Riley's Vikings Press Conference-Week 2

Clear the Air….

1. Apology

Let me start by saying that I apologize if my comments regarding the trade veto were taken by some to be a personal shot or offensive in any way. I genuinely did not mean for that to occur. My comments were made in a locker room joking manner. I know that text and emails are sometimes hard to determine a joke from anger, so I apologize for the confusion. In the future, any comments I might make please always assume that they are a joke, because they will be. This is fantasy football, I promise that I am here for fun and any personal attacks (jokes) are done to be funny, not to make anyone angry. I greatly appreciate all the work PC puts into this league. He does a great job.

2. Trade Veto

However, I still do believe that my trade with DMC being Vetoed was wrong. Let me explain. I believe that the veto is a good tool to regulate the league from those who wish to intentionally screw things up by intentionally making unfair trades.

Trade Vetoed: Bradshaw, Jennings FOR Richardson, Johnson

My Explanation:

I really wanted Richardson in the draft (even before Jennings) but thought I would be able to get him in later rounds ,which clearly did not work out. So I set out to trade for him.

My current RB’s: Foster, Murray- 2 great RB’s, so I decided if I could get one more good rb I would be set. I have several other good receivers and decided that Jennings for Richardson was a good trade for my team. DMC did not want to trade a RB (Richardson) without getting one in return. So I decided to through in Bradshaw because if I got Richardson I would not need him anyway. I put in a request for Johnson also because many feel he is going to have a good year. But the bottom line was I was loosing Jennings in return for Richardson.

What I believe the Veto standard to be:

Are both owners attempting to win/improve their team? If Yes=Approve Trade

OR

Is this trade an obvious attempt by one or both team owners to make a transaction that will unfairly benefit one team? If Yes=Decline Trade

Example: Me trading Foster for a bench kicker simply because I am pissed at the league and wish to screw it up= Obvious Decline

The standard the League used to veto last week:

Do I (voter) think this is a good trade?

OR

Would I accept a trade such as this?

I argue that this is the improper standard. Just because you think the trade is dumb, or you personally would not accept the trade does not mean you should veto 2 teams who are attempting in their minds to better their team. Part of the fun of fantasy football is to take risks. Here, I was obviously taking a risk that might or might not have been a good one. I am confident that if I polled everyone in the league, everyone would agree that DMC and Riley’s Vikings both want to win badly. Thus, clearly not reaching the veto standard.

3. Moving On

Now that this is over I will not be holding any grudges. I will not veto trades simply because ours was. I will vote on trades using the simple standard listed above and I hope everyone else reevaluates how they vote on trades as well. I look forward to another fun season!