Rule Proposal In My League (1 Viewer)

[Black]

Tell that idiot to get out of the dark ages and quit killing trees...time to get a laptop, Luddite!

 

[GregR_2]

I always get the feeling that the people proposing rules to ban laptops do it primarily out of their own insecurity that they are somehow perceived by others as being less because they didn't use one.

 

[Lott's Fingertip]

Some of you guys are being too sensitive imo. It's a fair proposal. When he says "draft like men," nobody is threatening anyone's masculinity. I think he's saying to let the individual make his own decision, not a computer program. Late in the draft, let the guy who didn't do any research sink or swim on his own, not be propped up by something he bought. Calling it a crutch isn't applicable to everyone, but it's certainly valid for a lot of owners.

While everyone stumbles over each other trying to one-up the side-splitting technology jokes, keep in mind that it's not really about how "modern" the tool is. It's the concept of 12 personalities drafting-- the homer, the guy who reaches too early for players, the guy who just plays hunches, the guy who loves rookies-- versus a bunch of guys who simply use a laptop to compensate for what they don't know. Sure, you don't HAVE to let it make all the decisions for you, but when they're left to your own knowledge and they're not sure what to do...many owners do just that. Again, it's not about hating technology. Hiring a knowledgeable guy to sit in and coach you through your draft would be the same concept, and kind of lame imo.

I understand that some (perhaps many) people take our hobby and turn it into a part-time job. They're in a dozen leagues with people they barely know. That's fine, and maybe in those cases using a laptop doesn't change any dynamics. But if you're playing with friends and it's not for bank-busting amounts of money, I think it's kind of cool if the people themselves actually draft their teams, and let their personalities be reflected in their lineups.

Banning laptops is silly, of course.DD is a great organizational tool; I've never used it, but I see the value in it.

That said, some guys do simply draft according to what their program says.... In my only live draft, 2 or 3 guys draft with the DD. At least two of them fall into the bolded description above; they would stink up the joint if they had to do their own work. So it is an "advantage" in that they usually end up with a better team than they would have otherwise. I don't care that they use a laptop, it doesn't give them an advantage over me or the other good players.... it just makes it so that we are drafting against 2 or 3 competent computer programs instead of a borderline incompetent person. No different than any other crutch, I guess. In the last 4 years only one of those owners has made it to the title game, so they aren't doing themselves any real favors.

As easy as DD should make things, it's always the laptoppers that hold things up...

 

[roadkill1292]

I am in a league with a bunch of old timers (45-50). No one uses a laptop but we have no rule banning it. Most of the guys in my league have a hard enough time crossing off players from a cheatsheet while drinking, eating and smoking cigars. Giving them a laptop would be pointless but if someone did draft with a computer they would be the butt of many jokes.

This probably reflects my league's demographics as well, average age is probably mid-forties. Also, we're an auction league which I strongly recommend switching to if your league's in person draft is devolving into a bunch of semi-automated picks. You can certainly still use a program to help you at an auction but I betcha it's more difficult.

 

[Liquid Tension]

This is the time of year in my league where people put forth any ideas for rule tweaks for the upcoming year. Today, this email came across:

I've got another one that I want to put up to vote, controversial though it may be. Let's take it back to the old-school and outlaw the use of laptops at the draft! I'd like this added to the docket for voting. Non-Laptop crowd: Aren't you sick of coming in with your papers, magazines, cheat-sheets, and scribbled notes, only to see four or five guys using computer programs that override the subjectivity of the draft by telling owners which players are the best value out there? Haven't we noticed that these laptop guys inevitably get their come-uppance? Look at last year....Mo, Andy, Marrato...probably the three best teams in the league, all did it without the laptops, because they used their brains. Wouldn't you like to see all owners do it this way? Why don't we see these guys get their come-uppance just a little bit earlier, and draft like men, like the rest of us, without an electronic crutch! I know I'll have support from my non-laptop brethren in Joe, Bragg, Mo, Andy, Marrato, Bernie, Giaco...let's take the power back, plus it would make it easier to have the draft at a bar.

My reply was:

Jack and I have had the discussion already, and I guess we'll agree to disagree. Here's my point: at this stage in the evolution of fantasy football, laptops and drafting software is essentially the same thing that magazines were 5-7 years ago. Soon they will become the standard and fighting against them for some really nondescript reason (primarily "I don't do it that way so you shouldn't either") is silly and/or petty. Now I do agree that if someone has a program running, they should only be allowed to share the info it provides them insomuch as anyone using lists/magazines/brains is allowed to share their opinions/info with other people. Furthermore, the sheer logic with which Jack rails against the laptops ("probably the three best teams in the league, all did it without the laptops") implies that the laptops serve as a handicap, not a help. Really, it says that you should in fact ENCOURAGE competition to use laptops, not discourage. Also, I'll be more than happy to have the draft at a bar, and I don't see how/why the location would make people more or less likely to use a laptop. The truth of it is that I'm at the point where I've used the program so much that it doesn't provide me tons more help than just printed lists would. I now use it as a guideline, but more often than not I don't choose the exact player that the program tells me. However, I don't feel that just because I don't need it as much I should have the authority to limit what self-contained resources others might want to utilize. In fact, there are some benefits to the league/draft as a whole that the program I use does provide. It provides us a timer for each pick. Also, it creates very realiable record (easily searched and accessed) of who has already been taken, by whom, and when so that in the later rounds (and in the case of some people, the early rounds) we can work to ensure the same players aren't chosen multiple times. Yes, the draft board can do this, but it eats up more time at a point in the draft where we all usually want to just move things along. For those of us that have entered the results online, it provides a very clean format for emailing out the draft results very shortly after the conclusion. It also gives the "team strength" lists that many of us like to discuss, debate, and ridicule each other for during the breaks in drafting.

I'm guessing some of you have run up against this before and was looking towards advice on how to beat down this dumb idea.

I think this guy in your league is a moron and his request is idiotic and without merit of ANY kind

 

[Two Deep]

You should have your draft preparation completed and your entire draft memorized long before draft day. If your looking at the draft dominator or whatever other draft aide, you have already lost. We've got one lap top guy in our dynasty league and it will be fifteen years before he is competitive with the mistakes he has made. I say let the geeks use their laptops

I'm not so sure you've accurately identified the geek. Is it the guy using the computer or the guy that has completely memorized his draft?

Good One !

 

[wadegarrett]

I'm surprised he sent this proposal out via email. You should ask why he didn't just write a letter, put a stamp on it, and mail one out to each and every member.

 

[glock]

In my local $$ league I have taken to adding something new to my draft day repertoire every year. First it was my own table and chair to seperate myself from the table of neanderthals asking for pen and paper minutes before the draft. Then it was my own cooler...custom draft sheets in a binder...then it was colored markers...a calculator...pre-printed roster sheets to keep track of the players drafted, salaries, cap room, etc. Every year there were little comments about "glocks little table" and "Lookit those sheets...uh, can I have one?" Then along came the laptop...



Then a beach umbrella to help with the heat (backyard draft) and the glare on the lappy....followed by a large oscilating fan which was of course mocked heavily at first...but somehow manged to move itself around several times during the draft. Last year I added a clip-on fan to my table and pointed it "there" to help keep me cool.

Since the advent of the computer my handwriting has gone from bad to worse to almost non-existant. I just don't write anymore- I type. I'm still the only guy in the league who packs a laptop and use the DD with my own tweaked rankings. Gone are the magazines and the pre-printed blank roster sheets- well, for me anyway. I still bring them for the guys. As our first leagues first back-to-back champion they will have to pry my laptop from my cold, stiff fingers before I give it up.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

In my local $ league I have taken to adding something new to my draft day repertoire every year. First it was my own table and chair to seperate myself from the table of neanderthals asking for pen and paper minutes before the draft. Then it was my own cooler...custom draft sheets in a binder...then it was colored markers...a calculator...pre-printed roster sheets to keep track of the players drafted, salaries, cap room, etc. Every year there were little comments about "glocks little table" and "Lookit those sheets...uh, can I have one?" Then along came the laptop... Then a beach umbrella to help with the heat (backyard draft) and the glare on the lappy....followed by a large oscilating fan which was of course mocked heavily at first...but somehow manged to move itself around several times during the draft. Last year I added a clip-on fan to my table and pointed it "there" to help keep me cool.Since the advent of the computer my handwriting has gone from bad to worse to almost non-existant. I just don't write anymore- I type. I'm still the only guy in the league who packs a laptop and use the DD with my own tweaked rankings. Gone are the magazines and the pre-printed blank roster sheets- well, for me anyway. I still bring them for the guys. As our first leagues first back-to-back champion they will have to pry my laptop from my cold, stiff fingers before I give it up.

You're about 1-2 years away from just backing up the "glock-cruiser" for your own BBQ / Draft-fest. I'm in favor of this.

 

[chris1969]

To my esteemed brethren of the assembly, I beseech you to closely examine the aforementioned proposal. It has been proposed today that a distinguished gentleman that uses FBG is somehow not distinguished. It's been proposed that we somehow do not prepare as hard or that somehow we are not as active as the distinguished gentleman with the legal pad and the football magazine. I, in fact propose today that neither perception is true. I propose that today, like the early days of the NFL, we have simply evolved. We have all started with the football magazine! We have all started with the legal pad! We have seen the future and the future is now! When you propose that we don't prepare, I propose that we prepare more, scouring 30,000 pages of content for any little bit of data that we make our team better. We you propose that we aren't active, I propose that we are the most active in the league! We make more trades. We waive and pick up more players. We are what makes this league competitive! So if my proposal is true, why would anyone want to stop such progress in our league? I'm ashamed to admit it, but it boils down to simple jealousy! There are a few gentlemen among us looking for an excuse as to why they can't compete! There are a few among us that feel that the only way they can compete as equals, is to take away the tools of the gentleman that excels! I ask you, would you take away the carpenter's hammer? Would you take away the artist's brush? I'd like to close with a true picture of what my brethren have proposed today. They would simply like to cripple the strong so the weak can compete. Is that what you really want? Do you want a weaker league? I leave you with 2 famous statements to think over....

The first is from Dr. Martin Luther King, "Cheat at last, cheat at last, thank God almighty we can cheat at last!"

The second is from Bill Belichick, "Cheaters always prosper!!!"

 

[az_prof]

In my local $$ league I have taken to adding something new to my draft day repertoire every year. First it was my own table and chair to seperate myself from the table of neanderthals asking for pen and paper minutes before the draft. Then it was my own cooler...custom draft sheets in a binder...then it was colored markers...a calculator...pre-printed roster sheets to keep track of the players drafted, salaries, cap room, etc. Every year there were little comments about "glocks little table" and "Lookit those sheets...uh, can I have one?" Then along came the laptop... Then a beach umbrella to help with the heat (backyard draft) and the glare on the lappy....followed by a large oscilating fan which was of course mocked heavily at first...but somehow manged to move itself around several times during the draft. Last year I added a clip-on fan to my table and pointed it "there" to help keep me cool.Since the advent of the computer my handwriting has gone from bad to worse to almost non-existant. I just don't write anymore- I type. I'm still the only guy in the league who packs a laptop and use the DD with my own tweaked rankings. Gone are the magazines and the pre-printed blank roster sheets- well, for me anyway. I still bring them for the guys. As our first leagues first back-to-back champion they will have to pry my laptop from my cold, stiff fingers before I give it up.

I don't know if you are joking or serious, but either way, you are the kind of guy I want to play with--ummm, can I have a beer?

 

[TitusIII]

I use my lap-top in the same manner I used to use notebooks, nevertheless, if the majority of my league wanted to "ban" them, I'd go along. I think it's pointless nowadays, especially if you have an auction league, but whatever floats your boat. You old timers will be dead before long!

 

[H.K.]

I've never come across this, but you could say "if you want to do it like 'real men' as you say then let's all draft from memory - no laptops, no magazines, no notes or scripts of any kind. Is that what you want?"

Best way to draft.