Problem with an owner

[BradyT]

I have a question for my fellow commishs here on the board. I´m the co-commish for my league in my sig and a problem has come up this week.
Some short facts before I get into the subject:

12 team league, 6 playoffs teams with this week being the last week of the regular season and week 16 being the championship game week.
Seed #1 and #2 have a bye next week.

Standings Sort Criteria´s:
Standings Sort Criteria #1: winning percentage/record
Standings Sort Criteria #2: total points scored
Standings Sort Criteria #3: div winning percentage

Seed 1 most likely will be 12-1 after this week. Seed 2 likely will be at 10-3(that would be my team). After those two teams, there are 4 teams with an 8-4 record coming into this week. All those teams are locked into the playoffs, since the other teams have no chances left with their respective records.

In this upcoming week, there will be two matchups: Seed #3 vs. #6 and #4 vs. #5 (decided by the above posted criterias)


I hope this was not too confusing so far.. just some side facts about the league and its structure.




Well.. now the problem:

One of the 8-4 owners submitted his lineup as followed:
QB(1 needed): /
RB(2 needed): Gatrell Johnson,NYG
WR(3 needed): Anthony Gonzales,IND - Limas Sweed,PIT
TE(1 needed): Chase Coffman,CIN
Flex(1)/RB,WR,TE: /
PK(1): /
DL(2): /
LB(2): /
DB(2): /
Flex(1)/DL,LB,DB: /

This owner was currently seeded #6 coming into this week, which would mean he would have to go against #3 next week.

We asked him why he submitted this kind of lineup and his answer more or less was:

its tactical, he has a plan.. and this plan would be(making sure) going against the team he thinks will be #3, because this respective team has banged up RB´s in his opinion and therefore would give him a better chance to win this machtup next weekend, no matter if seeded at #3.(and yes.. he actually was that smart admitting him doing this on purpose.. not if his ridiculous lineup wouldn´t be obvious enough...)
We dont know if his plan does make any sense or if it will succeed in the end, but both of us commishes think that it actually doesn´t matter and that he should be punished for this.

I´d really like to hear all of your opinions on this one, since its the first time such an incident happen in our league.


and btw: if there is some information missing you would like to know, just ask.. I´m not sure if I´ve covered up everything important.


THX!

[Phish Brigade]

Wow. I've never seen a situation where every playoff spot was decided going into the last week. None I can think of anyway. Usually the last regular season games means more than that.

Nonetheless, one of the golden rules of fantasy football that is sometimes an unwritten rule is that every team is expected to set a valid roster each and every week. I agree, I think some form of punishment is needed. But what the punishment should be? I don't know yet. Perhaps removing a 2010 draft pick or something. With a warning that a second offense is much more severe, and as far as removal from the league.

[princevincexoxo]

if the playoff teams are already decided, and him losing doesnt negatively affect anybody else other than just his teams, then I dont see anything wrong with him better positioning his team in terms of NEXT WEEK....now if there is a rule where you HAVE TO submit a full roster then obviously there is a violation, and it should be punishable....otherwise there is nothing wrong with this as long as it doesnt negatively affect anyones position other than his own. He just found a loophole and is taking advantage of it....if you dont have a rule to cover it than you cannot punish it based on your personal expectations....and besides...strategies like this dont always work so you cant punish him and then have it end up not even working out for him...because then thats unfair....let him enjoy his loophole for now, address it in the offseason, and just hope he losses because of it for right now. Thats all you can do IMO.

[prinefan]

I'm not a commish but do participate in 7 dynasty leagues right now. If you have a rule that people cannot throw games, then he should be punished. If you don't have that rule, then (as distasteful as it is) there's nothing you can do.

[meineymoe]

wow, I'm glad I don't have someone that goofy in either of my leagues....

I'd probably laugh at him dirisively, and let him do it.

My only concern is does it affect the team he's playing against, as far as draft position for next season.

well, good luck.

-oo-

[blacksheep]

Credit to him for his thinking outside the box but he's exploiting the rules, or lack of. Every league I've been in, you have to submit a complete lineup. Like Phish said, its an unwritten rule that you TRY and win EVERY weekend. Personally, this type of strategy would make me sick and I would never try it. In short, he's tanking and implementing a rule that you have to submit a complete roster would go a ways in fixing this problem but then you have to watch for owners that turn in dubious rosters,

[Steelersfan]

This type of action should not be allowed and was hopefully covered in the leagues bylaws. Every team should put forth their best effort every week regardless of situation.

Posts concerning similar actions are becoming frequent, I'm glad I don't have to deal with this BS...

[kris_kapsner]

Don't do anything about it but issue him a warning that all teams are supposed to put their best effort in each week.

Then, make sure that rule is in writing for next year.

[princevincexoxo]

Every team should put forth their best effort every week regardless of situation.

I dont completely agree, but I do for the most part. I understand both sides. However, why run into the eye of the beast when you dont have to, ya know? Remember also that there is a line between SHOULD and HAVE TO...if you think every team SHOULD then make a rule covering all bases to emphasize that so they HAVE TO...but as long as that rule doesnt exist and this situation doesnt break ANY LEAGUE RULES then you cant REALLY say there is anything WRONG with it just because its a value and standard that YOU hold personally. Many people on this forum have integrity (for the most part from what I know) so a lot of what happens fantasy wise here is very idealistic. We hold ourselves predominantly to a higher standard....but ya cant blame someone for thinking outside the box, and being unconventionally strategic - you can frown upon it but remember from the standpoint of rules and fairness its still your personal judgment. If you dont like it then as a commissioner in the off season just change/revise the bylaws...and then it wont ONLY be your personal judgment anymore it will be law.

[Madalex]

In my league we have what we call "loser pots" where the losers any given week have to pay $.25 per point of loss to the total league pot. We also don't allow anybody to start a player that isn't active (like A.Gonzo in your situation) if an ilegal line-up is submitted then the line-up from the previous week is used.

[BradyT]

The "problem" here is, that we all agreed on it not being necessary to have by-laws like a lot of leagues here on DLF use to have. Everybody gave his two cents about scoring system, lineup- and roster requierements and all that stuff and then we just started the league.. and did pretty well.. till this week. As some said.. it was some kind of an unwritten rule to make this as competitive as possible. Despite not having certain by-laws, throwing games should never be allowed.

We might take away a draft pick from him and speak out a warning concerning his future in the league.
And we also might need to write down some certain rules, to prevent this from happening in the future(allthough this fella is the only one of us 12 owners who would possibly do something like that..)

[hosler427]

The "problem" here is, that we all agreed on it not being necessary to have by-laws like a lot of leagues here on DLF use to have. Everybody gave his two cents about scoring system, lineup- and roster requierements and all that stuff and then we just started the league.. and did pretty well.. till this week. As some said.. it was some kind of an unwritten rule to make this as competitive as possible. Despite not having certain by-laws, throwing games should never be allowed.

We might take away a draft pick from him and speak out a warning concerning his future in the league.
And we also might need to write down some certain rules, to prevent this from happening in the future(allthough this fella is the only one of us 12 owners who would possibly do something like that..)

that is the issue than. You shouldn't start a league without bylaws. No matter how much everyone says they agree on things, there will always be an incident. Bylaws protect the league from this stuff.

[skip]

While I believe this is an integrity issue, the absence of any bylaws is a problem. I don't see how you can hand out punishment for violating an "unwritten" rule when there are no rules at all. If there were at least an integrity/compete rule that is something. I think you have to let this one go.

However, you need bylaws moving forward. And one of those should include the details on how this will be handled in the future - whether that is draft picks, financial penalty, or outright dismissal from the league.

[moneyballer]

Brady:

I agree with Skip and Dan above. I don't see how you can mete out punishment in this situation when you have no bylaws. The best thing to do in this situation is to talk to him and tell him this is not how the league is meant to be played. Then, in the off-season write some rules to cover situations like this in the future. The absolute worse thing to do would be to take away one of his draft picks for an unwritten rule.

[princevincexoxo]

Brady:

I agree with Skip and Dan above. I don't see how you can mete out punishment in this situation when you have no bylaws. The best thing to do in this situation is to talk to him and tell him this is not how the league is meant to be played. Then, in the off-season write some rules to cover situations like this in the future. The absolute worse thing to do would be to take away one of his draft picks for an unwritten rule.

Exactly what I was gonna say. Took the words right off of my fingertips