I haven't put enough effort in over the last several years to say which is harder. The transfer system has been the biggest variable, and I haven't had the patience to do that part well. Early on, we were all figuring it out. I think many, maybe most, of us came from Hattrick. The mechanics were pretty similar, though that game rewarded single skill monsters more.
I did start the smack threads, although I'm not sure the first threads were actually on BB. Some of them were other places too.
I did a session on here a few years back where I went into a little depth http://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/forum/read.aspx?thread=278116&m=1