History of the RSU

To give everyone a backdrop of how the RSU came into creation, let's go back to the year 2020.  During the lockdown, everyone had to find their own way to pass the time while being safe.  I did that by playing Stratomatic Baseball.  I created an eight-team solo draft league and played 72 games, and I had a blast.  Both the Arizona Diamondback and Edgemoor Cannons (more about 'my' teams later) finished with the best record at 10-8.  Jean Segura was my MVP.  Zack Greinke won the Cy Young.  Merrill Kelley won Rookie of the Year.

The MLB has announced that they would have a 60-game season, and that got me thinking.  If they can do 60 game seasons, maybe I could as well.  I also got the idea to add the other three sports as I was, and still am, a fan of Stratomatic and their products.  I created Matrix Soccer solely to be able to add soccer to the RSU.  Around 2023, I added a playoff structure.  Fast forward to today, and my eight-team leagues play 72-game baseball / 8-game football / 22-game basketball / 34-game hockey / 18-game soccer seasons.  I will explain each league and its structure in separate blog posts.  Here are some general points to note:

• Each league is eight teams.  Four in the Eastern Conference and four in the Western Conference
• Each league has one 'Hybrid' Philadelphia team.  Meaning, it's the Philly team from that season with some extra players added to keep things competitive.  The extra players are selected totally randomly (Although there are skeptics as the Phillies 'randomly' acquired Crochet and Yamamoto, lol)
• Each league has one (RBL has two) 'Vested' teams.  Meaning, teams that I am personally invested in.  They could have been players from leagues I participated in the past.  They could involve players from my alma matter (Donte DiVincenzo and I graduated from the same high school).  I draft and maintain this teams during the season.
• The other six (five in the RBL) teams are drafted from a player pool that is roughly 35-40% of the original player pool.  This is to keep the teams from all being all star caliber teams.  How I selected who is and isn't eligible will be explained seperately
• The teams who finished in first place in their conference (and two wild card teams) make the playoffs, and complete until a champion is crowned.
• I track all kinds of stats.  I even have my own system for tabulating award winners.  Each sport has four awards given at the end of the season.  I even have Hall of Fame stipulations, but I am getting ahead of myself, lol

I will post about the RBA and RHL as the playoffs in those leagues are about to begin.  We are also in Week 3 of the RSL, I will be posting about that as well.  Lastly, Opening Day for the 2026 RBL season is right around the corner.  Expect details on that coming soon as well.

Thanks again for reading.  More coming soon!

Rob Lennon - Diggin Deep Sports