Preparing for your Draft
April 2, 2004
Written by Trav the Ump

(Read archived articles here)

So the season is about to begin, or did begin and than went back to pre-season and now it's back to the regular season, and your draft may be coming up soon. Mine is, in fact it's this weekend. Whether it's this weekend or the next I have a few reminders, tips and useful tidbits of information that you the roto-junkie can use. I've been doing this for seven years now with mostly the same group of core guys. We all go huddle in the commish's basement, put the television on mute and begin our quest at raising our hailed trophy and have our victory engraved in bronze for all to see. Even if we only won once and it was five years ago, there are still a large group of guys who have never held the trophy in victory so they can still listen to me brag about my mid-season pick ups and brash trades that led me to victory. But enough about me…

First things first, if your league is a good group of guys and plan on sticking around for a while I fully recommend getting a trophy. Ours is a horrible looking gold plastic one. It's an embarrassment to our loved ones and yet we still carry it proudly into the room the next year to return it. Its supposed to be a fantasy league, why not a fantasy trophy? It doesn't have to be from Tiffany's like the big boys. Heck, head down to a local garage sale and pick up an old bowling one. An engraver will only charge a few bucks to put on blank plates.

When you get to your draft, protect your cheat sheets like national secrets. Not only will the guys who did no research and have last years stats from the local paper in hand want to know who you have on your short list. The guys who will bid that extra dollar just to spite you will peek and see that Jeremy Affeldt is the real deal in your mind and those blister problems are finally behind him.

Get a comfortable seat, wow this is a big one, you're going to be there for a while no doubt. Do not get little Timmy's sketch table stool. Find a couch or bring your own, most draft hosts are short so ensuring that you have a comfortable seat is not only smart its practical. Remember that position counts too, you don't want to be too far from the little boy's room nor the easy access for the refreshments. Location, location, location.

Please for the sake of the rest of our sanity have your pick narrowed down to at least one or two guys when it's your turn. Surely if its an auction league there is going to be one guy your not interested in the round before it is your turn to pick again. I don't believe in putting people on the clock like a game show, ridicule and berating usually are enough. This will lead to people throwing out names like Chuck Knoblauch and or John Burkett; it's not your fault they retired.

The big thing is don't sweat it, you're there for fun. Sure you can be sunk at the draft but very few teams win outright at the draft. There will be waiver pick-ups and trades. Injuries and clearing out your locker, hailing a cab and threatening never to come back a la Milton Bradley. Have a good time, try to keep track of the entire goings on, and if in doubt I hear Clinton Portis is going to have a good year.

Trav The Ump
Trav_9@hotmail.com