Constitution

MAZZA League Fantasy Football Constitution

Preamble 

We the People of the Mazza League, in order to form the best fantasy football league ever, establish the Mazza League, promise to defend their team in the best possible way, come to the draft after studying for hours and fully prepared, will adhere to all rules and play honorably, provide adequate time to the league that is needed, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Mazza Fantasy Football League in order to obtain the ultimate prize known as the Big Kibbeh.

The Mazza Fantasy Football League was created in 2007 with a select group of guys dedicated and devoted to fantasy football. They are known as the “core nine” and are founding fathers to the league. These brave gentlemen joined the league with the ultimate goal of winning the championship at any cost. They devoted tireless efforts and exhibit the utmost respect for the league at all times. The pride obtained from winning the Mazza League has not been taken lightly by any of the core nine. The core nine will always be a part of the league regardless of their current status. They made the league what it is and will never be forgotten.

In 2012, we finalized a group of 12 members that we had hoped would consider the Mazza patrons for the next 50 years. This occurred at the same time when the Mazza league instituted a rule of no partners. Following the 2014 season, one of our beloved members retired from fantasy football. It was the first instance and we hope it will never happen again, but we formed a new group of 12 known as the Dozen of Mazza. These members vowed to make this league the best possible league and do whatever is needed to achieve that goal.

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Article I – League Members

League Commissioner: Jospeh “Yossi” Nathaniel Abadi

The Commissioner is the executive, governmental, judicial, and administrative branch of the MAZZA league government. He is here to keep peace and harmony. The Commissioner makes decisions, executes decisions, carries out rules, maintains the validity of rosters, investigates any rules violations, handles all other matters pertaining to the league.

The Commissioner is appointed for life. A new Commissioner can take office only when/if the current commissioner decides to step down. The current commissioner can appoint a Co-Commish if he chooses to do so without consent and may also appoint anyone as the new commissioner. The commissioner has appointed Morris Kassin to be Co-Commish at this time. At no point will there be a league vote regarding any Commissioner matters. Matters pertaining to the game include, but are not limited to, the following: Transactions, Rules, Decisions regarding ownership, Conflict within the league.

During the season, all questionable, or otherwise unethical, transactions are subject to approval by the Commissioner as needed. The commissioner reserves the right to create rules at any point in the season that is needed to benefit the league.

For league-specific issues, please contact the league commissioner first.  If the league commissioner is unavailable, contact the co-commish.  If you cannot contact a commissioner or co-commissioner, and your issue is time-sensitive (for instance, if you are requesting a roster modification because you don’t have access to the Internet), please just e-mail both the commissioner and the co-commish before the specific issue takes place and they will decide if anything will be done retroactively.

If at any point, the esteemed commissioner emeritus, Dag decides to return to his post as commissioner of Mazza League, it will be approved and granted as such.

Members of the Core Nine:

Stanley J. Cohen Nissim “Nimo” Alouf Steven “Sharari” Harari
Ezra “Ezshi” Shiram Michael “Duke” Douek David M. Tawil
Moses Safdieh Charles J. Zami Dag

Mazza Dozen

Stanley J Cohen Michael “Duke” Douek
Ezra “Ezshi” Shiram Charles J Zami
Dag Steven “Sharari” Harari
Joseph “Joe” Saff Jospeh “Yossi” Nathaniel Abadi
Morris “Moshal” Shalom Albert “Alsav” Savdie
Morris “Mo Kass” Kassin Victor “Vic Sav” Savdie

Honored Members of the Mazza League
Moses Safdieh, David M Tawil and Nissim “Nimo” Alouf

Disgraced Booted Members from the Mazza League

Danny Sasson Menashe Gaiero Joey Bagdadi
Sammy Calvo Abie Sutton Sam Beda

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Article II – League Entry Fees & Dues

The following fees will be collected yearly to finance league operations and prizes.

Entry Fee: $300 plus league dues.

The league entry fee is comprised of a base $300 entry fee. While the majority will rule in most cases in regard to this league, this is one of the few exceptions. Any increase or decrease to the entry fee must be a unanimous decision by all standing league members. 

There are additional league dues every year to cover any costs of the league (trophy plates, draft board, draft game preparations, draft preparations, etc.) League fees vary depending on what is in store for the following year.

Lastly, there is a “Food Fee” that will be tallied up for all food and drink purchased for Mazza events.

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Article III – Prize Payout Structure

Our league awards cash prizes to the league winner, best season record, weekly winners and 2nd place. The dollar amounts may vary from year to year. 

Payout Structure

1st Place – $1800
2nd Place – $900
Best Season Record – $380
$300 league fee x 12 players = $3600 total
Weekly Winners – $40 each
$40 x 13 weeks = $520
$520 + $380 + $1800 + $900 = $3000

This structure can be changed anytime before the season starts. Any suggestions are welcome.

Method of payments accepted:

Quickpay
Venmo
PayPal
Cash

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Article IV – Playoff Configuration

The league will implement a 6 team Championship playoff bracket. The top 2 teams will get a bye for week 14. Team 3 will play Team 6 and Team 4 will play Team 5 in the week 14 playoff matchup. The winners will advance to play the top 2 teams in week 15. The 2 winners will play for the championship week 16 for the big kibbeh trophy.

This league will also implement a 6-team Loser playoff bracket.  The loser of the week 16 game will have their name on the toilet bowl trophy.

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Article V – Draft 

  1.  After 11 years of a snake draft, Commissioner Jospeh “Yossi” Nathaniel Abadi implemented an auction-style draft, which will allow each member to have an opportunity to bid on players they want.
  2. The auction budget per team has been set at 250 dollars. You may not exceed this budget
  3. Teams must draft a full roster at the draft. They must consist of these roster positions: QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, W/R/T FLEX, Q/W/R/T FLEX, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN.
  4. You may draft a player on the IR in the auction, but he will be considered a roster spot until the conclusion of the draft. At that point, you will then be able to put him in your IR spot and pick up a replacement.
  5. Trades are allowed during the draft, but auction values and budgets are not adjusted 
  6. Nominations will begin with the person standing to the left of the auctioneer and work clockwise.
  7. Each member will have 20 seconds to nominate a player. If they cannot do so in the allotted time, the auctioneer will pick from a list of players and nominate on their behalf.
  8. If there is any budget left when the last player of a team is being bought, the remaining budget is counted towards that player’s auction value.
  9. The auctioneer will do their best to dictate the pace and decorum of the draft. If there is a debate about when a bid was placed, he will decide (based on his best judgment) who it will be granted to.
  10. Members must always be vigilant during the draft and aware that if they step away from the war room, there is a risk of missing out on the player up for bid.

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Article VI- Blind Bid Program

  1. A limited group of players will be available to “blind bid” by each manager.
  2. A “Blind Bid” allows the manager to reserve the rights to purchase 1 player that he owned in the previous year, with some exclusions listed below.
  3. Any player that satisfies any of the below criteria is EXCLUDED from “blind bid”:
    1. Top 50 Players that will include the top 12 QB and the next 38 top Flex players (W/R/T) based on Yahoo’s Projected Rankings for the upcoming year. 
    2. Rookies.
    3. Players undrafted from the previous year
    4. Players reserved for a blind bid in the previous year.
    5. Players who were dropped prior to the trade deadline in the previous year.
    6. The Top 50 will be a rolling list, which would mean if a rookie or undrafted player from the previous year is projected to be in the top 50, they will not be excluded from the count of the top 50.
  4. The blind bid rights of any traded player belong to the team the player was traded to.
  5. The player you choose will have to be submitted prior to the draft to the person designated by the commissioner’s office.
  6. You will need to submit your player to the designated person prior to the date announced in the MNN chat.
  7. The “Blind Bid” list will be finalized in the week prior to that year’s auction draft.
  8. Once a designated player is called at the auction, the bidding will stop and all managers will submit their bid to the auctioneer, via silent auction. 
  9. The auctioneer will bring the highest bid to the manager who had right of refusal and he will decide whether he wants him at that price.
  10. If he chooses to pass, the owner with the highest blind bid wins the rights to the player.
  11. The rights to a blind biddable player are not transferable once the trade deadline of the season prior passes.
  12. You may not Blind Bid a player in consecutive years.

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Article VII –Rules

1. Teams will consist of these roster positions: QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, W/R/T FLEX, Q/W/R/T FLEX, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN. There will also be an IR spot available.

2. At no point can any team member have a partner without written consent from the commissioner and co-commish. If any team is found to have any other partner, they risk their position in the Mazza dozen.

3. There are no maximum moves or maximum trades in our league.

4. The trade deadline will always be week 10 of the NFL season. The deadline for trades will be that Sunday 1 PM. This will always be the trade deadline, regardless of what date it says on the yahoo site.

5. The 6 teams that do not make the playoffs will be locked from waiver pickups for the duration of the playoffs. However, in order to maintain the competitive balance of the league, teams will not get locked once they are mathematically eliminated from playoffs. All locked teams will start following week 13 and once the standings are finalized. The team that comes in last place in the regular season will be subject to much-deserved shame, as well as a punishment to be entering the players into Yahoo’s system or draft board for the next year’s draft.

5a. Following week 13, we have allowed for teams that have been eliminated from the playoff contention to trade within themselves, so we could have some added involvement for the teams that no longer have anything to play for.

6. Trades are accepted by the commissioner or the co-commish. There is absolutely no voting regarding any trades by league members. The commissioner has the right to veto any trade for any reason. Most trades will be accepted as long as both parties understand what they are trading and no collusion is suspected. Any collusive behavior will result in managers being booted from the league.

6a. Any trade must be announced in the Mazza Whatsapp chat as soon as it is pending on yahoo.

7. Players can be traded to any team before the trading deadline. Once a player is traded to another team, if they are returned to the original team within 2 weeks, the trade will be reversed. This is to prevent players from being “rented” to other teams. (AKA “The Yossi Rule”). If you are unsure of whether or not a trade is allowed, please check with the commissioner.

7a. If a player is traded to a team and then dropped, the original owner is free to pick up that player as if he were a standard waiver claim.

7b. If teams have deals in principle to trades players back and forth and one team backs out of a deal after the trade is accepted, the commissioner has no power to force a player to make the 2nd agreed-upon trade. (Caveat Emptor)

8. FAAB dollars are allowed to be traded, but only if players are being given up by both sides. A player cannot be traded straight up for FAAB dollars.

9. All players will always be on waivers and will be picked up daily through our waiver Faab system. Top waiver priority will win any tie between two bids. The waiver system will be Yahoo’s Continual rolling list. Waiver claims are processed in waiver priority order and each successful claim moves a manager to the end of the waiver priority list.

9a. Any dropped player shall remain on waivers for at least 1 full day.

9b. Waivers will be processed every day, except for Monday & Tuesday.

10. A player who has played on TNF cannot be picked up nor dropped from a team, even if the yahoo system allows such a pickup.

11. If a TNF player is dropped, he will not be added back to that manager’s team. (A player can be dropped after his game was played if no pickup was made as a corresponding move). If an add/drop move was made and the player picked up played on TNF already, he will be dropped and placed on waivers until standard weekly waivers for players to bid on (Will get processed Wednesday Morning). If the picked up player has not played yet (Sunday or Monday night game), he will be dropped and can be picked up by anyone (including the manager who made the illegal move). If any FAAB spent on any of these illegal transactions, it will never get refunded. This rule will apply to any games before Sunday morning. (AKA “The MoShal Rule”)

11a. Once a player is dropped, he is available for anyone to place a waiver claim. Anyone can pick up that player by placing a waiver claim. If the player was dropped by accident, the member who dropped him can pick him up by placing a waiver claim for that player. 

12. A full team must be started by a manager. (Every spot must be occupied with a player corresponding to that position). A team must have a full roster of 11 start-able players come Sunday morning. A manager can start an injured player if they choose to do so even if it will get him a 0. 

13. If any player on your roster is announced out on gameday and you would like to make an emergency pick up, the Commissioner will manually process the move for you, however that player (“Emergency Player”) must be inserted into your starting lineup. The player you dropped will be available to anyone in regular FAAB bidding on Tuesday night. This rule will not apply for a defense pickup if a defensive player is announced out. The Emergency Player cannot be traded to any other team on that game day. The Emergency Player also must replace the same position as the player announced inactive. If a WR is announced out, you cannot pick up an RB or QB as an Emergency Player, even if this is in your flex spot on Sunday day. If the player is playing on Sunday or Monday Night and is in the flex spot, a WR, TE or RB can be picked up as an Emergency Player since the pool of players is limited on Monday Night. The player you are dropping for Emergency Player must be a player that hasn’t played his game yet. If all your remaining players have played you must drop a bench player or the inactive player from your roster. An Emergency Player for the Sunday slate of games may not be a player who was dropped on Saturday or Sunday. An Emergency Player for Monday Night Football may not be a player who was dropped on Sunday. These players take two days to clear waivers therefore they are ineligible to be Emergency Players.

13a. To be clear, this is only for emergency situations. The Commissioner or Co-Commissioner will review each emergency claim on a case by case basis. If a player has not practiced all week and was trending towards not playing that will not be deemed an emergency. One must do their due diligence and prepare accordingly. An emergency would be a surprise inactive only.

14. If a team does not have a complete lineup by Sunday after waivers are done by Yahoo, and the manager made a mistake with waiver calculations or by dropping a player accidentally, but he wants to correct this mistake, he can tell the commish to make a pickup for him manually. The team will be penalized from picking up players on Day 1 (Wednesday) of the following week. (AKA “The AlSav Rule”)

14a. If the manager puts in a claim and wins the claim, the player will be removed from the team and his money restored. The manager with the second-highest bid will be granted the player. 

15. If a team does not have a complete lineup by Sunday after waivers are done by Yahoo, and the manager made a mistake with waiver calculations or by dropping a player accidentally, or if he chooses specifically not to make a pickup for whatever reason or neglects his team purposely and this manager doesn’t tell the commish to make a pickup for him for whatever reason such as he doesn’t want to drop a guy, the commish will manually make a pickup for the position needed. The commish will pick up the highest projected player on yahoo for that specific position for that team. If it is a flex position, the highest overall player on Yahoo waivers will be picked up for that week. The dropped player will be the guy with the lowest projected total for the remainder of the season. The team will be penalized from picking up players on Day 1 (Wednesday) of the following 2 weeks.

16. If an owner does have a complete team on Sunday but has a roster slot open in his starting lineup and he has a backup player (not on bye, or OUT) available on their bench and chooses not to start him either by accident or purposely, then the commissioner can insert the available player in the open roster slot. If two eligible bench players exist then the player with the highest projected point output by Yahoo for that week should be inserted into the starting lineup. The team will be penalized and will no longer be allowed to pick up players on Day 1 (Wednesday) of FAAB for the next 2 weeks. 

17. If a team “checks out” for any reason during the season, the commissioner has the right to start a team’s optimal projected lineup. The commissioner will not pick up or drop players for this member (Unless there is no complete lineup, in which commish will pick up players on Thursday for this team). If this rule is enforced, the offender’s membership will reviewed by the league office.

18. If for any reason, you are unable to set your lineup or make a change, please e-mail or call the commissioner and confirm the change you would like to be made before any game has started. The commissioner will retroactively set the lineup to your desired lineup as long as there is proof that contact was made before a game started.

19. In the event there is a tie in the playoffs, the tiebreaker will be the best regular-season record vs that opponent.

20. There is no voting in this league for league matters, trade objections, or any other rule. Please bring any suggestions to the commissioner or co-commish and they will make all final decisions.

21. In the past, if your player has been suspended, you have been allowed to drop that player until he returns. This rule has been REMOVED. Henceforth, if a player gets suspended for ANY reason, your options will be to keep or drop. If you drop him, he will be available for the rest of the league to acquire.

22. The last place for the 13-week regular season will be known as the “Sticker Bitch”. As we no longer use stickers and have gone digital, we will require that player to enter the offline draft results into Yahoo’s system prior to the end of draft night.

24. All monies won from the league will be paid to start week 1 of the playoffs.

25. At no point during the season will a new rule be implemented. Rules can be clarified during the season by the commish if they are not addressing every specific issue of a rule. If any rules or suggestions are brought up they will only be considered for the next year.

26. If there is a game on Shabbat, any probable or questionable players will not be able to be moved in or out of lineups before the game. As games late in the season are typically scheduled on Shabbat, the consolation the league has made for the two finalists is as follows: They will send the league office a scenario on Friday before Shabbat that will allow for them to have the player that’s active in their line up no matter what. This will only take effect if the player they have in their lineup is ruled inactive. If the player is ruled active, he will be considered a startable player and they will be forced to play him as they intended prior to Shabbat, regardless of his participation in that week’s games. Their lineup will be adjusted after Shabbat to reflect the change. This also will only apply to players with questionable/probable tags and not for every player on your team. Also note that the player you plan on replacing with, should be on your roster on Friday and they should not be on waivers. The league office will not make any pickups for this rule only lineup changes. Those scenarios for questionable players need to be emailed to the league office (mazzaleague@gmail.com). If it is not emailed, it will not be considered valid. (AKA “The Shabbat Rule”)

27. If there is a game on holiday and any probable or questionable players will not be able to be moved in or out of lineups before the game. The consolation the league has made for its members is as follows: They will send the league office a scenario on the day before the holiday that will allow for them to have the player that’s active in their line up no matter what. This will only take effect if the player they have in their lineup is ruled inactive. If the player is ruled active, he will be considered a startable player and they will be forced to play him as they intended prior to the holiday, regardless of his participation in that week’s games. Their lineup will be adjusted after the holiday to reflect the change. This can apply to players with questionable/probable tags or for every player on your team as long as they are on your team when the email is sent to the league offfice. The player you plan on replacing with should be on your roster and they should not be on waivers. I will not make any pickups for this rule only lineup changes. Those scenarios need to be emailed to the league office (mazzaleague@gmail.com) only. If it is not emailed, it will not be considered valid. (AKA “The Holiday Rule”). 

28. IR Spots will ONLY be able to be used for players that are designated to NFL IR and the league’s PUP (Physically Unable to Play) list. If your player is set to miss 5 weeks, but that NFL team hasn’t designated him to the IR or PUP, your options are limited to keeping or dropping that player. If a player has returned from the NFL IR or PUP, you are not forced to remove him from your team’s IR spot, but note that Yahoo will not allow you to make any roster changes (adds, drops, trades, etc.) until you clear a roster spot for said injured player. 

29. FAKE NEWS RULE (aka “CNN Rule”): if any League Manager posts a fake post by any social media outlet which states or implies that a player will be out, limited and active and the like, that caused an opposing manager to either insert player or remove a player from their lineup, the posting manager will be blocked from making any transactions for the next available Tuesday waiver class. This rule will ONLY apply to the gameday of any players involved. Please note, it’s your job as a Manager to also do your own due diligence on the status of your team.

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Article VIII- Team Name Game (AKA “TNG”)

  1. Team Name Game will begin on week 1 spanning through to the end of the fantasy regular season (week 13).
  2. Teams will name their teams based on a topic that has been designated to that week.
  3. Teams must use players on their roster to create team names.
  4. Names will be scored based on that week’s judge’s discretion and opinions of what he feels is the best name.
  5. Each week we will have a member of Mazza judging and awarding team names based on their relevance to the topic that week, as well as their execution.
  6. The scoring system will be as follows:
    1. The judge will be allocated 8 points to deal out to the team names he feels are best.
    2. The judge is capped at 3 points per team and 6 teams to receive points.
    3. The judge is not required to give all the points.
    4. Negative points cannot be given.
  7. A member of Mazza will be judging and awarding team names based on their relevance to the topic that week, as well as their execution. The judge will not award themselves any points, however, he is still encouraged to change his name for everyone’s amusement. This will be done to remove any sort of bias.
  8. With 10 regular season weeks in TNG and 12 potential judges, there are two people that will have a chance to score more points over the course of a season than the other 10. In order to even the playing field, we have chosen the judges at random. Those who will not judge will start the season with a -1. In effect, that will even the playing field.
  9. While team logos are encouraged, the judge will determine whether or not they are factored into the final scoring.
  10. We will be keeping copious standings on our website, Mazzaleague.com as well as the weekly grading and review that is given by each week’s judge.
  11. Week 11-13 will be the “playoffs” working similarly to our league’s playoff format.
  12. The winner will be crowned at the end of the playoffs and be awarded the “Mazza League Team Name Game Champion” medal, along with another gift that will be announced at a later date.

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Article IV – Scoring Settings

These are the scoring options set for the Mazza League.
The Mazza League uses fractional points and negative points.

Offense League Value
Passing Yards 30 yards per point
2 points at 300 yards; 2 points at 400 yards; 3 points at 500 yards
Passing Touchdowns 4
Interceptions -2
Rushing Yards 10 yards per point
2 points at 100 yards; 2 points at 150 yards
Rushing Touchdowns 6
Receptions .5
Receiving Yards 10 yards per point
2 points at 100 yards; 2 points at 150 yards
Receiving Touchdowns 6
2-Point Conversions 2
Fumbles Lost -2
Kickers League Value
Field Goals Made (Total Yards) 10 yards per point (Fractional Scoring)
Field Goals Missed 0-19 Yards -2
Field Goals Missed 20-29 Yards -1
Field Goals Missed 30-39 Yards -1
Point After Attempt Made 1
Point After Attempt Missed -1
Defense/Special Teams League Value
Sack 1
Interception 2
Fumble Recovery 2
Touchdown 6
Safety 2
Block Kick 3
Kickoff & Punt Return TD 6
Points Allowed 0 points 10
Points Allowed 1-6 points 7
Points Allowed 7-13 points 4
Points Allowed 14-20 points 1
Points Allowed 21-27 points 0
Points Allowed 28-34 points -2
Points Allowed 35+ points -4
4th Down Stops .5
Extra Point Returned 2

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