[DataKing]

Season End and Player Awards Banquet

The Screamin’ Seamen held their annual Season End and Player Awards Banquet this past weekend. After showing a number of highlights for what has to be considered a successful season, a number of short speeches were given my team owner Data King, Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin, team captain Johannes Henriksson, and others.

Data King then announced the winners for the five annual awards SSFC gives to its players.

Best Defenseman – #5 Arlen Lucas

1st Season Winner - #3 Ben McMahon

Although the team has a plethora of defensive talent at its disposal, Arlen Lucas was still a no-brainer for the Best Defenseman award. He scored three goals on headers this season for SSFC, and more importantly, he regularly shut down opposing forwards and wingers on his side of the field. Arlen was also a dominant force in the defensive box, and (if memory serves) the club only allowed one header goal all season. Arlen was awarded seven Team Match MVP awards in competitive matches.

Best Midfielder - #6 Charlie Bautista

1st Season Winner - #4 Pete Tomlin

Charlie scored four goals in sixteen appearances this season (14 league and 2 cup matches), and was regularly the most dominant midfielder for the club. Charlie also tallied the game-tying goal in our 2-2 draw with Ramblers back in week four.

Best Forward - #11 Johannes Henriksson

1st Season Winner - #11 Johannes Henriksson

The only repeat winner from last season, our team captain had another great year, scoring 17 goals in 16 appearances, including 5 game-winning goals. Forrest “Gump” Tobias was not far behind, though, tallying 16 goals in 14 appearances with 4 game winning-goals, including a most memorable performance against Gazzaly FC late in the season. There is definitely some friendly competition between these two, and they’ll be duking it out yet again next season for the Best Forward award.

Most Improved Player - #20 Keith Stubbs

1st Season Winner – Max Dodge (sold)

Keith Stubbs was promoted from our youth squad back in January, and has shown remarkable improvement over the course of the season. He has yet to appear in a competitive match, but has performed quite well in the 10 friendly matches he has participated in, including scoring a game-winning goal against Cedar Pond Horned Toads in the FOFC Cup.

Last season’s winner, Max Dodge, proved to be a great disappointment for the club. We can only hope that the Most Improved Player award does not prove to be some sort of “kiss of death” for the player so honored.

Most Valuable Player - #5 Arlen Lucas

1st Season Winner - #3 Ben McMahon

The competition for the team’s MVP award was especially fierce between Arlen Lucas and “Corny” Jernigan, but Arlen won out in the end. Jernigan’s play tapered off a bit late in the season, but Arlen finished strong, and takes home double honors this season.

Congratulations to the winners and all of our players on a job well done this season.

Other News

We have made a second roster move during this off-season, improving our talent level on the wing. We were in negotiations with four different clubs over the past week or so, but Saturday we settled on Argentinean winger Valentin Rubio. Valentin comes to us from Los Mediocres, a club in Argentina’s 5th Division, for a total of $74,000.

Valentin Rubio

Jersey # 9

29 years old, solid (7) form, healthy.

A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has poor (3) experience and poor (3) leadership abilities.

Specialty: Head

Nationality: Argentinean
Assessed Value: $108,000
Wage: $1,512/week

Stamina: Excellent (8)
Playmaking: Inadequate (5)
Winger: Passable (6)
Scoring: Weak (4)
Goaltending: Disastrous (1)
Passing: Passable (6)
Defending: Poor (3)
Set Pieces: Poor (3)

While a bit older, Valentin is a definite improvement for us on the wing. He is a much needed offensive-winger threat that we have been lacking, and I believe his ratings are high-passable, as he is capable of regularly putting up 3* performances. He should be an immediate starter for the club.

The additions of youth pull phenom Cameron McDonald and veteran winger Valentin Rubio means that a pair of Seamen will be finding their way to the transfer market soon. Signs right now are pointing to substitute winger Otis Johnson and wingback William Brown being placed on the transfer wire, but no official decision has been made yet.

End of Season

I would like to thank you all for following along with the Screamin’ Seamen. At this point, I am ending Season 18 and will be starting a new thread for Season 19. We will start with a roster overview, and I hope to add some faces to all of the names you have seen here.

Thanks for reading!