Just another Idea..

[KW]

while I have no issues switching teams, that is another big change since oCSL in a short time period. I suspect it means starting from scratch again. Also, with DDS 4 being a few months away from release, the question whether we want to switch is an obvious one . that potentiolly means restarting for the 4th time... not sure how healthy it is for the league. just a few thoughts

I definitely don't want to start over again. Definitely don't want to switch to DDS4, because we all know that there will be consistent problems with a new platform. Too much risk involved.

We've been toying with the idea of contraction. Going with a 25 team league. As far as I can tell, there are only two downsides: a few GMs would have to switch teams (but they would bring their roster with them, so it would really just be switching logos, divisions and conferences) and we would lose the stats/W-L records from this season. But everything else would stay the same, we'd have 5 fewer teams to account for, and we could have a cool contraction draft to re-distribute some of the players.

I'm not against it, however the salary cap would certainly need to rise to account for the fact that 5 teams worth of salaries being dispersed among 25 teams means each team's payroll could jump by roughly 1/5 of the salary cap, otherwise teams without cap space would be completely screwed.

[Sun Scorched]

Yeah - the contraction along with an increase in cap would combine well from a league narrative perspective.

[Myles]

while I have no issues switching teams, that is another big change since oCSL in a short time period. I suspect it means starting from scratch again. Also, with DDS 4 being a few months away from release, the question whether we want to switch is an obvious one . that potentiolly means restarting for the 4th time... not sure how healthy it is for the league. just a few thoughts

We wouldn't be starting from scratch. We'd be keeping the same rosters and same draft picks and all that good stuff. And if we make the switch to DDS4, we will just be transferring everything over, and not starting over.

[WillyJakkz]

Put me in the contraction as a bad idea side of the argument.

We have what, 3 teams w/ out GM's (OKC CHI UTAH)? Not seeing the urgency to contract, just let them be league controlled until GM's come along.

Contraction isn't gonna solve any issues at all except have guys trade and or draft happy until the luster of that wears off and until TR's are lifted then cycle around again and activity will likely see a boost simply due to being able to trade which isn't something I feel should be the only reasoning as for GM activity in the first place.

I think one of the biggest issues is trying to have a League that's so media driven in order to get scouting etc when the scouting has been nil on my part, haven't received one single scouting report at all this entire season but end of the day I don't really care about the scouting enough to even fuss about it considering the way things are tending to trend here as the mere thought of contraction is a perfect example of it.

End of the day I really enjoy reading the articles of the guys here and even go back and check mine out once in a while but to make it so mandatory may be one reason why some GM's don't fully commit to being a GM as real life may not permit writing all the time and it sometimes reflects how their teams perform which is a real life reflection of real life team GM's/ owners... some care some don't, some see their team as a hobby and treat it as such, some treat it as an investment and reap the benefits from treating it as such.

If a guy writes about his team, fine, if a guy doesn't write about his team, fine, as long as the participation is there let 'em run their team BUT if the participation isn't there and it's just a constant DC upload etc, then that should warrant replacement.

I've been a happy member and hope contributor to GAH and that has very little media going on over there sans the same usual GM's and that L is doing great cause it's a tightly run ship and also the appeal of a retro League may be a factor as well.

Whatever the decision is, is what it will be, I'm not too confident a restart/ reboot/ contraction is the answer to the ailments of this L.

I'm sure there will be a person out there who would love to GM a Kevin Durant Kevin Love team, a Derick Rose team, or a rebuilding team like Utah, just takes time.

[Dennis]

I will wait for the announcement with all detailed information before telling my 2 cents. But overall Im a bit concerned. Assigning the players to different teams will influence the balance of power heavily.

[bestnamezRtaken]

Yeah, I'm not sure going down to 25 teams would be ideal for the league. It just seems like it would be more work than it should be...I don't know. I guess I'll wait for the detailed information to come out.

[Jestor]

I have to say, for me, I'd lose all interest in the league if there was contraction. Although not officially a restart, it's just more chaos and instability - not to mention, it raises the power level of the league considerably (which comes with its own particular quirks and issues, by the way).

Doubling down on massive restructuring isn't going to make this league suddenly more active, nor will it make it better. Instead, it's throwing desperate Hail Marys that indicate a panic that the league is dying.

Stability, consistency, and *gradual* change are the keys to a successful league. Stability comes with time, through repeated consistency. The consistency hasn't been there for large stretches of the single season the league has had (I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here, by the way - just saying that it's been lacking).

The way to correct the problem is maintain a consistent sim schedule, maintain a consistent scouting schedule, with timely return of scouting reports, and gradually activity will pick up and media will increase.

[Sun Scorched]

Scouting will be improved this next season. It will me simplified, straight-forward and concise. The turnaround will improve as well.

Free agency will be a simple process as well. It will be condensed into a few, fast-paced days. Interested GMs will need to be direct and proactive.

The concept of a contraction is the exact opposite of a desperate attempt at increasing activity. It requires a tremendous amount of work from the admins to even consider pulling it off.

Further, and to back up to a point most seem to be glossing over, the previous shift from oCSL to this iteration was done less to increase activity and more to increase the legitimacy of the league. Please don't forget how ridiculous the statistics got as a result of Gary's original league file. That was the impetous behind the switch. The admins spent almost a full week straight of going rating by rating in order to make this iteration significantly more realistic.

It's true we used it as an excuse to punt a few shitty GMs, but I'd be shocked if anyone can remember who we lost off the top of their heads.

So, no panic. No "hail Mary's". This is simply a creative idea intended to spur conversation. The concept was released prior to having a full thought process in place, but this was a concept we played around with during the previous shift, so it's not coming out of nowhere.

Also, I'll throw down the gauntlet:

I created several ways to be involved in this upcoming draft outside of simply conducting scouting through Myles. I appreciate the people who took advantage of it - I think you can all agree it was fun and enlightening. In my opinion, those are the things that can make leagues like ours more interesting and more involved. For those of you that haven't, I'd be curious as to why?

That was one of many ideas that I had to increase the level of activity. I'd be curious to know what other suggestions might be.

I have a personal policy in life, instead of simply explaining things that you don't like, it's more productive to offer things that you would enjoy. It increases discussion, conflates creativity and involvement, and creates personal ownership in this league.

Finally, I'll set an expectation specific to effort that I've put into this league - it would mean a lot to me, especially if you have a 1st round pick, that you comment in most (if not all) of the draft article threads. Those take a ton of time and are offered for your benefit as a resource to improving your team. To be blunt, they are significantly more valuable than the umpteenth article about our vision for our own teams that really not a ton of other folks care about. So, please, respond accordingly.

So, that being said GMs of CSL, what is the one thing you would like to see instituted?

[Dennis]

We need the oCSL scouting back. Even with grades its okay as long as the range the Letters are standing for is posted. But that's it. Only problem is we have to find new, active GMs. And that's very difficult.

[Jake0890]

Imo, contraction isn't the way to go. It's gonna lead to a lot of super powerful teams with a really concentrated talent pool.

I'm with Jestor here. Make no major changes, continue with the regular sims, fix the scouting and the activity will come. A contraction isn't going to increase activity by any means, nor is forcing people to write articles at this point.

So for me, just stay the course.

[Myles]

I fully admit I was not productive this season. That's completely my fault and I place a lot of the blame for lack of activity on myself. That being said, I'm making steps to improve starting with streamlining the scouting process. I apologize for how poor I've been, and let's just press on and make this league productive once again. Starting today.

[bt]

Agree with the above. No to contraction.

I think consistency and making it easier on the people that run it being the key.

[emplep7]

Also not a fan of contraction....unless I get Lebron on my team. Then I agree.

[blackice]

Also not a fan of contraction....unless I get Lebron on my team. Then I agree.

**** Lebron.

On a serious note, I think we all need to recommit to the league. It's not a structural issue, it's us collectively contributing which will breed activity because you know your content is being read and you're getting feedback. I've been really busy and juggling a lot but I'm going to do my part and revert back to being "present." I can't really say either way regarding the contraction idea because honestly, I haven't been a big enough contributor to say anything. I'll take responsibility for my part in the slow down (not that the world revolves around me....right?)

[andrei]

''I think we all need to recommitt'' is like an anthem that we sing roughly twice a season. Don't you think so?

[blackice]

''I think we all need to recommitt'' is like an anthem that we sing roughly twice a season. Don't you think so?

Agreed, but I feel like the admin team is looking for solutions to an issue that isn't their fault. If the sim schedule is more consistent this upcoming season I don't know what else we can ask of Dylan and them. I can only speak for myself but I know my activity dropped off and I'm usually pretty good about contributing so what I can do is comment/write more. Life got really busy for me but that's true of everyone I'm sure.

[Sun Scorched]

Gentlemen - quick version - no contraction. It's something we can pursue with more discussion next season, if we think it would be fun. The pre-draft tournament will be a blast, trading will open shortly which will be a blast followed closely by the draft and free agency.

We have a lot to look forward to.