What to do with a dud owner... (1 Viewer)

[Jayrod]

Here's the situation:

12-team startup dynasty league with many compexities. We did an online auction that lasted a month for veterans and then had a rookie draft. We have contract years assigned to players, a developmental taxi squad and blind bid waivers. Not a cupcake league by any stretch. We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested (weekly payouts for top scores, etc.)

So there is this owner that has been behind on every aspect of getting this league set up:

1) He showed up a full week late to the auction...some player auction's had already been completed before he dropped a single dollar into the mix. Not a big issue, but annoying.

2) He failed to clear space from his roster to his taxi squad to make room for the rookie draft. We had to stop the real-time draft so the commissioner could go in and adjust his roster. He was not online, but on autodraft.

3) He failed to turn in his contracts on time. Our deadline was Sept 2. The commish got an e-mail on Sept 5 asking what the contracts thing was about. The commish replied that day, but the owner didn't get it taken care of until this Monday, Sept 8. He was supposed to have it done in order to submit a valid roster for week 1.

4) He failed to even log in and attempt to enter a roster to start week 1. The result? A bye for one of the other teams. He hadn't logged onto the league website for over a week. This is the thing that bothers me the most.

5) He finally logs in on Monday and sets a lineup for week 2, but tries an illegal roster move with his taxi squad that the commish has to fix.

So here we are with a guy that has screwed up on everything we've tried to do. Some owners are pissed about the week 1 no-roster issue but some are willing to give the guy another chance. I'm curious to know what you guys think.

The owner in question is a friend of one other league member, but no one else knows him. He moved cities at some point this Summer (I think right before the auction started...at least that was his excuse for being late) and is a doctor...so its not like he isn't legitimately busy.

 

[tomarken]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

 

[fsufan]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

 

[Jayrod]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

 

[spOOfy]

I'd explain that what he's doing is really screwing up the league. Give him the out to drop himself (instead of booting him). Tell him if it continues, sorry, but you'll have to replace him. If you have someone lined up who wants in, I'll have the new person take over rather than run the team on autopilot or give everyone a bye (since some teams will get more byes than others).

 

[tomarken]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

I'm not trying to be a ####, I mean this as constructive criticism, but if you guys aren't a big-money group you shouldn't have tried to tackle such a complex league. There's way too much work involved in what you've set up to keep people interested. I bet by week 8 you'll have several "dud" owners, not just one.I'm obsessed with fantasy football, and I wouldn't put in all that crazy work with auctions and contracts and whatnot if the prize pool was only like $80.

 

[fsufan]

As a commissioner, my BIG pet peeve is when an owner leaves a player in his line up that is on a bye or hurt. They get a nice warning email first then a nasty email.

 

[Jayrod]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

I'm not trying to be a ####, I mean this as constructive criticism, but if you guys aren't a big-money group you shouldn't have tried to tackle such a complex league. There's way too much work involved in what you've set up to keep people interested. I bet by week 8 you'll have several "dud" owners, not just one.I'm obsessed with fantasy football, and I wouldn't put in all that crazy work with auctions and contracts and whatnot if the prize pool was only like $80.

He is the ONLY guy who is causing any problems. Everyone else has done everything required. For several guys, this is their only league. The commish and I (I'm the asst) are readily available and have helped everyone along on a regular basis. We've had several guys screw things up similar to some of what this guy did, but no one more than a couple of times and they were genuine mistakes, not because of a lack of effort.

 

[Zoomanji]

They guy is too busy to deal with all the intricate nuances of your league. He would be much better off in a draft and forget about it league. His friend probably talked him into joining "Come on, its only a couple minutes a week." neglecting to tell him about the hours of draft time, taxi squad moves and contract assignments.

You're doing him a favor by booting him out. Now he doesn't look like a quitter. Besides, it would probably be 2 weeks before he realizes that you booted him

 

[Jayrod]

They guy is too busy to deal with all the intricate nuances of your league. He would be much better off in a draft and forget about it league. His friend probably talked him into joining "Come on, its only a couple minutes a week." neglecting to tell him about the hours of draft time, taxi squad moves and contract assignments.

You're doing him a favor by booting him out. Now he doesn't look like a quitter. Besides, it would probably be 2 weeks before he realizes that you booted him

I thought the exact same thing.

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

 

[Jayrod]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

Thanks, but you aren't helping.$10 to some of us is a decent amount of money and we'd never spend $100 on a fantasy league. The average household income of the guys I know in this group is probably around $60,000 per year.

 

[Zoomanji]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

Thanks, but you aren't helping.$10 to some of us is a decent amount of money and we'd never spend $100 on a fantasy league. The average household income of the guys I know in this group is probably around $60,000 per year.

Except for the one who is a doctor. Point being, guy probably said, "wait this is all too much effort, I only paid $10, f--- it."ETA- unless he's a podiatrist or dentist. Then I take it all back.

 

[lion_crazz]

I can see the argument everyone else is making as well (with the minimal initial charge).

What is the incentive for everyone in the league to just forget about it once their team starts performing poorly?

In my league, the yearly charge is $125. No one forgets about their team because every owner knows that $800 prize is on the line at the end of the year. We had one guy start 1-4 last season, but he didn't quit. He wound up winning the championship at the end of the year.

If I were you, I would boot the guy from the league. However, like everyone else is saying, be prepared to get rid of others as their teams start getting injured and/or underperforming.

 

[Godsbrother]

If he is a friend I would give him one more chance. If he wasn't then I would just boot him out, close out his team, and give everyone a BYE. That is probably the fairest thing to do since one team already got the bye.

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

Thanks, but you aren't helping.$10 to some of us is a decent amount of money and we'd never spend $100 on a fantasy league. The average household income of the guys I know in this group is probably around $60,000 per year.

i didnt mean to insult your league or anything (i'm actually only play in free leagues this year other than a salary cap game at TSN) But the diference is the leagues im playing are fairly simple keeper leagues (only keep 5) with no contracts or other things to worry about. I have to agree with other people that you'll see more and more drop outs as the season goes on. Its just too much effort for very little reward. If a $100 league is an obscene amount of money for the rest of the league, you really cant blame a doctor for not puting in the effort for the $10 he spent. Just my opinion. Good luck

 

[Irish1995]

I voted give him one more chance but deliver an ultimatum.

That said, your league rules need to specifically cover this sort of situation.

 

[Wu-banger]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

Thanks, but you aren't helping.$10 to some of us is a decent amount of money and we'd never spend $100 on a fantasy league. The average household income of the guys I know in this group is probably around $60,000 per year.

Except for the one who is a doctor. Point being, guy probably said, "wait this is all too much effort, I only paid $10, f--- it."ETA- unless he's a podiatrist or dentist. Then I take it all back.

sounds more like a proctologist to me..

 

[Jayrod]

That said, your league rules need to specifically cover this sort of situation.

They do. Our league rules cover almost everything (I don't think you can 100% cover everything).We put it to a vote and it takes like 75% majority to boot another owner. I think we just need a first and second motion to put it to a vote....there has just been e-mail chains up to this point. I'm just trying to make up my own mind and hear some other arguements.

 

[Lash]

our league has the motto "Your Replacement is a Phone Call Away" - not that that helps you it's just our funny moniker to keep your act together this is serious stuff

one thing you may want to add in your rules - "the commissioner will submit an owner's unsubmitted FIRST WEEK lineup with the highest drafted players at each position to make a valid starting lineup"

this would alleviate the first week "bye"

as for what to do now, i'd call the guy and give him one more chance in a $10 league

 

[stevegamer]

give him the ultimatum, and see if he's in over his head. have a replacement owner lined up - shouldn't be hard here.

I find it interesting that there's that much sentiment for only liking complex leagues if there's money on the line - I thought hobbies were supposed to be fun.

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

give him the ultimatum, and see if he's in over his head. have a replacement owner lined up - shouldn't be hard here.I find it interesting that there's that much sentiment for only liking complex leagues if there's money on the line - I thought hobbies were supposed to be fun.

this would be true if you know 9 or 11 other people dedicated to the league as you are without the money aspect enticing you to stay competitive. it takes maybe one or two games that some owner decides not to pay attention to for a fantasy league to go south at the wrong point in the season. his league is dynasty format, which means you have to go at least 3 years before people see the benefit and the fun of long term planning and already there is one owner not paying attention. i think most people here are not saying the OP should up the money as much as saying downgrade the rules to be more short term oriented and require less planning for owners so that owners like this doesn't completely ruin the league. you could go another route and stay keeper format without all of the complex rules i think. good luck, hope you find a replacement for that guy. giving him another chance really isn't the right move here, people who are not interested in the beginning won't be interested when they're 0-4 for the season with 13 more weeks to go. he's a bye week waiting to happen every week.

 

[FavreCo]

yeah, there's no way i'd deal with all those complex rules for a $10 league. No chance.

Thanks, but you aren't helping.$10 to some of us is a decent amount of money and we'd never spend $100 on a fantasy league. The average household income of the guys I know in this group is probably around $60,000 per year.

Boot the loser and I do mean loser. Inform him that he is a loser in life. As far as the $. $ should not be the deciding factor. It's a major problem with this planet. Fact is, it should be who can out manage the other guy in a competition. I feel sorry for losers who need $ as motivation.

 

[BigRed]

oh the ironyI feel sorry for people who take FF too seriously. To me the most annoying part of this would not be the fact that he is messing up some FF league, but if he had the time and just blew it off out of rudeness. Couldn't say but also suspect it's something his friend talked him into and he didn't realize how complex it was.

He moved cities at some point this Summer (I think right before the auction started...at least that was his excuse for being late) and is a doctor...so its not like he isn't legitimately busy.

Then cut him some slack. I'm thinking moving and taking care of people's health is a tiny bit more important than FF.Anyway I agree you should charge more $ to keep people "properly motivated" - PS $60K/yr per household isn't exactly poverty level - at least not so shabby that you couldn't bump up the dues at least a little. Basically it gets down how important is this hobby to everyone else's leisure time? If significant, should've charged more and made that clear to EVERYONE. If not, the rants and frustrations don't make much sense.

 

[Jayrod]

To me the most annoying part of this would not be the fact that he is messing up some FF league, but if he had the time and just blew it off out of rudeness. Couldn't say but also suspect it's something his friend talked him into and he didn't realize how complex it was.

He moved cities at some point this Summer (I think right before the auction started...at least that was his excuse for being late) and is a doctor...so its not like he isn't legitimately busy.

Then cut him some slack. I'm thinking moving and taking care of people's health is a tiny bit more important than FF.

We have one owner who was on vacation in the Cayman Islands during the auction, is building a house, is a college recruiter/campus organizer (the start of his school year is the busiest time) and volunteers for 10 hours a week at his church. He was able to do everything.We have another owner who is in the Army and got sent to the Middle East in mid-August. He's been able to do everything.

We have another owner who is also a doctor (friend of the guy in question) and is also in the Army and also got sent to the Middle East in late August. He's been able to do everything.

Time really isn't the problem. The guy wouldn't even respond to the commish's e-mails.

He failed to submit a week 1 roster. :( Did he not know the NFL season started?

 

[dagwood]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

No offense....but $10 a man acts as an incentive?......wow....But seriously...sounds like the league is just a little over the head of your league mates buddy....I would have the guy that knows him approach him and feel him out...he would probably welcome you getting a replacement....

 

[Jayrod]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

No offense....but $10 a man acts as an incentive?......wow....But seriously...sounds like the league is just a little over the head of your league mates buddy....I would have the guy that knows him approach him and feel him out...he would probably welcome you getting a replacement....

The guy that knows him is in the Middle East somewhere serving as a military doctor. The only way anyone is getting ahold of him is e-mail which he either rarely checks or simply ignores.He got an e-mail from the commish CCing everyone else saying that we are concerned about his willingness to participate. Hopefully he replies by the weekend.

 

[Jayrod]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

There are maybe 2 guys in our league that would have still played had we done that. I would have been out. The core group (8 of us or so) have been doing redraft with this group for a couple of years and it has always been free.We aren't a big-money group, but wanted some incentive to keep playing late in the year.

No offense....but $10 a man acts as an incentive?......wow....

That's why "some" is in italics. We know its not much, but the choices were free or $10. More than $10 and some of the key owners wouldn't have played.We went with $10. Sorry it doesn't meet all of you guys' monetary expectations, but it was perfect for 11 of us.

 

[billjohnson]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

 

[Glatty]

we had this happen in our league a couple years ago.. he drafted well, set his first week lineup and we never heard from him again.. we turned it into a joke of sorts.. his team actually won a few games even with players on bye.. we just busted on whoever lost to him.. it was like playing the Lions

 

[Jayrod]

We charged $10 to join the league to keep everyone interested

Here's your problem. Should have added at least one more zero to that number to avoid this problem.

Like I've said already, more money would have meant other problems...like actually HAVING a league.We chose to have a league instead of not. Not a tough choice.The question is:But if you joined a $10 league, would you fail to submit a week 1 roster?I doubt many people would and that is what we are talking about here. Not the $$$, but the lack of participation.

 

[Dentist]

Except for the one who is a doctor.

Point being, guy probably said, "wait this is all too much effort, I only paid $10, f--- it."

ETA- unless he's a podiatrist or dentist. Then I take it all back.

friggin' anti-dentite.Oh, and $10 shouldn't mean much to anyone at any point.

My all-dentists league this year bumped our entry fee to $250, and the orthodontists and surgeons were pushing for $500, but us poor general dentists couldn't stand the heat.

 

[Big_O]

While I voted for the ultimatum option, I would be interested to know if this guy ever got a full explanation of what he was getting himself into. I don't think most team owners get in a league to stink it up, especially dynasty. I would guess he either got in over his head and doesn't know how to get out, or he "oversold" his friend as to how much he knew about FF in the first place.

If sitting him down and having a face-to-face discussion of what your league is all about, I would try that. If after you have talked you decide he is being a complete idiot about it, you can always boot him then.

My .02

 

[BigRed]

Time really isn't the problem.

Maybe. Or maybe there are other things going on in his life taking more time/priority than you know about. Not everyone in FF puts high priority on it, esp low/no-dollar leagues. I agree it's stupid and rude regardless, just FYI. That said I think it'd be reasonable to give him a boot and his $10 back and find someone else.

The guy wouldn't even respond to the commish's e-mails.

Not everyone checks email around the clock or every day. Don't have a phone #?Not excusing him but this is at least partly your friend's fault too, ie you can't get hold of him either apparently (or he can't get hold of this guy) and/or he didn't make it clear to the guy that people are really into this, and if he wasn't sure he'd have time then don't do it etc etc.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

I absolutely DISAGREE that you have to have more money involved to keep it interesting. No offense, but that's normally an excuse people use who are in boring leagues, leagues with strangers or leagues with owners that are in 15 other leagues already. If you need money to make it interesting, your league isn't that interesting on its own. Find a better format or find better owners.

The problem is that you don't know this guy. He's a friend of one owner? If everyone was friends the competition and bragging rights would be worth playing even at no money. But a stranger isn't going to care.

You don't have a bad owner. You have an absent owner. Find a replacement and cut him loose. He won't care. He might be relieved.

 

[Jayrod]

Time really isn't the problem.

Maybe. Or maybe there are other things going on in his life taking more time/priority than you know about. Not everyone in FF puts high priority on it, esp low/no-dollar leagues. I agree it's stupid and rude regardless, just FYI. That said I think it'd be reasonable to give him a boot and his $10 back and find someone else.

The guy wouldn't even respond to the commish's e-mails.

Not everyone checks email around the clock or every day. Don't have a phone #?Not excusing him but this is at least partly your friend's fault too, ie you can't get hold of him either apparently (or he can't get hold of this guy) and/or he didn't make it clear to the guy that people are really into this, and if he wasn't sure he'd have time then don't do it etc etc.

He should have gotten an indication of what the league was about when the commish sent out the league rules. It was over 10 pages in a Word document and read like a legal brief. Also when words like "dynasty", "auction", "taxi squad", etc. were being used it should have been a really good hint back in June what we were about. Heck the fact that we started in June should have been a hint.And the response to commish e-mails was talking about within 4 or 5 days....not "around the clock or every day".