Franchise League Advice, Part II - The Randomizer

Hi All,

Thanks again to those of you who responded to my plea for help understanding what to consider when starting a franchise league. I have a new question based on advice from mrharryc as it regards the randomizer. I get the concept, run a randomizer that determines the franchise drafting order. I guess where it gets fuzzy for me is how do I incorporate this with draft preparation by the participants and handle his other suggestion around the order for the FA round. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but this points to a live draft, correct? Here's the specifics of what he wrote:

I would also strongly suggest that you use a random generator for the selection of franchises and then have at least a one round draft that reverses the draft order. For example, if I get first pick of franchises, I would then get the 12th pick in the free agency round. This will supplement the teams with low draft picks among franchises. Many of the leagues I've played in have a two-round supplemental draft to assist in leveling the franchises.

So, what I think this points to is:

- I establish my rules for the league and set it up as "Live Draft" league (I've never participated in one, so it's new ground for me)
- Once the league is full, I run a randomizer to determine franchise picking order
- Having previously set the league to have a 1-2 round draft, I then run this based on reverse order of the franchise selections
- Teams then round out their rosters based on the previously established rules

You may read my questions and do this , but I appreciate any information I can get!

No, your question is not laughable but indeed quite reasonable.

Once your league is full, just request the random set of numbers; some prefer to ask for two sets, but I've just gone with one set, but if you do this, let everyone know that the random generated numbers will be assigned in the order the person signed up for the league. Thus, assuming you signed up first, the first random number would be yours and then on down the line.

After this you should let everyone know that the draft is moving to the Individual League Chat for the selection of franchises. Prior to announcing that I would recommend reiterating the rules there and then assign positions based on the draft order. It would look like this:

Franchise (name) League Rules:

Round One: (selection of franchises)

1. mrharryc
2. trowell1817
and on down through 12, then you can add in the next round(s)in the same fashion, remembering to reverse the order. Sometimes the draft can move slowly if some owners aren't able to access this site regularly, so you can encourage the use of proxies; in this case I would send to you my list of choices in order, and you would select for me based on which squad was available. Sometimes we all get busy or distracted so don't be reluctant to "page" someone on the ATG chat if they are missing in action for any length of time. Folks welcome that reminder and you will see it regularly done.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to PM me if you want also; good luck!