Ask The Commish: Do I Have to be the League Babysitter?

Commish,

We have an IR slot and a “covid” slot. I picked up Cam Akers weeks ago and he has been in my IR slot ever since. Last week our commissioner told me I couldn’t put him there because he’s NFI-R which according to Yahoo’s IR rules, is not eligible. The R literally stands for reserve! I get it, but I don’t. I moved him to my regular roster but I didn’t think it was fair to be forced to do it. I just think it’s common sense. Do you think he’s right, or do I have an argument?

Technically, he’s right. I use Yahoo for my league, and I’m quite aware of that list:

• Eligible designations - IR (Injured Reserve), Out (O) and Physically Unable to Perform (PUP).
• Ineligible designations - D (Doubtful), NA (Not Active), P (Probable), Q (Questionable), and SUSP (Suspended).

NFI-R (Non-Football Injury, Reserve) is not on the list. If there isn’t anything in your league rules that adds to, or modifies Yahoo’s eligible designations, then NFI-R doesn’t qualify. Could your league commissioner make an exception? Sure, but he’s following the rules. He’s not obligated to allow any of you to put a player in the IR slot that isn’t  “allowed” according to the written rules laid down by Yahoo. While I understand his postition from the standpoint of applying the rules as written, I personally don’t see anything wrong with what you’re doing if we approach the matter based on simple logic.

Take a peek at your league rosters to see if anyone is using an IR-R player in the IR slot. This designation is for players who are on injured reserve, but who are slated to return. This designation is not on the list either. Make sure you lobby your league to encourage your commissioner to have these additional designations added to your league rules for next season.

I realized that I myself, didn’t update the rules in my league to allow either IR-R  or NFI-R. Why not? Because I used the Yahoo rules as my guide. I think the folks at Yahoo never got around to editing or updating their rules. I chose to take a different position than your commissioner. Yes, I think that common sense should prevail in this case. NFI-R and IR-R are both “reserve” designations. I’ve chosen not to penalize my league just because I failed to notice that Yahoo hadn't added applicable IR designations to their official eligible list.

Commish.

Read your Two Hats article, what about a third hat for being a babysitter? I’m tired of all the arguing and fighting going on. We have a chat room and a message board and there’s some arguing and smack talk going on all the time. Suggestions on what I can do?

I never quite understood why some people seem to think smack talk is a required element of fantasy football. I stand on the side of the room where it’s not. That said, to me, smack talk is more effective as a verbal tool, and sometimes the printed word suffers from a loss in translation. This provides fertile ground for drama to launch online. Someone misunderstands the sarcastic tilt of a comment, and you’re off to the races.

Are you tired of it because you’re participating yourself? Then why not remove yourself from the fray? Are you just reading what’s going on and it’s bothering you? Then don’t visit. What you don’t read can’t disturb you. Make the choice to let them be. Your only concern should be if the back and forth is affecting the functioning of the league itself. If managers are putting forward rosters, dropping players, picking up players, and no one is colluding, then you’re good. Consider detangling yourself, and let them be.

On the other hand, chat rooms and message boards are not a requirement for playing fantasy football. They are not an integral part to the inner workings of a league. And, if by chance this is a league you started, and if this is not the type of environment you envisioned for your league, then shut them down. It’s your league, be happy with what you created. Just make sure you send out a league email first citing what you’re going to do and why.

If for some odd reason, if yapping at somebody else in a chat room is the pinnacle of someone’s fantasy football experience, and they choose to leave your league just because they can longer do it? I say, fine, so long and farewell.

Send your questions to The Commish: thecommishshow@outlook.com