10/13/00
It was the most critical time in the eleven-year history of the league.
It was the night before the beginning of week four in the NFL and
no one had yet received the stats picture from week three. Phone calls
were made, and the worst fears of any fantasy league were soon becoming
clear. The commissioner had quit and had failed to notify anyone of
his absence. It was apparent someone had to make the mighty leap from
being a mere participant to playing the all-important role of league
commissioner, and the leap had to be made now. With a brave heart,
and sicker stomach, I made the jump for the good of the league where
my fantasy football illness had started. All parties involved, save
the old commissioner who was completely underground, were fine with
the decision and happy they were not going to be the one assuming
the position. (I leave the "position assumed" to your imagination.)
I am not sure what possessed me to do the insane. Almost everyone
in the league had done a stint as the commissioner, and the last time
I had been the commissioner was before the digital age. For two years
I worked every Monday and Tuesday with the box scores from the local
papers squinting for hours while trying to retrieve the stats from
the past week's action. For two years I had line-ups given to me on
napkins, scraps of paper and via the answering machine. For two years
I had put up with whiny league owners saying I shorted their player
.07 points, or begging me to take their line-ups after the prescribed
deadline. For two years I had done this and never been thanked or
recognized for my timely performance, and now I was going to enter
the arena again. I was determined to make the experience different
this time and, thankfully, I had a companion to share the experience
with.
My wife began her life in rural Alberta as a sweet farm girl. She
had never watched a full football game in her life before she met
me. Since our meeting I have managed to corrupt her into a football
fanatic who loves the Raiders and has a fair understanding of fantasy
football. She even counseled me on the last draft over the Internet
and she plays an active role in rooting for my guys against all others.
Fortunately for me, she is also a web designer for a local ISP and
was willing to share the insanity. She took the first steps in league
reorganization by spending four hours designing the web site. It was
at this point, with week three yet to be figured, week four in progress
and week five on the horizon, that I began to reflect on the role
of commissioner in the information age.
Foremost in any league, the commissioner is the center of communication.
All line-ups, trades, transactions statistics and disputes flow through
their screen. Our entire league has access to computers, and this
has enhanced the role of the commissioner. The happiness of any league
is depended upon timely and accurate information and this function
of the commissioner is what consumes most of the time during the season.
It can be a pain, owners whine, mistakes are made and people can get
frantic, but the commissioner must be the one to sort out all of the
crap and arrive at the just and final decision. The use of email has
simplified the process as all email is time stamped and there are
no disputes over when a call was made or a line-up went in for the
week. Mass emails have made the commissioner's job easier as one message
can be sent to all of the owners with a single stroke on the keyboard.
This alone has saved hours on the telephone playing tag with everyone's
answering machine. Email technology itself has improved the life of
a commissioner, but it has also allowed a commissioner to utilize
their biggest asset, the style by which they handle their league.
There are two fundamental styles of commissioners and they are much
like the business models adopted by real business people. There is
the "I Am God" commissioner who will operate from the approach of
top-down and will make all of their decisions unilaterally. Their
edicts will be made with little to no input from any member of the
league. The philosophy of this style of commissioner is "my way,
the wrong way or the highway." If you don't like it you know
where you can go. The other style of commissioner has a pluralistic
standpoint where owners are consulted on any league action. Their
opinions are considered and registered; yet this style of commissioner
still realizes that they will have the final say on any decision for
the league and they are willing to make it. Their philosophy is, the
league is not mine, but ours and I have a role to play in it. Top
down management has been found wanting, while the later is the adopted
style of many successful companies. No matter which style your league
has adopted, the explosion of the Internet has made life easier than
the scratch paper and calculator days.
Today there are so many sites out there the glean stats from, get
the low down on player information and have a site where you can exchange
thoughts and opinions. FFToday.com is one of the best sites going,
but it seems every .com has gotten into the fantasy sports business.
You can play on ESPN, CBS.com, CNN/SI, and NFL.com and actually win
money but as far as the commissioner is concerned, there are plenty
of sites to get the weekly stats. There are so many sites, leagues
are adopting two or three as the "official" sites for settling and
disputes. One of the best features out is on NFL.com and it is called
"Player Tracker." By registering your name and password, you can have
up to fifteen players on the site and the stats come up in almost
real time scoring. This has been great for immediate stats as some
of the sites, like ESPN, may take up to an hour and a half to get
the stats up from games already played. If you are still locked into
using the newspaper, virtually every newspaper in the country has
their own web site. Two of the best, and easiest to use, are The New
York Times and USA Today. A commissioner today has no excuse for being
late with the week's stats, nor should they be. Everyone in the league
is depending on them for the news, commentary and current events.
To the end of generating information, my league has a web
site, and results can be posted almost immediately. The commissioner's
page is up dated once a week, and the stats are updated as the games
finish. Links to all of the league members are on the front page as
are the line-ups for the week and the draft selections of the owners.
We are able to keep the player pool up dated to the week and the commissioner
has a forum to speak from and disseminate information to all. We are
in the process of putting in a bulletin board for owner comments and
the entire package has made the management of information stream lined.
The final postings for the week are in on Tuesday evening, I have
a day job, and remain there until they have to be cleared the following
Sunday. Players email their line-ups in and they are posted as they
arrive. Weekly matchups are there for all to see, as are the cumulative
and weekly totals. It is much faster and more accurate than the old
pencil and paper days, and mistakes can be taken care of before the
final postings of the week. It has only made the actual purpose of
fantasy football better. Everyone is in it for the fun, the competition
and the camaraderie. The key to achieving this is the management of
the information and sense of fun and fair play exuded by the commissioner.
I know a former commissioner of a keeper league in California who
allowed his league to fold. He was consistently late with the stats,
he did not keep up with his league owners and would not listen to
what the owners had to say. The reason he allowed his league to fall
into such disrepair was that he was in last place and had no chance
of winning. As a result he just let it die. Being the commissioner
is like unplugging a toilet. It is a dirty job, but if it is not done,
and done right, then there is crap all over the place and the stink
will not go away. Everyone who has played fantasy football has probably
had the experience of being at the bottom of the league standings
and it sucks. Still, losing is as much a part of the game as injuries,
disappointing draft selections and stupid coaching decisions. Being
at the bottom is not an excuse to punish everyone beating you, it
is a wake up call to make some deals and try to improve your sorry
season. This is the single advantage of being commissioner.
As commissioner, you are the person with a finger on the pulse of
NFL performance. Few, if any, of the owners take the time to go through
the box scores of every game played in the NFL on any given Sunday.
You are the one who knows who is hot, who is falling like a stone,
who was arrested two hours before game time and who just made the
physically unable to perform list. Having this information is critical
for making trades and free agent pick-ups. Other than this, being
the commissioner is a thankless job with rotten pay, long hours and
large responsibilities. It is like being a schoolteacher, the job
is not to be taken lightly, but it should be taken with fun. I invite
you to check out our web site and you will see my sorry team near
the bottom of the points list, but I am having a blast and the rest
of the people in the league are also having fun. A commissioner can
only rate their success by the number of people who decide to play
the following years, I hope we are all back for next season.
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