Every fantasy league seems to have one–the owner that doesn’t prepare, drafts his team (or maybe let’s the computer do it), and then checks out as soon as the team hits the loss column in week 1. Injuries pile up, bye weeks come and go, and their lineup never changes. It’s all fine and good when you face him, but when a couple teams get the advantage of playing the dead team twice–maybe once with a playoff spot on the line late in the season–that’s when it really sucks. I mean REALLY sucks.
That’s where Mission Competition comes in.
Mission Competition is a service that provides leagues with dead teams an option to re-level the playing field, with an army of fantasy enthusiasts who can assume coaching duties for dead teams, as well as several computer programs that allow us to automate the process with certain league manager sites.
Founder Robert Levens, who launched the June 18th, said that he is also in talks with several league-management sites and high-stakes fantasy outlets about potential partnerships, and that his company is already affiliated with the World Championship of Fantasy Football–although I would like to think that in the case of high stakes games, that owners are less likely to drop out.
At the same, the service, which costs $12.99, probably doesn’t make a lot of sense for free leagues or a league of friends each throwing in $10 as an entry fee, meaning the company is probably starting with a smaller potential audience of leagues that start with entry fees of $50 to maybe a couple hundred dollars.
Still, with my fantasy experience, I can imagine that Mission Competition could be a highly successful venture–especially if the service proves to provide competitive solutions for leagues with deadbeat owners.
The opening paragraph is unfair. I never let the computer make my picks, I had Andy do it.
:-) I don’t think we’ve ever invited you to play Fantasy Football, SirWhoopass–that was simulation football. We knew you’d lose interest in fantasy football before Week 3.
I’ve seen more autodraft teams in baseball leagues, to be honest–probably because I usually only play in paid fantasy football leagues. I was in one free league last year, though, where a guy drafted New York Giants with his first 7 or 8 picks–defense, kicker, everyone. I think he won 1-2 games.