What makes a good league a good league?

[IrishSox14]

In the past i have always been in good leagues at first but then they die out and no one stays active. That happens in the leagues that i try to commish too. I am just asking how do some leagues stay together for so long and are there any out there

[CBMGreatOne]

A good league is a league where everyone knows what they're doing and stays active all year. Actually, I'd settle for most people knowing what they're doing and staying active for most of the year. If everybody tried as hard as I do, all leagues would be great, but realistically you're going to have a few "dead teams" in most leagues. The more people that are trying very hard and in the hunt, the better.

[Bloody Sox]

Good question... the entire key is the type of owners you have in your league. In the league I've been running for 8-9 years with friends (from work, softball, etc.) I've continually tried to do things to make the league more fun... keepers, live drafts, etc... but there simply are a few guys who are REALLY into it and a few guys who play just to play. As a result, the league tends to run smoothly, but quietly with not too many trades and not much smack talk. A guy I work with is in a couple of leagues with guys who are fanatical - as a result, there is endless amounts of emails on rules changes, smack talk, etc. plus lots of trades, moves, etc. and with owners that into it, you can really start to add other things like minor leagues and make the league formats a lot deeper and challenging.

[Lofunzo]

I would say really knowing your leaguemates and having active owners.

[shawngee03]

MONEY

[StoneColdBrown]

I think two things make leagues good: clear rules and active owners. Everything else should take care of itself. A little good-natured banter doesn't hurt either, though.

[Trojan Pony]

1. A fair, level-headed, objective commissioner who puts the interests of the league before the interests of his own team or anyone else's. The commish sets the tone for the whole league...bad commish = bad league; great commish = great league. You can have the greatest managers ever but if the commish sucks the league is gonna fold real quick.

3. Active managers. The more active the managers are, the more competitive the league is. The more competitive the league is, the more fun it is. Simple.

2. Clearly written rules that everyone has the chance to discuss and, if necessary, vote on during the off-season. This will help to clear up any disputes that may come up during the season.

4. Savvy managers. Having managers who know what they're doing also makes it more competitive and forces the managers who really want to win to be active. I'm running away with first place in a money league right now but the main reason is because I'm more experienced and active than the other managers and as a result it's easily my least fun league.