TooSerious

Just a real quick one to say that the structure of the year will be 24 rounds.
19 with 8 games and 1 team with the bye
5 with 7 games and 3 teams with the bye

What this will mean most likely:
- A change to the leagues structure of most comps. How can you structure up with the amount of games? The options are probably to have more warmup games at the start (possibly eliminator style) and the last 19 rounds are used. So first 6 might not count for leagues.

- It will end up being an endurance race.

- The draw coming out will help to work out when to draft in certain players. You will particularly need to watch out for the 3 team bye rounds, which Ive heard are grouped early in the season.

Much like the last year with the byes, I think Match Ratio is going to determine weekly ladder positions until all teams have had their two byes and there is parity once again.

My work here is done, feel free to comment!

All invites have now been accepted and we now have a full league of 20 teams!

Thanks to everyone for their help with everything so far. We have the draft order and scoring system all sorted now (details of these will be over the break). Both of these aspects will heavily influence the type of players we will be scouting to recruit in the draft, so I am really happy we have them out of the way.

If anyone wants to know anything particular about the league setup, just ask,
but the most important aspects are as follows:

As you all know, there are 20 teams in the league.

Every team plays each other once and once only. Each match goes for 1 week, and the first Game Week is the first week of the NBA regular season.

8 teams qualify for the playoffs.  In the event of two or more teams finishing on the same overall record, the team with the higher total points for for the season will qualify ahead of the other/s. Each playoff match also goes for a week which means the Grand Final will be on the final week of the NBA regular season. In the playoffs the home team (team with better regular season record) will get a 1 point head start.

There is a 3 day waiver period for free agents. (meaning noone can aquire a free agent for the 1st 3 days they are a free agent) Everyone is only able to acquire a maximum of 5 free agents each game week.

There is a 2 day period after each trade is agreed on where other coaches can veto the trade (a min of 4 coaches need to reject the trade for it to be canceled).

Once again, please ask if there is anything else you need to know.

Now the next thing we need to organise is the date of the draft...   more on this over the break ... <!--more-->

We will be having a live draft, however not everyone (or anyone for that matter) is required to attend. I think the more people that actually participate in the draft, the more fun it will be, so well try to set up a date and time that suits most people.

The draft...

Ya didnt think I would close up chat-shop for the finals did ya? While were not grabbing the live scores, I have opened a chat in the comment of this post for anyone interested in talking crap about the most excellent array of games weve got on this weekend!

So if youre not lucky enough to get to the games this weekend, drop in, see if anyone is home.

Well, the first piece of news/speculation has hit the papers. News that could severely alter our strategies.

<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/gold-coast-to-miss-round-1/story-e6frf9jf-1225913326601">Gold Coast to miss Round 1[/url]!

So, the major implication of this is- we simply wont know whos going to line-up for the Suns come round 2!

Not only that, but any Sun Rookies are going to be travelling a week behind as far as cash generation is concerned. Not bad if youve only got a couple of them- but if youre sitting on 6, it could set you back a week in your upgrades.

Hmm, one to keep in mind as we move closer to next season I guess.

Hello again EPL fans,

The huge news is that Rafaael Van der Vaart has officially signed for Tottenham from Real Madrid right at the deadline while Arsenals pursuit of Socceroos keeper Mark Schwarzer did not eventuate. Further transfer news to follow but on to the GW3 review and the round was opened at Ewood Park where Walcott and Arsharvin continued scoring and Arsenal put 2 past Blackburn (was a shame that TooSerious was not represented at the Celtic Club - a great night was had by 80+ mad gOOners).

Next up saw Fulham scrape a draw away to Blackpool with a late equaliser after being 1 nil up in the first half. Chelsea strolled home with a 1 nil win over Stoke with Malouda grabbing the goal again, followed by Rooney breaking the longest goal drought of his career and scoring in a 3 nil win over West Ham (albeit via a spot kick). Then came one of the shocks of the round where by Wigan got up 1 nil over Spurs at White Hart Lane with a late strike from Rodallega. The Jordies took a draw at Wolves after Carroll continued his purple patch and cancelled out an Ebanks-Blake first half opener.

Sunday saw Villa got over the line after an early hit from Luke Young left the Toffees dwindling away near the bottom of the table, and Bolton managed to scrape a 2 draw after being 2 nil down at the Reebok against the Brumies. Liverpool snuck home in unconvincing fashion against West Brom at Anfield 1 nil after Torres marked his turf in the 65th minute, and the round was ended out with another surprise result after Darren Bent claimed an injury time penalty to sink Man City at home.

So at the end of Round 3, the top of the tree has Chelsea unbeaten with a whopping +14 GD followed by the Arsenal on 7/7, then comes Man Utd on 6/7 with Villa rounding out the 4 on 6/-2. West Ham are looking in dire straights bring up the rear of the table along with surprise slow starters Stoke City &amp; Everton.

In terms of tipping, following the predictions made in last weeks...

Wiggles is trying to get up a group for the NFL. So rather than hijack the NBA thread, lets get it going in here. Heres what he has to say-

Alright-So Ive setup a NFL league on ESPN. I need another 9 people to enter to activate the league. If we dont get enough ill either open it up to public or delete it. I have set the draft time as This sunday at 10pm(EST), so it doesnt give us a lot of time but it can be changed if necessary however the comp starts in a week. Everyone needs to be online at once for the draft. Before then you need to enter the league and get your account set. The link is

<a href="http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/tools/join?leagueId=877899">http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/tools/join?leagueId=877899[/url] and the password is walesy

have a read of the info about fantasy NFL and the draft system. There are plenty of cheat sheets and lists as well as draft advice. Also you can participate in mock drafts for practice.

Anyway ill keep checking on this thread to see how it goes.

OK, if you want, join in a simple competition. Its called name your All Australian team. You get one entry only and put it in the comments field.

The Team will be announced in almost a fortnight (Mon 13 Sep), so you have time to do some analysis.

Here are the 40 players selected...and to be honest outside of Scarlett (who I still think was close to the best full back this year) they hit the mark perfectly in my opinion. Obviously some players in this list like OBrien have no chance of getting in the team, but its more a recognition of development, and a good year from that player.

Heres the 40, and when you put a full strength 22 player squad in the comments, Ill consider that your entry. The prize can be worked out, something around the $50 mark and given out at the TooSerious End of Year Bash!

The squad:

Chris Judd, Carlton. Previously selected 2004, 2006, 2008 (captain), 2009.

Alan Didak, Collingwood. Previously selected 2006.

Darren Jolly, Collingwood. Never Previously selected.

Harry O’Brien, Collingwood. Never Previously selected.

Scott Pendlebury, Collingwood. Never Previously selected.

Dane Swan, Collingwood. Previously selected 2009.

Dustin Fletcher, Essendon. Previously selected 2000, 2007.

Jobe Watson, Essendon. Never Previously selected.

David Mundy, Fremantle. Never Previously selected.

Matthew Pavlich, Fremantle. Previously selected 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.

Aaron Sandilands, Fremantle. Previously selected 2008, 2009.

Gary Ablett, Geelong. Previously selected 2007, 2008, 2009.

Paul Chapman, Geelong Cats. Previously selected 2009.

Corey Enright, Geelong. Previously selected 2008, 2009.

Steve Johnson, Geelong. Previously selected 2007, 2008.

James Kelly, Geelong. Never Previously selected.

Harry Taylor, Geelong. Never Previously selected.

Joel Selwood, Geelong. Previously selected 2009.

Lance Franklin, Hawthorn. Previously selected 2008.

Luke Hodge, Hawthorn. Previously selected 2005, 2008.

James Frawley,...

So the question has been raised- whos interested in an NBA fantasy league?

Personally, I dont even know the comps that are running- but I do know that we have a number of readers out there interested in starting up a league- so if youre interested in playing, drop in a comment and let us know!

<a href="http://textoutsms.com.au/"><img src="http://textoutsms.com.au/images/computer_tower_mobile1.gif"><img src="http://textoutsms.com.au/images/textoutsms_logo.gif">[/url]

So, here we go- the results that "everyone" (well, at least a handful of people) has been waiting for! The results for the <a href="http://textoutsms.com.au/">textOutSMS[/url] TooSerious Leagues!

568133 - TS50 - 29th.
The first TS50 league saw last years 2nd place, PK Le Grand take home the gravy with a mighty overall finish of 25. Gotta feel for WHW who took second place with 123. On the plus side, he did manage to secure the Grand final win over PK by 29 points. Also, guys- I havent forgotten your deal.

1st- PK Le Grand
2nd- Windy Hill Wizard

GF Winner- Windy Hill Wizard.

568133 - TS50 - 186th
Here we saw The Dirty Thirty take out both the overall prize and a grandfinal win, really a smashing, over third place, tunas. I love trees came in second place, but a 1st round loss by The Dirty Thirty saw them take out Trees in the semi.

1st- The Dirty Thirty
2nd- I love trees

GF Winner- The Dirty Thirty.

977757 - TS20 - 41st.
Looks like the TS20 league has had Mash Sticks holding out to take the win over second place, Behind The Goals. Wally Fitz squeaked over the line in the grandfinal over Mash Sticks by 23 points. Its nice to see that the prizes are going to 3 different players. Just make sure you crazy kids dont go spending it all on drugs ok?

1st- Mash Sticks
2nd- Behind The Goals

GF Winner- Wally Fitz

235468 - TS50 - 35th.
A great league result here, and a fantastic effort by Spudlers BattleAxe. Taking out the win, but also finishing the season in 9th place overall. Great coaching mate! Well done! Even with such a great season though, it was second place winner, Do The Maths, who took out the grand final after knocking Spudlers out in the Prelim with a massive 2472.

1st- Spudlers BattleAxe
2nd- Do The Maths

GF Winner- Do The Maths....

The time has come...Ill be putting up two posts, one (this one...) detailing votes, leaderboards, team leaderboards, etc, + a second one with best bets (as more betting options come to hand).  Team odds are up with the TAB, so if you want to get in early on some multis - be my guest!

First - this weeks votes:

Freo v Blues
3. S. Hill (certain)
2. M. Murphy
1. M. Johnson
...A. Sandilands (could easily poll 2 here)

Cats v Eagles
3. G. Ablett (certain)
2. J. Kelly
1. D. Milburn
... no apologies

Hawks v Pies
3. L. Franklin
2. D. Swan (may not poll...)
1. S. Mitchell
...C. Rioli (comfortably best 4 playes, could go in any order)

Crows v Saints
3. S. Thompson (certain)
2.  R. Douglas
1. N. Dal Santo
...B. Martin, L. Hayes

Dogs v Dons
3. J. Grant
2. D. Cross (clearly best two on ground, Cross may poll 3)
1. C. Ward (although any of the below are a chance for the 1)
...J. Harbrow, L. Jetta, R. Murphy

Swans v Lions
3. K. Jack (certain, + great finish to the year, with 3 BOGs in the last month)
2. N. Malceski
1. J. McVeigh
...B. Staker

Power v Tigers
3. T. Boak (certain - may now pip Kornes)
2. D. Brogan
1. M. Morton
...no apologies

Roos v Dees
3. L. Greenwood
2. B. Harvey (will at least poll 2 here to maybe take the North lead)
1. A. Swallow (may not poll)
...B. Rawlings, B. Green

Leaderboards and analysis over the page:

<!--more-->note: all leaderboards are using adjusted tallies (if you missed last week, adjusted votes take into account both cheap votes given, plus where someone may have polled but didnt in the raw votes given out each week).  Minimums and maximums can seem very extreme, this is either everything going their way, or everything going against them.

OVERALL

Winner (35) - Dane Swan (24 min, 45 max)

Runner-Up (24) - Luke Hodge (15 min, 31 max)

Third (22) - Gary Ablett (15 min, 30 max)

Fourth (18) - Brendon Goddard (10 min, 28 max), Scott Pendlebury (8 min, 28 max)

Sixth...