Entries from August 2008 ↓

Q:  So, how would you handle this scenario?  We have someone in our work league who had a death in the family. He has been gone since Thursday 8/21.  Our draft is scheduled for tomorrow(Wed) and obviously the season starts on Thursday.  It is looking more and more like he will not be here tomorrow for our draft.  Here are some of the options that have been brought to the table.

A) Find a replacement (clearly a d*ick move but necessary for the league to move on in a time of crisis).
B) Call off draft and first week of the NFL season (sucks… especially for those without other leagues)
C) Draft after opening day but before Sunday, allow the points played on Thursdays game to stand for whoever drafts these people.  (Seems awfully difficult to do in a fair way)

D) Have another person draft for the member who is out. (very difficult to do when there is money at hand)
E) Have the league draft as a committee for the member who is out. (again very difficult to do when money and personal biases are involved)

A:   Tough situation, it is at times like this that we truly begin to understand how important draft day is.   Here are our thoughts on the proposed solution:

A.  If you choose this option,  you have no soul
B.  Not having a fantasy team to root for in week 1 is not an option either, might as well be you that croaked
C.  As long as you can find a league that would count week 1 stats this appears to be the best option.   Most leagues won’t do so however, if you enter the roster after Thursday
D.  This option is a close second if the kin of the departed can find someone who is not close enough to care about the death, but close enough to invest 4+ hours into drafting a team in which they will have no interest
E.  This option would be very hard to coordinate

Q:  Let me start by stating that there are a couple of things that lead to this problem, that has people already threatening to quit the league.  But let me give you some quick background first.  This is the second year for our 6 team league, it has a 1st place prize of $600 plus free agent money.  Since last year we have changed commissioner and the online service we used.  Through this change over some minor scoring changes occurred.  We all had the ability for 2 weeks prior to look at the league scoring setup and immediately before the draft we were all able to look over the scoring and required to sign off on it.  I for 1 noticed the change from 0 points per reception to 1 point per reception and drafted accordingly.  Now 2 days after the draft others have realized that this minor change means that WR’s  are now potentially much more valuable than RB’s.  So there is now a push to either go back to 0 points per reception or change RB’s from 1 point per 10 yards, to 2 points per 10 yards, or some other such scoring alteration to enable RB’s to get similar point totals to WR’s.  The problem that some of us have with this is that we picked our team based on this point setup, my draft strategy was based on the increased value of WR’s, so I ranked WR’s higher on my draft board.  As a last resort solution we have offered to redraft with the old scoring system in place, but the people on the other side of the issue aren’t interested/able to redraft on the upcoming holiday weekend.  So we are at an impasse and I am looking to you for an impartial opinion.

Thanks for the help,  The Silver Foxes

A:  Hi Scott.  This truly is a tough situation.  Changing to a PPR format is a major shift, as evident in the fact that most fantasy football experts/magazines make a point of mentioning how their player rankings vary substantially in PPR leagues.  Here are our thoughts.

First, you can’t redraft, that’s not even an option if you could make it work with your schedules.  It’s a money league and your owners have already showed their hands so to speak in revealing which players they value most.

Second, it is true that any owner could have checked the league rules, but this is not the first year of your league.   A major change, such as adding PPR, needs to be clearly explained to all owners prior to the draft, if not voted on through a democratic process.  If there were no message board posts citing this rule change than the fault of your dilemma rests on the shoulders of the commissioner, regardless of the fact that he/she is new to the role.

Finally, since the rule change obviously affected draft strategy, a common ground must be found.   You can’t go back to 0 points per reception, but increasing RB receptions to two points overvalues RB in this format (and is thus, almost the same thing as going back to 0 points).  We recommend you find a middle ground and give RBs 1.25-1.5 points per reception.   You should be able to assign partial points and if not you can just bump everything up a few decimal points (so 1 pt = 100 pts; and 1.25 pts = 125 pts).

Its not a great solution, but a great solution doesn’t exist in this scenario and we feel this will give you the best shot to appease all parties.

Good luck and obviously next year you need address these issues with all owners prior to the draft.

Q:  Dear ffdisputes,

There was a trade in our league between two teams where Chris Perry and Muhsin Muhammad were traded for Roddy White.  I’m thinking this trade may actually be fair because Chris Perry might be starting with Rudy being on the trading block, and the team that he was traded to already had Rudi Johnson (He is actually the one who inquired about the availability of Chris Perry).  Is this fair?

A:  Hi Eric.  This trade is absolutely fair, a standard 2 for 1 trade in which Team A is receiving the best player involved (Roddy White) while Team B is receiving depth in a passable receiver and a running back with strong upside.

If this trade was Randy Moss for Perry and Muhammad the disparity would be too great, but White, while a solid WR, doesn’t make this an uneven trade.

Thanks for the inquiry!

I’ve been considering employing this strategy this year and came across a great article at the Scores Report.   I originally heard about this strategy from the guys at FootballGuys.com.  Their 2008 DTBC article is out if you are a paid subscriber.

The Scores Report article does a great job of explaining the defensive team by committee approach and also recommending some combos for this season.

The idea of drafting depth at WR or RB when the mad dash for team defenses begins is definitely enticing.   Might have to give it a try this year.

Here’s a quick list of the top causes of fantasy football arguments every season.  Address these issues with your league prior to the season and you’ll avoid headaches and endless message board debates.

1.   Return yards/TDs - Do these count for your WRs & RBs?
2.   If the opponent of your starting defense scores defensive points, does that count against your defense?
3.   How are field goals returned as TDs scored?
4.   Keeper eligibility - If your league has limits on the number of years a player may be kept, how are those limits affected if that player is traded or dropped?
5.   What happens when an owner drops out of the league mid-season?
6.   Does your league award partial points?
7.   If your league awards the incorrect point totals for a given week, and does not fix it, how will your league handle this?
8.   Last minute line-up adjustments - If a league owner contacts the commish after weekly lineups have been locked (or because of connectivity issues), can the commish process the change?
9.   Trade disputes - Does your league allow owners to trade future draft picks?
10.  Trade disputes - How does your league prevent unfair trades and collusion without also blocking the legitimate trades in the process?  - This is the big one.

Just a quick off-topic note.  I have yet to drive through Delaware in my many trips up and down Interstate 95 over the pass few years without sitting in gridlock in this god-forsaken state.  Last night I hit 40 minutes of bumper to bumper madness at 9:30pm.

Oh and they just raised the tolls.

First state, worse state.  Here’s a link to a blog that shares my sentiments and offers a potential way to circumnavigate the hell that is driving through Delaware.

The blogosphere is alive with the sounds of RBBC (running back by committee) as it seems everywhere you look you find someone offering their thoughts on the league-wide shift to this strategy and the subsequent detrimental effects on fantasy football.

Anyway, in my research this weekend, I came across a great fantasy podcast from Fantasy Football Empire that provides a very thorough team by team analysis of NFL runningbacks.  I’m still planning on doing a review and ranking of all fantasy football podcasts but you can bet this will be at the top of my list.   I’d consider this a must-listen for anyone in need of a complete overview on which runningbacks are sharing carries and which runningbacks will get 300+ carries.

During my first few seasons of fantasy football, I believed spending ten and a half hours glued to the tv every Sunday was my God-given right. Absent of any semblance of responsibility, I was free to focus on the important things in life like finding new ways to torment my Jets fan friends for drafting Kyle Brady at ninth overall or deciding who I should start at QB - Jeff George or Dave Krieg. Ah, the good old days, I can almost hear “Informer” blasting from my boombox.

Fast forward to present day, work and relationships have made it increasingly harder to devote one seventh of every week to sitting on my ass watching football.

If you have to work on Sunday you’re pretty much screwed. Sorry, it sucks and I feel for you. You going to need to get a new job. But if your girlfriend, wife, whatever is booking apple picking trips and dinner with the in-laws every weekend through December, well here I can help you.

Behold, thirteen effective and sometimes deceptive ways to ensure you presence from the first time Chris Berman says something stupid on Countdown all the way through the Sunday night wrap-up.

1. The Drunken Reverse: So the old lady has big plans for you on Sunday that will prevent you from watching the games? Good for her. Take her out on Saturday night to reward her for her diligent planning. And then just get her completely hammered. I recommend Jameson shots by the truckload. The goal is to ensure that she’ll be catatonically hung over until early evening Sunday. If you are successful, she’ll cancel Sunday’s plans, you’ll be free to watch the game and you may even pick up some brownie points if a commercial break coincides with her cries for the Pepto Bismol bottle.

Caution: If she can drink you under the table this is a very dangerous strategy as you could end up too drunk to function on Sunday. This may get you off the hook in the short term but she’ll have you locked inside Linens’ N Things for the next four Sundays as revenge.

2. The Pre-Emptive Planner: Nothing flashy about this technique. Simply sacrifice your Friday and/or Saturday by doing whatever your girl wants to do, thereby earning the right to spend Sunday at the bar or on the couch. Not a good choice if you want to watch College Football all day Saturday.

3. The Good Friend: You’re buddy needs your help. Maybe he lost his job, maybe his girl left him, maybe that sore isn’t responding to conventional medicine - bottom line, your friend is blue and it is your duty to cheer him up.   If it means sacrificing your Sunday to come to his aid, well then so be it. By the way, none of this needs to be true as long as it gets you out of the house. A solid option, if used infrequently, but it doesn’t work well if your girl is familiar with your friend in need.

4.  Gotta Pay the Bills:  Another relatively straightforward play call - a last minute cancellation of that scenic Sunday drive through the country due to an unavoidable work-related emergency.  Sure your significant other will be disappointed, but hey, so are you, right?  Sorry honey the mortgage doesn’t pay itself.  Very important to do the necessary prep work on this.  Mapquest the route ahead of time and makes sure she sees the direction printed out.  Research some romantic stops along the way, perhaps a vineyard, and jot down some phone numbers on the directions to show how pumped you are about the trip.   A little corny, yes, but it’s not like you are really going anywhere.  And well-worth the effort when you are live streaming games from your office PC on Sunday.

5. The Ultimate Sacrifice: If all else fails, kill off a friend or distant relative. Don’t ‘clip’ a close family member - your girl will want to go for support. You’ll need to plan a day or so in advance (to allow time for the funeral arrangements) - but who can argue with death? A little unethical but you can argue the same about furniture shopping on a Sunday when you’re battling for a playoff spot. Note: To clarify, the goal here is to fake the death, not actually kill someone - the Internet requires such clarifications to be plainly stated.

Stay tuned for part II.

AFC East
Miami - Gain: Josh McCown (QB), Chad Henne (QB) Ernest Wilford (WR), Anthony Fasano (TE); Lose: Trent Green (QB),  Jesse Chatman (RB), Lorenzo Booker (RB), Marty Booker (WR)
Buffalo - Gain: James Hardy (RB); Lose: Anthony Thomas (RB), Peerless Price (WR)
New England - Gain: Lamont Jordan (RB), Marcus Pollard (TE); Lose: Donte Stallworth (WR), Reche Caldwell (WR)
NY Jets - Gain: Jesse Chatman (RB), Musa Smith (RB), Bubba Franks (TE); Lose: Justin McCareins (WR)

AFC North
Baltimore - Gain: Joe Flacco (QB), Ray Rice (RB); Lose: Steve McNair (QB), Mike Anderson (RB), Musa Smith (RB)
Cleveland - Gain: Donte Stallworth (WR)
Cincinnati - Gain: Ben Utecht (TE); Lose: Chris Henry (WR)
Pittsburgh - Gain: Mewelde Moore (RB); Lose: Najeh Davenport (RB)

AFC South
Houston - Gain: Chris Brown (RB); Lose: Jerome Mathis (WR)
Indianapolis - Gain: Dominic Rhodes; Lose: Ben Utecht (TE)
Jacksonville - Gain: Jerry Porter (WR), Troy Williamson (WR); Lose: LaBrandon Toefield (RB), Ernest Wilford (WR)
Tennesse -  Gain: Justin McCareins (WR), Alge Crumpler (TE); Lose: Chris Brown (RB), David Givens (WR), Ben Troupe (TE)

AFC West
Denver - Gain: Michael Pittman (RB), Darrell Jackson (WR), Keary Colbert (WR); Lose: Travis Henry (RB), Javon Walker (WR), Rod Smith (WR)
Kansas City - Lose: Eddie Kennison (WR)
Oakland - Gain: Darren McFadden (RB), Javon Walker (WR); Lose: Dominic Rhodes (RB), Lamont Jordan (RB), Jerry Porter (WR), Doug Gabriel (WR)
San Diego - Lose: Lorenzo Neal(RB), Michael Turner (RB)