Four team playoff for #1 pick

[Synzz]

My league has a four team playoff of the bottom 4 teams based on record. I had assumed this meant that the team that were declared "winners" would be the teams that lost both weeks and therefore be the "worst" team. I was in the bottom 4 and had the worst record. Now I don't have my first round pick so this is not for personal gain. After seeing some of the messages congratulating the guy that actually won both games and therefore gets the #1 pick (He is 8-19, 2 teams at 4-23, and me at 2-25). The person said this was to stop people from tanking for the #1 (It was not the commish). Now I busted my bleep to make this team better to the best of my ability but after finding this out I fell that I wasted my time. I honestly want to drop the league because I find this so absurd. Am I wrong in this? It is a pay league with an entry of $75.

Rules for draft order:

Draft order:

The first year's draft will be a snake draft done on draft robot set randomly. Future drafts will be the reverse of last year's regular season record except for the bottom 4 teams which have a playoff to determine their spot which will be no worse than 4th overall. In round 2 of the draft and thereafter, all teams including the bottom four teams will draft based on the reverse order of their regular season record.

It seems a little scarce in the information. My main issue is that I sold some of the better players on my team so that I could get more picks and I fell that I am now punished for it.

Anyway sorry it is a little long, but am I wrong in feeling I should drop the league?

[Guppy CEO]

IMO, leagues were you play to win to win the #1 pick is stupid. the team that needs it the most is the team that cant field a competitive team and therefore is least likely to actually win those types of games.

[Synzz]

Would you leave the league over it? That is what it ultimately comes down to. I enjoyed the league until now but this mostly kills it for me and I do not believe it is worth the $75 per year.

[Guppy CEO]

i would NEVER join such a league. nor would i stay in a pay league that did this.

i equate the rookie draft to welfare whose objective is supposed to have been to help those that need the most help. a play-in for the top pick will likely keep the neediest at that level for a much longer time, much like it does now.

[Never Veto1]

I'm in a league just like that, and it gives the players that are at the bottom something to go for since they are no longer in the playoffs. It also like the individual said "keeps teams from tanking for the #1". I watched several teams trade away talent that could have helped them win, but looked as if they were doing it for a better shot at number one, personally I feel they should have to deal with the punishment of not getting it for managing their teams so poorly.

[Guppy CEO]

depends on who they are trading away and what they get in return. trading away older players for youth and/or draft picks is the smart way to play dynasty. to then penalize those teams for being smart is illogical. if teams are tanking just to get better picks, then they need to be tossed out of the league.

[Quinty]

Yes, I would leave the league if I was you Snizz.

If the league wants to give the guys out of the playoffs something to do, then have the winner of the consolation playoffs receive a supplemental pick between the 1st or 2nd round, or 2nd and 3rd, or whatever works for the league.

Heck, a lottery among the bottom 4 is more fair then a tournament.

Just out of curiousity, did the guy that 'won' the 1st overall tank to get into the bottom 4?

[meineymoe]

Would you leave the league over it? That is what it ultimately comes down to. I enjoyed the league until now but this mostly kills it for me and I do not believe it is worth the $75 per year.

I wouldn't leave the league over it. I don't know what trading away talent has to do with this - you still have the picks you traded for, though you might have waited to make the trades until after this tourney, I guess, if you'd have understood what was going on. But I can't see getting angry enough about it to drop out.

by the way, my leagues do this as well, but we are a 16 team league, and 8 teams play for the #1 pick. Even though this has allowed the team with the #8 pick to move up to #1, the owners still are okay with this as it gives us something to play for and keeps up active to the end of the season. And it only affects the top of the first round and only bumps you down one slot if you don't win it, so no biggie.

-oo-

[Water Buffalo]

IMO, leagues were you play to win to win the #1 pick is stupid. the team that needs it the most is the team that cant field a competitive team and therefore is least likely to actually win those types of games.

Completely agree. I wouldn't want to be in a league where the 5th best (8th worst) and already fringe playoff team gets the #1 pick just because they can stomp the worst teams in the league.

And I CERTAINLY wouldn't be donating $75 to a pot every year with a terrible team and no real options for improvement.

[Krang]

IMO, leagues were you play to win to win the #1 pick is stupid. the team that needs it the most is the team that cant field a competitive team and therefore is least likely to actually win those types of games.

Completely agree. I wouldn't want to be in a league where the 5th best (8th worst) and already fringe playoff team gets the #1 pick just because they can stomp the worst teams in the league.

And I CERTAINLY wouldn't be donating $75 to a pot every year with a terrible team and no real options for improvement.

Unless I missed where he said there were only 8 teams in the league, it wouldn't be the 5th best (8th worst) team even playing for the #1 if its a 12 team league. The middle 4 teams wouldn't be involved at all if I understood him right. That said, I also think its dumb to have a playoff for it. If you are so afraid of people tanking for the #1 that you have to have a playoff for it, you need a new league with new owners.

[Guppy CEO]

Would you leave the league over it? That is what it ultimately comes down to. I enjoyed the league until now but this mostly kills it for me and I do not believe it is worth the $75 per year.

I wouldn't leave the league over it. I don't know what trading away talent has to do with this - you still have the picks you traded for, though you might have waited to make the trades until after this tourney, I guess, if you'd have understood what was going on. But I can't see getting angry enough about it to drop out.

by the way, my leagues do this as well, but we are a 16 team league, and 8 teams play for the #1 pick. Even though this has allowed the team with the #8 pick to move up to #1, the owners still are okay with this as it gives us something to play for and keeps up active to the end of the season. And it only affects the top of the first round and only bumps you down one slot if you don't win it, so no biggie.

-oo-

your way is slightly different than what the OP described as their entire top 4 is selected by this "draft playoff". so the the worst team could easily drop from 1st to 4th which would be a huge drop most seasons when there arent that many 'cant miss' prospects.

in my 10 seasons of FF, i've made the playoffs 5 times, but of the other 5 seasons, i would have "won" the #1 seed 3 times. this 'draft playoff' might work for redraft but its anti dynasty as it penalizes the bad teams for using the most effective strategy for getting better (trading away older players for youth and picks). the way i trade, i'm way less likely to trade with the teams that cant win this playoff because their pick is likely to be worse than what they will want for it. right now, i love to trade with the worst teams and try to get top picks.

[meineymoe]

And I CERTAINLY wouldn't be donating $75 to a pot every year with a terrible team and no real options for improvement.

There are plenty of options for improvement. If you think the occasional #1 overall pick is the answer to your dynasty dreams, think again.

-oo-

[Guppy CEO]

i think the #1 usually has more value in trade than actually using it to draft a rookie.

[Synzz]

I agree to an extent meiney. I mean if you are strictly relying on the top pick to make your team better then you will not be good for a very long time. I picked someone up on the waiver wire almost every week. It is not just the playoff that annoys me. The commish takes anywhere from a week to two weeks to respond to emails. People were using the IR when it clearly states in the rules there is no IR. One team was actually accused of tanking, but there was never a clear resolution that I saw. A lot of these terrible teams don't even bother playing the waivers.

Basically, inactive owners (had trades sit for over a week), inactive and unreliable commish, a terrible playoff for the #1, and a rather high cost of entry has made me not want to keep paying teams to win when it is going to take me at least another year to compete. If the league wasn't $75 per year I would probably stick it out but I don't believe the frustration will pay off anytime soon. I also feel the league will disband before I am ever competitive.


Trades made:
These are all combined into one but they were made separately.

I gave:
Urlacher, Sproles, Ben Watson, Nick Barnett, Jacquian Williams, Ahtubya Rubin, Peyton Manning 2012 first, 2013 third.

I got:
Kenny Britt, Cutler, Dan Connor, 2012 first, 2013 first, 2012 second, 2013 second.

I traded some older guys that I thought would be useless when I can finally compete for some picks and a couple younger guys. I would probably send half of those people alone for Britt and Cutler without even taking into account the picks. If this is considered tanking, well you should have seen my team. I had 4 fullbacks on my roster that were my "starting" RBs (Lendale white, Mike sellers, a free agent FB and one other). WRs were/are terrible. My TEs are the only part that is decent. I picked up Ballard from NYG and traded ben watson soon after. My defense is actually still pretty good.

[cha]

-it seems like this league has more issues then just whether you agree with the consolation setup

-the dynasty i am in has used the #1 pick playoff successfully for almost a decade so i might be biased. But I also agree with what another poster said....if your whole plan for improving your team revolves around the #1 pick you are going to be bad for a long time.