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!
Though it was long, I felt that the manager's meeting was particularly helpful this year. There were a lot of things to go over regarding costs and fees with the current economic times, and nearly everyone had an idea to contribute. The league is still considering an end-of-the-year party, just a small one if there are still funds left over at season's end. And as for the addition of more initials and slashes to my team's name, I have to see if Google will allow me to adjust our team e-mail address, or if I need to register one all over again. Great idea on the S.L.A.M. blog!
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