The Main Event

[DOUGHBOYS]

I have a friend who knows my obsession for baseball and in particular, fantasy baseball. He is a casual baseball fan and does not play fantasy baseball at all. He understands that when visiting at his house that I will need to use his computer. If off season to check on drafts. If in season to check on games.
He likes to say things like, "Give me an early 60's Cincy first baseman", and gets a kick when I respond with 'Gordy Coleman'.
He shakes his head and says, "Nobody calls their kid 'Gordy' or Gordon anymore". I smile, a quick think about 'Gordon Gekko' in my mind.

He asks me how many drafts I've completed. "I start my 11th tomorrow".
"11!?....SPRING TRAINING HASN'T EVEN STARTED!"
"I know." "Believe me, I know."
"Do you get the same players in every draft or are they different each time?"
"Some of the same players are on a lot of teams, but I'll be rooting for a lot of different players this year."
"Does one team mean more than another and what is the ultimate goal here for you?"
I told him to sit down. That this explanation would take awhile....

I explained about the coolness of an auction and how it must be tried again, again, and probably again.
I explained about the early drafts that start even before the last season had ended and how it establishes adp.
And then explained adp itself.
I explained about DC drafts. These wonderful little gizmo's that pass time during the off season that keeps us in touch with where players should go.

The ultimate goal?
As for myself, the early drafts, the auction, the Draft Championships all mean little compared to the Main Event.
There are Supers, Diamonds, and Ultimates for bigger money. They don't mean as much to me as winning the Main Event.
They're just for folks who have more money to spend.
The NFBC was built on the Main Event.
It is THE contest, bar none.
We have several, even hundreds of Champions of leagues every year. They are for the most part, forgotten.
Except for the Main Event winners.

The Main Event is 'the Masters' in golf. 'The World Series' in baseball. 'The Super Bowl' in football.
The games leading up to the Main Event are not forgotten or discarded, but they become a poor second place.
The Main Event title is the one title coveted most.
There are media drafts that create controversy when drafting, but few remember the actual winners, Including myself.

I could see a time where the Draft Champions jackpot exceeds that of the Main Event. It won't matter.
$100,000....$125,000....it could be either. It could be less or more, it doesn't matter.
Like 'The Masters' in golf, the Main Event is not about the money collected. Hardly a soul knows how much money a golfer receives for winning the Masters.
He's won the Masters. Dammit.
He'll be called 'Champ'.
And he'll actually turn his head if somebody calls out, "Hey Champ!" The Main Event winner can do that.
It is the pride in wearing that virtual green coat. To know that we have beaten the best of the best at a game we all love.
In the greatest of all tournaments, the Main Event.

My friend smiled.
"You know you have issues, right?"
I agreed.
He smiled again and said he'd be going out of town on business during the next week. That one of the company heads he'd be meeting with was a fantasy baseball player.
"I'm going to tell him he ain't crap unless he enters the NFBC Main Event".

[Gekko]

It all comes down to money

[DOUGHBOYS]

It all comes down to money

And for you, recognition.
You've received a lot of both.

[Gekko]

If forced to choose, I want the money!!!

[Roy's Outlaws]

NO MARK, YOUR WIFE WANT THE MONEY