Fixing a Commissioner’s Mistake (1 Viewer)

[deepblue]

I have a league commissioner dilemma, which I hope you can help me with. I thought I setup the league scoring rules to award players 2 extra points for gaining over 100 yards in a game. But in reality I set the league to award players 2 extra points for gaining between 100 and 199 yards. So if a player goes over the 199 yard mark they actually lose 2 points.

If I change the settings now the outcome of a game from week 2 will be changed. The league’s first place team at 6-2, currently with a one game lead in their division will fall to 5-3 now second overall and tied for their own division (His opponent will go from 1-7 to 2-6).

Any thoughts on how I can fairly reslove this mistake?

Thanks

 

[jft34]

That's tough. I'd probably fix the scoring to what its supposed to be and then manually add back whatever points were lost in the week 2 match to what it was pre-scoring change. No one caught it, its not really fair to change it 5 weeks after the fact.

 

[bighandsray]

You need to correct the mistake in the way you set up the scoring parameters. Make it right retroactive so there is no penalty or lack of bonus for exceeding 199yds. If game outcomes must change then so be it. The owners will get over it.

 

[TommyGilmore]

You need to correct the mistake in the way you set up the scoring parameters. Make it right retroactive so there is no penalty or lack of bonus for exceeding 199yds. If game outcomes must change then so be it. The owners will get over it.

Fix the error.

 

[The Big Guy]

Explain what happened to everyone before you do it, let them see the mistake in scoring and explain that fixing it will change the outcome of the game to a correct outcome. Don't ask permission, tell the league that you found an error and are fixing it.

 

[Mozeta]

Put it to a league vote of weather you want to make it retroactive or not. Something similar happend to my league last year where one game in the past would change and everyone in the league voted to go ahead and fix the scoring error except the team that ended up getting an extra loss. If you get a majority though, it can be justified and you should have no problems. It will be majority rules though and not you making decisions as a dictator. If you just change it without permission, the league could turn on you.

 

[gianmarco]

As long as it was known by others what was intended, then fix the mistake. This is a "technical issue", not a changing of the rules midseason issue.

 

[LarryAllen'sJockstrap]

Explain what happened to everyone before you do it, let them see the mistake in scoring and explain that fixing it will change the outcome of the game to a correct outcome. Don't ask permission, tell the league that you found an error and are fixing it.

Agree 100%.You made a mistake. Now that it was found, the right thing to do is correct it. Not a big deal, and don't let it become one. Put your foot down, inform the league you are making the change retroactive and move on with the season.

 

[Sack-Religious]

As long as it was known by others what was intended, then fix the mistake. This is a "technical issue", not a changing of the rules midseason issue.

Everyone knew the rules going into the season, so there's really no way they can complain about you changing a score retroactively.

 

[theplayer11]

so they guy who drafted for RBs getting 100+ yards but not over 199 gets screwed?..not fair..

 

[GregR_2]

I'd fix the error but only retroactive to this last weekend's fantasy games.

And then be sure to add to your rules that results of all fantasy games are final as of the start of the next week's NFL games, and it is the responsibility of each owner to verify that his game was correctly scored.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

If I change the settings now the outcome of a game from week 2 will be changed.

The existing outcome is wrong since it was a technical error - all you're doing by fixing it is getting to the outcome that should have been along. Just make damned sure that everyone is aware of what you're doing beforehand & why.

 

[Black]

I am quite split on this.

1. One school of thought: everyone understands that the rules should give the 2 points for anything greater than 100 yards, so make the change, and make it retroactive. Taking points away at 200 is just stupid, and it's an obvious mistake. You are not really taking the game from someone, but correcting a scoring issue that everyone agreed to.

2. The next idea is that once the next week's games are started, you don't go back and change the previous week (like snapping the ball before the coach gets the review flag thrown).

3. One final thing to toss in: the idea that everyone has the chance to review the league scoring before the season starts. If noone catches the error, then that is the set of rules EVERYONE plays by. Make the fix prior to week 9, and let everyone know.

As a commish, I would have a hard time with this. I might say that the player who lost the week 2 game by the 2 points might be responsible for catching the scoring issue that week. If they had, I'd change it. Now that it's many weeks later, I would actually lean towards making the fix for this week and all future weeks, and remind players to verify the scoring and verify their team's scoring, especially in very close games.

If I had a set of rules somewhere else (Word doc, etc.) that explicitly listed that rule, then I would point to THAT as the determining factor, and go fix the rule, and change any games retroactively.

 

[tomarken]

I'd fix the error but only retroactive to this last weekend's fantasy games.And then be sure to add to your rules that results of all fantasy games are final as of the start of the next week's NFL games, and it is the responsibility of each owner to verify that his game was correctly scored.

I was going to post that you should fix the week two game, but this brings up a good point. At what point do you stop retroactively adjusting scores? What if an owner realizes halfway through the playoffs that he should have been awarded an extra win in week two, which would have earned him a playoff berth? You can't change the playoffs after the fact. What if an owner notices in April that last year's championship game was scored incorrectly and he should have been awarded the grand prize money? I've been the commissioner of fantasy football leagues for years, and I've learned that the most important thing is consistency. You don't want to set a precedent now that you will retroactively adjust scores and records, because it will open a can of worms for you in the future. Take GregR's advice - you don't even have to mention the week two thing to the owners if they haven't noticed it yet. And make sure the rule is clear going forward.

 

[SSOG]

This is reason #1,450,395,221 for having over-the-top explicit league rules. If this happened in my league, I'd go to my league rulebook and what would I see?

Scoring Errors

- Owners are responsible for verifying the scores and the legality of lineups of both their own team and their competition. Owners are responsible for notifying the commissioner of stat changes should they occur.

- All scoring errors must be declared by the Friday following the games. After that, all scores are final, and all owners forfeit their right to claim a scoring error.

- The league will use www.nfl.com/scores for all game statistics.

Seriously, there was a thread around here a while back about rules that all fantasy leagues should have, and it was filled with commissioners who had overlooked a situation and been screwed by it coming up with rules to prevent it from ever happening again. There's not anything you can do now to close your current can of worms, but it's not too late to get yourself a very nice rulebook to prevent any future can of worms from getting opened.

In your case, I'd make it clear to the league what happened, make it clear that you were fixing the issue, but also make it clear that previous results would stand. Tell them that, even if the NFL releases a press release saying the officials cost a team the game, they don't go back and alter previous results, and that all scores in your league are likewise final as soon as the next week's games kick off. Neither party involved raised an objection to the final score after week 2, so the final score stands. Also, encourage owners to double check all scores of games decided by 1 point, just in case.

 

[theplayer11]

league vote

 

[bahamallama]

I would change it since it is wrong and then let the week 2 win stand.

I know that in our league people manually check when the scores are that close and if the other owner didn't catch it then too bad. The owner who "won" didn't cheat so it should stand in my oppinion.

d

 

[Black]

This is reason #1,450,395,221 for having over-the-top explicit league rules. If this happened in my league, I'd go to my league rulebook and what would I see?

Scoring Errors

- Owners are responsible for verifying the scores and the legality of lineups of both their own team and their competition. Owners are responsible for notifying the commissioner of stat changes should they occur.

- All scoring errors must be declared by the Friday following the games. After that, all scores are final, and all owners forfeit their right to claim a scoring error.

- The league will use www.nfl.com/scores for all game statistics.

Seriously, there was a thread around here a while back about rules that all fantasy leagues should have, and it was filled with commissioners who had overlooked a situation and been screwed by it coming up with rules to prevent it from ever happening again. There's not anything you can do now to close your current can of worms, but it's not too late to get yourself a very nice rulebook to prevent any future can of worms from getting opened.

In your case, I'd make it clear to the league what happened, make it clear that you were fixing the issue, but also make it clear that previous results would stand. Tell them that, even if the NFL releases a press release saying the officials cost a team the game, they don't go back and alter previous results, and that all scores in your league are likewise final as soon as the next week's games kick off. Neither party involved raised an objection to the final score after week 2, so the final score stands. Also, encourage owners to double check all scores of games decided by 1 point, just in case.

I need to add that right now to both of my leagues.

 

[Resident A]

I agree with updating the change & adding back points lost in earlier weeks.

My league has a rule that all scores are final once the next week's games start. Teams have a week to verify that everything was scored correctly in their game, or notify me to have it changed. No stats/scores can be changed after that. I suggest you add a similar rule.

 

[j3r3m3y]

This is reason #1,450,395,221 for having over-the-top explicit league rules. If this happened in my league, I'd go to my league rulebook and what would I see?

Scoring Errors

- Owners are responsible for verifying the scores and the legality of lineups of both their own team and their competition. Owners are responsible for notifying the commissioner of stat changes should they occur.

- All scoring errors must be declared by the Friday following the games. After that, all scores are final, and all owners forfeit their right to claim a scoring error.

- The league will use www.nfl.com/scores for all game statistics.

Seriously, there was a thread around here a while back about rules that all fantasy leagues should have, and it was filled with commissioners who had overlooked a situation and been screwed by it coming up with rules to prevent it from ever happening again. There's not anything you can do now to close your current can of worms, but it's not too late to get yourself a very nice rulebook to prevent any future can of worms from getting opened.

In your case, I'd make it clear to the league what happened, make it clear that you were fixing the issue, but also make it clear that previous results would stand. Tell them that, even if the NFL releases a press release saying the officials cost a team the game, they don't go back and alter previous results, and that all scores in your league are likewise final as soon as the next week's games kick off. Neither party involved raised an objection to the final score after week 2, so the final score stands. Also, encourage owners to double check all scores of games decided by 1 point, just in case.

Have to agree here. Scores in our league are final on Wednesday and our rules say so.

 

[Pictus Cat]

1. You're hosed

2. Someone knows it

3. The person that knows it will argue it

4. They can not and will not offer a perfect solution

5. They want to savor your squirming

Make your best decision.

Be consistant with the precedent it sets (put it in writing.)

Don't look back (squirm.)

Personally I would make it retro to the beginning of the season and then add the rule mentioned above.

I would email the league offering the commish job to anybody who has a problem with it

 

[The Comedian]

Whatever you decide, do not include a league vote. You're the comish and these are the decisions you have to make, don't open it up to letting 9-11 owners put in their .02.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

This is reason #1,450,395,221 for having over-the-top explicit league rules. If this happened in my league, I'd go to my league rulebook and what would I see?

Scoring Errors

- Owners are responsible for verifying the scores and the legality of lineups of both their own team and their competition. Owners are responsible for notifying the commissioner of stat changes should they occur.

- All scoring errors must be declared by the Friday following the games. After that, all scores are final, and all owners forfeit their right to claim a scoring error.

- The league will use www.nfl.com/scores for all game statistics.

Seriously, there was a thread around here a while back about rules that all fantasy leagues should have, and it was filled with commissioners who had overlooked a situation and been screwed by it coming up with rules to prevent it from ever happening again. There's not anything you can do now to close your current can of worms, but it's not too late to get yourself a very nice rulebook to prevent any future can of worms from getting opened.

In your case, I'd make it clear to the league what happened, make it clear that you were fixing the issue, but also make it clear that previous results would stand. Tell them that, even if the NFL releases a press release saying the officials cost a team the game, they don't go back and alter previous results, and that all scores in your league are likewise final as soon as the next week's games kick off. Neither party involved raised an objection to the final score after week 2, so the final score stands. Also, encourage owners to double check all scores of games decided by 1 point, just in case.

Have to disagree here. The best league I'm in doesn't even have a rule book-- just a scoring system, really. The commissioner handles any discrepancies/issues/questions. People consider him a fair guy and we don't have rules lawyers combing the rules to try and get away with something sneaky. But this is a tool-free league among very good friends with little turnover.In this particular case, I don't think a change from weeks ago would be made in my league. The NFL would never alter a team's record weeks later and we tend to play it as close to the NFL as is realistically possible and still be fun. We've never made a change once the next week's games start so I guess that's our unofficial rule.

No matter how specific you try to make a league rule book, you'll never catch everything. Eventually it looks like the health care bill -- a unwieldy monster that nobody even reads and still has gaps in coverage. I suggest you have very few, very clear rules and let the commissioner make the call on anything not covered. Either you trust the guy or you don't.

I will say that the "games are final once the next week starts" is a good basic rule to have. We play by it even if it's not in a book. But if you have one it should be in there.

 

[firstseason1988]

I'd fix the error but only retroactive to this last weekend's fantasy games.And then be sure to add to your rules that results of all fantasy games are final as of the start of the next week's NFL games, and it is the responsibility of each owner to verify that his game was correctly scored.

Yeah, you can't change an outcome 5 weeks ago. Once the new week starts everything is set in stone. If the team who lost didn't take the time to check his score, then that is his fault. Once a new week starts, everything is final. That is an unwritten rule, but should be written for schlubs who don't get it.

 

[jeremyx13]

This is reason #1,450,395,221 for having over-the-top explicit league rules. If this happened in my league, I'd go to my league rulebook and what would I see?

Scoring Errors

- Owners are responsible for verifying the scores and the legality of lineups of both their own team and their competition. Owners are responsible for notifying the commissioner of stat changes should they occur.

- All scoring errors must be declared by the Friday following the games. After that, all scores are final, and all owners forfeit their right to claim a scoring error.

- The league will use www.nfl.com/scores for all game statistics.

Seriously, there was a thread around here a while back about rules that all fantasy leagues should have, and it was filled with commissioners who had overlooked a situation and been screwed by it coming up with rules to prevent it from ever happening again. There's not anything you can do now to close your current can of worms, but it's not too late to get yourself a very nice rulebook to prevent any future can of worms from getting opened.

In your case, I'd make it clear to the league what happened, make it clear that you were fixing the issue, but also make it clear that previous results would stand. Tell them that, even if the NFL releases a press release saying the officials cost a team the game, they don't go back and alter previous results, and that all scores in your league are likewise final as soon as the next week's games kick off. Neither party involved raised an objection to the final score after week 2, so the final score stands. Also, encourage owners to double check all scores of games decided by 1 point, just in case.

Amen to this post. In the league I commish, we have a rule in scoring section for this as follows:6. Once the timeline for submitting rosters has passed, no corrections to previous weeks score will be made. It is the responsibility of owners to verify the scores and legality of lineups of both their team and their competition. Exceptions will be only considered if there are extenuating circumstances...e.g. family emergency, military duties, etc. Any changes to a score based on these circumstances will made only after the commissioner has conducted a silent vote and the action is approved by a majority of the managers.

Put the responsibility for checking scores on individual team owners and fix the error for the rest of the season. Good luck!

 

[strykerpks]

I had a similar situation happen two years ago. It was a bit different though because the scoring was right, but a stat change was made. Team A and Team B tied in week 4 I believe. Our rules at the time had bench scoring as the tiebreaker, so Team B ended up winning. Later it was found that Team B had a sack taken away from his starting defense that would have given Team A the win. This was not noticed until week 8. The change in records would have put Team A in the playoffs and bumped Team B to a lower seed, changed a division champ and bumped someone else out of the playoffs. So this would have a huge impact on payouts. We had nothing in our rules stating that I could make a change, but we also had nothing in our rules stating that I couldn't. Basically our rules stated that I had the final decision in any dispute...pretty vague for this circumstance.

I sent a long message to the entire league detailing what the issue was, what the possible outcomes were and what my decision was. I basically decided that although I could make the change, the spirit of the rule dictated that I shouldn't allow the change. It wasn't in the best interest of the league as a whole to set that precedent and alter a result from 3 or 4 weeks prior.

We now have a rule that scoring discrepancies cannot be changed once the next weeks games begin on Sunday and ties are now allowed.

For the record, my team was Team A and I missed the playoffs because of it. Team B ended up winning the championship. It's a tough decision to make but if you take the league as a whole in mind with as little bias as possible, you'll know where to go with your decision. After that fiasco, my league decided to pay me for my commissioner duties so I guess it did have a positive benefit for me.

All that said, I'm not sure how I would handle the week 2 score. It is a rule that was in place before the season and should be in effect then and now. But at what point are games final? At the end of the day I think you correct the week 2 score and correct the scoring from this week going forward. This is not a stat correction, rather a technical error.

Whatever you do, do not put it to league vote. Owners have too much bias to vote properly in a situation like this.