Summer Update #2

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Before anything else...I'm looking for a quality photo of Steve Barenholtz. I'd like to replace the one I'm using in the memorials graphic. Click the 'About Us' tab on the league site to see what I'm referring to. Thanks. And now for the regular blog nonsense.....

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It's funny how life is. Two weeks ago I was, well, ambivalent at best about moving forward with the league, and now I'm in 'Let's F'ing Go!' mode. And when I'm feeling that way, I tend to post crap, even if I know it is generally for my own benefit. 😼

League/Site Stuff:

We are at 75% paid as I type this, with 9 of 12 teams in the bank. Teams that have paid have received their waiver cash bonus. That window closes on Thursday at Midnight.

A few owners took it upon themselves to 'overpay', which is appreciated. But rather than pocket that extra money, I'm going to put it to use in one or two of the following ways:

➤Swag Handouts...You can never have enough Hughes-branded crap, right?

➤Trophy Upgrade... I had to rent a forklift and do some remodeling to get my 2024 trophy from the flatbed to my home office. I may not get something quite that big for the '25 champ, but a one-tier upgrade from the Crown Awards catalog might be in play.

➤A 'tip' for our tech guru... 'TOS' (short for THE Ohio State) has been a fixture in the MFL commish forum for a very long time. He is responsible for most of the customizations and mods I've used through the years. And when I get in trouble (which is often), he's always ready to answer my dumb questions. And he does this for many other leagues and does it all without any compensation. If you take a look under the hood of the new template, for example, there is a huge amount of coding involved. It's time for me to toss him a bone, even if it is just a virtual Starbucks card or something. 

Speaking of the site... I'm mostly done with it. I'm going to add some of the in-season modules when the time comes, and I do like playing around with the graphics, but for the most part, what you see now is what we will use.

I moved several things over here to the News blog. The Ed Hughes Tribute page, Banners page, Championship Hughes News editions page, and the Rules page, to be specific. You can find links to them over on the right-hand side of this page. The box that had been on the front of the site with info on our league, Coach Hughes, and three of our former owners is now found under the About Us tab. 

I've swapped out all the non-division weeks on the schedule. I just randomly matched up weeks and swapped 'em since with empty rosters it doesn't matter who is squaring off in any week just yet. I also swapped some division weeks (3 for 5 and 12 for 13). I left weeks 1 and 14 as is because the Flyers versus the Heroes to open and close the season is kind of a tradition. tradition. 

Draft Info... I haven't talked to Mike to see if he and Lynne are up to hosting again this year. They may still be in Colorado. Other options include a place like Cactus Cove (site of our last two postseason meetups), one of several breweries with good web access, or just doing it all remotely. I'll update as needed. We will draft on September 1, which is Labor Day.

Coming Soon: (or at least eventually) to a league near you: As of late I've been giving a lot of thought to some of the more memorable moments in our 45 years of doing this. Gary Hamman's David Overstreet pick is always the first thing that comes to mind, but that's far from the only highlight (or lowlight). Some time before the season starts I want to post an entry with some of the memorable moments that have made the Hughes League what it is.

An in-season get-together was mentioned in my first email. I think it might be fun if we can find the right date, game, and venue. I don't want to spoil our post-season gathering so maybe mid-season for a fun Monday Night game would work. I'll give it some more thought. We could even have a FaceTime session going so the OOT guys could check in. 

And I've also been thinking that we are not that far off (knock on wood) from our 50th season. I've always said jokingly that we will go to Vegas for that year's draft and have showgirls, etc. The problem is I hate Vegas. Like I really hate Vegas! My one visit was one too many. Therefore, I've been mulling over some alternative plans. I'd love to have every owner in one room for that 50th draft. That's probably a pipe dream, but I still want to try. So a location that is easily reachable to everyone would be helpful. Atlanta sort of 'splits the difference' travel distance-wise and it's an airline hub with flights arriving from everywhere. The fact that there is a lot to do there is gravy. I could see us having our draft and visiting the College Football Hall of Fame. We visited there for the 2015 UH Peach Bowl Game, and it was a highlight for sure. 2029 is a long way off. But I like thinking about it.

Jim Kerr is another guy who still brings it. 

Rinse, repeat!

Yes, indeed we are! Hopefully, you saw the email I sent this past weekend. In it I outlined a few things about the league homepage and the 2025 season. I have more news, so I'll compile it all here.

The Hughes League Site: The 2025 site is more or less good to go.  As I noted in the email, the site is now using a simplified template that will easily carry over from one season to the next. It's clean, simple, quick, and (I think) attractive. I muddled around with quite a bit of the code and trashed it a few times over the past couple of days, but it should be nearly in final form now. A couple of things still need fixing, and I hope to get those worked out soon. The problems are cosmetic and mostly minor.

1. The customized view on mobile devices is not currently working correctly. FIXED
2. The league logo (the shield on the front page) is out of proportion. FIXED
3. Some tabs have incorrect/missing icons. FIXED 
4. The text in the 'Rules' tab refuses to stay 'left-aligned'. FIXED...Rules now located here on the News blog. 

Only #1 above is very important. 

Please visit the site and poke around. I will be adding modules as time goes by. I have not put some of the 'in-season' modules in place. I think everything else is there, but you are going to have to look in a different place to find some things. The most important tools are located in that row of icons to the right of the shield. If you have issues, be sure to let me know. 

BTW...in trying to keep things tidy on the site, I have removed the special tabs, including the Coach Hughes Tribute, the historic banners page, the Champions Hughes News Editions page, etc. Those can now be found right here on the Hughes News site over in the right column. (EDIT)..The Rules page is here as well.

I tried a bunch of the different color (theme) options as I was tinkering. You might have noticed the site in red, blue, etc. if you were visiting over the last few days. I finally decided on the 'brown' theme, which is closest to what we have had for several years. In the future, I might give the defending champion the choice to pick the color theme. 

Payment: I'm currently collecting payment for 2025. The cost to each owner is $18. That covers the $100 MFL league fee, the $25 for Primetime Draft, and the trophy, which has run about $85/$90 with shipping. (I paid more last year for mine, but I paid the overage out of my pocket.).

I will not be sending endless nagging emails this year. You have several options....

• My Venmo address is @Robert-Andrews-91  
• You can send me a check: 15051 Peachmeadow, Channelview TX 77530.   
• Or send the fee via PayPal. There is a PP button on the '25 league site, and the amount is already programmed in and includes an extra amount to cover the fees PP collects from me for accepting payment. Please pay promptly. 

Once you pay, I will send the league invite and unlock your franchise. As of Monday afternoon, I've collected enough for the league fee. I have paid Myfantasyleague for the 2025 season.

As an inducement to pay promptly, I will add $10 to the waiver budget to every team paid for by August 1. 

League Stuff/Misc: There are no rules changes for 2025. I thought about formalizing a rule about 'missed lineup deadlines,' but those will continue to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and I will do what I've done for 45 years: try to use my best judgment and strive to do right by everyone involved. 

I have the draft scheduled for Labor Day, September 1st, at a site to be determined or online. I will maintain this Hughes News blog this year as I have in the past. As I mentioned in the email, I'd really like to get more engagement this season. I have a few ideas, such as a Houston watch party.  Maybe on a Sunday or Monday night later in the season, we could try to get together and watch an NFL game. Our postseason get-together is always a good time, and more of that sort of thing can't be bad, right?

Stay in touch...read your email and this blog. Please pay for your team if you haven't yet done so.

-commish

Ellis is spending some time in California with her folks. As an unofficial Disney Princess she was super excited to meet a bunch of them over the weekend!

Peter F'ing Gabriel, boys and girls. He still kills it. Seeing his show was a long-time goal. So glad I was able to be there.