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MIJB#19 · 11-03-2019, 10:01 AM

General Manager Notes: And then... nothing
Indeed, the lack of fanfare was a sign of things gone wrong.

The Atlantic Ocean Conference Championship game turned out to be a game where we ran into the inferiorly talented, yet more effective North Plainfield Plague. Their defense dominated the game and the subsequent IHOF Bowl game en route to a surprise league championship. Well, surprise, they did play like the #1 defense in the regular season. Defense wins championship? It certainly did in the IHOF's 2085 season.

Where does it leave us? Well, fourth best team of the past season, apparently. About on par what I would have considered reasonable towards the kind of team we have, but taking into account how disappointing the previous two seasons and how up and down the regular season was, I'm not particularly happy and convinced that we played below our ability for these past 3 regular seasons. Apparently we're just not as good as we're supposed to be on paper.

The off-season has kicked off and we're down three players due to retirement.

Oscar Meadows hung it up. The best right tackle to ever play for the Maassluis Merchantmen, surely he's Hall of Fame bound. For 13 seasons starting with his rookie campaign he was our right tackle. In 2084 we demoted him to a backup role, last season he was just here to mentor the rookie Howard Humphrey, who clearly fit Meadows' shoes and earned All-IHOF honors. Meadows played in 224 games, starting 213 of those, excluding the 9 playoffs games he started and played in. 380 key run blocks make him 3rd all-time for the Merchantmen, first offensive tackle by a landslide. God speed, Oscar.

Meadows' sidekick Carlos Webb also retired. For 10 seasons he was our starting right guard, just like Meadows, from his rookie season and onwards. Last season he had to ride the bench behind Harvey Hank and Michael Szott. Together, with Meadows and the awesome centers and fullbacks, Webb was part of a tremendous run blocking unit. Webb's last activity was in the two playoffs games that we won last season. In 2083 he had his finest season, with 50 key run blocks, only 2 short of tying the franchise record. Webb ranks fourth all-time in key run blocks for the Merchantmen.

Less spectacular has been the career of Santiago Sepanski. The long snapper was only 3 seasons with us. It means we'll have to look out for a new long snapper. Our staff has considered him as one of the finest to play the game and position in the last decade and a half. Imagine how much more extra points and field goals Thomas Robertson would have missed had we had some other snapper...

In our staff, we were forced to sign a new assistant coach in the 64-year old Willie Sommers. He had been the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Norsemen, a good fit there with his smashmouth preference. It's likely a short-term solution. We re-signed offensive coordinator Neal Murack and kept the rest of the staff as is.

Our cap situation is healthy. Yes, we're $42 million over the cap, but I fully expect us to find a lot of space with renegotiations with several of our superstars. With draft picks taken into consideration, we're projected at $61 million over the cap, holding the #29 pick in each round and having an late extra third round pick. That $61M figure is inaccurate given that we already have 45 players signed. Also, four players are restricted free agents that we'll likely try to re-sign. Biggest puzzle will be to find enough cap space to extend contracts of the fourth-year players DT Heath Oliver, S Bart Guthrie and LT Nathan Hadinger. All three are elite at their respective positions. Also in last year of contract are veterans like QB Ellis MCAlister, G Harvey Hank, DT Glen Stiegler and many, many more, but all of them already have contracts in line with their market value. Guthrie, Hadinger and Oliver are in the last year of their rookie contracts.

The situation with Nathan Hadinger is the toughest. He's still recovering from a hernia and is expected to miss training camp, miss pre-season and is questionable to be recovered in time for opening weekend. Anticipating that, we'll be talking with Louie Murray about a contact extension.

That's what's going on in and around Oranje Haven, in a nutshell. Things are looking good in my opinion.

11-03-2019, 10:01 AM	#170
MIJB#19 Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands	General Manager Notes: And then... nothing Indeed, the lack of fanfare was a sign of things gone wrong. The Atlantic Ocean Conference Championship game turned out to be a game where we ran into the inferiorly talented, yet more effective North Plainfield Plague. Their defense dominated the game and the subsequent IHOF Bowl game en route to a surprise league championship. Well, surprise, they did play like the #1 defense in the regular season. Defense wins championship? It certainly did in the IHOF's 2085 season. Where does it leave us? Well, fourth best team of the past season, apparently. About on par what I would have considered reasonable towards the kind of team we have, but taking into account how disappointing the previous two seasons and how up and down the regular season was, I'm not particularly happy and convinced that we played below our ability for these past 3 regular seasons. Apparently we're just not as good as we're supposed to be on paper. The off-season has kicked off and we're down three players due to retirement. Oscar Meadows hung it up. The best right tackle to ever play for the Maassluis Merchantmen, surely he's Hall of Fame bound. For 13 seasons starting with his rookie campaign he was our right tackle. In 2084 we demoted him to a backup role, last season he was just here to mentor the rookie Howard Humphrey, who clearly fit Meadows' shoes and earned All-IHOF honors. Meadows played in 224 games, starting 213 of those, excluding the 9 playoffs games he started and played in. 380 key run blocks make him 3rd all-time for the Merchantmen, first offensive tackle by a landslide. God speed, Oscar. Meadows' sidekick Carlos Webb also retired. For 10 seasons he was our starting right guard, just like Meadows, from his rookie season and onwards. Last season he had to ride the bench behind Harvey Hank and Michael Szott. Together, with Meadows and the awesome centers and fullbacks, Webb was part of a tremendous run blocking unit. Webb's last activity was in the two playoffs games that we won last season. In 2083 he had his finest season, with 50 key run blocks, only 2 short of tying the franchise record. Webb ranks fourth all-time in key run blocks for the Merchantmen. Less spectacular has been the career of Santiago Sepanski. The long snapper was only 3 seasons with us. It means we'll have to look out for a new long snapper. Our staff has considered him as one of the finest to play the game and position in the last decade and a half. Imagine how much more extra points and field goals Thomas Robertson would have missed had we had some other snapper... In our staff, we were forced to sign a new assistant coach in the 64-year old Willie Sommers. He had been the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Norsemen, a good fit there with his smashmouth preference. It's likely a short-term solution. We re-signed offensive coordinator Neal Murack and kept the rest of the staff as is. Our cap situation is healthy. Yes, we're $42 million over the cap, but I fully expect us to find a lot of space with renegotiations with several of our superstars. With draft picks taken into consideration, we're projected at $61 million over the cap, holding the #29 pick in each round and having an late extra third round pick. That $61M figure is inaccurate given that we already have 45 players signed. Also, four players are restricted free agents that we'll likely try to re-sign. Biggest puzzle will be to find enough cap space to extend contracts of the fourth-year players DT Heath Oliver, S Bart Guthrie and LT Nathan Hadinger. All three are elite at their respective positions. Also in last year of contract are veterans like QB Ellis MCAlister, G Harvey Hank, DT Glen Stiegler and many, many more, but all of them already have contracts in line with their market value. Guthrie, Hadinger and Oliver are in the last year of their rookie contracts. The situation with Nathan Hadinger is the toughest. He's still recovering from a hernia and is expected to miss training camp, miss pre-season and is questionable to be recovered in time for opening weekend. Anticipating that, we'll be talking with Louie Murray about a contact extension. That's what's going on in and around Oranje Haven, in a nutshell. Things are looking good in my opinion. __________________ * 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen * Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail Last edited by MIJB#19 : 11-03-2019 at 10:01 AM.