The history of “GG”
GG, a term synonymous with online gaming culture has now pervaded BFFL and become problematic. Before we dive into the core issue, it’s time for a history lesson. The term “GG” meaning good game became popularized with an online PC game called Starcraft, a game I’m sure many of you are familiar with and one I’ve spent countless hours on in grade school. It was used as a term of respect and good manners when offering your conditional surrender when losing a game and it translated across to many other online games. The rules of “GG” were established as follows:
- GG is offered either before or after a game is decided. Never sarcastically or midway when mathematically you haven’t lost yet.
- GG is only offered by the loser, and then reciprocated by the winner. Offering GG as a winner is considered “bad manners”.
This does not necessarily mean it’s how it’s used today and I am certainly not the language police, but I just wanted to share the history of the term with you. It’s annoying overuse and people getting upset about it’s frequent misuse offered us an opportunity to revisit the origins of the term.
Trading and Timing
Trading is one of the greatest features in fantasy football. It’s also one of the best social bonding experiences in fantasy football. As you’re juggling negotiations with three guys, you tell each of them that “this deal actually helps you more than it helps me” and assure them “I can throw in $15 FAAB to make you feel better”. Some people enjoy the process more than others. Needless to say, you are often fishing for offers and seeing who is receptive to talks which leads to fielding multiple offers.
This is a good time to remind everyone that fantasy football runs like clockwork on a repetitive weekly schedule. On Monday you pray for your Monday night miracle, Tuesday is for sulking in misery or basking in glory while also researching waivers, Wednesday is for panicking over injury reports in practice and Thursday begins the next week. We all have knowledge of the schedule every week, it’s not like games sneak up on us. The NFL and all these stupid streaming services do a pretty good job of reminding you what time the games start and that they will also be on next week. Let’s do a better job of wrapping up negotiations sooner than 47 seconds before Thursday night football begins and accepting trade offers in that same timespan. It’s your responsibility as a GM to be cognizant of all the offers that you have received and that you have left sitting out there. If you leave an offer sitting out there over the course of weekend games, you are as equally responsible as the other GM who accepts a trade in the middle of the Sunday afternoon slate.
Being a habitual line stepper
The Competition Committee passed the highly controversial “Spirit of the League” Act. It was controversial in the events that led up to it, but it sparks an interesting ethical debate of overpolicing one’s roster and actions during the season. The language of the rule reads as follows: “Establish a league-wide standard allowing the Competition Committee to review conduct that may undermine fair competition, league integrity, or the intended operation of league rules, even when the specific conduct is not expressly prohibited by the Constitution.” I agree with how it’s worded and ideally should act as a safety net for anything not explicitly spelled out.
If you constantly find yourself at odds with this rule proposal, it’s time to re-evaluate your actions as operating in the grey area when most managers can make a clear moral judgement on right vs wrong. There’s never any harm in asking if a potential action could be misconstrued as against the spirit of the league.
