RADIO
The most wonderful time of the year has arrived! No, not Christmas. It's fantasy football draft season! The time to hang out with loved ones as you draft the team that is going to decimate each and every other one in your league. The time to trash talk your opponents and make them feel worthless. The time to build the army that will take you to the promised land. Draft season is exciting enough on its own, but how can we make it even more exciting? By adding more competition of course!
Most fantasy football leagues decide their draft order by the reverse order of last year's standings, or by letting the computer randomly generate the order approximately one hour before the draft begins. However, these outdated methods are boring and leave much to be desired. There have to be better options out there, right?
Before we get into it, the first change that should be made is to allow the members of the league to choose their draft position in the order selected by the methods below. This incentivizes each member to fully participate instead of planning for specific ways to avoid the middle picks. What I mean is that the person who wins the first spot in the draft should not automatically receive pick one, rather he/she should be given the first selection of where they want to draft. This puts even more control in the hands of the league members and promotes full participation because last place does not get pick 12, he/she gets the pick that no one else wanted. Here are some ways to determine the draft order in a fun way:
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Include Other Sports
The first method to select your league's draft order is by competing in other sports. This is simple and allows each member to control their own fate.
Foul Shots: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings to take a foul shot on a basketball court. The first person to make a basket gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.
Pitching Competition: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings to try and knock over a can with a baseball. The catch is that the member must "pitch" the baseball, meaning that they must throw it nearly as hard as they can. The first person to knock over the can gets to choose their draft spot. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.
Miniature Golf: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin a 12-man round of mini-golf. The lowest score gets to choose their draft spot first. A fun twist on this game is to add the hole-in-one skip option, meaning if a player gets a hole-in-one, they do not have to complete the course and get to choose their draft spot immediately.
Bullseye Bonanza: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin throwing one dart at a dartboard. The first person to hit the bullseye gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.
Cornhole: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin tossing one beanbag at a Cornhole board from the same distance away. The first person to get the beanbag into the hole on the board gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.
Other Competitions
Dave and Buster's: The entire league takes a trip to Dave and Buster's and purchases a $20 game card. The member with the most tickets after the $20 is spent gets to choose their draft spot first.
Potato Sack 40-Yard Dash: Some league members may be faster than others, so a straight-up foot race might not be fair to all parties. In order to even the stakes, add a potato sack! The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and "run" the 40-yard dash in a potato sack. The member with the fastest time gets to choose their draft spot first. If more than one member cannot finish the full 40 yards, then the person who made it the furthest gets to choose their draft spot first out of the non-finishers.
Pizza For Everyone: This is one of my favorite ways to determine the draft order. Each league member is assigned to a local pizza place. At the same time, every member calls their pizza place and orders a medium pizza. The member whose pizza is delivered first gets to choose their draft spot. Bonus: Not only is the league's draft order decided in a completely unbiased manner, but the league now has 12 pizzas to eat!
The Wonderlic Test: Each league member takes the same official Wonderlic Test and the member with the highest score gets to choose their draft spot first.
Brain Freeze: Each league member fills up the same size cup with a Slurpee flavor of their choosing. Everyone begins drinking at the same time, and a member is finished the moment they stop chugging the Slurpee. If more than one person is able to chug the entire Slurpee without stopping, then the member who finishes first gets to choose their draft spot. Assuming no one can finish the Slurpee before brain freeze sets in, the member with the least amount of Slurpee left in their cup when they stop chugging gets to choose their draft spot first.
Laser Tag: The entire league goes for a night out to play laser tag! The member with the highest score after the match is over gets to choose their draft spot first.
Video Game Tournaments: This one is pretty self-explanatory. The league chooses a video game to compete in, tournament style, and the winner gets to choose their draft spot first. Popular choices include Madden, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., WWE Smackdown, and Mortal Kombat.
Pray To The Old Gods (and The New)
Here are a bunch of ways to determine the draft order that is completely up to the fates. The members of the league have no control over these outcomes, which can make the events that much more exciting.
Horse Racing: The entire league takes a trip to the local racetrack and selects one horse from the same race. The order that the horses finish is the order in which the league members choose their draft spots. This can also be done at dog races and pig races.
March Madness: Each league member fills out a March Madness college basketball bracket and the highest score gets to choose their draft spot first.
Kentucky Derby: The commissioner of the league places the name of each horse in the Kentucky Derby into a hat. The member whose horse finishes the highest gets to choose their draft spot first.
NASCAR Race: The Commissioner places the names of 12 drivers in the next NASCAR race into a hat. This is more fun when the commissioner chooses drivers that no one has heard of because it evens out the odds, and leads to league members screaming their heads off for guys like Quinn Houff and Chad Finchum. The order in which the drivers finish the race is the order in which the league members get to choose their draft spot.
PGA Tournament: Similar to NASCAR, the league commissioner places the names of 12 golfers in the next PGA tournament into a hat. The order in which the golfers finish in the tournament is the order in which the league members get to choose their draft spot.
Video Game Simulation: In this method, the commissioner chooses a video game and assigns each member a character from that game. Then, the commissioner runs a computer simulation of the game to determine the results. The best examples are WWE Smackdown and Super Smash Bros. Each league member chooses a wrestler and character from a hat, and the commissioner simulates a Royal Rumble/Battle Royal. The order is chosen in the reverse order that a wrestler/character is eliminated from the competition. This means that the league member who is assigned to the wrestler/character that is eliminated first does not get to choose their draft spot, but is instead left with the only spot remaining.
The Bachelor/Bachelorette: Each league member selects a contestant from the TV show The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. The first league member to have their contestant eliminated is the last place finisher and does not get to choose their draft spot.
Age 21 and Older (drink responsibly):
Beer Pong: The Commissioner of the league sets up 12 cups on one side of a table, each with a number on the bottom. Each member then takes a turn throwing a ping-pong ball into the cups. When a member makes a cup, the number on the bottom of the cup is the place in which they get to choose their draft spot.
Flip Cup: All league members line up around a table and fill up their cup about halfway with beer. At the same time, all league members drink the beer in their cup and then try to flip their cup on its head. The league member who can not flip their cup over before everyone else is the last place finisher, and does not get to choose their draft spot. The remaining eleven members then repeat the process until there is one member left. The last remaining member gets to choose their draft spot first.
Shot For Shot: All league members line up around a table and pour one shot of the same liquor for themselves. At the same time, the league takes the shot. Repeat this process until members start dropping out of the competition. The first league member to stop taking shots is the last place finisher and does not get to choose their draft spot. It is best if the league hosts its draft a few days after this competition.
NOTE: Beer Pong and Flip Cup can also be played with non-alcoholic beverages.
The hit TV show The League on FX introduced us to some fun ways to select the draft order, but most of us probably won't have the opportunity to try and score a touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys' practice, or the balls to try and race through an airport security line. As we've seen, however, there are a ton of perfectly legal, exciting ways to select your league's draft order. Have fun!
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