History of the LOD
2023: Commissioner’s Cup; Relocations; Breida-gate; Tie-gate and Nauch’s First Championship
The 2023 offseason would be the first time since 2020 that there were no changes to the League lineup, with all 10 Members returning for 2021. There would still be a lot of movement this year- with 5 members relocating in the span of 9 months. It was an otherwise quiet Summer preceding what would be an eventful LOD season.
Trophy Travels
With Gio becoming the Champion, the Trophy once again would need to cross state lines to return to California. Due to multiple different commitments, the Commissioner had not been able to arrange a trip to Colorado. With Summer quickly approaching here, Wings deputized Bryan, who happened to have a layover in Denver in the near future, to collect the Trophy. Bryan met with Ryan, who delivered the Trophy on Ant’s behalf, and then returned with Bryan back to Chicago, where its nameplate was added. It took until May, but the Trophy finally made its way to Gio, the official presentation occurring at a Los Angeles Dodger baseball game with Chuck, Erik and others in attendance.
Aside from its return journey, Bryan made the unique addition of a second plate to the back of the Trophy, commemorating Chuck’s 100+ point defeat in the Final. This established a new tradition called the #PlaqueOnTheBack, which continues to this day.
Team Relocations
During the course of the 2023 Season, several teams would relocate. In February, Rob left Moreno Valley for Rancho Cucamonga. In April, Chuck would relocate from Buena Park to Chino, returning to the IE after 2 seasons in Orange County. Moreno Valley would lose its other team in June, with Erik departing for Norwalk, CA. All three of these teams remained in Southern California, though there would be two other significant moves expanding the LOD further into the Southwest.
Shortly before the NFL season began in September, Joe completed his move from Southern California to Utah, making him the 5th team to leave the League’s ancestral region. The following month, Ant made the announcement that he would be leaving Colorado after 3 seasons and moving his operations to Las Vegas. Both were met with positive reception from the League.
With half of the LOD having relocated during this period, the landscape of the League drastically changed in a way it hasn’t since the breakup of The Trap House and has made the League increasingly remote. As of the 2024 offseason, Gio remains the only team to have not relocated from Rialto.
2023 Rule Changes; Removal of Play-in and Introduction of the Commissioner’s Cup
2023’s rule change cycle was much more active than previous seasons, with many proposed changes passing or failing by thin margins as the League looked to switch things up from the status quo. One of the most surprising changes to pass was the removal of the IDP roster slot, which had been a part of the LOD since its founding. Additionally, there was an overhaul in scoring settings that aimed to reduce the impact of negative point penalties as well as boosting scoring for Defenses. The QB slot was also given a notable scoring buff, with passing yards being effectively doubled.
There was also continued experimentation with adding unique features to the League. The Play-in, after being tried out in 2023, was done away with and the calendar moved back to a 14-week season, with standard playoff seeding for the top 6 teams. In its place, Commissioner Wings pushed to introduce an in-season tournament that again drew inspiration from the NBA as well as Formula 1. This resulted in the League approving the Commissioner’s Cup for 2023. The tournament would run through the regular season, with points assigned to Teams based on overall PF placement at the end of every week. An approved increase in League Dues would fund a side-pot, awarded to the highest points-getter at the end of the tournament.
2023 Season Results
The 2023 Draft took place on August 13, held remotely via Zoom.
With the Play-in being canceled, the calendar would return to the 14-week format that started in 2021. Running concurrently to the regular season was the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup tournament. The tournament was fairly competitive; 5 different teams led the standings at different points throughout the season. Chuck, after starting the year off strong and working through a midseason slump, rallied to clinch the title Week 13 after three consecutive P1 performances. This hot streak would make him the first team to reach 10 wins since 2021, earning him with the #1 seed and his first bye in the Sleeper Era.
Chuck entered the playoffs as a slight favorite to win, but the rest of the League was not far behind. Nauch, after a 5-5 start, would catch fire during the stretch, winning his final 4 matches to climb up to the second seed. This was the Team’s best finish since the ill-fated 2020 campaign.
Wings, Gio and Joe all finished at 8-6 and were separated by less than 100 points to take seeds 3-5. Wings would narrowly miss out on a bye week after losing to Ant in the final week of the season, setting up a 4th consecutive trip to the first round. Gio, despite a 5-0 start, would endure a difficult midseason slump to end up 6-6 through week 12. His victories in the final 2 weeks of the season were able to right the course and keep his title defense alive. Joe, after hovering around .500 most of the year, was in the driver’s seat for a bye as late as week 12, before dropping his final 2 games and ending up at the 5th seed on points. This marked his first playoff berth since 2020.
For the final seed, the League found itself in another 3-way tie at 6-8. Erik, despite a 2-5 start, remained committed to contending as the teams around him began to falter and snuck into the playoffs with a 21-point PF advantage, returning to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Ryan started out strong at 4-2 before injuries again began to pile up for the team. A loss to Erik in week 11 proved to be the turning point, losing 2 of his last 3 to end the year. Bryan, who had an even stronger 5-2 start, had an even more impressive collapse, losing 6 straight before ending the season with an 8-point win versus Joe. His poor scoring form during this streak tumbled him down to 8th by season’s end, missing the postseason for the first time in his 2-year tenure with the League.
Tanking & Trade Frenzies
While tanking has been part of the League since adopting the Keeper format, it became an especially prevalent storyline as the season progressed. There were a total of 61 trades during the 2023 regular season, a massive spike up from previous years (49 in 2022; 52 in 2021; 50 in 2020), with most teams actively seeking to load up for the stretch run. The bottom two finishers of the League, however, would take the tank approach.
Roberto, despite a good draft and being competitive in the Commissioner’s Cup, found himself enduring brutal losses including losing to Erik’s LOD-record 271 point performance. A loss to Nauch in week 8 put the Team at 3-5 and with the deadline quickly approaching, Rob proceeded to dismantle his team. In the span of a day, longtime keepers Travis Kelce and Stefon Diggs, as well as Jamaar Chase, were moved for picks.
Ant, architect of a successful tank to win the 2021 title, entered 2023 loaded up on draft picks after again rebuilding his team. After spending some picks to acquire Nick Chubb ahead of the draft, Ant assembled a team ready to make a serious run. An early season-ending injury to Chubb and several underperforming players led to a starting the season 1-4 and dead-last in the Commissioner’s Cup. Over the next 2 weeks, Ant would exhaust his 6 remaining trades to sell off anything of value for picks.
With two teams having put themselves out of contention, a race to the bottom ensued that would put the League through one of its most tense scandals.
Breidagate
With Ant out of contention for any titles, his new goal was to lock in the #1 overall pick for 2024. It appeared he would be uncontested until Roberto began to tank a couple of weeks later. A week 10 matchup between the two teams would put them at an even record and a dead heat for the rest of the season. Starting week 13, Ant would begin benching players to instead start backups with significantly lower projected scores in an effort to ensure he would lose out. This was not against LOD rules regarding collusion, but Ant’s loss versus Ryan impacted a close race for the 6 seed that raised complaints from Erik and Bryan.
Ant’s final matchup of the season was versus Commissioner Wings, and their outcome would be the decider for the second bye week for the playoffs. Because of this, Wings reached out to Ant to ensure he didn’t go overboard with his roster moves. As matchups began, Wings, despite being heavily favored, would significantly underperform. Ant would see his win probability continue to increase and the first overall pick was in serious jeopardy. Ahead of the Sunday and Monday night games, Ant made more lineup changes, starting several bench players from over first stringers. One of these players was Matt Breida, who had averaged 3 points per game during the season. This would result in unfolding scandal being referred to as Breidagate.
Nauch, Joe and Gio, who all were in contention for the second seed, would call Ant’s actions out in the chat due to the playoff implications. Wings, who understood this would be an undeserved win as things stood, froze Ant’s roster to prevent further changes and would let the games play out before doing anything. Ant would end up winning the matchup by less than 3 points after a touchdown by Giants WR Wandale Robinson, who Ant started in attempts to throw the match. Wings’ loss averted a deeper crisis but exposed deeper issues in what the Rules of the League allowed.
Rob, who lost to Erik, would subsequently lock up the number one pick for the 2024 draft. Nauch, with a victory versus Chuck, then jumped Wings to get the second playoff bye. Before the start of playoffs, the Commissioner announced there would be an investigation into Breidagate during the offseason and that rule changes would need to be put into place to prevent similar situations in the future.
2023 Postseason
After a contentious ending to the regular season, the playoffs commenced with Gio facing Joe for the third time in the postseason. After back to back losses in Weeks 13 and 14, Joe’s team found new life, putting up the only 200 point game of the week and crushing Gio in the process. Joe would advance to his first semifinals since 2018, while Gio’s elimination would be the first time he failed to advance to the Championship since that same year. While he kept his 6 season playoff streak alive, his 4 season Finals appearances streak would come to an end.
Longtime rivals Wings and Erik were on the other side of the bracket. Erik was a heavy underdog as the 6 seed, and did not put up much of a fight for Wings. With the Commissioner advancing to the semifinals, he would make it past the first round for the first time since his 2018 Championship season.
Joe’s next round had him facing off against his brother Chuck, who ended the season on a 3 game win streak. Joe, with momentum from the previous week’s win, dropped another 200 point game. Chuck’s team could not keep up, losing by 44 points and failing to make back-to-back title games. Joe, meanwhile, advanced to make his first trip to the Final, being the last of the remaining Original 6 to accomplish this feat.
On the other side of the bracket, Wings faced off against Nauch. Preceding the matchup, Wings made the decision to cut underperforming Wide Receiver Gabe Davis. Nauch, who was dealing with injuries, would then pick him up and start him in a high-risk move. This gamble paid off; a season-best 31 point performance from Davis was the deciding factor in what was otherwise a close matchup. Nauch returned to the Final for the first time since losing to Gio in 2020. Wings, who finally progressed in a playoff run, would miss his chance to make the final again.
Tie-gate
2023’s Final guaranteed that a new team would become the 6th LOD Champion. While Joe was slightly favored, both teams caught fire at just the right time to survive a tough stretch and hopes were high for a competitive matchup.
As gameplay opened, both teams would see momentum swing back and forth, and as Sunday drew to a close, they were neck and neck. The matchup would come down to the regular season finale between the Packers and Vikings. Joe, down 10.8, had Packers Tight End Tucker Kraft as the last player to start.
As the game drew to the 4th quarter, the Championship went down to the wire. A 3 yard catch-and-run by Kraft with 9 minutes left drew Joe exactly level with Nauch, meaning any following play could be the decider. In a stunning finish, Kraft would be pulled from the field for the Packers’ next and final drive, meaning that the Championship as it stood would end in a 160.5-160.5 tie. This was an unprecedented event for the LOD, with no rule covering playoff tie scenarios. With the League unsure what would happen next, the Commissioner decided to let potential stat corrections play out and, if still tied, would allow the Sleeper-default higher playoff seed to decide the matchup. During this time, the event would be dubbed “tie-gate,” and the name stuck.
After 5 days had passed, the matchup was finalized as a tie and Nauch was officially crowned the season’s Champion, winning his first title after 6 seasons in the League. Joe, while understandably distraught, handled the defeat with grace and congratulated the new Champion.
2023 Season Legacy
Breidagate and Tie-gate put a cap on what was one of the most eventful seasons in LOD history. Both incidents gave the LOD Rules their most serious challenges since their adoption in 2020 and set the scene for a significant number of changes in the Offseason. In particular, Breidagate challenged the League’s tolerance of tanking as well as match-throwing.
Additionally, the extent of the Commissioner’s powers was put to the test, including the ability to discipline League members for their actions.
Rule changes adopted during 2023 would also leave their impact. The Commissioner’s Cup was considered a success and generally popular with the League, becoming a permanent fixture of the LOD calendar. Additionally, the QB passing buff saw a noticeable uptick in scoring. At the end of the season, 6 of the top 10 all time player performances were from QBs in 2023, including the top two. This bump placed greater value on the position, particularly for passing QBs, in future seasons, but also began to see backlash from some League members who saw this as overpowered.
New Content and Chuck’s Pickems
For League Content, the Blogger Boys continued to do weekly posts, with Chuck also managing the website. Commissioner Wings would also return to doing TCR, though instead of a podcast, was now a series of weekly blog posts focused on deeper analysis and trends of matches, citing data collected from Sleeper-era records.
As the fantasy season came to a close, Chuck also introduced a Pickems challenge for the League to keep engagement up for Members out of contention. The challenge had weekly picks for certain players to be over/under in a stat, giving points for correct picks. With a very low buy-in and prizes given out to the top three, this challenge was a success and was implemented in subsequent seasons.