So I know there is another ff thread, but that is specifically about homeboy's league, and I'm looking more for opinions and experiences, although if anyone is interested in joining a league, I am looking for some more people.

I decided to do a league this year, and I'm gonna set it up via espn.com. I'm doing a custom league so I have control over a lot of the parameters, and am wondering what everyone finds to be the best configuration of certain things.

I'm thinking 10 teams, 5 in each division, top 2 per division make playoffs. Standard scoring as well. Draft will be reverse order, so first pick in one round gets last pick in next round and vice versa. Are there any special circumstances I should try to accommodate for, like restrictions on trading/free agent signings, sal cap, etc...

Also, I was thinking about doing the draft halfway through the preseason so that people could watch some of the players for a few weeks, but then have a few weeks to focus just on their players. See any problems with this?

Any suggestions for parameters, or if anyone would like to join let me know

Oh yea, what about payout structure, I was thinking of doing 50bucks, but might do 20 if more people would be intersted, should 1st get it all, or give 20%to 2nd and 80%to first?

6/13/2006 5:29:29 PM

do it like a poker tourney

top 3

3 gets their $ back

6/13/2006 5:30:10 PM

nah, i don't really think 3rd deserves anything, but I guess it would give the 2 losers of the playoffs something to play for

[Edited on June 13, 2006 at 5:32 PM. Reason : so maybe, yea I guess a sng payout would be easy, but I kind of wanted to make it more top heavy]

6/13/2006 5:31:39 PM

yea i mean i think the buy in as a prize for 3rd would be decent

then 3x the buy in for 2nd and 6x the buy in for 1st

(assuming there are 10)

if 20

then 5x the buy in for 2nd and 14x the buy in for 1st

6/13/2006 5:36:09 PM

I agree with titsR_neat, give 3rd their money back, then split the rest 80/20 between first and second. Having that third place be worth something really adds to the end of the year, especially if someone runs away with the league, although that is rare in FF.


I also suggest making the scoring system as close to "real football" logic as possible, if that makes sense... what I mean is, dont artificially inflate something just because its rare... rare shouldnt make it worth more. I have heard of leagues that had TD worth 7 points, but a blocked extra point worth something stupid like 5 points. A blocked XP is worth 1 point in football, so make it worth 1 in FF... things like that.

ps - I have the worlds greatest scoring system, finely tuned over about 8-9 years if you want to borrow it

6/13/2006 5:52:07 PM

yea, I'd like to hear it, what is it?

6/13/2006 11:08:22 PM

Roster Positions: QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, W/T, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN

Like I said, based real football for the most part (2 RB is a bit of a stretch but still reasonable, tailback and fullback haha). Hate shit like 2 QBs, 6 WRs, 3 Defenses etc.



Stat Categories:

Passing Attempts (-.25)
Completions (.50)
Passing Yards (50 yards per point)
Passing Touchdowns (6)
Interceptions (-3)
Sacks (-1)
Rushing Attempts (.25)
Rushing Yards (20 yards per point)
Rushing Touchdowns (6)
Receptions (1)
Reception Yards (20 yards per point)
Reception Touchdowns (6)
Return Yards (20 yards per point)
Return Touchdowns (6)
Fumbles Lost (-3)
Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3)
Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3)
Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3)
Field Goals 40-49 Yards (4)
Field Goals 50+ Yards (5)
Field Goals Missed 0-19 Yards (-3)
Field Goals Missed 20-29 Yards (0)
Field Goals Missed 30-39 Yards (0)
Field Goals Missed 40-49 Yards (0)
Field Goals Missed 50+ Yards (0)
Point After Attempt Made (1)
Point After Attempt Missed (-6)
Sack (2)
Interception (3)
Fumble Recovery (3)
Touchdown (6)
Safety (3)
Block Kick (2)
Points Allowed 0 points (50)
Points Allowed 1-6 points (30)
Points Allowed 7-13 points (20)
Points Allowed 14-20 points (10)
Points Allowed 21-27 points (0)
Points Allowed 28-34 points (-5)
Points Allowed 35+ points (-30)

[Edited on June 13, 2006 at 11:24 PM. Reason : d]

6/13/2006 11:22:48 PM

cool, thanks, a few questions, what is W/T and BN?

also, how do you track who fumbles and all that, do it manually?

also -6 for a missed pat seems a little steep (not really on par with real football anyway)

6/13/2006 11:32:38 PM

yeah, we threw that in mainly because kickers just dont have that many stat categories, so needed something to make them exciting.

W/T is a position where it can be a WR or a TE, so like in real football, teams can use 3 wideouts or 2 with a TE etc. BN is bench.


Whatever site you are using should keep track of fumbles for you

6/13/2006 11:36:36 PM

cool thanks for the input jayb, so anyone interested in joining, i'm still flexible on the buy-in, although 20 will be the min, and I'd prefer something slightly more interesting

6/13/2006 11:43:35 PM

join ours... established, everyone pays attention... $50

6/13/2006 11:44:11 PM

^see I would man, but for one, I think a keeper/dynasty league is a really cool idea if it's the same people every year, but I'd feel a little shafted joining late, eventhough I realize after the first year it wouldn't make much difference.

Also, the live draft would be a problem bc im moving to nyc in 3 weeks so most of my stuff is gonna have to be via the interweb

When are you guys doing the draft anyway?

6/13/2006 11:45:39 PM

oh... mid to late august

6/13/2006 11:47:20 PM

I mean the keeper thing isn't such a big deal, but could I do most of the stuff besides the draft online? Also, does each owner keep 2 or get rid of 2?

6/13/2006 11:50:49 PM

yeah, and each one keeps 2, so like I said before, there will be tons of top tier players out there

6/13/2006 11:52:28 PM

oh ok, I thought at first that each person only got rid of 2

also what would be a typical score for a week?

[Edited on June 13, 2006 at 11:54 PM. Reason : dsa]

6/13/2006 11:53:44 PM

anything over 100 was pretty good. but I would say the scores typically range from 70-140

6/13/2006 11:59:03 PM

no one wants to play with me, come on guys, since this is my first time how good could I be?

6/15/2006 12:54:09 AM

i'll be starting the VIVA LA BAGEL! league soon

join up, we run shit

6/15/2006 12:57:25 AM

hmmm, well how about you all join my league?

actually how much do you play for? how many people?

[Edited on June 15, 2006 at 12:58 AM. Reason : ldjs;s]

6/15/2006 12:57:48 AM

it was free last year, probably $20 or so this year

i'm gonna join your league because you don't know what W/T and BN are

no offense

6/15/2006 12:59:32 AM

haha, none taken, like I said I've never done it before, but trust me when I do something I usually go all out, just bc I'm a n00b right now doesn't mean I'm going to be when the time comes to play, but you should definetly join my league! Like I said, I want to get 10 people together

6/15/2006 1:06:59 AM

would get more than that if you can. 16 would be the max, 12-16 is a good league

6/15/2006 1:15:20 AM

really? bc i thought 2, 5 man divisions with top 2 going to playoffs sounded pretty straight, you think the more the better? I'd like people in the same division to play eachother more than once

I could see 12 being good, 3, 4 more divisions, with one wildcard going to playoffs with division winners I guess?

[Edited on June 15, 2006 at 1:38 AM. Reason : dkls]

6/15/2006 1:37:19 AM

id join it

6/15/2006 4:29:06 AM

You really need 12 IMO to have a good league. And with that, it'd probably be best if you had 2 divisions, with 2 WC's in each division. 2 WC's meet in the opening round, with the winner meeting a divisional champ (who has a bye). You could do something similar with 4 Division winners & 2 WC's though. IMO it's just better to give some incentive to try to finish as a divisional winner, so that you get a bye in the playoffs.

If you go 14-16, you'll probably need to trim your starting lineup & bench, so that there is actually enough decent players to go around.

I may be down for this if you get enough people though.

6/15/2006 10:17:31 AM

I've actually found 10-team leagues to be the most fun. 12-team leagues, even with only 6 bench spots, makes position-hording VERY possible (guys would have 2 extra starting QBs on the bench, and refuse every single trade for one of them.)

6/15/2006 6:00:47 PM

i like 16, takes the most "skill", really have to dig deep... and I HATE playoffs, dumb as shit

6/15/2006 9:53:26 PM

ok, well I hope you guys really want to join, bc we are doing it BIG! I am down for 12 man league with wc's if you want, nothing is set in stone yet.

I'm using espn.com custom setup so whatever twists spark interest can be arranged, I'm thinking of doing the scoring the same way that jayb suggested, expect with missed pats worth -3 instead of -6


^wait, what do you mean? how can you not have playoffs?

[Edited on June 16, 2006 at 2:44 AM. Reason : sfd]

6/16/2006 2:44:07 AM

steve smith, philip rivers, mario williams

6/16/2006 2:45:37 AM

Quote :

"how can you not have playoffs?"

you just play heads-up through the end of the season

the team with the best record/most points/whatever scoring system you use wins

6/16/2006 3:06:07 AM

^how could that possibly be better than playoffs?

6/16/2006 3:22:29 AM

because you can have a great season and get fucked by one bad week in the playoffs

6/16/2006 3:30:10 AM

^sort of sounds like real football......go figure.

[Edited on June 16, 2006 at 8:48 AM. Reason : see last year's Colts]

6/16/2006 8:48:20 AM

Quote :

"even with only 6 bench spots, makes position-hording VERY possible (guys would have 2 extra starting QBs on the bench, and refuse every single trade for one of them.)"

This is only the case though if you have way too many bench spots. With a 12 team league, everything works well if you limit the bench to 3 spots & 1 DL. Still leave something on the WW. Personally I don't like having 6 bench spots even in a 10 team league. With a 14-16 league, you probably have to limit the bench to 2 spots & 1 DL. In a big league, you'd probably need to take away the mandatory 2 starting RB's as well. (Going with 1RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1 Flex as the skill positions)

6/16/2006 10:35:03 AM