Wednesday/Friday Waivers

[Route C]

Hey Greg

Here's a thought for 2013.

I've been asked by a couple of players in conversation how I feel about dual waivers. On both occasions I had to admit that I feel like 3 weeks is too small a sample size to draw any conclusions but there is one thing that really stands out to me. Every Wednesday is kind of like slinging mud at the wall and hoping something sticks. Too many uncertainties mid week as it relates to who's playing and who's not. Is Maclin in or out? Should I pick up Damaris Johnson or wait til Friday when Maclin is supposed to practice? If I only have one free roster spot it's a complete guessing game or possibly someone throws a buck at him (slinging mud) and Maclins out... so I lose!
I don't own Maclin so this is all hypothetical but it does make a great point for Wednesday FAAB only involving players that play in the Thursday night game. If there is any room for improvement that would help the fantasy owner make better FAAB decisions then this is at least worth considering for discussion at the end of the year.

[Captain Hook]

Another vote IF keeping Wednesday waivers is to just have it for players from teams who are playing Thursday, AND
1) IF you pick up a player on Wednesday you HAVE to put them in your lineup for Thursday thus the week
This will give everyone who needs/wants an Andre Brown and chance to get him and play him but not shorten the week and mental processes for those who don't need a player(s) for Thursday but will make their normal weekly pickups on Friday

[BillyWaz]

I voted for the Thursday players only option for Wednesday's pickups as well.

Perry....how in the world would the NFFC be able to enforce that you must play that player?
I would think that they would have to check everyone's lineup.....can't see that happening.

[edelman24]

Having to play the player has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If you have Hakeem Nicks but he is doubtful so you pick up Rasmus Barden to back him up in case he doesn't play, yet you have to play Barden even if Nicks suits up? Logic here people.

[BigBlueNation]

Totally agree with the two previous thoughts on having to play a waiver pickup. With all the uncertainty of players on wednesday, plus attempting to pick up FA's through the Bye weeks, that seems rather nonsensical to me.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I tend to share these concerns. I cut my number of NFFC teams to three this year because I knew the early part of the week would be very tough. That has proven to be true. I won't bore you with details, but Mondays and Tuesdays are extremely busy for me and I often get home late from work on both days. In fact, the limited amount of time I have to work on waivers over two days has been stressful and lessened my enjoyment of this hobby.

However, I do see the need to have early waivers due to the Thursday night game. The solution seems obvious to me: Have the Wednesday Waivers be only for the two teams playing Thursday.

I know this was an option in the preseason survey, but none of us had experience with this set-up in the past and the idea seemed out of sync. I commend the NFFC for taking the lead and putting into effect the system that most customers voted for. Now that we've experienced the negative effects of full waivers so early in the week, this seems like a good solution. I know that all Free Agent decisions have to be made in the context of every team in the league, but having to worry only about picking up players from two teams wouldn't be nearly as crushing as what we're experiencing now. Then by Friday, we've all had more time to process information and see a full week of practice reports.

I hope next year this change is strongly considered. I'm not sure I would enjoy playing Fantasy Football again having to do these early waivers next year.

Thanks for all the feedback on this folks. My original post to Wayne was that while I appreciate all feedback, it always seems that when there's something wrong with the game we all love those posts seem to find their way on the NFFC boards and everyone gets to discuss on our boards how they're going to cut back on the number of teams next year. I'm not sure why the NFFC boards is the place for those kind of posts rather than another site, but a better post would be to find the perfect FAAB setup that keeps us all loving this great hobby. I'm sure that's how it would have been phrased on other lovey dovey boards!!

So yes, let's experience this season with Wednesday-Friday FAAB and then discuss how to keep the Wayne Ellis's of the world playing as many in-season fantasy games as they originally did. We first proposed the Thursday-only players for Wednesday while leaving FAAB on Friday for all players and that was one of the least desired options by everyone. That probably seems like the most desired option now, doesn't it? I mean, if waivers are opened on Friday night (which can continue) and you have only two teams to consider for waivers on Wednesday, wouldn't that make sense?

Then you could still have full waivers on Friday for the 30 other teams, including the bye teams. It's possible this could even continue for the Thanksgiving games and games in Weeks 11-13. Thoughts?

Again, I tend to seek solutions rather than "I'm done" problem solvers. As Paul and others have said, we all knew that this year would be something we'd have to live and learn through. The NFL is NOT going to go away from the Thursday Night Game every week on its own network, so all fantasy football owners have to figure out how to best use it. If the better solution is Wednesday FAAB just for the teams in the Thursday games then I know we can program it. It's something we first talked about here. That's a better solution than our best players saying "I'm done, or I'm only doing weekly salary cap games or I'm only doing Draft Champions Leagues."

This industry continues to grow in participation each year and I don't see that changing because of the Thursday Night Games. That being said, if we need to lead FAAB pickups in a different direction we will do it. We took your feedback in making Wednesday-Friday FAAB this year and will propose this other option if it's warranted. What's your thoughts on a Wednesday FAAB for just the 2 Thursday Night teams and full FAAB on Friday for the other 30 teams?

Let's hear it since the discussion has been thrust on our boards.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Another vote IF keeping Wednesday waivers is to just have it for players from teams who are playing Thursday, AND
1) IF you pick up a player on Wednesday you HAVE to put them in your lineup for Thursday thus the week
This will give everyone who needs/wants an Andre Brown and chance to get him and play him but not shorten the week and mental processes for those who don't need a player(s) for Thursday but will make their normal weekly pickups on Friday

I'd say that's NOT a feasible solution or anything the NFFC wants to enforce.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Knowing that my work schedule would be a little more manageable than in the past was a factor in me keeping so many teams. I totally agree with everyone that it is extremely time consuming early in the week, and like Wayne said, it would be great to have the players totals updated Monday morning.

That being said there are TWO major areas that would speed things up tremendously in my opinion (well one more than the other)...

1) The bidding system is really flawed in the fact that you can't just eliminate your top bid and not eliminate your backups bids. What I find happening is that (for example....and using obvious players) I put in a bid on Drew Brees and backup bids on Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers on Monday night during the game. Well on Wednesday, I see that Robert Griffin is now available and I would rather have him than Drew Brees. Well in order to keep the same sequence with RGIII as my top bid, I have to delete EVERYTHING and start over again. While that might not sound like a big deal, it can be extremely time consuming.

2) This is far less important, but when searching for a free agent, why is there no longer a "place bid" button on the page?? For example, if I find that RB Arian Foster is available in my league through the search, I now have to hit the back button (which kicks me back to the QB's) and find this player. Sure, I can do it by player, but if he hasn't played it has to be done alphabetically. Since there are usually 5 pages per position, I have to guess whether the "F's" (for Foster) are on page 2 or 3? I knew in years past the place bid button was on the page......would be nice to have it back.

Bottom line is if you take the number of people who are in this contest (not number of entries), you would obviously fall way short on numbers. With these Thursday games not going away, it should be PRIORITY #1 for a contest to make this process as EASY AS POSSIBLE. Otherwise, people will take fewer and fewer teams, which obviously leads to less numbers for a contest.

I think like Glenn said, it's not that hard to change the free agent you want and just move him to the top, but I'll ask about making your first request even easier.

Your second request is "Add Place Bid to the free agent page." I get it and I'll ask that. Please put PRIORITY #1 on all HSFF contest Message Boards so that we're all aware of the dire need for this change. One of these other contests have NO POSTS on their boards and could use the chatter. Thanks.

[King of Queens]

We first proposed the Thursday-only players for Wednesday while leaving FAAB on Friday for all players and that was one of the least desired options by everyone. That probably seems like the most desired option now, doesn't it? I mean, if waivers are opened on Friday night (which can continue) and you have only two teams to consider for waivers on Wednesday, wouldn't that make sense?

Then you could still have full waivers on Friday for the 30 other teams, including the bye teams. It's possible this could even continue for the Thanksgiving games and games in Weeks 11-13. Thoughts?

Again, I tend to seek solutions rather than "I'm done" problem solvers. As Paul and others have said, we all knew that this year would be something we'd have to live and learn through. The NFL is NOT going to go away from the Thursday Night Game every week on its own network, so all fantasy football owners have to figure out how to best use it. If the better solution is Wednesday FAAB just for the teams in the Thursday games then I know we can program it. It's something we first talked about here. That's a better solution than our best players saying "I'm done, or I'm only doing weekly salary cap games or I'm only doing Draft Champions Leagues."

This industry continues to grow in participation each year and I don't see that changing because of the Thursday Night Games. That being said, if we need to lead FAAB pickups in a different direction we will do it. We took your feedback in making Wednesday-Friday FAAB this year and will propose this other option if it's warranted. What's your thoughts on a Wednesday FAAB for just the 2 Thursday Night teams and full FAAB on Friday for the other 30 teams?

Let's hear it since the discussion has been thrust on our boards.

Greg, as you will recall, I was one of the people "leading the charge" for exactly this setup. The problems with running a full FAAB on Wednesday night were as obvious to me then as they are to many people now. If you need help in fleshing this out, please let me know.

As for why this discussion is taking place here and not elsewhere, I would say that you and Tom have a reputation of being more flexible regarding potential changes. Consider that the Wednesday-FAAB-for-Thursday-game-only idea was not even considered in another contest. When I asked about it, the reason given concerned "unknown consequences" and potential "surprises." Through three weeks, I'd say the consequences of having full FAAB every Wednesday are pretty apparent, and the only surprises are whether your substantial bids for Shaun Hill, Tashard Choice, Damaris Johnson, etal were completely useless.

I think we should reserve judgment until we hear from the people who were dead-set against this option. Perhaps they can shed some light on what may be an overreaction on mine and others' parts.

[Coltsfan]

Greg,

I think you should take it as a compliment that I posted it here. But if you would rather I post this elsewhere in the future then I would be glad to do so.

I did post last year that i was cutting my leagues back. It wasn't a threat - I was just trying to be forthright with you. Waiver wire work has always been my least favorite part of fantasy football and that hasn't changed. It's just much worst this year. I"m always open to doing more draft expert leagues!

I felt this was a worthwhile discussion since we now have a few weeks behind us. Maybe it's not. But none of this is intended as a slam against the NFFC or the rules here. It applies everywhere. I just thought this might be the best forum for a discussion.


Wayne