2011 Pre Draft Schedule and Fun

Alrighty boys, despite all the snow on the ground progress is being made in Florida and Arizona to bring us baseball at the end of next month! That means it's almost time for the best day of the year - - DRAFT DAY!!! Below is a bunch of information regarding timelines, fees, and some new things I think you'll enjoy. Grab yourself a beverage and a snack bar and settle in. It's a long post.

Batting Leadoff - House Cleaning.
A while back I sent you your Owner Profile with new questions for 2011. If you haven't responded, please do (and if your name is Stranger Danger - a full Team Profile would be greatly appreciated).

Batting second - Timeline. Here's the timeline we're going to follow:

Roster Cut Sheets E-mailed - Monday, March 21, 2011
Roster Freeze Day - Sunday, March 27, 2011 (Cuts are due back and no more trades allowed)
Keeper/Cuts Announced - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 (Announcement probably sooner, but this will be my deadline).
Hard Freeze Day - Friday, April 1, 2011 (No joke - no more movement on the roster)
Draft Day - 1pm Saturday, April 2, 2011 (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE plan on arriving at noon or shortly thereafter. The Ruffins will invoke their Privilege at 1pm SHARP!)

Batting third - Draft Location
We will be drafting in an opulent building in downtown Naperville. The exact address will be e-mailed at a later date. However we will have access to a fridge and microwave. The room we're drafting in has plenty of outlets for laptops though we'll need to bring extension cords/power strips. THERE IS NO INTERNET ACCESS AT THE BUILDING!!

Hitting Cleanup - Fees
This year the fees remain at $120 per team. Since OnRoto isn't making us pay until sometime in May, there is no need to send your payments in early. Please bring a check or cash to the draft. Kenn, if you want to make your brother pay for you (not unlike Tom Sawyer) feel free to do so.

Now for the fun part!!!!

Something Old
Your Executive Committee has been hard at work this off-season. We have discovered that OnRoto will allow us to have both FAAB and Waivers. All of us know what FAAB is. But only those long in the CFCL tooth know what Waivers is. I sent out an e-mail recently asking you to vote on whether to reinstate waivers [thank you to the seven owners who voted, giving us a simple majority to bring back waivers]. Here's a quick synopsis of waivers - we'll talk more in detail at the draft.

When you need to get rid of a player from your roster (due to a lopsided trade or acquiring another player via FAAB) we used to simply "release" or "drop" that player back into the Free Agent Pool. Now that we have waivers, that player will be "waived". Waiver period runs from when transactions are announced on Sunday through the following Sunday 3pm transaction deadline.

Players that are on Long Term Contracts (even in their final year) may not be waived. Players traded to the AL during the season may not be waived. If their original CFCL team doesn't want that player any longer, the player is released and cannot be reacquired unless he comes back to the National League.

Players that are acquired via waiver will retain their contract status. Their salary will be their current salary or .10 which ever is greater.

Waivers work in reverse order of the standings. As I said - We'll talk about all the details on Draft Day. The specific verbage regarding waivers will be added to the Constitution once David gets a chance.

Something New

This one come from the Creative Department of the DoorMatts.

K Wood Day - Each season, startng in 2011, the CFCL team whose active pitching staff records the most strikeouts on May 6th wins a $25 gift card to mlb.com.

The Natural Day - Each season, starting in 2011, the CFCL team whose active roster produces the highest aggregate total of total bases + runs + runs batted in on June 23rd wins a $25 gift card to mlb.com.

Lights Out Day - Each season, starting in 2011, the CFCL team whose active roster produces the lowest number of points on August 8th will be named Lights Out Loser and have that moniker posted on the CFCL Internet Headquarters marquee for the remainder of the season.

The above three dates symbolize significant dates in Chicago Cub history since the CFCL has been in existence. We've chosen to commemorate Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout performance, The Sandberg Game and lights being turned on at Wrigley Field with the above rewards.

Something Borrowed

To cover the gift cards for K Wood and The Natural Days, we will use the money we saved from switching from CBS to OnRoto. Here's a breakdown of costs.

Stat Service $99
Trophy Ball $7
Trophy $14
Prize Pool $1030
Gift Cards $50

Total $1200 ($120 per team). The cost for CBS is $160, so by spending $100 on OnRoto and $50 on gift cards we actually are able to increase our prize pool by $10 without increasing fees.

Something Blue
I've got nothing here. Cub fans, think Cubbie Blue. Reds and White Sox fans . . . look at the sky.

That's it for now. Thanks for getting to the end of the post - hope it was worth it.

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

I want to start by thanking Rich for devoting an entire Monroe Doctrine to my retirement from the ownership ranks of the CFCL. Wow, if I had known I’d receive a tribute like that, I would have bowed out a long time ago – I haven’t had that many nice things said about me since … well, ever, really. Before I get all Sally Field on everyone, a couple other reactions to Rich’s piece:

• 9900 days? Really? Geez, if I had known we were that close to 10,000, I might have played another year (or at least held off on announcing my retirement until next February). “10,000 Days of Fantasy” would have made a great title for my memoirs…
• It’s phrases like “vile, despicable scum” that make the CFCL so special. Now that phrase probably means nothing to anyone other than Rich and I (and maybe The Professor) since it harkens way back to the earliest days of the league, but it’s something that’s entered our permanent vocabulary, ready to be broken out at anytime, but also reserved for very special uses. CFCL lore is littered with similar phrases and memories.
• Good god, I had forgotten that I used to actually type out the standings on my mom’s old manual typewriter – it wasn’t even an electric! I don’t know what’s more amazing: that I actually had the time to do that each week, or that I was such a loser/geek that that’s how I chose to spend the time I did have.

Pretty much everything Rich wrote is true, though I wouldn’t say it exactly tells the full story, because I had plenty of help all along the way, from Bob Monroe (who, as the CFCL’s original “Computer Mole-Man”, was the first to compile Draft Day lists and assisted with early computerization of the stat process, up to Michal C. and Matt G. (who took on some of my Front Office responsibilities over the past couple years.

And of course, there’d be no CFCL without Rich. All I did was show him a book – he’s the one who actually said, “hey, we should do this!” The league has been a true partnership from the very beginning, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner – y’all are in good hands, as you’ve seen for the past couple years.

Speaking of which, I also want to thank Rich for giving me those. As I’m sure you’ll all recall, I had originally decided to retire before the 2009 season, but it was Rich who suggested I step back on my League Office duties and focus just on the team management aspect. It did give me one last shot at a Championship in 2009, but I could have seen the writing on the wall when I couldn’t even show up at the right damn place for Draft Day in 2010.

Thanks to all of those 39 different CFCL owners who partook in the journey over the years – many of whom I did not know before the CFCL, but who I still call friends, and especially to the current group of 9. And thanks to Rich for the Monroe Doctrine tribute, the chance to play a couple more season, 27+ years of incredible experiences and indescribable fun, and for the many years of friendship still to come.

Silly Little Game

Next in the line of documentaries on the topic of fantasy baseball is "Silly Little Game", the most recent installment in ESPN's 30 for 30 series of sports documentaries.

Unlike earlier attempts that followed a bunch of nobodies playing the game ("Trading The Gator") or an obssessive nobody playing the game with a bunch of experts ("Fantasyland"), this one focusses on where it all began - the origins of the original Rotisserie League.  As the blurb on ESPN's site says, "few to none of the millions of fantasy players who make up today’s multi-billion-dollar fantasy industry know anything about its origins, nor do they pay any respect or dividends to its founders. Now they will. "

It's a different spin on the fantasy baseball doc, and one I'm looking forward to seeing.  Though I have my concerns after viewing the excerpt ESPN has posted, in which actors prortraying Dan Okrent, Lee Eisenberg, and other founding fathers at La Rotisserie Francais as swarthy chefs and waiters play baseball in the background.  Huh???  I can only hope this is a non-representative clip; if the whole film is like this, I'll be magnificently disappointed.

"Silly Little Game" premieres on Tuesday April 20, at 7:00 Central, on ESPN.  More information can be found at the film's website:  http://30for30.espn.com/film/silly-little-game.html

Opening Day Reminders

Happy Opening Day, Everyone!
A few quick reminders as we count down the hours to the first pitches of the 2010 CFCL Season:

• If you haven't done so yet, be sure to check your rosters in both locations they appear - the CBS Sportsline site and in the Excel rosters sheets available in the Download Center.  Verify not only that all your players are listed, but that their salaries and contract statuses are correct.
• You have until Noon Central today (Monday April 5) to set your active roster for the first few days of the season.  Last year, rosters were locked half an hour before the first game of the day - this year it looks like we've got up until 5 minutes before the first pitch of the first game.
• Remember that you can make moves between your Active and Reserve Rosters every Monday and Friday during the season.  You can enter your moves on any day, but every one needs to be effective on either Monday or Friday - if you're setting your roster on a different day to be effective for an upcoming Monday or Friday, be sure to specify your effective date before entering your moves.  For details on how to set the effective date for a move - in fact, for a full refresher on how to process and report all CFCL roster moves (including trades and free agent bids) review this primer from 2008.  There are couple tiny differences (rosters locking 5 minutes before the first game vs 30 minutes, for example), but by and large everything still applies:  CFCL Transaction Primer.
• Our first Free Agent Bidding date will be Sunday April 11, with a bidding deadline of 3:00 PM Central Time.  See the CFCL Transaction Primer for details about how to e-mail in your bids.
• Remember to check in every week or so with the Monroe Doctrine for the most recent ruminations from Rich.  There's a link to the Doctrine in the sidebar over to the right.
• Finally, for those of you who have Comcast, don't forget that you get a free preview of MLB's Extra Innings package for the first week of the season (April 5-11), which should allow you to see nearly every game being played in MLB.

Good luck, everyone.  Here's to another great season!

More on Fantasyland

The buzz around the March 19 premiere of "Fantasyland" continues to grow.  The makers have a fairly active Facebook page going, they've posted additional videos on their YouTube page (it's not clear if they're outtakes or excerpts from the finished film), and SnagFilms has posted a trailer on their site that is worth checking out:  http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/fantasyland_preview_premiering_on_snagfilms_march_19/

In what I've seen so far, the Facebook comments and video clips seem to focus on the fantasy-baseball-players-are-oddball-geeks aspect (tales of trades made on honeymoon nights, during shivas and funerals, while having sex for cripessakes), and while humerous, they get old pretty fast.  I'm hoping that what's been posted so far is just material collected during the search for the "regular guy" be featured in the film and is not representative of the film itself.

That said, it does look like a well made film, and as the bizare nature of the game's participants isn't the main focus, it should be alot of fun.

As an interesting side-note, "Trading the Gator" clips show up quite often in the "Related Videos" section on YouTube...

Fantasyland - The Movie

Word was sent out this week that the documentary movie version of "Fantasyland", the book by reporter Sam Walker in which he chronicles his rookie season in the Tout Wars expert league, is finally prepping for release.  Rather than a broadcast, it sounds like this will be a direct-to-web release.  I had given up hope of ever seeing this, since it covers the 2008 season (at least, that was the original intent).  The film has "regular guy" Jed Latkin filling Sam Walker's non-expert role for a season in the AL-only Tout Wars.

The film has a tangential CFCL connection, as former CFCLer Jason Grey is one of the experts participating in Tout Wars AL.

The film is due to be released on March 19 , when it will be posted at http://fantasylandfilm.com/ or  http://snagfilms.com/.

An outtake snippet posted on YouTube has Jed trying to get an update on Barry Bonds' situation from Bonds' agent Jeff Borris (and oddly thinking he's speaking to Scott Boras).



Edit to note that the clip is an outtake and not in the final cut of the film...

Blast from the (kinda) CFCL Past

Watching the overtime in the Vikings-Saints game tonight, a Sears commercial featuring Brett Favre caught me eye:



Brett's co-star in the clip is Brad Morris - producer/director of Trading the Gator, the fantasy baseball documentary from 2002 in which the CFCL played a featured role.  Brad  is (or was, last I heard) involved with Second City Improv in Chicago - it's nice to see him hobnobbing with the goat of the NFC Championship game.

A Voice From The Past

Longtime CFCLers - heck, all CFCLers - should check out the following internet radio show:

Chicago Baseball Week in Review

That's right, those are the dulcet tones of our own Eric Lamb wafting over the airwaves (or whatever the internet version of "airwaves" are). You can listen to the show at the link above, and even subscribe to podcasts in iTunes.

Internet radio is a mixed bag and you're never sure what you're going to get, but Eric and his partner Brian do a great job of breaking down the latest happenings on the North and South sides of Chicago, and certainly don't hold back their disgust with the way things are going.

Check it out!

PS. Speaking of blasts from the past, in the car on my way to work Monday morning I heard something about Heath Slocumb beating out Tiger Woods in some tourament or another. That can't be the same Heathcliff Slocumb that pitched so superbly for the Cubs, Cards, Red Sox and others in the 90s can it? Talk about a successful career change!

(Ok, I'm assuming it's not the same guy. But given how closely I follow golf, I'm actually half serious. It's not him, right?)

Happy Mother's Day!

A CFCL Tradition...

"For all the moms and dads who take special time out of their lives to make sure their kids are able to play the great sport of baseball, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You prioritize your family, and that's crucial for a healthy world, to make sure our families remain strong." - George W. Bush

Winter Meetings Preview

This has apparently been around a while, but it's the first time I've seen it. My brother Paul passed it on to me... thanks Paul!

NOTE: The subtitles are not all safe for work...

YES!

Addendum to previous All-Star Game post:

He gone! Carlos (NL) whiffs Carlos (AL) to send it to the 14th.

All-Star Grumblings

As I sit here watching a very entertaining All-Star contest carry into the 13th inning, I wonder (once again):

• Why can't we start these games at a reasonable time? The Hall of Famer opening was nice, but by the time it was done, it was damn near 8:00 Central. My kids were enjoying the heck out of the game, but I had to send the two youngest to bed before we ever reached the 9th. I know it's an event and all, but they've got an early call for day camp in the AM, and 10:00 was our cutoff. It's a shame they had to miss all this.
• If it's so important that guys like Kazmir and Webb not get in the game, and if using Marmol is such a scary proposition, why are they on the team? If a guy is starts the Sunday before the AS game, give him an "honorary" slot and put a usable pitcher on the roster.
• After the last time we had an extra inning tie, a big deal was made about making the game mean something by giving home field advantage to the AS winner. I've never understood how that action was supposed to prevent ties, but now that we're possibly in the situation again, who gets home field advantage if we do, in fact, end in a tie?

At least Dennis Cook may have (hopefully) saved us from the "Uggla Loss for the NL" headlines.

Go Nationals!

Yoo Hoo to Arms!

In this week's Monroe Doctrine, Rich writes about some of the minutia in the CFCL Consitution. He even mentions something that's missing from our rules - the Rotisserie League's Yoo Hoo Ceremony.

He writes about the Doctrine's namesake, Bob Monroe's, experience undergoing the ritual at the hands of his son Ryan:

Bob Monroe was out of town at the end of the season in which he won the title. So he had his kids dump a bottle of Yoo-Hoo on him while his wife took photographic evidence for the league.

Here, for your enjoyment, is that photographic evidence:

Ok... I realize there may be some cleansing of the pallate needed after viewing the above, so here's a link to something to take your mind off of it: an excerpt from the original Rotisserie League Baseball book: A Yoo-Hoo to Arms

Hmmm. These reminiscences have me a bit nostalgic. Now that it's pretty darn clear that the Copperfields have no chance at the 2008 title, maybe it's time we reinstate the Yoo Hoo ceremony...

You Decide: Real or Fake?

Incredible catch by the Fresno Grizzlies ballgirl, or incredible editing job??

NEWS FLASH: Fantasy Owner Rips Team in Media

When I saw this headline, I thought it might have been our own Steve Olson. It's not, but still a good read...Link to article: Fantasy Baseball Owner Rips Team In Media

Official Period 10 Standings

Here are the official standings for Period 10. These point totals will be used to determine the winner of the Dallas Green Award as described in an earlier post.

Period 10 Point Totals
80.5 - Morkertzuma's Revenge
78.5 - Steve's Stones
77.0 - Graging Bulls
76.0 - Dem Rebels
74.5 - David's Ruffins
69.0 - DoorMatts
66.5 - Nick's Picts
62.5 - Mo's Red Hots
60.0 - Kenndoza Line
56.0 - Candy Colored Clowns
51.0 - David's Copperfields
28.5 - Moore Better

How Addicted Are (Were) You?

A multiple choice fantasy sports quiz to evaluate how obssessed you are with this pastime:

Sports Crack: Fantasy Sports Quiz

I found I needed to adapt some of the questions here and there, since I'm not one of those oddballs that partakes of non-baseball fantasy sports, but it wasn't too tough to adjust.

Also, a few questions in I realized I was thinking "I'm a 'B' now, but a few years ago I would have said 'D'." I guess I've got to face it - I'm no longer the RotoNut I was in my heyday (1990-2000, probably). I still love the game, but real life has invaded to the point that I can no longer devote the time and effort to it that I once did (and, boy, does it show). I imagine others among us are in the same boat.

Anyway, I ended up choosing two answers to each question - one reflecting my current state, and one based on how I remember myself behaving 10-15 years ago.

Out of a possible 40 points, my scores were:
2008 me: 24 points
1990s me: 34 points

Sounds about right...

Period 10

We're coming to the end of 2008's 10th reporting period, which is a significant milepost in the CFCL season.

The standings in Period 10 are what we use as the benchmark for the Dallas Green Award, which goes to the CFCL team that gains the most points from Period 10 until the end of the season.

The award is named for the architect of the Cubs' near-championship season in 1984, which was due in a large part to in-season acquisitions of players like Rick Suttcliffe and Dennis Eckersley.

The goal of the award is to recognize the CFCL GM who does the best job of improving their team during the season. We chose Period 10's standings as the starting point because it eliminated much of the flukiness of early-season standings, but also left enough of the season for GMs to have an impact on their team's fortunes.

A look at the Dallas Green Award winners from seasons past should be very encouraging to nearly all of the current CFCL GMs. Since the turn of the century, Dallas Green Award winners have averaged a gain of over 22 points from Period 10 until the end of the year.

And in the past two year, the Dallas Green winners have gained 25.5 and 30.5 points respectively. A look at the live standings while I'm writing this, shows the gap between the first place Revenge and the 11th place Copperfields to be 29.5 points, indicating that a Copperfield championship in 2008 is still within the realm of possibility - or certainly at least a money finish.

In other words at this point in the season, really only one team has fallen out of the race.

Gaining twenty-some points in the final 16 weeks is one thing, but can a team really come from 25-30 points behind to actually win?

Ask the Ruffins, who won the Dallas Green Award (+30.5 points) and the CFCL Championship in 2006. Or ask Kenndoza Line, who won the Dallas Green Award (+25.5 points) and the CFCL Championship in 2007. Can it happen again?

Food for thought...

Up With Fans!

The Supreme Court has ended (hopefully for good) the battle of MLB vs Fantasy Baseball by refusing to hear their appeal of a lower court's ruling that stat services were free to use player names and stats without a license, as it were.

The legal fight began a number of years ago when the then-parent company of Total Quality Stats (CDM) took MLB to court when they were refused the right to use stats.

Details and opinion can be found in this editorial:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/06/03/in_this_fantasy_fans_come_first/

Pro sports should worry more about alienating core fans than about unlicensed fantasy leagues. From foamy fingers to fantasy leagues, fans have invented elaborate new ways to show their devotion over the years. Pro leagues benefit handsomely, even if indirectly, when these innovations flourish.

You Can't Beat Fun at the Old Ballpark

Earlier this season, Victoria's Secret model Marisa Miller threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game at Wrigley. Check out the arm (and other nice parts) on this lady:

I realize the video is kind of fuzzy, so here's a nice clear photo from the day:

For more photos, visit the following site: Marisa Miller at Wrigley