This Sunday, ESPN’s Outside the Lines did a piece on another long-time fantasy sports franchise that ran into trouble in 2011 and ultimately shut down.

I found the 8 ½ minute piece fascinating, and in my mind it beats OTL’s breaking lead story from last week. (I’m fine with Major League Baseball’s drug-testing program – but the first I want to hear about a violation is from MLB itself, not from a media outlet digging out a story and breaking the code of confidentiality.)

But back to this week’s OTL piece, which focused on the high-stakes operation that was known as the World Championship of Fantasy Football.

“Fantasy Flop” at World Championship of Fantasy Football

Those who have played fantasy sports in the past and purchase the preseason magazines annually have no doubt heard of them. They’re the ones in which the overall winner gets the oversized check from Suzy Kolber at the Super Bowl.  Obviously, very few fantasy football magazines went to print this year due to the lockout, so I personally did not know what was going on with WCOFF or any other fantasy sports business – but until recently WCOFF was guilty of nothing more than having a WFL-like logo, which perhaps should had been a clue of impending doom right there.

The story begins with the plight of a Wyoming man named Tony Windis, who won the $300,000 grand prize for the 2010 football season following the same blueprint of many others who won fantasy football titles last year: drafting Adrian Peterson and then picking up Michael Vick off the waiver wire. Windis says he received $150,000 of his winnings, and is still awaiting the remaining amount.

The piece then focuses on several others who had invested in WCOFF over the years, including self-described ‘professional gambler’ Chad Schroeder, who invested $50,000 annually, won WCOFF’s 2010 baseball contest, and was owed over $250,000 of his winnings. Also featured was Ian Ritchie, who had played in the contest since 2003, and Scott Atkins, who now runs the Fantasy Players Association.

It is noted in the segment that the landscape of the company changed in 2007 when WCOFF’s original owners sold out to Gridiron Fantasy Sports, an arm of a company known as 360 Sports Marketing.

Ashby had huge corporate plans for his acquired franchise. WCOFF’s Draft in Las Vegas spared little expense, involving 100 women hired as cocktail waitresses clad in referee’s outfits, and also flying in two former NBA players as celebrity contestants. Ashby also started a weekly TV show which aired on Versus and had visions of televised fantasy football drafts becoming the new poker, with his contestants becoming television celebrities – while taunting the contests involving ‘the best of the best’.

By 2009, WCOFF was no longer timely in processing  payoffs, and this September it closed up shop. It is said that the operation had gotten to the point that they were waiting for the income from baseball sign-ups in the spring before paying off football winners. WCOFF then took out a loan this year (claiming they were working on sponsors), but it was still not able to pay all of the winners.

ESPN quoted Dustin Ashby (right) as saying ‘the economy got us’ and ‘we made some bad bets’ (figuratively, literally, or both??), adding that the company had lost $4 million.

The segment closes with news of a lawsuit being applied for by the ‘winners’, with a frustrated Tony Windis saying on camera ‘I just want what I want. I don’t want to hurt anybody, I don’t want any extra, I just want to get paid’. Ashby also was hit by a lawsuit a couple weeks back by the Missouri Attorney General.

There is another angle to the Dustin Ashby story. He was also a golf coach at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. While in that capacity he utilized one of his volunteer assistants, and three of his student-athletes, with the WCOFF operation on a contract basis.

Not surprisingly, something known as the NCAA did not take a very good view of this. The UMSL golf program has now been placed on two years probation for ‘major violations regarding sports wagering and unethical conduct’ and for Ashby not disclosing the involvement of his staff and student-athletes. The NCAA, which has long prohibited sports wagering by student-athletes/coaches, officially expanded the rules to include fantasy sports in 2007.

Dustin Ashby is also seen often on television on various golf programs, and St. Louis sportswriter Jeff Gordon was a featured contributor to the WCOFF website, as he had been for CDM Inc. (also based in St. Louis area) in the past.

At one point it was thought that Gridiron raked in upwards to $3 million per year, while awarding $1.6 to $1.8 million in prize money. This may have been based on WCOFF acquiring the maximum 1,200 contestants for its football contest. It can be imagined that attracting less than the 1,200 number ($1,750 buy-in) cut into the revenue stream, as well as the added administrative expenses with the Las Vegas event in recent years.

Who knows how the mismanagement (making other investments that may have tanked, etc.) got Gridiron into deep red ink, but the damage to the fantasy sports industry as a whole is far-reaching. There are many other businesses in fantasy sports that have been well-run in the years, but then again WCOFF had a clean rep until very recently, and this is not the first company to encounter ‘accounting issues’ and not make payouts in a timely manner. The result is more potential customers who may ultimately decide to sit on the sidelines, or join close-knit leagues at home with co-workers/family or other people that they know on a face-to-face business.

And the fantasy sports industry worked had to keep the hobby alive, successfully winning in court in the early-2000’s proving that fantasy sports differ from other ‘investments’ known as gambling – and again just a few years ago as professional sports leagues attempted to copyright the use of players names and player statistics. It would not take much for another bill to come forward in the future and for those decisions to eventually be reversed in some fashion.

It is frustrating enough to lose in fantasy sports based on events that happen in the field of play. It’s quite another to win but not get paid. This is something that might end up boding very bad for the fantasy sports industry.

First off, we love baseball here at MSF, and this podcast, which was inspired by Jayson Stark’s weekly appearances on ESPN Radio, is going to be a great biweekly feature on the site for all of the fellow baseball lovers out there.

Secondly, there are prizes! We are going to be able to reward one weekly winner with a $20 gift certificate to Chili’s each week, and at the end of the season we are going to be giving one grand prize winner an iPad and a subscription to MLB.tv for 2012.

And thirdly, specific to this week, one of the most well known and controversial moments in MSF history (a result of this article) will come full circle as Ken Rosenthal joins me and Ari on the first MLB Trivia Challenge Podcast.

This will be fun.

Before you listen to the podcast or jump to the quiz below, I implore you to read the MLB Trivia Challenge Rules and Information page. Only your first quiz submission is counted, so you want to make sure you know what’s going on.

Use the player below to listen to the MLB Trivia Challenge Podcast sponsored by Generational Equity.

In addition to tackling some deliciously difficult trivia questions from Ari, Ken and I look back at our appearance together on Outside the Lines, look forward at the future of sports media, discuss the topsy-turvy AL Central, and so much more. Enjoy.

Click here to take MLB Trivia Challenge Podcast Quiz #1

Link above skips you to the bottom of this page where quiz is embedded. Podcast will continue playing.

A few quick notes:

• The MLB Trivia Challenge is available on iTunes. Listen and subscribe here.
• Be sure to follow the MSF Trivia Challenge Podcast on Twitter: @MLBTriviaMSF. We’ll provide links to the latest episodes as well as periodic trivia questions that don’t make the final cut for the show. Why? It’s a long summer…you can never have enough MLB trivia.
• If you like the intro and outro music, and I know you will, it was provided to us by the Twin Cats out of Indianapolis. We encourage you to like them on Facebook or check out their music here.

On behalf of everyone at MSF and our sponsor Generational Equity, I extend my sincere thanks to Ken Rosenthal for taking the time to join us. I encourage you to follow him on Twitter, where he is often found tweeting out juicy nuggets of baseball information.

Quick Reaction to Rosenthal Conversation

I promise we’ll get to the first quiz in a moment, but I do think at least a couple of final thoughts on the entire MSF-Raul Ibanez-Ken Rosenthal-Outside the Lines situation are in order.

A lot of people have seem surprised that Ken and I have “patched things up” and have a solid relationship now, but I’m not. Ultimately he was just responding to his interpretation of words written by someone he didn’t know, and he has apologized both privately and now publicly for going a bit overboard with his indignant tone. I appreciate that and, of course, accept.

I will say that, based on listening to the podcast while editing, I’m still not completely sure he realizes that I never actually accused Raul Ibanez of using steroids and that I did try to seek out alternative explanations. (I probably should have asked a follow-up question about this.) But I also understand his larger point that you have to tread very carefully when “naming names” in association with steroids and PEDs when all you have to go on are numbers, and he’s right.

Overall, I learned a lot that week, as I detailed in this post. In particular, I learned about the potential for massive amplification that even an unassuming post on a small site can have. I also learned that with that potential comes a lot of responsibility. While I certainly felt that Ken’s public rebuke of me and my work was unfair, the constructive and informed parts of his message did not go unheard nor unheeded, and it made me a better blogger and MSF a better (and certainly more well-known) site. For that, and for his graciousness in helping us kick off the trivia challenge, I thank Ken.

Your Turn to Compete and Win Prizes

Now onto the fun stuff: your chance to match wits with the “experts” (which certainly was not me or Ken, but rather Ari and his fun but challenging questions) and win prizes.

As explained on the rules and information page, we will be rewarding one winner each time a new MLB Trivia Challenge Podcast and quiz are posted. This winner will be awarded as follows:

• Each correct answer nets you one point. Most points wins.
• In the event of a tie, we will choose from the top group at random.
• The winner receives a $20 gift certificate to Chili’s*, which is perfect for a Chili’s Lunch Break.

• Weekly winners can go bold with the new six-dollar lunch break combo at Chili’s. Choose a house made soup or salad and then pick a half Texas Toast sandwich like the Southwestern BLT smothered in cilantro lime mayo.
• See all the great Lunch Break combos at Chilis.com.
• Note: You have ONE WEEK from the day the podcast is posted to submit yours answers and be eligible for the weekly prize. The next Thursday at 11:59 pm CT, entries are closed and we award a winner.

In addition to the weekly prizes, a grand prize winner will be chosen at the end of the season. Simply put, the grand prize winner will be the person who tallies up the most points throughout the season, regardless of when the quiz is taken.

A few final notes you need to know before we let you have at it with the first quiz:

• LISTEN to the podcast; each week we will be including one bonus question taken directly from our discussion.
• ONLY your first entry counts, for the weekly prize and grand prize.
• MAKE SURE you use the same UserID throughout the season. This is how we will keep track of your scores.
• PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the instructions after each question. Due to the parameters of the quiz program we are using, and our inability to hand-grade thousands of quizzes each week, we must request that you very specific and particular in how you answer the questions. Thus, you MUST spell names correctly, you MUST separate multiple response answers with commas, and oftentimes we request that you list responses in alphabetical order. Think of it this way: attention to detail is paramount in baseball, so shouldn’t it be part of the challenge? Absolutely.

And now, drumroll the please, we give you your chance to answer. There are only six questions this week whereas there will usually be 10 or 11. Have fun!

**********

Obviously we cannot post the answers because this is an ongoing trivia challenge.

Check back in two weeks when we’ll post the second MLB Trivia Challenge sponsored by Generational Equity. Remember: someone is winning an iPad and a subscription to MLB.tv when this is all said and done…it might as well be you.

* – Chili’s gift certificate good in U.S. only.

Over the past five years, we have watched Major League Baseball fall apart right before our very eyes. Decades of baseball players and fans have been destroyed by the widespread disaster of Performance Enhancing Drugs, which has tainted every record broken in the 90′s and beyond, as well as iconic players’ images. In my very own house, I have to deal with the issues of Performance Enhancing Drugs because of these players and their decisions, which affects my children greatly.

Growing up, I idolized Roger Clemens. I wore his number when I played. I tried to pitch just like him, and collected whatever had his name or number on it. My oldest son, only 12, idolizes Manny Ramirez. As he currently plays baseball and is only a few years from high school, I have to explain to him and pray that he does not follow in his idols’ footsteps to get an unfair advantage over his competition.  My youngest son, age 10, worships Alex Rodriguez. He also plays baseball on a traveling team, 44 games a summer. This league is extremely competitive, and again, I fear the worst with what his decisions will be when he reaches more competitive levels of baseball as he ages.

I found out about Clemens at an age where I know better, and can make educated decisions on what should and should not be done to my body. But if I found out my idol did this at the influential age of 10 or 12, would I be so smart? Could my decision-making of what is right and wrong be stronger than the influence, positive or negative, that is displayed by those I look up to?

With that said, how in the hell can anyone look at Ibanez’s numbers and not think exactly what Jerod wrote. He did not say he was on PED’s, but after the likes of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, how could you look at this in any other light?

Manny testing positive was the capper for me. If he could test positive, one of the purest hitters in all of baseball, ever, I have to believe that everyone could be on them.  Think about Brady Anderson and Bret Boone. These two went from single digit home run totals one year to hitting 51 home runs and the other batting clean up in the All-Star Game.

Major League Baseball is tainted, and will be for years to come. Jerod spoke on what everyone else thinks, and yes, this is America, where we still do have freedom of speech. He did not accuse Ibanez of taking PED’s, but based on his numbers, how can you not speculate until the positive tests stop coming forward?

If we have this speculation now, wait until the 100+ names from the Alex Rodriguez list are published.

Jerod handled himself with class while the mainstream media tried to beat on his writing to justify their own existence. Jerod was dead on in his writing and his comments. Baseball is a joke, and the negative influence this has on our youth is frightening.

Jerod, my hats off to you for saying what everyone else thinks!

* – Photo Courtesy: BlissTree.com

———-

Kurt Fraschetti

Profootballinsight – Now on Facebook

profootballinsight@live.com

As the 24-48 hour sports news cycle chews up and spits out the Raul Ibanez story that I’ve unexpectly found myself at the center of this week, the debate is now shifting to far more important topics that whether speculating about individual players being on steroids is valid or how bloggers and the mainstream media will ever co-exist.

And the most important question was recently posed by a commenter over at Awful Announcing in their take on the current steroids speculation debate, in reference to the picture above (courtesy of Awful Announcing):

shacky316 said…
Who is the freaky one on the left???

I’m going to assume that I was in the process of talking at the point where that screenshot was taken, because I don’t remember hawking a loogie at the camera at any point during the interview.

Either way, I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Daulerio over Deadspin for shining a bright light on my most sensitive of insecurities: that rather then being your garden variety white guy from the Midwest, I appear to be bordering on a skin pigmentation of clear during the OTL interview. While making many relevant and important points about the OTL interview, Daulerio makes perhaps his most relevant when he says:

Jerod Morris has to go outside. Seriously, son, you’re making us all look bad if you don’t spray tan yourself before you go on national television to get yelled at.

I also have to say that I personally found their screenshot of the OTL interview to be far more amusing, for a number of reasons. Poor John Gonzalez does not appear to be as intense as me or in quite the state of ecstacy as our dear friend Ken Rosenthal.

I would like to personally thank my friends over at Cleveland Frowns for chalking up my “freaky” appearance to the obvious lack of makeup that was offered to me before the interview in their post earlier today. However, the truth is that I probably wouldn’t have worn any anyway, and would have been better served by getting a haircut sometime in the last three months and, as Daulerio suggests, emerging from beneath my laptop to behold the glory of the sun every once in a while.

I guess if I’d known that I’d end up on ESPN I would have been more proactive about these issues. But the truth is that I probably would have procrastinated about doing anything about them to analyze a White Sox draft pick or have some unnecessary fun with Photoshop.

And I mean really, when you’re just a blogger who is living in the glorious age of the MLB Network, Gamecast, and Hot Clicks, who needs the sun?