The SABL BS

Volume 2 Issue 30 December 1997

FROM COMMISSIONER SCOTT ELLIS, 2ND AMER. BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Playing to win

I want to make this clear: We all have to play to win, no matter how lousy our teams are.

Trading for the future is OK. If your team is bad and you want to trade a great card like Detlef Schrempf’s to get Jamal Mashburn for his future, that’s OK.

If you need to bench a player sometimes, such as Shaq O’Neal, because he doesn’t have enough minutes to play a full season, that’s OK, too. In fact, under our 25% rule, that’s a must.

But benching a player, such as Gary Payton, just so you can lose and get a higher draft position, will not be allowed. A guy like Payton can play nearly 40 minutes a game for 82 games, never get fagged out, and still have plenty of regular season minutes to spare. (I’m using my own players here as an example. I have no intention of benching Payton at all!)

You have to do the best you can with what you have. What counts is that you’re trying to win. Some years you’ll have good teams and some years you’ll have bad teams, but the rules of sportsmanship call for your best effort at all times. Otherwise, it makes our competition an empty exercise.

When the 1919 Black Sox intentionally didn’t do their best, and lost the World Series as a result, they were thrown out of Major League Baseball. I will do the same thing to any SABL coaches if they intentionally throw games. There will be no penalty points, no second chances. You’ll just be gone. This is a basic rule of gaming common sense.

If you believe anyone is not doing their best to win, I want to know immediately.

Feldheim’s email

Steve Feldheim’s email address is steeim@worldnet.att.net or steeim@aol.com. Steve is coach of the Brooklyn Tigers.

Trade report

Bombers trade their Third Round Pick, Vaught and Anthony to Heat for D. Davis & B. Barry.

This trade takes effect Segment 4, Dec. 31.

Stats to me Dec. 31

Just a reminder: I need your team stats to be snail mailed or emailed to me and in my hands by Dec. 31. SEND ME WHATEVER YOU HAVE. DON’T WAIT FOR A LATE COACH. CHECK YOUR CONSTITUTION FOR THE CORRECT PROCEDURE.

Send me the following:

  1. Running paper team stat totals.
  2. Computer game files (.gfl)
  3. Paper box scores of each game (.prt)

What to send coaches

Here’s what results you send to each of your opponents, after every series, by either snail or email:

  1. Paper box scores of each game.
  2. Computer game files (.gfl)

Official league disk tips

Some dos and don’ts on how to handle our official SABL league on your computer:

  1. Don’t delete any players from our official SABL teams. Only use the trade function.
  2. Don’t clone anybody to our SABL teams. Just use the trade function.
  3. Don’t make any trades in our official SABL league other than the ones listed in the newsletters.

If you’ve done any of these things, download another official SABL league from our website because game plans may not work right with the league you’re using.