MBBRL Constitution (Message Board Bragging Rights League - Rules)

[averagejoe]

PLEASE NOTE: This thread is for established rules only.

Please DO NOT use this thread as a forum to suggest changes or additions.​

Established in 2011. Transferred to SportsHoopla 2013.​

MBBRL Rules

• First, don't abandon your team
• Second, keep posting
• Third, no douchey plays (for example, if you're about to face Lacy who went down, picking up Starks as a block is legit - but if the team you're facing next week has Aaron Rodgers on a bye and the back-up Eli Manning just got hurt in a Thursday game, don't run to your computer first and do five add/drops to pick up all the QBs). We're all supposed to be good players beating each other straight-up. If you wonder about a move, ask.

Trades are always allowed (well, except draft pick trades).


Relegation

In normal circumstances, two teams will move up from the B league to the A league and two teams will move down from the A league to the B league. Teams moving down will be determined by power rankings. In the event of a tie, H2H will be the first tiebreaker, breakdown record will be the second tiebreaker, total points the third tiebreaker -- and if we still have a tie, whoever does better in a Fantasy Playoff Challenge to be determined.

The two teams moving up from the B League will go according to these criteria:
1. Champion
2. Regular season breakdown leader
3. Top seed
4. Regular season power rankings leader
5. Regular season points leader
If the B League champion meets all the other criteria, only a single team moves up (and only a single team moves down). Otherwise, the other B League team with the top-most criterion also moves up. (In the unlikely event of a tie, we'll again go to a Fantasy Playoff Challenge as the tiebreaker.)

To Spice Things Up
If in the regular season the B league outscores the A league, FOUR teams move instead of two. If that happens and the B League criteria above doesn't provide four teams, we'll use playoff seeding for the rest.


Oblivion

Also, the bottom two B League Teams are relegated out into Oblivion to make room for new blood - although at the beginning of the next season they can try to get nomination and support to get back in, on an even footing with everyone else who wants in.

Sources: The original rules appeared on the thread Message Board Braggin Rights League post #855. Our founder Wil White slightly revised the rules which appeared on the thread MBBRL B-League (Barbarians at the Gate) post #5052


Oblivion Example

A good oblivion example is Year 2 (first B-League year). The bottom two B-league teams were Hawk and JTT. Hawk's posts were great and he was in there fighting after an atrocious start, so I have no doubt he would have had priority; JTT didn't post much and wasn't very engaged, so he would have faced competition to regain his spot. (They were both lost in the flood that consumed the CBS message boards, alas, so it became a moot point.)

Source: This example from Wil appeared in thread MBBRL Oblivion Discussion post #35.


Oblivion Clarifications

The reason for oblivion: sometimes people seem like pretty good owners in pre-season, but end up not taking care of their teams, and - just as bad - not posting. Usually the two go hand in hand. But even if their team was awful they could still say "sure" in the exciting days of next August and re-up, and run their team the same way again, while guys like Shady or Nos would be left out. The "oblivion" rule is a chance for not-really-interested owners to drop out naturally rather than having to be voted out. And if for some reason everybody wanted them back instead, they could come back.
Not being active on the boards doesn't feel like a good reason to kick someone out, but if they're out because that's how the rules went, it's a legit consideration for whether they make it back in.

Now, if at the end of the year the A leaguers really hate to see the bottom two guys go of course they could be voted back in, and it probably also means the B league is in good shape. And if there are a few more guys we'd really like to bring in, a C league would make sense. But it should be set up identical to the A and B leagues, even if there end up being a few drones. Drones are better than bad owners. (The problem is that it won't be much fun to run.)

It's not really about expansion, or about punishment, or about a path back in, but about maintaining a critical mass of quality players/posters in the MBBRL, whatever size it is.


Nominations & Voting

As to who votes on who gets in, regardless of the situation... I think everybody in the A and B leagues should vote, but votes should get multiplied by the number of years in the league. (Those here the longest have the most at stake.)

Source: The clarification on oblivion and the voting all appeared in the thread MBBRL Oblivion Discussion post #30


Drone Team Rules

Draft

The Drone Team will be autopicked with no interference.

After the draft is complete, the Drone Team will adjust its roster to: 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 4 WRs, 1 RB/WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DST, by dropping extra players at any position and adding the next-highest player from the autodraft list at the needed positions.

Sit/Start

Will be determined by ESPN projections. In the case of a tie, alphabetical order. Game-day inactives will sit in favor of next-highest projected player.

Waivers/Add/Drops

Except when needed to field a full active roster, the Drone will only make one waiver request per week, and only if a player on waivers is projected at 200% or more FF points of the Drone’s player with the lowest “Expected Points” at that position.

Expected Points are:

• Prior to Week 1: Week 1 ESPN projection
• Prior to Weeks 2-4: Average of previous week(s) and ESPN projection (injured players not on IR won’t be dropped until they have played a game)
• After Week 4: Average of previous four weeks (excluding byes)

Averages exclude games on IR (designated for return) or suspension. A player placed on regular IR will be replaced that week in addition to other add/drops; a player designated to return will be kept only if their pre-IR average is one of the top ten averages on the team. A player drafted with a suspension already in place or on the short-term IR can’t be dropped until after the game following their return.

If the Drone can’t field a full active roster, it will do Add/Drops as necessary to field one. The player picked up will be the highest projected player for that week at the needed position(s), and the player dropped will be the player with the lowest “Expected Points” at that position.

If the TE, DST or K has one of the Drone’s top seven average points, that player won’t be dropped to field a full active roster, but a replacement will be added for one week only and the WR/RB with lowest expected points will be dropped to make room.

Source: These rules appeared in the thread Message Board Braggin Rights League post #866.

 

[Bandit]

Joe,

It's funny, because I just posted most of the rules on December 6th and obviously nobody noticed. There are a few differences. We decided to add a rule #4. Here is the link to the post:

Message Board Braggin' Rights League

Also, I posted the playoff tie-breaker rules and that post is here:

Message Board Braggin' Rights League

As far as power rankings go, the reason you can't find where it says how it is calculated is because Wil always did it until I did and I already knew how to calculate it so there was no explanation needed.

Power is based on three categories (Win/loss record, breakdown record, and total points). The team with the best record receives a 12 in the win/loss record section, the team with the best breakdown record receives a 12 in that section, and the team with the most points receives a 12 in that section, with the worst team in each category receiving a 1. Ties are done by adding up all the numbers of the tie, lets say that there were four teams tied for the best record, you would take 12+11+10+9 which equals 42 and divide that by 4 (the number of teams involved) which gives you 10.5, so each of those 4 teams would receive a 10.5 in win/loss power. The next best record would receive an 8 and so on and so forth until the worst record receives a 1.

Breakdown is calculated by figuring out every teams won/loss record against every other team in the league each week. So every week each team will have a breakdown record that adds up to 11 games. The highest score in the league will receive an 11-0 breakdown record for the week. The lowest score for the week will receive a breakdown record of 0-11. Each teams weekly breakdown record will be kept track of all year and after week 14 every team's breakdown record will add up to 154 games. Teams will be ranked each week based on their cumulative breakdown record up to that point in the season.

The points section of power is simple as teams are ranked by their cumulative amount of points for the season up to that point each week.

A perfect power ranking would be 12+12+12= 36
A perfectly awful power ranking would be 1+1+1= 3

Power rankings truly reflect how good or bad a team's season is because it takes into account win/loss record but also points and breakdown record, so if you are a team that scored the 2nd most points for the season but just happened to have a crappy schedule maker you aren't penalized as much.

 

[tlance]

Thanks Joe!

Great work!

This is not a change, but I would like to suggest adding 3 clauses into the rules on the top line:

- Treat all members with respect: we will disagree at at times but at the end of the day this league is a family. As a discussion progresses we must be able to move forward. Do not turn disputes into personal attacks and do not take things personally if others don't agree with your point of view. We all want what is best for the league.

- Never start an inactive player: there are shades of gray on this one. Obviously there is no consequence if a guy was unexpectledly announced inactive just prior to kick off (like D. Martin in week 16 of 2016), but if a player is a game time decision, you should have a viable back-up plan ready to move with. Second, we will call this the "Shady rule". If you are unable to field a complete lineup due to byes and/or injuries, you must be able to show that you made a reasonable effort (contact 3 or more owners) throughout the week prior to engage others in trades that would fix the problem. You are not required to make a move, because that would put the seller at a disadvantage, but you must at least show proof of effort to do so.

- intentional violation of any of the above rules can lead to an automatic oblivion vote, regardless of league or place in the standings.

 

[leftypower]

I would agree with those additions. Funny those additions were never a need until last yr. ... hummm.
Anyway, the ESPN league settings can easily be changed to prevent the some lineup issues as well - define the minimum starting lineup (min 1 per required 'starter'), if that is not done it will result in an illegal lineup and zero pts. Zero point scored will be pretty obvious to all. .... it will not 'fix' putting in an injured player (which you covered) but it will prevent a blank player (which, I think, was done also).

 

[Chef99]

@tlance : I agree with the "not starting an inactive player" rule, but it isn't necessary to name it.

 

[tlance]

@tlance : I agree with the "not starting an inactive player" rule, but it isn't necessary to name it.

Fair enough.

 

[Sam Sportboy]

Well, as far as not fielding a complete line up, my opinion is tough shit. If you have to make a trade or drop a player, that's life. Sometimes it sucks, but I feel you need to start a complete line up one way or another. Not only can it mess you up, but it can mess with the standings in the whole league.

 

[TREFF]

Thanks Joe!

Great work!

This is not a change, but I would like to suggest adding 3 clauses into the rules on the top line:

- Treat all members with respect: we will disagree at at times but at the end of the day this league is a family. As a discussion progresses we must be able to move forward. Do not turn disputes into personal attacks and do not take things personally if others don't agree with your point of view. We all want what is best for the league.

- Never start an inactive player: there are shades of gray on this one. Obviously there is no consequence if a guy was unexpectledly announced inactive just prior to kick off (like D. Martin in week 16 of 2016), but if a player is a game time decision, you should have a viable back-up plan ready to move with. Second, we will call this the "Shady rule". If you are unable to field a complete lineup due to byes and/or injuries, you must be able to show that you made a reasonable effort (contact 3 or more owners) throughout the week prior to engage others in trades that would fix the problem. You are not required to make a move, because that would put the seller at a disadvantage, but you must at least show proof of effort to do so.

- intentional violation of any of the above rules can lead to an automatic oblivion vote, regardless of league or place in the standings.

In agreement with almost all of this..but, don't care much for the exception to the active lineup rule. Outside of real life issues there's never an acceptable reason for not fielding a full, active lineup. Of course there would be case by case exceptions, but bye weeks and players designated as doubtful, out, or IR, and not making the hard choices to get an active lineup are not acceptable. We've all been there, up till this year, we've all made the honorable, though choices, made the cuts, made the trade. Whatever it took..if life gets in the way fine, so be it. If your cutting a corner to avoid a tough choice? Not acceptable

 

[Chef99]

but it can mess with the standings in the whole league.

 

[Barilko]

Well, as far as not fielding a complete line up, my opinion is tough shit. If you have to make a trade or drop a player, that's life. Sometimes it sucks, but I feel you need to start a complete line up one way or another. Not only can it mess you up, but it can mess with the standings in the whole league.

I Agee and I followed those rules and it cost me and some one else ignored them completely and it did effect the standings actually big time as it potentially changed the number 1 seed

One note thought we all are breaking Joe.s rule by using this thread

 

[Chef99]

In agreement with almost all of this..but, don't care much for the exception to the active lineup rule. Outside of real life issues there's never an acceptable reason for not fielding a full, active lineup. Of course there would be case by case exceptions, but bye weeks and players designated as doubtful, out, or IR, and not making the hard choices to get an active lineup are not acceptable. We've all been there, up till this year, we've all made the honorable, though choices, made the cuts, made the trade. Whatever it took..if life gets in the way fine, so be it. If your cutting a corner to avoid a tough choice? Not acceptable

That was my biggest problem this year, having worked from the wee hours in the morning to the evening every Sunday this season. Think I only missed one change (Derrick Henry?) this year, in dynasty. But I can pretty much assure every one that if I do the same schedule next year, it might be unavoidable some times.

 

[Barilko]

I would agree with those additions. Funny those additions were never a need until last yr. ... hummm.
Anyway, the ESPN league settings can easily be changed to prevent the some lineup issues as well - define the minimum starting lineup (min 1 per required 'starter'), if that is not done it will result in an illegal lineup and zero pts. Zero point scored will be pretty obvious to all. .... it will not 'fix' putting in an injured player (which you covered) but it will prevent a blank player (which, I think, was done also).

Sure was

 

[tlance]

In agreement with almost all of this..but, don't care much for the exception to the active lineup rule. Outside of real life issues there's never an acceptable reason for not fielding a full, active lineup. Of course there would be case by case exceptions, but bye weeks and players designated as doubtful, out, or IR, and not making the hard choices to get an active lineup are not acceptable. We've all been there, up till this year, we've all made the honorable, though choices, made the cuts, made the trade. Whatever it took..if life gets in the way fine, so be it. If your cutting a corner to avoid a tough choice? Not acceptable

You talk about sportsmanship a lot.

In my mind, forcing an owner to make a cut or a trade for less than face value is awful sportsmanship. Absolutely bar none the worst.

If other owners know I have to make a trade, they don't have to offer fair value. If I have to drop somebody to cover a TE bye replacement might net a 4-5 extra points for 1 week, but it might cost many more over the course of the season.

The problem with instituting a rule like that is that it basically assumes that the owner in question is tanking. I detest any rule that takes away freedom on how to manage my team. Hell, stacking Bye weeks is a legit fantasy football strategy that many of us use in suicide.

And I am sorry, but if i have 4 starting players on bye and 2 more injured, it is not in my best interest nor the best interest of the league to make a forced move. Especially because in the situation I would be a severe underdog anyway. You should always try to make a move, but there has to be some gray area here. Hard fast lines drawn in the sand are how we lose good people.

I promise you, as adamant as you are for that rule, I am as much, possibly more against. Fantasy football is a series of sprints. You can't and won't win every one, but the trick is to position yourself to win at the end of the season. Quite frankly, I don't want to play in any league that tells me how to manage my team. I will always compete hard, but I know best how to manage my roster. Leaving a bye week player in is a tough choice in and of itself that has natural consequences. Taking it off the table is wrong, as long as the owner has tried to fix it.

 

[TREFF]

You talk about sportsmanship a lot.

In my mind, forcing an owner to make a cut or a trade for less than face value is awful sportsmanship. Absolutely bar none the worst.

If other owners know I have to make a trade, they don't have to offer fair value. If I have to drop somebody to cover a TE bye replacement might net a 4-5 extra points for 1 week, but it might cost many more over the course of the season.

The problem with instituting a rule like that is that it basically assumes that the owner in question is tanking. I detest any rule that takes away freedom on how to manage my team. Hell, stacking Bye weeks is a legit fantasy football strategy that many of us use in suicide.

And I am sorry, but if i have 4 starting players on bye and 2 more injured, it is not in my best interest nor the best interest of the league to make a forced move. Especially because in the situation I would be a severe underdog anyway. You should always try to make a move, but there has to be some gray area here. Hard fast lines drawn in the sand are how we lose good people.

I promise you, as adamant as you are for that rule, I am as much, possibly more against. Fantasy football is a series of sprints. You can't and won't win every one, but the trick is to position yourself to win at the end of the season. Quite frankly, I don't want to play in any league that tells me how to manage my team. I will always compete hard, but I know best how to manage my roster. Leaving a bye week player in is a tough choice in and of itself that has natural consequences. Taking it off the table is wrong, as long as the owner has tried to fix it.

Obviously I wholeheartedly disagree, no idea how we can differ on an easily definable term like sportsmenship, but whatever.
But where I do agree is playing in a league where we dictate how to manage your team. I don't want to either, and up till now, we didn't even think about ever having to worry about it. But unfortunately, that's where we're at. The hard line in the sand eliminates the massive bitch fest that will ensue anytime it comes up. If we can't play entirely on the honor system, which apparently not all of us can, than I guess we need black and white rules.

 

[TKOSpikes]

You talk about sportsmanship a lot.

In my mind, forcing an owner to make a cut or a trade for less than face value is awful sportsmanship. Absolutely bar none the worst.

If other owners know I have to make a trade, they don't have to offer fair value. If I have to drop somebody to cover a TE bye replacement might net a 4-5 extra points for 1 week, but it might cost many more over the course of the season.

The problem with instituting a rule like that is that it basically assumes that the owner in question is tanking. I detest any rule that takes away freedom on how to manage my team. Hell, stacking Bye weeks is a legit fantasy football strategy that many of us use in suicide.

And I am sorry, but if i have 4 starting players on bye and 2 more injured, it is not in my best interest nor the best interest of the league to make a forced move. Especially because in the situation I would be a severe underdog anyway. You should always try to make a move, but there has to be some gray area here. Hard fast lines drawn in the sand are how we lose good people.

I promise you, as adamant as you are for that rule, I am as much, possibly more against. Fantasy football is a series of sprints. You can't and won't win every one, but the trick is to position yourself to win at the end of the season. Quite frankly, I don't want to play in any league that tells me how to manage my team. I will always compete hard, but I know best how to manage my roster. Leaving a bye week player in is a tough choice in and of itself that has natural consequences. Taking it off the table is wrong, as long as the owner has tried to fix it.

Yes, but at the same time you can't have six players on the bench with an empty lineup spot. Not telling you how to run your team, but am telling you it must be a legal lineup. I don't think that is too much to ask. Preparation doesn't need ro be limited to that week of your stacked byes.

You can't compare suicide leagues to it, with no moves allowed, it's damn near impossible to avoid.


Sorry Joe, no more posting in here for me.... let's take the debate outside guys.

 

[TREFF]

We all really should respect Joe's post and take this debate elsewhere should we choose to continue it

 

[broncosmitty]

I broke the lineup rule each of the first three weeks.

Gronk, my first rounder, was doubtful/questionable each week. I did not draft a backup TE. My second rounder, Charles was already out. I started Gronk each week, and each week he wound up being out.

At no point did I consider cutting my one backup WR, or QB. Only option was cutting Powell, a handcuff or Thompson, who I cut after week two for another RB.

I went 1-2 during that span. Which was punishment for drafting a TE in round one and an injured RB in round two. Had I made a move for some scrub TE for a week, possibly I could have struck gold and won in Week1. More than likely not. But that was never an option in my head as I didn't draft any of those players to cut them for a one week backup TE. Who I may or may not have used depending on the hoody's decision to play or not play his TE.

I understand the reasoning behind the lineup laws, but to me, it's not a benefit for the entire season to follow it to the letter of the law. Or Atleast it wouldn't have been for me.

How off putting is that stance? Not trying to be rude here.

 

[SoShady]

This may or may not be the best place. But I feel like I need to at least represent myself. As I was not given the opportunity to do so the first time as @TREFF trashed my name in the A league thread. Feeling I didn't have the right to even know what was going on. @tlance let me know he was going to post my name in the rule and it's okay. I feel like others have skirted naming me but seem obvious who they are talking about when they post messages like @Barilko.

I could see the outrage if it was a rule but it was not. I could see if I was a owner who was fighting oblivion and did nothing and expected people to vote for me to stay. But my team was a championship contender. I feel like I did what I could to field the best roster I could that week against @HaroldSeattle. I cut my defense in a attempt to gain the most points possible by adding T Hill. I cut my TE backup to get Perkins so I could have a flex position that had some upside. I sent two offers to Micro in a attempt to make a trade so I could have a full roster. Picking up a better flex and opening up a spot to get a DEF. Which were declined with no response. It wasn't 3 people but it was a attempt. So you get to the point that you make a move that hurts your team that season for one week. It would have been pretty crazy to cut D Lewis with the way Bill Belichick is with RB's. In hindsight it took longer for him to cut into Blount's touches. But it did eventually happen. But Blount did enough to be playable in the end. But it was a question if I could even start him for the championship game. After Lewis had 18 rushing attempts in week 15.

These ideas in theory seem good. But why would someone make a trade that helps someone out in a tight spot? That's not the way things are done. They are going to try to stick it to you when you are in a tight spot. So are we going to end up with a MBBRL court. As people try to post screen shots of trade offers as a last resort to clear his name?

 

[MilkSpiller22]

This may or may not be the best place. But I feel like I need to at least represent myself. As I was not given the opportunity to do so the first time as @TREFF trashed my name in the A league thread. Feeling I didn't have the right to even know what was going on. @tlance let me know he was going to post my name in the rule and it's okay. I feel like others have skirted naming me but seem obvious who they are talking about when they post messages like @Barilko.

I could see the outrage if it was a rule but it was not. I could see if I was a owner who was fighting oblivion and did nothing and expected people to vote for me to stay. But my team was a championship contender. I feel like I did what I could to field the best roster I could that week against @HaroldSeattle. I cut my defense in a attempt to gain the most points possible by adding T Hill. I cut my TE backup to get Perkins so I could have a flex position that had some upside. I sent two offers to Micro in a attempt to make a trade so I could have a full roster. Picking up a better flex and opening up a spot to get a DEF. Which were declined with no response. It wasn't 3 people but it was a attempt. So you get to the point that you make a move that hurts your team that season for one week. It would have been pretty crazy to cut D Lewis with the way Bill Belichick is with RB's. In hindsight it took longer for him to cut into Blount's touches. But it did eventually happen. But Blount did enough to be playable in the end. But it was a question if I could even start him for the championship game. After Lewis had 18 rushing attempts in week 15.

These ideas in theory seem good. But why would someone make a trade that helps someone out in a tight spot? That's not the way things are done. They are going to try to stick it to you when you are in a tight spot. So are we going to end up with a MBBRL court. As people try to post screen shots of trade offers as a last resort to clear his name?

damn you are SO shady

 

[Chef99]

@SoShady - This is the problem. Any one of us who knows what I'm talkin' about woulda cut Dion Lewis to fill their lineup. Or woulda figured out something else. But they would've started a full lineup. This is the attitude we always had in the past. Somewhere down the road, it just got lost in the shuffle.