The Commish's Season IV PRESEASON NOTES
You'll never in a million years believe it, but all the votes for TFFL rule changes are in. That's a 100 percent turnout, and it only took about a month and a half. The federal government should take note -- give the public two months to vote, and more people will! Why try to cram it all into one day?
Women should also take note, because the men have spoken, and the men say: We like the tight end! It was the hot topic of this election campaign, and the vote turned out to not be as close as we had been led to believe (Hodges said "no," then "yes," then "no" ... ). Dan Quayle should run on this theme. "Keep the tight end!" Of course he'd botch it somehow. "Keep the tied end!"
At any rate, here were the ballot referendums, and the vote:
Issue No. 1: Expand the league to 10 teams.
The vote: 9-0 in favor.
As Les Robinson would say, and Baysden likes to point out, "More is more, Les is less." At any rate, ex-Technician Sports Ed Bill Overton is joining the fray.
Issue No. 2: Expand skill position rosters from 14-15.
The vote: 5-4 against.
See the above Les Robinson principle. It doesn't apply here, for some reason.
Issue No. 3: Eliminate the tight end spot.
The vote: 6-3 against.
Hey, sometimes a tight end can make all the difference. And despite Baysden's threat to quit, he knew this to be true. So he'll play this year, and we'll all enjoy having a (er, the) tight end around.
Issue No. 4: Turn third WR starting spot into a 'wild card': Third WR, third RB or second TE.
The vote: 8-1 in favor.
For times when you just have to get that second tight end in your lineup.
Issue No. 5: Revamp kicking score system.
The vote: 7-2 in favor.
In the first season, they were overvalued. Last season, it was under. May kickers rejoice in their happy medium.
Issue No. 6: Make it a keeper league.
The vote: 7-2 against.
Remember telling your high school sweetie "I think it's time for a fresh start" when you left for college? Every year, new faces. Hey, we can still be friends.
Issue No. 7: Give the winner of a Head-2-Head matchup a 5 or 10 point bonus instead of using the won-loss record to determine playoff position.
The vote: 6-3 in favor.
Now you've got a real reason to care if you win or lose a week. I got "10" twice, "5" twice, and two other votes without a specification. So unless you told me in your vote, send me an email on which you prefer (yes, another vote!).
Issue No. 8: Have a reserve roster.
The vote: 5-4 in favor.
Of those voting "yes," I got one specifying a 1 player reserve roster, with a 4 week "hands-off" clause. And I like that idea. So unless there are serious objections, the reserve roster will work this way:
Teams can put 1 player on the reserve roster at a time. Once you place a player on reserve, you can't make a reserve roster transaction for 4 weeks. That means no releasing, no starting, no trading. Once that player's 4 weeks is up, you either have to activate him and release another player, release that player, or put him on reserves for another 4 weeks. You can't draft a player to reserves.
The original idea here was to protect an injured player without having to ditch him, and I think this is the best way to do it. Otherwise, we're just expanding rosters by one, and we already voted that one down.
DON'T BE A DRAFT DODGER, OR A DODGERS FAN
The draft date has been set (by vote) for Saturday, August 28th. 2 p.m. is the time you should start showing up. Where to show, I don't know for sure, although my house in Clayton is fine with me. As long as we can watch State kick Mack Brown's Longhorn ass that night. If we have it there, I'll grill some dogs and burgers that evening.
Email me at [email protected] if you think you are going to have a problem making it that day and we'll try to work something out.
THERE'S METHOD TO THE SCHEDULE'S MADNESS
If you didn't see it on the front of the site, the new schedule is out. And just so you know, here's how it works:
For scheduling puposes only, the league was divided into two divisions. Each teams plays divisional opponents twice, home and away, and non-divisional foes once in a 13-week format. One week is a free-for-all, and three weeks are for the playoffs.
Since we're going to 10 teams, the two teams ranked ninth and 10th in the standings after Week 13 won't make the playoffs. Our new Head-2-Head bonus point system won't be used in weeks after Week 13.
Here's the divisions:
A: Collard Greens, T-Bird2, The Jayhawks, Carolina Killers, The Weathermen.
B: The Bottlerockets, The Berserkers, Hominy Swampers, The Gamblers, Expansion team.
The division teams weren't picked randomly -- an "average finish" system was used. For example: The Jayhawks have been in the league three years, with 6th-, 3rd-, and 2nd-place finishes. Take those numbers, add 'em up, and divide by 3 (years in league). The teams in the "A division" have the highest average finish, the teams in the "B division" have the lowest, or haven't finished at all. You can trust my math. I used an abacus.
THE BEST TFFL COVERAGE ON THE NET
If you didn't notice the new archives link on the front, it's like, new. If you want to check out something from a prior season, it may be here. If not, best of luck finding it somewhere else!
Look forward to seeing everyone at the draft!