Andy Richardson

A few years back I did my first extended draft, where participants on the clock have as many as 12 or 24 hours to make each pick. Drafts can take 2 weeks, or more, under such a format. At the time I wrote a column singing its praises -- you could relax and think through each pick fully, you could draw out the exciting draft experience over a couple of weeks, and you could get to know your fellow owners via the chat room. Fun stuff.

What an idiot I was.

It’s four years later, and about half of my leagues each year use an extended draft format. I’ve done two this year already, and I’m currently trudging through a Bataan Death March of a third. All I can say is, Wow, familiarity really does breed contempt. Let’s revisit some of my earlier impressions. …

1. “You can think through each pick fully.” Up to a point, this is a good thing. Up to a point. Then the second-guessing sets in. “Wait a minute…Do I really like T.J. Houshmandzadeh enough to take him in the third round? Won’t he be there in the fourth? And hey, I’ve got 8 wideouts of similar value -- will they really all be gone by my next pick? Maybe I should go quarterback here … or grab the top tight end … How many targets did T.J. have a year ago? Let me look that up … How old is he? … Who invented liquid soap, and why? … Is T.J. the one who’s been dating Paris Hilton? And does the fact that he plays for the Bengals in and of itself increase the chances of him being arrested at some point this season?”

With so much time to make your picks, you can talk yourself in and out of almost anything. Before long, you’ve forgotten what your first choice was, and ended up going with your second. Or your third. If you can even remember. It’s about that time that being able to think things through loses much of its appeal.

2. “You can draw out the draft experience over a couple of weeks.” Two full weeks of obsessing over a single draft (not even counting the week or two leading up to it). Two full weeks of arguing with yourself over who to take with your picks coming up at 8, 17, 32, etc. Two full weeks of wondering if you should have drafted Larry Johnson or Frank Gore. Or Torry Holt or Maurice Jones-Drew. Or Vernand Morency or Brandon Jackson. As much as a day or two between picks, giving you time to really beat yourself up over your last one (“Why didn’t I take the wide receiver? Which wide receiver will be left for me 13 picks from now? Is it too early to take my quarterback next round? Is….”) Who was that naive, innocent Andy Richardson of a few years ago, who believed that drawing out the draft experience over a couple of weeks was a good thing? I’d like to do a Quantum Leap back in time to smack him.

3. “You can get to know your fellow owners.” That’s certainly true, and I now know that some of my fellow owners are apparently inattentive, inconsiderate, and technically inept. How else to explain a 20-round draft taking more than three weeks to complete? What other answer is there for the guy picking 2nd not making his pick until some 7 hours after the draft began, especially considering the guy picking first made his pick at the designated start time (He took LaDainian Tomlinson, shocker), which we had known about for two weeks?

My current favorite is people who show up when they’re one pick away, are apparently unaware of the feature many sites have that tells you that the person on the clock is there right now making their pick, and leave, disappearing for the next several hours. Not to mention their unwillingness to predraft, a feature that I usually avoid myself, but geez, when you’re two picks away and you’re about to go play 36 holes of golf or something, hey, PREDRAFT. Thank you.

If I sound a little bitter (If?), well, I guess I am. Make no mistake, I still like extended drafts in principle -- when it’s conducted with trash-talking friends, when people are engaged and paying attention, and when they wrap up in a week or so. When “extended” doesn’t equal “excruciating.” And of course, this is partly my own fault. Clearly, nobody else is to blame for the fact that I obsess about these things a little too much.

But the truth is, we’re all in a lot of leagues these days, right? We don’t HAVE to do every league that comes along -- in fact, we owe it to ourselves and others in the league to decline an invitation for a league where we don’t have the time to commit to completing a draft in less time than it will probably take me to potty train my son.

Because if you think about it, if you don’t have time to be attentive to the draft, you probably don’t have time for the league, either. And that’s a league you’re better off without. Speaking for those of us deeply obsessive owners who keep going to the league page to see you haven’t checked in for the last 12 hours, half of which you’ve been on the clock for, let me respectfully add that the league is better off without you, too.

Have a fantasy question for Andy? Or just want to praise, criticize, or complain? Send an email to andy@fantasyindex.com.

• Comments [0]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.