The Draft

Potential Draft Schedule

Date: 09/04/2006

Time: 6:00pm

Place: To be determined

Why: To announce team names, explain league rules, and draft celebrities

Who: All of those brave enough, strong enough, and ready for a knock-down/drag-out Celebrity Death Match...bring your celebrity draft rosters, your team name, and perhaps an appetizer (potluck? I can't decide)

More info coming!

Women's Answer to Fantasy Football.

Welcome to the US Weekly Fantasy League!

If you are anything like me, you dread the start of football season...not because you don't like the sport, but because your husband/fiance/boyfriend appears to lose his mind for approximately three weeks. He is consumed (more consumed than usual) with ESPN. SportsCenter. Around the Horn. Your cable bill mysteriously goes up. Upon closer inspection, you realize he has ordered the NFL package. He buys $10.99 magazines and begins creating list after list. He is on the phone all hours of the day, and wakes up at three am, muttering something about changing his lineup.

Ladies, Fantasy Football season is upon us.

I tried to be a good sport. I played valiantly for two years in his league. I believe I (along with my co-coach) were looked upon with a mixture of pity and sympathy. I anticipated Draft day with dread and anxiety. The first year, we ended the season with a winning record only because my significant other helped. Last year, the league came down hard on inter-team 'fraternization' (um, we were engaged, okay? we LIVE together). Without additional help, we ended the season with an embarassing losing season and very little motivation for the coming years.

This year, when my co-coach told me she had relinquished our team, a strange feeling of relief mingled with disappointment flooded me. I hated to give up, but man, did I hate football. At least, Fantasy Football. I wanted to be part of a league, but it would so much more fun and interesting if the content changed. What do I like....what am I good at....Then it hit me.

USWeekly.

That glorious, glossy-paged magazine that showed up in my mailbox, week after week. I longed for it. I loved it. I devoured every word, every shiny picture, every stat of celebrity interest. Last summer, our subscription was mysteriously cut off for six long weeks. The longest six weeks of my life. They say you don't know you have an addiction until you are cut off. Well, after that, it was official. I was addicted to USWeekly and celeb gossip.

Who was losing weight? Who was gaining weight? Who attended what premiere with whom? Who was best dressed and - the horror - who was the worst dressed? And most importantly.....who wore it best?

This knowledge should not go to waste. I know millions of Americans have been reading and following celeb gossip for years. Just like knowing who threw the most touch-downs and who rushed for the most yards is important, we, too, should be rewarded for taking note that Sienna Miller is currently going through a 'make-under.' Shouldn't we, too, be given props for knowing - and loving - the Dior gaucho? The reemergence of the peep-toed heel?

So, I propose the answer to Fantasy Football - The USWeekly Fantasy League. Teams are created, celebs are drafted, and points are awarded for making the cover, making an inset on the cover, and making in the mag at all.

Leave us a message if you are interested in joining the league! Perhaps you can start a league in the city where you live! Drop us a line and we will get back to you shortly.

Enjoy!

The Rules

US Weekly Fantasy League Rules

General Overview of Policy and Procedures

Teams will compete head-on with their assigned rival each week. The team that scores more points wins that game.

The schedule of games will be created once all of the teams have been finalized.

The season will be approximately 20 weeks long (with a few weeks off around the holidays) with three weeks of playoffs at the end. The season will end with one first-place winner, one second place winner, and one third place winner. The end of the season will overlap with the Oscar Fashion edition. (i.e. our Superbowl).

There is a $50 buy-in required at the start of the draft. The first-place winner receive $300 plus any transaction money collected (as articulated below) plus a one year subscription to USWeekly, second place winner receives $100, and the third-place team receives $50. The first place winner is required to buy food for the draft and host the start of the next season.

The Roster

The roster for each team will be determined at the Draft.

Teams will draft a total of ten celebrities; they will play seven celebs each week, with three players benched at all times. Teams must keep a solid roster of ten celebs on hand every week. Going over or under this number at the time of lineup submission means they automatically forfeit the game that week.

Teams must play at least two male celebs each week.

All lineups need to be submitted to the Commissioner no later than Monday at 5pm. Lineups submitted after 5pm on Monday will not be accepted and the lineup from the previous week will be used.

Trading

Coaches can trade between teams for celebs; all trades need to be submitted to the Commission via email from one party (and trading team cc’d) each week by Sunday at 9pm. Trades submitted after this deadline will not be accepted and will not be considered valid until the following week.

Trading among teams is encouraged. If a team receives a greater number of players than is being traded away, that team must, as part of the trade, designate a player to be dropped upon the consummation of the trade so that the number of players on its roster will not exceed 10.

Trading is encouraged; collusion is not. If the commissioner determines that there is a reasonably basis to suspect that a that a trade was so one-sided to constitute collusion (as opposed to merely a bad trade on the part of one of the teams), a vote of all the teams (excluding the teams involved in the trade at issue) will be taken to determine whether the trade will be voided. A majority vote of the teams entitled to vote on the trade will void the trade. If a team that is entitled to vote on the trade fails to do so, then that team’s vote will not be counted in determining the number of votes needed for a majority.

No trades will be allowed after the last week of the regular season.

Add/drop for celebs is encouraged, as the landscape of celebrities will change over 20 weeks. Players are allowed 10 free transactions (add/drops or trades), but any transactions past 10 will cost the player $1 per transaction. Payment for all transactions will be collected at the end of the season. A team is allowed as many add/drops as they would like during the course of the season. The deadline for add/drops is Sunday night at 9pm of each week. In the event two teams seek out the same celebrity to add, preference will be given to the team with the lowest points or the worst record. The add/drop money will go in the joint pot and be given away to the winner of the league at the end of the season

All players who are not on the roster of any team are considered free agents and can be picked up at any time during the regular season.

Points and Scoring

Points will be awarded as follows:

+ 7 pts: for the main photo on the cover

+ 4 pts: for an inset photo on the cover

+ 3 pts: if your celeb “wore it best” (no points for the losing celeb)

+ 2 pts: if your celeb is featured in “Red Carpet”
+ 1 pt: if your celeb is featured in “Loose Talk” (+1 additional point if there is a photo)
+ 1 pt: if your celeb is featured in “Stars – They’re Just Like Us!”
- 2 pts: if the celeb in question is listed under the “Fashion Police” section. This includes the last two pages of the magazine.

Points will be awarded after the publication of the weekly edition, most likely on Friday evening or Saturday morning; final point totals should be scored and available for viewing on the webpage by Saturday night of that week.

A detailed round-up of the week’s events along with the status of the teams will be sent via email Thursday mornings.

The Draft

The Draft will signal the beginning of the USWeekly Fantasy League; all teams (with at least one owner present) must be present during the draft. The Draft will be held in a neutral area and should last for approximately two to three hours. Failure of a team to be present during the Draft will result in forfeit of the season. Telephonic communication is not permissible.

The Draft will be done in auction format. Each team will be given $200 of Monopoly money to be used to purchase celebrities. A complete roster of 10 celebrities is required at the end of the Draft per each team, and trading of celebs can commence by 8am the following morning. No trading of celebs is permitted during the Draft.

Celebrities will be auctioned off per the auctioneer. The team that offers the most money per individual will win that celebrity. Teams will suggest names and the auctioneer will commence bidding. Minimum amount per bid: $1. There is no maximum bid. Please remember when drafting that you will need to draft a total of ten celebrities, so plan accordingly.

Playoffs

TBD – will be sent via email once the season begins.

First game: September 15th, 2006!