How Many Days In Advance Do You Want Draft Picks?

[Greg Ambrosius]

There has been a discussion in the NFBC Diamond League to pick draft spots live in Las Vegas, something that would be entertaining for everyone involved but maybe stressful for some owners who are putting up $10,000 per team. We aren't doing that in the NFBC Diamond League this year, but it's a subject worth discussing. In fact, on the NFFC boards Chad is proposing that we do that for football and I think there is some momentum there for that among some of the other owners.

I said I'd discuss that within the league because in football KDS is very important and things change so quickly before Draft Day. It probably has a little more relevance in football, but maybe it's time to get a feel from our NFBC audience as well. Do you want your draft picks later so that you can adjust KDS in the Main Events or would you rather get your draft spots earlier so that you can plan in advance for that spot?

Let me just say that our plan the last couple of years has been to release draft spots for the Main Event 7-8 days in advance. We've been trying to get draft spots to everyone the Friday or Saturday morning prior to the Main Events. That's our goal this year too, likely announcing a week before the March 23rd, 27th and 30th events. That being said, last year in the NFBC XII we filled up leagues a day or two before their drafts and nobody had any problem getting draft picks in a shorter time frame for those leagues. And it looks like some of those NFBC XII leagues will again fill up more closely to their draft dates, giving less time for people to prepare for their draft spots. But are we okay with that?

I'd also like to say that in 70+ Draft Champions Leagues this year, we have you set your KDS the night before drafts begin and you get your draft spots the morning of your draft. Everyone seems to be adjusting fine there. Now, of course you have 8 hours per pick there and days to plan your strategy, but so far folks seem to be adjusting just fine. And in the NFBC/Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Online Championship, we'll fill up leagues even hours before the drafts start and everyone seems to adjust just fine.

So it looks like people are more prepared these days and ready to draft when spots are announced. And that allows owners more time to informatively prepare their KDS preferences, taking all of the latest information into mind.

So let's get your feedback just on this year and let's deal with the Classic and NFBC XII. Ideally, how many days in advance of Draft Day would you PREFER to get draft spots, knowing when you have to set your KDS preferences that way. We're very interested in knowing whether 7-8 days is correct, is even what you folks want, or if we're too late or too early with that plan. Vote once above and we'll analyze the data next week. Thanks all and all comments on this are welcome in this thread. Help us out.

[Edwards Kings]

Getting the draft picks live for the Main would be a hellofa lot of fun. This really made me think. But in reality, if it were just fifteen of us in a room, I think it could work. But in Vegas with four or more leagues in a room? Might just be confusing and noisy. And there is always plenty of noise to begin with.

Sounds like fun for individual leagues, but en masse it would be impractical at best, confusing at worst. Just me, but I think a week or so out fits my needs/preferences better.

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

[Money]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS! [/quote]

This is the best argument I've heard in defense of a live, day of the draft, order draw. It may override all other arguments

[Tom Kessenich]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

We did live KDS for Mike's Super league last year. I don't recall anyone melting down.

[DOUGHBOYS]

I like thinking about that pick a week ahead of time and love the buzz it generates on these Boards that week before.
That Friday or Saturday before the draft date, almost everybody in the NFBC are like pirahna circling chum in waiting for their leagues and picks.
To me, it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but Man, I sure look forward to it.

[Edwards Kings]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

We did live KDS for Mike's Super league last year. I don't recall anyone melting down.

Yeah...I certainly do not speak from experience as I have not been in a league that did that. Some people may not be as easy going as Mike, though!

[Edwards Kings]

I like thinking about that pick a week ahead of time and love the buzz it generates on these Boards that week before.
That Friday or Saturday before the draft date, almost everybody in the NFBC are like pirahna circling chum in waiting for their leagues and picks.
To me, it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but Man, I sure look forward to it.

This is a good point Dan. There is that sense of message board community as you can, either before or after you get your pick, check out what everyone else got.

[Cobb]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

This is the best argument I've heard in defense of a live, day of the draft, order draw. It may override all other arguments [/quote]

This would have to be the other way around though...everybody knows Mikey loves the back end of the draft, especially pick 15. Want to see him cry, stick him with something like pick #4!

[Cobb]

I like thinking about that pick a week ahead of time and love the buzz it generates on these Boards that week before.
That Friday or Saturday before the draft date, almost everybody in the NFBC are like pirahna circling chum in waiting for their leagues and picks.
To me, it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but Man, I sure look forward to it.

I agree 100% with Doughy on this...couldn't of said it better!

[rkulaski]

I like thinking about that pick a week ahead of time and love the buzz it generates on these Boards that week before.
That Friday or Saturday before the draft date, almost everybody in the NFBC are like pirahna circling chum in waiting for their leagues and picks.
To me, it's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but Man, I sure look forward to it.

I agree with Doughy too. I love finding out who is in our league and getting our draft
order about a week early. It's like that thrill when they reveal the NCAA brackets and
seeds 5 days before the tourney starts. It's our own March Madness. Waiting until the day
Of the draft to get our draft order just wouldn't feel right.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Doesn't matter to me as much in baseball as there is not as much potential for drastic change to how your team will be shaped in the early rounds. Obviously there can be some important information though, so my vote would be close to the deadline. I voted for 24-48 hours in advance. Comes down to if this enjoyment and looking forward to knowing your pick is honestly a valid reason for making us use incomplete information when setting KDS. I understand it is more complicated and complex to prepare for baseball, so it isn't that big of a deal.

But here is food for thought. How hard did Hosmer move in the final week last year? If you liked him and tried to devise a plan to acquire him at a certain point, you were SOL by the time the draft rolled around. I don't like that. I prefer to have live, current information when making this very important decision. To me, curiousity and entertainment should not matter at all.

I think a hard 48 hour rule is appropriate for baseball due to more complexity in preparation. Gives people ample time to do one last thorough plan of attack if they choose. 24 is more appropriate for football to enable some drafts to be set after the game.

There are some advantages to an auto set time that it runs. For instance, 48 hours. You know exactly when your KDS is due. You know exactly when it is ran and you can go on and see your selection. There is not searching around, to see when what is due at what time to take advantage of as much time as you can have.

I realize that people are sometimes unwilling to change. The question is, is the reason for not wanting to a valid one? I don't necessarily think so, but again this is a WAY more important deal in football. Baseball the first two or three picks do not make or break you near as much since the season is so long and you start so many more players.

In summary it is my belief that KDS and early draft announcements are conflicting in nature. If KDS is to be used effectively, shouldn't people be able to use it with current information in relation to their draft? After all it is a pretty important decision. Seem to me the anticipation of finding out is why people want it early. Ask yourself, is that really a good reason? That does still happen at some point after all. And league announcements can still come as normal.

[Cobb]

Doesn't matter to me as much in baseball as there is not as much potential for drastic change to how your team will be shaped in the early rounds. Obviously there can be some important information though, so my vote would be close to the deadline. I voted for 24-48 hours in advance. Comes down to if this enjoyment and looking forward to knowing your pick is honestly a valid reason for making us use incomplete information when setting KDS. I understand it is more complicated and complex to prepare for baseball, so it isn't that big of a deal.

But here is food for thought. How hard did Hosmer move in the final week last year? If you liked him and tried to devise a plan to acquire him at a certain point, you were SOL by the time the draft rolled around. I don't like that. I prefer to have live, current information when making this very important decision. To me, curiousity and entertainment should not matter at all.

I think a hard 48 hour rule is appropriate for baseball due to more complexity in preparation. Gives people ample time to do one last thorough plan of attack if they choose. 24 is more appropriate for football to enable some drafts to be set after the game.

There are some advantages to an auto set time that it runs. For instance, 48 hours. You know exactly when your KDS is due. You know exactly when it is ran and you can go on and see your selection. There is not searching around, to see when what is due at what time to take advantage of as much time as you can have.

I realize that people are sometimes unwilling to change. The question is, is the reason for not wanting to a valid one? I don't necessarily think so, but again this is a WAY more important deal in football. Baseball the first two or three picks do not make or break you near as much since the season is so long and you start so many more players.

In summary it is my belief that KDS and early draft announcements are conflicting in nature. If KDS is to be used effectively, shouldn't people be able to use it with current information in relation to their draft? After all it is a pretty important decision. Seem to me the anticipation of finding out is why people want it early. Ask yourself, is that really a good reason? That does still happen at some point after all. And league announcements can still come as normal.

I don't know about you Chad but I sure don't want to be cramming a draft plan into 24-48 before the draft while I'm traveling, etc. You really don't have enough information to set your KDS until right before the draft in baseball? How is it not a bigger benefit to have a week to make a draft plan in comparison to worrying about the few players whose value will drastically change 5 days later?

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Yes, I would rather have current information when setting KDS. I think that is far more important to me than preparing for a draft after receiving my spot. Not near as much so as in football though. To do KDS correctly, I feel I need to prepare for the draft before setting it. And that means preparing from all segments of the draft. How else to you know where you want to draft from? I would say it is better to have more time to do that, not less. And the current information gained when setting it makes it an easy decision for me. I still feel the bigger reason people want it early is the excitement and anticipation. In your case, if it is truly because the time is needed, I understand, but I am guessing you would be just fine. I believe you are pretty prepared already.

While my belief is unlikely to change because of the information age we are in and my belief in what purpose KDS is supposed to serve, it is not that big of a deal in baseball. Football on the other hand it is extremely important and preparation is not a great excuse in that sport. It doesn't take very long to prepare specifically for a draft spot in football. And easier to to prepare without a specific draft spot in football as well. I think people overlook the fact that you need to prepare for a draft from all spots anyway to do KDS correctly. It is a necessary evil. So why not be able to have more time to do it and have current information to do it with? Taking as much guesswork out of it is better in my view.

[Cobb]

Yes, I would rather have current information when setting KDS. I think that is far more important to me than preparing for a draft after receiving my spot. Not near as much so as in football though. To do KDS correctly, I feel I need to prepare for the draft before setting it. And that means preparing from all segments of the draft. How else to you know where you want to draft from? I would say it is better to have more time to do that, not less. And the current information gained when setting it makes it an easy decision for me. I still feel the bigger reason people want it early is the excitement and anticipation. In your case, if it is truly because the time is needed, I understand, but I am guessing you would be just fine. I believe you are pretty prepared already.

While my belief is unlikely to change because of the information age we are in and my belief in what purpose KDS is supposed to serve, it is not that big of a deal in baseball. Football on the other hand it is extremely important and preparation is not a great excuse in that sport. It doesn't take very long to prepare specifically for a draft spot in football. And easier to to prepare without a specific draft spot in football as well. I think people overlook the fact that you need to prepare for a draft from all spots anyway to do KDS correctly. It is a necessary evil. So why not be able to have more time to do it and have current information to do it with? Taking as much guesswork out of it is better in my view.

I was in the MTM Super last year, we picked our draft slots/KDS at the table and it worked out just fine. I have no issue drafting from any position and plan for it. I agree with your football thoughts for sure. I go through all the KDS info the 2nd week of March. I like to have my draft spot a few days ahead of time so I can fine tune my plan (and I hate having too much work to do while I'm flying, catching up, etc). I understand where you're coming from, but very few issues pop up that week that you can't adjust to...see you in Vegas!

[Sack]

" We did live KDS for Mike's Super league last year. I don't recall anyone melting down."


Tom: This excludes MTM's in season meltdown.

[Sack]

Main Event draft spots 7-8 days out gives everybody an even playing field and holds the excitement
of selection Sunday. It has always been a fun tradition not only to see where you are drafting but
to see who is in your league. A step further, I like to know whom I'm seated next to in the draft.

i also took part in the MTM Super last year and for a 15 team higher stakes lead the idea of
draft day draft order was fun and challenging. My part Joe Anthony and I had discussed various
approaches and it worked out just fine.

[fwicker]

When I first saw the poll I instinctively chose the longest possible lead time for posting the KDS. However, upon reflection, I am now if favor of not knowing until the draft itself. I thought the long lead time would be better for preparation. I now think that not knowing until draft day would be better for my preparation as I would have to think about multiple scenarios, which is pretty much the case from the second round on anyway. Not knowing would assure that I'd look at and prepare for the draft from 15 different perspectives!

[Cocktails and Dreams]

I also wonder how different the results would be if the poll was worded "How long to do want to be able to set your KDS prior to your draft?" At first glance, why wouldn't people vote to have their spot earlier?

[Cobb]

I also wonder how different the results would be if the poll was worded "How long to do want to be able to set your KDS prior to your draft?" At first glance, why wouldn't people vote to have their spot earlier?

Chad- What do you mean? This isn't a poll to set your KDS a week before you get your draft spot, it's about getting your draft spot a week before the event...so exactly, why wouldn't you want your spot earlier? I'm not sure what you are saying.

[King of Queens]

In the wise words of PVH:

"Shut up, sit down, and draft."

[King of Queens]

Really can't add much to what Chad has written here. Other than the logistics of coordinating a room full of drafters into their selected draft spots, it's a no-brainer for me.

Love the propsects of being able to move away from the sharks.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Well, it is the same thing. You cannot get your draft pick early and set your KDS with the most current information. The more one gives way, the more the other has to give way. I think in a perfect world we would somehow be able to know where we draft before we have to have our KDS set. That is impossible though. It isn't that big of a deal though in baseball. Although Glenn does bring up a great point. If I have in a draft with Lindy, Steve and Shawn(many more phenominal players just using the hall of famers) it would be kind of nice to be able to avoid them if I so choose. I would actually like the option of finding out the day of. However, I think that would be a difficult task for the NFFC to accomplish smoothly. So I voted for the 24-48 which seems more feasible. In the satellite leagues, I would love it to go to the on the spot situation. Would be a much less daunting task for the NFBC gang in those.

But again, this isn't that big of a deal in baseball. I just hope it gets changed for football where it is much more important and things change so much more the last week. Baseball is so much more complex we can all adapt and deal with whatever the deadline is. It isn't that big of a deal. Still don't think that the idea of some sort of anticipation or tradition of finding out a week early is a valid reason to keep it as is though. The decision should be made based on need for preparation versus having current information to make the all important decision of where to set your draft position.

Whatever is decided works for me in baseball though. Not that big of a deal as long as I can find out some before I have to set others to start a few big leagues differently.

I also wonder how different the results would be if the poll was worded "How long to do want to be able to set your KDS prior to your draft?" At first glance, why wouldn't people vote to have their spot earlier?

Chad- What do you mean? This isn't a poll to set your KDS a week before you get your draft spot, it's about getting your draft spot a week before the event...so exactly, why wouldn't you want your spot earlier? I'm not sure what you are saying.

[Baseball Furies]

Getting the draft picks live for the Main would be a hellofa lot of fun. This really made me think. But in reality, if it were just fifteen of us in a room, I think it could work. But in Vegas with four or more leagues in a room? Might just be confusing and noisy. And there is always plenty of noise to begin with.

Sounds like fun for individual leagues, but en masse it would be impractical at best, confusing at worst. Just me, but I think a week or so out fits my needs/preferences better.

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

Um, hate to break the news to ya, but this idea sprung out of what I called "Iron Balls KDS" which we did last year at the MTM Super Event, pulling names right before the draft and taking our spots around the draft table. It was a blast...and I ended up in the 15-hole. If this could be done in Vegas, it would just add to the fun, excitement, and anticipation.

[Baseball Furies]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

We did live KDS for Mike's Super league last year. I don't recall anyone melting down.

Thank you, Tom. Like I said...

[Baseball Furies]

But what a fun idea. Some people will be so hacked! Can you see MtM getting 13 when he did a straight 1-15 KDS!

We did live KDS for Mike's Super league last year. I don't recall anyone melting down.

Yeah...I certainly do not speak from experience as I have not been in a league that did that. Some people may not be as easy going as Mike, though!

Still waiting for you to tell us that you will be hopping on a plane out east to take the last spot in the MTM Super this year. Anytime you would like to confirm this, we're ready for you.