Call for eMail Football Teams

From: dsk33593@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Cricket )

Date: Sun, 01 Mar 1992 21:53:55 +0000

I am starting an eMail (American) Football league... with some differences.
If you are interested, read on...

*** EMFL [e-Mail Football League] -- Official Rules ***

<1> Introduction

These are the official guidelines to the e-Mail Football League (EMFL). Direct
any questions or comments about these rules or the league in general to the
EMFL Commissioner's Office (dsk33593@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu).

The EMFL conducts its games according to the rules of Midfield American
Football; it is called this because it is a variation on American Football that
utilizes only half of a normal 100-yard field (thus, "Midfield"). Although the
rules specific to MAF are outlined below, players should have a general over-
view of the rules for normal American football, if they are going to parti-
cipate in the EMFL.

<2> Midfield American Football

In Midfield American Football, teams have only four players on the field at
any time. This has the expected result of opening up the field much more than
in regular American football, but the "ten yards for a first down" is
not in effect -- teams begin their possession at the 50-yard line of a normal
100-yard field and have four downs to get beyond their opponent's 20-yard
line (the RED ZONE). If they do so, they gain another four downs with which
to cross their opponent's goal line (the END ZONE). If a team enters their
opponent's Red Zone, they score three points, and if they enter the End Zone,
they score another three points and get a chance to score another one point
(the Point-after-Touchdown, or PAT). If a team is kept out of the Red Zone,
they may use one of their downs to attempt a Field Goal to still score three
points -- however, if a team enters their opponent's Red Zone during a
possession, they may not attempt a Field Goal later in that possession, even if
they are pushed back out beyond the 20-yard line.

The defense can also score points in MAF. If an offensive player is tackled
before crossing the line of scrimmage, the defensive team scores one point.
Also, if a defensive player catches a forward pass (intercepts), the defense
scores two points and gains possession of the ball at the 50-yard line.

If a team fails to cross into either the Red Zone or the End Zone within four
downs, then the defensive team gains control of the ball at the 50-yard line.
The defense also gains possession at the 50-yard line after the offense enters
the End Zone or scores a Field Goal (there are no punts or kickoffs).

MAF games consist of four quarters, each of which contains 25 plays -- there
is no limit on time, only on the number of plays. The home team begins
in possession of the ball at the start of the first and fourth quarters, while
the visitors begin with the ball at the start of the second and third. This
possession occurs regardless of the situation at the end of the previous
quarter (thus, if the visiting team makes an interception on play 25 of the
third quarter, they score the two points, but do not get possession, as the
quarter has ended and the home team has possession to start the fourth
quarter).

Scoring in MAF is as follows:

Sack (offensive player tackled with the ball behind the line of scrimmage):
   Defense scores 1 point
Interception (defensive player catches a forward pass):
   Defense scores 2 points*
Field Goal (offensive player kicks the ball between the goal posts):
   Offense scores 3 points*
First Down (offensive player enters defensive team's Red Zone with the ball):
   Offense scores 3 points, gets new set of four downs
Touchdown (offensive player enters defensive team's End Zone with the ball):
   Offense scores 3 points, attempts PAT*
Point-after-Touchdown (PAT) (offensive player kicks the ball between the goal
posts from the 3-yard line after scoring a Touchdown):
   Offense scores 1 point*

*Defense takes possession at the 50-yard line

Whichever team has scored more points at the end of four quarters (100 plays)
wins the game -- in the case of a tie, one extra quarter (Overtime) is played,
with a tie declared if neither team is in the lead at the end of Overtime;
but if the game is a playoff, where a winner must be declared, then extra
quarters are played until one Overtime ends with a single team in the lead.
Possession at the beginning of the first Overtime is determined by a coin
toss, and alternates in successive Overtimes if neccessary.

<3> Organization

The EMFL is organized into four divisions -- the North, South, East, and West.
Every team plays each of the other teams in its division twice (once away and
once at home), and then the two teams with the best record in each division
continue on to the EMFL Tournament; three rounds, single elimination, with the
participating teams seeded according to overall record:

First Seed \__________
Eighth Seed/          \
		       -----------
Fourth Seed\__________/           \
Fifth Seed /                       \
                                    --Champion
Third Seed\___________             /
Sixth Seed/           \           /
		       -----------
Second Seed \_________/
Seventh Seed/

Although played on a neutral site, for Tournament games, the higher-seeded
team is considered to be the home team.

For purposes of division ranking and Tournament seeding purposes, the following
criteria are used, in descending order of importance:

Best Win/Loss Record; Most Points Scored; Least Points Allowed; Coin Toss (in
case of ties for the first three)

<4> Teams

Each team in the EMFL consists of fifteen players. New franchises have the
following (see Section 5 - Players for info):

5 Rookies
4 Sophomores
3 Experienced
2 Veterans
1 Star

The terms "Rookie" and "Sophomore" do not refer to the number of years in the
league, but rather to the player's relative level of skill, as do the other
three terms.

There is a sixth type of player, the Novice. A team may "call up" a Novice
player from their minor league system at any point before the trading deadline
(ie, before the last game of the regular season), but another player must be
cut in order to make room. Players that are cut from a team are placed on the
Free Agent List. A team may pick up a player from the FAL at any time before
the trading deadline, but again, room must be made.

Trades may be made between teams at any point before the trading deadline;
all details are handled without Commissioner intervention. After a trade is
complete, the details must be submitted to the Commissioner's office by
_all_ teams involved in order to confirm the trade. Traded players cannot
play for their new team until confirmation of the trade is sent out by the
Commissioner.

Finally, teams have a Salary Line, which represents the amount of income that
a team has availiable to pay for its players. Beginning Salary Lines for new
franchises is $100. This represents steady income, not a set amount of $,
so once a player's salary is deducted from the Salary Line, it does not have
to be done again, and when a player is cut, his salary is added to the team's
Salary Line. Beginning Salaries for new players are:

Novice - $1
Rookie - $2
Sophomore - $3
Experienced - $5
Veteran - $7
Star - $10

Thus, a new franchise would have a $100 SL minus $(5*2 + 4*3 + 3*5 + 2*7 + 1*10
= $61) or $39 in steady income.

The Salary Line will increase or decrease as the team wins or loses. Salaries
become important when trading or calling up Novices or picking up Free Agents
or at the end of the season when the player's Ego rating (known secretly by
the Commissioner) determines whether the player wants more money or not.
When picking up a player off the FAL, a team must make a bid, in $ from its
SL, on the player. Then, the team submitting the highest bid gets the player,
but the player must be paid the amount bid. When calling up a novice, a team
need only pay him $1. In trades, the player's new team must pay the player his
old salary (thus, it is good form to tell the other team how much money the
player is making, although the Commissioner is powerless to prevent lying).
A team's SL cannot go below $0 - if it does, the team cannot complete the
transaction that would cause it to dip below $0, or, if it is going negative
because of team performance, then the team must make changes in its roster
to raise it back above $0.

<5> Players

The Players in the EMFL are defined by a set of six skills, rated from 20-80,
listed below:

Passing (PA) - the ability to accurately throw a forward pass.
Receiving (RE) - the ability to catch a forward pass; also, the defensive
   ability to prevent another player from catching one and make the
   interception.
Running (RU) - the ability to carry the ball downfield without being tackled.
Blocking/Tackling (BL) - the ability to block potential tacklers away from the
   ball-carrier; also, the ability to avoid blockers and tackle the ball-
   carrier.
Kicking (KI) - the ability to kick the ball through the goalposts and score a
   field goal or point-after-touchdown.
Stamina (ST) - the ability to resist injury.

The player's type is determined by the number of points he has in these six
skills:

Novice - 179- pts.
Rookie - 180-209 pts.
Sophomore - 210-239 pts.
Experienced - 240-269 pts.
Veteran - 270-299 pts.
Star - 300+ pts.

All new franchises begins with the players listed in Section 4 with their skill
totals at the beginning of their categories (ie, the Rookies' skill totals are
all 180 pts.). These skills will then increase or decrease over time, depending
on performance. Novices called up from the minor league have 24+d6 pts. in
each skill - note that it is possible for a player to have 180 pts. when he
is called up -- in this case, he would be then considered a Rookie, and would
have to be paid $2 in salary.

Team owners are allowed to determine the skill levels of their original fifteen
players on a new franchise, but all new players in the league have random
skill levels (ie, Novices, above).

In general league correspondence, a player will be referred to in the following
manner:

Name, Team (Skill Category: Highest Skill(s))

For example:

John Doe, Atlanta Talons (Star:PA)

Thus, other teams will not know the exact skill levels of the player. In
correspondence directly between the Commissioner and a single team, players
will be notated:

Jersey number, Name (PA.RE.RU.BL.KI.ST)

ie,

#9 John Doe (80.30.40.40.40.70)

(The jersey number is furnished by the team to help out with record-keeping)

<6> Positions

As stated in Section 2, there are only eight players on the field at any one
time. These are seperated into the following positions:

Offense:
Quarterback - Relevant Skill: PA. This is the position that is responsible
   for passing the ball to receivers and handing the ball to running backs.
   As such, he runs the offense on the field.
Running Back - Relevant Skills: RU, RE. The running back carries the ball on
   running plays and provides a secondary receiver on passes.
Wide Receiver - Relevant Skill: RE. Wide receivers are just that; the receiving
   end of pass plays.
Offensive Lineman - Relevant Skill: BL. Offensive lineman block for the running
   back and provide protection for the quarterback.

Defense:
Defensive Lineman - Relevant Skill: BL. Defensive lineman are what offensive
   linemen provide protection from.
Linebacker - Relevant Skills: BL, RE. Linebackers provide support against the
   running game. They are also responsible for guarding the running back on
   pass plays.
Cornerback - Relevant Skill: RE. Cornerbacks guard the wide receiver.
Safety - Relevant Skill: RE, BL. Safeties make sure that plays do not get too
   much yardage -- they are frequently the last barrier between the offense and
   the End Zone.

Each team must place one player at each position (players cannot play at more
than one position at a time - even if one is on offense and the other on
defense) and designate one of the eight as the kicker.

<7> Plays

There are four basic offensive plays and four basic defensive plays in EMFL:

Offense:
1 - Run: the basic, hand the ball to the running back let him run play.

2 - Sweep: a run with a little more sophistication and the possibility of
more yardage.

3 - Short Pass: a pass at relatively short range, although it will gain as
much if not more yardage than a sweep.

4 - Long Pass: much yardage, difficult completion chance.

Defense:
1 - Short: defends against the run and somewhat against a sweep.

2 - Man-to-Man: helps in short passes and against the sweep.

3 - Zone: good against any pass and somewhat effective against a run.

4 - Prevent: very good against long passes, adequate for short passes, not very
good against running plays.

These plays will be ranked by the team in the order the coach wants them to
be called; for example, offensive strategy 1234 means that the team will call
a Run 40% of the time, a Sweep 30%, Short Pass 20%, and Long Pass only 10% of
the time.

<8> Strategies

In order to play in the EMFL, a team must submit a strategy for each quarter
of every game. Games are conducted on the following schedule:

Monday - Submit first half strategies by 6 PM (CST)
Tuesday - First half results posted by 6 PM
Wednesday - Submit second half strategies by 6 PM
Thursday - Second half results posted by 6 PM
Friday - Roster changes due by 6 PM
Weekend - New rosters posted by 6 PM Sunday

A team's strategy will look like this:

Team Name, Head Coach
Owner, e-mail address

Quarterback (skills)
Running Back (skills)
Wide Receiver (skills)
Offensive Lineman (skills)

Defensive Lineman (skills)
Linebacker (skills)
Cornerback (skills)
Safety (skills)

Offensive strategy* outside Red Zone
Offensive strategy inside Red Zone
% of Passes thrown to the running back (0-50%)

Defensive strategy outside Red Zone
Defensive strategy inside Red Zone

Field Goals: [yes/no]**

*the strategy is the ranking of the four offensive or defensive plays in order
of preference.
**Field Goals: yes indicates that the team will attempt a Field Goal on fourth
down or on the last play of the quarter if outside the Red Zone; no means the
team will attempt to cross the Red Zone rather than kick.

Strategies should be in this order and clearly labelled (in order to make the
Commissioner's job easier =) ).

<9> Schedule

If you are interested in playing, please submit a roster by 6 PM (CST)
Friday, March 13. A roster should consist of the following:

Team Name
Head Coach
Owner (your name), e-mail address

Rookies:
   5 * Jersey Number, Name (skills)
Sophomores:
   4 * Jersey Number, Name (skills)
Experienced:
   3 * Jersey Number, Name (skills)
Veterans:
   2 * Jersey Number, Name (skills)
Star:
   Jersey Number, Name (skills)

Any "atmosphere" info, such as home stadium, personalities, team colors, etc.

If you are accepted, you will receive notification on Monday, March 16. Play
will begin the week of March 23.

Any questions, please e-mail Cricket at dsk33593@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu