CRL NEWS

March 19, 2021

- “I feel we learned a lot from the 2020 season, what worked, what didn’t work.”

Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox

Well, I didn’t learn anything. Sure, MLB instituted all sorts of protocols, but it’s hard to get a feeling for the grind of a full baseball season when they only played 60 games.

The draft is two weeks from today, so I owe you guys some stuff.

Sorry I’m a little tardy, but this week has been crazy. It started out Saturday and I worked four closing shifts in a row, meaning I got home after midnight each day. Was scheduled to close again Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday off. But my boss sent me a note that morning to meet him at 1 pm at the Walmart two blocks from my house. I knew what that meant and put all my gear in a bag to take to the meeting. Just as I suspected, I was informed that I was being let go. It wasn’t my boss’ fault, he was ordered to do it by his boss – the same guy I railed about in my last email. The justification was my evaluation, which was the lowest possible, which I received exactly two days after I received the incorrect disciplinary action I told you guys about. The DA was the justification for the evaluation and subsequent termination.

I still have the open ethics investigation ongoing, but, in reality, I’m not sure I want to go back to that toxic environment. My boss is great – it was his idea to tell me at the Walmart by my house rather than making me drive an hour to get the bad news. Funny thing is, I had to drive there anyway to get my second COVID vaccine. Even funnier was my reaction. After I got back home, I wasn’t apprehensive about the future at all. I felt very calm and serene about not having to face the BS anymore. But, because I’d just gotten fired, I stayed up almost all night getting snockered. The result was that I slept all day Thursday. Then I had a bunch of errands to run today, so I’m just getting around to this now.

Don’t worry about me, I’m still going to Vegas and will be fine financially. Apparently, my boss dragged his feet on the termination, meaning I got my full bonus (about 12% of my annual salary) in my paycheck yesterday. Actually, the timing was rather fortuitous – I was planning on buying a few big-ticket items. But not now – the money is just sitting in the bank. Not only that, but my boss let me watch him key in the termination and see my final paycheck (due April 1). It includes my unused vacation days and totals to a little more than double a normal check. And I still have Uncle Biden’s $1400 coming sometime in the next couple of months (I do not have direct deposit info with the IRS, so they have to mail me a check). So, I’m going to spend the next two weeks getting ready for baseball season, polishing my resume, etc. When I get back from Vegas (after I get my last paycheck), I will file for unemployment (thanks again to Uncle Joe for the extra $300/week on top of UI) and start the job search in earnest.

Anyway, enough about me (just thought you guys were owed an explanation).

In our last two communications, we had four proposed scoring category changes with votes due by this past Monday. To aid your prep, here are the vote results:

BTW, I was rather amused by Matt’s graphics that he sent out. The guy obviously has much, too much, free time.

Replace Batting Average with On-Base Percentage – Pass (7-2, for those of you keeping score, with one vote of “Present”).

Replace Wins with Wins+Quality Starts – Fail (9-1)

Replace Saves with Saves+Holds – This one was even (5-5), with me deferring to my partner and supporting it. But, in the absence of a majority, the status quo holds and Saves is still the category of record.

Replace Steals with Steals-Caught Stealing – This one was withdrawn by the original proposer.

Now there is some news surrounding the draft itself.

Teams 2, 3 and 8 will not be attending. Everyone else will be there except my partner. Jim’s wife has a weakened immune system and he does not want to chance getting on a plane without being fully vaccinated. I understand that completely.

That means we will have three teams drafting remotely (and Fraser online to monitor things to keep me from screwing up). And that presents a few problems.

Ken has indicated on multiple occasions that he would be happy to host the draft via Microsoft Teaming – he uses it almost every day and has an unlimited account. Problem is, I don’t know if everyone is familiar with it. He has stated that if we go with Zoom, he will defer to someone else.

But here is the real problem – Caesar’s will charge us $950 for Internet access in the room. I think that is usurious, but before you paint them as complete villains, consider the fact that they are bending – at least a little – over backwards to accommodate us. All of the Harrah’s meeting rooms are closed due to COVID, so they gave us a much bigger room at Caesar’s for the same price. Not only that, but for those of us who had room reservations at Harrah’s, they gave us rooms at Caesar’s for the same price.

So, here are our options:

Pony up $95/team to have Internet access in the room. (If we go this way, then the below option are moot. Of course, I’ll need a cigarette.)

Chance it with the spotty “resort Wi-Fi” that is supposed to be available throughout the property. (I remember mine dropping frequently, not sure I want to chance the draft with that coverage – we could end up being there all night.)

Use On-Roto’s online draft function. While this would take up less bandwidth (and has never been tried) than a Zoom (or its equivalent) call, it could still be dicey.

Go back to the old-fashioned speakerphone. (There will be an additional charge for this, but I’d hope it’s less than $950.)

Now let’s expand on the options above:

I will commit (of course, I’ll need Matt, Ken or some other Zoom/Teaming guru) to check out the resort Wi-Fi Internet connectivity in the room the day prior to the draft. Video is the real bandwidth hog on a video conference, so if we go with this option, we would probably need it to be audio only. Then there is still the problem that, unless you have a business account, Zoom will time out after 45-50 minutes and everyone has to call back in. Then there is the issue with echo and other problems with such a big room and many of us sitting pretty far from the small laptop microphone.

If we go with the speakerphone option, then we will need a conference bridge (not free, unless someone already has one). Otherwise, when the first team calls into the room, the other two (plus my partner) are frozen out because phone is meant to be used by two people calling one another. Not only that, but I don’t know how the speakerphone option would work for Hutch – he’ll have to call in from the PI. That would be international rates. I need Hutch to chime in on this one.

One thing is certain, because of the, most-likely, audio-only option, everyone will need to identify themselves with every bid (e.g., “Team 3, $4.50”).

Another certainty – I need to make sure I have everyone’s cell number (we haven’t met in two years, so I don’t know if I still have your correct number – and I’m not sure I had everyone’s to begin with). I will group-text the league once we find out if Internet access will be available or to give you the number you need to call to access the conference bridge. (Again, due to the iffy Internet situation, I’m not sure I could even get out an email to everyone.) BTW, I need for someone to look into the conference bridge option – although I have plenty of time over the next two weeks, I have never set one up and don’t have the slightest idea of how to even begin. Nor do I want to put it on my credit card when I don’t have a source of income (even though this will be shared expense and the owner will get reimbursed by the league).

Please use the league email list ( here ) to communicate your thoughts.

Some other things you need to know:

Draft is in the Messina conference room at Caesar’s.

We have assigned tables, one team per table.

Everyone must wear a mask and practice social distancing – they will check (for liability reasons if nothing else).

There will not be water in the room due to COVID restrictions, so bring your own.

No food purchased from a non-Harrah’s/Caesar’s resort.

Again, they will be checking to make sure we are following the rules.

One last note – bring your own power strips/extension cords. Harrah’s threw those in, but not Caesar’s. Just to get an extension cord/power strip for each table, they were going to charge us 4 hours for setup and 4 hours for teardown - $900! And I thought the Internet fee was usurious. Again, before you throw them (completely) under the bus (but you can run over them a couple of times), remember that their prices for extras are subject to union contracts (don’t get me started). The same goes for bringing in outside food when the catering is all union.

Some additional notes:

Ken, Farabee and myself are playing golf on Thursday (got my clubs regripped today) at the Legacy. We’d like a fourth. If anyone is interested, let one of us know. (Fraser would have been the fourth, but family comes first.)

I have not heard about any Thursday night get-togethers or Wednesday dinners at Ruth Chris.

Finally, because it’s a scratch draft, and with so many teams drafting remotely, do not have an early flight home on Friday. We may be there for hours. If you have to leave before the draft is over, you will be drafting the rest of your team from what’s left after the rest of us are done.

Maybe, like Lucas Giolito said, we’ll learn a lot from this year.

Jim

P.S. I could use a big jackpot.