Impacted Rules: 4.3 and 4.4. Explanation: Gentlemen, I must insist that we change the rule about Roster Requirements (section 4.0). It is an administrative pain in the ass that serves little purpose but to create busy work for the League Office. In the two years that I have been Commissioner there has only been one violation of the rules. The requirements are so minimal and self-evident that we really don't need anyone watching over your shoulder to ensure you field a competitive team. To remind you, these are the rules that insist that you have at least two quarterbacks with a minimum of 400 passing attempts, etc. My preference is that we reword the clause from "Roster Requirements" to "Roster Guidelines" and eliminate the need for League oversight. The one substantive concern is that without this rule, an owner might deliberately field an uncompetitive squad. There is really no need to worry about this since we already have rules in place to penalize and even kick out bad owners. Please support me in changing this rule.
Old Rule: 4.0 - ROSTER REQUIREMENTS 4.3 - At the start of each season, each owner must have at least the following number of attempts by skilled players on their rosters: 4.4 - At the start of each game, each roster must include 52 players including the following minimum number of players at the following positions:
Proposed Change: 4.0 - ROSTER GUIDELINES 4.3 - At the start of each season, each owner SHOULD have at least the following number of attempts by skilled players on their rosters: 4.4 - At the start of each game, each roster SHOULD include 52 players including the following minimum number of players at the following positions: 4.6 - ELIMINATE
I totally understand the administrative burden. My only concern is the impact on games later in the season when a team runs out of attempts because the rule would be "should" instead of "must". The opponents of that team get the benefit of playing against players who are fatigued or out of position whereas the team's earlier opponents do not. If you think this will not make for a unfair competitive advantage to some teams, then OK.
I would hope all teams would use this as a guideline. But, there will still need to be a fare amount of over site to make sure teams aren't getting too imbalanced. No one would want to take a new franchise that is completely out of whack.
I have no good answer to the Marks concerns. The Roster Requirements do ensure some minimal competitive balance. My problem with the rule as it stands is that it requires a vigilant league office that monitors each team's roster week to week. That is simply unrealistic. I'll post further once I figure out how to revise this needed amendment.
Changing the language from must to should for 4.3 and 4.4 would be problematic.
“An owner might deliberately field an uncompetitive squad.”
We had a similar debate back in 2012 regarding the elimination of mandated minimums for passing, running, receiving, etc. One former owner believed it was a perfectly acceptable strategy to not have any player on the team with punt return attempts. He believed that a punt returner roster spot could be used for another position of need and signing free agents with a few return attempts simply to make the target minimum was a waste. In addition, he indicated that you never had to worry about fumbled punts; the punt would just roll until it stopped. LOL.
I understand the administrative oversight concern, but I think you are going to see some strange rosters without it. I don’t expect KRFL to be a duplication of pro football, but at least it ought to resemble it.
After the feedback, I will withdraw my amendment proposal. However, the following will be added to the Rule Book because it more accurately reflects past league practice and the new emphasis on owner responsibility.
4.6 - Teams which do not comply with Rule 4 roster requirements will be given a warning and opportunity to correct their roster before being penalized $500k per infraction applied to next season's salary cap. If the League Office needs to act to bring a franchise into compliance, players will be assigned by alphabetical listing of free agents at the given position and players will be cut on the basis of the lowest salaried player and then by alphabetical order. Teams which make no reasonable attempt to comply with the roster requirements will risk expulsion from the league. During the season, violations of rule 4.0 need to be brought to the attention of the Commissioner.
