Archive
New Fantasy Judgment Decision – Family Ties
Jetnuts v. George and Joker’s Wild
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI FROM
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Decided September 21, 2010
Cite as 2 F.J. 15 (September 2010)
Factual Background
A fantasy football league called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (hereinafter referred to as “LOEG”) is comprised of ten (10) teams who compete against each other on a weekly basis during the National Football League (“NFL”) season using the statistics of professional players as a basis for accumulating points in head-to-head competition with opponents to determine which fantasy team won or lost. The LOEG is hosted on the CBSSports fantasy football platform. In using the CBSSports Commissioner services, the earliest a trade between LOEG teams can be accepted and finalized to become effective for the upcoming week is on Tuesday (after the previous week’s games have been officially completed).
On Sunday, September 19, 2010, fellow LOEG teams George (father) and Joker’s Wild (son) were watching NFL games together when they engaged in discussions about a trade involving Michael Vick and Percy Harvin. At some point on this date, George and Joker’s Wild agreed in principle on the trade where George would trade Michael Vick to Joker’s Wild in exchange for Percy Harvin. Both parties understood that the trade could not be formally made official until Tuesday, September 21, 2010.
On Monday, September 20, 2010, LOEG team Jetnuts reached out to George and offered Pierre Garcon for Michael Vick. George responded that he already had committed to trading Vick to another team.
On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, George and Joker’s Wild finalized their trade of Michael Vick for Percy Harvin. After the trade was finalized, George made a trade offer to Jetnuts of Percy Harvin for Pierre Garcon. Concurrently, Jetnuts also made a trade offer of Pierre Garcon for Michael Vick.
Procedural History
As per the rules of the LOEG, trades and trade offers must be made through the league’s website on CBSSports.com or when both teams involved in the trade independently inform the LOEG Commissioner. Under CBSSports’ settings, trades entered on Tuesday will go into effect for the upcoming week’s games. Trades are permitted between any team so long as that team is still mathematically eligible to reach the LOEG playoffs. Additionally, trades must not be made under the auspices of collusion or “under the table” agreements between teams.
The Jetnuts are not challenging the fairness of the trade between George and Joker’s Wild. Rather, the Jetnuts are challenging the validity and process of the trade claiming that it is inherently unfair to compete for trade possibilities with team owners that are related to each other. Given the nature of the complaint and the language used by the plaintiff in its pleading, the Court will not consider collusion in its analysis as there is no evidence of any such activity.
Issue Presented
(1) Should the trade between George and Joker’s Wild be revoked due to the process in which the trade was agreed to and finalized?
Decision
The Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment is a strong advocate for having written Constitutions that govern fantasy sports leagues. There are a myriad of reasons why the Court believes having a Constitution in place is the best way to run and maintain a fantasy league. One of the primary reasons behind this rationale is that all league members are aware of the rules and guidelines in place that govern the administration and function of the fantasy league. When a league Commissioner writes out the rules and distributes them to the league, it shifts the burden onto the league members to read, understand, and adhere to the rules that are delineated. If a league member has an issue, question or challenge to one of the rules in the Constitution, they are welcome to raise this with the Commissioner before signing it or agreeing to its codification.
In this case, the LOEG’s Constitution clearly delineates the rules and guidelines for making trades between teams. While CBSSports.com dictates when trades can be input in order to become effective for the upcoming week’s teams, there are no known restrictions on when teams can begin negotiating trades. The fact that George rejected the Jetnuts trade offer because he had previously committed to making a trade with his son is perfectly within the rules of the league. Going one step further, it also demonstrates integrity by the fact George kept his verbal agreement to trade with his son and provide an immediate response to the Jetnuts in order to allow the Jetnuts to pursue an alternative deal.
The fact that two team owners who are related made a trade is perfectly within the rules as well. There is no reason to hold family members under any additional scrutiny when making trades outside of evidence supporting a collusive effort. Here, no evidence of collusion has been presented to warrant such an investigation or analysis. While family members may have more direct contact and communication than other members of the league, that does not inhibit or prevent teams from making deals with those family members. Here, George and Joker’s Wild agreed in principle to make the trade of Michael Vick for Percy Harvin. They are allowed to make this trade as it does not violate any rules in place that govern the league.
The plaintiff also argues that subsequent trade offers indicate or infer certain desires of George and/or Joker’s Wild regarding their intent. These arguments are speculative in nature and irrelevant to the analysis of whether this trade was fair and compliant with the requisite process.
The Court hereby decides that the trade between George and Joker’s Wild should be upheld as it is both fair in value and was made in compliance with the LOEG’s rules.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
New Fantasy Judgment decision – Fair and Balanced Schedule
SUPREME COURT OF FANTASY JUDGMENT
Machine v. LOEG Commissioner
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI FROM
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Decided September 9, 2010
Cite as 2 F.J. 8 (September 2010)
Factual Background
A fantasy football league called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (hereinafter referred to as “LOEG”) is comprised of ten (10) teams who compete against each other on a weekly basis during the National Football League (“NFL”) season using the statistics of professional players as a basis for accumulating points in head-to-head competition with opponents to determine which fantasy team won or lost. The LOEG is hosted on the CBSSports fantasy football platform. In using the CBSSports Commissioner services, the LOEG’s season schedule of games is randomly selected and generated by CBSSports without any input or influence from the LOEG, its Commissioner, or any of its league members.
The LOEG has a Constitution which delineates and outlines all of the rules and guidelines that govern the league, including the league’s weekly schedule. The following is an excerpt from the Constitution regarding the number of games each team shall play in a given week:
3. REGULAR SEASON:
3.1 The league will consist of one division of ten teams.
3.2 There will be a thirteen week regular season.
3.3 Each Team will play two games per week.
3.4 If an owner fails to set up a legal starting lineup, the CBS recommendations will be used to set it.
3.5 All players are eligible at whatever position CBS Sports deems they are.
3.6 If a regular season game ends in a tie it will remain a tie.
3.7 Any scoring challenges may be made only until noon on the Wednesday following the game in question.
After the 2010 schedule was generated by the CBSSports software, Alex (hereinafter referred to as “Machine” or “Plaintiff”) voiced a concern regarding a discrepancy in the number of times he was scheduled to play Landry’s. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, he is only scheduled to face Landry’s twice whereas other teams in the league are scheduled to face Landry’s three times. Plaintiff argues that Landry’s is a considerably weaker team in the league and he is faced with an inherent disadvantage of only playing Landry’s twice while other opponents get to face Landry’s three times.
Procedural History
Besides arguing the miscarriage of justice in the number of times he plays against Landry’s, the plaintiff also makes some bold accusations towards the LOEG’s Commissioner. Plaintiff contends that the Commissioner autonomously creates the league schedule to his own benefit by scheduling more matchups against Landry’s. The net result of this alleged indiscretion is that the Commissioner successfully earns a playoff berth before he is ousted in the postseason when he can no longer control who his adversary is. Plaintiff has filed this complaint and pleads with the Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment to remedy the situation by instituting a triple-header week during the last week of the LOEG’s regular season.
Issue Presented
(1) Should a triple-header week be scheduled during the last week of the LOEG’s season to allow the plaintiff to face Landry’s for a third time?
Decision
The Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment is a strong advocate for having written Constitutions that govern fantasy sports leagues. There are a myriad of reasons why the Court believes having a Constitution in place is the best way to run and maintain a fantasy league. One of the primary reasons behind this rationale is that all league members are aware of the rules and guidelines in place that govern the administration and function of the fantasy league. When a league Commissioner writes out the rules and distributes them to the league, it shifts the burden onto the league members to read, understand, and adhere to the rules that are delineated. If a league member has an issue, question or challenge to one of the rules in the Constitution, they are welcome to raise this with the Commissioner before signing it or agreeing to its codification.
In this case, there clearly was a Constitution (or at the very least, a written set of rules and guidelines) that governs the LOEG. Included in this Constitution was a provision for the league’s schedule and number of games played. Section 3 of the Constitution clearly lays out the rules and guidelines for the number of weeks in the regular season and the number of games each team will play. Rule 3.2 explicitly states that the regular season of the LOEG will consist of thirteen weeks. Rule 3.3 explicitly states that each team will play two games every week. Based on these two rules, each team is scheduled to play 26 games during the regular season. In a ten-team league, this means that each team will play each other three times except for one team. Here, it just so happens that the one team that plaintiff will only play twice is Landry’s.
According to witness testimony, the Commissioner elects to allow CBSSports to generate a league schedule. Given the Court’s extensive knowledge and experience utilizing CBSSports software and commissioner services, the generation of a schedule done automatically by CBSSports is completely random within the boundaries and rules set forth by the Commissioner. Therefore, the Court dismisses all allegations against the Commissioner for fixing or tampering with the weekly matchups.
With regard to the plaintiff’s prayer for relief in the form of a triple-header week during Week 13, the Court hereby denies such a request. Granting plaintiff’s request is a direct contradiction to the rules delineated in the league Constitution. The rules explicitly state that every team will play two games every week during the regular season. Clearly, a triple-header does not comport with such rules. Plaintiff should make the proposal, in writing, to the league and the Commissioner for consideration to amend the Constitution for next season.
Finally, this dispute represents the second formal complaint raised by the plaintiff against the Commissioner calling into question the Commissioner’s ethics and integrity. While there does not appear to be any tangible evidence of malfeasance on behalf of the Commissioner, the Court is concerned about the ongoing relationship and co-existence of the plaintiff and Commissioner. The Court recommends that the LOEG members keep a close eye on these two parties going forward to ensure there is no retaliation by the Commissioner against the plaintiff, as well as to ensure there are no frivolous allegations made by the plaintiff against the Commissioner.
The Court hereby decides that the league schedule shall remain as is. The plaintiff’s request for a triple-header during Week 13 is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
New Fantasy Judgment Decision – Draft Day Drama
Machine v. LOEG Commissioner
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI FROM
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Decided September 4, 2010
Cite as 2 F.J. 1 (September 2010)
Factual Background
A fantasy football league called the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (hereinafter referred to as “LOEG”) is comprised of ten (10) teams who compete against each other on a weekly basis during the National Football League (“NFL”) season using the statistics of professional players as a basis for accumulating points in head-to-head competition with opponents to determine which fantasy team won or lost. The LOEG scheduled its fantasy football draft on August 30, 2010. The draft was comprised of 16 rounds in a serpentine style (meaning that in Round 1, Team 1 drafted first and Team 10 drafted last; in Round 2, Team 10 drafted first and Team 1 drafted last).
The LOEG has a Constitution which delineates and outlines all of the rules and guidelines that govern the league. The following is an excerpt from the Constitution regarding time allotment for draft picks during the LOEG’s draft:
Teams will have a maximum of five minutes to make a pick in the first 8 rounds and three minutes in the last 8. If time expires the pick will be exchanged with the team holding the next selection. The team that acquired the surrendered pick will be allowed the full time to make their selection and the team that moved down a spot will be allowed one minute for that pick. Each team will be permitted one 3 minute extension during the draft.
In the 10th round of the LOEG draft, Alex (hereinafter referred to as “Machine” or “Plaintiff”) did not make his draft selection before the three minute clock expired. As per the league rules cited above, Ralph (hereinafter referred to as the “Commissioner”) reset the clock for an additional three minute extension. Upon the expiration of the second three minute timeclock, the Commissioner warned the plaintiff that his pick would be lost and told the next person on the clock (Bunny) to make his selection. Bunny immediately selected Cadillac Williams (RB-TB). At that time, the plaintiff also exclaimed that he decided who he wanted to pick…Cadillac Williams. The Commissioner told the plaintiff he was too late with his draft selection and awarded Cadillac Williams to Bunny.
Procedural History
The final ruling from the LOEG Commissioner was to award Cadillac Williams to Bunny, who was awarded the draft selection after the plaintiff’s time to select a player expired. The plaintiff has appealed this decision and claims that the Commissioner did not set a time clock on all previous draft picks, that he allowed certain teams in excess of 20 minutes to make a selection, and that he assured the plaintiff he had plenty of time to make his selection. Plaintiff seeks one of three remedies: 1) continue the draft from the plaintiff’s 8th round selection; 2) award the plaintiff Cadillac Williams and then award Bunny any player that was drafted by the plaintiff after the 8th round or any available free agent; or 3) redo the entire draft.
Issue Presented
(1) Should there be any recourse taken to remedy plaintiff’s grievance with the LOEG Commissioner regarding this draft day issue?
Decision
The Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment is a strong advocate for having written Constitutions that govern fantasy sports leagues. There are a myriad of reasons why the Court believes having a Constitution in place is the best way to run and maintain a fantasy league. One of the primary reasons behind this rationale is that all league members are aware of the rules and guidelines in place that govern the administration and function of the fantasy league. When a league Commissioner writes out the rules and distributes them to the league, it shifts the burden onto the league members to read, understand, and adhere to the rules that are delineated. If a league member has an issue, question or challenge to one of the rules in the Constitution, they are welcome to raise this with the Commissioner before signing it or agreeing to its codification.
In this case, there clearly was a Constitution (or at the very least, a written set of rules and guidelines) that governs the LOEG. Included in this Constitution was a provision for the rules of the draft. These rules clearly laid out the time restrictions on which each league member must abide by when selecting players. The Commissioner even went so far as to allow an additional three minutes to be used once at a league member’s discretion as a way of showing leniency. The rules also explicitly stated that upon the expiration of the second three minute clock, that team would forfeit its pick and the next team on the board would get priority to makes its selection. That is clearly what happened here.
While there is testimony of some discretionary tactics used by the Commissioner during the draft, such as not starting the clock for other teams or even allowing extra time to go by, there was no indication in the record of this case that these decisions were arbitrary and capricious. There is also no indication that the Commissioner didn’t also strictly enforce the rules on other teams as well. Additionally, not the plaintiff nor anyone else in the league immediately raised the issue with the Commissioner when he allegedly allowed 20 minutes to go by before a team made its selection. No issue was raised that the Commissioner or timekeeper did not start the clock for another team’s draft selection.
It appears that the only reason this issue was raised after the fact is because the plaintiff lost out on Cadillac Williams to the team who was awarded his pick. The plaintiff has testified that he intended to draft Cadillac Williams at that time. However, over six minutes had expired and only when Bunny announced his selection of Cadillac Williams did the plaintiff make his announcement as well.
Given the evidence presented to the Court, it appears that the Commissioner properly enforced the rules as written in the LOEG’s Constitution. The Commissioner appropriately awarded the plaintiff with his additional three minutes, upon request, and when those three minutes expired the Commissioner appropriately announced that the plaintiff forfeited his pick. This is exactly what is stated in the Constitution. The Court, however, would recommend to the Commissioner to make sure he enforces all rules and guidelines consistently regardless of the circumstances. If the Commissioner makes an exception for someone, it should be explained thoroughly why such an exception to the rules exist. In this case, there is not sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the rules were not applied to everyone equally in accordance with the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The Court hereby decides that the Commissioner’s decision to skip the plaintiff’s forfeited draft selection and allow Bunny to select Cadillac Williams was appropriate. It is also decided that none of the plaintiff’s proposed remedies should be enforced as they do not comport with the best interests of the league. The results of the draft shall remain as they are.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
September 11 and Sports
With the calendar set to turn to September tomorrow, I thought I would write about a subject that is near and dear to me and millions of other people – September 11. For those of you that didn’t know, I was actually in the World Trade Center that fateful morning. I had just started law school two weeks before, and my commute into NYC took me on the PATH train and into the Trade Center. That morning, I had my first exam so I went into school extra early. Just after 9:00 AM, my train pulled into the Trade Center where we were greeted by dozens of police officers and firefighters directing everyone to exit. I was focused on my exam, so I calmly walked to the giant escalators thinking that the cops and firefighters had the fire under control. As I reached the main concourse at street level, I saw thousands of people across the street just staring with their heads facing up. I exited the Trade Center near the concourse where there was a Borders bookstore. Not 10 seconds after I got outside onto Church Street, the concourse behind me bursted out in flames. I ran across the street and saw what everyone was looking at. I thought to myself “What are the chances that both towers could catch on fire at the same time?”. At that point, pieces of metal and debris were flying all over the place, so I proceeded to head to school, which was six blocks north of the WTC. Then the most horrifying thing from that day started happening when people began jumping from the burning floors. I literally dodged falling bodies and debris by hiding underneath a scaffold a block from the towers. A huge piece of metallic debris flew down and crashed into the scaffold, causing it to partially collapse above me. Two people under the scaffold ran out and another man was crushed to death just two feet away from me. Eventually I made it to my school, which is where I was when the towers collapsed. I ran away from the huge plume of smoke with my bookbag on my back containing a laptop computer and several law school textbooks. Hours later, I walked 70-somethings blocks to get over to the Chelsea Piers where I waited for a ferry to take me back to New Jersey. After being decontaminated, I was finally back in my home state and got home around 11:00 PM. I was not the same person as I was when I left for school that morning.
I was mentally in shock and fear. I went to therapy for quite awhile, and even to this day I am still extremely affected by that event. I get anxiety every year when the calendary turns to September, which is partially what is motivating me to write this. My school, which was only six blocks from Ground Zero, was closed for several weeks. During that time off, I had to decide whether I even wanted to go back to school, let alone go back into New York. I was a complete wreck, which I suppose was an understandable response. It didn’t help that the entire country was so shellshocked and in mourning. They cancelled all sporting events for the forseeable future, so I couldn’t even have that to fall back on.
Of all things, the first sporting event that took place after 9/11/01 was wrestling. Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) decided to do a live Smackdown on Thursday, September 13, 2001. I remember watching (yes, I am a huge wrestling fan) that show and feeling a little better that at least something came back. The show was a dedication to the events of two days earlier as all storylines were abandoned for the night. There was no good guy/bad guy dynamic. The show was put on to entertain people and help the country start to heal by going back to normal (or whatever normal now was).
Vince McMahon, The Rock and the rest of the WWE roster salute the USA at the first live sporting event after 9/11.
The NFL cancelled its Week 2 games for that upcoming Sunday. I had mixed emotions about this. I understood that it was done out of respect for the victims and the American public as a whole. But this would have really helped me and millions of people try and get back to normal a little quicker with a day filled with great football action. Plus, one of my last memories of my pre-9/11 life was the Monday Night Football game the night before between my New York Giants and Denver Broncos. The Giants lost that game, so I was looking forward to seeing them come back with a vengeance to get that bitter taste out of my mouth. But alas, there was no NFL that week.
Baseball came back much quicker. I remember the Mets playing a game in Pittsburgh where they received a hell of an ovation. It was quite emotional to see these guys, who were down at Ground Zero trying to help, and now going out to play baseball. You could tell by watching guys like Mike Piazza, John Franco, Todd Zeile, and Robin Ventura that they realized what they do for a living is just play a game. They were quite emotional and realized how important they were to the healing process. But the single most amazing event that happened for me during this initial post-9/11 timeframe happened on September 21, 2001 when the Mets played their first game back in New York after 9/11. Of all teams, they played their bitter rivals – the Atlanta Braves. Before the game, the Mets and Braves players exchanged hugs and pleasantries. The normally hostile Mets crowd cheered for their nemesis Chipper Jones. It was a completely different dynamic and environment. In typical 2001 Mets fashion, they were unable to mount much offense all day despite a brilliant pitching effort by the well-traveled Bruce Chen. But in the bottom of the 8th inning with the Mets trailing 2-1, Braves’ pitcher Steve Karsay threw an outside fastball that Mike Piazza majestically sent into the New York night as the ball hit off the camera facade way out in centerfield. I went to my parents’ house to watch the game by myself because that was what I wanted to do. When Piazza rounded the bases and Shea Stadium erupted into a frenzy, I completely broke down into tears. Emotions just completely overtook me and I cried for several minutes both enjoying the Mets’ comeback and also coming to terms with what I had been through. The Mets’ comeback down the stretch of 2001 faded into obscurity thanks to the failures of John Franco and Armandi Benitez. But Mike Piazza, my favorite player, gave me something to truly believe in and feel good about. That moment right there helped begin my healing process because I started to care about baseball again.
Mike Piazza hits a go-ahead 2-run HR in the bottom of the 8th inning in the first game played in New York after 9/11.
With the 9-year anniversary of the worst tragedy on American soil in history coming up, I wanted to reflect on how sports helped get me through that traumatic experience. As passionate as we get about the games, our home teams, and our fantasy leagues, we must remember that it is only a game. But while it is only a game, its important and significance to us as people is invaluable.
