NFBC Rookie Invitational League

If you are a serious fantasy baseball player the odds are you have heard of the NFBC.  The NFBC is the moniker for the National Fantasy Baseball Championship.  This is the high stakes national contest where the best players in the country face off in 15 team leagues to crown the eventual National Champion.

I played in the NFBC Main Event last year and had a respectable finish for my first season.  I came in 3rd place in my league and 125th in the Overall.  So I won some money ($1,250) and finished ahead of 280 other players.
However, I made a lot of mistakes along the way and learned I would need to elevate my game if I wanted to take a step up and really compete for the overall prize.

The thing that makes the NFBC Main Event such a challenge is not only do you compete in your league - you compete against 400+ other players in a gigantic overall competition for the Grand Prize of $100,000. You have to be able to build a team that can compete in all of the 10 Rotisserie categories.  1st place in a category will net you 400 points.  Last place will stick you with 1.  So to have a chance at winning the overall you have to be able to average about an 80% showing in all categories.

When this season began, it became pretty clear to me that I really couldn't swing the entry fee ($1,300) to get back into this year's Main Event.  I had won a free entry in 2009 by virtue of winning a Satellite league.  These are entry level events for those players who want to try the NFBC's unique 15 team format for the first time.  I just couldn't quite square my chances of winning the Main Event with the entry fee.  But I still wanted to play in the NFBC.  So what was a guy to do.

I decided to try something unique.  I really wanted to do something with the NFBC style of play that would keep me interested all year long.  The only option for me this year were the Satellite leagues.  But if you have ever played in an online league you know what is missing.  Interaction between owners. How could I have a league that would truly offer something different to those who would play in it? Where there other players out there looking for the same thing? What was missing in the NFBC experience for me? Learning how to conquer the format.

I decided to ask the people who run the NFBC if they would allow me to start and run a "Rookie" league with a mix of veteran players and first timers.  The veterans would serve as advisers to the new players, answering questions along the way and "teaching" the new players how to play the game.  The winner would get a free entry into the 2011 Main Event.  The NFBC said yes and the NFBC Rookie Invitational was born.

We have assembled a group of 4 veteran players and 11 "Rookies". To qualify as a rookie, you can never have played in the Main Event before. We also have set up shop at the fabulous fantasy baseball information site Mastersball.com where we will have a Fourm dedicated to the league.  We will be discussing strategy all season long and you are welcome to come over and join the conversation.