If you’re reading this

WHAT IS “GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!”?

GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is actually an anagram representing last year’s ladder leader DENNIS CROWLEY and if YOU win the current season, you TOO can have your name stretched into something ‘interesting’—WAIT! Don’t stop reading just yet my friend . . . GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is much MUCH more than your standard online “league” ( and much much LESS depending on your perspective )

GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is an attempt at creating a very loosely coupled league of extraordinary gentlemen who pride themselves on their Strat football coaching prowess. GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is based on 4 basic tenets: competition, randomness, variety and a dash of spice added in for good measure. The concepts are explained in detail in the following sections along with some of the rules. The cut and dry rules will be spelled out at the end of this document. Still interested?

NEW FOR SEASON III

· You can now use any options/rules you wish... as long as both coaches agree

I’m opening it up because there are more and more options being programmed in every year. I don’t feel I should have to ‘force’ anyone to play a certain type of game

· Random match-ups are optional—not mandatory any more

We are all big boys . . . if you fall prey to some ‘predator’ it’s your own fault. REMEMBER, games are either EVEN (0.5 to win or lose) or NOT (1.0 to win or lose) based on POINT DIFFERENTIAL. It’s EASY to compute... take points for subtract points allowed then divide by games played for that team (regular season only). Compare this number to your opponents team and if this is WITHIN 3.99 points—it’s an even game, else it’s NOT.

· Feel free to input STOCK league games, other stock ONLINE pickup games

I want to encourage the use of the GOOFBALLS ladder for those unfortunate souls who are in stock leagues playing horrible teams. GOOFBALLS can provide a ray of light during a dismal season :) lol.. THAT sounds GAY!

· Some rules below are obsolete... I will eventually correct all that is wrong—just not right away

NEW FOR SEASON II

NO MORE RUNNING UP THE SCORE!
FIRST and foremost... there will NO LONGER be a possibility of running up the score...! (halla-loo-yah ). I've integrated the PURIST ideal of "a win is a win is a WIN!" I don't care if it's ONE point or 45 points--a win is a freaking WIN! Some coaches playing styles are not conducive to 'blowouts' so Goofballs I was unfair to those coaches... GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! cures that issue once and for all... and is the ONLY open play 'system' that allows a 'win' to be a ... 'win'.

BACK TO THE BASICS...
When I play the board game, I like to play all sorts of matchups--but there's a problem with playing a 'blowout' (on the wrong side). You get a guaranteed LOSS (almost guaranteed) when you do so.... WELL, GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! implements a tried and true board game fundamental formula I've always lived by:

1. If you SHOULD win, and DO... 'c'est la vie'
1a. If you SHOULD lose, and DO... 'c'est la vie'

2. If the game is relatively EVEN... a win or a loss is noteworthy

3a. If you should LOSE and instead WIN... 'THIS is a commendable victory!"
3b. If you should WIN and instead LOSE... 'THIS is a disgraceful defeat!"

Whether any of these victories/losses is by 1 point or 30, is irrelevant! After all, A win is a win is a win!

So, Goofballs is based on those 3 fundamental situations for GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! and every future Goofballs season.

HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE SHOULD LOSE/WIN?
Well, well, WELL! When I play the board game... I will play any 2 teams that are within 2 wins of each other as EVEN. If I have a team that is 3 wins or better than my opponent... I EXPECT to win. On the other hand, if I have a team that is minus 3 or more wins than my opponent--I expect to lose... NOT ALWAYS... but generally speaking--I (and my opponent) will agree to that fact.

CRITICAL TO THIS IMPLEMENTATION...
1. You CAN'T be allowed to CHERRY PICK your matchup... or else you WILL find exceptions to the 'within 2 wins rule'... NO DOUBT... so matchups MUST be random ( and every time I play pick up board games... that is exactly what I do--choose randomly )

2. After seeing my Cowboys of 2003 go 10-6, I realized that W-L records are GREATLY flawed. There is something MUCH more reliable to use to judge a team's quality. Many have touched on it in the forum (most notably Chris Carl and Tom Nobis). So, instead of using the W-L record to determine if a matchup is "even" or not... GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! will use Point Differential. Along the SAME lines I use to matchup my board games....

I took every team available in computer Strat (using a spreadsheet created by the infamous Tom Nobis) and sorted EVERY team from HIGHEST Point Differential to LOWEST. I then broke the entire selection into 16 equal parts and each part came out almost exactly to sections of 2.5 Point differential. I BROKE them up into 16 portions because I wanted to stay similar and true to my W-L formula--only using Point Differential instead. So, in GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!, if a matchup is within 3.99 Point Differential, then it is considered an EVEN matchup. If one team has a point differential greater than 3.99, then that team is considered the FAVORITE and "should" win.

SO, HOW IS THE RATING FIGURED....?
1. If you've taken a look at my SOFA KING rankings (which are NOT based at all on pointspread)... GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! will be based EXACTLY the same way)

HERE'S HOW: If you SHOULD WIN a matchup (i.e., you have a Point Differential greater than 3.99 over your opponent), then you should win ( or be 1-0-0). If you DO win the game (no matter the score) then you are "on par" with what you SHOULD be... 1-0-0 compared to 1-0-0. So, you have a 0.0 rating. IF, however, you are UPSET... then you are 0-1-0 compared to what you SHOULD be 1-0-0 and your rating is (-1.0)... or 1 game "under what you should be". Your opponent would acquire a (+1.0) rating. If the game is an EVEN game ( both teams within 3.99 point differential), then both teams will be evaluated vs. a 0-0-1 record. So, the winner would get a (+0.5) rating while the loser would get a (-0.5) rating.

GOOFBALLS I suffered from EXTREME games... (the 57-3 game) that DESTROYED one's hope of reigning supreme. GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! remedies this and ALSO eliminated the "running up the score" potential so we can bring in those who found that distasteful.

GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is also has a VERY Nice helpful feature in its' random game selection process:
1. You will have 3 choices of random games:
a. Random between ALL seasons owned by yourself and another coach... mixmatched years
b. Random between ANY season owned by yourself and another coach... SAME SEASON
c. PICK a SEASON and GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! will randomly select a matchup from that year.

Here's the GOOD part: I found that during GOOFBALLS I there were 'several' mistaken matchups generated manually by coaches who chose WRONG seasons that their opponent did NOT own. Well, GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! fixes that. It is smart enough to generate ONLY from seasons OWNED by your opponent and yourself. With the click of 1 button, a game will be generated appropriately from 1 of the 3 categories above.

COMPETITION

If you’ve ever wanted to know WHERE you stand amongst the GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!, this “league” is aimed specifically at answering that question. How DO you match up with the Deter’s, Kleins’, Cookes’, Spellerberg’s, Dickinson’s, Burke’s, Pajak’s, Martin’s . . . etc, etc? Every available league ( except SIFA ) provides inherent bonuses for those lucky enough to be blessed with good teams. SIFA has been and still is a great vehicle for helping solve the “Who’s the best?” question. GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is in no way trying to detract from the great work Chris Carl is doing and in fact, can complement and work hand-in-hand with SIFA members.

GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!, simply put, is an online Strat football “ladder”. Many of you may have dealt with a racquetball ladder or some other competitive sport ladder. It will have some twists however. J

Note: twists = rules which come at the end of this narrative if you so wish to skip ahead

RANDOMNESS

Randomness is highly encouraged. A truly great coach can take a team ‘on the fly’ and win!

VARIETY

What does GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! have to offer that other leagues don’t? I can make this statement because I’m NOT challenging any leagues because GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! is not really a LEAGUE at all. It’s a RANKING system ( with predetermined rules—yes! ) moreso than a league. GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! members don’t HAVE to play every week… although their ranking WILL suffer if they don’t at least play 1 game every 10 days ( and IF they are challenged ). GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! members get to add variety to the teams they play! Honestly, will you ever CHOOSE to play the ’72 Oilers? ((Ok, SOME of you (us) will… )) In GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!, you don’t HAVE a say in who you play or who you play against. There’s nothing I dislike more than TRYING to find a team that has a similar record as the team my SIFA opponent chose, but yet has “hidden” qualities which will help me win. It’s just not fun—even though it’s technically the smart thing to do. With GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!, this FREEDOM is taken away from you ( and your opponent ). You WILL be playing a wide range of teams… you may NEVER play the same team twice—who knows?

SPICE

Variety is the SPICE of life.... play DIFFERENT teams... enjoy what is OUT there!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

QUESTION: Do we HAVE to play different years vs. each other? I don’t necessarily enjoy matching up the ’68 Cowboys vs. the ’01 Rams . . . it just doesn’t seem realistic.

ANSWER: I’ve decided to give the CHALLENGER the option of choosing to play a matchup “within the same year” or “across all years”. The GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! random game generator is already setup with the option to pick games this way. Please note if you DON’T select “LET ME CHOOSE THE YEAR”, then the random game generated MIGHT still generate you a game w/in the same year.

QUESTION: There ARE a few RBs / QBs who are wildly popular “low-carry” players… How do you prevent these players from being overused?

ANSWER: Maybe this is an unpopular stance, but I won’t put any artificial limitations on any game. If this were a league where you coached the SAME team every game… I’d be all for it. I plan on having a GAME NOTES: section attached to every game result and I’m sure if ’68 Walt Garrison runs the ball 30 times that would be a “notable” item for ALL of the rest of the GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! to view. To be honest, though, it doesn’t really bother me simply because the odds of someone getting that SAME player twice in a season isn’t too high.

Q. HOW TO JOIN GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER!?

A. There is a NEW feature at the site allowing you to join online!

Q. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

A. Money-wise, it’s free… but your coaching prowess will be sorely taxed!

Q. IS THERE A WEB SITE FOR STANDINGS / RESULTS?

A. Standings AND results ( not complete box scores ) will be posted and kept track of indefinitely… you will even be able to view all of a coach’s GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! games from the past seasons and who their opponent was.

QUESTION: I don't have all the seasons...

ANSWER: Shame on you! No, j/k! I will keep pressing the random matchup generator until I get a matchup that falls within your range of available years.

QUESTION: I am a rookie to strat net play...

ANSWER: The organization of the GOOFBALLS: CONEY SWINDLER! ladder should allow you to be matched up vs others who are at your skill level. I welcome all coaching levels, from the pristine to the truly amateur.