FOFC Auction Fantasy Football: Season underway!

[Racer]

I've always been interested in participating in a fantasy football auction league but haven't ever known anyone who does one. Today, I noticed that espn.com hosts free online auction leagues.

Is anyone else interested in doing a free FOFC auction fantasy football league? I haven't set one up yet but I would be willing to if there are others on the board that would like to participate in an auction league.

The auction will take place at 8:00 pm EST Sunday August 17th. I know this time won't work for everyone, but it seems to work for the most people. I would have preferred to have it start 8:30 pm but ESPN only allows you to set the draft at the beginning of an hour. Auctions take longer then snake drafts so I think starting the auction at 9 pm would make the auction end a bit late for people living in EST. If this time works for you, please pm me your email if you still wish to be in the league. I need it because espn.com private leagues can only be filled by email invitations. If the time doesn't work for you, then please state in this thread it doesn't or notify me by PM if you haven't already said Sundays don't work for you. It is much hard to get a team you like by having the computer auto-auction for you versus pre-ranking your players and having the computer auto-draft for you in a snake draft league and thus is probably not worth staying in the league if the time doesn't work for you.

Current Owner List
1.) Racer - confirmed and in
2.) Lathum - confirmed and in
3.) spleen1015 - confirmed and in
4.) molson - confirmed and in
5.) Sony - confirmed and in
6.) CleBrownsfan - confirmed and in
7.) sooner333 - confirmed and in
8.) rockboy70 - confirmed and in
9.) Ronnie Dobbs2 - confirmed and in
10.) TazFTW - confirmed and in
11.) Saul Goode - confirmed and in
12.) JDub15 (poster from footballguys.com) - confirmed and in

[Lathum]

i would be

[spleen1015]

I'm interested

[molson]

Auctions are the way to go - I'd definitely be interested

[Passacaglia]

i'll try it

[Ragone]

I'd be in for that..

[Racer]

Any thoughts or preferences on what the scoring system should be?

[Racer]

Dola, I tried an auction mock draft and I was able to get it to work on explorer but not firefox. Seems like a pretty good program. Although this is the sort of draft that would be best if everyone could participate in, I believe you can actually pre-set your maximum bids.

[sony]

I'd be interested in joining along you guys. :)

[molson]

Any thoughts or preferences on what the scoring system should be?

I'm always a fan of a slightly bigger active roster (2nd QB, or a 3rd RB/Flex option). Otherwise, fantasy football usually just comes down to whose RBs stayed healthy.

[Racer]

I set up a league although I can modify the league rules later.

Here are the current rules:

Salary Cap: $200 (I don't believe the salary cap can be edited)
Total teams: 12

Roster: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, Team DEF, K, RB/WR, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN

Passing:
1 point per 25 passing yards
-2 points per interception
6 points per passing TD
2 points per 2 point conversion

Rushing:
1 point per 10 rushing yards
6 points per rushing TD
2 points per 2 point conversion

Receiving:
1 point per 10 receiving yards
6 points per receiving TD
2 points per 2 point conversion

Misc:
6 points per kickoff return TD, punt return TD, fumble return TD
-2 points per fumble lost

kicking:
1 point per PAT
3 points per FG(0-39 yards)
4 points per FG(40-49 yards)
5 points per FG (50+ yards)

team defense:
1 point per sack
6 points per fumble return TD, punt return TD, interception return TD, kickoff return TD, blocked punt/field goal return TD,
2 points per blocked punt, field goal, or PAT
2 points per fumble recovered, interception, or safety
10 points for a shut out
7 points for 2-6 points allowed
4 points for 7-13 points allowed
1 point for 14-17 points allowed
-1 points for 28-34 points allowed
-2 points for 35-45 points allowed
-4 points for 46+ points allowed


I believe I can make this league a keeper league for free if people want that. I don't there can be contracts though. Any thoughts or preferences on what scoring categories should be modified from what is above?

Also, I can only figure out how to do private leagues by email invite (I think this is all you can do actually on espn.com leagues) in case that impacts anybodies interest in the league.

[Racer]

I'm always a fan of a slightly bigger active roster (2nd QB, or a 3rd RB/Flex option). Otherwise, fantasy football usually just comes down to whose RBs stayed healthy.

If other people want this, I actually prefer it as well. The only drawback about 2 QBs is that it makes things a bit tough at that position for a league with more then 10 teams. I was in the FOFC Hardcore League last year and I thought bigger rosters made that league much more strategic.

[molson]

If other people want this, I actually prefer it as well. The only drawback about 2 QBs is that it makes things a bit tough at that position for a league with more then 10 teams. I was in the FOFC Hardcore League last year and I thought bigger rosters made that league much more strategic.

I was in that league and loved those rules. It was fun trying to decide between which lower-tiered QB to team with Tom Brady on a given week, or trying to to decide between 3 backup RBs to fill your #3 RB spot. Much more strategy than just throwing your "elite" QB/RB out there every week.

Another suggestion I'd make from that league would be to slightly handicap RBs - maybe require them 12 yards to get a point instead of 10. Just to make all the other players a little more important than they are in standard Fantasy football.

Just my two cents.

[CleBrownsfan]

If there is room I'd be interested in this...

[sooner333]

I'd be interested for sure, I guess it would depend on when the auction was.

[Racer]

I'd be interested for sure, I guess it would depend on when the auction was.

That is fine. I'm going to try to do a time that works for everyone that is interested.

[rockboy70]

I'd be interested in playing.

[TazFTW]

I'm interested.

[Racer]

Here are fantasy point stats from the 2007 season based on these stats:

hxxp://fofcauction.angelfire.com/2007quarterbacks.bmp
hxxp://fofcauction.angelfire.com/2007runningbacks.bmp
hxxp://fofcauction.angelfire.com/2007widereceivers.bmp
hxxp://fofcauction.angelfire.com/2007tightends.bmp


I used to hxxp://www.fftoday.com/index.html for the 2007 leader board stats.

Let me know if know if there is anything you think I should adjust even if someone else has already said it.

[Racer]

It looks like these take a bit longer to complete then a snake draft (2 1/2-3 hours) vs. (around 1 1/2 hours) so I think it would be best to schedule this on a Saturday or a Sunday. Any preferences on what weekend, what day of the week (Saturday or Sunday), and what time of day (afternoon, evening, late evening, etc.) I should tentatively schedule this for?

[Racer]

I was in that league and loved those rules. It was fun trying to decide between which lower-tiered QB to team with Tom Brady on a given week, or trying to to decide between 3 backup RBs to fill your #3 RB spot. Much more strategy than just throwing your "elite" QB/RB out there every week.

Another suggestion I'd make from that league would be to slightly handicap RBs - maybe require them 12 yards to get a point instead of 10. Just to make all the other players a little more important than they are in standard Fantasy football.

Just my two cents.

Also, any thoughts on this? It makes running backs slightly less valuable, but also makes dollar value from cheatsheats less meaningful. Also, how do people feel about the number of bench players? Should we remove one of the slots or replace one of the slots with a utility player (RB/WR and WR/TE would be the options)?

[rockboy70]

I'd prefer Sunday and evening/late evening. I could also do most Mon-Thurs evening/late evenings if need be.

[CleBrownsfan]

I prefer deeper starting lineups and more shallow benches. I like the choices that are required with shallow benches.

As for a draft time, weekends are best, and not too late. Weeknights could work depending on the draft.

Weeknights after 8:00 (EST) and weekend nights are good for me...

ABout scoring - I like getting .1 for RB/WR yards and .05 for Passing yards - does ESPN allow fraction of points?

[Racer]

Weeknights after 8:00 (EST) and weekend nights are good for me...

ABout scoring - I like getting .1 for RB/WR yards and .05 for Passing yards - does ESPN allow fraction of points?

They allow fractional points. Passing, rushing, and receiving yards all have to be in increments of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc. yards. However, I can assign points to the nearest 10th for whatever increment I choose from the list.

[CleBrownsfan]

They allow fractional points. Passing, rushing, and receiving yards all have to be in increments of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc. yards. However, I can assign points to the nearest 10th for whatever increment I choose from the list.

Just a thought for scoring yardage - no biggie if we use it or not. I choose only starting 1 QB.

[Racer]

I will decide on a tentative auction draft time tomorrow and after that I will need everyone who wants to be in the league to PM their email to me since that is how espn.com apparently does private custom leagues.

I'll probably have the auction start time be a Saturday or Sunday night and start it between 8 p.m. EST and 9 p.m. EST. Anything earlier would be bad for west coasters and anything later would be bad for east coasters because an auction draft will last longer then a typical snake draft. Let me know if you have a preference on when in August we should have the draft.

Most people who have voiced their thoughts so far prefer a deeper roster so right I'm leaning towards replacing one of the bench spots to a RB/WR flex position. Roster sizes will remain at 16. I'll also make that decision tomorrow so let me know thoughts on this if you haven't already.

Also, right I'm leaning towards keeping the present scoring system because I don't want to deviate to much from the standard system that fantasy football websites usually use and most other leagues use. Right now I believe the main differences with this league are 6 points per passing TD (the majority of leagues receive 4 points per passing TD I believe), and .5 points per reception (the majority of leagues receive no points for receptions).

[Racer]

bump. I posted the tentative auction time at the top of the thread. I also posted changes regarding the starting lineup. I also need everyone that wants to be in this league to pm me their email since espn.com private leagues can only be filled by email invites.

[Lathum]

I'll have to bow out, that time/date doesn't work for me.

[Racer]

I'll have to bow out, that time/date doesn't work for me.

Unfortunately I'll have to do the same. I'm out of town that weekend.

I'm fine with moving the draft up or back a week (August 16th or 30th) if it would work out better for everybody. I could also move the draft to a Sunday if most people prefer that. The start time of the draft is probably the least changeable thing because most people have said they want it to be in the evening and going any later would make the draft end fairly late for people living in EST.

[Passacaglia]

Sorry, that date won't work for me, either! Honestly, if it's going to be any Saturday night, I just won't be able to make it -- hopefully someone can take my place!

[Racer]

Since the current time doesn't seem to be working for a lot of people, I've added a poll with different possible dates for the online auction. I excluded Sunday August 31st from the list because drafting at night for that particular day doesn't work for me.

[CleBrownsfan]

I know I'm subbing to bartend on the 24th

[Ragone]

i can't do sunday nights at all..

[Racer]

bumping this thread. A few people still haven't voted yet. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but right now the best options appear to be moving the auction to 8 pm EST on the Sunday the 17th or 24rd.

[Ragone]

Sunday nights just not gonna work for me either.. sorry

[Racer]

Sunday nights just not gonna work for me either.. sorry

Alright, that is fine. August 17th and 23rd seem to work for the most people in this league, so the auction will be at 8 pm on one of those days. I'll make a decision once Pass votes or lets me know neither of those dates work.

[Racer]

I know I'm subbing to bartend on the 24th

I saw you didn't vote for the 17th. Would you be able to attend the auction that particular day?

[Saul Goode]

If there is room i'm interested

[CleBrownsfan]

I saw you didn't vote for the 17th. Would you be able to attend the auction that particular day?

17th is a go for me...

[Racer]

I have set the auction date for Sunday August 17th at 8 p.m. EST. I know this time won't work for everyone, but I think it works for the highest number of people. Auctions are an entirely different beast then a snake draft. From the couple of auction mock drafts that I've stuck around long enough to pick up 7 or 8 players, you really need to be there in order to field a competitive team unless you spend a ton of time on editing what values you're willing to spend on your players. If you have not already done so, please PM me your email if this time works for you and you still wish to be in the league. Also, if you have not previously stated that Sundays do not work for you, please let me know so I can find a replacement.

[Lathum]

I have an apointment that night but may be able to make the first 9-10 rounds, I need to double check the times.

[Saul Goode]

works 4 me

[Racer]

bump. Still haven't heard from Passacaglia, Sooner 333, or Molson (since I switched the draft time). Everyone else should have received an email invite. If you haven't, check your junk mail. If it's not there, let me know, and I can either resend you the invite or forward you the invite.

[molson]

I got the email, I'll sign up tonight once I'm home.

[Racer]

One spot has opened. The league draft will be auction style and will start on Sunday August 17th at 8 pm EST. I'm guessing the auction will last 2 and half to three hours. If you want to join, go ahead and respond in this thread and then pm your email so I can you send you an invite to the league. It will be on a first come first serve basis.

[Lathum]

in

[Racer]

bumping for the Sunday evening/Monday crowd. We have one slot left, so if you want in the league, let me know. We draft a week from this Sunday (8/17) at 8 pm EST.

[Racer]

Bumping one last time just in case someone missed this thread the first time and wants the last spot.

[Racer]

Update: The owner list has been updated. Looks like we may have found our 12th!

[CleBrownsfan]

I'll be there.... I still need to look at basic strategies for an Auction league. I've never been in an auction league before.

[Racer]

Bumping this thread to remind everyone that the auction is going to be beginning in a little under an hour and a half from now. Make sure that you have run the test that says whether or not your browser needs to be updated in order for the auction draft program to work. Good luck to everyone!

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm not able to find the league on ESPN .com

Only leagues I see our @ 8:45 - no 8:00 leagues

[Racer]

CleBrownfan, check your pms.

[molson]

Thanks Racer for putting the draft together

First impression of my team:

QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson
RB: Frank Gore
RB/WR: Earnest Graham
WR: Donald Driver
WR: Kevin Curtis
WR: Bobby Engram
TE: Donald Lee
D/ST: Chargers
K: Nate Kaeding
B: Rudi Johnson
B: James Jones
B: Ben Obomanu
B: Jacob Hester
B: Alex Smith
B: Brandon Stokley

I certainly went a little overboard in the beginning but I think this team will be at least competitive. Very, very weak at WR, but I'm hoping that if I throw Driver/Lee/Jones all out there in the same week, that should be worth at least 1 TD most weeks (Same with Obomanu/Engram, if Engram ever comes back).

I never draft Kickers or D/ST until the last two rounds in normal drafts, so it was fun to land the best Defense and one of the top kickers.

Great 1-2 punch at RB, though I think Tomlinson's due for a decline here (though I still didn't think I'd get him for that cheap - that was my "last" bid). Earnest Graham isn't going to "break out" or anything, but I don't think there's any real competition in TB, so I think he'll be one of the better 3rd RBs. I REALLY wish I saved an extra buck or two for Kenny Watson, but I don't think Rudy Johnson's done yet.

Nothing really in terms of QB backup depth, and I might even just dump Alex Smith for another WR option.

[Racer]

My team:

QB: Carson Palmer - $25
RB: Reggie Bush - $25
RB: Willis McGahee - $28
RB/WR: Marquis Colston - $25
WR: Larry Fitzgerald - $28
WR: T.J. Houshmandzadeh - $24
WR: Torry Holt - StL- $20
TE: Ben Watson NE - $3
DEF: Minnesota Vikings - $2
K: Shayne Graham - Cin - $1
Bench QB: Vince Young - Ten - $2
Bench RB: Kevin Smith - Det - $10
Bench RB: Chris Johnson - Ten - $2
Bench RB: Jamaal Charles - KC - $1
Bench WR: Vincent Jackson - SD - $3
Bench WR: Justin Gage - Ten - $1

I am really strong as WR, but my running backs are a bit mediocre (especially my backups). The C-Town Dawg are really sick at wide receiver. He has Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Braylon Edwards, and Roddy White.

[Racer]

I just wanted to say that I noticed that I accidentally omitted that receptions were worth .5 points each on the first page in my rules post. Sorry about that. I did talk about how receptions were worth .5 points each though on the 1st page. It was also stated on the front page of our league as a difference from public leagues and was in the league settings page. So hopefully there wasn't anybody who didn't realize receptions were worth points. Sorry again if you didn't realize that.

[CleBrownsfan]

I saw you get a little extra for receptions so I went a little heavy on WR's :p

RB's were going for tons of cash early so I decided to go with a strong WR core and hopefully will be able to trade one of them for a RB later 'cause my RB's are probably the weakest in the league.

Here is my 2008 FOFC team:

C-Town Dawgz

QB Jay Cutler $8

RB Thomas Jones $22
RB Matt Forte $11

RB/WR Roddy White $15
WR Randy Moss $46
WR Braylon Edwards $36
WR Terrell Owens $37

TE Jeremy Shockey $6

D/ST Browns D/ST $1

K Adam Vinatieri $1


BE Ted Ginn Jr. $3
BE Deuce McAllister $4
BE Ricky Williams $4
BE Matt Leinart $2
BE Devin Hester $2
BE Sammy Morris $1

[spleen1015]

This was my first auction draft, so there was some learning to do.

I think most of the good players at the key positions were going for higher than I anticipated, so I was reluctant to throw the high bids out there. Then, before I knew it, a lot of the best players at their positions were gone and I felt like I was scrambling.

I won't be surprised to finish last or first.

[Racer]

This was my first auction draft, so there was some learning to do.

I think most of the good players at the key positions were going for higher than I anticipated, so I was reluctant to throw the high bids out there. Then, before I knew it, a lot of the best players at their positions were gone and I felt like I was scrambling.

I won't be surprised to finish last or first.

That's one of the main reasons why I didn't make it a keeper league this year even though I think it would be cool to have an auction keeper league (the other reason being that I could easily make the feature pay in the future). If most of the league wants to play again next year and is interested in taking the league in that direction, it's definitely something to consider for next year.

[Lathum]

I saw you get a little extra for receptions so I went a little heavy on WR's :p

RB's were going for tons of cash early so I decided to go with a strong WR core and hopefully will be able to trade one of them for a RB later 'cause my RB's are probably the weakest in the league.

Here is my 2008 FOFC team:

C-Town Dawgz

QB Jay Cutler $8

RB Thomas Jones $22
RB Matt Forte $11

RB/WR Roddy White $15
WR Randy Moss $46
WR Braylon Edwards $36
WR Terrell Owens $37

TE Jeremy Shockey $6

D/ST Browns D/ST $1

K Adam Vinatieri $1


BE Ted Ginn Jr. $3
BE Deuce McAllister $4
BE Ricky Williams $4
BE Matt Leinart $2
BE Devin Hester $2
BE Sammy Morris $1

I am definantly willung to talk trade for Addai

[TazFTW]

This was my first auction draft, so there was some learning to do.

I think most of the good players at the key positions were going for higher than I anticipated, so I was reluctant to throw the high bids out there. Then, before I knew it, a lot of the best players at their positions were gone and I felt like I was scrambling.

I won't be surprised to finish last or first.

+1


QB Tony Romo 26
RB Marion Barber 40
RB Laurence Maroney 25
RB/WR Santana Moss 10
WR Anquan Boldin 20
WR Roy Williams 15
WR Calvin Johnson 13
TE Jason Witten 22
D/ST Jaguars D/ST 1
K Stephen Gostkowski 1
BE Ahman Green 5
BE Vernon Davis 5
BE Ray Rice 5
BE Trent Edwards 2
BE Packers D/ST 1
BE Robert Meachem 1

[sooner333]

I really wanted Adrian Peterson, but eventually decided that I didn't want to pay *that* much. So, I ended up with a more balanced team. I don't know much about auctions, but I do think my team can compete.

QB Brett Favre, $11
RB Darren McFadden, $27
RB Willie Parker, $31
RB/WR Brandon Jacobs, $23
WR Reggie Wayne, $34
WR Steve Smith, $17
WR Wes Welker, $19
TE Dallas Clark, $12
DEF 49ers, $1
K Mason Crosby, $1
BE Patrick Crayton, $6
BE Todd Heap, $6
BE Felix Jones, $9
BE Titans, $1
BE Chad Pennington, $1
BE Neil Rackers, $1

[CleBrownsfan]

I am definantly willung to talk trade for Addai

I put in a trade offer for Addai... gives you the best WR in the league ;)

[rockboy70]

Here's my team. Also first time auction drafter. Put a priority on getting Westbrook with the .5 pts for receptions.

QB Drew Brees 26
RB Brian Westbrook 64
RB Edgerrin James 20
RB/WR Bernard Berrian 9
WR Plaxico Burress 18
WR Hines Ward 12
WR Dwayne Bowe 12
TE Owen Daniels 1
D/ST Patriots D/ST 1
K Josh Brown 1
BE Rashard Mendenhall 5
BE Philip Rivers 7
BE Aaron Rodgers 4
BE Ladell Betts 1
BE Ronald Curry 2
BE LaMont Jordan 2

[molson]

Crap - I hope I didn't just screw my team up.

I somehow, over the years, have accumliated several ESPN.com usernames across several email addresses.

It appears that I drafted "Team Olson" in this league using an account I opened around 1997, with an email address that I no longer have access to. Somehow, the password was still in my head, but yesterday, in confusion, I reset my password, with confirmation to be sent to my email address.

Of coruse, I never got the email. Now I'm locked out of the team. I'm trying to get in touch with ESPN, though I'm not optomisitc that they'll be helpful.

Racer - does ESPN give you any broad commisioner powers, like the ability to delete teams, re-assign players, etc? Any way to fix this manually? I have an ESPN.com username with my current email address.

Fortunately, I have set my lineup for this week, so I have some time to figure this out.

[Racer]

Crap - I hope I didn't just screw my team up.

I somehow, over the years, have accumliated several ESPN.com usernames across several email addresses.

It appears that I drafted "Team Olson" in this league using an account I opened around 1997, with an email address that I no longer have access to. Somehow, the password was still in my head, but yesterday, in confusion, I reset my password, with confirmation to be sent to my email address.

Of coruse, I never got the email. Now I'm locked out of the team. I'm trying to get in touch with ESPN, though I'm not optomisitc that they'll be helpful.

Racer - does ESPN give you any broad commisioner powers, like the ability to delete teams, re-assign players, etc? Any way to fix this manually? I have an ESPN.com username with my current email address.

Fortunately, I have set my lineup for this week, so I have some time to figure this out.

I think I do. I think the easiest way to go about it though is probably just to add a second owner to your team. Just let me know what email to send you an invite to.

Edit: I can definitely send you an invite to another email, just let me know if that corrects the problems you're having.

[molson]

I think I do. I think the easiest way to go about it though is probably just to add a second owner to your team. Just let me know what email to send you an invite to.

Edit: I can definitely send you an invite to another email, just let me know if that corrects the problems you're having.

PM Sent - I think that would work, thanks.

[sooner333]

Well, somehow I ended up sneaking into the championship game, despite massively overspending on McFadden (who I wish I had started this week at RB).

[Lathum]

this happening again, I enjoyed it last year.

[sooner333]

I'd like a chance to defend my crown.

[Racer]

Moving to Indianapolis the next couple of weeks so I won't have time to commish it this year. If anyone else wants take over as commissioner, feel free to though.

[Racer]

I've reactivated the league so if anyone else wants to take over as commissioner, PM me.

[Saul Goode]

I enjoyed the league last year also. If you can't find anyone I guess I would.

[Saul Goode]

anybody still interested in keeping this league going?

[spleen1015]

I'm in 3 leagues already. Had this came up sooner, I would play again.

[Lathum]

I would be depending on the draft day

[Danny]

I'd probably sign up if I could make the draft, I am only in two leagues, so could be in one more without overload.

[Racer]

Like I said before, if anyone wants to commish this thing, just PM me. Make sure you include your name or team name so I know who to transfer the commish powers to.

[Danny]

What exactly is involved in running the league? I ran a baseball auction league for a few years and that was a pain (I did it manually), but this league uses software now I imagine?

[Racer]

What exactly is involved in running the league? I ran a baseball auction league for a few years and that was a pain (I did it manually), but this league uses software now I imagine?

The main thing really is finding a draft time that works for everyone (or almost everyone) and then making sure everyone joins that says they're going to join.