Fantasy Football For Dummies. Martin A. Schulman

try to determine if the trade is lopsided or contains damaged goods:

       Lopsided refers to a trade where one team gets great value for giving up little value — an unbalanced equation, in other words (such as sending a RB1 for a backup RB3). However, some trades may look sketchy on paper and thus cause a ruckus in your league but end up being fair or actually favoring the manager supposedly being fleeced. For that reason, you should keep the standards for vetoing a trade high.

       Damaged goods refers to players who may or may not be injured. Any deal involving an injured player should be subject to a commissioner’s review. If a coach who’s set to receive the damaged goods is unaware of the serious injury, or if an injury that could affect the long-term status of a player occurs during the review period, the commish should veto it. This action prevents coaches from knowingly or unknowingly dealing players who won’t be available for extended periods of time. Of course, if managers make a deal for a player who’s injured, and the manager acquiring that player is well aware of the situation and wants to take the risk, you should allow it.

      

At the end of the day, if the coaches in your league believe that you’re making decisions in an unbiased fashion, they’ll accept your determinations even when they’re on the losing side of your calls.

      Waiting until next year

      After you survive your first year as commish, you can take a deep breath and reflect on the season, but your job isn’t finished. You need to follow up with these duties:

       Get a tentative head count for next season: Make sure you save your league’s contact information so you can get everyone back next season who wants to play.

       Make sure you record your league’s settings and get feedback on proposed changes for the next year: If the settings created some issues, you can make adjustments next season, but only if you remember what the issues and settings were.

       Award trophies: Either arrange a ceremony (like our annual HFL awards banquet) or make sure that past winners deliver the cups, medals, and plaques to the current ones (by mail or in person).

       Distribute prize money: If you collected additional league dues for the cash payout, now is the time to send those dollars by mail, Paypal, or Venmo!

      

All that the managers in your league can expect is that your decisions come in a timely manner and within the framework of your league’s rules. Impartiality is a given and consistency a must. Your league will crumble if your fellow coaches don’t trust you, so don’t give them a reason to think that any of your decisions are biased or agenda-driven.