Official 2009 HMFF Rules

commissioner rule changes in italic
Voted rule changes in bold

I) Rules Meeting
	A) This is the official start to the fantasy football season. It is held sometime in July on a date based on owner’s availability. All owners are STRONGLY encouraged to attend so as to have a voice in the rules of the upcoming season. The following will be determined at the rules meeting: the official rules for the season, the auction order (V-B-1), the divisions, the renaming of the Toilet Bowl loser (XI-B), and any issues involving expansion, contraction, or ownership changes. The rules set at the rules meeting will be the rules for the entire season (with limited exceptions (I-C)).
	B) Questionnaire
		1) If you are unable to attend, you do have the option of filling out a questionnaire sent by the commissioner that will inquire about he topics to be discussed at the meeting. Input received will count as a vote on the issue when it is voted on. If you do not attend and do not send in the questionnaire you forfeit your vote, and it counts as a Null Vote (II-B). If you leave a question unanswered on the questionnaire you forfeit your vote on just that particular issue.
	C) Mid-Season Rule Changes
		1) A rule may only be changed mid-season for the following. 1) If there is any gray area discovered during the season. 2) If any situation arises that is not directly addressed in the rules. If either of the above situations occur one of the two routes may be taken. The rule change may either be put to a league vote (The same requirements for approval stand as if done during the rules meeting. (II)) or the commissioner may override the rule himself. The commissioner decides which is the appropriate option.
II) Voting
	A) Rules will be voted on by all owners present or by those who send in their recommendations in via e-mail (I-B) or phone. To alter a rule you must have a majority vote (7-5, 6-5, 4-3, etc). At least 7 owners must vote either yes, no, or abstain (II-C) on a rule change for it to even be considered. In the case of a tie, the old rule will stand.
	B) Null Votes
		1) Each Null Vote does not count as a vote for or against a new rule. Each Null Vote will drop the number of voters by one (12 to 11, 11 to 10, etc).
	C) Abstaining
		1) An owner may abstain from voting on any issue. To abstain means your vote does not count as a vote for or against a new rule. To abstain counts towards the minimum 6 votes and does NOT drop the number of voters by one.
III) Websites
	A) ESPN. This is site that will host our league. It is free for them to host our league. All roster moves and lineup changes standings, scores, etc will all be automatically scored through this site. There is also a message board on this site as well.
	B) www.hmff.net This page will have historical information regarding the league. The official rules for the season are found on this site. There will also be links to the ESPN site and any other relevant sites.
IV) Money
	A) Entry Fees
		1) The league entry fee is $80. The entry fee must be paid before an owner can draft (includes owners who are not present at the draft). Entry fees may be paid with cash, check, or small chests filled with gold. If received by check, the check will be cashed within 3 weeks of the draft
	B) At the end of the year the money is distributed to the winners.
		1) $250 - Superbowl Champion 2) $125 - Superbowl Runner Up 3) $125/3 divisions - Division Winners 4) $90 - First In Total Points 5) $20/6 games - Winner of each game rivalry week
	C) $120 is reserved for "rivalry week." This is a week, picked at random out of a hat. That week each of the 6 games played have $20 riding on them. The winner of each game receives the $20. In the case of a tie, each team gets $10. The rivalry week for the 2009 season is week 6.
V) Draft
	A) The draft is held as close to the start of the NFL season as possible and based on owner’s availability. You must pay your entry fee before you can draft (IV-A). If you do not pay at the draft you may draft once your entry fee is paid.
	B) This league uses the Auction System for drafting
		1) The draft order will be determined at the rules meeting (I-A) by drawing cards numbered 1 through 12. The draft order will go 1-12, 1-12, etc. There will be unlimited rounds until all rosters are filled. Once a team's roster is filled, that team forgoes their pick the rest of the rounds. You must fill your roster on draft day (VI-A).
		2) Each team receives F$200 fantasy dollars (Fantasy dollars will be shown by “F$”). The money is use or loose during the draft. None may be carried over into the season to be used for any reason. Once your money is gone you may no longer bid on players. You must have at least F$1 left for each empty roster spot (V-A).
		3) When your pick comes up you nominate any NFL player for any amount of money you can afford (V-B-2). You must bid at least F$1 and in even dollar amounts. Bidding is then open to all teams. Any team can bid any higher amount within their limitations. The team with the highest bid after the auctioneer (V-B-5) goes "Going once, Going twice, Sold!" acquires that player. The dollar amount bid on that player is then deducted out of the winning team's fantasy money. No other teams have any money deducted.
			a) In the case of an overbid the player is returned to the free agent pool and may be nominated again at any time. The team that overbid will not be penalized and any money deducted in the overbid will be returned.
		5) There will be an auctioneer that will oversee the auction. The auctioneer will keep track of the money each team has left to spend as well as who wins bidding wars. Preferably this is an independent person, but if one is not available then any owner not involved in bidding on a particular player will take over the auctioneer role.
		6) You may trade fantasy money and players during the draft.
VI) Rosters
	A) There will be 16 players on each team's roster. The only time a full roster must be filled is on draft day. You may have less than a full roster at any other time. There is no limit to how many or few of each position you have on your roster
	B) Position definitions are as follows.
		1) Quarterbacks, Running backs, Wide receivers, and tight ends are players listed as such on NFL.com. 2) Place Kickers and Return/Return Teams are team positions 3) Place Kickers are anyone who kicks for points 4) Defense/Return teams are defined as follows. The Defense is the team at the start of the play that does NOT put the ball in play (snap or kick). The return unit receives the ball after a kickoff or punt. Fakes are an offensive play.
VII) Lineups
	A) You will start 8 players each week. There will be 3 permanent starters: 1 Quarterback, 1 Place Kicker, and 1 Defense/Return Team. The last 5 starters, you may choose any one of the eligible formations (VII-B). Lineups carry over week to week unless changes are made.
	B) This league uses several different formations to fill out a lineup. These are the eligible formations
		1) Pro Set (2RB, 2WR, 1TE) 2) Run and Shoot (1RB, 4WR) 3) Trips Set (1RB, 3WR, 1 TE) 4) Double Tight End (2RB, 1WR, 2TE) 5) Single Set (1RB, 2WR, 2TE) 6) Goal Line (1RB, 1WR, 3TE)
		7) The 2RB 3WR set is illegal. ESPN cannot block this formation. Any owner caught using this formation will revert to the previous weeks lineup. The commissioner reserves the right to issue a 0 for the week if he deems it proper. You may change formations at any time, however normal lineup change restrictions apply (VII-C).
	C) Lineups must be either entered through ESPN or received by the commissioner and/or your opponent no later than 5 minutes before kickoff of each NFL player's game. This applies to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games, as well as noon, 3:00 and 7:00 Sunday starts. Once the 5 minute deadline is reached players can no longer be taken out or put in. All teams emails and phone numbers are available on hmff.net.
		1) Lineups will be accepted by the following means
			a) ESPN entry b) Email c) Phone Call d) Face to Face e) Text message f) Skywriting
		2) Lineup changes of any kind will not be accepted in any form after the 5 minute deadline (VII-C).
			a) No Forwarded Emails are accepted b) No phone calls c) No late Voice Mails or texts ("call received...") d) No posts on the message board
	D) In the case of extraordinary circumstances where an owner has absolutely no ability or no priority to make lineup changes, that team's opponent, along with the commissioner can make changes to their lineup. These changes will only be to obvious changes that the incapacitated team would no doubt have made if they were able to make changes (such as an injury to a star player or a bye week). The entire league will be notified of the changes being made. Again, this is only for extraordinary circumstances, such as military leave, death in the family, alien abduction, etc. It is not for the team with the "I got stuck at work late and was too lazy to change my lineup earlier in the week" excuse.
VIII) Scoring
	A) 1pt/20yds rushing B) 1pt/20yds receiving
		1) Rushing and receiving are added separately
	C) .5pt/20 yards passing D) 1pt per extra point made E) 1pt per turnover
		1) Turnovers are any defensive interceptions or defensive fumble recoveries.
	F) 1pt per sack G) 2pts per safety H) 2pts per 2-point conversion scored I) 3pts per field goal less than 50 yards made J) 4pts per touchdown thrown K) 4pts per field goal 50 yards or over that is made L) 6pts per touchdown rushed or received or defensive M) 5pts for a defensive shutout N) 4pts for a defense that allows between 2-6pts O) 3pts for a defense that allows between 7-13pts P) Half points are only allowed for passing yardage Q) No negatives are allowed R) It is recommended each owner look over your team's score and your opponents score after each week to ensure there are no errors in ESPN's automatic scoring.
IX) Transactions
	A) Transactions are done by two ways, either pickups or trades. The transaction deadline is midnight the night before the first NFL game of week 14
	B) Pickups
		1) Pickups are done via a blind bidding system. Bidding opens as soon as the draft is completed. Each team is allotted F$20 and unlimited pickups. With that money each team can place a bid on as many players as they want each week. You may only place one bid on a player at a time. You may change your bid up, down, or void it all together at any point while bidding is open. Once bidding is closed The comish or co-comish will distribute players based on the winning bids. The team that bids the highest on a player receives that player and pays the fantasy money they bid for him and must drop a player off their roster to make room if they have all spots filled. Teams that lose out on bidding retain their fantasy money. Once your fantasy dollars are gone you can no longer make pickups.
		2) In the case of a tie in biding, the normal tie breaker rules are followed (X-A). In case of a tie in bidding before the start of the season, neither team receives the player and he is returned to the bidding pool and may not be picked up under any circumstances (outside a free IR pickup (IX-B-7)) till following week's bidding.
		3) F$1 pickups begin at 10am Thursday after the bidding deadline for any players that are still free agents and go till 15 minutes before the start of each individual players NFL game that week (with the exception of week 14).
		4) The first bidding deadline is the Wednesday before the start of the NFL season. For this and all following weeks bids MUST be submitted via email to [email protected] by 10pm CST on Wednesday each week.
		5) Any player dropped may not be picked up till bidding opens for the following week. The only exception is if an IR pickup is used (IX-B-7).
		6) If a player is placed on the IR between the start of the season through the start of week 4, you may trade him in for a free pickup. This pickup has priority over all other pickups. These pickups must be used by the start of week 8 or they will no longer be accepted.
	C) Trades
		1) There are unlimited trades throughout the season. Fantasy money can be used in trades. Real money or other such objects cannot.
		2) A deadline of 11:59pm CST before each individual player's game is set for trading that player. Once that deadline is reached that player may not be involved in a trade till all the games that week are final.
		2) The Andy Karr Veto Rule is if an owner feels a trade is unfair, they my call for a league vote. The commissioner then must second it. Once seconded, the trade goes to a league vote. Normal voting rules apply (II-A). The votes must be received within 5 days of the veto rule being called. The trade being challenged will be suspended and players will remain on their original rosters till after the voting is completed.
X) Tie Breakers
	A) The following order determines playoff positions, divisional standings, and bidding ties.
		1) Overall Record 2) Head to Head Records (only applies to division tie and 2 team wild card tie) 3) Divisional Records (Only applies to division tie) 3) Total Points 4) Total Record 5) Point Differential 6) Coin Toss 7) Drinking contest
	B) In case of a tie in the playoffs each team will pick two bench players numbering them one and two. Their scores will be added normally and matched head to head by number. If there is still a tie, then we follow the normal tiebreaker rules (X-A)
XI) Playoffs
	A) The winners bracket consists of the three division winners and the next 3 teams record wise (Tie breaker rules my apply (X-A)). Winners bracket is played weeks 14-16
		1) The top two division winners receive a bye first round. The remaining 4 teams match off seed 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5. The 3 seed is the division winner not receiving a bye first round. The lowest seed advancing past the first round plays the #1 seed and the other gets the #2 seed. The winners of the second round games play the final week in the Superbowl.
		2) The Superbowl champion is awarded the Dave Hassel Memorial Trophy and may keep it till a new champion is crowned.
	B) The Andy Karr Memorial Toilet Bowl is a one game playoff between the #11 and #12 seeds. The loser of the Toilet bowl will have their team renamed for the next season. Toilet bowl is played week 14
	C) All Games are scored normally, only with the playoff tiebreaker rule in effect (X-B)
	D) Money is distributed in a timely manor upon the completion of the Superbowl.