The one thing I have learned playing ff over 25 years + is? (1 Viewer)

[DropKick]

I have learned that no one cares about my fantasy football team or my stories of fantasy football glory.

You don't care about the time when I thought I was hopelessly out of it at the trade deadline?  But, though a legendary series of shrewd waiver wire acquisitions and trades, I eked out the last play-off spot?  Then, with a roster full of nothing but Cleveland Browns, I knocked off the two time defending champion in the semis.  Grandmother Perkins was so upset she quit fantasy football and went back to Bingo.  With all the money on the line, I threw caution to the wind and even benched my studs.  The stars were aligned perfectly as the Browns had to play themselves and their defense was a sieve that year.  In the end, it all comes down to luck as a missed extra point did me in.  It just goes to show you, you never know!

 

[Tibereas]

Depth gets you to the party. 

 

[Sabertooth]

We think we know, but we have no idea.  The only news that gets out is what teams either want to get out or what teams are too poorly run to keep from getting out.

Also there is a guy on your waiver wire right now who will be top 10 at his position at years end.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

You don't care about the time when I thought I was hopelessly out of it at the trade deadline?  But, though a legendary series of shrewd waiver wire acquisitions and trades, I eked out the last play-off spot?  Then, with a roster full of nothing but Cleveland Browns, I knocked off the two time defending champion in the semis.  Grandmother Perkins was so upset she quit fantasy football and went back to Bingo.  With all the money on the line, I threw caution to the wind and even benched my studs.  The stars were aligned perfectly as the Browns had to play themselves and their defense was a sieve that year.  In the end, it all comes down to luck as a missed extra point did me in.  It just goes to show you, you never know!

Best post I've read in my short time here. lmao

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

2 years ago I woke up the day after draft not knowing who my last 6 picks were(or knowing how I got home)

Apparently I took a flyer on Kelvin Benjamin in the last round

Skill gets you there, winning it all is luck

Could just be that drunk you is smarter than sober you? 

It happens. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

The internet and amount of fantasy football information at people's fingertips has leveled the playing field quite a bit.

Yes and no...

It's irritating to put the work in early and identify values and sleepers and then the day before your draft some FFB expert posts an article that might as well be titled, "Hot Sauce Guy's Top 15 sleepers & value picks!" - grrrrrr

That said, it also creates new opportunities for the savvy FFB manager to take advantage of "group think".  At a certain point there's so much information that you start to identify new patterns. Those who rely solely on that external data will fall victim to group-think, and those who apply critical thinking to it in order to again identify value picks and sleepers will be able to (as TSN puts it) "abuse the rankings".  ADP is a great tool for this, and having access to the top 100 or top 200 lists at CBS, ESPN, Yahoo, etc. 

I believe if you put in the work you can still have a huge advantage over your league-mates who don't. Heck, just in the week I've been here I've picked up some terrific information that I don't see widely published. 

It's when your league-mate finds out which board you're posting on that you're probably hosed.   

 

[zftcg]

I recognize this may not be a popular opinion on a site like this, but until I join a big-money league (which is itself unlikely to happen), I will never spend any money on premium subscriptions, draft kits, or anything other than league entry fees. To me, fantasy is a fun hobby; as soon as I start spending money it becomes something different.

 

[BobbyLayne]

I recognize this may not be a popular opinion on a site like this, but until I join a big-money league (which is itself unlikely to happen), I will never spend any money on premium subscriptions, draft kits, or anything other than league entry fees. To me, fantasy is a fun hobby; as soon as I start spending money it becomes something different.

Hmmm

Isn't it like ten bucks a year? Seems like a pittance & I it saves me a ton of time.

Regardless if there is one thing I've learned it's that it ought to be fun. And when I played so many leagues that the same play brought both jubilation & despair, I cut way, way back.

I enjoy the camaraderie in my main redraft league. I enjoy other things in life far too much to allow FF to take over my life. It's a fun part-time diversion.

 

[Ilov80s]

Your team is rarely ever as good or as bad as you think. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I recognize this may not be a popular opinion on a site like this, but until I join a big-money league (which is itself unlikely to happen), I will never spend any money on premium subscriptions, draft kits, or anything other than league entry fees. To me, fantasy is a fun hobby; as soon as I start spending money it becomes something different.

I spend about $20 a year at two places for access to more information (FBG is one of them)

Information gives me an edge.

As Herm Edwards said, there are no moral victories. i play to win the game. 

If havig access to more info helps me to do that, I'll gladly support sites like this that provide those tools.  I figure it helps them to keep the lights on and the heater warm, so when I come visit it's a comfy place to be. Figuratively speaking.

my league fees are $300 a year (combined) - spending a small % more to be more competitive seems like a good investment to me, but I respect your not wanting to do so. 

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

And when I played so many leagues that the same play brought both jubilation & despair, I cut way, way back.

I went though this exact process - I was in 8-9 leagues. 

It was insane - thrill of victory/agony of defeat with seemingly every play since the guy I had in 3 leagues was beating me in 3 others. 

Madness. 

I cut back to 3 leagues, all local, all live drafting with friends. 

Good times. Every now and then one of those conflicts pops up but it's few and far between. 

great call, I couldn't agree more. 

Someone on FBG recently said they were in 24 leagues?  I cant imagine the stress that would causes 

 

[TheDirtyWord]

FAAB is the only/best way to do waivers.

Keeper leagues are a young mans game.

Rankings are meaningless if they don't take production delta into account.

The players that win you your championships are often not the ones you thought would do so in August.

Draft weekend is the best weekend of the year

 

[Rhythmdoctor]

Draft explosive players. This is something I keep in mind when I draft. Corey Coleman or Treadwell.... Coleman every time. 

 

[pennystock]

The greater your skill, the less good luck you need 

Agree with others that the best part for me is by far the draft.

When drafting, I believe the following is true:

1) Zig when others zag

2) The value of players on your draft board changes significantly based on the players you have already drafted.  I try to balance my early picks to give me the most flexibility later on (although I don't always hold to that - if everyone picks an RB in the first two rounds I will draft other positions first, likely WR)

3) I like having a strong RB1, but strengthening other positions before picking my RB2 tends to work better for me than picking two strong RBs to start a draft.

4) In PPR, 3rd down backs are typically undervalued and make fine RB2s.

5) A lot of people still don't get the basic concept of VBD

6) My teams end up better when I don't "have" to have a guy.  If there's a decent chance he makes it to the next round, I will pick someone else, even if I believe the person I am drafting is less valuable.  Sure, sometimes you get burned but usually your team ends up being stronger.

7) If you're in multiple leagues, you have no realistic shot to win all of them because you are drafting different players.  But I like to manage risk across my teams to give myself a good chance to win a good number of them.  This means I can take the handcuff for a RB I have in league A in league B or C.  This gives me leverage to take people at value and not reach for a player (see #6).

For after the draft, it's more valuable to spend your money early than late.  Try to be patient with the younger guys you have on your team.  If they are playing well but have limited opportunity, that opportunity will likely come later in the season.  But players that are not doing well with their opportunity don't belong on your team. Unless they are playing through injury (think CJ Anderson and Michael Floyd last year).

Lastly, I play in a lot of leagues but I will never quit my two leagues played with friends because those are so much more fun.

 

[candian fantasy guy]

I went though this exact process - I was in 8-9 leagues. 

It was insane - thrill of victory/agony of defeat with seemingly every play since the guy I had in 3 leagues was beating me in 3 others. 

Madness. 

I cut back to 3 leagues, all local, all live drafting with friends. 

Good times. Every now and then one of those conflicts pops up but it's few and far between. 

great call, I couldn't agree more. 

Someone on FBG recently said they were in 24 leagues?  I cant imagine the stress that would causes 

 I play in lots of leagues as well, I just don't check my FF score until late Sunday or even Monday morning. I also NEVER look at my opponents lineup, it is way too time consuming anf gut wrenching for some reasons you've listed. Some weeks my teams do great and some weeks not so much, it is what it is. This strategy has seen my bank roll and number of teams going up every single year. When I start losing, the reverse will happen and a reduction will follow. My enjoyment is the same today as it was 10 years ago, it might actually be more enjoyable now with those yeas of wisdom under my belt. 

Yes there is luck in FF, but the better FF players stand out long term and will make the playoffs more often than not. Then the luck really starts in those one week shootouts(playoffs), it is why I prefer a 2-3 week point total style playoff system as I believe the better teams win more often than not. 

Like real sports, the best team DOES NOT always win.

 

[Wrigley]

Depth gets you to the party. 

This

 

[zftcg]

I spend about $20 a year at two places for access to more information (FBG is one of them)

Information gives me an edge.

As singletary said, there are no moral victories. i play to win the game. 

If havig access to more info helps me to do that, I'll gladly support sites like this that provide those tools.  I figure it helps them to keep the lights on and the heater warm, so when I come visit it's a comfy place to be. Figuratively speaking.

my league fees are $300 a year (combined) - spending a small % more to be more competitive seems like a good investment to me, but I respect your not wanting to do so. 

Yeah, it's not the amount. It's the principle. I don't want to be thinking of it in terms of getting a return on my investment.

And for the record, I say that for myself only. I'm very definitely not implying that others have to follow my example.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Yeah, it's not the amount. It's the principle. I don't want to be thinking of it in terms of getting a return on my investment.

And for the record, I say that for myself only. I'm very definitely not implying that others have to follow my example.

Understood.

also I must have been tired last night because that quote was from Herm Edwards - Singletary was "I want winners!"

it reminds me of my other favorite quote, "let's get some hookers & coke up in this beyotch!"

~Abraham Lincoln

 

[zftcg]

Understood.

also I must have been tired last night because that quote was from Herm Edwards - Singletary was "I want winners!"

it reminds me of my other favorite quote, "let's get some hookers & coke up in this beyotch!"

~Abraham Lincoln

My favorite is

"Feel free to make up a quote supports your point of view and attribute it to me." -- Abraham Lincoln

 

[Timmay]

Always draft Gates

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

In the Information age, where so many people are basing their rankings off of the experts, few take the time to consider that regardless of how emphatically stated their opinions are, sometimes (often) the experts are completely wrong. 

fantasy pros updates this every year, and I always take time to check it out, because like others I rely on fantasy writers as a source of information: 

https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/accuracy/

Note that the #1 most accurate guy there barely topped 60%. 

That's why I follow the local beat writers for each team on twitter - they tend to have a better finger on the pulse of the players for the teams they cover, since it's their job.