Apparent rollover lineup?

[tigercat]

In one of my leagues this past weekend, it sure looked like one team put their worst players available in and left the likes of Eli, TO and TJ sitting on their bench to assure their opponent a win. Caught our Commish's eye, and he posted something about it on the League Bulletin Board. As it turned out, J. Russell didn't outscore Manning but it was close. The two wideouts he had in, Reggie Williams(I think) and Baskett did outscore TO and TJ however. Didn't make any difference as his opponent would have won either way. It's the rollover's first season with us and he and his opponent came to the draft together. The commish checked back to the 3rd week when they first played each other,and that week looked as if the veteran player tanked his lineup for the newbie to win. How do most leagues handle this situation? This is our third year and the commish has little experience handling a fantasy football league. Your input would be helpful. Thanks.

[WaCougMBS]

There are a few problems with this scenario - first of all, it is nearly impossible to prove. Owners laying down for each other in playoff situations are a LITTLE BIT easier to spot, but it's a very tough call in this type of instance. Second of all, if they are starting legitimate, ownable fantasy players, there is nothing you can really say. People make questionable lineup decisions for a number of reasons every week, and sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. A lot of these issues are tied to name recognition and have a skewed view of matchups/strength of schedule anyway, so like I said, I personally think it's just too hard to prove one way or the other to do anything.

I would keep an eye on them in the future, and maybe if it is clearly happening in obvious situations where a win might benefit one person way more, or people are starting the likes of bench warming RBs and WRs then something can be done. Otherwise, I think you just have to stand pat. Hope this helps

[tigercat]

Thanks ...Commish brought up 3rd week situation a couple days ago and said he had a punishment in mind but wanted some feedback from the rest of the league...Just two of us in the 10-team league replied...I told him about the same thing you said and the other owner thought they should both get a loss in week 6...Commish never posted what punishment he chose, but both guys have a different lineup posted so far this week and standings haven't changed...He originally wanted to give them zero points last week and this week and in a poll he posted, 4 of 6 owners voting agreed with commish...I didn't vote...Perhaps it will blow over, and we get back to chasing the Fantasy Bowl Championship...Thanks again.

[rodney57104]

Your league is handling it correctly....Taking a poll and letting the league democracy decide. My personal opinion is, a player can "miss pick" occasionally but to have multiple suspicious picks in the same week especially after the week 3 incident smells really bad. Let the guys who have to play against these two guys decide there fate. good luck

[bungle613]

Thanks ...Commish brought up 3rd week situation a couple days ago and said he had a punishment in mind but wanted some feedback from the rest of the league...Just two of us in the 10-team league replied...I told him about the same thing you said and the other owner thought they should both get a loss in week 6...Commish never posted what punishment he chose, but both guys have a different lineup posted so far this week and standings haven't changed...He originally wanted to give them zero points last week and this week and in a poll he posted, 4 of 6 owners voting agreed with commish...I didn't vote...Perhaps it will blow over, and we get back to chasing the Fantasy Bowl Championship...Thanks again.

I think your commish ios overstepping his authority. As WaCoug pointed out it is almost impossible to prove tanking a game and you can not assume they are doing this. Let it go, and have the commish handle it privately. He should speak to both owners and suggest strongly that he has suspicions that tanking games is going on and for the league's health it needs to stop. If they vehemently deny it, you have to let it go.

[Bobbleheadrusty]

Considering his replacements outscored his starters maybe he is just smarter then you? I started LenDale over Gore and Olsen over H. Miller this week on a hunch , and both paid off quite well. From the outside it sure looked like I was "rolling over" .

[iwonmyleague.com]

kind of early for an owner to be throwing games....maybe he just went with a gut feeling...it happens.