Offseason Schedule

[AndyP]

We've got to take a look at this. This poll is pretty simple and straightforward, but I want to combine that with a few suggestions:

1) I'm on board with every-day sims, but not the way we've been doing them. I understand that teams out of contention will get bored...but railroading the last two months of the season feels like an injustice to those that are competing. It also just doesn't feel right - it feels rushed and dismissive. We all put a lot of work into our teams, why are August and September any less meaningful then May and June? This change has all but killed the ability to do waiver trades.

I would suggest that if we keep every-day sims we switch to 8-10 day sims rather than 15-17. We should have 6 everyday sims or 4 normal sims. I don't care which, but the current model sucks. It feels like we're cheating everyone for the sake of a few with short attention spans. This will allow for waiver trades to return, for close contests down the stretch to be more finely managed, and for us to actually appreciate each season.

2) If we end up doing the playoffs and subsequently releasing a resigning file on a non-sim night, we have to give people at least 24 hours after a normal sim night for people to complete this. So if we do playoffs on a Thursday - they should have until Saturday. If we do it on a Wednesday - it should be until Saturday. It's unfair to expect people to be here on a night that isn't routine for a file release. If we're just going to randomnly start doing things whenever a few impatient people want, why not do the same with the draft? Just because one thing is your particular sacred cow doesn't make it any different. We release files regularly so we don't screw people over. Why we insist on doing this two years in a row with resignings is simply selfish. Give people 24 hours after a regular sim night at minimum. If you still want the offseason to go faster, here are a few suggestions:

1) cut the initial FA waiting time from 72 hours to 48 hours
2) Cut the ST process down - we don't need three sim nights of this. Sim to ST and ST can happen at the same time. Or we can sim to ST right at the outset of FA and avoid the whole process.

Personally, I don't mind a short resigning. I don't mind if the offseason is short. I haven't complained about the almost-dismissive speed through which we've flown through the last two seasons. But we're designing our entire schedule around some really short-sighted, selfish concerns. What is best for the league is to give people time to work through their resignings and to end the season at a less break-neck speed.

It's bad for the league, regardless of how I personally may feel about it. We've had a real rash of people making these kinds of decisions without thinking big picture. Separate your own preferences and think about what is best for the league first, then get emotional or committed about something. rushing through the playoff races, the playoffs, and resignings is NOT good for the league no matter how you want to spin it.