Season Preview 2020 - SBRFFFL XV: Yes, Fifteen...

 

Yes, Fifteen...

...I double-checked. And I suppose we could count the longevity of this here league to a sort of madness—even plain old haplessness—but from my perspective, such indefatigable dedication is a fault for which we should all be proud. For that, I thank you and welcome everyone back for the fifteenth running of the SBRFFFL—a league that, at this point, has only one Raider fan left that actually lives in Santa Barbara proper. Yet again, thanks Dad. But the father '15' of the Raiders franchise was none other than Tom Flores, who in 1960 was not only the AFL Raiders' first QB, but the first Latino starting QB ever in professional football. As a player, Flores' marquee season was 1966 as he made the Pro Bowl by throwing for 2,638 yards and 24 TDs in 14 games. Of course, most of us remember Flores as one of the greatest Head Coaches of the Silver and Black, winning—first—Super Bowl XI as an assistant to John Madden—and then bringing championships to both Oakland and Los Angeles in 1980 and 1983 respectively. To wit, Flores was just named a finalist for Canton, an honor long overdue and, to my mind at least, never more fitting as our society searches its soul for social and racial equity and respect.                   For our otherwise bated breath, it so far seems like we have a NFL season in front of us—as shakey-legged it might seem. And while I think we've all discarded our astrolabes and would rather hope for the best rather than try to predict the future, I have little doubt that the 2020-21 NFL season will be unlike any other as we plunge into flu season huffing our own less-than-savory CO2 with masks secure. For consolation, the SBRFFFL is a small fold of a familiar home, with franchises sporting names of long lost NFL controversies, an indomitable 'Schumtz', and friends cast across this country. However, I have made two new changes for the unique season to better accommodate us to any eventual spikes.  First, for this season, we will not recognize ESPN's "undroppable" list so that if your prized player opts out or heads for quarantine, you don't lose that spot on your roster. Second, I have added one "IR" slot to all of our rosters that allows us to stash a player temporarily to open an active roster spot. Of course, any player on the "IR" cannot be played until moved to the active roster. If you have any further thoughts or concerns about these changes, do let me know. In the meantime, here's the timely information.                 Keepers  ( Friday 9/4 at 7pm PST/10pm EST ) Once again we have the option to keep one player from last year's roster as we head into this season. Note that keeping a player affects your draft position in that the "kept" player serves as your first round pick and your draft position will give non-keeper teams to move above you in draft position. Note, also, the draft order will not "snake" until the start of the third round. To select a keeper, on the ESPN Fantasy app, go to "My Team," click "Team Info," and select "Edit Keepers"; on the ESPN Fantasy website, go to "My Team" and click on "Keepers" at the top of the page.   Draft ( Tuesday 9/8 at 7pm PST/10pm EST ) Our online "snake" draft is set for Tuesday 9/8 at 7pm PST/10pm EST and the current draft order is, as always, to the inverse of last season's final standings. Note that this draft order may change once keeper decisions are made:  01. 3rd Avenue Schmutz              02. Low_nass  03. Argentina17 Big Boss              04. Brooklyn Milk              05. Wea ver  06. Potrero Hillbillies                             07. Nacho's Cheese                              08. Andover Waddlers  09. Santa Barbara Fokkers             10. The Golden Receivers 11. Koepke's Cupcakes 12. Vick's Dog Sitter                           13. newO Swamp  14. Los Angeles River of LO   Once the keeper deadline transpires, I will be sending a follow up email with the updated draft order by Monday of next week. Love having you all back!  Buy-Ins & Payouts  As always, the buy-in for the league is $50 (Paypal: ranthonyreid@gmail.com; Venmo: @Rick-Reid2) with the payouts going as follows:  SBRFFFL XV Super Bowl Winner: $300 SBRFFFL XV Super Bowl Runner-Up: $150  Division Winners (Silver & Black): $100 (each) Consolation Bracket Champ: $50              All best, Rick