eSFL, Just Another Fantasy League

 The 16th installment of eStandout fantasy football kicked off on August 15th with the Vintage draft, 22nd was the Nebula draft, followed by two-a-day training camps. If you were fortunate enough to participate in these events, you are anxiously awaiting Sep 10th kickoff! The league is only available to 18 lucky owners, a large number for a fantasy league, but not large enough to satisfy those who reside on the six man waiting list. Those who have not been lucky enough to be an owner in the eSFL over the past 15 years, could never comprehend what they have been missing in fantasy football. As commissioner of the league since it's inception, I deserve but a very few commendations for it's success. When the league was formed our primary goal was complete team performance, not offensive domination. Football is a game that cannot be played without a defense, it simply cannot be done. Yeah, you could pick a team defense, why not pick a team offense if that method is so fun? So why should fantasy football be played that way? So, with ideas from a couple of would be owners, we decided that without the use of individual defensive players, it could not be any fun. The eSFL was certainly not the first fantasy football league to use individual defensive players (IDP), but I will say it sure was a minority. Back in 2000, the leagues first season, 97 percent of all leagues were not using IDP. If you could find a league that did, scoring was pretty weak to say the least. About five years ago I researched YAHOO! IDP leagues and found the almost all were exactly the same as far as scoring went. One point for a tackle, half for an assist, 2 points for a sack, 3 for an interception, 1 for a fumble recover, and 1 for a forced fumble. Now, everyone here can see the problem with that scoring system, it's pathetic. First off, how can a sack be only worth two points, when the league leader has less than the league leader in touchdown passes (and a TD is worth 7)? In 2008 there were 12 safeties league wide in the NFL. When designing the eSFL scoring system we researched that, and I don't remember the number in 2000, and don't want to look it up, but it was similar. So we bickered back and forth between 7 and 10 points until we decided 10 would be the number. After a few years of that we came to our senses and changed it to 7, which has proven to be on point. If you were to research the same topic today, you would find about 65 percent of all leagues are IDP to some degree. What I am trying to get across is that the commissioner did not create the scoring rules here, a team of guys did, all wanting to be unique, but not wanting to be totally extreme.   All but one of those inaugural season owners had one goal in mind, winning the coveted Ballistic Bowl award. The sole individual who didn't have that goal in mind, was, sad to say, a throw in so we had six teams. But lets look at what I just said, the BALLISTIC BOWL, not the SUPER BOWL! Do a google search, ask your buddies, you will find out that probably 85 percent of all fantasy championship games are called the Super Bowl. To me, that will tell you all you need to know about the league if you were thinking of joining it, not a creative bone exist in the founder or it's leadership. Our championship game was given it's name because the league was originally founded as the Egress Shop Football League. We realized the monster we had caged could not be delegated as such any longer after a few seasons, so we renamed it the Standout Football League. We decided to keep a small "e" in the name to identify it was electronic, which it really is a combination of real life with stats kept electronically.  Why could it not remain as the Egress Shop Football League? Well, we had friends and family member who had to get in, we needed to expand, and the league would be at a serious disadvantage in those areas if it was only Egress Shop people. Also, the people who founded the league, believe it or not, would not be Egress Shop members their entire life. So we changed.   And that is what this entire piece is about, change. The owners, past and present have all been for change, not against it. Things must change, the NFL game changes, from a running heavy league to a passing heavy league, back to a run heavy one. The interest in college football has escalated, therefore why not incorporate some rules to use college football to enhance our league. We came up with the Farm Free Agent (FFA) this year, which was not utilized by any owner on draft day, but I expect when awareness is better on the rule it will become an often used one. Our incorporation of the Restricted Free Agent rule several years ago has been a big hit with several owners, and likely will expand in some form or the other as time goes on. We have our own radio show, which I think needs work, but its a nice way for owners to talk to or listen to what everyone else has going on in their fantasy and real lives.  This year we changed from our official site host to a different one, with reluctance, but so far so good. We now have an easy way for owners to submit their Insider articles, look at a calendar for upcoming events and owner requirements, live video chat, an easy to view awards program (found on each owners page in their trophy case), and much more.  I look forward to the 16th season, and think every owner that has participated over the years. Without the original team owners helping with rules, without following owners making reccomendations and getting involved, the eSFL would have been just another fantasy football league. But, hey, who would have know that their was a better way to play? Here's to another 15 years boy's!