Nearly all contingencies have been accounted for within these rules, but for new issues that may arise, a group discussion is encouraged and then the wizened commissioner (Keith Mickelson) makes the final decision. Everything is defined in the beginning of the season, and then the website runs the show.

During the season, all team owners are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their starters are declared and accurately scored.

Every team has 100 Copper Pieces at the start of the Auction. The auction order is randomly determined, and then each team gets to put a player on the auction block when it is their turn. All teams get an opportunity to sign that player by placing the highest bid.

The minimum signing contract is for 1 CP, and so as the auction proceeds, a team has to allocate at least 1 CP per remaining roster slot.

Each team is composed of 19 total players, and the roster parameters are set ahead of time (see below). At the end of the auction, each team's rosters must conform to the guidelines set forth. After the auction is completed, each owner may change the construction of their team as they see fit (dropping a QB, adding a WR, etc.), as long as they don't have more than 19 active players at any one time.

This means that positional ratios are only applicable for the original configuration of each team on Auction Day. After the Auction, and throughout the entire season, owners can have 15 QB's and 4 TE's if they want to! Of course, they still have to start 1 QB, 2 RB's, 3 WR's, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 DF/ST...

The auction will take place online, but everyone is invited to Keith's house on Saturday night to participate in the auction in a social atmosphere. It'll be a LAN party, in that every owner will have their own terminal to make their bids.

Teams can either participate in real time or they can create an auction worksheet that picks their team for them. The auction worksheet actually does a great job of getting the players you want, with the economic strategy you outline, but of course nothing compares to participating in the live auction. You can find a link to your auction worksheet on your team's homepage. Even if you plan on participating in realtime, the auction worksheet is integrated into the auction room, and so it can be a handy reference during the auction.

The auction is a typical format, with a nomination of a player and an opening bid, then free-for-all bidding, with "Going Once...", "Going Twice...," "Going Three Times...", "SOLD" as the moderating method.

During the auction, everyone has equal opportunity to get any player they wish, if they are smart enough and/or bold enough with their money. It's actually the fairest way to build a team roster, and it's a ton of fun, to boot. For example, one common move during an auction is to nominate a player that is "hot" but that you don't want - just to create a bidding frenzy and make other teams overpay for players. Of course, this has the potential to backfire, especially if the interest in that player isn't as high as first thought.

100 Copper Pieces are deposited after the auction and before the season begins. In addition, any funds leftover from the auction are deposited in each team's bank account, and all of these funds are for use with Free Agency.

During the season, each loss suffered by a team results in 10 Copper Pieces being deposited to their account.

Each week, your team faces one other team (determined by the season schedule posted before the season starts), and every owner submits their starting rosters (the 9 positions defined below) prior to kickoff in that week's first game (usually Sundays, but sometimes Thursdays or Saturdays). The 9 starters each week are always in the same positional ratio: 1 QB, 2 RB's, 1 TE, 3 WR's, 1 K, 1 DF/ST.

These players earn points for their fantasy team through actual real-life scoring and yardage bonuses. The total points earned by those 9 players is that fantasy team's final score, and the winning team is determined by highest score between the two teams which faced each other. A tie is a tie.

Teams accrue win-loss records through the first 14 weeks of the regular season, and the top 4 teams face each other in the playoffs, which take place in weeks 15-16 of the NFL regular season.

With 10 teams, a symmetrical schedule is 13 weeks long. Therefore, Week 14 is defined at the conclusion of Week 13. The #1 team from each division will play each other, the #2 teams face each other, etc.

During the regular season (covering the first 14 weeks of the NFL's 17 weeks), each team faces each divisional opponent twice, and every other team in the league once.

Each team must have a hometown, and the schedule will comprise of a home-and-away format.

The home team gets 2 bonus points to start the game with, reflecting their home-field advantage.

This format extends into the playoffs, and teams are now playing the regular season to establish home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Every game in the playoffs will be in the home-and-away system, with 2 points to the team with the better record, who will be playing in front of their home crowd. The Championship game is in a neutral stadium.

Once the playoffs begin, all regular season games are considered final. All statistical adjustments must be made prior to the playoffs.

The winners of each division, determined by the overall records within the division (and not merely the division record), get the first 3 seeds in the Midgard playoffs, which take place in weeks 15-17 of the NFL's regular season. This means that Team A with a 5-1 divisional record, 7-7 overall, would not beat Team B that had a 10-4 record but who's divisional record was 4-2 (the way it was prior to 2000). Team B would be the divisional champion.

Of the 9 teams remaining, the teams with the best 3 overall records reach the playoffs. The worst 6 teams in the league do not play in the official playoffs (though see the next paragraph). In case of a tie in determining what teams will make the playoffs, the total points scored throughout the season will be used as a tiebreaker (starters' points for each week, totaled). The second tie-breaker for this situation will be divisional record. The third tie-breaker will be the teams' head-to-head record. The fourth tie-breaker will be a vicious game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, 3 out of 5.

As in the NFL, every team enters the playoffs with a clean slate. In case of a tie in the playoffs, bench points are compared to come up with the winner in "overtime."

The six teams that missed the playoffs will face each other in the Loser Playoffs, which will determine their draft position for the following season. Just as the top 6 teams in the league are playing for their draft position, so shall the losers. This will take place over Weeks 15 and 16. Teams will be seeded according to their overall records, with the best team facing the worst in the first round.

Homefield advantage is in place until the Championship.

Midgard allows for each team to designate one starting Running Back on their roster as their Mixed-Yardage Specialist).

A Mixed Yardage specialist totals their rushing and receiving yardage, and compares it to the Mixed Yardage Chart. This chart is balanced and weighted so as to penalize owners from just designating any running back as the Specialist. For example, if Marshall Faulk is declared as a Specialist, he would not earn as many points as if he was just a basic Running Back. In other words, it shouldn't be just a second-hand thought and an extra ability for some player to have. It is only be practical to designate a player who really does rely on a mix of running and receiving. There are a number of running backs in the league who have good receiving abilities which are utilized by their teams, and this would be one way to recognize those players.

After the second game of the regular season, there will be a free agent list posted every week and all owners can look it over and bid on any player on the list, keeping in mind that the roster size is limited to 19 players. Free Agency is not open until after the second game, as the intention of the Free Agency system is really set up to offer a slight advantage to the teams that need help (see bonus Free Agency Points, below).

All free agent bids have to be submitted by 8 pm on Wednesday, via a link found on your team homepage.

On other important rule to stress is that all team rosters will be locked down for the 24 hours prior to the Free Agency bid. Ergo, no trades or cuts will be allowed from between 8 p.m. on Tuesday until after the Free Agency bidding is resolved. This is so that everyone will have an understanding of the needs and thus bidding strategies of each team.

In order to implement the new system in such a way in which it can be used for teams that need help, and thus allow it to be used to elevate the competitiveness of our league, teams will receive 10 Copper Pieces for each defeat suffered by their team, or 5 Copper Piecesfor a tie.

For example, if a team loses their first two games of the season, then they would have 120 Copper Pieces to spend going into the first Free Agency period, while a team that has gone 2-0 would have 100 Copper Pieces to spend.

Every team's bank balance will be posted online, so that all teams will have an understanding of all other owners' capabilities during Free Agency bidding procedures.

At the beginning of the season, all funds left over from the auction will be deposited in each team's bank account.

When an owner sees a free agent which they wish to acquire, they will submit a secret bid for that player, complete with how many Copper Pieces they are willing to spend in order to get that player. The highest bidder gets the player; in case of a tie, the team with the worse record gains the player. If there is still a tie, then both teams can submit another round of secret and simultaneous bidding. If a tie is still the result, then the tie-breakers go as follows: worst total points by starting lineups thus far, worst divisional record, and finally a brutal game of rock-paper-scissors.

Copper Pieces can be traded amongst teams.

Owners can bid on as many players as they would like, but keep in mind the following important considerations:

The total number of Copper Pieces that are bid cannot exceed the total amount of money held. One cannot bid "20 Copper Pieces on Doug Chapman, only if my 40 on Jamal Lewis is unsuccessful."

For every player that is bid upon, an existing player on the roster has to be designated as being the one that would be cut. This is a mere 1 to 1 correspondence for the number of players that would be cut, but this information can be presented in list form; the players to be cut don't have to be linked to specific acquisitions, though that is an acceptable form, as well. (Details can be found in the free agent form.)

All roster acquisitions performed through free agency cannot be waived for two weeks, though they can be traded.

All trades are pretty much legal but are subject to a laegue vote if one is called for. Keep in mind that anyone who is involved in a bad-faith trade will in all likelihood not be invited back in the following season. This has never been needed in the past.

Teams are not allowed to "loan" or "trade for a day" players to other teams.

Teams can include Copper Pieces as part of a trade.

Dues are $20 for the prize fund, $5 for the website. This results in $240 in the prize pool.

1st Place: $110
2nd Place: $60
3rd Place: $40
4th Place: $30