In fantasy football, is it okay to try hard one week and then make no effort another week? Does this throw off the competitive balance of the league?

This is not a hypothetical question. There’s a major brouhaha brewing on the message board in my NFFC league. One of the teams has been accused of tanking games early and then deciding to pay attention and compete in the middle of the season. Needless to say, this has sparked quite a bit of acrimony. To wit, a sampling of some of the choice comments that have been zinging back and forth:

Angry owner: “…do us all a favor and submit your best possible lineup every week. I couldn't help but notice you've started three or four guys on their bye week in the last two weeks…For some reason you decided to change your lineup this week, and you were rewarded with a big W. This league is for big money, if you're gonna submit your lineup only when you feel like it, please turn it over to somebody else so that there is competitive balance in this league. It’s not personal, just business…”

The owner being accused of tanking did not respond to the above message, and the accuser renewed the debate the following week:

Angry owner: “Now its kind of personal. You submit a full lineup vs. me for the first time in three weeks, and beat me... Now, you're back to just starting guys who aren't even playing, and you're up against the team we are all gunning for. If you lose this game by the difference of whatever QB you could have in your lineup instead of Derrick Freaking Anderson, and I finish one game behind for the league title, you owe me $3000.”

Tanking owner: “Beginning of the year absolutely correct – I screwed up -- as for this week I bid 150 on sage [Rosenfels]…was under the impression that I was good -- did not put a contingency pick in and I should have…As for last week -- it was a joke of a win for me -- u r taking it personal that I beat you by .000001 -- the last thing I want to do is effect anyone that put up 1500 -- so u can keep ur free fantasy yahoo comments to urself and maybe score more than 113 pts a week in this league and u wont have any complaints…”

Okay then, let’s sort through this. Is the angry owner right in expecting consistent play from opponents every week? Or is the tanking owner correct in saying that it’s the responsibility of the angry owner to score more points instead of worrying about what his opponent is doing?

In other words: All’s fair in love and war, but what’s fair in fantasy football?

(By the way, I totally admit I was going for a Carrie Bradshaw/“Sex and the City”-type of question there. I wrote that line on the off chance that at least one of my readers is female. Humor me.)
 
While I understand that head-to-head play does not always reward the best teams and there is a certain amount of luck involved, I have to side with the angry owner on this one. The most important thing we should expect from other fantasy owners is consistency. Ideally, each team will give best effort to submit its best lineup each week, but if you aren't, and are instead going to be the league’s slacker, so be it--just don’t keep changing your approach week to week.

Let’s lay down the rules for fair play in the NFFC, or any league in which money is involved. These same rules should apply to all fantasy leagues, but if you are in a league with your buddies and you tend to slack off, it’s their fault for having a deadbeat in the league. They can correct it in the off-season. When money is at stake, there is a greater obligation for fair play.  

Fantasy Rules of Fair Play

Rule 1 – Play hard every week. For pete’s sake, you spent $1,500 to get into the league, so show some pride.
Rule 2 – Play consistently. If, for some reason, you are not going to give max effort, then just mail it in early so everyone can get a win versus your lousy team.
Rule 3 – Everyone is allowed one exemption per season. While we all would like to "bring it" every week, I understand that life sometimes gets in the way. I hate to think that this can cost someone the league title, but there are a few acceptable excuses that would allow for a one-week exemption. The exceptions:

a. You got married and were on your honeymoon. Honestly, with internet connections around the world, this is a little flimsy (I was on safari in South Africa in September and able to set my lineup).
b. You had a baby or your wife had a baby. This one is hard to argue with, but if you know this is going to happen in the middle of football season, you probably should take a year off from playing in a money league. You are never going to win the league when you’re operating on that little sleep, so save the entry fee and put it toward your kid’s college fund. You can play again next season when the baby is sleeping through the night.
c. There was a death in the family. Nothing further to say here.
d. You lost your job (although if you lose your job, you would actually have more time to concentrate on your fantasy football team so I’m not sure if this one is valid).

That’s it. There are no other excuses for starting a lineup with players who have a bye week. If I am missing a good excuse, please send me an email. I am open to expanding the list.

I know I usually toss out some good waiver-wire pickups for NFFC leagues, but I decided to tackle this fairness issue in this week’s column since I figured it might be more relevant. What’s the point of offering free agent suggestions on Friday when the waiver bidding closes early due to a Thursday game? Random and tangential thought, does anyone else hate Thursday night games in the NFL? And I don’t mean just because they air on the NFL Network (which is still fighting with cable operators and squeezing fans in the middle). I mean I hate Thursday games from a fantasy perspective. I don’t want free agent bidding to close earlier in the week. What about late-breaking injuries for Sunday games? I like seeing Friday’s practice reports before I decide if I need to fill a roster spot or change my defense. Thursday just simply should not be the start of the fantasy football weekend. It throws off my inner compass. It’s like changing daylight savings time on a weekly basis. The football week should start on Sunday morning with a heavy dose of pre-game shows. Every good fantasy owner checks for last minute inactives at around 12:30 before setting final lineups. It continues into a full roster of watching at least three Sunday games, while following fantasy league scores via the internet. It continues into Monday Night Football and possibly some postgame shows. Then it turns the page to the next week. I’m just not a big fan of Thursday games and having to make fantasy football lineup decisions in the middle of the week. End of sermon.

Good luck this week and let me know if there’s anything interesting happening on your league’s message board.