Too many leagues - Struggling with letting go.... (1 Viewer)

Started dynasty 3 years ago with 4 leagues and it has now grown from those 4 to 15. Needless to say it's become too much to manage. Even with all but one on MFL and using MFL 2016 App I find weekly BB waivers, FCFS, checking on injuries, near game time, trades, smack talk and cycling through all the leagues to be overkill and I'm spending way too much time on it. Throw in the fact I now live in China and it makes it much harder with the 12/13 hour time difference. Any advice others who are or have dealt with this can give (efficiency opps, how to decide what league to cut and when you did cut how do you feel about it now (relieved, disappointed, etc))? I recognize I should just cut down on number of leagues and sounds like an easy solution but I like most of my teams (and leaguemates) and where they're at and only see one I can easily let go (even then it's mostly because the payouts suck). 

Appreciate the feedback. 

jeaton6 said:

Started dynasty 3 years ago with 4 leagues and it has now grown from those 4 to 15. Needless to say it's become too much to manage. Even with all but one on MFL and using MFL 2016 App I find weekly BB waivers, FCFS, checking on injuries, near game time, trades, smack talk and cycling through all the leagues to be overkill and I'm spending way too much time on it. Throw in the fact I now live in China and it makes it much harder with the 12/13 hour time difference. Any advice others who are or have dealt with this can give (efficiency opps, how to decide what league to cut and when you did cut how do you feel about it now (relieved, disappointed, etc))? I recognize I should just cut down on number of leagues and sounds like an easy solution but I like most of my teams (and leaguemates) and where they're at and only see one I can easily let go (even then it's mostly because the payouts suck). 

Appreciate the feedback. 

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You might want to get help for the addiction (yeah, pot meet kettle).  

I've dropped a few leagues in recent years and might drop 2 more this year.  For me it was simply a matter of keeping the few leagues I found myself more emotionally attached to, the leagues where I was actually excited to set waivers, check trades, etc.  Not necessarily my best teams (although that helps).  If you're excited about all 15 leagues, cool I guess.  The nice thing Is the extra work per league is minimal once you've done the research on players assuming the leagues are similar.  

Draft.

And.

GO.

Seriously, it makes a ton of difference. During the time leading up to the season you get your fantasy football fix, and once the season starts you get the brand new experience of being able to sit back, enjoy the games, and root for your players. There are multiple options out there but the best place to test the waters imo(and since you already are familiar with the MFL interface) is just do try some MFL 10's. WARNING: you may like this format so much that you will chuckle at the idea of only having 15 teams in a season!

For the first year you might choose to keep one dynasty league that is your favorite and manage that one throughout the season so that if the draft-and-go doesn't suit your needs you aren't starting from scratch looking for a new league the following year. When you choose which league to keep I would focus more on your leaguemates and less on the actual team you are keeping. The players will change every year, but good leaguemates are much harder to find on the waiver wire. Oh, and as someone that lives several time zones away from the US myself I would just add that having local people that you can trash talk with(especially when you are surrounded by people that couldn't care less about American football) is worth a great deal in terms of intangible enjoyment you get out of the league. If you are good at the hobby, and it sounds like you are, then you should be able to build a good team in any league.... in fact a better team because they are getting so much more of your focus. 

Once I went draft-and-go I had no regrets. I have so much more time to actually enjoy watching football games instead of checking injury reports endlessly and having those reports(ey"questionable") really mean nothing most of the time. Throwing darts in terms of weekly performance and waiver wire flashes in the pan was never one of my favorite parts of the game in the first place. I'm not sure who dreamed up the idea that "grinding the waiver wire all year to overcome the bad team you drafted" was somehow a virtuous or more pure aspect of fantasy football.... but I'm fairly sure they were heavily invested in selling you a subscription to something.

Best of luck.

FUBAR said:

You might want to get help for the addiction (yeah, pot meet kettle).  

I've dropped a few leagues in recent years and might drop 2 more this year.  For me it was simply a matter of keeping the few leagues I found myself more emotionally attached to, the leagues where I was actually excited to set waivers, check trades, etc.  Not necessarily my best teams (although that helps).  If you're excited about all 15 leagues, cool I guess.  The nice thing Is the extra work per league is minimal once you've done the research on players assuming the leagues are similar.  

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Yeah, no doubt there's some addiction here. Not much I can do for that here lol. I fully agree the extra player research is minimal but I find the amount of additional administrative work to be a huge burden. Every league has different waiver schedules, when they run and when they open up, etc. The MFL 2016 app doesnt show BB remaining so I have to go to website or the clumsy MFL platinum App to check mine and opponents BB. So on and so forth. 

I thought I could cut out smack talk/chat in some leagues but that's part of the fun and would take away from the experience as well but possibly do that in the leagues that are more passive/mature anyways where there's less emotional attachment. 

Cutdown on random trade offers maybe. They're rarely accepted anyways and I spend more time than I'd like to admit looking at "mutually beneficial trades" haha.

I like the emotional attachment angle but for me there's a close correlation between that and having a team I like. But that could just be an excuse for me to stay in denial.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm not sure who dreamed up the idea that "grinding the waiver wire all year to overcome the bad team you drafted" was somehow a virtuous or more pure aspect of fantasy football.... 

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See, I think that's great fun. The sweetest championships are those when you start off with a terrible team but pick up some diamonds in the rough off waivers, strike it lucky, suddenly get on a roll, and end up winning it all.

Cut it all the way down to one league this year that formed back in '96. 

Sounds like a real Sophie's choice

Portis 26 said:

See, I think that's great fun. The sweetest championships are those when you start off with a terrible team but pick up some diamonds in the rough off waivers, strike it lucky, suddenly get on a roll, and end up winning it all.

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And to me, that just seems like the antithesis of what football really is. In football you put together a collection of players and if you hit a run of injuries at a position depth comes into play, and in extreme circumstances you pick up guys off the waiver wire that might be a bit contributor but more likely than not will only be a backup for the last half of the season. These leagues where more than half your starting lineup at the midpoint of the season wasn't even on your roster at the start of the season.... that just isn't remotely close to the game of football. You may as well add relief pitcher and starting goalie if churning players on and off your team is supposed to be the fun part of fantasy football imo. Add olympic swimmers into the mix. Why just athletes? If you have mayoral candidates and give them points for polling numbers it's something you can tinker with all year long.

1 dynasty, 1 redraft. That's all you should need or want.

15...that's nuts. That would not even be fun to watch. 'oh, is that my guy scoring' 'no it's my opponents guy' 'wait, I have him on team #5, 8 and 14'. 'Yes.' 'Dammit, he's also going against me on #6 and 10'. 'arrrggh I didn't start him on #14 and I needed that for the win'.

Seriously???? 

Meh, I know guys that participate in over 60 leagues. In fact, a couple years back there was a guy who did over 100 FFPC leagues. 

32 Counter Pass said:

Meh, I know guys that participate in over 60 leagues. In fact, a couple years back there was a guy who did over 100 FFPC leagues. 

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Congratulations

I used to do a lot of leagues, serious leagues, way less than what many in here would consider a lot of leagues. However, it doesn't make it less difficult. Especially if you actually have a life... then 4 leagues might be way too many. In my case it was 3. I couldn't balance my time well enough to do well in all 3, usually 1 suffered and I did pretty good in the other 2. With family growing, career advancing, and less time to just sit and watch football I found myself being just fine with 1 league. Because I don't watch a lot of football (I've got better things to do, like hang out with my kids), it means I have to do more work during the week. So far work hasn't minded!  

Once you do it, it's quite easy. You'll be glad you did. Plus you can put all of your effort into one league. I do one fantasy league and one survivor league every year. Works out great. 

jeaton6 said:

Started dynasty 3 years ago with 4 leagues and it has now grown from those 4 to 15. Needless to say it's become too much to manage. Even with all but one on MFL and using MFL 2016 App I find weekly BB waivers, FCFS, checking on injuries, near game time, trades, smack talk and cycling through all the leagues to be overkill and I'm spending way too much time on it. Throw in the fact I now live in China and it makes it much harder with the 12/13 hour time difference. Any advice others who are or have dealt with this can give (efficiency opps, how to decide what league to cut and when you did cut how do you feel about it now (relieved, disappointed, etc))? I recognize I should just cut down on number of leagues and sounds like an easy solution but I like most of my teams (and leaguemates) and where they're at and only see one I can easily let go (even then it's mostly because the payouts suck). 

Appreciate the feedback. 

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Find an assistant.  A precocious little Eminence wannabe that doesn't have the bankroll to be in a ton of leagues but has a huge interest in football (especially devy players) that can do some legwork for you.  A little cousin or someone from the mailroom preferably; not some internet rando.

Dr. Brew said:

Congratulations

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Just responding to the 15 leagues is nuts post, but thanks.

cockroach said:

Find an assistant.  A precocious little Eminence wannabe that doesn't have the bankroll to be in a ton of leagues but has a huge interest in football (especially devy players) that can do some legwork for you.  A little cousin or someone from the mailroom preferably; not some internet rando.

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It's a good idea. But none of the mailroom guys here in China even knows what football is

lod001 said:

1 dynasty, 1 redraft. That's all you should need or want.

15...that's nuts. That would not even be fun to watch. 'oh, is that my guy scoring' 'no it's my opponents guy' 'wait, I have him on team #5, 8 and 14'. 'Yes.' 'Dammit, he's also going against me on #6 and 10'. 'arrrggh I didn't start him on #14 and I needed that for the win'.

Seriously???? 

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Well unfortunately right now I don't ever really watch games unless I can't  sleep and turn on International Gamepass in the middle of the night. 

2 to me is light. I haven't had only 2 leagues for 17 years. I can manage mid-single digits (I think), 

Perhaps my best bet is to cut anything that doesn't already have deposit towards next year to start the cutdown process and go from there. 

It's not that hard to quit.

If you have a blossoming career, a family, or a semi-interesting life, 1 or 2 leagues is plenty.

Dr. Brew said:

I used to do a lot of leagues, serious leagues, way less than what many in here would consider a lot of leagues. However, it doesn't make it less difficult. Especially if you actually have a life... then 4 leagues might be way too many. In my case it was 3. I couldn't balance my time well enough to do well in all 3, usually 1 suffered and I did pretty good in the other 2. With family growing, career advancing, and less time to just sit and watch football I found myself being just fine with 1 league. Because I don't watch a lot of football (I've got better things to do, like hang out with my kids), it means I have to do more work during the week. So far work hasn't minded!  

Once you do it, it's quite easy. You'll be glad you did. Plus you can put all of your effort into one league. I do one fantasy league and one survivor league every year. Works out great. 

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I don't want to turn this into the "I'm quiting ff" thread cause we have one of those but I can tell my own story and mention that much of it is in the the thread about quitting.  Quitting improved my life.  Short version of the story.  But if you cut down to one from 15, I have to imagine the quality of the experience has to improve because of what Dr. Brew says.  

I had a lot of leagues and didn't necessarily quit them because of it being too much (although I did hate the old "root against the same guy I actually had on three of my own team" dilemma). I quit because the product of football got poor, the days it is on got to be too many and the problems that TNF brought with it (see "TNF is a terrible product" thread), and the stupid commercials that make a game contain about 15 minutes of action in a two hour window.  It's just a sport that hasn't evolved to keep up with what it could and should be.  If it weren't for fantasy football, the sport would be teetering and I'm here to tell you, the pipeline of new, traditional ff players is drying up quick.  Finding quality, eager season long owners is harder every year.  

So my advice is if you truly love the sport, quit or scale all the way back to one league because anything else takes you down an eventual path of frustration over something you truly enjoy.  Fantasy football simply is not a have your cake and eat it too proposition for the long haul.  I honestly thought years ago that I would end up being some old, old man in a nursing home playing ff until the day I dropped dead over a bad call where a guy didn't maintain possession but I know now that I enjoy football ten times more as a fan and, along the way, found a lot of things out there life has to offer once I got my nose off the screen.

I find the fewer leagues, the better. I don't enjoy not being able to keep straight who my opponents are, which players they have, which players I have, etc. I'd much rather put a concerted interest and effort into 1-2 leagues. I'd cut down to 5-6 of the most promising leagues next year (both promising in regards to your rosters but also promising in terms of the league's chances of lasting long term) with the long-term plan of cutting down further. 

15 leagues sounds horrible to me, but I understand that everybody is different. That just sounds like a job. I'd need to be making real money at fantasy football to enjoy that. 

EDITED TO ADD: the beauty of being in 1-2 leagues is that you can put a lot of effort into those leagues without spending much time at it. I like to be very involved with my teams and leagues without spending a lot of time at it. 

32 Counter Pass said:

Meh, I know guys that participate in over 60 leagues. In fact, a couple years back there was a guy who did over 100 FFPC leagues. 

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I bet he lived with his mom and weighed 400 pounds.

I used to be in 5, cut one this season to be in 4. It was amazing how much time just one less league saved me. So now that I am typing this, I guess my cut-off point to be able to focus is 4.

lod001 said:

1 dynasty, 1 redraft. That's all you should need or want.

15...that's nuts. That would not even be fun to watch. 'oh, is that my guy scoring' 'no it's my opponents guy' 'wait, I have him on team #5, 8 and 14'. 'Yes.' 'Dammit, he's also going against me on #6 and 10'. 'arrrggh I didn't start him on #14 and I needed that for the win'.

Seriously????

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I pretty much agree with this.

Just be strict on yourself and let go the leagues that you feel less invested in (if you can differentiate). I don't think I've even been in more than 3 leagues in one time, but I agree with some of the other posters here - I just can't see the appeal in being in so many leagues. Quite apart from the time commitment, which is already significant if you really put effort into 1 or 2 leagues, where is the fun in the scenario above or in owning all kinds of different players generally? I always find it amusing to listen to dynasty pods where people say "I have a few shares of [insert player]" or whatever. It sounds like people are just building "investment portfolios" of players so they can look smart and spread their risk. It almost makes it less important that you even have strong opinions or convictions about players because you can own just about everyone relevant somewhere if you play in enough leagues.

Being in so many leagues IMO also means that there is naturally less at stake and therefore it's all less enjoyable and meaningful. If you don't make the playoffs in a couple of leagues, it doesn't really matter because you might have 5 other leagues where you do so you get a few shots at a title. At the moment, I'm in one serious dynasty league and it's great because it feels more important. When you have a close win or get bounced from the playoffs, it means more, because you don't have a bunch of other leagues to fall back on.

I was in 10 'managed' leagues this year, 2 dynasty, 1 keeper, 7 regular redrafts.  I also had another 10 draft only leagues.  And finally, I'm entering anywhere between 10-20 fan duel teams each week.  My first season of FF was in 1993.

I really think the game has evolved to a point where luck plays a much larger percentage than it used to, even just 5 years ago. Players will sit weeks for minor injuries and I think the unpredictability factor is becoming too big for my enjoyment.  Or maybe the hobby has just run its course for me?  I too am conflicted.  It seems like for the last couple of years, by week 10, I'm just over it, ready for the season to end.  And it's not like I'm doing poorly.  I guess just like a good drug, it's never as good as the first hit.  It sounds like if I scale back to 3-4 leagues, I might find it more fun.  Problem, I'm not sure which 6 leagues to cutout of the picture.

Rhythmdoctor said:

I really think the game has evolved to a point where luck plays a much larger percentage than it used to, even just 5 years ago. Players will sit weeks for minor injuries and I think the unpredictability factor is becoming too big for my enjoyment.  

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I completely agree with this.

That's why I have moved to draft-and-go. The whole injury-roulette part of the hobby is too frustrating. A coach, a beat writer, and maybe the player themselves all say one thing all week..... and something else entirely happens on Sunday. Or worse yet, they are a late scratch on MNF and you don't even have the option to replace them. The health of one player can impact so many others. And it's not just a who-should-I-start sort of problem. The roster moves you make during the week hinge on information that is often times misleading or at the very least opaque. Before I made the switch to draft-and-go I started slightly downgrading Patriot players because you never had any clue what their health status was until kickoff. Now, I feel like that's how it is with most of the league. The "questionable" designation for half the NFL has only compounded this problem.

BoltBacker said:

And to me, that just seems like the antithesis of what football really is. In football you put together a collection of players and if you hit a run of injuries at a position depth comes into play, and in extreme circumstances you pick up guys off the waiver wire that might be a bit contributor but more likely than not will only be a backup for the last half of the season. These leagues where more than half your starting lineup at the midpoint of the season wasn't even on your roster at the start of the season.... that just isn't remotely close to the game of football. You may as well add relief pitcher and starting goalie if churning players on and off your team is supposed to be the fun part of fantasy football imo. Add olympic swimmers into the mix. Why just athletes? If you have mayoral candidates and give them points for polling numbers it's something you can tinker with all year long.

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If you play in leagues with 53 man rosters that include offensive linemen and a punter as well as skill players and IDPs then you would have a point. That would be somewhat of an approximation of "real" football, but the reality is most of fantasy bears no resemblance to "real" football. Fantasy is not real football, it's an amusing diversion which features stats from the NFL.

Op, evaluate all leagues.  I would cut out the ones where you've never met any of the other owners before.  Cut out the ones you've been doing less than 2 years.

I would try to pare it down to leagues where you actually know league mates or leagues you've been in forever... 

Shutout said:

I don't want to turn this into the "I'm quiting ff" thread cause we have one of those but I can tell my own story and mention that much of it is in the the thread about quitting.  Quitting improved my life.  Short version of the story.  But if you cut down to one from 15, I have to imagine the quality of the experience has to improve because of what Dr. Brew says.  

I had a lot of leagues and didn't necessarily quit them because of it being too much (although I did hate the old "root against the same guy I actually had on three of my own team" dilemma). I quit because the product of football got poor, the days it is on got to be too many and the problems that TNF brought with it (see "TNF is a terrible product" thread), and the stupid commercials that make a game contain about 15 minutes of action in a two hour window.  It's just a sport that hasn't evolved to keep up with what it could and should be.  If it weren't for fantasy football, the sport would be teetering and I'm here to tell you, the pipeline of new, traditional ff players is drying up quick.  Finding quality, eager season long owners is harder every year.  

So my advice is if you truly love the sport, quit or scale all the way back to one league because anything else takes you down an eventual path of frustration over something you truly enjoy.  Fantasy football simply is not a have your cake and eat it too proposition for the long haul.  I honestly thought years ago that I would end up being some old, old man in a nursing home playing ff until the day I dropped dead over a bad call where a guy didn't maintain possession but I know now that I enjoy football ten times more as a fan and, along the way, found a lot of things out there life has to offer once I got my nose off the screen.

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This is very true. I have found MUCH more joy in watching whatever football I do watch with only being in the league I am in. Furthermore, I had an eye opening experience at a game this season where I realized how trivial it is; it's just a child's game that people happen to be good at. It also happens to be on TV so it's sensationalized. I don't know, I had a real light bulb moment at a game this season and it's really lead to football mattering less to me and much less frustration. I really enjoy watching when I do now. 

Dr. Brew said:

This is very true. I have found MUCH more joy in watching whatever football I do watch with only being in the league I am in. Furthermore, I had an eye opening experience at a game this season where I realized how trivial it is; it's just a child's game that people happen to be good at. It also happens to be on TV so it's sensationalized. I don't know, I had a real light bulb moment at a game this season and it's really lead to football mattering less to me and much less frustration. I really enjoy watching when I do now. 

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So many more important things in life than sports. I grew up playing three sports & had awesome experiences that shaped me. I love rooting for all Detroit / U of M teams. But spending time with your kids, giving back to your community, and advancing your career should all be more fulfilling uses of your time.

I like the NFL & enjoy FF in moderation, but it has an outsized place in too many men's lives. 

For the OP, do like you mentioned earlier and cut out the leagues without a deposit for next year.  If you need to cut further, maybe eliminate a few leagues that have the same exact scoring format as another league you're in that you like better.  Hopefully those two rounds of cuts takes you to somewhere like 5-8 leagues, at which point you can try to cut further or go through 2017 and see how things work for you with that number of leagues.

Personally, I've gone between being in four and six leagues the last few years.  I'm currently in five, two redraft, two keeper, and one dynasty.  I like all of my leagues since they keep me in contact with friends in different cities, but they can be tough to manage at times.  My favorite is the dynasty, both because of the dynasty format and also because there's no in-season free agency in that league (so maybe that's a point for the draft-and-go format someone mentioned earlier).

Also, to the people who can't keep track of which player is on their team and against, just do what I do and not even pay attention to your opponent's lineup.  Then I can just root for my players and figure out later if I won or not.  Works great during the season, although in the playoffs I pay more attention to my opponent and get stressed as a result.

Used to play in 3-5 leagues each year.  Then cut it to 2.  Fast Forward a few years later and I'm not playing fantasy football for the first time since 2000.  I'm actually enjoying not participating.  No worrying about lineups, injuries or weather.  Enables me to invest myself in the game and not just select players.  Not sure if I'll ever go back to playing big $ fantasy. 

I was in, at most, four leagues at the same time for a couple years. Then my career started and I realized real quick to get rid of them. One was easy. One was, argh, I don't want to but I have too. One was really tough because I had a good team and I really liked the scoring system because it was different. Plus I was in it when it began. That was tough. Now, I'm down to one and I'm almost done with that one due to time and such. Trust me, it's not difficult to stop. 

jeaton6 said:

It's a good idea. But none of the mailroom guys here in China even knows what football is

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@Annyong?

Really appreciate all the great feedback here guys. Definitely many more important things in life than this game. Career, friends, family. Moving to Shanghai in January so the new job is going to much much more involved. For ones with deposit that I don't like as much I'm going to see if Commish will refund if he gets someone (or I get someone) to take over. I'll keep those longer standing leagues that have good commishes and are likely to last and look at another round of cuts next year as well. Hoping to get down to 5 or 6 this year.

As some have said once you let go it will be a relief. I'm prepping myself. 

lod001 said:

1 dynasty, 1 redraft. That's all you should need or want.

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This is where I'm at, and it's plenty.

I re-evaluated and found 5 I will cut with no deposit towards next year and 3 more I will try to get refund or replacement owner. The rest I'll evaluate over off-season. It's a start at least.

Dr. Brew said:

This is very true. I have found MUCH more joy in watching whatever football I do watch with only being in the league I am in. Furthermore, I had an eye opening experience at a game this season where I realized how trivial it is; it's just a child's game that people happen to be good at. It also happens to be on TV so it's sensationalized. I don't know, I had a real light bulb moment at a game this season and it's really lead to football mattering less to me and much less frustration. I really enjoy watching when I do now. 

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What's so hard about enjoying football games and then checking your league scores later? Are you guys that degen that you can't sit back and enjoy football without looking at play by play updates? If you don't have the discipline to be able to enjoy the game (regardless of the number of leagues you're in), then it's definitely gonna be a healthy thing for you to step away and find other forms of entertainment that you can healthily enjoy. 

jeaton6 said:

It's a good idea. But none of the mailroom guys here in China even knows what football is

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@johnnycakes