I thought this was HIGH STAKES fantasy football, where the BEST OF THE BEST play, not a league my mom can win. If we're going to add a 6 team playoff then what happens in a few years when a bunch of the 7th place teams miss out by 0.2 then complain, are we just going to let everyone make the playoffs? This reminds me of the trend that started right as I was finishing grade school where everyone plays in sports, not the best players. That doesn't prepare you for the real world at all unfortunately. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FEEL WHEN YOU CRUSH THE LEAGUE BY 300 POINTS THEN LOSE TO THE 6TH SEED? This isn't helping the NFFC, this is hurting it by paying money to people who don't deserve it (sorry, if you're in 6th place you don't deserve a dollar or even a chance at a dollar).
ALREADY in the Online Championship (the leagues I am personally in) about 17.25% of the teams in first place record wise are 5th or worse in total points. That's EMBARRASSING they win money imo (and the real tragedy that no one ever brings up is this screws some great teams from making the championship round). I'm in one league where until this week the guy who had the best record was 11th in points (he can still win this week and the other guy loses and he wins best record)!!! In this league if we had the 6 team playoff format that is suggested the teams that are 10th, 11th and 12th in total points would ALL make the playoffs because of crazy luck in head to head... THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA?????
If we let even more head to head teams make it, more money will be paid to teams that don’t deserve it.Another example is things like the Fred Jackson injury. The teams who had him did pretty well this year, its enough that they are taking a major downgrade for the Championship Brackets, much less them having to deal with a league bracket possibly. Having a let down in the Championship Bracket is bad enough, now its going to hurt twice as bad as it will cost you money in your league vs people you already beat? OUCH
I also jumped into the FFPC for the first time this year. In my league my team did not make the playoffs. Of the 4 teams who did, one match up a guy scored 172.45 and LOST. In the other game, a guy won with 120ish. AWESOME! That sounds like fun! Shouldn't we stick to paying the teams who really deserve it rather than turning it into even more luck? Everyone claims this is a game of skill remember, lets try to keep it that way!
I'm all for changing rules or discussing rule changes, not picking on anyone, I just personally think this is NOT the way to go if you want to pay the good teams. Greg and Tom have setup a fabulous format here to pay the deserving teams. We have casino's for luck, not fantasy football.
If you want to keep "more teams in the hunt" then I have 3 other suggestions:
1) All play. It won't pass and I know it, but in all honesty its the fairest. If someone starts 3 bye players you ALL get that advantage, not one lucky owner. If owners give up, it effects everyone the same, whoever is lucky enough to play him after he has given up.
2) Have the teams who finish in 3rd through 6th play weeks 14 through 16 for a 3rd place prize (like their entry fee back or half their entry free back). This would probably hurt the overall prize though =/
3) Make a Runner Up Bracket that's a tier below the Championship Bracket where all the teams in 3rd though 6th (or some kind of range) play for a $5,000 to $10,000 prize.
Or you could make a whole new game, the Head To Head Championship where 6 or 8 teams can make the playoffs and battle it out
This is just my opinion so please don't get upset if I don't agree with you or you don't agree with me. I've run 2 leagues for friends for 15 years now and we debate stuff like this all the time, that's all we're doing! Its what makes leagues get even better (like imagine the first guy who suggested PPR, he was probably crucified!)
Some of the other topics I'll throw my 2 cents in:
1)Another big issue brought up is how many teams make the Championship Bracket. For the Primetime there is talk of doubling the prize pool next year so twice as many teams will be in that event, then adding the third place team to the Championship round too? That’s going to make it a total lottery, at least try to keep it reasonable. Having to beat 50 – 100 teams is reasonable, once you start getting into the 200+ range its basically a lottery. 2 teams making the Championship Round plus the Wild Cards is perfect!
2) The one thing I would 100% change is the payout for leading the NFFC through 13 weeks. That is INCREDIBLY hard to do and you win between 3 times your buy in to just even with your buy in. But if you win for a whole 3 weeks in 14 through 16 you win like 100 - 200 times your buy in! I'm not saying it needs to be split or anything but even a $10,000 or $15,000 prize seems a LOT more fair to me. Especially when I believe someone posted on the boards somewhere that ONE person ever has won the grand prize after leading through 13 weeks? =(
3) QB TD's. Lots of talk on 6 vs 4 for a TD. The one reason I'd suggest 4 is simply because as its set up now if my QB has a bad week and yours has a great week I'm much more likely to lose in our head to head match up vs the same comparison at other positions, but again, this is just my take, I'm fine either way on this one really.
4) INTs. -1 and -2. I'd personally take the negatives out completely. Negatives aren't fun, this is suppose to be fun! I know, now people will argue that INT's hurt the team so they should hurt you. There are a LOT of things that involve the team though that they aren't dealing with in fantasy, I don't see them saying we should draft an O line (or something similar) even though that's either the first or second most important thing on a team
5) LOVE whoever suggested to increase defensive scoring even though that won't pass either. A shutout is SO rare, especially these days. That should be worth 20 or more imo! Even 1 - 7 points allowed should be more!
6) I would also like to see the scoring systems the same but I do really like the argument someone made about the 0.5 PPR for RB's working better in the Classic... this is a tough decision for me
7) I hope keeping KDS is never brought up for debate. KDS ROCKS, KEEP IT!
Sorry this post is so long, Tom got me past the bug that wouldn't let me sign up on the boards so now I can finally post on all the topics. Good luck to everyone this week!
Jared-
For Love Of The Game