Topic: I'm new to Fantasy Football. Anyone wanna join a Marlin Crawler League?

[BigMike]

Hey guys-

My classmate showed me his ESPN Fantasy Football league and I was captivated. (http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/welcome)

I have never done this before but am wondering if I could throw together a quick Marlin Crawler league before tomorrow evening (before the first game of the season begins!)

So... If this generates like 5 or 10 ppl who are interested, then let's do the online draft thing (I'm still learning as I go!) and let's get a Marlin Crawler league setup!!

Whadda ya say? If you are interested, then you'll have to create an ESPN account and let me know ASAP so I can add ppl to a league.

I've already setup Marlin Crawler, so click-through to http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=824374

We can just keep it simple, beings this is my first time and also we have like only 24 hours to get this setup AND do the draft, so we need to move quick if this is gonna work.

I believe I need to invite those interested first, so please let me know if you want to join and can go through the draft and everything in less than 24 hours

So Step 1) Create an ESPN account using this link
Step 2) PM me your email address so I can get you invited to the Marlin Crawler league
Step 3) Check your email and accept the invite
Step 4) Get ready to do the draft on a moments notice

BigMike

[86rustbucket]

good idea pm sent mike

[86rustbucket]

anybody?

[BigMike [OP]]

Awesome! You have been invited, please check your email!

Ok, I am not sure on this, but I believe we must get the teams picked before the first game, which is Ten at Pit tomorrow night at Thu 5:30 pm (PST).

I will be available tomorrow after 2pm. My friend told me that we need to have all the team owners online together for the draft, but if someone is not present, then the system will automatically choose some player for each draft pick.

We need to start the draft before 3pm or so? I believe.. I could start it as early as 11am -- I will be in class -- but I would only need to look at my laptop when it is my turn to pick a player, which really isn't much of a distraction (my multitasking skills are quadrupled when in class ).

To be honest, I used to be in to NFL big time back in the 90s and then pretty much lost interest until about 2 or 3 years ago. Last year I only watched parts of 3 regular season games, so I am pretty green with all this. My knowledge of players is pretty much limited to the old fogies from years past, so it shouldn't be too difficult to kick my butt

[86rustbucket]

Awesome! You have been invited, please check your email!

Ok, I am not sure on this, but I believe we must get the teams picked before the first game, which is Ten at Pit tomorrow night at Thu 5:30 pm (PST).

I will be available tomorrow after 2pm. My friend told me that we need to have all the team owners online together for the draft, but if someone is not present, then the system will automatically choose some player for each draft pick.

We need to start the draft before 3pm or so? I believe.. I could start it as early as 11am -- I will be in class -- but I would only need to look at my laptop when it is my turn to pick a player, which really isn't much of a distraction (my multitasking skills are quadrupled when in class ).

To be honest, I used to be in to NFL big time back in the 90s and then pretty much lost interest until about 2 or 3 years ago. Last year I only watched parts of 3 regular season games, so I am pretty green with all this. My knowledge of players is pretty much limited to the old fogies from years past, so it shouldn't be too difficult to kick my butt

can anybody say pool hustler?

[Steve_925]

im down. cant do the draft any later than 11:00 though

[Slolyfe]

You guys could fantasy draft from the round up!

[86rustbucket]

too late

[Steve_925]

im in and all set up

[BigMike [OP]]

im down. cant do the draft any later than 11:00 though

Hmmmm Depending on the number of ppl, the website says it could take up to two hours, but I think this is just for ppl who can't make up their minds

Check your email Steve - I got you invited!!

You guys could fantasy draft from the round up!

haha that would be cool but yup, too late.

Ok, let's get started on brainstorming your draft picks so that when we do the draft, we can try to minimize the amount of time it will take.

Here are the only positions you need to pick players for:

POSITIONS	STARTERS	MAXIMUM
Quarterback (QB)	1	4
Running Back (RB)	2	8
Running Back/Wide Receiver (RB/WR)	1	N/A
Wide Receiver (WR)	2	8
Tight End (TE)	1	3
Team Defense/Special Teams (D/ST)	1	3
Place Kicker (K)	1	3
Linebacker (LB)	1	N/A
Defensive Line (DL)	1	N/A
Defensive Back (DB)	1	N/A
Bench (BE)	10	N/A

So that is it. Just think about some QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs, Special Teams (ie. Punt or Kick returners), Kickers, Linebackers, Defense linesmen, Defensive backs, and then some extras for the bench in case your player gets injured in real life

Basically, and forgive me if this info is wrong - I am still learning!, this is how it works in a nut shell

* We pick our players and some backups (in case someone gets injured) during the draft.

* The website system will randomly choose the draft order. There will be a certain number of rounds where each person will pick a player in order. So who ever gets randomly picked as the first draft choice, will have the entire NFL league of players to choose from. So you have to decide which player you think is most likely to have an outstanding season (will explain more on this below). After the first person has picked the first player of the first round, he will not be able to pick again until the very end of the 2nd round. And likewise, the person who was randomly chosen to pick last in the 1st round, will get to pick 1st in the 2nd round. And so forth, until everyone's rosters have been filled up.

* When the players themselves have a great game and put up good stats (yards, receptions, touch downs, field goals, etcetera), then each player in your own fantasy team will receive points based on their performance (this is why you should choose players who you "believe" will have an outstanding season).

* After the end of each week is completed and all the games for that week have been played, all of the players on your particular team will all have points, and then collectively your team as a whole will get a total points count - all of your players points added up.

* And what will happen is that each person's fantasy team will go against each others fantasy team, head-to-head, and at the end of each week, which every fantasy team's players have tallied up the most points, will WIN.

* It doesn't matter where the players on your team came from. You simply choose any available player in the draft for each position on your fantasy team. You pick players based on their perceived performance; it has nothing to do with what team they are on.

* There is a trade and free-agent system here, which I have no idea about, so if you can't be around for the draft, or you pick someone you later decide you don't want, there is always an option to trade players with other players. I think this is based on votes from all the team owners in our Marlin Crawler league.

And that is it in a nut shell.

We will play head-to-head games every week with everyone, and then at the end of the season, I think the top 4 teams who have the best record will advance to the post-season playoffs, but that is as far as my knowledge goes. I haven't looked into how this part will work.

TIPS ON WHO TO DRAFT

I am certainly no expert by any means on this, but here are some tips that I can think of that might help you choose players.

-- You might want to consider the player's actual schedule difficulty. For instance, If you want to choose Adrian Peterson for your running back, but you discover that the Vikings will be playing Pittsburgh and the Ravens, you need to consider the fact that, in this scenario, the Vikings and therefore Peterson himself will be going up against very strong defenses. So you might find out that a less-skilled player will perform better throughout the season than a better-skilled player based on what opponents his team will face.

-- Look for sleepers. If you know your college ball, then you might know more about a certain rookie, and you could gamble that he will become rookie of the year and have an awesome year. Also some players might have had a bad season last year, but changes made in the offseason might ensure a far better season this year.

-- Make sure you have good backups in your line-up. The reason is because you will want to be shuffling your starters around based on their real life opponents. For instance, if you have 1 WR from Dallas and 1 WR from N.E., and you see that Dallas will be playing against a very strong defense that week, then obviously put the Dallas WR on the bench and move your N.E. player in as a starter. Especially if N.E. is playing the Lions of something, if you know it will be a blow-out game, then make sure you fill your starting lineup with ppl from your team that will perform well that week. Once the game starts, you will not be able to modify your starters.

Honestly, I thought I had more tips but I really don't know anything on this subject All I know is this is going to be fun!!

Take a look here if you want to read up on Fantasy Football:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_football_%28American%29

[BigMike [OP]]

im in and all set up

Nice

We are up to 4 players so far
86rustbucket,
steve_925,
myself,
and my friend Clint who is the one who got me interested and is helping us out with this

im down. cant do the draft any later than 11:00 though

Ok, I just spoke to Clint, and he recommends going to the Marlin Crawler league office (click here), then go to the "My Team" tab near the top, then to the right of of your Team name, find the link for Edit Autopick Strategy. From here you can choose if you want it to auto-pick or you can set priorities of positions for each round.

I HAVE SET THE DRAFT TIME TO BE AT 3 PM EST TOMORROW

The draft order will be randomly chosen one hour before the draft begins, and we each will have 60 seconds to make a draft pick each time it is your turn to pick, so the draft will move through nice and smooth without any hang-ups. And again, if you messed up for any reason, we can do trades through out the season also.

[86rustbucket]

yep i'll be there

[BigMike [OP]]

IMPORTANT Update on this: I didn't realize that is 3 PM EST

so I tried to change it to 3 PM PST but actually the latest possible time we can do this is 3 PM EST. The ESPN website won't let me choose any other later time.

So we must do this at 12 PM (high noon) pacific time at the latest.

Everyone please note the time is 3 PM EST which is 12 PM PST

EDIT: I goofed on the time again


Another Update: Toymin8r just joined the league! Check your email Toymin8r - you've got an invite!

[EarlKann]

I'll play.  It says that I already have an ESPN registration. 

earlkann@msn.com

I don't think I'll be available during draft time, but I'm ok with the auto draft.

[Toymin8r]

PM sent

[Toymin8r]

IMPORTANT Update on this: I didn't realize that is 3 PM EST

so I tried to change it to 3 PM PST but actually the latest possible time we can do this is 3 PM EST. The ESPN website won't let me choose any other later time.

So we must do this at 1 PM pacific time at the latest.

Everyone please note the time is 3 PM EST which is 1 PM PST

Am I just retarded or is PST 3 hours behind EST?.  I only say this because I'm in the midwest and 1 hour behind EST and 2 hours ahead of PST.   There are 4 Time zones.   Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific.

[86rustbucket]

isn't that 12 o'clock?

[86rustbucket]

i have to install tile in the ladies room of a bar tommorow a closed one of course, but i'll try to get home early

[toyotanner]

pm sent

[toyotanner]

you know most people work at noon on a thursday haha dammit i guess i'll have to autopick

[86rustbucket]

any idea how many picks?

[Steve_925]

mike stole my team name so i had to change it.

[BigMike [OP]]

isn't that 12 o'clock?

hahaha yup sorry for that

EarlKann, toyotanner, Richmondo: Check your email!! You've been invited!

Toymin8r: I resent your invitation. Check your email again


We now have 8 of 10 people onboard!! I am able to adjust the number of teams, so if no one else PMs me, then we'll just set it at 8, or if I get more PMs, then I'll add more teams to the league

[EarlKann]

I'm in.  Got my settings done for auto pick in case I can't get online. 

Gool luck everyone. 

[BigMike [OP]]

Ok guys-

I was reading some more on Fantasy Football, and if we have too many teams, then we'll end up drafting a bunch of bench warmers.

So I say we've got 8 teams now, let's just cap it at 8 and then run the Draft at 12:00 high-noon today (PST)

Mike

[BigMike [OP]]

Hey guys,

We have 8 people willing to participate, but only 6 have confirmed the invite. I am still waiting on toyotanner and Richmondo. I've already PM'd them but so far no response...


And I just received the following warning email from ESPN:
Dear Fantasy Football Team Owner,

This is a reminder that your Marlin Crawler Live Draft is scheduled for September 10 at 3:00 PM ET, but your league is not yet full.

League Name: Marlin Crawler
http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=824374

Be aware that if all team owners don't join at least one hour before the scheduled time, your draft will not be held and you will have to reschedule for another time.

Best of luck with your your team this season!

- ESPN Fantasy Football

So if toyotanner and Richmondo don't accept their invite by 11 AM PST / 2 PM EST, then I will be forced to drop them out of the league. I really don't want to do this so I hope they check their email!!

[Steve_925]

if you read post #19 if tanner hasnt done by now he probable cant.

[BigMike [OP]]

crap. I will need to cut them before 11 am PST.

Ok, I just thought of something, hang on...


EDIT:

Ok, I just changed their email to be my email address (using other addresses I have) and I received the invites, but I forgot I need to have their ESPN login info to log in and get added.

Now I can also take ownership of additional teams, but I am not sure if I will be able to transfer my ownership to them at a later date.

8 players would be more fun than 6, but still, even 6 will be a blast!




EDIT:

YUP! I can add them to the teams later! So I am just going to take ownership of their teams for now. What do you guys think?



EDIT: CRAP, it won't let me add myself as a 2nd owner

[BigMike [OP]]

Ok guys, I gotta leave the internet for about an hour, which means I have to cut loose teams 7 and 8 because they didn't accept my invite


So the battle will be between 6 teams!! Let the games begin!!

[EarlKann]

That's OK.  With only 6 teams we should end up with enough good players that it will be tough to choose who to start each week.  It'll be fun.