{"id":949,"date":"2015-03-23T14:43:14","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T18:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/?p=949"},"modified":"2015-03-23T14:45:14","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T18:45:14","slug":"a-secondhand-account-of-the-ncbl-spring-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/23\/a-secondhand-account-of-the-ncbl-spring-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"A Secondhand Account of the NCBL Spring Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2015springmeeting2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In our last story, I explained how it would be impossible for me to attend any and all NCBL meetings, including the one that took place yesterday.\u00a0 I then asked for those attending to send me a couple notes to shaun.keay@sweatsoxbaseball.com<\/a>, and you guys came through.\u00a0 I received approximately 14 emails over the past 24 hours, and after going through them all I can honestly say it feels like I was actually there, sitting in the first or second row.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll now do my best to recap the events of yesterday\u2019s meeting, using only what I have to assume is the accurate information sent my way. \u00a0I apologize for any misinformation or misinterpretations that may come up; again, I wasn’t there.<\/p>\n

Pre-Meeting Shenanigans<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Several people noted that before the meeting was called to order, the SweatSox delegation was doing some last minute strategizing off to the side.\u00a0 I\u2019ve learned that they were still discussing whether or not to actually make a pitch to stay in Tier 2.\u00a0 Their idea was that if Cornwall were going to make a pitch to stay in Tier 2, we\u2019d drop to Tier 3.\u00a0 If Cornwall went up to Tier 1, we\u2019d stay in Tier 2.\u00a0 It was simple economics: Cornwall is far, so we\u2019d all save a bunch of money on gas.\u00a0 The Dukes then walked into the meeting room, and the SweatSox realized they didn\u2019t want to see their ugly faces twice a year, so they decided to make the pitch to stay no matter what.\u00a0 Commissioner Beelen also made an appearance in the SweatSox circle, wondering if anyone new on our team has died recently.<\/p>\n

Tier Structure<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Once the meeting began and the minutes of the previous meeting were approved, it was time to figure out which teams were going to play where.\u00a0 The Cardinals, having finished last in Tier 1 last year, officially dropped to Tier 2.\u00a0 Also switching Tiers without a fight were the Knights (T3 to T4), and Bombers (T4 to T3).<\/p>\n

Cornwall River Rats<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next up were the intentions of the Tier 2 pennant winners, the aforementioned Cornwall River Rats.\u00a0 Everyone held their breath as manager John Flannigan announced they wanted to stay.\u00a0 He explained that for various reasons they were losing several key players this year, including:<\/p>\n

James Amelotte, Pedro Lopez, Chris Poirier, Tyler St.Denis, John Kalivas, Sean Hickey, Brandon Daigle, Ryan Daigle, Brad Giroux, Al Johnson, Nolan St.Denis, John Cosgrove, Tanner Casselman, Dylan Casselman, Aaron Seguin, B.J. Al-Gahtani, Todd McLaughlin, Phil Marleau, Darryl Beck, and Todd Duhaime.<\/p>\n

What was left with the depleted Cornwall roster was a handful of Flannigan\u2019s, and the voters conceded that they probably weren\u2019t ready for Tier 1 just yet.\u00a0 Cornwall won their pitch to remain in Tier 2.<\/p>\n

The SweatSox<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The SweatSox pitch was next, and I\u2019m told it was shortest and most backwards pitch in the history of pitches: \u201cWe expect to be better now that we got rid of Trepanier\u201d.\u00a0 The SweatSox remain in Tier 2.<\/p>\n

\"2015springmeeting3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The River Hawks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The 2014 Tier 2 Champion River Hawks were up next, and they easily convinced the league that they were ready for Tier 1.\u00a0 While the River Hawks may have won that battle, with Trepanier on the roster it\u2019s only a matter of time before their war is lost.<\/p>\n

The Orioles<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Tier 3 Ottawa Orioles had a spectacular 2014 campaign, winning both the Tier 3 Pennant and Championship. \u00a0Everyone assumed they\u2019d make the jump up, especially after seeing how the River Hawks faired this year in Tier 2 after moving up last offseason.\u00a0 For whatever reasons, the Orioles didn\u2019t want to and made a pitch to stay. \u00a0Their manager rattled off a couple players who \u201cmay\u201d not be back this year: basically the starting right fielder and third-string third baseman, but it\u00a0wasn\u2019t enough to convince Tier 3 they should stay.\u00a0 The Orioles join the Raiders and Red Sox as modern day teams to get booted out of their tier against their wishes. \u00a0Welcome to Tier 2, you guys will be fine.<\/p>\n

The Budget<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Treasurer Craig Cornell presented the 2015 budget, while everyone else nodded and pretended to know what all those fancy numbers meant.\u00a0 While it was a pretty good budget, it could\u2019ve been better as noted by the sitting (not standing)-ovation he received.\u00a0 Cornell then received additional praise from the commissioner, who promised a future NCBL award in his honor, once he died (which could happen soon on sweatsoxbaseball.com \u2013 RIP).<\/p>\n

Playoff Scheduling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Several emails told me about a playoff proposal made by the Panthers.\u00a0 The proposal was well thought out and made a lot of sense, but it\u2019s too big for me to explain fully.\u00a0 Instead, I\u2019ll try and summarize it in one sentence:<\/p>\n

\u201cShut the fuck up and play when you\u2019re told\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Outlaws Proposal\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Outlaws want to watch baseball while they drink on Canada Day.<\/p>\n

Ottawa Champions Proposal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Ottawa Champions were scheduled to submit a proposal, but didn\u2019t get in done in time for our meeting.\u00a0 Word on the street is they apparently want to make Saturday\u2019s \u201cNCBL Night\u201d at the ‘ballpark nobody knows the name to’.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a counter idea: let us all in for free whenever we want and just assume we\u2019ll spend big bucks at the concessions.<\/p>\n

The Secretary<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It was announced during the meeting that longtime SweatSox supporter Phil Taylor (formerly the Gryphon Boss) has stepped down from his role on the Operational Committee.\u00a0 Current NCBL Secretary Brett Stott is the Commissioner\u2019s choice as his replacement, which means a spot on the NCBL Executive is open.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my idea: I, Shaun Keay, nominate myself as a candidate to be the next NCBL Secretary.\u00a0 I\u2019d love to do it; the only problem is I can\u2019t go to the meetings, but Cory Bond can\u00a0and he could\u00a0take the required notes for me.\u00a0 Here me out, although it may seem silly and completely pointless, yet sometimes hilarious, to have my name on something but have Cory do all the heavy lifting, I think it could work! Consider this post my resume.\u00a0 Let me know.\u00a0 Shaun Keay OUT.<\/p>\n

\"2015springmeeting\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our last story, I explained how it would be impossible for me to attend any and all NCBL meetings, including the one that took place yesterday.\u00a0 I then asked for those attending to send me a couple notes to shaun.keay@sweatsoxbaseball.com, and you guys came through.\u00a0 I received approximately 14 emails over the past 24…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncbl","category-recap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/2015springmeeting2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p41pWP-fj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":959,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions\/959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sweatsoxbaseball.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}