PrimeTime Draft Tutorial

 

Oh, wait! Not that Prime Time draft...

...this one...

We will be using the PrimeTime Draft site this year for the first time. It's an improvement over the MFL draft room, at least visually. As noted in my emails we held a 'practice' draft recently. While there were only three of us involved I think I came away with a better understanding of how this thing works and some of the things that might need to be made clear. 

First of all, the site is pretty intuitive. If you do nothing else click here to get to this YouTube video from the company that gives you a view of the remote site you'll be using. Or view it here:

Once I generate the draft order I will be able to import the league settings into PTD. Then, prior to the draft I will send out the link via email. Click on it and the site will open in your browser. Remember you are not downloading anything...this is not a program your device is running. It's just a site you are opening in your browser just as you did in the MFL draft room in years past. If your device is capable of connecting to the 'net it will work with PTD.

I ran an second practice draft using two different devices so I could see the procedure from the remote view as well as what I'll see as commish. That's where the following screenshots come from.

When you click to the site using the link I send you you will see this... (CLICK EACH GRAPHIC TO VIEW FULL SIZE)

I added the arrows to indicate where you select your team, indicate that you are selecting your players there in PrimeTime (which they refer to as 'this app' and that needs to be set to 'Yes') and whether you want the names announced.

Then you click OK and you will see this...

Click OK to those reminders/Tips and you'll be ready to go. Note that the Available Players button is in the upper left.

When a pick is made you'll see this and hear the announcement if you have the turned on option to hear it. There will be a delay of maybe 8 to 10 seconds for anyone in Remote View (which will be everyone except me as the host). 

When your pick comes up you'll see this dialog box. The players listed will be the highest :::cough::: ranked players available regardless of team or position. You can take any of those or anyone else available. See the next screenshot for that. The clock will always be at 00:00 since we are not using a timer. The clock will appear in the slot of the team on the clock (duh1).

You can find any available player pretty easily by filtering team or position or both. Note that in my mock draft I filtered for KC and tight ends.

While you wait for your pick to register you'll see the 'waiting for confirmation' label in your pick slot. 

As we move along the board will fill up and as you probably noticed the players are color coded by position. 

 That's all there is to it. Once we go a round or so everyone will be pretty comfortable with the site I'm sure. While our draft may run a bit longer this inaugural PTD season I expect it to be a positive experience for the league. I always felt the weak link in the MFL world was the draft room which looks like something from an old Quattro Pro database file circa 1992. 

I'm going to find a communication platform that we can use during the draft and I will HIGHLY recommend that the out-of-town drafters find a way to participate. A smartphone will run Zoom or Google Meet and can sit next to your computer just in case. And hearing the shit the Houston guys talk about you will be an eyeopener! 

This week one of my favorite artists passed away. One you've probably never heard of. Sixto Rodriguez was a remarkable singer/songwriter whose story seems like a work of fiction. 

It's pretty crazy. In a nutshell the Detroit native released some albums in the early 70s which did nothing here in the states but in South Africa he became one of the top artists of the day. Meanwhile he knew nothing of his fame and his fans in SA thought he was dead. Apartheid and the SA government's draconian hold on the media is mostly to blame. Pretty wild when you consider that most of his music was smuggled into SA  and he still became a star on an 'Elvis' level. A music journalist in SA uncovered the truth and Rodriguez rose from working odd jobs and playing local Detroit gigs to real fame. It's  pretty remarkable and it's told in Searching for Sugarman, one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.  Dave Matthews grew up in SA and was a fan. There is a YouTube clip of him telling the story of not believing that nobody had heard of Rodriguez, The documentary is on YouTube. Highly, highly recommended.

RIP Rodriguez.

Here's Ellis this week on her last day as a member of her preschool's Grasshopper Room. When school cranks back up in a week she will be a Firefly!! Such a big girl! And she'll again become Teacher's Pet.

Here she is being silly with her Papa.

And just being her adorable self.

 

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.

Summer Update

 

This Update Updated (6.15.23): I was playing with the formatting of the rules page, and I realized that I had needed to make a change to have the official rules coincide with a league setting that has been in place for many years. 

In the 'Lineups' section it was stated that failure to turn in a lineup would result in the previous week's being carried over. We have not had that in place for a long time. No lineup equals no points. I've amended the paragraph in the rules to reflect that.

I figured it was time to touch base with the faithful. Not much new but here's a quick roundup of what I've done:

1) I tinkered with the banner atop the league homepage. This is one of my favorite things to do (I lead a very sheltered existence) so there is no telling how many times I will change it up before we launch the 2023 season. But I really do like the one that's there now so it may just stay for the season.

2) The EHFL stat history module was giving me fits. Some of the old leagues on MFL's servers have moved from one server to a different one and getting them to work in the module was impossible. It's just not worth the effort to drill into a solution for something that was mostly unused. I got that sumbitch working!!!  The only issue is that the championships are not assigned correctly. That's a product of how the Legends/Flyers/Settlers/S'Rats flipped franchises a few years back. All the players' stats are correct. They go back to 2003 when we first landed on MFL.

2) UPDATE (6.20.23)....I revamped (deleted and reinstalled) the Historical Stats module. The numbers should work now. The stats only go back to 2003 which was our first on this platform. And that 2003 season was TD-only so most of the 'lows' will be from that year. I also removed the championship icons since they didn't reflect our entire history.

3) Look down the right-hand column of the league site to find a link to all your MFL leagues (if you have any others), a link that takes you to a page that will give you all your players status for the week, and a link to a comprehensive NFL injury report. Look for this:

Obviously, there isn't any data to populate the pages now but once the season gets going there will be.

4) The stat history module is no longer included in the EHFL Links listing. I pulled it in favor of a link to Ed Hughes' Wikipedia page. 

We are on target for a draft on Tuesday, September 5. Mark your calendars. The draft order will be generated the evening prior to the draft using myfantasyleague.com's built-in mechanism. Worked fine last year and it was very easy. And I'm all about easy. 

TE and the roster limit...

I've been giving a little (and I do mean a little) bit of thought on the impact of the mandatory Tight End starter slot and its effect on roster composition. I'm wondering if we need to go to 18-player rosters instead of seventeen as we've had for the past several years. The new TE rule means most teams will carry two of them (unless you stream them (all season or just for bye coverage). That cuts into slots available for other positions. I need to give this some thought. Any opinions or suggestions are welcome. 

And a word to the wise. TE starters will (or should) change everyone's draft strategy to some extent. I think it will be interesting to see how everyone approaches this new phase in our league's evolution. 

Here's your dose of happy for June!

Hey Ellis Rose...did you know that Papa is a five-time Hughes League Champ?!?

A bit of Dwight Yoakam, then more Dwight (with the late Buck Owens) and finally one of my favorite songs...from Willie and Merle.

Enjoy your summer. Stay safe and healthy out there and look for another update if it's warranted before I start bombing you with requests for payment and any other important stuff as the season approaches. 

-commish

Happy Springtime!

 

Just checking in with some updates on where we are here in 2023. Last summer I vowed to make this whole commish thing an easier gig and I've stuck to that and succeeded for the most part. Without a ton of time or effort, we are about 95% ready for the fall and our 44th draft. The only tasks ahead will be generating the draft order and a few other mundane eve-of-the-season items like adding back some in-season modules. Hallelujah. 

Just to catch everyone up, here is where we stand and what I've taken care of after migrating to the 2023 season site:

1) I updated all the info that is contained in the Links section. All our historical data (all-time records, playoff history, etc.) is up-to-date. 

2) Randomly shuffled the non-division schedule weeks. It's ready to go.

3) I went under the hood and changed the scoring system to reflect what was decided on i.e. the decimal scoring system. I also changed the TE requirement and lineup configuration page. Hopefully, we can keep this system in place because sorting through the options, making the changes, and then testing them is kind of a pain. It's one of the downsides of MFL's incredible flexibility as they try to accommodate all the different options people want. It was still a thousand times easier than calculating, checking, and rechecking draft values though. LOL 

4) Updated the rules page (also in the Links section) to cover the changes for 2023. More importantly, I formatted it to be (hopefully) more readable. That was overdue. I also tweaked the tiebreaks page and did the same reformatting.

5) I worked on the Championship News page. I dug up some old ones, created some for years that were missing, and rearranged them all in chronological order. This was the only time-consuming job I attempted but it was well worth the effort for me as the Hughes Newsletters are something I really enjoy. 

6) I spent about 15 minutes tweaking the site's appearance. I uploaded a banner and swapped out a few team helmets. Mostly because I was looking for something to do. I like the color scheme and besides that, changing it entails changing a whole bunch of other graphics. Last year I declared gold and navy blue to be the 'official' league colors so we could just call it a day.

That's pretty much everything. If you go and check the site please let me know if you find anything that looks wonky or broken. I always appreciate the help. Talk soon!

I love k.d. lang's rendition of Hallelujah:

BTW...if you have access to Netflix this is worth a watch. Leonard Cohen was a unique talent.

Finally...I stumbled across this pic of Johnny U. playing hoops for the Colts off-season basketball team. They played around the Baltimore area in charity games. Hard to imagine that sort of thing happening nowadays.

Oh, and a few of my angel: