Sportsline

[Demreb]

It's never too early to think about next year (already have my Winter Waiver cuts ready to go!)

We have had some issues with Sportsline the last few years so we need to decide if there are better options out there.

I'll post more later regarding the specific problems we had this year (and I defer to Sportsline Czar to speak with expertise) but I would like to hear from you about the pros/cons of Sportsline and what our options might be.

[Copperfields]

If you do end up looking at alternatives, onroto.com should be on the list. This was a service started a couple years ago by the original designers of Total Quality Stats (they had sold the service to somone else who then drove it into the ground).

I can't vouch for features or quality of OnRoto - though I've heard good things, including that they have the same sweet Commish tools that the original TQS had - but they'd be worth looking into because these guys get it. They understand Roto baseball and how it's different from fantasy football, and they have the same high degree of flexibility and customization that TQS had. They will make their service fit your league's rules, not force you to change your rules to fit the service like Sportsline did.

It's certainly not as pretty or flashy as Sportsline, but again, if you're looking into alternatives, OnRoto would be worth exploring.

[MGrage]

Truth be told. I never could warm up to Sportsline's layout. It's fine for a lesser fantasy league like football, but it was never flexible enough to suit our league's needs. I guess I still long for the TQS salad days. Mmmm, salad. In particular, I disliked how a player's stats vanished into thin air whenever they were banished from your team. Looking at a sample league from Dave's suggestion, OnRoto, brings back warm fuzzies.

I never did read 99% of the stuff Sportsline put out so I would have no problem changing sites. Though I might have to change my vote if they make it TOO easy on Rich and/or Mike. I want them distracted and confused as much as possible. I need every edge imaginable. How much do we pay Sportsline? I can never remember. At $99 base and $40 more for a no ad page, I don't think Dave's suggestion is too much more. Mahalo

Matt

[Demreb]

Uh, Matt? 10th place! Hello! How much more confused/distracted could I be? Mike C. is the problem. Even with all of Sportslines problems he still nailed second place.

[davidsruffins (archived)]

The EC knows the painstaking details, which I won't repeat here. The short version is that on three occasions late in the season, Sportsline either did not record a transaction I had made, or recorded a transaction, but then reversed it the next day. In other words, I'd activated Player A and reserved Player B on Friday. Player A's stats would get recorded for Friday, but then I'd look at my roster on Saturday only to find Player B active and Player A reserved. In these cases, the Sportsline transaction log reported the legal, on-time Friday transaction, but not the Saturday transaction, apparently made by gremlins buried in Sportsline's interface. Because I was a highly interested participant in the pennant race, I noticed these mistakes and informed the EC. The scary thing is, had I not been paying such close attention, I might not have noticed. The terrifying thing is that there is some, albeit tiny, probability that a "ghost" transaction or two could affect the standings, possibly without us realizing it.

Given these issues and my sense from the Coppers that TQS was a dream compared to Sportsline, I'm all for moving as long as we can find something comparably priced. Sportsline always struck me as cheap. If it's a lot cheaper than other sites, maybe we live with its idiosyncracies. Otherwise, I vote to switch. I guess the only other concern I'd have would be living without the Live Scoring feature, which is kind of fun.

[Demreb]

Dave -

Not that we have decided to go to OnRoto.com, but if they are being considered you'll be happy to know they have a Live Scoring option. The layout isn't as friendly as Sportsline (or maybe I'm just more used to Sportsline) but it looks like it gets the job done.

[MGrage]

So I don't sound completely anti-Sportsline, I will have to admit there were a couple of nice things about the site. I liked the separate area for league-wide posts and being able to scan through the old posts easily. And when it worked, the Live Scoring stuff was really nice too. Finally, I liked the little chat room on the Live Scoring page too.

BTW Rich. I want you so distracted that you finish 11th in a 10 team league. Mahalo

Matt

PS. Another possibility could be Fanball. The guys at OnRoto gave them a little bit of a shout out in their mission statement saying that some of their old employees came in and turned things around. At a cursory glance, it looked a little more snazzier than OnRoto but I would still prefer the old school tingling I get with OnRoto.