FootballGuy22
Footballguy
I need to write up our league constitution, anyone know where I can find a draft or willing to share a copy to give me a start?
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League Constitution (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter FootballGuy22
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Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
This is actually a workable model if you have a good commissioner. It seems like 99% of commissioners, however, have no business running a league, and are only doing so because someone has to assume that role. Ironically, the good commissioners are usually the ones with the foresight to have a well-written constitution in the first place. Obviously you want to cover the basics - lineup requirements, scoring, etc. The key is to also anticipate possible issues and address them before they happen. Make sure everything is very clear. Some common issues:Say an RB takes a handoff and fumbles. The defense recovers, advances the ball 20 yards, and then fumbles back. A WR on the offense picks up this second fumble and runs the ball in for a TD. Who gets points for what in that scenario?The NFL makes stat changes pretty much every week. Will these be incorporated into your league results? At what point are your fantasy games officially final?Owner A sends a trade offer through the league website to Owner B. Owner B accepts. An hour later, Owner A posts a message on the message board claiming he clicked on the wrong player - he meant to offer Sidney Rice, not Ray Rice. What do you do?Owner A sends a trade offer through the league website to Owner B. Owner B never responds, five weeks go by, Owner A has long since forgotten about the offer, and then circumstances change and Owner B goes online and accepts the offer. Does the deal go through?Are trades subject to league vote? (The answer should be no.)Is the commissioner allowed to veto trades? (The answer should be yes, but this power should almost never be used.)When do waivers start? How is the order determined? If you use bidding, how do you break ties? How do owners submit conditional bids to ensure they get the players they want? What happens if Owner A picks up Player X on Tuesday, then drops Player X and picks up Player Y on Wednesday, then drops Player Y and picks up Player Z on Thursday, etc.? Do they go back on waivers? For how long?How do you break ties in regular season games? HOW DO YOU BREAK TIES IN THE STANDINGS? HOW DO YOU BREAK TIES IN PLAYOFF GAMES? IF you don't have rules for these in advance, good luck sorting them out once they happen. What happens when an owner doesn't pay his entry fee on time? What happens when an owner is late to the draft? What happens when an owner submits an illegal lineup? What happens when an owner doesn't submit a lineup for two weeks in a row? How can an owner officially submit a lineup if the website is down or they lose their internet connection?What is the trade deadline? What is the free agency deadline? Can you put players on IR? What about the new 8-week IR? Are you allowed to trade future draft picks? With what conditions? What happens if an owner trades away two of next year's draft picks and then decides he doesn't want to play in the league anymore?What happens when your league website changes Tim Tebow from a QB to a RB? Does that give the Tebow owner an illegal lineup? Can he still roster and/or start Tebow at QB? At RB? At flex?There are thousands more like this. You'll never be able to anticipate them all, obviously, but the key is to try to address as many as possible, do it consistently, and use this foundation as precedent when new issues arise. And when something new does arise, make a firm ruling and then immediately add it to the constitution going forward.
Sack-Religious
Footballguy
If you're a FBG subscriber, there's a good draft Constitution available in the FBG Magazine in the "Commissioner" section.
I already had a substantial document for the league in which I'm the Commissioner, but used the article by Will Grant to help make it better. If you want a copy of what I did, send me a Personal Message with your email address and I'll send you a copy.
I already had a substantial document for the league in which I'm the Commissioner, but used the article by Will Grant to help make it better. If you want a copy of what I did, send me a Personal Message with your email address and I'll send you a copy.
Our league's rules are here, complete with 17 years of wisdom and experience: GAFFL Article of Operation
Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
And damnit, make sure this part is very clear. Don't just say "Tiebreak is win % then division record then head to head then total pts". What happens when three teams are tied for the last playoff spot? What if two of them are in the same division and the third is in a different division? What happens if A beat B, B beat C twice, C and D split 1-1, D beat B and A and D didn't play each other? Every year there are threads started here by desperate commissioners are facing scenarios like this and have no idea how to make sense of their own poorly-written rules. Nothing ruins the fun faster than several owners who all think they deserve the last playoff spot and a commissioner who can't properly explain why he's picking one owner over the others.
Yes, like the NFL we have a coin flip as the final tie-breaker if needed. We haven't had to go that far, but it is there. This part of our rules took a few years to get right, but it is very solid and understood, now. (We had a tie in our Super Bowl many seasons ago and didn't have a tie-breaker.) Here is ours:The tie-breakers for determining Division winners and Wild Card teams are, in order: Win/Loss record (by winning percentage) Head-to-head record (by winning percentage) (for division winner) Division record Total points Coin toss (by Commissioner) If there are 3 or more teams tied for multiple playoff positions, the tie-breakers will be applied to determine the top team. After the top team is removed, the tie-breakers are reapplied to the remaining teams.If there is a tie in a playoff game, bench points will be used to determine the winner. If the game is still a tie, the Commissioner will toss a coin to decide the winner.
Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
Even this isn't clear. Say you have three teams tied at 8-6 for the single last wildcard spot. A played B twice and beat him both times. B played C once and lost. A and C didn't play each other. B scored the most total points of the three teams.Who gets the playoff spot? It's certainly not clear from your rules as they're written.
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GregR
Footballguy
Here's a thread with a list of things you may want to make sure you have covered.
http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=272290&st=0
http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=272290&st=0
Here's my league constitution: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13hw6qlBR5le-sVk8eHoy0JkzWJuQk7XNvWJ_mVinEWM/edit
offdee
Footballguy
If it's for a Dynasty league, PM me your email address and I'll email you a great one to start with.
League going on 10 years that have been through it all, and what we believe to have all loopholes covered.
Have one for a regular dynasty league and one where 1 college player is allowed per roster.
League going on 10 years that have been through it all, and what we believe to have all loopholes covered.
Have one for a regular dynasty league and one where 1 college player is allowed per roster.
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With 10 teams and our schedule, we play everyone so this scenario cannot happen. We figure the winning percentage among the teams against each other. Highest one gets the spot. Then we start over with the remaining teams. It does work.
Ignoratio Elenchi
Footballguy
Ok, so Team A and Team B both go 2-0 against Team C. Teams A and B split 1-1. Team C scored the most total points, then Team A, then Team B. Who gets the playoff spot? I'm guessing I know what you'd say, but it's not very clear from your rules what the correct answer is, and I've seen threads in the SP about basically this exact scenario before that had a lot of debate.
Hoss Style
Footballguy
Was just about to post this link. Quoted it again just to make sure he didn't miss it the first time.Read that.
