Let me amend that comment.

I don't like finishing a season with fewer teams than we started with either.

But how, in this game, could or would that happen?

Maybe I should've said COMPLETE/ACTIVE teams then. :p

Well, sure, it's a better game when everyone is playing and competitive..

As far as "inclusive" or "exclusive" goes, I'm not sure how that applies.

But we talked about this once before, I remember:

How the Salary Cap game would be better if it were a "zero sum" game - if the positive or negative totals for pitchers in a particular game equalled those of the hitters.

But that would've meant charging pitchers for total bases, and charging hitters for outs and strikeouts.

And doing that, the pitchers would have wound up scoring, I dunno, maybe 50% or more of the points.

Any game in which a pitcher has a positive total would have meant a negative total for all the hitter in that game.

And even taking off the 5 points for the win (in ESPN) and charging the pitchers for wach TB allowed, I think there would have still been a positive total for all pitchers and a negative one for all hitters.

True, that would've been mitigated somewhat by the fact that we generally use the best hitters, but still....

yep that's me.. watch out!!

now, as much as my humble fantasy sports history can lead you guys to think the exact opposite, I guarantee I'll be playing throughout the whole season. I'm getting more excited about baseball by the day, and the MLB schedule will work for me. I always fucked up in fantasy basketball because every january I went out to summer vacation and didn't see a computer for 15-20 days.

about Pujols, just let me draft him then, since I won't quit

Plaw asked me to chime in about a week ago, and now I finally have the time to, so here goes my reponse to some of the recent posts. Now keep in mind, I won't be playing in this fantasy league, because without any monetary reward, I don't see the point in all the work and research required to participate, especially if I'm forced to make it my number one priority in life. So, again, this is your league and whatever you guys decide is up to you. I am not attacking anyone, I was simply asked for input so I'm providing it.

As far as people quitting is concerned, there is a big difference between fantasy leagues with head to head and total points. In head to head it is a gigantic pain in the ass because it can create imbalance in the schedule and unfairly affect playoff races. This has never happened in any of our leagues, but if a guy quit a head to head league, I'd be pissed. If a guy quit a points league, then I would be happy because it increases your odds of winning the pot. Fantasy sports is just another form of gambling. If you were playing poker and some guy put his money in the pot before the flop, then incorrectly folded his hand when he could have checked and stayed in, I know I would be happy. That is basically what a person does when they quit a fantasy league. Their money is already in, so if they drop out, your pot odds increase.

As far as somebody drafting Pujols and then quitting without using him the whole year goes, here's my take on the situation. (BTW, if you hate analogies, you might as well skip everything I ever write because I am obsessed with them. Actually, if you enjoy reading anything intelligent, you might want to skip this paragraph altogether. ) I'll put this in a way that I know some of you will appreciate after having read your posts the past year or so. Let's just pretend that I am sticking it in Jessica Alba's ass everynight. DMC, and I pick on him since I know he'll probably read this and who he would prefer to stick in to, is doing likewise with Trish. Then, after about a month, I decide I've had enough and end the relationship. Will my lack of pleasure in any way reduce DMC's? Absolutely not. It is the same way with a non head to head fantasy league. If somebody drafts Pujols and doesn't take advantage, they're only hurting themselves. You would still have Arod and reap the benefits every night, just as DMC would with Trish. The only thing that matters is how many points you accumulate.

If people quitting is that big a concern, just make the league private. I understand that the league is more fun when there are more teams, but if by the end of the year you're just going to have a limited number of teams active anyways, why not just limit the league to those owners who you know will participate all year. Plaw's PM made it sound like you guys were looking for more people to join the league, but after reading the past couple pages, maybe it would be best to look for less people than in the past. If anything, I think having too many people in a league is more detrimental than beneficial. When a league has a draft, as this one does, it is nice to have a larger number of people in order to dilute the talent pool, which makes the game more about skill rather than luck. Fantasy baseball especially is not a whole lot of fun or very challenging when everyone has a team of stars. At the same time, having inexperienced, incompetent owners stay active is a lot worse than having them drop out. At least when they drop out, their team is frozen, the league is rid of them, and they have no effect on the outcome. If they stay active, they can actually damage the league through lobsided trades, transactions, etc. I'm assuming this league would have veto powers for the commish, but IMO, a trade has to be blatantly one sided for a veto. If somebody really thinks this player is going to turn out better than another player for the remainder of the season, it's his/her team and he/she should be allowed to take that chance. An owner who isn't very good could theoretically fall behind early, start to make trades which aren't horribly lobsided, but in which his trade partners consistently get the best of the deal. Assuming you aren't one of the owners who made a trade with the guy, that owner just did a lot more damage to your team and your league than the guy who says, "Fuck it, I'm out." and bolts in the middle of May.

And Plaw, you are crazy if you plan on taking over abandoned teams. That seems like a lot of work to run a team for no real reason at all. Is anyone really going to take more pride in the fact that they beat 7 regular teams and 3 league controlled teams compared to simply beating 7 teams? If that is going to get somebody down off the ledge, then perhaps it's a good idea, but otherwise it seems like a lot of work for nothing.

Again, I hope I didn't offend anyone with my opinions. Good luck to you all and have a great season. Good god, I'm starting to turn into a windbad like somebody else I know. :p

Sorry, but that's the exact point where I stopped reading your post. :p

Ok thanks, Plaw.

I really haven't played this type of game before, but I'll do my best with this one. The draft time works for me too, BTW.

Sorry, but that's the exact point where I stopped reading your post. :p [/b][/quote]Well, I certainly understand your reasoning. If I were in your shoes, I would probably have the same attitude. But the same reasoning for ignoring my post is the same reason people drop out of the fantasy sports leagues on the board; both are essentially meaningless, so why bother. :p

The idea of the commissioner taking over the management of abandoned teams was in response to JG's initial faulty reasoning and my initial faulty agreement with him (before we realized that we were both faulty), so that's a mott point anyway.

You're right about the reasoning for wanting as many players as possible:

To dilute the talent pool so that everyone doesn't have a 25-man all-star team, which wouldn't be as interesting as it is when you have to dive a bit deeper into the pool for players.As fae as playing for money goes, well, i see your point, of course, and i would never, say, play poker, even with friends, "just for fun."

But for some reason I find this to be different.

Maybe because it's more like a hobby - something you can return to at anytime, like a stamp collection or something, whenever the spirit moves you.

Sure, being a gambler I'd love to play for money, buy simply playing this here for glory and bragging rights is good enough for me, and apparently for others as well. Some folks even play in public leagues, with strangers no less, with whom bragging rights mean nothing.

Anyway, JB, the whole issue of doormant teams and people dropping out had been pretty much resolved before your post.

When I PMed you, which was prior to that discussion (which only really took place last night), it was to invite you to play, and also, since I know you're an experienced player, to solicit your comments more on the league configuration and scoring system than anything else.

Apparently you didn't go that far back in your reading the thread. :p

If you change your mind and decide to play, we'll probably have a cutoff date for joining around March 13th or so, a week before the draft.

Perhaps, I misinterpreted your discussion then, and for that I apologize. After reading the recent posts, it still seemed like people were going to be scorned for a lack of 100% participation in this league. Personally, I wouldn't get pissed about people not participating in a non head to head that ws just for fun and bragging right, so when I heard other people saying this, I assumed the league wouldn't just be for fun. Evidently, that wasn't going to be the case, but I didn't read/interpret the posts on this most recent page of the thread as they were intended to be read.

I should amend my post also. I don't see the point in playing in a fantasy sports league without monetary reward unless it is for fun. I also do leagues for fun, mostly because I use the drafts as quasi-mock drafts for our real money league, but also because it gets old following the same players all summer long. As I said in the PM, I was planning on joining the league today, but before I responded to your PM, I checked the recent posts from last night to catch up. After reading them, it didn't really sound like you guys wanted people who were playing for fun or bragging rights, but people who were willing to make an absolute commitment. I can't really give that commitment that I will be active 100% of the time. Just like last year when I made the decision to accept a job offer coming out of college rather than hold true to my commitment to the league in the salary cap game, there might be one or two or twenty things in my life that take precedence over a baseball league I do for fun. I just want to make that clear to everyone, so there isn't any hostility if I do join, then disappear for several weeks. The posts prior to my initial post didn't make it sound that way. If I was mistaken in interpreting these posts, then I would be interested in participating.

Sorry, but that's the exact point where I stopped reading your post. :p [/b][/quote]Don't tell me you missed the part about Jessica Alba's ass...

No way! THAT part caught my eye immediately!

OMG - I hate February. Football is over and baseball is not on every night just yet.

This thread bites. Too wordy and so little time! So tell me, are y'all playing ESPN or just yahoo or both?

Reason I am asking is I always play with the real life locals and I'm trying to figure out where I want to play. We always play the ESPN game - not sure that I have played yahoo - except in football.

I side with Jimmy Buffer - bigger incentive when there is some cash, bling or side bets involved.

Let me know what baseball game(s) are being played.

btw - I won my Survivor pool this football season - roughly $1600. I think in Week 14. Yay me.

I also placed 1st in Fantasy. Here's a screen shot. Yay me and a couple hundred smackers $$ to me!
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/353005

I'm not allowed to view your screen shot cause I'm not in the league.

Congrats to the Buffster for being on top of all those guys. As Sicilian Babe's daughter says, "Chicks rule and boys drool".

I'm pretty sure we're playing both ESPN and Yahoo here. We'll probably do the Salary Cap game too. Is this the ESPN game here? Listen to me talking, someone who has no idea what Uber points are. There's so many darn games going on I can't keep track. Next I'll expect to see a thread on cock fighting. Wait, there is one in The General Section isn't there?

But I'm sure if the Buffster told these lads what game you'll be interest in playing they'll be all too happy to set it up.

Fantasy Cock Fighting?

OMG - so many jokes, so little time.

But can you imagine the smack talk that would come of that game?

Oh, the "My cock is harder and better then your cock" remarks are boundless. Grab a margarita and enjoy the view I say.

And that is just talk from the girls ...can you imagine the guy talk?



Surely, Fantasy Cock Fighting has not gone mainstream yet.

Thankfully.

The guys know they miss the girl talk. They're probably doing some shuddering of their own.

Hey, Geoff, Uber king. See if you can go somewhere and hook us up with a good cock fight.

I thought this was the Ladies Thread for a second.

I found some human cock fighting on a Google search, but it ended up just being about "ultimate fighting"

Considering where that guy's head on the right is it just might be a cock involved.

Yes, Buffy, we'll be playing the Salary Cap game (which is the ESPN game, Crabby) as well as the Yahoo game.

And like you, I would love to play for something more than simply bragging rights and glory, but I don't think any one else here does.

Strangely enough, though, being the gambler that I am, I'm content to play these games without the additional incentive.

Of course, if you wanted to play and make a little side bet with me, naturally I'd be happy to.

As far as the Yahoo games goes, what format do you play with your friends?

Head-to-Head or Roto, I'd imagine, huh?

The Yahoo baseball game we're gonna play sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.

--Live draft

--Draft a full major league roster: 8 position players, 6 hitters on your bench, 6 starting pitchers, and 5 relievers

--Points only, with a scoring system that is very similar to the ESPN Salary Cap Game

--162 game maximum at each position, including starting pitcher, so there will be days when you don't field a complete team and you may want to decide who to play among your hitters based on match-ups vs. specific pitchers, and how to distribute your 162 starting pitcher starts among 6 starters based on match-ups, parks, etc.

--Those are the basics, pretty much. The rest of the rules more or less follow the rules we used in Yahoo Football.

Get in.

I have never played yahoo baseball. We locals play the espn game too. We used to play this sandbox league on mlb I think but I havent done that for a few years.

When is the draft day?

Im still thinking about it. Lately I have been hiatus-prone if you haven't noticed and I also have a number of vacations scheduled. Gimme the date of the draft. I will check out the yahoo site if I can. Will have to reasearch that.

As for bets....I believe I still owe you two. Dinners that is. I never welsh - geography is a big factor here. Surely that one poor showing you did in football that one year would cancel out at least one of those dinners.

Ah, I'll mail you some coupons!

Draft is Monday, March 20, at 9:30 our time, 7:30 your time.

The draft is Monday, March 20th, 9:30 PM Eastern.

To get onto the site, you have to join the league first.

Why don't you, and then if you decide not to play after looking it over, you can remove yourself from the league, as long as you do so before the draft.

If you do have a look, BTW, I should mention that the Yahoo rankings of theplayers are meaningless for our purposes, as they're based on some secret formul of theirs designed for Roto and HTH games.

But if you click on the link for "Players" and then filter them by their 2005 stats, you'll get the soring total for each player for last year based on the scoring system we'll be using this year.

Hah! I just got a flashback of Macauly Culking in Home Alone. Wait. I've got a coupon for that.

If you have trouble deciding which coupons to send bug some of your friends with babies if they have any baby wipe coupons. The pic Bad Daddy posted of plawrence receiving his shipment is old, so I'm sure he's out of supplies by now.

I can't eat baby wipes.

I spoke to SC, who has graciously agreed to pick the names out of a hat to pre-detrmine our draft order.

The draft is Monday, March 20th, so I'm figuring we'll make the deadline for entering Tuesday, March 14th, and he can determine the draft order and post it on Wednesday, March 15th.

That gives everyone five days and includes a weekend to work on it.

I'd say we should do it sooner, but I'd rather keep the game open for new entrants as long as possible.

Plaw, I must admit I haven't read the entire thread yet, but I don't have time and wanted to ask 2 questions.

1) What are the limits for relief pitchers
2) If a starting picther comes in for a 3 pitch save for some odd reason, that counts as a game?

1) Limits like what? Unless I'm misunderstanding your question, there aren't any.

Just like in real baseball, there are no limits to how often a manager can use a particular RP, or his relief "staff" in total.

2) No. The stat category that gets you one point (and will enable us to track the 162 game maximum for SPs) is "Games Started".

There's a separate option in pitching stats for "Appearances" which we are not using.