Here are the rules again - which includes the recommended draft date for 2014. Let me know if you think we should make any changes. Also let me know if we're getting rid of kickers.
I) GENERAL OVERVIEW
This shall be a 10-year league running from the 2013 season through the 2022 season.
Each year, the entry fee shall be $100. The entry fee for that year must be paid prior to the date of the release of players, which will be one week prior to the draft.
$100 will be awarded to the overall point leader during the regular season. The total amount awarded during each season will be $600 to the winner of the playoffs, $300 to the second place finisher, and $200 to the third place finisher. Moreover, any fines enacted during the season shall be awarded 50%/30%/20% to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers, respectively.
League settings, with the exception of the Yahoo setting “League Votes” for trade review, will be set consistent with the settings in the 2013 year of the league. This includes 20 roster positions and waivers through Tuesday.
Any issue not explicitly identified by these Rules shall be resolved through a majority vote.
II) FINES
A. Enactment of a Fine
A violation of any of these Rules will result in a $20 fine. Moreover, any evidence of conduct against the spirit of the league can result in a $20 fine. This includes, but is not limited to, evidence of collusion, tanking, unfair play, excessive harassment of another team, or egregious spamming or over-posting on the message board / twoplustwo page.
The commissioner shall have the power to enact such a fine. The fined party can appeal the commissioner's decision, which can only be overturned through a “majority rule” (more than 50%) vote of the league. This vote will not include the offending party or the commissioner. However, 6 votes are not necessarily required to overturn a fine as members will be allowed to affirmatively abstain from voting. That being said, silent members (rather than abstaining votes) count as votes in favor of the fine. Such a vote will be open for 3 days.
Furthermore, any member can move to fine a team alleged to have violated a Rule. The allegedly offending team will not have a vote, but the commissioner will retain his vote. In this circumstance, the majority rule is required to enact the $20 fine. Such a vote will be open for 3 days. This rule will also apply to any proposed fines against the commissioner.
For repeated or flagrant violations that may warrant a punishment greater than $20, a league vote is required with a majority rule. Again, any team can move to enact such a fine as well as the recommended penalty. Such a vote will be open for 3 days.
B. Payment of Fines
An offending member must pay his fine through leaguesafe within one week of the enactment of the fine or the expiration of the appeal period, whichever is later. Failure to pay the fine will automatically enact a further penalty of $20. In the event of a further penalty (or $40 total), failure to pay this fine within one week will result in the locking of the team until the fine is paid. If the team continues to refuse to pay the fine, the team will be forfeited even if future fantasy years have already been prepaid.
III) RULES ON RULES
In the offseason, between the final fantasy game and the start of the next fantasy year, any Rule can be added, revoked, modified, or changed through the majority rule.
As members are allowed to abstain from voting, 7 votes are not necessarily required to impact a Rule. However, an abstaining vote must identify themselves as abstaining or refraining. A silent member will count as a vote toward rejection of the proposed Rule.
During the season, modification or addition of any Rule must be established by a positive vote of 2/3s of the league or more. Again, since voters are allowed to affirmatively abstain, this does not necessarily require 8 votes.
Any member can propose such a Rule change or addition and that proponent can set the time parameters for voting on that issue. Under no circumstances can a Rule be passed or modified that retroactively affects a team.
IV) DRAFT RULES
A. Draft Order
The draft will not be a snake draft. In each round, the first 6 picks will be determined by the reverse order of the non-playoff teams' finish in the regular season standings the previous year. The 7th pick in each round will be provided to winner of the 5th/6th place game in the playoffs with the 8th pick going to the loser. The last four picks of each round will be determined by the reverse order of the playoff results for the final four teams the year prior.
B. Releasing Players for Draft
The draft will start on the second Thursday of August unless the league decides otherwise. In 2014, the draft will begin at 8:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, August 14, 2014. Exactly one week prior to the draft, each team shall PM the commissioner the players that are to be released from that team. This will be known as the “release date.” Teams are allowed to release any players, even if those releases would leave the team with an incomplete roster or open roster spots. For example, releasing a defense, leaving no defense on the roster, is allowed.
The commissioner shall not review the released players from any team prior to deciding which players he will release from his own team. One day after the release date, the commissioner shall update the google spreadsheet under “rosters” to indicate which players have been released from each team.
A team has the discretion to release as many or as few of its players as it chooses. However, if that team trades an Nth round draft pick, the number of players released must equal at least N-1. For example, if a team trades away its 3rd round draft pick prior to the draft, it must release at least 2 players.
C. Roster Size for Draft
At no point can any roster exceed 20 players with the exception of the circumstance described in VI(B) below. As such, if a team has acquired draft picks through trades, he must release at least as many players as acquired draft picks. Failure to do so will lead to the forfeiture of such picks, starting with the picks acquired in the latest round. The pick will not be reverted back to its original owner. Rather, there will be no pick for that slot.
Teams are always allowed to carry less than 20 teams on their roster.
D. Trading of Draft Picks
Draft picks can only be traded if payment for that year by that particular team has been made. Veto rules surrounding trading of draft picks are identical to those rules governing trades generally.
E. Conduct of Draft
Each team shall have 12 hours to make their pick with a dead period between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Failure to pick within the 12-hour window will not result in the forfeiture of the pick, but instead allow subsequent drafting teams to draft until a pick is made. In other words, the scenario will be identical to the situation with the Minnesota Vikings in the 2003 draft. The clock starts upon the previous pick being made regardless of whether a PM was ever sent to the team on the clock.
Repeated drafting of previously picked players is a violation punishable by fine described in Section II. In addition, repeated picking out of order is a violation punishable by fine described in Section II.
V) TRADE RULES
A. Trade Review
A league vote shall determine trade reviews. However, trade review shall be set to “commissioner review” on Yahoo. This is because on Yahoo's “league vote” setting, only 4 vetoes are required to veto a trade. Moreover, the league cannot utilize Yahoo's “league vote” setting for draft-day trades.
Of the non-trading teams, the majority rule shall be required to veto a trade. However, this does not necessarily require 6 votes for a veto since teams will be allowed to affirmatively abstain from voting. However, a silent team (rather than a team that is abstaining) will count as a vote against veto.
The rules described above for trade review shall also apply to a team's dropping of a player that may be considered too valuable to drop for that particular week.
However, teams are encouraged not to use their votes for veto liberally. Teams should be allowed to manage their team as they see fit, particularly in a dynasty league.
Trades shall only be made with the intent of improving that team for the present or future years. In other words, a team is not allowed to trade players or draft picks due to a lost bet or in exchange for external benefits.
B. Trade Dispute
Completed trades, especially draft-day trades, are often posted in the thread rather than completed through Yahoo's trading mechanism. If there is a dispute regarding the material terms of the trade (or as to whether there is a completed trade at all), the commissioner shall review all correspondence (including any and all PMs) that lead up to the trade. The commissioner will determine the specific terms of the trade (including if there was a completed trade at all) based on this correspondence. However, the commissioner shall not rely on any verbal correspondence/negotiations if he was not present during the verbal correspondence/negotiations.
The commissioner is encouraged to resolve disputes and find trades binding only if there is a clear offer and acceptance. At any time, the commissioner can request that a majority rule vote be issued by the non-trading teams as to the terms of the trade. If the commissioner is the party involved in the trade dispute, then the non-trading teams in the league shall decide on the terms of the trade through the majority rule.
If the trade dispute is resolved through league vote but there is no majority (the vote ends in an exact tie), the entire trade is deemed void.
If there are more than two possible outcomes of a trade dispute, the process is the same as described above. In the event of a vote, if there is no majority (even if there is a plurality), the entire trade is deemed void.
Completed trades through Yahoo’s system are binding and nonreversible absent a veto.
C) Trade Timing
The trade deadline will be consistent with Yahoo's Trade End Date. However, trading will again be allowed after the season is finished.
VI) TEAM MANAGEMENT
A) During Season
During each week of the season, a team shall field an entire roster. Teams are not permitted to leave spots open, start players who are on a bye week, or start injured players. Players who are not conclusively ruled out until the day of the game by Yahoo are not considered “injured players” for the purposes of this rule. This is true even if the player was listed as "doubtful" in the days leading up to the game.
This rule applies even if a team is eliminated from playoff contention, playing in the consolation bracket, or has concluded its season if other teams are still engaged in the playoffs. For example, the winner and loser of the 5th/6th place game is still required to field an entire roster for week 16 even though they are not playing any other team that week. In other words, every team is required to field an entire team from NFL week 1 through NFL week 16.
The commissioner is encouraged to enact fines under this subsection regardless of whether the failure to field a full team was purposeful or due to neglect. However, such a fine will be enacted per week rather than per empty slot.
B) During Offseason
Following the season, a team is still required to filed a full roster and not have any empty slots until the release date one week prior to the draft. For example, a team is required to carry at least one kicker, one defense, and one tight end from the end of the fantasy season until the release date. However, injured or retiring players are permitted and will not count as an empty slot.
Teams are not allowed to pick up any free agents or drop any players from the end of the final game in week 16 until the release date. However, teams are allowed to engage in trades for players or draft picks during the offseason. This is the only period when a team is permitted to have a roster greater than 20. However, enough players must be released on the release date in order for the team to have a roster size of 20 or less prior to the draft.
