MBFL Simulations - NFL, CFL, NCAA, CIS Based

[mbsports]

No worries I understand Mykal, we're still catching up on the season so maybe we get to that point where you find us more on board with what you're looking for but I do totally understand.

As we get onto a set schedule that works with my life and allows for the leagues to progress on their own life things get less hectic, and they have with the other leagues but the Canadian 12 man leagues kinda' got the hurry up offense when they shouldn't have been so hard pressed this season so I understand and no worries at all.

I have to do an edit here because I would be totally and completely remiss if I didn't recognize you for all of your hard work on a few things.

#1. Uniforms in the CFL - Mykal pretty much brought us up to date on all of these, without his help it wouldn't have gotten done quite frankly so I really appreciate the help there.

#2. The CIS in general - There is no way anyone else could have rounded up and assembled this set so I have to give big props for that.

GMs do come and go but Mykal really allowed us to take advantage of his skills in a way that really doesn't happen very often.

I appreciate all of your hard work and I hope someone eventually gets you settled in a league built the way you need it to run to have the GM role that you want to have.

As always, let me know if you need anything, especially in the Database world as that's kind of my specialty.

[Mykal]

Kewl,

I understand your playing catch up........ its kewl
when things level out, I'll be more than happy to jump back onboard

[mbsports]

ORIGINAL: Mykal

Kewl,

I understand your playing catch up........ its kewl
when things level out, I'll be more than happy to jump back onboard

And you will obviously always be welcome.

I have a few updates for the next few days as well including the posting of the all encompassing FA list which includes the MBFL FA list integrated so that will help me more then anyone else keep everybody on one page.

[Mykal]

ORIGINAL: mbsports

I have to do an edit here because I would be totally and completely remiss if I didn't recognize you for all of your hard work on a few things.

#1. Uniforms in the CFL - Mykal pretty much brought us up to date on all of these, without his help it wouldn't have gotten done quite frankly so I really appreciate the help there.

#2. The CIS in general - There is no way anyone else could have rounded up and assembled this set so I have to give big props for that.

GMs do come and go but Mykal really allowed us to take advantage of his skills in a way that really doesn't happen very often.

I appreciate all of your hard work and I hope someone eventually gets you settled in a league built the way you need it to run to have the GM role that you want to have.

As always, let me know if you need anything, especially in the Database world as that's kind of my specialty.

No Worries at all man, I enjoyed making the uni's for the CIS and updating the uniforms for the CFL
I also enjoyed doing the stadium re-builds and re-paints for the CIS......... it was a blast
I'll be updating the stadiums and uniforms as and when called for also, so look out for that

and my offer to do stadiums for the CFL teams in your league (such as the Devils etc.)
that offer still stands, you know how to reach me when you've decided what you want for 'em.

[mbsports]

Well gents, I finally managed to get a day off of work and we know what that means... Going to do some work on the MBCFL that's what!!!

First things first we're up to week 10 in Season 4 of MBFL and so it was time to write some stories to get us up to date there. 
HTML clipboard Big Win Keeps Toronto In It
HTML clipboard  
 A huge 31-3 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders has kept the Toronto Argonauts in the running for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.  The Argos knocked Kerry Joseph out of the game and then Darien Durant went down with an injury later leaving Marcus Crandell with the ball, which didn't end up working out well for the Riders.  Toronto got on the board early with a 25 yard Jamie Boreham field goal followed by a 36 yard TD pass from Michael Bishop to Dominique Dorsey out of the backfield.  Bishop would later find Allen Crenshaw for 17 and a score and Dorsey would take on the final TD with a 1 yard dive.  At 5-5 Toronto now sits 6 points back of Ottawa in the Lakes Division but their key issue will be catching the Quebec Bulldogs who hold a transfer spot at the moment that would keep Toronto out of the Grey Cup playoffs.
 Renegades Continue Their Roll

 
 The Ottawa Renegades are continuing to hold their position of power in the MBCFL with a 29-16 win over Calgary on Sunday.  Gary Novak led the team by going 15 of 21 for 317 yards and 2 scores while Henry Burris struggled on the day for the Stamps going 6 of 20 with 131 yards and 2 scores.  Ottawa got a standout performance from receiver Chris Doering who caught 8 for 175 yards and a score.  The Renegades host Toronto and then travel to New Brunswick.  The Toronto game looked like a sure win a few weeks ago but the Argonauts have shown some quality lately and now look to be potential challengers.  Gary Novak struggled to make big plays early in the season but he's bounced back and now sits 3rd in touchdowns and 6th in passing yards.  With Chris Doering as his preferred target the Renegades are again in contention for the Great Lakes division and again have a good shot at advancing in the Grey Cup playoffs.
 Bulldogs Bust Up Silvertips

 
 Home Field is supposed to mean something but on Sunday the Victoria Silvertips were outplayed and outworked by the visiting Quebec Bulldogs.  It was a San Jose Sabercats reunion of sorts as a few members and former members of the AFL team were on hand. Victoria got on the board first as AFL Refugee Mark Lewis hit a 17 yard field goal.  Quebec would answer less then two minutes later as Mark Grieb hit Gerald Schwind for a 12 yard score to make it 7-3.  Schwind would later score on a 1 yard run to make it 14-3.  Buck Pierce would tie the game up on a 29 yard pass to Brock Ralph, who is having a career year for the Tips.  At 14-10 Victoria was playing the Bulldogs tough, that would end in the 2nd quarter when Jon Cornish added a 4 yard run and Grieb found Chris Getzlaf for a 19 yard score.  With 17 unanswered points in the quarter it was 31-10 and Victoria never could make an attempt on the game.  Grieb would strike again early in the 4th with a 38 yard pass to Schwind to seal the deal with the final score on the west coast 41-20 which cost the Silvertips sole possession of the Pacific Division lead.
 Jackson Closing in on 100

 
 MBCFL has now been around for 4 seasons and while the pace of play and the style of play has changed Jarious Jackson is been consistent and prolific for the B.C. Lions and in the next few weeks we'll see Jackson become the first MBCFL player to throw for 100 touchdowns.  Jackson added 1 in a week 10 28-23 loss to the Sabercats which dropped the Lions to 3-7, worst in the Pacific Division.  The Lions could use a few more Jackson passes and with the season sliding away B.C. might not be able to match the comeback that saw them reach the playoffs a year ago.
 Montreal and Ottawa on Pace

 With 3 seasons completed only 2 teams have made the playoffs each year, the Montreal Alouettes and the Ottawa Renegades.  For the Als they dominated the East for the first 2 seasons but for Ottawa the cross-over was their avenue as they made it to the playoffs in Season 1 and Season 2 by pipping the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who had their first playoff berth last year.  With Ottawa and Montreal both in position for a playoff spot it brings to mind that only a few teams haven't made the playoffs.  Those teams that haven't include the expansion group of Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Newfoundland, and Windsor who joined the league for Season 3 and this year's group, of course, of Yellowknife and New Brunswick.  The only team that has managed to miss each of the 3 playoffs is the hapless Edmonton Eskimos.  In Season 1 a 7-11 record let Ottawa into the west with an 8-10 mark.  In Season 2 Edmonton went 8-9-1 and missed out to Calgary with a 9-9 mark.  Last season it was a 6-12 mark without a sniff.  This season though they've managed to look a lot better with Ricky Ray finding a rhythm and at 6-4 they have a good chance of making the playoffs. 

I didn't write up a Mykal news story but one thing to note is that MBCFL runs a little similar to a solo league when there isn't a GM in place so it really doesn't hurt so bad when we lose a GM.  I'd love to have every team with a full time guy working trades, signing FAs, drafting players and setting up the team, but the CFL is our secondary/tertiary league so I really don't want to place that level of expectation on anyone.  The CFL league was started to be my fun creative outlet and hopefully we'll have some guys who want to compete as well.  I know I certainly am always trying to get my Stampeders tweaked, but alas we suck so cheers to the GMs who have managed to boot my butt constantly over the past few months, Mykal included as we lost a critical game to his SaberCats.  If MyKal is alright with allowing us to continue leasing the stadium and having the team in caretaker mode then I have to admit - happy as can be with the team that plays in Santa's back yard.

One thing that I've been working on is a direct converter from Madden to MaxFB as we utilize both platforms for what we do and the MBFL Universe needs to be more streamlined so that a GM can see what the rating is for a FA without an NFL contract.  That is now up on the site as I modified a Free Agent php in order to properly pull that information and wrote a converter for it as well.  It's sortable and does contain each current MBFL player.  Best of all the converter is a cheap excel file that I put together and it doesn't make the NFL guys so good that they'll blow away the CFL just as in real life if you come over you're probably not going to be an All CFL player just b/c you were an NFL bench warmer.

Another thing that I started to play with was importing some uniforms into Madden utilizing texmod.  I am, somewhat notoriously, the commish who utilizes quick sim a lot more then the live play mode of MaxFB and therefore pulling screenshots becomes just a little quirky and tricky from MaxFB.  Given that I have a ludicrous amount of experience setting up pretty screenshots in Madden and I have a nice roster file of all the CFL rosters already in Madden putting in uniforms and pulling out some screens works rather well.  I plan on eventually putting all MBFL Uniforms in Madden so that I can work with both platforms seemlessly.  One thing to note is that despite the graphic limitations of MaxFB the guys in the community here put so much effort, time, and attention to detail in their uniforms that they transfer to the higher graphic level of Madden incredibly well with some Photoshop work. 

Finally on the CFL Front just a little update on the draft
I've enjoyed doing some scouting from our BCS, FCS, Division II, and CIS universities over the last week and currently have just shy of 50 players listed on the draft page as prospects for the next draft.  My focus for tonight aside from writing up some CIS details will be scouting some WRs, DBs, and Special teams players.  Eventually we'll have 100 players on the list, which allows for much more freedom for teams then in the past where we had only slightly more players available then spots to draft.  The addition of Division II was huge for this because it allowed a Kelvin Donovan in where I would be scrambling to come up with someone who had done ANYTHING at the Division I level. 

On totally unrelated fronts I wish everyone a happy holidays and a wonderful New Year.  I have a whopping 5 of the next 6 days off and about a month of vacation time so I'll be seeing you guys around as I slack off from work for a change.  2008 was a mindblowingly busy year as I spent January-April developing a software package that launched.  After that... I been everywhere man - Kansas, Minnesota, Maryland a few times, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and of course home in Michigan.  Somewhere along the way we launched a CIS league, finished Season 2 & 3 of the CFL as we race to get it onto a normalized schedule with everything else, had a tumultuous go at a basketball sim that I discovered was a pain in my butt and I'd rather stick to football, lost my favorite sport in Champ Car racing, worked at one place while the wife has had 5 jobs this year, and took care of two very adorable terriers that look like teddy bears but are total pains in the rump.  Quite frankly 2009 can't get here soon enough!

So I will be spending some time over the next week launching a few new sites, doing some updates, and getting ready for the future of the leagues in general.  The week of Jan 11 is a schedule off week but we'll have some CFL action as we move it back onto it's normal schedule. We're going to be on schedule to get our 4th Grey Cup run on February 8th, our draft on the 22nd and Season 5 will kick off March 15th with things slowing down so that the front part of the season will be the only time where we have multiple weeks occuring at a given time.  Also will be uploading the DB for downloading to the site so guys can do that easier then they can today. 

So the mission of simulating the football world and have fun while doing it continues.  I'm having fun while doing it still and will be looking for GMs in every league for 2009.  Overall the scope of what we're doing is probably akin to insanity with 512 teams in MBFL Leagues.  Yes 512
32 NFL, 27 CIS, 20 CFL, 119 NCAA BCS, 120 NCAA FCS, 148 NCAA Divisin II, 16 AFL, 30 AF2

It's a practice of insanity but one that has gotten almost turn key in a lot of ways.  I've learned so much over the past 12 years by running sports leagues and it still remains a hobby that I have some passion for...

Happy 2009 and thanks for making 2008 hectic but really good.

-Mb

[mbsports]

Working on the screenies for CIS but some news stories went up there focusing on the playoff drive
HTML clipboard Mounties Ranked #1 In the Stretch
HTML clipboard December 30, 2008
The Maritimes are making a run at dominating this season by beating up Quebec schools and each other.  Mount Allison has been particularly dangerous allowing only 5 points the last 2 weeks including a 29-3 beatdown of #2 St. Francis Xavier.  Ed Goff has keyed the defensive line with 6 sacks following up on his total of 7 last year while Chi Sette has led the defensive backfield.  On offense Warner Holt has struggled at times but Luther Gehringer is nearing 1,000 yards and has 10 scores on the season.  Mount Allison is 6-2 and currently they hold down the top spot in the Atlantic University Football Conference and have clinched a spot in the Vanier Cup playoffs where they took the Loney Bowl last season.  St. Francis and St. Mary's have clinched as well and the only thing left to decide is the seeding out east as Acadia struggles thru a miserable season.  One of Mount Allison's big worries from here on out will be when they face St. Mary's as Anderson Manansala has continued the pace of his first season with 2,296 more yards and 15 more scores.  Manansala is a legit Creighton Award candidate and teams have struggled to stop Manansala and his roommate Jason Gatling all year.  The third player in their triumvirate of pain is the monstrous Alex Benney, another 2nd year player dominating this year as he has 11 sacks to tie with Jewell Sall of Waterloo.  If you need a senior though Larry Theriault continues to lead the d-line as a tweener tackle/end.  Mount Allison will try to come up with another trophy this year but with St. Mary's in the way it will be difficult. Five Alive in Ontario
December 7, 2008
The OUA Football standings have been a mess throughout the season and now 4 teams stand tall with 6 wins battling to grab first round bye weeks but already 5 of the 6 playoff spots have been settled as struggling teams have allowed for some early entries.  The York Lions came within a field goal from advancing to the OUA Semi-Finals last season but fell short against Queen's.  This season they're on top of the Conference at 6-2 along with Laurier and Windsor and will again be in the playoffs.  Laurier picked up the Yates Cup and the Mitchell Bowl last year as the top seed so they'll be a threat to anyone.  Windsor has found their stride with Jordon Mason and look like a dangerous team in their first playoff appearance. Ottawa missed out on the playoffs by virtue of tie breakers last year but at 6-3 they've done enough to get into the playoffs along with 5-4 Waterloo.  Currently at 4-5 the Queen's Golden Gaels are in the playoffs but a loss would open the door and let the Toronto Varsity Blues walk on thru as they beat Queen's 18-9 during week 10.  Western Ontario will miss the playoffs after being a 3 seed last year and McMaster and Guelph will miss out for the 2nd year in a row. Quebec Looks Similar to Season 1
December 30, 2008
Last season the Montreal Carabins had a 7-3 mark and made the playoffs with Laval pulling up the 4th spot at 5-5 while eventual Vanier Cup champs Concordia sat tied with Bishops at 6-4.  This season the seedings have changed a bit but the teams remain the same.  Concordia currently holds sway at 5-3 and are guaranteed a playoff berth.  Laval has wrapped up their regular season at 5-5 which wouldn't be safe except for the fact that they beat McGill earlier in the season which gives them their berth.  At 4-4 Bishops could potentially fall if they lose their next two and McGill win their next two.  A big showdown potentially looms with McGill in week 12.  Montreal is now 4-5 after starting 4-0 so they've had an extremely disappointing season.  They'll need to beat Concordia to get into the playoffs or 2 McGill losses, either of which could be a tough chorse. Sherbrooke took a bit of a step back this season scoring their only win in Quebec against the cross town Gaiters.  They wrap up the season against St. Francis and Mount Allison so it could be a very disappointing record for the Vert et Or but they do have some glimmers of hope for the future as kids like Emile Ullom, Michael Anderson, and Francis McCleese continue to develop. Wild West Showdown Looms
December 30, 2008
When you have 4 spots for 7 teams with only 1 clinched and 2 weeks to go it is an invitation for a fight.  Right now only Manitoba has a spot clinched out west at 6-2 while 5 teams have 4 or 5 wins battling for only 3 spots.  Simon Fraser at 5-3 is in the driver's seat right now with games against UBC and Saskatchewan.  A win in either of those games will lock up a playoff spot for the Clan. Alberta has a nice draw as well with the Regina Rams on the schedule whom they defeated 24-15 in week 7.  For UBC the road is tough with Simon Fraser and Manitoba up.  They lost 17-1 to Manitoba earlier but defeated SFU 30-12.  Saskatchewan also has the tough combo of Manitoba and SFU and will need at least 1 win to have a shot at a playoff spot.  Finally Calgary still hasn't been done away with even at 4-5.  They can sneak in if they win against Regina and pick up their 5th win.  Unfortunately for Calgary they lose on tie breaks to UBC, Alberta, and SFU so their only shot is if UBC loses out and the Huskies lose out. Writing the Record Book - Literally
December 30, 2008
With Season 2 of MBCIS wrapping up it's time to start writing the record book.  The record book pulls off of the stats already housed in the MBCIS DB and writing it uncovers some things we already knew about the second season.  Passing is up as Mose Gill of Ottawa and Les Ivey of Montreal have passed Tommy Brunston's Season 1 yardage total.  Greg Fonua also has erased Donnie McKeague's touchdown record of 17 by putting 19 up so far.  Rushing has been a little bit down this year as no one will come near the 180 attempts by Brenton Bullock last season.  Roger Ferguson's 1,228 total thru 9 games gives him almost no shot at topping Scott Finley's 1,504 from a year ago.  Gail Daprile would need a monster game with 6 TDs to tie the record set by Brenton Bullock for TDs last season so we can't see that happening either.  Even with the passing numbers up it's likely Del Canevazzi's Hec Creighton season will continue to hold up as 1,549 yards doesn't look likely to fall, nor does 83 receptions.  The only thing to wait and see on is if 10 TDs holds up.  Alex Benney can top George Pontbriand's 13 sack season of a year ago with 3 more, same for Jewell Sall.  With some new rules on pass interference INTs are down and Travis Crawford isn't likely to catch Clay Bocock's total of 8 from Season 1.  Kicking accuracy is similar this season, maybe a touch off.  Malcolm Wald can pass Jose Greis's mark of 27 field goals with 3 more while he's even closer to attempting his 42nd FG which would be a record.  The new record book is up on the site right now.  Eventually as we progress team by team record books will appear but for now it gives some insight as to where the league has been and where the trends are going.
Biggest additions were getting the Record page up actually, which ended up being hellishly easy actually.  I love it when a plan comes together!
Tomorrow is work day for the AFL/AF2 leagues getting the site live and activated after about 18 months of planning.  Was so nice of the AFL to basically fold up between then and now but we're going to move forward with it, because while AF2 is still alive the AFL has a shot at returning in 2010.  Who knows this one could totally fold, but I really enjoy the Arena Game so hopefully they get things running.

[Reaser]

my Seahawks are dominating the MBFL...

my MBCIS UBC Thunderbirds on the otherhand are underperforming big time...

[mbsports]

Welp - I decided to finally blow up the multi-league websites and to make a website that services all of the leagues.  www.mbsportsnet.com
 
One of the key benefits is just getting all of the leagues out in front of everyone.  Biggest issue is in how Firefox looks at the drop downs but I'm working on that a bit.  I hate the newest version of firefox for some reason and in a strange shift I actually like the newest IE.
 
Scary.

[Mykal]

Kewl, that certainly helps keep it all together
I've got that set to button 5 on my keyboard(favorites buttons)
I do like to keep up with whats going on and now there all on one button, nice.

[mbsports]

Well I finally was able to do something I've wanted to do... that being that I kicked out my first insanely long article on the new site. 

The Article titled "Inside the Big Chill" follows the Yellowknife franchise a little bit and covers the New Brunswick Whaler's road trip to the Knife'
We talk a bit about their future, their brief past, and try to add a little color to the league. 
 
You can read the whole article at www.mbsportsnet.com
 
Thanks,
 
Mb
 

[Mykal]

Kewl, I enjoyed that read
couple of things I want to mention
1. the uniform is back to front, black where it should be gold and gold where it should be black
but hey, still nice to see my Yellowknife in the media at last

2. Hopefully the SaberCats will be famous for more than just the cold........ soon

3. You hold onto my Yellowknife Franchise MB
I'll be back, just as soon as you get things on a week to week basis
where I feel I can control things a little or at least get a look week to week
hopefully you'll have the schedules all running in sink by next season
When...... to take a quote from the Californian Governor............ I'll Be Back
and hopefully drag in some play off exposure for Yellowknife within 5 seasons
and who know's maybe even the Grey Cup

Yellowknife's rightful place is in a Canadian Rules League

that's where the Teams roots are......... we wont forget that.

Excellent article man

EDIT: and who knows, I may even dig into my pockets and fund a Dome

[mbsports]

Gracias Mykal

I actually put these unis together not so much to duplicate yours but to be a little different, but I am working on putting the official uniforms for the SaberCats together as well so hopefully I will have that set shortly.  Yup I figured that would be the answer on the future of the team but hell - I need material to write from.

I don't know what the next article will be but chances are good we'll have an NFL team focus next week.  CIS playoffs start tomorrow too, so go Lancers!!!

[mbsports]

Just as an update as much like most of the community I'm not really coming here anymore I thought I'd throw out that we're continuing with all of our leagues at mb sports net and the site is getting 2-3 updates a week at www.mbsportsnet.com 
 
Continuing to refine the new site and add some things - Calendar at the bottom and change things up but chances are good my MaxFB forum posts will be fewer and further between so that I can focus on my leagues and not worry about posting news in 3-4 different spots.
 
Good Luck gents and hopefully someday 3.0 comes out!