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 has led me to develop a unique twist on the traditional fantasy football format. Instead of predicting which NFL players will perform well, my game challenges participants to predict 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 evolve each season.
As of the 2024-25 season 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 to share the excitement of backwards fantasy football with a broader audience. For now, it remains a fun game among friends.