Fantasy football ethics and morals?

So I have a sorta complicated situation on my hands guys, and would appreciate your input.
*i apologize in advance...it'll probably take a minute to read*

Situation: Friends and I started a 10 team dynasty in week 8. The plan was to finish out the season and then take it to college with us (we are seniors in hs). So anyway, I have a couple people planning on tanking this year for the #1 rookie pick. I don't have a problem with that in theory, but I feel like the way they are doing it is kinda sleazy.

For instance, the guy I'm more specifically referring to in this thread has

Peyton manning, tannehill, flacco, and Thad Lewis (2qb)

I sent out a group text to the entire league earlier this week saying "guys I noticed that some of you aren't filling out your lineups...if you don't do it, then I'm gonna do if for you" so anyway..yesterday rolls along and I see this guy has 2 guys on a bye in the lineup and a guy on IR in and Thad Lewis in over Peyton manning...... [-( . So I fixed it for him, as well as 2 other teams that I saw had hurt players in the lineup or no one at all. So the Peyton owner comes to me today and says that I'm "rigging the league" and that if I don't fix it he is gonna drop out AND he wants his money back from the cookie league we are in together...if I am in the wrong here I will certainly admit to it and fix my mistake...but I really don't feel like I am. What would you guys do in this situation?

P.S. It's not like he somehow forgot. He openly admitted to trying to tank this year. Like I said, I have no problem with that, but I think that tanking should be done through trades for picks and what not...not just benching your studs..

Your future rookie draft shouldn't be based on this seasons standings based on the fact that you started it in week 8. I would have just done a random draft order to determine it. Tanking for the purposes of the #1 pick is bucksh!t and shouldn't be acceptable by anyone in the league.

Whos_Ur_Doggie said:

Your future rookie draft shouldn't be based on this seasons standings based on the fact that you started it in week 8. I would have just done a random draft order to determine it. Tanking for the purposes of the #1 pick is bucksh!t and shouldn't be acceptable by anyone in the league.

I agree about it being bull. But we hadn't thought about just making it random...may be a good solution to the problem...thanks doggie!

Spell it out. Any team caught tanking will forfeit their first round pick.

Hey your the commish so you make the rules. Let them walk who cares....you'll be able to fill out their spots with your new college buddies.

duuhdadada said:

Hey your the commish so you make the rules. Let them walk who cares....you'll be able to fill out their spots with your new college buddies.

I am the commish, but I don't wanna be a dictator

But you're still the commish so you make the rules. If it is for the benefit of the league in general then make the ruling. You can also make a poll and have the members vote on it to make it democratic so it won't look like your being a dictator.

On top of that for your "buddies" to be a bunch of spoiled cry babies and throw out the "well then I'm quiting" card then you don't need them in your league cause they will just throw another tantrum when things don't go their way in future seasons.

So is the consensus here that I should tell him to grow up, or make next years rookie picks randomized? Or both?

Tanking can be tough to police... But it sounds pretty straight forward here. As commissioner you sound a little too loose on this point. You simply cannot tolerate blatant tanking... That needs to be made clear, or your league won't last long... These guys know this is bullshit.

For now, I do like the idea of randomizing the draft order for next season as a way of taking care of it for now..

Try this to eliminate tanking: all the teams who don't qualify for the playoffs are in a lottery for their draft slot.

thedude said:

Try this to eliminate tanking: all the teams who don't qualify for the playoffs are in a lottery for their draft slot.

So everyone in the top 6 will earn there spot in the back half of round one, but the bottom four are randomized between those four? So a bottom four team could get anything between 1.01 and 1.04? Am I understanding that right dude?

Youre not rigging the league...they are. You tell him everyone earns their pick whether its the last or the 1st and you play to win. Sometimes you have an issue like me this week I messed up some of my rosters cause my dad had a heart attack recently and my mind has been off fantasy but these guys are admitting they are tanking. Men dont loose on purpose and tell them that. Not sure how receptive they will be as HS kids though, no offense to you. NO ONE deseves the 1st pick because they lack integrity.

Lottery or total pint scores is the way Id go here so that you dont have to set their rosters. I like total points better cause they will be in the spot they deserve regardless of starting roster.

Also...I had a guy trying this in one of my leagues and we all put so much pressure on him with message board posts that he stopped.

Okay. I think what I'm gonna do is poll the league about the lottery for the bottom 5 picks. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the input guys!
One last question..What if he still decides to tank though?..

emurrell17 said:

Okay. I think what I'm gonna do is poll the league about the lottery for the bottom 5 picks. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the input guys!
One last question..What if he still decides to tank though?..

Once you post the poll not much you can do. If it passes he takes his chances. This is the problem with a mid season draft. If it were me Id replace him though cause I dont tolerate cheating. If you are commish I wouldnt even post a poll. Id just tell the league that since people are tanking then you are going to determine draft order for all non-playoff teams by total points scored and if they dont like it they can move on and replace them. You dont need owners that want to gain an advantage like that.

Who cares if he takes his ball and goes home....he will just be a pain in the ass in future years so good riddance.

Idk, I think your answer is in how much you value his friendship. I've managed to only retain 1 friend from college despite being infinitely more "popular" in college than I was in high school. Most of my current retained friends are high school. Was the purpose of this league to keep in touch and have fun, or was it to compete and win? Is everyone on board with the league goals? If half of them don't care and just want to maintain friendship and he other half want to win, the league will fold anyway so don't stress about someone tanking.

Well...if telling someone they cant tank in fantasy football makes them not want to be friends anymore then they werent much of a friend to begin with.

Here's your problem, You didn't set up a set of rules or guidelines before you started the league. I am a big advocate of rules being put in place for situations just like this. Really I don't think you have an option here. When people see loop holes they are more than willing to go right through them. As a commissioner, you have the responsibility to be sure that the league is fun. Without rules... it is a headache. I would suggest that this year you let it ride out. I hate changing things in the middle of a season, and whether you started week 1 or week 8, but if you want to keep a league together, you need to do what you have established (or not established).

Also, I wouldn't do a poll. I don't think this subject is poll worthy. This is a problem with you not establishing guidelines for the league and this is what happens. You learn as you go and for the next season you add to the rules to stop shenanigans from happening again.

If you choose to go the other way, I am sure that there are people who you can find to take their spot. There is always another. Honestly, if the person(s) are whining about whats fair or not fair, I wouldn't want them in my league anyways. Find someone who understands that building a dynasty has nothing to do with tanking, but its all about evaluating players and drafting/trading for those players you think will help your team win it all.

I would think that if the guy has Peyton Manning, his team can't be that bad off.

JRMRRT said:

Youre not rigging the league...they are. You tell him everyone earns their pick whether its the last or the 1st and you play to win. Sometimes you have an issue like me this week I messed up some of my rosters cause my dad had a heart attack recently and my mind has been off fantasy but these guys are admitting they are tanking. Men dont loose on purpose and tell them that. Not sure how receptive they will be as HS kids though, no offense to you. NO ONE deseves the 1st pick because they lack integrity.

Lottery or total pint scores is the way Id go here so that you dont have to set their rosters. I like total points better cause they will be in the spot they deserve regardless of starting roster.

But even if they did a lottery or total points, that was not established at the start of the league. I would just have a hard time justifying that I guess.

I mean I commish about 4 leagues and I have never had any kind of problem like this...so I guess I didn't know to set up rules about tanking preseason..

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