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
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Nick, Rich, and Jacque
Now that in-season publication has started, if you're not checking out The Monroe Doctrine on a regular basis, you're doing yourself a great disservice. Rich is once again making quality weekly posts about the CFCL past and present, the Cubs, MLB, and life in general. You subscribe via a news reader, or at a minimum be sure to click the link over in the sidebar to the right of this post on a regular basis.
If you haven't read his Bring Me Your Torch post casting "Survivor: Heroes vs Villians" using current and former Cub players, go check it out, then come back here for a little treat.
Well done, don't you think? The reference to the Jacque Jones moment from the 2006 CFCL Draft was a nice touch. For those who would like to relive it or experience it for the first time, here's the video:
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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 outtakesnippet 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...
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
Edit to note that the clip is an outtake and not in the final cut of the film...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Ramon Martinez Incident
Continuing our look back at the CFCL's first 25 years, we return to the 1992 Draft for another classic incident.
It's every Roto player's nightmare -- getting stuck with a player you didn't want, usually while trying to drive the price up for other owners. In the case of Six Packs owner Kelly Barone, that player was Ramon Martinez - a name Kelly had tossed out because he wanted to wait a while before nominating the Dodger pitcher he really wanted, Tom Candiotti.
Ending up with Martinez put Kelly into a funk that lasted the rest of the Draft - as the video shows, he was still visibly upset about it - not just 10 minutes afterwards, but over an hour later.
Of course, Kelly's leaguemates were very sympathetic and supportive...
The following video is a long one - nearly 9 minutes - but that's just a fraction of the time that Kelly's grief lasted, and there's some additional fun stuff inlcuded as well. Enjoy!
It's every Roto player's nightmare -- getting stuck with a player you didn't want, usually while trying to drive the price up for other owners. In the case of Six Packs owner Kelly Barone, that player was Ramon Martinez - a name Kelly had tossed out because he wanted to wait a while before nominating the Dodger pitcher he really wanted, Tom Candiotti.
Ending up with Martinez put Kelly into a funk that lasted the rest of the Draft - as the video shows, he was still visibly upset about it - not just 10 minutes afterwards, but over an hour later.
Of course, Kelly's leaguemates were very sympathetic and supportive...
The following video is a long one - nearly 9 minutes - but that's just a fraction of the time that Kelly's grief lasted, and there's some additional fun stuff inlcuded as well. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Darryl Strawberry Incident
As we approach Draft Day 2009 and prepare to kick off our 26th year, I thought it would be nice to celebrate our 25th Anniversary with a little trip down memory lane.
If you've spent any time in the History section of the CFCL Internet Headquarters, you'll know that we're rather fond of documenting our Draft Day "incidents". The very first incident that we we had actual documentation for was "The Darryl Strawberry Incident" from the 1992 Draft.
Here's the way I described the incident in the 1992 Draft History:
Kelly Barone nominated Darryl Strawberry at .05. There was a noticeable reaction from some owners at Kelly's "audacity". You see, it's kind of an unwritten tradition in the CFCL that players get nominated at the minimum (.01) and then bidding proceeds at penny increments for the most part.
OK, it's not the quickest way to run a draft, and no one was prevented from starting the bid at more then .01 or raising it a nickel at a time, it's just that it was surprising when it happens.
Well, the bidding continued to Dem Rebels, who jumped all the way to .08. The next owner up was Pat McGuire, a CFCL rookie, and he wasn't having any of this "penny or two at a time" crap. He shot the bid all the way to .25, which was still cheap for Strawberry. The reaction it caused in the other owners was astounding -- a stunned silence, a quick anonymous whistle, and then, in a random and inexplicable coincidence, Tom Clark and Dave Holian both turned and looked into the kitchen, as if asking "Where the hell did THAT bid come from?"
The sheer randomness and total spontaneity of the act of looking into the kitchen made it a funny moment. It became hilarious, and an instant CFCL classic, when two owners simultaneously and independently chose to do it at the same time.
The video clip below includes not only the incident itself and ensuing commentary, but the completion of the bidding on Strawberry, and the continuation of the McGuire insanity with the bidding on the next player, Shawon Dunston.
So, without further ado, the CFCL Archives presents... The Darryl Stawberry Incident:
If you've spent any time in the History section of the CFCL Internet Headquarters, you'll know that we're rather fond of documenting our Draft Day "incidents". The very first incident that we we had actual documentation for was "The Darryl Strawberry Incident" from the 1992 Draft.
Here's the way I described the incident in the 1992 Draft History:
Kelly Barone nominated Darryl Strawberry at .05. There was a noticeable reaction from some owners at Kelly's "audacity". You see, it's kind of an unwritten tradition in the CFCL that players get nominated at the minimum (.01) and then bidding proceeds at penny increments for the most part.
OK, it's not the quickest way to run a draft, and no one was prevented from starting the bid at more then .01 or raising it a nickel at a time, it's just that it was surprising when it happens.
Well, the bidding continued to Dem Rebels, who jumped all the way to .08. The next owner up was Pat McGuire, a CFCL rookie, and he wasn't having any of this "penny or two at a time" crap. He shot the bid all the way to .25, which was still cheap for Strawberry. The reaction it caused in the other owners was astounding -- a stunned silence, a quick anonymous whistle, and then, in a random and inexplicable coincidence, Tom Clark and Dave Holian both turned and looked into the kitchen, as if asking "Where the hell did THAT bid come from?"
The sheer randomness and total spontaneity of the act of looking into the kitchen made it a funny moment. It became hilarious, and an instant CFCL classic, when two owners simultaneously and independently chose to do it at the same time.
The video clip below includes not only the incident itself and ensuing commentary, but the completion of the bidding on Strawberry, and the continuation of the McGuire insanity with the bidding on the next player, Shawon Dunston.
So, without further ado, the CFCL Archives presents... The Darryl Stawberry Incident:
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