Chicago Venue apology/stance

chris456 · Post by **chris456** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:54 pm

Fellas, 1st I'd (chris) like to wish everyone good luck this year. Have some competitive teams and a lot of parity out there!

Second, Fanball did a great job in Chicago. For ANYONE to sit and say that Fanball was "egging on our team" is just flat-out full of crap. And for those who don't agree w/ them asking to interview us after the 2nd draft, they did it for the right reason. As Greg pointed out, we have won Championships the last 2 seasons. The interview wasn't done to "boast and/or brag." We were approached with the idea of getting our feedback on the drafts, so we delivered. AGAIN, fanball didn't approach us looking to "add fuel to the fire."

Now, with regards to the noise, I will be the 1st to agree that we were prolly too loud. And NO, it wasn't because of the alcohol. Those who guessed us to be 30 are correct, and we can hold our liquor as we aren't in high school. The truth is this: we do these LIVE drafts to have a blast, see the other owners, and to talk some FUN smack.

As a few posters have pointed out, had people asked us to quiet down, we absolutely would have. Our goal is to have fun and compete as well as network and make new friends. In no way, shape, or form were we loud or disrespectful to ANYONE on purpose. Jerks are the worst!

I want to clarify for EVERYONE as to what happened with the other owner asking to be moved. When I first sat down, I nicely asked the gentleman how he was doing and if he was ready for the draft. The response I got was, "Bro, not to be a dick, but please don't talk to me." Sorry fellas, but that just didn't seem like good "Sportsmanship" to me. And before his 2nd pick, he asked to switch sides because of "noise." The funny thing is that 3 or 4 teams approached us and said they couldn't even hear us talking. Regardless, we apologize .... Blame us, but do NOT blame Fanball. Even the Fanball guys said we weren't even that loud at the beginning (when the guy asked to be moved).

Yes, we have 3 owners. And yes, there was PLENTY of room for everyone at the tables. There wasn't ONE team that had to sacrifice "comfortable space" to accomodate us. Lets put that to rest right now.

To sum it up, we want to apologize to any team that was truly upset w/ the level of noise that we brought to the drafts. As I think most of you know, we only want to make it a fun day w/ some good razzin'.

Next year we'll be sure to make it up to everyone and make a conscious effort to hold down ANY/ALL extra outside noise.

And for what its worth, Mike did ask us to keep it down during the 2nd draft at one point.

Good luck to all, and again fellas, please accept our apologies if we were too disruptive to the point where your "good time" was compromised.

Sincerely,

Chris, Dan, Brett

RyanHouston · Post by **RyanHouston** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:33 am

Thanks for clarifying Chris.

Apology accepted.

Let's move on and get ready to give someone $100K!!!

Thanks again for shedding some light on the subject and, hopefully, bringing this to a close.

danimal10 · Post by **danimal10** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:56 am

My partner Chris couldn't have said it any better....

We come to draft well, and play hard, fast, fair and fun....While we are midwestern boys, we probably run a little hotter than most of the other drafters....and if we are a little intense it's cause we are confident in our abilities but certainly don't even intend to ruin anyone else's good time. And we don't intend to give out any more razzin than we can't take back all in good fun!

In fact we went around to quite a few of the folks we know from previous drafts (and even some we didn't know yet to try and make sure we were't going over the line in anybody's opinion) and the consensus that we got was that everything was cool. However that said, for anyone who was really and truly offended, I will second my partners's apology as well as ask that if you really have an issue to discuss further you send us a private message and we'd be happy to carry on a civil convo that way to make sure there are no hard feelings.

I know the FanBall guys and the NFFC guys put a ton of time into setting up and administrating these drafts and not only do we want to give a great shout out to the guys for hosting an excellent event we also want to make sure there are no hard feelings, either from NFFC/Fanball staff or players/participants/co owners.

Good luck this year to everyone and I would simply ask that at next years draft take the time to come up and get to know us and say hey! We are always down to chat football, baseball, girls, politics, current events or whatever else and have a great laugh and would much rather prefer that everyone in the room is having fun and that we are only a part of the fun, not a detraction from the fun. Hey if nothing else you guys all have a great story to tell right?!!

Good luck in 2009 and see you in 2010!

Dan

Ry's Guys · Post by **Ry's Guys** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:10 pm

Wow that is great leadership Ryan! Send your people to Chicago that aren't held accountable and don't hold anyone accountable and then you just say thanks for the apology Chris. Sorry but that sucks! Since everyone knows Chris its ok.
First there are 2 chairs there for a reason. They had three people there and they made it their show. And yes, they kept filming their shenanigans during the entire draft! Second Chris and his buddies were asked numerous times to quiet down but it didn't matter to them. We DID ask both the draft coordinators and the folks in Fanball shirts and they didn't do anything.
Hell I even got there early for the Primetime to ask them to control this draft because they didn't do it at the classic! In fact when someone told the guy in the Fanball shirt we couldn't hear who was being drafted he shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
Since they claim to love the live draft so much
maybe Ryan should suspend them from live drafting next year and only let them do an online/phone entry for one year?!? That might teach them a lesson in how to act.

So I guess I'm the A@@hole. But sorry no apology accepted, Chris and his buddies treated it like their own event and ruined it for most people in these drafts.

Sincerely
Pat Sorge

lumpy463 · Post by **lumpy463** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:29 pm

Send them to Las Vegas and make them compete against Lumpy's Losers.
We would love to talk smack for a whole draft.

Derek "Lumpy" Anderson

Team Legacy · Post by **Team Legacy** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:05 pm

Originally posted by Bullgod:
So I guess I'm the A@@hole.Well, these guys are showing some class right now and I respect that. I think that's needed in order to win back much of the respect that was lost for the event on Saturday, for me, not so much from the leadership at the event, but for the experience during those 4 long hours in general.

To compare it to a championship golf outing, with a couple of loud mouths, the entire time you're on every tee box, the entire 18, wouldn't be out of context.

FWIW, the rest of the two days was superb, my most enjoyable Chi-town visit yet!

As for the apology, can I offer a different perspective? I know you asked for it offline, but I think it needs to stay here. Case in point, the drafter to my right, an older gentleman, who I felt very bad for, said the exact same thing as the quoted text above. After several, "c'mon fellas, let's settle down" comments he made thru the draft, he finally, leaned over to his right and asked them politely to quiet down saying it was really distracting and he coulnd't even hear the picks. Immediately, he was blasted with several snide comments in tag team fashion, one of which I didn't forget, and I quote, "That's why they put the stickers on the board" and something to the effect of, "your head's on a swivel, use it and look up at the board." The guy, obviously set back, turned to me and said, "I guess I'm the oddball." Again, I felt bad, because he was really trying to concentrate on who to take, strategy etc, and it just continued on and on...

So FYI, the nice guy approach that's being asked for, WAS given, and it didn't work.

I'm not here to beat a dead horse, the apology is a huge plus and I appreciate it. I just felt a more accurate description was needed as a last word from me on the subject. I would challenge you guys to reconsider the angle of, "we were just tryin to have a good time. If only someone would have asked us to stop, we would have." From where I sit, that doesn't jive. Like me, you guys are admittedly in your 30s. We all know the ropes. Hopefully, you respect the fact that people invest good money in these events and it's a serious competition. Fun times like that are great surrounding the event, just not during the draft. It shouldn't have to be said.

Mistakes happen, we all have bad days. I accept your apology you fantasy scum! (just jokes) Your team is formidable. It will be my pleasure trying my best to knock the bullies down a notch with my rag tag bunch!

No further explanation necesary for me fellas, Thursday is almost here.

-Scott

[ September 09, 2009, 12:06 AM: Message edited by: Team Legacy ]

kjduke · Post by **kjduke** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:30 pm

Well, from an outsiders viewpoint, these last couple of posts from bullgod and legacy certainly make those apologies sound more like damage-control than apologies.

I wasn't there and don't pretend to know what was said by anyone, but apologies don't mean **** if you can't speak the truth.

trueblue · Post by **trueblue** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:57 pm

i was in chicago and i think chris and dan have said enough. they have admitted to having a good time.

IMHO,,,if you weren't there, keep your opinion to yourself..i think enough has been said about this.

bill

kjduke · Post by **kjduke** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:18 pm

Originally posted by kentuckyreign:
i was in chicago and i think chris and dan have said enough. they have admitted to having a good time.

IMHO,,,if you weren't there, keep your opinion to yourself..i think enough has been said about this.

bill Hey Bill, so in your opinion I should keep my opinion to myself?

trueblue · Post by **trueblue** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:28 pm

Originally posted by KJ Duke:
quote:Originally posted by kentuckyreign:
i was in chicago and i think chris and dan have said enough. they have admitted to having a good time.

IMHO,,,if you weren't there, keep your opinion to yourself..i think enough has been said about this.

bill Hey Bill, so in your opinion I should keep my opinion to myself?

[/QUOTE]as much as i respect you and your opinion, enough has been said.