January 24, 2005

The DWL draft lottery took place today for the first time at the Lan Vishwanananathanan resident. The draft was weighted with the worse two man getting the highest chance of recieving the first pick. Here's the odds of the teams landing the #1 pick...

Salar (70/188) = 37%

Adam (40/188) = 21%

Joel (20/188) = 11%

Francis (15/188) = 8%

Sam (13/188) = 7%

Ryan F (10/188) = 5%

Abi (8/188) = 4%

Tom (6/188) = 3%

Ryan W (4/188) = 2%

Greg (2/188) = 1%

Every 2-man was invited to attend the lottery but some chose not to show. Present at the event were 2004 Most Improved Player Abi Viswanathan and Winter League standout Ryan Fitzmeyer. DWL newcomers Sam Mason and Tom Broderick also attended.

Here's how it went...

Without much of a surprise, the person with only a 1% chance of getting the first pick stayed were he was supposed to. Greg Hand will be picking 10th in the draft.

Two straight years, two straight dissapointments. The first twist in the draft happened early as Ryan Fitz learned that he had dropped from the 6th pick all the way down to the 9th pick. This year's dissapointment about not getting Adam is almost as hard as him not landing David Lanham last year.

With Fitz dropping it meant some people were gonna move up. The eight pick was awarded to Tom Broderick meaning that Ryan Walker had moved up another spot.

He seemed thrilled....

The seventh pick was awarded to Ryan Walker who was not present. The rumor around the league was that he was not returning but last year's two man of the year decided to come back to put more emphasis on who the better Walker really is.

The six pick was given to Sam Mason, meaning that Abi Viswanathan had moved up at least two spots in the draft. Sam was at the draft lottery but declined the photo-op.

Dressed for success, Abi got just what he wanted by moving all the way up to the fifth pick.

With two straight dissapointing years with DWL stars Tim and Kevin, Abi's pick will be one that should sway the bottom of the draft.

When asked about his draft spot he explained that he can only hope to draft someone who has as much style as him.

The fourth pick went to the DWL's comeback story of the year, Francis Bloom. Returning off a year away from the league, it should be interesting who he picks since he may not be familiar with the league.

With the top three about to be announced the crowd started to grow anxious with some saying they thought Salar would drop from the top slot. The third pick went to Joel, meaning that for the second straight year Adam Walker would be in the top two picks.

For the second consecutive year, Adam Walker recieved the second pick in the draft. Barring any knee injuries that aren't diagnosed for months, Ross could have a serious championship run in his future.

Salar Sami was awarded the 1st overall pick with not much reaction from the crowd. After learning that Salar had the first pick, Ryan Fitzmeyer quickly said he would be calling the Salar camp and offering a package of goods in exchange for the #1 pick. "Ryan is prepared to offer the 9th pick, 3 dollars, a BJ, and an anal lick to Salar for that #1 pick," said an inside source in the Fitzmeyer camp.