Is Anyone Else Old Enough To Remember... (2 Viewers)

[abrunn1133]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

 

[Biabreakable]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

Yes.

Everything except the first part.

 

[HomerSimpson]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

I remember doing drafts back in 1999 via email, starting in like July where everyone had 24 hours to make their pick.

 

[Biabreakable]

I used to go to the local news stand that had Newspapers from other cities and since some friends of mine worked there, they would save unsold copies of those they were going to throw away so I could read the sports parts of them for extra information.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

I used an answering machine to leave the weekly lineups and results. Did all the calculations using Excel.

 

[menobrown]

4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

I'm an old but really did not get into fantasy football early in my life, not really until the internet. But your post did remind me of something else.

I lived at a boarding school for a few years in the early to mid 80's. TV/lights out by 10 PM CST with no exceptions. This meant I never got to see the end of MNF games. It gets worse. The games ended to late for the newspaper to include the next day so you did not get the recap/score until Wednesdays paper. But I did not have means to get the paper fresh every day. Thankfully this priest from the school would always give me his copy of the sports section the day after. So keeping in mind we got no internet, no ESPN at the school and really barely access to any TV's, no phones to call anyone, etc, etc and I would not know who won the MNF games until Thursday. Man life was tough.

 

[phandango]

I was in a 10-team work league that I joined in 1999. I barely remember anything about it, but apparently I somehow have the old emails we exchanged from that league. We had to email our lineups to the commissioner and to our opponent each week: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF. (Flex? What's a flex?) We had to email waiver claims to the commissioner. The commissioner went through the USA Today box scores to tabulate scoring: We got 1 point per yard and 50 points per TD (no PPR). Oh, and we wrote the league standings on the walls of our cave.

 

[Gally]

We started our league in 1986 and had all of those. I would add making sure you got the USA Today final team rosters on the Friday before our draft (we always draft Saturday night before the first Sunday games). That way you knew who actually made the teams and their latest depth charts.

One year Michael Irvin was left off the roster in the USA today and one of our league mates called the Dallas offices to try and get clarity on whether or not he made the team or not. It was his 2nd or 3rd year so there was a possibility of some issue. Those were crazy times.

Our Commish would do the scores by hand and would write up a little game synopsis for each of the league matchups with league historical items if applicable. It was a great personal touch that is missed now that everything is done through a website.

 

[eighsse2]

Where am I? Can someone direct me to the nearest Starbucks? My blood-pumpkin-spice levels are dangerously low.

No but seriously, I'm 34, I got into fantasy football in 2010. So no, I do not remember any of that, but I very much appreciate the old ways of doing things.

Imagine what will be said in 30 years.

"Are you old enough to remember having to 'log in' to your fantasy football account using a laughable 5G network on that clunky old 'iPhone', and actually click buttons to adjust your lineup and set your waivers [rather than just think about the moves you want to make]?"

Or maybe a better prognostication is ...

"Are you old enough to remember 'football'?"

 

[Wildcat]

Back when I started my league in 1994, I used a product called Fantasy Football League Manager (FFLM). I would manually key in the player stats from the paper the next morning (would get up early), then print off the results and bring them to work to distribute. Shortly after the innernets, FFLM switched to a stats download. Saved me tons of time, but then I would manually create web pages and hosted my own site. I spent more time updating webpages than printing the reports. Then the online sites came out. I resisted at first because I really liked my website, but eventually caved and subscribed to MFL.

Edit: Crazy that the FFLM site is still around: http://fflm.com/index.htm

 

[Dizzy]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

Yes, all that!

Wife and I would go out for dinner on Friday then come home to an answering machine all lit up with line-up messages.

USA today was our official stat source and sometimes if the MNF game ran real late the box score wouldn't get published until Wednesday!

Weekly newsletter was "literally" cut n pasted together.

1993 was our inaugural season... 1999 or 2000 was our first year using online service (CBS).

 

[3C's]

Back when I started my league in 1994, I used a product called Fantasy Football League Manager (FFLM). I would manually key in the player stats from the paper the next morning (would get up early), then print off the results and bring them to work to distribute. Shortly after the innernets, FFLM switched to a stats download. Saved me tons of time, but then I would manually create web pages and hosted my own site. I spent more time updating webpages than printing the reports. Then the online sites came out. I resisted at first because I really liked my website, but eventually caved and subscribed to MFL.

Edit: Crazy that the FFLM site is still around: http://fflm.com/index.htm

Holy crap their website is still up. http://www.fflm.com/ but hasn't been updated in years. Used them as well and then had a SWEET site on my fantasy league.

 

[socrates]

This brings back memories. I had an answering machine, and I returned home from Church on Sundays to a slew of messages with lineup changes. One astute manager always left a message as the early games kicked off to "time-stamp" the messages. (Full lineups were due before the kickoff of the first games of the week.) In order to access an opponent's lineup, several league managers asked me to call them once I jotted down all of the answering machine messages. My league mates all lived locally in those early days, and I would type out the results (and a preview of the next-week matchups) and leave copies in a box on my screened-in back porch for everyone to stop by and pick up, except one owner who furnished me with stamped envelopes.
Scoring the games was a bit of a challenge in those days. Sunday afternoon game boxscores were published in the Monday edition of USA Today. Sunday Night games, unless they concluded early, were not available until Tuesday, and Monday Night games were usually not available until Wednesdays. There were not many Thursday games back in those days.
This league began in 1990 as a redraft league, transitioned to a Dynasty league in 1993 or 1994, and is still going strong today, although I no longer rely upon the USA Today Boxscores!

 

[Mr.Blonde]

We started my main league in 1993.

I had been in leagues before but they were always run haphazardly or there were a bunch of dickheads and/or know-nothings in them, so I took the best guys from the leagues I'd been in, got each of those guys to bring in another guy, and we made a 10 team league for 1993 and then went to 12 teams in 1997.

There was no 'industry standard' for any of this; every league was completely home-brew; your league setup, the rules, the scoring, everything.

On Sundays you could roughly figure out the scores of our league games from the network tickers, ESPN, SportsCenter, George Michael Sports Machine, CNN Headline News, etc.

The yardage totals/bonuses, for the most part, had to wait for the Monday morning sports page.

I worked Downtown and took the train into work every day, about a 30 minute ride, so I would do the scores on the train on the way to work.

When I got to work, I'd type up a quick summary sheet with the game scores, the standings and I would send them to you via FAX, if you gave me a fax number; if not, I'd slip them out in my companies outgoing mail.

You'd get your update on Wednesday.

This may seem archaic to 'the kids' nowadays, and objectively it was, but it was so much more fun, it was like being in on something cool before anyone else.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I used to have to walk barefoot through the snow just to meet the carrier pigeon that brought me last weeks results.

 

[Mr.Blonde]

I used to go to the local news stand that had Newspapers from other cities and since some friends of mine worked there, they would save unsold copies of those they were going to throw away so I could read the sports parts of them for extra information.

The 'Computer Group' in Vegas in the 1980's (Billy Walters operation) used to do something similar. They had airline cleaning people on their payroll that would go through the planes on incoming flights and look for newspapers with the sports section intact, then give them to the Group, who would mine them for information.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

On a slightly more serious note, my favorite shtick used to be bringing a 3 year old draft magazine to the live draft and offering it to the newest guy in the league

 

[Rubi]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

Yes,all but the last one which would read Monday Night/Giants game.
Thanks for the memories

 

[eighsse2]

On a slightly more serious note, my favorite shtick used to be bringing a 3 year old draft magazine to the live draft and offering it to the newest guy in the league

I had the #2 pick in 2018, so I made a realistic-looking internet news article to show the guy with the #1 pick, stating that Barkley was under investigation for murder. No dice

 

[Stat Correction]

Yes to all, except the stamped envelopes. It began in 1986. The league was a church league, so we saw each other twice every week and could communicate then.

Guys like Walter Payton, Marcus Allen Eric Dickerson, Joe Morris, and James Brooks at RB. Jerry Rice, Al Toon, Stanley Morgan, Gary Clark, Steve Largent and Art Monk at WR. Dan Marino, John Elway, Phil Simms, Tommy Kramer, and Jay Schroeder at QB.

League is still going strong, and I became commissioner in 2005.

 

[Mt. Man]

Everything but the envelopes. We all lived in the same city then, and people knew to come to the 7-11 I worked at (I was, and still am, the primary commissioner) to get the weekly results and drop off transactions. Though of course they could (and did) also call me, right up to kickoff. It was a nice setup, as I'd "borrow" a newspaper and write down all the results. The favored was the USA Today, as it would usually have the late games and MNF results.

This is year 30 of me doing leagues, along with 4 others that have been in every year. There are some things I miss (mostly being that young) and some I don't (being commish is, largely, much much easier now).

 

[Dizzy]

On a slightly more serious note, my favorite shtick used to be bringing a 3 year old draft magazine to the live draft and offering it to the newest guy in the league

Yes, along with the dummy cheatsheet that you would just happen to leave lying around.

 

[FarFromHome]

Yep. I also remember as commish I would sit with Monday and Tuesday newspaper with graph paper to hand write results. Myfantasyleague.com was a gift for God at the time.

 

[Shrugs]

I started in 1996, which must have been one of the first few years of commercial online fantasy play. I’ve never not played online.

 

[abrunn1133]

I started in 1996, which must have been one of the first few years of commercial online fantasy play. I’ve never not played online.

in '96 I had a Gateway (cow box) PC with a 56K modem that I had to hit *71 on the phone so call waiting did not disconnect me.

 

[BlackCrowes]

Think my first year was 98 or 99. Vinny Greenballs was my QB, went down week 1. Picked up some guy named Kurt Warner

 

[Dizzy]

We were a bunch of young(ish) goofballs when we first started. My daughter was born the year our league started. When she was 5 she told the kid next door that her favorite football teams were the Eagles and the Bloody Stools!

And that triggered my first name change.

All original league members in this our 31st season.

 

[Biabreakable]

I used to go to the local news stand that had Newspapers from other cities and since some friends of mine worked there, they would save unsold copies of those they were going to throw away so I could read the sports parts of them for extra information.

The 'Computer Group' in Vegas in the 1980's (Billy Walters operation) used to do something similar. They had airline cleaning people on their payroll that would go through the planes on incoming flights and look for newspapers with the sports section intact, then give them to the Group, who would mine them for information.

Yeah I was lucky to have some friends at that downtown store that got all those different papers delivered to them as I guess they had enough customers from out of town who would buy them regularly.

 

[Mr.Blonde]

Does anyone remember the Usenet group rec.sports.football.fantasy?

In 1997, leading up to the 1998 season I got a home computer (Compaq Presario) , discovered Usenet and the crazy world of the chat rooms.

rec.sports.football.fantasy

That was like the 'Holy College' of fantasy experts, and in that flux started the Fan-EX leagues, Cheatsheets.net (the precursor to FootballGuys) and begat the godfathers of fantasy football.

A magazine printed in June no longer made the cut.

I was now swimming with the best and the brightest and their advise and opinions were so far ahead of where my home league was, it truly felt like a cheat code.

Just to see other drafts and where players were going, the first inklings of an ADP, was invaluable.
I knew my way around the game a little bit, but now I knew which players I could wait on and which players were at a premium.

My 1998 team was so gross.....

QB - Steve Young
RB - Terrell Davis
RB - Jamal Anderson
WR - Antonio Freeman
WR - Randy Moss
Flex - Fred Taylor


…that it almost fed-back on itself, where guys didn't want to play in a league that was over by Thanksgiving.

I had to persuade guys to stay and I had to bad-mouth my own team.

"It's just a fluke, I don't really know what I'm doing"

 

[Bri]

No I'm not. And I didn't add up totals for leagues from USA Today's Monday paper or use newsgroups either

 

[Atomic Punk]

Remember it all very well. Guy at the local newsstand thought I was nuts, as I pulled out the sports section and dumped the rest of the paper in the trash before I left the store.

 

[grateful zed]

i remember heidi.

 

[Ray Barboni]

Sports Weekly - USA Today used to be THEE gospel.

Miss those days for sure.

Do you guys also remember the early days of yahoo fantasy? When your computer would scream out “it’s a fumble!”

I started in 2002, so not as early as the OP - but still, those early days were marvelous.

Rotoworld wasn’t even a thing yet -

 

[JohnnyU]

i remember heidi.

I remember the Heidi game.

 

[JohnnyU]

I remember having to get up to change the channel.

 

[FarFromHome]

I remember having to get up to change the channel.

Yep. I think the one the biggest things we have today thats huge is maps on our phones for directions. How did we live without? How did we find places? I remember my dial up Internet and printing directions to where I needed to go.

 

[eighsse2]

I remember having to get up to change the channel.

Yep. I think the one the biggest things we have today thats huge is maps on our phones for directions. How did we live without? How did we find places? I remember my dial up Internet and printing directions to where I needed to go.

I remember my printer not working and drawing schematic maps to get to places. And then taking a really long time to get there.

 

[Chemical X]

if you haven’t called sports phone at 976-1313 you haven’t really lived.

 

[JohnnyU]

I remember having to get up to change the channel.

Yep. I think the one the biggest things we have today thats huge is maps on our phones for directions. How did we live without? How did we find places? I remember my dial up Internet and printing directions to where I needed to go.

Paper maps.

I remember having to put a news ticker on my computer to prevent AOL from kicking me off while trying to download something that took a long time. That would make it think I was still busy. You remember, “Goodbye”.

 

[grateful zed]

i remember heidi.

I remember the Heidi game.

i was 4 years old, my dad always had football on.

i was watching and the game was exciting to me.

then ... i was like wtf! where did the game go?

 

[grateful zed]

the fearsome foursome!

 

[zamboni]

I remember trying to get as many pieces of the Canton Bulldogs offense as possible.

 

[JohnnyU]

I still play electric football. Only now it is better, with custom teams with real life uniforms. I built my own stadium with lights to go with a custom board, with many custom field covers to represent different Super Bowls or home teams.

 

[Wrigley]

On a slightly more serious note, my favorite shtick used to be bringing a 3 year old draft magazine to the live draft and offering it to the newest guy in the league

I would tear off the cover, and just leave it on the table.

guy actually drafted Ray Carruth 2 years after he had his old lady wacked

 

[HomerSimpson]

I still play electric football. Only now it is better, with custom teams with real life uniforms. I built my own stadium with lights to go with a custom board, with many custom field covers to represent different Super Bowls or home teams.

Whats funny is i started my main league 18 years ago. And named it. The Electric Football League. Still going strong

 

[finfansteve]

Been playing since 1987 and the possibility of human error tabulating scores back then was huge. You had to wait for the weekly commissioner package and double check his work. I remember all of the above and probably more that I have forgotten. I think I still have some of those old weekly commissioner packages laying around somewhere I’ll have to take a look

 

[da_budman]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

not just any newspaper....The USA today to be exact.

 

[Snoopy]

Been playing since 1987 and the possibility of human error tabulating scores back then was huge. You had to wait for the weekly commissioner package and double check his work. I remember all of the above and probably more that I have forgotten. I think I still have some of those old weekly commissioner packages laying around somewhere I’ll have to take a look

And checking for unusual plays. Argued with the commish as he excluded a TD pass thrown by a RB.

 

[belljr]

1. Bringing 15 self-addresses, stamped envelopes to the draft do the commissioner can mail out weekly standings.
2. Bringing a magazine that was printed 2 months prior to your draft
3. Calling the commissioner on a land line for adds/drops
4. Looking at the Monday newspaper to see how many points your team scored
5. Being able to watch one game/week, plus the Monday Night/Cowboys game, and not having any idea how your guys performed.

Ah, the good old days.

not just any newspaper....The USA today to be exact.

Philadelphia Daily News was out official scoring

 

[daveR]

I remember a guy in our league who got thrown in jail Saturday night for "drunk & disorderly". He used his "one phone call" to phone in a line-up!