Hello BCBL folks from coast to coast!

The draft weekend raced by quickly, as they always do. The turnout in Chicago was lite, but as Steve likes to say, sometimes small drafts work better because everyone is in on the conversations.

We had one heck of an interesting dinner on Friday nite. We---Steve, Dr. Bob, Jed, Greg, Bob Michal, Frank C, and me---went to a steakhouse that a neighbor of mine had touted. We all ordered big steaks or such, and when the meals came we realized we could have ordered just one steak for all of us. Remember that big slab of ribs that tipped over Fred Flintstone's car? That was the size of these steaks. I think we ate for an hour and still had a combined 18 lbs of leftovers. I will use my share as a doorstop after it fossilizes in my refrigerator.

Have to point out that while most of us were drinking beer, soda pop, or water over the weekend, Jed was busy ordering fancy cocktails like Banana Funky Monkey, Chocolate Martini, Stoli Vanilla Vodka with cranberry juice, and Peach Passion with a twist.

On Friday nite at my house, we played the Wii game for a couple hours. You can tell there's a reason we're all in this baseball league, because all of us can hit. During the HR hitting contest, we all clouted our fair share over the fence. (In the interest full disclosure, my wife hit the longest HR---something like 690 ft---and my oldest daughter Faith hit the most HRs in any single round (7 out of 10 HRs). We also did Wii bowling, tennis, some golf, and boxing.

Earlier, on late Friday afternoon, Steve, Dr. Bob, Jed, and I wanted to go "real bowling", but couldn't find an open lane at the two bowling alleys we tried. Bowling and Chicago go together, you know.

We were all stoked for the draft, of course. On Saturday morning things got rolling slowly, but it soon picked up steam. Nothing like a live draft, eh?

Afterward, we conducted the annual post-draft tourney consisting of 6 teams, $5 per team (Greg didn't enter cuz his team is rebuilding). First round, Stromboli beat Devon, North beat Jedi, Westside and Alaska had byes. Second round, Alaska beat Stromboli, and Westside beat North. Championship round, Alaska beat Westside to win tourney and the $30 pot. (In a bid for more playing time during the upcoming season, Alaska's Sammy Sosa swatted some key HRs in tourney. Was there truth to the rumor that Sammy was provided with plenty of illegal drugs in Alaska's clubhouse beforehand?)

We were at the draft site (my workplace) from about 9 am to 6 pm, making for a very long day. Dinner on Sat nite was Chicago style deep dish pizza (although Dr Bob and I had thin crust). We sat around the table at the restaurant feeling pretty tired, but there's nothing like rehashing the picks of the draft. We also talked about past drafts. Anyone remember when Mark Quinn and Mark Bellhorn were 1st round picks?

After dinner, Greg, Bob Michal, and Frank C went home, but Steve, Dr Bob, and Jed came back to my place for a bit more of Wii sports. The guys also helped me move the ugliest piece-of-crap furniture from my mother-in-law's house into mine. The thing weighed about 300 lb, and if I had seen it before I went to pick it up from her, I never would've taken it. Oh well, so it goes. Special thanks to the guys for helping me move the monstrosity.

Have to note that the giant snowfall in Ohio on Sat delayed Chicago flights going east. Jed was supposed to fly home on Sat afternoon, but was delayed a whole day. As a result, he missed a family function on late Sat nite and another on Sun morning. Ouch, sorry about that, Jed.

An idea from left field: Let's move the start of season back a few months so we won't ever have to worry about bad weather at draft time (which could be in April or May)!

Okay, that's it for now. Another great draft is ended. Thanks to everyone involved. Special thanks from us Chicago guys to those who came to town. Let's all have a good season and look forward to more good stuff in the BCBL.

-Rick