*Reflections of an Award Committee Rep

[Billybolo53]

Reflections of an Award Committee Rep

I had the privilege to represent Sarasota on the NSFL awards committee. This was my first time on the awards committee. It was a really awesome experience and I want to share some of the takeaways I had. 


1.  The Committee Works

I was actually a little skeptical about the set up of the committee. I found it hard to believe that you could get 12 people, who all have a vested interest to do what is best for their teams, to agree on anything. I was very impressed with how everyone was able to balance being objective and stumping for their team. The discussion was always amicable and everyone at least got to share their defense for any teammate. I really have to credit VC and Gucci on how the facilitated the discussion. The rules in place for death lock worked and I feel no one walked away with hurt feelings or feeling that they lost. The primary goal of everyone on the committee was to make the best ballots possible. 

2. The 80/20 Rule 

I’m a big believer in the 80/20 rule. It means that 80% of the effort will go into 20% of the work and vice versa. With the awards committee, it was fairly easy for the committee to agree on the top candidates for an award. Most of the time spent was debating who the 4th and 5th best candidates were. What I would like to propose is this, that the awards committee would have the ability to designate honorable mentions. Trim the candidates to 4 and have 2 to 3 honorable mentions. This would actually allow for more people to be recognized, but where would that mention happen, you say?


3. Announce the Nominees

I have no idea why we don’t announce the nominees. Durning Ultimus Week, when the ballot is finalized, the committee should release the list with any applicable honorable mentions.  This would build up hype for the actual award show and spark debate and media on who people think should win. I think the ballots are private to stop people from trying to sway the voters. I really don’t think that would be an issue. Maybe this rule is in place because of a scandal I am unaware of but I think that it is time to do away with it. 


4. A Radical Proposal

I would eventually like to see all awards voting and pro bowl voting out of the hands of ho and the GMs. Not to say that they do a bad job at all, but GMs and HO are some of the busiest people in the league. GMs have so much testing, scouting, and budgeting to do. I don’t even want to think about how much HO does. I think there should be a new position as an award voter or pro bowl voter. Ho, the committee heads, or the GMS could conduct the interviews. With the growing list of users in the league, we need to create more paid positions for people to reinvest into the league. I think holding a league job really ups the chance of longterm activity. 


I’ll end by saying that the best part of the whole experience was getting to know my fellow committee members. For a lot of people, it was the first chance I’ve had to interact with you directly and I walked away impressed with each and every one of you.

cheers