Live Chat Tonight: Ask Away

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 1:58 pm

I'm working late tonight and just tried to check out the Message Boards to find there are 27 people on here right now. Go ahead, ask any question for the next 30 minutes and we'll all talk together. Sound good?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 1:59 pm

OK Greg, I'll ask the question that begs to be asked:

What's going on with Urbina in the Auction Leagues?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:02 pm

What's your take on Brandon Larson?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:04 pm

Okay, I saw the question about the $100,000 again. Gordon is doing his math of how many teams we'll finish with and he may be right and he may be wrong. We have a full week left to attract the fence sitters, so I'm not going to scare off anyone. But we're heading toward our goal and we're obviously committed to this event/contest in a big, big way.

I think everyone can see how many teams we have already and it would be foolish to pull the $100,000 grand prize off the table now. We'll make the numbers work on our end, so don't worry about us. Just do your homework and get in the running for the $100,000, whether that's against 215 teams or 300 teams.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:05 pm

I'm definitely leaning toward allowing Urbina to be bid on in the Auction Leagues. I know the feeling first-hand of working hard in the LABR draft and then seeing RotoWire.com pull the No. 1 pick out of a hat for the reserve round and I didn't like that feeling, especially if he signs with Pittsburgh. So I'm leaning toward what you guys suggested, but I want to get as many opinions as possible and I haven't heard from the Leaderboard Sports guys yet and they have a lot of Auction League teams in Vegas.

That's my thought process now.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:07 pm

Brandon Larson went for $7 in LABR, $4 higher than I have him on our Cheat Sheets. The guy kills Triple-A pitching and then just dies in the majors. He's also injury-prone and coming off an injury now. He's a potential sleeper pick as the Reds really don't have anyone else at third base, but I was too scared off by his past MLB performances to bid more than $3 for him. I just had to let someone else take the gamble.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:07 pm

If an owner decides to leave the draft table without a legal 23-man roster, what should we do?

(A) Severely beat the owner with a heavy object

(B) Repeat over and over, in a loud voice, "That team has an illegal roster. That team has an illegal roster."

(C) Smile and say, "Damn, that guy is a genius"

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:09 pm

Greg, the "chat session" is a great idea! Keep up the good work.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:10 pm

Do (B). All of our event coordinators have been told to make sure each owner has a legitimate lineup before he leaves and they will try to check each league before anyone leaves. You guys can help us out as you'll obviously see it before anyone else. But myself in Las Vegas, Tom Kessenich in Chicago and Rocky Landsverk in New York are responsible for making sure this doesn't happen and we will. If we find out too late, that owner will have to stay after class, clean the chalk boards and pick a new player.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:11 pm

Greg, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much weight does Leaderboard Sports carry in this contest? Is it too late to form my own RotoClub with Gekko and tilt the scales to our favor?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:13 pm

See Gordon, these other guys just need to see the lighter side of you. All those compliments you send me via e-mail need to show up on live chats more often for everyone to know what a softie you are. Thanks, by the way.

I tried to get live chat software and said the hell with it. I see everyone on the boards when I'm on and I thought it would be best to talk with everyone. I want all the fence sitters to know that I'm a big fantasy player myself, to reassure everyone that we're totally committed to this thing and that I'll do anything I humanly can to attract anyone who is even thinking about this into our main event. If I do all that and we still fall short of 300, then I can at least sleep peacefully. But dammit, we're going to try our best to get there.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:14 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Greg, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much weight does Leaderboard Sports carry in this contest? Some would call it "dead weight"

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:15 pm

Earlier today, you gave some of the LABR values of your own team and the top hitters. Without revealing too much before the March 17th publication is released, how much did the top 5 starters and top 3 relievers go for in Saturday night's NL LABR auction?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:16 pm

Listen, I've been in fantasy sports for 15 years and I never heard of Leaderboard Sports before. But I had heard of this really dedicated group of fantasy gamers on ESPN.com before and I sat next to one of those guys at a Chicago event two years ago and he told me he was in 16 football leagues. Then I knew those guys were hard-core.

When I talked to one of the leaders of Leaderboard Sports, he explained what the group is and said while they compete against each other in many contests they all want to win it individually the most. So they're not like out trying to help another Leaderboard Sports member. They're just a bunch of guys who talk, live and breathe fantasy sports and sometimes share some pre-season tips together. But I guarantee you from talking with most of them, they'll be the most competitive guys in the group whether there's three of them in a league or five of them in a league.

I love 'em and wish there were more die-hard fantasy gamer groups like them.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:19 pm

Yeah, I'll try to put the NL draft online here tonight, just a bit of it. As for starting pitchers, here's how it shook out:

Eric Gagne, $36

Billy Wagner, $30

Armando Benitez, $27

John Smoltz, $26

Octavio Dotel, $25

Jason Isringhausen, $24

Trevor Hoffman, $21.

I took Izzy at $24 and Steve Kline at $2.

Mark Prior, $33

Randy Johnson, $27

Jason Schmidt, $25

Roy Oswalt, $25

Josh Beckett, $24

Kerry Wood, $23

I took Wood at $23 and Roger Clemens at $12.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:20 pm

I must admit, Leaderboard Sports sounds a bit like my local Knights of Columbus. Wonder what the dues structure is...

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:21 pm

They must all be at a lodge meeting or they'd chime in. A few more questions and then I'm back to work.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:23 pm

I feel like I have monopolized your time, Greg. It's quite an honor! With the three sign-ups for today's AL Auction, how close are we to filling that league?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:24 pm

Non-baseball question...Yes or No to illegal immigrants being able to work in the US?

rotatorcff · Post by **rotatorcff** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:26 pm

OK, a little off topic, but how do I get set up for some Mock Drafts? I'd like to get one or two in before the big event. Thanks.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:27 pm

I believe we have 10 and someone called tonight to possibly get in. So we're getting there. I'm confident the next six days will lead to two more signups for the New York AL Auction League.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:28 pm

I don't do non-baseball or football questions. I spend too much time in the sports section to get over to the front page.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:29 pm

You should already have an account as a member of the NFBC. If you don't remember the ID and password, e-mail Jason Pliml at [email protected]. He will take care of you. Go to the Mock Drafts portion of these Message Boards and I'm sure someone is looking for more participants for an upcoming draft. Just say you're looking to get in one this week and I'm sure someone will contact you.

rotatorcff · Post by **rotatorcff** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:31 pm

Thanks, Greg.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:34 pm

Talk to you guys tomorrow. I think I'll do this more often during the next week. I'll definitely do it every day at 3 p.m. EST and if I see a lot of people on the Message Boards early in the morning or like this at night, I'll jump in and start another thread. Thanks for the questions and keep the signups coming.