The Support Platoon League (SPL) is a fantasy football league that was established in the fall of 2004 by members of the 3/7th Infantry Regiment Support Platoon in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
In 2004 the league and its founding members held their innaugural draft in the motor pool which was located on the base of Fort Stewart, Georgia. In 2005 the members of the league deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Infantry Division and held their draft while based at F.O.B. Falcon, just outside of the green zone in Baghdad, Iraq. For the years 2006-2010 the annual draft has been held online in a live forum. Members of the league are scattered through out the world.
The SPL has a schedule of 13 games, with the games running from week 1 of the NFL season thru week 13. The SPL playoffs are held from week 14-15 of the NFL with the SPL Bowl being played during week 16 in the NFL.
The champion of the SPL is the winner of the leagues championship game, known as the SPL Bowl. Past champions include, the Cantwell Cardinals (2004 & 2005), Ranum Raiders (2006 & 2007), Creston Polarbears (2008), Little Falls Mounties (2009), and the Mansfield Tygers (2010)
Contents
1 History
2 Season structure
2.1 Regular season
2.2 Playoffs
3 Teams
3.1 Current SPL teams
3.2 Former SPL teams
4 Media
4.1 Yahoo
4.2 Recording
5 SPL Draft
5.1 Franchise Tag
6 Free agency
6.1 General/Trades
7 Management
8 Scoring
9 Awards
10 SPL BOWL Results
11 All Time Records
History
The SPL kicked off its innaugural season in 2004, and the league has sustained losses of franchises as well as debated expansion and much turmoil through its 7 years of existance. In 2005, members of the SPL signed in a list of rules and regulations to govern the league. The 1st season saw managers name their teams what ever they desired, from 2005 on the managers have named their teams after their respective high schools.
Season Structure
Since 2004 the SPL has had the following structure
a 13 game regulaer season an 8 team single elimination playoff ( in the 2006 & 2007 season, there were only 6 playoff teams) The season culminates in the championship game known as the SPL Bowl.
Playoffs
The season concludes with an eight-team tournament used to determine the teams to play in the SPL Bowl. The tournament bracket is made up of eight teams from the league's teams following the end of the 13-game regular season:
The 1st round matchups are determined by seeding, the teams are seeded 1-8 with the matchups being
1.1 vs 8 2.4 vs 5 3.3 vs 6 4.2 vs 7 The teams with the better seeding (the lower number, which is determined by regular season records), is given homefield advantage. Homefield advantage allows the home team to make one roster change after all players have earned points for that week of play. This allows a manager to swap a starter for a bench player who may have produced more points. Homefield advantage is only available for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the playoffs, the SPL Bowl is in a neutral site, allowing for no advantage for either team.
Teams
Current SPL Teams
Mansfield Tygers Mililani Trojans LittleFalls Mounties Madison Rams N.W. Warriors Creston Polarbears Ranum Raiders Springboro Panthers Fountain Trojanz Beckley Eagles Mt. Pleasant Tigers Finney Highlanders Former Teams
Cantwell Cardinals Logan Wildcats The Swamp Havana Gladiators Prince George Royals Armstrong Falcons E. Palestine Bulldogs South Burlington Rebels Meadowbrook Monarchs Massillon Tigers
Media
The SPL is a user league on the Yahoo.com website. It is a customized league that is only acessed through a password and identification challenge that is provided to the league via the commissioner.
In 2005 the SPL recorded 3 episodes of "The SPL LIVE". Brad Duvall was the producer of the show, while the anchors were Kevin Stamper, and Ralph Neff. All 3 were managers of teams within the league at the time. The show discussed the weekly scoreboard, stats, and moves made by managers, as well as some fantasy football advice.
SPL Draft
Each year the league holds a preseason draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the team having the worst record picking first, and the second-worst picking second, and so on. Regardless of regular season records, the last two picks of the 1st round go to the two teams in the SPL Bowl immediately preceding the draft, with the SPL Bowl champion picking last. The draft order is then snaked with the SPL champion picking first in the second round and so on. There are 15 rounds in the draft.
The first player ever selected in an SPL draft was Eddie George, he was selected by the Armstrong Falcons. It had been comically and factually stated that manager, Craig Rankins, selected Randall Cunningham, who at that point had been retired for some 3 years.
Franchise Tag
The franchise tag allows a team that made the playoffs in the prior season to tag a player from that years roster and keep him on their team. Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs have the option to tag a player and forfeit their 1st round pick in the draft. The SPL champion is allowed to designate two players for the franchise tag.
Free Agency
Free agency begins as soon as the leagues draft is final. There are no waiver procedures, so this allows any team to sign any free agent at anytime, on a first come first serve basis, with no limit to moves made.
Trades
All trades are required to pass a league vote of approval. It takes 50 percent of the teams not involoved with the trade to reject a trade for it to not go through.
Management
Commissioners
Kevin Stamper 2004-Current
Assistant Commissioners
Ralph Neff 2005
Jason Daley 2009-Current
Scoring
Offense League Passing Yards 50 yards per point; 1 points at 400 yards; 2 points at 500 yards Passing Touchdowns 6
Interceptions -2
Rushing Yards 20 yards per point; 1 points at 200 yards; 2 points at 250 yards Rushing Touchdowns 6
Receptions 1
Reception Yards 20 yards per point; 1 points at 200 yards; 2 points at 250 yards Reception Touchdowns 6
Return Yards 25 yards per point Return Touchdowns 6
2-Point Conversions 2
Fumbles -1
Fumbles Lost -2
Offensive Fumble Return TD 6
Kickers League Value
Field Goals 0-19 Yards 3
Field Goals 20-29 Yards 3
Field Goals 30-39 Yards 3
Field Goals 40-49 Yards 4
Field Goals 50+ Yards 5
Point After Attempt Made 1
Defense/Special Teams
Sack 1
Interception 2
Fumble Recovery 2
Touchdown 6
Safety 2
Block Kick 2
Points Allowed 0 points 10
Points Allowed 1-6 points 7
Points Allowed 7-13 points 4
Points Allowed 14-20 points 1
Points Allowed 21-27 points 0
Points Allowed 28-34 points -1
Points Allowed 35+ points -4
Awards
After each season, the commissioner hands out awards via the league post. Some awards include
Come Back Team
Best Manager
Biggest Crybaby
and other comic type awards. After the 2010 season, the commissioner created a tournament to determine the leagues most successful franchise of all time, results for the 1st two rounds were determined by record, playoff record, points scored, and over all success factors. The final round was voted on and it saw the Little Falls Mounties defeating the Madison Rams for the distinct title.
SPL Bowl Results
SPL BOWL I
Cantwell Cardinals -114
Beckley Eagles -43
SPL BOWL II
Cantwell Cardinal -88
Mililani Trojans -72
SPL BOWL III
Ranum Raiders -71
Miliani Trojans -65
SPL BOWL IV
Ranum Raiders -94
Fountain Trojanz -93
SPL BOWL V
Creston Polarbears -80
Logan Wildcats -79
SPL BOWL VI
Little Falls Mounties -85
NW Warriors -77
SPL BOWL VII
Mansfield Tygers -114
Mililani Trojans -98
ALL TIME records
1. Mililani Trojans 61-29-1 67.03% 5-6 playoffs (3 Division Titles)
2. Ranum Raiders 52-26 66.66% 6-4 playoffs (2 SPL Championships)
3. Little Falls Mounties 59-31-1 64.83% 5-5 playoffs (1 SPL Championship & Division Title)
4. Cantwell Cardinals 24-14-1 61.53% 6-0 playoffs (2 SPL Championships)
5. Madison Rams 55-34-2 60.43% 4-6 playoffs (2 Division Titles)
T6. Mansfield Tygers 21-18 53.84% 4-2 playoffs (SPL Championship)
T6. Logan Wildcats 42-36 53.84% 3-3 playoffs
T6. Mt.Pleasant Tigers 49-42 53.84% 2-5 playoffs
T6. Springboro Panthers 21-17-1 53.84% 1-3 playoffs
T6. NW Warriors 21-18 53.84% 2-3 playoffs
T11. Creston Polarbears 46.15% 3-2 playoffs (1 SPL Championship & Division Title)
T11. The Swamp 6-7 46.15% 0-1 playoffs
T11. Havana Gladiators 6-7 46.15%
14. Beckley Eagles 23-28-1 44.23% 3-2 playoffs
15. Fountain Trojanz 28-37 43.07% 2-2 playoffs
16. P.George Royals 5-8 38.46%
17. Armstrong Falcons 18-34 34.46%
18. Ashland Arrows 4-9 30.80%
T19. E.Palestine Bulldogs 8-18 30.76% 0-1 playoffs
T19. S.Burlington Rebels 4-9 30.76%
21. Finney Highlanders 16-49 24.61%
22. Massillon Tigers 2-11 15.38%
23. Meadowbrook Monarchs 2-24 7.69%
[edit] References[edit] External linkshttp://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2004
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2005
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2006
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2007
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2008
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2009
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/spl/2010