Longest Reception

We are currently voting on whether or not to limit the longest reception and run. The game has a toggle that allows all receptions or runs to be capped at the players actual NFL longest. The TFL plays with that toggle, we are voting if we should change that.

As of 3/31/09 at 1:30pm (GMT... which is also the time used aboard the International Space Station - except for when an American Shuttle visits than the ISS changes time to match the shuttles "Mission Elapsed Time") where was I?.... oh yeah, as of this morning the voting on whether or not to cap the longest run and reception was hot and heavy however one person decided to vote for the reception poll... but not in the run poll. Its worth noting that they are seperate... you can cap longest reception and not cap longest run, and vice versa.

One person has actually voted to cap longest run, but not longest reception. Crazy right? Who would do such a thing? Me.

That's right. I can picture in my head any scrub receiver getting behind the defence and taking it all the way. But any generic runner doing the same thing just isn't something I am capable of picturing in my head.

For those NFL history buffs perhaps you can tell me what the following receivers all have in common:

Bernard Berrian
Marc Boerigter
Tony Martin
Mike Quick

Aside from being average NFL receivers, they are 4 of the 10 men to have caught a 99 yard pass in the NFL.

Meanwhile... only rusher to ever accomplish the same feat is Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett.

DEE-FENCE ... DEE-FENCE

The league voted 90-%-10% in favor of all of us using the same defence.

The Bears Shufflin' Crew were unavailable so we are going to have to decide whether or not we want to use one of the following three options:

Everyone use Average Run and Average Pass generic defence.

Everyone use Good Run and Good Pass generic defence.

Everyone use Good/Average defense with each team being allowed to choose Good Run and Average Pass defence or Average Run and Good Pass defence.

The Canadian spelling of the word defence was used in this blog to help signify the international presence of the TFL :) And to remind Sylvain and Nathan to name their damn teams - so we can start mocking you along with Fox Valley and Maricopa County!

Special Teams

In the most lopsided voting the TFL has had in quite some time the league voted 90%-10% to have kick return coverages be of the same NFL team as the kicker. And punt return coverages to be of the same team as the punter.

We will all use the same penalty card. The Commissioner will select each season the penalty card of the team which has the fewest combined total of penalties and opp. penalties. That team for the 2008 NFL season was the New England Patriots.

How The Compromise Birthed

I have done a poor job of communicating the compromise that is the usage rule I have proposed. I had hoped to avoid a long entanglement over usage.

First let me say that in the grand scheme of things usage rules are a necessary evil. The purpose of which is to limit unsportsmanlike usage of overpowered cards.

There are lots of different ways to do this and one way is no better or worse than another it is very easy to get bogged down and argue over VERY insignificant details when doing usage.

KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID (K.I.S.S.)

Why? Because last year 20 of the 24 teams could not follow the usage rules. The usage rules last season were simple, if they have reached this number in the NFL they are unlimited. If they have not they are limited to 100%. Yet 20 of the 24 teams could not follow that rule.

Someone is going to say "yeah, but the dumpoff..." and I'm going to interrupt that fault and say that the dumpoff was responsible for a remarkably small amount of problems (roughly 3 or 4 individuals).

But even with the dumpoff there are issues. First... if your runner hits his receptions limit at week 8 you could continue to play him but just not target him for passes. How do we know that is what you did? Also... why did you throw so many times to him in the first 8 weeks? Isn't that an obvious manipulation of the intent of the rule?

Some advocated for no limits to receptions at all arguing that the cards self-regulated and that receiver receptions wasn't abused anyway. Nobody really cared.

Some advocated to strict limits arguing that a third receiver was a dangerous weapon and that throwing 100 times to a third receiver would tip the scales of balance.

Another problem is best shown with three players. Edgerrin James, Frank Gore and Tom Brady. All three players were unlimited. In all three instances no players did anything illegal and all were within the rules.Edgerrin James and Frank Gore each had 430 or more attempts for the second straight year. Tom Brady had over 800 pass attempts. Yes... 800.

Let me say that was not illegal. The rules said all three players were UNLIMITED. They could have as many attempts as they wanted.

But let me also say that all three attempts are a stretch of what is widely considered acceptable attempts.

So it became obvious that we needed an upper limit. Most leagues have upper limits somewhere in the 110%-150% range.

The other problem that we had was individualized penalizing of usage transgressions. One person would get one penalty. Another person that had the exact same transgression but for a different reason would get no penalty. That was obviously unacceptable to me. I understand the reasons behind the previous administration doing it that way. I wholeheartedly disagree with that and I won't do it.

Therefore we needed to have rules in place so everyone knew what the penalty would be for violating those rules. But in order to do that you first have to have rules in place that are easy to follow and are flexible enough to allow for honest mistakes or dumpoff passes. Those same rules also need to be strict in their limits so that no judgement calls are needed in order to penalize violators. That means that the rules need to be set up in a way that is liberal enough that no violation of the rules can possibly be argued.

And so... out of all of this discussion and issue was born the compromise that I URGE you to accept. Unless you absolutely cannot live with the rule (as in you will leave the league if it is implimented) I urge you to accept this compromise as being something you can live with as I promise you after 3 months of discussion and study this is the best proposal for the league.

I have been studying this usage rule in great detail since before Christmas.

Apparently the big issue over this rule is about the amount of times a WR can catch the football. Really is that so imortant of an issue that you will nix the entire rule? Do you really care if your opponent throws to his crappy receiver 60 times? Do you really find it statistically important that a receiver in the NFL that had 20 catches NOT be allowed to have 59 catches in the TFL. And honestly ask yourself... will you ever even look it up to see if someone did?

Someone said in a discussion earlier that the usage rule can easily get caught up in minute details that really don't matter. I think that the receiver portion of this rule is a great example of that.

A vote becomes Law.

When the league votes on an issue the result of that vote becomes unified LAW.

The league has voted with one voice. If you lost the vote I expect you to live with the majority ruling as if you voted in favor of it.

This is an expectation you knew I would have when you ratified unanimously me as the Commissioner. I told you at the time not to vote for me unless you could live like that. You all voted in favor of me.

Now we have had a vote on what to do with the 4 extra rosters worth of players we currently have. The league voted in favor of waiting until next year to decide what to do with them. The vote was tied when the polls closed and the Commissioner broke the tie. It is now LAW. There is no debating, it is fact.

We will wait until next offseason to decide what to do with those players. Any thoughts you have on that should wait until next offseason to be voiced.

more on usage

There has been a great deal of thought going into the usage rules as outlined below. I have discussed this topic with numerous current and past coaches. I have discussed this topic with commissioners of other leagues. I have discussed this topic at length with our previous commissioner. There are no solutions that will make everyone happy. Regardless of how we do it there will have to be compromise.

I tell you this to let you know that there has been ongoing and heated debate about this subject that I have initiated with others so I can gauge public reaction and come up with an equitable solution.

There were three problems that I wanted to address with this new usage system.

1. Stabilize penalties so that we knew right up front what the penalties would be. There would be no judgement calls or surprises.
2. I wanted to give people plenty of leeway for honest mistakes and dumpoff passes and such.
3. I wanted to cap the top end as that was becoming excessively unrealistic (my own Frank Gore 430+ carries two years in a row).

This new system addresses all of those problems without forcing coaches to get new players due to usage limits. If your starters doesn't have enough carries because he is capped your backups now have enough carries to make the difference.

I urge you all to vote yes for this rule if it is something you can live on. This is the type of argumentative topic that can split a league. We're trying to heal and come together and not to scar worse.

This rule may not be your perfect scenario, but I promise you that there is not a scenario I did not look at and I honestly feel this is the best compromise for the entire league. If it is something that you can live with I urge you to ratify my proposal. This can be a dividing issue, we've had enough of that. I believe it is time to build together rather than divide apart.

Proposed Usage Rule

Gentlemen,

I am advocating a strict 125% usage limit. All players will be limited to 125% of their NFL attempts for:

QB Passes
RB Rushes
RB Receptions
TE Receptions
WR Receptions

No player will be checked unless they hit 60 attempts.

The spirit of this rule is to give coaches enough leeway that they are not "dump offed" or "honest mistaked" into a penalty. 59 free attempts by every player is plenty to give more than enough leeway. But a small enough figure that those players will not effect the integrity of the cards. Super Great carded, but limited, cards will not be able to take over a season.

Also the cap at 125% rather than having unlimited guys is to keep attempt limits within reasonable allowances. I have Frank Gore on my team. He is a 250 carry a season rusher, yet I carried 435 times with him last season. Another team passed 800 times with a star quarterback. Those totals were completely legal last season, but seem to be excessive use and breaking the spirit of the strat game, which is to be similiar to the NFL. Having multiple runners top 400 carries or having a quarterback with 800 passes is not similiar to the NFL.

The free 59 attempts every player gets should make up for any attempts a team finds themselves short of by having a previously unlimited player now limited to 125%.

QB rushes will continue to be controlled by the QB rush limit that we currently use. And RB fatigue will also continue to be used.

Proposed usage penalties

All overused players will be suspended for the playoffs.
5-14 attempts over loss of a 7th round pick.
15-24 attempts over loss of a 5th round pick.
25-34 attempts over loss of a 3rd round pick.
35+ attempts over loss of a 1st round pick.

Some Examples:
If a FB has 10 NFL receptions he would be allowed 13 TFL receptions (10*125%, rounding.) However, that fullback won't be checked until he gets to 60 receptions. If he has 59 TFL receptions after week 15 and you play him and in the 4th quarter of a blowout he collects a dumpoff pass for a one yard loss that is his 60th receptions and he will now be checked for usage limits. He isn't over by 1... he's over by 47 (60 he has minus the 13 he is allowed) and you just lost a first round draft pick.

Same scenario: had you benched him for that last game and he finished the season with 59 attempts he would never even be checked to see if he was within 125% so there would be no penalty.

All runners are allowed 59 carries and 59 receptions before they are checked. If a runner has 59 carries and 60 receptions, that runner will be checked for receptions but not for carries.

If you are penalized a pick that you no longer have. The pick that you own prior to the penalized pick will be taken instead.

PLAYOFF OVERUSAGE

All players are limited to 10% of their NFL attempts in the playoffs. If a passer has 364 NFL passing attempts than he is allowed 36.4 playoff pass attempts - rounded would be 36.

Only players with 4 or more attempts will be checked for overusage in the playoffs. Every player on your team has 3 free attempts.

If you overuse a player in the playoffs your 2nd round draft pick in the next rookie draft will be given to the opponent you cheated. Penalties are more severe in the playoffs as the benefit to cheating is greater.

POLL RESULTS: What to do with the 4 teams?

The voting for the question of what to do with the 4 extra rosters worth of players was tied 50%-50%. In the event of a tie the Commissioner has the deciding vote.

The Commissioner votes to delay making a decision on the 4 extra rosters until next offseason.

The 7 expansion coaches will each select one of the 11 teams and those team players and draft selections will enter into the draft. The remaining 4 teams players will be frozen until next offseason when the league will decide to expand to 24 or stay at 20 and put them into the rookie draft. All draft picks held by those remaining 4 teams will disappear. If one of those 4 teams has traded away, last season, a draft pick to another team that other team holds that pick and so it does not disappear. If one of the 4 teams has aquired a draft pick from a current team that draft pick is held by one of the 4 and it will disappear.

POLL RESULTS: No Expansion Pick Trades

The TFL has voted 75%-25% to disallow any trading between existing teams and expansion teams.

Expansion teams will not be allowed to trade until after the expansion draft.

POLL RESULTS: Coaches cannot start over

The TFL voted 83.3% in favor of not allowing current coaches to voluntarily give up their teams and go into the expansion draft.

Welcome New Coaches

We currently have 4 new coaches with three remaining spots.

Welcome to our four new coaches. I remember what it was like being the new guy in the league. Especially if you haven't played much strat before. It can be intimidating. Don't worry. We're all going to give you a hard time whether or not you deserve so sit back and enjoy the hazing :)

No seriously, there won't be any hazing. And I promise you that if you try and get to know these guys they will all make time for you. Also, something to keep in mind is after the games ask the opponent for some tips. I have been playing for 18 years and I STILL do that. There will always be a perspective that they have that you can't see from the drivers seat.

J. Russell Reid is our first new coach and his team is the Goose Bay Raiders. I understand his locker room is full of sophmoric antics and towell flipping. What else would you expect from Goose Bay?

Sylvain Munger was the second coach entering the league this year. He hails from someplace in Canada that probably has a moose wandering through the streets but at least he has health care and beer, eh? So long as he knows he is only here because we heard he can make a pastry and he knows a few jokes. :)

Nathan Baylor was the third coach who groveled at our feet until we allowed him a place at the table. Or was that the other way around? Please join us.... please?! Nathan will be playing this next season in the Lombardi West

Ken Galica has the unfortunate happenstance of having Eric Morgan as a co-worker. After two years of listening to Eric drone on and on about... well, he wasn't really listening but it had something to do with football and Eric seemed excited about it, Ken has decided to check it out.

Welcome new guys, the mops and buckets are located at the end of the hall and we like two coats of wax on the floors, please.

POLL RESULTS: Quarterly Schedule

The TFL has ratified going to a quarterly system for scheduling games. The .pre files for 4 games will be sent out at a given time. You will have a set time (4 weeks, except during Christmas season) to complete these four games at your own convenience.

The big fear with this type of system is that people will procrastinate and then scramble to play 3 games the last 4 days of the month. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.

It is up to you to show that you are adult enough to handle this responsibility. I understand life happens. Thats why we are moving to this system. But I also understand that there are people out there that never initiate contact with their opponent and just sit around waiting for that opponent to call them. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

POLL RESULT: Topher Connors Bully Pulpit Created

The TFL ratified Topher Connors as its second Commissioner today with a unanimous vote.

POLL RESULTS: TFL creates Expansion Draft

Tonight the TFL created the Expansion Draft. The vote was 91%-8% in favor of ratification. The guidelines on how that will work was posted earlier tonight.

Poll Results: TFL 20 Teams

The league decided tonight by a 76%-23% vote to become a 20 team league for the 2009 season.

The TFL had been a 24 team league since 2006. The move in downsizing is being blamed on the economy and the loss of jobs is expected to save the TFL 16.7% of its operating budget. :)

Do we put the remaining 4 teams into the September Rookie Draft now or wait until next season?

This is going to be a hot topic . Please try and think about the benefit to the league as a whole and not to your individual team.

I strongly suggest we wait until next season to figure out what we want to do with the remaining 4 teams. We may want to expand back to 24... if we do we have a ready draft pool for the newest teams. We may not want to expand to 24 we may like it at 20... if we do than we put them in the draft at that time. If we put the 4 teams into the draft pool right now, we are a 20 team league and we are saying that we will stay a 20 team league. I will not put up for a vote expanding if that means taking guys away from you to give to a new coach. I don't think that is fair. At least not for several years.

I'm not saying put them in limbo forever. I'm saying delay making a decision on them until next year. This is a hot issue. We're going to fight over it. Lets fight over it next year, we have enough turmoil going on right now than to add fights onto the plate.

Besides, nobody has traded away a 2010 draft pick yet (or at least it isn't official yet) so when they do trade those away they will know what the value might be of that pick. When coaches traded away 2009 draft picks they knew they were taking a risk, but 4 teams worth of new talent was so far off the radar screen so as to not be figured into the calculation. By waiting just one year, everyone is on the same even ground. Plus it gives us options. We may not want to take up that option, but it is better to have the option and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I say we wait 12 months before we decide what to do with the 4 remaining teams.

That is my opinion, what's yours? We'll talk about it over the weekend and next week I'll put up a poll on it.

Should Expansion Coaches be allowed to trade Expansion Draft Picks to current coaches?

When it comes to trading I am pretty much a free market kind of guy. I don't have a problem if an Expansion Team wants to trade away their 2nd round pick in the Expansion Draft for a player or a draft pick. Of if an Expansion Team wants to trade away a player they just drafted to a current coach (or to another Expansion Team for that matter). It doesn't really affect me any. I have warned the Expansion Coaches already and will continue to do so that the Expansion Draft is MUCH more valuable than the Rookie Draft. With guys like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Antonio Gates, Ladanian Tomlinson potentially in the Expansion Draft that is MUCH more valuable than Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. I would guess that the first 5 or 6 rounds of the Expansion Draft will be about equivalent to a 1st round of a Rookie Draft. As long as everyone is aware of that, I don't have a problem with it.

Can a current coach voluntarily give up his team and go into the expansion draft?

That is what we are to debate. My opinion is "Sure, I don't care." This would be a one time thing. Its no skin off my teeth. I love my team, I wan to hold onto them. If a coach loves his team I see no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to keep it. Because the expansion pool is a 1:1 ratio the overall talent level will stay the same. But at the same time, if a coach wants to make a new beginning and wants to toss his team and all his draft picks into the Expansion Pool, I don't have a problem with that. It really doesn't affect me any. Now I will say that if a current coach gives up his team that team should go into the Expansion Pool. He shouldn't get to chose another team to go into the Expansion Pool, he would HAVE to put his team into the pool.

2009 Expansion Draft

Those new expansion teams will each select one of the 11 open teams to put into the draft pool. All 53 players on that selected open team will go into the pool as well as any draft pick that team currently has.

For an example, O'Fallon Renegades have the 3rd pick overall in the Rookie Draft in September by virtue of their 3-13 record. They are an open team. If a new coach selects to put them into the Expansion Pool than all 53 players on the O'Fallon roster (which can be seen on the yahoogroups file page) will go into the Expansion Pool. As well as all 12 draft picks that O'Fallon has in the September Rookie Draft. O'Fallon has 12 picks because O'Fallon owns the rights to the Miami Valley 2nd and 3rd round picks. So all 10 of O'Fallon's 1-10 round selections plus Miami Valley 2nd and 3rd will go into the Expansion Pool.

When an Expansion Team drafts they will draft players AND draft picks from the pool. So at the end of the draft they will have a combination of 53 players/draft picks going into the September Rookie Draft. They may choose a more veteran approach and have 45 players and only select 8 draft picks. Or they may choose to go for the future and select 15 draft picks and 38 players.

There is some strategy in play there because the Expansion Teams will be competing with one another on draft picks. It is possible for the same expansion team to get 4 or 5 first round draft picks if he picks them high enough. At the same time, there are some VERY good players that he will be missing out on in order to do this.

So to answer the concern that current coaches have about the draft. Eric Morgan and his Florida Rooks have the 4th pick in the draft. They will have no worse than the 4th pick in September. However, if one of the expansion coaches does not select O'Fallon to go into the Expansion Pool than O'Fallons picks will disappear and Florida (as well as everyone else) moves up one.

By the way, if O'Fallon is not selected Miami Valley does NOT get back their 2nd and 3rd round selection, they simply disappear. Miami Valley was already compensated for those draft picks so it is unfair to the others for Miami Valley to have both the player they traded them for and to get them back.