Suck 4 Luck

Two tools for backwards Fantasy Football

In Java and PHP

Suck4Luck is a system for playing reverse fantasy football, for 4 players

Players visit a website to select their picks for the week

These picks are saved using PHP on a remote server to be utilized by the manager utility

This provides an easy user experience for the players

and greatly simplifies work for the league manager

Managers utilize a desktop app management tool

This tool, written in Java using JavaFX retrieves all four players' weekly picks from the remote server

Then, weekly player priorities are calculated, waivers are run,

and all four players are awarded their weekly Quarterback and Defense selections

All the info needed to play for the week!

Reflection

My passion for sports, particularly football (and the fantasy variety thereof) has led me to develop a unique twist on the traditional fantasy football format. Instead of predicting which NFL players will excel, my game challenges participants to forecast which quarterback and defense will perform the worst each week.

I've played fantasy sports since high-school, and I run this "Reverse" fantasy football game annually with three friends. Initially, the process was what I called "analog," in that participants would text me their picks and I would calculate waiver priorities and scores by hand, keeping track in a paper notebook and uploading the data to ESPN.

To streamline this, I first created a management tool in Java to take care of some of my responsibilities. I then developed a web-based tool allowing players to submit their weekly picks online. Over the years this project has evolved from a basic command-line application and simple HTML form into a more robust system, and it continues to adapt each football season.

As of 2024 the league is ongoing, with plans to transition to a full featured webapp to enhance the experience for everybody. I've also considered expanding the project into a web app to share the excitement of backwards fantasy football with a broader audience. For now, it remains a cherished game among friends.