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Subject: Time to test your Fantasy Etiquette Posted by: deepsnapper - [39526123] Thu, Aug 31, 09:42 With the increased interest in playing the games where individual players are owned by one team only, I came across this article by SportsBeast Fantasy Sports writer Bill Thompson on Fantasy Etiquette and thought it was pretty good. It's not the definitive answer on Fantasy Etiquette, but it's a pretty good guideline. It's Time To Test Your Fantasy Etiquette by Bill Thompson. "After playing years of fantasy sports, it still amazes me how little etiquette owners' display. In tennis, you always give somebody another first serve if a ball disrupts play. In golf, you don't talk when your partner is about to strike the ball. Even in baseball, it's incredibly rude to slide hard into second base when several seconds before, the shortstop released the ball. Every sport has social rules and for the most part they are abided, but fantasy sports has a way of bringing out the worst in people. With all of the rules and intricacies of each game, it amazes me that fantasy owners still don't understand what's right and wrong. Here's a breakdown of the most violated norms in our game: 1) The refusal to counteroffer This is by far the worst of the fantasy sins. It's an unwritten law that you MUST counter a refused trade proposal. Yet although most people have heard of the rule, they fail to offer even a crummy counter offer. I play the game largely for the draft and for the chance to exchange players, and it's a sign of disrespect when an owner doesn't reciprocate my trade enthusiasm (I usually send out my "hitman" who makes such disrespecting owners "sleep with the fishes"). When my mafia approach fails, I usually optfor the proverbial forum jab or even a crummy trade offer of my own. 2) Making goofy trade proposals Ok so I clearly violate this myself when I'm frustrated with an owner from situation number one. Just the same, I find it ridiculous when I receive a Qadry Ismail for Kurt Warner offer. Some owners call it "testing the waters" but I call it "s-t-u-p-i-d." Goofy trade proposals do nothing more than irk folks, and make them want to withdraw from the league. I can understand making a pitch for an underrated guy (like Corey Dillon), but I can't see four for one trades which include a bunch of bums for a superstar. 3) Picking up and then quickly waiving guys on the waiver wire How many owners have you seen pick up five or six new players, only to have them released the next day. There's a guy in my league that actually claims to have had every top player in the league on his team for at least five minutes. The thing that bothers me most about this is that there is usually a waivers period and it keeps those players off limits for a lengthy duration. Some call this a "statistical ploy," while I see it as a symptom of ADHD. 4) Not responding to a trade proposal at all I can see this if you receive a goofy trade offer, but it's downright rude not to respond to a deal right away. Like I said earlier, trading is one of the most enjoyable things in the game, and people usually want an answer in a day or two. Since most on-line services usually send out an email announcing the trade, this becomes even more glaringly cruel. Answer the d*mn trade or stop playing the game! 5) Trying to trade injured guys No I don't think Patrick Jeffers and Darnay Scott for Emmitt Smith is fair. The worst is when there are guys clearly done for the better part of the year that people try to package in big trades to make the deal look more appealing. Names like Garrison Hearst or Robert Edwards instantly come to mind. The worst is when you have a player that's ailing and you think could miss a substantial period of time, and you try to peddle him off (e.g., Natrone Means this season....or when they thought J.J. Johnson was going to be suspended). If you know a player on your team is hurt, have a sense of pride and waive him and pickup the replacement rather than trying to deal the guy. 6) Keeping inactive guys active Imagine if your last year's league championship came down to a guy playing a team that consisted of Vinny Testaverde, Terrell Davis, and Jamal Anderson. That might be a bit extreme, but every week there's always a team that doesn't decide to change the inactive guys and another team gets a cheap win. Don't believe me? I bet you wouldn't be hard pressed to find a league where some moron will start (actually will let the computer start) Patrick Jeffers, Darnay Scott, Corey Dillon (Bye Week), and many others this week. If you get bored with fantasy sports at least check in on your team for the two minutes it takes to start an active player." Like I said, a pretty good guideline. About the only thing I'd like to add is if you like to talk "smack" in the common areas or via email, keep the language clean. You can be colorful in expressing your distaste for your opponent without resorting to profanity. If you've got any further "Etiquette" items, please add to the discourse. Let's enjoy the games! | ||||||
| 1 | Mark L ID: 4444938 Thu, Aug 31, 09:54 |
I was watching a live online draft for ESPN football yesterday when someone took Patrick Jeffers -- it was maybe the fifth round. Another team immediately jumped in and pointed out that Jeffers was out for the year; don't know whether the poor sap was able to rescind the pick. In all of my live draft leagues somebody will chime in if an unprepared owner takes a player who is injured or suspended. | |||||
| 2 | StLCards ID: 296581212 Thu, Aug 31, 10:15 | Thanks for the post deepsnapper. Since this is my first year I appreciate the info. If you notice in the BOA Full Blitz league several of these are not being followed. One Team has Jeffers and Scott both starting. Team is 4th and 10 owner Joe Blow age 89. Is this person a gurupie or do you know who he is? | |||||
| 3 | deepsnapper ID: 39526123 Thu, Aug 31, 10:28 |
StLCards - not sure, maybe Peter N know who all the young pups are. I know he opened it up to the public to fill the last couple of positions since not all the youngsters who expressed interest actually joined in time. It sounds like a "public" coach from the description. We're going to have to use some type of Roto scoring to determine the winners since there are a couple of "ringers" in BOA. Funny thing is I was concerned about getting enough "Grizzled Gurupies" to play and the "pups" ended up a couple short. Go figure. ;-) | |||||
| 4 | mjmathews ID: 4561109 Thu, Aug 31, 10:58 | Thanks for the article. There is nothing I hate more than having a trade offer ignored. It happened to me a couple of times in Sandbox - baseball. | |||||
| 5 | Superho ID: 77592613 Thu, Aug 31, 15:38 |
The only thing I take exception to is the part regarding trading injured/out guys. While I wouldn't do it, I certainly don't feel sorry for the zombie that doesn't hear about a big player going down. If you expect everyone to know enough to not start these guys, it follows that you would also expect them to know enough to not trade for them. Just my two cents. | |||||
| 6 | StLCards ID: 50827610 Thu, Sep 14, 10:23 | Deepsnapper - As far as responding to a trade offer, should you post a message with an alternative on the trade wire, or reject the trade and propose a new one (in effect becoming a counter-offer)? | |||||
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