Slow Draft Etiquette 101
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:59 pm
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.
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.