Is it possible to play Fantasy Football... (1 Viewer)

[Big John2]

I have been playing FF for 15 years now and loved every minute of it. But over the past three years I find that I am unable to dedicate the amount of time I used to be able to (due to work and family), and my teams have suffered...

So my question is it possible to play Fantasy Football and be competitive when you only have a couple of free hours each week to read up on and watch related shows?

And if it is possible please let us know how you do it.

Any advice that keeps me playing this game with the little free time I have is appreciated!

 

[Captain Hook]

I have been playing FF for 15 years now and loved every minute of it. But over the past three years I find that I am unable to dedicate the amount of time I used to be able to (due to work and family), and my teams have suffered...

So my question is it possible to play Fantasy Football and be competitive when you only have a couple of free hours each week to read up on and watch related shows?

And if it is possible please let us know how you do it.

Any advice that keeps me playing this game with the little free time I have is appreciated!

The answer is YESAnd the the method is what they call Draftmasters or Draft Champions

You draft a larger number of players - 26 is a normal number and your lineup each week is maximized by the computer after games are complete.

So you Don't set a lineup each week

There are NO free agent pickups each week

Keeps you in all the fun of having a fantasy football team without the time each week to maintain - you put YOUR work into in in draft prep and then one draft - usually just four hours you can carve out sometime.

All the big national contests offer these at many different price levels - see WCOFF, FFPC, NFFC websites for more information

 

[Big John2]

Hook:

Had never heard of that, thanks for letting me know.

But in a way the weekly pickups and setting lineups are what keep it fun over the 17 weeks.

It's funny, 15 years ago reading a FF mag before the draft and getting sporting news weekly was nearly all the upkeep that was required for most leagues. Now it's like a full time job just to keep up lol.

I fear the game has evolved to more of a lifestyle than the part time fun it used to be. But if anyone knows ways to stay competitive with just a few hours a week I would love to hear about it.

 

[DeCleater]

Get a FBG membership, use their cheetsheets and line-up. You will be competitive with just that.

How's that Joe?

 

[~OMM~]

Your fear is correct. Perhaps you should just join a free simple yahoo league and mail it in if you get too busy with whatever you do in your life. Then you can't let down your competitive friends w/ lackluster effort in a money league, or keep losing your money every year because you don't have the time it takes to be competitive. Or you could try out one of the leagues the other guy listed earlier in the thread...and have more time for your life. Seems simple...your life has changed and so has the competition and resources available in the last decade or so...

 

[Manster]

your problem is going to be being able to keep up with whats happening week to week. drafting is the easy part. maintenence takes more time and effort.

i'd say, to use your time wisely, maybe get your up-to-date info (injuries, insider takes, etc..) from ONE site such as FBG.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Best ball. Takes the lineup decisions (IMO The most work) out of it.

Best ball is where you don't set a lineup -- Your highest scoring players per your league's lineup settings will score your team's points. Really helpful in instances where your star gets hurt first play of game. Puts a higher premium on how you draft. You would have to likely put in some waiver claims throughout the year

 

[pantherclub]

In this day and age you have to pretty much keep up with things on a daily basis.

Back when I started playing 93 I remember looking forward to USA Today on Tuesday that gave a short recap of every team.

 

[I Like Turtles]

In this day and age you have to pretty much keep up with things on a daily basis. Back when I started playing 93 I remember looking forward to USA Today on Tuesday that gave a short recap of every team.

It doesn't take that long to be somewhat caught up with what you need. 10-15 minutes a day, 30 minutes ( maybe ) on Tuesday / Saturday morning. Heck, you can do most of your "scouting" on a smart phone when your using the restroom. Unless, of course, you just do not think you can have any fun without going full on everyday. I spend alot of time on different sites to see different perspectives. Do I need to? No. In my league there are 3-4 people that don't do nearly anything each week and have a fun time. It's all about friends and football.

 

[pantherclub]

In this day and age you have to pretty much keep up with things on a daily basis. Back when I started playing 93 I remember looking forward to USA Today on Tuesday that gave a short recap of every team.

It doesn't take that long to be somewhat caught up with what you need. 10-15 minutes a day, 30 minutes ( maybe ) on Tuesday / Saturday morning. Heck, you can do most of your "scouting" on a smart phone when your using the restroom. Unless, of course, you just do not think you can have any fun without going full on everyday. I spend alot of time on different sites to see different perspectives. Do I need to? No. In my league there are 3-4 people that don't do nearly anything each week and have a fun time. It's all about friends and football.

I totally agree with your statement but the OP implies he doesnt even have that kind of time. Lets be honest here, while you could probably do it in 30 minutes how often are you on here digesting every tid bit of info trying to get an advantage?

 

[Big John2]

In this day and age you have to pretty much keep up with things on a daily basis. Back when I started playing 93 I remember looking forward to USA Today on Tuesday that gave a short recap of every team.

It doesn't take that long to be somewhat caught up with what you need. 10-15 minutes a day, 30 minutes ( maybe ) on Tuesday / Saturday morning. Heck, you can do most of your "scouting" on a smart phone when your using the restroom. Unless, of course, you just do not think you can have any fun without going full on everyday. I spend alot of time on different sites to see different perspectives. Do I need to? No. In my league there are 3-4 people that don't do nearly anything each week and have a fun time. It's all about friends and football.

I totally agree with your statement but the OP implies he doesnt even have that kind of time. Lets be honest here, while you could probably do it in 30 minutes how often are you on here digesting every tid bit of info trying to get an advantage?

I could definitely dedicate 15 minutes and sometimes half an hour a day to the game, it's pretty much what I have been doing the past few years. But I find that I often miss quality waiver pickups because I was not aware of them, have players in my lineup who are injured because I cannot be near my computer to make last second adjustments just before all the games start (I am really starting to hate the Questionable designation!), and overall struggle.Is there anyone out there who dedicates this amount of time and is competitive. How do you manage it?

 

[fsufan]

guy who won one of my dynasty leagues last year set his line up every week by the fantasysharks.com link on MFL, what they suggested he rolled with

 

[Captain Hook]

In this day and age you have to pretty much keep up with things on a daily basis. Back when I started playing 93 I remember looking forward to USA Today on Tuesday that gave a short recap of every team.

It doesn't take that long to be somewhat caught up with what you need. 10-15 minutes a day, 30 minutes ( maybe ) on Tuesday / Saturday morning. Heck, you can do most of your "scouting" on a smart phone when your using the restroom. Unless, of course, you just do not think you can have any fun without going full on everyday. I spend alot of time on different sites to see different perspectives. Do I need to? No. In my league there are 3-4 people that don't do nearly anything each week and have a fun time. It's all about friends and football.

I totally agree with your statement but the OP implies he doesnt even have that kind of time. Lets be honest here, while you could probably do it in 30 minutes how often are you on here digesting every tid bit of info trying to get an advantage?

I could definitely dedicate 15 minutes and sometimes half an hour a day to the game, it's pretty much what I have been doing the past few years. But I find that I often miss quality waiver pickups because I was not aware of them, have players in my lineup who are injured because I cannot be near my computer to make last second adjustments just before all the games start (I am really starting to hate the Questionable designation!), and overall struggle.Is there anyone out there who dedicates this amount of time and is competitive. How do you manage it?

If you can't make the pre-game changes then as I suggested a form of the game that doesn't require them is one way; another would be to have a partner to lean on for that part of the team management.There are plenty of sites that should give you the waiver wire suggestions (of course I am partial to "You Look FAABulous" wherever it lands this year) and there is always Live Advice to help on Sundays

 

[massraider]

I could definitely dedicate 15 minutes and sometimes half an hour a day to the game, it's pretty much what I have been doing the past few years. But I find that I often miss quality waiver pickups because I was not aware of them, have players in my lineup who are injured because I cannot be near my computer to make last second adjustments just before all the games start (I am really starting to hate the Questionable designation!), and overall struggle.Is there anyone out there who dedicates this amount of time and is competitive. How do you manage it?

The biggest thing is using that free time wisely. You just need the hard news, not necessarily the opinion pieces, and certainly not the arguing of a message board. So trim down your web-surfing, just use links that are most practical. I like using Google Reader, and linking to the RSS feeds for FBG newswire, ProFootballTalk, the ESPN divisional blogs, etc. During the week, the Shark Pool has a few resources to skim. The in-season articles from FBG are great as well, find the ones that are helpful, and skip the rest. Someone always starts a waiver wire thread, that's always worth reading. As to injuries and so forth, the injury update threads in the Pool are the best. I haven't found a quicker way to get late injury news than the Sunday morning threads here. So if you have a smart phone, it takes minutes to check in before game time, and adjust. If you don't have a smart phone, either get one, or bench any injury question marks you have. It's really the only option if you might not have computer access on Sunday.

 

[Rovers]

Draft only leagues. No trades, no line ups. Draft, and your top scorers give you a total automatically.

But then you say the fun is gone, but don't have the time to scan the waiver wire.