The Bill Gates Challenge, Part V: Big Trouble In Little Texas...

[Kodos]

"What the hell is this, Bill?!?" I demanded, tossing the morning edition of the USA Today onto his desk.

"Calm down," he told me. "This is nothing to get all worked up about."

I took back the sports section and read Bibi Gunn's headline to Bill: "'Kodos To Be Shipped Back to Rigel IV?' Now how could I possibly find that to be upsetting?"

"Kodos, I don't know where she got that from..."

"Is that so? Well then how come Mr. White, our friendly janitor, told me he saw our heroine Miss Gunn going into your office last night after I left?"

"You're going to believe anything that Danny White told you?"

"Just tell me if it's true."

Bill sighed. "Okay, Kodos, as a matter of fact, I did talk to Bibi last night, but you're blowing this all out of proportion."

"Am I? She says here that you will fire me if we don't start turning a profit within 5 years, or if our total losses exceed $9.2 billion dollars. Bill, we've already lost just under $9 billion! That leaves me with a little over $220 million dollars to work with!"

"Kodos, listen. I've been letting you do your thing without interference for 14 years now, and in that time you've cost me almost $9 billion dollars. Do you realize how foolish that makes me look to my friends?"

"Bill, you're the one who decided it would be a good idea to spend $6.6 billion to rename Waco! I think that name would have been perfect for you just as it was!"

"Let's not get into who's to blame, all right? Look, I know I told you not to worry about money at the start; that's why I'm giving you a chance to right the ship instead of firing you right now. You aliens are good at the whole conquering thing, but you seem to have absolutely no clue when it comes to finances."

"I'm sorry, Bill, but I thought Mr. Moneybags didn't care about the money. I must have been mistaken in thinking that you just wanted your petty little revenge and that you wanted me to go to any lengths to get it! In case you haven't noticed, we lose around $160 million a year here. We have a puny stadium that we can't even come close to filling because we are in the middle of B.F.E.! Where do you expect this extra income to come from? Hey, I know! Maybe we built the stadium on top of an oil well! I saw some big oil spots on the parking lot walking in this morning!"

"Maybe you should look into cutting costs somehow."

"Or maybe I'll be able to find a nice coupon in the paper!... Nope! -- I guess that section must have fallen out in my rush to come wish you a good morning! Well, that's Kodos the moron for you: He's always screwin' up somehow!"

"Look Kodos, I know you're pissed off right now, so here's the bottom line in all of this: I need you to turn this franchise into a profitable operation. Since you're my friend and I'm a reasonable man, I am giving you 5 years or $220 million in leeway to accomplish that goal. Now if you don't mind, I have a meeting that should have started 5 minutes ago. You can come on in guys. Me and Kodos are done here."

"You bet your fat hairy ass we are," I muttered as I left.

=========

Thus began the offseason following our first Super Bowl victory. With a good mind to quit on the spot, I began Part Five of The Bill Gates Challenge: Big Trouble In Little Texas... :mad:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Jeez, who put the stick up Bill's butt? He wins one Super Bowl, and all of of sudden he wants to make more money?

You fix 'em, Kodos! You can do it!

Watch out for Bibi though. She's nothing but trouble!

[Kodos]

If you are a newbie to the Challenge, you may want to check out the previous installments of The Bill Gates Challenge! before reading Part V. And if you like happy endings, you might want to stop right here... :(

Part I: In The Beginning... (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7941)

Part II: Don't Mess With Texas! (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8069)

Part III: A New Hope (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8145)

Part IV: The Lords Of The Rings? (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8698)

[Kodos]

Our 2013 Financial Performance: A Case Study In How To Lose Gobs And Gobs Of Money

Here's how we managed to lose $131,510,000 last year, broken down in gory detail below. I should warn you upfront, it's not a pretty sight. But it should give you a good idea of what I am now up against. Bill is definitely cramming all the "Challenge" he can into this thing. Why I am staying, I don't quite know. I guess after investing 14 years of my life into this, I would like to see it through to fruition.

<pre><font face="courier">
Television contract $56,840,000
Ticket revenue $45,830,000
Suite revenue $0
Concessions $4,240,000
Parking $2,240,000
Advertising $10,700,000
==================================
Revenues $119,850,000
==================================
Player contracts $95,840,000
Player bonuses $23,680,000
Training $12,070,000
Coaching $70,000,000
Scouting $45,000,000
Stadium maintenance $4,770,000
Stadium payment $0
==================================
Costs $251,360,000
==================================
Profits/Losses -$131,510,000
</font></pre>

Looking at these figures, it's obvious that we will have to go with a cheaper coach and a cheaper scout. Coach Gibson and lead scout Cory Wells are great at what they do, but we have been paying through the nose to keep them. Of course, Coach G is now on the free market and he looks to be way out of our new, more humble price range. Cory is still under contract, but he will almost certainly have to go too. Obviously, the best thing for our team from a pure football perspective would be to keep these guys in place (especially if we would like to repeat as champions), but financially, that would be tantamount to suicide for me. I now have just a $220,800,000 margin of error to work with. In other words, if I continue to lose money at the current rate, I will be out as GM of the Silicon Pirates just in 2 years. :(

This just sucks. I tell ya, after a decade-and-a-half, you think you know somebody... :mad:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:
Jeez, who put the stick up Bill's butt? He wins one Super Bowl, and all of of sudden he wants to make more money?

You fix 'em, Kodos! You can do it!

Watch out for Bibi though. She's nothing but trouble!

P.S. - Blitz, to misquote my old friend "Super Nintendo" Chalmers, "The stick up that man's butt has a stick up its butt." :D


I guess it's a good sign if I can laugh about this...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


I guess this solves your little dilemma about re-signing those high-priced starters whose contracts come up during this off-season and next.

Oh yeah, somebody remind me to pelt Bill with peanuts the next time I am down in Gatesville to catch a game.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:


Why is it you chose 9.2 billion and not 10. That would be a more rounded and/or pretty good number.

[Kodos]

Unfortunately, I didn't have any say in the number. That was Billy's choice.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Stan G:


Good to see that the USA Today is still around. Guess the Al Quida didn't win their holy war.
Why doesn't Bill G help you out by selling Windows NG (next generation) at a super discount to season ticket holders?

[Kodos]

Bill doesn't seem to be inclined to help me out right now. Maybe the Super Bowl victory has gone to his head, but he wants me to start making some cash, and he doesn't want to help me do it. So, I will have to cut expenses where I can and hope for the best. I may only have a couple years left if I can't turn these finances around...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by jfbbis:


I lost track of time : can you build a new stadium (one with luxury boxes) ? Maybe it would help...

[Kodos]

Not until 2022, alas. I would love to build a new stadium, but we can't even sell out what we already have, so maybe it wouldn't be that great anyway.

[Kodos]

Bring In The Scabs...

In an effort to cut our expenses down to a more manageable size in 2014, and perhaps in the process save my worthless job, I opted not to even bothering trying to re-hire Coach Jerry Gibson, who was way out of my new price range. Coach G ended up signing a 2-year deal with the Bills worth $12.62 million per season. Newcomer Irv Saxon signed a 5-year, $3.2 million per season deal with us. This little move should save us somewhere in the neighborhood of $47.6 million this year when compared to last year, if my calculations hold up.

Comparing The Coaches:

After a painful search for a new coach, it was out with the old (Jerry Gibson), and in with the new (Irv Saxon). While Irv's credentials are admittedly a bit less impressive than Jerry's, you should keep in mind that Irv is a year younger than Jerry and he will probably be able to make up the difference in one year's time. :rolleyes:

<pre><font face="courier">
Jerry Gibson Irv Saxon
=============================================
Age: 60 59
Record: 97-74 0-0
Playoff Appearances: 5 0
Super Bowls: 2 0
Super Bowls Won: 1 0
2013 Salary: $10,000,000 $0
2014 Salary: $12,620,000 $3,200,000
Quarterbacks: Excellent Very Good
Running Backs: Very Good Very Good
Wide Receivers: Excellent Good
Offensive Line: Excellent Fair
Defensive Line: Good Good
Linebackers: Good Fair
Secondary: Excellent Very Good
Kickers: Excellent Poor
Young Talent: Good Poor
Motivation: Very Good Fair
Discipline: Good Good
Offensive Playcalling: Excellent Very Good
Defensive Playcalling: Fair Very Good
Avoid Injury: Good Very Good
</font></pre>


Comparing The Scouts: Send In The Clown?

The switch to a new scout actually proved to be the more painful downgrade of the two that I was forced to make. Cory signed a 3-year deal with Green Bay worth $1 million per season, while I signed Randall Parra to a 4-year deal worth a relatively paltry $330,000 per season. This should end up saving us somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million when compared to our 2013 season. As I would soon find out, though, Parra was a huge mistake for us... :(

<pre><font face="courier">
Cory Wells Randall Parra
=============================================
Age: 48 44
Record: 109-96 0-0
Playoffs: 6 0
Super Bowls: 2 0
Super Bowls Won: 1 0
2013 Salary: $1,000,000 $0
2014 Salary: $1,000,000 $330,000
Quarterbacks: Very Good Very Good
Running Backs: Very Good Poor
Wide Receivers: Good Poor
Offensive Line: Very Good Fair
Kickers: Very Good Very Good
Defensive Line: Fair Fair
Linebackers: Very Good Very Good
Secondary: Good Very Good
Young Talent: Very Good Very Good
</font></pre>

These two moves should cut our 2014 expenses down by approximately $78 million. However, even after that, we should lose somewhere around $54 million in 2014, unless we can find a way to increase our revenues through increased ticket sales or something. Right now, it is really hard to see how I can make this team profitable by the end of the 2018 season. On the other hand, if I do in fact lose the projected $54 million a year each of the next 4 seasons, I'll be almost gone after the 2017 season (with just $4 million to spare).

To quote Goose from Top Gun: "This is not good! This is not good!!!"

:eek:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


hey, you are super bowl champs...so here's some advice:

Can you say Personal Seat License?

And jack up the prices on luxury boxes/club seats BIG time.

Corey

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Ew, that "poor" on young talent has got to hurt for old Irv there. And your scout is pretty much a crap shoot, I would think.

This should be an interesting season!

Good luck! Nice twist you've added!

[Kodos]

cthomer: One small problem. No luxury boxes. Just seats. Lots and lots of empty seats! I would do the PSLs, but I can't fill my stadium as it is. I fear to use them now would only hurt my poor attendance further. My strategy is to try to get the rest of the seats filled, and then jack up the prices.

GB: Thanks for the compliment! Basically, I didn't want this thread to become too boring or predictable. After all, there's lot of competition out there in the dynasty reports these days! ;) (A good thing!) I would rather kill off this thread while it is still strong than let it linger on well past its prime (like The Simpsons, for instance). As long as I can keep it interesting, I will keep it going. The money problem assures my continued interest for a few more seasons... :)

Oh, and don't worry too much about letting me die in X-Com Defense. I think you'll find that we aliens have amazing powers of regeneration... ;)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Vince:


Like Godzilla said, great twist...this should prove to be quite a challenge. Although I'm not too familiar with FOF results (I'm more of a TCY guy), how much of an effect will that Super Bowl win have on your attendance next year? Realistically I'd think you would be selling out by now...

Looking forward to the future of this dynasty, as always :)

[Kodos]

I'm hoping that it will boost attendance quite a bit, but I don't really know. We'll find out soon, I guess. Thanks for your support! And thanks for killin' that bastard alien who killed me! Don't worry though - we haven't seen the last of good ol' Kodos just yet. ;)

[Kodos]

2014 Ticket Prices

Dallas raised their tickets a few dollars here and there for the upcoming season, and we matched them. Some day, if we start getting sellouts, I will raise my prices above what the Cowboys charge (we are a superior team, after all), but until then, I will match them. I figure raising prices too much would only result in even lower attendance than we had last season.

<pre><font face="courier">
Dallas Gatesville
Upper Deck 65 65
End Zone 68 68
Mezzanine 87 87
Sidelines 131 131
Seat Licenses 0 0
Club Seats 0 *0
Luxury Boxes 168,000 *--

* Microsoft Stadium has none
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2014 Free Agent Period:

2014 Free Agents:

We entered the 2014 offseason with three important players no longer under contract.

Al Ingram
Rickey McGregor
Kyle Diaz

While I considered placing the franchise tag on Ingram, in the end I opted to let him test the waters of free agency and hoped for the best. I also let Diaz and McGregor test the waters, but was fairly confident that Diaz would not sign anywhere else. If all went well, I would be able to re-sign one of my favorite players (Diaz) after the draft for a fairly modest price.

The players below were all entering the final year of their contract, and, with the exception of Lazetti, who I now viewed as expendable due to Matthews' performance in 2013, I very much wanted to extend them all with new contracts. While this was a risky strategy considering my newly-imposed financial problems, I decided that the best way to survive was to continue to field a top-caliber team to help boost attendance. At some point, a fire-sale may be necessary, but for now I am planning to stay the course with the team I have built.

Devin Bergeron
Chuck Farley
Levon Wallace
Michael Lazetti
Darren Cruise
Joel Harden
Dave Sanders
Edgar Justus

Wham, Bam, Thank You, Man!

In order to clear some cap room, I traded our former starting RB, Michael Lazetti, to the Colts for their third round pick in 2015. Net savings: $6.65 million. While I liked Lazetti, I just couldn't justify his salary as a backup, and if I didn't trade him now, I would get nothing in return next season when he left through free agency.

2014 Re-Signings & Renegotiations:

With a little more money to throw around, I quickly set about extending the contracts of our most valuable players whose contracts would be up after this season.

Joel Harden, our starting left corner, signed a 4-year deal worth $30.37 million, including an $8 million bonus.

Many folks will be glad to know that Chuck U. will be sporting the crimson and pewter* for at least 3 more seasons. We renegotiated a 3-year, $11.75 million deal with a $2.3 million bonus with him.

* (Note: We changed our uniform colors for 2014! Pewter has replaced the blue, as our previous blue/red combo was just too ugly! I don't know what Bill and I were thinking! Some in the press have been saying that our new logo looks suspiciously like Bill in a Pirate costume wielding a mouse...)

Starting fullback Levon Wallace agreed to a new 3-year deal worth $9.03 million with a $1.38 million bonus.

Starting right guard Darren Cruise signed a 3-year, $12.39 million deal with a $2.76 million bonus.

All-pro free safety Dave Sanders signed a 4-year, $20.35 million deal with a $4 million bonus.

And finally, we signed last season's league MVP to a 5-year, $68.68 million deal with a $10.5 million bonus. Stay healthy, Berg - please!!!!

We were unable to get Edgar Justus to sign a reasonable deal, so he will be playing 2014 without a new deal in place for 2015.

Cowboy Huntin':

In an effort to replace Ingram should we not be able to re-sign him, we went after the Cowboys' Terrance Fuller, their starting WILB from 2013. We offered Terrance $16.05 million over 3 years with a $3.4 million bonus, and he signed with us after the first week of free agency. Backup QB Morris Ellison, who was in the final year of his contract, was cut to help free up some money to sign Fuller.

Shockingly, no other Cowboys were worthy of a pilferin'. ;)

Ingram, Diaz, and McGregor in Free Agency:

In the 11th week, the Jags made an offer to Ingram, but soon ran out of money and couldn't sign him. No other offers were forthcoming, and in the end, none of our guys were signed by another team. We'll just have to see if we can't sign them after camp!

[Kodos]

The 2014 Draft Disaster:

I made one crucial mistake when I signed Randall Parra to be our scout this season. At the time when I signed Randall, I was thinking that I pretty much knew what I had on offense, and could just re-sign the guys I had, thus keeping the offense intact while helping boost my team's cohesion as well. Therefore, I thought getting a scout who was weak on offense wouldn't be that big a problem. Parra, who just happens to be an abysmal judge of talent on offense, was well-rated as a judge of defensive talent, except for defensive lineman. I figured that he would be good for helping to shore up our defense a little. But I forgot one key thing: unless they are from Texas, I can't draft 'em, and unless they are undrafted, I can't sign 'em as a free agent. CRAP!

Basically, I can see who is good on D, I just can't draft them. Combine this with the fact that our first pick is at the very end of the first round (when all of the good defensive prospects have been taken anyhow), and what you get is a totally blind draft! I have no idea who is good on offense, and there is nobody worthy of drafting from the state of Texas on defense! Damn it! A totally wasted draft because of my oversight. :mad: I just hope it doesn't end up costing me too badly. Arrrrrrrrrrrrghh! :mad: :eek: :mad:

Anyhow, here's who we drafted. Who knows if any of them are worth a darn...

Worst. Draft. Ever.

Rnd 1 - Gene Flannery, C, Miami, Florida
Rnd 2 - Kyle McAfee, T, Kansas
Rnd 3 - Luke Birk, QB, Maryland
Rnd 3 - Everett Schwarz, RB, Vanderbilt
Rnd 4 - Bill Carr, P, North Carolina State
Rnd 4 - D.J. Gunn, LB, Texas
Rnd 5 - Lincoln Flannery, TE, Pittsburgh
Rnd 5 - Ross Corbett, TE, Florida
Rnd 6 - Tony Stazer, LB, Southern Methodist
Rnd 7 - Ernest Conner, S, Texas

[Kodos]

Post Draft Note:

Backup center Bubba Linquist was shipped to Pittsburgh for their third round pick in 2015 in order clear some room to sign the rookies.

2014 Training Camp:

After signing our fine crop of rookie draftees, it was off to camp. We maxed out training on the following formations:

I
Strong
Singleback
Goalline
4-3
Nickel

Here's what Randall Parra thought about our team after camp, not that I particularly care...

From the desk of Randall Parra of the Gatesville Silicon Pirates
<pre><font face="courier">
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Devin Bergeron 18 18 5 2018
QB Dana Alston 5 8 2 2019
QB Luke Birk 5 10 1 2016
RB Herb Matthews 11 11 2 2016
RB Everett Schwarz 11 15 1 2016
RB Tommy Douglas 8 10 2 2015
RB Cedric Wagner 6 6 2 2019
FB Levon Wallace 11 11 6 2016
TE Chuck Farley 17 17 8 2016
TE Ross Corbett 8 14 1 2016
TE Lincoln Flannery 5 12 1 2016
WR Earl Thornton 12 12 3 2016
WR Ralph Randle 9 9 4 2017
WR Antoine Dugans 7 9 1 2020
WR Ty Robbins 7 9 3 2016
WR Sean Kaplan 5 6 2 2014
WR Kyle Diaz 5 5 13 2014
C Jonathan Farmer 13 13 8 2015
C Gene Flannery 9 17 1 2017
C Ben Mathis 9 11 2 2015
G Rusty Pleasant 19 19 9 2015
G Darren Cruise 14 15 11 2016
G Rob Stanton 10 11 2 2016
G Alfred Vaughn 6 7 2 2019
T Terrance Read 13 13 6 2016
T James Pond 11 11 10 2015
T Kyle McAfee 5 13 1 2017
T Conrad Bellamy 5 5 2 2019
P Bill Carr 8 15 1 2015
K Broderick Hidalgo 18 18 9 2015
DE Peter Hickman 5 8 3 2018
DE Louis Midgette 4 8 1 2020
DE Frankie Farley 4 5 2 2019
DE Lamont Eafon 3 5 2 2019
DT Joey Rhoades 13 13 6 2015
DT Patrick Sanders 8 8 2 2015
DT Eric Cash 7 7 3 2018
DT Paul Everett 4 5 2 2019
LB Al Ingram 13 13 11 2014
LB Terrance Fuller 10 10 9 2016
LB Allen Whitfield 10 10 12 2015
LB Maurice Rousseau 5 6 2 2019
LB Bryan Groh 3 7 1 2020
LB Butch Johnston 3 5 2 2015
LB Mel Collins 2 6 1 2020
CB Joel Harden 15 15 9 2017
CB Edgar Justus 12 12 4 2014
CB Ed Ferguson 5 6 3 2014
CB Mike Eagle 5 7 2 2016
CB Irving Ely 2 10 1 2020
S Dave Sanders 16 16 6 2017
S Ernest Conner 6 10 1 2015
S Percy Stewart 5 8 2 2019
</font></pre>

Cory, come back!!! :(

[Kodos]

Post Camp Signings / Releases:

As you can see from above, we were able to re-sign Ingram and Diaz after camp. Ingram's deal was for 1 year at $1.47 million with a $390,000 bonus included. Diaz signed a 1-year deal for $1.08 million with no bonus. McGregor was still asking for too much, so we couldn't re-sign him. Good luck, Rickey.

We also let starting strong safety Billy Joe Shannon go to save $1.89 million. If Parra is right, we have other guys who are just as good and much cheaper at safety. We shall see...

[Kodos]

2014 Season Ticket Sales:

In a sign of some progress, we were able to sell 30,700 season tickets for 2014, up 4,500 from 2013, when we sold 26,200. While the increase was okay, I was frankly hoping for more. I mean, a lot more.

[Kodos]

2014 Exhibition Season:

We managed to go 3-1 in the exhibition season, but we didn't exactly win in convincing fashion for the most part. Luckily, Dallas didn't fare too well either.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville:

Week Opponent Result Attend No-Shows
Week 1 OPEN
Week 2 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS W, 30-10 34,700 3,500
Week 3 WICHITA GAMBLERS W, 34-31 37,100 2,100
Week 4 St. Louis Rams L, 23-26 81,600 800
Week 5 Miami Dolphins W, 21-19 53,500 6,900

Dallas:
Week Opponent Result Attend No-Shows
Week 1 OPEN
Week 2 PITTSBURGH STEELERS L, 13-23 44,200 5,000
Week 3 ST. LOUIS RAMS W, 28-17 42,100 5,500
Week 4 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS W, 35-25 43,500 5,000
Week 5 Jacksonville Jaguars L, 13-19 52,600 5,200
</font></pre>

2014 Exhibition Standings:

Like I said, we finished ahead of the Cowboys, but it was hardly impressive how we did it.
<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Philadelphia 3 1 0 .750 103 68 0-0-0 0-0-0
**Gatesville 3 1 0 .750 108 86 0-0-0 0-0-0
Arizona 2 2 0 .500 93 78 0-0-0 0-0-0
Dallas 2 2 0 .500 89 84 0-0-0 0-0-0
Washington 1 3 0 .250 66 90 0-0-0 0-0-0
</font></pre>


Key Injuries:

Heading into the regular season, Darren Cruise, our starting right guard will miss a couple weeks due to a concussion. Terrance Read's injury is unfortunately much more serious, as our starting left tackle will miss 2-3 months with a dislocated knee. :(

[Kodos]

2014 Schedules:

Gatesville:

We will be done playing the Cowboys by midseason, by looks of the schedule. Hopefully we will have extended our lifetime series advantage by two games come Week 9 of the season.

Week 1 NEW YORK JETS
Week 2 DALLAS COWBOYS
Week 3 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Week 4 Des Moines Timber Wolves
Week 5 WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Week 6 Arizona Cardinals
Week 7 OPEN
Week 8 Dallas Cowboys
Week 9 MIAMI DOLPHINS
Week 10 GREEN BAY PACKERS
Week 11 Richmond Wranglers
Week 12 Philadelphia Eagles
Week 13 ARIZONA CARDINALS
Week 14 Washington Redskins
Week 15 Indianapolis Colts
Week 16 ATLANTA FALCONS
Week 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dallas:

Week 1 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Week 2 Gatesville Silicon Pirates
Week 3 CHICAGO BEARS
Week 4 ARIZONA CARDINALS
Week 5 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Week 6 Washington Redskins
Week 7 Des Moines Timber Wolves
Week 8 GATESVILLE SILICON PIRATES
Week 9 WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Week 10 Detroit Lions
Week 11 OPEN
Week 12 MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Week 13 New England Patriots
Week 14 Arizona Cardinals
Week 15 Philadelphia Eagles
Week 16 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Week 17 Carolina Panthers

[Kodos]

2014 Starters

Offensive Starters:

Other than Herb Matthew starting at RB in place of the departed Michael Lazetti, our entire starting offense from 2013 has returned to start in 2014, if you ignore the current injuries to Cruise and Read. Hopefully, this is good news. Rookie tackle Kyle McAfee will start for Read until he is able to return, while second year guard Rob Stanton will replace Cruise until he returns.

QB - Devin Bergeron
RB - Herb Matthews
FB - Levon Wallace
TE - Chuck U. Farley
FL - Earl Thornton
SE - Ralph Randle
LT - Terrance Read
LG - Rusty Pleasant
C - Jonathan Farmer
RG - Darren Cruise
RT - James Pond

Defensive Starters:

Our d-line returns intact from last year, not that anyone but Rhoades was really a star. The linebackers have been shuffled a bit to include the newly-acquired Terrance Fuller, and the secondary has lost Billy Joe Shannon at strong safety.

LE - Patrick Sanders
NT - Joey Rhoades
RT - Eric Cash
RE - Frankie Farley
WOLB - Terrance Fuller
WILB - Al Ingram
SILB - Maurice Rousseau
SOLB - Allen Whitfield
LCB - Joel Harden
RCB - Edgar Justus
FS - Dave Sanders
SS - Percy Stewart

Let's play some football, men!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Here's to a repeat season! And a profitable one at that.

I'll be away from FOF for a while, but will read through everything when I return! Good luck!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Welcome the return of the Pirates!
Glad to see provisions were made for Chuck. As was said of another future hall-of-famer, "All he does is catch touchdowns." That's a good thing.

In fact, let's calculate: in a good year, a QB throws for 30 TDs. The running game produces another 15. Defense and special teams contributes another 5. Total=50. If Chuck catches 10, that's 20% of the team's tuddy production. Given margins of victory, 20% is good for 5-6 wins. Chuck U for MVP!

[Kodos]

That's some fine math you got goin' there, my friend. Here's some more math to enjoy: "Chuck U. = MVP!"

[Kodos]

2014 Regular Season

Week 1
New York Jets (0-0) at Gatesville (0-0)
=============================================

Attendance: The rematch of last season's Super Bowl contestants drew a crowd of 44,700 people on this fine fall day. You see that, folks?! You win a Super Bowl, and it pays off with a big leap in attendance. Why, our home opener last season drew just 44,600 folks! Well, I guess this just shows what winning the pinnacle game of the season convincingly with a record-tying 17-2 record (only 2 other teams have achieved that mark in the last 15 years) and a record-smashing offense featuring the League MVP can do for a franchise's popularity. We gained 100 (count 'em!) fans over last season! My job is safe! I just know it! Why, you ask? Because the people here in Texas just worship this team!

The Game:

We built a 20-0 lead in the first half with the help of a 9-yard Ralph Randle touchdown grab and a 14-yard Herb Matthews TD reception. In the second half, Rufus Steel, starting in place of the injured Chad Pennington at QB, threw touchdowns of 41, 85, and 20 yards to make things a little more interesting, but we held on with the help of 2 Matthews rushing touchdowns to win 34-21.

Key Performers:

Herb Matthews won the Game MVP and Offensive Player of the Week awards based on his 17 carry, 167 yard, 2 TD performace, which he supplemented by pulling in 4 catches for 59 yards and another score.

Berg went 21/31 for 245 yards and 2 TDs to commence his bid for a second consecutive League MVP award.

Ralph Randle made 6 catches for 69 yards and 1 TD.

Al Ingram recorded 9 tackles, 3 assists, and 1 sack.

Key Injuries:

In more bad news for our offensive line, starting right tackle James Pond suffered a stretched knee ligament and will need 3-5 weeks to recover.


=============================================
Indianapolis (0-0) at Dallas (0-0):

The Cowboys started off their 2014 campaign with a 34-18 victory over the Colts. They will travel to Gatesville in Week 2 for a battle of undefeated NFC East powerhouses. Be there if you enjoy watching the Cowboys lose! :p

[Kodos]

From: Randall Parra
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Dallas Cowboys

Injury Report:
Michael Robertson, G - Questionable
Irv Lanier, C - Out
Rufus Meadows, CB - Doubtful

Starting Quarterback: Roosevelt Murray
13 for 25, 103 yards, 1 TDs, 2 interceptions this season.
Very good at throwing short passes.

Starting Running Back: Lester Reynolds
22 carries for 147 yards, 2 touchdowns this season.
Excellent overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Gino Burroughs
3 receptions for 37 yards, 1 touchdowns this season.
Excellent hands.

Starting Split End: Dale Corbett
3 receptions for 36 yards, 0 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: Herb Page
1 tackles, 1 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive End: Marlon Linquist
2 tackles, 0 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Left Defensive Tackle: Sean Ross
4 tackles, 0 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive Tackle: Cory Mallory * Former Silicon Pirate
3 tackles, 1 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Fair pass-rusher.

Starting Weak-Side Linebacker: Eric Blades
4 tackles, 4 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
Excellent defender against the run.

Starting Middle Linebacker: Randal Caldwell
9 tackles, 3 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Linebacker: Timothy Meadows * Former Silicon Pirate
3 tackles, 0 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Good defender against the run.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Joel Flannery
8 tackles, 0 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Jerome McCarthy
4 tackles, 2 assists, 2 interceptions this season.
Excellent pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Greg Drayson
3 tackles, 3 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Shawn Treadway
4 tackles, 2 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

[Kodos]

Week 2
Dallas (1-0) at Gatesville (1-0)
=============================================

Attendance: 44,700.

The Game:

This game was going just peachy for the first 3 quarters. A long Justus interception return for a TD, a short Douglas run, and an 18-yard Randle receiving touchdown had us well out in front, 24-3, heading into the fourth quarter, despite 2 Berg interceptions in the first quarter and another to start off the third quarter.

That's when the horror began.

With 5:50 to go in the game, Roosevelt Murray hit Everett Weiner with a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it a 24-10 ballgame. Oh well, so our margin of victory would be smaller. We were still gonna win.

With just 2:20 to go in the fourth, Murray hit Peter Duvall for a 14-yard touchdown to make it a one-score affair, 24-17. Still, it appeared that we would be able to just run out the clock on our next possession and leave the field with yet another win over the Cowboys.

On the ensuing kickoff, rookie WR Antoine Dugans managed to fumble the ball, and Dallas WR Oliver Carnahan managed to recover it. Oh no. Oh no-no-no!

Twenty-nine seconds after their second TD of the day, the Cowboys got their third, as Murray found Weiner once again for an 8-yard TD with 1:51 left to go. What just four minutes ago had been a cushy 24-3 lead was now an unbelievable 24-24 tie.

Still, with a strong offense and one of the league's best kickers, we felt that we would be able to drive down the field and kick a field goal to win the game by the skin of our teeth. Or, in a worst-case scenario, we would at very least be able to run out the clock and take the game to overtime.

Not so much.

An illegal block on the kickoff return negated Dugans' 21-yard return and gave us the ball on our own 1 yard line. Three straight incompletions by Berg gave us a three-and-out that burned just 14 seconds off of the game clock. Following the Bill
Carr punt, the Cowboys had the ball on our 42 with 1:09 left in regulation. One Murray pass and a couple of short runs set up a 37-yard Perez field goal attempt as time expired. It was good, of course.

Game over.

Dallas 27, Gatesville 24.

What just happened here, folks? :confused: We held them to 24 rushing yards on 20 carries, yet we still managed to somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

This is really starting off as the season from hell, folks...

Key Performers:

Turnovers were our downfall in this game, and Berg was responsible for 3 of them. He finished our opening drives in both halves with interceptions, and ended the day having completed just 20 of 37 attempts for 271 yards, 1 TD, and 3 interceptions. Crap.

Matthews had 16 carries for 55 yards, as well as 6 catches for 53 yards. No TDs.

In contrast, Cowboy QB Roosevelt Murray completed 21 of 39 passes for 3 TDs and 1 interception. Jackass. :rolleyes:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Obviously, the problem is that Berg forgot about his go-to man, thee man, Chuck Ulysses Farley. Now he's paid for this blunderous oversight with a loss to the Boys. Didn't score too high on the SAT now, did he?

[Kodos]

It's true. So far Chuck has been a total non-factor. How could Berg forget him like that? ;)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


20% of your offense is a terrible thing to waste...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Originally posted by Kodos:
Rnd 1 - Gene Flannery, C, Miami, Florida
Rnd 2 - Kyle McAfee, T, Kansas
Rnd 3 - Luke Birk, QB, Maryland
Rnd 3 - Everett Schwarz, RB, Vanderbilt
Rnd 4 - Bill Carr, P, North Carolina State
Rnd 4 - D.J. Gunn, LB, Texas
Rnd 5 - Lincoln Flannery, TE, Pittsburgh
Rnd 5 - Ross Corbett, TE, Florida
Rnd 6 - Tony Stazer, LB, Southern Methodist
Rnd 7 - Ernest Conner, S, Texas



All right! You're destined for a Super Bowl repeat now that you have a Jayhawk on your team Kodos!

DataKing makes a mental note to recruit Kyle McAfee in 2009 or so.

Depending on how 'Big Kyle' does, he might just be able to challenge Chuck U. as my favorite Silicon Pirate.

Tough break in the Dallas game. Hopefully this is the sort of thing that can wake a team up, and make them realize that they can't just walk their way into another Super Bowl berth.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Wow! That Dallas loss was some kind of ugly. I don't think I've ever seen a comeback like that. That was painful to read. Let's hope it's a good wakeup call!

[Kodos]

DK: Well, McAfee got thrown into the fire immediately with the injury to Read, and so far he hasn't let Berg get killed, so that's a good sign I s'pose.

As for the wakeup call theory, we'll just have to see I guess. I'd hate to start sucking again just because of staff changes. Especially since my job seems to be on the line.

P.S. - I talked to Bill today, and he told me something that was reassuring to some extent. He said that he would never fire me in an offseason following a Super Bowl victory, even if I keep losing money. So there's one loophole, I guess.

[Kodos]

Week 3

Philadelphia (0-2) at Gatesville (1-1)
=============================================

Attendance: 42,900.

The Game:

We came into this game wondering if the late fourth-quarter collapse against the Cowboys in Week 2 had been just a hiccup, or if it was a more dire sign of a franchise going downhill fast. The Eagles game would be a barometer to see just where we stood. A solid victory for us, and we could perhaps write off the loss as bad luck. A defeat at the hands of the perpetually-bad Eagles, and it would be time to seriously worry about our team.

As the teams took to the field, the thermometer fell just two degrees short of 100. Factor in the driving rain, and we had the makings of a sloppy game.

Early on, Dave Sanders intercepted Philly QB Buddy Liu and returned it for a score to highlight a 10-0 first quarter. A Levon Wallace touchdown plunge in the second made it 17-7, and with the help of a 13-yard Thornton TD reception in the fourth quarter, we went on to a fairly solid 31-14 victory over the hapless Eagles.

Key Performers:

Dave Sanders apparently got the Game MVP award for his interception return, since he only had 3 tackles and an assist on the day.

Herb Matthews ran the ball 15 times for 49 yards. He also made 4 catches for 53 yards. No TDs.

Berg completed 18 of 30 passes for 251 yards and 1 TD an no interceptions. Unfortunately, in the driving rain, he coughed up the ball twice.

Ty Robbins had a good day with 5 catches for 94 yards.


=============================================
Chicago (0-2) at Dallas (2-0)

The Cowboys won for the third straight time, 31-13, to maintain their one-game advantage over us in the NFC East standings.

[Kodos]

Week 4

Gatesville (2-1) at Des Moines (2-1)
=============================================

The Game:

Chuck Farley came out of his slump in spectacular fashion in this game, as he scored three times to outscore Des Moines 18-6 all by himself! At the end of the day, we had won a laugher by the score 39-6.

Key Performers:

Chuck U. only caught 5 balls for 28 yards, but made the most of those catches with 3 scores from 6, 1, and 6 yards out respectively. What a red-zone weapon he gives us!

Berg had a fine day, as he completed 25/41 for 407 yards, 4 TDs, and zero interceptions. Though he won the Game MVP award (Chuck was robbed!), he did fumble twice.

Matthews had toted the ball 10 times for 41 yards while also catching 3 passes for 23 yards.

Ralph Randle had a great day too, as he caught 9 balls for 209 yards and 1 TD. I guess we know who set up all of Chuck's TDs! ;)

Dave Sanders had 4 tackles, 1 assist, and 2 interceptions on the day. Three other guys each had one pick, for a total of 5 on the day. :D I guess it'd be fair to say that Des Moines QB Artie Nicholas had a bit of an off day...


=============================================
Arizona (3-0) at Dallas (3-0)

While Arizona looked like a legitimate threat to end the Cowboys' lucky streak, it was not to be, as the Cowboys won 28-21 to push their record to 4-0. What the heck is going on over there in Dallas?

[Kodos]

Week 5

Washington (2-2) at Gatesville (3-1)
=============================================

Attendance: 44,100.

The Game:

For the third straight week we rolled to an easy victory, this time by the score of 42-10 over our divisional rival Redskins. Farley caught his fourth TD in 2 games, but was outshone by Berg, who threw for 6 TDs on the day.

Key Performers:

Berg garnered the Game MVP award, as well as the Offensive Player of the Week award, by completing 18/27 passes for 277 yards and 6 touchdowns! :eek: He also carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards, while having no turnovers on the day.

Farley had 3 catches for 104 yards and one 80-yard TD (I guess he is good from outside the red zone too!).

Dave Sanders had another solid outing with 12 tackles and 1 assist.

Injuries:

Veteran WR Kyle Diaz suffered a broken foot and will miss 3-5 weeks.


=============================================
Philly (1-3) at Dallas (4-0)

The Eagles gave the Cowboys more of a fight than I expected, but in the end it was not enough, as the Cowboys extended their record to 5-0 with a 13-7 decision over Philly.

[Kodos]

Week 6

Gatesville (4-1) at Arizona (4-2)
=============================================

The Game:

The Cardinals looked to be a tough assignment coming in. Berg threw a pick to end our first drive of the day, but later redeemed himself with a touchdown draw play. Levon Wallace caught a TD in the second quarter to put us up 14-3.

In the third quarter, the Cards drew to within 14-12 after a touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion, but Matthew soon ran for a score to increase our lead to 21-12. In the fourth quarter, our rookie third-round pick Luke Birk used the force to hit Earl Thornton for a TD after Berg left the game with a minor injury. In the end, we had triumphed over the Cards, 28-12.

Key Performers:

Percy Stewart, our starting strong safety won the Game MVP award, though I don't know why, since I forgot to write down any stats after the game. I do know that Berg threw 2 picks in the first half.

Injuries:

In a turn of events sure to upset DataKing, rookie tackle Kyle McAfee, who was starting in place of Terrance Read, managed to get his knee dislocated, and is now looking at 2-3 months of recovery time. :(


=============================================
Dallas (5-0) at Washington (2-3)

The Cowboys won once again, this time 21-3.

This is not helping me out, guys! :mad:

[Kodos]

Week 7

Bye.

=============================================
Dallas (6-0) at Des Moines (2-3)

Somehow, the pathetic Des Moines squad, who we crushed back in Week 4, managed to hand the Cowboys their first loss of the season, 15-7. All right! :D

Next week, we will travel to Dallas and try to avenge our Week 2 defeat. We will not be swept by the friggin' Cowboys! :mad:

[Kodos]

From: Randall Parra
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Dallas Cowboys

Injury Report:

It looks like the Cowboys have some owwies!! :D

Roosevelt Murray, QB - Out
Walt Reilly, QB - Probable
Gino Burroughs, WR - Probable
Ethan Thornhill, T - Probable
Eric Blades, LB - Doubtful
Joel Flannery, CB - Questionable
Tracy Mazurek, QB - Out
Rico Weaver, FB - Out
Deon Knox, TE - Questionable
Leo McCullar, FB - Probable

Offensive Overview:

Starting Quarterback: Walt Reilly
27 for 56, 254 yards, 1 TDs, 4 interceptions this season.
Good at throwing very long passes.
Does not like to run the football.

Starting Running Back: Lester Reynolds
145 carries for 467 yards, 5 touchdowns this season.
Excellent overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Gino Burroughs
20 receptions for 268 yards, 1 touchdowns this season.
Excellent hands.

Starting Split End: Dale Corbett
31 receptions for 380 yards, 1 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: Herb Page
14 tackles, 5 assists, 1.5 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive End: Marlon Linquist
17 tackles, 3 assists, 1.5 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Left Defensive Tackle: Sean Ross
15 tackles, 6 assists, 5.5 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive Tackle: Cory Mallory
9 tackles, 6 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
Fair pass-rusher.

Starting Weak-Side Linebacker: Timothy Meadows
29 tackles, 9 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Good defender against the run.

Starting Middle Linebacker: Randal Caldwell
39 tackles, 23 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Linebacker: Archie Younger
First start of the season.
Very good man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Jerome McCarthy
22 tackles, 3 assists, 5 interceptions this season.
Excellent pass intercepter.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Joel Flannery
19 tackles, 2 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Free Safety: Greg Drayson
34 tackles, 13 assists, 3 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Shawn Treadway
39 tackles, 13 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

[Kodos]

Week 8

Gatesville (5-1) at Dallas (6-1)
=============================================

The Game:

The good news coming into our second match against the Cowboys was that James Pond was able to return from his injury. Terrance Read was also listed as probable, and thus returned to the starting lineup.

On our first drive, Earl Thornton was injured, and had to leave the game. After a Cowboy field goal early in the second quarter, we went on top with a 19-yard Percy Stewart interception return that made it 7-3. Herb Matthews' 13-yard TD run extended our lead to 14-3 before halftime.

Chuck U. caught a 1-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, and soon after, Ty Robbins caught a 46-yard touchdown that put us comfortably on top, 28-3. This time, the Cowboys could muster no miracle finish, and we won by a final score 28-6!

With this victory, we regained the lead in NFC East, and evened our series with the Cowboys for the season. Unfortunately, we're used to sweeping them, so the tied-up series came as somewhat of a disappointment to us and our fans. Perhaps, if we meet them in the playoffs, we can still win the season series outright. However, we have never met them in the playoffs thus far, so I wouldn't hold your breath. If I know Jerry Jones, they'll probably choke down the stretch and miss the playoffs entirely... ;)

Key Performers:

Strong safety Percy Stewart won the Game MVP with his interception touchdown, which he supplemented with 3 tackles and 1 assist.

Herb Matthews had 17 carries for 86 yards and a TD. He also caught 3 passes for 33 yards.

Berg had a decent outing, completing 14 of 26 attempts for 198 yards, 2 TDs, and no interceptions.

Chuck Farley had one catch for 1 yard and 1 TD.

Ty Robbins made 2 grabs for 58 yards and a score.

Big Al Ingram recorded 11 tackles, 1 assist, and 1 sack.

New Injuries:

Starting right guard Darren Cruise broke his hand and will need 3 to 5 weeks to heal.

[Kodos]

Week 9

Miami (2-5) at Gatesville (6-1)
=============================================

Attendance: 44,700.

The Game:

Perhaps we were still feeling a bit too high after the Dallas victory when we welcomed the Dolphins to town and blew a 17-3 second-quarter lead. The downtrodden Fins came back to tie it up after a 69-yard Alfred Vincent to Lamont Buckner bomb in the second quarter and a 2-yard Clifton Elliott touchdown in the third quarter.

An interception late in the third quarter set up a Ralph Randle score that put us back on top, 24-17.

The fourth quarter saw little scoring as both teams bogged down on offense. When Hidalgo missed a late field goal that could have given us a 10-point lead, the defense was called on to save the game for us, and they did, allowing a 20-yard Henderson field goal that made it 24-20. From there, our offense was able to run out the clock, and we escaped with a narrow 24-20 victory.

Key Performers:

Berg won the Game MVP award by going 21/35 for 267 yards, 3 TDs, and no interceptions. He also carried the ball 5 times for 25 yards.

Matthews had a quiet day, as he gained just 38 yards on 14 carries, while fumbling one time. He also made 2 grabs for 19 yards.

Randle had a good day with 7 catches for 68 yards and 2 scores.

Thornton caught 6 passes for 81 yards and 1 TD.

Dave Sanders made 11 tackles and 1 assist.

New Injuries:

To continue the string of injuries along our offensive line, Rusty Pleasant broke his nose and will need a couple weeks to heal.


=============================================
Washington (2-5) at Dallas (6-2)

Dallas ended their 2-game skid with a 33-17 victory over the Redskins.

[Kodos]

2014 Midseason Report:

Halfway through the 2014 season, we found ourselves enjoying an 89 power rating, which was tops in the NFC. Dallas, our sworn enemy, was rated as second with a 77.

After trailing Dallas most of the way in the division, we finally were enjoying a slight lead in the race to win the NFC East, and were also in decent position to win the #1 seed in the NFC. However, the second half of our schedule contained many road games, and we would have to stay healthy and on top of our game if we wanted to repeat as the #1 seed overall.

Here is how the standings looked after 9 weeks of action:

<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
**Gatesville 7 1 0 .875 250 116 4-1-0 4-1-0
Dallas 7 2 0 .778 200 146 5-1-0 6-1-0
Arizona 5 4 0 .556 213 173 1-3-0 3-4-0
Philadelphia 4 5 0 .444 178 169 2-2-0 3-3-0
Washington 2 6 0 .250 141 231 0-5-0 2-6-0

As you can see, Tampa and San Francisco, along with the Cowboys,
are breathing right down our collective neck. On the AFC side,
the Bengals look to be making a run at another Super Bowl. Man,
I would love to get some revenge on them for the loss they
handed us 2 seasons ago in the big game...

NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Tampa Bay 7 2 0 .778 223 128 4-0-0 4-2-0
Detroit 5 3 0 .625 189 149 3-2-0 4-3-0
Chicago 4 4 0 .500 175 160 1-1-0 3-3-0
Green Bay 2 6 0 .250 123 168 1-4-0 1-5-0
Minnesota 2 6 0 .250 67 151 1-3-0 2-5-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
San Francisco 6 2 0 .750 214 157 3-1-0 5-1-0
Richmond 4 4 0 .500 142 156 3-1-0 4-1-0
St. Louis 4 4 0 .500 161 136 3-2-0 4-3-0
Atlanta 4 4 0 .500 172 128 3-3-0 3-4-0
Carolina 4 5 0 .444 152 178 2-3-0 3-4-0
New Orleans 2 6 0 .250 126 197 1-5-0 1-6-0

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Buffalo 5 3 0 .625 191 134 4-2-0 5-2-0
Indianapolis 5 4 0 .556 167 178 4-2-0 4-3-0
Des Moines 4 4 0 .500 124 163 3-3-0 3-3-0
New York 4 5 0 .444 173 168 3-3-0 3-4-0
Miami 2 6 0 .250 129 183 2-2-0 2-4-0
New England 1 8 0 .111 117 219 1-5-0 1-7-0

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Cincinnati 7 1 0 .875 186 132 4-1-0 6-1-0
Pittsburgh 7 2 0 .778 243 182 3-1-0 6-1-0
Baltimore 7 2 0 .778 217 161 3-2-0 6-2-0
Jacksonville 6 2 0 .750 145 154 3-1-0 5-1-0
Tennessee 2 6 0 .250 138 201 1-3-0 1-5-0
Cleveland 1 7 0 .125 157 189 0-6-0 0-6-0

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
San Diego 6 3 0 .667 182 138 4-2-0 4-3-0
Wichita 4 4 0 .500 182 146 4-1-0 4-2-0
Kansas City 4 4 0 .500 148 177 2-2-0 3-2-0
Seattle 3 5 0 .375 96 160 3-2-0 3-4-0
Denver 3 5 0 .375 131 156 2-3-0 3-4-0
Oakland 2 7 0 .222 129 197 1-6-0 2-7-0
</font></pre>

Team Leaders:

Hmmm. I think our team compares favorably with Jerry's, don't you agree? :)

<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Silicon Pirates*
---------------------------------

Devin Bergeron 155/258, 2109 yards, 20 TDs, 5 interceptions
Herb Matthews 111 carries, 526 yards, 4.7 ypc, 4 TDS
Ralph Randle 43 catches, 629 yards, 5 TDs
Earl Thornton 27 catches, 349 yards, 4 TDs
Chuck Farley 20 catches, 268 yards, 5 TDs
Dave Sanders 55 tackles, 8 assists, 3 interceptions, 1 TD
Al Ingram 49 tackles, 10 assists, 2 sacks
Peter Hickman 7 tackles, 3 assists, 4.5 sacks

Dallas Cowboys**
-------------------------------

Roosevelt Murray 79/121, 1015 yards, 8 TDs, 4 interceptions
Lester Reynolds 182 carries, 596 yards, 3.2 ypc, 6 TDs
Peter Duvall 38 catches, 381 yards, 5 TDs
Gino Burroughs 31 catches, 390 yards, 1 TD
Everett Weiner 24 catches, 311 yards, 2 TDs
Shawn Treadway 52 tackles, 16 assists
Randal Caldwell 50 tackles, 29 assists
Greg Drayson 46 tackles, 18 assists, 4 interceptions
Sean Ross 16 tackles, 9 assists, 5.5 sacks

* through 8 games
** through 9 games
</font></pre>

Let the march to our second consecutive Super Bowl title continue!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


Chuck U. ...baby!

The man has made a statement. Whether having 1 catch for 1 yard and 1 TD or taking a dump pass and going 80 yards, he does it all. :D

Having caught 5 of 20 TD passes from Berg aint bad either. If he can finish with 9 or 10 TD's i smell a Pro Bowl trip, and more importantly, a second Gatesville title!

Corey

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


homer! Welcome to the Chuck U. Fanclub! Your post doesn't say where you're from, but if you come down to Gatesville, we'll save you a seat at the table in the compound.

By the way, if you come, it can be a little tricky to find. But go to Sherman Tank Manufacturers. They can give you directions. Apparently, they used the compound for target practice some years ago, and...

When you get there and knock the guard will ask, "Who's there?"
Respond, "A golden girl."
When he asks, "Whatcha sellin'?"
Respond, "Viagra for women."
That'll get you right in.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Kyle's hurt?!?! How could this happen???

I knew implementing the Kill Drill for offensive linemen was a bad idea. I just knew it! :mad:

Glad to see Chuck and the rest of the team has rebounded nicely from the Cowboys loss. Looks like that game served as a bit of a wakeup call after all. :)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Raven Hawk:


Chuck U! MVP! Chuck U! MVP! Chuck U! MVP!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Raven, despite your membership in ATFP Racing, I nonetheless welcome you to the Chuck U. Fanclub. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you understand, the folks at the compound are more than a little nervous about anyone with "ATF" associations actually visiting the compound (again). We'll just have to mail you your membership information.

[Kodos]

Week 10

Green Bay (2-6) at Gatesville (7-1)
=============================================

Attendance: 47,700! You see, ya go to playoffs for 6 or so straight seasons, go to consecutive Super Bowls, win the second one, go 7-1 the following season, and **BLAM!!!** you get a little spike in the attendance column... It's as easy as 1-2-... Errr. Little help here...?

The Game:

Darren Cruise, Rusty Pleasant, and Joey Rhoades all sat out for our date with the Packers. Fortunately, these are not the glory years for Green Bay, and it appeared coming in to the game that we would have an easy win on our hands.

A Joel Harden interception early in the game set up Berg's 9-yard keeper that put us on top, 7-0. However, Kelly Keil connected with Rufus Madison for a 75-yard strike shortly thereafter to atone for his earlier mistake, and the game was knotted at 7 all.

Late in the first quarter, Chuck U. caught touchdown number six on the season to cap off a drive in which he caught 4 passes for 60 yards. Way to dominate, Chuck! 14-7, Pirates!

The second quarter passed by without any scoring, and the third quarter started off rather inauspiciously when Antoine Dugans muffed a punt return which was quickly gobbled up by the Packers' special teams unit. Despite starting with a 1st & 10 on our 43, the Packers ended up settling for a 51-yard field goal that made it 14-10.

That would be as close as the Packers would get, as Hidalgo tacked on three field goals in the second half to give us a 23-10 victory over Packers.

Key Performers:

Berg got the MVP by going 18/30 for 276 yards and 1 TD. His 9 carries for 38 yards and a score didn't hurt either.

Second-year RB Herb Matthews had 17 carries for 56 yards and 3 catches for 45 more. Right now, Matthews is in a bit of a funk. It seems like we always get young RBs who do good things during their rookie season, but then slump in their second season. Maybe our pass-happy offense makes them lose interest...

My man Chuck U. did all his work in one drive today, as he ended the day with 4 grabs for 60 yards and a TD.

Ralph Randle continued to shine with a 6-catch, 95-yard performance.

New Injuries:

Dave Sanders bruised his shoulder and will need a couple weeks to recover.

Ty Robbins has turf toe, and will also need a couple weeks.


=============================================
Dallas (7-2) at Detroit (6-3)

Detroit helped Dallas return to their losing ways by defeating the 'boys 23-10. Good job!

We will travel to Richmond to take on the Wranglers in Week 11. Hope to see you there!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Anybody who beats the Packers is hall of fame in my book. Good job Kodos. Show Bill (and Bibi) what our Pirates are really made of!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by wade moore:


Good job Kodos! I think Mr. Davis and Mr. Gates must be long lost cousins :)...

[Kodos]

Week 11

Gatesville (8-1) at Richmond (5-4)
=============================================

The Game:

This game started off a bit rough for us. Multiple turnovers gave way to easy scores for Richmond in the first half, and early in the second half, we found ourselves in a 17-3 hole. An Antoine Dugans fumble on a punt return had led to a Craig Fantozzi touchdown reception in the second quarter, and a Berg interception had set up a Percy Sampson to Sam Washington touchdown early in the third quarter.

With just 11 ticks left on the clock in the third quarter, Broderick Hidalgo hit a 34-yard field goal to trim the Wranglers' advantage to 17-6.

In the fourth, things started to look a little less bleak when Berg connected with Earl Thornton for a 24-yard touchdown with 11 minutes left to make it a 17-13 ballgame. After a quick Richmond 3-and-out, Hidalgo was able to cut their lead to one point with a 46 yarder that sailed true.

The Wranglers, to their credit, did not just roll over in light of our 13-0 run. On their next possession, they just flew down the field, and for the second time of the game, Sampson was able to hook up with Washington for a score, this time from 9 yards out, to move their lead to 24-16.

Not to be outdone, Berg led our offense down the field at a rapid clip, this time getting the ball to Ralph Randle for a 14-yard touchdown that pulled us to within 2 points of Richmond, 24-22. Now it was time for the conversion attempt! Working out of a 3-receiver set, Berg hit the cagey veteran Kyle Diaz in the corner for 2 to tie the game at 24 with 9:23 to go. In a span of just one minute and 44 seconds, we had scored 18 points, and they had scored 7. Wow! :eek:

After the flurry of scoring, things quieted down for a while, until Herb Matthews ran one in from 24 yards out with just 1:02 left in the game. With 59 minutes elapsed, we finally had our first lead of the day, 31-24!

The defense took the field looking to contain the Wrangler offense, and that they did. Following a failed fourth down conversion attempt, the ball was ours, and Berg took a knee to seal the victory. 31-24, Pirates! We were now 9-1!

Key Performers:

Herb Matthews had a solid if unspectacular outing, gaining 77 yards and 1 TD on 13 carries.

Berg also played just well enough to win, completing 18 of 34 attempts for 286 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. Berg also had 1 fumble.

Antoine Dugans had 2 fumbles (4 so far this season) on punt returns, which helped Richmond to their early lead. Next week, strong safety Percy Stewart will take over the punt return duties.

Kyle Diaz had 4 catches for 57 yards and 1 fumble recovery.

Earl Thornton had 3 catches for 77 yards and 1 TD.

New Injuries:

All-pro FB Levon Wallace hyper-extended his knee and will be out 3-5 weeks. Tommy Douglas will get the start in his place.

All-pro free safety Dave Sanders aggravated his bruised shoulder and will be inactive for Week 12 when we travel to Philly.


=============================================
Dallas (7-3) had a bye in Week 11.

[Kodos]

Week 12

Gatesville (9-1) at Philly (5-5)
=============================================

The Game:

A 35-yard Buddy Liu touchdown throw to Nobert Poole in the third quarter cut our lead to 17-14, but that was as close as the Eagles (who only gained 17 yards on the ground all day) would get. Final score: 34-21, Pirates. At 10-1, we were now sitting pretty with the best record in the league.

Key Performers:

Matthews had 20 carries for 55 yards and 1 TD. He also had 3 catches for 59 yards. If we are looking to go deep into the playoffs, we are going to need Herb to step it up a notch or two.

Berg went 22/32 passing for 320 yards and 2 scores. He also ran the ball 9 times for 39 yards and 1 TD.

Ralph Randle continues to be our top receiver, as he caught 5 balls for 105 yards and 1 TD today. He seems to be enjoying the double coverage that our second-year flanker Earl Thornton is getting after his breakout rookie season.


=============================================
Minnesota (3-7) at Dallas (7-3)

Coming off of their bye week, the Cowboys drubbed the Vikings, 36-13. Oh well. :( Could the Cowboys be heading for the playoffs for the first time in years? Don't touch that dial, folks! :eek:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


How do you spell "repeat"?

I spell it P-I-R-A-T-E-S.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Kodos:


I spell it R-O-L-A-I-D-S.

Roger Rolaids would be so proud!

[Kodos]

Week 13

Arizona (5-6) at Gatesville (10-1)
=============================================

Attendance: 48,200! Our popularity is just skyrocketing!!!! :eek:

The Game:

We welcomed the Cardinals to town looking to continue our 9-game win streak. However, Terry Zink's 2-yard touchdown pass to Ted Pierce put us in a hole early, 7-0. After the remainder of the first quarter went scoreless, Ledyard hit a 46 yarder early in the second quarter to extend the Cardinals' advantage to 10-0.

On our ensuing drive, Chuck U. took matters into his own hands, as he scored on a nifty little 11-yard toss from Berg to make it a 10-7 ballgame. Unfortunately, Arizona struck back quickly with a 57-yard bomb to Ted Pierce that caught our Dave Sanders-less secondary napping. Just like that, we were down by 10 points again.

Ralph Randle provided the fireworks on our next drive, as he pulled in a 35-yarder that put the score at 17-14, Cardinals. A 46-yard Ledyard field goal with 2 seconds left sent us into halftime trailing 20-14.

Things got worse midway through the third quarter, when Ted Pierce scored for a third time with a spectacular 96-yard punt return. Lucky for us, the Cards got greedy and went for the 2, which failed when Bruce Klemm got stuffed at the line. 26-14.

The rest of the third quarter passed with no further scoring, while the fourth started off with another Ledyard field goal, this time from 33 yards away. It was now 29-14, and it was beginning to appear that our win streak would be coming to an end.

Berg and the offense were not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Earl Thornton's 58-yard touchdown grab gave our whole team a huge emotional boost, and with plenty of time left on the clock, we only trailed by 8, 29-21.

After the Cards failed to do anything with their next possession, our offense once again charged down the field. This time, it was Herb Matthews who caught the TD out of the backfield from 2 yards away to draw us within 2 of the Cards. We ran the exact same play on the 2-point conversion, and got the exact same results. The score was now knotted up at 29 all.

Once again, Arizona failed to respond on offense, and once again, they paid for it. Chuck Farley caught his second big TD of the day to cap off our scoring drive, this time rumbling in from 38 yards out! Just before the 2-minute warning, we had taken our first lead, 36-29.

The Arizona offense seemed resigned to their fate as they took the field. Zink tried to go to the well once too often, and our newly-signed backup safety, Dorsett, stepped in front of Ted Pierce to make the game-sealing interception. Broderick Hidalgo hit an insurance field goal as time ran out to make the final score 39-29 in our favor. Whew! What a wild game! When all was said and done in the fourth, we had scored on every possesion: 3 TDs and 1 field goal.

Key Performers:

Berg captured the Game MVP and Offensive Player of the Week awards with his 20 of 31 passing performance that netted us 415 yards and 5 TDs, along with 1 interception.

Matthews had 13 carries for 52 yards, but shined more as a receiver, catching 5 balls for 78 yards and a score.

Ralph Randle continued to impress with a 6 catch/128 yard performance that included 1 score.

Chuck U came up big with 3 receptions for 54 yards and 2 scores.

Earl Thornton had 3 catches for 98 yards and 1 TD.

New Injuries:

The win proved costly to us in terms of injuries. Terrance Read, our starting left tackle, hyperextended his knee and will need 3 to 5 weeks to recuperate.

Starting right cornerback Edgar Justus sustained a dislocated knee, and will hopefully be able to return in the playoffs.

Starting strong safety Percy Stewart dislocated his shoulder and will not return until the playoffs. Basically, our entire starting secondary is out of action, with the exception of our all-pro LCB Joel Harden. Not good, people, not good...

Here is a laundry list of injuries to significant players right now. It's gonna be hard to win if these guys don't heal up pretty soon.

Darren Cruise - RG - Broken hand, 2 weeks. Active, but likely won't play.
Levon Wallace - FB - Hyperextended knee, 2 weeks. Active, but won't play.
Terrance Read - LT - Hyperextended knee, 3-5 weeks. Inactive.
Kyle McAfee - backup T - Dislocated knee, 3-5 weeks. Inactive.
Dave Sanders - FS - Bruised shoulder, 2 weeks. Active, but won't play.
Percy Stewart - SS - Dislocated shoulder, playoffs. Inactive.
Edgar Justus - RCB - Dislocated knee, playoffs. Inactive.

One bright spot is that nose tackle Joey Rhoades will finally be back from his injury for our next game.


=============================================
Dallas (8-3) at New England (2-9)

The Patriots, despite being in the middle of a miserable season, managed to come out on top of the Cowboys, 14-12. Good job, boys!


=============================================
The Playoff Picture:

It'd be great if the Cowboys could sink to number 6, or miss the playoffs entirely!
<pre><font face="courier">
1. Gatesville 11-1
2. San Francisco 10-2
3. Tampa Bay 10-2
4. Dallas 8-4
5. Detroit 8-4
6. Richmond 7-5
</font></pre>

Next week, we'll travel to Washington to take on the 4-8 Redskins.

[Kodos]

Week 14

Gatesville (11-1) at Washington (4-8)
=============================================

The Game:

Ty Robbins was the only bright spot for us in this game. He scored 2 receiving touchdowns on the day. Nobody else did anything. Both Herb Matthews, our starting RB, and Tommy Douglas, our backup RB, went down with injuries early. In the end, Jimmie Berstein's 3 passing TDs were enough to beat us, 27-14.

Key Performers:

Berg completed just 14 of 37 passes for 205 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 interceptions. He also gained 57 yards on 9 carries to lead our team in rushing yardage.

Ty Robbins caught 6 passes for 112 yards and 2 TDs, which turned out to be 2 fewer TDs than we needed.

Key Injuries:

The injuries continued to pile up this week, as our starting center, Jonathan Farmer, tore a thumb ligament and will not recover fully until sometime during the offseason.

Herb Matthews, our leading rusher, suffered a dislocated shoulder, and will miss 3 to 5 weeks.

Tommy Douglas, our backup RB and FB, sustained a pulled groin and will also miss 3 to 5 weeks. Beautiful. Just beautiful. :mad:


=============================================
Dallas (8-4) at Arizona (5-7)

Arizona, fresh off of last week's narrow loss to us, managed to hold the Cowboys to just one field goal, and defeated them by the score of 16-3.


=============================================
The Playoff Picture:

Our loss proved to be costly, dropping us from all alone at number 1 to a three-way tie at number 1. After tie-breakers, I believe we would not get the bye week if the playoffs started today. At least Dallas dropped a notch too.

<pre><font face="courier">
1. San Francisco 11-2
1. Tampa Bay 11-2
1. Gatesville 11-2
4. Detroit 9-4
5. Dallas 8-5
6. Richmond 7-6
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by illinifan999:


I finally found enough time to go through this whole thing. Great job with the team. It took me two days to finish.

When it said that you were renaming Waco, to Gatesville I wondered why. Well two days later I finnaly figure it out. :eek:

Bill Gates, Gatesville, I got it now. Im a little slow. ;)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by illinifan999:
When it said that you were renaming Waco, to Gatesville I wondered why. Well two days later I finnaly figure it out. :eek:

Bill Gates, Gatesville, I got it now. Im a little slow. ;)


So, uhhh, how are you doing in school? Gettin' good grades, are ya? ;) Just kidding! Welcome aboard!

[Kodos]

Somewhere, deep in the Heart of America, shunned former Silicon Pirates QB Dexter McNeil sat in a darkened room and watched game films of the Pirate secondary in action. There were weakness there that could be exploited by the right quarterback. Especially if that quarterback had a big chip on his shoulder...

:eek:

[Kodos]

Week 15

Gatesville (11-2) at Indianapolis (6-7)
============================================

The Game:

In Week 15 of the 2014 season, we traveled to Indianapolis coming off of a 27-14 loss to the Redskins that had dropped us into a 3-way tie with San Francisco and Tampa Bay atop the NFC at 11-2.

Before the game, I tried to go over to the Colts' sideline and chat with former Pirates Dexter McNeil and Michael Lazetti, but neither one of them acknowledged my presence. So much for no hard feelings, I guess. I don't really blame them though.

We won the toss and elected to receive. Devin Bergeron, who replaced the departed Dexter McNeil at quarterback, trotted onto the field with the offense for the first possession of the game. Right off the bat, Berg's first pass went to Ralph Randle for a quick 19-yard gain. Cedric Wagner, starting in place of injured running backs Herb Matthews and Tommy Douglas, netted us two yards on the next two plays, so Berg went to the air again facing third-and-8, and found Randle again for 14 yards. Next, Berg got the ball to cult favorite Chuck Farley for a 17-yard gain. Just when it seemed like we were moving the ball pretty well, the offense sputtered, and we sent our all-pro kicker Broderick Hidalgo on to attempt a 41-yard field goal. The ball left his foot at a low trajectory and was blocked at the line by defensive end Jared Russell. In an instant, Colts linebacker Tracy Moulton grabbed the ball and scrambled 20 yards down the field before finally being brought to the ground. Crap!

Dexter McNeil took the field looking to extract his pound of flesh from our defense, despite the fact that he was still recovering from a dislocated shoulder. Michael Lazetti, who was dealing with a torn thumb ligament, would not play at all on this day.

Starting from our 38, McNeil completed a 6-yard pass to veteran tight end Marcus Pollard on first down. An offensive holding call on second down moved the Colts back to the 42. After a short run on second, McNeil's 12-yard completion to Marco Fitzgerald on third down was not enough, and on came Wayne Joyner for a 47-yard field goal attempt that sailed true. 3-0, Colts.

On the third play of our next drive, Colts defensive back Patrick Weimer broke in front of Berg's pass and came up with the interception. Starting with great field position once again, and looking to show us just what we let go, McNeil directed a 10-play, 45-yard drive that he capped off with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Marco Fitzgerald. 10-0, Colts! A bad start for the Pirates!

Undaunted, our offense took the field with just 25 seconds to go in the first quarter. Once again, Wagner was ineffective on the ground, but Levon Wallace had a nice 10-yard run on second-and-8 to get us a first down. Berg decided it was time to take to the air following another Wagner run that was stuffed in the backfield. Throwing with great precision, he completed his next four passes in a row, with the final completion going for 34-yards to Ty Robbins for a touchdown! We had pulled to within 10-7 early in the second quarter!

On the fourth play of the Colts' next drive, McNeil re-injured his dislocated shoulder on a handoff to Bill Badillo, and was forced to leave the game. He would not return. Peyton Manning, playing in what would be his final season in the NFL, stepped in at QB. The 17-year veteran was able to guide the offense to one first down, but that was all, and soon the punting unit was brought in.

Our next drive was a quick 3-and-out. This time, Manning led the Colts on a long drive that ended with a 24-yard field goal by Wayne Joyner that sent us into the half trailing 13-7.

Most of the third quarter passed with little in the way of action. Hidalgo missed a 40-yard field goal wide right midway through the quarter, but that was pretty much it for the quarter, until safety Larry McCoy intercepted another Bergeron pass to give the Colts the ball on their 32 with 9 seconds remaining until the fourth. However, the Colts fans' excitement soon died down again when the Colts' drive failed, and we got the ball back.

On the first play of our next drive, Berg threw another pick, this time to Marshall Bruce, who promptly returned it 30-yards for a back-breaking touchdown. On what would be his final play in the NFL, Peyton Manning lobbed a completion to Marcus Pollard in the back corner of the end zone for the 2-point conversion, but left the game with a broken finger, which he had banged on Joey Rhoades helmet in his follow-through from the pass.

Berg took to the field once more looking for a measure of redemption, and promptly hit Ralph Randle down the right sideline for 26 yards on first down. The next play, Berg found Ty Robbins across the middle for another 20 yards. Unfortunately, a sack on the next play killed our momentum, and after 2 incompletions, we settled for a 42-yard Hidalgo field goal with just over 10 minutes left to draw within 21-10.

As fate would have it, the score would get no closer on this day, as the offense was largely ineffective down the stretch, and Berg threw another pick in the end zone from 16 yards out to seal our fate. The networks all ran a shot of McNeil running into the tunnel after the game with a self-satisfied grin on his face...

Key Performers:

Berg, operating the offense without even a semblance of a running game, had one of his worst days as a pro, completing just 17 of his 42 pass attempts for 283 yards, 1 TD, and 4 interceptions.

Cedric Wagner, in for the injured starter Herb Matthews and his backup Tommy Douglas at RB, gained an embarrassing 6 yards on 12 carries.

Ty Robbins tried to do it all for us today, as he caught 10 passes for 170 yards and 1 TD.

Ralph Randle pulled in four passes for 74 yards.

Place kicker Broderick Hidalgo converted on just 1 of 3 field goal attempts.


============================================
Dallas (8-5) at Philadelphia (5-8)

The Cowboys edged the Eagles by the score of 20-19 to advance their record to 9-5 and to stay in the thick of the playoff race.


============================================
The Playoff Picture:

The loss dropped us to third place in the NFC playoff race, behind the 49ers and Bucs, who both won this weekend to improve their records to 12-2. Here is how the NFC would be seeded if they started today. Horrifyingly, the Cowboys can still win the NFC East if we lose our final two games and they win their final two! :eek: That simply cannot happen! :mad:
<pre><font face="courier">
1. Tampa Bay 12-2
2. San Francisco 12-2
3. Gatesville 11-3, 6-2 Div., 8-2 Conf.
4. Dallas 9-5, 6-2 Div., 8-3 Conf.
5. Detroit 9-5
6. Richmond 7-7
</font></pre>

Stay tuned, folks. Things have gone a bit haywire here in Gatesville...

[Kodos]

Week 16

Atlanta (5-9) at Gatesville (11-3)
============================================

Attendance: 48,200.

The Game:

We welcomed the Falcons to Microsoft Stadium hoping to end a two-week skid that had seen us go from the first seed in the NFC with the homefield and a bye to the third seed with no bye. A loss to the lowly Falcons would keep Dallas' chances of winning the NFC East alive, provided they managed to defeat Atlanta's division-mate New Orleans Saints, who were enduring a wretched 3-11 season.

In light of Cedric Wagner's woeful performance of a week ago, we decided to give fourth-stringer Everett Schwarz a crack at the starting RB slot while Matthews and Douglas continued recovering from their injuries. Our confidence in Schwarz was low, as he was a Randall Parra pick, and Parra is known to be a miserable judge of pretty much anyone on the offensive side of the ball, with the possible exception of the QB position (I think he stinks there too, but it just isn't commonly recognized yet).

After a sluggish start by both teams' offenses, Berg stirred things up with an interception in the end zone on our second drive. Sadly, this has become his "thing" as of late, and me and Coach Saxon have yet to figure out just how to cure him of it.

Thankfully, the Falcons were unable to do anything with this gift, and Berg hooked up with Earl Thornton for a 25-yard touchdown later in the quarter to give us a 7-0 lead.

Berg kept plugging away in the second quarter, and eventually a 33-yard touchdown strike to Ralph Randle put us up 14-0.

A Berg interception in the third quarter set up a Pete Cash (who was our second round draft pick way back in 2005, some of you may recall) to Brandon Greer touchdown that tightened things up a bit, 14-7.

Later in the third, we set up an easy field goal attempt from 29-yards out, which Broderick Hidalgo obligingly split the uprights with to once again give us a two-score lead, 17-7.

Early on in the fourth quarter, Berg ran the ball in himself on a busted play from 6-yards out to make it 24-7. That's when Pete Cash, who threw 18 TDs for us back in 2005, decided to come alive. Two more Cash touchdown strikes to WR Brandon Greer, Greer's second and third scores of the day, made things a little too close for comfort, 24-21, with 5 minutes left to go in the game.

Berg and the offense took the field hoping to get a few first downs, eat up some clock, and hopefully punch one into the end zone. They fared pretty well with first two goals, and Broderick Hidalgo's 46-yard field goal with 8 seconds left was enough to preserve a close-call, 27-21 victory over a very feisty Falcons squad. Whew! It was an ugly win, sure, but it was one we needed!

Key Performers:

Everett Schwarz, in his first NFL start, proved to be not as bad as we had feared. He managed to gain 58 yards on 14 carries, which was a Herculean effort when compared to Wagner's 6-yard day last week.

Berg, despite his interception problems, garnered the Game MVP award based on his 19 of 27 passing for 292 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 interceptions. He also gained 53 yards and 1 TD on 10 carries.

Ralph Randle had another fine game as he made 7 catches for 105 yards and 1 TD.

Earl Thornton, not to be outdone by Randle, gained 106 yards and 1 TD on just 6 catches.


============================================
New Orleans (3-11) at Dallas (9-5)

With our victory over the Falcons, we secured the NFC East crown, which may have deflated the Cowboys a little bit, as they dropped this game to the dreadfully bad Saints, 20-16. Such a shame - they're such nice fellas and all... :D


============================================
The Playoff Picture:

Things tightened up a little bit in our race with San Francisco for a bye week in the NFC, as the 49ers were upset by the 6-8 Panthers, 32-26. Tampa Bay tightened their grip on the top seed with a 21-14 victory over the Raiders. Here's how the field looks with one week left to go in the season:
<pre><font face="courier">
1. Tampa Bay 13-2
2. San Francisco 12-3
3. Gatesville 12-3
4. Detroit 10-5
5. Dallas 9-6
6. Arizona 8-7
</font></pre>

Uh-oh. Looks like the Cowboys' loss dropped them down another notch this week. Such nice boys. Why do bad things happen to such good people...? :p


============================================
The Road Ahead...

Next week, we will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the NFC-leading Buccaneers. With a win, and a 49ers loss, we would reclaim the the first seed in the NFC. However, the 49ers are traveling to face the 3-12 Browns, so a more realistic goal is just to win the bye week. Our team is literally hobbled with injuries right now, and a bye week could very well mean the difference between another Super Bowl run and an early exit from the playoffs for these Silicon Pirates. Stay tuned, folks. This should be interesting... :eek:

[Kodos]

Parra's memos usually find their way to the shredder right off the bat, but this one is of some interest:

From: Randall Parra
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Injury Report:
Eddie Carpenter, C - Probable
Renaldo Apolonio, DE - Out
Brandon Cook, CB - Out
Brady Dillon, RB - Questionable
Irving Thompson, CB - Questionable
Junior Martinez, S - Questionable
Zach Quigley, LB - Probable

Starting Quarterback: Dwight Norris
171 for 265, 1926 yards, 13 TDs, 7 interceptions this season.
Excellent at throwing very long passes.
Loves to run the football.

Starting Running Back: Jon Adams
372 carries for 1914 yards, 18 touchdowns this season. :eek: This guy might crack the 2000 yard mark against us!
Excellent overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Donovan Burroughs
54 receptions for 736 yards, 8 touchdowns this season.
Excellent runner after the catch.

Starting Split End: Barry Jamison
13 receptions for 97 yards, 2 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Starting Left Defensive End: Carl Bjornson
21 tackles, 4 assists, 3.5 sacks this season.
Fair defender against the run.

Starting Right Defensive End: Randal Jennings
22 tackles, 5 assists, 6.0 sacks this season.
Fair pass-rusher.

Starting Left Defensive Tackle: Luther Monroe
40 tackles, 15 assists, 5.0 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.
Starting Right Defensive Tackle: Will Henson
32 tackles, 12 assists, 3.5 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Left Linebacker: Gene Crowley
43 tackles, 12 assists, 4.5 sacks this season.
Fair defender against the run.

Starting Middle Linebacker: Oscar Harmon
38 tackles, 14 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Fair zone pass defender.

Starting Right Linebacker: Antonio Cooper
10 tackles, 1 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Danny Carty
13 tackles, 2 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Wesley Castleberry
20 tackles, 1 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Adrian Strong
87 tackles, 24 assists, 6 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Leonard Dawson
33 tackles, 12 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Fair pass intercepter.

Starting Left Defensive End (Passing): Marty Card
12 tackles, 7 assists, 2.0 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

[Kodos]

Injuries 'r' Us...

Here's a look at the injuries we are dealing with right now. The guys with *'s by their name are our regular starters.

*Jonathan Farmer, C - Torn Thumb Ligament, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
*Terrance Read, T - Hyperextended Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
*Edgar Justus, CB - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 2015
*Ty Robbins, WR - Hip Pointer, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Tommy Douglas, RB - Dislocated Shoulder, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
*Herb Matthews, RB - Pulled Groin, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
*Frankie Farley, DE - Turf Toe, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
*Patrick Sanders, DT - Broken Hand, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Butch Johnston, LB - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
*Percy Stewart, S - Dislocated Shoulder, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Kyle McAfee, T - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
*Bill Carr, P - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

[Kodos]

Week 17

Gatesville (12-3) at Tampa Bay (13-2)
=====================================

The Game:

We traveled to Tampa Bay during the final weekend of the regular season with the hope of pulling off an upset and reclaiming the bye for the first round of the playoffs. To do so, we would need to overcome not only the numerous injuries that had taken out many of our starters, but also we would need to contain the Buc's punishing running back, Jon Adams, who was looking to join the highly exclusive 2000-yard club in just his 4th year in the league. Our top RB, Herb Matthews, was unable to go with a pulled groin, so backup RB Tommy Douglas started in his place, despite his not-yet-fully-recovered dislocated shoulder.

Tampa Bay won the coin toss, and, looking to establish their dominance from the outset, elected to receive the ball first. On their opening play, Jon Adams ripped through our defensive line and was finally brought down 16-yards up the field. On the next play, we managed to hold him to 4 yards. Looking at second-and-6, Buc's QB Dwight Norris went to the air on the next two plays, but was unable to connect with his receivers, thus bringing up fourth-and-6 from our 42. In a show of utter disrespect for our defense, the Bucs went for it, but Norris once again couldn't connect with Donovan Burroughs (Dallas WR Gino Burroughs' brother), and the ball was ours in good field position.

After a false start call before we could even get off our first play, Berg immediately went to the air, hitting on his first 5 passes of the day. On the eighth play of the drive, Levon Wallace went around the right end for 14 yards and rumbled through the Buc defense for the touchdown! 7-0, Gatesville!

The Buccaneers got great field position to start their next drive, thanks to Adrian Strong's 38-yard return. Wasting no time, the Norris hit Burroughs for a 12-yard score on the fourth play of their possession to quickly snuff out our brief lead. 7-7.

Our next possession ate up the rest of the first quarter, but yielded no points, and we were forced to punt from the Buc's 40.

With their next possession, Jon Adams went to work, gaining 21 yards on the ground over the course of their next three plays. As they had done on their opening drive, the Bucs went away from the run when it was working, and the drive stalled, just as it had done the first time.

Pinned at our own 6, Berg calmly took the offense down the field using a steady barrage of passes with the occasional run thrown in to keep the defense honest. On second-and-15 from the Tampa Bay 28, Berg went for Farley in the back of the end zone, but the ball found cornerback Scottie Craig instead. Not another pick in the end zone!

Tampa Bay took their time moving down the field, and eventually Ronald Ingoglia kicked a 48-yard field goal when their offense stalled at our 31. 10-7, Bucs.

With just 54 seconds left to go in the half, Berg ran a draw on first down for a short gain. On second down, he went for Kyle Diaz down the right sideline, but cornerback Danny Carty was there to break up the pass. On third-and-10, Berg put one up for grabs deep in the Tampa secondary, and Earl Thornton made a spectacular leaping grab for a 46-yard gain. With a fresh set of downs on the Tampa 14 with 32 seconds left, we tried to fool the Bucs with a run, and Wallace made it 8 yards before Carl Bjornson brought him down. Not wanting to risk a sack, or perhaps another Berg pick in the end zone, Coach Irv Saxon opted to go for the safe 23-yard field goal with 22 seconds left. I guess Irv doesn't totally believe in Berg yet, but I do. I would have let Berg throw a couple of quick passes to the end zone, but Saxon was the one who made the call, and the field goal was good, sending us into halftime tied up at 10 all.

We began the second half with the ball, and the offense was able to move from our 20 to the Tampa 32 with the help of a 19-yard Tommy Douglas run and a 17-yard Randle reception. However, on the next play Berg was sacked and the ball came loose. Fortunately, Rusty Pleasant was alert enough to recover the ball, but the offense had lost its momentun, and we were forced to settle for a 51-yard field goal attempt. Broderick Hidalgo, once one of the league's most reliable kickers, missed the long attempt wide left, and the score remained knotted at 10-10.

On first and second down, we stuffed their workhorse RB Adams for losses, and it was quickly a 3-and-out for the Bucs.

Starting from our 19, Berg quickly found Earl Thornton on a screen, and from there Thornton ducked and dodged his way for a 39-yard gain. Next, Tommy Douglas knocked out runs of 10 and 9 yards to move us to the Tampa 33. Chuck Farley was called upon on our next play, and Chuck crashed his way through the Buc's secondary for a 23-yard gain that stopped just shy of the goal line. On the next play, Farley took one step forward, turned around, and pulled in a laser from Bergeron. Touchdown, Gatesville! We were on top once again, 17-10.

The Buccaneers took over deep in their own territory after the kickoff, and over the next 10 plays worked their way almost to midfield before being forced to punt the ball at the end of the third quarter.

Our next drive started off on a sour note with an offensive holding call. Two plays later, Berg left the game with an injury, and things had suddenly gotten much worse. Backup QB Luke Birk came in and promptly found Chuck Farley for a 15-yard gain across the middle to keep the drive alive. An ineligible receiver downfield call 2 plays later proved to be too much for the offense to overcome, and we punted from our 49.

Tampa Bay took over from their 14 trailing 17-10 with just under 12 minutes left in the game. Norris went to the air with limited success early, so the Bucs shifted gears and started giving the pill to Adams, who punished our defense for 21 yards over the next 5 plays. With the defense looking for the run, the Bucs went to the air once more, and 5 plays later Norris hit Ethan Hevey for a 3-yard touchdown to tie the game once again at 17-17 with 4:42 left.

Thanks to a nice kickoff return by Sean Kaplan, we took over from our 48 yard line. Immediately, Birk hit Thornton deep on a 43-yard bomb to move us deep into Buc territory. From there, Birk hit Ralph Randle on a fade for a 9-yard touchdown! We were leading 24-17, with 3:46 left!

A holding call on the kickoff return once again had the Bucs pinned deep at their own 6. Things were starting to look pretty good! On first down, Tampa backup RB Leroy Borders broke through the heart of our defense for an 11-yard gain before free safety Dave Sanders could drag him down. Jon Adams took it around the left end for 26-yards on the following play to move the ball out to the Buc's 43. Next, Norris dialed up Hevey for 21 yards, and it was starting to look like we had team of matadors on the field. The defense stiffened a bit, and Dave Sanders' sack from Norris's blind side set up third-and-8 from our 34. If we could hold them for one more play, the game would probably be ours. Oblivious to the pressure, Norris took a short drop and fired the ball to Hevey for 8-yards and the first down. No! After the Hevey first down, the defense visibly sagged, and on the next play, Norris hit Burroughs for 20 more yards. Three plays later, they connected again for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 24-24 with 1:02 left.

Ace return man Rodney Dorsett was able to return the kickoff to our 39. We figured we needed about 30 yards to get Hidalgo a good shot at a game-winning field goal, but it was not to be, as Birk fumbled the ball during linebacker Gene Crowley's sack, and Tampa Bay defensive end Marty Card fell on the ball at our 33. Not good!

With 39 seconds left and their full allotment of timeouts, the Buccaneers fed the ball to Adams, who gained 18 yards on first down to move to the Bucs to our 15. Adams got it again on the next play, and this time he leveled 3 or 4 guys en route to the end zone. Adam's touchdown put the Bucs up 31-24 with just 21 seconds left.

Any thought of a last-second miracle disappeared when Birk fumbled again on first down and Tampa Bay DT Luther Monroe recovered it. To quote one of those fabulous boy bands from the turn of the century, it was "Bye-bye bye." :(

Key Performers:

Tommy Douglas, still not completely recovered from his injury, gutted out a 12-carry, 85-yard performance.

Berg completed 19 of 26 passes for 239 yards, 1 TD, 1 Interception, and 1 fumble. He also ran the ball 4 times for 22 yards.

Luke Birk, playing in relief of the injured Bergeron, completed 4 of 4 passes for 72 yards, 1 TD, but his 2 fumbles were absolute game-killers for us.

Earl Thornton had a mammoth 8-catch, 175-yard performance that all went for naught in the end.

Chuck Farley caught 7 passes for 67 yards and 1 TD.

Ralph Randle caught 6 balls for 57 yards and 1 score.

Al Ingram made 11 tackles and got 2 assists.

Jon Adams joined the 2000-yard rusher club with 24 carries for 130 yards and 1 TD.

Dwight Norris completed 24 of 33 pass attempts for 292 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 picks.



=================================
Dallas (9-6) a Carolina (7-8)

The Cowboys were totally unimpressive in a 28-17 loss to a very average Carolina squad.



=================================
The Playoff Picture:

The 49ers managed to lose to the 3-12 Browns to drop to 12-4. Had we prevailed today, we would have miraculously recaptured the bye week and the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Instead, we will be playing host to the Rams in the Wild Card round...

<pre><font face="courier">
1. Tampa Bay 14-2
2. San Francisco 12-4
3. Gatesville 12-4
4. Detroit 10-6
5. Dallas 9-7
6. St. Louis 8-8
</font></pre>

Summing up, if we want to repeat as Super Bowl champions, we will be forced to do it the hard way: On the road... :(

[Kodos]

2014 Final Standings:

Here is a look at how the divisions stacked up at the conclusion of the 2014 regular season. They had quite a race for the final playoff spot over in the AFC...

<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
**Gatesville 12 4 0 .750 452 300 6-2-0 9-3-0
Dallas 9 7 0 .563 314 279 6-2-0 8-5-0
Arizona 8 8 0 .500 334 333 4-4-0 6-7-0
Washington 6 10 0 .375 322 371 2-6-0 5-7-0
Philadelphia 5 11 0 .313 292 332 2-6-0 3-9-0

NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Tampa Bay 14 2 0 .875 430 228 8-0-0 10-2-0
Detroit 10 6 0 .625 321 287 5-3-0 9-4-0
Chicago 8 8 0 .500 336 303 3-5-0 5-7-0
Green Bay 6 10 0 .375 255 294 2-6-0 4-8-0
Minnesota 5 11 0 .313 184 349 2-6-0 3-10-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
San Francisco 12 4 0 .750 418 308 8-2-0 11-2-0
St. Louis 8 8 0 .500 318 288 6-4-0 7-6-0
Carolina 8 8 0 .500 272 333 4-6-0 6-7-0
Richmond 7 9 0 .438 272 314 6-4-0 7-6-0
Atlanta 6 10 0 .375 309 298 4-6-0 4-9-0
New Orleans 5 11 0 .313 279 331 2-8-0 4-9-0

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
New York 11 5 0 .688 349 277 7-3-0 9-4-0
Des Moines 10 6 0 .625 310 274 6-4-0 9-4-0
Indianapolis 9 7 0 .563 270 271 6-4-0 7-6-0
Buffalo 8 8 0 .500 341 318 5-5-0 7-6-0
Miami 6 10 0 .375 260 339 4-6-0 5-8-0
New England 4 12 0 .250 250 362 2-8-0 2-11-0

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Pittsburgh 13 3 0 .813 422 291 8-2-0 11-2-0
Cincinnati 11 5 0 .688 338 245 8-2-0 10-3-0
Jacksonville 10 6 0 .625 273 347 6-4-0 8-5-0
Baltimore 10 6 0 .625 332 281 4-6-0 7-6-0
Tennessee 5 11 0 .313 237 332 3-7-0 4-9-0
Cleveland 4 12 0 .250 307 345 1-9-0 2-11-0

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Kansas City 9 7 0 .563 330 316 6-4-0 8-5-0
San Diego 9 7 0 .563 322 285 6-4-0 6-7-0
Wichita 8 8 0 .500 360 308 8-2-0 8-5-0
Seattle 7 9 0 .438 263 323 5-5-0 6-7-0
Denver 6 10 0 .375 270 323 4-6-0 6-7-0
Oakland 3 13 0 .188 212 369 1-9-0 2-11-0
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Tough break on a tough loss there, Kodos. Sounds like you need to have a little "chat" with your defensive coordinator.

The Berg injury isn't a big one, is it? I hope not. If you do have to go with Birk, I have one word for you. "Stickum" :D It might make throwing the ball a little tough, but at least he won't cough it up.

Looking forward to the playoffs. You know my man Chuck's gonna step it up come showtime.

[Kodos]

Thanks, DK! Berg is fine and will be available for our Wild Card game vs. St. Louis.

[Kodos]

2014 Playoffs: Wild Card Round

St. Louis (8-8) at Gatesville (12-4)
=============================================

Attendance: 48,200.

The Game:

On a cold, drizzly day in January, we played host to the visiting Rams, who were the sixth and final seed in the NFC. Despite a myriad of injuries on both sides of the ball, we figured to win because Berg, Chuck U, and our receiving corps were all still intact.

We opened up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 7-yard Thornton receiving touchdown and a 16-yard touchdown grab by Tommy Douglas. The second quarter started with yet another Berg interception in the end zone, but all the Rams could get out of it was a field goal. 14-3.

A 96-yard return by Sean Kaplan on the ensuing kickoff immediately crushed any momentum for the Rams. Late in the first half, shortly after Kurt Warner left the game with bruised ribs, a 63-yard Cole Rood run set up a 4-yard touchdown for Rood, but we still went into the break leading 21-10.

Sean Kaplan did it again with the opening kickoff of the second half, as he found a seam and took it all the way for a 93-yard touchdown. Wow! :eek: The kid is on today!

Another Berg interception in the fourth quarter set up a 37-yard touchdown pass from Lamont Andersen to Kevin Castillo. However, Lamont Edmond was stuffed on the 2-point try, and the score remained 28-16.

Responding quickly, our offense marched right down the field, and Berg found Wallace for his third passing touchdown of the day to extend our lead to 35-16 midway through the fourth quarter.

Not ready to give up yet, the Rams answered with another Andersen touchdown pass, this one going to Rich Jenkins from 19 yards out. Once again, the 2-point conversion attempt failed, as Cole Rood was dropped by Al Ingram just short of the line. With 6:40 to go, we were leading 35-22.

Berg and the offense put the game away for good with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ralph Randle with just 1:17 remaining. Final score: Gatesville 42, St. Louis 22.
Next week we will travel to the West Coast to face the 12-4 49ers.

Key Performers:

Berg won the Game MVP and Offensive Player of the Week awards despite the 2 interceptions, as he amassed 395 yards and 4 TDs while completing 30 out of his 40 attempts. He also carried the ball 7 times for 33 yards.

Everett Schwarz made good use of his 11 carries, as he gained 67 yards to finish the day averaging over 6 yards a pop.

Ralph Randle continued his best season with 13 catches for 177 yards and a score.

Chuck Farley caught 6 passes for 94 yards.

Earl Thornton caught 5 balls for 62 yards and 1 TD.

Joel Harden made 7 tackles and 1 interception.

Key Injuries:

Starting left guard Rusty Pleasant sprained his back and will miss the rest of the playoffs. Damn all these injuries! :mad:

Starting left end Patrick Sanders broke his hand and will need a couple weeks to recover.

Backup DT Paul Everett broke his foot and will miss the remainder of the season.


=============================================


Here is the lowdown on how the other games in the Wild Card round went. I can tell you right now, none of the games were pretty...

NFC:

The Cowboys embarrassed the Detroit Lions on the road to advance to the Divisional Round, where they will face the 14-2 Buccaneers. Good luck, 'boys! :p
<pre><font face="courier">
Dallas (9-7) 48
Detroit (10-6) 11
</font></pre>

AFC:

Shorty was no doubt turning cartwheels as he watched his beloved Bungles dismantle the visiting Des Moines squad. Kansas City rounded out a Wild Card weekend of blowout victories by defeating the Jags 23-3.

<pre><font face="courier">
Des Moines (10-6) 6
Cincinnati (11-5) 38

Jacksonville (10-6) 3
Kansas City (9-7) 23
</font></pre>

Looks like we'll be seeing you in the Divisional Round! Go Gatesville!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Hey! Gatesville is back! Just caught up with everything! Nice rout of the Rams! Hope your injuries don't kill you too much.

Of course you realize that you are heading straight for a Dallas-Gatesville NFC Championship Game, don't you?

Now that's a game I'm looking forward to!

Outstanding stuff as always!

Go Gatesville!

[Kodos]

Well, the Cowboys will have to get past Jon Adams and the Bucs first, which seems like a pretty tall order. And we are no lock to beat San Fran. It would be pretty cool to meet the Cowboys with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line...unless, of course, we lost. But we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit. We'll just have to see how things play out in the next round... :)

Notably our two previous Super Bowl opponents are also still alive on the AFC side. There could be some paybacks in order for us (against the Bengals) or for the Jets (against us).

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


Man, you're going to need some heroic performances this week tp get to the title game...That self-destruction in week 17 was ridiculous, and the week off would have helped heal some injuries.

Oh well, i have faith in Chuck U. i smell a big game coming up, or am i just smelling Kodos' cooking again?

cthomer

[Kodos]

It's probably best is you don't ask just what I'm cookin'!

[Kodos]

Injuries Update:

Here’s the Injury Report going in to San Fran. As you can see, we’re still pretty banged up. The good news is some of these guys are about ready to come back.

* Rusty Pleasant, G - Sprained Back, full strength in 2015
* Jonathan Farmer, C - Torn Thumb Ligament, full strength in 2015
* Edgar Justus, CB - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 2015
* Ty Robbins, WR - Hip Pointer, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
* Tommy Douglas, RB - Dislocated Shoulder, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
* Herb Matthews, RB - Pulled Groin, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Paul Everett, DT - Broken Foot, full strength in 2015
* Patrick Sanders, DT - Broken Hand, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
* Percy Stewart, S - Dislocated Shoulder, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Kyle McAfee, T - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

* = Starters

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Raven Hawk:


Stick it to the 49ers! I want to see Chuck U destroy the Cowgirls!

Goooooooooooooooooooooo Gatesville!

[Kodos]

2014 Playoffs: Divisional Round

Gatesville (13-4) at San Francisco (12-4)
============================================

The Game:

In the second round of the 2014 playoffs, we flew to the West Coast to face a San Francisco 49ers team that had edged us for the second seed in the NFC. With our best RBs, Herb Matthews and Tommy Davis, still ailing, we had little choice but to give our inexperienced rookie Everett Schwarz the starting nod at halfback and hope for the best.

We won the coin toss and chose to receive. Right off the bat, right tackle James Pond let linebacker Victor Sandberg by for a 5-yard sack. We managed to get most of it back on our next two runs, but still found ourselves looking at fourth-and-3 from our own 49. Inexplicably, Coach Saxon decided to go for it, but Ralph Randle's short reception came up 1 yard shy of a first down. :(

Starting with superb field position at their own 49, Daunte Culpepper led the 49er offense to our 28 before consecutive unnecessary roughness and offensive holding calls backed them up to where they had started, and they were forced to punt, having wasted a golden opportunity.

During our next possession, Berg and the offense once again couldn't seem to find their rhythm, and we punted after moving 5 yards in the wrong direction. Disaster struck when Earl Thornton knocked the ball from punt-returner Thurman Mathers' hand, only to have linebacker Rich Shively scoop it up and race 63 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, we found ourselves trailing 7-0.

Looking to strike back, the offense took to the field once more; Berg hit Thornton for 18 yards, Farley for 9 yards, and Randle for 5 yards to move us 32 yards on our first 3 plays. After a couple of decent gains on the ground, including a 7-yard draw run by Berg himself, Berg once again went to the air, and found Ralph Randle again for a 17-yard gain that moved us to the 49er 2 yard line. Left tackle Terrance Read allowed a 5-yard sack on second-and-goal from the 2, but Read sprung Everett Schwarz around the left end for a 7-yard score on third down to even the score at 7-7.

Starting from their own 24, San Francisco embarked on a long drive that ended with a 23-yard Johnny McElroy field goal early in the second quarter. 10-7, 49ers.

Our next drive was highlighted by a 20-yard completion to Ty Robbins, but ultimately the drive ended with yet another Berg interception in the end zone by safety Walter Raney.

San Francisco moved backward from the 20 to their own 8 on the ensuing possession, thanks to a false start and an Allen Whitfield sack of Culpepper for an 8-yard loss.

Going to work from midfield, Berg mixed in some runs with 4 straight completions, the last one going to Ralph Randle for a 7 yard touchdown. For the first time in the game, we owned the lead, 14-10, with just under 5 minutes to go until the half.

The 49ers could only muster 2 yards before calling on their punter once again, and we moved from our 33 to their 4 with some good runs by Levon Wallace and Tommy Douglas. With first-and-goal from the 4, Schwarz ran for 0, -3, and -2 yards to set up a 26-yard Hidalgo field goal on fourth down that gave us a 17-10 lead on the road going into the half. Not too shabby, really, but I couldn't help thinking about how easily it could have been an 11-point lead.

Johnny McElroy missed a 41-yard field goal attempt wide left on the Niners first drive of the second half, and Hidalgo followed suit with his own 42-yard attempt that also sailed wide left. Damned kickers!

San Francisco's next drive was a quick three-and-out, and Sean Kaplan's 17-yard punt return set us up nicely at the 49er's 48. Berg's 36-yard strike to Ralph Randle provided the biggest fireworks of the drive, while Earl Thornton's 8-yard touchdown grab provided the exclamation mark. Gatesville, 24, San Francisco 10!

A 3-yard draw by Culpepper that capped a 74-yard drive illustrated that the 49ers weren't going to give up just yet in the fourth quarter, but Hidalgo's 44-yard field goal on our next possession kept us ahead 27-17 with 8 minutes to go.

A 48-yard completion from Culpepper to Peter Warrick set up Warrick's 10-yard touchdown grab that brought the Niners to within 27-24 with 5:43 left in the game.

Evidently looking to build on their momentum, the 49ers lined up for the onside kick instead of relying on their defense to get them the ball back. McElroy sent a high-bouncing kick our way that reserve linebacker Bryan Groh just dove on. Gatesville's ball on the San Francisco 40!

On first down, Berg scrambled for 5, and Everett Schwarz followed that up with a 12-yard dash right up the gut of the defense behind the blocking of backup guard Rob Stanton. Tommy Douglas punched through the defense for another 7 yards before Rich Shively was able to tackle him. On second-and-3 from the 16, Berg underthrew Ralph Randle to bring up third down, but luckily Berg was able to find Thornton on the next play for 12 yards to move the chains and give us first-and-goal on the 49er four. Once again, Berg tried to get it to Randle, but defensive tackle Randal Tallent made Berg throw before he really wanted to, and the ball fell incomplete. Wary of another pick in the end zone, Coach Saxon called Everett Schwarz's number on second down, and Schwarz rewarded him by dragging several 49ers into the end zone. Touchdown, Gatesville! Leading 34-24 with just 2:33 left on the clock, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The final nail in San Francisco's coffin almost came on first down, when Joey Rhoades bowled over right tackle Jim Stapleton and knocked the ball out of Culpepper's hand, but right guard Burt Booker fell on it for the Niners to keep their drive alive. Still, they were looking at second-and-22 from their own 1 after a false start before their next play. Culpepper tried to make something happen on a busted play, but he only managed a 4-yard gain to bring up third-and-18 from their 5. Each of Culpepper's next two passes were knocked down before reaching their intended target, WR Frank Williamson, and the Niners turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory.

Given the great field position, it took just two plays for us to score a touchdown, as Berg snuck it in himself for a 6-yard score to put it completely out of reach. 41-24, Pirates!

To their credit, the 49ers still didn't give up. Culpepper launched one deep to a wide-open Peter Warrick, who took it 80 yards for a score after the cornerback fell down. They even managed to recover the ensuing onside kick. It didn't matter in the end. Final score: Gatesville 41, San Francisco 31. All we could do now was to wait and see how the Cowboys fared in Tampa Bay...

Key Performers:

Berg won the Game MVP award by completing 22 of his 33 passes for 269 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. He also gained 40 yards and a TD on 8 carries.

Everett Schwarz didn't gain a lot of yards, but he did get into the end zone twice on 12 carries for 39 yards.

Ralph Randle had a relatively quiet day, with 5 catches for 67 yards and 1 score.

Chuck Farley had 5 grabs for 59 yards.

Earl Thornton pulled in 4 passes for 48 yards and 1 TD.

Joel Harden made 10 tackles and 1 assist.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Yahoo!

Waiting with bated breath for the Dallas result...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


Man, that was excellent... im dreaming of Dallas coming to Gatesville next week for the biggest game in the rivalry's history!


cthomer

[Kodos]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1:


Way to go Pirates!

Never thought I would say this, but I hope the Cowboys win. I would love to see you guys crush Dallas on the way to the Big Game.

[Kodos]

Divisional Round Update:

Three of the four Conference Championship participants have been decided so far, with the final game at the half right now.

AFC:

On the AFC side, the number one seeded Steelers walloped the Bengals, while the Jets won a closer contest at home against the Chiefs.
<pre><font face="courier">
Cincinnati (12-5) 3
Pittsburgh (13-3) 27

Kansas City (10-7) 14
New York (11-5) 24
</font></pre>

NFC:

In the final game of the weekend, the Buccaneers are leading the Cowboys 17-14 at the half. However, Tampa Bay's kicker has left the game with a broken foot. That's better than a torn ACL, I guess. :rolleyes:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


The Floaters have captured your avatar in X-COM II, Kodos.

They said to tell us the final score of the Dallas/Tamp game and they will release you. Don't tell us and they will mind control you and have you strangle yourself with all eight tentacles, or testicles, as the guy on Ebay would say.

:)

[Kodos]

Divisional Round Update #2:

This just in from the Skyranger satellite dish: Jon Adams, the Buccaneers' stud RB, has just run for a touchdown and the 2-point conversion to put the Buccaneers up late, 25-21. Repeat: The Bucs have gone ahead late in the fourth quarter... The Cowboys have the ball with just under 2 minutes to go and all three timeouts left...[/End Transmission]

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


You two are both bastards.

;)

[Kodos]

Update #3

The Bucs have intercepted backup QB Tracy Mazurek's pass in the end zone! It's all over! The Bucs win!...

[Kodos]

Update #4

Wait! Defensive pass interference was called. The Cowboys have it on the 1! Mazurek lines up in the goal line formation...and takes it in himself! There's no time left! The Cowboys win, 28-25! :eek:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


VFF.

:)

Is there an update #5? Or is it really over? You're killing me.

Is it really going to be the Cowboys vs. the Pirates? That would be so very cool. The ultimate turning point!

[Kodos]

That was indeed the final update. The Cowboys have won, and we have claimed the homefield advantage for the rest of the playoffs! Who'd a thunk it?!

There's gonna be Big Trouble in Little Texas next weekend... ;)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


This is going to be a huge game. Huge! A pivotal moment in this dynasty's history. You just knew there would be a time when Dallas would try to come back. Stuffing them back in their hole once again should break their spirit for good. They'll shrivel up and move to Fargo.

But if they win, and get a shot at a Super Bowl, yikes! They could be in Dallas for another 20 years!

Oh my! :eek:

Not to put any pressure on you or anything.

Kick their butts.

When's the game?

[Kodos]

GB: Yeah, it's a HUGE game as far as the overall challenge goes. A Super Bowl win for the Cowboys, and I can't see them going anywhere any time soon. It could wipe out years of progress... On the other hand, a second consecutive Bowl win (and third consecutive trip to the Bowl) for us could really help boost our attendance and help bail me out of the financial trouble we are in.

Not sure when I'll be able to post it. I'm dead tired today, and won't really have time to write it up tonight. I may be able to sneak something in tomorrow...but maybe not. I want to make sure I give it the big treatment it deserves, and that takes time (as you know from all your threads). I'd say it'll definitely be done by sometime on Saturday at the latest. :)

Thanks to all the people who are chiming in again. I was afraid that most folks had lost interest in this thread for a while... :)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by illinifan999:


Kodos, I hate you. ;) Those updates were cruel. Go Pirates!! I swear if you lose to the Cowgirls.........

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Fonzie:


Fear not, Kodos. I haven't been posting, but I've been absolutely addicted to your dynasties. Keep 'em comin'!

And be sure to mess them 'Boys up something fierce.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Take your time with it. Don't rush for us. The anticipation is half the fun!

Looking forward to The Big Game.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by sterlingice:


Clearly Jerry Jones bought off the refs

SI

[Kodos]

Thanks, guys!

Fonzie: Ayyyyyyy! (<--- sad little "Happy Days" reference.) Glad you are enjoying the show!

Illinifan: We aliens can be known to be pretty cruel. Especially when we steal a page from the cruelest of the cruel: Godzilla Blitz! ;) But believe me, I want to beat those Cowboys more than anyone, with the possible exception of Bill Gates himself.

Sterlingice: I wouldn't put it past Jones. Frogs don't like to touch him because he's too slimy.

GB: I think if we win versus the Cowboys, the Super Bowl may seem anti-climactic afterward. Oh well... I'll still take a win over the 'Boys!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Raven Hawk:


Sgt. Raven Hawk here from X-Com II. We have secured the perimeter. If Jerry Jones gets near these refs, my team has been instructed to shoot first and ask questions later. Although Patman II is having a little too much fun with the Stun Rod and the Cowboys fans. Raven Hawk out . . .

[Kodos]

Awww, there's nothing wrong with a little harmless stun-rod fun! :p

[Kodos]

From: Randall Parra
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Dallas Cowboys


Injury Report:
Roosevelt Murray, QB - Out (torn thumb ligament)
Dale Corbett, WR - Questionable
Ethan Thornhill, T - Questionable
Eric Blades, LB - Questionable
Michael Robertson, G - Questionable
Rico Weaver, FB - Doubtful
Everett Weiner, WR - Out
Leo McCullar, FB - Questionable

Offensive Overview:

The Cowboys will be without the services of regular starting QB Roosevelt Murray, and will go with Tracy Mazurek instead at QB.

Starting Quarterback: Tracy Mazurek
86 for 141, 911 yards, 6 TDs, 5 interceptions this season.
Excellent at throwing short passes.

Starting Running Back: Lester Reynolds
294 carries for 1211 yards, 8 touchdowns this season.
Excellent overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Gino Burroughs
53 receptions for 640 yards, 2 touchdowns this season.
Excellent hands.

Starting Split End: Dale Corbett
60 receptions for 729 yards, 3 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: Herb Page
30 tackles, 9 assists, 3.5 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive End: Marlon Linquist
36 tackles, 13 assists, 5.0 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Left Defensive Tackle: Sean Ross
34 tackles, 22 assists, 8.0 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive Tackle: Cory Mallory*
29 tackles, 11 assists, 3.0 sacks this season.
Fair pass-rusher.

Starting Weak-Side Linebacker: Eric Blades
21 tackles, 6 assists, 2.5 sacks this season.
Excellent defender against the run.

Starting Middle Linebacker: Randal Caldwell
91 tackles, 42 assists, 2.0 sacks this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Linebacker: Timothy Meadows*
57 tackles, 19 assists, 2.0 sacks this season.
Good defender against the run.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Joel Flannery
44 tackles, 12 assists, 3 interceptions this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Jerome McCarthy
44 tackles, 6 assists, 6 interceptions this season.
Excellent pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Greg Drayson
90 tackles, 29 assists, 4 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Shawn Treadway
86 tackles, 27 assists, 3 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

* former Silicon Pirates / current treasonous bastards

[Kodos]

Injury Report:

The good news is that starting RB Herb Matthews and backup RB Tommy Douglas should be good to go on Sunday. WR Ty Robbins will also play despite his hip injury.

Rusty Pleasant, G - Sprained Back, full strength in 2015
Jonathan Farmer, C - Torn Thumb Ligament, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Edgar Justus, CB - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 2015
Ty Robbins, WR - Hip Pointer, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Herb Matthews, RB - Pulled Groin, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Paul Everett, DT - Broken Foot, full strength in 2015
Kyle McAfee, T - Dislocated Knee, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

[Kodos]

2014 NFC Championship Pre-Game Conference:

We join the conference already in progress...

Jerry Jones: ...as I was saying, Bibi, we beat the Pirates at Gatesville back in Week 2, and I see no reason to think that we won't do the same thing this Sunday.

Bibi Gunn: But Jerry, isn't that a pretty strong statement considering that your starting QB, Roosevelt Murray, won't even be playing due to his torn thumb ligament?

Jerry Jones: Yes, yes, I know Bibi. Now I realize that women don't understand sports - I get that - but Tracy Mazurek is more than capable of winning this game for us. No offense to Roosevelt, but Tracy is a special player, akin to a Ryan Leaf or maybe a Quincy Carter, and I believe he will be able to step right in and get the job done against the depleted Pirates secondary.

Bill Gates: Depleted? Sure, starting right cornerman Edward Justice won't be playing, but Ned Ferguson will do just fine with a little extra support from middle safety Dave Sanderson. And forgive me for saying this, but Tracy Mazurek doesn't exactly strike fear our hearts! The Cowboys will be lucky to score at all! The guy's name is "Tracy," for God's sake! That's a girl's name! How could he possibly be a good quarterbacker? And let's face it: You and your Cowboys couldn't beat us tomorrow even if you still had Roger Starbucks at quarterback.

Jerry Jones: Good god, man! You think that you can actually hold us scoreless? Folks - this is ridiculous. I know that Bill Gates isn't a real football guy like I am, but surely even he can see that we are going to beat them. Heck, we beat a Tampa Bay team that is far superior to Gatesville just last weekend.

Bill Gates: Not a "football guy?!?" Look people, yes it's true that I may not have been on a college football team, or a high school team, or a junior var city team... or even a Pee-Wee Herman team, but may I remind you that my company, Microsoft, has been responsible for many excellent football simulations on the computer and on the X-Box 1, 2, and 3, as well as the soon-to-arrive X-Box 4. So for him to stand there and say that I am not a "football guy" is just ludicrous. Next he'll be claiming that I stole all of my good computer ideas from Apple!

Jerry Jones: Give it a rest, why dont'cha, Bill! Why don't you just admit right now that you wouldn't know football if I crammed one up your money-grubbin' ass!

Bill Gates: Not true! Not true! Bill knows football!

Bibi Gunn: Guys, guys! It's not often that I have to be the voice of reason, but please, please calm down!

Bill Gates: Sorry, Bibi, but he started it!

Jerry Jones: I did NOT!!! That jackass started it 15 years ago when we wouldn't take no for an answer!

Bill Gates: Jackass?!? I'm not the one who turned down a billion dollars for a team that wasn't worth half that much, folks!

Jerry Jones: No means NO!!!!


============================================

We must now interrupt this news conference so that we may bring you our featured film, "Heidi," in its entirety...

[Kodos]

Bill Gates: Master Of Motivation

Right before the team was ready to head out onto the field, Billy Boy decided to make a surprise appearance to rally the troops.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to come down here and offer you a few words of encouragement. I think that you've come together nicely since that late-season slide. But all that you have accomplished so far this season, last season, or ever, for that matter, will mean nothing if you lose to the Cowboys today. Do you understand what I'm saying here? It will all mean nothing."

"Uhh, Bill, I think the guys understand how big this game is already. You don't have to talk to them like they were little boys."

"Sure, Kodos. You're absolutely right. I apologize, boys, and everything will be fine just as long as you beat the Cowboys today. Losing is not an option."

"I'm just curious, Bill. Is this how you speak to your employees over at Microsoft too?"

"As a matter of fact, no, it isn't, Kodos. Of course, I'm not on the verge of firing any of them. Anyhow, go get 'em, boys. No holds barred."

After Bill had made his exit, Berg and many of the guys came up to me. "Man! What an asshole! Is he always like that?"

"Pretty much, yeah," I told them. "This whole thing with Jerry Jones has him really strung out most of the time..."

"Why do you put up with it? I'm sure lots of other teams would love to have you, Kodos."

"I know, I know. You're probably right, Berg. But at the end of the day, it comes down to two things: First, I've spent too long building this team to let it go just when it has come into its own, and, second, I can't stand the Cowboys any more than Bill can, and, like it or not, this team gives me the best opportunity to strike at them."

Berg's last words before heading out of the locker room were these: "Boss, when we win this game tonight, I just want you to know one thing. We will have won it for you, not for him."

"Thanks, son. It means a lot to me. Let's just forget all about this crap for now. We've got ourselves some Cowboys to skin!!!"

[Nyarlahotep]

Kodos, I have wasted the day away reading up to this point. This is an excellent dynasty and I can't wait to find out if the challange was a success.

[Kodos]

2014 Playoffs: NFC Championship Game

Dallas (11-7) at Gatesville (14-4)
==================================

Attendance: 48,200 fans were treated to another Gatesville home game, which had been totally unexpected after our victory over St. Louis in the Wild Card Round two weeks earlier.

The Game:

After a week of off-the-field shenanigans, the actual game was finally at hand, much to the relief of the players and myself. The Cowboys won the toss and chose to receive.

Showing little confidence in Tracy Mazurek, the Cowboys started by handing the ball off on first and second down, gaining 8 yards in the process. On third-and-2, Mazurek hit wide receiver Deon Knox for 6 yards and the first down. A defensive holding call quickly tacked on another 15 yards. Next, Lester Reynolds got the call again, and picked up 9 yards running off of the right guard. Looking to slow their momentum, Joey Rhoades came up with a big sack on second down to set up third-and-7. Mazurek responded by hitting the flanker Gino Burroughs for 9 yards and another first down. Following two incompletions, Mazurek was only able to gain 6 yards on third down, bringing up fourth-and-4 from our 40. From the press box, Jerry Jones told the Cowboy offense to go for it, but Mazurek's pass to Dale Corbett was broken up by linebacker Allen Whitfield, and we had our first possession of the ball!

Berg immediately picked up a first down with two 6-yard scrambles, and Levon Wallace added 3 yards on the ground on our third straight running play. Having established the run, Berg went to the air and found Ralph Randle for 9-yards and a first down. Another Bergeron scramble and a 14-yard completion to Randle moved us to the Dallas 17. A pass that was batted down at the line, a run that was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, and an 8-yard sack of Bergeron gave us fourth-and-18 from the 25. Worse, Chuck Farley had to leave the game with an injury sustained on the failed run play. Still, Broderick Hidalgo's 42-yard field goal put us on top, 3-0.

Following a Cowboy three-and-out, we took over late in the quarter from our own 35. A 22-yard gain by Earl Thornton and a 9-yard Randle pickup quickly moved us into Cowboy territory. However, a clipping penalty soon set the offense back, and we ended up settling for another Hidalgo field goal, this time from 51 yards out. 6-0, Pirates.

Thanks to an unnecessary roughness call on the offense, the Cowboys were forced into another three-and-out, despite completions of 8 yards to WR Peter Duvall and 5 yards to Dale Corbett.

We took over from our 37, and I was as shocked as anybody when I watched third-string RB Everett Schwarz race around the left end and turn it upfield for a 63-yard touchdown! Trying to move the margin to 14, Berg was unable to find Thornton on the 2-point conversion attempt, and the score stayed at 12-0.

The Cowboys came up 3 yards short of a first down, and had to kick it away again after another three-and-out. Mazurek, despite Jerry Jones' earlier assertions, had not been able to get it done so far.

Following an incompletion on first down, Everett Schwarz ran for gains of 15 and 17 yards on our next two plays to move the ball to the Cowboy 40. Next, a Berg draw and a completion to Earl Thornton kept the chains moving. Two incompletions brought up third-and-10, but Berg converted with a 16-yard strike to Ty Robbins. One play later, Berg hit Herb Matthews out of the backfield for a 4-yard touchdown. Incredibly, Hidalgo's conversion attempt sailed right, and the score remained 18-0.

After a touchback on the kickoff, the Cowboys, appearing to have given up on passing the ball, started trying to move it on the ground. It worked on first and second down, as they gained 5 and 3 yards, but defensive end Peter Hickman stopped Lester Reynolds for a 3-yard loss on third down, and on came the punting unit.

Sean Kaplan's 13-yard return set us up at our 49 with just over 2 minutes left, but backup guard Rob Stanton allowed a sack, and Berg lost the ball. Defensive tackle Britt Andersen recovered it on our 44 to give the Cowboys' offense great field position.

Mazurek went to the air immediately, completing passes of 16 and 15 yards to move the ball to our 13. Following an incompletion, Mazurek found Corbett alone in the back of the end zone, and our 18-point lead had shrunk to 11.

With 1:20 left to go in the half, Berg hit Randle on consecutive plays for 10 and 35 yard gains to move the ball to the Cowboy 35 to set up a 49-yard Hidalgo field goal attempt that missed wide right with 5 seconds to go.

With time for just one play left before the half, Mazurek flung a long pass to Corbett for a 43-yard gain that meant nothing.

Berg and the offense took the field in the second half looking to make a statement. On first down, Schwarz went around the left end for 23 yards, which Berg followed up with a 19-yard strike to Ralph Randle. James Pond sprung Schwarz for another 23-yard gain on the next play, and Berg hit Earl Thornton for 13 yards to finish a 4-play, 78-yard touchdown drive and put us up 25-7.

Following a 10-yard Reynolds run on first down, the defense stiffened, and a 12-yard sack by Joey Rhoades signaled it was time for the Cowboys to punt once again.

Our next drive, while not as impressive as our previous drive, did finish with a 26-yard chip-shot field goal that extended our lead to 28-7 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Cowboy safety Gus Bleeck muffed the catch on the ensuing kick, but WR Oliver Carnahan was able to recover it to keep the ball for the Cowboys. It didn't matter much, as the Cowboys' offense was totally ineffective (as they had been for most of the day), and another punt was shortly forthcoming.

Each of the teams' next drives went three-and-out, but a Schwarz fumble that was forced out by former Pirate Timothy Meadows gave the Cowboys the ball on our 35 late in the quarter after Dallas cornerback Damon Tanner recovered it.

Trailing 28-7 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Mazurek hit Corbett for a 26-yard gain, but the Cowboys ended up settling for a 20-yard field goal after their offense stalled at our 3. Still, we led 28-10 with less than a quarter to go.

We fed the ball to Schwarz for a 5-yard gain on first down, which he followed up with an 18-yard gain off the left side of the line. Two incompletions and a short gain on third down forced us to punt, but Cowboy cornerback Joel Flannery's fumble after a nice 35-yard return was recovered by Levon Wallace to give us the ball back with a fresh set of downs on our own 49. A quick 21-yarder to Ty Robbins moved us into scoring territory, and two plays later Berg hit Earl Thornton across the middle for a 29-yard touchdown. It was now 35-10, Gatesville, and the fans were beginning to celebrate. Bill and I, with our differences temporarily forgotten, were celebrating too.

The Cowboys managed one first down on a couple of runs, but were forced to punt it away again after defensive end Peter Hickman nailed Lester Reynolds for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1.

Gene Abney's punt pinned us at our 2, so we kept to the ground the next few plays. Alas, we were not able to pick up a first down. However, the Cowboys only moved backward with their next possession, and the ball was soon ours once again with just 4:56 to go.

Looking to eat up what remained of the clock, we started feeding Schwarz the ball. He followed a 33-yard gain on first down with a 3-yard loss. A false start before second down backed us up 5 more yards, and Schwarz managed just 2 yards on his next carry. Facing third-and-16, we handed the ball to Schwarz once again, and he picked up the first down with a pretty 22-yard run behind the blocking of Terrance Read. Schwarz was sent to the sidelines for a breather, so Tommy Douglas came in and promptly tore off another 14-yard gain around the right end of the line. Clearly, the Cowboys' defense had been worn down. The drive continued with Schwarz and Douglas alternating carries, until Douglas ran for a 2-yard touchdown just before the 2 minute warning to make it 42-10, Pirates. That night, ESPN and the networks played and replayed footage of a red-faced Jerry Jones winging his playbook against the wall, and with good reason: It was probably the best throw by a Cowboy all day... :)

The Cowboys offense got a couple more first downs before time ran out on them, but it really didn't mean anything. A 42-10 thrashing had sent them reeling into the offseason like Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars. Sure, they might be back some day, but on this day, we had just plain crushed them. :D When all was said and done, we had held the Cowboys to just 66 rushing yards and 173 passing yards on the day, while gaining 297 rushing yards and 247 passing yards ourselves. If you were to ask me, I'd say that's an ass-kicking, yes. :D

Key Performers:

Maybe Billy Boy's little speech fired third-string RB Everett Schwarz up, because "the Schwarz" was definitely with him as he ran all over the Cowboys defense for a playoff record 234 yards on 20 carries today. :eek: He also got 1 touchdown and coughed the ball up once, but I think we'll be willing to forgive him for that. Obviously, Schwarz was the Game MVP and the Offensive Player of the Week. Wow!

Berg completed 20 of 30 passes for 266 yards, 3 TDs, and no interceptions. His one fumble did set up the Cowboys' only touchdown of the day though.

Earl Thornton had a super day, as he caught 7 passes for 106 yards and 2 TDs.

Ralph Randle also broke the century mark with 106 receiving yards on 8 catches.

Joey Rhoades recorded 2 tackles and made 2 big sacks.

Linebacker Butch Johnston had himself a good game with 10 tackles and 1 assist.


============================================
AFC Championship Game:

The Jets defeated the Steelers decisively to set up a rematch between last year's Super Bowl contestants. Who knows - maybe the Jets will be able to get their payback against us next Sunday, but until morning comes tomorrow, we Gatesvillains are gonna revel in this landmark victory. What a great day for Gatesville fans around the country! :)

<pre><font face="courier">
New York (12-5) 24
Pittsburgh (14-3) 7
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1:


Go Pirates! Congrats Colonel Kodos on your huge victory against Jerry and the Boys.

As a longtime season ticket holder, do you think Bill can get me one of those X-Box 4's. I can't wait to play Madden 2015.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by sterlingice:


'grats on the victory, Kodos.

SI

[Kodos]

Thanks, though I think Bill would prefer that you play NFL Fever 2015.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Fonzie:


Congratulations Kodos! A glorious win like this over the hated Cowboys almost makes the Super Bowl anticlimactic. :D

[Kodos]

Originally posted by jfbbis:


Congrats, Kodos! Never tried to find a job writing about real games : you're far better than the guys at Cbs Sportsline !

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Yahoo!

Bury 'em deep in that Texas soil! Deep, I say, deep down, so that they never rise again.

Fargo Cowboys has a wonderful ring to it. Fairbanks Cowboys would also work. Or maybe even Jakarta Cowboys.

Congrats! Great write-up too!

[Kodos]

Thanks, guys!

Hey GB: Maybe if we bury them deep enough, perhaps some day their rotting corpses could turn into oil and become useful once again, much like their dinosaur predecessors from so long ago. ;)

[Kodos]

The 2014 Super Bowl

New York Jets (13-5) at Gatesville (15-4)
=============================================

Attendance: 48,200.

The Game:

The Jets came into Gatesville looking to exact some revenge for the 34-7 thrashing that we handed them a year ago in the 2013 Super Bowl, not to mention the 34-21 defeat from Week 1 of this season.

To quote The Rolling Stones: "You can't always get what you want." On the Jets' third play from scrimmage, backup safety Ernest Conner picked off Chad Pennington's first pass of the day and returned it 28-yards for a touchdown. From there, it only got worse for the Jets. In a game that was never close, we took a 21-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Berg had the hot hand and ate their secondary alive with 4 touchdown passes on the day. Sean Kaplan had yet another punt return for a touchdown. Everett Schwarz averaged around 8 yards a pop as he ran for 113 yards. Ralph Randle caught 2 touchdowns. Chuck Farley caught one, as did Earl Thornton. It was all too much for the Jets, who struggled on offense all day, and at the end of the day, we had thoroughly humiliated them by the score of 52-13. :D

I'd like to think that somewhere over in Dallas, Jerry Jones was watching the game and screaming himself hoarse at what his TV was showing him. Cuz that would just be too beautiful... :p

Key Performers:

There were no picks in the end zone for Berg today, as he captured his second straight Super Bowl MVP award by completing 19 of 26 passes for 264 yards, and 4 TDs.

Everett Schwarz had a solid performance with 14 carries for 113 yards.

Chuck Farley caught 5 passes for 59 yards and a TD that put us up 28-7 early in the second quarter.

Ralph Randle completed a terrific season by catching 4 balls for 67 yards and 2 TDs.

Earl Thornton finished with 4 catches for 53 yards and 1 score.

Sean Kaplan had 3 returns for 70 yards and 1 TD.

Allen Whitfield made 8 tackles and had 2 assists.

Peter Hickman made 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Ernest Conner had 1 tackle, 1 assist, and 1 touchdown off of 1 interception.

[Kodos]

The Super Bowl Winners: 2000-2014

Here is a brief look at how the first 15 Super Bowls of the Bill Gates era have gone. NFC teams have won 11 out of the last 15 Super Bowls. Washington and Gatesville are the only teams to have won the Super Bowl in consecutive seasons. No team has gone undefeated so far, but three teams have gone 17-2 (Arizona, Gatesville, and Washington), with each of those teams claiming victory in the that season's Super Bowl. Gatesville scored the most points in a single Super Bowl (52), while Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have each gotten shut out once.

<pre><font face="courier">
2000
Green Bay (14-6) 19
Baltimore (13-6) 14

2001
Arizona (12-7) 18
New England (14-5) 42

2002
Indianapolis (14-5) 20
Green Bay (14-5) 17

2003
Washington (16-4) 27
Oakland (13-6) 24

2004
Miami (12-7) 13
Washington (17-2) 48

2005
Wichita (12-7) 14
New Orleans (16-3) 19

2006
St. Louis (14-5) 34
Pittsburgh (13-6) 18

2007
Indianapolis (13-6) 0
Green Bay (16-3) 23

2008
Pittsburgh (12-8) 0
San Francisco (15-4) 33

2009
Buffalo (15-4) 38
Chicago (15-4) 13

2010
Green Bay (13-5-1) 14
Pittsburgh (15-4) 38

2011
Cincinnati (12-6-1) 17
Arizona (17-2) 30

2012
Gatesville (13-6) 12
Cincinnati (14-5) 20

2013
New York Jets (14-5) 7
Gatesville (17-2) 34

2014
New York Jets (13-5) 13
Gatesville (15-4) 52
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Super Bowl Win-Loss Records

Here is how every team that has made it to the Big Game has fared up until now. Green Bay has the most appearances (4), but has lost as many Bowls as they have won (2). Three teams (Green Bay, Gatesville, and Washington) have each won 2 Super Bowls, while the Jets are the only team to have lost twice without winning at least once.
<pre><font face="courier">
# Won Lost W/L%
Green Bay 4 2 2 .500
*Gatesville 3 2 1 .667
Pittsburgh 3 1 2 .333
Washington 2 2 0 1.000
Arizona 2 1 1 .500
Cincinnati 2 1 1 .500
Indianapolis 2 1 1 .500
New York 2 0 2 .000
Buffalo 1 1 0 1.000
New England 1 1 0 1.000
New Orleans 1 1 0 1.000
San Francisco 1 1 0 1.000
St. Louis 1 1 0 1.000
Baltimore 1 0 1 .000
Chicago 1 0 1 .000
Miami 1 0 1 .000
Oakland 1 0 1 .000
Wichita 1 0 1 .000
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by stkelly52:


Wahoo!! Another Superbowl victory...but how much did we lose?

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Congratulations on a season well done!

[Kodos]

stkelly: I'll try to fill in that info tomorrow. For now, I can tell you that we cut our losses quite a bit, but will need to do much better soon if I am to be saved as GM...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by sterlingice:


Economics tomorrow.

Tonight, looting and vandalism in the streets of Gatesville (...just like any other day ending in "y")

SI

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:


Congrats Kodos, everything went smoothly during the playoffs. With Berg at the helm, there was no doubt about that !

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Adding a SuperBowl touchdown to his storied career, putting the nail in the coffin of the Jets just as they hoped to resurge from falling behind in the first quarter, the legend that is Chuck Farley grows...

[Kodos]

2014 Individual Statistics:

QBs

Berg, despite his little interception-in-the-end-zone problem, had another exceptional year, throwing for 36 TDs and over 4400 yards.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Att Comp Pct Yards Avg Lg
Bergeron, Devin 16 16 517 302 58.4 4425 8.55 80
Birk, Luke 2 0 8 7 87.5 92 11.50 43
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name TD Int Sack Yards Rate
Bergeron, Devin 36 16 44 264 96.6
Birk, Luke 2 0 3 21 154.1
</font></pre>

RBs

It was not a banner year for the ground game, as Berg was our second leading rusher. We didn't pay much attention to rookie Everett Schwarz during the regular season, but he really came through for us bigtime in the playoffs. The competition for the starting position at RB should be pretty fierce next season.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Att Yards Avg Lg TD
Matthews, Herb 13 13 177 782 4.4 74 6
Bergeron, Devin 16 16 97 495 5.1 10 4
Douglas, Tommy 16 4 85 283 3.3 40 1
Wallace, Levon 13 13 49 170 3.4 15 2
Schwarz, Everett 12 1 26 114 4.3 19 0
Robbins, Ty 14 0 5 17 3.4 7 0
Wagner, Cedric 11 1 22 15 0.6 5 0
</font></pre>

Receivers

Ralph Randle had himself an outstanding year, gaining nearly 1400 yards receiving and scoring 10 touchdowns during the regular season. Opposing defenses had to pick their poison between split end Randle and flanker Earl Thornton, and it looks like Randle benefitted from seeing a lot of single coverage. Fan favorite Chuck Farley fell just short of his 10 TD projection, while gaining over 500 yards receiving for us. Could 2015 be the year Chuck finally gets double-digit TDs?
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Ctch Yards Avg Targ CtPct
Randle, Ralph 16 16 89 1369 15.3 150 59.3
Thornton, Earl 16 16 54 905 16.7 108 50.0
Robbins, Ty 14 0 40 710 17.7 64 62.5
Farley, Chuck 16 16 43 569 13.2 73 58.9
Matthews, Herb 13 13 39 461 11.8 58 67.2
Douglas, Tommy 16 4 14 194 13.8 24 58.3
Diaz, Kyle 13 0 10 107 10.7 18 55.5
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Lg TD YAC Drop PsPly TgPct
Randle, Ralph 50 10 524 6 513 29.2
Thornton, Earl 58 7 405 7 494 21.8
Robbins, Ty 49 6 154 3 267 23.9
Farley, Chuck 80 9 260 7 328 22.2
Matthews, Herb 42 3 333 2 289 20.0
Douglas, Tommy 49 0 69 1 184 13.0
Diaz, Kyle 24 0 25 1 108 16.6
</font></pre>

Defenders

Our star middle linebacker, Al Ingram, cracked the 100-tackles mark to lead the defense in that department.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Tckl Asst Sack Blk Hurr
Ingram, Al 16 16 101 26 3.0 1 0
Sanders, Dave 14 14 80 18 1.0 0 0
Fuller, Terrance 16 16 71 26 5.0 0 1
Whitfield, Allen 16 16 59 16 0.0 0 0
Harden, Joel 16 16 55 15 0.0 0 0
Ferguson, Ed 16 6 40 12 1.0 0 0
Stewart, Percy 13 13 36 17 0.0 0 0
Justus, Edgar 15 12 33 11 0.0 0 0
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name RnPly PsPly PRPct TkPct
Ingram, Al 265 428 0.9 18.7
Sanders, Dave 256 417 0.2 14.7
Fuller, Terrance 331 532 1.1 11.8
Whitfield, Allen 231 266 0.0 15.0
Harden, Joel 289 475 0.0 9.1
Ferguson, Ed 215 393 0.2 8.7
Stewart, Percy 195 359 0.0 9.5
Justus, Edgar 170 327 0.0 8.8
</font></pre>

Pass Defenders

Strong safety Percy Stewart led the secondary in interceptions with 5.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Ints IRYd TD Cght Dfns
Stewart, Percy 13 13 5 61 1 27 3
Harden, Joel 16 16 3 29 0 43 9
Sanders, Dave 14 14 3 37 1 35 10
Justus, Edgar 15 12 2 81 1 26 4
Fuller, Terrance 16 16 1 16 0 43 11
Ferguson, Ed 16 6 1 23 0 24 0
Dorsett, Rodney 6 3 1 4 0 9 1
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name PsPly PDQ
Stewart, Percy 359 38.3
Harden, Joel 475 31.7
Sanders, Dave 417 36.7
Justus, Edgar 327 28.5
Fuller, Terrance 532 27.1
Ferguson, Ed 393 17.8
Dorsett, Rodney 135 28.8
</font></pre>

Sack Leaders

Despite a weak defensive line that was hampered by the loss of its best player, Joey Rhoades, for half of the season, we still got a fair amount of sacks. While there we no real standouts as far as sacks go, lots of guys contributed in the harassment of opposing QBs.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name GP GS Tckl Asst Sack Blk Hurr
Hickman, Peter 16 12 14 5 7.0 0 1
Fuller, Terrance 16 16 71 26 5.0 0 1
Sanders, Patrick 15 15 27 9 4.0 3 2
Cash, Eric 16 13 26 10 4.0 2 1
Everett, Paul 16 1 12 2 4.0 0 1
Ingram, Al 16 16 101 26 3.0 1 0
Rhoades, Joey 8 8 23 13 3.0 1 1
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name RnPly PsPly PRPct TkPct
Hickman, Peter 195 231 3.4 6.1
Fuller, Terrance 331 532 1.1 11.8
Sanders, Patrick 239 373 2.4 6.5
Cash, Eric 261 427 1.6 5.8
Everett, Paul 149 379 1.3 3.4
Ingram, Al 265 428 0.9 18.7
Rhoades, Joey 167 247 2.0 9.4
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2014 Player Awards:

Devin Bergeron was beaten out for the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards by Jon Adams, who rushed for a league record 2044 yards in 2014. Berg did, however, capture first team honors at QB, as well as his second consecutive Super Bowl MVP. He is also Gatesville’s first home-grown player to be "idolized" by the fans. His 4425 yards passing and 36 TDs led the league, as did his 96.6 QB rating. In addition, his 4425-yard performance ranks sixth best for a single NFL season all-time, while his 36 TDs was the third highest total for a season. Only Chris Chandler (38, 37) and Drew Bledsoe (36) have thrown as many or more.

Ralph Randle garnered second team honors at wide receiver.

Al Ingram, despite having his 101 tackles this season move him to ninth all-time in tackles, received no honors this year.

Jerome McCarthy was the only Cowboy to earn recognition. He won first team honors as a cornerback.

Jon Adams, the 7th man drafted in 2011, gained an astounding 2044 yards and 19 rushing TDs on 396 carries. He also caught 34 passes for 227 yards and 1 TD.

<pre><font face="courier">
Award Player Team
NFL MVP Jon Adams TBY
Offensive Player of the Year Jon Adams TBY
Defensive Player of the Year Nick Pravato CLE
Offensive Rookie of the Year Reuben Linquist CHI
Defensive Rookie of the Year Van Becker MIA
**Super Bowl MVP Devin Bergeron GTV
**All-Pro 1st Team Quarterback Devin Bergeron GTV
All-Pro 1st Team Running Back Jon Adams TBY
All-Pro 1st Team Fullback Riddick Woodson DET
All-Pro 1st Team Tight End Sam Washington RIC
All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver Cornelius Terry PIT
All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver Oliver Delcorio OAK
All-Pro 1st Team Center Sam Blades ARI
All-Pro 1st Team Guard Winfred Clark TBY
All-Pro 1st Team Guard Burt Booker SFO
All-Pro 1st Team Tackle Brock Platt TBY
All-Pro 1st Team Tackle Jim Stapleton SFO
All-Pro 1st Team Punter Jessie Hicks NYJ
All-Pro 1st Team Kicker Mike Vanderjagt BUF
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End Courtney Brown NED
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End Isaac Osborne ATL
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle Bernard Maxwell OAK
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle Edward Bray DSM
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Nick Pravato CLE
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Ricky Hutson DET
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Albert Harvey DSM
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Kurt Santos ARI
All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback Myron Avant CHI
All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback Jerome McCarthy DAL
All-Pro 1st Team Safety Neil Starks MIA
All-Pro 1st Team Safety Adrian Strong TBY
All-Pro 2nd Team Quarterback Buddy Mattingly PIT
All-Pro 2nd Team Running Back Bob Macias SFO
All-Pro 2nd Team Fullback Arnie Harper DEN
All-Pro 2nd Team Tight End Leroy Luker BUF
**All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver Ralph Randle GTV
All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver Kelvin Gonzalez KCY
All-Pro 2nd Team Center Tracy Long STL
All-Pro 2nd Team Guard Cosey Coleman TBY
All-Pro 2nd Team Guard Jerome Hodges TEN
All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle Jamal Brewer MIA
All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle Earl Talley CAR
All-Pro 2nd Team Punter Kevin Rouen CAR
All-Pro 2nd Team Kicker Wayne Joyner IND
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End Cory Tubbs CAR
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End Jared Russell IND
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle Leonard McAlister SEA
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle Roosevelt Bollinger SDO
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Mo Reeves CIN
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Sammy Kiesling CIN
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Winston Larose NED
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Doug Rose WIC
All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback T.J. Dove CLE
All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback Brian Shinkle ARI
All-Pro 2nd Team Safety Chester Woodson DEN
All-Pro 2nd Team Safety Vincent McElroy SEA
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:


Yep, Kodos, how about that finances, now ?

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Craptacular:


Originally posted by Kodos:


<pre><font face="courier">
Award Player Team
All-Pro 1st Team Kicker Mike Vanderjagt BUF
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End Courtney Brown NED
All-Pro 2nd Team Guard Cosey Coleman TBY
</font></pre>



Good to see these "old geezers" are still going strong. Go Gatesville and Green Bay!

[Kodos]

Hoping to get to the finances tonight. Ran out of time last night. I'm still employed for next season, if that helps. ;)

[Kodos]

2014 Season Final Team Ratings:

Season Ending Power Ratings:

Ours slipped a bit from last year, as did the Cowboys. But we still won the Super Bowl and kicked Dallas' pasty white behinds.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville: 75
Dallas: 36
</font></pre>

Team Rankings for 2014 Season:

Don't be fooled by our third-ranked rush defense. Opposing teams obviously felt no need to run when the passing game was working so well.

<pre><font face="courier">
Rushing offense 12th 1887 yds
Passing offense 1st 4517 yds
Rushing defense 3rd 1422 yds
Passing defense 32nd 3851 yds
</font></pre>

In general, our defense was unimpressive, and our offense wasn't nearly as explosive as it was back in 2013. I will look to address any problems with the offense in the offseason. The defense won't matter if the offense is where I want it to be.
<pre><font face="courier">
Sacks 4th 47
Interceptions 18th 16
Turnover margin 28th -6
Points scored 1st 452*
Points allowed 14th 300
* down from 538 in 2013
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2014 Franchise Info:

Average Yearly Attendance Through 2014:

We finally eclipsed the 75%-full mark for attendance at home games, as our average attendance jumped by 1,500 a game, while 4,300 fewer people showed up at the average Cowboys' game this season when compared with 2013. Hopefully, our second consecutive Super Bowl victory will give us a much bigger boost in attendance in 2015.

<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
Attend. %Attend. Attend. %Attend.
2007 35,400 59.7 55,400 84.3*
2008 36,200 61.1 55,500 84.4
2009 38,200 64.5 59,300 83.7**
2010 35,400 59.7 61,800 87.2
2011 39,600 66.8 58,700 82.9
2012 42,300 71.4 50,300 71.0
2013 43,200 72.9 55,900 78.9
2014 44,700 75.5 51,600 72.8
</font></pre>
* Our first year in Gatesville
** Dallas' first year with their renovated stadium.

Fan Support Through 2014:

We're looking pretty good for getting a new stadium approved when 2022 rolls around, and our fan loyalty jumped by over 10 percent. Unfortunately, the Cowboys' playoff run boosted their fan loyalty too. :(
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
Fan loyalty New stadium Fan loyalty New stadium
2007 0 0 69 0
2008 0 0 63 0
2009 0 8 56 0
2010 0 16 45 0
2011 0 26 36 0
2012 6 46 25 0
2013 20 70 18 0
2014 31 87 28 12
</font></pre>

Franchise Values Through 2014:

We made really good progress in the franchise value area, as we climbed into the top half of the league with a value of just over $726 million. The Cowboys moved up one notch, but are still ranked 30th overall.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
2007 $515,700,000 (28th) $614,790,000 (9th)
2008 $537,350,000 (29th) $576,170,000 (22nd)
2009 $546,000,000 (29th) $539,500,000 (31st)
2010 $590,860,000 (29th) $654,660,000 (17th)
2011 $616,350,000 (20th) $595,290,000 (26th)
2012 $647,970,000 (24th) $557,030,000 (32nd)
2013 $652,850,000 (27th) $547,870,000 (31st)
2014 $726,040,000 (14th) $587,820,000 (30th)
</font></pre>

Yearly Profits/Losses Through 2014:

Our now-critical financial losses fell by $66.63 million when compared to last season, as we only lost $64,880,000 this year.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
2007 -$158,340,000 +$1,270,000
2008 -$156,020,000 -$14,750,000
2009 -$175,240,000 +$64,470,000
2010 -$216,300,000 +$52,820,000
2011 -$174,590,000 -$5,030,000
2012 -$157,570,000 -$8,200,000
2013 -$131,510,000 -$5,090,000
2014 -$64,880,000 +$1,940,000
</font></pre>

Cumulative Table Of Losses Through 2014:

Hmm. Maybe I should stop rounding up when I do this chart... :(
<pre><font face="courier">
Season Team Losses
=====================
2000 $620,000,000
2001 18,000,000
2002 14,000,000
2003 134,600,000
2004 169,300,000
2005 122,100,000
2006 6,731,700,000*
2007 158,300,000
2008 156,000,000
2009 175,200,000
2010 216,300,000
2011 174,600,000
2012 157,600,000
2013 131,500,000
2014 64,900,000
=====================
Total $9,044,100,000
</font></pre>

* Bill Gates bought the right to rename Waco to "Gatesville" in 2006 for $6.6 billion dollars.

Kodos Feels The Squeeze...

As my pal Billy so pleasantly outlined to me before the beginning of this season, I have been given 5 years to start turning a profit with this team. However, if our cumulative losses exceed $9.2 billion before those five years are up, I will be fired immediately; The only caveat being that he will not fire me after any season the ends with a Super Bowl victory for Gatesville. My margin for error is now only $155.9 million. :eek:

<pre><font face="courier">
$9,200,000,000
-9,044,100,000
==============
$155,900,000
</font></pre>

2013 vs. 2014 Financial Performances: A Closer Look

While our revenues did rise 7% in 2014, the vast majority the improvement in our bottom line came from cutting our coaching/scouting expenses. Still, we will need to continue improving rapidly to become profitable in the next 4 seasons... It's not gonna be easy. One dilemma facing me this offseason is whether or not to leave ticket prices as they are so that we don't discourage new fans from attending with a price hike.

What's a GM with his butt on the line to do? :confused:

<pre><font face="courier">
2013 2014 %chg
======================================================
Television contract $56,840,000 $57,520,000 +1%
Ticket revenue $45,830,000 $50,380,000 +9%
Suite revenue $0 $0 --
Concessions $4,240,000 $4,760,000 +12%
Parking $2,240,000 $2,520,000 +12%
Advertising $10,700,000 $13,290,000 +24%
======================================================
Revenues $119,850,000 $128,470,000 +7%
======================================================
Player contracts $95,840,000 $96,960,000 +1%
Player bonuses $23,680,000 $46,600,000 +97%
Training $12,070,000 $7,270,000 -39%
Coaching $70,000,000 $22,400,000 -68%
Scouting $45,000,000 $14,850,000 -67%
Stadium maintenance $4,770,000 $5,210,000 +9%
Stadium payment $0 $0 --
======================================================
Costs $251,360,000 $193,350,000 -23%
======================================================
Profits/Losses -$131,510,000 -$64,880,000 +50%
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Well, for better or for worse, that pretty much wraps things up for Part V of the Challenge. I go into the 2015 offseason facing a very uncertain future. Frankly, I'm not sure we can become profitable until we get a new stadium, which can't come until 2022 - long after I would be gone. I just consulted with my lucky 8-ball, and here's what it told me:

"Outlook not so good..."

See ya in 2015, folks. Gulp. :(

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Chuck U Farley:


Thanks Kodos for another great year. See you 2015.

[Kodos]

Thanks, Chuck! Way to go with that Super Bowl TD!

Here's the link to Part VI: Flirting With Destiny (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=158701#post158701).