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MOP Best Ball Series...Chapter 1 (1 Viewer)

Ministry of Pain

Footballguy
Surprisingly it took me many years before I finally gave in and tried a best ball league. A dynasty best ball league nonetheless. I was one of those people that felt the only way to play this game was to pick out who was going to be in my starting line up each week, even though it was painful to watch guys blow up on my bench, it was OK because everyone else was running the same risk. Even though I felt I could evaluate players better, draft stronger, predict trends coming, after awhile of watching my bench points far exceed everyone else’s…I knew there had to be a better way.

Also I am now 34 years old. I had a lot more free time when I was younger. Many of us have been posting in here since the old yellow board and believe it or not that was about 10 years ago…yes it was. I can still remember everyone coming into here frantically during the 9/11 attacks in New York. But the real point of this is simple…many of us have moved on and gotten big jobs in big corporations, or settled down and got married, and some of us even have little ones running about the house now. Still, we want to continue playing and competing in a hobby we have grown to love from a sport we have long admired since we were children. Who has the time needed to really sit down and crunch stats, projections, and prognosticate the same way we used to 10 years ago? And the answer is we can’t. You can’t keep a wife happy, be a good dad, and be a great worker while trying to spend 15-20 hours a week reading up on football all the time.

Now Footballguys has become a best friend for a lot of us as many of us allow Joe, David, and the entire staff to do most of the dirty work for us but I still think you have to absorb everything you read and if you read everything FBG releases each week…let’s just say it can be very time consuming too.

So what are the options? Friends, I want all of you that have never played in a best ball league format to consider trying one this upcoming season. I have never had more fun, felt better about showcasing my ability to draft, and had less to actually manage once the season starts than I do in my best ball leagues. I don’t wake up on Sunday Morning and sit on the computer screen for 4 hours, listen to the entire 2 hour Sunday Kick Off show on ESPN, and try and tune in national radio syndicates in order to figure out if the guy that is questionable with a hammy is going to play or not. I don’t worry about it because he along with my other 19 or so players are all eligible to be in my starting rotation…because it’s best ball. No more fretting all week what BB is doing with the NE injury report, or Shanny moving RB in and out of the Denver line up, none of this matters in best ball.

Some of you will say that it takes away form the in game strategy…and I say bullspit to that. The strategy is being implemented at the draft. You know what you are going to do and what the gameplan is for the season at the draft. It puts all the weight on what you do that day…and that is what we work so hard in here to try and get ready for. You can still make trades, work the WW, all those things during the season but what you do at the draft, and especially in rounds 8-15, and especially those very late picks to round out your team in rounds like 16-20…those can make or break a team. Anyone can pick up a magazine, log in to here, and put up an all star team thru 6 rounds…everyone has done that…but in best ball, I can even that playing field out by drafting strong and deep well in to the later rounds of the draft.

I am going to be doing a series on different angles and current relevant keys to a good best ball team in the coming weeks. We do have some pretty good examples in the mock draft forum from the winter leagues and the SSL I-IV which just finished up recently. I’ll show some subtle differences in dynasty vs redraft, and I will also show a couple of leagues where they play both dynasty and redraft with the same 12 owners year in and year out.

This is the 1st thread in the series, and I would like to get some feedback on what people think about best ball that play in a league and also those that shy away from it, or just plain don’t like it. I feel like the old way of setting your starting rosters each week is a lot like 7 card stud in poker…on its way down. And best ball leagues are a little more like Texas Hold’em or even Omaha in poker.

Thoughts on best ball leagues?

 
Off the top of my head this would not be a league for me. I enjoy all of those things you mention that are time consuming, they provide me with hours of distraction from the grind and I fit them in around all the family stuff. This would be a good league for the casual player though.

 
I love best ball leagues, Especially the off-season Mock Drafts Forum Survivors.

They put you miles ahead of the curve as far as season prep, and you are drafting among the best the board has to offer and well as getting in-draft and post-draft in-sight and discussion.

The other thing I like is the low maintainance after drafting. No-waivers and No-trades. (some leagues still have waivers).

Seriously we all have enough leagues, Im in like 6 re-draft and set lineup leagues alone and turn down plenty of others than friends and board members ask me to join.

Try best-ball as a good alternative all the fun and less involvment post-draft.

 
Off the top of my head this would not be a league for me. I enjoy all of those things you mention that are time consuming, they provide me with hours of distraction from the grind and I fit them in around all the family stuff. This would be a good league for the casual player though.
Hey Two,As you can imagine, I still put in a lot of hours into the hobby, but I find this league appealing to owners that don't have time they feel to dedicate themselves beyond their local redraft league, or they say they are already in 2-3 leagues...after the draft you simply don't have to be as hands on. And I compete in leagues with guy like Team legacy, PAE, Capt Hook, Bicycle Seat Sniffer, these guys are not exactly chumps or casual type owners. It's just really hard to be in a lot of leagues and maitain a lifestyle that would include a family and a job that might take up 50-60 hours a week. MOP
 
Haven't tried one yet, but might give it a go this year. I have often had this thought ("I wish we were playing our entire rosters") when watching my bench players outscore several opponents entire starting lineups, but I didn't have them in my starting lineup because my #1 at the position was scheduled to start but pulled a muscle in pre-game stretching :wall:

Thanks for the post MOP :goodposting:

 
I love the idea of a dynasty BB (and if you start another one let me know MOP).

I don't think sitting around the computer or TV for six hours Sunday morning counts as a "skill" at all, and if you look at everyone's efficiency (on MFL) there's hardly any differences at all by the end of the year. And what small differences you DO find are obviously down to lack of depth for the guys that have higher scores. So picking the right lineup isn't a skill either (on average). Given the talent constraints on our rosters we're all faced with mostly obvious choices and the marginal choices average out across the whole year.

 
I played in my first BB league last year (FBG NCOFF draft) and loved it. I no longer like to grind on Sunday morning looking for any bit of info I can and watching ESPN for hours either. I wish I could convert my 14 team redraft league to this format but it's a tough sell. Many guys are stuck in their ways and would refuse, others don't mind scouring the computer for hours on Sunday morning looking for any bit of info that will help them.

 
good post MOP. I've been thinking about trying a different type of league and time is not something I have alot of. :thumbup:

 
huge fan for reasons already mentioned

hopefully this will bring some great new competition to the mock draft sls

 
I enjoy best ball / survivor drafts enough, but for me they're always a trial run for the main leagues.

I enjoy the in-season action too much to make best ball my main format, but there is a place for them in your diversified FF experience.

 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.

 
Ministry of Pain said:
Two Deep said:
Off the top of my head this would not be a league for me. I enjoy all of those things you mention that are time consuming, they provide me with hours of distraction from the grind and I fit them in around all the family stuff. This would be a good league for the casual player though.
Hey Two,As you can imagine, I still put in a lot of hours into the hobby, but I find this league appealing to owners that don't have time they feel to dedicate themselves beyond their local redraft league, or they say they are already in 2-3 leagues...after the draft you simply don't have to be as hands on. And I compete in leagues with guy like Team legacy, PAE, Capt Hook, Bicycle Seat Sniffer, these guys are not exactly chumps or casual type owners. It's just really hard to be in a lot of leagues and maitain a lifestyle that would include a family and a job that might take up 50-60 hours a week. MOP
I wasn't trying to imply you were a casual player, I know your credentials. I was simply saying that it seems to me a Best Ball League would be more appealing to the casual player. I didn't look at it from the angle of it being a supplemental league for those who have numerous teams.
 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.
Easy way to explain and good questions by the way...Start 1 QB...but you have Rivers, Delhomme, and Leinart...whoever scores the most points that work accoring to the league rules will take the QB spot. Rivers (20), Delhomme(16), Leinart (14)...Rivers will take the QB spot that week with a score of 20.Most of th eleagues I play in have a format similar to QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, Flex, TE(2PPR), Def, PK.
 
Boy we get Sean into this league and he becomes the Champion for the genre.

I think one point mentioned is that these are GREAT leagues for people who want to have more teams (how many teams to do lineups for each week is a personal decision) AND as a result, the Draftmasters or Draft Champion events have become very popular at both WCOFF and NFFC - and soon will be at NBC and FFPC. Each of these high stakes venues retains their own scoring rules (and usually adds a few extra roster spots since in addition to not worrying about lineups there are also no FA or roster changes in their versions of these leagues - like a survivor league here). They can be drafted in person (usually the Friday before the main event) or all of them have them available online now at varying entry $ levels.

 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.
Easy way to explain and good questions by the way...Start 1 QB...but you have Rivers, Delhomme, and Leinart...whoever scores the most points that work accoring to the league rules will take the QB spot. Rivers (20), Delhomme(16), Leinart (14)...Rivers will take the QB spot that week with a score of 20.Most of th eleagues I play in have a format similar to QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, Flex, TE(2PPR), Def, PK.
Seems like it encourages owners to mix up their roster - with an assortment of high production / low variance guys + lower production / very high variance players. Interesting. Not sure I like it, but it's intersting.Fully agree with whoever said there is little skill in selecting starters each week. I'd love to see a study on this, but my hunch is people selectively remember both "the good" and "the bad", but ultimately most people (like MOP) think they have an above-average ability to choose the right starters each week. Frankly, it's no different than everybody thinking that they are an above-average driver.One thing that concerns me: somebody above mentioned that most of these leagues are no-trade, no-waivers. That seems to take away at least 50% of what I enjoy in my current league. It's heavy on trading....even in the offseason. What fun is a league where you draft once, then no player movement happens afterward? Boring.
 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.
Easy way to explain and good questions by the way...Start 1 QB...but you have Rivers, Delhomme, and Leinart...whoever scores the most points that work accoring to the league rules will take the QB spot. Rivers (20), Delhomme(16), Leinart (14)...Rivers will take the QB spot that week with a score of 20.Most of th eleagues I play in have a format similar to QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, Flex, TE(2PPR), Def, PK.
Seems like it encourages owners to mix up their roster - with an assortment of high production / low variance guys + lower production / very high variance players. Interesting. Not sure I like it, but it's intersting.Fully agree with whoever said there is little skill in selecting starters each week. I'd love to see a study on this, but my hunch is people selectively remember both "the good" and "the bad", but ultimately most people (like MOP) think they have an above-average ability to choose the right starters each week. Frankly, it's no different than everybody thinking that they are an above-average driver.One thing that concerns me: somebody above mentioned that most of these leagues are no-trade, no-waivers. That seems to take away at least 50% of what I enjoy in my current league. It's heavy on trading....even in the offseason. What fun is a league where you draft once, then no player movement happens afterward? Boring.
some leagues are draft and done no-trade no-waivers - THe survivor for instance on the Mock Drafts Forums here at FBGBut what MOP is really talking about is the FIX league, which does have trades and waivers, but no setting of lineups going with the "best ball" lineup
 
Boy we get Sean into this league and he becomes the Champion for the genre.

I think one point mentioned is that these are GREAT leagues for people who want to have more teams (how many teams to do lineups for each week is a personal decision) AND as a result, the Draftmasters or Draft Champion events have become very popular at both WCOFF and NFFC - and soon will be at NBC and FFPC. Each of these high stakes venues retains their own scoring rules (and usually adds a few extra roster spots since in addition to not worrying about lineups there are also no FA or roster changes in their versions of these leagues - like a survivor league here). They can be drafted in person (usually the Friday before the main event) or all of them have them available online now at varying entry $ levels.
:rolleyes: There might not be a league if...no doubt the best ball format has reinvigorated my passion for FF.

 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.
Easy way to explain and good questions by the way...Start 1 QB...but you have Rivers, Delhomme, and Leinart...whoever scores the most points that work accoring to the league rules will take the QB spot. Rivers (20), Delhomme(16), Leinart (14)...Rivers will take the QB spot that week with a score of 20.Most of th eleagues I play in have a format similar to QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, Flex, TE(2PPR), Def, PK.
Seems like it encourages owners to mix up their roster - with an assortment of high production / low variance guys + lower production / very high variance players. Interesting. Not sure I like it, but it's intersting.Fully agree with whoever said there is little skill in selecting starters each week. I'd love to see a study on this, but my hunch is people selectively remember both "the good" and "the bad", but ultimately most people (like MOP) think they have an above-average ability to choose the right starters each week. Frankly, it's no different than everybody thinking that they are an above-average driver.One thing that concerns me: somebody above mentioned that most of these leagues are no-trade, no-waivers. That seems to take away at least 50% of what I enjoy in my current league. It's heavy on trading....even in the offseason. What fun is a league where you draft once, then no player movement happens afterward? Boring.
some leagues are draft and done no-trade no-waivers - THe survivor for instance on the Mock Drafts Forums here at FBGBut what MOP is really talking about is the FIX league, which does have trades and waivers, but no setting of lineups going with the "best ball" lineup
got it. thx.anybody notice a difference in strategy of which players to select? do you go for "sure thing" players (80 yds + TD each week) or guys with high upside but a lower "floor"? curious if people think of it that way.
 
I completely agree with both MOP and Capt Hook here. This is a great format, especially for players looking to play in more leagues that just don't have the time to manage them. Additionally there are differences in the strategies that can be used based on the fact that you can't make pickups, differing rules, etc. It really is a nice format.

 
It seems that there's lot's of good reasons why somebody would like BB formats...chief among them being less pre-game stress time over injuries.

BUT...most of us still prefer that element of strategy involved with picking a lineup.

There is a compromise though, although it is harder on the commish. The "backup" rule. Any player can have a backup player designated. If your starter doesn't play, your backup's stats count. This makes more sense (to me) then rigid lineups, but keeps the strategy of choosing in the game without forcing owners to spend all of Sunday morning scouring news forums to find out if their questionable stud RB is suiting up.

 
Hey MOP - I've never done best ball, but it sounds cool. Can you just clarify one thing - with best ball do scores for ALL players count, or do scores from my best qb, best 2rb, best 3wr (or whatever my starting line up requires) count - or does it not matter, and I could do it either way? Also, can you post a link to a good thread or two in the mock draft forum? TIA.
Easy way to explain and good questions by the way...Start 1 QB...but you have Rivers, Delhomme, and Leinart...whoever scores the most points that work accoring to the league rules will take the QB spot. Rivers (20), Delhomme(16), Leinart (14)...Rivers will take the QB spot that week with a score of 20.Most of th eleagues I play in have a format similar to QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, Flex, TE(2PPR), Def, PK.
Seems like it encourages owners to mix up their roster - with an assortment of high production / low variance guys + lower production / very high variance players. Interesting. Not sure I like it, but it's intersting.Fully agree with whoever said there is little skill in selecting starters each week. I'd love to see a study on this, but my hunch is people selectively remember both "the good" and "the bad", but ultimately most people (like MOP) think they have an above-average ability to choose the right starters each week. Frankly, it's no different than everybody thinking that they are an above-average driver.One thing that concerns me: somebody above mentioned that most of these leagues are no-trade, no-waivers. That seems to take away at least 50% of what I enjoy in my current league. It's heavy on trading....even in the offseason. What fun is a league where you draft once, then no player movement happens afterward? Boring.
No no no...we play head to head. The SSL leagues are simply survivor style with no trade or WW moves, but in my dynasty leagues they are head to head.
 
I love the idea of this format. While I've never tried it, I've brought it up to my league a few times, but never gotten enough support (or felt strongly enough on my own part) to push it through.

It seems to me that any league could be set up this way, with the ONLY change being that lineups are best ball, rather than rigid.

In this type of scenario, it seems to me that there are only two plausible complaints:

1) That best ball takes the strategy and skill out of setting lineups.

Rebuttal: This argument can only hold water if we agree that setting weekly lineups successfully can be attributed to skill rather than luck, and if it can be attributed at all to "skill", whether or not that skill should be rewarded. Let me explain:

Evidence from my 2007 dynasty league indicates that coaching efficiency is not an indicator of success. Some of the best teams in the league had very low efficiency ratings. Some of the worst teams in the league had the best ratings. While it's a small sample size (12 teams), coaching efficiency appears to have little-to-no bearing on team success. The team with the second most potential points for in our league (1738) had the worst efficiency rating (76.9%) and the most bench points (1367). The team with the highest efficiency rating (87%), had only average potential points and SIGNIFICANTLY fewer bench points (742). Both teams made the playoffs.

Based on the evidence at my fingertips, it could be very reasonably argued that teams with better depth will generally have lower efficiencies than teams with less depth. if you think about it, it makes sense. If I have only 8 solid starters on my team, and the rest is garbage, I can essentially set my lineup at the beginning of the year, let it roll and achieve near 100% accurancy. A team with 16 solid players is going to experience more fluctuation, thus a lower efficiency. We can be debate whether a shallow team with 8 no-brainer every week starters is "better" to have than a team with a lot of depth. But I don't think it can be debated that it takes more skill to put together a team with great depth than it does to put together a team with little or no depth.

In conclusion, it would seem that any reliable measurement of skill related to coaching efficiency is relevant only to the degree that the owner has drafted a team with more or less depth. Whether or not drafting a team with more, or less depth, takes more skill is debateable, but my argument would be for rewarding depth, which lineup submission does NOT do.

2) That best ball reduces the enjoyement of the game by removing the fun out of weekly submission.

Rebuttal: To me, this is almost a case of arguing to do something just for the sake of doing it. If we agree that submitting lineups successfully does not necessarily measure fantasy football acumen, and concede that, in fact, it may unjustly punish or prevent teams from drafting for depth, it forces us to ask ourselves whether or not the act is beneficial. If the sole response is "for fun!", I ask how fun it is when you deliberated for days on two similar players and choose player A, only to have them come up injured in the first quarter while player B would have scored enough for you to win your matchup? Not fun.

One other thing that comes to mind that hasn't been mentioned is realism. To me, the more FF can emulate owning/managing a real football team, the more enjoyable it is. In a real game, if a player were injured or underperforming, the coach would call on a backup to replace him - thus utilizing and being rewarded for depth. Most lineup submission leagues are essentially the same as that coach saying, "Bob's hurt? Oh well. Too bad we can't play Jimmy until next week! We'll have to play without a RB for the rest of this game."

 
I started a best ball dynasty last year. Its rules included trades and waivers. I look at it this way. In non best ball leagues you are coach (set lineups) and GM (trades/waivers/draft etc). In best ball you are just a GM. I prefer spending my time scouring the WW, working trades and draft scouting. Dealing with WDIS became to time consuming (and often a pain) for me. While I still play in, and enjoy non best ball, my future in FF is moving to best ball. As others have pointed out its an especially nice alternative for those with time constraints during the NFL season.

 
this format just wouldnt be for me... i think most teams have those solid studs that they know they will start each week, while you have 2-5 other players who could have varying success during that week... while you have a good chance of getting burned... its that much more exciting when you get it right!!! i enjoy trying to "guess" which players are going to preform well that week... and while it might lose me some games, the games that i guess right, and win, make them that much more enjoyable.

i can count a few times i kept keeping carson palmer in my starting lineup when i had D.A sitting on the bench.. and each week i would kill myself over who i should start... i guess i like the pressure!

 
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Having been in MOP's best ball leagues, there are definitely ways to beat the system and max out your weekly scoring potential. Some guys that are coveted in "regular" leagues lose some luster (like Peyton Manning), as you can load up on mid- to bottom-tier options and have quantity beat quality pretty consistently. Feast and famine WRs are actually worth more than steady Eddies, as yuo would rather have a guy get 15 points one week and 0 the next over a guy that gets 7 points each week.

One other wrinkle in the leagues MOP is referring to is that the leagues had 2 flex spots, which obviously could vary in terms of who and what positions they were each week (it's best ball). Like all leagues, there are ways to exploit the scoring system (in this case, loading up on elite TEs was a lethal strategy as they had 2 PPR).

 
This IS a very interesting format, I have a league that this would work very well.

However, which sites (i.e. MFL, Fanball, etc.) support this type of set-up?

 
Very interested in this format, any dynasty leagues opening?
Great thread MOP! Best Ball formats have been growing in popularity for me the last few years. I simply can't meet the demand of all the leagues I want to play in. These types of leagues give me that flexibility to "set it and forget it", meaning the draft does most of the work. Also, its nice to draft a team with guys that have explosive upside and when lightning strikes in the middle of a game, or an injury hits in that first quarter, you're there to reap the rewards!Like others have mentioned, the WCOFF, NFFC and FFPC have created best ball leagues that are referred to as DRAFT MASTERS or DRAFT EXPERTS leagues. These leagues are draft 25 rounds, set no lineups and make no additional pickups.

Recently, FFPC at www.theffpc.com, introduced something I think will really catch on, which is the type of league that MOP is referring to playing in. It's called DRAFT EXPERTS PLUS. This league is a "best ball" league with weekly waivers. I'm very excited to see these grow in popularity and eventually become a high stakes, grand prize, venture themselves. Here is a thread where the rules are posted:

http://www.fantasyfootballplayerschampions...2&Itemid=38

 
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Epiphany

I would like to see a best ball league, but here is the innovative part

1. restrict the leagues teams to only players that participate in the no mercy 6 tiered shark leagues.

$10 ? entry fee by choice only (this will guarantee legit drafts by quality owners)

2. they submit their No Mercy lineups after the draft but pre free agency. easily verified. exact same scoring format ( this would possibly let 6 of every NFL player in the BB league)

3. fight it out . this rewards the best drafters in this format.

rough draft . but wouldnt take much to organize. i believe this would be pretty exciting

 
EpiphanyI would like to see a best ball league, but here is the innovative part1. restrict the leagues teams to only players that participate in the no mercy 6 tiered shark leagues. $10 ? entry fee by choice only (this will guarantee legit drafts by quality owners)2. they submit their No Mercy lineups after the draft but pre free agency. easily verified. exact same scoring format ( this would possibly let 6 of every NFL player in the BB league)3. fight it out . this rewards the best drafters in this format. rough draft . but wouldnt take much to organize. i believe this would be pretty exciting
We've started a revolution!!!
 
I was in a Mock Draft Forum PDSL last year with the MOPster AND this year I joined again. I love the PDSL for the early look into my fellow draftnicks thoughts - but I found I really enjoyed the Best Ball format as well. While I will probably NEVER give up the regular leagues as I love the setting of lineups and whatnot, I wouldn't hesitate to join a league (assuming I had the time to draft, money ect) that ran Best Ball.

It's a different skill set in many ways and is one of those things that you don't have to stress about every week.

Mind you, I like the pressure of setting a lineup, but I had alot of fun not having to worry about it in the PDSL last year.

Of course I might be biased as I finished 2nd in my bracket. I'd better have enjoyed it. :blackdot:

But good post MOP - there is no right or wrong way to play this game we all love so much. I like seeing different ways of doing the same thing. Am in some odd league each year with their own style.

New things can be good. :)

 
I like it as an alternative but I hope to have at least 1 solid fantasy football standard league for the rest of my life.

I know what you're saying in terms of time, more so those frantic hours right before kickoff but I actually like watching that stuff in general.

One point I think you missed and it's worthy of mentioning is Season Ticket Holders.

I've never had them but I have probably 3/4 of one of my leagues are Detroit Lion Season Ticket Holders, hence the league name EHFL.......Eric Hipple Fantasy League.

Anyway, people who go down and tailgate and support their teams actually are in a pretty big disadvantage in standard leagues. I can't tell you how many times those guys over the years have guessed wrong or got screwed on a last minute scratch as they've left their houses at 9 AM and put in their best guesses for the day. I am not the commish, but over the last several years I've been given the power to make changes for owners if indeed they call me before the change deadline and tell me themselves to make the change (kind of a co-commish) because I'm usually at home between 12:30 and 1 PM.

I could see your above league working for people like this as well or anyone who may have to work on a Sunday.

I also like the fact that it's not completely like a Survivor league. I enjoy participating in the FBG leagues held in our Mock Forums during the offseason but those are draft and it's completely done besides some bantering. At least in this format you mention, you can trade and make WR additions for the week, you're just taking whoever has the highest fantasy points for that week.

I like it, nice post.

 
I don't know if anyone asked but could you flesh out the description of what a best ball league entails?

 
I have been reading this thread with a lot of interest as I am not in any best ball leagues as of yet. However, I would love to get into 1 or 2 with the right owners. I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but I work 99 percent of the Sundays during the year and have no computer access at work. This severely limits me in my leagues because I have to set my lineups Saturday night or very early Sunday morning and hope for the best as far as injuries go. There were many times last year that I took the chance on starting a questionable stud over the common guy and got burnt. :confused: It would have been nice at those times to have been in a best ball league. But I'm sure we've all been there and done that. If I see a BB league open up this year that is right for me, I will definitely jump into it. But I will put it on my to do list for next year. :rolleyes:

 
I don't know if anyone asked but could you flesh out the description of what a best ball league entails?
Best ball simply means this - The highest scorers at the position are inserted into your starting lineup, so your lineup is fully optimized to its FULL potential for that given week. This means that you'll be going against the best possible lineup as well as fielding your best possible lineup to find out who truely has the best team, not who made the right lineup choices. If you have a history of being burned due to not starting the right guys, but fielding a very deep team year after year, these types of leagues are for you. The better drafter gets rewarded.
 
I would love to setup a BBL for my office (100+people) and run it like the Football Guys run their $35,000 subscriber contest (players have a $ value, you have to stay within your cap, etc). Do any sites offer a setup like that?

 
Good thread. An idea that has recently been bounced around in my local league but, as is usually the case, there is always a hard core nucleus of opposition.

 
I never thought it would come to this, but you've opened my eyes to something truely amazing. After 15 of Fantasy Football I may have reached the point where I need this to keep my hobby alive and well. I have been faced with the same time constraints mentioned and know most of my league owners have as well. Not sure I can get the whole league to want to change, but maybe I can get a 2nd league going for a test run and see the happiness flow.

 
Just a "heads up" for those of you who have expressed an interest in joining or at least finding out more about a New best-ball league - pretty sure MOP will be setting up a FIX2 league or leagues, so watch for an announcement here or in a subsequent Chaper he posts :thumbup:

 
For you guys who have played this format before, do you think it increases or decreases the weekly "luck" factor inherent in H2H scheduling?

 
This idea is pretty enticing. I am getting ready to set up a Salary Cap/Auction league and was requested to set up something that would even out the luck factor whether it be scoring, etc. I will be using Best Ball for that. I am also going to open a dynasty league using the best ball format. Will be posting it this afternoon if anyone is interested.

Note: I'm one of those guys in 8+ leagues and this sounds perfect.

 
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I'm a huge fan of the format!! I still love the standard leagues with lineup strategies and all but its really impossible, for me at least, to play in as many leagues as I would like to and the best ball format allows you to play in more leagues and with more people without the extra lineup headaches.

BTW the league in my sig is accepting new registrants now and we are in our second year of this format.

I don't think I'll go a year without playing in one or two best ball leagues again! :yucky:

 
Hey MoP,

Any more thoughts? I think it sounds very intriguing and am thinking about trying it out for my league this year, but (as expected) not everyone is excited about it. I'm trying to build my case for why we should try it out...

 
It seems that there's lot's of good reasons why somebody would like BB formats...chief among them being less pre-game stress time over injuries.BUT...most of us still prefer that element of strategy involved with picking a lineup.There is a compromise though, although it is harder on the commish. The "backup" rule. Any player can have a backup player designated. If your starter doesn't play, your backup's stats count. This makes more sense (to me) then rigid lineups, but keeps the strategy of choosing in the game without forcing owners to spend all of Sunday morning scouring news forums to find out if their questionable stud RB is suiting up.
I'm mildly surprised nobody has replied to this......
 
PranksterJD said:
This IS a very interesting format, I have a league that this would work very well.However, which sites (i.e. MFL, Fanball, etc.) support this type of set-up?
Myfantasyleague.com does for sure.
Does the live scoring still work correctly? E.g. if one player starts outscoring another then it will switch the total appropriately to use the new guy?
Yes. The MFL system will automatically score the highest scoring players in the live scoring updates. It's pretty cool actually.
 
Thoughts on best ball leagues?
I have not played in a best ball league, but we did implement a great rule that reduces the pain you and others mention in your original post. That is we allow backups to be designated and if the starter does not play the back up gets inserted. This stops the injury situation from being a major burden right before the game as sitting around waiting for updates is silly. I highly recommend this. the deal is if the player is not in for any plays the backup will be inserted.I think this method allows for good managing and does not penalize for last second scratches or unknown injury issues of who is starting.
 
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