[Hattrick] Houston Hippopotami, Season 3: IV.21 [Archive]

sterlingice

07-25-2003, 07:46 PM

NOTE: Some of this was copied from last year's dynasty report

Staff
I used a 7-3 for most of last year but switched to 9-1 after Kimber kept his form for pretty much all of the season. This year, I made the jump to 10 spokespersons instead of the 5 I carried last yaer. I've had very minimal injuries with 96% training and 1 physiotherapist. I bumped that to 97%-2 towards the end of last year. I have 5 doctors now because a pair of players I purchase were injured but those will be gone soon. I may have to hire sports pychologistst to keep my confidence up, considering how slippery the slope will be this year.

Staff
Goaltending Coaches: 1
Assistant Coaches: 9
Sport Psychologists: 0
Spokepersons: 10
Economists: 0
Physiotherapists: 2
Doctors: 5

Training
With the UberTrainees(TM) in place, I'm definately going to continue playmaking. I was training at 95% last year and bumped that up to 97% recently. My winning percentage the last two years was 20-4 so I never had to worry about confidence. This year, .500 is an admirable goal so I don't expect to be carting around that wonderful confidence I'm used to. But I did win my Cup match to start the season so it's there now. I'm going to try and win some cup games to get that TS up and keep confidence high because I'll need all the help I can get this year. I'd like to get in a week of stamina training in the middle of the season, at some point. For formations, I run a 3-5-2 at all times.

Training Specifics
Training Level: 97%
Training Type: Playmaking
Coach: Ricky Braden
Team Spirit: calm
Confidence: wonderful

Formation experience
4-3-3: poor
4-5-1: poor
3-5-2: solid
5-3-2: poor
3-4-3: poor
5-4-1: poor

Sponsors/Supporters
Last season was good to our bandwagon. We went from 869 at the start of last season to to the 1266 we have now. I have yet to lose supporters in a week. That's bound to change this season. I doubt it will be as nice as last year when I had "high on life" moods of both sponsors and supporters for the last 10 weeks of the season. Because of this, we have double our spokespersons count in an attmept to counteract this.

Sponsor Info
Sponsors: delirious
Supporter Club: 869 members
Supporters: high on life

The Hippodrome
Our home sweet Hippodrome is on the northwest side of Houston. Our first expansion came too soon and our second expansion came too late, it seems. In mid season 18, we doubled the size from the initial 7000 to 15692. We didn't sell it out until early this season. However, we got 15K for 7 of our 8 games this season but had to wait until the end of the season for a cash influx.

We doubled the size of the stadium again as the Hippodrome32K was just completed. It's probably too large for our current group of supporters, but we'll grow into it :D

NOTE: copied from last year's dynasty report
There's also the matter of the executive washroom and attached box suite which are not included in the other stadium stats. However, any official supporters of the Hippos are familiar with, and enjoy their games from, the comfort of the suite. A classical feel of marble is meshed with technological wonders along with full service dining and full service girls- take that as you will. Other than official supporters, only the owner is allowed up here on a regular basis. The end of year awards banquet is also held here and the event has contributed to some of the team loyalty.

Arena Info
Arena: The Hippodrome
Belongs to: Houston Hippopotami
Country: USA
Region : Houston
Last improvement: 7/24/2003
Total capacity: 32000
Terraces: 20000
Basic seating: 8000
Seats under roof: 3200
Seats in VIP boxes: 800

Youth Squad
Last year I described our youth squad as "much maligned". We continued to pour $20K per week into it and it's currently solid. Our slump continued into this season as we only got one player in the first 6 weeks who we sold for $11K. This all changed in week 7 when we pulled Roland Gontan, a 19yo solid PM. I tained him one week, he bumped, and was immediately sold for $350K. We pulled four sellable players the final seven weeks of the season for $228K. Hopefully we can continue to get better and better pulls as our system improves.

Youth Squad
Youth Squad: solid
Investment in the Youth squad: 20,000 US$ / week

Youth Pulls: 28
Youth Pull Grocers: 21
Youth Pulls Sold: 7
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 0
Total Sold for: 590000

Finances
Last Year, I was getting around $165K per week in my ideal budget. This year, that's up to $250K, tho I may be overshooting. I'm not entirely sure how much my lack of success this year will affect my income. That said, I'm pushing a little more into the black. My extra sponsor revenue offset my wage increases. The extra $50K or so crowd revenue per two weeks should more than offset the doubling of my arena cost and a larger staff. We may have to bump up that staff a little more with a few sports shrinks to offset our soon-to-be-sinking confidence. Looks like we'll be a lot more solvent this year, even before youth pulls from a solid, soon to be excellent, squad. Last year, our projected income per week was $6400. This year, it's up to $19400.

Revenue
Crowd: 5000 (135000)
Sponsors: 55000
Financial: 0
Temporary: 0
Two Week Revenue: 250000

Expenses
Arena: 20800
Wages: 32000
Interest: 0
Temporary: 2000
Staff: 40500
Youth squad: 20000
Two Week Expenses: 230600

Total
Two Week Gross: +19400

Team Profile
All of these have reasonably gone up this year: our squad value is just a shade below $3M and our average is over $130K. Then again, our wages are up quite a bit, too. Our age is constant from last year's 23. We're still a pretty young team. Here's our international flavor for the year, up to 12 countries from 8 last year: USA (11, including coach), Sverige (2), Argentina (1), Danmark (1), Oceania (1), Romania (1), Hrvatska (1), Belgie (1), England (1), Deutschland (1), Italia (1), and Nederland (1). I kindof like the international flavor- it's expensive, but we don't discriminate :D

Team Stats
Total Wages: 33090
Total Value: 2935000
Avg Value: 133409
Avg Age: 23
Avg Form: inadequate
Avg Experience: wretched
No of players: 22
Nationalities: 12

Federations
I'm in three federations, tho, two are active while HAM is more informational than anything.

Federations
Front Office Football Community- I think we all know what this one is.
HAM Users International- The help community for everyone's favorite little hattrick utility. Mmm... HAM. *drool*
Kraftworks Union (K.U.)- This is a fed that is basically the brainchild of Havoc (not to be confused with Havok here), a guy who helped me out when I was starting. It's quite an active fed and there's a lot of good strategy discussed here with some high profile members like GM-Spidurman and CaptainNeda who was in MLS last year. Not to mention a few of us little FOFCers like Havok and Daedalus.

Team Colors
NOTE: copied from last year's dynasty report
As Hippopotamuses are only grey/black, I figured I could go with pretty much any color I wanted but I wanted something with a dark look. At first, I kindof liked the idea of dark red and black as those seem like Hippo colors but then I decided on purple and black. Also thought dark green socks sounded like a good idea even though they look like black to me. Our color schemes are as follows: (any thoughts?)

Match Kit
Shirt: Black
Shorts: Purple
Socks: Dark Green

Reserve Kit
Shirt: Purple
Shorts: Black
Socks: Dark Green

Fan Club
NOTE: also copied from last year's dynasty report
Thanks to a small impromptu contest last year (which wasn't really a contest but me taking the first good suggestion that came along), ardent's suggestion of "Hungry Hungry Hippos" stuck with our fan club. It resulted in our sponsoring of his North County Raiders until a better offer came along- i.e. reciprocal sponsorship from another club. Ardent was pretty understandable that he lost out to a better bribe :)

Logo
NOTE: also copied from last year's dynasty report
I have a creepily cute logo befitting my team's status as not even able to win in division V. Maybe I'll find some scarier images once my team improves. The image came somewhat from the cover of a book called "Hippos Go Berserk" by Sandra Boynton. I've never heard of it or read it before but it had a picture that fit. Here's a link to the book:Hippos Go Berserk (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689834349/qid=1047280181/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/104-5290038-7352763?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) And here is our new, ultra-intimidating team logo:
http://www.sunflower.com/~sterlingice/hippo.jpg

SI

sterlingice

07-25-2003, 07:47 PM

[Placeholder3]

SI

sterlingice

07-25-2003, 07:47 PM

[Placeholder4]

SI

The Afoci

07-25-2003, 08:24 PM

Originally posted by sterlingice
[Placeholder3]

SI

My favorite post of this dynasty so far. Nearly QOTM quality, nearly.

sterlingice

07-25-2003, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by The Afoci
My favorite post of this dynasty so far. Nearly QOTM quality, nearly.

You like that one better than 4? I'll try harder next time.

SI

The Afoci

07-25-2003, 08:45 PM

4 was a good post, true. But in all honesty, anything following 3 was going to be a disappointment for me. 3 just hit me on so many different levels, it was amazing. Deep stuff.

vex

07-29-2003, 03:17 PM

Slacker:)

Marmel

07-29-2003, 03:27 PM

I think this was an extremely cheap way to up a post count.

On a totally unrelated topic, look for my new dynasty coming soon. I will be placeholding 250 posts for it. :)

Alf

07-29-2003, 03:46 PM

sterlingice is the new dolamite, maybe we should remove his Grizzled Veteran status and award him with the more permanent dolamite status.

sterlingice

07-29-2003, 05:04 PM

Originally posted by Alf
sterlingice is the new dolamite, maybe we should remove his Grizzled Veteran status and award him with the more permanent dolamite status.

This isn't nearly as bad as last year- some of those "preseason" notes weren't complete until 2 weeks into the season.

Also, I'm pretty sure there are many who are more deserving of "permanent dolamite". ;)

SI

sterlingice

08-01-2003, 07:25 AM

Preview
A new Cup dawns on the Hippos and this one finds us in the familiar role of favorite for roughly our first five games. Refreshing everyone's memory, last season we started the cup with a pair of 9-0 beatings of Div V teams on the road. Then we came home, upset a pair Div IV teams 6-0 and 6-1 before being subdued by Div II's The Minutemen. My prediction for this year: we have more of a focus on training, so, although we field a better team than last year and I will be playing more starters due to want of experience gain, I'm going to say we make it 6 rounds, one more than last year. I hope to get at least 3 PICs out of it, if not 4. We could use all the team spirit help we can get in this brutal series.

This year, we start out on the road against the computer controlled Montana Panthers. If we win by any less than 7, I'll be disappointed, even with the PIC. All the starters are playing since it's our only game this week. I would feel bad about the final except, well, it's a computer controlled team. I'm just hoping for no injuries or cards.

Game Summary
Date: 7/24/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9217074
Arena: Montana Lane
Crowd: 3669

Due to an all-day shower, 3669 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Montana Lane. Panthers had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Jagannathan - Bowling, Bernier, Soto, Flores - Dube, Trevelin, Klein, West - Whalen, Richards.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Romo - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Newsom - Phelan, Houben.

Hippopotamis Edwin Phelan excelled in some fine tricks that completely confusedPaul Flores - and the finish was no less spectacular - 0 - 1! The away team´s Edwin Phelan took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 12th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 2. The away team´s Herschel Meek took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 24:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 3. The visitors Edwin Phelan took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 38:th minute. 0 - 4 for Hippopotami. By then Edwin Phelan was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Edwin Phelan increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 5. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Halftime score was 0 - 5. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 83 percent possession of the ball.

Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 47:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 6. Coskum Houben was noted down as the scorer. Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 7 as Herschel Meek scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. After 76 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Edwin Phelan who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 8. After 81 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for José María Miquel who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 9. Marcel Romo was suffering from cramps and had big difficulties keeping up as the opponentes pushed forward. Franklin Bowling had no problems getting through and hit home the 1 - 9 goal. Hippopotami increased the lead to 1 - 10 as Herschel Meek scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. By then Herschel Meek was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball.

Panthers´s best player was Herbert Soto. However, Tim Richards made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was Mick Starks. Marcel Romo on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 10.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names shows this is a cup game and the number scored in the cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
MP: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C1): 1-0
HH: 12: Edwin Phelan (C2): 2-0
HH: 24: Herschel Meek (C1): 3-0
HH: 38: Edwin Phelan (C3): 4-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C4): 5-0
HH: xx: *Pulling Back*
Halftime Score: 5-0
Possession: 83%

2nd Half
HH: 47: Coskum Houben (C1): 6-0
HH: xx: Herschel Meek (C2): 7-0
HH: 76: Edwin Phelan (C5): 8-0
HH: 81: Jose Maria Miguel (C1): 9-0
MP: xx: 9-1
HH: xx: Herschel Meek (C3): 10-1
Final Score: 10-1
Possession: 93%
Final Possession: 88%

Cards
None, yay!

Injuries
None: even better!

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

He only drew 3600 and change. My Hong Kong friendly last year got about a dozen less than this game! :mad:

Team Ratings

Montana Panthers
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 25/27

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56

Not too bad. Especially for a PIC. There are some holes to mend, but I'm not going to worry too much about them this game. Besides that, I was doing some position experimenting and that is reflected here. Also, the PIC kept our midfield down.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Elmer Bush ***
DM José María Miquel (n) **~
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Donald Newsom (m) **
FO Coskum Houben **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 31.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

Four at ***~ as Meek joined Benito, Starks, and Kimber! Houben continues his disappointing showing with only **~ at striker. I paid $150K for an upgrade not a horizontal step. The poor experience makes me happy!

Three Stars
Well, the first two were really easy

Bronze: Jose Maria Miguel
Acted as team captain with his vast experience and leadership and scored a goal
Silver: Herschel Meek
A ***~ rating at defensive middie and a hat trick for the new veteran
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Edwin shows that last week was just a fluke, scoring 5(!) times

Game Summary
Even the rain couldn't stop the offense this week. A complete obliteration. Oh that our first five cup games will be this easy. Not much to say about this game: it was domination over a completely inferior computer team.

Press Release
7/25/2003 at 05:17 Hippos Cup Offense Firing on All Cylinders
Season 19 scoring co-champ Edwin Phelan scored five goals and new Hippo Herschel Meek added a hat trick as Houston rolled 10-1 to open up the US Cup. Four Hippos got 3.5 stars and many others were trying out new positions in preparation for a new season. Due to the all day shower, the crowd was less than stellar in the game against the Montana Panthers from VI.514. Hopefully, next week's game against the Div VI Boston Knights will be better. Hippos open their first season in IV.21 Sunday.

Notes
We're off and running in the cup. Next up, our first ever Div IV game against one of the other Div V promotees. It's on the road and we can win this game to start the season off on the right foot.

SI

sterlingice

08-01-2003, 07:41 AM

Training
I really didn't want to train stamina two weeks in a row. I doubt I could afford all the form hits. Instead, I went with set pieces this week and had pretty good results. Twelve Hippos bumped a level in set pieces. The only form hangover we had was with Houben (still at weak), the new forward. A lot of our B Team suffered in form, but that's because they didn't get a game this week.

Future Training
Done with our offseason so it's onto lots and lots of playmaking. I do want to squeeze in a week of stamina if our form is high enough.

Form
Starters: (+2) (-2)
Entire Team: (+2) (-6)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush (exc) Starks
Passable: Kimber Phelan Connors Benito Meek Christiano
Inadequate: Newsom Schrader
Weak (or below): Houben

Kimber popped back up to passable and that's huge news. Houben needs to improve or he may find his way right back out of town. Newsom and Schrader need to turn it around next week.

Value
Starters: (+5) (-5)
Entire Team: (+7) (-11)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 8(+1)/10(+2)
Above $200K: 4(+0)/4(+0)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($491K)
Outfield Leader: Mick Starks ($326K)
Milestones: None this week

Most of the movement here had to do with offseason acquisitions.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 31070 (+622)
Total Value: 2811000 (+98000)
Avg Value: 140550 (+172232)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 20 (NC)
Nationalities: 10 (-2)

Youth Pull, Week 20.01
Good news all around! Our squad is up to excellent. Last week's pull, Saturnino Sales sold for $40K to the Intercourse Ball Kickers, a team in the Louisiana Cyclone's IV.5. Small world. And, finally, the new pick is good! I'm not sure yet whether I want to keep the excessively long named David Antonio Alonso Soto- he's a great young wingback. However, I don't really have a need for another one and I could use the cash I get from him. I'll put him up for $100K and see if I get a bite. Also, I'll try him out in a game and see how well he does.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 29
Youth Pull Grocers: 21 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 7 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (+1)
Total Sold for: 590000 (+40000)

Youth Pull
David Antonio Alonso Soto (14893294)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Head
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 66 000 US$
Wage: 820 US$/week

Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: passable Defending: passable
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: passable

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (up from solid)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: delirious (N/C)
Supporter Club: 1276 members (+18)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: strong (up two levels from decent)

Not a bad pull of supporters. That team spirit was a level higher but when we bought a player, it went down.

Week In Review

On the Field
Only one game this week and it was our first cup game of the new season. We crushed the computer controlled Montana Panthers by the score of 10-1. Edwin Phelan scored 5 times and Herschel Meek added a hat trick. This week, we will start our first season of Div IV play.

Off the Field
Too much to report here. There will be an offseason transaction report in a couple of posts. A lot of people coming and going and I'm not done yet. But there's too much to mention here.

SI

sterlingice

08-06-2003, 03:46 PM

Preview
Our first game ever in Division IV. This series may be tough but this game is eminently winnable. If we can win this game on the road against one of the weaker teams, we'll be that much closer to treading water here. We aren't quite at full strength yet as Clement Schrader, slotted to be our starting central defender, is still hurt. We're hoping he'll be back in time for next week. We're playing a worse team but it's close and we're on the road. There just won't be any blowouts this year in fixture play.

Game Summary
Date: 7/28/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326973
Arena: The Champion Arena
Crowd: 26894

26894 spectators arrived at The Champion Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Champion tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Speer - Rico da Costa, Parrish, Landry - Anderson, Alvarado, Friedman, Vaca, Cortes - Sen, Molina.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan.

Lucio Cortes gave his Champion the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 33 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Champion. However, Tim Kimber made a spectacular save. Wayne Landry of Champion received a yellow card in the 36:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The referee showed Hippopotamis José María Miquel the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Edwin Phelan finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home sides keeper, making the score 1 - 1 in the 41st minute. In the game's 42nd minute Hippopotami´s Stephen Connors limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 1. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 52 percent possession rate.

In the games 55:th minute Champion´s Rolando Vaca fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Rolando Vaca for taking a dive. Champion tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. Hippopotami took the lead after 72 minutes with 1 - 2. Lorenzo Cristiano placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 63 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Champion player was Erik Speer. However, Chelvendiran Sen made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Donald Newsom on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TC: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
TC: xx: 0-1
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (1): 1-1
Halftime Score: 1-1
Possession: 52%

2nd Half
HH: 72: Lorenzo Cristiano (1): 2-1
Final Score: 2-1
Possession: 63%
Final Possession: 58%

Cards
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (yellow, particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
None, tho Stephen Connors was limping around in the 1st half

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 15692/15692

The biggest crowd we've ever played in front of as they had 26894. These crowds in Div IV are much larger than anything we've seen. Then again, I'm hoping we can pull this many at the Hippodrome.

Team Ratings

The Champion
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 56/61

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/64

A passable midfield on the road for the first time ever! We're up to 64 now and I think we can hit at least 70, if not 75 by season's end. This was just a really solid all around game with good scores on defense and offense.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Herschel Meek ***
WI Donald Newsom **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon **~

Total Stars: 32.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

I can't wait for the day we reach *** for everyone. We're a *** striker, a healthy Clement Schrader, and an Edwin Phelan in solid form away. As you saw, Solomon played today because Houben is still embroiled in a form slump. Another poor experience game! Woo! Our highest star game to date with 32.5, topping our previous high of 31.5 during last week's cup game.

Three Stars
It looks like these will be much tougher to pass out this year and I see a lot of stars for Kimber

Bronze: Lorenzo Cristiano
New wingback scores the game winning goal
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Starts the season off right with the team's first goal of the new year
Gold: Tim Kimber
Let an early goal by but made a huge save late in the first half

Game Summary
Any road win in Div IV is a good win (unless it's over a computer team), a lesson I've learned from DK's dynasty. Hopefully we are on the happy side of most of these close and tough games. If we do win the majority of those, our offense will be the reason why we have that little edge.

Press Release
7/29/2003 at 16:47 Hippos Win First Division IV Game
Last year's leading scorer, Edwin Phelan, and this offseason's wingback acquisition, Lorenzo Cristiano, each scored a goal in Houston's first ever Division IV win. Tim Kimber only allowed one goal and made a key first half save. After some offseason upgrades, the Hippos posted a passable midfield and solid or higher ratings everywhere else on the field to go along with 32.5 stars. Houston's home opener in the newly renovated Hippodrome is next week against Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness.

Around the League
We landed in one hell of a series...

Iowa Enforcers - Team Groomers 4 - 1
This is the other game this week involving promotees. We are not the class of the promotees- that distinction goes to Iowa. He put up a formidable midfield to go along with an exc-out-bril defense. His offense was passable across the board, however, so he is beatable. Team Groomers, on the other hand, are the worst of the four promotees with a passable midfield and all of his other ratings are inad-solid: he's a pretty good team but he landed in the wrong series. The game was 1-1 for quite a while. However, Team Groomers ran out of steam in the second half and were outpossessed 75-25 and outscored 3-0 in the half.

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - zfan 7 - 1
We play Chock next week. There's no easy way to slice this: his lowest rating was formidable and he put up a magnificent midfield. WOW! Chock and Brooklyn, the Div III relegee, are definately the class of the league. zfan is one of the middle teams along with Iowa, Kaishaku, and possibly Houston. They only put up an inadequate midfield but had a form-out-form offense and form-form-pass defense. Chock has a middie named Tom Dahlström who is 33yo but has brilliant experience and puts up 5(!) stars. Their dominant midfield allwed them to crush zfan n possession.

Brooklyn United - Kaishaku F.C. 5 - 0
As if Chock wasn't dominating enough, check out Brooklyn. They ran a 4-5-1 so they only had a solid-weak-solid attack but they had an NSI of 100(!) with a magnificent midfield and titanic-mythical-supernatural defense. We've never seen anything like this. Kaishaku may have been whitewashed this game but they are a very solid club. They put up a passable midfield with solid-form-out defense and solid-pass-solid. Another team which we should be at home and might win against on the road. Brooklyn looks like they have a ticket back to Div III, however. They have a 3.5 star offensive winger and wingback, but everyone else has 4 or more stars including a 14.5 star midfield. Including my wings, I barely get that! One of their 5-star middies, Stephen Rumbold, got a hat trick.

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Chock Full of Whole 1 7 - 1 3 96

2. Brooklyn United 1 5 - 0 3 100
3. Iowa Enforcers 1 4 - 1 3 74
4. Houston Hippopotami 1 2 - 1 3 64

5. The Champion 1 1 - 2 0 61
6. Team Groomers 1 1 - 4 0 55

7. Kaishaku F.C. 1 0 - 5 0 64
8. zfan 1 1 - 7 0 67

This may be the only week we're in the upper tier of the division but it's still cool to see. Chock and Brooklyn are clearly the class of the series. I should be able to stay ahead of The Champion and Team Groomers so, at the very worst, I have a qualification game.

Hatstats
I've mentioned this in the Hattrick forum, but I'll put it here, as well. Needless to say, I'm no longer in the top 100 in value and/or rating as I was in Div V but that's to be expected. Speaking of expensive teams, Brooklyn weighs in at #6 with a team worth over $10M. Chock is the only other team on that list at #65 with a team at $5.63M. As I mentioned, IV.21 was the toughest series in week 1 and a lot of this had to do with Brooklyn's 100 and Chock's 96, which were good for #1 and #3 in all of Div IV.

Notes
That's three points. We probably need 12 to avoid auto relegation and 18-20 to end in the money. I'm not sure we will get the latter but the former is very attainable as long as we win the games like these which we need to win. Next week, we face Chock and will probably lose 7-1 or something ugly. It was a fun 10-game winning streak while it lasted. I may PIC this next week to put myself in a position to win. That said, it's a home game so I don't want to get destroyed in front of the home crowd. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

SI

vex

08-07-2003, 12:47 AM

Originally posted by sterlingice

Hatstats
I've mentioned this in the Hattrick forum, but I'll put it here, as well. Needless to say, I'm no longer in the top 100 in value and/or rating as I was in Div IV but that's to be expected. Speaking of expensive teams, Brooklyn weighs in at #6 with a team worth over $10M. Chock is the only other team on that list at #65 with a team at $5.63M. As I mentioned, IV.21 was the toughest series in week 1 and a lot of this had to do with Brooklyn's 100 and Chock's 96, which were good for #1 and #3 in all of Div IV.

Now you know I wouldn't ever correct you...

sterlingice

08-07-2003, 04:28 AM

Originally posted by vexroid
Now you know I wouldn't ever correct you...

Oops. Corrected. Good to know you're keeping me honest ;)

SI

sterlingice

08-10-2003, 02:15 AM

Noooo! I set aside a couple of useless hours to do some catch up work and what happens, but...

At around 01.00 tonight (HT-Time), the game engine was stuck. We're currently restarting it but it is heavily behond schedule and so the site will be closed for a few hours (starting 08:30) until it has caught up.

SI

sterlingice

08-11-2003, 11:32 AM

Preview
One more easy Cup game this week against a computer controlled Div VI team before we start some significant cup games. I expected to win and win big today. With only 2 UberTrainees(TM) at the moment, Benito would get the third spot and a few other starters would play as well. This is another exercise in playing the trainees and getting training for them and some of that all-important experience for others.

Game Summary
Date: 7/31/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9362264
Arena: Boston Stadium
Crowd: 6388

6388 spectators had found their way to Boston Stadium, despite the heavy rain. Knights had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Han-Koon - Hicks, Cardenas, Potter, Banda - Barlow, Eldridge, Bajpai, Langley - Wofford, Smart.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Cristiano, Miquel, Romo - Starks, Benito, Tryggvesson, Storm, Viseslav - Tizón, Houben.

Daniel Storm seemed highly inexperienced when in the 30:th minute he was loitering with the ball, allowing Vizhi-Ezhilan Bajpai to intercept and strike 1-0 for Knights. In the games 32nd minute the visitors levelled to 1 - 1 as Carlos Alberto Benito struck home on a bar rebound, following a shot from the right. In the 39:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Coskum Houben put the ball away for 1 - 2. The referee showed Hippopotamis Robert Tryggvesson the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The Knights player was Kuai Han-Koon who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. In the 44:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 1 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Juan Miguel Tizón. In the games 44:th minute Hippopotami´s Daniel Storm fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Daniel Storm for taking a dive. In the 44:th minute Hippopotamis José María Miquel received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 1 - 3 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 70 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s Marcel Romo received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 48:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 1 - 4. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Mick Starks somhow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Ivan Viseslav who struck for 1 - 5. In the 58:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 1 - 6 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Coskum Houben. The visitors Ivan Viseslav took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 76:th minute. 1 - 7 for Hippopotami. Daniel Storm of Hippopotami got sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle, a completely uncalled for move, earning him his second yellow card of the game. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 77 percent possession rate.

Most important Knights player was Tyler Banda. Howard Goldsmith was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Mick Starks. However, Marcel Romo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 7.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names shows this is a cup game and the number scored in the cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
BK: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
BK: 30: 0-1
HH: 32: Carlos Alberto Benito (C1): 1-1
HH: 39: Coskum Houben (C2): 2-1
HH: 44: Juan Miguel Tizon (C1): 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 70%

2nd Half
HH: 48: Marcel Romo (C1): 4-1
HH: *pulling back*
HH: xx: Ivan Viseslav (C1): 5-1
HH: 58: Coskum Houben (C3): 6-1
HH: 76: Ivan Viseslav (C1): 7-1
Final Score: 7-1
Possession: 77%
Final Possession: 74%

Cards

HH: xx: Robert Tryggvesson (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)
HH: 44: Daniel Storm (yellow- taking a dive)
HH: 44: Jose Maria Miguel (yellow- going into a challenge studs first)
HH: xx: Daniel Storm (yellow- kicking ball after the whistle)

Injuries
None, fortunately

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Only 6300. At least next week, against the human opponent, I should have more.

Team Ratings

Boston Knights
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: poor (3)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 28/30

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/47

That oustanding attack is definately pretty. However, it doesn't cover up the fact that we put up a pretty miserable showing even with some starters in there. If we play like this next week, we may not win.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Lorenzo Cristiano (o) ***
DM José María Miquel **~
DW Marcel Romo *~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
MI Daniel Storm (x) RED CARD
MI Robert Tryggvesson *~
WI Ivan Viseslav **
FO Coskum Houben **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 23.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

Again, a miserable showing. Viseslav backs off to ** instead of his usual **~ but that has to do with a form slump. Same with Marcel Romo and his *~ rating. Coskum Houben only put up ** and that's very disappointing (see below). We did get a spot of good news: Cristiano and his offensive abilities pulled in a *** at wingback. That could open up some interesting possibilities.

Three Stars
A pair of 2 goal scorers get top medals this week

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Contributes to the outstanding right side attack, puts up ***~ rating, and scores a goal
Silver: Coskum Houben
May have scored twice but he has bigger things to worry about (see below)
Gold: Ivan Viseslav
A pair of goals for the winger gets him his first gold

Game Summary
So maybe I'm being a bit overcritical of a 7-1 win, but there were a lot of things that went wrong this week and those need to be fixed. Maybe it's just the pressure of Div IV already getting to me. Can't say I'm really fond of our 4 cards (I'm not sure if Storm is eligible to play next week), lackluster midfield, some form slumps, and lack of a third UberTrainee(TM) and that's just off the top of my head. Next week we face a pretty tough Div V team in Ravenwood City.

Press Release
8/5/2003 at 12:14 Hippos Carded to Death in Win
Coach Rickey Braden had to be retrained midway through the second half after Daniel Storm was kicked off the pitch with his second yellow card of the day. It was the Hippos 4th card during a match where they played it cool but the refs called a very tight game. The computer controlled Boston Knights scored to take an early 1-0 lead but Houston scored 7 unanswered goals for the easy win. Next week, the Hippos, without the services of Storm, face Ravenwood City, their first human opponent.

Notes
It takes a big man to admit his mistakes and I'm not a big man. However, I definately will admit that I made a mistake with Coskum Houben. He has really done nothing. I didn't pay $150K for him to come in and get the same **~ that Derrick Solomon gets and only raise the level of play on that side by 1 level every couple of games. He has been sent to the transfer wire for the $150K that I bought him for and I'll be looking to replace him in the next couple of weeks.

SI

sterlingice

08-11-2003, 12:06 PM

Training
Nothing really to report this week on the training front. We're having a little form hangover from the offseason but that should be stabilizing soon, I hope. The second team is where that is most evident as there are a lot of poors and weaks there for form. I'm starting to wonder if I need that many players.

Future Training
It's back to good old fashioned playmaking training for as far as the eye can see (unless we get our form up enough to do a week of stamina training).

Form
Starters: (+1) (-3)
Entire Team: (+2) (-8)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush (exc) Kimber
Passable: Phelan Connors Solomon Meek Christiano Starks
Inadequate: Newsom Benito
Weak (or below): Schrader

Kimber popped back up to solid form and that's a big deal (see below)! His mini form slump in the offseason was just that. Schrader may have to play a game or two with the B Team before he's back in shape. Three out of eleven at inad/weak is a borderline crisis so there may be some lineup changes before the next game. Yes, Houben is not on the list and Solomon is on there...

Value
Starters: (+6) (-3)
Entire Team: (+7) (-10)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 7(-1)/9(-1)
Above $200K: 4(+0)/4(+0)
Above $300K: 1(-1)/1(-1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($517K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($299K)
Milestones: Tim Kimber ($500K)

WOO! Timber is the first Hippo ever to pass $500K in value! New leader this week on the outfield this week. Starks dropped back below $300K with his form drop (to $282K), so Benito takes back the outfield lead. And yes, Houben is conspicuously absent here, as well.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 32534 (+1464)
Total Value: 3000000 (+189000)
Avg Value: 136364 (-4146)
Avg Age: 22 (-1)
Avg Form: inad (down 1 level from passable)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 22 (+2)
Nationalities: 11 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 20.02
This is a "problem" that very few people would complain about. A day ago, we picked up a new UberTrainee(TM)- more on that below. However, we just now pulled a player from our youth squad who could also serve as a new UberTrainee(TM). This week's youth pull, Thomas Little, is 18 (geezer by our trainee standards) but boasts passable playmaking, solid passing and inad set pieces and stamina! Not only that, but his value is $198K so he can't be too far from solid playmaking, excellent passing, or both! Now, decisions, decision- who to keep. BTW, no luck selling last week's pull, Soto, at $100K. I'll put him up for something like $80K in the next week or so.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 30
Youth Pull Grocers: 21 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 7 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+2)
Total Sold for: 590000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Thomas Little (15126966)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Assessed value: 198 000 US$
Wage: 1 460 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: solid
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: inadequate

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (No need to keep this column as I doubt it will ever move again)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (up one level from delerious)
Supporter Club: 1289 members (+13)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: decent (down two levels from strong)

Our team spirit went up after the PIC but went down after a purchased player so it remained the same. Not only that but how did our confidence go doing when we won both of our matches this week?

20.02 Week In Review

On the Field
We won our first ever Div IV game, 2-1, against The Champion, a minomer for a team who will likely be heading back to Div V after this season. Phelan and Cristiano scored the goals and Kimber made it stand up. Our cup game was a disappointing (well, how disappointing can a 7-1 win be) win over a computer team with a pair of goals from both Coskum Houben and Ivan Viseslav. However, we picked up 4 cards and posted some pretty bad ratings that will need to improve. This week, our win streak will probably come to an end as we play a really tough team at the 'drome.

Off the Field
Our next post (or maybe the post after that) will be all about offseason (and into early season) player movement, so be sure to check that out. See if your favorite Hippos packed their bags or if you have a new favorite Hippo.

SI

vex

08-11-2003, 12:40 PM

Nice pull there.

sterlingice

08-11-2003, 01:05 PM

Originally posted by vexroid
Nice pull there.

Oh, like I said- it's not a bad conundrum to have. I almost sold him immediately, which would have been a mistake since I'm pretty sure he's going to pop soon. However, I think I have a better idea in mind- someone is going to get sold, but we'll see who it is in the next couple of weeks: whichever UberTrainee(TM) bumps first gets sold because an 18yo excellent PM will sell for a lot more than a 18yo solid.

SI

sterlingice

08-14-2003, 04:31 AM

Preview
Coach Braden gathered all the players together before the game: "Guys, we're desperate. This team didn't just play well last week, they played out of our league. I'm really at a loss as to how to stop them so I'm going to do something I never thought we would do: we're going to run a 4-5-1". A murmur passed through the gathered team but even Mick Starks knew better than to challenge coach as he continued: "I know this isn't our typical plan but we are desperate and I think this gives us the best chance to win. Coskum just wasn't the striker we expected so he was sold but we have an extra defender just pulled up from our youth squad and David will be playing today. Guys, I know it's a bit out of the ordinary, but just play your asses off like you always do and we might just pull off the biggest upset we've ever had."

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness is the opponent for our first ever home game in Div IV. They put up a 96 NSI last week- that's good for 3rd... in all of Div IV! I'm expecting an excellent midfield, but if they do that again, we still will get blown out. I'm not thrilled to be playing a 4-5-1 instead of our beloved run-and-shoot, but we cannot hang with this team in a shootout: We're not in their league. Not only that, but we have wretched experience at the 4-5-1. I'm hoping that's offset by letting Miguel, his inad experience, and passable leadership act as team captain for the day.

Game Summary
Date: 8/4/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326975
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 31634

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 31634 at The Hippodrome today. Hippopotami started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Lineup: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Cristiano, Alonso Soto - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Newsom - Phelan.

Wholesome had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Castaño Párraga - Franks, Gallagher, Weathers - Phelps, Dahlström, Mathis, Stein, Andersson - Jansson, Willis.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 8:th minute goal by Lorenzo Cristiano for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. The referee showed Wholesomes Jason Phelps the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the games 24:th minute the visitors levelled to 1 - 1 as Bud Willis struck home on a bar rebound, following a shot from the right. After a fine move down the middle Mick Starks nearly gave the home side one up in the 24:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 32nd minute allowed Fredrick Weathers to score 1 - 2 for Wholesome. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Wholesome, with an impressive 53 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Herschel Meek of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 51st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The visitors Anders Jansson took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 57:th minute. 1 - 3 for Wholesome. The referee showed Wholesomes Claude Mathis the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when Edwin Phelan, after a brilliant midfield combination, put the reducing 2 - 3 goal away for Hippopotami. Hippopotami had obvious problems in finding their positions. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Wholesome, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Donald Newsom on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Wholesome player was without a doubt Tom Dahlström. Jason Phelps on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 3.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 4-5-1
CFoWG: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 08: Lorenzo Cristiano (2): 1-0
CFoWG: 24: 1-1
CFoWG: 32: 1-2
Halftime Score: 1-2
Possession: 47%

2nd Half
CFoWG: 57: 1-3
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (2): 2-3
Final Score: 2-3
Possession: 43%
Final Possession: 45%

Cards
HH: 51: Herschel Meek (yellow, unsportsmanlike behaviour)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 20000/20000
Basic seats: 7858/8000
Seats under roof: 2976/3200
VIP seats: 800/800
Total: 31634/32000

Wow! I was worried that I had expanded too much. As long as I can keep the spirit of my fans pretty high, wow- nothing at all to worry about.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/66

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness
Midfield: formidable (9)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 73/82

I'm kindof suprised this is as close as it was. Still, he only beat me by one level on the midfield and the 4-5-1 helped shut down his offense.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Elmer Bush (d) ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DM Lorenzo Cristiano (o) ***
DW David Antonio Alonso Soto (d) **~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
WI Donald Newsom **
FO Edwin Phelan ***

Total Stars: 33.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Kimber with a **** rating. I believe that's our first ever. Damn, he's good. Only Newsom, Soto, and Miguel got less than *** today. Across the midfield, Benito, Meek, and Connors got a ***~ rating. Another poor experience game. A new high in stars and the highest NSI not including the Dragons game.

Three Stars
Same three as last week, just rotated slightly

Bronze: Tim Kimber
First ever **** rating for a Hippo
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Phelan's second goal gets the Hippos back in the game even if it's not enough
Gold: Lorenzo Cristiano
Gets his second goal in two weeks and started the game out right

Game Summary
As good a showing as I could have realistically hoped. I kept reloading, praying I had scored that equalizing goal, up to the 45th minute in the second half, but it was not to be. Still, this is a moral victory: a close loss to one of the best teams in all of Div IV. Unfortunately, it was at home and the road game is likely to be quite ugly. As a side note: how does Cristiano have half of our goals this year? No idea, but I'll take them.

Press Release
8/5/2003 at 12:29 Hippos Hang Tough but End Streak and Sully Reputation
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Hippos almost pulled off an improbably draw but at what cost? Casting aside their beloved run-and-shoot, the Hippos, with an excess of quality defenders after last week's youth pull, played the gauling 4-5-1 in an attempt to stop Chock and their 96 NSI from last week. The Hippos were down 3-2 most of the second half but could never score the equalizer. They will now begin the search for an atonement quest and continue Cup play Wednesday.

Around the League
Well, the chaf is more or less set in stone as Team Groomers and The Champion get solidly stomped

Team Groomers - Brooklyn United 1 - 6
I need a Cray to calculate Brooklyn's NSI for the second week in a row. His offense isn't that great, but he got an outstanding midfield and a super-myth-super defense. Hell, I don't even know what those are. Brooklyn got 81% possession in the second half since Groomers only put up a weak midfield. Jan Zaslawski got a hat trick for Brooklyn. The two lowest ratings he got were a pair of 3.5 stars again.

Kaishaku F.C. - The Champion 2 - 0
Kaishaku won the midfield rating (out vs pass) and possession of 60% and 69% in the halves. The Champion improved on last week's showing but they just didn't have enough to compete on the road against a team trying for top division status. The outstanding midfield was a product of 4, 4, and 4.5 star performances from 21yo Eero Eskelinin, 21yo Gigel Neagoe, and 24yo Afanasiy Belikov. Suprisingly enough, they only have a 2.5 star goalie.

zfan - Iowa Enforcers 4 - 2
This is one of the many big games between teams trying to finish in the money in IV.21. zfan won at home despite losing the midfield (inad vs exc) and possession (62%, 69%) battles. zfan got formidable or oustanding on 5 of their other 6 ratings while Iowa could only muster a pass-pass-inad offense. They were up 3-0 at the half and coasted for the win.

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 2 11 - 1 6 96

2. Chock Full of Whole 2 10 - 3 6 82
3. Iowa Enforcers 2 6 - 5 3 72
4. Houston Hippopotami 2 4 - 4 3 66

5. Kaishaku F.C. 2 2 - 5 3 64
6. zfan 2 5 - 9 3 67

7. The Champion 2 1 - 4 0 76
8. Team Groomers 2 2 - 10 0 42

Somehow, I'm still in 4th for another week. We'll see how that changes next week against Iowa.

Hatstats
Brooklyn takes home the Div IV ratings crown for the second week in a row, this time with a 96. Chock only gets 28th, falling from 96 to 82. Kaishaku F.C. weighs in at #3 with a 76. They had 46, 39, and 35 stars, respectively. This was only good for 7th in all of Div V. IV.53 got 1st on the strength of their top 4 teams with 76, 89, 84, and 75. Our top 4 were 96, 82, 72, 76 but they didn't have a 42 dragging them down at the bottom (a miserable performance by Team Groomers). That 7th in Div IV is good for 23rd in the entire USA, beating out 5 Div III series.

Hoorah! Our 31K+ crowd put us at 95th on the week in Div IV. At least we are getting good income (also, hatstats said we put 31634 in a 15692 seat stadium- they could use an update). The only other IV.21'er on this list was zfan who almost filled up his 40K seat stadium. Brooklyn, Chock, and Iowa were all on the road and the other top 4-caliber team, Kaishaku only got 18001 out of 30K due to heavy rain. FYI: Chock and Brooklyn are on the top 100 stadiums for Div IV, each having 50K+ seats. Kaishaku and Chock are on the thugs list and no one is on the fragile list.

Lastly, a quick look at the Most Stars list for our series. Kimber weighs in at #14 with his 4 stars with Meek, Connors, and Benito's 3.5 stars all putting them on the top 30. Not a bad showing: 4 out of the top 30. How much better than everyone else is Brooklyn? He has 8 of the top 12 spots, all with 4 or more stars, led by 20 year old 5 star middie Stephen Rumbold. He's getting old, tho, as 5 of the 8 are 30 or older so new blood is needed. Don't start crying for him yet, tho. All 3 of his middies get 4 stars or more and the oldest is 22. Chock's not too far behind with the rankings of 2 and then 13, 15, 16, and 17. Kaishaku has 3, zfan has 4, Team Groomers have 2, Iowa has 1, and The Champion has 0 players in the top 30.

Notes
Next week, we get a more reasonable test against the Iowa Enforcers. They're better than us but not by much. Unfortunately, it's on the road so I'm not liking my chances much. As for our cup game, well, another one I'm not sure about. If we played starters, I'd win easily, but training is more important so I'll be playing trainees, PIC'ing, and hoping for a win. I should win but who knows with my B Team in its current form slump.

Now for the moment everyone has been waiting for: Yes, I admit it, I played a 4-5-1. I hated every minute of it, but it did what I needed it to. If I have to do it again, I'll look hard and long at it like I did this time. Now excuse me while I go plan my atonement quest. Fun-and-Gun Forever!

SI

sterlingice

08-17-2003, 03:11 AM

Preview
Hubris is a nasty thing. I was feeling pretty good about my game against Chock even if it did require the *spit* 4-5-1 to keep him close. Also, my recent cup performances were pretty good on the midfield, but my form wasn't quite as decimated as it is now and I had played a few non-subs in those games. Still, to win even half of my games in IV.21, I need some pretty high team spirit and so I want the PIC. I was happy when I saw a full 16000 at Ravenwood City Arena , so the cash flow was pretty good. Unfortunately, that should have been a warning sign that at home this team would be tough. I had no idea how drained the team was after the emotional game against Chock and I should have taken that into account and not PIC'd a road game.

Game Summary
Date: 8/7/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9405752
Arena: Ravenwood City Arena
Crowd: 16000

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 16000 at Ravenwood City Arena today. Ravenwood had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Bautista - Escobar, Davis, Cassidy, Cloud - Harley, Anderson, Monroe, Gooch - Romero, Zucconi.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Romo, Schrader, Bush - Viseslav, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Wellens - Solomon, Tizón.

In the 2nd minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Daniel Storm put the ball away for 0 - 1. Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Juan Miguel Tizón delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. In the games 25:th minute Ravenwood´s Junior Harley fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Junior Harley for taking a dive. Darius Romero pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 26:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. Hippopotami's Daniel Storm scored 1 - 2 by shooting accurately and hard from a long distance, leaving the opponent goalie no other option than to pick up the ball from the net. 1 - 2 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

Darius Romero pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 55:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. Ravenwood´s Josh Bautista left the field after 72 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Lloyd Payne. In the 75:th minute the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as Marino Zucconi flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. With 80 minutes played Dwayne Cassidy could have brought this one home for Ravenwood, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. After 82 minutes Junior Harley put Ravenwood ahead 4 - 2 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Ravenwood lead up with 5 - 2. Darius Romero finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. At that, Darius Romero was noted down for a hat trick. The structure of the game started to change as Ravenwood decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Ravenwood, bringing the final ball possession rate to 62 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Ravenwood player was without a doubt Darius Romero. However, Lloyd Payne made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. However, Robert Tryggvesson made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names shows this is a cup game and the number scored in the cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
RC: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 02: Daniel Storm (C1): 1-0
RC: 26: 1-1
HH: 02: Daniel Storm (C1): 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 55%

2nd Half
RC: 55: 2-2
RC: 75: 2-3
RC: 82: 2-4
RC: xx: 2-5
Final Score: 2-5
Possession: 38%
Final Possession: 47%

Cards
At least the refs laid off after our 4 last week

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

He got a full 16K in his stadium. I'd be cheering for that... if they hadn't been cheering against us. We got $23K for that- pretty good cash.

Team Ratings

Ravenwood City
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/45

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/43

A wretched midfield?!? A wretched midfi-- breathe, breathe... 1... 2... 3... That's just plain, well, wretched. I'm booking us for some stamina training as soon as form will allow. How that offense scored 5 goals is beyond me- they shouldn't have been able to score on my grandma with a pass-inad-weak much less Kimber and three infirm across the back line.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Marcel Romo *~
DM Clement Schrader **
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) *~
MI Daniel Storm *~
WI Pierre Wellens **~
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 24.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

First, everyone not named Wellens, Little, and Bush- extra practice on Thursday because you guys need it! Timber, too. A **** means nothing if you still allow 5 goals. First the good news, new UberTrainee(TM) Pierre Wellens and last week's youth pull Thomas Little put up **~ ratings and now I'm suddenly sitting on a four bona fide UberTrainees(TM). It looks like whichever of Storm and Tryggvesson bump first, they will be the odd man out and sold as 18yo excellents- that should bring in a nice chunk of change. Schrader is still in form hell after his injury. However, ** at poor translates to at least *** in solid which is why I bought him in the first place. Romo, Tizon, Viseslav, and Solomon all put up ~ or more less than they should due to form slumps and Storm and Tryggvesson aren't exactly setting the world on fire.

Three Stars
This is a day when only one guy showed up good enough for an award

Bronze: None
Silver: None
Gold: Daniel Storm
Bounced back from getting ejected to put up a pair of goals

Game Summary
We were up 2-1 with another missed chance at the half with 55% possession, so what happened? Well, the B Team just flat wore out. I put this on me, for not forseeing this and on Braden for the same reason. I also gotta pass around some blame to Timber. There's no way he should give up 5 goals against anyone in Div V. It was good to see Storm follow up his 2 card game with a pair of goals. Too bad no one else pitched in.

Press Release
8/10/2003 at 03:25 Overconfident Hippos Chased from Cup
Overconfidence is a dangerous thing and the Hippos found that out firsthand. Playing a pretty good Div V squad, the midfield could only manage a wretched rating due to a road PIC and Ravenwood City dominated 2nd half possession. Daniel Storm scored both goals for the Hippos after being thrown out of last week's Cup game and Tim Kimber posted his second straight **** rating but allowed 5 goals. Next week, Lurking FC from Prathet Thai comes to the Hippodrome for an international friendly.

Notes
Can't say I'm real confident about avoiding our first ever 3 game losing streak. The Enforcers are tough and we're heading straight from Chicago to Iowa. Hopefully the lack of distractons will help our team out but this is a really tough game and I don't expect a win. Still, stranger things have happened. Now, onto the training update and hopefully Storm and/or Trygaklsd;fuiwebuibafds will have bumped.

Lost in all of this, perhaps, is that our cup run ended much too prematurely. I was expecting 6 rounds and we only went 3. The loss of experience and PICs will hurt pretty bad but there's nothing I can do about that now.

SI

sterlingice

08-17-2003, 03:56 AM

Training
Nuts. No luck on a bump from Storm or Tryggvesson. Form seems to have stabilized some more, tho Starks and Tryvkaj;fkljaskljf both dropped into areas of concern. Some of our other players are finally recovering.

Future Training
Our trainees desperately need some stamina, as was evidenced by that last game. However, our form it still too low to risk that and playmaking is the name of the game.

Form
Starters: (+4) (-2)
Entire Team: (+4) (-5)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush (exc) Phelan Meek Kimber
Passable: Miguel Connors Christiano
Inadequate: Viseslav Benito Solomon
Weak (or below): Starks

Starks goes near critical with a two level drop to weak. Hopefully that bounces back in a hurry. He's our best wing, by far, and we have no one capable of replacing him. Solomon and Miguel enter the lineup in place of the sold Houben and form slumping Schrader.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-4)
Entire Team: (+10) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+2)/9(+2)
Above $200K: 5(+1)/5(+1)
Above $300K: 1(+1)/2(+1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($500K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($305K)
Milestones: Stephen Connors ($200K)

Both Little and Wellens were added this week and they are both above $100K. Connors gets a milestone. Benito slips back up above $300K but it's not a new milestone.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 30414 (-2120)
Total Value: 2798000 (-202000)
Avg Value: 139900 (+3536)
Avg Age: 22 (NC)
Avg Form: inadequate (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 20 (-2)
Nationalities: 11 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 20.03
After three sellable guys in a row, Jose Javier Ruiz Tarriaz, failed to live up to his predecessors. It's good news, however, for the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly (you know, I never figured out what it's a memorial of) as they just expanded their deli counter and it looks like Jose is the man to man the meat. Hmm... there's no way that last sentence can sound good in any light.

As for some previous business: I stalled a little and Soto, from 20.01, will be sold this week. Looks like last week's (Thomas Little) might be here to stay unless he bumps before Storm or Trygvesslsadhfkjahsfjkhaskjfdh, in which case, I have another decision to make.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 31
Youth Pull Grocers: 22 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 7 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 590000 (+0)

Youth Pull
José Javier Ruiz Tarríaz (15297951)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 12 000 US$
Wage: 560 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 1309 members (+20)
Supporters: delirious (NC)

Team Spirit: content (up a level from calm)
Confidence: decent (NC)

Out team spirit was up to satisfied for one brief shining moment after our botched PIC loss. But it went back down to content by the end of the week. I'm sure it will settle into calm before too long.

20.03 Week In Review

On the Field
Crappy. Crappy. Crappy. Crappy. Crappy. Ok, so not that bad of a week- maybe only 3 "Crappy"s. First, we throw away our reputation and go with a 4-5-1 against an opponent that has us outgunned. We hold our own against Chock but end up falling short 3-2 as we could never get the equalizer. Cristiano and Meeks score our two fixture goals just like in week 1. For our cup game, Daniel Storm comes back from his ejection last week to score twice and give the Hippos a 2-1 lead going into the half. However, Ravenwood City scores 4 unanswered goals and sends the Hippos home from the Cup much too early.

Off the Field
Still postponing that "offseason update" that I keep promising. However, this week, Houben was sold due to his crappy play and Solomon will resume his starting forward duties until our next home game. At that point, we should have $350K or more in the bank and then it's time to go shopping for a really nice forward. Our most recent youth pull was farmed out to the Piggly Wiggly.

SI

sterlingice

08-17-2003, 06:45 AM

Preview
Salmon. Or a ball of yarn or mouse, even. That may be more appropriate. Baseball has that one chaotic variable in starting pitching that can disrupt everything and makes it completely unpredictable to the point where every team wins and loses a third of their games. Hockey has a similar phenomenon with netminders. However, in basketball, and especially (American) football, this phenomenon is readily apparent. An overwhelmed team plays their hearts out just to keep up with Goliath, and to the untrained eye, it looks like there David may win the day. However, if you look in the greater team's eyes, there is no panic. There is no doubt: they know who the victor will be. Every time it looks like the underdog is getting close, the favorite will knock them back even further than before. And in the end, there is no upset and the mouse is left to face the harsh reality that the cat was toying with them all along. There never was a chance for victory, only an illusion.

Game Summary
Date: 8/11/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326979
Arena: Enforcers Arena
Crowd: 44163

44163 spectators arrived at Enforcers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Enforcers tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Roberts - Scales, Wolford, Gunn - Frederick, Marion, Dotson, Titus, Wilson - George, Aguirre.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Cristiano - Viseslav, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Solomon, Phelan.

In the 2nd minute cheers broke out as James Wilson found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 1 - 0 goal in for Enforcers. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Enforcers, bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

Visitors Derrick Solomon was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 56:th minute. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 in the 56:th by a breakthrough from Norman Aguirre, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Enforcers put themselves up 3 - 1 when Ike George broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. In the 66:th minute Herschel Meek surprised the opponents with a 40 metre pass to Ivan Viseslav who quite easily could settle the score to 3 - 2. 69 minutes into the game Edwin Phelan had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Daniel Storm. In the 76:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Billy Marion dashed through, knocking home 4 - 2 for Enforcers. Enforcers, bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

Enforcers´s best player was Stevie Dotson. David Roberts was a disappointment, however. Most important Hippopotami player was Tim Kimber. Daniel Storm on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
IE: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
IE: 02: 0-1
Halftime Score: 0-1
Possession: 43%

2nd Half
HH: 56: Derrick Solomon (1): 1-1
IE: 56: 1-2
IE: xx: 1-3
HH: 66: Herchel Meek (1): 2-3
IE: 76: 2-4
Final Score: 2-4
Possession: 44%
Final Possession: 44%

Cards
None

Injuries
HH: 69: Edwin Phelan (bruised, knee injury)

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Another week in Div IV, another record for largest crowd: 44163 at Enforcers Arena.

Team Ratings

Iowa Enforcers
Midfield: formidable (9)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/70

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/60

A somewhat disappointing 60. I can't believe I just said that: I would have killed for a 60 last year. Unfortunately, this year, that just won't cut it. Then again, it was on the road so that may explain some of the lower scores. Also, having Phelan out of the game and our shallow bench didn't help.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Elmer Bush ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano (o) ***
WI Ivan Viseslav **
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Daniel Storm *

INJ Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 30.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Well, Storm isn't much of a forward. In fact, he's a middie trainee but with the short bench, he was the sub forward. I shuffled players around and hedged my bets that a middie would get hurt before a forward, placing Thomas Little there. I guessed wrong.

Three Stars
These two goal games make awards tough

Bronze: Lorenzo Cristiano
His *** rating at offensive may add another level to our attack on one side (along with his two goals in the first two games)
Silver: Herschel Meek
Goal gave the illusion of hope
Gold: Derrick Solomon
Tied the game up, at least for a few seconds

Game Summary
We were at their house, facing a better team and we never really were in it despite what it looked like. It was all the illusion alluded to in the introduction. Still, at our house, later in the season, this could go the other way. I'm definately looking forward to the rematch.

Press Release
8/11/2003 at 20:00 Enforcers Have All the Answers in Iowa
It was the perfect end to a perfectly frustrating week. Iowa kept Houston at arm's length practically the entire game, handing the Hippos their 3rd straight competitive loss, 4-2. Iowa scored 2 minutes into the game and neither team could muster another chance in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, seconds after Derrick Solomon tied the game, Iowa scored to go up 2-1. The Enforcers scored another quick goal and led either 3-1 or 4-2 the rest of the way. The Hippos host Team Groomers next week.

Around the League
Big upset this week

The Champion - Brooklyn United 0 - 3
Brooklyn's a machine. Outstanding midfield, formidable offense across the front, and wc-mag-out defense across the back. The Champion and his 57 NSI had no hope. They take the outright lead for the series after one of the games below. Brooklyn had a little form slump this week and Uruguan national team member Victor Javier Almansa got a new low I've seen with "only" three star.

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - Kaishaku F.C. 1 - 3
Kaishaku has had 8 moves in the past 2 months and they were all sales. In the first week, they lost 5-0 at Brooklyn with a 64 NSI despite 34.0 stars. Last week, they posted 35.0 and a 76. This week, another half star (so 1.5 in 3 weeks) and they post an 84! How do you only gain 1.5 stars but gain 20 points on your NSI without making any major purchases?!? Well, to boggle your mind further, add the fact that they went to the Creamy Nougat Center and took out Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness despite the fact that Chock posted the highest NSI in all of Div IV. Both put up magnificent midfields and Kaishaku got 51% possession both halves. Chock missed on two of their three events despite putting up a bril-form-exc attack. I've gotta think Chock can't be pleased with this result at all.

Team Groomers - zfan 2 - 3
zfan picked up an important road win despite losing the midfield battle exc to weak. Groomers only put up an inad-pass-weak offense which zfan's pass-form-out defense stopped most of the day while they countered with their form-out-form offense. zfan has a ***** striker who is worth $1.49M and makes over $10K per month!

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 3 14 - 1 9 92

2. Chock Full of Whole 3 11 - 6 6 94
3. Iowa Enforcers 3 7 - 3 6 70
4. Kaishaku F.C. 3 5 - 6 6 84

5. zfan 3 8 - 11 6 65
6. Houston Hippopotami 3 6 - 8 3 64

7. The Champion 3 1 - 7 0 57
8. Team Groomers 3 4 - 13 0 60

Next week's game will be a big one. I have to beat the Groomers at home if I want to avoid auto relegation.

Hatstats
As I mentioned above, Chock took the top NSI crown last week in all of Div IV so that's 3 weeks, 3 NSI champs. Previous champ Brooklyn United fell to #5 with "only" a 92. Kaishaku F.C.'s 84 was good for #36. This vaulted us back to #2 for the week behind IV.18 (ouch, Plague- that's a rough series. That series put up a 93, 89, and 83 but they're one team deeper with another team in the high 70s.

Four players in our series got 5.0 stars this week, with (the aforementioned) zfan's Sarp Bele the #5 forward in Div IV, Brooklyn United's pair of 4.5 star forwards also placed, and Chock's 5.0 star wing Ramon King was #3 among wingers in Div IV. Brooklyn and Chock both had their 5.0 star middies on the top middies in Div IV, a list with 2 players (including 6.5 star leader Donald Blackwell) on a team in DK's series: Croats in Miami.

I played in front of the 37th largest crowd in Div IV and 98th largest crowd in the USA last week (ardent's crowd was #100, btw). Speaking of FOFC'ers, Doug's Louisiana Cyclones are the 2nd most misunderstood team in all of the USA right now. Quite a few familiar teams on that list: Slithy Toves, Croats, Penguins, Kaishaku, CC's Dragons, and Hamas all in the top 50. That's 3 FOFCers (I might have missed some), a team in my series, a team in DKs series, and a team in my former series all on the top 100 most misunderstood for the USA. A word of advice: BRIBE THE REFS MORE!

Notes
Well, I'm out of the Cup and have an international friendly at the 'drome next week. Then, next week, a must win game at home against a team that I need to beat to keep them in the auto-demotion slot. I'm looking to break my 3 game losing streak then. Hopefully things are now on the way back up. Then again, the next three games after this offer no respite: zfan and Brooklyn on the road followed by Kaishaku at home. Eep... (it doesn't get any better after that because the next 3 are those three teams in reverse order at the other venue).

Note: I'm one match report away from being caught up after doing 3 reports tonight. Then I have to do the "offseason transactions" message along with finishing up my preseason info. Yes, preseason info, 4 weeks in. Ack!

SI

sterlingice

08-23-2003, 05:57 AM

Preview
After our disappointing cup showing and three straight losses, I was ready for a no-stress friendly for the team so they could loosen up. Unfortunately, there was a little bug going around so I couldn't get friendlies with the teams I wanted games with. With some Lithuanian heritage and with them getting a team this season, I wanted to have my own little personal Baltic Cup and start in Estonia. However, after finding two teams with decent supporter size who were out of their cup and a decent challenge, I got errors whenever I tried to challenge them.

So I stewed for a little bit, trying to decide what to do. Out of the blue, I was challenged by a team from Prathet Thai, Lurking FC. It was just an international friendly at my place with no strings attached and I was more than happy to play. The Prathet Thai team which is #2 in V.4 and owned by lurker1 came to the 'drome this overcast day.

Game Summary
Date: 8/14/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9455351
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 2129

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2129 at The Hippodrome today. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Schrader, Miquel, Bush - Viseslav, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Wellens - Solomon, Tizón.

Lurking had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Chinda - Jaruphan, Apasra, Kukrit, Abhasra - Mcnamara, Tulaya, Chong-Kien, Yodbangtoey, Boon-mee - Pu Yai Bahn.

After 18 minutes Lurking put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Maha Kukrit finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. After 23 minutes of play Robert Tryggvesson equalised for Hippopotami after an elegant attack from the right. Derrick Solomon gave his Hippopotami the lead with 2 - 1, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. One of many good passes from Pierre Wellens at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Derrick Solomon, scoring for Hippopotami to 3 - 1. A great save by goaltender Chulamai Chinda in the 33rd minute kept the visitors in the game as Robert Tryggvesson struck from the left with a real cannonball. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 52 percent, dominated the battle.

In the 69:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Robert Tryggvesson dashed through, knocking home 4 - 1 for Hippopotami. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Robert Tryggvesson squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 71st minute, asserting the lead to 5 - 1. This third goal made a hat trick for Robert Tryggvesson. Lurking made a substitution in the 72nd minute. Thammanoon Jaruphan limped off the field and was replaced by Paul Drãghici. Santichai Tulaya had a couple of good opportunities to reply, but the home team´s goaltender Sidney Buckley just wouldn´t surrender. Elmer Bush of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 85:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Lurking seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Lurking, bringing the final ball possession rate to 55 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Elmer Bush. However, Robert Tryggvesson made a disastrous appearance. Most important Lurking player was Chulamai Chinda. Jayavarman Apasra on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
LFC: 4-5-1

Events Summary

1st Half
LFC: 18: 0-1
HH: 23: Robert Tryggvesson (F): 1-1
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F): 2-1
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F): 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 52%

2nd Half
HH: 69: Robert Tryggvesson (F): 4-1
HH: 71: Robert Tryggvesson (F): 5-1
Final Score: 5-1
Possession: 45%
Final Possession: 49%

Cards
HH: 85: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 1344/20000
Basic seats: 526/8000
Seats under roof: 203/3200
VIP seats: 56/800
Total: 2129/32000

Our largest crowd ever for a home friendly. I definately would like to thank lurker1 for coming.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 40/43

Lurking FC
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 30/33

He won possession due to our poor stamina yet we got a lot more chances. I guess this is why.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley *~
DW Clement Schrader (d) **
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Elmer Bush (d) ***
WI Ivan Viseslav (n) **
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
MI Daniel Storm (x) *~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (d) *
WI Pierre Wellens **~
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 22.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Buckley's still a bit rusty from his lack of play during cup season. Schrader needs to get his form out of the crapper. Fortunately it's balanced by Bush's amazing streak at excellent form *knock on wood* and Miguel's continuously good form. Viseslav, Storm, and Tryggvesson also need to get out of their form funks.

Three Stars
Goal scorers and a goalkeeper

Bronze: Sidney Buckley
Battling poor form, but still made a save
Silver: Derrick Solomon
It's a shame his ratings aren't higher- he's one hell of a player
Gold: Robert Tryggvesson
Announcer-torturing Swede gets a hat trick despite defensive positioning and only * rating

Game Summary
It was a nice low-stress game. I enjoyed that we won, but I would have enjoyed it almost as much even if we had lost. Fortunately only one injury (on his side) and it quickly healed. I'm enjoying these int'l friendlies. Probably will get some more this season after FOFC Cup.

Press Release
8/17/2003 at 09:34 Tryggvesson Leads Hippos Past Visiting Thai Team
The Hippos played host to their second ever int'l friendly, this time against Lurking FC of Prathet Thai. UberTrainee(TM) Robert Tryggvesson scored a hat trick and second string keeper Sidney Buckley held Lurking scoreless after a goal in the 18th minute. The Hippodrome saw its largest ever friendly crowd as 2129 Hungry Hungry Hippos saw a sky filled with threatening clouds but no rain fell until after the game concluded. A battle of Run-and-Shoot next week as the Galesburg Avengers visit.

Notes
Big game coming up this week. Not so much because of it's difficulty or who we are playing, per se, but because it's eminently winnable and we need to win a game. As it says above, next week we have a battle of the run-and-shoot as we host CoffeeWarlord's Galesburg Avengers!

SI

sterlingice

08-23-2003, 06:41 AM

Training
Excellent! It happened! Storm went up to excellent in playmaking (still solid for Tryggvesson) so I'm going to try and sell him off to make room for Wellens, Little, and Tryggvesson to be the UberTrainees(TM). The bad news is that Storm's form continues to drop like a rock so selling him might be difficult. Mick Starks is still mired in his form slump at weak.

Future Training
We still need stamina, but our form is still too low. Playmaking until we can sneak in that one week.

Form
Starters: (+2) (-2)
Entire Team: (+4) (-6)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush (exc) Meek
Passable: Viseslav Solomon Miguel Connors Christiano Phelan Kimber
Inadequate: Benito
Weak (or below): Starks

Starks is still down in the dumps right now. We don't have anyone who can even remotely replace him so he's going to have to just play through it. I'm toying with putting winger UberTrainee(TM) Peter Wellens in for the fixtures at winger. However, Viseslav's form bounced back up so I may not.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+10) (-7)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/9(+0)
Above $200K: 6(+1)/6(+1)
Above $300K: 2(+1)/2(+1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($488K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($314K)
Milestones: Thomas Little ($200K)

Just one week after being pulled, Little has passed the $200K mark. Hopefully he'll be an important part of our team for quite a while. I'm guessing he's really close to bumping (solid PM to go with his solid passing).

Team Stats
Total Wages: 30394 (-20)
Total Value: 2804000 (+6000)
Avg Value: 140200 (+300)
Avg Age: 22 (NC)
Avg Form: inadequate (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 20 (NC)
Nationalities: 11 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 20.04
Three strong weeks but now our second dud in a row. I might be able to recoup $1K or $2K out of him but he's sympathetic so I'd rather just fire him than sell him for next to nothing and drop team spirit. Wait, never mind, he doesn't even have an inadequate as I was thinking of a previous youth pull. Our youth pull from 20.01, David Antonio Alonso Soto, sold for a healthy $94K to fc stijn, a Div V team in Belgie.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 32
Youth Pull Grocers: 23 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 8 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (-1)
Total Sold for: 684000 (+94000)

Youth Pull
Nelson Webster (15477212)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 11 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: poor
Winger: wretched Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: wretched

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (up one level from high on life)
Supporter Club: 1325 members (+16)
Supporters: delirious (NC)

Team Spirit: calm (down a level from content)
Confidence: decent (NC)

Back to calm TS, but that's the way it is on this team. Three game losing streak? No problem, for some reason I have yet to decipher (tho, I'm probably pretty hot on the trail when I'm guessing about our 10 spokespersons) why our sponsors and supporters keep getting happier and more numerous. It should be noted that we will be firing a pair of them at the end of the week- they just aren't pulling their weight enough. I love the high spirit and extra sponsor money, but they are really eating a lot of cash as my staff costs are still more than my wages!

20.04 Week In Review

On the Field
Iowa toyed with us before putting us out of our misery and into 6th place. Solomon and Meeks scored and Phelan was injured (fortunately not for very long). We only put up a 60 NSI and 30.0 stars, our worst Div IV showing to date. We need a win badly this week at home against Team Groomers. Then we played am international friendly at the Hippodrome against Lurking FC from Prathet Thai. Robert Tryggvesson (I can spell his last name by memory, finally- who the hell has double "g", anyways?) got a hat trick and Derrick Solomon scored a pair as we won 5-1.

Off the Field
Thankfully in the training updates, Daniel Storm bumped and will be put on the transfer wire very soon. We're looking to get about $500K for the 18yo excellent PM middie. We finally sold off 20.01 youth pull David Antonio Alonso Soto ($94K) and also shook things up after the loss to Iowa. Starting winger Donald Newsom was shipped out ($112K) in favor of either Ivan Viseslav or UberTrainee(TM) Pierre Wellens. Newsom had been slumping of late and we just didn't see the need of having 4 wingers on the team. Same thing happened to 20yo wingback Marcel Romo as his up-and-down career with the Hippos ended. He sold for $60K, a product of his crappy form. We bought him injured, nursed him back to health, got a couple of good games out of him and then his form died. No luck on the front of finding a new striker to play alongside Phelan. I'm hoping to have that solved this week with some of the money we just pulled in.

SI

sterlingice

08-25-2003, 09:04 AM

Preview
Thankfully, I have the best spin doctors in the world. How else could you explain sponsors that are dancing in the strees, supporters that are delirious, and an increasing supporter club despite our three straight losses (including our Cup ouster)? That said, if we don't win today, we have serious problems. We should win and we must win. The team has been in upheaval as Houben, Romo, and Newsom have all been sold in the past week and a half, but something had to be done.

Team Groomers is one of the two teams I'm expecting to auto demote and to avoid that fate ourselves, we have to beat them. They have put up NSI's of 55, 57 (in cup, only 42 in fixture that week), and 60 the past three weeks so they are on the rise. They run a 3-5-2 but with lackluster offense as they play a couple of their middies defensive, including star middie Don Betts, who is capable of 4 stars. We should win this one, especially at home. One change to our recent standard lineup is putting Pierre Wellens at wing after Donald Newsom was sold as part of the shakeup. Derrick Solomon is back to starting at forward, as he did all for the latter half of last season. Hopefully the guys respond.

Game Summary
Date: 8/18/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326983
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 28075

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Hippodrome saw a crowd turnout of 28075. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Wellens - Solomon, Phelan.

Groomers started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Arcuato - Anderson, Henderson, Sheldon - Codrescu, Saes, Betts, Ortiz, Fernández - Souza, Root.

José María Miquel gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Carson Souza came close to levelling the score in the 26:th minute, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

After 53 minutes Stephen Connors put Hippopotami ahead 2 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. With 57 minutes played José María Miquel could have brought this one home for Hippopotami, had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 63 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Hippopotami player was Herschel Meek. Pierre Wellens on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Groomers player was without a doubt Don Betts. Juan Antonio Fernández on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TG: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (1): 1-0
Halftime Score: 1-0
Possession: 56%

2nd Half
HH: 53: Stephen Connors (1): 2-0
Final Score: 2-0
Possession: 63%
Final Possession: 60%

Cards
None

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 17776/20000
Basic seats: 7118/8000
Seats under roof: 2524/3200
VIP seats: 657/800
Total: 28075/32000

Not as big as our home game against Chock but still well in excess of $100K brought in! The Hippodrome32K is proving to be just the right size.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 60/68

Team Groomers
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/59

This is tied for our highest rating ever with the Dragons game last season. All excellents and solids looks pretty across the board. Although, I would like to get something higher somewhere- basically to have a strength. Then again, if Mick Starks is in better form, that excellent right side attack becomes formidable, I'm guessing.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano (o) ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
WI Oierre Wellens **
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Derrick Solomon **~

Total Stars: 32.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Phelan showed no ill effects from his injury, going back to *** after last week's **~ before getting taken off the field. The wings are a serious problem: Starks's poor form is giving me cause to worry now and Wellens is really a trainee, not so much a Div IV caliber starter.

Three Stars
A goalie, a defender, and a middie

Bronze: Stephen Connors
All but put the game out of reach with his goal
Silver: Tim Kimber
Finally bounces back from his two game slump with his first shutout of the season
Gold: Jose Maria Miguel
Had game winning first goal and barely missed a second

Game Summary
This really was a boring game. But who cares, we won! Their anemic offense couldn't break through and even with really weak wings, we still put a couple past them. It was good to see Timber finally get back on track after 9 goals in his last 2 games. Nothing really stands out about this game except that we broke our 3 game losing streak and that it was our first ever Div IV home win.

Press Release
8/21/2003 at 02:39 Hippos Get First Home Div IV Victory
Over 28000 at the Hippodrome saw a grind-it-out defensive soccer game and the first ever Div IV home win for their beloved Hippos. José María Miquel got a goal and almost connected on a second and Stephen Connors got the second goal, early in the second half. The defense held Team Groomers to only one chance that hit the post and Timber made the 2 goal advantage stand up. The win evens the Hippos record at 2-2 with 6 points and a 0 goal differential with 8 goals for and against.

Around the League
Chock's bad luck continues and a big game in the battle for prize money

Brooklyn United - zfan 4 - 0
Brooklyn continued rolling along with the only easy game of the week. At Champions Park, they put up a brilliant midfield with a world class-titanic-brilliant defense, while running a 4-4-2. Their midfielders put up 5.5, 5.0, and 4.0 stars and four different players scored for them. zfan only put up a weak midfield despite a 3-5-2. However, they had a form-out-exc attack from their 5.0 and 3.5 star forwards.

The Champion - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 1 - 1
Less than 13K came out on this rainy day, but many more will claim to have. This game was the shock of the week as Chock extends their suprising winless streak to 2 games. The Champion put up some of his best ratings to date with everything between passable and formidable. Chock "only" put up a solid midfield, possibly PIC'ing, but his other ratings all were between excellent and brilliant. Both teams scored on their only chances of the entire game, which is, I'm sure, a product of the weather. The NSIs were 79-62 while stars were 40.5-31.0, both in favor of Chock.

Kaishaku F.C. - Iowa Enforcers 1 - 3
In another freakish NSI/stars result, Iowa goes to Kaishaku F.C. Arena and takes this crucial game in the race for 3rd, or possibly even 2nd place with the way Chock is playing. Kaishaku out NSI'd Iowa by 83 to 67 and outstarred them 35.0 to 30.5 but Iowa outchanced them 5-2. People keep saying the engine hasn't changed, but, sheesh- these are starting to get out of hand. This is three fixtures out of eight in the past two weeks that were really out of whack (>10 NSI difference, but outchanced) in IV.21 and I'm really starting to wonder.

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 4 18 - 1 12 93

2. Iowa Enforcers 4 13 - 8 9 67
3. Chock Full of Whole 4 12 - 7 7 79
4. Houston Hippopotami 4 8 - 8 6 68

5. Kaishaku F.C. 4 6 - 9 6 83
6. zfan 4 8 - 15 6 62

7. The Champion 4 2 - 8 1 62
8. Team Groomers 4 4 - 15 0 59

It's cool to see me in the money even if it's just for a second. Next week starts a bad 5 game stretch. The easiest game is next week's on the road against zfan. Then things get really ugly as I have a home-and-home against Brooklyn wrapped around a home-and-home against Kaishaku. The absolute best case scenario out of that (barring teams being disqualified or something flukish) is 2 wins with 1 being likely and 0 entirely possible.

Hatstats
This is the first week a team from IV.21 failed to capture the top NSI for Div IV. Brooklyn's 94 was only good for 3rd, behind teams from IV.34 (Monkey of Doom, in a division with the Green Mages who used to be in the Misfitz V.253) and IV.28 (all day i dream about soccer). Kaishaku F.C. was 27th and Chock 46th in a loss and a draw, respectively. If the season ended today, Brookyln would autopromote into III.4 and replace Mountain Kings. Brooklyn's stud middies got 5.0 and 5.5 stars this week and that placed them in the top list of all players in Div IV. Lastly, this week, IV.21, as a whole, was 6th in Div IV for series strength.

Yet again, Louisiana tops the thugs list with 17 yellow cards. The Gargoyles and Calibiri are both in the top ten, as well, and lots of other FOFC teams dot the list. Havoc (not to be confused with Havok), who created the Kraftworks Union fed that I am in, leads Div IV in Fragility with a whopping 6 players hurt for 13 weeks. The highest FOFC team is the Horned Toads who have a combined 8 weeks of injuries between 2 players.

Notes
We needed a win and hopefully we can build off of this and win next week, too. We head to play zfan next week and, while they are tough, it looks like they were just declared a computer team so we might benefit from that. This week, for our friendly, we face Coffee Warlord in a battle of run-and-shoot!

SI

sterlingice

08-27-2003, 10:53 AM

Preview
Well, we all know about Coffee Warlord, that black substance swilling run-and-shoot jockey who made his fortune in Number Racket threads the world 'round. His Galesburg Avengers and their 3-4-3 paid the Hippos a visit as part of a "Promote the Run-and-Shoot" world tour.
Ok, maybe not- I'm just trying to make this game sound bigger than it is. The real story is that we found him arguing with a mailbox outside the airport ("Heeeey, budddddy, this isn't O'hare") after he staggered drunkenly off a plane in Houston. We assumed this was the result of his getting on the wrong flight after choking away a cup game where they won midfield outstanding to weak, all the more impressive considering his Cup game was at home and we have no idea why he was even at the airport but that's neither here nor there (speaking of which, Erik Flamebeard of the Neither Here Nor There has been rumored to have tickets for the game, keeping the company of Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa, but he, it, tha- aw, hell, I give up- something else is neither here nor there)

Well, anyway, we booked a friendly at my place. To spice it up a little, we made a bet in chat (shameless plug: #fofc on undernet, during USA game times) that whoever lost would have to wear really ugly kits for the next game. If you've been on the hattrick board, you might have run into the threads this past week. And, finally, for an added wrinkle, we decided to really ramp up this run-and-shoot match and counter his 3-4-3 with a little 2-5-3 of our own.

Game Summary
Date: 8/21/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9479384
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1590

The 1590 spectators at The Hippodrome were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Hippopotami started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Lineup: Buckley - Miquel, Schrader - Viseslav, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Wellens - Solomon, Tizón, Phelan.

Galesburg started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. They fielded: Durant - Hurst, Andres Alvaro, Guinot - Quiroz, Oskarsson, Farrell, Dommer-Toft - Goode, Mosley, Boone.

The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 in the 8:th by a breakthrough from Thomas Little, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Hippopotami appeared unsure on how to play. Thomas Little increased Hippopotamis lead to 2 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s José María Miquel putting the lead up to 3 - 0. It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why Derrick Solomon found unusually much space for his snappy footwork. The home crowd just couldn´t believe it as José María Miquel missed a penalty in the 40:th. Hippopotami appeared unsure on how to play. Galesburg fought on and, in the 41st minute Dom Goode was able to reply with 3 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. Galesburg held the ball, with a clear 68 percent possession rate.

During the break Hippopotami´s coach went through the teams new tactics yet again. The away team reduced the score to 3 - 2, as Inge Oskarsson struck home, set up well by a play from the left in the 48:th minute. Hippopotami had obvious problems in finding their positions. The visitors didn´t give in and after 68 minutes Dom Goode got through the home sides central line of defense, rolling in the levelling goal to make it 3 - 3 Daryl Mosley came close to putting the visiting team one up in the 69:th minute, following a solo raid down the middle, but Sidney Buckley managed to tip the ball to a corner. As Leonardo Andres Alvaro had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Galesburg player a red card without batting an eye. Galesburg took the lead after 78 minutes with 3 - 4. Rickie Quiroz placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. In the games 81st minute Hippopotami´s Robert Tryggvesson fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Robert Tryggvesson for taking a dive. Galesburg appeared unsure on how to play. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Galesburg, with an impressive 72 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami´s best player was Derrick Solomon. Daniel Storm on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Galesburg player was without a doubt Inge Oskarsson. Zack Hurst was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 4.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 2-5-3
GA: 3-4-3

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 08: Thomas Little (F): 1-0
HH: xx: Thomas Little (F): 2-0
HH: xx: pulling back
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (F): 3-0
GA: 41: 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 32%

2nd Half
GA: 48: 3-2
GA: 68: 3-3
GA: 78: 3-4
Final Score: 3-4
Possession: 28%
Final Possession: 30%

Cards
HH: 81: Robert Tryggvesson (yellow- taking a dive)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 1005/20000
Basic seats: 418/8000
Seats under roof: 133/3200
VIP seats: 34/800
Total: 1590/32000

Another week, another record: largest non-international friendly home crowd.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: poor (3)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/44

Galesburg Avengers
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 47/52

We really need some stamina training: No way should we get that bad of a midfield with solids across the board. Not only that bue we had 5 on the midfield to his 4. That outstanding central attack (easily our highest ever there) looks pretty cool but I had 3 forwards, so...

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley *~
DW Jose Maria Miguel **~
DM Clement Schrader *~
WI Ivan Viseslav **
MI Robert Tryggvesson *~
MI Daniel Storm (x) *~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Pierre Wellens **~
FO Derrick Solomon ***~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon (x) **
FO Edwin Phelan ***

Total Stars: 24.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

That 24.0 is the highest for a non-offseason friendly (i.e. the between season week with only a friendly). Solomon was an absolute beast as his technical speciality shined (game message: It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why Derrick Solomon found unusually much space for his snappy footwork.") and he became the 6th Hippo ever to get a ***~ star game after Kimber, Starks, Benito, Connors, and Meeks. Now for the bad news, Schrader only put up *~ due to his form- this is not what we expected from the veteran central defender when we bought him this past season. Tryggvesson and Storm continue to disappoint with only *~ again, due to their low stamina and somewhat low form.

Three Stars
Only one forward despite the 2-5-3

Bronze: Jose Maria Miguel
Goal made it 3-0 but his team leadership was somewhat lacking as there was a lot of confusion
Silver: Derrick Solomon
Latest Hippo to join the ***~ club
Gold: Thomas Little
His pair of goals gave us the early 2-0 lead

Game Summary
Coach Braden really dropped the ball on this one. The only way we were going to beat Galesburg was in a shootout- we needed to keep running with them. Pulling back when we did was just a death knell to the team's energy. Still, it's a friendly so I'm not too distraught. However, it's disappoing and it really would have been fun to beat one of the run-and-shoot masters.

Press Release
8/23/2003 at 10:17 Hippos Stumble in FOFC Run-And-Shoot Battle
Coach Braden foolishly pulled back the troops early as Houston blew a 3-0 lead, losing 4-3 to Galesburg. The Avengers, coached by one of the FOFC Run-and-Shoot elders in Coffee Warlord, scored 4 unanswered goals despite only having 10 men on the pitch for part of the second half. The match pitted two of the most offensive fomations in the game with Galesburg's 3-4-3 and the Hippos suprising 2-5-3. Next week's friendly against Manhattan will be quite the opposite as NAIWF plays 5-4-1

Notes
Another winnable fixture this week that we could really use. However, it's on the road against a pretty evenly matched team so we definately aren't favored. Then begins our hellish four game stretch in league. Next week's friendly is booked and we will be staying at the 'drome again, this time against supporter NAIWF, his Manhattan Marauders, and a slow down 5-4-1 or 5-3-2. Then comes the FOFC Cup, most likely.

Match Kits
Here's the pair of threads relating to our match kits for our upcoming game with zfan. We will have screenshots coming up in the zfan match report.
Ugly Kit Colors (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13005)
Poll: Pick the Hippos Ugly Kit Colors (Lost Bet) (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13092)

Breaking News: New Hippo
Towards the end of the first half of today's game, the Hippos closed a deal with American striker Gualtiero Spagnuolo, a 23yo striker who was formerly playing in Texas for we kick balls, who are # 1 in V.138. He cost $360K but that money had been more than freed up in previous weeks with the transfers of Houben, Newsom, Romo, and youth pulls as well as higher than expected attendance figures at home fixtures. Said GM SterlingIce, of the move: "This is our gift back to our supporters who have really filled up the new Hippodrome and made this purchase possible. Sure, he didn't come cheap, but he had more quality than most guys on the market. Most of who we were looking at were either too expensive or not enough bang for our buck- we think Gaultiero fit both of these categories: he's a perfect 'tweener, a high level solid who is as good as many excellent strikers." Gualtiero will sport #23, that of one of his favorite baseball player, former Cub Ryne Sandberg. And it should be noted that if the Hippos go to Italy for a friendly, he is bilingual, fluent in both Italian and English.

Gualtiero Spagnuolo (11213343)
23 years, solid form, healthy
I speak Italiano!
A pleasant guy who is calm and infamous.
Has poor experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 242 000 US$
Wage: 1 840 US$/week

Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: solid
Winger: weak Defending: wretched
Scoring: solid Set Pieces: wretched

Career Goals: 17
Career Hattricks: 2
League goals this season: 3
Cup goals this season: 1

SI

NAIWF

08-27-2003, 01:13 PM

I just thought I'd say, don't be shocked when I run up the score on you tonight :D

sterlingice

08-29-2003, 08:09 AM

Training
This is our second week in a row with good news (mostly). First, the happiness: 18yo youth-pull-turned-UberTrainee(TM) Thomas Little bumped as I figured he would soon. Now he's solid playmaking and solid passing. Unfortunately, no bids on Daniel Storm, who is currently on the market. We really could use that extra space so Wellens didn't have to keep playing wing. Also, one of our starting middies bumped: 23yo Carlos Alberto Bentio bumped to excellent playmaking to go along with his excellent stamina and solid passing. Short of worsening his form slump *knock on wood*, he's not losing his job any time soon.

Future Training
Unfortunately, our low form prevents us from some stamina traning (that would help Storm's transfer value a lot). So, continued playmaking training. With Benito bumping, Connors is 3-4 weeks behind. Tryggvesson is expected to bump soon, as well. No guss on Wellens, but as long as he keeps having to play winger, he won't gain that much. I need to get Storm out of here.

Form
Starters: (+3) (-3)
Entire Team: (+5) (-6)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Meek (exc) Miguel Kimber Spagnuolo Bush
Passable: Viseslav Connors Phelan
Inadequate: Benito Christiano
Weak (or below): Starks (poor)

Mick Starks is in the middle of the worst form slump of his career as he drops again, this time to poor. Cristiano drops to inadequate, joining Benito. Everyone else in the starting lineup is passable or higher with Meek's excellent taking the top form this week. For the second team, Storm bumps two levels to inadequate so hopefully that will help speed along his transfer to a new suitor. Third striker Juan Miguel Tizon is down to poor this week, but it really is a moot point as he was bumped down to fourth striker after the purchase of Gaultiero Spagnuolo. Lastly, the man we were hoping to play center defender for us this season is still mired in his form slump: Clement Schrader remains at wretched form.

Value
Starters: (+6) (-4)
Entire Team: (+10) (-8)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 8(+1)/12(+3)
Above $200K: 6(+1)/7(+1)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($509K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($323K)
Milestones: Robert Tryggvesson ($100K)

Three additions to the $100K club. First, we bring in Spagnuolo and his $242K, then UberTrainee(TM) Tryggvesson edges over the $100K mark and finally we get a youth pull worth good money (see below). In his current slump, Mick Starks has shed over $100K in value.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 31694 (+1300)
Total Value: 3105000 (+301000)
Avg Value: 155250 (+15050)
Avg Age: 23 (+1)
Avg Form: inadequate (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 20 (NC)
Nationalities: 11 (NC)
NOTE: We broke through the $3M worth barrier and shattered the $150K per player mark

Youth Pull, Week 20.05
I waited until gametime Sunday to make my youth pull this week and was happily rewarded. I think I'm sticking with that superstition from now on (or at least until I get tired of it). If we were training defenders, John Hanna would fit in great. As the case is, I'm not and don't really need a defender at the moment. I'm hoping to get $300K+ for him (he's an 18yo solid defender/solid passer with high value) but I've put him up for $250 and don't think I'll have any trouble selling him.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 33
Youth Pull Grocers: 23 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 8 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 684000 (+0)

Youth Pull
John Hanna (15724779)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 192 000 US$
Wage: 1 480 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: solid
Winger: poor Defending: solid
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: passable

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1349 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (up one level from delirious)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: wonderful (up two levels from decent)

A win gets our confidence back. Our sponsors and supporters were already tickled pink even with our three game losing streak. At least we broke that. Although, there might be another looming in a couple of weeks.

20.05 Week In Review

On the Field
Timber got back on the winning side of things, shutting out likely relegee Team Groomers at the 'drome. Miguel and Connors scored for the Hippos. If we win a couple more games, we're guaranteed a qualification game at least. If we want to pretend, for the week we are sitting in 4th place, in the money. I'm pretty sure we won't end there but it's nice to see for now. In our friendly, we faced CW's Galesburg Avengers and pitted our 2-5-3 against his 3-4-3 in a run-and-shoot extravaganza. We took a quick 2-0 lead but Coach Braden foolishly pulled back and we blew a 3-0 lead, losing 4-3. As a result, we will be sporting some odd colored kits next game (stay tuned for screenshots).

Off the Field
Unfortunately, Storm has yet to sell even after bumping to excellent last week. However, with some of the cash from our recent sales, we brought in 23yo solid/solid striker Gualtiero Spagnuolo. Putting him opposite Phelan will hopefully result in a formidable central attack. On his previous team, he put up good ratings even with a 1.5 star striker opposite him. Finally, to start the new week, we got an excellent youth pull in John Hanna. He is currently on the transfer wire.

SI

sterlingice

09-05-2003, 07:24 AM

Preview
We run into a bit of luck this week as zfan has been abandoned. zfan is a team I was expecting to compete with for one of those 4-7 slots in the division. A win today gets us 3rd place in the series, probably the highest rank we will see the entire season. Also, this will be the highly anticipated debut of new Hippo striker Gaultiero Spagnuolo who we hope will be a key kog in the H-Gun for quite a while. But, that's not why you are here...

As some of you are quite aware, CW and I made a little bet coming into our friendly this past week that whoever loses has to wear ugly kits this week. As some of you are also quite aware, my f@#$@^%@% coach pulled back up 2-0 and losing possession and we lost 4-3. So I opened up the voting to see which ugly colors I should wear for this week's game:

(The Story Thread) Ugly Kit Colors (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13005)
(The Poll) Pick the Hippos Ugly Kit Colors (Lost Bet) (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13092)

And, this post wouldn't be complete without artwork:
http://people.ku.edu/~ht0wn/uglykits.gif

http://people.ku.edu/~ht0wn/uglykits2.gif

Game Summary
Date: 8/25/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326989
Arena: Zed Park
Crowd: 31316

At Zed Park, 31316 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Houston derby and it the crowd was divided evenly. zfan had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Covington - Lambkin, Modrzejewski, Craner - Ertorp, Sörensson, Håkansson, Pålsson, Pilflod - Bele, Davis.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Cristiano - Wellens, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 6:th minute left Hippopotami´s Gualtiero Spagnuolo completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The referee showed zfans Harald Pilflod the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Edwin Phelan increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. A marvelous zfan effort to the right resulted in a 25:th minute goal by Johan Ertorp, putting the score up to 1 - 2. The game had been on for 35 minutes when Edwin Phelan broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Hippopotami´s were up 1 - 3. Hippopotamis Herschel Meek got himself booked after a foul. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 3. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.

Johan Ertorp was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Sarp Bele managed to kick one of them into 2 - 3 in the 55:th minute. Edwin Phelan increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 2 - 4. At that, Edwin Phelan was noted down for a hat trick. Harald Pilflod managed to make an excellent pass from the flank, but Johan Ertorp was not as skillfull in scoring. Hippopotami had, after 69 minutes of the game, worked the left side industriously, creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but somehow didn´t achieve closure. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Herschel Meek rendered him his second booking of the match, and Hippopotami had to finish the game with a reduced squad. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball.

zfan´s best player was Sarp Bele. Harald Pilflod was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Pierre Wellens was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 4.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
ZF: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 06: Gualtiero Spagnuolo (1): 1-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (3): 2-0
ZF: 25: 2-1
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (4): 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 59%

2nd Half
ZF: 55: 3-2
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (5): 4-2
Final Score: 4-2
Possession: 55%
Final Possession: 57%

Cards
HH: xx: Herchel Meek (yellow- foul)
HH: xx: Herschel Meek (second yellow, ejection- unsportsmalike behaviour)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

And, yet again, our fans show they are not as dumb as a bag of hammers by not going to the stadium for an away game. 31K showed up at Zed Park despite the lack of ownership.

Team Ratings

zfan
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 61/66

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/65

I'm definately jealous of his offense. Then again, I don't have 24yo 5-star Sarp Bele running my offense like he does. However, we attacked his midfield and weak right side defense and that's how we won. We backed off a little from last week's rating but as long as we can keep a solid midfield on the road, I'll be happy. I think our goal is to get a 70 without MotS'ing by the end of the year- I'm not sure we can do it but it's a great goal.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Elmer Bush ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Lorenzo Cristiano (o) ***
WI Pierre Wellens **
MI Herschel Meek -ejected-
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***

Total Stars: 30.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Kimber dominating once again with **** while our new forward combo each netted *** today (was kindof hoping for ***~ from Gualtiero). All three defenders also got *** (including Miguel's first *** rating) but there is definately cause for concern out there at wing. Wellens is only going to get **~ about half the time so that I don't mind so much. He's 17 and will be getting **** in no time (ok, perhaps a slight exaggeration). However, Mick Starks has fallen over $100K in value and gone from ***~ to ** in his current slump! We have no one to replace him and he's just going to have to ride it out. All in all, we would have had 33.5 stars with Meek, our best ever, and a really nice 35 if Stark's head weren't up his ass. NO MORE CRAWFISH PARTIES!

Three Stars
Goal scorers and a middie who played well until he was thrown out

Bronze: Herschel Meek
He got those cards out of the way heading into the all-but-unwinnable Brooklyn game and will have a clean slate
Silver: Gualtiero Spagnuolo
Gets (hopefully) first of many Hippo goals 6 minutes into his career here
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Got into the thick of the series goal race with a hat trick

Game Summary
I wonder if Phelan was starting to fell the pressure, especially after Spagnuolo scored 6 minutes into the game. Don't worry, Edwin, we love ya here in Hippo town and you're not losing your job any time soon. We just wanted to get you some help so you don't have to carry the offense on your back so often. His hat trick puts him in 2nd for the series goal title behind Jan Zaslawski of Brooklyn United (see below). Another one of those pretty games where everything came up excellent or solid, tho I was really hoping for a formidable central attack. Maybe next time...

Press Release
8/26/2003 at 01:42 Four Forward Goals Fluster Formidable zfan
zfan may now be computer controlled but they still have Sarp Bele who scored his 60th career goal but Edwin Phelan collected his third career hat trick and new striker Gualtiero Spagnuolo started his Hippo career with a goal in the 6th minute, en route to a 4-2 win. The Hippos were possibly aided by pink-orange-lime kits, the price of a lost bet from last week's friendly. The win has the Hippos in 3rd place, but that is likely to change as they play Brooklyn and Kaishaku the next four weeks.

Around the League
A battle among the two best with a suprising outcome and a pair of upper tier teams underestimating lower tier teams

Iowa Enforcers - The Champion 1 - 0
Iowa likely PIC'd this game and almost got burned. They won possession by 60 and 69% (exc vs inad) but didn't score until Norman Aguirre in the 72nd minute. Iowa flat out missed on one chance and Champion goalie Erik Speer put up 3.5 stars and made another pair of spectacular blocks. The Champion missed on their only opportunity of the game.

Team Groomers - Kaishaku F.C. 0 - 2
While the other game was one of missed opportunities, this was likely a PIC on the road and Kaishaku nearly got burned. Here's a transcript of the first half: "Zenon Kieta of Kaishaku received a yellow card in the 24:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Kaishaku held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate." However, Kaishaku pulled it out, scoring on their only 2 possessions of the second half and blanking Team Groomers. I definately have to give the Groomers credit- check out this message: "Groomers´s Roger Root refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 73rd minute." That's one tough bastard.

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - Brooklyn United 0 - 8
I'm not sure *anyone* expected this. Chock was playing Brooklyn at the Creamy Nougat Center with a chance to gain back some of their lost stature in the series and they flat out laid an egg. They had another 94 NSI but were completely dominated by Brooklyn who put up a 107, highest ever this season for a Div IV team. Brooklyn had a world class(!!!) midfield accompanied by a titanic-supernatural-magnificent defense (I only know where one of those is on the charts) and an all formidable offense. 30yo Jan Zaslawski put up 4.5 stars and 4 goals for BU to take the series scoring lead. However, this is another one of those confusing scores. Brooklyn only won possession by 52% and 53% each half (wc vs mag is only 1 level) and Brooklyn had pulled back when only up 2-0. *keeps championing changed engine theory*

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 5 26 - 1 15 107

2. Iowa Enforcers 5 14 - 8 12 73
4. Houston Hippopotami 5 12 - 10 9 65
5. Kaishaku F.C. 5 8 - 9 9 70

5. Chock Full of Whole 5 12 - 15 7 94
6. zfan 5 10 - 19 6 66

7. The Champion 5 2 - 9 1 60
8. Team Groomers 5 4 - 17 0 56
You know, if flukish upsets keep happening, I may luck my way into 4th place even though I am clearly the 5th place talent in this series. Right now I'm sitting at third, tho, I'll be happy with 3 points over the next 4 weeks (4 games against Kaishaku and Brooklyn). Iowa has got to come back down to earth at some point and Chock can't keep losing (the Brooklyn loss was no suprise, just the magnitude of it), can they? A zfan computer-controlled upset against Kaishaku or Iowa could really help. That week 12 matchup at home against Iowa looms large... an MotS maybe. And I suppose after this week's showings, I'm not that far behding Kaishaku or Iowa in terms of NSI but I think both might have PIC'd their respective games.

Hatstats
Well, another week, another IV.21 team is the top team in Div IV. This time, it's Brooklyn United again. They got a 107 rating and 47.0 starts in their 8-0 whitewashing of Chock, who was 7th with 94 and 41.0. These propel us back to the 2nd toughest Div IV series in the USA with an average rating of 73.9, second to IV.61 and their 76.5. No one else got above a 75 this week but Iowa and Kaishaku got 73 and 70 while zfan and I got 66 and 65 and the bottom two got 60 and 56. BTW, Brooklyn is at #4 overall for teams to promote into Div III and I won't be sad to see that team of his go. He seems like a pretty nice guy, but we can't hang with him and he'd be better suited up there (read: I expect my game with him next week to be about 10-0).

As for the other lists, Lousiana still sits atop the Thugs list (#1 in the entire USA even) and the Gargoyles come in at 4. Daed's Calibiri rank 2nd in hospital time. Chock's stunned crowd of 60000 that witnessed their devistating loss to Brooklyn was good for 7th in Div IV and 38th in all of the US. Lastly, if the season ended today, Rich1033 and his Toledo Drunkards would join IV.21 next year. Keep fighting for another spot- I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Then again, with Brooklyn gone next season (hopefully), this becomes a lot saner with only Chock putting up 90+ ratings and everyone else in the 70s/60s.

Notes
Next week... will not be pretty. We go to Brooklyn on the heels of their 107 rating this week. Ouch. In much happier news, the run-and-shoot will be hosting supporter NAIWF, his defensive sludge, and his Manhattan Marauders at the 'drome for some good old fashioned offense versus defense. As for Houston vs New York, it's going to be 1994 all over again as "Hakeem" Juan Miguel Tizon and the Hippos offense dream shakes NAIWF Ewing's defense so they see him in their sleep ;)

SI

sterlingice

09-07-2003, 08:15 AM

Preview
Whew- that last report was long (zfan-Hippos). Anyways, it's good to be back in our purple and black. We'll be hosting one of our supporters, NAIWF in the 'drome. Here we just have the typical New York-Houston matchup. Ok, there's not much typical about it. We met once in the NBA Finals and it was the "East Coast City calls Houston a 'hellhole' quite hypocritically, we go out and beat their ass, next day headline reads 'Hellhole 1 New York 0' " story. I'm hoping for more of the same today :D

I won't be running out that 2-5-3 I ran against CW- that was fun but has some downsides. Namely, I don't have 3 backup forwards and I don't want to risk Phelan or Spaghetti getting hurt. You know what, I think that's Gualtiero Spagnuolo's new nickname. I can't spell either his first or last name but he's from the USA and speaks Italiano. I guess that means we have the Eddie (Edwin) and Spaghetti front line... but I digress.

Game Summary
Date: 8/28/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9517654
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1821

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 1821 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Buckley - Bush, Miquel, Schrader - Wellens, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Viseslav - Solomon, Tizón.

Manhattan started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. Lineup: Warner - Broussard, Wiling, Stoica, Oconnor, Key - Vega, Williamson, Waggoner, Rendon - Walls.

Matt Vega managed to make an excellent pass from the flank, but Cole Rendon was not as skillfull in scoring. Thomas Little gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón putting the lead up to 2 - 0. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Pierre Wellens somhow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Ivan Viseslav who struck for 3 - 0. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The visitors got a chance of pulling one back in the 38:th minute, due to a defensive blunder leaving Henry Walls completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side´s keeper. Manhattan fought on and, in the 39:th minute Henry Walls was able to reply with 3 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 61 percent possession of the ball.

The visitors got a chance of pulling one back in the 52nd minute, due to a defensive blunder leaving Rickie Oconnor completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side´s keeper. Henry Walls of Manhattan received a yellow card in the 54:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 60 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Hippopotami. However, Jessie Warner made a spectacular save. In the games 60:th minute Hippopotami´s Ivan Viseslav fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Ivan Viseslav for taking a dive. Manhattan managed to reduce a bit later to 3 - 2 as Rickie Oconnor finished off a well played combination from the left, carving through the defensive box. Manhattan held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Elmer Bush. Sidney Buckley on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Manhattan player was without a doubt Rickie Oconnor. Thomas Waggoner was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
MM: 5-4-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Thomas Little (F): 1-0
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 2-0
HH: xx: Ivan Viseslav (F): 3-0
HH: xx: pulling back
MM: 39: 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 61%

2nd Half
MM: xx: 3-2
Final Score: 3-2
Possession: 44%
Final Possession: 53%

Cards
HH: 60: Ivan Viseslav (yellow- taking a dive)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 1219/20000
Basic seats: 417/8000
Seats under roof: 145/3200
VIP seats: 40/800
Total: 1590/32000

For the second week in a row, we set this record: largest non-international friendly home crowd. In other words, our largest crowd ever for a "normal" friendly.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 40/44

Manhattan Marauders
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 42/45

Every week this section really is a killjoy for friendlies. I'm training PM and can't get above a weak?!?

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley *~
DW Elmer Bush ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Clement Schrader (m) *~
WI Pierre Wellens **
MI Robert Tryggvesson **
MI Daniel Storm (x) *~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
FO Derrick Solomon **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon *~

Total Stars: 23.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Buckely's form slump is almost to the point where we will need to explore other options for a backup keeper. I've been wanting to upgrade to a decent passable so that if Kimber gets hurt in a game, we don't drop from a really good backside defense to abyssmal. I think that's Miguel's first ever *** performance! Maybe a little good news on the training front as Tryggvesson gets ** instead of his usual *~ games.

Three Stars
The three goal scorers get "cheap" medals this week

Bronze: Ivan Viseslav
His goal turns out to be necessary for the win
Silver: Juan Miguel Tizon
His goal give the Hippos a 2-0 lead
Gold: Thomas Little
Another first goal of the game gives the new UberTrainee(TM) another gold

Game Summary
For the second week in a row, Braden pulled back the troops much too early. Fortunately this one didn't cost us the game, because NAIWF was running the 5-4-1 :p, but still. I need to get in some stamina testing, badly. Not only that but I think it may be time to finally replace Sidney Buckley as backup keeper. Still, can't completely overlook the good- I'm extremely happy I decided to keep Little on as an UberTrainee(TM).

Press Release
[i]9/1/2003 at 09:43 Marauders Mauled by Hippo Offense
Once again, the run-and-shoot proved to be superior to a defensive formation. Last week, when Coach Braden drew back the troops up 2-0, Galesburg's run-and-shoot stormed back for a comeback victory. This week, the Hippos pulled back up 3-0 but the Marauders 5-4-1 and a weak-poor-inad offense could not comeback enough. Next week begins FOFC Cup play as Yukon Quest visits the 'drome. The Hippos enter the cup as a #3 seed, however, do not expect to advance too far as training takes priority.

Notes
Next week, we begin the FOFC Cup against Yukon Quest. We have a #3 seed but, as it says above, we don't exactly expect to go far. Training still takes prescendence. This week expects to be our biggest loss ever: well, not including friendlies: the Bees beat us 9-0 back in Hippo infancy, but I'm talking fixture. For those of you into that kind of thing, our biggest loss previously was 4-0 to the soon-to-be-promoted Darksiders in our first season by a score of 4-0. Considering Brooklyn put up a 107 NSI last week, this could be much worse. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll hold back some guys for the cup. That's about our only hope.

SI

sterlingice

09-07-2003, 08:55 AM

Training
No bumps whatsoever this week. Trykasdknfa;jsdnfas;dfjaklsdfj has got to be getting close- next week at the latest. He's had 6 weeks of training and he's only 18 for chrissakes. We did have a good form week, finally.

Future Training
Same as before: we need stamina but our form is too low.

Form
Starters: (+3) (-0)
Entire Team: (+7) (-0)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Meek (exc) Viseslav Phelan Miguel Kimber Spagnuolo Bush
Passable: Connors
Inadequate: Benito Christiano
Weak (or below): Starks

Starks finally moves back up to weak. Maybe another week and things will start looking back up. Benito and Christiano could definately use a bump up but I'm not that concerned. Maybe I should go for a stamina week if I have another week like this. As you might have noticed above, I actually did not have a single drop this week. Woo!

Value
Starters: (+9) (-2)
Entire Team: (+13) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 8(+0)/11(-1)
Above $200K: 6(+0)/7(+0)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($522K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($347K)
Milestones: None ($0K)

Only one real move as Pierre Wellens backed off $100K for a week. Kimber and Benito continue to set records each week for highest team values ever.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 32394 (+700)
Total Value: 3266000 (+161000)
Avg Value: 155524 (+274)
Avg Age: 22 (-1)
Avg Form: passable (up 1 level from inadequate)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 21 (+1)
Nationalities: 11 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 20.06
While we didn't quite get the cash I was hoping for from last week's youth pull, John Hanna (18yo solid pass/solid def/pass sp), it's hard to complain too much about the $279K he ended up selling for. I waited again until gametime to pull my next youth and was pleasantly suprised yet again. I'm hoping Zack can get $50K in a sale, but if not, he's good for at least $20K. If he does go for more than $37K, then our youth squad sales will have exceeded $1M. Even after that horrible luck my first couple of seasons- this should definately be an indication of how a youth squad can pay for itself.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 34
Youth Pull Grocers: 23 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 9 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 963000 (+279000)

Youth Pull
Zack Olivares (15952998)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 38 000 US$
Wage: 700 US$/week

Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: passable
Winger: passable Defending: inadequate
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: weak

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (down 1 level from dancing in the streets)
Supporter Club: 1373 members (+24)
Supporters: delerious (down 1 level from high on life)

Team Spirit: composed (down 1 level from calm)
Confidence: strong (down 1 level from wonderful)

I got rid of a couple of spokespersons so the economic side of this can be attributed to them. Unfortunately, our PICs from the Cup way back when have finally worn off and we're stuck down at composed again.

20.06 Week In Review

On the Field
Our forwards combine for 4 goals (Spagnuolo 1, Phelan 3) and we beat a pretty good (albeit recently computer controlled) team in zfan. Unfortunately, Meek gets thrown off the pitch so he won't be playing next week versus Brookyln. I guess this is as good a time as any to have that happen. He'll help out the B Team in the FOFC Cup next week instead. Unless something drastic happens we have more or less sewed up the #5 spot in our series with wins in the first half over the bottom three teams including two on the road. Then we hosted NAIWF's Manhattan Marauders and dismantled that 5-4-1 team by the score of 3-2. That's right, we dismantled them. Actually, we were up 3-0, Braden pulled back for the second week in a row and I'm going to get his should-be-offensive mind examined.

Off the Field
All has been quiet on the transaction front since that fit of movement a couple of weeks ago where we thinned down the team and brought in Gualtiero. Two pretty good youth pulls in a row and our last one sold for a hair under $300K! Unless we sell Storm and/or Trykajflkahdfjkanjkbnjvbajksbfkabsdfjk then there probably won't be much here for a while short of a little shuffling on the B Team. Since I don't have much to add here, I think I'll mention that I keep getting tiny little checks of mother club money. Not that I'm going to turn it down, but it's disappointing when you see the mother club cash message and then you click to find: "Gained money for a player that has previously belonged to the club: 120 US$"

SI

sterlingice

09-07-2003, 09:37 AM

format test- post will be up (relatively) shortly

SI

Poli

09-07-2003, 11:00 AM

Stopped by for a visit, but there's too much to read in too little time!

I can't wait to get involved in dynasty reports again when I get home!

sterlingice

09-07-2003, 11:20 AM

Originally posted by ardent enthusiast
Stopped by for a visit, but there's too much to read in too little time!

I can't wait to get involved in dynasty reports again when I get home!

Aye, it seems I was a bit behind but I've been in a dynasty mood the past couple of days so I've been getting caught up pretty quick.

SI

sterlingice

09-07-2003, 08:33 PM

A Crisis of Faith

To: Coffee Warlord
From: SterlingIce
Subject: Say you're a team from Houston...

...let's call them the Hippopotami, for hypothetical's sake. And we-- i mean they have to play a game this week against a really good team. Hmm... let's call them Brooklyn United. Now here's the kicker, they're on the road and it's likely going to be a massacre. However, let's say this team's general manager, who has a bit of a reputation as a run-and-shoot proponent, named SterlingIce, purely for the sake of argument, is considering using a 4-5-1 to make the score 3-0 instead of 8-1. Now, he's well meaning in this regard as he wants to keep half of his supporters from having to go to crisis counseling and suicide doctors (as Dr Kevorkian has to open up an anti-medical school to keep up with all the business) but this goes against ever tenent of the religion he preaches. What should I do- I mean tell this hypothetical friend?

To: SterlingIce
From: Coffee Warlord
Subject: Re: Say you're a team from Houston...

Much to learn you still have, yes. Lies, deceit, treachery, those are the ways of the 4-5-1. Tempt you with its promise of defense, it will. Give you nothing to show for it, it will.

Other option available to you, master sterlingice. The Run and Shoot can be used in all situations. If defense is what you need, adapt, you can.

A 4 of defenders, a 3 of midfielders, a 1 of winger, and a 2 of forwards, you need. An alternate 4-4-2, you could play. Defense, fine it will be. Sacrifice offense, you will not. Midfield, you will lose anyway. A winger subtracted, hurt your midfield it will barely do.

Victory in your grasp, there may be. Master CW has spoken.

It's good to have a mentor or two to turn to in these situations. Wise beyond his years, that CW ;)

Preview
There's not much to look forward to this game. Last week, Brooklyn put up a 107 NSI on the road, highest in all of Div IV this season. Now we get to go play him at home, coming off an 8-0 decimation of Chock and their 90-something NSI. I'm guessing he'll hold a starter or two back which should keep his stats in the 90s. Still, ouch. To make this sound even more dire, I'll bring light to some of our other problems for today. One of our 3.5 star middies Herschel Meek is out this week with a red card and 2.5 star offensive middie and UberTrainee(TM) Thomas Little will take his place. Also, Mick Starks is still mired in his form slump and will probably only put up 2.5 stars again today. Not what we needed coming into this game.

Regarding the above messagess, I decided to stick with the 3-5-2. I don't have a capable 4th defender who can play better than either of my wings, even in poor form. I'm going to lose, but at least I'm going to go down doing what we do best in an attempt to keep this from being a shutout. At least our fans will like a 7-1 better than a 5-0. We did have one thing working for us today: "The crowd of 45702 turning up at Champions Park today were greeted by some nasty showers of rain".

Game Summary
Date: 9/1/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326990
Arena: Champions Park
Crowd: 45702

The crowd of 45702 turning up at Champions Park today were greeted by some nasty showers of rain. Brooklyn had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Schumacher - Almansa, Karlsson, Kurkawa, Montes - Maternia, Benson, Mccloud, Iancu - Otegi, Zaslawski.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Wellens, Benito, Connors, Little, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 3rd minute goal by Joaquin Otegi for Brooklyn, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Hippopotami´s Pierre Wellens left the field after 5 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Ivan Viseslav. Hippopotami could level the score in the 11th minute at 1 - 1, as Edwin Phelan struck home after a fine midfield combination, leaving him completely unmarked. 35 minutes into the game a free kick combination hooked into the box almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the last header went wide. Tsuneo Kurkawa gave his Brooklyn the lead with 2 - 1, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Brooklyn lead up with 3 - 1. Joaquin Otegi finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Halftime score was 3 - 1. Brooklyn held the ball, with a clear 66 percent possession rate.

The home sides Amadeusz Maternia twisted a free kick home in the 53rd minute, putting Brooklyn ahead 4 - 1. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Brooklyn lead up with 5 - 1. Brian Mccloud finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The structure of the game started to change as Brooklyn decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Amadeusz Maternia almost managed to score another goal for Brooklyn, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. A bit later Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan easily reduced to 5 - 2 after a misunderstanding in the home sides central defense line. Brooklyn held the ball, with a clear 68 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Brooklyn player was without a doubt Cory Benson. Jacob Schumacher on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Mick Starks on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
BU: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
BU: 03: 0-1
HH: 11: Edwin Phelan (6): 1-1
BU: 35: 1-2
BU: xx: 1-3
Halftime Score: 1-3
Possession: 34%

2nd Half
BU: 53: 1-4
BU: xx: 1-5
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (7): 2-5
Final Score: 2-5
Possession: 32%
Final Possession: 33%

Cards
None

Injuries
HH: 05: Pierre Wellens (3 weeks- nasty blow to the shin)

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Despite the rain, the 45K+ were the most ever to see a Hippos game.

Team Ratings

Brooklyn United
Midfield: outstanding (10)
Right Side Defence: magnificent (12)
Central Defence: titanic (15)
Left Side Defence: magnificent (12)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: weak (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 81/91

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/63

I had to go look up what a couple of his ratings were because I have no idea what level titanic is, for instance. That's how you know you've been outplayed. First the bad: with Meek out, we only managed an inad midfield on the road. We knew we were going to lose that battle so it was conceded before the match started. CHECK OUT THAT ATTACK! Exc-Out-Exc! That's what I was looking for when I signed up Gualtiero. At least Brooklyn "only" put up a 91.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

INJ Pierre Wellens *~

Total Stars: 34.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

That is our highest stars total ever. Gualtiero showed why we got him by joining the ***~ club in his second week. Starks bounced back up to **~ after his awful ** last week. Not much to report here- again, I think we can get 35 stars in the next week or two once Starks bounces back.

Three Stars
Phelan gets another gold

Bronze: Ivan Viseslav
Fills in admirably after Wellens gets hurt
Silver: Gualtiero Spagnuolo
No goal this week but he joins the ***~ club
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Phelan's tear continues as he has 5 goals in his last 2 games

Game Summary
I think we were spared by the rain and by Brooklyn's want to do well in USA Cup. I figured the over-under on our game was 5 or 5 1/2 but we lucked out. Lots of positives actually came out of this game (our center attack, new stars high, etc) but 17yo UberTrainee(TM) Pierre Wellens will now have to take a couple of weeks off of training. That hurts, although, we should be able to keep his time missed to only 2 weeks. As you can see below- we actually tripled the number of goals Brooklyn had given up all year (from 1 to 3).

Press Release
9/3/2003 at 12:15 Brooklyn Too Much for Hippos
Edwin Phelan scored twice as many goals as Brooklyn United had given up all year but it wasn't nearly enough as Team Chile member Joaquin Otegi scored 2 goals and 3 other players scored for BU. Brooklyn put up only a 90 rating, their "worst" of the season, but Houston could only muster a 63, also a season low. On the road and without an ineligible Herschel Meek, the Hippos only posted an inadequate midfield. This week, FOFC Cup play begins.

Around the League
Chock and Iowa battle it out while Kaishaku draws the inactive zfan and the two bottom teams face off

The Champion - Team Groomers 4 - 0
The Champion team is starting to separate itself from Team Groomers. However, they are both likely doomed to auto relegation next season. The Champion has only given up 9 goals all year but only has 4 points because they have only scored 6 and 4 of those were today. In another series, they likely would at least have a shot at a qualification game. Then again, maybe if they knock off zfan they will get that chance.

Kaishaku F.C. - zfan 4 - 0
Kaishaku just dominated possession in this game as they won midfield formidable to weak. Hugh Ruffie got a hat trick for Kaishaku and zfan has now lost their 3rd straight since becoming computer controlled. If we can beat Kaishaku next week at home, we will be tied with them for 4th.

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - Iowa Enforcers 1 - 0
Fans stayed away from the Creamy Nougat Center in droves after last week's 8-0 massacre at the hands of Brooklyn ("only" 29K but that's really low for him). In a game that has pretty big implications towards who is going to be in the money, Chock scored late in the 2nd half to eek out a win. There were only two chances this game and both went to Chock.

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 6 31 - 3 18 90

2. Iowa Enforcers 6 14 - 9 12 66
5. Kaishaku F.C. 6 12 - 9 12 75
5. Chock Full of Whole 6 11 - 15 10 85

4. Houston Hippopotami 6 14 - 15 9 63
6. zfan 6 10 - 23 6 63

7. The Champion 6 6 - 9 4 63
8. Team Groomers 6 4 - 21 0 55
Some of the lowest NSIs in the series this season. Obviously Brooklyn was holding back, but Iowa gets a season low and Kaishaku has been in the low 70s after starting out the season in the 80s. Kaishaku and Iowa are within striking distance *if* I can win next week.

Hatstats
A bit of an abbreviated hatstats this week. This was our first week out of the top 10 for Div IV as I mentioned the lower scores above. IV.21 was the 11th toughest Div IV this week. Brooklyn at "only" #9 for the week and Chock in the 20s but that's it- no Iowa or Kaishaku in the top 100. Our game with Brooklyn was the 44th largest crowd in Div IV this week and 90th largest in the entire USA. Also, it looks like Louisiana finally got off the refs hate list and probably had to keep a couple of players off last week. They drop out of the top 10 for Div IV cards and the Gargoyles drop all the way into the 90s! However, I do see a ton of FOFC teams on the Most Misunderstood list with the Slithy Toves and goldurnears now in the top 20 and at least 5 other teams in the top 100 after just a cursory glance at the list.

Notes
This week could have been a lot worse than it was and now it's time to get back to earth and worry about the next game. Next week, if we can pull off a win against Kaishaku, we would be back in the thick of things for the money. That said, if we don't win next week, we're almost guaranteed 5th place and a qualification game and I really don't want to go back to Div V. As for friendlies, the FOFC Cup starts *pause for fanfare*. WOO! We face albionmoonlight's Yukon Quest who have to make the short trip from New Orleans to Houston.

SI

Poli

09-08-2003, 05:48 PM

Note to self, I got to talk to CW more often! :)

Coffee Warlord

09-09-2003, 04:25 PM

Not lose by 10 you did, mmm? :)

sterlingice

09-16-2003, 07:07 PM

Preview

The A Team's misfortune for this week is the B Team's fortune as Herschel Meek, one of our ***~ middies, had a red card and couldn't play Sunday. He will help bolster the midfield corps today in the place of Thomas Little who played Sunday. Also, Mick Starks will play today with the B Team in an attempt to help boost his form which has been slumping of late. Lastly, Zack Oliveres will get a tryout at wingback before we sell him. We just don't want any more important defenders injured and I only carry 4.

Game Summary
Date: 9/4/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9570529
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1601

1601 spectators arrived at The Hippodrome, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Buckley - Olivares, Miquel, Schrader - Starks, Meek, Tryggvesson, Storm, Viseslav - Solomon, Tizón.

Yukon had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Vi-Chi - Hurley, Thorn, Miner - Sikes, Burns, Rodgers, Abney, Kearney - Bledsoe, Thomas.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 13th minute goal by Juan Miguel Tizón for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. The referee showed Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The player down was Roland Thorn. The Yukon bench looked worried a while but in the end he managed to get up. In the games 29:th minute the visitors levelled to 1 - 1 as Leonard Bledsoe struck home on a bar rebound, following a shot from the right. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Clement Schrader needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Herschel Meek completely alone with keeper Tsang Vi-Chi, who made a spectacular block. Sebastian Sikes of Yukon received a yellow card in the 36:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 37 minutes Yukon put themselves up by 1 - 2 as Erwin Kearney finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. After a fatal mistake from the away teams right side defense in the 39:th minute, an alert Juan Miguel Tizón bagged the ball, evening the score to 2 - 2. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 2. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 59 percent possession of the ball.

The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 in the 48:th by a breakthrough from Clement Schrader, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. In the 58:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Ivan Viseslav dashed through, knocking home 4 - 2 for Hippopotami. The home side´s Juan Miguel Tizón came close to extending the lead in the 66:th minute. His shot came in off the right hand side but Tsang Vi-Chi managed saving with a fingernail. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 68 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Herschel Meek. However, Clement Schrader made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Yukon player was without a doubt Buck Rodgers. However, Howie Miner made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F#) shows the number of goals in FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
YQ: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 13: Juan Miguel Tizon (F1): 1-0
YQ: 29: 1-1
YQ: 37: 1-2
HH: 39: Juan Miguel Tizon (F2): 2-2
Halftime Score: 2-2
Possession: 59%

2nd Half
HH: 48: Clement Schrader (F1): 3-2
HH: 58: Ivan Viseslav (F1): 4-2
Final Score: 4-2
Possession: 68%
Final Possession: 64%

Cards
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 1054/20000
Basic seats: 377/8000
Seats under roof: 134/3200
VIP seats: 36/800
Total: 1601/32000

Not bad, but I was hoping for a few more since it's FOFC Cup. Too bad that doesn't influence the game engine.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 42/47

Yukon Quest
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/45

I'd be thrilled about that inadequate except that part of it involved Meek being in there. I'm really hoping to see inad midfield before too long.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley *
DW Zack Olivares **
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Clement Schrader (m) *
WI Mick Starks **~
MI Daniel Storm **
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
FO Derrick Solomon **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 24.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

This may be the beginning of the end for Buckley. He is in a big form slump and I've been looking for a passable backup keeper in the event that Kimber has to leave a game. Schrader looks pretty cruddy, as well, but I'm going to see if I can finally see him back to good form. Lastly, I think this is the first time the second team all got ** or more. Meek makes no difference because Little picked up **~ on Sunday.

Three Stars
Tizon was the big star today

Bronze: Clement Schrader
First ever goal for the Hippos despite awful form
Silver: Ivan Viseslav
His second straight friendly with a goal
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
Missed a chance or he would have had a hat trick

Game Summary
Juan Miguel Tizon continues his tear as our best guy for scoring in the FOFC Cup. For those of you who don't remember, he had 8(!) goals in FOFC Cup III. Not sure if that was tops among anyone but it had to be close. Meek augmenting the midfield wins the game for us, I think. Not much else to say about this game, but I'm glad we advanced.

Sent: 2003-09-05 16:07:00
From: albionmoonlight
Subject: Re: Dynasty Report

Just mention that I was the much better team and you got lucky :)
What a bastard! Ok, not really. He said that in jest and I'm glad we could play this game and no one got hurt.

Press Release
9/7/2003 at 14:15 Hippos Advance in FOFC Cup
While the Hippos aren't expecting to go too far in the FOFC Cup, at least they played up to their #3 seed for one game, beating Yukon Quest 4-2 at the 'drome. Juan Miguel Tizon scored a pair of goals and Herschel Meek helped shore up the midfield after not playing Sunday due to a red card. The teams went into the half tied 2-2 but defender Clement Schrader and winger Ivan Viseslav scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Hippos now wait 2 weeks for their 2nd round opponent.

FOFC Cup Bracket

Round of 64
Run & Shoot Bracket
Underlined Teams Won

1) Intercourse Ball Kickers
YoSoySean
16) BZH Celtics FC
BreizhManu

8) Blade Bombers
Blade 6119
9) Morrisville Morrisvillians
NevStar

5) Cavalry Crusaders
Franklinnoble
12) Lancre Wowhawks
Katon

4) Arkham Avengers
Nyarlahotep
13) Anteaters
antbacker

6) West Henrieta FC
bigjdotcom01
11) Oklahoma City Rednecks
Airhog

3) Houston Hippopotomi
sterlingice
14) Yukon Quest
albionmoonlight

7) Scranton Slime
TredWel
10) Chesapeake Cheapshots
QuikSand

2) Galesburg Avengers
Coffee Warlord
15) Manchester Silver Bullets
Sublime

Well, it's cool to be in the run and shoot bracket but it's pretty tough. I'd love to meet up with CW again but I'm not sure I can get past West Henrieta FC to do that, especially unsure about my B Team. There will be a one week hiatus so that everyone can catch up. Then the tourney will start again the next week. The biggest upset of the week goes to Katon whose Lancre Wowhawks knocked off Franklinnoble's Cavalry Crusaders 3-2. (NOTE: Updated to include winners from both weeks)

Notes
Since we have the week off, we booked a game with illinifan's Spring Grove Fighting Eagles in the "Player We Shall not Refer to by his Name Cup". For the Hippos fixture this week, we get Kaishaku FC at home in our best chance to pass a team for 4th place. If we win, we might be able to knock that tough team out of the money. If we lose, it leaves the Iowa Enforcers as the one team we will be able to track down for the money.

SI

sterlingice

09-17-2003, 01:38 PM

Training
Finally! Robert Trygka23u9fjaindklnaf-239j3=koamskn;kgln-234-9u32hfioash bumps this week to excellent. I'll float him on the transfer market for an exorbitant price, but ultimately he'll be back with us next week, most likely. Also, we had winger Ivan Viseslav bump. He's kindof a faceless guy for the team, but I bought him last year for pretty cheap as a 19yo winger trainee and when we sold Newsom, he quietly slipped into his spot opposite Starks, putting up 2.5 stars routinely. He has now bumped to passable playmaking to go along with his passable winger skill and excellent stamina. A cursory glance at the transfer market says I could sell him in excess of $100K, which is an intriguing possiblity if I could get a 3.0 or 3.5 star veteran winger.

Future Training
We're getting close to that stamina week that I'd like to run as form has improved some this week. Maybe in 1-2 weeks. Next week, still more playmaking.

Form
Starters: (+2) (-2)
Entire Team: (+6) (-2)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Phelan (exc) Meek (exc) Miguel Kimber Spagnuolo
Passable: Benito Connors Viseslav Bush
Inadequate: Christiano
Weak (or below): Starks

Starks didn't move at all. All the moves were people cycling between the top 3 levels so not much to write home about.

Value
Starters: (+5) (-5)
Entire Team: (+12) (-6)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 8(+0)/14(+3)
Above $200K: 6(+0)/9(+1)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($498K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($369K)
Milestones: None ($0K)

Wellens moved back over $100K, up to $126K with a form increase and Clement Schrader finally nudged back above the $100K line. Kimber keeps flirting with that $500K line but he's been doing that all year. Lastly, we added a player (see below).

Team Stats
Total Wages: 34184 (+1990)
Total Value: 3855000 (+434000)
Avg Value: 175227 (+19727)
Avg Age: 22 (+0)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 22 (+1)
Nationalities: 12 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 20.07
Not much going on here this week except a lot of disappointment. Zack Olivares only sold for $32K, leaving us just shy of $1M for youth pull proceeds and our current youth pull, Douglas Delong, is currently "enjoying" his work as box stacker at the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM). I think it's time to try something new. As we reach 25 guys, it's time to change up where we send them. The Piggly Wiggly just isn't large enough for all of these rejects. Any thoughts on what should be next?

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 35
Youth Pull Grocers: 24 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 10 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (-1)
Total Sold for: 995000 (+32000)

Youth Pull
Douglas Delong (16167608)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 5 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: wretched

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 1393 members (+20)
Supporters: delerious (NC)

Team Spirit: composed (NC)
Confidence: strong (NC)

Even with the loss, it was respectable and to a much tougher team so the sponsors, supporters, and team all stayed where they are. The next two weeks will probably be key towards determining how the team feels the rest of the season.

20.07 Week In Review

On the Field
Brooklyn snapped our 2 games winning streak, beating us 5-2 as Phelan's tear continues. He has 5 goals in his last 2 games but he couldn't do it alone. UberTrainee(TM) winger Wellens is out 3 weeks with an injury from that game. Wednesday brought the start of a new FOFC Cup with the Hippos starting out as the #3 seed in the Run-and-Shoot bracket, hoping for a game with #2 Galesburg. We got past the first game, beating albionmoonlight's Yukon Quest 4-2 as Juan Miguel Tizon picked up where he left off in last year's cup, scoring 2 more goals to give him 10 in FOFC Cup games. This week, we have a really important match against Kaishaku FC, one of the two teams we are chasing for 4th place.

Off the Field
The Wellens injury allows us to keep on all 4 UberTrainees(TM) for another couple of weeks. Tryggvesson bumps to excellent and I think we'll just hold onto him and Storm until they bump to formidable and then start shopping them. Storm is already halfways there. Lastly, we picked up a new Hippo. With backup keeper Sidney Buckley playing poorly, we transfer listed him and picked up a veteran backup keeper. I didn't want to risk having to put Buckley into a game should Kimber get hurt. Ignacio Sanchez is a 24yo passable with a value of $240K and poor leadership/experience. He will get us at least 2.5 stars per game and probably 3 when his experience bumps. He's from Uruguay and we purchased him from a team called "ringer" in Div IV Español for a shade above $70K (70380).

SI

sterlingice

09-17-2003, 06:43 PM

Preview
This is not as big as the Dragons game last year, but this one is up there. If we win, we have a slim chance of finishing in the money. If we lose, we are all but forced into a qualification game following the season. There is a chance that we could knock off Iowa towards the end of the season to take over their spot, but I think Kaishaku is our best bet now. They've been slumping a little coming into this game and we've been on a roll with two wins followed by a pretty decent showing on the road at Brooklyn. Nothing odd going on with our lineup as all the starters are there. Our wings are a bit of a cause for concern as Starks is still in his form slump and Viseslav will take over for the injured Wellens. Then again, Viseslav would have played today anyways, even without Wellens injury as he's slightly better.

Game Summary
Date: 9/8/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326996
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 32000

32000 spectators arrived at The Hippodrome, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Viseslav, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Kaishaku had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Grayson - Fulton, Nógrádi, Kieta - Gergöz, Belikov, Eskelinen, Hijano, Jiménez - Reio, Ruffle.

Elmer Bush received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 4:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Kaishaku took the lead in the games 20:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Vadim Reio was the scorer. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 21st minute, Gualtiero Spagnuolo of Hippopotami evened the score to 1 - 1. Hippopotami broke through to the left in the 27:th minute, Gualtiero Spagnuolo firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 2 - 1 lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the fortyfive minutes.

Vadim Reio finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home sides keeper, making the score 2 - 2 in the 53rd minute. Kaishaku´s Evan Hijano gave the visitors a 2 - 3 lead in the 57:th minute with a superb strike from the right. Hugh Ruffle of Kaishaku was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish José María Miquel, which resulted in the 2 - 4 goal. Hippopotami´s Gualtiero Spagnuolo refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 67:th minute. Ivan Viseslav had a good opportunity to reduce in the 68:th minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Herschel Meek. However, Ivan Viseslav made a disastrous appearance. Most important Kaishaku player was Afanasiy Belikov. Leroy Fulton on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 4.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
KFC: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
KFC: 20: 0-1
HH: 21: Gualtiero Spagnuolo (2): 1-1
HH: 27: Gualtiero Spagnuolo (3): 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 50%

2nd Half
KFC: 53: 2-2
KFC: 57: 2-3
KFC: xx: 2-4
Final Score: 2-4
Possession: 51%
Final Possession: 51%

Cards
None

Injuries
None- Spaguolo got hurt but refused to be taken out

Stadium
Terraces: 20000/20000
Basic seats: 8000/8000
Seats under roof: 3200/3200
VIP seats: 800/800
Total: 32000/32000

The Hippo fans knew how huge this game was and sold out Hippodrome32K for the first time ever! Needless to say, this is our largest ever home crowd.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/69

Kaishaku F.C.
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 63/70

Another formidable center attack. I'm definately glad I brought in Gualtiero. Wow! That's evenly matched. Our offense is slightly better and his defense is slightly better, but that's practically a draw.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ****
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***

Total Stars: 34.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Herschel with the first ever **** for anyone not nicknamed Timber. Spagnuolo dropped back to *** and Kimber to ***~ but that's still pretty good. This 34.0 ties our best set last week.

Three Stars
Three different positions with stars today

Bronze: Herschel Meek
Becomes the first Hippo not named Timber to get **** in a game
Silver: Ivan Viseslav
Takes back wing in Wellens absence and almost scores
Gold: Gualtiero Spagnuolo
The only two goals for us and the tough bastard wouldn't leave the game when hurt

Game Summary
This is a tough one to stomach. Not only did we have a 2-1 lead but we got outchanced in the second half 3-1 despite having essentially equal possession (51-49 us) and our team having a slightly better offense to their slightly better defense. Unfortunately, the end to Phelan's scoring streak couldn't have come at a worse time. If he could have connected here a time or two...

Press Release
9/12/2003 at 13:26 Hippos Blow Lead, Chance to Finish in Money Bleak
In his second fixture for Houston, Gualtiero Spagnuolo scored a pair of goals and gave his team a 2-1 lead at the half. Despite winning possession 51-49 in the second half, Houston missed it's only second half chance while Kaishaku scored on all 3 of theirs. The loss is Houston's second straight with another pair against Kaishaku and Brooklyn on the horizon and it dropped them into 5th with 9 points, 3 behind Iowa for 4th and only 2 ahead of The Champion for 6th.

Around the League
Chock and Iowa battle it out while Kaishaku draws the inactive zfan and the two bottom teams face off

Team Groomers - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 3 - 6
This was a 1 goal game most of the way but Chock turned it up and beat the soon-to-be relegee Team Groomers. Bud Willis scored a pair of goals for Chock, who won possession with 62 and 70% in the two halves.

zfan - The Champion 1 - 4
The Champion looks like they will be who is chasing us the rest of the year instead of the now defunct zfan. Camilo Beltrán Pedreira scored a pair of goals and The Champion won a key road game. It looks like they will be our main competition for 5th with zfan and Groomers doomed to 7 and 8.

Iowa Enforcers - Brooklyn United 0 - 1
Iowa loses to one of the big 2 by a late goal for the second time in two weeks. Joaquin Otegi scored for Brooklyn in the 87th minute to disappoint the home crowd. I'm guessing Brooklyn is continuing to PIC for his USA Cup run and should dispatch Iowa next week when they play again at his place. This shouldn't have been nearly this close but Iowa goalie David Freeman got ***~ and made 3 saves

League Standings

N Team P Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 7 32 - 3 21 92

2. Kaishaku F.C. 7 16 - 11 15 70
3. Chock Full of Whole 7 19 - 18 13 77
4. Iowa Enforcers 7 14 - 10 12 69

5. Houston Hippopotami 7 16 - 19 9 69
6. The Champion 7 10 - 10 7 57

7. zfan 7 11 - 27 6 57
8. Team Groomers 7 7 - 27 0 51
The Champion moves into 6th, which is where I'm hoping to keep him the rest of the year. Iowa finally falls into 4th, which is pretty much where they belong.

Hatstats
The series stats continue to fall. Chock put up a season worst 77 (#68 on the top 100), same with Kaishaku and their 70 against us. Now computer controlled zfan is starting to put up worse ratings, too. By contrast, our losing 69 to them is a season high. The Champion was charging pretty fast, too, but they backed off this week with only a 57 after being in the 60s the past 3 weeks. Even Brooklyn is trying to save up for the Cup and "only" posted the 3rd best mark in Div IV. All this added up to our season worst showing as the 18th worst series in Div V.

For the useless stat of the week, 3 of our 4 games made the top 100 largest crowds of the week. Iowa was 39 with over 37K, zfan was 44 with more than 36K, and your Hippos were 76th with an even sellout 32K. The only game that didn't break the 30K barrier was Chock's game at Team Groomers which only got 10723 spectators. After their "slump", Louisiana is back up to 7th on the misunderstood list. Lastly, one player from Brooklyn and Chock made the top players for Div IV, each with 5.5 stars in solid form.

Notes
There goes most of the wind out of my sails. I really needed this win. There's a small chance I could win at his place next week, but that's a long shot. This week, we take an FOFC Cup hiatus and travel to The Eagles Nest in Illinois to take on illinifan and his Spring Grove Fighting Eagles in the "Player We Shall not Refer to by his Name Cup".

SI

sterlingice

09-18-2003, 04:06 PM

[placeholder- report will come later]

SI

sterlingice

09-18-2003, 08:11 PM

Preview
Unofficially, this is "Player We Shall not Refer to by his Name Cup". And that's because we are playing illinifan and his Spring Grove Fighting Eagles and The Eagles Nest in this week between rounds of the FOFC Cup. It's just a little no stress friendly with an FOFC opponent. Even better, we'll both be playing the run-and-shoot. Unforuntunately, my second team is not known for scoring goals.

Game Summary
Date: 9/11/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9609448
Arena: The Eagles Nest
Crowd: 1114

Due to an all-day shower, 1114 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Eagles Nest . Fighting had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Duggan - Westfall, Martínez Galan, Beverly - Moore, Scruggs, Ramalimgam, Stapleton, Cagle - Sisk, Breaux.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Schrader, Miquel, Bush - Wellens, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Viseslav - Solomon, Tizón.

It was obvious that Fighting were using pressing as their primary tactic. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 in the 16:th by a breakthrough from Norman Scruggs, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Fighting put themselves up 2 - 0 when David Ramalimgam broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. In the 34:th minute Fightings Ildefonso Martínez Galan received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 40:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Roger Sisk dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Fighting. The structure of the game started to change as Fighting decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Fightings Kristopher Westfall got himself booked after a foul. Hippopotami were forced to a substitution as José María Miquel couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. 3 - 0 was the half-time score. Fighting, bringing the final ball possession rate to 63 percent, dominated the battle.

Hippopotamis Robert Tryggvesson got himself booked after a foul. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 59 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Fighting. However, Ignacio Sánchez made a spectacular save. Norman Scruggs of Fighting received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. There wasn´t much opportunity for rapid movements this wet day, which hindered Rocky Beverly in particular. The visitors replied in the games 75:th minute, scoring the 3 - 1 goal, as Juan Miguel Tizón broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. The game was close to savage at times, and Fighting`s Ildefonso Martínez Galan received a second yellow card in the 89:th, his ticket out of the game. Fighting, bringing the final ball possession rate to 70 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Fighting player was without a doubt Will Stapleton. Tyrell Cagle was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Lorenzo Cristiano. Clement Schrader was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
SGFE: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
SGFE: 16: 0-1
SGFE: xx: 0-2
SGFE: 40: 0-3
SGFE: 40: *pulling back*
Halftime Score: 0-3
Possession: 37%

2nd Half
HH: 75: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 1-3
Final Score: 1-3
Possession: 30%
Final Possession: 34%

Cards
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (2 weeks, rough treatment)
He got four of them. Dirty, dirty *shakes finger at illinifan*

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Unfortunately the rain kept some fans away from The Eagles Nest. Only 1114 showed up, which is our smallest crowd of the season including all friendlies, fixtures, and cup games.

Team Ratings

Spring Grove Fighting Eagles
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 42/47

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/46

Only a poor midfield. Ick. I am training playmaking, right? I forget sometimes.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DW Clement Schrader **
DM Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Pierre Wellens **~
MI Daniel Storm **
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 25.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Cristiano puts up an excellent *** after Miguel went out with an injury. New keeper Ignacio Sanchez debuts with a **~ tonight. Not bad star numbers considering how poor our ratings were. In fact that was our highest stars total ever for a friendly. Then again, after further review, a 47 is our highest friendly rating ever. Imagine if we actually had a decent midfield rating.

Three Stars
Goal, sub, and new keeper- I see nothing in common here

Bronze: Ignacio Sanchez
Pretty good debut with **~ despite giving up 3 goals
Silver: Lorenzo Cristiano
Highest star rating in the game after coming in for the injured Miguel
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
Has goals in 3 straight friendlies

Game Summary
Dirty, dirty game played by those dastardly Eagles. Four cards and an injury to our defensive team captain. Oh, and we lost, oo.

Press Release
9/16/2003 at 01:26 Hippos Lose Tom Sanders Friendly
The Hippos lost a friendly to the Spring Grove Fighting Eagles in the "Player We Shall not Refer to by his Name Cup". The weather and Eagles defense conspired against the Hippos to only allow one chance (a Juan Miguel Tizón score). However, by that point, the Eagles already had 3 goals and were pulled back. Also, team captain and starting center defender José María Miquel was hurt and will be out for two games with a leg injury. FOFC Cup play continues next week after a one week layoff.

Dueling Guestbooks
As much as I'd like to give Tom Sanders his due since this was his Cup... I just couldn't do it for too long. I mentioned the press release to illinifan and the following guestbook exchange ensued.

SGFE: Love the press release! It's awesome! Good luck with the rest of your season!
HH: Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders, blah, blah, blah,
Tom Sanders can bite me ;)
SGFE: Tom Sanders wubs you :)

Notes
Well, that was fun. Next week we resume FOFC Cup play with the run-and-shoot West Henrietta FC, run by bigjdotcom01. I'd really like to win this game so I can face CW and the Avengers the next week with my starters during a stamina week. However, I'm not sure I can get past West Henrietta. As for our fixture this week, we have a slim chance of beating Kaishaku at their place but I'm not holding my breath. Until next time, Hungy Hungry Hippos!

SI

sterlingice

09-19-2003, 11:43 PM

Training
Nothing too exciting going on this week. We might get a bump from veteran winger Mick Stark or veteran middie Stephen Connors in the not too distant future, but I'm not sure when. Our form continues to improve little by little. I think we may do stamina in one more week or two.

Future Training
Like I said, maybe one more week of playmaking then stamina.

Form
Starters: (+3) (-1)
Entire Team: (+4) (-3)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Meek (exc) Benito Miguel Kimber Spagnuolo
Passable: Christiano Connors Teepen Bush Phelan
Inadequate: Starks
Weak (or below):

Almost have everyone back on the happy side of form. Starks could use one more little nudge.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+12) (-6)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+1)/15(+1)
Above $200K: 7(+1)/10(+1)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($529K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($416K)
Milestones: Benito ($400K), Meek ($200K), Storm ($200K)

Lots of milestones this week as Benito smashes through the $400K barrier. Also, we added a new $100K player (see below). Meek and Storm also had value milestones.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 34184 (+1990)
Total Value: 3855000 (+434000)
Avg Value: 175227 (+19727)
Avg Age: 22 (+0)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 22 (+1)
Nationalities: 12 (+1)
NOTE: Oops- I passed along the wrong figures last week. They were actually the figures for this week.

Youth Pull, Week 20.08
I waited until Monday morning to pull this week. I have been trying to pull Sunday during game times, but I completely forgot until the next day this week and I was well rewarded. Billie Guillory is a really nice wing trainee. Unfortunately he's 19 and has wretched stamina. Otherwise he would go for even more. Still, he's a solid winger with passable playmaking and that's no slouch: a pair of complimentary skills. I listed him for $200K, which is probably too much. However, I do expect to get in the $150K range for him.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 36
Youth Pull Grocers: 24 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 10 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 995000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Billie Guillory (16435429)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 106 000 US$
Wage: 1 060 US$/week

Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: weak
Winger: solid Defending: weak
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: passable

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 1411 members (+18)
Supporters: content (down 1 level from delerious)

Team Spirit: composed (NC)
Confidence: decent (down 1 level from strong)

The loss didn't hurt us too much but I'm guessing next week won't be pretty provided we lose at Kaishaku this week, as expected.

20.08 Week In Review

On the Field
Kaishaku dealt us a huge blow to our money chances this week. We blew a 2-1 halftime lead and lost 4-2 at home. Unless we can win at his place next week or pass up Iowa, we will be forced to have a qualification game. The brightest spot in the game is that Spagnuolo continued his hot streak with our only two goals of the game. In our friendly, we played illinifans Spring Grove Fighting Eagles in the "Player We Shall not Refer to by his Name Cup". They beat us 3-1 as we couldn't muster much offense and were dominated in possession.

Off the Field
Ok, so technically we bought him early next week so he wasn't available for the Kaishaku game but we'll fudge a little around the edges. The newest Hippo is Koos Teepen and the veteran winger will sport the #10. With weak experience and inadequate leadership, he can fill in at captain in a pinch, and he has excellent set pieces. However, the reason we got him is his solid winger/passable PM stats that get him *** per game. The Nederland native came to us from a Belgie team called België for a little under $80K. We're hoping to get two good seasons out of him. Last on our mini shopping spree is a *** wingback with solid or better defense and passable or better wing for under $200K. Also, this week, we had a great youth pull in Billie Guillory who should bring in $150-$200K.

SI

sterlingice

09-22-2003, 12:23 PM

I gotta warn you guys: I probably won't be able to update at all until Thursday at the earliest. I had almost caught up, too :( However, here's a brief preview with our press announcement for the week:

9/22/2003 Fans Tear Down Goalposts at Reliant Stadium
A group of Hippo fans, in their drunken revelry, got lost on their way home from the Hippodrome and tore down the goalposts at Reliant Stadium where the Houston Texans been drubbed by the Chiefs earlier today. While only 24K and change were at the Hippodrome, thousands more will claim to have seen the Hippos draw with 1st place Brooklyn United, after which fans stormed the field. As for the game, Herchel Meek scored on Houston's only chance and the Hippo defense stopped 1 of Brooklyn's 2.

SI

bigjdotcom01

09-24-2003, 11:54 AM

How about an update on our FOFC Cup match last week? :p

sterlingice

09-24-2003, 12:03 PM

Originally posted by bigjdotcom01
How about an update on our FOFC Cup match last week? :p

If you can solve this problem here (thread) (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14279) then I'll get back to my match reports as soon as I get the actual meat of the project working. ;)

SI

sterlingice

09-29-2003, 02:30 PM

Preview
After last week's huge loss, I'm not expecting to win at their house this week. I'd like to keep it close so my goal differential doesn't get hurt too bad but I really can't guarantee that either. Miguel is still hurt so Timber will get the call at captain.

Game Summary
Date: 9/15/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8326999
Arena: Kaishaku F.C. Arena
Crowd: 30000

30000 spectators had come to Kaishaku F.C. Arena this cloudy day. Kaishaku had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Grayson - Kieta, Nógrádi, Ruiter - Gergöz, Belikov, Eskelinen, Neagoe, Jiménez - Reio, Ruffle.

Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Wellens, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

The referee showed Kaishakus Afanasiy Belikov the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 16:th minute goal by Gigel Neagoe for Kaishaku, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Edwin Phelan came close to levelling the score in the 23rd minute, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Kaishaku´s Zenon Kieta got himself booked. 1 - 0 was the half-time score. Kaishaku held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

Kaishaku put their lead ahead another goal as Zenon Kieta struck home the 2 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. After this Kaishaku lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Adalbert Nógrádi was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was saved by the keeper. However, Kaishaku´s Zenon Kieta managed to get hold of the rebound and scored the 3-0 goal. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Eero Eskelinen needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. In the 75:th minute Kaishaku´s Gigel Neagoe tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. Kaishaku will have to do without Gigel Neagoe for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Evan Hijano. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Kaishaku lead up with 4 - 0. Evan Hijano finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. After 80 minutes Vadim Reio put Kaishaku ahead 5 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Kaishaku held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Kaishaku player was without a doubt Eero Eskelinen. Zenon Kieta on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Hippopotami player was Tim Kimber. Clement Schrader on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
KFC: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
KFC: 16: 0-1
Halftime Score: 0-1
Possession: 40%

2nd Half
KFC: xx: 0-2
KFC: xx: 0-3
KFC: xx: 0-4
KFC: 80: 0-5
Final Score: 0-5
Possession: 39%
Final Possession: 40%

Cards
None

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

A full 30K screaming fans at Kaishaku F.C. Arena, which begs the question: why is their arena so small?

Team Ratings

Kaishaku F.C.
Midfield: formidable (9)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (12)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 70/79

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/68

That shatters our previous road high of 65. Those ratings look great for us. However, they were just that much better and being beaten by 3 levels on midfield cost us this game. Still, I'm really happy that 5 of our 6 non-midfield ratings were excellent or higher.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader **
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Pierre Wellens **~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ****
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 35.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

That defensive rating is the more impressive since Miguel was out and Schrader was stinking up the middle with his poor form. I can't say enough about how Herschel Meek has helped shore up the midfield this year. The veteran only cost us $129K in the offseason and is putting up **** most weeks now. Speaking of which, Benito got his first ever **** game, being just the third Hippo to gain that distinction. Also, Starks is finally back out of his slump (mostly) and delivered a *** performance. Now to get him that last half star he's been missing lately. Even with Schrader in, that 35.0 stars is a new high.

Three Stars
See below... (none awarded)

Bronze: None
Silver: None
Gold: None

Game Summary
Phelan missed the only shot we had but it wouldn't have made a difference. Timber couldn't keep us in the game either. The midfield lost possession. We had good individual performances but the team did not perform as a whole and got creamed by a better club. No stars are awarded for this game in an attempt to get the team to respond. Last year, it did the trick and we went out and manhandled CC's Dragons the next time out. Hopefully the same can happen this year as we now need to win down the stretch.

Press Release
9/17/2003 at 17:53 Run and Shoot Shut Out
While the Hippos defense may have failed them in the tougher Div IV, their offense had always produced. However, on the road and following a crushing home defeat last week, the Hippos were shut out for only the third fixture in their history, losing 5-0 to Kaishaku FC. Barring major upsets the rest of the year, this loss combined with Iowa's draw at Brooklyn will prevent the Hippos from finishing in the money their first year in Div IV and forcing them into a qualification game.

Around the League
zfan is officially a walkover, Chock essentially had a walkover, and a huge upset that hurts us bad in the standings

The Champion - zfan 5 - 0
The Champion is really charging hard and has taken over 5th place from us. Fortunately I'm counting 3 points in the bag against them as we have them at home in the last couple weeks of the season- this may be a bit premature as they are greatly improving and almost as good as the Hippos. zfan's lineup has officially been reset so they are a walkover until they are taken over by another team. With that, they will be guaranteed one of the autorelegation slots with Team Groomers...

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - Team Groomers 7 - 0
If I had to guess, I think Chock actually PIC'd this game. Too bad we have Team Groomers on the road or I'd probably PIC them in our second half game. However, other than how to build a good training program, there's one thing DK's dynasty report definately showed me: never PIC a person the road unless you are 100% certain you can win.

Brooklyn United - Iowa Enforcers 1 - 1
Last week, at home, Iowa lost 1-0 on a goal in the 87th minute. Joaquin Otegi, who scored the winning goal last week, missed 2 of his 3 shots, and Iowa escapes a soggy Champions Park with a draw. As you can see below, this really screws us. I was hoping to track down Iowa for that #4 spot by beating them at the 'drome in week 12. If Brooklyn ties or loses again, they may not be going to Div III next year and that's no good for anyone here in IV.21.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 33 - 4 22 93

2. Kaishaku F.C. 21 - 11 18 78
3. Chock Full of Whole 26 - 18 16 81
4. Iowa Enforcers 15 - 11 13 68

5. The Champion 15 - 10 10 9
6. Houston Hippopotami 16 - 24 9 68

7. zfan 11 - 32 6 9
8. Team Groomers 7 - 34 0 51
Iowa's draw with Brooklyn all but eliminates our chances of finishing in the money. I was expecting to beat Iowa and The Champion down the stretch and hope to leapfrog them but I don't see it happening now. I will have to beat or draw Brooklyn or Chock or hope for Iowa to stumble against The Champion.

Hatstats
We dropped again, this time to #26. The series is getting softer as we get further away from the cup and that's a good sign for the Hippos. Brooklyn was still good for the 3rd best team in Div IV with a 93 NSI, even in a draw to Iowa and their(?!?) 68. Huh? I don't get it. Chock is 37 and Kaishaku is 76 in Div IV. Then again, I just noticed that because zfan went computer controlled, both them and The Champion got 9's. If they had gotten a conservative 60 apiece, IV.21 would have been in the top 10 so I guess it's not as weak as it appaears.

Notes
We are now in a bit of a hole. We now need a really lucky break to finish in the money. The last of our really brutal sketch ends next week with a shellacking by Brooklyn. The little bit of hope we have is that Brooklyn takes it easy against us and our home crowd ignites the team.

After the game, we had to hire three sports psychs to counsel suicidal players and rehire the two spokespersons (back up to ten) to counsel suicidal fans after the upcoming Brooklyn game.

SI

DukeRulesMAB

09-29-2003, 02:47 PM

It's amazing that ****/***~/**** in the central midfield isn't better than a passable midfield. That's one nice team you've got there, though, to be able to at least hang in that series. Hopefully Brooklyn will get out of your hair for next season.

sterlingice

09-29-2003, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
It's amazing that ****/***~/**** in the central midfield isn't better than a passable midfield. That's one nice team you've got there, though, to be able to at least hang in that series. Hopefully Brooklyn will get out of your hair for next season.

I think part of that comes from playing Meek defensively. I can't waste his passable defense and play him offensively. Plus, I play Starks offensively no matter what so he's not helping either. Also, that was on the road. I've gotten an excellent or two at home. Still, I agree- I've seen teams with that many stars get formidable midfields.

SI

DukeRulesMAB

09-29-2003, 03:34 PM

Doesn't playing a guy defensively/offensively just take away from the other side (read: Meeks would get less from his Passing, Starks less from his defense)? Or is that yet another error in the HT rules, and it takes away from the playmaking as well?

Really, one of these days, they gotta get those rules right; a lot of HT users don't spend time on forums like this one to find out about these things.

sterlingice

09-29-2003, 03:35 PM

Preview
I don't want to say I'm overlooking this game as it's certainly not the case. However, I really want a return match next week against CW's Avengers. That said, I won't sabotage my training or risk injury to too many starters to do it, so there's a really good chance I lose this week. I'm hoping home field and the few starters I do allow to play let me win so I can play my starters next week against CW when I train stamina. However, if the chips don't fall that way, I'll live. I've always stated that I care much more about training than the FOFC Cup- a win would be nice and if things fall my way one year and I find myself in the Final Four or something, I may go for it. However, this is not the case here.

As for the game itself, West Henrietta has a very good run-and-shoot team and this promises to be a high scoring affair. New winger Koos Teepen will see his first ever action as a Hippo and Ivan Viseslav will likely see his last. The defense is still without Miguel so the aforementioned veteran Teepen will be the team captain. This definately was one hell of a game!

Game Summary
Date: 9/18/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9652838
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1027

1027 spectators arrived at The Hippodrome, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Viseslav, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Teepen - Tizón, Phelan.

Henrietta had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Arenas - Mierzejewski, Portillo, Hartman - Jones, Johnsen, Gerlach, Kurida, Ibarra - Oldham, Taylor.

Henrietta saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. A badly positioned defensive formation on a free kick in the 7:th minute led to Henrietta´s Grzegorz Mierzejewski giving the visitors the lead 0 - 1. Rajko Kurida of Henrietta received a yellow card in the 17:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 22 minutes Edwin Phelan made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 1 - 1. Hippopotami took the lead by 2 - 1 after a penalty in the 24:th minute. Koos Teepen scored from the penalty spot. With clinical precision the cross pass from winger Ivan Viseslav found it's way to Juan Miguel Tizón's head, and a screaming header gave Hippopotami 3 - 1. In the 35:th minute Donald Oldham, after an opportunist attack from the right, scored the reducer for Henrietta making it 3 - 2. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Henrietta, bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

The visiting teams Derek Hartman could score the 3 - 3 equaliser in the 52nd minute with a header, after some good work on the right. After 71 minutes Henriettas Rich Taylor made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 3 - 4. Henriettas John Portillo got himself booked after a foul. Edwin Phelan went down after a savage challenge, but could keep on playing after some medical attention. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 84:th minute, Elmer Bush of Hippopotami evened the score to 4 - 4. After 86 minutes Henriettas Rich Taylor made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 4 - 5. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Henrietta, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Lorenzo Cristiano. Clement Schrader on the other hand, had a terrible day. Henrietta´s best player was Alejandro Arenas. Terry Jones on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 5.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F#) shows the number of goals in FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
WHFC: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
WHFC: 07: 0-1
HH: 22: Edwin Phelan (F1): 1-1
HH: 24: Koos Teepen (F1): 2-1
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (F3): 3-1
WHFC: 35: 3-2
Halftime Score: 3-2
Possession: 43%

2nd Half
WHFC: 52: 3-3
WHFC: 71: 3-4
HH: 84: Elmer Bush (F1): 4-4
WHFC: 86: 4-5
Final Score: 4-5
Possession: 39%
Final Possession: 41%

Cards
None

Injuries
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (bruised- savage challgenge, but could keep playing after some medical attention)

Stadium
Terraces: 641/20000
Basic seats: 263/8000
Seats under roof: 98/3200
VIP seats: 25/800
Total: 1027/32000

Really bad crowd for the FOFC Cup. Still, you should have heard the noise in the 84th Minute after Bush tied it up!

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 47/51

West Henrietta FC
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/58

After seeing these, I'm kindof suprised the game was as close as it was. Then again, since he went attack on wings, we just kept cramming attacks up the middle against that weak center defense and that kept us in the game. Makes me wonder what would have happened if we had played "attack in middle".

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader **
DW Elmer Bush (m) **~
WI Ivan Viseslav **
MI Daniel Storm **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 27.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: None

Our highest friendly star total to date. However, we did play our starting defenders, Teepen and Phelan. I think this is the first time all three UberTrainees(TM) got **~ and hopefully that will improve after next week's stamina training.

Three Stars
Lots of good effort by the guys who played

Bronze: Koos Teepen
New winger scores and puts up ***
Silver: Elmer Bush
His goal caused the 'drome to erupt even if it was silenced a minute later
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
Another FOFC Cup, another ho-hum team lead in goals

Game Summary
This was a game of momentum. We had it at first and took the 3-1 lead but they were bound to get chances with as much possession as they got and they took that 4-3 lead. However, when Elmer Bush tied the game with 4 minutes left, that was one of the best moments in Hippos history. Ever. However, it was turned into an absolutely devistating loss a few moments later. The guys played great today and deserved a win. But the same can be said for West Henrietta and they got it.

Tho our FOFC Cup run is over in short order, Tizon got his third goal and was named the FOFC Cup MVP for the Hippos for the second year in a row. We had a good showing and wish West Henrietta the best of luck against a really tough Avengers team. This was soon posted in the Hippos guestbook

Number 43 of 44 by bigjdotcom01, 9/18/2003 at 02:51

Excellent match, a matchup of run-and-shoot clubs is always exciting. Who needs a stinking 1-nil match when you can watch a 5-4 one?
Couldn't have said it better myself! Good luck, bigjdotcom01, you will have your hands full with CW. I wish I were playing that game but your team wanted it more and you won a great game!

Press Release
9/22/2003 at 01:16 Hippos Beaten At Their Own Game
The Hippos offense came to play for their second round game in the FOFC Cup. However, 4 goals wasn't enough as West Henrietta FC scored a 5th in the 86th minute to win 5-4 and advance to the round of 16. Starting striker Edwin Phelan, new winger Koos Teepen, FOFC Cup stud Juan Miguel Tizon, and defender Elmer Bush all scored for the Hippos but it wasn't enough. Bush's goal tied the game at 4 in the 84th minute, however, West Henrietta's Rich Taylor scored the game winner 2 minutes later.

FOFC Cup Bracket

Round of 32
Run & Shoot Bracket
Underlined Teams Won

1) Intercourse Ball Kickers (YoSoySean)
8) Blade Bombers (Blade6119)

12) Lancre Wowhawks (Katon - he's in England)
4) Arkham Avengers (Nyarlahotep)

6) West Henrietta FC (bigjdotcom01)
3) Houston Hippopotomi (sterlingice)

10) Chesapeake Cheapshots (QuikSand)
2) Galesburg Avengers (Coffee Warlord)

I feel bad that I couldn't hold serve and was the only higher seed to lose. However, I also lost to the highest of the low seeds (if that makes any sense). For no reason in particular, I feel the need to point out that there are two "Avengers" left in our bracket. Arkham won 4-2 with a go-ahead goal in the 79th minute and they will have their hands full next week. Intercourse beat a very game Bombers team in a game that was tied 0-0 at the half while Galesburg won handily 6-1.

Looking into my crystal ball (well, it's a shiny 50c piece that is good for making decision), I see Galesburg winning this bracket and a suprise winner taking home the 4th FOFC Cup. I think PilotMan and the Midwest Ice Storm will get the big trophy!

Notes
Next week, we travel to that far off country of... Canadia, the 51st state, for a matchup with the Thoroughbreds of IV.19. In this week's fixture, we look to keep things close against Brooklyn at home.

SI

sterlingice

09-29-2003, 03:38 PM

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
Doesn't playing a guy defensively/offensively just take away from the other side (read: Meeks would get less from his Passing, Starks less from his defense)? Or is that yet another error in the HT rules, and it takes away from the playmaking as well?

Really, one of these days, they gotta get those rules right; a lot of HT users don't spend time on forums like this one to find out about these things.

I may be mistaken, then. I haven't looked that closely. There are some guys here who have a near encyclopedic knowledge of the game (daed comes to mind) and they would be better to ask. I put in my lineup based on feel, anyways. I play Meek defensive in front of the central defender that gets changed to extra middie, for instance.

(EDIT: You can tell I have a test tomorrow because I'm doing everything I can to avoid studying for it until later on tonight...)

SI

sterlingice

09-29-2003, 06:28 PM

Training
Another yawner of a week: no bumps at all. That said, form keeps going up.

Future Training
Stamina next week. Then back to playmaking

Form
Starters: (+5) (-3)
Entire Team: (+10) (-8)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Kimber(exc) Miguel(exc) Benito Christiano Spagnuolo Meek Phelan
Passable: Connors Teepen
Inadequate: Starks Bush
Weak (or below):

Only two below passable. That will probably change after next week's stamina training.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+16) (-6)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/16(+1)
Above $200K: 6(-1)/9(-1)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($535K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($453K)
Milestones: Benito ($400K), Meek ($200K), Storm ($200K)

That little ripple in the $200K level is Meek dropping back to $197K. Mick Starks is almost back to above $300K. That $535K from Kimber is another franchise high and Benito jumped over $30K up to $453K and another franchise high for outfielders. He will eventually pass up Timber. The new $100K guy is Arcadio Sanchez, see below.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 35848 (+1664)
Total Value: 4258000 (+403000)
Avg Value: 185130 (+9903)
Avg Age: 23 (+1)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (up from wretched)
No of players: 23 (+1)
Nationalities: 13 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 20.09
Guillory from last week sold for a disappointing $119K. This week's youth pull wasn't much better. He's barely sellable but he should get a couple grand. Oh well- at least the Guillory sale did get us past the $1M mark for total youth sales. The total profit at this point is $395K.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 37
Youth Pull Grocers: 24 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 11 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 1110000 (+115000)

Youth Pull
Werner Murillo (16573811)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 16 000 US$
Wage: 580 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: poor
Winger: passable Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 1415 members (+4)
Supporters: content (down 1 level from delerious)

Team Spirit: composed (NC)
Confidence: poor (down 1 level from decent)

This loss finally hit us in the pocketbooks as only 4 new supporters signed up. Also, our confidence is at its lowest level ever.

20.09 Week In Review

On the Field
Nothing good came out of fixture play this week. We got shelled 5-0 to Kaishaku and Iowa pulled a draw at Brooklyn out of their ass to all but end our chances of catching them and finishing in the money. We are now in 6th as The Champion pulled ahead of us. Then we lost an epic game to bigjdotcom01's West Henrietta FC. We were up 3-1, then down 4-3, and then tied before getting beaten in the last couple minutes. So, we left this year's FOFC Cup in the Round of 32. Time for some international friendlies.

Off the Field
Guillory sold for a disappointing $115K. However, we did sell 3rd winger Ivan Viseslav for a good $115K. This will open up more playing time for UberTrainee(TM) Pierre Wellens. Not only that but I only dangled him out there because I didn't figure he would sell for that much. This week's youth pull was kindof disappointing and might sell for a few grand.

SI

sterlingice

10-04-2003, 03:30 PM

Preview
We should get drilled this week. Brooklyn is one of the best teams in all of Div IV. We just got dropped into 6th in our series after last week. He has put up 90+ NSI every week. I've never broken 70. He has 4 national team players. We have... um... Timber. Everyone loves Timber. And Mick, the crazy man. He has two guys who make as much as most of our team. But we catch a break as one is injured. Even without the services of 5.5 star middie Stephen Rumbold, Brooklyn should be able to crush the Hippos. I suppose that's why games aren't played on paper, but inside little computer boxes... *cue NFL Primetime music*

Game Summary
A scorching day at The Hippodrome, where 24257 spectators were in place for today´s match. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Teepen, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Brooklyn had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Pandey - Almansa, Karlsson, Kurkawa, Montes - Maternia, Benson, Mccloud, Iancu - Otegi, Zaslawski.

A free kick aimed at the keepers far post almost gave Brooklyn the lead in the 13th minute, but the ball just wasn´t able to squirm it´s way through the defensive wall. In the 28:th minute Hippopotamis Stephen Connors received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Brooklyn were forced to a substitution as Víctor Javier Almansa couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 55 percent possession rate.

A questionable penalty in the 53rd minute gave the home side the lead 1 - 0. The visitors goaltender didn´t stand a chance as Herschel Meek knocked the ball home. Visitors Geert Shams was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 69:th minute. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Brooklyn player was without a doubt Cory Benson. However, Geert Shams made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
BU: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
Halftime Score: 0-0
Possession: 55%

2nd Half
HH: 53: Herchel Meek (2): 1-0
BU: 69: 1-1
Final Score: 1-1
Possession: 54%
Final Possession: 55%

Cards
HH: 28: Stephen Connors (yellow- going into a challenge studs first)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 14975/20000
Basic seats: 6470/8000
Seats under roof: 2270/3200
VIP seats: 542/800
Total: 24257/32000

Not even a full house came. Thousands upon thousands more will claim they saw it.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/72

Brooklyn United
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: world class (13)
Central Defence: mythical (17)
Left Side Defence: world class (13)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 47/51

WOO! That shattered our old high of 69 and our only non-excellent or higher was midfield. Wow! Mythical, you say?!? That's only 3 levels below utopian!

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Koos Teepen ***
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 36.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

The 36.5 stars beats our previous high of 35. Another ***~/****/***~ midfield won the possession battle for us. Cristiano with ***~ for the first time ever! Unfortunately, Bush on the other side dropped down to **~ from his *** in weeks past.

Three Stars
Hard to hand out just 3 after this big draw

Bronze: Lorenzo Cristiano
His 3.5 star defensive performance probably helped turn back the goal early in the game
Silver: Herchel Meek
Scored our only goal this week
Gold: Tim Kimber
Kept Brooklyn to only 1 goal total

Game Summary
Are you kidding me?!? No, I mean really?!? Certainly this is the most improbable win (hell, it's a win to me) ever in our franchise's history. For about 15 minutes there, I was even winning! I needed this to get back in the chase for the money. It's still a longshot but at least, with this hugely improbable tie, it's possible.

Press Release
9/22/2003 at 19:16 Fans Tear Down Goalposts at Reliant Stadium
A group of Hippo fans, in their drunken revelry, got lost on their way home from the Hippodrome and tore down the goalposts at Reliant Stadium where the Houston Texans been drubbed by the Chiefs earlier today. While only 24K and change were at the Hippodrome, thousands more will claim to have seen the Hippos draw with 1st place Brooklyn United, after which fans stormed the field. As for the game, Herchel Meek scored on Houston's only chance and the Hippo defense stopped 1 of Brooklyn's 2.

Around the League
zfan is officially a walkover, Chock essentially had a walkover, and a huge upset that hurts us bad in the standings

zfan - Kaishaku F.C. 0 - 5
Since zfan's lineup was reset, Kaishaku got a walkover. We have zfan next week.

Team Groomers - The Champion 2 - 2
Carson Souza's two goals led Team Groomers to a draw with The Champion. I think The Champion PIC'd on the road and both teams only put up inadequate midfields and sub 60 NSIs.

Iowa Enforcers - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 1 - 6
Anders Jansson scored in the 82nd minute in their first game to give Chock a 1-0 win in Iowa. Today, he didn't leave the game in doubt. He scored 4 goals and took the series scoring lead as Iowa was beaten in every facet of the game. Chock is finally starting to look like the team we expected them to be. Chock's game at Kiashaku will likely decide 2nd place (provided Brooklyn doesn't have any more unexpected hiccups).

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 34 - 5 23 82

2. Kaishaku F.C. 26 - 11 21 9
3. Chock Full of Whole 32 - 19 19 87
4. Iowa Enforcers 16 - 17 13 71

5. The Champion 17 - 10 11 59
6. Houston Hippopotami 17 - 24 10 72

7. zfan 11 - 37 6 9
8. Team Groomers 9 - 36 1 52
Iowa gets thrashed pretty good which means if we can beat them at home by ~3 goals, we will take over #4. Not only that, but The Champion's unexpected draw makes this a 2 team race rather than a 3 team race, provided we win our games against both of them.

Hatstats
No hatstats for this week because I forgot to check it before the new week.

Notes
Wow! Not our biggest win, but our most impressive game ever! We broke 70 NSI and 35 stars as I had wanted earlier in the season. What a game! We're back in the running for the money, at least sort of. We have to beat Iowa pretty good or get some help and that's provided I can take care of business.

Needless to say, our confidence went up after the game, so four of our five sports shrinks are no longer with the club. Next up for our pumped team is a trip to Canada to face the Thoroughbreds, a #1 Div IV team. Next week, we get zfan and a walkover PIC. Suddenly things are looking up for us!

SI

sterlingice

10-06-2003, 05:49 PM

Preview
It's kindof an international friendly. We head to exotic, foreign... Canada. We'll be facing the #1 team in IV.19 called the Thoroughbreds and owned by Kinghaven. I know I'm giving away the first 120 minutes of the game, but we've never been in a shootout before this week :D

Game Summary
Date: 9/24/2003 at 23:00
MatchID: 9699582
Arena: Thoroughbreds Arena
Crowd: 3109

3109 spectators had come to Thoroughbreds Arena this cloudy day. Thoroughbreds started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Tinham - Murray, Rinfret, Amyot, Bowman, Bax - Baker, Darroze, Forcier, Hjortvall - Aubin.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Schrader, Miquel, Bush - Teepen, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Wellens - Solomon, Tizón.

Hippopotami seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Hippopotami had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Charles Tinham saved Derrick Solomon´s shot headed for the top corner. Aurèle Forcier of Thoroughbreds received a yellow card in the 16:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. This was a good period for the visitors with several opportunities to take the lead, in particular when Robert Tryggvesson slipped through the defense to come up alone with Charles Tinham - but the home side´s keeper showed some lightning reflex 0 - 0 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 58 percent possession rate.

What ever got into Aurèle Forcier, the crowd mumbled, as he suddenly struck a cross pass through the own defense - ending up right in front of Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón, who easily put the ball away for 0-1. After 48 minutes of play Denis Aubin equalised for Thoroughbreds after an elegant attack from the right. Thoroughbreds tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Thoroughbreds´s Yannick Rinfret got himself booked. Several players now looked tired, especially Alfons Bax who quite horribly caused the 1 - 2 goal as he lost the ball to Clement Schrader of Hippopotami, who seemed to have some energy left. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 72nd minute, Denis Aubin of Thoroughbreds evened the score to 2 - 2. Thoroughbreds held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of overtime followed. Thoroughbreds made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Denis Aubin completely alone with keeper Ignacio Sánchez, who made a spectacular block. There was still no winner after 30 minutes of extra time so the teams had to select a lineup for a penalty contest to settle the result. Thoroughbreds´s David Darroze cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 3 - 2. Hippopotami´s Derrick Solomon had nerves of steel at the penalty, changing the score to 3 - 3. Thoroughbreds´s Gregory Murray looked insecure all the way from laying the ball down to clipping the ball miles wide of the crossbar. No goal. Hippopotami´s José María Miquel seemed nervous, putting the ball to the centre of the goal. Charles Tinham however, made an early dive to the right, the ball passing him. 3 - 4. Thoroughbreds´s Peter Hjortvall cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 4 - 4. Hippopotami´s Clement Schrader cooly put the ball past Charles Tinham. 4 - 5. Thoroughbreds´s Charles Tinham made no mistake. Ignacio Sánchez didn´t have a chance. 5 - 5. Hippopotami´s Koos Teepen made no mistake. Charles Tinham didn´t have a chance. 5 - 6. Thoroughbreds´s Yannick Rinfret cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 6 - 6. Hippopotami´s Pierre Wellens made no mistake. Charles Tinham didn´t have a chance. 6 - 7. The most dominating Thoroughbreds player was without a doubt Dave Amyot. However, Peter Hjortvall made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was José María Miquel. Clement Schrader was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 7.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TB: 5-4-1

Events Summary

1st Half
Halftime Score: 0-0
Possession: 58%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 1-0
TB: 48: 1-1
HH: xx: Clement Schrader (F): 2-1
TB: 72: 2-2
Score (end of regulation): 2-2
Possession: 40%

Overtime
Score (end of overtime): 2-2

Penalty Shots
TB: 1/5: make: 2-3
HH: 1/5: make: Derrick Solomon (F): 3-3
TB: 2/5: miss: 3-3
HH: 2/5: make: Jose Maria Miguel (F): 4-3
TB: 3/5: make: 4-4
HH: 3/5: make: Clement Schrader (F): 5-4
TB: 4/5: make: 5-5
HH: 4/5: make: Koos Teepen (F): 6-5
TB: 5/5: make: 6-6
HH: 5/5: make: Pierre Wellens (F): 7-6
Final Score: 7-6
Final Possession: 49%

Cards
None

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Our second highest attendance ever for a friendly as 3109 Canadians watched. Our previous high was when we went to Hong Kong.

Team Ratings

Thoroughbreds
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: magnificent (12)
Left Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: wretched (2)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 46/49

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/46

Hopefully our last friendly of poor midfield. This week is stamina training week.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DW Clement Schrader *~
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Koos Teepen ***
MI Daniel Storm **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Pierre Wellens (o) ***
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **~

Total Stars: 27.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Another total star high for a friendly. Ignacio Sanchez only put up **~ in his second game but he came up huge! Our three middies all got **~ tonight.

Three Stars
Sanchez definitely showing his worth

Bronze: Pierre Wellens
17yo UberTrainee(TM) with first game winning goal
Silver: Clement Schrader
He scored a goal in regulation and in the shootout
Gold: Ignacio Sanchez
Makes a save in OT and saves a goal in the shootout for the win

Game Summary
Our first ever shootout and it was fun. Sure it was a friendly against a random Canadian team, but it was cool. Then again, we have awesome set pieces (well, for a team not named Beckys Babes) as Solomon, Schrader, Miguel, and Teepen are all solid or excellent. Wellens, who scored the game winner, has an inadequate. Looks like I made a good choice with our new backup keeper, too. For all the scoring we did, he made a huge save in overtime and then another in the shootout. For the Thoroughbreds, Denis Aubin had an awesome game (see below).

Press Release
9/28/2003 at 01:56 Hippos Win First Ever Shootout in Canadian Friendly
Ninety minutes were not long enough to decide the match between the Thoroughbreds and Hippos. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 2-2. Denis Aubin, author of the previous Thoroughbreds goals, missed on the only chance in OT so the game went to PKs. Houston won 5-4 after Solomon, Miguel, Schrader, Teepen and Wellens all scored. The difference was a miss by Gregory Murray which went clear past the goal and keeper Ignacio Sánchez. Tizon and Schrader scored Houston's regulation goals.

Notes
Thanks to our neighbors to the north for a nice international friendly. Next up, we head to Oceania. I tried to get a friendly in someplace more off the beaten path such as the Far East or Baltic States but the accepted friendly didn't go through. Still, I'm sure we'll enjoy our trip to Oceania. Inbetween stops on the Hippo World Tour, we will PIC zfan this week in a walkover.

SI

sterlingice

10-06-2003, 06:44 PM

Training
The long awaited stamina training week worked out about as good as I could have hoped. Pierre Wellens went up 2 levels to inadequate while Storm, Tryggvesson, and Little all went up one level to inad, inad, and passable. None of my starters needed any help (7 are excellent) but all of my trainees went up! Also, my form wasn't destroyed. Little's form remained in the crapper at weak but the other three UberTrainees(TM) are at solid. For starters, only 3 of the 11 players are below passable.

Future Training
Back to playmaking the rest of the year.

Form
Starters: (+1) (-6)
Entire Team: (+3) (-11)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Connors Benito Christiano Spagnuolo Kimber Miguel
Passable: Meek Phelan
Inadequate: Starks Teepen
Weak (or below): Bush

Hopefully not much damage will be inflicted next week in the delay week.

Value
Starters: (+5) (-6)
Entire Team: (+13) (-8)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/16(+0)
Above $200K: 6(+0)/9(+0)
Above $300K: 2(+0)/2(+0)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($521K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($463K)
Milestones: None

Not much movement this week. Then again, it's a stamina week.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 36208 (+360)
Total Value: 4204000 (-54000)
Avg Value: 191091 (+5961)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 22 (-1)
Nationalities: 12 (-1)

Youth Pull, Week 20.10
Last week's Werner Murillo sold for a whopping $1K. This week's is 17yo Brian Collier and he might garner that same $1K. Nothing impressive. Looks like I may be back in a youth pull slump.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 38
Youth Pull Grocers: 24 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 12 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 1111000 (+1000)

Youth Pull
Brian Collier (16847419)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 31 000 US$
Wage: 640 US$/week

Stamina: passable Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (up from high on life)
Supporter Club: 1425 members (+10)
Supporters: high on life (up from content)

Team Spirit: calm (up from composed)
Confidence: wonderful (up from wonderful)

Nothing like a draw with Brooklyn to get your confidence from poor to wonderful. Actually, that's probably the reading after the next game.

20.10 Week In Review

On the Field
We did the unthinkable and drew Brooklyn United! Herschel Meek scored the only goal and Timber made it stand up. Not only that but we got all time highs for stars (36.5) and NSI (72). If we win 3 of our next 4 (losing to Chock), we will finish in the money! And to think, this looked impossible a week ago. Then we went on the road and beat the Canadian Thoroughbreds in our first ever shootout, even if it was in a friendly. Ignacio Sanchez stopped a goal in overtime and then stopped a shootout shot. The Hippos scored on all 5 of their shootout shots including the game winner by Pierre Wellens. Clement Schrader scored both in regulation and in the shootout.

Off the Field
Last week's youth pull only sold for $1K. This week's will also sell for under $10K. It appears that we're in a bit of a youth pull slump. Last week's training bump, former starting winger Ivan Viseslav sold, however. He was 20yo but only was a pass pm/pass winger and sold for $115K.

SI

sterlingice

10-19-2003, 09:41 AM

Preview
Hippos soccer... it's EXCITEMENT! Well, no, this week, we have our first ever walkover. So not much to report: we win 5-0, get Wellens a nice week of full training instead of half training, and a crappy crowd because it's pouring rain. Not quite last week's exciting draw with Brooklyn is it?

Game Summary
Date: 9/29/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327006
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 13732

13732 spectators had found their way to The Hippodrome, despite the heavy rain. People from all of Houston had joined up for the derby. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Wellens, Benito, Connors, Little, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

zfan tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. Lineup: - - - .

The visitors weren´t able to produce at least 9 players, which is the minimum amount allowed, so they had to concede to a walk over. The spectators, who had all been looking forward to an exciting game, were of course very disappointed. The match ends 5 - 0.

Events and Stats
N/A

Stadium
Terraces: 8492/20000
Basic seats: 3770/8000
Seats under roof: 1173/3200
VIP seats: 297/800
Total: 13732/32000

"The spectators, who had all been looking forward to an exciting game, were of course very disappointed." We see this as a sign of support after our Brooklyn game last week not as 13K stupid wet fans who came to *not* see a game.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: disastrous (1)
Central Defence: disastrous (1)
Left Side Defence: disastrous (1)
Right Side Attack: disastrous (1)
Central Attack: disastrous (1)
Left Side Attack: disastrous (1)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 7/9

zfan
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: disastrous (1)
Central Defence: disastrous (1)
Left Side Defence: disastrous (1)
Right Side Attack: disastrous (1)
Central Attack: disastrous (1)
Left Side Attack: disastrous (1)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 7/9

Bah.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **
WI Pierre Wellens ***
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 34.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

About the only stats section worth anything today. Cristiano's rise in form has been offset by Bush's unfortunately so the defense has held pretty steady. I'm hoping recent acquisition Arcadio Sanchez (not to be confused with backup goalie Ignacio Sanchez) can help stabilize the defense back there. Wellens got a solid *** on the wing this week and will be getting full playmaking training this week when he plays middie in our friendly. Also, not to be lost is that we did get a PIC out of this game.

Three Stars
N/A

Game Summary
N/A

Press Release
10/2/2003 at 0:00 Hippos Win Walkover
Since there was no match to talk about, the Hippos would like to thank all of their fans and supporters in this, their first season in Div IV.

And a special thanks to our supporters:
ausonny
NevStar
vexroid
Doug5984
Eilim
NAIWF
robbgmaier
Coffee Warlord
Flatulon

And to all the guys at:
FOFC
Kraftworks Union

Thanks from the Hippos! :D

Around the League
Kaishaku got to pound Team Groomers while Brooklyn and Chock faced off and an unlikely draw that helps us out

Kaishaku F.C. - Team Groomers 5 - 0
Hugh Ruffle scored twice for Kaishaku, who got their second straight 5-0 win after getting the walkover against zfan last week.

Brooklyn United - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 2 - 1
This is a bit different than their first meeting of the season. Brooklyn was looking to establish series dominance and laid it on Chock, with a 107 NSI to their 94, winning 8-0 at the Creamy Nougat Center. This time, it looked like Chock had conceded a loss at Champions Park and only put up an 87. However, Brooklyn foresaw this and "only" put up a 97. The game was tied until late in the second half when Team Chile forward Joaquin Otegi (titanic! experience) scored the game winning goal for BU. That's at least his 3rd game winning goal in tight games for Brooklyn this season.

The Champion - Iowa Enforcers 3 - 3
Iowa took The Champion too lightly on the road and let us back into the race for the money! At halftime, The Champion was up 3-0 but had to settle for a draw as their lack of stamina kicked in. The Champion should have won this game but they missed on three chances. Their 68 NSI was a season high and likely an MotS as their previous season high was a 63. Iowa, on the other hand, put up their second lowest rating of the season at 67.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 36 - 6 26 97

2. Kaishaku F.C. 31 - 11 24 78
3. Chock Full of Whole 33 - 21 19 87
4. Iowa Enforcers 19 - 20 14 67

5. Houston Hippopotami 22 - 24 13 9
6. The Champion 20 - 15 12 68

7. zfan 11 - 42 6 9
8. Team Groomers 9 - 41 1 53
Just two weeks ago, we were in 6th place plotting our qualification game strategy. Now, if we win against Iowa in two weeks, we will move into 4th place and will be in the driver's seat for the money. However, we still have a game against Chock left that's a likely loss. But they have an equally tough game against Kaishaku. Not to slight, The Champion, but their position is an illusion. They may play spoiler and beat us the last week of the season, screwing us to 5th while Iowa takes 4th. However, they won't be able to finish in the money as they have to face a Chock-Brooklyn-Kaishaku gauntlet in their next 3 games.

Hatstats
No hatstats this week. Besides, with zfan giving out a pair of 9's every week, our series had plunged into the 20s.

Notes
So, my computer goes out and the only update you get over a weak and a half is a walkover. Sorry, Hippo faithful. There's more coming, I promise. The Friendly Hippo World Tour(TM) takes us to sunny Oceania, home of the Royal Magpies. Next week, I face Team Groomers, which should be a pretty easy victory. However, it's on the road and PIC'ing on the road is a bad idea unless you're playing someone truly awful. Then the week after that, the showdown with Iowa at the 'drome with 4th place and finishing in the money at stake.

SI

sterlingice

10-20-2003, 01:01 AM

Preview
We go on the road, continuing the Friendly Hippo World Tour (logo to be created later). This week we will take on the Royal Magpies of IV.41 Oceania. We match up pretty well, both putting up weak midfields with our B Team.

Game Summary
Date: 10/1/2003 at 04:00
MatchID: 9754091
Arena: Victory Park
Crowd: 4909

4909 spectators arrived at Victory Park, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Magpies had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Ginzburg - Runcie, Hvilshøj, Jansson - Carroll, Eaton, Haynes, Warrington, Barnes - Morrell, Hayes.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Sánchez - Miquel, Meek, Schrader - Teepen, Tryggvesson, Storm, Wellens, Starks - Solomon, Tizón.

Hippopotami saw most attack opportunites on the wings and were directing their passes that way. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 9:th minute allowed Derrick Solomon to score 0 - 1 for Hippopotami. In the 17:th minute Magpies was able to score the equalising 1 - 1 goal. Connie Hayes picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away teams goalie. After 28 minutes Magpies´s Connie Hayes contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. Juan Miguel Tizón seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 1-2. The previous Hippopotami corner kick was executed by Herschel Meek. Magpiess Troy Haynes got himself booked after a foul. Connie Hayes was just a finger´s breadth away from an equaliser for Magpies, but Ignacio Sánchez managed to ward the closing shot off for a corner. Clement Schrader of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 36:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 52 percent possession rate.

Kermit Runcie received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 48:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Hippopotami´s Herschel Meek received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 54:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 1 - 3. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The visitors Daniel Storm took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 66:th minute. 1 - 4 for Hippopotami. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when Oliver Warrington, after a brilliant midfield combination, put the reducing 2 - 4 goal away for Magpies. In the 68:th minute Magpiess Peter Jansson received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Hippopotami´s Robert Tryggvesson received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 75:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 2 - 5. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. Koos Teepen increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 2 - 6. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Magpies player was without a doubt Peter Jansson. Zelislav Ginzburg on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Mick Starks. Derrick Solomon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 6.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) shows that the goal was scored in a friendly
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
RM: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 09: Derrick Solomon (F): 1-0
RM: 17: 1-1
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 52%

2nd Half
HH: 54: Herschel Meek (F): 3-1
HH: 66: Daniel Storm (F): 4-1
RM: xx: 4-2
HH: 75: Robert Tryggvesson (F): 5-2
HH: xx: Koos Teepen (F): 6-2
Final Score: 6-2
Possession: 52%
Final Possession: 52%

Cards
HH: 36: Clement Schrader (yellow- unsportsmanlike behavior)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Yet another huge crowd which offset the road expenses: 4909 showed up at Victory Park in the region of Victoria, Oceania.

Team Ratings

Royal Magpies
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/47

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 45/49

Only held a slight edge but our attack on the wings might have helped out some.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez ***
DW Jose Maria Miguel **~
DM Herschel Meek **~
DW Clement Schrader **
WI Koos Teepen ***
MI Thomas Little **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Daniel Storm **~
WI Mick Starks (o) **
FO Derrick Solomon *~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 27.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: Attack on Wings

Poor experience in a friendly for the first time ever. I'm still not sure what that rating means, tho. Ignacio with another strong *** game as backup keeper. Btw, Little didn't play today because he was in the walkover. Thus, Wellens got to play middie and get full training. Also, that little shuffle is why Meek is playing center d this week when he usually plays midfield with the A Team. He's a passable defender, but he's also an excellent middie- but he's 28 so he doesn't need the training just a game to keep his form up.

Three Stars
No multigoal scorers makes for a mixed bag

Bronze: Derrick Solomon
Shakes off the rust and scores the first goal of the game
Silver: Herschel Meek
Dutifully plays center defender and even scores a goal
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
He extends his friendly goal scoring streak to an amazing 6 straight games

Game Summary
Another road game, another huge crowd, some added experience, and a fun game. I think the Friendly Hippo World Tour (TM) may keep going until the end of the year.

Press Release
11/06/2003 at 00:00 Hippos Win 2nd Straight International Friendly
In not quite as thrilling fashion as last week's shootout win, the Hippos went this time to Oceania and beat the Royal Magpies of IV.41 by the score of 6-2. Solomon, Tizon, Meek, Storm, Tryggvesson, and Teepen all scored goals as a record 4909 fans saw the Houston friendly. Neither team had any injuries, making it a successful international friendly. Next week, the Hippos will travel to Prathet Thai to face a Div III team called Samuthprakarn Eagle.

FOFC Cup
I forgot to update this last week so I have two weeks of updates to catch up with. First, last week's games.

Sweet Sixteen
Underlined Teams Won

Tom Sanders Bracket

1) Gargoyles (Raven Hawk)
4) South Bay Saints (Masked)

3) Fockers (-Hobbes)
10) Frankfort United (DukeRulesMAB)

HornedFrogPurple Bracket

9) Maniacal Misfitz (Havok)
5) Concord Assassins (BishopMVP)

3) Spring Grove Fighting Eagles (illinifan999)
7) Bees (ausonny)

Kool-Aid Bracket

1) Midwest Ice Storm FC (PilotMan)
4) Aviators (damnMikeBrown)

11) North Plainfield Plague (cthomer5000)
10) Fighting Crawfish (The Afoci)

Run & Shoot Bracket

1) Intercourse Ball Kickers (YoSoySean)
4) Arkham Avengers (Nyarlahotep)

6) West Henrietta FC (bigjdotcom01)
2) Galesburg Avengers (Coffee Warlord)

The Tom Sanders bracket looks nice and orderly... except Frankfort United just keeps upsetting teams. They have the unenviable task of facing 84-time FOFC Cup Champion Raven Hawk next.

The Assassins employed a 2-5-3 and middle attack to overwhelm the Misfitz defense. Both teams put up solid midfields and NSI's in the 60s while the Bees shut out SGFE, setting up a 5-7 matchup between the Bees and Assassins.

Midwest forgets this is a friendly and puts up a (you have got to be kidding me!) formidable midfield and shuts out the Aviators 2-0 in a game that could have been a lot worse. Franz-Bernd Popella of the Fighting Crawfish scored in the 85th minute to break a 2-2 tie and propel the into the Elite Eight.

Lastly, in our former run-and-shoot bracket, CW put up an excellent midfield ending West Henrietta's cup run. They will meet YoSoySean and the Intercourse Ball Kickers who beat Nyarlahotep's Arkham Avengers.

Tom Sanders Bracket Championship

1) Gargoyles (Raven Hawk)
10) Frankfort United (DukeRulesMAB)

HornedFrogPurple Bracket Championship

5) Concord Assassins (BishopMVP)
7) Bees (ausonny)

Kool-Aid Bracket Championship

1) Midwest Ice Storm FC (PilotMan)
10) Fighting Crawfish (The Afoci)

Run & Shoot Bracket Championship

1) Intercourse Ball Kickers (YoSoySean)
2) Galesburg Avengers (Coffee Warlord)

Frankfort put up a gallant fight before losing 2-1 to the Gargs. The Bees ran out to a 3-0 lead and hung on to win 3-2. MISFC improves on their formidable midfield to outstanding and puts up a 78 NSI en route to a 9-0 crawfish boil. Lastly, YoSoySean keeps CW's run and shoot in check, winning 4-1. So the FOFC Cup IV Final Four are the Gargoyles, the Bees, Midwest Ice Storm FC, and Intercourse Ball Kickers! The Bees may be the only non-#1 seed left but I wouldn't count them out. However, my money is still on PilotMan and MISFC.

Notes
Next week, we continue our journeys with Samuthprakarn Eagle from Div III Thailand and in our fixture, we face off against 8th place Team Groomers on the road.

SI

sterlingice

10-20-2003, 01:59 AM

Training
It was a banner week for our training program. 17yo winger trainee Pierre Wellens bumped to solid playmaking to go along with his solid winger ability. He's going to be one hell of a stud. But the bigger news is 25yo Stephen Connors. He's a fixture on our midfield and now is the Hippos first ever formidable. Way to go, Stephen! Lastly, acting captain Jose Maria Miguel added another notch to his experience belt so that his passable experience now matches his passable leadership.

Future Training
Playmaking on out. Then maybe a week of stamina in the offseason, depending on form. If it's bad, then set pieces. We have good set pieces but you can never have too much. Plus, we have 10 guys who are already at excellent stamina. However, the Uber Trainees(TM) are either at passable or inadequate.

Form
Starters: (+5) (-2)
Entire Team: (+8) (-5)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Kimber (exc) Benito (exc) Meek Connors Christiano Spagnuolo
Passable: Starks Bush Miguel
Inadequate: Phelan Teepen
Weak (or below): -none-

Looks like last week's stamina training didn't have too many ill effects. In fact, Starks's slump is finally over. However, Phelan bears watching. For the first time in quite a while, we don't have anyone below inadequate.

Value
Starters: (+5) (-6)
Entire Team: (+13) (-8)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/16(+0)
Above $200K: 7(+1)/11(+2)
Above $300K: 4(+2)/4(+2)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($535K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($494K)
Milestones: Stephen Connors ($300K), Robert Tryggvesson ($200K)

Benito inches ever closer to becoming our first $500K player. Not only that, but he will soon pass Timber for the highest value on the team. Starks went back above $300K for the first time since the second week of the season. Connors broke $300K for the first time ever with his bump. Tryggvesson passes $200K for the first time ever so now Wellens is the only one not over $200K. However, he's only 17 so we'll forgive him.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 36208 (NC)
Total Value: 4364000 (+160000)
Avg Value: 198364 (+7273)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 22 (NC)
Nationalities: 12 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 20.10
Brian Collier sold for $5K last week, so at least I turned a slight bit of profit (if you don't take youth squad upkeep costs). This week, we have Felix Hutton. He's not too bad but our UberTrainees(TM) are better. I'll put him up for $10K and hope someone bites.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 39
Youth Pull Grocers: 24 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 13 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 1116000 (+5000)

Youth Pull
Felix Hutton (17061821)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sypathetic person who is tempermental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 49 000 US$
Wage: 740 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: wretched
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1449 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (NC)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: wonderful (NC)

20.10 Week In Review

On the Field
Well, we had a walkover win against zfan so there's not much to report. We should win with relative ease next week, but it's on the road so a PIC is unlikely. That will setup a huge game with Iowa in a rockin' 'drome the next week for 4th place. For our friendly, we went somewhat further than Canada this time, ending up in Oceania playing the Royal Magpies. Six different Hippos scored and we drew a huge friendly crowd of 4909. Next week, we go to Thailand.

Off the Field
Last week's youth pull Brian Collier sold for $5K. This week's should sell for about double that and not much more. However, the big news came on the bump front: 17yo UberTrainee(TM) Pierre Wellens bumped to solid playmaking to go along with his solid winger skill. But even bigger, original Hippo Stephen Connors became the first ever formidable in the history of the team.

SI

sterlingice

10-24-2003, 01:48 AM

Preview
Well, I was watching The X-Files a couple of nights ago and they were into the dreadful final season. However, there was a scene that fits the Hippos game today. Frankly, I can't verify if the story told on there was true or not and, even if it wasn't, it makes for a good quote. Assistant Director Kirsch (one of the new villains) was telling Agent Doggett (Robert Patrick, who replaced Fox Mulder as main protagonist) that on July 4th, 1776, King George of England wrote in his diary "Nothing important happened today". In context, it was supposed to tell Doggett that lots of stuff went on behind the scenes and that everything he did in the previous two episodes wasn't in vain.

In the case of the Hippos, on the surface, it's just a regular game against Team Groomers, the 8th place team in the series. Now, I don't want to say nothing important happened today, but what happened did so in unspectacular fashion (unless your name is Meek). We're still riding pretty high off our draw with Brooklyn and then we had our walkover last week. But this week won't be much harder. If we weren't on the road, I even would have PIC'd this game since we are playing Team Groomers. He's active and has supporter, but he's got a ticket back to Div V this year as he's just not in the same league as the rest of the teams in IV.21 so I fully expected a big win today, and, not to spoil it too much, but we got it. But what really mattered is that this game and the surrounding events set up a match next week, the likes of which rivals last years Hippo game.

Game Summary
Date: 10/6/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327012
Arena: Team Groomers Arena
Crowd: 18672

18672 spectators arrived at Team Groomers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Groomers tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Arcuato - Anderson, Mårtensson, Sheldon - Rector, Saes, Betts, Ortiz, Fabozzi - Root, Lysdal.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Teepen - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Herschel Meek surprised the home team with a free kick aimed at the wrong post in the 5:th minute. 0 - 1 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami´s Stephen Connors received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 20:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Groomerss Roger Root went wide in the 24:th minute, recieving a brilliant pass slicing through the visiting teams central defense line, putting the 1 - 2 goal away. The visitors Herschel Meek took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 31st minute. 1 - 3 for Hippopotami. The referee showed Groomerss Roger Root the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 1 - 3. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

In the game´s 53rd minute a free kick by Herschel Meek found it´s way through the home side´s poorly assembled defensive formation, making Hippopotami´s lead 1 - 4. This third goal made a hat trick for Herschel Meek. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 59:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 1 - 5. Herschel Meek was noted down as the scorer. Groomers had a brilliant opportunity to reply as Roger Root received a high ball from the right, striking the ball still in the air. Only Tim Kimber´s reflexes saved him. Gualtiero Spagnuolo of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 69:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 63 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Groomers player was without a doubt Don Betts. Rory Rector on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. Edwin Phelan was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 5.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TG: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 05: Herchel Meek (3): 1-0
HH: 20: Stephen Connors (2): 2-0
HH: 20: *pulling back*
TG: 24: 2-1
HH: 31: Herchel Meek (4): 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 57%

2nd Half
HH: 53: Herchel Meek (5): 4-1
HH: 59: Herchel Meek (6): 5-1
Final Score: 5-1
Possession: 63%
Final Possession: 60%

Cards
HH: 69: Gualtiero Spagnuolo (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

18K and change at their place with good weather.

Team Ratings

Team Groomers
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/57

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 64/71

At home and we would have had a new high of 74. Still, I'll definitely settle for a 71 especially with that outstanding right side attack.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
MI Stephen Connors (x) ****
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 36.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

I'm feeling better and better about Cristiano now that he got his form straightened out: a ***~ wingback is nice! Phelan is still in his mini-slump at **~ and that 12 star midfield is still eluding me as today it was Meek who "only" put up ***~ instead of the **** I want.

Three Stars
I don't think the top one was in any doubt

Bronze: Lorenzo Cristiano
Another ***~ today anchoring the back end
Silver: Stephen Connors
Picked up a goal and **** on the midfield
Gold: Herchel Meek
Scored a goal in the 53rd minute for the 2nd time in 3 games, oh, and he got 3 more

Game Summary
This game gives us 16 points on the season and puts us at +1 goal differential, our first time in the positives for quite a while. Meek explodes- I've never seen a midfielder score 4 goals before, I don't think. Anyways, here's why it matters...

Press Release
10/12/2003 at 00:00 Hippos Slide Into Fourth Place on Meeks Huge Day
Veteran midfielder Herschel Meek exploded for 4 goals en route to a 5-1 Houston win over Team Groomers. Meek, along with Hippo star midfielders Carlos Alberto Benito and Stephen Connors (who scored the other goal), collected 11.5 stars and put up a solid midfield rating. The win sets up a showdown next week in Houston for 4th place in IV.21 with the #5 Iowa Enforcers who beat the Hippos 4-2 in Iowa earlier in the season. Coach Braden is expecting an MotS by Iowa and is planning accordingly.

Around the League
As you can see from the above, Iowa lost. Everything this week went as planned for the first time, I think, all season. And you people still think I'm insane for saying the engine has changed a lot.

zfan - Brooklyn United 0 - 5
I'm sure if I had checked, our hatstats rating would suck since BU played zfan in the walkover.

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness - The Champion 4 - 0
Chock also PIC'd at home and had no trouble with The Champion. They actually lost possession in the first half, but won handily because The Champion never got a chance the entire game. While the midfields were close, the stars difference was 42.0 to 31.5 in favor of Chock.

Iowa Enforcers - Kaishaku F.C. 0 - 3
This is the huge game for us. Earlier in the season, Iowa upset Kaishaku on the road and was looking like they might get 2nd or 3rd. However, fortunes have changed in the second half, as they now have a 6 game winless streak (4 losses, 2 draws) after Kaishaku went into their house and beat them. They have now fallen behind us into 5th.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 41 - 6 29 9

2. Kaishaku F.C. 34 - 11 27 76
3. Chock Full of Whole 37 - 21 22 83
4. Houston Hippopotami 27 - 26 16 71

5. Iowa Enforcers 19 - 23 14 68
6. The Champion 20 - 19 12 63

7. zfan 11 - 47 6 9
8. Team Groomers 10 - 46 1 57
We suddenly have leapfrogged two teams in two weeks and, with a win next week, we would be in full control of 4th. We also have a big game to end the season at the 'drome against The Champion but first things first.

Notes
After a franchise long 3 game losing streak, we have been unbeaten in our last 3 and are sitting precariously in 4th. Next week comes our game of the year against Iowa at home. If we win, then something really bad would have to happen the last two weeks of the season for us to not finish in the money. This next game is starting to feel a lot like the Dragons game last year- a huge game that's going to be close and if he MotS's, I'm probably done for.

SI

sterlingice

10-24-2003, 05:05 AM

Preview
The Friendly Hippo World Tour continues, this week in Thailand. We'll be playing Samuthprakarn Eagle, who are #1 in III.6 Prathet Thai. So, we've gone from Canada to Oceania to Thailand in three weeks and probably have three more weeks before a rivalry game to end the season.

Game Summary
Date: 10/8/2003 at 05:30
MatchID: 9783824
Arena: Samuthprakarn Eagle Arena
Crowd: 3410

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 3410 at Samuthprakarn Eagle Arena today. Samuthprakarn started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Chariya - Ivarsson, Ratana, Thyander - Sumalee, Davidsson, Cabellos, Kaljuste, Van-Linh - Ahlling, Fredriksson.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Sánchez, Miquel, Schrader - Wellens, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Teepen - Solomon, Tizón.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Samuthprakarn, and they seem passable at it. Hippopotami seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Samuthprakarns Michael Fredriksson gave, after 18 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. In the 19:th minute Samuthprakarn put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Huang Van-Linh coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Robert Tryggvesson got himself booked. A great save by goaltender Ignacio Sánchez in the 22nd minute kept the visitors in the game as Kaarel Kaljuste struck from the left with a real cannonball. Hippopotami reduced in the 25:th minute to 2 - 1 as Robert Tryggvesson easily chipped the ball past the home sides keeper on a play from the right. The referee showed Hippopotamis José María Miquel the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Samuthprakarn held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

In the 50:th minute Samuthprakarn´s Yindee Ratana tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. Juan Miguel Tizón almost scored an equalising goal for Hippopotami in the 52nd minute, but Charnchai Chariya made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Lucas Davidsson squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 64:th minute, asserting the lead to 3 - 1. Hippopotamis Koos Teepen got himself booked after a foul. Samuthprakarn held the ball, with a clear 73 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Samuthprakarn player was without a doubt Charnchai Chariya. However, Arvid Ahlling made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Daniel Storm. However, Derrick Solomon made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) shows that the goal was scored in a friendly
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
SE: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
SE: 18: 0-1
SE: 19: 0-2
HH: xx: Robert Tryggvesson (F): 1-2
Halftime Score: 1-2
Possession: 39%

2nd Half
SE: 64: 1-3
Final Score: 1-3
Possession: 27%
Final Possession: 33%

Cards
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)
HH: xx: Koos Teepen (yellow- foul)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Another decent international crowd with 3410 turning out.

Team Ratings

Samuthprakarn Eagle
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: magnificent (12)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 67/74

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/48

Wow- they played a lot better than in previous friendlies. I try to find good matchups but a 74-48 loss on the road could have been a lot worse than 3-0, I suppose.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DW Arcadio Sanchez **~
DM Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Clement Schrader **~
WI Pierre Wellens ***
MI Daniel Storm (d) ***
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Koos Teepen ***
FO Derrick Solomon *~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **~

Total Stars: 27.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: Attack in Middle

I think that's the first *** performance by the UberTrainees(TM) with Storm today. Solomon is considering hanging it up once the season is over. He hasn't scored more than ** in weeks.

Three Stars
Not much happened in this game that was star-worthy: they were a lot better than us

Bronze: Daniel Storm
First ever *** for this batch of UberTrainees(TM)
Silver: Ignacio Sanchez
His save made this game closer than it should have been
Gold: Robert Tryggvesson
A goal in two straight friendlies

Game Summary
We were a bit overmatched but it was still fun. I can only wonder where the next two games will take us.

Press Release
10/13/2003 at 02:54 Hippos Lose Friendly in Thailand
The Hippo World Tour (TM) continues as they visited Samuthprakarn Eagle from Prathet Thai. Robert Tryggvesson scored the only Houston goal and the midfield and wings put up a B Team high of 14 stars. However, Samuthprakarn Eagle and their solid B Team midfield showed why they were # 1 in III.6 in Thailand. We thank eaglez for the friendly and will continue our tour next week in with Maccabi "Bezeq" Tel Aviv in III.10 Israel.

FOFC Cup
The Final Four of the FOFC Cup is upon us

Midwest Ice Storm FC - Intercourse Ball Kickers 2 - 4
Apparently PilotMan ran out of easy people to play in his series so he had to play his B Team. He put up a better midfield, but YoSoySean put up some good ratings, as well. His brilliant-formidable-magnificent defense slowed MISFC's exc-exc-exc attack. On the other side of the field, Boštjan Čadež got a hat trick for IBC. They will advance to play...

Gargoyles - Bees 0 - 7
...the Bees, winner of a Final Four matchup between the two winners of the previous FOFC Cups. I'm not entirely sure how the Bees got so many chances as their midfield only won inad to weak, their NSIs were quite similar, and the game was at The Concrete Jungle, home of the Gargs. Rich Ladd had a hat trick for the Bees while the Gargs didn't get a single scoring chance.

Notes
Our road trip continues in Israel next week against a Div III team called Maccabi "Bezeq" Tel Aviv. This week, however, we have a huge game in series play. The fixture between us and Iowa will go a long way to determine who will finish in 4th this season.

SI

Poli

10-24-2003, 08:13 AM

If it's not too much to ask, perhaps we could make the Hippo World Tour (TM) stop by Bonne Terre one day to play the winner of the Battle for Bonne Terre? That might be a cool reward!

sterlingice

10-26-2003, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by ardent enthusiast
If it's not too much to ask, perhaps we could make the Hippo World Tour (TM) stop by Bonne Terre one day to play the winner of the Battle for Bonne Terre? That might be a cool reward!

Unfortunately, the Hippos already have locked in a game for rivalry week so we will not be able to play the winner of the Battle for the right to put EZ-Cheez on Triscuits after 4am or whatever your cup is ;)

SI

sterlingice

10-26-2003, 06:51 PM

Training
No bumps this week, at least for playmaking. Timber's experience went up to inadequate and Bush's went to poor. In the next two weeks, however, Storm should hit formidable!

Future Training
Playmaking until a stamina week in the offseason. Then again, my stamina is pretty good except for trainees and that really puts a big hit on your form.

Form
Starters: (+3) (-3)
Entire Team: (+5) (-7)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Benito (exc) Bush Miguel Meek Connors Spagnuolo Christiano Kimber
Passable: Teepen Starks
Inadequate: -none-
Weak (or below): Phelan

Quite good except for Phelan. He's just going to have to play though it because we just don't have anyone to put in his place.

Value
Starters: (+8) (-3)
Entire Team: (+14) (-7)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/16(+0)
Above $200K: 7(+0)/11(+0)
Above $300K: 4(+0)/4(+0)
Team Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($514K)
Non-Outfield Leader: Tim Kimber ($502K)
Milestones: -none-

Absolutely no milestones this week on the value front. However, a very significant development is that for the first time since joining the team, Timber was not the highest value as he "dropped" to $502K and Benito passed him at $514K.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 36068 (-$140)
Total Value: 4416000 (+52000)
Avg Value: 200727 (+2363)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 22 (NC)
Nationalities: 12 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 20.12
Felix Hutton from last week, a passable playmaker with inad stamina and inad winger sold for $16K. This week, for number 40, will we get a great pull? No! We will get... 0! Kristopher Melvin is the first in a while to not hit the market.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 40
Youth Pull Grocers: 25 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 14 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (-1)
Total Sold for: 1132000 (+5000)

Youth Pull
Kristopher Melvin (17445465)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is fiery and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 14 000 US$
Wage: 560 US$/week

Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: inadequate

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1473 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (NC)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: wonderful (NC)

20.12 Week In Review

On the Field
Last week's fixture was pretty ho-hum. Unless, of course, your name is Herschel Meek as he scored goals 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the season in a 5-1 win over Team Groomers. This is our second kindof boring game in a row after last week's walkover win against zfan. The win gave us 4th place and sets up a huge game this week against the Iowa Enforcers. If we beat Iowa, we have the inside track to 4th the rest of the year and will even be able to absorb a loss to Chock the second to last week of the season. In our friendly, our winning streak was broken as Samuthprakarn Eagle beat us in Thailand.

Off the Field
Yawn. Really nothing happened this week except that we sold last week's youth pull for $16K and fired our current YP. That's it.

SI

Poli

10-26-2003, 07:08 PM

No problem. A reward for next season, perhaps.

sterlingice

10-29-2003, 01:32 AM

Preview
Here it is. I never figured I'd be in this position but it's time to take advantage of it. A win today, and we likely take fourth in the series and finish in the money. A loss today and "our reward" will be a relegation match instead. I can't afford to MotS for that very reason so we're going normal and I hope he does the same. He's only slightly better and on my field, I should win. As the Hippos hit the field today, we were greeted by rain.
Oh, and just for such an occasion, I've decided to shuffle the match reports a little, moving things around so that more important things get better places

Game Text
Date: 10/13/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327016
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 24181

Due to an all-day shower, 24181 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Teepen, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Enforcers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Freeman - Paz, Weeks, Gurley - Becerra, Marion, Wilson, Frederick, Monsalve - Requejo Rodrígue, Lastra.

Enforcers took the lead in the games 17:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Juan José Requejo Rodríguez was the scorer. Enforcers´s Billy Marion refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 21st minute. After 25 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Juan José Requejo Rodríguez who increased Enforcers´s lead to 0 - 2. A well placed freekick brought the home crowd new hope. Herschel Meek reduced the away teams lead to 1 - 2. Due to some great work on the right wing Hippopotami:s Edwin Phelan was able to even the score in the 39:th minute to 2 - 2. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 2. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 61 percent, dominated the battle.

Hippopotami had a good opportunity to take the lead as Edwin Phelan came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of David Freeman. Jamie Gurley of Enforcers received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 67:th minute the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as Herschel Meek flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. In the games 80:th minute Hippopotami´s Koos Teepen fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Koos Teepen for taking a dive. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate.

Most important Hippopotami player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Edwin Phelan on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Enforcers player was without a doubt Juan José Requejo Rodríguez. Stacy Becerra was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.

Game Summary
Down 2-0 in the first half, things looked bleak. However, it proved to be one of those proverbial "the night is darkest before the light of dawn" moments. First Meek scored and the Phelan and suddenly, it was a tie game! Then, Meek scored againt to give the Hippos the lead, there was much rejoicing by the soaking wet crowd. This is certainly our biggest Div IV win to date and the big comeback made it that much more exciting.

Three Stars
Herchel Meek with another gold

Bronze: The Midfield
Our excellent midfield gave us enough possession to pull this out
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Phelan's game tying goal was his eighth of the year
Gold: Herchel Meek
His game winning goal was his eighth of the year

Press Release
10/15/2003 at 13:14 In the Money? Hippos Rally In Battle for Fourth Place!
Herchel Meek added 2 goals to his 4 from last week as Houston rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and put themselves in the driver seat for fourth place. A balanced game was key with ratings of excellent across the board save a formidable on the left attack wing. Houston needs one win in their last two games to finish in the money in their first season in Div IV. The Hippos must visit CFoWG at the Creamy Nougat Center before closing out the season at the 'drome against The Champion.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
IE: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
IE: 17: 0-1
IE: 25: 0-2
HH: 31: Herchel Meek (7): 1-2
HH: 39: Edwin Phelan (8): 2-0
Halftime Score: 2-2
Possession: 61%

2nd Half
HH: 53: Herchel Meek (8): 3-2
Final Score: 3-2
Possession: 64%
Final Possession: 63%

Cards
HH: 80: Koos Teepen (yellow- taking a dive)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 14582/20000
Basic seats: 6364/8000
Seats under roof: 2435/3200
VIP seats: 800/800
Total: 24181/32000

Darn rain kept us from selling out, I'm guessing.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/73

Iowa Enforcers
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/67

WOW! Another awesome game- excellents across the board except for that formidable left wing. That's called balance! He had a suprisingly bad game- he should have posted at least a passable midfield, even in bad form. This is somewhat puzzling.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Clement Schrader **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ****
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **

Total Stars: 36.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Mick is finally back up to ***~ today. Phelan's still in a slump, at ** now, Schrader started in place of Miguel at center defender, and the midfield "only" got 11.5 stars but other than that, nothing of note.

Around the League
The battle for second was at Kaishaku's place this week

zfan - Team Groomers 0 - 5
I feel good that Team Groomers got a win. He's one of the most active supporters in the league- lots of press releases, etc. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll get any higher than 8th this year.

Brooklyn United - The Champion 6 - 1
Brooklyn crushed The Champion, which makes our game against them slightly less important. Brooklyn's lowest rating was outstanding while that was The Champion's highest.

Kaishaku F.C. - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 2 - 0
Kaishaku put up a world class midfield, likely as an MotS, to Chock's passable. He won the NSI battle 90-78 despite losing the star battle 39.5 to 37.0. This was a bit different from their earlier meeting when both put up magnificent midfields in Kaishaku's 3-1 win.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 47 - 7 32 104

2. Kaishaku F.C. 36 - 11 30 90
3. Chock Full of Whole 37 - 23 22 78
4. Houston Hippopotami 30 - 28 19 73

5. Iowa Enforcers 21 - 26 14 67
6. The Champion 21 - 25 12 53

7. zfan 11 - 52 6 9
8. Team Groomers 15 - 46 4 9
With 2 games left in the season, it's a good time to take stock of where everyone is. Our win cements 4th for us, however, we will likely lose and lose bad next week to Chock. If we pull off the miracle upset, we could get third but that's unlikely with our goal differentials. Kaishaku's win assured him of second place and he still has a shot at first when he and Brooklyn play the last game of the year. zfan and Team Groomers are guaranteed to auto demote while Iowa has a slim chance of catching me if I lose my last two games.

Notes
Now we've got a 4 game unbeaten streak and we're sitting pretty in the standings. Sure, we may lose next week, but we just have to win the last week to assure a finish in the money. We're heading on the road again for another friendly, this time to Israel.

SI

sterlingice

10-29-2003, 03:21 AM

You, Yes, You! I'm Pointing At You!
Im still tinkering with match reports- I'm hoping to get stuff into form by next year. Due to school, I'm really lacking in time so I want to pare down some of the more useless stuff that takes too long while still keeping the dynasty enjoyable. Plus I have a couple of simple things I wanted to add. Anyone with some ideas or feedback- post! And, remember, if you're not stealing, it's not a dynasty report! Back to your regularly scheduled dynasty report...

Preview
Oops- quite the botch. I accidentally played my starters in this friendly. Did you realize that friendlies in Israel are played Tuesday afternoon USA time? Well, neither did I so I forgot to set my lineup which means starters played. I guess it's time for another stamina week.

Game Text
Date: 10/14/2003 at 20:30
MatchID: 9856723
Arena: Teddy bear
Crowd: 4984

A scorching day at Teddy bear, where 4984 spectators were in place for today´s match. Maccabi started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Rachmo - Karlsson, Dyrander, Nachtomi - Rodowicz, Levi, Cohen, Getz, Ashkenazi - Matern, Shmuel.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Miquel, Bush - Wellens, Meek, Benito, Connors, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Seemingly due to lack of experience, Niklas Dyrander needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami took the lead in the games 25:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Lorenzo Cristiano was the scorer. Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Stephen Connors delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was too sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. The visitors Elmer Bush took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 39:th minute. 0 - 2 for Hippopotami. The referee showed Hippopotamis José María Miquel the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 82 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami´s Pierre Wellens received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 55:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 3. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. One of many good passes from Mick Starks at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Gualtiero Spagnuolo, scoring for Hippopotami to 0 - 4. The visitors Edwin Phelan took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 62nd minute. 0 - 5 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 93 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Maccabi player was Rafal Rodowicz. Marek Matern on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Edwin Phelan on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 5.

Events and Stats
Sorry- I decided to ditch this section. It took too much time and I didn't figure many of you cared. Instead, I'm making the game summary section longer. See... here it is (tho I might move the summary, stars, and press release back below the stats)

Game Summary
We dominated possesion with 82% and a staggering 93% in the second half. A pair of defenders even scored in the first half (Cristiano, Bush). Our ratings were much too high for his B Team and this would have been a close game if we had actually played *our* B Team.

Three Stars
Those defenders show up here

Bronze: Elmer Bush
A defender goal
Silver: Pierre Wellens
The UberTrainee(TM) gets *** and a goal
Gold: Lorenzo Cristiano
Another defender goal, this one game winning

Press Release
10/20/2003 at 10:07 Oops!
The Hippos barely arrived in time for their friendly due to a scheduling snafu and starters were accidentally hustled out onto the field as Houston visited Maccabi "Bezeq" Tel Aviv in Israel. This resulted in a 5-0 win for the Hippos but forced them to do a week of stamina training instead of the scheduled playmaking. Next week's trip to Iceland has already been checked and double checked with the lineup set as Houston visits Real Reykjavik, in Island I.1, the equivalent to the MLS.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Stadium
Almost but not quite 5000 make it with 4985, our largest friendly ever. I blame this on 16 of YOU. ;)

Team Ratings
Maccabi "Bezeq" Tel Aviv
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 40/42

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 63/70

Great ratings. Too bad they're from starters. A 70 NSI on the road- woo!

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ****
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***~
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Pierre Wellens ***
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ****
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
WI Mick Starks ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 36.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: None

Again, not much of note because it's all starters. Wellens *** looks pretty. He's going to be a stud- remember, he's only 17. Phelan is still deep in a slump and stamina training isn't going to help that one bit.

FOFC Cup
FOFC Cup Finals this week! Bees v Intercourse Ball Kickers

Intercourse Ball Kickers - Bees 1 - 5
ICBK could only muster a poor midfield to the Bees poor so mutual supporter ausonny wins his 2nd FOFC Cup in 4 season. I think I have my facts straight when I say that only the Bees and Gargs have won it. Congrats to all! This was a great FOFC Cup and I can't wait until next year. Hopefully my trainees will be getting at least a passable if not solid midfield by then.

In Closing
Well, we'll get plastered in our league game this week as we PIC on the road at the Creamy Nougat Center (I can't get enough of that name).

SI

sterlingice

10-29-2003, 04:17 AM

Training
As you can see from the friendly report, this was an oops. I forgot to change my lineup Wednesday so rather than not get trainee training, I went with stamina. The odd thing is that I had some people go up in form now. I didn't know you could do that in stamina weeks. Of the trainees, Storm and Little went up to passable and solid while Wellens and Tryggvesson stayed at inadequate.

Future Training
Ok, it's a pair of weeks of playmaking then set pieces for the offseason. Another week of stamina would kill our form.

Form
Starters: (+4) (-5)
Entire Team: (+5) (-7)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Starks Bush Miguel Connors Spagnuolo Benito
Passable: Teepen Meek Kimber Christiano
Inadequate: -none-
Weak (or below): Phelan (poor)

Not too damaging except for Phelan's horrible slump. It could have been a lot worse in a stamina week. We just have to look out for next week's delay drops.

Value
Starters: (+8) (-3)
Entire Team: (+14) (-7)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 9(+0)/15(-1)
Above $200K: 7(+0)/10(-1)
Above $300K: 4(+0)/4(+1)
Team Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($501K)
Non-Outfield Leader: Tim Kimber ($469K)
Milestones: Thomas Little ($300K)

The little bit of movement on the value highlights list due to losing form. However, the big news was Thomas Little! Two weeks ago, he was under $250K. This week, he's at $355K! He gained two levels of stamina and is very close to bumping in playmaking to excellent.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 36068 (+$0)
Total Value: 4363000 (-53000)
Avg Value: 207762 (+7035)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 21 (-1)
Nationalities: 12 (NC)
After passing the $200K per player value mark last week, we shot up again despite the stamina training.

Youth Pull, Week 20.13
Last week, we fired a guy so no old news. This week, we got a young trainee that hopefully someone will pick up for a few bucks: he's a 17yo inad playmaker and a pseudo-clown, to boot. Bradley Brinson is up for sale at $1K.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 41
Youth Pull Grocers: 25 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 14 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 1132000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Bradley Brinson (17661159)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and solid leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 11 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1495 members (+22)
Supporters: delirious (down from high on life)

Team Spirit: content (up from calm)
Confidence: poor (down from strong)
These are from after the game with Chock

20.13 Week In Review

On the Field
I don't think I've ever been able to capture the scope of the Iowa game in writing. In case you haven't noticed, I think I'll have something like 5 reports posted by the end of the night because I had 5 done except for the Iowa rhetoric. My writing still failing me, let's just call this the biggest game of this season but not nearly on the level of Dragons-Hippos II last year. But it was more dramatic with the come from behind win. As for our friendly- oops, we played starters and rolled over Maccabi "Bezeq" Tel Aviv in Israel.

Off the Field
Since we botched training for this week, we went with stamina. Not too bad of form drops except for Phelan's problem. Storm and Little went up while Tryggvesson and Wellens stayed the same.

SI

sterlingice

10-29-2003, 05:11 AM

Pre-Game Analysis
Under construction: Still more format tinkering

Preview
You know how I said the Brooklyn game on the road would suck and we'd get plastered? Well, this one is going to be just as bad, if not worse. We're PIC'ing on the road against Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness and holding back a couple of starters. In case you forgot our first game, it was the game where we went 4-5-1 and almost pulled off the upset, losing 3-2. There's no way I'm doing that again so this is going to hurt.

Prediction
I'd love to say we'll keep it close, but I'm worried about this one. 5-0, we get shutout on the road.

Gameday Live
Date: 10/20/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327020
Arena: Creamy Nougat Center
Crowd: 60000

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 60000 to Creamy Nougat Center. Wholesome tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Castaño Párraga - Franks, Gallagher, Weathers - King, Dahlström, Mathis, Stein, Andersson - Jansson, Willis.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Starks, Benito, Connors, Little, Wellens - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

One of many good passes from Anders Andersson at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Anders Jansson, scoring for Wholesome to 1 - 0. The crowd was silenced in the 18:th minute as the visiting teams Gualtiero Spagnuolo came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. In the 23rd minute the home side managed to get a 2 - 1 lead as Scottie Gallagher flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. Anders Jansson increased Wholesomes lead to 3 - 1 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Wholesome lead up with 4 - 1. Bud Willis finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Halftime score was 4 - 1. Wholesome held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate.

In the 58:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Lyndon Franks dashed through, knocking home 5 - 1 for Wholesome. By now Wholesome were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Hippopotami breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score in the 68:th minute, but the home side´s defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left, rebounding off the crossbar. In the 70:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Anders Jansson dashed through, knocking home 6 - 1 for Wholesome. This third goal made a hat trick for Anders Jansson. In the 77:th minute Wholesomes Tom Dahlström received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 77:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Anders Jansson dashed through, knocking home 7 - 1 for Wholesome. Wholesome, bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Wholesome player was without a doubt Ramón King. However, Claude Mathis made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. However, Edwin Phelan made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 7 - 1.

(Lies, Damn Lies, and) Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Notes: They had a full 60K at the Creamy Nougat Center. Have I mentioned 5 times in the last couple match reports that I love that name?

Team Ratings

Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: magnificent (11)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: magnificent (11)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 69/75

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 59/64

Notes: I can't remember the last time I had an inadequate midfield. I suppose, one could make the point that if I hadn't PIC'd I might have even won this game- but I didn't expect his ratings to be nearly this low. Gotta love that attack on my side, tho: out-form-exc

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader **~
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Thomas Little (o) ***~
WI Pierre Wellens ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **

Total Stars: 36.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

Notes: A lot of people were playing a little worse than normal after the stamina update. Phelan is still in a slump and only got ** in the game. But, there's ample good news: UberTrainees(TM) Pierre Wellens and Thomas Little were both awesome with a *** and ***~ respectively. The future looks very bright for the Hippos. An 18yo ***~ from little- are you kidding me?!?

The Postgame Show

Game Summary
Well, I said it was going to hurt... And it did. At least we got a goal so it wasn't a shutout. In fact, we were tied 1-1 20 minutes in. That didn't last, tho. They racked up all those goals despite only getting possession of 54 and 56. Gualtiero had the only goal for the Hippos. Anders Jansson scored 4 against us.

Three Stars
I haven't been giving Starks enough love lately

Bronze: Mick Starks
He's out of his slump and back up to ***~ on offensive wing
Silver: Thomas Little
An 18yo with ***~ on the midfield
Gold: Gualtiero Spaguolo
His goal briefly tied the game and gave the illusion that we might hang close

Press Release
10/23/2003 at 23:20 Houston Crushed at Creamy Nougat Center
Houston, in an essentially meaningless game, PIC'd on the road and was destroyed by Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness. Anders Jansson scored 4 goals and the Hippos only scored 1 (Gualtiero Spagnuolo) as Houston was downed 7-1. A win in next week's game against The Champion locks up 4th place for the Hippos in their first season in Div IV.

Around the League
One suprisingly close game and two boring ones

Iowa Enforcers - zfan 5 - 0
Iowa got the walkover this week. Next week, they have a pretty easy game against Team Groomers. They have the edge on me in goal differential: -4 to 0 so I have to win next week because a draw won't do it.

Brooklyn United - Team Groomers 8 - 0
Following the two draws to Iowa and Houston and the close 2-1 win against Chock, Brooklyn has won their last three games by a combined score of 19-1. Next week, things will not be so easy against Kaishaku at home. Stephen Rumbold just missed a hat trick while Joaquin Otegi and Brian Mccloud had 2 goals, as well. The NSI difference in this game: 109-52. BTW, Brooklyn has taken the top spot in Div IV once again the past couple of weeks.

The Champion - Kaishaku F.C. 2 - 3
Kaishaku beat a very game Champion team who was up 2-0 at the 35 minute point. However, KFC scored in the 37th, 56th, and 65th minutes for the come from behind win. Kaishaku won the ratings battle 73 to 64 and stars 38.5 to 31.5.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 55 - 7 35 109

2. Kaishaku F.C. 39 - 13 33 73
3. Chock Full of Whole 44 - 24 25 77
4. Houston Hippopotami 31 - 35 19 64

5. Iowa Enforcers 26 - 26 17 9
6. The Champion 23 - 28 12 64

7. zfan 11 - 57 6 9
8. Team Groomers 15 - 56 4 52
Kaishaku goes to Brooklyn next week in the battle for the shot at promotion. I'm pulling for Brooklyn just to have him out of here. Chock is locked into 3rd and The Champion is locked into 6th. It's unlikely Team Groomers will beat Iowa next week so 7-8 will stay the same. Our game against The Champion will determine that final team that finishes in the money: If we win, we get 4th. If we lose or draw, Iowa takes 4th and we're staring at a qualification game.

Hatstats
Nope, still no stats- but since I'm almost caught up, we'll have some soon- I hope.

In Closing
FYI- this was the worst loss in Hippos history, eclipsing our 5 goal differential in the 5-0 loss to Kaishaku earlier this year. But you know what? I really don't care- this was all about getting ready for next week. The Champion comes to the 'drome for Fan Appreciation Day. We need a full crowd to help inspire the team to a victory and 4th place!

SI

Poli

10-29-2003, 07:06 AM

Originally posted by sterlingice
FOFC Cup
FOFC Cup Finals this week! Bees v Intercourse Ball Kickers

Intercourse Ball Kickers - Bees 1 - 5
ICBK could only muster a poor midfield to the Bees poor so mutual supporter ausonny wins his 2nd FOFC Cup in 4 season. I think I have my facts straight when I say that only the Bees and Gargs have won it. Congrats to all! This was a great FOFC Cup and I can't wait until next year. Hopefully my trainees will be getting at least a passable if not solid midfield by then.

SI [/B]

Incorrect, mon ami. The MoKan Mighty Bastards won FOFC Cup II.

I: Gargoyles
II: Mighty Bastards
III: Gargoyles
IV: Bees

vex

10-29-2003, 09:38 AM

I know I heard the same thing as SI, but then I remember getting beat out my MoKan.

sterlingice

10-29-2003, 04:49 PM

Cool- I wasn't sure so glad you guys could set that straight.

SI

Poli

10-29-2003, 09:34 PM

No problemo. I miss the statistical part of the dynasty, but understand that it is a lot of formatting. I don't mind reading the important stuff in a small paragraph instead.

sterlingice

11-02-2003, 09:09 PM

Pre-Game Analysis

Preview
I've changed up my friendlies a little. I decided that this late in the season, I not only want to be international but I also want to be going up against top teams. So, this week, we will be going to Iceland. Ok, so maybe it's not a tropical paradise but it certainly is exotic. There we will play Real Reykjavik who is in I.1 Island- the equivalent to our MLS. Realize, however, Island is only a small country and being 7th in I.1 puts him on par with my team. But he's still in a country's top series and that's just cool!

Prediction
Real has put up weak and inad midfields their last couple friendlies so this should be close. We tend to get weak on the road but maybe last week's stamina training will help that out. None of his other ratings really stand out except central defense which is pretty high. If we can get some pressure on the wings, we might win this. Real 3 Hippos 2.

Gameday Live
Date: 10/22/2003 at 15:30
MatchID: 9879358
Arena: Real Reykjavik Arena
Crowd: 2793

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Real Reykjavik Arena saw a crowd turnout of 2793. Reykjavik started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Grétarsson - Ranin, Huttunen, Rundmar - Frostendahl, Andreasson, Malecki, Guðjónsson, Angelini - Ehnlius, Adelskär.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Sánchez - Sánchez, Meek, Miquel - Teepen, Tryggvesson, Storm, Wellens, Starks - Solomon, Tizón.

Man, what a shot by Daniel Storm! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 0 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Herschel Meek got himself booked. In the games 12th minute Reykjavik´s Anders Adelskär fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Anders Adelskär for taking a dive. After 12 minutes Niklas Ehnlius got through on the right and was very close to equalising for the home side, but didn´t get the shot away. 0 - 1 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Reykjavik, with an impressive 51 percent possession of the ball.

Juan Miguel Tizón increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. A marvelous Reykjavik effort to the right resulted in a 52nd minute goal by Niklas Ehnlius, putting the score up to 1 - 2. 63 minutes into the game Niklas Ehnlius had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Knut Johansen. Marian Malecki seemed highly inexperienced when in the 64:th minute he was loitering with the ball, allowing Robert Tryggvesson to intercept and strike 1-3 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 69:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 1 - 4. Juan Miguel Tizón was noted down as the scorer. Reykjaviks Knut Johansen went wide in the 77:th minute, recieving a brilliant pass slicing through the visiting teams central defense line, putting the 2 - 4 goal away. This part of the game had been a standoff between the teams.

Reykjavik´s best player was Martin Andreasson. However, Pétur Björn Guðjónsson made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Mick Starks. Derrick Solomon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 4.

(Lies, Damn Lies, and) Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Notes: I'm kindof disappointed that only 2700 and change showed up but I guess if I had to live in Iceland, I wouldn't want to go outside into the cold either. If you're curious- I just went over to weather.com and the high tomorrow in Reykjavik is only a chilly 33. However, they'll be back up into the low 50s by the end of the week so it's not bitterly cold there yet. The weather conditions for our game were "fairly good".

Team Ratings

Real Reykjavik
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/57

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/49

Notes: That inad midfield matched our crappy output on the PIC during this week's fixture against Chock. We lost on pretty much every front but somehow still won the game. Strange.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **
DW Arcadio Sanchez **
DM Herchel Meek **~
DW Jose Maria Miguel **~
WI Koos Teepen ***
MI Pierre Wellens **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Daniel Storm ***
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Derrick Solomon *
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **~

Total Stars: 27.0
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: None

Notes: Storm has got to be close to bumping to formidable with *** today. This may have been Derrick Solomon's last game for the Hippos- he's expected to retire at the end of the season.

The Postgame Show

Game Summary
Storm scored in the first 10 minutes of the game but there was nothing else in the first half, as we went into halftime up 1-0 but losing possession 51-49. However, early in the second half, Tizon gave us a 2-0 lead and we pulled back. I always get that sinking feeling in my gut and, once again, it was justified as they knocked one home in the 52nd minute to cut our lead in half. However the scorer, Niklas Ehnlius was injured, and had to be replaced by Knut Johansen, who scored for them later in the game. But sandwiched inbetween their goals were goals by Tryggvesson and a second for Tizon and the Hippos leave Iceland a winner.

Three Stars
The goal scorers get the stars today

Bronze: Robert Tryggvesson
Got a goal today on the midfield
Silver: Daniel Storm
A *** on the midfield for the UberTrainee(TM) and a goal as well
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
A pair of goals which gave us leads of 2-0 and 4-1

Press Release
10/24/2003 at 12:14 Houston Hot In Iceland!
Houston got a big win on the Friendly Hippo World Tour, beating Real Reykjavik, a very formidable opponent and a member of Island's top series. Juan Miguel Tizon scored twice while Storm and Tryggvesson added one goal each and led the B Team UberTrainee(TM) midfield to it's first ever inadequate rating. Next week, the Hippos visit another tough team as they travel to play dada team, a club in Croatia's top series. Sunday is the last fixture of Season 20, Fan Appreciation Day at the 'drome.

In Closing
I'm really liking these international friendlies. I kindof wish I could have gotten more people at the game to make a little more profit but I'd rather play Div I teams who I actually have a shot at winning against than get an extra couple grand- I guess that's just me.

SI

sterlingice

11-02-2003, 11:16 PM

Training
After the awful week last week- everything turned around this week. Instead of having some slumping form, we got back on the right track. Instead of botching and having to do stamina, playmaking resulted in two bumps. Instead of an awful youth pull, we got someone who would sell.

It was about time- Daniel Storm bumped to formidable, giving us our second formidable ever. To show our gratitude, we put him on the market- sorry, but we have 1 trainee too many so Storm was the odd man out. The other bump, that was somewhat unexpected but shouldn't have been, was Thomas Little. He's now up to excellent playmaking to go along with his solid stamina and solid passing. Did I mention that he's 18, like Storm?

Future Training
One more week of playmaking then I suppose a pair of set pieces- we're going to be really good at penalty kicks. Stamina would be useless because I have to play starters and, as of right now, 9 of my starters have excellent stamina and the other 2 have solid. That should keep our form from taking too big of a hit (I hope).

Form
Starters: (+3) (-1)
Entire Team: (+5) (-6)

Starters Form
As odd as it sounds- this used to be the most time consuming part of the update so I took out the colors
Solid (or above): Benito (exc), Starks, Bush, Spagnuolo, Schrader
Passable: Connors, Meek, Kimber, Teepen, Cristiano
Inadequate: Phelan
Weak (or below): -none-

Phelan jumped out of his slump, going from poor to inad in a week! That's great!

Value
Starters: (+9) (-1)
Entire Team: (+13) (-7)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 10(+1)/16(+1)
Above $200K: 7(+0)/12(+2)
Above $300K: 4(+0)/4(+1)
Team Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($536K)
Non-Outfield Leader: Tim Kimber ($459K)
Milestones: Pierre Wellens ($200K)

Pierre Wellens broke the $200K mark this week and Thomas Little continues his meteoric rise: he's up to $397K after being below $250K just 3 weeks ago. FYI- the only starter who went down in value was Timber, but as long as he doesn't drop in form any more, I'm still happy. Another bookkeeping note: we gained a starter over $100K because Schrader was moved to the starting lineup since he's out of his form slump and Miguel was moved back to B Team. All but one of the starters is over $100K in value- the holdout is Elmer Bush at wingback and his $96K value. He's got great form but if Arcadio Sanchez would ever get out of his form slump and supplant Bush in the starting lineup, then we would have an all $100K value lineup.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 36068 (+$0)
Total Value: 4537000 (+174000)
Avg Value: 206277 (-1485)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 22 (+1)
Nationalities: 12 (NC)

Notes: The extra player is the youth pick who is on sale right now.

Youth Pull, Week 20.14
I stand corrected- last week's youth pull did sell. Bradley Brinson went to the aka boys in the Netherlands for $7K as he was a 17yo inad playmaker who was a pseudo clown. This weeks, however, is much better. I'd train Christopher Wilson except that he's too old (scary to say that about a 19yo): he's a solid playmaker with inad passing and stamina and weak wing and defending. Even in this depressed market, he should fetch $80K so that's what he's starting at.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 42
Youth Pull Grocers: 25 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 15 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 1139000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Christopher Wilson (17852743)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 122 000 US$
Wage: 1 160 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: wretched

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1509 members (+14)
Supporters: high on life (up from delirious)

Team Spirit: calm (down from content)
Confidence: strong (up from poor)

20.14 Week In Review

On the Field
Chock handed Houston the worst loss in team history, 7-1 at his place. I PIC'd and played some subs so it was expected. As for our friendly, we're now 1-0 against teams in top series of countries. Bring on billay and I'll kick Landfills ass! Ok, maybe not. But we went to Iceland and bet Real Reykjavik 4-2. We liked it so much, we'll be doing it again next week, going to play a team in Croatia's top league.

Off the Field
Two big bumps by a pair of UberTrainees(TM) as Storm goes to formidable playmaking and Little goes to excellent. Storm is now on the market at $950K, hoping to get a bite. If he doesn't, I'll put him up for $800K or $850K next week. Also got a good youth pull who should bring in $80K+ in Christopher Wilson.

SI

DukeRulesMAB

11-02-2003, 11:22 PM

Damn, Little is gonna be sweet, given some patience. I don't know which ones you plan on keeping long-term, but I'd certainly consider an excellent/solid/solid 18 YO.

sterlingice

11-02-2003, 11:46 PM

Originally posted by DukeRulesMAB
Damn, Little is gonna be sweet, given some patience. I don't know which ones you plan on keeping long-term, but I'd certainly consider an excellent/solid/solid 18 YO.

Little is certainly a keeper. Not only is he damn good, but he was a youth squad pull which means he's got sentimental value and also doesn't cost 20% more per week. I'm not sure what my middie training situation will be like, tho. I have Pierre Wellens training right now as a 17yo solid wing/solid playmaker and Tryggvesson who, like Storm, has no secondaries but is really close to bumping to formidable.

SI

sterlingice

11-03-2003, 01:09 AM

Pre-Game Analysis
This one's kindof for all the marbles in the sense that if we win, we get 4th. If we lose or draw, we will almost certainly have to play a qualification game. The Champion's not as good as us but he's been improving. Fortunately, we have him at the 'drome on Fan Appreciation Day. While we don't have a cool promotion like Sack Full o' Doorknobs or Jerome Bettis Bobbleheads or a Crawfish Sack Attachment (or whatever they hell they give away at the home of that sick crawfish), it's Hippos T-Shirt Day and also Autograph Day so every fan through the turnstiles will get a free shirt and all the Hippos will be hanging around the field for an hour or so before the game, signing autographs on said shirts (or whatever you want to bring).

Prediction
He's been putting up pretty good ratings of late. His midfield has improved from weak to solid in the past few games and he's starting to get excellents and formidables in his other ratings consistently. Still, we're a better team, should put up an excellent midfield and out-exc-exc offense and put that outstanding on his weak wing. If he PIC's to save up for the qualification game, we roll 6-1. If he normals or even MotS's, we pull out a 3-2 nailbiter.

Gameday Live
Date: 10/27/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 8327022
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 32000

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 32000 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Bush - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Teepen - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Champion tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Speer - Parrish, Somogyi, Landry - Anderson, Yang-Fen, Friedman, Ulpovaara, Cortes - Tryggvesson, Huda.

Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 2nd minute left Champion´s Achyar Huda completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The visitors Wayne Landry took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 13th minute. 0 - 2 for Champion. Carlos Alberto Benito had a good opportunity to reduce in the 21st minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 2. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 60 percent, dominated the battle.

A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Hippopotami´s Carlos Alberto Benito was able to shove the ball in. 1-2. Herschel Meek equalised for Hippopotami on a free kick carving through the defensive box making the score 2 - 2. In the 83rd minute cheers broke out as Edwin Phelan found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 3 - 2 goal in for Hippopotami. 84 minutes into the game Hippopotami were awarded a penalty that Herschel Meek turned into 4 - 2 without a problem. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 5 - 2. Edwin Phelan finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 66 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. However, Edwin Phelan made a disastrous appearance. Champion´s best player was Herkko Ulpovaara. However, Wayne Landry made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 2.

Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 20000/20000
Basic seats: 8000/8000
Seats under roof: 3200/3200
VIP seats: 800/800
Total: 32000/32000

Notes: Only our second sellout of the year. I'm hoping to change that next year. Either way, they were treated to a show.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: formidable (9)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/76

The Champion
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/68

Notes:Um- wow! Our first ever formidable midfield legitimately (i.e. not MotS). Also, our new team high NSI, eclipsing the 73 from two weeks ago. I guess if I really had to complain, I'm a little disappointed at the solid on that one side of the attack but that's because Phelan is still slightly in a form slump so we're splitting hairs. The Champion also had a great showing and will be a pretty tough team next season as they keep improving- formidable on 5 of the 6 non-midfields? Nice!

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader ***
DW Elmer Bush ***
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Herchel Meek (d) ***~
WI Koos Teepen ***
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 36.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Normal

Notes: The 36.5 ties our star high from the Brooklyn game and everyone got *** except Phelan. That's one of my early goals for the first half of next year: a game will everyone getting *** or higher. And look at Benito! The rating of ****~ is a Hippo first! That's as good as any middie in IV.21 who doesn't play for Brooklyn.

The Postgame Show
Anxious times in chat- we just didn't come out on fire like I expected. The team is quite adept at scoring the early goal but instead, Achyar Huda scored 2 minutes in to make it 1-0 for The Champion. In the 13th minute, Wayne Landry snuck it by a confused Timber and the goalie's costly mental error put us down 2-0. Benito missed the only chance we had in the first half and we were down 2-0 at the half despite 60% possession.

In the second half, nothing happened: 5 minutes in. 10 minutes in. 15 minutes in. 20 minutes in. 25 minutes in. 30 minutes in. With 15 minutes left in the game, nothing had happened in the second half: no events at all. I figured with 60% possession, I was bound to get my chances but where were they? Then, out of nowhere, a corner kick goes in as Carlos Alberto Benito "was able to shove the ball in" and we cut the lead to 2-1. However, there were only 10 minutes left. Then Herchel Meek once again showed that leadership from the last few games as he scored his 8th goal in the last 6 fixtures (the rest of the Hippos combined only have 4) and he tied the game 2-2 in the 81st minute. Phelan scored to give the Hippos the lead in the 83rd minute followed. Lastly, Meek's and Phelan's second goals in the 84th and 86th minute to gave the Hippos a 5-2 win.

It was a different type of nailbiter than I expected but the boys really showed something today in pulling the game out. In the darkest moments, they were able to pull the game out and claim 4th place. The offense exploded in the last 15 minutes of the game turning a 2-0 loss into a 5-2 win. Meek has made a huge push in the second half for MVP at the awards banquet.

Three Stars
All three really deserved gold today

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Just missed a goal in the first half, scored the goal that got it all started, and put up the first ever ****~ for the Hippos
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Scored the game winning goal and an insurance goal
Gold: Herschel Meek
Scored the tying goal when things looked bleak and added insurance

Press Release
10/27/2003 at 03:15 Late Scoring Blitz Buries The Champion, Gets Hippos 4th!
With 15 minutes left in the game, the Hippos were staring at a 2-0 deficit and a qualification game. However, Carlos Alberto Benito, who got Houston's first ever 4.5 star game, scored to get the Hippos started. Then, the floodgates opened up as Meek and Phelan both scored a pair of goals, giving the Hippos a 5-2 win and fourth place in their first season in Div IV. Houston also put up their first ever formidable midfield, delighting a full crowd at the Hippodrome on Fan Appreciation Day.

Around the League
The battle for first...

zfan - Chock Full of Wholesome Goodness 0 - 5
When the season started, this looked like a big game among the top 4. Instead, Chock gets its walkover to end the year. Bummer. As a side note, Chock had the two leading scorers in the series with Anders Jansson's 18 goals and Bud Willis's 12.

Team Groomers - Iowa Enforcers 0 - 3
Iowa won, as expected, making it so that we had to win. I'm not sure, but they might have PIC'd, saving up for next week's qualfication game (and they have a familiar foe- see below).

Kaishaku F.C. - Brooklyn United 1 - 2
Brooklyn won the defensive struggle of magnificent versus brilliant midfields to take home the IV.21 crown and go back to Div III. They took a 2-0 lead in the first half and had to hold on as Kaishaku scored in the 67th minute but missed on chances in the 51st and 73rd minutes. Brooklyn won the NSI battle handily 108-82.

League Standings

N Team Goals Pts NSI
1. Brooklyn United 57 - 8 38 108

2. Kaishaku F.C. 40 - 15 33 82
3. Chock Full of Whole 49 - 24 28 9
4. Houston Hippopotami 36 - 37 22 76

5. Iowa Enforcers 29 - 26 20 74
6. The Champion 25 - 33 12 68

7. zfan 11 - 62 6 9
8. Team Groomers 15 - 57 4 55
Here's the final standings! Our win was indeeed necessary for us to retain 4th as we only finished 2 points up and with a -1 goal differential to Iowa's +3. Brooklyn's win over Kaishaku will get them back in Div III. Team Groomers wasn't quite up with the rest of the teams in IV.21 and I wish them well. They and the computer controlled zfan will auto demote. By the looks of this, there will be 3 groups next season: Kaishaku, Chock, and the Div III relegee will battle for promotion. Iowa, The Champion, and myself will again be battling for 4-6 (provided they win their qualification games). Finally, the Div V promotees could be out of their league or be another contender for that 4-6 spots.

Hatstats
And now for a special Qualification Edition of Hatstats! Since I haven't done it in a couple of weeks, it's time for a hatstats overload: a couple of paragraphs on my series, some FOFC notes, and a couple more paragraphs on the series for next season.

Brooklyn, once again was tops in all of Div IV with his 108 being 6 points better than the second highest Div IV team. We're still hanging around in the 20s for series strength because of zfan and the forfeits (hey, that sounds like a band). However, if you only put in a 50 for zfan and Chock's usual 80, we're suddenly in the top 5.

Back to some of the stuff from earlier in the match report, The Champion has been getting tougher: 4 of his last 5 scores (I ommitted a game he threw against Brooklyn) are 68, 63, 64, and 68 and he's put up 15.5 or 15.0 stars on the midfield 4 of his last 5 games. Unfortunately, he had some brutal competition, drawing Iowa and losing to Chock, Brooklyn, Kaishaku, and myself so it didn't show up in the standings. For comparision, the last 7 weeks (i.e. the second half of the season), we've gotten 17 to 18.5 stars on the midfield except for the PIC walkover. We may be surpassing Iowa as he has only gotten 16.0 or 16.5.

Daed has been playing dirty, dirty ball the last couple of weeks as he is the most misunderstood team in all of Div IV with 1 red and 19 yellows. The goldurnears and Gargs are at 11 and 31 while seriesmate Iowa is at 32. While the Calibiri can dish it out, they can't take it back. He's 8th for most fragile teams with 4 injuries spanning 8 weeks. That distinction earns him the injury-card double-double and should serve as an example to everyone: if you play rough with other people's players, they probably will return it. Oh, and in case you didn't see: IV.61 averaged 80.3 NSI last week. Boy, that would be an unpleasant series to be in and even more impressive is that The X-Ecutioners ran through that series going 13-0-1 with a 53-7 goal differential.

Looks like the two autopromoting into IV.21 won't be so tough as last year- they get upper 50s in the ratings. The Golden Beers won V.216 and Digital Nova won V.160. Certainly not the same type of talent as last season when The Champion and myself got autopromoted in while Iowa won a qualification game. We didn't get so lucky on the other side of things- while Brooklyn is promoting out (good riddance! he's good guy but very tough), The Oompa-Loompas will be coming to Div IV- they put up ratings in the upper 80s to low 90s instead of Brooklyns upper 90s to low 100s. His strength is defense but his midfield is "only" excellent and formidable instead of Brooklyn's magnificents his last 3 weeks (home and away).

Finally, the qualification games involve The Champion and Iowa. The Champion gets Full Flanull from V.183 but they should dispatch them with relative easy. Lastly, I expected Iowa would get someone they could walk all over. Well, they get ausonny's Bees. That's definitely not an easy task! The Bees put up upper 60s to low 70s just like Iowa. However, Iowa gets the home game so they have the edge.

For the curious, CC's Dragons, who we battle tooth and nail with last season in V.62, they did pretty good this year after we left. They "only" collected all 42 points and outscored the series 80-1! Yes, 80-1! They were the 6th highest team to promote, going into IV.31, home of the South Bay Saints. Even more impressive is that he did that in a series (V.62) which was in the top 20 series for Div V all year.

In Closing
A thrilling comeback was a great way to end the regular season. We get to sit back and relax next weekend and I suppose there are worse ways to spend qualification weekend, namely losing. We have 2 more friendlies this season, going to Hrvatska this week and then hosing Doug and the Cyclone's rivalry week. It's probably good there's not much else here as I think that was the longest match report I've ever written. :D

SI

sterlingice

11-03-2003, 04:44 AM

Pre-Game Analysis
One last friendly of the year, this time to Hrvatska and a top division team there: dada team is in 1.HNL in Croatia. Since Storm bumped, he'll be at wing as we try and sell him. Wellens and Little will be in the midfield along with Tryggvesson: this might actually be an improvement over last week's inadequate. As I suspected, last week was Derrick Solomon's final game as a Hippo unless an injury occurs. We'll definitely have a jersey retiring ceremony at a game next season.

Prediction
They tend to put up a passable midfield and solids and excellents elsewhere. We should probably not be playing them but it makes for a good challenge. We might even be able to hang with them if we get that inadequate midfield from last week. Still, they're better: a 4-2 loss.

Gameday Live
Date: 10/29/2003 at 08:45
MatchID: 9939617
Arena: lahovica stadion
Crowd: 3311

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 3311 to lahovica stadion. dada had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Svandahl - Askenmar, Vale Junior, Nilsson - Blánquez Pérez, Danièiæ, Nevešæanin, Heinen, Vinterland - Jozic, Roland.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Bush, Miquel, Sánchez - Storm, Tryggvesson, Wellens, Little, Teepen - Tizón, Phelan.

dada seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Hippopotami had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 17:th minute when Juan Miguel Tizón came up alone against Magnus Svandahl who managed a block. Daniel Storm of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 25:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hippopotami had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Magnus Svandahl saved Edwin Phelan´s shot headed for the top corner. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

The terraces were silenced in the 59:th minute as Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack from the right. Phillipe Roland pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, in the 60:th minute, wove through the guests whole central defense line and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. After 77 minutes Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, dada´s Robin Heinen got himself booked. The visitors Robert Tryggvesson took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 79:th minute. 1 - 3 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 65 percent possession rate.

Most important dada player was Jan Askenmar. Robin Heinen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Thomas Little. Arcadio Sánchez on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 3.

Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000

Notes: Another smaller than expected crowd: only 3311. Still, more than enough to offset the travel expenses.

Team Ratings

dada team
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/57

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 47/52

Notes: Quite a few things of note here. First, this was his typical outing except normally he puts up a passable instead of weak midfield- I wonder what was up with that. Second, that's our first ever 50 for our B Team. Third, this is one of those games where I got beat on the NSI and still won through some fluke.

Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DM Elmer Bush ***
DW Jose Maria Miguel **~
DW Arcadio Sanchez *~
WI Daniel Storm (m) **~
MI Thomas Little ***~
MI Pierre Wellens (x) **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson **~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **

Total Stars: 28.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: None

Notes: Another B Team high- this one in stars. Little continues to amaze me at how quick he's progressing. Teepen also got a ***~ when I accidentall- I mean, when Coach Braden saw his offensive prowess and played him offensively. I'm going to have to try that. Arcadio Sanchez is still in a big slump, only getting *~ despite being a pass/solid wingback with inad experience.

The Postgame Show
Their three star goalie, Magnus Svandahl, saved a pair of shots in the first half, the only two scoring events. Tizon scored in the 59th minute but then they answered in the 60th. But then Tizon scored again in the 77th minute to give us the lead and Tryggvesson scored in the 79th minute, sending the 4 Hippo fans that traveled to Croatia back happy.

Three Stars
Two of the three are repeats from last week

Bronze: Koos Teepen
Got ***~ out on the wings for his first time
Silver: Robert Tryggvesson
Scored a goal for the second week in a row
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizon
Scored a pair for the second week in a row including the game winner

Press Release
11/3/2003 at 04:24 Hippos a Hit in Hrvatska
For the second straight week, the Hippos went on the road and won against a top league opponent. Also, like last week, Juan Miguel Tizon scored a pair as Houston came away from Croatia with a 3-1 win against dada team, who is in 1.HNL. This concludes the Friendly Hippo World Tour with Houston going 5-1 in international play.

Next week is rivalry week and Houston gets their first home friendly in weeks as reciprocal supporter Doug5984 brings his Louisiana Cyclones to visit the Hippodrome.

Friendly Hippo World Tour(TM) Wrapup
Six weeks ago, we hit the road with the intent to get some extra experience with an away game or two. But once it started, it sounded like a good idea to spend the rest of the season on the road visiting different locations. $36K in travel expenses and 4 continents later (NAmer/Aus/Eur/Asia), the Hippos had visited Canada, Oceania, Prathet Thai, Israel, Island, and Hrvatska. We went 5-1 including wins against two top league teams.

Next year, I'm going to try and do the Hippos Baltic Cup at some point, hitting Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania now that all three have leagues. Now, my goal is to visit as many countries as possible before I stop playing hattrick and spread the gospel of the run-and-shoot. :D

In Closing
A great way to end the season! Next week, we have the rivalry game against Louisiana in the inbetween week. Training update then Louisiana game and then awards. Eventually, I'll have a post to a new thread and hopefully I won't take 4 weeks to get caught up and be behind all season. Lastly- check out the FAQ thread on the Hattrick board! I'm reviving the FAQ and anything you want included- post it there and it will likely get in there.

SI

Havok

11-03-2003, 05:27 AM

writers block no more!

sterlingice

11-03-2003, 06:21 AM

Training
We got a minor bump this week as 29yo winger Koos Teepen bumped to solid playmaking to go along with his solid playmaking, stamina and excellent set pieces. HAM lists Mick Starks at 150% of training at playmaking with no bump. Also, I noticed I mixed some of last week's report in with this weeks so if stats seem repetitive in places, they probably are.

Future Training
Two set pieces weeks this offseason.

Form
Starters: (+1) (-1)
Entire Team: (+3) (-3)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Benito, Starks, Bush, Spagnuolo, Schrader
Passable: Connors, Meek, Kimber, Teepen, Cristiano, Phelan
Inadequate: -none-
Weak (or below): -none-

Phelan's back out of his mini slump and everyone is passable or solid. Too bad it's the offseason so it won't last.

Value
Starters: (+9) (-1)
Entire Team: (+13) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 10(+0)/14(-2)
Above $200K: 7(+0)/4(-1)
Above $300K: 4(+0)/5(+1)
Team Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($554K)
Non-Outfield Leader: Tim Kimber ($490K)
Milestones: -none-

Storm was sold so that accounts for the $200K guy who left while last week's youth pull was the other $100K guy. I can't track down the milestone for $300K but I think I just left it off a couple of weeks ago when Little bumped.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 34868 (-$1200)
Total Value: 4421000 (-116000)
Avg Value: 210524 (+4247)
Avg Age: 23 (NC)
Avg Form: passable (NC)
Avg Experience: poor (NC)
No of players: 21 (-1)
Nationalities: 11 (-1)

Notes: Again, the player lost was Storm.

Youth Pull, Week 20.15
Good money from last week's youth pull: after a mini bidding war, Sverige Div VI team Killing all-stars bought him for $155K. He has no history of daytrading but he turned back around and is trying to sell him for $250. I doubt he's going to get that. This week's youth pull is Ronald Johsnon. He's an 18yo with passable stamina and passable playmaking. I'll put him up for $30K and see if he sells. If not, he'll get relisted at $10K and let a bidding war happen.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 43
Youth Pull Grocers: 25 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 16 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+0)
Total Sold for: 1294000 (+155000)

Youth Pull
Ronald Johnson (20113145)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Assessed value: 62 000 US$
Wage: 800 US$/week

Stamina: passable Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: weak

Conditions

Youth Squad: excellent (max)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: dancing in the streets (NC)
Supporter Club: 1531 members (+22)
Supporters: high on life (NC)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: strong (NC)

20.15 Week In Review

On the Field
In dramatic come-from-behind fashion, we scored 5 goals in the final 15 minutes of the game to turn a 2-0 loss into a 5-2 win and clinch 4th place. Meek and Phelan both had 2 goals. In our friendly, we concluded the Friendly Hippo World Tour, winning 3-1 against dada team from the top series in Hrvatska.

Off the Field
Huge news as we put UberTrainee(TM) Daniel Storm up for sale. He didn't sell at $950K but we got a bite at $850K from Olongapo-Metro FC Head Hunters who just promoted into the Philippine League, the top league in the Philippines. He also won the cup last season. Veteran winger Koos Teepen popped to solid playmaking and our youth pull will sell for a modest sum.

SI

sterlingice

11-03-2003, 06:22 AM

Finally
I'm caught up and it only took the entire season :rolleyes:

Next season, I'm hoping to be more on top of things. I suppose that wouldn't take much.

So, anyways, right now I'm looking to possibly sell Meek if anyone will actually jump on him at over $200K. I'm kindof split- I'd like to keep him another year- he'd always put up 3.5 to 4.0 stars but with Little progressing so quickly, he puts up 3.5 stars now and it would free up another trainee spot if I promoted him to the A Team.

The one problem is that it will weaken my team temporarily and next season will start pretty rough with @Chock, vs Iowa, @TheChampion, and vsOompah (the Div III relegee) to start the season. There's not an easy game there, tho I might want to PIC against Chock, eat the loss and start the season off right. I'll worry about that as the game gets a little closer. The one handy thing is that the middle of my schedule is pretty cushy with the 2 promotees giving me 4 pretty winnable games and Kaishaku is the only nasty team in that stretch.

Anyways, as much as I'd love to do a "Where are they now"- it's just not possible at the moment because of school this week. But I'll get the Awards Banquet post up this weekend.

SI

sterlingice

11-04-2003, 07:24 AM

The Die Has Been Cast
As of this morning, Herschel Meek has been sold for to a team in, where else, Sverige. Meek was a 28yo unpredictable middie who got us 3.5 to 4.0 stars per game and helped power our midfield this year. However, with the quick progress of 18yo UberTrainee(TM) Thomas Little, Meek's time was up in Houston. He was purchased last offseason as a stopgap measure until the UberTrainees were ready and his veteran leadership helped the team greatly down the stretch as he scored 9 of the last 15 goals this season. He understood that if he stayed, it would be in a greatly diminished role and chose instead, when management approached him, to go to another team and help them in a greater capacity. He was purchased for under $130K and sold for $286K.

Next season, the Hippos will possibly play both wings and midfielders offensive for the first time (with the extra middie staying back, of course). This also means, we'll be in the market for a new UberTrainee(TM) as Little joins the starting ranks. That $1.5M sitting in the bank, primarily from the sales of Daniel Storm and Meek, will certainly come in handy.

SI

sterlingice

11-06-2003, 01:44 AM

Pre-Game Analysis
It's rivalry week and we will be hitting up our third of five mutual supporters for a rivarly game, Doug5984's Louisiana Cyclones. Two seasons ago, Morrisville beat us 4-2 under clouds. Last season, we beat ausonny's Bees 1-0 (who just missed out on joining IV.21 when Iowa beat them last week) in the rain. This week, more rain. We'll be trotting out our "new look" starting lineup for next season with Little now on the A Team at offensive middie, Koos Teepen now playing offensive wing, and Arcadio Sanchez at wingback (even with his form slump).

Prediction
We're putting out our starters which means I'll be putting up a 75ish NSI and either a solid or excellent midfield. He'll be putting up 70-75 but only an inad midfield. Midfield trumps defense: 3-1 Hippos.

Gameday Live
Date: 11/6/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 10002275
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1306

Due to an all-day shower, 1306 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Sánchez - Teepen, Benito, Connors, Little, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Louisiana had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Hendrix - Stubblefield, Rusu, Blalock, Rusu, Moore - Crespo, Kumar, Oskarsson - Tunna, Pedrosa Garcia.

Hippopotami seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Louisiana clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could, using their excellent talent for it. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Koos Teepen somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Mick Starks who struck for 1 - 0. Hippopotami put their lead ahead another goal as Gualtiero Spagnuolo struck home the 2 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. Gualtiero Spagnuolo should probably have put his team up another goal in the 14:th minute, but some great goaltending by Tracy Hendrix kept the visitors in the game. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Thomas Little putting the lead up to 3 - 0. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 79 percent possession rate.

Louisiana seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 0 when Thomas Little broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. Hippopotami put themselves up 5 - 0 when Carlos Alberto Benito broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. Tracy Hendrix was caught napping a bit later as Clement Schrader lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 85 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. Arcadio Sánchez on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Louisiana player was without a doubt Cody Stubblefield. However, Sebastian Rusu made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 0.

Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 838/20000
Basic seats: 292/8000
Seats under roof: 125/3200
VIP seats: 51/800
Total: 1306/32000

Notes: Too bad for the rain- we would have had a pretty big crowd, otherwise. Only made about $4K.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/73

Louisiana Cyclones
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: supernatural (14)
Left Side Defence: supernatural (14)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/64

Notes: I think our midfield is just fine with Little in there. An excellent even with both middies and wings playing offensive. Our defense needs a little help now with no one playing back but we'll see how this season progresses. But, of course, the big story is that our offense was outstanding across the front!

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader ***
DW Arcadio Sanchez *~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***~
MI Thomas Little (o) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 36.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: Attack in the Middle

Notes: Benito follows up his ****~ last week with another ****~ today. Connors, Teepen, Starks, Little, Timber, and Spagnuolo all got ***~ so that makes 7 with ***~ or higher. Phelan is still hanging out around **~ and Arcadio Sanchez is still in a brutal form slump.

The Postgame Show
With the huge midfield advantage, we got 79% possession in the first half and 85% in the second half. the Cyclones never had an event. The only mention of one of their players was Tracy Hendrix who made a save in the first half and then was caught napping in the second half but Clement Schrader's shot hit off the crossbar. Mick Starks scored the first goal and Gualtiero Spagnuolo scored the second before the game was 10 minutes old. Thomas Little scored one before the half and one after the half and Benito scored the last goal as we won 5-0.

Three Stars
Sure Kimber pitched the shutout but the offense was the star

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Another ****~ and a goal
Silver: Mick Starks
Scored the first goal of the game which turned out to be the game winner
Gold: Thomas Little
A pair of goals and an excellent midfield show I have little to worry about with him in the middle

Press Release
11/6/2003 at 08:40 Hippos beat Cyclones for Rivalry Week Win
UberTrainee(TM) turned starter Thomas Little scored twice and Timber pitched a shutout as the Hippos shut out reciprocal supporter Louisiana Cyclones in their rivalry week game. Coach Braden's unpopular decision to sell Herchel Meek and elevate Thomas Little to starter has proven to be the right decision for now as all attacks were outstanding and midfield was excellent. However, the defense suffered without Meek helping out and Braden will have to answer this problem in the coming weeks.

In Closing
I'm trying to figure out where I most need to spend the $1.5M in cash I have. I need a trainee but I'm not sure how much I want to spend on that and until I figure that out next week, I won't know where else I plan on improving my team. For our Cup game next week, we will play the Mississippi Samurais (Mississippi... Samurais...?) from VI.389, a computer controlled team.

SI