Screamin' Seamen FC - A Hattrick Dynasty

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:13 AM

Screamin’ Seamen Football Club

The story thus far…

(AP – Chicago, IL: August 5th, 2002): Self-made millionaire and philanthropist Data King held a press conference earlier today, at which he announced the formation of the Screamin’ Seamen Football Club. The SSFC will be formed over the next few weeks, and will participate in the world-wide Hattrick (www.hattrick.org) club soccer organization. Financial terms were not disclosed, but it was also announced that construction had begun on The Docks, the 10,000-seat stadium at which the Screamin’ Seamen would play their home games.

King announced that he will act as General Manager for the club, as well as maintaining sole ownership of the organization. In order to provide on-the-field experience, he announced that 49-year-old Ken Brown had accepted the position of head coach for the team. Brown is a man held in pretty decent regard amongst American soccer experts. Although his leadership skills are sometimes held in question, he is known to lend a sympathetic ear to player concerns, has a great deal of experience, and prefers to play a strong defensive game on the pitch.

Season #1 (Hattrick Season 17) Overview

The Screamin’ Seamen met with an astounding level of success in their first season, winning 13 of their 14 league matches, and recording a draw in the other match. The team was rewarded with $175,000 in prize money from various sources, as well as promotion to the United States’ 4th Division (more on this later). The money was immediately invested into The Docks, and in the off-season this facility was expanded to hold 17,350 Screamin’ fans.

Author’s Note: It is at this point where we pick up the tale of the Screamin’ Seamen Football Club. Like the dynasty reports that Illinifan and ArdentEnthusiast are running, this is based off of the exploits of my team in the web-based soccer management game, Hattrick. I will give a brief overview of the game as a whole, then the state of SSFC at the beginning of their second season (Hattrick Season 18). At the time of this writing, the season is a couple of weeks old. I will attempt to get caught up with the state of the game, and will then update this dynasty report once or twice a week, as time permits.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I am certain to enjoy writing it. I will do my best to make it enjoyable for Hattrickers and non-Hattrickers alike. And if any of you have questions about the game, please feel free to ask. I will be more than happy to share what little wisdom I have acquired about the game over the past few months. But don’t expect me to give away all of my secrets.

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:14 AM

Hattrick: The Basics

Here are the basics to the Hattrick game. I am explaining this, so it is easier for non-Hattrickers to follow along with this dynasty, as well as others.

1. The Youth Squad

The youth squad is one of the most important elements in Hattrick. Every week, a team can promote one player from the youth squad that their team supports, and this activity costs a team $2,000. This is how new players are introduced into the game. Each week, a team can invest either $5,000, $10,000, or $20,000 into their youth squad. The more money a team puts into its youth squad, the better the quality of the squad, and therefore the better quality (generally) of young players that will be promoted. There is still a large amount of luck involved in the youth pull, but one good 17-year-old player can make the entire investment worthwhile. There is a serious premium placed on good young players (I will get more into the reasons for this later), and this is the best way to get those players on one's team.

2. Specialists (the staff)

There are seven different type of staff members that you can have supporting your Hattrick team. Each of these specialists costs a team $1,500 per week.

Goaltending Coach: Improves the 'form' (more on this term later) and skill level of your goaltenders.
Assistant Coach: Assists your head coach in training players other than goalkeepers.
Sports Psychologist: Increases team confidence and team spirit.
Spokesperson: Improves the attitude of your team's sponsors and supporters.
Economist: If your team has a large debt or a large amount of cash on hand, economists can reduce your interest payments, or invest your surplus.
Physiotherapist: Reduces the chance of player injuries.
Doctor: Rehabilitates injured players more rapidly.

3. Supporters and Sponsors

Supporters are those hardcore fans that buy season tickets, adorn their domiciles with team paraphernalia, get arrested for stalking your team's star forward, name their firstborn children after your goalkeeper (even if the baby is the wrong gender), that sort of thing. The size of your team's supporter club gives a good indication of your team's general popularity, and also give the manager an indication of the number of seats they can expect to sell for a home game.

Sponsors are another significant source of income for a club. If your team succeeds and you keep your sponsors happy, you can expect to see healthy rises in the amount of sponsorship money you receive from week to week. However, if you go on a losing streak or fail to provide adequate "entertainment" for these fat-cats, you can soon find yourself in financial hardships.

4. Economy

A team's income and expenses are handled on a weekly basis, and come from a number of sources.

Income
Crowd: Home league and cup matches are the single best source of income for a club. This includes ticket prices, concessions, parking, etc.
Sponsors: The money you receive for having gawdy endorsements blanketing your stadium and your players' jerseys.
Financial: Any interest you are earning on your current cash holdings, courtesy of economists.
Temporary: A catch-all for other sources of income, including annual dues from new supporters (they pay $30 each per season), and the sale of players on the transfer market (more on this later).

Expenses
Arena: The bigger your arena, the more you have to spend on upkeep for the thing every week.
Wages: Players get a paycheck every week, whether they play or not. Big-name talent can command some serious moolah, especially for a newer team (like mine).
Interest: Go into debt, and the creditors will be looking for interest payments every week. If you go over $500,000 into debt, you lose your team.
Temporary: Temporary expenses include stadium improvements, money spent on new players, and the $2,000 it costs to promote a player from the youth squad.
Staff: The weekly salary of your specialists.
Youth Squad: The weekly investment your team makes in its youth squad.

Sponsors hand out prize money at the end of each season for teams finishing in 1st-4th place in each series. Also, teams earn bonus money for earning the possibility of promotion to a higher division (more on this later).

5. Formations and Positions

The basic formation in Hattrick is a 4-4-2 formation. There are always three 'layers' of players in front of the goalkeeper. 4-4-2 means that there are 4 defensemen (layer 1), 4 midfielders (layer 2) and 2 forwards (layer 3). Hattrick concerns itself with six basic player positions.

Goalkeeper: The guy who sits in front of the net. Duh!
Central Defender: Defenders who try to control the area of the pitch (field) in front of the net.
Wingback: Defenders that play to the sides of the net.
Inner Midfielder: A very important position. Concentrate on controlling the middle of the field, and are key to maintaining ball possession.
Winger: Play to the sides of the inner midfielders. This is the most versatile position on the field. They can play offensively, defensively, or in towards the middle to assist with ball possession.
Forwards: Strikers. These guys get a lot of the goals (along with a lot of the glory, and a lot of the chicks).

6. Players

There are 8 basic skills that, when combined with other factors, determine how well a player performs at a given position.

Stamina: General endurance. Important for midfielders, because they run all over the pitch.
Playmaking: The key skill for inner midfielders. The biggest determining factor in ball possession.
Winger: The ability to create scoring chances by advancing down the sides. Important for Wingbacks and especially Wingers.
Scoring: Putting the ball into the net. Duh! Only important for forwards.
Goaltending: I hope I don't need to explain this.

Passing: Nice for forwards and midfielders, but not critical.
Defending: Stopping opponent attacks. Key for central defenders and wingbacks.
Set Pieces: Free kicks, penalty kicks, corner kicks. Having a player on the pitch who is good at set pieces can make a huge difference.

Each of these skills is rated from Disastrous (level 1) to Divine (level 20). I will list all of these level ratings here, but note that it will be a LONG time before you see a Divine player playing for the Screamin' Seamen.

1 - Disastrous
2 - Wretched
3 - Poor
4 - Weak
5 - Inadequate
6 - Passable
7 - Solid
8 - Excellent
9 - Formidable
10 - Outstanding
11 - Brilliant
12 - Magnificent
13 - World Class
14 - Supernatural
15 - Titanic
16 - Extra-Terrestrial
17 - Mythical
18 - Magical
19 - Utopian
20 - Divine

Players are also rated in something called 'form,' which gives an indication of how the player is performing at the moment. Like all athletes, players in hattrick have good streaks and bad streaks. A player on a good streak, or in good 'form,' might be rated as excellent (the maximum for form), while a player on a cold streak may be rated as poor (or worse).

7. Training

Each week, the team owner decides what sort of training the team will perform. Each of the eight skills mentioned earlier can be trained, as well as General training, which helps out player form as well as providing minimal goalkeeper training. There are two things to keep in mind when deciding the sort of training to conduct.

First, young players learn considerably faster than older players. This is why a premium is placed on good, young players. A 17-year-old Excellent defender has the possibility of becoming Divine someday. However, a 25-year-old Excellent defender will never reach that level of expertise. Also, player skills begin to degrade at age 30, so a 17-year-old will be on your team for a lot longer.

Second, a player has to play at a position that uses the skill you are training, in order to receive the benefits of training for that week. If you are training defending, and a player plays as a forward that week, he will receive no training.

8. The Transfer Market

Aside from youth pulls, the only way to get a new player for your team is to use the transfer market. This is an open bidding system, similar to E-Bay and that sort of thing. When a player is placed on the transfer market, a minimum bid can be placed by the team selling the player. The player then remains on the transfer market for exactly 72 hours. Players are assessed 'values,' depending on their age and their skills, but this may or may not have much to do with what that player can fetch on the transfer market. Again, player age is the key factor here. A 17-year-old will fetch a lot more than a 25-year old with the same skill level, for the reasons discussed earlier.

9. The Series System

Each series, or 'conference,' in Hattrick contains 8 teams. These are the teams that you compete directly with during each season. The season is 14 weeks long, so your team plays against each other team in your series twice, once at home and once on the road. League matches are always played on Sundays. You get three points for a win, and one point for a draw. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the series, and has a chance at promotion.

The top Division in the U.S. is Major League, and has only one series in it. Each division beneath Major League has four times as many series' as the one above it. So, beneath Major League there is Division 2, which has 4 series in it (II.1 through II.4). Beneath that, there are 16 series in Division 3 (III.1 through III.16), then Division 4 (IV.1 through IV.64), and finally Division 5 (V.1 through V.256).

This part gets complicated, so I won't get into too much detail. The top team in each series may or may not move up, depending on how well they did. The 2nd through 4th place teams in each series are safe, and will be in the same series next season. The 5th and 6th place teams have to play a qualification match against series winners from the division below them, in order to keep their spot. The 7th and 8th place teams are automatically relegated to the division below them. They obviously suck and have no business in their current division. :P

10. The Cup and Friendly Matches

Each season, countries have their national cups. Most of the teams in a given country are able to participate in what amounts to a giant, single elimination tournament. These cup matches are played on Wednesdays, and are re-seeded after each round.

So, if there are 64 teams in a cup, then the #1 team plays #64, #2 plays #63, and so on. If #63 should happen to beat #2, they are rewarded by getting to play #1 the following week. Needless to say, these cups are definitely geared towards the top teams, but can be a nice source of additional revenue from ticket sales for the smaller teams involved.

Once a team has been eliminated from their national cup, they can then arrange 'friendly' matches with any other team that is also available. These matches don't mean anything as far as standings and statistics go. They are simply a way to provide training for additional players, generating a little extra income from those willing to pay to see a friendly match, and the like.

OK, this turned out a little more long-winded than I had originally intended, but as you can tell, this game can prove to be rather complex. There are several other facets that I have chosen not to get into, but I think this should give the casual reader a general idea of how things work.

If any of you are confused by any of this, or have questions not covered by what I have detailed here, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

Up Next: An overview of the Screamin' Seamen Football Club as it stood at the beginning of Season 18, prepared to begin its assault on Division 4. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:15 AM

Screamin’ Seamen Player Profiles

Here is the roster for Screamin’ Seamen FC. I have included the key skill levels for these players and their numerical equivalents, to give you an idea of the level of talent (or lack thereof) that SSFC has at the moment. All statistics listed are as of the time of this writing, which is five games into our second season (3 cup and 2 league matches).

First Team

The first team typically plays a 3-5-2 formation. This means that we typically start:

1 Goalkeeper
1 Central Defender
2 Wingbacks
3 Inner Midfielders
2 Wingers
2 Forwards

Goalkeeper

#1 Darryl Read
-Age: 26
-Goaltending: Passable (6)
-Games Played: 18
-Goals Allowed: 14
-Goals Against Average: 0.78
-Clean Sheets: 10

Darryl is our best goalkeeper. Though his skill level leaves a bit to be desired, he usually benefits from having pretty good defenders playing in front of him. He usually manages to get the job done, and has pitched shutouts in 10 of his 18 matches.

Central Defender

#2 Chuck Scales
-Age: 23
-Defending: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 16
-Goals Scored: 3

Chuck is the key to our defense, and is responsible for keeping the area directly in front of Darryl clear of threats. He typically does a good job of this, and is the most consistent of our defenders. He is a genuinely pleasant individual, very level-headed, and has a decent amount of experience for his age. He has been named Team Match MVP eight times in his sixteen games.

Wingbacks

#3 Ben McMahon
-Age: 27
-Defending: Solid
-Winger: Passable
-Games Played: 16
-Goals Scored: 1

Ben was named our team’s Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of our first season, and for good reason. He shut down opposing forwards on his side of the field, and was named Team Match MVP 6 times last year. Although he is not a threat to score goals, he was also named as the team’s best defenseman last season.

#5 Arlen Lucas
-Age: 20
Defending: Solid
Winger: Passable
-Games Played: 16
-Goals Scored: 5

Arlen stands 6’6” tall, and is an imposing figure in the defensive box. Due to his height, he specializes in headers and defending against headers in our own zone. Thanks to him, we rarely give up goals off of corner kicks. He has also scored five goals of his own, which is an impressive feat for a defender. Unfortunately, Arlen is a little bit of a hothead, and has now served two 1-game suspensions due to his rough play.

Inner Midfielders

#4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
-Age: 32
Playmaking: Passable (6)
-Games Played: 16
-Goals Scored: 4

At 32 years of age, Pete is the oldest player on the team, and is the nastiest son of a bitch I have ever met. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, he was once ejected and suspended for a game for purposely head-butting an opposing player. Despite his rough demeanor, he is one of the most popular members of the team, and does a good job of managing the team’s midfield play. His skills are on the down-slide, however, but we will certainly find a spot for him on the team’s staff when he decides to retire.

#6 Charlie Bautista
-Age: 25
-Playmaking: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 18
-Goals Scored: 5

Charlie and Pete are best of friends, and that is probably because their personalities complement one another so well. Charlie is a fiery guy as well, and is the best trash-talker on the field. Once Charlie gets an opposing player fired up, Pete takes advantage of this by taking the player down. On top of this, Charlie is the most talented of our midfielders. He has been awarded with Team Match MVP honors twice.

#7 Lucian Tere
-Age: 26
-Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
-Games Played: 17
-Goals Scored: 8

The big Romanian is the gentle giant of our midfield trio, but can use his power to muscle over opposing players when the situation warrants. His eight goals in the last seventeen matches proves his value. Just don’t call him Lucy. One of our trainers made that mistake, and spent a week in the infirmary because of it.

Wingers

#8 Max Dodge
-Age: 23
-Winger: Inadequate (5)
-Playmaking: Passable (6)
-Games Played: 15
-Goals Scored: 5

Without a doubt, Max has the coolest name on the team, but that is not why we have kept him around. Good wingers are hard to find, and when he is playing well, Max is our best winger by far. The problem is that he is terribly inconsistent. When he plays well, he can be a dominant force on the pitch. But when he plays poorly, well, it can get just plain ugly.

#10 Olav Mauffret
-Age: 21
-Winger: Inadequate (5)
-Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
-Games Played: 17
-Goals Scored: 3

Olav is a young Finn who is probably the most mild-mannered player on the field. He says little, but works very hard at his game. There is little exceptional about him, but his consistency is a nice change of pace from Max’s erratic play.

Forwards

#11 Johannes Henriksson
-Age: 25
-Scoring: Passable (6)
-Set Pieces: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 44
-Goals Scored: 47

Our Swedish striker is the most consistent scorer we have, and has averaged a goal a game throughout his entire career. He is also our team captain and set pieces ace. He and Arlen Lucas have proven to be a lethal combination. Johannes is also the most level-headed player on the team. He has never been carded in 44 starts. He is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable members of the team.

#15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
-Age: 20
-Scoring: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 6
-Goals Scored: 6

“Gump” was promoted from our youth squad late last season, and became an immediate starter. He is a talented young striker, and scored a hattrick in his second match. He does have a bit of a nasty streak about him, though, and is none too fond of his nickname.

Second Team

The second team typically plays a 5-4-1 formation. This formation is extremely weak offensively, but allows us to train five additional defensive players every week. Below is our current alignment in the 5-4-1, but I can assure you that a couple of these players are on their way out the door.

1 Goalkeeper
3 Central Defenders
2 Wingbacks
2 Inner Midfielders
2 Wingers
1 Forward

Goalkeeper

#13 Fredric McKinley
-Age: 21
-Goaltending: Inadequate (5)

Our lack of depth at goalkeeper hasn’t proven to be a problem yet, but the threat of injury to Darryl Read is always a concern. Frankly speaking, Fredric isn’t a very good keeper. We will be looking to unload Fredric as soon as our financial situation allows us to look for better options.

Central Defenders

#17 Luis Javier Prada
-Age: 21
-Defending: Inadequate (5)

Luis is a young defender that we’re grooming to perhaps take over for Chuck Scales on defense someday. The jury is still out on the young man, however, as he has not made as much progress as we would have liked. He is particularly fond of The Princess Bride.

#12 Brooks Brannon
-Age: 26
-Defending: Inadequate (5)
-Games Played: 4
-Goals Scored: 2

Brooks is a “super-sub,” meaning that he can play a number of positions with a decent level of skill. He can play central defender, inner midfielder, and forward all with some level of success. He and Paul Peralta are the ones most often called upon to replace injured or suspended starters on the first team.

#22 Bill Rubin
-Age: 20
-Defending: Inadequate (5)

Bill was promoted from the youth squad at the very end of last season, so we still don’t know much about him. He has only seen the pitch once so far, and his performance was about what we expected from him. He is fond of Reuben sandwiches.

Wingbacks

#23 William Brown
-Age: 20
-Defending: Passable (6)
-Winger: Inadequate (5)
-Games Played: 6
-Goals Scored: 2

Bad Bad Willie Brown is another promising young defender, and is the heir-apparent to Ben McMahon’s spot in the starting line-up. In fact, due to his solid play early in the current season, he has seen quite a bit of playing time and has faired well thus far. Willie is specially fast, and excels at beating wingers to the corner. He looks to have a bright future playing for SSFC.

#25 Paul Peralta
-Age: 27
-Defending: Passable (6)
-Winger: Weak (4)
-Games Played: 7
-Goals Scored: 0

Paul is perhaps the most valuable member of the second team. This is because, while he lacks any spectacular skills, he can play nearly any position on the pitch with some level of success. Because of this, he is one of our main back-ups when it comes to replacing injured or suspended starters. He has yet to score a goal in seven competitive matches, but has contributed to the team in many other ways.

Inner Midfielders

#18 Herbert Nelson
-Age: 24
-Playmaking: Passable (6)

Herb is an ugly, ugly man. He has apparently attempted one too many headers in his lifetime.

#20 Felix Pedersen
-Age: 21
-Playmaking: Inadequate (5)

A dour young man with no real future in professional soccer. I’ve suggested that he try stand-up comedy, but I don’t think he got the joke.

Wingers

#14 Jeffrey Nolan
-Age: 25
-Winger: Inadequate (5)
-Playmaking: Weak (4)
-Set Pieces: Passable (6)

Jeff is just a downright good guy, and is one of the most popular players on the team. While his skills as a winger are a little bit lacking, his experience and leadership abilities with the younger players on the team are invaluable. He is also skilled at set pieces, and is the captain for the second team.

#16 Otis Johnson
-Age: 19
-Winger: Weak (4)
-Playmaking: Inadequate (5)

Otis has alright skills for his age, but is unlikely to ever be anything more than a back-up. He has been infatuated with pirates ever since he was a child, though, and loves playing for SSFC.

Forward

#9 Ruben Stewart
-Age: 21
-Scoring: Passable (6)
-Games Played: 12
-Goals Scored: 9

Ruben was the #2 striker on our starting squad for most of last season, and accumulated nine goals in twelve matches before losing his starting spot to “Gump.” He is none too fond of Forrest, and has made it known that he would like us to sell him to a team where he can be a starter again. Unfortunately for Ruben, he is our best back-up at forward, so it is unlikely he will be going anywhere soon.

Up Next: I will get you all caught up on the state of affairs with SSFC thus far in our second season (Hattrick Season 18). Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:16 AM

Season 2 – Cup Match #1

Kingpin F.C. vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: December 11, 2002
Venue: Kingpin FC Arena (Dallas, TX)
Attendance: 4989 (7000)
Weather: Overcast

Our team didn’t receive an invitation to the U.S.A. Cup in our first season, so the players were understandably nervous about this match. Kingpin F.C. was a relatively new team, and we expected no real trouble from them. Normally, we would have played our second team in this situation, but after the off-season, we wanted to get our starters onto the pitch in order to get them ready for the start of league play. We made three changes to our normal starters. William Brown, one of our defensive trainees, would start in place of veteran wingback Ben McMahon, who has done little to impress in the off-season. Otis Johnson would also start, replacing Olav Mauffret on the wing. Olav, in turn, would play midfield, as we chose to rest the old-timer, Pete Tomlin.

Formation: 3-5-2
Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #10 Olav Mauffret
Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Match Report

Screamin' had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Shawn Carver saved Chuck Scales´s shot headed for the top corner. After 37 minutes Screamin's Forrest Tobias made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Screamin's William Brown got himself booked after a foul. The Kingpin player was Honorio Contreras who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Lucian Tere came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Shawn Carver, hitting the bar. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 65 percent, dominated the battle.

It was one fine day for Max Dodge at his wing, especially delicate was his cross pass serving to Otis Johnson after 49 minutes of play, but the keeper saved. Screamin'´s Johannes Henriksson received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 77:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The away team´s Forrest Tobias took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 77:th minute increasing Screamin'´s lead to 0 - 3. By now Screamin' were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 80:th minute Screamin' goal, making it 0 - 4. Chuck Scales was noted down as the scorer. After 86 minutes of game time Charlie Bautista received an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but Shawn Carver was in the right place, tipping the ball to a corner. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 90 percent possession rate.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Kingpin F.C. 0

Goals
Tobias – 2 (1,2)
Henriksson – 1 (1)
Scales – 1 (1)

Cards
Brown (yellow)

Comments

Things were a little dicey early in the match, as we had only a one goal lead and Shawn Carver played very well in Kingpin’s net. We finally rattled him in the 77th minute, however, as Henriksson and Tobias scored in rapid succession. Three minutes later, Chuck Scales added a gravy goal, and the match was decided.

Player Ratings

Hattrick rates individual performances in star ratings. Here are the number of stars that each of our players earned in this match:

Read: **1/2

Brown: **
Scales: ***
Lucas: **1/2

Johnson: **
Tere: **
Bautista: ***
Mauffret: **
Dodge: *1/2

Tobias: **1/2
Henriksson: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #6 Charlie Bautista

Team Ratings

Hattrick rates team performances with the same rating system that is used for rating player skills. Here are the performance ratings for both teams.

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Kingpin F.C.
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Weak (4)
-Right Attack: Wretched (2)
-Central Defense: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Wretched (2)

It’s easy to see why this was such a mismatch.

Up Next: We open up league play by hosting another recently promoted team, Croats In Miami. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:16 AM

Season 2 – League Match #1

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Croats In Miami

Date: December 15, 2002
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 15,784 (17,350)
Weather: Overcast

We began our first campaign in Division Four today against Croats In Miami, another team that was promoted from Division Five at the end of last season. At first glance, it looked to be a relatively even match, as we seemed to have similar talent levels. But after looking at game film, we noticed something peculiar about the Croats. They played the ever-popular 3-5-2 formation, but always removed their left wingback to gain a fifth midfielder, instead of replacing a central defender. They also seemed to do a poor job of compensating for this gap in their defense. We stacked our offense to the right side of the pitch, in order to hopefully take advantage of the oversight.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Left Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

We’ve been quite pleased with the performance of the youngster William Brown, so decided to start him and save Arlen Lucas for Wednesday’s cup match. Olav Mauffret and Pete Tomlin returned to their normal positions at winger and midfield, respectively. Otis Johnson was selected to play in place of Max Dodge, who has been in poor form lately. With the upcoming cup match in mind, we also chose to rest Forrest Tobias. His replacement was Ruben Stewart, the man whose job he stole at the tail end of last season.

Match Report

Screamin's Lucian Tere gave, after 24 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Visitors Xu Tze-Kei was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 30:th minute. The 32nd minute saw the home team take a 2 - 1 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Screamin' was Johannes Henriksson. The referee showed Screamin's Pete Tomlin the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Screamin' were given a penalty in the 35:th, neatly put away by Johannes Henriksson. 3 - 1 for the home side. A lovely rush by Screamin''s Ruben Stewart pastJoe Howe could have resulted in a goal, but the finish was just outside. Screamin' put themselves up 4 - 1 when Johannes Henriksson broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. By then Johannes Henriksson was a three time scorer - a hat trick! After this Screamin' lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Halftime score was 4 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 56 percent possession of the ball.

After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Croats´s Tony Allen got himself booked. After 59 minutes Lucian Tere put Screamin' ahead 5 - 1 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. A great save by goaltender Jan Evering in the 63rd minute kept the visitors in the game as Johannes Henriksson struck from the left with a real cannonball. With 66 minutes played Olav Mauffret could have brought this one home for Screamin', had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 67 percent possession rate.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 5, Croats in Miami 1

Goals
Henriksson – 3 (2,3,4)
Tere – 2 (1,2)

Cards
Tomlin (yellow)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

McMahon: **
Scales: ***
Brown: **1/2

Mauffret: **1/2
Bautista: **1/2
Tomlin: **
Tere: **
Johnson: **

Henriksson: **1/2
Stewart: *1/2

Team Match MVP: #2 Chuck Scales

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Formidable (9)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Croats In Miami
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Excellent (8)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Comments

Our strategy for the season opener worked like a charm, and team captain Johannes Henriksson earned his second career hat trick. We were also pleasantly surprised with the offensive production we received from Lucian Tere, who is typically more of a possession-type midfielder. We will face the Croats again at the tail end of the season, and I doubt we will see them make the same mistake twice.

Up Next: We enter the second round of the U.S.A. Cup. We will travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Democrats. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:17 AM

Season 2 – Cup Match #2

Democrats vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: December 18, 2002
Venue: Freaks Arena (Washington D.C.)
Attendance: 4,870 (7,000)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

Our draw in the second round of the U.S.A. Cup looked to be a relatively easy one. Democrats was a team from America’s Division Five, and played a standard 4-4-2 formation. This meant that, with a 3-5-2 formation, we should be able to dominate the midfield and therefore get the majority of the scoring chances. Because of this, we elected to play most of our second team, still confident that we could advance.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley

Right Wingback: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #8 Max Dodge
Inner Midfielder: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #20 Felix Pedersen
Inner Midfielder: #18 Herbert Nelson
Left Winger: #14 Jeffrey Nolan

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon

Three starters were used to supplement the talent level for the match; wingback Arlen Lucas, winger Max Dodge, and forward Forrest Tobias.

Match Report

After a fine move down the middle Daniel Mcgrath nearly gave the home side one up in the 17:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Screamin' took the lead in the games 24:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Jeffrey Nolan was the scorer. Screamin'´s Brooks Brannon received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 24:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. Mi Li-Ken challenged the visitors full backs eagerly, producing a good chance in the 29:th minute as he went for a through ball combination. But as so many times before, the guest´s defensive efforts got the best of it as a defenders The referee showed Screamin's Brooks Brannon the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 37 minutes into the game Mi Li-Ken had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Thomas Felix. After 38 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Brooks Brannon who increased Screamin'´s lead to 0 - 3. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 70 percent, dominated the battle.

Jeffrey Nolan could have added one to the visitors lead if his free kick had gone just a little lower. In the 67:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as William Brown finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. In the game's 87:th minute Demo´s Marco King limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 92 percent possession rate.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Democrats 0

Goals
Brannon – 2 (1,2)
Nolan – 1 (1)
Brown – 1 (1)

Cards
Brannon (yellow)

Player Ratings

McKinley: *1/2

Brown: **1/2
Prada: *1/2
Lucas: **1/2

Dodge: *1/2
Peralta: *1/2
Pedersen: *1/2
Nelson: *1/2
Nolan: *1/2

Tobias: **1/2
Brannon: *1/2

Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Passable (6)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Democrats
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Weak (4)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

We were pleasantly surprised with results from this match. While we fully expected a victory and a trip to the third round, we did not expect a 4-nil shutout by our second team. Brooks Brannon was particularly busy with two goals and a yellow card. And William Brown’s scissor kick goal was a thing of beauty, let me tell you!

Up Next: We return to league play, with a tough match-up on the road against Neon Genesis Evangelion. This one was exciting. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:18 AM

Season 2 – League Match #2

Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: December 22, 2002
Venue: Shinji’s Stadium (Pennsylvania)
Attendance: 52,796 (67,000)
Weather: Overcast

N.G.E. looked to be our toughest competition to date. Although our midfield was superior, they boasted a solid offense and a ferocious defense. And to make matters worse, the match was on the road. Pre-season polls had picked Neon Genesis Evangelion to finish second in the series, and we definitely appeared to be the underdogs. We would be satisfied with a draw in what was sure to be a tough match.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

We made two changes to our standard line-up, one at wingback and one at winger. At wingback, we felt that Ben McMahon still wasn’t playing up to snuff, and could not deny the intensity with which William Brown had been playing lately. We also were displeased with Max Dodge’s continued troubles early in the season, and replaced him with Otis Johnson, a young backup who had played well thus far.

Match Report

A well placed corner kick from Johannes Henriksson was followed by Arlen Lucas´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 0-1 for Screamin'. In the game's 17:th minute Screamin'´s Lucian Tere limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. EVAs Leslie Smiley got himself booked after a foul. The Screamin' player was Otis Johnson who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Frederick Ayres was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Johan S. Beckquist managed to kick one of them into 1 - 1 in the 27:th minute. EVA broke through to the left in the 40:th minute, Steven Fortune firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 2 - 1 lead. In the games 41st minute EVA´s Michael Waldrop fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Michael Waldrop for taking a dive. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

47 minutes into the game Screamin'´s William Brown found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 2 - 2. Screamin' had to manage with a reduced squad from the 54:th minute on, as Arlen Lucas got sent off for a foul in a free situation. Screamin' had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 75:th minute when Olav Mauffret came up alone against Xian Wai-Wah who managed a block. Screamin' took the lead after 76 minutes with 2 - 3. Chuck Scales placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Screamin' came close to extending their lead as Forrest Tobias delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 80 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2

Goals
Lucas – 1 (1)
Brown – 1 (2)
Scales – 1 (2)

Cards
Lucas (red)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

Lucas: ??? (Ratings are not provided for ejected players)
Scales: ***
Brown: **1/2

Johnson: *1/2 (injured)
-Peralta: ** (replaced Johnson)
Tere: **
Tomlin: **
Bautista: **1/2
Mauffret: **1/2

Tobias: **1/2
Henriksson: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #2 Chuck Scales

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Formidable (9)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Neon Genesis Evangelion
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Brilliant (11)
Central Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Excellent (8)

Comments

Woohoo! Chuck Scales is da man!

After we scratched back to earn a draw, our central defender knocks home the game winner with only 15 minutes remaining. The lads carried Chuck off the pitch and were buying him beers for days after that one! The ironic thing about this match was that all three of our goals came from our three defenders.

The bad news is that Arlen Lucas was ejected. Not only was he removed from this match, leaving us a man down (making our comeback even more unlikely), he will also be unavailable to play in our upcoming Cup match, which looks to be a tough one.

All the same, I’ll take it. Any league road win is a good one, especially against a good team.

Up Next: Our round 3 cup draw looks to be a very tough one, as we face off against FC Zeljeznicar from U.S.A. Division Three. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:18 AM

Season 2 – Cup Match #3

Screamin’ Seamen vs. FC Zeljeznicar

Date: December 25, 2002
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 17,350 (17,350)
Weather: Cloudy

Going into the third round of the U.S.A. Cup, we encountered something completely new to us. For the first time in the short history of the franchise, we found ourselves honestly out-matched on every side of the ball. Offensively and defensively, FC Zeljeznicar looked like the obvious favorites. This was somewhat to be expected, however, since they were from U.S.A.’s Division Three.

All the same, the fact that it was a home game in front of a sellout crowd gave us hope. We could find no real tactical flaws in the sort of game Zeljeznicar typically played. In fact, they proved to be somewhat unpredictable, so we put together the best team that we could and hoped for the best.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley
-Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
-Inner Midfielder: #20 Felix Pedersen
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #8 Max Dodge

We had to play our starters to have any chance of advancing to the fourth round, but did make a couple of changes. The suspension of Arlen Lucas forces us to start Brown and McMahon at wingback. Also, winger Max Dodge has yet to show us anything this season, but we have an experienced alternative in Paul Peralta.

Match Report

After 15 minutes Zeljo put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Jon Mårtensson finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. A header from Jon Mårtensson connected with a corner kick after 24 minutes, and the ball ended up with Antti Mäkelä of Zeljo who shot the 0-2 goal. After 29 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Bengt Tran who increased Zeljo´s lead to 0 - 3. The structure of the game started to change as Zeljo decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Screamin's William Brown got himself booked after a foul. Juha Byman came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Darryl Read, hitting the bar. Zeljo´s Tommy Kjellen received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 35:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 4. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The referee showed Screamin's Lucian Tere the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Due to a severely mistimed tackle,Bengt Tran spent some on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. 0 - 4 was the half-time score. Zeljo held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

After 46 minutes Pete Tomlin could have reduced had it not been for an excellent block by the visitors keeper Bruni Desmarais. In the 48:th minute Johannes Henriksson passed through the guests central line of defense, scoring the 1 - 4 goal. Screamin' managed a superb strike in the 55:th minute that would have left goaltender Bruni Desmarais without a chance, had it been on the inside of the post. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 53 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: FC Zeljeznicar 4, Screamin’ Seamen 1

Goals
Henriksson – 1(5)

Cards
Brown (yellow)
Tere (yellow)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

McMahon: **1/2
Scales: ***
Brown: **1/2

Peralta: **
Tomlin: **
Tere: **
Bautista: **1/2
Mauffret: **1/2

Henriksson: **1/2
Tobias: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #2 Chuck Scales

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Solid (7)

FC Zeljeznicar
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Solid (7)
-Central Attack: Excellent (8)
-Left Attack: Formidable (9)

Comments

We played 45 minutes of great soccer, but unfortunately this is a 90 minute game. We were down 4-0 at halftime, which was far too steep of a deficit to overcome. Henriksson’s goal was little consolation, and for the first time since the team was formed, we lost a competitive match.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that we can now concentrate on league play and get back to our normal defensive training regimen.

Up Next: Our league match looks to be an easy one this week. We host a relatively new Gazzaly FC team. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:19 AM

Season 2 – Week 3 – League Match

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Gazzaly FC

Date: December 29, 2002
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 13,739 (17,350)
Weather: Overcast

Team morale was a little low after our first ever loss in a competitive match, but Gazzaly FC looked to be exactly what we needed to recover. A newly formed team that had the misfortune of being placed in Division Four, the visitors looked to be outmatched in every category. We didn’t expect much trouble with this one.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Left Winger: #25 Paul Peralta

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley
-Defender: #23 William Brown
-Inner Midfielder: #18 Herbert Nelson
-Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon
-Winger: #8 Max Dodge

We only made one change to our normal starting lineup, and that was Paul Peralta again playing in place of Max Dodge, who has yet to regain the good form with which he played in our first season.

Match Report

Forrest Tobias gave his Screamin' the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. In the 6:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Olav Mauffret dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Screamin'. Lucian Tere of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 9:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Screamin'´s Forrest Tobias putting the lead up to 3 - 0. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Johannes Henriksson squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 14:th minute, asserting the lead to 4 - 0. 4 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate.

Screamin' put themselves up 5 - 0 when Johannes Henriksson broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. After this Screamin' lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. After 71 minutes Paul Peralta put Screamin' ahead 6 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 86 percent possession rate.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Gazzaly FC 0

Goals
Tobias – 2(3,4)
Henriksson – 2(6,7)
Mauffret – 1(1)
Peralta – 1(1)

Cards
Tere (yellow)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

McMahon: **1/2
Scales: **1/2
Lucas: ***

Mauffret: **1/2
Bautista: **1/2
Tere: *1/2
Tomlin: **
Peralta: **1/2

Tobias: **1/2
Henriksson: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Formidable (9)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack : Inadequate (5)

Gazzaly FC
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Passable (6)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Comments

This was about the kind of result we expected from this match, and exactly what the team needed. We jumped out to a huge 4-nil lead in the first 14 minutes, and then were able to put it into cruise control. I am most impressed with the fact that Gazzaly FC never even had a good scoring opportunity against us. A completely dominating performance, without doubt.

Up Next: Our first friendly match of the season, as we host the newly-formed Galesburg Avengers and their manager, Coffee Warlord. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:20 AM

Season 2 – Week 4 – Friendly Match

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Galesburg Avengers

Date: January 1, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 583 (17,350) (Friendly matches don’t draw much in the way of crowds)
Weather: Rain

We looked to start the new year off right, with a friendly match against Coffee Warlord’s Galesburg Avengers. The Avengers were a new team, but we figured they would be playing their starters against our backups, and the 5-4-1 formation we typically play in friendly matches is far from competitive. We also had a couple of new acquisitions that would be playing as Seamen for the first time. Given all of this, we really had no idea what to expect from the matchup.

New to the team were a pair of 18 year old defenders. First was #24 Christian Kvam. Christian is Finnish, and came over to the U.S. from Oddballs for the price of $18,000. He is 6’3” and excels and defending against headers on cross passes and corner kicks. He is rated as a passable (6) winger and inadequate (5) defender.

Our second addition was #21 Zarpas Lerma, an 18 year old Spaniard. Zarpas came to SSFC from Smiths F.C. in Spain for $6,000. Zarpas is 6’2” and is also good at defending against headers. He is rated as an inadequate (5) winger and inadequate (5) defender.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #22 Bill Rubin
Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #8 Max Dodge
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Winger: #14 Jeffrey Nolan

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #14 Jeffrey Nolan
Set Pieces: #14 Jeffrey Nolan

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas
-Inner Midfielder: #20 Felix Pedersen
-Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Some positions had been re-arranged, given the presence of our new acquisitions, and some of these players knew that they may very well be playing their last game as a member of SSFC. The two new additions meant that two other players had to go.

Match Report

The referee showed Screamin's Bill Rubin the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. One of many good passes from Wiley Otero at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Paul Street, scoring for Galesburg to 0 - 1. 34 minutes into the game Max Dodge was really close to evening the score out with a dangerous long range shot, but the ball went just wide of the bar. Screamin's Luis Javier Prada got himself booked after a foul. Ruben Stewart made a superb strike at the goal in the 39:th minute with a long shot coming in from straight in front of the goal, but one of the visitors defenders got a foot in and warded it off to a corner. In the games 41st minute Galesburg´s Paul Street fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Paul Street for taking a dive. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Martin Schrader could have put his team up another one in the 44:th minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. After 45 minutes Galesburg´s Daryl Mosley contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. 0 - 1 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.

The Screamin' players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. Due to some great work on the right wing Screamin':s Zarpas Lerma was able to even the score in the 53rd minute to 1 - 1. Jesse Matson of Galesburg received a yellow card in the 54:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Luis Javier Prada gave his Screamin' the lead with 2 - 1, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. 81 minutes into the game William Brown had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Arlen Lucas. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Galesburg Avengers 1

Goals
Lerma – 1
Prada – 1

Cards
Rubin (yellow)
Prada (yellow)

Player Ratings

McKinley: *

Kvam: **
Rubin: *1/2
Prada: *1/2
Lerma: *1/2
Brown: ** (injured)
-Lucas: *** (replaced injured William Brown)

Johnson: **
Dodge: *1/2
Brannon: **
Nolan: *1/2

Stewart: *

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Weak (4)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Galesburg Avengers
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Weak (4)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Comments

I have to say that I was quite pleased with the outcome of this one. We’ve been trying to find a way to generate some midfield possession and scoring chances, and were finally able to do it. The two second-half goals and the fact that the Avengers had no good scoring chances in the second half were good signs. The newcomers, Lerma and Kvam, both played well. Kvam took care of business on his wing, and Lerma gave us the game-tying goal.

The bad news is that William Brown’s injury is not a minor one. He is expected to miss the next two weeks. We hope to have him back a little sooner, but can’t count on it.

Up Next: More personnel changes, as the Seamen announce a trade with a team from Division Two. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:21 AM

Season 2 – Week 4 – Roster Changes

Screamin’ Seamen Announce Trade With Middlesex Athletic (January 2, 2003)

Rumors have been circulating regarding a trade by SSFC, and today those rumors were confirmed. Spokesmen announced that youth product Hyman Morey has been traded to Middlesex Athletic (II.4).

In return, SSFC received midfielder Jerry Smith and keeper Cornelius Jernigan. Jernigan is expected to take the #1 jersey from Darryl Read sometime this season.

To make space, SSFC has sold midfielder Herbert Nelson. Jeffrey Nolan, Felix Pedersen, and Fredric McKinley are also transfer listed.

New Faces

In addition to Christian Kvam and Zarpas Lerma, we have added a pair of Americans to the roster as a result of the trade.

#19 Jerry Smith – Inner Midfielder
-Age: 19
-Playmaking: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 2
-Goals Scored: 1

Jerry is a replacement in the making for the aging Pete Tomlin. While his playmaking abilities are good, his conditioning leaves a bit to be desired. Fans can expect to see him break into the starting lineup next season, and he will play in all of our friendly matches up until then.

#13 Cornelius Jernigan – Goalkeeper
-Age: 23
-Goaltending: Solid (7)
-Games Played: 17
-Goals Allowed: 39
-Goals Against Average: 2.29
-Clean Sheets: 3

Cornelius is exactly the sort of upgrade we’ve been looking for at the keeper position, and was the linchpin in the trade with Middlesex Athletic. Without him, no deal would have been struck. While his statistics and GAA does not rival that of Darryl Read, they are a result of Cornelius playing in Division Two for his entire career. His skills exceed those of Darryl, and we fully expect him to become our #1 keeper as soon as he shakes the rust off and becomes accustomed to our defensive system.

Hyman Morey was a youth pull who was valued at $213,000, and was by far the best youth pull our squad has produced thus far. At 19 years old, he was rated as solid in both playmaking and defending, making him an excellent candidate for a defensive midfielder position. I was tempted to keep him, or see what we could get on the transfer market, but the temptation of finally landing a solid keeper with some experience (Jernigan) was too great to resist.

Wave Goodbye

Because we’ve added four new players this week, we had to let four others go. The following four men are no longer a part of Screamin’ Seamen FC, and we wish them all the luck in the world (unless we happen to play against them, naturally).

Herbert Nelson (Inner Midfielder): Sold to Los Dorados de Villa (Texas) for $21,000.

Felix Pedersen (Inner Midfielder): Sold to Centennial (Tennessee) for $4,000.

Fredric McKinley (Goalkeeper): Sold to TOL (Netherlands) for $10,000.

Jeffrey Nolan (Winger/2nd Team Captain): Sold to malcziki (Poland) for $1,000.

Jeff was the hardest player to let go. While his skills were a bit under our standards, his leadership abilities will be missed. Unfortunately, we simply no longer had a roster spot for him.

Up Next: Now that we’re pretty much caught up with the state of the current season, I’ll give the lowdown on our team status. After that, we face our toughest league match in team history! Ramblers, the team picked by most to win the series, are coming to town. Be sure not to miss this one!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:22 AM

Season 2 - Team Status

Here is the status of the Screamin' Seamen organization, as we move into the fourth week of league play.

Players

-Players Under Contract: 22
-Nationalities: American (17), Romanian (1), Finnish (1), Swedish (1), Spanish (1), Norwegian (1)
-Average Age: 23 years old
-Total Squad Value: $1,761,000
-Average Player Value: $80,045
-Total Weekly Wages: $24,462

Training and Team Spirit

-Training Level: 97%
-Training Type: Defending (our standard, and the reason we play 5-4-1 in friendly matches)
-Team Spirit: Content
-Confidence: Strong

The Docks

Our team's arena is called the Docks, and can currently seat 17,350 rabid Seamen fans. The number of seats are broken down as follows, by type:

-Terraces: 10,845
-Basic Seating: 4,340
-Seats Under Roof: 1,735
-Seats in VIP Boxes: 430

A home sellout earns us $91,900 in profit, but the stadium costs us $11,271 every week in upkeep, whether we use it or not. It's not all gravy.

Financials

We're in a better financial state than a lot of other clubs. A big part of that is due to the fact that I have never allowed my club to go into debt. I do not believe in operating under the break even line. That, combined with the success we have had thus far in league play, means that we are financially sound. We currently have nearly $160,000 in the bank, and receive sponsorship payments of nearly $50,000 every week. Aside from the expenses already mentioned, we also pay out $31,500 per week on out staff, and $20,000 per week on our youth squad. All of this, combined with the income from home games and other sources revenue means that we're doing well, financially.

-Sponsors: Delirious
-Supporter Club (The Swabbies): 1,069 members strong.
-Supporter Attitude: High on Life.

The Club

-Youth Squad Level: Solid (Only one step away from the highest possible; excellent).

Specialists
-Goaltending Coaches: 2
-Assistant Coaches: 7
-Sports Psychologists: 1
-Spokespersons: 3 (or "Spokesladies", typically hired away from The Admiral Theater. Got to keep those other sponsors and supporters happy.

)
-Physiotherapists: 7
-Doctors: 1

Overall

Overall, we are in very good shape. Our player wages are below average for a Division Four team, yet we continue to win. We have a good training program going, concentrating on developing young defensive talent to either replace aging starters or be sold off in the future. On top of all that, we are financially sound, and continue to generate a small but steady profit.

Up Next: Our toughest match to date, as we face off against Rambers. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:23 AM

Season 2 – Week 4 – League Match

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Ramblers

Date: January 5, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 17,350 (17,350)
Weather: Sunny

We faced what was clearly the most superior team in the series this week. Ramblers were picked by just about everyone to win the series. Both of our teams had won all three of our league matches up to this point. Technically, we were in first place, but only because our goal differential was one higher than that of the Ramblers.

Ramblers were a particularly frightening team for two reasons. The first was Phillip Gallo. Phillip is certainly one of the premier wingers in the entire nation (and in my opinion, should be playing for the U.S.A. national team). He regularly puts up five stars, is valued at over one million dollars, and is a dominant force on the wing.

The other reason was Eric Holmes. At only 20 years old, Eric is one of the better midfielders in the country, and typically plays in close proximity to Gallo. The two of them make a potent threat to any team, and were sure to give us trouble.

We hoped to contain these two powerhouses, by playing an especially defensive game on their side of the pitch.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan
-Defender: #24 Christian Kvam
-Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon
-Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Max Dodge continues to disappoint in practice, and has yet to come anywhere close to the good form he held most of last season. In his place we start Paul Peralta. One of our most experienced players, and a good defensive wingback, it would be Paul’s job to try to contain Phillip Gallo.

Match Report

Ramblers took the lead in the games 5:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Philip Gallo was the scorer. Screamin's Paul Peralta got himself booked after a foul. Ramblers were forced to a substitution as Perry Maddox couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Screamin'´s Arlen Lucas made an attempt at equalising in the 28:th minute, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post, the defense clearing the rebound. Eric Holmes enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. Screamin' tried to reply with long plays towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitor´s defence got the best of it. The visitors Xiao Hai-Au took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 36:th minute. 0 - 2 for Ramblers. By now Ramblers were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

Screamin's Pete Tomlin got himself booked after a foul. Kurt Arredondo went down after a savage challenge, but could keep on playing after som medical attention. Screamin' didn´t give in and in the 72nd minute Forrest Tobias was able to put the 1 - 2 goal away after a play from the right. In the 75:th minute Ramblerss Ronny Stefansson received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 85 minutes Charlie Bautista made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 2 - 2. When Pete Tomlin made yet another studs first tackle, in the games 86th minute, the referee was obliged to book the Screamin' player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Ramblers 2

Goals
Tobias – 1(5)
Bautista – 1(1)

Cards
Peralta (yellow)
Tomlin (red)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

McMahon: **1/2
Scales: ***
Lucas: **1/2

Peralta: **1/2
Tomlin: (ejected)
Tere: *1/2
Bautista: **1/2
Mauffret: *1/2

Henriksson: **1/2
Tobias: **1/2

Team Match MVP: Chuck Scales

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Passable (6)
-Right Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Rambers
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Left Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Outstanding (10)

Comments

Woohoo! I have to admit, I am very pleased with the result from this one. A draw is about the best that we could realistically hope for, and that is exactly what we got. Gallo’s early goal made me worry a bit, but we continue to show good form in the second half, and game back from a two goal deficit on clutch goals from Forrest Tobias and Charlie Bauitista. This was Charlie’s first goal of the season, and it could not have come at a better time.

The draw means that we remain at the top of the table in series IV.49, if only by the narrowest of margins. For the first time this season, I honestly believe that we have a shot at winning this thing.

Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin continues to be a mean bastard, and got himself ejected from the game. This also means that he will miss next week’s league match, but it looks to be an easy one, so I am not that concerned about it.

Series Standings

Here is what the table looks like in our series after four weeks of play.



Pos.	Team				Played		Goals		Points

1.	Screamin’ Seamen		        4		16-5		10

2.	Ramblers			4		13-3		10

3.	Farmer of Fire			4		5-6		7

4.	Neon Genesis Evangelion	        4		9-6		6

5.	Croats in Miami		        4		10-10		6

6.	Cariocas			4		8-5		5

7.	Gazzaly FC			4		1-11		1

8.	Gohira				4		0-16		0

Up Next: We host Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks in a friendly match on Wednesday, our last warm-up game before FOFC Cup action begins next week. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:24 AM

Season 2 – Week 4 – Friendly Match

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Oklahoma City Rednecks

Date: January 8th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 957 (17,350)
Weather: Partly Cloudy

This week we welcomed Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks to Chicago for the last warm-up game before the start of the FOFC Cup. Our big concern going into the match was the poor form some of our reserves were in, due to a lack of playing time earlier in the season. Participation in the U.S.A. Cup tends to have this effect on teams. When you’re forced to play your starters, the form of your reserves can suffer. We hoped that this match would help to get some of our back-ups in fighting trim for the upcoming cup competition.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #22 Bill Rubin
Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #8 Max Dodge
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #16 Otis Johnson
Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas
-Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
-Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Cornelius Jernigan and Jerry Smith, new to the squad as a result of our trade with Middlesex Athletic, would be wearing SSFC jerseys for the first time today. We were eager to see how the newcomers would perform, particularly Jernigan. We fully expect him to take over as our starting keeper within the next week or two.

We were hesitant to start William Brown, who is still recovering from a nasty blow to the knee in last week’s match against the Galesburg Avengers. Willie has been recovering nicely with the assistance of our team doctors, however, and he assured us that he was ready to go. Coach Brown told him to take it easy, however, and make sure no further damage to the knee was sustained.

Match Report

Screamin' were very close to putting themselves one up in the 14:th minute as Luis Javier Prada got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Screamin' could have put themselves ahead in the 27:th minute as Ruben Stewart missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. In the games 27:th minute Oklahoma´s Brice Pratt fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Brice Pratt for taking a dive. Screamin' made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Ruben Stewart completely alone with keeper Ted Greenwood, who made a spectacular block. Screamin' created a good opportunity to score in the games 32nd minute when William Brown`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 84 percent, dominated the battle.

In the 54:th minute Ruben Stewart almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. William Brown of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 56:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the game's 61st minute Screamin'´s Jerry Smith limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. In the games 71st minute Oklahoma´s Jacob Cummings fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Jacob Cummings for taking a dive. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Joe Morris hit the ball just perfect in the 77:th minute and could score for Oklahoma with a fab long shot to 0 - 1. The referee showed Oklahomas Ken Swain the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The player down was Max Dodge. The Screamin' bench looked worried a while but in the end he managed to get up. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball.

Final Score: Oklahoma City Rednecks 1, Screamin’ Seamen 0

Goals
None

Cards
Brown (yellow)

Player Ratings

Jernigan: **

Kvam: **
Lerma: **
Rubin: *1/2
Prada: **
Brown: **1/2

Dodge: * (slight injury)
Smith: *1/2 (slight injury)
Brannon: **
Johnson: **

Stewart: *

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Wretched (2)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Oklahoma City Rednecks
-Midfield: Disastrous (1)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Passable (6)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)

Comments

This was one of the most frustrating performances by our players that I’ve ever had to witness. We completely dominated the possession game, and must have had at least five good scoring opportunities. We simply weren’t able to capitalize on any of them. Ruben Stewart’s form has been suffering lately, and it was terribly obvious today. We have to seriously consider the possibility of benching him during the FOFC cup, unless his play improves dramatically.

Still, we have to give credit where credit is due. Airhog and the Rednecks took advantage of the opportunities that they did have, and walked away with the win. We take our hats off to them.

Up Next: Weekly updates occur on Saturday, so we will update the status of the team (financial and otherwise) then. After that, we travel to San Francisco to take on Gohira in league play. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:25 AM

Stubbs Promoted From Youth Squad, Finds Spot on SSFC Roster

(AP – Chicago, IL) Data King, GM and owner of the Screamin’ Seamen Football Club, announced earlier today that a new player had been added to the SSFC roster. Keith Stubbs, an 18 year old defender from nearby Schaumburg, Illinois, was promoted from the club’s youth squad and has been granted a space on the B-Team roster.

“Keith looks to be a decent young player on the back line,” stated King during a brief press conference. “He still needs some seasoning, but is significantly younger than some of our other defensive trainees.”

When asked if this meant SSFC would be selling the rights to another of their defensive trainees, King refused to comment.

Stubbs was officially placed on the Screamin’ Seamen payroll earlier today, with a modest listed salary of $30,160.

Youth Pull

Keith Stubbs has been promoted from the youth squad and will play with our second team. He is rated as inadequate (5) in defending, and is two years younger than one of our other inadequate defenders, Bill Rubin. Bill will be placed on the transfer market soon, for anyone who may be interested. Keith will wear the #20 jersey for SSFC, and will see his first action this Wednesday against the Hamas Mad Bombers.

Weekly Balance Sheet

Previous Balance: $159, 040

Income

Crowd (home match vs. Ramblers) - $91,900
Crowd (friendly match vs. Oklahoma City Rednecks) - $2,507
Sponsors - $51,150
Temporary (sale of keeper Fredric McKinley) - $9,000
Temporary (sale of winger Jeffrey Nolan) - $920
Temporary (sale of youth winger Amburaja Pai) - $1,840
Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780

Total Income: $158,097

Expenses

Arena Upkeep - $11,271
Player Wages - $26,512
Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000
Temporary (transfer market listing) - $1,000
Staff & Specialists - $33,000
Youth Squad Support - $20,000

Total Expenses: $93,783

Net Income/Loss: $64,314

New Balance: $223,354

As you can see, we’re in pretty good shape financially. Part of this is because three of our first four league matches were home games, and we only have four home matches in the last ten weeks of the season.

We’re pretty well off, all the same, but barring any more good youth pulls like Hyman Morey, I have no plans to make any major personnel changes for the remainder of the season. We will hold onto our money, and see what would be most beneficial for us come the end of the season.

Up Next: We’re in San Francisco, preparing for a match against a winless Gohira team. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:25 AM

Season 2 – League Match #5

Gohira vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: January 12, 2003
Venue: Gohira Arena (San Francisco, CA)
Attendance: 3,908 (11,150)
Weather: Partly cloudy

We traveled to San Francisco this weekend to face a struggling Gohira team that had yet to score a goal this season, much less win a match. Given the tremendous mismatch that this game was, we fully expected a win, and an easy win at that.

The tricky part of the match was that our main competition for the series title, Ramblers, were facing off against the other struggling team in the series, Gazzaly FC. We went into the match in first place, but only because of a one goal lead in goal differential. If Ramblers were to score more goals than us, we could potentially lose our first place standing.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan
-Defender: #23 William Brown
-Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #25 Paul Peralta

Expecting an easy match, we decided to start a couple of our younger players this week. Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin was serving out his suspension, which opened the door for Jerry Smith to make his first start as a Seaman. 19 year old winger Otis Johnson also got to start for us, instead of a frustrating Max Dodge.

Match Report

In the games 10:th minute Charlie Bautista almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a spectacular scissors shot just past the bar. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 17:th minute allowed Johannes Henriksson to score 0 - 1 for Screamin'. After the ball got lifted in from the left Forrest Tobias was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 28 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate.

Screamin'´s Otis Johnson received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 50:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. In the game's 53rd minute Gohira´s Vance Gomes limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Arlen Lucas seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 0-3. The previous Screamin' corner kick was executed by Johannes Henriksson. After the ball got lifted in from the left Forrest Tobias was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 60 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. Forrest Tobias increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 4. In the games 69:th minute Screamin'´s Ben Mcmahon fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Ben Mcmahon for taking a dive. The away team´s Lucian Tere took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 71st minute increasing Screamin'´s lead to 0 - 5. After this Screamin' lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Chuck Scales increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 6. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 89 percent possession of the ball.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Gohira 0

Goals
Henriksson – 1(8)
Johnson – 1(1)
Lucas – 1(2)
Tobias – 1(6)
Tere – 1(3)
Scales – 1(3)

Cards
McMahon (yellow)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

McMahon: **
Scales: ***
Lucas: ***

Johnson: **
Tere: *1/2
Smith: *1/2
Bautista: **
Mauffret: **

Tobias: **1/2
Henriksson: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #2 Chuck Scales

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Gohira
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Weak (4)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

We were a bit concerned at halftime, because Gohira had done a good job of containing our offense, and we only led by one goal. At the same time, Ramblers had jumped out to a huge 4-0 lead over Gazzaly FC. Fortunately for us, the flood gates opened in the second half. We ended up with six goals from six different players. Very nice all-around offensive production. Even better news came after the match, when we learned that Ramblers had won their match 6-0 as well. Of course, this meant that we would hold on to first place in the series for at least one more week.

Johannes Henriksson had a special reason to celebrate when he scored his first half goal. That goal was a milestone for him, the 50th goal in the Swedish striker’s career. Congratulations go out to Johannes. That’s quite an accomplishment.

Series Scores and Standings

-As I mentioned before, Ramblers dominated their match with Gazzaly FC, winning 6-nil.
-Cariocas appears to be coming apart at the seems. They fell 5-nil to Neon Genesis Evangelion.
-Croats in Miami put together a solid performance, defeating Farmer of Fire 3-1.



Pos.	Team				Played		Goals		Points

1.	Screamin’ Seamen		        5		22-5		13

2.	Ramblers			5		19-3		13

3. 	Neon Genesis Evangelion	        5		14-6		9

4.	Croats in Miami		        5		13-11		9

5.	Farmer of Fire			5		6-9		7

6.	Cariocas			5		8-10		5

7.	Gazzaly FC			5		1-17		1

8.	Gohira				5		0-22		0

Up Next: The 2nd FOFC Cup begins this Wednesday. The Screamin’ Seamen travel to Idaho for the first half of a home-and-home series against the Hamas Mad Bombers. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:26 AM

Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 1 – First Leg

Hamas Mad Bombers vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: January 15, 2003
Venue: Hamas Mad Bombers Arena (Idaho)
Attendance: 485 (7,000)
Weather: Partly cloudy

We’ve drawn astralhaze’s Hamas Mad Bombers in the first round of the 2nd Annual FOFC Cup, and we open the home-and-home competition at the Bombers’ home stadium in Idaho.

As much as I would like to play my starters in this matchup, I simply cannot bring myself to do it. My first priority is doing as well as possible in league play, and since we’re currently in first place, I cannot bring myself to run the risk of injury to my starters. I also insist on playing all of my players in a given week if at all possible, so as not to damage their form. Having a back-up who is in decent form and is ready to rumble when the call comes can be a big factor late in the season.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan

Right Wingback: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Left Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #25 Paul Peralta
Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas
-Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
-Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

You may notice that there are a few changes here to our typical starting eleven for friendly matches.

1. Recent youth call-up Keith Stubbs will make his first appearance wearing the black and red. Because he’s untested, we’ve sandwiched him between Prada and Kvam, two of the better defensemen who will see the pitch today.
2. Bill Rubin is no longer a member of the Screamin’ Seamen. Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks snatched him up off the transfer market earlier today for $3,000. Hopefully the warmer climate down there will suit Bill better, and we wish him and the Rednecks all the best.
3. Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin served out his suspension this past weekend, and was unable to play in our league match. We don’t want the old man to get rusty, however, so #4 gets the nod at midfield.

Match Report

Screamin's Brooks Brannon got himself booked after a foul. Bombers´s Jacob Hendrickson left the field after 10 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Jimmie Carroll. In the 16:th minute the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as Austin Atkins flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. David Cornelius of Bombers received a yellow card in the 20:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 65 percent possession rate.

Screamin' got a chance to level the score as Zarpas Lerma suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. Keith Stubbs of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The crowd was silenced in the 62nd minute as the visiting teams Luis Javier Prada came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. This was a good period for the visitors with several opportunities to take the lead, in particular when William Brown slipped through the defense to come up alone with Alejandro Bayo - but the home side´s keeper showed some lightning reflex Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 88 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: Hamas Mad Bombers 1, Screamin’ Seamen 1

Goals
Prada – 1

Cards
Brannon (yellow)
Stubbs (yellow)

Player Ratings

Jernigan: **1/2

Brown: **
Lerma: **
Prada: **
Stubbs: *1/2
Kvam: **

Peralta: **
Tomlin: **1/2
Brannon: *1/2
Dodge: *

Stewart: *

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Passable (6)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Wretched (2)

Hamas Mad Bombers
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

We certainly had out opportunities, especially in the second half with a whopping 88% of the ball possession. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish on the opportunities that we had. Lerma’s shot off the bar really hurt, as that could very well have been the difference. I am particularly impressed with the Bombers’ keeper Bayo. He snatched the ball away from William Brown, who is one of the fastest guys on my team (specialty: quick).

Ruben Stewart continues to frustrate the hell out of me. He has been going steadily downhill, and now has a four game scoring drought. As much as I hate to buy backups (my theory is to let starters who are surpassed become the backups), I may be forced to sell Ruben and do just that. Right now, an injury to Henriksson or Tobias would really hurt my team.

As disappointed as I am with Ruben, I still have to come away from the match satisfied with the result. Aside from Stewart and Dodge, our reserves played well, and we managed a 1-1 draw on the road. In my mind, that’s the equivalent of a victory in a home-and-home situation. Now its up to the Bombers to come to Chicago and beat us in our own back yard next week.

Up Next: Training results occur on Fridays, and I plan to start documenting the highlights of our weekly training then. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:27 AM

Two Screamin’ Defensemen Take A Step Forward

(AP – Chicago, IL) The Screamin’ Seamen Football Club held their weekly player evaluation meetings earlier today, and appear to have a great deal to be thankful for in the new year. Team owner and general manager Data King met briefly with the press once the meetings had concluded.

“We feel that two of our defensemen have really taken a step up in the past week,” said King. “We were extremely pleased to learn that young Keith Stubbs appears even better than we thought when he was promoted from our youth program last week. He performed well in Wednesday’s match against the Bombers, and has been picking up our defensive system at an impressive pace.”

“But even more impressive is Chuck Scales,” King continued. “Chuck has been with us since the beginning, and has without a doubt become our best defender. He has really come into his own this season, especially in the last week or two. We’ve even received a couple of informal calls regarding him, asking if we had any intention of placing him on the market anytime soon.”

King paused here for a moment, then said with a smile. “Not a chance in hell.”

The Seamen return home for the first time in a week and a half this weekend, when they host a struggling 6th place Cariocas team.

Weekly Training Update

We had two players “pop” in skill level this week. Our starting central defender, Chuck Scales, moved up to an “excellent” rating in defense, our first player to reach a rating of excellent (8) in any attribute besides stamina and form. Although his assessed value is only $92,000 at the moment, this is the area where assessed value become really unreliable. Once you get into players rated at excellent, the price on the transfer market can really skyrocket, due in large part to the rarity of such players. At the moment, there are only two excellent defenders listed on the American market, and none in Chuck’s age range (he’s 23). I suspect that, if sold, he could garner somewhere in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. Not that I intend to sell him anytime soon.

The other skill “pop” that we had was a complete surprise. Last week’s youth pull, Keith Stubbs, has increased from inadequate (5) to passable (6) defending in only one week. I had toyed with the idea of keeping Rubin instead of Stubbs, but I’m sure glad that I didn’t. Although his assessed value is only $19,000 right now, the fact that he is only 18 makes him much more valuable than that. I suspect that we could net somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 were we to sell Keith right now. But again, I have no intentions of selling either of these guys anytime soon.

The other good news is that it appears Ruben Stewart may finally be coming out of his slump, as his form has increased for the first time since back in November when he lost his starting job to Forrest Tobias. He still has a way to go, but hopefully it will be enough for us to get past the Hamas Mad Bombers on Wednesday.

Also, Cornelius Jernigan continues to improve in form, having gained three levels since we acquired him from Middlesex Athletic. But starting keeper Darryl Read has no intention of letting his starting spot slip away, and is now in solid form for the second consecutive week (he has only been in solid form once before during his career, and that was for one week). So it looks like we have an intense battle for the starting keeper spot in the making.

Team Average Form: 5.3 (same as last week)
Team Average Value: $85,409 (up $2,454 from last week’s $82,955)

Up Next: Although weekly updates occur on Saturday evening, I’m not likely to get to those or our weekly youth pull until Sunday. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:28 AM

Weekly Balance Sheet

Previous Balance: $223,354

Income

Crowd (FOFC Cup match vs. Hamas Mad Bombers) - $1,107
Sponsors - $52,500
Temporary (sale of defender Bill Rubin) - $2,760
Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780

Total Income: $57,147

Expenses

Arena Upkeep - $11,271
Player Wages - $24,962
Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000
Temporary (transfer market listing) - $1,000
Temporary (fired 2 team doctors) - $3,000
Staff & Specialists - $33,000
Youth Squad Support - $20,000

Total Expenses: $95,233

Net Income/Loss: -$38,086

New Balance: $185,268

State of the Team

Team Spirit: Satisfied
Team Confidence: Strong

Sponsor Attitude: Delirious
Supporter Attitude: High on Life
Supporters: 1,121 (up 26 from last week)

Up Next: We host a struggling Cariocas team in league play this evening, as we try to cling to first place in the series. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:29 AM

Season 2 – League Match #6

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Cariocas

Date: January 19th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 17,350 (17,350)
Weather: Overcast

This week we returned home for the first time in a week and a half. We would play host to a struggling Cariocas team. Cariocas had some talent on their squad, but what they seriously lacked was depth. They were seriously short of substitutes. Between that and some questionable tactics by their leadership, they had fallen to 6th place on the table.

I had no doubt that we could handle Cariocas. There was plenty of confidence around the locker room and practice field all week. My concern was that the Ramblers were playing Gohira this week, the team that we smashed just a week ago. If the Ramblers blew out a hapless Gohira team, then we very well could lose our hold on first place.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan
-Defender: #23 William Brown
-Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Paul Peralta has been playing like a house a’fire as of late (read: excellent form), so he gets to start on the wing opposite our Finn, Olav Mauffret. Aside from that, it’s business as usual for the Seamen, now that Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin has returned from his suspension.

Match Report

Screamin's Forrest Tobias gave, after 11 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Screamin' were given a penalty in the 13th, neatly put away by Johannes Henriksson. 2 - 0 for the home side. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Screamin' lead up with 3 - 0. Paul Peralta finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 67 percent possession rate.

Forrest Tobias increased Screamin's lead to 4 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. In the 59:th minute Screamin's Lucian Tere received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Cariocass Bill Gustafson had to leave the pitch, the team having noone to substitute him with! After an industrious effort down the middle Paul Peralta could have closed the game off in the 71st minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Man, what a shot by Mike Miller! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 4 - 1. The visitors replied in the games 75:th minute, scoring the 4 - 2 goal, as Julius Ball broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. In the games 75:th minute Kyle Levine recieved a blow to the hip due to a collision, and was unable to continue. Cariocas had made all their substitutions, and were forced to go on with a reduced lineup. Several players now looked tired, especially Chuck Scales who quite horribly caused the 4 - 3 goal as he lost the ball to Juan Luis Garrido of Cariocas, who seemed to have some energy left. A header from Charlie Bautista connected with a corner kick after 80 minutes, and the ball ended up with Forrest Tobias of Screamin' who shot the 5-3 goal. By then Forrest Tobias was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Forrest Tobias squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 83rd minute, asserting the lead to 6 - 3. The structure of the game started to change as Screamin' decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Cariocas had made all their substitutions when Hendrick de Boer had to leave the game in the 84:th minute because of a pulled tendon, leaving the team a man short. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 76 percent possession rate.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Cariocas 3

Goals
Tobias – 4(7,8,9,10)
Henriksson – 1(9)
Peralta – 1(2)

Cards
Tere (yellow-suspended)

Player Ratings

Read: **1/2

Lucas: ***
Scales: **1/2
McMahon: **

Peralta: **1/2
Tomlin: **1/2
Bautista: **
Tere: *1/2
Mauffret: **1/2

Tobias: **1/2
Henriksson: **1/2

Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Passable (6)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Excellent (8)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Cariocas
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Comments

It certainly looked like we would cruise to an easy win after the first half, when Cariocas never even got any solid scoring opportunities. But I have no idea what happened there in the second half. Normally we’re a solid second-half team, but for some reason we fell apart for a 5-minute span and allowed three goals! It seems like the players that Cariocas was missing from the field opened up enough space for those remaining to start scoring goals. Combine that with a rare mistake from Chuck Scales, and you’ve got yourself a frightened football club on your hands.

Fortunately for us, Forrest Tobias would have none of that. He gave us some insurance while tallying the second hattrick of his short career. Overall, four goals on the day for the young striker. Way to go Gump!

Unfortunately for us, what I feared would happen did. The Ramblers demolished Gohira 7-1 and took a 2 goal lead in the goal differential race.

Series Scores and Standings

-As I mentioned, Ramblers dominated Gohira 7-1 and claimed first place in the series.
-Croats in Miami demolished Gazzaly FC, 7-nil.
-Neon Genesis Evangelion’s defense was stout once more, as they shut out Farmer of Fire 3-nil.



Pos.	Team				Played		Goals		Points

1.	Ramblers			6		26-4		16

2.	Screamin’ Seamen		        6		28-8		16

3.	Neon Genesis Evangelion	        6		17-6		12

4.	Croats in Miami		        6		20-11		12

5.	Farmer of Fire			6		6-12		7

6.	Cariocas			6		11-16		5

7.	Gazzaly FC			6		1-24		1

8.	Gohira				6		1-29		0

Up Next: We play the second leg of our first-round FOFC Cup matchup against Hamas Mad Bombers this Wednesday. A win, and we advance to the 2nd round to face the Toads. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 11:30 AM

Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 1 – Second Leg

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Hamas Mad Bombers

Date: January 22, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 1,010 (17,350)
Weather: Cloudy

After our 1-1 draw in the first leg of our FOFC Cup matchup, we returned home to host astralhaze’s Hamas Mad Bombers.

The plan was to concentrate on defense and ball possession, and hold the Bombers scoreless, a task more easily said than done. But given the rules for the FOFC Cup, even a scoreless draw would mean that we would advance to the second round.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Left Wingback: #23 William Brown

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #16 Otis Johnson
Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas
-Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
-Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

There were no significant changes to our lineup this week, as we had no injuries or suspensions to compensate for. The good news was that Ruben Stewart and Max Dodge appeared to be slowly coming out of their slumps. We hoped that a good performance today would give them a boost and get them back into competitive form.

Match Report

After a fine move down the middle William Brown nearly gave the home side one up in the 21st minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Screamin' made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Max Dodge completely alone with keeper Alejandro Bayo, who made a spectacular block. Heliodoro Alonso of Bombers received a yellow card in the 38:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 0 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

Max Dodge was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Ruben Stewart managed to kick one of them into 1 - 0 in the 48:th minute. 49 minutes into the game Screamin' were awarded a penalty that Brooks Brannon turned into 2 - 0 without a problem. Heliodoro Alonso of Bombers got sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle, a completely uncalled for move, earning him his second yellow card of the game. Luis Javier Prada really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal after a corner, but he lost his nerve. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 77 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Hamas Mad Bombers 0

Goals
Stewart – 1(assisted by Dodge)
Brannon – 1

Cards
None

Player Ratings

Jernigan: **1/2

Kvam: **
Lerma: *1/2
Prada: **
Stubbs: *1/2
Brown: **

Johnson: **
Brannon: *1/2
Smith: *1/2
Dodge: *1/2

Stewart: *1/2

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Poor (3)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Hamas Mad Bombers
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

With a two goal lead for us and with the Bombers having one of their strikers thrown off the pitch in the second half, it was all over but the screaming. Brown and Prada missed opportunities to make it a lop-sided game, but a win is a win and I will definitely take it. Especially heartening is the long-overdue good play of Max Dodge and Ruben Stewart. This gives me hope for our performance in round two of the cup.

Speaking of which, we get a rare opportunity at revenge. The Cedar Pond Horned Toads were the team to knock us out of the cup last season, and we get the opportunity for some payback. While it will be tempting to throw a bunch of starters at the Toads, I have to remind myself that we are in the midst of a hotly contested series battle, and winning that has to be our top priority.

Up Next: Training results come out on Friday, and hopefully the Hattrick gods will smile kindly upon us once again. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 12:01 PM

SSFC Youth Squad Continues To Produce

(AP – Chicago, IL) A scant two weeks after defenseman Keith Stubbs was promoted from the Screamin’ Seamen youth squad, SSFC struck gold yet again. Team owner and general manager Data King announced earlier today that 19 year old Tyler Willard had been promoted to the team’s second squad, and had a good chance of becoming a starter in the near future.

“Our youth squad continues to impress us, and has proven to be a very worthwhile investment,” stated King during a press conference. “Tyler is a pretty wild character, but his abilities on the wing and on defense are quite impressive.”

Given the team’s reputation for keeping 22 active players on the roster, no more and no less, speculation has been running rampant this weekend as to which player is on his way out the door. While King has yet to make any official announcement, all fingers seem to point to 21 year old defenseman Luis Javier Prada.

Youth Pull

#22 Tyler Willard (Wingback/Defender)

-Assessed Value: $84,000
-Winger Skill: Passable (6)
-Defending Skill: Solid (7)
-Specialty: Unpredictable

For those of you out there who are balking at the idea of spending $20,000 every week on your youth squads, all I can say is that you are missing out. This is the second player with a solid rating I have pulled this season, and the third since my youth squad achieved ‘solid’ status.

While unpredictability isn’t exactly a trait I am looking for in my defenders, I simply could not justify selling or trading Tyler away. At 19 years old, he is nearly as good as one of our starting wingbacks, 27 year old Ben McMahon, and it is entirely likely that Tyler will replace Ben in the starting lineup by the end of next season. In the meantime, we have acquired yet another good defensive trainee. It’s a happy day in Seaman-land!

On the other hand, this means that we do have to let one of our current defensive trainees go, and the rumors are correct. Luis Javier Prada is a passable defender (better than some of our other trainees), but at 21 years old has to be considered the expendable one. I have started a thread for transfer advertisements in the General Discussion section of the new board here.

Weekly Balance Sheet

Previous Balance: $185,268

Income

Crowd (league match vs. Cariocas) - $91,900
Crowd (FOFC Cup match vs. Hamas Mad Bombers) - $2,658
Sponsors - $53,700
Temporary (mother club money for sale of Quincy Wilson) - $2,500
Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780

Total Revenue: $151,538

Expenses

Arena Upkeep - $11,271
Player Wages - $24,942
Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000
Staff & Specialists - $30,000
Youth Squad Support - $20,000

Total Expenses: $88,213

Net Income/Loss: $63,325

New Balance: $248,593

State of the Team

Team Spirit: Content
Team Confidence: Wonderful

Sponsor Attitude: Delirious
Supporter Attitude: High on Life
Supporters: 1,147 (up 26 from last week)

Up Next: The first half of our mid-season rubber match against Farmer of Fire. Stay tuned!

RPI-Fan · 01-28-2003, 12:48 PM

Great job, DK!

A couple of questions...

1) What's the maximum form a player can have? Excellent? Also, I remember reading that there were two 'types' of form? If this is the case, what are they? If not, please correct me.

2) How the hell do you do trades??

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 12:59 PM

Thanks for reading RPI-Fan, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

To answer your questions:

1. You are correct that maximum form is Excellent. As far as the two 'types' of form, each player has their current form, and a 'base' form. The base form is something that you cannot see, but you can guess at if you monitor a player's form over a long period of time (I would recommend a season). This is not to say that, for example, a player with a base form of weak cannot get into excellent current form, but he will do so less often than a player with 'passable' base form. Let me know if this requires further explanation.

2. There is no official means to conduct trades in the game. The only way to handle it is by following these four steps.

a. Arrange to make a trade with another manager.
b. Inform a Hattrick GM that you will be conducting a trade. Let them know which players are being traded.
c. List your players on the transfer market.
d. Each of you bid way over what the player should end up going for. The bids should be equal in value. That way, no money is really changing hands.

Trades are typically very rare. For the most part, they are unnecessary, because you can usually simply go out into the transfer market and find what you are looking for. I conducted the trade with Middlesex Athletic because the youth pull I traded away was quite a rare commodity (you don't find many teenage players with solid playmaking and solid defending).

I hope this answers your questions. The results of our league match from this past weekend will be up soon.

RPI-Fan · 01-28-2003, 01:14 PM

Thanks!

Just one followup on the base form thing (sorry)... does it change? Or is it permanent, for the player's whole career?

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 01:16 PM

RPI-Fan,

That is one thing that I have not yet been able to determine, although one of my players (Max Dodge) has me suspecting that yes, it can. But of that I am not even close to being certain.

Anybody else have any evidence to lead us one way or the other?

DataKing · 01-28-2003, 01:44 PM

Season 2 – League Match #7

Farmer of Fire vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: January 26, 2003
Venue: Ring of Fire (Oklahoma)
Attendance: 14,326 (33,000)
Weather: Rain

This week we had the first half of our mid-season home-and-home matches against Farmer of Fire, currently 5th in the series standings. The talent level that the Farmers have at their disposal is less than impressive, with one notable exception. At only 21 years old, Charles McCrary is the best keeper in the series, bar none. Valued at over $1,000,000, he alone means that the Farmers have a defense that we must respect. Goals will be difficult to come by for both teams, and we expect a low-scoring affair.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan
-Defender: #22 Tyler Willard
-Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

The only significant change in our lineup this week is young Jerry Smith starting at midfield. He is playing in place of Romanian international Lucian Tere, who is serving out a red-card suspension. Lucian should return to the lineup for us next week.

Match Report

In the 8:th minute Thomas Gage almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. Screamin' took the lead after 12 minutes with 0 - 1. Olav Mauffret placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Farmer, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

Charles Mccrary kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Johannes Henriksson delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. Farmer evened the score out after a penalty brilliantly laid by Will Early. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like Pete Tomlin whose skills weren´t made justice at all. Farmer were very close to putting themselves one up in the 63rd minute as Ivan Block got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. 68 minutes into the game Will Ziegler had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Walter Titus. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Farmer, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball.

Final Score: Farmer of Fire 1, Screamin’ Seamen 1

Goals
Mauffret – 1(2)

Cards
None

Player Ratings

I like SterlingIce’s idea of using the ~ to represent ½ star, so I’m going to steal it

Read: **~

Lucas: ***
Scales: **~
McMahon: **

Peralta: **
Tomlin: **~
Smith: *~
Bautista: **
Mauffret: **

Tobias: **
Henriksson: **~

Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Solid (7)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Passable (6)

Farmer of Fire
-Midfield: Inadequate (5)
-Right Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

I must admit that I am quite disappointed in our performance today, as this is a match that we should have won, even though we were on the road. I can make all sorts of excuses if I care to; we were missing one of our starting midfielders in Lucian Tere, the rain hurt the performance of our technical players, their keeper got lucky on a save early in the second half that should have won the match for us, the list goes on and on.

But the simple fact is that we didn’t win the match. Johannes’ free kick early in the second hand was almost perfect, but not quite. A perfect shot would have scored, and we’ve come to expect little else from our team captain. After breaking down the individual performances by each of our players, something scary is possible. It is possible that we have been playing beyond ourselves for the first half of the season, and this match was the first step in a painful trip back to reality.

Coach Brown and I have some work to do, that much is obvious. We let two points slip away from us here, and want to get out ahead of any potential slippage for the entire team. It’s going to be a busy week.

Series Scores and Standings

-Ramblers crushed Cariocas 9-nil, giving them a 2 point lead in the standings and a massive lead in goal-differential.
-Croats in Miami shut out Neon Genesis Evangelion 2-nil. The Croats are red-hot, having won five straight, and are threatening us for 2nd place.
-And in the match no one cares about, Gazzaly FC defeated Gohira 3-1.

Here is what the standings look like at the midpoint of the season.



Pos.	Team					Played	Goals		Points

1. 	Ramblers				7		35-4		19

2.	Screamin’ Seamen			        7		29-9		17

3. 	Croats in Miami			        7		22-11		15

4. 	Neon Genesis Evangelion		        7		17-8		12

5.	Farmer of Fire			        7 		7-13		8

6.	Cariocas				7		11-25		5

7.	Gazzaly FC				7		4-25		4

8.	Gohira				        7		2-32		0

Up Next: We face our old foes, the Cedar Pond Horned Toads, in 2nd Round FOFC Cup action this Wednesday. You aren’t going to want to miss this one, folks! Stay tuned!

HornedFrog Purple · 01-28-2003, 02:06 PM

Rats I just replied about my form theory and hit the wrong button.

Anyways, I have been thinking about form. My theory is each player has a hidden basic form which is static. As the player goes higher or lower, the hidden form rating increases its pull to get him back to his "natural" form.

Just as an example, I will use a 10 point scale:

Hidden form is 5 (call that average)

Current form is 6, somewhere around average so he will stay there for a while until a change happens which has more to do with your training, staff and games he plays in. These accumulate into eventually making this player lets say a 8 or 2. Therefore the "5" will pull this player back quickly to his usual static form.

These work all the way around... if a guy is naturally "poor" (in this example I will use the number 2) in hidden rating, and he gets up to excellent, he gets yanked back down to his hidden static rating much more quickly then a player whose natural hidden form rating is above average (somewhere around 6 or 7)

I call this the "hidden form volatility rating" which I will trademark tomorrow.

Anyways just a guess.

vex · 01-29-2003, 12:38 AM

Are youth pulls always at passable form?

Interesting theory as well.

vex · 01-29-2003, 12:40 AM

Just read this on the Hattrick board:

By: NLG100
To: Everyone 159867.1
1/29/2003 at 06:47
Can someone please tell me the difference between CURRENT form and GENERAL form?

If I have a player that has "inadequate fom" I assume that is his current form. So then what is his general form?

Reply to this

By: Canadasage
To: NLG100 159867.2 as reply to 159867.1
1/29/2003 at 07:15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can someone please tell me the difference between CURRENT form and GENERAL form?

If I have a player that has "inadequate fom" I assume that is his current form. So then what is his general form?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General Form is the form that the player will always tend. Some players have a high general form, so although their form will vary, it will always tend toward the higher end. Other players have poor general form and will tend toward the lower end of the scale.

````````

Better trademark fast!

Poli · 01-29-2003, 02:53 AM

Go Seamen! I'm a proud supporter! I wish you no luck, however, in your match against Horned. I must remain neutral. While at the match in Oklahoma, I will wear my official Seamen shorts and Horned Frog socks.

I will wear the socks to make sure everyone knows who Ardent Enthusiast is at the match. As an additional bonus, no one will dare take a photo or video tape me while I wear those socks.

DataKing · 01-29-2003, 09:39 AM

Good find there vexroid. I guess that pretty much answers the question. And in response to your other question, yes youth pulls are always in passable form. Obviously, that does not mean that their 'base' form is passable as well.

Ardent, I can only assume you're referring to the second leg of the match next week. This week's is at The Docks.

At any rate, it sounds like we should get you one of those half-and-half jerseys to go alone with the shorts and socks. I'll see what I can put together.

DataKing · 01-29-2003, 09:26 PM

Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 2 – 1st Leg

Our former defenseman, Luis Javier Prada, sold earlier today for $27,000 to Oulun Karpat, a brand new team in Finland. We wish Luis and his new team all the best in their future endeavors.

$24,300 finds its way into the club’s coffers.

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Cedar Pond Horned Toads

Date: January 29, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 918 (17,350)
Weather: Overcast

We begin our bid to advance further in the prestigious FOFC Cup today, but a formidable barrier stands in our way. The Cedar Pond Horned Toads are in town, and this time we’re out for blood. For those of you who may not remember, the Toads are the team that knocked us out of last year’s inaugural FOFC Cup. This time around, we’ll be looking for some payback.

But that payback will not be easy to come by. Both teams have a bit of an ‘edge’ about them, and play some seriously defensive soccer. Goals will be few and far between in this home-and-home series, to be certain. Our best hope is for a solid defensive effort here at home, and hopefully win while holding the Toads scoreless. If we can accomplish that, then all we will need to do against them next week is score one goal to advance.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Central Defender: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Left Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard

Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #7 Lucian Tere
Set Pieces: #9 Ruben Stewart

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas
-Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

The promotion of Tyler Willard from the youth squad, and the subsequent sale of defenseman Luis Javier Prada means that some shuffling on the back line is in order. Tyler is a natural wingback, so he has taken William Brown’s typical spot on the left side. Willie, in turn, has slid over to the center of the defense, filling the gap left by the departed Prada.

A change in the midfield is necessary as well. Our big Romanian, Lucian Tere, is typically a starter, but he was suspended this past weekend due to yellow cards, so he gets to start in place of Jerry Smith on the right side of the midfield. We’re hoping that the big guy steps on a few Toads on his way to the net.

Match Report

Screamin' were very close to putting themselves one up in the 3rd minute as Keith Stubbs got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Screamin'´s Otis Johnson was able to shove the ball in. 1-0. Screamin' put themselves up 2 - 0 when William Brown broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. 2 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate.

Horneds Jarrod Knapp got himself booked after a foul. Horneds Tommy Andersson got himself booked after a foul. Miguel Ángel Villalvilla Martínez of Horned received a yellow card in the 82nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Cedar Pond Horned Toads 0

Goals
Johnson – 1
Brown – 1

Cards
None

Player Ratings

Jernigan: **~

Kvam: *~
Stubbs: *~
Brown: **
Lerma: **
Willard: ***

Johnson: *~
Tere: **
Brannon: *~
Dodge: *

Stewart: *~

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Right Attack: Poor (3)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Wretched (2)

Cedar Pond Horned Toads
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Poor (3)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Comments

Two early goals from winger Otis Johnson and defender William Brown gave us a nice cushion, and after that we were definitely concentrating on defense. The second half of the match could hardly be called spectacular soccer, but it was terribly effective. The Toads never had any real scoring chances against us, and I think their players were beginning to get rather frustrated, hence the rash of yellow cards handed out late in the match.

I have to admit that I was very surprised with wingback Tyler Willard’s performance in his professional debut. I knew the kid was good, but I did not know that he was three stars good! I was expecting more like two or two and a half. Given this new development, I have to give serious consideration to replacing Ben McMahon with young Tyler Willard in our starting line-up. Unless Tyler’s form plummets into the basement, that is what will happen.

Which leaves me in an interesting quandary. If Willard becomes a starter for us, and it certainly appears that he will, then the sale of Luis Javier Prada just earlier today certainly appears to have been a bit premature. At 27 years old, Ben McMahon is far too long in the tooth to be considered a trainee. But I also do not like the idea of selling him. Solid wingers/solid defenders do not grow on trees.

It is entirely possible that we may move Ben to winger. With the continuing frustrating performances by Max Dodge, we’re thin on decent wingers, and Ben certainly has the stamina to contribute (excellent stamina). He could actually prove quite useful as a defensive winger. This would allow us to sell off Dodge, as well as acquire an additional defensive trainee. And Ben will always be there for backup on defense, if need be.

I’m not one to make hasty decisions, so it is unlikely that anything will be done right away. I’d like to see this week’s training updates, and test out Ben on the wing before doing anything drastic.

All in all, today is a great day to be a Seaman!

Up Next: Training results and week-end reports coming in a couple of days. Stay tuned!

vex · 01-29-2003, 09:54 PM

Great win!

DataKing · 01-30-2003, 10:37 AM

Screamin’ Seamen FC Supporters

Here at the halfway point in the season, SSFC would like to thank the following clubs for their continuing support:

Gargoyles (Owner: Ravenhawk, Series IV.19)
North County Raiders (Owner: ArdentEnthusiast, Series IV.43)
WestHam (Owner: Hammers 25, Series V.133)
Berwyn Wednesday (Owner: Kevinho, Series IV.17, Founder of the Chicagoland Football Association)
Aardvarks (Owner: Aylmar, Series V.74)
The Chicago Sting (Owner: Kingsguard, Series V.57)
Cedar Pond Horned Toads (Owner: HornedFrog Purple, Series V.97)
Chi Town Dragons (Owner: jkincaid, Series IV.7)
Galesburg Avengers (Owner: Coffee Warlord, Series V.38)
FC Hartford (Owner: samifan24, Series V.14)
Morrisville Morrisvillians (Owner: Nevstar, Series V.93)

We would also like to pledge our continuing support for the following clubs. And believe me, if we weren’t limited to five supported clubs, a lot more of you would find yourselves on this list.

Gargoyles
North County Raiders
Aardvarks
Berwyn Wednesday
The Chicago Sting

DataKing · 01-30-2003, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vexroid
Great win!

Thanks Vex. I was quite pleased, to say the least.

And speaking of great wins, it looks like your lads really took the Avengers back behind the woodshed this week! Better watch your back, I'm sure they'll be out for blood next Wednesday.

vex · 01-30-2003, 10:53 AM

All I have to do is score ONE goal though, right? Since he got blanked at my place?

DataKing · 01-30-2003, 11:13 AM

Actually, I took a look and I was wrong regarding how the tiebreakers work. From the original post of the rules for the first two rounds:

The tiebreakers are like this in the home-and-home:

1. Team with most wins. ex: One team wins game and other game is a draw.

2. If both have a win or there are 2 draws, team with most goals in both games.

3. If both are even after that, the team with the most away goals advances.

Like I said, I was wrong. I forgot about #2. For example, if the Toads beat me at their place 3-0, then the Toads would advance. However, if the score were 3-1, then SSFC would advance.

All in all, I'd say you're pretty safe. A 7 goal lead practically guarantees you'll be in the 3rd round, pending a complete breakdown.

vex · 01-30-2003, 11:22 AM

I don't have but maybe 3 non starters who didn't play, so it'll be about the same bunch.

Yeah, I had forgotten about #2 as well.

DataKing · 01-31-2003, 11:35 AM

Week 7 Training Results

We stayed with our defensive training this week, and for the second week in a row did not see any skill level increases. However, 20 year old striker Forrest “Gump” Tobias did increase in experience from disastrous (1) to wretched (2).

7 players gained a level of form.
12 players remained at their current form level.
3 players saw their form drop this week.

Team average form raised by 0.1 to 5.5

Top Form

We don’t have any players in excellent (8) form at the moment. However, the following four players are all in solid (7) form:

Wingback #5 Arlen Lucas
Winger #25 Paul Peralta
Goalkeeper #1 Darryl Read
Midfielder #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin

The lowest form on the team belongs to none other than the ever-frustrating Max Dodge. Max has been in poor (3) form for two months now. It is likely that he will not even dress for a match next week. If that doesn’t shake things up for him, he’s out the door.

Value

Average player value rose to $95,333 this week, up $7,560 from last week’s $87,773.

Team overall value finally broke the two million dollar mark this week ($2,002,000 to be exact).

Big Gainers

Midfielder Charlie Bautista has been slipping a bit as of late, but seems to be on the rebound. His value gain of $20,000 was third on the team for this week, taking him to a current assessed value of $107,000.

Wingback Ben McMahon must realize that newcomer Tyler Willard is threatening his starting job, because Ben’s hard work on the training ground this week resulted in a value gain of $21,000. He is currently valued at $169,000.

This week’s big gainer was new goalkeeper Cornelius Jernigan. Along with a form jump to passable (6), Cornelius’ value leaped $45,000 this week, to $451,000. Despite Darryl Read’s solid play as of late, it is likely that Cornelius will take over the starting keeper responsibilities this coming week.

Up Next: Weekly financial updates and our next youth squad pull on Saturday. After that, we try to bounce back from our draw with Farmer of Fire in league play. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 02-01-2003, 08:56 PM

Youth Squad Production Once Again For SSFC

(AP – Chicago, IL) The Screamin’ Seamen continue to get solid production from their well-supported youth squad. In the past three weeks, the youth squad has produced trainee defenseman Keith Stubbs and newly-announced starting wingback Tyler Willard. Expecting that the youth squad would take a little time to ‘replenish’ itself, so to speak, team officials were quite surprised when learning that they had yet another youngster who was prepared to turn professional.

This week’s product is 18 year old Samuel Zavallos, a promising-looking winger for the club. However, to the surprise of many, team owner and general manager Data King has decided to list the young man on the world-wide transfer market, with a hefty price tag of $120,000. This decision seems strange to many, considering that the wing is a definite weakness for the club, primarily due to the continued poor form of Max Dodge.

“We had a very difficult time with this decision,” stated King during a brief press conference earlier today. “Samuel would certainly be a valuable addition to the club, but he may very well prove even more valuable to someone else, hence the high price tag. In effect, we’re allowing the market to make our decision for us. If he stays here, Samuel will certainly be at least a part-time starter. However, there are probably more opportunities for him to improve somewhere else, and we in turn would benefit from the influx of cash.”

When asked if the money received would be used to find a replacement for the frustrating Max Dodge, King refused to comment.

Youth Pull

Samuel Zavallos (Winger)

-Assessed Value: $85,000
-Winger Skill: Solid (7)
-Playmaking Skill: Inadequate (5)
-Specialty: Technical

I have two problems with keeping Samuel on the team. First of all, he is slightly better than some of our other wingers, but not considerably so. He is also strictly a possession-type winger, lacking the passing and defending skills to play “up” or “down” with any special skill.

The second problem is that I do not train wingers, and Samuel may very well be more valuable to someone who is.

But at the same time, he seems like a great addition to the team, and a very timely one, given the troubles we have had with Max Dodge this season.

Therefore, I have decided to let the transfer market make my decision for me. If someone is willing to shell out $120,000 I will not be sad to see Samuel go. However, if no one wants to pay that much for him, then we have found a replacement for Max. Simple as that.

Also, as an FYI, I have started a thread in the General Discussion section for advertising transfer listed players. Just so you all know.

Weekly Balance Sheet

Previous Balance: $248,593

Income

Crowd (friendly match vs. Cedar Pond Horned Toads) - $2,427
Sponsors - $54,750
Temporary (18 new supporters) - $540
Temporary (mother club money) - $1,220
Temporary (sale of Luis Javier Prada) - $24,300

Total Revenue: $83,237

Expenses

Arena Upkeep - $11,271
Player Wages - $24,942
Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000
Temporary (transfer listing for Luis Javier Prada) - $1,000
Staff & Specialists - $31,500
Youth Squad Support - $20,000

Total Expenses: $90,713

Net Income/Loss: -$7,476

New Balance: $241,117

State of the Team

Team Spirit: Calm (down from Content)
Team Confidence: Wonderful

Sponsor Attitude: Delirious
Supporter Attitude: Delirious (down from High on Life)
Supporters: 1,165 (up 18 from last week)

Supporters certainly are fickle. Everything was roses until we only managed a draw, and we were on the road to boot. Oh well.

Up Next: We seek some vengeance against Farmer of Fire, and hopefully maintain our grip on 2nd place in the standings. Stay tuned!

DataKing · 02-02-2003, 03:21 PM

Well it hasn't taken long at all for the transfer market to make my decision for me regarding Samuel Zavallos. Within the first 24 hours of his listing, we received a bid of $120,000 from Team Ahtava, of Finland's 3rd division. Hopefully the early bid means that there'll be even more interest as the deadline (7:50 pm central time on Tuesday) gets closer.

DataKing · 02-02-2003, 09:03 PM

Season 2 – League Match #8

Screamin’ Seamen vs. Farmer of Fire

Date: February 2, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 17,350 (17,350)
Weather: Partly cloudy

Today we have our rubber-match against the 5th place Farmer of Fire team. Our 1-1 draw with them last weekend has placed us in a tough spot as far as the standings are concerned. We dropped a full two points behind league-leading Ramblers, and only two points ahead of a red-hot Croats in Miami team. However, we expect to have a much better showing this time out. Last week’s match was played in a downpour, and we are not a good wet-weather team. The weather today looks to be much more in our favor.

I’m actually more concerned with holding on to second place than I am about claiming first. Ramblers certainly appear to be the class team in the series, and any chances we have of claiming the series title will be decided when we visit the Ramblers week 11. Right now, our goal is to stay as far ahead of Croats in Miami as possible, and hopefully stay within striking distance of the Ramblers, should they happen to falter.

I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that the Houston Hippopotami have become official supporters of the Screamin’ Seamen. Earlier this week, striker Forrest “Gump” Tobias went to Houston to thank owner sterlingice and deliver his VIP tickets. Welcome to the SSFC family, SI.

And on a related note, team captain Johannes Henriksson will no longer be acting as the team’s “supporter welcome wagon” after an unfortunate incident with the secretary for NevStar’s Morrisville Morrisvillians. We hope that the Morrisville ownership will not deem it necessary to pursue any further legal action.

Formation: 3-5-2

Starters

Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan

Right Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales
Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas

Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista
Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias

Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Darryl Read
-Defender: #3 Ben McMahon
-Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
-Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart
-Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Aside from the return of Romanian midfielder Lucian Tere to the lineup, we’ve made two changes in the back this week. First of all, one month to the day after joining the Screamin’ Seamen, keeper Cornelius Jernigan gets to start in net. Cornelius has been getting familiar with our defensive system and players for the past month, and we’re confident that he is ready to step in. If he performs well today, then the starting job is his. If not, then at least Darryl Read gets a well-deserved rest.

Also added to the line-up is 19 year old wingback Tyler Willard. We were so impressed with his performance Wednesday against the Cedar Pond Horned Toads that we’ve decided to give him a shot at playing with the big boys. This is a trial game for him as well, however, and we will not hesitate to insert veteran Ben McMahon back into the lineup should the need arise.

Well, its less than two hours to kick-off as I write this. Best be on my way to the stadium. More later…

Match Report

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Docks saw a crowd turnout of 17350. Screamin' started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Jernigan - Willard, Scales, Lucas - Peralta, Tere, Bautista, Tomlin, Mauffret - Henriksson, Tobias.

Farmer had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Mccrary - Titus, Holliday, Rogers - Gage, Quintana, Davis, Early, Ross - Block, Barclay.

In the games 2nd minute Screamin'´s Charlie Bautista fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Charlie Bautista for taking a dive. 4 minutes into the game a free kick combination hooked into the box almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the last header went wide. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate.

Pete Tomlin gave his Screamin' the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Man, what a shot by Johannes Henriksson! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 2 - 0. Johannes Henriksson should probably have put his team up another goal in the 73rd minute, but some great goaltending by Charles Mccrary kept the visitors in the game. After 74 minutes Farmers Bernie Holliday had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. Kev Chisholm came in instead of him. Arlen Lucas seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 3-0. The previous Screamin' corner kick was executed by Johannes Henriksson. Screamin' put themselves up 4 - 0 when Pete Tomlin broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The visitors reduced the score in the 80:th minute to 4 - 1 as a free kick by Will Early slunk past the home sides goaltender. With 86 minutes played Forrest Tobias could have brought this one home for Screamin', had his hooked ball gone in, but it went just a bit too high. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 61 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Arlen Lucas. However, Olav Mauffret made a disastrous appearance. Farmer´s best player was Charles Mccrary. Kev Chisholm on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 1.

Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Farmer of Fire 1

Goals
Tomlin – 2 (1,2)
Henriksson – 1 GWG (10)
Lucas – 1 (3 – assisted by Henriksson)

Cards
Bautista – yellow

Player Ratings

Jernigan: ***

Willard: ***
Scales: **~
Lucas: ***

Peralta: **
Tomlin: **~
Tere: **
Bautista: **~
Mauffret: *~

Henriksson: **
Tobias: **~

Man of the Match: #5 Arlen Lucas

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Passable (6)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Formidable (9)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Passable (6)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Farmer of Fire
-Midfield: Weak (4)
-Right Defense: Formidable (9)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Weak (4)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

The first half of the match was hardly an exciting game to watch, as both teams seemed hesitant, apparently feeling one another out. But the floodgates certainly opened in the second half. Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin chose a good time to score his first goals of the season, and captain Johannes’ Henriksson’s cannonball proved to be the game winner. Arlen Lucas was dominant on defense, as usual, and also scored on a beautiful header, earning himself Man of the Match honors.

I also have to say that I was quite pleased with the performances of our new starters. Cornelius Jernigan did allow a soft goal late in the match, but otherwise he played a game superior to what Darryl Read is capable of. And Tyler Willard continues to impress, showing the good skill and form that he displayed in our FOFC Cup match on Wednesday. It certainly appears that both of these young men have earned themselves starting spots.

All in all, a solid performance and a solid win for the Screamin’ Seamen.

Series Scores and Standings

-Unfortunately we did not gain any ground on Croats in Miami, as midfielder Tony Allen’s strike in the 80th minute gave the Croats a 2-1 victory over Neon Genesis Evangelion.
-As expected, Ramblers handed it to a struggling Cariocas club, 5-nil.
-After a very poor start, Gazzaly FC has turned it on as of late, defeating Gohira 6-nil.

Here is how the standings look with 8 matches down and 6 to go. As you can see, the top three teams have begun to pull away from the rest of the pack.



No.	Team					Played		Goals		Pts.

1.	Ramblers				8		40-4		22

2.	Screamin’ Seamen			        8		33-10		20

3.	Croats in Miami			        8		24-12		18

4.	Neon Genesis Evangelion		        8		18-10		12

5.	Farmer of Fire				8		8-17		8

6.	Gazzaly FC				8		10-25		7

7.	Cariocas				8		11-30		5

8.	Gohira					8		2-38		0

Up Next: The second leg of our FOFC Cup match against the Cedar Pond Horned Toads. We lead two goals to none, but the Toads certainly will not go down without a fight. Stay tuned!

NevStar · 02-02-2003, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DataKing

And on a related note, team captain Johannes Henriksson will no longer be acting as the team’s “supporter welcome wagon” after an unfortunate incident with the secretary for NevStar’s Morrisville Morrisvillians. We hope that the Morrisville ownership will not deem it necessary to pursue any further legal action.

- Never fear DataKing, Robby Dudley-Evans took that secretary out on one of his world-famous "around the world" pub crawls & now she can't remember a thing about that day. She also can't remember where she lives, how to count or what her name is, so perhaps there were some unfortunate side effects.

DataKing · 02-03-2003, 10:36 AM

*sends Robby Dudley-Evans a nice fruit basket.*

DataKing · 02-04-2003, 09:46 PM

Samuel Zavallos was sold earlier this evening for $165,000 to French 3rd Division side Asse-Online.com. $151,800 of that found its way into the club's coffers.

We're looking at approximately $450,000 in the bank at the end of this week. We have about $200,000 earmarked for stadium improvements at the end of the season, and another $100,000 labeled as "reserve funds." This is in case of emergency, such as a rash of injuries at one position.

This leaves us with about $150,000 to play with right now. No decisions will be made until we see how the team performs tomorrow against the Cedar Pond Horned Toads, but at this level $150,000 is nothing to snicker at. We're exploring some intriguing possibilities.

Poli · 02-04-2003, 10:55 PM

Frog legs, anyone?

DataKing · 02-04-2003, 11:10 PM

I'm not saying a word about the frog legs until after the match tomorrow. I think I jynxed myself with that shpeel last season.

vex · 02-04-2003, 11:37 PM

Yum, frog legs. Cajun style.

DataKing · 02-05-2003, 08:39 PM

Season 2 – FOFC Cup – Round 2 – 2nd Leg

Cedar Pond Horned Toads vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: February 5th, 2003
Venue: The Condemned Mud Pond (Texas)
Attendance: 1,085 (11,995)
Weather: Overcast

We travel to Texas this week for the second leg of our FOFC Cup match against the Cedar Pond Horned Toads. With a two goal lead over the toads, things certainly appear to be in our favor. Also, despite threatening clouds and fervent prayers for rain from Cedar Pond, it looks as though the pitch will remain dry, which should play to our advantage as well. It will be a hard-fought battle, for sure, but I am confident that our lads will prevail and propel us into the 3rd round of the cup.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #1 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #23 William Brown
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Central Defender: #12 Brooks Brannon
Left Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam

Right Winger: #3 Ben McMahon
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Left Winger: #16 Otis Johnson

Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart

Team Captain: #7 Lucian Tere
Set Pieces: #3 Ben McMahon

Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan
-Defender: #22 Tyler Willard
-Midfielder: #25 Paul Peralta
-Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias
-Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret

Do to the recent shake-up of the starting line-up for the first team, we see a few changes to the starters for today’s match as well.

1. Darryl Read has been demoted to second-team goalkeeper, at least for the time being. He has been performing well lately, just not as well as Cornelius. We’re confident that he will have a fine game against the Toads.
2. We’re trying out Ben McMahon at winger today. As I mentioned earlier, I am hesitant to let Ben go, as his winger and defensive skills are pretty good. Assuming Ben performs well at his new position, we’ll keep him on the team.
3. The promotion of Tyler Willard to the starting squad, and our decision to bench Max Dodge in a last-ditch effort to pull him out of his form-funk, means someone has to pull double-duty. We’ve decided that person should be big Lucian Tere. Lucian had a good game last week against the Toads, and will hopefully repeat that performance. Utility player Brooks Brannon slides back to cover the open spot on the defensive line.

The clouds threaten, but refuse to drop any rain as the teams take to the pitch…

Match Report

1085 spectators had come to The Condemned Mud Pond this cloudy day. Horned had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. Lineup: Anderson - Diaz, Ames, Villalvilla Mart, Omalley - Gaines, Hinkle, Monroe, Gaston, Mcconnell - Robison.

Screamin' tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Read - Brown, Brannon, Lerma, Stubbs, Kvam - Mcmahon, Tere, Smith, Johnson - Stewart.

Seemingly due to lack of experience, Keith Stubbs needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. This was a good period for the visitors with several opportunities to take the lead, in particular when Brooks Brannon slipped through the defense to come up alone with Alex Anderson - but the home side´s keeper showed some lightning reflex 27 minutes into the game Keith Stubbs was a hair´s breadth away from giving Screamin' the lead. A prompt block by Alex Anderson saved the home team that time. Screamin' took the lead after 28 minutes with 0 - 1. Keith Stubbs placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The referee showed Screamin's William Brown the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Alex Anderson the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

In the game´s 50:th minute a free kick by Ben Mcmahon found it´s way through the home side´s poorly assembled defensive formation, making Screamin'´s lead 0 - 2. The structure of the game started to change as Screamin' decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Horned´s Christopher Gaston got himself booked. Ruben Stewart could have put his team up another one in the 64:th minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

Horned´s best player was Don Yancey. However, Christopher Gaston made a disastrous appearance. Most important Screamin' player was Darryl Read. Brooks Brannon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 2.

Goals
Stubbs – 1
McMahon – 1

Cards
Brown – yellow

Player Ratings

Read: **~

Brown: **
Lerma: **
Stubbs: **
Brannon: *~
Kvam: *~

McMahon: **
Tere: **
Smith: *~
Johnson: *~

Stewart: *~

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: Excellent (8)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Excellent (8)
-Right Attack: Poor (3)
-Central Attack: Wretched (2)
-Left Attack: Poor (3)

Cedar Pond Horned Toads
-Midfield: Wretched (2)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Solid (7)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Wretched (2)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)

Comments

After an early mistake, defender Keith Stubbs played the rest of the first half like a man possessed, and was finally able to score what proved to be the game-winning goal. One has to give credit to Toads keeper Alex Anderson, who was playing out of his head until William Brown decided to remove him from the game.

With an insurance goal early in the second half from a Ben McMahon free kick, it was business as usual for the Seamen defense, who proved to be water-tight when it mattered the most. I must say that I am very proud of our youngsters on the back line. They have recorded three consecutive shutouts in FOFC Cup play thus far, and have only permitted one goal in the first four matches.

The other good news is that we have found another winger in Ben McMahon. His skills as a defensive winger and as a set piece player make him very valuable, and today proved that he can probably play on the wing with his usual first-team mates.

Up Next: Training results and our week-end report. We will also be making a decision regarding Max Dodge in the near future. Stay tuned!

01-28-2003, 01:16 PM	#26
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	RPI-Fan, That is one thing that I have not yet been able to determine, although one of my players (Max Dodge) has me suspecting that yes, it can. But of that I am not even close to being certain. Anybody else have any evidence to lead us one way or the other? __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 01:44 PM	#27
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – League Match #7 Farmer of Fire vs. Screamin’ Seamen Date: January 26, 2003 Venue: Ring of Fire (Oklahoma) Attendance: 14,326 (33,000) Weather: Rain This week we had the first half of our mid-season home-and-home matches against Farmer of Fire, currently 5th in the series standings. The talent level that the Farmers have at their disposal is less than impressive, with one notable exception. At only 21 years old, Charles McCrary is the best keeper in the series, bar none. Valued at over $1,000,000, he alone means that the Farmers have a defense that we must respect. Goals will be difficult to come by for both teams, and we expect a low-scoring affair. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson Substitutes -Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan -Defender: #22 Tyler Willard -Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon -Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart -Winger: #16 Otis Johnson The only significant change in our lineup this week is young Jerry Smith starting at midfield. He is playing in place of Romanian international Lucian Tere, who is serving out a red-card suspension. Lucian should return to the lineup for us next week. Match Report In the 8:th minute Thomas Gage almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. Screamin' took the lead after 12 minutes with 0 - 1. Olav Mauffret placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Farmer, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball. Charles Mccrary kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Johannes Henriksson delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. Farmer evened the score out after a penalty brilliantly laid by Will Early. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like Pete Tomlin whose skills weren´t made justice at all. Farmer were very close to putting themselves one up in the 63rd minute as Ivan Block got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. 68 minutes into the game Will Ziegler had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Walter Titus. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Farmer, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball. Final Score: Farmer of Fire 1, Screamin’ Seamen 1 Goals Mauffret – 1(2) Cards None Player Ratings I like SterlingIce’s idea of using the ~ to represent ½ star, so I’m going to steal it Read: ~ Lucas: * Scales: ~ McMahon: Peralta: Tomlin: ~ Smith: ~ Bautista: * Mauffret: Tobias: Henriksson: *~ Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas Team Ratings* Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Weak (4) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Solid (7) -Left Defense: Excellent (8) -Right Attack: Passable (6) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Passable (6) Farmer of Fire -Midfield: Inadequate (5) -Right Defense: Outstanding (10) -Central Defense: Formidable (9) -Left Defense: Excellent (8) -Right Attack: Weak (4) -Central Attack: Weak (4) -Left Attack: Weak (4) Comments I must admit that I am quite disappointed in our performance today, as this is a match that we should have won, even though we were on the road. I can make all sorts of excuses if I care to; we were missing one of our starting midfielders in Lucian Tere, the rain hurt the performance of our technical players, their keeper got lucky on a save early in the second half that should have won the match for us, the list goes on and on. But the simple fact is that we didn’t win the match. Johannes’ free kick early in the second hand was almost perfect, but not quite. A perfect shot would have scored, and we’ve come to expect little else from our team captain. After breaking down the individual performances by each of our players, something scary is possible. It is possible that we have been playing beyond ourselves for the first half of the season, and this match was the first step in a painful trip back to reality. Coach Brown and I have some work to do, that much is obvious. We let two points slip away from us here, and want to get out ahead of any potential slippage for the entire team. It’s going to be a busy week. Series Scores and Standings -Ramblers crushed Cariocas 9-nil, giving them a 2 point lead in the standings and a massive lead in goal-differential. -Croats in Miami shut out Neon Genesis Evangelion 2-nil. The Croats are red-hot, having won five straight, and are threatening us for 2nd place. -And in the match no one cares about, Gazzaly FC defeated Gohira 3-1. Here is what the standings look like at the midpoint of the season. Pos. Team Played Goals Points 1. Ramblers 7 35-4 19 2. Screamin’ Seamen 7 29-9 17 3. Croats in Miami 7 22-11 15 4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 7 17-8 12 5. Farmer of Fire 7 7-13 8 6. Cariocas 7 11-25 5 7. Gazzaly FC 7 4-25 4 8. Gohira 7 2-32 0 Up Next: We face our old foes, the Cedar Pond Horned Toads, in 2nd Round FOFC Cup action this Wednesday. You aren’t going to want to miss this one, folks! Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty) Last edited by DataKing : 01-28-2003 at 01:48 PM.

01-28-2003, 02:06 PM	#28
HornedFrog Purple Hattrick Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Fort Worthless, Tx	Rats I just replied about my form theory and hit the wrong button. Anyways, I have been thinking about form. My theory is each player has a hidden basic form which is static. As the player goes higher or lower, the hidden form rating increases its pull to get him back to his "natural" form. Just as an example, I will use a 10 point scale: Hidden form is 5 (call that average) Current form is 6, somewhere around average so he will stay there for a while until a change happens which has more to do with your training, staff and games he plays in. These accumulate into eventually making this player lets say a 8 or 2. Therefore the "5" will pull this player back quickly to his usual static form. These work all the way around... if a guy is naturally "poor" (in this example I will use the number 2) in hidden rating, and he gets up to excellent, he gets yanked back down to his hidden static rating much more quickly then a player whose natural hidden form rating is above average (somewhere around 6 or 7) I call this the "hidden form volatility rating" which I will trademark tomorrow. Anyways just a guess. __________________ King of All FOFC Media!!! IHOF: Fort Worthless Fury- 2004 AOC Deep South Champions (not acknowledged via conspiracy)

01-29-2003, 02:53 AM	#31
Poli FOFC Survivor Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Wentzville, MO	Go Seamen! I'm a proud supporter! I wish you no luck, however, in your match against Horned. I must remain neutral. While at the match in Oklahoma, I will wear my official Seamen shorts and Horned Frog socks. I will wear the socks to make sure everyone knows who Ardent Enthusiast is at the match. As an additional bonus, no one will dare take a photo or video tape me while I wear those socks. __________________ Cheer for a walk on quarterback! Ardent leads the Vols in the dynasty forum.

01-29-2003, 09:39 AM	#32
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Good find there vexroid. I guess that pretty much answers the question. And in response to your other question, yes youth pulls are always in passable form. Obviously, that does not mean that their 'base' form is passable as well. Ardent, I can only assume you're referring to the second leg of the match next week. This week's is at The Docks. At any rate, it sounds like we should get you one of those half-and-half jerseys to go alone with the shorts and socks. I'll see what I can put together. __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty) Last edited by DataKing : 01-29-2003 at 09:40 AM.

01-28-2003, 11:14 AM	#2
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Hattrick: The Basics Here are the basics to the Hattrick game. I am explaining this, so it is easier for non-Hattrickers to follow along with this dynasty, as well as others. 1. The Youth Squad The youth squad is one of the most important elements in Hattrick. Every week, a team can promote one player from the youth squad that their team supports, and this activity costs a team $2,000. This is how new players are introduced into the game. Each week, a team can invest either $5,000, $10,000, or $20,000 into their youth squad. The more money a team puts into its youth squad, the better the quality of the squad, and therefore the better quality (generally) of young players that will be promoted. There is still a large amount of luck involved in the youth pull, but one good 17-year-old player can make the entire investment worthwhile. There is a serious premium placed on good young players (I will get more into the reasons for this later), and this is the best way to get those players on one's team. 2. Specialists (the staff) There are seven different type of staff members that you can have supporting your Hattrick team. Each of these specialists costs a team $1,500 per week. Goaltending Coach: Improves the 'form' (more on this term later) and skill level of your goaltenders. Assistant Coach: Assists your head coach in training players other than goalkeepers. Sports Psychologist: Increases team confidence and team spirit. Spokesperson: Improves the attitude of your team's sponsors and supporters. Economist: If your team has a large debt or a large amount of cash on hand, economists can reduce your interest payments, or invest your surplus. Physiotherapist: Reduces the chance of player injuries. Doctor: Rehabilitates injured players more rapidly. 3. Supporters and Sponsors Supporters are those hardcore fans that buy season tickets, adorn their domiciles with team paraphernalia, get arrested for stalking your team's star forward, name their firstborn children after your goalkeeper (even if the baby is the wrong gender), that sort of thing. The size of your team's supporter club gives a good indication of your team's general popularity, and also give the manager an indication of the number of seats they can expect to sell for a home game. Sponsors are another significant source of income for a club. If your team succeeds and you keep your sponsors happy, you can expect to see healthy rises in the amount of sponsorship money you receive from week to week. However, if you go on a losing streak or fail to provide adequate "entertainment" for these fat-cats, you can soon find yourself in financial hardships. 4. Economy A team's income and expenses are handled on a weekly basis, and come from a number of sources. Income Crowd: Home league and cup matches are the single best source of income for a club. This includes ticket prices, concessions, parking, etc. Sponsors: The money you receive for having gawdy endorsements blanketing your stadium and your players' jerseys. Financial: Any interest you are earning on your current cash holdings, courtesy of economists. Temporary: A catch-all for other sources of income, including annual dues from new supporters (they pay $30 each per season), and the sale of players on the transfer market (more on this later). Expenses Arena: The bigger your arena, the more you have to spend on upkeep for the thing every week. Wages: Players get a paycheck every week, whether they play or not. Big-name talent can command some serious moolah, especially for a newer team (like mine). Interest: Go into debt, and the creditors will be looking for interest payments every week. If you go over $500,000 into debt, you lose your team. Temporary: Temporary expenses include stadium improvements, money spent on new players, and the $2,000 it costs to promote a player from the youth squad. Staff: The weekly salary of your specialists. Youth Squad: The weekly investment your team makes in its youth squad. Sponsors hand out prize money at the end of each season for teams finishing in 1st-4th place in each series. Also, teams earn bonus money for earning the possibility of promotion to a higher division (more on this later). 5. Formations and Positions The basic formation in Hattrick is a 4-4-2 formation. There are always three 'layers' of players in front of the goalkeeper. 4-4-2 means that there are 4 defensemen (layer 1), 4 midfielders (layer 2) and 2 forwards (layer 3). Hattrick concerns itself with six basic player positions. Goalkeeper: The guy who sits in front of the net. Duh! Central Defender: Defenders who try to control the area of the pitch (field) in front of the net. Wingback: Defenders that play to the sides of the net. Inner Midfielder: A very important position. Concentrate on controlling the middle of the field, and are key to maintaining ball possession. Winger: Play to the sides of the inner midfielders. This is the most versatile position on the field. They can play offensively, defensively, or in towards the middle to assist with ball possession. Forwards: Strikers. These guys get a lot of the goals (along with a lot of the glory, and a lot of the chicks). 6. Players There are 8 basic skills that, when combined with other factors, determine how well a player performs at a given position. Stamina: General endurance. Important for midfielders, because they run all over the pitch. Playmaking: The key skill for inner midfielders. The biggest determining factor in ball possession. Winger: The ability to create scoring chances by advancing down the sides. Important for Wingbacks and especially Wingers. Scoring: Putting the ball into the net. Duh! Only important for forwards. Goaltending: I hope I don't need to explain this. Passing: Nice for forwards and midfielders, but not critical. Defending: Stopping opponent attacks. Key for central defenders and wingbacks. Set Pieces: Free kicks, penalty kicks, corner kicks. Having a player on the pitch who is good at set pieces can make a huge difference. Each of these skills is rated from Disastrous (level 1) to Divine (level 20). I will list all of these level ratings here, but note that it will be a LONG time before you see a Divine player playing for the Screamin' Seamen. 1 - Disastrous 2 - Wretched 3 - Poor 4 - Weak 5 - Inadequate 6 - Passable 7 - Solid 8 - Excellent 9 - Formidable 10 - Outstanding 11 - Brilliant 12 - Magnificent 13 - World Class 14 - Supernatural 15 - Titanic 16 - Extra-Terrestrial 17 - Mythical 18 - Magical 19 - Utopian 20 - Divine Players are also rated in something called 'form,' which gives an indication of how the player is performing at the moment. Like all athletes, players in hattrick have good streaks and bad streaks. A player on a good streak, or in good 'form,' might be rated as excellent (the maximum for form), while a player on a cold streak may be rated as poor (or worse). 7. Training Each week, the team owner decides what sort of training the team will perform. Each of the eight skills mentioned earlier can be trained, as well as General training, which helps out player form as well as providing minimal goalkeeper training. There are two things to keep in mind when deciding the sort of training to conduct. First, young players learn considerably faster than older players. This is why a premium is placed on good, young players. A 17-year-old Excellent defender has the possibility of becoming Divine someday. However, a 25-year-old Excellent defender will never reach that level of expertise. Also, player skills begin to degrade at age 30, so a 17-year-old will be on your team for a lot longer. Second, a player has to play at a position that uses the skill you are training, in order to receive the benefits of training for that week. If you are training defending, and a player plays as a forward that week, he will receive no training. 8. The Transfer Market Aside from youth pulls, the only way to get a new player for your team is to use the transfer market. This is an open bidding system, similar to E-Bay and that sort of thing. When a player is placed on the transfer market, a minimum bid can be placed by the team selling the player. The player then remains on the transfer market for exactly 72 hours. Players are assessed 'values,' depending on their age and their skills, but this may or may not have much to do with what that player can fetch on the transfer market. Again, player age is the key factor here. A 17-year-old will fetch a lot more than a 25-year old with the same skill level, for the reasons discussed earlier. 9. The Series System Each series, or 'conference,' in Hattrick contains 8 teams. These are the teams that you compete directly with during each season. The season is 14 weeks long, so your team plays against each other team in your series twice, once at home and once on the road. League matches are always played on Sundays. You get three points for a win, and one point for a draw. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the series, and has a chance at promotion. The top Division in the U.S. is Major League, and has only one series in it. Each division beneath Major League has four times as many series' as the one above it. So, beneath Major League there is Division 2, which has 4 series in it (II.1 through II.4). Beneath that, there are 16 series in Division 3 (III.1 through III.16), then Division 4 (IV.1 through IV.64), and finally Division 5 (V.1 through V.256). This part gets complicated, so I won't get into too much detail. The top team in each series may or may not move up, depending on how well they did. The 2nd through 4th place teams in each series are safe, and will be in the same series next season. The 5th and 6th place teams have to play a qualification match against series winners from the division below them, in order to keep their spot. The 7th and 8th place teams are automatically relegated to the division below them. They obviously suck and have no business in their current division. :P 10. The Cup and Friendly Matches Each season, countries have their national cups. Most of the teams in a given country are able to participate in what amounts to a giant, single elimination tournament. These cup matches are played on Wednesdays, and are re-seeded after each round. So, if there are 64 teams in a cup, then the #1 team plays #64, #2 plays #63, and so on. If #63 should happen to beat #2, they are rewarded by getting to play #1 the following week. Needless to say, these cups are definitely geared towards the top teams, but can be a nice source of additional revenue from ticket sales for the smaller teams involved. Once a team has been eliminated from their national cup, they can then arrange 'friendly' matches with any other team that is also available. These matches don't mean anything as far as standings and statistics go. They are simply a way to provide training for additional players, generating a little extra income from those willing to pay to see a friendly match, and the like. OK, this turned out a little more long-winded than I had originally intended, but as you can tell, this game can prove to be rather complex. There are several other facets that I have chosen not to get into, but I think this should give the casual reader a general idea of how things work. If any of you are confused by any of this, or have questions not covered by what I have detailed here, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them. Up Next: An overview of the Screamin' Seamen Football Club as it stood at the beginning of Season 18, prepared to begin its assault on Division 4. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:15 AM	#3
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Screamin’ Seamen Player Profiles Here is the roster for Screamin’ Seamen FC. I have included the key skill levels for these players and their numerical equivalents, to give you an idea of the level of talent (or lack thereof) that SSFC has at the moment. All statistics listed are as of the time of this writing, which is five games into our second season (3 cup and 2 league matches). First Team The first team typically plays a 3-5-2 formation. This means that we typically start: 1 Goalkeeper 1 Central Defender 2 Wingbacks 3 Inner Midfielders 2 Wingers 2 Forwards Goalkeeper #1 Darryl Read -Age: 26 -Goaltending: Passable (6) -Games Played: 18 -Goals Allowed: 14 -Goals Against Average: 0.78 -Clean Sheets: 10 Darryl is our best goalkeeper. Though his skill level leaves a bit to be desired, he usually benefits from having pretty good defenders playing in front of him. He usually manages to get the job done, and has pitched shutouts in 10 of his 18 matches. Central Defender #2 Chuck Scales -Age: 23 -Defending: Solid (7) -Games Played: 16 -Goals Scored: 3 Chuck is the key to our defense, and is responsible for keeping the area directly in front of Darryl clear of threats. He typically does a good job of this, and is the most consistent of our defenders. He is a genuinely pleasant individual, very level-headed, and has a decent amount of experience for his age. He has been named Team Match MVP eight times in his sixteen games. Wingbacks #3 Ben McMahon -Age: 27 -Defending: Solid -Winger: Passable -Games Played: 16 -Goals Scored: 1 Ben was named our team’s Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of our first season, and for good reason. He shut down opposing forwards on his side of the field, and was named Team Match MVP 6 times last year. Although he is not a threat to score goals, he was also named as the team’s best defenseman last season. #5 Arlen Lucas -Age: 20 Defending: Solid Winger: Passable -Games Played: 16 -Goals Scored: 5 Arlen stands 6’6” tall, and is an imposing figure in the defensive box. Due to his height, he specializes in headers and defending against headers in our own zone. Thanks to him, we rarely give up goals off of corner kicks. He has also scored five goals of his own, which is an impressive feat for a defender. Unfortunately, Arlen is a little bit of a hothead, and has now served two 1-game suspensions due to his rough play. Inner Midfielders #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin -Age: 32 Playmaking: Passable (6) -Games Played: 16 -Goals Scored: 4 At 32 years of age, Pete is the oldest player on the team, and is the nastiest son of a bitch I have ever met. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, he was once ejected and suspended for a game for purposely head-butting an opposing player. Despite his rough demeanor, he is one of the most popular members of the team, and does a good job of managing the team’s midfield play. His skills are on the down-slide, however, but we will certainly find a spot for him on the team’s staff when he decides to retire. #6 Charlie Bautista -Age: 25 -Playmaking: Solid (7) -Games Played: 18 -Goals Scored: 5 Charlie and Pete are best of friends, and that is probably because their personalities complement one another so well. Charlie is a fiery guy as well, and is the best trash-talker on the field. Once Charlie gets an opposing player fired up, Pete takes advantage of this by taking the player down. On top of this, Charlie is the most talented of our midfielders. He has been awarded with Team Match MVP honors twice. #7 Lucian Tere -Age: 26 -Playmaking: Inadequate (5) -Games Played: 17 -Goals Scored: 8 The big Romanian is the gentle giant of our midfield trio, but can use his power to muscle over opposing players when the situation warrants. His eight goals in the last seventeen matches proves his value. Just don’t call him Lucy. One of our trainers made that mistake, and spent a week in the infirmary because of it. Wingers #8 Max Dodge -Age: 23 -Winger: Inadequate (5) -Playmaking: Passable (6) -Games Played: 15 -Goals Scored: 5 Without a doubt, Max has the coolest name on the team, but that is not why we have kept him around. Good wingers are hard to find, and when he is playing well, Max is our best winger by far. The problem is that he is terribly inconsistent. When he plays well, he can be a dominant force on the pitch. But when he plays poorly, well, it can get just plain ugly. #10 Olav Mauffret -Age: 21 -Winger: Inadequate (5) -Playmaking: Inadequate (5) -Games Played: 17 -Goals Scored: 3 Olav is a young Finn who is probably the most mild-mannered player on the field. He says little, but works very hard at his game. There is little exceptional about him, but his consistency is a nice change of pace from Max’s erratic play. Forwards #11 Johannes Henriksson -Age: 25 -Scoring: Passable (6) -Set Pieces: Solid (7) -Games Played: 44 -Goals Scored: 47 Our Swedish striker is the most consistent scorer we have, and has averaged a goal a game throughout his entire career. He is also our team captain and set pieces ace. He and Arlen Lucas have proven to be a lethal combination. Johannes is also the most level-headed player on the team. He has never been carded in 44 starts. He is, without a doubt, one of the most valuable members of the team. #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias -Age: 20 -Scoring: Solid (7) -Games Played: 6 -Goals Scored: 6 “Gump” was promoted from our youth squad late last season, and became an immediate starter. He is a talented young striker, and scored a hattrick in his second match. He does have a bit of a nasty streak about him, though, and is none too fond of his nickname. Second Team The second team typically plays a 5-4-1 formation. This formation is extremely weak offensively, but allows us to train five additional defensive players every week. Below is our current alignment in the 5-4-1, but I can assure you that a couple of these players are on their way out the door. 1 Goalkeeper 3 Central Defenders 2 Wingbacks 2 Inner Midfielders 2 Wingers 1 Forward Goalkeeper #13 Fredric McKinley -Age: 21 -Goaltending: Inadequate (5) Our lack of depth at goalkeeper hasn’t proven to be a problem yet, but the threat of injury to Darryl Read is always a concern. Frankly speaking, Fredric isn’t a very good keeper. We will be looking to unload Fredric as soon as our financial situation allows us to look for better options. Central Defenders #17 Luis Javier Prada -Age: 21 -Defending: Inadequate (5) Luis is a young defender that we’re grooming to perhaps take over for Chuck Scales on defense someday. The jury is still out on the young man, however, as he has not made as much progress as we would have liked. He is particularly fond of The Princess Bride. #12 Brooks Brannon -Age: 26 -Defending: Inadequate (5) -Games Played: 4 -Goals Scored: 2 Brooks is a “super-sub,” meaning that he can play a number of positions with a decent level of skill. He can play central defender, inner midfielder, and forward all with some level of success. He and Paul Peralta are the ones most often called upon to replace injured or suspended starters on the first team. #22 Bill Rubin -Age: 20 -Defending: Inadequate (5) Bill was promoted from the youth squad at the very end of last season, so we still don’t know much about him. He has only seen the pitch once so far, and his performance was about what we expected from him. He is fond of Reuben sandwiches. Wingbacks #23 William Brown -Age: 20 -Defending: Passable (6) -Winger: Inadequate (5) -Games Played: 6 -Goals Scored: 2 Bad Bad Willie Brown is another promising young defender, and is the heir-apparent to Ben McMahon’s spot in the starting line-up. In fact, due to his solid play early in the current season, he has seen quite a bit of playing time and has faired well thus far. Willie is specially fast, and excels at beating wingers to the corner. He looks to have a bright future playing for SSFC. #25 Paul Peralta -Age: 27 -Defending: Passable (6) -Winger: Weak (4) -Games Played: 7 -Goals Scored: 0 Paul is perhaps the most valuable member of the second team. This is because, while he lacks any spectacular skills, he can play nearly any position on the pitch with some level of success. Because of this, he is one of our main back-ups when it comes to replacing injured or suspended starters. He has yet to score a goal in seven competitive matches, but has contributed to the team in many other ways. Inner Midfielders #18 Herbert Nelson -Age: 24 -Playmaking: Passable (6) Herb is an ugly, ugly man. He has apparently attempted one too many headers in his lifetime. #20 Felix Pedersen -Age: 21 -Playmaking: Inadequate (5) A dour young man with no real future in professional soccer. I’ve suggested that he try stand-up comedy, but I don’t think he got the joke. Wingers #14 Jeffrey Nolan -Age: 25 -Winger: Inadequate (5) -Playmaking: Weak (4) -Set Pieces: Passable (6) Jeff is just a downright good guy, and is one of the most popular players on the team. While his skills as a winger are a little bit lacking, his experience and leadership abilities with the younger players on the team are invaluable. He is also skilled at set pieces, and is the captain for the second team. #16 Otis Johnson -Age: 19 -Winger: Weak (4) -Playmaking: Inadequate (5) Otis has alright skills for his age, but is unlikely to ever be anything more than a back-up. He has been infatuated with pirates ever since he was a child, though, and loves playing for SSFC. Forward #9 Ruben Stewart -Age: 21 -Scoring: Passable (6) -Games Played: 12 -Goals Scored: 9 Ruben was the #2 striker on our starting squad for most of last season, and accumulated nine goals in twelve matches before losing his starting spot to “Gump.” He is none too fond of Forrest, and has made it known that he would like us to sell him to a team where he can be a starter again. Unfortunately for Ruben, he is our best back-up at forward, so it is unlikely he will be going anywhere soon. Up Next: I will get you all caught up on the state of affairs with SSFC thus far in our second season (Hattrick Season 18). Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:16 AM	#4
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Cup Match #1 Kingpin F.C. vs. Screamin’ Seamen Date: December 11, 2002 Venue: Kingpin FC Arena (Dallas, TX) Attendance: 4989 (7000) Weather: Overcast Our team didn’t receive an invitation to the U.S.A. Cup in our first season, so the players were understandably nervous about this match. Kingpin F.C. was a relatively new team, and we expected no real trouble from them. Normally, we would have played our second team in this situation, but after the off-season, we wanted to get our starters onto the pitch in order to get them ready for the start of league play. We made three changes to our normal starters. William Brown, one of our defensive trainees, would start in place of veteran wingback Ben McMahon, who has done little to impress in the off-season. Otis Johnson would also start, replacing Olav Mauffret on the wing. Olav, in turn, would play midfield, as we chose to rest the old-timer, Pete Tomlin. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #23 William Brown Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Inner Midfielder: #10 Olav Mauffret Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson Match Report Screamin' had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Shawn Carver saved Chuck Scales´s shot headed for the top corner. After 37 minutes Screamin's Forrest Tobias made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Screamin's William Brown got himself booked after a foul. The Kingpin player was Honorio Contreras who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Lucian Tere came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Shawn Carver, hitting the bar. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 65 percent, dominated the battle. It was one fine day for Max Dodge at his wing, especially delicate was his cross pass serving to Otis Johnson after 49 minutes of play, but the keeper saved. Screamin'´s Johannes Henriksson received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 77:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The away team´s Forrest Tobias took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 77:th minute increasing Screamin'´s lead to 0 - 3. By now Screamin' were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 80:th minute Screamin' goal, making it 0 - 4. Chuck Scales was noted down as the scorer. After 86 minutes of game time Charlie Bautista received an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but Shawn Carver was in the right place, tipping the ball to a corner. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 90 percent possession rate. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Kingpin F.C. 0 Goals Tobias – 2 (1,2) Henriksson – 1 (1) Scales – 1 (1) Cards Brown (yellow) Comments Things were a little dicey early in the match, as we had only a one goal lead and Shawn Carver played very well in Kingpin’s net. We finally rattled him in the 77th minute, however, as Henriksson and Tobias scored in rapid succession. Three minutes later, Chuck Scales added a gravy goal, and the match was decided. Player Ratings Hattrick rates individual performances in star ratings. Here are the number of stars that each of our players earned in this match: Read: 1/2 Brown: Scales: * Lucas: 1/2 Johnson: Tere: Bautista: * Mauffret: Dodge: 1/2 Tobias: 1/2 Henriksson: 1/2 Team Match MVP: #6 Charlie Bautista Team Ratings* Hattrick rates team performances with the same rating system that is used for rating player skills. Here are the performance ratings for both teams. Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Weak (4) -Right Defense: Excellent (8) -Central Defense: Excellent (8) -Left Defense: Solid (7) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Inadequate (5) Kingpin F.C. -Midfield: Wretched (2) -Right Defense: Inadequate (5) -Central Defense: Inadequate (5) -Left Defense: Weak (4) -Right Attack: Wretched (2) -Central Defense: Poor (3) -Left Attack: Wretched (2) It’s easy to see why this was such a mismatch. Up Next: We open up league play by hosting another recently promoted team, Croats In Miami. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:17 AM	#6
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Cup Match #2 Democrats vs. Screamin’ Seamen Date: December 18, 2002 Venue: Freaks Arena (Washington D.C.) Attendance: 4,870 (7,000) Weather: Partly Cloudy Our draw in the second round of the U.S.A. Cup looked to be a relatively easy one. Democrats was a team from America’s Division Five, and played a standard 4-4-2 formation. This meant that, with a 3-5-2 formation, we should be able to dominate the midfield and therefore get the majority of the scoring chances. Because of this, we elected to play most of our second team, still confident that we could advance. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley Right Wingback: #23 William Brown Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Right Winger: #8 Max Dodge Inner Midfielder: #25 Paul Peralta Inner Midfielder: #20 Felix Pedersen Inner Midfielder: #18 Herbert Nelson Left Winger: #14 Jeffrey Nolan Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon Three starters were used to supplement the talent level for the match; wingback Arlen Lucas, winger Max Dodge, and forward Forrest Tobias. Match Report After a fine move down the middle Daniel Mcgrath nearly gave the home side one up in the 17:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Screamin' took the lead in the games 24:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Jeffrey Nolan was the scorer. Screamin'´s Brooks Brannon received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 24:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 2. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. Mi Li-Ken challenged the visitors full backs eagerly, producing a good chance in the 29:th minute as he went for a through ball combination. But as so many times before, the guest´s defensive efforts got the best of it as a defenders The referee showed Screamin's Brooks Brannon the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 37 minutes into the game Mi Li-Ken had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Thomas Felix. After 38 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Brooks Brannon who increased Screamin'´s lead to 0 - 3. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 70 percent, dominated the battle. Jeffrey Nolan could have added one to the visitors lead if his free kick had gone just a little lower. In the 67:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as William Brown finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. In the game's 87:th minute Demo´s Marco King limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 92 percent possession rate. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 4, Democrats 0 Goals Brannon – 2 (1,2) Nolan – 1 (1) Brown – 1 (1) Cards Brannon (yellow) Player Ratings McKinley: 1/2 Brown: 1/2 Prada: 1/2 Lucas: *1/2 Dodge: 1/2 Peralta: 1/2 Pedersen: 1/2 Nelson: 1/2 Nolan: 1/2 Tobias: *1/2 Brannon: 1/2 Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Passable (6) -Central Defense: Passable (6) -Left Defense: Passable (6) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Weak (4) Democrats -Midfield: Wretched (2) -Right Defense: Inadequate (5) -Central Defense: Inadequate (5) -Left Defense: Weak (4) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Weak (4) Comments We were pleasantly surprised with results from this match. While we fully expected a victory and a trip to the third round, we did not expect a 4-nil shutout by our second team. Brooks Brannon was particularly busy with two goals and a yellow card. And William Brown’s scissor kick goal was a thing of beauty, let me tell you! Up Next: We return to league play, with a tough match-up on the road against Neon Genesis Evangelion. This one was exciting. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:18 AM	#7
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – League Match #2 Neon Genesis Evangelion vs. Screamin’ Seamen Date: December 22, 2002 Venue: Shinji’s Stadium (Pennsylvania) Attendance: 52,796 (67,000) Weather: Overcast N.G.E. looked to be our toughest competition to date. Although our midfield was superior, they boasted a solid offense and a ferocious defense. And to make matters worse, the match was on the road. Pre-season polls had picked Neon Genesis Evangelion to finish second in the series, and we definitely appeared to be the underdogs. We would be satisfied with a draw in what was sure to be a tough match. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #23 William Brown Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson We made two changes to our standard line-up, one at wingback and one at winger. At wingback, we felt that Ben McMahon still wasn’t playing up to snuff, and could not deny the intensity with which William Brown had been playing lately. We also were displeased with Max Dodge’s continued troubles early in the season, and replaced him with Otis Johnson, a young backup who had played well thus far. Match Report A well placed corner kick from Johannes Henriksson was followed by Arlen Lucas´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 0-1 for Screamin'. In the game's 17:th minute Screamin'´s Lucian Tere limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. EVAs Leslie Smiley got himself booked after a foul. The Screamin' player was Otis Johnson who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Frederick Ayres was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Johan S. Beckquist managed to kick one of them into 1 - 1 in the 27:th minute. EVA broke through to the left in the 40:th minute, Steven Fortune firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 2 - 1 lead. In the games 41st minute EVA´s Michael Waldrop fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Michael Waldrop for taking a dive. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle. 47 minutes into the game Screamin'´s William Brown found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 2 - 2. Screamin' had to manage with a reduced squad from the 54:th minute on, as Arlen Lucas got sent off for a foul in a free situation. Screamin' had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 75:th minute when Olav Mauffret came up alone against Xian Wai-Wah who managed a block. Screamin' took the lead after 76 minutes with 2 - 3. Chuck Scales placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Screamin' came close to extending their lead as Forrest Tobias delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 80 percent, dominated the battle. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 Goals Lucas – 1 (1) Brown – 1 (2) Scales – 1 (2) Cards Lucas (red) Player Ratings Read: 1/2 Lucas: ??? (Ratings are not provided for ejected players) Scales: * Brown: *1/2 Johnson: 1/2 (injured) -Peralta: (replaced Johnson) Tere: Tomlin: Bautista: 1/2 Mauffret: 1/2 Tobias: 1/2 Henriksson: *1/2 Team Match MVP: #2 Chuck Scales Team Ratings* Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Inadequate (5) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Excellent (8) -Left Defense: Formidable (9) -Right Attack: Passable (6) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Inadequate (5) Neon Genesis Evangelion -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Brilliant (11) Central Defense: Outstanding (10) -Left Defense: Excellent (8) -Right Attack: Solid (7) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Excellent (8) Comments Woohoo! Chuck Scales is da man! After we scratched back to earn a draw, our central defender knocks home the game winner with only 15 minutes remaining. The lads carried Chuck off the pitch and were buying him beers for days after that one! The ironic thing about this match was that all three of our goals came from our three defenders. The bad news is that Arlen Lucas was ejected. Not only was he removed from this match, leaving us a man down (making our comeback even more unlikely), he will also be unavailable to play in our upcoming Cup match, which looks to be a tough one. All the same, I’ll take it. Any league road win is a good one, especially against a good team. Up Next: Our round 3 cup draw looks to be a very tough one, as we face off against FC Zeljeznicar from U.S.A. Division Three. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:19 AM	#9
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Week 3 – League Match Screamin’ Seamen vs. Gazzaly FC Date: December 29, 2002 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 13,739 (17,350) Weather: Overcast Team morale was a little low after our first ever loss in a competitive match, but Gazzaly FC looked to be exactly what we needed to recover. A newly formed team that had the misfortune of being placed in Division Four, the visitors looked to be outmatched in every category. We didn’t expect much trouble with this one. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin Left Winger: #25 Paul Peralta Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson Substitutes -Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley -Defender: #23 William Brown -Inner Midfielder: #18 Herbert Nelson -Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon -Winger: #8 Max Dodge We only made one change to our normal starting lineup, and that was Paul Peralta again playing in place of Max Dodge, who has yet to regain the good form with which he played in our first season. Match Report Forrest Tobias gave his Screamin' the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. In the 6:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Olav Mauffret dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Screamin'. Lucian Tere of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 9:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Screamin'´s Forrest Tobias putting the lead up to 3 - 0. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Johannes Henriksson squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 14:th minute, asserting the lead to 4 - 0. 4 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate. Screamin' put themselves up 5 - 0 when Johannes Henriksson broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. After this Screamin' lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. After 71 minutes Paul Peralta put Screamin' ahead 6 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 86 percent possession rate. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Gazzaly FC 0 Goals Tobias – 2(3,4) Henriksson – 2(6,7) Mauffret – 1(1) Peralta – 1(1) Cards Tere (yellow) Player Ratings Read: 1/2 McMahon: 1/2 Scales: 1/2 Lucas: * Mauffret: 1/2 Bautista: 1/2 Tere: 1/2 Tomlin: * Peralta: 1/2 Tobias: 1/2 Henriksson: *1/2 Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas Team Ratings* Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Weak (4) -Right Defense: Excellent (8) -Central Defense: Excellent (8) -Left Defense: Formidable (9) -Right Attack: Passable (6) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack : Inadequate (5) Gazzaly FC -Midfield: Wretched (2) -Right Defense: Passable (6) -Central Defense: Passable (6) -Left Defense: Inadequate (5) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Inadequate (5) Comments This was about the kind of result we expected from this match, and exactly what the team needed. We jumped out to a huge 4-nil lead in the first 14 minutes, and then were able to put it into cruise control. I am most impressed with the fact that Gazzaly FC never even had a good scoring opportunity against us. A completely dominating performance, without doubt. Up Next: Our first friendly match of the season, as we host the newly-formed Galesburg Avengers and their manager, Coffee Warlord. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:20 AM	#10
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Week 4 – Friendly Match Screamin’ Seamen vs. Galesburg Avengers Date: January 1, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 583 (17,350) (Friendly matches don’t draw much in the way of crowds) Weather: Rain We looked to start the new year off right, with a friendly match against Coffee Warlord’s Galesburg Avengers. The Avengers were a new team, but we figured they would be playing their starters against our backups, and the 5-4-1 formation we typically play in friendly matches is far from competitive. We also had a couple of new acquisitions that would be playing as Seamen for the first time. Given all of this, we really had no idea what to expect from the matchup. New to the team were a pair of 18 year old defenders. First was #24 Christian Kvam. Christian is Finnish, and came over to the U.S. from Oddballs for the price of $18,000. He is 6’3” and excels and defending against headers on cross passes and corner kicks. He is rated as a passable (6) winger and inadequate (5) defender. Our second addition was #21 Zarpas Lerma, an 18 year old Spaniard. Zarpas came to SSFC from Smiths F.C. in Spain for $6,000. Zarpas is 6’2” and is also good at defending against headers. He is rated as an inadequate (5) winger and inadequate (5) defender. Formation: 5-4-1 Starters Keeper: #13 Fredric McKinley Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam Central Defender: #22 Bill Rubin Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma Left Wingback: #23 William Brown Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Inner Midfielder: #8 Max Dodge Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon Left Winger: #14 Jeffrey Nolan Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart Team Captain: #14 Jeffrey Nolan Set Pieces: #14 Jeffrey Nolan Substitutes -Keeper: #1 Darryl Read -Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas -Inner Midfielder: #20 Felix Pedersen -Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias -Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Some positions had been re-arranged, given the presence of our new acquisitions, and some of these players knew that they may very well be playing their last game as a member of SSFC. The two new additions meant that two other players had to go. Match Report The referee showed Screamin's Bill Rubin the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. One of many good passes from Wiley Otero at the wing was recieved and skillfully taken care of by Paul Street, scoring for Galesburg to 0 - 1. 34 minutes into the game Max Dodge was really close to evening the score out with a dangerous long range shot, but the ball went just wide of the bar. Screamin's Luis Javier Prada got himself booked after a foul. Ruben Stewart made a superb strike at the goal in the 39:th minute with a long shot coming in from straight in front of the goal, but one of the visitors defenders got a foot in and warded it off to a corner. In the games 41st minute Galesburg´s Paul Street fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Paul Street for taking a dive. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Martin Schrader could have put his team up another one in the 44:th minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. After 45 minutes Galesburg´s Daryl Mosley contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. 0 - 1 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 59 percent possession rate. The Screamin' players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. Due to some great work on the right wing Screamin':s Zarpas Lerma was able to even the score in the 53rd minute to 1 - 1. Jesse Matson of Galesburg received a yellow card in the 54:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Luis Javier Prada gave his Screamin' the lead with 2 - 1, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. 81 minutes into the game William Brown had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Arlen Lucas. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Galesburg Avengers 1 Goals Lerma – 1 Prada – 1 Cards Rubin (yellow) Prada (yellow) Player Ratings McKinley: * Kvam: ** Rubin: 1/2 Prada: 1/2 Lerma: 1/2 Brown: * (injured) -Lucas: * (replaced injured William Brown) Johnson: Dodge: 1/2 Brannon: * Nolan: 1/2 Stewart: Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Weak (4) -Right Defense: Weak (4) -Central Defense: Inadequate (5) -Left Defense: Solid (7) -Right Attack: Weak (4) -Central Attack: Wretched (2) -Left Attack: Poor (3) Galesburg Avengers -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Passable (6) -Central Defense: Inadequate (5) -Left Defense: Weak (4) -Right Attack: Passable (6) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Passable (6) Comments I have to say that I was quite pleased with the outcome of this one. We’ve been trying to find a way to generate some midfield possession and scoring chances, and were finally able to do it. The two second-half goals and the fact that the Avengers had no good scoring chances in the second half were good signs. The newcomers, Lerma and Kvam, both played well. Kvam took care of business on his wing, and Lerma gave us the game-tying goal. The bad news is that William Brown’s injury is not a minor one. He is expected to miss the next two weeks. We hope to have him back a little sooner, but can’t count on it. Up Next: More personnel changes, as the Seamen announce a trade with a team from Division Two. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:21 AM	#11
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Week 4 – Roster Changes Screamin’ Seamen Announce Trade With Middlesex Athletic (January 2, 2003) Rumors have been circulating regarding a trade by SSFC, and today those rumors were confirmed. Spokesmen announced that youth product Hyman Morey has been traded to Middlesex Athletic (II.4). In return, SSFC received midfielder Jerry Smith and keeper Cornelius Jernigan. Jernigan is expected to take the #1 jersey from Darryl Read sometime this season. To make space, SSFC has sold midfielder Herbert Nelson. Jeffrey Nolan, Felix Pedersen, and Fredric McKinley are also transfer listed. New Faces In addition to Christian Kvam and Zarpas Lerma, we have added a pair of Americans to the roster as a result of the trade. #19 Jerry Smith – Inner Midfielder -Age: 19 -Playmaking: Solid (7) -Games Played: 2 -Goals Scored: 1 Jerry is a replacement in the making for the aging Pete Tomlin. While his playmaking abilities are good, his conditioning leaves a bit to be desired. Fans can expect to see him break into the starting lineup next season, and he will play in all of our friendly matches up until then. #13 Cornelius Jernigan – Goalkeeper -Age: 23 -Goaltending: Solid (7) -Games Played: 17 -Goals Allowed: 39 -Goals Against Average: 2.29 -Clean Sheets: 3 Cornelius is exactly the sort of upgrade we’ve been looking for at the keeper position, and was the linchpin in the trade with Middlesex Athletic. Without him, no deal would have been struck. While his statistics and GAA does not rival that of Darryl Read, they are a result of Cornelius playing in Division Two for his entire career. His skills exceed those of Darryl, and we fully expect him to become our #1 keeper as soon as he shakes the rust off and becomes accustomed to our defensive system. Hyman Morey was a youth pull who was valued at $213,000, and was by far the best youth pull our squad has produced thus far. At 19 years old, he was rated as solid in both playmaking and defending, making him an excellent candidate for a defensive midfielder position. I was tempted to keep him, or see what we could get on the transfer market, but the temptation of finally landing a solid keeper with some experience (Jernigan) was too great to resist. Wave Goodbye Because we’ve added four new players this week, we had to let four others go. The following four men are no longer a part of Screamin’ Seamen FC, and we wish them all the luck in the world (unless we happen to play against them, naturally). Herbert Nelson (Inner Midfielder): Sold to Los Dorados de Villa (Texas) for $21,000. Felix Pedersen (Inner Midfielder): Sold to Centennial (Tennessee) for $4,000. Fredric McKinley (Goalkeeper): Sold to TOL (Netherlands) for $10,000. Jeffrey Nolan (Winger/2nd Team Captain): Sold to malcziki (Poland) for $1,000. Jeff was the hardest player to let go. While his skills were a bit under our standards, his leadership abilities will be missed. Unfortunately, we simply no longer had a roster spot for him. Up Next: Now that we’re pretty much caught up with the state of the current season, I’ll give the lowdown on our team status. After that, we face our toughest league match in team history! Ramblers, the team picked by most to win the series, are coming to town. Be sure not to miss this one! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:22 AM	#12
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 - Team Status Here is the status of the Screamin' Seamen organization, as we move into the fourth week of league play. Players -Players Under Contract: 22 -Nationalities: American (17), Romanian (1), Finnish (1), Swedish (1), Spanish (1), Norwegian (1) -Average Age: 23 years old -Total Squad Value: $1,761,000 -Average Player Value: $80,045 -Total Weekly Wages: $24,462 Training and Team Spirit -Training Level: 97% -Training Type: Defending (our standard, and the reason we play 5-4-1 in friendly matches) -Team Spirit: Content -Confidence: Strong The Docks Our team's arena is called the Docks, and can currently seat 17,350 rabid Seamen fans. The number of seats are broken down as follows, by type: -Terraces: 10,845 -Basic Seating: 4,340 -Seats Under Roof: 1,735 -Seats in VIP Boxes: 430 A home sellout earns us $91,900 in profit, but the stadium costs us $11,271 every week in upkeep, whether we use it or not. It's not all gravy. Financials We're in a better financial state than a lot of other clubs. A big part of that is due to the fact that I have never allowed my club to go into debt. I do not believe in operating under the break even line. That, combined with the success we have had thus far in league play, means that we are financially sound. We currently have nearly $160,000 in the bank, and receive sponsorship payments of nearly $50,000 every week. Aside from the expenses already mentioned, we also pay out $31,500 per week on out staff, and $20,000 per week on our youth squad. All of this, combined with the income from home games and other sources revenue means that we're doing well, financially. -Sponsors: Delirious -Supporter Club (The Swabbies): 1,069 members strong. -Supporter Attitude: High on Life. The Club -Youth Squad Level: Solid (Only one step away from the highest possible; excellent). Specialists -Goaltending Coaches: 2 -Assistant Coaches: 7 -Sports Psychologists: 1 -Spokespersons: 3 (or "Spokesladies", typically hired away from The Admiral Theater. Got to keep those other sponsors and supporters happy. ) -Physiotherapists: 7 -Doctors: 1 Overall Overall, we are in very good shape. Our player wages are below average for a Division Four team, yet we continue to win. We have a good training program going, concentrating on developing young defensive talent to either replace aging starters or be sold off in the future. On top of all that, we are financially sound, and continue to generate a small but steady profit. Up Next: Our toughest match to date, as we face off against Rambers. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:23 AM	#13
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Week 4 – League Match Screamin’ Seamen vs. Ramblers Date: January 5, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 17,350 (17,350) Weather: Sunny We faced what was clearly the most superior team in the series this week. Ramblers were picked by just about everyone to win the series. Both of our teams had won all three of our league matches up to this point. Technically, we were in first place, but only because our goal differential was one higher than that of the Ramblers. Ramblers were a particularly frightening team for two reasons. The first was Phillip Gallo. Phillip is certainly one of the premier wingers in the entire nation (and in my opinion, should be playing for the U.S.A. national team). He regularly puts up five stars, is valued at over one million dollars, and is a dominant force on the wing. The other reason was Eric Holmes. At only 20 years old, Eric is one of the better midfielders in the country, and typically plays in close proximity to Gallo. The two of them make a potent threat to any team, and were sure to give us trouble. We hoped to contain these two powerhouses, by playing an especially defensive game on their side of the pitch. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete Tomlin Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson Substitutes -Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan -Defender: #24 Christian Kvam -Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith -Forward: #12 Brooks Brannon -Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Max Dodge continues to disappoint in practice, and has yet to come anywhere close to the good form he held most of last season. In his place we start Paul Peralta. One of our most experienced players, and a good defensive wingback, it would be Paul’s job to try to contain Phillip Gallo. Match Report Ramblers took the lead in the games 5:th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Philip Gallo was the scorer. Screamin's Paul Peralta got himself booked after a foul. Ramblers were forced to a substitution as Perry Maddox couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Screamin'´s Arlen Lucas made an attempt at equalising in the 28:th minute, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post, the defense clearing the rebound. Eric Holmes enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. Screamin' tried to reply with long plays towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitor´s defence got the best of it. The visitors Xiao Hai-Au took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 36:th minute. 0 - 2 for Ramblers. By now Ramblers were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate. Screamin's Pete Tomlin got himself booked after a foul. Kurt Arredondo went down after a savage challenge, but could keep on playing after som medical attention. Screamin' didn´t give in and in the 72nd minute Forrest Tobias was able to put the 1 - 2 goal away after a play from the right. In the 75:th minute Ramblerss Ronny Stefansson received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 85 minutes Charlie Bautista made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 2 - 2. When Pete Tomlin made yet another studs first tackle, in the games 86th minute, the referee was obliged to book the Screamin' player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Ramblers 2 Goals Tobias – 1(5) Bautista – 1(1) Cards Peralta (yellow) Tomlin (red) Player Ratings Read: 1/2 McMahon: 1/2 Scales: * Lucas: 1/2 Peralta: *1/2 Tomlin: (ejected) Tere: 1/2 Bautista: *1/2 Mauffret: 1/2 Henriksson: 1/2 Tobias: 1/2 Team Match MVP: Chuck Scales Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Passable (6) -Right Defense: Brilliant (11) -Central Defense: Formidable (9) -Left Defense: Solid (7) -Right Attack: Weak (4) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Inadequate (5) Rambers -Midfield: Weak (4) -Right Defense: Passable (6) -Central Defense: Outstanding (10) -Left Defense: Outstanding (10) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Solid (7) -Left Attack: Outstanding (10) Comments Woohoo! I have to admit, I am very pleased with the result from this one. A draw is about the best that we could realistically hope for, and that is exactly what we got. Gallo’s early goal made me worry a bit, but we continue to show good form in the second half, and game back from a two goal deficit on clutch goals from Forrest Tobias and Charlie Bauitista. This was Charlie’s first goal of the season, and it could not have come at a better time. The draw means that we remain at the top of the table in series IV.49, if only by the narrowest of margins. For the first time this season, I honestly believe that we have a shot at winning this thing. Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin continues to be a mean bastard, and got himself ejected from the game. This also means that he will miss next week’s league match, but it looks to be an easy one, so I am not that concerned about it. Series Standings Here is what the table looks like in our series after four weeks of play. Pos. Team Played Goals Points 1. Screamin’ Seamen 4 16-5 10 2. Ramblers 4 13-3 10 3. Farmer of Fire 4 5-6 7 4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 4 9-6 6 5. Croats in Miami 4 10-10 6 6. Cariocas 4 8-5 5 7. Gazzaly FC 4 1-11 1 8. Gohira 4 0-16 0 Up Next: We host Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks in a friendly match on Wednesday, our last warm-up game before FOFC Cup action begins next week. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:24 AM	#14
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – Week 4 – Friendly Match Screamin’ Seamen vs. Oklahoma City Rednecks Date: January 8th, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 957 (17,350) Weather: Partly Cloudy This week we welcomed Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks to Chicago for the last warm-up game before the start of the FOFC Cup. Our big concern going into the match was the poor form some of our reserves were in, due to a lack of playing time earlier in the season. Participation in the U.S.A. Cup tends to have this effect on teams. When you’re forced to play your starters, the form of your reserves can suffer. We hoped that this match would help to get some of our back-ups in fighting trim for the upcoming cup competition. Formation: 5-4-1 Starters Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma Central Defender: #22 Bill Rubin Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada Left Wingback: #23 William Brown Right Winger: #8 Max Dodge Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon Left Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart Team Captain: #16 Otis Johnson Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon Substitutes -Keeper: #1 Darryl Read -Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas -Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista -Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias -Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Cornelius Jernigan and Jerry Smith, new to the squad as a result of our trade with Middlesex Athletic, would be wearing SSFC jerseys for the first time today. We were eager to see how the newcomers would perform, particularly Jernigan. We fully expect him to take over as our starting keeper within the next week or two. We were hesitant to start William Brown, who is still recovering from a nasty blow to the knee in last week’s match against the Galesburg Avengers. Willie has been recovering nicely with the assistance of our team doctors, however, and he assured us that he was ready to go. Coach Brown told him to take it easy, however, and make sure no further damage to the knee was sustained. Match Report Screamin' were very close to putting themselves one up in the 14:th minute as Luis Javier Prada got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Screamin' could have put themselves ahead in the 27:th minute as Ruben Stewart missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. In the games 27:th minute Oklahoma´s Brice Pratt fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Brice Pratt for taking a dive. Screamin' made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Ruben Stewart completely alone with keeper Ted Greenwood, who made a spectacular block. Screamin' created a good opportunity to score in the games 32nd minute when William Brown`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 84 percent, dominated the battle. In the 54:th minute Ruben Stewart almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. William Brown of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 56:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the game's 61st minute Screamin'´s Jerry Smith limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. In the games 71st minute Oklahoma´s Jacob Cummings fell dramatically just outside the penalty area.The referee, however booked Jacob Cummings for taking a dive. Screamin' seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Joe Morris hit the ball just perfect in the 77:th minute and could score for Oklahoma with a fab long shot to 0 - 1. The referee showed Oklahomas Ken Swain the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The player down was Max Dodge. The Screamin' bench looked worried a while but in the end he managed to get up. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball. Final Score: Oklahoma City Rednecks 1, Screamin’ Seamen 0 Goals None Cards Brown (yellow) Player Ratings Jernigan: Kvam: Lerma: ** Rubin: 1/2 Prada: * Brown: *1/2 Dodge: (slight injury) Smith: 1/2 (slight injury) Brannon: * Johnson: ** Stewart: * Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Solid (7) -Left Defense: Passable (6) -Right Attack: Wretched (2) -Central Attack: Wretched (2) -Left Attack: Poor (3) Oklahoma City Rednecks -Midfield: Disastrous (1) -Right Defense: Inadequate (5) -Central Defense: Passable (6) -Left Defense: Inadequate (5) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Inadequate (5) -Left Attack: Inadequate (5) Comments This was one of the most frustrating performances by our players that I’ve ever had to witness. We completely dominated the possession game, and must have had at least five good scoring opportunities. We simply weren’t able to capitalize on any of them. Ruben Stewart’s form has been suffering lately, and it was terribly obvious today. We have to seriously consider the possibility of benching him during the FOFC cup, unless his play improves dramatically. Still, we have to give credit where credit is due. Airhog and the Rednecks took advantage of the opportunities that they did have, and walked away with the win. We take our hats off to them. Up Next: Weekly updates occur on Saturday, so we will update the status of the team (financial and otherwise) then. After that, we travel to San Francisco to take on Gohira in league play. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:25 AM	#15
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Stubbs Promoted From Youth Squad, Finds Spot on SSFC Roster (AP – Chicago, IL) Data King, GM and owner of the Screamin’ Seamen Football Club, announced earlier today that a new player had been added to the SSFC roster. Keith Stubbs, an 18 year old defender from nearby Schaumburg, Illinois, was promoted from the club’s youth squad and has been granted a space on the B-Team roster. “Keith looks to be a decent young player on the back line,” stated King during a brief press conference. “He still needs some seasoning, but is significantly younger than some of our other defensive trainees.” When asked if this meant SSFC would be selling the rights to another of their defensive trainees, King refused to comment. Stubbs was officially placed on the Screamin’ Seamen payroll earlier today, with a modest listed salary of $30,160. Youth Pull Keith Stubbs has been promoted from the youth squad and will play with our second team. He is rated as inadequate (5) in defending, and is two years younger than one of our other inadequate defenders, Bill Rubin. Bill will be placed on the transfer market soon, for anyone who may be interested. Keith will wear the #20 jersey for SSFC, and will see his first action this Wednesday against the Hamas Mad Bombers. Weekly Balance Sheet Previous Balance: $159, 040 Income Crowd (home match vs. Ramblers) - $91,900 Crowd (friendly match vs. Oklahoma City Rednecks) - $2,507 Sponsors - $51,150 Temporary (sale of keeper Fredric McKinley) - $9,000 Temporary (sale of winger Jeffrey Nolan) - $920 Temporary (sale of youth winger Amburaja Pai) - $1,840 Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780 Total Income: $158,097 Expenses Arena Upkeep - $11,271 Player Wages - $26,512 Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000 Temporary (transfer market listing) - $1,000 Staff & Specialists - $33,000 Youth Squad Support - $20,000 Total Expenses: $93,783 Net Income/Loss: $64,314 New Balance: $223,354 As you can see, we’re in pretty good shape financially. Part of this is because three of our first four league matches were home games, and we only have four home matches in the last ten weeks of the season. We’re pretty well off, all the same, but barring any more good youth pulls like Hyman Morey, I have no plans to make any major personnel changes for the remainder of the season. We will hold onto our money, and see what would be most beneficial for us come the end of the season. Up Next: We’re in San Francisco, preparing for a match against a winless Gohira team. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:26 AM	#17
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 1 – First Leg Hamas Mad Bombers vs. Screamin’ Seamen Date: January 15, 2003 Venue: Hamas Mad Bombers Arena (Idaho) Attendance: 485 (7,000) Weather: Partly cloudy We’ve drawn astralhaze’s Hamas Mad Bombers in the first round of the 2nd Annual FOFC Cup, and we open the home-and-home competition at the Bombers’ home stadium in Idaho. As much as I would like to play my starters in this matchup, I simply cannot bring myself to do it. My first priority is doing as well as possible in league play, and since we’re currently in first place, I cannot bring myself to run the risk of injury to my starters. I also insist on playing all of my players in a given week if at all possible, so as not to damage their form. Having a back-up who is in decent form and is ready to rumble when the call comes can be a big factor late in the season. Formation: 5-4-1 Starters Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan Right Wingback: #23 William Brown Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs Left Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart Team Captain: #25 Paul Peralta Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon Substitutes -Keeper: #1 Darryl Read -Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas -Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith -Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias -Winger: #16 Otis Johnson You may notice that there are a few changes here to our typical starting eleven for friendly matches. 1. Recent youth call-up Keith Stubbs will make his first appearance wearing the black and red. Because he’s untested, we’ve sandwiched him between Prada and Kvam, two of the better defensemen who will see the pitch today. 2. Bill Rubin is no longer a member of the Screamin’ Seamen. Airhog’s Oklahoma City Rednecks snatched him up off the transfer market earlier today for $3,000. Hopefully the warmer climate down there will suit Bill better, and we wish him and the Rednecks all the best. 3. Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin served out his suspension this past weekend, and was unable to play in our league match. We don’t want the old man to get rusty, however, so #4 gets the nod at midfield. Match Report Screamin's Brooks Brannon got himself booked after a foul. Bombers´s Jacob Hendrickson left the field after 10 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Jimmie Carroll. In the 16:th minute the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as Austin Atkins flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. David Cornelius of Bombers received a yellow card in the 20:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 65 percent possession rate. Screamin' got a chance to level the score as Zarpas Lerma suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. Keith Stubbs of Screamin' received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The crowd was silenced in the 62nd minute as the visiting teams Luis Javier Prada came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. This was a good period for the visitors with several opportunities to take the lead, in particular when William Brown slipped through the defense to come up alone with Alejandro Bayo - but the home side´s keeper showed some lightning reflex Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 88 percent, dominated the battle. Final Score: Hamas Mad Bombers 1, Screamin’ Seamen 1 Goals Prada – 1 Cards Brannon (yellow) Stubbs (yellow) Player Ratings Jernigan: 1/2 Brown: Lerma: Prada: Stubbs: 1/2 Kvam: * Peralta: Tomlin: 1/2 Brannon: 1/2 Dodge: Stewart: * Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Passable (6) -Left Defense: Solid (7) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Wretched (2) -Left Attack: Wretched (2) Hamas Mad Bombers -Midfield: Wretched (2) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Solid (7) -Left Defense: Inadequate (5) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Weak (4) -Left Attack: Weak (4) Comments We certainly had out opportunities, especially in the second half with a whopping 88% of the ball possession. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish on the opportunities that we had. Lerma’s shot off the bar really hurt, as that could very well have been the difference. I am particularly impressed with the Bombers’ keeper Bayo. He snatched the ball away from William Brown, who is one of the fastest guys on my team (specialty: quick). Ruben Stewart continues to frustrate the hell out of me. He has been going steadily downhill, and now has a four game scoring drought. As much as I hate to buy backups (my theory is to let starters who are surpassed become the backups), I may be forced to sell Ruben and do just that. Right now, an injury to Henriksson or Tobias would really hurt my team. As disappointed as I am with Ruben, I still have to come away from the match satisfied with the result. Aside from Stewart and Dodge, our reserves played well, and we managed a 1-1 draw on the road. In my mind, that’s the equivalent of a victory in a home-and-home situation. Now its up to the Bombers to come to Chicago and beat us in our own back yard next week. Up Next: Training results occur on Fridays, and I plan to start documenting the highlights of our weekly training then. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:27 AM	#18
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Two Screamin’ Defensemen Take A Step Forward (AP – Chicago, IL) The Screamin’ Seamen Football Club held their weekly player evaluation meetings earlier today, and appear to have a great deal to be thankful for in the new year. Team owner and general manager Data King met briefly with the press once the meetings had concluded. “We feel that two of our defensemen have really taken a step up in the past week,” said King. “We were extremely pleased to learn that young Keith Stubbs appears even better than we thought when he was promoted from our youth program last week. He performed well in Wednesday’s match against the Bombers, and has been picking up our defensive system at an impressive pace.” “But even more impressive is Chuck Scales,” King continued. “Chuck has been with us since the beginning, and has without a doubt become our best defender. He has really come into his own this season, especially in the last week or two. We’ve even received a couple of informal calls regarding him, asking if we had any intention of placing him on the market anytime soon.” King paused here for a moment, then said with a smile. “Not a chance in hell.” The Seamen return home for the first time in a week and a half this weekend, when they host a struggling 6th place Cariocas team. Weekly Training Update We had two players “pop” in skill level this week. Our starting central defender, Chuck Scales, moved up to an “excellent” rating in defense, our first player to reach a rating of excellent (8) in any attribute besides stamina and form. Although his assessed value is only $92,000 at the moment, this is the area where assessed value become really unreliable. Once you get into players rated at excellent, the price on the transfer market can really skyrocket, due in large part to the rarity of such players. At the moment, there are only two excellent defenders listed on the American market, and none in Chuck’s age range (he’s 23). I suspect that, if sold, he could garner somewhere in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. Not that I intend to sell him anytime soon. The other skill “pop” that we had was a complete surprise. Last week’s youth pull, Keith Stubbs, has increased from inadequate (5) to passable (6) defending in only one week. I had toyed with the idea of keeping Rubin instead of Stubbs, but I’m sure glad that I didn’t. Although his assessed value is only $19,000 right now, the fact that he is only 18 makes him much more valuable than that. I suspect that we could net somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 were we to sell Keith right now. But again, I have no intentions of selling either of these guys anytime soon. The other good news is that it appears Ruben Stewart may finally be coming out of his slump, as his form has increased for the first time since back in November when he lost his starting job to Forrest Tobias. He still has a way to go, but hopefully it will be enough for us to get past the Hamas Mad Bombers on Wednesday. Also, Cornelius Jernigan continues to improve in form, having gained three levels since we acquired him from Middlesex Athletic. But starting keeper Darryl Read has no intention of letting his starting spot slip away, and is now in solid form for the second consecutive week (he has only been in solid form once before during his career, and that was for one week). So it looks like we have an intense battle for the starting keeper spot in the making. Team Average Form: 5.3 (same as last week) Team Average Value: $85,409 (up $2,454 from last week’s $82,955) Up Next: Although weekly updates occur on Saturday evening, I’m not likely to get to those or our weekly youth pull until Sunday. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:28 AM	#19
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Weekly Balance Sheet Previous Balance: $223,354 Income Crowd (FOFC Cup match vs. Hamas Mad Bombers) - $1,107 Sponsors - $52,500 Temporary (sale of defender Bill Rubin) - $2,760 Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780 Total Income: $57,147 Expenses Arena Upkeep - $11,271 Player Wages - $24,962 Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000 Temporary (transfer market listing) - $1,000 Temporary (fired 2 team doctors) - $3,000 Staff & Specialists - $33,000 Youth Squad Support - $20,000 Total Expenses: $95,233 Net Income/Loss: -$38,086 New Balance: $185,268 State of the Team Team Spirit: Satisfied Team Confidence: Strong Sponsor Attitude: Delirious Supporter Attitude: High on Life Supporters: 1,121 (up 26 from last week) Up Next: We host a struggling Cariocas team in league play this evening, as we try to cling to first place in the series. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty) Last edited by DataKing : 01-28-2003 at 11:29 AM.

01-28-2003, 11:29 AM	#20
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – League Match #6 Screamin’ Seamen vs. Cariocas Date: January 19th, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 17,350 (17,350) Weather: Overcast This week we returned home for the first time in a week and a half. We would play host to a struggling Cariocas team. Cariocas had some talent on their squad, but what they seriously lacked was depth. They were seriously short of substitutes. Between that and some questionable tactics by their leadership, they had fallen to 6th place on the table. I had no doubt that we could handle Cariocas. There was plenty of confidence around the locker room and practice field all week. My concern was that the Ramblers were playing Gohira this week, the team that we smashed just a week ago. If the Ramblers blew out a hapless Gohira team, then we very well could lose our hold on first place. Formation: 3-5-2 Starters Keeper: #1 Darryl Read Right Wingback: #5 Arlen Lucas Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales Left Wingback: #3 Ben McMahon Right Winger: #25 Paul Peralta Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete Tomlin Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Left Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson Substitutes -Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan -Defender: #23 William Brown -Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith -Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart -Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Paul Peralta has been playing like a house a’fire as of late (read: excellent form), so he gets to start on the wing opposite our Finn, Olav Mauffret. Aside from that, it’s business as usual for the Seamen, now that Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin has returned from his suspension. Match Report Screamin's Forrest Tobias gave, after 11 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Screamin' were given a penalty in the 13th, neatly put away by Johannes Henriksson. 2 - 0 for the home side. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Screamin' lead up with 3 - 0. Paul Peralta finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 67 percent possession rate. Forrest Tobias increased Screamin's lead to 4 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. In the 59:th minute Screamin's Lucian Tere received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Cariocass Bill Gustafson had to leave the pitch, the team having noone to substitute him with! After an industrious effort down the middle Paul Peralta could have closed the game off in the 71st minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Man, what a shot by Mike Miller! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 4 - 1. The visitors replied in the games 75:th minute, scoring the 4 - 2 goal, as Julius Ball broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. In the games 75:th minute Kyle Levine recieved a blow to the hip due to a collision, and was unable to continue. Cariocas had made all their substitutions, and were forced to go on with a reduced lineup. Several players now looked tired, especially Chuck Scales who quite horribly caused the 4 - 3 goal as he lost the ball to Juan Luis Garrido of Cariocas, who seemed to have some energy left. A header from Charlie Bautista connected with a corner kick after 80 minutes, and the ball ended up with Forrest Tobias of Screamin' who shot the 5-3 goal. By then Forrest Tobias was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Forrest Tobias squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 83rd minute, asserting the lead to 6 - 3. The structure of the game started to change as Screamin' decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Cariocas had made all their substitutions when Hendrick de Boer had to leave the game in the 84:th minute because of a pulled tendon, leaving the team a man short. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 76 percent possession rate. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 6, Cariocas 3 Goals Tobias – 4(7,8,9,10) Henriksson – 1(9) Peralta – 1(2) Cards Tere (yellow-suspended) Player Ratings Read: 1/2 Lucas: * Scales: 1/2 McMahon: Peralta: 1/2 Tomlin: 1/2 Bautista: ** Tere: 1/2 Mauffret: 1/2 Tobias: 1/2 Henriksson: 1/2 Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas Team Ratings* Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Passable (6) -Right Defense: Formidable (9) -Central Defense: Excellent (8) -Left Defense: Excellent (8) -Right Attack: Inadequate (5) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Passable (6) Cariocas -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Inadequate (5) -Central Defense: Inadequate (5) -Left Defense: Inadequate (5) -Right Attack: Weak (4) -Central Attack: Passable (6) -Left Attack: Passable (6) Comments It certainly looked like we would cruise to an easy win after the first half, when Cariocas never even got any solid scoring opportunities. But I have no idea what happened there in the second half. Normally we’re a solid second-half team, but for some reason we fell apart for a 5-minute span and allowed three goals! It seems like the players that Cariocas was missing from the field opened up enough space for those remaining to start scoring goals. Combine that with a rare mistake from Chuck Scales, and you’ve got yourself a frightened football club on your hands. Fortunately for us, Forrest Tobias would have none of that. He gave us some insurance while tallying the second hattrick of his short career. Overall, four goals on the day for the young striker. Way to go Gump! Unfortunately for us, what I feared would happen did. The Ramblers demolished Gohira 7-1 and took a 2 goal lead in the goal differential race. Series Scores and Standings -As I mentioned, Ramblers dominated Gohira 7-1 and claimed first place in the series. -Croats in Miami demolished Gazzaly FC, 7-nil. -Neon Genesis Evangelion’s defense was stout once more, as they shut out Farmer of Fire 3-nil. Pos. Team Played Goals Points 1. Ramblers 6 26-4 16 2. Screamin’ Seamen 6 28-8 16 3. Neon Genesis Evangelion 6 17-6 12 4. Croats in Miami 6 20-11 12 5. Farmer of Fire 6 6-12 7 6. Cariocas 6 11-16 5 7. Gazzaly FC 6 1-24 1 8. Gohira 6 1-29 0 Up Next: We play the second leg of our first-round FOFC Cup matchup against Hamas Mad Bombers this Wednesday. A win, and we advance to the 2nd round to face the Toads. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 11:30 AM	#21
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 1 – Second Leg Screamin’ Seamen vs. Hamas Mad Bombers Date: January 22, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 1,010 (17,350) Weather: Cloudy After our 1-1 draw in the first leg of our FOFC Cup matchup, we returned home to host astralhaze’s Hamas Mad Bombers. The plan was to concentrate on defense and ball possession, and hold the Bombers scoreless, a task more easily said than done. But given the rules for the FOFC Cup, even a scoreless draw would mean that we would advance to the second round. Formation: 5-4-1 Starters Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma Central Defender: #17 Luis Javier Prada Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs Left Wingback: #23 William Brown Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart Team Captain: #16 Otis Johnson Set Pieces: #12 Brooks Brannon Substitutes -Keeper: #1 Darryl Read -Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas -Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere -Forward: #15 Forrest Tobias -Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret There were no significant changes to our lineup this week, as we had no injuries or suspensions to compensate for. The good news was that Ruben Stewart and Max Dodge appeared to be slowly coming out of their slumps. We hoped that a good performance today would give them a boost and get them back into competitive form. Match Report After a fine move down the middle William Brown nearly gave the home side one up in the 21st minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Screamin' made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Max Dodge completely alone with keeper Alejandro Bayo, who made a spectacular block. Heliodoro Alonso of Bombers received a yellow card in the 38:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 0 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate. Max Dodge was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Ruben Stewart managed to kick one of them into 1 - 0 in the 48:th minute. 49 minutes into the game Screamin' were awarded a penalty that Brooks Brannon turned into 2 - 0 without a problem. Heliodoro Alonso of Bombers got sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle, a completely uncalled for move, earning him his second yellow card of the game. Luis Javier Prada really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal after a corner, but he lost his nerve. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 77 percent, dominated the battle. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Hamas Mad Bombers 0 Goals Stewart – 1(assisted by Dodge) Brannon – 1 Cards None Player Ratings Jernigan: 1/2 Kvam: Lerma: 1/2 Prada: * Stubbs: 1/2 Brown: * Johnson: ** Brannon: 1/2 Smith: 1/2 Dodge: 1/2 Stewart: 1/2 Team Ratings Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Excellent (8) -Central Defense: Solid (7) -Left Defense: Solid (7) -Right Attack: Poor (3) -Central Attack: Wretched (2) -Left Attack: Poor (3) Hamas Mad Bombers -Midfield: Wretched (2) -Right Defense: Solid (7) -Central Defense: Solid (7) -Left Defense: Inadequate (5) -Right Attack: Weak (4) -Central Attack: Weak (4) -Left Attack: Weak (4) Comments With a two goal lead for us and with the Bombers having one of their strikers thrown off the pitch in the second half, it was all over but the screaming. Brown and Prada missed opportunities to make it a lop-sided game, but a win is a win and I will definitely take it. Especially heartening is the long-overdue good play of Max Dodge and Ruben Stewart. This gives me hope for our performance in round two of the cup. Speaking of which, we get a rare opportunity at revenge. The Cedar Pond Horned Toads were the team to knock us out of the cup last season, and we get the opportunity for some payback. While it will be tempting to throw a bunch of starters at the Toads, I have to remind myself that we are in the midst of a hotly contested series battle, and winning that has to be our top priority. Up Next: Training results come out on Friday, and hopefully the Hattrick gods will smile kindly upon us once again. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 12:01 PM	#22
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	SSFC Youth Squad Continues To Produce (AP – Chicago, IL) A scant two weeks after defenseman Keith Stubbs was promoted from the Screamin’ Seamen youth squad, SSFC struck gold yet again. Team owner and general manager Data King announced earlier today that 19 year old Tyler Willard had been promoted to the team’s second squad, and had a good chance of becoming a starter in the near future. “Our youth squad continues to impress us, and has proven to be a very worthwhile investment,” stated King during a press conference. “Tyler is a pretty wild character, but his abilities on the wing and on defense are quite impressive.” Given the team’s reputation for keeping 22 active players on the roster, no more and no less, speculation has been running rampant this weekend as to which player is on his way out the door. While King has yet to make any official announcement, all fingers seem to point to 21 year old defenseman Luis Javier Prada. Youth Pull #22 Tyler Willard (Wingback/Defender) -Assessed Value: $84,000 -Winger Skill: Passable (6) -Defending Skill: Solid (7) -Specialty: Unpredictable For those of you out there who are balking at the idea of spending $20,000 every week on your youth squads, all I can say is that you are missing out. This is the second player with a solid rating I have pulled this season, and the third since my youth squad achieved ‘solid’ status. While unpredictability isn’t exactly a trait I am looking for in my defenders, I simply could not justify selling or trading Tyler away. At 19 years old, he is nearly as good as one of our starting wingbacks, 27 year old Ben McMahon, and it is entirely likely that Tyler will replace Ben in the starting lineup by the end of next season. In the meantime, we have acquired yet another good defensive trainee. It’s a happy day in Seaman-land! On the other hand, this means that we do have to let one of our current defensive trainees go, and the rumors are correct. Luis Javier Prada is a passable defender (better than some of our other trainees), but at 21 years old has to be considered the expendable one. I have started a thread for transfer advertisements in the General Discussion section of the new board here. Weekly Balance Sheet Previous Balance: $185,268 Income Crowd (league match vs. Cariocas) - $91,900 Crowd (FOFC Cup match vs. Hamas Mad Bombers) - $2,658 Sponsors - $53,700 Temporary (mother club money for sale of Quincy Wilson) - $2,500 Temporary (26 new supporters) - $780 Total Revenue: $151,538 Expenses Arena Upkeep - $11,271 Player Wages - $24,942 Temporary (youth squad pull) - $2,000 Staff & Specialists - $30,000 Youth Squad Support - $20,000 Total Expenses: $88,213 Net Income/Loss: $63,325 New Balance: $248,593 State of the Team Team Spirit: Content Team Confidence: Wonderful Sponsor Attitude: Delirious Supporter Attitude: High on Life Supporters: 1,147 (up 26 from last week) Up Next: The first half of our mid-season rubber match against Farmer of Fire. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty) Last edited by DataKing : 01-28-2003 at 12:03 PM.

01-28-2003, 12:48 PM	#23
RPI-Fan Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Troy, NY	Great job! Great job, DK! A couple of questions... 1) What's the maximum form a player can have? Excellent? Also, I remember reading that there were two 'types' of form? If this is the case, what are they? If not, please correct me. 2) How the hell do you do trades?? Thanks! ~rpi-fan __________________ Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?

01-28-2003, 12:59 PM	#24
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Thanks for reading RPI-Fan, I'm glad you're enjoying it. To answer your questions: 1. You are correct that maximum form is Excellent. As far as the two 'types' of form, each player has their current form, and a 'base' form. The base form is something that you cannot see, but you can guess at if you monitor a player's form over a long period of time (I would recommend a season). This is not to say that, for example, a player with a base form of weak cannot get into excellent current form, but he will do so less often than a player with 'passable' base form. Let me know if this requires further explanation. 2. There is no official means to conduct trades in the game. The only way to handle it is by following these four steps. a. Arrange to make a trade with another manager. b. Inform a Hattrick GM that you will be conducting a trade. Let them know which players are being traded. c. List your players on the transfer market. d. Each of you bid way over what the player should end up going for. The bids should be equal in value. That way, no money is really changing hands. Trades are typically very rare. For the most part, they are unnecessary, because you can usually simply go out into the transfer market and find what you are looking for. I conducted the trade with Middlesex Athletic because the youth pull I traded away was quite a rare commodity (you don't find many teenage players with solid playmaking and solid defending). I hope this answers your questions. The results of our league match from this past weekend will be up soon. __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-28-2003, 01:14 PM	#25
RPI-Fan Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Troy, NY	One more... Thanks! Just one followup on the base form thing (sorry)... does it change? Or is it permanent, for the player's whole career? Thanks! ~rpi-fan __________________ Quis custodiets ipsos custodes?

01-29-2003, 12:38 AM	#29
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Are youth pulls always at passable form? Interesting theory as well.

01-29-2003, 12:40 AM	#30
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Just read this on the Hattrick board: By: NLG100 To: Everyone 159867.1 1/29/2003 at 06:47 Can someone please tell me the difference between CURRENT form and GENERAL form? If I have a player that has "inadequate fom" I assume that is his current form. So then what is his general form? Reply to this By: Canadasage To: NLG100 159867.2 as reply to 159867.1 1/29/2003 at 07:15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can someone please tell me the difference between CURRENT form and GENERAL form? If I have a player that has "inadequate fom" I assume that is his current form. So then what is his general form? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Form is the form that the player will always tend. Some players have a high general form, so although their form will vary, it will always tend toward the higher end. Other players have poor general form and will tend toward the lower end of the scale. ```````` Better trademark fast!

01-29-2003, 09:26 PM	#33
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Season 2 – FOFC Cup Round 2 – 1st Leg Our former defenseman, Luis Javier Prada, sold earlier today for $27,000 to Oulun Karpat, a brand new team in Finland. We wish Luis and his new team all the best in their future endeavors. $24,300 finds its way into the club’s coffers. Screamin’ Seamen vs. Cedar Pond Horned Toads Date: January 29, 2003 Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL) Attendance: 918 (17,350) Weather: Overcast We begin our bid to advance further in the prestigious FOFC Cup today, but a formidable barrier stands in our way. The Cedar Pond Horned Toads are in town, and this time we’re out for blood. For those of you who may not remember, the Toads are the team that knocked us out of last year’s inaugural FOFC Cup. This time around, we’ll be looking for some payback. But that payback will not be easy to come by. Both teams have a bit of an ‘edge’ about them, and play some seriously defensive soccer. Goals will be few and far between in this home-and-home series, to be certain. Our best hope is for a solid defensive effort here at home, and hopefully win while holding the Toads scoreless. If we can accomplish that, then all we will need to do against them next week is score one goal to advance. Formation: 5-4-1 Starters Keeper: #13 Cornelius Jernigan Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs Central Defender: #23 William Brown Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma Left Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard Right Winger: #16 Otis Johnson Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere Inner Midfielder: #12 Brooks Brannon Left Winger: #8 Max Dodge Forward: #9 Ruben Stewart Team Captain: #7 Lucian Tere Set Pieces: #9 Ruben Stewart Substitutes -Keeper: #1 Darryl Read -Defender: #5 Arlen Lucas -Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith -Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias -Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret The promotion of Tyler Willard from the youth squad, and the subsequent sale of defenseman Luis Javier Prada means that some shuffling on the back line is in order. Tyler is a natural wingback, so he has taken William Brown’s typical spot on the left side. Willie, in turn, has slid over to the center of the defense, filling the gap left by the departed Prada. A change in the midfield is necessary as well. Our big Romanian, Lucian Tere, is typically a starter, but he was suspended this past weekend due to yellow cards, so he gets to start in place of Jerry Smith on the right side of the midfield. We’re hoping that the big guy steps on a few Toads on his way to the net. Match Report Screamin' were very close to putting themselves one up in the 3rd minute as Keith Stubbs got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Screamin'´s Otis Johnson was able to shove the ball in. 1-0. Screamin' put themselves up 2 - 0 when William Brown broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. 2 - 0 was the half-time score. Screamin' held the ball, with a clear 54 percent possession rate. Horneds Jarrod Knapp got himself booked after a foul. Horneds Tommy Andersson got himself booked after a foul. Miguel Ángel Villalvilla Martínez of Horned received a yellow card in the 82nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Screamin', bringing the final ball possession rate to 56 percent, dominated the battle. Final Score: Screamin’ Seamen 2, Cedar Pond Horned Toads 0 Goals Johnson – 1 Brown – 1 Cards None Player Ratings Jernigan: *~ Kvam: ~ Stubbs: ~ Brown: * Lerma: Willard: * Johnson: ~ Tere: * Brannon: ~ Dodge: Stewart: ~ Team Ratings* Screamin’ Seamen -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Excellent (8) -Central Defense: Formidable (9) -Left Defense: Outstanding (10) -Right Attack: Poor (3) -Central Attack: Poor (3) -Left Attack: Wretched (2) Cedar Pond Horned Toads -Midfield: Poor (3) -Right Defense: Formidable (9) -Central Defense: Formidable (9) -Left Defense: Passable (6) -Right Attack: Poor (3) -Central Attack: Wretched (2) -Left Attack: Poor (3) Comments Two early goals from winger Otis Johnson and defender William Brown gave us a nice cushion, and after that we were definitely concentrating on defense. The second half of the match could hardly be called spectacular soccer, but it was terribly effective. The Toads never had any real scoring chances against us, and I think their players were beginning to get rather frustrated, hence the rash of yellow cards handed out late in the match. I have to admit that I was very surprised with wingback Tyler Willard’s performance in his professional debut. I knew the kid was good, but I did not know that he was three stars good! I was expecting more like two or two and a half. Given this new development, I have to give serious consideration to replacing Ben McMahon with young Tyler Willard in our starting line-up. Unless Tyler’s form plummets into the basement, that is what will happen. Which leaves me in an interesting quandary. If Willard becomes a starter for us, and it certainly appears that he will, then the sale of Luis Javier Prada just earlier today certainly appears to have been a bit premature. At 27 years old, Ben McMahon is far too long in the tooth to be considered a trainee. But I also do not like the idea of selling him. Solid wingers/solid defenders do not grow on trees. It is entirely possible that we may move Ben to winger. With the continuing frustrating performances by Max Dodge, we’re thin on decent wingers, and Ben certainly has the stamina to contribute (excellent stamina). He could actually prove quite useful as a defensive winger. This would allow us to sell off Dodge, as well as acquire an additional defensive trainee. And Ben will always be there for backup on defense, if need be. I’m not one to make hasty decisions, so it is unlikely that anything will be done right away. I’d like to see this week’s training updates, and test out Ben on the wing before doing anything drastic. All in all, today is a great day to be a Seaman! Up Next: Training results and week-end reports coming in a couple of days. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-29-2003, 09:54 PM	#34
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Great win!

01-30-2003, 10:37 AM	#35
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Screamin’ Seamen FC Supporters Here at the halfway point in the season, SSFC would like to thank the following clubs for their continuing support: Gargoyles (Owner: Ravenhawk, Series IV.19) North County Raiders (Owner: ArdentEnthusiast, Series IV.43) WestHam (Owner: Hammers 25, Series V.133) Berwyn Wednesday (Owner: Kevinho, Series IV.17, Founder of the Chicagoland Football Association) Aardvarks (Owner: Aylmar, Series V.74) The Chicago Sting (Owner: Kingsguard, Series V.57) Cedar Pond Horned Toads (Owner: HornedFrog Purple, Series V.97) Chi Town Dragons (Owner: jkincaid, Series IV.7) Galesburg Avengers (Owner: Coffee Warlord, Series V.38) FC Hartford (Owner: samifan24, Series V.14) Morrisville Morrisvillians (Owner: Nevstar, Series V.93) We would also like to pledge our continuing support for the following clubs. And believe me, if we weren’t limited to five supported clubs, a lot more of you would find yourselves on this list. Gargoyles North County Raiders Aardvarks Berwyn Wednesday The Chicago Sting __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty) Last edited by DataKing : 01-30-2003 at 10:38 AM.

01-30-2003, 10:53 AM	#37
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	All I have to do is score ONE goal though, right? Since he got blanked at my place?

01-30-2003, 11:13 AM	#38
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Actually, I took a look and I was wrong regarding how the tiebreakers work. From the original post of the rules for the first two rounds: The tiebreakers are like this in the home-and-home: 1. Team with most wins. ex: One team wins game and other game is a draw. 2. If both have a win or there are 2 draws, team with most goals in both games. 3. If both are even after that, the team with the most away goals advances. Like I said, I was wrong. I forgot about #2. For example, if the Toads beat me at their place 3-0, then the Toads would advance. However, if the score were 3-1, then SSFC would advance. All in all, I'd say you're pretty safe. A 7 goal lead practically guarantees you'll be in the 3rd round, pending a complete breakdown. __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

01-30-2003, 11:22 AM	#39
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	I don't have but maybe 3 non starters who didn't play, so it'll be about the same bunch. Yeah, I had forgotten about #2 as well.

01-31-2003, 11:35 AM	#40
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	Week 7 Training Results We stayed with our defensive training this week, and for the second week in a row did not see any skill level increases. However, 20 year old striker Forrest “Gump” Tobias did increase in experience from disastrous (1) to wretched (2). 7 players gained a level of form. 12 players remained at their current form level. 3 players saw their form drop this week. Team average form raised by 0.1 to 5.5 Top Form We don’t have any players in excellent (8) form at the moment. However, the following four players are all in solid (7) form: Wingback #5 Arlen Lucas Winger #25 Paul Peralta Goalkeeper #1 Darryl Read Midfielder #4 Pete “Old Goat” Tomlin The lowest form on the team belongs to none other than the ever-frustrating Max Dodge. Max has been in poor (3) form for two months now. It is likely that he will not even dress for a match next week. If that doesn’t shake things up for him, he’s out the door. Value Average player value rose to $95,333 this week, up $7,560 from last week’s $87,773. Team overall value finally broke the two million dollar mark this week ($2,002,000 to be exact). Big Gainers Midfielder Charlie Bautista has been slipping a bit as of late, but seems to be on the rebound. His value gain of $20,000 was third on the team for this week, taking him to a current assessed value of $107,000. Wingback Ben McMahon must realize that newcomer Tyler Willard is threatening his starting job, because Ben’s hard work on the training ground this week resulted in a value gain of $21,000. He is currently valued at $169,000. This week’s big gainer was new goalkeeper Cornelius Jernigan. Along with a form jump to passable (6), Cornelius’ value leaped $45,000 this week, to $451,000. Despite Darryl Read’s solid play as of late, it is likely that Cornelius will take over the starting keeper responsibilities this coming week. Up Next: Weekly financial updates and our next youth squad pull on Saturday. After that, we try to bounce back from our draw with Farmer of Fire in league play. Stay tuned! __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)