tef8383 Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Hi Everyone, Being based in the UK, the idea of a draft party is a novel one! This year we thought we would give it a go, HOWEVER already a couple of guys have said they cant make it. Without autodraft, how do we deal with people who wont be there? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Every year I have 1 or 2 Owners that draft remotely. So while they cannot join us in person, they still make their own picks in real time on our league's site. It's not ideal, but we make it work. If they are not available to draft remotely, then the best way to handle it is to have someone come in to draft for them (have the owner provide a ranking for the proxy drafter to use in his stead). If that's not an option, then you could have the rest of the league draft by consensus each round, again using a predetermined ranking as a guideline and drafting the highest ranked player in the position that the consensus agrees should be picked next for that team (but that can get to be a bit of a buzz kill). You could set up your site to auto-draft for the absent owner, but the results could be less than desirable. If all else fails, you replace them as an owner. The draft is the BEST part of the season... don't let one person spoil it for everybody else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Can they "be there" remotely? In other words, maybe you could use a website (myfantasyleague.com) that has the Live Draft option... Commish can plug in picks for everybody in the room, and the guys that can't be there pick online (from their PC, phone, etc.). This works pretty well if you want to have a live (in person) draft, but a person or two can't attend. We've done it that way for years, in a couple of my leagues. Otherwise, there isn't much you can do, except either put them on auto-draft, or request that they send someone else in their place. Or, as a last resort, you do a manual version of auto-draft, where you essentially pick players for them, from a previously agreed upon list (that they either provide, or you get from a FF site/magazine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tef8383 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 You say site, but were are using NFL.com for fantasy, as we have set "Offline Draft" there isn't an option to allow them to autopick is there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Every year I have 1 or 2 Owners that draft remotely. So while they cannot join us in person, they still make their own picks in real time on our league's site. It's not ideal, but we make it work. If they are not available to draft remotely, then the best way to handle it is to have someone come in to draft for them (have the owner provide a ranking for the proxy drafter to use in his stead). If that's not an option, then you could have the rest of the league draft by consensus each round, again using a predetermined ranking as a guideline and drafting the highest ranked player in the position that the consensus agrees should be picked next for that team (but that can get to be a bit of a buzz kill). You could set up your site to auto-draft for the absent owner, but the results could be less than desirable. If all else fails, you replace them as an owner. The draft is the BEST part of the season... don't let one person spoil it for everybody else. Pretty much this (and he beat me to it by a couple of seconds... LOL). There's no reason to stop doing an in-person draft (that everyone enjoys), just because 1 or 2 people can't make it. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the "consensus" option, where drunken league-mates get to pick your team. And, while it might be a good idea in theory, having someone attend the draft in your/their place is probably unlikely to happen (in most cases). So, yeah... I would give them the options of drafting remotely or providing a draft list of some kind. Ideally, they find a way to draft remotely. Otherwise, if they want to remain in the league, make them send you a list of players, or at least agree to a list that you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 You say site, but were are using NFL.com for fantasy, as we have set "Offline Draft" there isn't an option to allow them to autopick is there? Not familiar with that site (in terms of leagues/drafting). What if you switch the setting to "Online Draft"? Can you set it up where everyone picks, but the commissioner has the option of plugging in picks (for people who attend in person)? Typically, you set a pick timer of 1-2 minutes, so the people drafting remotely (as well as those in the room) have to stay on task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Of course, the real old-school way (we used to do this just about every year) would be to just draft in person (with or without a timer), and allow the absent owner(s) to draft by phone. Some poor soul gets to be the one to call them every round, read off the players who have been selected since their last pick, and take their next selection. Not ideal by any means, but it works (and it's better than auto-drafting). You could even do it by text. Depends on how nice/accomodating you want to be to the guy(s) who can't make the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorttynaz Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 (edited) Have them draft by phone. Last year at our main local, we had someone remote at a wedding. He created a google drive spreadsheet, and I was updating it with the picks as they were being made. When it was his turn, he would access the spreadsheet via his phone and put his pick in that spreadsheet and move on. Worked surprisingly well.. It was a lot better than calling someone every 20 minutes and constantly tell someone "he's gone. he's gone. He's long gone. Dude, you picked him LAST round." Edited July 31, 2014 by Shorttynaz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooty Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 remotely or proxy. Otherwise they have to be there. My neighborhood ditches people who can;'t be there. Of course they get back in cause the next year some other guy misses it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 We have one owner who lives out of town (took over the team for his brother who is local but is never available during the draft). He simply drafts by phone. We hold the draft at our office in a conference room and have him on speaker phone, he stays connected the whole time. We don't read a list to him of players drafted, he has to listen as each owner announces there pick as they put the player sticker on the draft board. We do cut him some slack and will repeat names if he misses them or clarify if somebody is available if he asks. It is a bit of a pain, but I wouldn't want to give up the live draft. Only time the owners get together. We had a couple other occassions where owners couldn't come and they'd send a proxy. One guy even had another owner (close friend or relative he trusts) a couple years when he could not be there by the start. Also did some of those "call me when its my pick and tell me who was drafted since" things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorttynaz Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 (edited) I have a co-worker who loads up a "Go To Meeting" session on one of his laptops, connects using the microphone option, hooks some speakers up to it, shares the webcam. Has two remote managers connect to the same meeting and participate that way.. not the same though. IMO, the best part of fantasy football is the live draft. 5-6 hours of getting together, drinking some cold ones, and talking sheeott Edited August 1, 2014 by Shorttynaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flemingd Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 You say site, but were are using NFL.com for fantasy, as we have set "Offline Draft" there isn't an option to allow them to autopick is there? So are they able to be "somewhere" during your designated draft? Or are they skipping it altogether and just want to take over a pre-drafted team in September? Putting it online, with no pick timer, should allow the remote guys an autodraft option without rushing the guys that are there live. An owner that doesn't at least draft their own team isn't an owner IMO and you should get someone that can be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dope man Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 In my 2 locals, if you can't be at the draft party then you are out of the league... Set a date early and people will make it a priority. Both my leagues are about 20 years old. Don't accept the "I can't make it that night" BS, have replacements on standby! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BA Baracus Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Have them draft by phone. Last year at our main local, we had someone remote at a wedding. He created a google drive spreadsheet, and I was updating it with the picks as they were being made. When it was his turn, he would access the spreadsheet via his phone and put his pick in that spreadsheet and move on. Worked surprisingly well.. It was a lot better than calling someone every 20 minutes and constantly tell someone "he's gone. he's gone. He's long gone. Dude, you picked him LAST round." Google docs spreadsheet is pretty damn brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heehawks Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Last two years we have had two long timers Skype into our live draft league. Works perfectly, can see, can hear. Basically both there on the laptop. Easy peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin_Akie Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 We just get them to send a draft board and then use common sense between the group to make their picks to ensure they dont end up with 4 QBs in the first 6 rounds or something. Depends how sensible the members of your league are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustangt125 Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 (edited) So are they able to be "somewhere" during your designated draft? Or are they skipping it altogether and just want to take over a pre-drafted team in September? Putting it online, with no pick timer, should allow the remote guys an autodraft option without rushing the guys that are there live. An owner that doesn't at least draft their own team isn't an owner IMO and you should get someone that can be there. Weren't you all just hammering that guy who was complainging that an auto drafter won his league? Edit: We do ours on ESPN. When it's time for the draft to start, there's a link that says LAUNCH that opens a new browser window. In that window is the draft, everybody can see who is available, sort by position, see who has been picked, see the timer, and see every other team. Each person can do it remotely from wherever they are just by getting on the internet. So if dude is out of town at a reunion, he can still draft. So while we get as many in the league as possible in the same locatin to screw around, we still have an absentee drafter once in a while and it works seamlessly. And the draft is the best part. You'll want as many of your mates in the same place with you, drinkin and just havin a good time. Edited August 1, 2014 by Mustangt125 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flemingd Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Weren't you all just hammering that guy who was complainging that an auto drafter won his league? No. We were hammering the guy who was attempting to levy a penalty of losing keepers against a guy that didn't break any league rules. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_ray_durz Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Check out something like this: https://www.draftnight.com/ You can show a draft board and the commish can enter everything manually while letting remote drafters make their own pics in the process. They see it all live as it happens and it gives you a nice draft board to see on a TV or projector. I don't have anything to do with this software other than I used it last year for a league with 50% remote drafters and it worked great. Downside is it does cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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