Commish-type advice needed - incorrect brackets (1 Viewer)

[heckmanm]

I administer the website for a 16-team contract keeper league (but am not the commissioner).

We have 4 4-team divisions in two conferences, so our playoffs are split by conference, with the 2 division winners and 2 wildcards in each conference. Conference champs meet for the league title in week 17.

Anyway, MFL does not support this playoff structure in any automated fashion, so I have to manually set the brackets every year, with the 1-4-5-8 seeds from one conference and the 2-3-6-7 seeds from the other.

I fat-fingered my way into flipping the 5- and 6-seed teams, so that we had a 4-6 matchup and a 3-5 matchup (cross-conference) in round 1. I didn't notice it until just today.

Of course, it turns out that the #5 seed beat the #3, but would have lost to #4 if the brackets had been correct. Similarly, the #4 lost to the #6. The #3 would have lost either way, and the #6 would have won either way. So now, if I correct the brackets (purely a clerical error), the #5 seed is pissed and threatens to quit the league, and if I leave it, the #4 seed is screwed by my mistake.

Advice? I've asked the commish and treasurer (we have 3 officers) to weigh in but haven't heard from them yet.

 

[Jello_Biafra]

I did the same thing a year ago in a league I commish. Didn't notice until after the games were played. I told everyone that I made a mistake, and corrected it. Same thing. A team that won, ended up losing. He didn't quit, he didn't ##### or moan, he just accepted it. I apologized for the mistake and moved on from it. I had no other choice. You can't just leave your mistake there for fear that someone will get pissed off. You have to correct it. Afterall, we are only human.

 

[lsutigers]

Commish in two money leagues.

Yeah, would fix it also and explain what occurred. Have to right the (accidental) wrong.

 

[heckmanm]

This is what I'm trying to do. The owner who should have lost is complaining, partly because he had some other unrelated after-the-fact ruling hurt him in a different league last year, and threatening to quit the league. He has a few others taking his side, talking about "throwing the challenge flag" after the game is over.

Frankly, I'm better off leaving the brackets wrong, as the "correct" results have me going up against Bell and Foster this week.

I'm hoping the commish weighs in soon.

 

[Jello_Biafra]

Why are you setting the brackets if you're not the commish? If the commish gives you this "power", I would just correct it, not say anything, and let the commissioner do his job. If he wants them set wrong, let that be on him.

 

[heckmanm]

We have 3 officers - Commish, Treasurer, and Secretary. I'm the secretary and I keep the website maintained, but the commissioner makes all rule decisions.

In any case, the commish weighed in later last night and said the corrected brackets will stand, so that should be the end of it. TBD if the guy decides to quit, but there haven't been any further e-mails flying around.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Correcting them was right call. (Edit: Assuming this is run by everyone in the league/Post made on msg board, etc..) Everyone can see the accidental error. Had same thing happen 'against' me a couple years back. Mistakes happen

One that's going to cry about something like this.......will cry about anything IMO.

 

[Football Menace]

This is what I'm trying to do. The owner who should have lost is complaining, partly because he had some other unrelated after-the-fact ruling hurt him in a different league last year, and threatening to quit the league. He has a few others taking his side, talking about "throwing the challenge flag" after the game is over.

Frankly, I'm better off leaving the brackets wrong, as the "correct" results have me going up against Bell and Foster this week.

I'm hoping the commish weighs in soon.

Wait, why are you seeing the matchups if you aren't the commish? Seems kind of shady if you benefit from the mistake.

 

[Meatwad Reloaded]

You have to correct it. My commish made a similar mistake this year. I noticed it before the game and emailed him. In any event, the guys in the playoffs certainly should have known what seed they were, so they should have given you a heads up ahead of time. As a comimsh, I would have a hard time saying that I had every teams playoff scenarios memorized, but I certainly know my own, so if I earned the 5 seed and was seeded 6th, I would know right away something was wrong. I would change it and not even feel sorry for the guy because he should have known beforehand.

 

[Joe Summer]

As long as the next playoff game hasn't started, you should fix it. It's no different than Elias posting a stat correction.

 

[cdubz]

What if 5 seed based lineup decisions based on opponent?

Probably not an issue in this case, but downside of "correcting" the result is opening up a theoretical can of worms.

 

[heckmanm]

This is what I'm trying to do. The owner who should have lost is complaining, partly because he had some other unrelated after-the-fact ruling hurt him in a different league last year, and threatening to quit the league. He has a few others taking his side, talking about "throwing the challenge flag" after the game is over.

Frankly, I'm better off leaving the brackets wrong, as the "correct" results have me going up against Bell and Foster this week.

I'm hoping the commish weighs in soon.

Wait, why are you seeing the matchups if you aren't the commish? Seems kind of shady if you benefit from the mistake.

I'm a league officer in charge of keeping the MFL page updated and correct. The commissioner is in charge of handling rule disputes/questions, scheduling the draft, etc. - all of the non-webpage stuff.

Aside from that, the league rules state who is to play whom in the playoffs, based on the division/wildcard standings for each conference. Anyone can see the brackets. I'm not sure what "matchups" you're referring to. I'm set to play one or the other of the two teams involved in the second round, and I can see who they have on their rosters. I'm assuming he's not leaving Bell or Foster on the bench.

 

[Joe Summer]

What if 5 seed based lineup decisions based on opponent?

Then he should be kicked out of the league.

 

[Rockchild]

And none of the teams in the league noticed this before the games started?

 

[cdubz]

What if 5 seed based lineup decisions based on opponent?

Then he should be kicked out of the league.

???

 

[heckmanm]

And none of the teams in the league noticed this before the games started?

Yeah, that seemed odd to me - I would think at least one of the teams involved would notice that they're playing against someone from the other conference. Although we had a fair bit of owner turnover in the past couple years, so several guys may have been in the playoffs for the first time and weren't familiar with the rule that set the brackets.

In any case, the guy came around to agree that it was the right decision, so it seems to have a clean resolution.