We Walk a Lonely Road
The only one that we have ever known, that is... since December 30th, 2024. Since that fateful day, when Nathan officially secured the 14th annual AFFL title, we've wandered aimlessly, without purpose, without drive. Some tried to fill the void with frivolous whimsies like tropical vacations, basket weaving, getting married, and so on and so on, but that kernel of longing stayed planted in the most primal lobes of our brains. The pressure built, and akin to the first *pop* heard from the microwave when preparing to watch The Departed for the 8th time, the return of our beloved pasttime comes like a burst of excitment and anticipation, the knowledge that our wait is finally almost over.
Apex Fantasy Football League: 15th Edition
15 years?? Our league is almost voting age and will soon be able to lobby the government (and boy do we have THOUGHTS). I'm confident I'm not the only one that wells up with pride thinking about how fast our baby has grown into a disfunctional, irresponsible ball of toxicity. But sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. That's somewhat the case this year, though I do have one exciting announcement for a special game happening this year. Let's start with the known:
Something Old
In our ripe ages I know we fear change (I've feared it for years now), so let me settle your fretting little minds with what has stayed the same:
- Same general week-by-week format, same postseason payouts (400-200-100)
- We'll keep our GUT CHECK in week 10, as in previous years
- We are continuing to use the FAAB system for claiming players off waivers
- There are no wild scoring changes or other systematic differences for in-season play
See? Put down the knife, it will be okay. Now... here's what is changing...
Something New
Besides the changes to the draft which have been covered in the
Keepers Writeup, there are a couple of changes some in-season happenings:
- Draft pick trades are limited to 1 "to" and 1 "from" of your first 8 picks. This means you cannot sell the farm before the deadline for multiple high picks. You can get ONE additional pick in the first 8 rounds, and you can only give away ONE of your first 8 picks
- Deadline?? Yes, because of the draft pick trading we are also introducing a trade deadline. Its outlined in the rules as "12:00 PM EST on the Tuesday following the real NFL trade deadline". The real NFL trade deadline this year is Tuesday, November 4th. So the AFFL trade deadline is Tuesday, November 11th as 12:00 PM EST. This falls after our Week 10 "Gut Check"
- Lastly, we are not doing weekly "challenges" this year. We will still do the weekly $10 payout for high scores, but the season-long game will be worth the full $150 instead of a measley $10. That season-long game this year is called "Power Couples", and the details can be read about on the challenges page
Next Steps
So, my pretties, what do I need from you all? Well the draft is coming like a freight train, it will be
Friday, August 15th at 7:00 PM at Fortnight Brewing Company. If for whatever reason Fortnight does not work, we will adjust as needed. This year will be simpler, yet harder....
NO COMPUTERS... AT ALL. You can print off whatever you need or have it on your phone, but we aren't using the timer, we aren't using the auto-draft backup, we are strictly using the draft board, and a marker. So get excited, we're taking this back to 1995. Keepers will be announced before we begin, and I will have a master list to force people to draft if time becomes an issue. The draft order is as follows (for odd rounds, even rounds are reversed):
- Jake
- TK
- Austin
- John Luke
- Garrett
- Tmo
- Ryan
- Collin
- Nathan
- Mike
I am marking the traded draft picks on the board so we don't forget who's is who's.
Until we meet again... good night and good luck!