Play with 11 teams? (1 Viewer)

[ahill84006]

Has anyone ever had a league with 11 teams? The reason I am asking this is I just had an owner call me and tell me he has to work on our draft day. Our draft is THIS SUNDAY!!!! (I know, I know...its too early......but thats for another time). It is too late for me to find a replacement. Can a league be run with only 11 teams, and have it work out OK? I know we could do it based on strictyl points, but we have been a HTH league for the last 5 years. I don't want to switch it back now. Any suggestions??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

 

[Chaka]

Yes.

Create a ghost team that scores the weekly average of the 10 teams not playing the ghost team that week.

I could have written that better but I hope you get the gist.

 

[Werker]

Yes.Create a ghost team that scores the weekly average of the 10 teams not playing the ghost team that week.I could have written that better but I hope you get the gist.

I commish a 12 team league and that's my contingency. My only concern with the plan would be what happens if Average Team wins?

 

[CommuterMan]

Does the league member who has to work this weekend during the draft want to stay in the league? If so then have him rank his players and have someone draft for him. A few phone calls can easily clear up any questions as the draft unfolds.

Now if the working stiff is only using this as an excuse to get out of his commitment to the league then you have to decide as a league on how best to handle this. If been in leagues that play the average as Chaka suggested - but this is not always fair to everyone as bye weeks are often lower scoring when teams are missing key players over the first weeks and end of the season.

Another option is as a league you draft a 12th team. Everyone votes a drafted team into existense and everyone plays against that roster. The big issue here is no trades or waivers would be allowed and as such injuries would play havoc with the roster.

Final option is to give each team an automatic win/bye which goes against the idea of H2H competition.

I would definitely push to keep the working GM in the league and try to work around his schedule - maybe push the draft back a few hours and let him get to the draft for the later rounds....

 

[CommuterMan]

Yes.Create a ghost team that scores the weekly average of the 10 teams not playing the ghost team that week.I could have written that better but I hope you get the gist.

I commish a 12 team league and that's my contingency. My only concern with the plan would be what happens if Average Team wins?

Although it's statistically possible the an "Average Team" as the 12th team could have the best league record it is not likely as the fact the team is the average of all the other teams it would likely end up towards the middle of the league in record and points - hense the reason it would be the "Average Team"

 

[obxlegends]

Does the league member who has to work this weekend during the draft want to stay in the league? If so then have him rank his players and have someone draft for him. A few phone calls can easily clear up any questions as the draft unfolds.Now if the working stiff is only using this as an excuse to get out of his commitment to the league then you have to decide as a league on how best to handle this. If been in leagues that play the average as Chaka suggested - but this is not always fair to everyone as bye weeks are often lower scoring when teams are missing key players over the first weeks and end of the season. Another option is as a league you draft a 12th team. Everyone votes a drafted team into existense and everyone plays against that roster. The big issue here is no trades or waivers would be allowed and as such injuries would play havoc with the roster.Final option is to give each team an automatic win/bye which goes against the idea of H2H competition.I would definitely push to keep the working GM in the league and try to work around his schedule - maybe push the draft back a few hours and let him get to the draft for the later rounds....

There's always the dreaded bye week scenario.

 

[groomsie]

My only concern with the plan would be what happens if Average Team wins?

We had a 9-man auction league a few years ago, and used the 10th team as "Joe Average". Joe Average is not eligible for playoffs, but did manage to win the league. Several grumbled and wanted to go with "Joe Median" (issue is if you have 1 or 2 teams really light it up every week and the rest all clumped together, the average is then tougher than you might think), but Joe Average is still used when/if we have an odd number of teams. Kinda takes the wind out of the sails of Owners who want to crow about their fantasy abilities when the average did just as well (or better).Since in our league the winner buys (so to keep your winnings you need to finish #2) we simply had Joe Average host the party like usual.

 

[imeimex]

Yes.Create a ghost team that scores the weekly average of the 10 teams not playing the ghost team that week.I could have written that better but I hope you get the gist.

I commish a 12 team league and that's my contingency. My only concern with the plan would be what happens if Average Team wins?

Although it's statistically possible the an "Average Team" as the 12th team could have the best league record it is not likely as the fact the team is the average of all the other teams it would likely end up towards the middle of the league in record and points - hense the reason it would be the "Average Team"

Also in most 12 team leagues there are unbalanced schedules, wouldn't it be better to be in the division with the average team? Other options could include bye weeks for 1 team a week, and or total points league.

 

[NoFBinLA]

Does the league member who has to work this weekend during the draft want to stay in the league? If so then have him rank his players and have someone draft for him. A few phone calls can easily clear up any questions as the draft unfolds.

Had this VERY issue come up last year in a redraft I co-commish and the above is how we dealt with it. The guy ranked his players and one of the other coaches volunteered to draft for him. It actually worked out well for him - his rankings caused a few reaches but he ended up with a solid team, we continued to have 12 teams and the flexibility kept the league happy.You never know when something might come up and make the draft impossible to be at. Flexibility in this area will help your league survive long term.But as CommuterMan's post said also, if he was just using it as an excuse to ditch out of the league you can either scramble for a new owner (tough but not impossible) make a 'bot' team (league picked and run, essentially, by the league) or throw bye weeks in which isn't the greatest solution, but isn't horrible either.Then replace the team in the off season.In fact, if the 'bot' team is decent enough, you might get someone to take ownership of it before the season- giving you time to fill the slot. (ok, so I'm an optimist....)

 

[thayman]

If you want to make it easier, just draft a team for this guy who can't make the draft. Or if you want to go 11 teams, just give everyone a bye week.

 

[ahill84006]

I thought about inviting an someone who doesn't know much about FF to play for free, but I am afraid they will lose interest, and quit half way through the season.

 

[Chaka]

Yes.Create a ghost team that scores the weekly average of the 10 teams not playing the ghost team that week.I could have written that better but I hope you get the gist.

I commish a 12 team league and that's my contingency. My only concern with the plan would be what happens if Average Team wins?

The ghost team should win half it's games, if he makes the playoffs I would roll over the 4th place money into the top three payouts (or however many playoff payouts you have). If the ghost wins it all roll over the championship payout into next season.The ghost also becomes a great avenue for smack talk especially when a team doesn't make the playoffs because of the ghost.

 

[ahill84006]

bump for more suggestions??????

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

bump for more suggestions??????

This isn't a balanced schedule, nor is it perfect.24 game season covering Weeks 1-13. Playoffs Weeks 14-16.Doubleheaders EVERY week, except in non-bye weeks in the NFL (1,2, 10-13) have some teams only play one game.That is, in Weeks 1,2,10,11, and 12 4 teams get a bye (they play only ONE game, not two). In Week 13, 2 teams get a bye (again - one game played).If you want a BALANCED schedule, you have to play a 30 game season (yikes) with TRIPLE headers on non-bye weeks, with some teams playing just 2 games (again 1 bye). The pattern there would be for 5 teams off (playing 2 games, not 3) in Weeks 1 and 2, and then 3 teams off in Weeks 10-13.I like the 30-week better as it has fewer games on NFL bye weeks.Good luck setting that up though.

 

[The Jerk]

My longest-running league (and I am the Commissioner) rewards owners three ways:

top 3 weekly scores (60%)

season total points (20%)

head-to-head (20%)

[NOTE: We find that the prestige of winning either season total points or head-to-head is more important than the reward itself. By itself, having 60% go to top 3 weekly scores keeps everyone involved all year long and also makes it less cutthroat. We're all friends living in the same area.]

If I was faced with 11 teams, I would consider going to a one-division setup -- so each team will play the other teams once. Then I would choose three weeks where there would be no head-to-head games. Remember: my teams are always competing for top 3 weekly scores. I would choose Weeks 6 and 7 since there are a total of 6 teams on byes, and possibly Week 3 as it is the first bye week.

I'm not sure I'd like this setup myself, but you're asking for ideas. This certainly is simpler than playing tripleheaders and relies purely on head-to-head with no average team. The hard part will be finding a way to jazz up the non-HTH weeks, especially if your league is not a weekly high score league.

Another alternative is to use the Big East basketball appraoch (starting in the 2006-07 season), where there is one division, each team plays every other team at least once and three teams twice. This will require some work by the Commissioner to set up as I'm not sure there is anything on any website to automate this feature.

 

[Fantasy Girl]

We have had this happen in the past. We had one person draft 2 teams (not knowing which would be his in the end so he drafts the 2 best possible teams that he can) At the end of the draft, flip a coin to decide which guys get which teams. We also have done the "ghost team" thing, but I didn't really care for it.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

bump for more suggestions??????

I'd like to hear you address a couple of questions already askedo you think the guy is trying to bail? If not, can he make up a list or be available by phone?We had a member who had to go the "list" route due to a funeral. I drafted from his list for him and, while it wasn't always comfortable for me, it worked out better for the overall health of the league than going shorthanded.If he's definitely out & you can't find a replacement, then you could go with the "Average Team" suggestion. I've never done this myself, so I've never thought it through. But you have some good suggestions already on how to handle that.I also kinda like Fantasy Girl's idea. Have someone draft two teams & let him flip for one of 'em.

 

[Chaz]

This scenerio happened to us last season. We went with the "ghost" team and gave it a name, put it into the standings and everything. We just didn't count it's record when it came time for figuring out playoff possibilities.

One note about the scoring we used...We used the average of the 10 remaining teams, however, we did not count the high or low score. We felt it gave a better representations of "average" that way.

The commish will have a little work to do as far as inputing W's and L's, but not much. Put someone in charge of figuring out the ghost team score weekly.

 

[WampusCat43]

It seems like every year lately, we have an owner that can't make the draft, and can't phone it in. The group has known each other for years, so we just draft a team for him. We nominate 2 or 3 players, and usually give him the worst of the group.

That team went 12-4 two years ago.

 

[Chaz]

We have had this happen in the past. We had one person draft 2 teams (not knowing which would be his in the end so he drafts the 2 best possible teams that he can) At the end of the draft, flip a coin to decide which guys get which teams. We also have done the "ghost team" thing, but I didn't really care for it.

This is a pretty good idea

 

[wannabee]

When this situation has happened in the past, we ask someone to draft a second team and we sell it to a friend of a league member. Obviously, it depends on who drafts the team.

 

[Sweet Love]

We have had this happen in the past. We had one person draft 2 teams (not knowing which would be his in the end so he drafts the 2 best possible teams that he can) At the end of the draft, flip a coin to decide which guys get which teams. We also have done the "ghost team" thing, but I didn't really care for it.

This is a pretty good idea

I like this idea too. I will have to remember it!

 

[Defending Champs]

We have had this happen in the past. We had one person draft 2 teams (not knowing which would be his in the end so he drafts the 2 best possible teams that he can) At the end of the draft, flip a coin to decide which guys get which teams. We also have done the "ghost team" thing, but I didn't really care for it.

This is a pretty good idea

At first, I really liked the idea, then I thought, what if I had to draft two teams of the players I had been scouting over the last two to three months and the guys I felt were going to be the winning team were now split into two separate teams. I was just punished for a guy who couldn't make it to the draft.Good concept, personally, I don't want to be that guy.

 

[moleculo]

bump for more suggestions??????

This isn't a balanced schedule, nor is it perfect.24 game season covering Weeks 1-13. Playoffs Weeks 14-16.Doubleheaders EVERY week, except in non-bye weeks in the NFL (1,2, 10-13) have some teams only play one game.That is, in Weeks 1,2,10,11, and 12 4 teams get a bye (they play only ONE game, not two). In Week 13, 2 teams get a bye (again - one game played).If you want a BALANCED schedule, you have to play a 30 game season (yikes) with TRIPLE headers on non-bye weeks, with some teams playing just 2 games (again 1 bye). The pattern there would be for 5 teams off (playing 2 games, not 3) in Weeks 1 and 2, and then 3 teams off in Weeks 10-13.I like the 30-week better as it has fewer games on NFL bye weeks.Good luck setting that up though.

Pasquino is on the right track. you can run a league with an odd number of teams w/o bye weeks - just do double headers.

 

[TheLastDispatch]

Just have him send someone to draft for him or give you his rankings. As commuter said a few phone calls can clear any confusion up. If that doesnt work I'm sure you could find a replacement.