So, up next in my series titled “things I’d like to talk about at the rules meeting, but who knows how that meeting will go, so I am going to write about them here” I briefly outlined a new playoff format that I think we should adapt. I mentioned it in the chat but I want to clarify and get it all flushed out here.
Sadly, like most ideas, this is not original. I stole this idea from the forward thinking, always willing to adapt league of Major League Baseball and it’s out of my upmost respect for commissioner Bob Manfred (Mason you should sponsor him with Natalie’s) that I take this idea and make it my own. (Ps, if you want a really fun baseball documentary that will go against everything I just said, watch “Screwball” on Netflix. It was directed by Miami native Billy Corben, it goes without saying Mason needs to reach out to Billy Corben and get him on the Natalie’s train)
I won’t fully dive into Boberts idea, but to sum it up, the top half of seeds would pick who they play in the playoffs from the bottom half. So, for us, of the 8 teams that make the playoffs, the top 4 teams would then pick who they will play. The picks would go by seeding, so if you’re the 1st overall seed going into the playoffs, you get first pick of who you would want to play, then second seed would pick, etc.
Once those picks are made, the seeding is final. Teams would not get to pick their opponent after each round. For example, if a team is the 5th seed going into the playoffs but is picked 1st by the top seed at the start of the playoffs, they then become the new 8th seed. Then the bracket plays out with the 5th/6th/7th/8th seed teams in their new respective spots.
Why add another layer of confusion to our league Mitchell?
Great question Mitchell, you’re so smart… hey do you like juice? I’ll have my buddy reachout to you about a possible partnership with Natalie’s OJC. (Mason, can you reach out to Mitchell for me, he seems like the kind of guy you’d like)
Back to the question, for me there’s two big reasons for us to add this new rule…
1st Fantasy Football seeding and records are garbage.
I am extremely bitter about this but hear me out here. Imagine, you are a top seed, you have had a great season, done everything right, won games, made the smart moves but then you get matched up with a team like Jakes last year. A really good roster, who just had some bad luck. Then, you look down the bracket and see the 4 vs 5 match up and it’s two teams that you could easily beat. How much shit is that? There is an amount of dumb luck to fantasy, there’s no way around it and I get it, it’s all a part of the game. But shouldn’t we, at the very least, be trying to reward the team that is the number 1 seed? Giving them every opportunity to win as a reward for winning the most games to that point?
2nd The added layer of strategy and fun
Let’s playout two scenarios here… First, you’re a mid-pack team that is making the playoffs but you aren’t a top seed. Mason makes a post about how your team sucks, how you’ve been lucky all year and how your matchups are terrible. How nice is it going to be when he calls you out and you beat him in the first round? How much shit are you going to be able to talk to him all summer? This playoff format shift would add a whole new layer of fun to it and would ratchet up the intensity of the first round of the playoffs by a thousand, because each matchup becomes a personal grudge match… they called you out as the sure thing. Each upset will be a big deal and a lot of fun.
Second scenario, you’re a top seed. You have been working your ass off to make sure you can get your hands on that beautiful jacket. Now you, as a top seed, can take it next level and research the perfect team for your first-round matchup. You can find the team that’s stars have bad matchups. You can pick the team that has the star WR, that is on your QB’s team, so they cancel each other out (for example, if I have Mike Evans, you can pick up Tom Brady… Speaking of Tom Brady, Mason you should reach out to him for a Natalie’s partnership). The possible strategies are endless.
In summary…
I believe this will be a welcomed rule change because it adds layers of strategy, rewards the high seed teams and will be fodder for endless amounts of shit talk. And isn’t that really what it’s all about?
The MFL 