It's August, which is both the best and worst time of the year when it comes to fantasy football. It's great because it's fantasy draft time! And it's terrible because, well, it's fantasy draft time.

Trying to get 12 people (I say men because it's my league and there aren't any women in it, no offense folks) to agree on a draft date is not unlike getting a rich man through the eye of a needle, or something like that. Let's take a look at all the requirements and obstacles to getting a draft time that works for everyone, or even anyone.

  1. Has to be after the third exhibition game. That's the game where the starters play the most, and if you draft before then you run the greatest risk of one of your early picks blowing out his knee in a meaningless game. Draft after then and all that's left is the fourth preseason game, where starters only play when they're guys you have little to no interest in actually selecting anyway. So right there you're eliminating most of August as a draft time (this year the third exhibition is the weekend of the 28-30th).

  2. Has to be before season starts. You would think this is self-evident, but I'm in a league that typically drafts the Saturday after the Thursday night season opener. I actually don't mind this too much, but some always do, and will complain about it prior to the drat, during the draft, and all through the season ("I would have drafted Eddie Lacy there if he hadn't had a terrible Thursday night game and suffered a concussion to boot"). So I pretty much make sure to sneak the draft in between the third preseason game and the season opener, which gets us down to basically a 10-day window.

  3. Has to avoid back to school. If you have small kids, or actually, kids, the start of football season also coincides with going back to school. Maybe it's elementary schoolers who have meetings with teachers or back to school dances. Maybe it's college students who require lengthy car trips of belongings halfway across the country. "I can't make the draft, I'm driving 1,500 miles with a sofa strapped onto the roof of my minivan." There's no comeback for that.

  1. Has to avoid family vacations. I used to enjoy taking vacations in July. The weather is hottest, so bring on the beach days, and it breaks up the summer nicely. Then the toddlers became little kids who 1) attended camps or 2) played little league baseball. Suddenly you're totally booked in July and everyone takes their family vacations in late August. "Can't make the draft, we're driving to Wally World."

  2. Has to avoid Labor Day Weekend. Or really weekends period, because there are carnivals, barbecues, birthday parties, and water parks galore on the schedule instead. I'm starting to understand why that one league holds its draft after the start of the season.

At the end of the day, I'll do what I always do. Find a day that works for me, schedule the draft, and offer sincere-sounding apologies to those who can't make it. "Sorry man, I know, I know, but this is the day that works for everyone else."

It's an apology I'm sure I'll end up making 11 times this year.