Commissioner help needed. (1 Viewer)

[madd futher]

This is very long but is very important to our league to do it right.

I am commish in a friendly $30 buy-in 12 team league where the top 6 make the playoffs. Many of the owners are friends or know each other socially.

We have a rule against 'tanking' the season by intentionally not making weekly lineup changes. A team that was 2-7 fielded a team last week with 3 bye week players because he did not change out his team from the week before. If he had put in his worst available team, he would have won. As a result, the team he played moved to 6-4 - ahead of 3 other teams tied at 5-5 for spots 6-8. With 3 games to play, this gives him a huge unearned play-off advantage.

I talked to the player who didn't change out his line-up and I don't believe that he INTENTIONALLY tanked - he assures me that he 'has been very busy' and due to his record it was not his highest priority, but that he would like to be invited back next year, and would field a competitive team the rest of the way. He was very sorry that he did not consider the effect on the rest of the league.

I am inclined to award the 2-7 player the win. It is very doubtful that he will make the playoffs at 3-7, but he would surely lose at least 1 draft position next year as a result of the extra win (which is an unearned advantage he gets by taking the loss. And the unearned win results in an unlevel playing field for the teams competing for the last spots.

I talked to the player who benefited from the move, letting him know that I was thinking of reversing the game results. He expressed that he did his best to win and did not think it was right for me to reverse his win. It is within my power as commishioner to do so - we have an appeal procedure in place to over-rule me, but I doubt that any oter owner except teh windfall winner would vote to reverse.

Here are the two rules that apply here. i believe that I have the authority to act in this case because of the unfair result to the rest of the league. The rules don't provide for any specific 'remedies', which by omission leaves the commishioner to decide the remedy, subject to the written appeal procedure. I agree that perhaps this rule should be clarified in the off-season.

1.The commissioner has the authority to approve all trades and establish additional rules as necessary for the conduct of the league, subject to the following appeal process. Any two owners may appeal a commissioner's ruling. In that event, the remaining (non-protesting) members will be polled, and if the majority vote against the ruling, it will be reversed. In the event of a trade appeal, the commissioner, the 2 appealing members, and the participants of the trade will be excluded from participating in the vote, and the remaining majority rules. Trade appeals may only be filed within 24 hours after the trade is posted.

2.Sportsmanship Rules:

a.You MAY start a player who is on a bye week to avoid messing up your roster. However, intentionally 'tanking' a game is NOT allowed. The commissioner will decide if 'tanking' has occurred and the standard rules for protesting the commissioner's decision will apply.

b.Collusion: 'Tanking' a game in order to help a friend make the play-offs is Collusion. In the event of collusion, the commissioner will ban the player from the league and the player will forfeit his entire fee, prize money, and any remaining games. Trades where the sole intent is to help another team with no benefit to your own is also collusion. 'Fire Sales' type trades made because a team has given up will also result in immediate expulsion from the league and the trades will be reversed.

c.Picking up a free agent or a player from waivers and then dropping them just before the weekend's games - solely to deny them to another team - will not be permitted.

)I personally am not affected by the decision as I am comfortably in 1st place). Other commissioners, please give me your advice.

 

[perry147]

Has there been any other instances this year in which a player was started on a bye week from any team?

 

[madd futher]

Has there been any other instances this year in which a player was started on a bye week from any team?

Yes. I personally started Shockey on a bye week rather than pick up another tight end and dropping a better player. I had no other TE on the roster This move is specifically ok by the rules (and i won that week).No other instance was brought to my attention where bye week players were not changed out for active players. Especially where other position players were available on the roster to sub in.

 

[drdgreenlove]

dont change anything.. let the other teams whine.. after a few days it will pass....

he didnt INTENENTIONALLY tank he just was busy and didnt care.

so as commish you have no powers to do anything

 

[flooredyas]

Situations like this make being a commish VERY trying.

The owner who failed to change his lineup would be finished in my league. For him to claim that he didn't realize the consequences of not submitting an updated lineup is grounds for termination. (And lame) Every owner, once he joins a league, accepts an obligation to the rest of the owners. Namely to stay on top of your team, winning or losing, as every other team is affected by his actions, or in this case inactions. Quit making waiver moves, if they cost and you are eliminated.

You have it in the rules-enforce it. Leave the game played stand however.

If your "Friend" wants to play next year, maybe you can start up another league with him included.

 

[Bulldog96]

If the owner didn't "intentionally tank", I don't see how you can reverse the outcome... All owners have paid their dues, the game has been played, and there isn't an emergency override in place for this scenario. Let the game stand as is.

I know that some leagues have rules in place to prevent this situation... A "no tanking rule", I suppose. Eventhough your rules state you may institute rule changes during the season (by majority vote), I don't think you will get the owners honestly thinking in favor of the league, and not their individual teams. (Of course they will vote to overrule the game's outcome. Their teams won't be affected and one less team to compete for the prize money.)

If it were my league, I would use this scenario to create the new rule and allow the league to vote >>> for next week and beyond. Let the game stand as is. However, allow everyone a chance to view and vote on the emergency rule change to prevent this scenario in the future. It's simply unfair to the owner that benefitted from this game. A rule change of this nature (or ANY rule change DURING the season for that matter) should ONLY be made with a unanimous vote from ALL owners in the league.

Good luck

 

[Cunk]

I don't think you can do much about it now. I've thought about this situation (I'm also a commish) and what I would do. I don't have any rules written up about what happens in this situation but I think I will next year. Perhaps an email from the gm about why they are starting a player on bye before the games start if they are doing so with a reason.

Anyways, now that it's done perhaps you should look at it in a real-world way. Say an "on the cusp" NFL team was playing a terrible team that was throwing in the towel and wasn't even trying anymore. If the "on the cusp" team one, mostly due to the terrible team's lack of effort the whole league would feel the effects. Your bad owner decided not to try anymore and one team benefited. I wouldn't punish the benefited team due to the disinterest of the other team. I would though, penalize the team who put in all the bye week players in next years draft. He shouldn't be rewarded because of his disinterest.

 

[crushtang]

I would quit the league on the spot of my commisioner pulled something like that. This wouldn't even be an issue if he had lost, so don't make it an issue because he won.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

If the guy didn't intentionally tank and promised to field a competitive team the rest of the year, I say let it go. If he does it again, can him and start the highest-scoring starters the rest of the way.

I also think you should let the results stand. The winning owner didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't be punished. He caught a break, but it happens. If it doesn't hapen again, it's okay.

 

[mggoilers]

I would quit the league on the spot of my commisioner pulled something like that. This wouldn't even be an issue if he had lost, so don't make it an issue because he won.

We have a winner, we place fines on teams who play guys on a bye and deduct 50 points...funny how this stops this behavior.

 

[Calvitron Johnson]

This is very long but is very important to our league to do it right.

I am commish in a friendly $30 buy-in 12 team league where the top 6 make the playoffs. Many of the owners are friends or know each other socially.

We have a rule against 'tanking' the season by intentionally not making weekly lineup changes. A team that was 2-7 fielded a team last week with 3 bye week players because he did not change out his team from the week before. If he had put in his worst available team, he would have won. As a result, the team he played moved to 6-4 - ahead of 3 other teams tied at 5-5 for spots 6-8. With 3 games to play, this gives him a huge unearned play-off advantage.

I talked to the player who didn't change out his line-up and I don't believe that he INTENTIONALLY tanked - he assures me that he 'has been very busy' and due to his record it was not his highest priority, but that he would like to be invited back next year, and would field a competitive team the rest of the way. He was very sorry that he did not consider the effect on the rest of the league.

I am inclined to award the 2-7 player the win. It is very doubtful that he will make the playoffs at 3-7, but he would surely lose at least 1 draft position next year as a result of the extra win (which is an unearned advantage he gets by taking the loss. And the unearned win results in an unlevel playing field for the teams competing for the last spots.

I talked to the player who benefited from the move, letting him know that I was thinking of reversing the game results. He expressed that he did his best to win and did not think it was right for me to reverse his win. It is within my power as commishioner to do so - we have an appeal procedure in place to over-rule me, but I doubt that any oter owner except teh windfall winner would vote to reverse.

Here are the two rules that apply here. i believe that I have the authority to act in this case because of the unfair result to the rest of the league. The rules don't provide for any specific 'remedies', which by omission leaves the commishioner to decide the remedy, subject to the written appeal procedure. I agree that perhaps this rule should be clarified in the off-season.

1.The commissioner has the authority to approve all trades and establish additional rules as necessary for the conduct of the league, subject to the following appeal process. Any two owners may appeal a commissioner's ruling. In that event, the remaining (non-protesting) members will be polled, and if the majority vote against the ruling, it will be reversed. In the event of a trade appeal, the commissioner, the 2 appealing members, and the participants of the trade will be excluded from participating in the vote, and the remaining majority rules. Trade appeals may only be filed within 24 hours after the trade is posted.

2.Sportsmanship Rules:

a.You MAY start a player who is on a bye week to avoid messing up your roster. However, intentionally 'tanking' a game is NOT allowed. The commissioner will decide if 'tanking' has occurred and the standard rules for protesting the commissioner's decision will apply.

b.Collusion: 'Tanking' a game in order to help a friend make the play-offs is Collusion. In the event of collusion, the commissioner will ban the player from the league and the player will forfeit his entire fee, prize money, and any remaining games. Trades where the sole intent is to help another team with no benefit to your own is also collusion. 'Fire Sales' type trades made because a team has given up will also result in immediate expulsion from the league and the trades will be reversed.

c.Picking up a free agent or a player from waivers and then dropping them just before the weekend's games - solely to deny them to another team - will not be permitted.

)I personally am not affected by the decision as I am comfortably in 1st place). Other commissioners, please give me your advice.

Another one that gets the boot. Here is the reason: If you are too 'busy' to take a total of 5 minutes to put in a valid lineup, you need not be in the league. It's that simple.

 

[Rebirtha]

I would hope that the owners in our league would remove me if I were to "award" a team a win. Your lineup is your responsibility. End of story.

 

[swirvenirvin]

Let is play out just as it did this year and kick the loser owner out next year

 

[BigRed]

1 - My first advice would be to eliminate the power of the commissioner to do - well pretty much anything - w/o a league vote on it. That is supremely idiotic. And sorry but so is your "appeals process," which is IMO overly complicated and pretty senseless. Somebody has issue w/the win, put it to vote, majority of those who vote win. Period. Same way for anything else. PS your collusion penalties are similarly illogical IMO (forfeiting his remaining games, which unfairly helps other teams etc).

2 - I think it's lame of you to overturn a victory because someone forgot to fix their lineup (ie not "collusion"). If I was the guy getting screwed I'd probably find another league. Actually I would anyway because of your rules above in general.

 

[Phurfur]

I would quit the league on the spot of my commisioner pulled something like that. This wouldn't even be an issue if he had lost, so don't make it an issue because he won.

I would hope that the owners in our league would remove me if I were to "award" a team a win. Your lineup is your responsibility. End of story.

Agree!Why don't you set up a rules where you can set the lineups of every team after the games are played so the "real" winner will win every week. You could probably draft for everyone too!

 

[kbleck]

I dont know where your site is hosted but we host our league on MFL.com

there is an option where you cannot start players on bye weeks in the league settings.

Secondly we have a rule where if you dont submit a lineup your team then your lineup from the previous week is submitted with any players on bye weeks replaced with available alternates. The alternates are placed in the lineup in order by total points (highest point total player is inserted)

 

[MOAT]

1 - My first advice would be to eliminate the power of the commissioner to do - well pretty much anything - w/o a league vote on it. That is supremely idiotic. And sorry but so is your "appeals process," which is IMO overly complicated and pretty senseless. Somebody has issue w/the win, put it to vote, majority of those who vote win. Period. Same way for anything else. PS your collusion penalties are similarly illogical IMO (forfeiting his remaining games, which unfairly helps other teams etc).2 - I think it's lame of you to overturn a victory because someone forgot to fix their lineup (ie not "collusion"). If I was the guy getting screwed I'd probably find another league. Actually I would anyway because of your rules above in general.

Agreed, but in less in-your-face manner.Leagues with rules like that are a thing of the past. If you want to play in a league (or commission it) with less than dedicated owners then you should expect these type of situations to arise and be willing to roll with them. I'm in a league like this and you have to accept the limitations of the league. These rules don't need to exist any more.

 

[lion_crazz]

As a fellow commissioner, you cannot change the outcome after it was already decided. That would kill the integrity of your league. Why didn't you deal with this issue on Sunday before kickoff?

 

[Ditka is God]

I would think in a 12 team league where six teams make the payoffs that those 5th and 6th place teams may very well have sub-.500 records when playoffs roll around. As such, it is not unrealistic to make the leap and say if the 2-7 had won out and got his record to 6-7 he would've been in the playoffs (assuming you start your playoffs in Week 14 in this case). As such, he should've still very much had a vested interest in playing this out. Thus, it's more than likely that he simply was too swamped and either forgot or this was well down his list of priorities. So it goes. The fact he didn't/couldn't should NOT be taken out on the team that won the game. My $0.02.

 

[Saints-Man]

Without an existing rule in place, I don't the commish should do anything.

In one league I commish, we have one owner who does this from time to time and never makes a FA move, which results in him not being able to field a legal staring lineup. This sometimes gives selected opponents huge advantages. Due to him, this year we implement a rule that for every player you start that is on a bye week or IR, you are fined. In our case, the owner you have described would have faced 3 fines.

Any rule like this must be objective and not subjective.

 

[SuperJohn96]

I dont know where your site is hosted but we host our league on MFL.com

there is an option where you cannot start players on bye weeks in the league settings.

Secondly we have a rule where if you dont submit a lineup your team then your lineup from the previous week is submitted with any players on bye weeks replaced with available alternates. The alternates are placed in the lineup in order by total points (highest point total player is inserted)

Is this option available on MFL?What if you don't have a backup for a BYE player. For instance you are only carrying one kicker? Will it eff things up with your rule?

 

[madd futher]

Where I as commish dropped the ball was in not issuing a league warning right before our trade deadline, warning all the owners of their responsibility to field a competitive team each week REGARDLESS for where they are in the standings, and the consequences of not doing so.

I'm actually suprised that this hasn't come up before, because it is very easy for a 1-8 or 2-7 team to give up and autopilot his team, and when he does it when teams are still in their bye weeks, it can lead to this situation quite easily.

I want to thank you all for your comments. It was a close decision. I believe I do have the autourity to change the results in this case if I believe that it is in the best interest of the league to do so. But based partially on your comments, I'm not sure it would be in the best interest, and so I've decided to let the results stand.

Lesson learned, and thanks again all.

 

[Pictus Cat]

As a keeper league, carrot and stick for the future.

Carrot: Give everyone something to play for no matter what there record. (Bottom six play for draft order next year...)

Stick: Players not meeting there weekly obligation to attempt a line up submission weekly will be penalized one loss of draft pick order per infraction...

Let it stand seems to be the right call for now.

One down low yellow belly tactic is to point out to teams that you have to play is how you bad you feel for them that their situation is hopeless a few weeks before they play you.

Make sure you keep them on suicide watch though.

Sadly, people do stuff like this in real life.

TIP 2, Prize for best spoiler...overcoming largest projected score for a win.

 

[AB in DC]

It's a $30, friendly league? Let it go.

If it were a $200, cutthroat league, that would be another story.

 

[Dirty Weasel]

Too busy to submit a lineup? Forgot to submit a lineup? Horse####

I can bet he wouldn't have been too busy or forgotten if he was 7-3. Dump this clown from your league. Better yet, let him stay and make him feel OK. Then, the minute he pays his dues for 2008, boot him! What's he gonna do, sue you for his $30?

 

[BuckeyeArt]

I wouldn't change the outcome but I certainly think it is warranted to consider 'penalizing' him with a win when it comes time to set the draft order next year.

 

[Statcruncher]

Personally I would reverse the loss and force him to take the win. The only reason he was too busy is that his team sucks. If he was in first place do you honestly think he would have started 3 guys on a bye? No, I didn't think so. Starting 3 guys on a bye because it's not a "high priority" because your team sucks = tanking. That's not someone I would want in my league.

My league is a total points league with no playoffs where total points gets all the cash. The overall head-to-head matchup winner only gets a traveling trophy for a year. It still grates me to see guys leave byes in their line-ups even though it has zero effect on cash payout or draft position (random draw every year). It affects who gets the trophy on the mantle, and all it takes is 5 minutes of committment per week. Petty I know, but no one ever said I was caring.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

This is very long but is very important to our league to do it right.

I am commish in a friendly $30 buy-in 12 team league where the top 6 make the playoffs. Many of the owners are friends or know each other socially.

We have a rule against 'tanking' the season by intentionally not making weekly lineup changes. A team that was 2-7 fielded a team last week with 3 bye week players because he did not change out his team from the week before. If he had put in his worst available team, he would have won. As a result, the team he played moved to 6-4 - ahead of 3 other teams tied at 5-5 for spots 6-8. With 3 games to play, this gives him a huge unearned play-off advantage.

I talked to the player who didn't change out his line-up and I don't believe that he INTENTIONALLY tanked - he assures me that he 'has been very busy' and due to his record it was not his highest priority, but that he would like to be invited back next year, and would field a competitive team the rest of the way. He was very sorry that he did not consider the effect on the rest of the league.

I am inclined to award the 2-7 player the win. It is very doubtful that he will make the playoffs at 3-7, but he would surely lose at least 1 draft position next year as a result of the extra win (which is an unearned advantage he gets by taking the loss. And the unearned win results in an unlevel playing field for the teams competing for the last spots.

I talked to the player who benefited from the move, letting him know that I was thinking of reversing the game results. He expressed that he did his best to win and did not think it was right for me to reverse his win. It is within my power as commishioner to do so - we have an appeal procedure in place to over-rule me, but I doubt that any oter owner except teh windfall winner would vote to reverse.

Here are the two rules that apply here. i believe that I have the authority to act in this case because of the unfair result to the rest of the league. The rules don't provide for any specific 'remedies', which by omission leaves the commishioner to decide the remedy, subject to the written appeal procedure. I agree that perhaps this rule should be clarified in the off-season.

1.The commissioner has the authority to approve all trades and establish additional rules as necessary for the conduct of the league, subject to the following appeal process. Any two owners may appeal a commissioner's ruling. In that event, the remaining (non-protesting) members will be polled, and if the majority vote against the ruling, it will be reversed. In the event of a trade appeal, the commissioner, the 2 appealing members, and the participants of the trade will be excluded from participating in the vote, and the remaining majority rules. Trade appeals may only be filed within 24 hours after the trade is posted.

2.Sportsmanship Rules:

a.You MAY start a player who is on a bye week to avoid messing up your roster. However, intentionally 'tanking' a game is NOT allowed. The commissioner will decide if 'tanking' has occurred and the standard rules for protesting the commissioner's decision will apply.

b.Collusion: 'Tanking' a game in order to help a friend make the play-offs is Collusion. In the event of collusion, the commissioner will ban the player from the league and the player will forfeit his entire fee, prize money, and any remaining games. Trades where the sole intent is to help another team with no benefit to your own is also collusion. 'Fire Sales' type trades made because a team has given up will also result in immediate expulsion from the league and the trades will be reversed.

c.Picking up a free agent or a player from waivers and then dropping them just before the weekend's games - solely to deny them to another team - will not be permitted.

)I personally am not affected by the decision as I am comfortably in 1st place). Other commissioners, please give me your advice.

Get over yourself.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

It's a $30, friendly league? Let it go.If it were a $200, cutthroat league, that would be another story.

Why? Right is right, isn't it? If it doesn't matter as much because the stakes are low...aren't you taking the same "who cares" attitude as the owner in question?

 

[Tanner9919]

This is very long but is very important to our league to do it right.I am commish in a friendly $30 buy-in 12 team league where the top 6 make the playoffs. Many of the owners are friends or know each other socially.We have a rule against 'tanking' the season by intentionally not making weekly lineup changes. A team that was 2-7 fielded a team last week with 3 bye week players because he did not change out his team from the week before. If he had put in his worst available team, he would have won. As a result, the team he played moved to 6-4 - ahead of 3 other teams tied at 5-5 for spots 6-8. With 3 games to play, this gives him a huge unearned play-off advantage.I talked to the player who didn't change out his line-up and I don't believe that he INTENTIONALLY tanked - he assures me that he 'has been very busy' and due to his record it was not his highest priority, but that he would like to be invited back next year, and would field a competitive team the rest of the way. He was very sorry that he did not consider the effect on the rest of the league.I am inclined to award the 2-7 player the win. It is very doubtful that he will make the playoffs at 3-7, but he would surely lose at least 1 draft position next year as a result of the extra win (which is an unearned advantage he gets by taking the loss. And the unearned win results in an unlevel playing field for the teams competing for the last spots.I talked to the player who benefited from the move, letting him know that I was thinking of reversing the game results. He expressed that he did his best to win and did not think it was right for me to reverse his win. It is within my power as commishioner to do so - we have an appeal procedure in place to over-rule me, but I doubt that any oter owner except teh windfall winner would vote to reverse.Here are the two rules that apply here. i believe that I have the authority to act in this case because of the unfair result to the rest of the league. The rules don't provide for any specific 'remedies', which by omission leaves the commishioner to decide the remedy, subject to the written appeal procedure. I agree that perhaps this rule should be clarified in the off-season.1.The commissioner has the authority to approve all trades and establish additional rules as necessary for the conduct of the league, subject to the following appeal process. Any two owners may appeal a commissioner's ruling. In that event, the remaining (non-protesting) members will be polled, and if the majority vote against the ruling, it will be reversed. In the event of a trade appeal, the commissioner, the 2 appealing members, and the participants of the trade will be excluded from participating in the vote, and the remaining majority rules. Trade appeals may only be filed within 24 hours after the trade is posted.2.Sportsmanship Rules:a.You MAY start a player who is on a bye week to avoid messing up your roster. However, intentionally 'tanking' a game is NOT allowed. The commissioner will decide if 'tanking' has occurred and the standard rules for protesting the commissioner's decision will apply.b.Collusion: 'Tanking' a game in order to help a friend make the play-offs is Collusion. In the event of collusion, the commissioner will ban the player from the league and the player will forfeit his entire fee, prize money, and any remaining games. Trades where the sole intent is to help another team with no benefit to your own is also collusion. 'Fire Sales' type trades made because a team has given up will also result in immediate expulsion from the league and the trades will be reversed.c.Picking up a free agent or a player from waivers and then dropping them just before the weekend's games - solely to deny them to another team - will not be permitted. )I personally am not affected by the decision as I am comfortably in 1st place). Other commissioners, please give me your advice.

make teams pay for losses next season..we make guys pay $20 per loss, on top of a $300 buy-in to enter the league.if you lose 7 games, you owe another $140...kinda makes the people take noticce, and we almost never have anyoneaccused of tanking..its too costly to do so over the course of a 13 week schedule..

 

[Wilbur Wood]

As others have said you need to let the results stand. I have seen this sort of thing from time to time even in highly competitive leagues. You can have a waning system and then kick the team out of the league if it happens again.

I commish a similar league and I have a winless team that has effectively abandoned his team. He has a history of this but has only been allowed to stay in the league because he is buddies with a few owners and even though its a $75 fee league it is a highly "social" league. Believe it or not this guy drafts pretty well and made it to the Super Bowl last year (in which he lost and left an injured player in his starting lineup). This year his team is winless and sometime early in the year I agan his lineup with a lot of bye/injured players in it. I've told his friends that this owner is gone after the year. I have taken it upon myself to go into his team each Sunday a.m. and at least make sure that he has active players in his lineup. I did this to him 2 years ago and he got all pissed off at me, I told him he could certainly override my changes. I will not go so far as making WW pickups or trades but at least his team will score 70 to 80 pts a week instead of 30 or 40 with a bunch of injured players in the lineup.

 

[richn]

It's a $30, friendly league? Let it go.If it were a $200, cutthroat league, that would be another story.

Don't let the guy who fielded the team with byes play next season, he admitted when he was done, he didn't care, it take LESS than 5 minutes to submit a valid lineup. No second chances for him on this one. Don't tell him he's out until the season is over, you want him to play out the regular season.

 

[whhwalker]

Candidly, as Commish you should have caught the fact his lineup was out of balance before the games started and called the coach to rectify his lineup. IMO a Commish is not someone who merely gets the guys together, manages the cash and organizes draft day (that's what wives are for! ). Rather the Commish needs to protect the "intergrity" of the league for everyone's enjoyment.

The fact that no one in the league called you or the coach to fix his lineup is an indication that none of them really care one or the other. "Don't vote, don't complain"

 

[Wilbur Wood]

It's a $30, friendly league? Let it go.If it were a $200, cutthroat league, that would be another story.

Don't let the guy who fielded the team with byes play next season, he admitted when he was done, he didn't care, it take LESS than 5 minutes to submit a valid lineup. No second chances for him on this one. Don't tell him he's out until the season is over, you want him to play out the regular season.

I disagree. Everyone deserves at least one mulligan. I commish a different highly competitive ($150 fee) league. I owner forgot to change his lineup. There was some backlash and whining on the message board, immediately as it is an active league. The owner stepped up and said that it was an "oversight". He plays in several leagues and genuinely thought that he had updated his lineup. Life is busy, his team isn't doing that well so he wasn't pulling up the league website on a daily basis to double check everything. He simply made a mistake and owned up to it. He got a warning and stays in the league. He's an active owner and good owners are hard to find. Also, especially in leagues comprised of "internet acquaintences" (vs. real face-to-face friends), be careful. This is not life or death. True Story. Highly competitive "internet" league. Owner does not update lineup. Team loses when they could have won. Irate owners of other teams tear absentee owner a new A#&-hole on league message board. Absentee owner has message board posts set up for emails to his home (family) email account. Rage builds as absentee owner fails to "man up" to his Cardinal Sin of a bad lineup as next week unfolds. More message board venom is spewed. A few days later the league gets a terse email response from absentee owner's wife that her husband has been moved out intensive care, but is still in the hospital recovering from massive heart attack. Fortunately, the response was not from a freshly minted widow. Give people (especially ones that you don't know) the benefit of the doubt -- this is a hobby, life gets in the way sometimes.

 

[Obie Wan]

Too busy to submit a lineup? Forgot to submit a lineup? Horse####I can bet he wouldn't have been too busy or forgotten if he was 7-3. Dump this clown from your league. Better yet, let him stay and make him feel OK. Then, the minute he pays his dues for 2008, boot him! What's he gonna do, sue you for his $30?

hard to believe but this is only fantasy football and people do have other responsilbilites that are a bit more important to deal with.

 

[TxBuckeye]

Get over yourself.

Good job quoting 40 lines of text to post this gem.

 

[Fantasy Strategist]

I've been commish of 3 leagues for 12 years now and this has happened a few times. The first time the owner was in the hospital and almost died. The last time was just this year and the owner just forgot...family vacation and all. He's is in other leagues and is the defending champ in mine. He was also in first place. What I'm saying is that you have to find out what the full story is before making a judgement. In the first case I took over his team and starting his lineup using Footballguys rankings each week to be fair to everyone. We added that to the rules going forward that year. We have also instituted a two half season that pretty much eliminates any kind of tanking.

The first fantasy half season is 7 games long...weeks 1-7. The team with the best record in each of the 2 divisions qualifies for the playoffs. The 2nd half fantasy season is week 8-13...yes it's only 6 games but game 7 is a combined total points for the year. The top 7 teams in total points gets a win and the bottom 7 get a loss. This works great for several reasons. There can be a two game swing in week 13 with a team winning and jumping into the top 7 or vice versa. With only 6 games in the 2nd half most teams are in it right up until the end. It also evens things out a bit if you were having bad matchup luck...playing the high scorer each week when you are scoring the 2nd highest each week...we've all been there. At least you know at the end of the year you will be getting a win for being in the top 7 total points. Teams want to start the best lineup each week to assure their spot in the top 7 even if they are not going to win the first half. Obviously the winner of the 2nd half also qualifies for the playoffs. The last two playoff spots go to the teams with the best overall record who did not win either half. In order to keep the winners of the first half playing hard...the team with the best overall record for the year gets a bye for the first round of the playoffs. So of the 14 teams, 6 make the playoffs. The next 3 ranked teams from each division make the toilet bowl playoffs. The team with the worst record in each division is out of luck. With a two game swing at the end of the year it's usually undecided who the two worst teams will be so everyone is playing hard.

Of course there is a downside as a team could go 0-7 over the first 7 and then win the next 6 and make the playoffs with a 6-8 record...assuming they were in the bottom 7 of total points. But we figured the positives far outweighed the negatives and went with it and have never looked back. Just my 2 cents.

 

[renesauz]

This whole situation should have been handled in the pre-season!

Every year I have run a league I have discussed this in the pre-season with the league, and explained that at no point in time would ANYONE be able to field an incomplete lineup when a complete one was available. I even wrote into the rules that should no lineup be submitted, and the last valid lineup include players on byes....the lineup would be replaced by a valid lineup based on YTD points. I cost myself a win once with this rule...but it has worked well.

IN addition, in a friendly local league, why wouldn't the commish call the owner Sunday morning and say "dumb###, where's your lineup?"

 

[shadyridr]

At even thinking about reversing the decision

 

[Stinkin Ref]

haven't read all the replies but I do not think you can overturn this based on the info you supplied......it sucks that this affects the competitive balance of the league, but when push comes to shove, you would actually be rewarding the guy for not paying attention by giving him a "w".....

answer this question, would you do the same thing if his record had been reversed....7-2.... and he lost....?

we put fines in place for this....and it can still happen and that is just part of it.....

 

[AB in DC]

It's a $30, friendly league? Let it go.If it were a $200, cutthroat league, that would be another story.

Why? Right is right, isn't it? If it doesn't matter as much because the stakes are low...aren't you taking the same "who cares" attitude as the owner in question?

I think you're not getting the meaning of the word, "friendly". If you're rounding up the lynch mob for every offense, it's not a very friendly league, is it?Give them a warning and let them have a second chance. But make sure everyone knows that everyone is expected to participate or they won't be invited baack.

 

[xenith]

I wouldn't change the game result. I would, however, let the league decide if he comes back next year.