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Post by Rebels GM on Jan 28, 2008 19:39:54 GMT -5
I have an idea that I wanted to throw out there for discussion about a potential realignment to the division and conference makeup along with an improved schedule where each GM will get the chance to play one another at least once every two seasons.
Here is my suggestion, all I ask is for an open mind:
1. Realign the league into 2 eight team divisions/conferences with the majority of games being played within the division between the 8 teams in each division with the lone inter-conference play being made up of four double header weeks built into the season that will rotate every other year. (weeks 2 and 3) and (weeks 11 and 12) these games would be scheduled during none NFL bye weeks to ensure that teams will be at full strength when they play their double header weeks. The season would also run 13 weeks for a total of 17 games
2. Reduce the number of playoff teams from 8 to 6 with the division winner in each conference receiving a bye into the Conference Championship Week so winning the division really means something as it provides a little but easier of a road to the Blitz Bowl. The other two wildcards in each conference would play each other. This would increase the level of competition and make each game in the regular season very meaningful. Another key benefit is that it will almost guarantee that the best teams will be playing in the postseason rewarding solid seasons instead of giving a berth to a 5-7 team simply because they were the division winner in a shit division. This is very important in a 16 team league and will definitely increase the level of competition in an already very competitive league.
3. Another great aspect of this set up is the feeling of true conference pride as the sides continually will argue about what conference is stronger. It makes meting up in the big game that much more special.
I also have a plan for franchise realignment that I will post later on
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Post by gametime on Jan 28, 2008 20:03:07 GMT -5
i like and have no problem with it.... As long as I can spank Ronnie Mexico....2 , 3 times a year I'm good with it!
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Post by Fundy on Jan 28, 2008 20:13:34 GMT -5
You are right Rob, I vote only 6 teams to make the playoffs instead of the 8.
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Post by Rebels GM on Jan 28, 2008 20:21:40 GMT -5
Fundy it is great to hear from you!!!!
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Post by Football Buddah on Jan 28, 2008 21:48:33 GMT -5
I agree that the playoffs should only be 6 teams. 8 was a little much (not that I knew what it was like).
Also, as we discussed Rob, weeks 3 thru 10 are currently BYE weeks (at least it has been the past few years), so we may want to re-visit that for the Double-Header's. Maybe make it weeks 11 & 12.
So, if I'm reading this correctly - we'll have a 17 game schedule? 13 weeks, with 4 addt'l games as DH's. Can you clarify how the matchup's will be set up, both in & out of our divisions?
I am keeping an open mind to these changes, but like some other GM's in the league, it's my first time in this style/format, so I'm still trying to get used to all the RFA's and Signing periods, etc and throwing additional changes on top of it, might be cumbersome. I, for one, appreciate the efforts you're putting into this, but maybe it might be best to ease into alot of these changes year by year.
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Post by gametime on Jan 28, 2008 22:18:09 GMT -5
since i don't know any better... change it now.... makes my learning curve smaller if others have things to learn too... with a league this involved, the three new guys and myself have some catching up to do!
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Post by blindsidegm on Jan 28, 2008 22:26:54 GMT -5
I honestly do not feel strongly either way on the issue of 6 or 8 teams making the playoffs. Having only six seems to reward the best teams in the league. Eight teams supports parody, though. Who can forget the run our 6-seed Steelers had a couple of years back. There is some value in having more teams in the playoffs.
The double header schedule is nice because it allows teams that would otherwise not play each other to face off during the season. It is the best answer that we have had to balancing the schedule of a two division format.
On the downside, it naturally makes the schedule "weighted" and, I believe, increases the element of luck. Strong performances in "unweighted" weeks can quickly be overshadowed in the other weeks. We cannot motivate our fantasy teams. Our players do not know which weeks are more important. It may sound crazy, but it leaves me with a feeling of helplessness.
If we do go with the two division, six team playoff, maybe we should stick with the traditional schedule. Here no week is more "important" than the other. Maybe we could offset the lack of interdivisional play with a scheduling system that has us playing certain teams in our division only once, according to strength of schedule based on our previous year's record.
What the hell did I just say?
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Post by gametime on Jan 28, 2008 22:36:21 GMT -5
made sense to me
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Post by Wonderlickers on Jan 29, 2008 10:07:29 GMT -5
I'm all for making the changes now, but I think Blindside brings up some good points about the weighting of certain weeks. I personally thought the four division set-up was nice, as it mirrored the conferences in the NFL. But if you believe the two 8-team conferences is better, than I'll be fine going along with it.
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Post by Rebels GM on Jan 29, 2008 10:13:08 GMT -5
the 2 eight team conferences with only 6 teams making the postseason really takes the competition to an elite level of play IMO.
As for the double headers that is something we can vote on separately
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Post by Rebels GM on Jan 29, 2008 10:46:55 GMT -5
No changes are etched in stone Neil, this is something that I just wanted to start a discussion topic on. I strongly believe that setting the league up like this would increase the level of competition and make qualifying for the postseason really mean something instead of having a 6-6 team or a 5-7 team in the playoffs simply b/c they "won" their shit division. The only reason I even bring this topic up is that we are obviously going to do a little restructuring with the new GMs so IMO this would be a great time to do something of this magnitude, but it is by no means something that we MUST do or will do for that matter. It is just a suggestion that I truly believe will help make this elite league even more of a challenge. I hate seeing shit teams make the playoffs because theywon their division but if you guys want to keep it this way I have no problem with it as I plan on making the playoffs regardless of the format.  As for the make up of the new divisions, I would like to try to keep some of the rivalries together. Obviously we gotta have Buddah and Guru in the same division and I know that Tyler and Fundy want to stay together along with Barrister and Ron so I will do my best to come up with something that everyone will agree on. This is something right off the top of my head should we decided to go with this new format: Conference 1 Loquitus Buddah GURU Wonderlichers Argonauts (Dammit) Condors Jackrabbits Nea Kameni Conference 2 Barrister Crew (RM) Ho's Blindside Game Time Fundy Secondary MGMG This would keep several GMs that have started some basic rivalries together and allow even more great rivalries to be born Like I said this is only a suggestion and not a mandate. But it is something to think about regardless. thoughts? |
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Post by Football Buddah on Jan 30, 2008 0:15:46 GMT -5
Not to contradict you Rob, but the Division winner last year with the "worst" record was RonMexico's team at 8-4. I'm sure there have been some 6-6 teams to win their divisions in the past, but keep in mind, we also are considering incorporating some DH's to increase the number of games played (from 12 to either 16 or 17). That should open it up for better records making the playoffs.
That said, leaving it at 4-divisions, and also cutting the playoff teams down to 6, will truly make winning your division that much greater. In fact, that would give us a Conference set-up just like the NFC or AFC in the NFL has today.
All good ideas, and I will work to bullet point them out so that we can have a productive discussion at our Owners' Meeting.
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Post by Barrister on Jan 30, 2008 8:20:15 GMT -5
Whatever everyone decides to do on this stuff is fine with me. I think it’s great to get a discussion going. Here is what I prefer at this point.
1. I like the 4 divisions, with 4 teams in each format.
2. I’d go to 6 playoff teams. No disrespect here, but if I only go .500 or (ugh!) a game under that, I don’t think I’m really of playoff caliber in an elite league. If we decide to keep the Conference format, the two division winners and best 2nd place team qualify in each. If we get rid of Conferences, and just have 4 Divisions, then the 4 division winners and 2 top non-division winning teams (regardless of division) might qualify
3. I also think that we should extend the season to 13 weeks and play everyone at least once. I felt cheated last year with only 12 weeks, and not getting to play a couple of my old nemesis'; e.g., Loqutis. Plus I didn't get a chance to get to know and battle a couple other GMs I'd never met before. A more balanced schedule would advance more spirited competition and create annual rivalries in the league. No matter what, Tyler and Ethan should be assured of playing each other every year. And the thought of not getting to smack Ron Mexico and Rob around at least once a year is enough to drive me to bed out of depression.
4. If we were to expand to a 13 week regular season, and play everyone once and those in our division twice, that adds up to 18 games total. If we played doubleheaders (1 game against our division, the other against a non-division team) in weeks #1, #2, #11, #12 & #13, we can avoid the wk 3-10 NFL bye-weeks, both for our crucial intra-divisional games and doubleheader weeks.
5. I agree we should go to IDPs this year. Granting 100 blbs or whatever to everybody for an auction of solely IDPs is a terrific idea.
6. I wouldn’t totally do away with HC’s, DSTs, or Kickers for that matter. HCs do make a difference in occasional NFL games. Do you want Belicheat or Art Shell as your coach on otherwise evenly matched teams? I would reduce HC’s scoring to 5 pts for a W, and 0 for an L. Just because HC scoring wouldn’t impact often, doesn’t mean we should totally scrap them. If that’s the case, we might as well dump kickers in this league too.
7. I also don’t like the idea of giving the two bottom-finshing teams 25 pts. By the same token, though, giving the Blitz Bowl Winner only 15 is too low (especially when they’ll draft 16th). I mean -- and again, no disrespect here – but how can you give 20 blbs for the NFL picks champs, and 50 to the Survivor, NCAA Tourney, and Draft Challenge winner, and only 15 to our Champ? I mean, c’mon, this is a fantasy football league, first and foremost. At an absolute minimum I’d give 30 to the Blitzbowl winner, 15 to the runner-up and 10 to the 3rd place finisher and 5 to the 4th, and another 5 blbs to each division winner.
8. I'd also make the first tie-breaker for standings, playoffs & seeding Total Points, rather than head-to-head. I think it's a better indicator of which team has been better over the course of the season. If you've outscored your tied opponent over the course of the season, that should mean more than a loss to him because all your studs were on bye that week. It also gets rid of the dreaded three-way tie problem we had last year.
Again, just my thoughts. I’ll have no problem with what everyone eventually decides to do. No matter how we go on this stuff, it's going to be terrific fun.
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Post by Das Mannschaft on Feb 1, 2008 17:03:02 GMT -5
I agree with Barrister on this one. I think that there should be only 6 playoff teams and 13 regular season games.
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Post by Barrister on Feb 11, 2008 8:17:07 GMT -5
This is something right off the top of my head should we decided to go with this new format: Conference 1 Loquitus Buddah GURU Wonderlichers Argonauts (Dammit) Condors Jackrabbits Nea Kameni Conference 2 Barrister Crew (RM) Ho's Blindside Game Time Fundy Secondary MGMG This would keep several GMs that have started some basic rivalries together and allow even more great rivalries to be born Like I said this is only a suggestion and not a mandate. But it is something to think about regardless. thoughts? Since we voted to go with two 8 team conferences last night, I have no problem with your initial proposal for the allocation of teams....Even though mine's got at least 3 Dallas Cowboy pimps in it, that's more than made up for by getting to smack GT around a time or two every year.   |
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Post by Wonderlickers on Feb 11, 2008 8:21:48 GMT -5
Yeah the proposed breakdown looks good to me...the only thing that I would see possibly changing it is the fact that the Ron Mexico is now out, and I'm not sure if the Jager Bombs would be better fit with Buddah in conference 1. Whatever you and Andy decide is fine with me.
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Post by Rebels GM on Feb 11, 2008 8:22:41 GMT -5
I am submitting a new proposal to Buddah later on today. Not that this first one is bad, I just know a few GMs have already been at it on the boards and I think it would be better for the league if we had them in the same division/conferences.
I also want to make sure we have the division/ conferences balanced to ensure that teams are playing on a level playing field.
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