Why Head to Head Formats are Terrible

[uwilose123 2]

I play in three total points leagues and one head to head league. Through week 16, total points is the only way to determine a champion. One bad week here and a couple of Colts starters screwing you there, and you may be 15-0 and lose the championship for something that is no fault of your own! I feel for anyone who lost their championship today because of that debacle. For those guys that play in HTH, try to revote next year and start your playoffs after week 13 and the champion is determined for the team with the most total pts weeks 14-16, a good compromise.

[Law 220]

Sore Loser

[Cuse9 128]

I play in three total points leagues and one head to head league. Through week 16, total points is the only way to determine a champion. One bad week here and a couple of Colts starters screwing you there, and you may be 15-0 and lose the championship for something that is no fault of your own! I feel for anyone who lost their championship today because of that debacle. For those guys that play in HTH, try to revote next year and start your playoffs after week 13 and the champion is determined for the team with the most total pts weeks 14-16, a good compromise.

There is no right or wrong way. They're all fun. Total points is great because it rewards the most productive scoring team. The problem I have with total points is that it's boring. You simply put in a line-up. Head to head you play against someone which creates more excitement week by week. Seeing who you're playing against and watching their players adds to the fun.

 

It doesn't matter to me. Total points, head to head, playoffs, three week running total, redraft, keepers, auctions.....it's all good. It's all fun!!

[SFGeek 0]

Wrong.

Do u think that's how the NFL should play as well?

I think not.

 

Management skills from week to week, as well as how to manage injuries and free agency is the only way to show skills.

It's called reality.

 

Give a bonus to the to two total points teams in your league if you want to still have total points get a reward.

[shasha 0]

Head to head is the only way to do it.

 

Part of the strategy is to find a group of players that are going to be playing hard and getting those good matchups late in the season. Without the strategy for the late season push you miss a lot of drama and fun...plus I don't think that you get the rivalries that you get in head to head.

 

This is the 3rd time that me and my opponent are in the title game and this is the tie-breaker. Almost 8 years in this league and it's easily the best rivalry in the league. If it was points only an entirely different owner would have won already.

[DamageIncVacc 6]

Total points is boring and not the right way. What my league does is award the total points winner with a cash prize to compensate. Championship winner gets $700 but the total points winner gets $150. rewards the total points team but keeps the H2H format which in my opinion is the fun format. I played 1 year in a total points league and it was totally bogus. You dont care about any players but your own. you just set a lineup and move on. And by week 9 half the league was down by 200 or more points and didnt care anymore or try. and by week 12 we had one team up 300 points and it was already over.

[bweiser831 0]

Wrong.

Do u think that's how the NFL should play as well?

I think not.

 

Management skills from week to week, as well as how to manage injuries and free agency is the only way to show skills.

It's called reality.

 

Give a bonus to the to two total points teams in your league if you want to still have total points get a reward.

 

and how is that different between H2H and total points?

 

i'm in a total points league with limited moves. wanna talk about dealing with strategy? trying to decide whether to use the extra LB at a flex or a WR? how to overcome an injury to your top-flight QB when the waiver wire is filled with dregs. that's the same for both.

[uwilose123 2]

Total points is boring and not the right way. What my league does is award the total points winner with a cash prize to compensate. Championship winner gets $700 but the total points winner gets $150. rewards the total points team but keeps the H2H format which in my opinion is the fun format. I played 1 year in a total points league and it was totally bogus. You dont care about any players but your own. you just set a lineup and move on. And by week 9 half the league was down by 200 or more points and didnt care anymore or try. and by week 12 we had one team up 300 points and it was already over.

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And your up by 200 pts until the championship game with Manning and Clark or Wayne when Caldwell Blindsides you and you lose the championship. HTH rewards luck, plain and simple. The right way to do it is total points with a side pot for the head to head champion. Playing a whole season to rely on one week 16 game when half your team may or may not be resting can't be the right way to do it. I don't care how well you plan ahead of time, you should have to modify a team of studs to plug in Jerome Harrison and some other one week starter to get lucky and win a championship. I'm not bitter, like I said I just think HTH is not the right way.

[Kitsnow 0]

The answer is to commish your own league and set it any format you like.

 

Example. 100$ Auction league, Successful waver wire transaction $2.

Win by total points. Then if you feel it will get boring throw redrafting rounds after weeks 4, 8, 12. Where you do a new auction draft but teams get an extra $2 per position away from first. 100,102,104 ect..

 

Basically Score and win how you want then think of ways to spice it up. Either with weekly contest bets or some other method.

[IndyFan 2]

Both of my leagues have two scoring methods running simultaneously. Total points and H to H with cash prizes for both. We consider the total points the more desirable title

[uwilose123 2]

Wrong.

Do u think that's how the NFL should play as well?

I think not.

 

Management skills from week to week, as well as how to manage injuries and free agency is the only way to show skills.

It's called reality.

 

Give a bonus to the to two total points teams in your league if you want to still have total points get a reward.

 

 

 

How did an inactive Steven Jax feel today? How about those Colts stars? All held out to REST! Thats how the NFL DID Play, not how fantasy should be.

[Jaxie 0]

And your up by 200 pts until the championship game with Manning and Clark or Wayne when Caldwell Blindsides you and you lose the championship.

 

If you were paying attention you weren't blindsided. All signs pointed to the Colts starters being limited today. I'm surprised he did it when it was such a close game, but if Caldwell "blindsided" anyone it's their own damn fault.

 

I like head to head because I find it more exciting. I know everyone in my league, so I like the drama of playing against another team each week and the trash talking and bragging rights that go with it. That's my style and I like it that way. My league has a fairly large bonus for the high point total scorer ($100 + the picks/drops money), so there's still a reward for that.

[nicewolf64 0]

knowing which teams are likely to sit starters late in the season should be part of your draft strategy. i've been burned by colts in the past. seasons are 16-17 weeks long and bad managers are the ones that only play 15 weeks.

[bweiser831 0]

i have never understood the argument football fans make that because some teams choose to rest players to tune up for the playoffs, you should alter your season accordingly.

 

maybe its because i've done baseball longer, but the game we play is supposed to reflect the game on the field. that's why baseball runs until the end of the regular season - and any playoff tiebreakers - and why your fantasy football season should run for 17 weeks. by playing total points, you get to 'rest' your players if you want at the end of the season if you've built up a big enough lead.

 

obviously there are difference because the colts are going to the playoffs, but our season would be ending after week 17 ,,, unless you somehow redraft, but that seems to be the opposite of what we're striving for.

[KSB2424 3,083]

So you like the BCS over a college playoff too?

[Busted by the Feds 9]

I think competent fantasy owners have sense enough to compensate for the Colts situation yesterday even in HTH leagues. They have already checked the week 16 or 17 games and gotten decent replacements for the Colts stars that they could still win their championship. If anyone still started any Colts players expecting them to play the whole game and lost their championship, that's on them not on the league format.

[PackYourNut 47]

Payout both and quit whining! Of course you need more then a $20 Yahoo league to make it fun. Our buy in is $265.00 + $1 transaction fees. We pay $50 to high score every week adn the rest split between 1st & 2nd in points and 1st & 2nd HTH.

[huskerinct 1]

How about this?

Each guy puts in $500, every team has the same starters. Go 17 weeks. Team with the most points wins!

That way, every guy wins $500!!!! Sounds fun, huh?

[PATSSOX 22]

Points leagues are boring and limited moves leagues are SH!tty Alot of the fun of fantasy football is talking smack and making moves. In points leagues and a league that limits your moves takes both of those out of the equation making it boring.

 

If you dont like head to head find 11 other people who really dont like to play fantasy football and make a league or actually 4 or 6 other people it doesnt really matter with points leagues hell just play points by your self that is just as fun.

 

Or just keep it head to head like it should be and pay out for total points as well as the head to head champion

[jgcrawfish 232]

I've done both, and while I like the idea of total pts, it does take the fun out of the matchups. I would have been the #2 seed by a mere 14 pts at season end but would have pretty much locked up the "playoffs" pts championship in week 1 of the playoff when i beat everybody by at least 60 pts.

[idiotekniQues 0]

i sat reggie wayne.

 

[Dan 59]

And your up by 200 pts until the championship game with Manning and Clark or Wayne when Caldwell Blindsides you and you lose the championship. HTH rewards luck, plain and simple. The right way to do it is total points with a side pot for the head to head champion. Playing a whole season to rely on one week 16 game when half your team may or may not be resting can't be the right way to do it. I don't care how well you plan ahead of time, you should have to modify a team of studs to plug in Jerome Harrison and some other one week starter to get lucky and win a championship. I'm not bitter, like I said I just think HTH is not the right way.

 

HTH rewards luck . . . hmmmm. I suppose, at times, you are correct. But this is not necessarily true. I can make the argument that one can get just as "lucky" in the points format. I've seen it. A team is hot out of the gates, and storms to an amazing point total 3 weeks into the season, and then hangs on to the "points title" all year long on the strength of those three games. When push comes to shove, when that owner is getting beat up through the bye weeks because he doesn't have the same depth as other "lesser" owners, his HTH record reflects what he actually is.

 

If you get through 15 weeks at 15-0 and dominance in points, and then lose because of Manning being benched, that's not the fault of the system. That's mismanagement. Have a second QB, one that's worth more than a bucket of spit, and start him instead. I was disgusted by Caldwell yesterday, but no way was I surprised. He is his teacher's student. And if you missed that, that's on you.

 

Good grief, quit crying. I was defending my back-to-back titles this year, and was on a nine-game winning streak heading into the playoffs. I got dumped in the first round. Obviously, the answer is to have fewer teams in the playoffs, because I shouldn't be subject to losing my chance at defending in one game. Making you sound worse is what happened to the Patriots two years ago. Think on it.

[jaxjag 43]

And your up by 200 pts until the championship game with Manning and Clark or Wayne when Caldwell Blindsides you and you lose the championship. HTH rewards luck, plain and simple. The right way to do it is total points with a side pot for the head to head champion. Playing a whole season to rely on one week 16 game when half your team may or may not be resting can't be the right way to do it. I don't care how well you plan ahead of time, you should have to modify a team of studs to plug in Jerome Harrison and some other one week starter to get lucky and win a championship. I'm not bitter, like I said I just think HTH is not the right way.

 

Were you really blind sided? Public knowledge that the Colt's would pull back. Lots of lineups are modified due to injury, etc. late in the season. Develop some depth; work the waiver wire. It's part of the game.

[RamslovaMartzhata 3]

In a league I am in... some jilted owners that didn't make the playoffs but had good teams talked about moving to an "All-Play" format. As the #3 scoring team in the league that didn't make it to the playoffs... I told them that I absolutely hated the idea.

 

Fantasy football is a game. As such, it is meant to be fun. If you want to treat it as a game of skill, or a way of making money... be my guest. Me, it's just a way to enjoy all of football, and to play a competitive fun game against your friends. The cash is just so it means a little more. And the simple fact is... as aggravating as they can be, in my opinion Head to Head leagues are WAY MORE fun to play in.

[robertd52 0]

In a league I am in... some jilted owners that didn't make the playoffs but had good teams talked about moving to an "All-Play" format. As the #3 scoring team in the league that didn't make it to the playoffs... I told them that I absolutely hated the idea.

 

Fantasy football is a game. As such, it is meant to be fun. If you want to treat it as a game of skill, or a way of making money... be my guest. Me, it's just a way to enjoy all of football, and to play a competitive fun game against your friends. The cash is just so it means a little more. And the simple fact is... as aggravating as they can be, in my opinion Head to Head leagues are WAY MORE fun to play in.

 

I went to all play some years back...its the only way to fly.

 

Still get the thrill of playing "against" the other teams week in and week out, and best yet, you get to play against ALL of them each and every week....tons of chances to talk smack.

 

You also get the best teams (points wise AND week in and out....consistency is HUGE in all play) always rising to the top throughout the season.

 

Hell, we even do all play in the playoffs....end the season with a 4 team final in week 16 where highest week 16 score gets 1st, lowest gets 4th (and gets zero money).

 

Open up your minds....think outside the box

[dreadlocks34 0]

Wrong.

Do u think that's how the NFL should play as well?

I think not.

 

Management skills from week to week, as well as how to manage injuries and free agency is the only way to show skills.

It's called reality.

 

This is completely wrong. FF is more like Dungeons and Dragons than it is the NFL. It is not in any way actual competition. Your team does not play defense, your players do not play as a cohesive unit and the result of a game does not come from any actual gameplay. Have every team in a league sumbit their best lineup through 16 weeks next year. Then go back and redraw divisions and schedules. There is a guarantee the same team does not win every time. Championships are won and lost almost always from preseason schedule drawings. But most people think rotobaseball scoring is boring and aren't going to use it. The bottom line is FF does not mirror the NFL in any aspect.

[FrankRizzo 0]

In a league I am in... some jilted owners that didn't make the playoffs but had good teams talked about moving to an "All-Play" format. As the #3 scoring team in the league that didn't make it to the playoffs... I told them that I absolutely hated the idea.

 

Fantasy football is a game. As such, it is meant to be fun. If you want to treat it as a game of skill, or a way of making money... be my guest. Me, it's just a way to enjoy all of football, and to play a competitive fun game against your friends. The cash is just so it means a little more. And the simple fact is... as aggravating as they can be, in my opinion Head to Head leagues are WAY MORE fun to play in.

 

 

Exactly. Every year there is a team that probably should of been in the playoffs but found themselves on the outside looking in. But it happens in the NFL too.

 

H2H is a blast ... especially when you know the other players. I wouldn't mind rewarding top scorer each week or something like that but so far nobody in the 12team league has complained or brought it up. We do split the pot 50/50 for regular season play and playoffs so Week 16 isn't for all the marbles (just 20% of it).

 

Also, the teams that didn't make the playoffs (6 of them) play in the "losers" bracket in a total points format for the final 3 weeks, winner take all. Keeps everyone playing full 16 weeks.

[thePRO 78]

Meh...I prefer H2H better. It's more competitive. Total points is boring and would most likely be too easy. I'm pretty smart about making the right choices. Points league would have been very useful in one of my leagues though.

 

I scored over 100 in every game, was 12-3, and outscored the 2nd place guy by 100 and the 3rd and 4th place guy by 220.

 

I went against that 4th seed guy and lost:

 

132-142

 

He had Brady, Moss, and Stewart.

 

Say F it and take it like a man though!