---Friday, February 7 – Boston, Massachusetts
Matters have turned grimmer in the velo world.  Today at the age of 28 Benedito Holt, one of the most talented riders in the National Velo Federation, died from swelling of the brain.  He was at the time of his death in a coma being cared for at a health center.  Holt was the leagues leading scorer in his rookie season and had led the St. Louis Steamers to a Title Match appearance last season.  He was a native of Rockville, Connecticut but played his entire short career for the St. Louis Steamers.  His passing has stunned not only his team but many in the velo community. 

Monday, March 3 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cut day for the Milwaukee Monsters.  Olaf Waterman has convinced everyone he knows what he is doing.  He has been retained as the coach of the Monsters.  The teams pending free agents were Ralph Juarez and Yosef Spada.  Coach Waterman was concerned he was going to have to let Spada go to free agency.  The first thing he did today was to make sure to re-sign Juarez.  Then a trade partner was looked for.  The Monsters decided they would be willing to trade away Bert Acconcio for a less effective player.  The Boston Checkers quickly emerged as a possible trade partner.  Boston offered to trade Kim Herman for Acconcio.  Before making the deal, Coach Waterman did his due diligence by reaching out to the Pittsburgh Challengers and St. Louis Steamers.  Ultimately the Boston offer was the only offer and the Monsters took it.  Bennett Cleary was moved up to the First Option position and Kim Herman will be assigned to the Second Option position as a member of the Monsters.  
 
Tuesday, March 4 – Boston, Massachusetts
Wim Krantz did a swell job in his first year at the helm of the Boston Checkers.  He turned the team around from a no-win team to a team in the Title Match.  He will return as the head coach of the Checkers for the 1891 season.  The teams pending free agents were Gustavo Corna and Baptist Blair.  The team wanted to retain both.  They already had a trade in made that brought them Bert Acconcio from the Milwaukee Monsters, therefore they were clear to re-sign both Corna and Blair.  Corna was a simple negotiation and he re-signed.  Blair however informed the team he was ending his riding career.  He plans on going into coaching.  Frederic Nielson was therefore moved up to the First Option position.  Acconcio will be assigned to the Second Option position while the teams Third Option position remains open.
 
Wednesday, March 5 – St. Louis, Missouri
The St. Louis Steamers look like they are going to have to start again.  The death of Benedito Holt of course impacted the team through the loss of their best rider.  It also has had a profound impact on their coach Elian Hillam.  Today HIllam informed the team that he has opted to step away from velo at least for the time being.  This left the teams owner Mark Twain to deal with the teams pending free agents.  One pending free agent would have been Holt so of course considering his death he is off the roster.  The other pending free agent was Barclay Kipling.  Kipling is not a particularly good rider and has been relegated to the Third Option position.  Therefore, Twain along with the counsel of his assistant coaches decided it would be best for the team to let Kipling go to free agency in hopes they can replace him with a better rookie.  Julius Partanen was moved up to the Leadoff position.  The Second Option and Third Option position sit open.
 
Thursday, March 6 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Pittsburgh Challengers are looking like they too are headed for new beginnings.  Andrew Carnegie shared his thoughts today about his coach Ansaldo Bertrand, who he is bringing back for the 1891 season.  “Coach Bertrand will be with us for another year but right now I am concerned.  We need to improve our roster.  We are at a fork in the road right now.  The choice of our direction is in the hands of coach.  I’ll be watching as we proceed down the path he chooses.”  Carnegie also unveiled a new look for his team.  He said that yellow and black are the colors of the city of Pittsburgh and to bring his team in line with that he has dropped red as a color and replaced it with yellow.  New uniforms and logo were introduced.  As for the team and the roster, Coach Bertrand had Derry Savona and Ronan Engman to deal with as free agents.  Despite his ability as a rider, Bertrand had already decided he was going to release Savona.  The two had once had a close personal relationship but in the recent years that relationship has strained as Savona has been surpassed in terms of talent.  Despite his diminishing value Savona continued to insist that Coach Bertrand play him in a primary role.  Savona was released to free agency.  Coach Bertrand was willing to discuss a re-signing of Engman but Engman himself decided he was going to end his career as a rider and move towards coaching. Frans Klassen was moved up to the Middle position and Theo Franke was move up to the Cleanup position.

Monday, March 24 – Montreal, Quebec
Has Leonidas Marsden already made the first misstep in his career as the head coach of the Club de Montreal?  On this the team’s expansion signing day, which meant they could sign as many free agents as they desired, they signed one.  The one they picked was Derry Savona.  Savona is an aging former star who is coming off three tumultuous years with Pittsburgh.  Considering that Marsden is himself someone who is seen as an outcast in the sport, a teaming of he and Savona just might be more ingenious than anyone recognizes right now.  Of course, it also carries the possibility of being an utter disaster that only reinforces the current status of these two men.  Savona signed for just two years and has been assigned to the Leadoff position. 
 
Tuesday, March 25 – Manhattan, New York
With not much left on the free agency market, the Manhattan Velo Club is going to fill their initial roster with rookies.  This will be interesting. 
 
Wednesday, March 26 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The remainder of the signing days are not going to be of much interest due to the lack of talent on the market.  Today the Pittsburgh Challengers passed on their signing day.
 
Thursday, March 27 – St. Louis, Missouri
The St. Louis Steamers became just another team to pass on their signing day today.
 
Friday, March 28 – Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Checkers are really the final team that will have to pass on a signing day this year.  Tomorrow will officially be the Monsters signing day but they have a full roster.
 
Saturday, March 29 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Draft days end this year with Milwaukee being yet another team not to sign a free agent. 
 
Monday, March 31 – NVF
The National Velo Federation called last call closed today when all six franchises reported they have no remaining desire to sign free agents this year.