Since my last official blog post, a lot has happened. First, I hit a milestone.
This season marks my 20th season as an owner in my N.L.-Only fantasy keeper league, the Pennsylvania Furnace League. Just like having children, time sure does fly. But thankfully every year when I sit around the table with all my fellow league mates, the fun only grows, as do the sharing of memories. The good natured ribbing never stops. And as bountiful as the baseball knowledge is in that room, the personalities are even bigger and I wouldn't want it any other way. The PFL isn't a league, it's a fraternity.
Secondly, I played my first round of golf in I can't remember how long with two of my league mates (Jim, my writing partner at UTRMinors, and our newest league member Dan) and a very close friend of mine Brennan. We hit the links on what was a very volatile, wet, cold and extremely windy day. When I got home, a friend who knew I was playing asked how things went. My answer...
"There are fewer shanks in a maximum security prison. I played 18 holes. No need to elaborate any further."
Thirdly, after the draft's conclusion Saturday afternoon, I had a compelling conversation with Brennan. Despite the small level of success Jim and I have had with UTRMinors, we're always thinking ahead. What's the next phase of our work and where will new technology and techniques take us. What I've learned in Online Media Writing has me anxious to share and implement new ideas with my writing partner. Adding visual and audio aspects to our work. Exciting stuff.
My discussion with Brennan was not only a rehashing of an old idea, but a vision into the possibility of the heights Jim and I could possibly reach.
Brennan currently works for an international software corporation, so the guy knows his way around software storage, manipulation and organization. So, my inquisition and enterprising self took over and I asked, "Is there a possibility we could ever create a draft software template?" His answer?
"Anything is possible."
The fantasy drafting software I've used over the last several years is quite possibly the most customizable software on the market. The one thing that sets it apart, I feel, are the position vectors.
If you aren't sure what a position vector is, here is an example of last years World Series champion Kansas City Royals. Inside the software, each major league team has it's own tab.
Inside each team screen is an empty position vector as well as a list of current players and highly notable minor leaguers. All the user has to do is click and drag a player and drop them where they belong on the vector. It's that simple, especially for hardcore fantasy players who keep up with injuries, daily transactions and follow minor league activity. It's almost customizable to a fault.
The only drawback to the software are player updates and the player pool. I'm not so sure the administrator keeps up with current 40-man or 25-man rosters. The player database needs constant attention as well as each major league organizations top prospect lists, and beyond.
The idea Jim and I had was to create a position vector template similar to the draft software I use. We'd keep up with both major and minor league transactions as well as shuffle the vectors around as each day of the season occurs. Sure it sounds simple, but as Brennan said, anything is possible. Then once fantasy baseball drafting season comes along, each team vector is ready, all their minor leaguers are listed, all without any leftovers or holes in the process.
So, with our baseball acumen, Brennan's tech knowledge and savvy, anything IS possible. You just have to look hard, even stumble upon the right tools and take advantage of the possibilities.
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