9/10/10
Everything from seemingly harmless trash-talk to underhanded
collusion can cause hard feelings among owners… and even
divide an entire league. Whether you’ve been the accused,
the betrayed, or just an innocent bystander wondering which side
to take, this column is for you. E-mail
the Devil's Advocate with a description of the controversy
brewing in your league (or a potentially unpopular move you’re
about to make), and I’ll give one of those emails an outsider’s
viewpoint in a future column. Maybe you’re right, maybe
you’re wrong; there are always two sides to a controversy.
Both sides will be explored in hopes of finding some middle ground
that helps you, and that any league can use to bolster its rules
and maintain that rogue ownership that makes fantasy sports all
the more entertaining.
What Doesn’t Bend, Breaks...
Without fail, every e-mail I’ve received concerning this
column has included a caveat stating that no rules were broken
when such-and-such controversy went down. I was hoping to get
at least a few comments from sociopaths who broke the rules just
to break them—if nothing more, to make myself feel a little
better about my own misdeeds. But, no, my lack of faith in man
has been foiled. It seems that people aren’t out to break
the rules on a daily basis. In fact, most of the greatest controversies
I’ve been let in on have occurred well within the rules.
This just goes to show that all rules are open to interpretation.
Originally, this edition was going to be strictly about rules,
but then this came along at just the right time:
Our draft is in reverse order of last year’s
finish…and we never had any problems with people throwing
games to get a high pick until one year about five years ago…The
person in question threw the game…by starting more than
one player on a bye or [ones who were] injured and, therefore,
couldn’t play. I called him on it verbally on the website,
where others could read it, but did not impose any penalty as
we had no rules for such behavior. However, two of his friends
sided with him and it caused a huge ruckus. We ended up losing
four out of ten teams when all was said and done.
I’ve been involved in this firsthand, though I just may
have been on the wrong side of the issue (I’m not the Right-Hand
Man, after all). That controversy was the main inspiration for
this column—to attempt a look at both sides of a conflict
and to stop said ruckus before it causes teams to leave and leagues
to disband. The base issue in most cases involving game-throwing
has to do with how a league’s rules are set up. Throwing
games is unexpected, so most leagues have no rules to combat the
practice. Therefore, it is usually well within the rights of each
owner, however immoral or antisocial it may be deemed.
The Guardian Angel
Rules are the cornerstone of society.
The Fallen Angel
Rules are made to be broken.
Here on Earth…
Rules are certainly not made to be broken—they are indeed
the core component of civilization—but all rules are made
to be worked over, perfected if you will. Without rule-makers
and rule-breakers, we’d still be living in caves. Where
would we be without clocks (the ultimate keepers of order) or
electricity (that wild devil that gives us the ability to, well,
do almost everything we do)? Where without Newton or Noah Webster,
Galileo or Picasso? Where would we be without the Constitution…or
it’s Amendments? Even the rebels our forefathers were could
not quill the perfect rule, and thus the laws and rules we live
by are continuously being tweaked.
The rules of fantasy sports are different only in that they are
a lot more fun to bend, and a lot less serious when they break.
Working magic within the rules is what makes fantasy football
more than a game of chance. If everyone followed the rules the
exact same way, you’d just be choosing players and hoping
they do well. And if no strategy is built into your league rules,
your owners may as well just go hit some slot machines.
The first thing to recognize is that rules have a quality. For
starters, they have to be well-written, but there’s no reason
to stage a grammar class here. Just know that each word you write
can have a different meaning to each owner.
A low-quality, merely workable rule halts what it means to and
ends the discussion—for that moment, at least. It’s
wordy but says exactly what it means. A workable rule addressing
the issue above would read something like this: “No team
may attempt to throw a game to enhance draft position by starting
either players on a bye or players who are injured.”
You’re asking for a mound of trouble if you install that
rule. It sounds very thorough and legal on the surface. But anyone
who has kids—whose job it is to constantly test the rules—knows
they just stepped in it. The second after I tell my son, “Get
your hands off that!” he’ll pick up the nearest object
and use it to touch exactly what I told him not to. What…he’s
not putting his “hands” on it, is he? By specifically
excluding bye-week and injured players from play, you just officially
made it legal to throw a game a zillion other ways. And what if
an owner wants to enhance his playoff seeding (the most common
cause of game-throwing) rather than his draft position? Good luck
to everyone involved!
Furthermore, how do you qualify an attempt to throw a game? If
you can’t read minds, you just gave yourself a huge headache.
What if someone had put Jamal Charles in his lineup over MJD in
Week 14 last season? Were they attempting to tank, or were they
a freaking genius? Don’t get yourself into that mess. Keep
specifics and second-guessing out of the equation.
A good, quality rule on the other hand uses as few words as possible
in putting a stop to what it intends, with little room for argument:
“No team may throw a game.” Damn straight! Who’s
going to go against that? It’s tough to fight it from any
angle. Why would you even think about throwing a game now? And
if there is a benefit, is it worth the risk of breaking that rule?
After all, who’s to know whether you’re throwing a
game or not? How are they going to catch you? By even mentioning
throwing a game, and then taking such a stance, you may have just
triggered that corrupt thought process in a number of your owners.
The fix to that is easy: the owner who breaks that rule gets the
boot. Getting to the conclusion of whether someone was trying
to throw a game is, again, where all the work comes in. And chances
are you’ll likely have to involve the entire league. No
one wants to vote on that; it makes things less fun all around.
Still, some would gladly consider that a perfect rule. It’s
to the point and those who buck it are clearly asking for trouble.
I would argue that the outcome of that ruling, without a straight-up
confession, is suspect in itself. There’s a better way,
I believe, that works for the league without directly involving
each owner. Keep your restrictions to a minimum. The less laws
you have, the less criminals. Instead of restrictions, give options.
A better rule might go something more like this: “Starting
a player on a bye week costs $3; starting a player listed as ‘out’
on NFL.com’s injury report page costs $3,” and so
forth, until you think you’ve covered everything. Really
think through the possibilities. This states nothing about throwing
games, nor does it prohibit anything, so it doesn’t trigger
the rebellion switch. It’s not a fine or a tax. It’s
not forcing anyone to take the back roads to avoid a tollbooth.
If you don’t want to pay that $3, simply don’t leave
a roster spot open. It also saves face for the potential wrong-doer—something
everyone may not especially like, though it has its benefits in
quelling controversy. Remember, most people are not trying to
break rules or hurt their league.
However, the penalty must make sense. (In leagues that don’t
trade in greenbacks, future draft picks or waiver order or similar
items can be used in place of dollar amounts.) Since we all lose
our heads sometimes and occasionally start an injured player or
even unintentionally start someone on their bye, the penalty cannot
be unreasonable. However, it has to be strong enough that what
you’re trying to hinder won’t be quite worth the charge.
You don’t want to nickel-and-dime your owners, nor do you
want to suddenly empty their wallets. The point is to keep the
friction to a minimum. Take that dollar amount to the logical
brink, where any owner would question the worth of the move, then
bump it up just slightly.
In most instances, an empty roster spot has to do with frugality
rather than forfeit. So if it costs $1 to pick up a free agent
and $1 to get your guy back after his bye, make the penalty $3
or $4. Anyone who passed second-grade math will see there’s
more value in signing a free agent than in leaving a spot open.
More to the issue at hand, to make sure a forfeit comes off, an
owner will most likely have to leave at least three roster spots
open. Depending on your league, the sight of Alexander Hamilton
will make most owners at least pause to contemplate the move’s
financial worth. If they decide to go against the grain, they
pay for it, and the controversy is kept to a minimum. It’s
unconventional, but do this consistently across the board and
you could have both a bigger pot and much less “crime”
come the end of the season.
When you put your league rules into effect is just as important
as how you word them. The fantasy season is about making the most
of opportunity. Because of that, any rule created mid-season will
likely be unfair to a number of owners in different ways. Okay,
occasionally you’ll find that you forgot or didn’t
recognize an issue. Put it out there for league discussion but,
if at all possible, try to save a ruling until next season. If
you have to install it right then and there, make it so that no
owner is penalized (or not penalized) retroactively, and make
it fit so that no owners were screwed out of an opportunity before
the rule was set in motion. Then wait until the coming offseason
to amend or strengthen the rule.
In that same vein, law must be common and treated with equal measure
among all owners. One owner cannot be let off the hook because
he or his actions seem more innocent than another. Something done
out of neglect or frugality (or for a perfectly good reason) may
actually have greater repercussions than something done out of
egoism, selfishness, or spite. Precedence may be set early in
the season by letting some seemingly innocent rule-bending slide.
That can lead to greater rule-breaking later on, when the stakes
are higher.
Though it may sound counterproductive, try to keep your set of
rules vague and to the minimal. No matter how many rules you have,
an initially workable rule based on specifics can eventually cause
more trouble than it hinders. A good rule, on the other hand,
addresses the issue and gets the job done. But the best rule often
creates options and new strategies and makes your league all the
more fun for those interested in playing some real, competitive
fantasy football.
|
