Great race!

[Glenn_Austen]

Looks like it will come down to the wire this year! 3 Teams still with a chance to win the cup! It is nice to maintain the level of drama right until the last week of play.
With a couple of divisions and division runner-up spots still in play, we are all set for an exciting final week.
The Outlaws are in the drivers seat, but both the X-Men and Grumpy's have a chance to unseat Mr. Turcotte as league champ should he falter against the Irish...let the games begin!
Good luck all, and thanks for another great CFHL season, regardless of the outcome. Thanks again Chris and Murph for all of your great work in organizing and running the league!

[Glenn_Austen]

Hi gents,

Regardless of the outcomes of this weeks games, I have an idea that may be of interest to some to spice up the "drama" even more by adding a new wrinkle to the league.

I think that adding a play-off format might be a great modification- -it would involve running a regular season from Weeks 1 through 23. 8 teams would then qualify for the playoffs, with the 6 division winners plus two wildcards (best records of remaining teams) meeting in the quarter finals, semis, and then finals in weeks 24, 25 and 26 respectively.

We could also look at variants of this format, with the two teams with the top records having quarter-finals byes for example.

Our existing format works fine, obviously, given the longevity of the league, but adding a play-off format that more closely mirrors real-life play-offs and the drama that goes along with these games offers the possibility of even more "races" to the finish and heightened drama, as well as upsets and miracle finishes.

Just an idea - let me know what you think.

[Chris_Savard]

Thanks Glenn,

I must admit - I am strongly opposed to this idea. As you eloquently articulated in the post above - there are many races still to be decided in the CFHL in the final week. In week 25 of the MFHL, 10 out of 12 teams still had a shot to make money. The races in the WFHL went down to week 25 with three teams still in the hunt for the Cup.

I was in a few NFL pools that had playoffs and was not a fan.

So in this proposal, a given team could go 23-0 and then get eliminated from the money in week 24. I much prefer that we reward the winners of the marathon and not the sprint!

What we have works extremely well - in my opinion. Why change that?!?

That said, I have been giving thought to something similar to add more races. When Ronzo was alive, he ran a Challenge Cup between the two 12 teams leagues. I have been wondering what that might look like if we ran a Challenge Cup amongst the 48 teams in the three FHL leagues (CFHL, MFHL, WFHL). We could even call it our own March Madness.

My thinking is after Week 21 - the top 32 teams of the 48 qualify for Challenge Cup/March Madness. Then based on the lineup you have already submitted, you play another team. Winner moves on, loser is out.

Week 22 - 32 teams
Week 23 - 16 teams
Week 24 - 8 teams
Week 25 - 4 teams
Week 26 - 2 teams

Each of the 32 teams could throw some money into the pot - say $5.00 and the winner walks away with $160.00

I don't know if this is the best format or not, but the math does work. The other challenge is how do I make the site do what I want it to. (I guess worst case - 1) I have a year or so to figure it out and 2) worst case I could track it in Excel)

Thoughts?

[Glenn_Austen]

You make a good point. It would certainly be frustrating to go undefeated in the "regular season" only to lose in the playoffs. Just ask the Patriots!
I like the idea of another race, so the challenge has merit, and is worth pursuing IMO.

[Richard_Tardiff]

Why not add in the actual playoffs instead of subbing in the last few weeks of the regular season?

Could be top 4 regular season teams from each league make Round 1 (I think Chris said there are 4), matchups are each league pits 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd. 2 winners from each league face-off in Round 2. Top 4 teams, one from each league, move to round 3 where CFHL winner is always vs one of the other winners each year like the east/west conferences. The 2 winners fight it out for the "Hometown" cup.

Since Chris suggested something with all 4 leagues I guess they are similar formats so that could work.

Another option is to do it just within CFHL. Top 2 from each division plus 4 wildcard spots for Round 1. Then each subsequent round you reseed and top seed vs lowest seed until you have 1 left after Round 4 (like the NHL used to do).