How to sign-up

In order to sign up I need you to do two things: (1) Please state your intentions to join, below, in the comment section and (2) join this Group

Update

This is my first time running a tournament. And I'd never seen qualifications tried out before... so the concept was a test. I'm not really liking how it plays out. I believe it's too discriminant and I've never considered myself as a discriminant member of FanNation. So I'm just scrapping this part altogether.

With that said, It looks like we have enough interested TDers commented below. The first 16 sign ups, in order:

Veteran Newbie

DJroxalot

BigRed19

yankeesfan0248

PatsFan21

Alchemist

Chosen1

ColoNative

Skoorb

Rudedog

soxfan0214

Out On Bail

Bring The Pain

tdbubba15

baron

Assassin

Everyone after that I'll be adding to the waiting list for potential substitutions.

I'm keeping this Group "Private" temporarily, now that we have enough members, to keep the sign up sheet off the main board.

Seats

- First come, first serve. Seats go to the first 16 qualifying TDers

- 16 seats maximum. (I only have enough topics to accommodate 16 TDers. There will be no room to add seats.)

- If more than 16 qualifying TDers apply, they will be added to a waiting list. The waiting list is explained below under "Anticipated Schedule"

Topics

- NFL Topics only

- All topics will be provided and assigned to you.

- All topics have been pre-made and pre-screened (researched) in the hopes of preventing unfair "advantages" to either TDer

Seeding and ReSeeding

Many TDers, myself included, believe that it is more difficult to win a throwdown that you originate (argue from the left side) than it is to win a throwdown that you accept (argue from the right side). So I wanted to prevent handing out permanent set seeds. However, I also wanted to remove my own human judgment from the seeding process.

Ultimately I wanted to focus on two main concepts

1. Seeding should be earned

2. Re-seeding will occur each round

Round 1 (16 Participants)

- Seeded by win percentage

- Highest win % gets #1 seed, second-highest win % gets #2 seed, etc.

Round 2 (8 Participants)

- Seeded according to vote win-margin in Round 1

- Largest win margin gets #1 seed, second-highest win margin gets #2 seed, etc.

- (Re)seeding tiebreaks go to Round 1's higher seed

Round 3 (4 Participants)

- Seeded according to vote win-margin in Round 2

- Largest win margin gets #1 seed, etc.

- (Re)seeding tiebreaks go to Round 2's higher seed

Round 4 (Final 2 Participants)

- Seeded according to vote win-margin in Round 3

- Largest win margin gets #1 seed

- (Re)seeding tiebreak goes to Round 3's higher seed

For ALL Rounds the lower seed starts the throwdown and sends the Direct Challenge to the higher seeded opponent.

TD Tie-Breaking Procedure for Rounds 1, 2 and 3

It is important to note that I will not be a participating TDer in this tournament. I will not be voting on any Round 1, 2 or 3 Throwdown unless a TD ends in a tied vote count. In that case I will have the final "(un)official" vote which will decide who moves on. I will try to provide a detailed explanation for any and all tiebreak decisions. This procedure is in place to prevent dragging out the tournament with rematches.

TD Tie-Breaking Procedure for Round 4 (Final Round)

1. In the event of a tie between the Final 2 Participants, there will be a rematch

2. TDers will switch sides, who argues from the Left and who argues from the Right

3. I will be an eligible voter.

Anticipated Schedule

Round 1 begins Sunday, September 12th

Round 1 waiting list substitutions Sunday, September 19th *

Round 2 begins Sunday, September 26th

Round 3 begins Sunday, October 10th

Round 4 begins Sunday, October 24th

Each round starts on a Sunday, lasts 14 days, and ends on a Saturday. I am working under the assumption that it takes only one 7-day week to complete a round. However, I realize that is an aggressive goal. Therefore I am providing a 2nd week per round as a "grace period".

* Any Round 1 Throwdowns not started by September 19th, without explanation, will be subject to waiting list substitutions.

Cheating will result in disqualification and removal from the tournament.

Also, please DO NOT FanMail or GroupMail tournament TD links. I don't personally consider it cheating but I'd like to avoid the controversy.

If you have any questions regarding the rules of this tournament, please post so below or send me a FM