Any other diehard fantasy owners have this problem???

[Little Johnny]

I live in a relatively small town, one that is much smaller than Baltimore, which is the nearest city. I put a lot of thought, preparation, and time into fantasy football every year. Three years ago, I finally grew weary of the standard redraft leagues that I was in. I wanted to get away from the snake draft and get involved with something that required more strategy. In other words, I wanted to be in a league where my time and effort would be well spent and benefit my team. I decided to start an auction/keeper league and created the bylaws, etc. I invited some of my local friends that I knew were participating in fantasy football leagues and the league started. Over the last couple years, it has become obvious that the other owners aren't as serious or passionate about winning the league. Therein lies the problem. I cannot seem to locate others in the general vicinity to participate in a league. I can only seem to find a few owners that match the intensity that I bring. I would like to develop a very in-depth dynasty league, but there is an absence of owners in the geographic area that I live in. The obvious question, I suppose, is why don't I gather some owners from sites such as the cafe? The problem is, I believe it would be next to impossible to keep a league together over the internet. I would hate to have the headache of constantly seeking replacement owners that would be forced to inherit a team that had been started by someone else.

Assuming this makes some sense, I would like to hear from you. I would appreciate any suggestions or thoughts that you may have. I've gone as far as considering placing an ad in the local newspaper to try to lure some new owners in.

Thanks for reading!

Johnny

[giants!]

Where exactly do you live. I'm sure you can find a league in the Baltimore metro area.

[Little Johnny]

Where exactly do you live. I'm sure you can find a league in the Baltimore metro area.

I am over 90 minutes from Baltimore...makes it a little tough to work on that.

[Gibbs Baby!!!]

Are you a SMURF? (I forget what that stands for, but I used to date a girl from there) If so, then I can understand why it's hard to find enough guys to fill your league like that. I live in central PA, and I'm in 2 very succesful leagues, however I live an hour away form most of the other owners. It's my hometown area, but not all of us in the 16 team league live that close, either.

I guess what I'm getting at is you will probably have to expand your geographic search area.

[011472]

I don't think you all need to be in the same area for the league to work. As long as you have a group of committed players, you'll be fine.

My league started with guys who were in a managable radius of Hartford, CT. For the first two years, we were able to get the whole league in the same room for the auction.

Now in our fourth year, through moves and new members, we're more spread out. While at least half of us are still in Hartford, others (including the commishioner )are in San Diego, Albany and D.C. So we used fantasy auctioneer the last two years and it's been fine. This year I'll be visiting friends in Portland on the night of the auction, so I'll do it from there.

The only problem I could see is how the trophy will get shipped from Long Island to my place this year.

[bagobonez]

I've run a league for about 4 years now, some of them I know, some of them I don't. We've had very little turnover in the league. Maybe 1 or 2 guys at most will either not play the next year or will not be invited back for some reason.