Barnstormers 2011 - let's get some discussion going

[mighty moose]

As we sit right now, the 2010 Barnstormers Season was a huge success. Although the total number of participants was down from the year before, I blame this in part to the economy, the ATG game in general in an interest decine, and the length and committment that the Barnstormers Tournament puts on the individual.

I'm looking to get the 2011 tournament started a little bit sooner if possible, but at this stage of the game, I'd welcome some general feedback on any changes you would like to see in the Tournament for 2011.

Things I consider a Barnstormers staple and therefore non-negotiable are the rule to "drop low season", and scheduling a combination of salary caps and live draft/autodraft.

Anything else is fair game. Changes made from 2009 were increasing the number of players who get to skip the semi-final round from 6 to 9, and therefore making the semi-finalists win their World Series in order to grab the precious last 3 spots.

Also, we switched from Major Deegan's Live Draft Site to Diamond Dope. How did you like drafting on the new site ?

Is there anything else you would like to comment on or make a suggestion for that can be considered while I start to get the Barnstormers 2011 set to roll ?

I could use a couple more BOARD MEMBERS to take over for Major Deegan and Munich Man, who have moved on to other pursuits. We have a private forum, and we meet to discuss any disputes or problems or even the tournament format. I guess the only thing I would expect from any applicant would be to be a longtime ATG Vet. That's most of this group.

UPDATE: The 2010 season. The semi-finals are now in full swing, 36 games into the season. The locked-in (9) finalists have all chosen their draft positions and await the 3 remaining players who will be in the finals. I will have some links posted so we can all view the [b:066a542487]PLAYOFFS[/b:066a542487] for the Semi-Finals, when the time comes.

I hope everyone who participated in the 2010 Barnstormers had a good time and I hope to see you all back for 2011 ! :D

[Simon31]

Moose, I just wanted to say great job on the Barnstormers tournament! I look forward to this every year in spite of the fact I kick my butt kicked on a regular basis. It helps keep me humble! :lol: Good idea to keep the "drop low season rule." DD has been working great as a draft tool thanks to the hard work of Adrian in making it so. We should keep that in.
Thats all I got. -Simon

[jmoore1966]

I'll second what Simon says, and Diamond Dope really is Dope for guys like me.

Thanks

[boyer14]

This was my first year playing Barnstormers and I loved it. Moose - great job as commish - really on top of things and you made things flow smoothly. I also liked Diamond Dope drafts - I wished that some managers would move a bit quicker in drafting at times but do understand that everyone has lots of other things to do.

One thought - I wonder if the events could start up about every two weeks or so in order to keep the total length of the Tour (in months) a bit shorter overall??

Great job and a great Tour!

Doug

[vmiller150]

Great job by you, thanks for all you do.

[thaibill]

Although I've never done well in them, how about a couple of 24 team leagues? Adjust the points accordingly for the division winners, etc. With this player pool, some interesting teams should arise.

[drfreeze49]

I echo what thaibill states...24 team league...would be a real challenge...especially in a dd draft format or if Bernie ever gets a salary cap for live draft...other then that great job Moose...thanks for your efforts

[jmoore1966]

Yeah, a 24 team league would be a nice new twist. There's definitely enough depth in ATG to pull it off.

[dukie98]

First and foremost, thanks again for all your hard work in keeping the tournament running smoothly.

I agree with the other comments in favor of a 24-team league. Also, for another layer of variety, what about doing one or two rounds with the AL/ NL and pre-WW2/ post-WW2 subsets?

[mighty moose]

The 24-team format could work, but we would need to be fairly close to multiples of 24 in order to avoid winding up needing 15-20 FILLERS to fill a league. So if the total # of players in Barnstormers was say 96, that's 4 leagues of 24. We started with just over 100 last year, so this would lead me to exactly the scheduling nightmare that I would want to avoid.

With a 12 team league, that does minimize that effect. But I would like to hear more opinions on having one event with 24 team leagues before heading down that road.

Thanks for the suggestion though !