The stupid sport is done, start talking about real sports....

real sport Baseball (sorry Rounders) a real sport

I thought this was a thread about Dogging :(.

Rather excited bout the baseball season now Z! Oh the frustrations of seeing your no1 pick go 0-4 at the plate, the joys of vulturing wins. But most of all, you me and Orioles, cuddled up on the sofa watching ESPN. Laughing as Daves draft software proves to be, yet again, "proper wank". The contrasting wafts of Daves perfume and your aftershave! I love Sundays!!

Just reread the above. IM not gay i swear

I was excited too, and for all the same reasons, except I thought it said 'water sports' :(

It's all about chewing tobacco and spitting sunflower seeds.

And herpes cream.

....on toast.

I thought it was a thread about Naked Custard Wrestling, so I purchased the relevant draft software from a company called Seloiro.

Got some MLB draft stuff as a freebie. It's useless.

i assume everyone else is doing draft prep at 2:45 on a tuesday morning like me, season starts in 43 days

When are the leagues being posted, always enjoy the fantasy mlb most.

Any thoughts about setting up a keeper league, chaps?

I quite like the idea of a Dynasty league.

I'm game.

why would you want another franchise to follow with the same amount of misery as your o's ?

Love the idea of a keeper or dynasty league.

keeper over a dynasty

Depends on how many keepers, I like the idea of building a minors system to help in the future.

What is the difference?

Dynasty is forever and doesn't re-draft, keeper re-drafts each year, less the 'kept' players.

MUG

The chap who drafted Jamie Moyer in the 1982 Dynasty League must be the last man standing.

Please do not use unkind words Beaniash, this is a friendly forum.

I was part of a dynasty league for a couple of years but it ended up being scrapped as only half the managers were active on a regular basis - suppose a keeper doesnt need such active management but you would want managers who are in it for the long run and will actively manager their team over a season

On reflection, and following a discussion with my wife that ended with, "The American football fantasy thing has only just finished and you're already talking about baseball? Take that Orioles shirt off the dog, it was weird enough calling him Ripken you idiot and no, the children wouldn't look good in matching batting helmets"

A carefully put together keeper league would be my preference.

As an added incentive, each year's winner could accompany me to the Orioles Dream Week in Florida.

Nice

yes i'd doubt more than a couple on here have much of a clue past the major league, i know i'm guessing past about round 8 in drafts

Dave. Would that winner be staying in the same hotel, room, bed, pants as yourself?

I would be up for a keeper league. Dont really like the idea of a dynasty as i love drafting.

Is it time to start yet? Im literally ****-a-hoop about the thought of baseball starting.

Time to read Fantasyland by Sam Walker again........

McNabb Fantasy Baseball Auction Champ 2011

only 6 sundays left before the season starts, so that probably means only 4 or 5 sundays until drafts begin 

Like I wear pants, G

Orioles, Fantasy Baseball Gents Champ 2011, bitches

being auction champ is all very good , and no one gives a stuff who the gents champ is . there's only 1 true champion around here

Schmilsson, Fantasy Baseball Veterans Champ 2011

I am not sure I can cope with more than three leagues in one year, but I will consider entering.

Fenway, long time fantasy bottom feeder and admirer of zeeny, the only Betfair Fantasy Baseball Hall of Famer.

no one gives a stuff who the gents champ is

Words can hurt.

As can a lead pipe across the back of the nut

that sounds like fighting talk to me

I would be more for a head to head league to go alongside the Veterens , there are already enough roto leagues imo.
  Pref one with a weekly lockout so could concentrate on vets league

MLB h2h is the fantasy equivalent of watching bowls in excitement.

WHAT THE F UC K IS WRONG WITH WATCHING BOWLS

I would love us lot to do a dynasty league ....it would need a bit of committment on all our parts but there should be enough of us who play to the end to make up league ...

I take part in a deep dynasty league (open invite on this forum from Colo Colo(Stefan)5 years ago) 20 teams with an active roster of 24 and 5 reserves ...can carry a maximum of 5 FK's or Minor Leaguers ...each player is given salary based on its relative value last season ...allowed to keep 13-14 players under $184, 12 under $198 and 11 under $212 ...highest value player last year was about $45 (Kemp) ...a team who did poorly last season will be able to take on salary ...a team who did well will likely have to dump salary ...so in this scenario you might have Kemp being traded for say Bryce Harper and a 2nd round pick prior to the roster cutdown date ...then a snake draft ...lots of inseason trading of players and picks for next years draft ...modest entry fee of$60 and $2 per transaction thereafter ...

It would be great if us lot committed to something on these lines

I'm the face at the window once again

Que?

Where was MY invitation?

Lol you were invited ...I believe there may be a vacancy for this year ...someone recently dropped out ...give it a go then perhaps next year we can start a UK based dynasty league ...the disciples will follow you Oh Jehovah

...alternatively how about you become my co-owner ...on an advisory basis... then you can dip in thru the season without your time being taken up.

Too late now ... I'm in a huff.

As for a barrister playing second fiddle to a solicitor, well, thank goodness I'm strapped into this commode!

I think dynasty/keeper is a runner, though.

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

I like the idea of a keeper league, depends how many keepers we have. Never played in a Dynasty League before - quite fancy the idea though.

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

I'm in

It looks that way, Ron.

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

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A dynasty league would be fun

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.

sorry ...im losing it ....meant to start a new thread for this

Have we ruled out execution?

Count me in for the keeper and or dynasty league

Undisputed king of the funniest team name

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

You shall be my queen, G

Ill buy my dress :)

35 days until the season starts

We should get the sign up threads posted

that's your job!!!!!

Give it a month or so.

Fen, it is a highly complex procedure that often requires a staff of literally one to ensure the fun and happiness of my fellow fantasy managers is guaranteed for the next 6 months, or however long the season is.

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

an 'and' missing there

'selectively' missing as well

Happy to run the Auction League again if you would like David. Ive found some more pictures "of guys whom orioles may look like"

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.

I have a great year ahead. Getting married in August in Greece, Stag do in July, week holiday in june. But the only thing im really excited about is these bloody leagues!!

And theres still over a month to go :(

Greece has civil partnerships?

Many congratulations

4 sundays to go

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.

Fen

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

PS: Congrats!

LMAO Fen,

I had to read it twice. I couldnt get past the "Me and O will toss" bit without going weak at the knees!

Z as a wedding present to myself, will you play this year? Oh say its so! You missed out last year. The hilarity of recieving a trade offer from Ron, witnessing the rise of the Nabbster. I think Fen even made a  trade.

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

If people were to, say, email me with a list of managers that would ensure Z's participation, I could send invitations to a league that we can settle on until the Mayan calendar runs out.

javvy60@hotmail.com

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sorry huggy this isn't the sign up thread, at least i dont think it is

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

Huggy making an early claim on a 50 game ban.

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.

Now hold on there, hoss.

I'd like Z back as much as anyone (I've been collecting comedy donkey pics for a year) but Ron is an ugly, ugly man - he hasn't got your lithe, young swimmer's build, G.

Can't we just do the usual thing and offer Z some shiny beads, or some chocolate?

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

I was once like you Ron but imagine popping round to Daves gaff to "talk baseball". You walk into a darkened room and suddenly you hear R.Kelly blaring out......

"My minds telling me no......
But my body, my body is telling me yeeeessssss"

Spotlight suddenly appears on Dave in his armchair, wearing nothing but a smoking jacket.......


Come on Dave, get these sign up threads up!

OK, this **** just got serious.

I propose the following:

A Regular 5x5 roto league (that may be split into as many leagues as required, depending on numbers)

An Auction league (as above)

An invitation only 5x5 roto Keeper league (not my favourite way of working, as it seems a bit naff to exclude the fat lads and the asthmatics, but I think the time has come)

------------------------------------------

The Regular league will have a £25 sign-up fee.

Ron will set his numbers for the Auction.

The Keeper needs a commish and a set of rules etc. if we're going all sophisticated. I'm looking knowingly in Bosox Law's direction, or maybe Zeeny can be lured out of retirement by the prospect of ultimate power. The entry fee, prizes and constitution are thus outside my purview. I will however, purchase a suitably magnificent trophy.

The sign up thread for the Regular and Auction leagues will go up on Sunday night.

Any thoughts, on any subject (preferably to do with fantasy baseball) can reach me on javvy60@hotmail.com or be posted below.

You may now back the Baltimore Orioles to win it all. Carry on.

I assume you meant McNabb will set his auction numbers. although i would be more than happy to steal all the cash..... er... i mean commission the league

I think the keeper/dynasty league set up described above might be a bit complicated for us (me anyway). Zillions of ways to do it though depending on whether it's auction or snake

Can't see us getting more than 1 leagues worth of players, hope we get a couple more players this year though to make my succesful vets league title defence a bit more challenging

Apologies, I meant McNabb, of course. I had you on my mind because I'm trying to think of how to tell you you're not on the invitational league

I'm looking for a 'take charge' kind of guy (and not in the McNabb, 'locked in the basement in a gimp mask' way) to commish the new league - it's a big commitment; not just sorting the format, but commishing difficult, bolshy managers for many years

well i guess i can control myself better than anyone else, infact i have myself well in hand most days

Dave, Thinking I would like to have a £25 sign up fee for the Auction League as well. Ill see how many players sign up then work out the entrance fee.

I suppose im happy for you to hold the money this year again. Ill just do some more overtime to fuel my gambling addiction instead of ripping off the league. :)

Im in for all three leagues though btw.

sorry dave ...too busy to get on here in the week ,,,,saw ur comments about keeper league looks good to me ...i am in a keeper league with 29 on roster and 12-14 keepers dependent on salary with snake draft ...also a 32 (23 active) roster with maximum 5 keepers with salary deducted from £260 auction amount and a snake draft fro final 9 places

No hard and fast rules but as the league develops rules can be changed ...needs a good Commish tho and I can think of only one man !!! ...perhaps needs a willing young apprentice like Gareth to help out :)

a bit like ....Voldermort and Potter ...Darth Vader and Skywalker !!

... Benny Hill & Jackie Wright

... Tweedledee and Tweedledum(b) ...no comment on who the latter might be

Hitler and Goring?

Posh and Becks?

I dont mind helping out

Eric and Ernie

thelma and louise


sign up going well so far, will be good to get all 16 season long players back from last year (+ returning players ) for an 18 + team league