RAFFLE: 1999 Rules Once again, we've changed a few more rules -- read through everything so you'll know what changes were made this time around. As always, a couple points to be brought up first: - IMPORTANT!!!! RAFFLE is now pretty much a year-round league. (Or at least the Keeper leagues are.) - If you see a problem with your roster, you have one week to spot it and let me know. (I.e., you make a transaction during Week 3 and it's noted in the weekly report, but the Sunday roster posted to the Site doesn't show the player on your roster. You have until the end of Week 4 to inform me or the mistake stands.) 00) Table of Contents ======================================================== Section Description 01 'Net Resources 02 RAFFLE '98 Timeline 03 Securing Your Spot for 1998 04 Keeper Rules (Leagues I-III) 05 Roster Size/Fielding a Team 06 Drafting/Filling the Roster 07 Waiver Wire 08 Trades 09 Lineups 10 Scoring 11 Scheduling 12 Standings 13 Weekly Reports 14 Unresponsive Ownership, Etc. 15 Miscellaneous 01) 'Net Resources =========================================================== There's a web site for the football information I maintain at Vnet -- the URL is http://users.vnet.net/troan/football. It includes NFL, fantasy football, and RAFFLE information. All posts will be available for those times you accidentally rm your copy. : ) (I've also got the entire Site backed-up on my home web server to cover those times the web server's drive crashes.) If you have requests for information you wish to see at the Site, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Likewise, if you have information you wish to contribute don't hesitate to put it in the /pub/football/incoming directory of the FTP portion of the site (ftp.vnet.net/troan/football/incoming). There's also a mailing list for RAFFLE. The e-mail addresses I have in the owner list are on the list's distribution. To send mail to the RAFFLE owners subscribed, send your mail to raffle@list.vnet.net. (The list moved to the new server mid-season last year.) If you want to get the mail in batch mode (instead of getting them as they're sent), go to http://list.vnet.net/?enter =raffle. All list options and past posts are available through the web interface. When posting to the list, please remember that owners in all leagues will get the message. Please put something in the subject line to indicate which league the message is for. Also, when a conversation goes down to two owners (working out trade details) please do not use the list. 02) RAFFLE '99 Timeline ====================================================== NOTE 1: Items marked with an asterisk are RAFFLE deadlines. NOTE 2: Dates after July 1 may change if the NFL changes their dates for the regular season. Feb. 1 RAFFLE '99 rules (what you're reading) should be mailed out by now. The 1999 Draft Order and League Schedules have also been posted to the Site. RAFFLE Trading and Free Agency re-open. Feb. 9 NFL Expansion Draft for the Cleveland Browns. Apr. 15 *Franchise Reservations due -- see Section 03. Apr. 17 NFL Draft (concludes on Sunday). Jul. 31 NFL Preseason starts (Hall of Fame Game). Aug. 13 *Keeper designations due -- see Section 04. (Keeper leagues only) *End of RAFFLE Free agency for the '99 Off-Season -- See Section 04. (Keeper leagues only) Aug. 20 *Initial draft lists due -- see Section 06. Trading Period ends -- see Section 04. Aug. 27 *Final draft lists due by 18:00 EDT. Aug. 28 *RAFFLE draft (concludes on Sunday). Aug. 30 Official start of supplemental picks. Sep. 5 Last mailing of rosters. Updates of the Transaction files at the Site starts. Sep. 12 NFL Regular season starts. Dec. 12 End of RAFFLE regular season (NFL Week 14; concludes with MNF). Jan. 1 Fantasy Bowl (NFL Week 17; concludes with MNF). ***************************************************************************** **** Missing a deadline will result in the loss of your franchise. **** ***************************************************************************** 03) Securing Your Spot for 1999 ============================================== To retain your franchise, send a note to me (troan@vnet.net) by April 15 that includes the following information: - Your name (as you want it to appear in the mailings). - The e-mail address to which the mailings are to be sent. - Your team name (approximately 30 characters). New Restriction: the nick- name cannot already be used (owners in the league in '96 are exempt if they don't change nicknames). Anything left out defaults to the '98 info -- but I still need a reservation in some form to know if you'll be back or not. 04) Keeper Rules (Leagues I-III) ============================================= By August 13, each team indicates which players will be kept going into 1999. I'll have the full list of players being kept posted shortly afterwards. See the chart below for limits on numbers of players at each position. NOTE: 4 WRs can be kept only if a single RB is kept. Position Maximums Players Kept HC QB RB WR+TE K D ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~ 5-8 1 2 2 3 1 1 9-12 1 2 3 4 1 1 Off-season activity is allowed with the following restrictions: - Only players with prior NFL experience can be involved. (I know who does.) - Free agency ends on August 13. - Trading between teams ends on August 20. - Draft picks can be traded, but only for the next two drafts -- 1999/2000 picks until August 20; 2000/01 picks August 30 to August 19, 2000; etc. (This means that you can't do a Herschel Walker-type deal and leave RAFFLE immediately afterwards -- sticking it to the new owner.) 05) Roster Size/Fielding a Team ============================================== The roster is twenty (20) positions. Every week each team will field one of the following formations: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, K, D, HC (pro set) QB, RB, WR, WR, WR, WR, K, D, HC (run-and-shoot) QB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, D, HC (three-receiver set) QB, RB, WR, WR, TE, TE, K, D, HC (two-tight end set) QB, RB, RB, WR, TE, TE, K, D, HC (goal-line set) The 2RB/3WR formation is still not legal. The team defense/special teams (D) position is one team chosen to fill both roles on defense and special teams. Points are awarded for turnover recoveries, sacks, and points scored. The coach (HC) position will score points based on how the coach of the team he coaches fared that week. See Scoring for the rest of the details. 06) Drafting/Filling the Roster ============================================== The draft will be 7 rounds. The pre-draft submission from each team will need: - The team name (so I'll know which team the list is for). - A draft order of preference for picking positions (i.e., draft my highest available RB for round one, WR for round 2, etc.). This ordering will play a major role in the shape and [lack of] strength(s) of your team. - A position-by-position draft ordering in a single column. Those multi- column lists that we've received in the past were difficult to work with during the drafts. Please use this order to make the draft easier for us to do: QB, RB, WR, TE (if you're drafting any), K, Defense (D), Coach (HC). ** Do realize that you will NOT get all of your desired top choices, so make your lists as long as reasonably possible. ** Please realize that we're human and may occasionally make a mistake during the draft. Considering the number of picks we have to do each year, we do pretty well. If your list runs out before the drafting is over, I'll choose the highest remaining player for the position from the lists in the Fantasy Football Pro Forecast 1999. The O's in "Football" are footballs and has had Mel Kiper's photo on the front cover the last few years. It usually goes on sale around the middle or end of July and sells for about six bucks. I've found copies at my local book stores and grocery stores. (It's got forecasts for all player positions -- including team records, defense, and special teams.) ** I hold on to these lists through the draft only. Once the draft is ** over, I toss the lists on to the recycle pile. NOTE: Some owners make use of Top 50 (or some other number) lists. Please place them at the top of the list (just after the position preference list). If you put any conditions on the list (i.e., no more than two from any position), place that before the Top 50 list so that it's not missed. Draft lists are due by August 20. Changes can be made (via COMPLETE list replacements) until August 27 at 18:00 EDT. At that time, the draft lists will be rolled down to the RAFFLE office for the weekend's draft activities. The additional positions will be filled by supplemental picks. These additional picks can be taken anytime after the draft results are posted, but before the start of the season. They're FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED -- just let me know what your choices are. ***************************************************************************** * The draft will occur during the weekend of August 28-29. I'll mail (and * * post to the Site) the initial rosters and draft results after all four * * drafts are completed. * ***************************************************************************** The draft order is available from the web site. It is based upon how the team faired in 1998, with normal tie-breakers applying. Teams with the same record will rotate with each other -- like the NFL does. Example: four of the teams to make the playoffs lose before reaching the championship game. Three of them are 8-6 (Tms A, B, & D) and one is 9-5 (Tm C). After normal tie-breakers are applied, the teams are ordered A, B, D, and C in the first round; B, D, A, and C in the second; D, A, B, and C in the third; and the fourth round is the same as the first. The number of players kept by each team affects the number of picks. The "baseline" is eight players kept and seven picks in the draft -- keeping more or less players will change the number of picks. Players Kept Picks Lost/Added ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 Lost: 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th 11 Lost: 4th, 6th, 7th 10 Lost: 6th, 7th 9 Lost: 7th 8 - None - 7 Added: after 6th 6 Added: after 5th, 6th 5 Added: after 3rd, 5th, 6th If a pick to be removed was traded, an adjustment will be made by moving or removing other picks. The picks in each round are assigned a number corresponding to the round the pick is in (1st round picks = 7, 2nd round picks = 6, etc.). When a pick to be removed is traded, other picks will be removed or shuffled to remove enough "pick value" to have the same effect. In the event enough value can't be removed, the next season's draft picks (2000) will be removed -- starting with the picks in the later rounds -- to compensate. I'm also considering an interactive draft for this season, but I need to complete hardware and software upgrades on my Linux box first. (It's directly accessible from the 'net and would handle all of the interactions and data for the draft.) 07) Waiver Wire ============================================================== Obtaining an unselected player is perfectly legal (and probably necessary for most of us). Please wait until after the weekly reports have been mailed before starting any waiver wire activity. In an adjustment from last year, players cut from a RAFFLE roster cannot be signed that same week. During the first three weeks of the season (and weeks with a Thurs/Fri game) owners can acquire unselected players on a first-come, first-served after the weekly summaries are posted. Experience has shown that the good selections are taken during the first month. Therefore, it'll be a good idea to stay on top of things (and be active on the waiver wire) during the first several weeks of the season. After the first three weeks of play (in weeks without a Thurs/Fri game), the windows for each team will be given in the weekly summary. The worst team will get to choose first as long as the request is sent BEFORE the given deadline. Do note that the team whose deadline is first has priority for getting unclaimed players. NOTE: This does not mean that you can't pick up free agents after the end of your trade window or after all trade windows . It simply gives the losing teams the ability to become better by getting the developing players first. After the deadlines it's first-come, first-served. 08) Trades =================================================================== Trades between teams are OK at anytime except between league posts usually 11:00 Sunday to sometime Tuesday evening (eastern time). The only thing required is for both owners to let me know so that you don't get flagged for an illegal substitution, resulting in a missing starting. (I need to hear from both owners to ensure that one team isn't trying to get away with anything. Through all of the years I've been in RAFFLE, no one has ever tried to do so.) REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN TRADE ONLY WITH TEAMS IN YOUR OWN LEAGUE. 09) Lineups ================================================================== Lineups for each week will need to be submitted to me two hours before the start of the first game each week (usually Sunday at 11:00 EDT/EST, but occasionally Saturday 10:30 EST). For weeks with Thurs/Fri games, players involved in the game(s) are locked two hours before the [first] game -- no changes can be made to their status. The other players on the roster can be benched/started until the normal deadline for lineups. Lineups will be mailed after the week's normal deadline. Any lineup submission you make will copied/returned (or the arrival acknowledged) within 24 hours. If you don't get an acknowledgment, you need to resend it before the deadline. If you choose to keep the same lineup, you don't need to submit anything. Likewise, if you wish to change your lineup you need to submit a new one or I'll use the lineup from the previous week. If a player doesn't play in a particular week, it is the owner's responsibility to field another player for that position for the week. Since several teams will have the same week off, you'll probably have more than one player on your own team that won't play. (With the NFL going to 31 teams for a couple of seasons, each week will have at least one team not playing.) For players that play multiple positions (i.e., Deion Sanders as WR and CB for the Cowboys the last couple of years), see the Scoring notes. 10) Scoring ================================================================== Basic Scoring: TD scored 6 points 2-pt scored 2 pts TD pass 3 pts 2-pt pass 1 pt Field Goal 3 pts Extra Point 1 pt Shutout 4 pts (Team D) Safety 2 pts (Team D) Sack 1 pt (Team D) Turnover Recovery 1 pt (Team D) Coach's team wins 4 pts Coach's team ties 2 pts Performance scoring: Rushing/Receiving 1 pt/10 yds (0-9 is 0 pts, 10-19 is 1, etc.) Passing 1 pt/20 yds (0-19 is 0 pts, 20-39 is 1, etc.) Def. Sack Yardage 1 pt/10 yds (0-9 is 0 pts, 10-19 is 1, etc.) Kickers' FGs 40-49 yds gives 1 additional point 50-59 yds gives 2 additional points 60+ yds gives 3 additional points Coaches' Margin 1 pt/10 pts over opponent (a 10-7 win gives of Victory nothing extra while a 65-16 blowout gives four additional points for a total of eight points) Games ending in a tie will be scored as such. RAFFLE post-season games ending in a tie will go to the home team (always the higher seed). NOTE 1: If a player is selected for an offensive position but scores during special teams play (punts/kickoffs), ONLY the special teams (D) gets the points. I.e., Deion scored two TDs in a game in 1993 -- one as a WR and one on special teams. The team who had him as a WR would get one TD and the Dallas D would get the other 6 points. NOTE 2: If a coach goes down with a medical problem (i.e., Buffalo's Marv Levy in 1995 or Atlanta's Dan Reeves 1998), the assistant takes over in the RAFFLE roster. This means that you choose the HC for the overall record of the team rather than the record of that specific person. This also means that you get whatever coach a team has in '98 -- even if the old coach left (and signed elsewhere). Example: if you had Bobby Ross at the end of a96, you got Kevin Gilbride in '97 -- not Ross since he joined Detroit. 11) Scheduling =============================================================== There are 12 divisions across the four leagues. League I consists of the Sisko, Kira, and Dax divisions; League II has the Picard, Riker, and Data divisions; League III has the Kirk, Spock, and Scott divisions; League IV has the Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok divisions.. Check the Site for each League's schedule. The RAFFLE regular season is during weeks 1-14. Weeks 15-17 are devoted to the RAFFLE playoffs. Playoffs: The top eight teams will be going to the playoffs. They will be seeded 1 to 8 based on record (with the usual tie-breakers applied as needed) -- with the Division Winners seeded 1-2-3. When one of these teams loses, they will play another team that lost at the same level that week. The home teams are always the highest-seeded teams at each level. (If the eighth seed upsets the top seed the first week of the playoffs, that team will still be on the road.) Each round of the playoffs will be re-seeded so that the highest-seeded team will always play the lowest-seeded team at that level -- winners bracket and losers bracket. The last four teams will play each other. (They're just extra games, but don't count for much.) 12) Standings ================================================================ Standings will be decided by: 1. Winning percentage (ties count as half-win, half-loss) 2. Number of wins 3. Points for (most points) 4. Head-to-head 5. Conference record 6. Points against (most points) 7. Coin toss (witnessed by as much of the Comp Comm as reasonably possible) By the time the end of the season rolls around, we probably won't have to drop below the head-to-head line -- but you never know! 13) Weekly Reports =========================================================== After each week's games are completed, the following information will be mailed/posted: -> Standings through that week -> Final scores for the week -> Waiver Wire and Trades for the week -> The order for waiver wire activity for this coming week (when there are trade windows) -> Next week's games If you notice a scoring error, etc., in the report, you have until 18:00 ET that following Wednesday to let me know about them -- this will finalize problems before the next week's lineups are mailed out. 14) Unresponsive Ownership, Etc. ============================================= If an owner is not heard from by the Commissioner for four consecutive weeks, the Commissioner will send a note to the owner asking whether the owner wishes to maintain ownership of the team. If a NO is returned (or no response within three days), the Commissioner becomes the temporary owner of the team until a new owner is found (via the 'net). If a YES is returned, the owner maintains ownership of the team. If a second four-week period elapses with no communication from the same owner, the Commissioner automatically takes over temporary ownership until a new owner is found. Also counting is the second week between the draft and Week 1. This could give the ol' heave-ho to an owner after the Week 3 lineups are mailed/posted. The only exception is when the owner lets the Commissioner know that he/she will be away from the computer for an extended period of time (a couple of weeks or more) and not have access to Internet and/or necessary the RAFFLE materials. (I've done this the last couple of years around Christmas.) To combat a problem we had a couple years ago: If an owner tosses in the towel and throws the remainder of his games, that team -- if the owner is still around for the next draft -- will draft last in all rounds. (I finished dead last in '95, but still kept trying to win until the very end.) 15) Miscellaneous ============================================================ There is no monetary requirement for this league. We are a league that believes in being run by the owners. In pursuing this course, there is a Competition Committee that votes once a year to modify the rules (usually the weekend between the NFL Conference Championships and the Superbowl). Between annual votes, the Executive Committee will decide any minor issues as they occur. Any owner can submit a proposal to be considered. To pass, a proposal needs to carry a majority of the votes cast and a majority of the Executive Committee members' votes. League-wide votes (all owners) are occasionally held during the season, but they tend to be rare. I am always open to changes in the rules, but they will always be voted on by the Competition Committee during the annual E-meetings as the next year's rules are assembled. (Usually the weekend before the Superbowl.) The Competition Committee members are: -> John M. Troan League I Trouncers (Commissioner/Executive Committee) -> Russ Gardner League I Bruins -> Bob Henry League I Peace Frogs -> Darryn Witzgall League IV Bruisers -> Allen Wiles League II Airballers (Executive Committee) -> Scott Day League II Bombers -> Eric Witzgall League II Yankees (Executive Committee) -> Jeff Bever League II Linemen -> Keith Jones League III SunJewel's -> Steve Pigg League III Fatboys -> Phil Olson League III Doughboys If you have any questions, feel free to drop me E-mail. (I check my mail most evenings when I'm in town.)