1998 Season Opening Notes

1. Just before I forget, I'll be away at a wedding from Saturday to 
Monday afternoon in Georgia.  I would be utterly surprised if I had any 
email access this weekend.

2. Please get your generic instructions to me no later than April 5.  In 
past years I have let this slide....this will not happen this year.  As 
I will mention in a minute, deadlines will be enforced this year.  Any 
team who does not get me generics as of the fifth will be penalized.  If 
you have a problem with this date, I am willing to discuss it now, but I 
will be less lenient with regard to granting you an extension at 11 pm on 
April 5 than I will be now.
    For those of you who are unfamiliar, generics are just instructions 
that will be used if you are unable to play for a portion of the season.  
If I am forced to use generics for your team, you are responsible for any 
problems with usage, and will be penalized.  Thus, I recommend that you 
list high usage players and pitchers in your generic instructions.

3. Mel Broitman will be touring Asia in April.  As such, we are switching 
all of Mel's series to road games for April.  In other words, if you play 
Mayne in April, you should send rotation to Mel now, and you will play 
the games as if you are the home team.  Rany has made a list of the 
affected series, and I will forward that to you right after this.  Series 
that were scheduled to be home games for Mel will be played at Mayne in 
June or July.  I'll let you guys know of all the changes.  Mel, notify me 
on Monday if you have not received rotations from anyone.

4. We have developed a plan to provide a strict structure for game play 
this season.  Here are the basics:

    1. All rotations need to be sent to your opponents by the 2nd of the 
month.  If rotations are not sent by then, you will be assessed one 
penalty.  If you do not send rotations by the fifth, the commissioner 
will send them out for you, and will design rotations using the five 
pitchers with the most starts on your roster, irrespective of usage.  
Once the commissioner sends them, you may not change them.

     2. All instructions should be sent to your opponents by the 6th of 
the month (with adjustments if you received rotations late).  If 
instructions are not sent by then, you will receive one penalty point.  If 
instructions are not sent by the 10th, the commissioner will distribute 
your generic instructions.  If your opponents have not played the games 
yet, you may substitute new instructions.

     3. All home games need to be completed by the last day of the month, 
and stats should be sent to your opponent on that date.  Boxes may follow 
a few days later since they may take a while to key in.  Failure to send 
results will result in the assessment of a penalty point.  If games are 
not completed by the 5th of the next month, the commissioner will then 
play the games himself.

     4. Each month, each owner must send a status report to the 
commissioner and Joe.  This report can be very simple and just say "All 
games done."  If some games are unfinished, please let Joe and I know 
which ones.

     5. Twice during the season, you may request a 5 day extension at the 
end of the month to avoid penalization.  However, even with this 
extension, you must send your rotations and instructions for the next 
month out on time.  For any team, even if you have not received results 
from the previous month, you must get next month's rotations and 
instructions out on time.

     6. If you know well in advance that you will be away for a period of 
time, please notify me.  Assuming your problems are short-term, it is 
likely that we will be able to work something out that keeps you from 
being penalized.

     7. The value of penalty points will be decided by the executive 
committee after the season.  However, if you have 4 or fewer points, you 
will not be penalized.  If you have 10 or more, you will definitely be 
penalized.  The likely penalty will be a drop in draft position in one of 
the rounds in the rookie draft.

    8. If we are forced to use your generic instructions for more than 
20% of your games, your status in NASA will be re-evaluated by the 
executive committee.


I know at first glance this may seem a bit harsh, but the key to a 
successful league is timely play.  Again, with advance notice, I'm 
willing to help you with any problem.

Let's have a great season guys!

Kenny