Would this be wrong? Or good strategy?

[Phinphan]

I think you have some solid matchups either way but I am not sure I would want to play him either..again if it's a money league. Play to win.

[The Super Freak]

MONEY TALKS !!! go for it all

[j2the3rd]

the matchups look pretty square in my opinion...

it's really just a question about how you feel about throwing the game... id prefer everyone in my league to play to win... in my league it's more fun to knock people out of the playoffs by beating them...

[BradtheImpaler]

well since mr scary team isnt exactly in just yet, then he isnt exactly guaranteed a victory and a spot, reguardless of how you handle your game. so its concieveable for you to win and have him still be left out in the cold, if i understand things correctly.

i understand the dilema, but i think you could get black balled if others figure out what you did. i think you'd be best off to just play as you normally do...besides, say you throw the game,and he gets into the playoffs and scores 80/90 in round 1....whos to say that the other team that you would draw as a first round opponent doesnt go off and score 110.....

i do disagree with the comment made about a basketball player missing a free to win agame cause that deals with time, and actually being able to stop the other team, but in fantasy you have no control over your opponents score, unless you share a whole load of teammates from the other team.....like for example.....horn vs mcallister, d jackson vs s alexander, holt vs faulk and things of that nature.

so play as you normally would, is what i think.

[The Gatekeeper]

In my money league we award certain prizes to avoid this sort of thing...each division winner wins $100. Best record in the league wins another $100. Most total points is $100. This keeps owners striving to do their best week in and week out.

[dgroundhog_ffc]

I'm not a fan of that strategy, although I had a meaningless game last week where I put all my reserves in my starting line-up, then switched to my normal starters before kickoff.

I was just messing with my friends who are battling for wildcard spots. What's the fun of winning the division if you can't talk smack about 'benching' your starters to keep them fresh for the playoffs?

[Azrael]

Every player on his team has such an easy matchup our first playoff week. Thats when i would be playin him. I will list his team and my team and thier matchups.

Mine- His-
Qb- Bulger vs SEA B.Johnson vs HOU

Rb- A.Green vs SD Tomlinson vs GB

Rb- Portis vs CLE S. Davis vs ARI

Wr-R. Moss vs CHI Harrison vs ATL

Wr-S. Moss vs PIT Owens vs CIN

TE-Shockey vs NO Gonzalez vs DET

K- Wilkins vs SEA Stover vs OAK

D-Miami vs PHI Rams vs SEA


Also i have reggie wayne who plays ATL so i might play him for S. Moss. You can see my dilemma, both the most solid teams in the league, i think he has favorable matchups.

What do i do?

Looks to me like your matchups are very easy as well. However, it isn't wrong to give yourself the best opportunity possible to win as long as it falls within the rules. "Be the best by beating the best"? You could say he should have won more games earlier, rather than needing certain people to win or lose whether naturally or on purpose. It probably isn't unethical but it could be described as cowardly. Remember what Herm said "you play to win the game." Bottomline: It isn't technically "wrong" to lose on purpose in this case but the choice is yours.

[moochman]

A good rule of thumb is; if you have to ask if it is right, it is wrong!
As far as no one noticing that someone has thrown a game-it's not like real life, hence the name fantasy, you can't tell your stud to go easy, you have to sit him and/or start evenly talented players with the worst match-ups. It's pretty transparent if someone looks at your game history.

And emaja, stop mentioning culboarder or I'll have to buy some depends!

[greatgretzky]

by not taking the best chance you have to win the WHOLE league, you are doing yourself a grave disservice. period. YUou play to win altogether. I mean you should read the article on espn talking about this. The packers in the SUPER BOWL purposely allowed the Broncos to scorea td, rather than wasting precious time. It didn't end up working, but that type of thing does happen all over the sporting world. there is nothing unethical about it, as long as it in the best overall interest of your team, in this case it is. Week to week yea play to win, but sometimes a win can hinder your cause. In real life should you play an ailing star to get a win that week, or think forward to needing said star helathy for a later game? sometimes a minor "setback" helps mor ein the long run -- the other guy shouldn't have put himself in a position to need help. It is not your job to make sure that he gets in ...

[MickDaddy]

I'm in a similar situation. Ours is a keeper/auction league. We can keep 2 players but their "salary" ie. how many points they scored this year is taken off our 1000$ payroll we start with next year. For example, I usually (always!) keep Culpepper and Moss. This year, Pep has scorerd 185 pts. for me. I've already secured a first round playoff bye and am considering benching him and Moss to save $ for next year, but I risk losing this last (meaningless) game and changing the seeding for the rest of the league (founded in 1986 and all old friends).
Pragmatism or....