Okay, so this is stupid to complain about, right? Fantasy sports? Who cares? I agree. But, I'm done with my work for today (well, most of it), am bored, in need of a break and I just got word from a buddy of mine about the football team we drafted yesterday and just feel like venting for a moment.
Alright, so, the only reason I play fantasy sports is because an old buddy of mine in Omaha loves it and it's a way he and I can stay in touch with one another. So, from that standpoint, it's nice. It always gives us something to talk about and reason to write or call each other.
Both of us have had pretty good success with baseball. We used to team up, but now have separate teams. We've in two of the same leagues. I'm in 1st place in both leagues and he's in 3rd and 5th, respectively (out of 8 and 12 teams). One league we call the "normal" league, because it's a pretty straight-forward fantasy baseball league. The people don't get cheap, don't try to screw one another (figuratively) and for the most part, it's a fair league. The other league we're in we label as the "crazy" league. As opposed to compiling stats from 10-20 different categories and awarding a team with a point for every category he/she wins against their opponent that week, the league revolves around "fantasy points" and those point are dominated by starting pitching. Last week in one start, James Shields of Tampa Bay, got me 120 some points by himself and Cliff Lee compiled over 100 points also. Just between those two pitchers, I had over 200 points for the day. It's rare for an entire offense to garner 100 points in a day. So, like I said, starting pitching dominates. My friend and I both saw this before drafting, so of course, we went after top-of-the-line starting pitchers early and often. We filled out every position spot, so we were not seen as cheap, but had 15-16 starting pitchers as well. A gal in the league noticed this, so after one pitcher started, she'd drop him and pick up someone else. There was not a maximum number of moves for the week or entirety of the league, so she did this 10 times a week and that gave her a significant advantage. My buddy and I then decided to counter her tactic with one of our own and just dropping most of our position players in favor of starting pitchers. While we had complained about her tactic to the league and got insulted because of it, we decided to do what was suggested to us by these other members and find a way to score more points than our opponent. After we went about this, we received complaints from other members of the league and those same people whom told us to stop crying and to do whatever we needed to earn more points than our opponent, decided to contradict themselves. The league commissioner then made a new rule which limited the moves per week to 6. After that, my buddy and I then dropped some pitchers and filled out our lineups again. We now saw the league as somewhat fair and we were happy. Still, that's one messed up league. Neither my friend now I will ever join those same people in a fantasy baseball league again; that's for sue.
So, there was semi-bad luck for us in that league. That brings us to last night and today. As there were already 14 teams and there needs to be an even number, only one of us was able to get into the league. It's "our" team, so to speak. We checked out the players' stats from last year and how the points were going to play out this year. The one stat that stood out was that every completion counted for one point. In light of that, we picked Peyton Manning (over 400 completions last year) and Matt Schaub (completes a lot of passes as well). We felt pretty good about those first two picks. We strategized based on the points system and looked to be in good shape going into the season. Well, someone complained about that very stat and the commissioner changed it. Peyton Manning went from 750 pts. last year to 350. Unreal. If we had known that the rules would have been different following the draft, we would not have been so intent upon drafting two quarterbacks known for throwing (and completing) a lot of passes. How is it our fault that another league member didn't do his/her homework and strategize properly? It's not like a team in the NBA that needs a 3-point specialist drafts one in the first round and then following the draft, the league makes it known that there will not longer be 3-point shots. All baskets will count for two. If the mentioned team had known that, they probably wouldn't have drafted that 3-point shooter. So, yeah, bad luck in one baseball league and now especially with the football league. I'm not sure if we're going to continue to pay attention to it or not. We'll see. I'm sure we will, but won't pay much attention to it. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter one bit, but still, it's the principle of the thing. Just because I have superior quarterbacks, I'm not going to complain to the league commissioner about the points' system and suggest that each touchdown pass be worth 6 as opposed to 4 because it would better serve me. That's not how things... Well, I should alter that statement. That's USUALLY not how things work. I can't say that's always the case, though, not anymore, anyway. Perhaps there's a reason for the word "fantasy" to precede sports in these leagues, because the "realism" involved in deciding a winner is highly questionable. One sec. I'm going to complain to my boss about my pay and see if he gives me a raise right on the spot. I'm optimistic that it's going to go well. Wish me luck!
Alright, so, the only reason I play fantasy sports is because an old buddy of mine in Omaha loves it and it's a way he and I can stay in touch with one another. So, from that standpoint, it's nice. It always gives us something to talk about and reason to write or call each other.
Both of us have had pretty good success with baseball. We used to team up, but now have separate teams. We've in two of the same leagues. I'm in 1st place in both leagues and he's in 3rd and 5th, respectively (out of 8 and 12 teams). One league we call the "normal" league, because it's a pretty straight-forward fantasy baseball league. The people don't get cheap, don't try to screw one another (figuratively) and for the most part, it's a fair league. The other league we're in we label as the "crazy" league. As opposed to compiling stats from 10-20 different categories and awarding a team with a point for every category he/she wins against their opponent that week, the league revolves around "fantasy points" and those point are dominated by starting pitching. Last week in one start, James Shields of Tampa Bay, got me 120 some points by himself and Cliff Lee compiled over 100 points also. Just between those two pitchers, I had over 200 points for the day. It's rare for an entire offense to garner 100 points in a day. So, like I said, starting pitching dominates. My friend and I both saw this before drafting, so of course, we went after top-of-the-line starting pitchers early and often. We filled out every position spot, so we were not seen as cheap, but had 15-16 starting pitchers as well. A gal in the league noticed this, so after one pitcher started, she'd drop him and pick up someone else. There was not a maximum number of moves for the week or entirety of the league, so she did this 10 times a week and that gave her a significant advantage. My buddy and I then decided to counter her tactic with one of our own and just dropping most of our position players in favor of starting pitchers. While we had complained about her tactic to the league and got insulted because of it, we decided to do what was suggested to us by these other members and find a way to score more points than our opponent. After we went about this, we received complaints from other members of the league and those same people whom told us to stop crying and to do whatever we needed to earn more points than our opponent, decided to contradict themselves. The league commissioner then made a new rule which limited the moves per week to 6. After that, my buddy and I then dropped some pitchers and filled out our lineups again. We now saw the league as somewhat fair and we were happy. Still, that's one messed up league. Neither my friend now I will ever join those same people in a fantasy baseball league again; that's for sue.
So, there was semi-bad luck for us in that league. That brings us to last night and today. As there were already 14 teams and there needs to be an even number, only one of us was able to get into the league. It's "our" team, so to speak. We checked out the players' stats from last year and how the points were going to play out this year. The one stat that stood out was that every completion counted for one point. In light of that, we picked Peyton Manning (over 400 completions last year) and Matt Schaub (completes a lot of passes as well). We felt pretty good about those first two picks. We strategized based on the points system and looked to be in good shape going into the season. Well, someone complained about that very stat and the commissioner changed it. Peyton Manning went from 750 pts. last year to 350. Unreal. If we had known that the rules would have been different following the draft, we would not have been so intent upon drafting two quarterbacks known for throwing (and completing) a lot of passes. How is it our fault that another league member didn't do his/her homework and strategize properly? It's not like a team in the NBA that needs a 3-point specialist drafts one in the first round and then following the draft, the league makes it known that there will not longer be 3-point shots. All baskets will count for two. If the mentioned team had known that, they probably wouldn't have drafted that 3-point shooter. So, yeah, bad luck in one baseball league and now especially with the football league. I'm not sure if we're going to continue to pay attention to it or not. We'll see. I'm sure we will, but won't pay much attention to it. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter one bit, but still, it's the principle of the thing. Just because I have superior quarterbacks, I'm not going to complain to the league commissioner about the points' system and suggest that each touchdown pass be worth 6 as opposed to 4 because it would better serve me. That's not how things... Well, I should alter that statement. That's USUALLY not how things work. I can't say that's always the case, though, not anymore, anyway. Perhaps there's a reason for the word "fantasy" to precede sports in these leagues, because the "realism" involved in deciding a winner is highly questionable. One sec. I'm going to complain to my boss about my pay and see if he gives me a raise right on the spot. I'm optimistic that it's going to go well. Wish me luck!
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