Life Etiquette 101 For SLOW DRAFT

[Ryan C]

Last time I checked the term "slow" no longer is used to classify these drafts. That was a necessary change, because it allowed people to hide behind that line of thinking. The 8 hour-clock is really just there to cover the hours that you may be sleeping, or I guess at work - but thankfully they are no longer called 'slow'-drafts. I swore off them last year, because honestly they had become tortuous, and not that much fun anymore. Every one I played in had multiple owners who clung to their "rights" and just couldn't be bothered to be reasonable. I was only lured back by Dan K's draft this year, as at least I know many involved will be dedicated to drafting - not wasting other people's time.

These drafts can be fun and instructive, and face it - they are a beast of our own need and creation. The need is the need to draft. We love it. It is the best drug this time of year. The fallacy is that they EVER were supposed to be S-L-O-O-O-O-W-W-W! Anyone who thinks it is their right to take the full 8 hours every time they pick is somewhat deluded.

I do early email drafts each and every year. Everyone involved knows what is expected of them - we get into a groove and we roll through a draft at a nice pace because everyone is committed and involved. We have East Coast and West Coast drafters, and those who travel etc. And we often shut it down early if an East Coaster says "Hey, I'm signing off for the night" - even though a bunch of West Coasters may be lined up after. We just pick it up the next day. No one ever gets tense, no name-calling, no threats are needed. No clocks are needed. This is mainly because we all got together to draft, and enjoy it to boot. That in my humble opinion is how these are supposed to work.

[Baseball Furies]

Last time I checked the term "slow" no longer is used to classify these drafts. That was a necessary change, because it allowed people to hide behind that line of thinking. The 8 hour-clock is really just there to cover the hours that you may be sleeping, or I guess at work - but thankfully they are no longer called 'slow'-drafts. I swore off them last year, because honestly they had become tortuous, and not that much fun anymore. Every one I played in had multiple owners who clung to their "rights" and just couldn't be bothered to be reasonable. I was only lured back by Dan K's draft this year, as at least I know many involved will be dedicated to drafting - not wasting other people's time.

These drafts can be fun and instructive, and face it - they are a beast of our own need and creation. The need is the need to draft. We love it. It is the best drug this time of year. The fallacy is that they EVER were supposed to be S-L-O-O-O-O-W-W-W! Anyone who thinks it is their right to take the full 8 hours every time they pick is somewhat deluded.

I do early email drafts each and every year. Everyone involved knows what is expected of them - we get into a groove and we roll through a draft at a nice pace because everyone is committed and involved. We have East Coast and West Coast drafters, and those who travel etc. And we often shut it down early if an East Coaster says "Hey, I'm signing off for the night" - even though a bunch of West Coasters may be lined up after. We just pick it up the next day. No one ever gets tense, no name-calling, no threats are needed. No clocks are needed. This is mainly because we all got together to draft, and enjoy it to boot. That in my humble opinion is how these are supposed to work.

Finally another guy who gets it! Great post, Ryan. To re-iterate again, my post wasn't about slow drafts, the time you are allotted for making drafts picks, and/or taking too much time. For those of you who may have missed the message, please feel free to scroll back and read it again. Thanks.

[Lobbyist999]

I didn't know where else to post this, but I'd be remiss in not thanking Tom Kessenich for the fabulous job he's done, immediately taking stock and promptly correcting errors in-draft. He's even intervened late one evening, in one of my $150 drafts.

When you run this many drafts, things can and will go wrong.

We probably don't say it enough. This is just one voice and I'm not the biggest spender on this site. However, I still wanted to express my gratitude. Thanks Tom, for all you do.

[Lunatic]

Last time I checked the term "slow" no longer is used to classify these drafts. That was a necessary change, because it allowed people to hide behind that line of thinking. The 8 hour-clock is really just there to cover the hours that you may be sleeping, or I guess at work - but thankfully they are no longer called 'slow'-drafts. I swore off them last year, because honestly they had become tortuous, and not that much fun anymore. Every one I played in had multiple owners who clung to their "rights" and just couldn't be bothered to be reasonable. I was only lured back by Dan K's draft this year, as at least I know many involved will be dedicated to drafting - not wasting other people's time.

These drafts can be fun and instructive, and face it - they are a beast of our own need and creation. The need is the need to draft. We love it. It is the best drug this time of year. The fallacy is that they EVER were supposed to be S-L-O-O-O-O-W-W-W! Anyone who thinks it is their right to take the full 8 hours every time they pick is somewhat deluded.

I do early email drafts each and every year. Everyone involved knows what is expected of them - we get into a groove and we roll through a draft at a nice pace because everyone is committed and involved. We have East Coast and West Coast drafters, and those who travel etc. And we often shut it down early if an East Coaster says "Hey, I'm signing off for the night" - even though a bunch of West Coasters may be lined up after. We just pick it up the next day. No one ever gets tense, no name-calling, no threats are needed. No clocks are needed. This is mainly because we all got together to draft, and enjoy it to boot. That in my humble opinion is how these are supposed to work.

Finally another guy who gets it! Great post, Ryan. To re-iterate again, my post wasn't about slow drafts, the time you are allotted for making drafts picks, and/or taking too much time. For those of you who may have missed the message, please feel free to scroll back and read it again. Thanks.

I agree, great post Ryan. I also swore off Slow Drafts but participate in Dan's e-mail draft and all are NFBC veterans and it is a blast.
That said, I jumped in a regular Slow Draft that started on January 2nd at 5pm EST. I became angry at myself early on when only one participant let the clock run out and thought, "Just when I think I'am out, they pull me back in."
However, that owner, who has never responded on the site has been picking quickly and has been on auto for about the last 10 rounds or so.
The fact is, today will be the start of day 9 and we will begin round 41 shortly; by far my quickest Slow Draft ever.
Ryan hit the nail on the head, this is my drug (drafting) as I wait for Vegas.

[morons]

The only slow draft "etiquette" I can think of is this: act like you would at a real live draft. If you are sitting next to someone at a live draft, would you start harassing them to pick faster?? Probably not. Would you start cussing at the guy across the room because he used his full time allotment for his pick? Hope not. I don't see why a small minority of folks feel the need to take it upon themselves to play Draft Police and push the rest of the league.

As some know, I work as a trauma surgeon...last week I took 5 hrs to make a slow draft pick because I had a patient who got slashed through his chest....what should I do, tell him to hold off dying for a sec whilst I go log on to pick Jemile Weeks in round 24 of the draft??

Yet I finish up my work and see a stream of annoying emails from the 11 year-old in my league who was irrate at the draft pace. I'm sure most others have things going on at work and in life that take priority too. Some folks, myself included, like the lazy pace of the slow draft.

Be courteous- pick when you know you are up, leave a few guys in the auto-Q if you are on-deck or on-deck-to-be-on-deck, but recognize that sometimes things pop up for people and they can't log in for a while.

[rockitsauce]

The only slow draft "etiquette" I can think of is this: act like you would at a real live draft. If you are sitting next to someone at a live draft, would you start harassing them to pick faster?? Probably not. Would you start cussing at the guy across the room because he used his full time allotment for his pick? Hope not. I don't see why a small minority of folks feel the need to take it upon themselves to play Draft Police and push the rest of the league.

As some know, I work as a trauma surgeon...last week I took 5 hrs to make a slow draft pick because I had a patient who got slashed through his chest....what should I do, tell him to hold off dying for a sec whilst I go log on to pick Jemile Weeks in round 24 of the draft??

Yet I finish up my work and see a stream of annoying emails from the 11 year-old in my league who was irrate at the draft pace. I'm sure most others have things going on at work and in life that take priority too. Some folks, myself included, like the lazy pace of the slow draft.

Be courteous- pick when you know you are up, leave a few guys in the auto-Q if you are on-deck or on-deck-to-be-on-deck, but recognize that sometimes things pop up for people and they can't log in for a while.

Good try moron, but the correct answer is (of course) Joe Blanton.

Joey Boom Boom guarantees that this thread lasts at least 5 pages longer than it should

By the way, you could've (and probably should've) stopped at be courteous.

Here is Dr. Moron contemplating Jemile Weeks or Darwin Barney in rd 24 while stitching up some poor dude's stomach.

TRAUMA-SURGEON.jpg (39.9 KiB) Viewed 8167 times

[Baseball Furies]

The only slow draft "etiquette" I can think of is this: act like you would at a real live draft. If you are sitting next to someone at a live draft, would you start harassing them to pick faster?? Probably not. Would you start cussing at the guy across the room because he used his full time allotment for his pick? Hope not. I don't see why a small minority of folks feel the need to take it upon themselves to play Draft Police and push the rest of the league.

As some know, I work as a trauma surgeon...last week I took 5 hrs to make a slow draft pick because I had a patient who got slashed through his chest....what should I do, tell him to hold off dying for a sec whilst I go log on to pick Jemile Weeks in round 24 of the draft??

Yet I finish up my work and see a stream of annoying emails from the 11 year-old in my league who was irrate at the draft pace. I'm sure most others have things going on at work and in life that take priority too. Some folks, myself included, like the lazy pace of the slow draft.

Be courteous- pick when you know you are up, leave a few guys in the auto-Q if you are on-deck or on-deck-to-be-on-deck, but recognize that sometimes things pop up for people and they can't log in for a while.

Nothing like comparing these:


To these:


There's a reason why I used pictures, Dr. Morons. You are trauma surgeon. Obviously that makes you high on intelligence and manual dexterity, not to mention nerves of steel. But unfortunately, they can't teach common sense in medical school.

Once again, I invite you and others to go back and read the post I wrote initially in this thread, because the point is being missed!. Thanks.

[morons]

I would have needed to use my whole 8 hours to come up with Joe Blanton

[morons]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

[Ryan C]

The only slow draft "etiquette" I can think of is this: act like you would at a real live draft. If you are sitting next to someone at a live draft, would you start harassing them to pick faster??

The answer to this is obviously no, since I would be busy worrying about my pick which would be guaranteed to arrive a minute and a half later.

[Dak]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

Don't allow Furies and Rocket Sauce to drag you DOWN to their intelligence level. Can't improve on the Moron level......

[Outlaw]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

Don't allow Furies and Rocket Sauce to drag you DOWN to their intelligence level. Can't improve on the Moron level......

We come to these forums to talk baseball, not disparage others. These kids of personal attacks have no place. There was nothing wrong with what Morons wrote, it was an honest real life experiance and opinion and he basically was appealing for some common courtesy to be shown by EVERYONE. Too many people hide behind thier computers and feel they can say and write anything. Dak hit the nail on the head. Any contentious subject on these boards seems to illicit the same cast of charaters slamming others for their opinions or observations. I am sure Dak, myself and Morons will get pounded for our responses, but, oh well. NFBC has offered different games now to address the "slowness" of slow drafts. Those offerings came out of ideas expressed for the past few years by drafters who were looking for more and articulated thier ideas and thoughts in a respectful and mature way.

[Cobb]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

Don't allow Furies and Rocket Sauce to drag you DOWN to their intelligence level. Can't improve on the Moron level......

We come to these forums to talk baseball, not disparage others. These kids of personal attacks have no place. There was nothing wrong with what Morons wrote, it was an honest real life experiance and opinion and he basically was appealing for some common courtesy to be shown by EVERYONE. Too many people hide behind thier computers and feel they can say and write anything. Dak hit the nail on the head. Any contentious subject on these boards seems to illicit the same cast of charaters slamming others for their opinions or observations. I am sure Dak, myself and Morons will get pounded for our responses, but, oh well. NFBC has offered different games now to address the "slowness" of slow drafts. Those offerings came out of ideas expressed for the past few years by drafters who were looking for more and articulated thier ideas and thoughts in a respectful and mature way.

You're getting slammed because it's moronic to think that it's OK to take 8 hrs to make a pick whenever you want because it's in the rules. Do the math...if everybody took their "allotted" time you'd still be drafting at the all-star break. I can't believe how many posts there are for this issue. It's unreal. The 8 hr clock was meant for sleeping or times you're tied up at work, like morons sewing up someone. It's totally understandable to have some days where you can't make a pick timely. If you have any respect for your fellow drafters, you should communicate in the chat.

All of this silliness stems from idiots who think it's OK to take the 8 hrs whenever they please and do not communicate in the chat...please let this thread die before it turns into the great 26 page Blanton thread from a couple of years ago. If you think it's OK to take 8 hrs anytime you want, good for you. Please let me know who you are so I can make sure not to do one of the DC drafts with you (if I ever do one again).

And Outlaw...please spell check those posts, it's embarrassing.

[Money]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

Don't allow Furies and Rocket Sauce to drag you DOWN to their intelligence level. Can't improve on the Moron level......

We come to these forums to talk baseball, not disparage others. These kids of personal attacks have no place. There was nothing wrong with what Morons wrote, it was an honest real life experiance and opinion and he basically was appealing for some common courtesy to be shown by EVERYONE. Too many people hide behind thier computers and feel they can say and write anything. Dak hit the nail on the head. Any contentious subject on these boards seems to illicit the same cast of charaters slamming others for their opinions or observations. I am sure Dak, myself and Morons will get pounded for our responses, but, oh well. NFBC has offered different games now to address the "slowness" of slow drafts. Those offerings came out of ideas expressed for the past few years by drafters who were looking for more and articulated thier ideas and thoughts in a respectful and mature way.

I agree that everyone should be able to post their opinions and not be subject to ridicule. It took me a season or so to realize this as well. This is a subject that draws passion because the level of frustration is beyond what most can handle (myself included) in some of these drafts.

I'm not getting to involved with this one, I have in seasons past. I can tell you that this is the same re-hashed hospital horror story every season from this poster. I could've done without reading it again this year. I believe I've been in drafts with this guy and he's actually pretty efficient. For some reason he decides each year to defend the (what seems to be) defenseless actions of others.

Thank God (literally) or Dan for the Fast paced "Champions" draft. Ten days to 2 weeks is all these things should last unless you have a group that decides they all want an extended draft leading over many weeks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Matt is EXACTLY right, sometimes there are things that come up in life that doesn't allow you to "check in" on your draft or make your pick within 5 hours. Unfortunately, when you do get to the draft room to make your pick you might be met by insults for not communicating. Chill out folks. Not everyone is trying to sabotage a Draft Champions league with a pick that goes beyond 30 minutes.

As you all know, we are providing more and more unique ways to draft so that anyone who is impatient can get in a league that moves quickly. The 4-hour league that we created could be done in a week. We have drafts that can be done in 1 night. We have regional drafts so that everyone can be together during the same hours of the night. So let's end the ridicule of this thread NOW.

I don't see any problems with the current drafts and all this thread is doing is scaring off prospective new owners. It makes no sense. If anyone is slowing down any draft continuously, CONTACT ME and I'll reach out to that owner. But I'm not seeing it right now. In fact, I'm seeing a lot of drafts going smoothly, a lot of drafts moving along well and more unique drafts being formed. I couldn't be happier with these DC Leagues, so let this thread go. It's not needed at this point.

Carry on and let the drafts continue.

[Outlaw]

And Outlaw...please spell check those posts, it's embarrassing.[/quote]

You are correct, I should.

[Outlaw]

I don't see any problems with the current drafts and all this thread is doing is scaring off prospective new owners. It makes no sense.

Greg- I agree and thought the exact same thing as I responded and weighed whether I should even respond. As new players/owners enter the drafts, they will have no history and no knowledge and may experience the same frustrations, it’s when they try to convey it they get ridiculed. I'm fairly new here at NFBC and as someone said above, live and learn and stay out of the fray is probably the best way to go.

[Baseball Furies]

Furies-The pictures are of the exact same thing - FOOD. So what is your point?

I rest my case...

[NorCalAtlFan]

Greg,

You look at it as scaring off new prospective owners, some of us view it as informing them as to what they will/may encounter.
These are imperfect at best. But they continue to evolve because of your current customers feedback. In the coming years, these will operate so efficiently, you'll probably hit 100 by March. But until then, there are going to be disagreements on what constitutes fair play and what doesn't. And I don't really see a problem with the discourse that it provides.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg,

You look at it as scaring off new prospective owners, some of us view it as informing them as to what they will/may encounter.
These are imperfect at best. But they continue to evolve because of your current customers feedback. In the coming years, these will operate so efficiently, you'll probably hit 100 by March. But until then, there are going to be disagreements on what constitutes fair play and what doesn't. And I don't really see a problem with the discourse that it provides.

I understand that Bryan. But we can also beat a dead horse when it's already dead. Again, I'm watching all 26 drafts that have started or are still going on and I'm not seeing a big issue right now. There's more of an issue on the Message Boards talking about last year than anything I'm seeing this year. So it's a discourse of what happened or I guess what COULD happen. Let's deal with things WHEN they happen.

I agree, these are automated so nicely now that they run themselves. I think all of you have turned this into a fantastic drafting experience. And with the unique leagues we're offering it can get even better. So let's keep moving positively and all will be well.