I'm happy to be playing for first place in the free league and seventh place in the paid league. I'm also pleased to see how engaged everyone was in the league this year. We have definitely grown to become - what I believe to be - one of the most competitive leagues around. Cheers to you all!
I have a lot of important announcements about changes to the league, all of which will be effective next year - so bear with me. Here is a quick list of what's coming.
- change to the league name
- change to the league sizes
- change to starting roster
- change to trade rules
- change to player acquisitions
1. Name Change
I've been wanting to change the name of our league for a long time. The BFFG (a.k.a. Baltimore Fantasy Football Gurus) is so bad I'm ashamed of it. I'm pleased to announce that this horrible name will officially retire after this season.
"What's the new name?" you ask. Well, I wanted to come up with something that fits with the kind of league we have. So, I though about how everyone manages their team and how I felt about the league in general.
The first word I thought up was, "business." I feel like our league is a business because everyone takes it seriously. That's what I like about it! Sure there's some jive - a little trash 'talkin - but mostly it's a steady-pragmatic race to the top. Each week you can count on your opponent to make moves and set their lineup for their best chance to win. Our league is very business like indeed.
The first word I thought up was, "business." I feel like our league is a business because everyone takes it seriously. That's what I like about it! Sure there's some jive - a little trash 'talkin - but mostly it's a steady-pragmatic race to the top. Each week you can count on your opponent to make moves and set their lineup for their best chance to win. Our league is very business like indeed.
So "business" is the theme. Here's a look into my brain during the creative process for coming up with the new name. Brace yourself ;-)
A business . . . "The Business" . . . "Big Business" . . . things that are a business . . . downtown . . . Wall Street . . . 80's Wall Street movies . . . "Risky Business" No! . . . "Wall Street" Yes! . . . "Gordon Gekko" hmmm . . . Gordon Gekko's lines in the movie . . . "Greed is good." Bingo! "GREED IS GOOD FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE!" It's settled.
So what do you think? LMK. I think it has a nice ring to it, and it signifies a good mindset for winning in fantasy football.
2. League Size Pledge
The minimum and maximum numbers to run the Greed is Good FFL are 8 and 14. I have changed the maximum several times. Yahoo allows up to 20 teams. That is way too big! I have said in the past that I would try to recruit up to 16 teams, but after managing the league as your commissioner for 11 years now, I realize that 14 teams is the best-reasonable limit.
You'll notice when doing a mock draft that your choices for league size is also 8 to 14. These are really the best limits to set for everyone to have the most fun.
The order of team owner recruitment is as follows. (1) Invite all team owners of the paid league to rejoin. (2) Invite team owners of the free league to join the paid league. (3) Invite all team owners of the free league to rejoin. (4) Invite team owners in the paid league to join the free league (*if needed). (5) Invite new members to join either the paid or free leagues (*if needed).
3. The Flex Spot
Several of you have requested that I open up a flex spot, and I imagine that the rest of you wouldn't mind either. After giving this inquiry careful consideration, I've decided to deliver the goods. Granted! Next year I will replace WR #3 with a RB/WR/TE flex spot.
What I've learned about the flex spot is that it's actually more of a standard in today's leagues. There are several benefits: gives owners more flexibility (pun intended), balances the free agent pool, and increases the overall creativity of not only drafting teams but also setting lineups. Indeed, I'm convinced that adding a flex spot will improve the Greed is Good FFL.
4. Promoting Trades
The only major feature that's missing from our league is trading. A lot of the players that I see dropped should be traded. There was not a single trade all year! Trading in fantasy football is an essential concept. We lack the experiences of "buying low" and "selling high." The trading block is a ghost town! Let's learn how to use this feature to our advantage.
The deadline to protest trades will be reduced from 2 days to 1 day. This makes trading faster than a waiver pickup.
I will also make repeated requests for team owners to update their trading block status. This does not mean you have to trade any of your players, but it's a good idea to think about it anyway. You never know what kind of deal you may be offered. You could be missing out!
5. Picking Up Players
The limit for weekly acquisitions (or adding players to your team) will be changed from "no maximum" to 4 per week. This acquisition setting will be added next year to fix a loophole where team owners have the ability to deliberately churn players through the waiver process. Not that we have a major free agent vulturing problem in our league, but I have seen some questionable things go on in the transactions - so I want to put this legitimate fix in now.
And there you have it! Good season everybody!
Please respond with your questions and comments. I'd love to hear from you all. Thanks.
You'll notice when doing a mock draft that your choices for league size is also 8 to 14. These are really the best limits to set for everyone to have the most fun.
The order of team owner recruitment is as follows. (1) Invite all team owners of the paid league to rejoin. (2) Invite team owners of the free league to join the paid league. (3) Invite all team owners of the free league to rejoin. (4) Invite team owners in the paid league to join the free league (*if needed). (5) Invite new members to join either the paid or free leagues (*if needed).
3. The Flex Spot
Several of you have requested that I open up a flex spot, and I imagine that the rest of you wouldn't mind either. After giving this inquiry careful consideration, I've decided to deliver the goods. Granted! Next year I will replace WR #3 with a RB/WR/TE flex spot.
What I've learned about the flex spot is that it's actually more of a standard in today's leagues. There are several benefits: gives owners more flexibility (pun intended), balances the free agent pool, and increases the overall creativity of not only drafting teams but also setting lineups. Indeed, I'm convinced that adding a flex spot will improve the Greed is Good FFL.
4. Promoting Trades
The only major feature that's missing from our league is trading. A lot of the players that I see dropped should be traded. There was not a single trade all year! Trading in fantasy football is an essential concept. We lack the experiences of "buying low" and "selling high." The trading block is a ghost town! Let's learn how to use this feature to our advantage.
The deadline to protest trades will be reduced from 2 days to 1 day. This makes trading faster than a waiver pickup.
I will also make repeated requests for team owners to update their trading block status. This does not mean you have to trade any of your players, but it's a good idea to think about it anyway. You never know what kind of deal you may be offered. You could be missing out!
5. Picking Up Players
The limit for weekly acquisitions (or adding players to your team) will be changed from "no maximum" to 4 per week. This acquisition setting will be added next year to fix a loophole where team owners have the ability to deliberately churn players through the waiver process. Not that we have a major free agent vulturing problem in our league, but I have seen some questionable things go on in the transactions - so I want to put this legitimate fix in now.
And there you have it! Good season everybody!
Please respond with your questions and comments. I'd love to hear from you all. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment