Commish Question - Mid Season Rule Adjustment (1 Viewer)

Ugh. I thought I had everything covered.

Back when we wrote the rules, we stopped all WW/Free Agency (effectively locking rosters for the rest of the season) just before the Week 12 games. The intention was to make owners make hard decisions, especially if they were headed to the playoffs. But for all owners to have the ability to cover bye-weeks.

This year, there are bye weeks all the way up to week 13...which is the last week of our regular season. Which really adds a level of harshness that was unforeseen when the rule was originally created.

Do I ask the ownership if we want to change the rule mid-season...yes I know that it's basically a poor idea. Or leave it as is even though the 'Spirit of the Rules' would have been to extend the deadline to the end of week 13 had this been noticed before the start of the season?

If I do ask the ownership about a mid-season rule change...what is an acceptable vote for change? 50%, 66%, 75% 100% ???

Only way I'm ever for mid-season rule changes is if 100% of the league is for it. This one doesn't seem like it would have an affect on previous weeks, which is good. But I still wouldn't change anything unless 100% of the league agrees.

I think it's OK to at least bring it up, since it's not a change that would have any effect on past results.  I'd lean toward a 2/3 or 3/4 majority.

Dope said:

Ugh. I thought I had everything covered.

Back when we wrote the rules, we stopped all WW/Free Agency (effectively locking rosters for the rest of the season) just before the Week 12 games. The intention was to make owners make hard decisions, especially if they were headed to the playoffs. But for all owners to have the ability to cover bye-weeks.

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That's kind of a horrible rule. 

I am shocked that you got a majority to approve that. Hard decisions are fine, but good god - if a RB goes down, the replacement just sits there on the wire and rots? Between weeks 12-16 a lot can happen - that's one jacked up rule. 

Just one man's opinion. 

This year, there are bye weeks all the way up to week 13...which is the last week of our regular season. Which really adds a level of harshness that was unforeseen when the rule was originally created.

Do I ask the ownership if we want to change the rule mid-season...yes I know that it's basically a poor idea. Or leave it as is even though the 'Spirit of the Rules' would have been to extend the deadline to the end of week 13 had this been noticed before the start of the season?

If I do ask the ownership about a mid-season rule change...what is an acceptable vote for change? 50%, 66%, 75% 100% ???

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IMO you need a majority to agree. 51%. 

12 team league, 7 need to approve. 

And you shouldn't extend it to week 13, you should just eliminate the restriction altogether - it makes little sense to not allow people to add players for the playoffs. If I rolled to the playoffs and lost a couple WRs I'd be pretty pissed off if I had to play a playoff game with a blank in my lineup. 

100%

HSG...

To be fair, we carry 18 player rosters. 9 starters (QRWWTFFKD) so in theory you should have valid backups and NOT have to take a zero. I think once in 10 years did someone get screwed by rolling into the playoffs with only 1 kicker who got cut or hurt after the deadline.

it's a balance, right? I've made the lineups easy...you can have multiple different formations...including a 3-TE set if you want (also this is modified PPR. with  RB-0, WR-0.5, TE-1) but with that flexibility there, I've made it difficult on the other side.

So, your weekly lineup decisions are easier, but your season long decisions...with the WW being scraps and lottery tickets and the Roster Freeze being early, are hard as balls.

I'm not a fan of rule changes mid-season. As commish, I would alert everyone to the situation and remind them to take care of their team. I might also provide rule change options to possibly vote on and implement next year. The problem is the same for everyone and as long as everyone knows the situation there should be no complaints. Good luck!

On a personal note, my (6-player keeper) league used to have a wk. 12 transaction deadline. It was a hassle and always caused headaches. We opted to do away with it years ago. Now, we allow trades, waivers and FCFS pickups (for any team, playoffs or not) up until the start of wk.17, which is our championship week. It's been one of the best rule changes we ever made, if not the very best.

Dope said:

HSG...

To be fair, we carry 18 player rosters. 9 starters (QRWWTFFKD) so in theory you should have valid backups and NOT have to take a zero. I think once in 10 years did someone get screwed by rolling into the playoffs with only 1 kicker who got cut or hurt after the deadline.

it's a balance, right? I've made the lineups easy...you can have multiple different formations...including a 3-TE set if you want (also this is modified PPR. with  RB-0, WR-0.5, TE-1) but with that flexibility there, I've made it difficult on the other side.

So, your weekly lineup decisions are easier, but your season long decisions...with the WW being scraps and lottery tickets and the Roster Freeze being early, are hard as balls.

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Makes sense, but still would suck to be kickerless in the playoffs. 

Given the circumstances I don't see why anyone in the league would possibly have a problem with this. 

Have you proposed it?

Hot Sauce Guy said:

Given the circumstances I don't see why anyone in the league would possibly have a problem with this. 

Have you proposed it?

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Yup...I wish I didnt though. I put it up for a vote first and what I SHOULD HAVE done was put it up for a discussion first. The vote isn;t complete yet but it's right around 2/3 to extend. Gosh darn it did I screw this up. Worse FF day in a while (see my posts in the Booker thread for pure comedy).

While my initial intention was pure, and trying to assist everyone in a situation that was fubar...I realize that changing the rule now would be a bad idea.

I think that this raises another issue you need to address in the off season.  What level of approval is needed to make in-season changes.  If you dont have this covered already I would say you need 100%.  If anyone objects the rule is in place until it can be addressed in the off-season.  This change could be a disadvantage for the owners in your league who have taken this rule into consideration and planned their line-up strategy through week 13 and beyond already.

We established a rule a few years ago - waivers and trades are frozen after last regular season game (AFTER week 13).  If you cannot field a full lineup AFTER Week 13 due to injury (a player OUT or on IR) then Commish can override the freeze and the pickup must be for a player from the same position.  

As for your league - I would not recommend a change until next year.  Don't open the precedent for midseason rules changes.  They still have 5 weeks under your rules to plan for the current rules with adequate backups.

It's an oversight......What I'd do in this situation- As commissioner explain why the lock is on the wrong week and move it to the "correct" week and that should be done as part of your "executive" or "commissioner" powers. Ideally, you'd have an executive committee (commish and two other volunteers) and an independent (another commissioner who knows nobody in the league) and you'd use the committee to help you make admin decisions that don't necessarily require everyone's input. However, rule changes should always be off-season and involve the WHOLE league.

Dope said:

Yup...I wish I didnt though. I put it up for a vote first and what I SHOULD HAVE done was put it up for a discussion first. The vote isn;t complete yet but it's right around 2/3 to extend. Gosh darn it did I screw this up. Worse FF day in a while (see my posts in the Booker thread for pure comedy).

While my initial intention was pure, and trying to assist everyone in a situation that was fubar...I realize that changing the rule now would be a bad idea.

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Don't beat yourself up over it. At the end of the day it's just fantasy football.

its not that big a deal - either it'll pass or it won't. If it doesn't, discuss it at the drFt next year then put it up to vote. 

Carry on and don't let it ruin your season.

 

You can't change rules that can effect competitive balance during the year without 100%, unless you have a specific rule to do so. Every team is entitled to the benefit of the rules they were told to play by. If one guy is leading the pack, its easy to see 3/4 of the guys behind him agreeing to a rule that makes it harder for him to win. For example, if a league allows teams to starts 3 RBs and one team has Lev Bell, David Johnson and Spencer Ware and is winning every game through starting those 3, the majority could vote for a proposed rule that teams can only start 2 RBs. The front runner built his advantage fair and square and shouldn't lose it just because the majority want to bring him down by changing the rules. Your rule isn't aimed at any 1 team, but may effect different teams very differently.

Change your rule after the season (simple majority unless your constitution says something else) and as soon after as you can, so that people have the maximum time to adjust rosters to any changes.

Thanks everyone for their comments.

We aren't changing the rule mid-season and will revisit it in the off-season.