2008 Fantasy Olympics Rules

1. The teams in this year’s competition will be divided randomly into three leagues. In light of the increased number of athletes at the summer games (nearly 600 on Team USA), each team will get to pick 12 athletes plus 1 tiebreaker country. We will crown three league winners in addition to an overall champion. The prize will remain the same as in the past: unending respect and admiration, and maybe a free drink from each of the other participants the next time you see them.

2. A live draft for each league will be held on a date TBD via AOL Instant Messenger. If you do not have an AIM account, please procure one or plan to share with someone during the draft. If you wish to name your own team, submit it to the Commissioner (Bryan) by the time your draft begins, or risk having a name chosen for you.

3. Draft order will be determined by a random draw conducted by the Commissioner. Round 1 will go in order from 1-5, round 2 from 5-1, round 3 from 1-5, etc. Each player gets one pick per round for 13 rounds.

4. Each player will select a total of 12 athletes from the U.S. Olympic team. Any athletes not drafted will be deemed Free Agents. Teams may add, drop or trade players through their first event. Whoever holds the athlete at the time of his or her first event is locked in and cannot remove the athlete from the roster. A player may draft a tiebreaker country in any round, but remember that the medals won by that country will only come into play in the event of a tie.

5. The winner will be the player with the most points at the end of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Points will be assigned as follows: 3 points for a gold medal, 2 points for a silver medal and 1 point for a bronze medal. Each player's final score will be based on an aggregate score from his or her 12 players.

6. Medals in team sports can only count once toward the final total. For example, even if a player selects two members of the U.S. Basketball Team, they can only earn points for one medal in basketball.

7. Medal counts will be updated by the Commissioner or a member of the Fantasy Olympics Committee (i.e. anyone with Blogger access to the site).

8. Each player will also select one non-USA country whose gold medal count will be used to determine a winner, in the event of a tie among two or more players’ aggregate scores. If the gold medal count fails to break the tie, then the silver count, and finally the bronze count, will be used.