As it appears we're now going to struggle with four leagues of eight drafted teams, how about we move to three leagues of nine teams; with three up and three down at the end of the season. There's something about threes. With nine managers, everyone gets a starting goalkeeper from two teams; if they so wish. Could be a new challenge. We then create a waiting list for people who want to join in the fun in future seasons. No expansion past three leagues of nine managers.
I'll send out an email query to all the managers to post their opinion in this thread. I'm for keeping the 8 team leagues, but will accept the vote of the majority. There needs to be a deadline for the switch as we'd have to realign the league memberships and, in Small Rocks case, redo the Draft Order when members have been planning for their current position. With the trial run of FPLs Draft Fantasy League this year, my thought is that if we can't fill up the Dust league, those members could play the FPL draft fantasy league. I would certainly give them front of the line privileges for next season's All Rocks organizing thread.
I'm OK with this, although I would prefer 2 up / 2 down rather than 3 up / 3 down. That's way too much turnover, especially given that there's always an extra team or two that get moved up because of owners quitting.
It will certainly make things more interesting. As long as all three leagues can get through their drafts in time then I'm happy to go to 9 team divisions.
I am firmly for keeping it 8. I do like the idea of adding a couple of B teams to keep the lowest league afloat. If someone wants to join late they could take over a B team. Also Think we should also fill the Powell bros socks with rocks til they get the message to stay put.
Depending on how the drafts were arranged I'd take a B team in Dust league and be active on it until someone wanted in or until the end of the season if needs be, I'm not sure if we can get 5 B teams managed though hence i am happy enough to go with the other option of expanded leagues.
Well, if one league has already started their draft, then we need to stay at 8. I'd also be interested in taking a B team. I'll also ask my brother if he has enough time to join Dust
you are talking about 9 a league - may i point out that VSR still havent got the 8 !!! we are a man missing ! will we ever get this show on the road ?
With a lot 'easy to go with what we decide', who actually makes the decision? I'm making a note of what is posted and will come back to the thread later. VSR Draft hasn't officially started although we do have our Draft Order and have a good idea of what the first two picks will be. We're just having a knees up in there. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/very-small-rocks-2017-2018-lets-get-the-party-started.2065806/
We started with just two 8-team leagues, then grew to four. With the seemingly annual challenges of recruiting new members to replace the inactive managers or those who choose not to continue, perhaps we should accept going to three leagues. The idea of 5 "B" teams to fill up the Dust League presumes some other managers will appear during the season and take over these clubs. Not realistic in my mind. We did
Hal, Is that three leagues of nine, or three leagues of eight? I agree, having a second 'B' team just to make up the numbers doesn't cut it. We could see a conflict of interests when a manager's A Team gets relegated and the B Team is promoted.
My computer froze during my last post. Let me continue. We did have one year where someone left the draft at the last minute and one of us drafted a team with the understanding a new manager would take it over. We recruited the new manager and we froze other transfers and allowed the new manager to use a wildcard and revamp the team as needed. I don't remember if the manager even finished the season, but having a team and expecting another to take over is not without complications. I like the size of 8-team leagues. It's our experience that there is enough talent to fill 8 teams with everyone being competitive. It's not that I'm against changes, but I'm concerned that with a 9-team league we'll end up with less competitive teams and managers might become frustrated and more easily go on a walkabout. Switching to 9-team leagues, does a disservice to the leagues who have already established a draft order. In Small Rocks, Muppets has the first pick. He's done his draft planning accordingly. I don't think it's right to redo the draft selection, but I also don't think it would be right to go to a 9-team league without redoing the draft order. My vote is to stick with 8-team leagues. That said, of the respondents so far, many have said they could go either way, which is like abstaining from the vote. I'd like to set a deadline for this decision of midnight tonight EDT. I did email all the managers of the Small Rocks, Very Small Rocks, and Sand Leagues. At midnight tonight EDT, I'll comb through the replies to this thread and tally the votes.
I think we should stick to 8 teams per league. 9 teams will be way too many. As a member of the inaugural Dust League, we had some issues with getting enough Managers to start but with a lot of work from ourselves and the greater 'Rocks' community we got it up and running and it was a great success. Lets get the feelers out there and get this league over the line.