IFL Playoff Preview

Posted: June 21, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Getting to Know..., MB 2013 | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

With the Indoor Football League serving as the kickoff event for MegaBracket 2013, let’s take a look at the teams and towns of the top two seeds in each conference, Mega-Bracket style…

United Conference

#1 Seed – Sioux Falls Storm

Location: Sioux Falls, SD (population: 153,888 as of 2010 census)

Nicknames: Best Little City in America, Queen City of the West

Motto: The Heart of America

Fun Fact #1: The town’s entire population (approximately 40 people) was evacuated due to the Dakota War of 1862, an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux tribes

Fun Fact #2: The per-capita violent crime rate in Sioux Falls is roughly half the national average

Fun Fact #3: Was named the best place to live in America by Money Magazine in 1992

Fun Fact #4: The city has nearly doubled in population since 1980

Notable Natives and Residents: entertainer Mary Hart; World War II flying ace, former Arena Football League Commissioner, and former state governor Joe Foss; actress January Jones; NFL coach Mike Martz; entertainer Pat O’Brien; MegaBracketeer Ryan Klatt

Players of Note:

  • WR Clinton Solomon – the former Iowa Hawkeye (8th all-time in receiving yards) totaled 61 receptions, 789 yards and 27 TDs (tied for 1st in the IFL) on the season. He was named 2nd-Team All-IFL at WR, his second straight honor of that type after being named 1st-team All-IFL in the league’s first two seasons. Solomon caught 29 TDs for Wichita in 2010, the 3rd highest total in league history.
  • QB Chris Dixon  – set a league record this season with 3,321 yards passing while being named 1st-team All-IFL for the 4th year in a row (all four years the league has existed). Dixon was also named the IFL MVP in 2011. He also set league records for passer rating (133.3) and completion percentage (74.0) this season. Oh yeah, he piloted the winning team and won the MVP award in each of the previous 3 United Bowls. In other words, Chris Dixon is the IFL.

#2 Seed – Green Bay Blizzard

Location: Green Bay, WI (population: 104,057 as of 2010 census)

Unofficial Nickname: Titletown, USA for the NFL-record 13 championship won by the Green Bay Packers

Fun Fact #1: A trading post was established at the town’s location in 1634, making it one of the oldest permanent settlements in America.

Fun Fact #2: The town remained under control of the British until 1783, seven years after the Revolutionary War ended.

Fun Fact #3: The town is home to the National Railroad Museum

Fun Fact #4: The state of Wisconsin’s first newspaper, The Green Bay Intelligencer, was published here in 1833. That paper may have been the first, but certainly not the last, failed attempt to spread literacy throughout the state.

Notable Residents: founder, player, and first coach of the Packers, Curly Lambeau; actor Tony Shalhoub (Monk & Wings); Alfred Lawson, the inventor of the airliner; WWE wrestler Ken Anderson (“Mr. Kennedy”); and Joel Hodgson, creator and star of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K is one of the greatest TV shows ever made. This is not up for debate. Also, Wings was awesome, too.)

Players of Note:

  • RB La’Ron Council – became the first 1,000 yard rusher in league history this season, gaining 1,040 yards. He broke the triple crown of rushing records, also establishing IFL standards for rushing attempts (256) and rushing TDs (32).
  • WR Desmond Tardy – the Purdue alum finished 3rd in the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards in 2008. Tardy ranks second on the Blizzard in catches (39), receiving yards (512), and receiving TDs (14) this season.

Intense Conference

#1 Seed – Tri-Cities Fever

Location: Kennewick, WA (population: 73, 917 as of 2010 census)

Nickname: The Grassy Place

Fun Fact #1: The name of team, Tri-Cities, references the metropolitan area in Washington state comprised of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland.

Fun Fact #2: A prehistoric man, named the Kennewick Man, was found on the shores of the Columbia River in 1996. The remains are more than 9,000 years ago and contain Caucasoid features despite being indigenous to the area. Nearly the entire skeleton was found including the head and all of the teeth, making it one of the most ancient complete skeletons ever discovered. More information about the Kennewick Man can be found here.

Fun Fact #3: In 2008, Kennewick aspired to wrestle the title of Slurpee Capital of the World from Winnipeg, CA. The owner of the lone 7-Eleven in Kennewick declared, “Move over Winnipeg, Kennewick is king”. However, a 7-Eleven spokesperson cited market statistics and controversially crowned Winnipeg again in July of 2008, marking the city’s 9th consecutive title. As of this writing, Winnipeg still reigns supreme as the 12-time defending champion, the most title awarded last July. Is this the year Kennewick finally dethrones Winnipeg? The world will know in July…

Notable Residents: Washington Redskins DE and former Nebraska Cornhusker Adam Carriker; former MLB pitcher Jeremy Bonderman; former NBA player Scot Pollard; former NHL players Olaf “Olie the Goalie” Kolzig and Stu Barnes, who are both part-owners of the Western Hockey League’s (part of MB) Tri-City Americans

Players of Note:

  • WR Steven Whitehead – finished tied for 1st in the IFL with 84 receptions and earned 2nd-team All-IFL honors. He led the team with 791 yards receiving and 20 TDs. Whitehead is an alumnus of McNeese State.
  • LB Frantz Joseph – although he only played in two games this year, recording 17 tackles, there is no way I can ignore someone named Frantz Joseph. Not when the original Franz Joseph sported such excellent facial hair that his variation was named in his honor.

#2 Seed: Allen Wranglers

Location: Allen, TX (population: 84,246 as of 2010 census)

Fun Fact #1: The town was established by the Houston and Central Texas Railroad in 1872 and named for Ebeneezer Allen, a state politician and railroad promoter.

Fun Fact #2: In February of 1878, a gang led by Sam Bass committed what is regarded as Texas’ first train robbery near Allen.

Fun Fact #3: The town had only a few hundred residents when it was incorporated in 1953. It has increased rapidly to nearly 85,000 due to the DFW airport, development in Dallas and Plano, and the construction of U.S. Route 75.

Fun Fact #4: Allen is also home to the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League (also in MB) and the Dallas Sidekicks of the Professional Arena Soccer League (not in MB…yet).

Notable Residents: Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett; actor Jim Parrack (True Blood); actor Burton Gilliam (Lyle in Blazing Saddles, Colt Gun Salesman in Back to the Future III); 2004 Olympics All-Around Champion gymnast Carly Patterson

Players of Note:

  • RB Darius Fudge – earned 2nd-team All-IFL honors this season, the 3rd time he has made 1st or 2nd-team in the league’s four seasons. Fudge finished 2nd in rushing yards in the league with 701, and tied for 3rd in TDs with 23. He ran for 936 yards for Wichita in 2009, which had been the league record until LaRon Council’s 1,040 yards this season. I have to assume his nickname is “Super”.
  • DB Frankie Solomon, Jr. – earned 1st-team All-IFL honors at defensive back, the only Wrangler named to the 1st team. Solomon ranked 4th in tackles (115), tied for 7th in interceptions (7), 4th in interception return yards (123), and tied for 3rd in interception return TDs (2) in the IFL.

 

Wars with Native Americans, Mystery Science Theater 3000, a prehistoric man, Franz Joseph, a Slurpee fight and Super Fudge. Yep, just another day in MegaBracket…

MB 2013 Preview

Posted: June 20, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: MB 2013 | Tags: | Leave a comment »

As MegaBracket 2012 slows to a halt with all of the final placings determined, we turn our focus to the upcoming 3rd season of MegaBracket, MB 2013. The dawning of MB 2013 is nearly upon us with the Indoor Football League serving as our kickoff event. The IFL Playoffs begin Friday night at 7:05 pm CDT. The picks page is open and accessible via the user home page that appears when you login. MB 2013 is also serving as a beta run of the website as we still hope to branch this out to a larger audience in the future. To that end, we have expanded the MB field for this season. The exact numbers of users in for the new season has not yet been determined, but we are hoping to have a minimum of around 20 to get more and fresh eyes on the website. This post, along with links below, is intended to familiarize you a little bit with MB if you are new and highlight the changes if you are a returnee. We hope you enjoy the preview as the new season dawns – the madness of MB 2013 is about to begin…

Informational Links

A Look Ahead

While much of this information can also be found on the links above, this post will take you through the ins and outs of the MB 2013 season.

To the New Folks

Welcome to MegaBracket and our website. Please look all around the website and let of us know of any and all questions, suggestions, concerns, improvements, etc. The site is a work in progress, especially in the early stages of the new season as we try to convert everything from the previous season. We want your MB experience to be fun and crazy and eventually have you cursing out some poor D-III tennis player who submarined your entire season (true story).  So, welcome and enjoy…

Events

The upcoming events will always display on the user home page when you login. Click on the event link to navigate to the picks page. There is a handy “Field Set” column in the Upcoming Picks table that will let you know if the picks page is ready to go. The picks page will display the bracket to be picked as well as instructions to let you know the specifics for picking that event. There are also links to the event’s website and other useful event information, as well as MB standings and other pertinent MB information.

You will also be able to track events that are currently underway via the Current Events tab and events completed in the last two weeks via the Recently Completed Events tab.

There are essentially two types of events in MB 2013 – bracket events and user vs. user events. Bracket events are the usual type of picks – select winners throughout an event and you earn the associated points for each correct pick. We also have many “modified” bracket events for team events such as wrestling and track & field. In these events, you select your top 8 finishers and then earn points for correctly slotting teams in the Top 8, Top 4, Top 2, and Champion. For all bracket and modified bracket events, each user who finishes with the top point total will earn a 5-point bonus for winning that event.

The second type of event is the user vs. user event, which adds a different level of excitement and larger point swings to events contested by a large group of individuals like PGA tour events. In these events each user selects a team of individuals and his team competes against all the other users’ teams. The scores for each team are compared and points earned based on placement. The eight members of MB 2012 found the golf events very entertaining to follow and compare scores over the four-day tournament. For MB 2013, the User vs. User point structure will look like this:

  • 1st Place – 80 points
  • 2nd Place – 72
  • 3rd Place – 64
  • 4th Place – 56
  • 5th Place – 48
  • 6th Place – 40
  • 7th Place – 32
  • 8th Place – 24
  • 9th Place – 16
  • 10th Place – 8

If you finish 11th or worse, you will earn 0 points for that event. A 32-point win bonus can also be earned in the user vs. user events for correctly selecting the event’s champion.

Regular Season

New in 2013, the regular season is broken into 13 different time periods, called MegaBlocks. The MegaBlocks were designed to have a similar number of points available during their span and thus have varying lengths. The blocks are longer when events are fewer in number, such as in July-August and December-January, and are much shorter when things get fast and furious as they do in November, March, and May. The MegaBlock schedule is shown below:

MegaBlock State Date End Date Approx. Points
I June 22, 2012 August 31, 2012 1964
II September 1, 2012 October 7, 2012 1992
III October 8, 2012 November 10, 2012 1965
IV November 11, 2012 November 17, 2012 1820
V November 18, 2012 December 1, 2012 1940
VI December 2, 2012 January 12, 2013 1872
VII January 13, 2013 February 22, 2013 1947
VIII February 23, 2013 March 8, 2013 1962
IX March 9, 2013 March 11, 2013 2000
X March 12, 2013 March 17, 2013 2038
XI March 18, 2013 March 23, 2013 2070
XII March 24, 2013 April 2, 2013 2036
XIII April 3, 2013 April 20, 2013 2124
Playoff 1st April 21, 2013 May 10, 2013 2065
Playoff QF May 11, 2013 May 18, 2013 2118
Playoff SF May 19, 2013 May 26, 2013 2248
Playoff Final May 27, 2013 June 30, 2013 2356

The block schedule was devised to make it simpler to follow the action as the points build during the season. On whatever day a game or occurs or an event or series ends, the points earned by a user count towards that active MegaBlock on that day. Each user will have an accruing total for the current MegaBlock as well as an overall total. The winner of each block earn a spot in the MB postseason. A user can only earn one spot, however. If a user who has already qualified for the playoffs finishes atop another block standings, the highest user who has not already clinched will earn the spot. Thus, 13 users will qualify for the playoffs by virtue of winning a MegaBlock.

Due to the widespread popularity of filling out its bracket, the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament serves as a stand-alone block. The user who piles up the most points in that event will earn a ticket to MegaBracket’s big dance. Finally, the top two users in the final overall standings who have not already earned a spot will clinch the final two spots in the 16-person playoffs.

Playoffs

As mentioned previously, 16 users will qualify for the postseason, playing out a season-ending MegaBracket. The 16 qualifiers are seeded 1-16 (via a method yet to be determined) and compete through 4 rounds to determine the MB 2013 champion. We feel that the season-ending tournament gives MegaBracket added excitement over single-event  competitions decided only by points in which many people are eliminated from contention early on. In MB, there are 16 chances available all season long to qualify for the playoffs. From that point, it’s a battle to the finish to see who can survive four rounds of prognostication to earn the title of MegaBracket champion.

Leagues

While the overall race for the MB 2013 title goes on, another facet of our website is the ability to form leagues with a smaller number of users and compete as a smaller group, just as in fantasy football. The person who creates a league will serve as the commissioner and has control over which events are contested by the league as well as the playoff structure. A league can include as many or as few events as they wish – the events included are fully customizable. Each league can also choose to end their season with a bracket finish (2, 4, 8 or 16 members) or crown its champion by point total. Leagues do not crown individuals MegaBlocks winners, however, as playoffs spots in leagues are set by overall points only. The reason for this is so each league can include as many or as few events as they wish without having to try to plan around each time block.

The bracket and modified bracket events work in the same way as the overall standings – each person earns points for correct picks. For the user vs. user events, your team of picks will compete only against other members of your league to earn the user vs. user points. Thus, you may finish 1st in your league, but 5th overall in a user vs. user event and have different point totals for overall and in your league.

You can be in as many different leagues as you wish. However, you will submit only one set of picks for each event, regardless of how many leagues you are in. Unlike other sites with bracket competitions, you get only one chance to get things right in MegaBracket.