Okay, we’re getting another week! Yay!! We’ll now have until Week 2′s performance show (3pm EST that day) to get in our full card of picks. It’s exactly like last season, and you were totally right… we do need to see a bit of them competing

So the game will now have 11 weeks rather than the 12 of my previous post, and I’ll be doling out 11 points for correct answers rather than 12. It’s exactly the way we played last time.

The prizes will stay the same, so if you need to refresh yourself on that, take a read of my previous post.

Now here’s how it’s different for Week 1. We will begin the FDL with just two picks: the 2 dancers we think are going home Week 1. In the last FDL, we did the same thing. It was an optional week, allowing participants to gain an extra 3 bonus points.

This time the bonus is 6 points per dancer for correct answers.
All incorrect answers will receive 2 points for each dancer.
Players will also receive an additional 1 bonus point for each of their Week 1 dancer picks voted off Week 2…. sounds like a good deal right???

Ha! There’s a catch.

For each of your Week 1 picks that end up in the final four, you will be DEDUCTED 3 points… and if it is the winner… 6 points. Oooooooo scary.

I should remind you that last season, Jeanine was a dark horse, and a few people predicted her to go home Week 1. I’m just sayin.

But the most important part of this new change is that this time it is mandatory for game play. In fact, it will be your official entry into the game. The deadline will still be Tuesday at 3pm and any players who don’t get their picks in by then won’t be able to participate the following week with their full cards.

We’ll still be turning in our full card via email to dance@johncabrera.com the following week… but our Week 1 picks will be submitted differently. This weekend I’ll be posting the first “Bonus Point Post” that will be used to submit your Week 1 picks as comments. I will not approve any of them until after the deadline, so I’ll be the only one who knows everyone’s picks. Hahaha. (<- I really did just laugh out loud while writing that)

Here's an updated rundown of the point system if you need a refresher.

Week 1 – 17th Place (2)

Week 2 – 15th Place (2)

Week 3 – 13th Place (2)

Week 4 – 11th Place (2)

Week 5 – 9th Place (2)

Week 6 – 7th Place (2)

Week 7 – 5th Place (2)

Week 8 – 4th Place (1)

Week 9 – 3rd Place (1)

Week 10 – 2nd Place (1)

Week 11 – 1st Place (1)

Obviously, Weeks 8 -11 will actually only be one week/episode of television viewing.

· Each player receives 11 points for each correct placing.

· For incorrect placing, each player receives 10 points minus the difference between the place predicted and the actual placing.

· Each player receives 3 bonus points for each member of the final four correctly predicted (12 total points possible)

· Each player receives one-half (0.5) bonus point for each additional correct prediction made on a weekly basis independent of their official entry. These predictions can only be made between the episode and the next day by 8pm EST just before the results show. The player may predict any dancer remaining regardless of who is listed on their official entry, and must post that prediction as a comment here to the weekly “Bonus Pick Blog Post”.

For example, say in Week 2, Noelle and Legacy are eliminated:

If I had Noelle exiting in week 2 but Legacy exiting in week 6, I would receive 17 points: 11 + [10 – (6 -2)].

If I had Noelle exiting in week 5 and Legacy exiting in week 1, I would receive 16 points: [10 – (5 -2)] + [10 – (2 -1)]. But this time let’s say that after watching this week’s episode, I had a bad feeling about Noelle’s and Russel’s performance, so just before the results show I post a Bonus Pick comment at johncabrera.com saying that I changed my mind and thought Noelle and Russel would be the next to go… then I would recoup half a point for Noelle even though she will remain placing in week 5 on my entry… and I’d receive nothing for Russel since Legacy was the one to go home instead.

Make sense?

Again, you'll be sending your entry to dance@johncabrera.com. It has to be in by no later than 3PM EST on the day of Week 2's performance show (I'm not totally certain what day that is, since FOX only shows two weeks at a time). I’ll be lenient to those who accidentally miss the deadline by an hour or so. But if the show airs on the east coast, you'll be disqualified from the FDL even if you participated in Week 1.

Format your submission like this:

Subject: SYTYCD Fantasy League

Body:
1.) Your name
2.) (Optional) One web address you would like me to associate with your web presence if you have one (can be a blog, FB, twitter, tumblr, etc).
3.) The order in which you think the 20 will be going home. It should be listed like this.

1. 1st place winner of SYTYCD
2. 2nd place
3. 3rd place
4. 4th place
5. 5th place guy, 5th place girl
6. 7th place guy, 7th place girl
7. 9th place guy, 9th place girl
8. 11th place guy, 11th place girl
9. 13th place guy, 13th place girl
10. 15th place guy, 15th place girl
11. 17th place guy, 17th place girl
(Here's a nice list of the names of the top 20.)

And remember, if you register here at my blog (the link is in the upper left on the HOME page), you’ll have access to posts designed to help some of you catch up on episodes you’ve missed. It’s not mandatory, though, nor necessary for playing the game… just an added nuance to the FDL.

Happy larking.