Butkus Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Thanks to that very odd late 50+ FG by Akers last night, I'm up by 4 pts over my wk 9 opponent and all of his players have finished. My dilemma here is I still have Rothlisberger to go tonight, and against a fierce Broncos D in their house, I'm concerned that keeping by keeping Ben in my lineup, I'm risking a tie or loss given the -2 pts I would get per pick and -1 per fumble, combined with fact that this league only rewards 4 pts per TD and no points for yardage under 250. Our league rules state that "Lineup deadline is 5 minutes before gametime for each player" I have Bulger on my bench (don't ask) who is on bye. CBSSports line will allow me to swap Bulger and Rothlisberger based on the rule above. So I could put in Bulger and guarantee a win. I pinged our commish on this and he feels that while we don;t have a specific rule against it, it would be going against the "spirit of the league". Anyway, I'm not posting this in advice because i think I'm going to do the right thing and let Rothlisberger ride and cross my fingers. But I'm curious what rules you guys may have in place in head-to-head leagues to account for such an anomoly (this league is never going to go with a total pts structure)and also welcome any general thoughts on FFL ethics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Its been done many times before....you can and, if there is no incentive for you to score points that would go toward a Most Points prize, should bench him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Spirit of the league my ass. The rules are the rules. If nothing prevents you from making the change, make the change. Although the odds of Ben getting negative points are remote, in a money league, tight race for the playoffs, I'd do it. A couple years ago I was in a league where we were allowed two IR slots. A player had to be listed questionable or worse to be eligible for IR. One week the site's injury report was not updated so the commish asked us for any injury moves that he could apply manually. I had Thomas Jones listed as questionable according to the NFL's official injury report, so I asked the commish to add him to my IR. He refused, later telling me that he knew Jones was going to play, and the "spirit of the rule" was to allow owners to replace players who were not playing. It was a keeper league and I told him immediately I was not coming back the next year, but still played out the season. I figured if even the written rules were changeable at the whims of the commish, fairness was out the window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 If you were trying to lose on purpose, that would be tanking which would not be cool, but it's pretty obvious that you are simply trying to use your legally available players in a way which gives you the best chance to win. Nothing at all wrong with that as far as I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Smales Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 In our main league we have a rule that states playing a player on bye is not allowed if you have another player who can be made active. The non-bye player is "automatically" set to active. If you have more than one player to play (i.e you would have Roeth and Hass on your roster as well) and you set the bye week player to active you then get a -15 for that position for that week. They typcially would keep anyone from doing what you propose. The issue we have found with this rule is if an owner gets discouraged and gives up and doesn't set his roster, this causes him to "give away wins" to the lucky owners who get to play him later in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Bench his arse. You got the win. No brainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samson Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I think your own instincts are right. You know that you SHOULD be starting Ben and that Bulger would be a bit of a dick move and don't want to do it. You are doing the right thing. Most leagues I've been a part of, you have prizes for highest season total points (the points you potentially lose benching Ben) to act as a pretty ineffective control against what you contemplated. I think it's cool you're going to roll with Ben. The chances of him blowing your win are very low anyway, but winning on technicalities makes a pretend game of football even more meaningless IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I think it depends on the league. If it's a bunch of friends and you don't want to piss everyone off, then leave him in, you're almost certainly going to win anyway. If it's an online league or a big-money Muto league, then bench him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butkus Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 (edited) I've told our commish we need to institute a clause to rules stating that only "active" players (i.e. players with games that week) can be subbed if indeed that is inferred. He's telling me it's my call this week but he will send out a note to the league tomorrow for consensus. This league actually consists of CLOSE friends, but this one opponent I don't know that well. However, 'm still thinking of keeping Ben in the lineup, just so there is no guff maybe. Edited November 9, 2009 by Butkus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTed46 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Put it this way, if you forgot to replace Bulger for BigBen your opponent would have been happy Sunday morning. And if you remembered to swap them and it was 2 late you would have gotten a 0. You can't have it both ways, I am comish in my league and if you want to start bye players go ahead. If the team could not win when you have 1 player less, then he shouldnt win period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 First off, your league needs a new rule to cover this. There should be a rule that states if you have an active player at each position, it should be illegal to start a player on a bye. Sure, you could make the change, and it's a personal decision. Me, I would use Rothlisberger. Finding a loophole in the rules to assure a win would be for me, a cowards way out, but I'm not saying you would be a coward if you pulled him. I have my own rule set, others have theirs, and I would prefer to live up to the spirit of the league. Obviously many others want the win to be assured, and that's fine for them. I have seen leagues fall apart when an owner uses a loophole to win before. It isn't pretty, but, you are within your rights to bench him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imtoolowkey Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 (edited) How many times has someone scored negative points as a QB this year outside of Mark Nacho's doozy against NO. Ben is dirtying it up this year. Hes a lock for minimum 150 yards passing even against the worst of all teams. In a 25 yards pp league (-2 int, -1 fumble) you still have to have Ben roll a 150 yard 2 int 2 fumble performance to break even. You are an ass for even asking if that's ok. Edited November 9, 2009 by imtoolowkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I've told our commish we need to institute a clause to rules stating that only "active" players (i.e. players with games that week) can be subbed if indeed that is inferred. He's telling me it's my call this week but he will send out a note to the league tomorrow for consensus. This league actually consists of CLOSE friends, but this one opponent I don't know that well. However, 'm still thinking of keeping Ben in the lineup, just so there is no guff maybe. Why are you playing fantasy football in the first place? Your response is the answer to your question. As for rules, my local (which has been running for almost 15 years) has a penalty of ten points for anyone in the lineup who is on their bye. It's come into play several times this year and there is no grumbling about it because it is in the rules already. I don't think you want to add anything like that in your rules during the middle of a season but it might be worth considering for next year's league. Do the honorable thing. You'll be glad you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprtfan Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 How many times has someone scored negative points as a QB this year outside of Mark Nacho's doozy against NO. Ben is dirtying it up this year. Hes a lock for minimum 150 yards passing even against the worst of all teams. In a 25 yards pp league (-2 int, -1 fumble) you still have to have Ben roll a 150 yard 2 int 2 fumble performance to break even. You are an ass for even asking if that's ok. First post says "league only rewards 4 pts per TD and no points for yardage under 250". So being a lock for 150 yards is not helpful. I'd still play him and I doubt he'll end up with neg points but if I was the team playing you, I wouldn't blame you for sitting him out either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Don't be a wuss. Ben's not scoring negative points. Just play the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 you could say you wanted to start bulger on the week he was going to score the most points for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTed46 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 As I mentioned before, unless you get an automatic L for starting a bye player by accident, you should be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I don't even think it is a question. It quite simply is a strategic move. What would the other owners in your league do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 This happens on Sundays in daily lineup H2H fantasy baseball leagues all the time. You're far enough ahead in enough categories, you don't want to have your position wrecked by imploding pitchers, so you bench them all. Standard operating procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Take the "W" and move on. A couple years ago I started Grossman and he did in fact get me negative points on Monday night and I lost. Not starting him would have assured a win. I lost by the slimmest of margins. Unless you're after "highest points on the week" or some total points money, bench him. Who's to say Roethlisberger doesn't get sacked, lose a fumble, and be out for the game on the first play? That's -3 in my league. Easy decision in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonkis Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I'd bench him. That scoring is brutal, if he doesn't throw a TD, but drops the rock and tosses a pick or two and you're screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussMan Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 (edited) Dont worry Ben is going to have a fine outing. That said I dont see a problem if you wanted to get the win. Last season in my last week our playoff teams were set but the matchups were not. After examining the matchups I determined that my best matcup in week 1 would be against the highest scoring team. He was the top seed and a loss would mean that I would play him. It was a gamble and extremely hard -- becuase i HATE to lose -- but I put in a lineup that was not my best and lost (could have had the weekly high score). If I would have won the team I would have played would have beat me in round 1 of the playoffs. Instead I beat the highest scoring team in the league and then the championship and don't feel a bit bad about it. Kneel on the ball and take the win. Edited November 9, 2009 by RussMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 You stating you don't want to start a player because you're concerned he will put up negative points is a completely legitimate argument. If you have the W, bench him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Drop Bulger and pick up the Steelers 3rd string QB and start him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Fan Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Drop Bulger and pick up the Steelers 3rd string QB and start him. And leave Bulger on the waiver wire for someone else to pick up? ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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