Home Field Advantage

As we anxiously await for the 2009 season schedule to be posted to the league website, we keep our fingers crossed for a majority of games where we always seem to play well. At the suggestion of David Solomon (manager of HM/RAMSA), we have added a new feature to the league standings page. You now have the ability to filter team records by season and field. Who would have known last season that Hecksher Field #1 had Gensler (champion two years running) at 0-2 with a 0.611 Ratio, while RRA/DBB (last year's 9th place team) was 2-0 with a 5.00 ratio. This statistical feature will be especially neat in years to come when more data has been compiled.

I can't help but wonder if Gensler (league commissioner / schedule maker) takes these results into consideration when laying out the schedule and "mysteriously" leaves themselves off of any games at Hecksher. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Practice Time

With a little over two weeks before the regular season starts, our team (TPG) is itching to get out there and practice. Unlike last year, there will be no official "practice permits" in Central Park until after 7:00pm (this saves permits for the playoffs - which is a good thing). Of course the weather is not cooperating with current conditions of rain and 43 degrees. If your team is looking for a practice venue, try the batting cages at Chelsea Piers, Frozen Ropes, or our favorite Randall's Island Golf Center. Prices range from $60-$90/hour.

Another option would be to head over to Central Park without a permit and see if you can grab a field. I am sure other teams in this league would love to know if you have any success with this. Also, if any team is interested in a pre-season scrimmage, we are definitely up for it.

By the way, I wanted to send a shout out to the PCF/HH team's blog, authored by manager Brian Ferry. Looks like we will have some interesting digital content this year at S.L.A.M.

Why Blog?

At last night's manager's meeting we decided to start a blog for the league. Why? Well, the league website already has all the technical info (schedule, standings, rules, etc), but we thought it might be fun to allow teams to post their stories throughout the season. So here we are, and all team managers are invited as authors. Game write-ups, questions, pre-season commentary, etc are all welcome. Photos and Video are highly encouraged.

When posting to this blog, please reference your team since many of our readers may not know you by your first name. And remember, we are all fun-loving professionals here, so keep the spirit positive.

Good luck, and PLAY BALL!

Answers, Questions, and a Crappy Economy

The manager's meeting is over and what did we learn? Well, without a doubt the current economy will effect this season. With some teams funding league fees themselves, and every other team feeling the hurt, major cut backs are in store for 2009.

Looks like the end of year party will not happen, and instead of fancy engraved trophies for everyone who sneezes during the season, we all decided to just play softball this year. And that's just fine with this writer.

On the merger front it looks like we will be welcoming another three firm team as PCF/HH is joining forces with RMJM, and pending naming rights we may end up with a record setting combination of initials and slashes.

The real fun began when talk of a new playoff structure brought heated emotions from all around the room. Will there be 6 teams or 8 teams in the playoffs? Unfortunately we still don't know. Apparently these decisions are made by the "executive committee", and two of the reps were not in attendance to weigh in. And so the league waits patiently for a formal decision. Of course it is all based on permits since the real issue is that no one wants to play a single elimination game in the playoffs. A variety of options were discussed including one that required a PHD in math to figure out if it actually reduced our permit needs. One good move by the league - all playable permits will be real games, no more "practice permits" wasting valuable days. Season starts April 13. Game on!

2009 Season Kick Off (Manager's Meeting)

What will happen? How many permits do we have? When is the first game? Is the long-standing playoff structure in Jeopardy? Will the current economic climate force teams to merge? We find out tonight at the 2009 season kick-off manager's meeting.