How to make Fantasy Baseball more fun
By David Owen Cymerman of TheFantasyGeek.com
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Every diehard fantasy baseball owner I know is getting geeked for the start of the 2012 season. Even casual participants love the thrills and surprises of a draft or auction.
But why rest on your league's laurels? Why not dial up the excitement by making Fantasy Baseball more entertaining with a few tweaks here and there.
Having played the game for over 20 years, I have a few suggestions for making a good thing even better.
SWITCH UP YOUR FORMAT
Guys who have been playing old-school rotisserie style for years can skip down to the next suggestion. Everyone else might get a kick out of trying a new scoring system or format. A few seasons ago, in a league that I run, the owners agreed to add the option to retain three keepers on our rosters from season to season. As a result, there's a new level of strategy and even some preseason trade talks.
REVISIT YOUR LEAGUE CONSITUTION
Your league's guidelines should not be set in stone. Every offseason, each owner should be given the opportunity to propose rule changes or new rules in an effort to improve the league. I joined a dynasty league last year and had some issues with their scoring system. It was a points league that penalized heavily for strikeouts and undervalued stolen bases. The commissioner was very open-minded, and when I recommended adjusting the scoring for those categories, the league voted and approved the changes.
MAKE DRAFT ORDER SELECTION AN EVENT
Yeah, you could click the "Set Random Draft Order" button or pick names out of a hat. Or, you could make things more interesting when determining draft order. In one of my leagues, we are randomly assigned MLB teams for a day of spring training games. Whoever's team scores the most runs gets first pick, and so on down the line. We've never paid more attention to Grapefruit or Cactus League games!
MAKE NEW TEAM NAMES MANDATORY
You could be lazy and just keep last year's name ... again. What's the fun in that? I urge owners in my league, who happen to be very funny people, to rename their franchises every year. It's a great source of comedy to see what these guys come up with. After the draft, one owner annually ranks the new names and logos in a highly anticipated post on our web site.
SWITCH DRAFTS FROM ONLINE TO IN-PERSON
The older we get, the harder it is to draft in person. Still, it's well worth the effort. You're only drafting fantasy teams a few times a year. It should be a special occasion to interact with your friends ... not three hours spent at the computer in your basement. Bonus points if you can rally your league mates to have a destination draft, like in Las Vegas.
POST WEEKLY UPDATES
For years, I would do a weekly write-up of the game recaps for my main league. It was well-received by the other owners, but was a lot of work and I couldn't keep it up. Rather than strip out the fun of reading my weekly update, the other owners decided to chip in and each do a couple of posts per year. They were better than mine! There were YouTube videos, animated recaps and other very creative ways to relay the scores.
TALK SOME TRASH
A silent league is a boring league. I'd much prefer to develop rivalries with owners who ruffle my feathers. It puts more emotion into the game when your pride is on the line week in and week out.
REWARD THE WINNER IN STYLE
Sure, a big (monetary) prize is a benefit of winning a fantasy league. But capturing a championship is that much more memorable when you are the recipient of a trophy, plaque, ring or even a handmade award. Nothing beats standing up to accept a newly engraved cup in front of your disgruntled opponents.
If even one of these suggestions makes sense to you, it's worth trying to incorporate that change in your league. You'll be building on your fun fantasy foundation, making a strong tradition even stronger.
David Owen Cymerman also is known as The Fantasy Geek. He runs a fantasy sports web site appropriately named TheFantasyGeek.com. Stop by for more observations, advice and absurdity from the world of fantasy sports, including articles, live chats and podcasts.
03/28 10:03:47 ET
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