Festivus Comes Early - The Airing of Grievances

[Andrew]

I just wanted to clear the air after yesterdays heated discussion. I run this league for fun in my spare time and it should be fun for everybody involved. I think we've lost sight of this fact over the last couple days.

The animosity in the forums needs to stop. I don't mind trash talking if it's all in good fun, but when having discussions about rules, etc people should respond in a mature way without making things personal or attacking other owners.

I'll be the first to admit that my patience has worn thin over the course of this conversion. Sully put it perfectly in saying that every time I see a light at the end of a tunnel, something comes up and we're right back to square one. However, I still want to encourage discussion of the current rules and suggestions for new ones.

Regarding me closing the thread yesterday. I wasn't trying to censor anyone and I'm not afraid of a little criticism, but that discussion was well past the point of being productive.

I'd also ask everyone to keep in mind this league is a continuous work in progress. I'm a first time commish and we have a lot of first time owners. The software has also undergone some drastic changes. We're not always going to do things perfectly but I think we're all doing our best.

I hope everyone keeps this post in mind going forward and we can get back to enjoying the game and enjoying the forums.

Now onto the feats of Strength. Who thinks they can wrestle me to the ground?!

[Whale]

Stop trying to wrestle men, it's all you want to do these days.

I agree though, I want to see this league be fun, and taking every single aspect of this league and putting it under the microscope is going to kill it before making a wrong decision on a set of rules will. I think everyone needs to take a step back and realize that this is just a game, and it's meant to be for fun. Discussions are good, but the dramatics over what a change will do need to end, it gets us no where, and encourages my sarcastic side.

I think everyone should be in favor of getting through this next season with the rules in place, and see what it does for a team. I doubt we'll ever have all 20 people agreeing, but I'd hate to see regulars leaving the game because of petty arguments.

[mahoney2]

No real life leagues like MLB and NFL work perfectly all the time either. Look at what happened to the NFL last year and the salary cap. Teams that budgeted and planned on the cap increasing a reasonable level for the next few years were caught completely offguard and didn't adjust to the cap levels rising so much in one year.

Another example is the luxury tax in MLB. It seems normal now, but that sent shockwaves through baseball at the time, as did revenue sharing, contracting teams etc. Rules aren't static, situations change etc.

I personally think some rules could be better, but we are working with a game with limitations.

[Squint]

I'm glad someone posted something about this. Forgive me if I come off a little harsh or callous but I'm just trying to tell it how it is. I'm all about open dialogue because my opinion is that it promotes thinking by more than one person and we'll likely be able to come to a resolution that is acceptable to everyone.

I felt that conversation yesterday was going fine up until a few individuals had to come in and basically show their collective asses. I'm not going to drop names, but I thought most of us here were adults.

At what point can we have a discussion about something when it isn't going to be a big deal for some and a huge deal for others? I thought a few people brought up some pretty valid points only to have "too bad" or "the rule is in place" or "it's only a sim baseball league" shot back in their faces as a response. I still have a hard time grasping how we can be held accountable for a single "important" thread mixed in with scores of other not-so-important threads and when an issue becomes clearer after time why it can't be revisited. If it was that big of a deal then post it on the front page, send an e-mail, or something.

I'll be honest, I was pretty damn close to just packing it in yesterday after a couple of those posts in the COMP PICKS thread. I'm a grown man and I don't need the immaturity, condescending attitudes, and taking of sides like we're in 9th freakin' grade. I know of a couple of others that felt the same way but in the end, I'm glad cooler heads prevailed and we all took the night off to think things over.

If you want to squash all talks of ideas and people thinking about the long term, then by all means, continue with the sarcastic remarks and singling people out. But I, for one, don't think that will make the league very FUN or interesting.

P.S. This isn't an invitation to start another argument. As many of you know, I'm a Marine and we tend to take a straight forward approach to things.

[/soapbox]

[Andrew]

For the record, my "the Rule is in place" comments were followed by "we can re-visit this next year".

[Clay]

I just want to use this thread to simply say to the Waiting List people and folks who browse the forum and might consider wanting to be a part of the BLB in the future. Don't hold the behaviors of that thread against the league. It's a damn good league.

[Squint]

For the record, my "the Rule is in place" comments were followed by "we can re-visit this next year".

I wasn't referring to just you Andrew.

Secondly, my fear is that it'll be re-visited and those owners that lose a first rounder (or equivelant) are left going "WTF" after next year. To me, what's done is done. It'll be very hard to justify to those owners losing such a high pick that we now have to go back (especially given the discussion on the matter). It is what it is and the rule is in place. My comments are geared more towards what we do in the future regarding future rule changes.

[Squint]

I just want to use this thread to simply say to the Waiting List people and folks who browse the forum and might consider wanting to be a part of the BLB in the future. Don't hold the behaviors of that thread against the league. It's a damn good league.

Are you kidding me.....?

They were foaming at the mouth. They are probably pissed at Andrew for closing the thread because I'm sure a few of them thought they were guaranteed a team by the end of the day.

[Andrew]

Maybe it's time to consider a stricter procedure for rule changes. Unfortunately when a new game comes out, a lot of changes are necessary and things can get lost in the mix. Part of it is my fault for succumbing to the pressure to get back up and running as soon as possible.

[Whale]

For the record, my "the Rule is in place" comments were followed by "we can re-visit this next year".

I wasn't referring to just you Andrew.

Secondly, my fear is that it'll be re-visited and those owners that lose a first rounder (or equivelant) are left going "WTF" after next year. To me, what's done is done. It'll be very hard to justify to those owners losing such a high pick that we now have to go back (especially given the discussion on the matter). It is what it is and the rule is in place. My comments are geared more towards what we do in the future regarding future rule changes.

I believe he was referring to at least me Stu!

If anyone would like to chastize me, I'll be in my PM office waiting, no need to fill the boards with suggestive remarks on here. Otherwise, I say we move on and get back on track with the upcoming season. I can see this stuff dragging on if we don't change course soon.

[Jistic]

I'm not a fan of draft pick compensation, or being handcuffed suddenly by the new financial model.

However I'm a big believer in majority rules and once a vote is made, you go with it and find out if we made the right choice.

[robster1225]

I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was sort of "outside" of that discussion yesterday, because my attention was drawn elsewhere. That said, I think it says a lot about the league that people are so "passionate" (at the risk of sounding queer) for the rules. I think that 90% of us are looking out for the general health of the league and it's future. Unfortunately, Compensation is a sore subject. I wish I could take Markus, lock him in a room with a list, and say FIX this NOW. Because there are a few issues like this that keep the game from being PERFECT. But, we have to adapt, and deal with it.

Andrew, thanks for starting this thread, and I think we all learned something about the league yesterday.

We ALL want to win!

Oh...........................................GO YANKEES!