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01-12-2001, 12:21 PM
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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House Arrest Black Squirrels, 2026-
I'm playing this career under a fairly lengthy series of house rules-trying to compress most of the game's many areas fertile for abuse, and to simultaneously make the game: challenging, interesting, steerable, and realistic. Since the house rules are fairly rigorous, I've adopted the
name "house arrest" for this system. If you want the long version of the rules and history from 2002 to 2007, try the links below (I've broken this up to reduce server loading time). My first years are detailed in this link: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000098.html The team's history from 2008 through 2011 is in this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000102.html Then, the team's downward path from 2012 through 2017 is detailed here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000116.html Then, the years from 2018-2021 are on this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000122.html To get you up to this point, 2022 through 2025 are here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000132.html The short version of the rules I'm using follows: FOF 2001, Wall Street, empty cupboard start with the 2002 expansion team Ticket prices no higher than those of my nearest geographic competitor (Denver) Several contract restrictions, including: -no signing non-rookie players, other than the second half of the 20-stage FA process -no unrealistic contract durations for first and second year players -no backloading of contracts - annual salary increases up to 25% only -any free agent seeking a bonus gets one at least as big as the median annual salary -URFAs may get 4yr doubling deal with modest bonus money No contract renegotiations, and no franchise tag - everybody we re-sign goes into the free market Full roster of 53 each season (no going cheap by leaving roster holes) Player from home state (Colorado) college at each position group at all times . . .I confess I have probably slipped up once of twice here, but I'm making an effort Making effort to sign and hold Colorado players whenever practical I'm allowing some slack my Colorado school guys - re-signing after camp if nobody else wanted them No initiating trades - may only accept CPU trade after adjusting it (reality check) In short, the team is being almost exclusively built from within, with a few fill-in types from the late rounds of free agency. Once my players get past their rookie deals, I compete on the open market to retain their services. Here is the short history of the team-the GM performance printout:
We have obviously had our ups and downs-keeping this team together has been difficult, but we're getting at least passing grades there. We have a top-tier QB, a young and improving defensive front, and some good prospects on our offensive line. My coach seems to be a little bit unexciting-he doesn't have huge liabilities, but he also doesn't really bring our the very best in the team, either. His namesake son has bee a starting OG for us, but this year he may go-dad might get the long walk as well. So far, I'm finding these rules to be a pretty effective and realistic mix-every season I'm facing tough choices, and obviously the team has had very realistic ups and downs. Two titles in 20+ seasons isn't too impressive by open play standards, but I feel like the success I've gleaned from this franchise had been hard-earned. That is enjoyable. Financially, we are back making money (after several years in the red) but not so much that we can be too cavalier-my scouting and coaching costs remain among the league's lowest. We're a playoff team, but the struggle to be anything more than that is an annual one. Can rags-to-riches Tim Loverne get a second Superbowl ring? Will OT Joel Ignasiak finally find himself the anchor of a steamroller offensive line? Will we find our heir apparent for departed DE Lionel Schumacher? Will someone step up and become a star running back for this team, at long last? Will we continue to outclass the rival Broncos? The story continues below... |
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01-12-2001, 01:33 PM
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#2 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2026 pre-draft
My longtime safety Steve Frank is among three HOF inductees this year. I'm very pleased to see him get in-my second player to do so. His 1,318 tackles were only recently eclipsed as the league record, but his 96 interceptions still stands quite comfortably. One of the most remarkable things is that he stuck around to play 17 years-and even through his final seasons we started him with confidence, and he delivered. The franchise turned a record $83m in profit last season. A light signing year meant fewer bonuses, and we saved lots of money in scouting-these put together made up most of the jump. Attendance was strong again at 98.2% - we still ranked 12th, suggesting that there is an upward trend that carried us up with everyone. We go into the staff hiring phase, and I decide to do some looking. Looking at the scouts, there is good news, and bad news. The good news is that I find an available scout who looks fabulous-nothing below a "good" and lots of higher marks. The bad news-it's William Humes, the 59 year old guy who I employed for nearly 20 years, end deliberately got rid of last season. Perhaps we would be better off if we patched things up, and brought him back? I'm just not sure I trust this young whipper-snapper I have now. I decide to stick with my coach Lamar Evans. He has the lowest contract in the league, and he is actually awfully solid on paper. I will focus on the scouting area. In week 1, William Humes get signed by New England, and my door shuts. I decide to sit tight with my young scout-I'll try to learn to trust him more. I head into the FA period, and I sense that this will be a transition year for us. One issue is RB-made more relevant by a trade offer we receive. New England badly wants a RB, and they are looking to my somewhat burnt-out guy Skip Murillo. They offer the #10 pick in this draft, plus a very old and expensive CB for him- and to my surprise, the trade passes the fairness test (I alter it, and then choose to accept it, and they will still make the deal). After Murillo's recent decline, I decide that this trade makes a whole lot of sense for us, and I pull the trigger. Here is our roster, as the FA period starts out-sorted by current salary, then age:
It's a pivotal year for us for a few reasons-but mainly since we have so much cap room, and I really have a lot of latitude in re-signing my own free agents. T Ignasiak is a guy I'd like to keep for his entire career, as is LB Coppola. FB Brenden Pohl is another prize-it would be good to hold on to him, but if I cannot or will not, I have depth at FB already in place. DE Kelvin Shiver was signed to a 2yr deal anticipating that I'd let him walk this year-that is still my plan. If that's all I do-signing those three can't cost more than $30-35m. . . I will still have plenty of cap room to either do something interesting in free agency (if someone falls) or to go into next season cleared out enough to be more aggressive in re-signing younger players. A pivotal off-season, I suspect. I offer 4yrs, $43m to T Ignasiak. That's right around my 5% mark-what I feel I ought o pay a player who is a consistent contributor. He fills that bill for us, and I want to keep him. LB Raymond Coppola's best years might be behind him, but he still can get the job done. An offer of 4yrs, $36m is intended to keep him around through the remainder of his career-he'll probably remain our top LB through that time. For FB Brenden Pohl, I put in 3yrs, $18m. It's a lot to spend, but he's a better FB that I can get without spending a first round pick-and with my uncertainty at RB, he might be my main ball carrier this season. That's it for my initial offers. I realize that DE Shiver will probably leave, and I'll live with it if he leaves. If he again gets no bids, I'll consider him in the later phases, after his demands have come down a bit. In the overall FA market, there is a lot of talent. A superstar C from Boise City is available-probably the best in the league. Also, a guy I've long coveted-P Doug Cunningham of Cincinnati, out of Air Force. I may never live down not using the third round pick that year to take him-I've suffered the vagaries of a pretty dismal string of punters from Colorado schools waiting for a guy half as good as Cunningham. Hell, this guy is even 12 for 14 stepping in and trying FGs for injured kickers. He's good. After week one, all three guys are pending-but two are going to cost more. I bump up FB Pohl to outbid St. Louis (who always seem to come after my guys), and I bump up LB Coppola to keep up with Tennessee. Since my cap situation is good this year, I decide to go with flat offers for each guy-ought to help in future years. LB Raymond Coppola takes my deal in week 2. FB Brenden Pohl re-signs in week 4. C Steven Morris, who started off with so much promise but evolved into a routine lineman, is going to get a big offer from Minnesota. In week 7, T Joel Ignasiak has re-signed, and I have my main three targets secured. The rest-my $51 in cap room-is available for whatever is out there after week 10. In week 10, G Lamar Evans takes a deal to play for Kansas City-he'll still get to face his dad (my coach) from across the division. When week 11 arrives, all the top talent is long gone. I find a 5th year CB from Colorado State named Broderick Drudge. He's about a "B-minus" guy, but he wants about $9m a year to play-too bad, he would have made a great addition for us. I put in late bids for a few cheap players-G O.J. Lowe, and T Shannon Torrence for starters, two promising young linemen. I then make an offer to S Patrick Pierce-one of those "adequate" safeties who always seem to be around, and can fill my #3 role just fine. After reviewing my roster, I decide that C Erik Harris would be a valuable insurance policy as well-and I sign him up for a cheap deal also. Not a banner year, but we got a few hole-fillers. Holding picks #10 and 31 in the upcoming draft, it's exciting to see what is coming. I'd love to nail down a great cornerback in this draft, but I'll look for whatever I can find. If I can get starters at C and DT in the later rounds (like 2-4) I'd be very happy. I also need to improve at RB, but I'm willing to make that an evolution, not a revolution. However, I'd love to see a fabulous RB sitting for me in, say, round three. That would definitely work for me. |
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01-12-2001, 03:10 PM
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#3 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2026 draft and camp
In this draft, I check out the top overall talent-since I have the #10 pick, I can dream a little bit here. An insanely good C who looks too symmetrical for comfort leads the list. A tremendous DE would be an intriguing pick, even though I feel better there than I did recently. However, I doubt that Justin money (great sports name) will drop to my selection. I don't see a single CB worth this high pick, though-a disappointment. As for the Colorado schools-there is a nice OT from Air Force, and a draftable RB from Col State, which are the top two guys available-neither ought to go too early. For my first pick, the cream has already been skimmed-the top two DEs and the star C all gone. I decide to follow the guidance of my scout, who says that WR Kris Rivers is the real deal-and at a position where I do admittedly have needs (my success fiddling with RBs there notwithstanding).
I toyed with selecting DT Grant with my early first round pick, but I'm glad I sat back. The only big downside is that I failed to pick up a center here-there were three great ones, and one went with pick 8, the other two went in between my first round picks. After that, there wasn't much left to see. If QB Stephenson breaks out (which I like his chances of doing) then this could end up being a great draft. I get a trade offer from Seattle-a third round pick for my QB J.J. Clayton. Clayton isn't as good as I had hoped he would be, and while he's cheap, he's not really any more polished than the best of this year's URFA class. I take the deal-a third rounder is great for him. I get another third rounder for WR Rico McGregor, from Jacksonville. With my new rookie WR stepping into the mix this year, this guy was going to be a distant backbencher anyway. It's another good deal-and a great third round next year for us! Here's the group that break camp with us:
I'm hoping everyone pulls through okay-this is my first draft where I really let my new young scout have full reign. I'm hoping that he's right about the WR, and about this hotshot QB he loved from Minnesota.
Well, the big news is right at the top of the list. We bring in this monster of a QB from the north country (6-5, 227 lbs). My 35 year old scout says that the kid has a lot more than he was able to show in the Gophers' system. He wanted to take him in round two. I waited, but I finally let him get his way in round four. Now, I wish I'd have gone earlier-this guy is the real deal. He's jumped out with 100 potential in both accuracy and power, and he ought to be very, very good. QB Tim Loverne's contract is up after this year-we'll see how things work out, but Fernando Stevenson is the hottest thing in our training camp. All the other rookies look okay-DT Edwin Grant shifted a bit, but he will still be a very good player, just more balanced that we had thought, which is a good thing. A free agent TE pickup, Ron MacMillan, looks good enough to play this year-a modest camp breakout. Everyone else is pretty much as advertised. Miami offers me another third round pick for T Cornelius Briseno, and while he's a bit better than my other reserves, the increment is pretty modest. I take the deal-he only had this year left on his contract anyway. I now have four pick in next year's fourth round. I make cuts to get down to 53, which isn't easy. We whittle our way down, and get to this list of 53, who head into the season as Squirrels:
Again, our secondary is troubling-we simply don't have a lot of talent back there, and I'll do a good deal of double-teaming. I let my LB corps get very thin, which is potentially troubling as well. The D-line looks pretty solid, and will look even better next year as DT Grant grows into his potential. Our offensive line is okay, but not outstanding. Skill positions are good-WR looks very good, and with FB Pohl in the mix, we ought to run okay. Our passing game should carry us again-hopefully into a good playoff position. |
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01-12-2001, 05:11 PM
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#4 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2026 season
My setup is pretty much the same as during the season last year. FB Pohl will have a big role in carrying the football-I have set that option to 90. RB Rivera is nominally our starter, but I expect it to be a committee situation. At WR, Fruth and Ferderer remain the starters, but Kris Rivers will get on the field a lot as our third WR. My RB Ogden will be the #4 WR option, as well as the second RB in the game. I want him to get a good number of touches each game. On defense, LB Coleman remains in the designated blitz position from the weak side. DEs Shultz and Rubin will split duties at left DE-with Rubin our pass rushing specialist. CB Lamar Borders- received in the trade for RB Murillo-will start for us, we need the veteran leadership, I think. We have a committee of CBs, and they will all see time, with no real star on the team. We again have the 100 roster rating, and Tennessee has again jumped into the second slot, with an 89. Curiously, Denver is third at 79-could they be due for a rebound? My cohesion is 81-72-69-72. Our passing game is our best weapon, and that will be our focus this year for certain. We have several minor injuries coming out of the exhibition season, yet again. None are terribly serious, but could be cause for future concern. Our schedule this year is slightly stacked toward late home games, but we once again have our final game on the road. In our opener in Seattle, the Hawks beat us 16-10. So much for our vaunted passing game-we got 139 yards through the air, in total. Not so hot. Now we host Denver, and are in the unenviable situation of feeling season pressure already, in our big rivalry game. We best the Broncos 15-6, and again our offense fails to really click-the game's only TD came on a TD return by safety Gerald Hardman. I decide to put in Ogden as my starting RB, and to try out rookie Tracy as my backup (he has great breakaway speed - might be a big play guy). In San Diego, we click a little bit better, winning 25-6. Ogden got a rushing TD, and another TD recovering his own fumble. QB Tim Loverne got hurt, and my two rookie backups split the rest of the game (after Stevenson got hurt himself). Loverne will be okay for next week, though. We win at the Jets, 24-20. We total 145 yards of offense on the day, but get a defensive TD from old man Borders. LT Joel Ignasiak is going to miss about a month with a knee injury. After our bye week, we go in and get killed by Tampa, 44-13. They ran for 210 yards on us, and we committed 4 turnovers. 'Nuff said. We rebound at home with a 24-10 win over KC. RB Wad Chanthavong get an early TD, but Tim Loverne runs one and throws 2, and we handle the Chiefs. We come home to face San Diego-we are 4-2 they are 4-3. We grab the upper hand with a 26-9 win. LB Raymond Coppola will miss a few games-he's tough to replace, as LB is very thin already. We take on Buffalo, who are also 5-2. We edge the Bills, 24-21. Tim Loverne and WR Kris Rivers lead the way, and we get to 6-2 at the halfway point. We go into Denver next. They are 5-3, and have improved from last year-they are only a game back in the very tight division race. The Broncos hand it to us, 29-7, The Denver fans are delirious-this game seems to mark "the return" for them, after a few lousy seasons. They are now up to 6-3, tied with us and a game behind Oakland. Our LB corpse is in real trouble-Coppola is out, now Gardner is out, and Lawler is even out. I only had 3 guys to begin with-this is going to be a serious problem. We now head into Detroit, to take on the defending champion Lions. They have really slipped this year, and we help it along with a 4-3 pounding. My RB committee does okay, but it's Loverne's arm that put up the numbers here. We get a home win over Seattle, 33-24, and once again we're in the thick of the division race-in a three-way tie with Denver and Oakland. I still have two games against the Raiders remaining, too. We narrowly beat KC, 28-21. That's a game we had to win, and Lamar Borders does it for us with a TD on a last-minute interception--s KC was trying to drive for a game-winning score of their own. Borders has been a godsend for us, little did I know. Now we head into Oakland. Both teams 9-3, in the fight for the division lead. We get a big win, 37-31, as Loverne carries us with 4 TD passes, plus he leads the team in rushing with 54 yards. Next we host Cincinnati who is definitely back with a 9-4 record. They win 19-14, and the setback drops us into a tie with Denver for the division lead. Now, we host Green bay in a game we should win, and must. We do-35 to nothing. Loverne, with 4 more TDs, is playing his best ball of the year, and we are clicking on offense just in time for a playoff run. Our last game of the year is on Oakland, and it's for all the marbles. A win gives us the division and a bye week, and a loss might drop us all the way to the fifth seed. We roll over the Raiders, 52-24, and claim our division title. . . and the number 2 seed behind the resurgent Bengals.
Stat leaders: QB Tim Loverne: 3,600 yds, 57.8%, 7.43 ypa, 29/12, 90.9 RB James Ogden: 156-620 yds, 4 TD (3.9 ypa); 29 rec-356 yds, 1 TD RB Thomas Rivera: 84-441 yds, 4 TD (5.2 ypa) WR Kris Ferderer: 80-1,352 yds, 10 TD (55.9%, 10 drops) OL unit: ~33% KRBs, 43 sacks allowed LB Raymond Coppola: 82 tackles, 2.5 sacks (12 starts) DE Artie Burroughs: 10.5 sacks, 4 blocks, 7 hurries CB Lamar Borders: 58 tackles, 8 int, 3 TD, 8 PD, 49.9 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.3 / 3.8 / 3.9 Passing: 7.3 / 6.6 / 6.7 Well, these don't look like the numbers of a dominating team, but we managed to complement them with a fair number of big plays. Our passing game started rolling toward the end of the season, and that's the engine that could get us somewhere in these playoffs. We will take our much-deserved break, soak up some R&R, and heal for the playoff opener-right here at home. |
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01-12-2001, 09:25 PM
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#5 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2026 postseason
LB Bennie Coleman is moved up to probable, and he will play in our opener. Starting LG Malcolm Clayton is out for the year with a shoulder, and he will be missed. Pittsburgh dusts Denver 17-6, and they are my visitors in this opening round. Veteran Marty Alexander is their QB, and has helped to get this team out of the gutter and into the picture. They will pass all day on us. They play a 3-4, and feature a very tough defensive front—particularly their LBs. We get the ball first, and after one good pass play, we can’t get going. They can’t throw against us initially, and they have to punt as well. We get a 47-yard pass to Ferderer, and top the drive off with a 25 yarder to little-used TE Todd Myers, and we’re up, 7-0. They get a good return, but fumble the ball on second down and S Tyrell Edmondson picks it up and rumbles 74 yards for the TD. We tack on a FG before the first quarter ends, it’s 17-0. They get things going, passing down the field for a TD, and it looks like we’ll have a game on our hands. Later in the second, they add on a FG. It’s 17-10 at the half, courtesy of the one big defensive play on our side. FB Pohl gets a 27 yard carry, which puts us into scoring position. We convert a 43 yard FG. Later in the third, we punt them deep to their 1 yard line. We keep them deep in their own territory for most of the third quarter. Finally, we capitalize on the position, with a TD pass to Ferderer. That pretty much cinches it—we cruise from there to make it a 41-10 final. Now we get to travel to Cincinnati. Cinti is a very solid team, with (as usual) a lot of weapons. RB Sherman Chandler (one of our old guys) is out for the year with a broken leg, but they have a few other guys getting it done pretty well. Their QB Hugh Richter is a gambler, and will go deep on us. They will put real pressure on us on defense—they have four legitimate sack-makers. They jump out quickly as we fumble it over, and they drive the very short field for a TD. We plaster their starting QB Richter, and they have to bring in their backup Shannon. He takes them in for a FG in the early second quarter, and their defense is making 10 points look awfully big. They get a scoring drive going as the half is waning, and put it in for 7. A 17-0 halftime lead pretty well describes this game thus far. As we take over in the third quarter, Loverne again goes to his playmaker, Kris Ferderer—getting 47 yards top the Cinti 11. Oh, tragedy—we come up short on third down, and kick the 19-yard FG. . . and miss it! Awful. Shannon’s pass is intercepted by my CB Wooten and we take over again at their 43. We have to punt from their 34—not good. We drive again, but Loverne gets picked off at the Cinti 9. As the third quarter winds out, we know what could have been. We totally dominated that quarter, and came away with nothing, nada, zilch. In the early fourth, we drive again, and come up wit our first points—a 25 yard FG. We are moving well on offense, but it’s the clock we’re really up against. Loverne gets another big pas play down to their 33, but then get picked off again in the end zone. It’s just not working for us. From their 40, we face fourth and 10—and come up short. With 6 minutes left, it looks like it’s over. They get a cheap FG at the tail end, and pack it up 20-3. We outgained them 355-243, but we couldn’t close the deal. Tough loss, but it’s their way—play solid, don’t screw up, and take advantage. They have six rings from that philosophy, and they’ll be playing for number seven next time out. Minnesota manages to upend the Bengals, dropping them to their second straight SB loss. Cinti’s main RB Brian Harpold is the hero with 137 yards and 2 TDs. Other than the fact that they lost the game, things would be great for them. Minnesota DE Mack McKyer gets the actual MVP award for his 2.5 sacks, and constant pressure. Buffalo’s late-developing QB Howie Burns is the runaway winner of first team honors, with a career year. Oakland’s RB Charles Meyers gets the triple award. We get a few awards—FB Brenden Pohl gets his first recognition as first-team FB, and my incidental pickup CB Lamar Borders garners first team honors as well—also the first time he’s been recognized in his 16 year career. WR Kris Ferderer is named to the second team. Another solid season, no regrets. We got to the AFC Championship game, and got beaten by a better team. With this much salary cap available, we might be able to make some progress next year. |
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01-13-2001, 08:32 AM
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#6 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2027 pre-draft
Revenues were up 7%, and costs were nearly flat—we cleared $98m last season, a record for this franchise. Our attendance was up to 99.2% - ranking sixth in the league. The Squirrels’ following is becoming more fervent. Again, my scout and coach are secured—but I’ll fish around a bit. No real bites—I sit tight. Our one-year wonder CB Lamar Borders has retired—I’m glad to se him go out in style, with a career year, and I had no illusions that he was any kind of long-term answer at CB for us. Here is our roster situation as we start free agency:
We clearly have a ton of cap room this year- and where will it be spent? Well, QB Loverne seems obvious, even with Stephenson potentially waiting in the wings. WR Adrian Fruth is another player who looks good in his ratings, but he never seems to be able to stay healthy—I suspect I may decide not to pursue him, even though I could clearly afford it. G Malcolm Clayton would be a nice keeper, but will probably demand more than I’d want to pay him. LB Bernie Coleman is almost a necessity—I’ve grown so thin at LB, I need to keep what I have on hand. I get a trade offer for C Erik Harris—from Cincinnati, of all teams. I decide to take the deal—I wasn’t exactly bowled over by his performance last season, and C is a generally replaceable position. I get other deals for T Ignasiak (as always) and WR Ferderer, but decline. My offer to Loverne is going to be steep—but I clearly have the cap room to handle it. I put in 3yrs, $90m, which is right around what he is seeking. I’m willing to go higher, if need be. I fiddle with WR Fruth, but decide that if he won’t even listen to $13m a year, then it doesn’t make sense to bring him aboard. After week 1, Loverne is being chased by several teams—I bump my offer up to $93m for 3 years, which matches his best offer on a per-year basis. WR Fruth is getting offers of $16m a year—it’s just more than I think he’s worth, and I pass. In week 3, WR Fruth signs with St. Louis—the team who always goes after my free agents. They pay $72m for four years—tough to say what they’ll get out of him. In week 5, Tim Loverne decides to take our offer, and he’s signed and delivered. I advance to week 11, where I get to pursue whatever is left. One of the best players available is C Steven Morris, my former first round draft pick who filled in for Miami last season and has been let go. Since it is a need position for me, I decide to put up some bucks—I offer him $31m over 4 years for his return. It’s irrelevant—he takes the offer from Miami, and stays put there in week 11. I decide to put in an offer for a veteran WR—Orlando Benton played well for Minnesota for four years and then sat out last season (missing their Superbowl run, regrettably). Now, he’s available, and I bid 3yrs, $24m to get him aboard—he ought to be a helpful reserve fill-in wideout. I also make a cheap offer to S Antione Gardocki, who is a decent player. I also pick up CB Wade Mendenhall—yet another so-so talent at one of the positions where I have the deepest needs. They all take my offers. With pick #34, we hold out little hope of bringing in a complete “difference maker.” However, we do have a number of middle-round picks, and hope to bring in a number of contributors there. I need help at RB, WR, LB, CB, and S—any might be wise targets for our attentions. |
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01-13-2001, 10:20 AM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2027 draft and camp
One of the very best players in this draft is a center from Colorado State, which happens to be a need position for us. I doubt he’ll fall for pick #34, but that is intriguing. I’m probably looking for a DB here, but picking late requires flexibility, if you want “first round talent.” As my pick approaches—two things are clear. First, the Colorado guy at center went very early (#8), as did a Colorado tackle (#15). Second, this draft is going to stink. For my pick, I cannot find a single player who I judge to be worth this first round pick at all. Not a single one, anywhere. There no Colorado players of any consequence here, either. I’m just stuck.
This was, without a doubt, the worst draft in this career. Maybe (probably) the worst draft I’ve seen in FOF 2001. And, of course, it’s the draft that we bought into hook, line, and sinker with extra draft picks. Makes sense. The only thing that could save this mess would be a huge breakout from LB Alvin Swain. He’s a pure redliner, but the reds are so low that I‘m convinced that even if he does “break out” it will only be into the 40s and 50s, not into the 80+ zone. DT Belin is a decent player, but I’m usually happy to get a solid DT in round 2 or 3—not in round 1. I re-sign LB Bernie Coleman, who will be my #2 LB. He takes a three-year extension from me at a very fair price of $6.4m/yr. FB Jeffrey Dodge also re-signs for two more years. I’m tempted to sign RB James Ogden, but his demands of $10m per year are just totally absurd. I do, however, give in to G Malcolm Clayton, who gets a three year deal—it’s a need position, and there was nothing in the draft. While looking for help in the free agent market, I notice LB Scottie Jeffries—a Colorado guy who I requesting a $6m contract. I don’t know if I just missed him in the 20-stage process, but he’s decent, and he plays a need position. Since my rules already allow some slack in signing Colorado school players, I decide to pick him up—he takes a three year deal, and should take pressure off some of these rookies as my #4 ‘backer.
I’m not too thrilled about this rookie class, but at least they can have the courtesy of not busting on me. I’ll hope for a breakout somewhere—to make this little draft exercise somewhat worthwhile…
As I had predicted, I got a decent boost from LB Alvin Swain, but not a wholesale breakout. He couldn’t cover anyone, but he’ll be okay as a run stopper or pass rusher. C Jerald Braxton also stepped up in camp—he looks a bit better, a solid pick. No other real surprises—everyone else stays the course. Fargo offers me an old TE and a 7th round pick for DE Aceves. He’s around basically since he’s from Colorado, but I have another local DL, and decide to take the deal. I cut the TE—overpaid, even with no bonus. Philadelphis is offering a second rounder for G Malcolm Clayton, but I can’t do it—just too thin on the line this year. Getting down to 53 isn’t easy, but we get it together. Here is our final roster, by school of course:
At some point, I will have to decide what to do with QB Stephenson. He isn’t ready to play this year, but he has a bright future—I expect that I’ll re-sign him next season, assuming he’s willing. This year, we have basically an entirely new contingent of running backs, who should share the spotlight with our FB Pohl. The WR corps should be fine—we’ll find out how good young Kris Rivers can really be. I’m pretty pleased with the OL, but our reserves are thin. The DL has come together—rebuilt and ready to go, it should be a strength. The LB corps is better, with the addition of Scottie Jefferies. And our secondary—well, it still needs work. Eventually, someone will come along to help us there. This year, we ought to be better than last year. I don’t feel we lost too much at RB, and at nearly every other position, I think we are stronger. I like our chances to be a strong playoff force again, and if injuries don’t compromise us, we may well be right there with Cincinnati or whomever else is a top AFC contender. |
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01-13-2001, 10:51 PM
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#8 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2027 season
My team’s setup is pretty much the same as last season. We’ll use FB Brenden Pohl a lot in our mix of runners, and we’ll use predominantly 2 WR sets. On defense, LB Bernie Coleman, will be a sort of “designated blitzer,” and we’ll rotate our secondary among the many semi-talented guys I have on hand. No major changes. For the first time in a number of years, my roster rating dips below 100—we have a 98, just behind Miami. Danver is next with a 78, so we ought to have some competition within the division as well, if this is an indicator. Cincinnati is at 49, but I expect them to be tough again. Our cohesion is at 78-78-83-84. This puts us in the bottom half as far as passing goes, but in the upper half in each other area. We’ll be fine, I suppose. My team’s expertise in our areas of heavy focus is around 65-70. This year, we play a lot of early home games, so a good start is important. Our finale is home for the Raiders, who have been pretty consistently tough in recent years. In the exhibition season, we take a serious loss. LB Raymond Coppola will be out for the first half of the season—a very nasty loss. We’re suddenly abundantly glad we signed LB Scottie Jeffries, who will now step in at MLB for us. We open at home against Denver. It hurts to lose to the Broncos, but they come in and kick out butts, 26-6. There are reports that Marmel attended the game in Broncos game, but I can’t confirm that—I can’t see him patronizing our establishment anyway. My three rookie running backs gain 0 yards on 9 carries among them—very impressive. Tim Loverne’s 4 interceptions don’t help advance the cause either—we look pathetic. In SD, we right the ship, winning 34-11. We return the opening kick for a TD, and never look back—Loverne plays well, and we get a decent day out of rookie RB Castillo. We come home and pound KC, getting 198 yards from our gang of idiots—with nobody over 60 and no single run over 25. A 28-9 home win over Buffalo assures us that we are not as bad as the Denver game suggested. Loverne is positively brilliant—20 of 29, 266 yards, 3 TDs, no interceptions. He has turned it around for sure—we’re back on track. We host the patsy Saints next. They prove tougher than we expected—we only beat them 42-6. Loverne lights them up, but our running game actually struggles a bit. WR Orland Benton has been very productive from the third WR slot this year—in this game he gets 6-155, 2 TD. Next, we head into 5-1 Seattle—they will be a real challenge. Their QB Claude Freeman outduels Loverne, and they win it 38-24. We get another scattered day from our running game—someone should step up and take over there, but I really don’t have “the guy” on the roster. I decide that Castillo is as close as we have—I bump his PT to 5. Seattle has a game and a half on the rest of the division. In KC, we get what we need. 31-10 over the Chiefs, and we click pretty well. Castillo gets the top rushing total of the year with 86 yards on 12 carries, and we have over 200 as a team. Loverne is 18 of 22 with 2 TDs. Good day for the offense. In Boise City, we get more of the same—a 34-10 win and another good offensive showing from the running committee. Hosting 0-8 San Diego, we predictably get another win, 21-10—but this one wasn’t easy. We did all our scoring in the fourth quarter. Our schedule gets tougher from here—we need to be sharper than that. We get LB Raymond Coppola back, which will help for the home stretch. I jumble up the WR depth chart, as Kris Rivers needs to get over a turf toe injury. We get a 24-21 win at home over San Francisco—our running game nets almost 200 yards again, though we again do not even threaten to have a single back get 100 on the day. We head to Denver—the Broncos are 5-5 on the year, and need this win to get back on track a bit. We avoid being swept by the hated Broncos with a 10-6 win. Safety Patrick Pierce has 8 tackles and a key interception to lead the effort. Next, we’re home for Seattle. We are tied with Seattle at 9-2 for the division lead. We win another low-scoring affair, 13-3, as Tim Loverne goes down early in the game—after only one pass. Young QB Fernando Stevenson comes in and completes 22 or 36 for 216 yards and the game’s only TD. Loverne will be ready to go next week, but it was a nice showing for the kid. In Oakland, we have a shot to derail their hopes of staying in the playoff hunt. Instead, they beat us 19-9 to get to 8-5 on the year and stay alive. Our running game was absolutely awful—other than Loverne, we had 9 carries for 0 yards on the day. Awful. We go into Cincinnati, where the two-time AFC champs have imploded and stand at 4-9 on the season. We get a 34-20 win, and keep pace with Seattle at 11-3. We go into St. Louis to take on the 10-4 Rams, a big game for both teams. The Rams put it to us pretty good, 34-13. Our occasionaly brilliant running game was flat, and we committed too many mistakes—3 turnovers and 11 penalties. At 11-4, we are a lock for a playoff spot. Unless Seattle loses against lowly KC, we’ll be a wild card—probably the #4 seed, meaning a home playoff game at least. We host Oakland in our last game—they may need this win just to get in, at 10-5. We beat the Raiders 41-17, with a 28-point fourth-quarter flurry, and we get to 12-4 on the year. Shockingly, the Seahawks did indeed choke in Kansas City, and by virtue of some hidden tiebreaker, we are the division winners—and the #2 seed behind the team with the 100 roster rating, Miami.
Stat leaders: QB Tim Loverne: 3,828 yds, 64.7%, *8.32 ypa, 29/12, 100.9 RB Burt Castillo: 173-608 yds, 3 TD (3.5 ypc) FB Brenden Pohl: 140-578 yds, 4 TD (4.1 ypc), 23 rec-291 yds, 3 TD WR Kris Ferderer: 83-1,301 yds, 10 TD (58.8%, 11 drops) WR Orlando Benton: 72-841 yds, 5 TD (66.0%, 9 drops) OL unit: ~33% KRBs, 33 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 78 tackles, 5.5 sacks DE Jamie Rubin: 9.5 sacks, 1 block, 7 hurries S Gerald Hardman: 79 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 7 PD, 45.0 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.8 / 3.8 / 3.9 Passing: 8.1 / 6.6 / 6.6 It seems that this team has really regressed into an average team with one exception—our passing game is quite solid. The result? 12-4 and a bye week. Forget about stopping the run, forget about playing solid fundamental football. Just grip it and rip it, baby. Or so it would seem. We are in fairly good health, and some of our nicks will have healed after our week off. We’ll be ready for who ever comes, and we’ll see if they can stop Loverne and my receiver corps. Belatedly adding this in, sorry for the oversight before. 2027 postseason Pittsburgh beats Jacksonville to advance to our opener. The Steelers are 11-5, no pushover. Their QB Marty Alexander is probably going to miss this game, though—they will be led by a dink-and-dunk man, Craig Manderville. I expect a fairly heavy diet of short passes. They play a pressure defense, bump-and-run—I think we should match up pretty well against these guys. We stuff them on their opening series, three and out. They do us one better—getting an interception on ours. They advance to within our 20, before they fumble it back to us—tit for tat. Neither team’s motors get purring through a scoreless first quarter. Our opening possession of the second quarter finally clicks—we march down the field and get a TD pass to Rivers, to take the 7-0 lead. We stop them, get it back near midfield, and then drive for another TD pass, this time to Ferderer. It’s 14-0, and we seem to have made an adjustment against their defense. We recover a Steeler fumble, and take over at their 35. We add a FG to our lead. Our second quarter flurry ends there, with a 17-0 lead at the half. The Steelers get a turnover, and finally convert it into their first points, with a short TD pass. We respond with another drive, and another Loverne-to-Ferderer TD connection. The Steelers hit a crossing pattern for 75 yards and another TD, and this once-defensive game is starting to look like a track meet. However the jets cool off after that, and the game descends into a back-and-forth struggle through most of the fourth quarter. We add a late TD after a time-eating drive, and that seals it, 30-14. We head into Miami for the AFC Championship. This is our third straight year here, but we have lost each of the last two. Miami is a very solid team—diverse on offense with a 1,000-yard RB in Britt Davis and a 20 TD QB in Marshall McDonald. Their defense causes a lot of turnovers, and we’ll need to hold on to the ball to stay in this game. QB Tim Loverne broke his nose in the Pittsbugh game, but he will play this week. We have to deactivate DE Schwartz, whose injuries have mounted and put him out for this game and beyond. Miami get the ball first, and we bottle them up first out. WR Kris Ferderer makes out first big play, with a sideline circus catch and run for 46 yards to the Miami 44. Penalties kill the drive, but we have the first momentum grabber. Near midfield, Miami goes for a 4th and 1 and gets it, to keep a drive alive. They get inside our 20, but we pick of McDonald at take over. We move downfield, and just into the second quarter we break the scoreless tie with a FG. On our next possession, Loverne hits Rivers for two big plays, then hits Myers for the TD, and we lead 10-0. Miami responds with a FG, to get on the board. That’s where we sit at the half. In the third quarter, we win the field position battle, and get a great chance by taking over at their 45. We cannot capitalize, which hurts. Pittsburgh turns it around, and after taking over deep, drive into our territory. However, they miss a FG attempt, and the third quarter ends at the same 10-3 mark. We again manage to pin them deep, and again get to start a drive on their side of the 50. This time we get up to try a kick, but we miss it off the crossbar. However, with a 7 point lead, we are down within the 5 minute mark. The Dolphins sense the urgency, and like a light switch they turn on their offense and strike for four straight completions and a tying TD. We try to respond to break the tie, but the play that gets us to their 22 also takes up the entire clock, and we head into OT. The win the toss, and take the ball. We force them to go three and out. We get it back, and get to midfield quickly. After a couple of runs, Loverne hits Ferderer down to the Miami 32. We have three incompletions, and then we try a 49-yard FG. . .but miss it. We stop them, and take over again at our 14. This time, it’s Miami who comes up big with field position, taking over after our punt and starting out at our 44 yard line. They get a first down at our 29. From our 21, they try a FG. It is good, and we have lost our third straight AFC Championship game. Miami wins the Superbowl, 17-14 over St. Louis. Their DE Rondell Mathers gets the MVP award for 3 sacks and a fumble recovery. In the season awards, QB Tim Loverne gets some great laurels. He gets the “triple” with first team QB, OPOY, and MVP. FB Brenden Pohl gets his due with a first team award again. My right tackle Rodney Grebene, who did a good deal of run blocking this year, his first award. Incidentally, WR Brenden Dye, formerly the world-class wideout with Denver, has broken onto the awards board for the first time in five years with a second team nod for his 1,303 yard season. It’s a shame that the chemistry he had in Denver had to be disrupted—reminds me of the Atlanta Andre Rison who never was quite the same guy in different uniform. We had another solid season and were not totally outclassed—really just unlucky. Next season, we’ll try to fill in a gap or two (a CB, please?) and move ahead with our building project. My biggest challenge will be deciding what to do with young backup QB Fernando Stephenson—can I afford to pay him $15-20m a year to be my backup? (Every CPU team is doing it, I know…) [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-15-2001).] |
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01-14-2001, 01:54 PM
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#9 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2028 pre-draft
There are seven HOF inductees, none of which were impact players affecting my team. However, as I look at them, I notice one interesting note. CB Kris Bush, who I drafted for the Squirrels and who played for us for many years, was inducted last year (and I didn’t mention it at the time). He’s also been added to my team Hall of Fame, though we did not keep him until the very end of his career. Interesting—I had not thought of him as HOF material, but here he is. Sorry for the oversight on my part. Our franchise turned an $87m profit last season—we have now become regularly in the black. Our attendance was strong—99.7%, near the very top, of course. My scout is still under contract, but my coach is up for renewal. I see Lamar Evans, Sr. as a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. I don’t feel like any one faction of the team really excels under him, but be doesn’t leave anyone behind. Our team has played pretty well for him, and we’ve been doing pretty well in the last few years. Unless I’m blown away by someone else, I expect to return him. He’s asking for an $8.6m contract—about half that of the top-paid coaches in the league. I put in a $9m offer, but I am startled to see that Arizona puts in a $16m offer for him, and I’ll have to decide what to do here. I increase my offer to $13.5m/yr, and he takes my deal over theirs. Money talks, but we might be able to get him a ring a lot sooner than he can get one in Arizona. We once again did not have any retirements, and return our entire roster into the new year. Here is our salary situation as we begin the FA period:
Safety Gerald Hardman has really been our only constant in a tumultuous secondary, and keeping him just makes sense. The next question is obvious—what about QB Fernando Stephenson. My starter Tim Loverne is coming off a stellar year, garnering his second NFL MVP award—he’s not ready to sit down. Can I afford to re-sign Stevenson knowing that he may not have a job until at least a year or two from now? That’s the big unknown. I put in a flat offer for S Hardman—3yrs, $24m. That’s the only one I start off with in this period. After week 1, things look good with Hardman—we’re the only bidder. In week 2, they show up—two more teams looking at him. They are offering 4yrs, but I think my offer is better, and he does have 98 loyalty, so I expect him to stay put. I’m right—in week 3, he’s delivered. In week 11, I take a look around to see who is available. One quality QB is out there, but he’s getting healthy bids, and is definitely out of my range. In the late weeks, I put in a cheap offer for G Jermaine Joyner, who will be a decent inside lineman for us, possibly a starter. I then put in an offer for young LB Erik Fountaine, who as a rookie had 83 tackles for the Packers. He takes a 4yr deal worth about 2x veteran minimum salary. With his addition, LB has really become an area of depth—where it was a weakness just a couple years ago. In this draft, CB is my top priority—my secondary has really been ailing lately. I also have been playing patchwork at TE—that would be a nice position to take an anchor player, perhaps in round two. I have my own picks, plus an extra 7th rounder, so I won’t have great opportunities to make a lot of noise, unless I really get lucky. |
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01-14-2001, 01:56 PM
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#10 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2028 draft and camp
In the draft, I’m all about CB—but there is exactly one CB who I think is a future star, and he will definitely be gone before pick #33. There seems to be diverse good talent, I just hope for an impact player. There is a rather good kicker from Air Force, and a decent WR teammate of his, too. Colorado contributes a solid OT, and the rest of the local boys are very marginal players. When my pick is nearing, I check the remaining board. The second-best CB is still there, a man-to-man specialist. There is honestly not a lot else, I’m disappointed to see. When my pick comes up, I have to choose between the best player available (a WR, in my judgment) and the player I need the most (a CB with selectively great skills). It’s a tough call, needless to say. I go with need, and I’ll keep an eye on WR Johnny Cheung, who goes a few picks later to Boise City.
I get out of the draft with a full 52 players signed, and $8.9m in cap room. With that picture, I almost definitely want to try to re-sign QB Stevenson. His requested contract starts at $15m – so I’ll need to make some room via cuts. C Herman Tanner is released, as is local DT Karl Ward. Finally, CB Wade Mendenhall is released. These three cuts bring our cap room up to $19.5m – which out to be plenty of room to bring QB Stevenson on for a few more years. I sign him for 4yrs, $60m, which may turn out to be a bargain in time. With that signing, I then release QB Gene Harris. I’m tighter against the cap than usual, meaning that I can’t bring in too many URFAs. Here is the fairly trim roster we bring into camp this season:
It was a disappointing draft, but I at least hope that my players don’t disappear on me this time around. I took a WR in the 4th round completely on breakout speculation—I’ll hope that he “shows me something” that might make this draft come out as at least “above average.”
Well, among our top rookies we have mixed news. First rounder CB Terrance Brody lost a good deal of polish—his skill in m-t-m coverage dropped from 90 to 76, a serious slip. Makes that pick—a reach anyway—look even worse. The next several players did nothing, including WR Tyrone Wang, who we had hoped would break out. He did not. However, we do get some pretty good news. G Marc Cintron, who I picked up as a URFA with only a one year contract (d’oh!) has totally exploded, and now looks like a superhuman player—(83/91/100) potentials. I don’t know what I’ll do with him, but he’s a pleasant surprise. Incidentally, my team expertise numbers continue to climb—maybe just due to increased cohesion. Regardless, I have an 83 in the 4-3 defense, and numbers around 70 for other areas where I dedicated a lot of camp time. Another incidental comment—for the first time, the Squirrels have sold out every seat in the house as a season ticket. I think that will be my “house rule: standard for a stadium improvement—I will put in for an expansion next pre-season. Here is our final group of 53 to open the season:
We come into this season with much the same situation as last year. The secondary is still a quagmire of modestly-talented guys, but most every other position looks pretty good. RB is a bit shaky, but every young guy ought to be better, and I’m learning how to better use FB Brenden Pohl each year. I think we might have a shot this season. . . |
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01-14-2001, 04:55 PM
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#11 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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Sorry about the Squirrels' demise in the 2027 playoffs. Here's hoping to a more successful post-season in 2028.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-15-2001, 01:25 PM
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#12 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nova Scotia
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What happened in the 2027 playoffs?
Or am I blind?
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It seems more like today than it did all day yesterday. |
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01-15-2001, 01:30 PM
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#13 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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I don't see it anywhere, but the good news is, that it seems they had an early exit from the playoffs.
The Squirrels can never compare to the Broncos. Kevin, I urge you to change your allegence to the only real team in Colorado. A team of real men, a team of champions, a team that has never been defeated in the playoffs by the Squirrels, a team that has knocked the Squirrels out of the playoffs. A team with a quality GM who doesn't leave his high paying season ticket holders out to dry during a long stretch of non-post season campaigns. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-15-2001, 04:12 PM
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#14 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Sorry, I must have missed pasting one post-- I'll go back and edit in the 2027 playoffs. (As you probably have gathered, we didn't win it all)
Thanks for catching that, Kevin. I'll post the 2028 season this evening. I've already played it... and suffice it to say that our playoff opener will be BIG. |
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01-15-2001, 05:03 PM
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#15 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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I am painting my face orange and dark blue as you are reading this Mr. Quiksand......I hope the playoff opener is as BIG as I imagine it.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-15-2001, 08:27 PM
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#16 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2028 season
In my team’s setup this year, I have decided to use the shotgun formation more often. I understand that this will put my FB into the game more often as the lone back, and I would like to have him do a little more of the carrying. My RBs Castillo and Fackleman both are decent (in fact, the two guys are nearly identical) but I like Pohl the best of the lot. On defense, no major changes, except that we will orient our secondary by strong/weak rather than attempting to isolate our best CB onto their best WR—we just don’t have a top cover man to use like that. We’re back to 100 on the roster rating, with Miami slipping to 88. Our cohesion continues to grow (generally) with ratings of 82-76-78-90. In my secondary, I may not have much talent (and I don’t) but I guess we at least have a bunch of guys who have played together for a while. In pre-season, we lose WR Kris Rivers for perhaps half the season. We fortunately have depth there, and will be able to go with Benton as my starter. We open with 4 of 5 road games, and have a lot of home games at the end of our year, which is very helpful. We start off in Seattle. The Seahawks, a good team last year, hand us a loss in our opener, 27-19. They get a fumble return and a long rushing TD in the early fourth quarter to break open a close, low-scoring game. We host KC, and get a 42-11 win to get things back on track. I notice that they are without RB Wade Chanthavong—he’s dinged with a bum shoulder, and they are just not the same team without him. Our offense rolls the Chiefs, however, and we would have beaten them whether their RB had been Chanthavong or The Incredible Hulk. We beat the Chargers 38-23, and I see something that we just don’t see too often. My FB gets a carry from my own 2 yard line, and he takes it all the way—98 yards for the score. Not too many fullbacks could pull off that kind of effort, and it gives him 156 and 2 TDs on the day, the biggest running day I’ve had on this team in years, and quite possibly the biggest FB rushing day I’ve had in any career. Next we head into Miami, who is only 1-1, but certainly project to be good again this year in defense of their Superbowl crowns. The Dolphins crush us 43-17, and leave no doubt that they are, indeed, a factor this year. In Philadelphia, we take on another good team, and we edge the Eagles 21-17. My QB Tim Loverne goes down after is first pass, but young Fernando Stephenson steps in and plays well—20 of 31 for 202 yards, 3 TDs and 1 int. Loverne will miss perhaps a month—and I’m quite grateful that we opted to secure Stephenson for this season, as he’ll get a chance to display his wares here. He is a little dinged from a concussion, but he’ll be my starter. His first career start will be home for Denver. The Broncos are 5-1, and looking good. At 3-2, we are okay, but need this game to get back into the big picture. A 29-7 home win thrills the home crowd, and it’s our youth that wins the day. Rookie CB Terrance Brody gets a TD on an interception return, and second year DT Calvin Belin gets a sack for a safety. The big win makes the division race pretty interesting: Seattle at 6-0, Denver at 5-2, and our Squirrels at 4-2. You’ll note we didn’t include the Chargers—our next opponent—in the division race synopsis. That’s because they stink. However, they come in and take advantage of our post-Denver letdown, and beat us 35-21. It’s actually a close game—down by 7, we were driving for a tying TD when they picked off young Stephenson and returned it for an 86 yard TD. Tim Loverne and his hip pointer are still a week or so away from returning, so Stephenson stays at the helm. We get WR Kris Rivers back after his injuries, as we host the Jets. Fernando Stephenson plays a beautiful game, leading us to a 31-7 lead before we ground the offense and run it out. He has 4 TDs and one conversion, and we look sharp. We go to KC, and Tim Loverne returns to lead a 26-23 win. We really don’t get going on offense, but we are able to come from 20-3 down to win it in OT behind a turnover and a punt return TD. We take on the 6-3 Giants. They beat us 45-28, and we are suddenly in trouble. Loverne is our leading rusher on the day, and the Giants manage to force it in on us several times—our team played poorly, and slips to 6-4. We’re now three full games out of our division lead—but we can make progress (or lose hope) against the Seahawks this week. We’ll be without “old reliable” WR Kris Ferderer, who suffers a rare injury. We hand the Seahawks a tough loss, 37-18, as we outrush them 218 to 20. The win gets us within two of the Hawks, and we are tied with Denver at 7-4. We’d both be in as wild cards if the season ended now, but the contest is tight—and that’s where we play next. Ferderer is upgraded to probable, and he will start for Benton, who was hurt in the Seattle game. It’s a good week for us—we beat Denver 24-17, and division-leading Seattle stumbles in what should have been a “gimme” game over Kansas City. Ferderer is re-injured, and he’ll miss the remainder of the regular season. Oakland visits, and they run all over us, winning 31-13. The loss drops us two behind Seattle again, with only three games left. We host 9-4 Pittsburgh, and need the win to stay a well-seeded power. Instead, the Steelers take us, and we are in trouble. They win 13-12 with a 4th quarter defensive TD, and we lose a game where we outgained them 291-158. Our running game has vanished, and Loverne is trying to do it all—without the supporting cast he’s used to. We’re in trouble of slipping all the way out of the playoffs now, at 8-6. We get a boost with a 28-21 win over Washington, narrowly avoiding giving it away in the final minutes. The serious news is that QB Tim Loverne is seriously hurt—he tears up his knee, and he is gone for the season. Fernando Stephenson leads this comeback, and will have to go the distance from here. There are four 9-6 teams for three wild card spots. We take on 6-9 Oakland, and a win likely gets us in. A loss leaves us hoping for a few lucky bounces elsewhere. We get a 24-21 win in stunning fashion, as Fernando Stephenson hits rookie WR Andre Frantz for a 48-yard TD with 32 seconds left to win the game. It’s a huge play, and it catapults us into a wild card showdown with our bitter rival, the Denver Broncos.
Stat leaders: QB Tim Loverne: 2,777 yds, 57.2%, 7.42 ypa, 18/10, 85.5 QB Fernando Stephenson: 1,425 yds, 63.7%, 7.27 ypa, 13/8, 90.6 FB Brenden Pohl: 165-726 yds, 5 TD (4.4 ypc) RB Ian Fackleman: 83-506 yds, 3 TD (6.0 ypc) RB Burt Castillo: 145-418 yds, 4 TD (2.8 ypc) WR Kris Rivers: 58-805 yds, 4 TD (63.7%, 4 drops) – 9 games WR Kris Ferderer: 55-802 yds, 4 TD (61.7%, 4 drops) – 11 games OL unit: ~35% KRBs, 49 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 92 tackles, 2 sacks DE Artie Burroughs: 12 sacks, 1 block, 5 hurries DT Edwin Grant: 10 sacks, 1 block, 4 hurries S Patrick Pierce: 45 tackles, 7 int, 7 PD, 52.9 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.2 / 3.7 / 4.0 Passing: 7.3 / 7.0 / 6.6 Hmmm, once again not really the numbers of a totally dominating team. Our pass attack wasn’t able to really get rolling, probably in part due to the widespread injuries at QB and WR. Our running game wasn’t great to begin with. Defensively, we were fairly tough on the run, but overall only average. At 10-6, we may be closer to an 8-8 team than the SB contender we wish we were. We’ll need great work from QB Stephenson and some good luck to make it to another AFC Championship game. |
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01-15-2001, 09:18 PM
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#17 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2028 postseason
“Denver week” is always a big deal here in Colorado Springs. They’re the older kid on the block, but we’ve stepped in and stolen a good deal of their local thunder, and have built up quite a rivalry with the Broncos over the years. This season, we get the rare opportunity to face Denver a third time—in the postseason. Last time we played a playoff game against them, we were without our all-star QB Tom Loverne, and the same is true again here. The Bronco faithful say he’s “dodging” them, but at least this time the injury is clear. We’ll send in our young signal caller Fernando Stephenson to take on the Broncos—at least we get to host it this time. That fact alone has escalated the city furor to a roar. For Denver, they have already transitioned past QB Isaac Mooney, to a young Martin Winslett, who had a 65.9 rating this season with 19 interceptions to 16 TDs. They have two RBs in Carlos Howard and Benjamin Boehm, and will use a varied offensive attack. They play opportunistic defense, led by a ball hawk at FS, Spencer Gustafson, who had 9 interceptions on the season. They are not an overpowering team on paper, but in a rivalry game, that’s never what it’s about anyway. We’ll be playing with a beat-up squad of WRs, with both Ferderer and Benton listed as questionable. Most everywhere else, we ought to be okay. We take the field, and the home crowd is quite stirring… They get the ball first, which we relish. We want to put our defense on the field, and let the crowd start out at full pitch. They willingly oblige. After two one-yard runs, Denver completes a clutch seven yard pass, to set up their punt from their 29. Very nice. They get a QB sack on our first play, which calms the crowd a bit—the big play was by DT Sammy Sanderson, a former Squirrel (who I’ll remember always). It’s not until our second possession that we see the first first down of the game (on either side). It’s followed immediately by the second and third of the game. Soon thereafter, though, the Broncos come up with an interception in their end zone, and it remains scoreless. The drought holds through the first quarter, though Denver did finally get a first down. The Broncos get a 60-yard punt return all the way down to our 11, and get set up in great position. Four plays later it is 3-0 on a 25-yard FG. We drive, with our best effort of the game, and finish it with a 3-yard blast by FB Brenden Pohl—and we take the lead 7-3. The fans are throwing acorns onto the field, it’s total hysteria. We get the crowd fired up again as we intercept a Denver pass and take over at their 45 with under 4 minutes in the half. A nice run by Castillo sets up yet another Pohl power rush, and it’s 14-3. Denver gets in place for a FG attempt, but they miss it, and that score goes into halftime. The third quarter is a bunch of back and forth, with the period ending as they are backed up to their 4 yard line to start a possession. They cannot dig out, and we take over at their 45—it’s a good chance to salt it away here. We move in slowly, get a few third downs converted, and then Stephenson hits Benton for the TD pass—it’s 21-3, and the fans are openly hooting at the Broncos. With 8 minutes left, the Broncos get a breath of life as they get another great punt return—this time 69 yards, down to our 6. They get the TD on a slant pass, convert for two points, and get within 10. They get it back again with 3:22 remaining—needing two scores. They turn it over on downs, and we get it back. That wraps the game, and we take it 21-11 over the Broncos. We head into Pittsburgh next, where the mighty Steelers await. We hosted them last year and beat them—now the Steelers relish the fact that we must come to their lair. The Steelers have a new 1,000-yard RB in Nick Linder, and they rely heavily on QB Marty Alexander to power their attack. They play very solid defense, and tend not to allow big plays. We get the ball first against the Steelers, and get a couple of first downs, but stall. We totally stuff them, and take over at their 48. A big pass play to Farr gets us to their 6, and Benton catches the score. It’s a quick 7-0 lead. Pitt again fails to register even a first down, and we get it back. We move in, but miss a long FG attempt. We again bottle them up badly, and take over. As the first quarter ends, the hometown Steelers have –1 yard rushing and –5 yards receiving. That’s not what you’re lookin’ for there. We move in and look like we’ll score easily, but then settle for a FG. Marty Alexander finally gets his guys going, and they drive for an impressive TD—it’s as if they chose to spot us a quarter of football, just to see if they could still win. On our next possession, Stephenson gets picked off, and we face a quick first and goal. Alexander delivers, and it’s 14-10 in a hurry. Suddenly, we look sluggish and they look unstoppable. They drive for another TD with ease, making it 21-10 at the half. We’re hoping that the second quarter will actually end at halftime, and that we can come out and re-assert ourselves. Our first possession suggest otherwise—we get stuffed. They add a FG after getting great field position. However, we get our fire lit with two nice runs from Castillo, which set up a short TD pass to Rivers, and we are back within one score, at 24-17. Momentum seems to have shifted way back, as we stop them, move in, and add a FG to get within 4 points. In the early fourth, Alexander drives them to our 10, but they only get 3 points out of it—a minor victory for us. They recover a fumble at our 40, which hurts. They hit a 45-yard FG, to regain a 10-point advantage, with 8:37 left. On their next possession, they hit it big, getting deep on one big pass play, and then pushing it in for another TD pass. They take it 44-20 after another cheap TD late in the game—one we will not soon forget. Pittsburgh beats Seattle for the right to face Washington in the Superbowl. The Steelers win it 21-14, giving QB Marty Alexander his second title, and his first since being summarily jettisoned by the Broncos. He also is named the first team QB, and the league MVP. He yields OPOY to RB Charles Meyers of Oakland. On my roster, FB Brenden Pohl, C Jerald Braxton, and DE Artie Burroughs all make the second team. We at least notched a critical win over Denver, but were not the team we hoped we’d be this year. Without Loverne, we struggled a bit, but it’s tough to look at Stephenson’s performance and find any cause for losing the game we lost. We still need improvement in our secondary, but next season may well be one of transition for this team. We’ll see what happens from here. |
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01-15-2001, 10:47 PM
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#18 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2029 pre-draft
Our team Hall of Fame is joined by another Squirrel draftee who went on to great heights elsewhere—DT Josh Firebaugh. He put in a few years with us, and then was traded away in a blockbuster deal. His best years were with the Saints, but he registers in our HOF because. . . well, because the game is too stupid to understand what to do. Regardless, a very nice player—-a serious camp breakout for us, after being drafted in the later rounds, if I recall correctly. Our profits shrunk last year—we only cleared $54m. The overwhelming reason was the new contract we signed with our coach, paying him real money. Instead of him being among the cheapest coaches, he’s at least in spitting distance from the top handful, and that has left a $66m difference in my costs—that’s real money. As long as we stay in the black, I expect we’ll be fine. We had sterling 100% attendance last season, and we expect that trend to continue—it’s time for a renovation project. My coach and scout are already in place—I’m comfortable with both, and they stay put. One of the young coaches who intrigues me is Sedrick Grant—he coached my guys for one year, but I let him go as I was worried about his poor rating for avoiding injuries. He’s had success with Atlanta, and has gotten them into the playoffs twice already. Atlanta pays pretty well to keep him around—I’ll keep an eye out for him. We suffered no retirements this season, and here is the roster we return. As usual, it is sorted by salary (for this year), which places all the players without returning contracts at the bottom, sorted by years of experience.
WR Kris Ferderer is a guy who I’d like to have retire with me, and he remains productive. I’d prefer to keep him. FB Brenden Pohl has proven his worth, and he is irreplaceable. DE Jack Schultz will be hard to let go, but I fear his demands may be outlandish—I’ll wait and see there. I need to keep enough on hand later to re-sign breakout G Marc Cintron, who is a total superstar in the making. He’ll start, and star, as soon as this year. I release G Malcolm Clayton immediately—I need to make room, and he is a positively obvious target. His $7m may be enough to ink my stud Cintron, who will undoubtedly replace him. WR Kris Ferderer wants $12m a year, and I feel obliged to give it up. His presence will help cohesion and expertise, which is finally building. I put in a bid of 3yrs, $32m for him. I put in 3yrs, $14.4m for FB Pohl, and I’ll pay whatever it takes to hold on to him. Five-year starter CB Geoff Sheffield wants $15m and up—no way. LB Steve Gardner is solid, and from Colorado—but $12m a year is just too much for grade “B minus” talent. That ends my opening bids. If, somehow, DE Schultz falls into the later rounds, he might be worth a bid of $9-10m, but not the $13-15m he wants now. After week one, both of my players are pending. . . to other teams. I tweak Pohl to edge out Cheyenne, and I boost my tender to WR Ferderer to approximate that of Cincinnati. In week four, they both re-sign with me. With my top priorities landed, I look at the big picture. I have $20m in cap room, and have only my own draft picks—all at #28. I might have some room left after the draft for G Contron, but definitely don’t fell totally confined by the money situation. Carrying two QBs is tough, but it isn’t impossible. . . yet. DE Jack Schultz suddenly gets signed by Cleveland, and my defensive line is starting to unravel a bit. I now have four solid guys, and absolutely no depth behind them. When my window opens for free agency, I scout out the best players left. LB Steve Gardner has come down to about $8.5m a year, but I still don’t think he makes sense at that price. As the end approaches, there is an even better LB in this group, who is available even cheaper than Gardner. LB Donovan Moffit is a 7-year starter with the Giants, and can be had for about $6m a year. I ultimately decide that is simply too much, and I let him pass. I put in a cheap offer to T Brian Booker, and DE Levon McCormick. I decide that I really need to try to find a way to bring in LB Moffitt, and I decide to go after him. I release LB Drew Garrett, and then T Shannon Torrence. I put in a 3yr offer for LB Moffit, for just over $19m. He ought to be a very valuable addition. That wraps up a potentially very helpful FA session. I this draft, with pick #28 and nothing extra, I again have little hope for a major impact player. I’ll hope for a good CB (again) or possibly a DE, but I’m willing to roll with the punches. We have holes to fill in several areas, but holes just naturally open up on this team—it’s part of the built-in cycle. |
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01-16-2001, 11:17 AM
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#19 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Just a few fairly random musings here...
I tend to find that under nearly any set of "house rules" if you are playing to win (as I am here, for the most part) you find yourself pushing certain areas to their limits. In this career, it has clearly been my use of second-year players available through free agency. Almost every year, I manage to grab a couple of decent-quality players who for some reason were cut by their original team during their rookie contract. These players usually are of modest quality, but occasionally I'll find guys with 50+ ratings. If you read this, you probably have gathered that the areas most likely to to show up here (for reasonable prices) are OL (all three positions), DT, LB and safety. I find that most offensive linemen and most safeties will sign deals at or near the veteran minimum salary-- and many ask for 3 or 4 year contracts. DTs and LBs will take a little more money, but they wil sign similar deals. Decent-quality WRs, DEs and CBs are sometimes available, but they will ask for steeper contracts-- typically between 2x and 4x veteran minsal. (Depending on the team's desperation level and the individual player quality, this is sometimes a good value) I pretty rarely find good RBs in this circumstance, but it's not impossible. QBs some along from time to time, but they don't seem to follow any one pattern.-- sometimes they want fairly big money, sometimes not. The bottom line is, since you can count on most second year players to make a pretty sizable jump in their ratings during that year's camp, you can get decent quality fil-ins at cheap prices in this fashion. I have essentially replaced the old process of adding lots of undrafted rookies (to keep for several years) with grabbing a couple decent second year players each season, to stay in supply of usable guys at the "cheap" positions. So, is this "cheating?" I'm sure one could argue that it is inappropriate, at some level. However, given the fact that FOF 2001 is so dramatically out of whack with the salary demands of players (particularly young, unproven players) this doesn't seem like a ridiculous way to invest in fairly young, fairly cheap players. Recall, that if your veteran minimum salary is, say $1m per year, that players with under 4 years experience often get less than that--maybe $450,000 / $650,000 / $800,000. If you're signing second year free agents, you're paying them something like $1.2m for their second year, or nearly twice their minimum salary. It's certainly not highway robbery, completely ripping off the player (in the way that signing a 7yr minsal deal with an undrafted rookie most certainly is). For now, I'll continue this practice with my young Squirrels. I candidly am unsure what I'd do differently with this team were I firced to abandon that practice-- I'd probably find myself bringing in 10-15 URFAs each year on one year deals to come in and fill out the roster. In turn, I would probably have an additional 5-10% of my salary cap available to spend on star-level players. I'm not sure if that would be more or less realistic, but I suspect it would be less interesting. I'll stay the course for now, but it's not without some contemplation... |
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01-16-2001, 04:30 PM
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#20 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nova Scotia
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Dear Marmel:
Just a note to express my deepest condolences to you and the Broncos on losing three times to the Squirrels in 2028. As Quik's morals do not permit him to abuse the other GMs in the league, it's nice to know that there is patsy in our division like the Broncos so that our win-loss ratio remains respectable. Reuters has quoted a rumour that Denver's team will henceforth be known as the Old Gray Mares. Perhaps there will be room for them in the barns at QuikSand Ranch. Yours sincerely, Kevin President, Nova Scotia Chapter Nuts About Squirrels Fan Club
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It seems more like today than it did all day yesterday. |
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01-16-2001, 05:20 PM
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#21 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Dear overly optomistic Squirrel fan Kevin,
As your over-glorified GM has stated this is all about winning. If you will look into the history books of the FOF league you will see that the Denver Broncos were in the superbowl much more recently than your beloved Squirrels. Also, since I have become a fan of the Broncos, each team has won 1 superbowl title, however we have been to two. Also, since I have become a Broncos fan, we have faced each other only twice in the playoffs, and the results are 1-1. I believe that our history is a little more glamorous than your Squirrels. The Squirrels continue to try and overcome the popularity and success of their older nieghbors, but they continue to come up just short year after year. When the Squirrels are able to attend another Superbowl without buying tickets, then you may begin to talk your smack and have it hold water. Until then, continue to support a team that fears for it's success among Coloradans, by being afraid to make their ticket prices higher than ours. By having lower prices, your team attracts the have-nots of Colorado, and frankly, you can have those fans. We Broncos fans are much more knowledgable, and as a reward are treated to a far better brand of football than you are seeing down in Colorado Springs. I encourage you to ditch the Squirrels, come up north to Denver and take a nibble of the Broncos. You will soon see that you will not be able to get enough of this franchise, and you will find yourself decked out in orange and navy, the only football colors in Colorado as far as I am concerned. Good day Kevin. Marmel "Broncos superfan."
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-16-2001, 08:04 PM
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#22 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2029 draft and camp
In this draft, I judge the best player to be a superhuman tackle from Notre Dame, Sammie Burnett. If he doesn’t bust, he ought to be tremendous. I see the usual assortment of decent players, but he’s the sole standout. From Colorado schools, there is a very solid WR from Air Force, and a few linemen from Colorado, and that’s about it—no real stars, and the wideout will almost certainly go before I’d be ready to take him. At #28, my top hope is, once again, for a serious cornerback. I’ll likely take whoever looks like the best player at my usual round one positions—WR, DE, or CB. As my pick approaches, the two most intriguing players are at safety and DE. They both, as well as a decent CB, fall to my selection. I go with the safety, as this draft actually looks deep enough with decent CBs that I have a shot to get someone useful in round two—unless about ten guys go before my next pick.
A pretty good draft, especially if my two DBs work out to be as good as expected. CB Dodge can play now—might start this season. He doesn’t seem to have a lot of upside, but we’ll see after camp. I make a few cuts of moderately expensive players, in order to bring on G Cintron and a few more rookie roster-fillers. Cintron takes a three year deal for $19m—but how can I not do it? He’ll be spectacular, if my scout is to be believed. I’m still fiddling with a new rule for URFAs, but I think I’m going to sign most everyone to a one-year deal this go-round. I am going to allow myself one URFA to whom I will grant a 7yr deal, which will double twice, and then stay flat at the year three level for the remainder. We’ll see how that “feels.” My big URFA this year is a local product, G Broderick Cossette. He gets $780k in year one, then $1,560 in year two. After that, he has five straight years at $3,120,000. We’ll see if this marginal talent is good enough to justify that deal. I also sign a couple more rookies to fill out the roster. We head toward camp with this roster on hand:
And here is the scout’s assessment after another year of training…
And, just for experimentation, here is my try at the “all in one camp chart” which is (I confirm) a bitch to prepare:
Particularly in a year like this without any big movement, it’s not worth the trouble. Nobody gets totally shaken by the training camp, though my top pick (again) loses a little bit off this highest potential rating. Both my early-selection DBs will join the mass of mediocrity that I have patrolling my secondary—hooray, hooray. Here is the set of 53 that we head into camp with:
After this year, Loverne will be a free agent, and I will have to think very seriously about the viability of paying two QBs real money on the same team (eve if the young guy is making only half the “top dollar” commanded by the veteran). As for now, we get under the camp pretty well—though, considering they we’re really not paying anyone to play CB or RB, it’s not too hard to see how we did it. This year, we expect a playoff berth once again, and we hope that we get in with a full head of steam. This may well be Loverne’s last season with us—we would like to make it count. |
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01-17-2001, 07:27 PM
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#23 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2029 season
I feel like this year might well be a “moment in time.” My QB (now a long-time QB) Tim Loverne is at the end of his contract, and my would-be starter is pretty weel, ready to go. Some of my bestplayers—like WR Kris Ferderer and LT Joel Ignasiak, are elaerly just about done. I see both halves of my “1-2 punch” at RB leaving after this year, looking for real money. I have a ton of good players, including my only legitimate DEs, who may join them at the “out” dor next season. In short—we may not have a team this good again for quite some time. We need to make this season count. Our setup isn’t much different than last season. We’ll still have RB by committee, and much the same with our secondary. Loverne is our starter at QB, but Stephenson is looking pretty solid as our reserve. My feelings about my roster are supoprted by the franchise screen—we have a 100 roster rating, and the next best is Portland with a 76. Baltimore, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Oakland are in the 60s. Our team cohesion is 86-80-71-83, which puts us into the top ten or so in everything except the front seven. Our schedule this year is tough at first—5 of 6 on the road. However, we have 7 of 10 at home to finish things up (naturally), including a 3-game home stand before our final game in Detroit. We look to be in good shape coming out of the preseason. No serious injuries at all. Our opener is in Seattle. They sting us in OT, 27-21. A 96-yard punt return TD got them rolling early, and we didn’t get a lead until the fourth quarter—but then they came back to tie and win it. In Oakland, we deliver a paddling, 38-21, with Fernando Stephensone leading the charge, and FB Brenden Pohl gainin 101 yards rushing and 36 receiving. Loverne, despite being dinged in that game, is okay to go next week. We host San Diego, our home opener. We roll them 35-20, and again Stephenson has to come in for Tim Loverne. Once again, Loverne is okay to play next week—when we head into Denver. In the early season battle for the division lead (not to mention a serious rivalry edge) the Broncos pound us, 24-0. Loverne threw 3 interceptions, and our offense was just abysmal. Thus far, with fairly even numbers of attempts, our two QBs seem to be on different levels—Stephenson rated 91.1, and Loverne 64.5. I’ll wait one more game, but if it’s not good, Loverne may need to take a seat. My coach goes in and reads these guys the riot act. We will not be embarassed like that, and we will not be that kind if team—no matter who has to be in the game. We respond with a 41-3 win in Tampa Bay. Loverne throws for 4 TDs, and seems to be right back on track. However, after our bye, we come back and lose to Kansas City, 41-12. They got three defensive TDs in the game, which turned a mediocre defensive performance on our part (allowing 306 total yards) into a high-scoring day from the Chiefs. We were again dreadful on offense. Back home, facing Denver, this might well be a make-or-break game for our season. We’re both at 3-3, and the division race is tight. My OL is a bit banged up, but we are generally pretty healthy. We get back at Denver, with a convincing 31-17 win. Admittedly, it wasn’t a shutout like we wanted, but we got the best of them, and it goes into the books as a “W.” We then avenge our other nasty loss with a 34-7 win over Kansas City. A punt return TD was the nly thing keeping ti from being a shutout. At 5-3, we are right back into the division leader picture. We host Pittsburgh, and get a close 24-21 win. From the box score, it’s tough to say what happened, but 21 of the 45 points were posted within the final two minutes. Odd game, but we’ll take the win. We keep it going with a 17-10 win in Cleveland. Rookie CB Ross Dodge seals it with a TD interception in the fourth quarter. We host 6-4 Seattle in a big division game. We take them, 31-16 to extend to five straight wins and an 8-3 record. We win in San Diego 24-17 to make is 9-3, though we only gain 193 yards total. LB Donovan Moffit—who has ably stepped right in at MLB for us—and LB Bernie Coleman teamed up for 19 tackles and 3 sacks on the day. At 9-3, we now have a two game lead in the division. Lowly Denver sits at 6-6, in some serious playoff peril. We host the 7-5 Vikings, and beat them 21-7. RB Ian Fackleman picks up the slack as FB Pohl and RB Castillo both get hurt, and Fackleman gains 143 yards on the day. He’ll start as Castillo is limping a bit now, but the big news is that Brenden Pohl is out with a torn calf muscle, and we’ll definitely miss him. We lose at home ot Boise City, as the injury bug suddenly strikes hard. Welet them go 80 yards in 19 seconds to beat us, but the injuries are the killer—WR Ferderer out, T Ignasiak hurting, G Joyner hurting, DE Burrough hurting, and about nine others listed. It’s a real mess all of a sudden. We beat Oakland 34-13, which helps things a lot. At 11-4, we stil lead Seattle by one game, and we have the division wrapped up courtesy of two wins over the Hawks. We will likely getthe #2 seed behind Tennessee, but could lose that to Indy if we lose this week. A 20-15 win in Detroit gives us a much needed week off, and we’ll let our next opponent work to play us. However, for the second straight season, Tim Loverne suffers a late-season injury, and it looks like he will miss the playoffs entirely.
Stat leaders: QB Tim Loverne: 2,826 yds, 56.1%, 7.24 ypa, 25/13, 86.5 FB Brenden Pohl: 115-519 yds, 3 TD (4.5 ypc); 19 rec – 200 yds, 3 TD RB Ian Fackleman: 129-473 yds, 7 TD (3.6 ypc) RB Burt Castillo: 113-439 yds, 2 TD (3.8 ypc) WR Kris Ferderer: 56-975 yds, 9 TD (54.9%, 7 drops) WR Kris Rivers: 60-799 yds, 10 TD (53/0%, 9 drops) OL unit: ~32% KRBs, 34 sacks allowed C Jerald Braxton: 38/104 KRBs (36.5%), 4 sacks allowed LB Donovan Moffitt: 99 tackles, 3 sacks LB Bernie Coleman: 88 tackles, 8 sacks DE Artie Burroughs: 12 sacks, 2 blocks,8 hurries CB Terrance Brody: 35 tackles, 7 int, 3 PD, 54.2 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.8 / 3.9 / 3.9 Passing: 7.3 / 6.4 / 6.7 These are not exactly dominating stats—we did not muscle around all of our opposition at all. Our running game wa downright lousy, and our pass attack was only a shade of what it ought to be. Not an impressive year by the stats, but we’ll take 12 wins and a bye week, thanks just the same. |
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01-17-2001, 09:37 PM
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#24 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2029 postseason
Indianapolis wins their opener, and they will come to town to face us in the divisional playoffs. They will be playing with their oft-injured QB Frank Burgess, who in limited duty has played very well this year (11TD/2 int). He is a pocket passer, and has a great arm for ht long ball. They have a trio of 1,000-yd weapons, and will come at us from all angles. Their DL is the key for them—in their 4-3, they got 41 sacks from their starting defensive linemen, which is demned tough. Rushing only 4, they will be able to drop 7 into coverage, and keep our air game under wraps. With backup Fernando Stephenson at the helm, we get the ball first. He’s without our starting WR Ferderer, our all-purpose star FB Pohl and our starting RB Castillo, but we still have a decent group of players on offense—thanks to our pretty decent depth. After a trade of futile possessions, we get our break—we block their punt and take over at the Indy 31. We end up missing a 49 yard FG, and they get it back—a squandered opportunity. On their turn, they get in for a long kick, but they miss theirs, too. We get theball back, and finally get something going—Stephenson completes 4 straight passes to get in for the TD to Frantz, and it’s 7-0. Early in the second quarter, we add a FG to lead 10-0. Midway through the third, RB Fackleman gets a 26 yard run up the middle for our next TD, and we extend to 17-0. We are playing remarkably well, for a unit that has been thrown together due to oddball injuries down the stretch. The Colts get a FG just before halftime to eliminate the goose egg, and we cannot follow up—it’s 17-3 at the half. In the third, we drive but miss a 36-yard FG. We are moving the ball, though, pretty well split with 121 yards on the ground and 155 in the air. The third quarter ends as we get trhe ball back, and start to move toward midfield, still up 17-3. We finish that possession with a coffin corner punt to the Indy 2 yard line. They engineer a drive, get into FG range, but miss theirs, too. Still holding the lead, we eat up clock as we get into Indy territory, and Fackleman finishes them offc with another breakaway for a 36 yard TD. We win it 27-3 and move into the AFC Championship game once again. We’ll have to go on the road to play Tennessee, with the best record in football. Their leader is QB Norm Flannery, who had 26 TDs to 8 int this year, and over 4,300 yards—a great season. His main targets are flanker Cornell Coles (1,421 yds, 9 TD) and wideout Maurice Fortier (1,529 yds, 11 TD). They were tough a few years ago when Coles was really the only show in town—with both these guys aboard, they are downright lethal. Their defense is solid, and S Duane Florez is an all-star with 11 interceptions. Loverne is upgraded to probable, but I decide to go with young Fernando Stephenson for ths one. Loverne might be 100% for the big one if we get there, and it’s a calculated risk. The first possessions are good for us—we stuff them totally, and we get a couple first downs to punt them pretty deep. Flannery converts no fewer then thre different 3rd-and-long chances, and ends up in the end zone for the 7-0 lead. They are tough when they are “on” and we lack the major talent to run with them. We respond with a big play, which sets up a FG, and it’s 7-3 as the first quarter runs out. They add a FG, and then things go back and forth on our side of the 50 for two possessions each. We finally dig out, and with 1:45 left int ehhalf, we get a FG to pull within 4. That’s the halftime score. In the third, we stop their opening drive, and my PR Barkshadt returns it the whole 62 yards for the TD. Fackleman get it going to drive us to midfield, and we punt them back to their 1 yard line. Neither one can get going as the third quarter expires—we’re ahead from the huge return play. Tennessee opens the fourth quarter witgh a breakaway run for 46 yards, down to our 34. They get it in, and take the lead 17-13. Fackleman converts on third and 9 to keep things alive—he’s now our most reliable offensive weapon. FB Alexander gets it, but fumbles it and Tennessee takes over at our 44. This is a huge defensive series with 9:30 left—we cannot afford to fall down by more than one score, I don’t think. We stop them, but they pin us at our 2 yard line. Fackleman again comes to the rescue, gaining 8 yards to get us out to the 14. Two penalties dig our hole even deeper, but then Facklemn breaks off a 62-yarder down to their 34. This is the chance we need—it might be our last. FB Alexander gets 2, and then TE/FB Cabbage (he prefers is pronounced like French – cuh-BAHJ) gets 8 on a rare carry for him, which takes the Titans by surprise. On third and one, Stephenson tries a short pass, but RB Banks drops it, and we face fourth and one from their 25. We decide to go for the FG, and nail it—we are within one point. We stop them very quickly, and take over again with good position after a nice return from Cosgrove. We start off at the Tennessee 47, with 2:22 to go, and down one point. Banks gets 13 running up the middle—he is basically on the team because he went to school in Colorado. Now, he’s a cornerstone of our Superbowl hopes. Fackleman gets 6 more, and then Cosgrove carries on an end-around for 2 yards to set up third and 2 from their 26. Fackleman up the gut is good for three, and we get another first down—1:23 on the clock. Fackleman gets 5 and 11, and it’s first and goal, with 44 seconds left. We hand off to Fackleman again, and he bulls his way through the defensive front and into the end zone for the TD! We go for two, but they block Stephenson’s pass—it’s 22-17 with 37 seconds remaining. They get the ball at their 12 with 32 seconds left. They have just a play or two to get things going, and they need it all. Flannery drops back, and lets it go for his double-covered star wideout, Maurice Fortier, who makes the catch amidst two bumping defenders, and he is the only one who remains standing. Fortier trucks the remaining 60 yards for a phenomenal play, and they go ahead 23-22. The Titans fans are stunned. . . it’s the weirdest thing since the “Music City Miracle” in 1999. With 20 seconds left, it’s suddently their game. We have no equivalent luck, and the clock kills us—we lose a total heartbreaker, 23-22. Tennessee manages another thriller as they defeat Chicago in the Superbowl, 31-28. They call themselves a “team of destiny,” and have the ring to show for it. Their passing trio—QB Flannery, and WRs Coles and Fortier are reunited on the all-pro first team. As for our team, we are well represented this year. FB Brenden Pohl is again a first teamer, and my pair of top LBs Moffitt and Coleman also both make first team. C Jerald Braxton and my punter Nathan Castillo make second team. Well, we got SO close to what we sought, but ended up on the outside again—losing another AFC Championship game, our fourth in five seasons. A tough break, but we’ve had a good run. Next season may mark the beginning of a new era with this team, as our oldest veterans start to drop off the roster—I expect that will start with Tim Loverne, if he demands $40m a year like I think he will. |
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