Right now the regular-season last place guy pays the loser's fee. We have this in place so everyone remains competitive and no one intentionally tanks toward the end for higher draft lottery odds.
A request has been made as to whether we should make the last-place fee go to the consolation loser in the loser bracket playoffs.
It would be nice for the person who requested this change to pop into the comments section and voice his reasons for wanting the change and make the argument.
I will refrain from listing pros and cons so he can give his full argument.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
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I will keep an open mind after seeing the argument for changing this, but I feel strongly that it should remain regular season. Switching it to the playoff consolation loser defeats the exact purpose of the fee. We want all teams to play competitively each week so not to skew the results. If last place regular season has no penalty, teams can (and well might) stop setting lineups figuring - I can avoid the fee by managing and winning in the consolation bracket.
ReplyDeleteI will keep an open mind, but can't imagine any set of circumstances changing my view on this.
- JACK
At first I thought last place of Playoffs was a good idea. But Jack's comment makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with Jack, however, I could see one scenario where changing this could make sense. If we were to bump up the league fee to say 80-100 range, then I would say we definitely move up the last place fee to 40 bucks as to reflect the change in the fee. So, in this scenario, I would say we could keep $20 for the last place regular season fee and then the person that finishes last in consolation has to pay the add'l $20, thereby punishing both last place finishers. Kind of a wild idea but I think it's intriguing.
ReplyDeleteLike Jack, I will reserve judgment until I hear the argument, but I think this is bad.
ReplyDeleteThere's no reason that the 7th place finisher, who likely finishes somewhere 6-8 games better than the last place finisher, should have to pay any last-place fee for losing a couple matchups in a meaningless consolation bracket. That 7th place person could be fighting to make the playoffs, using all of his moves, while the bottom teams could be standing pat and waiting to pounce on that consolation bracket matchup.
Just doesn't seem to make sense to me, but I'll wait to hear the other side if this person chimes in at some point today, this week, this year.
I don't think we have had a worse suggestion in league history to date. My vote is no regardless of the argument made.
ReplyDeleteHey hey hey...the post just opened this morning! Give me a break...
ReplyDeleteI made this suggestion because I ended up in last place at the end of the regular season and found myself wondering why I got stuck with a $25 fee when I only missed second-to-last place by 0.5 games AND I was able to fight all the way to a 7th place finish during the playoffs. It just didn't make sense.
We can all agree that the main reason we have a last place fee is to prevent someone from tuning out and ruining league dynamics once they realize they are clearly a non-contender. I also think we can all agree that we generally don't have people that do that in this league because this is a serious league. That's why we have written rules, keepers, draft pick deals, a blog site, and are talking about raising the league fee to $100! We are all very competitive with each other and have been for years both on and off the fantasy field, even when we're out of contention.
The point is, it is easy to find yourself in last place even though you've paid attention to your team throughout the season--it's usually not because you gave up. Managers can have bad years--whether it was the draft, keeper injuries, sleepers that didn't pan out, or just bad luck! Having the playoffs to give yourself a second chance makes sense since anything can happen. Again, it's the same with the Championship bracket where anything can happen despite your regular season finish--and it's the champion of the playoffs that gets the biggest payout! If we really think the regular season is the end-all, why don't we just abolish the playoffs altogether?
To be clear, I am still in favor of a last place fee because, even though I don't think managers in this league quit, it causes ALL teams to work a little harder, especially toward the end of the season when it makes for interesting matchups when they clearly otherwise would not be interesting at all.
I propose that we charge a last place fee to the team that finishes in last place after playoffs are complete. This will make things competitive all the way through the last week for EVERY team--just like the Championship bracket. It also keeps things interesting with free agents during the playoffs because EVERY team will be looking for someone--just like during the regular season.
-Rick
I like Rick's arguement. My vote is still going to be for the regular season...but it was very convincing!
ReplyDeleteVery good argument by Rick. I am still leaning towards Regular season, but will think this one through.
ReplyDeleteOK, sure it was a nice argument to claim his side, but truth be told, he missed the key point of why we have the last-place fee to the regular-season winner: It's to prevent intentional tanking for better draft lottery odds. Not to make sure everyone stays active.
ReplyDeleteRegular season loser I meant obviously.
ReplyDeleteForgot about that Andy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this vote won't pass.
Thanks for the acknowledgement. I appreciate those who are hearing me out on this topic.
ReplyDeleteAs you guys pointed out, I did fail to mention in my argument one element of the last place fee requirement which is to prevent intentional tanking for better draft lottery odds.
The thought crossed my mind previously and my question back is simple: Why does it matter if the last place fee is assessed to the loser of the regular season or the loser of the playoffs? The draft lottery is determined by league standings which could be either regular season or playoffs, depending on what we decide to make it. Why are we forced to base it on the regular season?
Basically, if my proposed rule change is accepted, we would simply base the draft lottery, last place fee, AND first place prize on the after-playoff standings instead of the regular season standings. It's much more consistent this way and makes sense for competition throughout the league to endure until the last week of the playoffs.
-Rick
regular season, i dont really think this should be something we discuss
ReplyDeleteIt was a better argument than I would have thought but I still think in order to prevent someone from throwing the season for a better draft postion it should be the last place finisher.
ReplyDelete