Anatomy of a Fantasy Football Draft

By: The Commish Report

Let me first introduce myself for those who may not be familiar with the “Commish Report“. The Commish Report is a blog produced by the self-anointed world’s foremost knowledgeable “Commish” (me). That being said I cover various fantasy sports topics as they relate to the everyday life of the average “American Joe”, or if you are a reader who lives north of the boarder, the everyday life of the average “Canadian Jacques”.

Today’s topic as you could probably can decipher from the title of this article covers the anatomy of producing a live fantasy draft — i.e. what actually goes into creating a successful but yet enjoyable live draft.

If you have never heard of fantasy sports, you have either been serving an extensive prison sentence or have been living in cave with you know who. I am sure you can get internet access in both prison and a cave, so no excuses for you. To briefly bring you up to speed, Wikipedia defines fantasy sports as “a game where fantasy owners build a team that competes against other fantasy owners based on the statistics generated by individual players or teams of a professional sport“. The founding father of an early version of fantasy sports is William A. Gamson, a Harvard professor, though modern history has credited a sportswriter named Daniel Okrent with bringing the world of fantasy, or “rotisserie”, sports to the forefront in 1980. Being the modest man that he is, Gamson does not accept the fact that he invented the fantasy sports genre and gives all the credit to Mr. Okrent. My theory on why he denies to take credit is rooted in the belief that his wife and wives (or significant others) across the world would unite and track down Gamson for stealing away their husbands every Sunday in the fall.

Now that you are caught up with the rich history and tradition of fantasy sports lets focus our attention on creating a successful live fantasy football draft. This summer millions of leagues are already taking shape (according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, roughly 14.7 million Americans played fantasy football last year). Now is the time to start planning a live draft. Just following these easy steps for complete fantasy bliss:

Step 1

I will assume you the reader have already chosen a league commissioner, picked a internet site to run the league and configured the points system of your particular league. These details are a necessary evil to run any successful league but you can always use the default settings of your host site. The most important step is choosing a date for the live draft. This task sounds very easy but from experience I can tell you that this is the hardest step in throwing a successful live draft. It is easier to find Ricky Williams without weed than to get 10-12 owners to all decide on a particular day and time to show up for a draft. End of the summer vacations, weddings, births/deaths, bar/bat mitzvahs, and quinceaneras tend to fill up calendars. That is why one must start drawing up the draft day plan early. In one of my oldest and fondest leagues we have moved our draft this season several times before finally deciding on holding it the night before the NFL season actually kicks-off due to the above-mentioned life distractions (I mean blessed events except for the death one). Decide on the date early and if you are the commissioner have in mind some replacement owners just in case someone backs out at the last minute. There is nothing worse than finding out that an owner has to back out of the league at the last minute because he has to attend his son’s bris (click on the word “bris” if you have no idea what I am talking about, but you have been warned). In the first place, it is not like he is actually performing the “thing”. This now sends you scrambling more than Michael Vick in the prison shower looking for a new owner so that your league does not have an odd number of members (bye-weeks are no fun in the world of fanta and reality).

Step 2

Deciding on the venue of the draft. I prefer to have it at an owner’s house who has wi-fi access for those owners who must Google their intended draftee one last time to make sure they are not in a full body cast. Other great venues for a draft include sports bars with private back rooms so as not disturb other bar patrons when a league owner takes a player in the ninth round who was already taken in the fifth round, or a large conference room at a hotel or an owner’s office. “Destination Drafts” is the latest growing trend in the world of fantasy sports. Similar to destination weddings, destination drafts are drafts that take place at a locale out of town. I have one friend in a league that has drafted in Las Vegas, New York City in the past, while this year his league will be heading south of the boarder to draft in Cancun. I find this type of draft filled with too many distractions. Which leads to the number one post draft day debacle: Drinking and Drafting. Just like in real life its okay to partake in a couple of your favorite tasty ice-cold beverages during a draft, but more than a few and you could be kicking yourself come mid-October when your team roster consists of these guys.

Step 3

Come to the draft prepared. As the commissioner, it is your duty and obligation to supply the most essential tool to make the draft more enjoyable. That tool is the draft kit or draft board. You can buy the draft board on various Internet sites (prices may vary). There is nothing worse than an owner not knowing when it’s his/her turn to draft or an owner who takes the same player two, three, or even four times. As a team owner, spend a few minutes researching on the internet the latest team depth charts and injuries. The Fantasy Sports Review website alone has some expert writers who can help you dominate your league (my editor required me to plug the site at least once in this article or I would not be allowed to continue with this article).

Step 4

A fantasy draft is serious business but it is also a social gathering. Have fun, enjoy yourself, and connect with team owners you only see once or twice a year. Make sure every owner brings lots of food and drink. Every draft has that owner who shows up late, who brought nothing to contribute to draft besides his fantasy magazines and cheat sheets and even has to borrow a pen and/or highlighter. He ends up eating more than double than any other owner, drinking his weight in Homer Simpson’s favorite beverage, and tops it all off by stealing your pen. Yes, you know who I am talking about.

In conclusion, if you follow the Commish Report’s four easy steps for throwing a successful live draft (date, location, preparation, and fun) everything else should fall into place. I cannot guarantee you that you will win your league, finish .500 or even one single game but you will be held in the highest regard by your fanta peers and your legend as the commissioner will grow with each passing fantasy season.

Please feel free to pass along any other draft day planning strategies and/or favorite places to hold a live draft. Until next time, happy planning and good luck remaining stress free.

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Matthew Lerner is a full-time attorney and part-time fantasy observer who lives in South Florida and is graduate of the University of Florida (Go Gators!). He invites you to check out the The Commish Report which contains more useless fantasy knowledge for the "Average Joe" and/or email your questions and/or comments to him at lernerm@juno.com.

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3 Comments

  1. Did you hear that Doc River’s kid has said he wants to go to UF? Where is the most embarassing place that I can make Mike wear the Paul Pierce Jersey he just lost to me in the NBA Finals?

    Comment by Michael G's Dad on July 3, 2008

  2. [...] Anatomy of a Fantasy Football Draft (National Sports Review) - A great breakdown of “what actually goes into creating a successful but yet enjoyable live draft.” [...]

    Pingback by RotoNation - Fantasy Sports News, Notes, Jobs, Games, Tools » Fantasy Sports Tidbits: An Anatomy Lesson, Fantasy to Reality, Hot Baseball Wives on July 4, 2008

  3. Great article. We are on our second year of destination drafts. Last year Vegas, this year AC. The draft will kickoff the weekend, so as to limit the pitfalls you rightfully point out. The upside of thedestination draft? It really allows me to enjoy some time with some of my closest friends (whom I reraely see since we live in difft. locations) once the draft is done. When we do the draft locally, it never fails that “family obligations” cause people to bail as soon as teh draft is over.

    Comment by Stan D. on July 24, 2008

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