What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

League lineup police? (1 Viewer)

tommyGunZ

Footballguy
Been playing fantasy for 25+ years and never had a situation where a league member goes through all the lineups every Sunday morning and replies to all on the league text chain pointing out guys who have holes in their starting lineups.  We busted his balls about being it at first, but it didn’t stop. 

For context - this isn’t a “big money” league, but it’s $100 a head 12 teamer, so it’s not a free Yahoo league either.

How would you handle this? Not invite the guy back next year?  Or am I overreacting? 

 
Been playing fantasy for 25+ years and never had a situation where a league member goes through all the lineups every Sunday morning and replies to all on the league text chain pointing out guys who have holes in their starting lineups.  We busted his balls about being it at first, but it didn’t stop. 

For context - this isn’t a “big money” league, but it’s $100 a head 12 teamer, so it’s not a free Yahoo league either.

How would you handle this? Not invite the guy back next year?  Or am I overreacting? 
"Holes" like they're starting a guy on a bye or "holes" like they're starting a player he thinks is the wrong guy or "holes" like they are just weak at that position? 

How long has he been in your league? 

 
Yes, be thankful for owners who care.

If we had an owner with that propensity in any of the leagues that I play in, he would be bored, for it would be an exceedingly rare occasion that he would need to send a text in regards to any "holes" in lineups.

(Edit: After reading Joe's question regarding "holes", I would retract my statement if he is simply  giving sit/start advice to teams that he feels do not have an optimal lineup....in his opinion.)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Been playing fantasy for 25+ years and never had a situation where a league member goes through all the lineups every Sunday morning and replies to all on the league text chain pointing out guys who have holes in their starting lineups.  We busted his balls about being it at first, but it didn’t stop. 

For context - this isn’t a “big money” league, but it’s $100 a head 12 teamer, so it’s not a free Yahoo league either.

How would you handle this? Not invite the guy back next year?  Or am I overreacting? 
As a commish I do this every week.

Because I know holes in one team’s lineup could mean a cheap win for someone else, which could have playoff implications for several teams. 

I would rather be proactive about it than reactive after the fact when it becomes a ####show.

If that league member is doing it, that probably means the commish isn’t doing it, so...good on that league member for stepping up, and the commish needs to do a better job. 

As for the teams leaving blanks in their lineup, they need to be warned. IMO they’re the ones who need to be replaced, not the dude who actually GAF about having a competitive league. 

 
I am the guy in question who does this.  I would rather have a team try to cheat to win than not fill a starting lineup.  Now I am not saying every team has to follow some web projections, but if a team is starting a bye player, that is 100% inexcusable.  There is nothing worse than an owner who quits as soon as their team is out of playoff contention.  

 
There is nothing worse than an owner who quits as soon as their team is out of playoff contention.  
Agreed. In the league I commission, we did a few things to mitigate that:

1. Selective about league membership - must be a die hard committed manager, who’ll try to play spoiler even when eliminated from contention. 

2. Legal roster is a league constitutionally mandated rule. Even if that means you’re eliminated but have to spend $4 on a player add to do so, you have to do it. It’s a condition of staying in the league.

3. Less forceful, we have side-prizes for the season. Single game high score ($50), butt kicking bonus (biggest margin of defeat) $50, best single game performance for 1 player ($30) - any team can win these at any time.

4. Loser bowl - the winner of the loser bowl wins $100, which is the league entry fee. So it behooves them to continue add/drop during the regular season so when the playoffs start they have a competitive enough roster to compete for the loser bowl. 

These have all helped to curtail this issue.

 
"Holes" like they're starting a guy on a bye or "holes" like they're starting a player he thinks is the wrong guy or "holes" like they are just weak at that position? 

How long has he been in your league? 
Holes like guy on a bye, or an injured guy in the lineup. A surprise inactive on Sunday morning.  Etc.  He’s been in the league 3-4 years, and defending champ. Great guy - he’s a friend but down South where I grew up this would be considered “table talk” and not allowed at all. 

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I prefer managers to manage their own team, and that’s it. 🤷‍♂️

 
Holes like guy on a bye, or an injured guy in the lineup. A surprise inactive on Sunday morning.  Etc.  He’s been in the league 3-4 years, and defending champ. Great guy - he’s a friend but down South where I grew up this would be considered “table talk” and not allowed at all. 

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I prefer managers to manage their own team, and that’s it. 🤷‍♂️
I mean, it’s a little of both. The problem is that the commish isn’t doing it, not that your dude is doing it.

if the commish were doing their job, no league member would have to & everyone could simply manage their own team, as you prefer. 

 
If it involves a matchup of two teams that aren't making the playoffs no matter what, then it's not a big deal (unless it's a dynasty - that potentially affects draft order).

But if at least one is possibly playoff bound then it's incumbent upon both to have a full game - in fairness to everyone.

 
I am the guy in question who does this.  I would rather have a team try to cheat to win than not fill a starting lineup.  Now I am not saying every team has to follow some web projections, but if a team is starting a bye player, that is 100% inexcusable.  There is nothing worse than an owner who quits as soon as their team is out of playoff contention.  
👀.  No way.....

This isn’t owners quitting because they are out of contention though. No one in this league has quit and the lineup monitoring began in like week 2. Is there really a difference between making sure an owner has all actives in his lineup and giving projection advice? 

 
Holes like guy on a bye, or an injured guy in the lineup. A surprise inactive on Sunday morning.  Etc.  He’s been in the league 3-4 years, and defending champ. Great guy - he’s a friend but down South where I grew up this would be considered “table talk” and not allowed at all. 

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I prefer managers to manage their own team, and that’s it. 🤷‍♂️
Gotcha. Not trying to divert the thread but I think I'd be more worried about the league in this case if that kind of thing is happening.

If he's really into fantasy football and I'm assuming he is, it probably kills him to see owners with a player on bye and he's trying to improve the league. 

 
I mean, it’s a little of both. The problem is that the commish isn’t doing it, not that your dude is doing it.

if the commish were doing their job, no league member would have to & everyone could simply manage their own team, as you prefer. 
Why is it the commish’s job to monitor lineups? I think that’s lame. 12 people put their money in  a pot in August, and compete for the title and a few bucks. Now I’m competing against those owners plus additional advice from the lineup police GM since he’s offering free lineup advice to all the owners. And dude knows his stuff - so this is essentially a ringer helping out all of the laggards in the league from time to time.  

SOMETIMES I NEED A CHEAP WIN DAMMIT!  🤣

 
And FWIW, in general, I'm not in favor of helping owners. Has to be an extreme case. Like if a guys wife has a baby and he's super busy and forgets to set his lineup or something. 

The answer is almost always get great owners.

If that doesn't work, add some sort of extreme punishment for the last place team. 

 
Why is it the commish’s job to monitor lineups? I think that’s lame. 12 people put their money in  a pot in August, and compete for the title and a few bucks. Now I’m competing against those owners plus additional advice from the lineup police GM since he’s offering free lineup advice to all the owners. And dude knows his stuff - so this is essentially a ringer helping out all of the laggards in the league from time to time.  

SOMETIMES I NEED A CHEAP WIN DAMMIT!  🤣
I know you are being funny with your last comment, but do you really want to win against a team that is starting bye players?  A league that allows stuff like this to go on is likely lopsided anyways.  If I were in that league, I would send trade requests non-stop to teams that start bye players.

 
Why is it the commish’s job to monitor lineups? I think that’s lame. 12 people put their money in  a pot in August, and compete for the title and a few bucks. Now I’m competing against those owners plus additional advice from the lineup police GM since he’s offering free lineup advice to all the owners. And dude knows his stuff - so this is essentially a ringer helping out all of the laggards in the league from time to time.  

SOMETIMES I NEED A CHEAP WIN DAMMIT!  🤣
If he's simply pointing out bye-week players or inactives, it's not "advice."  That's just pointing out to the other owners that they're not holding up their end of the deal.  Fantasy football etiquette 101.... Set a full lineup every week or don't play.  

 
I am the guy in question who does this.  I would rather have a team try to cheat to win than not fill a starting lineup.  Now I am not saying every team has to follow some web projections, but if a team is starting a bye player, that is 100% inexcusable.  There is nothing worse than an owner who quits as soon as their team is out of playoff contention.  
:no:   Actually, there is something worse: an owner who is out of playoff contention (usually due to a rash of bad injury luck) who is mad at the world and decides to make a lopsided trade in some other team's favor (assuming the league's deadline has not passed, of course), as if to say "I was screwed over and I'm going to screw the rest of the league and I don't give a damn." Of course, many (most) on this board would defend this baby's right to make any trade he wants ("he paid his money", "we're not babysitters",  "you never can tell how a trade will work out", etc.) with the sole penalty being not inviting the guy back NEXT year. Meanwhile, he's had his desired effect THIS season.

 
I'm not one to keep a player in my lineup if he's on a bye.  However, I have fielded teams where I opted to not fill a spot with a player.  I didn't forget to fill the spot, but chose not to do so.  I think if you're going to be a "busybody" monitoring everyone's lineup, you should probably only worry about yourself.  There is a difference between someone quitting a league mid-season, never changing their lineup week to week, and an active owner who has strategically decided not to fill a complete lineup.  As the "busybody", you trying to tell me what's best for my team has no insight into my thoughts/opinions.  It's unwarranted, and honestly I'd tell you to go pound sand.  You don't know my reasoning or what I'm trying to accomplish.

For reference, my money league has a very short bench - 3 players.  It doesn't leave much room for WW claims or backups.  This league has been in place for over 12 years.  It was designed to force in-season strategy.  We pick up new players each year, mainly because some managers move on.  It started as a work league, and after many of us moved on to greener pastures, we've kept it running over the years.  With the short bench, you have to decide if you're willing to give up a player to fill a bye week, knowing you likely won't get said player back after the bye.  Some teams manipulate the IR to get additional bench spaces.  Some choose not to deviate from their draft unless they really have to do so.  We go over the rules every year before the draft.  Everyone agrees and we move forward.  We don't tolerate someone being a "busybody" and trying to get people to fill a complete lineup.  If you did, great, if not, you get what you get.  We knew the consequences when we signed up to play.

 
:no:   Actually, there is something worse: an owner who is out of playoff contention (usually due to a rash of bad injury luck) who is mad at the world and decides to make a lopsided trade in some other team's favor (assuming the league's deadline has not passed, of course), as if to say "I was screwed over and I'm going to screw the rest of the league and I don't give a damn." Of course, many (most) on this board would defend this baby's right to make any trade he wants ("he paid his money", "we're not babysitters",  "you never can tell how a trade will work out", etc.) with the sole penalty being not inviting the guy back NEXT year. Meanwhile, he's had his desired effect THIS season.
Had one of these years ago.  One manager was out of the playoff hunt and said "screw it". He simply dropped his active roster and picked up a bunch of injured players.  It was like chum in the water.  It really ruined the league for the last few weeks. Needless to say he was kicked out of the league.  The GM had to undo all the WW claims and revert rosters to how they were prior to the purge.  Then his team was locked.  It was quite the hassle.

 
Holes like guy on a bye, or an injured guy in the lineup. A surprise inactive on Sunday morning.  Etc.  He’s been in the league 3-4 years, and defending champ. Great guy - he’s a friend but down South where I grew up this would be considered “table talk” and not allowed at all. 

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I prefer managers to manage their own team, and that’s it. 🤷‍♂️
In the league I commish I go thru all the lineups making sure everyone has a legal lineup by Sunday kickoff. Legal = no bye week players,players listed as out or IR and no empty positions. I do let owners gamble on game time decisions if they want. I call the team in question and if I have to, fix their lineup and charge them $20. This power was voted in by the owners after we had problems in the past .

 
It's just not hard to imagine a scenario where the wrong team gets into the playoffs because they scored an easy win versus a non compliant roster.

The team that should have made it gets screwed out of a rightful chance at the money.

 
I would be this guy this year on one of my leagues. I joined this off-season looking for a new challenge. My team sucks so I went into rebuild. I am easily the worst team, but one team doesn’t set a lineup. He has gone 4 weeks with injured, bye week, or sitting a qb in a super flex league.  The first Week I reached out to that owner and asked if he was all good and got a response that he was in the mountains.
I have messaged the commissioner on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time. I was told this year is unique and to be patient. And luckily it hasn’t impacted wins.

What he is missing is it is impacting total points which I will now lose the number 1 overall pick to this guy because he regularly starts bye week and injured players. (Same record right now)

on the 4th time the commissioner set a lineup. Again it included an injured out player but at least it was 1 and not 4.

all that to say I am that guy in 1 league I play and it is frustrating when the commissioner doesn’t seem to care and actually tells me to be patient instead of take some action.

 
Yeah, I'd rather not win because someone accidentally started someone on a bye (or injured)

I'd also rather not play in a league where that happens. Obviously real life happens sometimes, but if you dont have 2 minutes to check your lineup on Sunday morning, you probably shouldn't be playing FF.

I mean....I could certainly see a scenario where someone checks their lineup at 11 AM, has to go somewhere where they can't pull out their phone (church, a golf course where no phones are allowed, whatever) and then there's a surprise inactive...but that can be chalked up as a bad break rather than lazy ownership.  

To me, the problem is the lazy guys starting injured/bye week players (really....bye week players? You couldn't check your team ONCE all week to see that?), not the guy trying to nudge people to make the league better.

 
It's just not hard to imagine a scenario where the wrong team gets into the playoffs because they scored an easy win versus a non compliant roster.

The team that should have made it gets screwed out of a rightful chance at the money.
Just like it’s hard not to imagine the lineup police slightly altering his monitoring and notifications based on how his alerting the neglectful team impacts his own playoff chances.  See how slippery it gets? 

 
Personally I only make mention of it if I need a team to win and they dont have a full lineup on saturday night.  

If one of my direct competitors has a hole?  F em

 
Why is it the commish’s job to monitor lineups? I think that’s lame. 12 people put their money in  a pot in August, and compete for the title and a few bucks. Now I’m competing against those owners plus additional advice from the lineup police GM since he’s offering free lineup advice to all the owners. And dude knows his stuff - so this is essentially a ringer helping out all of the laggards in the league from time to time.  
because holes in one lineup = cheap win for someone = disrupting the competitive balance of the league. 

Part of a commissioner’s job is to ensure a fair league with competitive balance, which means no team gets a cheap win. 

SOMETIMES I NEED A CHEAP WIN DAMMIT!  🤣
Man, ain’t that the truth. I’ve had the #1 toughest schedule for PA this year. It’s been brutal. But I wouldn’t want a win against a team with holes in their lineup. 

 
Just like it’s hard not to imagine the lineup police slightly altering his monitoring and notifications based on how his alerting the neglectful team impacts his own playoff chances.  See how slippery it gets? 
No. Are you implying be picks and chooses who he alerts?

 
It's just not hard to imagine a scenario where the wrong team gets into the playoffs because they scored an easy win versus a non compliant roster.

The team that should have made it gets screwed out of a rightful chance at the money.
Happened in my dynasty last year. Guy who was out of contention started two inactive players the final week, started a chain reaction of events ending in a team that wouldn't have made the playoffs, winning the title. It was brutal and almost ended a 10 year old league.

 
No, I’m just suggesting that it’s not hard to envision such a scenario. And unless anyone is monitoring the monitor, no one will know.  🤷‍♂️
Well that's why it's in everyone's interest to make sure their league mates are compliant. 

And the commish should be the one doing it - that's the job of a commissioner. They're more than just a treasurer.

 
I'm not one to keep a player in my lineup if he's on a bye.  However, I have fielded teams where I opted to not fill a spot with a player.  I didn't forget to fill the spot, but chose not to do so.  I think if you're going to be a "busybody" monitoring everyone's lineup, you should probably only worry about yourself.  There is a difference between someone quitting a league mid-season, never changing their lineup week to week, and an active owner who has strategically decided not to fill a complete lineup.  As the "busybody", you trying to tell me what's best for my team has no insight into my thoughts/opinions.  It's unwarranted, and honestly I'd tell you to go pound sand.  You don't know my reasoning or what I'm trying to accomplish.

For reference, my money league has a very short bench - 3 players.  It doesn't leave much room for WW claims or backups.  This league has been in place for over 12 years.  It was designed to force in-season strategy.  We pick up new players each year, mainly because some managers move on.  It started as a work league, and after many of us moved on to greener pastures, we've kept it running over the years.  With the short bench, you have to decide if you're willing to give up a player to fill a bye week, knowing you likely won't get said player back after the bye.  Some teams manipulate the IR to get additional bench spaces.  Some choose not to deviate from their draft unless they really have to do so.  We go over the rules every year before the draft.  Everyone agrees and we move forward.  We don't tolerate someone being a "busybody" and trying to get people to fill a complete lineup.  If you did, great, if not, you get what you get.  We knew the consequences when we signed up to play.
Apples and oranges here.  In your league an empty spot is a strategy move.  In the OP's league, it's owners who can't be bothered to log on and submit a lineup.  If I were commish, you would get a first (and final) warning as soon as I noticed.

 
And FWIW, in general, I'm not in favor of helping owners. Has to be an extreme case. Like if a guys wife has a baby and he's super busy and forgets to set his lineup or something. 

The answer is almost always get great owners.

If that doesn't work, add some sort of extreme punishment for the last place team
In a case like this, I vote execution. Or, perhaps, torture followed by execution.

 
Can't stand absentee owners.  One of my dynasties added a $5 penalty for each instance of starting an injured/bye player.
We do $15 because the cost of a pickup up after waivers run is $5.  This way it's cheaper for them to pick someone up and start them then leave it blank.  

 
Have you ever had an owner tell you that your team is doing good because you have enough time to do your research and he does not?  One thing I have noticed over the years is all types of leagues can be fun, but the best leagues are the ones where the owners are all equally gung-ho or not.

 
Holes like guy on a bye, or an injured guy in the lineup. A surprise inactive on Sunday morning.  Etc.  He’s been in the league 3-4 years, and defending champ. Great guy - he’s a friend but down South where I grew up this would be considered “table talk” and not allowed at all. 

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but I prefer managers to manage their own team, and that’s it. 🤷‍♂️
Yeah i wouldn't consider it 'table talk".  Table talk is more mentioning players at the draft before they are picked or posting about free agents right before waivers.  Everyone having complete, full lineups is better for the league.  Though if it's annoying tell him to stop and implement a monetary penalty for teams starting guys on a bye etc.

 
I have a lot of savvy players in my dynasty league, but I seem to be the only one, including the commissioner,  who cares about teams starting bye week or injured players. It's very frustrating. And not because I care about the money. I like competition.

 
I have a lot of savvy players in my dynasty league, but I seem to be the only one, including the commissioner,  who cares about teams starting bye week or injured players. It's very frustrating. And not because I care about the money. I like competition.
Plus it's the least effort possible.  Websites now make it real easy to see if a guy has an "O" or "IR" or "BYE" next to their name.  It takes two minutes to skim and put in somebody else.  No need to research who to put in because anybody is better than "BYE" guy.  

 
Plus it's the least effort possible.  Websites now make it real easy to see if a guy has an "O" or "IR" or "BYE" next to their name.  It takes two minutes to skim and put in somebody else.  No need to research who to put in because anybody is better than "BYE" guy.  
That's right. I'd like to leave the league but I'm very invested in my team.

 
Is this like Tuesday afternoon where guys clearly just haven't started doing their lineups for the upcoming week yet, or are we talking Sunday morning and teams are legit leaving empty spots in their lineup when this guy doesn't get on them?

If the latter, then it's the wrong guy you're looking at not inviting back.

 
Most fantasy leaguers I have known would view start/sit advice from a leaguemate with skepticism.  There is ample information out there, so unless they are simply not paying attention, they would give little thought to that kind of "advice", and, in fact, they would find it annoying and unwelcomed.  However, I have also known several leaguemates (often good leaguemates) who stop settling their lineups once they are eliminated from playoff contention, and that has implications beyond just their record.  It affects draft position (dynasty), but more importantly, it affects the competitive balance of the league as teams jockey for playoff positions.  As Commissioner, I don't necessarily worry about "less than optimal" lineups, but when a team fails to replace an injured or bye-week player, I give them a gentle nudge, which is almost always sufficient.  There are times when a league member might keep a bye-week kicker or defense in their lineup, and it is not always that they simply forgot to hit the waiver wire.  Sometimes, it is more desirable to take a zero at kicker than drop a developmental player (or a premium kicker) for a one-week plug-in.  I view this as roster management decisions, and we do not penalize a team for such a decision; however, when it is obvious an owner has simply checked out for the season, I contact that owner with a gentle nudge, and if that does not solicit a response, I reach out to make sure they are still interested in remaining in the League.  If I still get no response, I remove them, and we have rules in place for managing orphan teams, if a replacement owner cannot be immediately installed.

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top