(Click on above image to open and enlarge it)
DISCORD Channel link: International League on DISCORD - chat room
Each of my leagues has their own dedicated room to discuss things about that particular league but there is a general chat area for anyone who partakes in any BLM fantasy games I run here:
BLM Fantasy Games general chat room on DISCORD
I welcome all who enjoy fantasy gaming to join - come build the community.
Keeper Deadline Date: Friday, Aug 25, 2023
Slow Draft Date: Start date and hours on clock to be confirmed
(Snake style draft)
Bold & Boxed text always means new for this season (to aide returning GMâs to quickly find internal rule changes or new rules).
In the International League each GM manages their real country. Your teamâs name in the league must be your country spelt in (English and in) CAPITAL LETTERS (to bring some uniformity to the league). Also, your team logo/picture must be your countries current official flag as used by said countries national sports teams. Also, no fake names please or 1 letter initial - first name must be used - failure to comply will see you replaced. This is to make the league owners list have some uniformity.
I wish for serious players that wonât quit during the season as itâs national pride at stake. I am ENGLAND and going nowhere so pointless going on the waiting list for. All other current countries in the league can be seen above. If you qualify and are interested to go on the reserve/waiting list then post on this thread telling me which country or countries you qualify for (and wish to manage). To qualify you must be born in or have at least one parent from that country.
You will then go on the waiting list. As and when people are removed from the league due to the *strikes rule (*see later) or opt to leave then the next person that meets the criteria on the waiting list will be invited to take over that place/team. It can and may be renamed to a completely new country depending on the new incoming owner.
Each team is able to keep 1 player from their previous seasons finishing team. If a keeper is kept he will fill his draft round spot from the preceding season. If he was an undrafted player then he will fill the last round spot on your roster (Round 15). You do not have to keep a player in which case you will draft as normal each round in your designated position.
Furthermore, a keeper will count against your original pick in the applicable round (should you have more picks due to draft pick trading). If you no longer have your original pick for the round your keeper is due to be allocated to then he will take your next highest pick going upwards - so could be the same round (if you have traded for more draft picks in that round) or the next round(s) going upwards. If you donât have any higher draft picks then you can not keep that particular player and I will override your keeper choice to âno keeper selectedâ after the keeper lock deadline before the live draft takes place.
Long term keepers (that being players or team defences that were keepers the previous season) will increase their drafted round by 1 round regardless of whether they were your teams keeper or another teams. Naturally Round 1 keepers just stay round 1 (for obvious reasons).
All other keepers just count as your rounds pick for the round they were drafted in the previous season regardless of team that drafted or kept them originally.
Due to a misinterpretation of the rules regarding keepers in another league of mine last season I feel I needed to try and make the Keeper rules more precise and offer clarification on how I apply them. If you are ever in doubt about how a rule will work or be applied please contact me - the best way is to message me on Discord but other ways are available.
My keeper rule was originally thought up to put some strategy and skill in to finding or lucking out with a rookie gem or player that fell way below normal ADP (Average Draft Position) due to injury or suspension etc., the year you drafted them so that you could then keep them at great value for season after season with them just raising by +1 round a season if you continuously kept them. The rule is now clearer - if the player was a keeper the previous season regardless of which team kept them, they will bump up by 1 round draft pick wise if selected as a keeper again in consecutive seasons (even if being kept by a different team).
It is not about free agents you pick up during the season, but only completely undrafted players - so just those players that went undrafted in the previous seasons draft - that will count as last round selections under the keeper rule. All other players whether you drafted them or picked them up later in the season off the waiver wire, or traded for them it matters not. In all those circumstances their actual draft spot in the previous draft determines their keeper cost (the draft round they will be awarded against if being selected as a keeper). The rule is this way because is it something that is tangible and previous seasons draft results can always be accessed on NFL.com via the history section - for past years. So I am able to go back through every round and see when a player was drafted, in what round or if they were not drafted at all.
Another caveat is if you have traded away your original draft picks during the previous season (or prior to this seasons draft) and no longer have your original draft pick for the round a keeper you selected is due against then the keeper will go against the next highest pick you have going up from where your ORIGINAL PICK should be. If you donât have a higher draft pick then you can not keep that player and I will override said player selection to âno keeper selectedâ after the keeper deadline. So people need to be aware of this when draft pick trading and planning their keeper for the following season. Just having a pick in the correct round might not necessarily be good enough as it needs to be a higher one from your original pick in that round (not lower) if you donât have your original pick anymore.
I have created a video explaining the keeper rule and how it works. It also explains how you can find out for yourself what any player on your roster from last season will cost you draft round pick wise:
International League Explaining the Keeper Rule
Please be aware to facilitate having to manually adjust the draft board (i.e. entering in the keepers at the correct positions before we draft) their will be a deadline to choose your keeper by - you can change your keeper choice as often as you wish up until the deadline but once the deadline is reached it will lock and then you will be stuck with your choice or if you have not selected a player you will not have a keeper for the forthcoming season. It is each owners responsibility to find out when the keeper deadline locks and once it is reached no more changes can be made.
For those teams that make the playoffs proper (teams finishing 1st-8th) draft order will be a reverse of the previous years finishing positions as decided by NFL.com - so the previous years champion will draft last in round 1 (*20th) and the team finishing 8th (*13th). [*excluding draft pick trading]
However if youâre not in the running for the title (i.e. in the playoffs proper), there used to be nothing to play for except next years draft position - and the way it was the worse you did in the dead games, the better your draft pick position the next year. This encouraged GMâs who were out of the playoffs not to try and win, actually often hoping to lose by starting their worst players (just to avoid falling foul of the strike rule, as thereâs nothing else riding on those results).
So to address this some seasons ago I amended the internal rules to make the dead games worth winning because from then onward this part of the draft order involving the 12 non-championship contending playoff teams is inverted - to reward post season wins, however pointless they may seem at the time. The 8 proper playoff teams will still keep their draft positions (20th - 13th).
However the rest will now go like thisâŚ
The team finishing 9th (i.e. best of the non-qualifiers) will have pick #1
The team finishing 10th (2nd best non-qualifier) will have pick #2
And so on, down to the team finishing 20th (worst non-qualifier) will have pick #12
I think this has proved good for the league as now tanking for a better draft spot will not fly as the dead rubber games have something riding on them. This has also helped with the also ran GMâs trading away their better players with late round draft picks to the playoff bound GMâs who are willing to sell their next seasons chances on winning this year by agreeing to trades involving their bad players but with higher round draft picks from the following season - which was skewing the integrity of the league imho.
I have changed the default scoring from 4 points for a thrown TD to 3 points - half what the scorer of a TD (6pts) gets.
All other current league settings including Scoring Settings can be viewed here: IL Settings
Some owners in almost any non-money fantasy league I have been in do not pay enough attention with regards to setting their line ups especially when they are out of the running. So to combat this in many of my leagues I have a Strike rule. It boils down to a three strikes and out policy.
However I do listen to my fellow league GMâs and after careful consideration I eased the strike rule (just a tad) in all my leagues many seasons back. The rules were amended slightly - call it an extra chance to get away with your error(s)⌠meaning you will only be issued the due strikes if you do not win your match up. So in effect if you still win your game you have not affected the overall outcome of the league in a detrimental way so therefor no strikes will be issued. This I feel will help those who trip up periodically with more chances to not get struck out of the league without truly deserving it.
Also a strike will be given for a player who you start that has been CUT as he can not play in a game while he is not with any team and this again is find out-able before game day. To check any of your players statuses just click on their name when on your team page and it brings up information about them if you click the arrows to go back it gives you previous updates and at the bottom of each update is a date when that information was posted - I use these updates myself when checking on players that appear not to have played in owners starting line ups and is how I make a judgement on whether or not a strike is justified.
Further more if a person hits 6 strikes in a single season I will do my best to find an owner to replace that owner mid-season and have the offending non serious owner removed ASAP!
STRIKES WILL CARRY OVER TO THE NEXT SEASON - I have decided this to give new interested people the chance to get in the league should people hit 3 strikes and to make sure serious owners continue to pay attention. However I also realise everyone has unforeseen circumstances that cause a mistake etc., resulting in errors that earn a strike. So each year an owner returning to play in the league (if not struck out) will automatically have 1 strike removed (if on any) - so in effect if you were on 1 strike end of the preceding season your be clear the next season - if you had 2 strikes - your be back down to 1 etc.,. Call it probation and for good behaviour you come off probation.
From the 2020 season strikes also became issued for not being seen to vote in an official poll posted within the league on NFL.com . Itâs been the hardest thing for me as a commissioner to get people to engage with me on rules and proposals to do with the league like having a trade deadline, or changing a flex spot etc., so now itâs mandatory to partake in polls and to be seen to have voted.
I am not sure how you do this on the NFL FANTASY phone app but to do this via the standard internet using a browser - which can also be done on a smart phone - you scroll down the leagues home page to the message board and to the right of this you will see the latest poll. To the bottom right of this poll box you will see a link that says âMore Polls >â click this and it will open the poll with its message board below it. Here (you may need to scroll down) you sometimes will find more information about the poll and is also the place you type âVotedâ to show you have voted in the poll after you have done so in that particular poll. To the top right of the poll you will see an arrow < and that will let you navigate back to see older polls and where you should check you have voted in each one and posted below each one to say you have Voted (see screen grab below).
As if you have not voted or forgotten to post you have and not everyone has voted then anyone I canât be sure did vote will pick up a Strike after 28 days of the Poll being posted. I hate having to do this but for many many seasons people have just not been engaging enough to help me shape the league by voting in polls so felt I had to do this so I can weed out and replace non committed GMâs with ones who buy into the ethos behind this custom International keeper league.
Sometimes as we go along things come up and I as the LC (League Commissioner) have to make a ruling. So this is where I clarify and make the rulings on things that crop up over time so people can look up the answers going forward at any time just by coming here to see if it has already happened before and what the ruling is. It is also a reference point for me to see what I did previously so as to be consistent in actions I do.
1) The LC has the right to reorganise the Divisions each season prior to the draft. This is only done when new teams / nations have joined the IL. I do this trying to make divisions firstly regional as best I can and secondly put natural rivals in the same Divisions.
2) Draft pick trading - draft pick trades can only be swapped for the very next draft (not multiple seasons in advance). I know the real life teams can but I have made this ruling for two reasons. One it will be very hard for me to keep track off and two a GM could pile up trouble for years down the line and then just leave and Iâd find it almost impossible to get a replacement as they would have no chance due to so many early picks being traded away for possibly seasons to come. Also by making this ruling it means most of the season the system does it all and records it for me to find the following year - the only time it doesnât is now prior to our leagues draft when I allow it and do it via the leagues wall and by using a poll when a vote is necessary.
As I need to manually adjust the draft board to reflect swapped draft picks before our draft room goes live (and this takes time) out of season (pre-draft) draft pick trades must be agreed before the keeper deadline.
3) If during a season a GM trades away his same draft pick to 2 different teams whether by accident or deliberate planning then instead I will take away their next highest pick instead to cover the trade. If we are talking about a round 1 double deal where there is no higher pick I can take away to cover the trade I will then swap there next 2 picks going down to whoever they traded with for a further round down pick from the cheated party. Basically being detrimental to the owner who made this error as punishment so be careful (as yes the system does stupidly allow this as I discovered in the past when someone did it).
Example: Team A trades his next years Round 1 pick with 2 different teams - only one team can get it so the other team has been screwed. In this case I will take team Aâs 2nd and 3rd Round picks and give them to the cheated team in return team A will still get whatever pick(s) was part of the trade plus the cheated teams 4th round pick. What ever happens the cheated team will be compensated at the expense of the guilty team regardless of the offending teams mistake being genuine error or deliberate malpractice.
WEEKLY STRIKE COUNT 2023
WK1 - no strikes issued
WK2 - no strikes issued
WK3 - no strikes issued
WK4 - no strikes issued
WK5 - no strikes issued
WK6 - 1 strike (Grenada)
WK7 - no strikes issued
WK8 - no strikes issued
WK9 - 1 strike (Colombia)
WK10 - 1 strike (Scotland)
WK11 - 1 strike (Australia)
WK12 - no strikes issued
WK13 - 2 strikes (New Zealand & Scotland)
WK14 - 3 strikes (Canada & Colombia x2)
WK15 - 1 strike (Canada)
WK16 - 1 strike (Canada)
WK17 - no strikes issued
Link to previous years table: IL 2022 Strikes
Additional Strikes (for not voting in polls):
16/12/23 Platform Poll = 1 strike (AUSTRALIA / David Ward) issued 15/2/24
16/12/23 Platform Poll = 1 strike (GRENADA / Marlon Lewis) issued 15/2/24
16/12/23 Platform Poll = 1 strike (MEXICO / Alberto Hochkoeppler ) issued 15/2/24
16/12/23 Platform Poll = 1 strike (PORTUGAL / Miguel Roquette) issued 15/2/24
we started the slow draft on the evening of Tuesday 29th August with a 12 hour clock but alas itâs now Monday 4th September and we have only just completed Round 5 because so many GMâs allowed the full 12 hours to expire without making a pick to then have the system auto draft. This has upset a lot of actively drafting GMâs plus runs the risk of us not finishing the draft in time for the start of the season so during rounds 3-4 I ran a poll on what time we should put the clock down to. I was hoping people would go for 8 hours but alas a majority - 9 players - voted for just 4 hours.
I personally think thatâs to short for a slow draft but I have to abide by the poll result:
5 GMâs did not vote but even if they had all gone for 8 hours it would not have beaten the 9 who went for 4 hours - maybe I should of just had 2 options. So will remember that next time I do a poll - just have 2 options.
I like the slow draft and favour doing this again next season at the full 12 hours and not reducing the clock time but starting much earlier so there is no time pressure before the season starts.
HOUSE KEEPING - 2023 Poll Results
Polls Run in 2023 that will apply going forwards (either immediately or from the 2024 season onwards).
Week 6 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 6:
Marlon Lewis - GRENADA x1 for:
x1 Started DEF - Packers - (GB) - on a BYE
(LC) Not much to say, Marlon knows the rules and looks like has opted to commit a technical foul by not insuring he had DEF cover for his DEFâs Bye week. GRENADA (Marlon) has no active strikes before now so this is just his first - which will wipe off in the off season and if he does not pick up anymore will be restored to a clean record for next season (as 1 comes off for everyone when I reboot the league for the new season if you only have 1 or 2 strikes).
Week 9 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 9:
COLOMBIA - Omar Espitia x1 for:
x1 Started RB - Dameon Pierce - (HOU) - OUT / was ruled out before his teams actual game day.
(LC) Not much to say really - more careful attention paid to his team would of avoided the strike as he did have another RB who did start on his bench. This is Omarâs first strike this season so if he does not pick up anymore this one will wipe off in the off season.
Week 10 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 10:
Douglas Hay - SCOTLAND x1 for:
x1 Started DEF - Chiefs - (KC) - on a BYE
(LC) Not much to say, Douglas knows the rules and looks like has opted to commit a technical foul by not insuring he had DEF cover for his DEFâs Bye week - probably cost him a win to as he only lost by 2 points. SCOTLAND (Douglas) has no active strikes before now so this is just his first - which will wipe off in the off season and if he does not pick up anymore will be restored to a clean record for next season (as 1 comes off for everyone when I reboot the league for the new season if you only have 1 or 2 strikes).
NOTE TO ALL - It is each GMâs own responsibility to manage byes and either take a strike or organise a trade with other teams if no DEFâs are in Free Agency to pick up when your starting DEFENCE is on their bye week.
I was offered one but he want Montgomery as well. It was Allen that cost me the win only scoring 13 points against a crap team.
Week 11 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 11:
David Ward - AUSTRALIA x1 for:
x1 Started DEF - Saints - (NO) - on a BYE
(LC) Not much to say, David also should know the rules and I guess like those before him has opted to commit a technical foul by not insuring he had DEF cover for his DEFâs Bye week - probably cost him a win too as he only lost by 3 points. AUSTRALIA (David) has no active strikes before now so this is just his first - which will wipe off in the off season and if he does not pick up anymore will be restored to a clean record for the start of next season (as 1 comes off for everyone when I reboot the league for the new season if you only have 1 or 2 strikes).
REMINDER TO ALL - It is each GMâs own responsibility to manage byes and either take a strike or organise a trade with other teams if no DEFâs are in Free Agency to pick up when your starting DEFENCE is on their bye week.
Week 13 Strikes (x2)
Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 13:
Shawn Brenchley - NEW ZEALAND x1 for:
x1 Started DEF - Ravens - (BAL) - on a BYE
Douglas Hay - SCOTLAND x1 for:
x1 Started QB - Josh Allen - (BUF) - on a BYE
(LC) Not much to say really - GMâs know the rules start any players of teams on their Bye week and if you lose your match up each player and Team DEF on Bye in your starting line up will cost you x1 strike each.
Week 14 Strikes (x3)
Sad to report the following strikes are awarded for NFL Week 14:
CANADA - Andrew Johnstone x1 for:
x1 Started RB - Rhamondre Stevenson - (NE) - OUT / was ruled out before his teams actual game day.
COLOMBIA - Omar Espitia x2 for:
x1 Started WR - Christian Kirk - (JAX) - IR / was placed on IR before his teams actual game day.
x1 Started TE - Trey McBride - (ARI) - on a BYE
(LC) This is Drewâs (Canadaâs) first strike on the year so if he does not make another foul worthy of a strike this will clear off his record between seasons when I refresh the league for 2024. Alas the same cannot be said for Omar (Colombia) as these are his second and third strikes on the year so he did not take heed of my earlier warning to pay more careful attention to his teams starting lineups and alas means he will lose his automatic right of return and will be replaced by someone off the waiting list in the off season. This is not a ban so Omar is welcome to request to go back on the waiting list himself should he want that. It takes 6+ strikes to be banned from a free league of mine. Rules is rules guys and gal and the strikes are what insures my free leagues are competitive plus is the only way for new blood to get in - when existing managers strike out.
Week 15 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 15:
CANADA - Andrew Johnstone x1 for:
x1 Started WR - Keenan Allen - (LAC) - OUT / was ruled out before his teams actual game day.
(LC) This is Drewâs (Canadaâs) second strike in back to back weeks so he really can not afford to take risks with starting iffy players in the last few weeks of this fantasy season as just one more strike and he loses his auto right of return for next season. As it is he will now start next season on 1 strike as only 1 comes off in the off season and he now has 2. Rules is rules guys and gal and the strikes are what insures my free leagues are competitive plus is the only way for new blood to get in - when existing managers strike out. So if you want to stay in this league please keep checking and setting your line-ups even in the consolation matches.
Week 16 Strikes (x1)
Sad to report the following strike is awarded for NFL Week 16:
CANADA - Andrew Johnstone x1 for:
x1 Started RB - Zack Moss - (IND) - OUT / was ruled out before his teams actual game day.
(LC) This is Drewâs (Canadaâs) third strike in back to back to back weeks and heâs a friend of mine who I like having in my leagues and competing against but I have to abide by the same rules equally for all whether an internet stranger or my best friend from around the corner so alas he has lost his automatic right of return for 2024. Rules is rules and the strikes are what insures my free leagues are competitive plus is the only way for new blood to get in the IL - i.e. when existing managers strike out or choose to leave (the later very rarely happens). So along with Omar (Colombia) Drew (Canada) is the second team this season to hit 3+ strikes. However Drew is welcome to go straight back on the waiting list if he so chooses, and I certainly hope he does - so he can be first to climb back in when the next team is struck out or a GM leaves.
So please all with only 1 week left of the fantasy season hopefully nobody else hits 3+ strikes in Week 17!
First and only Mandatory Poll in the IL for the 2023 season and I had it up way longer than the usual 28 days - in actual fact I had it up 1 day shy of 2 months from December 16th 2023 until 15th February 2024 so there is no excuse for not voting. Three players were precluded from voting in this poll as they will not be back next season therefore I did not think it right they have a say on what site we play this league on, so Drew (Canada), Omar (Colombia) and Dougie (Scotland) could not vote - so they also do not pick up any fresh strikes either. However that still left 17 of us of which only 14 of us voted but worse only 13 of us posted voted in the correct place - the message board under the poll - so all can know you have voted. I know itâs a hassle and not easy to do from a phone but this is why I messaged and e-mailed you all, implored you to find a way and even left the poll up way past the 28 days it only has to be up in hope all of you would vote as it really is a major change for this league proposing to move platforms. But alas 3 of you still did not vote and 4 of you will be picking up a strike for not been seen to vote - as one of you voted but did not post you had so I canât be sure which one of you did vote so under the poll voting rules if a poll is not a full house (everyone voted) you to get a strike as if you had not of voted whoever you are. You all should know the rules by now, so you only have yourself to blame especially if you donât like the result of this poll, not to mention earning a strike as all 4 of you whoâs countries flag does not appear below gets a strike as if you hadnât voted (excluding Canada, Colombia and Scotland).
So the following each pick up a strike for not voting this time:
AUSTRALIA - David Ward
GRENADA - Marlon Lewis
PORTUGAL - Miguel Roquette
MEXICO - Alberto Hochkoeppler
OUTCOME: So there we have it - this time unlike last season more of us are ready to change to Sleeper from NFL.com as out of the 14 who voted a 64% majority where in favour of moving so we will indeed play wholly on Sleeper next season.
