Post by Tim_KCRoyalsGM on Aug 1, 2014 21:12:39 GMT -5
EPILOGUE – 2030 PBLRC
With the 2030 PBL regular season knocking on our door tonight, the PBLRC has officially completed the formal review of the ten rule suggestions the group was tasked with evaluating. If you were concerned that this new committee would roll out drastic changes and remake the vision of the league… Well, you can relax. The status quo was upheld in eight of the ten discussion topics, and another topic ended in a split recommendation from the committee. The addition of a Winter League ended up being the only change that the PBLRC majority would support and recommend to the commissioner.
So with only one change being recommended by the committee, was anything really accomplished? In a word--- yes. The primary reason that I volunteered to help facilitate this process was not because I was hoping to see changes. I had a few motivations: First, I felt that our group has had so many important rules discussions in recent years, but nowhere to go and find the thread on that discussion after the fact. By creating a standardized place for these discussions, we have a catalog of the process and can always refer back. Beyond that, not only does it seem more appropriate to institute any changes during the offseason, but it is also the period when we all have more time to involve ourselves in the rules because there are not any games. And finally, I felt there needed to be more clarity in some cases. Interestingly enough, the process taught me that sometimes rules are ambiguous because they must be. A classic example of this was the potential issue surrounding the trading of first round draft picks and signing of Comp FA’s. It sure seemed to me that we should have very clear rules set in place for what happens if the spirit of this rule was ever violated. While many GM’s felt there was no reason to address this because it would not likely happen again, I was one of many GM’s that wanted to see an established remedy set up so we are not having to decide, after the fact, if such a violation happens. It just seemed that the only way to be fair was to have a clear penalty for this situation. But once the committee engaged in the process, and every possible solution was discussed, it became quickly apparent that there was no consequence available which had the right combination of being an impactful deterrent, timely, proportionate, and most importantly, simple to administer. Lengthy discussions could not find a solution that met all of these standards, and this served to validate why the status quo is the best approach. It also reminded me that it is easy to look down from way above and say that something must be fixed… but if a good solution can’t be found, maybe it’s not as broken as it appears from a quick glance. Ultimately, I think this is how the status quo won the day on most of our topics. The committee was not looking to make change just for the sake of saying we accomplished something. The PBL is the greatest league out there, and the process of reviewing potential rules changes only served to validate that this league is on the right track.
I want to thank Derek for supporting the PBLRC concept, and the committee members for making the time commitment to respond to so many group messages regarding the various topics. Shane, Rob, and Anthony brought so much experience to the table. A special thanks to Anthony who gave much of his time to testing in the software when the committee discussions led us in that direction. And I want to thank all members of the league who participated in the PBLRC by providing us the feedback on each topic before it was sent to committee. I know there were a couple of you who wanted to add a few discussion topics after the deadline. Perhaps you will have a chance to visit these topics in the future if Derek determines there is a need for the PBLRC to return. For now, we can close the books on the PBLRC for 2030, and it’s on to the GAMES!
With the 2030 PBL regular season knocking on our door tonight, the PBLRC has officially completed the formal review of the ten rule suggestions the group was tasked with evaluating. If you were concerned that this new committee would roll out drastic changes and remake the vision of the league… Well, you can relax. The status quo was upheld in eight of the ten discussion topics, and another topic ended in a split recommendation from the committee. The addition of a Winter League ended up being the only change that the PBLRC majority would support and recommend to the commissioner.
So with only one change being recommended by the committee, was anything really accomplished? In a word--- yes. The primary reason that I volunteered to help facilitate this process was not because I was hoping to see changes. I had a few motivations: First, I felt that our group has had so many important rules discussions in recent years, but nowhere to go and find the thread on that discussion after the fact. By creating a standardized place for these discussions, we have a catalog of the process and can always refer back. Beyond that, not only does it seem more appropriate to institute any changes during the offseason, but it is also the period when we all have more time to involve ourselves in the rules because there are not any games. And finally, I felt there needed to be more clarity in some cases. Interestingly enough, the process taught me that sometimes rules are ambiguous because they must be. A classic example of this was the potential issue surrounding the trading of first round draft picks and signing of Comp FA’s. It sure seemed to me that we should have very clear rules set in place for what happens if the spirit of this rule was ever violated. While many GM’s felt there was no reason to address this because it would not likely happen again, I was one of many GM’s that wanted to see an established remedy set up so we are not having to decide, after the fact, if such a violation happens. It just seemed that the only way to be fair was to have a clear penalty for this situation. But once the committee engaged in the process, and every possible solution was discussed, it became quickly apparent that there was no consequence available which had the right combination of being an impactful deterrent, timely, proportionate, and most importantly, simple to administer. Lengthy discussions could not find a solution that met all of these standards, and this served to validate why the status quo is the best approach. It also reminded me that it is easy to look down from way above and say that something must be fixed… but if a good solution can’t be found, maybe it’s not as broken as it appears from a quick glance. Ultimately, I think this is how the status quo won the day on most of our topics. The committee was not looking to make change just for the sake of saying we accomplished something. The PBL is the greatest league out there, and the process of reviewing potential rules changes only served to validate that this league is on the right track.
I want to thank Derek for supporting the PBLRC concept, and the committee members for making the time commitment to respond to so many group messages regarding the various topics. Shane, Rob, and Anthony brought so much experience to the table. A special thanks to Anthony who gave much of his time to testing in the software when the committee discussions led us in that direction. And I want to thank all members of the league who participated in the PBLRC by providing us the feedback on each topic before it was sent to committee. I know there were a couple of you who wanted to add a few discussion topics after the deadline. Perhaps you will have a chance to visit these topics in the future if Derek determines there is a need for the PBLRC to return. For now, we can close the books on the PBLRC for 2030, and it’s on to the GAMES!