Afraid of winning?

[Jaxxvain]

Any commishes out there have a fear of winning?

It seems like OOTP ought to provide a way to Commish a league, WITHOUT the ability to see the hidden stuff that the other GMs cannot see. This should be somehow stamped on the file for all to see.

I guess if there is any support for this idea I will post it on the suggestion thread.

[TribeFanInNC]

I don't think commishs have an advantage because they see ratings. I think they mostly have an advantage because they spend the most time with the league and they have the most passion for the league (duh, they made it, they better be passionate about it).

A league won't last long if there is a genuine perceived advantage for the commish. I'm personally OK trusting the commish, but I tend to be a trusting sort.

[Alan T]

The biggest challenge for commissioners that also run teams is that of perception. There have been enough bad apples out there who felt the need to cheat to win or at least gain an advantage that it has put the possibility of that thought into many people's heads. That becomes a problem when something that is perceived as odd or out of the norm occurs in the favor of a commissioner led team.

There are enough flukey wins or series in both OOTP and baseball that sometimes things just unexplainable happen. You get players at times that accept abnormally ridiculously low contract offers that are far below the norm. You get talent hit to stud players that occur quite often, or stud players that go down with a severe season ending injury. Any time a single one of these things happen in the favor of a commissioner led team, it could cause others in the league to scratch their heads and wonder if they do not have an already developed sense of trust in that commissioner already.

There are plenty of great commissioners out there that have run their leagues for a decade that have established high level of trust with league members and this is less of an issue for them running a team. There unfortunately have been enough well documented cheating commissioners too that forces everyone to admit it is possible and happens in the community.

I personally have chosen to never run a team in a league that I commish mostly so I never have to ever deal with this situation myself. I doubt a single person in my leagues would object if I said that I wanted to take a team, but just a personal decision that is how I handle it myself.

[Bluenoser]

I trust the Commish of the league(s) I'm in, if I didn't, I wouldn't be a member of the league.

There are other ways to cheat besides seeing the ratings.

OOTP online leagues are about the lowest thing on the totem pole of life for me.

If a Commish is caught cheating, I'll move on and I won't bat an eye or lose any sleep over it.

It's a game, nothing else. The day comes that a game is important enough for me to spend time worrying if someone is cheating is the day I stop playing the game.

[legendsport]

There's definitely the possibility of a "conflict of interest" type of thing with a commish who also runs a team. I've been commishing OOTP leagues for a long time (I go back to OOTP 2, but I don't remember if my first online league was in 2 or 3). Anyway, I have one league now, and I solely commish. Because it's been impossible to keep the league full, I can still scratch my GM itch occasionally by doing stuff with the AI teams on occasion.

[udbacker58]

I definitely do have a fear of winning TOO much in my leagues. In the USBA, I turned this team from a doormat into a winner before I was handed the reigns, but still after going on a hot streak since taking over, I find myself asking for a loss or two

However, in the BLB I don't have the same problem as I can't seem to win

[Afino]

One of our simmers just won a championship. It's the first time in the league's 14 seasons that any of our simmers have won.

Trust me, I have the utmost respect, confidence, and trust in the GUBA's simmers. If anything, the team that just won a championship has gone through an incredible string of crippling injuries the last couple of years, most of them while he simmed, and he fought through it with shrewd moves. That gets my respect even more.

[ptwarr18]

I'm in this boat. I'm starting to build a really good team, including a player that's been much debated on these forums because of his massive jump in one season.

He was a 3-7-3 SP with (8-10-9) pot at January 1. At the end of ST, he was 6-8-4. By the next Jan 1, I believe he was 10-9-6. At this point, he's 10-10-7. This is probably the most extreme example in the league, but there are numerous other players on other that have made huge strides in short periods of time, including a prospect that had 3-3-3-3-4 potential and now has ACTUAL ratings of 6-8-8-8-8 I think. On these forums, a lot of people have said it's impossible to see ratings jumps like the one my guy had. And one of my original GM's just quit on the league today over it.

I've put hours and hours into the league, and with the recent developments, I'm pretty much ready to throw the towel in over this. I know how it looks, but what the heck am I supposed to do? Edit him down in ratings - isn't that the exact thing that I'm trying to avoid being accused of?

I'm in one other league as a GM only. Those of you familiar with the WBH, I took a 4th Level expansion team all the way to the first Level. Winning a Championship at each level to reach a the top ring, and now I'm two-time defending Champion of the top level. I've done this all in 8 seasons as GM. No other team has ever gone from 4th Level to 1st Level, let alone won 2 Championships there. I'm not the Commissioner, I never have been, but winning and my lucky developments (including a minor league free agent 18 year old becoming my ace) have been credited to me. Obviously I haven't been accused of cheating because I can't. It just sucks that because I have 1 solid player that I got a quick development on (not even really a potential increase, just he got there quickly); that I'm pegged as a cheater IN MY OWN LEAGUE. Especially when I've had numerous other players take massive rating hits and flame out; and have had top prospects tank. Why would I fix one player into being superhuman and let the rest of my team tank if I was cheating. It makes zero sense considering all the time I've put into it. I guess I don't really expect a response; I just needed to vent a little while I hope that my league stays afloat.

This is our first vacant team that I've had to fill since August, so I'm not taking it well given the reason for it and the manner the guy quit with. I'd consider resignation if it didn't let down the rest of the league, so I don't know. Still figuring out what I can do.