Live Chat Tonight: Ask Away

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:05 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

I must admit, Leaderboard Sports sounds a bit like my local Knights of Columbus. Wonder what the dues structure is... There's no dues.

ESPN.com fantasy games has developed what they call an 'Uber contest' - where they score you out in 3 different categories (A, B and C) - you get to throw out a few of your scores and then you add up your top scores in each category and get a rank compared to everyone else. You can also win individual prizes in each contest or you can be the 'Uber' or 'Overall' champ on ESPN's site and get a trip to the ESPY's in LA to rub shoulders with the big names. When Uber started, they also set up 'Uber groups' where you put together a group of 50 and compete with total group scores vs. everyone else in a group format. It doesn't reward you to help your competitors or your friends since anyone can beat you. I set up Leaderboard Sports with the help of a LOT of people 4 yrs. ago and we've recruited and hand picked the best gamers on the system to be in our groups. We share about 2000 fantasy games emails per month on all the contests ESPN offers and have gotten into the big money leagues as a group and individuals.

If you click on this link:

http://games.espn.go.com/uber/frontpage

That's the Uber front page on ESPN - if you click on the Leaderboard and the Lifetime Leaderboard you're going to find a lot of people with "Leaderboard American" and "Leaderboard National" next to their names. That's us.

As it works out - these contests are a great opportunity for many of us to meet each other for the first time (or sometimes 2nd or 3rd) and to get to put a face to the names we've grown to know via the internet for months or years.

I will readily grant you that putting together a fantasy bass fishing team is friggin' odd - but it's the same principals as any other sport that we're used to... you figure out value try to fill your roster with it.

As for 'dead' money? In last year's WCOFB we had 8 teams from various group members. All 8 finished in the top half of the 45 entrants and 5 were in the top 10, including the overall champ, Hojin.

My co-manager and I finished 9th overall... disappointing, but competitive.

We all feel confident, well prepared and look forward to the contests - but only a fool would prattle on about dominating any contest like this. You simply hope to put yourself in a position to get lucky... draft well and avoid injuries.

There's no trading in this league and nobody from Leaderboard will drop Halladay after half a dozen bad starts

Ask anything you like - I'll answer questions patiently and honestly.

Dyv

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:08 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? Is it too late to form my own RotoClub with Gekko and tilt the scales to our favor? K of Q - I would think our weight with Greg is about a 3 or 4. Other than the fact we are addicted fantasy gamers - we want to see Greg and the NFBC successful so we can do this every year. Given the fact we all want the same thing I would hope we can be a positive influence on the overall contest. Even if personally I'm just another jackass who posts a lot

Dave

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:11 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

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. The other Leaderboard guys can speak for themselves, but I think my vote would be to allow Urbina to be bought in either league and only eligible for stats in the league he eventually signs in. After he signs with a team, he gets the same rules as any other player. That is, if he signs with Pittsburgh, he's an NL player and if he is then traded to Detroit the NL team who bought him gets to keep his stats per the rules on interleague trades. However, the caveat I'd put in is that if an AL team buys him and holds him on the reserve list all season then they get to keep his rights should he end up in the AL.

Dave

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:24 pm

Dave, not sure I understand your logic. Are you saying that Urbina should be treated as an NL player because his prior team was an NL team? Can you explain your rationale?

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:27 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Dave, not sure I understand your logic. Are you saying that Urbina should be treated as an NL player because his prior team was an NL team? Can you explain your rationale? No, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear - using the Pittsburgh situation as an example. My feeling is he should be eligible for both leagues, but his stats would only count for the league he eventually signs with (if any)

SO, he'll be a big gamble on draft day if he's still unsigned.

I'm just trying to make the point that if he's eligible to be bought in both AL and NL that if I buy him in the AL and he signs with the NL that I should be able to hold his rights on my reserve squad and 'automatically' own him if he were to later get traded to the AL.

Sorry - is that clearer?

Dave

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:29 pm

Also, thanks to Dave for FINALLY explaining what exactly Leaderboard Sports is. All is clear now.

I'll reserve judgment until I see some of you guys in action.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:35 pm

That makes sense. I think I was confused because of what you said in one of your earlier posts today.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:35 pm

I agree with your assessment of Urbina, Dave, and his league eligibility in LABR is just what you mentioned, although he has to go in the reserve round. I think I will allow him to be bid on, but if he's selected in an AL Auction League and he signs with an NL team he will only get stats in NL Auction Leagues. I think your assessment makes a lot of sense and the way I was leaning since this morning anyway. Thanks.

Now, would the Pirates just sign him to be their closer and end this debate!!!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:41 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Also, thanks to Dave for FINALLY explaining what exactly Leaderboard Sports is. All is clear now.

I'll reserve judgment until I see some of you guys in action. I think the interesting question is one of strategy... do you draft a good all around team and hope to 'outsmart and outpredict (and outlast...lol)' everyone in your league? Do you try to punt saves or punt SP or ??

I have only small clues how we rank compared to others... but I can promise you each team will be prepared and represent us well. I won't let dead money walk in our leagues

Dave

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:30 pm

I assume it goes without saying, then, that if Urbina is acquired via bid in the NL Auction League, and he subsequently signs with the Twins, his stats don't count in that league, either.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:25 am

That would be right, if this is the way we go. Let's get a few more opinions on this and make a final decision soon.

BB of the Leaderboard · Post by **BB of the Leaderboard** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:56 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

That would be right, if this is the way we go. Let's get a few more opinions on this and make a final decision soon. I'll vote with Dyv and KoQ.

Also, I sort of asked (but had it lost in the shuffle) whether your statement that players such as Mauer who are not now on the 40 man roster "but who we know will be on opening day rosters" are available to be selected in the Big Game will apply to all players in major league camp? Or just some arbitrary subset?

Thanks.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 6:50 am

Since we're licensed to only use major league players, the bottom line is players who will be on Opening Day rosters or were on the 40-man roster at the time of the draft. By drafting Mauer, we're playing by the rules because it's obvious he will be a member of the union this year. If you ask me to guess every prospect you have in mind, I'll have to plead ignorance until you draft or just advise you that if he's a prospect he better make the Opening Day roster to be able to keep him. STATS won't be allowed to include him on your roster if he wasn't on the 40-man roster and he starts the year in the minors. He won't be in the system. Hope that helps.

BB of the Leaderboard · Post by **BB of the Leaderboard** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 12:12 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

If you ask me to guess every prospect you have in mind, I'll have to plead ignorance until you draft We aren't talking unknown prospects. Just a sampling:

Orlando Merced, Sean Bergman, Rudy Seanez, Bobby Estellela, Doug Creek, Joe Vitello, James Baldwin, John Mabry, Ricky Bottalico, Willie Banks, Rodney Myers, Eric Owens, Terry Mulholland, Fred McGriff, Bobby Chouinard, Jose Offerman, Ruben Mateo, Willis Roberts, Luis Figeroa, Henry Rodriguez, Brad Clontz, Hector Carrasco, Armando Rios, Homer Bush, Joe Girardi, Mark McLemore.

All players with major league time and presumably members of the MLBPA. But I believe that none of these players, or other similarly situated players, are yet on the 40-man roster of the team that signed them to a minor league contract and invited them to spring training.

So what you are telling me, as I understand it, is that if I want to draft Homer Bush or Fred McGriff under the "we know he'll be in the majors on opening day" exception, what I need to do is wait until the draft, call out his name and see if I get squashed like a bug? Sounds somewhat arbitrary and capricious.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:14 pm

All of those players can be drafted.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:17 pm

I see there are 27 people on the Message Boards right now, 19 of them unregistered. I'm here to take a few questions if any of you have some for the next 30 minutes. Anyone have anything interesting to say tonight? I'm all ears.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:21 pm

Your thoughts on Kip Wells? Will he get 15 wins this year and under a 1.20 whip? I see him as a sleeper who will go late.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:24 pm

All I will say is Kip Wells went for $8 in LABR, which is a bit low. Not many guys felt he'd reach those numbers, so we'll see. You're not planting seeds again, are you, Gordon?

seefer · Post by **seefer** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:25 pm

What the heck is the latest scoop on Rob Nen? I haven't been able to get an update since March 4.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:26 pm

From the rules…There will be a 1-minute time limit for each owner to make his/her pick during each round of the NFBC draft. If a participant does not make a selection in the allotted time, he is passed over until the next participant makes a player selection. The passed-over participant follows after the next person's pick and again has one minute to make his/her pick.

My question: What happens if the already passed-over participant doesn’t make a selection in the extra minute, does the process just repeat itself? In other words, does he get one minute after each successive participant picks, until he eventually selects a player?

viper · Post by **viper** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:26 pm

For those who have drafted in this style of league before (large rosters and no trades), do most teams try to draft a balanced team or are there a myriad of drafting schemes used.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:26 pm

I think he just started to soft toss and the feeling is it will be tough for him to be ready by Opening Day. He went for $10 in LABR, Felix Rodriguez went for $7 and Matt Herges went for $7. I'm not sure what else to say.

viper · Post by **viper** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:28 pm

Gordon ... I suspect you are correct but Greg will change their team name to the Minnesota Vikings

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:29 pm

I would say there are going to be a myriad of plans used. I think obviously the first thing you want to do is win your league title. That's hard enough, to beat 14 other knowledgeable owners. You can't be too unconventional to do that. But to win it all, I really think you need to be balanced in every category. That doesn't mean the winner will use that strategy, but I think with the scoring so high in every category it will be tough to tank in one category and still win the grand prize. Just my take, however.

viper · Post by **viper** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:29 pm

Is there a good chance that we can put in team names Wednesday?