The Happy-Ass Hoops Association, otherwise known as the HAHA, is a fantasy basketball league that traces its roots many years, Natties and blunts ago in the town of Bowling Green, Ohio in 1994. It began in the smoke-filled bedroom dubbed Chum's Clubhouse, where it originated as the Rotisserie Chicken League (RCL). 11 teams competed for the inaugural crown in a Rotisserie style format, with the Lampshade Dogs taking home the first league championship.

The league grew to thirteen, then sixteen, then 20 teams and changed its moniker to the Happy-Ass Hoops Association (HAHA). Today, the HAHA is a proud sponsor of such fund-raisers as the Extra Special Olympics for the Kids of Bebe's Kids and the John Davidson Groundhogging Extraordinaire.

Divisions

** Divisions will not be used in 2011-12

The HAHA is split into two divisions: the DownTowners and the OuttaTowners.

The DownTowners name is derived from the imbibings of its fellow division members at the local watering hole in Bowling Green, Ohio called Downtown Sports Bar. On any given night, you will find a number of fellow GMs listening to the sordid Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing as told by Burks or watch the wonderous Que finish two packs of Camels and double-fist Natties while he scratches the scrags on his chin.

The division format is set up solely for the purpose of dishing out pride money and seeing who has the biggest hoops johnson against half the league (as well as determining the top two playoff seeds).


Draft

"The Draft" takes place each year prior to the start of the NBA season.

Each team is granted $200 HAHA Dollars to spend on 8 players in an Open Auction.

Each team can keep up to 4 players from the previous year, with their salaries subtracted from the $200 HAHA Dollar grant. Any HAHA Dollars exchanged prior to draft day will be adjusted against the $200 HAHA Dollar grant.

When a team has selected 8 players (including keepers), they may no longer participate in the auction.

At the completion of the auction, a Reserve Draft is conducted to select 5 additional players. The reserve draft order is based on the previous year's playoff finish. Players selected in the reserve draft are subject to the round-by-round salary scale (Rd 1 = $9, Rd 2 = $7, Rd 3 = $5, Rd 4 = $3, Rd 5 = $1). Once a roster contains 12 players, any remaining reserve picks cannot be used.


Rosters

Each team must field a roster of a maximum of 13 players. Starting rosters consist of 1 center, 3 forwards, 3 guards, 1 utility and 5 inactive reserves.

A player is eligible for a HAHA roster if they are eligible to play in the NBA in the current season.

Rosters are frozen for the offseason at the end of the last game of the HAHA season. Rosters can be modified only via pre-trading starting the following season, and free agent pickups are not allowed until after the draft is completed.


Positions

Positions are enforced by those listed on Sportsline.


Salary Cap

Teams may not exceed a salary cap of $300 for their 12-man roster. If a team does not fill a roster spot, that spot will count as one free agent salary against the cap (currently $10). Any HAHA Draft Dollars traded will NOT count against the salary cap.

The Salary Cap is enforced at all times.

Draft Cap: A team cannot exceed the salary cap when selecting their full roster at the draft. Salary considerations should be made when determining keepers, draft dollar allotment, traded-for draft dollars, and reserve draft picks. Each GM is responsible for being under the salary cap at the end of the draft, or it may result in the release of drafted players to remain under the cap.


Lineups

All transactions (adds/drops/trades/waiver claims) are due at the deadline set by Sportsline. Lineup changes are subject to the rules of Sportsline.

It is the opposing team's responsibility to monitor and police illegal lineups for any given week.

If someone was in your lineup and you take him out to cause an illegal lineup, then that player will remain on the active roster (i.e. the lineup will go back to its original state).

No changes can be made to a player whose team has already played or is already playing - no exceptions. You can only make changes for a player that hasn't started playing yet and that needs to be approved by the opposing GM, otherwise it will not be allowed.


Free Agents

The Free Agent Automatic Bid (FAAB) process is used to pick up free agents. This process is run every Monday and Thursday at 1:07am ET.

A team is allotted $100 to spend on the FAAB process. This amount is only to be used for FAAB and cannot be traded or used otherwise.

A team bids on a player and chooses a player to drop. The team that bids the most wins the player when the FAAB process is run. If there is a tie, priority is based on overall standings from lowest to highest.

If a player is released, he will retain his salary until the next draft, unless the salary is under $10. If it is under $10, it will increase to $10.


Trading

Trades are allowed until the deadline on Monday, February 4th at the Sportsline deadline (30 min before first game that day).

Trading is allowed to resume the following year on a date specified by the commissioner (generally in early October after all rules issues have been clarified).

A limit of $10 annual total of draft dollars per team can be traded/received at any time.


Game Play

The scoring is based on weights as described in the scoring table. Tiebreakers are also listed in the scoring table. The score for a game that is played over multiple weeks is the sum of the first week and the second week.


Regular Season

The HAHA regular season consists of 16 weeks of head-to-head competition. The first 7 weeks feature interdivision play, while weeks 8-16 feature intradivison play. The schedule for interdivision play is based on last year's final standings, while the schedule for intradivision play is based on the standings after interdivision completes.

The Division Winner tiebreaker is based on the following: 1. H2H 2. PF 3. Coin Flip.


Playoffs

Teams are seeded 1 to 8 for the playoffs, based on the overall regular season standings.

Ties are broken based on the following: 1. PF 2. H2H 3. Coin Flip.

The winner of the Murray Bracket will get the #1 pick in next year's reserve draft.

Prizes are awarded based on regular season and playoff finish.

The winner of the playoffs collects the HAHA GOLD and a spot in THE MARTINI TENT.


VOTING

The Commish will be the person who organizes and coordinates the issues and votes. Every GM in HAHA has a right to a voice, and those that choose not to exercise their right forfeit their chance to effect change in the league.

If a GM wishes to bring an issue up for discussion/vote, he must submit it to the league noting that the issue is up for 'serious discussion' or wishes to put something to vote. A vote will only occur if someone "seconds" it.

The issue will then be debated for a course of no less than 72 hours. The Commish reserves the right to call a vote at anytime in emergency situations and has the right to overrule egregious vote results. A vote will be considered final only after a minimum of 48 hours have passed since it was called. (the previous two sentences do not apply to trades/add-drops/special issues)

Voting is dependent on each of the following categories it pertains to: personnel, scoring, trades, administration, and 'special issues'.

Personnel: includes roster setup, salary cap, keepers, etc. Changes for an upcoming season require a majority vote to win, with at least 11 GMs voting and must be decided prior to the start of pre-draft trading. Personnel may NOT be changed during the season. A tie vote results in the issue not being passed and retaining the status quo. Keepers & Pre-draft Trading can only be changed for the following season and must be decided prior to the start of pre-draft trading.

Scoring: includes scoring weights, stat categories, game-play, etc. Changes for an upcoming season require a majority vote to win, with at least 11 GMs voting and must be decided prior to the start of pre-draft trading. Scoring may NOT be changed during the season. A tie vote results in the issue not being passed and retaining the status quo.

Administration: includes roster deadlines, reporting procedures, etc. Changes for an upcoming season or during the season require a majority vote to win, with at least 11 GMs voting and must be decided prior to the start of pre-draft trading. A tie vote results in the issue not being passed and retaining the status quo.

Trades and Add/Drops: a vote to repeal a trade may be called, and it can be overturned as long as 80% vote in favor and 11 GMs vote (not including the teams involved in the trade).

Special Issues: will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, majority vote wins provided at least a simple majority of GM's vote.