[Hattrick] Houston Hippopotami (III.3); Special 20th Anniversary Thread

[finketr]

well, what an ugly qualifier i had losing 5-1... i should have CA'd but oops.

[Masked]

And so it begins - I am never going to get another home cup match much like my first time around.

I decided to MOTS in round one of the cup. The hope was that my opponent would PIC (long shot with a wretched leadership coach), and I could win midfield by enough to overcome his otherwise superior team (plus I hoped the HT gods would be kind). We split possession and I got crushed.

There really was no downside to MOTSing - this was the only competitive match I will face all season. The team I play in week 1 is brand new and the manager has never logged in. They put up a 60 hatstats in round one.

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Masked

There really was no downside to MOTSing - this was the only competitive match I will face all season. The team I play in week 1 is brand new and the manager has never logged in. They put up a 60 hatstats in round one.

As I said, no downside risk - PICed on the road in week 1 and won 7-0.

[Havok]

Its good to see that you two are still playing

I'm still proud of my Misfitz for being the youngest team in division II and coming within a win or two of the ML!

To bad daytrading and the over-emphasis on midfield killed it for me.

[sterlingice]

I think they mostly nerfed daytrading a while back:

First, they limited the amount you got based on how long they had been playing with you- something like 80% of total sale if sold within a week or two of buying. It doesn't maximize (93%, I think) until after they had been on your team for 1 season.

Second, to prevent the buying of really high level players for a week, you have to pay 1 week's salary when you buy a player. That pretty much knocks out daytrading of high level players when you have to pay a $50K or $100K salary as soon as you buy.

Lastly, they just made it so that you can only put a player on the market as often as they have played a game with your team. So, if the player has only played one game with you, they can only be put on the market once.

That said- it's not like the economy of hattrick is super-developed so it just means there are only the other slow methods to build cash. I'm ok with that, tho. They still have the issue of a lot of teams tanking, tho, because they don't want to clean that up. And they still have the problem of being in 5th/6th place being advantageous to 2nd-4th at the end of the season. Then there's... you get the idea

SI

[sterlingice]

I have finally finished up the thread with post #100. It would have happened sooner but I had to wipe my laptop hard drive and then put it all back together so I had some other computer issues on my plate. However, this thread is now complete, at least for the formatted portion. I guess the official dynasty goes from posts 1-100. I'll keep updating from time to time if I remember and if something substantial happens to my team.

But, yet again, thanks for everyone who read and participated in the thread- it's been a fun trip down memory lane and a hattrick magnum opus of sorts for us.

SI

[Alf]

I just stumbled upon the Hippos. They still rock

[sterlingice]

I see you in the flag lottery forum from time to time

Yes, we had another good season. We've got a qualifier coming up this weekend. If I had won the last game of the season, I would have autopromoted into II but there was no way I could beat him on the road so I PIC'd ahead of this week's qualifier. Hopefully I'll have a better shot this week with a MotS.

Also, this year I got one of the three away flags I was missing in Qatar That just leaves Uganda and Maldives.

SI

[sterlingice]

Clearly HT's database is corrupted and the game is going to crash any minute now

SI

[sterlingice]

Things started out very well for the Hippos this season. The cup run was a respectable 7 games- decent but not great. This allowed us to manipulate our team spirit to start out 6-0-1 in series. However, we played most of the tough teams in series at home and the easier ones on the road in the first half so things were going to get bumpier.

On the flag chasing front, I picked up one of the three away flags I had yet to get with Qatar! That leaves just Uganda and Maldives. For home flags, a season or two ago, I started going really hard just for the top 20 (less than 50 users). Anything else, I could get fairly easily with random challenges so I wanted to go hard after the difficult to get ones. And I'd wait until the last moment practically so that I had the highest chances of getting the rare flags. This resulted in (rank/users) Cabo Verde (15th/39), Oman (11th/35), Mongolia (18th/42), and Barbados (3rd/26) at home. This leaves just 12 very rare flags plus both home and away from the 2 aforementioned for a total of 16.

I also had friendlies with Hrvatska, Oceania, and Osterreich, all of which have thousands because those weeks I did not get a rare friendly and waited until the last minute to get very common flags that I didn't have (they still count on the list). I also played TP's team

On the series front, I won the first game in the second half and drew my top competition, Wahoos, for an 8-0-2 start. However, he was still only three points behind, having lost to me, and had a huge GD lead. I lost a game I never should have, getting badly HTRF'd and, going 0-1-1 against the 7th place finisher in the series on the season. This allowed the Wahoos to be ahead in the standings as we both had 26 points 11 games in.

That next week, tho, I got a gift win on the road against the Selma Sumorats who would eventually go bot and the Wahoos were just as badly HTRF'd by 6th place Ennis RoyalCelt. That left the final standings in eventual 2nd place finisher T Hills FC's hands. He went on the road and beat the Wahoos in week 13, giving me the series crown.

I was above the autopromotion line even. However, the final week of the season, I was faced with the decision of MotS'ing on the road to try and beat him or hedging my bets. In the end, I PIC'd, hoping that 3 of the 5 teams beneath me would also lose the last week of the season (as it's usually a week for a lot of 1/2 matchups) or, on the off chance that I would get an easy qualifier like a bot team. I stayed with T Hills for a while in our game before he pulled away and I probably would have lost even if I had MotS'd as it appears he did also and, at his home stadium, that would have been too much to overcome.

Unfortunately, 4 of the 5 teams below me won and I was kicked down below the autopromotion line, landing a qualifier with II.1's Hennes United. He looked like he might have been giving up on the season and I had some hope. During the cup, he was putting up crazy level midfield ratings but over the last month, he didn't have anything over excellent. Even on the road, with some stored up team spirit, and an MotS, I could easily put up a magnificent and crush any other advantage he had. I later found out, that he sold off some aging guys once he knew he was above the autodemotion line to save some salary. He bought up a pair of really nice middies- probably ET or mythical- the week before our game and I thought I was done for.

However, as game time approached, the skies opened up and rain is handy for teams like my own that play creatively because it stops a lot of other chances but not special events...

Here's the end of season press release:

Hippos Promote to II! (Part I) The weather may have been miserable but years from now, the number of people claiming to have been there will swell to millions, as all Houston Hippopotami players and fans will remember this day. In pouring rain and on muddy pitch, the Houston Hippopotami defeated Hennes United 3-1 in a huge upset to move up to II.2.

All five Hall of Heroes members were in attendance at New York City's Ziegenstall. Back at the Hippodrome, the qualifier was being broadcast on the Jumbotron. When the final moments of the game ticked off the clock, elated fans charged the field where a spontaneous celebration erupted.

Said Coach Tim Kimber "I'm so excited to still be a part of this organization and to see this day! When I came to this team in Div V, in season 18, I never would have thought this possible."

Hippos Promote to II.1! (Part II)
This move is not easy as III.3 had been our series for so long, just as IV.21 had been before it. Their 8 seasons there are still tied for the most ever in that series. Hippo historians have been combing the record books and it turns out their 168 games (12 seasons) in III.3 ties MECHANIC FC (III.5) for the most games ever in a single series in III.

However, with a new series comes new challenges. II.1 has long been one of the toughest series in the entire USA including last season when it was second only to MLS. GM SterlingIce: "Today is definitely a time of celebration for the fans and we want to savor this victory as well. However, tomorrow we will have to get to work again as it will be that much tougher just to compete in our new series."

It's a day of mixed emotions at the Hippodrome offices. There's certainly some sadness as we are leaving a series we have long called home. But there's also excitement for the new challenge next season will bring.

So, yeah, after 12 seasons in III, the Hippos got some luck of their own! We're packing up and heading to II! It may only be a one season trip but it's still very, very cool

Now, for a busy offseason with a little bit of team retooling. Some of the middies are getting a little old and I have $11M in the bank.

SI

[JAG]

Congrats SI.

[ntndeacon]

Congrats SI

[thealmighty]

Congrats SI. Wish I could give you some of the cash I've accumulated waiting for some bit of desire to creep back in.

[Alf]

Hurray SI.

Out of curiosity, how do you manage to collect the super rare and rare flags ?

[finketr]

here's my season 39 update:

MOTSed against every week and relegated to iv.56.

horrible season.

fuck HT.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Congrats SI. Wish I could give you some of the cash I've accumulated waiting for some bit of desire to creep back in.

I've got about $11M in the bank and have already spent $5M of that on a multi-skilled winger (pm/wing/pass). I'm going to try and spend another $5M on a technical defensive forward while selling my previous forward for $3M so I still have about $4M in the bank while drastically improving my team. Finding one that is affordable is proving tricky- I keep having issues with them being for sale when I'm asleep

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by finketr

here's my season 39 update:

MOTSed against every week and relegated to iv.56.

horrible season.

fuck HT.

Were you following a bot? I've had that happen and it's absolutely brutal. Even if you weren't MotS'd every week, everyone had super high team spirit going against you

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Alf

Hurray SI.

Out of curiosity, how do you manage to collect the super rare and rare flags ?

I kindof summed it up in the dynasty and I don't have a whole lot to add at this point.

Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - [Hattrick] Houston Hippopotami (III.3); Special 20th Anniversary Thread

It's more or less a ton of persistence- challenging during the week a lot and then finding new targets when you get denied, trying to go only after "good" targets (i.e. don't challenge dead teams), and a lot of luck.

Oh, and going straight for rare targets. Don't waste time with larger countries until the last day or two.

SI

[finketr]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Were you following a bot? I've had that happen and it's absolutely brutal. Even if you weren't MotS'd every week, everyone had super high team spirit going against you

SI

i don't know but nothing went CC FC's way this season so back to IV i go...

feeling close to blowing it up...

[sterlingice]

A couple of new Press Annoucements for the new season. We got blasted 5-0 in our II.1 opener on the road and then squeaked by one of the weaker teams in the series 1-0. It's going to be a battle all season long. This next week is a key battle as we have one of the tougher teams at home. If we hold serve at home, we probably will survive this season. But if we can't win the games we need to, then we're back down to III.

With that, here are the most recent Press Announcements for the club. One might be of particular interest to FrogMan and terpkristin

Originally Posted by 9-12-2009

(11:10) Season 40 Preview

A new season dawns and the Hippos find themselves in unfamiliar territory where it will be a struggle just to survive. After last year's thrilling end to the III.3 season and qualifier upset, Houston finds themselves up in Div II.

Opening Day for Houston Hippopotami soccer is a time of change, even after 22 full seasons. Joining the club are possible future coach Gilceu Bianco and new starting winger Juan Carlos Carreño. Meanwhile, next week during halftime of the season opener at the Hippodrome, the Hippo Hall of Heroes will welcome its newest member, Carlos Alberto Benito, as he takes his place next to original legends Mick Starks and Edwin Phelan.

As it is no longer flag chasing season, we have gone back to the standard Hippopotami logo for now. However, if you'd like to view the animated version of the flag chasing logo, that is available here:
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...o_animated.gif

It's going to be another exciting season!

Originally Posted by 9-22-2009

(14:50) Hippo Hall of Heroes Welcomes Newest Member

Allan Brik's #19 was retired during halftime of Sunday's 1-0 win over Aratar, Houston's first in II.1. He was a super sub, playing often in the Cup and spelling injuries. He spent 15 seasons with the Hippos, and played as recently as a friendly last month. This induction is for all super subs in the history of the team.

He joins the current Hippo Hall of Heroes members:
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol

The team also honored Sergio Chapin (23361083), a former player who passed away from team inactivity this year. He was an FOFC legend, originally a Hippo youth pull in season 21, trained by FrogMan's Cerio's Dragons FC, and bought by terpkristin's Real Terps FC, where he played many seasons. He was a multi-skilled player, good at passing, playmaking, and defense before FM trained him up to be an extremely good winger. He will be missed and unfortunately will never be able to take his rightful place in the HHH.

SI

[sterlingice]

It wasn't pretty, but we survived for one more season in II.1. Here are the past season's press announcements.

Originally Posted by 10-1-2009

(17:45)

High Water Mark

"Ranked 17"

Due to a scheduling quirk where 2 of the Hippos first 3 games were at home, Houston finds themselves in 3rd place in II.1 and ranked 17th in the country. Considering the series competition where it is unlikely we will ever find ourselves this high again and with our cup run over much too quickly with a round 4 loss to a quality V.78 Team Volkl, robbing us of the necessary team spirit to really compete in the series, we thought this would be an excellent opportunity to preserve this moment for posterity.

So here's to the Houston Hippopotami and their likely pinnacle of Hattrick, the 17th best team in the United States. It's been a fun an exciting journey with more to come.

Next up: The 20th Anniversary of the Hippo Friendly Tour!

Originally Posted by 10-8-2009

(18:18)

20th Anniversary: Hippo Friendly Tour

This started out long ago as a quest to just see if I could visit every country in hattrick, long before the game even started keeping track of flag chasing. Now the Hippo Friendly Tour has reached its 20th season! Yesterday, we kicked off the new tour, hosting jsk14 from Algérie and winning 4-0 on a rain drenched field.

We would love to play games at the following this season as they are the only 2 we have yet to play at:
-Maldives
-Uganda

Hosting-wise, we are up to 48 flags and 8th in the USA in coolness at 310000. We are looking especially to play teams from the following at home:
-Al Iraq
-Al Yaman
-Bahrain
-Benin
-Cote d'Ivoire
-Dawlat Qatar
-Ghana
-Kampuchea
-Kyrgyzstan
-Suriyah
-Suriname
-Tanzania
-Trinidad & Tobago

We have also put the rotating flag logo back up and it will be updated with new flags at season's end.

With one of our shortest runs in recent cup history, we're looking to break the HFT yearly attendance record with our new Div II fans!

Originally Posted by 12-19-2009

(20:02)

Houston Faces Qualifier

For only the second time in their 22 season history, Houston faces a qualifier to remain in their current series. Back in season 31, their 4th in division III, Houston finished 5th and had to play against Mongrel FC. Edwin Vickers and Tomas Ovesson each scored a pair of goals en route to a 5-1 victory to remain in longtime home series III.3.

This season, they face a much stiffer challenge, this time from III.10's Bakio FC. After a rough season in II.1 where fans were so happy that they 55 deserted a 6-1-7 team, Houston is looking to stick around in II, even if just for one more season.

Also, a huge thanks to our Hippo Friendly Tour participants, one of our best ever:

jsk14, Algerie
Fc Nykro, Nederland
Zanzibar Barbarians, Tanzania
Villa Sports Club, Uganda
Spartacus United, Ghana
FUTURE STARS QATAR, Dawlat Qatar
Al-Jadriya IFC, Al Iraq
Real Llamas, Republica Dominicana
FC DUKEZ, Kyrgyzstan
The blue fc, Uganda
Skyscream, Pakistan
Chang-hua Wolves, Chinese Taipei

Originally Posted by 12-24-2009

(05:39)

20 Years of the Hippo Friendly Tour!

There will be time for more about our exciting final game, qualifier, and next season. However, now it's time to reflect on the Hippo Friendly Tour's 20th Anniversary.

This season, we received hosts from:
Algerie
Nederland
Tanzania
Uganda
Ghana
Dawlat Qatar
Al Iraq
Republica Dominicana
Kyrgyzstan
Uganda
Pakistan
Chinese Taipei

*We had over 43K fans despite some awful weather and surpassed over 600K fans total for the tour at 605,139.

*We still have yet to get that elusive 124th flag (Maldives). But once we do, we will join the other 3 teams in the USA with all 124.

*For hosting, despite having only 58 flags, we are up to 3rd in the USA in coolness with 435K.

*When counting visiting + hosted, we are easily #1 in the United States and the only team with over 1M coolness at 1.147M and #3 in flags at 181.

*We have actually made it onto the world lists:
153rd in flags
77th in coolness.

Next year, we hope to continue this great tradition with even more!

Originally Posted by 12-31-2009

(16:10)

Season 40 Recap, Part I

As you know, an undermanned Houston squad edged Bakio FC 3-1 at a rain soaked qualifier in the Hippodrome. But with the Hippos preparing for this season, we need to send the previous one off properly, recapping the year.

Houston was tough at home, going 5-1-1 but the road was equally as unkind, to the tune of 1-0-6. In week 11, the Hippos suffered a crushing loss to Amputee Fetishists as they scored at 85' and 87' to win 3-2. This loss dropped the Hippos into 7th and even the heartiest of Houston fans were thinking relegation.

Next up, was week 12's road match against the 8th place Polar Bears. A daring MotS and suffocating defense overcame the loss of keeper Sélim Louni, giving the Hippos a 2-1 road win, their only of the season.

A loss to Aratar set the stage for a week 14 showdown with (K+U)SA. A win for them would avoid a qualifier but a loss for Houston could send them to auto-relegation. Louni was still injured so backup keeper Birger Månholt would be in the net.

Originally Posted by 12-31-2009

(16:09)

Season 40 Recap, Part II

Coach Kimber hedged and PIC'd, thinking there was a decent chance that 7th place Amputee Fetishists had a chance to lose. Not only that, but if (K+U)SA MotS'd to avoid a qualifier, Houston would definitely lose. But if they didn't MotS, they would probably PIC to set up a qualifier.

Three minutes in, divine SP'er Binst got a penalty kick and gave the Hippos the lead. However, disaster struck just 4 minutes later as backup keeper Birger Manholt had to be carted off the field, replaced by defender Li Yunxin. At the 20' mark, (K+U)SA tied the game and the score remained there going into the half.

Oliver Angulo put the Hippos ahead at the 51' mark but he picked up his second yellow at 56', making it 10 on 11. Shutdown defender Zurab Kavelashvili was given a yellow at 67' and then injured on the next play in retaliation, the third Hippo to leave the game. However, another PK by Binst iced the game an Houston won 3-2, securing 6th.

Next up, II.1 Season 41 and a new HHH inductee.

SI

[DataKing]

Nice to see the Hippos are still hungry.

[sterlingice]

We're getting quite old with almost every major player 28-30 so I'm not going to be able to hold on much longer. I'm trying to decide what to do next as I have about $6M in the bank and will be selling a couple of guys for $3M this year, which, after buying new defender trainees, will give me about $10M.

"A plan is still being formulated"

SI

[sterlingice]

Yeah, it turns out II is really, really hard. We're still hanging on in II.1, but just barely. Here's a collection of our press releases over the past few months.

Originally Posted by 1-12-2010

(07:17) An Original Hero is Welcomed to Hall
The last of the Legendary Three of Houston Hippopotami lore has taken his rightful place in the Hippo Hall of Heroes as #15 Carlos Alberto Benito was retired during halftime Sunday. Benito was a forerunner of today's multi-skilled players as when Houston started, he did not have the best playmaking ability but he was an amazing passer which added an extra dimension to the Hippo attack. He still keeps in excellent shape and spends his free time relaxing as a referee for youth soccer.

Other HHH Members:
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol
#19 Allan Brik
Hnr Sergio Chapin (23361083)

Lastly, a very sincere thanks to GM-CableGuy who sold Benito back to us when we were canvasing the game for our Hall candidates who had left the team. He didn't receive much compensation (the sale price was only $5000) and he certainly didn't have to do it, but he was kind enough to sell him back and we are very thankful.

Originally Posted by 2-3-2010

(20:51) Eight in a Row
Houston is now 2nd in Div 2 with an 8 game unbeaten streak, what will probably be very close to another high water mark for them. Wednesday, the Hippos face a difficult cup opponent in Super Keeper while Sunday's opponent in series is the Harrisburg Bees who clock in at 4th with a 6 game unbeaten streak.

Currently, Houston is now ranked 16 in all of the United States, surpassing last season's high of a #17 ranking. We are currently 2nd in the series and have 10 points along with #1 Aratar and the aforementioned Bees in 3rd. Again, like last season's "High Water Mark", we don't expect this to last but we thought it was good to capture it for posterity.

We'd love to make it further than round 6 in the cup and continue our run in series but who knows what the future will bring. Hopefully our fans won't lemming themselves off a cliff after our inevitable next loss.

Originally Posted by 2-10-2010

(20:17) Busy Mid Season
After last week's cup win and a draw in series again the Harrisburg Bees, the Hippos had the longest unbeaten streak in Division 2 with 10 games. After the draw, Houston is still ranked 2nd in the series and 15th in all of the United States.

Unfortunately, Houston's cup run came to a mildly disappointing end at 7 games as they could not overcome 4 injured players and lost 4-2 to Federiciana.

In the meantime, there has been some retooling going on. 28yo striker #25 Oliver Angulo transferred out for the tidy sum of $3.69M. #28 Tor Tetlie, Houston's other veteran forward, has also been on and off the transfer list as are some defender trainees.

Also, Houston has welcomed a new pair of 24yo strikers in #21 Giancarlo Schalks and #24 Loïc Coquillat (5th best forward in Andorra). Their high levels of skill and creative specialties should keep scoring high at the 'drome.

Coming up next week: The first half ends vs the Pythons and then the Hippo Friendly Tour!

Originally Posted by 2-23-2010

(19:47) Hippo Friendly Tour #21!
We delayed the start of this year's Hippo Friendly Tour by a week to play fellow flagchaser Mountain Kings who has 200 flags, the most of anyone in the United States.

This week, we went down to the wire. However, the Hungry Hungry Hippos had been hitting the phones hard the last hour and York FC from Trinidad and Tobago accepted our friendly request.

Here are our USA ranks, coming into this tour:

Visited
4th: 622,649.89 coolness (world #108)
4th: 123 flags (world #82)

Hosted
3rd: 395,162.18 coolness (world #246)
44th: 58 flags

Visited AND Hosted
1st: 395,162.18 coolness (world #75)
11th: 58 flags

Visited PLUS Hosted
1st: 1,017,812.07 coolness (world #73)
3rd: 181 flags (world #174)

If we could get friendlies from the following, we would be very happy:
Suriname
Dhivehi Raajje (home/away)
Benin
Kampuchea
Côte d’Ivoire
Al Yaman
Suriyah

The logo has been updated, the stadium polished, and we're ready to host! Let the Hippo Friendly Tour #21 commence!

Originally Posted by 4-14-2010

(15:18) Hippo Friendly Cup #21 Concludes
Season 41 concludes with the final game of Hippo Friendly Cup #21 Wednesday. This year's cup was another huge success with attendance averaging well over 3000 fans per game and 8 new flags added to the top of the Hippodrome.

We'd like to thank the following teams for visiting this season:
Yorke FC (Trinidad & Tobago)
Burnaby Black Crows (Canada)
Real Madrid F.C. AM (Hayastan)
Sambinha F.C (El Salvador)
Beirinha (Portugal)
NanKa SharKs (Nigeria)
Mirandela Team (Andorra)
coracora15 (Panama)

Here's where we stand in our flag chasing endeavors:

Visited Flags: 123
4th USA
92nd World (-10)

Visited Coolness: 621 781.61
4th USA
163rd World (-55)

Hosted Flags: 66
33rd USA (+11)

Hosted Coolness: 424 230.88
3rd USA
276th World (-30)

Visited + Hosted Flags: 189
3rd USA
140th World (+34)

Visited + Hosted Coolness: 1 046 012.49
1st USA
89th World (-16)

Thanks to everyone!

Next up, Houston survives their qualifier and THE Hippo legend retires!

Originally Posted by 5-2-2010

(19:44) Kimber Retained for Transitional Season
Management has convinced Tim Kimber to postpone retirement for this crucial transition season in II. Houston GM SterlingIce: "This is not a rebuild or plan to drop down. This is our toughest season ever and we wanted Tim's steadying hand guiding us as we try to survive."

*Last season, trainees Zurab Kavelashvili and Itamar Gafni were sold and replaced by Mikko Knaapi and Simion Chelaru. Trainees Binst, Delgadillo, Sadykhov, and Jurgensen are expected to be sold by season's end

*After Tor Tetlie had lost playing time to Coquillat and Schalks, he went to management and requested a transfer, which he was granted

*Keeper Sélim Louni was sold and set pieces keeper Antonio Ricardo De Carlo brought in for $7M

*These moves will allow for Houston to purchase some new weapons and get younger

The season started on a sour note, tho, with a 4-2 home loss to Orange Above. As Timber has been retained for one more season, another Hippo legend, Thomas Little, will be enshrined next week

Originally Posted by 5-13-2010

(15:48) Thomas Little Makes the Hall
GM SterlingIce: "#18 Thomas Little was the best player the Hippopotami Youth Academy has ever produced" and it could have stopped there. But rather than leaving the team, Little stayed with Houston his entire career. He trained hard and becoming a(n offensive) midfield fixture with high titanic (ET-1) playmaking and excellent passing. His record 366 games and 23 seasons as a Hippo will likely never be matched

Other HHH Members:
#15 Carlos Alberto Benito
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol
#19 Allan Brik
Hnr Sergio Chapin (23361083)
Hnr Quintin Staples (28383532)

Unfortunately the game did not go well for the Hippos as they fell to 0-3 on the season, losing 1-0 in a game where they looked like the better team on the pitch but just couldn't break through.

Later this season, we will honor a pair of fallen Hippo Heroes and retire their numbers as well.

This season, I was bounced in the cup in the 5th round in a game I had a 1.19% chance of losing and an expected goals total of 5.4-0.7. The new match engine has not been kind to us as we've been on the unlucky end of a couple of home games already. Fortunately, ThomasRongen (Gaithersburg Bhoys F.C.) and GM-brxnivy (Pythons) have decided to rebuild so I should get that 6th place spot and get a chance at a qualifier. Remember, rebuilding in II means you put up ratings of 200-220 instead of the 250-350 that the active teams sport.

I've shipped out a backup forward who was getting old but still fetched a decent haul (Tor Tetlie) and one trainee to go along with 2 last season. I have also swapped goalies, bringing in Antonio Ricardo De Carlo who has world class set pieces to go along with ET keeper ability. I'm sitting at $7M and have 4 more training to sell in the next season and a half so that should net me ~$10M more after I replace the trainees.

My keeper is 22 and my new strikers are 24 and 25. I have a winger who is 28 but multiskilled so he has a few seasons left. And the defense is spoken for as that will be filled by trainees. But that leaves 3 middies and a 4th position that might be a WTM, might be a TDF- I dunno. My current middies and WTM are currently 30, 30, 30, and 35/36 so they'll have to be replaced very soon but I don't mind watching their wages go down with each birthday so they'll probably be here for another couple of seasons.

Flag chasing has been good to me but I'll leave that for another post.

Also, I think I'll have press announcements this season to a trio of fallen Hippo heroes. Quintin Staples, Sergio Chapin, and Brian Collier would all probably have made the hall except they died on bot teams before I could buy them back.

SI

[sterlingice]

I need to make a note of this so I quit forgetting the site addresses every season when I need to make a new flag logo.

-Take the hosted/visited flag logos generated at Sig and Flag Creator
-Combine the two PNGs into an animated GIF at Welcome to Gickr.com: Create GIF Animations online | Upload pictures or get images from Flickr | Pimp myspace graphics
-Host new GIF at Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

I'll have more press announcement updates at the end of the season. This has been a great season for flag chasing already and has a good chance to get even better



SI

[sterlingice]

Another eventful season for us in Hattrick, some good and some bad.

We finished our away flag collection and became just the fourth team in the USA to do that. As for hosting flags, I'm #1, by far, in terms of coolness but with only 77 flags (I'm only missing 4 flags in the top 50). There are quite a few teams who have more flags in the USA, but they're starting to run into rare flag crunch where they can't get a new flag every week because they did the easy ones first.

In II.1, I ended the regular season in 6th but lost my qualifier to T Hills FC, a former series-mate in III.3 so I'll be heading back to the series where I was at for 12 seasons prior to promoting to II. I need to retool the team some as I'm getting older (most of my starters are around 30) but I do have some cash in the bank.

I'm kindof undecided on whether I want to move up or move down or just hold where I'm at and see how the new training changes affect the game.

Originally Posted by 5-28-2010

(16:40) Hippo Friendly Cup #22

This year's Hippo Friendly Cup started early as we had an early exit from the Cup. However, it has already been a great season for flag chasing. We have hosted teams from Côte d’Ivoire (Yop city) and Benin (Centre Salif Keita) and we're thrilled to have both at the Hippodrome.

We are still on the lookout to host the remaining 6 flags:
Al Yaman
Bahrain
Dhivehi Raajje
Kampuchea
Suriname
Suriyah

We have a very special friendly coming in a few weeks and we'll speak more about it when the time comes!

As there's been a lot of news, I don't have a lot of room for stats, but one seems pretty big: We are now #1 in the USA in Coolness hosted (477 856.86) despite only 68 flags!

We are still 1 flag (Maldives) away from joining 3 other USA complete hosted teams. In the world, our 191 flags give us 80th in visited + hosted coolness (1,131,549.66).

In II.1 play, the Hippos are still barely holding on to that 6th and final qualifier spot so it promises to be a tense season.

Originally Posted by 6-5-2010

(13:53) Hippopotami Take Last Road Trip

Wednesday, the Hippos will take their final official road trip, heading to Maldives to collect their 124th flag from Inseltraum. VascoDaGamma very graciously agreed to let us visit so we could complete our away flag collection. There will be a halftime ceremony celebrating this accomplishment during this week's fixture against Gaithersburg.

Houston will become the 101st team in the world with a complete collection. They join three other USA teams with complete sets: FC Drakkar (III.3), Lilliputians (V.141), and FC MTU Huskies (V.187). Fellow II.1'er Harrisburg Bees is next on the list with 122 flags.

The team will then turn its sights towards hosted flags where they have 69 and a USA-best coolness of 508K (2nd is 461K). The key flags we are still missing:
Al Yaman
Bahrain
Dhivehi Raajje
Kampuchea
Suriname

No player has been to all 124 countries, but Tim Kimber has been to all but one (Sverige). With a grin, he added: "What I'll really miss most is the airplane food"

Originally Posted by 7-3-2010

(19:03) Honorary Hippo Hall of Heroes: Sergio Chapin

Periodically, former Hippos will be honorarily retired to the Hall of Heroes as they have passed on without Houston being able to buy back their rights. Their numbers will be retired just as if they were in the Hall of Heroes formally.

The first Honorary HHH member is Sergio Chapin (23361083), enshrined in the Hall as a legendary FOFC player. He was pulled in January 2004 (S21) with solid passing and solid winger but was sold as we were on a playmaking track.

FrogMan of Cerio's Dragons FC picked him up as he was training wingers at the time. There he learned the art of being Canadian as well as being trained up to solid playmaking and a high level of winger.

After his training career, he was sold for a hefty sum to terpkristin's Real Terps FC where he was a key offensive player for many seasons until her team went defunct.

This FOFC legend will be posthumously retired with #83, the number of matches he played for FrogMan, at halftime of the Hippos-Pythons game Sunday.

Originally Posted by 7-13-2010

(13:50) Honorary Hippo Hall of Heroes: Quentin Staples

Mitch Starks, Carlos Alberto Benito, and Mitch Phelan were The Original Hippos. Tim Kimber became The Legend. But Quentin Staples (28383532) transcended all to become a single letter, Q, that was known to all the world.

Early in his career, he was sold to a team in Thailand, Lurking FC, which would make him into a great keeper. At the end of season 25, he transferred to the Hippos, where, after two years, allowing just 19 and 11 goals, they moved up from IV.21 to III.3. For the next 7 seasons he led them to mostly top half finishes in III.3.

He consistently notched the best rating on the team at 8-8.5 stars. He had an amazing 60 clean sheets, mostly in III. Even though he was young, he was captain 106 times, second to Kimber in franchise history.

In his waning years, at age 30, he was sold to Falla FC for over $3M so he could travel the world as he wanted. Unfortunately he passed away there so his #3 will be retired as an Honorary Member in a great tragedy of Hippo history.

Originally Posted by 7-23-2010

(21:06) Flag #200!

It's been an exciting season for Houston flag chasing as the Hippos completed their traveling earlier this season with a complete set. This week, they're looking to collect flag #200, hosting one of the countries that remain.

There are still 4 big Top 10 flags that remain (Al Yaman, Bahrain, Kampuchea, Suriname) and 2 more in the Top 50 (Iceland, Guatemala). The Hippos are looking to finish out the season strong with 2 of those so there are only 4 really rare flags going into next season.

A special thanks goes out to those teams who have played us already this season:
Yop city
Centre Salif Keita
Dubaba
Inseltraum
Club Nautilus
GKS Manch BELCHATOW
Oriental Express
BF Sandavágur
Union Marocaine Islamique
Büchel-Boys

We have updated the logo so check it out. We've been extremely fortunate as we don't have any flags to trade or money to buy additional supporter- all random challenges or contests. So, thanks again for everyone who have visited and who have let us visit!

Originally Posted by 8-8-2010

(23:41) Everything Old is New Again

In what would prove to be their final game in II.1, Houston injured 4 players on T Hills FC, but still fell 3-1 in the qualifier. Our time in II.1 was memorable and difficult but rewarding and we will miss being there.

The Hippos now return "home" to III.3 where they spent 12 seasons. They hope to build on a III-best* 168 games played, 313 points, and +201 GD. Through a freakish coincidence, GM SterlingIce will once again face off against mutual supporter, former MLS and USA U20 GM Hrudey22, also back in III.3.

The team is aging and will need to retool some with some trainees up for sale. Hans Meikar has been brought in to replace Partridge at starting winger and to spell some middies. Also, Tomas Ovesson has returned to Houston from NyFF and will be retired to the Hippo Hall of Heroes.

It also should be noted that we have returned to the regular logo until flag chasing resumes.

*NOTE: Mountain Kings can top those numbers if combining his time in III.4 and III.5

SI

[Masked]

Congratulations on finishing the away flag chase and good luck getting back to II.

I spent a couple of seasons in div II with Hrudey22. He was responsible for what may have been my most ridiculous HT loss (matchid 13921072).

[sterlingice]

Hrudey22 has some of the oddest luck of anyone I've ever seen, both good and bad. Seems like a nice guy, tho

SI

[sterlingice]

Had to post a note here for an old time Hippo I just bought back. I asked if the old owner had anything they wanted me to say when retiring him

Originally Posted by Denyson

(20:30) Number 247 of 248 by Denyson Yeah, had I been in a more sentimental period of HT playing I would definitely have put him in my hall of fame. Ovesson scored 86 goals in 206 competitive matches for NyFF. Perhaps that could be worth a mention once he retires?

Good luck for the new season!

When I bought him back, he was 37 with magnificent defense and ET set pieces.

SI

[Alf]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Had to post a note here for an old time Hippo I just bought back. I asked if the old owner had anything they wanted me to say when retiring him



When I bought him back, he was 37 with magnificent defense and ET set pieces.

SI

Quite skilled for that age !

[sterlingice]

We had an excellent season, advancing to round 9 in USA cup, retiring one of the two most famous Hippos ever (Q being the other), hosting 2 of my 4 really difficult remaining flags, and ending in 2nd place in III.3. Next season will be our 14th in the series.

Originally Posted by 8-28-2010

(16:13) THE Hippo Legend, Tim "Timber" Kimber Retires (Part 1)

At halftime of this Sunday's match against AC Tatonka, Tim "Timber" Kimber, #1 on his jersey and #1 in Hippo fans hearts, will be retired to the Hippo Hall of Heroes.

He came to Houston on March 22nd, 2003, at the end of the Hippos first season, 18 in V.62. He was described as an "almost excellent goalkeeper" as he was one week of training away from that level. The team could only afford a solid and gladly paid a premium for Tim's extra skills.

Timber always had a way of playing well above his skill level with extra experience and his strong work ethic keeping his form high, becoming a fan favorite overnight. He remained Houston's starting keeper until the end of season 24, many seasons into the teams stay in IV.21

He continued on as a tremendous backup for many seasons, during the time in IV and III.3, all the while studying the game and preparing for his next career.

Originally Posted by 8-28-2010

(16:09) THE Hippo Legend, Tim "Timber" Kimber Retires (Part 2)

He took over as coach of the Hippos in season 38 and, in his second season and the team's 12th in III.3, Houston won the series and promoted to II.1. He presided over all 3 seasons in II.1 before retiring at the start of this year.

In his career, Timber is second to Q with 51 competitive clean sheets and the team leader with 110 total clean sheets. He is 4th all time in matches played (Little, Vickers, Partridge) and was team captain a team record 102 times.

When asked what he would do in retirement, Tim responded: "I'm going to Sverige! It's the only country I didn't visit as part of the team."

Current Hippo Hall of Heroes Roster:

#15 Carlos Alberto Benito
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol
#19 Allan Brik
#18 Thomas Little
Hnr Sergio Chapin (23361083)
Hnr Quintin Staples (28383532)
#01 Tim Kimber

Originally Posted by 10-8-2010

(17:36) Hippo Friendly Tour #23

We had an excellent cup run, tying our best ever going 9 rounds deep. However, all good things eventually come to and end and we get to begin our seasonal tradition with Hippo Friendly Tour #23.

Last season will be tough to top as we finished off our visting flag collection with a trip to Inseltraum in Dhivehi Raajje. We also had 11 great hosting opportunities and thank all of the participants.

Coming into this season, we only have 5 host flags left in the top 50:
Suriname
Al Yaman
Kampuchea
Bahrain
Azərbaycan

* We have been knocked off our perch and are now #2 in the USA in coolness hosted, behind IV 61's Cottbuser FC.
* We are #2 in the USA to III.5's Mountain Kings for flags visited but he has a 213 to 201 lead.
* We are still #1 in the USA in coolness hosted plus visited and #93 in all of hattrick.

We should pass another milestone with 700,000 fans having attended Hippo Friendly Cup games. We are currently at 674,719 and average over 4,000 fans per home game.

Originally Posted by 11-22-2010

(13:00) Season 43 Wrapup: Feels Like Home Again

In their first season back in III.3, Houston went 8-4-2 and finished 2nd. But Cabana Mulberries proved to be too much and they won their qualifier, moving up to II.3.

The Hippos were one of the highest scoring teams in the series this past season with a 43-19 goal differential. Strikers Joseph Pittesser and Giancarlo Schalks shared the title of leading scorers for III.3 with 11 goals apiece. The next highest total in the series was 8.

The Hungry Hungry Hippos had a particularly productive season as sales will likely top $1.5M and provide funding for the youth squad for years to come. However, after the Neal Watts and Leonard Alford graduate early next season, the cupboard will be pretty bare and it will take a while to build back up.

Next up, we close out Hippo Friendly Cup #23 as Coach Adir Weissglass and his team begin gearing up next season, the Hippos 14th in this series.

Originally Posted by 11-30-2010

(12:27) Hippo Friendly Cup #23 Concludes

Hippo Friendly Cup #23 was abbreviated due to a deep cup run, a trade the team would make every season if it could. However, it was still a smashing success. Of the four very rare flags needed prior to the season, only two remain as Houston hosted teams from Kampuchea (Galaxy Khmer) and Bahrain (ThugZ TeAm). This leaves only Suriname and Al Yaman as the only two remaining flags in the top 50 that we need.

We also hosted Crna Gora (OFK Klinke Klinke), Kazakhstan (RealAlmaty), Mexico (Hydras and l'boilers), and FYR Macedonia (Dragons MKD). Thanks to all who visited and helped make this season a good one

* Houston is now one of 5 teams in USA with all 124 flags visited
* We are #2 in the USA in coolness and #21 in flags hosted (537K, 83)
* We are #1 in the USA in coolness hosted plus visited and #2 in flags (1.162M, 207)
* We are #89 in the world in coolness hosted plus visited and #96 in flags

Next up, long time middie Erwin Vickers retires to the Hippo Hall of Heroes.

On to season 44...

SI

[Alf]

Good to see Hippos running around !

[sterlingice]

I just re-upped for supporter for another year so I'm at least in it that long. Frankly, I think the Hippos have a little under 2 years left in the franchise:
* I'll have hit every flag by then, barring them introducing like 5 new ones.
* I'll have been able to retire most everyone I want to the Hippo Hall of Heroes.
* I'll max out all my achievement points. I'd love to get a 10 round cup run but have fallen short now 3 times in round 9. I'll have gotten a 100 member fed from YMCA or AMCY. Once my team starts going south, I'll sell them off and try for the "team-based" achievements, etc. Some I'll just never get like winning the cup, being #1 in the country, running the national team, etc.

At that point, I feel that I'll have done everything I can in hattie. Sure, I could go all out and try to get to MLS. Maybe I'll do that before my team falls apart. If I have enough on the team to get back to II, I can try to push it to get to MLS if I've built up some more cash. But, again, that's a long shot, at best.

SI

[thealmighty]

You can put all your old fogies up for sale and I can buy them all for an assload of money so you can retool. Could $60-70 million get you to the major leagues?

[sterlingice]

I'm pretty sure that would just get reported as cheating. That said, if I can't do it on my own, then I don't really deserve to make it up there.

SI

[thealmighty]

Probably so.

I keep telling myself that the next season I'll feel like actually competing, but it just hasn't happened so I still, I imagine, am somewhere in the top of rich teams (no supporter any more, of course, so I don't really know).

[Masked]

1.	Red Ribbon Army	V.139	113 946 927 US$
2.	Wall Street United	VI.226	94 238 271 US$
3.	Stiinta United	VI.553	92 201 334 US$
4.	Golden Knights	VI.810	75 686 181 US$
5.	SF CANARIES 1907	VI.277	75 416 888 US$
6.	FC Poseidon	V.160	74 595 241 US$
7.	MoKan Mighty Bastards	V.19	72 099 570 US$
8.	ECW	V.213	71 109 875 US$
9.	Plattsburgh Panthers	VI.107	70 145 548 US$
10.	Fear of God	VI.238	69 694 374 US$
11.	GoDucks	VI.539	65 736 713 US$
12.	Blind Filmmakers	VI.988	62 289 717 US$
13.	Redwood Revolution	VI.68	59 857 720 US$
14.	Speaker City	VI.506	58 622 227 US$
15.	Team Dank	V.92	57 728 830 US$

[thealmighty]

I'm #10.

[sterlingice]

If I'm not mistaken, that's meanstrosity who has you beat by about $3M (MoKan)

SI

[thealmighty]

I believe it is.

I could probably be in 4th by now but I quit pulling youth players and I haven't trained anyone for sale in many seasons.

[sterlingice]

A few notes to add that I will need to go back to later on:

Originally Posted by Denyson

Hi, a little update on Tomas Ovesson's stats.

Last time I didn't think about alltid.org doesn't count cup matches prior to season 36. I did some old fashioned counting and found out that Ovesson during his 11 seasons at NyFF scored no less than 104 goals in all competitions (45 cup, 59 league).

Also, I never mentioned this in a Press Announcement, but Giancarlo Schalks is going to end up tied for 3rd in the USA Cup with 15 goals this season

Quite a few Pressers will come out at the end of the season as we had a lot of news this year.

EDIT: Another note about Ovesson, when I asked Denyson about his best game:

Originally Posted by Guestbook

(20:27) Number 258 of 258 by Denyson Well, he did score four goals once (166709154), in a quite one-sided affair. And from an old press-announcement I found his one-hundred competition goal (203702961).

How about a friendly on the day of Ovesson's retirement? Should be sometime towards the end of the summer.

Response:
Sounds like a plan! I can make a PA about how he's retiring at halftime of our friendly

I'm not quite sure when he's retiring yet. I'll have Sidorczak retiring at the beginning of next season. Then 3 players are all about the same skill-level and ready to retire soon ( Partridge, Quijada).

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by 12-22-2010

(22:25) Erwin Vickers Retired to Hippo Hall of Heroes

Erwin Vickers, a fixture of fixtures for many seasons, has retired from the Houston to the Hippo Hall of Heroes at 41 years old. Erwin came to the club at 22 years old, a middie with extra terrestrial playmaking ability. He was the first Hippo with a wage of over $50K and, in fact, when he came to Houston, his $82K wage was almost double that of #2 Hippo Thomas Little at $43K. He retired at 290 matches played, 3rd in franchise history.

The retirement ceremony will be at this Sunday's home game against Green Street Chaos. The game will be attended by his frequent midfield teammates at wing, Donald Sidorczak and Charlie Partridge, who will be retired to the HHH the next two seasons.

Current Hippo Hall of Heroes Roster:
#15 Carlos Alberto Benito
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol
#19 Allan Brik
#18 Thomas Little
Hnr Sergio Chapin (23361083)
Hnr Quintin Staples (28383532)
#01 Tim Kimber
#17 Erwin Vickers

Originally Posted by 1-6-2011

(04:00) Season 44 Midterm Notes

It's almost midseason and time to take a look back at the first half.

The Hippos are onto Round 7 of the US Cup after defeating legendary Hattrick coach FryDog and his Team Dank.

We have not been so lucky in the III.3 season with a 2-2-1 record so far and 7 points. An unlucky last game against FC San Antonio cost Houston 2n place in the series. Of course, everyone is trailing HTRF-renewed hrudey22 and his Jacksonville Tea Men.

The Hungry Hungry Hippos have been extremely fruitful of late. Last season, 7 players were sold for more than $1.5M, led by Levi Atwood's $750K transfer. This past week, Leonard Alford sold for $640K. Both were dwarfed by Neal Watts's team record $2.5M transfer last week. The team is now needing to restock for the next wave of young talent.

Finally, we will be honorarily retiring Marcin Tetkowski (48395749) and memorialize his epic Season 32 in the second half.

Originally Posted by 1-27-2011

(12:39) Lucky Number 10

The Hippos may be #1 in our hearts but 10 is their lucky number this season.

Going into last night's cup game against FC Canevin, Houston had gone undefeated in 10 matches. After last night's 4-1 cup win, they will be going to Round 10 of the USA Cup for the first time ever in 25 seasons.

Coming up this week, the Hippos have a tough series match against Appalachian-Americans as they try to run their unbeaten streak to 12 games. A win would give them some breathing room as they try to escape the qualification line in the series. Even with the unbeaten streak, three of those series games have been draws and the team has yet to find much traction in their III.3 home.

Then, next Wednesday, an extremely tough 10th round cup match pits the Hippos against 4th season Div II.4er The Human Paraquats. They are riding a 9 game undefeated streak and show a diversity of lineups, having played 3 different formations and 4 different specialties (Norm, AIM, AOW, CA) over the last season.

Originally Posted by 2-5-2011

(16:53) 10th Round of Cup and Hippo Friendly Tour #24

The Houston Hippopotami had their deepest cup run ever, making the Sweet Sixteen and crowding a capacity 81000 fans into the Hippodrome for the first time since our qualifier in season 41. Unfortunately, The Human Paraquats proved too much for the home team, winning 4-2. For making the 10th round, the team was awarded $50K in prize money.

It's now time to turn our attention to the Hippo Friendly Cup 24! The flag chasing logo is back and there will only be 6 chances for the Hippos to add to their flag list this year. We would absolutely love to host teams from the following this season as they are the only two really rare flags we have left to host:

Al Yaman
Suriname


Below are our current rankings:

Countries Visited (124)
USA #1-T
World #1-T

Coolness Visit (604K)
USA #1-T
World #35-T

Countries Host (83)
USA #20

Coolness Host (514K)
USA #2
World #260

Countries Visited+Host (207)
USA #2
World #107

Coolness Visit+Host (1.119M)
USA #1
World #104

Originally Posted by 3-14-2011

(17:59) Schalks Shoots, He Scores! (Part 1)

Giancarlo Schalks has just finished one of the most prolific scoring seasons in franchise history, rivaling some of the other great Houston scoring seasons (see part 2).

His scoring really started last season when he and Joseph Pittesser tied for the III.3 lead with 11 goals. This year, he shattered that with a league-leading 17 goals. These accomplishments should be viewed in an even more favorable light, considering he plays in a series that allegedly has a team with 11 forwards on the pitch, tho one vaguely pretends to be a keeper (only vaguely, I am assured by observers).

To complement the series showing, he scored 15 goals in the US Cup, which tied him for 3rd in all of USA, the only Hippo to ever place in the top 10 in a single cup season. The combined 32 competitive goals this season shatters the franchise single season record.

For his career, the 27 year old striker has 120 career goals. He also has 9 career hat tricks with Houston (10 total), a new team record.

Originally Posted by 3-14-2011

(17:48) Schalks Shoots, He Scores! (Part 2)

To accompany part I of the story on Schalks's season, below is a list of all players in Houston Hippopotami history who have scored 10 goals or more in a single series season. It lists the season, number of goals, player, rank, and series in which the feat was accomplished.

Hippo Series Leaders
-------------------------

S44 17G Giancarlo Schalks (1st, III.3)
S43 11G Giancarlo Schalks (1st, III.3)
S43 11G Joseph Pittesser (1st, III.3)
S41 10G Giancarlo Schalks (7th, II.1)
S39 11G Tor Tetlie (5th, III.3)
S38 11G Tor Tetlie (1st, III.3)
S34 12G Kris Jacobsen (4th, III.3)
S32 13G Marcin Tetkowski (3rd, III.3)
S31 10G Kris Jacobsen (4th, III.3)
S27 11G Ingo Kettich (2nd, IV.21)
S23 11G Eric Peiffer (5th, IV.21)
S20 10G Edwin Phelan (4th, IV.21)
S19 15G Edwin Phelan (1st, V.62)
S19 15G Derrick Solomon (1st, V.62)

Originally Posted by 3-25-2011

(01:44) Season 44 Hippo Closing Notes

The Hippo Friendly Cup was another great success this season, even with only 6 matches due to our deep cup run. We averaged over 5000 fans per match against the following teams and we thank them for playing:

yasamal belediye
askariblues
C.S. LA BOMBA
goodfellas united
Wildlandmesh
Comander II

With the 4 new flags, next season we will be seeking those as well as our 2 other rare flags (Suriname, Al Yaman)

The Hippopotami notched a pair of achievements this season:

1) During our 9th round cup match last season against FC Canevin, Houston put up "an average match rating of formidable", which is good for 17 points.

2) As part of the YMCA/AMCY federations, we reached the front of the line and started AMCY #98 and achieved 100 members, netting 20 points for "Join my revolution". If you have never gotten a federation achievement, this is a great way to do it- look into YMCA!

As is standard practice, going into season 45, we will return to the standard Hippo logo.

SI

[the_meanstrosity]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

If I'm not mistaken, that's meanstrosity who has you beat by about $3M (MoKan)

SI

Yeah, I've been pretty stagnant with my team the last two or three seasons. This past week I've been revamping the friendly roster (bringing in younger players as bench fodder so I can skip a few more seasons, lol). I really need to revamp my league roster, but I haven't done the research yet to see where the most bang for my buck is. If I can stay motivated for it I'll probably do that this month. Eh, we'll see.

Great to see you competing at such a high level SI. I always wanted to make it to III, but just couldn't manage to stay interested for a full season, lol. So I'm living vicariously through your hattrick success. Keep up the great work!

[sterlingice]

Season 45 updates. Another busy one. Didn't have a crazy cup run like last season but we did have some fun. I'm a bit miffed about them adding 4 new countries as that made flag chasing that much harder. Oh, and the end was pretty good

Originally Posted by 4-18-2011

(00:10) Donald Sidorczak Wings It To Hippo Hall of Heroes

Donald Sidorczak was money on and off the field for the Houston Hippopotami. As a winger, he could put up 7 stars as a world class winger and world class playmaker, causing all sorts of matchup issues. Off the field, he transferred to Houston for a still team record $7.4M at the height of hattrick's economic boom and has almost $16M in transfer fees across his career.

He retired one day before his 41st birthday last week and the retirement ceremony will be at this Sunday's home game against Green Street Chaos. The game will be attended by his midfield teammates, Erwin Vickers and Charlie Partridge, a past and future member of the Hippo Hall of Heroes.

Current Hippo Hall of Heroes Roster:
#15 Carlos Alberto Benito
#22 Edwin Phelan
#13 Mick Starks
#99 José María Miquel
#31 Vaikhan Satyanarayana
#97 Xacobo Armengol
#19 Allan Brik
#18 Thomas Little
Hnr Sergio Chapin (23361083)
Hnr Quintin Staples (28383532)
#01 Tim Kimber
#17 Erwin Vickers
#12 Donald Sidorczak

Originally Posted by 4-27-2011

(12:35) Houston Hippopotami Are Hot

While it's very possible all of these streaks will come to an end in the next couple of games, the Houston press thought it would be important to recognize some of the accomplishments of the team.

The Hippopotami have three lengthy current streaks, and archivists are combing the history books to see if they are franchise records:

*Houston has won 13 games in a row, tied for 2nd in all of the US. They last didn't win in series week 11 last season, drawing 0-0 to Green Street Chaos.

*Houston has a 15 game undefeated streak, which is tied for 5th in the US. They last lost to The Human Paraquats in Round 10 of last year's cup.

*Houston has a 16 game undefeated streak in series, going 12-4-0. The last series loss was to Central Park Sweepers in series week 3 last season.

However, this week, the Hippos have very tough matchups against A. C. Milano in the cup followed by Burton Rd. Confederates in series, who, coincidentally enough, also have a 15 game undefeated streak.

Originally Posted by 4-27-2011

(12:46) Hippo Friendly Cup #25: Silver Anniversary!

The Hippo Friendly Cup is back and it's time for our Silver Anniversary! This will be out 25th season chasing flags and we'd like to make it a big one! So far, Cup attendance has been 732,597 and we average over 4000 fans per friendly so we should break 750K around week 11.

We're continually trying to visit those rare countries we are still missing.

In particular, we would like to host:
Suriname
Al Yaman

And now there are 4 new countries to play at home and away:
Cameroon
Cuba
Palestine
O'zbekiston

And to kick things off, we are starting off BIG. Big as in, hosting China- the largest country left on our map and most populous country in the world. And Big as in BigBeerBottle, the team we will be hosting.

Finally, our rankings on the US and World stage:

Visited: 124 flags/512K coolness
USA: T-1st USA
World: T-12/T-89

Hosted: 89 flags/461K coolness
USA: T-19/2nd
World: NA/262

Visited Plus Hosted: 213 flags/973K
USA: 2nd/1st
World: T-104/100

Originally Posted by 5-11-2011

(12:32) A Hippos First: 7-0 First Half!

The Hippopotami have been in existence since season 18 but here in season 45, they accomplished what no Houston team has done before them: win all of their first half games.

Coach Adir Weissglass: "We're traditionally a slow starting team with better second halves. But this season, we've had a lot of luck, no injuries, and a favorable schedule with home games."

Previous Best Starts (W-L-D/final record/standings)
Season 19: 6-1-0 V.62, 13-1-0; Promo to IV
Season 27: 6-1-0 IV.21, 12-2-0; Promo to III
Season 39: 6-0-1 III.3, 10-2-2; Promo to II

Best Finishes:
Season 19: 7-0-0 V.62, 13-1; Promo to IV
Season 25: 6-1-0 IV.41, 8-3-3; 3rd place
Season 27: 6-1-0 IV.21, 12-2-0; Promo to III
Season 30: 6-0-1 III.3, 11-1-2; 2nd place
Season 34: 6-1-0 III.3, 11-3-0; 2nd place
Season 35: 6-1-0 III.3, 8-5-1; 4th place
Season 44: 5-0-2 III.3, 8-2-4; 2nd place

Said Giancarlo Schalks: "This series is way too tough to finish the season undefeated. But it's definitely a nice start!"

Originally Posted by 5-26-2011

(12:46) Hippo Friendly Cup To Hit 750K Fan Milestone

After this week's friendly against gellora_fc, the Hippo Friendly Cup, now in its 25th season, are up to 748,753 fans in the history of the Hippo Friendly Cup. Next week's friendly should almost certainly put the franchise over 750,000 fans or, if you prefer, three quarters of a million fans.

The Hippo Friendly Cup has now covered 220 games with 124 countries hosted and 93 hosted (and 3 duplicates). We are still tied for 1st in the USA in coolness visited and 2nd in hosted. We are also 1st in the USA in coolness hosted plus visited and 2nd in flags hosted plus visited.

Some of the more interesting past themes have been:
HFC: Mediterranean
HFC: Home and Away
HFC: Six Continents in Six Weeks
HFC: Balkans
HFC: Lucky 13!

We'd really like to play one of the teams from the following, if possible:
Al Yaman (home)
Cuba (home/away)
Cameroon (home/away)
Palestine (home/away)
Suriname (home)
Uzbekistan (away)

Hope to see you at the stadium for this historic occasion!

Originally Posted by 6-28-2011

(18:18) Houston Hippopotami Return to Division II

Hippo TV Announcer Erwin Vickers counted down the final seconds of the season-ending 4-0 win against Styles City over the roar of the crowd and declared: "After just three seasons back in their home in III.3, the Hippos are getting a promotion!" The team got off to a blazing 7-0-0 start, finishing 11-1-2 with 34 points and a +33 GD and will now auto promote up to II.3.

In our time back, we have added to our all-time records for a team in a single Div III in the USA:
210 games played
401 points
+278 (616-338)
(If you combine Mountain Kings time in III.4 and III.5, they would hold the III records)

Said GM SterlingIce: "We hope our stay is a little longer than our 3 season stint in II.1 but with that level of competition, only 1 season is guaranteed. We were fortunate with good form, good luck, and a lack of injuries this past season. In II, we'll need that just to survive."

Next week, the Hippo Friendly Cup's Silver Anniversary concludes with a potentially special flag.

Originally Posted by 7-7-2011

(12:27) Hippo Friendly Cup #25: Silver Anniversary Concludes

The Silver Anniversary of the Hippo Friendly Cup came to a close Wednesday after a visit from new country Cameroon's Lions de Yaoundé. It was a sendoff for former Lions turned Hippos Eric Milla and Benoit Chiangeh who received cheers from all in the crowd in the 9-0 win. Those 4514 fans surpassed the 400K fan milestone for HFC home games.

The successful HFC season saw visits from BigBeerBottle (China), Faggots FC (Malaysia), gellora_fc (India), Mijinko FC (Nippon), azerbagjan (Shqiperia), Partido Colorado (Paraguay), and Los Lepones (Paraguay). Houston also visited (O'zbekiston) and hosted (Toshkent Stars) teams from new country Ozbekiston.

The Hippos now have visited 125 countries (missing Cameroon, Palestine, Cuba) and hosted 97 (of note, missing Palestine, Cuba, Al Yaman, Suriname). The team is tied for 1st in coolness in the USA for visiting and is 2nd for hosting. The International Hall at the Hippodrome currently displays 125 of the 128 possible visited flags and 97 hosted.

SI

[the_meanstrosity]

Congrats on your promotion SI!

[sterlingice]

Thanks! We're back to II for the second time. The series I landed in looks really tough so I'll be fortunate to stay free of auto-demotion, but if I can, I'd love to stick around another season or two

SI

[sterlingice]

Since they're in the process of deleting some of the Youth Squad stuff, I thought I'd save the Youth Squad "Parent Notices" here. Remember, they were initially limited to 200 characters or something ridiculously small like that.

Originally Posted by 3-29-2007

And the Hungry Hungry Hippos are Born

Alright, team, it's time to get to work!

Originally Posted by 4-15-2007

Official FOFC Youth League

Maybe we should pool information resources and post in their conference threads about YPs and coach text.

Originally Posted by 4-30-2007

Hippos fall in Friendly

If you take out the last 10 minutes of each half, the game would have been 0-0. As that's not the case, the Calibiri scored 4 in the last 2 minutes of the first half and another 3 after 80 minutes in the Hippos first friendly. Still, there is reason for optimism as a starting lineup is forming.

Originally Posted by 5-13-2007

Orange You Glad It's a Youth Team?

Coach Omar Thomas, upon seeing his team lose for the 4th straight time (0-18 GD), has instituted a new policy for the team. The next player who scores a goal gets an extra serving of orange slices after the game.

Originally Posted by 11-14-2007

Hippos move to USA Cup Battlers

After the season on FOFC's 2nd league ran out, the Hungry Hungry Hippos took to the street, looking for a new league, joining USA Cup Battlers. We hope to have an active youth season here in the new league

Originally Posted by 4-6-2008

Hungry Hungry Hippos Change Leagues

Citing a lack of activity in USA Juniors Cup, the Hippos have gone international, joining RED MAD DOGS, featuring youth squads from Mexico, Israel, and Romania. Said youth team leader, Randy Miller: "We're looking to continue new players for the Hippos big league club through continued youth competition." The new season starts shortly.

Originally Posted by 8-10-2008

Hungry Hungry Hippos Stick with MLSJ

After a 3rd place finish last youth season, the Hippos are sticking around in Major League Soccer Juniors as all teams remained active. Allan Champagne has taken over head scout (Houston) and coaching duties from Randy Miller who left for a lucrative consulting job elsewhere. Brain Turner and Lawrence Hightower continue as the Kansas and Alabama scouts. Champagne: "This team is a little older than last season's team so we expect good things from them before they reach the big squad"

Originally Posted by 10-24-2008

Hippos Win USA Juniors

After falling short in the league's first season, the Hippos won the closely contested 2nd season in USA Juniors over DC Junior Eagles and Crystal City Youth. Head Coach and scout Allan Champagne was heard to say: "It's not always the most lively league for conversation but the competition is fierce and all teams are active so it helps prepare the team for their future with the big squad"

Originally Posted by 3-21-2009

USA Juniors Finish Season 4, HHH 3rd

The Hungry Hungry Hippos finished a solid 3rd behind VfB T-X and series champion Crystal City Youth. FC Alviso finished right behind HHH while The Midshipman and thunderdawgs are building for next season. Hippos management is thrilled that the teams in USA Juniors continue to be active, providing great competition for all of the youth squads. Here's to more seasons of good youth play!

Originally Posted by 8-16-2009

Hungry Hungry Hippos 3rd Again

The Hippo youth squad continues to finish in the top half of USA Juniors, showing more continued growth. Even with over $500K in promotion defections, the team led by 7/7.5 star players at forward (Jackie Sexton) and defense (August Pike and Mitchell Maloney) show that there is still a lot of talent to be had from the youth squad. There are 6 more 6 star players across the pitch and a lot of younger talent so the team should be competitive for seasons to come.

Originally Posted by 11-8-2010

Hippos Have Great Season for Sales

A bumper crop of Hungry Hungry Hippo talent has ripened this season into profits for the big league club. This has been the 3rd best season ever in franchise history and best since going to the Youth Academy format, in terms of youth pull sales. Kelly Weiner (450K), Jamie Jean (1K), Matt Day (67K), Jason Orr (150K), Oliver March (75K), and Levi Atwood (750K) have totaled up 1.493M in sales so far and Jordan Hebert, in 2 weeks, should push that total past $1.5M. Time to plant new seeds!

Originally Posted by 2-19-2011

No Rest for the Weary

The youngsters were happy after finally getting points against Crystal City Youth for the first time in many seasons and on the road, no less. But the two game road trip, traveling to Little Friends, proved to be too much as they fell 4-2.

Coach Brain Turner: "This isn't even one of our stronger teams- we have some pretty good defenders and a good pair of keepers but that's about it. However we might be able to break out of our perpetual hold on 3rd place and that's exciting for the kids."

Originally Posted by 9-6-2011

A Little Hope

It was a cold and rainy day at the Mud Pit and the Hungry Hungry Hippos were down 1-0 to Virginia Preparatory Academy. The team was 0-9 and staring at an all-losing season. However, in the 60th minute, Marvin Trout scored an equalizer that delivered a draw to the team. That goal netted everyone on the team an extra grape soda at the end of year pizza party and a little hope going into next season.

SI

[sterlingice]

I'm going to be trying to post all of my archived press announcements here but I'd like to kick this to the next page


SI

[sterlingice]

I've noticed that FOFC will screw up if you stack too much on a page. I ran into this on page 2 here where things would stop loading so I had to move some information around. I run into this with the first page of the fantasy leagues I run, too

SI

[sterlingice]

Last one and then we're onto the next page

SI