This will be news to some and a review for others, but here are some unique rules we have in the EURO League.
Off Season
Expansion?
Very few leagues in Websim add new franchises and expand, but ours came close to being able to do that a couple times. If that opportunity arises at the end of any season, I will put a vote before all the GMs, asking if they want to allow expansion or not.
Such a vote could materialize quickly because sometimes people don’t renew for the next season until that next season is upon us. In other words, we can’t predict or plan for a possible expansion until the possibility suddenly becomes apparent.
So please be prepared to lose a decent player in an expansion draft if that should ever happen in our future.
Stashed Star Players
Teams are permitted to have one 80OV or higher player earning over max farm salary on the farm for a week or more. If there are more than 1, the highest OV player(s) on the farm team will be bought out at the team’s expense. Takes effect once the regular season step begins.
Roster limit causing problem
Too many players on roster to bid on a free agent? You can release some.
In the free agency stages ONLY, when rosters get too big to make offers to free agents, you may ask the commissioner to release specified players with 0 years remaining on contracts so the team limit of players goes down. (Vote passed 21-0)
Teams holding up start of season
What if one or more teams are holding up the start of the league because their payrolls exceed the “Suspension Gap?”
In the past, we voted to allow the commissioner to make adjustments (some that the GM would not like) so if the need arises again, we would pose a question like this one to the league:
“Do you think the commissioner should waive & then buy out players on teams that are over the payroll “suspension gap” at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 20? Doing so would allow the league to advance to the regular season with no teams in danger of playing games with illegal lineups (over the suspension cap). The alternative would be to pause the season if it happens & then give the GMs time to make moves on their on schedule.
The above question passed by a 20-4 vote.
FYI, a main reason for this rule is there are some circumstances in the Websim programming that would allow a game to be played even though one team may be millions of dollars over the limit. That is contrary to the spirit of the rule and unfair to his opponent.
Interim GMs – retained salaries
We voted 14-4 to allow interim general managers to cancel the retained salaries they inherited when they were given their teams. For example, Munich got a new GM in Season 16 and found out it had $4.675 million in retained salaries. That was cancelled by the commissioner.
Interim GMs – Buyouts of traded-for players
Interim GMs can only buy out one (1) contract they acquired in trades made during their first season in the league. They can still buy out any or all players they inherited when they took over the team. Measure passed 14-5.
City Relocations
All relocation requests must be approved by the majority of league owners in a poll.
League rules dictate that a relocated team must remain in its current division for three seasons and a vote will then be held to determine if it should be moved into another division.
Off season and during the season
Type 3 / 0 years trades
Can you trade Type 3 players with 0 years left on contract? Yes.
Just in case you remembered something about this and couldn’t recall where we landed on it … this poll was defeated 11-8: “Should we ban trades of Type 3 players whose contracts have expired? If a ban passes, we can decide on specifically which 3/0 player trades will be banned.” So, you are free to trade any 3/0 players.
During the season
Position Changes
Position changes are unlimited and may be made at any time.
A source must be cited for the change. In this league, any website that lists a forward as either W, LW, RW or C may be used. Sites that list ALL forwards simply as F may not be used. There is a strange case (coincidentally on the commissioner’s team) who is listed as F/D, but all the other forwards on the site are listed as LW, RW, C or W/C, so that site is considered valid.
You can make your own position changes by going to the ATTRIBUTES page, then PLAYERS, then on the player’s line move all the way to the right end of the line where you will find 3 DOTS. Click on that to open a small set of other options, including the position change option. Enter the URL of the vallid source. If an invalid source is discovered, the move will be reversed.
Match Penalty Suspensions
As per a league vote, players who receive Match penalties in EURO games for injuring an opponent may be suspended for their actions. here is the procedure:
– Anyone noticing a match penalty in a box score may alert the commissioner. If the injured plyer did not leave the game, there might not be a need for supplementary discipline. Suspensions will be as follows:
…. Player is injured day to day – 1-game suspension
…. Player is injured 1-2 weeks – 2-game suspension
…. Player is injured 2-3 weeks or more – 3-game suspension
– Suspensions apply to regular season AND PLAYOFF games, but suspensions will be reduced by 1 game during the playoffs. It just seems a bit harsh to penalize a team in the playoffs.
– The commissioner will take control of the team and send the offending player to the farm team and remove the waiver claim so his salary won’t count against the cap. The effected GM can make lineup changes right after that, as long as the suspended player doesn’t get into the pro team lineup during the suspension.
– A story will alert the league as to the suspension and GWs are free to comment on the story, perhaps about how vicious the hit was or how unjust the suspension was. Have fun with it.
