It was the most critical time in the eleven-year history
of the league. It was the night before the beginning of week four
in the NFL and no one had yet received the stats picture from week
three. Phone calls were made, and the worst fears of any fantasy
league were soon becoming clear. The commissioner had quit and had
failed to notify anyone of his absence. It was apparent someone
had to make the mighty leap from being a mere participant to playing
the all-important role of league commissioner, and the leap had
to be made now. With a brave heart, and sicker stomach, I made the
jump for the good of the league where my fantasy football illness
had started. All parties involved, save the old commissioner who
was completely underground, were fine with the decision and happy
they were not going to be the one assuming the position. (I leave
the "position assumed" to your imagination.)
I am not sure what possessed me to do the insane. Almost everyone
in the league had done a stint as the commissioner, and the last
time I had been the commissioner was before the digital age. For
two years I worked every Monday and Tuesday with the box scores
from the local papers squinting for hours while trying to retrieve
the stats from the past week's action. For two years I had line-ups
given to me on napkins, scraps of paper and via the answering machine.
For two years I had put up with whiny league owners saying I shorted
their player .07 points, or begging me to take their line-ups after
the prescribed deadline. For two years I had done this and never
been thanked or recognized for my timely performance, and now I
was going to enter the arena again. I was determined to make the
experience different this time and, thankfully, I had a companion
to share the experience with.
My wife began her life in rural Alberta as a sweet farm girl. She
had never watched a full football game in her life before she met
me. Since our meeting I have managed to corrupt her into a football
fanatic who loves the Raiders and has a fair understanding of fantasy
football. She even counseled me on the last draft over the Internet
and she plays an active role in rooting for my guys against all
others. Fortunately for me, she is also a web designer for a local
ISP and was willing to share the insanity. She took the first steps
in league reorganization by spending four hours designing the web
site. It was at this point, with week three yet to be figured, week
four in progress and week five on the horizon, that I began to reflect
on the role of commissioner in the information age.
Foremost in any league, the commissioner is the center of communication.
All line-ups, trades, transactions statistics and disputes flow
through their screen. Our entire league has access to computers,
and this has enhanced the role of the commissioner. The happiness
of any league is depended upon timely and accurate information and
this function of the commissioner is what consumes most of the time
during the season. It can be a pain, owners whine, mistakes are
made and people can get frantic, but the commissioner must be the
one to sort out all of the crap and arrive at the just and final
decision. The use of email has simplified the process as all email
is time stamped and there are no disputes over when a call was made
or a line-up went in for the week. Mass emails have made the commissioner's
job easier as one message can be sent to all of the owners with
a single stroke on the keyboard. This alone has saved hours on the
telephone playing tag with everyone's answering machine. Email technology
itself has improved the life of a commissioner, but it has also
allowed a commissioner to utilize their biggest asset, the style
by which they handle their league.
There are two fundamental styles of commissioners and they are much
like the business models adopted by real business people. There
is the "I Am God" commissioner who will operate from the approach
of top-down and will make all of their decisions unilaterally. Their
edicts will be made with little to no input from any member of the
league. The philosophy of this style of commissioner is "my
way, the wrong way or the highway." If you don't like it you
know where you can go. The other style of commissioner has a pluralistic
standpoint where owners are consulted on any league action. Their
opinions are considered and registered; yet this style of commissioner
still realizes that they will have the final say on any decision
for the league and they are willing to make it. Their philosophy
is, the league is not mine, but ours and I have a role to play in
it. Top down management has been found wanting, while the later
is the adopted style of many successful companies. No matter which
style your league has adopted, the explosion of the Internet has
made life easier than the scratch paper and calculator days.
Today there are so many sites out there the glean stats from, get
the low down on player information and have a site where you can
exchange thoughts and opinions. FFToday.com is one of the best sites
going, but it seems every .com has gotten into the fantasy sports
business. You can play on ESPN, CBS.com, CNN/SI, and NFL.com and
actually win money but as far as the commissioner is concerned,
there are plenty of sites to get the weekly stats. There are so
many sites, leagues are adopting two or three as the "official"
sites for settling and disputes. One of the best features out is
on NFL.com and it is called "Player Tracker." By registering your
name and password, you can have up to fifteen players on the site
and the stats come up in almost real time scoring. This has been
great for immediate stats as some of the sites, like ESPN, may take
up to an hour and a half to get the stats up from games already
played. If you are still locked into using the newspaper, virtually
every newspaper in the country has their own web site. Two of the
best, and easiest to use, are The New York Times and USA Today.
A commissioner today has no excuse for being late with the week's
stats, nor should they be. Everyone in the league is depending on
them for the news, commentary and current events.
To the end of generating information, my league has a web
site, and results can be posted almost immediately. The commissioner's
page is up dated once a week, and the stats are updated as the games
finish. Links to all of the league members are on the front page
as are the line-ups for the week and the draft selections of the
owners. We are able to keep the player pool up dated to the week
and the commissioner has a forum to speak from and disseminate information
to all. We are in the process of putting in a bulletin board for
owner comments and the entire package has made the management of
information stream lined. The final postings for the week are in
on Tuesday evening, I have a day job, and remain there until they
have to be cleared the following Sunday. Players email their line-ups
in and they are posted as they arrive. Weekly matchups are there
for all to see, as are the cumulative and weekly totals. It is much
faster and more accurate than the old pencil and paper days, and
mistakes can be taken care of before the final postings of the week.
It has only made the actual purpose of fantasy football better.
Everyone is in it for the fun, the competition and the camaraderie.
The key to achieving this is the management of the information and
sense of fun and fair play exuded by the commissioner.
I know a former commissioner of a keeper league in California who
allowed his league to fold. He was consistently late with the stats,
he did not keep up with his league owners and would not listen to
what the owners had to say. The reason he allowed his league to
fall into such disrepair was that he was in last place and had no
chance of winning. As a result he just let it die. Being the commissioner
is like unplugging a toilet. It is a dirty job, but if it is not
done, and done right, then there is crap all over the place and
the stink will not go away. Everyone who has played fantasy football
has probably had the experience of being at the bottom of the league
standings and it sucks. Still, losing is as much a part of the game
as injuries, disappointing draft selections and stupid coaching
decisions. Being at the bottom is not an excuse to punish everyone
beating you, it is a wake up call to make some deals and try to
improve your sorry season. This is the single advantage of being
commissioner.
As commissioner, you are the person with a finger on the pulse of
NFL performance. Few, if any, of the owners take the time to go
through the box scores of every game played in the NFL on any given
Sunday. You are the one who knows who is hot, who is falling like
a stone, who was arrested two hours before game time and who just
made the physically unable to perform list. Having this information
is critical for making trades and free agent pick-ups. Other than
this, being the commissioner is a thankless job with rotten pay,
long hours and large responsibilities. It is like being a schoolteacher,
the job is not to be taken lightly, but it should be taken with
fun. I invite you to check out our web site and you will see my
sorry team near the bottom of the points list, but I am having a
blast and the rest of the people in the league are also having fun.
A commissioner can only rate their success by the number of people
who decide to play the following years, I hope we are all back for
next season.
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