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MFL Commish - can you see other's draft or "watch" lists? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter matttyl
- Start date
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
You can if you don't turn off your abilities to do so. If I need to go in and do something for another team, I first must go turn on my abilities to operate as that team and I will get a message that I can see trade offers, pre-draft, waiver claims etc. for teams (I would still need to seek them out if I wanted to see them). When I am done making the move I myst turn these abilities back off. An email goes out to the entire league when I turn them on and then back off.
It's possible your commissioner never had them turned off in the first place and they're always on.
voiceofunreason
Footballguy
Yeah, you can see it under Reports, Rules, and Settings. It tells you if the commish has locked himself out or not.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Good call. Check your league and you should see this: "Commissioner Lockout: Yes, the commissioner has given up his ability to view pending owner-initiated transactions."
If he has not given up those abilities, call him out. To be fair, if he has not logged in as commissioner during the draft, he would not be able to see anything as an owner. So if he hasn't been logging in and out as commissioner, you should feel safe knowing he's not doing the league dirty.
Actually I have found that the Activity tracker on MFL is rather poor at tracking activity. It only records loads of the league home page. If I have the draft page or rosters page bookmarked and go straight there it doesnt always catch it. Owners can also access MFL using the mobile app and it doesnt show up at all. (Ive seen owners decline, counter and accept trades while the activity module still shows them as not having logged in in weeks.)
Unless you implicitly trust your commish, this lockout setting should be on, even if he isnt logging in as commissioner.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
I agree and would go one step further. Even if you trust your commissioner it should always be on lockout settings just for appearances - plus there's really zero reason it needs to be kept on. I feel I'm trustworthy but always keep it off, until I need to do something that requires it on. Once I'm done it goes back off.
matttyl
Footballguy
Says "No, the commissioner still has the ability to view pending owner-initiated transactions." He has also signed on as commish recently (yesterday in fact). Likely gives me the answers I need.
So this means he can see pending trade offers, but can he see those two specific lists? That's not a "pending transaction"
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
He can see everything every other owner has set up: trade offers, waiver claims, pre-draft selections, etc. I'm not sure about a "watch list" but I would imagine he could see that also. He basically can become any team with those abilities on.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
"pending owner-initiated transactions". Yes, he can see those lists. This is how a commish is able to log in as that owner and do something on their behalf - if they are out of town or unavailable and they want to log in and draft for them, or put in a waiver claim, or whatever. The commish "is" the owner on all pages, there is nothing he can't see. I agree with the above, it's not whether or not you trust him. It's about the appearance of impropriety. If it's not on the accusation can't land and it's a non-issue.
matttyl
Footballguy
Thanks everyone. I've got a guy as the top guy on my watch list, was thinking he wouldn't be on anyone else's radar. We're in the middle of our rookie/FA draft currently. Last night, in a group text, commish (also owner) sent out "looks like matttyl is trying to trade up to the pick on the clock - we all know who he's after, it's obvious. The guy put up 22 on the bench press at the combine (which is true)." I'm sure the commish know the player, so either he's a very good guesser, or he looked at my watch list.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Respond - "It's very obvious, especially to people that are able to view my watch list".
I'm sure you don't want to really go down that road - but bring up innocently that he needs to lockout his abilities as you noticed he has them unlocked.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
You'd be surprised what an observant owner can deduce. Is this player on your favorite team? Have you picked him in other leagues? I'm in a bunch of leagues and track many owners' tendencies. I even noticed one guy is in a different league I'm NOT in, noticed he took Lamar Jackson as the #1 QB (my personal crush this year) earlier than ADP would suggest (maybe #20 overall?) and that he was drafting one pick ahead of my in the 2nd round. I got nervous and traded over him to take Jackson, and he was PISSED (in a competitive screw you man sort of way, all good). He didn't use the pick list so that's not an issue but he was astounded I pulled that move.
voiceofunreason
Footballguy
I use spreadsheets for my lists. Bit of a pain but then I don't have to worry about it.
matttyl
Footballguy
We're on pick 19 of our rookie/FA draft. Each of the prior 18 picks have been rookies. The player who I'm actually after, who did in fact do 22 bench presses at the combine, is a veteran, not a rookie. He's not on my favorite team. I'm in no other league with commish.
Lash
Footballguy
well he is also breaking the "no name dropping" rule
that is usually heavily frowned on (although some leagues don't care)
we are pretty strict about that in ours even having the unethical nature of it in our ruleset
(in the instance above if he gives clues out then he is trying to namedrop indirectly
that is usually heavily frowned on (although some leagues don't care)
we are pretty strict about that in ours even having the unethical nature of it in our ruleset
(in the instance above if he gives clues out then he is trying to namedrop indirectly
Jello_Biafra
Footballguy
MFL's commissioner lockout is a joke. Why can't the commissioner perform all the commissioner duties and not see pending transactions? I see no reason that putting in a lineup for someone should allow you to see what trade offers are out there, etc.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Commish cannot see watch list, I just rolled over my redraft league to test it. There is no drop-down box to choose/change team, and my list is all I see. It appears using For Owners -> My Player News only parses your players as well, so the key seems to be "pending" like draft picks, trades, etc
Hankmoody
Footballguy
That's a great point, I'd be far more upset about that than I would be suspicious. That's a huge no-no in my leagues and comes with formal penalties.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Because there are a lot of other functions it's needed. Commish can't add/delete a waiver claim without seeing the pending list, or accept a trade for the owner without seeing pending trades. It's a significant coding job to differentiate access levels and MFL just isn't going to spend resources doing so when they have already provided a way to restrict it.
matttyl
Footballguy
I do hope that's the case. Thanks. Player in question is Chandler Jones (it's an IDP league), and the only reason I'm after him is that I saw last week or so that he was moved from LB back to DL where he'll tear it up. Like I said, he'd be the first non rookie off the board, which made me realize that the commish really does know who I'm after (who's also the top listed guy on my watch list). Commish also dropped that he had a 35" vert at the combine (and when combined with the 22 bench reps, eliminates everyone from this year's combine - so he definitely knows). He must be a good guesser.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Ok well you said you were "in the middle" of your draft, and I would suggest that Chandler Jones gets nowhere near "the middle" of any draft I'm involved in, so I think it could be a lot more obvious that you are thinking. He's a late 1st/early 2nd for me in that format, easily.
matttyl
Footballguy
Now you tell me. I was thinking I'd get Quinn late after his designation change (he's still available too). It's late 2nd round in a 10 team draft (pick 19). Each of 10 teams rostering ~32 players, IDPs included.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Ok well I play in 16 man leagues mostly so pick 19 is about right for Jones just depends on roster needs and how the draft fell. I was assuming you were farther along than you were based on your "middle" comment. I'd be very interested in Quinn too, this is not a good DL draft at all, but obviously 10 man leagues make a big difference in depth. I'd rank Quinn in the early 30's and I think the way my drafts fall I'd probably draft him in the mid/late 40's.
matttyl
Footballguy
likely better asked in the IDP threads, but since were here....does the bolded mean you rank him in the early 30s of DLs, or in the early 30s of rookie picks? And you'd much rather have Jones than Quinn, right?
BoltBacker
Footballguy
Using the mobile app, or viewing the league via the mobile version of the web page? I ask because I've heard this before but whenever I log in through a smartphone it always shows my activity.
I think you can accept/decline trades directly through email... right? To counter a trade I thought you had to actually log onto the site though.
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
Guessing or not. The commish needs to shut the hell up in the middle of a draft.
massraider
Footballguy
Yes.fruity pebbles said:
Great news about the watch list, @Hankmoody, I was a little nervous there.
RE: Chandler Jones, in a rookie/FA draft, with the designation change, I would take him right after the top 2 or 3 LBs. Even still, that's a pretty good guess from the commish.
But if he cannot see our watchlist, maybe he's just wicked smart.
And how do both of you know how many bench reps he had? Odd.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
To be clear, it's only the actual Watch List (For Owners -> My Watch List) - it's not the interface found under For Owners -> Draft. Those they can see - any results you put in via the My Draft List function will still be listed on the left and anyone you've queued up will be on the right:
https://imgur.com/a/2smqtVt
Last edited by a moderator:
Bronco Billy
Footballguy
Jello_Biafra said:
That’s a great question. I have used it in the past after BB FA awards when an owner thought he had bid on a player he did not get, or thought he had a lower bid on a player he lost. It allows me to verify what he did during the bidding process and share that with him so he can see what happened. Happens at least once a season since the league’s start in 2002.
It also allows me to make FA bids/trade offers or complete trades for others when an owner can’t access mfl for some reason.
I try to remember to switch back to owner afterwards but sometimes I forget to do so.
It really does help the league run much smoother and keeps things fully on the up & up, but yeah the potential for abuse is definitely there.
matttyl
Footballguy
I had to look it up. I'm sure he did, too. That was his way of saying who it was without saying who it was. When I looked it up and saw 22, I knew he had me.
jeaton6
Footballguy
I have a Commish who refused to turn it off. He said it’s too much of a pain in the ### every time someone needs something for him to do. Like reverse a pick up that shouldn’t have happened, etc. My argument was those are one-offs that rarely happen, it takes 30 seconds to turn on and off and it would be better optically for all to know nothing going on even though we trust him. Either way he said he won’t. So, I stay only because my team is good but if I ever fall off the tracks it will be the first league to go.Dr. Octopus said:
wakelawyer
Footballguy
@matttyl
My guess is that the commish probably knows your username here and follows you. A week before the comment you were talking about possibly drafting Chandler Jones in the 2nd round of your draft (maybe the same draft?).
https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/topic/765197-mfl-position-updates-36/
My guess is that the commish probably knows your username here and follows you. A week before the comment you were talking about possibly drafting Chandler Jones in the 2nd round of your draft (maybe the same draft?).
https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/topic/765197-mfl-position-updates-36/
matttyl
Footballguy
Very well could be, but I doubt it. The league apparently kept an eye on position changes (I'd been a sticking point in our league for years - we used to have a rule that if you draft a player at a certain position you got to keep him there - so having Suggs years ago was great for me!). Jones' position change happened earlier this month, and the league knows I pay attention to that kinda stuff.
You make a good point about covering your online tracks, though.
