The following statement was released from the Commissioner's Office on February 24, 2009. It is a two part statement from the Comissioner and Vice-Comissioner.
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Good Evening Gentlemen,This is meant to be a general, State of the Union message from your humble commissioner to address some of the latest developments in our league. While I think this has been a spirited, interesting offseason, Fenn and I (your respective Jefferson and Madison), have noticed a few minor disturbances in the force that should be addressed. First, a little background: Everyone here knows the story regarding the birth of this league, but it should be revisited: After an extremely flawed 2005 season, Fenn and I, aided by a big bag of green, MLB World Series Edition '06, and 2 Doves albums, sat down for a weekend and attempted to build the perfect fantasy league. While every one of us may have a different idea of “perfect”, there were 3 primary goals that emerged that we wanted to be the basis of the CPL:
1. Creating a complex, original approach to fantasy baseball. We wanted to create a league that better equated fantasy performance to actual baseball performance (choosing a H2H points system instead of the lazy and stupid 5x5 approach). We wanted to incorporate a keeper system so that there could be “franchises” with continuity and an annual draft which would be the social backbone of this league. This particular goal of ours has been met well beyond either of our expectations. We are of the opinion that the system we devised is enjoyed universally by all. The evidence being the participation level which is higher than any league I've ever been in. By far.
2. Balancing an in-depth fantasy league and "user-friendliness." The main driving force behind this league reworking was a joint realization Fenn and I had that we were just a few months away from graduation and the end of the gravy train. Work, adulthood, all that bullsh*t was on our heels, so we wanted to create a league that people could effectively participate in without having to spend more than a few minutes on it week to week. Our vision was that each owner would spend the dog days of February and March scouting players at their leisure, draft a team during an awesome weekend vacation, and then set that team up once a week, sit back and enjoy. This could not be a league where lineups needed to be set daily and where the overly-active-participant has a sizeable advantage. The intent was that everyone has a fair shot, regardless of time constraints, so long as you do some draft prep during our harsh New England winters. This is why we devised the 35 round draft, rewarded owners for drafting good value, and limited pickups to 10.
3. Preserving the Sanctity of the Draft Weekend. This was THE biggest consideration. We talked about this through two munchie cycles. Similar to the point made above, the glory days of school were ending with careers and adulthood looming. We wanted the draft weekend to be the one weekend a year that all 8 of us could look forward to having an awesome guy weekend. The draft weekend is THE backbone of the league. It should be drafting, drinking, and talking about baseball. When we started to get a little excessive with rule talks, the winter meetings were created to keep the draft enjoyable for everyone.
The point is that we have strayed from these principles. What has happened recently cannot be condemned because it was all driven by interest in our league and excitement for the upcoming draft. But I think we should think about the big picture: Some of us are getting married. In the not-to-distant future, some of us may spawn little people, and some might move far away. 20 years down the road, I guarantee that people will be less inclined to travel to draft weekend if it involves too many rule interpretation arguments, crude draft-day deals and painful, painful delays. Can you remember what its like waiting for someone to pick their 34th player when their lists have run out? Just imagine the pain when three owners go in the other room for a side session to discuss a trade. Draft. Drink. Gamble. Lets keep it simple.
Let's look at yesterday's discussion of the in draft trade scenarios created by our switching to the 2-day draft as it a good illustration of our straying from the principles mentioned above. When we first concocted the two day draft the excitement was palpable. A 10 round quickie then a night of drinking and discussion. Then the remainder the next day, more drinking and baseball talk. Simple and Blissful. But now it has created complex discussions of keeper--round linkage and the proper machinations of post "Day 1" trades. While I agree that in draft trades create unique opportunities for wheeling and dealing and create new strategic dimensions, it also ignores some of the problems that will inevitably come up through the implementation of these moves. I believe that the potential delays, headaches, and confusion created by draft day trades are not worth the added strategy. I think we can all agree, this league is not lacking in strategic elements. Again, when it comes to the draft, keep it simple.
Finally, I think in the long run, people will participate less and fall by the wayside if our system becomes too complex and difficult to follow. Looking at the big picture, the CPL's downfall will not come from fuzzy rule interpretations; it will come from alienating members of the league.
MESSAGE FROM VICE-COMMISSIONER
Ricky and I talked about the foregoing at length today. Let me be the first to acknowledge that I have been one of the biggest culprits. During the tie-breaker debates, Walt made an interesting comment. He said that any one of us could basically bully through any piece of rule-making that we wanted to if we had the time. I think he was correct. In retrospect, given that the winter meetings had concluded, I should have left the tie-breaker alone. I originally thought everyone would agree quickly on a rule-change but that wasn’t the case. We all will all have different ideas of how the league can be improved. This should be acknowledged and is another reason why all rule debates should be tabled until the winter meetings … when we can get a bag of green, discuss any changes at length, play MLB 2k9 and feel Russian t*tties..
During the tie-breaker debates, I originally had a vision of a fair system via email in which (i) anyone can propose a rule, (ii) we follow the procedures in the Constitution and (iii) we vote. This turned out to be a nightmare. I’ve witnessed High School Student Counsel legislation pass with more ease. Again, I take full responsibility for this. But I want to make one point clear: I don’t think the tie-breaker rule process is, or should be, precedent for this league. If the Constitution has one major flaw, it is the Amendment section. Remember how much time Ricky said we spent talking about the draft weekend? Well, we spent all of 2 f*cking minutes drafting the amendment section. We shouldn’t have 4-4 ties that are settled by one guy that changes positions just to get something passed (Again, my bad). If a rule idea is good, it should get 6 votes. During the winter meetings next year, I will propose a 75% threshold for passing amendments. Walt is correct; we shouldn’t be able to just jam sh*t through.
Going forward, if there are any rule ambiguities, send your concerns to the Commissioner. This is a fantasy league amongst friends. Despite some of my efforts in the past, I think we should acknowledge that the Constitution was designed by a couple stoned guys to be a general set of rules as opposed to a launching pad for legal argument and interpretation. If you think you are stretching things or that a transaction could be illegal, it probably is. So get the Commish’s advice first. Keep it simple, and put your energies into draft preparation.
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