# SDMB Big League 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 30, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632 "2010-07-30T23:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/41 "2010-08-17T19:40:16Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > None of those reasons say why a change HAS to be made. Basically, I’m screwed here. I’m forced out of a league I really enjoyed, just because people–particularly Senor Beef, want to do some new thing that does not have to be done. It’s too late to really shop around for another good league. > > Next time, y’all oughta kiss me first, at least. “Screwed”? “Forced”? I thought the SEC True Fans of Football® were tough. If you want, I’m sure a few of us would be happy to set up a dummy auction league, so that we can practice on the new Yahoo system, so that everyone can see that an auction isn’t rocket surgery. (Actually, I went to the league site, and there’s a link to go do a mock draft so you can do exactly that.) However, you should really think about changing your name from the Druids to the Hair Shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/42 "2010-08-17T20:21:02Z")
No. Oak does not do auctions, period, amen. Auctions = bad. I’ll be in **Mhendo** ’s league. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/43 "2010-08-17T21:00:20Z")
One thing I noticed from going through last year’s thread is that I mentioned we should do a custom schedule, to ensure everyone plays everyone in their division once. Not sure if that’s doable in Yahoo. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/44 "2010-08-17T22:23:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > This league started with the regular draft, as Karana intended. There is no valid reason to change it other than the whims of the group. I do not like change. I loathe change unsupported by any demonstrable requirement that a change be made. > > Essentially, this completely unnecessary change is saying “Fuck you, Oak, we didn’t want you around anyhow.” Which is fine. I’ll do something else. Y’all have fun. > [@Oakminster](#): > > None of those reasons say why a change HAS to be made. Basically, I’m screwed here. I’m forced out of a league I really enjoyed, just because people–particularly Senor Beef, want to do some new thing that does not have to be done. It’s too late to really shop around for another good league. > > Next time, y’all oughta kiss me first, at least. You have an unfortunate combination of narcissist persecution (you think anything you dislike was caused by the whole world changing around you to piss you off - because clearly everything is about you) combined to a pathological resistance to changing the status quo. This is a serious and like… disturbing overreacting on your part. I have been very polite, and explained in detail why I think an auction format will work better for this league. It’s true that this league started as a snake draft last year, but only because yahoo did not have auction drafts available - if they did, I would’ve absolutely started our league out that way. Now that the superior method is available, of course I’m going to use it. You weren’t even willing to give the new method a try in the mock draft or learn anything about it. Just a pathological, and quite frankly, childish declaration of “well, it’s not what I’ve done before, so I refuse”. You give me the ultimatum without a willingness to budge, and then declare that I’m the one screwing you over when I go ahead and take the option you don’t like. Auction is better. Auction is especially better for the defining characteristic of this league, its size and depth. Auction was not available last year, or we would’ve don it. It’s available now, so we’re (after I asked opinions to gauge a resistance to change) switching to it. You haven’t made a case against it at all - because you don’t even know anything about it and you’re unwilling to try it. You just dug your heels in, and don’t even care if it is a better method, because change is scary and the world is out to get you. Quite frankly - and I don’t think I’ve ever said this sort of thing to anyone in any league I’ve ever run - I’m happy not to have to deal with this weird drama queen shit when you leave. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/45 "2010-08-17T22:31:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I’m not in this league, but wanted to throw my support behind switching to an auction draft. I think those of you who’ve never tried it will really enjoy it. I don’t know if you have a league slot open this year, but you should join up with us. I was happy with how the league went last year and it’s a pretty interesting format. > [@dalej42](#): > > One caveat about mock drafts is that you can always get a few jokers in there who try to screw with the draft for the sake of pissing people off. I did one last night when someone took 8 kickers! You’ll also find that a lot people will really overpay in mock drafts since they don’t have to actually play the team they drafted. In a league this big, you can’t overpay for your top 5 players because there won’t be a lot available on waivers for week to week pickups. Yeah, I should mention that the mock drafts are a mixed bags in terms of the seriousness of the players. I’ve done 2, and both times people drafted in a realistic way, but for some reason there are people that like to just join them and do goofy shit. Even if you aren’t up against serious players, you can still get the basic mechanics of it down. The actual valuation of players will be something fairly new to all of us - I’ve never played in a league where there were 20 teams bidding on people, that should make it fairly different from the 12-man auctions we’ve done in the auction league. > [@mhendo](#): > > I’ve PMed **SenorBeef** about this, but thought i’d put it in the thread as well. > > I have to drop out due to the draft time, so please hand my spot over to someone else. I would have been happy with the auction format, but as i said earlieer, i can’t ask my wife to hang around on campus with me at the end of a long day so i can finish my FF draft. > > It’s no big deal; i’m already in a few leagues, and it won’t kill me to miss this one. I’d like to include you, and I think I asked for alternate times that would work for you, but I think we may be too late in the game to change it and still have a good timeslot (reservations are limited, especially the ones occuring in primetime towards the end of the preseason). Someone mentioned the idea of comanagement - not sure if it would be satisfying for you to manage a team you didn’t draft, but maybe a buddy could do the draft for you with your guidelines and preferences and then you’d take over the team. > [@mhendo](#): > > Hey, **Oakminster** , are you interested in forming a new league, based on last year’s settings, with snake draft? > > You don’t want to be in this year’s Big League because of the auction, and i can’t be in it due to the draft time. Maybe i could set up a new league, using the same settings we had last year? There’s usually enough FF people on the SDMB to fill a league, and some people in **Senor Beef** ’s Big League might also be interested in signing up for another league. You guys are of course free to do as you wish, but I’m not sure we’d have enough people for two seperate 20-man leagues. I doubt many people would want to attend both, since both leagues will be very similar. I’d be concerned we’d end up with like 15 people in one league and 10 in the other. But if it’s important to you, you can give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/46 "2010-08-17T22:42:13Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > You guys are of course free to do as you wish, but I’m not sure we’d have enough people for two seperate 20-man leagues. I doubt many people would want to attend both, since both leagues will be very similar. I’d be concerned we’d end up with like 15 people in one league and 10 in the other. But if it’s important to you, you can give it a try. You might be right. I don’t want that to happen, so i’ll see what sort of response we get. I was assuming that there would be other people who might be interested in giving it a go, but it could be that we’ve just about exhausted the SDMB FF pool. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/47 "2010-08-17T23:34:13Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Quite frankly - and I don’t think I’ve ever said this sort of thing to anyone in any league I’ve ever run - I’m happy not to have to deal with this weird drama queen shit when you leave. My first instinct is to cut a promo on you that would melt the internet. But I ain’t gonna do that. That would not be fair. I’m really pissed the fuck off at at situation that has nothing to do with you or this board, and I’d be using you as a convenient place to vent that frustration. I’m just gonna walk away, go blow off some steam by melting some faces in WoW. You have a great night, and enjoy the league. Good luck on the season. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/48 "2010-08-18T03:17:45Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You might be right. I don’t want that to happen, so i’ll see what sort of response we get. I was assuming that there would be other people who might be interested in giving it a go, but it could be that we’ve just about exhausted the SDMB FF pool. Not much, I’m afraid. Many of us are already in a max of four SDMB leagues like I am, which is why I’m not in this league. (Keeper, All-Pro, Auction, Dynasty) However, you may not realize this but you can draft in this league no problem. Auction drafts are funny things in that you personally don’t have to be there until the end; you can draft all your players in the first 16 (or however many roster spots there are) picks and leave 10 minutes after the draft started with a full team. You say you can do a snake draft but not the extra half hour for an auction. That means you have at least an hour to draft, yes? If so, that’s more than plenty of time to get it done. In a pinch I can help you draft, like if you really only have 20 minutes and thus want me to take over for you after you make the first key picks or something. We could use email or PM or something to coordinate when I take over. Even easier (but slightly more annoying for the rest of the league) would be to just leave the draft and let the autodrafter take over for you after you’ve made the first hour’s worth of picks. Really, truly, no harm no foul. (The best way to leave is to leave $1 for every open spot on your roster so the computer doesn’t make stupid bids.) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/49 "2010-08-18T03:26:37Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > However, you may not realize this but you can draft in this league no problem. Auction drafts are funny things in that you personally don’t have to be there until the end; you can draft all your players in the first 16 (or however many roster spots there are) picks and leave 10 minutes after the draft started with a full team. You say you can do a snake draft but not the extra half hour for an auction. That means you have at least an hour to draft, yes? If so, that’s more than plenty of time to get it done. It never occurred to me that, with an auction draft, i might be able to fill my roster early. Of course, it makes complete sense, because you can bid for who you want rather than having to wait for your turn to come around again. And i can probably actually be there for the first 90 minutes or so of the draft, so maybe i’ll give it a go. **SenorBeef** , if you’ve given my spot away already, no problem. But if you haven’t, i’d like to stick around. Let me know. > [@EllisDee](#): > > In a pinch I can help you draft, like if you really only have 20 minutes and thus want me to take over for you after you make the first key picks or something. We could use email or PM or something to coordinate when I take over. Even easier (but slightly more annoying for the rest of the league) would be to just leave the draft and let the autodrafter take over for you after you’ve made the first hour’s worth of picks. Really, truly, no harm no foul. Thanks for the offer. I’ll keep all that in mind. **Oakminster** , my main concern right now about starting a new league is that we’ll have trouble filling it. The real FF aficionados are all in multiple leagues already, and i’m wary of having a league where people aren’t committed to maintaining their roster over the course of a full season, which is what we might get if we start a new league and end up with a lot of people who aren’t really keen FF players. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/50 "2010-08-18T03:30:59Z")
You can have your spot, it appears that we’ll have a few openings. The issue with this strategy is that teams nominate players in turn, so it would only be your nomination every 20 picks. However, you could still overpay for the big name players that will be nomimated by other people early… you just couldn’t make your desired players the first 10 picks or whatever. If you’re there for the first 90 minutes, that’s the majority of the draft and that’s managable. You could auto-draft the rest, and I think you could also adjust the values the computer is willing to pay for a player, so you could make $3 bids on late round sleepers or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/51 "2010-08-18T03:36:57Z")
OK, cool. Thanks. 90 minutes is probably a minimum; i might be able to be there for 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/52 "2010-08-18T03:37:44Z")
I think at a bare minimum, **mhendo** will have plenty of time to draft his own starters without having to overpay for any of them. Letting the computer worry about the bench should be fine, though I’m happy to help. That goes for anyone here, btw. If, say, you can make the draft but you’ll be an hour late or something, I can start it off for you. This would be a much bigger help than finishing it, since the first part of the auction is the most volatile. If only just to keep your bids at an absolute minimum in your absence while grabbing last of the first tier as they come off the board. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/53 "2010-08-18T19:23:27Z")
One thing we can do to speed up the draft is not to let the clock run down for the last second and then increase the bid at the last second. It isn’t an eBay auction where you can snipe at the last second and win the auction that way. I don’t think any of us really want to sit through a 3 hour auction! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/54 "2010-08-18T21:05:00Z")
That sometimes happens at the beginning of auctions, but people figure out there’s not much point to it pretty quick and it fizzles out. Some are legitimately needing to think on a borderline decision, but our auction in the auction league ran smoothly and efficiently last year and I see no reason this can’t be the same. That’s good advice, though, for the newcomers. And also, you can bid in $1 increments, but you can also bid arbitrarily high - there’s no reason to start Chris Johnson at $1 and bid him up to $2, then $3… just start him at like $45 or 50 and then bid somewhere near what you’re willing to pay. People will figure that out pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/55 "2010-08-18T21:06:46Z")
I’d like to join the Big League, if there’s room. Never drafted via auction before but it sounds like fun. I understand the necessity of fully participating through the last week of the season and plan to do so myself. Further if **mhendo** needs teams to fill out his/ **Oakminster** ’s league, I’d like to join that one too. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/56 "2010-08-18T21:23:04Z")
Yeah, I know you’ll be around for the season since you’re one of the main competitors in the pick em and survival leagues every year. I’m going to send you and **Only Mostly Dead** the league info. I sent everyone that was in the league last year two invites, and a few weeks ago, SDMB PMs, so pretty soon I’m going to assume they won’t be signing up and open registration again. I may do that tonight - I’d like to give them a little more time, but I may not have internet access over the next week so I may want to just open it now to ensure we fill up. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/57 "2010-08-19T02:08:21Z")
Just to revoice my opinion: I’d rather not do the auction thing. That’s my two cents. That being said, I’d like to see \*\*Oak \*\*and whomever else said they’d start a new league with last year’s options. I might be tempted to do both, and not cause any one league to suffer memberships. Maybe that way, if I tank in the auction draft (and therefore my team will suck all year and I will not have fun), I can always fall back on my regular league and at least still get some enjoyment out of it. Because I’m sure if I’m not having any fun, I’d probably turn into a fussy bitch halfway through the season and not make any fun for anybody. So I might be interested in doing both. So there. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/58 "2010-08-19T02:22:44Z")
OK, i’ve posted a thread about a possible alternative league [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=575037), for people who don’t like the auction draft. If we can’t get enough people, we might have to drop the idea. Let’s see how we do. If folks like **Oakminster** and **Uncle Brother Walker** are still interested, please register your interest in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/59 "2010-08-24T04:36:33Z")
Alright, I’ve given everyone last year a chance to register and we’ve got 14 signed up. I’m going to open registration to the public. The draft date is Tuesday, Sep 7 at 9:15pm eastern. This is a big league so the draft may take a while - 2.5-3 hours maybe? If you can very likely attend that draft date, like the format of the league, and plan on at least doing the bare minimum adjustments to your roster from week to week even if your team sucks, please sign up. Sign up at [yahoo fantasy football](http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/). The league info is League ID#: 14354 League Name: SDMB Big League Password: cecil ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632/60 "2010-08-24T05:46:06Z")
Incidentally, do you guys want to do the division format again this year or not? I can try to organize divisions along the same lines as last year, but there will be some turnover. Divisions were a new feature last year so I wanted to give it a try, but I’m not sure how much it added to the experience. I’m cool with them on or off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-big-league-2010/548632.md?page=4)