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Raiden
Headbanger
3322 posts
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Posted - 4/11/2021 8:01:48 AM |
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NFL now has an 18 week regular season
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I think that this may be the biggest decision that we'll be making this season. In a nutshell, now that the NFL has added one week to the regular season, should we add one week to the fantasy season and do our playoffs in Weeks 15-17 instead of Weeks 14-16 like we currently do?
While the instant answer may be "YES" there are serious nuances to consider here. Expanding the fantasy season by one week would mean that we'd have to either go back to having three divisions or change how we do the playoffs. I can think of three possible scenarios at this point:
A) Go to three divisions
The reason that three divisions would be needed is because that offers a symmetrical schedule where you play division rivals twice and everyone else once. But if we go to three divisions, we would need to scrap the tiered divisions and progressive difficulty structure that we started a few years ago. Personally, I think that system has served us well and has injected a lot of fun and excitement to the league. I like the longer narrative arc of earning the division you are in and also knowing that you have a chance to win your 3-team division and make the playoffs. If we go back to three divisions and have them be tiered by performance, the top division will be so stacked that on a practical level one wouldn't ever want to earn a place in that division. A four-team division of killers is a brutal and unjust thunder dome.
B) Expand the playoffs
I got to hang out with Billy a couple of weeks ago and we talked about this and Billy had a creative idea: Keep the four divisions but expand the playoffs by one week. At the end of the season, have the #5, #6, #7, and #8 ranked teams have a playoff in Week 14. The two winners get the #5 and #6 seed in the league playoffs that run in Weeks 15-17.
This is a neat idea but the more I think about it the more I'm concerned that we would be diluting the importance of the regular season. Once 2/3 of the league is making a playoff spot each season, it kind of diminishes the week to week intensity where we all know that every Win fucking matters. Instead, all I'd worry about is making Top 8 and that's removes a lot of the tension that makes the league so intense.
A variation of that idea could be to expand it to just the Top 7 and then #6 and #7 have a play-in game. But even then, is this regular season dilution worth adding one more week that only two teams would participate in?
C) Do nothing
Fuck it. We keep the current system and end our fantasy playoffs in Week 16. Like the honey badger, Ragnarok doesn't give a fuck!
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I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this very important topic. If you can think of other options or refinements, please share them. This is a crossroads type of decision and we want to get all input.
Personally, after thinking about it for a month or so I'm advocating for Option C. |
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Posted - 4/11/2021 8:27:31 AM |
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schedule
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| I dont like option A. I do like option b as it gives Ragnarok a "wild card weekend" feel but i understand if someone doesn't like it. Prefer B but ok with C as well. |
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Posted - 4/11/2021 10:22:19 AM |
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I vote C
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It ain't broke. The last week will likely be a week with important players sitting, or injured anyway. We have other things we can spend our time on more important factors.
Thanks! |
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Coach Cowher Tomlin
Football Freak
997 posts
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Fu: 100.96 |
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Posted - 4/11/2021 11:01:30 AM |
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I vote C
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| Mainly because I don't really want to re-think stuff. The initial thinking is tough enough for me. |
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Posted - 4/11/2021 3:18:31 PM |
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Schedule
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I'm fine with option A and don't particularly care for option B. But I think option C is probably best. If nothing else, it gives us an extra week to remember that we can do a Pro Bowl - we all seem to forget about it every year.
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Posted - 4/11/2021 3:36:30 PM |
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Think Stu nailed it
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If we want to do something post-Week 16, the Pro Bowl would be fun.
If not the Pro Bowl, on the surface I don't like the idea of TWO weeks where we're doing nothing. I don't think the argument that teams may be sitting their players after clinching really holds up for an extra week. And goddamnit, if the NFL is going to give us more football at the expense of their own employees' safety as a cash grab for their wealthy white owners, we should benefit by getting more fantasy football as well.
What if the championship round was extended to two weeks? I've seen some leagues make this change. |
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Posted - 4/11/2021 5:07:27 PM |
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I have thought about that, Sean...
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| The two week game. Where scores are added together. I didn’t bring it up because we have historically been a league that tends to model reality. I do like the pro bowl idea. And we could do a two week event with that and we can play vs. everyone. First week a full roster, second week maybe goes to a modified (mini superstar) roster added to your scores the first week? Or some other fun twist? Only your Franchise and Rookie scores the second week? Fun to think about. |
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Posted - 4/12/2021 8:46:44 AM |
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Reg Season
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| Great breakdown Keith. I am good with C, I like our division makeup. I can also support B. There will be no complaints from the Bass. |
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Posted - 5/2/2021 8:05:20 AM |
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It looks like option "C" is the consensus
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Based on everyone's posted thoughts in the forum and the nine votes in the official ballot box, it looks like we'll be keeping a 16 week fantasy schedule and will have our playoffs remain in Weeks 14-16.
That does give us two extra weeks to do something creative if we wish. A 2-week Pro Bowl sounds quite interesting. There could be a divisional Pro Bowl playoffs, with Week 17 having all four divisions competing to see which two divisions face off in Week 18. Or maybe there is a better approach? And what would the winning division get? I think we tinkered with +5MB for each team for the following season but have never really been consistent in having a Pro Bowl each season.
Does anyone have any other ideas of how to play with these extra two weeks? Perhaps a cage match somehow involving all teams?
Whatever we finally decide upon, we should formalize it in the rules. |
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Posted - 5/15/2021 7:00:46 AM |
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There are 4 teams on bye week 14
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| The Colts, Dolphins, Patriots and Eagles are all on bye week 14. Do we want to have players on bye during our playoffs? |
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Posted - 5/15/2021 10:35:53 AM |
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Oh Shit!
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Okay, thanks I won't draft any of those guys.
No really...That's a huge wrinkle.
Thanks Goodell.
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Posted - 5/16/2021 10:53:03 PM |
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Week 14 Bye
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A Week 14 Bye and cats and dogs sleeping together, oh my!
It seems like moving our Ragnarok Playoffs to Weeks 15-17 is the proper adjustment. That means that we'd have no fantasy football in Week 14 - or a different week. We can also get creative and have some fun fantasy football party games for any missed week and/or a longer parallel fun challenge depending on the schedule.
Eric brought up an interesting idea today: What about having our global league bye week be something like Week 3? That is a week where there are no players on bye weeks, which grants the competitive consideration of every player being equal in terms of how many weeks of fantasy football they play. If we have the league skip a week that contains NFL byes, then any players NOT in the NFL's bye week will have a higher value and thus be asymmetrical. By having our league bye week in a week where all NFL players are playing, everyone will be equal in terms of every player will have one legit fantasy bye week. |
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Posted - 5/19/2021 6:41:05 PM |
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How about use Week 14 to start a secondary tournament?
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Keith invented a truly kick ass fantasy tournament a couple years back, where you play in single-elimination head-to-head matchups with a one-on-one draft each week (drafting starters only). It's really fun.
What if we used this in our league to handle the week 14 problem?
Here's my idea: Keep Ragnarok's regular season as weeks 1-13, and set the playoffs for weeks 15-17. In the week 14 "bye week" we start a secondary tournament, like they have in soccer, using Keith's tournament setup. Let's call it the Loki Cup for now.
How it works: In week 14 we are assigned head-to-head matchups. Each matchup has a head-to-head draft that Wednesday. The 6 head-to-head winners plus top 2 point-scoring head-to-head losers advance (so we have 8 teams left). Week 15-17 is single-elimination, with new drafts each Wednesday. Importantly, the Loki Cup is totally independent of the main Ragnarok playoffs. And because we draft anew each week, we could easily modify this to incorporate week 18 - like have the 12 teams play a 2-week matchup weeks 14 & 15 so we end on week 18.
What I like about it: 1) This would give all teams new life during playoff time. Non-playoff teams play for more than just draft picks, as they get a chance to start over and win a secondary title with a whole new strategy and set of players. Playoff teams can try for the elusive and truly dominant Double Ragnarok Title. 2) We don't have to take a Ragnarok break during our regular season, especially during the first few weeks when everyone is at their most engaged.
What I don't like about it: Nothing. This is a great idea that I had. I hear Erik on the concerns about having players with no byes during our regular season. But it seems to me that it's got as many negatives as positives from a fantasy perspective - it's great to not have to bench a starter because of a bye, but good luck staying healthy if you're a team that goes through that gauntlet to get to their week 14 bye.
So that's it. Fun new tournament at the end of the season so we can shift Ragnarok playoffs to a more reasonable week 15 start, without skipping a beat in the regular season. What say you all? |
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Posted - 5/19/2021 8:14:15 PM |
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Gambler to the end.
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I haven’t taken time to punch holes in this Loki Cup, but I like it! And I second to not having a league wide bye early in the season. Boo! Ultimately, It’s more games. More fun. BTW...have we picked a home?
Football! |
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Coach Cowher Tomlin
Football Freak
997 posts
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Fu: 100.96 |
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Posted - 5/20/2021 5:43:32 AM |
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Say what?
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| I don't understand a thing you just proposed but it sounds like fun! Football! |
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Posted - 5/20/2021 6:39:31 AM |
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I like it!!
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| Also, as long as the RAGNAROK championship maintains it integrity as the “ championship “ that matters, I am all for it. Blowing rock house won the competition for draft house. Any one got enough float to put the deposit down? |
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Posted - 5/20/2021 4:40:53 PM |
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I can do the deposit
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| I should be able to get it taken care of tomorrow (5/21). Just to make sure, it's 4 nights just like usual, correct? Checking in Thursday, 9/9 and checking out Monday 9/13. |
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Posted - 5/20/2021 6:33:27 PM |
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As for the week 14 issue
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| I'm leaning more towards extending the regular season (even if it means realignment) than for having a league bye week. |
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Posted - 5/31/2021 8:51:15 AM |
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I'm lovin' the Loki Cup idea
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We'd all be involved regardless of our regular season outcomes, and our rosters would be completely fresh each week. I also really like this this proposal does not undermine our symmetrical schedule, which I think is particularly important in our league. And it can run all the way through to Week 18.
If we could put a little skin in the game, that would be even better. We could put $5 each into a kitty and have it be winner take all, for a $60 payout in addition to the glory. I'm not sure what else to award, as we want there to be something to play for but awarding any sizeable Megabucks may disrupt the following season's competitive balance. |
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Posted - 12/7/2021 7:08:42 AM |
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Week 14 Ragnarok Jamboree
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I thought we had decided this in the summer, but I'm not finding a record of it in the forum.
I think I remember us deciding that we were going to have everyone play everyone in Week 14. The top 6 scoring teams get a Win and the bottom 6 scoring teams get a Loss.
That will give us a full 14 week schedule and then we can do our playoffs in Weeks 15-17 (when there are no byes).
Just to spoof it for the software platform, I'll probably have to set up placeholder head-to-head matchups that have no meaning besides allowing scores to be tallied. After Week 14 is finished, I'll probably rearrange the head-to-head matchups to have W-L relationships just so the software will pick up that data and incorporate it into the overall standings, etc. |
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Posted - 12/7/2021 7:44:56 AM |
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Jamboree! Jamboree!
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| I’m legitimately excited about this. I wish somehow all 12 teams were still in the playoffs hunt, which would make this truly bonkers. But I still think it’s got some intrigue with some playoff spots and a lot of seeding still on the line. Good luck to five of you! |
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Posted - 12/7/2021 8:24:12 AM |
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I don't think we had a consensus on what to do
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| From what I remember (my memory has been known to be a little hazy), the Jamboree idea was brought up and the few people who responded to the idea liked it. But we never verified if we would actually do it or not. I'm all for it (unless it knocks me out of the playoffs, then I'm against it). |
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Posted - 12/7/2021 12:45:52 PM |
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There are byes next week...
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...which is why we kinda liked the Jamoboree, I think, instead of starting the playoffs. There are definitely seeding and playoff implications on the line.
I guess we never put it in a ballot box, but at this point it seems the fairest way to solidify the brackets.
It seems like by week 18, some playoff bound teams will happily rest many relevant fantasy players. So I'm not sure how much it's worth for Keith to program a Probowl week if dudes aren't playing.
Football!
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Posted - 12/8/2021 3:01:48 AM |
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If we are having another week
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| If we are doing a Jamboree and having another competitive week, does that include free agency and do the losers from last week get 10 megabucks? |
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Coach Cowher Tomlin
Football Freak
997 posts
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Fu: 100.96 |
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Posted - 12/8/2021 5:54:59 AM |
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Go Jamboree!
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| I'm all for it, despite it not being enough to save me. Good luck you fuckers! |
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Posted - 12/8/2021 9:38:02 AM |
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Let’s do it!
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| I thinks it’s a fun and clever way to resolve the extra week. |
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Posted - 12/8/2021 1:59:06 PM |
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Jamboree is a great idea.
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| Let's do it! |
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Posted - 12/8/2021 5:23:00 PM |
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yes, Free Agency runs through Sunday
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| deposits should be there as of earlier today |
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