Now, Let's Pick a League

OK, you have chosen your game provider, now it's time to figure out what league you want. That will be the topic of the second part of our introduction to Fantasy Football series.

Generally, you will find two types of leagues, Public and Private. Your game provider will likely ask you which one of these two you are interested in. Here are the differences between as well as the pros and cons of the two.

A Public league is open to anyone who registers with a game provider. You don't know anyone else who plays. You can opt in on a public league and the game provider will automatically place you into a league with nine or so other individuals who are in the same situation.

The pros of this are, that you don't have to be part of a pre-existing group to play (obviously) and that the basic or "default" scoring system is used which keeps things pretty simple. On the down side, you don't know who will be in you league. I've been in public leagues that were filled with some really great owners and I've been in leagues where several owners lose interest by week three (really ruins the game).

A Private is just that, Private....by invitation only. Usually one person (The Commissioner) will set the league up and coordinate the sending out of invitations to the rest of the owners. If you are asked to join, the Commissioner will supply you with the necessary information to set up your team.

The pros revolve around the fact that you know the other owners as you generally keep the same league members from year to year. As for cons, you are somewhat at the mercy of the Commish. He has the power to tailor the scoring system (in some cases to his/her advantage) and has the ability to manipulate the rules (i.e. veto power on trades). Remember, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely", even in Fantasy Football.

What's that you say? You have a bunch of friends that want to play, but not enough to fill a Private league. And...you don't want to join on the public side since everyone will likely all end up in different leagues. So, what do you do?

Well, most game providers have anticipated this situation. What happens is that they will allow you to set up a Private league but will use players requesting a public league to fill out the open spaces on your roster. Don't worry, it's all well controlled as the Commish gets to specify the exact number of slots to be filled with public owners. That keeps the roster slots you have designated for you original group locked up nice and tight.

With the above information, you should be able to get set up in a league type of your choosing. But before you do that, there are a few more things you need to consider. Tomorrow, we will look at the first of those, the ever popular and confusing League Rules.