Cold Hard Look Goodbye

[751542]

Originally posted by Schwks:

This post was never meant to be a referendum on the twice weekly moves. Because it has been brought up, I will say that the Friday moves had nothing to do with my decision to leave, absolutely ZERO; there is no mention of it in my post. To me, the NFBC and its decision makers ALWAYS make the right decisions when it comes to what is best for the game.



As RT correctly points out, I need to find balance. I need some time to see if I can participate without it negatively impacting the rest of my life. For whatever reason, it set off the obsessive in me. I could not shake the need to be constantly researching and communicating. That took away from the time and attentions to a very tough profession, and a family with a small child.



I was almost wondering if anyone else had felt their lives spinning out of control at all. as we know there are a multitude of different personality styles. some obsess/some chill some watch games/some watch box scores and some listen to games on their 1950's headphones etc. thats for you to figure out. i feel if you are obsessing its due to 1 of 2 things. either the league entry is too high or your in too many leagues(i am one to speak). but lets be honest here, if it is taking away from your children/family...give it up!!. you dont want to look back in life and regret a game you played. i know plenty of players who wait to the little ones are asleep. i know some players who know they are going to get alot less sleep during the season because once the have fulfilled all of their family needs...well then its me and baseball. again finding that balance and if you cant... well then maybe your children wife and fitness and job will be better off. i do not believe the 2x a week moves take up that much time. moving in active players for hurt players, looking at the schedule the next 3 days to see where your players are playing or who they are facing...come on....its about time management. some people can do it and some cant ...no big deal . its about finding out what you can handle and whats best for your situation.

i was talking to a local buddy the other day.he obliterates local leagues. he is single and no kids and plenty of income. i once again tried to sell him on the nfbc...no go. he feels like the higher stakes would take the fun out of it for him. i said, "there is money out there for you to win, go get it" he passed. point being, high stakes fantasy is not for everyone. it should be a hobby or game for most people and when it becomes a 4th(father, husband, real job) fulltime job, one needs to back off. its all good, do whats is best for you and your situation. i applaud people who look at themselves in the mirror and are honest. i wish people the best who decide this is too much. but i do believe everyone can play if the balances are in play..and dak...lets not knock people who have found that balance or who have the kind of job that allows me to play...weak!

[Greg Ambrosius]

I agree with Doug and I applaud him for bringing this up. He wasn't trying to start this thread as an indictment on the NFBC or on fantasy baseball or on the rules. He was explaining his personal situation and wondering if anyone else out there was having the same problem balancing everything in his life right now and prioritizing the most important things in his life.



He quickly found out that Mark Srebro, one of the most successful owners in the NFBC last year and since 2004, is in the same boat. I trust Doug was surprised but felt better. The rest is just for message board debate. The bottom line here is that it's tough for all of us to balance everything we want to do and be the very best at it all.



As RT said, some can do it better than others. Some can work hard and raise a family and enjoy this great hobby. And some can enjoy the preparation, the baseball season and the camaraderie that goes along with it and not win a title and still enjoy the experience. Not everyone can do that and I think some on this thread will admit they are among them. Just playing isn't enough; they MUST win, too.



RT is right, find that balance first and return later if you want. And if not, still drop by to see who is winning and to talk baseball. The game will still be alive and waiting for ya.

[Gekko]

The NFBC is a great, great contest. If I was single, I'd be preparing to take over the NFBC world this year. Alas, I have some family responsibilities to take care of this year. That is the only reason why I won't be playing in FAAB leagues. I don't like half-assing anything, so if I can't pour in the time necessary to succeed, I'd rather not play.



And for the record, I love the Friday switch for hitters. Doesn't take much time at all and is quite valuable.

[Gekko]

And if you do branch off on your own this year Greg, I will find a way to support you as a customer. Maybe I'll draft a team (or teams) and let someone else manage them during the season, etc...

[The Franchise]

I think everyone on here in some form is correct in what they are saying. I think it's all about doing what you feel is best for you and the others around you. Family is #1 priority for me, but I have a business that requires a lot of my attention. My family realizes that without it we don't survive (weather small or big we need money to get by).

My family also realizes that the competitive person in me likes to compete in anything I do. My way of having fun and competing at the same time is to play Fantasy Baseball and Football.





RT said it best. Everyone is built differently, you have to find what works best for you.





I am of the belief that if I'm spending thousands of dollars to play an expensive hobby, I want to have more control than less. I had a conversation with a friend about this the other day. He agrees with me but has talked to several other players who don't share the same opinion. I don't think anyone is wrong in how they feel. I think just because the option of changing your lineup or rotation is available on Friday does not mean you have to utilize it. When debating or not sharing the same view with someone else I always try to put myself in their shoes to "try" to understand their way of thinking. So if I felt Friday's required too much of my time I would just setup my team on Monday where I would not feel I had to make changes to it again later in the week. (not sure it's the answer, but it is an option)





I also disagree with the gentleman that said 2x a week moves are for people that can sit in an office. What is that supposed to mean? I think that's unfair statement. I know players who probably "in my eyes" have more time than I do to research or game plan. It does NOT mean "in my eyes" they are going to do better than me.





I could be wrong in everything I just said, but it's how I feel just like everyone has a right to express how they feel. I just think blaming the game is not the way to go.

[Quahogs]

Originally posted by Cornhusker:

quote:Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

Its because twice a week changes were added, without a vote on it, a poll on it, or any consideration of the time commitment. I love fantasy baseball more than anybody but having 50 deadlines in one fantasy season is nuts. I'm reducing league too, when I really don't want to, because I can't take having two deadlines a week X upteen teams, with money on the line. It becomes a job- a fun job, but a job.



I have no clue when the rule was added, but it sucked after about two weeks. No degree of fairness is worth rushing and turning into a drone.



That being said, very anxious for the season this year and looking forward to my fix of weekly change leagues. I hope everyone else is too. Many are anxious for the weekly change Challenge Leagues to open, and due to the extra commitment, they will also want to enjoy their paired down plate of NFBC leagues. Couldn't agree more. The twice weekly changes were a HUGE change without getting much input. I definitely will not enter into any NFBC leagues with FAAB this year unless they go back to only weekly changes. The extra Friday studying needed for lineup changes basically doubled roster managment time and totally burned me out. I feel the only people who have legitimate shot of winning the overall with the new rules are those without family and those able to study baseball at work.



I may take the year off from Fantasy Baseball as well due to these factors. I did look at the WCOFB and they have twice weekly changes for pitchers and hitters so there is no way I am joining that contest.



Good Luck. [/QUOTE]I can't speak for how you approach the twice weekly moves for hitters but I found that there was a nice trade off - You no longer had to obsess about that hitter missing a big portion of the week when you knew you could sit him after thursday's games. The time spent trying to determine who to start for a WHOLE WEEK actually took more time for me.



You're right about the pitching moves though. You thought just hitting was a hurdle? including pitching is a 50x multiplier to that.

[Babe Ruthless]

With the twice weekly roster moves has there been any discussion about increasing the roster size by a few players? It would add another strategy to the game.

[Babe Ruthless]

With the twice weekly roster moves has there been any discussion about increasing the roster size by a few players? It would add another strategy to the game.

[KJ Duke]

Originally posted by Babe Ruthless:

With the twice weekly roster moves has there been any discussion about increasing the roster size by a few players? It would add another strategy to the game. I wouldn't see it adding much strategy, more so depleting the faab pool.

[bjoak]

Originally posted by Quahogs:

quote:Originally posted by Cornhusker:

quote:Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

Its because twice a week changes were added, without a vote on it, a poll on it, or any consideration of the time commitment. I love fantasy baseball more than anybody but having 50 deadlines in one fantasy season is nuts. I'm reducing league too, when I really don't want to, because I can't take having two deadlines a week X upteen teams, with money on the line. It becomes a job- a fun job, but a job.



I have no clue when the rule was added, but it sucked after about two weeks. No degree of fairness is worth rushing and turning into a drone.



That being said, very anxious for the season this year and looking forward to my fix of weekly change leagues. I hope everyone else is too. Many are anxious for the weekly change Challenge Leagues to open, and due to the extra commitment, they will also want to enjoy their paired down plate of NFBC leagues. Couldn't agree more. The twice weekly changes were a HUGE change without getting much input. I definitely will not enter into any NFBC leagues with FAAB this year unless they go back to only weekly changes. The extra Friday studying needed for lineup changes basically doubled roster managment time and totally burned me out. I feel the only people who have legitimate shot of winning the overall with the new rules are those without family and those able to study baseball at work.



I may take the year off from Fantasy Baseball as well due to these factors. I did look at the WCOFB and they have twice weekly changes for pitchers and hitters so there is no way I am joining that contest.



Good Luck. [/QUOTE]I can't speak for how you approach the twice weekly moves for hitters but I found that there was a nice trade off - You no longer had to obsess about that hitter missing a big portion of the week when you knew you could sit him after thursday's games. The time spent trying to determine who to start for a WHOLE WEEK actually took more time for me.



You're right about the pitching moves though. You thought just hitting was a hurdle? including pitching is a 50x multiplier to that. [/QUOTE]I couldn't agree more. Hitter moves were great and made Sundays far less stressful (and sometimes made Fridays less painful).



Twice a week pitching moves, however, made the WCOFB a real hassle.



1. Your bench had to be overrun with pitchers: starting pitchers, relief pitchers, and guys who qualified as starting pitchers who had a relief role in real life (like Jose Contreras). Every hitter you benched was a potential detriment to your team because you were taking up a pitching spot and therefore eliminating innings that you could gain by switching in and out SP's on Fridays.

2. It took up a lot more time both in terms of Friday changes and figuring out what to do with your faab on Sunday.

3. Moves had to be made by 10 AM (PST) on Fridays. Way too early. Games usually didn't start for six more hours and the moves still had to be in. On quite a few weeks I'd remember at 9:50 that I had to switch the guys and then just hurry through it. And on a related note...

4. In the NFBC, if you forgot to change your line-up one friday, the worst case scenario was that you had no at bats from one guy on your team for the weekend, while you missed a .220 average and one RBI from a scrub on your bench. In the WCOFB, you could lose six starts from your six best pitchers. It is nothing less than a disaster that could ruin a season.

5. It affected the strategy of the game in that quantity became more important than quality.



I really disliked it and likely won't play in a league with 2x pitching changes regardless of what happens with the NFBC.

[Zazie]

Originally posted by Schwks:

This post was never meant to be a referendum on the twice weekly moves. Because it has been brought up, I will say that the Friday moves had nothing to do with my decision to leave, absolutely ZERO; there is no mention of it in my post. To me, the NFBC and its decision makers ALWAYS make the right decisions when it comes to what is best for the game.



As RT correctly points out, I need to find balance. I need some time to see if I can participate without it negatively impacting the rest of my life. For whatever reason, it set off the obsessive in me. I could not shake the need to be constantly researching and communicating. That took away from the time and attentions to a very tough profession, and a family with a small child.



I was almost wondering if anyone else had felt their lives spinning out of control at all. I do think this is the topic you wanted to discuss, and more power to you. I feel for you, because the small child doesn't stay small all that long, and the time is something you never get back.



I'm retired, I have a trustworthy nfbc partner, and although I do have a family to spend time with, I would seem to have more time at my disposal than you do. And yet I am not willing to play more than a few leagues, nor am I willing to spend a great deal of time doing research. Nor is my partner, who does have a young child. We spend some hours working on our teams, but we ignore the feeling that "you can never do enough" and we say "enough." And our results have been fairly good.



If it were me in your position, I'd scale back to one league and set a limit on how much time I could spend each week on it. A low-priced league, too, so if I discovered I couldn't keep to my plan I could just walk away from it. Finding a trustworthy partner is also an idea, but easier said than done. I'm lucky to have one.



I have an addictive personality, the shrinks would (possibly) say, and I have had to learn this stuff the hard way. Re-training myself to set limits was not easy but I think I have the demons under control, and the result is measurable: playing the games turns out to be fun instead of a source of anxiety. I wish you luck. At least you have a willingness to face the issue squarely, and that says good things about you.



And thanks for your good posts, which I have enjoyed reading.

[Sebadiah23]

Originally posted by Quahogs:

quote:Originally posted by Cornhusker:

quote:Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

Its because twice a week changes were added, without a vote on it, a poll on it, or any consideration of the time commitment. I love fantasy baseball more than anybody but having 50 deadlines in one fantasy season is nuts. I'm reducing league too, when I really don't want to, because I can't take having two deadlines a week X upteen teams, with money on the line. It becomes a job- a fun job, but a job.



I have no clue when the rule was added, but it sucked after about two weeks. No degree of fairness is worth rushing and turning into a drone.



That being said, very anxious for the season this year and looking forward to my fix of weekly change leagues. I hope everyone else is too. Many are anxious for the weekly change Challenge Leagues to open, and due to the extra commitment, they will also want to enjoy their paired down plate of NFBC leagues. Couldn't agree more. The twice weekly changes were a HUGE change without getting much input. I definitely will not enter into any NFBC leagues with FAAB this year unless they go back to only weekly changes. The extra Friday studying needed for lineup changes basically doubled roster managment time and totally burned me out. I feel the only people who have legitimate shot of winning the overall with the new rules are those without family and those able to study baseball at work.



I may take the year off from Fantasy Baseball as well due to these factors. I did look at the WCOFB and they have twice weekly changes for pitchers and hitters so there is no way I am joining that contest.



Good Luck. [/QUOTE]I can't speak for how you approach the twice weekly moves for hitters but I found that there was a nice trade off - You no longer had to obsess about that hitter missing a big portion of the week when you knew you could sit him after thursday's games. The time spent trying to determine who to start for a WHOLE WEEK actually took more time for me.



You're right about the pitching moves though. You thought just hitting was a hurdle? including pitching is a 50x multiplier to that. [/QUOTE]Stephen, I may be more of an advocate of half-week skimming for hitters than most, studying lefty-righty, home-away, pitching matchups, etc., but since I am, I had to do it or it felt like a missed opportunity. Todd Zola wrote an interesting article last April about how it was probably a waste of time, but you go with your gut in these situations, and used whatever was in my toolbox. That being said, like I said, I dreading being able to decide.

[Sebadiah23]

I signed up for 8 leagues, two mains, and a super, and THEN found out about the twice a week moves. Im not saying the idea was brutal. Its great for fairness obviously, but it repells me away unfortunately from going all-in. I have two kids also. I felt a little blind-sided.



Greg, thank you for responding so quickly. If there is a way programmatically (time-wise I mean) to do "best lineup" draft champions league, count me for 5-10 signups and I'll play in one tomorrow.



-Craig

[RichV]

I've got to say I felt the same as Doug after the season. Keeping track of my player's health, pitching matchups, the FA pool, setting bids each week was starting to feel more like a job I didn't want to do than a hobby, or fun. I knew near the end of last season I wouldn't be playing another league this year with FAAB.



What I WILL MISS more than anything is a LIVE draft. These's nothing quite like draft day..Meeting a bunch of baseball fans and spending a day drafting, and talking baseball.



I see Gekko feels about the same way after his great '10 season. Hey Gekko..Think we could find 13 more like-minded guys and pull off a live Draft Champions league???

[BATS]

I played in a main last year for the first time. Also my first experience with nfbc and the formats. I did poorly but felt that I learned. However, I have played fantasy baseball for many years om The Sporting News and ESPN sites, where I did enjoy some success. That being said, I have read this post with mixed feelings. Having anywhere from 6 to 13 teams per season, with DAILY moves, i can empathize with the need to get away at times. But I have to kinda chuckle at the griping about going from once a week moves to twice a week moves. This is my first post and no disrespect intended, but are you kidding me? I can't wait to get up, see the box scores, check the available players and who is playing or off that day, and set my lineups. I do at times think I have an addiction, but know of no program for it! Anyway, see some of you in Vegas.

[Cobb]

I'm with Q, I liked the Friday hitter moves. I found it less stressful and it probably reduced the time consuming aspect for me.



I'm a busy guy, I work long hours...but I love baseball. It is tough having FAAB leagues. I used to do a lot more leagues than I do now. Like RT said, it's about balance. I only do the main's now so I can focus. I also added KJ's MLBC league to the mix this year because I think it's a great idea. But I can certainly understand the feeling of needing to take a year off...I'll never do it because the year would be boring as hell without fantasy baseball, but I do understand it. Fantasy Baseball is like having a Football Sunday everyday for 6 months. That's too much fun and/or torture to pass up!

[Walla Walla]

Wow, I just called it being burned out! I never knew!

[ScottieBaseball]

Bjoak, I know for at least for the Cubs games, they call the Friday afternoon games the "businessman special" since most Cubs home games on Fridays start at 1:20 p.m., therefore one of the reasons for the early deadline and not a late afternoon deadline...



SS

[Cobb]

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Wow, I just called it being burned out! I never knew! I'm still under 40 Walla, I'm too young to burn out.



[ January 09, 2011, 09:36 PM: Message edited by: Cobb ]

[Sebadiah23]

Originally posted by BATS:

I played in a main last year for the first time. Also my first experience with nfbc and the formats. I did poorly but felt that I learned. However, I have played fantasy baseball for many years om The Sporting News and ESPN sites, where I did enjoy some success. That being said, I have read this post with mixed feelings. Having anywhere from 6 to 13 teams per season, with DAILY moves, i can empathize with the need to get away at times. But I have to kinda chuckle at the griping about going from once a week moves to twice a week moves. This is my first post and no disrespect intended, but are you kidding me? I can't wait to get up, see the box scores, check the available players and who is playing or off that day, and set my lineups. I do at times think I have an addiction, but know of no program for it! Anyway, see some of you in Vegas. BATS, I can clarify what is being discussed here and why it's different from daily change league decisions, which are often 10 times easier. For pitching, unless you have a low weekly innings cap, you are mostly just checking if the SP is starting and my gameday it's usually very clear. For hitters, you almost always knowing the pitching opponent, the players health, and you're comparing one player's one matchup to another player's one game. You don't care if the player misses the next three games or faces two tough lefties that weekend. You don't care on Friday whether the hitter's opponent might move up Sabathia to Sunday instead of Sergio Mitre. There's just not a lot of strategy or weight to the moves. If pickups are allowed whenever you feel like it, with just a transaction limit, ignoring the unfairfulness of it, I'll concede that at least you could analyze that every day and that takes time.



I still play in a couple daily change leagues with friends co-workers, and even with tough competition it feels like checkers rather than chess, and those decisions are more in the class of boring than mentally or time draining.



3-4 days worth of games is enough to make decisions more complex. I didn't mean to hijack the thread or put words in anyone's mouth. These are my own opinions and my own words.



As far as time management, a lot of times you make a preminary analysis way before each deadline, but then things change in as a few as a couple days, so you still need to re-assess at the deadline, no matter how organized you are. the Fanball site is a little inferior with showing up to date category standings, and exporting that stuff to excel and resorting can be tedious, so when you own more than one team, you quickly end up deciding which teams you care more about and others you are forced to kind of wing it and hope for the best. Every league has a different FAAB player pool, and having to decide a bidding amount and a bidding order if infinitely more interesting but also challenging compared to just picking someone up and just deciding a drop.



Glad you took the plunge though BATS and good luck in all future leagues.



Also, congrats to Greg and Tom on the Packers win. It took 18 weeks, but Starks was a difference maker no doubt. That was a great game plan to not force the pass and targeting an Eagles weakness.

[bjoak]

Originally posted by ScottieBaseball:

Bjoak, I know for at least for the Cubs games, they call the Friday afternoon games the "businessman special" since most Cubs home games on Fridays start at 1:20 p.m., therefore one of the reasons for the early deadline and not a late afternoon deadline...



SS I think I said most Fridays. I am aware that there are sometimes Friday day games and they usually involve the Cubs, but how does that excuse the 10 as opposed to 11:20 time or the other Fridays or for that matter the players from later games. Beyond all that, I am not complaining about their procedures as much as just saying that the pitching changes are a hassle and that the time stamp is one reason why. Even if every game started at 10AM, giving them a good reason to do it, it would still contribute to the problems with pitching changes.