Maassluis Merchantmen, take 3 (FOF MP)

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 53 Merchantmen for 2112

The 2112 roster is set, the final cutdown decision have been made.
At mid-pre-season, CB Corwin Drake, G Tutan Shapiro and LT Jordan Puckett were released. Undrafted rookie Puckett was a longshot to begin with. Shapiro may have hoped he'd move up in the hierarchy after the departure of C Roman Gillespie, but two rookies were more impressive in training camp and pre-season. Drake may come as a bit of a surprise, having been our punt returner last season, but rookie WR Rodolfo Lane will play that role on top of becoming our new WR2 (or WR1 even?).

Today the decision was made that RB Angel Hammond, FB Thurman Chachick and WR Kyle Belton won't make the team. It was quite the twisting and turning, but I decided to keep RB Bennett Holmes as our second special teamer out of the backfield, as well as our RB4, while other young wide receiver seem to be more useful. Belton's route running and special teams skills are too limited to have a shot at the WR4 role or WR5 role.

It also meant good news for a couple other players that were on the bubble: QB Bart Tanner, aforementioned RB Bennett Holmes, WR Hunter Tuitele, WR Kai Cote, WR Jaylen Gearhart, DE Steve Aber, DT Francisco Blades and CB Kent Wodarz. A bit of a spoiler that is, but here's our list of 53 for 2112.


Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Harrison Singleton (+2/+2 pre-season)
15/35 QB Bart Tanner (rookie, +2/+3 camp, +1/+7 pre-season)
15/15 QB Drake Bishop (-1/-1 pre-season)
Singelton is still our starter, but Tanner has shown quite the upside. Bishop has to stay as the mentor for Tanner and is our better kick holder, but won't be guaranteed to be on the active roster this season as our punter is capable of being the holder as well.

Backfield
40/45 RB Renaldo Billodeaux (+1/nc camp)
40/40 FB Kenneth Holse (+3/nc camp, nc/-2 pre-season)
40/40 RB Sherman Ward (fa signing, =9/-9 pre-season)
35/35 RB Cary Delgado (-1/-1 pre-season)
15/15 RB Bennett Holmes (-7/-7 pre-season)
Billodeaux is the real deal, at least he was last season. Holse is a suitable, do-it-all fullback and special teamer. Ward will be the change of pace back and our premier kickoff returner. Delgado remains to be the third down back. Holmes will be demoted to just a special teams role.

Tight ends
60/60 TE Ted Gordon
35/35 TE Garrett Alcala (-7/-7 pre-season)
25/35 TE Arnie Huffman (rookie, +3/-2 camp, nc/+3 pre-season)
20/30 TE Kyle Upshaw (+3/nc camp)
Gordon is the man, Alcala lost more of his route running, but will help boost cohesion as the TE2. Huffman is potentially an excellent route runner and fair run blocker, whilst being an improvement to the special teams group. Upshaw will be stuck as the inactive emergency TE4.

Wide receivers
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney (+1/+1 pre-season)
50/75 WR Rodolfo Lane (rookie, +5/-1 camp, nc/-1 pre-season)
45/45 WR Preston Gray (+1/+1 pre-season)
35/35 WR Jaylen Gearhart (+4/nc camp, -9/-9 pre-season)
25/25 WR Kai Cote (-8/-8 pre-season)
15/20 WR Hunter Tuitele (rookie, +2/-1 camp, nc/-1 pre-season)
We should be good to go here, with quite possible the best WR duo in the league. Where have we seen that before and how little has it brought us in the past? Still, it should be a fantastic situation. Gray remains to be a solid WR3 for short routes. Gearhart has turned into a slightly different kind of player, has yet to make his first catch or see action on special teams, but I still believe in his talent. Cote will be a WR5/special teamer, Tuitele our kick off return alternate. But really, Vertelney and Lane, I really hope we can split the targets even and not too lopsided between them and the guys around them to finally make something good of our passing game.

Offensive Line
70/70 RT Ivan Dole (-4/-4 pre-season)
60/60 C Zane Chaplain
55/55 G Brett Stickney (-4/-4 pre-season)
55/55 G Andres Uwaezuoke (-1/-1 pre-season)
45/45 RT Clayton Bernstein (fa signing, -6/-6 pre-season)
30/40 G Jose Bryant (rookie, +3/nc camp, -1/-6 pre-season)
30/30 LT Harold Gruenwalder (-3/-3 pre-season)
15/40 C Russell Mahoney (rookie, +5/nc camp, -1/-4 pre-season)
Losing Earl McBirney was huge, but we hope to have found a suitable replacement in Bernstein. Worst case scenario, our excellent scrambling quarterback will scramble a bit more. Dole ios our run blocking anchor on the outside, Chaplain and the guards on the inside. If Bernstein gets tired or hurt, we might have to rely on good old Gruenwalder. Bryant hasn't shown longterm signs, but is still better than the guy we cut (Shapiro), whilst Mahoney gave us a mixed bag of signs.

Front Seven
70/70 DT Dwayne Downs (trade acquisition, -4/-4 pre-season)
70/70 DT Efrain Hutchins (-1/-1 pre-season)
60/60 LB Gus Coleman (-9/-9 pre-season)
55/55 DT Gabriel Morris
50/55 DE Calvin Buckley (+3/nc camp, +1/nc pre-season)
45/60 DE Lonnie Wynn (rookie, +5/-3 camp, +1/-3 pre-season)
45/45 LB Xavier Hoover (-1/-1 pre-season)
45/50 DE Steve Aber (+4/nc camp, -2/-2 pre-season)
40/50 DT Francisco Blades (+4/nc camp, nc/+1 pre-season)
40/45 LB Bobby Diaz (+3/nc camp, =2/+5 pre-season)
40/40 DE Christopher Wrighster (+3/nc camp, +3/+1 pre-season)
25/50 LB Nicholas Giles (rookie, +5/nc camp, nc/+5 pre-season)
35/35 LB Avery Distel
35/35 DE Howie Tucker
Despite our losses (DE Bernard and LB Hastings), this group looks fine. We have an awesome DT trio, which means we can run havoc all day long from that position, whilst we have sufficient support guys to deliver pass rush pressure or support the run stopping. In the linebackers group, Coleman is the sure thing, with Diaz our best pass defender and Hoover and Giles likely to divide playing time between them, whilst Distel might have to make a switch from pass rusher to pass defender.

Secondary
45/45 S Dan Peterson (+1/+1 pre-season)
45/45 S Noah Matthews
45/45 CB Evan Merrell (fa signing, -3/-3 pre-season)
40/40 CB Joel Delgado (-4/-4 pre-season)
40/40 CB Byron Sokol
35/35 S John Aponte
35/35 CB Skip Horner (+1/+1 pre-season)
25/45 S Joe Ramsey (+5/nc camp)
30/30 S Craig Clancy (+1/+1 pre-season)
20/30 CB Kent Wodarz (rookie, +3/nc camp, -1/-1 pre-season)
Sure, nothing spectacular here, but I have to trust the man-to-man experts Merrell, Sokol and Delgado, whilst the rest of the bunch are all zone defense specialists. We have plenty of interceptions forcing players as well here, so I'm not surer why we shouldn't feel like we can improve on our lackluster performance in pass defense last season.


The other stuff
85/85 K Oscar Harrington (-7/-7 pre-season)
60/60 P Tyrus Johnston (+1/nc camp)
20/20 LS Wayne Brewer
We have a kicker: the best out there, he was 80 for 80 last season. We have a promising punter and a long snapper. Yay.


So, yeah, I think we have a strong team. Secondary may lack an obvious star, but otherwise we have more than just a good bunch of support guys, we have plenty of guys that can make a difference.

The biggest question could be what kind of Singelton will show up: the reliable one that went 26-14 in the first two and a half seasons, or the turnover machine that went 6-10 last season. I hope 2111 was the outlier and we get to see the playmaker that he was earlier on. No more excuses, he's got to make it happen, or he'll have to look over his shoulder and wonder whether he'll get benched the way he was promoted to being our starter back in his own rookie season.

Merchantmen, get ready for the new season, we can do this, make me proud!

[TheseBoots]

Great write up as always. I enjoy following this dynasty very much!

You wrote

... we ended up at almost $14M under the cap, which is a terrible cap situation. It sounds good, but it means that we didn't move enough cap costs for 2112 forward to 2111

Can you explain what you could have done to move cap costs forwards?

[MIJB#19]

Great write up as always. I enjoy following this dynasty very much!Thanks! Glad your enjoying it.

Can you explain what you could have done to move cap costs forwards?Sure. Late in pre-season, I will usually extend contracts to the marginal starters, premier backups that are out of contract in the next season. When tight on cap, it's better to give them what they want, but when I have a lot of additional cap space (I had quite a bit this season), I will rework the requested contract with basically the same salary in every season, which often means some of the money that was requested for the next season has been moved forward to the current season. I was going to pay up either way (extending now or signing said player in the next off-season), by paying up now, it means I pay more up front and have it count to the current year, not spread out over all years like with a signing bonus.

[TheseBoots]

Thanks! Glad your enjoying it.

Sure. Late in pre-season, I will usually extend contracts to the marginal starters, premier backups that are out of contract in the next season. When tight on cap, it's better to give them what they want, but when I have a lot of additional cap space (I had quite a bit this season), I will rework the requested contract with basically the same salary in every season, which often means some of the money that was requested for the next season has been moved forward to the current season. I was going to pay up either way (extending now or signing said player in the next off-season), by paying up now, it means I pay more up front and have it count to the current year, not spread out over all years like with a signing bonus.

Yeah, I get you. It's a subtle move but useful as this money otherwise just does nothing (except improve bottom line, I guess).

Can you save big money like this or - seeing as you mentioned marginal starters and premier backups - or is this the kind of move which is overall shifting a few millions at most between seasons?

[MIJB#19]

Yeah, I get you. It's a subtle move but useful as this money otherwise just does nothing (except improve bottom line, I guess).

Can you save big money like this or - seeing as you mentioned marginal starters and premier backups - or is this the kind of move which is overall shifting a few millions at most between seasons?It's usually give or take the cap figure of one marginal starter / key backup. It's not much, but all the little things can help.

[MIJB#19]

Busy weeks, I'll try to get a recap of the first 2/3rd of the regular season written in de weekend.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Flipping the coin, 2112 so far

Time has flown, we've already reached week 12 of the regular season. After a shaky start and a temporary quarterback switch, we're right in the mix of the playoffs teams in the AOC. Let's take a quick look back at our first 11 games of the 2112 regular season.

Week 1 at Paris
After a 17-game winning streak against the Musketeers, it finally came to an end. We had our chances to extend this streak, but while Paris scored 3 touchdowns from their red zone visits, we settled for field goals in our first 3 visits and also gave up a 76-yard pick six and a kickoff return touchdown. Rooke QB Bart Tanner came in late to brush up the humiliating score with his first career touchdown pass. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 217 yards and 1 interception, Tanner threw for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. WR Jessie Vertelney had 119 yards receiving, TE Ted Gordon 1 receivng touchdown.
16-35 loss

Week 2 at Outer Banks
No way around it, we were outmatched and got fleeced by the Ospreys' young QB. In return, QB Harrison Singelton got silenced, throwing for just 89 yards and 1 interception. Our only touchdown was an interception return by CB Evan Merrell.
16-27 loss

Week 3 at Orlando
We started the game well, but as soon as the Talons got their engines running, even a couple of missed field goals couldn't stop them from catching up, while a couple of late game interceptions turned it from a tie game into a 3-score loss. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 220 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown, TE Ted Gordon had a receiving touchdown.
17-34 loss

Week 4 vs San Antonio
And then we finally got our first home game of the season and bounced back, big time. Although it was still close by half time, as we were trailing by 4 points then, the defense stood up in the second half and shutout the Tidal Force that half, while our own offense, in particular the running game, kept going well. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 147 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, but also ran for 1 touchdown. RB Cary Delgado ran for 2 touchdowns, RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 163 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. Rookie WR Rodolfo Lane scored his first receiving touchdown.
38-21 victory

Week 5 no game

Week 6 vs Atlanta
Based on our dominance in this game (in particular holding the Vipers to 111 yards passing and just 3.0 yards per pass play), this should have been a cakewalk victory. But with our lack of ability to get into the end zone from the red zone, combined with a 92-yard pick six, this game was still tied when we drove into their red zone late in the fourth quarter. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 228 yards and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux had 1 rushing touchdown.
20-13 victory

Week 7 at Fort Wayne
Our visit to the Fury resulted in one heck of a game for the neutral football fans. The lead in the game went left and right and this was clearly destined for a last to score wins scenario. And it did, as QB Harrison Singelton found WR Rodolfo Lane for 20 yards and TE Ted Gordon for 14 yards, whilst a Fury penalty stopped the clock for us with no time outs remaining K Oscar Harrington converted the 42-yarder to flip it from a 1-point loss into a victory. Singleton threw for 338 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Gordon (twice) and Lane scored the receiving touchdowns.
24-22 victory

Week 8 vs Paris
Highly motivated to avenge the week 1 loss, we struggled to keep the Musketeers in check. Despite dominating the field position battle, our sudden big play ability resulted in a lopsided time of possession figure as Paris had possession of the ball for more than 40 minutes, while we were below 20 minutes. But our efficiency was slightly better. Even though we gave Paris chances to comeback from behind late with a late interception and a missed field goal. Their Hail Mary attempt came short and we held on. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 142 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane and TE Ted Gordon split the receiving touchdowns again, RB Cary Delgado and RB Sherman Ward split the rushing touchdowns.
28-27 victory

Week 9 at Houston
Then, after a 4-game winning streak, Merchantmen management did something silly an decided to bench the quarterback. Rookie Bart Tanner came on and got eaten alive by the Mustangs, completing just 14 of 34 passes for 136 yards and 5 interceptions. The reason to bench QB Harrison Singleton, the interceptions, was clearly not just on him. The Mustangs were basically gifted their second victory of the season, while the Merchantmen may have thrown away a winnable game whilst actually virtually holding the last wild card to the playoffs in the AOC.
6-19 loss

Week 10 at Bordeaux
QB Harrison Singelton returned to the starting lineup and threw for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns without interception to guide his team to a convincing victory. WR Rodolfo Lane was on the receiving end of 2 touchdowns, while RB Sherman Ward ran for a couple. LB Bobby Diaz accounted for a 86-yard interception return touchdown.
38-14 victory

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
And then came the big test, against the Giants, at home. We marched into a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but saw the Giants get close in the second quarter, us still leading 14-10 at half time. With 13 more unanswered points, including a 56-yard field goal, the Giants took a 2-score lead as we went into the fourth quarter trailing 23-14. Things went back and forth, but helped by the fumbling Giants, right after the 2-minute warning, we thought we had kicked into 27-26 a lead for the victory. Despite the defense standing strong, a Giants 56-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining flipped it into a 29-27 deficit. QB Harrison Singelton completed a Hail Mary from our 34-yard line to WR Jessie Vertelney for 50 yards and following time, with 3 seconds to go, K Oscar Harrington converted the game winning 33-yarder. Oranje Haven figuratively exploded, a sensational victory was achieved over our Swedish division rivals. Singelton threw for 282 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane caught the receiving touchdown, RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Sherman Ward ran for a touchdown.
30-29 victory

Week 12 vs Capital City
Our luck didn't run out in our visit to the Blues as a missed extra point in the final 2 minutes of the game put the final score on the board. Earlier this game, WR Rodolfo Lane scored an 80-yard punt return touchdown, while LB Bobby Diaz scored a 60-yard interception return touchdown. Late in the game at the end of a 13-play 98-yard drive, QB Harrison Singleton found Lane for a short touchdown, taking the lead for the first time in this game and it turned out to be just enough. Singelton threw for 179 yards.
24-23 victory


European Division
1. Gothenburg 9-2
2. Maassluis 7-4
3. Bordeaux 5-6
4. Paris 2-9

Lo and behold, we're in the first wild card spot on tie-breakers ahead of the 7-4 Tucker Tigers. 6-5 Harlem and a foursome of 5-6 teams are on our tail. Gothenburg is on pace for home field advantage.

Half of our losses have come to the teams of the virtual #1 and #2 draft picks. 4 of our victories were by just 1 or 2 points. We're currently getting outscored by our opponents by 7 points... It's a weird season. Despite the wins, I'm not feeling like we're in control when we win these games. Heck, Singelton is on a 7-game winning streak, but his td:int ratio is 10:10 in those wins. Perhaps he watches too much Alfred Hickman highlight reels from our only IHOF Bowl winning season. Remember, Hickman then was 27:28 in that figure during the regular season, had 12 games with 2+ interceptions, in particular the 9-game stretch from week 11 through the conference semi finals. Let's not forget that we never missed the playoffs with Hickman under center, despite my hate:love relationship with his interception proneness...

Anyway, that was 56 seasons ago. We're in 2112, roughly 2/3rd into a regular season where we're struggling, yet mostly winning. Our cohesion in the passing game is hurting and I suspect it's part of the reason Singleton is struggling more than he has in the past. On the O-Line, we reinstalled LT Harold Gruenwalder over off-season signing RT Clayton Bernstein. The latter is livid over playing time, but the man has to understand that he's sitting behind a left tackle that hasn't given up a sack in 8 starts so far this season.

We might not spreading around the ball enough in the passing game to truly take defenses ff guard. Singleton is clearly dangerous against any team to go out for a long run, forcing them to keep an eye on him, but he might want to us to call more throws into the direction of our solid WR3 Preston Gray and our reliable backfield receivers FB Kenneth Holse and RB Cary Delgado. Our big-play WR4 Jaylen Gearhart hasn't even been targeted.

All things considered, we're somewhat lucky to be in the mix, but I want us to stick with a one game at a time approach. Sail on, Merchantmen, winds have been strong this season, but we're still on course.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2112, playoffs or not?

The season has progressed and we've reached the back end of the regular season. We're red hot, 7-1 in the last 8 games, with our sole loss coming in a game where I benched QB Harrison Singelton. 5 more games are in the books, including back to back games of the week against the #1 seed bound Texas Sharks and Gothenburg Giants. So, how'd that go?

Week 13 vs Rochester
A phenomenal performance by the defense, combined with a reborn QB Harrison Singleton resulted in perhaps the most convincing victory of the season. We were leading 37-0 when the Razorbacks finally came onto the scoreboard with a 4th quarter field goal. Singleton threw for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns, spreading them over WR Rodolfo Lane (2 touchdowns) and WR Preston Gray. WR Jessie Vertelney had 134 receiving yards. RB Sherman Ward and RB Cary Delgado split the rushing touchdowns.
37-6 victory

Week 14 vs Texas
The game of the week series between Texas, Gothenburg and Maassluis began in Maassluis. The visit of the Sharks to Oranje Haven resulted in a very even matched game, loaded with all kinds of drama. We jumped to a 10-0 lead and held onto 10-6 at half time. Then RB Renaldo Billodeaux fumbled the ball in our own half in our first possession of the second half and right after Texas took a 13-10 lead after their first touchdown of the game. Things went back and forth until Texas was driving down field for a 2-score lead. An interception by CB Evan Merrell at our 2-yard line turned out to be the momentum flip as we responded with a 9-play 78-yard drive, including a 50-yard long bomb throw by QB Harrison Singleton to WR Jessie Vertelney and a 4th down touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane to level the score 20-20. An interception with 41-yard return by CB Joel Delgado near midfield in the final minute helped setup a potential game winning field goal. K Oscar Harrington converted a 35-yarder and on their final play the Sharks saw their Hail Mary attempt get batted down. Singleton threw for 194 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Lane an TE Ted Gordon split those receiving touchdowns.
23-20 victory

Week 15 at Gothenburg
Trailing by 2 wins, but on a 9-1 spree, we felt like we could put up a fight at the Giants. They were still feeling sore about their dramatic loss in Oranje Haven earlier on (a game that could have gone either way) and were highly motivated to not only beat us, but also clinch the division title. To be frank, we were never really into the game and despite holding the Giants quarterback to 127 yards passing, 4 missed field goals and 2 missed extra points by supposedly the best kicker in football (apparently our K Oscar Harrington is still the man) helped us from getting completely humiliated and just getting a normal clobbering. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 157 yards and 4 interceptions. We scored no touchdowns.
6-25 loss

Week 16 at Moontown
In what looked to be an exciting game where we bounced back from an early 20-3 deficit, into trailing just 20-16 at half time, the story of the game turned out to not be the final score. Halfway into the third quarter, on a seemingly standard 2-yard run play, QB Harrison Singleton twisted his leg and was carted off with a seemingly very serious knee injury. Rookie QB Bart Tanner was brought on and contributed with the game's second interception thrown that got ran back for a touchdown. At the end of the game, the home team had scored on an offensive fumble return touchdown, two pick sixes and 3 field goals. Singleton threw for 164 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, while Tanner threw for 82 yards and 1 interception. TE Ted Gordon was on the receiving end of Singleton's touchdown passes.
22-30 loss

After the game, the bad news arrived: QB Harrison Singleton had to go into MCL Knee Surgery and is estimated to be out for roughly 9 to 10 months, which likely means he'll miss the start of the 2113 season as well, providing he wants to work his ass of to come back and will still be as good as we know him to be.

Week 17 vs Bordeaux
Still bummed over the loss of Singleton, we signed a promising rookie, that by a flurry of miscommunication issues ended up being active for the game, while some usual special teams stand outs were inactivated. The visiting Vineyards had their own quarterback drama, losing their starter as well to injury and estimated to be out throughout the playoffs. Our situation was simple: win and we'd still end up as the #5 seeds. Lose and we'd need help from either Toronto to beat Harlem or from Augusta to beat Tucker. Bordeaux would need both on top of beating us to grab the final wild card. Whatever it was, despite that our defense sacked the Bordeaux fill-in 9 times, he also completed 25 of 39 passes for 446 yards to guide his team to victory. Our QB Bart Tanner threw for 277 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. TE Ted Gordon was on the receiving end of our only touchdown of the day.
19-27 loss

European Division
1. Gothenburg 14-2
2. Maassluis 9-7
3. Bordeaux 9-7
4. Paris 3-13

We took second place on strength of victory tie-breaker. Our wins over division winners Gothenburg, Texas and Fort Wayne were far superior over Bordeaux' wins as the best team they beat was us. The same tie-breaker put as far ahead of Harlem as well, they also won only 1 game against a playoffs making 9-7 team. Gothenburg earned the #1 seed in the playoffs, Paris the #1 pick in the 2113 draft, which they won't be able to use as they traded it to the Chesapeake Chitterlings. If they keep it, it will be the first time in IHOF history the Chitterlings use the #1 overall pick. It leaves the Giants as the only team to have never held the #1 overall pick (including that we lump together franchises that had name changes in the first 30ish seasons of the league).

The good news was that the Toronto Lake Monsters in their hunt for the #2 seed and a bye week demolished the Harlem Apollos 62-7 and we piggybacked on it into the playoffs! We'll be visiting the Orlando Talons, who ended the Tucker Tigers' streak of division titles at 22... The Tigers still made the playoffs as the #5 seeds and will visit the Fort Wayne Fury. But we will be without our starting quarterback, while our center Zane Chaplain is still out with tonsilitis, which makes me skeptical about whether we can make some noise. It doesn't mean we won't try, though!

[TheseBoots]

Congratulations on making the playoffs, MIJB, but that injury to Singleton is brutal! Can you switch to a run-based game around your backup, or will you just air out and let the dice roll how they do? Seems tricky when one of your big strengths is the passing game.

From reading your reports and watching some of the videos out there it's clear that Gothenburg are an absolutely brutal winning machine with insane consistency. What's the secret to their success do you think? Anyway, I'm hoping for a season where you take the division in the near future =)

[MIJB#19]

Congratulations on making the playoffs, MIJB, but that injury to Singleton is brutal! Can you switch to a run-based game around your backup, or will you just air out and let the dice roll how they do? Seems tricky when one of your big strengths is the passing game.

From reading your reports and watching some of the videos out there it's clear that Gothenburg are an absolutely brutal winning machine with insane consistency. What's the secret to their success do you think? Anyway, I'm hoping for a season where you take the division in the near future =)Thanks. Despite our history and tradition, it's only the 3rd time in the last 20 seasons we made the playoffs, but somehow I think this team is less deserving than we've been half of the 17 seasons we didn't make it. I do think we're a playoff caliber team, with Singleton that is.

Interesting questions. I tend not to want to go too much into detail, some of the competition in IHOF reads along and it could give them more of an advantage over me than vice versa. But I'll nevertheless try to elaborate a bit.

I think Singleton (as is his stand-in Tanner) is such a powerful scrambling QB that he makes for an additional running threat and somewhat turns the balanced offense into more running than passing anyway. The OC is run-oriented (Smashmouth type), but I'm always wary for overdoing things and know my biggest shorting coming: game planning. It's not my thing and all I know is I'm barely better at it than the seemingly completely random AI. Missing our center also makes it unrealistic to shift to heavy running, that's a crucial position for a good running game. It's not surprising our running game has been below our standards over the last couple of games. Tanner is a unexperienced version of Singleton, in theory Tanner should be able to play like Singleton did as a rookie.


The current owner of the Gothenburg franchise (Julio Riddols) no doubt is the reason why Gothenburg thrives and has turned the European division from Maassluis dominated to Gothenburg dominated. He seems to have game planning figured out and makes the difference there between our two franchises, whereas I somehow have lost a step in that area while the average level of game planning in IHOF has clearly increased.

Julio Riddols more so than me gets the best out of limited players, in part because (I think) he takes the time to craft and redo his game plans during the season, almost from game to game. That's something I feel like I'm too limited in to understand game mechanisms enough to make it work for me. It can do wonders to check on opposing teams' tendencies to do crazy stuff like running a lot out of a 104 formation, which then becomes very easy to counter, but you'll have to be 100% convinced your opponent does it all the time. I think he's capable of doing that as well.

I'm sure we'll win a division at some point again. Becoming the third franchise with 1000 regular season wins is a realistic goal for the 2113 and 2114 season, we're at 980 now. And it's a challenging one as well, because the Kansas Creationists (and predecors) have caught up and are at 981 wins now. Although it's a bit of a silly comparison, because we're only 1 of 4 franchises that had the same ownership since the beginning and 2 of them are lightyears ahead of us, and the fourth even further behind us than we're behind Tucker and Chesapeake. Fairbanks has the same owner since opening day 2004 as well, but that owner switched placed with non-playing commissioner for a short period of time.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2112's wild Wild Card game

Week 18 at Orlando
Down our quarterback, I tempered my expectations and felt that we might come home from a serious drubbing in Orlando. At the same time, I should feel quite good about the team we put together and if QB Bart Tanner could go through the game mistake free, we might actually be able to put up a fight.

Orlando scored quickly on their first possession, which got me very much scared this could turn into a blowout. But on our own first possession, helped by a 38-yard kickoff return, we didn't need to gain too many yards and we did just enough to keep the chains moving and see RB Renaldo Billodeaux run it in from 6 yards out for a 7-7 tie game. A sack by rookie DE Lonnie Wynn focred 3 and out, giving us hope we could stand our ground from time to time. After we got stopped quickly as well, Orlando saw their running back com up with a big 23-yard run to set up field goal for a 10-7 lead after the first quarter.

After a slow but steady drive, we tied it up again, but found ourselves completely off guard on the ensuing kickoff return, allowing a 91-yard touchdown. After several three and outs, Orlando was deep inside their own red zone and after their quarterback appeared to get his passing game going, his second attempt of the drive got picked off by S Craig Clancy. QB Bart Tanner connected on a key third and long with TE Garrett Alcala, converted a short one with a scramble and then tied the score 17-17 with a short pass to wide open WR Preston Gray. A defensive stand gave us the ball back, but as we were driving for a lead taking field goal, Tanner's pass got picked off and returned deep enough to set Orlando up for a 20-17 lead at half time.

We came out of the break looking bland, but on Orlando's first possession our young defensive ends strip sacked the their quarterback, our S Dan Peterson picked up the scattering ball and got it to midfield. Supported by a long run from RB Sherman Ward, QB Bart Tanner found WR Jessie Vertelney and fellow rookie WR Rodolfo Lane for long enough throws to set up the 20-20 tying field goal. After long, yet inefficient drive from Orlando, we did just enough to end the third quarter barely inside Orlando's half with a fresh set of downs.

After three no-gainers of plays, we were sadly forced to punt to pin Orlando deep. They responded with 31-yard and 37-yard passing plays, eventually resulting in a touchdown. The missed extra point made it 26-20 for Orlando, giving us a little bit more hope this wasn't going to end there and then. Another strong kickoff return from RB Sherman Ward brought us near midfield and helped by an unneccessary roughness penalty, we came close enough to converted a 42-yard field goal for a 26-23 trailing score. We stopped Orlando on their next drive, but ended up pinned at our own 1-yard line. After three short plays, we were forced to punt and gave up a 17-yard return that helped set up Orlando's field goal for a 29-23 lead. With 1:55 remaining and having spent all our time outs on on that last drive, a deep kickoff placed us at our own 25-yard line. We went for a risky play right away and QB Bart Tanner's pass got picked off. Orlando ran one more play, but after they earned a new set of downs, victory formation was there.

QB Bart Tanner threw for 181 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. WR Preston Gray was on the receiving end of the touchdown, RB Renaldo Billodeaux accounted for our running touchdown. Somehow we stayed in the game, despite allowing 19 of 25 passes to get completed and giving up 5.44 yards per run, it felt like the kickoff return touchdown and field goal swinging interception at the end of the first half did us in. Field position and just enough third down conversions kept us in it.
23-29 loss


And that wraps up our 2112 season. A strange season, where we started 0-3, then got red hot by winning most of our games by 3 or less points, including coin flip wins over Gothenburg and Texas, to end the season with another 3-game losing streak, in which we lost our QB Harrison Singleton to a career threatening knee injury. It foreshadows a tough decision to make in the off-season, once we know how long Singleton will be out: do we search for replacement, or will we give the keys to Bart Tanner until Singleton returns. If he returns, or returns looking able to play at his old level.

We'll be roughly $40M over the cap, not accounting for the draft picks. Just 7 players are out of contract going into the off-season. Obviously emergency signing QB Cory Backer is one of them. FB Kenneth Holse, TE Arnie Huffman, kick return alternate WR Hunter Tuitele and CB Kent Wodarz will be restricted free agents and likely to have low demands. DT Dwayne Downs was a one-year rental, but if the cap space is available, we might try to bring him back. LT Harold Gruenwalder is the most interesting case. He was pushed into the starting lineup due to newly signed RT Clayton Bernstein's inability to play left tackle well and Gruenwalder surprised the football world with 0 sacks allowed in 494 passing plays, whilst not turning out to be the weak link in the running game. If Gruenwalder doesn't return, his agent's salary demands could be too rich for all 32 IHOF franchises, quite possibly forcing him into sitting out the season. Imagine that...

I also fear for QB Drake Bishop to retire, as he was active in just 1 regular season game, despite that last season he proved to be crucial for K Oscar Harrington as his kick holder. RB Bennett Holmes could be another suspect for retirement. But that's something to wait and see, after the remainder of the playoffs has played out.

[TheseBoots]

Nice write ups as always and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions knowing that other IHOF GM's read along. I was aware of that risk when I commented so I probably should say next time don't worry about answering until the season is over =)

Despite being a starting QB down it turned out to be a game which could have gone either way until that late, late pick.

Thanks also for the small history lesson. Typically Fairbanks would go on to win the bowl of course!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2113 begins

Some of our preparation to 2113 started during the playoffs. After we got knocked out by the Orlando Talons in a could have should have game. But before their luck ran out in the next round as they lost on a miraculous Hail Mary touchdown pass by the Toronto Lake Monsters, who went on to humiliate the Gothenburg Giants in Gothenburg 37-6 and in the IHOF Bowl ran out of luck as well, falling 20-13 against the Fairbanks Northstars, a team that went in to the playoffs with a 9-6-1 record and a -12 points differential. Anyway, we signed a couple of young guys that would be restricted free agents in the early free agency period: RB Korey Burnett, WR Edgar Horn, C Duane Ondre, LB Charles Wintch and S Tanner Phillip. Burnett played in 15 games for the Colorado Cutthroats in 2111, Ondre in 1 games for the Houston Stallions that season. The others are void of any playing experience in IHOF.

Our cap situation is doable. We're $40M over the cap, but almost $57M if we add in the most expensive 4 draft picks in of the 6 we have in hand. With 47 players signed, it means we have can get to the 53-men roster with just using the picks and not signing any free agents. Which won't do though, as we have a 12 free agents listed as on roster. I'm confident I can work out renegotiations to get us under the cap at the start of free agency, a cap out of our most expensive player WR Jessie Vertelney would save roughly $30M in cap costs. I will also have to look at the 16 players in the final contract year, I need to figure out which are worth locking up through 2114 or even beyond. QB Drake Bishop, RB Bennett Holmes, TE Garrett Alcala, G Brett Stickney and DT Gabriel Morris are amongst that bunch and being in their 30s, they are candidates for a wait and see, or the other way around, might want to extend to keep them from retiring.

There are two major roster spot situations to address: quarterback and left tackle. I elaborated on that after our loss in Orlando and the situation is unchanged.

QB Harrison Singleton is estimated to miss the first 22 weeks of the season, which adds up to all of pre-season and the regular season. I'd love to see him back for the playoffs, but we'd actually have to find a suitable replacement to get there and if we do, it wouldn't make sense to hand the keys to a rusty Singleton after his replacement got us that far.

LT Harold Gruenwalder is a free agent and coming off his best season ever. Every other team in the league would only see him as backup material in a pass heavy offense, but if he doesn't crash in pre-season, he's worth keeping as our man on the left side of the line. RT Clayton Bernstein has flopped as a LT alternative, but he's still signed for 3 more seasons and after he started in the last 4 games due to injuries on the line, he came around and went from demanding a trade to being just 'disgruntled'.

All things considered, an interesting off-season coming up, where I hope we can build on a strange yet hopeful 2112 campaign towards ending the Giants' domination of the division and hopefully getting things done in the playoffs.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2113 Draft and other stuff

The big pieces of the off-season have finished and we got out of it without much special to report on. That is to say, what is special in the off-season? A fancy top5 or draft pick usually is and so can be a free agent signing.

Let's start with the stuff that's always neat: the draft. We went into it with six picks, being down our 6th round pick for the rights to DT Dwayne Downs as a one-year rental. I decided that I wasn't too keen on the prospects left for the 2nd and 3rd round and swapped both for the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums 2nd round pick next draft and a 7th rounder this draft. That left us with 5 picks for the 2113 class, not counting the soon to be arriving undrafted rookie signings.

Pick 1.22 - LB Jorge Mayes
Planning ahead here as LB Gus Coleman is entering his 11th season. He might be not much more in potential than our 4th round pick last season (LB Nicolas Giles), but there might be nothing wrong to play them both, eventually. Mayes is a run stopper and zone defender with endurance. That's good enough for me. Worth a 1st round pick though? He feels like more of a 2nd round pick at the moment, despite his 30/70ish scouted ratings.

Pick 4.21 - DT Garrett Theurer
This pick somewhat crossed the free agency signing, which I will elaborate on later, making it a bit less likely Theurer will have a shot at making the 53-men roster, but we'll have to trust our staff regardless. Run defense, pass rush, play diagnosis. This kid can play 2 out of 3 downs. He arrives looking 25/50ish.

Pick 5.22 - LT Kristopher Harmon
It will come as no surprise that I was looking for a left tackle project after we lost LT Earl McBirney last season and as of this pick had no "I'm back" from LT Harold Gruenwalder either. If Harmon improves upon his initial looks, he'll be a worthy successor to Gruenwalder. Harmon arrived looking 25/50ish.

Pick 7.10 - QB Shawn DeLay
Clearly, a 10/40ish graded player can't be ready to quarterback a playoffs caliber team, but with QB Harrison Singleton out and the verdict far from out yet on QB Bert Tanner, picking up another project in the 7th round can't be a huge mistake.

Pick 7.22 - P Zack Lestage
Do we need a new punter? Maybe, maybe not. P Tyrus Johnston is barely a top10 player at his position, so taking a shot at the best of this rookie class late in the 7th round is worth it. We should hope Lestage will improve on his 40/50ish early impression.


Aside from the draft, the most surprising move was bringing DT Dwayne Downs back for another season, this time getting a 1-year $22.7M contract, which means we signed the top player from the Grey Sheet. So, yay. But it's quite telling no other team should even the slightest of interest in Downs and to be fair, we offered him the absolute minimum he was willing to consider midway through the early free agency.

LT Harold Gruenwalder signed a cheep 2-year deal, but I felt he deserves to stay and only in Maassluis can play up to starting quality with his cohesion boost.

Other than those two, we re-signed all the unrestricted free agents that we had on roster last season or signed to a future contract in the post-season. We'll lump QB Corey Backer into that pile as well.

That and we extended the contract of WR Jessie Vertelney through 2117. He better start posting 1,500-yard seasons. He barely got past 1,000 yards last season and didn't score a touchdown at all. Yikes.

Oh yeah, DE Howie Tucker decided to hold out. Which is a shame, because I was going to make him an offer during the pre-season anyway. I decided to make him a worthy offer before training camp, to talk him out of it.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2113 training camp with 70 men roster

DE Howie Tucker signed a new 3-year deal, quickly ending his hold out. Believe it or not: I offered him less than I likely would have during the pre-season action. He accepted the offer; jolly good, sir.

We signed QB Dakota Peterson from the Rochester Razorbacks. Their starter the last two seasons and previously the Snapfinger Jazz backup for 4 seasons. His production through the air is somewhat underwhelming, but at this point we have to consider a 45/45ish ball thrower with decent enough sense rush ability, running legs, timing and whatnot a pleasant placeholder for Singleton at $7.5M per season for 2 seasons.

We added up to 70 by signing 5 undrafted rookies: C Leonardo McConnell, DE Erick Carlin, DT Viking Wedderburn, DE Jamie Coffey and DE Leslie Kelly. The last two will be asked to bulk up and make a switch to defensive end. C McConnell is 20/35ish, DE Carlin 25/35ish, DE Coffey 20/45ish, DE Kelly 25/30ish and DT Wedderburn 25/40ish.

It means we go into camp with 6 quarterbacks (including QB Harrison Singleton), 5 running backs, 1 fullback, 4 tight ends, 7 wide receivers, 4 centers, 3 guards, 2 left tackles, 2 right tackles, 1 kicker, 2 punters, 8 defensive ends (excluding LB Avery Distel), 6 defensive tackles, 7 linebackers, 5 cornerbacks, 6 safeties and 1 long snapper. It will quite the challenge to trim down to 60 just based on training camp results. Although it should be obvious that the surplus position groups are the most likely spots to trim down...

With a new offensive coordinator style, it will be even more challenging to rework our game plan on offense.

Which sums up basically the action post draft and before training camp.

[MIJB#19]

Kerry Lewis added to Merchantmen Ring of Honor

Long overdue. 2046 IHOF Legend of the Game Kerry Lewis has been chosen to be the 100th addition to the Maassluis Merchantmen Ring of Honor. Football fans with a sense of history have lobbied for Lewis before, but it wasn't until now that the committee has caved in and accepts that the IHOF's all-time leader in games played deserves this spot. His name will be revealed on the ring during the pre-season week 2 home game against the reigning IHOF champion Fairbanks Northstars.

Although listed as a quarterback, Kerry Lewis joined the Merchantmen in 2029 with the intent to be their new kick holder and only third string emergency quarterback in the process, behind eventual Hall of Famer "Rusty" Harrison and career back Tracy Kerr. For 14 seasons, Lewis was the holder of kicker Charles Anthony, the all-time Merchantmen leader in field goals and points scored and in the latter the IHOF's all-time leader as well. When Anthony retired in the 2043 off-season, Lewis held the ball for Mack Heatherley for a season and 3 more for Marvin Creekmur.

Lewis was part of the franchise in a timeframe where the team made the playoffs for 9 seasons straight from 2035 through 2043, highlighted by an Atlantic Ocean Conference Championship in 2039 and subsequently lost IHOF Bowl. Curiously he was called upon just twice to play his natural quarterback position, leading his team to a 16-7 victory in week 17 of the 2037 season over the Bordeaux Vineyards when the #2 seed was already locked up and once more 2 seasons later late in a blowout loss at the Tucker Tigers.

Lewis' reputation as a holder was undisputed, best in the business. His iron man reputation is a result of playing in 287 regular season games and 17 playoffs games. If it wasn't for a shutout loss in week 9 of his rookie season where he didn't get onto the field, he would have accumulated 300+ straight games played.

But amidst a franchise with so many big names over 109 seasons of football, season after season he was an afterthought for the Ring of Honor. Until now, 66 seasons after his retirement. For a franchise that clamors to have a tradition of strong special teams units, it's about time Lewis joins the list, 3 seasons after Charles Anthony was added, which was also long overdue. Kickoff specialist Al Bettis and return specialists Jack Money, Scott Dupuis, Mark Perkins and most recently Calvin Maxwell also made the ring, most of them decades after the fact.


The full list of 100 names in the Ring of Honor
QB Louie Flannery*, "Rusty" Harrison*, Jay McGee, Bryson Chow*, Lester Lowe, Alfred Hickman, Ellis McAllister, Kerry Lewis
RB/FB Randy Harris, Stanley Givens*, Darrin Keegan, Harold Riley, Norbert Talley*, Fernando Scott
FB Albert "The Shovel" Shalon, Gilbert Taliancich
TE Jim Reiser, Jorge Jurevicius, Emmanuel Forbes, Monty Elliot
WR Bryce Ewald, Alfredo Bass, Gabe Springer*, Freddie Upshaw, Terry Thomason, Terry Haskell*, Jack Money, Kai Oburn, Riddick Stanley*, Scott Dupuis, J.R. Mills*, "Theo" Bondy*, Mark Perkins, Ed Schulz, Vinny Buysse, Calvin Maxwell
C Brant Heinrich, Shawm Hudspeth, B.J. Samuels, Cristian Sampson, Zack Whelan, Tom Anaya*, Butch Pearson
G Casey Kappers, J.J. Reilly, Ricky Castillo, Bryant Huffman, Carlos Webb, Michael Szott
OT "Indestructible" Ivan Jacques, Kerry Zumdahl*, Roman Torrez, Scott Null, Oscar Meadows*, Louie Murray, Nathan Hadinger, Howard Humphrey*
K Al Bettis, Charles Anthony
DE Broderick Amadro, Jordan St. Pierre, Daquan "Da Machine" Strugielski*, Arnie May, Richie Piotte*
DT Charles Gomez, Andy Cottle, Dennis Lucas*, Brian Lincoln, Shaun "The Behemoth" Hartman*, Preston Urquoila, Glen Stiegler, Darien Fletcher
LB Cody Cluff, Bernie Surry, Mike Kershner, R.J. Knight, Fred McCorkle, Daniel "Double D" Duncan, Wesley Devine*, Jeremiah Collier, Edward Ross*, Gabe Hamilton, Antoino Battle, Craig McCorkle*, Glenn Brewer, Brandon Brady
CB Tai Wayne, Randall Allen, Everett Heiser, Peter Tucker*, Kirk Hitchcock*, Ernie Grant
S Lincoln Gilmore, Eddie Cole, Jimmy Chellino, Perry Walker, Thurman Hopper, Devon Farrell, Bart Guthrie*
* IHOF Hall of Fame enshrined

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2113 Pre-Season Roster Set

Training Camp has finished and we told 10 players they won't make our pre-season roster. It's sad, because I saw upside in at least half of these kids. But we'll have to abide to the roster size limits and we'll still have an excess of 7 players to the regular season roster limit.

We released 7th round rookie QB Shawn Delay, last season's emergency signing QB Corey Backer, big-play WR Edgar Horn, undrafted rookie C Leonardo McConnell, 2112 5th round pick C Russell Mahoney, undrafted rookies DE Erick Carlin, DE Leslie Kelly and DT Viking Wedderburn, special teams expert LB Charles Wintch and finally 2112 undrafted rookie CB Kent Wodarz.

It wasn't even like they all had a bad training camp, Mahoney, Kelly and Wodarz were amongst the 11 players that made good progress. I'll list all the players that went +3 or better on the 1-100 scale by my staff.
QB Shawn DeLay +3
QB Bart Tanner +3
WR Rodolfo Lane +5
C Russel Mahoney +4
C Duane Ondre +6
LT Kristopher Harmon +3
P Zack Lestage +3
DE Erick Carlin +3
DE Lonnie Wynn +4
DE Jamie Coffey +5
DE Leslie Kelly +4
DT Francisco Blades +3
DT Garrett Theurer +5
DT Viking Wedderburn +3
LB Jorge Mayes +7
LB Nicolas Giles +5
CB Kent Wodarz +4
S Joe Ramsey +4

On the 60 men roster is QB Harrison Singleton. He's listed out for 22 weeks, which should keep him sidelined until roughly the start of the playoffs. Rest be assured, he won't see the field until he's cleared, there won't be any rushing him onto the field while almost ready. But it will mean we'll go into the regular season with 6 inactive players on the roster on top of the 46 active players. We'll see in a day or so where we stand as the re-assessment of mid-pre-season will be clear.

[TheseBoots]

I'm curious - from a game mechanics perspective - is there a risk that Singleton comes back considerably weaker? And if so, how risky do you believe it is? He's basically been out for a year by the time he should return, right? So hopefully not too much time to degrade.

[MIJB#19]

I'm curious - from a game mechanics perspective - is there a risk that Singleton comes back considerably weaker? And if so, how risky do you believe it is? He's basically been out for a year by the time he should return, right? So hopefully not too much time to degrade.We won't know until he's fully recovered. I'm expecting something along these lines:

Singleton will be listed as "out" until roughly week 10 or 12.

From there on he'll go somewhere from doubtful or questionable to probable. Eventually he'll be back to 100% in week 17 or thereabouts, at which point we'll know whether this injury cost him a ratings hit.
If there is a hit, we'll see a different player, but it's not carved in stone, neither do I know which ratings will or will not take a big reduction.
If, big if, there is no hit, Singleton will be rusty.

The really tricky part is whether or not to actually put Singelton on the field once he hits "doubtful" (or questionable or probable), because with these kind of injuries the risk of reinjuring are almost a guarantee (hence risking another season on the sidelines and what not). So, it's a no brainer to me, whatever happens, Singelton won't make it to the active roster unless he's 100%.

And that trickiest part of that: it will mean I need to keep my roster legal at all times, because if I miss an injury elsewhere on the team, or somehow end up with 45 active, the AI will goof around and activate Singelton no matter what, risk him getting on the field, reinjure himself and quite likely destroy his career.


Some people might throw Singleton on injured reserve at this stage already, but I'm going to try to stay optimistic and hope to see him return to 100% in time to start in the playoffs or earlier if we get lucky with his recovery. If by miracle we'll end up in the bowl game and Singelton is not yet 100%, there and then we'll have a decision to make, but to be fair, if we make it that far, would it make sense to bench the QB that got us there?

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Down to 53 for 2113?

Yesterday was the second cut down day. Without hesitation, we released 7 players to set a 53-men roster for the final 2 pre-season games. We split the first two beating the IHOF Champions Fairbanks Northstars 16-9 in Oranje Haven, while we followed up with a 33-28 loss at the Kansas Creationists.

The seven players released are RB Korey Burnett, G Jose Bryant, P Zack Lestage, DE Jamie Coffey, DT Garrett Theurer, S Joe Ramsey and S Tanner Phillip.

RB Burnett didn't play in the first pre-season games, but the lack of regression with the returning guys from last season at RB meant that there was no reason to replace any of them, making Burnett the 5th wheel.

G Bryant lost the roster spot battle for the 8th O-lineman to rookie LT Kristopher Harmon.

P Lestage looks like he's IHOF caliber, but our 3rd-year Tyrus Johnston is holding up in ability and potential as a top10 guy. I will keep my eyes open for a top5 guy, but for now Johnston is the best we can get. Lestage is now amongst 6 punters that are on the open market and seriously deserve a roster spot. Although, Lestage is about 32nd in ability, so it could be tough for him.

DE Coffey is now the most talented pass rusher on the open market. But we have so much similar guys on team already, with more years on roster. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess?

DT Theurer took a hit in potential in pre-season, according to my staff. It's too bad, I had good hopes for him. He's still decent backup material, but he wasn't going to play on our rotation behind 4 clearly better guys.

S Ramsey felt like a tough decision, he was the last man out. Reality is that we used him just twice in his first 2 seasons. So unless I could find an active roster spot for him, there was no way it would make sense to keep him, other than for injury replacement reasons or if one of the veteran safeties would have fallen apart, which didn't happen.

S Phillip lost the battle for the kickoff returner spot to RB Sherman Ward and in particular WR Hunter Tuitele. Phillip seems to have better potential, about to be better than both right now, but I decided against Phillip. This kid should make a roster spot elsewhere, it was a disgrace he sat without a roster spot elsewhere in the league all of last season.

We'll head into our final pre-season games now and start the talks with players out of contract next season. We have roughly $23.5M to work with and the most expensive player to talk with will be TE Ted Gordon, a proven 900-yard receiver.


This all also means QB Harrison Singleton did not get placed on injured reserve, we'll keep him inactive until he's ready to return at 100%. Only if the recovery ends up taking longer, we will reconsider late in the season. For the starting quarterback gig for the regular season, it's on between QB Bart Tanner and QB Dakota Peterson. In early pre-season action, Tanner got sacked a lot, while Peterson didn't get sacked and actually used his legs better than Tanner. I haven't made up my mind on this quite yet.

[MIJB#19]

Singleton returns to practice
Maassluis Merchantmen quarterback Harrison Singleton has returned to the practice field. After a grueling knee injury suffered in a week 16 loss at the Moontown Darksiders, Singleton had been sidelined. This week, he was cleared to return to joining the team during practice sessions. The Merchantmen medical staff upgraded Singleton's injury status from 'out' to 'probable'. But Merchantmen management has been clear about when and where Singleton will return to the starting lineup. General manager M.IJ.B. was clear: "Singleton won't join the active roster until he's upgraded to 100%." The medical staff projects a recovery maybe just in time for week 17's home game against the Paris Musketeers. Until then, Bart Tanner and Dakota Peterson will remain the viable options at quarterback.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2113, a lost season

I have no way to make things sound better than they are, we're near the bottom of the league after 12 weeks of action and it's quite clear that we're incapable of doing anything remotely close to what this bunch of players should be capable of.

I could try to motivate myself to recap every single game we've played so far, but it would be a depressing story as we started the season with a 3-game losing streak (23-27 vs Gothenburg, 14-26 at Frederick, 20-34 at San Antonio) and followed it up with a shocking 27-19 win vs Tucker, pathetic losses at Augusta (21-42) and Paris (10-21), a miraculous 20-18 win vs Snapfinger, hopeless losses at Bordeaux (21-42), Orlando (17-40) and Gothenburg (23-44) and an overtime 31-28 win vs Brooklyn. Curiously, we're 3-1 in home games this season, but our 0-7 record on the road makes it all moot.

I've flipflopped between QB Bart Tanner and QB Dakota Peterson. Tanner started in week 1, Peterson in week 2 through 7, then Tanner from week 8 through 12. Peterson has clearly been more prone to pass rush pressure. The offensive line has proven to be too weak to give the quarterbacks time, both struggle to complete 50% of their passes and float around 200 yards per game.

The ineptitude of our passing game has in no way been saved by our state of the art receiving group. WR Jessie Vertelney has 49 catches for 642 yards, without a single touchdown. WR Rodolfo Lane has 43 catches for 562 yards, with 8 touchdowns. TE Ted Gordon keeps getting in the way or making the safe target catches with 68 receptions for 711 yards. The rest of the bunch, let us not even talk about them.

Amidst this, RB Renaldo Billodeaux is on pace for a "Pro Bowl" worthy set of stats, averaging nearly 5.5 yards per carry with 4 100-yard performances and 8 touchdowns in 11 games. Yes, we're still a running team, but apparently even more so after switching from a "Smashmouth" type offensive coordinator to a "Balanced" type.

The defense and in particular the pass defense has played disappointing. We're not just last in yards per game allowed, but also in yards per pass attempt. And the pass rush is far from impressive, closer to a failure for what these guys' skills are than playing up to par. Overall, well, a unit we can't be proud of.

The special teams unit is doing somewhat fine. I guess.

European Division
1. Gothenburg 7-3-1
2. Bordeaux 7-4
3. Paris 3-8
4. Maassluis 3-8

Yeah, we're at the bottom. The division title is mathematically out already, because Gothenburg and Bordeaux still face one another in week 17 and both already have tie-breakers secured over us. Bordeaux will still be the team to surpass for the final wild card. Or we're going to need another kind of miracle, which would require the 8-3 Tucker Tigers to lose all of their final 5 games. Obviously we'll try to play spoiler to Bordeaux once they visit us, after all, we have 4 home games remining in the bottom 5, but even if we go undefeated in that final quintet, it's very unlikely.

Oh well, I might refocus on the return of Singleton in one of the final games. I'm still cautious, but so far the forecast is he'll be able to play up to the same level as before his injury. And all that with his contract year coming up in 2114...

[TheseBoots]

*Oof* Tough, tough season =(

Some small silver linings in the apparent return of Singleton as a capable player (fingers crossed...) and a higher than usual draft position

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Worst season ever avoided, barely

A dreadful season has come to an end. In a season where we got outscored by our opponents by 110 points over 16 games, it required a couple of blowout victories over our French division rivals to keep it north of our -122 figure in the 2102 season. It was still our 3rd ever with -100 or worse. "Dreadful" indeed.

That was a bit of a spoiler on our final games. In week 13 we managed to lose a home game to Harlem 35-23 despite picking their quarterback off 5 times. We followed up with a hard fought 29-22 loss at Chesapeake and in week 16 we lost 28-7 at home against Williamsburg. We wrapped around that unwatchable home game with solid 34-10 and 41-21 wins against Bordeaux and Paris. Beating Bordeaux required us 3 interception return touchdowns, whilst the week 17 victory saw QB Bart Tanner achieve his first 300-yard performance, leaning heavily on WR Jessie Vertelney's 149 yards receiving, his second best in 5 season with us.

European Division
1. Gothenburg 10-5-1
2. Bordeaux 9-7
3. Maassluis 5-11
4. Paris 4-12

Bordeaux would have still missed the playoffs had they beaten us in week 15, which is a tiny solace to what otherwise was a bit of a turnaround season for the Vineyards. Gothenburg lost crucial home games in the middle of the season to Tucker and Augusta, which dropped them to the #3 seed, although the Giants might put it all on their week 17 loss at Bordeaux. Despite our pathetic showing, we still didn't finish last in the division.

People in and around Indianapolis would have cheered for their team to fail even harder, but that's just not our attitude. We'll get the 7ht overall pick in the 2114 draft as well as a yet to be determined how high or low first round pick from Orlando.

Sadly QB Harrison Singleton didn't recover in time to get to play this season, but the outlook for now is he'll be as good as ever. Which is bad news for QB Dakota Peterson and QB Bart Tanner, as this should mean their demotion to playing for second fiddle in the next off-season. But with their respective bottom of the league passer ratings, they should be happy to still be in the league next season, they had the luxury to team up with the most talented wide receiver duo in the league right now and possibly in Merchantmen history.

RB Renaldo Billodeaux finished the season with 1,338 yards and 10 touchdowns without a single fumble. He was a rare bright light on our offense. Although WR Rodolfo Lane might be worth mentioning somewhat as he is quickly turning into one of the best punt return specialist in the IHOF ever.

The defense was plain and simply Merchantmen unworthy. The team finished last in sacks with just 20. The final stretch was just acceptable enough to finish below 400 yard per game allowed, but we still finished last. And the points allowed figure swung to Paris because of the head-to-head beating we gave them in week 17, or we would have "earned" another last place.

So, yeah, all in all, a season we shall try to forget as quickly as possible.

Is it 2114 already? Not yet, we'll have to sit out the playoffs first...

[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen Retirement Wave 2114
The 2114 IHOF off-season was unkind to the Maassluis Merchantmen. No less than 4 players to remember announced their retirements from football. 34 seasons of service accounting for 592 games played stepped away.

TE Garrett Alcala retired after 12 seasons in Maassluis. A high 2nd round pick in 2102, Alcala jumped into the starting lineup right away. Initially mostly as a blocker, but eventually his role in the passing game grew, resulting in a 14-touchdown season followed up by a pair of 100-catch seasons, including a 1,059-yard figure in 2106. With 688 receptions for 7,090 yards and 53 touchdowns, Alcala set new all-time highs for a Maassluis Merchantmen tight end. Alcala retires after 194 games played, all for the Merchantmen.

G Brett Stickney left the Merchantmen after 12 seasons. A 4th round pick in 2102, Stickney was a starter from day one on the team and only injuries ever kept him off the field. Reliable in both the pass protection and paving the way for the running backs, Stickney was a lineman the offense could depend on. Stickney steps away after an injury crippled 2113 season, putting 185 games played for the Merchantmen as his final tally.

RB Bennett Holmes retired after 11 seasons in Maassluis. A 3rd round pick in 2103, already as a rookie, Holmes was a member of a two- or three-headed rotation. Usually Holmes was listed as the starter, at least on paper. Stuck in the timeshare, despite consistently racking up 5.0 yards per carry seasons, his sole 1,000-yard campaign was in his 8th season with the Merchantmen. That season (2110), Holmes defied all scouting reports, while widely described as over the hill, he had a sensational 5.33 yards per carry. With 7,216 rushing yards, 34 rushing touchdowns and a 4.8 yards per carry average, Holmes certainly belongs amongst the list of legendary Merchantmen ball carriers, especially considering his (for a Maassluis running back) unprecedented 180 games played.

In contrast, DT Dwayne Downs played just 2 seasons in Maassluis. A #4 overall pick in 2101 for the Capital City Blues, Downs was a monster defensive tackle. After 10 seasons without playoffs football, the Toronto Lake Monsters hauled Downs as a free agent, helping them back into the playoffs. It turned out to be a 1-year stint as he was subsequently traded to Maassluis in 2112, where he also helped his new team make the playoffs. Last season Downs signed a new 1-year deal, for a 2nd and apparently final season with the Merchantmen. As a 6-time All IHOF selection, Downs might end up in the conversation for Hall of Fame accolades.

[MIJB#19]

Singleton signs new 3-year deal with Merchantmen
QB Harrison Singleton and the Maassluis Merchantmen today agreed terms on a new 3-year contract. Not counting the annual contract restructures, Singleton had reached the final season of his big 5-year contract signed in 2110, which came right after his first one and a half seasons as the starter. Following the grueling knee injury that side-lined Singleton for the entire 2113 season, the Merchantmen made no secret of wanting to lock up their franchise quarterback.

[MIJB#19]

John Aponte leaves Merchantmen for Colonials
Today the Williamsburg Colonials announced the signing of S John Aponte. The experienced and elite zone defender decided to turn down a contract offer from the Maassluis Merchantmen, where he had played all 8 of his IHOF seasons after being one of their 7th round picks in 2106. Aponte had been a starter from day one and leaves the Merchantmen after 131 games, never missing any.


Steve Aber signs with Ospreys
The Outer Banks Ospreys signed DE Steve Aber as a free agent. After 5 seasons with the Maassluis Merchantmen in a backup role, Aber spreads his wings in hopes to finally get a chance to show the football world he's got what it takes to be a premier pass rusher. Aber was a starter in several of the Merchantmen's sensational victories over the last 4 seasons, yet he never won team management over and was active in only 3 regular games in the last 3 seasons.


Merchantmen won't re-sign Sherman Ward and Freddie Burnham
Today the Maassluis Merchantmen have decided to not offer a new contract to free agents RB Sherman Ward and LT Freddie Burnham, while they will make an offer to CB Kent Wodarz. For Ward this ends the stint in Maassluis after 2 seasons as the team's kickoff returner and change of pace ball carrier. Burnham was a late season signing as injuries kept piling up on the Merchantmen offensive line. Wodarz returned to Maassluis late last season after he was a training camp casualty earlier in his second season in Maassluis. Wodarz already turned down a contract offer from the Merchantmen when he still had restricted status, hence it's unclear at the moment whether Wodarz desires to stick around or hope for a bigger contract elsewhere.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2114 training camp roster ready!

Our training camp roster is set. I've decided to not go over the top and bring the maximum of 70 players to camp, offering contracts to 10 free agents and seeing us sign 9 of them, to make for 61 players on team. That excludes RB Sherman Ward and LT Freddie Burnham (both are still with us as free agents), but they will not go along. It means we'll have to make just 1 release after camp and prior to pre-season action.

I've put QB Dakota Peterson in the trade block as I fully expect us to go with QB Harrison Singelton as our starter and with QB Bart Tanner in the backup role, ahead of kick holder Drake Bishop.

I'll list the 61 players by position group and elaborate on our off-season movements below each group. I can't truly forecast which players will make the 53-men roster eventually, after all, pre-season craziness has yet to take place.

Quarterbacks
45/45 QB Dakota Peterson
40/40 QB Harrison Singleton
20/35 QB Bart Tanner
10/10 QB Drake Bishop
Same group as the end of last season. The main change is Singelton returning to the team from injury and signing a contract extension. Both Peterson and Bishop are in the final year, Bishop will get an extension in pre-season. Peterson will be on the trade block.

Backfield
50/50 RB Rusty Kemp
45/45 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
40/40 FB Kenneth Holse
35/35 RB Cary Delgado
30/40 RB Edwin Erickson
25/35 RB Tommy Tasker
There are 3 new names here. Kemp is a 6th year veteran free agent signing, Tasker a 7th round rookie and Erickson an undrafted rookie. RB Bennett Holmes retired and RB Sherman Ward has been left unsigned. Kemp is an elite special teamer while also bringing along very good hole recognition, third down running, punt returning and blitz pickup skills. Tasker thrives from his breakaway speed and blitz pickup, while Erickson leans on hole recognition, breakaway speed and special teams ability.

Tight Ends
60/60 TE Ted Gordon
25/55 TE Corbin Robbins
35/35 TE Juan Brady
35/35 TE Arnie Huffman
20/25 TE Kyle Upshaw
Robbins was our top rookie pick at #19 overall, while Brady joined as a 12th year veteran to mentor him. Some claim Robbins was the second best at his position, but my staff disagreed and prompted me to pick him over the higher graded tight end. This fills the void of losing our all-time leading receiving tight end Garrett Alcala. Having Gordon and Robbins gives us plenty of opportunity to throw even more out of multiple tight end formations. Brady brings enough special teams skills, route running and run blocking ability to make him good enough for the 46-active slots.

Wide Receivers
75/75 WR Rodolfo Lane
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney
45/45 WR Preston Gray
30/30 WR Jaylen Gearhart
15/35 WR Maurice Sweeney
25/25 WR Kai Cote
15/20 WR Hunter Tuitele
Sweeney was a 7th round pick this draft, exclusively for his kickoff return ability, at which our staff expects him to be top20 already and potentially close to the top5. Lane has improved into best in business, wouldn't it be nice to actually see hm play up to it and get above his personal bests of 59 receptions and 757 receiving yards? Maybe Lane and Vertelney just needed to stick around and get Singelton back on the team to finally let the cohesion kick in?

Offensive Linemen
70/70 RT Ivan Dole
60/60 C Zane Chaplain
55/55 G Andres Uwaezuoke
25/75 LT Dan Clancy
45/45 RT Clayton Bernstein
25/45 G Kristopher Harmon
30/40 C Duane Ondre
20/45 G Alfred Pearsall
25/25 LT Harold Gruenwalder
Clancy was our pick at #24 overall and I truly hope his excellent pass protection skills will come true. Pearsall was an undrafted rookie signing, leaning towards a run blocking type. Grunewalder and Bernstein will likely battle for the mentor role for Clancy, although I could see us using Bernstein as our second guard.

Defensive Linemen
70/70 DT Efrain Hutchins
55/60 DE Lonnie Wynn
55/55 DE Calvin Buckley
45/50 DT Francisco Blades
40/40 DT Gabriel Morris
40/40 DE Christopher Wrighster
35/35 DE Howie Tucker
20/40 DE Ernest Frias
Frias is an undrafted rookie. We lost Dwayne Downs to retirement, a huge gap on the line. I may need to keep an eye open for a half-decent veteran that could step in here, as Hutchins, Blades and Morris is a little bit thin to get through the season. We also lost DE Steve Abner to free agency, a player I almost forgot that he was actually on our team, despite that he was a very reliable pass rusher when we had to use him due to injuries and stuff.

Linebackers
55/65 ILB Jorge Mayes
55/55 ILB Gus Coleman
40/40 ILB Xavier Hoover
40/40 OLB Bobby Diaz
30/50 OLB Nicolas Giles
35/35 OLB Avery Distel
25/40 OLB Raymond Casper
15/30 ILB Jimmie Poole
Casper and Poole are undrafted rookie signings. Casper is a special teamer with pass rush strength and play diagnosis, but is too small to switch to defensive end. Poole is a special teamer with pass rush technique and zone defense skills, but he's undersized to make a switch to defensive end. Key here is for Giles and Mayes to really get to their potential and start anchoring this defense.

Secondary
45/45 S Dan Peterson
45/45 CB Evan Merrell
45/45 S Noah Matthews
45/45 CB Byron Sokol
35/35 CB Skip Horner
35/35 CB Joel Delgado
20/40 S Joe Hamblin
25/30 CB Kent Wodarz
20/35 S Peter Hinsley
25/25 S Craig Clancy
15/25 CB Seth Hook
We lost S John Aponte to free agency, despite that I tried to re-sign him. Hamblin, Hinsley and Hook are all undrafted rookie signings. Hinsley is a zone defender. Hook is a special teamer with some man-to-man and bump and run potential. Hamblin is a run stopper and punishing hitter with some zone defense potential. It is what it is, I suppose? Until I ever re-figure out how defense works, this very talented bunch will not play up to their ability and finish last in passing yards allowed.

Special Teams guys
65/65 P Tyrus Johnston
85/85 K Oscar Harrington
20/20 LS Wayne Brewer
A fine group, with Harrington elite and the other two above average compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the league.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: And then there were 53
Yup, we've already trimmed down the roster. Almost, that is.

Training 2114 was slightly underwhelming. The list of players that made a strong impression wasn't as large is I could have hoped. At the same time, we've climbed back to the top of Mount Cohesion, which means we're a relatively old team with players that have little room of improvement. So, which players did make a good impression?
QB Bart Tanner, rookie TE Corbin Robbins, C Duane Ondre, rookie G Alfred Pearsall, rookie LT Dan Clancy, DT Francisco Blades, LB Jorge Mayes, LB Nicolas Giles, CB Kent Wodarz and rookie S Peter Hinsley.

Rookie S Joel Hamblin made too little progress to make our pre-season team. But he wasn't the only player to know for sure he won't make the 2114 team, as we releases 6 players after the first two pre-season games: rookie RB Tommy Tasker, TE Kyle Upshaw, WR Hunter Tuitele, G Kristopher Harmon, rookie LB Jimmie Poole and rookie CB Seth Hook. QB Dakota Peterson will not make the team either, he'll move to the Orlando Talons to improve from QB3 with us to QB2 with them.

The unexplainable mess of pre-season was unkind to RB Cary Delgado, FB Kenneth Holse, veteran signing TE Juan Brady, WR Hunter Tuitele, WR Jaylen Gearhart, RT Ivan Dole, K Oscar Harrington, DT Francisco Blades, DT Gabriel Morris, LB Avery Distel, CB Evan Merrell and S Craig Clancy. In practice, most keep their projected role on the team, except for Delgado (demoted to inactive mentor), Tuitele (cut in favor of rookie WR Maurice Sweeney) and Morris or Blades. We need to keep our eyes open for an improvement at our DT rotation.

The remainder of pre-season will be mostly used to lock up potential free agents. QB Drake Bishop, TE Arnie Huffman, WR Kai Cote, RT Ivan Dole, LB Avery Distel, LB Bobby Diaz and CB Skip Horner have been part of the first swing. RB Renaldo Billodeaux and P Tyrus Johnston have to re-evaluate their player agents' as their mathematically challenged assistants turned down the kind of contracts they usually prefer over high bonus deals. How about that.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot we actually played a pair of exhibition games. The first one saw the magnificent return of QB Harrison Singleton, as he completed 8 for 8 for 102 yards, 1 touchdown and a perfect passer rating against the defending NAC champion Hanalei Dragons. With Bart Tanner under center, we struggled in the second half, but so did the opponents as we ended up winning 24-13 with the half time score also being the end of game score.

In our first pre-season game at home, we beat the Kansas Creationists 16-10 in overtime, with RB Renaldo Billodeaux running the game winner in. QB Harrison Singelton somewhat struggled in his first on the field action in Oranje Haven after the horrific knee injury that sidelined him all of last season, but the connection with WR Jessie Vertelney looked smooth. Now, if only Singleton could jell with league best WR Rodolfo Lane and the tight end duo, we should be in for a fantastic season.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Yikes, we're in a tough division

The 2114 season is underway and the Merchantmen have played quite so-so-ish. In contrast, the rest of the division has steamrolled through the first 5 weeks, only tripping over fellow European Division teams, making for an incredible situation where a winning record could still put you in last place. How did we arrive there?

Week 1 vs Bordeaux
The official return of QB Harrison Singleton saw him shine like in his early seasons. Singleton threw for 238 yards, 2 touchdowns and ran for 52 yards on top of it. He found WR Rodolfo Lane for 130 yards and a touchdown, while TE Ted Gordon hauled in the other touchdown. Newly signed former Bordeaux RB Rusty Kemp accounted for 2 rushing touchdowns, while RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 117 yards.
Result: 43-27 win

Week 2 at Hanalei
A visits to the reigning NAC Champions saw us choke an early 17-0 lead based on interceptions from our defense on the Hanalei Dragons first two drives. Hanalei bounced back taking a 19-17 lead, but as our offense finally got rolling, we turned it into a 31-19 lead late in the 4th quarter. It wasn't enough as three straight drives saw QB Harrison Singelton turn the ball over, resulting in 22 unanswered points. Singelton threw for 279 yards with touchdowns to TE Ted Gordon and WR Jessie Vertelney, while RB Rusty Kemp ran for one and CB Evan Merrell returned an interception for touchdown.
Result: 31-41 loss

Week 3 vs Orlando
With a struggling Talons coming to Maassluis, there was some optimism in upsetting them. Despite our field position domination, a couple of interceptions thrown by QB Harrison Singleton kept things close. The Orlando offense woke up in the fourth quarter, tying the score with 40 seconds to go, but on our final drive, we decided not to play for overtime and Singleton found WR Rodolfo Lane for a Hail Mary 42-yard touchdown pass to grab an unlikely victory. Singleton threw for 287 yards and touchdowns to WR Jessie Vertelney and aforementioned game winner to Lane, for him adding up to 105 yards receiving. RB Rusty Kemp added a couple of rushing touchdowns to the tally.
Result: 35-28 victory

Week 4
We had once again the way too early bye week. It is what it is, we'll always have to deal with it.

Week 5 at North Plainfield
Rarely have we beaten the North Plainfield Plague while we were having a good start to the season and it turned into yet another disappointment. Losing the turnover battle 5-1, even our impressive red zone defense was insufficient to overcome all the giveaways. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns, one each to his duo TE Corbin Robbins and TE Ted Gordon, the latter on a 127-yard performance for the day.
Result: 20-30 loss

Week 6 vs Rochester
And then we bounced back, at home, again. The visiting Razorbacks were an opponent to fear, but for the first time this season our pass defense seriously showed up and held them to 38 net yards on 31 passing plays, averaging to a 1.23 yards per pass attempt average. In particular CB Evan Merrell was on fire, accounting for 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles (sadly neither turned into a turnover). The final score was still closer than needed to be, as the Razorbacks managed to score on a safety and a kickoff return touchdown. QB Harrison Singleton was underwhelming with 160 passing yards and 1 touchdown to WR Rodolfo Lane. RB Renaldo Billodeaux scored his first 2 touchdowns of the season.
Result: 25-21 victory

European Division standings
1. Paris 4-1
2. Gothenburg 4-2
3. Maassluis 3-2
4. Bordeaux 3-2

After week 5, the division was 11-2 in non-divisional games, with us accounting for both losses. In week 6, all three rivals lost and we jumped back into the race. I mean, with 5 rounds of divisional games still to be played, let alone 5 or 5 more games outside it, this is by no means a guarantee to end up in a strong division with 3 playoffs tickets and a last place winning record team.

With 3 wins at home and 2 losses on the road, we really have no idea what to think here. In particular QB Harrison Singleton has once again been the hit-or-miss version of himself and not the stellar game manager that he was in his frist 3 seasons. Quite the pity, as I was so happy about his recovery from the knee surgery and offered him a new semi-expensive contract. Sooner or later, we'll have to decided whether we see more upside in QB Bart Tanner, who is in his 3rd season now and needs to get on the field to develop. It might be a game plan problem, but that makes no sense given how well Singleton did early on with a similar game plan and with an inferior receiving group (no offense meant to our clearly over the hill veteran legends WR Calvin Maxwell and TE Garrett Alcala).

Next up the biggest test so far as the Toronto Lake Monsters will come to the city. Oranje Haven will be sold out once again, no doubt.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: It's Tanner Time

We're rolling on, but things are not quite going as you might expect. We lost DT Efrain Hutchins to a concussing against Rochester in week 5, while both QB Harrison Singleton and RB Renaldo Billodeaux dropped out against Toronto in week 7.

Week 7 vs Toronto
A big test against the virtual top seeds in the conference. QB Harrison Singleton had a crucial role with ill timed turnovers. We'll never know what could have been, but despite losing the turnover battle 4-0, we still managed to win the field position battle, which is quite improbable and proves we can play ball with the top teams. Singelton threw for 236 yards and a touchdown to TE Ted Gordon, with had 114 yards receiving while WR Rodolfo Lane had 108 yards receiving. RB Rusty Kemp added another pair of rushing touchdowns. But as the turnovers piled on, so came the injuries to Singleton, prompting the return of QB Bart Tanner.
Result: 21-42 loss

Week 8 vs Paris
There's no denying this: we completely blew Paris away. They dropped back to earth harder than I've seen teams fall back in quite some time. We outgained them 468 to 187 in total yards, overcame 3 interceptions thrown and still managed to almost shut them out, if it wasn't for their sole field goal with 5 minutes to go. Their bust-or-not quarterback managed to stay mistake free, but also got pulled and saw his back up play things out against our kick holder third string ball thrower. Humiliation at it's best or worst. QB Bart Tanner threw for 226 yards with 2 touchdown passes, while QB Drake Bishop threw for 1 touchdown. WR Rodolfo Lane had 122 yards receiving with 1 touchdown, TE Ted Gordon and RB Rusty Kemp also caught a touchdown pass. Undrafted rookie RB Edwin Erickson ran for 2 touchdowns.
Result: 41-3 win

Week 9 at Harlem
We followed up with a bit test at the Harlem Apollos and albeit we allowed touchdowns on their first two possessions, QB Bart Tanner and the guys around him played solid enough to make up for it with ball possession drives. Tanner threw for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to WR Rodolfo Lane, who gained 145 receiving yards in the process.
Result: 24-21 win

Week 10 at Bordeaux
The stomping of the French teams continued with a quite surprising easy win at the Bordeaux Vineyards. We seriously expected them to avenge the week 1 loss, but their defense really let them down. Or our offense is seriously getting pumped up, with QB Bart Tanner leading the way with 365 yards passing and 2 touchdowns to WR Rodolfo Lane, who in the process gained 176 yards. Undrafted rookie sensation Edwin Erickson ran for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns, all three scores in the first quarter. The offense stopped at 554 total yards, a figure I seriously thought we should be capable of, but haven't gotten really close to. Not to mention that until this game, I was still on the fence about whether Tanner is truly more promising that QB Harrison Singleton. The switch might be more final now than it was last season, I think it's Tanner Time.
Result: 38-12 win


European Division
1. Gothenburg 7-2
2. Maassluis 6-3
3. Paris 4-5
4. Bordeaux 4-5

Take away the pounding we gave the French teams and they're still combining for 1 win over .500, but the early season tight race could be headed for a two-horse race. One that gets a serious showdown in the next round of games, in an undeniable game of the week: the Merchantmen at the Giants.

The quarterback situation might be a non-situation now, the injury to Singleton may be a blessing in disguise for the team. The luxury at the running back position is more puzzling. Erickson has been amazing in the absence of Billodeaux, but our #1 rusher is fully recovered for the game in Gothenburg, while Kemp is a touchdown machine. Rodolfo Lane has risen to the top and at least for a week, he'll be called the leading receiver in the IHOF. Ted Gordon is also on pace for a 1,200-yard kind of season. Now imagine Jessie Vertelney actually improving from his 4 catches for 46 yards per game and this offense could challenge for one of the most productie Merchantmen offenses ever. 400+ yard per game offense are rare in Maassluis, it happened in 2058 and 2059 (when QB Lester Lowe was at his peak), 2077 (when QB Sammy Erickson threw for 4,731 yards with 2,228 to WR J.R. Mills) and 2078 (the one-season rental QB Bennett Morris' season). All of which were phenomenal fun offenses to watch.

But, this might be the jinx of jinxes and make this team drop hard in our next game, which for decades has been our hardest game of the season. Our last two wins in Gothenburg were in 2103 (11 seasons ago) and 2087 (27 seasons ago). We played a strong game at the NAC Champions in week 2, maybe we can do the same at the AOC and IHOF champions in week 10. I won't count on it, but this team has been amazing at times. So, why not?

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Playoffs?

Okay, the season is shaping up to be a good one. Still, second place behind the Gothenburg Giants, but with 2 games remaining against them, there was every reason to think the division title was still possible, at the very least mathematically speaking. But a loss in Gothenburg would drop us behind 2 wins and as I mentioned in my previous update, a visit to Gothenburg was up next for us.

Week 11 at Gothenburg
Boy, oh boy, did we let ourselves down in this game. We actually played kind of quite well, but QB Bart Tanner threw no less than 6 interceptions and saw his sidekicks lose 2 of 3 fumbles. Add in an unimaginable 2 kickoff return touchdowns allowed by what should be the best special teams unit in the league and you have to understand there's only just as much as a defense can do is keeping the Giants offense to 2 touchdowns and 3 field goals. The running game was invisible as Tanner was forced to throw a lot, throwing for 246 yards and running for a touchdown. Third string QB Drake Bishop threw a touchdown pass to WR Jessie Vertelney in garbage time. THe score board showed a scoring deficit, no lies.
Result: 14-37 loss

Week 12 vs Oakland
The best remedy to a painful loss is going to your own home stadium and putting up a fight against an opponent that could be considered to be the better team. It turned out the Black Panthers came to Maassluis to display one of their sloppiest performances in a decade. Or maybe we also deserved some credit with outstanding defensive play and an offense that played their hearts out, scoring touchdowns on our first four possessions. QB Bart Tanner returned to turnover free game management, throwing for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns, wit a pair to WR Jessie Vertelney and one to TE Ted Gordon. RB Rusty Kemp ran for 2 touchdowns, while rookie sensation RB Edwin Erickson ran for 123 yards, including a phenomenal 54-yard touchdown.
Result: 42-7 win

Week 13 at Fort Wayne
In season like these, the Merchantmen have a knack for pissing away games at struggling teams, which was certainly the right description for QB Ellis Cushman's Fury and their 1-10 record going into this game. The stud quarterback didn't play all that bad even, but the Merchantmen were more solid all around as QB Bart Tanner threw for 222 yards, a touchdown to WR Jessie Vertelney and pounding one own his own as well. Rookie RB Edwin Erickson was brought back to earth on 13 carries for 22 yards showing, but with the likes of TE Ted Gordon gaining 112 yards receiving, the offense showed their ability to make up for struggling others. The end result was a save and sound victory.
Result: 26-17 win

Week 14 vs Fairbanks
With the visiting Northstars struggling after a strong start to their season, the defense put another impressive game on the field. The visiting offense never got far from the 50-yard line, while we made the best of the positive turnover battle. QB Bart Tanner threw for 196 yards, with a touchdown to WR Rodolfo Lane and yet another running touchdown. RB Renaldo Billodeaux scored the other offensive touchdown, showing he was rightfully returning to the starting lineup ahead of the rookie RB Edwin Erickson.
Result: 24-3 win

Week 15 at Paris
Despite that we managed to overwhelm the Musketeers most of the game, our offense struggled to get points on the board. With just over a minute remaining, Paris scored their first touchdown of the game after a long drive that started right after QB Bart Tanner got picked off in the their end zone while we were driving for the game clinching touchdown. They failed on their two-point conversion, but they did recover the onside kickoff and we were in for a nail biting final minute. The defense came up strong to end it there and then. QB Bart Tanner threw for 307 yards with a touchdown to TE Ted Gordon, while RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown.
Result: 17-12 win

Week 16 at Colorado
And then the wheels came off, in terms of that we somehow failed to put a passing game on the field. Sure, losing WR Jessie Vertelney at the eleventh hour to an appendectomy was tough, but we should have plenty enough left to make up for it. QB Bart Tanner threw for just 180 yards in 53 passing plays, getting held without a touchdown, although he did run for a score. As did RB Renaldo Billodeaux on his 132-yard performance.
Result: 20-33 loss

With a 10-5 record going into the final game of the regular season, we knew we were in a win is in modus and could otherwise sneak in if the Snapfinger Jazz would complete their late season collaps (after a 9-2 start) with a loss at the Tucker Tigers. The bad news, we were up against the Gothenburg Giants, albeit at our own place. The good news, they might rest a player or two after having locked up the #1 seed in the AOC with their 13-2 record.

Week 17 vs Gothenburg
A final showdown to the regular season as we turned the game of the week into a sensational one. Gothenburg showed up, eager to win another game, but so did we, as our offense played their hearts out and the defense with the knives between the teeth. G Andres Uwaezuoke got ejected from the game early on for unsportsmanship conduct, DT Efrain Hutchins was carted off while playing like this was the last game of his career (I hope not, he's way too young) and one of the Giants offensive linemen was carried off with a concussion.
We stormed to a 14-0 lead, but just as easily saw the Giants level things in the second quarter after a very short field following Bart Tanner's first interception. The second half turned into an all or nothing party, as neither punter got a chance to show their skills. Every drive ended with a touchdown, a successful field goal or got cut short by an interception. The Merchantmen today were better at this and slowly but steadily we gained and increased the lead.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 269 yards, with touchdown passes to WR Preston Gray (twice) and RB Renaldo Billodeaux, whilst Tanner also ran for a touchdown. Billodeaux ran for 111 yards, showing once again how crucial it is for the Merchantmen offense to stay unpredictable.
Result: 40-30 win

Playoffs baby!

European Division
1. Gothenburg 13-3
2. Maassluis 11-5
3. Paris 7-9
4. Bordeaux 6-10

Gothenburg steamrolled through the regular season, we were actually the first team this season to score more than 26 points against them. They earned the #1 seed on head-to-head win over the equally impressive 13-3 Toronto Lake Monsters. Just behind them are the 12-4 Tucker Tigers, our next opponents. The Tigers actually had to win their last game to avoid missing the playoffs (with an 11-5 record), as they held the 10-6 Snapfinger Jazz outside the playoffs. Also making it in the AOC are the 9-7 Houston Mustangs and 11-4-1 Augusta Greenjackets, the later are on a sublime 10-game winning streak as they will travel to Houston to keep that going.

The NAC wasn't just a punch of pushovers, as the 12-4 Chesapeake Chitterlings, 11-5 Texas Sharks, 11-5 Kansas Creationists and 10-6 Hanalei Dragons all went through a strong regular season campaign. They were joined by the 9-7 Capital City Blues and the 9-5-2 Oakland Black Panthers, who will face division rivals Hanalei again after a much needed week 17 victory at them.

So, we return to the playoffs once again, for the third time in 5 season. Despite that QB Bart Tanner didn't put much more impressive passing numbers on the field than QB Harrison Singleton did, the little things added up just enough for Tanner to go 8-2 in win/loss while Singleton went 3-3 as a starter. Tanner threw for 2,544 yards, 15 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and ran for 5 touchdowns. Singleton threw for 1,449 yards, 10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and didn't run for a touchdown.

Our running game was one key to our success as we finished the regular season with league leading 5.08 yards per carry. RB Rusyt Kemp ran for 832 yards (4.81 avg) and 10 touchdown, RB Renaldo Billodeaux for 739 yards (5.13 avg) and 4 touchdowns, and RB Edwin Erickson for 405 yards (6.33 avg) and 6 touchdowns. Erickson earned the Dogbytes Offensive Misfit Toy Rookie of the Year honors.

The receivers group was both impressive and still somewhat underwhelming for what they should be capable of. WR Rodolfo Lane had 87 catches for 1,354 yards and 9 touchdowns (whilst also being the league's best punt returner), TE Ted Gordon had 114 catches for 1,227 yards and 7 touchdowns, WR Jessie Vertelney had 55 catches for 724 yards and 6 touchdowns, rookie TE Corbin Robbins had 31 catches for 399 yards and 1 touchdown. Gordon and Lane are both in the running for All-IHOF accolades.


But that's all the past now, we're moving on into week 18, the start of the playoffs, the wild card round. We'll be visiting the Tucker Tigers, the most successful franchise in the IHOF and the team we have by far the worst winning percentage against. Our last two encounters with the Tigers were both impressive victories, but we actually haven't played at Venable Stadium since 2005. Our last victory there was in 2087, 27 seasons ago.

So, let's bring out all the clichés and tells us why we actually do stand a chance and might come up with an upset victory. I can't think of any that quickly, but we have reason enough to think we have what it takes to pull it off. So, make it happen. Go Merchantmen!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Background Information: The inactive squad and the new arrivals

"Why is this player on the team?"
One fellow IHOF general manager once said something along those lines, pointing out that an important part of roster management is having a plan for every single one of the 53 roster spots. Now, I know I've been said to be one of those kind of general managers, but sometimes I wonder myself: am I, really? So, as it got me thinking, I decided to take a look at the current roster of 53 (yay, we actually have only 53 and no extra's due to injured reserve long term troubles) and look at two groups of players. The first being the group of players that joined the team in 2114 and the second being the group of players that spent (most of) the regular season on inactive. I'll start with that second group.


The inactive seven

RB Cary Delgado
Delgado lost the third down back role to new signing Rusty Kemp, but he was still capable of mentoring our undrafted rookie Edwin Erickson. He was also our backfield leader, although I honestly don't pay much more attention to this than trying to avoid conflicts.

TE Juan Brady
The plan was to make Brady an active backup, but he ended up being an inactive mentor to rookie first round pick Corbin Robbins. In case of injury, which always is tricky at tight end, he'd have been a worthy replacement for the special teams duties. And like Delgado, Brady is a position group leader.

WR Jaylen Gearhart
He was bound to ride the bench, but ended up on the inactive group lacking special teams skills. Freaky enough, we had to activate him in the last two games and in his seventh season on roster had his first receptions. How about that.

LT Harold Gruenwalder
The explanation repeats, Gruenwalder was on the team to mentor rookie Dan Clancy. And in case of injury emergengy, I wouldn't feel all that bad if Gruenwalder and his cohesion would be forced to play a game.

LB Gus Coleman
This was the shocker, at mid-season I decided to bench our richly rewarded legend after 10 seasons as our starter and last season's share time role. We have better pass defenders and run stopper and Coleman has no place on the special teams squad. He was still able to mentor second-year pro Jorge Mayes.

LB Raymond Casper
This was a tough decision as Casper could be a promising run stuffer, albeit undersized to play on the defensive line. His special teams skills were too little still to onto the field there, but next season his chance will come. If he gets re-signed.

CB Kent Wodarz
A solid enough zone defender and ok-ish special teamer, but I'm not confident enough in Wodarz to let him play. He's locked up for another season. We might need him if S Craig Clancy decides to retire or undrafted rookie S Peter Hinsley doesn't want to re-sign. Hinsley's emergence as a worthy nickel and dime formation zone defender was part of the reason.



The new arrivals for 2114

RB Edwin Erickson
The undrafted rookie emerged as a worthy replacement for Renaldo Billodeaux. For a short while, I thought he was solid enough to become the starter now, but that makes no sense just yet. Erickson is on a 1-year deal and giving him too much playing time makes him unaffordable, even as a restricted free agent. But more importantly, Billodeaux is still more developed and skilled in every aspect. Erickson is a younger version of him, he was rushed into action and was supposed to jell with the team for a season or two, like we usually do with time-share running backs.

RB Rusty Kemp
Unlike the rookie Erickson, Kemp was forced into action because veteran Cary Delgado hit a wall in pre-season. Kemp didn't and got promoted from just special teams duty to also being our third down back and our change of pace guy. He scored 11 touchdowns, he aced it.

TE Corbin Robbins
We didn't really need a new TE2, but then there was this kid available in the draft and I figured: why not? We threw the ball 3.5 times per game to him, he made about 2 catches per game. We use a lot of multiple tight end formations, so it makes sense to have a second solid player at his position.

TE Juan Brady
I talked about him already. He spent the season mentoring Robbins.

WR Maurice Sweeney
This kid was our new kickoff returner. He didn't wow, but he's still green and should be able to reach the 30-yard per return figure we desire to see from him.

G Alfred Pearsall
In a way it was too bad we failed to make him play more on the special teams unit, as is usually the plan with our backup linemen. He did have a mentor in Andres Uwaezuoke, but I decided to make him play a backup role and play our backup RT Clayton Bernstein at left guard.

LT Dan Clancy
Promising pass blocker, he had to play and so he did. Knowing O-line stats are more of a team performance than individual, the kid allowed only 3 sacks in 619 pass plays. That's outstanding.

DE Ernst Frias
Initially he was only on our goal line personnel, but at mid-season as we had to readjust over Efrain Hutchins injury, I gave more place on run-oriented formations.

LB Raymond Casper
I talked about him already.

S Peter Hinsley
This undrafted rookie took his chance and I fully expect him to be a sought after player in post-draft free agency if we decide to not reward his season with a big contract, as I fully expect his agent to demand important backup role money. And we'll give him $5M per season if that's what they want. This kid will be the replacement of John Aponte (he signed with the Williamsburg Colonials in the off-season) that we needed.



So, that's some background information on why these guys were still on our team. And why they will be on the team in the next 1 to for 4 weeks...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: One And Done

2114 has ended. The IHOF Bowl was the other night and our rivals from up north lost a defensive battle to the Chesapeake Chitterlings 21-17. Nope, we didn't make the big game. Gothenburg beat Tucker in the AOC Championship game. Which is a spoiler about what happened to us in the playoffs.

Week 18 at Tucker
I took the liberty to call one or two games in the regular season the worst of our season. In fact, I think there was only one true beatdown, the loss at Colorado. The other losses we could link prominently to our lack of ball protection as fumbles and interceptions were all over our offense.
Not so much in this game at the Tucker Tigers. We were dreadful defensively, allowed the Tigers to gain 538 total yards, down 21-0 nothing before the first quarter was over. That's nowhere even close to how reliable our defense has been in the regular season. Thankfully we had an offense capable of sniffing at 400 yards and even putting 40 points on the board against Gothenburg. But that offense wasn't present in Tucker either. We scored one lowzy touchdown and our kicker that gets twice the money the second highest paid kicker gets missed the extra point. We also lost the turnover battle 3-0, but that was far from the reasons, as 2 of our turnovers came in garbage time and with QB Harrison Singelton back under center after we decided to yank our better quarterback in a must win game.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 157 yards, including a 72-yarder to TE Ted Gordon. Our running game was actually solid, but somehow we chose to call a pass about 3/4th of the time. That's no Merchantmen football...
Result: 6-34 loss


On the roll over of seasons, we received the news of 3 players retiring from football that were on our roster last season.

TE Juan Brady spent just 1 season with us, inactive, mentoring our first round rookie TE Corbin Robbins.

CB Evan Merrell stepped away after 10 seasons floating around in the AOC to 3 different teams. Orlando was his first stop after they selected him in the first round of the 2105 draft. His ability to play football took a sudden nose dive in pre-season 2107, which led to Orlando letting him walk after a decent 2108 campaign. He signed in Gothenburg for 3 seasons and after that he moved on to our team. He played 47 games with the Orlando Talons, 41 with the Gothenburg Giants and 50 with us. His retirement was quite sudden after a strong season with 5 interceptions and 18 defended passes. Quite the bummer for us that he's leaving us after that.

And then there was a serious big name retirement.

LB Gus Coleman, our high 2nd round pick in the 2103 draft spent all 12 of his seasons in IHOF with us. He played in a rotation role as a rookie, but from his second season he was an every down man for 8 straight seasons. Then age happened and younger guys took over step by step, until Coleman became an inactive backup late last season, making miss a game for the first time in his career. The final tally? 191 games played, 8 seasons with 100+ tackles (he ranks 5th all time with 1203 tackles for us), 35 interceptions (6th all-time amongst all Merchantmen players. 5 time All-IHOF selection, twice a 2nd teamer. Yeah, was a mirage of what he used to be, but we can't forget that he was a key player in our turnaround back into a contender at times as we reached the playoffs 4 times during his tenure.


So, into the future we go now. By virtue of trades, we're going into the draft with the #13, #23, #24, #55 and #56 picks heading our 10-pick load. We're going into free agency with 42 players signed and just $2.5M over the cap. RB Edwin Erickson, G Alfred Pearsall, DE Ernst Frias, LB Raymond Casper and S Peter Hinsley are restricted free agents after their undrafted rookie season. LT Harold Gruenwalder chose to not retire, we might try to bring him back for another season, although we have another mentor for LT Dan Clancy on team already. C Duane Ondre will likely be a hot commodity in free agency. DT Francisco Blades might be demanding too much money for any other team out there even looking at him, unless they like his zodiac sign.

So, that's our wrap of 2114 and the introduction to 2115. Here we go!

[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen retirement stories
During the average IHOF off-season, roughly 800 football players or hopefuls announce their retirement from football. Some after highly decorated seasons, receiving news stories in several media. Others were already stuck in anonymity after they didn't find a roster spot in what supposed to be their rookie season and step away unnoticed. The Maassluis Merchantmen have a tradition of giving players that made some impact for the team to get a bit of a farewell call. Even if they didn't retire officially as a Merchantman. Here's a shout out to 6 players that didn't make the headlines.


Abraham Desimone
Linebacker Desimone was the Merchantmen's first selection in the 2100 draft, being taken in the middle of the third round. After a situational role as a rookie, he became an all downs starter in his second season and remained to be so for 7 straight seasons. In 2108 the decline kicked in as his role shifted to mostly passing downs. In 2109 he signed with the Williamsburg Colonials as a free agent after his player agent demanded all downs rewards. In 2110 Desimone got severely injured and missed most of the regular season. In 2111 he returned in a time share role, but in the 2112 off-season he didn't survive the 53-men cuts in Williamsburg and got no other interest. He retired in the 2113 off-season, having 146 games played for the Merchantmen on his resume, once earning All-IHOF second team honors.

Darnell McKie
Tight end McKie rolled into the Merchantmen roster as an undrafted rookie free agent signing in 2102. He was active in all 16 games that season as the TE3, but it was in 2014 when he made some moderate impact on the team, becoming a reliable third and short and goalline situation target. In 2105 he dropped to fourth string and after unexplainable regression in his ability, he never got back to his 2104 form and the downfall kicked in. In 2111 the unavoidable happened as McKie was released in the pre-season cutdown wave to 53. He got a short stint with the Toronto Lake Monsters, signing with them in the post-season, but after he didn't get a contract in the 2112 off-season, McKie retired officially in the 2113 off-season. His resume in Maassluis shows 94 games played, with 5 of his 6 touchdowns scored in the 2104 regular season and playoffs.

Gino Shea
K Shea was taken high in the third round of the 2098 draft. Despite being clearly an IHOF caliber kicker, in 2101 he couldn't come to an agreement with the Merchantmen on a contract extension, prompting his departure as a free agent in 2102. Shea moved on to the Chesapeake Chitterlings, where he got to play in his first IHOF Bowl right away, albeit losing to the Toronto Lake Monsters. In 2108 came the highlight of his career, winning the IHOF Bowl with Chesapeake. The next off-season he didn't find a new team after his contract had expired, until Toronto picked him up in week 13 of the regular season. In 2112, still with Toronto, he played and lost in his third IHOF Bowl. In 2114 he was cut shortly after a 42-21 victory with the Lake Monsters in Maassluis and he didn't get a third chance elsewhere. This off-season he announced his retirement from football after 17 seasons, having played 270 football games in IHOF, with 64 of those for the Merchantmen.

Jimmy Summers
Punter Summers was a third round pick in 2099 for the Arizona Miners, where he stayed for 6 seasons. After getting cut in the 2105 pre-season, he got quickly picked up to punt a season for the Houston Mustangs. In 2106 Summers signed a 3-year deal with the Maassluis Merchantmen in late free agency and in 2108 signed an extension through the 2110 season. After the Merchantmen picked punter in the 2111 draft, Summers was signed at the 11th hour by the Tucker Tigers and lost the IHOF Bowl with them. In 2112 the Bordeaux Vineyards signed him. In the 2114 off-season Summers announced his retirement from football. His resume shows 82 games played for the Merchantmen.

Daniel Shapiro
S Shapiro played 36 games for the Maassluis Merchantmen in the prime of his football career. After 4 seasons with the Atlanta Vipers, the 2101 first round pick forced becoming a free agent in 2105 after holding out for 6 weeks in 2104. The Merchantmen went through the same headcase situation in his third season in Maassluis (2107), when he held out through week 8. The Fairbanks Northstars signed Shapiro in 2108, where he hung around until they cut him right before opening day 2112. Shapiro didn't get a new chance.

Tommy Tasker
Running back Tasker's career in the IHOF was short, almost non-existent. The breakaway specialist with receiving skills was taken by the Merchantmen in the 7th round of the 2114 draft. Albeit not surviving the roster cuts for the regular season, the Merchantmen were hoping to have a training camp roster spot for Tasker for a second chance, although they didn't opt to offer him (or anybody else) a future contract in the playoffs.

[QuikSand]

Merchantmen retirement stories

Gino Shea
K Shea was taken high in the third round of the 2098 draft. Despite being clearly an IHOF caliber kicker, in 2101 he couldn't come to an agreement with the Merchantmen on a contract extension, prompting his departure as a free agent in 2102. Shea moved on to the Chesapeake Chitterlings, where he got to play in his first IHOF Bowl right away, albeit losing to the Toronto Lake Monsters. In 2108 came the highlight of his career, winning the IHOF Bowl with Chesapeake. The next off-season he didn't find a new team after his contract had expired, until Toronto picked him up in week 13 of the regular season. In 2112, still with Toronto, he played and lost in his third IHOF Bowl. In 2114 he was cut shortly after a 42-21 victory with the Lake Monsters in Maassluis and he didn't get a third chance elsewhere. This off-season he announced his retirement from football after 17 seasons, having played 270 football games in IHOF, with 64 of those for the Merchantmen.


I have been all over the place with kickers in this league, in my (gulp) 120+ seasons in this league. I think for a long stretch I committed to spending the absolute minimum at the K position, and signed a new undrafted rookie each season. I committed to one guy with a funny name (http://www.fof-ihof.com/playercard.php?playerid=23697) for a 17 year career and he's among the all time league leaders in some stats. And more recently I have mostly plunged for value among veteran free agents, signing and re-signing K Gino Shea for several seasons with my Chits, including the bowl win seven years back. Part of his place in my memory is that his name triggers an earworm song that made mention of Chilean strongman Pinochet by name, so I end up muttering "Hey Mister Gino Shea" in tune, in my head when I see him on screen and get a snicker out of it, because my mind just loves fake/parody song lyrics.

Anyway... good on you, Mister Gino Shea.

[MIJB#19]

in my (gulp) 120+ seasons in this league.We can relax for a bit here, we're only in the 112th season of IHOF football. :D

[QuikSand]

ah, right, not a math guy here

[tzach]

gino shea was pretty good for toronto while it lasted -- but a guy similar to him but some 15 yrs younger was available. that's how it goes in football.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Let's blame it on the player agents, again

QB Bart Tanner has announced to hold out. And so have DE Lonnie Wynn and LB Bobby Diaz. Their player agents are total morons, they should know by now that players like these (starters in the final year of contract) three would always get a contract extension offer in pre-season from us. Diaz' demands are fair and if it wasn't for that toll of an agent, we would have made him a better offer than requested. Same story on Tanner. My plan is to lock him up for 3 seasons, one more than their request. Wynn's demands are ludicrously exorbitant. He's requesting the kind of money that neither fits with his ability nor with his playing time and role on the team, let alone his good, but far from great statistics.

My main concern for now is finding the right contract for WR Rodolfo Lane, also in his final year. His demands are obviously insane ($70M per season), but it's not absurdly more than what we're offering WR Jessie Vertelney. The later and TE Ted Gordon signed a restructured longer contract, which gives us just enough cap room to make Lane an offer.

The biggest challenge after that is finding the right way to free some money up for aforementioned Tanner and Diaz. One way would be to restructure the deal with QB Harrison Singleton. Which will be tricky and kind of illogical as he's getting the second highest cap figure on team while likely to be our backup of Tanner in the upcoming season. Releasing Singleton will clear about $22.7M, which would put us in a spot where we're looking for a new backup QB. Restructuring the Singleton deal with an additional year could clear about $7.5M, a cap out roughly $10.5M. The conundrum really is: do we feel okay paying $25M to our backup quarterback, knowing he'll be demanding a trade by the end of the season if he doesn't get forced into a lot of action because of an injury to or terrible performance by Tanner.

The cap situation is very whacky at the moment. We're about $18M under the cap, with 53 signed (including 3 hold outs) and projected to be roughly $165M under next season. A truckload of that will be spent on WR Lane, but that still leaves us with about $80M to work on extensions. And we're going to have to with 22 players in the final contract year. It's an unusual situation for the Merchantmen. Obviously, I want to extend them all, but most of these players will also require a small investment from this season's cap. In other words, we have enough cap space next season to keep many of those players, but lack the space this season to make it happen. I mean, I doubt we have obvious dead weight hanging around on the team. I did re-sign backups DT Francisco Blades and RB Edwin Erickson to relatively cut friendly new contracts, which could combine to another $7M to work with, but clearly I hope to keep them on the team for the upcoming season.


The draft and pre-draft free agency have ended now. Aside from our usual wave of contract renegotiations with the expensive players, we managed to re-sign second year G Alfred Pearsall, LB Raymond Casper, DE Ernest Frias, RB Edwin Erickson and S Peter Hinsley. C Duane Ondre and DT Francisco Blades were unrestricted free agents and give us depth at their positions. We didn't sign anybody from other teams. LT Harold Gruenwalder is still a free agent, we hope to sign him to a cheap minimum deal in time for training camp as I don't expect to see him get playing time on the team, but it's better to have him as our 9th lineman for pre-season as his cohesion value makes him more useful than most others on the market.


I'll try to elaborate more on our draft picks after we filled our training camp roster with undrafted rookies. For now, I can tell you we ended up using all three first round picks in their own slots and traded away everything else, except our seventh round pick. We took CB Clyde Monds at spot 7.24 after we spent the #13 on WR Rufus Montgomery, #23 on DT Carlos Fisher and #24 on G Herb Nieves. I think Monds could help in our run defense. Fisher is an all around DT, but we'll still need a third DT next to Fisher and DT Efrain Hutchins to give the two studs some time to catch their breath. G Nieves should be our new left side guard. Montgomery was the surprise here, being the first WR taken this draft. He was the top WR on our board, despite that the league scouting had him listed as the 10th best or there about. Anyway, it will mean we'll have to work on a game plan with 5 1st round pick targets, which hopefully will be what we needed to finally unleash both WR Vertelney and WR Lane. But more on that later, probably.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: the 2114 undrafted rookies

The rest of the league is paying more attention. For the first time in quite some seasons a good number of undrafted rookies that I made an offer to, decided to sign elsewhere for a much better offer. Sure, I'm a little bit of a lowballer, but we're never offering just the rookie minimum salary at this stage of the season. Curiously, we missed out on all the offensive players we targeted. Who did we sign? K Zack Beard, P Nicolas Webb, LS Roderick Kaeding, DE A.J. Dunn, DT Bryan Lomax, CB Asher McElroy, CB Enrique Carlixto and S Donovan Soriano. Soriano will be switched to cornerback.

LB Bobby Diaz signed a 5-year contract, ending his holdout already. We made an generous offer to QB Bart Tanner and even a fair one to DE Lonnie Wynn to persuade them into ending their holdout and stick with us. WR Rodolfo Lane signed an absurd $361M for 5 years deal, costing us $44.6M this season and $84.5 in each of the next 4 seasons. Imagine capping that out a couple of times and he'll add up to a cap figure of over $100M... We capped out QB Harrison Singleton, but is basically means that if Tanner ends his hold out, Singleton will be an expensive backup in 2115 and a free agent in 2116. If Tanner doesn't end his hold out, well, I guess it's Singleton's team again, which would be a curious change of events... I've publicly shown my adoration for Singleton and my displeasure in how he turned into a turnover machine.

Okay, so, what are those rookies like?

WR Rufus Montgomery (25/55) appears to be very underrated and we have reasons to expect to see him rise upwards from the current evaluation. Clearly his route running potential (70ish) will be crucial for this to be a hit or miss. Montgomery shows getting downfield ability combined with avoiding drops and solid enough endurance to be a serious addition to the receivers group and should give us the liberty to spread the targets over 3 WR rather than 2.

G Herb Nieves (40/65) seems to be trending downwards, which would suggest he was a wasted first round pick. His run blocking is underwhelming, which would make him a bit of a misfit and could result in last season's undrafted rookie G Alfred Pearsall betting a shot at breaking into our starters, unless RT Clayton Bernstein shows he can still play for another year.

DT Carlos Fisher (25/65) appears to be green, yet likely to end up as advertised. He brings in awesome pass rush technique (100), run defense (80) and enough endurance to let him play on a majority of defensive formations.

Undrafted DT Byron Lomax (30/50) looks a bit underrated and looks to have the pass rush strength and run defense combination to actually have a shot at making the 53-men roster.

Undrafted DE A.J. Dunn (15/25) has some pass rush technique and is a bit of a punishing hitter, but at the moment he looks like a post training camp casualty.

CB Clyde Monds (25/45) could be a bit overrated. He clearly lacks man-to-man coverage ability, making him useless for passing downs. He might turnout to be our new kickoff returner, which I didn't have in mind when I picked him, but his special teams skills otherwise seem to be below sticking around for a double role. He might turn out to be a good option for stopping the run, but his zone defense is kind of lacking as well. Maybe he should only be used in a bump and run role.

CB Enrique Carlixto (10/30) seems to be a very overrated, but he still might be a better special teams and run defense option than Moulds.

CB Asher McElroy (25/45) could be underrated and turn out to be a fine addition to the team. He's got the ability to force turnovers and on top of having decent coverage skills, isn't total void of run defense ability, which is a problem for several of our veteran corners.

CB Donovan Soriano (20/40 as a safety) has a nice combination of special teams skills, nose for interceptions and okay potential in run defense. Like some of the other rookies, he does lack the coverage skills, other than bump and run, to fit on our pass defense formations.

LS Roderick Kaeding looks like he'll be a top5 long snapper. That would be nice, because our veteran LS Wayne Brewer is a notch below that at top10ish. I mean, it's just a long snapper, but we've got to offer that overpaid kicker of ours (K Oscar Harrington) the snapper and holder that eliminate any possible complaint.

K Zack Beard (25/50) might be underrated, but other than being about $30M cheaper than our veteran K Oscar Harrington, his skills aren't eye popping exceptional.

P Nicolas Webb (45/50) might be a bit overrated, we'll have to evaluate that at mid pre-season, if he looks okay in training camp. At least he's got the power (Snap!), but he doesn't look like he's going to be a worthy replacement for P Tyrus Johnston and might push me into extending Johnston's contract for at least another season after this one. I hoped to grab the best punter of this class with our 3.24 pick, but the Hanalei Dragons were ahead of us with the 3.6 pick and grabbed underrated P Luis Newman.

Will we stick at the 61 players (including 2 holdouts) for training camp? Probably not, I figured we have a little bit of roster space to offer some leftover undrafted rookies a training camp spot, as well as making LT Harold Gruenwalder a final take it or leave it offer. No other team in the league would have any better use for him than an inactive mentor, for us he could provide just enough cohesion to be better than an off the street free agent if our stud LT Dan Clancy gets hurt.


So yeah, that's where we're at. We likely got two good players out of the 3 first round picks. But training camp and especially the pre-season mess have yet to come. And once we've reached that point, it's time to look at the bunch of last year of contract players and figure out which of them deserve some of the roughly $16M of cap room we have available right now to persuade them into signing an extension rather than hitting the open market in the 2115 off-season..

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Annoying agents and extra rookies

We ran into a wall on the negotiations with the agents of QB Bart Tanner and DE Lonnie Wynn. I thought we made them a generous and a fair offer respectively, but apparently they felt indifferent. We're going to get back to the table, but for Wynn this could end up being a take it or leave it situation. For Tanner, our goals are clear, he's our starter. Locking him up for 3 seasons at under $15M each would be swell.

Talks with LT Harold Gruenwalder failed. We made him a final one-year bonus free minimum salary offer. Yes, that's low, but we know that no other team is going to sign him and he would have had a longshot at the 53-men roster. It's just sad to see a guy need to walk off like this after 180 games for us, including his incredible comeback of the year worthy 2112 season with 0 sacks allowed in 13 starts.

On the low end of the roster, we signed 6 more undrafted rookies, giving them a training camp spot and a reasonable shot at a pre-season spot as well. FB Taylor Sawyer, TE Richie Osborne and TE Julian Steen will quite likely even have a shot at the 53-men roster. WR Axel Saycocie is quite the longshot given our grown group, while CB Howard Carlson and S Frederick Harmon joined an already very crowded secondary.

Osborne, Saycocie, Carlson and Harmon were all amongst the bunch of players that made decent progress. They were amongst the likes of TE Corbin Robbins, C Duane Ondre, G Alfred Pearsall, K Zack Beard, LB Raymond Casper, CB Enrique Carlixto, CB Asher McElroy, CB Donovan Soriano and S Peter Hinsley. The real stand outs in terms of progress this training camp were pretty much the guys we expected (or at minimum hoped) to see from: WR Rufus Montgomery, G Herb Nieves, LT Dan Clancy, DE Ernest Frias, DT Carlos Fisher and LB Nick Giles. No progress was reported on QB Bart Tanner, clearly a result of skipping camp.

I've already made up my mind on which 7 players won't make the pre-season roster. We will still be very deep in quantity on the defensive line and the secondary, while we're also going to take 8 wide receivers into the pre-season madness.

But the core of business for the next day or two is getting QB Bart Tanner on team. I hope he understands that he's got a unique opportunity to work with the same guys for another season, with the addition of WR Rufus Montgomery, who's continuing to look better and better day after day. It almost makes me regret putting $166M of cap space next season on the duo in front of him. Providing they prove to be worth starting ahead of him...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 52 for 2115
Wait, what? 52?

DE Lonnie Wynn is still holding out, but after early pre-season action, I've made up my mind for the upcoming regular season. The roster is set. Unless Wynn finds a new home through trade. But the main thing is that he'll be the 53rd player as soon as he ends his hold out. We won't have or make the cap room to offer him the absurd money his agent out of the blue started demanding at mid-pre-season.

QB Bart Tanner singed a new 2-year deal on the day of our first pre-season game. We quickly activated him and he saw action in the two pre-season games, having a key role in the 33-13 come back from behind win over the Frederick Red Menace. Tanner scarcely played on the road in our 21-13 win at the Capital City Blues, QB Harrison Singleton guided the team well, whilst the defense kept them outside our red zone all game long.

So, who are our 53 men?


Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Harrison Singleton
35/40 QB Bart Tanner
10/10 QB Drake Bishop
New: none
Left: none
Tanner is our guy. Singleton can play too, but we've seen too much turnover issues with him in the last 3 seasons. Bishop is our kick holder, when we have an active roster spot for him.

Backfield
50/50 RB Rusty Kemp
45/45 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
30/35 RB Edwin Erickson
30/30 FB Kenneth Holse
New:
Left: RB Cary Delgado (released)
We're going with the same group as last season, basically. It was clear last season that Kemp jumped into the third-down back role ahead of Delgado. Together with Billodeaux it proved to be an elite tandem in the IHOF. Erickson showed to be a solid alternate for Billodeaux.

Tight Ends
55/55 TE Ted Gordon
40/55 TE Corbin Robbins
35/35 TE Arnie Huffman
25/30 TE Richie Osborne
New: Osborne (undrafted rookie)
Left: TE Juan Brady (retired)
Gordon exploded last season, turning from a 900-yard into a 1200-yard receiver, while Robbins has everything in him to be such a player, if it wasn't for Gordon being here too. I'll try to work Robbins into more targets and slow down a bit on Gordon to save him from overloading him. Huffman barely got targeted last season, but he's got the route running and courage to make catches over the middle. Osborne snuck into the team as I want to go into the season with 4 tight ends.

Wide Receivers
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney
65/65 WR Rodolfo Lane
35/60 WR Rufus Montgomery
35/35 WR Preston Gray
20/30 WR Maurice Sweeney
15/15 WR Kai Cote
New: Montgomery (1st round rookie)
Left: WR Jaylen Gearhart (released)
It was with pain in the heart to release veteran Gearhart after so many seasons, especially after he finally got his first catches late last season. But the arrival of Montgomery was the obvious cause for it to happen. Lane took a step back in his athleticism, but remains to be a solid player. Combined with Vertelney and the quickly rising Montgomery, we have a phenomenal duo turning into a fantastic trio. Gray continues to be a solid WR4, Cote a special teamer, Sweeney our excellent kickoff returner.

Offensive Line
55/75 LT Dan Clancy
60/60 RT Ivan Dole
55/55 C Zane Chaplain
45/60 G Herb Nieves
45/45 G Andres Uwaezuoke
45/45 RT Clayton Bernstein
30/50 G Alfred Pearsall
35/35 C Duane Ondre
New: Nieves (first round rookie)
Left: LT Harold Gruenwalder (unsigned)
Clancy and Dole continue to be a solid tackle duo, Clancy as our excellent pass protector and Dole as the running game anchorman. Chaplain is our center, but at guard I'm not quite convinced yet who of the other linemen should play opposite of veteran Uwaezuoke, all four other linemen have their strengths and weaknesses. Gruenwalder will get his next moments in the spotlight next pre-season when he's the likely new addition to our Ring of Honor.

Defensive Line
70/70 DT Efrain Hutchins
60/60 DE Lonnie Wynn
50/50 DE Calvin Buckley
30/65 DT Carlos Fisher
45/45 DT Francisco Blades
35/50 DT Bryan Lomax
35/35 DE Christopher Wrighster
30/40 DE Ernest Frias
25/25 DE Howie Tucker
25/25 DT Gabriel Morris
New: Fisher (first round rookie), Lomax (undrafted rookie)
Left: none
It's rare for us to take 10 defensive linemen into the season, not even counting LB Avery Distel, but yet here we are. Distel will be the placeholder, kind of, until Wynn ends his hold out. Morris is still here as a mentor, his playing days are clearly over. Blades looks to be surpassed by rookie Lomax, but it will be a game day decision, or close to anyway. Tucker lost some of his speed, which is another reason to shift things around a bit and he might not get a contract extension either. Hutchins and Fisher are stalwarts, Frias a running downs expert, Wrighster the technical rusher, Buckley the strength guy.

Linebackers
65/65 LB Javier Mayes
40/40 LB Xavier Hoover
40/40 LB Bobby Diaz
40/40 LB Nicholas Giles
35/40 LB Raymond Casper
25/25 LB Avery Distel
New: none
Left: LB Gus Coleman (retired)
One man down, a big one, but he was out of the active roster from midway through the season already. Giles took a hit in his agility and speed, which could cost him quite some playing time to Hoover, although both will be running downs guys. Diaz is a passing downs guy, Mayes the do-it-all. Casper will start inactive again. Distel will likely fill in for the hold out Wynn on the defensive line.

Secondary
45/45 S Dan Peterson
45/45 CB Byron Sokol
30/45 S Peter Hinsley
30/45 CB Asher McElroy
35/35 CB Skip Horner
35/35 S Noah Matthews
30/30 CB Kent Wodarz
25/25 CB Joel Delgado
15/15 S Craig Clancy
New: McElroy (undrafted rookie)
Left: CB Evan Merrell (retired)
Several players took a step back, most prominently Peterson and Matthews, but in return it looks like Hensley and Wodarz are ready to jump into the zone defenders rotation. McElroy might turn out to be a running down corner option. Albeit the huge group that we took to camp and still into early pre-season action, only these 9 guys showed enough to make the team. Ideally we'll add one more guy here to have a bit more leeway with injuries, but it will likely depend on what will happen to DE Lonnie Wynn. Until then, Sokol will see Delgado return to the passing downs cornerback duo, while Peterson, Horner and likely even the almost-falling-apart Clancy will remain in the zone defenders rotation.

Special Teamers
75/75 K Oscar Harrington
65/65 P Tyrus Johnston
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
New: Kaeding (undrafted rookie)
Left: LS Wayne Brewer (released)
Harrington is still overpaid, but he's supposed to be the best in business. I wish the league allowed for having split duties for kickers like in the old Al Bettis days, because Harrington is only mediocre in that element. Johnston signed a new deal. Kaeding was a Misfit Toy discovery, apparently he's the third best guy in business, so: yay.


Well, that's where we stand now. Until the final two pre-season games have been played and we go into the late renegotiations phase, to lock up some of our players that are out of contract next off-season. S Dan Peterson, RB Rusty Kemp and RT Ivan Dole are the most prominent ones, but we also have to consider a talk with DT Clayton Bernstein, DE Howie Tucker, DT Gabriel Morris, CB Joel Delgado, S Craig Clancy and maybe DE Lonnie Wynn.

And then from here on less Wynn whining, more winning and winning.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2115 is not our year

Without going into the details of every single game so far, loyal readers probably already know that we're playing one of our worst seasons in quite some time. Given how little was changed from last season's team that played so well, it's sucking the enjoyment out of this game for me. Losing is okay if there are obvious reasons, but it's like the 2115 team is a completely different team from the one we fielded in 2114. I seriously hope it wasn't the switch of offensive coordinator, because then apparently he has broken our working offense and coincidentally infected the defense into pushover prone, while our special teams unit has dropped to barely above mediocre.

I'll make a write up at some point this weekend about our games so far after week 12's results are in, but don't get your hopes up on every single detail in all the games we played. The current team does not deserve any kind of praise or media attention. These guys have to play up to their ability and in particular our prima donna wide receiver duo has to stop counting their absurd piles of money and start playing up to it.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2115, a step back; playoffs out of sight

The 2115 season is a train wreck of sorts. We're falling apart in terms of performance, the kind we've rarely seen before, except maybe when "The Lost Cause" and "Mr 50-50" were polluting our offense.


Week 1 vs Paris
We started the season with, on paper, the easiest game of the season. Au contrair. Paris outgained us 454-247 in total yardage won the turnover battle 3-1 and despite all that still needed two late game field goals to pull of the victory. Our leading rusher gained 31 yards. QB Bart Tanner threw for just 176 yards with 3 interceptions. Our touchdowns were a RB Renaldo Billodeaux run and a WR Rodolfo Lane punt return.
Result: 20-26 loss


Week 2 at Kansas
Facing one of the elite teams in the other conference, we were in for a pounding and it turned out to be one. We were outgained 458-245 with a 2-2 turnover battle. QB Bart Tanner was held to 138 yards passing with 2 interceptions. Tanner did throw his first touchdown of the season to WR Rodolfo Lane, while RB Renaldo Billodeaux accounted for a running touchdown.
Result: 17-30 loss


Week 3 vs Augusta
Despite losing the turnover battle 0-1, we outgained our strong opponents 342-269 in total yards. QB Bart Tanner threw for 195 yards , with a touchdown to TE Ted Gordon. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for our other touchdown.
Result: 20-10 win


Week 4
Our usual early bye week. DE Lonnie Wynn announced the end of his hold out. We'll see what his grudge will look like next off-season. For now, we'll be happy to have his skills back on the field.


Week 5 vs San Antonio
We played perhaps our best game so far, but losing the turnover battle 2-1 and allowing an 88-yard kickoff return, we wasted our chances basede on outgaining them 421-377. QB Bart Tanner threw for 348 yards, with a pair of touchdowns to TE Ted Gordon. RB Rusty Kemp scored a running touchdown. WR Jessie Vertelney gained 154 yards receiving.
Result: 24-31 loss


Week 6 vs Atlanta
Our streak of home games against fellow wild card hopefuls continued and we lost yet another one. We were outgained 445-243 in total yardage, lost the turnover battle 2-1 and needed all of our red zone defense to keep the Vipers from scoring more than 1 offensive touchdown. QB Bart Tanner threw for 175 yards with a touchdown pass to TE Ted Gordon. CB Byron Sokol had an 80-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter.
Result: 14-29 loss


Week 7 at Fort Wayne
Playing our easiest road game of the season, on paper, we once again did ourselves a disservice. We lost the turnover battle 5-1, which was enough to tilt the total yardage advantage (253-221) into a hopeless loss. QB Bart Tanner threw for 225 yards, with a touchdown pass to WR Jessie Vertelney.
Result: 7-16 loss


Week 8 at Paris
Fed up with QB Bart Tanner's pathetic play, I decided it was time to bring back the veteran QB Harrison Singleton. It resulted in a shock through the team, but initially didn't result in quality play at all. After going down 20-0 within 16 minutes, we somehow clawed our way back into the game and pulled a robbery of a comeback against one of the three worst teams in the league. We lost the turnover battle 5-4, got outgained 376-282 total yards, but with field position plays and a last minute 71-yard pick six, we turned a game that deserved to go into overtime into a two-score win. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 155 yards, with 3 interceptions and a touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane. Singleton and RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran touchdowns.
Result: 37-23 win


Week 9 at Houston
Disappointed by QB Harrison Singleton's 4 turnovers, despite his victory we benched him in favor of QB Bart Tanner. This time it did result in on field performance, winning the total yardage battle 400-257, the turnover battle 2-0 and seeing their only points come from a single 55-yard field goal. QB Bart Tanner threw for 258 yards, with touchdown passes to WR Rodolfo Lane and a pair to WR Jessie Vertelney, who did so on a 116-yard performance. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for another touchdown.
Result: 29-3 win


Week 10 vs Bordeaux
Having clawed our way back into the wild card race, a win against our division rivals right in front of us could have helped the turnaround. But no, we lost the turnover battle 3-1 and got outgained 446-432 total yards against a second year quarterback that made his first career start in place of Bordeaux' injured starter Tyrus Dennis. QB Bart Tanner threw for 320 yards, with a touchdown pass to Jessie Verrtelney. RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Rusty Kemp both ran for a touchdown. Vertelney had 137 yards receiving, WR Rodolfo Lane 104 yards receiving. A rare performance by a duo that should be capable of making a 100-yard duo must less unique than it has been so far during their massively overpaid careers.
Result: 21-35 loss


Week 11 at Gothenburg
Expecting a loss in our toughest game on the regular season schedule, I still showed my disappointment in what was yet another pathetic performance by a team that has far too much talent to sit where we do right now. We got outgained 421-211 yards, actually won the turnover battle 2-1, but gaining 19 yards on 12 carries will just not do for any team. QB Bart Tanner threw for 210 yards, with a touchdown to TE Corbin Robbins.
Result: 7-34 loss


Week 12 vs Chicago
Just as I was about to proclaim I give up on this team, we out of the blue play up to our ability at last. We needed another train wreck of a first quarter, which we ended up trailing 17-0 after a pick six and an 83-yard touchdown pass. With 4 unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, we bounced back, ending up at 3-3 in the turnover battle, but 428-285 in total yardage, earning a well deserved victory. Albeit we did need a 95-yard interception return touchdown by CB Byron Sokol to flip a potential victory sealing drive for Chicago into our go ahead score. QB Bart Tanner threw for 263 yards with 3 interceptions, but also touchdowns to TE Arnie Huffman and WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Renaldo Billodeaux scored two touchdowns on the ground. CB Byron Sokol's aforementioned big play was our other six-pointer.
Result: 37-27 win


European Division
1. Gothenburg 8-3
2. Bordeaux 6-5
3. Maassluis 4-7
4. Paris 2-9

The playoffs are far out of sight, with Houston (7-4) and Augusta (7-4) in the 6th and 7th place spots. I think the only thing we've got going for us if we catch up with them, is that we beat them both. Our remaining schedule is doable, playing at Rochester (3-8), vs Arizona (3-8), vs Gothenburg, at Iowa (3-8) and at Bordeaux. But it's very likely Houston, Augusta or Bordeaux will still end up better than 9-7, making all of this moot. Even Gothenburg could drop the next 4 and still secure finishing ahead of us with a week 17 win at Paris.

But an old saying has to get out again. We'll have to go back to the one game at a time approach. Try to do our best to win the next game and look no further than that. We'll take another look at all the scenarios once we head into week 17.

Do I know what little thing I did to cause the butterfly effect of seeing the whole team turn into a pile of [insert expletive of your choice]? No, I do not. I doubt it's the change of offensive coordinator. I doubt it's the departure of a handful of inactive backups. I doubt it's the arrival of the most promising wide receiver of the class of 2115. I doubt it's getting a better long snapper. I doubt it's because we re-signed QB Bart Tanner and WR Rodolfo Lane to new contracts. And I doubt it's because DE Lonnie Wynn help out for a couple of games early on.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Back to Singleton

We finished the season with a strong serie of games, somewhat expected given that we had some good matchups. But it wasn't good enough, we still finished far away from the playoffs. But more on that later, first let's recap the last 5 regular season games, one by one.

Week 13 at Rochester
Sometimes a victory can just fall into your lap. Now, let's not talk this team down, but when you're 14-0 up after barely 2 minutes with just 1 5-yard play from scrimmage by your offense, it's clear that turnovers set everything up for it. A quick pick six and a fumble in opponents' territory can do that. We were 24-7 up after the first quarter and never looked back. Even when we switched quarterbacks, we kept on pounding. We outgained the Razorbacks 391-285 in total yards and won the turnover battle 4-1. Our average drive start was at our own 46-yard line, which makes it even more impressive to gain nearly 400 yards. QB Bart Tanner threw for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns, QB Harrison Singleton threw for 94 yards and 1 touchdown. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 2 touchdowns, while the 4 receiving touchdowns were split amongst TE Arnie Huffman, TE Corbin Robbins, WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Jessie Vertelney. The latter had a 9-catch 169 yards performance.
Result: 52-13 win

Week 14 vs Arizona
Despite outgaining the Miners 468-364 in total yards and usually pining them back deep, we struggled to put points on the board. Perhaps a result of QB Bart Tanner's 2 interceptions thrown early in the game, both while we were moving into scoring position. It wasn't until the fourth quarter where we finally pulled off, sealing the deal with WR Rodolfo Lane's 77-yard punt return touchdown. Tanner threw for 313 yards and 3 touchdowns, flipping those to WR Rodolfo Lane, TE Corbin Robbins and WR Jessie Vertelney, with the latter gaining 111 yards receiving throughout the game. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 105 yards.
Result: 13-16 win

Week 15 vs Gothenburg
And then came a do or die kind of game. Although the impossibility of catching the Giants (they went into the game 9-4, we 6-7 with inferior tie-breakers), to keep the slimmest of chances to make the playoffs, we needed to win this game too. Despite that we put up a fight early on, a pick six thrown by QB Bart Tanner and a 25-yard touchdown run getting called back (rightfully so because of a holding penalty), we went into halftime trailing 17-13.
The interception on our first drive of the second half apparently sucked the last bits of belief of the team in going places this season, as the Giants scored another touchdown on the ensuing drive and followed up with a 93-yard touchdown drive on their next possession. An end zone interception on Gothenburg's knock out drive brought back a little bit of hope, but it was just a little glitch. Eventually we found ourselves in a go for it situation on 4th and 24, where we didn't even call the kind of play that would be good enough to make a first down. Apparently the OC that managed to break an offense that was impressive last season, he really, really, really sucks.
The Giants outgained us 342-307 in total yards and won the turnover battle 2-1. Tanner threw for 211 yards, with no touchdowns. Our sole touchdown of the game was a run from RB Rusty Kemp.
Result: 13-34 loss

Week 16 at Iowa
With the season down the drain, we didn't drastically change our depth chart, except for one thing: reverting back to good old QB Harrison Singleton. Livid about his situation, combined with the fact that he did eek out a victory on his sole start this season, I figured "why not?" and it turned out to be a good decision. In the process, we spoiled Iowa's chances to make the playoffs. Singleton threw for 270 yards with 4 touchdowns, tossing those to WR Rodolfo Lane (a pair), TE Arnie Huffman and TE Corbin Robbins. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, WR Jessie Vertelney had 127 yards receiving. We outgained the Cobbers 465-318 in total yards with a 1-1 turnover battle.
Result: 38-13 win

Week 17 at Bordeaux
With the Vineyards also no longer in the running for the playoffs, while having secured second place on division record tie-breaker over us, all that was on the line was just pride. Their young quarterback torched us in Oranje Haven earlier on, but on his second clash with us, the defense was ruthless on him, picking him off 5 times and forcing him to fumble twice. We won the turnover battle 7-1. Our own offense struggled to gain ground, getting outgained 386-271 total yards. Helped by the turnovers, we kept in the game throughout and eventually a triplet of fourth quarter defensive touchdowns did make the difference. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 182 yards with a touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane. CB Kent Wodarz, LB Bobby Diaz and CB Byron Sokol accounted for the defensive touchdowns. Sokol scored his third interception return touchdown of this season.
Result: 31-13 win


European Division standings
1. Gothenburg 12-4
2. Bordeaux 8-8
3. Maassluis 8-8
4. Paris 3-13

I could kick ourselves for losing the season opener at home to Paris (32nd in points allowed this season) and ater on losing at Fort Wayne (32nd in points scored this season), but even had we flipped those around, we still would have come a win short from the last wild card. The AOC was cutthroat at the top, with San Antonio missing the playoffs with an 11-5 record. elsewhere in the league, 4 division champions had a worse record than them. Kansas' victory over us in week 2 turned out to be a difference maker for them as they won their division in a four-way tie with all teams at a unbearable to watch 6-10 record. We went 3-0 against Kansas' division rivals.

So there we were again: an 8-8 team that outscored their opponents by 45 points. We did get outgained 357-338 on average in total yardage, while the special teams unit recovered in the second half of the season and we made up for that yardage difference in that area. A crucial statistic was our truckload of turnovers (34), which even our pick machine defense (4th in the league with 31 takeaways) couldn't overcome.

Our running game regressed, going from 147 to 120 yards per game and from 5.28 to 4.87 yards per carry. As did our passing game, dropping from 256 to 231 yards per game and from 6.87 to 6.36 yards per attempt.

Defensively, our should be solid pass rush dropped to below 20% in pass rush percentage. I can say this on and on, but that's just downright unacceptable for the kind of talent that's walking around on this team.

K Oscar Harrington scored the league lowest number of field goals. He shanked 2 field goals and missed - cut-his-overpaid-ass worthy - 4 extra points. I could tell how our individual players did, but after a disappointing season like this one, I don't want to applaud any individuals. As a team, these 53 players let me and especially themselves down.

Cutting down on turnovers might turn out to be the only solution. That suggest it's not just enough to bench QB Harrison Singleton, but his replacement QB Bart Tanner has shown that after his stupid hold out, he should now go punch his agent for not accepting a bigger long-term deal with much more guaranteed money, because Tanner might have had his final start in the IHOF in week 15 of this season. Don't be shocked if Maassluis closes the door on both Singleton and Tanner in the next off-season and enters the market for a new quarterback. Because with all the money spent on the talent at wide receiver on this team, no quarterback should be allowed to play as poorly as what we saw from this position last season.

Or was it all on the new offensive coordinator that turned an awesome offense in a dud?

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 2116 Off-Season begins

The 2116 season is on the horizon, but before we get there, we're expecting some waves and stormy weather on our journey. We made a far from unsurprising change in our staff, have a high number of retirements to handle and go into the off-season with our usual big figure voer the cap with a truckload of draft picks to work with. But first some other news.



WR Calvin Maxwell got induced into the IHOF Hall of Fame.

This has to sound like a no-brainer as Maxwell played 12 season for us, with 8 of those being a 1,000-yard receiver, with 5 of those seasons reaching 1,400+. When all was said and done, he ranked 2nd all-time for Merchantmen players in receiving yards, 4th in receptions and 5th in receiving touchdowns. On top of that, he ranks 1st in IHOF history in kick off return yards (amongst all 32 franchises) and 1st amongst Merchantmen players in special teams tackles. Sadly we had little succes winning games during Maxwell's tenure, as we made the playoffs just twice and won 1 division title (in 2104).



The off-season started with the no less than 5 retirement announcements.

RT Ivan Dole
Our 1st round pick 2104 was a day one starter and held on to being our right side offensive tackle for the full 12 seasons. From early on he was our best run blocker, most seasons being a guarantee for 30+ key run blocks. At the time of his retirement, he ranks 3rd all-time amongst Merchantmen player in key run blocks. Dole started in 189 regular season games and 6 playoffs games, missing just 3 throughout his career. His personal best season came in 2114 when he was picked as an All-IHOF second teamer with 40 key run blocks, 5 pancake blocks and just 5 sacks allowed. It wouldn't shock me if Dole ends up elected into the IHOF Hall of Fame.

DT Gabriel Morris
The #10 overall pick in the 2103 draft took the league by storm. As a rookie, Morris already recorded 6.5 sacks, but it turned out to be his highest number in 13 seasons of service in Maassluis. In 2014 Morris contributed with 24 hurries and 65 tackles, earning All-IHOF second team honors that season, but from there on the decline in production set in. Still, for 10 seasons straight, Morris was an undisputed starter and in 2113 and 2114 he stil got his fair share of playing time in rotation. Morris spent 2115 on the inactive roster, mentoring two promising rookies. His tenure in Maassluis and the IHOF at that ends after 188 regular season games played and 6 playoffs games.

S Craig Clancy
Picked up as an undrafted rookie, Clancy already was a starter in that 2104 season and remained to be in the big rotation across the secondary throughout. With 190 regular season and 6 playoffs games played for the Merchantmen, Clancy proved to be reliable and and undisputed member of the team.

QB Drake Bishop
Although initially a backup quarterback for the Harlem Apollos, after 5 seasons there, the once undrafted rookie was signed by the Maassluis Merchantmen. Although with a reputation of being excellent in avoiding interceptions, Bishop's role was clearly to be a backup with kick holding duties and later on as a mentor to the young prospects in Maassluis, like today's duo Harrison Singleton and Bart Tanner. Curiously, despite an 11-season tenure in Maassluis, Bishop wasn't undisputed as the kick holder of choice, occasionally sitting out games inactive as the punter of service took over the kick holding duties. As a result, Bishop walks away from football after a season with just 3 games played and remarkably coming short of 100 games for the Merchantmen with 89 regular season games and 4 playoffs games played.

LB Avery Distel
A 7th round pick in 2107, Distel was a longshot to make the team back them, turning out to be unable to make a true switch to defensive end. But despite those limitations, we threw him out there form time to time, even ignoring that he was a suitable passing downs linebacker as well with sufficient zone defense skills. Also being a member of the special teams unit, Distel was active in all games from mid-way into his rookie season, ending up at 135 regular season and 4 playoffs games played. His personal highlight may have been the 2109 season, when he lead the team with 6.5 sacks (which also is a sad testament to how dreadful the pass rush was that season).



Staff changes

Offensive coordinator Keegan Harper was hired by the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums as their new Head Coach. We considered this a blessing in disguise as I felt that Harper has somehow broken an offense that had been doing so well in 2114. As a replacement, we hired 38-year old Ryan Whalen, who prefers to play a Balanced style offense. Whalen was previously with the Orlando Talons, but they decided to fire Whalen after just 2 seasons.



Cap situation

We're heading into free agency and the draft with just 41 players signed, with 5 restricted free agents and DE Lonnie Wynn and RT Clayton Bernstein the obvious unrestricted free agents. We're $37M over the salary cap, with an expected cost of $41M of the 12 draft picks we're holding. But we've already gone through the first wave of renegotiations and are now at $69M under the salary cap.

Most notable is that we signed QB Harrison Singleton to a new 2-year deal. Apparently starting in the last 2 regular season games was enough to reconsider his angriness and made him willing extend his contract. Singleton now accounts for a $39M cap figure. QB Bart Tanner is again in the final year of contract and this time around is demanding a 5-year deal, averaging $47M per season, starting with a $36M cap figure this season. I'm skeptical and at the moment unsure whether I feel his worth that kind of money, especially on a 5-year contract. But it's "never in doubt" that he will holdout again in post draft free agency, so we'll have to make up our mind before the more logical pre-season's renegotiation wave.

So, that's where we're at. We've had one particular player that jumped up on our draft board as a worthy candidate for a top15 pick (we hold the #15 overall), but we have to keep in mind that although our staff is very good at scouting, their interviewing abilities are just 'good'. So, we'll see where that will bring us...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: the 2116 off-season continues

Before we look into the state of our team, I've stumbled upon a couple of players that said goodbye to the game and didn't get noticed because they were not under contract anywhere in the IHOF last season.

LT Harold Gruenwalder
He joined us as a 4th round pick in 2102 and already as a rookie started 16 games for us, allowing just 4 sacks. Although he struggled to reach that high level in the following years, he remained the left tackle for a long time. When we drafted Earl McBirney in 2108, Gruenwalder kept the starting role that season, but in 2109 the change of tackle to place. After McBirney's departure in 2112, Gruenwalder was still around and called upon to protect the young scrambling quarterbacks on team. It was quite the success, posting a season of 16 starts without a single sack allowed, although he was snubbed from All-IHOF honors for lack of involvement in the running game. It was just one more season, as in 2113 he lost the starting role. In the 2115 off-season, Gruenwalder left Maassluis, unwilling to sign for veteran minimum salary, his agent not telling him no other teams were showing any interest in him. Gruenwalder played in 127 regular season games for the Merchantmen and in 5 playoffs games.

WR Jaylen Gearhart
He was a 2nd round pick in the 2108 draft for the Merchantmen. Albeit considered a bust of sorts, given that he was rarely used on the offense, for many years he was a member of the special teams unit. As late is in the next to last game of his 7th season in Maassluis, Gearhart made his first career catch. In the 2115 off-season, Gearhart was released to make room for first round pick Rufus Montgomery. After a season long waiting by the phone, Gearhart took the hint that his IHOF playing career was over. He played in 85 games for the Merchantmen in 7 seasons of service.

RB Cary Delgado
He was an undrafted rookie signing in 2108. Mostly used as a power back and third down receiving option, Delgado had his fair share of playing time from the second season and onwards. The arrival of Rusty Kemp pushed Delgado into an inactive backup role in 2114 and eventually he failed to make the regular season roster for 2115. Delgado played in 99 games for the Merchantmen, scoring 21 touchdowns.

S John Aponte
He was a 7th round pick in 2106 that ended up being an undisputed starter from the get go. An excellent zone defender who never missed a single game, Aponte was an important member to the Merchantmen defense, whilst also occasionally jumping onto the special teams unit. In the 2114 off-season, Aponte decided to take an offer from the Williamsburg Colonials over a stay in Maassluis. In 8 seasons in Maassluis, Aponte played in 128 regular season games and 3 playoffs games.


2116 Draft Update
We missed out on QB Zach Christianson, who was our #1 target, by one pick: the Williamsburg Colonials selected him at 1.14. Instead, we took CB Zachary Blair at the 1.15 slot, a kid we hope will prove to be the all downs shut down corner we've been missing for some time now. We traded away all 3 2nd round picks and are working the phones about the triplet of 3rd round picks.



Free Agency 2116

DE Lonnie Wynn
We re-hired DE Lonnie Wynn for a 4-year deal worth $40M. Yes, people, be amazed, that's $40M total, not per year. Remember how his agent's demands skyrocketed into wanting $140M over 4 years last season during his hold out? We even offered Wynn $98M over 4 years and got told it was too little. Well, well, well... Anyway, good to have Wynn stick around, he did prove to be one of our better pass rushers.

RT Edwin Northcutt
We hired a new right tackle to step into the spot that was wide open after Ivan Dole's unanticipated retirement. Northcutt is a run blocking expert and signed a 3-year contract worth $10M per season. We hope to re-sign RT Clayton Bernstein as a backup, or keep our eyes open for another backup option. We looked at the tackles in this draft class, but the most suitable options were all long gone by the time the 1.15 pick came on the clock.

Restricted free agents
DT Byron Lomax, TE Rich Osborne, LS Roderick Kaeding and CB Asher McElroy signed a new 2-year contract. All four were undrafted rookies last season on a 1-year deal then. We're still in negotiations with S Peter Hinsley. His demands are, understandably, higher after a season in which he was basically a starter for us. McElroy signed a rotation role contract, the other three signed minimum deals.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: holdouts and new arrivals

The inevitable has happened: QB Bart Tanner has decided to hold out.

After a train wreck of a season, in which he threw 21 interceptions in 13 games, while dropping from a passer rating of 80.7 in 2114 to 70.2 in 2115 and while dropping from 5 to no rushing touchdowns, the kid thinks he did enough to get an upgrade from the $10.6M cap figure last season and the figure $12.7M he's due this season, to getting a new 4-year deal for roughly $44M per season. Is your agent insane? Have you not noticed you lost your starting job after such abysmal play? Bottom line, I think this is basically end of career for Bart Tanner. No other team in the IHOF will be interested to come close to such an offer. Impossible. Nor can we afford such a lunacy.

LB Jorge Mayes has jumped in on the "I want to get paid like a starting quarterback" mess. He's requesting a 5-year $165M deal, which is, to be fair, market value for a stud at his position. Is he a stud? He lead the league in tackles by a landslide. He also "lead" the league in catches allowed, which is one of those stats that sounds bad, but at the same time, is it really? Does it mean he was responsible for the completion? Or does it mean he was the first guy to arrive at the crime scene and make sure things wouldn't get out of hand? We've already offered him a $190M contract, which he declined. Yup, we offered $25M more, mostly in guaranteed money, yet the mathematically incapable agent of his turned it down. Sure, we get it, we're familiar with such incompetence.

We'll try to bring Mayes to his senses and get him to training camp. Tanner's case is a Ken Torphy, a lost cause. I don't see him coming back as our starter and odds are we'll be reverting back to QB Harrison Singleton. Unless we think we can find a way to spend the $27.6M of left over cap space on a quarterback that's fallen out of favor elsewhere in the league. We've had moderate success with that in the past...



The new arrivals
A grand total of 17 new players has reported for training camp in Maassluis. Veteran QB Blake Stai (scouted 15/15) was signed in case we find a young project worth mentoring, which sort of also applies to WR Antonio Price (40/40), whom we'll see as an alternative mentor for WR Rufus Montgomery in case we see WR Preston Gray as too expensive for a WR4 mentor role. I've already mentioned the signing of 31-year old RT Edwin Northcutt (45/45). He'll get some competition as RT Clayton Bernstein re-signed a 2-year deal in Maassluis.

Our rookie class consists of 14 kids, with 7 of them signed as post-draft free agents. RB Reggie Gretzky (30/35), WR Claude Nakis (15/20), K Carter Madison (25/35), LB Ezekiel O'Neal (25/45), LB Wendell Reynolds (20/30), CB Marquis Wolf (25/35) and S Adrian Kornegay (15/25) have signed a 1-year contract. With 65 players signed (including the 2 hold outs), we'll have to release some of them after training camp. Unless they all impress and make some of the selections obsolete.

Pick 1.15 CB Zachary Blair (30/60) scares the crap out of me. Yes, he looks promising and was a top5 prospect on our draft board, but we've already seen the league scouts report on him too, giving Blair much higher grades. That's an alarm bell going off, We might have picked the bust of the draft here... But being a first round rookie, he's unaffordable to be cut this or next season, because he's on a $30M signing bonus and releasing him now would give us $22.5M in dead cap space next season. I mean, that's all "if he sucks", let's hope he's truly somewhere in between the 60 and 70 overall grade...

LB Roy Finch (25/45) was our 5.16 pick. His best traits are his punishing hitting, run defense and special teams. He should blend in as a running downs option as well as a special teams replacement for the retired Avery Distel.

S Britt Schulz (15/25) was our 6.15 pick and all the signs are that he was an underrated prospect. In then end, he might just only be a very good zone defender, but a secondary can never have too many of those.

K Myles Washington (35/55) was our 7.12 pick and is meant to put pressure on veteran K Oscar Harrington to prove us he's worth being the highest paid kicker in league history. Washington's kickoff skills are even more lacking than Harrington's, which could lead us to sticking with the old guy. Unless undrafted rookie Cart Madison jumps ahead of them both.

QB Kent Figures (15/40) skipped the combine, but still scored a 46 in the Solecismic Test and with second best sense rush ability, he was worth a shot at pick 7.14. We interviewed Figures before the draft, but that came back inconclusive.

At pick 7.18 we took a flyer on CB Greg Bradley (15/30) and his punishing hitting and interceptions skills. If his man to man or zone defense skills improve, he'll have a shot at making the team.

At pick 7.27 we took S Cesar Welch (15/40). Another zone defender, with some run defense and paly diagnosis to boot. Which is much needed for a strong safety.

The already mentioned undrafted free agent signings all have their own specialties. RB Gretzky has the breakaway speed and hole recognition combination we have going around on our offense and also brings in third down receiving and special teams skills. WR Nakis is a kickoff returner with possibly just enough special teams upside. K Madison is a kickoff specialist. LB O'Neal is a special teamer, with play diagnosis, run defense and pass rush skills, but he's too small to move to defensive end. LB Reynolds is a punishing hitting special teamer. CB Wolf is a zone defender and nothing but. S Kornegay is a special teamer with zone defense ability.

We missed out on DT Drew McIntyre, a 20/50 rated pass rusher that was on our draft board in the top 15. So, why didn't we pick him? Well, we're so crowded already, even the retirement of DT Gabriel Morris and LB Avery Distel still keep us at 9 true defensive linemen. McIntyre took a cheaper contract in Orlando, but to be fair, their signing bonus was much more enticing than our prove it to get it approach.

We also missed out on power runner RB Bubba Darling and big play WR Mitch O'Neill, both signed in Frederick for a $1M signing bonus. Another big play WR Teddy Cornbower took a $11M signing bonus in Tucker. So it goes, the kid joins their heads or tails group (half of them make the team, the other half never play a down in the IHOF) of fast wide receivers that they usually spend their 2nd round pick on.


All in all, the new arrivals are underwhelming, which reeks of status quo, which in football actually means regression. My focus will now be getting LB Jorge Mayes willing to stay on the team and on the quarterback situation. Missing out on QB Zack Christianson (10/50) might turn out to be not all bad, but I'm not convinced Singleton or Tanner is capable of playing up to the early career promising play they gave us. I don't see any obvious trade targets, but in this league you never know, some teams out of nowhere ship their super star quarterbacks without trying to milk the market. Or maybe Figures turns out to be more promising than we can hope for now...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Training Camp 2116

LB Jorge Mayes reported for camp. He signed a new 5-year contract with us, giving him a $25M signing bonus, a salary of $19M this season and $30M in each of the next 4 seasons.

QB Bart Tanner is still holding out and has skipped training camp. All signs are that QB Harrison Singleton will get this team back, something I did not expect at this stage of the season in 2115 and especially not when he went down with that career threatening injury.

So, we went through training camp and it makes sense to make a round up of the roster. Yet at the same time, people who now this game well, they know that after our first pre-season game, some players will magically become a completely different person, which could make this breakdown premature. But let's do it anyway.


Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Harrison Singleton
40/40 QB Bart Tanner
15/40 QB Kent Figures +2/+1 camp
15/15 QB Blake Stai +1/+1 camp
Pre-season cuts: none
53 Men bubble: Tanner, Figures, Stai
Underwhelming improvement by the rookie Figures, which makes it far less likely he's worth sticking around as a project for the near future. But if Tanner continues to hold out, we'll need a QB2 one way or another. Stai's stay is not per se based on keeping a project around, but when it comes down to the last spot, that's certainly something to consider.

Backfield
55/55 RB Rusty Kemp
45/45 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
35/35 RB Edwin Erickson +2/+0 camp
30/35 RB Reggie Gretzky +1/-1 camp
30/30 FB Kenneth Holse
Pre-season cuts: Gretzky
53 Men bubble: none
We gave the rookie Gretzky a shot at it, but he didn't wow and as such it's already over for him. We're expecting some regression for Billodeaux and Kemp, but we'll still expect to see these 4 guys make the eventual roster.

Tight Ends
55/55 TE Ted Gordon
55/55 TE Corwin Robbins
35/35 TE Arnie Huffman
25/30 TE Richie Osborne +4/+0 camp
Pre-season cuts: none
53 Men bubble: Osborne
Despite that Gordon showed he can be a 1,000-yard receiver, I'm higher on Robbins as a receiver and we'll likely give them both 100 targets again. Huffman has the route running and courage to make plays as well, so I might be foolish not putting him in as a primary or secondary targets in some formations. Osborne made good progress, but his job as the TE4 is not safe. I mean, if I see an upgrade on the open market, I made make a move for it, but we'll certainly go into the regular season with 4 tight ends and Osborne is for now that player.

Wide Receivers
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney
65/65 WR Rodolfo Lane
50/60 WR Rufus Montgomery +5/+0 camp
35/35 WR Antonio Price
35/35 WR Preston Gray
25/30 WR Maurice Sweeney +2/+0 camp
20/20 WR Claude Nakis +2/+0 camp
15/15 WR Kai Cote
Pre-season cuts: Gray, Nakis
53 Men bubble: none
I need to find the right way to put Vertelney, Lane and Montgomery all in the mix with 120 targets. It's such a waste of cap money and talent not to use them properly. Price will make the team to mentor Montgomery and as the emergency WR3 in case one of the big3 goes out. Sweeney is our kick off return specialist, Cote a special teamer.

Offensive Line
75/75 LT Dan Clancy +7/+1 camp
55/60 G Herb Nieves +4/+0 camp
55/55 C Zane Chaplain
45/45 G Andres Uwaezuoke
45/45 RT Clayton Bernstein
45/45 RT Dennis Northcutt
40/50 G Alfred Pearsall +5/+0 camp
35/35 C Duane Ondre
Pre-season cuts: none
53 Men bubble: none
Bar pre-season non-sense, this will be our group for 2116. Clancy is the elite left tackle that we hoped him to be. Chaplain and Uwaezuoke are safe with their cohesion value. Northcutt will likely be our new run blocking right tackle. The second guard slot is still up for grabs for all of the other guys. Nieves looks like he has a small advantage, but he's not got this locked up.

Defensive Line
70/70 DT Efrain Hutchins
60/60 DE Lonnie Wynn
50/65 DT Carlos Fisher +6/+0 camp
50/50 DE Calvin Buckley
40/50 DT Bryan Lomax +3/+0 camp
45/45 DT Francisco Blades
35/35 DE Ernest Frias +1/-1 camp
35/35 DE Christopher Wrighster
25/25 DE Howie Tucker
Pre-season cuts: none
53 Men bubble: Blades, Tucker
Fisher and Hutchins could be the best duo in business. The tricky part with defensive tackles is that most can't be all downs players. Hence, we've got Lomax and Blades to play on some running downs, whilst some of the defensive ends could sub in on passing downs. Wrighster, Buckley and Wynn are the obvious pass rushing ends, with Tucker as the alternative. Frias is the run stopping end, which makes it likely he'll be on the field in some formations. Blades and Tucker are on the bubble as I'm not sure yet we're going to take 9 defensive linemen into the regular season. Taking 8 active looks like a bit too much already.

Linebackers
65/65 LB Jorge Mayes
40/40 LB Xavier Hoover
40/40 LB Bobby Diaz
40/40 LB Raymond Casper +3/+0 camp
40/40 LB Nicholas Giles
30/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal +5/-3 camp
25/45 LB Roy Finch +4/+0 camp
20/30 LB Wendell Reynolds +3/+1 camp
Pre-season cuts: none
53 Men bubble: O'Neal, Finch, Reynolds, Casper
Locking Mayes up, means we've got no room for other expensive linebackers anymore. As such, we'll continue with using Diaz as our passing downs LB2 and put Hoover and Giles on running downs as the LB2 and LB3 around Mayes. Casper and Reynolds are special teams specialists, but so are Hoover, Diaz and O'Neal, which means the rookies are not likely to make the team. Finch and O'Neal lack zone defense ability, which means to make the team they have to prove to be an improvement over Hoover. They're close, but close is not quite good enough.

Secondary
35/60 CB Zachary Blair +5/+1 camp
45/45 S Dan Peterson
45/45 CB Byron Sokol
40/40 S Peter Hinsley +4/-2 camp
35/45 CB Asher McElroy +4/+0 camp
35/35 CB Skip Horner
34/34 S Noah Matthews
30/40 CB Marquis Wolf +4/+2 camp
20/40 S Cesar Welch +6/+1 camp
30/30 CB Kent Wodarz
20/30 CB Adrian Kornegay +2/+2 camp
25/25 CB Joel Delgado
15/30 CB Greg Bradley +3/+1 camp
15/25 S Britt Schulz +2/+0 camp
Pre-season cuts: Bradley
53 Men bubble: Kornegay, Wolf, Delgado, Wodarz, Schulz, Welch
Kornegay made the switch from safety to cornerback well, which seems to suit him a bit better anyway with his body frame. But the only reason he'll likely make the team is he's by far the best special teamer of this unit. Bradley still looks like nothing more than a punishing hitter, I just don't see how to justify keeping him. Blair didn't bomb, yet, so for now, he's going to be the other corner opposite Sokol. Hopefully Blair's endurance will allow for him to eventually be an all downs corner, which would be bad for McElroy or Wodarz. Peterson, Matthews, Horner and rookie Wolf are the undisputed guys to make the team. Delgado must not break, or face the consequences. Schulz and Welch are both promising, but I'd like to see a bit more proof of their respective signs of being underrated players. Wodarz is showing arthritis and it's going to be tricky for him to play football going forward. Putting him on injured reserve is something I'm seriously considering.

Special teamers
75/75 K Oscar Harrington
65/65 P Tyrus Johnston
40/55 K Myles Washington +3/+0 camp
25/30 K Carter Madison +3/-3 camp
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
Pre-season cuts: Washington
53 Men bubble: Madison, Harrington
Okay, it's less likely now, I already concluded Washington wouldn't be an improvement, but Madison might show just enough upside in pre-season to make us consider releasing the most talented kicker to ever play for the Merchantmen. Harrington's cap cost has decreased and we might find the $1.5M that we'll need to extend his contract into next season. But Madison will get a chance here, based on his kickoff ability. We might still think about the open market if we get tight on cap space. Johnston is safe for another season. Kaeding is to me our long snapper for the next 15 or so seasons. If we could offer him such a long contract at minimum salary now, I would offer it.


So, tricky quarterback situation, still some decision to be made in a crowded secondary and in the front seven there's also a player or two to not make the team. At least, that's where we are for the next day or two. Until we've played our first pre-season game at the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Pre-season 2116, part 1

QB Bart Tanner signed a new 4-year deal with us.

I was about to give up on him and ready to give the keys back to QB Harrison Singleton. But just before the pre-season action commenced, we made our only take it or leave it offer to Tanner. And he took it. A $27M bonus, a $26M salary this season and $40 salaries in the next 3 seasons. It makes Tanner the 4th most expensive cap figure for our team this season, behind the prima donnas WR Jessie Vertelney and WR Rodolfo Lane, and roughly $4.5M behind Singleton. It wasn't a clear cut situation as we still needed to restructure some other contracts to have just enough cap space and the earlier release of WR Preston Gray turned out to be key in getting just enough cap space. We've got less than $0.5M in cap space now.

This will have quite the impact on our final cuts after pre-season action as this makes it much less likely I will keep rookie QB Kent Figures and his mentor QB Blake Stai on the final 53-men roster. I have to go by memory at the moment, but I think I decided that we'd go into the final 2 pre-season games with 55 on roster, not counting CB Kent Wodarz, whom I decided to put on injured reserve as long as his struggles with arthritis will be remain. Rookie K Carter Madison won't make the 53-men roster. Nor will LB Wendell Reynolds, who simply got stuck behind a foursome of also excellent special teamers with - contrary to Reynolds - the skills to play on our defense as well. LB Roy Finch looks promising too, but he won't make the team either, lacking zone defense skills, play diagnosis and enough special teams ability. DE Howie Tucker was our other cut, result of his decline. Still a bit of a surprise, we went 4-1 with him on the active roster last season, but his big drop in ability to rush the passer and what not, his playing career in the IHOF appears over.

If we're going to stick with QB Kent Figures and/or his mentor QB Blake Stai, I'll have to look again at the linebackers and the secondary which of those players is not going to make the team. We're currently at 6 linebackers and 12 defensive backs. That last figure is absurd. I mentioned the on the bubble names earlier, those guys all still are. Or are they?

S Cesar Welch was the biggest pre-season revelation and boosted himself up from a coin flip away from getting cut to being in the rotation as a strong safety. He's still green, but we'll throw him out there anyway to quickly grow. S Britt Schulz didn't make the much anticipated jump that Welch did make, which could be the end of it for him right here already. CB Marquis Wolf is already a very good zone defender, CB Adrian Kornegay by far the best special team on the secondary and first round pick CB Zachary Blair, despite his somewhat expected nosedive in ability, too expensive in dead cap space if released. CB Joel Delgado is the beneficiary of it, his status quo in decline (thus lack thereof) makes him a defensible stick around with his cohesion value and still being the second best man-to-man defender on the entire secondary.

Other pre-season "changes" of note? Several players took a moderately biggish hit (QB Blake Stai, FB Kenneth Holse, WR Maurice Sweeney, WR Kai Cote, C Duane Ondre, K Oscar Harrington, DT Efrain Hutchins and CB Byron Sokol), but none of them warrant a change in their role on the team. Other than S Cesar Welch, we had no guys on the upside.

So, 57 signed, which means 2 more have to go after the last two pre-season games.

Oh yeah, we actually already played 2 pre-season games.

We lost 31-14 at the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums. WR Rodolfo Lane scored on a 76-yard punt return, QB Bart Tanner threw a 53-yard touchdown to WR Jessie Vertelney, both took place in the second half. LB Jorge Mayes had 4 defended passes, money well spent?

We beat the Capital City Blues 30-19. QB Harrison Singleton threw 3 interceptions, but also had a touchdown pass to WR Jessie Vertelney. QB Bart Tanner threw a short touchdown to WR Rodolfo Lane. S Peter Hinsley had a 55-yard interception return touchdown that was crucial in the flip around after Singleton's turnovers.

The pass rush floated at around 25% in both games, which is where we want it to be back at in 2116. With the big men DT Efrain Hutchins and DT Carlos Fisher up front, this defense can be very daunting.

[MIJB#19]

IHOF Dynasties

So, a dynasty, what defines a dynasty? And what does it in professional (american) football?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives two meanings for the word "dynasty":
1. a succession of rulers of the same line of descent
2. a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time

If we're going by the first definition, there's quite simply only one answer to it in the context of the IHOF: The Tucker Tigers. If they really still need an introduction, in 112 seasons of IHOF football, they made the playoffs 97 times, reached the conference semi finals 89 times, made the AOC Championship game 65 times, made it to the Bowl game 43 times and won the bowl game 22 times. I mean, even the second best, the Chesapeake Chitterlings, who are a landslide ahead of the third best, can be called the rulers of their conference, but are nowhere close to the Tigers: 88 times playoffs, 70 times conference semi finals, 46 times conference finalists, 28 times bowl participants, 14 times bowl winners. It will be embarrassing to the rest of the field to bring up the third best, nor would it be completely technically correct as these two are half of the four IHOF franchises that never went through ownership changes (the others being the Bordeaux Vineyards and yours truly's Maassluis Merchantmen).

In overall regular season wins, there are similar wide gaps. The Tucker Tigers have won 1311 regular season games (9 ties), the Chesapeake Chitterlings are 8.5 undefeated 16-game seasons behind (1174 wins, 4 ties). Third place is arbitrary, based on your definition on whether name changes and ownership changes do or do not make for a new or the same franchise. The protagonists in this particular story could be placed fourth or arguably third in this metric, having 1004 regular season wins (and 8 ties) to show for. How about that, the Merchantmen of 2115 brought the entire history of the franchise into the 1000-win group! Yet we're still almost 11 undefeated seasons behind the Chitterlings.


Okay, so, what's the second definition? It can be interpreted somewhat differently, we could say a "group" here is a group of players. And the up for debate part is: what's a considerable time?

That's where my own arbitrair decisions come in. Without going through all the technicalities, I've decided that it would be fun to make a list of dynasties (or near dynasties) and get a little bit beyond that by allowing also-rans to come ito the picture. I picked 5 seasons of performance at the minimum and put a firm bottom line of 50 wins*. Now, "wins" in the playoffs have been recalibrated, counting for better than 1.0 wins, to show that beating a random playoffs team is a better performance than a random regular season team. That gave a gigantic list of all franchises and all their 5-season stretches. Some franchises deserved stretching that to 6 seasons, to accommodate for an off-season in the middle of it (yes, that too is debatable). Lastly, overlaps were not allowed, and neither were next to each other stretches if those would be worse than prior or later stretches. Only the true peak periods of time deserved to get on this list.

The result, as of the end of the 2115 season is a list of 124 "dynasties". I'm not going to give the full list here, but neither will I go over just the top10, because, well, it'll be a little bit dull once you see the same franchise listed 6 times in the top 11. Let's grab a nice round number: 15.

<table border=1><tr><td>rerk<td>name<td>period<td>owner<td>avg rate<td>notes
<tr><td>1<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2032-2036<td>Ben E Lou<td>18.150<td>3x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>2<td>Kansas Creationists<td>2087-2092<td>tzach<td>16.645<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>3<td>North Plainfield Plague<td>2006-2010<td>cthomer5000<td>16.375<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 2x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>4<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2048-2052<td>Ben E Lou<td>16.200<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers
<tr><td>5<td>Chesapeake Chitterlings<td>2069-2073<td>QuikSand<td>16.150<td>3x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers
<tr><td>6<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2090-2094<td>Ben E Lou<td>16.075<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 3x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>7<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2069-2073<td>Ben E Lou<td>16.050<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 3x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>8<td>Moontown Darksiders<td>2078-2083<td>bomber33bomber<td>16.041<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>9<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2106-2110<td>Ben E Lou<td>15.975<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers, 2x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>10<td>Orlando Knights<td>2016-2020<td>Dutch<td>15.750<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>11<td>Tucker Tigers<td>2078-2082<td>Ben E Lou<td>15.725<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>12<td>Gothenburg Giants<td>2110-2114<td>Julio Riddols<td>15.625<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>13<td>Oakland Black Panthers<td>2047-2051<td>Subby<td>15.600<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 2x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>14<td>Capital City Blues<td>2041-2045<td>MalcPow<td>15.050<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers
<tr><td>t-15<td>Vicksburg Vipers<td>2033-2037<td>Kozure<td>15.000<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>t-15<td>Texas Sharks<td>2046-2050<td>landshark44<td>15.000<td>0x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers, 1x NAC Championship losers
</table>

Okay, that's still a lot to grasp. What it already shows that even with these selective criteria there are few franchises that managed to win 2 IHOF Bowls in a short period of time. Even this list already shows some with just 1 IHOF Bowl win and even one without a ring.

What jumps out is the 6 Tucker Tigers teams in the top11. I've double checked, these peak periods were so impressive, you won't find them anywhere further down the list, simply because these peak periods were so impressive, everything in between got lost in the overlap criteria.

Going by these numbers and stopping at that adjusted 15-win average, several two-time winners are not on this shortlist.

So, what's right behind all the way down to 14.000?

<table border=1><tr><td>rerk<td>name<td>period<td>owner<td>avg rate<td>notes
<tr><td>t-17<td>Toronto Lake Monsters<td>2075-2079<td>tzach<td>14.950<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 2x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>t-17<td>Oakland Black Panthers<td>2091-2095<td>Juggernaut<td>14.950<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 3x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>19<td>Chesapeake Chitterlings<td>2035-2039<td>QuikSand<td>14.700<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers, 1x NAC CHampionship losers
<tr><td>20<td>Asheville Axemen<td>2018-2023<td>Eaglesfan27<td>14,675<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers
<tr><td>21<td>Gothenburg Giants<td>2094-2098<td>Julio Riddols<td>14.650<td>2x Bowl losers, 3x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>22<td>Toronto Lake Monsters<td>2054-2058<td>corbes<td>14.600<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x AOC Championship losers
<tr><td>t-23<td>Fairbanks Northstars<td>2004-2008<td>albionmoonlight<td>14.550<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>t-23<td>Chesapeake Chitterlings<td>2025-2029<td>QuikSand<td>14.550<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>25<td>Frederick Red Menace<td>2009-2013<td>cuervo72<td>14.525<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>26<td>Kansas Creationists<td>2045-2049<td>Hollywood<td>14.250<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>27<td>Chesapeake Chitterlings<td>2058-2062<td>QuikSand<td>14.225<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>28<td>Williamsburg Colonials<td>2080-2084<td>brothergrim<td>14.200<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 2x Bowl losers, 2x NAC Championship losers
<tr><td>29<td>Maassluis Merchantmen<td>2057-2061<td>MIJB19<td>14.150<td>2x Bowl losers
<tr><td>30<td>Williamsburg Colonials<td>2055-2059<td>brothergrim<td>14.125<td>2x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers
<tr><td>31<td>Toronto Lake Monsters<td>2102-2106<td>Kodos<td>14.000<td>1x IHOF Bowl winners, 1x Bowl losers, 2x AOC Championship losers
</table>

Well, there you have it, several more 2-time champions and the first Merchantmen sighting.


Okay. That's still a lot of numbers. Let's just take out a select few things.


The Tucker Tigers 2032-2036 won 3 IHOF Bowls. This was the height of the Jackie Collier era. People could debate about this, but helped by a strong group of wide receivers, Collier dominated the league for a decade and a half (2031-2045). The best quarterback of all time has 7 championship rings. His career passer rating is in a whole different milky way. His gross passing numbers have been surpassed by quarterbacks in pass only offenses, but even knowing that, Collier can still claim to have the highest passing yards and touchdowns in all-time playoffs games. And Merchantmen fans are familiar with this dynasty, losing twice in the playoffs in this specific 5-year timespan.

The Tigers were so dominant during and shortly before the Jackie Collier era, we could stretch this time period out to 2026-2043 and they will still rank a top this list in this metric. A stretch of 18 seasons with 9 IHOF Bowl wins, 2 Bowl losses and 7 AOC Championship losses. But even when we take the Jackie Collier active years, that stretch for the Tigers will still top the second best 5-season stretch.



It almost makes it feel weird to even talk about other dynasties, but there were others that deserve getting mentioned.


The Kansas Creationists 2087-2092 may seem unfair to stretch to 6 seasons, but at 5 seasons they'd still rank second and the addition of the 2087 season boosts their average figure per season up from 16.425 to 16.645. This was the peak era of quarterback Hugh Gaines, that guy that threw for 7,680 yards and 84 touchdown passes in a single season (ironically that was 2087, the stretched-in season). Gaines actually missed the 2092 IHOF Bowl victory, which could feed the product of the system debates, but if so, it was a working system.


The 2006-2010 North Plainfield Plague had their own very best quarterback of his era in David Conti. Proponent of the early days of the IHOF, he won't be found in the list of top whatever passers in yardage, but he was the first to surpass 400 passing touchdowns and 50,000 yards. In a time when injuries were much fiercer and more common. The Plague then leaned heavily on their defense, became the first back-to-back champions, even came close to being threepeat champions, which to date has only been matched by the Tucker Tigers 2040-2042.


Let's be so blunt to lump together the other Tucker Tigers dominations, which were lead by quarterbacks Ethan Beyer (2045-2060), Erick Loera (2063-2074), Donovan Muth (2084-2100) and German Terry (2105-2113). None of those teams came close to the dominance of the Jackie Collier era, but proven by the list above, these quarterbacks and their support casts were still amongst the best of the best. The best Tigers wide receiver Wes Banks (2038-2050) and the best running back Shane Thomas (2068-2076) had their part in this story.


Let's move on to quarterback Roderick Carter, unsuccessful in his first 4 seasons with the Toronto Lake Monsters, but after he got traded to the Chesapeake Chitterlings, his new team reached unprecedented new heights. 3 IHOF Bowl victories in a timespan of 5 seasons, something only Jackie Collier's Tigers ever achieved. Carter remained the Chitterlings quarterback through 2078, but the team's success and Carter's performance clearly went hand in hand as Carter's performance in 2069-2073 (and one could argue beginning in his 7 starts in 2068) was exceptional.


The Moontown Darksiders are another team that has to be stretched to 6 seasons. Although this only adds a lost IHOF Bowl in 2083. One might say that the IHOF Bowl win in 2074 fits better with the back-to-back wins in 2078 and 2079. Either way, it will all fall in the middle of reign of Derek Barge (2070-2085), a quarterback that set new heights of dual treat with over 10K rushing yards accompanying his 65K passing yards. Getting "Barged" was an often used term when he used his legs to save the day. He was supported by fellow 10K rusher running back Van Sienkiewicz (2074-2082), who was acquired as a rookie through trade from Bordeaux and ironically lost in the 2083 playoffs to Barge and Moontown with the Kansas Creationists.


Let's wrap up the out of Maassluis stories with a short bit about the Orlando Knights 2016-2020. It may come as no surprise that those Knights had their own all-time great quarterback in Ted Wolf (2009-2024), with his ability to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season and float around 5,000 yards passing. Wolf was the league MVP 5 seasons straight in 2015-2019, also claiming the IHOF Bowl MVP honors in 2016 and 2018. Wolf had a fine duo of workhorse receivers in Mohammad Glenn (2014-2025) and Glen Dodge (2014-2026), unsurprisingly known as Glen and Glenn back then.


So where are the Merchantmen "dynasties"? Well, 29th was the best generation. The 2057-2061 Merchantmen can make the claim to have been the best in their time of the conference, the only to win multiple AOC Championship games. Except then, the traditionally weaker conference dominated as NAC franchises won six straight IHOF Bowls, stretching to 2062. It was the Lester Lowe era, the Merchantmen starter in 2057-2064. It was also the peak period of wide receiver Riddick Stanley, the early years when he was capable of 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns per season. And half a decade before the ultimate achievement (Bowl victory).


The Merchantmen are 4 times on this dynasties list, so 3 more times outside the tables above. The 2036-2040 Merchantmen rank tied 44th. It was the team with quarterback Jay McGee, released after the lost 2039 IHOF Bowl, the team of wide receiver Terry Haskell. The 2065-2069 Merchantmen rank 61st, it was the post-Lowe team, with quarterback Alfred Hickman and the IHOF Bowl victory in 2066, leaning heavily on that incredibly talented defense. And the 2023-2028 Merchantmen rank 72nd, a team quarterbacked by Russell Harrison, with running back Stanley Givens and wide receiver Gabe Springer in their twilight years.


Time and desire to do so are coming short to write about the full list of 124, but unsurprisingly the most dominant teams all made that list. One back-to-back champion was playing so poorly surrounding their championships, they are on that 124 shortlist, but didn't sustain long enough to get above that adjusted 14-win average. Neither did one of the two teams that went 19-0, because their surrounding seasons were underwhelming. But the other 19-0 team did make it. At the top. The 2032 Tucker Tigers.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Little redaction

Yeah, about that roster situation and going into the final pre-season games with 57 players on roster. We're down to 55 already.

My math earlier was wrong, as mentioned there, we released longtimer DE Howie Tucker, as well as rookies LB Roy Finch, LB Wendell Reynolds and K Carter Madison. I did indeed place CB Kent Wodarz on injured reserve. But as I already kind of foreshadowed: we also released S Britt Schulz. Our roster situation now is 54 players on team, hence, 1 more cut to go. Or two, if we do something crazy on the open market or trade for somebody...

We did get our cap situation back up to almost $6M under the cap, which will be used to extend a couple of contracts. DE Ernest Frias, LB Nicolas Giles and CB Skip Horner already turned down our first offer. Veterans WR Kai Cote and G Andres Uwaezuoke did already agree on extending their contract into 2117.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: the 2116 roster?

Another roster breakdown, really? Why yes, because this time we have our opening day roster of 53. Providing there won't make any further transaction.

Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Harrison Singleton -3/-3 pre-season
40/40 QB Bart Tanner +1/-1 pre-season
10/40 QB Kent Figures +2/+1 camp, +1/= pre-season
10/10 QB Blake Stai +1/+1 camp, -5/-5 pre-season
53 Men cuts: Figures
Underwhelming improvement by the rookie Figures, but especially Tanner's re-signing sealed the deal here. Stai is still on, but with nobody to mentor anymore. He's not quite safe, but eventually we're going to need a third quarterback, that's faith. Singleton sucked in pre-season. Tanner was okay and meh. It's tricky, but I think if I somehow finally get some sense of how the bleep play calling should work, I might be able to get Tanner to not play as horrible as he did last season.

Backfield
55/55 RB Rusty Kemp -2/-2 pre-season
45/45 RB Renaldo Billodeaux =/= pre-season
35/35 RB Edwin Erickson +2/= camp
30/30 FB Kenneth Holse -6/-6 pre-season
53 Men cuts: none
I have no reason to doubt these guys. Billodeaux and Kemp are a stud tandem, Erickson is a worth stand-in for Billodeaux and Holse will play on special teams.

Tight Ends
55/55 TE Ted Gordon -1/-1 pre-season
55/55 TE Corwin Robbins +1/+1 pre-season
30/30 TE Arnie Huffman -1/-1 pre-season
25/30 TE Rich Osborne +4/0 camp, =/+1 pre-season
53 Men cuts: none
Nothing new to report here. We'll factor Gordon, Robbins and Huffman all into the rotation.

Wide Receivers
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney =/= pre-season
65/65 WR Rodolfo Lane =/= pre-season
50/60 WR Rufus Montgomery +5/+0 camp, =/-1 pre-season
35/35 WR Antonio Price =/= pre-season
25/25 WR Maurice Sweeney +2/+0 camp, -3/-5 pre-season
5/5 WR Kai Cote -7/-7 pre-season
53 Men cuts: none
Nothing new to report here. Vertelney, Lane and Montgomery are our guys. I'll do some formation roles checking and from here on, these kids need to stop asking for so much money and start combining for at minimum 200 yards per game. Period. There. So. Make it work. Prima donnas.


Offensive Line
70/70 LT Dan Clancy +7/+1 camp, -2/-2 pre-season
55/60 G Herb Nieves +4/+0 camp, =/+2 pre-season
55/55 C Zane Chaplain =/= pre-season
45/45 G Andres Uwaezuoke =/= pre-season
45/45 RT Edwin Northcutt =/= pre-season
40/45 G Alfred Pearsall +5/+0 camp, +1/-1 pre-season
40/40 RT Clayton Bernstein -4/-4 pre-season
30/30 C Duane Ondre -6/-6 pre-season
53 Men cuts: none
So, Ondre dropped from an excellent to a very good run blocker. But he's not going to be on the active 46 anyway. Nieves or Pearsall, that's the question. And it could even go to a game by game decision on whether we need a pass protector or a run blocker.

Defensive Line
65/65 DT Efrain Hutchins -5/-5 pre-season
50/65 DT Carlos Fisher +6/+0 camp, +2/= pre-season
55/55 DE Lonnie Wynn -1/-1 pre-season
50/50 DE Calvin Buckley =/= pre-season
35/45 DT Bryan Lomax +3/+0 camp, -2/-5 pre-season
45/45 DT Francisco Blades +1/+1 pre-season
40/40 DE Ernest Frias +1/-1 camp, +1/+1 pre-season
35/35 DE Christopher Wrighster -2/-2 pre-season
15/15 DE Howie Tucker -7/-7 pre-season
53 Men cuts: Tucker
We're going to go the 8 active route. Tucker dropped down and out. Bummer.

Linebackers
65/65 LB Jorge Mayes +1/+1 pre-season
45/45 LB Xavier Hoover +1/+1 pre-season
40/40 LB Bobby Diaz =/= pre-season
40/40 LB Nicholas Giles, +2/+2 pre-season
40/45 LB Raymond Casper +3/+0 camp, =/+2 pre-season
35/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal +5/-3 camp, +1/+1 pre-season
25/45 LB Roy Finch +4/+0 camp, -1/-1 pre-season
25/35 LB Wendell Reynolds +3/+1 camp, +1/+3 pre-season
53 Men cuts: Finch, Reynolds
O'Neal is likely to make it, but Finch and Reynolds did not. O'Neal has enough upside to threaten Hoover or Giles for their role on the defense. All of them are fine special teamers too.

Secondary
45/45 S Dan Peterson +1/+1 pre-season
35/50 CB Zachary Blair +5/+1 camp, -2/-10 pre-season
40/40 S Peter Hinsley +4/-2 camp -1/-1 pre-season
35/40 CB Asher McElroy +4/+0 camp, +1/-1 pre-season
25/50 S Cesar Welch +6/+1 camp, +6/+11 pre-season
35/35 CB Byron Sokol -7/-7 pre-season
35/35 S Noah Matthews -1/-1 pre-season
30/35 CB Marquis Wolf +4/+2 camp, =/-4 pre-season
30/30 CB Skip Horner -3/-3 pre-season
30/30 CB Kent Wodarz =/= pre-season
25/25 CB Joel Delgado -1/-1 pre-season
20/30 CB Adrian Kornegay +2/+2 camp, +1/-4 pre-season
15/25 S Britt Schulz +2/+0 camp =/= pre-season
53 Men cuts: Schulz
injured reserve: Wodarz
Blair is a bust. But he can play bump and run. Ugh. Welch jumped up and will get an active role on the defense. Delgado will stick behind Sokol and I doubt I will start him ahead of Blair, although maybe I should. Wodarz lost it to the other zone defenders and with his arthritis, it felt tricky to let him make the team.

Special teamers
70/70 K Oscar Harrington -7/-7 pre-season
65/65 P Tyrus Johnston +2/+2 pre-season
25/35 K Carter Madison +3/-3 camp, -1/+2 pre-season
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding =/= pre-season
53 Men cuts: Madison
We could have kept Madison for his kickoff skills, but somehow we're not allowed to put Madison on kickoff duties and also have Harrington on field goals and extra points duty. So, it's all Harrington for another season and in 2117 we'll re-evaluate the situation.


That should be it, right? Kent Figures will be our final cut.


Oh yeah, we played 2 more pre-season games. We struggled, despite having mostly our starters starting. Although we actually beat the Chesapeake Chitterlings 15-10, all our points coming on field goals, with Kent Figures throwing 2 interceptions and getting sacked 4 times. Yet we outgained our opponents 390-259 in total yards and overcame those picks without any takeaways.
We then lost 31-3 at home against the Moontown Darksiders, with Bart Tanner throwing 2 interceptions. We were outgained 471-234 in total yards and didn't have any field position advantage to battle it. We seriously sucked that final exhibition game.

More later? Probably the next will be a recap of our first regular season game. Or two. Or five.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2116 season has began!

Regular season action in the IHOF is in full galore. Before I recap how our first 5 weeks and the curse of the early bye have worked out for us, I'm going to write a little bit about our quarterback situation. Apparently there are people out there wondering why Bart Tanner has been given a $40M/year contract after his abysmal play during the season between his two hold outs.



Quarterback Situation

Going into the off-season, the plan was to look out for a replacement at quarterback. Going into the draft, I saw QB Zach Christianson that looked moderately capable, but he was taken 1 slot before us at #14 and, fair to say, I was not fully convinced enough in him to go out there and trade up for him. In retrospect, we may have dodged a bullet there, he was one of the biggest training camp and pre-season revelation disappointments.

I was ready to make Harrison Singleton our starter again after his acceptable play in the last regular season games in 2115, in which we went on the road and still clobbered our respective opponents. Bart Tanner's hold out made things even better for Singleton. Then Bart Tanner went for his hold out and started demanding serious money.

Right before the first pre-season games, we scraped the bottom of the barrel of cap space by restructuring some contracts of players that under normal circumstances would not be talked about until mid-pre-season, but it gave us just enough space to make Bart Tanner one now or never offer, with a $35M cap figure this season (which sounds like a lot, and it is, but the total cap figure is $623M and our wide receivers Jessie Vertelney and Rodolfo Lane are at cap figures of $64M and $40 respectively, after cap outs with both of them). It may be silly, but our change of Offensive Coordinator gave me some kind of gut feeling that Tanner would gel better with the new guy, while Singleton gelled with the previous one. Tanner accepted it.

From there on, I was ready to accept that Singleton would become angry and unwilling to talk with me anymore. In pre-season he regressed to being no longer 'better' than Tanner and it appears to have stopped him from thinking he should be the starter. His attitude has remained "unhappy", unlike his "angry"-ness late in the 2115 season, right before his 2 starts. Singelton's on team at $39M (quite expensive for a backup) and $19M next season. Maybe Singleton becomes a mentor then, which would be a better reason to keep him around as the QB2. I doubt we'll be able to restructure Tanner's contract to the $20M/year over 4 or 5 seasons I was hoping to lock him up for during the 2115 off-season. But in this business you never know what happens. Maybe next off-season the kind general managers that trade away theirtop5 quarterback for far too little, will try to see what the market for a top5 quarterback is, having learned from their or others' mistakes.

So, 2116, it's Bart Tanner's team again, unless he stinks again and we'll revert back to Harrison Singleton one more time. Rookie Kent Figures that we tried out got cut, but landed a new gig with the Texas Sharks. The Sharks happen to red hot with a 5-0 start while riding with what could be the worst starting quarterback in the league. One that we would describe as a sack magnet, yet he's winning, so way flip to their 6th year career backup or aforementioned rookie?



Enough about the quarterback situation going in. On to the game recaps of weeks 1 through 6.



Week 1 vs Gothenburg
The reigning AOC Champions were coming to town, which meant we were up for a big test right away. My expectations were simple: we're likely going to lose, but if we put up a fight and end up losing by a single score and are still in it in on our last drive of the game, it's confirmation we're capable of challenging them this season. A close game against the top dog in the conference can only be interpreted as us being really close.
We were off to a bad start, falling behind 13-0 in the first quarter, allowing 78- and 80-yard touchdown drives. We responded with a touchdown on our second possession and at that point, the game was on. It became a closely contested back and forth, as we scored went ahead 17-13, yet fell behind 20-17 by half time.
Both offenses choked an opportunity to score, we failed on a fourth down attempt where we really should have demanded our expensive kicker to attempt that 50-yard field goal, but shortly after they returned the favor by fumbling in our territory when they were about to move into scoring position. We kicked a short field goal to tie it up 27-27 with 5 minutes remaining, but Gothenburg responded with a smooth drive to set up a 55-yard field goal, which was converted and left us with just 31 seconds on the clock. We failed to make anything happen.
We outgained Gothenburg 399-387 in total yards, with the turnover battle 1-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 272 yards, with touchdowns to TE Corbin Robbins and RB Renaldo Billodeaux. The latter also ran for 127 yards, while RB Rusty Kemp accounted for a rushing touchdown.
Result: 27-30 loss


Week 2 at Outer Banks
Our first road game of the season was a trip to the Ospreys, who like us lost their first game of the season. Unlike week 1, we got stuck in as slugfest, with neither offense able to anything. Yet, our defense turned out to be slightly better, helping us to be up 6-3 going into the last 2 minutes of the game. The Ospreys converted on 3rd and 15, and eventually with 5 seconds to go, scored on a 48-yard field goal to force overtime.
After a quick stop, we got a chance to set things right, but Oscar Harrington missed a 50-yard field goal on our first possession. A sour situation after we saw our red zone reaching play get pulled back for holding. The defense then stopped them at midfield with 5 seconds remaining, but we didn't attempt a hail mary to avoid the tie.
We gout outgained 329-307 in total yards, with a 0-0 turnover battle, which is quite low for an overtime game, especially in a tie. QB Bart Tanner threw for 231 yards.
Result: 6-6 tie

Week 3 at North Plainfield
In recent seasons we met the Plague when they were struggling and ended up shooting ourselves in the feet by losing against them. This time around, we were winless, while they went into this clash with a 2-0 record after high-scoring wins against Harlem and at Chesapeake.
Although the game started with a back and forth of scoring, us leading 13-10 after the first quarter, it evolved into a one-sided affair with the Merchantmen clearly on top, despite that Bart Tanner got picked off 3 times.
We outgained them 379-263 in total yards, whilst losing the turnover battle 1-3. QB Bart Tanner threw for 250 yards without a touchdown. RB Renaldo Billodeaux scored 2 rushing touchdowns, RB Rusty Kemp had 1 of those.
Result: 32-20 win

Week 4 bye
Injuries on the offensive line were piling on at this point, with LT Dan Clancy able to tough it out, but C Zane Chaplain out for 2 months with a dislocated shoulder and G Herb Nieves getting benched with an elbow injury. It prompted me to play G Andres Uwaezuoke at center, while G Alfred Pearsall RT Clayton Bernstein slotted at the guard positions.

Week 5 vs Tucker
Despite that recently the Gothenburg Giants are the dominant team in the AOC in terms of playoffs success, the Tucker Tigers have played up to that level in the regular season and after they were handed the #1 overall draft pick in 2115 for far too little, they picked QB Renaldo Brady, who's shaping up to be the best quarterback to play for the Tigers since the greatest of all time Jackie Collier. This last draft, the Tigers finally hit the jackpot again, spend many picks on wide receivers in the last bunch of draft, but WR Duane Yellope looks like they finally got an elite wide receiver again.
We were unimpressed about the young quarterback and wide receiver, stopping them in our red zone and responding with touchdown drives. After we picked off Brady and extended our lead to 24-6 at half time, this game looked like it was going to be our second win of the season.
On the first drive of the second half, Brady got is team going and found Yellope for their first touchdown of the day. We responded with a touchdown of our own and increased the lead to 31-12. But then the wheels came off on our end. We got penalized on crucial downs, saw our sure handed kick returner fumble and despite that our red zone defense held them to short field goals twice, eventually our inability to score one more time saw us fall behind 32-31 with under 4 minutes remaining. We chickened out on 4th and 1 near midfield on the ensuing drive, forced 3 and out to give us the ball back, but this time we went for it on 4th and 8 and failed. We could have had the ball back one more time, but on 3rd and 14 they somehow converted on an outside run, which accounted for more than half of their 27 rushing yards by their running backs of the game, and that was that.
They outgained us 545-377 in total yards with a 1-1 turnover battle. QB Bart Tanner threw for 313 yards, with touchdown passes to RB Rusty Kemp, TE Corbin Robbins, TE Arnie Huffman and WR Rodolfo Lane.
Result: 31-32 loss

Week 6 at Augusta
No time to get stuck in what if sentiments, we reworked our defensive game plan again, after seeing some success from our tweaks versus Tucker and some of their specific easy to see tricky. We also benched our RT Edwin Northcutt, as I called him responsible of the unacceptable large number of sacks allowed in the first 4 games. The Greenjackets on the road would usually be a game where we're the underdogs, but if we want to prove to be playoffs material, we have to show it here too.
It turned into a sensational game. The first possessions of both offenses were cut short, but ours ended up in a blocked punt that was recovered at our 1-yard line. A run up the middle by their fullback resulted in the first touchdown of the game, but we responded with seeing TE Ted Gordon make a phenomenal play, turning a short catch into a 75-yard touchdown to tie it up 7-7. Both offenses showed their skill again and scored another touchdown in the first quarter.
On our first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Bart Tanner threw a deep pass, which got picked off and returned 70 yards and putting the Greenjackets 21-14 up. We stumbled on our next drive, while the Greenjackets didn't and they went ahead 28-14. Bart Tanner responded with long throws to his receivers and we managed to get it back to trailing 28-21 at half time.
In the second half the Merchantmen offense was neigh unstoppable, highlighted with a75-yard run by Rusty Kemp on a drive that started at our own 1-yard line and eventually saw Bart Tanner run it in from 5 yards out, followed by a 2-point conversion to Jessie Vertelney to tie the score 35-35 halfway into the fourth quarter. Despite the sensational display of offensive firepower, neither team managed to score anymore, Oscar Harrington missed a potential game winning 54-yard field goal, while Jessie Vertelney was stopped 1 yard short of a hail mary touchdown. But it turned to be three times the charm as in overtime, the Merchantmen offense kept steamrolling and eventually Rusty Kemp pounded a short run in for the game winning touchdown.
We outgained them 668-323 in total yards, losing the turnover battle 0-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 443 yards and 3 touchdowns, whilst also running for a touchdown. RB Rusty Kemp caught 1 touchdown, also ran for 1 touchdown and 100 yards. WR Jessie Vertelney had 119 yards receiving, TE Corbin Robbins 100 yards and 1 touchdown, while TE Ted Gordon also had a receiving touchdown.
Result: 41-35 win in overtime



So, 5 games in and we've already had a season's worth of sensational wins and losses, with the shootout against Gothenburg, the wasted opportunities silly tie in Outer Banks, a surprisingly easy win at North Plainfield, a once in a 100 seasons choke against Tucker and the potential game of the year victory at Augusta.

European Division standings
1. Gothenburg 4-2
2. Maassluis 2-2-1
3. Paris 2-3
4. Bordeaux 1-4

All in all, we're playing quite okay and I should feel good about our ability to play with the strong teams and be in playoffs caliber shape. We'll have to find ways to close out games with 3-score leads and not piss away games like the one in Outer Banks, to truly be a contender for the conference title. We're not yet in a virtual playoffs position, so let's focus on getting there first, we'll have to take it game by game again.

Next up? We'll visit to the Paris Musketeers. After the display of offense so far, it would be a shocker if we don't win this game, but in IHOF football you really can't be sure. There are no easy wins, even against Paris. Despite the offensive line reshuffle, we still saw Bart Tanner get sacked 4 times in Augusta, which puts the tally at 21 in 5 games so far. We're dead last in pass rush percentage allowed with almost 30% of passing plays disrupted. That's unimaginably bad. We can't even put blame on having faced incredible pass rushes. We have to be cautious in Paris though, they do rank 7th in pass rush pressure (on defense), shortly behind us in 5th.

A couple of familiar faces on Paris' defensive line are playing quite well. DE Frank Bernard left us as a free agent after 4 seasons with us. He never lived up to his 14-sack season again, but he's still a force to reckon with. Former undrafted rookie signing DE Jamie Coffey was cut by us in his rookie pre-season and after Paris picked him up, he has developed into perhaps the most talented in the league in terms of pass rush technique. I bet he'll be more motivated than ever to play against us. Teamed up with blitzbacker Brett Strickland, that's one scary pass rushing front seven. The one weakness on the Paris defense is their inability to play zone defense. I can only hope our best receivers in business and their tight ends can take full advantage of the mismatches.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: rising to the top of the division?

With the Gothenburg Giants struggling despite their 4-2 start, we had the chance to catch up and who knows what in this mid-regular season serie of 6 games. SO, how did it go?

Week 7 at Paris
As to be hoped, yet somewhat unexpected, this turned into a mismatch of rare proportions. Even though we struggled to move the ball inside Paris' red zone, our sometimes reliable kicker converted on every attempt given to him, helping us to slowly but steadily increase a lead that came after we saw Paris' quarterback throw into our defense's hands on their first two possessions. We fumbled away the first chance, but after a dink pass on the second attempt, the lead was ours and we never looked back. The defense smooth sailed the remainder of the game and posted our first shutout since week 10 of the 2096 season, ironically also in France, but at Bordeaux.
We outgained Paris 345-225 total yards, winning the turnover battle 3-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 257 yards and a touchdown, with TE Arnie Huffman on the receiving end. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for the score settling touchdown.
Result: 29-0 win

Week 8 vs Snapfinger
The Jazz are notorious for having a talented team, yet struggling to even challenge for second place in a very tough Southeast division with Tucker and Augusta the clear top teams and Orlando every other season also in the mix. They went into this game with a 1-5 record and underdogs to us. For us it turned into an opportunity to legitimately jump ahead of Gothenburg in the division standings as they were 4-3 going into their bye week - at 3-2-1 we were technically division leaders already with a better winning percentage, but with 4.5 wins versus their 4 wins, it would feel more legit.
After a strong continuation of the shutout in Paris by our defense, yet sloppy play by our offense, perhaps supported by the Jazz' strong defensive play, we found ourselves leading 9-0 going into the 4th quarter. Then it finally became a real football game, with missed field goals, more turnovers and finally touchdowns on both ends of the field. But eventually the built up lead proved sufficient to maintain and post our first win in Oranje Haven of this season.
We tied the Jazz in total yards at 289-289, losing the turnover battle 2-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 180 yards with 2 interceptions, yet a touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane.
Result: 19-10 win

Week 9 at Bordeaux
The struggling Vineyards seem to already have given up their hopes to make something of this season, result of their 2-5 start. Our confidence boosted by our division leading status, we saw ourselves once again kicking for 5 field goals at a French division rival, again struggling inside the red zone to haul it in. A strong 16-0 lead was eventually brushed away by Bordeaux to a tie-game score going into the 4th quarter. And that point, our defense picked it up, making interceptions one after another and as we brought it up to 2 scores again, Bordeaux got into no guts no glory, falling short on 4th down and setting up our victory clinching field goal.
We got outgained 335-372 in total yards, yet won the turnover battle 3-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 217 yards, with a touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane. RB Rusty Kemp hauled in a rushing touchdown.
The bad news of the day was WR Jessie Vertelney tearing an ankle ligament and ruled out for 6 months, hence, ending the season for him.
Result: 29-16 win

Week 10 at Orlando
Fresh of a gut wrenching 54-17 loss against Tucker, the Talons had something to prove to their fans and themselves about still being competitive, hence, still being in the mix for the wild cards in the AOC. With us missing WR Jessie Vertelney, our confidence was at an all time low, the last time we missed him we played a turd of a playoffs game.
Our defense and special teams certainly did their best to keep us in the game as we ended up trailing 10-9 at half time on a shanked extra point. But with their offense getting anything going in the second half, the slugfest was on and the Talons kicked for a 2-score lead. With nothing but a touchdown to play for, we ended up in another Hail Mary situation: QB Bart Tanner found WR Rufus Montgomery open enough to catch it at the Orlando 25-yard line and make some ground, but was tackled 17 yards shy of the game winning play.
We got outgained 306-388 in total yards, although made up for it by winning the turnover battle 3-0. QB Bart Tanner threw for 210 yards with 1 touchdown to TE Corbin Robbins.
Result: 9-13 loss

Week 11 at Gothenburg
Leading the division by 1.5 wins, visiting the Giants we got a chance to take an even bigger lead by evening the head-to-head and putting ourselves a situation where even tie-breakers were still salvageable. A loss would instantly make that moot with Gothenburg completing the head-to-head sweep.
Albeit finding still struggling Giants in their own home, on our time of possession we completely let ourselves down. One strong 71-yard drive early in the game aside, it was a display of ineptitude, light and day from what kind of team we had proven to be in the week 1 clash with them. Interceptions and a missed field goal kept the Giants from taking a lead, until a rare fumble from RB Rusty Kemp got recovered by the Giants at our 1-yard line, with less than 2 minutes to go, setting them up for an until then unimaginable game winning score. They threw it into their own hands in the end zone and that was that.
We got outgained 185-403 in total yards in a 2-2 turnover battle. QB Bart Tanner threw for just 156 yards with 1 touchdown to WR Rodolfo Lane.
Result: 7-14 loss

Week 12 vs Capital City
Although an opponent to not underestimate, sporting a 5-5 record going in, we felt that this had to be the game to stop the losing streak quickly and hold onto the slim lead in the division title race. Seemingly reborn, we pounded away at will and scored 27 unanswered points in the first half to pull it off quickly. But the 27-7 lead was as safe and sound as it the big lead against Tucker was and in the second half the Blues kept hanging on and by virtue of an 80-yard touchdown pass, they got within 2 scores and a three-and-out later scored another touchdown to make it just a 7-point lead for us. With almost 5 minutes to go, we showed a display of ball control and time management, getting the chains to move when needed and eventually draining their time outs and knee dropping ourselves to the second victory in Maassluis of this season.
We outgained them 500-449 in total yards, winning the turnover battle 2-0. QB Bart Tanner threw for 347 yards with touchdown passes to TE Corbin Robbins and WR Rufus Montgomery. WR Rodolfo Lane gained 120 yards receiving. RB Rusty Kemp and RB Renaldo Billodeaux each ran for a touchdown.
Result: 34-27 win


European Division
1. Maassluis 6-4-1
2. Gothenburg 6-5
3. Bordeaux 4-7
4. Paris 4-7

Yes, we're still in the lead after 11 games, but it's a small margin, we can't afford any mishaps from here on if we really want to show the world we're ready to end the Giants' domination of the division. Bordeaux has clawed their way back into almost in the race, while Paris' fluke victory over Gothenburg has them tied in wins with Bordeaux, but not really in the mix here. The wild card race has 6-5 Augusta ahead of Gothenburg on head-to-head tie-breaker, with both behind 7-4 San Antonio.

The San Antonio Tidal Force happen to be our next opponents, which makes it even more crucial to defend Oranje Haven well and get ahead of them with tie-breakers on our side. Sure, we're legitimate playoffs quality this season in the AOC, but we've struggled in close games, yet when outplayed, we still made it close until the very end.

Back to what I said 6 games prior, we have to continue to look at it 1 game at a time. So, San Antonio up next, I will avoid looking past that. Another tough opponent, as there are few pushovers in the AOC. Today (week 12) we showed at last we can play well without WR Jessie Vertelney around. Let's build on that.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Go Bordeaux?

Sitting at the top the division, with almost the slimmest of margins possible ahead of the Gothenburg Giants, our regular season campaign continued with two games against teams in the mix for a ticket to the playoffs, followed by 3 home games against teams that after week 12 are already extreme longshots.

Week 13 vs San Antonio
The Tidal Force came to Maassluis, understanding that winning at our place would move them firmly into pole position for a wild card, while a loss could put their aspirations in jeopardy. For the neutral fans, this game was circled for this week and, boy, did it deliver for them.
We scored a quick touchdown on our first drive, setting the tone for our offensive power of the day, while San Antonio responded with a long drive for a field goal and after pushing us back deep on our second possession, they took the lead on a 1-play drive. In the second quarter we took full control, scoring 20 unanswered points into a 27-10 lead.
The second half was even more of a true shootout, with both teams scoring left and right, seeing a mid-fourth quarter short pick six bring the Tidal Force back within a touchdown, trailing 41-34. On their tie-up drive a fumble inside our half kept them off the score board, while their defensive three and out was replied by a game winning pick six on scored by our rookie first round pick Zachary Blair. Trailing by 14, San Antonio came close, on a pseudo Hail Mary throw, but they felt short on yards and time.
We outgained them 439-430 yards, winning the turnover battle 3-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 365 yards with touchdowns to WR Antonio Price, TE Ted Gordon and TE Corbin Robbins. RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Rusty Kemp scored a rushing touchdown each. WR Rodolfo Lane gained 131 yards receiving, while WR Rufus Montgomery gained 124 yards receiving. As already mentioned, rookie CB Zachary Blair scored our 6th touchdown on an interception return.
Result 48-34 win

Week 14 at Texas
Another big test as we were visiting the Atlantic Coast Division leading Texas Sharks. Historically we seem to have their number, the last time a Sharks team beat a Merchantmen team was in 2084.
It proved to be a big test indeed and we passed it. Despite pretty sloppy play throughout the game, struggling to get the chains moving against the Sharks defense, we relied heavily on a triplet of big play touchdowns and on our defense forcing them to kick field goals three times. CB Bryan Sokol opened the score with a 39-yard interception return, QB Bart Tanner connected with WR Rodolfo Lane on an 83-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter and RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a 53-yard score late in the third. In between, K Oscar Harrington converted a 51-yard field goal with second remaining to half time on a short drive set up by nailing them at their own 1-yard line on the preceding drive. Texas came back to life offensively really late in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too little too late already.
We got outgained 334-364 in total yards, but won the turnover battle 2-1. QB Bart Tanner threw for 248 yards, with touchdowns to WR Rodolfo Lane and TE Corbin Robbins. Lane racked up 153 yards receiving in the process. As already mentioned, RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown, while CB Byron Sokol returned an interception for a touchdown.
Result 34-24 win

Week 15 vs Bordeaux
And then came the revenge of Preston Gray. Our former wide receiver got a second life in the IHOF with the Bordeaux Vineyards. On a day where we actually could have used his skills, still missing Jessie Vertelney with a season ending injury and also losing WR Rufus Montgomery for the rest of the season with a broken arm. Instead, Gray scored twice on a short pass into our end zone. We struggled all game long against the Vineyards, despite that it went back and forth. When we kicked a field goal to make it 24-21 in their favor, we fully expected to get another shot at winning the game. Instead, Bordeaux played out the clock with an impressive 70-yard drive, lasting 4:27 minutes to play spoiler in our pursuit for the division title.
We were outgained 395-408 total yards, with a level 1-1 turnover battle. QB Bart Tanner threw for 280 yards, with 1 touchdown to TE Corbin Robbins. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for our other touchdown.
Result 21-24 loss

With Gothenburg on a winning streak, we fell behind them by 1/2 a win in the division title race. But to our luck, the other AOC wild card hopefuls San Antonio and Augusta both lost at their division title clinching divisional foes Houston and Tucker, respectively.

Week 16 vs Moontown
Against the struggling Darksiders, this turned into a non-contest. They wasted all their strong offensive play mojo on their first two drives, while we managed to keep scoring and scoring and forcing turnovers when our defense and special teams unit were on the field. QB Harrison Singleton got some action in the fourth quarter and despite his 2 interceptions thrown, they scored only 1 field goal to somewhat save face.
We outgained them 358-209 total yards, winning the turnover battle 4-2. QB Bart Tanner threw for 198 yards and 1 touchdown, caught by RB Rusty Kemp. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 38 yards in garbage time. RB Rusty Kemp scored a hattrick of touchdowns, adding 2 rushing ones to the aforementioned receiving touchdown. RB Renaldo Billodeaux also ran for a touchdown. FB Kenneth Holse forced 2 fumbles on punt returns.
Result: 34-10 win

With some help, we ended up clinching a trip to the playoffs, with 1 game still to go. A win combined with a Gothenburg loss to Bordeaux would move us into the division title. A loss and a San Antonio win elsewhere would drop us to sixth seed and make for the only scenario where we would face Houston instead of Gothenburg in the playoffs. Our motto of week 17: Go Bordeaux!

Week 17 vs Paris
Missing 2 of our 3 wide receivers still, we hoped to not stumble on the other French team in our place as well and make an upset from Bordeaux moot to begin with. It turned out to be a game in which we were the clearly better team early, steamrolling to a 28-10 lead barely into the second quarter. But the Musketeers kept clinging on, seeing a 90-yard pick six in their favor bring it back to 28-24 by half time, still in our advantage.
And then came one sloppy second half, in when our offense looked bland, penalties kept hurting us (in particular C Zack Chaplain, freshly back on the team after a nasty injury, being responsible for it 4 times) and our take it away drive ended in another interception. The defense proved strong enough to stop Paris several times on what looked like short field situations that could have tilted this game into a loss. Neither team scored in the second half, quite bizar after the high scoring first half.
We outgained them 366-326 total yards, losing the turnover battle 1-3. QB Bart Tanner threw for 243 yards and a touchdown pass to TE Corbin Robbins. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 2 touchdowns.
Result 28-24 win

Bordeaux didn't complete their road spoiler mission, they instead got crushed in Gothenburg. At the same time, San Antonio tripped over their division rivals Fort Wayne, who posted their first win of the season against a team with a winning record and claim the last wild card. With a 9-7 record, Fort Wayne had the tie-breakers on less worse divisional record than San Antonio and less unimpressive strength of victory than Augusta (who beat 2 teams with a winning record).

European Division
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Maassluis 10-5-1
3. Bordeaux 6-10
4. Paris 5-11

A bummer, we failed to stop the Giants from yet another division title, in what seemed to be a season where we were the better team over the course of 16 games. The most crucial games, the head-to-head clashes, both went to them. We're the only team in the league that didn't lose a game by more than 1 score. Caveat being, one team didn't lose a single game at all as the Toronto Lake Monsters steamrolled to a 16-0 record and arguably the second best regular season campaign in league history (only behind the 2032 Tucker Tigers - you may have heard from them before, that team is mentioned in the recent dynasty list I wrote about).

In the playoffs, the AOC will be contested by 16-0 Toronto, 14-2 Tucker (they got crushed at home 41-10 by Toronto), 12-4 Houston (lost to Toronto, but beat Tucker), 11-5 Gothenburg (they lost to Toronto and Tucker, but beat Houston), 10-5-1 Maassluis (we lost to Tucker and twice to Gothenburg) and 9-7 Fort Wayne (they got humiliated 55-0 by Toronto and lost big twice to Houston).

The NAC will see a field of 12-4 Hanalei, 11-5 Kansas (they lost 32-22 at home to Hanalei), 10-6 Williamsburg (they lost 28-17 at home to Hanalei), 9-7 Capital City (they lost bit to Hanalei and Kansas), 10-6 Arizona (they split with Kansas, lost at Williamsburg, but won at Capital City) and 10-6 Colorado (they split with Hanalei and beat Williamsburg).


So, the season isn't over and we'll get the ultimate chance to prove we were the better European team as we face the Giants in Gothenburg in week 18. My confidence in the team has taken a hit when we lost WR Jessie Vertelney and even more when WR Rufus Montgomery joined him. We lost a game when DT Efrain Hutchins was out as well. The latter returned versus Paris and unlike the limping offense, our defense should be in full galore.

We can do this team. The Giants are struggling. We have shown more fire power on offense (we scored 429 points, they 378), slightly more stinginess on defense (319 vs 325 points allowed), our running game is superior, our passing game is slightly better, their run defense is slightly better and their pass defense slightly better. We're slightly better in forcing and avoiding turnovers. Our special teams unit was 3rd best in the league, but we're not better by a wide margin over Gothenburg. All things considered, home field advantage factored in, this could be as much of a coinflip as a game can ever be.

We'll have to prepare for this game the best we can, figure out where we floundered at times this season and then go out there and prove that we've truly improved to beat the Giants when it really counts. Go Merchantmen!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2116 playoffs!



Week 18 @ Gothenburg

The disappointment of missing out on the division title was shoved aside quickly, as we had a chance to avenge it in a road game at the Giants. I had confidence in our team that we were strong enough to pull off the semi-upset here.

We started strong, seeing QB Bart Tanner completing 19-yard and 26-yard passes to WR Antonio Price and WR Blake Begay. Price was our mentor/WR4 at the start of the season, Begay was a mid-season signing to get our roster back up to 5 wide receivers with 2/3rd of our best trio in the league out with long term injuries. The drive ended in the end zone, but without any points as Tanner's pass was picked off there. Gothenburg responded with a strong drive, but on a 4th and 1 situation at our 34-yard line, they went for it and our defense stood strong. On our next possession, Tanner found Price for 30 yards, but somehow failed to get the ball into the hands of his tight ends in the end zone on goal line situations as we settled for a 21-yard field goal for the 3-0 lead. Gothenburg immediately responded with a 63-yard catch and run, setting up a short run for a touchdown and the 7-3 Giants lead. And things got even better for the Giants on the very next play from scrimmage as Tanner saw another pass picked off, this time returned the full 23 yards for a Giants 14-3 lead.

At the start of the second quarter, QB Bart Tanner succesfully connected with TE Ted Gordon on third and longish, while RB Rusty Kemp moved the chains with a 20-yard run on third and 3. We got as close as the Giants 21yard line, but an unsportsmanlike penalty pushed us back and instead trying to kicking it to a 1-score game, we punted. The Giants had a strong drive in response, until CB Byron Sokol interfered with an interception and got us back into Gothenburg territory. 4 plays later we finally scored our first touchdown of the game, RB Rusty Kemp ran it in from 9 yards out. The Giants' reply was strong, with a couple of 14-yard plays followed by a 47-yard touchdown run to put them into a firm 21-10 lead. RB Renaldo Billodeaux replied with a 31-yard run on our next drive, but once we reach the red zone, we floundered and settled for a 33-yard field goal, making it a 1-score deficit. The final 2 minutes saw both teams play it cautious into a 21-13 half time lead for Gothenburg.

Early in the third quarter, neither team scored on their first two possession, but we did play a stronger field position battle, pinning the Giants at their own 1-yard line. With some luck (the referees caught a Giants' lineman holding one of our guys on a 43-yard pass), we got the ball back quickly and shortly after QB Bart Tanner found TE Corbin Robbins for 26 yards, he found WR Antonio Price for a 19-yard catch and run touchdown. Gothenburg responded with their first strong drive of the second half, pulling off a tricky play on a 44-yard pass directly into the end zone, while we were lining up expecting a running play. It put the Giants up 28-20 by the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, we started with a failed 3rd and short throw and found ourselves somewhat lucky again as the same Giants lineman caused a penalty on long pass. We recovered our own fumble on the first play of our next drive, but QB Bart Tanner quickly set things right with a 18-yard throw to TE Ted Gordon, followed by RB Renaldo Billodeaux' 22-yard run to set up a 42-yard field goal for a 28-23 deficit. Gothenburg responded with a strong drive, but arrived at our 19-yard line, as they were ready to make it a 2-score lead again, LB Bobby Diaz picked off a pass and possibly saved the game. Tanner completed twice on third downs for a new set, but on the third third down, Tanner not only got sacked but also lost the ball and the Giants recovered it near midfield. A crucial 47-yard pass on 3rd and 14 extended the Giants' drive deep into our red zone and after they burnt 2 of our time outs (we actually wasted one to save 7 seconds) they pounded it in for a 35-23 lead. Yes, we responded with a decent drive, but wasted too much time and our potential miracle ending pass ended up in WR Antonio Price getting tackled 2 yards short.

We outgained them 468-457 in total yards, lost the turnover battle 2-3 and had a 12-yard per drive field position advantage. QB Bart Tanner threw for 295 yards, with a touchdown to WR Antonio Price, who also had 107 yards receiving, but Tanner also threw 2 interceptions and lost a fumble. RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown.

Result: 23-35 loss


And with that our season ended with the worst result of the season as all our previous losses were by a single score. We proved that we deserved to win 1 game against the Giants this season, but clearly, we did not, we lost 3 times against our biggest rivals and based on that, it's fair to say they deserved to move on in the playoffs.

The Giants ended up getting beaten 31-14 in the next round, being the first of three teams beaten by the Toronto Lake Monsters on their successful mission of going undefeated. Until this season, 4 teams had gone 16-0 in the regular season and 2 of those actually kept going for a 19-0 season. Up for debate, probably, but the 2116 Lake Monsters are quite possibly the second single season team in league history, behind the 2032 Tucker Tigers. Most certainly they will attempt to do it again in 2117. They'll have to get past us in Oranje Haven in week 7 to make that work though.


On to 2117.

We'll go into the off-season only just under $20M over the cap, with 44 players signed and 6 restricted free agents. mentor QB Blake Stai, K Oscar Harrington, running downs DT Francisco Blades, over the hill CB Joel Delgado and back from arthritis CB Kent Wodarz will be unrestricted free agents. And we have 12 draft picks, with 6 of them lumped together between picks 2.15 and 2.24. As a tiny bit of solace, we ended up earning that 24th pick in every round, by virtue of being the best team that got eliminated in the wild card round. So yeah, we played better than all 5 teams we got their second round picks from. But I'd probably be willing to trade the whole bunch of them if it would have gotten us a victory over the Giants in that wild card round. But that's not how life goes. But we've gotten closer again. Let's regroup quickly and focus on improvement. The division has to become ours again, let them not catch up in all time division titles. Go Merchantmen!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Where have the second round picks gone!?

The 2117 off-season rolls on and a couple of things have gone on so far.

First of all, chronologically, we hired a new defensive coordinator. We bring in 57-year old Clyde Beeman, previously the Colorado Cutthroats' head coach and before that 16 seasons of experience as a defensive coordinator with 4 different teams.

Second order of business was the inevitable renegotiations phase. Sure, some players will have to wait for mid-pre-season, but those where there can be money scraped off their salary cap figure, they were talked with and 18 players signed a restructured contract with us. We quickly followed up by re-signing 6 restricted free agents: WR Blake Begay, G Alfred Pearsall, LB Ezekiel O'Neal, CB Adrian Kornegay, CB Marquis Wolf and S Peter Hinsley. We also released last season's signing RT Edwin Northcutt, he proved to be too much of a liability in the pass protection and was a relative cap friendly cut, accounting for $1M in lost cap space in this and next season each.

The result being that we're a comfortable $70M under the $623M salary cap, with 49 players signed. With a truckload of draft picks incoming, especially no less than 6 second round picks, that should put us like $40M closer to the cap. But, there's non Merchantmen offseason without trade, As it is now, I've traded away 10 draft picks, including all 6 second round picks and got 2 seventh round picks in return. And the first round picks from the Fort Wayne Fury and Harlem Apollos. Both should be projected to go worse than 8-8 in the upcoming season, which is, to me, a very good return of value. A third round pick from Chesapeake was also part of the acquisitions.

It means that, upon conclusion of the second round, rather than having 7 names to present, we have just 1 new player. And, lo and behold it is just a kicker.

Our staff is convinced that Jeffery DeGroot - our Dutch speaking fans cringe over the spelling, but they'll have to learn to live with it - is potentially on par with Oscar Harrington as a kicker in terms of field goals and extra points, but with kickoff ability added on. That's a nice improvement to what already was a formidable special teams unit.

The roughly $60M of cap space we'll have remaining after rookies are signed, we'll spend on a handful of veteran free agents, if they look good enough to improve our team. But we'll also have to reserve quite a bit for the pre-season renegotiations (or earlier if some moron player agent advices to hold out), in particular for LT Dan Clancy and TE Corbin Robbins, as both are deservingly demanding to get paid. Clancy wants to improve to a $41M cap figure and Robbins to $30M. They currently combined for roughly $26M, which basically means we need to reserve $45M for them.

We still have 5 unrestricted free agents in QB Blake Stai, K Oscar Harrington, DT Francisco Blades, CB Joel Delgado and CB Kent Wodarz. I'm expecting Stai to sign in Bordeaux to mentor the 1.1 pick they traded up for (QB Hardy Henson). Harrington's tenure will likely end after 15 seasons in Maasssluis, in which he moved to 1st all time in field goals scored (9 more than the previous record holder Charles Anthony) and 2nd all time in points scored (81 behind Anthony, so he would have broken it with another season on team). Blades already got an offer to consider, while Delgado's and Wodarz' demands have to get more reasonable to be worth it.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Here come the 2117 hold outs...

Free agency and the draft are in full swing. We finished the draft with three picks in the seventh round with WR Brian Cote, CB Chase Finley and S Phil McCleskey. Cote is a special teamer with route running and decent getting downfield ability. Finley is a 6'3" corner with man to man ability, turnover forcing skills and special teams value. McCleskey is a special teamer with man to man skills, run defense and is a punishing hitter. It's quite possible Finley and McCleskey will challenge CB Joel Delgado for a roster spot. If Delgado actually signs the 2-year deal we've offered him. We did already bring back DT Francisco Blades on a new 3-year deal, but CB Kent Wodarz has not yet signed the 2-year deal we offered him.

The splasher of free agency for us was the signing of C Jim Mayes. Although a year older than C Zane Chaplain, I think the latter should really know he put himself in trouble with all the penalties in week 17 at Gothenburg. I do think Chaplain is more likely to be our backup center than C Duane Ondre. We missed out on a veteran right tackle we were pursuing, which means we're still an offensive tackle short, which is where I think I want to go, rather than keeping 3 centers.

The most intriguing part of the off-season could be what the contract negotiations with LT Dan Clancy and TE Corbin Robbins end up in. We made them both very generous offers, but their boneheads of player agents turned them down, apparently incapable of seeing how those offers included more overall and more guaranteed money than what they were requesting. We'll make a second offer tomorrow and then we'll find out whether one of them is going to be silly and hold out. We still have nearly $40M of cap space to work with after rookie contracts are factored in.

QB Blake Stai has finally signed with the Bordeaux Vineyards. We'll thank him for being our QB3 for a season of not having a young kid to mentor for him. As mentioned before, he'll go there to mentor the top pick of this draft class.

K Oscar Harrington is still without a new team. It seems that no team wants to pay him $12 for a single season. I mean, this isn't some random kicker, he needs one more season to become the 12th all-time to get over 2000 points scored, should jump into the top10 all-time in field goals scored. He's still good enough to do it, that's for sure. Maybe some team will pick him up in time for training camp or pre-season. We'll see. But it won't be us.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: home of the kickers

Early free agency concluded and we signed a couple more players. CB Joel Delgado and CB Kent Wodarz re-signed with us for 2 seasons. On the open market we signed LT Lester Money, a 30-year old veteran, huge framework (6'7", 327 pounds), very good run blocker, fair in pass protection. And we signed K Dalton Jackson.

Wait, didn't we just pick a kicker in the first round? We did, but Jackson will be a mentor for this kid, at minimum through pre-season. Surely we're not going into the regular season with 2 kickers, are we? At the same time, it gives us an insurance in case K Jeffery DeGroot tanks in pre-season.

K Oscar Harrington is still unaccounted for, which means he'll still be allowed to walk around at our training facilities until training camp starts.

We sent out about 2 hands full of offers to undrafted rookies, which appears to be the area of the game where we're the best in the league in finding keepers: 21 of the 59 players currently on roster were undrafted rookies. Although CB Kent Wodarz was actually released by us in his second season and late in the regular season brought back after injuries decimated the secondary.

As this is traditionally the hold out stage, we were more than happy to find out that, albeit they turned down an even more generous offer than the one we put on the table earlier, TE Corbin Robbins and LT Dan Clancy seem to be okay with waiting until pre-season for further negotiations and both are willing to report to training camp. We have about $25M in cap space to work something out with them. And I'm also mulling over whether we should lock up WR Rufus Montgomery now, rather than face his final season of the rookie contract negotiations, like we're having with Robbins and Clancy here. But we'll get on that in pre-season.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 9 new players, 7 new faces

K Oscar Harrington has officially left the Merchantmen. After 15 seasons of service (247 games), he signed a 1-year contract with the Capital City Blues.

We signed two second-year pro's with familiar names in QB Kent Figures and LB Wendell Reynolds. Figures was a 7th round pick for us in 2116 and after we released him in pre-season, he was picked up by the Texas Sharks on a 1-year deal as their emergency quarterback. Reynolds was an undrafted rookie in 2116, didn't make the final 53-men roster, but kept hope and we'll bring him to training camp 2117 for his second chance.

We also brought in 7 undrafted rookie free agents, all of them on pretty cheap, but not cheapskate contracts. RB Benjamin Reilly has very interesting hole recognition potential, if it holds up, he could challenge RB Edwin Erickson for the RB3 spot, but Reilly's lack of special teams ability limits the odds. FB Ron Carlisle is mainly suited to protect the quarterback from blitzers. TE J.J. Lang has promising route running and special teams potential. P Greg Stephenson is an insurance signing in case P Tyrons Johnston falls apart in pre-season. CB Alexis White is a small (5'7", 185 pounds) special teams ace, with zone defense potential. S Wayne Bridges is potentially a run stopper and zone defender. S Roderick Olivera has some special teams potential, but he'll have to improve on it to even make the pre-season roster.

We'll go into training camp with 68 players signed. Clearly way too many for the actual pre-season limit of 60. Especially the secondary group will need some trimming, we're bringing 17 men into training camp, that's insane.

Evaluating our undrafted rookie score, we managed to get 7 of 9 targets. We missed out on two wide receivers that signed lucrative deals with the two most decorated franchises in the league. WR Irving Stargell received a $4.5M bonus from the Tucker Tiger, where he might turn out to be their new punt returner, or might do nothing but end up on the trade block like half the wide receivers that are picked up by them as rookies. The Chesapeake Chitterlings offered WR Shane Zigler a $3.99M salary, it could make them their new special teams booster with excellent punt return potential.

Another interesting tidbit: the Bordeaux Vineyards made QB Clyde Morris the mr. irrelevant pick. He ran a spectacular 4.32 40-yard dash at the combine, but more importantly, makes for the interesting sandwich of the first and last pick in the same class being both quarterbacks for the exact same team. We actually looked at Morris as our plan B for our last 7th round pick, but with no mentor around, it made it bit less sense to hope the kid could grow to be our future starter after QB Bart Tanner and QB Harrison Singleton. We let QB Blake Stai walk away, he's now in Bordeaux to mentor Morris as well as #1 overall pick QB Hardy Henson.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 53 men for 2117 set?

Pre-season action has finished and we're already down to 53 players on roster. I'm still keeping my eyes open at a couple of positions as for some backup roles and players I'm not happy. But I do think we've done a great enough job to stick the 2116 team together. In two waves we trimmed down from 68 through 60 to 53 men.

The first wave saw us release QB Kent Figures, FB Rob Carlisle, C Duane Ondre, K Dalton Jackson, LB Wendell Reynolds, CB Alex White, S Terry Bridges and S Roderick Olivera. Most were undrafted rookies, but Figures and Reynolds were mid-pre-season cuts last season. Jackson became unneeded when it turned out our rookie K Jeffery DeGroot is ready to play. Ondre was the only player with playing time experience on the team, he lost out to the veteran free agent signings.

The second wave saw us part ways with TE Richie Osborne, WR Brian Cote, WR Kai Cote, P Greg Stephenson, CB Chase Finley, CB Joel Delgado and S Phil McCleskey. Stephenson was an undrafted rookie, while Brian Cote, Finlay and McCleskey were our three 7th round picks. The other three were tougher cuts. Osborne spent 2 full seasons on roster, but was never activated and lost the roster spot battle to undrafted rookie TE J.J. Lang. Kai Cote had spent 8 seasons on team with us in which he missed all but 2 games as an undisputed member of the special teams unit, unit now as I chose to stick with last season's mid-season signing WR Blake Begay in that role. Delgado leaves the team after 11 seasons of service, he spent all of last season in the inactive seven after previously being a starter or at minimum in a time-share.

We extended a bunch of contracts with potential 2118 free agents being QB Harrison Singleton, TE Arnie Huffman, C Zane Chaplain, P Tyrus Johnstone, DE Calvin Buckley, LB Xavier Hoover and S Noah Matthews. But the biggest news in that area was the signing of LT Dan Clancy. Eventually he signed a contract of $228M over 5 years, that's quite a bit less than the $248M offer he turned down earlier on. Player agents are so unpredictable... TE Corbin Robbins still hasn't signed a new deal with us, but I'm determined to make it happen. And if there's something left after that, we'll make a big offer to WR Rufus Montgomery, locking him up for 5 years into the 2121 season before he starts asking prima donna money like WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Jessie Vertelney did and are collecting. Just over $30M sounds rich enough to me.

I'll run down the roster later on, because I might make some last minute changes and would like to make that 53-men report accurate for opening day's roster.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 53 for 2117!

Okay, I'm still not completely sold on this collective of 53 players, but for now, I'm ready to settle with these men for our sequence of opening games until the bye week. Let's run down the team by position group, with their rough scouted ratings. Spoiler: we have only 5 new players and none of them om our defense, despite the truckload of rookie defensive backs that we brought in for training camp.

Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Bart Tanner
30/30 QB Harrison Singleton
Tanner is our man. He played his best season in 2116 with 263 passing yards per game and 24 touchdowns versus 13 interceptions, while increasing his yards per carry figure to 6.9. Singleton is in decline and is clearly less suited for the offensive style we're playing. We're going into the season without a third stringer. If emergency rises, we'll be forced to cut one of the undrafted rookies at another positon, hoping the injured quarterback doesn't need to go to injured reserve.

Backfield
45/45 RB Rusty Kemp
40/40 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
35/35 RB Edwin Erickson
30/40 RB Benjamin Reilly (rookie)
25/25 FB Kenneth Holse
We'll go by the Kemp and Billodeaux tandem for another season, with Erickson stuck behind Billodeaux. Reilly looked good in training camp, but we sat him in pre-season, while his lack of special teams skills makes him useless as an active backup. Reilly and Erickson are the guys least secure of their roster spot, both will be inactive backups. Holse has slowly turned into mostly a special teamer, at which he's a key member of that unit.

Tight Ends
55/55 TE Corbin Robbins
50/50 TE Ted Gordon
30/30 TE Arnie Huffman
20/35 TE J.J. Lang (rookie)
Robbins and Gordon will both get their share of targets, with Robbins last season having surpassed Gordon at that. Huffman is another reliable receiver, making the 3TE formation a serious threat. Lang has the potential to become the best third down receiver from this bunch. None of these guys are true blockers, which is kind of unusual for a Merchantmen offense.

Wide Receivers
70/70 WR Jessie Vertelney
65/65 WR Rodolfo Lane
60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery
35/35 WR Antonio Price
25/25 WR Blake Begay
25/25 WR Maurice Sweeney
We said goodbye to long-timer Kai Cote, his spot on the special teams unit is taken by 2116 mid-season signing Begay, who has show to be a useful WR4 or WR5. Sweeney is our kickoff returner, Lane our punt returner, both are elite guys. Price proved to be a reliable WR4, but will start the season inactive. But the core of this offense is really the Lane, Montgomery and Vertelney trio. We can no longer claim they're the best trio in the league, the Toronto Lake Monsters' has to be considered the top trio. But last season we finally managed to adjust our threesome's respective roles and routes, making them play more efficiently.

Offensive Line
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
60/60 G Herb Nieves
55/55 C Jim Mayes (veteran FA)
45/45 G Alfred Pearsall
45/45 G Andes Uwaezuoke
45/45 C Zane Chaplain
45/45 RT Lester Money (veteran FA)
40/40 RT Clayton Bernstein
A bit of an overhaul was required in this unit. Despite our tremendous running game, the pass protection was terrible. Mayes boosts that on the inside, while not making the group weaker in the running game. The addition of Money hopefully brings along the run blocker on the right side that I feel we lacked last season (I mean, we still ran for 5.1 yards per carry, so what's the problem?) It means we have plenty of players capable of playing. I'm basically done with Chaplain, but figured he could still be a worthy backup, although we might have thrown cap space away by extending his contract. I think Uwaezuoke will be the run blocking guard for one more season ahead of Pearsall, with Nieves having recovered well from the initial bust tag into an overall good guard. Last but not least, Clancy has got to be the most solid pas blocking left tackle in the league now, so we hope he improves on it.

Defensive Line
65/65 DT Carlos Fischer
55/55 DT Efrain Hutchins
50/50 DE Lonnie Wynn
50/50 DE Calvin Buckley
45/45 DT Francisco Blades
45/45 DT Bryan Lomax
35/35 DE Ernest Frias
35/35 DE Christopher Wrighster
This is the same bunch as last season and we'll try to give them the exact same roles as much as possible. Which means all eight will be on the active roster and into the rotation, even the studs Fischer and Hutchins will take a breather at times.

Linebackers
65/65 LB Jorge Mayes
45/45 LB Xavier Hoover
40/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
40/40 LB Bobby Diaz
35/35 LB Raymond Casper
35/35 LB Nicholas Giles
This group is the same as last season, but the sudden decline of Giles means he's become basically unneeded as he's now the worst of this group in terms of pass defense and run defense, while useless for the special teams unit. O'Neal will likely jump into the running downs formations where Giles was playing last season. Mayes remains to be the only all downs guy, with Diaz the pass protection expert and Hoover the running downs support.

Secondary
45/55 CB Zachary Blair
45/45 S Dan Peterson
40/45 CB Asher McElroy
35/50 S Cesar Welch
40/40 S Peter Hinsley
35/35 CB Marquis Wolf
30/30 CB Skip Horner
30/30 CB Byron Sokol
30/30 S Noah Matthews
30/30 CB Kent Wodarz
25/30 CB Adrian Kornegay
A big group with many different specialties. Wodarz will ride the bench again, being one of many zone defense specialist and surpassed by the second-year guys Wolf and Welch. Blair has recovered a bit after the initial first round bust stamp, hopefully growing into the shutdown corner role that we projected him to be capable of playing.

Special Teams
80/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
65/65 P Tyrus Johnstone
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
Oh yeah, and then there's this bunch. Kaeding is elite, yet there are 5 guys my staff thinks are even more impressive long snappers. DeGroot is almost everything we can hope for in a kicker. He might have trouble getting the distance on the 50+ field goals, but he's got the outlook of being the best kickoff specialist with excellent accuracy. Johnstone is a decent enough holder, but that's actually an area where we could still improve in...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2117, first six weeks

Let's enjoy the lead while it still lasts?
Okay, little spoiler, let's go over our first 5 games of the 2117 season, all played in the first 6 weeks.


Week 1 at Bordeaux
All eyes were on Bordeaux' rookie QB Hardy Henson, the #1 overall pick. He was in for a tough matchup, kind of stuck in an all pass approach whilst still so much to learn. Our own first round pick K Jeffery DeGroot struggled a bit, missing a long field goal at the end of the first half that could have trimmed the deficit to 10-9 there and then, shortly after aforementioned Henson threw his first career touchdown pass. In the second half, slowly but steady we took control and bended the score into our advantage, starting the new season with a victory.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 281 yards, with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. TE Arnie Huffman caught the touchdown pass, whilst RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for our other touchdown.
Result: 20-13 win

Week 2 vs Frederick
Our second game of the season saw us outgain our opponents, but with 2 missed field goals and perhaps more crucial the combined 7 catches for 103 yards by our wide receiver trio. All in all, a weird game where we looked stronger, but took too little out of our opportunities, seeing both our sure-handed running backs losing a fumble.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 263 yards, without touchdown or interception.
Result: 6-14 loss

Week 3 vs Fort Wayne
Rarely is a victory good for a team's draft position, but this season we get two opportunities to prove that wrong, starting with this clash against the Ft. Wayne Fury. We're in possession of their first round pick next season, so a win would be great in that aspect.
The offense finally woke up, supported by a stellar special teams performance and hard to beat defense after two early touchdowns allowed. The team really showed how entertaining football can be, eventually piling up on the points.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 223 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. WR Jessie Vertelney caught 2 touchdowns, WR Rufus Montgomery and TE Arnie Huffman 1 each. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a score.
Result: 43-20 win

Week 4
Bye week blues. Always in week 4. Boring.

Week 5 at North Plainfield
Traditionally the Plague are team we struggle against, especially when we're hot and they are not. We struggled once again, but this time around, our own defense put up even more of an impressive showing, aside from one unexpected 63-yard catch and run touchdown from their running back. The team showed it can win ugly games as well.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 259 yards with no touchdown or interception. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for our only touchdown.
Result: 13-7 win

Week 6 vs Rochester
Back home, the team decided to entertain their own fans once again. It took a pair of interceptions out of QB Bart Tanner's throwing arm to help the visiting Razorbacks get into our half oft the field, showing how hard to beat our defense is proving to be so far. The defense sacked the opposing quarterback 7 times, whilst also forcing him to run for it 9 times, both career highs for him.
QB Bart Tanner bounced back from his mishaps, throwing for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns, whilst also running for a score. RB Renaldo Billodeaux pounded a touchdown in early in the game. WR Jessie Vertelney, WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Arnie Huffman made the receiving touchdowns.
Result: 38-20 win

An interesting tidbit to mention: our defense consists of 25 players that all were on this team last season already. The actual change of personnel there was the release of veteran CB Joel Delgado and the return of CB Kent Wodarz after his recovery from arthritis. This unit is doing well so far, but 5 games is still a small sample size...

European Division standings
1. Maassluis 4-1
2. Gothenburg 4-2
3. Paris 1-4
4. Bordeaux 0-5

Our sole loss came to the Frederick Red Menace, currently sitting pretty at 4-1-1 atop their traditionally tough division, whilst the Gothenburg Giants have lost 26-24 at the still unbeaten Tucker Tigers and lost 26-24 against last season's 19-0 juggernaut Toronto Lake Monsters. That monstrous team will be coming to Maassluis in week 7, making for a big test for our division leading team. I'm not optimistic about this game, but if we're for real, we'll surely put up a fight there. Missing our shutdown CB Zachary Blair won't make things easier against their throw-throw-throw approach. Blair will miss the remainder of the regular season with a concussion. But I think we have enough experience and role players to step in and show we're not hanging on one player that much. Now imagine our prima donna wide receivers actually starting to play up to their ability and maybe we can pull the upset and prove the world that we're not a fluke division leader...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2/3rd-ish 2117 report!

We've gone through a swing of 6 more games and, after quite the rollercoaster we're still a top the division. I won't say "don't ask how", because you know I'm going to tell you here and now anyway.

Week 7 vs Toronto
The defending league champions came to town and didn't didn't just show their all pass attack near perfection, they also taught our quarterback a lesson in ball control. QB Bart Tanner was intercepted 4 times, while he and RB Rusty Kemp also added a lost fumble to the tally and QB Harrison Singleton got his share as well with one more interception. Yup, 7 turnovers against the team that went 19-0 last season, I think you can quickly imagine how such a game would end. Well, it was 14-44 by half time and neither team scored a touchdown in the second half.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 227 yards with touchdowns to TE Arnie Huffman and WR Jessie Vertelney, who also had 102 yards receiving for the day. We gained 439 total yards, which is quite good against this opponent and we lost the field position battle by just 7 yards despite losing the turnover battle 2-7.
Result 14-50 loss

Week 8 at Paris
Despite giving up 378 total yards, the Paris Musketeers needed an early pick six to put points on the score board. Our own offense was underwhelmingly bad, yet they eventually put just enough points on the board to avoid an embarrassing loss.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 237 yards, with a touchdown to WR Rodolfo Lane.
Result: 13-7 win

Week 9 at Harlem
Struggles with our wide receivers not living up to their cap figures, it has helped our quarterback into turning into a pick machine this season and in this game another pair of lost fumbles made for steep hill to climb. We also have to give credit to an opponent that saw their running back run for 141 yards on us. But at the end of the day, when you're losing the turnover battle 0-4, it requires excellence on all the other drives to avoid deficit, which we were not capable of.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 263 yards with a touchdown to WR Rufus Montgomery, while RB Rusty Kemp scored our other touchdown.
Result: 20-31 loss

Week 10 vs Bordeaux
And then, when you thought we had rolled our snake eyes already, Bordeaux got something of a single roll Yahtzee! against us. In what was a very strong showing from our offense and defense, we found ourselves trailing 41-20 with 14 minutes to go in the game. All that most the result of the Vineyards scoring touchdowns on a fumble return, punt return, interception return and a kickoff return. Despite that, we didn't give up and took advantage of a pair of 4th quarter interceptions thrown by their backup quarterback (almost evening out on QB Bart Tanner's 4-interception game).
We almost pulled the unlikely comeback, scoring a pair of touchdowns and a
field goal to set us up for trailing by 4, moving downfield with under a minute remaining and Tanner throwing that 4th interception in the end zone to end the game.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 368 yards, threw 2 touchdowns, ran for 1 as well. RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown, TE Corbin Robbins caught 2 touchdowns. WR Rodolfo Lane for a change lived up to his talent and exorbitant salary with 152 yards receiving.
Result: 37-41 loss

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
Having dropped to second place in the division based on the divisional game loss to Bordeaux, we were fully expecting to see the downfall continue with a near knock out punch by the Giants in our own house.
After a bit of a false start for them, we took the quick lead with a short 35-yrd drive for a touchdown and after both offense put down dominant drives for a 14-7 score in our advantage, everybody was getting ready for a shootout.
Nothing of that came through in the remaining 3 quarters and a bit as the stingy defenses on both sides put quite the display on the field. Especially our pass rush showed up for a change and late in the game saved the day when Gothenburg was driving for would could have been a comeback from behind touchdown as DE Christopher Wrighster had a strip sack complete with recovering the losse ball.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 252 yards with 2 touchdowns. WR Jessie Vertelney and TE Ted Gordon made the touchdown catches.
Result: 20-14 win

Week 12 at Brooklyn
And then a real shootout came to the football field. Helped by 3 interceptions thrown by their quarterback in the first 20 minutes of the game, we took an early lead and even saw it in become a 2-score game late after a tremendous 60-yard touchdown run by RB Renaldo Billodeaux. A fumble by this hero helped the Fightin' Bums set up their touchdown for a 31-30 lead with just over 4 minutes to go. With just over 2 minutes remaining, we decided to punt, nailing them deep inside their own red zone. The gamble proved to be worth it as we trhee-and-outed them, followed by a strong punt return by WR Rodolfo Lane to set up a 45-yard field goal for the 33-31 lead. Our rookie K Jeffery DeGroot succeeded and in the nail biting final 45 seconds, Brooklyn failed to get into field goal range as well.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 265 yards and a touchdown to TE Ted Gordon. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 118 yards and 1 touchdown, RB Rusty Kemp also ran for a touchdown.
Result: 33-31 win

That was quite the rollercoaster of games as we ran into quite the load of of turnovers, in particular QB Bart Tanner's return to his 2115 habits of throwing multiple picks in a game. We thought we fixed that issue last season, but apparently not. The wide receivers also went a huge step back this season, WR Jessie Vertelney has 5.9 yards per target, WR Rodolfo Lane has a 48.9 catch percentage and WR Rufus Montgomery has less than 3 receptions per game. Their combined tally is 127 catches for 1673 yards and 9 touchdowns in 11 games. These guys are just not untalented enough to have these totals.

Despite all that, we're still hanging onto the division lead, for a big part based on a bit of an off season for the Giants and in particular our head-to-head win flipped the division lead into our favor.

European Division
1. Maassluis 7-4
2. Gothenburg 6-5
3. Bordeaux 2-9
4. Paris 1-10

Our remaining schedule isn't easy at all. We're visiting Augusta Greenjackets (5-6) next, in recent seasons our rivals for the wild card race. Then we'll host the Chesapeake Chitterlings (8-3) in what seems to be a back to 10-win quality season for them. Then we'll host Paris, which has to be the closest thing to a guaranteed win as you can have in the league this season. And we'll close it out with a stretch of road games at Williamsburg (6-5) and at Gothenburg. Both of them are looking more stable than we do, which says quite a bit as they are not playing their best football at the moment. Again, a tough stretch, where under normal circumstances going 2-3 would be mildly acceptable, but given where we are right now, to win the division we'll need to win at least 3 games, preferably the last one, but we'll have to stop doing this forecasting and try to focus on game by game. Augusta is a tough cookie to crack.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: late 2117 regular season stretch

The last 5 regular season games are in the books. It was a tough series of games, with potentially 4 playoffs making teams on the schedule and one mismatch in the middle. How did that play out?


Week 13 at Augusta
At the halfway mark of the season, the Augusta Greenjackets were 2-6, but with a small winning streak against teams they're supposed to beat, the were ready for this big test in their own house against us. They've made the playoffs in 3 of the last 4 seasons, always had a winning record and rightfully so as they have an impressive team, in particular their HOF bound quarterback Kaden Banks.
Despite that early on we kind of kept pace in a bit of high scoring game in the first 20 minutes, trailing 17-13, a 96-yard drive from the Greenjackets was a punch in the face moment as it appeared to end the shootout kind of game it was earlier on. We were clearly outmatched and after another long drive from the Greenjackets late in the fourth quarter to put them 14 points up, it was finally over.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 257 yards with 1 interception. RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Rusty Kemp scored our touchdowns for the day. We forced no turnovers, had just 2 big plays on special teams (a 70-yard kickoff return and a punt to the August 4-yard line) and allowed a 100-yard rusher for the second time this season.
Result: 20-34 loss

Week 14 vs Chesapeake
Coming in with having won 2/3rd of their games, the Chitterlings were considered red hot, with their career backup out of nowhere starting quarterback somehow getting the job done. Richie DiGiacomo played well in Maassluis as well as he threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns, also running for a score, without any turnovers.
After wild first quarter we were already leading 24-14 as the Chitterlings' defense looked incapable of stopping us. The game somewhat settled down from there on, although we kept stuffing their rushers, while smooth sailing offensively and letting our rookie kicker put the points on the board.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns. TE Corbin Robbins caught 8 passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns, while WR Jessie Vertelney accounted for the other receiving touchdown. WR Rodolfo Lane scored a punt return touchdown and RB Rusty Kemp ran for 103 yards.
Result: 40-28 win

Week 15 vs Paris
What should have been a confidence boosting last home game of the regular season against the weakest opponent in the conference, turned out to be a tough nut to crack as the Musketeers achieved to keep our offense from scoring any touchdowns. Luckily, our defense showed up today, keeping them to 241 total yards and just 1 touchdown. A fourth quarter fumble from our sure-handed kickoff returner gifted Paris their second touchdown of the game and put them within a score. We kicked another field goal late and on our final drive we played out the clock convincingly to haul in a narrower than it needed to be victory. QB Bart Tanner threw for 274 yards with 1 touchdown.
Result: 22-16 win

Week 16 at Williamsburg
The Colonials had a shaky start to the season (3-5 halfway in), but they regrouped and with a 5-1 stretch they were ready to host us. Their running back Craig Worcester and quarterback Landon Miceli ran all over us, as they gained 135 and 62 yards respectively. We didn't play much worse or less well, but as we lost the turnover battle 1-3 and chickened out late in the game, punting while down by a touchdown and never got the ball back anymore as the Colonials effectively ran the clock out.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 224 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. TE Arnie Huffman scored our only touchdown of the game.
Result: 13-20 loss



Week 17 at Gothenburg
And then came the all or nothing game to determine the European Division title, knowing the losing team would likely miss the playoffs despite a winning record. Both the Giants and us went into this game with a 9-6 record, but we were still leading the division based on the head-to-head win earlier on. The scenarios were simple: lose and our season would end as we'd always fall behind the Augusta Greenjackets in the final wild card race. Tie and we'd win the division on the head-to-head win earlier on. Win and Gothenburg would still sneak into the playoffs if Augusta would lose in Orlando. Gothenburg's six losses all came down to a single score, while we had little confidence in terms of knowing how to win at their place, our last win their was in 2103, even our most veteran players were still in college when that happened.

We won the toss and saw our kick returner bring us to our 41-yard line for our first drive to start. QB Bart Tanner connected with WR Jessie Vertelney for 15-yard and 22-yard gains to quickly bring us into scoring position and a couple plays later rookie Jeffery DeGroot put us up 3-0. After three and out, our punt returner Rodolfo Lane brought us to the Gothenburg 42-yard line and it was Lane again that hauled in a spectacular 52-yard touchdown after Tanner found him on 3rd and 20 halfway into the Giants' half. Gothenburg responded with a stellar kickoff return, a 25-yard pass and eventually a short touchdown pass to make it 10-7 in our advantage. We kept playing as a team on a mission on our next possession as we overcame another 3rd and long with a 28-yard catch by TE Corbin Robbins and a 21-yarder by him on 2nd and 24. After a 18-yard catch by WR Rufus Montgomery we ended the first quarter at the Giants' 5-yard line and on the first play of the second quarter, Tanner found Robbins for the touchdown and a 17-7 lead.

Gothenburg fought back and it wasn't until DE Christopher Wrighster made his second sack of the game for them to get halted and settle for a field goal. Despite a 30-yard pass from QB Bart Tanner to WR Jessie Vertelney, we were quickly forced to punt, yet nailed them at their own 7-yard line. With several long plays, the Giants marched into our territory, but after we stuffed both their running backs, they chose to punt rather than attempt a 54-yard field goal. RB Rusty Kemp ran for 29 yards to bring us past midfield, eventually setting up a 33-yard field goal which K Jeffery DeGroot converted for a 20-10 lead. Attempting to make it back to 1 score down, S Peter Hensley intercepted a deep throw to end that drive. But our Tanner immediately returned the favour and we needed our defense to stand strong to get toi half time with that 20-10 lead.

The Giants had the ball first in the third quarter, but it ended quickly for them when their running back was stripped of the ball and one of our defensive linemen landed on the ball. QB Bart Tanner shortened the distance with a 12-yard throw and 10-yard run to set up the field goal for the 23-10 lead, which still kept the Giants within 2 touchdowns. The defense forced a quick three and out, followed by our own offense's impressive three play series with Tanner finding FB Kenneth Holse for 15 yards, RB Rusty Kemp running for 21 yards and TE Corbin Robbins catching a Tanner pass for 21 yards. Eventually TE Arnie Huffman made the touchdown catch for a 30-10 lead. The third quarter wasn't even halfway then and the Giants responded with a 49-yard pass to set up an 38-yard field goal and making it 30-13. Our next possession was spoiled by penalties and Gothenburg marched into our territory right before the end of the quarter.

With their first play of the fourth quarter, the Giants scrambled into our red zone, but our defense showed up there and forced them to kick it for a 30-16 lead for us, making the Giants' deficit back down to 2 touchdowns. Our next drive was extended several times, with a 19-yard QB Bart Tanner throw to TE Ted Gordon on third down and a couple of 8-yard runs from RB Renaldo Billodeaux to eventually see the drive end on a 3rd and long turning into a Tanner to WR Rodolfo Lane touchdown pass, making it 37-16 with under 7 minutes remaining. Finally we started to believe that we were going to win this game. Our pass defense showed up on the next drive and eventually the Giants had to go for it on 4th and 4 and saw us tackle their receiver way short of the first down. We ran some time off the clock and after a long sack, the Giants were stuck in 4th and 15 with 2 minutes remaining and forced to go for it. Their pass feel way short and after we burned all their time outs, we saw our rookie K Jeffery DeGroot miss a 46-yard field goal attempt, seeing his perfect streak end after 71 field goals and extra points. Gothenburg marched downfield with their next two plays, but a strip sack by defensive player of the week DE Christopher Wrighster, the game was over as S Noah Matthews recovered the ball. Victory formation was there.

Elsewhere in the league, the San Antonio Tidal Force lost, pushing us up to the #3 seed in the playoffs and thus hosting the last wild card team. The stadium didn't immediately run empty as the Augusta at Orlando was going into overtime and the result there could help the Giants get into the playoffs. The Orlando Talons took a 19-16 lead on their first possession, but the Greenjackets still had their first possession to go. They moved the chains on a crucial 3rd and 9 situation and after a 21-yard catch got them already within field goal range, they kept on going and eventually scored a touchdown to end that game with barely a minute to go.

QB Bart Tanner threw for 353 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. WR Rodolfo Lane had 2 receiving touchdowns, while TE Arnie Huffman and TE Corbin Robbins accounted for 1 receiving touchdown each. DE Christopher Wrighster had 3.0 sacks, 5 tackles and forced a game winning fumble. The offense gained 469 total yards against the #1 defense in the league (the Giants still finished the season as #1 with 299 yards per game allowed).

Result: 37-16 win



European Division
1. Maassluis 10-6
2. Gothenburg 9-7
3. Bordeaux 3-13
4. Paris 3-13

After a 2116 campaign where I felt like the Merchantmen were stronger than the Giants, but the head-to-head sweep tilted things the other way, this season it feels like it was the other way around. With one caveat, last season the Giants were stronger in two close head-to-head games, this season we swept them with a tight game at home and a big win at their place. So one could say both seasons the stronger team in the head-to-head clashes earned the division title in that subset of games.

The Tucker Tigers (14-2) leads the playoffs field in the AOC, with the defending champions Toronto Lake Monsters (12-4) also getting a bye. the San Antonio Tidal Force (10-6) will host the Harlem Apollos (11-5), the latter are the shocker of the field here, after their 6-10 campaign last season and they actually have a -31 points differential this season. As I mentioned above, we'll get into the playoffs as the #3 seed hosting the Augusta Greenjackets (10-6). Gothenburg misses the playoffs with a +128 points differential. It's not quite unique, but it's weird nevertheless.

In the other conference, the Texas Sharks (12-4), Fairbanks Northstars (12-4), Arizona Miners (10-6), Williamsburg Colonials (10-6), Oakland Black Panthers (10-6) and Capital City Blues (9-7) are the playoffs teams.

Are we worthy? Hard to tell. We lost to all 4 playoffs teams that we faced in the regular season. We lost at Augusta fair and square, which sets up for what could be a coin flip of a game.



A quick rundown of the individual stats of the regular season?

QB Bart Tanner threw for 4,388 yards with 25 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. All three figures are career highs, albeit that interceptions figure should be considered a career low. Tanner threw the most interceptions of all quarterbacks in IHOF.

RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 827 yards with 6 touchdowns and 5.07 yards per carry. RB Rusty Kemp ran for 789 yards with 4 touchdowns and 4.67 yards per carry. QB Bart Tanner ran for 446 yards with 2 touchdowns and 6.46 yards per carry.

WR Rodolfo Lane had 66 catches for 965 yards and 4 touchdowns, TE Corbin Robbins had 72 catches for 925 yards and 5 touchdowns, WR Jessie Vertelney had 83 catches for 919 yards and 6 touchdowns, WR Rufus Montgomery had 43 catches for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns, TE Ted Gordon had 49 catches for 535 yards and 2 touchdowns, TE Arnie Huffman had 17 catches for 267 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Selected others:
WR Rodolfo Lane was 2nd in the league with 21.0 yards per punt return, WR Maurice Sawyer was 3rd in the league with 31.7 yards per kickoff return.

K Jeffery DeGroot scored the most field goals (39) which helped him in being 1st in the league with 155 points scored, whilst DeGroot also lead the league in kickoff stats like touch<strike>down</strike>back percentage, yards per kickoff and average opponent drive start.

DT Carlos Fisher was 1st at his position in the league with 9 sacks. LB Jorge Mayes was tied 1st in the league with 4 interceptions amongst all linebackers.

Last but not least, LT Dan Clancy allowed 1 sack in 677 passing plays and shockingly lead our team with a career high 28 key run blocks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

K Jeffery DeGroot scored the most field goals (39) which helped him in being 1st in the league with 155 points scored, whilst DeGroot also lead the league in kickoff stats like touchdown percentage, yards per kickoff and average opponent drive start.

Speaking of which ... did Harrington get the 81 points needed for the 2,000 Point Club?

[MIJB#19]

Speaking of which ... did Harrington get the 81 points needed for the 2,000 Point Club?Wow, good question. I just checked, it appears he scored 22 field goals and 37 extra points for the Capital City Blues, which put him solidly into the 2,000 club, becoming the 12th member of the quantitative elite of kickers. He exceeded Charles Anthony, our kicker from week 10 2026 through his retirement after the 2042 season. Harrington is still behind Shane Shields, our kicker from 2054 through 2065, but Shields also played in Tucker for 4 seasons, so in a Merchantmen uniform, Harrington was already ahead of Shields. Anyway, Harrington moved up to 9th all-time in field goals and 11th in points scored, 2 behind the #10... Few kickers stick around for a 17th season, it will be interesting to see whether Harrington will at the age of 36.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2117 Playoffs!

Still high on the celebration of ending the longest domination of the European Division of consecutive division title, we got the men together to focus on the next task: avenging the loss to the Augusta Greenjackets. For the first time since the wild card round of 2104, Oranje Haven was the location of a playoffs game. As to be expected, the stadium was sold oud. It marked the tied longest time span between playoffs home games, the previous gap was between the 2091 and the 2104 season. Yeah, we had as many as 1 home game in the playoffs from 2092 through 2116. How the once second-best have mightily fallen.


So, the Greenjackets, familiar faces. We were beaten fair and square in week13 at their place, while we beat them in the previous two seasons in the regular season. In particular the overtime 41-35 win at their place in 2116 is still on my memory. So, everybody was getting ready for a shootout, which might turn out to be the overall trend on the AOC side of the playoffs tree.


Week 18 vs Augusta
Augusta started strong on their first drive and anchored by a 37-yard catch and run a lot by their tight end, they scored the first touchdown of the game. After a failed extra point, their lead was only 6-0. We responded with a phenomenal 55-yard pass from QB Bart Tanner to WR Rufus Montgomery, catching the Augusta defense off guard double teaming WR Jessie Vertelney. Tanner himself converted a third down with a scramble and eventually found TE Ted Gordon on a short throw into the end zone for the 7-6 lead. Augusta's next possession ended three and out with DT Carlos Fisher getting credits on a 9-yard sack on third down. A fair of big penalty put us in first and 30, but Tanner craftily connected for 11-yard and 12-yard gains before he scrambled for a first down on third and long. The Greenjackets defense looked still shocked and Tanner found Montgomery wide open again for a 47-yard touchdown. Augusta started their next drive with a 36-yard gain on a scree pass, but our defense halted them at midfield. Tanner now got his chance to show he's got WR Rodolfo Lane at his disposal, finding him 3 times for chains moving gains. On third and long, Vertelney made a big catch and eventually it was Gordon again for a short touchdown catch, shortly into the second quarter for a 21-6 lead.

Hoping to bounce back fast, Augusta got caught off guard again, this time almost literally as DT Carlos Fisher flattened the right guard to get on top of the quarterback for a strip sack, completed with the recovery. Shortly after, K Jeffery DeGroot converted a 47-yard field goal for the 24-6 lead. On the next couple of drives, neither offense got much going, but Augusta was winning the field position battle, to start their next drive near midfield. The third turnover of the game wrecked their drive as their fullback was stripped off the ball after a short catch. It flipped the position battle into our advantage, but neither team managed to gain much ground on their next drive. That changed when QB Bart Tanner found TE Arnie Huffman for an 18-yard catch, eventually followed up by a 33-yard reception by WR Jessie Vertelney to get into the end zone with about a minute before the big break. The defense camp up big and after Augusta was out of time outs, Tanner knee dropped for half time with Maassluis leading 31-6.

The third quarter started with a solid kickoff return by WR Maurice Sweeney, shortly after seeing our P Tyrus Johnston pin our opponents at their own 1-yard line. The Augusta quarterback Kaden Banks responded with 22-yard and 16-yard throws to his sidekicks to set up a successful 49-yard field goal. After the Augusta defense silenced our offense, Banks made 23-yard and 19-yard throws to set up a 33-yard field goal, brining them back to trailing 31-12. Another three and out put our offense quickly off the field and saw the end of the third quarter.

Seemingly about to get really rolling now, Augusta converted was halted again, this time seeing DE Calvin Buckley pick off their quarterback's throw and returning it into their half. A 48-yard field goal by our rookie K Jeffery DeGroot was the follow up of this third takeaway of the game. With 10 minutes to go, we stopped Augusta once again and saw our WR Rodolfo Lane make a solid punt return to help our field position. RB Rusty Kemp ran for 10 yards to earn a new set of downs and QB Bart Tanner found TE Corbin Robbins on third and short for another set. TE Ted Gordon was on the receiving end of a third and long conversion and although the next third and long fell short, DeGroot's 32-yard field goal did not and put us 37-12 up, which by then felt like the knock out blow with under 6 minutes remaining. The Augusta offense now got their engines really going and marched into our red zone, to see things end up in another turnover as S Dan Peterson made the interception in the end zone. As we ran out the clock's last 3 minutes, Augusta waived the white flag, not calling any time outs, seeing the game end on a stuffed inside run by RB Renaldo Billodeaux.

QB Bart Tanner threw for 328 yards with 4 touchdowns and no turnovers. WR Rufus Montgomery gained 107 yards receiving, also contributing on a receiving touchdown. WR Jessie Vertelney also had a receiving touchdown, while TE Ted Gordon had 2 receiving touchdowns. We barely outgained August with 388-369 total yards, but winning the turnover battle 4-0 helped piling on. Tanner won offensive player of the week, while DT Carlos Fisher won defensive player of the week with his 2.0 sacks, 3 hurries, 7 tackles, 1 assist and a recovered fumble that he also forced.

Result: 37-12 win


So, on to Toronto it was for us, for the conference semifinals!

A tough matchup, albeit the second seeds after their 12-4 regular season campaign, the Lake Monsters also are the reigning IHOF champions and clobbered us 50-14 in Oranje Haven during the regular season. Yes, that game was turnover heavy, so if we could stay away from that kind of mess, we were hoping to be able to put up a fight here.


Week 19 at Toronto
We didn't start all that well, seeing QB Bart Tanner get sacked for a 9-yard loss in the first play from scrimmage, but he responded with a 23-yard throw to TE Ted Gordon on third and very long to keep the drive going. On the next third down, Tanner found WR Jessie Vertelney for 14 yards and on the ensuing 3rd and 15, Tanner found WR Rodolfo Lane for 18 yards. A pair of similar throws to TE Corbin Robbins got us into the red zone and as we called out a 4-receiver set, WR Maurice Sweeney ended up wide open in the end zone making the catch for the 7-0 lead after more than 5 minutes of play. Our defense responded with three and out and Lane then returned the punt 16 yards to midfield. Although forced to punt, we pinned them at their own 3-yard line and on the second play, S Dan Peterson not just intercepted a deep throw, he promoted it into a 42-yard touchdown for the 14-0 lead. The Toronto passing game then got going at last and their quarterback Miguel Mock eventually go his offense, resulting in their first touchdown of the game: 14-7. Sweeney then delivered a nice 33-yard kickoff return to give us decent field position.

At the start of the second quarter, RB Rusty Kemp ran wild for a 25-yard gain on third and short, while RB Renaldo Billodeaux and QB Bart Tanner followed up with their own shorter, yet quite useful runs. We kept gaining just enough yards to eventually get into the red zone and witness Billodeaux going for an 18-yard run for the 21-7 lead. On the second play of Toronto's next drive, DT Carlos Fisher ended up covering their young receiver Todd Schweigert seeing a trick play go wrong as Fisher intercepted the pass inside their half of the field. Sadly, our offense failed to gain ground and all we got was pinning them at their own 5-yard line. Toronto quickly responded with a 51-yard catch and several plays later, a 21-yard reception got into our end zone, making it a 21-14 lead for us. We kept on playing strong on offense and although failing to reach the red zone, we saw our reliable rookie K Jeffery DeGroot make it 24-14 on a 44-yard field goal. Hoping to stall them enough to at best force them to kick, we failed with a minute to go when the Lake Monsters saw their quarterback Miguel Mock find one of his receivers for a 44-yard gain and a short touchdown throw on the subsequent play. After 18-yard and 19-yard gains from the arm of Tanner to his prima donna receivers, rather than attempting a 56-yard field goal, we decided to attempt a Hail Mary with 10 seconds to go. It failed, ending a shootout of a first half with us leading 24-21.

Although allowing a 40-yard pass on Toronto's first drive of the second half, we managed to hold ground near our end zone and a 21-yard field goal saw Toronto tie it up 24-24. We responded with our running game, balancing it with a 16-yard throw from QB Bart Tanner to TE Corbin Robbins to set up a 22-yard touchdown run by RB Renaldo Billodeaux. Those points went off the board for a holding penalty and after we moved into their red zone after all, Tanner's throw into the end zone got picked off. Typically, we allowed a 32-yard pass shortly after, seeing Toronto marching down field to take the lead for the first time in the game. Instead, LB Jorge Mayes intervened, picking off a short pass and returning it 82-yards for a touchdown and putting us 31-24 up. Before the third quarter was over, we managed to force them to punt, but getting pinned at our own 1-yard line.

The fourth quarter saw as start at our own 9-yard line, following an 8-yard run by RB Renaldo Billodeaux, but we did get forced to punt right after and it didn't take the Lake Monsters long to find the end zone and tie it up once again: 31-31. We responded with our tremendous third down play again, this time with a 17-yard connection between QB Bart Tanner and WR Rodolfo Lane, but we didn't get close enough to even go for three. We did manage to force three and out for a change and got the ball back at midfield. Tanner was finding players left and right to get down field and eventually even third and 2 was only enough to make us settle for K Jeffery DeGroot converting a 39-yard field goal for the 34-31 lead. Toronto responded with a 6-play 75-yard drive as if our defense didn't exist and with just under 3 minutes to go, for the first time all game we were trailing: 38-34. Down by 4 points, it was pretty clear that we were now in an all or nothing situation, a field goal would be insufficient with too little time remaining to get the ball back. On third and 11, Tanner found WR Rufus Montgomery for 15 yards and for 7 yards on the next drive. TE Corbin Robbins then dropped a ball on third and short that would have moved the chains and on the next play, Tanner had too little time make the retry work. Toronto got the ball back and although we saw it coming, we were unable to stop their quarterback Miguel Mock from taking a run for it, as he slid for the just enough yards to move the chains and burn our first time out, to have no more time left to call two more and force them to punt.

We were outgained 545-422 in total yards, but helped by winning the turnover battle 3-1, we managed to have a slight field position advantage all day long. Our tremendous play on third downs (9 of 17 converted) sounds like it was supreme, but Toronto just rarely was put into a third down situation as they usually move the chains on their first or second play. QB Bart Tanner threw for 341 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. WR Maurice Sweeney scored the receiving touchdown. RB Renaldo Billodeaux still scored 1 rushing touchdown, despite seeing one called back. S Dan Peterson and LB Jorge Mayes contributed with long interception return touchdowns.

Result: 34-38 loss



So ended our 2117 season. A frustrating regular season, which ended with a sensational pounding of the Gothenburg Giants in their own house to claim an unexpected division title. Then followed up with a strong showing against Augusta in the wild card round and then a loss at the reigning champions in a game were it felt like everything was about to fall our way, almost, just that last one coin flip did not.

The Lake Monsters ended up losing the AOC Championship game 45-40 at the Tucker Tigers (14-2 in the regular season), in which Miguel Mock threw for 706 yards, while Tucker's Renaldo Brady threw for just 411 yards, both with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception.

The shootout series ended in IHOF Bowl CXIV as the Texas Sharks were forced to kick for field goals a lot by the Tigers. yet in return, the Tigers were playing once of their least impressive games of the season and Texas ended up winning 26-24. The IHOF Bowl ended on the Tigers a their own 1-yard line, with 21 seconds remaining and after a shockingly short completed pass, not rushing back to the line of scrimmage fast enough to get one Hail Mary play on the field.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Welcome to 2118

Most off-season's start with the news of players that say goodbye to the IHOF.

K Oscar Harrington
Let's kickoff, no pun intended, with Harrington. We picked him in the 2nd round of the 2102 draft and because of his excellent kicking ability, we held on to him for 15 seasons. He played in 240 regular season games and 7 playoffs games for us. Including his final season in Capital City, he scored 471 field goals and 2,035 points in total.

G Andres Uwaezuoke
Our 2nd round pick in the 2106 draft was an opening day starter then and remained a starter until his retirement. Although Uwaezuoke wasn't always undisputed, he started in 185 of 186 regular season games he played and in all 7 playoffs games. He was regarded a key to our running game, even played at center for a season to keep the unit working with his cohesion boost.

RT Clayton Bernstein
Having joined the Merchantmen in 2112 as a free agent, hopes were Bernstein Initially we hoped he could play left tackle, but we quickly found out that RT or RG would be the place to go for him. We gave up on him a couple of times, but as injuries and retirements struck, we kept reverting back to Bernstein to fill the gaps. Eventually he played in 95 games for us, including 5 playoffs games. Prior to Maassluis being his football home, he played 7 seasons with the Chesapeake Chitterlings. Winning IHOF Bowl CV victory against the Tucker Tigers was his career highlight.


Staff Changes
A more unusual retirement was our Assistant Coach Marty Crane's. He spent just 3 seasons with us. It kickstarted quite the overhaul in our staff as we proceeded with the hiring of a new Offensive Coordinator, picking Marvin Mariotti and releasing Ryan Whalen, who ended up in Houston as their OC. We hired Everett Shannon as our new Defensive Coordinator, a forced move as our previous DC left us after just 1 season to become Rochester's Head Coach.


We now move on to the actual off-season stuff, sitting at $63M over the $634M salary cap, but we should be able to dig ourselves out of that hole without much trouble. We do have about $45M to reserve for incoming rookies, result of having 3 1st round draft picks. We have the second most expensive draft pick collections, despite that we're picking at slots #12, #25 and #27.

We have 43 players signed, with 2 unrestricted free agents in WR Antonio Price and LB Nicolas Giles. Price is floating around the WR4 slot, but we kept him inactive all season as we went through the season without injuries to our prima donna trio. Speaking of, WR Rufus Montgomery is in his 4th season with us and we failed to sign him to an extension last season. We'll have a helluva job to figure out how to fit Montgomery under the cap as well. (I swore we already had an extended deal worked out with him, but clearly we had not, so it goes). Giles was demoted to an inactive backup role after he severely regressed last pre-season. It's doubtful we'll try to keep either Price or Giles.

In the restricted free agents section, we have to figure out what we want to do with RB Benjamin Reilly, TE J.J. Lang, DT Bryan Lomax, LB Ezekiel O'Neal, CB Asher McElroy and CB Adrian Kornegay. I really hope we can bring back the four defensive players, togehter the want about $20M of cap figures, while I suspect that Lang and Reilly are unlikely to make our 2118 roster.

I've already mentioned WR Rufus Montgomery, the upcoming discussions also apply to G Herb Nieves and DT Carlos Fisher. That's the side effect of having 3 1st round picks in the same draft. So, it's going to be a cap management challenge to be able to afford both the 2115 and the 2118 threesomes.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 2118 Off-season continues

Our 2118 roster is taking shape. Sure, training camp and pre-season can throw a wrench in the engine, but with just the post draft free agency remaining, we're already up to 56 players signed.

A good number of contract renegotiations with the expensive players and some additional ones willing to sign for less, we had little trouble getting making a $100M cap space shift from roughly $63M over the cap to $19M under the cap after the arrival of rookies. There was a rush of draft day trades, which saw us part ways with both the #25 and #27 overall picks for 2119 1st round picks from Orlando and Frederick, as well as our 2nd round pick for a 2nd rounder from Frederick in 2119. Both are the kind of teams that should be considered above .500 land in terms of skilled management, but both are stuck in tough divisions. I mean, as it is, there really are no "easy" division, bar two maybe. The European Division was meh-ish when we were still flirting with a winning record.

We still ended up grabbing 7 rookies in this draft. I prefer to lump this usually together with the undrafted rookie free agents harvest, but as that score is yet to come, we'll mention them anyway. G Greg Brizzolara was our pick at #12 overall. Quite high for an offensive linemen, in particular for a guard with questionable run blocking technique, but this kid is considered to be an exceptionally talented pass blocking guard. We'll stick him to LT Dan Clancy and that part of our blocking duties is taken care of. We picked 6 more offensive players and none from other units.

RB Jackson Powell looks interesting with hole recognition, breakaway speed and plenty of upside in terms of endurance, special teams skills, route running, third down running and excellent blitz pickup potential. This could be our new third down back. FB Ricky Anderson doesn't bring the special teams skills I hoped for, at least, that's the first look talking, but he does bring in the right amount of blocking skills (potentially). We also picked special teamer and route runner TE Kyle Baker and big-play WR Corey Marshall. RT John Gerdes and RT William Wiggins might hope to get a shot at a starting spot, but we already found out Wiggins is a red flag player, that makes it unlikely for him to make the pre-season roster.

Those 7 are our entire acquisition for the off-season so far, we signed zero veteran free agents from other teams (so far), but did bring back all but two free agents. DT Bryan Lomax, LB Ezekiel O'Neal, CB Asher McElroy and CB Adrian Kornegay re-signed as restricted free agents, all to much better contracts than minimum deals and for several seasons. Unrestricted free agents WR Antonio Price and LB Nicolas Giles both signed for 2 years with what was basically a lowball contract offer, but they are likely casualties in pre-season. RB Benjamin Reilly and TE J.J. Lang are now free for all, I doubt we'll see them return to camp in Maassluis.

DT Carlos Fisher and DE Christopher Wrighster announced hold outs. Yes, we'll likely cave, as in, make them a fair offer now and another right before training camp. Fisher already has turned down a very reasonable and rich contract before he decided to hold out. WR Rufus Montgomery also turned down a very reasonable contract.

So, that's where we are. A very conservative off-season so far, with a serious attempt to go into the 2118 season with the same defensive players as 2117 and subsequently 2116 as well. The offense needed a bit of refreshment on the O-Line, so that's where our draft focus was. G Brizzolara fitted in, but the targets for the RT slot all felt either lacking or not worth picking as high as where we sat. In trade talks, I've been kind of open towards some teams that I preferred to trade with out of conference teams. Without naming them, I was offered fair value by some of our clear rivals in the AOC, which to me was something I shouldn't do again. WR Gus Barrymore once was picked by the Gothenburg Giants after we traded with them and that kid had some of his best games against us, scoring a good portion of his 100-yard games against us.

So yeah, that's where we are: we're in anticipation of what our undrafted rookie class of 2118 will be and then go from training camp to pre-season and get ready for the regular season. Hopefully with the roster looking the way it does now, mostly.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2118 Undrafted rookies!

We can today announce the signing of 10 players for our 2118 training camp roster. We signed 8 of the 9 undrafted rookies that we pursued, while we signed 2 veteran free agents. RB Benjamin Reilly is the most familiar name, he hopped on as an undrafted rookie last off-season. S Kennedy Maxwell is a 13th season veteran, he was signed to restore peace in the locker room in our secondary group. He's also capable enough to play some football on the defense and special teams unit. We missed out on rookie OLB Norm Ingram, he got a $4M signing bonus from the Gothenburg Giants.

QB Orlando Garrett was already on are radar during the draft and has a little bit of a Bart Tanner profile. QB Devan Newhart also signed, I honestly can't remember why. FB Rich Hartman looks like he could be a useful passing downs blocker. P Frank Maxey was a rookie combine skipper and we'll give him a chance in camp and maybe a second look in pre-season. LB Scottie Rice is a run stopper and hard hitter, but lacks special teams skills to have a reasonable shot at the 53-men squad. CB Leslie Hancock looks like an interesting man-to-man prospect as does S Marvin Flannery. CB Bob Hudson could challenge for a zone defense role on the team.

DE Christopher Wrighster ended his hold out, we agreed to a new 3-year contract. LS Roderick Kaading signed an extension into the 2119 season. The bad news was WR Rufus Montgomery and DT Carlos Fisher both turning down another very generous contract. Montgomery wants $33M guaranteed, we offered him $40M guaranteed, he wanted $107 over 4 years, we offered $114M instead. Yeah, he's probably got one of those silly mathematically disabled player agents. As does Fisher, who still keeps holding out on top of this. We'll give it another shot before camp, because I really don't want to see Fisher end his hold out and hit the open market in the 2119 off-season. I don't want to see that last part come to life for Montgomery either, but with him we'll have all off pre-season to negotiate and go through the micromanagement back and forth to figure out what the sweet spot of his player agent's stubbornness is.

TE J.J. Lang remains as a free agent on our roster. I have no intentions to make him an offer for a training camp roster spot, despite that we are allowed to carry 4 more players. Which is bad news for him as we've hit the stage of the post-draft free agency where young players are reverted back to restricted free agent status and can only be signed by their previous team.

On to training camp we go. I have a tough decision to make about whether we need some game plan changes on offense. Not like we were so bad last season, but hiring a new Offensive Coordinator means we have to keep an eye on his playing style. "Erhard-Perkins", or whatever that may mean, we're going to play that style this season. From what I'm learning, it means we should emphasize a bit more on short passing and be prepared to see our running game and long passing game become less effective. Which are the aspects we've been leaning on. So yeah, I'm a bit worried this hew OC might hurt us on the field...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The Fisher Feud

The hold out has ended, but an agreement was not reached. DT Carlos Fisher's agent has informed us in time for our second pre-season game to report for duty and play out the season under his current contract. It angered me, I'm disappointed, Fisher turned down a very generous offer that was much richer than his demands. The request of under $145M over 5 years turned into a $155M offer from our end, but it was not enough. And that was that. We'll take a look at it next off-season, but I'm sure Fisher will sign somewhere else for $250M over 3 years. His demands after ending the hold out have already yanked up to $257 over 5 years.

Our pre-season roster was trimmed to 60 (including DT Carlos Fisher in that number) as we released QB Devan Newhart, RB Benjamin Reilly, WR Cory Marshall, RT William Wiggins, P Frank Maxey and CB Marvin Flannery. I think none of those names are shockers if you've been reading between the lines, heck, simply paying attention.

We lost both our pre-season games, but we also saw QB Bart Tanner post a 155.8 passer rating, throwing for 287 yards on 18 attempts. WR Jessie Vertelney gained 170 yards receiving and WR Rodolfo Lane 114 yards, that was in that same game, not a combined figure over both.

I've already made the cutdowns to 53 men, from the top of my head, I think we released RB Edwin Erickson, FB Ricky Anderson, LB Nicolas Giles, CB Leslie Hancock, CB Bob Hudson and S Noah Matthews. I'm currently missing the seventh name from memory (you'll have to read up on it later on), I think it was one of our special teams elite guys or CB Kent Wodarz.

Pre-season can giveth and taketh away, we all know by now. We saw no life changing events, but there were big shift for about a dozen players. Let's jump onto the positives with WR Antonio Price making a +9/+9 improvement with a big increase in route running. Rookie LB Scottie Rice (+2/+10) and S Dan Peterson (+7/+7) also made jumps upwards.

On the losing end, QB Harrison Singleton, RB Edwin Erickson, RB Rusty Kemp, WR Blake Begay, WR Jessie Vertelney, OT Lester Money, DT Efrain Hutchins, LB Raymond Casper, LB Nicolas Giles, CB Skip Horner, S Peter Hinsley and S Noah Matthews were all on the veteran decrease list, somewhere between -6/-6 and -9/-9. Bigger falls came for DE Calvin Buckley and DE Chistopher Wrighster into making them even more cohesion based stick around guys. C Zane Chaplain (-15/-15) was the biggest disappointment, become our inactive OL8 for the upcoming season, if we stick with him after the last pre-season action.

Training camp was slightly underwhelming with G Greg Brizzolara making a +5/+2 improvement, which is nice, but slightly less than we hoped for with this potentially best pass blocking prospect in the league. He still was the biggest improvement. In the +4/something group we saw RT John Gerdes, LB Scottie Rice, CB Zachary Blair, CB Bob Hudson and S Cesar Welch. Sure, RT William Wiggins went +5/-1, but this red flag kid was not going to make the team anyway.

But Fisher turning down a bigger bid than requested, that was sad. But at least WR Rufus Montgomery did take our offer and won't go elsewhere next off-season, we dodged having to offer a $200M signing bonus to him...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: the 53 for 2118?

Are we ready for 2118? I think we are, we played good football in pre-season with QB Bart Tanner on the field. We struggled with QB Harrison Singleton under center, but he needed to get reps in case we are facing a problem with our franchise quarterback. Yes, I think we can say now that Tanner has established himself as that, whilst Singleton for a short couple of seasons was a worthy caretaker.

Eight new players have made our 53 men roster. I'm not 100% convinced we've got the right combination. I don't see us making transaction anymore for the first 4 games prior to the bye week. So let's go over the roster.

Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Bart Tanner
25/25 QB Harrison Singleton
05/20 QB Orlando Garrett (rookie)
Tanner is the man, no more up for debate. Singleton is on the decline and will go into the history books as a winner. Garrett is the better kick holder on roster, but we'll go into the season with our punter in that role.

Backfield
40/55 RB Jackson Powell (rookie)
35/50 FB Rich Hartman (rookie)
40/40 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
35/35 RB Rusty Kemp
25/25 FB Kenneth Holse
Billodeaux and Kemp will run for another season. Powell will wait in the wings, although he's already useful on special teams and as extra pass protection or a third down receiver. That also applies to Hartman, which almost makes Holse uneccessary, but Holse remains to be elite on a league wide scale as a special teamer, he deserves to remain on the active 46.

Tight Ends
55/55 TE Corbin Robbins
50/50 TE Ted Gordon
30/30 TE Arnie Huffman
20/30 TE Kyle Baker (rookie)
Such a fine group. Robbins and Gordon can catch passes between the 20s and Huffman has proven to be solid on short situations, in particular near the end zone.

Wide Receivers
65/65 WR Rodolfo Lane
65/65 WR Jessie Vertelney
60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery
45/45 WR Antonio Price
25/25 WR Maurice Sweeney
20/20 WR Blake Begay
A fine group, even more so now that Price has improved to being our second best route runner, imagine that. But we'll stick with Lane, Vertelney and Montgomery as the guys splitting the targets. Begay is a special teamer, Sweeney our elite kickoff returner. Lane will continue to be our all-time great punt returner. He's closing in on the all-time punt return touchdowns record.

Offensive Line
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
60/60 G Herb Nieves
50/75 G Greg Brizzolara (rookie)
55/55 C Jim Mayes
45/45 G Alfred Pearsall
30/40 RT John Gerdes (rookie)
35/35 OT Lester Money
25/25 C Zane Chaplain
I'm puzzling again with which the starting five should be. Sure, Clancy is undisputed at left tackle, as is Mayes at center. Brizzolara will be a day one starter, but I'm not sure whether left or right guard would suit him better. Money and Gerdes are run blocking right tackles, but I'm considering Pearsall there with Nieves at guard. Chaplain is no more than a cohesion boosting backup from here on, an emergency play at best.

Defensive Line
65/65 DT Carlos Fisher
45/45 DT Efrain Hutchins
45/45 DE Lonnie Wynn
45/45 DT Bryan Lomax
45/45 DT Francisco Blades
35/35 DE Calvin Buckley
35/35 DE Ernest Frias
20/20 DE Christopher Wrighster
Same group as previous seasons, but with a slower Wrighster and somewhat less powerful Buckley. Fisher is our world beater, we might have to find a replacement for him elsewhere after this season, but more on that after the roster breakdown. This group will once again be split in two groups of four, each playing in about half the packages.

Linebackers
65/65 LB Jorge Mayes
45/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
40/40 LB Xavier Hoover
30/40 LB Scottie Rice (rookie)
35/35 LB Bobby Diaz
30/30 LB Raymond Casper
Mayes will once again be the all downs linebacker. Diaz will be the passing downs sidekick, as long as it lasts, he's declining fast. O'Neal and Hoover will be the running downs support, with Rice ready in the wings to step in. Casper is basically an undersized defensive lineman, we'll use him on the special teams unit again.

Secondary
50/50 CB Zachary Blair
50/50 S Dan Peterson
45/45 S Cesar Welch
45/45 CB Asher McElroy
35/35 S Kennedy Maxwell (veteran fa signing)
35/35 CB Marquis Wolf
35/35 S Peter Hinsley
30/30 CB Byron Sokol
30/30 CB Adrian Kornegay
25/25 CB Skip Horner
More or less the same group as last season. Maxwell was signed to restore peace in the locker room. Wodarz was a numbers game loss, we'll go with Welch, Wolf and Kornegay from here on. Same applied to Matthews, who was on the decline. Blair, Kornegay, McElroy and Sokol will be the man-to-man and bump-and-run corner options, the rest of the group are all zone defenders.

Special Teamers
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
65/65 P Tyrus Johnston
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
Oh yeah, these guys. Kaeding is as good as a long snapper can be, well, second best maybe. DeGroot is de kickoff specialist and already proved to be a reliable points on the board guy as well. Johnston isn't the best in business, but he's good enough in what he does.

So yeah, for the most part the same guys as the last two seasons, with some refreshments. A good portion of our team was still very young two seasons ago, so this isn't an over the hill group. We'll get a challenging schedule this season. Winning the division last season means we'll get Tucker and Toronto as our other division winning opponents. Additionally, the European division is matched up against the NAC West, which was the league's strongest division last season, making it tougher to get a wild card spot this season.

But we'll have to focus on what we can do and attempt to approach it game by game.

Oh yeah, Fisher. We have $12.8M of unused cap space, which is quite the waste as we could really use some cap up front movement to help fix the situation of next off season before hand. But it's basically the money we had ready to give DT Carlos Fisher, which his agent decided he should turn down and keep demanding us to cut other players. So much for being a good team player. But the situation is irreverseable. Enjoy his play and let's see where we'll go with him on the defense.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2118 isn't quite like the last two...

Here's a spoiler: we're not playing well this season. After 11 regular season games, we're pretty close to out of contention. It's not like we're actually deserving it, for whatever reason, some things on this team have simply stopped clicking and worked, despite that we're basically the same bunch of players like the previous two seasons. So, how'd things go in weeks 1 through 12?


Week 1 at Paris
We stormed to a 17-0 lead looked destined to a smooth sailing victory. But in a game of big plays, we got outnumbered by those. Despite that QB Bart Tanner and WR Rodolfo Lane connected on an 81-yard touchdown, Paris responded with a 60-yard interception return, an 81-yard run early in the fourth quarter and an 80-yard pass with 2 minutes remaining to come back from 30-17 behind. We actually got into field goal range, but Jeffery DeGroot missed a 52-yarder with 16 seconds to go.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 407 yards, 3 touchdowns, but also 3 interceptions, while being our leading rusher and scoring a touchdown while doing so. The receiving ends of the passing touchdowns were WR Jessie Vertelney, WR Rodolfo Lane and rookie FB Rich Hartman. Vertelney and Lane had a 100-yard game in the process.
Result: 30-31 loss

Week 2 at Hanalei
For the second game straight, we were facing a rookie quarterback. But Hanalei's 6th round pick by no means looks as talented as Paris' #2 overall pick. It didn't seem to matter, our defense was a disgrace and let the rookie throw for 318 yards, while giving up 142 yards to the Dragons' running back on just 16 carries, highlighted by a 76-yard run. We actually led throughout the first half, but fell completely flat in the second half and our only decent drive turned into a result flipping turnover.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 242 yards, with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. TE Ted Gordon scored the receiving touchdown, while RB Rusty Kemp scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground.
Result: 21-30 loss

Week 3 vs Toronto
And then the wheels on the defense really came off. We got manhandled at home by the Toronto Lake Monsters in a very unpretty way. Their quarterback through for 510 yards and 6 touchdowns. In return, QB Bart Tanner was once again ridiculously bad. He got sacked 4 times, failed to even get above 200 yards passing and was picked off a couple of times again. Last season's playoffs game. we played along with Toronto, but this game, we were pathetic. RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown, WR Jessie Vertelney caught QB Bart Tanner's only touchdown pass.
Result: 22-54 loss

Week 4 vs San Antonio
The fans were covering their eyes quite often in the fourth quarter of this game, as after we had taken a 24-6 lead early in the second half, a pair of interceptions thrown by QB Bart Tanner turned the game into a close one. We kept hanging onto the lead, but we really needed the final 11-play drive to play out the clock and keep the Tidal Force from getting the ball back one more time.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 239 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. TE Arnie Huffman scored on both his receptions, while WR Rodolfo Lane caught the other one and RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown.
Result: 31-29 win

Week 5 bye
For the first week this season, QB Bart Tanner didn't throw an interception. Well done!
Result: boredom

Week 6 vs Atlanta
And then, all of a sudden, there were glimpses of the team we had in 2116 and the team that beat Gothenburg last season and put up a fight against Toronto in the playoffs. QB Bart Tanner finally went through a game without a turnover and it resulted in a glorious blowout victory. The defense also showed some signs of life, after having fallen to the bottom of the league in the first four games.
Tanner threw for 332 yards with 4 touchdowns. WR Jessie Vertelney scored twice in his 100-yard game, while TE Ted Gordon and WR Rodolfo Lane each caught 1 touchdown pass. RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown and CB Adrian Kornegay scored on a 46-yard interception return.
Result: 48-9 win

Week 7 at Fort Wayne
And then things were night and day different from the previous game. Despite staying turnover free, the offense was horrendous, playing like the opposing Fury defense knew what was coming on every single play. Our own defense was completely missing in action, allowing 521 total yards to a far from impressive offense, allowing them to scored touchdowns on 5 of their first 6 possessions and allowing a field goal on that other one.
This game also turned into a story of two halves, as for whatever stupidity reasoning, we benched QB Bart Tanner at half time. Curiously, the Fury fell flat as well, as they didn't do anything worth noting anymore, aside maybe a shanked field goal, which resulted in us actually outscoring them 3-0 in the second half. But at that point we had already given up, although we have to admit that QB Harrison Singleton played admirably well, completing 16 of 19 passes for 135 yards without turnovers. TE Corbin Robbins scored our only touchdown, thrown by QB Bart Tanner amidst his 97 yards passing.
Result: 9-38 loss

Week 8 vs Paris
And then it became day again, as the Merchantmen offense turned into the kind of monstrous machine it sometimes can and (basically should) be. In the middle of a comeback attempt, the Paris rookie quarterback presented his share of turnovers and interception and fumble return touchdowns turned it into an even bigger blowout.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 342 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. TE Corbin Robbins was excellent, with 11 receptions on 11 targets for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns. TE Arnie Huffman scored on his only catch. RB Rusty Kemp ran for a touchdown. CB Asher McElroy scored on an interception return and DE Lonnie Wynn recovered a fumble in the opponents' end zone.
Result: 47-13 win

Week 9 at Houston
The Merchantmen finally looked ready to roll and we continued with a game at Houston in which both teams looked nervous and had their own ways of keeping themselves from running up the score. QB Bart Tanner saw a turnover free streak end, losing a fumble and throwing an interception, but in return the Houston kicker missed 3 field goals in the kind of game where every 3-pointer can make a difference. We stumbled into the lead in the third quarter and held on to out in the fourth after neither team managed to score anymore.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 299 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. TE Corbin Robbins and WR Jessie Vertelney scored the touchdowns, Vertelney doing so in another 100-yard game.
Result: 20-17 win

At the midpoint of the season, we were sitting at 4-4, actually in the second AOC wild card spot on tie-breakers over two other 4-4 teams with the same conference record.

Bad news was a grueling knee injury to our TE Corbin Robbins, ruling him out for the rest of the season. A major blow to our offense, because as good as TE Ted Gordon and TE Arnie Huffman are in what they can do, they are not wide receiver resembling the way Robbins is.

Week 10 vs Bordeaux
And then we returned home and put down a display of how to lose in a game where we sort of dominated. After Bordeaux' opening drive that resulted in a 28-yard field goal, they never got even close to field goal range anymore. But with a 64-yard punt return and a 98-yard interception return, the Vineyards did have their two big plays to take a 17-3 lead in the first half. In a defense dominated second half, we failed to produce much more than a single field goal and in what should have been the come back from behind last drive of the game, QB Bart Tanner threw his second interception of the game, nullifying the acquired field position. Bordeaux played out the clock and saw their rookie quarterback post a victory in his first game against us.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 268 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. RB Rusty Kemp caught the only touchdown.
Result: 13-17 loss

Week 11 at Gothenburg
With us dropping to below .500 again, this was actually a chance to redeem ourselves and start a comeback to 1 win behind the Giants and mathematically back into the race if we'd complete the sweep and comeback in the second head-to-head clash. But nothing of that came to reality as QB Bart Tanner had quite possibly his worst game of the season. In previous far-to--many interceptions games, he somewhat made up for it with big throws and touchdowns. Today, the offense was just not there. We were kept out of the end zone all game long and it was all on the defense the game didn't escalade into an even bigger deficit than the 3-score loss it still turned into.
Tanner threw for 273 yards with 4 interceptions.
Result: 6-23 loss

Week 12 at Oakland
Dropped to 4-6, we knew that a winning streak was required from here on. But the Black Panthers, although not playing their best season of the 2110's, they are never a pushover. Our running game was once again Merchantmen unworthy bad, while the defense was doing silly things and completely lacking on third downs. Despite all that, QB Bart Tanner's only turnover of the game in our first drive, made for a game where we were behind all the time, but never really out of it. After a fourth quarter touchdown, we were down by just 3 points and in theory still in it. Oakland was fierce and pushed as back to start drives at our own 1- or 2-yard line 3 times. The third time it came as there were 11 seconds remaining in the game. After a stupid short pass that was thankfully not caught, we went into Hail Mary mode with 98 yards still to go. The first attempt fell incomplete, but pass interference was called and we got another shot with 1 second and 50 yards to go. Tanner found WR Jessie Vertelney in the crowd, but he was still 6 yards short of an undeserved touchdown.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 294 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. TE Ted Gordon and WR Rodolfo Lane caught touchdowns, while WR Jessie Vertelney had another 100-yard game.
Result: 17-20 loss


European Division
1. Gothenburg 7-4
2. Bordeaux 4-7
3. Maassluis 4-7
4. Paris 3-8

The second wild card in the AOC is currently virtually with 6-5 Fort Wayne. To be fair, they didn't just humiliate us this season, but they're actually outscoring their opponents this season and seem to deservingly sit in a playoffs spot. Our remaining schedule is tough, but coming back to a tied situation with Gothenburg with tie-breakers in our favour looks very unlikely. Mathematically, we can still end up 9-7 and Gothenburg at 7-9, but that's almost too silly to even mention it.

But right now, although with this talented team the playoffs should be our goal regardless, we have to once again go back to taking it one game at a time and by week 16 or 17 figure our whether there's still a chance. Our remaining schedule is hard, to resume with a visit to the Tucker Tigers, 9-2 this season and the bowl game upsetted 14-2 juggernauts from last season.

But there's not much to keep our hopes up. The defense is incomprehensibly bad, ranking 28th in rushing yards allowed, 31st in yards per carry, 29th in passing yards allowed and 29th in yards per pass attempt. We're below average in pass rush pressure and we're last in forced turnovers, including last place in interceptions.

Our offense is clearly struggling, we have dropped hard in the yards per carry figure from a top 5 offense to a below average one. We're somewhat okay in the passing game still, but we're also tied for most interceptions thrown, sharing it with 2 offenses that are pass happy, while we are a balanced team.

The special teams unit is still doing exceptionally well and clearly amongst the elite ones in the league. Our kick and punt return game is (combined) clearly the best out there. Our 'defense' of returns is fluky, but acceptable and clearly better than average, especially Jeffery DeGroot is doing his job, as so far we've allowed only 7 kickoffs to get returned.

So yeah, we kind of know what to work on, if only I had even a clue where to begin, because we were doing quite well the previous two seasons with pretty much the same bunch of players. It should be comforting to know that this group is much better than 4-7, despite that that's where we are. We've shown last season that we sometimes can play with the best as well, so it's time to grasp for our counter-Tucker game plan and see whether it will actually work this time around...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The incredible comeback?

With 5 games remaining and already having lost 7 regular season games, trailing division leading Gothenburg by 3 and sitting 2 wins and tie-breakers behind the last wild card spot, it was quite the challenge to find a way into the playoffs.

Week 13 at Tucker
We knew what was coming, facing the quite possibly best team in the league this season (or should we call the Toronto Lake Monsters the best?). In what turned out to be a turnover free game where we kind of managed to win the field position battle, the defense put up quite the fight only occasionally, allowing 5 red zone visits. Still, the offense was a bigger letdown, doing nothing worth mentioning once in the Tigers half of the field.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 254 yards, but none of the skill position players around him really stood out as having a good day. It turned out we were one of 4 teams to keep the Tigers under 30 points, but we also scored the second least of all of their opponents, which shot ourselves in both feet.
Result: 9-27 loss

Week 14 at Fairbanks
With the season now pretty much lost, we had nothing but pride to play for. Heck, those that prefer losing once eliminated, we're not amongst them and had the first round picks of two other teams to root for their misfortune anyway. We ended up playing a solid game in Alaska, helped a lot by the the home team's quarterback throwing 5 interceptions. As a result, we bounced around from trailing 10-0 after the first quarter to shutting them down on their third through fifteenth possessions. In return, we struggled in the second half, but piled on just enough in the second half to have a large enough margin to play out the second half.
QB Bart Tanner threw for just 170 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Touchdowns were scored by RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Rusty Kemp on the ground, TE Johnathan Alston as a receiver and WR Rodolfo Lane on a punt return.
Result: 28-10 win

Week 15 vs Gothenburg
Although technically a game against the Giants to stay in the division title race, trailing by 3 wins going in, we had no reason to expect anything else put stalling their division title party. We played incredibly sloppy in the first quarter, falling behind 12-0 in what could and should have been a 17-0 deficit. But once the second quarter started, the game flipped around, initially in us getting back in it, scoring unanswered touchdowns on all three of our possessions in the remainder of the first half. With the defense really stepping it up as well, we started the second half with an interception of their struggling quarterback and never looked back. The remainder of the game saw us miss and score a field goal, while the defense had impressive showing in the second half to pull of a large than hoped victory.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 345 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He spread the touchdowns around to TE Ted Gordon, TE Arnie Huffman, WR Rufus Montgomery and WR Jessie Vertelney, the latter on yet another 100-yard game.
Result: 31-12 win

Week 16 vs Colorado
In the final home game of the regular season, the team played strong, but got really hampered by a 5-turnover game of our QB Bart Tanner. It helped the Cutthroats to start 5 drives at our half of the field and they got 20 points out of those possessions. The prima donna receivers were missing in action for most of the game, catching 9 of 20 targeted passes for 115 yards combined, but the rest of the offense made up for it. At the same time, the defense stood up on all the other drives and kept the visitors to just a field goal on their other 11 drives. The last one saw them come really close, but as they were in need of a touchdown, they had to go for it on fourth down and came short.
QB Bart Tanner threw for 341 yards with 3 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and a running touchdown. The receiving ends of the touchdown passes were FB Rich Hartman (on a spectacular 63-yard play), WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Jessie Vertelney.
Result: 30-23 win

Week 17 at Bordeaux
Alas, at this point, we were eliminated from contention for the playoffs tickets. But high on this winning streak, I got a bit cocky and told my fellow Bordeaux owner/general manager Alf that we were going to crush his Vineyards in their place. The team pulled it off, gaining 510 total yards of offense and dominating the field of position by 14 yards per drive. QB Bart Tanner stayed turnover free and showed what he can be capable of with all the talent around him.
Tanner threw for 345 yards with 4 touchdowns, spreading them around to TE Johnathan Alston, TE Ted Gordon, WR Jessie Vertelney and WR Rodolfo Lane, the latter had a 100-yard receiving game as well. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown, while RB Rusty Kemp was brought back into the rotation and ran for 110 yards on 12 carries.
Result: 44-20 win

European Division
1. Gothenburg 10-6
2. Maassluis 8-8
3. Paris 6-10
4. Bordeaux 5-11

Indeed, Gothenburg reinstalled themselves as the top team in the division and go into the playoffs as the third seeds in the AOC, far behind Tucker (14-2) and Toronto (13-3), the latter scoring 695 points in the proces, including a sensational 81-pointer in week 16 which shattered the single game record by 13 points. Augusta (12-4) joins them as the top wild card team, while the Deep South teams that we beat Houston and Atlanta both get in with a 10-6 campaign. In the other conference, the same thing kind of happened as all 6 teams making it had a winning record and all the teams at 8-8 or worse did not. Arizona (13-3), Chesapeake (13-3) and Texas (12-3-1) look like the cream of the crop, while Oakland (10-6), Kansas (9-6-1) and Williamsburg (8-7-1) closed out the field in a wild week 17 where they were the last three standing of 8 teams still hopeful to sneak in.


So, our season ended with a 4-game winning streak, with a typical .500 record and yet far away from the playoffs. Except that had we somehow won in Gothenburg in week 11, we actually would have won the division on tie-breakers.

QB Bart Tanner threw the most interceptions in the league (26), which was 3 more than the most obvious bust but somehow staff members keep calling him talented, Iowa's quarterback Edwin Anthony. Tanner was 5th in the league with 4,422 yards passing and 6th with 33 passing touchdowns. Which is a testament on what the interceptions have done to hold us back. Well done, OC, well done. Yes, I blame our Offensive Coordinator for those mishaps, I don't blame fully Tanner and his overpaid receivers.

Our running game struggled this season, being the worst showing from our used to be 5.0 per carry level duo. RB Rusty Kemp ran for 670 yards with 4.32 per carry and 7 touchdowns, RB Renaldo Billodeaux for 643 yards with 2 touchdowns and a per carry figure of 3.99, which is out of character. Tanner ran for 578 yards, with 7.05 per carry and 2 touchdowns.

Despite 5 1009-yard games, WR Jessie Vertelney was our leading receiver with just 1,086 yards and 8 touchdowns. TE Ted Gordon had 884 yards and 5 touchdowns, WR Rodolfo Lane 854 yards and 6 touchdowns, WR Rufus Montgomery just 550 yards and 1 touchdown. TE Ted Robbins and TE Arnie Huffman had 4 touchdowns each.

The defense had a strong finish in the final stretch, but we still ended up 30th with 391 yards per game allowed, albeit just above average with 23.3 points per game allowed. But those were improvements over from where we were earlier on during the season...


So, it's on to 2119 for us. With the #2 overall draft pick, a result of trade with the Orlando Talons, as well as the #18 (from Frederick) and #20 overall.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 2119 Off-season preview forecast to-do-list

The 2118 season has ended. The Oakland Black Panthers went through the playoffs as underdogs, but having their quarterback from injury was just enough to take full advantage of the upsets left and right and they claimed their 5th IHOF Bowl victory in the last 20 seasons. Their overall win-loss in the regular season doesn't resemble it (they are just 5th in winning percentage), but they are by far the most successful team in terms of championships, the second best are a bunch of teams with 2 IHOF Bowl wins.


So, on to our own team. The retirement wave saw us lose no less than 6 players.

S Kennedy Maxwell II (I call him the second, because in an era far far in the past we had another safety named Kennedy Maxwell in Maassluis) has left us after just 1 season and 3 games played. He was an off-season signing in 2118 to become our secondary leader and he stepped in a few games due to injuries to others.

C Jim Mayes was our starting center in the last 2 seasons. He extended his career to 14 seasons in the IHOF with it, but enough was enough, apparently. It leaves a big hole in our o-line.

RB Rusty Kemp played 5 seasons with us. He jumped in as a third down back and shared the carries with RB Renaldo Billodeaux throughout his stint with us. He was a reliable rusher, never missing a game and fumbling just 8 times in 84 games with us. He scored 36 touchdowns in 80 regular season games, proff that he was a reliable red zone back.

S Dan Peterson as an undrafted rookie bounced around a bit, but in his third season in the IHOF he arrived in Maassluis as a free agent. He played 9 seasons with the Merchantmen for 135 regular season and 7 playoffs games. An elite zone defender, we made sure to stick him around until his decision this off-season to call it a game.

DT Efrain Hutchins is probably the most established player of this retirement wave. A high second round pick in 2108 for us, he hung around for 11 season, retiring quite young at the age of 32. He played in 174 games for us, including 6 in the playoffs. In 2110 and 2111 his pass rush production and number of tackles were exceptional and got him All-IHOF 1st team honors.

CB Skip Horner retires after 8 seasons with us. Initially an undrafted rookie, he was a day one contributor in the nickelback role as being a solid zone defender. Horner never missed a game, playing in all 160 regular season games and 7 playoffs games in that timespan.


Enough about the past, what more is going on for 2119? In our coaching staff, we replaced our assistent coach as Randy Holliday was seen as an improvement over Kenyon Shepard, ending his stint in Maassluis after just 1 season.

In the player department, our off-season starts with sitting at $88.54M over the salary cap, not yet accounting fot that we have what might look like the most expensive draft in IHOF history accounting for $61.73M... That's our own fault for acquiring a lot of picks, holding picks 1.2, 1.18, 1.20, 2.17, 2.19 and all of our own mid-round 3rd through 7th round picks.

The draft class is very interesting and we're currently in negotiations with the 1.1 pick holding team about what it would require for us to move up that 1 slot to be able to grab who we really want. It's a weird situation as I think there are 2 players out there (the best WR and best QB) that would fit the slot, but I'm just more confident about one of them. Flipping down some slots and picking an exceptionally talented player there isn't totally unacceptable, as I'm seeing some players at the less sexy positions. I mean, just looking over our roster, C, RT, DE, DT, LB, CB and S are all positions where we could use an upgrade. Although in the defensive side, it's a bit more tricky as our defensive coordinator is very good in scouting, but not quite excellent as our offensive coordinator is.

Just going over our roster quickly though, quarterback is clearly a 50-50 situation. QB Bart Tanner is throwing a lot of picks, but it could be a game plan situation and he's also winning games for us. Cohesion is now a strength for him as well. At RB we need a backup, but last season's 3rd round pick RB Jackson Powell could be the desired successor to Rusty Kemp. At tight end, TE Corbin Robbins is a question mark about whether his recovery from ACL surgery is going to wreck his career. We're good at tight end, but not solid. On the offensive line, we clearly need a new center and we'll have to look at right tackle another time.

On the defensive side, we're likely to lose our key player DT Carlos Fisher in free agency. His demands are absurdly lower than what we offered him in 2118 to stick around, but that's the player agent's fault. With DT Efrain Hutchins retired, we're going to need to address the pass rushing part of the defensive line quite a bit this off-season as I don't see DE Christopher Wrighster sticking around either. At linebacker there's no immediate need, but it's likely 'll want a replacement for LB Bobby Diaz as the passing down LB2. At cornerback we're not in dire need of a new player. At safety, we're down to just 2 on roster. It's a very good duo, but they lack the endurance to be all downs players, hence, we'll need at least one more there.

The roster counts 41 contracted, with 4 restricted free agents (of which I want to keep CB Adrian Kornegay, FB Rich Hartman and LB Scottie Rice), while I suspect 2 key unrestricted free agents (DT Carlos Fisher and G Herb Nieves) will all find greener grass elsewhere. TE Johnathan Alston is the other unrestricted free agent and he's kind of a wild card on what will happen.

So, that's pretty much where we are. It will likely be busy trade talks in the next couple of days with all those 1st round picks. Something to look forward to!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: A moving off-season, teaser

No way around it, it's been a moving off-season so far. Training camp is around the corner and with cap hell unexpectedly having broken loose, we're scraping by. The first round of the draft was spectacular with trades all over the place, with the Merchantmen making the headlines quite a lot, ending up with a lot of draft picks in the first round. And at the same time with very few in the later rounds. Amidst that all, contract talks with QB Bart Tanner have been excruciating, with his agent turning every offer down so far, despite that Tanner and agent are completely ignoring the fact that none of the other 31 franchises is going to offer him $25M/year, let alone the $85M cap figure they are desiring. We lost a key player in free agency, sent several veteran starters packing and a day before training camp, we're traded away our best player of the past decade to a rival team for way below his value. And we're likely forced to close out our roster with more than a dozen undrafted rookies.

Indeed, there's a lot to talk about. Which I will do, later. This weekend.

So stay tuned...

[TheseBoots]

It's been fun catching up with this dynasty story after mainly following the league via Clay's videos for a while. Looking forward to finding out what you do/did at the top of the draft, and congrats on the division win a couple of seasons back!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: A moving off-season

The 2119 off-season has been unusual in Maassluis. As I mentioned in my teaser the other day, a lot has happened. And in retrospect, I've let things get out of hand a little bit more than I anticipated what it would do and could do to our salary cap situation. We ended up starting the off-season with quite a bit more dead cap space than would be healthy. At the end of the 2118 season, we were looking at $4.22M in dead cap for the 2119 season. Right now, on the day before training camp, we're at a dead cap figure of $111M. Yowza. Oh, and for 2120, we're already up to nearly $26M.

How'd we end up here? RB Rusty Kemp retired ($1.5M in 2119), TE Ted Gordon got released ($10.2M in 2119, $1.4M in 2120), TE Corbin Robbins got released ($15.8M in 2119, $22M in 2120), WR Jessie Vertelney got traded ($19.8M in 2119), P Tyrus Johnston was released ($5.6M in 2119), DE Calvin Buckley got released ($4.9M in 2119), DE Ernest Frias got released ($3.5M in 2119), DE Christopher Wrighster got released ($2.5M in 2119 and again in 2120), DT Efrain Hutchins retired ($22.5M in 2119, $7.7M in 2120), LB Bobby Diaz got released ($8.3M in 2119) and S Dan Peterson retired ($1.65M in 2119).

Okay, that was a lot to grasp. But the trade of WR Jessie Vertelney jumped out here. Why would we trade away our best receiver. And on top of that, release both TE Corbin Robbins and TE Ted Gordon?

Was there an alternative? Yes, there was. The alternative was to cut ties with QB Bart Tanner. Which, frankly, still is an option, because releasing him would open up $38M of cap space, which in theory should be enough to sign some random off the street veteran quarterback. But, so far, I tried to talk Tanner and his agent into signing a new deal in Maassluis, which would still make him get way overpaid, but at least open up about $15M to $20M to have kept one of the above, or try not tearing up our defensive line. To no avail, so far. Tanner and his agent are completely unaware that none of the other 31 franchises in the IHOF will ever consider even offering as much as $20M for a 1-year deal. And here we are, having the league leader in turnovers demanding a $83.5M cap figure from the overall $639M salary cap. Tanner is already in the top8 most expensive quarterbacks and completely doesn't understand that he's the misfit in that group. So, Tanner, still, but for how long? If he doesn't sign a new deal with us now, he'll hit free agency in 2120. I could gamble on no other team wanting him, which is quite realistic, but if we decide to ride with him for at least 2120 as well, signing him now will free some cap space now to extend contracts of other free agents.


The Draft
Let's back up a bit to the first round of the draft, because it was a busy couple of days. Remember: we went iunto the 2119 draft with the #2, #18 and #20 overall picks, with a pair of mid-late second round picks as well. Brooklyn held the #1 overall pick and there were two players that looked like the obvious candidates: WR Blake Flowers and QB Charlie Stryzinski. I wanted Blake Flowers, he's the complete package of a receiver and with Vertelney getting up there in age, this was the chance to get an even better replacement. We talked with the Brooklyn management and in the end, I decided to not up my offer too much, while Outer Banks in spot #3 did. Flowers went at #1 to Outer Banks.

With #2 on the clock in our hands, I announced to the league that we'd either pick QB Charlie Stryzinski or trade the pick. We already received a "if Stryzinski is there" feeler from Fairbanks in spot #5 and we struck a quick deal. Right after they picked Stryzinski, Brooklyn came up to me, wondering whether I'd be interested in flipping back up to #3 and we surely did, as WR Roman Randle was now, to me, the obvious next player to pick and would be a suitable alternative for Flowers/Vertelney. We gave up a spare 2nd and grabbed Randle.

The mid-first round went kind of pick by pick and as it came closer to the #18 and #20, it looked like quite a bunch of our potential targets would still be on board. We sent out tentative offers to Chesapeake, they were advertising picks #21 and #27, and in two steps, we acquired them for our 1st round pick in 2120 and the remaining 2nd round picks this draft, as we had acquired the #36 overall from Fairbanks in the #2 for #5 deal. With those four first round picks, we selected TE Francisco Andersen (#18), RT Perry Georgopulos (#20), DT Tim Burton (#21) and LB Sam Hastings (#27). A unique quintet. We continued on with trading away our 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th round picks to league champion Oakland for their 2nd round pick in 2120. And finished the draft by selecting P Andre Marincic at pick 7.20.


Cut Wave
Parallel to all of that, the cap figure of the first round picks piled up and this quintet now accounts for $57.6M. With the rookie minimum being $2.02M, we had to make enough room for 53 players to make sure all the remaining roster spots up to 51 would be affordable at at least $2.02M per player.

DE Christopher Wrighster and LB Bobby Diaz were the first to go. Wrighster was clearly declining and no sure thing to make the 2119 roster anyway. Diaz also declining, was turning into a one-trick pony and seemed easy to replace with a new zone defending linebacker.

P Tyrus Johnston and TE Corbin Robbins were next. Johnston felt like he wasn't living up to his cap figure and I was hoping we'd find a cheaper coffin-corner as the alternative. This was before we picked the 7th round rookie. Robbins was the most painful decision. Our staff made clear that Robbins looks okay right now after surgery, but that he'd have to get re-evaluated in pre-season to be sure. I should have just put him on the trade block and get something in return, but right after the cut, he became the most sought after free agent. Yet, Robbins signed for just a small fraction of his cap figure in Maassluis...

DE Ernest Frias and LB Raymond Casper were the third wave. Casper should have been part of the first wave, demanding a trade whilst basically being no better than our third best special teamer amongst linebackers. Frias was a tough one as well, being a solid run stopper on the end, probably harder to replace than I though when he was cut.

After the draft, TE Ted Gordon and DE Calvin Buckley announced a hold out. We could have avoided the Gordon situation with a cap out earlier, but opted to wait for mid-pre-season. Both requested something unaffordable and I decided that it was a sign for both to get shown the door and go figure out on the open market that no other team will pay them what the were asking for either.

Where are they now? Wrighster is unsigned, while Diaz signed for just $6.4M with Chicago. Robbins signed for $14.5M in Rochester, Johnston signed for $6.1M in Outer Banks. Frias is still unsigned, so is Casper. Gordon and Buckley have only now hit the market and both already saw their agent cut their demands in half; smart move to go hold out...


Undrafted Rookies
After we traded WR Jessie Vertelney to Bordeaux, the only team that actually showed interest in time to make the deal that will give us only a 5th round pick in 2120, we had just enough cap room to try to sign up to 35 undrafted rookies and all offer a little bit more than the rookie minimum as well, to increase the odds of winning the over. 13 turned us down, but 22 others did sign with us. So, here's the full list: QB Noah DeLay, RB Rufus Bates, FB Rusty Garrison, TE Kelley Levine, TE Nicholas St. Pierre, WR Raul Poston, C Tracy Stewart, C Derek Rose, C Clyde Van Lanen, G James Tucker, G Reggie White, G Landon Goodwin, DE Mel Bridges, DE Percy Taylor, DE Phil Wakefield, LB Kurt Bradley, LB Brendan Tatum, CB Todd Weaver, S Kim Fox, S Bert Parker, S Mackenzie Beyer and S Winston Garrett.

We're currently up to 63 players signed, with $940K remaining in cap space. CB Adrian Kornegay has returned to restricted free agent status and we'll try to find cap room, through renegotiations with some players where there's still room to haggle, to get him back for a 4th season. TE Johnathan Alston is also still hanging out with us, as an unrestricted free agent and I don't see how we can or will afford him for anything more than the veteran minimum. Oh, and we will throw around some contract offers to a bunch of other undrafted rookies to close out our training camp roster at 70.



Long story short: we will hang on to QB Bart Tanner, for now, replaced WR Jessie Vertelney with WR Roman Randle, promote TE Arnie Huffman to being our top tight end receiver, added RT Perry Georgopulos to our offensive line and we'll have tryouts for the center spot, unless we shove around a bit on the o-line with the returning veterans.

On defense, we'll have a massive overhaul, in particular on the defensive line, where we'll likely field 5 rookies around three returning veterans. The linebackers group will also see a rookie step in. In the secondary, more rookies will be required to fill out the nickel and dime roles.

Not quite done, we tried to acquire many special teamers expert rookies, but although we got 6 of the top20 rookies in that area, it feels like that's one thing we should re-examine in pre-season. Just like we should do for the defensive line, to see whether we find cap space to get a veteran or two that can do a thing or two.

Finally, the quarterback situation isn't a finished issue just yet. I will keep an eye open for an alternative to Bart Tanner. Not just for the future, but for this season already...

[TheseBoots]

Nice, I only had to wait 10 minutes to find out :D

General Manager Notes: A moving off-season
...I could gamble on no other team wanting him, which is quite realistic, but if we decide to ride with him for at least 2120 as well, signing him now will free some cap space now to extend contracts of other free agents.


I did exactly this in IFL recently in a similar situation and it worked out for me, including saving about 25M in salary

[MIJB#19]

Nice, I only had to wait 10 minutes to find out :D :D
I did exactly this in IFL recently in a similar situation and it worked out for me, including saving about 25M in salaryYeah, I'll opt for it, if Tanner turns down the offer I made for the start of training camp.

[MIJB#19]

2104 - 2108 Evan Drake period

With no desire to revert back to Earnest Ashley, in the 2104 off-season, Merchantmen management picked up the phone and agreed terms with the Colorado Cutthroats for 32-year old quarterback Evan Drake, sending the Maassluis 2105 first round pick in return. In his time with Colorado he appeared to not live up to his potential, but Merchantmen management felt confident Drake would be able to shine with a support cast of tight end Garrett Alcala and in particular wide receivers Calvin Maxwell and Vinny Buysse.

Drake delivered in his first season, guiding the Merchantmen to their first division title since 2091 and playoffs appearance since 2092. The first playoffs victory since the 2092 was also achieved, making longtime fans call the 2104 season similar to the 2078 campaign. Contrary to then acquired Bennett Morris, Drake hung around for more than just the 1 season. Although Drake didn't manage to throw for the 4,400 yards he did in 2104, he did bring the Merchantmen back into contention.

The 2105 season started a new era in the European Division. After parity ruled with every franchise taking a division crown in 4 seasons time from 2101 through 2104, the Gothenburg Giants reached new highs, lead by their quarterback Burt Kiluk, winning division titles after one another and reaching the AOC Championship game time after time.

Playing second fiddle in the division, Drake played well, quarterbacked the Merchantmen to more wins than losses, but stuck behind the ruling Gothenburg Giants and in a competitive deep conference, the Merchantmen missed the playoffs time and time again. In 2108, Drake's 5th season in Maassluis and the first one after Vinny Buysse retired, an injury side-lined Drake early and as rookie Harrison Singleton impressed, Drake eventually lost the starting role later on in the season. Lead by Singleton, an unlikely 4-game winning streak got the Merchantmen into a week 17 game with Gothenburg. The Giants won and kept the Merchantmen out of the playoffs with it, but after a series of seasons of coming just short, this one felt like it was closer to the 2104 season when Drake arrived and delivered.

Drake's presence helped tight end Garrett Alcala get his first and only 1,000-yard season, marking his first time as an All-IHOF second teamer. The revival was also in part built on the breakthrough of offensive tackles Ivan Dole and
Harold Gruenwalder. Dole was picked in the 1st round of the 2104 draft and quickly became a reliable and key run blocker, on the right side, while 2102 4th round pick Gruenwalder became a more stable left tackle.

2104 11-5 (4th) conference semifinalists
2105 7-9 (9th)
2106 10-6 (7th)
2107 9-7 (9th)
2108 8-8 (9th)

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 5 new faces, 2 departures

CB Adrian Kornegay and TE Johnathan Alston have left Oranje Haven. Alston had been a free agent and we already decided to not make him an offer. Kornegay was offered a new deal, but to make it affordable, one of five other players should have accepted a restructured deal. All five of them showed Kornegay the finger.

We signed 5 more undrafted rookie free agents in RB Gary Buckley, RB George Sachs, FB Avery Cassidy, DE Bubba Fairweather and DT Jeremiah Cortez. Additionally, we asked 3 of our rookies to switch positions, with Mel Bridges becoming a defensive tackle, Kurt Bradley a defensive end and Weston Garrett a cornerback.

With that, we brought 68 players into training camp, including 33 rookies, but also with QB Harrison Singleton and QB Bart Tanner both still on the team. We went into camp with 4 QB, 5 RB, 4 FB, 5 TE, 7 WR, 4 C, 5 G, 4 T, 1 P, 1 K, 5 DE, 5 DT, 6 LB, 6 CB, 5 S and 1 LS. On paper enough to get a 53-men roster out of. Also meaning we have to trim 15 players, with 8 of those not even making the pre-season roster.

And the 8 to be released are already known: QB Noah DeLay, RB Rufus Bates, FB Rusty Garrison, TE Nicholas St. Pierre, C Derek Rose, G Reggie Wright, CB Weston Garrett and S Mackenzie Beyer.

Did any of those 8 make the "good training camp" list? Nope. The guys that made a good were second year FB Rich Hartman, rookie TE Francisco Andersen, rookie C Tracy Stewart, rookie C Clyde Van Lanen, rookie G James Tucker, second-year G Greg Brizzolara, rookie RT Perry Georgopulos, second-year RT John Gerdes, rookie DE Phil Wakefield, rookie DT Neil Burton, second-year LB Scottie Rice, rookie LB Sam Hastings and rookie LB Brendan Tatum. Missing on this list? WR Roman Randle...

I'm moderately not so optimistic. Our offense should be good, but we struggled too often last season and the talent on defense is just not on par with what we had in recent seasons. We failed to address the decline on the special teams unit as well. And I'd like to, but we'll really need that overpaid quarterback of ours to accept to get paid much closer to being the 32nd best quarterback in the league that our staff thinks he is. Well, we'll make him yet another offer that should fit his demands, despite that I know very well that he doesn't deserve it...

[MIJB#19]

General Managers Notes: 6 down, 1 to go?

We released 6 more undrafted rookies, trimming down to 54 players on roster. The last cut will be an offensive lineman. The 6 that left Oranje Haven were RB George Sachs, FB Avery Cassidy, WR Raul Poston, G Landon Goodwin, DE Percy Taylor and DT Mel Bridges.

Some sort of good news: we extended the contract with QB Bart Tanner through the 2121 season. It freed upto $14.9M of cap space, with which we'll want to see where we can go with extended some contracts of potential 2120 free agents or to sign some veteran free agents to bolster the roster. We already extended the contract of LS Roderick Kaeding through 2120.


The draft class isn't overwhelmingly strong for us, but all 6 of the drafted players are still on the team.

Pick 1.3 WR Roman Randle is currently scouted at 45/60 with lower route running than hoped (65), but he does bring a neat combination of getting down field (80) and big play (90) skills with third down ability (85).

Pick 1.18 TE Francisco Andersen comes in at 45/65, but route running (30) or lack there of is a serious problem. He does get downfield (95) with courage (75) and on third downs (70), with run blocking technique (85).

Pick 1.20 RT Perry Georgopulos is also a bit of a disappointment, coming in at just 30/55 with very good run blocking (70) and acceptable pass blocking (50).

Pick 1.21 DT Neil Burton is a bigger disappointment at 45/55 with not much of pass rush ability (25) and just very good (75) run defense and underwhelming play diagnosis (40). Undrafted rookie DT Jeremiah Cortez is seemingly headed for getting ahead of Burton at 30/50 overall after a strong pre-season improvement.

Pick 1.27 LB Sam Hastings also falls a bit short at 35/55, with good run defense (65), very good zone defense (75) and poor play diagnosis (20).

Pick 7.20 P Andre Marincic came out quite okay at 40/55, but not quite the kicking power (55) and corner coffin (70) skills that we hoped for.

The undrafted rookies still on team include 30/35 RB Gary Buckley (65 hole recognition), 20/35 TE Kelley Levine (85 run blocker, 65 special teams), 30/45 C Tracy Stewart (50 run blocking), 25/45 C Clyde Van Lanen (60 run blocking), 30/65 G James Tucker (65 run blocking, 70 pass blocking), 25/35 DE Kurt Bradley (50 pass rush technique), 10/15 DE Bubba Fairweather (85 special teams), 30/45 DE Phil Wakefield (75 pass rush technique, 50 strength), 25/40 LB Brendan Tatum (60 run defense, 75 play diagnosis), 20/25 CB Todd Weaver (85 special teams, 60 zone defense), 25/45 S Kim Fox (95 special teams, 50 zone defense), 25/40 S Bert Parker (85 special teams, 55 zone defense). In particular Tucker jumps out as a breakout player in pre-season.

None of our players are "Green Page" material, but our staff does think Andersen, Tucker and Randle are amongst the top25 in potential. Still, I'm not overly optimistic or enthusiastic about this group. But there's no turning back, we'll have to make do with it.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 3 out, 2 in; 53 here we come?

Every now or then, football players get cut as a rookie and after a cycle through the IHOF, return to their original team as a grizzled veteran. Such happened today in Maassluis. We cut down to 53 players and additionally signed 2 veterans in favor of two undrafted rookies.

RT John Gerdes was the down to 53 casualty, ending the run blocker's stint in Maassluis after just 1 season. We picked him late in the 7th round in the 2118 draft and let him play in some of the harder games. Well, 3 starts in 4 games, with 3 sacks allowed and 2 key run blockers later, I think he wasn't going to make it. We will go with the rookie RT Perry Georgopulos or if needed revert back to backup G Alfred Pearsall.

We signed DE Leslie Kelly and TE Jordan Maxwell. Kelly returns to Maassluis more than 6 seasons after we released him after training camp 2113. He was an undrafted rookie then and we moved him from linebacker to defensive end. Kelly floated around, played 51 games, from Chesapeake to Paris and Colorado, to sitting out the 2118 season as a free agent. Kelly brings in much needed pass rush technique and will likely also join the special teams unit. So might Maxwell, if we are forced to put him on the field. This third down route runner will likely just be an inactive mentor unless injuries strike. 32-year old Maxwell has 11 seasons of service in the IHOF on his resume, 10 of them with Outer Banks and last season with San Antonio. To make room for Kelly and Maxwell, we released C Clyde Van Lanen and TE Kelley Levine.

We'll look around for another veteran or two, but in the meantime we put priority on re-signing some of our soon to be free agents. S Peter Hinsley already signed a new 3-year deal, but CB Zachary Blair and CB Marquis Wolf turned down our offers, which were actually pretty close to their demands. We'll hear back from them tomorrow and will have one more day after that to lock them up.

We'll start the regular season in Gothenburg, which will be the first of our first 5 games of the season all played against teams that made the playoffs in 2118 with 6 or less losses. With just 2 home games in that stretch, don't be shocked if we're sitting at 1-4 going into week 7. But let's not be too pessimistic just yet, let's take it 1 game at a time.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 53 for 2119 set

Two more roster changes occurred, we signed a couple of veteran pass rushers and released two undrafted rookie defensive ends to make room for them. DE Kurt Bradley and DE Bubba Fairweather showed a bit of promise in training camp, but the prospect of signing two 5th year players with very good pass rush technique made it an easy decision given the state of the defensive line. Craig played 4 seasons at Oakland, the last two quite a bit in their pass defense rotation. Kafka played at Snapfiger for 4 seasons and was on their passing downs personnel in the last 2 seasons.

Our roster this season will consist of the following players.

Quarterbacks
40/40 QB Bart Tanner
20/20 QB Harrison Singleton
5/20 QB Orlando Garrett
Tanner is our undisputed starter, Garrett our kick holder slash if we're down to him, we're doomed anyway. Singleton made the team, but he will start the season inactive.

Backfield
45/55 RB Jackson Powell
40/50 FB Rich Hartman
35/35 RB Renaldo Billodeaux
30/35 RB Gary Buckley (rookie)
15/15 FB Kenneth Holse
Billodeaux and Powell will share the carries. Buckley will start the season inactive. Hartman is now our fullback, Holse will be the leader of the special teams unit.

Tight Ends
45/65 TE Francisco Andersen
35/35 TE Jordan Maxwell (veteran acquisition)
30/40 TE Kyle Baker
30/30 TE Arnie Huffman
Andersen is the kid that can do it all, yet he can't really run routes. The others can, so we'll have to trust on Huffman and Baker to step it up. Maxwell will begin inactive, but we might throw him out there sooner or later ahead of Baker.

Wide Receivers
60/60 WR Rodolfo Lane
60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery
45/60 WR Ramon Randle (rookie)
30/30 WR Antonio Price
20/20 WR Maurice Sweeney
20/20 WR Blake Begay
We have a new threesome that should prove they are on top of the world. Price will be the WR4 again. Sweeney is still our kickoff returner. Begay will go down a step, starting the season inactive.

Offensive Line
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
70/75 G Greg Brizzolara
30/65 G James Tucker (rookie)
45/45 G Alfred Pearsall
30/55 RT Perry Georgopulos (rookie)
30/45 C Tracy Stewart (rookie)
30/30 LT Lester Money
15/15 C Zane Chaplain
It's tricky, we're set to start the season with 3 rookies, with 2nd year pro Brizzolara as one of the more established guys. Clancy is undisputed, Georgopulos will be on the right side at the start. Tucker came out of nowhere and deserves to get the nod. Stewart won the center spot. But all three should know that Pearsall is ready to step in if one of them struggles.

Defensive Line
45/55 DT Neil Burton (rookie)
45/45 DE Lonnie Wynn
45/45 DT Bryan Lomax
45/45 DT Francisco Blades
30/50 DT Jeremiah Cortez (rookie)
30/45 DE Phil Wakefield (rookie)
40/40 DE Leslie Kelly (veteran acquisition)
35/35 DE Glen Kafka (veteran acquisition)
35/35 DT John Craig (veteran acquisition)
On overhauled group, where we'll make once again two groups of four to split it into a passing downs and running downs group. Lomax will be the longtimer on the passing downs group, while Wynn and Blades will carry the running downs group. Wakefield will start the season inactive, but we have faith in this pass rusher to eventually become as good as the 11th hour veterans that will play ahead of him at season start.

Linebackers
60/60 LB Jorge Mayes
40/55 LB Sam Hastings (rookie)
45/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
40/40 LB Scottie Rice
35/35 LB Xavier Hoover
25/40 LB Brendan Tatum (rookie)
A minor refreshment, with two rookies, of whom Tatum will start the season inactive. Hastings is a complete linebacker, but will early on just be on the passing downs unit. Mayes is the do it all, Hoover, O'Neal and Rice are the run stoppers, we'll rotate a bit with them.

Secondary
55/55 CB Zachary Blair
50/50 S Cesar Welch
45/45 CB Asher McElroy
25/45 S Kim Fox (rookie)
35/35 CB Marquis Wolf
25/40 S Bert Parker (rookie)
30/30 S Peter Hinsley
25/25 CB Byron Sokol
20/25 CB Todd Weaver (rookie)
Everybody will be active, although Weaver might end up inactive if we feel he's too green for the special teams unit for now. It's not the interceptions excellence from a couple of seasons ago, but Sokol is still around and both Blair and McElroy have the skills.

Special Teamers
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
40/55 P Andre Marincic (rookie)
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
DeGroot is elite, so is Kaeding. Marincic is a gamble, but we have to believe in his potential to become a corner-coffin punter.


So, that's our group for opening day. Expectiatons are low for week 1, playing at Gothenburg, but we do have a couple of guys that can turn a game around. So, let's go. 2119 can be a fun season.

[MIJB#19]

Editor's Note
No, we haven't stopped, we're still playing, albeit it's up for debate whatever the Merchantmen are doing this season can be called "playing football", but that's for another time. Last weekend was unusual with a renovation in my apartment. But... Upcoming weekend I'll try to write an update about weeks 1 through 11 or 12.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2119... Not what we expected, at all

Okay, let's break the bad news right away. 2119 has been a very disappointing season. It's not quite over, but saving face is no longer possible, the first half of the 2119 season will go down as the worst half-season in franchise history.

Week 1 at Gothenburg
We played along for a while. Well, more like 5 minutes. Our quick 7-0 lead quickly vanished as QB Bart Tanner threw interceptions on the next two drives and even a pair of interceptions in return could not avoid a big loss.
Result: 14-35 loss

Week 2 vs Kansas
Helped by a forced fumbled, we scored touchdowns on our first two possessions, but the 13-0 lead turned into a deficit before halftime. Despite getting outplayed in yardage, the defense forced field goal attempts a couple of times and late field goal made it almost feel like a 1-score loss.
Result: 19-27 loss

Week 3 at Atlanta
Sometimes a game feels over at half time and it turns out to actually isn't. At the big break we were 27-7 down, but somehow we kept playing and playing and as we settled for short field goals a little bit too often, the home playing Vipers kept holding onto the slowly crumbling lead, but even K Jeffery DeGroot's 53-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the game was far too little too late to really have a chance at victory.
Result: 26-33 loss

Week 4 bye
A much wanted bye for a change as injuries were running havoc more than we have been used to over recent seasonss. Yes, plural of plural. I can't remember the last time we lost 2 starters per game for 5 or so games straight. I bet the last time it happened was in the first 20 or so seasons of IHOF.

Week 5 vs Tucker
We played along in the first half with one of the top two teams this season, going into the break trailing 17-13. But while our own offense got stopped every now or then, our defense was completely overran (overpassed?) as we let the Tucker quarterback throw for 495 yards on us. QB Bart Tanner in return threw for 369 yards without interception.
Result: 20-41 loss

Week 6 at Augusta
WR Maurice Sweeney returned the opening kickoff all the way and on our second possession we managed to take a 14-7 lead. It was short lived, the rest of the game our offense fell flat, while the defense let the Greenjackets have their way with us as well. We got outgained 456 versus 228 total yards, enough said.
Result: 17-39 loss

Week 7 vs Paris
In our first game of the season against a team that didn't make the playoffs in 2118, we had our chances. But a punt return touchdown was the dagger that we didn't expect, even our special teams unit go outplayed. Aside from that freak play, Paris had a field position advantage, which is something we're really not used to, in particular in a game where QB Bart Tanner throws for nearly 300 yards without interception.
Result: 13-31 loss

Week 8 vs Snapfinger
Another game that we wish we never witness. We got outgained 449-250 in total yards and lost the turnover battle 2-0, making it quite the miracle we still had a 5-yard advantage in average drive start. Still, it was a couple of missed field goals that kept the Jazz from completely humiliating.
Result: 17-30 loss

Week 9 at Bordeaux
And then we played a game that we really should have won. We intercepted the Bordeaux quarterback 3 times, while going turnover free on our own end. But our inability to get into the end zone, combined with giving up a punt return touchdown, kept us from getting a real shot at earing a "W".
Result: 16-24 loss

With that, we started the season 0-8. I thought it was unprecedented, but we also were this dreadful in 2098. And with the next 5 games all against teams with a winning record (all started their season 5-2 or better), this season felt done, completely hopeless.

Week 10 at Orlando
With the season basically over, all of a sudden the team started to playing well, in particular the offense. Although both teams settled for field goals more often than they wanted to, it turned into quite the barnburner. When we took a 27-23 lead late in the 4th quarter, it turned into a bend but don't break game. Sadly we did break, allowed a 25-yard pass for touchdown and needed a miracle to reach overtime. We got there after WR Maurice Sweeney returned the kickoff for 55 yards, K Jeffery DeGroot converted a 54-yard field goal and rookie S Kim Fox picked off a pass at the end of regulation. The defense then forced three and out, while we responded with QB Bart Tanner throwing to rookie TE Francisco Anderson for 25 yards to reach midfield and a crucial 18-yard catch by WR Rodolfo Lane on third and long set up the game winning field goal.
Result: 33-30 win in overtime

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
With the losing streak snapped, the Merchantmen looked completely refreshed and all of a sudden we looked like the team I expected us to be. And then some. The visiting Giants had no idea what came to them (and us) as we were clicking on all ends of the ball, turning this into a sensational blowout victory. We outgained Gothenburg 453 to 193 in total yards, including holding their quarterback to just 96 yards passing. We completed the humiliation by throwing our kick holder on the field in our last possession and knee dropping to victory.
Result: 33-6 win

Week 12 at Chicago
And then thinking we were back to the capable teams, the team fell flat again. Our running game was lacking, our defense missing in action (giving up 451 total yards and allowing 11 third down conversions). For the third time this season a final seconds field goal put us within one score, but not really with a shot at tying it up.
Result: 17-25 loss

European Division
1. Gothenburg 7-4
2. Bordeaux 4-7
3. Paris 3-7-1
4. Maassluis 2-9

Yeah, mathematically we're still alive for the division title, but it will require something we can't even start to think of. The last wild card spot is held by 6-5 Orlando and will at minimum go to a 6-9-1 team. Second place is feasible, but can we really even think about it now?

The one game at a time approach is warranted. Our goal for now is to redeem ourselves a bit more and get as far away from having gifted a top draft pick to the Chesapeake Chitterlings. We'll be without our 1st round rookie RT Perry Georgopulos, he got severely hurt in Chicago and needs reconstructive knee surgery. CB Zachary Blair broken an arm in Chicago and will miss the rest of the season. LB Ezekiel O'Neal already went to injured reserve with a torn quadriceps muscle. A bunch of others are back from injuries, including 1st round rookie LB Sam Hastings, he returned from injured reserve after an injury in week 3.

So, yeah, can't wait for the 2120 season to get here. But we have 5 more games to show we're capable of good football and I hope we'll do just that.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2119 comes to an end, for us

I think you won't be shocked to read we failed to make the playoffs. But we kind of saved face by rising from the 0-8 season start. The Chesapeake Chitterlings will get the #8 overall pick in the 2120 draft, which is still quite expensive for the rights to our LB Sam Hastings. In return, the Fairbanks Northstars won 3 of their last 5 games to finish the season 4-12 and giving us the #5 overall pick, their rookie QB Charlie Stryzinski is 3-4 as their starter in that final stretch.

But that's 2120, let's recap quickly how we closed out our 2119 regular season.


Week 13 vs Rochester
In spite of outgaining the visiting Razorbacks 456 to 347 total yards, we found a way to look not so bright, losing the turnover battle 0-3. QB Bart Tanner threw for 387 yards and 3 touchdowns, but the turnovers were on him. Rookie TE Francisco Andersen had 9 catches for 119 yards, WR Rodolfo Lane had 137 yards receiving,
Result: 27-37 loss

Week 14 at Arizona
And then we bounced back to upset the NAC #1 seed bound Miners. A strange game in which a pair of interceptions were crucial for them to drop a game in which we were outgained 462 to 355 yards. TE Francisco Andersen had another 100-yard game, this kid is really living up to the 1st round pick status.
Result: 26-20 win

Week 15 vs Bordeaux
And then we rolled on, while the Bordeaux quarterback threw 4 interceptions. There was no punt return touchdown to save the day for Bordeaux and par for the last bunch of clashes, without any of those, we took care of business.
Result: 36-17 win

Week 16 vs Iowa
We raced to a quick 13-0 lead and played well. Except for the 75-yard touchdown that we allowed late in the first quarter. And for the fumble return touchdown that we gave up early in the second half. And for the kickoff return touchdown that we failed to avoid early in the fourth quarter. And then, just like that, you deserve to lose a game that on paper should have been won.
Result: 23-37 loss

Week 17 at Paris
I feared for us to fall flat, but instead we played out the season with a tremendous showing in Paris, crushing the home team. It also means we're now on a 3-game winning streak inside the division, beating all 3 of our rivals in it. Rookie TE Francisco Andersen had another 100-yard game, his 4th in the last 8 games of the season. K Jeffery DeGroot completed his perfect field goals kicking season with another trio, including a 49-yarder (he did miss 2 extra points). QB Bart Tanner threw for 4 touchdowns, but replacing him in the 4th quarter kept him from a chance to have his first game with 5 touchdown passes.
Result: 37-14 win

European Division final standings 2119
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Paris 5-10-1
3. Maassluis 5-11
4. Bordeaux 5-11

A horrible season comes to an end with a 5-3 second half of the season. We actually played on par with Gothenburg since week 10.

Gothenburg goes into the playoffs as the 4th seeds in the AOC, behind 14-2 Tucker, 14-2 Toronto, 11-5 Atlanta and in front of wild cards 10-6 Houston and 10-6 Augusta. Also in the other conference, all the 10-win teams made the playoffs, with none of them better than 11-5 and all of them scoring between 417 and 480 points. Houston (in the AOC) is the only playoffs team that scored less than 400 points. No team that missed the playoffs scored more than 387 points.

QB Bart Tanner finished the season with 4,692 yards passing (8th in IHOF) with 27 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

WR Rodolfo Lane had 88 catches for 1,166 yards and only 3 touchdowns. Rookie TE Francisco Andersen had 96 catches for 1,142 yards and 7 touchdowns. WR Rufus Montgomery was a downright disappointment with only 39 catches for 657 yards and 5 touchdowns. Rookie WR Roman Randle had only 49 catches for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns. TE Arnie Huffman was our other top touchdowns scoring player with 7 receiving touchdowns (on 39 catches for 419 yards).

RB Renaldo Billodeaux had an uncharacteristic season with just 3.73 yards per carry, running for 694 yards and 5 touchdowns, while change of pace Jackson Powell ran for 407 yards without touchdown and a 3.70 average.

WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Maurice Sawyer were obviously top5 in the league in their respective punt return and kickoff return skills.

As I already mentioned in the Paris game recap, K Jeffery DeGroot was perfect on field goals, also leading the league with 39 scored. Rookie P Andre Marincic was unimpressive in gross numbers, but his corner coffin kicking was visible with 38 in20s on 89 punts.

Defensively, we sucked. We were 27th in rushing yards allowed, tied 24th in yards per carry, 23rd in passing yards allowed, 28th in yards per pass attempt allowed, 28th in most sacks made, 27th in pass rush percentage, 25th in total yards allowed and 28th in points allowed. I'm not going to name any players as having played well. This unit has been a disappointment, they are too talented to play this horrible and can't blame the turnover prone quarterback on our offense.

The disappointment for the Merchantmen fans of this season is finally seeing the Gothenburg Giants jump ahead in most division titles. We held on to the lead for a long time and were tied after the 2118 season. But we're no longer the historical division dominators.

Is it 2120 yet? No, it's not, the playoffs are around the corner. And then the off-season will start, with us at estimated $100M under the salary cap. With just 32 players signed and 17 restricted free agents. We finished the season with a historical high 5 players on injured reserve. LB Ezekiel O'Neal and rookie RT Perry Georgopulos might miss the start of the next season due to their injuries. G Greg Brizzolara, CB Zachary Blair and LS Roderick Kaeding were clearly no luxury decisions to place on IR either, but they would have been able to return during the playoffs, had we made them.

So, summarizing: the first half of 2119 was horrible, the second half was encouraging.

[MIJB#19]

General Managers notes: Final 2119 note

As I mentioned in my recap of the season, we finished the season with no less than 5 players on injured reserve. It means we also finished the season with 5 players on the roster that were not part of the team on opening day.

QB Noah DeLay (5/10) spent training camp with us, didn't make our pre-season roster, but once we had a roster spot to spare, I figured: why not bring him in as a prospective restricted free agent for next season.

LT Nathaniel Janke (30/35) was an emergency signing because of the piled on injuries across the offensive line. Originally picked by the Paris Musketeers at the top of the 3rd round of the 2119 draft, he was a mid pre-season casualty after he was considered to be a bust. We'll see what happens next off-season.

DE Bradley Osborne (25/35) was previously playing in Bordeaux, being an undrafted rookie signed in week 13 of the 2117 season. He was without a football job in 2118, but hang around as a free agent, then made training camp with Frederick this off-season and was only cut in week 5. I like his combination of pass rush technique (potential) and his hard hitting.

LB Alonzo Bauer (35/35) is a zone defense specialist, making him a no-brainer signing when both our pass defense linebackers Jorge Mayes and Sam Hastings were out in week 4. Also a decent special teamer, we let him play in 7 games, but he did finish the season inactive.

LS Scottie Burks (15/15) was a must-sign when our elite long snapper was out for the last 2 games. I don't see him returning to our 2120 roster, unless a similar disaster strikes during the season and Burks ends up without a team by then.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Retirements, Hall of Fame Inductee and a New Head Coach

Staff changes
After 15 seasons of service, our head coach Bradley Knight decided to retire at the age of 68. It ended a 36-season journey for him as a staff member in the IHOF, which saw him debut as an IHOF Bowl winning assistent coach with the Williamsburg Colonials in 2084, followed with stints as the Arizona defensive coordinator (2085-2091), Tucker assistent coach (2092), Augusta defensive coordinator (2093), Rochester head coach (2094-2097), North Plainfield head coach (2098-2104) and finally as our head coach from 2105 through the 2119 season.

Stepping in is Butch Conway, 55 years old, yet a relative newcomer in the ranks of the staff members. He debuted in 2115 as Brooklyn assistent coach and already in 2116 was hired by the Frederick Red Menace as their head coach. Last season the Commies reached the NAC Championship game under his command, but they didn't extend his contract last off-season, which gave us the opportunity to poach him.

After the rash of injuries last season, we decided to replace our strength coordinator, which meant the exit for Reggie Harding after 10 seasons with us and in return the arrival of Sedrick Eco. Our new guy bounced around a bit, began with Bordeaux in 2102, moved to Harlem in 2105, then Chesapeake in 2108 and Hanalei in 2110. With the last two franchises, he won an IHOF Bowl, which we'd love to help him expand on.


2120 Roster outlook
On to the players, we have a lot of work to do this off season. We're down to 32 players signed, an unusual low number for us. We lost 2 players due to retirement, one of them was TE Jordan Maxwell (joined us last season as a veteran free agent, made 11 receptions in 6 games) and I'll elaborate a bit more on C Zane Chaplain later on.

We're sitting at $105M under the $644M salary cap, but the draft picks that we own are projected at costing nearly $50M in cap space, if all 11 picks that we own will eventually count towards the 51 most expensive players on team. Our pick collection consists of the #5 overall supplemented by picks 2.7, 2.19, 3.8, 3.17, 4.7, 4.29, 5.7, 5.8, 6.7 and 7.8.

The list of unrestricted free agents is a bit longer than usual too, but not that long as it consists of G Alfreed Pearsall, LT Lester Money, DE Lonnie Wynn, DE Glen Kafka, DE Leslie Kelly, DT John Craig, DT Bryan Lomax, LB Alonzo Bauer, LB Ezekiel O'Neal and CB Marques Wolf. From this list, Wolf is the one player that I really feel sad about that his moronic agent turned down contracts better than requested last off-season so he would not have hit the market. O'Neal is still unsure how good he is after a grueling injury. Pearsall was a starter last season, pushed due to the rash of injuries across the o-line. Aside from Money and Bauer, all are guys I'd like to bring back, if their demands aren't exorbitant and we don't get into a bidding war.

The list of restricted free agents is very long, consisting of mostly undrafted rookie signings, here we go: QB Noah DeLay, QB Orlando Garrett (he's nothing but a kick holder!), RB Greg Buckley, C Tracy Stewart, G James Tucker, LT Nathaniel Janke, DE Bradley Osborne, DE Phil Wakefield, DT Jeremiah Cortez, LB Brendan Tatum, CB Todd Weaver, S Kim Fox, S Bert Parker and LS Scottie Burks.

From that list, I think there's three groups to divide them in: the guys that I will certainly re-sign to make the 53-me roster, those that will be offered a low ball deal to make it into training camp and a select few that were roster filler last season and are extremely unlikely to make even a pre-season roster of 60. The must keep list includes last season's starters C Stewart and G Tucker, DE Wakefield, S Fox and S Parker. The second list starts at QB Garrett and with him are RB Buckley, DT Cortez, LB Tatum and CB Weaver. DE Osborne was a late season roster filler, but he's promising enough to promote him to that second group. For QB DeLay, LT Janke and LS Burks it's extremely unlikely they will be on our training camp roster.


Legends from the past
Okay, so, I promised to write a bit about our retired C Zane Chaplain. In recent seasons he was rarely on the field anymore, just 9 plays from scrimmage over the last 3 seasons. Before his decline and me inability to cope with his penalties, He was a reliable run blocker in the middle of our line from 2107 through 2115, which is not bad for this 2106 5th round pick. His number of games played for us stopped at 154 in 14 seasons.

Still, Chaplain was a sidekick to one of the best offensive linemen to put on the Merchantmen uniform. One of seven inducted into the Soleciscmic Hall of Fame in 2120, RT Ivan Dole, played 12 seasons for us and proved to be a stellar run blocker, especially later on, averaging 40 key run blocks per season from 2110 through 2114. The #14 overall pick for us in 2104, he was a bit of a best player available pick. He was a starter from day 1 and in his stretch of 195 games played for us, he missed only 3 games due to injury.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: we traded down

The IHOF Draft 2120 hasn't officially started yet, but the first names are getting turned in already. We got caught a bit off guard by it, not noticing that after the #1 overall was announced, the #2 through #4 quickly went off the board as well. All of a sudden, we were on deck! And while we were, two trade offers were in our inbox.

I went through the process of going between a trade down inside the top 10, a trade down roughly half a round further and actually picking the top QB/WR as one should at this stage of the draft. The swap down of more than half a round was quickly paused, mentioning the other offer, while I was unconvinced it would be in our best interest to acquire a playoff team's 1st rounder in 2121 and an additional 2nd rounder.

While keeping the contact warm for the swap down inside the top 10, I looked over the draft class and found myself unconvinced that the highest graded QB (Darrin Tucker) and the highest ranked WR on our board would be enough of an upgrade over what we have on team to stick and pick. I went ahead and said that two 1st round picks would be the price, so when the counter offer was 1.5 and 2.7 for 1.10 and a 1st next draft, I wasn't taking too long to think about it and quickly agreed to it.

It's still an option to go QB or WR with the 1.10 pick, the top WR and second QB on our board are still on board, but neither of them screamed "upgrade" to me. I've got my eye on a couple of other players that are in our top5 overall of this draft class and would be impact players. At is stands now, the #6 pick has also been announced and with 3 picks in between, there are 4 names on our list. This should guarantee us to land at least one of them.

The first swing of restricted free agent offers has gone out, some quite richer than these second year undrafted players probably deserve, but we've got some cap space to spare. I've also gone out and made offers to a bunch of veteran free agents, which even could influence the direction we could and should take in the draft. But these luxury problems are tomorrow's problems...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 2120 off-season is in full swing!

We signed our first bunch of players and announced our first draft pick!

LT Roy Wilkerson was our first free agent signing of this off-season. He signed a pretty modest 1-year deal with us, which to me is what we needed to do with RT Perry Georgopulos missing the early part of the season and without knowing how bad the injury to Georgopulos' knee truly is. Wilkerson was a backup in Gothenburg last season, but still interested in playing in the IHOF and will be our starting run blocking RT. We can opt to put Georgopulos on injured reserve and bring him back by the time we know what he's still capable of.

Veteran G Alfred Pearsall re-signed with us, as did second-year C Tracy Stewart. Second-year G James Tucker turned down our first offer, but we'll surely lock him up sooner or later. It would still leave us down a couple of linemen to open the season. We have an offer in the table for veteran free agent C Kennetth Farrell, but right now it looks like we'll be losing the bidding to Chesapeake.

We signed two more restricted free agents in RB Gary Buckley and DE Bradley Osborne, but seven others turned down our extremely close to requested deals. Stubborn agents... One of the rejectees is QB Orlando Garrett, he should be aware that we've already sent out offers to 3 other kick holder slash emergency quarterbacks. We're also in the bidding for DE Glen Kafka, DT John Craig and CB Marques Wolf. In the mean while, LB Ezekiel O'Neal is considering an offer from Gothenburg.

In the draft, we made the decision for the #10 overall pick and chose to select CB Andre McAninch, the fourth highest player on our draft board. The top player is at a position I don't see us selecting a player at in this draft and the second best is the other player I considered at that pick and I'm really hoping I can move into the draft and get that player as well. QB Darrin Tucker is spoken for, he has been selected by Chesapeake with the #8 overall pick, the pick we traded to acquire LB Sam Hastings in 2119. It sounds like their general manager was missing in action and didn't make the choice himself, but Chesapeake did lose their starter to retirement this off-season.

Order of business for the next 24 hours? Try to move back into the draft and get out a second round of free agent offers. I'm going to take a stab at one other top 10 free agent (after LT Roy Wilkerson), because we've got some cap space and could use a player at his position...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Draft Day Trade!

We managed to move back into the draft by sacrificing our 2121 1st round pick and the 2.19 pick this draft to be able to select DT Floyd Dillon at the #16 overall pick. Merchantmen fans know I love to see us play with exceptionally talented defensive tackles and this opportunity felt too good to pass on. Dillon was on my coin flip at pick #5 overall and again at #10, but his position is so unfancy, I felt it was a legitimate gamble to try to wait for the middle of the first round.

It's early, obviously, but this seems to land us two of the top 3 prospects of this draft class in raw talent on the defensive side. My staff isn't as optimistic about the top offensive linemen, but it's not unthinkable some of them will end up being higher on the 1-100 scale. But with the likes of LT Dan Clancy and G Greg Brizzolara, we're good to go there. The defense really needed and upgrade and I expect Dillon and McAninch to give us that.

McAninch is an excellent prospect, albeit his man-to-man defense may be a bit below our shutdown corner standards, he'll make up with run defense, ball hawking, fumble forcing and play diagnosis. Dillon's excellent is in run stopping, play diagnosis, hard hitting and will bring enough endurance to also play on most passing downs formations as well where he will use his excellent pass rush technique.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: A new DT - yes, another one

We're working on making more cap room and signed a bunch of players to new contracts, some extensions, some restricted free agents. In that last group, G James Tucker, DE Phil Wakefield and LB Brendan Tatum signed a new deal in Maassluis. We needed some renegotiations to stay under the cap and still have enough room for additional picks (after trades we're still due to pay $45M to our draft picks). And to be able to sign DT Rodney Gagliardi, quite easily our biggest free agent signing in quite some time. The 29-year old signed a 3-year deal worth $100M in total, the top free agent of this off-season. I hope to see him become a crucial part to our pass defense with his excellent pass rush technique and strength.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The end of the Bart Tanner era?

We have to see it before we believe it, but we just agreed to a trade with the Harlem Apollos, acquiring QB Renaldo Wilson in exchange for three future draft picks in the second and third rounds. We still have to go through the process of training camp and pre-season and all other kinds of random events, but Wilson is amongst the 10 most talented quarterbacks in the league. So, yes, it's a good idea to acquire him!

It will bring an end to the Bart Tanner era, not just as our starter, but we simply lack the cap room to afford two quarterback with a $40M salary. So, expect us to release him the day after the arrival of Wilson.

In the mean time, our talks with other players continue. We still need to find an agreement with LT Dan Clancy and WR Rufus Montgomery to open up cap space for other renegotiations. LB Jorge Mayes and CB Zachary Blair already chipped in. It helped us to have enough rook to re-sign S Bert Parker, DT Jeremiah Cortez and DE Glen Kafka.

Our third round picks are also known now. We went secondary and defensive line again, picking S Max Junker and DE Roger Graf. Junker is a zone defender with play diagnosis, special teams skills and is still solid in interceptions and man-to-man defense. Graf ran the 40-yard dash in 4.57, making him the fastest front seven rookie, proving he's an exceptional pass rusher.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Say hello to our new quarterback and our draft class 2120

QB Renaldo Wilson (65/65) has joined the Maassluis Merchantmen. The stubborn player agent of LT Dan Clancy threw a wrench in the engine earlier on, keeping us from getting the required cap room to be able to afford Wilson and QB Bart Tanner (40/40) at the same time. But the decision to release Tanner and get it over with was somewhat easy.

Yes, we played exceptionally well at times with Bart Tanner. At times I really liked him and at times I felt like he couldn't get the job done. His couple of holdouts didn't help either, nor did our 8-game losing streak which also threw him down from a winning quarterback to having just a .500 kind of record as a starter. Truth be told, in the 2119 off-season I already pulled the plug on releasing Tanner, but by seeing the lack of alternatives that would be sufficiently able to at least mimic Tanner's ability to extend drives, we went for him another season.

In off-season 2119, Renaldo Wilson was also on my radar, but by the time I figured it was worth making a shot at sending a trade feeler out, he was already switching to the Harlem Apollos. After a disappointing season there, he found himself on the block and as the Harlem owner already knew that Wilson is a quarterback up my alley, it wasn't hard to come to an agreement quickly. And now we have shared rooting interests against one another as we hold their 1st round pick and they hold our 2nd and 3rd rounders.

There are three risks here. The first one is that Wilson is entering the twilight of his career and albeit he dodged the bullet of reduction in talent so far, sooner or later it will come and it would be something to see it happen in Maassluis. at the same time, on a 1-100 scale, Tanner was roughly a 40 and Wilson a 65, even a -10 would still make Wilson an improvement. Regardless that Tanner is a top 32 quarterback, so it will be interesting whether he'll find a new home before or after training camp. I would not have minded at all to try and find the cap room to make him our backup for a season or two.

The second risk with Wilson is that we'll have to agree terms on a new contract, as he's on the final year of a 2-year deal he signed in Harlem last off-season. As y'all know, I don't want to see players on my team in their final year of contract, especially in key positions. He's likely to cost us more than his current $40M salary.

Third and not ignorable, Wilson is the kind of player that we'd call a red flag. It was a reason to ignore him for a while, but his passing game is good enough and he's never had the luxury of working with players like the awesomeness that we have walking around at wide receiver and tight end.

Our overhaul at quarterback will not stop at the starter. QB Harrison Singleton (20/20) is not likely to make the team as our backup, albeit he's the second best on roster at the moment, factoring in his cohesion bonus. We signed free agents QB Julian Andrews (25/35) and QB Damon Franz (5/35) to cheap 2-year deals, both are basically scrambling kick holders. They'll fight it out for that kind of role. Or perhaps they will be outdone by our 4.29 pick QB Al Schneider (25/40), who is slightly less reliable as a holder.

Ahead of Schneider, we went defense heavy in the draft, with 1st round picks CB Andre McAninch (55/75) and DT Floyd Dillon (45/80) both standing out as exceptionally talented players at their respective positions. But, as I also already mentioned, in the third round we added S Max Junker (15/55), with his excellent potential in zone defense and play diagnosis, and DE Roger Graf (30/55), with his excellent pass rush technique.

Less spectacular were our 5 picks in the fifth through seventh round, but we'll have to mention them naturally. RB Corey Ward (30/35) has a nice breakaway speed and hole recognition combo. TE Wally Stephens (25/40) could be described as a misclick, as the 2 picks later taken TE Wally Stevens was actually our target. C Chester Coffey (25/55) has underwhelmingly low pass blocking technique, hopefully he'll develop enough as a run blocker and in the blocking strength. DE Gage Benson (15/45) gives us more to choose from, coming in with very good pass rush technique and play diagnosis. LB Marco Long (20/45) will lean heavily on his play diagnosis in his efforts to make the team.

We're currently at 58 players signed and, aside from DE Leslie Kelly moving on to Outer Banks, the bunch of free agents is still walking around in Oranje Haven training facilities to keep their condition fair. From this group of QB Noah DeLay (5/10), QB Orlando Garrett (5/20), LT Nathaniel Janke (30/35), LT Lester Money (25/25), DE Lonnie Wynn (45/45), DT John Craig (35/35), DT Bryan Lomax (45/45) LB Alonzo Bauer (35/35), LB Ezekiel O'Neal (45/45), CB Todd Weaver (20/25) and LS Scottie Burks (15/15), there are just a handful, if not less, that I'll offer a lowball contract for training camp. I think for most of them it'll determine whether they'll extend their pro football careers in the IHOF.

Lastly, let's not forget that this off-season we already signed free agents LT Roy Wilkerson (60/60) and DT Rodney Gagliardi (70/70). Together with Wilson, that's quite the improvement we might have acquired here. So let's hope they'll hold up as much as possible.

And tomorrow, we'll take a look at the undrafted rookies we signed, providing some of the kids we approached do indeed sign with us...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Training Camp 2120 Roster set

No less than 10 players signed a contract with us just in time to join our training camp roster. Not amongst them is DT Bryan Lomax, despite that we offered him a cheap 2-year deal, he finally got an offer from another team (Chicago) and chose them as his new team. After we picked him up as an undrafted rookie in 2119, he played in 74 games in 5 seasons with us, got into the rotation in his second season and last season was playing the majority of the time.

LB Ezekiel O'Neal (45/45) signed a new 3-year deal with us. He's still recovering from his nasty quadriceps injury, but if he comes back strong, he'll be a reliable guy to have on our running downs and special teams group. DT John Craig (35/35) signed a 2-year deal, he'll get a chance to prove he's good enough to make our team again as a pass rusher up the middle. C Clyde Van Lanen (30/45) returns to Maassluis for a second training camp, he almost made our 2119 roster as an undrafted rookie, but right before opening day we released him. Houston signed Van Lanen in the playoffs last season, but didn't win them over to get a training camp spot and now he gets a second chance with us.

We also signed 7 undrafted rookies, most of them surprisingly went uncontested. RB Diego Kosters (30/35) is a special teamer with route running and some hole recognition. TE Jackson Henselman (15/35) is a special teamer with some route running and big-play ability. WR Tyrone Dillon (20/40) is a route runner with decent courage and avoid drops. CB Billy Cochrane (20/25) is a special teamer with good zone defense and interceptions skills. CB Horace Pratt (15/25) is a special teamer with good man-to-man skills. WR Maurice Hadnot (15/20) is a special teamer and a shockingly old rookie at 26 years old. TE Asher Hodges (20/35) is a special teamer with good run blocking, third down receiving, courage and big-play ability. Only Hodges had to turn down another team. I think the overall trend was quite obvious here: we tried to find diamonds in the rough for our special teams unit, hoping to find a couple that will be skilled enough to be something like a third tight end, fourth wide receiver or a dime back.

It means we head into training camp with 68 players on team: 5 QB, 5 RB, 2 FB, 6 TE, 8 WR, 9 OL (including injured RT Perry Georgopulos), 1 P, 1 K, 5 DE, 6 DT, 7 LB, 7 CB, 5 S and 1 LS. At punter and kicker, it will be wise to sign an insurance policy in time for pre-season action. If we do so, we'll be up to the 70 maximum for training camp.

QB Bart Tanner is still on the free agent pile, despite that his agent tried to undersell him for a 3-year $36M contract. Yes, $36M total, not per year. Yes, I think his agent destroyed Tanner chances to be our long term starter by forcing those holdouts and demanding $70M per year figures. It forced us to let go of players that were solid wide receiver (WR Jessie Vertelney, TE Ted Gordon, TE Corbin Robbins) or key defenders (DT Carlos Fisher). And now, he's likely to be out of a job, despite being amongst the 32 moist talented quarterbacks in football and way too young to even consider retiring. Tanner is in good company, with quite possibly the most overrated quarterback of the past 50 or so seasons in Edwin Anthony. A first round pick for the Tucker Tigers, never to become their starter, after his 4-year rookie contract signed for 1 year on the bench for Moontown and after 2 years as the Iowa starter, he got released this off-season because it's clear that he's not capable of living up to the hype. Maybe some team will give these guys another chance, but it would have to be a team that's not convinced abut their own young prospect and willing enough to try to keep fighting after something like a 1-3 start to their season.

The toughest task for training camp is finding a way to improve our playbook. Our offensive coordinator is an Erhardt-Perkins adept, but there are just so few plays that can be crafted that really fit in that style. We can't play out of the 122 and 131 formations all the time, with just short inside throws to the tight end and running out of the pistol or shotgun formation...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Pre-season 2120 roster set

Our 2120 roster is getting more shape as we just trimmed down from 70 players to 61 for pre-season. Yes, 61, as RT Perry Georgopulos is going into it on injured reserve. It still meant we had to release 9 players from our training camp group of 70 players.

Yes, we were at 68 players last time I wrote, we signed 3 new players and released another to not go over the 70-player roster limit. QB Julian Andrews was released to make room for veteran QB Tyrone D'Arms, with the intent to make good use of D'Arms' mentoring skills. We also signed rookies P Elias Alexander and K Kirk Pietrzyk. Initially intended as pre-season insurance policy for you never know silliness, but I figure that the market for punters is good enough to still find a solution, while at kicker there's no player out there capable of what our current guy can. Along with Alexander and Pietrzyk we also released QB Harrison Singleton, RB Greg Buckley, TE Wally Stephens, TE Asher Hodges, DE Gage Bensen, LB Marco Long and CB Horace Pratt. I mean, these will be announced tomorrow,

Yes, the end of the era is here, we released both our starting quarterbacks of the last 11 1/2 seasons. Singelton took over from veteran Evan Drake in his rookie season, while Tanner took over when Singelton got hurt and after Singleton's return was unspectacular, Tanner became the undisputed starter. Except for when a couple of hold outs made Tanner an expensive player and as I lost the faith in him in the previous pre-season, now felt like the time to get it over with. Since we also let go of our kick holder, it means 4 new quarterbacks on our pre-season roster, with Renaldo Wilson our starter, Al Schneider the project, D'Arms the mentor and Damon Franz the potential new kick holder, if he manages to look better than Schneider to win the backup job. Schneider had an okay training camp (+3/-2), just okay enough to win me over to get this pre-season to show what he can look like.

At running back, we released the second-year pro Gary Buckley. The rookies Corey Ward and Diego Kosters didn't wow us, but both have more to give us. Jackson Powell had a nice training camp (+3/0) and has a convincing case to stay ahead of the rookies. At fullback things will stay put.

At tight end, last season's star Francisco Andersen had a solid training camp, showing he can be even better than he already was in his All-IHOF honors worthy rookie season. Rookie Wally Stephens had a nice camp (+3/0), but he's just not the right guy for this team. Asher Hodges also didn't impress, which means that Jackson Henselman is the rookie that makes the team as the 4th tight end, for now.

At wide receiver the big three will remain unchanged, but behind them I'm expecting us to release Antonio Price, if he gets another age related decrease. Rookie Tyrone Dillon had a tremendous training camp (+5/-1) and has to make the roster. Fellow rookie Maurice Hadnot is also looking good enough to make the pre-season roster.

Our offensive line saw quite the improvement in training camp. Second-year pro's and kind of emergency starters last season C Tracy Stewart(+6/0) and G James Tucker (+5/0) made the biggest improvements. Rookie C Chester Coffey (+4/0) and injured RT Perry Georgopulos (+4/0) also improved. Third-year pro G Greg Brizzolara (+2/+2) even had an unexpected improvement.

On the defensive line, the overhaul will continue. Biggest gains were for DE Phil Wakefield (+5/0) and DT Floyd Dillon (+5/-1), but DE Roger Graf (+4/-2), DE Bradley Osborne (+4/0), DT Jeremiah Cortez (+4/0) and DT Neil Burton (+4/+1) jumped up. In the linebackers group, the second-year pro's Sam Hastings (+5/0) and Brendan Tatum (+5/0) also improved a lot. Rookie Marco Long (+4/-3) was a mixed bag and his lack of special team skills meant the end with us.

In the secondary, CB Andre McAninch (+3/0) didn't make a big jump up, unlike S Kim Fox (+5/0), S Bart Parker (+4/0) and S Max Junker (+4/-1). Rookie CB Billy Cochrane made the pre-season roster and actually will be active in the first two pre-season games ahead of veteran CB Byron Sokol, who might end up axed with the arrival of McAninch and depending on what happens to CB Zachary Blair and CB Asher McElroy in pre-season.

And shortly we'll re-evaluate everything another time, because, you know, in pre-season weird stuff can happen to players...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Pre-season 2120 has begun

Our 2120 roster is taking shape. Pre-season giveth and taketh, but we went through this unpredictable phase pretty quietly. Let's take a swift look at what did our staff sees in our players. First numbers are the overall rounded up/down to nearest 5s, at the end are the pre-season changes.

Quarterbacks
65/65 QB Renaldo Wilson -1/-1 trade acquisition
25/45 QB Al Schneider +1/+5 rookie
10/35 QB Damon Franz +1/-1 free agent signing
05/05 Tyrone D'Arms -10/-10 free agent signing
Wilson is our starter, Schneider the back up enough upside to be our future starter or solid backup. D'Arms will mentor Schneider. Franz will be out, we'll go with Schneider as our kick holder for 2120.

Backfield
55/55 RB Jackson Powell -1/-1
50/50 FB Rich Hartman +1/0
30/35 RB Diego Kosters 0/0 rookie
30/35 RB Corey Ward -1/-1 rookie
30/30 RB Renaldo Billodeaux -4/-4
10/10 FB Kenneth Holse -6/-6
The verdict is not out yet, I'm going to throw Kosters ands Ward out there in the last two pre-season games to fight it out for the last roster spot. Holse is still going to stick around as our elite special teamer.

Tight Ends
65/65 TE Francisco Anderson -1/-1
35/45 TE Kyle Baker +2/+3
30/30 TE Arnie Huffman 0/0
20/35 TE Jackson Henselman 0/0 rookie
Same trio as last season, basically, with Henselman the inactive, yet unavoidable due to injuries 4th guy.

Wide Receivers
60/60 WR Rodolfo Lane 0/0
60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery 0/0
55/60 WR Roman Randle +1/0
25/40 WR Tyrone Dillon 0/0 rookie
25/25 WR Antonio Price -5/-5
20/20 WR Blake Begay 0/0
15/20 WR Maurice Hadnot 0/-2 rookie
10/10 WR Maurice Sweeney -10/-10
A very good trio, each with his own skill set. Price will lose the battle of the WR4 role to Dillon. Begay will stick around as our special teams alternate, making Hadnot the other casualty. Sweeney remains as our kickoff return specialist, while Lane will continue to be the punt return elite.

Offensive Line
75/75 G Greg Brizzolara
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
45/60 G James Tucker +1/-1
50/50 LT Roy Wilkerson -6/-6 free agent signing
40/55 RT Perry Georgopulos +1/+1
45/45 G Alfred Pearsall 0/0
40/45 C Tracy Stewart -1/0
25/50 C Chester Coffey 0/-2 rookie
30/45 C Clyde Van Lanen +1/+3 free agent signing
3 spots are filled with Clancy, Brizzolara and Tucker. Wilkerson will be our right tackle until Georgopulos is ready to return and if he's then capable of playing up to the level he had. Pearsall is the alternative for Stewart to boost cohesion and the overall talent level. Coffey or Van Lanen will be released once Georgopulos is ready to return.

Defensive Line
45/80 DT Floyd Dillon -1/-2 rookie
55/55 DT Neil Burton 0/0
55/55 DT Rodney Gagliardi -14/-14 free agent signing
40/55 DT Jeremiah Cortez +1/+5
40/50 DE Phil Wakefield 0/+1
45/45 DT Francisco Blades 0/0
35/50 DE Roger Graf 0/-5 rookie
40/40 DE Glen Kafka +1/+1
35/35 DT John Craig 0/0
25/30 DE Bradley Osborne -6/-7
A big blow to veteran free agent signing Gagliardi, but he remains as a very solid pass rusher, which means he'll be on our passing downs group. Wakefield, Kafka and Graf will be the pass rushers on the outside. Dillon is all downs capable, but we'll give him some time to grow into it. Burton and Cortez will be run stoppers, with Blades the alternative. Craig and Osborne won't make the final roster.

Linebackers
55/55 LB Sam Hastings +2/+1
50/50 LB Jorge Mayes -10/-10
45/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal 0/0
35/40 LB Brendan Tatum +1/0
35/35 LB Scottie Rice -4/-4
30/30 LB Xavier Hoover -5/-5
This unit fell apart, with all our running downs specialist taking big hits. Hastings will take over as the main man, especially on passing downs, with Mayes demoted to being the side-kick. O'Neal will jump back in as if his injury never happened and will get my preference over Rice and Hoover. Hoover and O'Neal are also the special teamers of this group. Tatum sticks around as the inactive backup.

Secondary
60/75 CB Andre McAninch +3/-3 rookie
60/60 CB Zachary Blair +5/+5
45/45 S Cesar Welch -3/-3
45/45 CB Asher McElroy 0/0
34/45 S Kim Fox 0/+1
35/35 S Bart Parker -1/-1
35/35 CB Marquis Wolf 0/0
35/35 S Peter Hinsley +1/+1
15/35 S Max Junker -6/-19 rookie
20/25 CB Billy Cochrane +1/-5 rookie
20/20 CB Byron Sokol -3/-3
Junker felt like the steal of the draft for us, but he's looking quite less impressive now. We'll still keep him over Parker, purely because Junker will be an improvement to the interceptions making group this is. Blair made a nice boost back up, he'll be our CB1 for another season, showing better man-to-man ability than McAninch. Sokol will stick around as the inactive backup, in case one of the other corners gets hurt. The rest of this group are all zone defenders.

Special Teams
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot -1/-1
50/50 P Andre Marincic 0/0
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding 0/0
DeGroot is the best kicker in the league, certainly in the kickoff department, but also showed us last season he's capable of nailing every field goal attempt. Kaeding is in the top four elite long snappers. Marincic will be our punter for another season. Unless we find a replacement more capable of the nailing opponents in their own 20.

Pre-season will continue with 1 more cut to be made and we'll start with the contract extensions for a bunch of players that are about to become free agents, most notably QB Wilson, K DeGroot and LS Keading. Far behind them we'll have to consider what to do with RB Billodeaux, TE Huffman, WR Begay, LB Hoover and CB Sokol. We'll likely have the cap space available for all, although the lion share of our $24M available will go to Wilson and DeGroot.


Oh yeah, we actually played two pre-season games. We beat Chesapeake 19-10 and lost 24-37 at Texas. Curiously, Chesapeake selected QB Darrin Tucker with the #8 overall pick, a player we decided not to pick at #5 overall and instead we decided to trade down to spot #10. Tucker is now scouted by our staff as being the 3rd most talented quarterback in the league at roughly 35/75. Texas played with WR Cameron Dewacht, scouted by us as a 45/70 kind of player, 8th best wide receiver in potential, ahead of our trio. Dewacht was taken at spot #23 overall and was our other option to pick at #16 where we traded in for DT Floyd Dillon. I was already considering Dewacht as an option at spot #5 and #10. Time will tell whether we made two big misses here, but right now, despite having acquired QB Wilson, CB McAninch and DT Floyd Dillon, as well as Harlem's 1st round pick in 2121, long term, having Tucker toting the ball to Dewacht, it could have been our best QB-WR combination ever, or on par with QB Rusty Harrison and WR Gabe Springer back in the early 2020's...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Pre-season has ended, almost

Bad news around RT Perry Georgopulos' recovery from the knee surgery he needed. Our staff has downgraded his overall grade from 40/55 to 10/15. One of the biggest hits I've seen in 117 seasons with this team. It's rough. He'll sit out the season on injured reserve, I don't see how it makes sense to even activate him when he's upgraded to 100%. Releasing him makes no sense either as of yet, as it would accelerate the dead cap hit for 2121 to $13.3M, instead of $6.65M for 2121 and 2122 separately. The good news is that I can postpone this decision to week 21. Still, bummer this happened and it makes the signing of RT Roy Wilkerson and re-signing of G Alfred Pearsall even more important now.

Better news came from the renegotiations with QB Renaldo Wilson as he signed a 2-year deal with us, he came in one a 1-year contract. I tried 4-year deals previously, but he declined those. But this is good enough for having good odds to not pull a Bennett Morris on us and retire after one fantastic season.

We also extended with WR Rufus Montgomery from a 2-year to a 4-year deal, making him lees expensive in his cap figure for this and next season. Now we can cap him out next off-season, if needed, but the 2122 off-season is going to be even trickier, with the likes of LB Sam Hastings, TE Francisco Anderson and WR Ramon Randle hitting their final rookie contract season. We're likely going to use this additional cap space to extend the deals of RB Renaldo Billodeaux and CB Byron Sokol. We've already made sure TE Arnie Huffman, WR Blake Begay and LB Xavier Hoover are still signed through 2121. It would mean only RT Wilkerson is an unrestricted free agent at the start of the 2121 off-season, if he doesn't retire by then.

Our cut down to 53 was also made. I decided to let go of undrafted rookie RB Corey Ward and stick with RB Diego Kosters as the inactive backup to RB Jackson Powell and Billodeaux.

In case we want to hire a free agent with a bonus request later on, we can still offer a cap out to CB Asher McElroy or DT Francisco Blades, as we re-signed them to 4-year deals in 2119.

Our pre-season action has ended in a 2-2 record, with 104-103 scoring. QB Renaldo Wilson played quite well, showing his passing skills and his rushing ability was likewise to if not better than QB Bart Tanner. In relief, QB Al Schneider played well too. But WR Roman Randle was exceptional, with 3 100-yard showings. I tired to get WR Tyrone Dillon out there as well, but we all know how this works: the staff members really like to take the rookies off the field in pre-season as quickly as possible.

All in all, I'm feeling moderately optimistic about the upcoming season, if we can stay relatively injury free. We're as high as second best roster by the DogBytes metric, but that's something I'd like to see before I believe. But, who knows? Things went fast back in the 60's, when a bunch of talented rookies on defense quickly developed into the best defense we ever had (one of the most impressive any franchise ever assembled) and we did have an encouraging second half of 2119 already.

Back to where we are now, let's stick with the one game at a time approach. The Bordeaux Vineyards are coming to Oranje Haven in week 1. They cruised through pre-season undefeated. It doesn't always translate into regular season success, but we're at least warned.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: early 2120, signs of progress or dumb luck?

The 2120 regular season has kicked off. We're 6 weeks in and, naturally, already had our bye week. The main changes on the team are clearly the switch from released QB Bart Tanner to trade acquisition QB Renaldo Wilson. On a smaller scale, the O-Line saw the addition of short-term RT Roy Wilkerson. On the defense, together with veteran DT Rodney Gagliardi, a bunch of rookies were added, most notably CB Andre McAncich, DT Floyd Dillon and DE Roger Graf.

Week 1 vs Bordeaux
After a 4-0 pre-season, the Vineyards felt ready to make a leap upwards after a long stretch of seasons outside the playoffs. But so do we feel improved this season and we showed that we were more right on that. We dominated the game for three quarters, as Bordeaux scored their only touchdown on a 75-yard pass play and settled for a pair of field goals. In return, we started the game with touchdowns on our first two possessions, but also saw K Jeffery DeGroot's miss his first field goal attempt in 21 games, we lead by just 4 points at half time. In the third quarter our domination was evident and we cruised to a 3 score lead. Bordeaux did come within a touchdown on their last possession, but on our last possession, we solidly played out the clock. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 287 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. TE Francisco Andersen caught 2 touchdown passes, RB Jackson Powell ran for a touchdown. WR Ramon Randle had 11 receptions for 150 yards and 1 touchdown.
Score: 31-23 win

Week 2 at Outer Banks
For the first time since getting traded by the Outer Banks Ospreys in 2119, QB Renaldo Wilson returned to the stadium of his original IHOF team. Wilson was the Osrpeys starter for 9 seasons from week 1 of the season when they picked him #1 overall in the draft. From time to time we struggled, but in return our own defense kept the Ospreys offense from scoring touchdowns, settling for 3 field goals. A punt return touchdown was required for them to stay in pace with us. Trailing 17-16, the Ospreys saw their quarterback throw the ball in the hans of our S Kim Fox and we chose to pound it in, with a bit too much time on the clock. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 247 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Rufus Montgomery were on the receiving end of those touchdowns, while RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown.
Result: 24-16 win

Week 3 vs Orlando
In a clash between two 2-0 teams, we kept our nerves in control a bit better. Orlando needed a 53-yard field goal to get on the scoreboard and got their first touchdown on a short field situation. In return, we failed to dominate field position and struggled to get near the red zone, let alone, into the end zone. A pair of missed long field goals by the Talons gave us the ball back on back to back possessions near midfield and and scored 10 points on those drives to go ahead. While penalties kept piling on for Orlando, we scored a late game field goal to make it too much to overcome 2 touchdowns in barely a minute to go. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. TE Arnie Huffman and WR Rodolfo Lane were the touchdown scoring receivers.
Result: 23-10 win

Week 4
We enjoyed our bye week, coming out of it as one of two perfect record teams, sitting behind the 4-0 Toronto Lake Monsters, our opponents in week 7.

Week 5 at North Plainfield
After our strong defensive performances, today was quite the letdown as our defense failed to get in the way. The Plague scored touchdowns on their first two drives and added field goals after long drives in their next two drives. In return, we scored 2 touchdowns as well, turned the ball over on downs and saw K Jeffery DeGroot miss another field goal, ending the first half with neither team punting. In the second half the defenses showed up, but in particular the Plague's did. When the Plague offense scored a touchdown after a 15-play drive to go up by 12 points, we were forced to take risks. We turned the ball over on downs after a failed fourth and goal situation and despite that we got the ball back with still 2 minutes on the clock, QB Renaldo Wilson's first interception in orange-white-and-blue ended our hopes. Wilson threw for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. TE Arnie Huffman and WR Rufus Montgomery scored the touchdowns, while TE Francisco Andersen had a 109-yard performance.
Result: 17-29 loss

Week 6 vs Rochester
Facing, on paper, so far the weakest opponent (1-4 Rochester) and at our own Oranje Haven even, surely we would bounce back and advance to a 4-1 record, right? But not in the cutthroat IHOF. 11 minutes into the game, we were already trailing 14-0 and were actually lucky to not be down by 3 scores as their quarterback tossed an interception in our red zone after our QB Renaldo Wilson had done that 2 plays earlier as well. We gave up another touchdown and a field goal before half time, but in return we had one touchdown-scoring drive and shortly before their first half ending field goal, we saw WR Rodolfo Lane pull his punt return magic with a signature 92-yarder. Despite giving up a 60-yard touchdown pass, we fought back and barley into the fourth quarter level it up at last at 31-31 each. The Razorbacks responded with a go ahead touchdown after a solid 13-play over 6-minute drive. WR Maurice Sweeney restored our hopes with a signature 40-yard kickoff return right into their half of the field, but just as we felt like we were ready to tie the score, Wilson got picked off for a second time and this time it was returned for 76-yards and a game sealing touchdown.
Result: 31-45 loss


European Division standings
1. Gothenburg 4-2
2. Maassluis 3-2
3. Paris 3-2
4. Bordeaux 1-4

No less than 8 teams in the AOC are sitting at 4-2 or 3-2. Far behind the 6-0 Toronto Lake Monsters. And it happens to be that they will be our next opponent, in our home. As this will be our fourth home game already, we really can't afford to lose this one, if we want to stay in pace for the playoffs spots. But they're honestly the best team in football at the moment. Yeah, quite the challenge. But we're up for it. If the Renaldo Wilson of weeks 1 through 3 shows up, we have a reasonable shot at the upset victory.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Renaldo Wilson, the missing piece?

Our new quarterback is making things look good in Maassluis. We won the first 3 games, but in the next 2 games QB Renaldo Wilson threw some interceptions and all of a sudden, it feels like there's not that much different between Wilson and his predecessor QB Bart Tanner.

Week 7 vs Toronto
No kidding around anymore, the visiting Lake Monsters would tell us where we really stand. The last remaining undefeated team was coming to town. The first half was a classic shoutout, Toronto scored last to go into the break with a 24-21 lead. But Toronto also had first possession in the second half and while our defense looked hopelessly lost and the offense incapable, the scoreboard was getting lopsided. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 309 yards with 4 touchdowns, but also 2 interceptions. WR Roman Randle and WR Rufus Montgomery each had a 100-yard game with a touchdown. TE Francisco Andersen and TE Arnie Huffman scored the other touchdowns.
Result: 28-41 loss

Week 8 vs Paris
Having fallen to 3-3, rolling up the Musketeers wouldn't be the usual recipe for confidence it used to be. Given their own 4-2 start, there was nothing to be too optimistic about, this was likely going to be a close game, decided by a last minute field goal. Or not. We stormed to a 24-0 lead helped by a pair of interceptions and despite that Paris woke up in the second half, sort of as a 72-yard pick six was required for them to get back within 2 scores, we rolled on to a convincing victory. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 378 yards and 4 touchdowns, while he also ran for a score. WR Rodolfo Lane caught the ball for 143 yards and 2 scores, WR Roman Randle had 11 receptions for 101 yards and a score. RB Jackson Powell scored the other touchdown.
Result: 41-23 win

Week 9 at Harlem
What started as a back and forth with the Apollos, eventually snowballed into a blowout as they couldn't keep up in scoring and had to keep going (and failing) on fourth downs. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 313 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. WR Roman Randle was on the receiving end of the touchdowns. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a pair of touchdowns.
Result: 40-17 win

Week 10 at Bordeaux
With the top of the division back in sight, the various power ratings were telling us the Merchantmen were the second or third best team in the league, we were in for a wake up call. And it came, hard. We scored first, like it was a normal game, but in response the Vineyards scored 27 unanswered points, including a pair of 75+-yard touchdown passes. We sort of regrouped in the second half, but settling for field goals kept us way short of getting back in it. QB Renaldo Wilson had an unusual game, completing just 19 of 49 passes, for 281 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. WR Roman Randle caught 9 passes for 147 yards on 20 targets. WR Rodolfo Lane was the only player that got into the end zone for us in this game.
Result: 16-27 loss

Week 11 at Gothenburg
And surely, after getting thumped by the Vineyards, the logical result at the Giants would be an even bigger beat down. Not quite. We took the gamble on fourth downs a couple of times and it ended up being good to us. Helped by the best defensive performance in any first half this season, we steamrolled to a 28-0 lead. The Giants scored a touchdown just before half time, but even though they had clearly woken up, while QB Renaldo Wilson got picked off twice, it was all too little too late as kept ground, at times just barely, to post an incredible unusual big win in Sweden. Wilson threw for 340 yards with 3 touchdowns, finding WR Rodolfo Lane, TE Arnie Huffman and WR Roman Randle for the scores, with the latter posting yet another 100-yard game. RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RV Jackson Powell each scored a touchdown on the ground.
Result: 35-26 win

Week 12 vs Capital City
Every now or then, the home playing stronger team plays better than the visiting team, take a quick lead, slowly builds it and at the end of the day they do win. It's been a crazy seasons so far, but that's how it went today. Our defense picked off the Blues' quarterback 3 times, while in return we kept our turnovers limited to a single fumble. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 340 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also running for a score. TE Francisco Andersen gained 136 yards while he split the receiving touchdowns with TE Arnie Huffman.
Result: 31-12 win

European Division standings:
1. Maassluis 7-4
2. Gothenburg 6-5
3. Paris 6-5
4. Bordeaux 5-6

Watch that, the division is extremely tight. We seriously can't afford to drop the beat, because the tie-breaker situation is good, but not locked up. The wild cards are currently held by the second and third place teams in the Southeast division with a 7-4 record each.

Our next stop will be at the Fort Wayne Fury, a struggling team (they're 1-10 and 1.5 wins behind the second worst team in the league), but they're holding our first round pick and have every reason to beat us. No, we can't except to cakewalk here, we have to stay focused and stick with the one game at a time approach.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Man Down...

The extremely tight European Division came down to an exciting finish. Let's run down the last 5 weeks of the regular season. Did we make the playoffs?

Week 13 at Fort Wayne
The final stretch started with a cakewalk opponent. But only in our dreams did we roll them up with a 40-6 score. In reality, we played our turdiest game of the season. Curiously enough, we got the lead a couple of times and the only score that got us behind was a 63-yard pick six. Which turned out to be the only score of the entire second half. We didn't even got closer than midfield in the fourth quarter. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 256 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The sole touchdown pass went to TE Arnie Huffman.
Result: 13-20 loss

Week 14 vs Texas
In a game where we struggled to get into the end zone, we got into the red zone frequently enough to slowly, yet steadily, build on our biggest takeaway day of the season, forcing 5 turnovers, including a pick six from rookie CB Andre McAninch. QB Renaldo Wilson completed a touchdown pass to WR Roman Randle, amidst his 243 yards and 2 interceptions, as he shared in the struggles with the Texas quarterback's 5 giveaways. There were times we were proud of this kind of wins. Maybe we should be again given how much we invested in our defense in recent drafts.
Result: 26-10 win

Week 15 at Paris
With how the division was shaping up, this was looking like it could be the make or break game for both 8-5 teams in their pursuits for the division title. Gothenburg (7-6) was falling behind and Bordeaux (6-6) still playing catch up.
Paris was up 10-0 before we did anything well, as QB Renaldo Wilson got intercepted on our first play from scrimmage, right after Paris had taken a 3-0 lead on their first possession. The game quickly turned into a shootout and by half time we had taken a 17-13 lead.
The defenses took over control in the second half and despite that the game remained turnover free, the crucial element was shaping up to be our ability to keep the field position in our advantage. A late 47-yard field goal got us 20-16 up, which meant Paris had to play for a touchdown or nothing. A drive for the ages commenced from their 18-yard line. They got out of a 2nd and 25 situation, twice converted on 3rd and 4. With 46 seconds remaining, Paris arrived at our 4-yard line, surely to pound it in and leaves little time to even get into field goal range and try to reach overtime. The Musketeers chose to throw the ball and contrary to the earlier 3rd down situations, their backfield players and tight end failed to make the catches, on 4th and all or nothing, Paris decided to throw for it and as their star receiver Tevin Mayes made the catch, our LB Jorge Mayes kept him about a yard short from reaching the end zone But it didn't end there as with 21 seconds remaining, we chose to run from our own 1-yard line and RB Renaldo Billodeaux was tackled in the end zone for a safety. Still trailing by 2 points and after a holding penalty on the kickoff return, Paris had 1 more hail mary play from their own 12-yard line. CB Zachary Blair batted the ball down, game over, after a game finish for the ages.
Wilson threw for 182 yards and 1 touchdown versus 1 interception. TE Kyle Baker and RB Renaldo Billodeaux scored the touchdowns.
Result: 20-18 win

Week 16 at Moontown
After two prior piss poor games against cellar dwellers of the 2120 season (Rochester and Fort Wayne), visiting the worst team in the league was by no means going to be regarded as a walk in the park. TE Francisco Andersen walked off after just 1 play from scrimmage with a separated shoulder and out for the rest of the game. We carried on and smooth sailed to a 14-0 lead. Then on third down on our first possession in the second quarter, QB Renaldo Wilson took a late hit, no penalties given, and he had to be carted off with a concussion. Moontown responded with a long touchdown drive, whilst our rookie QB Al Schneider responded with a 55-yard pass to WR Roman Randle on Schneider's first play from scrimmage. A couple of plays later, RB Jackson Powell ran it on for the a 21-7 lead. Moontown responded with an impressive drive with long throws and just as we hoped to reach half time with the 21-14 lead, Schneider was strip sacked at our half and a field goal trimmed the lead. On our next drive, with under a minute to go, Schneider was strip sacked again on 3rd and long, but this time rookie DT Floyd Dillon made a key play, sacking their quarterback and as the clock ran out, they didn't get a field goal attempt to make 21-17 the half time score.
Despite our defense playing well, Schneider was picked off at midfield on the first play of our first possession in the second half. The defense bailed him out, forcing three and out. We drove downfield on our next possession, until Schendier was picked off again, this time seeing the ball get returned 76 yards for a touchdown and a 24-21 deficit. A couple of 15-yard penalties then helped us out and eventually Schneider connected with WR Roman Randle for the go-ahead touchdown. On the ensuing drive, the tides really turned as LB Sam Hastings picked their quarterback off deep inside their redzone and Hastings returned it the full 9 yards with the touchdown. The game then slowed down and as our defense took control, our offense did just enough to score a bunch of field goals to extend the lead. A couple of failed fourth down attempts later, the game was over.
QB Al Schneider threw for 211 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions after QB Renaldo Wilson had thrown for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns. WR Roman Randle caught 10 passes for 189 yards and 1 touchdown. TE Kyle Baker, TE Arnie Huffman and RB Jackson Powell scored the other offensive touchdowns. LB Sam Hastings accounted for the defensive touchdown.
Result: 41-24 win

Week 17 vs Gothenburg
With a 10-5 record we secured a trip to the playoffs with this final game to go. Behind us, both Bordeaux and Paris were sitting 9-6, but playing head-to-head, only one of them would be able to catch up if we'd lose to Gothenburg. Curiously, Gothenburg already 'çlinched' last place with their 7-8 record. A win or tie would make us division winners, but a loss would only cost us the division if Bordeaux would catch up. The latter would be a likely scenario as Bordeaux was playing at home and on a 6-game winning streak. Moreover, my confidence in QB Al Schneider wasn't very high after his 4 turnovers at Moontown...
We struggled early on as our first three drives ended with a pair of interceptions sandwiching yet another 40-something field goal getting missed by K Jeffery DeGroot. In return, our defense held ground well and by half time, Gothenburg had settled for field goals 4 times. We were trailing only 12-7 as we responded with a touchdown after a short field situation.
Despite remaining mistake free in the second half and seeing Schneider play well, his inferior scrambling skills to QB Renaldo Wilson's made clear that we were not as good, whilst in return, Gothenburg did find the end zone a couple of times to see the flipflopping lead go the Giants' way with under 4 minutes to go. We had our chances, but came short today. Schneider threw for 254 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane and first game rookie TE Jackson Henselman made the receiving touchdowns, RB Jackson Powell had the rushing touchdown.
Result: 22-26 loss

Over in Bordeaux, the Paris Musketeers pulled the upset win and gifted us the division title, seeing Paris also go into the playoffs. Even luckier, the Atlanta Vipers choked as well, which kept them to a 9-7 record and into the 4th seed.

European Division:
1. Maassluis 10-6
2. Paris 10-6
3. Bordeaux 9-7
4. Gothenburg 8-8

Next up, Paris at Maassluis. My hopes to beat them for the third time this season are quite low as we'll still be without QB Renaldo Wilson and TE Francisco Andersen. Switching to a more run heavy game plan isn't in our best interest either, seeing how much RB Renaldo Billodeaux has been struggling with our current offensive coordinator, despite playing from behind a pretty good offensive line. The defense has made a difference in recent games, with some big plays from the first round pick investments and the hard to forget goal line stand in Paris. Which will be on the Musketeers' mind as well, them hoping to get their three times the charm...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2120 Regular season stats

let's take a look at the performance of the team, also taking a look at what some individuals have for their stats lines.

QB Renaldo Wilson
11th in IHOF with 4,022 passing yards
T-7th in IHOF with 30 touchdown passes (also had 2 touchdown runs)
threw 15 interceptions
5th amongst IHOF QBs with 549 yards rushing
5th amongst IHOF QBs with 6.95 yards per carry
As a team, we finished the season with the 4th best yards per pass attempt (7.58 average) and 9th best passing yards (280 per game).

LT Dan Clancy proved to be the elite offensive tackle in the league, allowing 2 sacks in 620 pass plays, although together with the also amazingly talented G Greg Brizzolara, the entire line allowed 28 sacks (13th best in IHOF).

RB Jackson Powell ran for 792 yards with a 3.92 average and 6 touchdowns
RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 531 yards with a 3.20 average and 7 touchdowns
As a team we finished the season with only 20th in yards per carry (4.17) and in 19th in yards per game (115), we've clearly dropped in that area since the arrival of our current offensive coordinator.

WR Roman Randle had 110 catches for 1,514 yards and 8 touchdowns
WR Rodolfo Lane had 50 catches for 889 yards and 7 touchdowns
TE Francisco Andersen had 73 catches for 772 yards and 4 touchdowns
WR Rufus Montgomery had 34 catches for 455 yards and 3 touchdowns
TE Kyle Baker had 40 catches for 423 yards and 3 touchdowns
TE Arnie Huffman had 26 catches for 256 yards and 6 touchdowns
RB Jackson Powell and TE Jackson Henselman had 1 receiving touchdown each

WR Rodolfo Lane lead the league with 17.0 yards per punt return
WR Maurice Sweeney had only 25.9 yards per kickoff return (quite the step back after 4 straight 29+ seasons)

K Jeffery DeGroot wasn't as head and shoulders above the rest, but still solid finishing 1st in kickoff distance, 2nd in touchback percentage and 3rd in average field position. His points production was down as well, with 6 missed field goals all in the 40-49 yards range.

LB Sam Hastings lead the team with 124 tackles (T-4th in IHOF)
DE Glen Kafka had 9.5 sacks, DT Floyd Dillon had 8.0 sacks, DE Roger Graf had 6.0 sacks, DE Phil Wakefield had 5.0 sacks
S Kim Fox and CB Andre McAninch had 4 interceptions each, CB Zachary Blair and LB Sam Hastings had 3 interceptions, LB Hastings also defended 19 passes (he allowed the most catches in IHOF, whatever that means)

As a team, defensively we finished 16th in yards per carry allowed (4.29), 13th in rushing yards allowed (104), 19th in yards per pass attempt allowed (6.72) and 21st in passing yards per game allowed (272). We were 13th in sacks made (34), but 7th in overall pass rush percentage. All of those were improvements compared to our 2119 performance. Disappointing was our low number of just 20 turnovers, tied 29th and 30th in the league.

[TheseBoots]

Very nice season and very nice write-up! Where did you finish in overall scoring relative to the other teams out there?

Looking forward to see how it all resolves. So far I have resisted to check out the WC Results on the IHOF homepage =)

[MIJB#19]

Very nice season and very nice write-up! Where did you finish in overall scoring relative to the other teams out there?Oh yeah, I see I didn't mention where our offense ranked in the stats areas.
We finished the season 5th in points scored (27.4 per game), with 385 total yards (7th in the league), 19th in rushing with 115 yards per game (20th with 4.17 yards per carry) and 9th in passing with 280 yards per game (4th with 7.58 yards per attempt). The special teams unit was solid again, clearly outgaining the opponents in return yardage versus return yardage allowed, but we can't claim we were unarguably the best, Orlando was roughly on par with us.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Wild Card Round 2120!

Week 18 vs Paris

With QB Renaldo Wilson out with a concussion and TE Francisco Andersen also still out, the last thing we needed was a banged up lead receiver WR Roman Randle, who broke a finger in the last game versus Gothenburg. Rookie QB Al Schneider was starting for the second time this season.

The first bunch of drives went Paris way in terms of field position and on their second possession, they were helped by an unsportsmanlike penalty to score first and take a 7-0 lead. QB Al Schneider responded with a 50-yard pass to WR Roman Randle, soon after followed by their 25-yard connection for a touchdown. The defense took over and the first quarter ended with the score tied 7-7.

We started the second quarter pinned at our own 1-yard line, a familiar place, the place our last game against Paris saw us almost but not quite win the game after getting sacked for a safety. This time around, with a lot to play for still, we moved the ball, again, and again, and again, all the way to the Paris 3-yard line. We got stopped there, but went up 10-7 nevertheless. The Musketeers tried to respond, but good plays got followed up by long sacks or ill timed penalties, giving us the opportunity to gain some ground back and pin them at their 1-yard line after a punt. Their long drive ended at our 37-yard line as time ran out.

The third quarter was a defensive battle, with neither offense even sniffing at field goal range. On our first drive of the fourth quarter, we finally broke the staleness and saw K Jeffery DeGroot convert a long overdue 48-yard field goal for the 13-7 lead. Our defense continued to dominate and with just under 4 minutes remaining rookie CB Andre McAninch came up big with an interception return touchdown, a 21-7 lead after the 2-pointer. Paris got the ball back for a one more drive with under 2 minutes remaining and this time around, they were stopped short at our 3-yard line as time expired.

QB Al Schneider threw for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and no turnovers. WR Roman Randle had 104 yards and 1 touchdown receiving.

Result: 21-7 win

So, the story continues, with a trip to the #2 seeded Toronto Lake Monsters. Earlier on this season they pummeled us after a close score at half time. Can we play it close this time around and pull the upset?

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2120 Conference Semifinals

Week 19 at Toronto

After an 11-game winning streak from the start of the season, the Lake Monsters stumbled into losses at Tucker (14-2 record) and Frederick (13-2-1 record). No shame in that, but those were out of character losses amidst a whole bunch of games with 40+ points scored and usually giving up under 20 points. We already lost 28-41 in Oranje Haven against them.

Toronto scored first on a curious play where they fumbled the ball at our 1-yard line, yet saw one of their own players land on it in our end zone. We got three and outed right after, but our response came on defense with LB Jorge Mayes' 41-yard interception return touchdown. And just like that, the score was tied 7-7. It didn't last long, we looked hopeless on defense, until a red zone defense forced them to settle for a 10-7 lead. Or more than half decent drive then saw K Jeffery DeGroot shanked another 40-something field goal attempt, but on Toronto's never in doubt drive, instead of tossing it into our end zone, CB Andre McAncich's second interception return touchdown in as many playoffs games was a phenomenal 98-yarder for a 14-10 lead. We stalled them just enough to force another short field goal, but our own promising drive that reached their 27-yard line turned fruitless after a 10-yard penalty and a sack. Fresh into the final minute before half time, we pulled a rare punt forcing series of defensive plays, but we came time short to make much more of it than a failed Hail Mary attempt. Still, leading 14-13 was not within expectations...

Our first drive of the second half saw us flipflop between strong gains and unforgivable many sacks, forcing us to punt from their half of the field. We gave up a 40-yard pass to see them get close, but not close enough as they settled for a field goal and going ahead 16-14. Sadly, that's as far as we could hold them off, both with our offense and defense. Toronto hauled in an impressive drive with 10+ gains after another and the 23-14 deficit was there at 3/4th of the game.

The fourth quarter saw us reach their 32-yard line, but after yet another pair of sacks (what the bleep was our offensive line not doing!?) the second one became a strip sack that set them up for a quick 3-play drive to go 30-14 up. The next drive saw QB Al Schneider's second turnover, this time an interception at midifield. It took Toronto only 2 plays to score another touchdown. On our next possession, Schneider found WR Rufus Montgomery for 36 yards, but after yet another another sack, we had to settle for a long field goal, this time seeing K Jeffery DeGroot not miss it and trim it to 37-17. Toronto drove downfield, draining the clock and pumping it up with another field goal. We tried to Hail Mary our way into slimming it, but Schneider failed to get it into WR Roman Randle's hands.

QB Al Schneider threw for 194 yards without touchdown and 1 interception. WR Roman Randle was invisible, with just 3 catches for 17 yards on 10 targets. In return, we allowed a freaking 3 different wide receivers to have a 100-yard game and managed to get Schneider sacked 6 times. We got on the scoreboard, but mostly by the earlier interception return touchdowns by LB Jorge Mayes and CB Andre McAncich.

Result 17-40 loss

Ouch, what a painful way to lose. Toronto outgained us 565 versus 241 total yards. I've already mentioned the shocking high number of sacks allowed and the silliness with their receivers all have a way with us. Never mind that the turnover battle was level at 2 each and we somehow won the field position battle by a pair of yards. But the only really meaning full part are the numbers on the scoreboard. Our 2120 season has ended in the Conference Semifinals.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Welcome to 2121!

Just before the finals of the 2120 season, we signed 6 players that will be restricted free agents in the off-season. Four of them should be familiar names.

QB Orlando Garrett already spent his rookie season inactive (2118) and a full season active as our kick holder (2119), but kept him unsigned in the 2120 off-season. Maybe he can return as our kick holder and help K Jeffery DeGroot return to perfection.

RB Corey Ward was our final cut before opening day 2120 and I think he's still got enough upside to get a new shot at making our team. He lacks the endurance to carry the ball more than 10 times, so it's still a longshot.

FB Rusty Garrison was a training camp cut in 2119 after jumping on as an undrafted rookie. He sat out the 2119 and 2120 seasons unsigned, until we gave him the call.

DE Gage Bensen was a 6th round pick for us, but failed to make our pre-season roster. He's still a promising pass rusher, hence, we think he deserves a second chance.

DE B.J. Shellhaas is a former first round pick from the Chesapeake Chitterlings. In his first pre-season he looked night and day different from the player they had scouted and as a rookie he didn't even make their 2119 roster. He was signed in the post-season by Chesapeake, failed to get a contract in 2120 anywhere and now we will give him another look as a potential gunner.

LB Luther Goffee failed to get a contract anywhere in his rookie season (2120), until we offer him the future contract in the post-season. He's potentially an excellent special teamer, so could be interesting for our unit.

We also offered such a contract to CB Todd Weaver, but he demanded a signing bonus, didn't get it an now he's retired after 1 season in the IHOF, as he spent the 2119 season on our team as a nickel/dime.


Fresh into the new season, two players announced their retirement.

CB Byron Sokol said goodbye to the IHOF after 12 seasons on our team. An undrafted rookie signing, him jumped onto our active roster right away and didn't miss a game in the first 11 seasons, tallying up to 176 regular season and 7 playoffs games. With 26 interceptions and 74 defended passes, he's made his fair share of plays on the defense. Sokol's man-to-man coverage skills, combined with his interception skills, made him a valuable member to the defense, until we picked CB Andre McAninch last season.

TE Arnie Huffman called it a game after 9 seasons with us. Despite begin an undrafted rookie signing, he never missed a game for us ever since his arrival, adding up to 144 regular season and 7 playoffs games. With 29 touchdowns scored, he got his fair share of time in the spotlights, specializing in getting the short yardage targets near the end zone, while the big name receivers were used as a diversion. Another typical role player.


Our coaching staff saw one change as our assistent coach Randy Holliday was picked by the Snapfinger Jazz as their new offensive coordinator. We chose 46-year old unexperienced Caden Hoffman as the replacement.


Other news around the league with Merchantmen ties saw some other retirements. T Edwin Northcutt played in 2116 with us, underwhelmingly so, forcing me to even bench him, but he bounced back with 55 key run blocks the season after. He retired after 13 seasons in the league, adding up to 410 key run blocks in 188 regular season games. LS Wayne Brewer spent his first four seasons with us, he retires after 10 seasons in the league.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: goodbye Harrison Singleton and Bart Tanner
In the 2120 off-season, we had to make the tough decisions to release QB Harrison Singleton and QB Bart Tanner. Both were on our team a long time and were our starting quarterback for many seasons. Fun to watch players, with the awareness and speed to extend drives with their running skills. And both had their ups and downs with us. Let's give them each one last shout out.


QB Harrison Singleton
In the 2108 draft, after the selection of LT Earl McBirney, DE Frank Bernard, DT Efrain Hutchins and LB Caiden Hastings all within the top 36 picks of the draft, at pick #37 the Maassluis Merchantmen selected QB Harrison Singleton. An agile and fast player with enough arm strength to also throw the ball downfield. The plan was to bring him slowly behind QB Evan Drake, but once injuries and lack of performance hurt Drake, Singelton received the keys and guided the team to a 5-2 record as a starter.
The 2109 season saw Singleton build on it, throwing for 25 touchdowns versus 6 interceptions in a 9-7 campaign, he earned All-IHOF Second team honors, the first Merchantmen quarterback to ever get recognition as a top2 quarterback in the league.
In 2110 the progress continued in the win-loss part of things, as Singleton guided his team to a 12-4 playoffs reaching record and earning his first playoffs win, a 22-6 victory at the Harlem Apollos. That season ended with a 21-34 loss at Gothenburg.
In 2111 the woes started with an uncharacterstic 22 interceptions whilst also throwing for an (eventual) career high 3,862 yards. The 6-10 record was a major letdown.
In 2112 a 9-game winning streak with Singleton under center saw the Merchantmen thrive, but a career altering knee injury took him out in week 16.
After spending the 2113 season still recovering and waiting for his return that didn't come, his comeback came after all in 2114. But after 6 games with no less than 10 interceptions thrown, it was clear he wasn't the same and the team moved on to Bart Tanner as the new starter.
In 2115 injury to Tanner brought Singleton back to the front and the Merchantmen managed to go 5-0 when Singelton was on the field. It was just enough action to get Singleton willing enough to stick around.
He hung around as the backup for 3 more seasons and the inactive third choice in 2119, but in the 2120 off-season an overhaul of the quarterback position was also cause for release of Singleton.
His career in Maassluis and the IHOF ended after 88 regular season games, with 17,606 yards passing, 111 touchdowns, 83 interceptions, 2,811 yards rushing and 19 rushing touchdowns. Singelton also played in 3 playoffs games. His career ended with a 47-33 win-loss record.

QB Bart Tanner
A 4th round pick in 2112, Tanner was initially picked to be the backup to Harrison Singelton. Then regarded as the best fit as the understudy, the Merchantmen felt it was one of the steals of the draft. Due to injuries for Singleton, Tanner already got to start twice as a rookie, but with the first one being a 5-interception game, expectations were somewhat dampened.
In 2113 the Merchantmen signed QB Dakota Peterson to fill in for the injured Singleton, but as Peterson struggled to mimic Singleton's performance, Tanner took over in week 8 and despite struggling to guide the team to wins, it was clear that Tanner was the alternate from there on.
In 2114 it became clear that Singleton was less agile and speedy. As a result, Tanner took over, guiding the Merchantmen to a 8-2 record (when starting) and a playoffs spot, but also a depressing 6-34 loss at Tucker in the playoffs.
Despite now promoted to the clear starting role, in 2115 the good vibes looked gone and Tanner threw more interceptions than touchdowns in 13 games, going 5-8 as a starter.
Then Tanner bounced back strong in 2116, leading the Merchantmen to the playoffs in his first 16-start season with 4,210 yards passing and 24 touchdowns versus 13 interceptions. The wild card round loss in Gothenburg was enough inspiration to keep improving.
Although, improvement wasn't the right word in 2117 as Tanner struggled with 23 interceptions, yet he also threw for 4,388 yards and 25 touchdowns, and with a 10-6 record, the Merchantmen snuck into the division title, surprised with a convincing win over Augusta and played a close game against the powerhouse Toronto Lake Monsters.
Despite improving to 4,422 and 4,692 passing yards in the next two seasons, the Merchantmen struggled and eventually blamed Tanner for it. Especially the 0-8 start to the 2119 season threw his win-loss record to below .500.
Tanner was cut in the 2120 off-season to make cap room for the arrival of QB Renaldo Wilson. The Merchantmen could have capped out Tanner to keep him as a backup, but chose not to. After not getting a call from another team, Tanner decided to call it a game.
Tanner finished with 26,056 yards passing with 157 touchdowns and 133 interceptions, whilst rushing for 2,666 yards and 13 touchdowns. He played in 104 regular season games and 5 playoffs games, finishing with a 51-53-1 record as a starter.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Training Camp 2121, here we come!

It's been a quiet off-season in Maassluis. We traded away the 1st round pick that we had in the draft and signed a grand total of 2 veteran free agents, including a guy that was on our team last season. Let's recap how we got to the 66 players that will go into training camp.

The draft
We held pick 1.18, acquired from Harlem last season a trade down, but as soon as it went on the clock, we got a great offer from Kansas: their 1st round picks in 2122 and 2123, as well as the 2.26 pick this draft. Our only target for the first round, LB Bert Rickles, was picked at spot 1.17. So, it became basically a no brainer. People asked me why we didn't draft an offensive tackle. I considered the top two candidates at that position, but I figured we'd gamble on going with the guys on team for one more season, we'll try to address right tackle in 2122.

Our original 1.26 pick was traded to Fort Wayne during the 2120 draft to be able to pick DT Floyd Dillon at spot 1.16. A trade I have no regrets making. This pick ended up in Toronto and getting used by the Lake Monsters on a tight end.

Our original 2nd round pick (pick 2.26) travelled to Harlem in 2120 amongst others in return for QB Renaldo Wilson. The pick got passed along to Kansas and returned home in the trade of pick 1.18 this draft. We spent it on LB Cristian Beyer, the 6th linebacker taken in this class and the second best on our draft board.

Our 3rd round pick (3.26) was sent to Harlem for QB Renaldo Wilson in the 2120 off-season. The Apollos spent it on a linebacker.

We sent picks 4.04, 4.26 and 4.32 to Hanalei in exchange for their 3rd round pick in 2122. The 4.04 was acquired from Fort Wayne in the trade that made us acquire the 1.16 in 2120, while the 4.32 was acquired from Williamsburg for the 4.7 pick in 2120. Hanalei picked a guard, defensive end and defensive tackle with those picks.

We acquired the 4.20 from Bordeaux in exchange for our 2nd round pick in 2123. It may seem a hefty price, but I put that pick on the table from early in the third round and wanted to convert it into P Devon Middleton, the 11th best player in this draft class. We got him there, 47 picks after the first punter was taken.

The 5.26 was used by Fort Wayne, our original 5th rounder sent to them to acquire the 1.16 in 2120, they got a cornerback with it.

We spent our 6.26 pick on RB Glyn Sloane and 7.26 on TE Sedrick Hill.

After the draft, we signed as little as 5 undrafted rookies: RB Claude May, RB Preston Tanner, CB Cooper Baker, CB Bert Hines and LS Bobby Waters.


In the meantime, to address the right tackle position, we offered LT Roy Wilkerson a new 1-year deal. He stept in as our emergency RT last season during Perry Georgopulos' recovery and kept the job when it turned out Georgopulos was no longer capable of being a starter in the IHOF. Georgopulos was released by us. A sad, but unavoidable move, likely ending his pro football career after just 9 games.

26-year old TE Perry Bussey joined us as a free agent. He's a special teams specialist, but also has decent receiving skills, with courage over the middle and third down ability.

We also re-signed a whole bunch of restricted free agents: QB Orlando Garrett, RB Corey Ward, RB Diego Kosters, TE Jackson Henselman, WR Tyron Dillon, C Clyde Van Lanen, DE B.J. Shellhaas, DE Gage Bensen, LB Luther Goffee and CB Billy Cochrane.


We spent quite some time renegotiating with many players to get under the cap and in the process extended a couple of contracts to key players. We failed to agree terms with QB Renaldo Wilson and G Greg Brizzolara, but after the first two pre-season games, we'll get aroud the table with them again. Brizzolara already turned down a $206M 5-year offer and Wilson a $236M 3-year deal, so this might continue to be really annoying. We have $37M of cap space as it is, so we're not really tight as of yet.

We should be good to go for next season as well, we're $134M under the cap for next season. But, we might go and spent that much on Wilson and Brizzolara already... We have 42 players under contract next season and it will be the off-season where we will have to make a decision on the quintuple 1st round picks from the 2119 draft. Yes, it will be an interesting off-season then, with likely the start of a new snowballing cap situation, at some point (2124?) probably leading to more tough decisions.

For now, we're getting ready for 2121, with a modest rookie class and having lost just 1 player that was a contributor then in TE Arnie Huffman.

Once we're about to hit the 53-men cutdown day, I'll try to not forget to write about why every single one of those 53 players made the team.


But wait, why so little information on the rookies? That's one of the fun parts of the off-season: rookie reports! Okay, okay, here we go.

RB Claude May - undrafted
A 30/35 rated 21-year old with very good breakaway speed (80) and elusiveness (75), but also modest hole recognition (30/40), acceptable endurance (40/45) for a timeshare role. May's not suitable to join the special teams unit and doesn't bring blitz pickup ability, which hurts his chances to make the team.

RB Preston Tanner - undrafted
A 20/30 rated 23-year old with very good power inside (80) and third down running (70/85), whilst also bringing in good breakaway speed (60) and interesting receiving potential with his route running (25/75) and third down receiving (35/45). No pass blocking skills, endurance of special teams skills to speak of though.

RB Glyn Sloane - pick 6.26
A30/45 rated 23-year old with very good breakaway speed (75), good hole recognition (50/65) and interesting elusiveness (65/80). Sloane might develop into a capable receiver with his route running (30/85), but he doesn't bring other bonuses in terms of blitz pickup or special teams skills.

TE Sedrick Hill - pick 7-26
A 20/30 rated 21-year old with acceptable special teams ability (55/65) and promising getting downfield (65/75).

P Devon Middleton - pick 4.20
A 45/65 rated 22-year old punter, excelling in the directional punting (50/90), which combined with his okay power (40/55) and hang time (55/70). He's an immediate upgrade to Andre Marincic, if he holds up, but we're really banking on him being underrated and worth a 2nd round pick. We might put him in the kick holding (85) duties as well, if he improves on it a bit.

LB Cristian Beyer - pick 2.26
A 25/65 rated 23-year old with underdeveloped run stopping (25/80), play diagnosis (25/85) and zone defense (10/50) skills. He's got the endurance (55/75) to become an all downs defender, whilst lacking the special teams skills to play double duty.

CB Bert Hinson - undrafted
A 20/35 rated 24-year old with zone defense (45/70) and special teams (65/75) skills, our type of backup defensive back. His interceptions making is non-existent (0/0), but he does have run defense (25/50) and play diagnosis (40/70) skills, to make him a potential running downs back.

CB Cooper Baker - undrafted
A 20/45 rated 24-year old with excellent man-to-man (35/90) potential. His interceptions (35/55) ability is good, the rest is lacking, he won't making the special teams unit. A serious shortcoming (no pun intended) is his (lack of) height, coming in as the shortest player on the team at 5'6".

LS Bobby Walters - undrafted
A 21-year old excellent long snapper (90), but unlikely to make the team given that we have an elite veteran on the team.


So, there you have it, the trainging camp report will likely be the next update. Hopefully we'll have a lot of great news from the rookies and other promising youngsters around the team getting closer to their potential, like G James Tucker (55/60), DE Phil Wakefield (45/50), DT Jeremiah Cortez (45/55), QB Al Schneider (30/45), TE Jackson Henselman (20/35), WR Tyrone Dillon (25/40), DE Roger Graf (45/50), DE Gage Bensen (20/40), DT Floyd Dillon (65/80), S Max Junker (15/35) and LB Luther Goffee (15/35).

Can't wait!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Early Pre-season cuts
Going into training camp 66 players deep, it was unavoidable to release at least 6 players - bar trades - to get to the pre-season limit of 60. We got there by letting 6 players know their stint in Maassluis as short or long as it was, has come to an end. Although some might think a second or third chance is still an option.

DT Francisco Blades was by far the biggest name on the list. A 6th round pick in 2111, made it to our special teams unit in his rookie season, then spent 2 seasons waiting in the wing to, finally, making it to the active front four group in his fourth season on team. A run stopper with play diagnosis and pass rush strength, a suitable player on any d-line. But no longer on ours, after we spent 1st round picks in 2119 and 2120 on DT Neil Burton and DR Floyd Dillon, in between signed veteran DT Rodney Gagliardi and right after we picked Burton, we picked up undrafted rookie Jeremiah Cortez, who turned out to be a pretty similar player to Burton and Blades. And that's where it became a problem, too much of the same. Cortez sat out most of 2120, but now it will be his time to run havoc on opposing offensive guards and centers. Blades played in 123 regular season games and 6 playoffs games spread over those 10 seasons.

TE Jackson Henselman played in week 17 and the playoffs games last season as an undrafted rookie promoted from inactive fourth stringer to a TE2 role. He played it admirably well, scoring a touchdown in his first game in the IHOF, but the arrival of TE Perry Bussey and TE Sedrick Hill made it hard to stick with Henselman.

RB Corey Ward was our bubble boy for the 2120 regualr season roster, but this time around, there was too much competition in the backfield. Still lacking endurance, we just can't afford to keep a roster spot for him, knowing he's a 10-carries-at-best-back. A bummer, his hole recognition and breakaway speed are a nice combo.

RB Claude May got cut as well from a crowded backfield in training camp. Despite his breakaway speed and elusiveness, a tiny bit making us remind him of blast from the past RB Donald Terry (lead the league in rushing in 2039 when he carried the team to the IHOF Bowl), but those were different times.

DE Gage Bensen was a post training camp casualty for the second straight season. This time he lost the roster spot battle to DE B.J. Shellhaas, a better run defender and a clear upgrade to our special teams unit. Last season he lost to the earlier mentioned run stopping defensive tackles.

CB Bert Hinson misses out primarily due to his lack of interceptions making. We liked his other skills, as you can imagine from the profile I sketched the other day, but we just have enough defensive backs already.

The release of DT Francisco Blades was also a cap friendly move, putting us at almost $42M under the salary cap. Which we'll likely end up spending for the most part on QB Renaldo Wilson anyway, providing pre-season will be good to him. Fingers crossed, we'll find out soon...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2121 roster set, almost?

Pre-season action has commenced and in our first two games, we scored a league most 68 points and allowed 31, the 7th lowest figure. But the real news was the cutdown to 53 players, as after these games, I've already made up my mind, at least pretty much.

RB Renaldo Billodeaux is by far the biggest name on the list of casualties. A late 7th round pick in 2111, he came in with a phenomenal rookie campaign, running for 1,105 yards and a 5.9 yards per carry average. With his hole recognition, breakaway speed and elusiveness, Billodeaux set new standards for what a Merchantmen running back should be capable of. Despite all that, he was in a time-share with a power back throughout his career, which made his 4 1,000-yard seasons that much more impressive. After 155 regular season games, his tally for the Merchantmen has added up to 8,880 yards (4.71 yards per carry) and 66 touchdowns rushing, with his fair share of good and bad showings in 7 playoffs games throughout. It makes him easily a top 5 rusher in Merchantmen history.

P Andre Marincic was a 7th round pick in 2119, punted for us for 2 seasons, but with the arrival of 4th round rookie Devon Middleton, Marincic' time is up. A very good corner-coffin punter, Marincic deserves a second chance elsewhere in the league, but I doubt he'll get it.

LB Brendan Tatum leaves us after 2 seasons. As an undrafted rookie, he played in 11 games in 2119, although seeing little action those games. Last season we kept him off the field all season long. With the arrival of 2nd round pick Cristian Beyer, there really was no roster spot anymore for a backup linebacker without special teams value.

LB Scottie Rice will leave us after 3 seasons of service. A 2118 undrafted rookie, Rice's run defense skills was interesting, but last season we didn't use him much. Lacking special teams skills, there was no roster space anymore for him.

QB Orlando Garrett returned to us after having spent 2118 inactive, 2119 as our kick holder and 2120 without a contract until we signed him during the playoffs after our last game. It was interesting to consider bringing him back as the kick holder, but he's just barely an improvement over QB Al Schneider.

LS Bobby Waters failed to unseat our veteran and as an undrafted rookie leaves us already. He's a top 16 long snapper in the league, so if half the league isn't asleep, he should get a new gig in time for the last 2 pre-season games elsewhere.

CB Cooper Baker didn't wow on the second look at mid-pre-season, but he's still an interesting prospect with excellent man-to-man potential. The kid deserves a chance, maybe a team like Miami, where management can get a lot out of these kind of players, will give him a chance.

And as a write this, I'm second guessing the release of Billodeaux. His hole recognition (50) held up admirably well, despite a huge drop in overall ability. But at the same time, this release frees up the cap space to sign QB Renaldo Wilson to a new 3-year deal without having to go with a backloaded structure. We made Wilson a generous offer, but if for whatever reasons he turns it down, we'll go the backloaded route and have some spare money to extend some of our potential free agents, we have 9 more unrestricted free agents next off-season.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The 53 for 2121
Okay, I'm still not 100% sure these are the 53 men we're going to want to start the 2121 season with, but any further roster changes leading up to the opening day game at Oranje Haven against Paris are extremely unlikely.

Let's do a quick rundown of the entire list of 53 players and do as promised: mentioning why he's on our team and how long they've been on the team.



Quarterbacks

65/65 QB Renaldo Wilson, 34, 2nd year
starting QB

35/45 QB Al Schneider, 25, 2nd year
kick holder, backup QB, potential future starting QB

05/05 QB Tyrone D'Arms, 36, 2nd year
inactive mentor to Al Schneider



Backfield

55/55 RB Jackson Powell, 25, 4th year
main ball carrying RB, receiving RB, special teamer

50/50 FB Rich Hartman, 25, 4th year
starting FB, backup special teamer

35/50 RB Glyn Sloane, 23, rookie
inactive, potential future main ball carrying RB

35/35 RB Diego Kosters - 23, 2nd year
special teamer (steps in for RB Powell or FB Holse if injured)

20/25 RB Preston Tanner, 23, rookie
short yardage RB

10/10 FB Kenneth Holse, 33, 12th year
elite special teamer



Tight Ends

65/65 TE Francisco Andersen, 24, 3rd year
starting TE, rotational special teamer

40/40 TE Kyle Baker, 26, 4th year
second TE, red zone TE, rotational special teamer

35/35 TE Perry Bussey, 26, 1st year
third TE, third down TE, rotational special teamer

25/35 TE Sedrick Hill, 21, rookie
inactive backup TE, backup special teamer



Wide Receivers

60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery, 29, 7th year
downfield receiver, third down receiver

60/60 WR Rodolfo Lane, 32, 10th year
big-play receiver, punt returner, special teamer

50/50 WR Roman Randle, 26, 3rd year
big-play receiver, third-down receiver

30/40 WR Tyrone Dillon, 24, 2nd year
inactive, potential future WR3

20/20 WR Blake Begay, 28, 8th year
special teamer, mentor to Tyrone Dillon

10/10 WR Maurice Sweeney, 29, 8th year
kickoff returner



Offensive Linemen

75/75 LT Dan Clancy, 28, 8th year
elite pass blocker

75/75 G Greg Brizzolara, 26, 4th year
elite pass blocker

60/60 G James Tucker, 25, 3rd year
all-round G

45/45 C Tracy Stewart, 26, 3rd year
starting C

45/45 LT Roy Wilkerson, 37, 2nd year
run blocking RT

45/45 G Alfred Pearsall, 30, 8th year
run blocking G

30/55 C Chester Coffey, 23, 2nd year
backup C

30/35 C Clyde Van Lanen, 23, 3rd year
inactive 8th OL



Defensive Linemen

80/80 DT Floyd Dillon, 23, 2nd year
elite DT, will play on most downs

55/55 DT Rodney Gagliardi, 31, 2nd year
punishing pass rusher up the middle

50/55 DT Jeremiah Cortez, 24, 3rd year
punishing run defender, special teamer

50/50 DE Roger Graf, 22, 2nd year
punishing pass rusher

50/50 DE Phil Wakefield, 23, 3rd year
pass rusher

45/45 DT Neil Burton, 24, 3rd year
run defender

35/35 DE Glen Kafka, 29, 3rd year
punishing pass rusher, will play on runnning/neutral downs

30/30 DE B.J. Shellhaas, 27, 1st year*
special teamer, running downs end
* due to signing him in 2120 playoffs, will get a tiny cohesion boost



Linebackers

60/60 LB Sam Hastings, 26, 3rd year
all downs LB

30/60 LB Cristian Beyer, 23, rookie
potential best running downs LB

45/45 LB Jorge Mayes, 32, 9th year
neutral downs LB, second passing downs LB

45/45 LB Ezekiel O'Neal, 29, 6th year
running downs LB, special teamer

25/25 LB Xavier Hoover, 34, 13th year
special teamer, backup running downs LB

15/30 LB Luther Goffee, 23, 2nd year
future elite special teamer
* due to signing him in 2120 playoffs, will get a tiny cohesion boost



Secondary

75/75 CB Andre McAninch, 22, 2nd year
all-downs CB, CB2 on passing downs

60/60 CB Zachary Blair, 27, 6th year
shutdown corner

50/50 S Cesar Welch, 28, 6th year
neutral downs SS, running downs SS

45/45 CB Asher McElroy, 28, 7th year
ball-hawker on neutral downs

40/40 S Kim Fox, 26, 3rd year
special teamer, passing downs SS, running downs FS

35/35 S Peter Hinsley, 31, 8th year
passing downs FS

30/30 CB Marquis Wolf, 28, 6th year
short yardage CB, nickelback

20/35 S Max Junker, 23, 2nd year
special teamer (potential elite), future starter

25/25 CB Billy Cochrane, 23, 2nd year
special teamer, dime back



Special Teamers

50/60 P Devon Middleton, 22, rookie
corner-coffin punter

85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot, 27, 5th year
elite kicker, all-time great kickoff kicker

20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding, 28, 7th year
elite LS



I may have miscalculated the active/inactive slots,, if so, CB Asher McElroy will likely end up being the odd man out and falling to an inactive role. But, a football season is 21 weeks long, we will need several of the inactive guys sooner or later due to injuries.

The starting RG role is one I'm still mulling over. G James Tucker has more technical talent than G Alfred Pearsall, but Tucker's intelligence is a penalties risk. We may end up starting Pearsall at RT with LT Roy Wilkerson dropping to the backup role, Wilkerson isn't undisputed. But Wilkerson was the best run blocking right tackle on the market, combined with a small cohesion boost, he was the best option for 2121 for the RT spot.

The running back group could end up in some sort of rotation. RB Jackson Powell looms ready to play the role Renaldo Billodeaux played for a decade, while RB Preston Tanner might be the guy to play the Rusty Kemp power back role, which Powell was forced to play in recent seasons. Sloane is kind of a Billodeaux clone, but he needs a season or two in the wings to gel with the offensive line. Powell is demanding nearly $28.5M per season, which we're not going to give him. He'll hit the open market in 2122.

On the linebackers group, LB Cristian Beyer jumps into a small role, splitting time with veteran LB Jorge Mayes, cohesive LB Ezekiel O'Neal and all-downs LB Sam Hastings. LB Xavier Hoover is our LB5 for now, but unless we really need him due to injuries, LB Luther Goffee will likely jump into the active 46 at some point as one of our special teamers.

Lastly, the wide receiver group has gotten tricky due to WR Roman Randle's unexpected small decline. It's questionable he can still produce a 1,500-yard season like last season. I'm still a novice in flipping around this supposedly awesome trio of Randle, WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Rufus Montgomery to get the most out of them all and get all three close to 1,000 yards. With TE Francisco Andersen around, we have another proven 1,000-yard receiver. Montgomery is the one still unproven with a career high of 657 yards. I'll try to push TE Kyle Baker into the touchdown machine role that Arnie Huffman had, but free agent signing TE Perry Bussey was added to challenge Baker for that role. Last season all three tight ends had their share of production.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Pre-season favorites!?

Lo and behold, we're considered to be the DogBytes pre-season favorites to win it all the upcoming season. In the past, we've sat at the top many times before, but then it was fully based on our exceptional cohesion. This time around, we have the second best roster, apparently. I mean, I don't really buy it, but we do have a fine roster with the likes of QB Renaldo Wilson and the receivers group he can work with, a strong offensive line anchored by 2 elite players LT Dan Clancy and G Greg Brizzolara, and on the defense we can field young stars like DT Floyd Dillon and CB Andre McAninch surrounded by other awesomeness. Our true difference making part of the team should be the special teams unit again. I've really strived to make that unit the best in the league and, although I think we can improve on it a bit more, I do think it shows in our decision making at various positions.

Having locked up key players is something I'm happy about as well. We locked up QB Renaldo Wilson through 2123 and G Greg Brizzolara through 2125. Both ended up signing contracts that were neither what the demanded, nor the high bonus low current salary, nor the flat salaries contracts I'm used to handig out. I think I've found a middle ground that players seem to prefer over all the other options, but I'm not quite sure where the fine print is to minimize the cap cost and cap hell proneness.

I'm not yet convinced we're truly the best of the division, Gothenburg acquired their own veteran solid quarterback, which was bad news for the division and the entire conference. Besides, Paris has caught up last season, getting to the playoffs for the first time under current management and Bordeaux was a week 17 all or nothing loss away from winning the division and making the playoffs.

For now, we'll have to try to just focus on the next game. Week 1 will be at home against Paris. A team with the second most talented quarterback in the league. Their star wide receiver had 11 catches for 197 in Oranje Haven last season. We won that game, but it shows how strong that combo is. Prepare mentally for a shootout, a 30-27 kind of game, hopefully in our advantage.

[MIJB#19]

Editor's Note
We're still rolling along. If you've been following from a distance, you know where we're at after week 12 of the regular season. It's so far been a bizar season. Something well worth writing about. I'm sure I'll find a spare hour or so to do quick recap of the 11 games we've played so far, it's just been an irregular schedule for me to be able to get my head to writing about the team. An update will come, just not last weekend (obviously) and not today either.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: When winning a lot isn't enough...

The European Division is doing well. Last season all four teams finished the season with an 8-8 or better record. This season things are shaping up to be even even more cutthroat. Let's do something unusual and start with the division standings.

European Division
1. Paris 10-1
2. Bordeaux 8-3
3. Maassluis 7-4
4. Gothenburg 7-4

Week 1 vs Paris
We stormed to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 301 yards, threw touchdown passes to FB Rich Hartman and WR Roman Randle, who did that on a 124-yard performance. RB Jackson Powell ran for a touchdown.
24-15 win

Week 2 at Frederick
Throwing 5 interceptions is rarely a recipe to success, lead by CB Andre McAninch our secondary ran havoc. In return, QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 256 yards with touchdown passes to RB Jackson Powell (he also ran for one) and TE Francisco Andersen (on a 108-yard day), while Wilson also ran for a score. S Kim Fox accounted for an interception return touchdown.
38-24 win

Week 3 at Toronto
We played along in the first half, trailing 21-28 at the break, but in the second half the offense fell flat and it accumulated into a big loss. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 244 yards with touchdown passes to TE Kyle Baker (a pair) and WR Rodolfo Lane. In return, some Toronto wide receiver gained 222 yards receiving against us, a humiliating performance for our defense.
21-48 loss

Week 4 vs San Antonio
We rebounded with a much deserved victory in a very close game. A fumble return touchdown seemed to give our opponents the edge, but an all-time IHOF career record tying punt return touchdown by WR Rodolfo Lane was the momentum flipper. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 255 yards, threw for a touchdown pass to TE Kyle Baker and also ran for a score. WR Roman Randle had 107 yards receiving.
33-31 win

Week 5
bye

Week 6 vs Atlanta
This game was frustrating to watch as the offense somehow accumulated a grand total of 19 incomplete passes, our wide receiver trio and star tight end combined for just 10 catches on 26 targets. Penalties seriously held us back as well, yet somehow we remained in the game throughout, only to lose on a last second field goal. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 280 yards with a 78-yard dart to WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Jackson Powell ran for the other touchdown.
20-23 loss

Week 7 at Fort Wayne
We rebounded against the worst team in the league, actually letting penalties get us again and miss out on a true steamroller of a result. The defense deserved credit for keeping them low, as their only touchdown came on a punt return, while most of their yardage game in their last two drives in garbage time. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 332 yards with touchdown passes to WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Rufus Montgomery. Rookie RB Preston Tanner scored his first touchdown.
27-10 win

Week 8 at Paris
In a game that felt like that both teams tried hard to lose, the Musketeers committed more penalties, but also had a crucial 4-2 advantage in turnovers in what deserved to be more of a shootout than a blunderfest. Nevertheless, scoring was all over the place, in particular Paris did well in the red zone, while we settled for short field goals 3 times. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown pass to TE Francisco Andersen. RB Jackson Powell ran for a score.
22-30 loss

Week 9 at Houston
Despite an early 14-0 deficit, we managed to take full advantage of the silliness from the opponents. A 74-yard interception return by S Kim Fox shortly before half time turned out to be the difference maker. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 245 yards, with a touchdown pass to TE Francisco Andersen.
20-14 win

Week 10 at Bordeaux
And then we pissed away a home game that may end up costing us second place in the division when all is said and done. It was bad enough that we allowed an 85-yard fumble return, but they shortly after followed it up with a rare offensive fumble return touchdown to flip our solid lead into a small deficit. Another display of lack of discipline may have helped them as well. End result being: the better team lost in a very crucial game. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 337 yards and ran for a touchdown. RB Jackson Powell ran for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns.
27-35 loss

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
We bounced back again with a solid, yet too close to feel comfortable win against the Giants. Today, we made the difference with touchdowns where Gothenburg settled for field goals. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 273 yards with touchdowns to TE Francisco Andersen (twice), TE Kyle Baker and WR Roman Randle, while WR Rufus Montgomery had a 118-yard performance. RB Jackson Powell ran for 105 yards.
31-25 win

Week 12 vs Brooklyn
We tried hard to piss away another home game, as a pair of Wilson interceptions set the Bums - "Fightin' Bums!" - up for a quick 17-3 lead. We played a pretty good game from there on and a missed extra point from K Jeffery DeGroot that felt like it would end up costing us the game, it ended up being the difference maker late in the game where we ended up trailing by 4 points, forced to go for it and making it happen to take the lead with 27 seconds remaining. Brooklyn actually got their shot at forcing overtime, but the 49-yard field goal attempt was unsuccesful. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 257 yards with touchdown passes to TE Francisco Andersen, TE Kyle Baker and WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Jackson Powell ran for a score.
33-30 win


So, that's where we stand at the moment: 3rd in an ultra tight division and also stuck in a conference with another division with 3 teams at 7-4 or better. The four European Division teams have floated inside the top10 of the various power ratings and rankings throughout. Truth be told, three of the four European teams also have a quarterback considered to be top7 talent in the league, with Bordeaux' quarterback the one that's just above average for a starting quarterback. Paris and Bordeaux have gone into the dark side, playing pass only game plans: their quarterbacks already have 50+ pass attempts per game. To be fair, Paris' quarterback Zachery McDonald is on fire, the 10-win streak they're on can't be lucky, he's been playing extremely well.

For us, Renaldo Wilson has been a blessing, despite his tantrums at times resulting in 15-yard penalties. Wilson has ran for a league best 7.0 yards per carry and has ran for more yards than half the league's leading rushers. The latter could also be a side-effect of having 7 teams with under 20 rushing attempts per game.

We've been a solid team in most games, with just the extreme silliness against Atlanta in terms of incomplete passes. Yet turnovers and penalties have held us back quite a bit and the random bad luck against Bordeaux has so far pushed us back from virtual 5th seeds to virtual 7th seeds. Our remaining schedule won't be easy. For starters, we'll be visiting the 10-1 Tucker Tigers, a team on a mission, still lacking an IHOF Bowl despite having 6 straight 14-2 regular season campaigns. Their quarterback Renaldo Brady is flirting with being the all-time greatest, but without any rings, it's going to feel like it's all for nothing. We're going to require an upset win here or there in the last 5 games to remain in the playoffs race, so we'll be going into Tucker trying once again. Let's do it, Merchantmen!

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2121, one of those memorable seasons?

The regular season has finished and it had quite the nail biting ending for the European Division, including for us. So, let's recap the last bunch of games.


Week 13 vs Tucker
We played along with the Tigers for about two and a half quarters, but in part due to our lack of success in the red zone, eventually we fell apart and let the best quarterback in the league throw for 455 yards against us. It got so bad, we even threw our backup quarterback out there. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 351 yards with a touchdown pass to WR Rodolfo Lane, WR Rufus Montgomery gained 111 yards receiving. K Jeffery DeGroot converted a 53-yard field goal shortly before half time.
19-41 loss

Week 14 at Chesapeake
We bounced back with a solid and much deserved victory. The defense played admirably well, keeping a talented quarterback to under 200 yards passing. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 274 yards with a touchdown pass to WR Rufus Montgomery, while also running for a touchdown. RB Jackson Powell also ran for a score.
27-16 win

Week 15 at Gothenburg
A crucial game in the race for second place in the division, as likely only the winner would stay in it. Paris was looking out of reach, securing the division this week with a solid win over Bordeaux. We started well, intercepting the Giants quarterback on their first possession, but the 10-0 lead was short lived as we gave up touchdowns on their second through fourth drives. Interceptions on back to back drives in the third quarter helped snowball the Giants into a big lead and our spirit looked broken. The Giants had two 100-yard rushers, an unacceptable pathetic showing by our defense. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 284 yards with 2 touchdown passes to TE Kyle Baker. RB Jackson Powell ran for a touchdown.
24-37 loss

Week 16 vs Williamsburg
After some incredibly silly losses earlier this season, in this game we got one of the most luckiest unsportsmanlike conduct penalties by an opponent. In a game where we were the better team, we struggled to put the ball in the endzone and saw K Jeffery DeGroot convert 5 field goals. In return their kicker kept them in it with a trio of 40+ kicks.
With the game on the line, trailing 26-22, we had to go for it on 4th and 2 from their 31-yard line. The pass fell incomplete, but one of the Colonials defensive linemen misbehaved and helped our drive to stay alive. A couple of plays later, QB Renaldo Wilson found WR Roman Randle on a short pass into the end zone to take a 29-26 lead. The defense held ground and a freak victory was ours. Wilson threw for 216 yards with touchdown passes to TE Francisco Andersen and WR Roman Randle. RB Jackson Powell ran for 102 yards.
29-26 win

Going into the final regular season week, with a 9-6 record, we were barely still in the race. Ranked fourth inside the division, we were going to head to Bordeaux (also 9-6) and needed help from Paris to beat Gothenburg as well as help from Snapfinger to win at Orlando. The latter would be a huge upset and Paris beating Gothenburg would also be unlikely as Paris was already set in stone as the #2 seed. And elsewhere in the AOC, Augusta knew they would have to win at guaranteed #1 seed Tucker to maintain their wild card spot. But they decided to go all out and it resulted in a spectacular ending.

Week 17 at Bordeaux
Despite our supremacy in gaining yards, a fumble and a bad punted helped Bordeaux get a short field and take a 17-7 after the first quarter and a bit. A pair of missed field goals and an interception threw more wrenches in our engine, but a series of three and outs by the defense kept the score as is. Momentum shifted in the second half as we scored on our first drive, got a defensive interception on the next play from scrimmage and followed that up with a field goal to tie it up 17-17. Our domination continued and early in the fourth quarter we took a 24-17 lead. The Bordeaux offense finally woke up and replied with their best drive of the game, resulting in a score tying touchdown. On our next possession, we kept going and going and albeit forced to settle for a short field goal and a 27-24 lead, Bordeaux had only 24 seconds remaining. They very first play from scrimmage became the anticlimax for the home crowd as the ball was picked off and victory formation was next for us. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 361 yards with touchdown passes to TE Francisco Andersen, TE Kyle Baker and WR Roman Randle. WR Rufus Montgomery had 106 yards receiving.
27-24 win

Elsewhere in the league, we received the news that Orlando had fallen 26-24 at home to Snapfiger, whilst the Gothenburg vs Paris clash was heading into overtime. We witnessed a missed field goal on Paris side and not much later, Gothenburg did convert the game winner that also sent them into the playoffs.

European Division
1. Paris 12-4
2. Gothenburg 11-5
3. Maassluis 10-6
4. Bordeaux 9-7

Indeed, everybody had a winning record. The two divisions that we collectively crushed each had a 9-7 winner. Houston (9-7), Brooklyn (9-7) and Frederick (8-8) made the playoffs while combining for an 1-11 record against the European Division teams. The 10-6 record made us the 7th seeds in the AOC, also ending up behind 13-3 Tucker, 11-5 Toronto and 11-5 Augusta. Aforementioned Frederick was the 6th seed in the NAC.

Our season ends with 6 losses to teams with a winning record, of those Bordeaux and Atlanta (9-7) missed the playoffs, while Tucker, Toronto, Paris and Gothenburg did make it. In return we won 5 games against playoffs making teams, on top of Houston, Brooklyn and Frederick we also beat Paris and Gothenburg. At the same time, we got outscored by our opponents by 7 points. Which makes the weird season we had even weirder. Having played the toughest schedule in the league doesn't quite make it feel any better, we're still not amongst the 12 teams still in the race for the bowl.


QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 4,546 yards, with 29 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. It's the 4th highest passing yards figure in Merchantmen history and it was insufficient to make the playoffs. Wilson also ran for 865 yards and 4 touchdowns with a league leading 7.03 yards per carry.

RB Jackson Powell ran for 1,199 yards with 9 touchdowns, he also had 1 receiving touchdown. TE Francisco Andersen had 98 catches for 1,043 yards and 8 touchdowns. WR Roman Randle had 86 catches for 1,249 yards and 4 touchdowns. WR Rufus Montgomery had 57 cathces for 941 yards and 4 touchdowns. TE Kyle Baker had 55 catches for 543 yards and 8 touchdowns. WR Rodolfo Lane had 37 catches for 586 yards and 3 touchdowns, not counting his all-time career IHOF record tying 11th punt return touchdown. RB Preston Tanner had 1 rushing touchdown, FB Rich Hartman 1 receiving touchdown.

We ranked 9th in rushing yards (138 per game, 4.64 per carry) and 9th in passing yards (285 per game, 6.95 per pass attempt). Our defense was mixed, 12 in rushing yards allowed (103 per game) but also 31st in yards per carry (5.22 per carry), 26th in passing yards allowed (285 per game) and 17th in yards per pass attempt (6.38 per attempt). We tied for 7th in most defensive turnovers (28) but also tied for 20th in giveaways (also 28). We were not the best special teams unit, we were by far outdone by Williamsburg. We also 'shined' in terms of penalties, finish with the 2nd most penalty yards.

One more "sigh" and we move on. Our focus goes to 2122, cliché of clichés.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Welcome to the 2122 season

We've collectively turned the page over from 2121 to 2122, a new season with new chances for the 31 teams not named the Tucker Tigers to unseat the reigning champions. The historical multiple IHOF Bowl winning franchise ended a long streak of seasons without winning a bowl, which in itself isn't noteworthy at all, as all 31 other franchises have had such long stretches without a bowl win, but their regular season campaigns with their current quarterback had made them by far the best team over a 6-season stretch to not win a Bowl game. Streak ended, on to 2122!

The 2122 season starts for our team with 4 players no longer on the team due to retirement.

FB Kenneth Holse retired after 12 seasons of service with us. An undrafted rookie free agent in 2110, he jumped onto the team as a run blocker and last resort receiver, initially, and evolved into being the best special teamer in the IHOF. He played in 179 regular season games and 9 playoffs games for the Merchantmen.

Last season LB Xavier Hoover joined the exclusive 200 games club. A 5th round pick for the Merchantmen in 2109, he never missed a game, playing a role as one of the running downs linebackers as well as being on the special teams unit as often as possible. His final tally: 208 regular season games and 9 playoffs games.

QB Tyrone D'Arms was the shocking winner of the Solecismic Legend of the Game award. During his 14 season tenure, he was active in as little as 25 games, yet was on an IHOF roster for all those seasons, spread out over 7 different franchises. He guided the Hanalei Dragons into the playoffs in his third year in the league, his only one as a fulltime starter. He joined the Merchantmen in 2120 to mentor QB Al Schneider.

LT Roy Wilkerson called it a game after 15 seasons in the IHOF. After 9 seasons with the Chicago Norsemen, followed by 4 seasons with the Gothenburg Giants, he joined the Merchantmen in 2120 as the short term replacement for then injured former first round pick RT Perry Georgopulos. Wilkerson played 2 seasons in Maassluis, playing in 29 regular season games and 2 playoffs games. His career highlight and disappointment in one was the lost IHOF Bowl 2118.

RT Perry Georgopulos retired at the age of 24. Our 20th overall pick in 2119 was supposed to be our new run blocking right tackle for years to come, but a grueling knee injury cut his career short to just 9 games. He spent the 2120 season recovering and at the start of the 2121 off-season we had to let go of him as it was clear he would never be able to play football at the level he was supposed to be destined to reach.

WR Jessie Vertelney retired as a Bordeaux Vineyards player, but the collective memory obviously puts him in a Merchantmen uniform, as he spent the first 10 of 13 seasons in he IHOF in Maassluis. With 8 1,000-yards seasons (6 of those in Maassluis) he joined the ranks of the 10K receivers in IHOF history, already having achieved that, although just barely, in the 10 seasons (150 regular season games) in Maassluis. He also played in 5 playoffs games for the Merchantmen and was known as a hard hitting special teamer.

RB Renaldo Billodeaux officially retired after 10 seasons with the Merchantmen and last season on the couch at home, not getting a second chance elsewhere. A late 7th round pick in 2111, Billodeaux evolved into the 4th all-time rusher in Merchantmen history, gaining 8,880 yards rushing with a 4.71 yards per carry average. In the process, Billodeaux scored 68 touchdowns (66 rushing, third highest in franchise history). After 155 regular season and 7 playoffs games played, he failed to make the 2121 regular season roster.

DT Francisco Blades retired after an up and down career with the Merchantmen. A 6th round pick in 2111, he made the team in a special teams role, then spent 2 seasons mostly inactive and then in 2114 finally joined the defensive line rotation in a running and neutral formations role. In the 2111 off-season he was a post training camp casualty and didn't find a new team after 10 seasons in Maassluis, in which he played in 123 regular season and 6 playoffs games for the Merchantmen.

DT Bryan Lomax retired after 7 seasons as a professional football player. The power rusher joined the Merchantmen as an undrafted rookie in 2115 and joined the rotation on the defensive line in 2116. After 5 seasons in Maassluis (74 games played), Lomax signed as a free agent with the Chicago Norsemen in 2120, but never reached the level of play he had in Maassluis, was cut after that first season there and found no new home in 2121, choosing retirement as the way out now.

There were others that walked away from football, no longer willing to wait for a phone call unlikely to come, but that'll be for another time, if I find the time to do all the research on which other former Merchantmen players retired this off-season.


We go into the off-season with our staff unchanged.

We're roughly $6.5M over the $654M salary cap, with 43 players signed. I consider that a very healthy situation. Our projected cap cost is pretty high at $35.7M, a result of having the 1.13 pick from the Kansas Creationists - they had a bit of a down season - and the 1.20 pick, the reward for being the very best team not making the playoffs.


2 players are unrestricted free agents: RB Jackson Powell and S Cesar Welch.

Powell is seeking a $100M contract, wanting a mix between $30M and $40M cap figures over 3 years, which is something we're not quite willing to put on the table for a running back, even one that comes off a season with 1,199 yards and 9 touchdowns rushing. We have RB Glyn Sloane and RB Diego Kosters waiting in the wings, as well as restricted free agent RB Preston Tanner. the later is a player that didn't wow at all, but I'm considering keeping him, if we can find a middle ground between his demands that really don't fit with a player that ran for only 2.12 yards per carry (in 16 games Tanner was held to under 10 yards 12 times).

Welch is a different story, despite his lack of ability to force turnovers, his run stopping and zone defending skills make him a player to want to keep.

C Tracy Stewart is a restricted free agent worth considering to keep. His numbers are okay-ish and his intelligence make him less of a penalty magnet than some others on the team.

RT Clyde Van Lanen isn't going to make the team anymore. We actually flipped him from center to right tackle to maintain a legal roster last season, but fact is that he was never going to make it as a center either.

LB Luther Goffee is potentially the new special teams ace that we saw retire with FB Kenneth Holse. He's going to get a contract offer as soon as we're under the salary cap.

Last and not quite not worth mentioning: I've been trying to move up in the draft to slot 1.6 over the last couple of days. By the time all the move-up-worthy wide receivers were all picked in the top3 (some might say the entire top5 was worth it), it still took me a good night of sleep to come to understanding that I was trying to acquire the 1.6 from a team that wasn't actually holding that pick. How about that...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Draft 2122, no draft without trades!

The 2122 draft has finishes while the off-season continues. RB Jackson Powell is still without a new team, despite that his exorbitant salary demands have decreased to $50M over 3 years. I'm not surprised no other team has made him an offer yet, his agent is a moron. So is WR Ramon Randle's agent. They have turned down no less than 4 contract offers from us, but they declined and now Randle's decision is to hold out. Awesome.

Not accounting for rookies, we added up to 50 players signed, with new contracts for restricted free agents RB Preston Tanner, C Tracy Stewart and LB Luther Goffee, and a new 3-year deal for unrestricted free agent S Cesar Welch. We also filled some gaps on the team with veteran free agents. FB Marc King will step in as our new elite special teamer from the backfield. He's actually a better blocker than FB Rich Hartman as well, which is both a bonus and a luxury problem. RT Randy Fulcher is a smart underdeveloped run blocker, we signed him mostly to mentor our first round pick (more on that later). S Jimmie Coxwell is another special teams guy, but his run stopping and zone defense are good enough to be on the active roster. King signed a cheap 3-year deal, the other two a 2-year veteran minimum deal.

Our six draft picks have arrived at Oranje Haven to be further evaluated. We stood fast at the 1.13 spot, picking the top player going into the draft LT Barry Finley, although early signs are that Snapfinger's 1.9 pick defensive end Cade is a once every decade kind of player. We also remained at slot 1.20 taking LB Travis Cantu. Then at spot 3.7 we picked LB Bryson Wilmer, but we soon after traded him to Toronto for pick 3.29 and their 2123 3rd as I felt that it would be one linebacker too many. At slot 3.20 we picked RB Rickey Jorg, he will battle with second-year RB Glyn Sloane for playing time and he also hopes to become our new kickoff returner. But so does S Devan Gagliardi, our 3.29 pick, we will likely switch him to cornerback for his man-to-man and bump and run skills. We traded picks 4.20, 5.20 and 6.20 to Harlem for their 3rd in 2123 and the 7.3 pick. We used pick 7.3 on G Parker Prior, a pass blocker that was already on our board for pick 4.20 had we kept it. And at slot 7.20 we took WR Teddy Whitfield, a big-play route runner, a kid worth trying to develop in the wings for a future WR3 role.

With 56 players signed and almost $30M in cap space, we're not quite done yet. As mentioned already, WR Roman Randle is holding out and we'll have to invest at minimum $5M of that to re-sign him. I suspect we're going to need most of the remaining cap space to extend contracts of other young starters as Randle isn't the only one from our strong class of 2119 is in the last year of contract. S Kim Fox could be on the bubble as already is G James Tucker. LB Sam Hastings is trickier as is TE Francisco Andersen. The last three have quite the too much for what they have been worth demands. DT Neil Burton has turned into a bit of a first round bust, but at least his contract demands are more in line with his ability and performance. We also have to make a choice on long-timers LB Jorge Mayes and G Alfred Pearson, veteran DE Glen Kafka, rotation players LB Ezekiel O'Neal and CB Marquis Wolf, backups TE Kyle Baker and TE Perry Bussey. And last but not least, there's this best in business guy that is also in the final year on an already expensive contract, K Jeffery DeGroot wants to be the best paid kicker in IHOF history.

So yeah, that $30M in cap space will be gone pretty soon. Hence, G James Tucker is on the trade block, he's not going to get paid by us, most likely, but if he stays without a new contract, he still will be a starter this season. Something similar applies to TE Francisco Andersen and LB Sam Hastings, although I do hope to find a middle ground in contract talks. But we won't start talking until we've reached mid-pre-season, which obviously also applies to all the other aforementioned soon to be free agents.

We're currently in the process of adding our roster up to 60-something players with undrafted rookie free agents. The list of players we made an offer too was quite small. We might als still want to acquire a mentor quarterback for QB Al Schneider, while we could als use some mentoring help in the linebackers group. More on that - and other stuff - later once we know which undrafted rookies have signed with us...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2122 Training Camp roster set?

WR Roman Randle signed a new 4-year deal. No holdout situation, we've got our leading receiver ready to play for us for another bunch of seasons. Same cannot be said about our leading rusher, RB Jackson Powell continues to be a free agent and his dumbass agent fails to understand how this works: yanking back up their demands from $50M to $82M. He's not going to get paid in this league. A shame, he was the #8 rusher last season and now their greediness is going to end his career after 5 seasons. Or maybe he caves in pre-season and eventually gets a 1-year $10M kind of deal somewhere?

Instead, we signed 5 of the 6 targeted undrafted rookies. QB Seth Ramsey is a green kid with a high Solecismic score and sense rush being his strength, combined with an extremely unlikeliness he'll survive pre-season cuts. TE Alejandro Mercado lacks route running skills (seriously, he's IHOF unworthy in that aspect), but the kid can run and block and play special teams, a curious player. DE Bruce Montgomery was 26th on our draft board and brings an interesting combination in potential of pass rush technique, play diagnosis and endurance. DT Raul Oswald is somewhat similar. DT Brock Everett is close, with less endurance, but special teams skills in exchange.

On to training camp, with 61 players signed. Or 62 if the one player we sent an offer to decides to join us...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Your 53 Merchantmen for 2122?

Still on the fence about our G James Tucker, he's on the trade block, yet at te same time, we just offered him a 5-year deal to keep him from becoming a free agent next off-season.

We've trimmed down to 53 players already and bar some late minute trades, we're basically set for the season.

QB Curtis Ginwright signed with us just in time for training camp and for better or worse survived cuts, being a mentor to and better kick holder than QB Al Schneider. Which is another spoiler about who made the team.

Who didn't make the team? Undrafted rookies QB Seth Ramsey and TE Alejandro Mercado were our post training camp cuts. The cutdown between our pre-season games was quite a bit harder as all seven players had something going for them to make it. Undrafted rookies DE Bruce Montgomery and DT Brock Everett were the easiest decisions, lacking the experience and potential to take the spot of one of the veteran pass rushers. Fellow rookies WR Teddy Whitefield and CB Devan Gagliardi showed too little upside to make the team this season. Gagliardi was a 3rd round pick, Whitfield a 7th round pick. The latter already found a new home in Orlando, while in the process turning down a lowball contract offers from all 3 of our division rivals, which I obviously found hilarious. C Chester Coffey and DE B.J. Shellhaas were backups on our team for the past 2 and 1 seasons respectively, while RB Diego Kosters had yet to play for us despite 2 full seasons on our roster. He's already found a new team as Gothenburg picked him up. Kosters surely will come back to bite us in week 1 already. I considered switching Shellhaas to linebacker to actually make his special teams ability useful as defensive linemen just rarely play on special teams, even when they do are excellent in that area. Imagine that: a 6'3" 276 pounds linebacker... Gagliardi just bombed, it wasn't the switch from safety to cornerback that did him in.

So, who did make it?

Quarterbacks
65/65 QB Renaldo Wilson
40/45 QB Al Scheider
05/05 QB Curtis Ginwright (fa signing)
Wilson is the undisputed starter, Schneider the backup. Ginwright is the better kick holder, but I choose to go with Schneider for now and leave Ginwright inactive.

Backfield
45/55 RB Rickey Jorg (rookie)
50/50 FB Rich Hartman
50/50 FB Marc King (fa signing)
35/50 RB Glyn Sloane
25/25 RB Preston Tanner
Jorg has been a pleasant surprise this pre-season, he's going to be our main ball carrier, with Tanner continuing the short yardage and third down role. Sloane has Renaldo Billodeaux clone written all over, but for the time being he'll have to settle with a backup role and an inactive one due to his lack of special teams skills. In contrast, we'll go with 2 fullbacks again, even using both Hartman and King in some formations based on whether we'll pass a lot or not.
Last season's 1,199-yard back RB Jackson Powell is still without a team, he thought he deserved a 1-year $27M contract during pre-season, but now that the regular season is around the corner, he's finally come to his senses and is asking for a 1-year $7.7M deal.

Tight Ends
65/65 TE Francisco Andersen
40/40 TE Kyle Baker
30/40 TE Sedrick Hill
25/25 TE Perry Bussey
Only one change will happen here as Hill will be our new third active tight end, with Bussey dropping to the inactive backup role. Andersen will still be our starter, despite that he's going to be out of contract next off-season and demanding big bucks. We're going to give him a 5-year contract offer, but I don't see us giving him something else if he turns it down.

Wide Receivers
60/60 WR Rufus Montgomery
55/55 WR Roman Randle
50/50 WR Rodolfo Lane
40/40 WR Tyrone Dillon
10/10 WR Blake Begay
05/05 WR Maurice Sweeney
Lane is declining and will have to worry about Dillon this season for playing time/targets. Dillon has improved to being the player with the highest route running ability on the team, so it's very much worth putting him out there on downs where we don't need a lot of speed or agility, just getting open and not dropping the ball for a short gain. Sweeney is still our better kickoff returner, but it looks like RB Rickey Jorg has the potential to take over.

Offensive Linemen
75/75 G Greg Brizzolara
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
55/80 LT Barry Finley
60/60 G James Tucker
45/45 C Tracy Stewart
40/40 G Alfred Pearsall
30/45 G Parker Prior (rookie)
30/40 RT Ryan Fulcher (fa signing)
Our 5 starters are nearly undisputed, yet Pearsall is the cohesion bomb on the group and as such still threatens Tucker and Stewart. Prior is a project, Fulcher the mentor for Finley.

Defensive Linemen
75/75 DT Floyd Dillon
55/55 DT Jeremiah Cortez
50/50 DT Rodney Gagliardi
50/50 DE Phil Wakefield
45/45 DT Neil Burton
45/45 DE Roger Graf
30/50 DT Raul Oswald (undrafted rookie)
35/35 DE Glen Kafka
Our former running downs end B.J. Shellhaas fell apart in pre-season, becoming nothing but a special teamer, which as I pointed out already is worthless on this position group. Oswald will jump into our pass rushers rotation, which makes it easier to move Burton to the running downs group. Dillon has the endurance to carry this unit, the rest are sidekicks. Graf took a big hit in ability, but is still our pass rush technique end.

Linebackers
55/55 LB Sam Hastings
50/60 LB Cristian Beyer
40/55 LB Travis Cantu (rookie)
40/40 LB Jorge Mayes
35/35 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
20/30 LB Luther Goffee
O'Neal dropped hard in pre-season, which will cost him playing time to Beyer and Cantu. Mayes is on the decline and will play very little this season, unless we find out we need his cohesion value, in which case we'll play him ahead of Cantu on running downs. Hastings and Cantu are the passing downs duo, solid zone defenders. Goffee is ready to jump into the special teams role, together with O'Neal. Beyer will continue to grow, hopefully. A nice trio with Hastings, Beyer and Cantu, but all of look like the perfect LB2 next to a true stalwart. Hastings today signed a heavy 5-year deal, which keeps us tied to him for at least this and the next 2 seasons.

Secondary
70/70 CB Andre McAninch
50/50 CB Zachary Blair
45/45 CB Asher McElroy
40/40 S Kim Fox
40/40 S Cesar Welch
35/35 S Peter Hinsley
35/35 S Jimmie Coxwell (fa signing)
30/35 S Max Junker
30/30 CB Marquis Wolf
25/25 CB Billy Cochrane
Nearly the same group as last season. Coxwell is our new special teamer and will play some running formations and could play dime back if needed. Cochrane will be the casualty and start the season inactive.

Special Teams Aces
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
55/55 P Devon Middleton
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
A solid group, nothing to dispute. Okay, Middleton lacks a bit of power, but if we play the way we've done in recent seasons, we need his corner coffin skills a lot more.

So, all in all, a good group. But, we're stuck in a very strong division and we'll be placing the other division in the league that had 3 teams with a winning record.

Oh yeah, we smooth sailed through pre-season, although losing at Oakland 31-28, we did win at Fairbanks 24-20 and at home beat Chicago 33-17 and Kansas 48-20. In particular RB Rickey Jorg excelled, as did QB Renaldo Wilson. Those 133 points scored were head and shoulders above the rest of the league (second best is 107 points scored). But, you know, it's just pre-season. Besides, we did give up 17+ points each game, making us the 12th worst in pre-season.

Our season will start at Gothenburg, usually the toughest game of the season. Their quarterback took a big step back in his ability, but that doesn't make me much more confident we can beat them in their home. We'll get our chances and we'll have to take advantage of those. Starting the season with a win would be huge, but a hard fought loss would be acceptable.

[MIJB#19]

Editor's Note
Our loyal fans probably already figured out that 2122 is turning into something different from the optimistic encouraging stuff in pre-season. Overall I've lacked the required type of energy to report on my team recently, but I'm sure I'll find the energy at some point to do a season recap once the regular season is over.

[MIJB#19]

Editor's Note
I haven't felt like writing an update at all, yet. The 2122 season has finished, it was a curious one for us on several levels. And at the moment we're setting up our war room for the 2123 draft. And working the phones with all our players' mathematically disabled player agents to get us under the cap. I'll likely write up a 2122 season review at some point...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2122, Season to quickly forget?

Let's start with the most absurd combination of numbers: we were the only team in our division to outscore our 16 opponents. Yet, we finished the regular season with the worst record in the division as well. Mindboggling stuff, I know, but that's what really happened. Let's quickly recap the games how we got there.


Week 1 at Gothenburg
My comments: The Giants overcame the interceptions with excellent third down offense. That combined with this being one giant false start by our offensive line. Including some penalties committed by that pair of non-signing you-know-whats.
The Giants' quarterback threw 3 interceptions, but also guided his team to going 8 for 13 on third downs. Rookie RB Rickey Jorg scored our only touchdown, we settled for 4 field goals. A weird game to lose with a +3 in turnover margin, still a field position disadvantage of 3 yards per drive, getting outgained in total yards, but also being more than a yard better in the yards per play category.
Result: 19-20 loss

Week 2 at Hanalei
My comments: It was quite the mistake to not let our defense on the plane and dress up random bystanders instead, we may have played a bit better with our real players on the field. But we overcame it and pulled off a hard earned victory on the road.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw 4 touchdown passes to TE Francisco Andersen, TE Kyle Baker and a pair to WR Roman Randle.
Result: 28-21 win

Week 3 at North Plainfield
My comments: We somehow trailed only 7-0 after the fumbelicious first quarter, then our defense continued to downright suck and in the end we didn't deserve to get in position to comeback from behind after being outplayed for most of the game.
We lost the turnover battle 3-0 with all of them fumbles. RB Rickey Jorg scored a pari of rushing touchdowns, while QB Renaldo Wilson threw one to WR Rufus Montgomery.
Result: 24-30 loss

Week 4 bye

Week 5 vs Tucker
My comments: Goodness, we had some sort a legitimate chance to beat the Tigers (aside from a 60-yard pass on 3rd and 25, the D actually played quite okay), but our inability to complete passes or when caught make a third down conversion, it made it all moot. Wilson was 13 for 34 when he got hurt.
CB Andre McAninch scored our only touchdown. It was a weird game, as we got outscored heavily, seriously struggled to get anything going. But the biggest bummer of the game was losing Wilson for a handful due to injury.
Result: 23-27 loss

Week 6 at Augusta
My comments: So much to grumble about, but in the end we can only blame our own silly turnovers and first quarter penalties for this missed opportunity to win on the road. A Kotter running over Merchantmen will surely make the headlines in the fake news papers with sketchy sense of humour.
QB Al Schneider threw a pair of touchdowns with on the receiving end TE Francisco Andersen and WR Roman Randle. We lost the turnover battle 2-0, got outgained, but in part because of a late pick in what could have been the go ahead drive.
Result: 23-27 loss

Week 7 at Paris
My comments: It felt like we were the better team through the third quarter, but the interceptions kept us from taking a lead. Then McDonald woke up in the 4th quarter and a failed fake punt gifted us the game tying touchdown. Then in overtime, we were simply not good enough to keep on pressuring McDonald.
Yet another game where we had the beteer offense, but the turnovers swung things the other way. Penalties didn't help either. QB Al Schneider threw touchdown passes to WR Roman Randle and TE Francisco Andersen.
Result: 17-23 loss

General comment: Unsurprisingly we start the season 1-5 after 5 road games and somewhere in the middle a home game vs Tucker.

Week 8 vs Snapfinger
My comments: First time all season we had no answer to the opponent. yes, we tied it up at some point and the turnovers didn't help either, but it was pretty clear early on and late in the game as well.
A depressing game where QB Al Schneider seriously struggled. RB Rickey Jorg and FB Marc King provided our touchdowns with runs. King isn't even supposed to get carries, but for whatever reasons our OC gave him the ball 4 times. Another 2-0 disadvantage in turnovers, better yards per play, 12 penalties and a field position battle lost.
Result: 23-33 loss

General comment: At this pace the season is going to be a lost season before we even played our 4th home game.

Week 9 vs Bordeaux
My comments: Those two pick sixes turned out to be the cushion we needed doen the road to not make Wilson's interception cost us the win. Rickey Jorg an Tyrone Dillon made their share of big plays too. Giving nearly 550 total yards is never acceptable though, it's not something I'd expect from this defense.
It's crazy that our first touchdowns came on pick sixes by our duo CB Zachary Blair and CB Adre McAninch. QB Renaldo Wilson returned with a touchdown pass to TE Francisco Andersen and RB Rickey Jorg scored on another long run. And the defense gave up almost 550 total yards. It's somewhat of a miracle we still scored more.
Result: 37-30 win

Week 10 at Orlando
My comments: I thought we had it bad with penalties, but that's much worse than the lack of discipline my team showed today. All things combined, we've sunk to the level of not being able to win when the opposing quarterback throws 3 interceptions and the opposing kicker misses an extra point and a short field goal.
We gave up 474 total yards, 7.9 yards per play. That's atrocious defense. Even winning the turnover battle 3-1 will hardly help them. RB Rickey Jorg ran for a touchdown, QB Renaldo Wilson connected with WR Rodolfo Lane and TE Francisco Andersen for scores.
Result: 20-30 loss

General comment: Is it really a bright side of things that the rest of the division is also playing worse than they all did in the last 2 seasons? Somehow we have allowed the least amount of points of all 4 inside the division, we're 26th, the rest is 29th, 31st and 32nd. The division also is 32, 31, 30 and 27th in total yards allowed. And we're all sucking in the turnovers section, our -3 is still the best inside the division. As a division we've already lost the same amount of games as we did combined over the entire last season.

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
My comments: We're just doing it to ourselves now. Pathetic 3rd down defense, turnovers on offense, silly carries to our fullback while we have 3 RB active. Still, Gothenburg played solid enough to brush away their own QB's 3 interceptions and maneuver into field goal position on their final drive, witnessing our lack of calling time outs and eventually time ran out after their last second field goal. We're 2 frickin' 8. This team looks to me too talented to sit at the bottom of the conference, yet here we are.
Scoring last was crucial in this game and, well, our staff completely blanked here, failing to call time out to give us time at the end of a game that we deserved to win by a field goal. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for touchdowns to WR Rufus Montgomery and TE Kyle Baker.
Result: 20-23 loss

Week 12 vs Oakland
My comments: Both teams struggled with penalties again, as did my defense on 3rd downs, but our guys did a bit more just enough right offensively to overcome it.
With 459 total yards a productive day for the offense. QB Renaldo Wilson ran for a score and threw for one to WR Rodolfo Lane. RB Rickey Jorg ran for a score as well. We were clearly the better team today, of not for the pair of interceptions thrown that kept the Black Panthers in it.
Result: 27-23 win

Week 13 vs San Antonio
My comments: Woulda, coulda, shoulda, but we didntda. We played well for most of the game, but not on those 4 big plays by Lucas Schneider. Nor did we have an answer yet to our own penalties problem. And for whatever stupid reasons, we spent our time outs late in the game, yet shortly after didn't go for it on 4th down with too little time left to get the ball back. What an embarrassment.
We gave up almost 500 total yards, 268 yards from scrimmage to their running back, hence, we deserved to end up on the losing end of it. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for a score to WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Glyn Sloane ran for a pair of touchdowns.
Result: 24-27 loss

General comments: We're eliminated with 4 games still to go. But we also have 4 games left where we can play spoiler.

I see a realistic curious goal for my team: 4th place with the best points scored to points allowed difference.

Week 14 at Fairbanks
My comments: It wasn't pretty, unless you like turnovers, but we got the job done somehow. Let the spoiling continue.
A quartet of interceptions from the Fairbanks quarterback were the story of the game. It makes it quite the head shaker that we still won by only 6 points, until you notice that we gained only 238 total yards. Our running backs were neutralized, while QB Renaldo Wilson was held under 200 yards passing. Our touchdowns came on a Wilson pass to TE Kyle Baker and a freak blocked punt recovery in the end zone by CB Asher McElroy.
Result: 26-20 win

Week 15 at Bordeaux
My comments: Yeah, that injury certainly helped us to turn this into a lopsided victory. Happy to play spoiler, but this ain't the right way.
Bordeaux' quarterback got hurt on their first play from scrimmage and their backup came in with 3 turnovers and we still let him throw for 315 yards and run for 47 yards. But with 7.0 yards per play we deserved to win this one. Running touchdowns came from RB Rickey Jorg, RB Glyn Sloane (a pair!) and QB Renaldo Wilson, who also threw for scores to TE Francisco Andersen and WR Tyrone Dillon.
Result: 48-28 win

Week 16 vs Colorado
My comments: A turnover fest combined with a tremendous Colorado punter set up for a game that although we kept leading, we struggled to wrap it up before the final drive.
We completed the sweep of the NAC West, despite almost letting a big lead slip through our hands. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for scores to TE Francisco Andersen, TE Kyle Baker and WR Roman Randle, while RB Rickey Jorg ran for a score. We seriously outgained the Cutthroats 434 vs 313 total yards and 7.6 vs 4.4 yards per play, lost the turnover battle only 3-4, but also looked Merchantmen unworthy in the field position battle due to those giveaways.
Result: 34-31 win

Week 17 vs Paris
My comments: What a weird game, Paris was steamrolling in the first half. Then midway the 3rd quarter the 90-yard pick six happened and all of a sudden the game took a near 180 degree turn in our advantage.
A nasty come back from behind win, with scores by QB Renaldo Wilson (a run and passes to WR Roman Randle and WR Rodolfo Lane) and CB Zachary Blair.
Result: 33-23 win


European Division 2123
1. Gothenburg 10-6
2. Paris 9-7
3. Maassluis 7-9
4. Bordeaux 7-9

Paris would have made the playoffs with at least a tie in week 17, they lost out on tie-breakers to Orlando. Despite beating them head-to-head, the conference record tie-breaker came into play due to it actually being a 3-way tie with San Antonio, which in turn pissed away their division title at Fort Wayne. Had San Antonio won, Paris would have gone into the playoffs on another head-to-head win over Houston, which snuck into the playoffs due to San Antonio's loss. I think Paris' and Fort Wayne's owners are brothers. go figure...

Gothenburg got into the playoffs, beat Orlando 17-16 in the wild card round, but then got crushed 40-20 at Toronto, who in turn got crushed 45-17 at Tucker, the eventual repeat IHOF Champions after a 34-24 win in IHOF Bowl CIX against Arizona.

General comment: And what a weird season, we're the only team in the division that outscored the opponents, yet we have the (tied) worst record as well (so technically we failed to make it a true last place with the best scoring outcome). Gothenburg eventually didn't need our help (nor did we actually want to help them regain the sole lead in the most European division titles race) as they had their own crazy comeback from behind game.

It was a frustrating season. We pissed away games that we could have won, but at the same time were on paper 55-45 losses. And then it was all over before our late season easier stretch began.

We gave up 20 points (or more) in every single game. I was about to proclaim it was unprecedented, but in reality we also played this dreadful in 2077. Curiously, that season we also went 7-9, also tied for the worst record in the division and also had the best points for vs against balance inside the division. Go figure.


So, on to 2123 we go. With no retired players (spoiler!) and a several players out of contract, ready to walk away for free (TE Francisco Andersen, G James Tucker, G Alfred Pearsall, S Kim Fox, DE Glen Kafka, LB Ezekiel O'Neal and mid-season signing DE Sebastian Preston - he came in when DE Phil Wakefield got placed on injured reserve in week 7 due to a hamstring injury.)

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2123 Off-season recap

Boy oh boy, did our off-season not bring much to desire for.

Free Agency
We saw TE Francisco Andersen leave for Chesapeake, maybe he can mimic his third down yards too short tradition there. G James Tucker signed with Snapfinger, I hope they are prepared for his trademark offside penalty on the first drive of the game. DE Glen Kafka has left for Outer Banks and S Kim Fox moved on to Moontown. The other unrestricted free agents (G Alfred Pearsall, LB Ezekiel O'Neal and DE Sebastian Preston) did re-sign with us. Additionally, we signed C Abel Brandon and S Donnell Brennan. Brandon was supposed to become our new backup center, but he fell apart in pre-season and we cut him at mid-pre-season. Brennan did make the team as our new kickoff return specialist.

The Brennan signing was the initiating move to release long-time veteran WR Maurice Sweeney. He was our kickoff returner for 8 seasons, but lost the active roster spot already, as RB Rickey Jorg took over and now Jorg steps back to the KR2 role, with Sweeney no longer good enough to even be a backup.

The draft saw us grab a pick G Marcos Perez (at 1.12), TE Brayden Flylum (at 1.24), DE Chase Joseph (at 3.5), LB Adrian Lofton (at 3.10), S Tristan McCormick (at 3.29) and CB Eric Sanders (at 4.16). We traded our 5yth, 6th and 7th round picks for a 2125 5th round pick from Hanalei. Lofton, McCormick and Sanders failed to make the regular season roster. Lofton and Sanders were major disappointments after the re-evaluation at mid-pre-season. McCormick didn't even make the pre-season roster as I decided he wasn't going to be enough of an upgrade over what we already have on the team. Did any undrafted rookies survive the cut waves? Yes, exactly one did: RB Courtney Jackson.

Not making the team were undrafted rookies QB Julio Brecht, FB Myles Beers, TE Nathaniel Wiggins, P Ezekiel McElroy (this kid was the biggest drop in pre-season on the team), DE Riley Herring, DE Archie Carter, DE Eric Freeman, DE Alfredo Livingston, LB Brant Kiefer, special teams LB Curtis Mooberry and CB Javier Hartman.

Which actually brings us to our 53-men roster for 2123, as I've already made up my mind on them. And some of these players are sort of a disappointment, because pre-season re-evaluation was one of the worst for my team I have seen in decades. I mean, sometimes an old team sees a bunch of veterans drop hard, but this season a lot of promising players took hard to comprehend hits after several previous pre-seasons without any signals of being misses. Our QB2 Al Schneider took a hit, as did our RB2 Glyn Sloane, WR Rufus Montgomery, backup RT Ryan Fulcher, special teams ace LB Luther Goffee, CB Asher McElroy and both S Cesar Welch and S Peter Hinsley. But these all still made the team.

Where are we at now? Here are our 53 players.

Quarterbacks
60/60 QB Renaldo Wilson
35/35 QB Al Schneider
05/05 QB Curtis Ginwright

Backfield
55/55 RB Rickey Jorg
45/45 FB Richie Hartman
40/40 FB Marc King
30/40 RB Courtney Jackson (rookie)
30/35 RB Glyn Sloane
25/25 RB Preston Tanner

Tight Ends
45/60 TE Brayden Flylum (rookie)
40/40 TE Kyle Baker
30/40 TE Sedrick Hill
30/30 TE Perry Bussey

Wide Receivers
55/55 WR Roman Randle
50/50 WR Rufus Montgomery
45/45 WR Rodolfo Lane
40/40 WR Tyrone Dillon
10/10 WR Blake Begay

Offensive Linemen
75/75 G Greg Brizzolara
75/75 LT Barry Finley
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
50/70 G Marcos Perez (rookie)
45/45 C Tracy Stewart
35/45 G Parker Prior
40/40 G Alfred Pearsall
25/35 RT Ryan Fulcher

Defensive Linemen
80/80 DT Tyrone Dillon
55/55 DT Jeremiah Cortez
50/50 DT Rodney Gagliardi
50/50 DE Phil Wakefield
45/45 DT Neil Burton
35/50 DE Chase Joseph (rookie)
40/40 DE Roger Graf
40/40 DE Sebastian Preston

Linebackers
60/60 LB Sam Hastings
60/60 LB Cristian Beyer
55/60 LB Travis Cantu
40/40 LB Jorge Mayes
35/35 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
20/20 LB Luther Goffee

Secondary
70/70 CB Andre McAninch
50/50 CB Zachary Blair
35/35 S Max Junker
35/35 CB Asher McElroy
35/35 S Cesar Welch
30/30 S Jimmie Coxwell
25/25 CB Marquis Wolf
25/25 S Peter Hinsley
25/25 CB Billy Cochrane
25/25 S Donnell Brenner (fa signing)

Special Teamers
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
60/60 P Devon Middleton
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding

Not too much additional fluff insight for the moment, maybe later, or maybe not at all. Pre-season was tough, as it made us drop some promising rookies that completely fell apart and saw our future starting quarterback take a big step back to career backup material. But, we're probably set for a better season that we had last season. I think TE Flylum is an upgrade over TE Andersen, as is G Perez over G Tucker. We'll manage in the secondary, flipping around a bit to make the loss of S Fox doable and bring in S Brennan, who isn't just a kickoff returner, but also an interceptions mojo improvement for the unit. DE Joseph turned out to be first round pick material, so that's a nice find too to bring to our rotation into the role of DE Kafka.

[MIJB#19]

Editor's Note

In what might be one of the most fun regular seasons in decades, I find myself lacking the energy to write about the team. I'll try to write a summary once it's finished, but I'll give you that spoiler here and now that the 2123 Merchantmen have jumped into my personal top 5 - top 10 at worst - amongst all the teams. With 3 regular season games to go, this offense already has scored the 8th most points of all Merchantmen teams in history. And we still haven't clinched a trip to the playoffs, so this can still end up being one of those Merchantmen teams that bulldozes over half the opponents and loses 6 games by a combined 15 points and somehow misses the playoffs on an obscure tie-breaker.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2123, so close, yet so far away

The 2123 IHOF season finished with IHOF Bowl CXX. A clash between the reigning North American Conference champions and a franchise that hadn't won the Atlantic Ocean Conference in the previous 56 seasons. But that AOC representative had impressed in the playoffs and had gone through the regular season with the best points differential. Not to mention that both teams met before in the regular season in an instant classic.

But lets recap the Maassluis Merchantmen 2123 regular season first, because, after all, they are the protagonists in this story.

Week 1 at Bordeaux
In a high scoring back and forth, both teams felt like they had their chances. The first half saw both teams' quarterbacks throw 2 interceptions and it lead to a 21-14 half time score in Bordeaux advantage. A 68-yard run by rookie RB Courtney Jackson tied all up again on the second play from scrimmage in the second half. Another turnover helped Bordeaux into a 35-21 lead, but the Merchantmen kept fighting back and a pair of field goals and a two-point conversion after touchdown in between got things all tied up 35-35 going into the final 3 minutes. Bordeaux attempted a 52-yard field goal with 34 seconds remaining, but it failed. The Merchantmen responded with rookie TE Brandon Flylum turning a a short throw from QB Renaldo Wilson into a 32-yard gain and as th clock stared blank, K Jeffery DeGroot converted the 38-yard field goal for the victory.
QB Wilson threw for 308 yards, with 3 interceptions, but also 3 touchdowns (2 to TE Flylum and 1 to TE Kyle Baker). RB Jackson scored a rushing touchdown and WR Rufus Montgomery gained 113 yards receiving.
Result 38-35 win

Week 2 vs Kansas
Long story short, the Merchantmen blew away the opponents and cruised to a solid victory. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 249 yards with 2 touchdown passes, one each to TE Brayden Flylum and WR Tyrone Dillon. RB Courtney Jackson ran for a touchdown. LB Travis Cantu contributed with an interception return touchdown.
Result 37-10 win

Week 3 at Snapfinger
An entertaining high scoring affair arose as both teams showed a lot of guts on offense and it felt like the defenses were both kind of missing in action. Late in the game, the merchantmen thought they won the game when K Jeffery DeGroot converted a field goal with 1:13 on the clock, but Snapfinger produced a solid last minute drive to kick it into overtime. A blocked punt at the end of Snapfinger's first possession in overtime made the difference, as it eventually set up the short field goal for the Merchantmen victory.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns, one each to his WR trio of WR Roman Randle (he gained 125 receiving yards), WR Rufus Montgomery and WR Rodolfo Lane, while RB Courtney Jackson ran for a score in his 103 yards rushing performance.
Result 37-34 win in overtime

Week 4 bye

Week 5 vs North Plainfield
Despite giving up 520 total yards on defense, visiting North Plainfield struggled to get into the red zone. In turn, the Merchantmen (425 total yards) dominated the field position battle and were efficient in their red zone visits. It resulted in a blowout scoreline. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 259 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum (also 112 yards receiving), WR Rufus Montgomery and TE kyle Baker, while RB Courtney Jackson ran for a touchdown.
Result 34-13 win

Week 6 at Rochester
Despite storming to a quick 20-0 lead, helped by a pair of defensive interceptions and a 75-yard fumble return touchdown, home playing Rochester kept playing their heart out. Albeit struggling to get points, settling for field goals quite a lot, Rochester scored on a fumbled punt return to get back into the game. On a long (12-play) drive, eventually they scored a 45-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. Once there, Rochester dominated with a fast three and out on defense and quickly moving into Maassluis territory to set up their game winning field goal, ending the unbeaten streak for the Merchantmen.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 294 yards with 2 touchdowns, both into the hands of WR Rufus Montgomery on his 110-yard receiving performance. RB Rickey Jorg ran for a touchdown. DE Graf scored a fumble return touchdown.
Result 33-36 loss in overtime

Week 7 vs Toronto
In a game where the Merchantmen struggled to get into the end zone, we still got close enough plenty enough to see K Jeffery DeGroot score 4 field goals to keep the back and forth going. A late tow-point conversion got the Merchantmen up 33-26, but it was responded with a quick 52-yard catch and run. With 42 seconds and 3 time outs remaining, the Merchantmen drove downfield to attempt 51-yard field goal, but it fell short. Overtime came and saw neither team get much of success offensively, although the Merchantmen kept the field position advantage. Until a penalty pushed them back and a short punt got Toronto closer. Two crucial third down conversions got Toronto close enough and with 22 seconds to go, their kicker attempted and converted their game winning field goal.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 261 yards with touchdown passes to TE Brayden Flylum and WR Roman Randle, who also had a 103-yard performance in the process. Off-season acquisition S Donnell Brenner scored an 88-yard kickoff return touchdown.
Result 33-36 loss in overtime

Week 8 at Paris
The streak of scoring at least 33 points in every game came to an end for the Merchantmen, but it was just barely as they battled past Paris. Despite an overwhelming field position advantage, the Merchantmen kept settling for field goals and eventually needed all those field goals to pull off the victory. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 281 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum and TE Kyle Baker.
Result 31-25 win

Week 9 at Harlem
Despite gaining 476 total yards on offense and giving up 317 on defense, losing the turnover battle 3-0 ended up being the crucial part in the first loss for the Merchantmen in regulation. Tied 20-20, Harlem drove for a 23-20 lead by field goal, but the Merchantmen fucked up by not calling time out there. The final 14 seconds were too little to both get into field goal position as with 4 seconds to go QB Renaldo Wilson reached WR Rufus Montgomery on a hail mary pass at the Harlem 27-yard line, but time expired before the third time out could be called to kick it to overtime. Wilson threw for 343 yards with touchdown passes to WR Roman Randle and TE Bryden Flylum (on a 121-yard receiving performance).
Result 20-23 loss

Week 10 vs Bordeaux
The frustration of the previous game was played away as the Merchantmen steamrolled the seemingly hopeless opponents. The advantage of 471 to 191 total yards translated into the scoreboard. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 236 yards and 3 touchdowns, while QB Al Schneider added 1 touchdown pass in garbage time. Receiving touchdowns were for WR Roman Randle (twice), WR Rufus Montgomery and FB Marc King, while RB Courtney Jackson ran for a touchdown.
Result 47-7 win

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
The steamrolling continued with a demolishing demonstration against the struggling Gothenburg team. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 300 yards and a touchdown pass to TE Bryden Flylum. Wilson, RB Rickey Jorg and RB Courtney Jackson all ran for a touchdown. WR Roman Randle gained 124 yard receiving. CB Billy Cochrane scored on a 86-yard fumble return.
Result 44-16 win

Week 12 at Chicago
For the first time all season, the Merchantmen found themselves getting outplayed. Even seeing the opposing quarterback getting hurt, didn't shift things. Although it looked like a competitive back and forth where the lead kept flipflopping throughout the high scoring first half (Chicago lead 24-23 at half time). In the second half the Chicago defense stood up. The Merchantmen thought victory was theirs after a 30-yard field goal with 34 second to go put them 29-27 up, Chicago replied with a freak short pass turning into a 30-yard gain to have 3 seconds remaining for the game winning 48-yard field goal attempt, which succeeded. A freak loss, but one that was deserved.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 265 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum (twice) and WR Roman Randle.
Result 29-30 loss

Week 13 vs Fort Wayne
The Merchantmen bounced back with yet another blow out victory as the visiting team needed an interception return touchdown to double their touchdon tally. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 359 yards with 3 passing and 1 rushing touchdowns. RB Courtney Jackson also ran for a touchdown. WR Roman Randle had 2 receiving touchdowns, TE Bryden Flylum had 1 touchdown amidst his impressive 173 yards receiving.
Result 41-17 win

Week 14 at Arizona
In the game of the week and what looked like it could be a potential IHOF Bowl matchup, the 8-4 Merchantmen were visiting 9-3 Arizona. The two top scoring teams in each conference delivered with a nailbiter of a back and forth game. The score went from 0-3 down, to 7-3 up, to 10-7 down, 16-7 down, 16-14, 23-14 to 23-21 at half time. The third quarter ended on a 53-yard field goal for Arizona to make it 26-21 for them. With a touchdown and two-point conversion the Merchantmen flipped it to 29-26 and an impressive goal line stand forced Arizona to settle for the game tying field goal late in the fourth quarter. The Merchantmen responded with an impressive clock draining drive, where a field goal may have done the trick, but they had just enough left in the tank to toss it into the end zone to the 36-29 lead. The Arizona quarterback got sacked on their hail mary attempt on the next and final play of the game.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 332 yards and 5 touchdowns, spreading them around over TE Bryden Flylum, WR Rufus Montgomery, TE Kyle Baker, WR Tyrone Dillon and TE Sedrick Hill, while WR Roman Randle had 111 yards receiving.
Result 36-29 win

Week 15 vs Paris
The Merchantmen looked a bit pale at times, struggling to show the fire power on offense that their fans were used to. But a sold out Oranje Have got what they came for: partying over a new European Division title. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 213 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum and WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Rickey Jorg and RB Courtney Jackson both ran for a touchdown.
Result 27-19 win

Week 16 vs Iowa
With a bye week still a possibility, the Merchantmen decided not to flip to giving backups playing time. A kind of silly thing to say to begin with as on defense pretty much 20 different players see a lot of playing time and on offense the playing time somewhat spread over 10 different skill position players. Due to injuries on the offensive line all 6 potential starters got their share and all that could be really done is benching the quarterback. The way the game played out, QB Renaldo Wilson was benched late in the game as the Merchantmen put down their most dominant showing of the season so far, holding wild card hopeful Iowa to 169 total yards on offense and a humiliating shutout deficit. QB Wilson threw for 260 yards with 2 touchdowns, both to WR Roman Randle. RB Rickey Jorg ran for a touchdown. K Jeffery DeGroot scored 4 field goals of 40+ yards.
Result 33-0 win

Week 17 at Gothenburg
With the home playing Gothenburg team still having a if-this-and-that scenario to get into the playoffs, it was apparent that the hopes for a bye week were not going to be easy for the Merchantmen. As things played out elsewhere, the bye became impossible either way as it turned it to be that Gothenburg wound up missing the playoffs due to results elsewhere. The home playing Giants did put down one of their best showings of the season, while the Merchantmen had by far the biggest turd of a performance in not only this season, but quite possibly in a bunch of seasons. Despite having 0 turnovers, the 222 total yards on offense should say plenty enough. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 142 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum and WR Rufus Montgomery.
Result 17-29 loss

European Division
1. Maassluis 11-5
2. Gothenburg 9-7
3. Paris 6-10
4. Bordeaux 4-12

Tucker went into the playoffs as the AOC #1 seed at 13-3, Toronto #2 with a 12-4 record, Atlanta #3 at 11-5 and Maassluis just #4. #5 Orlando was also 11-5 and #6 North Plainfield 9-7, getting in on the head-to-head tie-breaker over Gothenburg. Arizona (12-4) topped the NAC far ahead of four 10-6 teams (Moontown, Frederick, Oakland and Williamsburg) and a 9-7 wild card (Chesapeake).

With 537 points scored, the Merchantmen ended up just behind Arizona (547) and Tucker (543), but ahead of Toronto (507) and Orlando (499). Only once in IHOF history have 5 teams scored 500+ points, so this season was clearly one for the ages in that area.
With a +178 differential the Merchantmen lead the league, tied with Tucker and ahead of Orlando (+160), Arizona (+150) and Toronto (+107).

Week 18 vs Orlando
Expecting a high scoring affair, the neutral football fans were somewhat disappointed. In particular the Merchantmen defense impressed with forcing Orlando to settle for a field goal in all 4 of their red zone visits and seeing Orlando score 3 times on them. In return, the Merchantmen saw rookie TE Bryden Flylum turn a short pass from QB Renaldo Wilson turn into a 50-yard touchdown and it became the play of the game. Shortly after a short pick six scored by CB Zachary Blair put a lock on the game. QB Wilson threw for 193 yards with the other touchdown pass to RB Courtney Jackson.
Result 24-9 win

Week 19 at Toronto
Helped by North Plainfield's upset win at Atlanta, Maassluis was playing in Toronto at the #2 seed and not at #1 seed Tucker. The Merchantmen wanted revenge for their unnecessary loss against Toronto in the regular season, which eventually flipped the two teams in the seeding order. What was shaping up to be a barnburner (Maassluis led 20-17 at half time), in the fourth quarter the game shifted into a lopsided affair as the Merchantmen kept forcing fumbles and piling on to their lead. At the end of the game, the average field position was quite telling: Maassluis started their drives on average at the 50-yard line, which wasn't entirely based on Toronto's last three drives all turning over on downs.
QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 273 yards with touchdown passes to TE Bryden Flylum and WR Rufus Montgomery. Both RB Courtney Jackson and RB Rickey Jorg ran for a touchdown. K Jeffery DeGroot scored 5 field goals, including 4 from 40+ yards.
Result 43-23 win

For the first time since the 2091 season, the Merchantmen were going to the AOC Championship game! And the usual opponent in such games was awaiting: the Tucker Tigers.

Week 19 at Tucker
Surely the season was to end in Tucker as the Merchantmen played so well in the regular season, but so did the hosting Tigers. What was supposed to be a high scoring close game, it quickly turned into a blowout win, but shockingly for the visiting underdog Merchantmen. With 596 total yards on offense, it became a performance for the ages. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 407 yards with touchdown passes to WR Rodolfo Lane, WR Roman Randle and WR Rufus Montgomery (he also gained 157 yards receiving), while RB Courtney Jackson and RB Rickey Jorg (twice) accounted for rushing touchdowns. LB Travis Cantu piled on with a garbage time 75-yard interception return touchdown.
Result 54-19 win

So, after 56 seasons, the Merchantmen are back into the IHOF Bowl. And 1-point favorites going in.

Week 20 vs Arizona
And then the wheels came off. It wasn't that the offense was completely missing in action, but 3 turnovers from QB Renaldo Wilson got unanswered by the defense and as a result the Arizona Miners got it easy. They also saw their kicker score on two impressive long field goals, yet also miss one. It all was to no avail. The earlier regular season win at Arizona gave confidence that never translated into a result in this bowl game. The game was basically over before the fourth quarter had started. It certainly felt like the Merchantmen of 2123 did not show up for IHOF Bowl CXX. For the first time this season, the Merchantmen didn't score a touchdown. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 283 yards, WR Roman Randle caught for 128 yards.
Result 6-26 loss

And just like that, after a strong regular season and one of the most impressive conference playoffs runs, a flat fallen team goes back home without the championships rings. Nevertheless, the 2123 Merchantmen go into memory as one of the top5 awesome Merchantmen teams.


The 2124 off-season is around the corner and keeping the team together will be a challenge. We'll head into free agency and the draft at $173M over the $663M salary cap. Trading away our draft picks will get us only so far, as will capping out the contracts of everybody on a long term deal. But we'll get close and see what happens to us having 47 players still under contract. RB Courtney Jackson had a great season, he'll be a restricted free agent. Unrestricted free agents will be Backup OT Ryan Fulcher (he demands a trade), DT Jeremiah Cortez, LB Jorge Mayes and S Jimmie Coxwell. Special teams ace WR Blake Begay has decided to retire.

So yeah, there's very little time available to sob about the loss, the main focus for the general manager is in the off-season, which will start about now.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2124 off-season

The 2124 off-season is in full swing, we're ready for training camp. No less than 15 new names joined the team for training camp. Not so much a result of our draft, as we traded away all our picks in the first through sixth rounds and spent as few as 2 seventh round picks on WR Chad Garrett and DT C.J. Tapley. THey were joined by undrafted rookies RB Lawrence Bridges, WR Emmett Huntley, DE Jared Badalyan, LB Sebastian Garcia, LB Andres Spencer, LB Wesley Lenhart, CB Carter Banks and S Dwayne Hancock.

Free agency saw us lose DT Jeremiah Cortez. A tough loss, as I hoped to bring him back as soon as we found cap relief. Sadly, the player agent of LB Sam Hastings kept being a mathematically incompetent one and eventually we capped out Hastings' contract, but too late to make cap space available to re-sign Cortez. LB Jorge Mayes and S Jimmie Coxwell eventually did sign a new deal with us. We also signed some veteran free agents in FB Myles Beers (he spent camp with us in his rookie season 2123), pass blocker OT Elliot McKenzie, pass rusher LB Dillon Harding and zone defenders S Kris Backer and J.C. Manning. Those last two became a must need when we found out veteran S Peter Hinsley was suspended and subsequently we decided to release him. He was on the last year of contract and the suspension might it pretty likely for him to retire next off-season anyway. Last but not last, RB Courtney Jackson re-signed as a restricted free agent.

We're currently $13.15M under the $663.8M salary cap and aforementioned RB Jackson will be amongst the players that will become a free agent in the 2125 off-season. WR Rufus Montgomery is by far the most important player on that list. It also includes QB Al Schneider, both our fullbacks, TE Kyle Baker, WR Tyrone Dillon, C Tracy Stewart, G Alfred Pearsall (he's unwilling to sign a new deal), DT Rodney Gagliardi, LB Cristian Beyer, kickoff returning S Donnell Brenner. and a bunch of our role players in the secondary.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2124 roster set
Our final cut downs from 63 players to 53 have been finished. We trimmed down to 60 for pre-season with the release of undrafted rookies LB Sebastian Garcia, LB Wesley Lenhart and CB Carter Banks. At the middle of the pre-season action we released undrafted rookie LB Andres Spencer, free agent signing S Kris Backer, LB Luther Goffee and veteran DE Sebastian Preston. FB Marc King was traded to Harlem. King, Goffee and Preston all showed regression in pre-season, with Preston's agent being a total moron and basically axing his own player by demanding a raise in salary despite the decline. Goffee was one of our aces on special teams, but he became just on par with other linebackers on team and as such expendable. King lost the starting role last season and we decided to not keep him either. Lastly, after the final pre-season games, we released RB Glyn Sloane and undrafted rookie S Dwayne Hancock. Sloane regressed in 2123 and dropped a spot in the depth chart to rookie RB Lawrence Bridges, while not having any special teams value either. Hancock lost out in the numbers game amongst many other zone defense specialists, with his complete lack of special teams skills clinching it. So, what's our roster now?

Quarterbacks
55/55 QB Renaldo Wilson
35/35 QB Al Schneider
00/00 QB Curtis Ginwright
Wilson starts another season, albeit seeing his biggest drop so far since arriving in Maassluis. Schneider will be the understudy for another season. Ginwright is a mentor and kick holder, we'll likely extend his contract into 2125 in case we draft a new quarterback then.

Backfield
55/55 RB Rickey Jorg
35/40 RB Courtney Jackson
40/40 FB Rich Hartman
30/35 RB Lawrence Bridges - rookie
25/30 FB Myles Beers - free agent signing
Jorg and Jackson will be the rotation again, although Bridges impressed in pre-season. Beers will join Hartman on the backfield special teams group, not being ready yet in 2124, but now he does look ready.

Tight Ends
60/60 TE Brayden Flylum
40/40 TE Kyle Baker
35/40 TE Sedrick Hill
30/30 TE Perry Bussey
Same group as last season, Flylum returns as one of our three 1,000-yard receivers, whilst also scoring 14 touchdowns. Baker has developed into a solid route runner.

Wide Receivers
55/55 WR Roman Randle
45/45 WR Rufus Montgomery
45/45 WR Rodolfo Lane
45/45 WR Tyron Dillon
30/35 WR Emmett Huntley - rookie
15/35 WR Chad Garrett - rookie
Yes, they are declining, but these four guys played so well last season. Dillon has turned into the best route runner on the team, we'll get him more involved than last season. Garrett is a third down route runner with special teams skills. Huntley might turn into our new punt returner sooner or later, stepping in as soon as Lane is no longer able to play. Randle and Montgomery both were 1,000-yard receivers last season, Montgomery with a solid 10.5 yards per target and Randle with 10 touchdowns.

Offensive Line
80/80 LT Barry Finley
75/75 G Greg Brizzolara
75/75 LT Dan Clancy
70/70 G Marcos Perez
45/45 C Tracy Stewart
40/40 G Parker Prior
35/35 G Alfred Pearsall
30/30 RT Elliot McKenzie - free agent signing
We didn't find a more suitable center to improve over Stewart, so he's getting another season, although quite possibly his last if his demands don't go down next off-season. Around him is a phenomenal foursome, it's quite profound they still let their quarterback get sacked as often as they did though.

Defensive Line
80/80 DT Floyd Dillon
50/50 DE Phil Wakefield
45/50 DE Chase Joseph
45/45 DT Neil Burton
45/45 DT Rodney Gagliardi
45/45 DE Roger Graf
30/40 DE Jared Badalyan - rookie
30/35 DT C.J. Tapley - rookie
We lost DT Jeremiah Cortez, which might be a bigger hit than we may wish for. It means Burton will be involved again, as does it mean we'll let some linebackers play defensive end on some formations. Tapley and Badalyan are not yet ready to step into the rotation, Tapley may never be.

Linebackers
60/60 LB Travis Cantu
55/55 LB Sam Hastings
55/55 LB Cristian Beyer
35/35 LB Jorge Mayes
25/25 LB Ezekiel O'Neal
25/25 LB Dillon Harding - free agent signing
Harding jumps in as our new special teamer, together with longtimer O'Neal. Cantu, Hastings and Beyer all played a lot last season and against all odds it looks like Mayes will again see some action on the running downs and neutral formations, especially with O'Neal showing more regression.

Secondary
75/75 CB Andre McAninch
40/40 CB Zachary Blair
35/35 S Max Junker
35/35 S J.C. Manning - free agent signing
30/30 S Cesar Welch
25/25 CB Asher McElroy
25/25 CB Marquis Wolf
25/25 CB Billy Cochrane
25/25 S Jimmie Coxwell
20/20 S Donnell Brenner
Manning is the new guy, stepping into the spot of suspended and released Peter Hinsley. Cochrane, Brenner and Coxwell still made the team based on their special teams value. Most of them we'll rely on their cohesive factor.

Specialists
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
55/55 P Devon Middleton
20/20 LS Roderick Kaeding
A solid trio, seriously.

Overall, we didn't really improve this off-season, regressing was there and the only true improvement was the progress of G Perez and TE Flylum reaching (near) their full potential. With 9 new players, it's not a total return of the previous 53 players, but those 9 guys are all in a backup role, except for S Manning and LB Harding, while FB Beers and WR Garrett will step into the special teams unit.

We'll be facing the weakest divisions from each conference, based on 2124 performance, but as division champions we also get Tucker and Toronto as our replacement for not facing ourselves. Gothenburg won't get it easy either, facing both wild cards Orlando and North Plainfield. Paris and Bordeaux perhaps get some of the easiest schedules with Maassluis and Gothenburg arguably the toughest opponents. Atlanta in the Deep South was 11-5 and +120 in points, so certainly a team to watch out for, whilst Moontown in the Atlantic Coast Division is quickly rising team after recent ownership change.

We'll have to start and maintain strong, as the hardest part of the schedule could be the back end with @ Tucker, vs Texas, @ Gothenburg, @Moontown and vs Bordeaux as the last 5 regular season games. We start with trips to Paris and Outer Banks, followed by hosting Toronto and San Antonio, so it's not quite unthinkable that we'll be happy to be 2-2 when we reach they unavoidable early bye week.

But that's way too much premature blah blah, let's stick with what worked for us last season, taking it one game at a time. 2123 was a fun season, let's hope these guys have a fun 2124 in them as well.

[QuikSand]

Trying not to spoil drama for those following here but not at the league site...

If things work out today, we could have a Massluis-Chesapeake showdown in the title game. Best of luck!

[MIJB#19]

How sad is that, it's been 2 weeks since QuikSand's post and I didn't even notice it until now. 2124 saw perhaps the best Merchantmen team ever, it was the best team in the league during the regular season. Yet I didn't have the energy nor desire to write about it. Sorry for anybody that's been following along in this 3rd installment until the recent couple of seasons with less updates.

[MIJB#19]

2109 - 2118 The Singleton and Tanner period

In the off-season of the 2109 season, the Evan Drake period ended as the Merchantmen released their quarterback after 5 seasons. The decline had set in for Drake, while the rise of Harrison Singleton was eminent, kickstarted with the strong end of the 2108 season. Two-time Offensive Player of the year Billy Russell was also brought in, but it quickly turned out to be nothing more than a backup and mentor role.

A crucial decision came in the 2109 draft as the Merchantmen traded up to acquire the #2 overall draft pick and select WR Jessie Vertelney. Bringing the complete package of a receiver, he quickly became the go to guy for the Merchantmen quarterbacks for nearly a decade. Although never reaching the all-time great figures, bar injuries, Vertelney was a lock for 1,000 yards. Compagnionship came with TE Ted Gordon (pick #18 in 2110) and WR Rodolfo Lane (pick #3 in 2112), later on joined by WR Rufus Montgomery (pick #13 in 2115).

As always, the Merchantmen struggled with cap woes every now or then, but they managed to hang onto the pair of quarterbacks throughout the 2119 season. In contrast, several highly talented players didn't reach the century of games played in Maassluis, in particular 2108 top36 picks LT Earl McBirney, DE Frank Bernard and LB Caiden Hastings, all three walked away after their rookie contracts expired in the 2112 off-season. But a bigger exodus was avoided, as such, other stars like 2108 #34 pick DT Efrain Hutchins, 2111 7th round pick RB Renaldo Billodeaux, 2113 1st round pick LB Jorge Mayes, 2114 #24 pick LT Dan Clancy, 2114 undrafted rookie G Alfred Pearsall, 2116 #15 pick CB Zachary Blair, 2117 #24 K Jeffery DeGroot. Although 2118 #12 overall G Greg Brizzolara and 2115 #23 first round picks DT Carlos Fisher and G Herb Nieves all left as cap casualties.

As Singleton went through ups and downs, the arrival of the equally reliable scrambler QB Bart Tanner (pick #107 in 2112) potentially turned things into a quarterback controversy. Except that a career changing knee injury late in the 2112 season put Singleton on the side line throughout the 2113 season and the first half of the 2114 season as well. Tanner struggled in his first season as a starter, but didn't do much worse than short-term veteran QB Dakota Peterson, who was benched to never start again after a 1-4 start in 2113. Upon Singleton's return in 2114, it was clear that Tanner was the first choice, albeit not a particularly wowing one, yet decent enough to keep the Merchantmen competitive enough to be a winning team. Singleton would see some action from time to time, but was clearly the backup. Despite that neither played all that bad, they didn't manage to get their team over the hump. Singleton lead the team to the conference semifinals in 2110 and Tanner did in 2117, which also saw the Merchantmen end a 12-season stretch without division title, despite getting into the playoffs 4 times in between.

The 2119 off-season saw the start of a revival, with a sensational draft where the Merchantmen walked away with a record breaking 5 first round picks. #3 overall WR Ramon Randle and #27 overall LB Sam Hastings proved to be long term impact players. #21 overall DT Neil Burton turned out to be a bust of sorts, not living up to the first round status, but a decent rotational player nevertheless. #20 overall RT Perry Georgopulos' suffered a career ending knee injury in his rookie season. #18 overall TE Francisco Andersen became a much sought target, but also the subject of mockery over his high number of third down catches coming yards short of a first down.

In the 2120 off-season, the Singleton and Tanner story would come to an end as both were released in the off-season, prior to the pre-season action. Both ended up retiring in the 2121 off-season, Singleton with a 47-33 record and Tanner with a 51-53-1 record.

2109 9-7 (8th)
2110 11-5 (6th) conference semifinalists
2111 6-10 (10th)
2112 9-7 (6th) wild card round
2113 5-11 (14th)
2114 11-5 (6th) wild card round
2115 8-8 (10th)
2116 10-5-1 (5th) wild card round
2117 10-6 (3rd) conference semifinalists
2118 8-8 (8th)
2119 5-11 (14th)

[MIJB#19]

2120 - 2126 The Renaldo Wilson period

During the 2120 off-season, the Merchantmen made a drastic decision. In a blockbuster trade, QB Renaldo Wilson was acquired after just 1 season in Harlem. Although it wasn't as obvious at first, it marked a key moment in what was turning out to be a team capable of scoring 500 points in a single season. QB Bart Tanner was immediately released upon the trade, while QB Harrison Singleton was cut after training camp. The 2120 draft saw the Merchantmen pick CB Andre McAninch at #10 overall and DT Floyd Dillon at #16 overall, a duo that would turn out to be the key defensive stallwarts throughout Wilson's period in Maassluis.

Albeit already 34 years old upon arrival in Maassluis, Wilson proved to be an ironman and hung around through the season he turned 40. For 7 straight seasons, he took full advantage of his phenomenal scrambling skills, if he didn't have the opportunity to connect with any of his four major receivers. WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Rufus Montgomery were already on the team when Wilson arrived, as was 2119 #3 overall pick WR Roman Randle. The Merchantmen kept building a solid offensive line in front of Wilson with 2122 #13 overall LT Barry Finley and 2123 #12 overall G Marcos Perez. Perhaps the most crucial change was in the 2123 off-season, letting go of 2119 #18 overall TE Francisco Anderson and selecting TE Brayden Flylum at #24 overall to replace Andersen. Supported by the RB duo of Rickey Jorg (2122 third round pick) and Courtney Jackson (2123 undrafted rookie), the offense grew into a phenomenal unit.

After a solid 4-0 start in the 2123 season, the Merchantmen saw a pair of 36-33 losses set them back, but with their ability to put 30+ points on the board in almost every game, it was clear that the offense was a power house to reckon with. At the end of the regular season, the week 17 loss at Gothenburg was the biggest outlier, as the Merchantmen went into that game 11-4 with those loses by a combined 10 points. 537 points scored was second best in the league, but it was clear this offense was ready to run havoc, while the defense was doing their share by forcing a lot of turnovers. It continued with one of the most dominant playoffs runs en route to the IHOF Bowl with sensational wins over Orlando (24-9), Toronto (43-23) and a memorable 54-19 drubbing of the Tucker Tigers in their own house. Only to see the team fall completely flat in that IHOF Bowl, losing 26-6 to Arizona, a team that was impressively beaten 36-29 in their house during the regular season.

The team had arrived and in the 2124 regular season, the Merchantmen grew into the strongest team in the league. With a phenomenal 532 to 251 points scored and allowed, they were a team to remember. A hardfought 34-28 loss at Tucker saw their 13-3 record be good enough for the #2 seed on the head-to-head tie-breakers and in the AOC Championship game, they'd meet again, following a 34-11 demolition of San Antonio in the semifinals. This time, the Tucker Tigers pulled away in the second half, towards a 33-17 victory and ending a would have should have story.

Cap woes ran havoc in the 2125 off-season and despite being able to keep Wilson and his receivers together, the offensive line got depleted and Merchantmen management was proven wrong, thinking the impressive running back tandem of Rickey Jorg (was released) and Courtney Jackson (was let go as a free agent) was a product of the system. The Merchantmen didn't even play all that bad, but Wilson's interceptions and fumbles, in part of the declining protection, cost them a couple of games early on, making a late 4-game winning streak to end the season, fall way short with just an 8-8 record.

Cap woes continued in 2126 and although Wilson was re-signed for another season or two, that 2126 season turned out to be a near disaster, being second worst in the conference. Management did attempt to start the rebuild that off-season, picking QB Martin Marsh at #16 overall and investing in #12 overall S Brendan Barker, #47 overall WR Gene Embree, whilst holding on to some gems from the 2125 late rounds and undrafted rookies haul. In the 2127 off-season, Wilson called it a game, walking away with a $50M signing bonus for that season. Still, Wilson and the support cast around him had restored belief that the Merchantmen could rise back to the top and actually humiliate the most dominant Tucker Tigers team in IHOF History, which was built on 2115 #1 overall pick QB Renaldo Brady, the result of one of the worst trades in league history.

2120 10-6 (3rd) conference semifinalists
2121 10-6 (7th)
2122 7-9 (12th)
2123 11-5 (4th) conference champion
2124 13-3 (2nd) conference finalist
2125 8-8 (8th)
2126 6-10 (15th)

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes - 2127 Recap
With the retirement of QB Renaldo Wilson, everybody expected a transition season in Maassluis. It turned out to be a bit of that and a bit more than just going through the motions of rebuilding. Perhaps helped by a Cupcake Schedule™.

The off-season saw us bring in 3 candidates for the quarterback position. 2nd year 1st round pick QB Martin Marsh was waiting in the wings in 2126 and in limited action was painful to watch. But he was our potential starter for the post Wilson era. Still, I wasn't happy with him as our only candidate, so I tried to trade for one of Snapfinger's two pretty young former 1st round picks, but things never developed into getting to an offer. In stead, we spent our second round pick on rookie QB Tito Burdette and picked up veteran 27-year old former 1st round pick QB Clnfton Shellenberger from Augusta. Pre-season saw Shellenberger (-7/-7 in camp) fall apart, while Marsh (30/45) looked pale and Burdette (15/35) as advertised. All things considered, Burdette felt like the guy looking most like Wilson and got my full confidence. QB Curtis Ginwright (0/0) returned to Maassluis to mentor the two youngsters and be our kick holder if injuries force us to inactivate a bunch of players.

Elsewhere on the offense, we brought in another breakaway speedster with rookie RB Jace Razt (30/35) to compliment returning time share guys RB Lawrence Bridges (35/35) and RB T.J. Tanner (35/35). Special teams aces FB Sammy Fain (20/30) and FB Myles Beers (25/25) filled out the backfield. At tight end we obviously leaned heavily on TE Brayden Flylum (60/60) with his side kicks TE Kyle Baker (25/25), TE Sedrick Hill (25/25) and undrafted rookie TE Bernie Gizzi (15/30). At wide receiver we added two rookies with excellent potential in route running with 3rd round pick WR Dave Waldron (30/55) and undrafted WR Dexter Irwin (25/45). They were both added to the mix that already saw veteran WR Roman Randle (47/47), 2nd year WR Gene Embree (40/50), punt return elite WR Colin Harris (30/30), WR Chad Garrett (30/30) and initially we had big play receiver J.B. Morrison (30/40), but he was replaced at mid-season by special teams ace veteran Duane Yellope (40/40). The offensive line needed an overhaul as our key run blocker G Marcos Perez signed for more money in Gothenburg of all places. We signed veteran C C.J. Bautista (70/70) and drafted G Lamont Henson (30/55) and RT Reuben Blanchard (35/55). Henson ended up being a backup to pass blocker G Zane Tucker (35/45) and allround Ken McGregor (45/45), while Blanchard started opposite LT Dan Clancy (55/55). RT Dale Morton (30/40) saw some action due to injuries as well, while rookie C Don Rahm (20/35) was basically our emergency backup for the season.

The defense saw a mix of trust on the youngsters acquired in 2126 and still bringing in a couple of rookies. The defense leaned heavily on stallwarths DT Floyd Dillon (85/85) and starting to decline Andre McAninch (65/65). First round rookie LB Herman Sweeney (55/70) was a much needed injection of talent. WE brought in veterans DE Eli Crane (55/55) and DT Roberto Aniston (40/40) late in pre-season to add experience to the D-Line. They teamed up with proven pass rushers DE Roger Graf (35/35), DE Irv Downs (30/30) and in particular DE Phil Wakefield (50/50), with DT Neil Burton (45/45) back for another season to try and stuff some running backs. LB Cristian Beyer (50/50 played on the edge again to stop the run, while LB Trent Garcia (45/45) and LB Sam Hastings (60/60) had their own roles at the linebacker positions. Veteran LB Ezekiel O'Neal (10/10) anchored the special teams unit, which saw the addition of undrafted rookie LB Dylan Terrell (15/30). The secondary saw us try to upgrade with 1st round pick CB Anthony DeMarco (40/50), but after an underwhelming pre-season we made him inactive for the full season. Instead we teamed McAninch up with the 3rd and 2nd year guys CB Gabriel Tempest (35/35), CB Lawrence Gatlin (30/30), CB Corwin Walker (25/45) and kickoff returner CB Roberto Huntley (15/20). The safeties group was undisputed the same as in 2126 with S Brendan Barker (60/60) and S Braxton Wilczewski (45/45) the anchormen, S Max Junker (40/40) the experienced backup and S Nickolas Schulz (35/35) the reserves with zone defense skills.

P Devon Middleton (55/55) and K Jeffery DeGroot (85/85) hung around for another season. We actually spent 5th round pick on LS Taylor Winters (20/20), he turned out to be a top10 guy in his steel.


We opened the season going 3-1, winning all our home games vs Paris (30-24), Snapfinger (19-14) and San Antonio (31-0), whilst losing in week 2 at Kansas (20-23). After the bye week, we marched on to 6-1 with solid wins over Atlanta (31-24), at Fort Wayne (16-13) and at Paris (31-22). In week 9 we lost at fellow 6-1 Houston (14-20), blaming it on our QB Burdette getting hurt. In the second half of the regular season, we beat Bordeaux (16-10) despite seeing QB Marsh throw 5 interceptions, then lost at Gothenburg (20-37), beat Chicago (28-20) and surprised at Rochester (26-14). With Burdette still out, we struggled hard at Arizona (22-40), then upon Burdette's return we had a WTF-game vs Gothenburg (3-28) that was their last straw for the division title race. a race we ended up losing despite winning at Iowa (20-10), we chocked the division title at Bordeaux (17-27).

European Division
1. Gothenburg 10-6
2. Maassluis 10-6
3. Bordeaux 8-8
4. Paris 1-15
We lost the division on tie-breakers, but with the 4th best record in the conference, we earned the #5 seed.

In the wild card round we visited 9-7 Harlem, where we played one of our best games of the season (29-7). Because of Gothenburg's choke against #6 seed 9-7 North Plainfield, we moved on to play at #2 seed 11-5 Houston, where we choked (21-24), seeing our elite special teams unit allow a game changing 91-yard punt return touchdown. The bowl game ended up being a nailbiter between the #1 seeds of each conference, with 14-2 Hanalei beating 12-4 Tucker to avenge things going the other way in 2126.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2128 training camp roster set
The 2128 off-season is in full swing as we're ready to head into training camp. A handful of players have left the team.

LB Ezekiel O'Neal retired after 11 seasons in orange white and blue, originally an undrafted rookie signing, he became a special teamers regular in his second season and between 2117 and 2122 was also in the rotation of the defense on running downs with his run defense and play diagnosis skills. O'Neal played in 181 games for us.

Second-year LB Dylan Terrell left us for the Tucker Tuckers as a free agent. He was part of our special teams unit in his rookie season (as an undrafted rookie) and for dubious reasons was livid about playing time and unwilling to return to Maassluis. He signed a 2-year deal in Tucker when he was cleared for other teams to sign him.

DT Neil Burton took a barely better offer from Capital City to leave us after 9 seasons. Once considered to be the bust of out 2119 draft first round harvest, we used him in our rotation on all kinds of downs, given his decent run defense and very good pass rush strength. All things considered, he was just a rotation guy, still played in 153 games for us before he made this decision to go play elsewhere and likely see his career end earlier than it would with us...

DE Eli Crane is still listed as a free agent and is unlikely to get a new deal from us. As a late free agency signing last season, the former Colorado 1st round draft pick rejuvenated his career a bit in Maassluis, but it looks like his tenure with us will end after 1 season with 18 games played.

No worries, we're still heading into training camp with everybody else from last season back, joined by 16 new faces, including 4 non-rookies, of whom 1 is a former member of the team. 25-year old former 1st round pick QB Heath Barber (30/40) was a trade acquisition from Snapfinger, already a target for us in the 2127 off-season, we'll bring him in for the QB2 role, whilst also being an improvement in the kick holding department. 32-year old DE Gage Dotson (65/65) is our splash free agent signing, should be an improvement over aforementioned Eli Crane. LB Mitch Kramer (20/35) is a 26-year old 4th year pro, who has yet to play a down in the IHOF, but bounced around in the league and several times decided to keep faith in making it after being signed during the playoffs by other teams in the league, he might make it on our special teams group. LB Leslie Binkley (10/15) returns to Maassluis, was an undrafted rookie find in 2126 for our special teams unit (played in 14 games), then was cut post camp in 2127 and now gets a second chance with us.

our rookie haul is lead by pick 1.26 CB Dean Prior (35/70), seeing us go to that position in back to back 1st rounds of the draft, our list ran out once we got on the clock and we decided to look at our board and grab the best player available and on top of his defense skills will give us an elite kickoff returner. Pick 2.26 C Leslie Bernstein (20/75) was already on our radar in the late first round and gives us a plan for after our veteran center and an alternative to the less talented guards on the roster. Pick 3.26 DT Ellis Brewer (15/55) should bring us pass rush technique from the inside with the endurance to also be able to play on running downs. Pick 4.26 LB Dustin Knudson (15/55) gives us yet another running downs option at the linebacker position. Pick 5.26 DT Clifton Knight (25/50) gives us more rotational fresh blood at the inside. Pick 6.26 LB Ashton Fisher (20/35) is an intriguing pass defending prospect at his position. Pick 7.26 LB Sergio McWilliams (25/45) is a candidate for passing downs, or if nothing else jump into the void at special teams.

Our undrafted rookie class consists of 6'8" 289 pounds run defending DE Jonah Elrod (20/40), LS Amir Henson (20/20), punt returner/special teamer/RB3 option RB John Quinn (30/35), combine skipping QB Adrian Kinney (10/30) and special teams/big play WR Rickey Harris (20/35).

I'll try to bring an update on the training camp progress of the team and probably combine it with the mid-pre-season re-evaluation of the whole roster...

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes; 2128 recap, how a terrible start handicaps a season

At the closure of the regular season we're the hottest team in football. We're on a 6-game winning streak, stretching out to a 9-2 series, but a 5-game losing streak at the start of the season turned out too much to overcome. Granted, over in the NAC things are absurdly unpreceded with no less than 10 teams with a 10-6 or better record, but over in the AOC we're used to such discomfort and, well, we're kind of there too this season with a winning season and no playoffs.


Our season basically revolved around our quarterback decision. We started the season with QB Tito Burdette as our starter. We ended the season with QB Martin Marsh under center. Acquired to be our QB2, QB Heath Barber finished the season inactive as our QB4, while mentor Curtis Ginwright finished on the active roster as our kick holder. In retrospect I made three crucial decisions this season.

The first decision was to go into the season with 4 quarterbacks on roster. Our further evaluation of our two young quarterbacks Burdette and Marsh were a key factor. Marsh was on the edge of getting cut, but I decided our 3rd year former first round pick showed enough progression that I felt he might turn out to be the safer starter based on his ability to limit turnovers, while Burdette's turnover woes were starting to look like a serious weak end on his play. The second element was, kid you not, their respective 40-yard times. Burdette is the one with better sense rush ability and more likely to scramble, but Marsh clocked a superior 40-yard dash in the off-season, which could translate into a higher percentage of chains moving scrambles. But all that said, I was convinced that Burdette's 8-5 record as a rookie wasn't smoke and mirrors.

After an 0-3 start, I benched Burdette. His inability to connect with his receivers with a bit too many turnovers put me off him. Against Tucker I handed the keys to rusty Marsh rather than Barber. After a closely contested loss, I went back to Burdette for one more game, but after a painful loss at Augusta, I rereversed the decision and Marsh got the nod. After 3 straight wins and 2 costly losses at Orlando and Gothenburg, I kept believing a bit more in Marsh and he delivered, despite his tendency to throw exactly 1 interception in every single game, he kept throwing for 250+ yards. Having more faith in Burdette as our QB2 than Barber, I decided to deactivate our kick holder and activate our backup kick holder Ginwright. Because of their respective overall scouted abilities, Barber was getting the staff's preference when the starting quarterback got replaced, which to me had become a no-no, so, with no other options available to overrule the staff, I had to deactivate Barber.

Around Marsh, the offense slowly improved, yet some players did not. On the offensive line, C Lester Bernstein moved into our starting lineup in week 5, but the staff now says he barely gained any experience. We played C C.J. Bautista at guard in those games, benching G Ken McGregor (he became angry in week 17 and I bet he'll be unwilling to re-sign with us in 2129). RT Reuben Blanchard failed to be a sack magnet, which could mean we'll look for a replacement again next off-season, as I'm neither convinced RT Dale Morton is the right guy. Timing is bad as LT Dan Clancy finished his 15th season with us and might call it a game. I've given up on our 2127 2nd round pick G Lamont Hanson, he'll be a backup here at best next season.

Our running back trio was all over the place, with Lawrence Bridges (4.92 yards per carry) saving the day several times with exceptional long runs. Yet, overall, our running game was worse than previous seasons and both Jace Razt (3.35 ypc) and John Quinn (3.53 ypc) finished the season far below under 4.0 ypc, but, they made up for in in their 3rd down and special teams skills respectively.

The wide receivers kept developing and behind TE Brayden Flylum (1,172 yards, 8 touchdowns) and opposite declining WR Roman Randle (871 yards, 5 touchdowns) the youngster kept growing. Still, as talented as WR Gene Embree, WR Dave Waldron and WR Dexter Irwin, the best route running trio in the league, we'll likely need a Randle type of receiver to make the big plays.

Our defense was solid again. Sure, we allowed the most passing yards in the league, but that's what you get when your run defense is league best at 3.28 yards per carry, teams simply were forced to pass against us. Our yards per pass attempt allowed was better than average, yards per catch was 7th best. We lost 2 of the 3 games DT Floyd Dillon was out with an injury, around him the defense was solid. I re-evaluated our depth chart going into the season, especially at the secondary positions and I think it was part of why we improved a bit. 2127 first round pick CB Anthony DeMarco went from being inactive in his rookie campaign to a starter due to his improved zone defense and bump and run skills. 2128 first round rookie CB Dean Prior became our nickelback. Amidst them, S Brandon Barker and CB Andre McAninch shined with 7 interceptions each and potential All IHOF honors. And, last but certainly not least, any solid defense lives by its linebackers, like our foursome of Cristian Beyer, Trent Garcia and especially Sam Hastings and Harvey Sweeney. And our special teams unit was traditionally strong as well.

2128 European Division
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Maassluis 9-7
3. Bordeaux 3-13
4. Paris 1-15
We got swept by Gothenburg, but had we split the series, we'd still lose the division to them on conference record. We missed out on the last wild card to Augusta by virtue of their head-to-head win. We lost a nail biter in Orlando, the other wild card, which means had we won either of those road games, we would have made the playoffs. Bordeaux struggled behind an undrafted rookie QB (that kid threw 7 picks in 1 game against us), while Paris is one of the worst teams in the IHOF's 125-season history with back-to-back 1-15 seasons, despite a solid roster and this season's 1.1 picked quarterback. They actually benched their franchise quarterback in week 16 and 17... Gothenburg bounced back this season (I mean, they miraculously won the division last season, we proved in the playoffs that in 2127 Maassluis was better than Gothenburg), reviving the career of ex-Bordeaux QB Darrin Whiting into arguably his best season ever.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2129 Roster Set?
Another season, another opportunity to try to win a ring. That should be the way to approach it and, we'll go into the 2129 season thinking it's not impossible. The off-season was somewhat quiet, but not entirely a non-event. I'll go through that a bit and then breakdown the 53-men roster that is coming out of pre-season action.

The off-season changes
LT Dan Clancy retired, marking the biggest departure this off-season. He served our quarterbacks well, our 1st round pick in 2114, day 1 starter and adding up to 232 regular season ad 14 playoffs games. Most prominent mom ent in his career obviously reaching the IHOF Bowl in 2123. Clancy was a key pass protector, but wasn't a weak link in the running game either. I think I can safely say he's in the top3 or 5 left tackles in Merchantmen history.

In pre-season we released 17 players (we went to camp with the 70-men maximum) and some of them had been on the team in prior seasons. DT Clifton Knight was a 5th round pick in 2128 and saw some action that season. G Lamont Hanson was a 2nd round pick in 2127, but in total saw action in just 1 game in those 2 seasons. CB Gabriel Tempest came on undrafted and as mostly a special teamer and a starter in 2127 played in 62 games for us. WR Colin Harris lost the battle for the punt return role and leaves us after 4 seasons in which he grew into an elite specialist. CB Lawrence Gatlin leaves after 3 seasons on our special teams unit. DT Ellis Brewer didn't make the team in his rookie season 2128, but we brought him back post-season and hoped he'd improve enough to make the 2129 roster, which he didn't. LB Leslie Binkley was on our team in 2126 and has lost out on a roster spot for the third pre-season straight. CB Corwin Walker was a starter in 2127, but inactive last season, we saw no room for him this season. The release of Tempest, Gatlin and Walker is a clear sign of shifting from man-to-man experts to bump and run experts in the cornerback group.

Paris held the #1 draft pick and with a franchise quarterback on roster, they made the right choice trading down and letting somebody else take a stab at the top quarterback. We tried to trade for that pick, but were easily outbid by our other French division rival Bordeaux. I looked at the free agent market and made a take it or leave it 3-year $150M offer to QB Jake Bauer. He didn't bite, we withdrew our offer and decided to invest it in our starter from last season QB Martin Marsh. Bauer signed a 1-year deal in Capital City for $33M. Player agents are so stupid...

We go into the 2129 season with as few as 8 new players. C Devan Rodriguez and G Kelly Keene are backups with mentor skills and just enough run blocking skills to be acceptable in case of injuries. RT Rex Asimov was our 1st round pick at #10 overall, that we traded up for. He's not quite the Dan Clancy replacement that we hoped to find this off-season, but he does look like the elite right tackle that we have had in the past. Don't be shocked if I keep my eyes open for a real pass blocker at left tackle in the next day or two. We bring in 5 more rookies in RB Herb Marra (combine skipper with awesome hole recognition), DE Duane James (pass rusher), LB Wes Brann (special teamer), CB Nolan Lang (our new punt returner and bump and run specialist) and S Cris Leupold (special teamer, zone defender).

Which should bring us to the roster breakdown...


Quarterbacks
50/50 QB Martin Marsh (+4 camp, pre-season +8/+6)
40/40 QB Heath Barber
30/40 QB Tito Burdette (+4 camp)
00/00 QB Curtis Ginwright
Marsh is my man from here on. He was honestly close to being cut previous off-season, but I kept faith in his avoid interceptions ability and his faster legs than Burdette. Those two made we flip after the early 0-5 start and now Marsh has his 5-year 264M deal. I'm not yet sure whether Burdette will stay long term or lose the QB2 role permanently to Barber. Ginwright will stick around one more season as a mentor, mostly for Burdette.

Backfield
40/45 RB Herb Marra (+2 camp)
35/35 RB Jace Razt
30/30 RB Lawrence Bridges (pre-season -5/-5)
30/30 FB Sammy Fain (+2 camp)
25/30 RB John Quinn (+2 camp, pre-season -7/-5)
25/25 FB Myles Beers
I have to work Marra into the rotation, his hole recognition is promising. Bridges remains the be the breakaway speed guy, despite a bit of a decline. Razt is a Bridges lite with third down skills and Quinn is a bit of everything with special teams skills to give us an alternative to Beers or Fain for our two backfield special teams spots.

Tight Ends
60/60 TE Brayden Flylum
25/25 TE Sedrick Hill (pre-season -4/-4)
15/25 TE Bernie Gizzi (+3 camp, pre-season -4/-6)
15/15 TE Kyle Baker
Flylum is the man. Special teamers Baker and Hill will be the backups and depending on what kind of play we run, speedy hill or route runner Baker gets on the field. Gizzi will be on the inactive group for another season.

Wide Receivers
50/50 WR Dave Waldron
50/50 WR Gene Embree
40/40 WR Dexter Irwin (+3 camp)
40/40 WR Roman Randle (pre-season -4/-4)
25/25 WR Rickey Harris
THis is a neat group with three stellar route runners (Ebree, Waldron, Irwin) and a couple of speedy guys 9Randle and Harris). Most will also play on special teams in one role or another. Embree went into hold out mode, then declined our much better offer than requested and later on did take what he wanted. Player agents are so stupid agents...

Offensive Line
45/75 C Lester Bernstein (+5 camp)
55/55 C C.J. Bautista (pre-season -8/-8)
35/75 RT Rex Asimov (+6 camp)
50/50 RT Reuben Blanchard
45/45 G Zane Tucker
45/45 RT Dale Morton (+3 camp)
35/35 C Devan Rodriguez (pre-season -10/-10)
30/30 G Kelly Keene (pre-season -9/-9)
This group isn't really ready for the season. Bernstein has made too little progress last season and this off-season to be a clear centerpiece. Bautista and Tucker will be his sidekicks again. Asimov and Blanchard will be the tackles. Tucker might be the better alternative at left tackle than Asimov, but it's not ideal to flip so many guys around to their non-natural positions. We have a day or two to browse through the open market and try to come up with a Plan B.

Defensive Line
80/80 DT Floyd Dillon
55/55 DE Gage Dotson (pre-season -4/-4)
45/45 DT Roberto Aniston (pre-season -4/-4)
40/40 DE Phil Wakefield (pre-season -4/-4)
35/45 DE Jonah Elrod (+5 camp)
20/50 DE Duane James (+4/-6 camp)
30/30 DE Irv Downs
25/25 DE Roger Graf (pre-season -3/-3)
It's Dillon and the side kicks. Aniston and Elrod are the run stoppers, Wakefield, Downs and Graf the paas rushers, with James the future prospect for that group. We'll likely mix in one of the line backers on running downs.

Linebackers
75/75 OLB Herman Sweeney
50/50 OLB Sam Hastings (pre-season -5/-5)
45/45 OLB Cristian Beyer (pre-season -3/-3)
40/40 ILB Trent Garcia
35/45 ILB Sergio McWilliams (+5 camp, pre-season -2/-4)
15/20 ILB Wes Brann (+1/-2 camp)
A neat group with all downs Sweeney and slowly declining Hastings supported by run stoppers Beyer and Garcia. McWilliams might grow into a worthy backup with a mix of pass defense and run stopping skills. Most of these guys will be on the special teams unit as well.

Secondary
60/60 S Brendan Barker
50/60 CB Dean Prior (+5 camp)
55/55 CB Anthony DeMarco
45/45 CB Andre McAninch (pre-season -10/-10)
45/45 S Braxton Wilczewski
30/45 CB Nolan Lang (+4/-2 camp)
30/30 S Max Junker (pre-season -5/-5)
25/30 S Cris Leupold (+4/+4 camp, pre-season -1/-19)
20/20 CB Roberto Huntley (+1/-3 camp, pre-season -3/-3)
We swept through this group a bit, letting go of a bunch of special teamers, but the arrival of Lang makes up for it. DeMarco and Lang will be our bump and run defenders, with McAninch declining, but still the master of this group. Prior is ready to be the nickelback, Barker and Wilczewski continue to be a solid safety duo. Leupold fell apart a bit, but still looks like a worthy dimeback.

Specialists
85/85 K Jeffery DeGroot
55/55 P Devon Middleton
20/20 LS Taylor Winters
A fine group. DeGroot still has to be locked up for the nest season or two, but I think we'll work something out.


So, looking it over, my main concern is the left tackle spot. I do trust in Marsh if he needs to scramble as he's quite speedy. I'm also confident in the route running receivers, these guys played well together in the 9-2 run with Marsh under center. The defense is pretty much as it was last season and that was a group that played quite well.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2129 in review

In short, 2129 wasn't all that great. During the season, it became clear that we were not competing for the division title, nor the wild cards. Or were we? We played a pretty tough schedule, facing the NAC Mid-Atlantic division that saw 3 teams go into thee playoffs. The European Division proved to be tough as Bordeaux made a big leap forward into the playoffs with their rookie QB Matthew Parrish, Gothenburg still going strong eventually eking to the division title and Paris finishing at 8-8.

Yet, we managed to split the divisional series by sweeping Paris, splitting with Bordeaux and playing Gothenburg close but no cigar at home, while getting crushed in their house in week 17. Between all those games, we won just 1 of 4 games against the weak Northeast division and got crushed in week 13 at Orlando, yet beat the eventual Deep South champions Fort Wayne and beat two NAC playoffs making teams. It resulted in an acceptable, yet still disappointing 7-9 record and last place in the division.

European Division
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Bordeaux 10-6
3. Paris 8-8
4. Maassluis 7-9

Gothenburg stumbled at home after a bye, while Bordeaux rightfully crushed Fort Wayne in their place and followed up with playing along with the unstoppable Renaldo Brady lead Tucker Tigers for two quarters until the inevitable crushing came. The Tigers ended up winning the IHOF Bowl with an impressive 33-18 defeat of the Frederick Red Menace. Tucker played in 10 of the last 11 IHOF Bowls, they were only missing in 2123. If only we had followed up that impressive 54-19 win at Tucker with an IHOF Bowl win...

Key factors to our success and lack there of? QB Martin Marsh was sacked a franchise "record" high 56 times, it was the worst figure in the league, despite that we aren't running an all pass offensive game plan. Defensively, we fell back quite a bit as our stellar run defense disappeared and our pass defense was up to the task of facing a lot of pass only offenses with a disappointingly bad yards per pass attempt figure. Our special teams unit kept us in the game several times.

Outlook for 2130? We need to fix our offensive line, that unit seriously let our quarterback down, resulting in a far from Marsh fitting turnover figure. It's unlikely it will result in improvement in 2130 already, our youngsters C Lester Bernstein and RT Rex Asimov haven't made the required progress yet. Our Quarterback situation: cap technically we'll be committed to Marsh for another season or two. The special teams unit will likely remain the same, I don't see us look for a new punter just yet. The defense looks okay, but we have to figure out how we bring DT Floyd Dillon and his sidekicks back to the level of play we've been used to seeing.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2130 in review

If there ever was a season worthy of a "WTF" tag, this one is a front runner. Miracle wins combined with several blow out losses resulted in a points differential of -36. But somehow we clawed our way into a 10-6 record and a with that we kind of belonged in the playoffs field.

Let's back down a bit as the off-season saw us stick with QB Martin Marsh for another season and make the drastic decision to release QB Tito Burdette (he actually was on one of the IHOF Bowl reaching rosters). QB Heath Barber was promoted to the starting role and we hung onto undrafted rookie QB Fernando Jamison as our future project. We had a typical Merchantmen off-season with barely a dozen new players. Most notable additions were first round pick LT Ivan Chandler, veteran trade acquisition DE Dusty Alcott and veteran free agent DT Everett Mills. The later was a necessity after the shocking retirement of our defensive stallworth DT Floyd Dillon, who was by far the biggest loss of the off-season.

We opened the season with a last-second field goal at Paris (26-24 win) after a 60-yard drive, overcoming a 3-interception day for QB Martin Marsh. We followed up with a humiliation by the hands of Hanalei (53-24 loss) in our own Oranje Haven and a hideous showing at Snapfinger (17-6 loss). Our fourth game before the bye week saw us struggle to put yardage into points, as our 496-yard performance at San Antonio resulted in a closer than needed score (27-19 win).

We followed up with a 3-game winning streak, starting with a couple of smooth sailing wins against Atlanta (21-10 win) and at Fort Wayne (33-18 win). Our week 8 showing against Paris saw us pull off one of the craziest comebacks with a 57-yard hail mary touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie it up 24-24 at the end of regulation, then deep into overtime a field goal to complete it (27-24 win). We stranded the mid-season in at Houston with our second blowout loss of the season (37-10 loss).

At home against Bordeaux we were in for a could be crucial game for the division title and we pissed away a big lead, in part due to a silly 81-yard punt return touchdown (27-23 loss). We bounced back with a sensational performance in a turnover fest at Gothenburg, letting them actually get really close in the final minute (22-20 win). We followed that up with another unlikely comeback, with a late 62-yard punt return touchdown by CB Nolan Lang to complete it at Oakland (27-24 win). Another crazy comeback came against Harlem as we needed a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter to tighten things, scored a late field goal to bring it to overtime, where we struck the winning 55-yard field goal as time expired (30-27 win).

Our final four games started with a dreadful showing in Fairbanks, needed a late touchdown and to make it look closer that it actually was (23-13 loss). A dominating performance against Gothenburg (26-20 win) was followed up by yet another crazy comeback as we scored the go ahead touchdown with 2 minutes remaining against Colorado (20-13 win). It took us into week 17 with the playoffs already secured, as the European Division leaders and still alive for a bye week, but traveling to Bordeaux, our rivals for the division title. We got manhandled (31-9 loss) and knew we'd go back to Bordeaux in week 18.

European Division
1. Bordeaux 10-6
2. Maassluis 10-6
3. Gothenburg 5-11
4. Paris 5-11

We went into the playoffs as the AOC's #6 seed and the only of the 12 teams with at -36 a negative points differential (with +59 Bordeaux was 11th best in the field). The AOC saw 15-1 Tucker and 13-3 Augusta from the Southeast. 12-4 Toronto from the Northeast and 10-6 Houston from the Deep South. Over in the NAC, 11-4-1 Oakland and 11-5 Hanalei made it from the West, while 10-6 Fairbanks missed out. 10-6 Chesapeake, 10-6 Frederick, 10-6 Texas and 9-6-1 Arizona completed the field.

In the wild card round, we returned to Bordeaux just a week after a humiliation there. Despite that QB Martin Marsh struggled to complete passes, when he did, he'd get a lot out of it. We raced to a 17-0 lead after the first quarter, but Bordeaux saw their star Matthew Parrish throw his team back in it and make it 21-17 barely 2 minutes into the second half. We continued to make the best out of the rare turnovers and short field situations, while our defense forced Bordeaux to kick a couple of times. It resulted in a much deserved, hard-earned, yet a very surprising victory (34-24 win).

The divisional round saw us travel to Tucker, to face the team that went 15-1 in the regular season and with a quarterback that guided his team to 10 of the last 11 IHOF Bowls. In quite a shocker, we managed to play a ball control game, keeping the Tucker offense off the field as much as possible. Our defense picked off Renaldo Brady 3 times in the first half, but a pair of turnovers the other way around basically nullified it. The score went back and forth, but after we went down by 4 in the fourth quarter, the offense did what it had to do, go the full 75 yards downfield for a touchdown and take plenty of time off the clock. Penalties haunted Tucker on their last chance drive and we completed the shocker with a third down conversion by our undrafted rookie fullback (31-28 win).

On to the AOC Championship Game 2130 we went, facing Toronto at their place. In a game of missed opportunities on our end, we saw our late fourth quarter drive stall at the Toronto goal line and had to settle for a field goal to bring it to overtime. In that fifth quarter, we made too little ground on our first possession and next our state of the art special teams unit allowed a long punt return, which was followed up by a strong drive that eventually saw Toronto kick on second down for the win (19-16 loss).

Toronto ended up losing the IHOF Bowl 21-20 to Oakland.

With that a season of crazy comebacks saw us come pretty close to the IHOF Bowl, in a season where it felt like we barely deserved to make it to the playoffs.

[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: 2131 Why's that guy on the team?

The 2131 season is in full swing and we're trying to prove we deserved to play in the conference championship despite getting outscored during the regular season. Spoiler alert, we've pulled another couple of silly wins already and we're barely into week 6 of things. But the recap of all of that will have to wait for later.

We went into the off-season receiving notification of the retirement of DE Phil Wakefield, TE Sedrick Hill and LB Jeremiah Covington. Wakefield was an undrafted rookie find that we quickly brought into the pass rush rotation and with three straight 10+ sack seasons, he came close to the top 5 all time Merchantmen sack machines, with 74.5 in 166 regular season games (not counting the 10 playoffs games). The highlight and lowlight of his career must have been the IHOF Bowl loss to Arizona in the 2123 season. Hill was a seventh round pick in 2121 and from his second season and onwards he was brought into the active roster as a TE2 and a special teamer in his final seasons, sharing the highlight and lowlight with Wakefield inside Hill's 147 games played for us. Unlike the other two, Covington played in just 1 game for the Merchantmen.

Fast forward to the end of the pre-season, we're sitting at 53 players signed, of whom 10 joined us during the off season. We signed FB Marvin Williamson, TE Cedric Strobel and G Rickey Slaten as free agents, while RT Ian Billmaier was acquired from Bordeaux through trade. From our draft class, the six players that survived cuts were 3rd round pick G Rusty Rattay, 1st round pick LB Damian Sweet, undrafted LB Kevin Dees, 2nd round pick CB Luis Ackerman, undrafted CB Xavier Schwartz and undrafted S Brent Wilson.

Compared to last season, FB Erik Warrick, G Kelly Keene, G Henry Momberg, RT Reuben Blanchard, DE Duane James and LB Matthew Batista failed to make the roster. Warrick was our third down power back, Keene and Momberg were backup mentors, Blanchard asked too much money for the backup role we had in mind for him, James and Batista were cut over over options on roster.

So, who did make the team and in what role?

Quarterbacks
50/50 QB Martin Marsh
20/45 QB Francisco Jamison
25/25 QB Heath Barber
Marsh is our starter, for at least another season. We're committed to him for at least this season and then he enters the next to last season of his contract, which will finally make him cuttable in cap terms. Did we look out for other options? Not particularly. Jamison is a future project, which is tricky given that we don't have a mentor (yet) and he is already in his second season, the time for his development is already ticking. Barber has regressed and is a QB2 at best now and our kick holder.

Backfield
45/45 RB Herb Marra
40/45 FB Marvin Williamson
40/40 RB Devonte Kramer
25/25 RB Lawrence Bridges
25/25 FB Sammy Fain
Marra will be our main ball carrier, but we'll throw Kramer and Bridges in there as change of pace options and Williamson as a power back. Fain is mostly a special teams ace, in which unit he'll be joined by Kramer.

Tight Ends
60/60 TE Brayden Flylum
25/40 TE Dean Fortin
10/10 TE Tracy Wagner
05/05 TE Cedric Strobel
Flylum is Marsh's favorite target. Fortin is the alternate receiver from this group. Strobel and Wagner are special teamers.

Wide Receivers
50/50 WR Dave Waldron
50/50 WR Gene Embree
40/40 WR Dexter Irwin
30/30 WR Roman Randle
15/15 WR Rickey Harris
Waldron, Embree, Randle and Irwin are all in the mix in various formations. Despite past his peak, Randle is still the fastest guy, but these days lacking the route running skills, which the other three guys excel in. Harris is a special teamer, Waldron and Emrbee at times join him there, with Waldron being our kickoff return alternate.

Offensive Line
70/70 C Lester Bernstein
65/75 RT Rex Asimov
50/50 G Riley Slaten
50/50 RT Ian Billmaier
45/45 G Zane Tucker
35/45 LT Ivan Chandler
30/35 C Ray Banks
25/40 G Rusty Rattay
The starters are left to right Chandler, Tucker, Bernstein, Slaten and Asimov. Billmaier is mentoring Chandler and actually a better option, but we need to give the youngster playing time and the cohesion value is also with Chandler. Banks is a backup, because we are obliged to have 7 active linemen. Rattay is on the inactive roster, waiting for injuries to get activated and hopefully still don't get on the field.

Defensive Linemen
50/50 DE Gage Dotson
50/50 DE Dusty Alcott
40/40 DT Roberto Aniston
40/40 DE Jonah Elrod
40/40 DT Everett Mills
30/30 DE Irv Downs
25/35 DT Josh Ohm
20/20 DE Roger Graf
Downs is inactive, but will jump in once an injury arises on the front seven, preferably on the passing downs group. Ohm looks like he will never grow into a playable guy, but for now he's given the opportunity to see valuable time getting lost on the inactive roster. The pass rush group currently consists of Graf, Alcott, Dotson and LB Dees. On the running downs group, we rely on Elrod, Aniston, Mills and LB Sweet.

Linebackers
75/75 OLB Herman Sweeney
50/60 OLB Damian Sweet
45/45 ILB Sergio Williams
45/45 OLB Trent Garcia
35/35 OLB Sam Hastings
25/40 OLB Kevin Dees
Sweeney is the only guy here that always is on the field. The rest of this group plays based in half the formations. The rookies Sweet and Dees split time on the defensive line, Garcia and Hastings are the running downs sidekicks and McWilliams is the passing downs sidekick. From this group, Garcia and McWilliams, sometimes Sweeney, also play a valuable role on the special teams unit.

Secondary
65/65 CB Dean Prior
65/65 S Brendan Barker
55/55 CB Anthony DeMarco
45/45 S Braxton Wilczewski
45/45 CB Nolan Lang
40/40 CB Andre McAninch
25/50 CB Luis Ackerman
35/35 S Cris Leupold
20/35 CB Xavier Schwartz
15/30 S Brent Wilson
15/15 S Max Junker
McAninch is on injured reserve and unlikely to see the field this season, unless he's recovered in time for the IHOF Bowl or whatever game comes earlier for him to be fully ready to play. Schwartz and Wilson lack the special teams skills to make the active roster, they are on the team as prospects with man -to-man and zone defense skills respectively, on top of interceptions ability. Lang, Ackerman, Prior and DeMarco all are in the rotation at the corner slots. Barker and Wilczewski are our all downs safeties, Leupold our nickelback and Junker a valuable special teamer, a unit he's joined in by Leupold, Barker and Prior. Lang is our top-notch punt returner and Prior has grown into an elite kickoff returner.

Special Teamers
75/75 K Jeffery DeGroot
50/50 P Devon Middleton
20/20 LS Taylor Winters
Still an elite kickoff guy and a solid placekicker, but we do overspend on DeGroot. Middleton is solid enough to still not replace him. Winters is still here, we still haven't been able to find a top5 guy.

That breaks down our 53 men, with some back story on why these guys are still on the team. We hope to prove it's a fine group, leaning heavily on the rotation on defensive to keep guys fresh and rely on their respective specialties. The offensive line is slowly getting more cohesive and more talented, but it's far from ready yet. The skill position group saw the arrival of a new elite power back and will continue to do or die by whether heads (300 yards) or tails (multiple interceptions) Marsh shows up. The special teams unit saw some new investments and at the same time a whole lot of the same guys to keep cohesion high, it's quite likely the strongest group in the league and we hope to have a 10-yard per drive advantage because of them.

[MIJB#19]

2131 quick recap
After a 7-3 start, including solid wins at Gothenburg (10-6), Kansas (34-14), Tucker (31-27), Paris (37-24), Snapfinger (29-27), at Bordeaux (20-17) and vs Gothenburg (21-13), the team completely collapsed and not only did we lose 6 games straight, we finished 3 wins behind the playoffs spots and finished the season 7-9 with a -49 points differential.

Many of our wins and close losses needed a miracle special teams play as our cornerbacks Nolan Lang and Dean Prior respectively lead the leagues in all punt returning and kickoff returning areas, each of them scoring 3 touchdowns in their area of specialty. They finished top 2 in that order in the Dogbytes Special teams Player of the Years race.

QB Martin Marsh finishes with one of his worst stats lines, with 3,741 yards passing, 14 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. 37 times sacked was an improvement from the previous two 50+ seasons, but still kind of a letdown.

RB Herb Marra ran for 838 yards with 5.0 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns, which was pretty high considering the rotation with RB Devonte Kramer, FB Marvin Williamson and RB Lawrence Bridges.

TE Bryson Flylm lead the team in receptions and receiving touchdowns, but was outdone in yardage by WR Gene Embree (1,096 yards), marking some kind of breakthrough for the wide receiver. WR Roman Randle, WR Dexter Irwin, TE Dean Fortin and WR Dave Waldron also played their roles in the rotation.

With 31 giveaways, we were one of the worst teams in the league, which added onto the 24.4 points per game allowed with 375 yards per game allowed into making it quite the miracle we still managed to win 7 games.

[MIJB#19]

2132 quick recap
The off-season saw the departure of WR Roman Randle, as he retired after 213 games (including 13 in the playoffs) for the Merchantmen. He scored 72 touchdowns in 13 regular seasons and was one of few players playing up to their ability in the lost 2123 IHOF Bowl, which also marked the biggest letdown of Randle's career and his teammates that season.

We also saw LB Sam Hastings retire after also 200 regular season and 13 playoffs games for the Merchantmen. It marked the end of the era of the 5 first round picks that we spent in the 2119 draft. Randle and Hastings stuck around longest, DT Neil Burton left in 2128 as a free agent, as did TE Francisco Andersen in 2123, whilst RT Perry Georgopulos was cut in 2121 after a grueling injury cut his career short.

The off-season also saw us invest in rookie QB Danny Joseph in the 3rd round, after we picked WR Rod Holdman in the 1st round (spoiler: his route running turned out to be so low, he could be considered a bust for a #9 overall pick) and P Allen Kellogg in the 2nd round (spoiler: a couple of seasons in, he's the best player at his position).

The regular season started okay-ish and after a 5-3 mid-season report, we won 5 games straight to jump into a much deserved division lead and in the mix for the bye weeks. Until we crashed down to earth with 3 losses to end the regular season at 10-6, although having secured a wild card in week 16 with the division by then already lost to Bordeaux.

In the playoffs we upset #3 seed Toronto 30-20 in their place, with a 250 yards and 4 touchdowns statline for reborn QB Martin Marsh, but we followed it up with a big 9-24 choke at #1 seed Tucker in the conference semifinals.

CB Dean Prior was quite possible the player of the season and would have deserved the Defensive Player of the Year honors in his campaign including 12 interceptions, many late game clinchers or comeback setups, if it wasn't for a slightly even more impressive season from Bordeaux' safety Erick Rivers.

QB Martin Marsh returned to the 4,000 yards club and whilst doing that threw for 28 touchdowns versus 14 interceptions. WR Gene Embree lead the team with 1,214 yards receiving, whilst rookie WR Rod Holdman scored 10 touchdowns - yes, Holdman actually played pretty well, that's quite the contrast with that previously mentioned talk about Holdman being a bit of a bust.

[MIJB#19]

2133 quick recap
The main story of the off-season was the release of CB Andre McAninch. Our 1st round pick in 2120 was a day one starter and he hung around for 13 seasons. For 10 seasons straight he was undisputed as an every down shutdown corner, but after having played in a backup role in 2130, he missed the entire 2131 season due to injury, then returned for one more season in 2132 and eventually was cut on the final roster trimming move for the 2133 season. He was signed in the post-season, so he could retire as a Merchantmen, potentially.

We did see RB Lawrence Bridges retire in this off-season after 9 seasons with us, seeing him participate in 112 regular season games and 2 playoffs games. Especially early on in his career, he had his moments with 4 straight seasons seeing him run for a big 50+-yard run.

G Riley Slaten retired after just 2 seasons as a starter with us, ending his 11-year career.

In the draft we invested in the offense heavily, picking pass protecting G Hector Badger in the 1st round, big-play route runner WR Kenyon Stokes in the 2nd round and downfield route runner TE Quinn Bullock in the 5th round, whilst the 4 other rookies showed too little promise to make the team long term.

The regular season was a smooth sailing affair as we steamrolled into an 8-1 record just past the mid-season checkmark with a solid 27-19 beatdown of division title race rival Bordeaux. The very next game saw us piss everything away in a 19-38 loss at home against Gothenburg and it snowballed into a 7-game losing streak, eliminating us from the playoffs before week 17. Shockingly, Gothenburg finished the regular season with 9 straight wins and with a 13-3 record deserved the #2 seed, which they even outplayed by reaching and losing in the IHOF Bowl. Their route didn't get past 10-6 Bordeaux as they lost at Augusta in the world card round.

The defense overall allowed a league worst 390 total yards per game, whilst the offense struggled into just 3.6 yards per carry (29th in the league) and 6.3 yards per pass attempt (24th in the league). Our turnover margin of +9 made a bit up for it, as did our once again stellar special teams play.

QB Martin Marsh added another 4,000-yard campaign to his resume with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, but he also lead the team with 3 rushing touchdowns. RB Herb Marra and 2132 undrafted rookie RB Lenny White were both held to under 3.6 yards per carry. whilst RB Devonte Kramer and FB Marvin Williamson had even less productive seasons. TE Bryson Flylum returned as the team's leading receiver with 1,287 yards and 8 touchdowns, 1 touchdown ahead of rookie WR Kenyon Stokes.

[MIJB#19]

2134 off-season quick recap
As expected, CB Andre McAninch retired this off-season after spending the entire 2133 regular season on the open market as a free agent. Due to being signed during the post-season by us, he officially retired as a Merchantman.

In the draft, we yet again went offense heavy with TE Ray Hutchins in the 1st round, WR Russell Oxford in the 2nd round and QB Kyle Patton in the 3rd round. 4th round pick DE Archie George also made the team, as dud undrafted rookies G Broderick Burroughs and LB Winfred Caldwell. These six were the only new faces to the team, helping revive a traditional strong element of the Merchantmen franchise: the highest cohesion in the league. Practically, S Andre Weber was also a new arrival as we signed him after our last game of 2133 and re-signed him as a restricted free agent.

In the process, we let go of QB Francisco Jamison, TE Bryce Nation, WR Dexter Irwin, C Malik Cunningham, G Brent Wagner, DE Dusty Alcott, DT Demetrius Light and LB Drew Case. Jamison and Wagner found a new team with Fort Wayne, the cursed franchise that saw their second ownership change in 3 seasons time. All others were still free agents at the end of the regular season.

Cutting WR Dexter Irwin was a tough yet logical move as a terrible knee injury picked up late in the 2133 season severely hurt his ability to play football. He left Maassluis after 7 seasons worth of 103 regular season games, 7 playoffs games and all that as an undrafted rookie from the class of 2127.

Scrambler Jamison left us after 4 seasons as a backup, special teamer Nation after 2 seasons worth of just 1 game active, both pass blocker Cunningham and power blocker Wagner as one full season inactive, pass rusher Alcott after 4 seasons with 53 regular season and 5 playoffs games, run stopper Light after one season in the rotation and special teamer Case after 2 seasons.

Looking at the schedule for the regular season, we were tempering our expectations as we were projected to have the toughest schedule in the league, with the early part of it being exceptionally challenging with just 1 home game in the first 7 weeks facing the Tucker Tigers and around that road trips to Gothenburg, Hanalei, Harlem, Augusta and Paris. Coming freshly off a 7-game losing streak from the prior season, there wasn't high optimism, despite scoring more than 25 points per game in the pre-season.

[TheseBoots]

And update would be nice given recent developments...

[MIJB#19]

And update would be nice given recent developments...That's quite undeniable that an update is appropriate.
Let me get on a quick recap of the 2134 through 2137 seasons first...

[MIJB#19]

2134 season recap
After a strong 3-0 start on the road (27-10 win at Gothenburg, 17-14 win at Hanalei, 30-6 win at Harlem), the bye week broke momentum and losses vs Tucker (13-36 at home), at Augusta (13-20) and at Paris (12-24) dropped the team back to third place in the division, with Bordeaux (4-2) leading and Paris (3-3) ahead of Maassluis (3-3) on the early head-to-head tie-breakers, while struggling Gothenburg (2-5) was coming fresh of a 40-34 beatdown of Tucker, with 6 of their home games still to come, putting them still in the mix.

Except that it turned out all to be moot points for the rest of the division as the Merchantmen became red hot and won 7 straight games from there on (26-17 vs Snapfinger, 21-16 vs Bordeaux, 30-23 at Orlando, 33-7 vs Gothenburg, 23-9 vs Oakland, 30-28 vs Fort Wayne and 45-6 at Fairbanks), balancing between close wins and dominant blowouts. A week 15 35-24 loss at Bordeaux kept the Merchantmen from clinching the division early, but in week 16 Colorado was beaten 23-17 to lock up the division title. Still pushing for a bye week, the Merchantmen rolled on in week 17, crushing Paris 37-9.

European Division 2134
1. Maassluis 12-4
2. Bordeaux 10-5-1
3. Paris 8-8
4. Gothenburg 5-11

By virtue of the week 5 loss against Tucker, the #2 and #3 seeds were divided, putting the Merchantmen on the #3 seed and hosting Bordeaux in the wild card round. Leaning heavily on their defensive play, the Merchantmen stormed to a big lead and saw Bordeaux and their QB Matthew Parrish almost pull off the amazing come back from a 21-point deficit, coming short on a screen play when a hail mary was warranted. It ended in a 34-29 Maassluis victory.

In the conference semifinals, completely against all logic, the Tucker special teams unit scored an early punt return touchdown against the best special teams unit in the league and forced just enough fumbles to come out victorious in a game that saw the Merchantmen come 9 yards short on a completed hail mary from QB Martin Marsh to WR Russell Oxford. CB Dean Prior scored his second defensive touchdown of the playoffs, but it was insufficient to overcome the 21-28 loss.


The regular season saw the Merchantmen lead the league in defensive interceptions (big role for Dean Prior with 11, but also 5 for S Brendan Barker and pass rush specialist turned part time zone defender LB Tyrus Hertz), while giving up the second least number of points and as always leaning strongly, but not as dominantly as they should be, on the special teams unit.

[MIJB#19]

2135 season recap
The retirement of TE Bryden Flylum jumped out in the off-season (Flylum got inducted in to the IHOF Hall of Fame in 2139 with a 100% score). Flylum ranks 2nd among all Merchantmen with 1178 receptions and 7th with 12,903 receiving yards. Flylum already groomed his two successors TE Quinn Bullock and TE Ray Hutchins, leaving behind a strong pair of targets for QB Martin Marsh.

The off-season saw little other turnover on the roster, making the Merchantmen jump back up to being considered the elite team in terms of cohesion. The offense saw the departure of RB Lenny White and arrival of rookie RB Tony Ashworth. TE Abel Nield was a short term gap filler for the retirement of Flylum, as TE Dean Fortin moved into an active roster spot. G Zane Tucker left and was replaced by mentor G Michael Cook.

The defense saw the arrival of green DE Kenny Hopkins and DT Marc Hastings, the drafting of talented LB Trevor Fitzgerald in the draft at slot 1.28, taking over from veterans LB Herman Sweeney (released and signed with Fort Wayne) and LB Trent Garcia (retired). The secondary saw the release of S Braxton Wilczewski, with nobody replacing him, trusting the backups from the prior season to jump in.


The regular season turned out to be an uphill battle. After a lackluster 2-5 start (with all but one loss coming by a single score), the Merchantmen bounced back with 5 straight wins, which included a 28-27 win on a 52-yard field goal, a 34-27 win over Bordeaux set up by a Dean Prior pick six and a 21-18 win over Gothenburg that included a crucial sack for a safety by LB Tyrus Hertz.
After a 4-interception game from QB Martin Marsh in a 20-22 loss at Arizona, the playoffs were still possible as the rest of the European division was also struggling and the Merchantmen were dominating divisional play. A 33-20 win vs Paris put Maassluis back on top of the division with an 8-6 record, ahead of Gothenburg (7-7) and Bordeaux (7-7). The Merchantmen choked in week 16 at home against Iowa, once again seeing QB Marsh struggle with turnovers. A week 17 win at Gothenburg would still put the Merchantmen a top the division, but the Giants were on a mission and tore the Merchantmen apart with a 30-12 score for Gothenburg.

European Division 2135
1. Bordeaux 9-7
2. Maassluis 8-8
3. Gothenburg 8-8
4. Paris 4-12
Maassluis finished second on conference record, but far behind the 11-5 wild card teams. Bordeaux hosted one of them, but Augusta crushed them 45-27.


QB Martin Marsh had a career high 4,514 yards passing, but his 18 interceptions and 23 passing touchdowns proved to be a reason to think this might be the end of it for him and it might be time to throw still underdeveloped backup QB Danny Joseph out there in 2136, after riding the bench for 4 seasons...

[TheseBoots]

Yeah. You should start that Joseph kid IMO.

[MIJB#19]

2136 recap: The Danny Joseph era begins?
After a pathetic 1-3 finish to the end of the playoffs missing 2135 season, where just one more win would have netted the division title ahead of Bordeaux, it was clear that QB Martin Marsh had fallen out of favor with Merchantmen management. At such times, one would expect the Merchantmen to make a bold move to sign or trade for a veteran that had fallen out of favor elsewhere, or perhaps even draft a replacement. Instead, 24-year old QB Danny Joseph was pushed forward as the new starter, at least for the season, ahead of Marsh.

With presumably fast legs and smarts, Joseph fitted the team's desire to have a quarterback that can extend drives both through the air and with his running instincts. A gamble still as Joseph was still underdeveloped and entering his 5th season in the IHOF, there were worries about him never reaching his potential. His limited action so far was basically one crappy performance in week 17 of his rookie season vs Gothenburg when a wild card for the playoffs was already locked up. In further limited action he had tallied up to 32 of 72 passes completed for 450 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Around Joseph, the offense continued to change. RB Herb Marra was released after 7 seasons, considered to be over the hill, while LT Silas Shepard was added to the team being taken at pick 1.15. In the second round, the Merchantmen selected K Dashawn Bostick, expecting him to live up to the kind of skills that K Jeffery DeGroot - snubbed by the HOF committee - provided. On the defense, seasoned veteran DT Dillon Planish was signed in free agency, but otherwise that unit basically remained unchanged from the 2135 personnel.

RT Rex Asimov went down with a season ending injury in week 5, causing a bit of a reshuffle on the line, but with the investments in recent drafts, the line remained solid enough even without their best run blocker. In his first season as a starter, Joseph delivered as he threw for 4,512 yards with 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, while proving his running ability with 376 yards, 5.7 yards per carry and 45 touchdowns, placing him just barely behind the struggling tandem RB Tony Ashworth (410 yards, 2.5 per carry, 4 touchdowns) and RB Devonte Kramer (391 yards, 3.2 per carry, 4 touchdowns).

The season started with a solid 46-23 win at Paris, which already showed the early glimpses of what the Merchantmen in 2136 wanted to play like: spectacular special teams play, a sneaky defense with turnovers to make up for the yardage allowed and a hard to predict offense with no less than 6 passing targets used in rotation.

The next couple of games saw the Merchantmen sit at 3-1 going into their bye week, with a daunting 42-21 loss at Augusta, who turned out to be the eventual IHOF Bowl winners that season, sandwiched with solid wins at Outer Banks (24-15) and against San Antonio (24-13).

A couple of silly losses at Fort Wayne (15-21) and against Capital City (33-37) against underwhelming opponents tempered the overall confidence in the team, despite a 10-3 record going into the final 3 games of the regular season. A crucial road game at Gothenburg in week 15 saw Joseph lose to fellow class of 2132 QB Todd Cates and another pair of nasty losses later, the Merchantmen had pissed away the division title into Gothenburg hands.

2136 European Division
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Maassluis 10-6
3. Bordeaux 7-9
4. Paris 6-10

The Merchantmen still made the playoffs as the #6 seeds, visiting Gothenburg in the wild card round, but even knocking aforementioned QB Todd Cates out of the game before half time proved to be far too little to stand a chance as QB Danny Joseph had his worst showing of the season with 3 interceptions (his first triplet of the season) as he completed just 22 of 50 passes.

Did QB Danny Joseph convince management enough to not keep their eyes open for other options?

[MIJB#19]

2137 recap
Perhaps not quite convinced in QB Danny Joseph just yet, the Merchantmen acquired QB Aidan Shannon, a player that they openly pursued in prior seasons. They also were open about their interest in QB Todd Fraaije, another scrambling quarterback, but Brooklyn didn't want to let him gom. it put the pressure on Joseph to not just think that a single season as the starter would be a guarantee to maintain.

QB Martin Marsh was no longer in the mix, he retired after one season in the bench in Maassluis. He went out with a 78-56 record as a starter, having played in 140 games for the Merchantmen, including the 2130 AOC Championship game (16-19 loss at Toronto). He had four 4,000-yard seasons, adding up to 32,856 passing yards in regular season games with 186 touchdowns and 140 interceptions. Marsh also ran for 2,509 yards and 16 touchdowns with a 5.8 yards per carry average.

Former 1.9 pick WR Rod Holdman was released and ended up in a backup role with Bordeaux (as of 2140 he's retired and has already taken on the job of Offensive Coordinator in Gothenburg). More important was the addition of three new backfield players with veteran RB Salvador Ursino and rookies RB Andres Fallang and RB Cris Street, joining the returning special teams aces RB Tont Ashwort and RB Devonte Kramer. The offensive line saw the arrival of promising strong G Jalen Ramsey. The defense once again was nearly unchanged, to strenghten their cohesion. DT Rod McNeil was released in pre-season and spent his last 3 seasons with Tucker. He was replaced with 1.24 draft pick DT Matthew Dawson. The defense also saw the arrival of zone defense specialists LB Shaun Samuels and LB Warren Carpenter.

The 2137 regular season turned out to be a bit of a bumpy road, but despite the Merchantmen's struggles, like getting swept by Gothenburg and losing at home against Bordeaux, they did clearly outscore their opponents and all the losses were hard fought close ones. With an underwhelming 8-7 record, they went into week 17 hosting Paris in a winner takes the division title clash (although technically Gothenburg would have won with a Paris win had Gothenburg themselves won against Bordeaux, which they didn't) and despite getting outperformed in total yardage and losing the turnover battle 2-0, the special teams play, bent but don't break defense and the unpredictable offense carried through in what ended up being a smooth 27-10 win to win the division.

2137 European Division
1. Maassluis 9-7
2. Gothenburg 7-9
3. Paris 7-9
4. Bordeaux 7-9

The Merchantmen took the #4 seed in the AOC, ahead of playoffs missing 10-6 San Antonio and having to face 12-4 Tucker in the wild card round. The Merchantmen flourished and had one of their best showings against the all pass offense of Tucker, crushing them 41-13. In the conference semifinals, the Merchantmen had two shots to pull off a comeback from behind win at the reigning IHOF champions Augusta, but both drives were stopped short and Augusta progressed with a 20-14 win into the AOC Championship game 2137.

QB Danny Joseph upped his regular season numbers to 4,674 yards passing with 30 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, with 456 yards rushing (6.3 per carry) and 1 touchdown. New tandem RB Salvador Ursino and RB Andres Fallang showed improvement to the running game with almost 4.0 yards per carry each and combining for 1,365 yards and 14 touchdowns. On the receiving end, WR Russell Oxford had his first 1,000-yard season, while WR Kenyon Stokes was close at 978 yards and veteran WR Dave Waldron scored 13 touchdowns.

QB Aidan Shannon ended up playing in just one game, a 40-48 loss against Tucker in the regular season, in which he threw for 39 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, with 0 runs, in a late comeback from behind effort. It turned out to be Shannon's only game played in the Merchantmen uniform as the 2131 1.3 overall pick retired in the following 2137 off-season shortly after turning 30 years old.

[MIJB#19]

2138 regular season preview
Every now or then, all the pieces fall into place and you get a chance to have a retrospective on how and why things went that way. But to be able to do that, you also need the narrative of what happened up until that point. So, in 2136 and 2137 it became clear that for the foreseeable future, the Merchantmen figured they had found their franchise quarterback: QB Danny Joseph.


A look back at the 2132 draft
Let's rewind on that really quickly. QB Danny Joseph was selected in 3rd round of the 2132 draft with the 76th overall pick. It presented itself as a draft lacking talent at the particular position and none were taken in the first round. The top 3 picks were all wide receivers and 11 of them would be selected before the first QB taken.

At pick 2.12 of the 2132 draft, Peyton Desrosiers was taken by San Antonio. He spent just 2 seasons with his original team with 4 starts in his rookie season. Then he got released in the 2134 off-season, was picked up by Kansas and as their full time starter, threw for nearly 4,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and guided them to the conference semi finals. He was still the starter for the first 4 games in 2135, but then got demoted into a clipboard role for the 2136 and 2137 seasons, moving on to Tucker in a backup role in 2138, except that he failed to survive roster cuts and - spoiler alert - retired in the 2139 off-season.

Tucker had also picked a quarterback in the 2132 draft, at pick 2.31 Lawrence Swift was taken and turned to be yet another one of their blatant busts in an early round. He didn't even make it through pre-season in Tucker and remained a free agent through the playoffs, where San Antonio picked him up. He saw action as their kick holder in 2133, before he became the surprise starter in 2135. Subsequently his agents advised him to hold out in the 2136 off-season, San Antonio cut him and no other team felt like he was worth whatever delusional demands he had. In 2137 he was already out of football.

Then at pick 3.12, QB Danny Joseph was the third quarterback taken. A young 20-year old prospect going into the draft, he ranked 76th overall on the consensus draft board, but in Maassluis, Joseph ranked 25th on their draft board. As such, it felt like landing first round talent in the third round and with the ongoing search for the successor to QB Renaldo Wilson, it was worth a shot. Joseph wasn't interviewed, but his Solesicmic Test score of 25, 40-yard dash of 4.68, strong arm (15 bench press) all felt like making up for being estimated as just 3% developed. His scouted bar profile looked like this:
QB Danny Joseph pre-draft 2132
sc ps X???______ 13-41
sh ps XXX???____ 30-58
md ps X???______ 13-41
lg ps XXXXXXX??? 72-100
dp ps XX???_____ 24-52
3d ps XXX???____ 33-61
accur XXXXXXX??? 71-99
timin XXXXXXX??? 72-100
s rsh XXXXX???__ 53-81
rd df ???_______ _0-28
2m of X???______ _7-35
scr f XXXXXXX??? 72-100
kck h XXXXXXX??? 72-100

The rest of this quarterback draft class:
- 3.13 QB Miles Andrews (in 2138 a backup in Frederick after an up and down 6-season stint with his original team Colorado
- 4.4 QB Ezra Gothe, a 1-season backup for Capital City, then bouncing around from Frederick to San Antonio (spoiler: he was unsigned in 2139 and retired in 2140)
- 4.7 Todd Cates, a pre-season roster cuts casualty as a rookie in Chicago and signed by Gothenburg late in the 2132 season, there initially a backup, but in 2136 and 2137 he started in 12 games for the Giants, including a big win in the playoffs of 2136 against the Merchantmen (spoiler: Fort Wayne signed him in the 2140 off-season)
- 4.8 Todd Fraaije, probably one of the Dutchest last names to ever get into the IHOF, picked by Brooklyn and after 2 flipflop seasons won the management over in 2134 to become the fulltime starter, a division champion in 2136 as the highlight so far (spoiler: in 2140 he's still the Brooklyn starter); Fraaije was the alternate quarterback project on the Merchantmen draft board, he runs even more than Joseph, perhaps even a bit too much?
- and then three more guys after the fourth round that were retired by 2136 after combining for 0 starts.


2138 off-season roster changes
Joseph status wasn't undisputed going into the 2137 pre-season as QB Aidan Shannon was brought in with a vibe that made it sound like Merchantmen management wanted him to become the starter if Joseph would fail or started asking for too much money. But Shannon wasn't patient and after just one season as the backup to Joseph, he retired in the 2138 off-season. In contrast to having just 2 quarterbacks on roster in 2137, the Merchantmen kept 4 for the 2138 campaign, with rookies QB Toby Nelson and QB Cary Warren and mentor/veteran K.C. Crutchfield.

Elsewhere on the offense, four other players were replaced. Special teams ace RB Devonte Kramer retired and was replaced with rookie RB Sedrick Zgonina, another special teamer. FB Mavin Williamson was no longer needed as a third down back and he was replaced with special teamer FB Matthew Hill. TE Chris Chernetsky was replaced with veteran special teamer TE Jesse Grissom. Rookie WR Amos McBirney made the team in place of the retired special teams ace WR Darrell Priester.

On the defense, DT Dillon Planish retired and was replaced with rookie DT Margin Broyles. LB Sergio McWilliams didn't make the team at all. In the secondary, S Cris Leupold was released and replaced with S Lawrence Lynn and veteran elite special teamer S Timothy Blades. Lynn was a pre-season cut in 2137, then signed in Oakland for that season and in the 2138 off-season a post draft signing.


2138 Merchantmen opening day roster breakdown:

Quarterbacks:
50/50 QB Danny Joseph
15/30 QB Toby Nelson, rookie
45/45 QB K.C. Crutchfield, veteran signing
05/30 QB Cary Warren, rookie
Joseph was the clear starter, with Nelson the active backup and the others inactive. We'll not go into the details of all 53 players, but it's worth sharing the 'bar profile' of the quarterback here. Joseph has some interesting aspects to his skills, being exceptionally well in long passing, but also having a good dose of mobility, accuracy and timing:
QB Danny Joseph 2138ish
sc ps XXX_______ 30
sh ps XXXXX_____ 50
md ps XX________ 20
lg ps XXXXXXXXXX100
dp ps XXXXX_____ 50
3d ps XX________ 20
accur XXXXXXXX__ 80
timin XXXXXXX___ 75
s rsh XXXXXXX___ 65
rd df X_________ _5
2m of X_________ 10
scr f XXXXXXX___ 75
kck h XXXXXXXXXX 95

Backfield
55/55 RB Andres Fallang
35/35 RB Salvador Ursino
30/40 RB Cris Street
25/30 FB Matthew Hill, rookie
20/30 RB Sedrick Zgonina, rookie
10/10 FB Sammy Fain
Fallang and Ursino were the duo splitting carries, with Ursino geared towards the first and second downs and Fallang for third downs and passing downs. Fallang was also reinstalled as the punt returner late in the regular season. Fain and Hill were both active to bolster the special teams unit, Zgonina and Street both inactive.

Tight ends
60/60 TE Quinten Bullock
60/60 TE Ray Hutchins
25/25 TE Jesse Grissom, veteran signing
20/20 TE Dean Fortin
Bullock and Hutchins were the clear starters, both would be used a lot. Fortin was active, boosting the special teams unit with cohesion. Grissom was an injury insurance policy. Bullock and Hutchins both had a route running ability between 85 and 90.

Wide receivers
50/50 WR Russell Oxford
50/50 WR Kenyon Stokes
35/50 WR Amos McBirney, rookie
30/30 WR Dave Waldron
25/25 WR Gene Embree
Although Oxford and Stokes were the clear play makers, Waldron's experience and cohesion also kept him in the mix for a quintuple (with the tight ends) that would share all the targets as evenly as possible. Embree was meant to mostly play on the special teams unit, McBirney basically just the WR5. All five could provide very good to excellent route running, with McBirney still very green and needing time to develop.

Offensive Linemen
75/75 G Hector Barger
65/65 RT Rex Asimov
60/60 C Lester Bernstein
55/55 LT Silas Shepard
50/55 G Jalen Ramsey
35/50 C Josiah Braham
40/40 G Broderick Burroughs
20/20 LT Ivan Chandler
A very solid group, with Asimov the key run blocker. Braham was a backup, but basically the only other run blocker of the group. Barger, Bernstein and Ramsey were a top3 pass protection interior in the league, with Shepard not far behind as a suitable left tackle. Burroughs still around the stop in for injuries and bringing cohesion to make up for 'talent loss' if applicable.

Defensive Linemen
60/60 DT Matthew Dawson
45/45 DE Archie George
45/45 DE Enrique Shiver
40/40 DT Marc Hastings
40/40 DE Jonah Elrod
35/35 DE Paul McDaniels
30/40 DT Margin Broyles, rookie
A non-spectacular group with Dawson and Elrod the only (excellent) run defenders of the bunch and the rest basically a whole bunch of good pass rushers with very good play diagnosis. The plan was to have 8 players splitting time on the line with some of the slots filled by linebackers. All but Broyles were supposed to be part of the active 46 to make that happen.

Linebackers
65/65 ILB Trevor Fitzgerald
50/50 OLB Damian Sweet
45/45 ILB Winfred Caldwell
40/40 OLB Warren Carpenter
40/40 OLB Tyrus Hertz
30/30 OLB Kevin Dees
25/25 OLB Shaun Samuels
The whole group was made active. Samuels and Carpenter as the zone defense specialists for passing downs. Fitzgerald and Caldwell were the running downs specialists. Sweet had all around skills and occasionally would play at defensive end for additional run stopping skills there or to boost the pass rush. Hertz and Dees both had plenty of pass rush speed still to step in on the D-line as well, but were also special teams options, together with Samuels and Fitzgerald.

Secondary
45/45 CB Dean Prior
45/45 CB Luis Ackerman
45/45 S Andre Weber
40/40 S Brendan Barker
35/35 CB Marc Beam
35/35 S Timothy Blades, veteran signing
35/35 CB DeMarco Murray
35/35 S Lawrence Lynn, veteran signing
15/15 CB Ike Joseph
Based on this, nothing special, but these players all had their particular skills as either a specific zone defender of bump and run defender. Many provide cohesion and many are very good to excellent in intercepting passes. Joseph was initially the punt returner but late in the regular season fell from the active roster, in part because of Fallang taking over. Prior was also the topnotch kickoff returner, on top of being a nickel back option.

Special Teams
85/85 P Allen Kellogg
70/70 K Dashawn Bostick
20/20 LS Tyrus Parrish
Parrish and Kellogg were elite players at their positions. Bostick was pretty close in terms of kickoff skills and field goals/extra points kicking. Combined with a top five kick holder in QB Danny Joseph and more than a dozen other excellent special teamers, this whole unit was the best or at minimum top two in the league.

[MIJB#19]

2138 Regular Season Recap
After a 9-7 campaign in a a division with three 7-9 teams, we were in theory the favorites to repeat as division champions. The schedule would also make our division face the Northeast (3 winning teams in 2137), the West (all four were between 6-10 and 8-8 last season), the Deep South champions Fort Wayne and a game against Augusta (16-0 in the regular season, but 2137 IHOF Bowl losers, following their 2136 IHOF Championship).

Week 1 vs Bordeaux
Bordeaux lead 14-7 at the start of the second quarter as they had two touchdown scoring drives, while we missed a field goal and also scored an offensive touchdown (QB Danny Joseph to TE Dean Fortin) in between. We had to settle for field goal three times and allowed another Bordeaux touchdown to go into half time trailing 20-16. In the third quarter we flipped things around, seeing QB Joseph connect with TE Quinn Bullock and WR Dave Waldron for touchdowns, while Bordeaux also scored another touchdown. Then and there it was all over for them as we kept them in check. Our offense tallied up to 529 total yards, with Joseph throwing for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Result: 36-27 win

Week 2 at Hanalei
Our winning ways continued with a solid trip to Hanalei. While our defense kept the Dragons to 208 total yards, their only touchdown of the day came on a 66-yard interception return. Off season arrival RB Salvador Ursino capped off a couple of drives with running scores (he tallied up to 117 yards rushing for the day), while QB Danny Joseph added a run and a pass to WR Gene Embree to it, eventually tallying up.
Result: 44-13 win

Week 3 vs Augusta
After a sour start to the season (40-27 loss at Tucker), Augusta bounced back with a convicing 47-26 beatdown of Kansas and looked ready to folow up on their win in the 2137 playoffs in the conference semifinals against us. Initially they indeed did and dominated us into a half time with a 17-3 lead, but at that point they were already down their quarterback as he left early with a leg injury. We took full advantage of the situation and while they struggled, we steadily trimmed the deficit. Albeit settling for an 18-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to keep us 17-16 down still, a strong drive later was finished by QB Danny Joseph's second touchdown pass of the day, after earlier finding WR Kenyon Stokes, it was WR Russell Oxford this time on the game winning score.
Result: 22-17 win

Week 4
Result: a boring bye week

Week 5 at North Plainfield
After the strong win against Augusta, facing the fellow 3-0 North Plainfield Plague proved to be another big test. Game preparations were haunted by illness in Maassluis, but those were feeble excuses for the strong performance that North Plainfield put down. A couple fumble infested drives kept things close as wen clearly struggled to get much more point on the board after first and only touchdown (QB Danny Joseph to TE Quinn Bullock).
Result: 17-13 loss

Week 6 vs Rochester
After the previous close game, it was key to bounce back right away. A struggling Rochester helped, or did they really? We managed to have the field position upperhand despite losing the turnover battle 2-0. QB Danny Joseph got picked off twice, but we've come to learn a thing or two about him that he's strong in bouncing back in such games and he ended the day with a whole bunch of crucial runs and 4 passing touchdowns (WR Dave Waldron twice, WR Kenyon Stokes and TE Ray Hutchins once each).
Result: 28-14 win

Week 7 vs Toronto
In a game between two 1-loss teams, the football fans were getting ready for a treat and it delivered. With the two teams combining for 917 total yards and both turning over the ball twice, there was plenty of thrill and drama. Field goal settlements put Toronto up 6-0 after the first quarter, but it also helped us lead 14-13 at half time as we did manage to get into the end zone (QB Danny Joseph found WR Russell Oxford and TE Ray Hutchins on long throws). The red zone defense continued to make a difference as Toronto settled for 3-pointers twice in the third quarter, before our offense really took off with a couple more touchdowns (QB Danny Joseph to WR Dave Waldron and TE Quinn Bullock) to pull away in the fourth quarter. A last minute touchdown for Toronto came way too late. Joseph threw for 345 yards, with 108 yards to Oxford.
Result: 31-24 win

Week 8 vs Paris
Despite struggling so far (Paris came into the game with a 1-5 record), we knew that we can't take anything for granted against the Musketeers. Our concerns were unecessary as we steamrolled to a 27-7 lead at half time, QB Danny Joseph put the point on the board again with passes to TE Ray Hutchins (once) and WR Russell Oxford twice. Paris responded with an 80-yard touchdown run at the start of the second half, but after a failed extra point, a long Merchantmen field goal and Paris settling for 3 to start the fourth quarter, this game was over, or was it? Paris clawed back into the game and after an impressive drive, the score was 33-33 with just over a minute to go. We were held back and after a deep punt preparing for overtime. But CB Dean Prior decided differntly as Paris decied to go for it and Prior not only picked the ball off as time expired, he used that time efficiently enough to get into the end zone and complete a bizar victory, adding to the already long list of crazy Maassluis-Paris games.
Result: 40-33 win

Week 9 at Harlem
Visiting the 3-4 Apollos, it became clear that we were facing a last chance team. In a defense dominated showdown, our special teams play was good, but not enough to give us the field position edge. The latter was only in part due to the turnover fest as both team lost possession three times. Despite all that, we had a chance to bring it home, leading 16-10 in the fourth quarter, but then Harlem got a very short field on a punt return fumble and needed just one play to make the full 6 yards to take an unexpected lead we couldn't overcome.
Result: 17-16 loss

Week 10 at Bordeaux
Our second encounter with the Vineyards was sort of similar to week one, except that scoring was even higher this time around. Around the time that K Dashawn Bostick scored on a last second field goal at the end of the first half, we were leading 27-20, suggesting this could escalate into a sensational shoutout. it didn't happen as both teams added just 6 more points to their end of the score board. QB Danny Joseph threw for 330 yards with a touchdown pass to TE Quinn Bullock and TE Ray Hutchins one each. Bullock also added up to 111 yards receiving.
Result: 33-26 win

Week 11 at Gothenburg
Traditionally the game I least look forward every season as "at Gothenburg" is often a wake up call game for us. This time around, it was a different kind of wake up. In a hard fought contest, although we got outgained in total yardage, it became clear that we're a team on a mission, capable of incredible things. Here, blocked punts ended up being a crucial thing, including one getting recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by off-season acquisition S Teddy Blades, delivering on his best special teamer in IHOF reputation. Around that, both offense scored 4 touchdowns, with ours all passes from QB Danny Joseph, this time spreading them around to WR Russell Oxford (twice), and TE Dean Fortin and TE Ray Hutchins.
Result: 35-30 win

Week 12 vs Oakland
The Merchantmen kept on cruissing and made another statement in the home game against the Black Panthers. The game started with a 40-yard fumble return touchdown from our DT Matthew Dawson on the very first play from scrimmage. Albeit Oakland responded with a 49-yard touchdown pass right after, so did we with QB Dannyh Joseph to WR Russell Oxford on a long pass. In the second quarter things escalated into Merchantmen advantage with three unanswered touchdowns (a Joseph pass to WR Dave Waldron, a RB Salvador Ursino run and a Joseph pass to TE Ray Hutchins). In the second half, we extended the lead and Joseph finished it off with another touchdown pass to Waldron and Hutchins each. RB Andres Fallang ran for 117 yards in the middle of it.
Result: 52-20 win

Week 13 at Fort Wayne
In a visit to the last chance to save their season of sort, the 5-6 Fury understood that it was now or never for this season. They raced to a 14-0 lead, but as the game continued to progress, it became a testament of how resiliant the Merchantmen 2138 were. before the first half was over, we were leading 20-14, with QB Danny Joseph finding TE Quinn Bullock and WR Kenyon Stokes for a touchdown each. Fort Wayne didn't give up just yet, but a late touchdown pass from Joseph to RB Andres Falling (curiously his first of the season) made it an 11-point lead with 6 minutes to go. Joseph had another 300-yard game while his main target Bullock had another 100-yard game.
Result: 32-24 win

Week 14 vs Fairbanks
With the Northstars' reviving their old school Snowbombs days with their one-man receiving team named Braden Dightman, we were in for another interesting test. Kudos had to go to our defense as they managed to contain Dightman as he gained just 22 yards on 10 targets and overall kept their passing game to 125 netto yards. Nevertheless, it turned into a crazy combeack game as our own offense struggled to get points on the board. Sure, QB Danny Joseph connected with WR Kenyon Stokes and TE Quinn Bullock on a couple of long tochdown passes, but we still needed a 54-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to tie it up and make it an overtime game. In that fifth quarter, the offense played like that team on a mission again, first down after first down, eventually Joseph found WR Russell Oxford in the end zone to cap the first possession off with a game winning score.
Result: 23-17 win in overtime

Week 15 at Paris
Our visit to Paris was our chance to complete the division road games sweep, something that's always hard to come by. But with our conference leading team, we had to think it was possible to complete it. And we managed it. QB Danny Joseph had another 300-yard game, finding WR Dave Waldron and TE Quinn Bullock for touchdowns, while RB Salvador Ursino ran for a score and WR Russell Oxford had another 100-yard receiving game.
Result: 27-20 win

Week 16 at Colorado
For some an early peak at what could be the IHOF Bowl matchup, Maassluis (12-2) at Colorado (10-3-1) was a clash between the two virtual top seeds in the respective conferences. Maassluis scored first (QB Danny Joseph to TE Ray Hutchins), but Colorado responded with a trilpet of long touchdown passes, two of them after Joseph getting picked off right before. We bounced back and by half time the deficit was trimmed to 21-19 (Joseph touchdown to WR Dave Waldron - he had a 100-yard receiving game). We managed to take control of the game, dominating the field position battle and keeping them out of our end zone while getting in their ourselves (Joseph to TE Quinn Bullock) again, a short fumble return touchdown still put us 34-29 behind going into the last 4 minutes. On a strong drive, we managed to pull ahead as Joseph himself jumped into the end zone on a short run and a completed 2-point conversion to RB Andres Fallang meant that we were 37-34 up with under 2 minutes to go. Colorado responded with a cutting edge drive to set up the overtime reaching field goal. In that overtime, Colorado had first possession and orchestrated an impressive 5-minute drive to win it right there and then.
Result: 43-37 loss in overtime

Week 17 vs Gothenburg
With the division title already locked up, there still was a bye to play for as all the other division leading teams were also 12-3 (North Plainfield and Tucker) or 13-2 (Atlanta). Gothenburg (10-5) had a wild card to play for, needing a win to leap ahead of San Antonio (10-5) and/or Toronto (10-5). it turned into another a-typical football game, in which Gothenburg gained a lot of ground, but as they settled for field goals, while we kept scoring touchdowns (QB Danny Joseph threw to TE Quinn Bullock twice and a RB Andres Falling run), the score tilted into our advantage. A crazy 73-yard touchdown pass finally got the Giants back within a touchdown, we responded with a field goal and with an 8-point lead we eventually stopped them short of our end zone to pull off the win.
Result: 26-18 win

European Division 2140
1. Maassluis 13-3
2. Gothenburg 10-6
3. Paris 6-10
4. Bordeaux 5-11
Despite scoring 495 points (3rd highest in the league), we were curiously 32nd in least yards allowed and more impoartantly the loss at North Plainfield was crucial in the tie-breakers for a bye week. We were the #3 seed going into the playoffs behind Atlanta (14-2), North Plainfield (13-3), but ahead of Tucker (13-3), Toronto (11-5) and San Antonio (10-6), they had a crucial head-to-head win against Gothenburg in week 3 as well. Over on the NAC side of things, Colorado (12-3-1) were the #1 seeds, ahead of Chesapeake (11-5), defending IHOF champions Moontown (11-5), Kansas (8-8), Texas (11-5) and Iowa (8-8).

QB Danny Joseph threw for 4,442 yards and 43 touchdowns with 13 interceptions, marking on of the best seasons a Merchantmen QB ever had. He also ran for 563 yards and 2 touchdowns (5.80 yards per carry). RB Salvador Ursino (897 yards, 4 touchdowns) and RB Andres Fallang (687 yads, 1 touchdown) both ran for 4.58 yards per carry. We managed to spread the ball around a lot of receivers once again, with TE Quinn Bullock (1,017 yards, 11 touchdowns), WR Russell Oxford (918 yards, 8 touchdowns), WR Dave Waldron (880 yards, 8 touchdowns), TE Ray Hutchins (683 yards, 8 touchdowns) and WR Kenyon Stokes (613 yards, 4 touchdowns) all having their fair share of production.

Our special teams unit didn't produce any return touchdowns, but the unit clearly did make a difference one way or another in continuously give us a favourable field position. Defensively, we consistently used 19 different players, making it unfair to single any of them out statistically. Yes, curiously, we allowed the most total yards of all teams in the league, but we also force them to need to make that ground to come near our end zone. We did allow 48 red zone visits and 4.7 points per visit, both are better than average. Our offense ranked 3rd in the league with 64 visits and 5.6 points per visit.

So, on to the playoffs it was for us, starting with a home game against San Antonio...