FOH fantasy football?

[DrunkenMonkey]

I had communicated with El Prez about this a while back, and he suggested that I put it out to the group to see if there is any interest:

I was thinking that it would be fun to have our own Friends of Habanos fantasy football league for next season. Basically the idea is this: Everyone buys their team for, say, $100 USD. This money is sat upon by the Czar until the season is over, at which point the winner(s) get to have a cigar shopping spree.

There's plenty of time to work out the details of how the league would be run, scoring rules etc., but right now, I just wanted to see if there's any level of interest in this. If there are at least 8 or 10 people, then I think that would be enough to get it going. I suspect that this may appeal primarily to Americans, because I think maybe the US is the only place where people actually play fantasy football, but for those of you in other parts of the world, I can assure you that if you do enjoy watching NFL football, this will really twist the way you watch it. It makes every game interesting. And the winner of most fantasy football leagues only gets money. Ours would get Czar cigars. If there are people who want to know more about what fantasy football is, I'll briefly go over that below:

In late August, we would all get together for a draft, and we pick individual players, one owner at a time. Then each week during the NFL season, we pick which players from our team to play. Details can differ from league to league, but generally each person starts a lineup something like this: one quarterback, two running backs, three wide recievers, one tight end, one defense (defenses are usually treated as a whole; for example one lucky owner will get to start the Pittsburgh Steelers defense each week), and one kicker. Your team will play one other owner's team each week, and at the end of the season, the owner who has won the most games gets the cigar(s).

So if you think you would be interested in this, just respond to this thread. I'm hoping that we can get this off the ground. I know it seems strange to be thinking about the NFL in June, but we'll need some time to discuss rules, etc., in time for the draft.

[SandmanTR]

Count me in...

[gmoney]

In!!!

FYI I have used ESPN for the last several years. It's free and very flexable to customize any way we decide upon.

[reg]

I'd love to! Though I will suggest using yahoo instead of ESPN like the above poster mentioned

[cookie_1978]

Count me in. I would love to have some "free" money to spend in the store.

[brutusthebuckeye]

I'm interested fo sho!!!!!

[khomeinist]

Sounds good. We should discuss scoring as some formats truly blow

[DrunkenMonkey]

Sounds good. We should discuss scoring as some formats truly blow

True indeed. I was thinking of posting a set of rules as a starting point for the discussion. Looks like there's plenty of interest to make it go. It should be very fun. I think we ought to wait a few days or a week before starting the rules discussion until we've got the attention of all interested parties.

[gmoney]

I'd love to! Though I will suggest using yahoo instead of ESPN like the above poster mentioned

Really?? i haven't used yahoo in a few years due to the lack of customization.....but I am open to what ever....

as far as rules I am hoping for standard stuff......1 pt for every 10yards rushing/rec...........1pt for every 25yrds passing.....6 points for rushing/receiving TD's...and as far as passing TD's go...I usually go with 4pts....but am open to 6pts if others are used to playing.... that way.....

6pts for def/special teams TD's.

-2 for fumble lost/int

2 for recovering def fumble/int

1 for sack...

I am open for PPR as well....

really what ever you guys want I am game.

[rdb6]

Would love to.

[thechenman]

Would love to particpate in this. My suggestion for an online provider for drafting and scoring would be CBS Sportsline.

[MoneyPit]

I know I'm new here, but I will participate if you are still looking to fill spots. I've used just about every league provider and CBS sportsline is the best I've seen in a while, but I'm game for whatever.

[JasonInChiTown]

I would definitely be interested as well.

[BobLobLaw]

I would be interested in a yahoo league.

As for scoring/settings being someone who runs a few leagues I actually propose that as commish DrunkenMonkey sets the league as he wants it and everyone else simply decides if they want to play or not. I only say this because opening this up to a discussion will get a TON of different responses/opinions. 4pts for passing TD vs. 6; Flex positions; individual defenders; PPR; 2 QB leagues etc . . .

Diplomacy is great and all, but for simplicity just set as you see fit! Will check back to see what was decided.

[reg]

that works, or we could try some sort of a poll to decide on certain things.

I'd say we can start with some default settings and then vote on stuff like whether or not we want to count ppr(I would like to), points per TD pass, positions etc.

Couple interesting rules are bonus points for 100 yard rushing games, and having a flex spot dedicated for rookies only

what would be the buy in / prizes though? I'm a little lost with people posting about money vs. cigars

[khomeinist]

My suggestion:

open discussion of settings for 1-2 weeks. Commish can then settle on a format and call for cash.

10 teams @ 100?

How about 600 for champ. 200 for 2nd. 100 each for 3rd and 4th.

1st and 2nd get first week bye. 3rd-6th play opening week of playoffs.

I much prefer scoring systems that reward overall production over mere touchdowns.

Just some thoughts.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Just wanted to bump this up so it doesn't get missed by those who might be interested. I'll make a post in a week with a proposed rule system, and everyone can comment on it. As for a poll for each individual rule option, that's starting to sound like work to me. Let's just see what everyone thinks, and if anyone hates any of the rules, we'll address that. It will be a very middle-of-the-road system, no crazy wildcard scoring.

As for payout, let's see how many people we end up with. I think the fewer participating, the more that should go to the top guy or two. If we end up with 30 people, I think it would make sense to spread the winnings to more folks.

[GoSteelers]

I'd be interested in getting in

[khomeinist]

30 teams would be brutal. I strongly suggest making separate leagues for each set of 10-12 owners.

The talent pool just isn't deep enough. Nobody should have to play Buffalo's qb.

Yes. I am a Bills fan.

[DrunkenMonkey]

Yes. I am a Bills fan.

Wow. Well, I guess there are worse things. You could be a Browns fan.

As for the numbers, if we were to end up with 30, I would think we should have separate drafts for two different leagues of 15 teams, or something like that, and then have the winners of the two leagues play a super bowl the last week. I haven't really thought through this too deeply yet, as I feel we'll be lucky to get 12 teams, which I think would be just about perfect. But let's wait and see how many of us there are, and we'll figure out how to arrange it.

[khomeinist]

Alright. We are on the same page. Separate leagues would be good.

As for the Bills shot? Let me show my typical football conversation. I am the excited Bills guy. Any sane football fan is the responder......

Two AFL championships!!

Um right. O/4. Wide Right. Etc. Etc.

BUT WE HAD OJ!!

Um. ok. The Bills are brutal. Stick to choking.

At least we have CJ SPILLER!!

Um. Nice line(s). Who is your quarterback?

Not everybody can be a Steelers or Cowboys fan (THANK CHRIST)

Shouldn't you be a Bungles supporter?

[DrunkenMonkey]

Shouldn't you be a Bungles supporter?

My family is all Pittsburgh people, and from an early age my parents taught me the ways of righteousness. And living in Cincinnati, I can assure you that just being around all the Bungholes' fans would make any reasonable person want them to lose.

[thechenman]

30 teams would be brutal. I strongly suggest making separate leagues for each set of 10-12 owners.

The talent pool just isn't deep enough. Nobody should have to play Buffalo's qb.

Yes. I am a Bills fan.

That is very brave of you to admit. I was in Buffalo for each of the year's Levy, Kelly, Thomas and Smith took the Bills to the Super Bowl...fourt straight years and four straight losses. Ouch.

[khomeinist]

That is very brave of you to admit. I was in Buffalo for each of the year's Levy, Kelly, Thomas and Smith took the Bills to the Super Bowl...fourt straight years and four straight losses. Ouch.

Yeah. Four years of bliss and hell. They should have won Super Bowl 25 for sure. There weren't the best team in any of the other years. I was living in Southern California when the Bills beat LA/Oakland 51-3 in the AFC championship game. That was really my Super Bowl. Though losing 25 is probably my most brutal sporting memory. Standing around a huge projector TV (ahh the 80s) hand in hand with family and friends. HAHA. Damn Norwood.

Yeah. I saw that you went to Canisius. Pretty cool. My dad went there for a year before wising up and heading to UB. I used to pretend that I was a Canisius point guard when I was small... making the game winning free throws in a mythical NCAA championship game. Vivid imagination.

Bury me in Orchard Park. Unless they move to Toronto.

[DrunkenMonkey]

So it looks like we have plenty of interested guys to make this go, which is fantastic. I'll be emailing the proposed scoring next week. Again, if there are people interested in doing this who haven't said so, go ahead and reply to this thread, so we can have a rough idea of the numbers before putting together the league(s).