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Everyone, I haven't had the time to read the Boston threads or to talk with many folks involved in the Boston event because I'm still running drafts out here. I just know that I've heard from a few folks via email about it and I know this is a passionate subject here. I'll make my thoughts known and move on.

In Boston we had 13 owners live and one phone hookup. The person assigned to that league knew what number he had to call, is well known to high-stakes fantasy leagues and was a great addition to the NFFC I felt. We certainly did everything we could to get him hooked up in the NFFC Classic, setting up a phone in the room just for him and an 800-number to call in. Seth and Todd were right to keep that team for him, hoping he'd eventually call in and take over that team.

Now that being said, at some point we probably could have made the call to replace him, but Erick is paid in full, it's his team to manage after the draft and I've already been in contact with him and a co-manager of his to state that they must actively manage this team going forward. I do not see that being a problem and they will be very active once FAAB opens next week. I know that the team that matches up with him this week has an easier time than future opponents, but we can't bend the rules to make that situation any better. We can't help teams in Week 1 nor can we help teams who go against "dead owners" in Week 13.

To say that this is the only situation where this happens in the NFFC is not correct. We had an online owner who was in a car accident before the draft and had some auto picks. We had an owner in New York who had to be rushed to the hospital before the draft and we scrambled to fill his team. We had a late owner in Las Vegas and had a few auto-picks before replacing him. In the Online Championship some teams auto-pick.

Heck, after the drafts when owners found out that Kris Brown was cut and he was their only kicker they wanted a mulligan or a chance to pick up an active kicker. They said our rules state we need all positions filled by active players and Brown is no longer active, just like Erick's injured players aren't active. Sorry, we can't bend the rules on this one. And we don't have FAAB before Week 1, even for those auto-pick teams.

It's not a great situation by any means, but it's what we're left with. All owners who pay this kind of money should be on time and there to manage their teams. When that doesn't happen, our staff follows the rules as they are stated. In Las Vegas and New York where we have backups available, we can make quick decisions if something bad happens. In Boston, they were left with the decision to help this owner until he arrived or reached out to them after they left many messages and when that didn't happen they continued to pick his roster.

If I had been more involved I would have told Seth and Todd to veer off the Top 300 list to help Erick out more. The Top 300 list was done before Thursday's games and thus Hardesty and some others could have been avoided. But they made the call and stuck to our rules and thus that team has several holes for Week 1. But no rules will be changed to help him out and I am convinced that he will be the most active owner in FAAB in Week 2 and continue to battle for this league title.

I am convinced this league will be as tough as any other. In fact, folks said Boston was so tough that there was no way anyone could win the Classic overall title from here. Erick will keep his team competitive and battle for this league title once he can replace some of his holes and I trust everyone else in this league will battle just as hard.

There are several leagues where owners drafted injured players or have no kicker for Week 1, etc. We don't redraft leagues where Hardesty went in the 10th round or higher or help out owners who only have Kris Brown as their kicker. We move on. And from a staff point of view, we'll be clearer going forward on how we would go off our Top 300 list when injured players are known to all mankind. But the real key is making sure EVERY SINGLE owner is present. Every team is paid for and when that happens you expect folks to be there and be on time, especially at this level. But it doesn't always happen and now everyone is pointing fingers at us when the situation called for us to help that person out.

Good luck all going forward and again I'm in touch with every owner that we had to help this weekend and nobody is giving up. They know what moves they have to make and they will be active this week and every week going forward.

[ September 06, 2010, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Just to clarify on one point: The guys in Boston were in contact with Tom and Geoff about this situation and they were advised to keep trying to reach that owner and go off the Top 300. I was not involved in any of this and didn't know about the situation. I'm not saying that to clear me of any of this or put the pressure anywhere else; I'm just stating what happened. Tom was in contact with them initially and the decision was made to wait for Erick.

Again, had we been more involved with the decision as time went on, we definitely would have handled the Top 300 list slightly different. And the Top 300 likely needs to be updated just before Draft Day not before we leave for the live events. For that, Tom and I will take the blame.

Greg it is our first try at NFFC and we didn't really know what to do. I did say to get you on the phone to make a call on what to do a few times to the facilitators. It was confusing for us as Frank and others were trying to figure out how best to deal with the situation and it was going back and forth. So being our first venture into the NFFC we just sat back and let the Vets try to make it right as best they could. It was our understanding that it was being done by the rules in place so at that point we felt all was good to go? We are hoping we aren't made out as the bad guys or cheaters for any of this as in other threads things were said to make us feel this way.

Don and Steve Team Azzurri(for now) Boston League

[ September 06, 2010, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: DT ]

"And we don't have FAAB before Week 1, even for those auto-pick teams."


whats the reasoning behind this rule?

i guess donnie avery was on last adp report. if todd used common sense this could have been a non issue.

I was in the Sandman D/C and near the end of the draft Mike suggested to Geoff that he remove the players on IR for future drafts. I do not believe he replied .
While there probably is no perfect solution, and there in no way you will ever be able to cover every contingency, certainly removing IR players completely and taking players who are on the PUP or "out" indefinitely out of the top 300 certainly would have led to less controversy.

Originally posted by DT:
Greg it is our first try at NFFC and we didn't really know what to do. I did say to get you on the phone to make a call on what to do a few times to the facilitators. It was confusing for us as Frank and others were trying to figure out how best to deal with the situation and it was going back and forth. So being our first venture into the NFFC we just sat back and let the Vets try to make it right as best they could. It was our understanding that it was being done by the rules in place so at that point we felt all was good to go? We are hoping we aren't made out as the bad guys or cheaters for any of this as in other threads things were said to make us feel this way.

Don and Steve Team Azzurri(for now) Boston League Donnie, all Boston drafters did what they were told and as I've said this is a very tough league and will continue to be a very tough league. The top three teams from this league will have earned every bit of it. Good luck man and enjoy the season ahead. It's going to be a good one.

Just an FYI: I did talk with Erick this morning and he apologizes for not making it. Something came up on Saturday and it just didn't work out. But he understands what happened here and is ready to hit the waiver wire. He's certainly not abandoning this team or giving up on the title. He's ready to admit his mistake and work to make this team a winner. Good luck all.

Originally posted by Letter Pusher:
"And we don't have FAAB before Week 1, even for those auto-pick teams."


whats the reasoning behind this rule? The reasoning is that you'd have to run FAAB before the Thursday games and with rosters being entered and possible mistakes happening, a free agent could be picked up that was actually on a team's roster. The short time frame just doesn't make it ideal to enter rosters by Monday or Tuesday and run FAAB on Wednesday night.

Originally posted by THE_BLACKHAND:
i guess donnie avery was on last adp report. if todd used common sense this could have been a non issue. You are right, but not with Avery. Our hands were tied, the direction was to go from the ADP and he was next.

That said, I truly regret not waiting for Greg to get the Vegas drafts underway, then calling him, if only to get confirmation with respect to what the rules were. For that I apologize.