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| EST. 2002 |
| INTERNATIONAL |
| BASEBALL |
| CONFEDERACY |
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| It's the beginning of April, the International Baseball Confederacy's third year is about to begin, and now more than ever it is clear that this league is one of a kind . Roto leagues just don't seem worth the trouble anymore, as beating strangers just isn't as fun as beating the diverse cast of guys that make up the IBC. Several fantasy leagues have sprung off from the IBC, but none quite compare to the original. Most of them never even make it to their second season, which only further illustrates the rarity of a league like the IBC. To kick off our third and hopefully best season yet, I chatted with Bren Dillon, the IBC's Commish, and asked a few questions. Gabe: All right. It's the third season of the IBC...can you believe we've lasted this long? Bren: I don't think it's a surprise that the league has lasted this long. What's been a surprise is that it's been as smooth a ride as it has been. We've retained a lot of high quality GM's and the league really hasn't changed that much, certainly not as much as I thought it might. i guess Nils and I just got lucky. Gabe: What' do you think is the key to the IBC's longevity? Bren: Patience, Good GM's and the ability to listen. Exspecially that last part. I can certainly be the headstrong type, but I learned from a sim basketball league i did for a year that if you don't listen, you're going to lose members interest and then the members themselves. I may think an idea isn't the best for the league, but I try to let whoever presents it have their say. I don't always succeed in that area, but I do know that the more I listen, the better the whole league will be. Gabe: Only two people know what it's like to be IBC Champion: Nick is one, and you are the other. How's it feel? Bren: I don't even know to be honest, I had a psychological ass-kicking from game 7 of the MLB ALCS weighing on my mind. Although it does come in handy if I want to piss off JP. Gabe: Haha. How do you think your opening day roster this year compares to your rosters the last two years? Bren: Even compared to my roster at the end of 2003 it's changed a lot. It's very young. Lots of guys who were here for a while are gone. Dunn, Nomar, Pedro. I went into last year as a man on a mission. Win the World Series no matter the cost. And I did. I knew it would mean I probably wasn't going to be competitive this year and I accepted that. Now I'm dealing with that reality. Gabe: Nick won the first ever IBC World Series, then missed the playoffs the following season. Could you see the same thing happening to you? Bren: It would take a miracle for me to make the playoffs. If a few things had happened differently, that might not have been the case. Nomo projected on the wrong side of 3.50, Maels fucking Rodriguez showed up throwing in the 80's and didn't make the sim or even get a real sniff from any team. I think if maels had panned out and nomo had simmed as most people expected he would, i'd have had some shot at the playoffs. As it is, making the playoffs isn't even on my adar screen for 04. I'm just focusing on how my prospects develop and in getting in the best possible position for next year. Gabe: With you having to practically sacrifice your 04 season in order to win in 03, would you say a dynasty in the IBC is impossible? Bren: In this case, probably. I'm sure JB and the rest of the AL doesn't mind though, two ALCS championship series in the first two years isn't a dynasty, though I've never missed the playoffs either so far. I think the turnover rate is too high in the IBC for anyone to develop a yankee like 3 World series in a row type of dynasty. Josh would have you believe otherwise, but that doesn't mean much coming from a guy who hasn't won a post-season series yet. Gabe: So if you're not winning the Series this year, who is? Bren: That's tough, lots of good teams. I think it will certainly be someone from the AL though, those NL pussies are choke artists. If I had to pick I'd say Nick in Anaheim or Josh. Gabe: The 2004 projections are out. Is there anyone you feel DMB really screwed? Bren: Nomo was screwed. I didn't expect 3.09 like he did in the MLB in 2003, but 3.77 was unjustified. He shouldn't have topped out over 3.50. Beyond him though I think i got off pretty light as far as getting hosed on projections. Maybe Redmond, the guy is a career .300 hitter. Gabe: Picking the WS winner is one thing, but picking the league's worst team is entirely different. So lay it out there and offend someone Commish, who's the worst the IBC has to offer? Bren: Atlanta. As long as Rich is in the league, that's going to be the easiest question in the world to answer. Gabe: Who's your favorite person in the league to argue with? Bren: That's tough. Nobody gets me riled up like Rich does, Josh and Z are both fun to argue with. JP too because I know exactly which buttons to push. Zalaski is probably the most enjoyable though, except when he starts waxing poetic over that bum Mattingly or sending out long-distance blowjobs to Jeter. Mostly because we argue about other stuff too. Counting Crows, the Celtics, pretty much anything goes and we usually argue without getting bitter or vicious. Just so long as the name Danny Ainge doesn't come up. Gabe: What do you think of the Cubs Fans/BoSox Fans mini-rivalry that has developed on the board? Bren: That's like saying the Sox and Yankees have a rivalry. There isn't one. The Sox get looked down on for not winning since 1918, but compared to the cubs, that was recent history. I don't think the cubs have even had back to back winning seasons in my lifetime. The Cubs are the only team that Sox fans can say they truly pity. Gabe: Last year, in all my interviews, GMs declared Nate's Reds the team to beat in 2003. He ended up missing the playoffs. In your opinion, could this be his year? Bren: Considering that every year the division winner jumps to another division, it's got to come soon. Maybe this will be the year, maybe not. Nate has had awful luck with the injury bug. Gabe: JP went from the worst in 2002 to the champion of the NL in 2003. Is there anyone who could make a major turn around like that this season? Bren: I might do that in reverse... first in my division to last. The possibility exists i think. other than that, I don't think so. It would be a pretty much impossible task i think. Gabe: We've got a new DL policy here in the IBC. Do you think it will fix all the problems we've had in the past? Bren: All of them? No. But I think people will better about it when it does happen because there are concrete guidelines for punishments. MLB struggles with Steroids, we struggled with the DL. i think our solution for the DL is certainly beter than MLB's curent one for roids Gabe: There was a lot of moving in the offseason. What division can now claim that it is the toughest? Bren: That's hard to say. The NLC has lost a lot of depth. They still have a tough top 3, but their bottom 3 are all rookie IBCers. I'll say the ALW, they don't have one team that's awful, though I think with the way Brett, Pat and myself are rebuilding, things are looking up in a big way for the ALE. Gabe: Our bottom 2 are rookie IBCers, I'm the other lower team, and I've been here for awhile lol. Bren: Oops. Gabe: Last year, in place of the All Star Game, we had a division challenge (which the NLC won, by the way.) What do you think we'll do this year? Go back to the traditional All-Star Game, do the division challenge again, or try something completely new? Bren: I'm not sure, I haven't thought that fa ahead to be honest. I was pretty sure the ALE won that challenge though... Gabe: Well, you also thought I was a rookie GM. Bren: Touche Gabe: Do you think the IBC will be around in another three years? Bren: It damn well better be or I got raped in the Nomo deal (he gave up 7 runs in 5 innings with one lowly strikeout today, btw). I'm built for the future, so it'll be around. It's too much fun and we've all invested too much in it to let it die. Gabe: Any final comments? Bren: Just that I'm continually encouraged by the direction of the league. Everyone is very committed to making it work and ultimately, that's why it works. It doesn't seem possible that's it's been more than 2 years since the draft. It's been a lot of fun, this may have been the best idea I've had since inventing the wheel. |