The History of RJ.

[dslaw]

Can't remember my start date but on 9/11 I was getting a ton of information here. Would go sit by the tv for a while but as coworkers came and went I felt I couldn't stay there too long so I would come here for more updates. As much as I use this place for baseball the Sports Bar is also a great place to hang out.

[ironfist]

I remember the old old forum, back in the days of that graphic that Jason posted. I didn't post much then either, except in the football forum, since there weren't many people posting in there and I wanted to keep it alive.

[Erik]

I showed up about a month into RJ's existence. I had started playing Roto in 1998, became instantly addicted, and was looking for anywhere that had more info on this strange hobby of ours. I used Rotonews.com for news updates, but their message boards weren't very good. But one day in early March of 1999, there was a post in there from some guy named Ric asking people to come over and check out this new Roto board. I did, and knew that I had found a home as soon as I saw it. There was already a community of folks who were just as obsessed as I was, in a place that wasn't bogged down by spam and flame wars.

I posted pretty frequently on the old board between 1999 and 2001, and in the spring of 2000 I helped found the first keeper league formed in the Pen, the NL-only 12TO. (Some folks had organized an AL-only league in the Pen, and this was the response for those of us who prefer the NL.) The initial auction took more than 8 hours because we had to use primitive AOL IM chatroom technology.

The biggest Phillies homers on RJ at the time were myself and a guy who went by Eagle. He invited me into one of his Philly-area fantasy football leagues and to this day I play in three FF leagues with him.

I signed up immediately when we transitioned to the new board in 2001, but I didn't post there as frequently. Part of that had to do with getting divorced that year, so I had a lot of stuff going on, but part of it had to do with how my social life ramped up after that. I was spending way more time partying and going to concerts than I was doing roto. Between 2001 and 2007 or so, my involvement with RJ was usually limited to checking out the baseball forum in February, March and April. I had only a couple hundred posts during that time. In 2006 or so I quit 12TO because I no longer had the time to do more than one auction league, and learning about every single bench and bullpen guy in the NL no longer seemed like fun. I never cut back on FF because it doesn't take nearly as much time to prepare for.

I remarried in 2008 and my life became more sedate again. I began spending more time at RJ again, venturing out into the football forum and the Sports Bar, becoming a regular participant in Mock One, and getting a freelance FF writing gig with our Fanball overlords. With our first child due in May, I won't be leaving the house very much for a few years, so any of you hoping for another quasi-hiatus from me will be disappointed!

[heyelander]

signed on in late 2004 specifically to play in Vintage Draft IV. JohnnyA was running a yahoo league and had recruited my coworker scott/nascar/slider to play and then suckered him into the vintage drafts. Scott brought me along.

About a month later, I discovered the sports bar.

[Piney Boy]

The classic [echo] post (sorry about the funky characters that is what rj shows up after I searched for it)

How did rotojunkie.com start? :
-----------------
Scene: Bob Kohm’s Garage, Bob and Byron sitting on an old sofa, passing a bowl back and forth

“We should, like, start a web site or somethin’� –Byron “That would ROCK� he bangs his head and pounds his fist into the air.

“I’m not exactly sure it would “ROCK� as you say it Byron.. it may be cool, by typical text book descriptions. Your opinion of this is shallow and poorly constructed – but allow me to re-craft your initial thought into something tangable.� –Bob

“A sports website, fantasty sports…� –Bob says grinning ear to ear

“Whats fantasy sports Bob… gimme the bowl… give it…� –Byron

“You keep that up and you’ll earn a 2 week suspension from the Garage. Period.� -Bob

“Now quiet – I’m developing our future.. I’m visualizing our digital thumbprint on the global network of linked computers.. the Internet!� –Bob (he jumps up off the couch) “It’s brilliant !!� “shoot… I dropped my extra pocket protector.. where’s it go Byron�

“I like global networks.. I’m in… got any Doritos?� -Byron

and the rest is history – really how did it start?

[GwynnInTheHall]

Anyone seen the stapler?

[Gregg]

I believe it is at a Luau.

[Trader Mac]

I joined back in June 2001 when they had the old format which was very difficult to follow. Bob and I didn't become best friends until a couple years later.

[Erik]

Anyone seen the stapler?

Shawn from Ohio took it.

[Byron]

I lurked from 1999 until officially registering in 2001. Who remembers these days?

argh! Lord, I remember those days well. Ric and I trying to figure out how to keep people around... good times.

[Gregg]

I just used random names from 1999-2000, depending on the point of the post. Not sure if registering was finally required in 2001, or before.

I saw some guests were looking at this post. I decided to bump it.

JJ, Sometimes for fun I would post as Mike Ditka. I am not sure how that worked. We didn't need to log in to post? Or maybe once we were in we could sign up as anybody? Not really sure.

[Judge Jude]

there was no signup/registration, iirc.
you just hit "reply," and posted a name in one line and your message on the other

[Moonlight J]

btw, the site problems today are related to a member of Anonymous hacking GoDaddy

[Gregg]

there was no signup/registration, iirc.
you just hit "reply," and posted a name in one line and your message on the other

>>>> i remember

>> get off my lawn

>>>>> Mike Ditka

[Gregg]

Happy belated 14th birthday RJ!!