Last updated on

15 Questions: Garritt Grandberg

Starting today, PageOne is launching a new weekly interview series called "15 Questions." Every Friday PageOne will publish a new interview of a USA Sports participant.

The 15 Questions Opening Issue is an interview with Garritt Grandberg, the first person to join the USAFL when it opened it's doors on the internet in September of 1997.

Garritt is the General Manager of the Oakland Raiders, his favorite NFL team and his USAFL team ever since he joined. Garritt has served as the Sim Commissioner since the league re-launched in May of 2001.

During the past year, Garritt has greatly enhanced the USAFL online experience by automating many of the routines and procedures of both GM and Commissioner duties. Every time you logon to the Franchise Management area, you are benefiting from Garritt's devotion and commitment to the USA Sports community.

"I can honestly say that much of the tone and spirit of this league is due large in part to Garritt," says USA Sports Founder Andrew Lewis. "Sure I busted my ass to put this thing together back in the old days. But I prayed and prayed that it would attract respectful and honest men of integrity that enjoyed sports simulations. To this day I continually remind Garritt and Mike Manuel how blessed I am that they were the first two men to join the USAFL. Their attitudes and maturity have governed the whole environment, influencing every new participant to the leagues."

Garritt's programming contributions to the USAFL are not a recent endeavor. Way back in 1998, Garritt created the USAFL Draft Lottery application. The Lottery system enjoyed continuous use for decades until the Lottery was done away with a few seasons ago.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OAKLAND RAIDERS GM Garritt Grandberg

1. Everyone involved in the beta-testing of the new free agency market application that you have designed is completely impressed with the product thus far. Can us a little hint as to what we can expect when this thing launches in the next couple of seasons?

the application basically takes the place of the existing FA system. i wont clue in on any of the new rules, but the application is designed to allow GMs to easily perform the duties related to FA for their team. eliminated will be mistakes by the unwary GM as the system will not allow the GM to make a mistake according to the rules defined in the new FA system. one thing that i think that the GM is not really aware of is how these new systems affect the commissioners as well. with each new system the commissioners life becomes that much easier. the new FA system will drop the time it takes for not only compiling the FA results, but also the time it takes to modify rosters as well. we should easily be able to cut a combined hour or two. in cutting the time it takes to perform these tasks it frees up our time to further improve the league. its a win/win situation.

2. You came really close to making the post-season this past week. How much will the retirements of Arthur Bragg, Slade Scharf, Zack Gordon, and Marcus Carroll effect your team in the upcoming season?

Carroll and Gordon will be the most missed. players like that are hard to replace. at the same time, tho both Carroll and Gordon were excellent players, i believe Oakland has the depth in those positions to absorb the effects of their retirement with minimal impact.

3. What's your opinion of the new look AFC West, now that Steve Harrison is fully in place as the Kansas City Chiefs GM and with Ben Breeden gone from Denver and Bill Barnwell ready to take over the reins?

Ben has been a figure in the AFC west for years and his presence will be missed. at the same time it is great to have fresh blood. i was surprised when Bill left and it is great to have him back. im looking forward to pitting our teams against each other :)

4. Do you think we will ever see an Oakland Raiders versus Washington Redskins Super Bowl in our lifetime? And if so, who would walk away with the Cup?

we came close a few times and its definately a matchup that could occur :) nothing against the redskins tho, but i would love to see an OAK/anyone matchup. seems that i just cant find the right combo to get me there. i have stuck to my philosophies tho and they have taken me there before. the foundation of my team is solid i just need the last key players to get me to the top. the possible matchup mentioned will hopefully happen in our lifetime as i know Mike well and it would be a great game :) if it were to happen, id have to say that there would be no competition. OAK tromps WAS ;)

5. In May of 2001, you received an email from Andrew Lewis regarding the possible relaunching of the USAFL. He mentioned the fact that the future of the league would depend on whether or not a few people would step forward to help administrate the league. What went through your mind when you first received the email and what motivated you to become even more involved with the league as a Commissioner?

i have always been about helping the USAFL as much as i could and i am fiercely loyal. i don't have a lot of talents (interviewing is a bit lacking), but i felt that with the talents i do have i could be of benefit to the league in a commissioner role. i was happy to get the chance to keep the league alive as i feel it provides a unique niche experience. i will say this, after i took on my new roles, my admiration for Andrew skyrocketed. for one man to do what he had to do to keep this league running must have been an immense task. as each new task can be automated, things are getting better on the commissioners. for example... when the new depth chart system was launched, the time i spent doing depth charts dropped from 4 hours to 10 mins.

6. Tell us about what goes on behind the scene as a Sim Commissioner. Do you sim the entire season in one sitting, or do you sim the game on each day according to the USA Sports calendar?

the sim process is simply a matter of running the games, baby in my lap, compiling the stats for each week. at each stage that is to be released, i will upload the information to the website and then notify the league that the information is available to view. most of the time this is a very smooth process that for each stage usually takes about an hour total for the regular season. when the playoffs are ready is when everything gets a little hairy. i must go in an calculate any tiebreakers to determine who will be in the playoffs. at that time i also compile a pre-playoff draft order list for the commissioners.

when i sim depends on a few things. first, if i only have time to do one stage that is all that will be simmed. i like to sim the entire regular season at one sitting if i can. the playoffs are a bit different. it really depends on if OAK makes the playoffs or not. if OAK makes the playoffs i like to do my best to sim the playoffs all the way thru the SB without seeing the results. you may think that's difficult to do, but when you've simmed as many seasons as i have, its not that difficult.

one thing id like to mention is that over the years i have been approached an uncountable amount of times to find out the early results of playoff games. up front i would like to say that unless i slip up while i'm toying with you, i will do my best to never give results to anyone early. that means commissioners included. only i am privy to the results of the sims before they are released. if you ask me about results, i will toy with you badly... very badly.

7. There are rumors that you have already designed a TRADE SUBMISSION interface for the website. When will this be launched?

it will be ready in the next couple of seasons. it is a simple system that will replace how trades are submitted to the league for approval. it does not have the complexity of the new FA system and therefore can be incorporated into our routine without much fuss. one thing that is important to note is that it is not a negotiation system. trades will still need to be negotiated in the same way. when a trade has been decided upon, one GM will need to enter it into the system. that trade will then show up in the second GMs system. once the second GM has approved the trade, the commissioner will be able to see the trade and either approve it or reject it. it is very important that the second GM realize that the commissioner will not be aware of the trade until he/she (the GM) approves it.

8. In our league, there are several different levels of competiveness. Describe your competitive spirit when it comes to the USAFL. You've yet to win a Super Bowl in the entire history of the league and yet you continue to participate. What keeps you involved?

i love winning as much as any other GM in the league, but i also enjoy a certain set of standards that i run my team with. for example, i enjoy cutting a lopsided trade deal to newer GMs inheriting a shoddy team. giving them a boost to their talent at a low cost to help build a good base. tho every so often i have a mental lapse, i will be much more shrewd when dealing with teams that regularly make the playoffs. player development and the desire to succeed keeps me involved. i love doing my best to judge talent. even tho i have been criticized several times for how i draft, i think my system does an above average job. its a twisted one, but my dream is to build a super bowl winning team made up completely of players that i drafted and developed.

9. What one feature of the USAFL would you say is by far, the best component to the league?

there are several things i like. some key elements are the draft and the custom coaching profiles. my favorite by far is anything involving player development. i love mulling over players comparing to my future training camps to decide who may be the best fit for my team. training those players, and then seeing how they perform on the field.

10. If you could have any ACTIVE player on your team right now, who would it be?

due to risk of disrupting my current team. i have no comment :)

11. Let's say you do make the Super Bowl this season, which team would you like to face?

DEN has always been my nemesis. every game vs DEN is the SB to me. WAS and PHI have been longstanding teams in this league. either one would be match i would love to have.

12. How many of your family/friends know that you are a hard-core USAFLer? Do you talk about it with them? Or are you a closet USAFLer?

well... my wife definitely does, and my daughter is getting the hang of simming... or at least watching the clock and the little football on the screen :) outside of that, im pretty much a closet USAFLer :)

13. Since you were the first person to ever join the USAFL when it launched on the Internet in September of 1997, give us an insight into how far the league has come and where it is now, along with where it is headed in the coming seasons.

it is hard to gauge how far it has progressed. it is almost unreal. it has progressed from a single guy running the league completely manually to the extensive automation on both the GM and commissioner side we see today. in the future i see more useful automation for both the GMs and the commissioners allowing not only more time but also the ability to expand.

14. Describe your environmental setting on a draft night. Do you draft from work/home? Do you order out for pizza/wings/etc? How much paperwork are you looking through to make your selection, or is all your scouting work done on the computer?

i draft from home. i have an ice cold coke or a hot coffee on my left and a daughter on my knee. i usually come into the draft well prepared (using an excel spreadsheet) for who i want to select. for each pick i have several players in order ready to be selected so when my pick comes up i can take the next available one. while im at the draft, i record each pick as its made hopefully preventing me from choosing an already taken player. this approach also allows me to remove players from my "next pick" list in real time so when my pick does come up, im not rushing to find a player. i really have no paperwork. all my scouting is done via an excel spreadsheet using player ranking calculations of my own design. when compiling my next pick list, i also take into consideration what my next camp will be in the positions i am looking at.

15. Which of the following would you rather have in your trophy case? One Lorne Sundby Cup, three James Maurer GM of the Year Awards, six AFC Championship trophies, four Bing Bennett Most Valuable Player Awards, five Tim Arkwright Rookie of the Year Awards, or ten AFC West Division Championship trophies?

one Lorne Sundby Cup :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NEXT WEEK: Buffalo Bills GM Mark Ricotta