Newish rule in my league has me fuming

[basilthesnake]

My first dynasty league, I joined in 2013 as a short notice replacement owner. I know one person in the league, the rest are strangers. The league itself started as a home league in 1997, but now only has a handful of its original owners.

I have never attended it's draft in person. I've wanted to,but each year something comes up. I have drafted on line though. I've been engaged, worked trades, no one ever had to wait on me to pick. Last year a rule was voted in that if you miss the draft in person once in a three year span you get fined $50. I'm on fire over the rule. This past draft it was put back up to be voted on as to whether we keep it and the rule stuck.

For me, I can guarantee I will be involved and active as an owner and in draft. I can't guarantee I can attend the draft in person. $50!!! It's crazy, but the other owners seem in favor. I wish I had their kind of flexibility and money, but I don't. It would be easy to just quit, but I feel vested. It's an expensive league and I like the direction my team is headed. I don't want to bail on the league, but I am salty about the rule. I know this is more of a rant but I'm frustrated and the hard feelings aren't going away.

[Phaded]

To me; that is ridiculous personally. Fined $50 for not showing up to an IN-PERSON draft? Ugh. Not even an online live draft but an in person one. Horrible.

People have lives. Not everyone has the flexibility to drop everything in their life for fantasy football.

I wouldn't be in a league with that rule, personally.

[iCantStop]

Yuck. I hate that idea.

Can you propose something like a Google Hangouts or Skype way for you to be 'live drafting'? I've done this as the commish in my league for both the startup and rookie draft. I would think it is more about the comaraderie of having everyone together than it is about you 'slowing things down' .... But I could be wrong.

[basilthesnake]

I had suggested you reward owners for attendance not fine them. It's falling on deaf ears. Again it's an expensive league, I've worked hard at flipping the roster, and have alot of money invested. Hard to walk away.

[operwapitsai]

Yea that does seem really personal.
Do they want to make it a home league again or something?

Few things offend me in the realm of fantasy football, but that may be one of them if I were in your shoes.


To sum it up, that rule is dumb.

[basilthesnake]

Agreed, this stopped being a home league when outsiders were brought in the league. If this rule was here before I joined, I would not have joined.

[bonscott]

So are you and everyone else local or would you need to travel far (or fly) in for the draft? If so then it's redonkulous to have this rule. If they want everyone in person then don't have people in that live hundreds of miles away.

Having said that, my local league is a "home" league obviously, everyone lives locally. But *everyone* makes the draft. It is THE most important day of the year and nothing else gets in the way of that. I get what someone else says that everyone has lives, but man, this is the DRAFT! If I had a guy that kept skipping the draft I"d find a new owner, just not acceptable. Having said that we have worked with owners before. We had one that had to go to his sister's wedding and had to leave early one year. No biggy, he drafted the rest of his draft via cell phone on their way. The biggest one was we had a guy that moved 800 miles away for a job. Two out of the 3 years he was down there he actually flew up for the draft (the family made it a vacation both times to also visit family) and he skyped in via laptop the other year. Luckily he's moved back.

Anyway, my point is that for a local league attending the draft is expected. Everyone in my league knows the draft date by the end of the previous season and all are encouraged to let their scheduling agent (wife/girlfriend) know immediately that weekend is blocked off to all other activities.

So my opinion comes back down to if you and the other newbies in the league are local then to be frank you're expected to make the draft and if you can't then perhaps another league is best. But if you're not local then their expectation of being at the draft in person is out of bounds unless it was something that was brought up as an expectation before you joined (which sounds like it wasn't).

Good luck!

[thebeast]

"Last year a rule was voted in that if you miss the draft in person once in a three year span you get fined $50."

Do you mean more than once?

If you're having trouble attending the draft due to your schedule and the other owners are flexible why not try sending out some dates and times that work for you ahead of the draft next year?

On the surface it seems like a silly rule, but something must have happened for this to have come up. There's no way 11 other guys just sit around the table and vote in favor of this rule for no reason.

[Friction]

I don't get the rule at all. If you are still drafting and not holding it up in any way, what's the big deal? Why do you have to physically be there if it does not alter the draft on any way? I used to like doing the live draft get together thing, but then it just felt like a drawn out waste of time that a good number of people there didn't want to really be a part of. If some like to do it per tradition, fine, but to make you pay for not being there is ridiculous. Especially if it does not affect the draft, which sounds like the case. Is it some weird punishment for not being part of man bonding or something?

[basilthesnake]

@bonscott that sounds reasonable if you are only in one or two leagues and they are your closer friends. It also sounds like in your case a replacement owner would be made aware of how important it is to attend a draft in person. There was a time in my life when "the draft" was a must attend. I think most of us were using magazines then. Technology doesn't require people to be there in person. It is local or at least within an hour drive. Would I like to attend the draft? Yes but I can't guarantee it. If this rule was in place prior to joining I would agree with what you wrote, but the rule went into effect a year after I joined. Another point you make is that your draft date is set. This one was voted on prior to the draft. Majority vote determined the draft date and time

[basilthesnake]

"Last year a rule was voted in that if you miss the draft in person once in a three year span you get fined $50."

Do you mean more than once?

If you're having trouble attending the draft due to your schedule and the other owners are flexible why not try sending out some dates and times that work for you ahead of the draft next year?

On the surface it seems like a silly rule, but something must have happened for this to have come up. There's no way 11 other guys just sit around the table and vote in favor of this rule for no reason.

You have to attend once in a three year span. I'm not aware of any situation that caused this rule to go into place. The commissioner is the one who put it up for a vote in 2014. I don't know why. I told him at a point that owners should be rewarded not fined. He agreed with that in principal, yet rule sits unaltered

[MelsPersianTail]

@bonscott that sounds reasonable if you are only in one or two leagues and they are your closer friends. It also sounds like in your case a replacement owner would be made aware of how important it is to attend a draft in person. There was a time in my life when "the draft" was a must attend. I think most of us were using magazines then. Technology doesn't require people to be there in person. It is local or at least within an hour drive. Would I like to attend the draft? Yes but I can't guarantee it. If this rule was in place prior to joining I would agree with what you wrote, but the rule went into effect a year after I joined. Another point you make is that your draft date is set. This one was voted on prior to the draft. Majority vote determined the draft date and time

I am not one to really think attending the draft in person is that important, but it sounds like you just don't want to, not that you don't have time. Like the others said, if you really want to go you would offer up dates that you can attend, maybe you have done this and they were shot down. How far in advance is the draft date set? Like someone previously stated it seems personal and they made this rule because they either want you to quit, or they really want you to show up, not sure which. I might have glazed over this but are you the only one in the league not attending the draft in person? Again, it seems silly that you have to show up, but at the same time it doesn't sound like you really want to, not that you can't.

[basilthesnake]

@bonscott that sounds reasonable if you are only in one or two leagues and they are your closer friends. It also sounds like in your case a replacement owner would be made aware of how important it is to attend a draft in person. There was a time in my life when "the draft" was a must attend. I think most of us were using magazines then. Technology doesn't require people to be there in person. It is local or at least within an hour drive. Would I like to attend the draft? Yes but I can't guarantee it. If this rule was in place prior to joining I would agree with what you wrote, but the rule went into effect a year after I joined. Another point you make is that your draft date is set. This one was voted on prior to the draft. Majority vote determined the draft date and time

I am not one to really think attending the draft in person is that important, but it sounds like you just don't want to, not that you don't have time. Like the others said, if you really want to go you would offer up dates that you can attend, maybe you have done this and they were shot down. How far in advance is the draft date set? Like someone previously stated it seems personal and they made this rule because they either want you to quit, or they really want you to show up, not sure which. I might have glazed over this but are you the only one in the league not attending the draft in person? Again, it seems silly that you have to show up, but at the same time it doesn't sound like you really want to, not that you can't.

Don't feel like this rule is specific to me or getting me to quit, I'm just the owner who is the most upset about it and being vocal. The draft day was set this year prior to a bachleor party being announced. Wasn't hard for me to participate, my buddy drove while I drafted with a 4G tablet. Last year the draft was in the middle of my family moving. I literally stopped moving boxes for 2 hours to draft. Not a poplar thing in my house at the time. Regardless things come up. I'll make the draft if I can, I just don't think you should be penalized if you can't.

[Csl312]

I don't understand having in person rookie drafts anyway. The slow draft is the by far preferred method IMO - much more time to work out trades and move around and makes the draft more fun and interesting.

That said I don't understand how a rule that allows a substantial fine to be levied on a guy is voted in without being unanimous. Are there a number of guys missing the draft? Maybe some like the in person thing and others don't care enough and this is a way for the former group to force participation? Is there another personal conflict going on you have not mentioned?

I always feel like real life is more important than fantasy. I completely understand having a job or other commitments that are more important that fantasy football.

[MelsPersianTail]

@bonscott that sounds reasonable if you are only in one or two leagues and they are your closer friends. It also sounds like in your case a replacement owner would be made aware of how important it is to attend a draft in person. There was a time in my life when "the draft" was a must attend. I think most of us were using magazines then. Technology doesn't require people to be there in person. It is local or at least within an hour drive. Would I like to attend the draft? Yes but I can't guarantee it. If this rule was in place prior to joining I would agree with what you wrote, but the rule went into effect a year after I joined. Another point you make is that your draft date is set. This one was voted on prior to the draft. Majority vote determined the draft date and time

I am not one to really think attending the draft in person is that important, but it sounds like you just don't want to, not that you don't have time. Like the others said, if you really want to go you would offer up dates that you can attend, maybe you have done this and they were shot down. How far in advance is the draft date set? Like someone previously stated it seems personal and they made this rule because they either want you to quit, or they really want you to show up, not sure which. I might have glazed over this but are you the only one in the league not attending the draft in person? Again, it seems silly that you have to show up, but at the same time it doesn't sound like you really want to, not that you can't.

Don't feel like this rule is specific to me or getting me to quit, I'm just the owner who is the most upset about it and being vocal. The draft day was set this year prior to a bachleor party being announced. Wasn't hard for me to participate, my buddy drove while I drafted with a 4G tablet. Last year the draft was in the middle of my family moving. I literally stopped moving boxes for 2 hours to draft. Not a poplar thing in my house at the time. Regardless things come up. I'll make the draft if I can, I just don't think you should be penalized if you can't.

That makes sense, I get it. Attending the draft in person isn't that important, I would much rather spend time doing other things, and as long as your not slowing the draft down, which it sounds like your not, this rule is crazy. I wouldn't quit, but at the same time I wouldn't be happy about it.