Welcome To All Of Our New NFBC Members

[Greg Ambrosius]

I have to admit, the best part about this offseason -- aside from the spring-like weather in Wisconsin -- is the arrival of so many new NFBC members. I've never seen so many new names entering our contests by January. Many of you are jumping into the NFBC Slow Drafts, but several of you are also jumping into our live events, Satellite Leagues and Online Championship. WELCOME TO THE NFBC FAMILY!!

When we get new signups for the live events, I try to reach out to those people via email and just ask where they heard about the NFBC. For some of our new members in the Main Event, they have said they read about this Lindy guy in the New York Times who won $300,000+ in our contest and they are ready to step up their game and do the same thing. That article has probably been our biggest booster of new signups. Others said they have been following the NFBC for years and have just now decided to jump into our events. And others say they like the format of the Slow Drafts and are getting involved in fantasy baseball sooner than ever before that way.

If you have access to the Message Boards and are a new NFBC member, jump on this thread to introduce yourself. Let us know where you heard about the NFBC, what contests you're planning on playing in 2012 and give us a little background of your fantasy baseball experiences. We'd all be interested in knowing more about you. And if you're not Registered for the boards yet, just click on the Register button and once you're done with that email us at [email protected] for approval. We need that extra approval step to keep the spammers off our site. Sorry about that, but it works.

There's no doubt in my mind that we'll attract a lot of new players once spring training arrives and people start looking for good pay games. But it's VERY encouraging to see so many new players in our Slow Drafts now. We know they will like that format and hopefully that will lead to more contests they'll join. Enjoy and have fun. And THANKS for joining the NFBC.

Now let's hear about ya....

[Glenneration X]

I know this isn't what Greg was looking for as far as responses in this thread, but I wanted to chime in for all the new players to our event. I was a new player to this contest in 2009. I now consider myself a lifer. If you love fantasy sports and you love competition at the greatest levels, you've found the right place. Welcome, you're in for a great time.

[OaktownSteve]

I have been playing Rotisserie since I organized my first league after buying the book in 1985. I think I've done a league every year but one since then. I read a few blogs online and NFBC comes up from time to time. After having my best couple of years ever the last two, I've decided it's time to step up in class. I will be participating in the April 1 auction in Las Vegas. For me auctions are by far the most fun. I've been reviewing everybody's strategies from the auction last year and I can already tell there are great players with well thought out and diverse strategies so I'm looking forward to the challenge.

[Atlas]

Who's gonna tell them about Walla Walla?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I have been playing Rotisserie since I organized my first league after buying the book in 1985. I think I've done a league every year but one since then. I read a few blogs online and NFBC comes up from time to time. After having my best couple of years ever the last two, I've decided it's time to step up in class. I will be participating in the April 1 auction in Las Vegas. For me auctions are by far the most fun. I've been reviewing everybody's strategies from the auction last year and I can already tell there are great players with well thought out and diverse strategies so I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Welcome aboard Steve and best of luck in the NFBC Auction Championship. Glad to have you on board. It sounds like you're more than ready for the next step up.

[G1AZM]

I'm excited to join the party. I'll be drafting online in both the Main and XII the second weekend and probably entering the online championship as well. I wish I was going to a live event, but we're moving from Iowa to Texas in March and there's too much schedule uncertainty that drafting live will have to wait a year. I had a pretty good year in the salary cap games last year and want to see how well I can do in more of a skill contest. I'm probably shark-bait with my inexperience, but I'm sure I'll enjoy the challenge.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I'm excited to join the party. I'll be drafting online in both the Main and XII the second weekend and probably entering the online championship as well. I wish I was going to a live event, but we're moving from Iowa to Texas in March and there's too much schedule uncertainty that drafting live will have to wait a year. I had a pretty good year in the salary cap games last year and want to see how well I can do in more of a skill contest. I'm probably shark-bait with my inexperience, but I'm sure I'll enjoy the challenge.

This is an excellent debut post. Welcome aboard and best of luck in both of these Main Events and hopefully the Online Championship. I doubt that you'll be shark-bait. As Glenn stated, we have a lot of guys who did well their first year and continued to improve each year after that. Just remember to keep grinding via FAAB each and every week because every single statistic matters in this competition. You can't afford to take a single week off when it comes to picking up players. A solid draft and 26 weeks of free-agent grinding is the perfect recipe to winning in the NFBC.

Let's hear from some more newcomers. I can't believe how many new members we've gotten these last two weeks. Register for the Message Boards and let us know where you heard about us. We'd love to learn more about each of you.

[Captain Hook]

Register for the Message Boards and let us know where you heard about us

Greg this is the key - so many people register and don't even know about the message boards OR how much information is available for them here. Why can't your system send a Welcome Email with necessary information AND a link to the message boards?

[Quahogs]

Register for the Message Boards and let us know where you heard about us

Greg this is the key - so many people register and don't even know about the message boards OR how much information is available for them here. Why can't your system send a Welcome Email with necessary information AND a link to the message boards?

Great idea Hook! Get the word out Greg that the NFBC is not one of those impersonal online contests. That the backbone of the NFBC is its LIVE events where you can meet and greet and see the same folks year after year. The NFBC is a living and breathing community and the boards are just an extension of that...

[Winston's Empire]

Welcome aboard to all the new players coming into the NFBC this year! This is simply a home away from home and baseball lives 365 days a year here! Get involved on the boards, it makes a big difference. I found my way to the NFBC through a FB magazine showing 2008 Overall Champion Robert Jurney with a huge check! I drafted in the Main Event - Chicago in 2009 and Bob was actually at my table and I thought that was awesome!
Ever since I first made contact with the NFBC, I have been hooked! I know you new guys will look around and like what you see here too! Best of luck in 2012!

[Rainiers]

Register for the Message Boards and let us know where you heard about us

Greg this is the key - so many people register and don't even know about the message boards OR how much information is available for them here. Why can't your system send a Welcome Email with necessary information AND a link to the message boards?

Greg, I second this. A couple years ago I was clueless about the importance of the message boards and almost missed the prompts for kds submittal. And it serves as a good link for travel information, strategy development, etc. That would be helpful in the introduction and development of new NFBC players.

A little intro on etiquette when posting, when drafting in slow drafts, tutorials on how to post pics, avatars, etc would be good as well.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Register for the Message Boards and let us know where you heard about us

Greg this is the key - so many people register and don't even know about the message boards OR how much information is available for them here. Why can't your system send a Welcome Email with necessary information AND a link to the message boards?

Greg, I second this. A couple years ago I was clueless about the importance of the message boards and almost missed the prompts for kds submittal. And it serves as a good link for travel information, strategy development, etc. That would be helpful in the introduction and development of new NFBC players.

A little intro on etiquette when posting, when drafting in slow drafts, tutorials on how to post pics, avatars, etc would be good as well.

We do send out an email confirmation to every single signup, but sure, I can add more text to that if needed. Heck, I'll even set a day aside next week when Tom returns to personally sign up everyone for the Message Boards if they need help finding these forums. Not everyone wants to spend time on these forums, but sure, we'll do everything we can to recruit more eyeballs here. It's an important part of our contest and as you can see I spend a lot of time here. We'll gladly do that.

Heck, our Message Boards are even civil again, and informative!! I feel safe sending people here, certainly much more than I did in the past.

[Glenneration X]

Heck, our Message Boards are even civil again, and informative!! I feel safe sending people here, certainly much more than I did in the past.

Greg, you obviously haven't been paying attention to the Massotto thread then.

[Atlas]

Heck, our Message Boards are even civil again, and informative!! I feel safe sending people here, certainly much more than I did in the past.

Greg, you obviously haven't been paying attention to the Massotto thread then.

Awww...leave the Jersey boys alone.
Just ignore us...that's what my ex wife does.

[BaseonBallz21]

Joined back in December - Already participated in a 375 Slow and will be doing a 125 online in March. Wanted something different from the usual ESPN/YAHOO/CBS leagues. Kept hearing about the NFBC as apart of the SIRUS/XM Fantasy Channel. Alot of different formats and structures is what drew me to the NFBC. Finally getting to know who Greg from NFBC ( heard the name in the expert drafts ) and then not to plug but heard about Todd and Mastersball through the message boards was able to get more advice on fantasy baseball. I must say the Countdown is my daily read every morning.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Joined back in December - Already participated in a 375 Slow and will be doing a 125 online in March. Wanted something different from the usual ESPN/YAHOO/CBS leagues. Kept hearing about the NFBC as apart of the SIRUS/XM Fantasy Channel. Alot of different formats and structures is what drew me to the NFBC. Finally getting to know who Greg from NFBC ( heard the name in the expert drafts ) and then not to plug but heard about Todd and Mastersball through the message boards was able to get more advice on fantasy baseball. I must say the Countdown is my daily read every morning.

Awesome post. Welcome aboard.

I have to admit that the only thing more surprising to me this past month outside of the incredibly spring-like weather in Wisconsin is the incredible amount of new signups the NFBC has received so far. I mean, every day there are 5 or more new people joining a Slow Draft League who had never competed in the NFBC before. I've never seen so many new players entering our contest before and most of them are for the Slow Draft Leagues. I sure hope many of you do other NFBC events, but for now WELCOME for sure.

I'm going to make it a mission this next week for Tom and I to email and reach out to our latest new members and just see where they heard of us and how they decided to jump into the Slow Drafts. I suspect when baseball shows up in Arizona and Florida very soon that we'll get some more newbies, but the pace of brand new members so far is heart warming for sure. I'm loving it.

Feel free to give them a hearty NFBC welcome as well.

And again, if you're a first year member here and you have access to post on the Message Boards, say hello on this thread and let us know how you heard of us. We'd like to get to know you better and I know you can contribute as much as our old patrons. WELCOME and BEST OF LUCK this year.

[Packman]

I am not exactly a NFBC newbie, but am new to posting on these boards, and this will be my first year in the Main Event. I first started in the NFBC in 2009, with the inaugural year of the Online Championship, owning just the one team in that event. I enjoyed that experience, and I have upped my number of teams by 1 each year since. In 2010 I had one Double Play team and a satellite team. Then last year I bought a 3 pack of Online Double Play teams. After enjoying some success last year in the Online Double Play (3rd overall) and elsewhere, I feel ready to take on the sharks in the Main Event, as well as having another 3 pack of Online Championship teams. I have enjoyed each of the last 3 seasons in the NFBC, and as Glenneration X stated earlier in this thread, now see myself as being a lifer here at the NFBC. I am much looking forward to the Main Event and the baseball season in general. I flipped the page on football as soon as the Packers got knocked out of the playoffs (that was a dark day...), and have been diligently studying up and getting ready for the step up in competition. I have followed along on these boards more and more since I started in 2009. I'm not sure why it took me so long to decide to post something, but I guess this is my formal hello to the boards
Mike from Colorado (but a transplant from Wisconsin)

[Greg Ambrosius]

Nice post Mike and nice progression in the NFBC. Best of luck in the Main Event and in the Online Championship. That's the way to go, for sure!!! And to hear that you're a transplant from Wisconsin and still a Packers' fan is even better. I was at Lambeau Field on that dark, dark day against the Giants and it didn't even look like the same Packers' team we watched all year long. But the Giants took it to us right from the first play and were more physical, made all the big plays and proved to be the better team. It sucked, but their playoff run sure reminded all of us here how we did the same thing last year. The only good thing since then is that it's been spring-like weather here since January and I'm sure we have less snow here than you have in Colorado. We barely have a trace here.

Keep posting and keep winning in the NFBC. Nice debut post. Welcome aboard.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Tom is reaching out to a lot of our new NFBC owners today with an email asking them where they found us and what is bringing them to the NFBC. Without identifying them, we'll post some of the responses here. I love to hear this because as we've tried to grow the NFBC we've added some new games and concepts to cater to everyone's busy schedules. Not all of them have worked, but we keep trying. I certainly never expected the NFBC Online Championship to grow the way it did and as I sit here today I can certainly say the same thing about these crazy Slow Draft Leagues!!

That "Draft 'n Hold" format is bringing in many of our newest members and honestly it's amazing. If you look at the last few Slow Draft Leagues, each had 6-8 new members in the league, people who have never played with us before. I just asked one of the current signups how he heard about us and what brought him to the NFBC Slow Draft and he said:

"I have a coworker who runs a head to head 12 team league every year full of experienced fantasy guys. We have been talking about finding an alternative league that didn't require much roster maintenance, just lineups each week, and he somehow found your site through the web. He spread the word and I know that several of our 12 person league have signed up for the slow drafts. We really like the expanded rosters and ability to draft over many days."

It's great to have all of these guys on board and I hope they enjoy the new format and eventually check out our other games. We've been looking for a good way to bring in new customers to the NFBC and the Online Championship is part of that process. Now I think the Slow Drafts will even trump that for new arrivals. Great job and thanks for the feedback. We'll post more of the responses here all week.

[All-IN]

Great to hear Greg. I was tired of getting beat up by the same crew every year!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Great to hear Greg. I was tired of getting beat up by the same crew every year!!

Agreed. We all want to get beat up by a new crew!!

Honestly, it's good for all of us to grow the user base. That's why we expanded to the 12-team events and why we need the NFBC XII to succeed. It's going to bring in new users, just like the Slow Drafts are doing. And that's good for all of us. And as we've found every year, there's a lot of untapped talent in the fantasy community that shines when they get here. We just need to get them here.

[avian]

This NFBC rookie has been playing fantasy baseball in various formats since the mid 1980s. I have been looking for a more competetive league for some time and ran across NFBC via Baseball HQ's material. I am starting small with an NFBC XII team in Chicago. In a rare stroke of genius, I enticed my wife to approve this adventure with tales of the greatest of the Windy City which she has not previously visited. I also paid the co-owner fee so that she can help at the draft table. She's taken to the prep like a trooper.

[PGromek]

you'll have a great time in Chicago.

you can't beat the competition and fun of the NFBC

[Edwards Kings]

This NFBC rookie has been playing fantasy baseball in various formats since the mid 1980s. I have been looking for a more competetive league for some time and ran across NFBC via Baseball HQ's material. I am starting small with an NFBC XII team in Chicago. In a rare stroke of genius, I enticed my wife to approve this adventure with tales of the greatest of the Windy City which she has not previously visited. I also paid the co-owner fee so that she can help at the draft table. She's taken to the prep like a trooper.

If you both like pizza, take her to Giordanos while you are there. There is one very near where the Chicago draft will be held at 9415 W. HIGGINS RD. ROSEMONT, IL 60018. And send me a slice in Vegas!

[headhunters]

geez- just what we need- a Georgia guy talking about pizza in Chicago. How would you like it if we recommended places for peach cobbler or fried chicken down in atlanta? Go back to worrying about how shallow 3rd base is. PS- top 15 3rd base= miggy, bautista, longoria, beltre, wright, young, , lawrie, zimmerman, sandoval, YOOOOOOOOK (for 2 months or so) steroid boy (ditto) , a ram, hanly, reynolds and maybe moustakis. Deepest position in baseball big guy.