Doug B
Footballguy
Fantasy football, since it started gaining steam in the 1980s, has gone through several innovations that have become widely (if not universally) accepted. For instance, there was a time when FFB drafts weren't serpentine. 1980s-style TD/FG/XP-only leagues have yielded to the current state of affairs, where yardage leagues are in a strong majority. Auctions were a new idea circa 1990, and have become popular for live leagues (if still in a minority of all leagues overall). Keeper and dynasty leagues have been popular for at least 15 years. IDP leagues aren't the majority, but have an established toehold. And finally, PPR leagues were barely around 10 years ago, but now are probably the majority of online leagues.
There's another FFB innovation, however, that seems to never quite get critical mass, and that's best-ball leagues. It's been done in a popular online experts league (Fanex Football) from the late 1990s through the present. Lots of FFB players know about that league, which was meant to help the FFB community at large with draft analysis.
Anyway. What happens a lot these days is that people express various concerns about their participation in FFB that would be at least in part alleviated by playing in the best-ball format. Too many leagues, and it's become a drain to manage them all? Can't live on the computer on Sundays to make last-minute lineup changes, so all the no-life people dominate your league? Tired of your smart draft picks & waiver moves blowing up on your bench because 50 FFB sites, Mort, Schefter, and John Clayton basically promised you they wouldn't suit up? Worried about the impact of an 18-game season on your fantasy squads?
All that stuff gets helped a ton in the best-ball format. One other bonus is that you can reach a little further in your draft for more boom-bust type players, because their 3 or 4 great games work to your advantage, while their 10-12 goose-eggs get safely tucked away at the end of your bench.
So ... I ask the house: what's stopping the best-ball format from getting huge? Why don't more of us play it? Are the weekly lineup headaches THAT much of a draw? Wouldn't be cool to get some piece of mind back on Sundays?
There's another FFB innovation, however, that seems to never quite get critical mass, and that's best-ball leagues. It's been done in a popular online experts league (Fanex Football) from the late 1990s through the present. Lots of FFB players know about that league, which was meant to help the FFB community at large with draft analysis.
Anyway. What happens a lot these days is that people express various concerns about their participation in FFB that would be at least in part alleviated by playing in the best-ball format. Too many leagues, and it's become a drain to manage them all? Can't live on the computer on Sundays to make last-minute lineup changes, so all the no-life people dominate your league? Tired of your smart draft picks & waiver moves blowing up on your bench because 50 FFB sites, Mort, Schefter, and John Clayton basically promised you they wouldn't suit up? Worried about the impact of an 18-game season on your fantasy squads?
All that stuff gets helped a ton in the best-ball format. One other bonus is that you can reach a little further in your draft for more boom-bust type players, because their 3 or 4 great games work to your advantage, while their 10-12 goose-eggs get safely tucked away at the end of your bench.
So ... I ask the house: what's stopping the best-ball format from getting huge? Why don't more of us play it? Are the weekly lineup headaches THAT much of a draw? Wouldn't be cool to get some piece of mind back on Sundays?
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