Welcome to the 5th year of the EB Fantasy Football League.  This year we are splitting the league into two separate leagues of 10 teams each:  The Old School League will conduct their draft live at either ESPN Zone or at Jocks & Jills.  The New School League will have their draft online.   Derek Kline and Chris Davis (friends of James Harden) and Larry Elliot are joining the league.  John Willingham who co-managed with Freddie Mance last year is getting his own team.  Welcome aboard! 

 

The Mac Daddies, The 2000 EBFFL Champion managed by Chris Engelhardt are returning this year to defend their title.  This year we will have some slight roster changes.  The Tight End position will be separate from the Wide Receivers and we will also be adding a Wild Card position to the lineup, which can be a player from any position.  The biggest change this year is that both leagues will become keeper leagues in which each team will carry over 3 players from their roster to the next year. 

 

 For all the newbies that are joining this year I will try to give some pointers along the way to help you out.  If you still have questions or if this just confuses you, please ask me or another member of the EBFFL Executive Committee.  They are Brian Grimes - commissioner, Don Brown - The 1998 EBFFL Champion and former commissioner, and Stan Kirk, Inaugural commissioner of the EBFBL.  Just remember, this is supposed to be fun along with some good competition  (Trash talking is not only permitted it is encouraged).  Our league website is located at: https://members.tripod.com/ebffl. 

 

Rosters and Starters

 

This year we are going back to one valid lineup.  As long as you can field a valid starting lineup each week you can use your 16 draft picks any way you wish.  It is not mandatory to have a reserve at all of the positions but in order to field a complete team if one of your starters is out due to a bye week it may be wise to have at least one reserve at all positions.

You will be made fun of if you start someone on a bye week.

 

                                            Pro-Set Formation            1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1K, 1Def, 1WC                       

                                                                

The Wild Card position can be from any position.

 

 

Player Position Eligibility

 

A player can only be used at his primary position in which he is openly recognized to play.  This means that you cannot play a defensive player at a wide receiver or running back position.  So all you Charles Woodson fans can’t draft him as a wide receiver unless that becomes their primary position.  The NFL’s primary web site - NFL.com will be used if there are any disputes.

 

Keeper League

 

This year the EBFFL leagues will become Keeper leagues.  Each team will be required to carry forward 3 players off their current roster to the next year.  We are starting from scratch this year.  After this year’s draft, the drafts in up coming years will be somewhat different.  The team with the worst record from the previous year will have the first choice in the draft.  The champion will have the last pick in the first round.  The runner up will have the next to last pick in the first round.  All other teams will pick according to their records using the playoff tiebreakers if there are any ties.  The first two rounds will go according to this (not serpentine).  Beginning in round three the draft will become a normal serpentine draft (The team picking last in round 2 will pick first in round 3).

 

           

Draft Day 2001

 

The 2001 live draft will be held Sunday August 19th at either the Jocks & Jills Sports Bar on Peachtree & 10th Streets or at the ESPN Zone in Buckhead. 

 

It is important for each team to attend the draft.  If you can’t make the draft you need to appoint someone to draft in your place.  Let them know your drafting strategies or player rankings and hope that they follow them.  If a team doesn’t attend the draft and doesn’t have someone draft for them, that team will not participate in the league this year.

 

The online draft will be held on Saturday August 18th.  We will use either a Yahoo chat room or Myfantasyleague.com.  More details will be sent out soon.  Both drafts will start promptly at 1:30 so plan to arrive at 1:00 in order to order food & drinks, etc.  I will also give the online draft teams my phone number & cell phone number so they can contact me if they have connection problems.

 

Hint:  For drafting help there are many fantasy football magazines that publish player rankings for each position and also have mock drafts in which you can see different drafting strategies.  Also, keep in mind the NFL bye weeks when making your selections.  Don’t have too many players with the same bye week or you won’t be able to field a complete

team that week.  You can start players on their bye week but you will be made fun of.  Only players on an NFL team or players with Free Agent status are eligible to be drafted (no college players).

 

Team owners will build their team through a traditional serpentine draft.  Draft picks in odd numbered rounds are selected team 1 through team 10.  Even numbered rounds are selected 10 down to 1.  For example, the owner who has the first pick would next have the last pick of the second round and the first pick of the third.  An owner drafting last in

the first round would pick first in round two. 

 

Our draft will consist of 16 rounds.  Each team will have 2 minutes to make each selection.  It will usually not take near that long to make a selection.  The limit is mainly so I’ll be able to record each pick as well as drafting my own team.  Come prepared for the draft and it will go quickly and smoothly.  Please pay attention during the draft so you will not pick a player that has been previously picked.

 

 

Schedule, Standings, & Playoffs

 

 We will play 14 head-to-head games in our regular schedule.  4 teams will make the playoffs in each league.  Playoff games will be held on week 15 with each league’s championship held week 16.  A combined championship game between the winners of each league will be held on week 17.  The winner of the combined championship will receive a trophy.   

 

Each league will be broken down into two divisions of five teams each.  Each team will play the other teams in their division twice and the teams in the other division once (one team from the other division will be played twice). The teams with the best overall record in each division will advance to the playoffs.  There will be two wild card teams that will make the playoffs.  The wild card teams can be from either division. The team with the best record will play the wild card team with the worst record in the first round of the playoffs.  If two or more teams are tied for the playoffs the tiebreakers will be as follows:

 

                                                            (1)  Head-to-head record

                                                            (2)  Division record  (if in same division)

                                                            (3)  Total Points for

                                                            (4)  Most points against

                                                            (5)  Either a boxing match or a single coin toss  (Commissioner decides which)

 

 

If any games end in a tie during the regular season, the team designated as the home team in the schedule will win the game. During the playoffs if the teams are tied the tiebreaker on the previous page will be used.

          

This year we will have our fourth annual Toilet Bowl.  This year however we will have a Toilet Bowl playoff.  All teams not in the regular playoffs will compete in this.  The two teams with the best records will get byes in the first round. The team with the next best record will play the team with the worst record.  The Toilet Bowl championship will take place week 17 and will pit the remaining two teams from each league against each other in a combined Toilet Bowl Championship.  The team with the highest score among the remaining four teams will receive the prestigious Toilet Bowl Trophy.  If two or more teams are tied, a coin toss in the presence of one of more Executive Committee members will decide the outcome. 

 

    Scoring

 

This year, player and team stats will be downloaded from the internet from The Fantasy Football League Manager web site.  Any discrepancies between player stats and player scores need to be brought to the commissioner’s attention before the deadline for the next week’s transactions.  The commissioner will rule on the matter and either manually change the score or leave it the way it is.  If the possible error affects the commissioner’s team or the commissioner’s opponents team the ruling will be done by one or more members of the Executive Committee if their team is not affected.  Below is our scoring method for each position. 

 

QB, RB, WR, & K

Rushing or Receiving TD  =  6 pts

Passing TD  =  4 pts

Passing or Receiving TD  50 yards or more   =  1 pt

Rushing TD 40 yards or more   =  1 pt

Pass interception thrown  =  -1 pts

Fumble lost  =  -1 pts

Rush & Receiving yardage  =  1 pt every 25 yards

Passing yardage  =  1 pt every 50 yards

                                                                                           

 

2 Point Conversions (QB, RB, WR, TE, K)

Pass, Rush, or Receive  =  2 pts

 

 

Kicking QB, RB, WR, & K

Field Goals  =  3 pts

Field Goal yardage    50 - 59 yards  =  1 pt

                                                                                                                                                   60+ yards       = 5 pts

Extra Point  =  1 pt

Missed Extra Point  =  -1 pts

Missed Field Goal Distance:  1 - 49 yards  =  -1 pts

                                                                                                                                                     50+ yards    =  0 pts

 

 

Defense / Special Teams

Interception  =  1 pt

Fumble Recovery  =  1 pt

Interception/Fumble recovery TD  =  6 pts

Safety  =  2 pts

Blocked FG/Punt  =  1 pt

Blocked FG/Punt TD  =  6 pts

Kickoff/Punt Return TD  =  6 pts

                                                                                                                           Points Against:      0 points allowed  =  7 pts

                                                                                                                                           1 - 9 points allowed  =  5 pts

                                                                                                                                        10 - 19 points allowed  =  3 pts

                                                                                                                                       30 - 39 points allowed  =  -3 pts

                                                                                                                                       40 - 49 points allowed  =  -5 pts

                                                                                                                                         50+ points allowed  =  -7 pts

 

 Any offensive player who scores a touchdown while on special teams will score points for both the defensive or special team unit and also for the team that has the offensive player on their roster.  Likewise, any fumbles by an offensive player while on special teams will count against the offensive player's team (The Weiss Rule).  All points scored against a team will be

counted against the defense in determining the points allowed category (i.e.  if a team returns a interception for a TD or returns a fumble it will count against the defensive team).

 

Results and Reports

 

The commissioner will be responsible for compiling and posting the results each Tuesday.  I will try to send out (by either hard copy or e-mail) preliminary results Monday.  The final results and reports will be distributed (again either by hard copy or e-mail) each Tuesday.  If not, feel free to hit me on my arm.  Not too hard though.  I will also try to update the results on the web site by Tuesday evening. 

 

Trades

 

This year each team will have a maximum of three free transactions including trades each week. Multiple player trades will count as one transaction per team.  Any unused transactions will not be carried over to the next week. The trading of draft positions is prohibited.  Once the draft is complete however, each team can trade any player or players with any other team.  Each trade will have to be approved by the commissioner to ensure fairness to the league. Any trades involving the commissioner’s team will have to be approved by a member of the Executive Committee.  Once a team trades a player, that team will not be allowed to get that player back whether by trade or free agency.   No trades are allowed after week 12.  Each owner’s phone number and/or email address will be published in an upcoming  “Commissioner’s Skybox” so the owners outside of SunTrust will be able to get in touch with the other owners.  All transactions including trades and free agency should be done with the purpose of improving your team.  If a team is out of the playoff picture they will not be allowed to dump their players or make bad trades in order to get into the Toilet Bowl.

 

Free Agents/Waivers

 

After the first week of play each team can claim a free agent among all players that are not on any other team.  When a team claims a free agent the team must waive a player on their current roster.  No other team can pick up the waived player until the following week.  If more than one team claims a free agent the following order will be used:  The team with the worst record will have top priority with the team with the best record having the lowest priority. If teams are tied, the team with the least amount of total points will have first priority. If they're still tied the team with the least amount of points scored against them will be first.  If a team is claiming more that one free agent the team must designate what priority each claim has.  Each free agent pickup and waiver will need to be approved by the commissioner or the Executive Committee (if the transaction involves the commissioner).  There will be no transactions allowed during the playoffs.

 

Injured Reserve

 

There will be no injured reserve this year. 

 

 

Deadlines

 

                                                                            Roster Transactions                    Starting Lineups             

                                                                         

                            No Thursday Games                 Thursday @ 4:00                       Sunday @ noon

 

                             Saturday Games                       Thursday @ 4:00                      One Hour before 1st game

                              

                             Thursday Games                      Wednesday @ 4:00                    Thursday @ 4:00

 

                             Thanksgiving Week                  Tuesday @ 4:00                        Thursday @ noon

 

As you can see Thanksgiving will be on a tight schedule so get your roster moves and lineups in early.  To insure fairness I will send my starting lineup to the Executive Committee and to my opponent if possible.  I can be reached at the following telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.  Preferred methods are noted.

 

 404-658-4850   Work #  (preferred)

770-489-7072  Home #

bkgrimes@atl.mediaone.net  (preferred)

 

Voice messages at each phone number will be accepted.  Please call or e-mail me at home if you're turning in your lineups during the weekend.  If I'm out on vacation I will still be updating the stats.  Leave starting lineup and transaction messages in either phone number or e-mail to the Mediaone address.  I will let everyone know in advance when I will be on vacation.

 

Rulings and Rule Changes

 

The commissioner will rule on all matters that are not covered in this handout.  All rulings will be final.  If the matter affects the commissioner’s team or his opponent’s, the Executive Committee will make the decision.  

 

Web Site

 

Last year teams were able to submit starting lineups though the website.  This year I hope to be able to accept transaction and trade requests though the web site.  Each team that wants to use this feature will give a password to the commissioner.  The web site also will have a copy of these rules and also reports for each week.  The web site is located at https://members.tripod.com/ebffl. Teams are not required to use the web site at all.  Reports will be sent out to every team via email in addition to being posted on the web.

 

Fees and Prizes

 

Fees should be paid prior to the draft.  All fees are non-refundable.  If a team can’t be present at the draft make sure that you give instructions to the person drafting for you since you will have to keep that team.  Again, even if you can’t be present for the draft the entry fee must be paid prior to the draft.

 

Fees   All fees will be returned as prize payouts or trophies at the end of the year not including the $40 for the league management software.   

 

Entry Fee:  $40         Remember that this game is played over 4 months

 

Trades:  Free                                                         

                   

Free Agent Pickup:  Free

 

 

Prizes  (each league)  Since we don’t have the price yet on the trophies this is subject to change slightly.

 

1st Place                      $150 

2nd Place                     $100

3rd  & 4th   Place           $55 each

Combined Champion   Trophy

Toilet Bowl Winner     Trophy

 

Well, that’s enough rambling.  Read over this and let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Let’s have a great season!