The Blueprint II: Combine Efforts

In our game, the free agency period is interesting because there's no draft, per se. The rookies are all thrown into the same mix as the young free agents into a scouting combine. This happens at a conference every summer, where teams interview potential recruits for a position 12 months from now (i.e., hiring now for jobs next August).

This year's combine was in Boston this past weekend. Teams brought in recruits, for 45 minutes conversations, back-to-back for 2 or 3 days, talking to anywhere from 15 to 25 candidates. The interviews were typically tag team interviews, with 2 or 3 team reps in the room with the recruit. And what happened this weekend is described as a dog and pony show.


Depending on who you are, interviews go very differently. Rookies will get grilled about their thesis. Generally speaking, that is their only track record, so teams grill rookies about the nitty-gritty details. As a result, rookies have to come prepared, often with a presentation book with slides to flip through, and an accompanying presentation.

Some of the teams will have a good-cop, bad-cop situation set up, where one of the reps asks really tough questions, and one of them try to be the supporter. Some of the teams play bad-cop, worse-cop, where they see how far they can push the rookies, to see how well they respond. But perhaps the worst is the nice-but-not-super-interested-cop, who are friendly, but not really engaging. With the many different possibilities, the process can become exhausting, telling the same story over and over, putting on the show. But most everyone manages to get through it. Not every interview is a great success, but it gets done.

Now being a free agent with a little experience, the Chairman's interviews went differently. Instead of being grilled about his thesis, the conversation was more about his research program and job expectations. Instead of convincing teams that he was a good candidate, it was as much about the Chairman convincing the teams that he'd be willing to sign with them. It was interesting, hearing the teams trying to sell themselves as a good fit. Chairman noted that this was very different than two years ago," I suppose that's the difference between being a rookie with no experience, and being someone with some experience. But all in all it's still a dog and pony show." Only, this time, it was both sides putting on the show.

So what about Free Agency 2010 for the Chairman?

The options have been narrowed down. New Orleans is still the favorite, although there are rumors from the Chairman's camp that it will not be giving out any hometown discounts. Among the locations that have been talked about from the beginning of this process, Washington DC and Clemson, SC are still at the forefront of the rumor mill. Two other strong contenders emerged from the scouting combine in Boston: Portland and El Paso. Portland was rumored to be a desired landing spot, but the El Paso rumors have picked up with the revelation of the incentive clause in the Chairman's promotional deal with Pace Picante Sauce, which would kick in if he signed with a Texas team. Additionally, whispers about two darkhorse locations, Missoula, MT and Provo, UT, that weren't necessarily on the radar at the start of this process, have been coming out of sources within Maverick Carter's inner circle.

At this point, the Chairman's representatives expect to receive 2 or 3 callbacks for final interviews, which will be conducted at team headquarters, probably over the next 6 weeks. They declined to name which teams would be the most likely to give the callbacks. Though there is no official date, most teams adhere to the traditional October 15 date for the start of the signing period. However, some teams may wait as late as the end of November for their signings in the primary market. So, the free agency drama will probably continue on into the fall.