We've Reached Out To Chicago Auction Owners

[Greg Ambrosius]

I sent an email to all 15 Chicago Auction League owners from last season to gauge their interest in a Windy City Reunion in March of this year. I feel bad about abandoning the Windy City this year and after being contacted by a few owners there I thought I'd email the group to see what we could do in 2014. I can't guarantee that we'll return to Chicago, but if the demand is there we'll do everything we can to help these owners.

We'd host the NFBC Auction Championship on Friday, March 28 at 4 pm CT in Chicago if there were enough owners. Every owner I've talked with so far would only do the auction in Chicago; nobody was planning to compete in New York or Las Vegas. Several owners also said they were up for more than the Auction League and would do at least a Main Event, so that's encouraging.

If you have interest in a live event in Chicago, contact me at [email protected]. We will gauge the demand and see what we can do over the next couple of weeks. Right now we have 5 owners who would definitely do the Chicago Auction League, so thanks for the feedback there. Interesting.

Let us know your thoughts and we'll see what comes of Chicago.

[Likewhat17]

I wasn't in the Chicago auction last year due to travel restrictions, but competed the previous year. I'd surely do the Auction and the Main Event in Chicago if the option was available.


Thanks!

[COZ]

I feel bad about abandoning the Windy City this year and after being contacted by a few owners there I thought I'd email the group to see what we could do in 2014. I can't guarantee that we'll return to Chicago, but if the demand is there we'll do everything we can to help these owners.

No need to apologize, Greg. If there is not enough support from Chicago, can't say I blame you for pulling the plug here. At least you're giving us the opportunity to gauge interest for next year. Surprised you're even doing that. If nobody steps forward in Chicago, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Hopefully, Chicago'll will have a similar reaction as the public did with Twinkies, announce its cancelled, and hopefully demand will skyrocket.

COZ

[uky]

I feel bad about abandoning the Windy City this year and after being contacted by a few owners there I thought I'd email the group to see what we could do in 2014. I can't guarantee that we'll return to Chicago, but if the demand is there we'll do everything we can to help these owners.

No need to apologize, Greg. If there is not enough support from Chicago, can't say I blame you for pulling the plug here. At least you're giving us the opportunity to gauge interest for next year. Surprised you're even doing that. If nobody steps forward in Chicago, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Hopefully, Chicago'll will have a similar reaction as the public did with Twinkies, announce its cancelled, and hopefully demand will skyrocket.

COZ

Absolutely Chris, hopefully it will work out and we can have a few live events in Chicago, or at least the auction.

Greg, if Chicago is scaled down even more than last year, would there be a consideration to having the auction on Saturday or even Sunday morning? I ask this strictly for personal reasons, taking work into consideration.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I wasn't in the Chicago auction last year due to travel restrictions, but competed the previous year. I'd surely do the Auction and the Main Event in Chicago if the option was available.


Thanks!

After our initial email, we did get 7 owners who said they would definitely return for the auction and a majority of those owners would also do a Main Event. We'll see where it takes us during the next couple of weeks because obviously we'd need more owners to fill an auction league, but it's an interesting start. Here's a look at those owners who would compete in the Chicago Auction League:

Possible Chicago Auction League
Friday, March 28, 4 pm CT
1. Vinny Escamilla
2. Bill Cleavenger
3. Chris Cosley
4. Mike Diedrich
5. Dan van der Stuyf
6. Dave Shovein
7. George Puhl

Again, it's a nice start and we'll make a call on this next month, but if you're interested in a Midwest auction, give me a shout at [email protected] or post your intentions here. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We are now up to 9 owners who would come to Chicago for the NFBC Auction Championship on Friday, March 28th. None of these owners are currently planning to do an auction in any other city, this is revealing news. I appreciate all 9 owners reaching out to me and letting me know about their plans for March so early in the off-season. We're headed in the right direction here and we'll just see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

Here's a look at the current list of owners who would do a Chicago NFBC Auction League:

Possible Chicago Auction League
Friday, March 28, 4 pm CT
1. Vinny Escamilla
2. Bill Cleavenger
3. Chris Cosley
4. Mike Diedrich
5. Dan van der Stuyf
6. Dave Shovein
7. George Puhl
8. Derrick Kaleta
9. Doug Gruber

[Daveclum]

If we can have the classic, prime, and 14 team auction. I would love to join the gang in chitown.Dave Clum.

[Greg Ambrosius]

If we can have the classic, prime, and 14 team auction. I would love to join the gang in chitown.Dave Clum.

Sounds good Dave. Interesting. Are you also thinking of going to Las Vegas the next weekend? Either way, THANKS.

Okay, we do have more interest in the Chicago Auction and the Main Event there. I am hearing from others who are passionate about having a live event in Chicago, even if it is 1 or 2 leagues. The camaraderie of the owners is great in the Midwest and some folks want to keep it going. We'll figure this all out and post an update soon.

Anyway, we are getting closer on the Chicago Auction and nobody here is real interested in doing this anywhere else:

Possible Chicago Auction League
Friday, March 28, 4 pm CT
1. Vinny Escamilla
2. Bill Cleavenger
3. Chris Cosley
4. Mike Diedrich
5. Dan van der Stuyf
6. Dave Shovein
7. George Puhl
8. Derrick Kaleta
9. Doug Gruber
10. Dave Clum
11. Dave G (tentative)
12. Paul Webert (tentative)

Anyone else up for this in Chicago?

[uky]

Don't see Paul Weber or Mr and Mrs John Pausma on here yet.

just kiddin' Jack

[Greg Ambrosius]

Don't see Paul Weber or Mr and Mrs John Pausma on here yet.

just kiddin' Jack

Paul is going to be drafting Online this year, but he will be active with us. Jack and John are too busy winning millions in fantasy football right now to jump into baseball mode. But yeah, there are some potential owners still out there. I like what I'm seeing here and knowing that nobody is doing the auction anywhere else is intriguing. We don't want to lose this group if possible, so let's see if there are still 4 or 5 other owners out there. Thanks all.

[JohnP]

Don't see Paul Weber or Mr and Mrs John Pausma on here yet.

just kiddin' Jack

Paul is going to be drafting Online this year, but he will be active with us. Jack and John are too busy winning millions in fantasy football right now to jump into baseball mode. But yeah, there are some potential owners still out there. I like what I'm seeing here and knowing that nobody is doing the auction anywhere else is intriguing. We don't want to lose this group if possible, so let's see if there are still 4 or 5 other owners out there. Thanks all.

Maybe Jack is winning millions in football. I keep running into this guy named Jared. You know the advertisement......"He went to Jared!"? I think a whole bunch of owners can say "Our checks went to Jared!".

[uky]

Don't see Paul Weber or Mr and Mrs John Pausma on here yet.

just kiddin' Jack

Paul is going to be drafting Online this year, but he will be active with us. Jack and John are too busy winning millions in fantasy football right now to jump into baseball mode. But yeah, there are some potential owners still out there. I like what I'm seeing here and knowing that nobody is doing the auction anywhere else is intriguing. We don't want to lose this group if possible, so let's see if there are still 4 or 5 other owners out there. Thanks all.

Maybe Jack is winning millions in football. I keep running into this guy named Jared. You know the advertisement......"He went to Jared!"? I think a whole bunch of owners can say "Our checks went to Jared!".

Gotta watch that Jared guy, John. I've run into him before.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Paul is going to be drafting Online this year, but he will be active with us. Jack and John are too busy winning millions in fantasy football right now to jump into baseball mode. But yeah, there are some potential owners still out there. I like what I'm seeing here and knowing that nobody is doing the auction anywhere else is intriguing. We don't want to lose this group if possible, so let's see if there are still 4 or 5 other owners out there. Thanks all.

Maybe Jack is winning millions in football. I keep running into this guy named Jared. You know the advertisement......"He went to Jared!"? I think a whole bunch of owners can say "Our checks went to Jared!".

Gotta watch that Jared guy, John. I've run into him before. [/quote]

Jared likes the $100,000 grand prize we now have in the NFBC Primetime and he LOVES auction leagues. Maybe we can talk him into trying out baseball this year as well to keep Chicago alive. He needs a diversion from football anyway!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Two more tentatives bring us closer to 15. I'm liking the passion of this group. I've heard from a few of you who say you will draft anywhere, anytime to keep the camaraderie going with this group. Love it. Thanks all.

Here's a tentative list so far:


Possible Chicago Auction League
Friday, March 28, 4 pm CT
1. Vinny Escamilla
2. Bill Cleavenger
3. Chris Cosley
4. Mike Diedrich
5. Dan van der Stuyf
6. Dave Shovein
7. George Puhl
8. Derrick Kaleta
9. Doug Gruber
10. Dave Clum
11. Dave G (tentative)
12. Paul Webert (tentative)

[headhunters]

jack and john will be in. they should join separately. the have the $ and with me in there they only have to beat 13 players.

[Greg Ambrosius]

jack and john will be in. they should join separately. the have the $ and with me in there they only have to beat 13 players.

John reached out to me yesterday for more information on this and he's excited to learn about the possibility of an auction in Chicago, but he wants the Mains, too. Let's put him down as a possible 13th here to strengthen our case for doing this. As a Packers fan, I'll let him change his mind later if needed. But we're looking better:

Possible Chicago Auction League
Friday, March 28, 4 pm CT
1. Vinny Escamilla
2. Bill Cleavenger
3. Chris Cosley
4. Mike Diedrich
5. Dan van der Stuyf
6. Dave Shovein
7. George Puhl
8. Derrick Kaleta
9. Doug Gruber
10. Dave Clum
11. Dave G (tentative)
12. Paul Webert (tentative)
13. John P (possible)
14. George & Mike Kleemann (possible)

[The Mighty Men]

jack and john will be in. they should join separately. the have the $ and with me in there they only have to beat 13 players.

Jack's focused on winning the NFFC Super Auction right now. It is still football season.

[COZ]

jack and john will be in. they should join separately. the have the $ and with me in there they only have to beat 13 players.

Jack's focused on winning the NFFC Super Auction right now. It is still football season.

When Jack refers to Jack in the 3rd person, I think we can safely assume he'll be drafting in Vegas and not drafting in the non-3rd-person-referring-meat-and-potatoes-blue-collar-town of Chic-AAAAAgo.

COZ

[Greg Ambrosius]

I don't want to leave Chicago folks hanging too long, so let us discuss internally and then get back to everyone. I'm proud of the response so far and there appears to be a reason to look into this further. Thanks all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We will be returning to Chicago on the weekend of March 28-29 for all three events. We'll figure out locations and more, but you have convinced us that Chicago makes sense in 2014. Thanks everyone for the early responses and let's fill up this Auction League now. We'll need to create a Chicago landing page on the site before adding this city to Registration, but look for more details soon. We're happy to be back in the Windy City. Thanks all.

[Likewhat17]

Fantastic news Greg, thanks!!

[headhunters]

greg- thanks very much. mike

[uky]

Absolutely, thanks for making this happen, Greg.

[Vander]

Wonderful news. Thanks again for making this happen. Really thought it was dead.

[rkulaski]

Greg,

I'm still in football mode too hoping my Oc teams finish strong but...
I would do a Chicago main event team.
Never done an auction before so not sure I would take the plunge. I'd prefer not to be easy money this year.

Rich