I have an idea for a league that might be of interest to some others out there.. it should not be hard to arrange and could maybe even be used as a reward for winning a championship..

I think that the reason there is no balance in our leagues is because there is really no penalty for loosing. In the real world.. fans loose interest.. managers get fired.. cities loose teams.. there are real issues that dog most loosing teams. Presently a loosing manager in PB endures a little ego bruise and then looks forward to the nice high rookie picks and monthly FA picks in real time leagues. And now we talk about handing over the yearly FA picks too? This is outrageous considering that in real life the exact opposite is what ends up happening. The best FA's usually go to contenders.. not the bottom feeders. If anything the FA draft should be changed so the teams with the best records pick high but I'm getting off topic now.

I would love to join a league where managers must hit a target goal or be fired and move to another team the following season. The goal could be as easy or as complex as you want to make it. As long as there are an even number of managers that get fired it works. For example.. the exact opposite of the playoff teams. Last team in each division and the next poorest record overall. You end up with 8 free managers and 8 free teams if the league is full. Let the fired managers draft from available teams based on record (best to worst)for the next season. Obviously they would not be able to select the team they were fired by.

I know some people will hate this.. but I'd be willing to buy another team next year if there was a league full of players willing to try it. Here are some of the benefits I see with a league like this.

1) No tanking. Why? you won't be around to enjoy the picks next year anyway. Even if you know you will get fired you are better off playing your best and pushing the picks for a team you will recieve next year higher.

2) Excitement and drama right down to the very last game of the season. Right now teams that are out of it by the trading deadline have a long boring wait until the next season starts. Imagine struggles just for managers to keep thier teams right up to the very last day of the season.

3) Player turnover. Each manager has thier favorites that are untouchable. Churning managers around like this will make those players move around more.

4) Building a dynasty/rewarding consistancy. Managers are not only rewarded for winning it all.. they are also rewarded for long term consistancy. Keeping your job and control over the same team for a long period of time is a tempting goal to strive for.

5) Encourage long term team planning. Dumping all your vets onto the market for rookie picks? Trading away all of your future for a shot at a championship? Better be prepared to loose your job and your team.

I am NOT suggesting that all leagues should be run this way. It should be run as a voluntary test league or a reward league for championship winning mangers. I think the concept is worth exploring. If anyone else is interested lets get together. Maybe we can talk the commish into turning over one of the dead or nearly dead leagues to us to test it out. I think there are low tech solutions to make this work.. so the demands on his time would be minor.