03-12-2001, 02:50 PM | #1 | ||
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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House Arrest Black Squirrels, 2054-2057
I'm playing this career under a fairly lengthy series of house rules-trying to address most of the game's many areas fertile for abuse, and to simultaneously make the game: challenging, interesting, steerable, and realistic. Since the house rules are fairly rigorous, I've adopted the name "house arrest" for this system.
If you are interested in the full story of the Squirrels, here are the links back to the entire posted history. The first link starts off with some general, more detailed musings about the house rule concepts that I've been following, and then gets into the team story. Black Squirrels, 2002-2007 Black Squirrels, 2008-2011 Black Squirrels, 2012-2017 Black Squirrels, 2018-2021 Black Squirrels, 2022-2025 Black Squirrels, 2026-2029 Black Squirrels, 2030-2033 Black Squirrels, 2034-2037 Black Squirrels, 2038-2041 Black Squirrels, 2042-2045 Black Squirrels, 2046-2049 Black Squirrels, 2050-2053 To save you the trouble, the short version of the rules I'm using follows: FOF 2001, Wall Street, empty cupboard start with the 2002 expansion team Ticket prices no higher than those of my nearest geographic competitor (Denver) Several contract restrictions, including: -no signing non-rookie players, other than the second half of the 20-stage FA process -no unrealistic contract durations for first and second year players (generally 3-4 years only) -no backloading of contracts - annual salary increases up to 25% only -any free agent seeking a bonus gets one at least as big as the second year's salary -URFAs get one year deals, or else the deal outlined below -URFAs may get a 7yr deal: x = rookie min, 2x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x; plus x bonus No contract renegotiations, and no franchise tag - everyone re-signed through the free market Full roster of 53 each season (no going cheap by leaving roster holes) Player from home state college at each position group (RB/FB, WR/TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, QB/P/K) . . .I confess I have slipped up once or twice here, but I'm making an earnest effort Making effort to sign and hold Colorado players whenever practical I'm allowing some slack with my Colorado school guys - re-signing after camp sometimes Basically no trades, unless I declare a few years of "rebuilding," when I'll consider CPU-initiated trades In short, the team is being almost exclusively built from within, with a few fill-in types from the late rounds of free agency. Once my players get past their first contracts, I compete (if possible) on the open market to retain their services. Here is the short history of the team-the GM performance printout:
We acquired a new QB through free agency in 2051, and he helped get us out of our minor offensive rut. Now, we've gotten through three seasons as a major contender, but have failed to reach the Superbowl in any of the three. Our legendary offensive line has suffered some losses, but remains very solid. However, it's our skill positions that probably lead the team's successes at this point. On defense, we are young and emerging, and our recent secondary improvements will probably kick in this coming season. 2054 might be a "while the iron is hot" season for us. The story continues below... [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 03-12-2001).] |
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03-12-2001, 02:51 PM | #2 |
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2054 pre-draft
There are no major team-related announcements-no league HOF inductions, no retirements. We do see that RB Benjamin Fouse and DT Dwight Larson have made the team HOF. Fouse was an all-world player for several years, and is the most accomplished back we ever had. DT Larson was only with us for a short while, but went on to play well for a long time. My 55 y/o scout, Luke Flowers, is already signed. His ratings are strong: EX with OL and YT, VG with QB, PK, and LB, and GOOD with the rest. He'll stick around. Coach Todd Rowan is up for a new deal. His ratings are good, except he's only FAIR in Off Playcalling. I'll pursue him heartily-he's great at developing players in many areas. The highest coach salaries are in the $25-37m range, and I decide to offer Rowan $15m. He takes the $15m package, for five years-done deal. I head into the FA period-here's a summary of the team's salary commitments:
Both CB Butch Mahoney and G T.J. Robson are guys we definitely intend to keep. This may pose a logistical problem-our draft is projected to cost $16m, which leaves only $50m in cap room. Those two players may occupy a full $50m by themselves, leaving me no room for acquiring players to help fill in the roster. Regardless, I think the crisis is manageable. I offer 3yrs, $48m to G T.J. Robson, who has been a spectacular player for us at LG (a nine time all-pro, six time first-teamer). I put in 4yrs, $96m for CB Butch Mahoney, which is a bit less then he was making on his last contract. He's a very strong lock-down cover corner, a must-have for this team. I have little choice but to allow WR Devin DeLameillure to test the free agent waters-he'll no doubt land a big contract somewhere. In week 1, CB Mahoney re-signs with us. That's' a relief, now we can focus on TJ Robson, who is listening to an offer from Philadelphia. Our free agent battles with the Eagles have become the stuff of legends lately-several seasons ago, they grabbed RB Benjamin Fouse away from us. Three seasons ago, we landed their rising star QB Amos Bell, who has blossomed with us. Now, they are after our prize lineman. No way, no how. In week 4, Robson elects to stay with us, signing my 3yr offer. WR Devin DeLamiellure is pending to Oakland through 7 weeks, then suddenly gets an offer from Denver that he takes. The AFC West likes to stay withint the family. When I get to week 11, there are still a few intriguing player remaining. OT Donovan Lieberman is the most palatable-he'll cost about $12m/yr or more, but would be a solid starter at tackle for my veteran line. I decide to wait him out until the final stages. In week 20, he's still demanding a deal worth over $12m a year, and I decide to hold off. I end the FA period with no new signings. I'm picking #33 in the draft, and will be looking for the best player available, in general. I don't feel that I have major weaknesses right away. C Drew Bloomer and G Richie Peel are both up for new deals after this year-Bloomer in particular is getting a bit old in the tooth. It may be time to invest in some young bucks for the front line. I had a system crash and had to re-run fre agency, sorry for the mishap [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 03-12-2001).] |
03-12-2001, 04:07 PM | #3 |
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2054 draft and camp
This looks like a very, very good draft-lots of intriguing prospects at the top of the target lists. I hope that I see some of that talent fall to me. The very fist pick is QB Ben Dillon, who is maxed out on potential almost everywhere-except in passing accuracy. We'll see…
A good draft, on its surface. I pick up a few fill-in rookie players, including a QB who was a 6th round pick-I grab him to a deal mirroring that he sought from his signing team. He's not too bad. We bring a slightly heavy roster into camp, and will have to make a few cuts to get down to 53:
During training camp, we make our usual choices-focusing on the Pro, Strong, and Single back sets on offense. On defense, we'll go 3-4 again, and will split man and zone coverage. Here's the post-camp analysis:
The good news here is that we had some positive movement among our younger players. Even our final draft pick, S Shaun Van DeWege, did indeed break out-though it was pretty modest. Our secondary is positively stacked with great talent right now. Rookie LB Peter Emmons looks even a little bit better than he did after the draft, which is good news. All in all, good stuff to see. DE Ellis Fleming remains injured through camp, but his overall ratings seen unaffected, which is a relief. Here's our roster of 53 who make the final cut:
We head into the 2035 season with a pretty solid team. Next year, we'll face some tough financial questions, but right now we've got a lot going for us. This might be a good chance to get back on top, if injuries don't derail us. |
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