Fantasy sports reflect real life in a lot of ways: you can have more success when you work harder; sometimes you have no control over what happens to you; you often have to deal with total tools on a daily basis. You may not see this topic discussed very often, but this has become a bit of an annual tradition for this blog in an effort to make this little section of the world - the fantasy sports community - a bit more liveable.
It also could be the difference between the sweet taste of victory and the bitterness of defeat for you. Fantasy drafts have been and are continuing to take place this month, so this is the prime time to think about your fantasy owner image and whether or not it needs to be remade.Just like in everyday life, you're judged in the fantasy world by your actions and the way you conduct yourself with other people. Do you play well with others or are you the kid everybody avoids in the sand box? If you know you're the latter (or if you just think everybody else is intelligence-impaired, which might be a clue you're in denial) then there are some really easy steps you can take to remedy that situation.
But Chris, who cares? We're talking about fantasy sports. What does it matter what people think of me? Well, aside from wanting to actually be a relatively solid citizen in this world; being viewed as a good fantasy owner can actually help you to achieve more for your team. If you're hungry to win and want to have every available tool to help you realize that goal, then being the owner with whom you yourself would like to interact can go a long way. League etiquette really does matter.
BURN BABY BURN: The key point you should always keep in mind early on is you don't want to burn any bridges. Thanks to the internet it's really easy to be an anonymous loud mouth; but why in the world would you want to aggressively cross off potential trading partners with useless bravado?
It's an unfortunate fact in most fantasy leagues that you'll have at least a few owners who don't pay any attention to their team after the first month anyway, so why add to that list of potentially helpful players you'll never get your hands on by needlessly alienating yourself?
Granted, some people are just idiots and nothing you do is going to change that inevitability. If you're in a league with strangers though, you're better off not sending that zinger of an email or bulletin board post because Murphy's Law says that putz will have several of his friends in the same league. Then you can count on one hand the teams that will actually trade with you - not a good situation.
The other aspect of that is you do NOT want to give other owners ammunition to dig in and try even harder against you. In real life athletes try to avoid giving the other team those famous bulletin board quotes - the same thing applies in fantasy.
I've run into a few legendary jerks in various fantasy leagues over the years and it always gives me no greater pleasure than to find that extra motivation and trounce their sorry behinds. Dancing on their fantasy graves in April is sweet revenge... so maintain a low profile and keep your eye on the prize.
A number of years ago I was locked into a three-year keeper league with the same owners and one in particular was a gigantic pain. Brutal trade offers, bad-mouthing you when you reject the idiocy and generally being a first-class loser. Needless to say, it was extremely satisfying to sweep the three titles and never give the guy even a sniff of first place the entire time.
NOT-SO-GREAT TRADE OFFERS: We have an entire blog today dedicated to trading as part of the draft guide, but let's touch on one area of that topic here because it relates to your fantasy owner image. Resist the urge to tell owners who send those pathetic offers (every league has someone like that) where to stick their trade. You're only going to start a needless war of words and aside from it being a waste of your time; you'll be eliminating potential trade partners.
Similarly, don't send those sorts of offers out either; because the odds of getting them accepted are low and they're more likely to just offend the intelligence of your potential trading partner. Or they'll at least come across that way.
SMACK DADDY: This is really important: avoid running heavy smack on the league bulletin board if you're on top of the standings at the end of October. The other owners don't care and championship banners aren't handed out one month into the season.
The lower your profile, the less chance you have of alienating owners that you might need when March rolls around.
That said; if you happen to be in a league with the same group each and every season then feel free to run that smack and run it hard. These people already know what you're all about so if you're the kind of poolie that tends to lay it on thick and have some fun with this annual ritual then have at it. Just remember... what goes around, comes around.