again Tom, I had a ball. LMFAO! Great stuff, Glenn. But I believe you had it slightly off as I recall...Once the question was asked, there was in fact silence, but I quickly recovered with what I think was a classic save: "Back to you, Glenn." :rolleyes: All went well after that as Scott Engel cut it to save my ass. Funny thing was, he kept putting me back on for commentary on my draft afterwards because he thinks I've been a regular, loyal caller from Mahwah, NJ (his favorite town apparently for some reason) to his show. Guess I better start tomorrow...

Great day overall for me, too. Got to spend some more quality time with Glenn and Mike Edelman, which is always a plus for them :rolleyes: Made formal acquaintances with Eddy Betancourt, Jeff Dobies, Joe Thelen, Mike Cortese, and many others...and caught up with an old friend, Steve Kramer, from high school! Even got a chance to harass Jupinka a bit from 2500 miles away at the end of his Ultimate draft taking place at the next table over after the evening Double-Play event. Good to see Joe Anthony again for the second time in two weeks, and always appreciate the quality time interacting with Corey Schwartz and Mike Siano, two of the best "experts" in the game today as far as I'm concerned...

Definitely enjoyed the venue as a Mets fan as well, but one thing I would absolutely like to see improved on for next year would be the food. Quite frankly, the spread in AC blew if away in terms of not only quantity, but quality, too. I think for the money we're shelling out for these live gigs (not to mention the EXTRA $ for the Citifield venue), the spread should be top-notch since this is what many of us have to eat all day and night particularly at the ball park when everything is still closed and there's nothing easily accessible or close by. Just some "food' for thought, no pun intended...

mallorys killers · Post by **mallorys killers** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:14 pm

The food did improve over last years sausage and onions. The hamburgers were really one of the best I ever had with a charcoal taste. I heard the chicken wings were great. I think I ate 5 hamburgers over my main and dp event.

mallorys killers · Post by **mallorys killers** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:21 pm

NY Main Event 5 ran great , Ryan Carey and his helpers really ran the draft at a good pace. They also knew a lot about fantasy baseball. Now The Live NY 2 Double Play was not as great. The names were requested before the stickers were put up. Same thing happened at AC last year. I couldn't even keep track of my players taken. Except for this, the guys running the DP 2 did a good job in our draft.

Sebadiah23 · Post by **Sebadiah23** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:37 pm

Originally posted by mallorys killers:

NY Main Event 5 ran great , Ryan Carey and his helpers really ran the draft at a good pace. They also knew a lot about fantasy baseball. Now The Live NY 2 Double Play was not as great. The names were requested before the stickers were put up. Same thing happened at AC last year. I couldn't even keep track of my players taken. Except for this, the guys running the DP 2 did a good job in our draft. Killers, I couldn't say it better myself, being in NY5. Ryan C. was funny, relaxed, fair with the time, and just made everyone feel comfortable. In baseball parlance, it was a homerun "draw", if you will, to get such a cool moderator.

-Craig

Ryan C · Post by **Ryan C** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:57 am

Steve and Craig,

Thanks guys - I appreciate the kind words. When I knew I wasn't going to be drafting a ME team again this year - signing up to be part of Tom's team again this year was an easy decision as being part of the best day on the NFBC calender is always fun. The guys I worked with were great (although I forget both of there names right now - Tom? Rob?) and I thank them both for allowing me to take my preferred spot as the "voice" of the draft. I'm an actor - so we have a hard time not being front and center

Still - my goal was to help make your guys day fun and memorable - I'll be keeping tabs on NY 5 this year!

Hopefully I can have more success this year so I can draft against you ME guys again next year!

Steve - I knew I recognized you on draft day, but couldn't place it - but after seeing your message board handle here - I remember you were in my ME league in 2009.

Jim Christie · Post by **Jim Christie** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:40 am

Originally posted by Ryan C:

Steve and Craig,

Thanks guys - I appreciate the kind words. When I knew I wasn't going to be drafting a ME team again this year - signing up to be part of Tom's team again this year was an easy decision as being part of the best day on the NFBC calender is always fun. The guys I worked with were great (although I forget both of there names right now - Tom? Rob?) and I thank them both for allowing me to take my preferred spot as the "voice" of the draft. I'm an actor - so we have a hard time not being front and center

Still - my goal was to help make your guys day fun and memorable - I'll be keeping tabs on NY 5 this year!

Hopefully I can have more success this year so I can draft against you ME guys again next year!

Steve - I knew I recognized you on draft day, but couldn't place it - but after seeing your message board handle here - I remember you were in my ME league in 2009. Ryan, great to meet you; GREAT job as a facilitator!!!

Cobb · Post by **Cobb** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:36 am

Thanks Tom, Citi Field was a great place to draft.

It was good to see a few friends and meeting a couple of guys for the first time as well. Mike Massotto is a great guy, cracked me up both weekends, best of luck in NY (not so much in AC!). It was nice seeing Ken Magner, Glenn X, the Ice Cream man, and many others...best of luck this year.

A special shout out to Ryan Carey, great job with NY #5. And of course being the guy to get Hanley at #7 doesn't hurt either!

Roy's Outlaws · Post by **Roy's Outlaws** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:03 am

Joe I know it was nice of me (lol) to let Hanley slip to you at 7,but I'm betting that Reyes has a bigger season then Hanley and Taking Cano at 6 paired up with Reyes in the 2nd round hopefully give me more balance. We will know the answer to that in about 6 months.

Ryan great job running the main event again, nice not to feel like you are being rushed to make pick so the draft can get over quicker.

Also Citi Field was rushing us to get out both Friday night after the auction, which was done at a very fast pace as we had to be done by 10:00 pm and didn't start till 5. Need to start earlier if we have a deadline time to finish. last few rounds were extremely fast.

Cobb · Post by **Cobb** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:09 am

Originally posted by Roy's Outlaws:

Joe I know it was nice of me (lol) to let Hanley slip to you at 7,but I'm betting that Reyes has a bigger season then Hanley and Taking Cano at 6 paired up with Reyes in the 2nd round hopefully give me more balance. We will know the answer to that in about 6 months.

Ryan great job running the main event again, nice not to feel like you are being rushed to make pick so the draft can get over quicker.

Also Citi Field was rushing us to get out both Friday night after the auction, which was done at a very fast pace as we had to be done by 10:00 pm and didn't start till 5. Need to start earlier if we have a deadline time to finish. last few rounds were extremely fast. Roy-

Can't argue with your thought process, you had a plan and went with it. You let me have a few picks, but took quite a few from me, should be a fun season.

That NY draft was proof that regardless of your pre-draft plan, you have to be ready for anything. I would of never guessed that I could start with Hanley, Howard, and Lincecum from the #7 hole...but I'll take it!

Citi Field did rush us a bit...but I did like the venue.

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:37 pm

Originally posted by Cobb:

Thanks Tom, Citi Field was a great place to draft.

It was good to see a few friends and meeting a couple of guys for the first time as well. Mike Massotto is a great guy, cracked me up both weekends, best of luck in NY (not so much in AC!). It was nice seeing Ken Magner, Glenn X, the Ice Cream man, and many others...best of luck this year.

Okay NFBC'ers, you heard it here first: "Mike Massotto is a great guy." I been trying to tell you guys that all along!

Thanks for the kind words, Joe. Stay in touch this season, and good luck! My NY draft was even better than AC, so you don't have to worry

A special shout out to Ryan Carey, great job with NY #5. And of course being the guy to get Hanley at #7 doesn't hurt either!

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:40 pm

Originally posted by Baseball Furies:

quote:Originally posted by Cobb:

Thanks Tom, Citi Field was a great place to draft.

It was good to see a few friends and meeting a couple of guys for the first time as well. Mike Massotto is a great guy, cracked me up both weekends, best of luck in NY (not so much in AC!). It was nice seeing Ken Magner, Glenn X, the Ice Cream man, and many others...best of luck this year.

Okay NFBC'ers, you heard it here first: "Mike Massotto is a great guy." I been trying to tell you guys that all along!

Thanks for the kind words, Joe. Stay in touch this season, and good luck! My NY draft was even better than AC, so you don't have to worry

A special shout out to Ryan Carey, great job with NY #5. And of course being the guy to get Hanley at #7 doesn't hurt either! [/QUOTE]Now if I could just learn how to post properly, I will be really great

(See previous message from Cobb to find secret message encoded within). :rolleyes:

BEF · Post by **BEF** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:04 pm

I'll add my congrats to Tom and his team as well, they did a top-notch job. Great meeting some folks in person at the Friday 10am auction, the Live DP on Friday at 5pm and the auction on Sunday at 1pm.

Only suggestion for improvement is for us caffeine addicts: coffee! Especially for a draft starting at 10am...

Great job NFBC!

Brian

Baseball Furies · Post by **Baseball Furies** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:05 pm

Originally posted by BEF:

I'll add my congrats to Tom and his team as well, they did a top-notch job. Great meeting some folks in person at the Friday 10am auction, the Live DP on Friday at 5pm and the auction on Sunday at 1pm.

Only suggestion for improvement is for us caffeine addicts: coffee! Especially for a draft starting at 10am...

Great job NFBC!

YES! PLEASE DEAR GOD, COFFEE NEXT YEAR ESPECIALLY FOR THE EVENING DRAFTS!

Brian

Glenneration X · Post by **Glenneration X** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:23 am

Jeez Mike! Will you learn how to post already???

Hopefully your fantasy skills are better than message board ones. Oh wait, I saw the teams you drafted. Never mind.