Too Soon?

More LCA

I told Pat I would be posting these a while back but the affairs of state must take precedent over the affairs of state. I can't top a trip to Toledo, but I can try.

A soon to be favorite stop inside said arena

Wings and Pistons offices....and a guy working

A concourse set to be filled with monitors......

.....like these

The Magpie Salute at St Andrews Hall

Powering up the Mothership

No, I didn't go to Toledo, but did have a Tito's & McClure's Bloody Mary that morning.

Maybe the coolest kayak......ever

My God.....if I could have that at home....or if they could show porn on this!

The blue eyes scare me. 

Jerseys and banners are up....

The court is down.....as am I. 

Nuff said.

If they would have put the Corvette on its other side it would have looked like Gordie was shooting it. 

Soon to be filled with TVs and overpriced liquor!

Field Trip to Toledo!

We had a great time in the Glass City as the Toledo Mud Hens took on the Buffalo Bisons Saturday night.  Current Toronto Thunder pitcher Joe Biagini started for the Bisons, but was hammered for a few runs early and pulled after four innings.  The entertaining game ultimately went into extra innings, until Mount Pleasant Trainwreck pitcher Kyle Ryan gave up a few runs to give the win to the squad from Buffalo.  Lots of pre-game fun bar-hopping and checking out the rapidly developing Toledo downtown.  Thanks to all that could go, and looking forward to another trip next year!!!

View from our hotel window

Lego Night at the ballpark!  Based on the driver,

I am assuming that is an autonomous Lego Semi!

A new member of our crew!

Toledo's downtown area actually allows and encourages

outdoor drinking as you go from bar to bar!  

The craft beer menu at Fleetwood's, stop #2 after the Black Cloister

A full house at Fifth Third field

A few Friendship League games were played during the contest!

The Mud-Tron!

New top Tiger prospect Jeimer Candelario cracks a long fly

ball that should end this one, but NO!!! Out at the plate :-(

Enjoying the post-game fireworks

Some enjoyed the post-game fireworks more than others  :-)

LIVE entertainment after the game in Hensville, the bar district right

outside the stadium.  The Hepcat Revival put on  a good show

I feel like I'm the only owner to not have a half or three-quarters nude photo on the league page.
Problem solved.

Fest - Date TBD

First I wish to present you with the distance I live from former MI Mammoths Owner/GM/Mgr Bob Willnus....

Next I will add the story of my new hot tub installation....
First off, I am not a hot tub person.  The Farmington Hills house I bought back in 2013 came with a tub in disrepair. The tub was embedded in the deck.  Only choice was to either keep/repair the hot tub or extend the deck.  Based on being house poor, went with the keep option.  I must admit, I had some good times in that old tub...

.....but the ol' girl was on its last legs.  Making it a makeshift summer pool while it leaked the weekend away was not good enough. It was time for a new tub.  Today, I had the new tub installed...

Now is where the story takes a turn and intersects with Bob Willnus.  My man who is contracted to do the electrical work tells me they are wrapping up.  I had offered the crew (two of them) water earlier and he gave me the death stare.  At this point I ask if they'd like a beer.  One guy (not the head contractor) says he'll take a beer.  I offer him a Miller Lite, he asks if I have anything better.  I offer Two Hearted....he accepts.  Lead contractor says he doesn't drink beer....asks if I have some hard stuff.  I don't have much, but tell him I have Meyers Rum, Captain Morgan's......and oh yeah, moonshine.  He goes for the moonshine.  Job near "wrapping up" ends up taking another two hours and about 10 shots of moonshine (only two Two Hearted for the other guy).  Upon completion, my man tells me he can barely walk and shouldn't be driving back to Milford (but he does).  Nevertheless, hot tub completed and I feel we need to have a future........BobFest.  Seems appropriate.  Hopefully I can pull this off in the fall. I'll keep y'all posted.

Take a break from games and look inside the new LCA

I shared these previously with Fred during our 6 game night but figured I would share these with the group. Sharing is caring as I've heard.

These are a few looks inside the new Little Caesars Arena as they are trying (do or do not there is no try Yoda said) to get it ready for Kid Rock and the upcoming Wings and Pistons seasons.

I must say the place is impressive and it looks like they are putting a ton o' cash into it as even the public bathrooms aren't just paint but floor to ceiling plank tile.

Enjoy!

Main Concourse view. Looks like you are outside!

And you should be outside you can't afford tickets.

Soon to be selling $15 Hot and Sweaty Pizzas

Cool Roof Bro!

Scoreboard under construction. 

Orange netting will be removed.....I hope

Media Gondola seating for Wojo. Another one is across the ice for fans looking down on the ice or court.

Yes. You need 5 monitors in your suite. 

Plenty of bar area in your suite and for some reason a gas fireplace in each and every suite.

The ribs (mmm ribs) where the red lights will reflect up to the as yet unpainted roof. 

Seem to be missing some seats. But once in you will be right close to the action. Pistons courtside seating will be wheeled in on gameday and it is motorized. 

2016 Player Pictures

Here is the link to the files to add pictures to all of your players on your computer.   Unzip this file and then copy them to your players directory within your Strat-O-Matic folder.  On my computer it is the: C:\Strat-O-Matic Baseball\Player directory.   If anyone has issues adding this to their computer, let me know.

 2016 Complete Photo Set & Alias File

Friendship League, The Early Days

Saw this in the paper last week, and did a double take. 

Draft Weekend 2017!

Nice view from our room, digging the Crown Plaza hotel!

Wow, a great Draft Weekend for sure, March in the "D" was a fantastic time, was great to see everyone again!.  Special thanks to Dave for hooking us up in a super hotel for fleabag motel prices, to Steve Tufte for his great work as Commissioner and his preparation for the weekend, and to Jimmy for coming back from 'retirement' and helping the league out greatly! 

  

Friday Night Fights (the new rules debate and voting)

Jimmy's Corner is always interesting!  This year
brought Mr T. (in a sombrero!)



2017 Friendship League Draft is underway!




The Big Board!

Still able to watch some NCAA action during the draft

PJ's first in-person Draft experience since 1993!

Big thanks also to the Mallon girls for their highly entertaining and enjoyable video edition of "The Gerbil Show".  We all have to raise our logo game, especially that one that is "just a guy with a mustache"! 






The hotel was very nice, and I hope we get to go back to experience the penthouse meeting room next year!  There were a few awkward moments as the pairs of hotel roommates realized there was only 1 king-size bed in our rooms and not two beds.  The pullout couch beds were OK, so we avoided some potentially unpleasant sleeping arrangements  :-)     We even had a cameo appearance from new Commissioner-elect Mike Schmidt, who played Roger Goodell in announcing the first draft pick. 



1st overall pick Alex Bregman,
the pride of the Butchers

It is always amazing to have league 'firsts' 30 some years into this thing   Here are just a few of the groundbreaking things from the weekend.....

-Rules being passed and then immediately voted out by even better proposals (rule debates were intense this year, don't remember anything like that!)
-A proposed "my team for your team" trade offer!
-"Division Dinners" Saturday night where you could only sit with your new division foes
-Steam Room trade talks (a trade was NOT finalized there, so something to shoot for next year!)

We did scare away a few people lounging in the hot tub, but that is standard league activity. 

The Divisions Names were a vote between "Lesser Known Simpsons Characters" and "Beloved Dead Pets".  The Dead Pets (sounds like a punk rock band) prevailed, so we have the Sammy (Bob's cat)Division, the Licker (the league's nickname for our dog Callie) Division, and the Finnegan (Scott's dog) Division.

The new league file is available on this site to be downloaded, please do so and verify that your team is correct.  We do have a couple of important rule changes that we will have to be aware of, like all injuries are rest of game only, brawl is now only a HBP following a homer, and I think you can change your 'minor league' player each game rather than just a series.  Will update the online rules soon.

Now it's time to see if Minnesota can three-peat.  Will David Ortiz power Boston to another title in his farewell season? Did Kansas City select the right rookie out of the strong crop that was available?  Can Las Vegas and Michigan live up to HAL's pre-season simulation?  Good luck to all, should be another great season!

Let's "Play Ball"!!!!