No, because keepers mean that some teams are worse than others before the draft even starts. If we start on unequal footing, we're more likely to end on unequal footing.
I don't buy that logic, or maybe I should say that excuse. Some teams are worse than other teams after the draft and before the season even starts, and are more likely to end on unequal footing. We don't talk about eliminating the draft.
It's a competition. Keepers add another level of competition. If you suck at acquiring and predicting good keepers, it's a detriment to your team just like a bad draft is. It's like some people in this league want to give everyone a participation certificate instead of declaring a winner.
Caleb, you asked if the league would be just as close next year with keepers. The answer is clearly no, for the reason I gave.
Whether this is a good or bad thing is a separate question. I understand your point that there's skill in selecting good keepers and in setting up your team to be successful not just this season but on a continuous basis. But is that fun?
Personally, I enjoy my fantasy sports experiences in season-long chunks. When a new season rolls around, I have more fun with a fresh start. I don't want to be starting in a worse position than others, and I certainly don't want to be starting in a better position than others, because it makes it less of an accomplishment if I win the league.
And of course there's Spencer's original point, which is that fantasy sports are more exciting if there are close races down the stretch, which is undeniably more likely in a non-keeper league.
Given that Kate, Spencer, and I feel this way, I'm curious what the rest of the league thinks. We don't have to keep using keepers if a majority of the league would prefer to not have them.
I would go ahead and disagree with your main argument, though, even though you state that it's undeniable. This isn't our first season with close races. There may be one or two more people within shooting distance this year than last, but I'm not sure.
Further, I think the difference between sets of keepers is relatively minimal when you look at all the other factors that come into play during a fantasy season - the draft, the waiver wire, injuries, fantasy trades, real life trades. We've only rarely had vast disparities between sets of keepers, and I would bet that if we looked back and found some of those disparities we wouldn't find much of a correlation with end of the season standings.
Maybe the league won't be as close next year. Then again, maybe having keepers will mean that Bill and Luke and I will be competitive, while some of the other teams who've sold their keepers to go for it this year won't be. I don't see anything inherently unbalancing about keepers.
Additionally, I'd like to point out that the league may look much closer this year than in the past to you, spencer, and kate, given that you weren't in contention at this time last year. Those who were in contention (and as such, were paying much more attention) may remember it differently. I can't speak for Luke and Bill, but I know that it doesn't feel like the league is all that close to me right now. There's a lot of perspective involved here.
I think Taylor has a point that keepers could lead to a more imbalanced league looking at it per season. But, given our fairly aggressive inflation policy and the limits on keeper length, I imagine that keepers will be MUCH less valuable than they were in the previous incarnation of the league. Additionally, keepers should theoretically lead to more competitive balance across years, as teams that are "going for it" will trade keepers to underperforming teams. And, while keepers could give teams. I like our system the way it is. Let's wait and see how our new keeper rules will work out before we start changing things we haven't even had a chance to evaluate.
My season has been over since the end of May, so it doesn't seem particularly close to me. The top of the standings is tighter this year than last, but two years ago it was pretty crazy with me, Mark, and Caleb all potential winners going in to the last week.
If anything, we should get rid of auction drafts! Based on my performance with them in one year of baseball and last years football draft, I'm apparently terrible with them.
11 comments:
So fucking close!
I don't understand. If it's close this year, why do we need a fresh league next year? Isn't it just as likely to be close again with keepers?
No, because keepers mean that some teams are worse than others before the draft even starts. If we start on unequal footing, we're more likely to end on unequal footing.
I don't buy that logic, or maybe I should say that excuse. Some teams are worse than other teams after the draft and before the season even starts, and are more likely to end on unequal footing. We don't talk about eliminating the draft.
It's a competition. Keepers add another level of competition. If you suck at acquiring and predicting good keepers, it's a detriment to your team just like a bad draft is. It's like some people in this league want to give everyone a participation certificate instead of declaring a winner.
Caleb, you asked if the league would be just as close next year with keepers. The answer is clearly no, for the reason I gave.
Whether this is a good or bad thing is a separate question. I understand your point that there's skill in selecting good keepers and in setting up your team to be successful not just this season but on a continuous basis. But is that fun?
Personally, I enjoy my fantasy sports experiences in season-long chunks. When a new season rolls around, I have more fun with a fresh start. I don't want to be starting in a worse position than others, and I certainly don't want to be starting in a better position than others, because it makes it less of an accomplishment if I win the league.
And of course there's Spencer's original point, which is that fantasy sports are more exciting if there are close races down the stretch, which is undeniably more likely in a non-keeper league.
Given that Kate, Spencer, and I feel this way, I'm curious what the rest of the league thinks. We don't have to keep using keepers if a majority of the league would prefer to not have them.
I would go ahead and disagree with your main argument, though, even though you state that it's undeniable. This isn't our first season with close races. There may be one or two more people within shooting distance this year than last, but I'm not sure.
Further, I think the difference between sets of keepers is relatively minimal when you look at all the other factors that come into play during a fantasy season - the draft, the waiver wire, injuries, fantasy trades, real life trades. We've only rarely had vast disparities between sets of keepers, and I would bet that if we looked back and found some of those disparities we wouldn't find much of a correlation with end of the season standings.
Maybe the league won't be as close next year. Then again, maybe having keepers will mean that Bill and Luke and I will be competitive, while some of the other teams who've sold their keepers to go for it this year won't be. I don't see anything inherently unbalancing about keepers.
Additionally, I'd like to point out that the league may look much closer this year than in the past to you, spencer, and kate, given that you weren't in contention at this time last year. Those who were in contention (and as such, were paying much more attention) may remember it differently. I can't speak for Luke and Bill, but I know that it doesn't feel like the league is all that close to me right now. There's a lot of perspective involved here.
Caleb, I hope you aren't suggesting that I was "out of it" at this point last year. I was about to make my 40 point run.
I think Taylor has a point that keepers could lead to a more imbalanced league looking at it per season. But, given our fairly aggressive inflation policy and the limits on keeper length, I imagine that keepers will be MUCH less valuable than they were in the previous incarnation of the league. Additionally, keepers should theoretically lead to more competitive balance across years, as teams that are "going for it" will trade keepers to underperforming teams. And, while keepers could give teams. I like our system the way it is. Let's wait and see how our new keeper rules will work out before we start changing things we haven't even had a chance to evaluate.
My season has been over since the end of May, so it doesn't seem particularly close to me. The top of the standings is tighter this year than last, but two years ago it was pretty crazy with me, Mark, and Caleb all potential winners going in to the last week.
If anything, we should get rid of auction drafts! Based on my performance with them in one year of baseball and last years football draft, I'm apparently terrible with them.
This season really isn't that especially close compared to past seasons.
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