IHOF: Maassluis Merchantmen
 

First, I'm not sure wheter I will be updating regularly, but I'll try to do an update after the stages.

I won't give too much details on stages that are yet to come, since my rivals could read this, even knowing I'm the laughing stock of the league at the start.

Note that we are a little bit further in progress the this post suggests, some teams have made big roster changes, like Tucker Tigers, to become playoff contenders now.


Foreword
Well, I haven’t written a FOF dynasty in a long time and basically it all has to do with we not upgrading from FOF2 to a newer version. Well, with some French help, that has changed and the MIJB returns with a new dynasty. And this dynasty won’t be a normal dynasty, this story will tell about my first game in FOF2004 and it’s my first multi player experience as well.

Prologue
It was about three months ago, or maybe longer – or shorter, I can’t remember that well – I was asked by the International House of Football to become general manager – and basically owner as well – of one of the thirty-two teams to play in this new football league.
As the teams and owners were getting shape, it was my goal to find a location and team name for my team. Thinking over the success of my fantasy football team – the Maassluis Anglers – I decided not to pollute the good name and pick up a tourist like dictionary to find the proper nicknames.
Sparing the details of my brain cramps of finding a proper nickname, eventually the Maassluis Merchantmen rolled out of my head as a winner. For those interested, Maassluis is my hometown and the Merchantmen nickname is supposed to refer to the golden ages of the Netherlands, the time Dutch “pirates” explored the world by ships and colonized places like New York, Cape Town and Indonesia.
With the name in place and the division taking shape, the league was about to start and it was time for me to analyze the opposition division wide, conference wide and league wide.

My sidekicks
Well, I'll do not much detail on them yet, especially since I haven't had the option to hire them myself.
You'll have to believe me that my team has a head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and a lead scout.

Divisional Alignment
The Merchantmen are placed in the European division of the Atlantic Ocean Conference (AFC). We face the French teams from Paris (the Musketeers) and Bordeaux (the Vineyard), respectively run by Darkiller and Alf, and a team located in the Swedish city Göteborg – the Gothenborg Giants – run by 3ric. Notice that these four teams are the only teams from oustide of the United States of America.
The other division in the AFC are the Northeast, the Southeast and Deep South. Obviously familiar faces run these teams, but to me the most fun can probably be found in facing the Orlando Knights, managed by Dutch.
In the other conference, the North American Conference (NFC), teams are divided into the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Atlantic Coast and West divisions. Personally, I’m looking forward to the year when my team meets the team in the Mid-Atlantic division, as all the owners there bring up various sentiments.
For your interest, the conference names where my suggetion and they seemed to have enough support to become the official names, go me!

League Draft Instructions
Without much of a discussion, almost unanimously the league owners voted to have a preference draft, meaning the lead scouts will meet some day and do the drafting for the initial 53-men rosters. Of course, these scouts will go there with instructions, and so will my lead scout.
I haven’t quite made up a plan to build up my team, yet I decided to instruct my scout to focus on player potential, primarily draft offensive linemen, focus players who do better in the running game and build the defense around linebackers and a decent secondary.

League Draft Result
After a huge blunder, I found out I sent my scout out with preferences being the opposite of what I want him to come home with. Oh well, some instructions did work out as planned: my defense is run defense, and the roster is young. What does amaze me is the low intelligence and high loyalty around the roster. Besides that, the receivers corpse has turned out to be amongst the top 5 in the league, but in about 7 positions we’re the league’s worst. Did I mention the high number of popular players?
Going through the roster, a few players jump out:
Justin McDavid, one of three rookie QBs, who might turn out to be a 2nd RB, he is the expected starter
Randy Harris, our RB, potentially a top dog if used properly, which he likely won’t
Vincent Lopez, FB, leader of the offense and amongst the best FB in the league
Frederic Vargas, WR, tied for the league’s fastest men, receiver’s leader and one of the top 20 WR league-wide
Charles Gomez, DT, our first round pick, the projected anchorman on our defense for the coming 6 seasons
Harold Wells, DE, potentially a top pass rusher, or maybe he’s an all round DE, only time will tell
Cody Cluff, LB, the guy behind the line, he might make a profit out of the DL and score 100 tackles a year
Percy Francis, S, our free safety and leader of the secondary, just another fan favorite who should boost the D

The more I look at the players, the better I manage to cope with the disastrous draft. With Harris and Lopez coming from behind our terrible offensive line, our chances are slim, yet our receivers might be good enough to get up field on passing plays, hoping McDavid isn’t sacked ten times a game.
The defensive front could be able to stop the run at times, though with our terrible secondary, receivers will run around us.
I’m looking forward to this opportunity to get this team started in this league. If I can keep the talented players around for the coming 5 seasons, we might have a shot at the playoffs in a year or 3 and who knows what?
Realistically, I spread the word around the league that my team will be serious contenders for the first pick in the 2005 draft, meaning perhaps two of my European friends in this division might have a shot at reaching the playoffs.
Other than this, I’m interested in the big question how the players of my team (and the opposition) will cope with trips of 3000 miles for a single road game, sometimes at places where the clock is 8 hours ahead or behind.

Divisional Rivals
The Bordeaux Vineyards are said to have a quality secondary and a decent defensive line, at least that’s what my lead scout writes. Other then that, they have a team with potential rather then experience and an offense led by QB Joe Johnson and his close friend and RB Mike Marcano.
The Paris Musketeers are anchored by an amazing offensive line, arguably the best in the league and have a veteran QB in 35yo interceptions throwing Fabian Parker with a nice set of receivers. The defense shouldn’t be a worry, except the secondary with only average starters.
Gothenburg Goblins is led by 36yo RB Jerry McGee and has a young QB in Duane Davis, who’s weakness is his inability to read defenses, but lacks an offensive line to support them well. The charm of the team is the secondary, which is boosted by a bunch of gifted linebackers.

Remaining Teams
With 32 teams, it's hard to evaluate all teams very well, especially since this is before the additional free agency before the exhibition games start. Following is a rundown of the 28 teams outside of Europe, order alphabetically by location.
Anaheim has a talented OL, anchored by standout FB Cole Coleman, and a 37yo QB in Richard Mahon.
Ann Arbor basically has a secondary, some linebackers and QB Donald Woods, but no league super stars.
Asheville has league star LT Vince Taylor, but other then the OL there are only young players.
Astoria is a team with a good OL with extremely talented RB Billy Jamerson running from behind them.
Boston combined a great 3-man DL, anchored by all earth Jose Carrington, with talents at several positions.
Boulder has a DL, two talented CB, but furthermore only young players needing time to get better.
Brooklyn sees rookie RB Monty Avert, taught by FB Randy Saavedra, as their top guy on a young roster.
Chesapeake has the league’s top QB in Jamie Canter and a quality defense run by a LB trio of average age.
Columbus is loaded with decency, only surpassed by some OL and RB Gerald Harris.
Conyers luckily drafted NT Barton Garcia to anchor a 3-4 defense, while Everett Glenn is their franchise QB.
Fairbainks leans on receivers with skill, fed by QB Joey Allen, while the defense is build on a good secondary.
Fort Worth focuses on their OL and secondary, where CB Preston Quezada stands out.
Frederick invested in the future, though middle-aged LTs Dan Koehler and Christopher Perdomo jump out a bit.
Georgia leans on a quality front seven, hoping that RB Joseph Schoen “Joe the Shoe” will anchor the offense.
Leesburg has old DTs Barrett Yancy and Jim Ransom, while LT Jonathan Svoboda’s ego tears the offense apart.
Minnesota has rookie QB Richard Stewart, a quality secondary and DT Walt Spangler to spank to opposition.
North Plainfield is a team of the future, led by top25 fastest CBs Mel Mueller, Scott Benge and Jimmy Sprawn.
Orlando combine an excellent OL with great receivers to make average QB Wayne Christopherson look good.
Outer Banks lacks potential talents and only has some above average OL to get G Richard Osorio noticed.
RayCo is a contender with a good defense, RB Rodger Howery and 37yo QB Brian Hartsock leading the team.
Rochester went for a future-is-more-important approach, with rookie QB Jackie Williamson as their captain.
San Antonio mixes a great OL with a good secondary and QB in John McMasters, but forget their front seven.
San Luis Obispo is a contender, with a tough front seven, if RB Phil Dorsett and QB Victor Whyte stop fighting.
Springfield sees RB Huey Gervais running behind a good OL, while the defense could stop any offense any day.
Stillwater has 38yo QB Norm Rizzo to combine a good front seven with some firepower on offense for one year.
Syracuse is a team with potential when QB Brent Peterman, his receivers and the secondary start maturing.
Tucker has the leading OL duo with Ron Pereza and #1 pick Mervin Pollock, yet the others need time to grow.
Vicksburg managed to get a fine DL, a quality RB with Edward Stelly and troubles on the OL and the secondary.

As I can see at this point, there are so many teams with issues in the league. It makes me think the team to win the first IHOF title will come from a group of seven favorites containing Ann Arbor, Chesapeake, Paris, Springfield and three teams from the Southeast division being Conyers, Georgia and Orlando.

Our Schedule
Our regular season starts at North Plainfield Plague and then we move back to Europe for our first set of divisional games at Paris Musketeers and in Maassluis against Gothenburg Giants. Our season starts with 3 home games in the top 8, but in the following 7 weeks we’ll only travel to relative nearby Gothenburg, finishing it all off with games at San Antonio and RayCo.
Of the top 7 teams I can oversee, we’ll have a tough month of November coming up with games at home against Conyers, Paris and Ann Arbor in weeks 9, 11 and 12. These are the only games against these top teams, except our week 2 divisional starter in Paris.

Team Names, Owners, Locations, Divisions and Coferences
Atlantic Ocean Footbal Conference
Northeast (North)
Chubby Syracuse, NY Syracuse Mohawks
cthomer5000 North Plainfield, NJ North Plainfield Plague
Kodos Rochester, NY Rochester Lake Monsters
primelord Boston, MA Boston Rhinos
Southeast (east)
Celeval Atlanta, GA Georgia Gridlock
KWhit Conyers, GA Conyers Condors
SkyDog Tucker, GA Tucker Tigers
Dutch Orlando, FL Orlando Knights
Deep South (south)
Buzzbee Vicksburg, Miss Vicksburg Vipers
HornedFrogPurple Fort Worth, TX Fort Worth Fury
Senator San Antonio, TX San Antonio Volunteers
TroyF Stillwater, OK Stillwater Dynamite
European (west)
3ric Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg Giants
Alf Bordeaux, France Bordeaux Vineyards
Darkiller Paris, France Paris Musketeers
MIJB#19 Maassluis, Netherlands Maassluis Merchantmen
North American Football Conference
Midwest (north)
Daimyo Columbus, IN Columbus Architects
FBPro Tennessee RayCo Raiders
mckerney Minnesota Minnesota Miners
Solecismic Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor Anachronism
Mid-Atlantic (east)
cuervo72 Frederick, MD Frederick Red Menace
Hell Atlantic Astoria, NY Astoria Heroes
QuikSand Cheasapeake, MD Chesapeake Chitterlings
SackAttack Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Fightin' Bums
Atlantic Coast (south)
Samdari Springfield, VA Springfield Isotopes
Subby Leesburg, VA Leesburg Generals
Vegas Vic Asheville, NC Asheville Axemen
WSUCougar Nag's Head, NC Outer Banks Osprey
West (west)
albionmoonlight Fairbanks, AK Fairbanks Northstars
Blackadar Boulder, CO Boulder Bulldogs
Chief Rum Anaheim, CA Anaheim Matterhorns
Vince San Luis Obispo, CA San Luis Obispo Burn

Pre Season Update
A small update, the Merchantmen have won bidding wars on 9 free agents, meaning we might improve our OL, secondary and returning game a little bit.
Further more, the key players WR Vargas, RB Harris, QB McDavid and MLB Cluff rejected initial contract extensions from 1-year deals to multiyear deals.

And, behind the scenes, the Merchantmen front office is busy with trade talks to improve the secondary and OL a bit more, but we can asure none of the mentioned key players will be traded.
The Merchantmen managament will not comment on the rumors that there are negotiations going on with aliens.

Season start
The season is about to start next week with the exhibition season, so the management hopes to improve the team in time to make sure the first season won't turn out to be an 0-16 season.

Other news
One of the IHOF teams publiced divisional previews in the IHOF Sports Journal, marking the Merchantmen as potential punchbags, to go 2-14 for the season. The journalist in question marked the game against the Rochester Lake Monsters as the crucial "Who will pick #1 in the 2005 draft?"-game.

Last but not least
The management announced the stadium name, the Maassluis Merchantmen will be playing their home games in "Oranje Haven", which is Dutch for Orange Harbour. The name should refer to the fact that the Merchantmen should be fine at their own harbour, yet key to success for the Merchantman is a well done job overseas...

Can you be sure to recount every single thing the league votes on? I'm sure it will set some sort of record. :D

Seriously, good luck. That's some tough competition you are going up against.

Hey cool, an IHOF dynasty! I'll be very interested in reading your notes!

Breaking news
The management has agreed to trade backup LDT Richard Duong all the way to Alaska to play for the Fairbanks Norhtstars.
In return, Fairbanks gave up secondary leader and backup LCB Dennis Preciado, who should be one of three veterans to teach the young kids how to play and become an anchorman on the secondary. Rumors are that Preciado made himself impossible after a fight with his main rival for the LCB position, but both players deny that.
Preciado is expected to arrive in 3 days at Schiphol Airport, nearby Amsterdam.

Gossip News
Wheter Richard Duong will arrive in Fairbanks is yet to be seen, as Duong made himself home with the local soft drugs laws and might sneak some much wanted stuff in his bags to Alaska....

No kidding!
And it's not a lie that this multiplayer game is my first serious experiance with FOF2004.

From the AP Sportswire: Reports out of Rochester are that any trade negotiations are at an impasse at this point.

I heard rumors that the Merchantmen GM has another job as volleyball coach and had other commitments...:cool:

Roster News
The Merchantmen management is thrilled to announce the conclusion of the trade for LCB Dennis Preciado. Preciado is expected to be the anchorman on the secondary and has stepped up as the secondary leader already.

Roster News
The Merchantman management is proud to announce the extension of contracts with 4 key players. QB Justin mcDavid and MLB Cody Cluff agreed to a 2-year contract, WR and league's co-fastest man Frederic Vargas agreed to a 5-year deal, and RB Randy Harris agreed on a 6-year contract.
With these extensions, the backbone for the offense is sealed, while the services of prospects McDavid and Cuff are extended, awaiting their progress.

Roster News
The Merchantmen management is proud to announce the conclusion of the signing of 9 free agents, being: QB Antoine Shepard, QB Jerrold Sipes, RB Seth Kinney, WR/KR Arnulfo Arnett, C R.J. Miller, DE Junior McKeehan, DT Andrew King, CB Johnnie Stidham and S Jose Haggard.

Roster News
To make the roster legal for he exhibition season, the Merchantmen front office has yet to release two players from their roster. It's generally expected that the victims will be found at QB and CB.

Roster Overview
With the exhibition season about to start, the Merchantmen front office is going to announce the current roster, including the expected trade of WR Amos Collins for LT Harold Hurtado.
QB 3 J.McDavid 14 J.Sipes
RB 28 R.Harris 30 J.Smith
FB 48 V.Lopez 24 M.Burger
TE 81 J.Aubrey 86 J.Reiser
FL 80 G.Monti 88 R.Marshall
SE 83 F.Vargas 87 B.Ewald
LT 0 H.Hurtado 67 W.Dudley
LG 65 D.Burdett 62 A.Young
C 54 R.Miller 53 T.Schwartz
RG 61 D.McDaniel 62 D.Young
RT 73 R.Malave 67 W.Dudley

LDE 98 H.Wells 71 C.Doney
LDT 78 C.Gomez 74 A.King
RDT 96 J.Bryant 74 A.King
RDE 70 D.Chapa 71 C.Doney
SLB 91 B.Silvan 94 O.Lashley
MLB 50 C.Cluff 51 M.Sellers
WLB 95 M.Kershner 94 O.Lashley
LCB 27 D.Preciado 21 Z.Kinney
SS 46 L.Gilmore 41 J.Haggard
FS 25 R.Smith 34 P.Francis
RCB 33 J.Stidham 31 C.Schwartz

P 12 R.Corrales
K 18 C.Coles
H 14 J.Sipes
PR 25 R.Smith 88 R.Marshall
KR 89 A.Arnett 83 F.Vargas
LS 81 J.Aubrey
ST 50 C.Cluff

Gossip News
Rumors are that some analists have questioned the Merchantmen trade of DT Richard Duong for CB Dennis Preciado. Duong, a 3rd round league draft selection, was supposed to become the DT run stopping duo with Charles Gomez, yet the management preferred to upgrade the secondary and give John Bryant the time to grow.

Gossip News
It seems the arrival of DT Andrew King has caused a big fight during a recent training session. King is reported to have critized the linebacking corpse, especially the weak linebackers, leading to a big conflict between WLB Les Norton and King.
Yet, neither of the two cockfighters are assured a roster spot after the first wave of cuts to a 60-men roster, let alone the 53-men roster cuts.

Keep up the good work, buddy :) It'll be interesting to see a fellow IHOF-ers views.

Roster news
Sad news for the fans awaiting the arrival of Harold Hurtado. The league commisionair declared that all recent trades will not have effect until after the 2nd week of the preseason, meaning Hurtado will miss the Maassluis Merchantmen's first pre-season game. It also means that WR Amos Collins could play, yet the Merchantmen management is trying to contact the Rochester Lake Monsters' front office to make an agreement to inactivate both players.

Roster news
With the announcement of 2 cuts being prepared for tomorrow morning local time, the players of the Maassluis Merchantmen are thrilled to find out who the first unlucky players are. It is expected that one quarterback and one defensive back will be cut before the first preseason games. Questions about which players will be inactivated for the first preseason game are still unawnsered, yet chances are big the top 7 players of the team will not play.

Reports out of Rochester are that Hurtado has turned in his playbook and has been put on the inactive list in anticipation of his move to Maassluis. :)

Gossip News
Left Tackle Harold Hurtado will not be active for the Maassluis Anglers' second preseason game at the Ann Arbor Anachorism. Our sources report that the Merchantmen are not flying home between the road games at Fort Worth and Ann Arbor, meaning Hurtado will join the team one week late. Wide receiver Amos Collins was also vicitimized over this decission, meaning he won't leave to play the Rochester Lake Monsters for at least another week.

Preseason News
As the preseason got heated up, the Merchantmen went through the first two games with little injuries, though the worst might still be to come. In games at Fort Worth (20-10 loss) and Ann Arbor (3-point loss). Most inspiring was that fact that neither opponent surpassed the 200 yards passing, even though the Merchantmen secondary is rated as being amongst the worst in the league. Four players on the roster are injured, yet all are expected to be available for the seasonal starter at North Plainfield Plague.

Roster News
Harold Hurtado arrived at Maassluis, injecting some life to the offensive line. Hurtado is expected to lead the OL and already finds himself supported by most of his position mates. The upcoming games, Hurtado is unlikely to play in the remaining preseason games against San Antonio and Boulder.

Roster news
After leading the Merchantmen to the longest scoring drive of the league in pre season, Calvin Snider seesm to increased his chances to make the roster cut. Snider went 8-8 for 75 yards and a touchdown on a 15-yard drive for 99 yards. For th game, Snider went 9-12, yet he hopes to have made a point. Rumors are that other teams are showing interest in the rookie quarterback, yet this could all just be a lie for commercial reasons.

Great to read buddy !
can't wait for our Europeans games...it'll rock ;-)

Press Release
The Maassluis Merchantmen management wishes their divisional rivals good luck in fourteen of sixteen games this season.

Pre season news
In the first home game ever, the Maassluis Merchantmen thrashed the San Antonio Volunteers in an exhibition game 41-24. Jerrold Sipes threw for 2 tounchdowns, but the man of the game was tight end Jim Reiser, who caught 6 passes for 85 yards and 1 score. The game was marked by San Antonio quarterback Donaldson, who tossed 5 of his teams' 6 interceptions.

Pre season news
In a game of low rated teams, the Merchantmen sent the Boulder Bulldogs home as losers. Free agent pickup Junior McKeehan made the day as MVP, sacking the Bulldog quarterbacks 4 times. With a pass from Justim McDavid to Mark Burger and a run from Jonathan Smith, the Merchantmen beat the 'dogs 14-7.

Final Exhibition Standings
After 5 weeks of exhibition games, the Maassluis Merchantmen finished fourth in their division with a 2-2 record, marking the European Division as one of only two division with all teams at .500 or better.

Roster cut down day
With the absence of the general manager, the scouting staff of the Maassluis Merchantmen surprised with the the 7 names of unlucky players.
FS Jose Haggard, signed as a free agent as a prospect
LCB Johnnie Stidham, signed as a free agent ment to play as nickelback
RCB David Armstead, a 31st round draft pick with little potential
WLB Oren Lashley, a 47th round draft pick whse arguments with DL Andrew King were the main problem
LT Seth Hirsch, who became unneeded after the signing of Harold Hurtado
C R.J. Miller, signed to a 1-year deal to play as starting center, yet lost the battle and has moved on to the Bordeaux Vineyard
Jerrold Sipes, who was expected to become the #2 quarterback

Week 1 review
In a fourth quarter comeback game, the Maassluis Merchantmen lost 10-13 at the North Plainfield Plague, despite a 10-0 lead at half time. At the absence of the general manager, the scouting and coaching staff had a hard time making the depth chart up, marking Calvin Snider the starting quarterback. Snider went 12 for 35 with 114 yards, 1 score and 3 interceptions. Outstanding performances were shown by Randy Harris, who ran for 83 yards on 16 attempts. With the return of the GM to town, the hopes for better results are here, as the Merchantmen go to Paris next week to play their first European matchup. The Merchantmen now rank second in the division over bigger losses by Paris against Bordeaux and Gothenburg against Vicksburg.

Statistical leaders
RB Randy Harris put up fine numbers against the Plague, rushing for 83 yards to take 6th place in the league.
FS Randall Smith had 1 interception and 1 pass defended in 22 passing plays, leading to a 27.7 pass defense percentage, making him fourth in the league amongst players who played at least 10 passing plays on defense.
The Merchantmen backfield ranks eight in the league in rushing yards, with 137 yards on 29 attempts, while the average of 4.7 per play is fifth in the league.
The defense against the run is amongst the worst in the league, with 210 yards and an average of 5.7 per run, the Merchantmen rank first and third respectively.
The passing game is terrible at the moment, with a completion percentage of .342 and 3.3 yards per attempt, the Merchantmen rank last in the league. The 114 yards make the Merchantmen single-to-last in the league.
The pass defense ranks fourth in the league with 132 yards allowed. Averages of 8.8 per completion and 4.1 per attempt rank the Merchantmen sixth leaguewide. Amazingly the talented defensive line failed to make a single sack.
With just 2 penalties for 10 yards, the Merchantmen are the least penalised team in the league.
The Merchantmen red zone defense leads the league in points per visit, allowing just a fieldgoal in two visits.

Gossip news
Guard Albert Young was caught yelling at the coaching staff in the game at North Plainfield. The 6 foot 5, 343 pounds lineman was not pleased with his backup role for the season opening weekend. Young has competition from Devin McDaniel, who seems to fit better in at right guard for now.

Injury Report
DE Cecil Doney will miss the first half of the season. A severe hamstring injury has him sidelined. Doney is a key member on the line on rushing plays, yet for pass rush purpose he makes space for teammates.
FB Mark Burger suffers from an abdominal strain, making him questionable for the game in Paris. Burger is a talented backup fullback.
RG Devin McDaniel sprained his ankle, making him probable for sunday. If he's found not fit by the staff, Albert Young might take his place as right guard.

Gossip News
After a bad performace by Calvin Snider at North Plainfield Plague, Justin McDavid is expected to start in the Merchantmen's first divisional game of the season at the Paris Musketeers. Hopes for a good result are there as the Merchantmen will see their best players start for the first time this season. The expectations are high, especially from Randy Harris and the receivers Jeff Aubrey, "Full" Monti, Bryce Ewald and Frederick Vargas. Yet, all should come down to how the defense manages to stop the Musketeers offense, which is leaguewide rated amongst the top5 in the league. When guys like Charles Gonzalez, Cody Cluff, Percy Francis and Dennis Preciado step up, or if Junior McKeehan can copy his preseason performance, the visitors could be involved in the upset of the week, and who knows, for the season.

Merchantman At Paris Musketeers Recap
With an excellent performance of 17 of 24 completed passes for 99 yards and a score, Paris quarterback Fabian Parker led his team to a thrilling 10-7 victory. It marks the Merchantmen's second loss by a fieldgoal. The Merchantmen tried to fight back from being 10-0 behind, but came never close to even attempting a game tying fieldgoal. For the day, the Merchantmen defense allowed just 223 total yards on 64 plays, marking an excellent defensive performance, yet worth nothing if the offense can't come up big.

Individual Statiscical Performances Week 2
Randy Harris excelled once again, rushing for 63 yards on only 11 attempts. Even better were Bryce Ewald's 6 receptions for 96 yards and a score, while tighte end Jeff Aubrey caught 6 for 60 yards. Quarterback Justin McDavid made his debut in the IHOF, completing 17 of 36 for 176 yards and a score without an interception and running for 22 yards. On the defensive side, Cody Cluff recorded 10 tackles, while Deon Chapa marked the team's first sack of the season. Defensive tackl Charles Gomez excelled with 6 tackles and 1 assist. Left tackle Harold Hurtado made a promising debut with 3 key run blocks and no sacks allowed.

Merchantmen Statistical Performance For The Season
The rushing game ranks 10th with 117 yards per game and 4th with 4.9 yars per attempt.
The rushing defense ranks 31st with 160 yards per game and 27th with 4.3 yards per attempt.
The passing game ranks 32nd with 41% completed, 29th with 145 yards per game and 31st with 4.1 yards per attempt.
The passing defense ranks 20th with 57% completed, 3rd with 123 yards per game and 3rd with 4.2 yards per attempt.
The Merchantmen tie for last with a -3 turnover margin with 4 give aways and 1 take away.
The offense ranks 28th with 22% of third downs converted, the defense 14th with 34% third down conversions allowed.
The Merchantmen are the least penalized team in the league with 9 penalties.
The red zone offense ranks 12th with 4.6 points per visit with 2 touchdowns and no fieldgoals in 3 visits.
The red zone defense ranks tied for 3rd with 3.2 points per visit with 1 touchdown and 2 fieldgoals in 4 visits.

Injury Report
Defensive end Cecil Doney is still unavailable over his hamstring injury. Doney is aiming to a return after the open weekend.
Mark Burger's abdominal strain shouldn't avoid him from being able to play in the first home game of the Merchantmen this season.
Devin McDaniel and Jeff Fontenot are reported to be 100% fit again.

Individual Seasonal Stats
QB Justin McDavid ranks 14th leaguewide with a passer rating of 71.0 amongst players with at least 30 attempts.
RB Randy Harris ranks 8th with 146 yards and 3rd with 5.4 yards per attempt amongst players with at least 20 rushes.
TE Bryce Ewald ranks 15th with 151 yards and ties for 1st with 2 touchdowns.
DT John Bryant ranks 7th in tackles amonsgt defensive linemen.
LB Cody Cluff ranks 5th in tackle percentage amongst players with at least 40 plays played.
DE Deon Chapa ranks 5th in the league in pass rush percentage amongst players with at least 40 plays played.

Week 3 preview
In week 3, the Merchantmen will play their first home game of the regular season as the Gothenburg Giants come south to play in one of only two battles between two 0-2 teams. Anchorman for the Giants is running back Jerry McGee, who's 13 receptions rank him 4th in the league. Cornerback Harley Gowan stands out on defense with 2 interceptions and 5 passes defended. The Giants are 3-point favorites, yet the Merchantmen have beaten the spread in both road games this season.

The turnovers have made the difference so far...turn that stat around and you'll be seeing wins. The Merchantmen played good enough to win in both their games.

Can't deny that.
But at this point, I shouldn't complain, being competitive with the only 5(?) players with experience doesn't sound bad to me. :cool:

Late Coming News
Before the season start, two teams have changed from ownership. Buccanneer took over the Stillwater Dynamite, while TRO took command of the Columbus Architects.

Merchantmen Versus Giants Recap
Randy Harris improved his reputation in the league, leading the Merchantmen to a 31-27 victory by running for 3 touchdowns on his 95 yards day. But MVP honours went to quarterback Justin McDavid, who completed 19 of 27 passes for 234 yards and a score. Another fine show came from Bryce Ewald, who's 123 yards on 7 catches marked a top performance and Dennis Preciado, who defended 7 passes from the opponent, including 3 in consecutive plays, and who returned 5 kickoffs for a total of 120 yards. On the day, the Merchantmen defense stept up once again, allowing just 1 offensive touchdown and 2 fieldgoals, the remaining 14 points came from interception and fumble returns. This victory marked the first in the team's history leaguewide and at home. Amazingly enough, the Merchantmen are now favoured to beat Columbus next Sunday by 1 point, but the management urges fans not to be optimistic too early in the season.

Injury Report Week 4
DE Cecil Doney is the only player listed as injured. His sore hamstring seems to heal as scheduled.

Week 3 Statistical Performances
RB Randy Harris ran for 95 yards on 18 carries and scored 3 touchdowns.
QB Justin McDavid completed 19 of 27 passes for 234 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, which was returned for a touchdown.
WR Bryce Ewald had 7 receptions for 123 yards.
WR Gregory Monti scored 1 touchdown on 3 receptions for 39 yards.
DE Harold Wells made 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 assists.
DT Charles Gomez had 2 tackles and 3 assists.
DE Deon Chapa had 3 tackles, 0.5 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.
LB Mike Kershner had 4 tackles, 2 assists and forced 2 fumbles.
FS Randall Smith made 1 interception, 3 tackles and 1 assist.
SS Lincoln Gilmore made 1 interception, 2 tackles and 1 assist.
CB Dennis Preciado defended 7 passes and made 6 tackles.
The offense ran for 117 yards (4.1 per attempt) and passed for 234 yards (8.6 per attempt).
The defense allowed 132 yards rushing (4.7 per attempt) and 223 yards passing (5.3 per attempt).
The turnover margin was 3 versus 3.
The defense allowed 8 of 16 third downs to be converted.
The offense converted just 2 of 9 third down attempts.
The Merchantmen had an average of 11 yards of terrain less to make to the endzone.
Key statistic was that the Giants only scored a touchdown on their first drive.

Statistical Show After 3 Weeks
QB Justin McDavid ranks 6th in passer rating amongst quarterbacks with at least 45 pass attempts.
RB Randy Harris ranks 7th with 241 rushing yards, 1st with 3 touchdowns and 2nd amongst players with 30 or more rushes.
WR Bryce Ewald ranks 4th with 274 yards and is one of many players ranking 2nd with 2 touchdowns.
CB Dennis Preciado ranks 1st in the league with 7 passes defended.
The rushing offense ranks 14th in yards per game and 3rd in yards per attempt.
The passing offense ranks 24th in yards per game, 24th in yards per attepmt and 28th in completion percentage.
The rushing defense ranks 32nd in yards per game and 25th in yards per attempt.
The passing defense ranks 13th in completion percentage, 4th in yards per attempt and 5th in yards per game.
The offense ranks 31st in 3rd down conversions and 20th in on defense in 3rd down conversions.
The red zone offense ranks tied for 4th in points per visit with 5 touchdowns and 1 fieldgoal in 7 visits.
The red zone defense ranks tied for 7th in points per visit with 2 touchdowns and 2 fieldgoals in 6 visits.
The Merchantmen are amongst the least penalized teams in the league, yet they do get too many penalties of 10 yards or more.

Week 4 Preview
The Architects are coming to town. Columbus are 2-1 after beating San Luis Obisop and Minnesota at home and losing 3-30 at RayCo in between. The Architects are amongst the weakest teams on offense, yet that shouldn't provide too much expectations as the Merchantmen are no front runners either. On defense, the Architects show their skill on passing plays while on rushing plays their statistics are as mediocre as they can be. Columbus are, like Maassluis, a young team with lot of upside. Quarterback Robby Gonzalez is prototypical for his team, he's supposed to have a bright future. Running back Gerald Harris is the backbone of the offense as he 3 of the Architects 5 offensive touchdowns.

Other News
R.J. Miller, once singed as a free agent and introduced as the center of the Merchantmen offense has been released by the Bordeaux Vineyard after they acquired wide receiver Toby Williams in a trade for their 2005 first round draft pick with Fairbanks Northstars.

That was an exciting game. I thought I had turned it around with that fumble return by my defensive end.

Euorpean Division Standings Week 3
2-1 Bordeaux
2-1 Paris
1-2 Maassluis
0-3 Gothenburg

Gossip News
After the amazing 31-27 victory over the highly rated Gothenburg Giants, Maassluis Merchantmen defensive end Geoff Lake outed his concerns over his involvement in the victory. Lake, at 6'8" the tallest player on the team, who started in the first game of the season hasn't played a down since that road game at North Plainfield Plague and demands to see more action. All comes as a surprise to the staff, especially at the longterm absence of Cecil Doney over an hamstring injury. The management seems to prefer Junior McKeehan over Lake as the premier backup to starters Harold Wells and Deon Chapa, who both seem to do a great job stopping the opposition. Wells ranks second in tackles amongst defensive linemen leaguewide, while Chapa had key stats in the win over Gothenburg, including a forced fumble and an assisted sack. A note from the management red: "Geoff has been a bit unlucky not seeing action in the past two games, Deon is doing a great job on the right side of the line so far and has the stamina to keep playing. For Geoff it is important to make sure to be ready if one of the other guys goes down." Perhaps the leadership of Andrew King is coming short on this matter, though with the little to no action King sees, he might have other things on his mind...

Maassluis Merchantmen Logo, Helmet And Banner
After reading Vince's IHOF dynasty regarding the San Luis Obispo Burn, I found it a good idea to advertise Cuervo72's great work on logo's, helmets and banner for the IHOF.

The Merchantmen In Game Logo


The Merchantmen Helmet


The Merchantmen Banner

Well....the logo here wasn't of my creation, just the color scheme and arrangement. But thanks.

R.J. Miller Update
Following an injury wave at Chesapeake Chitterlings, R.J. Miller has been signed to get the favourites for a playoff ticket in shape for their week 4 game against Conyers Condors. Miller could already be the most moving player in league history, being cut earlier on by the Maassluis Merchantmen and the Bordeaux Vineyards.

Week 4 Preview
The fans are confident, the players are and the management is trying to keep things cool in Maassluis. The Merchantmen haven't lost a home game in the first season of the IHOF, yet the Columbus Architects are coming to town, tagged as underdogs. The Merchantmen have been underdogs al year thusfar, especially veterans like Harold Hurtado, Dennis Preciado and Vincent Lopez have a tough job keeping the players focused. Lopez: "We're lucky to have so little injuries, were lucky against Gothenburg, and very unlucky on the road. If the defense keeps stepping up like they have done until now, I think we have a chance to improve to 2-2, but everybody has to focus on their job." Preciado, coming of an amazing game with 7 passes defended, praises the offense: "Sure, we lost due to some bad timed turnonvers. But what are the odds that every single fumble or interception leads to a score, we've been unlucky, but are glad to be competitive with this young team so far." Harold Hurtado has another opinion: "We have a big group of potential stars, yet thusfar it came all down on the legs of Randy Harris. It's amazing how well he's been converting the little opportunities we've given him. Not to mention how well Justin (McDavid) has been anticipating on the weakness of our line on passing plays. Let's hope we can get another upset victory added to our record." The Merchantmen will play the Architects later today in Oranje Haven, which is expected to be about 1,000 seats close to sold out.

I didn't cut him. The AI did when I couldn't import Week 3 file. I would have loved to keep him and cut a scrub RB instead...

Still, I'm sticking with the facts here. The AI cut him for me too, I projected him as starting center for my team, but I was mentally unavailable to submit roster cuts and my scout decided to get rid of him. Funny to see the guy has been cut by the AI twice now, I'm wondering when the Chitterlings will have enough of him...

Maassluis Merchantmen Versus Columbus Architects Recap
Despite holding the Architects to 25 yards rushing and a total of 186 yards on offense, turnovers and lack of scoring cost the Merchantmen the unbeaten streak at home, losing 3-13. Justin McDavid completed 13 of 27 passes, tossed 2 interceptions and was sacked 5 times, as the offensive line couldn't perform like they did in the first three games. Yhe Merchantmen drop back to a 1-3 record, for still third place in the European Division. Next week is a road game at Bordeaux, where a victory can keep the Dutch team close to the playoff race after 5 weekends.

Statistical Performance At One Fourth Of The Season
QB Justin McDavid completes 54 % of his passes for 191 yards per game and 6.4 per attepmt, with 0.7 touchdowns and 1 interception per game
RB Randy Harris ran for 303 yards and 4.8 yards per attempt and 3 touchdowns, ranking him 8th, 5th and 2nd leaguewide
WR Bryce Ewald has 19 receptions for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns, ranking him 13th, 6th and 6th leaguewide
TE Jerry Aubrey has 16 catches for 135 yards to rank him 4th and 5th amongst tight ends
The rushing offense's 112 yards per game and 4.5 yards per attempt rank 15th and 4th leaguewide
The rushing defense's 119 yards per game and 3.6 yards per attempt rank 22nd and 13th leaguewide
The passing offense's 49% for 172 yards per game and 5.5 yards per attempt rank 29th, 25th and 24th leaguewide
The passing defense's 56% for 160 yards per game and 4.9 yards per attempt rank 18th, 6th and 3rd leaguewide
The Merchantmen rank last in turnover margin with 10 giveaways and 4 takeaways
The Merchantmen rank 30th in 3rd down converting with 24% on offense and 19th on defense with 38%
The red zone offense ranks 5th with 5 touchdowns and 2 field goals in 8 visits
The red zone defense ranks 9th with 3 touchdowns and 4 field goals in 9 visits

Injury Report
DE Cecil Doney will remain out of action as expected with an hamstringinjury
OT Willie Dudley's sore ribs force him out of the Bordeaux game, making Jeff Fontenot return to the active roster

European Division Standings
3-1 Paris
2-2 Bordeaux
1-3 Maassluis
0-4 Gothenburg

Week 5 Preview
The Merchantmen management was without internet access for the duration of almost the entire weekend, making unclear what Maassluis will do in the road game at Bordeaux Vineyards. The Vineyards and Merchantmen owners have had hands in eachothers ownerships, making this a friendly, yet crucial game early in the season. The Vineyards are 1 victory ahead of the Merchantmen, meaning a win by the visitors would cause a switch of the #2 and #3 positions in the European Division. The Merchantmen management also announced that only one player will be unavailbale, being the long term injured defensive end Cecil Doney.

Ownership News
The Stillwater Dynamite general maganer/owner TroyF returned from a short absence over personal reasons to his office. The move means the IHOF league commish announced temporary Stillwater manager Buccaneer as the first-to-be-called when teams lose their owner for whatever reason.

Merchantmen At Vineyards Recap
Despite an early 7-0 lead, hte Merchantmen were totally outplayed by the Bordeaux Vinyards. The French home team won 28-7, anchored by quarterback Joe Johnson's three touchdown passes, while runnig back Cedric Rubio ran for 122 yards and a score. With this loss, the Merchantmen have returned to last place on the power ratings.

Seasonal Stats
QB Justin McDavid completes 52% of his passes for 179 yards per game, 5.9 yards per attempt, and tossing 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in 4 starts, for a rating of 64.7.
RB Randy Harris ran for 344 yards, 4.8 yards per attempt and 3 touchdowns, ranking him 8th, 5th and 4th league wide.
TE Jeff Aubrey has 21 receptions for 174 yards and 1 touchdown, making him a top5 tight end in all categories.
WR Bryce Ewald has 21 receptions for 339 yards and 2 touchdowns, ranking Ewald 7th in yards league wide.
DE Harold Wells has 23 tackles, 8 assists, 2 sacks and 4 hurries in 5 starts.
DE Deon Chapa has 17 tackles, 3 assists, 1.5 sacks, 1 blocked pass and 4 hurries in 4 starts.
DT Charles Gomez has 17 tackles, 8 assists, 0.5 sacks, 1 blocked pass and 3 hurries in 4 starts.
LB Cody Cluff has 31 tackles and 10 assists.
CB Dennis Preciado defended 7 passes, made 22 tackles and 7 assists for a pass defense precentage of 20.6.
LT Harold Hurtado ranks 6th in Offensive Percantage amongst tackles with 21.1%, making 5 key run blocks on 19 oppurtunities an allowing 1 sack in 134 passing plays.
The rushing offense has 102 yards per game and 4.4 per attempt, ranking the team 23rd and 6th.
The passing offense completes 48% for 166 yards per game and 5.3 per attempt, ranking the team 29th, 26th and 27th.
The rushing defense allows 127 yards per game and 3.7 per attempt, ranking the team 24th and 13th.
The passing defense allows 61% completed for 167 yards per game and 5.1 per attempt, ranking the team 27th, 6th and 5th.
With 11 give aways and 5 take aways, the Merchantmen rank 30th in turnover margin.
The offense ranks 32th on 3rd downs with 26%, the defense ranks 23rd with 41%.
The red zone offense scores 6 touchdowns and 2 fieldgoals on 9 attepmts for 5.3 points per visit, ranking 3rd in the league.
The red zone defense allows 6 touchdowns and 4 fieldgoals on 12 visists for 4.5 per visit, ranking 14th in the league.

Single Game Top Performances By Merchantmen
The 31 points against Gothenburg mark a top 10 performance league wide.
The 25 yards rushing allowed against Columbus mark the 2nd best performance league wide.
The 195 total yars allowed against Columbus mark the 5th best performance in the league.
Randy Harris still holds the single game rushing touchdowns record untied with 3 touchdowns.
Bryce Ewald's 123 yards against Gothenburg mark the 11th best individual receiving performance.
Dennis Preciado's 7 passes defended against Gothenburg mark a league best thusfar.

Injury News
DE Cecil Doney will be out of action due to his hamstring injury.
RB Jonathan Smith strainded his elbow, making him unavailable for about a month.
FB Vincent Lopez suffers from a knee injury, making Mark Burger the #1 fullback.
LT Willie Dudley still suffers from a bruised ribcage, yet should play as normal, him being a second stringer.

I can say I am quite pleased by my QB performance so far this year ! I think Joe is #1 in Passing Rating in the IHOF !

By far, really.

Week 6 Early Preview
Maassluis versus Rochester, before the season start marked as a game between the main rivals to finish with the worst record in the Atlantic Ocean Conference. After five weeks of play, the Lake Monsters have moved up to a playoff position at 3-2, while the Merchantmen have won just 1 of 5 games. The friendship between the teams has been shown by the preseason trade of offensive line leader Harold Hurtado for the best wide receiver of the other team. But next Thursday, gloves are burried and the long before battle for the first pick in the draft is whiped from the players minds, it's time to show which team is not the weakest. The Lake Monsters are early favourites in some power rankings by 10 points, where other systems show a marginal advantage for the home team. Key element for the Merchantmen is how many turnovers on offense will cost the team there chances. Key for the Lake Monsters offense is how they will cope with the talented defense from Maassluis and how effective they will be in the red zone. The Maassluis Merchantmen put their team in the underdog position, especially after last week's beating at Bordeaux, where Rochester surprised the Vineyards earlier this season. Crucial for the Maassluis offense is the absence of veteran fullback Vincent Lopez. The staff has faith in future star Mark Burger, yet Lopez seems to be doing a great job keeping the younger kids quiet. Lopez: "Mark can get it done, he's 100% fit again, he'll lead Randy (Harris) and Justin (McDavid) the way." Harold Hurtado, the other offensive anchorman: "I've seen the Lake Monsters system. We can beat it, though it will be tough." Amos Collins was unavailable for comments, his disloyalty to the Merchantmen caused him to reply "No comment" on any question from a Dutch reporter.

Introducing The Staff
After five weeks of play and four preseason games, the Merchantmen management found it the right time to introduce the head coach, lead scout and offensive and defensive coordinators of the team.
Head Coach is Arnold Blackburn. Blackburn is 56 years old and on a one-year contract. Blackburn's true skills are those of an offensive coordinator, yet he's a quality head coach too. Motivating the players and coping with injuries are his specialties.
Offensive Coordinator is Jerome Hodges. Hodges is only 35 years old and signed a one-year contract. Hodges' preference lies in the defensive area, but has the skills to be a fine coordinator on offense at this point.
Defensive Coordinator is Floyd Seba. Seba is on a one-year contract and 40 years old. Seba's main assesment is developing young talent, while his primary position skills are found at linebacker.
Lead Scout is Brad McGarity. McGarity was signed to a one-year deal with the Merchantmen at the league start. McGarity is 60 years old and his specialties are running backs and young talent.

GM Notes
Amazing how the league forced Blackburn to be the head coach in stead of offensive coordinator and put Hodges on the wrong side of the ball, while Seba could be as good a head coach as Blackburn, I think.

It should be an interesting showdown. A loss by Rochester would suggest that our early success was mostly based on luck. A win wouldn't do much to prove that Rochester should be considered a playoff contender, but also wouldn't do anything to suggest that we are not. In any case, good luck, and may the worst team lose! ;)

Likewise.
I wish we could both overshadow the league and reach the playoffs, but at 1-4, I'll need a couple of 5-game winning streaks...

Dont give up. The Eagles was 3-7 and on a 6 game loosing streak before turning things around an reaching the very first eNFL Super Bowl.

Without giving anything away, all I can say is: WHAT A BARNBURNER!!! :eek: Great game, MIJB!

Maassluis Merchentman Versus Rochester Lake Monsters Recap
Randy Harris runs wild on every down, but his last action fell short to win tie the game at 27-27, as the Lake Monsters go home victorious after a 27-25 victory. Cary Coles scored 4 field goals, 2 in the fourth quarter to get the home team from behind. The Monsters almost collapsed after a 20-3 half time lead, yet were lucky enough to stay going. Maybe the difference between winning teams (Rochester, 4-2) and losing teams (Maassluis, 1-5) was shown perfectly today. Justin McDavid found himself battling his tears. "Three interceptions are too much, I think I now know what Randy felt like after his game losing fumbles." The Merchantmen have become front runners for the #1 pick, yet next week they're going to 1-4 Minnesota to find out how bad they really are.

Statistical Performances Week 6
RB Randy Harris ran wild again with 84 yards and a 5.6 average.
QB Justin McDavid completed 18 of 37 passes for 224 yards, 2 scores and sadly 3 interceptions.
WR Bryce Ewald made 6 receptions for 88 yards.
TE Jerry Aubrey had 4 receptions for 58 yards and a score.
FS Randall Smith made 1 interception and 5 tackles.
SS Lincoln Gilmore made 9 tackles and 1 assists.
LT Harold Hurtado made 2 key run blocks on 4 opportunities and allowed no sacks.
DT Charlie Gomez made 4 tackles, 1 sack and blocked 1 pass.
DT John Bryant made 5 tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack, 1 hurry and forced 1 fumble.

Seasonal Stats By Merchantmen
QB Justin McDavid completes 52% of his passes for 940 yards, 5 scores and 7 interceptions in 5 starts, giving him a QB Rating of 61.8.
RB Randy Harris runs for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 per carry, ranking him 6th, 4th and 3rd league wide.
WR Bryce Ewald's 27 receptions for 427 yards and 2 scores rank him 10th, 4th and 12th league wide.
TE Jerry Aubrey's 25 receptions for 232 yards and 2 scores rank him 3rd, 4th and 3rd amonsgt tight ends in the league.
FS Randall Smith is amonsgt 12 players with 3 or 4 interceptions league wide.
LB Mike Kershner is amongst 8 players with 3 or 4 forced fumbles.
The passing offense's 48%, 176 yd/game and 5.4 yd/attempt rank 27th, 25th and 22nd league wide.
The rushing offense's 104 yd/game and 4.4 yd/attempt rank 23rd and 6th in the league.
The passing defense's 63%, 171 yd/game and 5.3 yd/attepmt rank 30th, 8th and 8th in the league.
The rushing defense's 126 yd/game and 3.7 yd/attepmt rank 25th and 12th league wide.
14 giveaways and 8 takeaways rank the Merchantmen tied for 31st in turnover margin with -1 per game.
On third downs the Merchantmen rank 31st and 27th on offense and defense respectively.
With 7 touchdowns and 5 field goals in 13 visists, the offense's 4.9 pt/visit ranks 10th league wide.
With 9 touchdowns and 6 field goals in 17 visits, the defense's 4.7 pt/vists ranks 20th league wide.
The Merchantmen rank 24th in both points scored and allowed with 13.8 and 19.6 averages respectively.

Injury Report
Backup RB Seth Kinney suffered a hamstring injury, but is expected to be available against Minnesota.
G Albert Young agrevated his shoulder injury and is out for 4 weeks.
Backup RB Jonathan Smith remains unavailable with an elbow injury.
Backup S Percy Francis strained a deltoid muscle forcing out of next weeks game.
DE Cecil Doney will not play, despite being given the green light by the staff.
Starting C Tom Schwartz has a minor injury.
FB Vincent Lopez is probable.
LT Willie Dudley remains a questionmark.

European Division
After a week in which all active European teams lost, the Paris Musketeers returned at the top. With the playoff cut sitting at 2 losses at this point league wide, all four have theoretical chances to reach the terrific twelve.
3-2 Paris Musketeers
3-3 Bordeaux Vineyards
1-5 Maassluis Merchantmen
0-6 Gothenburg Giants

Preview To The M&M's Game
Two teams in the league hold the same initials in M.M. The Maassluis Merchantmen and Minnesota Miners will face eachother in week 7 at Minnesota in a game between two teams with only 1 victory. How good are the Miners?
Minnesota has an experienced, but limited talented quarterback in Jason Gott.
Larry Martell is a so-so running back with just 223 yards in 5 starts so far.
The offensive line is below average.
The Miners deploy a 3-4 defense with a great defensive line and linebackers.
The secondary is not as good as the front seven, but great enough to make it really tough.

Randy Harris has put up such good numbers over the year, but seems to not get it done when he really needs to get us a victory in close games...

Roster News
Following Geoff Lake's continueous arguments over his playing time, the Maassluis Merchantmen management deactivated Lake in favor of defensive tackle Andrew King, to give the defensive front leader possibly his first playing time this season. King should boost the well performing defensive line, hoping personal arguments with Michael Kershner won't overshadow his official entree.

Hmm, 510 views in 34 days, is that good?
Or is that just me dropping into FOFC every day through this tread?

Don't know if the view count is good or not, but I check in every time there is a new post.

I wasn't wondering whether the view count is correct, I was more interested in finding out if I have readers. Obviously, I have.:D

That #1 is getting closer and closer people...:o

Of course you do. I read every word posted in this thread.

Merchantmen At Miners Recap
Fumbles cost you games, especially inside your own 30 yards. Jaime Brinkman scored 46 and 48-yard fieldgoals to complete a 20-7 lead at half time for the Miners. With the Merchantmen scoring only 1 touchdown per game, the Miners held the lead, winning 33-13 at home. On the day, Jason Gott was the Miners biggest reason to win, passing for 2 scores and 229 yards while completing 23 of 33 passes.

Statistical Performance By Merchantmen
QB Justin McDavid completed 13 of 26 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 22 yards.
RB Randy Harris ran 14 times for 50 yards and had 1 reception for 7 yards.
CB Dennis Preciado had 5 tackles and 3 assists.
DE Deon Chapa had 3 tackles, 1 assists, 1 sack and 2 hurries.
The offense ran for 69 yards (3.4 avg.) and passed for 132 yards (5.0 avg.) and lost 3 of 4 fumbles.
The defense allowed 118 yards rushing (3.6 avg.) and 229 yards passing (6.9 avg.) and forced no fumbles or interceptions.

Injury Report
The Merchantmen management wants to urge the fans not to demand to big of a game at Boston Rhinos. The road game marks the last game of the first half of the season and the Merchantmen hope to have a healthy team for the last seven games of the year.
RB Seth Kinney's injury is still a mystery, keeping him as third stringer over his hamstring injury.
RB Jonathan Smith is ready to play, but will be forced to rest his arm for another week or two.
C Tom Schwartz will start, despite a bruised stenrum.
G Albert Young's shoulder injury keeps him sidelined until after the open weekend.
DE Cecil Doney is ready to play, but won't be activated before the open weekend in week 9.
DT Stanley Jacke bruised his heel, probably making Geoff Lake active again against Boston.
LB Sam Sasa strained a foot ligament and is out for the Boston game.
CB Gus Alston sprained his neck, making this a dangerous injury and him likely deactivavted for week 8.
FS Percy Francis remains unavailable with a strained deltoid muscle.
Returning to action is FB Vincent Lopez, while LT Willie Dudley is also 100% again.

European Division Standings
After a Brodeaux loss and Gothenburg upsetting Paris, the standings stayed put over head to head tie breakers. The current playofss cut in the Atlantic Ocean Conference sits at 2 losses, but with all two wild cards situated in one division, all teams with 3 losses or less have all in their own hands.
3-3 Paris Musketeers
3-4 Bordeaux Vineyards
1-6 Maassluis Merchantmen
1-6 Gothenburg Giants
Amazing record of the season sits at Fort Worth's last place in their division with a 2-4 record, despite their 2-0 divisional record.

Seasonal Stats For The Merchantmen
QB Justin McDavid completes 51% of his passes for 179 yards, 1 touchdown and more then 1 interception per game, having a 5.8 yards per attepmt average and a passer rating of 64.0.
RB Randy Harris ran for 478 yards, 3 touchdowns and a 4.7 yard-per-carry averages, ranking him 8th, 5th and 3rd league wide.
TE Jerry Aubrey has 30 receptions for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns, ranking him 3rd, 4th and 3rd amongst tight ends.
WR Bryce Ewald has 30 receptions for 474 yards and 2 touchdowns, ranking him 14th, 6th and 15th league wide.
G David Burdett has 8 key run blocks on 32 opportunities and allows 2 sacks in 209 plays, giving him a percentage of 23.1 and ranking him 6th amongst guards and 15th league wide.
LT Harold Hurtado ranks 9th with 19.5 percent amongst tackles with 8 key run blocks on 26 opportunities and 1 sack in 200 plays.

Boston Rhinos Preview
The Rhinos are 4-2 and in the middle of a divisional title race with North Plainfield Plague and Rocheters Lake Monsters, teams that already beat the Merchantmen. The Rhinos are a top team in defending against the run, with a slightly below average pass defense. Their offense are below average on passing and little above average on rushing. All in all, the Rhinos should be a team to fear, especially on the road, allowing just 13 points in their 2 home games so far. The main story of the Rhinos is the career threatening injury of Jose Carrington, their star defensive end, taken 14th overall in the league draft. With their top defensive back Royster Randall injured against Maassluis, the Rhinos defense should be a little worse. The Rhinos are coming of a lost game at North Plainfield and should be expected to be motivated to get back in the divisional lead.

I check in a couple times a week as well. :)

Beat the Rhinos!

Ditto.

I see!
Well, I'll keep on updating anyway.:)

Updating is delayed due to non-access to the game. When my laptop is up and running again, reporting will be continued.

I am reading also !

Gossip News - Merchantmen Missmanagement
After two weeks of absence of the general manager, it became clear why the GM was out of the office. With a defunct laptop, the GM found it hard to do his job, yet the coaching staff did a fine job keeping the team running. After close losses in the past two games, the management still announced drastic changed. That is, if the GM's laptop is back to buisness in the near future. The GM gave a "No comment" to rumors of him spending his time on other things. With the adapter of his laptop in his hand, he swore "Chasing the local chearleaders" was not going through his mind. Stories about the Conyers Condors chearleaders taking a later flight then the football players back to Georgia were denied by the league. Anonymus sources confirm stories of GM MIJB being sighted in local bars after midnight on the day before the game, for both the road game at Boston and the home game against the Condors.

Week 8 Recap - Maassluis At Boston
With the score tied at 17-17, Edward Boatwright earned MVP honours, returning an interception of a Justin McDavid pass for a score. The Boston Rhinos deserved the victory over offesensive stats, yet failed to turn yards into points on numerous occasions. With 146 yards rushing and 8.4 yards per pass attempt, you'd expect a team to thrash the opponent, but the Rhinos were kept away from the end zone pretty well by the Merchantmen defense. It marks the next in a long list of Merchantmen losses mainly based on a turnover, commited by an offensive player, turning into a defensive score for the opposition. At 1-7, the Merchantmen can forget about their playoff hopes, despite the weak division they play in. Only a streak of 8 victories can help them back in the race. As of now, the Merchantmen are in a serious battle with the San Luis Obispo Burn for drafting first overall in the next amateur draft.

Week 9 Recap - Conyers At Maassluis
With dubious dicissions on fourth downs and two fumbles by Merchantmen players returned for scores, the superb play by Maassluis defense was overshadowed. The Conyers Condors walked away victorious 17-16 on arguably the most undeserving loss of the year. Justin McDavid fumbled four times, while Randy Harris added another two, making the decent offensive performance look worthless. The Merchantmen defense allowed just 74 yards rushing and 96 yards passing including 2 interceptions to average 3.0 yards per play. The Conyers offense never even reached the Merchantmen red zone, as they only scored on a 41-yard field goal and two opponent fumbles returned from their own half for scores. The Merchantmen stand at 1-8 going into their open weekend, licking their scratch with the lack of wounds, as only Seth Kinney's mysterious hamstring injury can worry the staff injurywise. Following the game, the Merchantmen have moved up in the gambling games for drafting #1 overall in the amateur draft, despite San Luis Obispo Burn's 0-8 record.

Standings - European Division
After 9 weeks of play, with the Merchantmen going into their open weekend, the European Division is expected to provide only one team into the playoffs this season, despite the close battles in other Atlantic Ocean Conference divisions. French rivals Bordeaux and Paris are battling each other for the division title, while the Giants and Merchantmen have half a season left to show the league they are happy with a top 5 draft pick this early in the season.
4-4 Bordeaux Vineyards
4-4 Paris Musketeers
1-7 Gothenburg Giants
1-8 Maassluis Anglers
The coming round of games, playing European teams play at home. Bordeaux host the leaguewide "Yankeed" Syracuse Mohawks, Paris play the lowly ranked Minnesota Miners and Gothenburg will see the Orlando Knights come to town, making GM Dutch return to Europe earlier then expected.

Schedule - Merchantmen Last Seven Games
The Merchantmen won't be flying to the States for the next six rounds of games. They are scheduled with an open weekend, four home games and a road game at European rivals Gothenburg Giants. With only the honour to play for, the Merchantmen management announced they hope to see the team finish the year with at least 4 victories at home. That means they expect the team to go at least 3-2 over the next 5 games. The last two games of the year, the Merchantmen are expected to take a spoilers role to the playoff bound teams: San Antonio as 5-3 division leaders and RayCo as 6-2 wild card race leaders.
Week 11 vs. Paris Musketeers
Week 12 vs. Ann Arbor Anachorism
Week 13 at Gothenburg Giants
Week 14 vs. Bordeaux Vineyards
Week 15 vs. Syracuse Mohawks
Week 16 at San Antonio Volunteers
Week 17 at RayCo Raiders

Press Release - Denial of GM's private life affecting results
Following the gossip news spreading the words worldwide on the Merchantmen GM having found a better way to spend his time, the Maassluis Merchantmen want to distinguish themselves from the news reported at Front Office Football Central that the Merchantmen GM is spending his time in bars, drinking with women in the age group of 18 to 20, in stead of setting up a game plan for games the following day. In his own words, the general manager wants to make the situation clear.
GM M. IJ. B.: "What happened is that the adapter of my laptop died the day before the Rhinos game. Then, in stead of going to Boston, I spent all day in The Hague following advisory classes at The Hague University. The day after the game I've been out of the office to buy a new adapter without success. The day of the game against the Conyers Condors I spent at home being ill. Today, I went to the local hardware store to make sure I can do my work again before the game against the Paris Musketeers, to start our streak of good luck games. If people feel I failed at doing my job well, I appolagize. Still, the staff and players, especially on the defense and the two players acquired in the offseason, Harold Hurtado and Dennis Preciado, have shown we are competitive over those games. I wish I could promise victories, but football is a game of inches, rather then miles."

Simple Statistical Analysis - Fumbles
Stop wondering why the Merchantmen are losing games, the problem has been found, a solution is still far from discovered. The Merchantmen quarterback and running back "lead" the league in fumbles made.
Fumble Leaders
8 McDavid,Justin QB Maassluis Merchantmen
7 Harris,Randy RB Maassluis Merchantmen
6 Keith,Roy QB Boulder Bulldogs
6 Wood,William RB Fort Worth
5 seven others ** several team

Week 11 Preview: Paris At Maassluis
The Musketeers are coming to the city, people are getting ready for this must one to stay in the divisional title race. The team is healthy, with only backup running back Seth Kinney inactivated over his misterious hamstring injury. Justin McDavid and Randy Harris promised not to fumble too much against Paris, but promises are no guarentee. Statisticians at the Merchantmen office figured out the Maassluis defense ranks amongst the top 3 in yards per attempt allowed league wide, being a top 8 team in both yards per rush, yards per pass attempt and yards per completion allowed. The Paris offense has seen those skills at their own place, winning with a marginal 3-point victory. Big news is the return of Cecil Doney, the backup defensive end has finally healed from an hamstring injury sidelining him for half of the season. With Dennis Preciado and Harold Hurtado anchoring their sides of the ball, things look good again.

Gossip News - Merchantmen GM Back In Office
The general manager of the Maassluis Merchantmen is back in the office, our anonymus sources report us. Some sources report that an engineer was flown in from a small island from the coast of the Netherlands to fix the laptop of the GM, but we suspect his hangover is done and he's been denied by the local cheerleaders. Still, with or without their GM, the Merchantmen are a 1-8 team heading towards a 3-13 seasonal record to clinch a top 3 pick in the first amateur draft of the IHOF. Odds of Maassluis taking a quarterback who can avoid fumbles seems to be their number one need.

Hey, if you get rid of the fumblers, you may not get such nice draft picks in the future. :D

:D

Hoping you kick Darkiller's ass next game ;)

Crush the Mouseketeers! :D

Only me forgetting to send an export file, or my laptop's adapter falling asleep again, can avoid my team from being competitive against Paris.
I hope I set the fumble avoidness bars into the right direction this time...:o

Maassluis Versus Paris Recap
After the earlier loss in Paris by three points, the Merchantmen were hopeful to avenge their loss and improve to a 2-8 record. The game started with good passes from McDavid to Harris and Aubrey setting up a 41-yard field goal, which Cary Coles misses.
Paris bounched back, but had a hard time reaching the red zone, settling for a 39-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
The first quarter ended with both teams failing to gain many yards and being forced to punt.
Into the second quarter, the Merchantmen found themselves on their own half, failing to gain yards and punted to see their opponent return the punt for 70 yards and a tuchdown, giving Paris a 10-0 lead.
With Smith, Harris, Lopez and Burger running for short gains, the Merchantmen moved up, ending in Justin McDavid passing to Jerry Aubrey for a 26-yard touchdown, staying in the game.
The Maassluis defense stepped up and held the Musketeers offense off, forcing a punt. The Merchantmen couldn't win yards and eventually Paris got the ball back just in time to kick in a 23-yard field goal to end the half, leading 13-7.
In the second half, Paris went of to a great start, anchored by Wiggins, who scored on a 12-yard run for a touchdown, giving the visitors a 13-point lead.
But the Maassluis offense answered well, gaining a lot of yards on every play, ending in the inevitable touchdown: Justin McDavid to star receiver Bryce Ewald for 4 yards.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Musketeers moved up field again, settling for a 34-yard field goal and expanding the lead to 9 points at 23-14.
The Merchantmen found themselves unable to get of their own half and punting with roughly 10 minutes left.
Paris showed some quality time consuming, giving the Merchantmen the ball back with just 5:13 left on the clock.
Justin McDavid knew what to do and started to take risky decissions a risk and seemed to lead his team well after a 15-yard completion and a 6-yard run. But on 2nd and 4, McDavid failed to hit his receiver and got intercepted. Bryce Ewald left the field injured.
The Merchantmen defense stepped up, giving the offense the 2-minute call and time outs to win the game.
McDavid, with his new target Frederic Vargas stepping in, passed and passed and had some miracle completions.
It included a 47-yard pass to Vargas and a 12-yard pass at the Paris 26 on 4th and 10 to Gregory Monti.
Then, with just 13 seconds left, McDavid saw the game end, seeing his pass intercepted in the end zone to end the game at 14-23.
The Musketeers take their much wanted victory to stay in the playoff race, while the Merchantmen move up in the draft selection order as rivals Georgia Gridlock and Gothenburg Giants had surprising victories.

Merchantmen Statistics
QB Justin McDavid passed for 247 yards, completing 18 of 32 passes for 2 touchdowns, but also 2 interceptions.
WR Frederic Vargas had 6 receptions for 113 yards.
LT Harold Hurtado made 5 key run blocks.
DT Charles Gomez had 3 quarterback hurries and 5 tackles.
CB Dennis Preciado made 7 tackles and 1 assist.
RB Randy Harris remains amonsgt the elite rushers in the league with 70 yards per game and 4.4 yards per attempt.
TE Jerry Aubrey averages 42 yards on 4 receptions per game and has 4 touchdowns.
WR Bryce Ewald averages 61 yards on 4 receptions per game and has 3 touchdowns.
QB McDavid and RB Harris are still amongst the 5 players with the most fumbles in the league.
The Merchantmen defense still ranks in the top 10 in yards per rush and yards per pass attempt, while leading the league in yards per completion at only 9.0.
As a team, the Merchantmen offense had 25 turnovers, to be returned by only 11 take aways to rank with a -14 margin last in the league by a margin of 6.
The long defended good red zone defense statistics have worn off and turned into an average 4.5 per visit to go along the offense's 4.7 per visit.
Randy Harris still holds the single game eushing touchdowns record with 3, set in the Merchantmen's only victory.
Dennis Preciado keeps defending his single game passes defended record at 7, set in the Merchantmen's only victory.

Maassluis Versus Ann Arbor Preview
"No nonsense, the odds look the other way, but if we stay away from turnover battle field, we have our chances". Harold Hurtado, the big man on offense against Paris with 5 key run blocks tries to keep his men hopeful to win games. Justin McDavid's job is at stake as his fumblitis has cost he Merchantmen serious chances to win games. At -14 at the turnover tables, 6 worse then the second worst, it's clear where the Merchantmen are losing their games. Hurtado: "Guys like Cody [Cluff], Dennis [Preciado] and the defensive linemen can get things done, keep the opposition out of the end zone." Fans are especially awaiting Randy Harris' fourth touchdown run, after scoring only three times before this season, racking them all up against Gothenburg and taking the IHOF single season record for now. Harris: "If Frederic [Vargas] can get his speed in place, we might not miss Bryce [Ewald] as much as anticipated." Bryce Ewald is the only player on the Merchantmen roster unavailable for the game against the heavily favored Anachronism. The fans are aware of Ann Arbor's thrashing of the Fairbanks North Stars, until last week the heavily favored team to take the league title, but Ann Arbor finds themselves returning into the mix. If the Merchantmen can pull off the sensation, people will talk about it the rest of the year, independant of remaining victories in coming weeks. It's time to get rid of the image of top favorites to draft # overall in 2005...

Gossip News
After last weeks two interception performance, Justin McDavid should fear losing his starting job in 2005. The Merchantmen are heading for a top 5 selection in the upcoming draft and reliable sources say the Merchantmen are anticipating on picking a quarterback with their top selection. McDavid did not want to comment on the story, but he seems determined to show how good he can be. Thusfar, McDavid has led his team to some heroic drives, giving the Merchantmen five competitive games they lost by seven or less points. McDavid's fumblitis seems to be the main concern, but Randy Harris, the overrated running back in Maassluis has taught him the "skill". All in all, the defense is maturing, stepping up week after week, but McDavid seems to let them down. Question is, how can another rookie quarterback with an improved defense win less games next year then McDavid did so far? We call those chances very slim. McDavid is 1-8 as a starter, don't be amazed if Calvin Snider is making the calls in the all important game at Gothenburg...

Dr. K should start to learn how to spell Maassluis.:p

LOL

[quote=MIJB#19]Gossip News
The Merchantmen are heading for a top 5 selection in the upcoming draft and reliable sources say the Merchantmen are anticipating on picking a quarterback with their top selection. QUOTE]

dola.

Hmm..I certainly hope the upcoming drafted will be loaded at the Quarterback position. I expect A LOT of teams to be looking for their next heir apparent.

Not me. I have biggest needs at OL & LB...

I think I've always spelled it correctly, but how do you pronounce Maassluis?

Here's my best guess:

"Moss-Loose."

Ding-ding-ding:
Kodos = Dr K. ?
But really, Dr. K misspelled it only once. Where I kept misspelling Anachronism until this week...

Don't even try, the "ui" part in "sluis", it is unpronouncable for non-Dutch.
The "aa" in "Maas" rather sounds like the "i" in "fire", yet you have to swallow the "e" sound (like in "me"...
The "ui" is best represented as an "oy" combo, yet it's still very far from what it really soinds like.

"Moss-Loose"? Try "Mass Loss"...

Boy, oh, boy, that Ann Arbor game review out to de good and bad in one...

Merchantmen Management looks forward praising losing team
After yet another lost home game with seven or less points, the Merchantmen management wants to praise the team for their great performance against the playoff bound Ann Arbor Anachronism. "The players had all week to learn to pronounce that team's name, yet within a few hours everybody was able to say Anachronism." said Merchantmen quarterback Justin McDavid, who threw 2 interceptions in the 16-20 loss and ran for almost as much yards (68yd) as he passed for (71yd). McDavid: "Maybe the unpronouncable name of our own team helped to get us in shape to say Anachronism, where teams with nicknames like Burn, Tigers or Knights should have a hard team learning that." The Merchantmen dropped to 1-10 and with Gothenburg and Georgia on two-game winning streaks, the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums and the Boulder Bulldogs remain as the only teams within one victory. The road game at Gothenburg is the last straw to avoid finishing last in the European Division in this first year of IHOF football for the Merchantmen. Randy Harris looks back to the only game where he ran for scores this year, at home against Gotheburg, the Merchantmen's "pieces of puzzle falling together"-game. The team is ready for a copy of that game, but the Giants have become winners after 60 minutes, where Maassluis remain as competitive for 60 minutes...

Injury Report
Tight end Jerry Aubrey and defensive tackle Charles Gomez are still black and blue after the game against the Anachronism. Aubrey suffered a neck injury, possibly forcing Jim Reiser into the starting lineup next week. Aubrey is a key element on the passing game, leading the team with 47 receptions and 4 touchdowns. Aubrey: "If Jimmy [Jim Reiser] get's the go ahead, I'll be supportive to him. Jim has all it takes to be a top tight end in the league someday, maybe starting on the road in this do-or-die game will help him become a better player." Charlez Gomez' sore knee give the Merchantmen less concern, yet Gomez might be pulled from the line in favor of Andrew King. With 41 tackles, 14 assists, 3.5 sacks, 3 blocked passes and 6 quarterback hurries, Gomez is a key element on the defensive line to stop opposing running backs from breaking through the line. Andrew King: "Well, playing in stead of Gomez won't make our line better, but I hope to do as good as he does and stop that McGee guy." Both Aubrey and Gomez are game day decisions, unlike Bryce Ewald. Ewald is still recovering from a torn calf muscle and won't return to the active roster this week. "If things don't go better really soon, I might miss the last home game..." said Ewald on a press conference. Ewald was racking up yardage to finish in the top 10 in the league in yards, but know will be unlikely to be concidered an All Conference selection. Runnign back Seth Kinney is also unlikely to play, as his mysterious hamstring injury worries the management to play him and see him go out long term.

Nope. I can 100% confirm that I am NOT Dr. K.


Well, now there's a strangely appropriate pronunciation! ;)

Sorry readers,
Lack of internet access at home and being busy all Monday filming a movie made it impossible for me to do any updates before today and a busy schedule makes it har for me to write a few piece of text before Thursday.

I fear I have to forfeit yet another preview... Sorry...

Merchantmen At Giants Review
With Gothenburg at 3-8 and Maassluis at 1-10, this game could be a decider about the last place in the European Division.
In the first game, the Merchantmen were victorious 31-27 in a well deserved fourth quarter comeback game.
In Gothenburg, the Merchantmen won the toss and elected to receive.
The Merchantmen were off to a great start, with a key 40-yard pass from Justin McDavid to Gregory Monti setting up a 1-yard touchdown McDavid pass to Vincent Lopez. Followed by a short drive from the home team.
On their second possession, the Giants defense stepped up an held the visitors to 3 yards gained, followed by a marveouls 57-yard punt return setting up the tying touchdown.
Then, Randy Harris showed his mark, fumbling on the first down of the next drive at the Maassluis 29, setting up a 41-yard Gothenburg field goal for the Giants 10-7 lead.
Harris recovered with a 20-yard rush, while McDavid found backup tight end Jim Reiser twice to set up a 40-yard field goal, which Cary Coles sadly missed.
The Giants seemed to get back in the game, but as always, the Maassluis defense are tough to beat at their own half forcing a punt.
As McDavid was getting in the game and Harris racked up his yardagae totals, all of a sudden Billmaier intercepted McDavid at the Maassluis 26 and returned into to set up a McGee touchdown run: 17-7.
With the demotivating drive just played, McDavid came back on the field missing the drive and got sacked on third down. The Giants took the profit of a bad punt and marched into the endzone, with McGee scoring.
McDavid then was handed two minutes to get the Merchantmen back in the game in the first half, yet was haunted by Billmaier, first being tackled on a scramble and then intercepted at his own 33 to see the Giants go 31-7 up.
With a minute left, McDavid was unable to move his men forward, despite an amazing Gothenburg timeout with 30 seconds left.
In the second half, Gothenburg could easily sit back and enjoy the 31-7 lead, yet had 30 minutes of play left to defend their turf.
In their first drive, the Merchantmen defense forced a three and out, giving McDavid the chances to shine.
McDavid hit Jerry Aubrey for 12 yards, Gregory Monti for 36 yards and ran for yards in between drooped passes, eventually settling for Coles scoring a 32-yard field goal.
31-10 up, the Giants ran wild, led by McGee, but were forced to kick and settle for a 28-yard field goal.
Down by 24, the odds for the Merchantmen were shrinking, especially with less then 20 minutes left. McDavid tossed complete passes all over the place moving his men forward.
Then speedy Frederic Vargas was hit for a 44-yard touchdown pass, giving the Merchantmen some chances with little more then a quarter left.
McGee inspired his Giants once again, seeing the Merchantmen defense stop the home team for a 48-yard field goal.
McDavid hit Monti for 21 yards, being down by 20 and having 10 minutes left to keep the chains moving fast.
In a 3rd and 15 situation, McDavid managed a 14-yard completion to Arnett, followed by Mark Bulger converting the 4th and 1 for a first down.
With Burger converting a 3rd and 1 shortly after, the Merchantmen saw their hopes grow, but at 4th and 4 on the Giants 21, Coles missed another field goal.
The Giants fans started celebrating with 6 minutes left, seeing their offense stooped and all of a sudden a punt blocked to see the Merchantmen at the Giants 34 with 154 second left.
McDavid handed off twice to Johnathan Smith and finished off a 2nd and 1 at the Giants 1 himself.
With a minute left, the Merchantmen went for the onside kick, lost control and saw their two time outs insufficient to stop the clock.
Cornerback Dominic Billmaier easily took the MVP honors, with 2 interceptions, 1 for a score, a sack and 4 tackles.
Once again, turnovers cost the Merchantmen the game, but the Giants running game seemed unstoppable to be held to no scores.
Even holding the opposing pass offense to just 93 yards doesn't count when their running game advances 178 yards.
Justin McDavid did improve his single game performace by 51 yards to 294 yards in one game, but with 2 more interceptions, what does one buy with it?
What's left is a battle to avoid ending up last league wide for the Merchantmen. With Fort Worth and Brooklyn winning, the Merchantmen have lost two more rivals in the race for the #1 draft pick...

Merchantmen Management Messages
After the unneeded loss in Gothenburg, the Maassluis Merchantmen management announces possible chances in the depth chart next week. General Manager M.IJ.B. was clear on the offense: "face it, Justin [McDavid] and Randy [Harris] show top 10 of the league performances but they combine for a shocking 17 fumbles and McDavid adds 16 interceptions to the mix." Bright lights are there on the offense as Frederic Vargas has replaced Bryce Ewald very well and Harold Hurtado keeps showing up as an elite offensive lineman. M.IJ.B. said "Harold does what he has to do, he's a first round selection, he's doing what he's paid for. And he does it very well the last couple of games." Hurtado made 17 key blocks in the last 4 games. The defense is fast dropping on the yardage rankings, but the general manager sees no concern there: "As long as the defense can stop the opponent on long drives, we can win games. Crucial are those drives where the opposing team starts in our teritory due to turnovers." The -19 turnover margin remains as the biggest concern for the team, but the management is confident to solve the problem next season, M.IJ.B.: "Our staff is convinced of Harris' ability to get rid of fumblitis. Justin McDavid is a whole different story. Face it, he's basically a one year solution, us hoping to get a top talent quarterback in the upcoming draft." With the more then likely top 5 or possibly even higher draft pick, te Merchantmen should be in the position to get a quarterback. M.IJ.B.: "It's too early to conclude the draft is all there is, the draft pick could be interesting for other teams to trade for a quality quarterback, we hope."

Gossip News: Cure For Fumblitits?
Last week, anonymous sources reported to us the Merchantmen medical team have discovered a cure for fumblitits, which the team has been suffering from over the past months, seeing Justin McDavid and Randy Harris as league number one and two in fumbles mid-season. The past games, the team mysteriously avoided fumbles, especially in the game against the highly ranked Ann Arbor Anachronism. But testing seems to have backfired already as Seth Kinney has been inactived for weeks with a mysterious hamstring injury sideling him. Our sources asure us the injury is caused by the use of the mysterious cure. Also, our sources claim the cure also features some forbidden substances, making the use of the fumblitits cure a risk during drugs testing. When the first Merchantmen players is caught is yet to be seen, but the lack of serious injuries for most of the season in Maassluis can't be coincidence...

Merchantmen Management Denies Cure For Fumblitis Rumors
The medical staff of the Maassluis Merchantmen have not found a cure for fumblitits, despite the rumors told at an irreliable source as Front Office Football Central. Randy Harris and Justin McDavid have not been treated with the mysterious medicine. The management is hoping the last home game of the season against the Syracuse Mohawks hands the team the second home victory after losing the previous six with seven or less points. The Merchantmen managament assures the fans there are no forbidden substances to be used by players and there have not been tests of a cure on backup running back Seth Kinney for a few months. The medical staff denies that the mysterious hamstring injury Kinney suffers from has been initiated by the non-existing medicin. The management point to the discipline of the players making them aware of the risks of injuries and helping them avoid injuries as much as possible. The management also wants to point out that Bryce Ewald has been suffering a very serious injury, making his incredible receving perfromance shorted by at least 4 games, while Cecil Doney has been out of action for two months earlier on.

For the fans:

I'm working on a review of the season, yet have no date for when it will be finished.

Maassluis Merchantmen 2004 Review
With our team sitting dead last in the European Division of the AOC, with a much telling 1-15 record, the season didn’t quite go as hoped, yet the outcome is relatively as expected. The league draft made clear our goal would be to give the young promising rising stars their needed playing time, which some picked up and others didn't.

Results
The season started out not so bad, a couple of close losses followed by a victory in the first home game of the season gave us hopes of winning more games then anticipated. The amazing performance at the season start of the Rochester Lake Monsters, a team in basically the same situation us ours, gave us more hope to be competitive all year and steal a miracle victory here and there.
What followed was a streak of thirteen straight losses, most of them being of the same scenario. In a lot of games we took an early 7-0 lead, only to see a couple of lost fumbles force us down by around 3 to 10 points and battle against time to tie the score. In the end we came short on even tying the score game after game, giving us the sad looking 1-15 record, yet several games inspired us to keep hoping on better times. Especially the 4-point loss against championship favorites Ann Arbor Anachronism, the 3-point loss in week one with reserve players against AOC top seeds North Plainfield Plague, holding playoff reaching Columbus Architects and 9-7 Conyers Condors to under 200 total yards on offense, marked meager highlights of the season.

Individual Performances
Rookie Justin McDavid quarterbacked like a possessed man, had a hard time not giving the ball away, ending in a league leading 13 fumbles and third worst with 22 interceptions. On the other end were his 19 touchdown passes, ranking him seventh in the league. His total of 2904 yards passing in 15 games ranked him twelfth league wide. In a league with several talented rookies starting at quarterback, McDavid ranked first amongst them in yards and touchdowns passed for, outperforming highly rated David Conti.
Randy Harris had a weird season, never rushing for 100 yards in a single game and rushing for scores in only one game, the victory over Gothenburg Giants, in which e set an untied record of 3 rushing touchdowns in a single game. Harris hardly made the 1000-yards mark at 1027, with a decent 4.0 yards per carry average. Harris’ surehandness was spotted with as he helped the opponents more then his own team, fumbling in every two games.
Star fullback Vincent Lopez had an injury plagued season, eventually leading him to start only 9 games. His stats aren’t as astonishing and it seems backup Mark Burger is already ready to take over the fullback duties next season.
Tigth end Jerry Aubrey outperformed highly rated wide receivers Bryce Ewald, Frederic Vargas and Gregory Monti, as he earned All IHOF First Team honors with 67 receptions (fourteenth league wide), 760 yards and 6 touchdowns (tied for eleventh league wide). Aubrey also set his blocking mark with 9 key run blocks on 19 opportunities and hit the 100-yard mark in the last game of the season. Jim Reiser will have a hard time starting next season.
Bryce Ewald was on the march for a top ten receiving yards season, until he got severely injured and missed a game or four. Eventually he ended up with 47 receptions for 683 yards and 3 touchdowns, hitting 100-yards in the Gothenburg victory.
Frederic Vargas and Gregory Monti showed up when Ewald was injured, both marking decent years with over 30 receptions, around 500 yards receiving and 5 and 3 touchdowns respectively. Both hit the 100-yard mark in one game all season.
Harold Hurtado was the main man on the offensive line, making a league wide tied for seventeenth number of key run blocks. Hurtado had a run blocking percentage of 36.4, allowed 5 sacks in 520 passing plays and ended up as an All IHOF Second Team selection. Other linemen had so-so years, with none being worth mentioning.
Harold Wells marked an extraordinary season, as the defensive end totaled 65 tackles, 9.0 sacks, 4 blocked passes and 14 hurries. With those stats, he ranked third league wide amongst defensive ends in tackles.
Charles Gomez sidekicked Wells well, as the tackle made 68 tackles, 5 sacks, 5 blocked passes and had 8 quarterback hurries. Other starting defensive linemen like John Bryant (60 tackles) and Deon Chapa (5 sacks) produced a little less.
Linebacker Cody Cluff came a few short for 100 tackles as he totaled 99 for the season, but did earn Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Cornerback Dennis Preciado was the obvious cornerstone of the passing defense, making 63 tackles, 2 interceptions and defending 11 passes. Note that 7 of those defended passes cam in the Gothenburg victory, marking a single game record and making the total look a little low.

2005 Season Preview

Schedule
When the 2005 schedule was revealed, the Merchantmen management was amazed to see a weird looking schedule. The season stars with a home game against Gothenburg, the 2004 game that gave us our only victory of the season. Following are a lot of road games, with eventually a season end of five games at home of the last six, with the last three all played in Oranje Haven. The inter-conference games are against owners who bring a little more rivalry to town, as do the match-ups against Orlando, with Dutch as manager, and Rochester. And the Conyers Condors are also familiar faces, they beat Maassluis 17-16 last season on two fumbles recovered for touchdowns.

Free Agency
With 46 players signed, the future looks save, yet only fourteen players have contracts not ending after the 2005 season. The management will have a lot of work to do in the off season to negotiate with players worth extensions. That includes the likes of All IHOF Tight End Jerry Aubrey, talented defensive ends Harold Wells and Deon Chapa, Defensive Rookie of the Year Cody Cluff, cornerstone Dennis Preciado, fullback Vincent Lopez, quarterback Justin McDavid, linebacker Mike Kershner and safety Randall Smith. Also, the contracts of seven offensive linemen will end after the season.

Draft
The Merchantmen management has sent out the message throughout the league of which players are available for trade, they all are (potential) starters. The list includes Justin McDavid, Jerry Aubrey, Vincent Lopez and backup defensive end Cecil Doney, who has a three years of contract left. Second, the management made clear that the #1 selection is available to help us trade down, while the other selections at #33, #65, #97, #129, #161 and #193 are available to help us trade up.

Staff
Sadly, the contract of all four staff members have ended, yet we hope to retain the services of the head coach and coordinators, though we’d rather sing them at other roles then last season, making their profiles fit their jobs best. Head coach Arnold Blackburn would be better off at offensive coordinator. That would make us Jerome Hodges move to defensive coordinator and Floyd Seba become the new head coach. That is, if all three are willing to stay in Maassluis. Plus, with the addition of a staff member salary cap, we are unable to keep only two out of three. Lead scout Brad McGarity’s contract also ends, yet we don’t feel the need to retain his services, likely ending his stint in Maassluis after just one season.

Battle Plan for 2005
The quarterback situation is the most troublesome. Justin McDavid showed glimpses of skill. McDavid set rookie record in passing yards and passing touchdowns, yet his fumble numbers and his limited skills and potential make the fan favorite a more then likely casualty of renewal. The first pick in the draft could be used on a quarterback, yet if the right trade offer comes around, we might take a quarterback in later rounds, all depending on the availability of prospects in the draft.
The offense has to do better then last season’s 290 yards per game. The consistency of the rushing game is a good sign, yet the unpredictability of the passing game is a big negative. And with yet another rookie quarterbacking in 2005, the signs are not so good.
For the rushing game, we hope to see Randy Harris grow into a top 10 running back. With the help of either Mark Burger or Vincent Lopez at fullback, All IHOF Second Team left tackle Harold Hurtado leading the offensive line and the wanted upgrades at the other positions on the line. Last season, not a single opponent held the Merchantmen to less then 60 yards of rushing, where the team had just 25 attempts per game.
The passing game should remain as strong as last season. Bryce Ewald and Frederic Vargas could make a nice combo, with Jerry Aubrey or Jim Reiser at tight end and capable backs to help out when needed. An upgrade at the offensive line could help out to make the pass rush of opponents avoid the big number of fumbles. Last season, only the Ann Arbor Anachronism managed to stop the Aubrey and the youngster.
The 2004 defense ranked fourteenth with 308 yards per game, making us the best defense in the division. With the prospects there to improve, the Merchantmen aim for a top 10 defense in 2005.
The pass defense was good last season, yet the yards pet attempt should go down by a yard or two next season. The expected improvement of the prospects on the defensive front and our safeties should help there. An upgrade at the cornerback position seems a requirement none the less. The team held four of sixteen opponents to 120 yards or less, a performance only tied or outdone by North Plainfield Plague’s 5 games of 120 yards or less.
For the rushing defense, the front seven seems already capable of stopping that, yet last season the game plan might have been a little problem there. The management has good hopes that the starters in 2004 can do better in 2005. The game against Columbus Architects last season gave good hopes as our defense held top running back Gerald Harris to 20 yards on 19 attempts, marking Harris’ season low, while he had eight 100-yard games, including 226 yards against Bordeaux.

Conclusion
Key of the off season is to retain services of at least two of three coaches/coordinators, extend contract of several starters, improve the offensive line, but ultimately acquiring a starting quarterback is the only goal for the 2005 off season. During the season, we hope to see the defense improve to a team capable of less or around 100 yards rushing in eight or more games and see the pass defense drop a yard on yards per attempt allowed. On offense, cohesion is a key thing, while the (new) starting quarterback should get emerged into the lineup, while the youngsters around Aubrey can grow into a league wide top 12 offense. Our top 3 of goals are:
1. Get a better quarterback
2. Keep at least two coaches/coordinators
3. Teach the defense to stop the run as well as the pass

Gossip News
Anonymus sources report that the popularity of Justin McDavid and his record setting season for passing yards and passing touchdowns amongst rookies, as well as the heroic fourth quarter almost comebacks, could keep McDavid seated as the starting quarterback for the 2005 season. It seems the Merchantmen plan to bench a possible drafted quarterback until the team is out of contention for the playoffs. Looking to last season, that could mean the rookie would be starting the last 6 games, including 5 in Maassluis.

Roster News
Defensive tackle Andrew King, leader of the defensive front seven, is out of contract with the Maassluis Merchantmen. Chances are slim that King is resigned for the 2005 season. King saw action in only 10 games, in which he made only 8 tackles, no sacks and was active in only 158 plays on defense. Andrew King's highlight of the season was a 73-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the road game against San Antonio in week 16 of the 2004 season, which then put the team back to trailing 8 points to the final score of a 14-22 loss on the road. Expectations are that eone of the backup linebackers Les Norton and Matt Sellers or defensive end Cecil Doney will become the new leader during the offseason.

Merchantmen Hire Dutchman As Head Coach
The Maassluis Merchantmen are pleased to announce the acquisition of Leroy van der Woude as the new head coach. Van der Woude replaces Arnold Blackburn, who's contract expired. Van der Woude signed a 2-year contract at $1.5 million a year. Van der Woude provides the Merchantmen a Dutchman as the new head coach, making this a unique partnership. General Manager M.IJ.B. praises Van der Woude's playcalling skills, which should be his main job in the 2005 season.

Merchantmen Trade Speedy Vargas
The Maassluis Merchantmen want to annouce the trade of wide receiver Frederic Vargas. Vargas, last season timed as second fatstest player in the league, with the same time as the fastest player, was a backup behind rookie Bryce Ewald in 2004. Chances were Vargas would remain in a backup role, yet was schedule to make $6.3 million in the next season. This saves the Merchantmen $4.4 million this season. Vargas will move to the North Plainfield Plague in a trade that gives North Plainfield draft picks in the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th round in exchange for North Plainfield's picks at #14, #50, #125, #221 and #222. Vargas moves to a division where the Rochester Lake Monsters are also playing, which team features Amos Collins as wide receiver, who was also drafted by the Merchantmen in the 2004 IHOF League Draft.

All M.IJ.B. Selection 2004
After seeing the annual awards handed out, the Maassluis Merchantmen general manager M.IJ.B. has announced his selection of 53 players that performed the best in the 2004 season. The selection includes the best players per team, and adds the 21 best remaining players to the total, depending on position. This year, the selection includes two players from the Maassluis Merchantmen, tight end Jerry Aubrey and offensive left tackle Harold Hurtado, who were awarded All IHOF First Team and All IHOF Second Team respectively.

The All MIJB selection 2004 includes:
QB1 - Donald Woods - Ann Arbor
QB2 - Joey Allen - Fairbanks
QB3 - Wayne Christopherson - Orlando
RB1 - Huey Gervais - Springfield
RB2 - Gerald Harris - Columbus
RB3 - Israel Mars - Orlando
PR1 - Rodger Mowery - RayCo
FB1 - Cole Coleman - Anaheim
FB2 - Thomas Boden - Bordeaux
TE1 - Jerry Aubrey - Maassluis
TE2 - Manuel Erickson - Boston
TE3 - Leroy Kirksey - Fairbanks
WR1 - David Marquis - Chesapeake
WR2 - Reggie Norris - Orlando
WR3 - Antonia Daggett - Fairbanks
WR4 - Seymour Barber - Stillwater
C1 - Michael Perez - Asheville
C2 - Brian Robichaud - Orlando
G1 - Rex Synder - Astoria
G2 - Adam Greer - Paris
G3 - Gene Simmons - Rochester
G4 - Charles Trout - San Antonio
T1 - Dan Koehler - Frederick
T2 - Harold Hurtado - Maassluis
T3 - Randall Dunkin - Vicksburg
T4 - Donnell Parker - Anaheim
P1 - Michael Helgeson - Boulder
K1 - Carrol Walz - Gothenburg
DE1 - Cris Richardson - Georgia
DE2 - Dillon Sumpter - Conyers
DE3 - Joe 'Mad Cow' Holstein - Outer Banks
DE4 - Erwin Baranowski - Asheville
DT1 - Walt Spangler - Minnesota
DT2 - Barton Garcia - Conyers
DT3 - Myles Halliburton - Columbus
DT4 - Greg Lehr - San Luis Obispo
ILB1 - Joe Teeters - Paris
ILB2 - Jeffry Boggs - Fairbanks
ILB3 - Leland Moorehead - Leesburg
ILB4 - Barney Pascoe - Frederick
OLB1 - Barney Sykes - Columbus
OLB2 - Danny McDuffie - Asheville
OLB3 - Ron Larson - Syracuse
OLB4 - James Stoker - Tucker
CB1 - Phillip Shumway - San Antonio
CB2 - Clarence Whyte - RayCo
CB3 - James King - Fort Worth
CB4 - Merle Chumley - Brooklyn
S1 - Milo Epperson - Outer Banks
S2 - Benton Harness - Ann Arbor
S3 - Jordon Murdoch - North Plainfield
S4 - Jeffrey Hamlet - Asheville
KR1 - Shaun Steven - North Plainfield

Number One Pick Traded
After days of negotiating, the Maassluis Merchantmen management is proud to announce the acquisition of linebacker Ellsworth Thelen and four draft selections in the 2005 IHOF draft in the first two rounds from Astoria Heroes in a trade that cost us our selections in the first and second round at #1 and #33 respectively. This gives the merchantmen a young potential starter to strenghten the talented front seven on defense, while we also get the opportunity to add four in stead of two players in the top two rounds of the draft. After an earlier trade with North Plainfield plague, our team now ten draft selections in total being: #12, #14, #31, #44, #50, #63, #125, #129, #221 and #222.

General Manager Notes
To me it seems we gave up a little in the trade, yet getting a decent guy to strenghten our front seven now and to also get three draft selections in stead of one, we feel happy. The worst thing that can happen is that teh draft class eventually turns out to have a franchise quarterback type of player sitting ready, which would have been the only option for us to pick at #1 overall. And without knowing one would be available, we felt we shouldn't take the risk and let another team have the favor of selecting the latest super star player. Perhaps we can get a second tier quarterback with the #12 or #14 pick and we hope to improve the offensive line as well in the coming period.

Merchantmen Resign Lead Scout
The Merchantmen management is happy to announce to have agreed on a new three year contract with lead scout Brad McGarity. McGarity's contract had expired after the 2004 season, but now keeps the 61-year old in Maassluis until te 2007 IHOF season. Despite signing McGarity today and Leroy van der Woude as the new head coach, the Merchantmen are still negotiating with people to fill the vacancies at offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

Merchantmen Hire New Coordinators
The Merchantmen hired Rochester Lake Monsters' defensive coordinator Kim Johanssen as the new defensive coordinator. Johanssen has a good reputation along all position groups, is young at 36 years old and signed a 3-year contract at 350 thousand dollars a year. Also, the Merchantmen hired Spencer Opitz as the new offensive coordinator. Opitz, who has no experience at the IHOF, signed a 1-year cotract for 1.3 million dollars. Opitz has an excellent reputation in developing offensive linemen, a position we have needs in and we might try to upgrade in the draft. Which is where Opitz's other strenght comes in places, his ability to get the best out of young players. Earlier today, we said good bye to Arnold Blackburn and Jerome Hodges, who were head coach and offensive coordinator respectively in the 2004 season. Blackburn was hired by Bordeaux Vineyards as their new offensive coordinator, while Hodges moves back to the States, to become the Tucker Tigers' defensive coordinator. The Merchantmen management offered these men the same jobs in Maassluis, though being sort of a demotion, but at a better paid contract. Sadly both decided to go for more money elsewhere, but the Merchantmen management will step over this and give all faith to the new head coach, Leroy van der Woude, and coordinators Opitz and Johannsen.

Gossip News
Our anonymus sources report that the merchantmen have declared war on the Bordeaux Vineyards for signing away Arnold Balckburn as offensive coordinator. Also, the Tucker Tigers players should watch their food when playing at Maassluis in week 5 of the regular season. The Tigers signed away Jerome Hodges as defensive coordinator, while the Merchantmen management seemed to have big plans with Hodges and the young defense.

Merchantmen Acquire OT Wilson Grimaldo for FS Randall Smith
The Maassluis Merchantmen management are happy to announce the conclusion of trade talks with the Paris Musketeers. The Merchantmen have acquired 32-year odl offensive right tackle Wilson Grimaldo, who is signed through the 2009 season. In return, the Musketeers get starting free safety Randall Smith, who led the Merchantmen in interceptions and also was the main punt returner in Maassluis. Additional, the Musketeers get the earlier acquired second round draft picks at #50 and #63 overall, Maassluis' 5th round pick at #129 overall and Maassluis' 7th round selection in the 2006 draft, while Maassluis get Paris' 7th round pick in the 2005 draft at #206 overall. This trade provides the Merchantmen with a major upgrade in the pass protection and run blocking, while the Musketeers open up needed cap space and improve their secondary. The Merchantmen opened up the cap space to acquire Grimaldo by trading away WR Frederic Vargas earlier this offseason. Grimaldo is the second offensive tackle taken in the first round of the initial league draft that Maassluis have acquired in a trade, Harold Hurtado joined the Merchantmen before the 2004 season in a trade with Rochester Lake Monsters. The Merchantmen now have 46 players signed after trading away WR Vargas and acquiring SLB Ellsworth Thelen before this trade, while they also hold 8 draft selections at #12, #14, #31, #44, #125, #206, #221 and #222 overall.

Glad to see this came back strong after a brief hiatus.

Wow, "we" have readers. :)


Roster Overview
Below is our current roster with the number of years players have left on their contract and their cap value in 1000s, noting that the cap is set at 78.6M (78600K).

Player	Yrs	Cap (in K)	Overview
QB McDavid, Justin	1	910	McDavid set rookie record in 2004 in passing yards and touchdowns. McDavid is popular with the fans, yet we don't see him as a franchise quarterback. We hope to resign McDavid for a lot of years in a role as second stringer.
QB Shepard, Antoine	fa		Shepherd is unrestricted, meaning we'll wait until late in free agency on a decission to resign him. In Maassluis, Shepherd is unlikely to ever be more then emergency quarterback.
QB Snider, Calvin	1	310	Snider will be our emergency quarterback in the 2005 season. He has to improve to be resigned in the 2006 offseason.
RB Harris, Randy	5	3070	Harris looks like a top10 running back league wide. In 2004 he managed to score only 3 touchdowns, all coing in just one game. It did earn him an untied single game record after one season in the IHOF.
RB Kinney, Seth	fa		Kinney won't be resigned until the end of free agency, and only if we haven't found better options.
RB Page, Kyle	fa		Page is a guy we would like to keep. Yet, won't be resigned until the end of free agency, and only if we haven't found better options.
RB Smith, Jonathan	2	1440	Smith is a quality backup rusher. He has two years left in his contract to show he's really the worthy second man in a system that should see more rushing in 2005.
FB Burger, Mark	2	1950	Burger is the most popular player on the roster. He's still a backup, yet after training camp he might steal Lopez' job. We hope to extend his contract very soon.
FB Lopez, Vincent	1	800	Lopez is a top10 fullback. We hope to get two more years out of him, providing he signs a contract extension.
TE Aubrey, Jerry	1	1440	All IHOFer Aubrey has a year or two left before being replaced. Aubrey was and is a key element in the passing game.
TE Reiser, Jim	2	770	Reiser is our future star receiver. We hope to sign him to a long contract next offseason.
TE Winfield, Ethan	1	310	Winfield is unlikely to get a new contract soon. He has the 2005 season to prove his skill.
WR Arnett, Arnulfo	fa		Arnett could be our kick return if we resign him. Arnett is aiming to be our new receivers leader, yet we fear he can't do much in that role.
WR Ewald, Bryce	2	1150	Ewald is our star receiver. We hope to lenghten his stay here. Ewald is our choice for rookie of the year.
WR Marshall, Raul	2	1150	Marshall seems to lack the skills to be a starter.
WR Monti, Gregory	1	1280	Monti is a decent receiver. We hope to extend his stay.
C Carranza, Julio	1	310	Carranza lacks the skills to start, we fear. We wait with giving him a better contract.
C Schwartz, Tom	1	310	Schwartz is a backup player at best. We are not certian about his future here for now
G Burdett, David	1	550	Burdett showed some skill in 2004, yet he doesn't seem to be a top60 guard in the league.
G McDaniel, Devin	1	370	McDaniel has 2005 to show he deserves to stay.
G Nellums, Darrin	1	310	Nellums has to do really well in training camp and the regular season to get an extension.
G Young, Albert	1	310	Young has been a troubled player. We doubt he will ever be starter material.
T Dudley, Willie	1	370	Dudley is a dud. Seriously, he won't get much better then a backup.
T Fontenot, Jeff	1	370	Fontenot should look to Grimaldo this year. If he learns enough, he could earn himself a contract extension.
T Grimaldo, Wilson	5	6000	Grimaldo will be our anchorman on the offensive line. We hope he plays like the potential All IHOFer he is.
T Hurtado, Harold	3	3820	All IHOF Second Teamer Hurtado is still the leader on the line.
T Malave, Russell	1	370	Malave should look to Grimaldo and learn a lot this training camp. We hope he turns into a quailty backup soon.
P Corrales, Roscoe	1	690	Corrales is a decent punter. We are still uncertain about extending his contract.
K Coles, Cary	1	310	Coles gets a year to prove his skill. If he does well, he'll be resigned in 2005.
DE Chapa, Deon	1	5370	Chapa had an injury plagued season. We hope he perfoms well in a rotation system. We wish to extend his contract soon.
DE Doney, Cecil	3	3730	Doney was shopped, but not sold. Now we're sold on him and Doney will have a key role in our pass rush rotation.
DE Lake, Geoff	fa		Lake's days are over in Maassluis. Sadly for him he's a restricted free agent, making it impossible for him to move teams before the draft.
DE McKeehan, Junior	fa		McKeehan fits our rotation system. We hope to resign him for a few seasons.
DE Wells, Harold	1	6890	Wells is who we build on for the future. He'll get a longer contract this offseason.
DT Bryant, John	2	4060	Bryant is questionable as a starter, yet as a backup he's a fine player.
DT Gomez, Charles	5	9600	Gomez makes a lot of money, so we hope to renegotiate his contract. Gomez' skills are clear and he will be our main man on the line.
DT Jacke, Stanley	1	370	Jacke is a decent backup, yet we are holding off to give him a better contract.
DT King, Andrew	fa		King was the front seven leader in 2004, yet had little game action. We might let him walk in free agency.
ILB Cluff, Cody	1	790	Defensive Rookie of the Year Cluff will get a long contract this offseason. We hope Cluff will use the great line in front of him to get those opponent running backs a little more in 2006.
ILB Sellers, Matt	1	370	Sellers has a year to earn a new deal. His potential looks good, yet chances on becoming a starter are slim.
OLB Ellsworth, Thelen	1	660	Ellsworth is new to the mix and we hope he turns out to be a quality strong side linebacker. We offer him a better contract this offseason.
OLB Kershner, Mike	1	760	Kershner will get a better deal really soon. The converted midlinebacker should team up with Cluff to form a monster duo behind the defensive line.
OLB Norton, Les	1	370	Norton is a trouble maker. We might get rid of him soon.
OLB Sasa, Sam	1	810	Sasa will drop back on the depth chart. We are not determined about his future yet.
OLB Silvan, Britt	1	370	Silvan made some impact last season, yet we are not comvinced about his skills.
CB Alston, Gus	1	370	Alston should fear for his job. We hope to upgrade the secondary, making him expendable.
CB Kinney, Zach	1	310	Kinney is in a improve or get cut situation. The training camp will be his time to flame.
CB Preciado, Dennis	1	1650	Preciado will be offered a contract extension. If he signs, we hope he can be a starter for a couple of seasons.
CB Schwartz, C.J.	2	310	Schwartz has to show his potential in the offseason to be a roster member in the regular season.
CB Turner, Earl	2	1000	Turner is signed to an expensive contract. We are yet undetermined about his future.
S Francis, Percy	1	710	Francis will be the starting free safety after the departure of Randall Smith. We hope to see Francis show he's worth the extension we offer him.
S Gilmore, Lincoln	2	370	Gilmore is young, yet will get the 2005 season to earn a better contract.
S Stevens, Graham	1	310	Stevens is our only backup safety, which means he'll be around for a longer time.

Some Special Dynasty Reporter Talk
I start to think this dynasty report isn't representing the fun I hade in trade negotiations that worked and those that didn't work out. Negotiating has been the best experience as of yet in the IHOF to me.

The trade for the #1 pick, where the Astoria Heroes GM crowned himself winner of the trade, but with the draft class revealed the #1 pick seems lesser valuable, the fun of the smash talk has faded. In the end, picking at #12 AND #14, plus getting a top OT worth a #1 pick, my team has improved more then I could imagine at the season end, despite knowing I'd have the #1 pick. Knowing the owners on the other end of the table I shaked hands with after finalizing trade talks where happy too, this game is really fun.
But finding out I have traded away 2 of the top10 WR in the league in the past offseasons, knowing I could have kept them and still traded other WRs, I feel I can still improve my negotiating skills. For example, I traded a potential top10 DT for an above average CB with the eventual 2004 champions...

Second, I have a lot of thoughts that don't go into the thread because they are my plans and giving them away wouldn't seem smart. Even if I post them delayed, since my team seems to be in a shape of being a contender in 2006 or 2007, meaning it would take at least a month or 4 before I could reveal my current strategy.

For example, I couldn't have posted that I wanted to get rid of the #1 before the draft class was revealed BEFORE finalising the deal with Astoria, yet that would probably have cost me if their GM had seen this thread...

The dynasty report will continue, the Merchantmen are in the building process and the draft could provide some of the needed upgrades at QB, C, G, DT, LB, CB, S and the returning duties.

Gossip News
With the draft class revealed, the Maassluis Merchantmen are said to go on with Justin McDavid as their starting quarterback. Draft class evaluation pundits have said the upcoming draft class lacks quarterbacks who can feel the Merchantmen's main need. Fear of losing fans has been an issue too. The Merchantmen have been shopping around with future super fullback Mark Burger, who is the fans' number one player. With McDavid closely as popular, the Merchantmen need to keep one of them on the field. With Vince Lopez still around, Burger is unlikely to be the star on offense. Maybe the Merchantmen will be aggressive and trade up from #14 or #12 to be sure to draft quarterback Mark Hudson.

Dutch Blood In Draft Class
The Merchantmen have tracked down five players in this years draft class who are said to have Dutch blood running through their veigns. Cornerback Bert Kamstra attended Minnesota and has a burea rating of 2.0. Kamstra ran the 40-yard dash in 4.59 seconds and is expected to go undrafted. Kamstra currently lives in Cassopolis in Michigan. Center Max Warren is graded as the third best center in the draft. Warren attended Tulane and has a bureau rating of 6.2. Warren will likely be drafted in the second or third round. Top rated kicker Edward Wilkes attended Alabama. Wilkes scored high on the Solecismic test and hopes to be a starting kicker in 2005 in the IHOF. Quarterback Tim Wilkes played for Miami in his college period. He hopes to get drafted, and has good odds to go in one of the lower rounds. Wilkes has a bureau rating of 3.0. Safety Terry Kuiper graduates from Canisius college. Kuiper has a bureau rating of 3.8 and scored 30 points in the Solecismic Test. Kuiper will likely be drafted in the fourth round. Whether the Merchantmen will bring one of these guys back to their roots is questionable. The Merchantmen lack the draft picks to select one of the Wilkes or safety Kuiper, while Kamstra seems not ready to play at IHOF football level. Center Max Warren could be an option with the draft selection in the second round at #44 overall, especially with their need to upgrade the heart of the offensive line.

Merchantmen Extend And Renegotiate
The Merchantment management is happy to announce that we have agreed on contract renewal with twentyfour players. Most important were contract extensions to defensive end Harold Wells, quarterback Justin McDavid, defensive rookie of the year Cody Cluff, All IHOF tight end Jerry Aubrey and renegotiated contracts with offensive tackle Wilson Grimaldo, defensive tackle Charles Gomez. wide receiver Arnulfo Arnett and defensive tackle Andrew King were free agents and also signed a new contract.
The complete list of player signing new contracts, longer cotracts or renegotiated contracts is:
quarterback Justin McDavid, running back Jonathan Smith, fullbacks Mark Burger and Vincetn Lopez, tight ends Jerry Aubrey and Jim Reiser, wide receivers Arnulfo Arnett, Bryce Ewald, Raul Marshall, Gregory Monti, offensive tackle Wilson Grimaldo, punter Roscoe Corrales, defensive ends Deon Chapa, Junior McKeehan and Harold Wells, defensive tackles John Bryant, Charles Gomez and Andrew King, linebackers Cody Cluff, Mike Kershner, Sam Sasa and Ellsworth Thelen, cornerback Dennis Preciado and safety Percy Francis.