It would be good to do so ...I'll message you in the next day or so!

can't see the gents league surviving with all this talk of a keeper league

O's name enshrined forever as the champion of gentlemen

It looks that way, Ron.

I will be the champion until the end of time ...

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Thought u lot might like an article I saw today on the perennial problem of the non-tryers, If posting an article is outside the rules of this forum then i apologise in advance

Okay, admit it. There was a season, way back when, where you were out of contention and kind-of-sort-of stopped paying much attention to your team. It's human nature, right? Who can blame you?

This is often a problem in fantasy leagues, particularly in non-keeper leagues where you don't even have the option of grabbing a free agent who might have some value next year. And it creates a lack of competition that can affect league standings. Simply carrying an empty pitching slot for a week could cost a team 1-2 wins, and that alone could be enough to move the standings by a point or two. In a close race, you don't want the championship to be swayed by a 10th-place team not replacing an injured pitcher.

These are some possible rules changes that might help keep teams competing for the entire season. Some of these are primarily for keeper leagues, but a few could work in redraft leagues as well. Most have been tried before, to varying degrees of success, and some may even help alleviate dumping (though that's not the main intent here).

Brute force

A rather disagreeable method of keeping teams active is creating penalties for inactivity. You could add fines for not replacing players, or create stats penalties (think along the lines of the penalty for not reaching a minimum innings pitched). The problem with this method is two-fold. First, it's definitely more stick than carrot, and people generally respond better to incentives than penalties. Second, it can create ill will, especially if punishment is heavy-handed ("The player was put on the DL at 12:58 pm, which gave you two minutes to find a replacement!").

In many European soccer leagues, they have an interesting system for dealing with laggards: the bottom teams at one level automatically swap places with the top teams at the next level down. Just imagine a major league team (let's call them the "Astros" for now) being sent to Triple-A, and a minor league team replacing them. Since your league probably doesn't have two tiers, and replacing owners is usually a major hassle, this isn't really a viable solution for fantasy baseball.

That being said, there's really no excuse for falling asleep at the end of the season in a keeper league, as long as owners have the ability to retain free agents. Throughout the season (and especially in September, when rosters are expanded), there will be many opportunities to add players with future potential. If you find you have owners who regularly give up when they're out of contention, you may consider replacing them. It can be a painful solution, no doubt, but it's simply not fair to have owners who don't compete for the entire season.

Draft Incentives

There are prizes that extend beyond finishing in the money. Rewarding teams that tried to climb in the standings but fell short of the top slots will usually keep the majority of the teams competing into September.

One of the most common incentives is draft position. Rather than drafting in reverse order of the standings, you can start with the #5 team (or whichever team is the highest non-money winner) and work your way down the standings, saving the final slots for the in-the-money teams. For example, a 12-team league with four money winners could draft 5-12, then 4, 3, 2, and 1. If you're an auction league, the order could apply to your minor league or reserve rounds. Having the #1 pick, even in a reserve round, is certainly a strong incentive. The one potential issue is that a team in third or fourth could decide to tank, reasoning that a strong draft position next year is worth more than he small monetary prize he'd receive. But this, thankfully, is pretty rare.

There are some auction leagues that award toppers or salary reductions for high finishes. Again, the 5th place team could receive two topper rights, or a $5 discount to apply to a player of their choice. This essentially amounts to extra draft budget, and can be every bit as appealing as a premium draft slot. Just be careful to set some limits--perhaps no more than $2 could be applied to any one player. And make sure players can't drop below $1.

One option that has a good track record is awarding extra picks to the out-of-the-money team that has the best second half. For example, the team that improves the most in the second half could get the top pick in the minor league or reserve round. That's a powerful incentive.

A final possibility is giving more keepers to teams, based on their finish. Teams that finish at the top or bottom of the standings would get fewer keepers than those in the middle.

Cash Incentives

As the old saying goes, "money talks." If your league mates tend to focus on the cash prizes, why not add a few prizes to reward those who compete to the bitter end? We'll start with one that doesn't work so well: awarding a prize to the best team each week. While this theoretically provides incentives all season long, by the second half most of the weekly winners end up being teams that are already in the money (or close to it). About two-thirds of the weekly prizes overall are likely to go to the top four teams. So while this is a fun addition to the league that may give owners a reason to check the standings in August and September, it does little to prevent dumping or encourage competition.

A better option is a second-half prize. Set aside a small but significant sum for the team that has the best second half. To be truly effective, you could limit it to the out-of-the-money teams. Otherwise, the usual suspects will just end up pocketing an extra bonus. Many leagues have separate payments for the first half, the second half, and overall. This appears to be a strong incentive to stay active all year.

Another choice is applying penalties for finishing down in the standings. Teams could be fined a specified amount, multiplied by the place they finished in. The money could be added to the pot, used to buy food for next year's draft, or even given to charity. Making owners reach into their wallets a second time could persuade some of them to try just a bit harder.

If you have a league that tends to balk at changes, you could always do a trial run. Put one or two of these ideas into play for a season and see what owners think. You could even agree, if necessary, that two-thirds of the owners would need to approve going forward. None of these ideas will result in a truly unfair situation, so any effects should dissipate quickly if you decide to reverse field on them. And if you're lucky enough to be in a league where owners really care about finishing in 9th instead of 10th, all the better. We don't expect everyone to be competitive every year. All we ask is that you try.

Have we ruled out execution?

Uncle O, Forever crowned as the King of gentleman. Couldnt happen to a more worthier bloke!! So Butch

You can count me into this league. Dynasty or Keeper. I tried reading Bosox's League rules but my ickle brain stopped working.

McNabb Fantasy baseball Auction Champ 2011 and Clear Cut Fav to be Keeper League 2012 Champion

Ill buy my dress :)

We should get the sign up threads posted

Give it a month or so.

easier to reactivate email last years PLAYERS through espn i'd have thought.

'selectively' missing as well

Of course, sugar buns!

ESPN haven't granted me the right to decide who can set up leagues yet, despite my letters to them and changing my name by deed poll to Napoleon.

The only proviso is that I won't bail out any more pay leagues where the commish decides to steal the money. It's too much hassle.

I'm happy to continue as banker.

Greece has civil partnerships?

Many congratulations

Gareth have you organised the wedding plans yet? If not I have them sorted.

Me and O will toss to see who is page boy and who is bridesmaid, the bride will arrive at the Church (or wherever) on the back of zeeny's donkey, as as she enters Ron will be singing 'Here Comes My Girl'. Zeeny will conduct the service in ten languages, pausing only to announce that a David Eckstein grand slam has lifted the McNabb Monstrosities from the bottom of the standings, just above 'that bloke who never logs on after the first week'.

The whole shebang to be paid for by jacob_ta out of the 'mislaid' loot.

Of course, if you prefer to go ahead without my input I send you my hearty congratulations.

Haha. MN thinks there [b]will[/b] be Greece still in August! Crazy lad!

PS: Congrats!

my sources tell me zee's participation is dependant on who else is playing so we had better start rounding everyone up

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I am back this year. And in. Brace yourselves.

Rob is back. Now its a party!! All we need now is Jacob to return as Banker and the whole crew is back. We all trust him, right?

Zeeny. Rather than a list of managers you would like to play with. You can also send a list of sexual positions that you would like to see Ron nasty and orioles perform. I recommend the Praying mantis.

i think i shall be keeping my back against the wall around here from now on