Tournament Entry and Participation
Any player participating in Tomczak Bowl is encouraged to register online at https://arcg.is/1T1qGv1 to secure a spot in the tourney.
Entry for the tournament is $20 which must be paid at the event. (Cash only please)
Anyone is welcome to walk-in and sign up on the day of the event. Please arrive before noon to ensure your spot.
Tournament Format
This is a double elimination tournament. Players will be seeded into the bracket once they have registered. Seeds will be determined using varying factors including a player’s results from past Tecmo tournaments of record.
Players that lose their first two games and are eliminated are automatically entered into a single elimination mini tourney to play for the Peter Tom Willis Cup. The winner of the “PT Dubs” will receive minimal recognition and maybe a shot of terrible liquor.
For each game, players will choose their teams using the established Tier System.
Game Setup
Before each game the following steps will be followed:
- Tier Selection: One person rolls a die to determine which tier they get for the match (Tiers 1-6). No changing tiers even if both players agree. The die is king in the land of Tecmo.
- Team Selection & Coin Toss: A manual coin-flip will precede each game. The coin-flip winner can choose the matchup (i.e. the two teams) or defer the matchup choice to the coin-flip loser. If the winner chooses the matchup, the winner is given the P1 controller, and the loser chooses his choice of the two teams in the matchup. If the winner defers the matchup choice, the winner is given the P2 controller, the loser will then choose the matchup and the winner will select his choice of the two teams. In summary, the winner of the coin toss either gets P1 and choice of matchup or P2 and choice of teams.
- “One Matchup Once” Rule: The coin-flip winner can only select a particular matchup once throughout the entire tournament. For instance, if Player A wins the toss and selects Packers-Browns, Player A cannot call that exact matchup for the rest of the tournament. Player B, however, is free to select that matchup later in the tournament.
- Customizing Playbooks and Lineup Changes: Customizing of playbooks is permissible.
- WR/TE at RB: A WR/TE cannot carry the football unless it is a reverse. You can insert a WR or TE into a RB slot for lead blocking purposes, but he cannot carry the football. To further clarify, players such as Ernest Givins, Ricky Sanders, and Andre Rison cannot carry the football unless it is a reverse.
Gameplay Rules
The following is a list of rules that all Tomczak Bowl participants must abide by.
- Lurching: Lurching is prohibited. If you want to rush with a DL, you must either go outside the offensive tackle or “popcorn” someone on the offensive line. You cannot simply go around your blocker and dive. Note that this rule does not apply to LBs.
- This goes without saying really but, no peeking at opponent’s controller.
- No throwing controllers or damaging of Nintendo equipment in any way. You will soon learn the answer to the question, “What did the five fingers say to the face?” You will also be asked to leave.
- Any resetting of a system due to a player’s actions of frustration or anger, whether intentional or not will result in forfeiture of the match. There are no exceptions to this rule.
- System Malfunctions: If there is a system failure in the first half, games will be replayed from the start. If a system malfunctions in the 2nd half, only the second half is replayed. In that event, the scores from each half are added together to obtain a final score. If the game was noncompetitive or any equipment malfunctioned due to human error, the tourney organizers reserve the right to declare a winner without replaying any portion of the game.
- No Ties/Overtime: No game can end in a tie. If a game is tied when regulation concludes, competitors will proceed to OT. All OT’s will be 5-minute sudden death periods. If no one scores in the first OT, the second OT will be only the first quarter in a new game. This process will be repeated until a winner emerges. So that one competitor does not start with the ball in every OT period, the receiving team (i.e. team that gets the ball first) shall alternate beginning with the second OT period.
- Controllers: Tournament competitors are allowed to bring their own controller to use in games. Tournament organizers will also coordinate obtaining equipment for the competition for those that do not bring their own.
- Competitor controllers must be original Nintendo OEM products and cannot be modified in any way.
- Original NES controllers and NES dogbone controllers are allowed.
- NES Max or NES Advantage are not allowed.
- Before the tourney begins, all NES systems and games will have any current season data reset to ensure all players on the game are at “Average” ability.
- Trash talking and drinking is strongly encouraged.
Rules of Conduct
These rules are here due to past experiences. Please abide by them and do not do anything that could ultimately lead to us creating a new one for this list next year.
- No physical violence.
- No arguing over the Heisman trophy. (This is more of a guideline… If you’re going to do it, please be civilized.)
- No drinking straight from crock pots and/or slow cookers.
- No breaking beer bottles.
- If you’re going to drink MD 20/20, please do so responsibly or you will leave early. (Whether forced, or of your own volition.)
- This is a small space where we’ll be close together for several hours. Please practice good hygiene and try to rip your farts outside.
Tournament Prizes
A custom trophy will be awarded to the winner of Tomczak Bowl as well as a Tomczak Champion blazer. Cash payouts are awarded to the top 3 finishers. Payout breakdown is as follows:
1st place = 50% of pot
2nd place = 31.25% of pot
3rd place = 18.75% of pot
2nd and 3rd place amounts will be rounded accordingly depending on pot total.
Tournament Location
Tomczak Bowl XV will be held at The Swiss Inn located at 20670 US-20, East Dubuque, IL 61025
