As you can imagine this is gonna be a touchy situation and I'm really going to appeal to EVERYONE to (a) read what I've written (b) remain civil, (c) PM me if -- AFTER READING THIS POST -- you have concerns or comments that are going to be to inflammatory for the thread.Thanks!
GC
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TLDR version: I am removing Jayhovaone from the league as GM. I have communicated this to him. The moves (plural) he made during his brief tenure are being discussed with the affected parties and we will try and work out something that's fair for everyone, then announce.
After sorting out these roster issues I'll begin the search for a new GM.
Being commish in this league is like herding 20 cats. Like it or not, this leagues requires some level of UBUNTU ("[Bill] Russell explained the core concept of ubuntu ' I can't be all I can be unless you're all you can be." [
Source]).
Jayhovaone's removal is NOT about the merits/particulars of his trade with Eja, but rather his inability to follow some basic standard op procedures the league has OR communicate with me about them.This is also NOT a 1-strike-and-you're-out thing. When 1 GM can't/won't follow through on the rules we've all set up, it makes it harder from everyone and is not fair to the league (which is bigger than any one GM, IMO).
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TOO LONG VERSIONI am removing Jayhovaone from the league as GM. I have communicated this to him. The moves (plural) he made during his brief tenure are being discussed with the affected parties and we will try and work out something that's fair for everyone then announce.
After sorting out these roster issues I'll begin the search for a new GM.
This is not about the Anthony Davis trade or it's merits in-and-of-itself. In the interest of not turning this into a personal attack against Jayhovaone I'm not going to get into here the full series of events -- it was the sum of four separate events not any one thing -- that led to this tough decision.
I do, however, want to share some of the fundamental thinking that went into it.
This is a long-term league made up of 20 dedicated GMs. Most of us have invested 4, 5 6, up to 8 years of our time playing and building our teams.
No one is forcing anyone to be a part of this league. But if you are going to be in it there is a reasonable expectation that you will (a) follow the rules that we've collectively decided on and (b) communicate if you have a question, issue or problem with the league, rules, another GM, etc.
Every GM has a different level of involvement in this league. The rules we've put together aren't to make it more difficult (though I'm sure that sometimes it feels that way), but rather to allow 20 different meatheads with differing levels of commitment, from all over the country (maybe world?), of different ages, different temprements, differing access to a computer during the day, etc. to coexist and have a kick-butt league.
This is also supposed to be fun. For the GMs and for the commish. Sure there will be work along the way but not following the rules is not fair to the other 19 GMs and makes mountains more work for the commish. Some of that work is just boring bookkeeping type stuff, but the bigger problem is that not following or following thru on the rules leaves other GMs in the lurch ' and they often get increasingly antsy/stressed/agitated; emotions that eventually get directed toward the commish.
I don't think i'm speaking out of turn to say that this last part was a significant part of the reason our beloved Lucky17 stepped down after 8 years.
I hope that by now most of you know that I am a fair and reasonable GM in this league (and the Pts League and CelticsBlog drafts) and have always tried to treat folks with respect and look out for the interests of the league as a whole. I'm trying to bring that same thinking to bear as commissioner.
I've tried in my brief tenure to be as open as possible about what will be upcoming, what folks need to do, how, and when, etc. For each of the 3-4 news updates I've communicated 3 ways: Updating the news section in the opening post of this thread, a PM to all 20 GMs, and an email to all 20 GMs. I don't think a GM can say they've been kept in the dark ' and my (digital) door is always open.
"Great, so I'm next right if I mess up one little time or disagree with GC?" you're thinking.No. No. No. If there's an issue I'll try to communicate that to the GM. This isn't a one-strike-and-your-out thing. But if it's becoming a repeated problem that GM is going to be asked to leave if he can't get it together.
This strikes me as similar to when GomesFan (who's a nice guy like I'm sure Jay is) was removed. There was a cycle there that I'm not gonna repeat with Jay. GF would go MIA, get warned, promise to do better and a month later be MIA again. It's fine to be busy: this kind of league isn't for everyone.
There have just been too many red flags in the short time Jayhovaone's been in the leage to chalk them up to rookie mistakes or life getting in the way -- both of which are things I've worked with other GMs around.
In any of these 4 instances if Jayhovaone had just said:
"hey man i'm confused"
or
"hey man I'm confirming the trade, gonna send you the list of players when i put my kids to bed tonight..."
or
"hey, I work in a hospital and can get called away at any momemnt. If i do, i'm cool w/ whoever I get"
(or better yet, given that the #21 pick was the only other piece in the Davis deal of any substance... "I might get called away today, here's a list of 21 guys in order that i'll draft with my pick if i miss it.").
THEN WE DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM. That hasn't happened.
Instead so far Jay has been hard to get a hold of by the commissioner and other GMs on issues that directly affect him and/or decided to go the msg board and post about being busy, or that I'm not being fair, or that I'm doing someone else's bidding or that I'm paranoid. All of which are things I'm just not going to deal with, sorry.