Give Us Some Feedback On The Live Drafts

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:11 am

I am all for the Timeout concept when keeping it at a minute.

Sandman62 · Post by **Sandman62** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:26 am

I agree w/ Diesel on not starting the 1-minute clock until the sticker is on the board. At one point in our Classic draft, we were on the clock, yet there were FOUR picks still not up... eating away at our time. In the Primetime, when we saw beforehand that we had the same facilitators, I decided to approach them and mention it. They were very courteous and sympathetic and did a great job adjusting. Thank you.

Regarding the NYC venue, I for one, LOVE IT there. This is only my second year now, but both time, I take the whole family. My son is my partner and my wife and daughter shop all day, then catch a nice dinner and a Broadway play at night. For me, this helps sell the $2k in FFL money I'm spending.

Plus we spend the Sunday after enjoying the sites together. So I vote to keep it in NYC if possible.

One suggestion for the drafts, and maybe this has been considered before and I'm just missing some sound reason for it, but... Why isn't team ONE seated to the LEFT of the board where their team is listed?

Thanks for a great event guys!

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:30 am

One thing about the timing, the 60 seconds should not begin until the sticker is put on the big board. If you are in a league that isn't following that procedure come find the person running your city (Greg in Vegas, me in New York for example) during the break and we'll talk to the facilitators to make sure they have it down pat. I know when I talk to the facilitators before every draft I tell them how the procedure should go.

mikeybok · Post by **mikeybok** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:51 am

Originally posted by lucko21:
I think 1 minute a pick is def too little. I did a $20 league this year that had a minute and half clock and ran very smoothly. For the money, I think the clock should be longer. Reading this thread it seems like most people disagree with that.
A minute is plenty of time and I have a partner that I need to agree with before picking and 1 minute is still plenty of time IMO.

Originally posted by lucko21:
A compromise might be giving each team one "time-out" or "extension" where they get an extra minute for that one pick. It might make both sides happy.
Brilliant!

The problem with extending the time limit is ... some teams will take all the time (every time) ... that's just how they roll ... makes for a very long draft! With one (or two) timeouts ... you don't get caught the one time your 3 players go three picks in a row ... right in front of you.

Everyone having a time out will cost you 15 minutes at most. Adding 30 seconds to each pick could cost you well over 2 extra hours!

Time out ... Brilliant (way to think out of the box)

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:06 am

As Tom said, I guarantee that if you had a tough time drafting with the one minute time period, it was because you were crossing off 2-3 picks that came in a row, and the fascilitators didn't have time to put all picks on the boards yet. So as they're putting picks 2 and 3 up, you've been on the clock for 20-30 seconds already...

I suggest that next year, anyone who felt the 1 minute was too fast, go to your fascilitators on the side and ask them to make sure that they do NOT allow a pick to be made until the prior pick is on the sticker board. I guarantee it will make for a smoother draft experience.

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:10 am

Originally posted by Ugly Yellow Tomatoes:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by lucko21:
[qb] I think 1 minute a pick is def too little. I did a $20 league this year that had a minute and half clock and ran very smoothly. For the money, I think the clock should be longer. Reading this thread it seems like most people disagree with that.
A minute is plenty of time and I have a partner that I need to agree with before picking and 1 minute is still plenty of time IMO.
[QUOTE]

We'll take........JAM......NO....EDGERRIN JAMES!!!!

Sorry Mike, I couldn't resist!

See you tomorrow night!

botherk · Post by **botherk** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:13 am

I can't help but think with the advancements of electronics and technology that we will continue to have easel type boards with stickers that are hard to see.
Greg, you know the business better than anyone I know, is anybody making electronic boards that just need a name typed in at a cost that is feasable?
This would eliminate looking for stickers and probably a facilitator as well for each draft, football and baseball.
Just an idea.

[ September 16, 2009, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

BLACKHAND · Post by **BLACKHAND** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:25 pm

first let me state i love the nffc and will be a lifetime player. few things i did not care for :

1- the guy running ny6 was the pits. it was impossible to hear who was picked and when you found out you had 35 seconds left as he started the clock as soon as he heard the name. the board guys were actually 1-2 players behind at times. then he told us there were 18 rounds and i knew for a fact there were 19 rounds. so he stopped the draft for 5 minutes to find out. our league was on break 10-15 min before others were cause he was on such a rapid pace.

2- the cost of nyc is nuts. room 400 after tax and charges. 75 bucks for parking as i was there for the noon dc and got my car after main event.

3- one drink ticket which i had to ask for after 6 years here. then 9.00 beers seem a little greedy on the hotel side of things. i for one think atlantic city would be cheaper and still lots of fun.

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:57 pm

1) Add $50 to each entry fee (Classic and Primetime) for some decent finger food (doesn't need to be a buffet) and "eye candy" to help with the drafts. They don't even have to know how to say LaDanian Tomlinson, just stand there with the clock or something and look pretty! Also, if there is money left over (600 teams x both events at $50 each = $30,000), have an after drafts party. Again, some finger foods, and drinks (alcohol wouldn't be a problem like it was in Chicago AFTER the drafts!

)

2) The 2 hour timeframe is perfect for me. Just enough time to grab something to eat, and time to draft again. 3 hours is a bit much IMO.

3) Can't comment on Vegas, wasn't there.

4) I too preferred the Marriott in Chicago compared to the Stephens Center. That being said, I could be back on the east coast next year, and I also wouldn’t mind seeing it moved somewhere out of NYC. Like many have said, it is fine if you are sightseeing with the family, but I am normally tied up in draft rooms all weekend. The cost is outrageous to stay and park in the city, so anything out of there would be my vote.
5) One minute between picks is perfect. Like others mentioned, just be sure those running the draft know that the clock doesn’t start until the sticker is officially on the board.
People were talking about getting cookies in NYC, but we didn’t get ANYTHING in Chicago. I know the last time I was there, the NFFC bought pizza, but we all had to chip in $13 to get pizza this time and order it on our own between DC and auction drafts on Friday (thanks to Jim Wiseheart's wife for pulling that together!

) Again, charge an extra $50 per event, and have finger foods, pizza, etc. accessible with some girls working the drafts. Not sure how everyone else feels about that, but those would be my biggest recommendations.

[ September 16, 2009, 06:59 PM: Message edited by: BillyWaz ]

Coltsfan · Post by **Coltsfan** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:17 pm

This was my first year going to Vegas and it was awesome! (Great meeting you in person Greg!)

The one thing that I really appreciated was the organized party in Vegas. I got to meet a lot of guys that I would never had met at the drafts. If it would be possible to have some kind of Friday night get together that would be great. It could even be a pizza party at a nearby restraunt. We could buy our own pizza even but making a an official event would increase attendance and let us get to know everyone better.

The second suggestion is to run the online championship from August 1st up until the start of the season. It is so hectic that last week and I couldn't find time to do online championship drafts with work, nffc, and my trip to Vegas. WCOFF does this and it even adds to the strategy as to when to do the draft. I would bet this would double your entries by itself.

Last suggestion really isn't about the events but we have talked about it before and it hasn't happened. For us guys that do DC's it would be great to have real time scoring. This would be very easy to do. Can you check with stats about doing this???

Thanks,

Wayne