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╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Keyboard Coach Fantasy Football ║ ║ Release 1.05 ║ ║ copyright 1993 ║ ║ by McS Custom Software ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS ************************** An Overview of Keyboard Coach Fantasy Football....... PAGE 1 IMPORTANT NOTICE .................................... PAGE 3 Key Conventions .................................... PAGE 3 Editing Keys .................................... PAGE 4 INSTALLATION on a hard disk .................................. PAGE 4 on a 3.5" or high density 5.25" disk............. PAGE 4 on two 5.25" low density disks................... PAGE 5 SETTING UP YOUR LEAGUE League and Commissioner's name................... PAGE 5 Team Names....................................... PAGE 5 Choosing an update method........................ PAGE 6 Choosing statistics.............................. PAGE 6 Setting the standard contract length............. PAGE 7 League Types ("just for fun" or for "big bucks".. PAGE 7 RUNNING KEYBOARD COACH Menu Layout...................................... PAGE 8 MANAGER'S OPTIONS Select Team.................................. PAGE 9 View Roster.................................. PAGE 9 Print Roster................................. PAGE 9 PLAYER OPTIONS Select Player................................ PAGE 9 Viewing Selected Player's Status............. PAGE 10 Viewing Selected Player's Statistics......... PAGE 10 Assigning Selected Player To A Position...... PAGE 10 Changing Selected Player's NFL Team.......... PAGE 10 Releasing Selected Player.................... PAGE 11 COMMISSIONER'S OPTIONS Printing the Schedule........................ PAGE 11 Checking Bye Week Players.................... PAGE 11 Statistical Update........................... PAGE 12 Playing Current Week's Games................. PAGE 13 Printing The Game Results.................... PAGE 14 Player Search................................ PAGE 14 Prize Fund Options........................... PAGE 14 The Player Draft ............................ PAGE 16 Draft Strategy Tips...................... PAGE 17 Close Out Season............................. PAGE 18 League Editor................................ PAGE 18 Changing Update Methods.................. PAGE 18 ERROR MESSAGES............................... PAGE 20 - 1 - Admit it Bunky! Ever since the mental midget in the front office of your favorite NFL team traded that potential Rookie of the Year running back for that broken down defensive tackle, you knew you could do a better job of running the <COLTS>, <SAINTS>, <GIANTS> (pick one, or insert a team of your own). In your opinion, the Head Coach of the above team doesn't know whether it's raining or Wednesday. For most of last season you watched him play a QB who hit the guy in the other color jersey as often as he hit his own receivers and then tell the coach "BUT COACH! HE WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS OPEN!". If you were in charge you would bench the clown and play that third year guy who hasn't had a chance to set foot on the field. Well Bunky, now's your big chance! Keyboard Coach Fantasy Football puts you in charge of your own team made up of NFL players. You become the Owner, General Manager, Head Coach, and Chief Scout for your own NFL team. It's up to you to draft the players, make the trades and set the starting lineup and then take on the other guys in your league head to head. Now it's your decisions that determine whether your team wins the league championship or is just another cellar dweller. Should you take a chance and draft Montana? Should you trade Sterling Sharpe for Barry Foster? Should you bench Favre? As the head coach of your Keyboard Coach team it's all up to you. Keyboard Coach can be played "just for fun" and bragging rights at the office or it can be played for "big bucks" and replace that boring office pool (Who CARES if the Packers can beat the Bucs by 4 anyway?). What if the NFL season has already started? Don't worry about it! You can hold your player draft and start your league any time as long as there are regular season NFL games remaining. HOW TO PLAY KEYBOARD COACH: Keyboard Coach Fantasy Football is head-to-head competition. Each week your Keyboard Coach team takes on another team in your league based on the statistics of the NFL players on your team. Scores are based on your choice of any or all of up to 9 stats. The value of each of these stats can be customized to your specifications (see page 6). A Keyboard Coach league can consist of from 4 to 12 teams. Each team consists of 14 starting players and 6 replacement or bench players. Each starting lineup is made up of a quarterback, 3 running backs, 3 wide receivers, a tight end, 2 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers and 2 defensive backs. Before each season a player draft is held with each team picking up to 20 actual NFL players. As players are drafted they are assigned to either a starting position or the bench. - 2 - Each week the league's owners check the schedule to see who their opponent is and then submit a roster change sheet detailing any changes in their team's starting lineup BEFORE the actual NFL games are played. AFTER the NFL games are played, the league's commissioner updates the statistics using either the box scores in the newspaper or files downloaded from the USA TODAY SPORTS CENTER. Once the stats are in the program plays off each game on the schedule and prints a detailed recap of the game's scoring based on your league's customized scoring system. The game itself is fairly simple but you will find it is the owner/coach who knows his NFL football the best who is the consistent winner. Each coach must determine the strengths and weakness of his opponent and put together a lineup that will allow him the maximum number of points based on the league's custom scoring system. The coach must determine which of his players are liable to have big weeks statistically based on their actual NFL opponents. Injuries to other players on the actual NFL team must be taken into consideration. For example, your star wide receiver is having an excellent year but last week his QB went down to an injury. Do you still start him or do you go with a receiver who may not be as talented but whose QB is hot? Your ace running back is going up against the team with the number one defense against the rush? Do you start him or your backup back who is facing a defense that leaks like a sieve? Can you put together that key trade that fills big need you have after the draft? Can you locate that diamond in the rough free agent that will give you the rushing yards or interceptions you so desperately need? Keyboard Coach will test your knowledge of the NFL to the max. Pass the test and win your league's championship (and in some cases a wheelbarrow or two of cold, hard cash), fail the test and you are just another also ran. It's put up or shut time Bunky. - 3 - ************************ IMPORTANT NOTICE ************************ Keyboard Coach requires the following minimum requirements: (1) An IBM compatible computer with at least 512 kb memory. (2) MS-DOS version 3.0 or later (3) 720 KB OF FREE DISK SPACE. This can be free space on a hard disk, two 360 kb 5.25 inch disk drives, 1 3.5 inch disk drive, or one 1.2 meg or one 1.44 meg disk drive. (4) A COLOR MONITOR. This can be CGA, EGA or VGA. (5) YOU MUST HAVE THE STATEMENTS FILES = 15 BUFFERS = 25 IN YOUR CONFIG.SYS FILE ON YOUR BOOT DISK. These are minimum requirements. If the number of Files and Buffers specified in your config.sys exceeds these numbers that's fine. The Set Up program will test your system for enough Files and Buffers. If you don't have enough it is a simple procedure to add the above statements to your CONFIG.SYS file. See your DOS manual under CONFIG.SYS to make the changes required. ****************** KEY CONVENTIONS ****************** In these instructions for Keyboard Coach and within the programs themselves the following conventions are used: < > indicates a required key to be pressed on your keyboard. For example <ESC> indicates that the escape key is to be pressed. The ^ symbol links a sequence of keys to be pressed. For example <CTRL>^<Q>^<Y> would indicate pressing the control key and holding it down while pressing <Q> and then <Y>. <F1> indicates the F1 Function Key. <F1> is used to bring up a context sensitive help screen in the Setup program. - 4 - ******************* EDITING KEYS ******************* Throughout Keyboard Coach, whenever you are required to enter or edit text (such as player names or statistics) you can use the following WordStar style editing commands: <RIGHT ARROW> moves one letter or space to the right <LEFT ARROW> moves one letter or space to the left <INSERT> toggles the insert / overstrike mode <ENTER> accepts the data and moves to the next field <CTRL>^Q^Y (pressing <Q> and then <Y> while holding down the control key) deletes text from the cursor to the end of the line <CTRL>^<Y> deletes all text on this line <CTRL>^<RIGHT ARROW> moves to next word <F1> on-line context-sensitive help VERIFICATION WINDOWS: Usually after entering data you will be asked to verify that the data you just entered is correct. A window will pop up asking you to verify the data. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight to either YES or NO and press <ENTER> to select. ********************************************************************* INSTALLING KEYBOARD COACH ********************************************************************* Before beginning installation, make a backup copy of your distribution diskette(s) by using the DOS Diskcopy command. If you are not sure of how to use Diskcopy see your DOS manual. INSTALLATION ON A HARD DISK: (1) Make sure you are logged to the root directory of your hard disk by typing the command CD \. (2) Create a subdirectory to hold your KCF files by typing the command MD KCF. (3) Copy the files from your backup of the distribution diskette by placing the backup diskette in drive A: and then type the command COPY A:*.*. (4) Type SETUP. See SETTING UP YOUR LEAGUE (page 5). INSTALLATION ON A 3.5" DISKETTE OR HIGH DENSITY (1.2 MEG) 5.25" DISKETTE: Place the backup of the distribution diskette in drive A: and type the command SETUP. See SETTING UP YOUR LEAGUE (page 5). - 5 - INSTALLATION ON A LOW DENSITY (360KB) 5.25" DISKETTE: (1) Use the DOS FORMAT command to create 2 disks. Label one disk "KCF PROGRAM DISK" and label the second disk "KCF DATA DISK". (2) Use the DOS COPY command to copy the following files from your backup distribution diskettes to the KCF PROGRAM DISK. SETUP.EXE KCF.EXE QBAG.KCF TITLE.SCN The schedule file that is appropriate for your league size. For example, SCHED12.XXX for a 12 team league or SCHED6.XXX for a six team league. (3) Place your KCF DATA DISK in drive B: (4) If you are using download files from the USA Today Sports Center copy USASTAT.EXE onto your data disk. (5) Make sure that your logged drive is A: and type SETUP. See SETTING UP YOUR LEAGUE below. ********************************************************************* SETTING UP YOUR LEAGUE ********************************************************************* The first step in installing Keyboard Coach is to input your league's name and the name of the commissioner. These names will be displayed on all program screens and on your league's newsletter. Both the league name and commissioner name can be up to 25 characters long. For help with the editing keys press <F1>. You will now be asked to select the number of teams in your league. You may have 4,6,8,10 or 12 teams. NOTE: We have been often asked to increase the number of teams. The reason that we have held the team limit to 12 is that each team requires at least 2 starting NFL quarterbacks. While only 1 quarterback is designated as the starter, when the starter's NFL team has it's bye week you must have another QB to take his place on your roster. In a 12 team league you will be using a minimum of 24 of the 28 starting NFL QBs. This leaves a few NFL starters available as free agents in the event of an injury. You will now be asked to input the names of your teams. Each team can create a team name of up to 20 characters. Team names are used as the basis for the team's data file, for this reason the first 8 letters of each team's name (not counting spaces) must make a name that is unique from any other team in the league. If you inadvertently select a name that repeats the first 8 letters of a previously entered team you will be prompted for a new team name. HINT: Give your league members a little time before the first league meeting to come up with a name that is original and reflects each member's personality. In our league we have the Tequila MockingBirds, Don's Early Lights, Cowabunga Dudes, etc. - 6 - You will now be asked to choose a method of updating stats. You can choose between a manual update, using the weekly box scores from the USA Today Newspaper or from your local newspaper, or automatic updating, using download files from the USA TODAY SPORTS CENTER's bulletin board. Automatic updating requires a modem and a subscription to the Sports Center but will reduce your statistical update time to about 3 minutes per week for a 12 team league. For further information on automatic updating and the USA TODAY SPORTS CENTER see the file USASTAT.DOC included on your distribution disk. The next step in installing Keyboard Coach is to choose the stats that you will base your league on. You may choose any or all of the following 9 stats. Remember the more stats you include the more the element of luck is reduced and the more skill in choosing your lineups is required. Keyboard Coach allows you to base your league on the following 9 statistics: QUARTERBACK RATING QB Rating is the NFL's rating system based on percentage of completions, td percentage, interception percentage and yards per attempt. Keyboard Coach will automatically compute QB rating for you based on the stats you input. YARDS RUSHING is the total of all rushing yardage by active members of your team. This includes rushing yardage by running backs, quarterbacks, and receivers. YARDS PASSING this is the total number of yards that your QB's pass for plus receiving yardage gained by your backs and receivers. TOTAL YARDS the total yardage gained by your active players passing, rushing and receiving. AVERAGE GAIN PER PLAY total yardage divided by number of passes attempted, rush- ing attempts and pass receptions. TOUCHDOWNS the total number of tds scored by your active members offensively or defensively. TACKLES the number of tackles registered by members of your defensive team. Not all newspapers carry tackles. If you choose to use this stat we recommend that you use the USA TODAY newspaper as your stat source. Please note that the Elias Sports Bureau files on the USA TODAY SPORTS CENTER's electronic bulletin board do not list tackles. If you are using the USASTAT update utility tackles will be turned off. QUARTERBACK SACKS the total number of sacks registered by your defensive players. - 7 - INTERCEPTIONS the total number of interceptions registered by your defensive players. Each statistic can be assigned a value of 7 points (touchdown), 3 points (field goal), or 0 points (turns stat off). As each stat is highlighted in the selection window use the UP & DOWN ARROW KEYS to highlight the value you want to assign to this stat and press <ENTER>. As each stat is assigned a value the total number of points available for each game is displayed. After all stats are assigned a value, you will be asked if all values are correct. Answer YES to write the data to disk, answer NO to reassign the values. The next step is to assign a standard contract length. This determines how long you will "own" each player. Once you draft a player, he will remain on your team until you decide to trade him, release him or his contract runs out. You may choose to set the standard contract length at 1,2 or 3 years. The final step in installation is to determine the league type. You may play Keyboard Coach "just for fun" and for bragging rights, or you may choose to play the game for "big bucks" and replace that boring office pool. If you elect to play for cash you will be asked for the amount of the annual franchise fee. Each team is automatically charged an annual franchise fee by the program prior to the player draft each season. This fee is the basis for the league's prize fund. At the end of the season the prize fund is split 40% for 1st place, 30% for second, 20% for third and 10% for fourth. You will also be asked for the fees your league will charge to make a player trade (the fee is the same no matter how many players are involved in a trade) and the fees your league will charge to sign a free agent (any player not owned after the player draft). These fees are added to the prize fund as the season progresses. - 8 - ************************************************************ RUNNING KEYBOARD COACH ************************************************************ Make sure that you are logged to the appriopriate disk drive and directory and then type KCF to run Keyboard Coach. Keyboard Coach is a menu-driven program. To select a particular function in the program use the up, down, left and right arrow keys to highlight the section of options or item of your choice and then press <ENTER> to make your selection. Keyboard Coach's menus are laid as follows: ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ MANAGER'S PLAYER'S COMMISSIONER'S EXIT ║ ║ OPTIONS OPTIONS OPTIONS TO DOS ║ ║ ║ ╚════╦════════════════╦═══════════════╦══════════════════════╦═══╝ ║ ║ ╔═══════════════════════════╗ ║ ╔═══════╩═══════════╗ ║ ║ PRINT SCHEDULE ║ ║ ║ SELECT TEAM ║ ║ ║ CHECK BYE WEEK PLAYERS ║ ║ ║ VIEW ROSTER ║ ║ ║ STATISTICAL UPDATE (*) ║ ║ ║ PRINT ROSTER ║ ║ ║ PLAY THIS WEEK'S GAMES ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════╝ ║ ║ PRINT GAME RESULTS ║ ║ ║ ║ PLAYER SEARCH ║ ║ ║ ║ PRIZE FUND OPTIONS ║ ║ ║ ║ HOLD PLAYER DRAFT ║ ║ ║ ║ CLOSE OUT SEASON ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════╝ ║ ╔═══════════╩══════════════════╗ ║ ║ SELECT PLAYER ║ ╔═══════════╩═════════╗ ║ VIEW PLAYER STATUS ║ ║ LEAGUE EDITOR ║ ║ VIEW STATISTICS ║ ║ EXIT TO DOS ║ ║ CHANGE POSITION ║ ╚═════════════════════╝ ║ CHANGE NFL TEAM ║ ║ RELEASE PLAYER ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╝ Each item on the menus will be discussed in subsequent pages in the order of it's appearance from left to right, up and down. (*) THE STATISTICAL UPDATE PROGRAM WILL EITHER CALL THE PROGRAM USASTAT.EXE OR BEGIN MANUAL UPDATE, DEPENDING ON THE WAY YOU CONFIGURE THE PROGRAM. IF YOU CHOSE AUTOMATIC UPDATING USASTAT.EXE MUST BE ON YOUR STARTUP DRIVE/DIRECTORY. - 9 - ************************ THE MANAGER'S OPTIONS ************************* SELECT TEAM: This option allows you to select a specific team to work with. You must select a team before selecting any of the other Manager's options or Player Options so that KeyBoard Coach knows which team you wish to work with. To select a team, use the up & down arrow keys to highlight the team of your choice and then press <ENTER> to select. VIEW ROSTER: This option allows you to view the selected teams entire roster sorted by position with Quarterback listed first followed by Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Tight End, Defensive Linemen, Linebackers, Defensive Backs and finally Bench Players. PRINT ROSTER: After selecting this option you will be presented with a sub-menu asking whether you want to print PLAYER STATUS or LAST WEEK'S STATS. If you select PLAYER STATUS, a list of the selected teams players along with each player's NFL team and his contract status (the year his contract runs out) will be printed. LAST WEEK'S STATS prints a player-by-player summary of last week's game with totals in each statistical category. Either printout type may be printed to your printer (LPT1 or LPT2) or to a disk file. If you choose to print to a disk file you may do any editing you wish to do or add any printer enhancements by loading the file into your word processor. ************************* PLAYER OPTIONS ************************* NOTE: before using any option listed under player options you must first choose the team the player is on by using the SELECT TEAM option under MANAGER'S OPTIONS. SELECT PLAYER: Before using any of the following options you must first tell the program which player you wish to work with. Choosing SELECT PLAYER will bring up a sub-menu showing all of the players on the selected team's roster. Choose the appropriate player by using the up & down, left & right arrow keys to place the highlight over his name and then press <ENTER> to select. - 10 - VIEW PLAYER STATUS: This will allow to see which position the selected player occupies, which NFL team he plays for and the year that his contract runs out. VIEW STATISTICS: This option allows you to view the statistics of the selected player for the previous week. If you are using the included USASTAT automatic utility the player's actual NFL stats will also be shown. If you are using the manual update method the player's total active stats (those statistics accrued while the player occupied a starting position) will also be shown. CHANGE POSITION: This allows you to change the selected player's position. A sub-menu will appear showing the selected team's current starting lineup and the player who currently occupies each position. Use the up & down arrow keys to highlight the position you want the selected player to occupy and press <ENTER>. If another player is in the position you choose, he will automatically be removed from that position and placed on the bench. The easiest way to make a lineup change is to make the bench player you want to activate the selected player. When you place him in a starting position, the player currently occupying that position is automatically assigned to the bench. Using this method only one pass is needed for each position to be changed. CHANGE NFL TEAM: Use this option to make sure that each player's NFL team is correct in the event of a trade. Keyboard Coach conducts updates team-by-team. Using the manual update method you will update your league's players on all of the AFC teams in alphabetical order and then all of the NFC teams in alphabetical order. This keeps you from frantically searching all over the newspaper for the players in your league. - 11 - To change the selected player's NFL team, use the up & down arrow keys to highlight the appropriate team and then press <ENTER> to select. RELEASE PLAYER: Use this option to release or "cut" the selected player from your roster. A window will pop up verifying whether or not you really wish to do this. Use the left & right arrow keys to choose either YES or NO. Press <ENTER> to select. A released player becomes a free agent and may be signed by any other team in your league using the Keyboard Coach General Manager's Program. *********************************** COMMISSIONER'S OPTIONS *********************************** PRINT SCHEDULE: This option will allow you to print the league's schedule for this season. You may print all or any part of the schedule. You will be prompted for the first week that you wish to print and for the last week you wish to print. Enter the week number of each week, Ie. 3 for the third week, etc. You may print the schedule to your printer or to disk. If you elect to print to a disk file you may then load the file into your word processor to do any editing you wish to do or to make printer enhancements (Ie. bold print, italics, etc.). CHECK BYE WEEK PLAYERS: Each NFL team has a bye week, or a week off, during the season. It is essential that you replace the starters on your team who are on NFL teams who have a bye week during the current week of play. The NFL's most common method of assigning bye weeks is by division, the entire NFC West will have one bye week, followed by the NFC Central, etc. When you select CHECK BYE WEEK PLAYERS you will be presented with a sub-menu asking you to select the NFL teams who have the week off. To select teams, use the up & down, left & right arrow keys to highlight the proper teams, use <ENTER> to mark that team as a bye week team. If you mark a team in error, select it again to unmark it. After all the teams who are off during the current week are marked press <ESC> to leave the menu. You will now be given the choice of printing the list of starting players whose NFL teams are off this week either to your printer or to a disk file for later editing. - 12 - STATISTICAL UPDATE: Keyboard Coach has two statistical update methods. You may update stats manually, using box scores from the USA TODAY or you may update automatically using files downloaded from the USA TODAY SPORTS CENTER. We will discuss manual updating here, automatic updating is discussed in the file USASTAT.DOC included on your distribution diskette. NOTE: All teams rosters must be complete (Ie. all starting positions must be occupied) before Keyboard Coach will begin an update. The program checks all rosters and will prompt you if any rosters are incomplete. If all rosters are satisfactory the update will proceed, if any rosters are missing starting players you will be told which teams need to be fixed and returned to the opening menu. McS' unique method of updating stats will save you hours compared to most computerized fantasy games. In all of our SportsWare programs you update your players in an order determined by their "real life" (Ie. NFL, NBA or MLB) teams rather than a fantasy team by fantasy team approach. Instead of searching through the newspaper for all of the players on the Tequila MockingBirds and then repeating the same procedure for the Cowabunga Dudes, you will locate the Buffalo Bills in the paper and update all of active players in your league who are on the Bills. After the program has located all of the Bills, it will begin locating all of the Cincinnati Bengals. This procedure will continue until you have updated all of the AFC teams alphabetically and then all of the NFC teams alphabetically. After each NFL team you will be prompted that the current team has been completed and asked if you want to continue to the next team. If time should become a problem you may answer 'NO' to the 'BEGIN NEXT TEAM?' question and quit the update. If you decide to quit, the next time you choose STATISTICAL UPDATE you will begin right where you left off. As each player is located you will be presented with a sub-menu asking you to choose whether to update his passing, rushing, receiving or defensive stats. Use the up & down arrow keys to make your choice and press <ENTER>. - 13 - Please note that the stat update function works as a loop. If, for example, you choose to update the player's passing stats you will be returned to the sub-menu when you finish so that you may also update his rushing stats. When you have updated all of this player's stat categories, select NEXT PLAYER to move on to the next player. As each statistical category is choosen you will be presented with an input window asking you for the player's numbers for each stat in that category. For example, if you are updating the player's passing stats you will asked for Attempts, Completions, Yards Gained, Touchdowns and Interceptions. If you are updating his rushing stats you will be asked for Attempts, Yards Gained and Touchdowns. Use <ENTER> or the up & down arrow keys to move from field to field within the input window. Use the editing keys as described on page 4 to input the player's numbers for each stat. When you have completed the stats you will be asked to verify that the data you have entered is correct. If you have made an error, answer 'NO' and you will be returned to the top stat category. After you have completed all of the appropriate stat categories for this player select NEXT PLAYER. Before writing your data to disk and locating the next player, the program will show you a screen with all of the stat categories and the numbers you have entered for the current player. You will be given a chance to verify that ALL of the data you entered was correct before the program writes it to disk and moves to the next player. PLAY THIS WEEK'S GAMES: Choosing this option allows you to "play off" the current week's games. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED EITHER A MANUAL STATISTICAL UPDATE OR AN AUTOMATIC STATISTICAL UPDATE BEFORE PLAYING THIS WEEK'S GAMES (see Statistical Update on page 12). When you choose this option all games on the current schedule for this week are resolved. Each team will be awarded points according to the way you configured your point system during the installation procedure (page 6). Statistics for each player listed as a starter are totaled and compared with the opposing team. The team with the highest total in each category receives the points for that category. In the case of a tie both teams are awarded the points. A screen - 14 - will appear showing the final scores for each game. To get a detailed report on the scoring breakdown for all of the games select PRINT GAME RESULTS (below). PRINT GAME RESULTS: This option will allow you to print a detail breakdown of the scoring of the games just played. Before using this option you must first complete a statistical update (see page 12) and then play this week's games (see page 13). If both of these requirements have been met, you will be given the option of printing the game results to either your printer or a disk file. Printing to a disk file will allow you to load the resulting file into your word processor where it can be edited or have printer enhancements added, such as underlining, bold or italic print. The beginning of the results printout will show league standings to date. At the end of the results printout you will find sections detailing your league's records and any transactions (player releases, trades and free agent signings) conducted during the previous week. PLAYER SEARCH: Choosing player search allows you to locate a player if you don't know who his current owner is or to determine if a player you would like to sign as a free agent is already owned by another team. After selecting this option you will be presented with an input field that will allow you to input the name of the player you wish to search for. When inputing the name use the Editing Keys as detailed on page 4. The program will search all of the teams in the league for the name or any part of the name and the search is not upper/lower case sensitive. If, for example, you were to input WIL as the search string, the program would show WILlie Anderson, WILbur Marshall and John L. WILliams (provided that these players on your league's rosters). Obviously, the more complete the search string, the more the results are narrowed down. Each time a name that fits the search pattern is found the program will stop and ask if you wish to continue the search. Answering 'YES' will resume the search, answering 'NO' will return you to the main menu. PRIZE FUND OPTIONS: This option will allow you to view or manipulate the prize fund. By making this selection you will bring up a sub-menu that gives - 15 - you the following choices: (1) VIEW PRIZE FUND TO DATE - this allows you to see the total amount of the prize fund and how it would be distributed should this season end at this time. Prize fund distribution is 40% for first, 30% for second, 20% for third and 10% for fourth. (2) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE - this selection allows you to keep track of which teams in the league owe the prize fund money. At the beginning of the draft each team is charged the amount that you specified as the annual franchise fee. This amount is automatically put into the accounts receivable file. Any fees charged by the General Manager's Program are also placed in this file. When a team pays the money that it owes the prize fund (or any part of that money) you will go to this section to account for that payment. When you select ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE you will bring up a sub-menu with all of the teams in your league on it. Select the team making the payment and you will be prompted for the amount of the payment. After making the adjustment in money owed the program will return to the Select Team Menu. If you have received money from more than one team select another team and repeat the above process. When you are finished with all of the teams you received money from, press <ENTER> to return to the main menu. (3) VIEW TEAM EXPENDITURES - allows you to see the amount of money spent by each team in pursuit of the league champion- ship. This takes into account the annual franchise fee and any fees paid for player trades and free agent signings generated by the General Manager's Program. HOLD PLAYER DRAFT: The annual player draft is one of the most exciting aspects of Keyboard Coach. In our league owners begin preparing for the next draft as soon as the current season is over. Each owner spend hours scouring the NFL rosters looking for talent that other owners may have overlooked. Our league allows trading draft choices as well as players so there is often a flurry of off-season trades prior to the draft as owners attempt to move up in the draft to secure the players that they are sure will assure them of the league championship in the upcoming season. - 16 - As the actual draft commences the computer room is filled with howls of anguish (as the guy in before you in the order snags the player you had your eye on all summer) and laughter at the other owners decisions (you took WHO in second round?). The draft is a vital part of Keyboard Coach and we discuss it so late in the documentation only because we want to keep items in the order they appear on the main menu. The draft is well down on the list of Commissioner's Options only because it is a once a year occasion. In your league's initial season draft order is assigned by random number. The computer will assign each team a random number and sort them into a draft order. In subsequent seasons draft order becomes a reverse order of the standings. In other words, teams that finish last draft first. When you select HOLD PLAYER DRAFT the program will check each roster for players whose contracts have expired. These players will be released and are available to be drafted by any team. After all rosters have been checked the actual draft will begin. The draft will proceed until a number of rounds specified by the league is reached, all rosters are full or there are no more owners who wish to choose players. At the end of each round you will be prompted that the round is over and asked if you wish to begin the next round. If time has become a problem you may answer 'NO' to the prompt and the next time you choose 'HOLD PLAYER DRAFT' from the main menu you will begin where you left off. In this manner you may split your draft into several sessions if necessary. This is handy in case your boss has the gall to demand your computer be used for something less productive than fantasy football. As each team's turn comes to draft it will be presented with a sub-menu. The choices are as follows: (1) - SELECT PLAYER. This brings up a data entry field asking for the player's name. Use the Editing Keys found on page 4 to input the player's name. You will then be asked to choose the NFL team that this player plays for (see assigning an NFL team, page 11) and finally you will be asked to assign him to a position (see page 10) (2) - VIEW ROSTER. This option allows you to see your roster as it stands prior to your pick. After viewing the roster you will be returned to the draft menu so that you may make a selection in this round. - 17 - (3) - SELECT ANOTHER TEAM. This allows another team to make this draft choice for this round only. Since some leagues (ours included) allow draft choices to be a part of player trades, this selection will allow the team that received the choice for this round to draft in the current team's spot. Draft order will return to normal after this round. (4) - PLAYER SEARCH. If you are not sure if a possible draft choice is already owned by another team you may use this option to search all of the rosters in your league for the player. The search works just like the one under Commissioner options on the main menu. (5) - END DRAFT. This selection ends this years draft for all teams. Choose this item ONLY if all teams are completely finished drafting. You may also close out the draft at the end of any round. This item is included only so that you don't have to cycle through all of the teams if no other owners are interested in any more picks. After each round you will be given the option to quit drafting. You may decide to quit for the day and return at another time to resume where you left off, return to the draft (in case you chose END DRAFT in error) or close out this year's draft. You may break up your draft into as many segments as you like but you MUST close out the draft by using the END DRAFT option before you can begin the season. ******************** DRAFT TIPS ******************** Here a few of the draft secrets from our league's top players: Tim Pierce, owner "HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS": Make sure you weigh the scoring in your league before assessing the draft. You don't want to waste a high draft pick on even a sensational defensive lineman if sacks are only worth 3 points and your league doesn't use tackles. If both sacks and tackles are worth 3 points you may want to consider him. Also make sure that you have at least one solid QB to back up your starter. QBs go down with alarming regularity and that position is very important because his stats go into QB Rating, Yards Passing and Average Gain. Don Todd, owner "DON'S EARLY LIGHTS": Come into the draft with a depth chart at each position listing what you consider to be the 3 most desirable players at that position. This way a player you really had your sights on is choosen early you are prepared with another choice. - 18 - Sarah Frawley, owner "COWABUNGA DUDES": Make sure that you have an idea how the players you are considering are going to be used by their NFL coach. If you are looking for rushing yardage don't spend a high draft pick on a back whose coach is putting in an offense like the Red Gun. Jeff Pierce, owner "PIERCE ARROWS" Don't be a "herd follower". If the 3 picks before you were all QBs, don't panic and think "I gotta get a QB before they are all gone". At this point you probably aren't going to get any better than the 4th best QB anyway. Jump out there and get the BEST RB or WR. CLOSE OUT SEASON: This option will reset all of your team's stat files to zero and create next year's schedule. You must choose CLOSE OUT SEASON before you can hold a new player draft. Many league's have a limit to the number of players that can be carried into the off season. This assures a better draft and that lower ranked teams have some talent to choose from in the upcoming draft. Although the program does not force you to do this it is a good idea to set an off season roster limit. Our league allows teams to carry 18 players during the off season and each team is required to "cut" down to this limit before the commissioner announces the end of the season. *********************************** EXIT TO DOS *********************************** Under EXIT TO DOS you will find two options, LEAGUE EDITOR and EXIT TO DOS. The LEAGUE EDITOR allows you to change the configuration of your league. After choosing LEAGUE EDITOR a sub-menu will appear asking you for the item you want to change. You may change your update method, league franchise fee, free agent fee or trade fee. When you change your update method keep in mind the following: You may change update methods freely before the season without any special considerations but the way the two update methods go about the update process make changing update methods after the NFL season starts a bit more difficult. Keyboard Coach keeps track of two kinds of stats, weekly stats which are used to determine the outcome of games, and season stats. The way season stats are presented depends on the update method. In the manual update season stats reflect your use of a player. Although they are not actually used by the program, viewing season stats can be used to - 19 - determine how well your players have performed over the course of the season. When using the manual update method, you only update players who are assigned to the starting lineup. Players who occupy a bench position do not need to be updated since this method is only concerned with the present week's stats. In this method season stats are a reflection of what this player has done for you over the course of the year. Because the USA TODAY download files list the stats for the entire season rather than just one game, the automatic stat utility updates ALL of the players on the roster, regardless of position, and then derives this week's stats for the starting lineup by subtracting the season totals for last week from the season totals for this week. For this reason the automatic update requires that all player's stat files depict the actual NFL season total stats. Thus, a change from a manual update to automatic update after the season is under way requires that all player's season stats are up to date. A good way to do this is to allow a one week transistion period. During this period you should update your league manually and play off the current week's games normally. After the games are played, run an automatic update using the current week's download from the SPORTS CENTER but DO NOT play the games. The automatic update will bring all players' season stats current. In later weeks you can just run the automatic update and then play the week's games. Another way of bringing the player stats up to date is to use the PLAYER EDITOR in USASTAT to change each player's season stats so that they reflect actual NFL totals rather than active stats to date. You will find this works but is much slower than using the transition week method as shown above. After the season is under way there is no problem in switching from an automatic update to a manual update (unless you want to switch back again) other than a player's season total stats will reflect NFL stats rather than just active stats (stats that were accrued while he was a starter on this team only). This will not effect the outcome of games but you will no longer have an accurate picture of how each player has performed in a starting role. - 20 - ******************** ERROR MESSAGES ******************** If you get one of the following errors messages your equipment is somehow at fault. Here are the error numbers and the way that they can be corrected: Error 7: OUT OF MEMORY. Your computer does not have enough memory. This sometimes occurs on the DOS SHELL command used to backup files. You may exit the program and type "copy *.dta a:" from the dos prompt to accomplish the same thing. Error 24: DEVICE TIMEOUT. Indicates a printer error. Is your printer turned on and on line? Error 25: DEVICE FAULT. Indicates a serious hardware problem probably with printer. Error 51: INTERNAL ERROR. Again indicates a serious hardware problem. Error 53: FILE NOT FOUND. Do you have the correct data disk in the correct drive? Error 57: DEVICE I/O ERROR. Indicates a printer or disk problem Error 61: DISK FULL. You have too many files on your data disk. Make a new data disk or try copying Keyboard Coach.DOC to another disk. Error 64: ILLEGAL FILE NAME. Keyboard Coach creates it's team files using the team names you specified in SETUP. If you get this error run SETUP again and restrict the characters in your team names to letters and numbers only. IE: no astricks, slashes, comas, etc. Error 67: TOO MANY FILES. You have too many files on this disk. See Error 61. Error 68: DEVICE UNAVAILABLE. No printer is on line. Error 70: DISK IS WRITE PROTECTED. Keyboard Coach needs to access the disk. Remove the write protect tab. Error 71: DISK NOT READY. Close the disk drive door. Error 72: DISK MEDIA ERROR. Is this disk formatted? See your DOS manual for info on formatting a disk. If this is a formatted disk then it has gone bad. Error 75: PATH/FILE ACCESS ERROR. Usually caused by an insufficient number of handles. This error can be corrected by adding the lines: FILES = 15 BUFFERS = 25 to your config.sys. See page 3 for details Error 76: PATH NOT FOUND. See Error 75 If you get an error not listed here, please contact: McS Custom Software 236 Sunnybrook Dr. Fortuna, Ca. 95540 We will be glad to help in any way we can. If the problem lies with the program we will make corrections and rush you a corrected version free of charge.