End of Season Report: Time to Try Draft Kings

Alas, another fantasy football season ends, depriving team owners of their weekend treat. Replacing your #1 fantasy sports hobby with games like NFL Playoff Challenges and Fantasy NBA is likely more sad than it is satisfying. And Fantasy Baseball and March Madness Brackets are close but no cigar! Thankfully, Draft Kings may have the jelly to fill your empty doughnut hole.

I'm trying Draft Kings for the first time this weekend. I've entered the Fantasy Football $400,000 Divisional Clash, drafted a team, and entered it into nine separate contests, all while taking advantage of the LeagueSafe 5% transfer bonus. I haven't been this excited since Round 1 of the Greed is Good FFL Playoffs. Wish me luck! And try it out for yourself!

Again, congratulations to the winners of the Greed is Good FFL! Based on Red Riders tenacious approach to managing his teams in the past few years, I knew it wouldn't be long before he'd grab the trophy. Y'all can thank me for stopping him from going undefeated . . . .

As promised, below is the draft order for next season. I really had a great time having you all in the league, and I hope to see you return. Happy off-season to yas!

GiGFFL Paid
1st pick - Discard After Use
2nd pick - Von Miller's Dealer
3rd pick - timesofgracefullness
4th pick - I Got Gronkitis
5th pick - He Hate Me
6th pick - Terrorizors
7th pick - DC In Yo Face
8th pick - I Pitta Da' Fool $$$
9th pick - Mad Ravens
10th pick - CarefreeCFC
11th pick - SwashBucklers
12th pick - Nip-com-plete
13th pick - The Dean
14th pick - Red Riders

GiGFFL Free
1st pick - gettinitdone
2nd pick - M.I. Man UP
3rd pick - Four Loko
4th pick - Turd Fergusons
5th pick - Bitchtits
6th pick - Hail Mary
7th pick - poon dogs
8th pick - Super Heater
9th pick - The Commish
10th pick - Bobbum Man

Protect Your Investment: Play for Your Draft Pick Next Season

The Greed is Good FFL season ends tonight, and the playoffs begin Thursday, December 5th.

Like the closing of the stock market, you strive to make those last minute decisions, hoping to send your team into the win column and among the enterprising elite. Some make it and some don't. But don't fret. You are encouraged to keep your firm afloat. Play out the rest of this season to improve your draft pick for next season.

Those of you who do not make the playoffs will compete in the consolation bracket. Winning will move you closer to the beginning of the order in next season's draft. Here's how it works.

• 5th place = 1st pick
• 6th place = 2nd pick
• 7th place = 3rd pick
• 8th place = 4th pick
• 9th place = 5th pick
• 10th place = 6th pick
• 11th place = 7th pick
• 12th place = 8th pick
• 13th place = 9th pick
• last place = 10th pick
• 4th place = 11th pick
• 3rd place = 12th pick
• 2nd place = 13th pick
• League Champion = 14th pick
• newcomers = pick after league champion in order of earliest sign-up

"The most valuable commodity I know of is information."

- Gordon Gekko

    

Q&A - How to manage trades

How should I manage trades as commissioner?

Ideally, commissioners should not review every trade in their league. Reviewing trades is time consuming and creates a lot of unwanted drama.

As commissioner of 12 years, I only vetoed one trade. And although I still feel that my veto was justified, it caused me a lot of grief and has lead me to set my league to 'Trade Review - League Votes.'

By setting your league to: Trade Review - League Votes, the commissioner is taken out of the picture. This democratic approach allows the commissioner to react to trade arguments objectively. If there comes to be too many trade vetoes, or not enough, then that is the fault of the team owner majority, and it's up to them to communicate and react to trades fairly. If major trade problems occur in the league, the commissioner should speak up, and request that owners be more reasonable or they won't be invited back to the league next year. Commissioners who opt out of reviewing trades, and leaving the responsibility to the team owners, strengthen the integrity of their league. The Trade Review - League Votes setting eliminates the chance for you, as the commissioner, to make a mistake managing trades. You won't be accused of vetoing a trade that would otherwise affect your team's chance at winning. And you won't be accused of helping out, or not helping out, another team for some insinuated personal reason.

Set the time to vote on trades to 1 day.

To stimulate trading in your league, try reducing the standard 2 days for voting on trades to 1 day. 24 hours is enough time for team owners to get the notice of a trade and make their call whether to allow it or not. Trades should have some advantage over waiver pickups, which are typically set to 2 days.

Fantasy football websites should allow teams to include acquisition budget dollars into trades.

Wouldn't that be cool?

Q&A - Dealing with team owners who quit

Should the commissioner dump all of the players from an abandoned team into the free agent pool?

I've learned the best way to handle things as a commissioner is to do so with the least amount of manipulation as possible. Don't overreact to problems. Remember, you're the commissioner, but you're also a team owner. Other team owners in the league should understand that there may be some problems along the way, and you can only do your best to make things as fair as possible.

There are at least four things a commissioner can do when someone quits the league. I'll rank these in order of most ideal to least ideal.

1. Assign the team to a new owner. Some fantasy football sites like Yahoo allow you to do this. Look in Commissioner Tools. If a new owner takes over and actively participates - problem solved!
2. Do nothing! I call this the "as is" solution. You simply do nothing to the team - no add/drops or any roster changes. Teams will have to face the so-called "dead team," and while the matchups will not be fair for each team that faces the dead team - at least you won't be blamed for making things worse. The last thing you want is to manage a dead team to somehow honorably lose each week. That's too much manipulation from the commish in my book.
3. Place all the dead team's players on the bench. This only works if each team in your league plays the dead team the same number of times. It's like creating a bye week for each team.
4. Dump the dead team into the free agent pool. Some team owners request that the commissioner dump the players from the dead team into the free agent pool. I've found this to be the worst thing you can do. Rarely will each team owner accept this idea. Also, depending on your free agent acquisitions, and who's on the dead team, the opportunity to pick up players will probably not be fair to each team. I consider dumping players to be a overreaction by the commissioner and will only make things worse. Keep your leagues integrity and go with one of the other solutions above.

Creating the Schedule

One of the most overlooked tasks for a fantasy football commissioner is devising a simple way to
create a fair schedule. The schedule has a profound influence on how a team will perform in the season. As team owners look anxiously over their schedule, they check for those tough weeks and for those big breaks that come throughout the season. What will you do when both your #1 QB and your #1 WR face the Seattle Seahawks defense in the disruptive CenturyLink Field? Could you, in fact, luck out and face the team that has Adrian Peterson and RG3 when they're both on their bye weeks? Lots of things can happen, and it's all dictated by the schedule.

There are three ways to create a fantasy league schedule:

1. leave it based on the order in which team owners joined the league (default)
2. the commissioner manually creates the schedule week to week
3. the commissioner randomizes the schedule

Although the default method of allowing the schedule to be based on when team owners joined is basically random, and it requires no action from the commissioner, there is no way for the rest of the league to know that. In fact, the case may be that the commissioner could have invited owners and had them sign up in an order that's fortuitous for their team by cherry picking who they'd rather face more often. Also, leaving the schedule based on sign ups just doesn't feel right. It's generic.

Having the commissioner manually create a schedule week to week is the most troublesome. Making decisions on who should play who, how often, and when is too difficult and too time consuming for commissioners. And if your commissioner sets the schedule manually after the draft, you should be very suspicious, as all the information they need to rig the schedule their way is there for them to manipulate.

This leaves randomizing the schedule as the optimal choice for commissioners. A random schedule is fair, and it's easy for the commissioner to manage. There are at least three important things for the commissioner to do when randomizing the schedule for their league:

1. randomize and set the schedule before the draft, this virtually rules-out the idea that the commissioner could have rigged the schedule
2. click the 'Randomize Schedule' link only once, clicking it multiple times suggests some level of manipulation from the commissioner, and it's unnecessary
3. have a team owner present as a witness, or document the randomizing of the schedule with a Screencast-O-Matic video

I have followed-through on all points of my scheduling creed. You may view the randomizing of the Greed is Good FFL schedule here on YouTube.

 

Football Never Sleeps

Every fantasy fanatic knows football never sleeps. Ever since the lights went out in Superbowl XLVII, you've been pondering over your strategy for the next season. Like the buying high and selling low jungle of the stock market, you've envisioned your #1 pick, your must-starters, your trusty backups, and your sleepers. You cannot afford to make the same simple mistakes of last year. You cannot allow yourself to pity those who are not worthy. You must dominate! No loss will be tolerated; no win will be apologetic! This is business!

"I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought." - Gordon Gekko

Welcome to the Greed is Good FFL! This year there are no excuses, no fear, no holding back - you will put your best foot forward, you will go all-in, you will let your balls hang out!

"If you need a friend, get a dog." - G.G.

I'm excited to have you all back, and I'm excited for the improvements we will have this year. One more round of applause for the top three of 2012: (3) Discard After Use, (2) CareFree CFC, (1) DC In Yo Face - clap - clap - clap - SILENCE! The slate is now cleaned. We begin anew. This year our champion will sit atop Fantasy-opolis in a skyscraper looking down on the wannabes like ants. The sacko will peek up through the bars of sewer drains with treacherous envy. 

2013 League Improvements

• League size pledge - minimum number of team-owners = 8, maximum = 14
• Flex spot - WR #3 has been replaced with a W/R/T flex spot
• Trade time - the time to protest trades has been reduced from 2 days to 24 hours
• Player adds - the maximum number of players you can add per week is now 4

Check your email for the payment request from LeagueSafe. Once you're paid up, I'll send you the invite to re-register your team in Yahoo.

The draft is set for Labor Day 9/2 at 2:30 PM. I'll keep you all posted on a possible draft party or post draft party.

Again, welcome back and good luck - you're gonna need it!

Commish

2012 Championship Report

In one galaxy the mighty Sith has been beaten. Blasted in the wing of his TIE Advanced +1, the dark lord ricochets out into space. He will return, rebuild his empire (with the third pick in the draft), and restore order to the galaxy . . . .

In another parallel universe, the mighty Sith has met his match with the one who is true to the powers of the force. "Obi-Wan has taught you well." says the father to his son. They each fight to their last breath. Good prevails! But not by the hands of the padawan, for, it was the the "chosen one" all along who was - - - - destined to bring balance to the force.

The story ends.

Until Disney starts it up again in 2014; let's hope they don't ruin a classic [fingers crossed].

I hope you all had as much fun as me this season. 

Both BFFG Paid and Free leagues are settled. I expect Yahoo to update the results of the brackets tomorrow morning. In the meantime, expect the final scores from yesterday to stand. Below are the final standings and awards. Those of you who paid dues and placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, can login to LeagueSafe soon to retrieve your prize.

Congratulations everybody!

BFFG Paid

***League Champion - DC In Yo Face - 300 - 12th pick***

**Runner Up - CarefreeCFC - 200 - 11th pick**

*3rd - Discard After Use - 100 - 10th pick*

4th - Mojo Nipson - 9th pick

5th - He Hate Me - 1st pick

6th - Terrorizors - 2nd pick

7th - SvvashBucklers - 3rd pick

8th - Mad Ravens - 4th pick

9th - Rolling Rockers - 5th pick

10th - Knights of N. Hill - 6th pick

11th - Baltimore Smasher - 7th pick

12th - Whatchu Talking Bout - 8th pick

BFFG Free

***League Champion - The Commish - a one-handed clap - 10th pick***

**Runner Up - Turd Fergusons - a pat on the back - 9th pick**

*3rd - Goingfor3 - the irony of your name - 8th pick*

4th - Renegade Roughnecks - 7th pick

5th - Super Heater - 1st pick

6th - Bitchtits - 2nd pick

7th - Tuck&Roll - 3rd pick

8th - Squealer Squashers - 4th pick

9th - FUPAscoopas - 5th pick

10th - FourLoko - 6th pick