So I wanted to break down how many actives we currently have right now, on the edge of a new season. Why? Because with the DSFL in full swing, the league coming back from what we’ll generously call a mediocre season, and all the sweeping changes that have taken place, I wonder where we truly are as a league. Before season 4 I’d been loudly pounding the drum on two particular issues. The first was that expansion was inevitable and probably closer than anyone thought. I still believe it will happen before season 10 for the record. The second issue was that inactives were going to be a problem as time went on due to it being more difficult to replace someone with a high TPE if they do go inactive after a relative time.
I want to be more clear on this second issue and what I mean on it, but that’s for a later date. I only mention it here because it does tie into what I will be discussing. That being, how close are we to the amount of actives we need to have in order to consider expansion? I’m going to explain my methodology first so that you understand where I’m pulling things from. Which will be really embarrassing if it turns out we have less active than I think. We just had the big offseason update in the last few days. The time before the new season is generally considered the big dead time for the league for everyone I’ve talked to on the matter. I’m going to take everyone who had an update during that time and I’m going to count them as an active. So this will include the the new draftees who have been active and semi-actives who only pop up here and there when their respective GMs bug them. Shout out to @GoodLeftUndone
Building that list will be done against a target number. The number I’ve decided on is 160. That’s what the number of actives would be to fill each team. Now, I’m going to back that choice by saying that each team has 6 offensive, 11 defensive, and 1 special teams position for a total of 18. I added an additional 2 per team to account for backups who play a lot of minutes, such as an Erik Kennedy. 20 per team creates an active position pool of 160 with 8 teams. I admit this is all somewhat rough around the edges and a little loose one way or the other but it’s mostly there for the rough estimates that create a general picture of where we are. One thing I want to assure you is that I will not be double counting any user. Anyone who has a recreate in the DSFL will be counted as a part of the DSFL, which will have its own relevance down the line in this article.
I’m going to go through each team and tell you what’s what as I break them down. This way you get a good chance to see where people are and also so any other GMs can come correct me. Here we go!
BALTIMORE HAWKS
They’re the 5 time league leading franchise for being the first team you can scroll down to on the page. They currently have 13 actives. I did not count Sleepy aka Deiter because he’s recreating in DSFL (just using this as a reminder, I’m not gonna list out everyone this way). I did count Darnellthebeast aka Darnell Turner despite not having that update. Darnell is frequently on the site, including yesterday, and I suspect the updates are coming. Also of note, the Hawks have a Head Office member (alternate title agreed upon by GM vote: Hos) that is also the DSFL Commissioner, multiple Bankers, a DSFL GM, and a graphics grader. This is a pretty active team. Also, they have all the money. And Trey “3 Dicks” Willie. He might be the only person in the league who talks about his child as much as I do.
COLORADO YETI
Next up are the Yeti, and I’m betting this is a spot where people will expect the numbers to fall. Well guess what…(pauses for drama and also to actually look at the info)...you’re wrong. Whew. I had no idea which way that was gonna guy. The Yeti are in the process of a huge rebuild but still boast 12 people who are at least relatively active. They don’t have many “league role” types, featuring only a pair of updaters (and at least one fine one at that @jparks98 ...it’s too soon and the wounds are still too deep for me to talk about @mmfootball ), one of which is also a DSFL GM. They also have my SBA Duke teammate @Daybe though. That counts in my book. And overall that brings us to 25 actives.
PHILADELPHIA LIBERTY
The wonderful folks over in Philly (first time I’ve ever said that and meant it) are quite active around the league so I’m expecting a sizeable number here. This one’s a toughie though. Strictly speaking my system would put them at 12 actives. However, I know that both Den aka Luke Washington and Deusolis aka AC Hackett have both been on the site in the past few days and there has been talk of updating and such. So I’m counting them. That’s 14. Including Cliff Rove who takes a really long time to pick his fantasy players. They also feature a former league Commissioner and not one but two DSFL GMs. Quick note..I won’t be counting their GM players on the DSFL teams because they’re not unique users. Just a reminder. So with this 14 we’re at a grand total of 39.
YELLOWKNIFE WRAITHS
Ahh the Wraiths. Right away several of their users complicate things by not being the most diligent updaters. 2 of them. They’re all active and one’s a damn DSFL GM so I count them. Because I can. 15 is their number. Note that this does not include a retiring GM character or the individual who shall not be named. It does however include that DSFL GM I mentioned, the league Commissioner, a couple updaters, and an addition HO. You can get a lot of value form having an additional HO. Or some I’ve been told. My pick to win the Ultimus in Season 5 brings the total up to 55. Also the total for the NSFC which means in the grand scheme of things it’s 54 out of 80 likely slots available.
ARIZONA OUTLAWS
Let’s move on to Arizona. Let’s not actually move there though, unlike our newest team member @Rindiee will be. Anyway, leading the league in roster changes (by like a country mile) the Outlaws feature a nice 12 actives, plus a retiree, plus two who are activish. But not activishts. They make Sean Connery angry. Anyway, our 14 include one person who’s activity came out of nowhere so hard he didn’t even get updated by accident. We don’t really have any league jobs other than a DSFL GM.We do have an SBA GM though. Also, at least 3 of our 14 have do or will live in Arizona (including myself). Not that it means anything. This comes to 14 for the ASFC and 68 overall.
LAS VEGAS LEGION
We’re going to call this one 10. The Legion of course were the victims of a mass retirement during Season 4’s memorable FuckeryFest 2017. The 10 includes precisely two people who were with the team last year and one may be viewed as questionable to even count. That would be Ben. but he’s around even though he can’t be active at this point, so I’m counting him. He’s someone who WILL be a part of the league going forward. We’ve got an updater and a HO in here though and Bovo will be joining next season after his DSFL stint (despite not counting yet). The fact that they have 10 is something fo a wonderful result all things considered. That gives us 24 in the ASFC and 78 overall.
ORANGE COUNTY OTTERS
The otters pride themselves on their stability in their roster, which is an older group for the most part. Sure enough they tie the Wraith at the top with 15 active members. Nothing fancy to add here for the Season 5 ASFC Runner Up team. This gives us 39 in the ASFC and 93 overall.
SAN JOSE SABERCATS
The biggest actual city in the US without an NBA, NFL, or MLB team. That’s a fun fact for you. So the Cats have 14 definitive active players, plus someone that I heard retired. There are an additional 2 players of question. One being Gadget, who’s discord screen name was the source of much confusion last week, and the other being Cricket who..well...ya’ll know Cricket. I’m going to avoid counting them because neither has made as much of a move to be active as some others. They’re worth noting though.
This gives the ASFC a total of 53. Combine that with the NSFC’s 54 and you have 107 active players in the NSFL. Well below 160, of course. But wait...the DSFL is suddenly thriving and needs to be included. I foreshadowed this earlier in the column, for those who like to go back and find easter eggs. Also, if you find any actual easter eggs DO NOT EAT THEM. It’s December for fuck’s sake. So, let’s count the DSFL. We currently carry 4 active teams (and two bot teams who can alter have actives as the developmental league re-expands). I won’t go team by team because we’ve already used that gimmick. Overall though, the DSFL currently contains 31 actives, including 10 recreates and several players who have already been drafted to the NSFL but remain on DSFL rosters. This does not include the DSFL GM characters. We have an additional 3 players who have signed up on the site but have yet to be added to the DSFL. So that’s a current total of 34, coupled with the 107 active NSFL players, at least a dozen who could conceivably return, and a few other questionable individuals.
What does that mean? Well, it means we’re a lot closer to that 160 total than we might initially believe. It means that were it not for a disastrous season 4 and what it did to the DSFL, we could already have another 15-20 players on NSFL roster. See @kckolbe for more details on that issue, and better explained. Long story short…we’re not that far away right now. And we’ve just put MORE effort than ever before into recruitment and progression. IE the things that are most involved in bringing people in and keeping them here.
When I say things like S8 or S9 expansion, this is the kind if thing I’m thinking of. As a new GM and someone who now has a voice in the way this league is run, I’ve said multiple times that my goal is to make things more open and available in terms of options for players, GMs, and the league itself. This topic is one of those things. This league IS growing at a pretty substantial rate. Adding another 20-30 players is in the extremely near future and the fact is that we get over 100 users signed in to the site EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. As I write this there are 20+ users in discord alone..and that’s in the middle of the night. This league is both active and large enough that we’re damn near there already.
That said, 160 isn’t the magical finish line. If we expand, and by 2 teams, we’re going to need to have that PLUS another class of rookies coming in to be ready to fill some of the holes that will inevitably be created. There’s a lot of work to be involved in terms of picking GMs, choosing locations and names, and all of the details that go along with that. It’s not like an automatic trigger for anything other than getting the ball rolling. But….it IS just around the corner. And I think this proves that.
GRADED
I want to be more clear on this second issue and what I mean on it, but that’s for a later date. I only mention it here because it does tie into what I will be discussing. That being, how close are we to the amount of actives we need to have in order to consider expansion? I’m going to explain my methodology first so that you understand where I’m pulling things from. Which will be really embarrassing if it turns out we have less active than I think. We just had the big offseason update in the last few days. The time before the new season is generally considered the big dead time for the league for everyone I’ve talked to on the matter. I’m going to take everyone who had an update during that time and I’m going to count them as an active. So this will include the the new draftees who have been active and semi-actives who only pop up here and there when their respective GMs bug them. Shout out to @GoodLeftUndone
Building that list will be done against a target number. The number I’ve decided on is 160. That’s what the number of actives would be to fill each team. Now, I’m going to back that choice by saying that each team has 6 offensive, 11 defensive, and 1 special teams position for a total of 18. I added an additional 2 per team to account for backups who play a lot of minutes, such as an Erik Kennedy. 20 per team creates an active position pool of 160 with 8 teams. I admit this is all somewhat rough around the edges and a little loose one way or the other but it’s mostly there for the rough estimates that create a general picture of where we are. One thing I want to assure you is that I will not be double counting any user. Anyone who has a recreate in the DSFL will be counted as a part of the DSFL, which will have its own relevance down the line in this article.
I’m going to go through each team and tell you what’s what as I break them down. This way you get a good chance to see where people are and also so any other GMs can come correct me. Here we go!
BALTIMORE HAWKS
They’re the 5 time league leading franchise for being the first team you can scroll down to on the page. They currently have 13 actives. I did not count Sleepy aka Deiter because he’s recreating in DSFL (just using this as a reminder, I’m not gonna list out everyone this way). I did count Darnellthebeast aka Darnell Turner despite not having that update. Darnell is frequently on the site, including yesterday, and I suspect the updates are coming. Also of note, the Hawks have a Head Office member (alternate title agreed upon by GM vote: Hos) that is also the DSFL Commissioner, multiple Bankers, a DSFL GM, and a graphics grader. This is a pretty active team. Also, they have all the money. And Trey “3 Dicks” Willie. He might be the only person in the league who talks about his child as much as I do.
COLORADO YETI
Next up are the Yeti, and I’m betting this is a spot where people will expect the numbers to fall. Well guess what…(pauses for drama and also to actually look at the info)...you’re wrong. Whew. I had no idea which way that was gonna guy. The Yeti are in the process of a huge rebuild but still boast 12 people who are at least relatively active. They don’t have many “league role” types, featuring only a pair of updaters (and at least one fine one at that @jparks98 ...it’s too soon and the wounds are still too deep for me to talk about @mmfootball ), one of which is also a DSFL GM. They also have my SBA Duke teammate @Daybe though. That counts in my book. And overall that brings us to 25 actives.
PHILADELPHIA LIBERTY
The wonderful folks over in Philly (first time I’ve ever said that and meant it) are quite active around the league so I’m expecting a sizeable number here. This one’s a toughie though. Strictly speaking my system would put them at 12 actives. However, I know that both Den aka Luke Washington and Deusolis aka AC Hackett have both been on the site in the past few days and there has been talk of updating and such. So I’m counting them. That’s 14. Including Cliff Rove who takes a really long time to pick his fantasy players. They also feature a former league Commissioner and not one but two DSFL GMs. Quick note..I won’t be counting their GM players on the DSFL teams because they’re not unique users. Just a reminder. So with this 14 we’re at a grand total of 39.
YELLOWKNIFE WRAITHS
Ahh the Wraiths. Right away several of their users complicate things by not being the most diligent updaters. 2 of them. They’re all active and one’s a damn DSFL GM so I count them. Because I can. 15 is their number. Note that this does not include a retiring GM character or the individual who shall not be named. It does however include that DSFL GM I mentioned, the league Commissioner, a couple updaters, and an addition HO. You can get a lot of value form having an additional HO. Or some I’ve been told. My pick to win the Ultimus in Season 5 brings the total up to 55. Also the total for the NSFC which means in the grand scheme of things it’s 54 out of 80 likely slots available.
ARIZONA OUTLAWS
Let’s move on to Arizona. Let’s not actually move there though, unlike our newest team member @Rindiee will be. Anyway, leading the league in roster changes (by like a country mile) the Outlaws feature a nice 12 actives, plus a retiree, plus two who are activish. But not activishts. They make Sean Connery angry. Anyway, our 14 include one person who’s activity came out of nowhere so hard he didn’t even get updated by accident. We don’t really have any league jobs other than a DSFL GM.We do have an SBA GM though. Also, at least 3 of our 14 have do or will live in Arizona (including myself). Not that it means anything. This comes to 14 for the ASFC and 68 overall.
LAS VEGAS LEGION
We’re going to call this one 10. The Legion of course were the victims of a mass retirement during Season 4’s memorable FuckeryFest 2017. The 10 includes precisely two people who were with the team last year and one may be viewed as questionable to even count. That would be Ben. but he’s around even though he can’t be active at this point, so I’m counting him. He’s someone who WILL be a part of the league going forward. We’ve got an updater and a HO in here though and Bovo will be joining next season after his DSFL stint (despite not counting yet). The fact that they have 10 is something fo a wonderful result all things considered. That gives us 24 in the ASFC and 78 overall.
ORANGE COUNTY OTTERS
The otters pride themselves on their stability in their roster, which is an older group for the most part. Sure enough they tie the Wraith at the top with 15 active members. Nothing fancy to add here for the Season 5 ASFC Runner Up team. This gives us 39 in the ASFC and 93 overall.
SAN JOSE SABERCATS
The biggest actual city in the US without an NBA, NFL, or MLB team. That’s a fun fact for you. So the Cats have 14 definitive active players, plus someone that I heard retired. There are an additional 2 players of question. One being Gadget, who’s discord screen name was the source of much confusion last week, and the other being Cricket who..well...ya’ll know Cricket. I’m going to avoid counting them because neither has made as much of a move to be active as some others. They’re worth noting though.
This gives the ASFC a total of 53. Combine that with the NSFC’s 54 and you have 107 active players in the NSFL. Well below 160, of course. But wait...the DSFL is suddenly thriving and needs to be included. I foreshadowed this earlier in the column, for those who like to go back and find easter eggs. Also, if you find any actual easter eggs DO NOT EAT THEM. It’s December for fuck’s sake. So, let’s count the DSFL. We currently carry 4 active teams (and two bot teams who can alter have actives as the developmental league re-expands). I won’t go team by team because we’ve already used that gimmick. Overall though, the DSFL currently contains 31 actives, including 10 recreates and several players who have already been drafted to the NSFL but remain on DSFL rosters. This does not include the DSFL GM characters. We have an additional 3 players who have signed up on the site but have yet to be added to the DSFL. So that’s a current total of 34, coupled with the 107 active NSFL players, at least a dozen who could conceivably return, and a few other questionable individuals.
What does that mean? Well, it means we’re a lot closer to that 160 total than we might initially believe. It means that were it not for a disastrous season 4 and what it did to the DSFL, we could already have another 15-20 players on NSFL roster. See @kckolbe for more details on that issue, and better explained. Long story short…we’re not that far away right now. And we’ve just put MORE effort than ever before into recruitment and progression. IE the things that are most involved in bringing people in and keeping them here.
When I say things like S8 or S9 expansion, this is the kind if thing I’m thinking of. As a new GM and someone who now has a voice in the way this league is run, I’ve said multiple times that my goal is to make things more open and available in terms of options for players, GMs, and the league itself. This topic is one of those things. This league IS growing at a pretty substantial rate. Adding another 20-30 players is in the extremely near future and the fact is that we get over 100 users signed in to the site EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. As I write this there are 20+ users in discord alone..and that’s in the middle of the night. This league is both active and large enough that we’re damn near there already.
That said, 160 isn’t the magical finish line. If we expand, and by 2 teams, we’re going to need to have that PLUS another class of rookies coming in to be ready to fill some of the holes that will inevitably be created. There’s a lot of work to be involved in terms of picking GMs, choosing locations and names, and all of the details that go along with that. It’s not like an automatic trigger for anything other than getting the ball rolling. But….it IS just around the corner. And I think this proves that.
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