Slow Drafts Are Supposed to Be Slow

(And that’s OK)

There’s been a lot of talk lately about slow drafts, and maybe a little confusion. Some leagues require moving through the first round quickly, in order to make sure that all participants are active. That is a good idea!

That is a completely different thing than league-mates who insist everyone needs to race through the entire draft.

Most sites offer drafts that are either fast or slow. A fast draft can be completed anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours. A slow draft is typically eight hours per pick with an overnight pause.

It is an accepted practice to tag the next person, once your pick is made, often with OTC (on the clock). However, year after year there are league-mates getting upset because they feel people are taking too long to make their picks. Sometimes the comments escalate beyond politely letting someone know they are on the clock, and turn into snarky or even hateful comments about taking longer than a few minutes to make a pick.

This attitude takes the fun out of drafting. The fast pick advocates have multiple arguments about why people shouldn’t need to take very long to make a pick, but not everyone has the kind of job that allows for breaks throughout the day, and sometimes people are just busy with life.

Our thought is that if you sign up for a slow draft, you should let everyone take their time and have fun during the process. Once the draft is done, it’s done, especially with best ball leagues, and this is the time that we have an opportunity to make new friends or become reacquainted with old ones. There truly shouldn’t be a rush, especially at this time of year when there’s a little less than two months til the season starts.

One of my favorite leagues was the Sonic division of the Scott Fish Bowl 13. We didn’t have any “draft police” and we used that time to get to know each other and become friends. This chat is still going and I hope it will be for years. Once a Sonic, always a Sonic!

We should all make an effort to diffuse the draft police and encourage them to enjoy the process, but there are some diehard fast draft folks signing up for the slow drafts. Choose fast drafts, folks – you will be much happier in the long run.