I think we need to add helmethead1 back on the Wall.  He just bailed on a new, startup progressive league during the 15th round of the initial draft.  I'm not the Commish of the league, but I will ask the Commish to post here to verify.  We also had another owner, tradrrr, who bailed during that draft too.  Maybe they both have a good reason for bailing, but it is kind of lame to leave in the middle of an initial draft.   

after conversing with helmethead1, I permitted him to join the new 1982 league.
Unfortunately, he has pulled the same trick again. I replied to his site mail
where he informed me he had to resign due to work, I asked if he was going to send me 
a team via admin/customer service. Site mail opened, but no response.

In the event the thread starter, does not update other users posts of owners to avoid,
I will start a new thread and will update regularly.

Now I need to find a replacement owner 15 rounds into a new league.

You know, stuff happens.    Helmethead is in my league and sent me a very nice smail saying work got busy and he couldn't be in it anymore.   What else do you want?

Part of being a commissioner is fixing problems like these.  People bail.  Some tell you, some don't.  I don't think you need to put a guy on a "wall of shame" because something more important came up.

I think expecting guys to pay for a team that they have committed to is borderline unreasonable.  If that is your expectation, you should try running a league were owners have to put up a GC before being allowed to draft.   I have seen guys try to do that and those leagues almost never fill.

It's not my intent to come off as snarky, I just think some of you guys have a level of expectation that are not shared with the majority of players on this site.

with that being said...AVIATORS, completely abandoned his team in the WIBL.     We had to submit a ticket to CS to get his team transfered to another owner.   I don't think he is still on the site.

If an owner stops logging in (I think it is 2 weeks) admin will transfer the team to the commissioner or another owner if the commissioner requests it.

Posted by Trentonjoe on 1/25/2011 9:35:00 AM (view original):
You know, stuff happens.    Helmethead is in my league and sent me a very nice smail saying work got busy and he couldn't be in it anymore.   What else do you want?

Part of being a commissioner is fixing problems like these.  People bail.  Some tell you, some don't.  I don't think you need to put a guy on a "wall of shame" because something more important came up.

I think expecting guys to pay for a team that they have committed to is borderline unreasonable.  If that is your expectation, you should try running a league were owners have to put up a GC before being allowed to draft.   I have seen guys try to do that and those leagues almost never fill.

It's not my intent to come off as snarky, I just think some of you guys have a level of expectation that are not shared with the majority of players on this site.

I agree. As a progressive veteran and a new commissioner, I think there are 4 main things that should get someone on this list:

1) An owner who is on the site (opens sitemails, etc.) but holds up the league and doesn't dignify the commissioner with a response to sitemails. Even a brief "Sorry, I'm busy. I'll catch up as soon as I can" or "I'm afraid I'll have to bow out" is much appreciated and takes 30 seconds.

2) An owner who has bailed on multiple leagues without giving acceptable notice. I think most people can forgive once - stuff happens. But if it happens 2, 3, or 4 times, you've got some 'splainin to do.

3) An owner who obviously mishandles a team then leaves. It would have to be something pretty extreme like trading all their draft picks and future stars to go all-in for one season, leaving next year's team in complete shambles. This owner doesn't need a progressive, he needs an open league or a single-year theme.

4) An owner who is extremely disagreeable and can't interact peaceably with other owners. Keeping a guy like this around can be a huge detriment to a league.

We don't need to point out every time someone makes a mistake. Would you want someone to do that to you? The objective here is to red flag those who have shown obvious malice or gross disrespect for other owners so commissioners can use caution in dealing with these individuals.

You agree with trentonjoe and then in your # 2 "main things" list exactly what helmethead1 has done.

Posted by richabbs on 1/24/2011 10:37:00 PM (view original):
I think we need to add helmethead1 back on the Wall.  He just bailed on a new, startup progressive league during the 15th round of the initial draft.  I'm not the Commish of the league, but I will ask the Commish to post here to verify.  We also had another owner, tradrrr, who bailed during that draft too.  Maybe they both have a good reason for bailing, but it is kind of lame to leave in the middle of an initial draft.   

It looks like tradrrr bailed because the commissioner accused him of playing for now.   I went back and looked at what this guy  drafted and they all seem like legit picks to me. 

Granted, I haven't studied the 1981 draft but he locked up a solid pitching staff and it looks like he was attacked because of it.   I would guess he bailed because he was being singled out.   Honestly, I would have left as well given the ultimatum that was laid down on him.

I actually agree with tj as well.  

If I could grab a rotation of Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Joe Niekro, and Steve Rogers in an 82 prog I would jump at it!    I always take pitchers with my 1st 3 picks in an inaugural progressive draft, if I could shore up a great 4 man I would.  

As one of the owners in the 82 prog currently drafting, I can say that the concern with the Ryan/Carlton/Niekro/Rogers/Gossage staff was NOT that the owner managed to lock up a strong staff out of the gate. Kudos to him for that. The concern was that all of the above pitchers except Ryan degrade substantially in value after 3-4 years.

I'm also in another progressive with the same commish which is now completing its third season. In that league, two franchises hit the same three year wall; they won for three years and now their values have nosedived. Both owners left. Given this experience, I can see why the commish would be on the lookout for history repeating.

My understanding is the commish asked the owner in question to commit to 5 years with the team. The owner in question chose not to make that commitment. Again, just my observer's understanding.

I've been in a total of six progressive leagues, five from the start. Of those five, two went belly up within two seasons because the commissioner couldn't handle the responsibilities. Another league I took over before it went down the path of those others. So when given an ultimatum such as the one put forth to tradrrr--hand over two teams as collateral or get out--I'd get out. What makes the commissioner a more reputable owner than another?

Actually, whoscraig, based on my two progs with this commish, I'm 100% convinced he is invested in his leagues for the long term. As such, he is looking for like minded owners, and that is the main reason why I like his prog leagues.

I'm not sure of all the particulars of what happened with tradrrr. If it were me, maybe I would have handled it differently, but it wasn't me. Anyway, in this case, the team in question stayed intact and another owner was quickly found to carry on.

Posted by slickstick81 on 1/25/2011 1:55:00 PM (view original):
You agree with trentonjoe and then in your # 2 "main things" list exactly what helmethead1 has done.

Touche. Somehow I missed the fact that he helmethead had done this before.

Well, maybe tradrrr should be excused, but helmethead1 should definitely be added back on the Wall of Shame.  He was on the Wall previously and then moved to the repent list.  Now he bails on a new league's draft in round 15????  I'm sorry, but you just don't do that for any reason.  

bump

How about this one: Wall of Shame or not?  I'll hold off on the name of the owner until the votes are cast.

Anyway, owner joins a prog in progress, taking over a powerhouse team.  Over 5 seasons he wins over 500 games, accumulating a .625 winning percentage and winning a World Series.  During the playoffs of the 5th season he posts this in the league's message forum:

I just sent a s/mail to [redacted: commish's name], that I will not be returning to defend the AL West pennant again. Had an owner quit in rd 15 of my new league and no replacement has been found. Translation, I have to pony up for a 2nd team.

That's it, no further explanation.  With his 5 playoff appearances in 5 seasons, including a possible 2nd WS coming up this week (his team's in the finals), he's basically played for free in this league.  Yet he's using the excuse of someone leaving a league that he commishes to say he can no longer play in this prog.

And oh yeah, he traded his #1 and 2 picks in the upcoming draft to strengthen his lineup for this, his final season.

His team had a salary of 99M this season (most in the league).  His 19 keepers (which he posted before he left) come to 61M. 

Wall of Shame?