Sports Judge for your Fantasy Sports Disputes

Anyone who plays fantasy sports knows that "disputes" can sometimes emerge within leagues. You probably what I'm talking about. How about a dubious late-season trade that is so lopsided that it must entail some "off-field" payment, but your commissioner, for whatever reason, won't intercede? Or how about some strange scoring formulas? Or some sketchy roster modifications? Worse yet, you often have nowhere to go if your commissioner doesn't help.

Well now you have an recourse: you can hire Marc Edelman to be your sports judge. Marc, a lawyer and avid fantasy sports player, has started Sports Judge, a service designed to provide "an impartial and effective method for resolving disputes with other teams." Basically, players in dispute with one another or with their commissioner can pay $15 (or $100 for an entire season) and Marc will study the dispute and issue an opinion from the bench of the "Court of Fantasy Football."

Marc has several sample opinions posted, including Hermann's Head v. Commissioner of the Yale Football League (Index No. 00257, Sept. 1, 2006). It is truly a great read, involving a claim "seeking to prevent the Commissioner of Yale Football League from changing the league's active roster size from eight players to nine players by adding a third active running back." Following a thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion, Judge Edelman concludes:

While there are certainly virtues to maintaining a large size roster in fantasy football, it would be neither fair nor reasonable to change the league's roster size after the draft is conducted. If the Commissioner had wanted a nine-player roster, he should have suggested this change before the draft was held -- possibly before the draft order was selected. Not only does the possibility exist that the Commissioner would not have suggested this rule change had the computer granted his team a higher pick, but the possibility also exists that a team such as Hermann's Head might have drafted differently had the Commissioner's proposed rule change occurred prior to the draft. Therefore, for the aforementioned reasons, I rule in favor of Hermann's Head. The Yale Football League roster size shall remain unchanged at eight active players (and just two active running backs) for the 2006 season.

There's some more great stuff on Sports Judge.

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