Commissioner (1 Viewer)

[ffguru56]

I was curious what everyone's consensus is on the definition of a fantasy football Commissioner.

I was just thinking of this since there's a "debate" (only one side has talked so far, the commish hasn't responded once via email) about our draft order. There's nothing in our league Constitution about this but previous years the non-playoff teams (4 of 10) get the first 4 draft spots by end of the year standings. Then it goes by how far you make it in the playoffs...the further you go, the worse the pick. Round 1, two teams are booted so they get picks 5 and 6. Of those two booted teams, who gets pick 5?....then it's the worst regular season record between those two.

The commish is going against the grain and has me picking after a team that advanced further than me in the playoffs because my record was better than his in the regular season.

Just my scenario....but, what do you think clearly defines a quality (fantasy sports) Commissioner?

 

[Jersey35]

IMHO a it's a commissioner's job to keep everything running smoothly and fairly. The rules are designed to establish expectations for every scenario, but of course, we never anticipate everything that could happen. It's the duty of the commissioner to interpret and enforce rules in a manner that is commisserate with the original intent of the rules - not necessarily the rules as written.

Here's an example from my league that seems to mirror your situation closely:

A few years back, we had a situation where a wildcard finished as runner-up in the superbowl. This team was awarded the second-highest payout in the league. Our league bylaws stated that draft order was determined by 'reverse order of record' (or similar language). I immediately realized an oversight in our bylaws, as the laws as written would give the Superbowl runner-up a better pick than a number of teams who ultimately finished lower on the reward scale. I discussed it with a number of the involved parties, including my assistant commish - who's there to keep ME in check - and we agreed that the intent of the rule was not just to reward worse teams with better picks, but also, by deduction, give greater future opportunity for reward to those teams receiving lesser or no reward in the current year.

As such, we changed our bylaws to be based on reverse order of record, then reverse order of playoff finish for those participating in the playoffs.

Don't know if this helps, but good luck nonetheless.

 

[fsufan]

i run 3 leagues. A commish needs to have ALL rules in writing and be willing to step to the plate to handle all problems.