&@%#! CBS cost me Shattenkirk

[Flyer Fan]

I've been able to grab Shattenkirk in two other leagues without a problem, ...mostly due to information I've read here on Dobber.

However, ...in my 12 team CBS league, which has a weekly waiver claim period, ...I put in a claim last monday morning(the first day of the period) only to have him snatched away days later, when not one, ...but two lowest seated teams, with two of the leagues most disinterested owners, submitted claims for him,

.....after some CBS site writer's article about him was emailed to them courtesy of CBS' spam brigade.

They were both posting on our leagues message board, (...one congratulating the other) when one mentioned he only learned about Shattenkirk after reading the article he had gotten in his email, he knew he had some dead weight on his roster, and figured he may as well cut someone loose, and take a chance on the "new guy" based on what the article said, ...the other owner then laughed and said he had placed his claim for the same reason after receiving the article on his mobile phone. (Normally these articles go no deeper than "Crosby or Ovechkin; who's better?" or "The Florida Panthers': Can they go all the way?", but apparently CBS has now begun going through Dobber's trash in search of insight)

They hadn't even come to the site and stumbled upon the article themselves.
Ohhhh, the injustice.


I have to admit that when I read the article on the site myself days earlier, I was already aware of, and kicking myself over the possibility that I had waited too long, and might now lose him to one of the guys who already had him on their radar, and now pulled the trigger after reading it on the site, but the guys I was worried about, had roster issues to resolve first, or were ahead of me; so I was in good shape as far as my prime competitors go,

...but I never contemplated the possibility of having CBS personally going door to &*$@'n door; telling the most clueless, absentee owners in the league who to pick up.


Rant over.

[Shoeless]

LOL - oh man, you are a classic - keep this up, you are headed to the Dobberhockey Hall of Fame. Simply loving your stuff!

[JagrBomb]

sure they wouldnt have learned about shattenkirk if they didnt read that email, but then again you wouldnt have learned about shattenkirk if you didnt read dobberhockey. your best bet is to wait till kirk slows down and then buy low on him.

[Sin Bin]

Very funny and I can relate...I have had a few players snatched out from under me over the years (though must times I am quick enough...

[gfhyde]

lol Great rant man. I feel for you.

When I picked him up in my work pool (sig) the other guys all asked who he was. Herp derp.

In my roto league they all knew and swore at me when he went on a tear

[Shoeless]

Sometimes we do wait a little too long - timing is so key in most of my leagues. I am convinced that the signs are often there even before the media starts pumping a player. Then it's a matter of playing chicken to see how late you can wait to scoop a guy.

[Old_Smokie]

All the guys in my league ridiculed me for dropping myers to pick him up... it isn't hard to know they don't read Dobber. :P

[NoWayOut]

I've suffered a few bouts of paralysis by analysis. More times than I care to admit, I've gotten to the point of having only to hit the add player button, and then canceled the move. I get this image of the player I'm dropping suddenly going on an epic hot streak, only to screw myself out of the better player and missing out as the guy I was going to pickup goes nuts and helps my opponent instead.

[Sin Bin]

i've suffered a few bouts of paralysis by analysis. More times than i care to admit, i've gotten to the point of having only to hit the add player button, and then canceled the move. I get this image of the player i'm dropping suddenly going on an epic hot streak, only to screw myself out of the better player and missing out as the guy i was going to pickup goes nuts and helps my opponent instead.

you are not alone!!!!!

[NoWayOut]

you are not alone!!!!!

It's ironic and maddening, the reason we all do that at one time or another is we don't want to look stupid or foolish for cutting the wrong player. In the end we look stupid or foolish because we let the right player get away.

Freud would have a field day with people who play fantasy sports.

[finnys_fanatsy]

I've suffered a few bouts of paralysis by analysis. More times than I care to admit, I've gotten to the point of having only to hit the add player button, and then canceled the move. I get this image of the player I'm dropping suddenly going on an epic hot streak, only to screw myself out of the better player and missing out as the guy I was going to pickup goes nuts and helps my opponent instead.

thats my classic move....never fails, well most of the time it does.

[JHM]

Fantasy is an odd world. I've been in a pool for getting onto 20 years. I wish some of our guys would sign up for some of this stuff. How many times have I seen a guy trade away a draft pick, because he didn't know who to pick? Way, way too many. One guy hasn't drafted in 15 years. Problems evolve. Teams pull ahead, so far ahead that the others have difficulty in ever catching them. I've been at the top now for a very long time. A very long time. Every time we make changes to our league, it's so that we create parity. I vote for this every time. FA get picked in order of reverse finish now. Cap was wiggled to advantage the weak sisters. Still, they struggle to catch up. We are seeing this slowly have an effect as 10 of the 12 teams are now in a similar points bracket. This year 1st in the 1st division leads overall in points. Tied for 2nd is a team in the second division and a team in the first division. The next three highest scoring teams are in the second division. 33 points separate 2nd to 11th.

Now, what's that got to do with this thread? We wouldn't be in this position if people had more information. More knowledge. When a few guys consistently pull ahead... well it creates problems. Despite some excellent changes, we suffer serious apathy. Even the draft this coming weekend (one FA pickup for each team to be used from now to the end of the year), doesn't seem to be igniting any excitement.

It is possible that the problem is our age. That as a group we're in the wrong spectrum of life (ages 33-45). The irony is we work hard to get the bottom guys to get in position to land the Shattenkirk's!

[NoWayOut]

It is possible that the problem is our age. That as a group we're in the wrong spectrum of life (ages 33-45). The irony is we work hard to get the bottom guys to get in position to land the Shattenkirk's!

I don't think age has anything to do with it. It has more to do with instant gratification possibly. Maybe that's the wrong phrase, but what I mean is people won't hang around and work on something when they feel it's hopeless. If they aren't right in the thick of it from start to finish, if they have to take a long term mindset towards getting back in the hunt, they just won't try very hard. I've seen it many time, if a guy is tail end charlie after the first 3-4 weeks they just check out.

Even if you do everything you can to foster parity, the owners at the bottom of the standings still have to work their asses off to get back in contention and human nature being what it is, some people just won't make the effort.

That mindset is pervasive in and out of fantasy sports. You see it everywhere anymore. People just look around and say if it's hard why try.

[shook81]

This is slightly off topic but rqually frustrating...those &#@*ing Yahoo post-it notes next to a players name. I love it when it says something like "He's had his ice time cut, been demoted to the third line, and has fallen out of favor with his coach. Try to trade him to an unsuspecting owner while he still has some precieved value."

Or...

"He's had a painfully slow start to the season, but is starting to heat up. Make an offer to an impatient owner and see if you can buy-low on him."

It's completely killed a few of my trade proposals over the past few seasons...

[lanky522]

...

However, ...in my 12 team CBS league, which has a weekly waiver claim period, ...I put in a claim last monday morning(the first day of the period) only to have him snatched away days later, when not one, ...but two lowest seated teams, with two of the leagues most disinterested owners, submitted claims for him,

...

In my CBS league we use waivers that are determined based off prior runs (so that the person who has the highest waiver priority isn't necessarily the person last in the standings). The way I see it, it's more fair. The people at the bottom of the standings get better draft position. I don't think they need better waiver positioning updated weekly too.

It's handy too... as if you manage your waivers well... and keep it in your pocket it can make or break your championship run late in the season. Brings more strategy to the equation than just rewarding inactive/sucky teams for being inactive and/or sucky.

Maybe it's something you could think about proposing to your league? It's bullshit when knowledgeable managers get usurped by ignoramuses.

Regardless... keep your eyes open for a slump. If these guys don't know about Shattenkirk... they're much likely to sell him if he starts to struggle. Use that to your advantage in trading.