History of the LOD
2018 : The Trap House; Anti Collusion Collusion Club; Gio and Nauch Join; Chuck Defeated; Wings Championship
The 2018 offseason saw multiple significant developments that would result in the formalization of the modern LOD. The most significant of which was the Great Migration and emergence of the Trap House. This season also saw the significant increase in record-keeping via chat logs, blog posts and content that provides multiple sources for documenting the League’s history.
The Great Migration and The Trap House
The Great Migration refers to the relocation of several members of the League. Wings and Erik would return to the Inland Empire from UCLA after graduation. Hurtado, meanwhile, would move to Boston to become the first non-California team in the League, a trend that would dramatically increase in future seasons.
Additionally, Ant and Chuck would move into a house in Rialto together that would in time become known as “The Trap House” and function as the de facto headquarters of the League for the next couple of seasons. The Trap House was located at a central point for league members living in the Inland Empire that made it the prime location for League events such as the Draft, Football Sundays as well as other parties and gatherings.
10-Team Expansion and Renaming
After successfully retaining all 8 members from the previous year, the league sought again to expand to 10 teams. Trap House residents Chuck and Ant would recruit two close friends to join:
- Ignacio “Nauch” Valencia: Alum of North High School from Riverside, Former RHS Baseball Teammate of Chuck, Weege, Ant
- Giovanni “Gio” Gonzalez: RHS Alum, friend of Chuck, Ant
With the Great Migration and Expansion of the offseason, the League entered a period where 9 of the 10 members lived within the IE. This would remain the case over the next 2 years.
Upon the launch of the 2018 season, the League renamed itself to the Anti Collusion Collusion Club (ACCC) in reference to the scandal-marked 2017 season. Co-Commissioner Wings would return to blogging duties for the League, hosting posts on Blogger.
With the expansion to 10 teams, playoff rules were modified again. After a 13-week regular season, 8 of 10 teams moved on to playoffs that would all play round one (no bye weeks granted). The additional key rule change for 2018 was the adoption of scoring bonuses on long-yardage plays, which would become a defining feature of the modern LOD.
2018 Season Results
The 2018 draft was held on August 15 and is notable for being the first to be held in-person at the Trap House. It is believed that all members of the league were present except Hurtado (calling in from Boston) and Roberto (autodraft). Erik arrived late.
Notable events from the regular season include Joe’s 9-0 start, which remains the best start in recorded LOD history. His regular season finish of 12-1 also remains the record for most wins (tied by Chuck in 2024) and highest win percentage (92%) in the regular season. While Joe was the clear favorite to win the championship, there was regardless an increased amount of overall parity in the league as members began to improve their overall skills and develop better strategies against opponents.
An expanded playoff field gave the opportunity for several teams to make their postseason debuts. Both LOD rookies Nauch & Gio, as well as sophomore Ant and Founding Member Wings, would qualify for the postseason. Weege, after posting a 2-11 record, would become the only team of the Original Six to not make the playoffs.
The first round of the playoffs had all 8 teams involved. The top 3 seeds (Joe, Erik and Chuck), all took care of their respective opponents in the opening round. Hurtado, meanwhile, was upset by Wings after a Greg Zurlein doink would tip the score. This elimination was Hurtado’s first time not making the championship round and started a period of decline that would culminate in his eventual retirement following the 2021 season.
Wings and Erik would both make their first semifinal appearances against Joe and Chuck Cassidy, respectively. Joe, the clear title favorite all season, ended up losing in a shock upset to Wings after a significant underperformance from the top seed, marking a sudden end to his campaign. Meanwhile, Erik capitalized off of a historic performance by CMC that would carry him over Chuck and send the back-to-back defending Champion home for the first time.
The LOD championship is the closest-margin final (9.6 points) in League history, and at the time the highest-scoring match (384). With historic performances from franchise stars and waiver starts alike, Wings would edge Erik out to win his first LOD title.
2018 Season Aftermath and Legacy
The events of the 2018 season saw a major turning point in the balance of power in the League. This would mark the first Championship match with neither Hurtado nor Chuck, and began a period of 4 consecutive new League winners.
Along with the establishment of a consistent blog, 2018 saw some of the earliest surviving league memes- short videos and images created by League members directly commenting on events from the season and playoffs. These would go to inspire a very active and thriving meme culture within the LOD itself that has birthed a lore of its own.
Multiple league rivalries also trace their origins to the 2018 season. While Gio’s rookie season was marred by poor decisions and a first-round exit, he quickly established himself as a rising villain in the League due to his arrogant attitude and involvement in trade scandals during the year. In particular, Gio would start long-standing feuds with both of the Cassidy brothers, though his rivalry with Chuck would go on to become one of the classics on the League calendar. Wings would also establish rivalries with Hurtado and Erik after handing both tough playoff defeats, with the latter continuing to this day.
The season was not without scandal. Trade related incidents (Bloody Tuesday) and off the field issues (Sneakergate) would create renewed pressure on Chuck’s practices as Commissioner, sparking the the #NotMyCommissioner movement. While Chuck remained in power, Co-Commissioner Wings would gain more influence and support from the League that would result in the eventual resignation of Chuck in the 2020 offseason.
November 2018 Rule Changes: The Transition to Sleeper Begins
The 2018 season was a resounding success. Increased in-person events after the Great Migration were highly important in pushing the establishment of a multi-year League with a consistent identity. Plans were already underway behind the scenes for major changes; Wings, having been part of another Keeper League with Erik hosted in Sleeper, was intent on bringing this format to the ACCC with the hopes of getting all 10 members to buy into the idea and transition to a new era of the league. Wings saw several benefits to using Sleeper- mainly that it was much more Keeper-friendly at the time- but additional features such as multiple commissioners, twitter API access, and league histories would be beneficial for everyone.
On November 18, 2018, Chuck and Wings would convene a formal league meeting to discuss and vote on Rule Changes that would apply to the 2019 season. While the key item on the agenda was the transition to Keepers, other rule changes were heard and voted on. After another contentious trade deadline, there was a lot of discussion regarding rules for trades as well as checking Commissioner power. 7 of the 10 members were present (Hurtado, Joe and Roberto unable to attend), with rule changes requiring six of seven yes votes to pass.
A press release formally announcing rule changes was posted to the ACCC blog on November 20. Along with the approval of the League transitioning to Sleeper and adopting Keepers, several additional rule changes were approved:
- Draft order would be determined by the previous season’s results, rather than randomly
- With the introduction of draft pick trading, the previous three-trade limit would be abolished and there would be unlimited use of trades in the 2019 season
- The waiver system was changed from inverse standings to rolling waivers
- The two-division system would be abolished and starting in 2019, all teams would play in one table
- After two losing record teams made the postseason, the eight-team playoff system was reduced to the modern-day six teams
- Rosters were modified to include a third WR slot
- The Commissioner could be Impeached with the votes of 5 owners, and removed with the votes of 8. This was in direct response to the Chuck scandals of 2018 to serve as a check of power
While some of the rules here have changed, this meeting served as a foundation for many of the modern-day LOD Rules.
Creation of the Trophy and “LOD” Rebrand
Along with historic changes to League’s format, Chuck introduced the idea of introducing a Trophy for the League winner to be handed down every season, establishing further continuity year-to-year and providing an additional prize to compete for. Wings loved the idea and helped finance the Trophy with Chuck. As the only two Champions at this time, they also made the joint decision to include the nameplates of their 2016, 2017, and 2018 titles. The decision to include Chuck’s nameplates has been the subject of ongoing controversy, but his titles are considered to be legitimate under Article II of the League Rules.
With the creation of the Trophy also came the adoption of the League’s formal name as the League of Degenerates (LOD), which was included on the Trophy and later formalized in the creation of the Official Rules in 2020. The League’s name is attributed to founding member Jonathan Hurtado.