Weeks like this are why... (1 Viewer)

[fantasyplayer]

In my 10-team league, we play double headers each weeks. Regular season standings determine the five playoff teams.

In the playoffs however, we dont' have direct head-to-head matchups. The top two teams get a bye and the other three teams post their lineup with the top two scores advancing. The four remaining teams post their lineups in the semi-finals with the top two scores advancing to the championship game.

This has been a good blend for us. Because of the regular season double headers, typically the right teams make the playoffs and get the byes. Once the playoffs begin, the luck factor is reduced a little because as long as you have one of the top 2 scores each week (other than the championship game), you're still alive. No more losing your playoff game with 130 points when someone else wins theirs with 85.

We pay 1st-4th, so if you're one of the top 2 regular season teams (and get a bye), you're in the money regardless.

 

[jsbcpa]

I've always hated FF playoffs in the regular season and have refused to use them. I've been toying with a different idea and I'd like to hear what the SP thinks.

Play entire regular season H2H (maybe exclude week 17).

Top 8 teams make playoffs.

Hold a redraft with those 8 teams.

Draft is non-serpentine 1st place to 8th place each round

Some number of players can be protected depending on # of wins

Protected players take the place of your first draft picks

1st round of FF playoffs uses total score of 1st 2 rounds of NFL playoffs. H2H games based on seeding (1 plays 8, etc)

4 winners redraft for Conference championship games again with protecting and non-serpentine

2 winners redraft for super bowl with same rules.

Your thoughts?

 

[Insein]

It's a game of luck, just like any form of gambling. You got unlucky on a 50/50 gamble. What exactly is the complaint here?

"I had the best team all year, and lost. This is bullcrap!"

Lulz.Someone call up the Giants; they don't deserve that 08 Super bowl title. The Pats clearly had a bad week.

The more in the playoffs the merrier for fantasy purposes. For 10 team leagues, 6 is good. For 12 team leagues, 6 or 8 is fine. I've been in 12 team leagues where only 4 make it. You get people who lose interest by week 8 if they have no shot. It happens even in big money leagues. Just human nature to not care about something when you have no chance to win it.

 

[massraider]

Have fun griping and listening to griping every year that the best team in your league does not win!

1. Don't pretend like it's every league that whines like this.2. Avoiding griping is a dumb reason to change rules.

 

[texasheat]

very simple solution, been doing it this way for 8 years now.

We have a 12 team league 3 divisions. the division winners plus next 3 point totals make playoffs. The Super Bowl winner gets 100% of the transaction pot (usually about $320) - we charge $1 per FA pickup and $5 per trade.

The entry fee money is paid out to the top 3 in total points from week 1-16. (55-30-15)

It's a good way to still have a playoff bracket and play for a Super Bowl that has a nice reward, but also rewards those who accum the most points all year.

Works out well.

 

[VaTerp]

Have not read through the whole thread but will offer my $0.02 here.

Both of my main $$$ leagues offer a significant payout to the 1st place reg. season. In one league it is the highest payout you can get, in the other it is 2nd to the playoff winner. We do this because we believe being the best team over 13 weeks is an equal or even bigger accomplishment than a 3 week hot streak. We also have a much smaller payout go to the total points winner as well as several other categories.

There will always be some luck involved in FF but we really like our payout system. It rewards the teams that performed consistently well throughout the season, still has a build up to the playoffs, and keeps teams active and engaged the entire season.

 

[massraider]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Sorry, I like the bad beats. I like that every year teams miss the playoffs by mere points, and had a rough season that felt like they played the high scorer every year. I love the eliminated teams that would have gone off in the playoffs, there is a special joy in text-messaging the owner eliminated by tiebreakers whose team is going bonkers. I like the 3 or 4 seed that rides Jerome Harrison to a title.

Cinderella stories are always the best sports stories. And one thing they always have in common is that they play well down the stretch. Watching the games this weekend, for all the playoff teams, was fantastic, and I am not going to give up the feeling I had watching two games simultaneously last night, freaking out as Jacoby Jones beat me in the final minutes of regulation (vs. Sig Bloom!) just so someone feels like everything is FAIR.

Did you lose this week? Well, bummer. Miss out on a few points that might have put you over the top? Too bad. Bear in mind: If you go over every player on your opponents team, he was a few inches here or there away from scoring more points himself.

Some of you might be better off coaching pee-wee soccer, and handing out trophy's to everyone.

 

[Da Guru]

There will always be things that don't seem fair.I play in a H2H league where I was the highest scoring team. In fact, only 1 team was within 100 points of me. But thanks to some horrendous timing I finished 6-7. Did I deserve a playoff spot?

No. High points are usually the result of a certain player/players having a unreal game on the same week. Like D-Mac on Sunday..well before Sunday D-Mac had not done squat in three straight games . Why reward total points because he goes off one game and the FF team has a huge week. Early this year I won game 184-88. Why should I be able to bank those points because 3-4 guys on my team went off the same week? A good week in our 14 team league is around 100 points.In my 14 team league we give 250.00 to each division winner and 250.00 to the high point score for the season. Then we play it off H2H.

 

[texasheat]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Sorry, I like the bad beats. I like that every year teams miss the playoffs by mere points, and had a rough season that felt like they played the high scorer every year. I love the eliminated teams that would have gone off in the playoffs, there is a special joy in text-messaging the owner eliminated by tiebreakers whose team is going bonkers. I like the 3 or 4 seed that rides Jerome Harrison to a title.

Cinderella stories are always the best sports stories. And one thing they always have in common is that they play well down the stretch. Watching the games this weekend, for all the playoff teams, was fantastic, and I am not going to give up the feeling I had watching two games simultaneously last night, freaking out as Jacoby Jones beat me in the final minutes of regulation (vs. Sig Bloom!) just so someone feels like everything is FAIR.

Did you lose this week? Well, bummer. Miss out on a few points that might have put you over the top? Too bad. Bear in mind: If you go over every player on your opponents team, he was a few inches here or there away from scoring more points himself.

Some of you might be better off coaching pee-wee soccer, and handing out trophy's to everyone.

Alot of what you say makes sense in the real game of football where you can actually stop the other team from scoring. I'm not sure about you, but when I draft a team, I'm drafting the guys that I think will score the most points (insane I know, stay with me here)... So why wouldn't you reward the total point champ? I'll never understand the guys that think a guy that has dominated the league all season and goes 13-0 with 400 more points than anyone but loses by one point 178-177 in the first round of the playoffs should get nothing for his season except, "wow that's tough luck"... more like pure luck, no thanks.

Also, your final statement makes no sense at all in the context of this argument since we are arguing FOR rewarding the best team and not the less talented ones that get lucky. Thanks for making that point for me though.

 

[southeastjerome]

Have fun griping and listening to griping every year that the best team in your league does not win!

1. Don't pretend like it's every league that whines like this.2. Avoiding griping is a dumb reason to change rules.

Its not every league, but I see it more in these leagues that are full playoff than I do in my total points with playoff league. Again, its the best of both worlds with points and playoffs. Its not like I am going to quit the league that I am in that is strictly playoffs.

 

[southeastjerome]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks. What would have been better:The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Roto baseball is category based, IIRC. It is not overall points. And again, I like head to head matchups. In my overall points league we have H2H and playoffs too.Well it is a good thing that real football and fantasy football are completely different. People are complaining about Peterson's lackluster effort of being part of the reason they lost this week. It is not as if a real NFL team that is losing would sit it's best player for much of the 4th quarter. The Vikings barely played ADP in the 4th because the game was all but over, but it was not over for those in fantasy leagues. You really can't compare the real NFL to flippin fantasy football.

 

[massraider]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Sorry, I like the bad beats. I like that every year teams miss the playoffs by mere points, and had a rough season that felt like they played the high scorer every year. I love the eliminated teams that would have gone off in the playoffs, there is a special joy in text-messaging the owner eliminated by tiebreakers whose team is going bonkers. I like the 3 or 4 seed that rides Jerome Harrison to a title.

Cinderella stories are always the best sports stories. And one thing they always have in common is that they play well down the stretch. Watching the games this weekend, for all the playoff teams, was fantastic, and I am not going to give up the feeling I had watching two games simultaneously last night, freaking out as Jacoby Jones beat me in the final minutes of regulation (vs. Sig Bloom!) just so someone feels like everything is FAIR.

Did you lose this week? Well, bummer. Miss out on a few points that might have put you over the top? Too bad. Bear in mind: If you go over every player on your opponents team, he was a few inches here or there away from scoring more points himself.

Some of you might be better off coaching pee-wee soccer, and handing out trophy's to everyone.

Alot of what you say makes sense in the real game of football where you can actually stop the other team from scoring. I'm not sure about you, but when I draft a team, I'm drafting the guys that I think will score the most points (insane I know, stay with me here)... So why wouldn't you reward the total point champ? I'll never understand the guys that think a guy that has dominated the league all season and goes 13-0 with 400 more points than anyone but loses by one point 178-177 in the first round of the playoffs should get nothing for his season except, "wow that's tough luck"... more like pure luck, no thanks.

Also, your final statement makes no sense at all in the context of this argument since we are arguing FOR rewarding the best team and not the less talented ones that get lucky. Thanks for making that point for me though.

I have no problem giving something to the best team from the reg. season. Or total points winner, how ever anyone decides who is the most deserving. But what I am hearing from people in here is that the best regular season team should win the most money.Any payout that doesn't come down to two teams on week 16, playing for the brass ring, is a system I will never play.

My money leagues, total points leader after 13 weeks gets $200, and top four playoff winners get something. But the guy that actually wins in the playoffs makes the most money. You know, like in every other competition on the planet.

And my final statement was simply an observation on the trend of our sports world now, where everyone is worried about fairness, and no one wants anyone to go home unhappy. If that 'made your point' for you......well, you're welcome. Think it went right over your head, but if it makes you happy, go with it.

 

[texasheat]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Roto baseball is category based, IIRC. It is not overall points. And again, I like head to head matchups. In my overall points league we have H2H and playoffs too.Well it is a good thing that real football and fantasy football are completely different. People are complaining about Peterson's lackluster effort of being part of the reason they lost this week. It is not as if a real NFL team that is losing would sit it's best player for much of the 4th quarter. The Vikings barely played ADP in the 4th because the game was all but over, but it was not over for those in fantasy leagues. You really can't compare the real NFL to flippin fantasy football.

Oh but so many do... (I agree with you, it's ridiculous)

 

[CrossEyed]

There will always be things that don't seem fair.I play in a H2H league where I was the highest scoring team. In fact, only 1 team was within 100 points of me. But thanks to some horrendous timing I finished 6-7. Did I deserve a playoff spot?

No. High points are usually the result of a certain player/players having a unreal game on the same week. Like D-Mac on Sunday..well before Sunday D-Mac had not done squat in three straight games . Why reward total points because he goes off one game and the FF team has a huge week. Early this year I won game 184-88. Why should I be able to bank those points because 3-4 guys on my team went off the same week? A good week in our 14 team league is around 100 points.In my 14 team league we give 250.00 to each division winner and 250.00 to the high point score for the season. Then we play it off H2H.

3 times I was the #2 scorer for the week and happened to be matched up against the #1 scorer for the week. This is why strict H2H is not a good system, imo. It wasn't a case where I scored all my points in just a few weeks. And it's not like real football where my defense has a chance to stop my opponent.I like the idea I read here where you get 1 W or L for H2H and then another W or L based on whether or not you beat the league average points for the week. There has to be a way of mitigating the luck factor of who you are matched up against on a given week.ETA: BTW, I did make the playoffs and beat the #1 seed by 2.3 pts by being the high scorer for the week. He was the #2 scorer for the week and the closest team to us was 30 points back. Seems like I've been involved in these games all year. Nice to be on the good side for a change.

 

[Da Guru]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Sorry, I like the bad beats. I like that every year teams miss the playoffs by mere points, and had a rough season that felt like they played the high scorer every year. I love the eliminated teams that would have gone off in the playoffs, there is a special joy in text-messaging the owner eliminated by tiebreakers whose team is going bonkers. I like the 3 or 4 seed that rides Jerome Harrison to a title.

Cinderella stories are always the best sports stories. And one thing they always have in common is that they play well down the stretch. Watching the games this weekend, for all the playoff teams, was fantastic, and I am not going to give up the feeling I had watching two games simultaneously last night, freaking out as Jacoby Jones beat me in the final minutes of regulation (vs. Sig Bloom!) just so someone feels like everything is FAIR.

Did you lose this week? Well, bummer. Miss out on a few points that might have put you over the top? Too bad. Bear in mind: If you go over every player on your opponents team, he was a few inches here or there away from scoring more points himself.

Some of you might be better off coaching pee-wee soccer, and handing out trophy's to everyone.

Alot of what you say makes sense in the real game of football where you can actually stop the other team from scoring. I'm not sure about you, but when I draft a team, I'm drafting the guys that I think will score the most points (insane I know, stay with me here)... So why wouldn't you reward the total point champ? I'll never understand the guys that think a guy that has dominated the league all season and goes 13-0 with 400 more points than anyone but loses by one point 178-177 in the first round of the playoffs should get nothing for his season except, "wow that's tough luck"... more like pure luck, no thanks.

Also, your final statement makes no sense at all in the context of this argument since we are arguing FOR rewarding the best team and not the less talented ones that get lucky. Thanks for making that point for me though.

I have no problem giving something to the best team from the reg. season. Or total points winner, how ever anyone decides who is the most deserving. But what I am hearing from people in here is that the best regular season team should win the most money.Any payout that doesn't come down to two teams on week 16, playing for the brass ring, is a system I will never play.

My money leagues, total points leader after 13 weeks gets $200, and top four playoff winners get something. But the guy that actually wins in the playoffs makes the most money. You know, like in every other competition on the planet.

And my final statement was simply an observation on the trend of our sports world now, where everyone is worried about fairness, and no one wants anyone to go home unhappy. If that 'made your point' for you......well, you're welcome. Think it went right over your head, but if it makes you happy, go with it.

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

 

[texasheat]

And my final statement was simply an observation on the trend of our sports world now, where everyone is worried about fairness, and no one wants anyone to go home unhappy. If that 'made your point' for you......well, you're welcome. Think it went right over your head, but if it makes you happy, go with it.

Nope I got it... thanks for your reply.

 

[plyka]

Our dynasty league 6th seed, which gets in on points scored as a wild card, was 4-9. He was the 4th highest scoring team. He just won his wild card round match up.

That's an awesome concept actually. I'm in 2 money leagues, the first i had the highest point total out of anyone in the league and it wasn't really close and still didn't make the playoffs (we have 6 teams out of 12 make the playoffs, top 2 first round bye). So i love the idea that the last playoff spot is reserved for the highest point total guy not in the playoffs. In my other league I was lucky to be in a first round bye or else i would have been destroyed this week. I think giving the top 2 teams a bye "rewards" the regular season enough.

 

[massraider]

Have fun griping and listening to griping every year that the best team in your league does not win!

1. Don't pretend like it's every league that whines like this.2. Avoiding griping is a dumb reason to change rules.

Again, its the best of both worlds with points and playoffs.

Heck, I agree with that. But the #1 seed getting more than the title winner? That's madness to me.

 

[southeastjerome]

Have fun griping and listening to griping every year that the best team in your league does not win!

1. Don't pretend like it's every league that whines like this.2. Avoiding griping is a dumb reason to change rules.

Again, its the best of both worlds with points and playoffs.

Heck, I agree with that. But the #1 seed getting more than the title winner? That's madness to me.

For what it's worth, our overall champ runs through the end of the season. So the overall champ is not crowned yet.

 

[texasheat]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

 

[roadkill1292]

Why dont you just pay out some of your pot to the regular season champion? All my leagues do that and we're pretty content.

Doesn't everybody do this? My league splits the pot evenly between regular season winners and playoff winners. Maybe I should ask instead, why wouldn't you do this?

I agree, there has to be a good payout for the overall points champ, because from beginning to end, they put up the most points and are probably the most deserving. There also should be a good payout for the playoff champ to make it interesting and exciting for those not in the overall points race. The only downside to a 50/50 split is how do you crown your "league champ" if there are two even money winners?

Well, there's the guy who won the Super Bowl and then there's everybody else.

 

[Da Guru]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

 

[wadegarrett]

Man I'm gonna miss fantasy football in a couple weeks.

Playoffs down?

 

[texasheat]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

wow keep tossing those softballs....1. you want a 6th place team rewarded because it scores 200 in week 15?

2. it would likely take more than one "lucky' week 3 to be the overall point leader in week 15.

No whining here, just trying to understand where some of you are coming from.

agree to disagree, but your points so far haven't made much sense.

 

[CrossEyed]

Man I'm gonna miss fantasy football in a couple weeks.

Playoffs down?

In Cleveland? Yes...yes they are.

 

[Da Guru]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

wow keep tossing those softballs....1. you want a 6th place team rewarded because it scores 200 in week 15?

2. it would likely take more than one "lucky' week 3 to be the overall point leader in week 15.

No whining here, just trying to understand where some of you are coming from.

agree to disagree, but your points so far haven't made much sense.

As I stated earlier. I lost a game with my best team and won a game with my worst team. Take the good with the bad.

 

[meeka]

I love how my main league runs. It is a 12 team league with 3 divisions. Top 2 division winner get a bye in week 14. The other 4 teams are the 3rd division winner, the next 2 teams based on record, and the remaining team with the highest point total. The league entry fee pays out the playoff winners. The top 3 teams in points for the year get paid out of the FAAB money and Burn money.

You get rewarded for scoring in the top 3 for total points for the year, and you get a first round bye for having a great regular season record.

We also play double headers each week. Tons of fun.

 

[Summer Wheat]

There will always be things that don't seem fair.I play in a H2H league where I was the highest scoring team. In fact, only 1 team was within 100 points of me. But thanks to some horrendous timing I finished 6-7. Did I deserve a playoff spot?

No. High points are usually the result of a certain player/players having a unreal game on the same week. Like D-Mac on Sunday..well before Sunday D-Mac had not done squat in three straight games . Why reward total points because he goes off one game and the FF team has a huge week. Early this year I won game 184-88. Why should I be able to bank those points because 3-4 guys on my team went off the same week? A good week in our 14 team league is around 100 points.In my 14 team league we give 250.00 to each division winner and 250.00 to the high point score for the season. Then we play it off H2H.

3 times I was the #2 scorer for the week and happened to be matched up against the #1 scorer for the week. This is why strict H2H is not a good system, imo. It wasn't a case where I scored all my points in just a few weeks. And it's not like real football where my defense has a chance to stop my opponent.I like the idea I read here where you get 1 W or L for H2H and then another W or L based on whether or not you beat the league average points for the week. There has to be a way of mitigating the luck factor of who you are matched up against on a given week.ETA: BTW, I did make the playoffs and beat the #1 seed by 2.3 pts by being the high scorer for the week. He was the #2 scorer for the week and the closest team to us was 30 points back. Seems like I've been involved in these games all year. Nice to be on the good side for a change.

How about this system. Using point totals. Say you are in a 12 team league. You get two points for a win, then you get one point for every team in the league that you beat that given week. So if you are the second highest scoring team you would still accrue points. That way the better/higher scoring teams will make the playoffs.

 

[meeka]

There will always be things that don't seem fair.I play in a H2H league where I was the highest scoring team. In fact, only 1 team was within 100 points of me. But thanks to some horrendous timing I finished 6-7. Did I deserve a playoff spot?

No. High points are usually the result of a certain player/players having a unreal game on the same week. Like D-Mac on Sunday..well before Sunday D-Mac had not done squat in three straight games . Why reward total points because he goes off one game and the FF team has a huge week. Early this year I won game 184-88. Why should I be able to bank those points because 3-4 guys on my team went off the same week? A good week in our 14 team league is around 100 points.In my 14 team league we give 250.00 to each division winner and 250.00 to the high point score for the season. Then we play it off H2H.

3 times I was the #2 scorer for the week and happened to be matched up against the #1 scorer for the week. This is why strict H2H is not a good system, imo. It wasn't a case where I scored all my points in just a few weeks. And it's not like real football where my defense has a chance to stop my opponent.I like the idea I read here where you get 1 W or L for H2H and then another W or L based on whether or not you beat the league average points for the week. There has to be a way of mitigating the luck factor of who you are matched up against on a given week.ETA: BTW, I did make the playoffs and beat the #1 seed by 2.3 pts by being the high scorer for the week. He was the #2 scorer for the week and the closest team to us was 30 points back. Seems like I've been involved in these games all year. Nice to be on the good side for a change.

How about this system. Using point totals. Say you are in a 12 team league. You get two points for a win, then you get one point for every team in the league that you beat that given week. So if you are the second highest scoring team you would still accrue points. That way the better/higher scoring teams will make the playoffs.

I played in a league close to this. 12 team league. 2 points for a win. Then the top 4 scoring teams got 2 points and the next 4 got 1 point. Teams were ranked my points not W/L record.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Slightly less than half of our money is paid out during the season. 1st/2nd place weekly high point winners ($100/$40) and $250 to the regular season league champ.

 

[CrossEyed]

I played in a league close to this. 12 team league. 2 points for a win. Then the top 4 scoring teams got 2 points and the next 4 got 1 point. Teams were ranked my points not W/L record.

I like this. Unfortunately our commish is a bit of a dictator and doesn't seem to receive new ideas all that well.I think I may need to start my own league.

 

[MIMN]

These threads are funny. The answer is the same as, should the toilet paper roll over or under? It depends on what makes you happy.

I like having some reward for results during the regular season. If that is a weekly high-score or a race for most points or whatever. I prefer division winners getting a little taste. If you don't want to, that is fine as well.

Nothing sparks a controversy in the SP like a payout debate. Almost as heated as the proper way to run waivers...

 

[footballnerd]

records dont mean crap. who cares if you're top 4 teams have a better record than the #5 and #6 seeds, I'm pretty sure the total points are not too far off. Total points shows who are deserving of making it into the playoffs. hell, I'm pretty sure some league the highest point total team could have the 5th best record depending on points against. records dont mean crap.

award a prize for highest points total and enjoy the fun of head to head drama. all is happy.

 

[Dr. Awesome]

Total points? Seriously? Like rotisserie baseball? There's a reason fantasy baseball dweebs changed their format for the most part. It's boring, and people are out of it in a few weeks.

What would have been better:

The Patriots getting handed the Super Bowl trophy the year they went 16-0, or making them actually face teams in the playoffs?

Sorry, I like the bad beats. I like that every year teams miss the playoffs by mere points, and had a rough season that felt like they played the high scorer every year. I love the eliminated teams that would have gone off in the playoffs, there is a special joy in text-messaging the owner eliminated by tiebreakers whose team is going bonkers. I like the 3 or 4 seed that rides Jerome Harrison to a title.

Cinderella stories are always the best sports stories. And one thing they always have in common is that they play well down the stretch. Watching the games this weekend, for all the playoff teams, was fantastic, and I am not going to give up the feeling I had watching two games simultaneously last night, freaking out as Jacoby Jones beat me in the final minutes of regulation (vs. Sig Bloom!) just so someone feels like everything is FAIR.

Did you lose this week? Well, bummer. Miss out on a few points that might have put you over the top? Too bad. Bear in mind: If you go over every player on your opponents team, he was a few inches here or there away from scoring more points himself.

Some of you might be better off coaching pee-wee soccer, and handing out trophy's to everyone.

Great posting. I had when bad beats happen to me but I love the fact I have a chance to win and deal some bad beats if my team squeaks into the playoffs. It's part of the fun. Last year I lost out on a few hundred bucks because my opponent had some player blow up...my team had steamrolled everyone all year and would have won the entire playoffs, easily. But that ONE week (first week of the playoffs) I lost to the lone team that outscored mine. It sucks but it really is part of the fun.

 

[Macdaddy_2004]

Life's not fair, why should fantasy football be fair?So your team had a bad week, you should have drafted a little better for the playoffs.

 

[comfortably numb]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

wow keep tossing those softballs....1. you want a 6th place team rewarded because it scores 200 in week 15?

2. it would likely take more than one "lucky' week 3 to be the overall point leader in week 15.

No whining here, just trying to understand where some of you are coming from.

agree to disagree, but your points so far haven't made much sense.

It is on preference, but take college basketball.you can take a 17-16 Sienna who wins their crappy division knock out a #2 seed who lost 3 games in the best conference in the nation.

Luck and/or mathups are a part of everyday sports.

But at the end of the day, this is fantasy, and we can decide whatever fantasy suits our preferences.

 

[blackbird001]

So with all the of the different formats and systems covered in this thread ad nauseum, why don't you just compete in a league you think is fair? There is no excuse for whining, vote with your entry fee.

 

[Northbound Train]

I dont understand the complaint. 6 to the playoffs with division winners getting a bye. Pay out to the top 4 teams. Win the division at least get your money back.

Pretty much exactly what we do.12 team league with 3 divisions.Top two seeds get a bye...all division winners win league entry fee back.Playoffs start in week 14.At MFL we have a week 3 DH so we ensure we play all teams outside division once and division opponents twice (week 1-3 + 11-13)At CBS (because they don't allow for one week DH) we miss out on playing one team outside our division once.

 

[CrossEyed]

So with all the of the different formats and systems covered in this thread ad nauseum, why don't you just compete in a league you think is fair? There is no excuse for whining, vote with your entry fee.

Because we don't know what's most fair until after we see if we win or lose!!

 

[Cenobite]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

:whoosh:

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

wow keep tossing those softballs....1. you want a 6th place team rewarded because it scores 200 in week 15?

2. it would likely take more than one "lucky' week 3 to be the overall point leader in week 15.

No whining here, just trying to understand where some of you are coming from.

agree to disagree, but your points so far haven't made much sense.

I with you. I enjoy H2H but I think the best team is the team that had the most overall points. I'm in a 14 team league. 1-3 get prize money. The overall point leader is considered the champ while the SB winner is considered the luckiest.

 

[display name]

1) I like a league that lets half the teams into the playoffs. It keeps owners interested deeper into the season. It provides an opportunity for a team that comes on strong later in the season to still contend for a championship.

2) Playoffs are everything. Who cares how good the team does in the regular season. The nice thing about a 6 team playoff format with 2 byes is that whatever teams were strongest in the regular season are going to need to back it up when it counts. Nothing is earned until the playoffs come. For me, the regular season stops mattering once the playoffs arrive. The regular season only exists to determine the playoff teams and their seeds.

3) A lot of leagues have byes. If you had a bye this week and also had any number of the studs who disappointed this week, then that is your reward for having a great regular season. If you didn't manage the bye, then you miss out on that reward. That is enough.

4) Cumulative playoff points to determine who the champion is just makes the playoffs anti-climactic. While it introduces the most luck, head to head also makes for the most fun format, in my opinion. Fantasy football is for fun, and fun only. I don't do it for any other reason. It just isn't fun to switch to a total points system for the playoffs just to protect teams from bad beats or in the interest of fairness. This isn't about being as fair as possible. I like when the game is unfair. And I want my team to have a chance to win its head to head matchup and get the reward that goes along with that. That is just my opinion.

 

[footballnerd]

The Patriots were the best team in the NFL..undefeated, highest scoring. Lost to the lowly NY Giants in the SuperBowl. That is why you play the game.

real football <> fantasy football

You see, in real football both teams have the opportunity to stop the other from scoring.

Upsets happen. That is why you play the game. You want a team to be rewarded because it scored 200 in week 3?

Lots of whining going on in this thread.

wow keep tossing those softballs....1. you want a 6th place team rewarded because it scores 200 in week 15?

2. it would likely take more than one "lucky' week 3 to be the overall point leader in week 15.

No whining here, just trying to understand where some of you are coming from.

agree to disagree, but your points so far haven't made much sense.

I with you. I enjoy H2H but I think the best team is the team that had the most overall points. I'm in a 14 team league. 1-3 get prize money. The overall point leader is considered the champ while the SB winner is considered the luckiest.

Ya I guess if you the safe conservative type this would work. But the classic story of the chance for the underdog to rise from the bottom and win it all is what gets the blood boiling in this country. (and not no consolation prize either, gotta be the main pot). This is why the big money goes to the playoff winner, and 25% goes the the season high points. I'm high points winner in my league and I'm happy I got some cash wrapped up, but more excited about what I can do in the playoffs to take the main pot, no gripes about it.

 

[althouse]

In one of my leagues is a 12 team H2H with six in the playoffs. Our two time defending champ (not me) won as a 6 seed in 2008 and a 5 seed in 09. He just won his playoff game this week as the 6 seed again. I'm OK with it. I'm just glad I'm on the other side of the bracket this year.

My other league is a full season total points league with some weird twists. It's a 10 team keeper league. Total rosters are restricted to: 3QB (start 2), 5RB (start 3), 5WR (start 3), 2 PK (start 1), and 3 IDP (start 2). The real twist is that you can only play someone 3 weeks in a row, then they must sit a week. So you can't just trot Foster, Brady, or AJohnson out for 16 of the 17 weeks. Swapping players back and forth every 4th week between two teams is not allowed, so being active on waivers is important. What keeps everyone interested is that the top 3 guys are paid, and the bottom guy is on the hook for 250 wings at the year end party.

The weirdness doesn't end there. You are only allowed to keep a guy on your roster for a max of 3 years before he has to go back into the auction. Did I mention it's an auction league as well? $200 budget and you must keep 5 players from one year to the next (no more than 2 in the same position though). It's the most unique set of rules I've come across, but I've been in it for the last 11 years, and it's been around since the late 80s. There are rumblings of adding H2H in some way next year but I can't see how it would work. You're putting out your optimal line up each week and not necessarily your best.

 

[MIMN]

So with all the of the different formats and systems covered in this thread ad nauseum, why don't you just compete in a league you think is fair? There is no excuse for whining, vote with your entry fee.

Because we don't know what's most fair until after we see if we win or lose!!

(both posts)I have rules I don't like in every league. I play for the fun and because of the people. I have one where I have finished first or second every year in total points. I have never won it but it is the most fun of any leagues. I'm still waiting to see who beats me this year.

 

[rocketsauce]

OP here. Love all the discussion in here guys -- good stuff...even if every 7 good posts is offset with some negative junk.

It seems a few people weren't understanding my Playoff scoring setup. It isn't just cumulative points for the 4 playoff teams. The 4 teams are still seeded, and play 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, but instead of one week, they play a combined TWO weeks, with the most points emerging to the next round. No big deal, just wanted to clarify to the folks saying "Cumulative points for the playoffs is boring." I definitely agree that it is.

And for the record, I was the top scoring team in my league, the #1 seed, and defeated my opponent in both week 13 and 14 for a cumulative win of around 40. Theres no sour grapes here, just trying to generate some discussion and introduce some new concepts to people (And also hear of other peoples concept and ideas for their leagues payout structure and playoff structure.)

I think the best thing for my particular league might be to distribute some of the pot money to the Regular Season champion. Right now we pay out an approximately $2400 pot to the 4 Playoff teams (50%, 25%, 12%, 8%) and the Consolation Tourney winner (5%). Maybe scale all of those down a bit, and give the Regular Season champ 20% or so. Keeps a nice big reward for the playoffs, and rewards that Regular Season performance also.

Thanks for all the discussion SP.

 

[Chief]

hey sauce,

we split the pot 50-50 between total points and record.

our breakdown is very similar to yours 1st to 4th in both and in payout. We play all 17 games and with 3 to go, we still have eight teams in the running for record and 6 teams in the running for points. Works pretty well. Not sure there is any perfect system, but it works for us.

Division 1

W L T PCT GB Strk Div Wks PF Back PA

9 5 0 0.643 0 W2 5-3-0 2 1665.0 156.2 1560.6

7 7 0 0.500 2 L2 5-3-0 1 1638.1 183.1 1625.1

7 7 0 0.500 2 W1 4-4-0 1 1540.8 280.4 1418.6

6 8 0 0.429 3 L1 4-4-0 0 1597.6 223.6 1628.6

6 8 0 0.429 3 L1 4-4-0 2 1568.3 252.9 1723.6

3 11 0 0.214 6 W1 2-6-0 0 1315.4 505.8 1562.6

Division 2

W L T PCT GB Strk Div Wks PF Back PA

10 4 0 0.714 0 W1 5-3-0 5 1821.2 0.0 1425.7

10 4 0 0.714 0 L1 5-3-0 2 1678.8 142.4 1573.3

9 5 0 0.643 1 W2 5-3-0 0 1646.9 174.3 1540.4

9 5 0 0.643 1 W4 6-2-0 1 1733.2 88.0 1642.7

5 9 0 0.357 5 L2 2-6-0 0 1470.4 350.8 1710.7

3 11 0 0.214 7 L4 1-7-0 0 1355.6 465.6 1619.4

 

[KeeferMan]

The leagues I'm in have no playoffs. It is all regular season. One runs til the end of the regular season, and one runs all the way through the NFL playoffs. We do this because the best team throughout the year with the best record should win the league. They drafted the right people and made the right moves so they should win. We feel just because someone's players don't produce one day, it shouldn't reflect the final outcome in the week. I know my leagues are in the minority in doing this, it just seems to be the fairest way to make sure the best overall team wins. Also, it keeps everyone involved for the entire season.

Hopefully this isn't a stupid question, but if your league runs all the way through the NFL playoffs what happens to fantasy teams made up mostly of players whose true NFL teams don't make the playoffs?

 

[Sudoku_in_the_Bathtub]

Regular Season 1-13

Cumulative Playoff Weeks 14-16 with your starting playoff score being your Weekly Avg Score during regular season.

 

[Jayroo88]

The leagues I'm in have no playoffs. It is all regular season. One runs til the end of the regular season, and one runs all the way through the NFL playoffs. We do this because the best team throughout the year with the best record should win the league. They drafted the right people and made the right moves so they should win. We feel just because someone's players don't produce one day, it shouldn't reflect the final outcome in the week. I know my leagues are in the minority in doing this, it just seems to be the fairest way to make sure the best overall team wins. Also, it keeps everyone involved for the entire season.

Hopefully this isn't a stupid question, but if your league runs all the way through the NFL playoffs what happens to fantasy teams made up mostly of players whose true NFL teams don't make the playoffs?

Part of our strategy during our league's draft is drafting players whom you think will be on NFL teams that make the playoffs. It kind of adds another thing to think about during the draft making the league a little more interesting. We only are allowed one add/drop a week, so towards the end of the season, teams start dropping players on bad teams and adding players on good teams to make their teams strong for the NFL playoffs. Our waiver wire stops week 15 to prevent teams dropping people like Adrian Peterson for Brian Finneran without hurting themselves for the final three weeks of the regular season. Teams that don't have good NFL playoff teams usually just lose 3 or all 4 weeks of the playoffs. Every team just fields the best lineup they can during the NFL playoffs, it doesn't matter if they can't field a full lineup. It just adds a little something to consider when drafting and picking up players.

 

[oukurt]

Life's not fair, why should fantasy football be fair?So your team had a bad week, you should have drafted a little better for the playoffs.

I only had Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Drew Brees, Miles Austin, Hakeem Nicks, and Malcom Floyd to work with though. Fluke week and bubye after dominating all season. So I can sympathise with some of you guys that got bounced as well.I did find a couple of new leagues that has a 3 week playoff with total points determining the winner. Love this type of playoff format.