Note: All 2007 changes to this Charter are in “red”.
Note: All 2008 changes to this Charter are in “blue”.
Note: All 2009 changes to this Charter are in “green”.
Note: All 2010 changes in this Charter are in “purple”
Note: All 2011 changes in this Charter are in “brown”
Frozen
Tundra
2011
League Charter
Philosophy
Foundation
Infrastructure
League Structure
Playoffs
Franchise Ownership
Rosters
Drafting
Procedures for Acquiring Players
Dummy Lists
Trading
Frozen Tundra Game Rules
Strat-O-Matic Game Rules
What is the OCFL?
The OCFL, OOPS Computer Football League, is three separate (“Autumn Wind”, “Spring Fever”, and “Frozen Tundra”) keeper football leagues played over a wide-area network. Members in good standing may participate in either or both leagues contingent upon team availability. Information for each league is kept separately at the website www.oopscfl.org. The administration of each league is handled by separate governing bodies. The information contained herein applies to the Frozen Tundra only.
The OCFL shall continue from season-to-season, year-to-year providing it’s members with a constantly improving “fraternal” computer football environment.
The establishment and maintenance of a superior website as a public relations tool will display the superior level of enjoyment attained in our league. The website will be the centerpiece for information and execution of nearly all league functions such as: league membership, league and game rules, expansion and rookie drafts, team rosters and transactions, and posting stats and correspondence.
Additionally the league will use a message board for the purpose of posting important league, draft, and team information. League members are responsible for reading and knowing the content of both the website and the message board.
An annual meeting will serve as a bonding component to the league allowing members to meet face-to-face and enjoy their association in the league. The annual meeting is not an administrative meeting; it is a fraternity of computer football brethren, a recognition of achievement, and a time for celebration.
The goal of the OCFL is to provide an enjoyable computer football league experience for it’s members through the use of experienced administration and advanced technology. This goal is to be achieved through:
The greater league, referred to as the OCFL, consists of three sub-leagues: two played in the autumn, Autumn Wind and Frozen Tundra, and one played in the spring, Spring Fever. Each sub-league has it’s own administrative group but adheres to the common tenets of the OCFL philosophy mentioned above.
Membership in Frozen Tundra is a privilege, not a right. There is no tenure. There is no upper class. All members are equal, but organization, direction, and authority rest with those best-suited to do it. At no time will league membership exceed thirty. Membership in the league automatically renews if there are no outstanding conduct or financial issues pending. However, events that constitute issues of questionable conduct are purely the decision and discretion of the board. The membership privilege is revocable at any time. Members are responsible for making their intention to play in the upcoming year known by June 1 prior to the season in question.
Members may name their team any name used by the following leagues: NFL (1960-Present), CFL, USFL, WFL, WLAF/NFLEL, XFL, or Arena Football. Once a member has chosen a team name he automatically retains that team name, if he so chooses, from year-to-year as long as he remains in good standing. Team names may be requested as soon as a member submits his membership application. Team names are assured once a member’s league fees are paid (re: when the check clears). All team name requests must be submitted to the Commissioner via email for approval. Coaches who desire a team name currently owned by another franchise should send a request for team name seniority to the Commissioner. Once a team name is abandoned, new ownership of a team name will be based on seniority of request.
Participation in Frozen Tundra requires adherence to league and game rules and the purchase of certain game components and technology services.
Frozen Tundra league rules are defined later in this document. Strict adherence to all league rules and any published addendum is mandatory. It is each member’s responsibility to know and abide by all league rules.
Frozen Tundra is played using the most recent version of the Strat-O-Matic computer football game. Currently we are using version 6.02. To find out which version you are running: start the game, click on Help on the menu bar, then click on About. You must download the latest game patches. They can be found in the Patches section on the Strat-O-Matic game site at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/patch.html.
Each league member must own their own licensed copy of the game. It is strongly recommended that each member purchase the card image option in addition to the computer game. The game and card image can be purchased at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/entrypge.htm. If you do not own the Strat-O-Matic game, we recommend buying product “F2003DNEWCI”. If you do own a previous version of the game we recommend purchasing product “F2003DUPGCI”
In addition to owning the game, each member must also have the following technology services at their disposal:
· Internet access with certain gaming ports available,
· A PC meeting the requirements necessary to play the latest version of the Strat-O-Matic game, and
·
An AOL (
Conduct
At no time will poor conduct be tolerated. Poor conduct includes, but is not limited to, swearing, threatening, unethical trading, intentionally slow play, or illegal player changes during a game. Conduct issues will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. We have people waiting to play in this league, we’re not going to tolerate any crap from anyone. Participation in Frozen Tundra is a privilege not a right. Don’t abuse your privilege.
League Fees
No league fees will be
required for participation in Frozen Tundra for the 2006 and 2007 season. Fees could be required for 2008 and subsequent years for an annual amount yet to be
determined.
Similar to the administration of Autumn Wind, Frozen Tundra is an oligarchy, not a democracy. There is no league-wide voting. Members have no authority or power, only responsibility for their actions and commitment to finish what they started. Again, “membership is a privilege, not a right.” This league has the following administrative positions:
Commissioner.
This is the position
of ultimate responsibility in the league.
All administrative decisions are approved here. Some of the key responsibilities include roster maintenance,
master schedule maintenance, league statistics, and other administrative
functions. In addition, this position takes information and professional
opinions from the appropriate executive member, combines it with the
opinions of other executives and league members at large, and then
presents the decision to the entire league.
Final decision-making and responsibility rests here.
Currently this
position is held by
Dummy List Coordinator (DLC)
This position is
responsible for the creation of all dummy lists. For each type of draft, a list of eligible
players is created which ranks such players in order of importance/value. The list will be used to remove players
during the draft. Such removed players are no longer available for that draft.
Currently this
position is held by
Advisory Board (AB)
Advisory board
members provide input and advice to the Commissioner on virtually all league
matters. Currently, there will be two
advisory board members.
Trade
Review Committee (TRC)
Currently
the TRC is comprised of Jim Reilly, Paul Mankiewicz, Butch
Shramek, Joe Sardo,
and Dale Van Deven.
The league currently consists of 24 teams included in one conference. There are no divisions.
The 16-game schedule will be divided into four quarters of four games each. The four quarters are referred to as: Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. The schedule will be randomly developed where each team will play 16 different opponents and every team will have 8 home games and 8 away games. Each team must play all games of each quarter by the schedule deadline.
Playoffs
Playoff Structure
The top 10 teams in the league will qualify for the
play-offs. These 10 teams will be seeded
# 1 through # 10. Play-off rounds will
be as follows:
Ties
The general rule governing all ties is that tiebreaking rules only apply to the determination of play-off seeding. No team can be eliminated from the playoffs by any tiebreaking rule.
If two or more teams are tied for play-off seeds #1 through # 9, the tie will be broken based on the following tiebreakers, in order of precedence:
When breaking ties among three or more teams with the
same record, the following will be considered:
When multiple teams are tied for the last play-off spot, a special play-off tournament will occur. Seeding for this special play-off tournament is determined in the same manner as described above.
Awards are given out for each season. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 2 Bronze) League Medallions will be awarded to the Frozen Tundra league champion, the league runner up, and the two league semi-finalists, respectively.
Franchise Ownership
A “franchise” coach is one who is
was a member of the Oops FTF 2005 league and will be keeping their team in the
inaugural season of Frozen Tundra. For
obvious reasons, franchise coaches will not be participating in the team
lottery for the inaugural Frozen Tundra season.
A “lottery” coach is one who did
not participate in the Oops FTF 2005 league or is one who did participate in
the Oops FTF 2005 league but has decided not to keep his Oops FTF 2005
team. Lottery coaches will be
participating in the team lottery for the inaugural Frozen Tundra season.
An ”interim” coach is one who took over a franchise mid-way
through the immediately previous season.
Interim coaches have the right to keep their team in the current season
or may have rights to unowned
teams.
Frozen Tundra will employ the use
of team lotteries to allocate teams to coaches.
The team lottery procedure is the same whether its
occurring in the inaugural year or in subsequent years.
In the inaugural year, most of the
16 coaches will be lottery coaches and therefore do not possess a team. The team lottery will be the method in which
these coaches will receive their teams. The order in which coaches will select their teams will be
determined randomly. For the inaugural year, the draft order for the team
lottery will be determined using the California Lottery Mega Millions drawing.
In subsequent years, team
lotteries may still occur. Interim
coaches from the previous season may keep their teams for the current season or have first priority in the following season to assume an unowned team. The Commissioner at his discretion may allow the interim coach to
assume an unowned team during the current
season. In addition, for unowned teams in future years, a special lottery may be
held among the new coaches or the Commissioner may allow new coaches to select unowned teams on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Franchise coaches may maintain
their team name. In the inaugural year, available lottery teams have been
assigned a team name for administrative purposes. Lottery coaches will be able to select a
franchise name for their team. The
priority list for team names will be the inverse order of the team lottery
selection. The coach with the last
selection in the team lottery will receive first priority in team name
selections. These selections will be
made by a list submitted to the Commissioner.
Each year, coaches are able to
change the name of their franchise to a team name that is not already
selected. The change will be honored
provided that it occurs prior to any of the drafts conducted that year. Interim
coaches may not change the name of the franchise they are assuming control of.
.
General Comments
The definition of a rated player (for all purposes) is: A player that receives from SOM a passing card, a running card, a pass receiving card, a kicking card, a punting card, a punt-returning card, or a kickoff-returning card, or who’s name appears on a Team Offense card or Team Defense card.
Team rosters are limited to a maximum total of 53 players (rated and non-rated) for existing teams and 56 players for expansion teams from the date of the cut-down deadline to the conclusion of the championship game. The 53-player/56-player limit and the minimum positional requirements (see below) are NOT in effect from the point that the championship game is concluded in the current season to the cut-down deadline for the following season. The maximum positional limits on kickers and punters, however, are in effect year-round.
Maximum Roster
Limits by Position
There are no maximum roster limits for any position other
than for the following two positions:
Kicker and Punter (see “Special Teams” below) for the 2010 season and for prior
seasons. However, beginning in 2011, the
year the league expands to 24 teams, the following maximums for specific
positions will apply for rated players:
Max # of Roster
Rated Players
in
Position Group Players this group
Quarterback (By Initial Cut-down Deadline) 3 QB
Kicker (Before Rookie/FA Draft) 1
K
Punter (Before Rookie/FA Draft) 1
P
Kick Returners
(Before Rookie/FA Draft) (A) LK,
KR
Punt Returners
(Before Rookie/FA Draft) (B) PK,
PR
(A)
2 LK and 0 KR,
or 1 LK and 2 KR, or 0 LK and 4 KR.
(B) 2 LP and 0 PR, or 1 LP and 2 PR, or 0 LP and 4 PR.
Forced Cut Draft Compensation
All kickers, punters, kick returners, and punt returners
that are cut from teams in order to meet the maximums at those positions, are
now placed into the rookie/free agent draft pool. If a team drafts such a cut player during the
rookie/free agent draft, the team that gave up that cut player will receive a
compensatory draft pick at that point during the draft. As an example, assume that the
Teams must meet the
quarterback maximums by the initial cut-down date. If a team is forced to cut a
quarterback at this deadline, they will receive no compensation for that
player.
Minimum Roster Requirements for Rated Players by
Position
The minimum roster
requirements by position group are listed below. Please note that these requirements are for
RATED players. Non-rated players will not satisfy these
requirements. The position groups are comprised of one or
more roster positions. A player may only
satisfy the minimum requirement for ONE position group. If a player is listed with more than one
roster position, he may still only satisfy the minimum requirement for ONE
position group (coach’s choice). The
only exception is kickoff returners and punt returners. A player
who returns kickoffs and punts counts towards the minimum for returners as well as for his primary position.
All positional
minimums must be met by the final cu-down deadline.
Position Group Minimum # of Rated Players Roster positions that comprise this group
Quarterback 2 QB
Halfback 2 HB
Fullback 2 FB, BB (must have run card)
Wide Receiver 4 WR
Tight End 2 TE
Offensive Tackle 3
ORT, OLT, OT
Offensive Guard 3 ORG, OLG, OG
Center 2 C
Defensive End 3 LDE,
Defensive Tackle 3 LDT,
Outside Linebacker 3 LOB, ROB, OLB, LB
Middle Linebacker 3 MLB, LIB,
RIB, ILB, LB
Cornerback 3 LCB, RCB,
CB, DB
Safety 3 SS, FS, S,
DB
Kicker 1
K
Punter 1
P
Kick Returners Note A LK, KR (Note A)
Punt Returners Note B LP, PR (Note B)
Note A – Each team must have
at least one rated LK or two rated KR’s.
Note B – Each team must have
at least one rated LP or two rated PR’s.
Injured Reserve (IR)
Above
and beyond the 53-player roster limits, teams may place up to three players on
their injured reserve list. The rules and procedures governing the injured
reserve rule are as follows:
·
Only non-rated players may be placed on IR.
·
No more than three players may ever be on a team’s IR list.
·
Players may remain on the IR list forever as long as they are not rated
by Strat-O-Matic.
·
Players on a team’s IR list may never be traded.
·
Players placed on a team’s IR list must remain on the list during the
current year and cannot be removed until the following Frozen Tundra season.
As
further clarification, players placed on IR must be non-rated players and
cannot be traded. However, non-rated players as part of an existing team’s 53-player roster are eligible for trades. 2011
expansion teams have a 56-player roster limitation and are not allowed to place
players on an injured reserve list.
Special Teams – Coverage Teams
The punt return coverage will be the NFL team correlating with the punter. Likewise, the kick return coverage will be the NFL team correlating with the kicker.
General Comments
Frozen Tundra has three types of
player drafts that can occur. They are:
Further explanations and reasons for
the three types of drafts are below.
The Fun Draft occurrences are as
follows:
All teams will be invited via AIM
to join an AOL chat room on the morning of the draft. The chat room will be a broadcast source
only, not a dialogue location. A
separate chat room will be setup for inter-coach dialogue. Communication between members and the CEO
must occur in the secondary chat room, by AIM, or telephone in the event of an
AIM failure. Do not try to communicate
in the primary draft chat room! The
primary draft chat room is for the selection of players by team only – not for
dialogue. Confirmation of each pick is
not official until the CEO or Draft Coordinator announces “the next team on the
clock is…”.
Each
pick must be made within a one minute (that’s 1 minute!) time frame. If a team fails to make a selection within
the allotted time (and technology failure is not to blame), the CEO will
announce “the next team on the clock is…”, and at that point the next team may
make a selection.
Trades may be executed during the
draft, but only negotiated in the secondary chat room or separately. When a trade is announced, it may only be
announced in a fashion like this: “Trade - The Green Bay Packers trade their 1st
round choice to the Shreveport Steamer for …”. All trades made during the draft will are not
subject to immediate review and discussion by the Trade Advisory Board.
Each team must furnish a phone number they can be reached at during the draft. If technical difficulties occur during a draft, all drafting may pause until the error is corrected or disconnected user is re-connected. Such a condition will be broadcast on the chat room screen.
Each team is responsible for making selections or trades in every draft round possible. Just ‘cause you think you don’t need the late round players, doesn’t mean you can pass on taking them.
Fun Draft: (1) Unowned players rated by SOM in the current card set who have also been rated in at least one card set prior to the current card set.
Rookie Draft: (1) Unowned players rated by SOM in the current card set that have never been rated in a previous card set. (2) All unowned rated kickers and punters regardless of whether they were rated in previous card set or not.
Supplemental Draft: Selected undrafted Fun Draft and Rookie Draft players.
Draft Order
Team placement will be handled in reverse order of win-loss percentage from the previous year using all tie-breaker methods. The league champion and runner-up always draft last and next-to-last respectively in each round.
Procedures for Acquiring Players
Fun Draft
Inaugural
Year - A special 4-round draft will allocate unowned
veteran players. The purpose of this draft will be to help the coaches
who drafted later in the team lottery. The coaches who drafted 1st, 2nd,
3rd or 4th in the team lottery will get only one pick in this draft, and that
will be at the bottom of the 4th round. Coaches drafting 5th and 6th
in the team lottery, and the two returning teams, will get two picks, and
those will be in the 3rd and 4th rounds just before the teams that drafted
1-4. The coaches that drafted 7-10 in the team lottery will get
three picks, and those will be in rounds 2, 3 and 4 before the teams that
drafted 1-6 (and the two returning coaches). The coaches that drafted
11-14 in the team lottery will get four picks, one in each round, and will
draft ahead of the teams that drafted 1-10 (and the two returning coaches).
The
following chart explains the Fun Draft pick allocation:
Group # Group
Qualification Draft
Picks
Group #
1 Coaches
with the last team lottery picks 4
Fun Draft Picks (Rds # 1, # 2, # 3, & # 4)
Group #
2 Coaches with the next
to last team lottery picks 3 Fun Draft
Picks (Rds # 2, # 3, & # 4)
Group #
3 Coaches with the next
to the top team lottery picks 2 Fun
Draft Picks (Rds # 3 & # 4)
Group #
4 Coaches with the top
team lottery picks 1
Fun Draft Pick (Rd # 4)
In subsequent years, if even held, will consist of three rounds in which the order is randomly determined after league membership is finalized for the given year. The Fun Draft in subsequent years is optional and will be implemented at the discretion of the Commissioner. The basis for this decision will be the Commissioner’s subjective judgment that the talent level of the average Frozen Tundra team remains within the range of that of a 24-team league.
Expansion Draft
In 2011, Frozen Tundra will expand by 8 teams, bringing
the league total to 24 teams. The expansion draft pool will consist of:
un-owned players that were rated in 2011 (2010 NFL season) that were previously
rated by Strat-O-Matic before. Exception: Un-owned rated kickers and punters,
regardless of whether they were rated by Strat-O-Matic in previous season are
not eligible (These kickers and punters will be part of the rookie/free agent
draft pool).
Dispersal Draft
Rookie/Free Agent Draft
There will be a Rookie/Free Agent Draft each season. Beginning in 2011, this draft will consist of all un-owned rated players. The only players that will be included in this pool are rated, unowned players that have never been rated by SOM before. The Rookie/Free Agent Draft will last 10 rounds. All rated, unowned kickers and punters will also be available in the Rookie Draft.
In determining the draft order, team placement will be handled in reverse order of win-loss percentage from the previous year using all tie-breaker methods. The league champion and runner-up always draft last and next-to-last respectively in each round.
Supplemental Draft
After teams have been initially reduced to 53 man
rosters, there will be a “Supplemental Draft” consisting of the remaining free
agents. The supplemental draft pool will
consist of undrafted players from the recently
completed Rookie Draft and players cut by live teams in reaching the initial 53
man roster maximums. The time and date
of this draft will be announced to the league.
This draft is conducted by the Commissioner. Each team wishing to participate sends a list
of players in order of preference to the Commissioner via email.
There is no limit to the number of players a
Supplemental list may have. However, the
maximum number of players a team can draft in the Supplemental Draft will be
the greater of:
The Supplemental Draft order will be the same as
the recently completed Rookie Draft. Once the Supplemental Draft is complete, a
list of players selected and thus added to rosters will be published to the
league. At this point, the 53-man maximum roster limit would be temporarily lifted.
The final deadline will be provided where teams must make their final cuts to
reach the 53-man roster maximums and meet all positional minimums and maximums.
Dummy Lists
Introduction
In 2011, Frozen Tundra’s expansion to 24 teams will mean
that the league will no longer utilize a dummy list.
Frozen Tundra will employ the use of dummy lists in the draft process for both the Fun Draft and Rookie Draft. A dummy list is a top to bottom ranking of all players eligible for a specific draft. As Frozen Tundra drafts are based on 24 selections per round, the dummy list will have players slotted in one of the 24 slots per round.
As an example, Player A who is deemed to be the # 1 player in the draft will be listed in round # 1 slot # 1 on the dummy list. Player B who is considered to be the # 2 player in the draft will be listed in round # 1 slot # 2. Player Y who is considered to be the 25th best player will be listed in round # 2 slot #1.
Every draft round consists of live team picks and dummy picks. Excluding rare circumstances, Frozen Tundra will normally have 16 live team picks and 8 dummy picks per round. All live team and dummy picks will be spread throughout a given round. During a real draft, when a live team selects a player, the player will be crossed off the dummy list and is no longer available for other teams to select. When a dummy selection is required, the highest available player listed on the dummy list will be the dummy’s pick. This dummy selection is treated similar to a live team pick as that player will be crossed off of the dummy list and will also no longer available in the current draft.
Creation & Approval Process
The creation and finalization of the dummy list is the
responsibility of the Dummy List Coordinator (DLC). The DLC may created the list entirely by
himself or solicit the help of other league members chosen by the DLC provided
that such helpers are approved by the Commissioner. During the dummy list creation process, the
DLC must submit a minimum of one near-final draft of the list to the Advisory
Board (AB) and Commissioner. The AB and
Commissioner will provide feedback on the dummy list to the DLC. The DLC must review all feedback provided to
him from the AB and Commissioner and may consider amending the dummy list
accordingly. However, the DLC is not
obligated to implement any of the recommendations. When the final dummy list is available, the
DLC will provide it to the Commissioner who will then distribute it to the
entire league.
Modifications to the Number of Dummy Team Picks
As stated above, Frozen Tundra’s draft is based on
24 selections per round. This would mean that with 16 live teams, there would
be 8 dummy picks per round. If in some
years, the number of live teams does not equal 16 (either less than or greater
than 16), the number of dummy picks will equal the difference between 24
selections and the number of live teams drafting for that given year.
In addition, the Commissioner may change the
number of selections per round. This may
be done for any number of reasons but primarily if there is concern about the
strength of the expansion pool and its ability to attract additional expansion
teams. The changes to the total number of selections per round for the Rookie
Drafts are documented as follows:
Trade Review Procedure
Each coach participating in a trade must send an e-mail directly to the
Commissioner announcing the exact terms of the trade. After the cut deadline immediately succeeding
the rookie/free-agent draft each team involved in a trade must be receiving the
same number of players as they are giving up.
Trades for draft picks may only include the next beginning (and/or
currently proceeding) rookie draft.
The trade review committee (TRC) is comprised of
volunteers chosen by the Commissioner who has experience in Strat-O-Matic
football. TRC volunteers should be aware
that they will be presented with difficult decisions and should have a
philosophy consistent with the questionable trade guidelines outlined below.
The purpose of the TRC is to make the trade review
process as fair as possible and to make the process a group decision so that no
one person is held responsible for a decision which someone may disagree with.
All trades are reported by each participating party
directly to the Commissioner. Any trade
review process and vote will not include anyone directly participating in the
deal. If a trade involves carded players, both players
must communicate to the Commissioner that they have seen the actual cards
involved in the trade or have been given information about the cards from other
coaches who have seen the cards. Being aware of a carded player’s prior season statistics or his
Strat-O-Matic card statistics (ie. For a wide
receiver, knowing that his completion combinations makes him a 4-4-4) is not an
acceptable alternative for seeing the cards.
All trades become official once the Commissioner
acknowledges receipt of the trade from all participating parties;
If a vote is called for, the TRC member
calling for the vote is responsible for reporting the results of the vote to
the Commissioner. If a trade is disallowed by the TRC, the TRC member who
called for the vote must document in writing the TRC’s
rationale for disallowing the trade. This documentation will be forwarded to
the Commissioner who will then forward it to the trading parties when he
announces that the trade is disallowed.
Votes that result in a tie mean that the deal is not disallowed.
All members of the league,
whether they are on the TRC or not, because we are individuals, can have
varying opinions on whether certain trades appear to be fair and balanced. The responsibility of the TRC is to question
a trade and call for a vote if they feel that:
In trades involving draft picks, the TRC’s decision to question a trade should not be based on
their opinion of the acquiring coach’s ability in making successful draft
picks.
Trades may only consist of exact and spelled-out
combinations of players and/or draft choices.
No money or unspecified exchanges for trade value (for
example, “future considerations”) may take place; however, a future
consideration may be involved in a trade if it is exactly defined (including
any conditions) in the trade. Only draft
choices of the next beginning (and/or currently in process) rookie/free-agent draft are eligible to be traded. Trades may not include any player rentals;
for example, a trade in which coach A trades player
Smith to coach B with a condition that in the future player Smith is traded
back to coach A is not allowed.
Trading may only occur when the
Commissioner-announces the official date of the beginning the trading season. The trading
season will usually begin with the publication of Strat-O-Matics
Football Ratings Guide and as long as the first preliminary Frozen Tundra Draft
Workbook is available. In 2011, due to
future expansion, the trading season will not begin until after the dispersal
draft.
The trading deadline is
Trades may only be conducted for players and draft picks. No contingencies may be included in a trade (i.e. first round pick if a player is rated a “6” next year, 3rd round pick if the player is a “4”). No “players to be named later” may be included in a trade. No “future considerations” may be included in a trade.
Unlike in the other Oops computer leagues, all coaches are
eligible to make trades.
Trading Draft Picks
Coaches may trade Rookie Draft picks for the current season and the next following season. As an example, for the 2006 Frozen Tundra season, a coach may trade 2006 and 2007 Rookie draft picks. For the 2010 season, coaches may not trade 2011 Rookie draft picks.
Coaches may trade Fun Draft picks for the current year only. For the 2006 Frozen Tundra season, only 2006 Fun Draft picks may be traded. The obvious reason for disallowing the trading of future Fun Draft picks is due to the Commissioner’s right to cancel a Fun Draft in any given year.
At the beginning of each season, teams must declare the type of base defense (3-4 or 4-3) they will be using. No other declarations are required.
3-4 Defense
Teams may choose to run a 3-4 defense in Frozen Tundra. To do this, the team must designate a NT (Nose Tackle), a LILB (Left Inside Linebacker), and a RILB (Right Inside Linebacker) during their defensive declarations at the beginning of the season. Teams choosing to use a player rated only as a LDT, RDT, or DT at NT (Nose Tackle), suffer a –1 reduction in the defense rating of the player playing NT. If the player is a natural “3” (called a 0 by Strat-O-Matic), the rating is reduced to a 2 for defense card qualification purposes.
Frozen Tundra has adopted the use of draft defense cards provided in the SOM Computer Football Game.
There are two sets of defense cards; run and pass. Each set is divided into five card types: Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, and Very Poor. Teams "qualify" for a particular type of card based on the combined numeric defense rating of certain players. Deciding which Run Card set type to use is based on the ratings of defensive lineman and linebackers. Pass Card set types are based on the ratings of defensive backs and linebackers. At the start of the season each team must declare their intention to use either a 3-4 or 4-3 defense (See Declarations). This declaration determines which players will be used all season for defense card type qualification. The following formulas are used to determine the run and pass ratings for a team:
4-3 Run Defense = Total the ratings of the four defensive linemen and add ½ the combined total of the three linebackers.
3-4 Run Defense = Total the ratings of the three defensive linemen and add ¾ the combined total of the two inside linebackers and ½ the combined total of the two outside linebackers.
3-4 Pass Defense = Total the ratings of the four defensive backs and add ¼ the combined total of the two inside linebackers and ½ the combined total of the two outside linebackers.
Each of the different card types has a different value or threshold to achieve:
Excellent is a combined rating value of 30 or better. (>=30)
Good is a combined rating value of 27 or better but less than 30.
(>=27)
Average is a combined rating value of 24 or better but less than 27.
(>=24)
Poor is a combined rating value of 21 or better but less than 24.
(>=21)
Very Poor is a combined rating value of less than 21. (<21)
These values are the same for run and pass card thresholds.
There is no rounding; all decimal values are truncated. If you have a 20.75 run rating, that’s a 20, not a 21.
Players Eligible to Play at Various Game Positions
With Frozen Tundra’s election of the
computer game’s loose substitution rules, there is greater flexibility in
determining which players can be used for various game positions. The following chart documents the football
game’s game positions and which roster positions are allowed to be used for the
game positions:
Game Position Roster Positions That Can Play This Game
Position
Right
Tackle ORT,
OLT, OT
Right
Guard ORG,
OLG, OG
Center C
Left Guard OLG, ORG, OG
Left
Tackle OLT, ORT,
OT
Quarterback QB
Fullback FB, BB
(May not run if no running card)
Halfback HB
Blocking
Back Any FB or BB; any HB with a run blocking rating of “4” or higher
Running
Back HB,
FB
Flanker WR
Split End WR
3rd
Wide Receiver WR
4th
Wide Receiver WR
Tight End TE
2nd
Tight End TE
Left End LDE,
Left
Tackle LDT,
Nose Tackle LDT,
Right
Tackle RDT,
Right End RDE,
Left Outside Linebacker LOB,
ROB, OLB, LB
Left
Inside Linebacker LIB,
RIB, MLB, ILB, LB
Middle
Linebacker MLB, LIB, RIB, ILB,
LB
Right
Inside Linebacker RIB,
LIB, MLB, ILB, LB
Right
Outside Linebacker ROB,
LOB, OLB, LB
Linebacker LOB, ROB, MLB, LIB,
RIB, OLB, ILB, LB
Left
Cornerback LCB,
RCB, CB, DB
Strong
Safety SS,
FS, S, DB
Right
Cornerback RCB,
LCB, CB, DB
Free
Safety FS, SS, S,
DB
1st
Defensive Back LCB, RCB, SS,
FS, CB, S, DB
2nd
Defensive Back LCB, RCB, SS,
FS, CB, S, DB
Please be aware that the “game
position” is the position that is listed in the depth charts in the Computer
Manager of the game.
With the use of the looser
substitution game rule, the game will allow some roster positions to be used at
a game position that is not allowed in Frozen Tundra per the above chart. Is
the responsibility of each coach to make sure that they are using players only
in allowed game positions.
The
1) If the offensive formation consists of halfback/fullback and three or more wide receivers.
2) If the down is 3rd or 4th
3) If 2 minutes or less remain in either half
Showing Blitz Restrictions
The defense may NOT elect to SHOW
BLITZ on 1st down. EXCEPTION: The defense may SHOW BLITZ
on 1st down with 2 minutes or less remaining in either half or an
overtime period.
4-3 and 3-4 Base Defense Restrictions
As mentioned earlier, teams are required to
declare a base defense (4–3 or 3–4) at the beginning of the season. If a team declares a 4–3 formation as their
base defense, it is prohibited from using a 3–4 defensive formation. Likewise, a team that
declares a 3-4 formation may not utilize a 4-3 defensive formation.
In addition, teams that use either the 4–3 or 3-4 base defense are not restricted from using any of the formations
(i.e. a 4-3 base defense team can use the 4-2-5 and 4-1-6 but may also use the
3-3-5 or 3-2-6). The use of the
To qualify as a starting or
relieving QB a player must have thrown a minimum of 100 passes in the NFL season that the current card
set is based on. Quarterbacks that had
fewer than 100 pass attempts in the NFL season that the card set is based on
may not play in any game at any time with the following exceptions:
At the conclusion of each game, both
teams must separately mail their boxscore file, ball possession file, post
file, and all log files to the Commissioner (garrymak@aol.com). Failure to do so in a timely manner becomes a
conduct matter for the league administration.
The boxscore
file can be found in the following path: C:\Program Files\
Strat-O-Matic\Strat-O-Matic Football\Leagues\LEAGUE”x”(FT2008)\Week”x”\Reports – where LEAGUE”x” is the league number and where Week”x” is the week of the schedule this game is due to be
played. The game file name will be in
the format: 2003visitor_AT_2003home.html – where visitor is a 3 character
acronym for the visiting team and home is a 3 character acronym for the home
team (e.g. FTW is the Fort Worth Cavalry).
The ball possession file is in the
same path and folder as the boxscore file. The file names is
the same too except that the suffix “BallPoss” has
been added to the file name.
The post file can be found in the
following path: C:\Program Files\ Strat-O-Matic\Strat-O-Matic Football\Leagues\LEAGUE”x”(FT2008)\Week”x”\POST – where LEAGUE”x” is
the league number and where Week”x” is the week of
the schedule this game is due to be played.
The game file name will be in the format: 2007visitor_AT_2007home.POST –
where visitor is a 3 character acronym for the visiting team and home is a 3
character acronym for the home team (e.g. SCS is the
The
log file(s) can be found in the following path: C:\Program
Files\Strat-O-Matic\Strat-O-Matic Football\Leagues\LEAGUEx(FT2008)\Logs - where
“x” is an incremental number assigned to each league as it is created. The log file name will be in the format:
2003visitor_AT_2003home.log – where visitor is a 3 character acronym for the
visiting team and home is a 3 character acronym for the home team (e.g. SDC is
the San Diego Chargers).
This game normally takes anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes to play – for novice coaches 120 minutes. 120 minutes is 2 hours. Once you know the game, if you can’t complete the game in 2 hours, you shouldn’t be playing in this league. Regular failure to play games in the expected time frame is a conduct issue.
Exception: During the Q1 and Q2 portions of each season new coaches will be given latitude to learn rules, ask questions, and generally get familiar with the game. This may cause some games to go over 2 hours. This is expected behavior. By Q3 all coaches are expected to be able to complete their games in 2 hours or less.
What
Strat-O-Matic Game Rules are Used?
Frozen Tundra uses all regular game rules as defined in the Strat-O-Matic game rules with exceptions noted below. The rules can be found at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/sphere/fbrules.htm.
Frozen Tundra does use the following SOM Game Rules:
Quarterback End Run Limits
Running Back Fatigue
Linebacker Run Containment
Individualized Fumble Ratings
Do Not Allow Exceeding Longest Run
Do Not Allow Exceeding Longest Reception
Updated Sack Rule
Emphasize 6-rated Linebackers
Looser Substitution Restrictions
Dump-Off Rule
Use Variable FG
Rule
Frozen Tundra does not use the following SOM Game Rules:
Penalties
Home Field Advantage
Player Overusage
Quarterback Overusage
Great Player rule
In-Game Rest System
Injuries
(Injuries were used for the 2008 season. Will not be used in
2009).
Use QB Starter File
Exhauster RB’s
Will Get Injured
Use Actual Team Interception Returns
Strat-O-Matic Game Rules are defined in each pre-game file and may not be changed by individual coaches. Consult the Strat-O-Matic Game Rules for details on how each rule works.
Certain Game Option variables need to be set to play the game optimally. Perform the following steps to ensure proper configuration:
· Choose Game from the Menu
· Choose Options - The following options are mandatory and must be checked:
1. Auto Save After Each Play
4.
No Play Animation (or at
a minimum, have play animation set to the fastest speed)