The Ten Commandments of Fantasy Football Leagues (Part
1, #1-5)
So as summer is upon us and Fourth
of July is just around the corner, I feel it is just about time to really start
diving into the upcoming Fantasy Football season. I was thinking to start
blogging now about certain things I like to keep in mind leading up to my
upcoming drafts. I will dive right in to players and my rankings, as I like to
see how some of training camp and preseason shakes out. I do however have my
“way too early” rankings. My disclaimer to all this are the leagues I play in
the most. Everything I write will come from a 12 team half point PPR league.
Those are my main two leagues of record. I do play a lot of IDP, so I will
touch on those defensive players from time to time.
Today I will touch on my “10
Commandments of Fantasy Leagues”. There are a few things that I prefer or like
to see people do in fantasy leagues and if you are out there looking to start a
league with some friends or a office league, hopefully some of my commandments
will help you out. I do write this from a commissioner point of view, but can
be helpful for those looking to join a team as well.
1. Pick your league type: If you are
starting a league and going to be the commissioner or if you are looking to
join a league, make sure you pick a league type that everyone can follow or
enjoy. If you are real diehard fantasy player you might enjoy something like IDP
(Individual Defensive Players), however maybe your league mates are not that
experienced so not everyone would enjoy that. Like I mentioned above, my league
of choice is half point PPR (Point Per Reception)
2. Choose your league mates wisely:
I think this is self-explanatory but if you are going to commission a league,
make sure you are picking people that will follow through the entire season.
Way to often to people start out loving it and it takes until about week 8 or
so when they start to check out. I understand if you are 1-7 at that point it
can be discouraging, but if you are a league member, just stick to it and see
it through. Also if you are commissioner, make sure people stay interested all
the way through. I mean you could be the 1-7 person at some point.
3. Have a diverse league: This is
sort of a continuation to commandment 2. Some of the most fun I have had in
leagues is when the league is made up of many different types of people. I love
when you get the young and old in a league together, or should I be politically
correct and say veterans and rookies. It is actually pretty interesting to see
how their styles different. Oh and I can talk for ever on how great it is to
get the ladies involved. Just a hint guys, they know more than you think. I
love seeing all girl leagues or husband and wives leagues. They get so
interesting.
4. Explain scoring ahead of time: If
you are going to commission a league or you are going to join a league, I can
not stress enough to know or explain the scoring even before the draft. I
myself have joined a league where a friend of a friend was the commissioner and
I had no idea of the scoring. Yes, I probably should’ve done my own research or
asked but I didn’t think of it at the time and this was a perfect example of
learning from my mistakes. This league was 6 points per passing touchdown and I
couldn’t figure out why QB’s were going so early in the draft. Also there were
“hidden” points. They are more called bonus points now but it was things like
an extra 3 points if any RB or WR went over 100 yards in rushing or receiving.
Or extra points for TD’s over 40 and 50 yards. It was hard to follow but I
understand it now. With that said, explain this stuff up front to your league
or know before going into a league.
5. Pick your site of choice: There
are so many websites to have a fantasy football league now, I will not even
attempt to name them. It is such a big industry now, everyone is trying to get
in on the action. I think the obvious choices are still great options, NFL.com,
ESPN, Yahoo and CBS. I literally play in each one at this time. If you want to
be different or try something cool, me and my buddies started a different way a
couple years ago. We decided to get more in DFS (daily fantasy). Each week one
guy will start up a private league on a daily fantasy site (typically
draftkings). Then he sends the invite out to everyone in our seasonal leagues
and then some others as well. The entry fee is typically $5 a person and we
have been getting a great turnout of about 15-20 guys a week. Depending on how
many join, the payouts can be for finishing 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd. It is
more of an instant gratification with the money, since we have to wait so long
to get our winnings in season long leagues.
These are the first 5 of my league
commandments. I will write another blog with the other 5 soon.
Thanks for reading.
