My long personal nightmare of the football off-season is nearly over and I eagerly return to you with an invitation, some updates, some keepers to consider, and a draft date.
First and foremost, the invitation: I hope that each of you are anxious and ready to partake in the joy of another SPFL season. HOWEVER, in the inexplicable circumstance that you are not interested — PLEASE let me know as soon as possible, so that we can recruit a replacement. It doesn’t take much time to confirm — a text stating “I’m in!”, an email, a phone call, heck, a chest thump and a point if you pass me on the road near league headquarters. Just please let me know, either way. As Coach Salyers so cringingly taught us as youngsters, “We all know what happens when you assume…”
Secondly, some updates: I like to try and keep things fresh, as much as I can without being gimmicky. I had some constructive feedback after last season and have elected to incorporate a couple of the changes.
- I am lowering our roster sizes by one position to 16 players, made up of any combination of positions you’d like. If you want three tight ends (who wouldn’t, amirite?), that’s your prerogative. I’m making this change to make it a little more strategic on how you manage your bench while also opening up our waiver wire candidates so that if someone needs an emergency RB, maybe they can actually find one.
- Once I receive confirmation of having twelve owners, I will randomly set the draft order. This could be as early as next week, if y’all all get back to me quick. This will help those of us that do mock drafts (anyone? Bueller? Bueller?) and may also inform your keeper decision. For example, giving up a first rounder at slot 12 is a lot different than giving up one at slot 2.
- This one I’ve really wrestled with, but I think it’s time to raise the entry fees to the SPFL. I’m going to charge $100 per team and will give it all back, as follows: $100 to the team that scores the most regular season points, regardless of playoff outcomes. Season long success deserves a reward. The winner of our Consolation Bowl (third place) will win $150. The runner-up of the SPFL Super Bowl, will win $250, and our SPFL Super Bowl Champion will pocket $700. To quote Adam Sandler in his Hanukkah song, “Not too shabby…” Please … if anyone feels that this fee is a deal killer and you want out, let’s talk off line and we can set up payments or Care Credit or something.
- I’m not making any changes to our scoring system.
Now, for our keepers. There should be a link to an Excel spreadsheet below. Simply look for your team name and a list of players that you can keep. The “cost” to keep said player is next to his name. Remember our rules: only two keepers per team, no first rounders from last year are eligible, and you can only retain a player twice (three total years, draft, keep, keep). There are only a few that have that designation. A couple of requests with these: make sure you think your list is accurate. I am a 50+ year old Gen X’er with one good eye, who does this all by hand, so its possible I made a mistake. Also, please let me know your keepers by August 17th. You can designate them a keeper on our website, but I still have to go in and do some work to set it up, so it would be easier to just let me know.
And finally, our draft date will be … Sunday, August 24th at 2pm Eastern. Yahoo will show a West Coast time on our league page.
Hope you all are having a great summer and if you’re like me, are glad it’s almost over! Your to do list:
- Let me know you’re playing.
- Send me your dues ($100).
- Send me your keepers, if any.
- Start doing your research!
The Commish
SPFL Website for 2025: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/128524