Tick, Tick, Tick

 

Quick (and important) note...I plan to rely on this space for keeping everyone informed this season. Doing a post here and then replicating everything in an email has been pretty much a waste of time. I'll use emails (or the league site message board) for personal messages and to let you know something new has been posted here. 

Now then...

As we edge closer to the 45th Hughes season it is time to update everyone on draft details and a few related items, as well as some announcements and reminders. 

1st up...in case you missed it... the draft order was drawn on Tuesday. Per the email sent...

The following draft order was randomly generated for your league:
1 - Rbacks
2 - Strawmenn
3 - Nationals
4 - Heroes
5 - Bombers
6 - Legends
7 - Giants
8 - Sticks
9 - Blizzard
10 - Holes
11 - Pirates
12 - Flyers

Once it was distributed I heard from Rick, one of the owners I mentioned earlier that has a potential Labor Day evening issue. We agreed that switching slots might give him some time to arrive home from his trip so the actual draft board will have the Giants in the #12 slot and the Flyers at #7. I prefer a mid-pack slot anyway so it works for both of us. And now that I think about it there is no reason other teams couldn't swap positions. If you can find a partner, go for it. Just have it done by this weekend and both guys need to contact me. Note that this is for initial draft slots drawn. You can't 'trade' individual rounds or anything of that nature. 

Draft Tidbits

This coming Sunday or Monday I will send the PrimeTime Draft room link to everyone. I kind of poked around it a bit and there isn't anything different that I can see from last season. I do have our team helmets loaded which you see when a pick is made. I'm asking for everyone's patience on draft night. There may be a delay or two along the way. I don't expect major issues but you never know. If anyone else thinks they may have availability issues let me know asap. Thanks. 

No changes at this time in the logistics of the draft. We are still looking at Paz' place in the Heights at 6:30 local time on Labor Day. I'll let you know if I need to push it back a bit. 

Roster and Waiver Things

We will have the roster capped at 17 this season. As we've been doing for the past few years we will have a 16-round draft. The morning after the draft the league is open for First Come, First Served waivers and that's when you can add a 17th player. That window runs through Thursday evening before the NFL openers. There is no other waiver window during that first week. Once the FCFS period ends you can begin bidding on players and those bids will be processed the following Wednesday, September 11. Our regular weekly waiver two-window calendar runs as usual from that point. 

EDIT (Aug 16): If you draft a player on IR, or have second thoughts on a player you grabbed, the FCFS window mentioned is when you can replace him/them. It's not just for adding a 17th player. Note that as of a couple of years ago I no longer reimburse the $5 FCFS waiver money spent in Week 1. When we went from $300 to $350 I figured that was one task I could eliminate from my list. /EDIT

Weekly and yearly player pick-up maximums remain the same as in prior years. Each team begins with $350 with the 2023 Second Season winners having a bonus. FCFS pickups are always $5, and blind waiver bids have a $10 minimum with $1 increments. In the postseason clubs are awarded $10 in extra waiver cash every week they survive. 

We will have two IR slots this year with players having to be officially listed as IR in the NFL to be eligible for one of those slots. 

And so on...

There are no rule changes this season other than the roster reduction (18->17) and IR slot increase (1->2) mentioned over the summer. Rules and regulations are found on the league page. I'll have more info for you as we get closer to the draft. All but two owners have paid for 2024. If you try to use the league message board and can post there you know I have received your payment. Thanks.