[asamford]

edit did I really type spank? oh jeez, I meant THANK. This damn message board won't let you edit subject lines so what was intended to be a serious post might now be looked as something other than such.... christ, what was I thinking about?

on third look, it also appears that I can't spell either. that should be good for a few replies, I thought my spelling was above average, but for some reason the word comissioner is giving me problems today.

anyways, the post:

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Reading that last thread about good leagues and commisioners and all of that just made me want to comment about the leagues and commishes that I am fortunate to be a part of. I'm a member of 6 leagues now, and every one of them has been a great experience, and lots of fun. I read about how some guys have had leagues fold or die and I don't know what that's like, so I just felt fortunate and wanted to recognize the hard work and great job that these guys are doing. Some of them are extremely well known, some not as known, but they all deserve kudos and recognition for the work they put in for mine and many others' entertainment.

JBL Fictional Players, Real Japanese Teams, Founded 2002, 12 teams expanding to 16 in 2004, 5th season in progress - This is the first league I ever joined. What was I looking for in an online league? A small league, that was just starting up including an initial draft with fictional players. As the 12th of 12 owners to join I got in just in time. The original commisioner, Devaneyfan, put in a lot of effort to create a unique league and he created a monster. After expansion, d'fan turned the league over to our current co-commishes, Marmel and Shorty. This league is always fun and sets a high standard for message board participation, and with at least one, sometimes two live sims a week, there is a lot of interaction which has created a tight knit group of owners. Great commish(es) + great owners = great league!

ABA Fictional, Founded 1987, 24 teams, entering 4th season - This was the 2nd league I joined, and I was interested in this league because of the solid reputation of the commish. Sure, Cooley has started many, many leagues, but you can pretty much count on any league him having a hand in to be solid. This league has been Mark's baby and boasts a high level of competition, and the fictional players and teams have begun to take on a life of their own. Ok, so maybe I padded my OOTP resume just a bit when applying, but I wanted in this league bad, to prove that I could duke it out with some of the veterans of the OOTP world. I don't know if i've proven anything, but this league is top notch due to the dedication of the owners and it's two commisioners, Mark Cooley and Bob Monroe, as well as the 24 owners.

NAHHBL Historical, Founded 1980, currently 30 teams, finishing 8th season - The third league I joined provided me the unique opportunity of drafting an expansion team. Unfortunately this league boosted my OOTP ego maybe a bit too much as I took my first year expansion team all the way to the 2nd round of playoffs. Although this league doesn't boast as much participation in the way of message board postings and articles, it is one of the best because of the hard work and preparation of the commish, Big Phesta. The schedule is always posted for up to 2 weeks in advance on the front page, and it is always strictly adhered to. Sims ALWAYS happen when they're supposed to (well unless there's a one game playoff to foul everything up), free agency goes exactly as planned, and the ammy draft is knocked out in one evening in a chatroom, you're either there, or you provide a list, or you take what the cpu gives you, period. This league also boasts smart, competitive owners, and the most comprehensive rules set of any league I'm in, rules that are very effective in solving many of the common problems that crop up in online leagues.

ORB Historical, Beginning 1982, beginning 3rd season I've been aware of commish Matt Rectenwald's group of leagues since back in the days of scouring the net for FPS files, long after the boom of FPS, when they weren't as eas to find (I hadn't found the OOTP light yet). So when I saw that Matt was going to run an OOTP league, I decided to get involved, because knowing the commish is stable and is going to stick with a league is very important to me, as I like building extensive histories and enjoy getting the chance to do that online against other humans. This league boasts a high number of quality owners many of whom write many insightful reports on their team quite regularly. Although this league has the feel of a work-in-progress, in that it's not as good as it can be yet, with the recent addition of some respected OOTP veterans to the ranks, the league continues to grow.

RWBL Modern Day, founded 2002, beginning 5th season - If you don't know the saga of the RWBL, well, you missed out on an entertaining soap opera that I'm not going to repeat here. Needless to say, this league should've folded 3 times by the time I got around to becoming a part of it, but the strength of the group of owners (many of whom are well known to each other via the FOFC boards) has kept this league alive and thriving now with it's 4th set of commisioners, Neuqua and Raven. Although I was hesitiant to join, I was won over by the immense challenge presented by the 2004 Montreal Expos, whose previous owner took a bad 2002 Expos team, and somehow managed to make it worse, including a legendary Vlad Guerrero and Javier Vasquez for Raul Mondesi, Eric Hinske, and Chris Carpenter deal. I am extremely glad I joined this league because of all of the great and high-profile leagues that I am a part of, I think I have the most fun with this one. With an assortment of great writers contributing to the league with hilarious and sometimes biting columns, as well as 30 active, enthusiastic, and sometimes eccentric owners, this is definitely the league that I spend the most time chatting with others about this player or that player, this team or that team, and this owner or that owner.

UBL Historical, founded 1927 - This league hasn't even really begun yet and it's already grabbed the attention of the OOTP community with it's unique player set: a mix of major leaguers, negro leaguers, and pacific coast leaguers. I feel honored and privaleged to have been invited to join this league and once I saw the details it took me about 3 seconds to decide whether or not I wanted in. Not much else to say here except that I can't wait for this league to start, and I can't believe how much work Cooley has put into this one...

OK, so that was really long-winded and all, but after reading 4 pages of people wondering why their league wasn't great, or what quality owners were looking for in a league or commisioner, I figured that my little ancedotes might provide a few clues to what makes a great league.

So, thanks to Cooley, Phesta, Marmel, Shorty, Neuqua, Raven, Matt, and all of my fellow owners in all of the above leagues for providing me with endless hours of entertainment and challenge, and making this great game of OOTP even better than it already is!

Oh yeah, thanks Markus for creating this wonderful game!