But now it's time for the big finale. Of all the responses I received to last week's question, none did a better job of packing more information into fewer words than Michael's:

We want green FFers to have a good experience [in their first draft] so that they will multiply into more FF players and make this game we love that much more [popular]. Well, to be honest, I am sort of surprised that you don’t have them do the obvious while plugging your website. You could simply print up business cards with the following instructions (88 words including title):
A Rookie's Guide to Fantasy Football Drafting

1. Goto fftoday.com
2. Click on rankings/projections
3. Click on each cheatsheet (QB&RB, WR&TE, K&DEF, IDP-if necessary)
4. Change dropdown ADP to size of league (10team, 12team, 14team – if 8team use 10team)
5. Print out each cheatsheet including ADP
6. Bring cheatsheets to your draft.
7. Cross off players as they get drafted and use the ADP as a guide to pick a position.
8. Make sure to draft every position that you need during the draft.
9. Have fun.

Those instructions give them all the tools they need while giving your website more traffic. Not to mention that those rookie players get the added security of having the instructions in hand when they leave you. And yes, that last line is in the same vein as the Hitchhiker's Guide's usage of "Don't Panic." It's a simple reminder--but one that tends to be useful.

Michael does not just know how to explain a process in as few words as possible. He also knows how to push exactly the right buttons for me to have no choice but to call his response the best of the bunch. My thanks to him and to everyone else who wrote in.

This Week's Question: What rules does your league use to make roster size a significant component of team management?

If you scroll up to review the auction draft snapshots from Steve, you will see that both of the owners featured in his response ended up with sixteen players. To the best of my knowledge, that is the average size of a fantasy roster. The typical fantasy lineup calls for eight players (1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 kicker, and 1 defense), and the traditional roster of sixteen players allows fantasy owners to carry backups at every position.

In some leagues, owners are required to draft exactly two quarterbacks and exactly four wide receivers, but most leagues have moved away from that kind of rigidity. These days, few commissioners object to owners who would rather have three running backs and five receivers (instead of carrying four of each all season).

Consequently, a lot of owners refuse to tie up a roster spot with a backup kicker. They use one kicker until his bye week comes up and then cut him for a new kicker that will last until the end of the season. In most cases, they use the roster spot that could have gone to a backup kicker to carry an extra RB or WR.

Some owners will cut their backup kicker just to make room for an extra QB even if they already have two or three quarterbacks on their roster. These owners are usually less interested in giving themselves more choices at QB than in depriving their competitors of such options. Such is life in the cutthroat world of fantasy football.

Brian finds this approach less appropriate for some leagues than others:

I have no problem if you want to pick up a guy like Kevin Ogletree on the basis of one good game. Put your $5 transaction fee in the kitty and roll the dice to see if he pans out.

But this year a friend got me to join his online league. They don't have transaction fees.

I watched a rival owner in this league cut his backup kicker to pick up Ogletree. It cost the guy nothing but a mouse-click. What if Ogletree falls off the radar next week? The owner will probably just cut him for the next flavor of the week.

If your league doesn't charge a transaction fee, you can just pick up and discard players all season long. Where's the challenge in that? Shouldn't there be something to keep you from being frivolous about modifying your roster? You don't see NFL owners whimsically dropping and adding players at a moment's notice.

In my opinion, leagues that don't charge transaction fees should definitely have smaller rosters than leagues that do. That way at least there would be some kind of RISK associated with taking a flyer on a player who comes out of nowhere to light up the scoreboard. You would have to give up a player that matters for a guy like Ogletree--not just some random kicker that nobody cares about.

Shrinking the roster is the easiest solution that I can think of, but do you know of any other tricks commissioners can use to make owners take roster changes seriously?

I will resist the urge to respond to Brian's question in this week's column. I would rather keep the field clear for other readers to give their own answers before chiming in myself. I look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to respond.