At the risk of "outraging" some here who think I am only wanting attention (yes, I read some comments on here from yesterday), wanted to say a couple of things.

The beauty of free will, for those that want nothing to do with what I have to say, is that you can simply scroll by this post or have the discipline to ignore it, if you truly don't care. :p

I just wanted to thank Mark for his "Team Fuzzy" shout in the Scoutcast. I sent Mark a thanks via Twitter, but wasn't sure if he would catch it, he doesn't seem to be too active on Twitter. (In fairness, after some of the criticism I received, perhaps being seldom active on Twitter is the way to go).

But yeah, thanks. I appreciate the support that was given and wanted to make sure that sentiment reached Mark.

Again, at this point, you don't have to continue reading. I like to write. Its what I do, both for income and for the love of it, so if my words are too lengthy to handle, time to jump ship.

The topic of Cedric will not be talked about by me again after this final punctuation, but I do want to leave a few points about it all in a final statement.

First, I wanted to confirm that the reply I got from FPL was indeed automated. It may have looked like they addressed my specific question, but I chopped off the remainder of the email (ironically because I didnt want to add MORE words for readers to digest than necessary). The email is automated clearly because it addressed any possible Week 9 controversies that anyone writing them may have raised. The full email read as thus:

Hi Fuzzy,
Please find below an answer to your query relating to the awarding points for this current set of fixtures (GW9).
1. OPTA, who provide us with all our stats, have decided that Cédric, the Southampton defender, played 59 minutes against Leicester before being substituted, meaning that he was not eligible for the clean sheet bonus, as he did not play 60 minutes. This won't now be changed.
2. Pelle has not been awarded an assist for Southampton's second goal in the same game. This is because after Pelle's header hit the post, van Dijk then hit the woodwork himself, before scoring from the rebound. If van Dijk had scored directly after the first rebound then an assist would have been awarded to Pelle, but the fact that van Dijk hit the post himself before he scored meant that Pelle's effort was no longer a direct assist.
3. In Manchester City's game against Bournemouth, Sagna has not been awarded an assist for City's second goal, based on this section from the rules: 'If an opposing player touches the ball after the final pass before a goal is scored, significantly altering the intended destination of the ball, then no assist is awarded.' As the Bournemouth goalkeeper spilt the ball, this counted as a 'significant' alteration of the movement of the ball, before the goal was scored.
For the avoidance of doubt, points awarded in-game are subject to change up until one hour after the final whistle of the last match of any given day. Once the points have all been updated on that day, no further adjustments to points will be made.
Yours,
Fantasy Premier League Support

So, while I wasnt expecting a "hand-written letter from Richard Scudamore", I was disappointed in seeing that any inquiry regarding "Cedricgate" was going to get the same reply. My guess is that letters sent to FPL scan for key words - in this case, Cedrc, Pelle, or Sagna - tag the intro with your FPL first name, which is Fuzzy, and send the reply on its way.

I also want to say for the record that I enjoyed the columns that featured my letter, whether the tone was mean-spirited or not. A more positive one was written - https://www.101greatgoals.com/fantasy-premier-league/fpl-manager-writes-to-pl-over-when-southamptons-cedric-was-substituted/ - if anyone is interested.

What tickles me is how the nastiest one - from "the42" spends words expressing outrage, about my letter, which I feel was written with logic, civility and no venom. At the end of the day, I provided the man who wrote that content. I find that to be somewhat ironic. He took the time to examine my twitter profile, compile screenshots, etc. to put out a column whose intent is to garner attention. I find a ton of irony about it all.

Even the Metro column, I tweeted the author and thanked him, and he didn't bother to reply. You would think someone that would use you to create content for their own occupation would at least have it in him to acknowledge me.

What I learned from all of this is something that I kind of already knew, I just hadn't had my turn on the carousel to the extent that Cedricgate created, and that is that in a modern world where there is more media than anyone can possibly digest, many find the easiest source of content is to find a subject to publicly shame. For example, an NFL ex-coach on a pregame NFL show over the weekend went viral with a story littered all over American social media. The subject, he audibly farted while on air. On my trending feed on Facebook, I scrolled through the topic, and it was picked up by dozens upon dozens of sources.

And for whatever reason, a large section of the human race get their jollies in seeing people get trashed, then pile on. It is something that goes back to medieval times really. Put someone in the middle of the town square and hurl tomatoes at him, not necessarily because they have been wronged in some way, its just therapeutic, I dont understand why, to join in with the crowd and hurl your own tomato. There is a degree on anonymity about it combined with a lack of accountability for doing it, because you are a part of a large herd.

Anyway, in modern times, social media has taken that centuries-old practice and multiplied it by a billion billion. I am okay with what happened, because I know that is the risk you take when you say anything publicly that can be shared globally in seconds time. I have a twitter account. It is part of what promotes the writing I do for the fantasy football site I work for. I share related content there. I decided to post the FPL letter there and here, because I thought it was the best forums in which to do so. Its not like I went to TMZ with this.

So, in a nutshell, the jig is up. The story, like any, gets run through the mill and forgotten about the next day. My head is held high, I have no regrets, and I have a blast doing what I am doing right now. I never expected everyone to agree with what I had to say, and the motivation wasnt simply to get more points for Cedric, it was to open discussion of a look at the rules, which if memory serves, FPL has shown the flexibility to alter in the past. How bonus points are awarded, what defines an assist, etc.

I will say in closing, as I tweeted to Mark, that it is this site, and this community that provided the passion I have for the game we all love. Otherwise, why are any of us here on the board right now?

Have a good one gents, and may your arrows be green.

Fuzzy