The Colonial Football League

[lionden_56]

Week 3 News and Notes

Our player of the week this week is Frank Lampard of Picon. He scored their opening goal, and assisted on the goal that tied the game and earned his team a point.

Our keeper of the week is Joe Hart of Canceron. After allowing 8 goals in their previous 2 games, Hart held the league's leading scorer to just a single tally while saving the 8 other shots on net and facing 14 shots total in his team's victory over Sagittaron. Canceron certainly hopes they've got their keeper and back line situation figured out moving forward.

For the first time this season the injury bug showed up this week. Getting the worst of it was Sagittaron's Dagoberto. He fractured his ankle early in their contest with Canceron. He immediately was substituted out of the game, and preliminary reports say he will miss at least 6 weeks. There is the potential he may be out for the remainder of the season.

Picon's Lee Dong Gook suffered a sprained knee in the later stages of their contest. He stayed on during the match, but examination afterwards made it out to be worse than initially thought. He's expected to miss 3-5 weeks.

Finally, Gilardino of Gemenon will be sidelined next week with a bone bruise on his thigh. He also managed to finish the match where he was injured, but team doctors have already ruled him out for next week. He expects to only miss the one game.

Week 4 Preview

Gemenon @ Tauron

Our first match of the day is a tale of consistency versus inconcistency. Tauron has three draws in three matches, and appear to be ok with it. Manager Mario Tores said this week "We are right there. One or two bounces and all of those draws become wins. We'll be in contention at the end of the year."

Gemenon meanwhile has been up and down over their three week campaign. The offense has looked anemic in weeks 1 and 3, but exploded for four goals in week 2. Was that a fluke against a bad Canceron defense, or is Gemenon the real deal being kept in check by the other defenses they've played. Tauron should be a good measuring stick as to where their offense stands.

Leonis @ Sagittaron

Sagittaron is reeling a bit. They still have the league's leading scorer, but really aren't getting offensive production from anyone else on the pitch. Now their third offensive threat is injured, defenses can clamp down even more on Ibrahimovic.

Leonis sits third in the table, currently, and is one of only two teams in the league without a loss. They're a solid defensive team that will be put to the test this week, but a test that they should be able to pass. Hatem Ben Arfa is back from injury, and should be able to kickstart what has been a bit of a sluggish offense the past two weeks.

Caprica @ Picon

A middle of the table match if there ever was one. These two teams come in at 6th and 7th place in the league after week 3. Caprica finally broke through for a victory last week, led by Arjen Robben's first goal of the season. The C-Bucs are going to need a lot more production out of him if they want to move up the table.

Picon is tied for the league lead with seven team goals. Unfortunately for them they've also allowed seven goals. Losing Lee Dong Gook to injury for a few weeks hurts the offensive production of this team, but Frank Lampard has been on a tear over the past two weeks, and has the potential to put the whole team on his shoulders.

Aquarion @ Libran

The battle at the top of the table. Aquarion has found a way to get it done so far this year. Their goal differential isn't great, but they've scored big goals when they needed to, and are really the surprise of the league thus far.

Libran have been all business. Their defense has been rock solid. Even in the loss to Caprica last week, they only surrendered a single goal. Their offense just couldn't find a way to punch through. If they figure out the goal scoring side of things again, this is an extremely dangerous team.

Canceron @ Scorpia

Have Canceron figured it out? They pulled off the surprise upset of Sagittaron last week, but need to be back on their game as the second leading scorer in the league will line up against them this week in form of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The offense finally showed up as well last week. This matchup will be the test to find out if that was a glitch, or if Canceron is really back for real.

Scorpia needs to figure out their offense. The aformentioned Huntelaar has scored all of the team's goals this year. The defense has been ok, but not good enough to sneak wins out of the three goals they've scored. The stingers are hoping they can get it figured out against what has statistically been the worst defense in the league this year.

Aerilon @ Virgon

Virgon finds themselves winless, and really trying to figure out where it is all going wrong. While they are in every game, they just haven't figured out a way to break through for the three points yet. Bastian Schweinsteiger has been solid, but the rest of the team has yet to live up to expectations.

Aerilon has had a taste of each result in their first three weeks: a draw in week 1, a loss in week 2, and finally a win in week 3.The Threshers probably couldn't have picked a better team to try and get back-to-back wins against. They need to get the three points now if they want to compete, because they have yet to face any of the league's top-tier teams.

[lionden_56]

Hey everyone, bit of an "out of character" post here...but I am completely fed up with Mirillis Action! I just got done recording the games this week, only to find out that 3 of them just randomly stopped recording, even though the HUD still said recording. One of them was at half time, but two of them were like 5 minutes into to the game. This is the third week in a row this has happened. Does anyone know if there is a fix for this? Or does anyone know of a better Capture software. This is done on PC, so I don't need a capture card or anything like that. I have Fraps as well, but since that records uncompressed I can't do that because the file sizes are just so huge (like 100gb per game). I used Action! because it can record to compressed MP4, meaning whole games are like 2.5gb instead of 100. But if I can't record the whole game, that's moot anyway.

Luckily the really exciting matches this week were the ones that did record, and the first half of the Scorpia/Canceron game captured where there were 5 goals scored (its an exciting game, let me tell you). But after this week, I'm not sure what the video and/or broadcast future of this dynasty is. I'm having a ton of fun with it, and I hope you're enjoying it, so I'm going to continue this in text form regardless of what happens, and I hope you'll all keep following along (assuming anyone is actually following this). But that's where I'm at from a technical standpoint right now.

[lionden_56]

Not too sure about next week yet, but we'll be live on twitch again tomorrow. 3 matches on the docket. I'm going to move the start time back an hour because of that.

1pm Central
Gemenon @ Tauron

1:45 Central
Leonis @ Sagittaron

2:30 Central
Game of the Week - 1 vs 2 showdown
Aquarion @ Libran

The first half of Canceron and Scorpia will go up on youtube, just like last week. Unfortunately it only recorded 6 minutes of each of the other matches, so those will only be text coverage on Monday.

[lionden_56]

Sorry for the delay. Had a huge presentation for work today that I've been working on pretty much non-stop since Friday. It's been a fun weekend.[/sarcasm]

Matches on Youtube

Gemenon @ Tauron
Leonis @ Sagittaron
Aquarion @ Libran

Gemenon @ Tauron

Tauron entered the match looking to double their entire season's point total in one game, while Gemenon looked to right the ship after losing in Aquarion last week.

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for Gemenon in the 16th minute, when he took a long ball played through the defense pretty much all alone into the box. A defender caught him, and probably fouled him, but the official said play on and Welbeck snuck a low shot past the keeper.

Rossi tied it up for Tauron in the 28th. He received the pass near the top of the semi-circle, dribbled to his left around the defense, then sent a scorcher to the far post, past the diving keeper.

Tauron scored the eventual game winner on a fluky goal in the 42nd minute. Tim Howard took a back pass from his defenders, but slipped on the rain-soaked Tauron pitch. His attempted clearance fell right to the feet of Park, who had nothing but a yawning net in front of him for the game-winning goal.

Tauron remain the lone unbeaten team in the league, and take 3 points for Gemenon.

May 2, 2014 - Gemenon vs Tauron
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Gemenon ()	1	0	1
Tauron ()	2	0	2

Team Stats Comparison
Gemenon		Tauron
1	Goals	2
4	Shots	17
1	Shots on Target	6
44	Tackles	38
0	Fouls	1
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
25	Shot Accuracy	35
81	Passing Percentage	79

Leonis @ Sagittaron

It was the first test for the Archers without Dagoberto. Leonis came into the contest without a single loss yet in the season.

The Archers showed they weren't messing around by breaking the ice in the 4th minute. The opportunity started when Larsson, subbing in for the injured Dagoberto, rifled a shot past the diving keeper but off the crossbar. Danny was following the shot and had an easy rebound header for the first goal of the match.

Danny struck again exactly half an hour later. He dribbled around one defender near the top of the box, and then sent one against his body back towards the near post. This crossed up the keeper who didn't even make a dive and attempt to save it.

Leonis halved the deficit in the 68th minute. De Jong recovered nicely from a challenge that had initially knocked the ball loose, then fired a rocket to the upper shelf, over the outstreched keeper.

Sagittaron added what would be a much needed insurance goal in the 81st minute. Larsson, showing his manager that he made the correct decision on who should replace Dagoberto, hit a quickfire shot that took just about everyone by surprise. A diving Hugo Lloris couldn't haul it in, and the lead was once again two.

Leonis did their best, and drew back within one in the 86th minute. Elmander drove to the top of the penalty area and hit a beautiful strike that beat the keeper to the top corner.

But despite Leonis' best effort, the archers held on for the 3-2 victory.

May 2, 2014 - Leonis vs Sagittaron
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Leonis ()	0	2	2
Sagittaron ()	2	1	3

Team Stats Comparison
Leonis		Sagittaron
2	Goals	3
6	Shots	8
3	Shots on Target	6
29	Tackles	34
2	Fouls	4
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
50	Shot Accuracy	75
82	Passing Percentage	78

Caprica @ Picon

Picon got the upper hand in the 18th minute, when Lampard chipped in a centering pass from the right flank, and Drenthe was waiting in the box with his head. It deflected off the inside of the far upright, and across the goal line.

The Panthers held the upper hand for a long time, with Caprcia struggling to generate any sort of offensive chances.

Finally, in the 71st minute, Caprica broke through. The Bucs won a free kick just outside the penalty area. Leighton Baines curled the free kick to the far post, where Fred managed to get a foot on it and direct it into the back of the net.

The teams played a very defense-filled final 20 minutes, and ended with a 1-all draw.

May 2, 2014 - Caprica vs Picon
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Caprica ()	0	1	1
Picon ()	1	0	1

Team Stats Comparison
Caprica		Picon
1	Goals	1
5	Shots	10
1	Shots on Target	3
26	Tackles	40
1	Fouls	3
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
20	Shot Accuracy	30
80	Passing Percentage	83

Aquarion @ Libran

The "Match of the Week" featured the two teams at the top of the table.

The two teams battled in an intense but scoreless match for the first half hour. Finally, Rasmus Elm opened the scoring in the 36th minute. Elm somehow found himself standing on the penalty spot without a soul around to guard him. Chong-Young Lee managed to get a pass through, and all Elm had to do was turn and shoot for the relatively easy goal.

After a relatively quiet first half, the second half really opened up. Landon Donovan put Libran up by two in the 58th minute. A simple ball played through the line by Diego Casto met up with Donovan who timed his run perfectly to stay on side. He kept his run straight through to the keeper, whom he beat easily.

Zusi got Aquarion back within one in the 62nd minute. Lucas hit an out-swinging corner kick to the top of the area, and Zusi masterfully directed it to the far post with his head.

Not to be deterred, Libran once again made the lead two in the 66th minute. Elm sent a throw-in long to Donovan, who was relatively unmarked in the box. Knowing he didn't have time to settle it, Donovan hit what is the early frontrunner for goal of the year with an overhead bicycle kick to the back of the net.

Aquarion refused to quit, though, and once again drew within one in the 75th minute. Once again on a corner, this time from the other side, Lucas spun his kick towards the far post. Gilardino, who was a last-minute managers decision to even play with his injury, got a head on the back end and directed it goalwards.

The Whalers just couldn't find that tying goal, however, and fell to the Libran Thunder 3-2

May 2, 2014 - Aquarion vs Libran
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Aquarion ()	0	2	2
Libran ()	1	2	3

Team Stats Comparison
Aquarion		Libran
2	Goals	3
14	Shots	11
7	Shots on Target	4
51	Tackles	42
0	Fouls	2
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
50	Shot Accuracy	36
78	Passing Percentage	82

Canceron @ Scorpia

Scorpia had been struggling on the offensive side of things this season, and were hoping they could find their grove against the Canceron defense that has had its issues stopping goalscoring opportunities.

It took just 8 minutes for Scorpia to find the back of the net. Mollo took the ball down near the endline, and his centering pass found the feet of Gourcuff, who sent it all the way across the mouth of the net and past the keeper.

The lead was short lived, as Henry leveled it almost immediately after the restart. He made a run to the penalty spot, and Palacio sent the through ball in at the perfect time for a one-time shot that Diego Alves had no hope of saving.

It took just 5 minutes for Canceron to find the back of the net. This time a long centering pass from the near-side touchline by Fernandinho found the head of Palacio who guided it into the back of the net.

Scorpia tied it up in the 27th minute with a little help from the Canceron keeper, Joe Hart. Hart made what I can only assume was intended to be a ground pass out of his box, but there was no one to receive that pass except for Huntelaar, who gladly returned the ball to the back of the net.

Henry once again gave Canceron the lead in the 35th minute. The Hydras won a corner. Fernandinho's ball in was initially headed goalwards by Coloccini, but was headed wide. Henry took the volley with his own head at the near post and tucked it in for his second goal of the contest.

The defenses really seemed to settle down in the second 45, and each keeper made a couple nice saves. Leonis managed to equalize in the 80th minute, when Franco Jara took a centering pass near the top of the box and struck it low to the near corner.

Despite fireworks by both sides, the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

May 2, 2014 - Canceron vs Scorpia
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Canceron ()	3	0	3
Scorpia ()	2	1	3

Team Stats Comparison
Canceron		Scorpia
3	Goals	3
12	Shots	9
6	Shots on Target	3
32	Tackles	41
1	Fouls	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
50	Shot Accuracy	33
86	Passing Percentage	85

Aerilon @ Virgon

The Threshers came in trying to hold on to their middle of the table spot. Virgon was looking to get off their skid.

This match was firmly in Virgon's possession the entire way through. It started in the 14th minute with Altidore getting a pass that set him free in the middle of the box. He turned and fired, and put Virgon up by one.

Altidore found the back of the net again in the 34th minute. Podolski made a run along the far touchline, and just barely managed to get a cross in before defensive help arrived. That defensive help allowed Altidore to run unmarked up the middle and head the cross back to the near post for the goal.

Virgon added a third in the 72nd minute off a corner kick. A defenseman gets to see his name on the scoresheet, as Christian Pander came forward for the kick, and managed to get his head on the serve for the third goal.

Aerilon's offense looked out of synch all match long, only managing one shot for the entire first half. Virgon dominates the final match of the day 3-0.

May 2, 2014 - Aerilon vs Virgon
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Aerilon ()	0	0	0
Virgon ()	2	1	3

Team Stats Comparison
Aerilon		Virgon
0	Goals	3
5	Shots	10
0	Shots on Target	5
51	Tackles	35
2	Fouls	0
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
0	Shot Accuracy	50
74	Passing Percentage	83

[lionden_56]

[lionden_56]

League Table - Week 4

[vinaa23]

Man, I don't know anything about Battlestar Galactica, but this is REALLY good. I'm definitely following.
I have some questions, tho: do you play every game? And how did you made the draft?

This is an awesome and original idea. I loved it

[lionden_56]

Quote: Originally Posted by vinaa23

Man, I don't know anything about Battlestar Galactica, but this is REALLY good. I'm definitely following. I have some questions, tho: do you play every game? And how did you made the draft? This is an awesome and original idea. I loved it

Thanks for the feedback. Games are CPU vs. CPU. So far they've been playing out well enough that I don't really feel the need to control anything to make it more "realistic." I mean, the CPU plays bad defense so maybe there's a few more goals than I would like, but I'll take that over six 0-0 draws every week.

For the draft, I took 12 different countries and grabbed X players in each position from that country (I forget exactly how many X was off the top of my head). I tried to pick players with a wide range of OVR to balance the league and have a top and bottom end, but that still had recognizable names so people would be interested. I then drew the order and drafted each team in serpentine order (like a fantasy football draft). I've still got the complete draft results spreadsheet, but since its 20 rounds I didn't feel like typing that all up. I guess I could copy and paste it into a google doc if people really want to see it.

Edit for clarification: Games are CPU vs. CPU that I watch and do commentary for. There's no simming.