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Are there no more free leagues?

posted by worldcup2002 at 11:41 AM - reply - flag:

Yahoo NFL, baseball, and hockey were all free. I guess they know enough to rip off the rabid fans first.

posted by grum@work at 01:34 PM - reply - flag:

Here's one option I found - I can't vouch for the playability, but at least it's free: Premierleague.com Then, I stumbled upon this site dedicated to fantasy sports, called FISO. I'm scouring these two pages for more free "real-life" fantasy league options. If anyone has a ready-made option, that would be great.

posted by worldcup2002 at 06:37 PM - reply - flag:

So, far, I've signed up for: http://www.Click4Football.net Click4Football bring you Fantastical Football a classic real-life performance fantasy football league where managers must employ their footballing knowledge to choose a team of eleven English Premiership players. You have the option to select the teams formation. Transfers can be made up to 10 mins before kick-off. There is the ever popular Mini League to add bit of friendly rivalry amongst friends, family and colleagues. Game play is still simple and great fun with prizes on offer for all ages. Cost of entry into the prize league is 5.00 per team (3 teams cost 10.00), or play for FUN in the free to enter non-prize league. Updated review 5 August 2002. However there are a couple of other free sites that may work, but I have no time to check. Perhaps the lads over in England can vouch for one of these, or better still, set us up with one and let us know where to go. Football Manager Managers league - this is a basic free to enter football manager game based around the FA Premier League. Each player must pick a team up to the value of 68 million. Each team must not have more than 4 players from any one Premiership team. Periodically, special offers appear on the site, advertising key players at (sometimes) knocked down prices. You are allowed 10 transfers in your team during the season. One drawback this season is that there is only a limited number of each player available. If the player you want is out of stock', you must watch for transfers in case somebody else sells him. A nice touch to avoid too many players having the same team. Office League - as above, but a league formed amongst friends or colleagues. Sunny Afternoon FREE entry to the English Premiership Fantasy League competition as well as many other British and European Fantasy League competitions. Winner's prize usually 100.

posted by worldcup2002 at 07:13 PM - reply - flag:

OK, after signing up for the fantasy league at PremierLeague.com (which is the official site of the EPL), I'm gonna recommend it. It's FREE (yay!), you pick a 15-man squad, it does auto-substitutions whenever one of your first team picks don't actually play, player points are updated as the action occurs (wow!), there are multiple contests, and you can set up your own league! Unless we want to wait and see if yahoo comes up with a free league. (From what I see, I'm not going to hold my breath.) squealy, FB, Calmy, Fooker, mossy, trox, pfuller, apt820, jasonbondshow, elsoltano, Drood, eckeric, cory, jipe, billsaysthis, etrader9, corpse, etagloh, salmacis, ttrendel, 86, gspm, where are you? What do you think?

posted by worldcup2002 at 07:27 PM - reply - flag:

wc, you know where I am. You must have recovered from that sangria your wife made faster than me. I will get signed up in the next day or so.

posted by billsaysthis at 07:31 PM - reply - flag:

Hey bill! Cheers for the generosity and good fun. We'll have to have you guys up here soon. I'm hoping yahoo will come through, but the PremierLeague.com league is really growing on me. Cool stuff.

posted by worldcup2002 at 07:35 PM - reply - flag:

I've set up a private league on PremierLeague.com. It's called "SpoFi EPL Fantasy Lg". When you guys get signed up, join in!

posted by worldcup2002 at 08:54 PM - reply - flag:

The code for joining "SpoFi EPL Fantasy Lg" is: worldcup2002@opl_103022

posted by worldcup2002 at 09:46 PM - reply - flag:

I'm in. PremierLeague.com actually looks pretty good. It definitely seems better than yahoo. Good work WC2002. Now you just have to bear with my learning curve.

posted by ttrendel at 01:12 AM - reply - flag:

I will be in, I'm just a bit rushed off my feet at work at the moment. That's it for me though. I already do the MLS comp. and one team-based EPL competition with my non-SpoFi friends and I don't have the mental capacity to cope with more than three at a time. (In fact I don't have the capacity to cope with three but hopefully that won't show).

posted by squealy at 02:37 AM - reply - flag:

Thanks, wc2002 for all the work. I will sign up with premier leaque soon ish. if you pick your squad now can you amend it for free before the season starts? You could end up with some useless players if you can't.

posted by Fat Buddha at 06:43 AM - reply - flag:

I'm signing up just as fast as I can. Thanks for the legwork Worldcup!

posted by trox at 09:14 AM - reply - flag:

Yes, FB, you can make as many transfers as you want before the first game of the season. AFter that, you have only one free transfer per week. You can, however, make more than that, but it will cost you four points (or something like that) -- deducted from your total score -- for every additional transfer that week. There are so many cool features with this league I can stand it! Yahoo can go suck eggs!

posted by worldcup2002 at 10:03 AM - reply - flag:

Hey, welcome, catfish! And, who's lisa smith? Huh? 37 push ups?

posted by worldcup2002 at 10:04 AM - reply - flag:

In, although I spent more time picking my kit than picking my team.

posted by mbd1 at 11:00 AM - reply - flag:

i don't know why my manager says lisa smith, i didn't type those words in anywhere. i'm 37 push ups though.

posted by corpse at 11:12 AM - reply - flag:

Yay, corpse and mbd1. This season is going to be a rollicking roller-coaster ride!

posted by worldcup2002 at 12:00 PM - reply - flag:

May I remind people of the prediction league? register, then spofi and spofi gets you in so you can join the Bog Bandits in the sub league.

posted by Fat Buddha at 12:13 PM - reply - flag:

I'm in. Hopefully I'll be able to participate more than last year... It was hard to select a team, though.

posted by sauril at 12:44 PM - reply - flag:

i'm having trouble logging in once I registered. It just loads the page forever...

posted by corpse at 12:50 PM - reply - flag:

corpse, I got that too for a while before it went through. I think I just pounded the submit button.

posted by mbd1 at 01:35 PM - reply - flag:

I checked their FAQ re: log in problems and it looks like "the whole login / registration system is down at present and the problem is being looked into" I must have broken it.

posted by worldcup2002 at 02:20 PM - reply - flag:

I finally got in and changed all that lisa smith nonsense. I don't know how our profiles go crossed, but I know know lisa smith's secret phrase. My kit is the best.

posted by corpse at 03:53 PM - reply - flag:

Yay! Can y'all please go in and change your team and/or Manager names so we can tell who you are. This will be esp. helpful when billsaysthis starts doing weekly reports (Yeah, bill!). Who's Martin Davis? Welcome, whoever you are!

posted by worldcup2002 at 04:22 PM - reply - flag:

I meant, use your SpoFi monikers as part of your team and/or Manager name so we can tell easily. I don't know lisa smith from corpse. ;-p Hahahahahahaha.

posted by worldcup2002 at 04:23 PM - reply - flag:

Okay, the problems are past and I signed up. You'll never guess my team. I have no clue if I made good choices though I did take Owen, of course, and Friedel for goal. Kewell was too expensive. I think.

posted by billsaysthis at 04:24 PM - reply - flag:

I was crushed that I could only spend 100million pounds. Obviously, this game is not funded by Abramosandwich. I'm also a little unhappy that I could not have more than three players from the same team. Not that I could afford them anyway. Man, I have a motley crew. (Cue bad jokes and crazy guitar licks!) I did not go with Owen, because I'm not sure of the service he will get. That may change as the season progresses. Man, this league really rocks. So many options and so easy to use. I like being able to get pointers from the Pundit, and also keep track of fantasy points as well as real life points. This is so cool!

posted by worldcup2002 at 04:39 PM - reply - flag:

Right-o, my (darling) fascist bully boys* are in. Expect little, get less. Here's hoping Freidel has another stellar season. I tried to change my manager name to Ufez Jones, but got an internal service error. I'll fix it por la manana. *big kudos to anyone that can cite that allusion.

posted by Ufez Jones at 04:44 PM - reply - flag:

Who's Martin Davis? Welcome, whoever you are! Fixed it.

posted by mbd1 at 05:09 PM - reply - flag:

Just over two weeks to go until kick-off and we already have 10 signed up: me (worldcup2002), ttrendel*, catfish, trox*, corpse*, mbd1, Fat Buddha*, sauril, billsaysthis, Ufez*. We had 17 competitors last season (and what a season it was!), so I'm looking to beat that. Twenty here we come! * Please change your team or manager name so that it contains your SpoFi name! (Technical difficulties notwithstanding.)

posted by worldcup2002 at 06:10 PM - reply - flag:

The (darling) fascist bully boys* are now currently under my preferred monker, you impatient bastard**. *please keep in mind that the (darling) is req'd when talking about my team. stupid 20 character maximum. **gotta talk trash before the league starts, as after that, I will be in no position to, I'm sure.

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:20 PM - reply - flag:

Clockwork Orange?

posted by worldcup2002 at 06:26 PM - reply - flag:

Ardley Athletic are now signed up and ready to kick arse/have arses kicked.

posted by squealy at 06:32 AM - reply - flag:

I'll join when two things happen: 1. I have time 2. the website stops crapping out. but so far it sounds good. and as long as nobody else joins I may have a crack at finishing in the top 10.

posted by gspm at 08:38 AM - reply - flag:

Yay, squealy. And good luck with your next try, gspm. We look forward to having you as a competitor. Where is the Fooker, btw?

posted by worldcup2002 at 09:43 AM - reply - flag:

Clockwork Orange? Negative. The Brits should know this. At least those that had tellies in the 80's.

posted by Ufez Jones at 01:08 PM - reply - flag:

The PremierLeague.com site is fucked at the moment. I can't even log in now. Let's hope this ain't a sign of things to come.

posted by squealy at 01:12 PM - reply - flag:

watchootalkinbout, squealy? I've been messing around in there the last five minutes. Hmmm. Maybe I broke it.

posted by worldcup2002 at 01:36 PM - reply - flag:

IT's been on and off for me.

posted by corpse at 01:49 PM - reply - flag:

i spent far too long sorting out the account creation (created two because it crapped out without confirming that the first one was settled) and then more time with actual team registration and then yet more time deadling with my own version of the corpse/lisa smith problem (i got a russ somebody that is a fan of birmingham)... the site seems a little flakey which is something they can hopefully sort out. this is the EPL flagship site, no? but the interface and all that seems okay. patience is needed i guess.

posted by gspm at 01:55 PM - reply - flag:

How do i sign up? I can't see where i am supposed to put in worldcup2002@opl_103022

posted by StarFucker at 02:30 PM - reply - flag:

Nevermind, i found it... I'm in!

posted by StarFucker at 02:38 PM - reply - flag:

Buddha! No one else is joining the prediction league!

posted by StarFucker at 03:10 PM - reply - flag:

I know, miserable feckers.

posted by Fat Buddha at 03:23 PM - reply - flag:

You want me to sign up just to pick results for 8 games? What the ... do you think I support Birmingham or something? Hahahahahahaha.

posted by worldcup2002 at 03:57 PM - reply - flag:

Click this link: http:// uk.premiership.fantasysports.y ahoo.com/. It took me to the Bundesliga fantasy league just now! Did Germany do a takeover of the UK last nite? Ich bin ein Frankfurter! Hahahahaha! Sods!

posted by worldcup2002 at 06:01 PM - reply - flag:

On a serious note: It truly looks like the days of the free yahoo! EPL fantasy league are over. They took the old graphic off the main fantasy page. PremierLeague.com, here we come!

posted by worldcup2002 at 06:02 PM - reply - flag:

I should have read this earlier: Fascist Bully Boys = From "The Young Ones"? Where Mike is writing a letter to the bank manager?

posted by BigCalm at 09:31 AM - reply - flag:

Cliff Richard?

posted by worldcup2002 at 09:56 AM - reply - flag:

Big Clam wins! Sorta. It's Neil writing the letter, but he gets suggestions from everyone. Fascist Bully Boys came, of course, from Rik

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:22 AM - reply - flag:

Ufez, are you aware of these scripts for the Young Ones Episodes?

posted by BigCalm at 10:28 AM - reply - flag:

Aha! NEIL: Guys, guys, guys, I think I've solved our money problem. I'm writing to my bank manager. See what you think. [he reads from his letter] "Dear Bank Manager." MIKE: Yeah? NEIL: Well, that's it. I'm quite pleased with it so far, though. MIKE: Oh, well, it's a strong opening, certainly. VYVYAN: I don't like the "Dear". Sounds a bit too much like, "will you go to bed with me?" NEIL: Well spoken, Vyvyan. What do you think instead? VYVYAN: Uh, what about..."Darling"? [the guys concur] NEIL: [writing] "Darling Bank Manager..." RICK: No, no, no, no, no, not "Bank Manager", it's far too crawly bum-lick. Tell it like it is, put, "Fascist Bullyboy"! NEIL: "Darling Fascist Bullyboy..." MIKE: That's nice, yes, so far so good. So what do you want to say? NEIL: Well, basically, I want to ask him if I can have, like, an extension on my overdraft, but I know there must be a better way of putting it than that. MIKE: Well, what about, "Give me some more money"? VYVYAN: ..."You bastard!" [the guys murmur their agreement] NEIL: Don't you think that's a bit strong? MIKE: Ah, Neil, people like that respect strength. NEIL: Yeah, you're right. Uh, "Darling Fascist Bullyboy, Give me some more money, you bastard..." Uh... "Love, Neil". VYVYAN: Not "_Love_ Neil"! That sounds far too much like, "Come and get it like a bitch-funky sex machine!" NEIL: Yeah, you're right...Uh, what about, "Yours sincerely"? RICK: Oh, come off it, Neil. If you're going to be that sycophantic, why don't you go 'round there now and stick your tongue straight down the back of his trousers? NEIL: Oh, look, I know, I know, why not, "Boom Shanka"? MIKE: That's hard to tell, Neil. What does it mean? NEIL: It means, "May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman." RICK: Ah-ha! And what makes you think your bank manager's a man? NEIL: Uh...His beard. MIKE: He'll never understand "Boom Shanka", you'll have to write the whole thing out. NEIL: Right, okay, here we go. "Darling Fascist Bullyboy, Give me some more money, you bastard. May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman, Neil." [he looks pleased] RICK: Well, if that doesn't work, I don't know what will.

posted by BigCalm at 10:30 AM - reply - flag:

Bitch-funky sex machines would've been a great team name too. Too long though. Good on you, calmy.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:37 AM - reply - flag:

Sunday, July 27, 2003

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