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SABL

Scott Ellis, Commissioner

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The SABL BS

Issue 108 November 2003

FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, 2^ND AMER. BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Who's Trading?

35. Davenport trades Galactic's 2004 2nd pick to River City for River City's 2nd

34. Akron trades its 2004 2nd pick to Cave Creek for D. Armstrong

33. St. Lucie trades G. Wallace & Bakersfield's 1st to River City for Stockton & River City's 3rd

Louisiana cuts McCoy

32. Cave Creek trades David Robinson, Brian Grant & its 2004 2nd pick to Holcomb for Finney's 1st pick & McLean's 1st pick

Cave Creek cuts Mikki Moore & Oyedeji

31. Galactic trades Rod Strickland & New Orleans' 2nd pick to Brooklyn for Fox & Malik Rose

30. Holcomb trades Olowokandi to Finney for J. Foster

29. St. Lucie trades Abdur-Rahim & Cave Creek's 1st to Bakersfield for Chapel Hill's 1st & Bakersfield's 2004 3rd

28. St. Lucie trades Etan Thomas to Holcomb for Bender & Saginaw's 1st

27. Holcomb trades Jeff Foster & Kemp to Finney for Moochie Norris & P. Hardaway

26. Holcomb trades St. Lucie's 1st and Good News' 2nd to Galactic for M. Jordan

25. Davenport trades its 2004 2nd pick to McLean for McLean's 2nd, 3rd & 4th picks.

24. Holcomb trades Kukoc to Galactic for Kemp

23. Holcomb trades G. Wallace to St. Lucie for J. Foster

If you think third-round picks aren't worth anything . . .

Thanks to Galactic Coach Steve Walters for compiling the research on this. Taken in the third round in the following years:

1996 - Eric Snow & Doug Christie

1997 - Steve Nash, Malik Rose & Jerome Williams

1999 - Keon Clark , Bonzi Wells & Aaron McKie

And in the fourth round of the 1999 draft, Alvin Williams was picked.

2002 - Zach Randolph

2003 Draft set to start Monday night, Dec. 1, about 7 pm EST

Dec. 7 is our official draft day, but we will be starting this year's draft via telephone calls (from me to you) and via email (from me to you) and via Yahoo! chat on Monday night, Dec. 1 about 7 pm EST. We did the same thing last year and it was very successful. We finished our draft days before the official draft day and the same thing might happen again this year. Expect an email or phone call from me anytime before 11pm EST asking for your pick.

Keep track of who is being chosen on our 2003 Draft link. You can also check that link now, along with our Rosters link, to see who owns what draft picks. I'll also announce picks here on our main page. I will also read the list of players chosen since your last pick over the telephone, if you wish. You can then hang up with me, study things, and email or phone me back later with your pick. You can take as long as you want to make your picks - until 1 pm EST Dec. 7, actually. You don't have to make any picks until then, if you don't want to. Your choice. Of course, everyone else will hate you if you make us wait that long, but hey, it's your right.

And if you're like me and can't hardly wait to get started drafting, then let's go!!!!

New Mackinaw coach is Phil Russo, team is now the Buzz

Let's all welcome the newest SABL coach, Phil Russo of Metairie, LA. His address is 3406 N. Woodlawn Ave., Apt. 1, Metairie, LA 70006 and his email is psrusso@aol.com. His telephone number is 504-887-1655. He has changed the team name to the Louisiana Buzz.

Stay tuned for more late-breaking news on this SABL channel.

2003 SABL Draft Order

The following is based on won-lost records and includes penalty point adjustments. Divisional and World Champions draft last, unless penalty points alter the order. Where won-lost records were tied, penalty points, autoplaying and other league records were used to break the ties:

1. Chapel Hill 2. New Orleans 3. Finney 4. Louisiana 5. Davenport 6. Tulsa 7. River City 8. Iowa 9. Brooklyn 10. Akron 11. Bettendorf 12. Holcomb 13. Quad City 14. McLean 15. Cave Creek 16. St. Lucie 17. TriCity 18. Richmond 19. Bakersfield 20. Galactic

New coaches mean divisional realignment

One of the reasons I'm announcing a new coach for the Mackinaw team before I even know his name is that we need to realign divisions, which we always base on geography in the SABL and we need to do it before the 2003 Draft so you know what's going on before you make your draft picks.

Every time coaches quit and new ones join, we always realign divisions. The only way it can be fairly done is based on geography. Teams get good, then get bad, so you can never base it on team strength. That constantly changes from year-to-year. Geography is the only way because it lets coaches that live close to each other play as many games versus each other as possible. It fosters friendship by encouraging more face-to-face play. And it creates rivalries - just ask me and Steve Walters - we've hated each other for 30 years now.

Also, after the draft, no more divisional realignments can occur until the next season. This is the last one until we see what new coaches we get in expansion next summer.

First off, the North Division stays the same. It's hard to break up a division full of Feeneys. They are truly Amazing.

The Cave Creek franchise will move to the West Division, since Arizona is definitely out west.

Brooklyn, which competed in the East Division last year, will move back there from the South division. Steve Feldheim's New York accent was just too noticeable down here. Moving from the South to the East with Brooklyn, is McLean. Yes, Bob Storey is technically just barely in the South, but McLean is really part of suburban Washington, D.C. and that evil Beltway/Northern establishment which Rush Limbaugh warns us about.

The Mackinaw franchise, which will soon be based in the New Orleans area, will move from the East Division to the South. New Orleans will move from the West to the South with the Mackinaw franchise. My daddy grew up in Louisiana and it definitely is part of the South.

No more Mackinaw

Haven't heard from Mackinaw Coach Gary Wandezel in more than two months. He is a friend of our recently departed Saginaw Coach Ed Lynes. Gary did not participate in any of our recent votes. Gary is not responding to any of my recent emails or phone calls.

Gary is not part of the SABL anymore.

We have a new coach lined up for the franchise, however, and he is a 55-year-old electrical engineer from Metairie, LA. That's a suburb of New Orleans and the man lives near Roosters Coach Jeff Perigoni and is also a friend of Chapel Hill Coach Tommy Field. He has 30 years of Strat experience and is very computer-oriented.

I will have more information for you by Sunday, Nov. 30, when the new coach takes over the team. The new coach will be participating in our 2003 Draft next week.

It's Plan A for 2004 Expansion

One of our coaches switched their vote to make it 10-8 in favor of Plan A, so that's what it will be! Here is a recap of Plan A:

1. The SABL is expanding to 24 teams for the 2004-05 season.

2. Player minute limitations will be set at 20% in 2004 and 2005 to give expansion teams a chance to establish themselves.

3. We will add one team to each division. Some realignment, based solely on geography, may happen.

4. The regular season will expand to 88 games. 8 games with teams in your own division (40 games), 4 games against teams in your own division in the same conference (24 games) and 2 games against teams in the other conference (24 games).

5. The playoff structure will not change.

6. Expansion teams cannot make trades until after the Expansion Draft, probably in September, when they have players to trade with. At that point, they have the same rights and privileges as any other SABL team.

7. The four expansion teams will draft at the end of our regular 2004 draft, 21, 22, 23 & 24.

8. I may add to this or change this list later if I think of something important or if you bring it to me attention, lol.

Plan A.

1. Existing SABL teams will cut down to 6 players each. When an expansion team takes a player from an existing team, the existing team gets to take a player back.

2. When expansion teams reach 10 players each, the Expansion Draft is over. Existing SABL teams will then get to take back any players not taken by the Expansion teams.

Happy Thanksgiving from the good old SABL!!!!

New Players Cut link will help you keep better track

Got a new link on the website, Players Cut. This will help you keep better track of who has been cut and the likely to be available to draft. Remember, no list is perfect and this is the golden SABL drafting rule - Anyone that played even 1 minute in the NBA's regular season last year can be drafted in the SABL.

I'm SOOOO ready for the draft to start next week! Wow!

Mark Long sets new trade record - deal on first day of ownership!

I think Mark truly belongs in the SABL, making the quickest trade ever for a new franchise owner. After taking over the team at about Noon EST on Nov. 26, by 9:45pm EST he had made a deal with - you guessed it - Charlie Dillingham of the Holcomb Heat.

Some things never change.

Mark Long takes over Saginaw/East Asia franchise

Let's all welcome a 10-year Strat-O-Matic Basketball card game veteran to our league, Mark Long of Cave Creek, AZ. Mark is taking over the Saginaw Shockwave and renaming it the Cave Creek Longshots. Mark also owns a trophy shop.

Mark's address is 4611 E. Morning Vista Lane, Cave Creek, AZ 85331. His email address is longshot18@cox.net. His telephone number is 480-363-3167.

Mark is real anxious to make some deals before the draft, so contact him ASAP! The trade freeze is at 11:59 pm on Nov. 30 and I will begin telephoning you to make your draft picks on Monday night, Dec. 1.

Who's Trading?

32. St. Lucie trades G. Wallace & Bakersfield's 1st to River City for Stockton & River City's 3rd

Louisiana cuts McCoy

31. Cave Creek trades David Robinson, Brian Grant & its 2004 2nd pick to Holcomb for Finney's 1st pick & McLean's 1st pick

Cave Creek cuts Mikki Moore & Oyedeji

30. Galactic trades Rod Strickland & New Orleans' 2nd pick to Brooklyn for Fox & Malik Rose

29. St. Lucie trades Abdur-Rahim & Cave Creek's 1st to Bakersfield for Chapel Hill's 1st & Bakersfield's 2004 3rd

28. St. Lucie trades Etan Thomas to Holcomb for Bender & Saginaw's 1st

27. Holcomb trades Jeff Foster & Kemp to Finney for Moochie Norris & P. Hardaway

26. Holcomb trades St. Lucie's 1st and Good News' 2nd to Galactic for M. Jordan

25. Davenport trades its 2004 2nd pick to McLean for McLean's 2nd, 3rd & 4th picks.

24. Holcomb trades Kukoc to Galactic for Kemp

23. Holcomb trades G. Wallace to St. Lucie for J. Foster

Saginaw Coach Ed Lynes resigns due to computer problems

Ed has just emailed me (Nov. 25) and told me his computer has died. He can't afford to fix it until he gets his tax return in the Spring. Sorry to see Ed go, but he can return next season when we expand to 24 teams.

That means the Saginaw franchise is available. It has 13 good players, having won the SABL World Championship in 2002. It has one draft pick in this year's draft as well. Contact me, Scott Ellis, Commissioner,  for more information, but hurry. This team is gonna go fast!

2004 Expansion passes by 14-4 vote! Plan A or B choice still unknown!

With only one coach left to vote on expansion, there is no doubt about it - Expansion has passed in the SABL! We will expand to 24 teams in the 2004-05 season! Thanks to all of you for making this leap of faith in the good old Second American Basketball League!

However, we still don't know whether we will be doing Plan A or Plan B, because they've received 9 votes each, with one coach left to vote! We will know Thursday morning, though, and I'll let you know then!

Richmond hawking Michael Finley to highest bidder

Raider Coach Frank Rowley wanted me to tell everyone that Finley is up for trade for the best offer. Contact Frank ASAP!

2003 Draft Preview is published

Yep, you get your money's worth in the SABL. I have my annual card preview online at our 2003 Draft Preview link.

I hear this every year, but just keep a couple of things in mind when someone tells you that there are no good picks past the first round:

Zach Randolph was taken by Galactic in the third round last year. And since we are drafting so late, there are more real-life NBA players doing good that you definitely want to take than in previous years. It's gonna be the best rookie draft since 1995, possibly the best rookie draft ever in the SABL.

Drum roll, please . . . 2003 Team Preview is posted

Galactic Coach Steve Walters previewed the teams, and it's at this link: 2003-04 Team Preview

www.sabl.net is our new website domain!

http://sabl.tripod.com will still work too, but now, all you have to do is type in www.sabl.net and you will connect to our official league website! sabl, of course, stands for Second American Basketball League. www.sabl.net is what I'll be using as our link on other basketball web pages. Also, our web pages have been upgraded so we can use counters, scripts, blogs, file sharing, Java and many other enhancements.

Once we get past learning the new Windows game and possibly expansion next fall, either I or some other league members knowledgeable in web page design can take our plain pages and add some graphical pizzazz to them. At least our website now has the capability to grow.

Our www.angelfire.com/trek/sabl will be just a backup website to use when our www.sabl.net site goes down, which I hope is never again. I will not be updating our Angelfire website on a regular basis, either.

Anyway, please put www.sabl.net in your favorites because that is now the official website of the Second American Basketball League.

Computer game not shipping until mid-December. Draft will stay at 1 pm EST, Sunday Dec. 7.

Just checked the www.somworld.com forums, the official site for game company news, and found a post from longtime Strat employee Steve Barkan saying the computer basketball game will not ship until Dec. 17.

I also telephoned Akron Coach Dave Scott, who also said the computer game will likely not ship until mid-December.

So even if we postponed the draft until Dec. 21, most, perhaps all of us would still not have the computer game in our hands before draft day.

That cinches it. We are not gonna postpone the 2003 Draft into 2004. We should never have postponed it to begin with. The 2003 SABL Draft will take place as scheduled at 1 pm EST, Sunday, Dec. 7, a date that is truly living in SABL infamy.

So, some very important dates are quickly coming up:

August 1 - SABL All-Star Series

Pre-Draft team preview & 2003 Draft card previews coming soon!

The Pre-Draft Team-By-Team preview will be written by our current SABL World Champion, Galactic Thunder Coach Steve Walters. The 2003 Draft card preview will be written by the man who annually compiles our Draftable Players list, Tulsa Twister Coach Phillip Creider. Thanks to both of them and look for their analysis soon!

Vote "Yes" or "No" on expansion in 2004 by Wed., Nov. 26

McLean Coach Bob Storey is right, we need an up or down vote on Expansion in 2004, but we have to make it quick. The 2003 Draft could still occur on Dec. 7, so we have to get this vote done before our current cut day, Nov. 30. So, this is kinda like the California Recall. Even if Expansion is voted down, you still have to vote in Part 2 of the election, and choose Plan A or Plan B. Get me your votes by Wednesday, Nov. 25.

The plans have been revised, so check 'em out again and change your vote if you need to. Right now, everything is too close to call!

Two caveats: If 7 coaches vote against Expansion, it is defeated. If just one coach says they are gonna quit if we expand, Expansion is defeated.

Now, it's up to you! Where do you want our league going in the future? It's in your hands.

Computer game is not coming out until at least first week of December

The good news is that real progress is being made in making a good Windows computer basketball game, free of the bugs we all know and love from the DOS dinosaur we've had to endure for years. Also, there's gonna be a super stats, reporting and utility package to replace the current, buggy stats package, also from the poorly programmed DOS game of yesteryear - well, last year, to be exact.

Now for the bad news - the computer coach, lineup and grid system, which many (including your commissioner) consider to be inadequate and incomplete, ain't changin' a bit. Also, no Internet play capability will be added in this first version. But Akron Coach Dave Scott, who is play-testing the new computer game, says all that may be added to or improved upon in future iterations. What's important is getting the game out before the NBA season is over . . .

And that leads to the really bad news. From talking with Dave and reading the game company's official forums, there's no doubt the computer basketball game is not gonna be published until the first week of December, if then. Since we postponed the 2003 Draft until Dec. 7 to wait on the computer game, it seems dumb not to postpone it again to wait another couple of weeks on it. So, that leads me to this next league vote . . .

Should we postpone our 2003 Draft to Sunday, Dec. 21 at 1 pm EST

Please vote Yes or No to this and get me your vote by Wednesday, Nov. 26. If this vote is approved, we will continue to trade until the Sunday before the draft, at 11:59 pm on Sunday, Dec. 14. Paper or email Draft Lists, if you want to send one to me, would be due by Sunday, Dec. 7, a date that still lives in infamy. Since the computer coaching part of the game is not changing and we won't need anytime to get used to at least that part of it, we will still start our regular season on Jan. 11.

The SABL is expanding to 24 teams in 2004-05! Vote on THE PLAN

Yep, how about that, sports fans?

I can already see a lot of increased interest in Strat computer basketball because of the impending release of the new Windows game. That interest is only going to increase after it comes out, so now is the time to expand. I know most of our coaches want to do this. The only reason I was holding back was because I wasn't sure if we were going to have to learn a whole new computer game this fall. I didn't want to contemplate expansion AND a new game at the same time.

But it's clear that while the graphics, stats and reporting parts might be changing, the core game play and computer coach is not. That means we should strike while the iron is hot and expand the SABL next fall.

Now what usually sinks expansion is not whether to do it or not. Most of our coaches want to do it and so do most other leagues. What derails it is the Expansion PLAN. Unanimous approval of any plan is almost unheard of and majority approval of any plan is rare. So I'm gonna set some non-negotiables before I ask you to vote on two expansion alternatives:

1. The SABL is expanding to 24 teams for the 2004-05 season.

2. Player minute limitations will be set at 20% in 2004 and 2005 to give expansion teams a chance to establish themselves.

3. We will add one team to each division. Some realignment, based solely on geography, may happen.

4. The regular season will expand to 88 games. 8 games with teams in your own division (40 games), 4 games against teams in your own division in the same conference (24 games) and 2 games against teams in the other conference (24 games).

5. The playoff structure will not change.

6. Expansion teams cannot make trades until after the Expansion Draft, probably in September, when they have players to trade with. At that point, they have the same rights and privileges as any other SABL team.

7. The four expansion teams will draft at the end of our regular 2004 draft, 21, 22, 23 & 24.

8. I may add to this or change this list later if I think of something important or if you bring it to me attention, lol.

HERE'S THE EXPANSION DRAFT PLAN YOU ARE VOTING ON:

Choose One Of The Following Plans:

Plan A.

1. Existing SABL teams will cut down to 6 players each. When an expansion team takes a player from an existing team, the existing team gets to take a player back.

2. When expansion teams reach 10 players each, the Expansion Draft is over. Existing SABL teams will then get to take back any players not taken by the Expansion teams.

Plan B.

1. Existing SABL teams will cut down to 8 players each and will not be able to take back any players.

2. When expansion teams reach 10 players each, the Expansion Draft is over.

I'm gonna need all your help and a lot of patience with this as we move into a new SABL expansion era. But the NBA is expanding again soon, so why not the SABL?

Please feel free to phone me or email me with suggestions, ideas, offers of assistance, or anything else on your mind about Expansion. To some, it may sound scary. To most, I think it will sound great. We have been stable for several years now. We all know and trust each other. We have fun competing against each other. We are ready for this. It's time to take the SABL to the next level.

One thing’s for sure – if we don’t expand soon, and I think now is the time, our league may stagnate. We must take advantage of the renewed interest in Strat basketball. I just think we gotta do this.

If we all work together, as we always do, we will make this a big success and take our league to new heights as the best Computer Strat Basketball League in the country gets even better - the Second American  Basketball League, where you always are free to be the best that you can be!

Pre-Draft cut date is past, now it's time to plan for 2003 Draft

Nov. 16 was the last day you could send cuts to the Commissioner before our draft, which is currently scheduled for Dec. 7, a date which probably will not live in infamy after all, at least in the SABL. More on that later.

Please check these two links: 2003 Draftable Players & Trades for who is available in our annual new player draft. The Trades link contains who's been cut since our regular season last Spring.

Bakersfield cuts A. Mason, Ham, Campbell & Pollard

St. Lucie cuts Popeye-the-Sailor Jones & Mad Anthony Carter

Davenport cuts Lynch

Bettendorf cuts Ewing, S. Williams, Monty Williams, Hoiberg, D. Jones & Horace Grant

Tri-City cuts Lee "Press-On" Nailon & Aaron Williams

Galactic cuts Zardoz -er, Zendon Hamilton & Brandon

Who's Trading?

28. St. Lucie trades Etan Thomas to Holcomb for Bender & Saginaw's 1st

27. Holcomb trades Jeff Foster & Kemp to Finney for Moochie Norris & P. Hardaway

26. Holcomb trades St. Lucie's 1st and Good News' 2nd to Galactic for M. Jordan

25. Davenport trades its 2004 2nd pick to McLean for McLean's 2nd, 3rd & 4th picks.

24. Holcomb trades Kukoc to Galactic for Kemp

23. Holcomb trades G. Wallace to St. Lucie for J. Foster

Brooklyn cuts Chris Mills

Quad City cuts Madsen & Hunter

Davenport cuts Woods

Davenport releases Nesby, Gatling & Satterfield

McLean releases Rodgers & Wang Zhi Zhi

Akron releases Horry, Torres & Avery Johnson

Richmond releases Booth & McDyess

River City releases C. Blount, Potapenko, G. Anthony & Dickerson

Commissioner's new email address is . . .

scottiefl@bellsouth.net

It's official - Strat to ship cards on Oct. 14.

And you can see the one-line announcement for yourself at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/

Draft postponed a month to Dec. 7, cut date moved back to Nov. 16 -

Season to start on Jan. 11

The vote is in and it's 8 votes to 5 in favor of moving back our annual draft a month to accommodate the late shipment of both the cards and the computer game. That means the draft will now take place on Dec. 7, a date that will live in infamy, at 1pm.

Our roster cut date has also been moved back to Nov. 16. For those of you that have already sent me cuts, if you want to change them now that you have more time, just send me another cut list.

Draft lists, for those that want to send them to me, are due on Nov. 30.

Some notes: We will probably start drafting on Dec. 1, the day after draft lists are due. I will begin telephoning each of you on that Monday and you can go ahead and make your picks early, if you wish. But if you make a pick, you can't take it back. It's final, even though it's early. We did this last year and we ended up completing the draft a week early. But I will not use any draft lists (unless instructed otherwise) before Dec. 7 and no one has to draft early unless they want to.

And finally, we are going to start our season on Jan. 11. Jan. 1 is just too tight, especially with all of us learning a new Windows Strat basketball game. But we will still play a normal amount of games in January, so get ready for a game-filled three weeks to start things off.

Here's our new and hopefully final schedule:

THE 2003-2004 SABL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

August 1 - SABL All-Star Series

Cards will ship next week, computer game late November at earliest

Today is Oct. 7 and I just got word from Richmond Coach Frank Rowley that the game company has told him his cards will ship next week and the computer game will not ship until late November at the earliest. I also have heard that some cards actually began shipping yesterday, Oct. 6.

Cards still not out as of Oct. 5. But here's some help . . .

Guys, I ordered my cards months ago and I still don't have them. Looks like they might be late, too.

I have some official forum links for you to keep up on this, as I am: Strat-O-Matic Forums

Also, here is a preview of the cards: http://www.strat-o-matic.com/sphere/bkpreview.htm

And finally, here is a link that will at least let you know where everyone can play. Remember, if you play either guard slot, in the SABL, you can play both guard slots: http://www.strat-o-matic.com/sphere/bk0203.htm