Please move if needed. We reserved a draft party at buffalo wild wings. We have about 10 people. My question is, does everyone just take a laptop? I dont know what protocol is in terms of that. Has anyone been part of a draft party there anywhere else? Do they have outlets to plug laptops in since the draft will be about 2 hours? Is it comfortable? I mean sharing a laptop for a draft takes a lot away from the experience of planning a draft? Thanks in advanced. My first time being commissioner and I cant wait to get the draft over with. Its all been more work than I anticipated setting up the league.
I just traded Rapist-Burger for Doug Martin. Good or bad? Cam Newton is my starter and I got Palmer as my backup now.
I'm an avid fantasy football player, and a laptop is really all you need. Having it a somebodies house has always been my preference (less noise, easier to communicate), but BWW works just fine. Some people choose to print out "cheat sheets" or other information, but I just find it easier to take a laptop and do it all on my computer, simply to keep up with who's available and who you have on your squad after you pick them. However though, my last real bit of advice would be to have somebody make a spreadsheet and keep log of the entire draft as it plays out. This is beneficial in the sense that you're able to see who you have, who you need, how long each person is until they pick, as well as who needs what kind of player. Not to mention it helps when you input the players into the computer as well (unless you're using a database that automatically uploads it). It probably sounds more confusing than it really is, but I hope this helps.
What day are you doing it and at which one? We've done ours at Royal Oaks for the last three year and ours is this Saturday. Ours is offline and I then upload the results later. Most people bring their laptops though and we just have a power strip and an extension cord if needed. BWW will give you a draft board, so we just all go up to the board to make our pick (or assign a sticker b**** if someone keeps making stupid picks or trying to select already drafted players). I then use that to enter the picks in to the site. Commish is not a fun job. But I'm lucky that most of our guys have been in this league for 5+ years, so that makes the money part of it easy. I trust everyone to pay, so I just wait until the end and tell people where to send them money. Unfortunately, it's never to me.
So it will be an offline draft? Aw man. With the exception of 3 people in my league, everyone else is new. Probably not a good thing to have that type of draft. I dont think we are ready for that. I think we may move more towards having it at someone's home.
Well, you can set it up online if you want I'm sure. Having it at BW3 doesn't preclude you from having the draft online. Did you call BW3 or were you just planning on meeting there? Offline drafts are the best, btw. Saturday is in my top 5 sports days of the year. Golf outing before-hand is a nice new touch to the day.
Yeah, I called and reserved a table already but havent called to get more information. I will follow up today. I think next year when people have more experience, we will do an offline draft. too advanced at this time.
True, but online helps users who don't know much about players with rankings, etc. New players will be at a great disadvantage compared to experienced players. I had a hard time getting people to buy into this so i want to make it as easy as possible for them. Next year its all business
Online is great for preventing errors, keeping the pace going, etc. Even if you have everyone in the same room, it makes sure everyone knows who's taken and shows everyone the standard rankings and things like that. One thing to be aware of depending on what site you're using is what commish privileges you have. CBS is great about letting you do whatever you want - pause the draft, back out picks, etc. Yahoo is obnoxious (at least in baseball auction drafts). They allowed us something like five 2-minute timeouts, and that's it (over a 4+ hour auction). So if someone has technical problems or y'all want a break for drinks/bathroom/etc, just be aware of what your site will allow.
This is my first year doing this. Any basic advice for a rookie? Are practicing with mock drafts worth anything?
I think so. A little anyway since every league is different. I use Fantasy Football Calculator. They have mocks and simulations (you have to sign up for free for the latter). Mocks can sometimes be ruined by idiots, but they're typically pretty good.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the idiot, which is why I'm trying to learn beforehand. The friends I'm playing with only have 1-2 years exp. while a couple have been doing it for years. It will be an 8 team league, so I figure any dumb move will be even catastrophic to doing well.
Don't worry about it. It's mostly a crapshoot. Don't take a K before your final round. Make sure you note bye weeks when drafting backups. Mocks will definitely help if this is your first time. But I'm a 12-time no championship winner (lost my only championship game to Major in the last quarter on a goal-line fumble. ), so you may not want to listen to me much.
