Post by Copperfields on Dec 19, 2007 13:11:20 GMT -5
Ok, it's been hinted at on the Forum and there has been some preliminary information in the Report - we're planning some changes for the CFCL. Now it's time for some details about what we're talking about (none of this is definite yet) and the reasons behind it all.
First some general background... Most of the changes being discussed came at my instigation, while I won’t say I’m getting burned out on the CFCL, it has definitely been more difficult running the league in the past couple years. Well, perhaps “difficult” is the wrong word to use. Yes, there have been struggles with the move to Sportsline that made thing a bit more onerous, but truthfully, it’s not the CFCL, it’s me. I’ve spent at least 10 months of each of the past 24 years (well over half my life!) focused on the CFCL, and lately it’s been tough to keep up.
I admit it, I'm becoming a crotchety old man. Once upon a time, Rich and I had oodles of spare time in our lives, and the CFCL permeated much of it. Heck, geeks that we were (are), it wouldn't be a stretch to say the CFCL was our lives. Certainly the CFCL still holds a high spot in our priorities, but over time things like wives, children, and increasing work responsibilities have staked their claim for our attention, and we simply cannot keep up the pace we used to.
Last Friday night/Saturday morning, I was exchanging e-mails with a Director from work at 3-freaking-AM. That used to be my CFCL time, but that pocket of time, like many others, is getting sucked up by other things.
About the middle of last season, I came across this post in the Forum for the Atlanta Firecracker League, and it really struck a chord with me:
forums.danan.com/showthread.php?t=3109
I realized that I had been feeling the same way for the last few Octobers, and I thought it might be time to make some changes before I found myself making an announcement like this:
www.danan.com/afl/reports/column.plp?type=lefty&year=2006&date=2006-10-28%2013%3A35%3A25.091357
I took a look at the league business that was keeping me particularly busy the past few years, and specifically at those things that had become a chore rather than a hobby, and began to tinker with some ideas. I kicked them around with the Executive Committee a bit, and we ended up with a list of proposed changes.
The changes we're looking at have three main goals:
1) To reduce the amount of administrative overhead the Front Office is required to do. As noted above, now that I’m willing to break down and admit that I’m a full-fledged grown-up, Rich and I can’t keep up the pace we established for ourselves 10-15 years ago. At least I can't (I suppose I shouldn't speak for Rich), and for the past year or two I haven't. In some cases my lack of available time has been apparent (delay in getting the awards ballot out and banquet scheduled, much briefer weekly reports) and in other cases it’s been less visible (I’m about three years behind in publishing Draft histories). If I can remove some of the busy work that bogs down the Front Office, I can hopefully get back to the part of the league I really enjoy, which will hopefully filter out to everyone else.
2) To simplify the gameplay/rules, but avoid dumbing down the league. Over the years we've developed some pretty complex rules. Some were put in place to make the game more "realistic" or interesting, others addressed particular concerns that may no longer exist, and we invented others ... well, sometimes I wonder why we invented some others. Some of these rules may have outlived their usefulness and some never really achieved the results we were hoping for. We may take a look at some of these and decide it's time to write them out of the rulebook.
3) Stop fighting with the stat service. In a number of instances, the way Sportsline works things directly conflict with our rules. In some cases it makes it impossible to use the Sportsline functionality (they make you chose FAAB or Waivers, you can't do both - and if you choose waivers, it's a 3-day period not 7). In other cases, (varying transaction deadlines) the conflict results in a significant amount of additional admin work. Since Sportsline seems to be the best of the reasonably-priced, non-old-TQS services out there, it looks like we may be with them for the foreseeable future. If that's the case, it may be worth identifying some places it wouldn't hurt us to bend a little and see things the Sportsline way.
Obviously, an accompanying goal in all of this is to maintain or increase the fun of the league and what makes the CFCL special.
With that in mind, here's a list of the things we're considering, with links to details and discussion for each one in the Executive Committee Discussion forum.
Please share your thoughts about specific suggestions in those threads and add your overall comments to this one!
First some general background... Most of the changes being discussed came at my instigation, while I won’t say I’m getting burned out on the CFCL, it has definitely been more difficult running the league in the past couple years. Well, perhaps “difficult” is the wrong word to use. Yes, there have been struggles with the move to Sportsline that made thing a bit more onerous, but truthfully, it’s not the CFCL, it’s me. I’ve spent at least 10 months of each of the past 24 years (well over half my life!) focused on the CFCL, and lately it’s been tough to keep up.
I admit it, I'm becoming a crotchety old man. Once upon a time, Rich and I had oodles of spare time in our lives, and the CFCL permeated much of it. Heck, geeks that we were (are), it wouldn't be a stretch to say the CFCL was our lives. Certainly the CFCL still holds a high spot in our priorities, but over time things like wives, children, and increasing work responsibilities have staked their claim for our attention, and we simply cannot keep up the pace we used to.
Last Friday night/Saturday morning, I was exchanging e-mails with a Director from work at 3-freaking-AM. That used to be my CFCL time, but that pocket of time, like many others, is getting sucked up by other things.
About the middle of last season, I came across this post in the Forum for the Atlanta Firecracker League, and it really struck a chord with me:
forums.danan.com/showthread.php?t=3109
I realized that I had been feeling the same way for the last few Octobers, and I thought it might be time to make some changes before I found myself making an announcement like this:
www.danan.com/afl/reports/column.plp?type=lefty&year=2006&date=2006-10-28%2013%3A35%3A25.091357
I took a look at the league business that was keeping me particularly busy the past few years, and specifically at those things that had become a chore rather than a hobby, and began to tinker with some ideas. I kicked them around with the Executive Committee a bit, and we ended up with a list of proposed changes.
The changes we're looking at have three main goals:
1) To reduce the amount of administrative overhead the Front Office is required to do. As noted above, now that I’m willing to break down and admit that I’m a full-fledged grown-up, Rich and I can’t keep up the pace we established for ourselves 10-15 years ago. At least I can't (I suppose I shouldn't speak for Rich), and for the past year or two I haven't. In some cases my lack of available time has been apparent (delay in getting the awards ballot out and banquet scheduled, much briefer weekly reports) and in other cases it’s been less visible (I’m about three years behind in publishing Draft histories). If I can remove some of the busy work that bogs down the Front Office, I can hopefully get back to the part of the league I really enjoy, which will hopefully filter out to everyone else.
2) To simplify the gameplay/rules, but avoid dumbing down the league. Over the years we've developed some pretty complex rules. Some were put in place to make the game more "realistic" or interesting, others addressed particular concerns that may no longer exist, and we invented others ... well, sometimes I wonder why we invented some others. Some of these rules may have outlived their usefulness and some never really achieved the results we were hoping for. We may take a look at some of these and decide it's time to write them out of the rulebook.
3) Stop fighting with the stat service. In a number of instances, the way Sportsline works things directly conflict with our rules. In some cases it makes it impossible to use the Sportsline functionality (they make you chose FAAB or Waivers, you can't do both - and if you choose waivers, it's a 3-day period not 7). In other cases, (varying transaction deadlines) the conflict results in a significant amount of additional admin work. Since Sportsline seems to be the best of the reasonably-priced, non-old-TQS services out there, it looks like we may be with them for the foreseeable future. If that's the case, it may be worth identifying some places it wouldn't hurt us to bend a little and see things the Sportsline way.
Obviously, an accompanying goal in all of this is to maintain or increase the fun of the league and what makes the CFCL special.
With that in mind, here's a list of the things we're considering, with links to details and discussion for each one in the Executive Committee Discussion forum.
Please share your thoughts about specific suggestions in those threads and add your overall comments to this one!
- Eliminate In-Season Waivers
- Use Sportsline's Transaction Deadlines
- Allow Bidding on All Players Listed on Sportsline's Free Agent Listing
- Do Not Allow Players Traded to the AL to be Kept the Following Season
- Reduce the Size of the Reserve Rosters
- Eliminate Home Town Discounts
- Eliminate Suspended Player Rules
- Transaction Combo Thread
- cfcl.proboards19.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ec&thread=1199801117
- Comines the following threads:
- Owner Entry of Transactions at Sportsline
- Use Online FAAB at Sportsline
- Eliminate Mid-Week Moves
- Allow Free Movement Between Active-Reserve Lists 2-3 Times a Week
- Owner Entry of Transactions at Sportsline
- cfcl.proboards19.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ec&thread=1199801117
I KEED, I KEED. Though I can't say that I know how they feel. Fantasy baseball has in no way diminished my appetite for baseball. On the contrary, it probably has intensified it. I'd never go to any spring training games, nor would I probably go to AZ every year for Shandler's shindig. I'm also going to more Cubs' games than I ever have in my life. Finally, I think forcing me to learn about the entire NL gives me a greater appreciation of baseball. 
