Slow Draft Etiquette 101

[DOUGHBOYS]

We are less than two weeks away from the slow draft season. Two weeks till we hear the calls of something being wrong with a draft.
A fellow may be too slow.
Another may not pick during daylight hours, strategically waiting for updates.
Another may not use the one round auto when it would move the other 14 drafters along.
Another may cry foul about receiving a player not selected.
It all happens and more.

We are wrapping up the third year of early e-mail drafting. There really hasn't been a problem with one of those drafts.
We've endured a heart attack.
A drafters child having brain surgery.... twice. (Good luck and prayers to you today, Mia, Roger, and the Martin family)
A messy divorce.
Hurricane Sandy, which knocked out a drafters power for a full two weeks.

We take entering and drafting serious.
We wouldn't enter if we didn't. At the same time, we know that life interferes with these drafts.
Roger has taken over 24 hours to make a pick two or three times.
With no clock in an e-mail draft, we can afford him that time.
And we're happy to do it. We don't care.
We know that Mia is what matters to Roger. This draft is way down on his list of priorities.
And I'm proud to say that not one drafter has even shown one iota of impatience.
Mike the Mouth is in our draft. He may come off as a braggadocio know it all.
It's a facade.
He enjoys the hell out of getting under people's skin, but inside lies a heart of gold.
Same with all our other drafters.
More concern is shown over the real life problem than when a next pick will come.
As it should be in this case.

That all said, when entering these drafts, there is one word above all that should be used.
We learned it in school, but some of us forget it. The word is 'courteous'.
If you're courteous when it's your turn and patient while others pick, the drafts should go great.
That said, somebody in some draft will not be courteous. There'll be one or two bad apples. Book it.
They'll do one of the things listed above or something else that makes 14 drafters miserable.
It happened in a draft I was in last year.
A drafter took the full time limit on almost every pick. At first, he made excuses about health, and then this and then that.
He was reported to Greg and he may have changed his ways for one or two picks and then went back to his sun dial way of drafting.
Finally, the 14 drafters were just worn down 'yelling at him' and we just resigned ourselves to the fact that he was going to take all the time.
It was frustrating.
The act of using the full clock on most picks is now called 'Marcelling'.
Don't Marcel a draft.

Single handedly, I found that one drafter can make a draft a unhappy experience for 14 other drafters.
Through messaging, find out early if he doesn't know about the one round auto or maybe he is new to the system and needs help.
Give him the benefit of a doubt first.
If continuing, let Greg know.
If it continues after that, resign yourself that it is going to be a long draft and remember this fellows name so that you don't enter a draft with him again.
I know I'll never knowingly draft with the fellow from last year.

By the way, I ended up winning that league in a close race.
The fellow that wanted to think about his draft picks all day?
He finished 13th.
To this day, I never think about the outcome of that draft as much as the frustration felt during the draft.
Taking more time to think about one's picks does not make them better picks.
It only eases one's mind a little. While uneasing 14 drafters minds.
Be courteous.

[Money]

As always very well stated Dan. As the seasons go by a lot of us become more tolerable of what once was intolerable. Resigning yourself to the fact is the best advice one can give. I limit the number of slow drafts now to minimize any frustration. I truly use these to get a feel for where players are going not to make money, although that sometimes comes along with it.

I'd like to see some contests set up where players agree that a 3-4 rounds per day pace is expected. I don't think that pace is asking to much. You hit it right on the head with the word courteous and almost all of the players here are, it's the minimal minority that can screw things up.

[Gekko]

in the Rules it should state, 8 hours is allowed per pick to allow people to sleep at night. Picks during the day should be made in well under 8 hours.

[DOUGHBOYS]

I'd like to see us all have a personal 48 hour time clock, counting down as soon as it is our pick. That clock would stop for everybody between 1 am-5 am, est during the draft. This would prevent that one super slow player from mucking it up for others. At most, a draft could last 30 days.The Auto one would be used more and drafts would run more freely.
I don't think it would be too tough to do from the tech side of things either.

There is no system that fits everyone. Somebody, somewhere will find fault with every idea about slow drafts.
It's a tough nut

[Money]

I'd like to see us all have a personal 48 hour time clock, counting down as soon as it is our pick. That clock would stop for everybody between 1 am-5 am, est during the draft. This would prevent that one super slow player from mucking it up for others. At most, a draft could last 30 days.The Auto one would be used more and drafts would run more freely.
I don't think it would be too tough to do from the tech side of things either.

There is no system that fits everyone. Somebody, somewhere will find fault with every idea about slow drafts.
It's a tough nut

This makes a lot of sense with the exception of the down time. I would love to see a total time clock for each player. 5 am EST is 2 am on the west coast. That may be asking a bit much, but the ideology is right on!!!

[DOUGHBOYS]

The clock can be moved, but four hours is good.
Sure, a couple of hours each night will count against one drafter or another. That is all counted in. Most picks will be made in minutes or well less than an hour.
Maybe six hours of down clock would work too, but that could prolong drafts to a maximum of over 30 days.
Come to think of it, six hours would be a good test case and then it can be moved if successful to four hours.
Say, 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.

[Nevadaman]

I love the personal clock idea. This is one of the best suggestions ever. I hope Greg seriously considers this!

[SmashBoomBash]

Hi everyone this Marcel. The same guy that this post is written about. I thought it would be appropriate for me to reply and tell everyone what really happened in last years draft instead of letting DOUGHBOY fill everyone's minds with outright lies.

I joined my first few slow drafts last year. Greg explained me to that I had 8 hours to pick and I thought that was great since I have an extremely busy and demanding life. I had every intention of drafting as quickly as possible because I LOVE FANTASY BASEBALL AND DRAFTS . The problem was that my Doctor thought I was having heart complications. He ordered about 6 different tests all in the first week of the draft. That coupled with fact that I run a retail store and it was literally the busiest time of the year for me. On most days from mid November to X-mass I work 12 hour days with no lunch break. On top of all that MY FATHER WAS DIEING OF CANCER ! I was driving back forth from Vegas to LA every few days. So between my health, work, travel and my father it became difficult for me to draft promptly.

NOW THE TRUTH ABOUT ETIQUETTE:

My first two picks I was not able to draft for about 5 hours, but that's when slowly all the league starting viciously attacking me with negative comments. I did not feel the need or have the desire to reply to such negativity from a group of people that would not even allow me the 8 hours that I rightfully had to draft according to Greg ( Who Runs The NFBC ). My next to two picks were clocked at about 4 and 7 hours. I can still remember that day. I went to the doctor for two different heart tests ( one was nuclear and it was very long and not fun at all ) When I finally came back and explained AGAIN that I was having heart problems DOUGHBOY and his group of thugs starting calling me names. ONE OF THEM EVEN SAID: I HOPE YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK AND DIE !!! At that point I completely removed myself to responding to these posts. I have never in my life Drafted with such rude and impatient people! From then on all they did was threaten me and call me names. All because I was not drafting fast enough ? I don't know about the rest of you but I thought a fantasy draft was supposed to be fun ? Like Greg told me " It's only a game. I will talk to them and tell them to chill out." I thought PROPER ETIQUETTE included be courteous to your fellow players. I thought as GREG CLEARLY TOLD ME that it was completely within my right to use all 8 hours. Greg told me THAT'S WHY IT IS CALLED A SLOW DRAFT. THAT'S WHY EVERYONE HAS 8 HOURS TO DRAFT. He then told me not to listen to the banter and go about my draft as best I could. After talking to Greg and few of my fellow NFBC buddies I found out that our draft only fell a few days out of the average draft time for a slow draft. WOW Did these players really have to threaten to come beat me up if I did not draft faster ? Did they really have to call me names ? Did they really have to wish I SHOULD HAVE A HEART ATTACK AND DIE ??!! Well they did and they did all that even though most all of them knew I WAS SICK AND MY FATHER DIEING ! Shame on all of them. I hope NO ONE in an NFBC DRAFT EVER has to be subjected to such poisonous filth.


Greg told me. "This is a slow draft. If you are busy and can't get to the draft quickly don't worry about it. The season doesn't start for another 3 months. Take your time and handle your business. Just ignore them."

LIFE ETIQUETTE 101 For SLOW DRAFT:
1. Never name call, threaten fellow players or ridicule them in a draft or message board as DOUGHBOY and his thugs did. This applies to life as well. Patience is a virtue and doing unto others as you would have done to you can go a long way in the game of life.
2. Be considerate of people and their life. You never know what might be going on in someone's life even if they are not openly talking about it with you. Extend your graciousness to your fellow man.
3. If you join a slow draft do not join one with DOUGBOY and his cohorts. Slow drafts are called slow drafts because they are SLOW DRAFTS. Request a league with players that understand the rules and are willing to actually draft slowly in a slow draft. Request to be with players that respect your time and would be accepting if life throws you a curve ball during a draft.


In conclusion:

DOUGHBOY Still decided to write this post almost a year a later, even though he knew all my circumstances. MY FATHER DIED TWO WEEKS AFTER THE DRAFT FINISHED DOUGHBOY ! I know Greg told him that my father died but he still wrote this post ? Which I think is disgusting and unbecoming of anyone I would like to assocaite with in any walk of life. I prey to GOD that DOUGHBOY never has to go through what I went through. Heart complications, Extreme work and Travel, Taking care of a sick loved one whom is dieing and that same time be called names and threaten because I did not draft fast enough to his liking !? YOU DOUGHBOY made my fathers passing and my complications of life miserable. The draft was supposed to be my refuge from all the pain and suffering and instead it was the exact opposite. All thanks to you and your buddies.

Congrats DOUGHBOY I see you gave yourself a big pat on your shoulder in this post for coming in first and beating a guy that was sick and lost his father to a slow painful death. Way to go ! Your such a winner !