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Please join me in eliminating this word from the Shark Pool/Board (1 Viewer)

Ministry of Pain

Footballguy
Greetings everyone, 

I have been sitting on this for a while now and I even am guilty of using this word and didn't realize how offensive it likely is until more recently in the last couple years. Definitely, 2020 has had an impact on me in so many ways I couldn't begin to list all of them. This particular word just seems wrong and I am going to offer a couple of other suggestions/solutions as I have given it a lot of thought. 

The word I think is offensive and one we should strive not to use in here is/are "Owner/Own" when we are talking about human beings. I will not dignify the obvious vertical here, I think most of you understand when I say Own/Owner and we are talking about human beings vs Christmas Trees.

I am not launching an assault on anyone. It's totally OK if you never thought twice about it until right now but I invite you to take a step back like a lot of us did when they outlawed the H2H strikes in the secondary and defenseless receiver and I'm simply asking you to think about it and please join me in using a couple different words that will say the same thing and be a lot less obtuse as a group and please hear me out. 

My Suggestions: Managers because that's what we are really doing, acting as GMs, we don't really own these guys. You can abbreviate this with FFM for fantasy football managers and it's only 3 letters long, everyone knows what you mean. My next suggestion is Player because that's what you are doing. You're playing a game, you're gambling, most of us in here. FFP similar to FFM. 

-I want to stress, I'm not running for office around here, it's just simply the right thing to do. I try and do my best in the Shark Pool to be as neutral as possible and always treat others the way I want to be treated...sometimes I miss the mark. This season has been a roller coaster and I've already applauded all of you for making this season one of the very best I can ever remember despite the pandemic and I want to give back and do something for ALL of US. 

I'll open the floor up and I hope many of you join me. We don't have to discuss why we should do this, I feel it's painfully obvious. If there are some other words people feel should be discussed, please speak up. We had an NFL team renamed  🤷‍♂️   It's just time everyone, you know it and I know it.

👍

 
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I appreciate the sentiment and understand the concern, even though in this case I don't necessarily agree and actually don't feel that it's painfully obvious why we shouldn't use Owner/Own in this context. This is fantasy football at the end of the day - it's a game and in my view, using this language is not impactful and doesn't represent anything other than a convenient way to express what we're doing. Having said that, like you say, there are alternatives and if people want to use them, that's fine.

I'll leave it at that.

 
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I appreciate the sentiment and understand the concern, even though in this case I don't necessarily agree and actually don't feel that it's painfully obvious why we shouldn't use Owner/Own in this context. This is fantasy football at the end of the day - it's a game and in my view, using this language is not impactful and doesn't represent anything other than a convenient way to express what we're doing. Having said that, like you say, there are alternative and if people want to use them, that's fine.

I'll leave it at that.
I'd rather someone be honest and I might change the main word int he title just a shade. 

I'm not going to rebuttal you, the point isn't to start a holy war over it. 

 
I have supported most of your posts over the years, but this is over the top. This thread wont last 24hrs.
I appreciate the kind words and the direct sentence to boot. Maybe we can move it to another forum but it directly relates to this one. 

I'm not pointing fingers or mad in any way, it just seems like something we should discuss and get ahead of. 

I'm hoping more folks think it's a positive than a negative but we'll find out. 

 
I appreciate the sentiment and understand the concern, even though in this case I don't necessarily agree and actually don't feel that it's painfully obvious why we shouldn't use Owner/Own in this context. This is fantasy football at the end of the day - it's a game and in my view, using this language is not impactful and doesn't represent anything other than a convenient way to express what we're doing. Having said that, like you say, there are alternative and if people want to use them, that's fine.

I'll leave it at that.
Someone just got owned.

 
Greetings everyone, 

I have been sitting on this for a while now and I even am guilty of using this word and didn't realize how offensive it likely is until more recently in the last couple years. Definitely, 2020 has had an impact on me in so many ways I couldn't begin to list all of them. This particular word just seems wrong and I am going to offer a couple of other suggestions/solutions as I have given it a lot of thought. 

The word I think is offensive and one we should strive not to use in here is/are "Owner/Own" when we are talking about human beings. I will not dignify the obvious vertical here, I think most of you understand when I say Own/Owner and we are talking about human beings vs Christmas Trees.

I am not launching an assault on anyone. It's totally OK if you never thought twice about it until right now but I invite you to take a step back like a lot of us did when they outlawed the H2H strikes in the secondary and defenseless receiver and I'm simply asking you to think about it and please join me in using a couple different words that will say the same thing and be a lot less obtuse as a group and please hear me out. 

My Suggestions: Managers because that's what we are really doing, acting as GMs, we don't really own these guys. You can abbreviate this with FFM for fantasy football managers and it's only 3 letters long, everyone knows what you mean. My next suggestion is Player because that's what you are doing. You're playing a game, you're gambling, most of us in here. FFP similar to FFM. 

-I want to stress, I'm not running for office around here, it's just simply the right thing to do. I try and do my best in the Shark Pool to be as neutral as possible and always treat others the way I want to be treated...sometimes I miss the mark. This season has been a roller coaster and I've already applauded all of you for making this season one of the very best I can ever remember despite the pandemic and I want to give back and do something for ALL of US. 

I'll open the floor up and I hope many of you join me. We don't have to discuss why we should do this, I feel it's painfully obvious. If there are some other words people feel should be discussed, please speak up. We had an NFL team renamed  🤷‍♂️   It's just time everyone, you know it and I know it.

👍
Real life I agree as nobody owns anyone.   The key word here is "Fantasy" as in not real.  I am a Matt Stafford "owner" in my league.  I pay 250.00 a year to own my team.  Matt Stafford makes 27 million a year...or he makes more in one snap a game than it costs for me to own my team or him in my league.

Plus we are re-draft so I won`t own him forever.   :)

 
Imagine an NFL GM saying "I own his ###" or "I own that guy and he has to do what I tell him to"

These are things that play out in social media all the time and players speak out about injustices. 

I also would point out that females play fantasy football and there is another vertical that involves human tr_ff_c_ing and I would like to stay away from that angle but so much is changing, we have female broadcasters now, female referees, female coaches, do we really want to be female "owners" when they inevitably break into the NFL as Kickers? 

You just haven't thought about it in the right light. 

 
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what about “have” or “got”?   wouldn’t those also imply “ownership?” 
 

I’ve rarely used the word “own” to my recollection.  
 

i think it’s something that could/should be discussed, but change isn’t going to happen overnight.  
 

 
Imagine an NFL GM saying "I own his ###" or "I own that guy and he has to do what I tell him to"

These are things that play out in social media all the time and players speak out about injustices. 
Would love to see an example or three of “these things play out in social media all the time.” A professional sports franchise owner saying those things regarding a player he employs would be rightfully slaughtered in the media.  

A fantasy football player saying that he “owns“ a player, one in which he doesn’t employ, doesn’t direct, and doesn’t have communication with is so far removed from the example you gave that it makes this feel like nothing more than a fishing trip. 

If this had any legitimate merit there’d be at least one like of the original post an hour later.  There isn’t.

 
Interesting post MOP.  I applaud you for your effort to make positive change knowing that you would get some backlash.  

Reminds me of the time a friend who has a child with down syndrome told me how he knew people weren’t being malicious when they tossed the word “######” around, but that it still hurt his feelings. As a society we can either continue using the word ###### in a disparaging way and Dads like him would just have to deal with the pain, or society could simply change one word in their vocabulary and save a lot of hurt feelings.  I haven’t used the word ###### disparagingly since.  

Small actions lead to big changes.  I’ll switch to using “manage” from now on.  Thanks for leading MOP.   

 
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Didn’t someone write this take a couple years ago?
Yeah, Joe said he was going to switch to GMs as usage, and he has. I support it and do the same almost all of the time. I have and sometimes will still use "own" when another usage is too clunky or ambiguous to what I'm getting at, but I've never been comfortable with the word "owner."

But personally, I think it's an end-user choice best left to discretion and possible persuasion by the industry standard changing from "own" to "roster," "have," or "GM."

Again, just because I choose it doesn't mean I'm a ninny or judge other people. It's my usage that I have to be comfortable with, so I do it.  

 
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Didn’t someone write this take a couple years ago?
I'm hoping I won't be alone and I think I should just say it more like I'm doing this and I hope others join me. 

I'm not going to light folks up for using it but I want others to know what I mean when I say FFM or FFP or something other than the word Owner, we can do better. 

 
Yeah, Joe said he was going to switch to GMs as usage, and he has. I support it and do the same almost all of the time. I have and sometimes will still use "own" when another usage is too clunky or ambiguous to what I'm getting at, but I've never been comfortable with the word "owner."

But personally, I think it's an end-user choice best left to discretion and possible persuasion by the industry standard changing from "own" to "roster," "have," or "GM."

Again, just because I choose it doesn't mean I'm a ninny or judge other people. It's my usage that I have to be comfortable with, so I do it.  
I'm happy to hear that. He was even more ahead of this and I applaud it. 

GM works, I like that. 

 
I don't fault someone for desiring to make a change in their own actions/speech that they feel is beneficial and the "right thing to do". In fact, I applaud it.

However, that's where I draw the line, particularly in matters as innocuous as this.....for, in reality, the only way to truly assure that you offend nobody is to say nothing, and that's not a realistic nor viable option.

So, I shall tolerate the opinions of others, in hopes that they will likewise tolerate mine. Live and let live = Freedom.

Let's not continue to slowly let it erode away in the name of political/social correctness, particularly in matters where it is obvious that no offense is implied or intended.

 
Not trying to own anyone.  Just seems like shtick. I have been on this forum long enough to where it seems like shtick for a guy like MOP,  who is notoriously aggressive and strong with his words, to suddenly be so sensitive about something so inconsequential. Seems out of character. 
Kind of my point

 
Interesting post MOP.  I applaud you for your effort to make positive change knowing that you would get some backlash.  

Reminds me of the time a friend who has a child with down syndrome told me how he knew people weren’t being malicious when they tossed the word “######” around, but that it still hurt his feelings. As a society we can either continue using the word ###### in a disparaging way and Dads like him would just have to deal with the pain, or society could simply change one word in their vocabulary and save a lot of hurt feelings.  I haven’t used the word ###### disparagingly since.  

Small actions lead to big changes.  I’ll switch to using “manage” from now on.  Thanks for leading MOP.   
I truly appreciate your kind words Tommy, and I don't think there will be backlash. I don't expect the word to magically disappear, it's still personal choice. 

I guess I'm endorsing what Joe announced a couple years ago and joining him. 

 
I don't say 'own' or 'owner' when avoidable because I think it sounds tacky. Offensive? I don't know about that. Exactly who is it offending? I highly doubt the players care even a little bit about a bunch of nerds on a ff forum.

We don't literally own these human beings, obviously. An entirely different meaning in context. This is called a homynym.

I dont know brother. I'll try my best if it bums you out; but sometimes it's unavoidable.

 
I don't say 'own' or 'owner' when avoidable because I think it sounds tacky.
Yes! tacky is another good point. 

I'll never tell someone to stop posting it, I guess I'm simply stating I am done using it  and hope others will consider it. 

 
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Yes! tacky is another good point. 

I'll never tell someone to stop posting it, I guess I'm simply stating I am done using it  and hope others will consider it. 
It's tacky because its an awkward phrase.  However, we "buy", "sell" and "trade" and collectively treat these guys like commodities.  The lexicon of fantasy football is full of such jargon.  Operative word is "fantasy".  We know we don't literally own these players any more than a hotel on Boardwalk.

 
Its usually meant to be a distinction between the football players and the fantasy players.

If I say players for both that gets too confusing.

I can see why it may bother some people and I am not opposed to using some other term for the fantasy football team manager. I just want people to be able to understand what I am saying.

 
It's tacky because its an awkward phrase.  However, we "buy", "sell" and "trade" and collectively treat these guys like commodities.  The lexicon of fantasy football is full of such jargon.  Operative word is "fantasy".  We know we don't literally own these players any more than a hotel on Boardwalk.
It's not even the players, if we're being realistic. It's the rights to their fantasy points scored in any given week during the season, and whether they are in play or not. Much like you're alluding to.. just production value on a market.

 
Schtick or not, I like the awareness and appreciate the effort.

"Roster" might be another word to consider - "I am sick of rostering RoJo because of Bruce Arians' ridiculous backfield decisions;" or "I rostered Koo, and there is no need for me to roster another kicker, ever."

 
The "Board Rules" topic at the top of the forum page may need to be unlocked to add this in there. It's been 5 years since a new reply. Seems worth enough to me. "Banned words: 'own', or any form of."

 
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Sometimes we take things a little too far...this is one of them....nobody in their right mind thinks our use of the word is in the context you are trying to feed us...seriously....?

Teams own the rights to players, etc.... it’s used in mainstream all the time.....you are really reaching here to equate this to something it completely is not....

 

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