I. - A. APPLICATION

Each member shall complete and submit the required application to the tournament director prior to entering the tournament. The application is located at . An entry fee may be required to participate in order to off set the cost of the expenses for the tournament and to provide a monetary prize for the winners. Players will not be recognized as officially entered until the payment of the registration fee is received by the tournament director. In some cases, on site registrations will be accepted.

I - B. Prize Money

A cash prize will be awarded to the tournament winner and tournament runner up. The prize money shall be based on the number of tournament participants minus expenses for administering the tournament. The prize money shall be based on the following formula:

$3000.00 Awarded to the tournament Champion.
$1000.00 Awarded to the runner up.
$200.00 Awarded to 3rd place
$100.00 Awarded to 4th Place
$75.00 Awarded to 5th-8th Place

II. - A. GENERAL RULES:.

A General Business meeting will be held the night prior to the official start of the games. All business meetings will be governed by the standard operating procedures found in Robert Rules Of Order. NO TOURNAMENT RULES SHALL BE CHANGED AT THE OWNERS MEETING. Rules, policies/procedures not covered in the 2004 Madden Games handbook may be voted on and approved at this meeting.

II. - B. PROCESS OF MOTIONS

Procedures for the conduct of Business Meetings are:
1. Motions from the floor shall be submitted to the chair for presentation to the assembly.
2. Motions properly seconded will be accepted for discussion, and then put to vote.
3. Proxy voting is not allowed.
4. Motions shall be passed with a 2/3 MAJORITY

II. C. GENERAL CONDUCT OF A TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANT

Each participant is expected to display conduct that of an exemplary standard. Good sportsmanship, League honor, respect and pride is demanded from all members. The tournament director reserves the right to ban any participant from play WITHOUT REFUND based on any violations of the code of conduct.

ARTICLE III - COMPETITION

I. A. ORGANIZATION

1. ALIGNMENT

Participants in the tourney shall be grouped for round robin play by the tournament director. Grouping shall be done based on the order in which ballers sign up and the following other parameters:
1. Like league members are in separate groups.
2. Like franchises are in separate groups.
3. Power matches from previous years are avoided (i.e. Realist v. Young Gunz)
4. Potential Power Matches avoided. (League champ vs. another League champ)
5. The MWS ranking system will be used to facilitate a philosophy of parity.

2. PARITY

In an effort to keep competition balanced, the tournament director reserves the right to move, reassign, or make changes to any round robin grouping.

3. Round Robin Pairings

All groups will have four or more ballers. The tournament scheduling chair reserves the right to reorganize the groups at any time. In the event of a no show, the tournament scheduling chair may combine two or more groups together to form one super round robin group. See the example below:

Group A	Group B
XR 2000	Teddy B!
2 Bold	Top Gun
T Philly White	X
Papo Swing	DaBillster

If 2 Bold was a no show from group A, and X was a no show from Group B, the two groups would still play within their bracket, consequently, each baller would only have two games played. To obtain a third game the following shall be applied:

The two ballers with the best record in each group would play the baller with the worst record from the opposite group. I.E.

Group A	Group B
XR 2000 (2-0)	Teddy B! (2-0)
2 Bold (DNP)	Top Gun (1-1)
T Philly White (1-1)	X (DNP)
Papo Swing (0-2)	DaBillster (0-2)

The last game of the RR would be: XR 2000 vs. DaBillster, T-Philly vs. Top Gun, Teddy B! vs. Papo Swing. The objective of this scenario is to give all ballers the change to play 3 games, thus eliminating the potential for advancement via forfeit. This example is applicable for super groups of more than 8 ballers if necessary.

4. Team Selection

Participants may select from any of the 32 current NFL teams available on the current issue of the Madden Software. Classic, modified or code enhanced teams will be prohibited in tournament play.

a. Alternate Teams - Coaches may use alternate teams throughout the tournament at their discretion, however, each coach must designate a primary team for play in the round robins. Thus, when opponents meet in the round robin, like team matchups must be avoided. Any coach that selects an alternate team which in turn causes a like match up (Packers v. Packers) the forestated coach must resort to his primary team for competition in that particular game.

b. Coaches may use alternate teams at any point during the round robin as long as like matchup are avoided.

c. Tournament Play - Once the single elimination tournament begins, like team matchups are permitted.

I. B. ROUND ROBIN SCHEDULING

1. Scheduling for The Madden Games will be done by the tournament director. Round Robin scheduling shall consist of each baller facing each member of his group at least once giving him a total of AT LEAST 3 games in the round robin series. For Example, in group A the schedule would be very similar to this:

Group A would consist of 4 Ballers: X, DaBlister, Matt P, and 2 Bold.

Time	Game Monitor	Match Up
11:00 AM	A	X vs. DaBlister
11:00 AM	B	Matt P vs. 2 Bold
12:00 Noon	H	X vs. Matt P
12:00 Noon	I	DaBlister vs. 2 Bold
2:00 PM	E	X vs. 2 Bold
2:00 PM	F	DaBlister vs. Matt P

The team with the best record shall advance to the single elimination tournament. Depending upon the number of entries, a specified number of automatic and at large bids will be awarded based on records in the round robin and point differential. The other teams are welcome to watch the action, sightsee, go home, or get some side games going.
In the event of a tie, (more than one team is 2-1), the teams with the highest point differential in the round robin series will advance. It is not possible for more than one team to go 3-0 in a group.

2. All Games shall be played according to the scheduled dates and times and established by the tournament director.

3. As a courtesy coaches should be at the tournament site at least 15 mins. prior to a scheduled kickoff.

4. Each team is responsible for submitting it's statistics to the Chief Statistician immediately after the completion of a game.

I. C. SINGLE ELIMINATION BRACKET SCHEDULING

Based on 36 participants, the tournament tree would appear as shown below:

Players will be seeded by the overall best tournament record and point differential. For example:

1 Seed - 3-0 - 35 point differential
2 Seed - 3-0 - 32 point differential
3 Seed - 3-0 - 30 point differential
4 Seed - 3-0 - 27point differential

NOTE* NEW FOR 2004
To promote sportmanship and discourage running up the score vs. a lesser opponent, a CAP will be instituded on the point differential system. A maximum of 35 pts. will be recognized, even when if the margin of victory points are higher. Thus if a participant wins 49-0, the point differential for that game will be +35. However, in order to break ties of +35 the average defensive points allowed will be factored. For example if Sandman wins three games, 49-0, 56-7, 56-21, his pt. differ would be +35 and his defensive pts. allowed would be 7 PPG. If Big Gene's results were 42-0, 35-0, 45-3, Gene's pt. differential would be +35 also, however his defensive pts. allowed be 1 PPG, thus he would take a higher seed than Sandman based on average defensive pts. allowed. The system is designed to discourage running up the score when the game is clearly out of hand, while promoting defensive play.

Also, the teams with the lower records would be seeded at the bottom of the tournament bracket.

9 Seed, 2-1 - 4 point differential
8 Seed, point differential
7 Seed, point differential
6 Seed, point differential

Depending upon the number of participants, byes may be added. The byes go to the top 4 seeds. The lowest seeds (based on worst RR record and lowest point differential) will compete in "play in" games to play their way into the tourney to face a top seed. In the event of a field larger than 130 ballers, the field will expand to an 80 man single elimination tourney.

The top teams will be divided by region in order to balance the brackets. The overall top 4 seeds in the tournament would in effect be top seeds in each individual region. Thus based on the above graphic the seeds would have been assigned as follows:
1. Trapjaw - Region I
2. Lou Tillery - Region II
3. Candyman - Region III
4. Mad Guru - Region IV
Consequently the seeding will be continued as:
5, 6, 7, 8 overall would = 2 regional seed
9, 10, 11, 12 overall = 3 regional seed
13, 14, 15, 16 overall =4 regional seed
17, 18, 19, 20 overall = 5 regional seed
21, 22, 23, 24 overall = 6 regional seed
25, 26, 27, 28 overall = 7 regional seed
29, 30, 31, 32 overall = 8 regional seed
33, 34, 35, 36 overall = 9 regional seed

In an effort to prevent early like league matchups, the tournament scheduling director reserves the right to move like seeds from one region to another. For example if Paul D of the HMFL was a 5 seed designated for Region I, he would have a potential matchup vs. Trapjaw, based on last years seeds. In an effort to avoid this, the tournament scheduling chair, reserves the right to move Paul D to Region II to avoid this conflict. The tournament scheduling committee will do all that it can, while keeping the fairness of the entire field in mind, to prevent like league matchups from occurring before the SECOND ROUND. Any like league matchups after that point will be scheduled to occur without change. Once seeding has been done, and single elimination play begins, re-seeding will be prohibited. Under no circumstances shall the brackets be arranged or re-arrange to accommodate any individual or leagues.

I. D. ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

In order for a baller to make it to the championship game, he must play at least 3 round robin games, a first round, second round, third round, fourth round (if necessary), quarterfinal, and semi final tournament game for a total of 9 games. The Championship would be game 10.

II. - A. GAME PLAY

1. HARDWARE

Competition shall occur on a PSX2 Unit.

2. SOFTWARE

Official Madden Games Sanctioned Tournaments can only be played on the most recent version of John Madden Football by EA Sports.

3. GAME LENGTH

Round Robin games shall be scheduled at six (6) minute quarters. The first round, quarterfinal, semifinal games of the single elimination tournament shall be scheduled at six (6) minute quarters. The Madden Games Championship shall be scheduled at Eight (8) minute quarters. Included in each game shall be a five minute half-time. Only if BOTH teams agree to forego the use of a half-time period, shall the game continue without interruption. If both opponents agree, the tournament director will schedule media time outs where appropriate for games broadcast via internet or any other media.

4. Game Settings

Game Settings shall be defined as - any feature that may be adjusted to manipulate the overall performance of the game itself. These settings may be identified as, but are not limited to: Skill Level, Camera Angles, Weather Conditions, Injuries, Fatigue, Penalties, Artificial Intelligence, and any other features not listed herein that may be manipulated as deemed so by the tournament director. Games not played according to the prescribed settings shall be considered null and void if revealed during a tournament game at any point before the start of the third quarter regardless of the score. After the kickoff of the second half, all games must be played in its entirety and those results shall be made final, regardless of the appropriateness or inappropriateness of any game setting. This includes but it not limited to weather conditions, camera angles, skill levels or any other setting as properly defined.

Skill Level -- All tournament games shall be set to and played on the All Madden Level.
Camera Angles - The official view for all tournament games shall be the Madden Cam
Other Game Settings -- All tournament games shall be played with the following game settings:
Weather - Fair
Penalty Levels - Default
AI Levels - Default

Quick Passing and Player Lock & Pass Lead Sensitivity - The use of these features will be permitted on an individual basis.

Home Teams - In round robin play, home or away games shall be determined by the winner of a coin toss. In tournament play, the high seed has the choice whether to play at home or away. Any stadium may be used for game play as long as it does not compromise the default settings of the game.

5. TEAM ROSTERS

Teams shall play with 1/6/2004 update of rosters as published by EA Sports. Rosters may be downloaded from the EA Sports server via online connection.

6. USER PROFILES/MEMORY CARDS

a. Profile Cards - The use of profile cards are prohibited at any time during the Madden Games. Rosters will be loaded according to a Master Profile Card to be loaded by a tournament official.
b. Substitutions - Players may be substituted freely on both sides of the ball as long as both players play the same position. Please refer to the substitution chart below:

Player Position	Can Be Subbed With
QB	QB Only
RB	Halfbacks and Fullbacks only
OL	Center, Guards & Tackles only
WR	Wide Receiver Only/WR-TE subbing is permitted
TE	Tight End Only
DL	Defensive Linemen Only
LB	Linebackers Only
Secondary	SS, FS, and CB
Special Teams	No restrictions placed on Special Team Subbing

c. Team Playbooks - A coach may implement a game plan from any of the standard playbooks shipped with the current version of the game. However, the use of custom playbooks are prohibited at Nationals.

7. GENERAL DECORUM

a. Coaching, suggestions, or helpful hints whether verbally or by gesture, are not allowed during a tournament game. Violators shall be referred to the tournament director for possible disqualification from the tournament.

b. Walking in front of the game monitor (TV) while the game is in progress is considered a MAJOR infraction of tournament decorum and may result in that individual being referred to the tournament director.

c. Audibles and game substitutions are permissible at the start of the game, at half-time and at the two minute warning of either half without penalty. Audibles and Substitutions set at any other time will require the said coach to use a time-out. A coach has a maximum time of 60 seconds to set audibles/substitutions once the time out has been called. This does not include the time allotted on the play clock. Opposing players SHOULD allow for privacy during the setting of audibles.

d. Smoking and or drinking (except bottled water) is prohibited inside the arena of all tournament events.

e. As a courtesy coaches should arrive to their scheduled games at least 15 minutes prior to kickoff.

f. Betting, wagering or any other forms of gambling is strictly prohibited on the tournament floor. Violators shall be referred to the tournament director to be disqualified and escorted from the tournament floor.

 

8. GAME STOPPAGE

1. Inadvertent/Advertent Game Stoppage
Any player stopping the game at any point during the game whether adverting or inadvertent must call a time out. Once a time-out has been called, a player has a maximum of sixty (60) seconds to spend that time-out in whatever manner so desired. In the event that the player committing the infraction does not have any time outs remaining, the following must occur:

a. If the player committing the infraction is on defense he must take a mandatory encroachment penalty until the offense receives an automatic first down.

b. If the player committing the infraction is on offense he must take two mandatory delay of games. (a 10 yard loss) If the stoppage causes the offense to relinquish the ball to the opponent (i.e. fourth down situation or turnover), and the offending player is now on offense, that player must take four stop clock plays to relinquish the ball back to the opponent.

c. If this infraction is at the end of a game whereby the consequences cannot be enforced, the game shall be referred to the tournament director. The tournament games council shall issue a resolution as to how the game shall end, or if it is to be replayed and that decision shall be FINAL.

3. Half-time./Two Minute Warnings - Included in each game shall be a five minute half-time. Only if BOTH teams agree to forego the use of a half-time period, shall the game continue without interruption. If both opponents agree, the tournament director will schedule media time outs where appropriate for games broadcast via Internet or any other media. The two minute warning may be used as an additional time-out to be used as the player wishes. Thus, the two minute warning may be used as any other time-out. (i.e., to substitute, change audibles, or as a period to rethink strategies, revue play books...etc.)

9. GAME MALFUNCTIONS

In the unlikely event of a game malfunction that is determined to be unavoidable, the game shall be reset using a the situational set up feature.

a. To perform a situational set up, the game will be set from the exact time, score, possession and field position in which the game was interrupted.

Software Glitches and Other Programming Errors

When it has been determined by the Nationals Competition Committee, programming errors in the game software (glitches) may be identified as such and regulations may be rendered to prevent such errors from eroding the integrity of the competition at the Madden Games. Such errors have been identified as listed below with the appropriate guidelines included:

Special teams programming errors - It has been recognized by the MWS competition committee that extra points, field goals and punts can be blocked with ease due to errors in the game programming. Therefore the MWS Competition Committee has established the following guidelines for special teams play:

The defensive team is prohibited from moving any players to aid in the rush of any player/s in the attempt to block a FG, Punt or extra point. This includes but is not limited to lineshifts or manual movements of any players from their original position at the start of the play. If a player is moved prior to the kick outside of his original position he must be moved back to his original position either manually or by resetting the defense using the square/L2 button function. If the player is moved out of his position prior to the kick he may not be used to rush the kick. If the kick is blocked by this player manually you are in violation of the rules and it may result in disqualification.

Defensive Line Positioning - In order to promote more realistic gameplay, the stacking of defensive linemen is prohibited at Nationals. Stacking is defined as the repositioning of a defensive player directly behind or parallel to another. A defensive player may be moved freely from left to right, as long as some part of the players uniform remains on the screen. The placement of defensive linemen off the screen, where they are totally invisible before the snap of the ball is prohibited. These above stated rules do not apply to LB's or DB's.

Use Of Hurry Up Offense - The implementation of the hurry up offense philosophy is permitted in Nationals play. However, the use of the hurry offense after an incomplete pass is prohibited. In the event that the offense incidentally activates the hurry up offense feature, the offense should allow for 5 seconds to run off the playclock after the referee spots the ball before snapping the ball. This should not be an issue for the offense because if the hurry mode is activated, by the time the ball is placed and five seconds is allowed for the defense, the offense should still have at least 10 seconds to before the play clock expires. Subsequent violations of this rule shall result in penalizing the offensive team 1 time out.

Onside Kicks - The use of onside kicks are prohibited at any point in the game, unless the opponent is ahead at that given point in the game. The use of the "Pooch" Kick is prohibited at any point in the game.

Flipping/Reversing Plays - If an a player on offense flips/reverses the direction of a play from an unbalance formation, the offensive player must be allowed to completely move to the opposite side of the formation before the ball can be snapped. I.E., if operating from the I-Big formation, if the play is flipped the WR must be allowed to move completely to the other side (past the LT or TE or whomever is widest on the line of scrimmage) of the formation, before the ball cannot be snapped. Players suspected of using this illegal tactic will be issued a warning, with a subsequent violation being grounds for disqualification from the tournament, and banishment from all other MWS events for life. In the event that the use of the tactic directly or indirectly effects the balance of a game, the incident will be referred to the Nationals Tournament Operations Committee for review and resolution, with the ruling of the committee being final.

Toggling/Screen Jumping - Excessive toggling or jumping of the screen while on offense to prevent the defense from setting is prohibited.

4th Down Situations - In an effort to present a more realistic approach to the game, the following rule has been adopted governing 4th down situations: On all 4th downs, the offensive player is required to punt the ball. The offense may attempt the 4th down conversion only when the following scenarios apply:
a) The offense has 4th down and 2 or less yards to go anywhere on the field
b) 4th and 3 or more, you must be inside the opponents territory (goaline to 49 yd. line)
c) at any point in the fourth quarter when trailing.
NOTE* with 2 mins in the half or 2 mins in the game their is no 4th down rule.

Wide Receiver Motioning - In passing situations only, when motioning a wide receiver, both the offensive player in motion and the defensive player trailing in man coverage must clear the last player line up on the line of scrimmage. Although a defensive player may not in trailing position in some zone coverages, the receiver must still clear the last offensive player on the line of scrimmage.

HB Option Pass - When executing the HB Pass play, the offensive player is allow to pass and is prohibited from exercising the run option.

10. Overtime

In the event a game is tied at the end of regulation, the game will extend into a sudden death overtime period. If a winner is still not declared at the end of the first overtime period, the game shall be extended into a second overtime period using the situational setup feature to create a 2nd, 3rd or as many overtime periods as needed. The situational setup overtimes shall adhere to standard overtime rules used regular game play.

III. - Addendum's/Amendments

Additions or amendments made be made to this handbook by the tournament director when no other procedure is outlined. The general membership may also vote and make amendments to the games handbook. No changes will be made to the handbook that have already been voted and approved prior to the start of the annual owners meetings.