What's it like being commissioner?

[BigDaddyd8720]

What’s it like being commissioner?

WELL I’LL TELL YOU!!

But first, this story begins much further back (or forward, depending on how you look at it).

You see, I joined this league not knowing a single thing about the league, or basketball. I still don’t know a single thing about basketball but I like to think I know at least one thing about this league. As one would expect, it took a few seasons before I felt like I was starting to understand this game. By the time I got to my 4th season, my old team was really starting to hit its stride. We had just made our first playoff appearance, had a winning record, and looked poised to compete for many seasons

I thought I was doing a good job of running my team so I started offering up my services to the former commish (who shall remain nameless). He declined my help and then eventually decided to leave the league. With no plan in place for a new commissioner, it looked like this league may soon be ending.

BUT THEN, someone came along and jumped right into the fire and shouted “I AM HERE”. Yes, that someone was me (of course I’m gonna brag about myself and make myself look awesome, it’s my article). I had no idea how to work all the behind the scenes stuff but I like to think of myself as a quick learner (ok maybe more like medium speed learner…… ok fine, I had to be told things multiple times and had to write it all down before I finally understood it.) And so, with the help of some very awesome GMs/Former GMs who returned, obviously talking about Doug, Wig, Logan, and Charlie, we now find myself in the current spot I’m in today.

So back to the question of “what’s it like being commissioner?” WELL I’LL TELL YOU!!!!

It’s actually a lot of fun. That’s it. That’s all I have to say on what it’s like to be commissioner.

Nah I’m just kidding. It’s really is fun though. And quite interesting. Learning all the behind the scenes stuff has been really fun. I’m not the most tech savvy person so hearing Wig walk me through all the intricacies of the node was really fascinating. Especially since Doug showed me how to go about creating the league and getting to start this whole thing over from scratch. I remember working with Wig the first season when he switched over to the new server and having those first few sims basically be test runs for it. We had some kinks to work out but glad we were finally able to get through them to make it such an easy process moving forward.

Now even though I do enjoy being commish, it does have its down moments. The main thing is just always trying to keep the schedule consistent and on time. Thankfully my work is a bit flexible so it hasn’t been an issue yet. But at times it can be a bit tedious (running TCs and soon a better FA class). That first season was crazy for me. Constantly being on the phone with Doug and Wig just trying to learn everything I could in such a short amount of time, I’ll admit, thought I might have not fully been up to the task, But as I stated earlier, Doug and Wig were huge in helping me learn. Pretty sure Wig and I had like a 4 hour conversation one night as he went through everything he could think of to show me. Now that we are nearing the end of season 2, I’m starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of this whole being commish thing. I have a better feel for how the offseason works and the in season schedule is really simple. I know I need to be better about getting the offseason schedule posted sooner so people are able to plan ahead of time but I will continue to work on that. I am actually thankful for the creation draft because it’s given me a few seasons to really learn all I can about being commish without much worry about having any delays. And each season that passes, I try to make notes to help with following seasons to make each offseason run as smoothly as possible. So hopefully, sooner rather than later, this league will be running like a well oiled machine. And, as I did with this past offseason, I will always end each season with a feedback message to try and get people’s opinions on what I can do to keep everyone’s activity level at a maximum.

But even though being commish can feel like work at some points, the GMs in this league have definitely helped make it not really that stressful. You all have been very patient with your requests throughout my time as commish and I’m very grateful for it. The group of people we have in this league really are the reason I want to do whatever I can to keep this league fresh and fun. Hell, I’ve never written an article before and here I am writing one. And hopefully that will carry over to other GMs. We need more articles.

Speaking of keeping things fresh and fun, Wig and I (mainly Wig), having been working on something that we think is really going to add a new, exciting element to this game. Hopefully we can work out the kinks to have it up and running for next season so stay tuned.

I know I still have a long way to go before I can really call myself the best commissioner ever (even though it’s not really a contest. All commissioners have been great….. Well, almost all commissioners) but I can assure you that I will do everything I can to keep this league fun for everybody for as long as I’m able to be in this position. I have no intention of stepping away anytime soon and really excited to see how this league changes over the seasons.

[Darth Vegito]

Well as someone who commished for a while and founder of the infamous Shadow Council... all i have to say is thank you for stepping up. I been gone a while, and I've heard some stories about commish mess before now

It's a thankless job and GMs don't always understand what its like. But i think there's lots of former commishs and long time GMs that get it now so that makes things less stressful.

But again, just thanks man! Appreciate you keeping this thing we love so much going!

[greepleairport]

1000+ words, +4pts
So glad you've been able to wear the crown and keep this league running, sir. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!