Some suggestions for a slow draft:

*- Preselect when you can and you know that you'll be away for a while. It's easy to do at mfl and will cut down on draft time significantly. No one expects you to have picks selected 3 rounds in advance, but if you are within a half a round of your pick and you have to leave for an extended time, you ought to know which of the next 6 to 8 guys you would draft and what priority order they would have respective to each other.

* - If you don't want to pre-select too far into the future, have a proxy prepared to select for you. A proxy is someone who is not in the league but who will make a pick for you based upon your instructions and/or custom draft list. There are lots of people here at the Huddle who will help out like that. You can either give your proxy your password if it is someone who you trust implicitly, or you can tell them to give your commish the pick, and he can go in with his commish powers & make the selection for you.

* - If you are going to be gone for a few hours - say to a meeting or a kid's ballgame or something - post a message at the league board of when you will be gone and when you expect to be back. It's been my experience that people don't mind waiting 4 hours for a pick if they know that the owner will be expected back at a specific time. Those same owners start getting antsy after 1 hour if they are in the dark and don't know where an owner is. It's the waiting-and-checking-the-board thing constantly, especially if you are up in the next 2 or 3 picks, that can drive people up the wall. If they know you won't be back for 2 hours, they can relax and do something else for those 2 hours. It's a huge help in a slow draft.

* - e-mail and/or pm the next 1 to 2 owners on the board when you pick, if you don't know whether they are around or not. It takes a couple of seconds, especially after you send the first one or two and have the addresses in your sent mail box, but it gives those owners a heads up & can cut draft time down dramatically.

* - Get trades set up ahead of time. If you know that you want to move your pick or you think a player that you believe has dropped too far & you want to make a move for a pick - start communicating 3 to 4 picks ahead of time. Possibly the most trying experience in a draft is to be excited about making a pick in the next 2 to 3 selections and have the guy in front of you announce that he is taking trade offers after he comes up for his pick on the board. Think ahead, start talking trade ahead, and set up conditional trades if you can - "Hey, if my guy is there (you don't have to name him) when you pick, would you be willing to trade?"

* - If you are in trade talks when your pick comes up, and it looks like the trade may take a while to consummate for whatever reason, make a post on the board that you are in trade talks. Everyone will understand what's going on and will immediately relax, especially if they know you've been involved in the deal before your pick hit the board. Like being gone for a couple of hours & letting people know - it really can put owners at ease.

* - Finish strong. Some owners tire of a draft after all the studs have been picked and really lose interest. Stick with it all the way through and remember that you not only affect your own draft - which is your perrogative because it is your team - but that you also affect other's drafts, and that's not your perrogative, when you start slacking. Stick with it - there are always jewels in the rough waiting to be plucked in the late rounds every year.

* - For those waiting to get on the clock and make a pick - relax! There are a few a-holes who get a kick out of intentionally inflicting the league by holding up a draft, but the vast majority are working hard to make a value decision when they are around but holding up a draft. If you expect others to be courteous and follow the advice above, it's a two way street. If some owners need an extra 15 minutes to do some quick research or track down information on players, give it to them gladly.

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If people will follow the steps above, it is amazing how quickly a draft can move, and how much fun it can be when owners aren't sniping at each other in anger (now raking owners good naturedly is a whole different animal) for little things. Relax, be respectful, and be courteous.

This should be required reading for every FFer across the universe.

Well done BB!

no , it was really a good post