H20's Fantasy Football League
"Official Rulebook"


I. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
Teams and League Makeup . . . . . . . . . ...III
League Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV
The Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .V
Rosters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. VI
Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .VII
Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. VIII
Tiebreaker Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IX
The Playoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X
Miscellaneous Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .XI
Payouts and Ownership Fees. . . . . . . . . XII

II. INTRODUCTION
This is the official rulebook of the H20 Fantasy Football League. All league members should read it. Members should also print out a copy of this rulebook for future reference.
The idea behind fantasy football is that you have the opportunity to draft players from the NFL to play on your own team. For this reason, it is called "fantasy" football. You build your dream team and compete against everyone else's. In addition, throughout the season you will have the opportunity to draft, release, and acquire players for your team.
Your team will score points based on the individual performances of your players in their NFL games. The resulting total score of the players on your "starting lineup" will be compared to that of the team you have met in head-to-head match up. The team with the highest score will win the match and a win-loss record for each team will be kept throughout the season. At the end of the regular season, the teams with the highest records will move on to play in the league playoffs for the championship.

III. TEAMS AND LEAGUE MAKEUP
A. TEAMS AND DIVISIONS
The H20 FFL will be made up of 12 teams making up three divisions.
B. OWNERSHIP OF TEAMS
The league commissioner will grant ownership of team franchises. The franchise will be granted at his discretion based on the verbal application submitted by the prospective team owner. Team owners have the right to return year-to-year without filing a new application as long as they remain in good standing with the league.
C. CHANGING OF OWNERSHIP
When a new owner takes over a team previously held by another, the owner has the right to rename the team and select a new team logo (except during the middle of a season). The new owner will take over all administrative powers of the team. The new owner, in his first draft, will be required to bring the beer for the entire league on said draft day (usually 4 cases or a keg, whichever is easier for the owner).
D.  CHANGING RULES
The changing of any league rule will be voted on, and approved by a majority of the league owners.  If no majority is reached, the rule will stand as it presently reads .

IV. LEAGUE SCHEDULE
A. REGULAR SEASON
The regular season will be made up of 14 games spanning the first 14 games of the NFL regular season. Each team will play their three divisional rivals twice during the regular season and will play all of the remaining eight teams in the league once.
B. POST-SEASON
The post season will begin in the 15th week of the NFL regular season and will continue through the 17th week. Week 15 will serve as the quarterfinal round, 16 as the semifinals, and 17 as the Superbowl.

V. THE DRAFT
A. DRAFT ORDER
The order of the league draft will be determined in mid July, and will be chosen at random via some creative process (pulling cards, or numbers out of a hat, etc). The draft will be conducted in "serpentine" fashion - meaning 1-12; 12-1; 1-12; 12-1; etc
B. OWNER PRESENCE
The presence of every owner will be required for the draft. The commissioner WILL NOT draft for owners who are unable to attend the league draft (either live, via phone or internet). All owners will be expected and required to work with the commissioner to determine a time where every owner can be present for the draft. If an owner does not show up for the draft, they will not have any players drafted for them (unless they supply a designated person to draft in their place) and will have to wait until the beginning of the regular season to pick up free agents. Failure to attend the draft is also an offense, which may lead to an owner's expulsion from the league.
C. TIME, DATE, AND PLACE
The draft will be conducted in the Commissioner's location of choice (i.e. his home, bar, or conference room). The date and time of the draft will be announced with plenty of time to reschedule any pending engagements (with the exception of weddings, births, and deaths), usually by the beginning of the summer, and will (typically) be held the weekend before the first NFL regular season game.
D. CONDUCTING THE DRAFT
The draft will begin promptly at the time specified by the league commissioner. Not five minutes later, not 10 minutes later. Be there on time or risk losing a draft pick (or more). The league commissioner will be present roughly 30 minutes before the beginning of the draft to answer any last minute questions.
The Commissioner will call on each team on their turn to draft. Once called, the team will have 4 minutes (and no more) to give their pick, through the first ten rounds. In rounds 11 - 18 owners will have 2 minutes. Owners are expected to pay attention during the entire draft, keeping up with who is already picked and being prepared to make picks quickly on their next turn. No leniency will be given with time limits. Timing will begin as soon as the Commissioner announces a team's name.
If an owner does not make a pick within the time limit, the owner following him in the draft will be allowed to make his selection ahead of the previous owner. At that time, the owner that was skipped will be again allowed to make his selection. However if he is still not ready, the next owner will be allowed to pick….this will continue until the original owner has made his selection.
When making your pick, be sure to give all of the following information: Player Name, Position, and NFL Team.

VI. ROSTERS
A. NUMBER OF PLAYERS
A complete team roster is made up of 18 players. The only minimum requirements of a roster are the ability to fulfill the starting lineup requirements (see below). Therefore, a team can have as many as 10 QBs etc (see below)
B. STARTING LINEUPS
Starting lineups consist of 8 players. All teams must submit lineups that follow these guidelines: 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Runningbacks (RB), 3 Wide Receivers (WR), (or 2 WRs and 1 Tight End (TE)), 1 Place Kicker (K), 1 Defensive Team (DF).
Violations of starting lineup requirements will result in the inability to enter a lineup into the site. In the case that the website fails, or you have trouble with it, you are required to contact someone (preferably the commissioner), and inform him of your TRUE lineup. The commissioner has access to change lineups after the fact.
1. STARTING LINEUP DEADLINES
All owners must submit their starting lineups for the week's games five minutes prior to the beginning of the first game of the week. This is usually 11:55 am CST Sunday mornings (you actually have until kickoff to make changes, but five minutes before should provide a failsafe in case of problems). If the game is any earlier, you are only required to submit the players involved in THAT game. The rest of your lineup will be due five minutes before the Sunday games.
2. LINEUP REQUIREMENTS
Each team will be expected to submit a starting lineup every week. If you fail to submit a starting lineup, the previous week's lineup will be used. However, if you fail to submit a starting lineup for 4 consecutive weeks (even if you plan to make no changes), the commissioner has the right to declare your game a forfeit (see "Owner Participation" section in Part IX below for more consequences).
Starting lineups will be accepted by the forms provided on the league website. Lineups may not be submitted by phone except in the most dire of situations (i.e., web server is down, or PC not available).
3. PENALTIES FOR BYE-WEEK STARTERS
If you start a player on a bye week, you will be charged $5, and will be fined 5 points for that week's game. The penalties will compound as well (i.e. start 3 guys on bye-week, $15, and 15 point deduction)
C. MULTI-POSITION PLAYERS
When a team drafts a player who plays multiple positions, they must declare what position that player will fill. After which, that player will remain associated with that position for the entire game.
D. PLAYER RETIREMENT
Any player who goes into retirement, or is declared retired by the league commissioner may be drafted or acquired by an H20FFL team. If a team is currently holding a retiring player, it may keep the player. If the team drops the player at any time, it may re-acquire that player, as can any other team (Barry Sanders may be coming back?!?), but will count as a roster position.
E. RETAINING PLAYERS FROM SEASON-TO-SEASON
The H20FFL is a not a keeper league, meaning that teams may not keep players from season to season. We start fresh every year.

VII. TRANSACTIONS
A. TRADES
1. Trading will be allowed between teams as soon as all teams have acquired their draft position in Mid-July. Trades made during the pre-season will be processed upon their completion, and will not be held against a "deadline" as done during the regular season.
2. Once you trade away a player, you may not reacquire that player through any means for at least one week (for example: let's say you trade away a player in week 1, you will not be allowed to bring that player back on your roster until at least week 3.) All players added to your roster will result in a cost of $1.
3. There are no limits to the number of trades you may make in a week, or in a season. All players added to your roster will result in a cost of $1.
4. To make a trade, all of the owners involved in a trade must email or phone the league commissioner prior to the deadline (see below) advising him of the proposed trade.
5. Once both teams submit their proposals, a trade agreement may not be rescinded.
6. If one owner sends a confirmation message to the commissioner prior to the deadline, and the other sends one after the deadline, the trade will be processed the following week (the trade can not be rescinded once confirmed by the second owner). Owners may, however, in their confirmation message to the commissioner reserve the right to rescind their confirmation if the other owner fails to submit one by the deadline.
7. Uneven trades are allowed except when the trade will cause a violation of roster and/or starting lineup requirements (drops and adds may be required). There will be no kangaroo court; there will be no voiding of trades. There will however, be a committee made up of the commissioner and two owner's of the commissioner's choice, that will review questionable trades at the end of a season to determine if disciplinary action will need to be taken in those extreme cases of suspected cheating. All trades will be permissible, and if the integrity of the league is found to have been compromised, the offending owners will be severely disciplined (including, but not limited to expulsion from the league). This means that even the "taker" of an "unethical" trade will be penalized. Make your trades fair guys. And be prepared to defend your position.
8. Once a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they may no longer make trade requests. They will still be allowed to make free agent acquisitions, as they will still be vying for the "shit bowl".

B. TRADING FOR DRAFT PICKS & PRE-DRAFT TRADING
Trading for draft picks will be allowed ONLY after all teams have received their lottery position. Trading prior to the draft may be uneven. However, no extra rounds will be added to the draft to enable teams to pick up extra players. Teams who have fewer than 18 players after the draft as a result of uneven pre-draft trading must wait until the first transaction period begins (the Monday following the draft).
Teams who make trades that give them more draft picks than necessary to fill their roster during the draft can, of course, use those extra draft picks to make other uneven trades. However, if they keep the extra draft picks, they will only be allowed to draft until they have completed a roster of 18 players, but if they should, for any reason, be skipped in a round of the draft, they can use one of those extra draft picks to compensate.
Trades made during the pre-draft trading period must be given to the commissioner before the trade is announced on draft day.
1. There are no restrictions to how many and which picks a team may use in a trade deal involving draft picks.
2. Trading for future draft choices is not allowed.
3. If a league owner does not return to the league next season, the replacement owner is bound to the terms of any trade made during the previous season involving future draft picks as if he had made the trade deal himself, and the previously paid money will be added to the leagues funds as additional payout monies.
4. Trades involving "future" draft picks can only utilize picks from the following season, and must be in writing to the commissioner and posted on the leagues message board.
C. ACQUISITIONS/WAIVERS
1. Acquisition and/or Waiver requests can be made from the week prior to the first week of the regular season throughout the entire fantasy season. There will be no Add/Drops during the playoffs (unless your only player at that position is listed as OUT for the upcoming game - "Doubtful" or "Questionable" are not exceptions). All players added to your roster will result in a cost of $1.
2. Acquisition/waiver requests may not be submitted until Monday morning, and will not be processed until Thursday 12:01 am.
2. Once you waive a player, no one may acquire that player through any means until the following week. All players added to your roster will result in a cost of $1.
3. Acquisition and waiver requests will be processed in the following manner:
a. The commissioner will hold all requests for acquisitions and waivers until 12:01 Thursday morning. All requests submitted after that will be on a first come, first served basis.
b. The commissioner will process a maximum of one request per team in reverse order of league standings at a time (in case of a tie in records, overall points will be used as a tiebreak). After the commissioner goes through the entire order, he will begin a second round of processing, again in reverse order of league standings). This process will continue until all requests have been exhausted.
c. If a team makes multiple requests, the commissioner will line up a team's requests in the order in which they were received and will process the earliest received requests first (unless otherwise stated in the request).
4. Acquisition and/or waiver requests will only be accepted using the forms provided on the league website. At no time will they be accepted by an email or by phone…. NO EXCEPTIONS! (This means, if you're driving in your car, and you hear Barry Sanders is coming back, you can not simply pick up your phone and call the commissioner, you must use the website!)
5. There is no limit to the number of acquisition and/or waiver requests you may make in a week.
6. Once an acquisition and/or waiver request is made it cannot be rescinded or replaced by another request (be sure to make wise decisions the first time). All players added to your roster will result in a cost of $1.
D. DEADLINES
1. For weeks where the NFL has scheduled games for Sundays and Mondays only, the deadline for submitting trade proposals and acquisition/waiver requests is 11 AM CST on the day of the first games.
2. For weeks where the NFL has scheduled the earliest game on Thursday, the deadline for submitting trade proposals and acquisition/waiver requests is one hour preceding Thursday's game unless there are no players involved in that game, then the previous rule applies.


VIII. SCORING
A. OFFENSIVE SCORING
1. All Touchdowns will earn 6 points.
2. Touchdowns of 50 or more yards will earn 9 points (with the exception of Special Teams and Def TDs)
3. Passing Yardage will earn 1 point for every 25 yards starting at 25 yards.
3. Rushing Yardage will earn 1 point for every 10 yards starting at 10 yards.
4. Receiving Yardage will earn 1 point for every 10 yards starting at 10 yards.
5. There will be a one (1) point deduction for every interception thrown.
B. DEFENSIVE / SPECIAL TEAMS SCORING
1. Defensive Touchdowns will earn 6 points.
2. Yards Allowed (rushing or passing)
Under 50 yards allowed = 5 points
Under 100 yards allowed = 2 points
3. Points Allowed
0 Pts Allowed = 5 Points
2 - 6 Points = 2
4. 1 Point will be scored for each quarterback sack.
5. 1 Points will be scored for each interception.
6. 1 Points will be scored for each fumble recovered.
7. 2 Points will be scored for each safety.
C. FIELD GOAL AND POINT-AFTER-TOUCHDOWN SCORING
1. A successful Two Point Conversion will score 2 points.
2. A successful Extra Point Field Goal will score 1 point.
3. A missed Extra Point or FG attempt will cost a player 1 point.
4. Field goals will be scored as follows:
1 - 39 Yards = 3 Points
40 - 49 Yards = 4
50 - 59 Yards = 5
60 - 69 Yards = 6
70 - 79 Yards = 7 (etc.)
5. Players that score Special Teams or Def TDs and are in your starting lineup will score points for you (i.e. you have Randy Moss starting as a WR, and he runs a punt back for a TD, you would receive 6 for the TD, no matter how many yards the TD is)
6. If you have the player and the defense, double scoring will be counted.

IX. TIE-BREAKER RULES
A. INDIVIDUAL GAMES
During the regular season, adding the collective score of your 18-man roster will break a tie. During the playoffs, the tie will be broken exactly the same way.
B. FOR DIVISIONAL TITLES
In the event of a tie for a divisional title (and hence an automatic berth to the playoffs), the following procedures will be used:
1. Divisional Record
2. Overall Points
3. Head-to-Head Record
4. Head-to-Head Scoring
5. Coin Toss
NOTE: In the event that a coin toss is necessary, both teams will share the divisional championship, but the coin toss will determine who wins the automatic berth into the playoffs.
C. LEAGUE STANDINGS (REGULAR SEASON)
During the regular season the league standings are used to determine who will be able to select free agents first. In the event of equal records, overall points scored then division record will be used (if still tied we will flip a coin).
D. LEAGUE STANDINGS (WILD-CARDS)
In the event of a tie to determine a playoff wild card, or positioning in the playoffs, the following procedure will be used:
1. Divisional Record
2. Overall Points
3. Head-to-Head Record
4. Head-to-Head Scoring
5. Coin Toss
E. MULTIPLE TEAM TIES
In the event of multiple teams tying, the commissioner will try to narrow the field using the above tiebreaker rules to as few as two teams. In any event, the commissioner will at least eliminate one or two teams before using tiebreakers further down in the list.

X. THE PLAYOFFS
A. PLAYOFF QUALIFICATIONS
The playoffs will be made up of 6 teams. Three positions in the playoffs will be given to each division's champion. A divisional championship is given to the team with the best overall record in its respective division.
The remaining three spots are wild cards. They will be given to the teams with the top three regular season records not including the divisional champions.
In case of a tie for a playoff berth, tiebreaker rules will apply (described above).
B. SEEDING
The seeding of the playoffs will be determined by overall regular season record. The 2 best records receive the #1 & #2 seeds respectively, and a BYE in the first week of the playoffs. The third division winner will not receive a bye.
In the event of a tie for a particular seeding, tiebreaker rules will be applied (described above).
C. FORMAT OF THE PLAYOFFS
Quarter Final: #1 & 2 - BYES; #3 vs. #6; #4 vs. #5
Semi-Final: After the first round we will reseed the teams. The lowest remaining seed will play the #1 team; the #2 team will play the remaining team.
Superbowl: the remaining teams play (regular tiebreakers apply).

XI. MISCELLANEOUS RULES
A. OWNER PARTICIPATION
Owner participation is a must in order for the season to be successful. Owners will be expected to actively participate in the league. You must submit starting lineups for your team even if you do not plan on changing the lineup. If the commissioner hears absolutely nothing from an owner for 4 consecutive weeks without prior explanation, he has the right to enforce penalties such as (but not limited to) game forfeiture or expulsion from the league.
B. THE COMMISSIONER
The commissioner is responsible for both managing the league and the league's website. This takes a great deal of time to accomplish, and due to the short time frame between games, pressure is added by the need to stick to deadlines. For this reason, please be patient when you submit starting lineups, waiver, trade, and acquisition requests, or ask questions via email.
C. EXPULSION OF A TEAM
In the event that a team owner intentionally breaks the rules set forth in this document, or plays the game in a spirit inconsistent in the manner in which the league was founded, the commissioner has the right to terminate ownership of a team.
D. APPEALS
Teams may find it necessary to make an appeal of a decision made by the commissioner. In the event that an owner believes that the commissioner has made the wrong decision, an owner may submit a request in writing via email to reconsider within 48 hours of the original decision explaining why he/she believes the commissioner's decision was wrong. If an appeal is not made within this time, it will not be considered and the original decision will stand. You may only make one appeal on a decision, so make sure you make your argument as detailed as possible the first time.
a. APPEALS FOR SCORING ERRORS
It is the responsibility of team owners to review their team's scores each week for errors. This is especially true during the first week or two of the season when there may be bugs in the league's scoring system.
All appeals for reviewing possible errors made in scoring must be submitted to the league commissioner within 72 hours of that particular week's results being posted on the web. No appeals will be accepted after that time, nor will any change be made to any team's score that resulted from such an error.
E. RULE RE-EVALUATION
From time to time, a situation may arise in which the rules, as written, may lend themselves to harming the position of a team in a way for which they were not meant to do when written. If such a situation arises, the league commissioner has the right to re-evaluate the league rules to determine whether the situation at hand is such that the intent of the rules when they were written cannot be upheld because the literal interpretation would lend itself to the contrary. If so, the commissioner can forego the rules, as written, in favor of the rules intent.
If the commissioner comes to such a decision, he must inform the other league owners by email; explaining the situation, the decision to forego the rule in question, and the reasoning for making such a decision. League owners who believe that the situation in question does not warrant a reevaluation of the league rules must inform the commissioner within 24 hours. If three (3) league owners independently send a message to the commissioner stating that they do not believe the rule should be forgone, the commissioner's decision will be overruled. If not, the commissioner's decision will be final.

F. RULEBOOK DEFICIENCIES
If in the course of the season loopholes are found in the league rules which would allow actions to be taken by an owner are inconsistent with the spirit of the league rulebook and of fantasy football in general, the commissioner has the right to edit said rules.

XII. PAYOUTS AND OWNERSHIP FEES
A. OWNERSHIP FEES
Subject to change yearly, the league ownership fee is $230. This will be broken down as follows:
League Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200
Pre-Paid Transaction Fee . . . . $20
League Website Fee . . . . . . . . $10
B. THE WINNINGS:
When the Superbowl winner has been determined, and all of the league fees have been collected, the payouts will be made as follows:
Super bowl winner . . . . . . . . . . . 50%
Super bowl loser . . . . . . . . . . . . 25%
Best record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Highest point total . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Highest total (week) . . . . . . . . . . 5%




The preceding document is the sole property of the H20 Fantasy Football League. Any attempts to copy or retransmit this document in any way without the expressed written consent of the Commissioner of The H20 FFL is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.