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On the local level, 2 days ago I dropped an owner for repeatedly starting players on bye week. I found another person to take over their team and I am covering the $100 entry.

The owner started bye week players 3 times in one week and one time in 3 other weeks. They have an 11-7 won/loss record (we do doubleheaders) and are leading their division even though they are near last in the league in total points and all-play. Their H2H opponents have scored unbelievably low points against them consistently all season.
The owner was very angry with me for dropping him from the league. He was not giving up, but just very absented minded about setting his line-up. It was very strange dropping an owner against his will when he is 11-7, but starting bye week players in 4 different weeks was too much. I reminded him 4 or 5 times not to start bye week players but it kept happening. It was his first year and I did not want someone that careless staying in our league.

I have replaced owners in season twice in 4 years. And, try to be very careful about who I let in the league to avoid the problem in the first place AND give a few e-mail pep talks about the importance of everyone trying until the end for the good of the league.

I can not think of the best way to handle owners who give up in these NFFC high stakes leagues.

Is the best answer to just do nothing? Is it just one of the flaws with fantsy football that there is not a good solution to?

OR To keep track of any owners who give up and do not let them join a league the next year? Giving up would have to be defined. Starting bye week players or players on IR more than twice?? Not sure what the definition would be. If an owner knew they could not join a league again at this site they may be less likely to give up.

OR Have the site not allow you to start a bye week or IR player? Not sure how to select the player to take the place of the bye week or IR player. Maybe lowest average weekly score of the players on the bench elgible for the position??

OR A little less emphasis on H2H? Maybe the 4 playoff teams could be. 1. best H2H 2. best total points (not including 1.) 3. best all play (not including 1. and 2.) 4. best all-play (not including 1-3)

It is a really bad situation for Team A when Team A and Team B are in a close H2H race and Team B plays a team late in the season that starts 2 or 3 players on IR. Not really good for Team B either because a lot of owners do not want to win like that.

I really detest owners that give up and will always deal with it at the local level, but I am not sure of the best solution for the leagues at this site.

Sound like you booted a guy who enjoys the game, but doesn't have the same passion as you. In local leagues thats going to happen. I don't think you should have kick him out. If he wants to donate every year, why do have a problem with that?

Please dont get me going on this. this is my biggest beef in these leagues. i HATE that. it changes the outcome of these leagues. my main event went down the tubes but i pick players up that got injured or suspended. i will fight to the end even though i am out of the running. i feel i owe it to the others in the league that put up there money.i honestly feel that greg and tom should ban people that do this. league integrity is the most important part of a well run league. unless a person has a tragic event and it happens once i would give slack. but otherwise throw the team out for good. how would you feel if you were tied for first and the team you were tied with played a team the last game of the season that left a wr out by injury and had a warm body on the bench plus left out a kicker. i saw it happen here in a league 2 years ago. i felt like cracking heads. you have a responsibility to field a team. paying 1,300 does not give you the right to screw up the league integrity.

Nothing ruins a fantasy football season or league like someone who quits and ruins the integrity of the competition. We are in our 14th year for my local home town fantasy football league and occasionally a new owner comes into the league. We immediatey outline what is expected of an owner in this league (with respect to fielding a lineup) and if he cannot fulfill this simple task he will be removed. It is the only way to keep the league legit.

To CC's Desperados,

You would keep an owner in a league that has started bye week players in 4 out of the last 6 weeks??
I see your point that he is likely just donating his money to the league.
But, how will you feel if you are one game out of a playoff spot going into the last week and this owner plays the team you are close with and does not take a couple minutes to try to set a decent line-up?

Starting bye week players is ridiculous and I do not want someone that does this to be part of a league I am in charge of.

There are plenty of people for home leagues who will manage their teams.

No one really wants donors who don't care. Dead money ruins leagues even if they are free.

For the good of all concerned, I say boot them and find someone who has passion and time to play.

I used to collect a deposit for fees accumulated during the season and would fine owners for actions like this. None of them quit.

Plus in home leagues public humiliation goes a long way.

The solution is simple...

tie bye week starting owner to a chair on Sunday for 12 hours straight....blindfold him......and then take out an ipod and put on Yoko Ono B-side's on repeat mode while you guys go watch foootball in the next room....

This new owner will have a tremendously different outlook the following week....he may even surface on the waiver wire looking for some gems

[ November 06, 2008, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: FI$HER ]

Fisher, great minds think alike. That is what I had in mind with the "public humiliation line".

Originally posted by bill:
To CC's Desperados,

You would keep an owner in a league that has started bye week players in 4 out of the last 6 weeks??
I see your point that he is likely just donating his money to the league.
But, how will you feel if you are one game out of a playoff spot going into the last week and this owner plays the team you are close with and does not take a couple minutes to try to set a decent line-up?

Starting bye week players is ridiculous and I do not want someone that does this to be part of a league I am in charge of. As I expected, it was about you. If you are the commissioner, you have to be neutral. I ran three football leagues for more than 10 years. It's hard enough finding players never mind good players. People are at different stages of their lives. Some just enjoy having a team. They don't undertsand why they lose. Over time they will either get better at it or will no longer play.

Would you rather have a good dead beat owner or a player who pays and doesn't care? These are low level leagues. Most likely you run the league because you enjoy playing, but you know that you have a better chance to win every year. If you wanted to eliminate the problem than you should have rules in place to correct the situation. Some people don't live and die for fantasy football like most of us do here.

I always wanted the best players each year, but I understood that there were a few guys who just like having a team. They were excited for the draft and liked following their teams each week. Over time with my rules, I've seen some of the worst owners still win. It might be once in 10 years, but they still could pull it off.

If you are mad at a team that isn't making moves because it effects your team, maybe you should take a look at youself as commissioner. You accepted payment. Therefore you accept responsiblty for that owner. They deserves the right to manage his team or even screw it up. If you are unhappy with that onwer, you can replace him after the season. Despite his lack of effort, he still have a chance.