Throwing games for seeding...alls fair?

[jgcrawfish 232]

2nd highest scoring team in a 12 teamer with the most points scored against. Have 3 teams ahead of me by one game. Top team is talking about tanking his game against one of the three and the other two teams have matchups against easier (non-playoff) teams. I know it's about winning..but fvck.

[frank 2,145]

All's fair, but I like rules that discourage it. Maybe have big prizes for top scores late in the season.

 

I have a top 2 seed locked up. I don't know what the guy in first will do, but I'm going to play my best guys.

[kilroy69 994]

Not all is fair. If you do not play to win the game you do not play.

[phillygrrl08 139]

Do not anger the fantasy gods by trying to throw a game!

 

Bad juju with that move. Don't do it.

[Filthy Fernadez 2,696]

2nd highest scoring team in a 12 teamer with the most points scored against. Have 3 teams ahead of me by one game. Top team is talking about tanking his game against one of the three and the other two teams have matchups against easier (non-playoff) teams. I know it's about winning..but fvck.

 

I'd let him know if he pulls that dbag move, I'd move to have his a$$ kicked out of the league next year. Then something about a fist, his face, his wife and kids.

 

No, I'm not talking about fisting his family either.

[Showboat 145]

Alls fair, but karma is a b1tch!

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

 

No, I'm not talking about fisting his family either.

Why not?

[Super Cubs 132]

We have a integrity clause in the rules to help prevent any form of sandbagging, collusion, ect.... Basically if you get caught doing something bad you may be asked to leave the league, lose your shot at the playoffs, lose 1st round pick and and pick at the end of every round after that. The hard part is trying to prove the other team is in the wrong.

[Drizzay 646]

How do you know he is tanking? It's only Tuesday.

[plasma george 52]

2 things we do.

1st, split the Pot and have a Total Points race, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Afterall, FF is about Total Points, not playing against another team.....uh, cause you don't actually play against another team on a field, like real football.

2nd, A Loss Fee. Will keep guys trying til the end.

[kilroy69 994]

Afterall, FF is about Total Points, not playing against another team.....uh, cause you don't actually play against another team on a field, like real football.

 

In the vast majority of leagues you do in fact play against another team. Most leagues are not points leagues.

[weepaws 2,460]

What can you really do about it ? I don't like it it's chicken sh move I think .

[tanatastic 2,061]

Commish should have priviledge to adjust any roster before the games if he feels its tanking. I mean like replacing injured/bye players or obvious backups like Tolzein over Rodgers etc.

[plasma george 52]

In the vast majority of leagues you do in fact play against another team. Most leagues are not points leagues.

Yes, my point is, you don't actually play against that team on a field, like the real game....You compare statistics.

Total Points is the true Champion....over the entire Season.

The week to seek head to head matchups are fun for kids.....to mimic the real thing, but it's BS.

[tanatastic 2,061]

Yes, my point is, you don't actually play against that team on a field, like the real game....You compare statistics.

Total Points is the true Champion....over the entire Season.

The week to seek head to head matchups are fun for kids.....to mimic the real thing, but it's BS.

I agree, head to head is fun for competition but its a joke if your trying to see who had the best team or season. Its completely luck of the draw wether you played a guy who blew up or didnt week to week. Total points standing actually have the accurate picture of wich teams are jockeying for position at the top. id be ok with total points regular season and a head to head playoffs for fun.

[plasma george 52]

I agree, head to head is fun for competition but its a joke if your trying to see who had the best team or season. Its completely luck of the draw wether you played a guy who blew up or didnt week to week. Total points standing actually have the accurate picture of wich teams are jockeying for position at the top. id be ok with total points regular season and a head to head playoffs for fun.

Nice to see someone agree, I'm usually on my own here with those views.

 

I heard of a League that takes your Week 14 and 15 TOTAL, ( 4 teams) ...and the 2 highest 2 goto the Superbowl.

I really like that., but can't change my league now.

[Herbivore 905]

Nice to see someone agree, I'm usually on my own here with those views.

 

I heard of a League that takes your Week 14 and 15 TOTAL, ( 4 teams) ...and the 2 highest 2 goto the Superbowl.

I really like that., but can't change my league now.

 

I'ld prefer total points in my leagues. People have been posting about playing 2 teams each week. I like that idea too.

 

Not sure about the op...Are you 4th, and therefore likely in the playoffs? or no? Tanking, that's lame, put a rule in next year.

[BattleshipLorenzen 3]

 

I'ld prefer total points in my leagues. People have been posting about playing 2 teams each week. I like that idea too.

 

Not sure about the op...Are you 4th, and therefore likely in the playoffs? or no? Tanking, that's lame, put a rule in next year.

I'd prefer the "all played"/ every team every week record, but it probably tracks very closely with total points scored.

 

Regarding OP, commish should be able to fiat this on the spot. Players should only be able to take actions that help their own lineup or hurt an opposing player's lineup (within reason on the latter). Obvious tanking (leaving Gronk in lineup when the team has another TE rostered and we already know Gronk's out this week, or just benching all players) should lead to a commish-set lineup based on the platform's projected points. The expectation that owners will field the best teams that their time/ability permits is so obvious that no justification is needed in order to respond to such an obvious violation of expectations. Note that the tanking does have to be obvious - starting Bridgewater against SEA instead of Big Ben against Indy is, IMO, not obvious enough. Starting McKinnon over Forte probably is, despite concerns about Forte's playing time and matchup.

 

Also, points scored on the season does not tell one how a team will do in any specific week. This may be worth pointing out to the owner. I was the dominant points leader last year, but had pretty poor playoff games (scored ~40 points below season average). Single games are too random to predict from season-long totals.

 

I would try to get the owner to play it off as a joke first, though. Weeks 13 and 14 can get pretty boring for teams with 1st-round BYEs, and it's tempting to try to do SOMETHING that feels useful.

[jgcrawfish 232]

6 teams go, I'm currently 7th at 6-6. I "should" win my matchup this week but need one (or more) of the 7-5 teams to lose. If that happens, I "should" go to the playoffs ahead of them because of my points total. Total points I have the 2nd highest. All-play I have the 3rd highest. It's a work league and at an earlier point in the season there was a happy hour I couldn't attend. At the time Roethlisberger had just gotten hurt and it was pointed out that I didn't have a backup. Conspicuously 3 extra QB's were picked up that week. There's one team who's 8-4 and currently the #3 seed who is RIPE for an upset in the 1st round and another guy who had a good record but has fallen due to injuries.

 

I really don't think guys are going to throw it, and with the luck I've been having the guy I'm facing this week will have his best week of the season. I'm the leader in pts against this season and have had at least 150 more points scored against me than top three seeds. Just bad luck.

[brotherbock 349]

 

I'd let him know if he pulls that dbag move, I'd move to have his a$$ kicked out of the league next year.

 

I agree with this much of what you said

 

It's poor sportsmanship, and I think that's important to the leagues I like to play in. I pretty much don't play in leagues that allow that sort of thing without punishment.

[DrG 94]

If I catch a guy tanking he gets merciless sdit and I ask the commish to bounce him out

[GobbleDog 816]

My league charges $5 per loss and an additional $5 for lowest weekly points, or bonus $30 for highest weekly points. Incentives to keep on fighting.

[Apollo Creed 9]

he can throw any game he wants but he has to start a full team. Perks of winning.

[kilroy69 994]

he can throw any game he wants but he has to start a full team. Perks of winning.

No. You are wrong. If that is how you do it in your league I would be out of there so quick your head would spin. If you do not field a competitive team for any reason I will take over your team and boot your asss to preserve the integrity of the league.

[OU1 7]

he can throw any game he wants but he has to start a full team. Perks of winning.

No. that's like a guy out of the playoffs throwing a game and saying it's the perks of losing. Both are idiotic. Quit playing season and just play daily if you can't handle setting a competitive lineup.

[Kelvarr 13]

My league charges $5 per loss and an additional $5 for lowest weekly points, or bonus $30 for highest weekly points. Incentives to keep on fighting.

 

So if you have shitty luck with injuries, you are out potentially $10/week plus the original buy-in fee to play? All for something completely out of your control? Dumb.

[Apollo Creed 9]

You roster a team. You can play anyone you want. Thats the point of drafting 16 players. You cant say he cant start a certain team if thats whats best for him. Wah... He started Bradford over Newton... Hes running his team, you run yours. Waaah

 

He can make any team he wants with the players he has.

[brotherbock 349]

You roster a team. You can play anyone you want. Thats the point of drafting 16 players. You cant say he cant start a certain team if thats whats best for him. Wah... He started Bradford over Newton... Hes running his team, you run yours. Waaah

 

He can make any team he wants with the players he has.

 

Actually, you *can* say that to him if that's what your league rules and expectations are.

 

This shouldn't be news to people, but different leagues play by different rules. I once ended up in a work league at a new place I started working at--turned out it was *very* recreational, to the point of two guys deciding for fun to merge their best players into one team and letting the other team suck. I was the only one who even reacted, because apparently that was the kind of league everyone else wanted. A total "it's just for fun, bro" league. I mean seriously, everyone else was okay with that but me. So I just left the league (after having serious words with one dude who got upset at me for getting upset about it...after being led to think it was a serious league and committing my time to it).

 

Anyway, if your league lets people tank games, and everyone's happy, then fine, whatever. But I think you'll find, and the responses here seem to indicate, that it's usually not acceptable.

[RepoPatrol 14]

If tanking your lineup affects other teams from gaining the playoffs than I would discourage such behavior. If the only affect was to change seedings i would be ok with it. That said he should still sport a lineup with playing that are active and getting touches.

 

As for the points vs head to head. My league does the same as George. we also pay the top 10 weekly high scores which split the transaction cost pot. I personally hate head to head..it screws at least one deserving team each year. I would like to go to a points system but can't get the league to agree. You would get 10 points for a H2H win and then 1 point for each other win vs. the every team breakdown. Every team gets 2 points for completing their lineup. in our 10 team league this will mean 20 points per week are available.

[The Muffin Man 6]

We've implemented a rule in our league that top seed (that doesn't receive bye) gets to pick their bottom seed opponent.

 

Ex. in 6 team playoff - the three seed can choose to play either the five or six seed in first round.

 

Calling out your opponent can mitigate some of this garbage and is actually pretty fun. Just a thought.

[brotherbock 349]

If tanking your lineup affects other teams from gaining the playoffs than I would discourage such behavior. If the only affect was to change seedings i would be ok with it. That said he should still sport a lineup with playing that are active and getting touches.

 

As for the points vs head to head. My league does the same as George. we also pay the top 10 weekly high scores which split the transaction cost pot. I personally hate head to head..it screws at least one deserving team each year. I would like to go to a points system but can't get the league to agree. You would get 10 points for a H2H win and then 1 point for each other win vs. the every team breakdown. Every team gets 2 points for completing their lineup. in our 10 team league this will mean 20 points per week are available.

 

I think it would be interesting to consider what the NFL might do if an NFL team tanked on purpose to get a good draft pick. Teams sit guys in late season games to save them from injury--that's always been completely acceptable, never heard anyone (except FF players ) complain about that. But what would we say--what would the NFL and Goodell say--if someone released owner/GM emails from the Titans last November wherein they explicitly stated that they were tanking the rest of their season to get Mariota? Purposefully fielding a team they thought would lose? Would there be fines from the league?

 

 

 

On the Total Points vs Head to Head debate, not bashing but I've never understood why people get so down on HTH, that 'deserving' teams won't make the playoffs. Same thing happens in the real NFL. Some teams, good teams, lose to 'bad teams' on certain weeks because of factors outside of their control--a key player is hurt for that week, or a bad call goes against them. Other good teams have bad seasons when their opponents just play well against them week after week, same as fantasy.

 

And yet no one wants the NFL to base playoffs, either inclusion or seeding, on Total Points.

 

In fact, this may be a year when we have a division winner in the playoffs with a losing record (I'm looking at you, NFC East) while maybe multiple winning record teams may not even make wildcard. And that's a system we've accepted for decades with only rare talk of changing it.

[smash-a-mus 6]

We have a point penalty system in our league where you are penalized $1 per point that your team is off of the mean. If you tank one week and you score 50 and the league average was 90 for that week, then you owe $40. Deters a lot of those a-hole moves and keeps things competitive to the end.

[the_future420 3]

We have a point penalty system in our league where you are penalized $1 per point that your team is off of the mean. If you tank one week and you score 50 and the league average was 90 for that week, then you owe $40. Deters a lot of those a-hole moves and keeps things competitive to the end.

 

Man that seems harsh to the bad teams in the league.

[the_future420 3]

 

I think it would be interesting to consider what the NFL might do if an NFL team tanked on purpose to get a good draft pick. Teams sit guys in late season games to save them from injury--that's always been completely acceptable, never heard anyone (except FF players ) complain about that. But what would we say--what would the NFL and Goodell say--if someone released owner/GM emails from the Titans last November wherein they explicitly stated that they were tanking the rest of their season to get Mariota? Purposefully fielding a team they thought would lose? Would there be fines from the league?

 

 

 

On the Total Points vs Head to Head debate, not bashing but I've never understood why people get so down on HTH, that 'deserving' teams won't make the playoffs. Same thing happens in the real NFL. Some teams, good teams, lose to 'bad teams' on certain weeks because of factors outside of their control--a key player is hurt for that week, or a bad call goes against them. Other good teams have bad seasons when their opponents just play well against them week after week, same as fantasy.

 

And yet no one wants the NFL to base playoffs, either inclusion or seeding, on Total Points.

 

In fact, this may be a year when we have a division winner in the playoffs with a losing record (I'm looking at you, NFC East) while maybe multiple winning record teams may not even make wildcard. And that's a system we've accepted for decades with only rare talk of changing it.

 

I think the main reason people have some issues with H2H leagues is because it is possible for the best team to not even make the playoffs. Not going to happen in real life football, but certainly possible in fantasy. You cant always use real life football comparisons to FF because real-life football has WAY less luck involved than fantasy. You can have the best team in FF by a good deal and still be screwed by luck. I dont like completely removing the H2H aspect of fantasy because that drives alot of the fun in the game, but trying to mitigate some of the luck involved with H2H makes sense most times.

 

I'm a big fan of the 2 wins scoring method where the top scoring half of the league gets a W and the bottom scoring half gets a L every week and then getting a second W or L every week depending on the outcome of your matchup. Wish this was an option on more of the mainstream FF sites

[smash-a-mus 6]

 

Man that seems harsh to the bad teams in the league.

 

Keeps everyone ultra competitive all season long. It is probably the best rule we've implemented. Even if you have a terrible draft or suffer injuries, you can still make up for the difference by actively working the wire. You'll see the 2-10 team making bids for players still. Everyone plays to win. That's the way it should be.

 

The way it works is the point penalties get applied towards your buy-in next year. So some might pay more and some might pay less but the total prize pool still says the same. We haven't seen anyone suck so bad that it doubles their buy-in but I guess it could happen.

[giraldi02 470]

 

I'm a big fan of the 2 wins scoring method where the top scoring half of the league gets a W and the bottom scoring half gets a L every week and then getting a second W or L every week depending on the outcome of your matchup. Wish this was an option on more of the mainstream FF sites

 

Agree that this format needs more exposure across all host sites.

 

As to intentionally losing games this is a surefire way of causing dissension amongst the league members IF the losing causes a lesser team to make the playoffs over someone trying.

 

While it's difficult to 100% pinpoint and call out tanking for seeding, often you can tell by previous lineup decisions throughout the year. If that was the case, a lot of leagues allow the commish to edit lineups after lock. If this person does it, action must be taken or else the legitimacy of a league can falter.

 

 

 

IF the commish allows it in the event it happens:

 

house. punch. wife. kids.