Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Jan. 29, 1993, edition 1 / Page 16
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14 )t t&uilforbian A Slice of Life from the Butcher Baseball dream weavers don't detract from, but add to, the game Butch Maler It's every boy's dream to own a baseball team." —George Steinbrenner Now before any of you all go off on me about the above gender specific quote, please take it with a grain of salt. Mr. Steinbrenner sim ply failed to recognize that some women have such a dream. Like wise, some "boys" fail to realize said dream. Not this boy, though. From my first taste of a ballpark hot dog to the first time I got my hands on a bubble gum card wax pack to my premiere on the Little League circuit, I've fathomed fur thering my involvement in base ball. And fantasy baseball fulfills such involvement for me. Plainly put, I think fantasy base ball is the best thing since Big League Chew. Introduced to "Rotisserie Base ball," a specific fantasy diamond game, back in the spring of 1989 by my buddy Tom Clark, I can't get enough of it. I've faced up to the fact—l'm hooked. Hello, my name is Butch Maierand 1.."1...1' m aßotisseholic. It's been six months since my last player transaction. I guess it'd help if I would ex plain myself and the object of my desire. Rotisseball is a fantasy game where twelve franchises are run by everyday fans, who auction for, trade for or otherwise activate real live baseball players—whose ac tual current statistics count towards the success (or failure) of the fran chise that own them. So if you somehow acquire Barry Bonds and he hits 30 homers while active on your team, you get those homers. The same goes for Barry' s RBl's, stolen bases and batting average (it's nice to have Barry). The pitching stats usually in cluded in fantasy league play in clude wins, saves, ERA and a ratio of hits and walks per inning. Some leagues include runs for hitters and strikeouts for pitchers. But before the stats come into oWhen the red sign glows Visit us at either of our 2 locations in Greensboro: • 1603 Battleground Ave. . 3704 High Point Rd. N eC( | Fund Raising Information Avai'^hle play, the most glorious Rotisseday of the year must come to pass— Auction Draft Day. Sometime dur ing the weekend prior to Opening Day of the "real" baseball season, leagues tend to hold their draft. Usually a drawn-out, all-day af fair (worth every minute of it), the auction gives bloom toanother fan tasy season. Each franchise owner is allotted $260 Rotissedollars to spend on 23 major leaguers (14 position players and nine pitch ers). That's the beauty of this game. It's not a dice-rollin', blind guessin', idiot-winnin' thing. You actually become an owner, where you have tangible duties —such as managing apayroll,deciding which bum plays when and making trades for ballplayers (or even bigger bums). After the auction, a reserve draft is held for major leaguers not taken, minor league prospects and, as one fantasy book put it, "the kid down the street with the promising arm." The season is best spent with eyes fixed on ESPN's Sports Center for all the latest baseball develop ments. You know, like if Eric Davis gets injured (surprise) or if you had three starting pitchers toting the hill in one evening. As you can surmise, Rotisseball gets a little rough on the ol' pumper—the words "rotator" and "cuff' used in the same sentence can stop even the strongest of hearts and possibly ruin a fantasy season. But through the injuries (I gri maced when Scott Erickson's sweet season soured in 1991 and Julio Franco went down in '92) and when player performance falls short of expectations and prognos tications (when the Angels never scored enough to give Jim Abbott a chance), I've endured through four seasons of fantasy baseball. Twice I've won the league; the other two years the league folded mid-season (including last season). But I'm not folding. I live for this stuff. You can catch me watch ing the 7:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Sportscenters some days and nights over the summer. I'll buy USA Today and dissect the Sports major league notes. Don't try and stop me. There's nary a fantasy guide I won't purchase. I'm outta control. So why? Why, why, why? What is it that so drives a post-pubescent male to such lengths for baseball stats? Info? The dream. This is as close as I can possibly get to the real thing. It's like non-alcoholic beer. This isn't gambling. I don't play for money. Some do. For thousands of dollars. I play for the thrill. That morn ing high of opening up the box scores to see what Ken Griffey, Jr. did at the plate (I can watch any number of highlight videos to see what he did in the field). The rush of calculating my team's stats against the rest of the league. If I'm faltering, it's a challenge. Okay, what can I do to catch up? Who's gonna get hot? What rookie will be the September call-up that will push me to a pennant? Hold on. Doesn't this nonsense take away from our national pas time in its purest form? Some seriously question and criticize Rotisserie Baseball about distorting the Major League ver sion. Besides, in fantasy ball, there's too much emphasis on of fense; players become numbers; intra-league games become mean ingless to these dream weavers. I answer these notions with a resounding, "Not so!" I'm a die hard Bucco's fan and I am able to separate my allegiances to the Pi rates and my Nightmaier fantasy team. I'm sorry if others have a Basketball Contest Can You Beat the Greek? Test your NBA and college bas ketball prognosticating ability against Eric "the Greek" Pappas, unequivocally Guilford College's most knowledgeable sports mind. Well, the Guilford community expressed its enthusiasm for the contest's change from NFL games to NBA and college basketball games by turning in an incredible five entries last week. So for old time's sake, this week's entry blank will include —besides nine NBA and college basketball games— the football game to end all foot ball games, none other than the Super Bowl. As for the results of last week's contest, "the Greek" turned in a lackluster performance, going 5- for-10 and losing to all other en trants. Cary Eddy demonstrated her prognosticating ability by going 8- for-10, and running away with the two dozen Krispy Kreme dough nuts. problem with this. And I'm sorry that many of you have not dipped your toes into the Rotisserie pool. Give it a chance and I believe you'll have a swim mingly good time. That is, unless you draft a bunch of injury-prone bums and finish in last. But even in failure, there's a way to maintain interest. Put to Sports 1. What was the first organized baseball team? 2. Who knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 1974 bout to become the second ex-heavyweight to regain the title? 3. What was the first material used for the stringing on a tennis raquet? 4. Who was the first black professional football player in the United States? 5. What former flame of tennis star Boris Becker won the gold medal in both the World Championships and Winter Olympics in 1984? Answers (AUBUUJO9 'Uoi|}) AUBUUJO9-;;IM euueiM g (sanig [oiyo] Aqiaiis aq; Jojt7o6l ut suiAe[d pams) saiuoj saijsqo p (OOSI punoje ;n6 s,do9iis £ iiv peuuuueqnw Z (SfrSl) QniD ueqaseg ja>poqja>piu>j am 't You, too, can win the doughnuts just by filling out the entry blank and turning it in at the boxes lo cated on the newsstands in the Founders lobby and in the Under ground. Deadline for entries is Sunday at noon. I"NBA Winners I Game 1: L.A. Lakers @ Boston, Sunday ■ I Game 2: Chicago @ Utah, Monday I I Game 3: Golden State @ Milwaukee, Monday _ I I Game 4: Indiana @ Houston, Tuesday I | Game 5: New Jersey @ San Antonio, Tuesday _ I |NCAA I | Game 6: Georgia Tech @ Florida St., Sunday | | Game 7: Michigan @ lowa, Sunday | | Game 8: Purdue @ Ohio St., Wednesday | | Game 9: U.N.C. @ Duke, Wednesday | | The Super Bowl ■ Game 10: Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills a I Tiebreaker- Total score of Super Bow! pts. j I Name: jJ3ox Number: Phone: ?anuarp 29, 1993 gether a team newsletter wrought with trade talks and front office moves. Or just start preparing for the following Auction Draft Day. There's always next year. Right? Well, you hope so. As for this year, I'm starting another fantasy league at Guilford and need 11 other fran chise owners. Anyone interested? Photo by Carl Beehler Pappas
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Jan. 29, 1993, edition 1
16
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