How long until the new rules become a Man Law?

I play in a free fantasy football league run by a friend of mine, Mike, who also owns the team War Machine in the fantasy hockey league I run. (I know, I know -- how much of a geek am I? I play in fantasy leagues and read comic books -- what'r'ya gonna do?) Every year the rules are the same as the year before, but that doesn't mean those rules coincide with the rules of the league that some of the guys I work with are in. ESPN.com's Sports Guy has the solution. You're not allowed to complain about four things in life: nudity, free food, free drinks and fantasy football. So why would I want to tinker with the latter, a multibillion-dollar business that brings us so much joy? Because we screwed this up from the beginning, that's why. You know how pro sports were totally messed up in the '40s and '50s, back when the NBA had no shot clock, hockey goalies didn't have masks and football players went all 60 minutes? Back then, fans thought everything was fine, right? That's where fantasy is: great concept, semisuccessful execution, tons of potential. It's not Kathy Griffin's face; we don't have to renovate everything, we just need to make some adjustments. And I'm more than willing to be the Winston Wolfe of the whole thing. He then proceeds to pick six "problems," give examples of each, and then comes up with an easy solution. My personal favorite is the one about the trade deadline: PROBLEM: There are never enough trades, and the trade deadline isn't exciting enough. Tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. SOLUTION: The deadline is Thursday night, 3 a.m., right before Week 11. Here's the catch: On that night, every owner needs to go out drinking with his fellow owners. Nothing greases the skids for blockbuster trades like a few rounds of tequila shots. (I wish we could make this mandatory for pro sports as well.) And if somebody doesn't show up for the deadline bash and fails to provide a good excuse, that counts as a strike (see three-strike system). The funny thing is, just this past Tuesday night, my fantasy hockey league -- the Hat Trick Hockey League, whose standings you will see in the left sidebar of this site during the season -- had its annual Summer Meeting. During this meeting, it was decided to create a Winter Meeting during the NHL's All-Star break -- to be held at a bar. And, even though it's going to be about two months before our trade deadline, I have a feeling that the free flow of alcohol will more than help grease the wheels to get some deals done. For more on Man Laws, click here.