Anyone else think being a commish SUCKS! (1 Viewer)

[supersportniner]

I just bought a house and met a new neighbor the same age as me and same interest. I invited him to my league and even let him use a spare laptap of mine to draft. He loses his first three games and #####es to me he never knew it was a 2 quarterback league and damanded his money back, I told him he had plenty of time to read the rules before hand and I know I mentioned it to him before. Also his team turned out pretty damn good because he was RB strong and he had the nerve to call me weekly after the games started to put his players in because he ment to himself ironically the players he wanted to replace were injured during the game. I never wanted to beat someone up so bad!

Oh and the outcome is he never got his money back he had a real bad beat in the playoffs and he wont even look at me when I'm outside lol

 

[comfortably numb]

you waited over a year to get this off your chest?

 

[supersportniner]

you waited over a year to get this off your chest?

Yes and it feels good

 

[Tony Jabroni]

Being a Commish does suck. Retired after starting up a 10 team keeper after 7 years, and now I just draft and dominate.

I'd try to be as thorough as possible, even though every year "something" would come up that could be construed as a "gray" area. Bottom line is that someone wins and someone gets screwed out of the deal. It took its toll on me even though it wasn't personal and we went to a voting process for possible hiccups.

Between staying on top of every single detail, fielding hundreds of e-mails and phone calls (especially from the slower owners of the group..fellow commish's know who they are) it got tiresome.

Loved it at first, but I will never do it again.

 

[carnac]

Shouldn't be that much work. We have 2 football leagues (one 11 years and one 9 years), one baseball league (11 years), but being commish is not that demanding. We have a board of 4 charter members in each league that votes on questions that arise (not many), with the commissioner voting in case of a tie. League matters are typically handled seemlessly. Are there ever disagreements? Sure.

We talk it through and solve things pretty quickly, then get back to playing.

 

[JbizzleMan]

I agree. I personally hate being the commish. Everyone assumes every rule change that they themselves didn't come up with is going to screw them. I hate having to remind close friends, 7 weeks into the season, that they need to pay the #### up or I am going to lock their rosters. In my league 3 out of the 10 teams are living together, so if you ever have a problem with one, they will almost always recruit the other two guys in attempt to persuade others onto their side.

 

[Sabertooth]

We've had a league since 2003 I think. This is my last year as commish. If nobody wants to take it over after this season, it will fold, because I'm not doing it again.

 

[dehaven123]

I agree. I personally hate being the commish. Everyone assumes every rule change that they themselves didn't come up with is going to screw them. I hate having to remind close friends 7 weeks into the season that they need to pay the #### up or I am going to lock their rosters. In my league 3 out of the 10 teams are living together so if you ever have a problem with one, they will almost always recruit the other two guys in attempt to persuade others onto their side.

Been playing a while.1st yr as a commish of a pretty comprehensive dynasty league.We've had some growing pains and I've learned some lessons along the way so far.Really enjoy it though.A lot of problem solving so far, which I've enjoyed.As every league, the key is to have some decent owners.Still trying to find the best approach to doing that.

 

[the_vision]

Without a doubt it can be tricky at times. A lot depends on the other owners - I prefer owners that have been involved with FF for a number of years, mainly due to not wanting to rehash every issue the rest of the league has already gone over in the past.

Ive been running a 20 team dynasty league going on it's 7th year now and I love it most of the time but it's been a bumpy ride. I think the most important part I can play as commish is to moderate rather than dictate on issues not covered by our bylaws. This league agreed to have someone not associated with the league handle collusion cases and we keep a pretty well detailed set of bylaws so we have moved beyond most of the growing pains of a new league. If I mess something up or if something comes up I do my best to fix it as soon as I can. Last but not least play with integrity, that way your never second guessing anything you have to do as commish.

I know this was an I hate commish thread but It can be fun too!

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Been a commish for 10 years and I agree that it has it's ups and downs. The last 4 years we have had the same owners and it's been great. I dont have to worry about much BS anymore and with a 2 year old and a 5 month old it helps out a lot. 5 years ago I was on board but this league is too hard for me to part with since I created it.

 

[nysportsfan]

Love our league, our members are responsible, and my job couldn't be easier. Never a veto, never collusion or any major issue. I think it's super easy, actually.

 

[Wrigley]

50% suck 50% awesome

just depends on the week

 

[flranger]

Been doing it a long time. Best rule we ever came up with is that if the system does it a certain way we go with that regardless of what our "rules" intended. Plays like the Meachem fumble TD catch thing last year, or bidding errors.

I just point to the league website and essentially say "the system says so".

Whatever you do, don't make rules that take away from automation. Make your rules support what the website does automatically and it creates far fewer hassles.

 

[Tony Jabroni]

"Without a doubt it can be tricky at times. A lot depends on the other owners - I prefer owners that have been involved with FF for a number of years, mainly due to not wanting to rehash every issue the rest of the league has already gone over in the past."

That's the thing right there. We all have. It got to the point where they seemed to try and push the envelope. And I am a nice guy, with a temper..

 

[Insein]

We do co-commish in ours. Makes it alot easier than having one guy do it all. PRetty much one guy collects the money and the other runs day to day. We both are around for decisions and rulings though. We used to rotate because some guys didn't like being commish and other guys were just terrible at it. Its been myself and my buddy for about 5 years now. We run it pretty smooth. We always use the summer to hammer out rule changes and everyone pays the money to my buddy. I don't like holding the money.

My Dad's league has been together for about 20+ years now. It used to be scanning a newspaper on Tuesday to analyze the scores and figuring out who won. Then mailing out the newsletter to show the standings and results for the week. So the job of commish was a huge pain in the ###. They made it so that whoever finished last for the season was the commissioner for the next year to cut down on guys tanking, lol.

 

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

I just bought a house and met a new neighbor the same age as me and same interest. I invited him to my league and even let him use a spare laptap of mine to draft. He loses his first three games and #####es to me he never knew it was a 2 quarterback league and damanded his money back, I told him he had plenty of time to read the rules before hand and I know I mentioned it to him before. Also his team turned out pretty damn good because he was RB strong and he had the nerve to call me weekly after the games started to put his players in because he ment to himself ironically the players he wanted to replace were injured during the game. I never wanted to beat someone up so bad!Oh and the outcome is he never got his money back he had a real bad beat in the playoffs and he wont even look at me when I'm outside lol

was studz in the leagues to?

 

[JahVideo_Kilt_Radio_Star]

I think too many commissioners believe that Being commish is a job. Get leaguesafe, set your rules well in advance and proofread them (seriously quit with the cut/paste jobs from other rule books)

 

[efactor]

Love our league, our members are responsible, and my job couldn't be easier. Never a veto, never collusion or any major issue. I think it's super easy, actually.

Same here. Piece of cake if you're dealing with adults...........

 

[LionBastards]

Biggest problem I have is collecting the cash. Everyone is good for it but we don't see each other regularly anymore so it's always a hassle. Sometimes I'll have guys drop money off to the winner at the end of the year if it's more convenient. Well then word gets back to me about people not liking the fact that they have to wait for their money and don't get it in a lump sum, yada yada yada.

It's a simple Yahoo redraft league so there is really no work involved but keep in mind I don't keep a dime from this league, all money collected is prize money. Every year I post that I'd like to collect money before the end of the season "give me a call and we can meet up somewhere convenient".

Just BS I don't really need to hear...take the reigns if you don't like it! But that'll never happen either.

 

[SteelerMurf]

I hated it, quit after 13 years of commish and another owner picked it up. And wouldn't you know it not a single controversy after years of numerous controversy. I soooo much more enjoy playing without being commish. Show up to the draft just like everyone else, not collecting money. Oh it was great.

 

[Psychopav]

I hated it, quit after 13 years of commish and another owner picked it up. And wouldn't you know it not a single controversy after years of numerous controversy. I soooo much more enjoy playing without being commish. Show up to the draft just like everyone else, not collecting money. Oh it was great.

You have a kickass signature.

 

[Dizzy]

I just bought a house and met a new neighbor the same age as me and same interest. I invited him to my league and even let him use a spare laptap of mine to draft. He loses his first three games and #####es to me he never knew it was a 2 quarterback league and damanded his money back, I told him he had plenty of time to read the rules before hand and I know I mentioned it to him before. Also his team turned out pretty damn good because he was RB strong and he had the nerve to call me weekly after the games started to put his players in because he ment to himself ironically the players he wanted to replace were injured during the game. I never wanted to beat someone up so bad!

Oh and the outcome is he never got his money back he had a real bad beat in the playoffs and he wont even look at me when I'm outside lol

Strange... if I bought a house OVER A YEAR AGO, I don't think I would open with "I just bought a house and met a new neighbor..."I bought a house in July this year and wouldn't tell somebody that I JUST bought a house.

Seems fabricated... almost like this is actually unfolding NOW... and the "play-off beat down" part was whipped up for ZING!

Being a Commish is the best. But if you play for big money be prepared to be in a league full of "acquaintances"... not friends.

 

[notdarkyet]

Step 1 - Collect money at the draft or before if drafting online. No pay, no draft.

 

[Broncobiv]

Step 1 - Collect money at the draft or before if drafting online. No pay, no draft.

And if 3 people show up without their money? Do you expect to have 3 alternates waiting in the wings, money in hand, on the day of the live draft?There's just no way to enforce the rule of making everyone show up to the draft with their money. You just have to hope it happens.

 

[footballnerd]

commissioner is a thankless duty. after retiring I must say being just a player is WAY better

 

[gebz306]

3 years ago was my first year as a commish. A on and off high school friend and I dont speak now bc he harrassed me and the league soo much when he didnt get his way. Not to mention he is the physical crazy Italian guy. He would call up everybody demanding the agree with him. Sometimes they would bc they agreed, other times they would bc they were scared of him.

Moral of the story, He is a lawyer now. We are still cordial, I could careless, but he insists you agree with him or its the highway. Sheesh!

That league died.

2 years later, 2010 and we started a new league with I as the commish and my brother as backup commish. Still headaches occur even if these guys are your good friends or strangers. I suggest a treasurer or somebody who makes mul###$

Two things Ive learned. Dont mess with a girl when she is hungry and guys w/ fantasy football/Money dont mix.

BUT, listening out to what everybody has to say, things have gone smoothly after week 3! We also had an CBS Sportsline internet/live auction draft. Some kinks, but everybody loved it. So I suggest it for all. New owners to auction dont ever want to go back to serpentine.

 

[the UFFRM]

I started a league ten years ago and there's been some ups and downs and lessons learned. I knew what I was getting into. I'm just glad I don't have to hand score anymore (especially with IDPs). I think some personality types are just naturally better commissioners than others. You have to be fair and not really give a crap about what people think. When they see that the lines are clearly drawn they fall in step. It also really helps if you enjoy making an effort to make your league fun and let people enjoy themselves.

 

[roadkill1292]

We have a 3-man Rules Committee that everyone has to serve on at some point. This keeps everybody from seeing the co-commish and me as despots and makes them appreciate the effort and discussion that goes into ruling on an in-season issue, since they were a part of it. Some owners may still ##### about the decisions but they know it's not personal. Anybody that can't be comfortable with a reasonable process for arbitrating disputes just needs to find another league.

Though there have been a few instances over the years when I didn't, I like being commish.

 

[Addai's Adidas]

It sucks a lot less since we got off Fanball. I can't believe anyone is still there.

 

[CA_7]

Definitely explicit state the rules to cover as many things as possible. Lots of threads here to search for samplesAnd as a poster above mentioned have something that says in the event of a discrepancy, site overrules everything or something like that.

With most sites, everyone should have access to view online rules, scoring, etc so make them have some ownership to verify things.

 

[T J]

I've been commish of my main league since it's inception - maybe 12 yrs.

I don't wanna do it again. BS come up and the ownership relies on my judgment to resolve it. Ends up pissing somebody off either way you go on an issue.

Like I said, I don't wanna do it again, but if I don't, I think the league would dismantle and I don't want that either.

 

[SteelerMurf]

I've been commish of my main league since it's inception - maybe 12 yrs.I don't wanna do it again. BS come up and the ownership relies on my judgment to resolve it. Ends up pissing somebody off either way you go on an issue. Like I said, I don't wanna do it again, but if I don't, I think the league would dismantle and I don't want that either.

Last season I told everyone it was my last. And when the current season came up, another owner volunteered to continue. If all your guys enjoy the league, someone will step up.I will never commish again, it is so nice just being an owner. You should throw it out that you are done and see what happens.

 

[habsfan]

Been doing it a long time. Best rule we ever came up with is that if the system does it a certain way we go with that regardless of what our "rules" intended. Plays like the Meachem fumble TD catch thing last year, or bidding errors. I just point to the league website and essentially say "the system says so".Whatever you do, don't make rules that take away from automation. Make your rules support what the website does automatically and it creates far fewer hassles.

I have never regretted being a commish or wished I could get out from underneath it. The people are 80% of it but the other 20% is consciously making sure you don't over engineer your league. Most of my work precedes the draft. By Week 1, I'm really not much more than an owner.

 

[Pickle Rody]

I've am commissioner of a 12-team keeper league and this is our 9th year. I'd have to say that has been an enjoyable experience for me at about an 85% clip. The other 15% of the time it's been a headache. Over the years though we have refined our rule book (10 full pages) and there usually isn't too much discordance between members.

Last year I had finally gotten real annoyed with some of the league members taking advantage of me (mostly one guy and my fault for allowing it....) and finally told everyone midway through the year that it would be my last unless someone else stepped up to the plate, or, at a minimum I got some help. There were a few offers to do it, until they saw a list of the things I do regularly as commissioner and all of a sudden they backed out or said they wouldn't do half of the things I do if they took over. In the end I was fortunate enough to have a couple guys take over some of the duties and I remained as the commissioner. This year has been much smoother and much less of a headache than it's been in years past.

One other thing we do have is a separate Treasurer to handle league dues, website payment and cash prizes at the end of the year. Our treasurer handles all of the money and we have rules in place which pretty much guarantee that we always have the money we need and no member gets by without paying. In addition, he makes sure the trophy gets it's yearly engraving done for the new champion.

We also have a 3-member Rules Committee (in place about 5 years now) to deal with in-season issues should they arise. As commissioner, I am not part of this committee. We used to try to get everyone to participate in this, but it didn't work. Now the 3 members rule in an unbiased fashion every time they are called upon to do so. If any issue involves one of the members, then I will step in to cast the deciding vote if necessary. If not, I stay away.

 

[elcohiba]

Rotate the Commish job among owners. Have one guy handle money and transactions every year (in exchange for being out of the commish rotation). Serious matters are settled by league vote during the season. Off season rule changes are proposed and then voted upon.

 

[atcdav]

Our current 14 team league is 10 years old. Our league is waived for the commish. I have been commish 4-5 out of the 10 years, we try to move the job around and have in the rules no one should be commish more than 2 years in a row. It is a pretty ease job imo. A few issues come up time to time but we have lots of detailed rules and that avoids most issues. My other league is a 6 year old 12 team, far few rules, and many more problems, I would not want the commish job there. I think a good foundation of rules is key.

 

[Bill Haverchuck]

I have been the commish in 1 league for 8 years now. I actually like being the commish. With every thing, I am detailed oriented. I always stay on top of things. Also, I truly believe that my league mates will not do a good as job as I can.

 

[fsufan]

been a commish for 13 years. it is not hard. pain in the ###/headache owners make it hard. I would not be a commish of a local friend/family league ever again

 

[stugnut]

Step 1 - Collect money at the draft or before if drafting online. No pay, no draft.

And if 3 people show up without their money? Do you expect to have 3 alternates waiting in the wings, money in hand, on the day of the live draft?There's just no way to enforce the rule of making everyone show up to the draft with their money. You just have to hope it happens.

Money in my league is due 6 weeks before the draft via LeagueSafe. If the money isn't in there on that day I start calling people on the waiting list. My money collection problems went away when I started doing it that way.

 

[fsufan]

I agree. I personally hate being the commish. Everyone assumes every rule change that they themselves didn't come up with is going to screw them. I hate having to remind close friends, 7 weeks into the season, that they need to pay the #### up or I am going to lock their rosters. In my league 3 out of the 10 teams are living together, so if you ever have a problem with one, they will almost always recruit the other two guys in attempt to persuade others onto their side.

this is why I stopped being a commissioner of a local league of friends and family

 

[Runningman]

Did it for ten years only two of which were on the internet, so I score PPR leagues by hand from the newspaper wrote up reports and mailed them for like 8 years. In the end it was worth it cause we are approaching 20 years for that league but it sucked and got burned out with the nonsense. Now I co commish but difinitely on a much reduced role. If you want a league to survive and people to appreciate it the role should rotate among the responsible people in a leagfue.

 

[Manster]

the guys in your league make a huge difference. if you have a bunch of ##### or even one ****, it could suck. although it goes both ways. if your commish sucks it can make things hard as an owner.

 

[BigDave]

I've done it over the years with some issues. This year is my first year back as commish for a long time.

Through 7 weeks, no problems, even with 3 new owners. Rules are pretty simple for a redraft league.

I get 1/2 off my league entry fee and so far so good.

I've collected all the money already, so that won't be an issue as in the past.

Every league is different, each week can bring a new problem, but it shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Futz]

Been the commish of my league for 18 straight years. I've had a few idiots in my time but for the most part, it is what you make of it.

The key to having low maintenance commish duties is to have a complete rulebook that you continously update annually. No stone unturned but I'm here to tell you that something will come up that isn't covered annually and you deal with it. Decisively I might add. Don't be wishy washy. People respect emphatic stances even if they don't agree with it.

IMO, you need to rule with a 50% iron fist(during the season), and 50% democracy(end of season/preseason).

Encourage your members to give suggestions at the end of each year and early in the preseason. Beyond that, it's your show and you are the final say. They had their chance.

People, for the most part, want a say in matters but prefer to defer to someone they trust. You must be trustworthy and things will be fine.

 

[Bad Mojo]

Long time Commish

Besides people complaining about rules, and a playoff tie snafu that caused an owner to quit, its been fun....

Most interesting thing an owner did was call the Carolina Panthers front office to complain about a fumble that had been charged to his RB...ended up being right! He tied instead of losing

 

[fsufan]

Long time Commish

Besides people complaining about rules, and a playoff tie snafu that caused an owner to quit, its been fun....

Most interesting thing an owner did was call the Carolina Panthers front office to complain about a fumble that had been charged to his RB...ended up being right! He tied instead of losing

get a life guy

 

[Dizzy]

Well since we’re throwing our resumes out there…

I’ve been the Commish in our league since its inaugural season back in 1993. It’s a small redraft league that started out as a “guppy league” consisting of a few friends, and friends-of-friends. Now into our 18th season our small group of “sharks” (still all original members) has grown into a tight group of friends. We started out as a bunch of young, single dudes and have now grown up together… been to each other’s weddings and watched each other’s children grow up.

We get together as a group 4 times a year; summer picnic, the draft, half-way party (week 7 or 8), and the banquet/winter meetings (AFC/NFC title games). We started out with a basic outline of the rules and scoring, voted on everything right from the start, and that all blossomed into our Bylaws… 13 pages total (rev. 8 being our latest edition).

We play for small money (big bragging rights) and IMO is the reason we are all still together. I couldn’t imagine taking any serious money from my friends. Don’t get me wrong, we are all extremely competitive… but year in and year out we all have fun from the penthouse to the cellar dweller.

I’ve been in a number of other leagues through the years – both as a Commish and as an Owner – and without fail; the more money that is at stake, the higher the annual turnover, the higher the tension, and the less fun it is.

Being a Commissioner is a labor of love I think… first off you’ve got to be the “stat nerd” of the group. These days it’s a simple job but in the early days of doing line-ups over the phone, compiling scores by hand (USA Today was our official source), and literally cutting & pasting the newsletter together… it was a lot of work and a lot of late nights, but in some sick way I really enjoyed it.

Secondly it pays to be the creative goof too… keeping the league’s archives, writing articles for the website, phony press releases, having fun with PhotoShop… again, I can’t picture any of the other guys in my league wanting to do it, but I love it.

Anywho, I’m a “one league” guy for the past 3 years. The guys at work bug me every now and then to start one, but I just don’t have the time to run two (or more) leagues with the proper amount of goofiness required to make it fun for all (even the guys in the basement)… so I’m content to focus all of my energy into the small beast that we created back in July 1993.

BEAFF