New Version of Fantasy

[Foxhound]

Coders are rarely users, and that's where system designers come in.  Someone who understand the usage and coding that can "translate" between them....

Designers? A good swift boot to the butt (as a first warning) would be my prescription.

When I'm doing projects I'd love to be able to bounce ideas off of the intended user; especially one "working" for free!  But in all my years that has happened exactly zero times.

Oh groan. With zero input, how do they expect positive results? After all, zero times any number is still zero. Hmmmm, but then again maybe they're using powers and any number raised to the power zero equals one!



Of course I don't work for nothing but somehow I think that my quote would be a very small fraction of what Genius Sports is charging the CFL.

[theaardvark]

They have these new things called "Zoom Focus Groups" where a developer can get a handful of active users in a room and ask "What features do you want and what features do you need.  What was the best platform you have ever used, and what was the worst."  Take an hour or two listening to diverse input before a line of code is written.

But hey... why do something that makes sense...

[TecnoGenius]

They have these new things called "Zoom Focus Groups" where a developer can get a handful of active users in a room and ask "What features do you want and what features do you need.  What was the best platform you have ever used, and what was the worst."  Take an hour or two listening to diverse input before a line of code is written.

Ya, that would work, except how do they choose the people?  Now the smart thing to do would be to go into the old fantasy site and pick the top-5 players and then a random sampling of 5 more from lower down the ranks.  Use them as your focus group.

What they probably did was pick Joe Blough off the street who doesn't even watch CFL and ask their opinion.

[Foxhound]

What they probably did was pick Joe Blough off the street who doesn't even watch CFL and ask their opinion.

Precisely.

[theaardvark]

Ya, that would work, except how do they choose the people?  Now the smart thing to do would be to go into the old fantasy site and pick the top-5 players and then a random sampling of 5 more from lower down the ranks.  Use them as your focus group.

What they probably did was pick Joe Blough off the street who doesn't even watch CFL and ask their opinion.

"Handful of active users" meaning exactly that... find people who presently used the old app, and also look at anyone that placed a question or request regarding the old iteration.

Unless you have a team leader deeply immersed in using the application, or intimately knowledgeable about the use, you need outside input.  Back in the day, that was my job, the synergist between the programmers (real programming) and the end users.  Finding out the actual needs and ways a computer could make jobs more efficient, and then translating those needs to the programmers, who saw the application only though their eye, never having even walked though the office that would use the system.  I would take it one step further, and work in features that could be adapted for places that might do things slightly different... and the other sales people were amazed at how they could use those as selling features to new clients whose needs we had never seen before.

Ahhh... I miss those days. A real use of brainpower...

[TecnoGenius]

So I joined a few fantasy leagues just now, finally had time to poke around.  And after I join my points total is "-" in the league leaderboard?  Huh?  You only get points for weeks you were in the league?  If so, that's mega-lame.  It means the only time you can join a league and have it reflect anything is before week 1!!!  Lame!

Looks like "680 CJOB" is really the only Bomber league with any substantial participant count.  I joined the Foxhound ones I was in in the old system, but they are still low-member.  Unless anyone has any other league tips.

[Foxhound]

I don't see you at all in those League yet. But we noticed last week that there was a time delay effect of most of a day between joining a League and appearing in the standings. Don't ask me to explain the delay though.

[Foxhound]

I joined the Foxhound ones I was in in the old system, but they are still low-member. 

So I now see you with your 90.7 points in Stegall's Soup Kitchen plus Jacks and Indians but not in Lincolns and Locomotives or Old Stone Face.

[pdirks67]

Just joined Stegall's Soup Kitchen, codename Digglers.

[TecnoGenius]

I don't see you at all in those League yet. But we noticed last week that there was a time delay effect of most of a day between joining a League and appearing in the standings. Don't ask me to explain the delay though.

Ah, yes there my points are!  I would have never guessed it was just a delay.  Very odd, as there's no "programming reason" why it should be delayed a day.

[Foxhound]

Speaking of the CFL Game Zone, I've very much enjoyed Blitz Picks since it was launched in the second half of the season last year. And with the increase in the number of questions from eight to ten this year, it's even more fun!

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

What's up with these crazy PFF rankings?  Brady had twice as many carries and twice as many yards as Butler in the first game and yet he's graded well down on their ranking list.  I watched the game and know who had the greater impact! DUH.

1   James Butler (HAM)   2   2   6   70.7
2   Taquan Mizzel Sr. (BC)   0   3   4   70.0
3   Ka?Deem Carey (CGY)   1   1   1   68.7
4   Brady Oliveira (WPG)   1   1   5   68.6
5   Jamal Morrow (SSK)   1   2   3   66.1
6   Frankie Hickson (SSK)   2   1   1   65.0
7   Kevin Brown (EDM)   4   1   0   58.4
8   Devonte Williams (OTT)   1   1   1   57.5
9   William Stanback (MTL)   4   1   2   51.1

Willy didn't fair much better, I can't imagine a DE having a more impactful game than he had against Hamilton, he was everywhere, 2 sacks, 2 knockdowns, he was the best defensive player in the league last week.

1   Ted Laurent (HAM)   1   1   0   92.4
2   Anthony Lanier II (SSK)   1   7   5   90.2
3   Woody Baron (BC)   0   3   1   79.8
4   Willie Jefferson (WPG)   2   4   1   77.2
5   A.C. Leonard (EDM)   1   2   0   73.9
6   Mustafa Johnson (MTL)   0   2   1   73.8
7   Celestin Haba (WPG)   2   4   2   71.5
7   Mathieu Betts (BC)   1   6   4   71.5
9   Almondo Sewell (MTL)   0   2   1   71.4
10   Josh Banks (BC)   0   0   0   70.5

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/06/14/player-grades-powered-by-pff-week-1/

[Foxhound]

So what? It's undervalued players that create the opportunities in Fantasy!

[Jesse]

What's up with these crazy PFF rankings?  Brady had twice as many carries and twice as many yards as Butler in the first game and yet he's graded well down on their ranking list.  I watched the game and know who had the greater impact! DUH.

1   James Butler (HAM)   2   2   6   70.7
2   Taquan Mizzel Sr. (BC)   0   3   4   70.0
3   Ka?Deem Carey (CGY)   1   1   1   68.7
4   Brady Oliveira (WPG)   1   1   5   68.6
5   Jamal Morrow (SSK)   1   2   3   66.1
6   Frankie Hickson (SSK)   2   1   1   65.0
7   Kevin Brown (EDM)   4   1   0   58.4
8   Devonte Williams (OTT)   1   1   1   57.5
9   William Stanback (MTL)   4   1   2   51.1

Willy didn't fair much better, I can't imagine a DE having a more impactful game than he had against Hamilton, he was everywhere, 2 sacks, 2 knockdowns, he was the best defensive player in the league last week.

1   Ted Laurent (HAM)   1   1   0   92.4
2   Anthony Lanier II (SSK)   1   7   5   90.2
3   Woody Baron (BC)   0   3   1   79.8
4   Willie Jefferson (WPG)   2   4   1   77.2
5   A.C. Leonard (EDM)   1   2   0   73.9
6   Mustafa Johnson (MTL)   0   2   1   73.8
7   Celestin Haba (WPG)   2   4   2   71.5
7   Mathieu Betts (BC)   1   6   4   71.5
9   Almondo Sewell (MTL)   0   2   1   71.4
10   Josh Banks (BC)   0   0   0   70.5

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/06/14/player-grades-powered-by-pff-week-1/

Might take a few years to adjust what metrics they?re using and what weight they give to each one. Might be as simple as Brady had more open holes to run through.

[TecnoGenius]

So what? It's undervalued players that create the opportunities in Fantasy!

You bet.

Once again this week I found I had too much money.  You can put way more "stars" on your team than the old fantasy, and still have a D!  I like having less of a budget so you have to find more of those sneaky "value" guys.  It's no fun if everyone is picking Rhymes, Lewis, Demski and Collaros.

I had to drop some of my budget guys to put in some more superstars.