Fantasy DG League: Working out the kinks...

[Tim]

OK, so after the first round of Fantasy DG picks, I apparently have taken it upon myself to discover some kinks in the system. There was an email issue with my picks making their way to Gwillim--don't know what's up with that, but hopefully it won't happen in the future, that's beside the point though.

As it turns out, I got screwed on DRO--no fault on Gwillim's part, but due to unforeseen circumstances. My picks for DRO were McCoy Conner for Pro, and Steve McClain for Adv. I submitted my picks on the Weds. proceeding, and here's where the issues arise. Per the rules of Fantasy DG, we can only pick what players are registered on the Monday before the tournament. At the time I picked the players, they were both signed up in their respective divisions.

Problem is, as of Monday, McCoy wasn't registered, but he was registered on the day I went to look at the list for my picks. There's no way to tell by the PDGA site when somebody has been added or removed, so there could feasibly be a different list every day that people would have to work with. Gwillim has already told me that for future events, he'll be posting the usable list ahead of time, so problem solved in that respect.

The other problem that I ran into, was that on the pre-reg list, Steve McClain was signed up as Adv. but at the time the results were posted, I saw that he'd moved up to Pro. Ryan has treated that as essentially a player dropping out, and I get the "here's your 20 pts. consolation prize". That's a fair interpretation of the rules as written, but I'd like to make an amendment if others agree with it. Not awarding any points for someone who dropped out makes perfect sense, but if a player still played, I think it would be fair to still award points for it. My thoughts are that if a player moves from Adv. to Pro, or vice versa, and the change is not posted before the event, then that player's score could be compared to the division he was originally signed up in, and points awarded that way. This all of course is with the understanding that the Pro and Adv. fields played the same layout/courses. AFAIK, when different divisions play different layouts/courses, Adv. and Pro almost always play the same, so I don't think that'd be much of an issue. So in the case of Steve, he placed 13th in Pro, but would have tied for 3rd in Adv.

I think the whole switching divisions thing is a rarity, but I'd like to have this kind of protection for people in the future. Without the issues mentioned above, I could have had 185 points from DRO...instead I got 40.

Thoughts?

[gwillim]

The potential problem that I see is that of different divisions playing different layouts, etc. I don't have a good way of verifying that MA1 and MPO played together, on the same layout. For instance, I don't know anything about how the DRO was run, so if they did use layouts, I've got no clue.

I would be more apt to amend the rules to say that if a player changes divisions late, that the fantasy participant would receive the points that they get in the div they play in.

For instance:

If you chose McClain and he moved up to MPO, you would get the points for your normal MPO pick, and you would also get points for how McClain did in MPO.

It's not a good solution. But giving out points based on how someone theoretically did in a division they weren't competing in is a little hairy.

What about this...
What if everyone gives me a backup pick? Like a "starter" and a "bench" player? Only one person can count, but if something happens to your "starter" (injury, moves up, etc) then I you would move to your "bench" player, and the points for the division would be calculated on them?

example:

GNO Picks:
MPO: A) Skellinger, B) Coates
MA1: A) Lund, B) Corbin

"A" player being the starter and "B" being the bench.

It would mean a little more work, but I think it's a much better option!

[Scott]

Originally Posted by gwillim

The potential problem that I see is that of different divisions playing different layouts, etc. I don't have a good way of verifying that MA1 and MPO played together, on the same layout. For instance, I don't know anything about how the DRO was run, so if they did use layouts, I've got no clue.

I would be more apt to amend the rules to say that if a player changes divisions late, that the fantasy participant would receive the points that they get in the div they play in.

For instance:

If you chose McClain and he moved up to MPO, you would get the points for your normal MPO pick, and you would also get points for how McClain did in MPO.

It's not a good solution. But giving out points based on how someone theoretically did in a division they weren't competing in is a little hairy.

What about this...
What if everyone gives me a backup pick? Like a "starter" and a "bench" player? Only one person can count, but if something happens to your "starter" (injury, moves up, etc) then I you would move to your "bench" player, and the points for the division would be calculated on them?

example:

GNO Picks:
MPO: A) Skellinger, B) Coates
MA1: A) Lund, B) Corbin

"A" player being the starter and "B" being the bench.

It would mean a little more work, but I think it's a much better option!

I like the option of having a bench player.

Furthermore, I would love the idea of submitting your top three finishers and points being awarded for all three. Not this year, but keep it in mind for next time around.


Short of using the bench player system, I would vote strongly for awarding points for the advanced player based on how he finished in the pro field. I agree it would be too much of a pain in the ass to determine what layouts were used. Even if the layout stayed the same, the different groups might play in different flights, bringing different weather conditions into play. Too much speculation.

With all that being said, I'd be willing to bet that this is the one and only time this situation will occur this season. But I agree with Tim that it is prudent to tie up all of the loose ends.

[Sean Phillips]

Having a bench player is a good idea.

If that isn't used, players that move up get the points from the division they moved up to. If they move down player gets 20 points.

My $.02

[Sam]

But how would this affect the number of times that we can select someone? Can I have Andrew Rich as my bench player for the next ten events, for example?

[gwillim]

Originally Posted by Sam

But how would this affect the number of times that we can select someone? Can I have Andrew Rich as my bench player for the next ten events, for example?

I would say yes. Only player that are actually used are restricted to two events. Andrew can only be used twice, but as long as he hasn't been used twice, he can be on the bench as many times as you want, I would suggest.

[Tim]

Seems like everyone is in agreement with the bench player thing...I too think it's a good solution. As Scott said, I think my situation very well could be the only one that happens in the whole season, but the bench player also works well for players that drop out. Here's a hypothetical question...assuming we go with the bench player, if your first pick plays but DNFs for whatever reason, does the bench still come into play?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Tim

Here's a hypothetical question...assuming we go with the bench player, if your first pick plays but DNFs for whatever reason, does the bench still come into play?

I would hope not. If the player you choose throws even one disc in the tournament and then DNFs, that should count.

[gwillim]

Originally Posted by Sam

I would hope not. If the player you choose throws even one disc in the tournament and then DNFs, that should count.

I agree, DNFs will not be replaced by the bench player. Make sure you pick reliable players!