A trio of things to go over as we head towards our 44th draft. First...

The Practice Draft

I'm going to run this on Sunday, August 6 at about 8 p.m. CENTRAL time. Here's what I plan on....

I'd like as many owners as possible involved. The more the merrier. If you are participating I'd like you to check in via text or phone sometime between 7:30 and 7:45 so I know who's involved. I will send my number to you prior to the date of the mock draft. At that point (Sunday at 7:45-ish) I will set up the mock draft and send out (via email probably) the link to the draft. 

EDIT.. Have no fear, I will be sending out reminders as to the date and time as we get closer. Probably several..I know how you guys are.

I'll likely set it up for three or four rounds depending on the number of folks involved. It won't take long, Obviously as a practice draft it'll make no difference who you take. 

I may set up a Zoom meeting (or something of that nature) since I'd like to be able to communicate with some (or all) of you as this is moving along. Here's why....

During the draft I hope to test out some of the 'commish tools' so I am familiar with them before the real deal. I'll try to 'stop' the draft, reverse a pick, maybe skip a pick, etc. I might ask someone to try and pick out-of-order to see what happens. That sort of stuff. I'm anxious to know what controls I have over what goes on in the draft room. 

As I said, it shouldn't take long so if you can carve out the 30-45 minutes for the sake of the good ol' Hughes League I'd be very grateful!

Next...

Keeper Count

The poll, which I did say was non-binding, showed that most owners preferred one flex player to two. BUT almost everyone communicated they didn't care either way or that they would be fine with my deciding. 

I'm leaning towards the two flex spots. I've looked pretty closely at RB numbers for the last couple of years. The NFL is simply not a running league anymore. Asking our owners to field two respectable backs means putting teams at a disadvantage. If you have two, great. Heck you can start three if you want to but it's not likely to roll that way.

I heard from a couple of owners that they wanted it to be kept simple. My point is that having more flexibility in lineup selection IS making it easy. Pick your six (qb, rb, 2 wr, te, k) and then your best two available players. 

Unless I hear from someone who really has an issue with the change I think we will go that route.

And finally...

$$$$$

I hate asking for the money but it's a necessary evil. With the cost of the league (up this year AGAIN) and the trophy I figure that $15 per team will cover it. I'll spring for the cost of the new draft room experience this year since it may turn out that it's something we don't move forward with.

Also, a few of you paid a year in advance last season If that's you I won't expect another payment. I will send my PayPal/Venmo/Cash App credentials in a separate email soon. Your prompt attention will be appreciated. Don't make me beg, OK?

Who's That Girl?

RIP Tony Bennett. He was the best.

Are Thinking What I'm Thinking?

I've had some time to look at stats from the past year or two. It's pretty obvious that runningbacks are not what they once were. With a two RB minimum lineup I think there are going to be some really disadvantaged Hughes teams going forward. Especially when those bye weeks roll around. 

I'm thinking that maybe we should drop the RB minimum to one and go with two flex spots. The options are outlined in the tables below. Plan 1 is what I currently have in place for 2023. Plan 2 shows the lineup options with a two flex player setup.

You can vote on the league homepage or send me you thoughts here in the replies or via email. I'm leaning (heavily) towards going with the 2 flex option. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts.

Here's my little angel on her recent California vacation. This is her second time to the West Coast. Her grandfather has NEVER been. LOL

Summer Update II and a Call For Volunteers

 

52 Days..... that's how far we are away from our 44th EHFL Draft. So now is a good time for a quick update. No Earth-shattering news here but I have some reminders and we will have a new draft experience this year I need to talk about.

The Draft... We will kick it off on Tuesday, September 4 ay 6:30 CENTRAL (7:30 Eastern). Paz has graciously offered us his house in the Heights again. I will send the details as the day approaches. 

The Draft Order... The night before the draft I will generate the order using the tools included with our MFL site. Worked like a charm last year. I didn't care for where I ended up but whatever.

The Draft 'Room'... No, I'm not referring to Paz dinning room table. I'm talking about the one part of MFL I dislike...their draft room. For the last couple of years I've been tempted to try a third party app...specifically Prime Time Draft. It's pretty slick and much more visually appealing that the native MFL draft room. But I'm always hesitant to make a change like this after all these years of using the MFL room, especially since some of you are not all that tech savvy (I'm pointing no fingers, you know who you are). 

It was developed to use in a 'local draft user' setting but it does work for remote owners. I send the URL and everyone can use their own device, Win, Android, or Mac/iOS. I've run a couple of trials (it lets you do two rounds without a purchase) and it seems pretty intuitive. But I have a couple of questions for the company which I will try to get answers to this week. Okay, I heard back from the folks who sell the program and they (sort of) put my mind at ease as to how this thing works. I went ahead and paid the $30 and we will see how it goes this year. It gets good reviews among some other league commissioners so I figure it'll be a plus for us. I am going to send out a request for some owners to help me do a trial run at some point in the next few weeks.

Here is a screenshot. Note that the draft order and selections were just random for testing and without using the timer option the clock is always at 00:00. 

Here's what you see when your turn comes up and you click the clock. You can filter positions/teams as shown and then make your selection.---

And when you make your pick....

Please let me know if you would be interested in helping with the dry run of the new draft page. I'd aim for a Sunday evening. It wouldn't take long to have three or four teams 'draft' a couple of rounds just to see how it goes. I might like having someone (or more than one) participate and also Zoom or FaceTime so I can get a good look at the screen as seen by remote owners. Please let me know if I can count on you. It would be much appreciated.

Meanwhile here is some music from one of my favorites, David Gray.