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Riverside, CA (AP) - As Trent Bridges so eloquently put it, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!" The beginning of the season where clean slates mean forgiveness for the sinful transgressions of season's past. No one is more appreciative of a clean slate than former (and now current) Itstheleague owner, Steven Rojas. Rojas, fresh off a one year suspension due to conduct unbecoming an ITL owner (note: different than his current military case where he is charged with conduct unbecoming an officer), he looked full of more energy and activity than we've seen all of his previous years involved in basketball and baseball.

For those not present at the draft, this quote sums up Rojas's new strategy, "I had nothing but time on my hands." I guess that's what happens when you're trapped on a place for two days with nothing but fantasy basketball magazines. Rojas showed up much more confident than in years past. Criticizing Yahoo! Sports writer Brandon Funston, Rojas came out swinging.

But the talk and claims of this being the best draft ever may be a bit premature. Just tonight, Steve Nash, the second pick of the Globetrotters, left a preseason game early after he turned on his right ankle. ESPN said he left "limping and groaning." But perhaps got it wrong and the limping and groaning was that of Rojas. Only time will tell if this turns out to be Rojas' best draft ever. However, one thing can be said right now: Itstheleague is happy to see an owner as involved as Rojas.

Rojas was not the only change the league saw this year. For the first time, a live draft was held in Riverside, CA. Previously, only satellite drafts were held in San Diego, CA. Only five or six owners would be able to make this. In Riverside this past Saturday, seven owners were able to attend the draft in person. This marked a high for the basketball season as generally, league commissioner Kevin Reyes, was in Boston for the previous drafts.

Controversy surrounded selecting as commissioner a person who resided on the East Coast. On the east coast, a person could have numerous advantages. One of which, is that an owner could make a pickup up until 3AM his time, allowing him to go out, enjoy a fantastic night, and still make a key pickup to his lineup for Sunday, the final day of the head to head matchup. Additionally, less intelligent league owners believed that because the East Coast was three hours ahead, the commissioner could "see the future" and bench or start players accordingly. Acquiescing to a lawsuit filed in federal court at the end of last season by several Itstheleague owners, Kevin Reyes entered into a settlement agreement whereby he agreed to return to the West Coast in order to retain his title as Commissioner.

As his first order of business, Dictator Commissioner Kevin Reyes ordered undisclosed team owners to change their team name. At first, the changes were aimed at increasing the fan base of Itstheleague. However, a later order requiring the owner of the Alaskan Palins to change his team name lending credibility to the fact that the Commissioner had alterior motives. However, after seeing the photo below (which demonstrates Kevin's close ties to the Republican party and the Bush White House), it is hard to believe why Kevin would ever want to change the team name of the Alaskan Palins.

However, Boyd's Beat was able to hack Kevin Reyes email (similar to the same way Sarah Palin's email was hacked) and discover the motivation behind it.

FROM: Commissioner@itsthtleague.com (Kevin Reyes)
TO: Back2BackChamp@itstheleague.com (Jeffrey Boyd)
SUBJECT: Team Name Change

Mr. Boyd,

It has recently come to my attention that your team name this year for the 2008-2009 Itstheleague season is "Alaskan Palins." As you know, I am a strong supporter of the Republican party like yourself. However, I feel that your team name needs to be changed to support the entire Republican ticket, rather than simply the Vice-Presidential candidate. As such, if you do not change your team name by the draft date, I will change it to the Arizona McCains. Also, I have already heard that you are planning on changing your team name to the "Palin Mavericks." For the reasons mentioned above, the league does not approve of this message either.

If you have any questions concerning this email, you're dumb--it's pretty straightforward. Change it or I'll change it for you.

Sincerely,

Kevin Reyes
Itsthtleague Commissioner

P.S. Don't worry. I've received this year's annual "payment" for my services and will do everything in my power to ensure that you win the league again.

The email appears to speak for itself, as do the actions of Alaskan Palins owner, Jeffrey Boyd. Shortly before the draft, Mr. Boyd held a press conference where he announced that, "after further research into the small market size of a team in Juneau, Alaska, as well as the logistics in flying teams into and out of Alaska for one basketball game, I have decided to relocate the team South for the winter. The team willl continue to be called the Lightning Jeffs. And they are coming back to Riverside, California to defend their championship."

With that said, construction on the new Boyd Arena in Juneau, Alaska, has been scrapped indefinitely.


Other changes concerning the league included the first corporate sponsorship of a team other than the Lightning Jeffs. You will remember previously, that the Lightning Jeffs obtained sponsorship from Google during its inaugral season. As back to back champions, Lightning Jeffs have received numerous sponsorships from a wide variety of companies including Moss Motors, Apple, Blackberry, Coors Light, and Viagra (the slogan for the last product being "The Lightning Jeffs aren't the only ones who can go back to back"). Commissioner Reyes was excited to announce that the Loud Lezbos, placing second last year (or as Boyd's Beat likes to say--the first loser), was pleased to announce a sponsorship by the No on Prop 8 Campaign. For those unfamiliar, Proposition 8 is a California ballot initiative that would ban marriage between same sex couples. No on Prop 8 Spokesman Pat Patterson said, "We were straddling the rainbow about whether to sponsor the Loud Lezbos. However, after seeing the owner, Jayson Moss, out and about in Hillcrest, San Diego, we knew we had the hot right man.

Another first, was the trophy presentation. And of course, Boyd's Beat has the exclusive. Rumor has it that Commissioners Daniel Thomson and Kevin Reyes actually picked out the colors of the trophy and accompanying plaque to match Itstheleague owner Jeffrey Boyd's office. You heard it right. There is a plaque and a trophy. For Trent Bridges, Jayson Moss, and Matt Reyes those who missed it, below is a photo of the trophy or "Heisman."

The Itstheleague Trophy has a Heisman-esque feel to it. The league chose to use bronze for the trophy. Historically, bronze has been one of the most innovative alloys of mankind. Used to construct tools, weapons, armor, and vadious building materials, it is only fitting that this material be chosen to construct this monumental award. Bronze is also used to to build musical instruments. The leauge specifically chose bronze as it is used in cymbals, bells, and more recently saxophones. Noting that league owner Jeffrey Boyd grew up playing the saxophone, Commissioner Reyes noted that this material was chosen to forever stand as a tribute to the first recipient of the trophy. Below, Commissioner Reyes presents Jeffrey Boyd with the trophy.



In addition to the "Heisman," the league also endowed a plaque on which will be placed the name of each year's winner (starting with 2007-2008 winner, Jeffrey Boyd). The league introduced the plaque at a press conference in downtown Riverside today, after Jeffrey Boyd's ticker tape parade. The league put together the video below for the occasion.

The plaque, like the "Heisman," belongs to the winner of the league each year. Each year, the name of the owner of the team that wins will be added along with the year.

Other than the reduction of the teams down to ten (due to the current economic collapse of the world's financial markets), not much else has changed as the Lightning Jeffs still entered the draft as the defending champions.

And finally, Boyd's Beat ends this article with a tribute to one of the earliest Boyd's Beat. Chastised for a lack of experience, the only rankings Boyd's Beat has ever published are rankings of teams based on their team names. Without further ado, I present my rankings.

1. Lightning Jeffs - Clearly the goodwill and reputation that this team has built up over the past two years justify this position. Additionally, as had been said numerous times, Lightning is the strongest force of nature out there. Furthermore, the dominance of the Lightning over the Thunder can now actually be quantified by a number. That number is: 4.4. How was this number arrived at? Google search for Lightning Jeffs delivered 6,100,000 results. Bangladesh Thunder? 1,390,000. The world has spoken.

2. Shrute Farms - Boyd's Beat is an avid fan of all things Office related. The creativity was definitely noted and rewarded with the number 2 slot. For those of you not Office fans, your sense of humor is in need of jump start.

3. Globetrotters - Confident tribute to one of the best most creative basketball teams of all time. My only concern is their exhibition-only approach to scheduling. But Rojas's awesome name doesn't end there. It's also a tribute to his real life job. And that's why it earned this position.

4. Kevdog's Ballers - Nothing too awesome about this name. But it's consistent. And consistency should be rewarded.

5. Rattlesnakes - Consistently evil. For some reason, Cody has always been viewed as perhaps the second most hated person in the league (first being Michael). Oddly though, based on his performance over the past basketball season, there's some dust that needs to be cleaned from that rattle if it's to be used this year.

6. FromBoyzIIMen - I like the pun. This team would have been ranked higher had a certain group of people been able to see their latest concert.

7. Loud Lezbos - The capitalization of the first letters of each word this year is why this team even got this high. I think part of the reason why I'm not a fan is that I lost so much hair during the semi-finals last year.

8. Brokeback Boards - Water boards would have perhaps been more humorous. Really Matt? I expected much more humor from you. You've brought us such gems as those boy band videos and that fantastic Sisqo performance.

9. The Hinrich Maneuver - Not applicable. Out of date. Etc. Michael see my comments above about me expecting more from you. You are hilarious.

10. Bangladesh Thunder - Consistently wrong for a sports team. The naysayers who cite the Oklahoma City Thunder are mistaken. If the Thunder is such a strong name, why weren't the Celtics named after the Thunder? Instead, the Thunder title was happily bestowed upon the team with the second worst record in the NBA. Bravo.

That's it for now. Remember to take care of yourselves, and each other.