Hey Everyone,

I want to take some time to address a huge concern as of late within the league. With just so much to cover, I’ll be providing an introduction, a summary of the issue,  and a decision.

Introduction

I’ll be honest, when I heard team play was back, I was excited and was hopeful about running a smooth league. I envisioned a great community and a straightforward process of running a league. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case. It seems over the years, the community has been more toxic than ever which makes no sense, and coming up with a flawless constitution was more difficult than none. When the constitution was adopted, roughly 70% of it was pulled from how we ran the league 7 years ago. That has seemed to be a huge mistake on my part because in today’s league, instead of people toughing out a ruling, they comb through the constitution to find loopholes and technicalities. Keep in mind when this constitution was adopted 7 years ago, we were young, mostly between the ages of 15-23. As we got older; we got smarter and in return, it is easy to pick apart an outdated constitution. I feel this announcement is necessary to move away from what has been transparent in the past week. Some of you may like the decision, some of you may don’t, but at the end of the day, we are all here to play in a league and sport we love.

Summary of the Issue

Since the cat is out of the bag, I will provide a summary of what has been transparent within the week. This all started with a VFL game between the Cowboys and Chiefs. A player on the cowboys asked a staff member in public chat if a certain rule is broken. That staff member said yes, and in return requested them to file a complaint to move forward from the situation as the general chat was not the place to discuss complaints. In return, other players started expressing their opinion about the video and an argument started. The staff ruled the decision to replay the game due to the evidence. The chiefs did not like the ruling so they fought the case by the loopholing and outdated constitution. They had a reverse decision due to 4.1.5 Disclosure. This in return received backlash in the general chat but for good reason. As a ruling was reversed by the Staff, I knew there was going to be more situations of this occurring. And this was the case with last night’s game between the Raiders and Cardinals. A team filed a complaint and when the complaint was successful, they then brought it up in the general chat. And of course, the cowboy’s team had a say in it which in return is trying to void the complaint.

What’s the difference between the Cowboys vs Chiefs and the Cardinals vs Raiders?

In the Cowboys vs Chiefs game, talks were already present before a complaint was submitted and decided on. With the Cardinals vs Raiders, a ruling was made.

But that’s not the bigger picture here, the issue is some of the sections in the constitution especially article 2. The disclosure statement isn’t ideal in today’s league. People can argue that public opinion sways staff decisions; it doesn’t. And I put that to the test with two of my complaints early. Both of which were rejected and ruled on fairly and these complaints were discussed in the general chat before 4.1.5 was being used as a loophole.

The decision

Over the next few days, I will be taking down article 2 for review and edits. A BOG’s main role is to look at the evidence and compare it to the rulebook and make an educated decision based on the scenarios. Just a reminder as stated in the rulebook: While there are consequences for each rule broken, BOGs can freely determine the appropriate course of action in situations where games have been determined by a broken rule.

4.1.5 Disclosure is this:

4.1.5: Disclosure

A player found to be discussing an incident under review, appeal, or otherwise conducting themselves in an inappropriate manner related to that incident, private or public, will forfeit their right to an appeal and immediately be registered with an offense.

No ruling is official until it has been communicated to the offending parties involved in the complaint. Only at that time will the ruling take effect.

Once a ruling has been made, and an offense has been registered, it will be posted publicly. The Commissioner will make this announcement, or assign a member of his staff to that task.

I Will revise it to this

4.1.5: Staff on public sway

Players without any staff roles can freely discuss players breaking rules regardless of the process of the complaint status if one has been submitted. However, the player must not freely say they a complaint is active but rather keep the discussion to the evidence submitted in the chat for opinions from other players.

Staff CAN NOT give an opinion on the topic in public view. Staff is not allowed to make rulings based on public sway. Doing so will offend the staff member.

Since 2 matchups have been affected by this; The following will be issued as make rights for the teams and their troubles

Cowboys vs Chiefs – Tie; The offender is reminded to not do it again. If offended, the suspension is to be served.

Cardinals vs Raiders- Tie; the offender is given a warning.

Moving forward, these cases will be handled accordingly and the rulings will be played out whereas the rulings from these cases were not due to 4.1.5

In closing, guys follow the rules. When a rule is broken, respect the ruling. Quit disrespecting staff. The rulebook is straightforward. We cannot grow as a community if this is how we’re going to play in the league, breaking rules, crying about decisions, etc. Just play the game the right way and no one will have issues. I apologize on my behalf for how rocky the season has been but that’s how it normally is. It’s a process of ironing things out and releasing this to the public is a good first in the right direction. Good luck to everyone tonight.