CommishRx: Stay Above the Fray – Don’t Make it Personal

There are going to be times when you might have to mediate a conflict between members of your fantasy league. There may be times when you get unexpectedly mixed up in the drama yourself. CommishRx is back in session.

You want to know how to deal with these types of situations, don’t you? That’s why we’re here. Let’s discuss the fourth of five rules that can help you have a pleasant life as a fantasy commissioner.

Rule #4: Don’t Make it Personal

First and foremost, we’re going to assume that as the commissioner of your league you would never get involved in some crazy drama on purpose, right? Let’s hope not. Moving on.

Rule #4 is pretty straightforward: you will try your very best to stay objective when dealing with all league squabbles – even when you don’t want to.

It really doesn’t matter how or why an issue arises. The possibilities are endless when it comes to humans behaving badly. You don’t necessarily want to police every little disagreement.

However, if you get the sense that a particular back-and-forth is about to escalate, or that other members of the league are about to take part, then you definitely need to step in and try to squash it.

Let’s apply Rule #4 to a common scenario that plays out in many leagues. We’ll revisit this topic with other examples over the course of the season.

“Boarder” Wars

Sometimes smack talk on a message board spirals out of control. Someone gets overly aggressive and someone else gets their feelings hurt. The next thing you know, a full-scale flame war breaks out.

If you choose to intervene, don’t post any communications to the participants on the message board yourself.  You’re not going to give other league members the opportunity to get involved by responding to anything you may say.

The rest of the league doesn’t get to participate in the peace negotiations. Cc the guilty parties via email.

If they are resistant to settling their differences, you may have to exercise the option of locking them out of the message board. They won’t be able to post until the situation de-escalates.In extreme cases you may have to shut down the board altogether.

[Listen to my interview with a commissioner who had to do just that.]

Through it all, try your best to stay neutral, even if you actually do have a bias. Pay heed to the language that you use.

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To the Letter

When you send an email to the responsible parties, remember the rule. You’re not going to get personally involved.

You’re acting in an official capacity. Once again, take care to keep your language as formal as possible. The less experience you have as a commissioner, the more important it is that you try to adhere to this.

Remember that high road? Yes, sometimes it’s hard not to respond to snark with more snark. Even if someone takes offense at you intervening or taking disciplinary action, make sure you’re not the one talking about someone’s momma.

Obviously, how you decide to handle each person is based on how long you have known them and how well you know them. However, be careful to not let old personal issues crop up if you’re dealing with a friend or a family member. 

Going Global

Global messages are a great tool to use for milder offenses. They’re also a suitable option when you need to gently prod someone due to concern that they might get unnecessarily defensive.

Some folks are always looking for any reason to get salty. You don’t want to feed that beast. You know Johnny, the dude who left a roster slot open last Sunday? Johnny is one of those guys.

Instead of sending an isolated message to Johnny, you send a message about roster maintenance to the whole league – in the form of a reminder.

As a result, the intended object of your announcement (Johnny) gets the message, while the rest of the league bears witness that you addressed the issue itself.

Stay Above the Fray

Ultimately, there’s always the potential for people to act in a way that they shouldn’t – especially if money is involved. Be smarter than the average bear and stay above it all. Remember the rule, and lessen the odds of taking on collateral damage.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest Fantasy Football news and analysis!