For all of you who like to follow along at home, the TTL blog has a new Standings page. This page will be updated every week. You can track the performance of the TTL owners, and feel free to leave comments on the site. It will be permanently accessible as a main link at the top of the page.

Interesting note: Last year, our infamous Blount-man, Louis Blount (Dark Knight), set the record for futility with 0.298 win rate. I could be wrong, but it looks like he’s trying to break his own record!

 

Query:

Why did Mr. Light create a blog devoted to a fantasy basketball league that has humbled him over and over?  The answer, is that I am not sure.  While I cannot boast of one of those mysterious, ethereal rings that certain members like to brag about, the Flambuoyant squad has been consistently competitive throughout the league’s history, excepting a year and a half when outside issues got the better of me.  Mr. Light, however, has one of the more embarrassing and shameful track records of any owner here- amazingly, he has finally broken into the top 6 in the last season or two, and experienced the trials and tribulations of post-season play.  A more important question, however, remains:  Why can Mr. Light not produce a less offensive photo of himself, for dissemination on this blog and elsewhere?

Mr. Light claims this league to be a repository of fantasy basketball wisdom.  This may be true- but Mr. Light is in no position, personally, to be making this claim.  The Trashtalkers League, however, does have the miraculous fortune to claim as one of its own,  The Main Event- a veritable deity of fantsay hoops wisdom.  The fact that the Main Event (or TME as he styles himself), has not won the title every single campaign, can only be attributed to a perversity of fate.  For TME is always light years ahead of the rest of us, and of the entire fantasy basketball universe, in insight, wisdom, identification of “sleepers”, strategizing, Machiavellian manipulations of lesser mortals like Blount, etc.  Oh,  did I mention that TME is paid to write about fantasy hoops?

A certain charlatan named Quinn might strenuously object to this deification of TME, but Quinn himself, has merely, on occasion, benefitted from freakishly quirky good-fortune when 9 point guards and one center represent his squad.

Against the above-mentioned fantasy geniuses, a shout out should be made to reigning champion SHOW, who lucked into the timely drafting of Dunleavy and Turkoglu last year.  Please remember that such luck should always be contrasted with the sheer genius on display, when personages such as TME enjoy fantasy hoops success.

The Trash Talkers League has its roots in Georgetown. Most original members were all friends when we were going there for school. Of course we all loved basketball, and there were a lot of Hoyas in the NBA whose college careers we had followed when living in Washington. Guys like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Allen Iverson to name a few.

Some of us had flirted with other types of fantasy basketball in the past. Without the Web, though, these were high maintenance affairs of checking box scores and updating point totals manually. I still have the websites I made to follow our leagues back then. It was fun, but it was a pain in the ass.

Once Yahoo started offering fantasy basketball, it was a no-brainer. We started the first Trash Talkers League and it has taken off since. We all know how it is a great way to follow the NBA, but it also offered a great means for friends to stay in touch after college and living all over the country at first, eventually the world.

Head-to-Head
In the beginning, we played a rotisserie game with 10 owners, but that quickly changed and we finally settled on the Head-to-Head style. H2H keeps everyone involved much more than rotisserie leagues, as every week you have a chance to win. We also have a “chump tax” (Blount tax, named after owner Louis Blount) that the bottom two teams must pay, and in this way everyone always has incentive to stay engaged.

75 Move Max
We have a limit of 75 moves per season. We implemented this for many reasons. First, it forces you to really think about who to keep on your roster. Second, it helps prevent all free agents being on the waiver wire from excessive add/drops. And lastly, it forces you to really build a team and not add/drop every day for the sake of getting games played. We call this strategy the “Wave of Mediocrity,” or “Wave” for short. It can be useful at times, but the move limit means each move has a price.

Regarding the Wave, though we are all pretty fanatical about this league and spend considerable amounts of time on it, there is a point where it gets to be too much. The move limitation helps prevent rewarding owners who are the quickest on the draw at midnight when moves for the next day are allowed.

Eight Categories
We play an 8-cat game with the default categories minus turnovers. Let me be absolutely clear on this: TURNOVERS ARE BULLSHIT. I would recommend to all fantasy leagues to remove this category. I guarantee your enjoyment value will go up. While a worthwhile stat in real basketball, in my mind it has no place in fantasy. Unlike the other stats, players are rewarded in this category for not playing. It just doesn’t make sense.

So these are our settings. I’m sure commentary contained in future posts on this blog will be valuable to anyone into fantasy basketball, but the degree of helpfulness will be determined by your league’s settings.

So enjoy! And feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I’m sure someone will get back to you. The comments are a little messed up right now, but it will be fixed soon.

Lights Out!

One of the must frustrating aspects of fantasy basketball leagues is dealing with owners that a) don’t care or b) are too busy to care. Lineups aren’t set, trade requests aren’t responded to and the balance and integrity of the league can be jeopardized. It’s rare - but sometimes an owner can win a point or two because his opponent left guys on his bench or failed to replace an injured scrub. Saying goodbye to the Buckeye two years ago was easy because he just didn’t care. Saying goodbye to Carlo is a little tougher because he was just too busy to care.

Now this league should be 10 strong.

The Main Event

It’s that time of year, and I know nine other guys who are pretty psyched right about now. Our Fantasy Basketball season is about to start. Our draft date is the last Sunday before the season begins, as usual. This year it’s October 26. I can’t wait.

For many, preparation begins in earnest. A look at the end of last season’s player rater, searching the news for injuries, see who’s finally healthy, etc. Then a look at the incoming rookie class and try to incorporate them into this year’s draft sheets. Exciting stuff.

We’ll be posting all kinds of stuff here. For sure you will learn stuff. No one does Fantasy Hoops better than the TTL. We’ll talk about our league, players, and strategies, and especially do a lot of trash talking. What can I say? That’s how we roll.

So to start things off… Quinn: You’re a punk and have always been a punk. It’s my year!

Lights Out!