Glimpses & Moments from "Undynasties"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Presumably most of us have various gaming projects going that haven't been given the full dynasty treatment but still have cool moments in them that seem worth sharing. That's the intent of this thread ... well, that and I wanted to mention this without threadjacking anybody else to do it

TEW 07, taking a crack at Mid-Atlantic with the D.O.T.T. mod, a promotion I've never actually run before.

Nice little sequence where World Champ Flair avoids giving Dusty a title shot (usually bringing in big names on loan or what not, deeming them more worthy), Terry Funk has been helping keep Rhodes battered & bruised. The Funkster finally gets his fill of Flair's botched interferences in his matches, an errant chair shot in a U.S. title match vs Steamboat eventually being the last straw. Dusty finally gets his match, only to see Funk attack Flair with a chair which both turned Funk face but also gave Naitch a DQ win (thus denying Dusty yet again).

Move forward to the next monthly big show, Funk vs Flair in the main (where Terry eventually wins the title clean) but Dusty/Blackjack Mulligan open the show with a World Tag title shot against Slater & Bob Orton, Jr ... only to be attacked & brutally beaten by the newest arrival to MACW: Bruiser Brody.

Which brings me to the cool part I wanted to share:
Can you imagine the first interview with The American Dream afterwards?

"Bruither Brody, you come down here and stick your nose in my bidness. Buss me in my head, stomp on me while I'm down. You a big man Bruither Brody, attack a man from behind like that. It's bad enuff to be in a ring with two sneaky snakes like Dirty Dick Slater and Bob Owton Junior, then you gotta put your nose in where don't belong. I don't know what yo prollem was Bruither Brody, but I know what yo problem is now."

{volume begins to rise as Rhodes continues, yanking off his cowboy hat to reveal a bandage high on his forehead).

THIS RIGHT HERE IS YO PROBLEM. You buss me in my head, fo'teen stitches on this son of a plumber. Sent me to the HOSPITAL, didn't know where I wuz. But they stitch me up and I know where I'm gonna be ... right up in YO FACE Bruither Brody. I'm gone take this Texas medium fist right here (a trembling Dream brandishes a fist to the camera & pauses for effect), I'm gone hit you in you left ear ... and see if I can't make it come out on the right."

I haven't enjoyed imagining anything in TEW so much in a long time as imagining interviews where Dusty tries to say Brody's name

[path12]

Six years into my latest Racing Breed career and I've had my best crop of two-year olds ever.

Gettysburg, a colt out of Mystic's Lee (dirt router in the game) was just named Two Year Colt of the Year with two G1 wins in a row -- the California Fall Futurity by 9 lengths and the Breeders Cup Juvenile by 3.

He is my best Derby prospect ever. But that's not all.

Out of my seven two year olds, six raced and four were stakes winners. In addition to Gettysburg we have:

Fleur de Lis -- filly by Pulpit. In four starts she has three wins and one place, with two stakes wins. She may be best on turf but will be pointed towards the Oaks along with

Holy Smokes -- filly by Smoke Glacken. Winner of the G3 LA Lassie, with two places in G2 competition and fourth in the G1 Debutant despite a troubled trip.

My fourth stakes juvenile is Napoleon, a colt by Not For Love. Freakishly fast out of the gate, he has taken leads into the stretch in two graded races and won a shorter stakes. If he can learn to pace himself more effectively he could turn into a very good miler.

All in all, really looking forward to the three year old stakes schedule this next year.

[PilotMan]

I'm going to add something here because I think it's a great idea. I love to hear snippets from others games and I always have things I want to add from mine, but they aren't worthy of a full dynasty. So.....

I've been playing OOTP 10 as manager (no GM duties at all, just game to game stuff, that means minors are completely off limits and I get the hand I'm dealt) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with real players. I ran the game from 1975 to 1982 and took over in 1983. Right now it's 1984, and deep in September. We were in first, but the wheels have come off and we sit 3 games in back of the Atlanta Braves.

The good news is that we have one of the best offensive teams in the league. Between Dale Murphy (.266, 35, 101) and George Brett (.338, 27, 94) we have two of the best weapons in baseball. Our standard lineup looks like this:

SS Hubie Brooks (.291, 6, 30)
2B Jim Morrison (.275, 17, 68)
3B George Brett
CF Dale Murphy
RF Ken Landreaux (.263, 13, 54)
LF Gary Matthews (.258, 7, 30)
1B Steve Garvey (.260, 9, 45)
C Bob Brenly (.238, 12, 46)

We have had terrible production out of our 1B, LF and RF slots. Ken Landreaux has been an 8 year starter but is way down after 2 killer years. Garvey and Bob Watson have shared time at first but neither are very effective. Al Bumbry has been mixed in with The Sarge.

That brings me to our pitching staff. We have Rick Rhoden (18-11, 2.66). That's about it on the front line. Rhoden has had a sub 3.00 ERA for 6 years straight and won the Cy Young in 1981.

The rest of our rotation looks like this:

Joel Finch (15-10, 4.10)
Mike Witt (13-12, 3.54)
Dennis Leonard (3-8, 3.82) (Waiver pickup from the Blue Jays)

Our #5 slot has gone back and forth between Mark Lemongello (4-7, 4.71) and Pete Vuckovich (5-12, 3.94).

On the back end we have been blessed. Gene Garber had 48 saves last year in his first year with the Dodgers since coming from the Reds. Garber (2-1, 1.47, 4 Saves) has been all over the place and done well being the closer for the Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, Brewers all since 1975. Even through all of that he lost his job to super-stud closer Goose Gossage (2-2, 2.05, 28 S), who was the big offseason signing last year.

That brings me to our September call-ups. All year long Nick Esasky killed pitchers in AAA. He hit .294, hit 43HR, and drove in 109 RBI's. He could play 1B better than either Watson or Garvey and I salivated all year hoping the GM would bring him up. When I got the chance he started right away. He hit .244, with 0 HR and 4 RBI with 12 K's in 41 AB's, before tearing a quad and ending his season.

The other big hurt was Dave Henderson was promoted mid year when injuries opened up a spot. Henderson was drafted by the Dodgers and got some early shots in his first two years as a professional. He wasn't anything special and spent the next two years in AAA where he blossomed into a player with 20/20 skill and a near .300 average. He finally got his chance again this year and he immediately paid dividends in our lineup. Of course, our GM sent him back down as soon as Gary Matthews came back from his injury (BOOO!). Henderson is back and has hit .290 with 6 HR and 17 RBI on the year.

The other youngsters getting looks are Mike Lavalliere (hit .310 @AAA) and Dick Schofield (a 21-year old, former 3rd round pick) who has gotten better and better. Now, Lavalliere doesn't have much competition in front of him with Bob Brenly and Earl Williams, so he has a shot next year. But Schofield is still young and is behind Hubie Brooks who is only 27, and is arbitration eligible this year. There's not much in the farm system after that.

I wasn't really going anywhere with this, just wanted to share some of the trials we have been enduring.

One more funny thing. Doc Gooden, only 19, was actually drafted by the Mets and has lead them to first place, no hit us earlier this year. He worked his record to 18-5 and posted a 1.80 ERA before tearing his triceps. He may still win the Cy Young award. As a rookie he went 13-4 with a 1.85 ERA and 193K's in 165 IP and didn't win Rookie of the Year. That went to Greg Walker, the Reds first baseman, who hit .309 with 42 HR and 105RBI. Walker also won league MVP in his rookie year and then fell into a sophomore slump hitting .289 with 9 HR's and 36 RBI. He can't hit lefties now and is platooning with Pat Tabler. There's some other good stuff, so if anyone has any stories they would like to hear I'd gladly tell.

[PilotMan]

I gotta tell about this game.

Dodgers hang in the division race and it comes down to the last game of the year, as we are tied with the Braves. The Braves lose an afternoon game in the finale against the Padres and it all rests on Mike Witt's shoulders in our finale.

We pick up a run in the second inning after a Jim Morrison double. He scores after a single and a balk. I feel good with a 1-0 lead as Witt looks good.

Top of the 5th the Giants come back as Jim Eisenreich hits a double and scores on a Gary Ward single.

Bottom 7, still 1-1 and Darrell Jackson is still on the mound for SF. Jim Morrison falls in a hole 0-2 and fights back with a 10-pitch at bat ending with a double. Hendu gets walked and we pinch hit for Earl Williams, and bunt to move the runners over. Steve Garvey flies out and we go up 2-1.

Top 8 and we are 6 outs from winning this and making it to the playoffs. Our bullpen has been lights out. Gene Garber comes on in the 8th. First batter, first pitch, Mike Pagliarulo homerun ties the game again. I kick myself for not using Tom Gorman for the lefty on lefty matchup. Garber gets out of the inning but we are knotted back up 2-2.

Fast forward to the 10th inning and Garber goes back out to the mound. Andres Gallaraga leads off with a single to bring up Pagliarulo again. With Garber tiring and the lefty up it's time to go to Gorman. Ron Kittle pinch hits and takes the second pitch of the at bat out to left field for a pinch hit homerun. AAAAAAGH!

4-2 Bottom 10, and Kevin Gross is in to lock it down for the Giants. Gross had 43 saves on the year and posted a sickening 1.19 ERA. He converted 43 of 47 saves opportunites. Mike LaValliere leads off with a texas league single. Steve Garvey comes up and crushes the second pitch into the seats for his 10th on the year to tie the game.

Gossage comes in for the top of the 11th and doesn't allow a hit, while Gross shuts us down. In the bottom of the 13th, Hubie Brooks reaches and takes second on an error, is bunted over to 3rd, and then is driven in on a Dale Murphy base hit to win the game and clinch the NL West on the last day of the year.

Gossage was a war horse going 3 innings to close it out and pick up the win. He allowed no hits, walked one and struck out 3.

Here is the boxscore from it.

[path12]

Following up on my previous post, it is now early April and the stakes possibilities are becoming clearer for my 3-year-old crop.

Gettysburg had a disappointing start to his year, getting beat a nose in the G3 San Mateo and by a half in the G2 Gold Nugget after leading at the top of the stretch in both. My fear is that he may not have the distance for the Triple Crown, and finishing a dull fifth in the G2 Stepping Stone while racing wide was further cause for concern. Another dull finish in the G1 Pacific Derby and we'd have to forget about Kentucky.

As the 9-2 fourth choice he broke sharply from the rail, grabbed a length and a half on the field and never let anyone closer than that, winning with a 97 speed rating.

We're goin' to Kentucky, baby!!

As for the other horses I mentioned in my first post, it looks like the fillies Fleur de Lis and Holy Smokes, while good, may not be G1 material, not being able to grab wins at higher than G3 so far this year. Napoleon knows nothing but going as fast as he can as far as he can. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be far enough to win. He is looking more and more like an allowance/high claiming sprinter who might once in a while be able to grab part of a minor stake.

[PilotMan]

I've about had it with 1985. The owner says we need to win it all, and we have the offense with the addition of Claudell Washington to go with Murphy and Brett, but........

The big offseason acquisition was Dan Quisenberry. His presence with Gossage and Garber and we should have the best bullpen in the league. Idiots can't finish a game...none of them.

Garber has 4 saves in 6 chances with 2 blown.
Gossage has 7 saves in 16 chances with 5 blown.
Quiz has has 4 saves in 13 chances with 4 blown.

We aren't even to the break yet and we are 5.5 back and 2 games above .500. Last year Gossage blew 5 all year. The year before Garber only blew 4. And Quiz blew 8 playing for the Angels. Of course, he also had a 7.24 ERA in 1984. Our former first round pick Tim Burke came up from AAA for a short spell, but the GM sent him back down after a short look. It's frustrating.

[path12]

Gettysburg is the third choice at 6-1 in the 2013 Derby Classic. He breaks from the eight hole in a full 12 horse field on a bright Saturday.

He breaks slowly, losing a couple lengths right out of the gate and then actually swerves outside two lanes to end up 6 wide passing the crowd for the first time. I don't know that I'd ever seen that before.

The field thins a bit by the first turn but Gettysburg is four wide and still 7 back of longshot leader Berry Zorro who runs the first half in :46.4 seconds. He and the other 6-1 shot Newspaper Star advance together up the backstretch and by the far turn they're coming up on the leaders.

Problem is that the leader directly in the path of Gettysburg is the rapidly tiring Berry Zorro, forcing Gettysburg to check sharply and then swing wide through the end of the turn. By the time they hit the stretch he is fifth, four lengths behind the new leader Newspaper Star, who continues on for a 4 length win as Gettysburg has nothing left for the final furlong and fades to ninth.

Dang it.

[Cap Ologist]

path12, do you have a link to the horse racing game you are playing? Thanks!

[path12]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

path12, do you have a link to the horse racing game you are playing? Thanks!

Unfortunately no. The site (hxxp.theracingbreed.com) vanished shortly after the new year.

Really solid engine. Really needed interface work. I always had a faint hope that a bigger studio could have taken that basic engine and made the ultimate horse racing game. I've never found another one that hooks me the way The Racing Breed does.

[path12]

Last one I swear then I'll stop hijacking this thread.

Preakness (called Middle Jewel and in California in the game). Again Gettysburg is a 6-1 third choice. He breaks much better this time and sits behind two horses dueling on the lead (one of which is Berry Zorro who you may remember blocked him badly in the Derby).

Gettysburg makes his move towards the end of the backstretch as the leaders start to fade and although he is briefly blocked yet again by Berry Zorro he manages to get around him without much trouble and takes a length lead into the stretch.

Derby winner Newspaper Star is coming hard at him as is Eldritch Seven but Gettysburg manages to hold them both off in a hard stretch drive to win the Middle Jewel by a head over Newspaper Star!

My first Triple Crown win after playing this game for two years. Sweet.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by path12

Last one I swear then I'll stop hijacking this thread.

lol kinda the point of the thread isn't it? This is THE thread for hi-jacking! Nice win btw.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by path12

Last one I swear then I'll stop hijacking this thread.

You ain't doing no harm afaic, if anything you're helping by keeping it bumped.

I still think it's a thread worth keeping around even if there's only a handful of us using it right now, hopefully it'll get more contributions over time. Just like not everything is in a dynasty, not everybody is playing outside of dynasties either, so ppl will probably come & go.

Me? I'm just astonished that I hit 5th Prestige in COD:Black Ops earlier today. I still suck a lot of the time, it's just determined grinding that levels me (although I am a helluva lot better than I was). I've never stuck with any multi-player game this long, probably not even close.

[DolphinFan1]

From my OOTP12 fictional dynasty:

I am up 5-3 in the top of the 8th. They get the first 2 men on base and I am thinking this is it. Because my team isn't that good and give up leads often. The next batter hits a line drive to our 2B, he leaps and catches it. He sees the runners too far off base, he runs and steps on second base and whips a throw to 1st for the TRIPLE PLAY!!!!!!!

And we won the game.

[PilotMan]

The 1985 Cincinnati Reds have quietly built one of the most impressive rosters around, and most of it through the draft. Why can't my scouts pick like this! Check this team out!

                         Ruppert Jones (2xGG)

LF Tim Raines (5xAS)                RF Rafael Palmeiro (Rookie)

  SS Gary Templeton (ROY, 2xGG, 3xAS)       2B Willie Randolph (1xGG, 2xAS)

3B Gary Gaetti (1xAS)                                 1B Don Mattingly

                               C Gary Carter (3xAS)

Onn the bench they have Don Baylor and this young first round draft pick named Will Clark.

The starting staff isn't as hot, but still impressive in it's ownright.

SP
1- Oil Cab Boyd (Former 1st rounder, 3rd year pro, (31-19, 3.66 ERA Career)
2- Fred Kuhaulua (Former 1st rounder (Braves), toiled in the minors for 5 years before being cut. 1981 ROY, 1983 AS and CY Young winner. 70-48, 3.10 ERA Career)
3- Roger Clements (Former #2 overall pick, 27-27, 3.89 ERA Career)
4- Gary Nolan (37 y/o Reds lifer, 1xAS, 1975 and 1976 Cy Young winner, 2 WS Rings, 218-151 3.14 ERA Career)
5- Roger Mason (Former 1st rounder, Rookie, 4-5, 3.38 ERA Career)

BP
CL- Dave Righetti(Transitioned to closer last year, 1st year with the Reds, 58-46, 59 S, 3.29 ERA Career)
SU- Don Aase (Former starter (Redsox) and closer (Expos) 3xAS, 79-68, 89 S, 3.69 ERA Career)
MR- Ken Daley (Former 1st rounder, spent 4 years in the minors, had 2 cups of coffee, and stuck this year, 2-4, 2 S, 1.86 ERA Career)

The Reds franchise hasn't made the playoffs in 1978, but from '70-'78 they had 6 playoff appearances and 2 titles. They are currently in 1st in the West but the Astros are hot on their heels before the break.

Pete Rose and Johnny Bench are considered the greatest Reds players. Pete Rose retired 1979 with the Cubs and had 3087 career hits. Johnny Bench is still playing for the Blue Jays at the age of 37. He has 478 career HR's. Gary Nolan is considered the franchise's greatest modern day pitcher.


I'd be happy to rundown any other teams or players if anyone is interested. This kind of stuff gets me excited.

[PilotMan]

This game is completely broken!

I just had Eddie Milner, Greg Gagne and Craig Reynolds all hit 2-HR in a game on the same day. That has to be more rare than no-hitters on the same day. If you know your mid '80's baseball players you will realize how impossible this is!

[PilotMan]

1985 All Star Break is here.

The Dodgers have 5 players on the team.

1B Nick Esasky (.273, 21 HR, 55 RBI) 1st AS
2B Jim Morrison (.252 15 50) 2nd AS
SS Hubie Brooks (.321 10 41) 2nd AS
CF Dale Murphy (.256 15 45 13 SB) 4th AS
RF Claudell Washington (.308 14 46 12 SB) 2nd AS

Note, no pitchers, our staff is still struggling. On the other side of the coin, we have big time power. Every single starter, with the exception of one, has over 10 HRs. That one, is George Brett, who happens to have 9, but isn't have a good enough year to warrant the All Star game.

The Reds sent 2 players to the All Star game, Don Mattingly makes his first game and Dave Righetti also makes his.

[PilotMan]

Time for another update from OOTP land.

So it's coming toward the end of May now, 1986. Last season we finished second in the West, but due to some injuries and some declines, the Dodgers have a decided lack of firepower. Kinda the opposite of what we has last year. Pitching has carried the team so far, but we are still below .500.

Currently in a series against the Phillies. Longtime Dodger Ace, Rick Rhoden takes the mound. Nick Esasky was traded in the offseason, and George Brett is down with an injury. Dale Murphy is in a terrible slump. He hasn't gotten back to form since he missed the first month with his own injury.

Rhoden gives up 6 by the 3rd inning, but the 'pen is strained and I figure the game is over at this point so he stays in. By the middle of the 4th it's 8-1.

Second basemen, Jim Morrison, hits homeruns in the 4th and 5th inning's and we somehow tie the game 8-8. Rhoden manages to go 7, and Dan Larson, a middle reliever who is having a good year, comes on, as we aren't sure when we are going to score. We score in the 8th, but Kent Hrbek ties it with a HR in the 9th and it's 9-9 going to 10.

Things fall apart in the 12th as we give up 3 and it looks bleak until Cesar Cedeno drives a 3 run HR off of Joe Sambito, with 2 outs to tie it up again. Gossage falls apart in the 13th as the Phillies get another 3 runs to go up 15-12.

Steve Howe comes on to close it out for the Phillies. We have been struggling against lefties, but we get hit after hit and with 2 outs, Gene Tenace, who came in for Bob Brenly in the 8th comes up. Tenace takes the ball out of the yard for a walk off Grand Slam in the bottom of the 13th for the 16-15 win.

Murphy struck out 5 times. Just the way it's been going lately.

Here is the box from the game:

[Izulde]

After having to make the heartbreaking decision to let go of my Apple IIGS yesterday, I was able to find an emulator and most of my favorite games last night.

Played Revolution '76 for the first time in years via this method. Won the Turn 1 battle in Boston, which is the basic decider for how the game will play out, thanks to Nathaneal Greene.

Turn 2 always sees a massive British force attacking an American city (or, if you're really unlucky, a province), so I did my usual token defense there and thought I saw an opportunity to go for a quick momentum changer by attacking Canada with Greene. Greene loses and Disgraces himself in the process, while the British overwhelm New York as expected.

Turn 3 sees them take Charleston as expected, although with noticeably lower troop amounts because I successfully laid the groundwork for Ben Franklin to convince King Frederick to crack down on Hessian mercaneries in the Turn 2 diplomacy phase. Turn 3 I think is also where Benedict Arnold routed the Native Americans in the Northwest territories to protect the settlers.

I forget what turn it was after that, but Arnold managed to take back New York on the same turn that George Washington successfully saved the Carolinas from being taken over by the British, which would have crippled us. That was the big turning point of the game, as the turn after that, Arnold successfully reconquered Charleston, leaving the British only Canada.

By that point, it was simply a matter of waiting for the French and Spanish, who I secured alliances with, to send troops (Note: I've never seen the Spanish send troops in all my games, much to my disappointment). The French sent troops and I went for Canada with Arnold. He lost in the first attempt, taking a hit to his popularity, but won on the second attempt.

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to administer Canada, because World Hero Benedict Arnold's conquest of Canada caused the Tory party to fall in the diplomacy phase and Shelbourne's Whigs quickly agreed to Expansion, which means the US not only won Independence, they won control of Canada as well, and had a future where they ruled the entire North American continent except for Mexico.

My final score was 7 (Fair), which was my best ever. Was hilarious to see Benedict Arnold as the World Hero. So contrary to real life.

[Young Drachma]

Fun thread and a very good idea as I go through a bunch of undynasties myself right now..

[PilotMan]

So I have a long running WMMA 3 game going, where I've taken control of a no-name company and taken it to the #3 in the US with some reasonable house rules. The UFC and Strikeforce (still independent) are the #1 and #2.

I wanted to share about the career of Randy Couture so far. Here is a guy that when the game started 5 years ago, was looked to be on the backside of Hall of Fame career. He was the 3-time Heavyweight champ and 2-time Light Heavyweight champion and coming off of a win over Mark Coleman.

His next fight in 2011 was a title shot against Shogun Rua. Couture won the Light Heavyweight title for the 3rd time with an armbar submission over the champion, and then went on to defend his title with a TKO over Rashad Evans.

Couture dropped the title to Phil Davis when he was TKOed in the third round. Couture showed up to fight fellow former champ Rampage Jackson after a year and a half layoff, where many had speculated that he would retire and his career would end. At this point, Couture was 51 and well, well, well, beyond his years as a 6-time champion.

His fight with Jackson ended in the second round with another TKO loss, and again, retirement loomed for the superstar. But he did not go away, even though he had dropped out of the top 25 Randy Couture came back to fight a few months later.

His return fight was against a Japanese fighter by the name of Ryuta Noji. The Natural knocked him out in less than a minute. His second fight came in October of 2015 where he scored another win, a TKO, over Brazilian Alexandre Ferriera.

Phil Davis held the title for 2 years, having made 2 defenses over that time, and then ran into the buzzsaw that is Jon Jones in July of 2014. Jones had lost a decision to Rashad Evans back in 2011 that had delayed his run a title, but since had not lost. Jones TKOed Davis in the first round to win the title.

Since then he had beaten Tito Ortiz, Alexander Gustafsson, Rashad Evans, Stanislov Nedkov, and Kyle Kingsbury. Only Nedkov took him the distance, the rest were armbar or triangle submissions.

Jones has made 4 defenses of the title when Couture was given another shot at the title. At the age of 53 the UFC legend was set to take on the 29-year old Phenom who came in with a 19-2 record.

Jones took the first round and nearly finished the legend by putting Couture on his back and then taking his back. Jones answered in round 2 with more of the same. Couture looked overmatched and it looked like it was going to be a blowout.

Round 3 saw Couture catch his second wind and in true to life fashion pushed the bigger man around the cage and scored a takedown of his own. He controlled most of the action.

Round 4 was close, both men were getting tired and the fight turned into a dirty boxing/grappling fight. Couture even locked up Jones in a Muay Thai clinch, which if you can imagine the height disparity (Randy is some 5 inches shorter) would be hard to do.

It went to round 5. Both men were exhausted, and the fight was a war. Neither man could force his will on the other and the fight was largely played out against the cage with each man taking turns at holding the advantage.

In the end, the judges saw the fight a very close 48-47 fight for Jon Jones, as he retained his title. But the fact that 53-year old, Randy Couture, who had nearly quit the sport at age 50, came back again, took the top fighter in the sport 5 full rounds, and nearly pulled off an upset of monumental proportions was amazing.

So as of yet, Couture isn't planning on retiring. He is taking 6-weeks off and then will be ready to fight again. I wonder what direction his career will go from here?

I love this stuff.

[PilotMan]

big dola

So in my newest OOTP 11 game, Zach Greinke comes off a 17-4, 2.44 year and becomes a free agent. I see that he signs a new, huge, 5-year $143 mil deal. No surprise with the New York......uh, wait a minute, the Mets. HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Like that would EVER happen!

[PilotMan]

This was just a blowout. It's not bad enough that you gave up 23 runs, but on top of that, you were shut out on 4 hits. Reminds me of a Reds game that I went to here, where the Dodgers put up 10 in the first before people were even in the gate.

Other highlights. There were only 3 extra base hits for LA, and Jerry Reuss, the pitcher, lead the team with 6 RBI's!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

This was just a blowout. It's not bad enough that you gave up 23 runs, but on top of that, you were shut out on 4 hits. Reminds me of a Reds game that I went to here, where the Dodgers put up 10 in the first before people were even in the gate.

Other highlights. There were only 3 extra base hits for LA, and Jerry Reuss, the pitcher, lead the team with 6 RBI's!

Ouch

[Poli]

Too awesome.

[Young Drachma]

Pretty funny.

[PilotMan]

Just a couple of weeks into the start of the 1984 season, the California Angels found themselves down a starting pitcher with the loss of Dick Ruthven to a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament. Forced to sign a free agent, the team settled on journeyman starter Jim Slaton.

Slaton had last pitched for the Brewers in 1982, having gone 0-3 with a 5.76 ERA over 50 innings, that included 3 starts. That's right, he sat out the entire 1983 season as a free agent.

So with the injury to Ruthven the Angels came calling. On the day he signed a minor league deal with the team, the team made him the starter on the road against Oakland.

The A's lineup this day looked like this:

Tony Fernandez - SS
Enos Cabell - 1B
Rickey Henderson - LF
Mike Davis - CF
Wayne Gross - 3B
Tony Phillips - 2B
Larry Herndon - DH
Mike Heath - C
Doug Loman - RF

On the mound was 1983 ROY winner and future stud closer, Jeff Russell.

The Angels got to Russell early with 2 in each of the first 3 innings. Meanwhile, Slaton was perfect through 3.

The first runner for the A's didn't reach until the 5th when Slaton walked Gross and Phillips back to back, then got Herndon to ground into the double play. The A's made him work for it in the 8th and 9th but they still couldn't crack the old vet.

PH Darrell Brown flew out to right field in the bottom of the 9th to finish the game, and give Jim Slaton, the 33-yo, listed as a middle reliever, 111-123 career record, sat out all of baseball the year before, signed and pitched on the same day, the first no-hitter of 1984.

The next day, the Mets' Mike Scott, would face one over the minimum and get the second no-hitter of the year against a Cub lineup that was:

Ryne Sandberg - 3B
Kirby Puckett - CF
Mell Hall - LF
Leon Durham - RF
Tim Teuful - 2B
Pat Tabler - 1B
Butch Wyneger - C
Scott Fletcher - SS
Dicke Noles - P

[Marmel]

Been playing FOF again recently and I have my very own Tom Brady, or at least pretty close to. Green Bay drafted Jamie Benson out of West Virginia University with the 29th pick in the 6th round of the 2021 draft. He played in 3 games in his first three years, throwing only 18 passes.

Green Bay lets him go and he starts 14 games in 2025 for St. Louis putting up a 85.3 passer rating while winning 5 games.

Meanwhile, my Arizona team is 8 years removed from a SuperBowl title with a superstar, douchebag starting QB. I bit the bullet in the off season and did not resign him.

I sign Jamie that offseason as a still raw player, but with decent enough potential. It is now 2030 and in 5 years, Jamie leads our team to:

15-1, Conference Title game
15-1, Superbowl Winner
14-2, Divisional Round
13-3, Superbowl Winner
14-2, Superbowl Winner

No MVP's or Pro Bowls, but he has been the reason behind these seasons. His passer rating has been from 95-105 each season. The rest of my roster is not much different than it was prior to him arriving.

He has a 92-17 career record (0.844). The next closest to him in winning % is....Tom Brady at 61-26 (.701).

[Coffee Warlord]

My latest version of WW2 is...different.

Hearts of Iron 3, playing as Germany. After the usual happenings (annexations of Austria & Czechs), we invade Poland. The UK had elected not to guarantee Poland's independence, thus the Germans hordes roll through Poland rapidly.

The Soviet Union takes this as a good sign and invade Finland. Unfortunately for them, Finland signs a treaty with the Allies, and UK, France, and their buddies declare war on the Russians.

Laughing, Germany spends a year building up further, while the USSR/UK war stalemates. We declare war on the Netherlands, kicking off the main war. 4 months later, Netherlands, Belgium, and France are under German control, with the UK basically doing nothing. They sue for peace. Germany directly annexes Netherlands & Belgium, and release France as a puppet state.

At this point, all of Europe except for Scandinavia & the British Isles are members of the Axis (Italy having conquered Yugoslavia). The UK / Russia was is going nowhere, and Japan is stuck in China.

The US? A year after Germany establishes hegemony in Europe, they decide those Russian sons of bitches are going down as well, and declare war on them.

So...1943. Germany & its allies control Europe, with the UK and US screwing around in Russia. Whee.

[BYU 14]

In my 4th play through of Commander The Great War, after 2 draws and 1 through ass whipping at the hands of the Central Powers, the Entente is victorious at last, ending the war in November of 1917.

[xjayex]

I am playing Rome: Total War atm and I just had Captain Titus (A non character Roman Captain) lead his 60 legionaries and 1000 mercs into a mini beast mode. Capturing 2 cities and defeating 3 Greek armies. It triggered "Man of the Hour" even and I took him in as my own. Making him a character and a Commander. Shortly after, he was assassinated by the Spanish.

True to Caezar! AHOO! AHOO! AHOO!

[Marmel]

I have a love/hate relationship with FM. I love the game, I hate soccer. I mean, I don't understand tactics, positions, nothing. FM 2013 has classic mode so I bit the bullet and bought this year's version. It is like FM, made just for me!

I took over the Wolves in the Championship Division and with an already good roster and a rich owner, I was able to win the league in year 1 and move up to the EPL. The first 3 years I was able to avoid relegation, but there was nothing to write home about. It was around this time that I decided to sell off a bunch of players and buy up a bunch of young guys who my scouts felt would be good. I threw a bunch of 18 and 19 year olds out there and they had their moments, enough to get me up to 11th. As this team grew up together, they started to become pretty good.

I used my transfer money to make some key moves, add a few more youngsters and work my way into Euro Cup qualification. Made the quarterfinals. Next season, I actually won the Euro Cup and finished 4th in the EPL. I played well in the Champions League and was bounced in the quarter finals, but I slipped to 6th in the EPL so back to the Euro Cup, which I won again!

During that season, I was moving from 4th to 5th all season long. I had a 1 goal differential advantage over Man City heading into the final game, against them. I got the win and 4th place and qualified for the Champions League for the 2nd time ever. Man City is a hated team of mine since they took my best DC from me by making a huge bid that was automatically accepted. I was pissed at them.

In the Champions League the next year, I went on an amazing run and won the whole thing! Along the way, I've picked up 2 FA cups, 2 Cap Cups and some Sheilds. In my current season, I am battling Man U for 1st place. It keeps going back and first as we hit January. 1st place in the EPL is the only thing I have not won.

I highly recommend FM-Classic mode!

[BYU 14]

From my current FM13 playthrough as Bishop's Startford. Riding a 17 match unbeaten run in Blue Square North league matches...Of course posting this will proably jinx it.

[PilotMan]

Notes from the recently played 1985 All-Star Game in my alternate universe:

- Dave Dravecky (NL) and Ed Whitson (AL) started the game.

- The NL lineup featured Sandberg, Schmidt, Clark and Murphy, but the only HR for the NL came from Jeff Stone who hit a PH HR.

- Tony Gwynn is hitting over .400 at the break and was held hitless in the game.

- Both Doc Gooden (NL) and Orel Hershiser (AL) were charged with blown saves.

- Donnie Moore (AL) ended up with the save, RIP.

[PilotMan]

I'm still playing the same dynasty as above. Just won a game on 4 hits, all extra base. I had 2 solo homers, and back to back doubles. Otherwise, Bob Ojeda shut down my "on pace to lose 90" Dodgers.

Of course, the owner is pissed. He thinks we should be winning it all, but dude, it's 1985, and behind my stud ace's Valenzuela and Pena we are throwing 42 year old Tommy John, a pre-1988 Dave Stewart (think Phillies and Rangers, don't remember? That's why) and 36 year old Jerry Reuss. All three of those guys should be in the pen. Get me some real pitching!

And stop trading for first basemen! I have Steve Garvey, Bill Buckner, and Jason Thompson. Buckner is having a terrible year, Garvey has been on the reserve roster, and Thompson won the starting job because he has some occasional pop and walks consistently. Both Garvey and Buckner are pissed and have asked for trades. I've had to start Garvey at third for almost 30 games due to injuries. It's a no win situation.

The owner was pleased 2 years ago cause his big free agency acquisition was Thad Bosley. Yeah, Thad Bosley. Now, he has been pretty good for us but we have had to resort to trotting out 36 year old Dusty Baker to hit cleanup cause he is the only guy who has been hitting for any power all year.

I think we drafted catchers high up the last couple years. There are 6 on the limited roster right now. FUCK! Really? No prospects, unless you like John Mizerock, Jeff Reed, and Dave Sax.

I can't win like this! I'm just hoping to get through this year and that the team will be smarter in the draft and with the off season stuff.

[BYU 14]

In my OOTP 14 36 team fictional major league just had 'Wrigley' wind game against Seattle. While there was a 10 mph wind blowing left to right, it was also 38 degrees and drizzling throughout the game.

None the less, 8 homeruns between the two teams, with Seattle smacking grand slams in both the first and second inning that put me in a 10-2 hole I could not climb out of. Still a fun game.

Box score attached.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Had a fun thing happen at the end of my second season in an College Hoops 2k8 career last night.

I'm coaching Dartmouth (we suck but hey, so does the rest of the conference), my 2x Ivy League Player of the Year SG has graduated. I'm going through the post/off season stuff & what have we here? An 84 rated transfer who leaves Duke to head to Dartmouth.

After sitting out the required year, he'll be the highest rated player in the conference. I just have to avoid getting fired in the meantime

edit to add: He was actually one of 4 players to leave Duke via transfer after a season where they were a #12 seed in the tournament (and then made it to the Elite 8). My guy hadn't seen much playing time in his first two seasons but one of the transfers (I forget where he ended up going) was a former starter who went from 27 mpg to like 6mpg.

[PilotMan]

I'll post an update to my Dodgers Dynasty here soon as we are just at the end of 1986. In the meantime, this epic affair between the Cubs and Phillies took place.

The game was 19 innings and saw Dave Parker hit 4 HR's. Not only that, but his 2nd homer saved the game in the 9th, his 3rd saved it in the 17th and his 4th won it in the 19th.

There were a total of 18 pitchers used and the game was a massive 6:31.

Check out the special notes at the bottom:

Special Notes: MR Joe Sambito was injured while pitching.J. Cruz ties the NL regular season extra-inning game record for hits with 5. K. Hrbek sets the PHI regular season extra-inning game record for at bats with 8. P. Householder sets the CHN regular season extra-inning game record for at bats with 8. D. Parker sets the NL regular season extra-inning game record for home runs with 3. D. Parker sets the NL regular season extra-inning game record for RBI with 7. P. Householder sets the CHN regular season extra-inning game record for at bats with 9. K. Hrbek sets the PHI regular season extra-inning game record for at bats with 9. D. Parker ties the NL regular season extra-inning game record for hits with 5. D. Parker sets the NL regular season extra-inning game record for home runs with 4. D. Parker ties the NL regular season extra-inning game record for runs with 4. D. Parker sets the NL regular season extra-inning game record for RBI with 8.

[BYU 14]

Good stuff PM, that's a typical Phils/Cubs game from the 80's. Seems like they always had these wild battles going back then.

[PilotMan]

After last year's weak pitching the owner of the Dodgers went out and got us some pitching. The team started the year with Danny Darwin, Steve Trout and the addition of future Hall of Famer, Steve Carlton added to the staff. Doug Drabek became the first round pick for the team last year, and rounded out the staff.

The bullpen got top closer Don Aase to support Steve Howe, and then he added tough lefthander Rod Scurry too. Former ace Alejandro Pena joined Tom Niedenfuer and the bullpen looked tough.

On offense we lost Lou Whitaker, but the owner went out and got us Frank White as his replacement. He also added Dave Winfield and Milt Thompson in the outfield, giving us some power in the middle and a bonafide speed demon leading off. Well at least on paper that's how it was supposed to go.

The rotation stayed intact for the entire year, and it was impressive finishing 3rd in the NL in starters ERA while the bullpen finished 2nd. The team went from last to 2nd in defensive efficiency a huge improvement over last year. Good right?

We were just primed and ready to go, but injuries were the death of us. Dave Winfield started slow, missed the last couple of months and lead the team with 16 HR and 70 RBI in 96 games. Mike Scioscia's .288 avg lead the team. The only other bright spot was Dick Schofield being the only all star on the team, and leading the NL in SB with 70.

Milt Thompson stole 35 bases in 46 games, missed the rest with injuries. At one point we were so depleted in the outfield that we traded Clint Hurdle for Johnny Grubb who was having a killer year coming off the bench. Grubb got injured his 4th game with LA and was out the rest of the year. Safe to say, the whole season was a mess.

Finished 2 games better than last year at 77-85. Rough year.

Oh, almost forgot. The absolute highlight of the year was Steve Carlton throwing a no-hitter against the Braves. That was personally, the first no-hitter my team has had in OOTP, and the 3rd I've had overall playing out the games. It was Carlton's 3 no-no in the last 4 years which is totally amazing by itself.

Outlook for '87 will be interesting. We have zero young talent outside of Drabek, and Valenzuela will be a free agent. Next year could be even longer. Bonds is in the draft. Wonder which team he will head to?

[PilotMan]

dola

forgot to add the Cubs still make me laugh cause even in fakeland they still cant do anything right.

This offseason saw them make a trade with the Astros. One for One. The Astros send heavy hitting first basemen Bob Horner who had hit 20+ 4 seasons in a row for 1983, 37th overall pick Kirby Puckett. Puckett hadn't done much in his first 2 seasons in Chicago hitting just 2 HR and a .280ish avg. Well he went off and played in 160 games, batted .320, hit 20 HR and 66 XBH for the division winning 'Stros. Lol

Horner played a platoon, hit 18 HR in only 275 AB, but clearly isn't going to have the kind of career from this point forward that Puckett will.

[PilotMan]

The 1986 Champions were the Montreal Expos.

They featured a lineup card that looked like this:

Tim Raines, LF, .313 11 71
Marvelle Wynne CF .246 17 69
George Brett 3B .307 26 123
Ken Phelps 1B .283 33 102
Ruppert Jones RF .281 31 113
Gary Carter C .279 29 102
Tim Wallach 2B .238 13 53
Ozzie Guillen SS .282 1 45

The middle of their lineup also had 3 of the top 5 in the NL in walks, always giving them guys on base which made then nightmares for the opposition.

They also had a top shelf rotation:
Burt Blyleven 18-11 3.09
Bryn Smith 16-4 2.92
Zane Smith 16-9 2.76
Scott Sanderson 16-9 3.10
Milt Wilcox 12-7 4.36

and closer

Bob James 47S 3.33

[PilotMan]

Apparently Tom Niedenfuer gives up homeruns to light hitting middle infielders in alternate universes too. Screw you Alan Wiggins and your walk off Grand Slam in the bottom of the 13th. Screw you.

[Young Drachma]

A sixteen seed knocks off a #1. Don't see that everyday.

Sacred Heart 88, Syracuse 79

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacred Heart  (19-16, 8-10):
Player            Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Buster Daniels    C    23   2-4   2-2   2   3   2  4   6
Loyd Herald       PF   28  7-13   0-0   2   5   0  1  15
Jack Ewers        SF   37  8-13   1-3   2  13   2  4  21
Harry Dowden      SG   37  5-14   5-5   3   9  11  0  18
James Furr        PG   20   4-8   0-0   1   2   2  3   9
Jame West         PG   19   3-6   0-0   3   5   2  1   8
Vito Bergen       PG    8   2-2   0-0   0   0   2  1   5
Stanley Veach     PF   19   3-4   0-0   2   2   0  2   6
John Kindred      C    10   0-1   0-0   1   2   0  0   0

Turnovers: 20 (B.Daniels 5, L.Herald 1, J.Ewers 4, 
 H.Dowden 4, J.Furr 1, J.West 3, S.Veach 1, J.Kindred 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (B.Daniels 3, J.Ewers 1, J.Kindred 1)
Steals: 6 (L.Herald 2, J.Ewers 1, H.Dowden 2, V.Bergen 
 1)
3P FGs: 12-25 (L.Herald 1-2, J.Ewers 4-8, H.Dowden 3-7, 
 J.Furr 1-2, J.West 2-5, V.Bergen 1-1)

Syracuse  (27-6, 15-3):
Player            Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Michael Martinez  C    27  5-10   2-4   0   2   3  3  12
Lloyd Olson       PF   28   2-4   1-2   1   8   2  2   5
Ray Tapp          SF   29  4-10   1-2   1   3   2  2   9
Robert Whitt      SG   35  7-13   6-9   4   4   1  3  21
Chris Leclerc     PG   36  6-10   0-2   2   3   9  1  16
Maxwell Nobles    PF   26   2-7   0-1   0   3   4  2   4
Sarahi Magdaleno  PF    7   0-0   0-0   0   1   0  2   0
Joshua Harlan     SG   10   6-6   0-0   0   1   0  2  12
Tiffany Long      PG    2   0-1   0-0   0   0   1  0   0

Turnovers: 11 (M.Martinez 1, L.Olson 1, R.Tapp 2, 
 R.Whitt 6, M.Nobles 1)
Blocked Shots: 8 (M.Martinez 2, L.Olson 4, R.Whitt 1, 
 M.Nobles 1)
Steals: 7 (L.Olson 1, R.Whitt 2, C.Leclerc 3, J.Harlan 
 1)
3P FGs: 5-11 (M.Martinez 0-1, L.Olson 0-1, R.Tapp 0-1, 
 R.Whitt 1-2, C.Leclerc 4-6)

Player of Game: SG Harry Dowden (HEART)

[NoSkillz]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, as I'm kind of asking for advice but I'd like to share a little glimpse of my long-term FM save.

I'm still playing FM11 and the reason for that is a glorious saved game that has lasted 8 full seasons, starting in 2010/11, with my team having just completed the 2017/18 season.

I began the game in the Blue Square South division with Dover Athletic and I've stayed with Dover for the duration of this "dynasty". I've enjoyed phenomenal success with the club throughout the years, winning four trophies during the early years:

FA Trophy Winner: 2011, 2012, 2013
Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winner: 2016
Johnstone's Paint Trophy Runner Up: 2017

In league play, I've made the sure and steady climb up the ladder, hitting a bit of a wall upon reaching League 1 but eventually breaking through the glass ceiling:

2011 - Blue Square Bet South Champion (promoted)
2012 - Blue Square Bet Premier Runner Up (lost in playoffs)
2013 - Blue Square Bet Premier Champion (promoted)
2014 - npower League 2 Champion (promoted)
2015 - npower League 1 7th Place
2016 - npower League 1 5th Place

After that fifth place finish, I actively tried to look for other jobs, getting frustrated at the lack of support from my board at Dover, which continually refused my requests to expand my stadium and any other requests to improve the youth or training facilities. I felt like I couldn't advance any further without those things, including the ridiculously low wage and transfer budgets but in the end, I didn't get any job offers from any larger clubs. At one point, it looked like Birmingham in the Championship was going to come calling but it never came through.

So I soldiered on and finally broke through the next year with Dover:

2017 - npower League 1 Champions (promoted)

Then, in a shocking turn of events, everything came together for my team in 2018 and we burst out of the gates winning at an incredible rate. We were neck and neck at the top with Bolton for most of the year but faltered late, needing a win in our last game of the year at home versus QPR to hold onto 2nd place, avoid a playoff and guarantee promotion.

We'd lead 1-0 early but a red card from one of our star central defenders, who has been with us since my first season in charge and gone from U18 prospect in the Conference to a well-regarded star in the league, knocked us down to 10 men only 20 minutes into the game. We'd give up a goal on the resulting penalty but somehow prevailed 4-2 in a thrilling match to do the impossible...

I took Dover to the BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE!!!

2018 - npower Championship 2nd Place (promoted to Premier League)

I absolutely adore this dynasty - I've kept a little spreadsheet of player ratings changes, along with notes on every season I've played about my progression as a manager and the team itself.

Dover started out as an obscure, semi-professional team with an estimated value of £450000 and eight years later we are worth about £4.7 million and have a national reputation.

We've somehow succeeded with a stadium capacity of 6500 and only 1000 of those are actual seats! The board just notified me that they will be finally increasing the capacity of the stadium in order to meet Premier League requirements, with a £750,000+ expansion that will add 6000 more seats in a new terrace that should be completed in November, bringing our capacity to 7000 at Crabble Athletic Ground.

From a personal perspective, I've gained much respect in this save game, starting off as an obscure, Sunday League Footballer and now have elevated myself to "Continental" status. My first year I made £18,200 and I've increased my yearly salary to £93,600. I've always taken what was offered and never pressed for a higher salary, simply due to the fact that the club is not cash rich and I wanted all the money I could get for my players and their salaries.

Well, with all of this success in bringing Dover to the Premier League, I finally got noticed by other clubs. Stoke came calling first, offering me £20,000 PER WEEK to manage at Britannia Stadium. It didn't take long for me to decline this offer - Stoke just finished 19th in the Premier League and will be relegated to the Championship in 2018/19 so it's not a move that makes sense, even though they are a much larger club.

Well, a couple days in-game pass and I get an email that I never thought would come.

Liverpool, one of the biggest clubs in football, have come calling, offering me £45,000 per week to manage at Anfield.

My transfer budget last year at Dover was £120,000...Liverpool is offering me £30 MILLION.

My wage budget at Dover last year was £50,000 per week...Liverpool is offering £1.8 MILLION per week.

Liverpool looks to be in great shape, with most of their key personnel under contract and coming off a 3rd place finish in the league, they are destined for Champions League play in the upcoming season.

I don't know if I'll find a better opportunity in this game. I've loved my time at Dover and would love to see what I can accomplish but I really don't think I can turn this offer down.

What would you do if you were in my position??

[Izulde]

I've always regretted jumping ship in that type of situation. You always have that "What would have happened if I'd stayed?" nagging at you. Plus I imagine you'll have the pressure of much higher expectations at Liverpool.

On the other hand, if you can poach a few of your favorite players from Dover to come with you to Liverpool, then I'd be tempted to make the jump.

[britrock88]

Uhh, save an extra copy of the league file. Then decline, go on with Dover, hit a ceiling, and switch to the other copy and take the Liverpool job.

[Radii]

Short answer: I would absolutely stay at Dover. I find the climb way, way more fun than living at the top. As long as you feel there is more room for Dover to climb stay.


Longer answer: In the long dynasty I ran I ended up leaving Woking because I felt like I'd hit a ceiling. It wasn't that the board refused stadium upgrades, but when going to that option it told me that because of the location of the stadium it was physically impossible to ever upgrade the stadium. So I left. I don't regret that at all, the journey with Ipswich to the top of the EPL was incredibly fun... but it was the beginning of the end.

Once I had built Ipswich into a team that was going to finish top 4 in the EPL every year with a massive budget it got kinda boring quickly. I felt like I was just going through the motions for the majority of the season to get to the end to see if I was going to get unlucky in the champions league quarterfinals or semifinals or if I would finally win the tournament. The only interesting part of league play after a point was to get to the end to see if I was going to finish 2nd or 3rd or if I wss going to win the league again. The only interesting thing about acquiring players was "is this player willing to play for me?" because for a superstar player there was no transfer fee I couldn't meet, and no salary I couldn't pay. So if a player was willing to play for me and I wanted him bad enough, he was mine. No budget management left to do.

That was my experience at least, others may of course vary.

[Radii]

dola,

possibly most important of all that hasn't been mentioned yet... you got your little team into the EPL. You *have* to at least manage them their first season to see if you can stay up there, you can't take them to the top and leave them there!

[NoSkillz]

Wow, so the vote is unanimous! And to think I would have been coming into Liverpool just as they are moving into a new 61,000+ capacity stadium...seemed like a good time but I think the sentiment here is correct...

I have some unfinished business with Dover! It will be fun to see if I can keep them up in year one against long odds (mostly financial in nature I'm sure).

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[NoSkillz]

Just a quick update - I've reached the preseason friendly stage of Dover's first year in the Premier League.

The board have increased my transfer budget from £120,000 last year to over £9,000,000 (!!) this season and my wage budget has shot up to over £130,000 from about £50,000 last year.

It's amazing how much difference in revenue there is between the Championship and the Premier League, with television revenue being the most eye-opening change (I believe we are receiving over £36,000,000 this year just for television rights...incredible!).

I'm still in the process of adding new, premier league-quality players to the squad - it's fun having world-class players being interested in my team for the first time and one of my additions is Ashley Young, who in-game is an aging left winger/attacking mid in the twilight of his career but has great experience at the international level with England.

I'm tempted to start a dynasty post here about my exploits.