Drafty

Yesterday was the big draft for my fantasy football league. I have been in it a few years now, and I am only beginning to get the hang of the auction-based draft the league employs. It's a little more complicated than a standard draft where you can have the best available player at any moment. Instead, you have a budget of so much money and must compete for every player you want with a series of bids. The top bid wins each player.

One must remain calm and dispassionate, saving enough money to build a deep team, but not so much money that any is left over. I usually have a little money left on account of being overly caution with my money in between an early splurge and the point at which few good players are left. Like I said though, I have gotten a bit better, appreciating that one wants to have a little money left when others are broke and bargain players are out there to be had.

This year I think I did all right. I wound up with a pretty good team. It's not the best in the league, but there seems to be no clear best team. There are clear worst teams, and thankfully I am not among them. I came away with Adrian Peterson, who is probably the most desirable player you could have, and at the best position. I was smart about waiting at positions that were deep, and didn't get badly burned at areas of scarcity. I wish I'd done better at wide receiver and tight end.

The draft was fun. I participated at the home of some friends, two of whom are also in the league. Another friend was good enough to get a video chat going, so between that and the text chat that is part of the league website, we had good communication going. That makes razzing people for poor decisions all the easier. I did make one bad decision, but my choices were not too bad. It will be fun watching the consequences of them.