With Week 6 officially in the books, we’re just about to the midway point of the fantasy football regular season. Depending on your league size and playoff structure, there’s really not that much time left and if you’re sitting in the middle of the pack, every game should be treated as a must-win. You also want to see your competition start dropping some key games as you try to land one of the higher seeds in the playoffs, and that, unfortunately, is where it becomes most noticeable. We’re talking about the dead weight.
Nothing ruins a league like dead weight. Nothing. Guys are fighting for playoff spots and better seeding and you’ve got games being thrown by idiots who can’t take a simple 10 minutes out of their week to field a complete lineup. Sure, you might benefit one week from some chump who has three guys on bye when you match-up, but overall, it does more damage to your chances of reaching the playoffs when everyone is being thrown games.
What’s worse is that when you try to speak up about it, somehow, you end up being the dick. Forget about the guy who is pissing on the league with his lack of participation, it’s you who ends up looking bad for complaining. Suddenly it’s just a game and this guy’s life is not only more important than fulfilling an obligation to the league but it’s more important than yours because you seem to be able to make time to put in waiver claims and field a competitive lineup. What the hell is that?
Listen, if your life is so crazy busy that you can’t take 10 minutes out of your week – okay, let’s say Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because of the NFL schedule – then don’t play. Get out of the league or better yet, don’t join at all. If the conversation at the water cooler passes you by because you’re not in the league, then accept that. Don’t join because you want to be part of the gang and then screw the gang over four weeks later. We who play understand that fantasy sports aren’t for everyone. We don’t begrudge you that. But don’t try to fit in where you don’t belong if you’re not going to give it your all. And by “all, we’re not even looking for a full-time commitment. Just pay enough attention that we don’t have a dead team in our league skewing the competitive balance.
For you commissioners out there, we understand that your thankless job involves recruiting enough people to bring the league to an even number of teams, but be selective for crying out loud. Don’t invite your boss into your home league. Don’t ask your brother-in-law to join when he avoids sitting and watching the games with you every time you all spend Thanksgiving together. And please, for the love of all that is fantasy holy, do not bring in your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse unless they have a significant level of interest and knowledge, not just the sport, but in the fantasy game as well. As much as we’d love to have a 14-team keeper auction league, I’d rather take one for the team and drop out than to have our 14th team be one of these knuckleheads.
Now while I’d love to stand up here on my soapbox and poke fun at all the dead weight and the idiotic commissioners who bring them in, I feel like I can also offer a suggestion. After all [insert sarcastic eye roll here], things happen and something life-shattering could come up for any one of us which would obviously push fantasy sports to the back-burner.
So how about this…?
If by the start of the first game Sunday, a team has a player in their active lineup who is either on a bye or on season-ending injured reserve, the commissioner must correct it and fill out said team’s active lineup with its bench players. You put in the player with the highest point projection as per the web site. If the team doesn’t have enough players on the bench to do so, then some zeroes have to be accepted, but at least then, there is some semblance of competition here and not a team skating with a win because their opponent has only half an active lineup. It’s really as simple as that. Every web site does a weekly point projection, so it’s easy to insert the “optimal lineup.” If two players have the same projection, then pick the guy whose NFL team has the better record. If those are the same too, then go alphabetically. Flip a damn coin for all I care. Just make sure that the stupid lineup is filled.
Now unfortunately for those who find themselves suffering from this dead weight issue right now, there’s nothing you can do this season. The “Optimal Lineup Rule” as I like to call it must be implemented in the offseason. Try doing it now and listen to all the crybabies in your league pissing and moaning about not getting their freebie week. But once you do adopt it, you’ll never go back. One of my leagues adopted it four years ago and it works amazingly. We’ve since weeded out the dead weight and have never had an issue since, but we also know that if something unexpected happens you’re not necessarily screwed over because you didn’t have a chance to set your lineup.
Oh yeah, and if you’re thinking that adopting this rule can allow you to skate by a little easier, there’s league expulsion if the commissioner has to bail you out more than three times in a season. Just say no to dead weight, people. Your fantasy sports life will be much better for it.