Fantasy Football DIspute No. 2603 -- Free Agent Bid Allowed Despite Imperfect Form

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COURT OF FANTASY FOOTBALL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	x	Index No. 2603 Date: December 12, 2008 Dispute: Alleged Rule Violation Judge: Brett Smiley FREE AGENT BID ALLOWED.
LEAGUE MANAGER, on behalf of the LEAGUE Petitioner, - against - IN CASE OF EMERGENCY ("ICE") Respondent.	: : : : : : : : : :
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Petitioner, the LEAGUE MANAGER, on behalf of the LEAGUE, brings this fantasy football dispute in the COURT OF FANTASY FOOTBALL seeking review of a bid submission that, strictly speaking, does not conform with the proper form pursuant to the rules posted by the League Manager. However, for the reasons set forth herein, this Court rules in favor of ICE and upholds the bid. This is a case of first impression so we rely on no precedent in reaching our holding.

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

The fantasy football dispute presented here is whether or not the bid was legitimate.

This calls into question the rulebook, as set forth in a league-chat, which provides:

All bids will be made here. A bid may not be edited. If it is edited it will not count.

Free agents will be open for bidding at 3 a.m. on Tuesdays. Bidding will conclude at p.m. on Wednesday.

Each team will have a $100 budget for the first half of the year. Budgets will reset after week 7.

All bids must be made in whole dollars, otherwise they will not count.

If an owner is over his allotted budget at 7 p.m. on Wednesday all of his bids will be disqualified.

At 7:01 p.m. on Wednesday I will post the auction winners and they will be allowed to add their players. At this time, all remaining free agents become fair game.

If an owner picks up a player before 7 p.m. on Wednesday or picks up a player that he has won an auction for, he will be fined $20 free agent dollars and will lose a roster spot for that week.

All teams currently have their full $100 budget.

ALL posts are to be made using this format: (Example) Tom Brady $1

The relevant evidence was reviewed and instructive in reaching our decision.

Through the course of the season the league members established a norm that deviated from the strict rule above (although, the rule did not prove strict)—that bids would be recognized even if they did not conform with the rule—First name, Last name $. The league members earlier in the season challenged a bit of “Moore 45” which was upheld in awarding the bidder Mewelde Moore using $45 from his budget. The Court suspects that numerous other nonconforming bids were made, accepted and not challenged.

And so the bid at issue now is Colts 6. ICE submitted the name of the “player” (Colts) and a dollar value (6). Yes, it was not in the "proper form”, which would have been Colts $ 6 (a sub-issue, the absence of “D/ST” discussed supra).

As noted above, the League Manager indicated to the Court in its letter that more than one bid had previously been recognized that did not follow form. In light of that, it would be wholly unfair to penalize ICE in this instance for making a bid (and ultimately winning) that indeed wasn't in "proper form", but in a form that had previously been accepted. Effectively, this matter has been decided by the League’s own prior ruling.

Curiously, the bid was actually accepted and this challenge to its legitimacy comes after a playoff game was decided by the Colt’s D/ST point total. Indeed, this ruling is based on the doctrines of equitable estoppel, whereby this challenge comes too late as ICE has already relied on the bid acceptance in setting his roster, and acquiescence/ratification whereby the nonconforming bid form had been previously accepted and therefore the League cannot deny it now based on circumstance.

Significantly, part of the argument against the bid suggests that the absence of the "D/ST" after "Colts" is part of the problem. But nothing in the League Manager’s petition or the evidence indicates that a player's position is supposed to be part of the bid. The example was not "Tom Brady QB $1". Rather, it was "Tom Brady $1". And so this Court cannot agree that the presence (or lack of presence) of "D/ST" from the bid has any effect whatsoever.

HOLDING

For reasons set forth herein, this Court rules that the free agent bid should be upheld.

The Ryan Howard Contract

Yesterday, the Phillies announced that they reached a five year extension with Ryan Howard, worth $125 million.  Howard will be 31 by the time his current contract (which runs through 2011) expires and several analysts have been critical of this new contract.

I would argue that Howard falls behind Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins and is the third most valuable position player on his team, so is he worth the money?  If the Phils pay for past performance and reward Howard for his past contributions, I guess so, but this deal handcuffs the Phillies financially.  Sure, they are a bigger market team and probably have more resources than, say, the Pirates, but the Phillies will have to make some tough financial decisions in the near future that will be impacted by the Howard deal.  First, productive right fielder Jayson Werth is a free agent at the end of the year and will probably walk now that Howard signed a big deal.  Rollins and Brad Lidge are only under contract through 2011 (Rollins through 2010 with a club option that is sure to get picked up for 2011, Lidge with an option for 2012 that probably won't be).  Other players like Shane Victorino and Cole Hamels are only signed for the next few years.  Philadelphia won't be able to sign them all to long contracts.  Cliff Lee would have loved to be Philadelphia's number two starter, behind Roy Halladay, but the Phillies traded him to Seattle the same day they acquired Halladay.  Why couldn't the Phils use some of the money they spent on Howard to re-sign Lee, a free agent at the end of the year? 

With contract uncertainty for a good portion of the rest of their roster, you can't help but wonder if the Phillies just spent $125 million efficiently. 

May Commissioner Goodell Legally Suspend Ben Roethlisberger?

Yesterday, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became the first NFL player suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell who has not been charged or convicted of a crime. Whether this suspension will stand, however, depends upon how one interprets a few important clauses in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.

First, whether the NFL Personal Conduct Policy is even part of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA") is not entirely clear. NFL club-owners announced the league's current Personal Conduct Policy on April 10, 2007, which postdates the most recent CBA. While the NFL Personal Conduct Policy was informally approved by a group of NFL players, the NFL Personal Conduct Policy was never written and signed into the CBA (at least not according to publicly available information). This may present a problem for Commissioner Goodell's enforcement because Article LV, Section 19 of the NFL CBA states that "[n]one of the Articles of this Agreement may be changed, altered, or amended other than by a signed written agreement."

Second, presuming the NFL Personal Conduct Policy is not deemed part of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, Commissioner Goodell may alternatively argue that Paragraph 15 of the NFL Player Contract allows him to suspend Roethlisberger for "being deemed guilty of any other conduct reasonably judged by the League Commissioner to be detrimental to the League or professional football." Paragraph 15 of the NFL Player Contract is part of the CBA, as it is incorporated by reference as Appendix C. However, it is not altogether clear that Ben Roethlisberger has done anything "detrimental to the League or professional football," nor that he is in any way "guilty" as the term may be defined by that paragraph.

Finally, it is worth noting that Paragraph 11 of the NFL Player Contract grants individual club owners the power to terminate any player contract if that player "is engaged in personal conduct, reasonably judged by [the club] to adversely affect or reflect on [the club]." This clause seems to be far broader than Paragraph 15 of the NFL Player Contract and may present grounds for the Steelers to terminate Roethlisberger's contract. However, this clause extends only to a player's team, and not to the Commissioner, who is acting on behalf of the league overall.

(Cross-posted on Sports Law Blog)

The Mulligan: Zurich Classic at New Orleans

This week the Tour heads down to N'awlins to play the crazy TPC Louisiana. This is a crazy course because nobody really knows what it takes to win here. Many people will tell you a strong putting performance is the key, while others say accuracy from the tee box is the most important factor. Still yet others will adamantly claim that hitting greens with your irons is the most important part of the game on this course.

Success here has come in many forms in the past and it appears that many different styles of play can succeed here. So who is going to play well this week? I have a few reasoned picks that are based on a formula of momentum, past success and gut-feeling.

First, I think Brian Davis has a lot of confidence coming in this week after his great weekend (despite the ugly ending to his tournament) at Hilton Head. I think Davis folded under the pressure last week and that tells us a lot about where he stands as far as being ready to win on this Tour. I still think he will have a good week, simply because the timing of his swing is perfect, but don't look for him to close on Sunday anytime soon.

I also think Charles Howell III is going to have a good week. He almost won here last year where he finished tied for second so we know he can play well here. Also, he has six Top-25 finishes in 2010 so we know his game is on. Look for Trip to have a good week.

I am not quite ready to give up on Jerry Kelly even though he might as well have putted with an upside-down left-handed driver with the headcover still on last week (he finished last in putting during last week's tournament). Nobody seemed to notice that he actually played quite well other than his putting. I am willing to bet the poor putting was a fluke and that JK will be back to form this week to contend for the trophy. . . And he won here last year! This is my pick to win IF he decides to use a putter rather than an elongated lint-brush on the greens.

My sleeper pick is Bryce Molder this week. He has actually been quite consistent this season which makes me think he may be good for a Top-10 this week.

The Mulligan: The Verizon

Congrats to Phil Mickelson on winning his third green jacket last weekend. It was a great Masters to watch for golf fans everywhere watching a battle to the very end. Anthony Kim and K.J. Choi really came alive and applied pressure while Lee Westwood played very well all weekend. Now the Tour heads to Harbour Town for the Verizon Heritage. Harbour Town is a very short course with small greens, so precision players should play well here this week.

K.J. Choi played extremely well at Augusta and I think he will carry that momentum into this week's tournament. He hasn't played here since 2001, so we don't know how he feels about the course, but it seems to set up nicely for his game. He hasn't missed a cut in 2010 and he is 5th on Tour in GIR.

Jerry Kelly played well at Augusta but flew somewhat under the radar. He shot a 67 on Saturday and finished the tournament tied for 12th. That makes three top-15 finishes in his last 5 starts. I think he will have a good week again at Harbour Town now that he has found his swagger again.

Matt Kuchar is 12th in Putting and 27th in GIR on Tour. Those statistics are very important this week, and Kuchar has been playing well recently. To top it off, he finished tied for 7th here in 2008 and tied for 10th here in 2005. He was a popular expert pick for the Masters, but I think this course sets up better for his game. He is my pick to win this week.

Baseball Collusion: MLBPA Opens 2010 Season with New Set of Concerns

On Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reported that the Major League Baseball Players Association may file a grievance against Major League Baseball club-owners for allegedly colluding in the market to sign free-agent players during the 2009-2010 off-season. One reason why the MLB players union seems to believe that club-owners have engaged in collusion is because player salaries rose only by 1% last season, even though total league revenues have increased at an annual rate of 7.6% over the past three years .

Another reason why the MLBPA may be concerned about collusion is that MLB club-owners have a long history of colluding in the free-agent player market. For example, in my 2008 Wayne Law Review article, "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones," I discuss how three arbitration decisions from the 1980s found MLB club-owners to have colluded against players' rights. One esteemed labor arbitrator, George Nicolau, even found Commissioner Bud Selig to have been directly involved in collusion during the 1986-87 off-season (see pages 619-20).

With this week's newest collusion concerns, the MLBPA now has to decide whether to file a formal labor grievance over three separate, outstanding sets of claims:

• First, there are this week's collusion allegations, over which MLBPA leader Michael Weiner has stated "in one fashion or another we will respond."

• Then, there are similar allegations from the 2008-09 off-season, over which the MLBPA, one year after announcing its concerns, still has not filed a grievance.
  

• Finally, there are even allegations of collusion dating back to the 2007-08 season that involve the market for now-retired outfielder Barry Bonds. In October 2008, the MLBPA announced that it had made a preliminary finding of collusion against MLB club-owners in the market for Bonds's services; however, the union thus has neither filed a grievance nor publicly settled this matter with baseball's club-owners.
  

(Cross-Posted on Sports Law Blog)

The Mulligan: The Masters

Even the casual golf fans are excited about this week's Masters. Tiger is back and for many, the Masters signals the start of the spring golf season. To win at Augusta, you need length off the tee and nerves of steel. You need to putt well and get a few lucky breaks. For a good article about what it takes to score well at Augusta these days, click here. The first major of the year will set the tone for the rest of the season and everyone wants to come out and play their best this week.

Retief Goosen is my pick to win this week. He has finished in second place at The Masters twice before and he has yet to hang a green jacket in his closet. He has two US Open victories and he likes Augusta. He has played very well in 2010, with five Top-6 finishes so far including a victory at the Tavistock Cup. He is 3rd in total putting and 24th in total driving. This might be the year for Goosen to get his Green Jacket.

Steve Stricker played very well here last year where he finished tied for sixth. With the exception of his final two rounds at Bay Hill two weeks ago, Stricker has played extremely well this season as well. Don't count him out. He is coming off of a week of rest that I think will recharge the batteries and leave him playing his best. If he is on, there might be no one who can beat him.

Justin Leonard might surprise some people this week and compete for the title. This is not far enough off base of a pick to make a sleeper, but it is close. His best finish so far this season is a tie for 17th at the Honda Classic, so it is a bit of a reach. Maybe I just have a gut feeling about him this week. Leonard has a British Open title to his name so we know he has the nerve's to close out with the pressure on. He might surprise this week.

SportsJudge Planning to "Cruise" in FantasyPros911 League

For the second consecutive year, FantasyPros911 held its "experts" fantasy league auction. However, this "experts" league is unlike all others in two respects. First, the league has an upper and lower division and uses a 2-team promotion/relegation system similar European soccer. Second, there is a real prize for the league winner--a cruise for two. Thus, all owners have the incentive to give it their best shot.

In 2009, SportsJudge.com placed second in the Blogger Division (NL-Only), earning us a promotion to the group of Experts (AL-Only).

This year, we are facing off against a collection of experts that features Patrick DiCaprio (2009 winner, FantasyPros911, MIT graduate); Jason Mastrodonato (2009 runner-up, Mastersball.com) and Adam Ronis (beat writer, New York Newsday).

Here is our 2010 AL-only "Experts" team:

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia 4
C Dioner Navarro 4
1B Miguel Cabrera 35
2B Robinson Cano 25
3B Garrett Atkins 5
SS Derek Jeter 25
2B/SS Dustin Pedroia 28
1B/3B Mark Teixeira 36
OF B.J. Upton 24
OF Alex Rios 20
OF Jose Guillen 7
OF Felix Pie 2
OF Willie Bloomquist 3
DH Willy Aybar 4
P Phil Coke 3
P Brad Bergesen 2
P Gil Meche 5
P Jake Westbrook 2
P Matt Guerrier 2
P Jeremy Bonderman 2
P Fernando Rodney 2
P Ryan Rowland-Smith 3
P Dustin McGowan 1
BE Freddy Garcia 2
BE Kyle Drabek 1
BE Brandon Morrow 4
BE Joe Nathan 2
BE Andruw Jones 4
BE Dontrelle Willis 2
BE Bill Hall 1

Fantasy Dispute Resolution Discussed in Florida Sun Sentinel

Sarah Talalay of the Florida Sun Sentinel wrote an article last week about SportsJudge.com and the market for fantasy sports dispute resolution. To quote a section of the article:

Perhaps it was inevitable that a hobby that has grown so large it has spawned fantasy magazines, television shows, stats services and trophy manufacturers would need arbitration services, too. After all, fantasy leagues typically are run by a commissioner who is also a team owner.

"The game is being overseen by someone who has a vested interest, even when you're not dealing with disputes that involve the commissioner's team," SportsJudge.com founder and Barry University law professor Marc Edelman said.

Edelman began getting requests for fantasy legal help as a law student in 2001. In 2007, he launched SportsJudge.com, which charges $15 a dispute, or $100 for 10, and returns opinions that cite past SportsJudge decisions within 48 hours.

No one is getting rich from the services. So far, all say they do it as a hobby because they enjoy it — but they are seeing growth.

Next Up in Selig's Free Stadium Game: Tampa Bay?

They've got a dynamic offense, a great new closer, and a 2008 World Series birth under their belt. Next up for the Rays: a new stadium?

According to the Tampa Bay Online, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig might involve himself in the stadium negotiations between Rays ownership and their municipality. This would be nothing new for Selig, who just last year helped Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Luria to obtain a new publicly funded stadium.

I have written extensively about how professional sports leagues maintain an under-supply of teams to ensure public stadium financing. For example, in my law review article Sports and the City: How to Curb Sports Teams' Demands for Free Public Stadiums, I explain how the Florida Marlins pressured their municipality into providing huge subsidies by threatening to otherwise move to Las Vegas.

It will be interesting to see what develops in Tampa Bay. Until now, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg has not threatened franchise relocation. It is not clear, however, that Selig would follow the same classy approach.