[Hattrick] Houston Hippopotami, Season 2: V.62 - Page 2

vex · 05-07-2003, 11:19 PM

The Sidekicks would like to congratulate the Hippopotami on well played friendly. There was only one injury, to your guy, but he's only bruised, so it's all good. With our dominant B team midfields, nothing can stop us!

We'll be looking for a rematch in a season or two.

sterlingice · 05-09-2003, 05:00 AM

Preview
Boy, it was nice to see a friendly friendly for a change. Don't get me wrong- I liked ever $50K payday the Cup brought in but sometimes it was at the expense of training. This week, finally, I get to catch up with vexroid and play a friendly I've owed him for half a season. His North County Raiders come to town and the B-Teams clashed. Maarten Sanders will make his Hippo debut and hopefully it will be a good one as he will almost certainly be in the Dragons game this week.

Game Summary
Date: 5/8/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6980219
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1003

1003 spectators had come to The Hippodrome this cloudy day. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Buckley - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Magnusson, Paige, Friedländer, Sanders, Viseslav - Solomon, Chang.

Sidekicks had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Gill - Vikin, Snow, Andersen - Winters, Connor, Dehllind, Issjö, Paul - Garrison, Kirkpatrick.

In the 6:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Stacy Garrison put the ball away for 0 - 1. The swift technical skills of Derrick Solomons was often too much for tall but somewhat slow Jonah Snow who looked almost humiliated at times. Stacy Garrison increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Derrick Solomon almost put the reducer away having drawn the entire left side defence away, but the shot went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 2. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate.

Jonah Snow behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 58:th minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. A marvelous Hippopotami effort to the right resulted in a 67:th minute goal by Maarten Sanders, putting the score up to 1 - 2. After 69 minutes Derrick Solomon made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 2 - 2. The terraces were silenced in the 76:th minute as Sidekicks´s Donny Winters put the guests ahead 2 - 3, following an attack from the right. The referee showed Sidekickss Marco Andersen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami were forced to a substitution as Thomas Strömlius couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Hippopotami player was Ivan Viseslav. Kyle Paige on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Sidekicks player was without a doubt Ulrik Dehllind. Mats Vikin was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 3.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (f) after the names designates the goal as scored in a friendly
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
SK: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
SK: 06: 0-1
SK: xx: 0-2
Halftime Score: 0-2
Possession: 57%

2nd Half
HH: 67: Maarten Sanders (f); 1-2
HH: 69: Derrick Solomon (f); 2-2
SK: 76: 2-3
Final Score: 2-3
Possession: 57%
Final Possession: 57%

Cards
None

Injuries
HH: xx: Thomas Strömlius (1 week- rough treatment)

Stadium

Terraces: 648 (9702)
Basic seats: 237 (3850)
Seats under roof: 92 (1740)
VIP seats: 26 (400)
Total: 1003 (15692)

Hmm.. a far cry from the $50K in our Cup games. Then again, it's the first time to break 1000 for a friendly. Way to go Hungry Hungry Hippos and Sidekicks United fan clubs.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: poor (3)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 38/35

NE Oklahoma Sidekicks
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 30/32

While a 38 would beat half of our series, it was not enough today.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM Marcel Romo **
DW Elmer Bush **
WI Björn Magnusson (o) *~
MI Kyle Paige ~
MI Philip Friedländer (x) *~
MI Maarten Sanders (o) **
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Dafoe Chang **
FO Derrick Solomon *

INJ Thomas Strömlius (DM) **

Total Stars: 19.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Blech! Maarten Sanders only gets ** in his first game. Well, hopefully I can turn that form around some. Solomon is still hanging around at only * but at least he got a goal. Along with Sanders, Friedländer and Paige and Magnusson all got ~ less than they should have. At least the defense stood up with ** for everyone including the injured Stromlius.

Three Stars
Only two goals but that's ok. Ivan and Maarten get his first stars ever.

Bronze: Ivan Viseslav
The Croatian winger trainee got his first **~ performance in his career
Silver: Maarten Sanders
Gets his first of (hopefully) many goals for the Hippos despite subpar stars
Gold: Derrick Solomon
Solomon shows he can still dominate if we need him with a goal, missed shot, and event about him schooling a Sidekick defender

Game Summary
Looks like this was the game where missed events finally caught up with us. Hopefully, this is our "lesson" and not the start of a streak. I want to thank vexroid for the friendly and hope to get out to his place for a return trip at some point. Next week starts FOFC Cup Group play. We open against Midwest Ice Storm, a very tough team. However, I think we're both running B Teams out there so who knows.

Press Release
5/9/2003 at 10:13 Hippos drop friendly to Supporter Sidekicks
In the only truly friendly game in weeks, the Hippos lost 3-2 to a reciprocal sponsor and fellow FOFCer vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks. Sidekicks forward Stacy Garrison scored twice while the Hippos got goals from newcomer Maarten Sanders and veteran Derrick Solomon. Sidekick Donny Winters scored the winner in the 76th minute. The Hippos were bounced from the USA Cup last week and will begin FOFC Group play next week against at Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena. SUNDAY: HIPPOS AT DRAGONS.

Notes
Sorry for the delay but this week was the time to work on projects and next week is finals week so I doubt I'll be too terribly punctual. A mixed bag coming up next time including training results and a few other goodies. The most fun was a little team description: you think a bit more about certain aspects of your team when asked to come up with a description for it.

Don't forget: Fixture: Dragons. Hippos. At the Dragons Den. Be there. My lineup has been set and hopefully it will be enough to win at his place. Sunday is the day of judgement in V.62 this year.

SI

vex · 05-09-2003, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
[b]His North County Raiders come to town and the B-Teams clashed.

heh

sterlingice · 05-10-2003, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vexroid

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
His North County Raiders come to town and the B-Teams clashed.

heh

Well, they don't get to play much so any chance is a good chance.

Training and youth pull update being written currently.

SI

sterlingice · 05-11-2003, 05:18 AM

Training
This week was all about preparing for the Dragons game. We trained general and got some badly needed form increases. Coach Braden's wife is thrilled- his form went up again and that and his stamina have improved quite a bit since he took over the team.

Future Training
With the start of FOFC Cup and lots of B Team play, it's time to playmaking training for pretty much the rest of the season.

Form
Starters: (+6) (-0)
Entire Team: (+13) (-0)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Stepp Stromlius (exc) Connors Newsom Kimber Phelan
Passable: Chang Bush Starks Benito
Inadequate:
Weak (or below): Sanders

We made a few lineup changes. Chang (Tizon), Sanders(Friedlander), and Bush(Romo) will be starting in place of their parenthetical counterpart. As you can see- Sanders is the only guy not in passable form or better but being a solid/solid middie- he's still better than the alternatives (Jorgenssen, primarily). Jorgenssen is at excellent form but he's only inad play/exc stamina but his powerful speciality would give him an edge (weather dependent). All that said, I'm more comfortable with the veteran with better base skill. Hopefully I'm not making a mistake.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-4)
Entire Team: (+14) (-7)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 27492 (+3214)
Total Value: 2443000 (+289000)
Avg Value: 111045 (+8474)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: passable (up from inadequate)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 22 (+1)
Nationalities: 8 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 19.5
At least we have a crew with colorful names with Kanthroopan Chatterjee manning the deli hot on the heels for Deke, last week's youth pull/current cashier at the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM)

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 19
Youth Pull Grocers: 18 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC)
Total Sold for: 11000 (NC)

Youth Pull
Kanthroopan Chatterjee (11676387)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 5 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: poor
Winger: wretched Defending: weak
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: wretched

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (NC)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 927 members (+20)
Supporters: delerious (up three levels from calm)

Team Spirit: calm (up one level from content)
Confidence: decent (N/C)

No help in the confidence level but our PIC added some spirit and our supporters came back: a total of 10 twice.

Week In Review
The Week In Review has been abbreviated this week due to time contraints.

On the Field
The PIC against the Metal Mulisha cost us a wide margin of victory and made for some nervous moments. We were still tied at halftime even with 86% possession. Fortunately, we pulled away in the second half for a 4-1 win. The Dragons kept pace with a 4-0 win of their own. We have the same goal differential, but I've scored 3 more goals this year. Of course, that all changes tomorrow when we clash. Our friendly was our only friendly we'll get for a while, sandwiched between the USA and FOFC Cups. However, it was a good one as Derrick Solomon showed he is still as good as he was last year when he led the team in goals (if only his form would improve). But, in the end, vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks B Team beat our B Team 3-2. This week, we began FOFC Cup Play against the Midwest Ice Storm.

Off the Field
That black was fun while it lasted, but we're back in the red. First, weather and our Cup loss kept our crowd to only 11K. And, while we got a lucky bid on wingback Hugh Hebert for $50K, we spent that and then some on new starting middie Maarten Sanders, who we landed for $187K. Our sponsorship money continues its trek towards $50K, rising at just under $1K per week. The good news is that it will soon cancel out both our youth squad contribution and staff expenses which leads crowd and temp cash to take care of arena upkeep and wages (and interest). It will be a happy day when we can finally offset the youth squad, staff, and arena expenses with just sponsor cash but that won't be for at least another season.

Hatstats
Here are some fun numbers from the recently updated Hatstats for last week. We're in the 106th strongest series in the USA and even better than 8 Div IV series. That puts us at 29th of 256 in Div V. Only Mick Starks made the top players in Div V, tied with a bunch of other players at 6th for Wingers at *** for the week. Goalie Tim Kimber had the same stats as the guys at the bottom of the list and just missed due to the luck of the draw.

As for the team, we are the 75th most expensive in the USA, weighing in just south of $2.35M mark with an average player value over $100K. We are 101st on the promotion list this week and that would land us in IV.1. Eep. Oh well, all that will change after this week. Lastly, our 56 NSI and 27.5 stars ranked us 49 in the USA but CC's Dragons landed at 31st with an NSI of 58 and 29.0 stars. Of the 10 *** or higher players in V.62, 7 of them play on our two teams including both starting goalies.

Speaking of Weather
Here's the forecast for tomorrow. I'm happy as long as it doesn't rain. However, if it does rain, Edwin Phelan will have an off day. Then again, he has a quick forward or winger (I forget which) so it's a wash.

Region Connecticut
Country: USA
Number of teams: 166
Number of online users: 2
Weather: Rain
Forecast for tomorrow: Overcast

FOFC Group Cup Preview
Before our game Wendesday, I'd like to get in a group preview for the FOFC Cup. However, that may not be possible as I have finals this week and on top of that, I'll be seeing the Matrix Reloaded on Wednesday night. If it happens- great. But don't hold your breath.

Messages of Team Amusement
Now, time for a couple of brief quotes that I have no other place for. First off, Eilim wanted a team description for teams he supports so I whipped up this little number for the Hippos team summary:

Quote:

The Hippos are a run-and-shoot devotee and student of both ArdentEnthusiast's North County Raiders and Coffee Warlord's Galesburg Avengers offensive schemes. We will continue to battle against the forces of the *spit* 4-5-1 and disciples such as Morrisville. While Houston was blessed with a good starting team and a solid coach on the second try (much to many owners' chagrin), we have been cursed with an equally impotent youth squad. The team is led by winger Mick Starks and goalie Tim Kimber and has a mean streak taught by controversial coach Ricky Braden. Currently, the Hippos are tying to win their way out of USA series V.62 and into division IV.

Secondly, a team called REAL RECREATIVO MUTINY in Deutschland left a message in my guestbook and I had to respond in kind.

Quote:

Number 26 of 27 by Marcelinho, 5/9/2003 at 18:02

REAL RECREATIVO stop at your Clubhouse drink all your bear and makes a wild party :-)
Many luck for you .
Marcelinho

Number 185 of 185 by sterlingice, 5/11/2003 at 11:34

A crack team of Ninja Hippos have snuck in and stolen beer to restock the fridge at the Hippodrome. If you've never seen a Ninja Hippos, it's quite a sight. They also left the following note: "We may not be graceful, but we sure can kick arse"

Wrapup
Yeah, yeah, I know I haven't quite beat this dead horse enough

, but: the Dragons and I exchanged pleasantries today (we're both on good terms so we wished each other luck and pointed out that the other had the better team) and now it's time for the game. Sunday: Hippos v Dragons at the Dragons Den! Clash for V.62 in Season 19!

SI

Eilim · 05-11-2003, 06:02 AM

Can't wait till match time, looking forward to seeing how your game turns out, even more so than my own. (Playing a low-tiered team this week, only thing in question is what the actual score will be but not the outcome.. Even with my star defender and star striker out for the match.)

Some more useless trivia as it relates to your upcoming match. Some historical ratings for V.62 (Only stats by teams while in series included.):
Historical standings

Team Played Goals Points

1. The Darksiders 35 121 - 29 80
2. VagaBond 21 70 - 13 60
3. The Flying Midgets 33 63 - 48 53
4. CC's Dragons 17 80 - 15 48
5. Houston Hippopotami 15 61 - 16 39
6. Toledo Blades 5 11 - 10 9
7. Metal Mulisha 19 14 - 67 8
8. Buccabeavzers 6 6 - 16 3
9. goonz 5 6 - 18 3
10. PRODYGRAF 5 3 - 20 1

and yes.. I'm addicted to hattrick and gathering completely irrelevant info regarding my team and the teams I follow along with.

-Eilim

NAIWF · 05-11-2003, 01:05 PM

That Marcelinho stole all my beer too, many thanks for sending the Ninja Hippos to set him straight. Good luck with your game tonight, I'll be watching.

Havok · 05-11-2003, 01:41 PM

he stole my beer also.... bastard!!!

he's raiding FOFC's beer reserves!!!!

sterlingice · 05-11-2003, 03:12 PM

About 3 hours until game time. I'll be in chat for the game, most likely, but until then I have to study so I can spend time in chat for the game

SI

sterlingice · 05-11-2003, 10:52 PM

Preview
Well, it's all come down to this. If I win, I win the series because this game is at his house. If he wins, it will come down to our game in three weeks. We replaced a couple of starters with better form guys of similar caliber and tried to line up favorably against him. All things being equal, we have about a 50-50 shot of winning this game. However, it's at his place and he might MotS, which I will not. Enough Introduction: Game On!

Game Summary
Date: 5/12/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544405
Arena: Dragons Den
Crowd: 14748

Due to an all-day shower, 14748 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Dragons Den. Dragons had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Bauer - Fitter, Mansur, Land - Ulfsson, Whitmore, Foley, Talley, Soon-Wah - Refojo, Whakaari.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Starks - Chang, Phelan.

The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 in the 7:th by a breakthrough from Stan Whitmore, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Dragonss Lynn Whakaari got himself booked after a foul. The Hippopotami player was Defoe Chang who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Alarico Mansur behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 43rd minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. Alarico Mansur of Dragons received a yellow card in the 43rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Dragons lead up with 2 - 0. Stan Whitmore finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Gough Fitter of Dragons received a yellow card in the 44:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Dragons put themselves up 3 - 0 when Lynn Whakaari broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Dragons decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. 3 - 0 was the half-time score. Dragons held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami had a good opportunity to reduce the score in the 50:th minute, breathing new life into the game, but the home side´s defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long range shot coming in from the left, rebounding off the
Dragons held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Dragons player was without a doubt Gil Bauer. However, Alarico Mansur made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
CCD: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
CCD: 07: 0-1
CCD: 43: 0-2
CCD: 44: 0-3
Halftime Score: 0-3
Possession: 47%

2nd Half
*NONE*
Final Score: 0-3
Possession: 47%
Final Possession: 47%

Cards
None- suprising considering how big a game it was

Injuries
Argh. This is going to hurt as long as Tizon's form is still in the crapper
HH: xx: Dafoe Chang (3 weeks- helped off the pitch)

Stadium

The Dragons Den only got 14768 out of 22000 due to the rain. Our crowd next week isn't going to be so pretty.

Team Ratings

CC's Dragons
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/64

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/58

Ouch- that's tops for our team but we got manhandled because he MotS'd. Still, I'm not going to complain about a 58 too much. Not only that, but our first formidable.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Rickie Stepp (m) **~
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***
MI Maarten Sanders (x) **
MI Stephen Connors ***
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón (replacement) *~
FO Edwin Phelan **~

IN Dafoe Chang *~

Total Stars: 28.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Man, more good numbers news that didn't translate to a win. A new high of stars. Even better, all **~ across the backside. Starks dropped down to **~ for the game completely unexpectedly. Sanders still only got ** and needs form improvement. Both the injured Chang and his replacement Tizon only put up *~ in the game. Another week or two of this and I'll have to seriously look at snagging another striker off the transfer wire.

Three Stars
Hard to hand out today. We played good but not good enough. We will forego awards in place of preparing for next game.

Bronze: None
--
Silver: None
--
Gold: None
--

Game Summary
They must have crazy stamina. That late first half 2-goal flurry is what I expected to get me back in the game instead of for him to put it back out of reach. Typically, I have the better stamina but it looks like that isn't the case. We were game but not nearly game enough to beat an MotS'ing team at their place. It makes the rest of the season that much more ugly (see "Notes" below) as we will have to play that much harder to take back 1st place.

Press Release
5/12/2003 at 05:12 Dragons Defeat Hippos at the Den
CC's Dragons, playing at home and MotS'ing in the rain, won an ugly game 3-0 over the Hippos to take over 1st place in V.62. The Hippos offense could never get ontrack against a Dragons defense that has only allowed 1 goal all year and Stan Whitmore's 2 goals were more than enough. However, the Hippos have designs on taking 1st place back when the Dragons come to the Hippodrome in 3 short weeks. Additionally, the Hippos began FOFC Cup group play this week against the Midwest Ice Storm.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. CC's Dragons         6 23 - 1  18  64
 
2. Houston Hippopotami  6 23 - 7  15  58
3. The Flying Midgets   6 15 - 5  12  51
4. Toledo Blades        6 12 - 10 12  52
 
5. Buccabeavzers        6 10 - 17 6   39
6. Metal Mulisha        6 7 - 16  4   33
 
7. goonz                6 9 - 23  3   41
8. PRODYGRAF            6 4 - 24  1   31

Around the League
Ok, not much to say since I'm writing out of time for writeups.

Buccabeavzers - goonz 5 - 3
The only offensive game in the league this week. The lower teams in the league are starting to get better. However, no one has a midfield that can line up with the ours or the Dragons. The goonz actually have 3 players up to **~ but their 5-4-1 is sabotaging their offense.

PRODYGRAF - The Flying Midgets 1 - 4
The Migets got some great defense across the back with a bril/bril/form. PRODYGRAF still needs a little help as his best player is a ** forward.

Toledo Blades - Metal Mulisha 1 - 0
Toledo's Willie Lau scored in the 8th minute and their defense never budged. It's probably because he put up a pair of magnificents at right and central defense and his 4 defenders got 10.5 stars.

Notes
This leaves us in an awkward place. I can win our next game when it's at our place and I MotS to match. However, I could just let him win and get promoted and then the series next season will be between myself and the Div IV relegee. If I win, I risk neither of us getting promoted and having to battle him all over again next season. Well, I'm not in the business of forfeiting games so we're gearing up already for the rematch in three weeks. But now that game has even more on the line. I have two easy games before the Dragons game and one after so MotS'ing is a definite option. I'm kicking myself for not doing it this game but there's nothing I can do now. Time to pick up the pieces and gear up for FOFC Cup.

Probably won't have another update until possibly Thursday after our Cup game due to finals.

SI

sterlingice · 05-17-2003, 11:52 PM

Preview
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I kinda' warned you: finals week does this to a person. Even tho it's a couple of days late, it's time to update the Hungry Hungry Hippos on our first FOFC Cup game. I started hattrick too late to be in FOFC Cup or FOFC Cup 2. However, a few Hippo faithful may remember our game in the consolation bracket for FOFC Cup 2. Yes, our game, not plural but singular. The Aviators beat us 4-2 and we even played some starters. Hopefully things will be a little better this time.

Here's brief preview of Group E. We weigh in as the 22nd seed in the tourney and the second for our group. The top team is the team we will be playing today: Pilotman's Midwest Ice Storm FC, the 5th seed. At #35 are Airhogs Oklahoma City Rednecks who we play in week 4. Our second game is against the S. Boston Hooligans of McSweeney at #48. Our other "mc" in the group are mckerney's Square Pegs, our week 3 game. Finally, our last game will be against Achilles Missouri Tigers, the #74 team in the FOFC Cup.

Game Summary
Date: 5/15/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7010650
Arena: Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena
Crowd: 783

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 783 to Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena. Midwest started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Tsau-Wun - Sosa, Zarzalejos, Drakulič, Zwierzynski - Blanton, Alcaide, Coulter, Geiger, Nyhbrant - Foo-Foo.

Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Buckley - Romo, Stepp, Bush - Viseslav, Paige, Friedländer, Jörgensson, Magnusson - Solomon, Tizón.

The referee showed Midwests Juan Luis Zarzalejos the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After 14 minutes Hippopotami´s Kyle Paige contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. After 25 minutes Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Joseph Sosa was just a finger´s breadth away from an equaliser for Midwest, but Sidney Buckley managed to ward the closing shot off for a corner. Midwest will have to do without Andrzej Zwierzynski for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Michael Webb. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Midwest held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 2 as Derrick Solomon scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. Paul Coulter really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal after a corner, but he lost his nerve. Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 3 as Derrick Solomon scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. After this Hippopotami lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Midwests Bruce Blanton got himself booked after a foul. Paul Coulter had a good opportunity to reduce in the 79:th minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Midwest´s Joseph Sosa got himself booked. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Midwest player was without a doubt He Tsau-Wun. Torbjörn Nyhbrant on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Ivan Viseslav. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 3.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
MIS: 4-5-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 25: Juan Miguel Tizón (F1) 1-0
Halftime Score: 1-0
Possession: 49%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F1) 2-0
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F2) 3-0
Final Score: 3-0
Possession: 52%
Final Possession: 51%

Cards
None- but they had three. Dirty, dirty PilotMan

Injuries
None, thankfully. We can ill afford to have another forward hurt, or anyone for that matter. At least Chang is down to 1 week out now so he should be ready for next week's game.

Stadium

"Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 783 to Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena." Fairly sparse crowd. Man, I'm really starting to miss those 15K crowds from the USA Cup.

Team Ratings

Midwest Ice Storm FC
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: wretched (2)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 35/38

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 36/39

As you can see- this game was a lot closer than the final score. Thankfully our second team wings are still good enough to give the offense a boost.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Marcel Romo **~
DM Rickie Stepp (m) **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
MI Anders Jörgensson (o) **
MI Kyle Paige (x) *
MI Philip Friedländer **
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Derrick Solomon *

Total Stars: 22.0
Total player experience: disastrous
Team Attitude: Friendly

Looks almost like our A Team only with a bit less talent. Solid defense across the back. Then again, any of my four defenders could start in league or friendlies depending on form. Great to see Ivan get his second straight **~ which tells me that if Newsom or, god forbid, Starks, went down, we have a good 19yo replacement "down on the farm". We have two good middies, one offensive and one pure, and one middie who needs a little help. Then we combo the better forward with the better wing and offensive middie to create a mismatch. Run-N-Shoot forever, baby!

Three Stars
Sidney gets his first medal in limited work

Bronze: The Defense
Romo, Stepp, and Bush aid the shutout by collecting 7.5 stars, 2.5 each
Silver: Sidney Buckley
Sidney hasn't gotten a lot of action this year but showed no rust, pitching the shutout and even stopping an event goal
Gold: Derrick Solomon
Last year's leading scorer is tearing it up in friendlies

Game Summary
See, our 3-5-2 can beat your 4-5-1 any day. Ok, so it's not really much of a barometer since we were both playing B Teams. We benefited from better middie and wing trainees and only carrying 4 defenders on the team (3 of whom played). Great win to start out FOFC Cup Group play, knocking off the #1 team. I guess we're somewhat of a favorite, but, really, if anyone played their starters, they could win this group. We got really lucky today with 3 missed goals- possibly the first time we've ever been on the happy side of that stat. Also, it should be noted that we won despite our lack of players named Foo-Foo.

Press Release
5/18/2003 at 05:36 Hippos win FOFC Cup Game 1
The Hippos B Team started off strong, knocking off the #1 Midwest Ice Storm FC in their first game in FOFC Cup Group Play. Derreck Solomon, last year's goal leader, continues to lead the B Team with 2 goals. Form relegee Juan Miguel Tizón gave the Hippos a 1-0 lead at the 25 minute mark which backup goalie Sidney Buckley and a trio of **~ Hippos defenders made stick.

For more on the FOFC Cup, check out the official page:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~stevegougeon/FOFC-cup/

League Standings

Code:

 
Sd --Group E--            FOFC        ID    Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI
22 Houston Hippopotami    sterlingice 8574  USA 1 0 0 3  0  3   3  39
35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog      70559 USA 1 0 0 3  1  2   3  49
61 Square Pegs            mckerney    71980 USA 1 0 0 2  0  2   3  45
48 S. Boston Hooligans    McSweeny    71008 USA 0 1 0 1  3  -2  0  35
74 Missouri Tigers        Achilles    70392 USA 0 1 0 0  2  -2  0  32
5  Midwest Ice Storm FC   Pilotman    70500 USA 0 1 0 0  3  -3  0  38

Around the Group
Here's a little more info about the other teams in Group E.

Oklahoma City Rednecks - S. Boston Hooligans 3 - 1
As an aside: I love Airhog's stadium name: The Trailer Park. Neither team pulled a lot of punches as a lot of starters were in the game so the 890 who showed up got the see the like of Rednecks starters and stars Cordell Shelton, Gaylord Jamison, and Byron Swartz as well as Hooligans starters like Narcís Collado Cervero and Raúl Ortega along with veteran Steven Mack. The 3-5-2 proved to be too much for the 4-5-1 again as Oklahoma City pulled down a better NSI across his defense even with 3 defenders. Four different players scored in the game.

Square Pegs - Missouri Tigers 2 - 0
For anyone curious, the Square Pegs play at the City Lights in Minnesota which is where this game was played. They brought up the big defensive guns with a 5-4-1 and posted a pass/form/form across the backside which stopped Missouri's 4-4-2 cold. The Square Pegs got goals from Frank Cheatham and Art Frazier, two of Square's many starters who got time in the game. Missouri, on the other hand, played 10 players towards the end of the game as they lost a forward to injury and his replacement was booked for two yellows: ouch.

Notes
Finally getting caught up here and what better way to start than an FOFC Cup win. Next week we welcome the S Boston Hooligans to the Hippodrome. We have two easy fixtures in a home-and-home against the 5th place Buccabeavzers and the one at the 'drome will likely be PIC'd because after these two, it's time to host the Dragons FOR A REMATCH! We may be down but not out: he MotS'd at his place and we're going to match him when he comes here. Get your tickets now!

SI

sterlingice · 05-18-2003, 01:05 AM

Training
We gave back a lot of the form from our general training last week and then some. However, we did have a bump even if it wasn't the one I was expecting. Any week now, Stephen Connors will bump up to excellent playmaking but it just hasn't happened yet. But enough about the bad, for the good, middie trainee and basically 4th man in the middle, Philip Friedlander bumped from passable to solid. Put that along with his passable form, passable stamina, and inadequate wing and he's not too shabby.

Future Training
Playmaking as far on out as the eye can see. Maybe general before the other Dragons game, who knows.

Form
Starters: (+1) (-7)
Entire Team: (+4) (-10)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Benito Stromlius Connors
Passable: Bush Stepp Newsom Kimber Phelan
Inadequate: Chang Starks
Weak (or below): Sanders

Well, nothing critical going on right now- just giving back form gains from last week. If these last more than a week, then there is cause for some concern. Sanders needs to get his head back in the game- he's had a couple of weeks with the new club and it's time to warm up to them.

Value
Starters: (+4) (-6)
Entire Team: (+10) (-10)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 28052 (+560)
Total Value: 2530000 (+87000)
Avg Value: 115000 (+3955)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: inad (down from pass)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 22 (N/A)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

Youth Pull, Week 19.6
The Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) will have to do without this week's recruit! Finally, we have someone either to train or sell. Judging by his value, his solid PM is nearly pop-able and I will probably hang on to him long enough for that to happen. Feast your eyes on Rolando Gontán:

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 20
Youth Pull Grocers: 18 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC)
Total Sold for: 11000 (NC)

Youth Pull
Rolando Gontán (11903223)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 109 000 US$
Wage: 1 080 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (NC)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 933 members (+6)
Supporters: content (down two levels from delerious)

Team Spirit: calm (N/C)
Confidence: decent (N/C)

The loss to the Dragons kept our confidence down (it had actually raised 2 levels last week and dropped after the game). Our sponsors are back to pissy but at least they still joined up last week, even if it was at the rate of 3 each time.

Week In Review
Due to finals week and the fact that I've been writing about the Hippos for a good 3 hours now, The Week In Review has been abbreviated.

On the Field
Well, CC's Dragons were more than ready for us: he MotS'd and we just couldn't get any chances. Our 3-0 loss wasn't too devastating, tho: it keeps us from winning the group outright. The rematch is in three weeks and he will be facing an MotS. The good news to come out of this is that even tho we lost, we got another team high with an NSI of 58. Speaking of good news, we did beat the #1 seed in our group, Midwest Ice Storm FC in FOFC Cup play. Derrick Solomon still can dominate the B Team, scoring twice in the 2-0 win. If his form will ever raise back above poor, he will be back with the A Team.

Off the Field
No moving and shaking on the transfer wire this week. But we did have a nice bump and youth pull that has overloaded my midfield. More on that below.

Hatstats
More fun with Hatstats. Our NSI of 58 and 28.0 stars were good enough for 45 last week in Div V. Too bad CC's Dragons 64 and 29.0 got them 14th. Ouch. That's tough competition. Not only that, but all 4 teams in the top half of V.62 scored above 50 and 25.0 last week so the series is getting that much tougher. Toughest for 13th in all of Div V, which is quite impressive considering the bottom four teams all got below 40 and 21.0. Can we say topheavy? Not only that, but 28 of the top 30 players (**~ or higher) in V.62 play for the top 4 teams. The top 3 players are the starting goalies of the Hippos(3.5 stars), Dragons(3.5), and Midgets(3.0), all of whom are valued above $400K and 22 or younger.

Insert Witty Comment about Toledo Here (Since I couldn't think of anything Toledo related)
It has come to my attention (via the wonder that is HAM Series Spy) that the Div IV relegee from last year has started daytrading. He's only in 4th place now but he has a dangerous team and we still have to play him one more time. Now maybe he just figures he's going to fire his coach so taking a hit in team spirit isn't so bad or something like that, but if he genuinely begins daytrading, we could be in big trouble. We might have to resort to Dirty-and-Underhanded(TM) means to keep ahead of the crowd.

Stuck in the Middle?
With the addition of our new middie, I have a conundrum. A good conundrum but a conundrum nonetheless: how does one fit four middie trainees into three middie trainee slots. Not only that, but after training this week, 3 are at solid and the other is our uber-trainee who is only inad, but 18yo with passable winger and scoring skills. I think the solution may be the transfer market. I'll put two of the three solids up at above market price and hope someone bites. Friedlander has been placed at $150K and Paige at $120K. If either sells for that, I'll be pretty happy.

SI

sterlingice · 05-20-2003, 10:21 PM

Preview
After our huge game with the Dragons last week, it was time for a light, relaxing game against a team from the bottom half. We need something to get us back on track and this game, even PiC'd should do the trick.

Game Summary
Date: 5/19/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544410
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15669

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Hippodrome saw a crowd turnout of 15669. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Starks - Tizón, Phelan.

Buccabeavzers tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Grace - Munkvold , Ventura, Nielsen, Buck - Putnam, Sánchez, Roca, Álvarez De Miran - Romano, Morrissey.

Edwin Phelan gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. After 18 minutes Edwin Phelan put Hippopotami ahead 2 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Hippopotamis Rickie Stepp got himself booked after a foul. Carlos Alberto Benito seemed highly inexperienced when in the 34:th minute he was loitering with the ball, allowing Eduardo Alaín Sánchez to intercept and strike 2-1 for Buccabeavzers. Raúl Álvarez De Miranda D acted with superior experience when in the 38:th minute he predicted a pass, intercepted it and then finished off with a goal to 2-2 for his Buccabeavzers. The referee showed Hippopotamis Maarten Sanders the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The 43rd minute saw the home team take a 3 - 2 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Hippopotami was Juan Miguel Tizón. 3 - 2 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 76 percent possession rate.

A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 76 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Hippopotami. However, Graig Grace made a spectacular save. Juan Miguel Tizón increased Hippopotamis lead to 4 - 2 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. Graig Grace was caught napping a bit later as Stephen Connors lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. In the 86:th minute the excellent ball from the wing byMick Starks reached Juan Miguel Tizón's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 5 - 2. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. After 87 minutes Juan Miguel Tizón put Hippopotami ahead 6 - 2 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Rickie Stepp needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami put themselves up 7 - 2 when Donald Newsom broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 75 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Buccabeavzers player was without a doubt Graig Grace. Adam Buck on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 7 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
BB: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan(6); 1-0
HH: 18: Edwin Phelan(7); 2-0
BB: 34: 2-1
BB: 38: 2-2
HH: 43: Juan Miguel Tizón(2); 3-2
Halftime Score: 3-2
Possession: 76%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón(3); 4-2
HH: 86: Juan Miguel Tizón(4); 5-2
HH: 87: Juan Miguel Tizón(5); 6-2
HH: xx: Donald Newsom(1); 7-2
Final Score: 7-2
Possession: 75%
Final Possession: 76%

Cards
HH: xx: Rickie Stepp (yellow- foul)
HH: xx: Maarten Sanders (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
None, thankfully. And Chang is almost back to healthy.

Stadium

Terraces: 9702 (9702)
Basic seats: 3850 (3850)
Seats under roof: 1717 (1740)
VIP seats: 400 (400)
Total: 15669 (15692)

Considering our supporters pissy mood: Wow! Um... who didn't buy those last few seats under the roof? Still, that's like finding a faberge egg and complaining it's not your favorite or finding a genuine million dollar bill (if such a thing existed) and complaining that you don't like whoever's picture is on it.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 49/54

Buccabeavzers
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 35/37

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Stepp (m) **
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
MI Maarten Sanders (o) **
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 27.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

We only lost a half star despite the PIC. Plus, Carlos Alberto Benito got the first ***~ not recored by Tim Kimber. But that's where the good news ends. Tizon still got *~ and Stepp went down to ** while Starks got his first **~ in weeks and Kimber continues his ***~ to *** flip flop. Sanders still hasn't adjusted and put up ** Sunday.

Three Stars
Pretty easy to hand out today, that's for sure.

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Our first ever ***~ that wasn't scored by goalie Tim Kimber
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Regained the series scoring lead with goals 6 and 7
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón
Was there really any doubt?

Game Summary
It was a close game for the first part- Phelan staked us to a 2-0 lead but they fought back to tie. That's when the Juan Miguel Tizon show started and we didn't look back. This got us back on track and I may just PIC it again next week depending on how training and form goes. Also, our killer offense pushed our differential for the season up to 21, only 3 behind the Dragons. If we can beat them, we will likely have the lead.

Press Release
5/20/2003 at 01:59 Tizon Explodes as Hippos Win
Sometimes it takes an injury to get a player on track. Early in the game, Edwin Phelan scored a pair to regain the league scoring lead at 7 but the Buccabeavzers tied it up at 2 in the 38th minute. That's when Juan Miguel Tizon took over. His form had related him to the B Team but was playing in place of injured Dafoe Chang but that didn't keep him from scoring 4 times and breaking the game wide open en route to a 7-2 Hippos win at the 'Drome. FOFC Cup Group play continues Wednesday.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. CC's Dragons         7 26 - 2  21  54
 
2. Houston Hippopotami  7 30 - 9  18  54
3. Toledo Blades        7 15 - 12 15  54
4. The Flying Midgets   7 17 - 8  12  47
 
5. Buccabeavzers        7 12 - 24 6   37
6. Metal Mulisha        7 8 - 19  4   33
 
7. Beneamata            7 7 - 25  4   28
8. goonz                7 10 - 26 3   31

Around the League
A few notes this week as they pertain to power in the league. V.62 didn't nearly match the uber performance of a week ago. We're back down to 65th in Div V after being in the top 20 last week.

Metal Mulisha - CC's Dragons 1 - 3
If there was any doubt the Dragons MotS'd our game, it's gone now. He dropped from the 60s to 54 NSI this week and from passable to poor midfield. Still, his 3-5-2 put up a exc-form-out defensive front and that was more than enough for him to beat the overwhelmed Mulisha and their disastrous midfield. The Dragons held the ball 94% in the second half.

goonz - Beneamata 1 - 3
Beneamata is a new team that took over from PRODYGRAF this past week and they opened up in style with a win. There were a lot of missed chances in this game and both NSI's were below 32.

The Flying Midgets - Toledo Blades 2 - 3
Toledo is starting to scare me more and more. He put up a 54 NSI, but he still can't be taken too seriously unless he backs away from that ridiculous 5-4-1. However, that 54 is a product of his form/mag/mag defense more than anything. Still, of the 5 defenders he ran, 4 got **~ and the other got ** in the game. The Midgets ran a 4-3-3, go figure. It didn't help his offense any, tho.

Hatstats
For the week, Div V.62 dropped from 82 in USA to 147. That's primarily because the Dragons, goonz, and the Hippos dropped 24 rating points and a total of 30 for the series. As far as I can tell, Benito is the first ***~ for any outfield position in V.62 or at least for this season. His rating gets him on the "Best Middies in Div V" list a couple of slots above a familiar player: Theodore Vega of Morrisville. Lastly, we are still one of the most expensive teams in Div V, this time coming in at 73.

Notes
Good news on the sales front, sort of. Both Friedlander and Paige got bid on for a grand total of $270K. I think it might be time to go snag a second Uber Trainee to play alongside Anders Jorgensson. Then I'll bump my youth pull from last week and buy a third. Right now, I'm looking for middies, 17yo (pass PM) or 18yo (solid PM) with weak or higher stamina and a good stat either in defense, passing, or scoring with set pieces being a plus. Another game next week with the Buccabeavzers which we might PIC. However, sales and an FOFC Cup game will be before it and more important. McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans are on tap for Wednesday as Group E play continues.

SI

sterlingice · 05-22-2003, 05:43 PM

Preview
We continue FOFC Cup play at home today vs McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans. There was some moving and shaking for our team and we will be playing two new middies with solid PM. The first is our youth pull from last week, Rolando Gontán, and our other is new Canadian Uber-Trainee(TM) Albino de Sousa Bastos. Other than that, we will be playing the standard B Team: Solomon and Tizon up front, 3 of our 4 interchangeable defenders in the back, and our two winger trainees. Except for the goalie and a forward, the Hooligans will be using the same team they did for last week's fixture so we have our work cut out for us. The great thing about this game is that it's a pair of run-and-shoot teams so there should be some goals scored.

Game Summary
Date: 5/22/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7038719
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1220

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 1220 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Romo, Stepp, Bush - Magnusson, Jörgensson, Gontán, de Sousa Bastos, Viseslav - Solomon, Tizón.

Hooligans started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Mulligan - Fast Hansen, Collado Cervero, Ortega - Mcconnell, Mack, Ponder, Eller, Guyton - Loomis, Kimball.

Hippopotami took the lead in the 16:th minute of the game by 1 to 0, as Rolando Gontán elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. In the 19:th minute Hooliganss Narcís Collado Cervero received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 22nd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Juan Miguel Tizón dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Hippopotami. In the games 23rd minute Hooligans´s Ernest Guyton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Ernest Guyton for taking a dive. 36 minutes into the game Mark Loomis had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Woodrow Guajardo. In the 39:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Derrick Solomon dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Hippopotami. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

Lionel Mcconnell was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Francis Kimball managed to kick one of them into 3 - 1 in the 67:th minute. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 4 - 1. Juan Miguel Tizón finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Søren Øvli Fast Hansen of Hooligans received a yellow card in the 74:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hippopotami´s Rickie Stepp refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 74:th minute. Juan Miguel Tizón almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. After an industrious effort down the middle Björn Magnusson could have closed the game off in the 85:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. The referee showed Hooliganss Woodrow Guajardo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s best player was Ivan Viseslav. However, Björn Magnusson made a disastrous appearance. Hooligans´s best player was Steven Mack. However, Leonard Eller made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
SBH: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 16: Rolando Gontán(F1): 1-0
HH: 22: Juan Miguel Tizón (F2): 2-0
HH: 39: Derrick Solomon (F3): 3-0
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 62%

2nd Half
SBH: 67: 3-1
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (F3): 4-1
Final Score: 4-1
Possession: 56%
Final Possession: 59%

Cards
Yeesh- none for us, but another three for our opponent. We're supposed to be the dirty team here and we've been outcarded 6-0 in our FOFC Cup Matches!

Injuries
None, and fortunately their only injury is just for a week.

Stadium

Terraces: 808 (9702)
Basic seats: 286 (3850)
Seats under roof: 99 (1740)
VIP seats: 27 (400)
Total: 1220 (15692)

Largest ever friendly crowd at the 'drome! Woo! That was good for about $3500.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 40/44

S. Boston Hooligans
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/47

I was a bit disappointed by the midfield rating but they are only trainees after all. This was just another one of those cases were if you win the midfield, you can win the game with inferior numbers as long as you stay close otherwise.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Marcel Romo **~
DM Rickie Stepp (m) **
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Bjorn Magnusson (o) *
MI Rolando Gontán **
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) **
MI Anders Jörgensson (o) **
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Derrick Solomon *~

Total Stars: 21.5
Total player experience: disastrous
Team Attitude: Friendly

Looks a lot like last week except for the new players. Romo has earned himself the starting spot for wingback in fixtures for a little while. Magnusson has some real problems now with his form in wretched and only collecting * in the game.

Three Stars
The first medal ever awarded to a youth pull and Tizon gets the first double gold medal week

Bronze: Derrick Solomon
Team veteran continues his scoring and leadership
Silver: Rolando Gontán
Last week's youth pull gets a goal, the first ever by a Hippo youth pull
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón
Juan continues his hot week with goals 5 and 6

Game Summary
Color me suprised. I really thought we were doomed as soon as I saw his lineup but there wasn't enough defense up the middle to stop our forwards. I can't believe we had a higher middie rating with our 3 ** guys than he had with his pair of **~ guys and a *~ guy. Still, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and we now have 6 points in FOFC Cup play.

Press Release
5/23/2003 at 00:42 Hippos Win Second FOFC Cup Game
Juan Miguel Tizon continued his hot week, scoring goals 5 and 6 as the Hippos revamped midfield gave them the possession advantage and the win over the S Boston Hooligans. Last week's youth pull, middie Rolando Gontán, got the scoring started with a beautiful shot in the 16th minute. Even with the win, the Hippos fall out of 1st in Group E with Airhog's Oklahoma City Rednecks taking the lead in goal differential. Next week, the Hippos host the Square Pegs in the middle week of group play.

League Standings

Code:

 
Sd --Group E--            FOFC        ID    Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI
35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog      70559 USA 2 0 0 9  1  8   6  45
22 Houston Hippopotami    sterlingice 8574  USA 2 0 0 7  1  6   6  44
61 Square Pegs            mckerney    71980 USA 1 0 1 4  2  2   4  45
5  Midwest Ice Storm FC   Pilotman    70500 USA 0 1 1 2  5  -3  1  60
48 S. Boston Hooligans    McSweeny    71008 USA 0 2 0 2  7  -5  0  47
74 Missouri Tigers        Achilles    70392 USA 0 2 0 0  8  -8  0  27

Around the Group
Here's a little more info about the other teams in Group E.

Midwest Ice Storm FC - Square Pegs 2 - 2
With all due respect to the Square Pegs, I have no idea how they didn't get crushed. Midwest had a 4(!!) level midfield rating advantage (passable vs wretched) and won the NSI battle 60-47. This was not the Ice Storm team that we rolled last week. Midwest dominated possession with 71 and 82% in the halves but found themselves down 2-0 only 5 minutes in. Apparently the Square Pegs stalwart 4-4-2 formation held the Ice Storm offense in check.

Missouri Tigers - Oklahoma City Rednecks 0 - 6
Um... ow. Airhogs team may have went deep into Tiger country but they didn't care. A great defensive save by Missouri was the only thing that kept the Rednecks Ty Barnett from a hat trick and Cordell Shelton added two more goals.

A New Hippo
Don't ask what we paid for him: it's better you not know since we overpaid. Badly. That said, our new Canadian is an UberTrainee(TM) and at least I paid for some quality. I wish he had better passing skill since I plan on playing him offensive but he has decent stamina that can be improved and he's an 18yo solid PM and that's what I wanted.

Albino de Sousa Bastos (11926561)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Canada
Assessed value: 134 000 US$
Wage: 1 416 US$/week including 20% Bonus

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: wretched

Long Term
I suppose Bastos is technically our only uber middie since our other UberTrainee will end up at winger. Once recent youth pull Rolando Gontan pops to excellent, we'll sell him and try to snag another beautiful middie trainee. I suppose that means our new Canadian will eventually supplant Connors but that won't be until he can match his *** performances. I'm not sure when Jorgensson will pass Newsom, but it will probably be a little bit (middle of next season, most likely).

Then it will be time to find a solid or excellent striker to play opposite Edwin Phelan and anchor the defense with a solid or excellent sweeper who can play alongside the pair of pass/pass wingbacks I have there now. You know, I could really live with that team in Div IV. It sounds like a sick team on paper but something that will take until the end of next season to solidify. Still, I like the thought of my only guys getting below *** are my wingbacks and striker at **~ which is nothing to sneeze at. Right now, it's all about getting there

Notes
Blah-blah-blah, FOFC Cup, blah-blah-blah. DRAGONS-HIPPOS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!

Ok, not quite, but that's what my season feels like. The FOFC Cup is a nice chance to watch my trainees and B Team but really, it's all about the league season and one big fixture looming on the horizon. This week, there's a little return trip to play at the Buccabeavzers in a PIC match and next week, we play the Square Pegs in the FOFC Cup!

SI

daedalus · 05-23-2003, 02:46 AM

18YO solid playmaker? That sounds like a good chunk o' coins. But, wow, 18YO solid playmaker!@

vex · 05-23-2003, 09:19 AM

What DID you spend? 220K?

vex · 05-23-2003, 09:20 AM

Wow, I was pretty close. I don't really think you overspent but by about 30K or so.

NevStar · 05-23-2003, 09:30 AM

congrats on the new blood. The passable scoring won't help you though & that's probably what inflated the price.

Figured I should post something since my name is mentioned so many times in here

I haven't been able to follow all these threads as much as I like, but I'm trying.

I do plan to resume my dynasty at some point, but that darned real life has gotten in my way lately. I'm in the middle of buying my first home, coupled with unrealistic work deadlines. Once everything gets back to normal, the story of the Morrisvillians will continue.

{/hijack}

Alf · 05-23-2003, 09:33 AM

My solid playmaker is also 18

. Was purchased at 14K and bumped to solid after one week of training. He is on his way to excellent in 2-3 weeks . And he also has solid stamina

. Only drwaback is that he has no secondary skill at all...

vex · 05-23-2003, 10:06 AM

Oh, and to make you feel better, ice, I paid the same amount last year for a solid playmaker. Except, he wasn't even 18, but rather 19. Newbies...

sterlingice · 05-24-2003, 03:45 PM

Training
It's about time. Stephen Connors may be 24 but he was due for a bump nonetheless and he becomes our second excellent playmaker after Julius Acker, the player whose sale brought Tim Kimber and Anders Jorgensson to town and me out of debt (temporarily, of course). Oh, but that's not all: we just got our third excellent as well. I mused that last week's youth pull, Rolando Gontan, was "nearly pop-able" and apparently I was right. Hopefully a 19yo excellent PM fetches enough cash to get me a solid defender, a solid scorer, pay off my debt, and finance a stadium upgrade. I think that's an awful lot of wishful thinking. The debt is pretty much certain and maybe one of the solids.

Future Training
Hmm... general or playmaking before the Dragons game? I'm not sure...

Form
Starters: (+3) (-1)
Entire Team: (+5) (-3)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Phelan Benito Connors
Passable: Starks Bush Stepp Newsom Kimber Stromlius
Inadequate: Solomon
Weak (or below): Sanders

Made a couple of changes: Romo replaces a slumping Stepp (who was hanging around in poor form) and last years scoring leader, Derrick Solomon has gotten back to inad form and will return to his spot opposite Edwin Phelan. Tizon is still hanging around with poor form and I'd rather have Solomon's extra point in experience and passing to Chang's passable form. Hopefully Solomon is on the way back up the form curve because he's a monster when he's on. Still, due to his age, he won't be around much longer.

In other form news, Starks and Phelan bounced back from mini-slump of a week but Stromlius continues to fall. This is two straight weeks, but he's still at passable so no real cause for alarm. Sanders form still will not budge!

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+11) (-9)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 27816 (-236)
Total Value: 2627000 (+97000)
Avg Value: 125095 (+10095)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: pass (up from inad)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 21 (-1)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

Where Are They Now?
Guess what? With finals done, it's time for a stealth segment of "Where Are They Now?" Even better is that these are three key players from the first season of the Hippos.

Week One
1/12/2003 Sold (Fired player) to Rednecks 1 000 US$ (0 US$)
1/12/2003 Sold Hayden Hanks to C.A. Daedra (B.Bca.) 20 000 US$ (82 000 US$)
1/16/2003 Sold Rodney Walters to Brookland Cayce 16 000 US$ (100 000 US$)
1/16/2003 Sold Alvin Yeager to Sporting Milwaukee 145 000 US$ (98 000 US$)

Week Two
1/26/2003 Sold Alvarado Lanza to Metaguacha 12 000 US$ (21 000 US$)
1/26/2003 Sold Ben Magnusson to Gringos 12 000 US$ (17 000 US$)
1/27/2003 Sold Tommy Lyhling to Hawkeye F.C. 50 000 US$ (54 000 US$)

Week Three
1/26/2003 Sold Søren Andersen to Morrisville Morrisvillians 13 000 US$ (31 000 US$)
2/9/2003 Sold Pedro Villavilla Paz to Los N° 1 72 000 US$ (47 000 US$)

Week Four
2/17/2003 Sold Matei Rosca to Racing Mexico 2 000 US$ (30 000 US$)
2/17/2003 Sold José Alberto Balbuena to K-Wings 1 000 US$ (12 000 US$)
2/17/2003 Sold Storm Jordan to Racing Mexico 4 000 US$ (35 000 US$)

Week Five
2/24/2003 Sold Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz to JOB Squad 1 000 US$ (0 US$)
2/24/2003 Sold Augusto Almeida Lopes to snomus cf 2 000 US$ (33 000 US$)
2/24/2003 Sold Thomas Rosenthal to BACARDI C.F 21 001 US$ (74 000 US$)

Today
3/5/2003 Sold Dawid Raduli to Snufl 84 000 US$ (78 000 US$)
3/8/2003 Sold Zlatko Koch to Livvy Loonies 26 001 US$ (57 000 US$)
3/9/2003 Sold Alfredo Crespo to Havoc 77 000 US$ (115 000 US$)

For the Future
3/20/2003 Sold Julius Acker to Universitatea&Craiova 638 000 US$ (205 000 US$)

3/21/2003 Sold Klaas Slingerland to Gooner 16 000 US$ (78 000 US$)
3/25/2003 Sold Chiritã Vochin to Malignos Team 77 000 US$ (168 000 US$)
4/24/2003 Sold Liu Zuo-Lin to sv de Helden 11 000 US$ (26 000 US$)

4/28/2003 Sold Gérard Longis to WTC 6 000 US$ (18 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Patrik Jonsson to Blätzbums 15 000 US$ (52 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Jeremy Rumbold to Most Wanted 50 000 US$ (41 000 US$)
5/5/2003 Sold Hugh Hebert to vv Appingedam 51 000 US$ (37 000 US$)

5/21/2003 Sold Philip Friedländer to India Rules 150 000 US$ (76 000 US$)
5/21/2003 Sold Kyle Paige to verandi 120 000 US$ (43 000 US$)

Total Purchases: 1570513 US$ (+416000)
Total Sales 1693002 US$ (+321000)
Difference 122489 US$ (-95000)
Average (bought) 44872 US$ (+9887)
Average (sold) 60464 US$ (-5584)
Average (bought + sold) 1944 US$ (-1806)

Dawid Raduli
Raduli was the starting goalie for most of our games in season one until he was replaced by Chiritã Vochin after a horrible form slump. He was sold to a team in Norge Div V.195 named Snufl who has a picture from bikini.com on as his team picture. I've gotta say I've seen worse logos, to be sure. Dawid currently starts for Snufl in their league games. His value has gone up nearly $100K since I sold him but he only is pulling down ** per game. Then again, when he was on the team, his value was as high as it is now but his form slump forced our hand and he was sold. He's only 20 so he may have a bright future with some team yet.

Zlatko Koch
Zlatko was brought in the same day as two other key players for year one including Dawid Raduli (Derrick Solomon was the other). It was on that day that I hit the transfer wire and (over)paid $30K for our new starting defender. It's not that he was bad, it's just that was a high price for a veteran passable defender. He typically put up ** or *~ at the center defender spot in fixtures for half a season. However, with the purchase of Elmer Bush and the good play of wingback trainees Gerard Longis and Patrik Jonsson, he became expendable and sold for $26K (so I guess I didn't overpay too much). He was sold to Livvy Loonies in Scotland's IV.16 series. He can typically be found playing on the backline of their 4-4-2 and putting up his usual ** or *~ performance.

Alfredo Crespo
If ever I regretted a transfer, this would be it. I was in the middle of my youth movement and somewhat foolishly sold this veteran who was our second winger. He occasionally had form troubles but was a pass/inad winger with solid passing and set pieces: i.e. he was idea for the run and shoot. Still, he only put up ** per game for us and I sold him to a guy who helped me out back when I was starting out (who also supports me, btw). The user is Havoc99 (not to be confused with FOFC's Havok) and his team, Havoc leads V.174 averaging about 30 stars per game and a mid-high 60s NSI. That's typically top 5 material for Div V if you check out hatstats which is amazing, but even more so that he's gone undefeated in what is also a top 5 series in Div V. Also, he never misses an opportunity to taunt me about my foolish sale: "Crespo had his first 3* game today

I'll need him as my #1 winger just went down for 4 weeks!!!" or "I have Alfredo Crespo on the phones as we speak insulting the manhood of any GM who will listen." (in reference to looking for a friendly: gotta love those controversial personality ratings). Alfredo continues to get *** for Havoc at starting offensive winger, helping with a formidable wing attack and passable midfield in the last game. Crespo would be an upgrade from Newsom, our current second winger, but I'm glad that he sold to a guy who helped me out a ton with strategy early on.

Closing Remarks
This stealth edition of "Where are They Now" has been brought to you by NevStar, whose real life is getting in the way of his hattricking. What kind of priorities are these?!? Oh, and he came up with the WatN idea, blah, blah, *insert redneck joke here*, blah, blah.

Closing
A pretty easy fixture this week, FOFC Cup continues next Wednesday and then The Rematch. Dragons/Hippos at the 'drome next Sunday. For those of you into board participation or just looking to show off your knowledge, how much should I list my youth pull from last week for? I'll be sneaking him in with the youth pulls from this week since that seems to be when people shop the most:

Rolando Gontán
117 000 US$, 19 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Technical]
Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: excellent Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor

SI

sterlingice · 05-24-2003, 08:55 PM

Youth Pull, Week 19.8

I think I miscounted and this should technically be 19.8 not 19.7 so we'll skip 19.7. Unfortunately, despite his cool name Heywood Smart is not Hippo material and has been cut already. I guess I can't pull a Rolando Gontan every week. In fact, I've only pulled one guy of that caliber. If you missed out on the notes above- he really was close to popping and is now excellent and awaiting sale.

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 21
Youth Pull Grocers: 19 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC)
Total Sold for: 11000 (NC)

Youth Pull
Haywood Smart (12140127)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 4 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week

Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: poor
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (NC)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC)

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 957 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (up three levels from content)

Team Spirit: calm (N/C)
Confidence: decent (N/C)

We were up to content in team spirit for part of the week, after our PIC last game. However, now we're back down to calm after the weekly updates. This makes it almost certain that I'll be PIC'ing this week and MotS'ing next week against the dragons.

Week In Review

On the Field
It was Juan Miguel Tizón show this week. He outscored the Buccabeavzers and S Boston Hooligans 6-2 this week with 4 in the fixture and 2 in our FOFC Cup game. Edwin Phelan put us up 2-0 in the first half of our fixture but the Bucs tied us. However, that's when Tizon took over, scoring 4 goals from the 43rd minute on and the Hippos rolled 7-2. Tizon scored 2 and Solomon and Gontan each scored as we won 4-1 against McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans, giving us 6 points in 2 games.

Off the Field
Last week I wasn't sure which trainee I wanted to move in favor of last week's youth pull Rolando Gontan so I put both Philip Friedlander and Kyle Paige up for sale for $150K and $120K. This way, whichever sold, I'd replace as with Rolando as a trainee. Amazingly enough, both sold. So, that prompted the purchase of new UberTrainee(TM): 18yo solid PM Albino de Sousa Bastos from Canada. Good news in training as starter Stephen Connors pops to excellent PM. Even better news as Gontan bumped as well and will be sold to get another UberTrainee(TM). BTW, I made a small little coaching change: I went from 7:3 goaltending:assistant coaches to 8:2.

SI

sterlingice · 05-26-2003, 03:46 AM

Preview
We rolled last week on Tizon's 4 goals. We PIC'd and play the same Buccabeavzers as last week- no problems, right? Well, as they say on ESPN: that's why "games aren't played on paper, they're played in television sets". I'm just glad to see last year's leading scorer Derrick Solomon back on the pitch with the starting eleven.

Game Summary
Date: 5/26/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544411
Arena: Buccabeavzers Arena
Crowd: 7000

A scorching day at Buccabeavzers Arena, where 7000 spectators were in place for today´s match. Buccabeavzers had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Grace - Munkvold , Ventura, Nielsen, Boggs - Putnam, Sánchez, Roca, Álvarez De Miran - Romano, Morrissey.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kimber - Romo, Strömlius, Bush - Starks, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan.

A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 19:th minute allowed Derrick Solomon to score 0 - 1 for Hippopotami. Derrick Solomon came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Graig Grace, hitting the bar. Hippopotami had, after 27 minutes of the game, worked the left side industriously, creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but somehow didn´t achieve closure. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Elmer Bush needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. A tad of inexperience caused Stephen Connors to make a difficult dribble close to dangerous opponent Eugenio Roca who took opportunitt by scoring 1-1. In the 35:th minute Hippopotamis Marcel Romo received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Halftime score was 1 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami took the lead after 59 minutes with 1 - 2. Derrick Solomon placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. A well placed corner kick from Arvid Munkvold was followed by Rob Morrissey´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-2 for Buccabeavzers. After 82 minutes Hippopotami´s Donald Newsom contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. After 84 minutes Hippopotami put themselves up by 2 - 3 as Edwin Phelan finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Derrick Solomon increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 2 - 4. By then Derrick Solomon was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The referee showed Hippopotamis Stephen Connors the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Buccabeavzers were forced to a substitution as Lex Putnam couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Hippopotami´s Derrick Solomon received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 88:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 2 - 5. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Buccabeavzers player was Graig Grace. Eugenio Roca on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Derrick Solomon was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 5.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
BB: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 19: Derrick Solomon(2); 1-0
BB: xx: 1-1
Halftime Score: 1-1
Possession: 71%

2nd Half
HH: 59: Derrick Solomon(3); 2-1
BB: xx: 2-2
HH: 84: Edwin Phelan(8); 3-2
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(4); 4-2
HH: 88: Derrick Solomon(5); 5-2
Final Score: 5-2
Possession: 71%
Final Possession: 71%

Cards
HH: 35: Marcel Romo (yellow- challenge studs first)
HH: xx: Stephen Connors (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
HH: 82: Donald Newsom (slight foot injury- bruised)

Stadium

A scorching day at Buccabeavzers Arena, where 7000 spectators were in place for today´s match.

Team Ratings

Buccabeavzers
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 34/36

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/57

A 57 with a PIC. Some general training and an MotS next week at home- I hope to break 60 for the first time.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Romo **
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
MI Maarten Sanders (o) **~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon **

Total Stars: 28.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

Solomon is back with a ** so he'll keep his spot. Unfortunately, Romo and Starks stayed at their ** and **~ respectively along with Kimber and his *** in the net. Stromlius unfortunately went back down to ** from his couple of weeks at **~ but Sanders finally showed some of why I brought him in posting **~ for the first time.

Three Stars
Pretty easy to hand out today, that's for sure.

Bronze: Maarten Sanders
Finally a **~ performance for the middie veteran
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Huge game-winning goal
Gold: Derrick Solomon
For the second week in a row: Was there really any doubt?

Game Summary
Another tense PIC. There were a lot of tense moments, even late. To be tied 1-1 at halftime was bad but with high possession wasn't much cause for concern. When Solomon scored his second goal to give us a 2-1 lead, I figured we would start pulling away. However, the Buccabeavzers were not to be denied so easily. When they tied it in the 70s, it was nervous times as I wasn't sure the game next week would mean anything. Fortunately, as anyone who was in the chat is aware, I was thrilled when Phelan's goal in the 82nd minute went in and then when Solomon put in his 3rd and then 4th in a matter of a couple of minutes, the rout was finally on. The good thing about the closing flurry is that it helped out our goal differential some since the Dragons won big today.

Press Release
5/26/2003 at 10:10 Solomon Four Good in Hippos Win
Yet another stressful game for the Hippos ended with a scoring spree. Derrick Solomon, recently promoted back to the A Team after last week's 4 goal scorer Juan Miguel Tizon sunk even lower in form, scored 4 goals including 2 in the final 5 minutes to put the game away. Edwin Phelan scored his league leading 8th goal with only 6 minutes to go in the game. It was tense times for the Hippo faithful as the game was tied 2-2 until Phelan's goal. NEXT WEEK: HIPPOS/DRAGONS! BE THERE!

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. CC's Dragons         8 33 - 2  24  54 
 
2. Houston Hippopotami  8 35 - 11 21  57
3. Toledo Blades        8 15 - 12 16  54
4. The Flying Midgets   8 17 - 8  13  51
 
5. goonz                8 14 - 28 6   36
6. Buccabeavzers        8 14 - 29 6   36
 
7. Metal Mulisha        8 8 - 26  4   34
8. Beneamata            8 9 - 29  4   36

Around the League
The Dragons rolled and the Midgets and Blades played to a 0-0 tie. The other game pitted two teams in the bottom half.

CC's Dragons - Metal Mulisha 7 - 0
Sure last week's game was close but in front of 22K screaming fans at the Dragons Den, the Mulisha became completely unhinged. It was only 3-0 at the 71st minute but then the Dragons poured it on. In the second half, they enjoyed a 96% possession advantage. However, it was only with a weak midfield and that is where they are vulnerable. Still, against the Mulisha's disastrous midfield, the Dragons rolled.

Beneamata - goonz 2 - 4
The goonz strike back and even up Beneamata's record at 1-1. Both put up identical 36 NSIs but the goonz proved to be too much. Beneamata was up until the goonz's defender Pierre Randle scored two goals at the 74th and 76th minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Randle was one of three goonz to get a **~ rating, a new high for him. One of the others was striker Brent Wolff who scored the 1st goal at the 11th minute and 4th in the 80th.

Toledo Blades - The Flying Midgets 0 - 0
In the battle of odd formations and the 3/4 battle, neither the 4-3-3 or 5-4-1 could score a goal against the other and the game ends in a null-null tie. The Blades put up an exc-mag-out defense but were countered by the Midgets Svarg Ram who made a goal scoring save and their out-bril-form defense. Toledo led 3-1 in chances and possession with 63/77 percent.

Notes
Next up is our FOFC Cup match against the Square Pegs on Wednesday at the 'drome. Oh, and there's still that whole Dragons/Hippos Clash-of-the-Ages thing going on next week. In the next day or so, I'm considering an update with hatstats info and possibly a "Where are they Now" on Acker. And, if I haven't mentioned it enough: HIPPOS/DRAGONS NEXT WEEK! I'm setting my preliminary lineup now.

SI

sterlingice · 05-30-2003, 05:18 AM

Preview
I love the name of the team. The Square Pegs belonging to mckerney come to the 'drome for game 3 of the FOFC Cup in Group E play. They are 1-0-1 coming into the game with a win against Missouri and a suprising tie to Midwest Ice Storm. We get to run out three ** midfielders again at least one more time as Gontan is on the transfer wire.

Game Summary
Date: 5/29/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7074925
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1091

At The Hippodrome, 1091 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Magnusson, Jörgensson, Gontán, de Sousa Bastos, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón.

Square tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Major - Lombardi, Mcgovern, Donald, Taylor, Taylor - Chavarria, Giner, Butcher - Frazier, Conner.

Square seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Defoe Chang completely alone with keeper Levi Major, who made a spectacular block. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 28:th minute goal by Thomas Strömlius for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. In the 39:th minute the excellent ball from the wing byTim Chavarria reached Moses Butcher's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 1 - 1. In the 43rd minute the home side managed to get a 2 - 1 lead as Ivan Viseslav flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. In the 44:th minute Hippopotamis Elmer Bush received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 44:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 1. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Rolando Gontán coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. 3 - 1 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 73 percent, dominated the battle.

The Square players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. The home side´s Juan Miguel Tizón came close to extending the lead in the 50:th minute. His shot came in off the right hand side but Levi Major managed saving with a fingernail. Square had obvious problems in finding their positions. Square fought on and, in the 64:th minute Art Frazier was able to reply with 3 - 2 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. In the games 66:th minute Square´s Nicholas Mcgovern fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Nicholas Mcgovern for taking a dive. In the 70:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 2. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Rolando Gontán coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón got himself booked. Hippopotami made a substitution in the 74:th minute. Björn Magnusson limped off the field and was replaced by Donald Newsom. Albino de Sousa Bastos almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s best player was Donald Newsom. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. Square´s best player was Art Frazier. Tim Chavarria on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
SP: 5-3-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 28: Thomas Strömlius(F1): 1-0
SP: 39: 1-1
HH: 43: Ivan Viseslav (F1): 2-1
HH: 44: Rolando Gontán(F2): 3-1
Halftime Score: 3-1
Possession: 73%

2nd Half
SP: 64: 3-2
HH: 70: Rolando Gontán(F3): 4-2
Final Score: 4-2
Possession: 75%
Final Possession: 74%

Cards
HH: 44: Elmer Bush (yellow- going into a challenge studs first)
HH: 74: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incidents)

Injuries
HH: xx: Bjorn Magnusson (1 week- limped off field)

Stadium

Terraces: 714 (9702)
Basic seats: 254 (3850)
Seats under roof: 96 (1740)
VIP seats: 27 (400)
Total: 1091 (15692)

A bit under last week because of "threatening clouds" but nothing ever came of them so we still got over 1K!

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/46

Square Pegs
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/46

A little weak on the defense, but I suppose I can't complain too much about a 46 from the second team.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Rickie Stepp (m) **
DM Thomas Stromlius **
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos **
MI Rolando Gontán (x) **
MI Anders Jörgensson (o) **
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Dafoe Chang **

IN Bjorn Magnusson (o) *

Total Stars: 23.0
Total player experience: disastrous
Team Attitude: Friendly

These were deceptively high because of Newsom subbing in for Magnusson. Still, the good news is that all three middies still got ** with the bad being that two defenders went back to ** instead of the **~ they had been putting up.

Three Stars
Gontan gets a pair of medals in his only two games for the Hippos

Bronze: Ivan Viseslav
Viseslav gets his first medal with a goal
Silver: Thomas Strömlius
He may have only gotten ** but he did get a goal as a defender
Gold: Rolando Gontán
In his two games for the Hippos, he netted 3 goals in 2 FOFC Cup games and a gold and silver- not bad at all

Game Summary
A battle won on the midfield, to be sure. Plus, the 3-5-2 will typically beat a more defensive formation unless those defenders are damn good. This gives us 3 wins in 3 FOFC Cup games. A great showing considering I've been playing second teamers.

Press Release
5/30/2003 at 11:55 Hippos Beat Square Pegs in FOFC Cup
Rolando Gontán followed up his goal-scoring debut last week with a pair today as the Hippos doubled up the Square Pegs 4-2 in FOFC Cup play. The 19yo excellent PM is not long for the Hippos as he has been put up on the transfer wire and has already garnered bids in excess of $300K. Defender Thomas Strömlius got the scoring started and winger Ivan Viseslav added a goal. The Hippos are 3-0-0 in Group E play and have their 4th of 5 games next week against Airhogg's Oklahoma City Rednecks.

League Standings

Code:

 
Sd --Group E--            FOFC        ID    Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI
22 Houston Hippopotami    sterlingice 8574  USA 3 0 0 11 3  8   9  46
35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog      70559 USA 2 1 0 9  5  4   6  45
5  Midwest Ice Storm FC   Pilotman    70500 USA 1 1 1 6  5  1   4  54
61 Square Pegs            mckerney    71980 USA 1 1 1 6  6  0   4  46
48 S. Boston Hooligans    McSweeny    71008 USA 1 2 0 8  7  1   3  46
74 Missouri Tigers        Achilles    70392 USA 0 3 0 0  14 -14 0  27

Around the Group
The other 2 Group E Games

S. Boston Hooligans - Missouri Tigers 6 - 0
"Ouch" again as this is Missouri's second straight 6-0 loss, this time at the hands of the S. Boston Hooligans, who picked up their first win. Tho a bit of this has to do with them only playing 10 guys on the pitch as their 4-3-2 was overwhelmed by the Hooligans 3-5-2 which put up passable or higher ratings for all but their midfield. Steven Mack scored twice for the Hooligans in a *** game at offensive middie.

Oklahoma City Rednecks - Midwest Ice Storm FC 0 - 4
It's suprising that Midwest took this long to get a win. Not only that, but the Rednecks can't be happy the Ice Storm decided to get well against them. Midwest put up another stellar NSI, this time at 54. Four different players scored for the Ice Storm in a battle of 3-5-2s.

Notes
Another nice win. Our game with the Rednecks next week will go a long way to determining who else goes on in our group. This win more or less ensured I will move on, barring a catastrophic meltdown against the overmanned Missouri Tigers. Our win against Midwest is looking more and more flukish but a win is a win. Unfortunately for everyone here, there is a ton of parity in the group and so I doubt we will have one of the third place teams that moves on as the good teams all beat up on each other.

Hippos-Dragons at the 'drome this Sunday! Favorable general training results to get us into good form and some exciting player movement in the next update. One small phrase to chew on about the most recent Hippo addition until then: "17yo solid playmaker".

SI

daedalus · 05-30-2003, 01:49 PM

Woohoo! Go Hippos! Kick some CC Dragons behinds!

PS . . . y'know, reading the Crawfish dynasty then seeing "player movement" in the next thread gave me pause for just a second.

sterlingice · 05-31-2003, 12:05 AM

Training
It's time for some boring form training. Still, it's extremely necessary: I want all of our big guns ready to fire coming into the huge game this week. Six starters bumped and all of them are now passable or better including Maarten Sanders who finally broke out of his form slump and jumped two levels from weak to passable. If you're curious, the one form drop belong to coach Ricky Braden: Oh well.

Future Training
Back to playmaking until the end of the season where some stamina training will come in.

Form
Starters: (+6) (-0)
Entire Team: (+12) (-1)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Benito (exc) Connors (exc) Newsom Romo Phelan
Passable: Solomon Sanders Starks Bush Kimber Stromlius
Inadequate: -NONE-
Weak (or below): -NONE-

This is as good as it's going to get: any form problems we had were whisked away, even if it is only for a week.

Value
Starters: (+11) (-0)
Entire Team: (+18) (-2)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 28752 (+936)
Total Value: 2855000 (+228000)
Avg Value: 129773 (+4678)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: pass (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 22 (+1)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

Where Are They Now?
The seventh segment of "Where are they Now?" focuses on one of the best players to ever play for the Hippos. His sale brought in an FOFC record in cash, beating the infamous Tom Sanders. This sale was our first move to "the big time" as it made a lot of things happen for our team that wouldn't have been possible before and a changing of mentality.

Week One
1/12/2003 Sold (Fired player) to Rednecks 1 000 US$ (0 US$)
1/12/2003 Sold Hayden Hanks to C.A. Daedra (B.Bca.) 20 000 US$ (82 000 US$)
1/16/2003 Sold Rodney Walters to Brookland Cayce 16 000 US$ (100 000 US$)
1/16/2003 Sold Alvin Yeager to Sporting Milwaukee 145 000 US$ (98 000 US$)

Week Two
1/26/2003 Sold Alvarado Lanza to Metaguacha 12 000 US$ (21 000 US$)
1/26/2003 Sold Ben Magnusson to Gringos 12 000 US$ (17 000 US$)
1/27/2003 Sold Tommy Lyhling to Hawkeye F.C. 50 000 US$ (54 000 US$)

Week Three
1/26/2003 Sold Søren Andersen to Morrisville Morrisvillians 13 000 US$ (31 000 US$)
2/9/2003 Sold Pedro Villavilla Paz to Los N° 1 72 000 US$ (47 000 US$)

Week Four
2/17/2003 Sold Matei Rosca to Racing Mexico 2 000 US$ (30 000 US$)
2/17/2003 Sold José Alberto Balbuena to K-Wings 1 000 US$ (12 000 US$)
2/17/2003 Sold Storm Jordan to Racing Mexico 4 000 US$ (35 000 US$)

Week Five
2/24/2003 Sold Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz to JOB Squad 1 000 US$ (0 US$)
2/24/2003 Sold Augusto Almeida Lopes to snomus cf 2 000 US$ (33 000 US$)
2/24/2003 Sold Thomas Rosenthal to BACARDI C.F 21 001 US$ (74 000 US$)

Week Six
3/5/2003 Sold Dawid Raduli to Snufl 84 000 US$ (78 000 US$)
3/8/2003 Sold Zlatko Koch to Livvy Loonies 26 001 US$ (57 000 US$)
3/9/2003 Sold Alfredo Crespo to Havoc 77 000 US$ (115 000 US$)

Today
3/20/2003 Sold Julius Acker to Universitatea&Craiova 638 000 US$ (205 000 US$)

For the Future
3/21/2003 Sold Klaas Slingerland to Gooner 16 000 US$ (78 000 US$)
3/25/2003 Sold Chiritã Vochin to Malignos Team 77 000 US$ (168 000 US$)
4/24/2003 Sold Liu Zuo-Lin to sv de Helden 11 000 US$ (26 000 US$)

4/28/2003 Sold Gérard Longis to WTC 6 000 US$ (18 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Patrik Jonsson to Blätzbums 15 000 US$ (52 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Jeremy Rumbold to Most Wanted 50 000 US$ (41 000 US$)
5/5/2003 Sold Hugh Hebert to vv Appingedam 51 000 US$ (37 000 US$)

5/21/2003 Sold Philip Friedländer to India Rules 150 000 US$ (76 000 US$)
5/21/2003 Sold Kyle Paige to verandi 120 000 US$ (43 000 US$)

Total Purchases: 1820513 US$ (+250000)
Total Sales 1693002 US$ (+0)
Difference -127511 US$ (-250000)
Average (bought) 50570 US$ (+5698)
Average (sold) 60464 US$ (+0)
Average (bought + sold) -1992 US$ (-3936)

Julius Acker
I never liked Julius. He was always in the doghouse with me and despite his awesome ratings, rarely geting above ** in a game (due mostly to poor form and stamina). Also, I could never decide whether to play him at wing or middie and he didn't seem to do well at either. However, as I said above, I'm pretty sure he still holds the record for sale ammount garnered from and FOFC hattrick team (people like TP, apoc, et al are discounted, of course). Not bad, considering we had bought his **~ replacement in Donald Newsom for $46K just a week earlier.

What we lost in one player who never really fit in, built our team for the future. This sale really catapulted us "into the big time" as it allowed us to buy a big time goalie in solid (near excellent) keeper Tim Kimber for $313K. Then it allowed us to buy a pair of pass/pass players in wingback Marcel Romo and striker Juan Miguel Tizón in the next month. Lastly, it allowed us to buy our first UberTrainee(TM) and start building for the future with then 17yo Anders Jörgensson {more on UberTrainees(TM) below}. It allowed me to start thinking big in the next couple of years: I could start grooming Div IV and Div III caliber players for the Hippos for seasons to come. Oh, and it got us out of debt... for a little while. But we all know how that goes.

As for Acker, what happened to him? He sold for $638K to Universitatea&Craiova, a team in III.11 Romania. He routinely gets *** per game at offensive winger. The problem that team runs into is that it runs a 5-4-1 so it rarely creates much offense so he gets ratings of extra-terrestrial, magnificent, titanic, and mythical on defense but midfield and offensive ratings comprable to mine. Still, without Julius, he would have even more trouble with possession and scoring.

Closing Remarks
Well, Acker got a solo segment because it meant so much to our team. We upgraded at keeper to Tim Kimber and his beautiful ***~ per game. Plus, we plugged the last of our starting holes and started our UberTrainee(TM) program. Not bad for a player who I never really could find a spot for.

I love Magyarország (or at least their Transfer Market)
First little note is that we placed Rolando Gontán back on the transfer wire at $350K and almost immediately got a bid after getting none when I placed him at $400K. This made a new Hippo acquisition possible, our third UberTrainee(TM), Tobias Hultman, who will take Gontan's number 11. I was the only bidder at $250K, but wait until you see what I got for that much. I'm certain I did *not* overpay this time as I've been pricing these for a couple of weeks and finding one for under $500K is a chore. Now presenting, our new 17yo solid playmaker, Swede Tobias Hultman and stats of the other UberTrainees(TM) for comparasion (2 middies and a winger). He has the ability to be the best of the three.

Tobias Hultman (11133558) #11
17 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 90 000 US$
Wage: 936 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: wretched
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: poor

Albino de Sousa Bastos (11926561) #10
18 years, solid form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Canada
Assessed value: 150 000 US$
Wage: 1 416 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: wretched

Anders Jörgensson (8718431) #17
18 years, excellent form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and solid leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 157 000 US$
Wage: 1 224 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: passable Defending: poor
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: inadequate

Closing
That gives us three UberTrainees(TM) to break into the big time. And, not like I'd let the Hippo Faithful out there go two seconds without reminding you of our huge fixture against the Dragons this week.

If I have some time, I'll update my medals count to see what everyone has gotten. Plus, I'll compile a goal list by Cup, Fixture, Friendly, and FOFC Cup. Then some more hatstat notes, maybe. That sounds like some stats for next week to be coupled along with another "Where are the Now" or maybe "Hippo Spotlight". Just pretend I'm a ghetto Bill James for my soccer team.

SI

daedalus · 05-31-2003, 01:21 AM

Nice buy! He'll be fun to keep an eye on for the next season or two.

daedalus · 05-31-2003, 02:37 AM

Okay . . . there's an Italian team named the "Flying Hippos". Y'all REALLY need a friendly set up one of these days.

sterlingice · 05-31-2003, 03:34 AM

Italia: Flying Hippos F.C. (50483) . I'll have to keep that in mind. Thx, daed.

SI

daedalus · 05-31-2003, 06:05 AM

No problemo. I just want to be there for when the Hippos meet at midfield for a hug while mutter, "so, this is what it's like when doves cry!"

sterlingice · 06-02-2003, 02:44 AM

Youth Pull, Week 19.9

The youth pull for 2 weeks ago, Rolando Gontan, sold for $350K. Too bad this week's youth pull can't hold a candle to that. He's passable... in passing but poor or wretched in the key stats so he's worth nothing. The Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) welcomes Williams Matos.

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 22
Youth Pull Grocers: 20 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 361000 (+350000)

Youth Pull
Williams Matos (12386388)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 23 000 US$
Wage: 600 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: passable
Winger: wretched Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (N/C)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C)

Sponsors: high on life (N/C)
Supporter Club: 981 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: satisfied (up 2 levels from calm)
Confidence: decent (N/C)

If we win this week, we'll have over 1000 supporters. Plus that team spirit is sky high. Then again, it will be down again after we MotS against the Dragons.

Week In Review

On the Field
Derrick Solomon followed up Juan Miguel Tizon's 4 goal fixture against the Buccabeavzers with one of his own. However, the game was tied at 2 as late as the 84th minute before a closing barrage made the final 5-2. Then, on Wedesday, the Hippos extended their FOFC Cup winning streak to 3 games with a 4-2 win over the Square Pegs at home. Middie Rolando Gontan scored his third (and final; more about that later) goal in two games to lead the boys from Houston. If you've been living in a hole, the battle for first is this week: Hippos/Dragons at the 'Drome.

Off the Field
Rolando Gontan got sold for $350K which facilitated the purchase of our third and final UberTrainee(TM), 17yo solid PM Tobias Hultman for only $250K. Yes, you read that right: 17yo solid PM. He was hiding on the Magyarország (Hungary) transfer wire late at night and I was the only bidder. Philip Friedländer was resold in 10 days for only 90K, 60K less than we sold him for and we got $2700 in mother club cash. After all is said and done, we will be less than $50K in the hole by the end of the Dragons game.

SI

sterlingice · 06-02-2003, 02:44 AM

Preview
{sarcasm}I'm sure I really need to preface this game for anyone who reads this dynasty.{/sarcasm} It's Hippos/Dragons- the rivalry this season has been made of. He won 3-0 at his place when he MotS'd. So I upped the ante at a full rockin' Hippodrome this week: I trained general and MotS'd. Right now he's 3 points and 7 goal differential up on me so on the off chance that I win by 4 or more, I'll be up in the series. Somehow I doubt this game will be that easy but thankfully even if we lose, it was to a good person.

Quote:

From the Dragons:
good luck tomorrow, i wont be around till later but go easy on me please....CC

Quote:

Response to the Dragons:
I'm not going easy on you this time.

If you beat me, you'll have beaten me at my best (home crowd and MotS with no injuries or red cards). If you do that, pack up and get out of Div V so I don't have to play you next year because you've really earned it

Good luck to yourself, and for the love of god, no injuries for either team =)

SI

Game Summary
Date: 6/2/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544416
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 15692 at The Hippodrome today. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Romo, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Starks - Solomon, Phelan.

Dragons had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Bauer - Mansur, Fitter, Land - Soon-Wah, Whitmore, Karila, Foley, Talley - Refojo, Whakaari.

Hippopotami could have put themselves ahead in the 9:th minute as Derrick Solomon missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. In the 12th minute the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as Edwin Phelan flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. Hippopotamis Maarten Sanders got himself booked after a foul. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

In the 59:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Derrick Solomon coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. Gough Fitter of Dragons received a yellow card in the 62nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 3 - 0. Carlos Alberto Benito finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Stephen Connors putting the lead up to 4 - 0. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. In the 84:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Elmer Bush dashed through, knocking home 5 - 0 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 59 percent, dominated the battle.

Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Derrick Solomon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Dragons player was without a doubt Gil Bauer. Per Land on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
CCD: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 12: Edwin Phelan(9); 1-0
Halftime Score: 1-0
Possession: 60%

2nd Half
HH: 59: Derrick Solomon(6); 2-0
HH: xx: Carlos Alberto Benito(4); 3-0
HH: xx: Stephen Connors(2); 4-0
HH: 84: Elmer Bush(1); 5-0
Final Score: 5-0
Possession: 59%
Final Possession: 60%

Cards
HH: xx: Marten Sanders (yellow- foul)
This will keep him out of the next game

Injuries
None, thankfully

Stadium
Terraces: 9702/9702
Basic seats: 3850/3850
Seats under roof: 1740/1740
VIP seats: 400/400

We filled the 'drome for this huge game. Probably could have gotten quite a few more.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 60/68

CC's Dragons
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 54/59

Eep. That number even scares me. The only bad thing about this is that I probably could have won without MotS'ing. Then again, it wouldn't have been as convincing.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Romo **~
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
MI Maarten Sanders (o) **~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon **

Total Stars: 30.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Match of the Season

Kimber remains at *** and Solomon is only at ** but that's about the only bad news. Connors joins Benito with ***~ and the highest team ratings ever. Starks proves it was just a momentary glitch and is back up to *** while the three defenders all post **~ again. This all adds up to 30(!) stars! The great ratings continue.

Three Stars
A pair of near-twins take the gold and silver

Bronze: Elmer Bush
A defender with a goal almost always gets a medal
Silver: Carlos Alberto Benito
Another ***~ and a goal
Gold: Stephen Connors
First ***~ rating and a goal which put us in first for our series

Game Summary
I can't say enough about this game: 30 stars, 68 NSI and a 5-0 massacre of a very good team. WOW! This is the big one and we showed up in a big way after disappointing three weeks ago. This is the kindof performance that is top 25 in Div V and would keep us afloat in Div IV should we make it. Too bad we will have to do that every week and without MotS'ing. Then again, we have by no means guaranteed our ascent to Div IV.

Press Release
6/2/2003 at 07:08 Hippos Regain First!
An MotS and riotous Hippodrome crowd propelled the Hippos to a 5-0 whitewashing of CC's Dragons to regain control of first in V.62. It was an entire team effort as the Hippos posted an excellent midfield and a team high rating of (!)68 with 30 stars. Five different players scored for Houston including 3.5 star middies Carlos Alberto Benito and Stephen Connors. Now the race for Div V.62 comes down to goal differential with Houston holding a narrow 3 goal lead.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  9 40 - 11 24  68
 
2. CC's Dragons         9 33 - 7  24  59
3. Toledo Blades        9 16 - 13 17  50
4. The Flying Midgets   9 20 - 8  16  52
 
5. Buccabeavzers        9 17 - 29 9   37
6. goonz                9 14 - 31 6   34
 
7. Thumpers             9 9 - 27  5   32
8. Beneamata            9 9 - 32  4   34

Around the League
We had one "upset" in the other league games

The Flying Midgets - Beneamata 3 - 0
The Midgets tried something new with a 3-3-4 but still put up an average of 10 across the backside (out/bril/form). However, their other ratings were either poor or inad. Beneamata slipped into last place after this game because of other games' results.

goonz - Buccabeavzers 0 - 3
A lower half battle between the goonz and Buccabeavzers pitted a 4-4-2 against a 5-4-1. There were a lot of missed chances in this game but the Bucs put in 3 goals and won their third ever league game putting their record at 3-7 vs the goonz all-time record of 2-7.

Thumpers - Toledo Blades 1 - 1
In the stunning upset of the week, the Thumpers drew their first game ever with the third place Toledo Blades. Despite being outgained in the NSI by 18 and losing the possession battle by 84/69, Toledo only had two chances the entire game and only converted on one. This makes me give pause next week when I have to go to Thumpers Arena and plan on PIC'ing. A little scouting of the Thumpers shows a 4-4-2 which only sports one ** player in forward Jesper Gravesen. The largest problem for Toledo today was only having a poor vs wretched advantage at midfield, not generating them enough chances.

Notes
This was a tremendous win and tremendous effort by the entire team. Unfortunately this game is just the beginning. Now we have to win the race down the stretch for goal differential. Not only that but we would almost certainly have to win a promotion game, too. Wednesday, we try to keep up our undefeated FOFC Cup game against Airhog's Rednecks. Then, next week, begins the contest for promotion. Our job has just begun.

SI

sterlingice · 06-07-2003, 04:56 PM

Sorry for the lack of updates: I've been working on a hattrick spreadsheet for the past couple of days.

Anyways, I'm going to try and get back caught up tonight.

SI

sterlingice · 06-08-2003, 05:11 AM

Preview
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been working on a spreadsheet to help keep track of bookkeeping. Also, a huge update is due but I'm not sure when exactly it will appear- lots of news to discuss. Anyways, after the huge fixture, the last 5 fixture certainly take on new meaning. But we leave all of that aside today for the continuation of FOFC Group play. A win today and we clinch a berth in the round of 32. A loss and we will probably win next week and still be in but with a lower seed. When we arrived at the Hippodrome today, a swamp met us as we try to run the table in group play. No doubt scoring chances will be few and far between today.

Game Summary
Date: 6/5/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7109866
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 632

Due to an all-day shower, 632 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Buckley - Stepp, Miquel, Bush - Viseslav, Jörgensson, Hultman, de Sousa Bastos, Newsom - Chang, Tizón.

Oklahoma started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Swartz - Sterling, Rubin, Turner - Pratt, Bolonha, Forslind, Elias, Reese - Shelton, Couillerot.

Seemingly due to lack of experience, Benedito Bolonha needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami were very close to putting themselves one up in the 23rd minute as Defoe Chang got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. In the games 26:th minute Oklahoma´s Cordell Shelton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Cordell Shelton for taking a dive. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s José María Miquel got himself booked. 31 minutes into the game Sidney Buckley had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Silviu Radu. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. The referee showed Hippopotamis Albino de Sousa Bastos the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami broke through to the left in the 76:th minute, Defoe Chang firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 1 - 0 lead. In the games 77:th minute Oklahoma´s Bill Rubin fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Bill Rubin for taking a dive. In the 80:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Tobias Hultman coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 0 when Defoe Chang broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 68 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Hippopotami player was Donald Newsom. However, Silviu Radu made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Oklahoma player was without a doubt Byron Swartz. However, Maximilian Forslind made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
CCD: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
Halftime Score: 0-0
Possession: 57%

2nd Half
HH: 76: Dafoe Chang(F1); 1-0
HH: 80: Tobias Hultman(F1); 2-0
HH: xx: Dafoe Chang(F2); 3-0
Final Score: 3-0
Possession: 68%
Final Possession: 63%

Cards
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel(yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incident)
HH: xx: Albino de Sousa Bastos (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
HH: 31: Sidney Buckley (1 week- knee injury)

Stadium
Terraces: 392/9702
Basic seats: 153/3850
Seats under roof: 63/1740
VIP seats: 24/400
Total: 632/15692

Darn weather. So much for 3 straight 1000+ butts in the seats for FOFC Cup games.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42

Oklahoma City Rednecks
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: formidable (9)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/46

Another case of midfield winning the game. Great job by my trainees.

Player Ratings
GK Silviu Radu ~
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM José María Miquel **
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
MI Anders Jörgensson (w) **~
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos **~
MI Tobias Hultman (x) **
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Dafoe Chang **~

INJ Sidney Buckley *~

Total Stars: 23.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

New middle defender Miguel only put up ** but no big deal. Two of our three middies put up **~ and Hultman put up ** as the "worst". Chang's great form got him **~ for, I think, the first time. Radu only got ~ as a sub but, what the heck, he's my clown and backup to my backup goalie.

Three Stars
He may never ever win another medal, but how could I not give it to Silviu Radu and his goaltending performance

Bronze: Tobias Hultman
The first of, hopefully, many goals with the Hippos for 17yo UberTrainee(TM)
Silver: Dafoe Chang
A **~ and two goals for the forward
Gold: Silviu Radu
Our clown gets some playing time and pitches a shutout despite his ~ rating

Game Summary
It may never happen again, but 3rd string goalie Silviu "Clipboard" Radu was the hero on the field this week. I was a bit worried with even more missed chances in the first half but things turned out all right in the end. This means we have at least one more friendly after next week's game against the Tigers: The Hippos have advanced into the Round of 32!

Press Release
6/8/2003 at 11:41 Hippos Win 4th Straight FOFC Cup Game
With B Team goalie Sidney Buckley getting injured in the first half, 3rd string goalie and clown Silviu Radu came in and helped shut out the Oklahoma City Rednecks. The torrential downpours of the day helped keep the game scoreless in the first half but Dafoe Chang scored two goals and 17yo UberTrainee(TM) Tobias Hultman added a third. The win assures Houston a spot in the Round of 32 which begins in two weeks. Next week, the Hippos visit the Missouri Tigers in their final Group Play game.

League Standings

Code:

 
Sd --Group E--            FOFC        ID    Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI
22 Houston Hippopotami    sterlingice 8574  USA 4 0 0 14 3  11  12 44
5  Midwest Ice Storm FC   Pilotman    70500 USA 2 1 1 11 5  6   7  38
48 S. Boston Hooligans    McSweeny    71008 USA 2 2 0 10 8  2   6  43
35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog      70559 USA 2 2 0 9  8  1   6  46
61 Square Pegs            mckerney    71980 USA 1 2 1 7  8  -1  4  44
74 Missouri Tigers        Achilles    70392 USA 0 4 0 0  19 -19 0  27

Around the Group
The other 2 Group E Games This Week

S. Boston Hooligans - Square Pegs 2 - 1
The Hooligan's Francis Kimball kept them alive and broke the hearts of Square Pegs fans everywhere, all but eliminating them. Kimball scored twice in the 82nd and 85th minutes, turning a late 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory. The Hooligan's midfield dominated possession but they couldn't break through until Kimball's late goals.

Missouri Tigers - Midwest Ice Storm FC 0 - 5
Midwest went back to playing their second team but it was still more than enough for Missouri especially with the weak midfield. Midwest is now in the driver's seat for the second spot in the Group as they have a 1 point lead on Oklahoma City and S. Boston.

Notes
Looks like we've advanced and have a chance to run the table next week. A giant update should be coming up but I'm not sure if it will be before or after the next game report.

SI

sterlingice · 06-08-2003, 03:15 PM

Bookkeeping
For those of you who follow this thread- you know this is inevitable. A couple of times a season, I have get bogged down when I have some extra stuff I want to type up so a super long bookkeeping extravaganza follows. Actually, I don't have it all here because I want to space it out a little but a lot of stuff is here: hatstats and supporter notes about the last game, a new Hippo, supporter update, and some financial decisions I could use some advice on. Also, there's the typical weekend fare of training update, youth pull, and week in review. Also, I have some stats from the spreadsheet I've been working on but those will have to wait until a future update.

Hatstats
Following last week's ungodly performance, we jumped in at #4 in all of Div V! In fact, that rating of 68 would make the top 100 on all of the levels (tho, MLS and Div II have less than 100 teams). I've gotta think we run a really efficient team or something because my I tend to get much higher ratings per star than most teams: quite a few teams beat or matched our 30.0 stars.

Mick Starks's *** performance was the only one to make the top players in Div V by position. However, Carlos Alberto Benito and Stephen Connors ***~ ratings were equal to the highest on the list for Div V. Our series ranked 21 this week, which was our second best season rating (the week of the original Hippos/Dragons game saw us in the teens).

We are still a long way from autopromotion at 173 (cutoff is 128). If the season ended today, we would play The Terrible Turtles who are in IV.55 in 6th. They are a computer controlled team so it would be a nice place to land. They have 2 teams who score in the 70s but the rest are in the high 50s so we would fit right in. That said, who knows what the future will bring on that front as things are very fluid.

As for other stats, we are currently, the 63rd most expensive squad in Div V with our $2.7M team spread amongs 22 players. Our average would be even higher if they ranked that as most teams with high payrolls have more players. Also, as of this week, we ended up on the "misunderstood" list with 1 red card and 11 yellows spread throughout the team. Our 15K+ crowd just missed the top 100 but we might be changing that soon... (more on that below)

Supporter Stats
More from last week's epic game, this time via the hattrick supporter stats. If you've never used this or seen it, basically your supporter stats tell you how good your performances are with relation to your best performance. Your top performance gets a 100% and below it you can see your previous best performances and how they stack up. Needless to say, this week's game was our best ever at forward, midfield, defense, and overall.

Our defense and attacks weren't that great compared to normal: our best rating but many games were in the 90-99% range so it was only our best attack and defense ratings by the smallest of margins. Our previous best on attack was our game the week before against the Buccabeavzers (PIC'd) at 99% while our bset defensive game previously was at 99% in the first Dragons/Hippos game.

However, how do you explain the fact that the Dragons game was 100% to the second best rating of 79% during the first Dragons game? We played more than 25% (~26.5%) better than our previous best due to our excellent midfield. The previous Dragons game was a mere 61% to this one's 100% performance: that's an improvement of over 60% over the previous game!

New Hippo
No, this isn't nearly as dramatic as some of our recent moves. I wanted to add a 5th defender so I didn't keep running out starters. Also, I wanted a player who could serve as team captain and set pieces ace for the B Team, particularly in FOFC Cup play, which meant his experience + leadership had to add up to at least 10 (our highest was 8) and his set pieces at least passable. Lastly, I wanted someone cheap so it was likely going to be a veteran. After bookmarking quite a few guys who went for way too much, I happened upon José María Miquel who came to us from Chuchua, a Div VI team in Argentina, for a mere $9000.

He will be sporting the number 5 for us. While his stamina isn't great, we can work on that a little this offseason and he's basically just to help out for FOFC Cup play anyways (and injury avoidance). He's a passable defender with passable set pieces so he takes over the roles of center defender and set pieces ace. He also has weak experience and passable leadership so he takes over as team captain. Like practically every Hippo, he's controversial

#5 José María Miquel (10565041)
27 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is fiery and honest.
Has weak experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 16 000 US$
Wage: 672 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 0

Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: disastrous
Winger: poor Defending: passable
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable

Supporters
I definately like to mention these guys a few times a season and this is the perfect opportunity. Our number of supporters recently got bumped back up to 8 as FantasyBandit and his Isla Vista Vandals of USA V.25 join the ranks. He gets to join all the others who have a place in the Hippos executive washroom and adjoining palatial suite. He gets to enjoy all of the amenities such as amazing catering and the girls who inhabit said suite. Here is a list of those we support and those who support us:

Bees (70510) in USA
Owner: ausonny
Status: reciprocal
Supporter since: 2003-01-31 17:22:38
Supportee since: 2003-01-08 23:22:37
Series: V.41

Screamin' Seamen (70638) in USA
Owner: dataking
Status: supported
Supporter since: 2003-02-02 09:05:12
Series: IV.49

Morrisville Morrisvillians (70926) in USA
Owner: NevStar
Status: reciprocal
Supporter since: 2003-02-02 22:57:25
Supportee since: 2003-02-03 04:56:37
Series: V.93

NE Oklahoma Sidekicks (71068) in USA
Owner: vexroid
Status: reciprocal
Supporter since: 2003-02-13 22:45:08
Supportee since: 2003-02-13 08:24:27
Series: V.111

Louisiana Cyclones (72080) in USA
Owner: Doug5984
Status: reciprocal
Supporter since: 2003-03-07 01:07:40
Supportee since: 2003-03-06 19:44:19
Series: V.237

Bull Dogs (8421) in USA
Owner: Eilim
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-03-28 03:55:19
Series: V.1

Manhattan Marauders (71399) in USA
Owner: NAIWF
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-04-22 00:00:14
Series: V.152

goldurnears (71399) in USA
Owner: robbgmaier
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-04-30 22:30:26
Series: V.230

Isla Vista Vandals (70384) in USA
Owner: FantasyBandit
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-06-03 04:18:02
Series: V.25

Training
Oops. Well, my face is red. After training general last week, I forgot to change back to playmaking. Needless to say, everyone is in great form. Unfortunately it's basically a wasted week of training.

Future Training
With form in such great shape, I'll do some impromptu stamina training then playmaking to finish out the season.

Form
Starters: (+6) (-0)
Entire Team: (+11) (-0)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Sanders (exc) Phelan (exc) Benito (exc) Connors (exc) Bush Kimber Stromlius Solomon Newsom Romo
Passable: Starks
Inadequate: -NONE-
Weak (or below): -NONE-

I'm going to take advantage of this great form and do some stamina next week.

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 6(N/A)/8(-1)
Above $200K: 4(N/A)/4(N/A)
Above $300K: 2(+1)/2(+1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($497K)
Outfield Leader: Maarten Sanders ($333K)
Milestones: Maarten Sanders ($300K)

It's an interesting read in other dynasties so I though I'd include it here with a few. Goalie Tim Kimber remains the top value getter for the team as he has been ever since being acquired. For the first time ever, Mick Starks did not have the highest outfield value as Maarten Sanders crushed the $300K barrier. He was in the $240s with weak form just two weeks ago but now he's gone up 4 levels in 2 weeks and has gained nearly $100K in value. Benito passes Starks and is worth nearly $300K himself at $298K. Starks is at $286K, where he's been pretty much since the beginning. For the B Team, the two expensive players are UberTrainees(TM) Bastos and Jorgensson who are over $150K while the third UberTrainee(TM), Hultman, is at $86K.

Value
Starters: (+11) (-0)
Entire Team: (+18) (-2)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 28904 (+152)
Total Value: 2852000 (-3000)
Avg Value: 124000 (-5773)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: pass (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 23 (+1)
Nationalities: 9 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 19.9

I'm revising my numbering system based on my spreadsheet. This week is now 19.9 in my books instead of 19.10 as the season starts with the sunday of the first fixture instead of the first week of the cup games. The below numbers have also been revised. When reading back through my old dynasty reports, I got everything on track and I was correct way back when- I sold my first youth pull for $1K but his name has been lost to history as he was fired. Maybe in a future update, I'll list all the names of all the players who work for us in a non-soccer capacity.

Speaking of which, the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) will have to go without the current youth pull. This is our second best pull to date after Rolando Gontan who sold for $50K. Unfortunately, I have no use for Ty Lott but I'm sure some defense training 4-5-1'er *spit* will. He has passable defense, inad stamina, and is only 17. Fortunately DK donated a youth pull a couple of weeks ago who can fill in for Mr Lott.

One last note: we got some mother club cash for one of our previous youth pulls: forward Liu Zuo-Lin, who sold originally for $11K. After that, he was daytraded for $25K but now, it looks like he's daytrained and now sold for $101K.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 22
Youth Pull Grocers: 19 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 3 (+0)
Total Sold for: 362000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Ty Lott (12582154)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 14 000 US$
Wage: 560 US$/week
Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: poor
Winger: wretched Defending: passable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (N/C)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C)

Sponsors: high on life (N/C)
Supporter Club: 1005 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: irritated (down 4 levels from satisfied)
Confidence: strong (up 2 levels from decent)

With our win last week, we blitzed through the 1000 supporter mark. However, the MotS cost us quite a bit TS.

Week In Review

On the Field
To say this was our biggest game ever is to say a fact without hyperbole. This one will likely decide the fate of our series and thankfully, the boys came through with aplomb. An excellent midfield, NSI of 68, and 30.0 stars later, we had a 5-0 victory and control of our own fate as 1st in V.62 was now ours by a slim 3 goal differential lead. The aforementioned midfield put up 3.5, 3.5, and 2.5 stars! The good news continued this week as we got one game closer to running the table in FOFC Cup Group play with a 3-0 win over Airhog's Oklahoma City Rednecks on a "pitch-turned bog". Clown Silviu Radu helped with the shutout when B Team goalie Sidney Buckley went down.

Off the Field
Not much happened this week, although technically the sale of Roalndo Gontan was this week and not last. We picked up a new veteran defender, team leader, and set pieces ace for $9K to help out the B team in José María Miquel. I stupidly did general training instead of playmaking

but got a sellable youth pull who is on the market. Also, I'm considering some changes to the team again.

I Need a Money Tree
Three of my last four games this year are at home so I'd like to expand to get some extra cash. Unfortunately, with build time, I'll miss one of them but 2 of 3 isn't too bad either. The problem is that I'm hanging around at -$50K so it would put me over $250K in the hole or more. My supporter base is over 1000 and I could probably support most of a 28K stadium. However, this would cost over $300K and I don't have that kind of cash. So I'm thinking about selling Maarten Sanders, our 28yo middie. With the recent form improvement, he's up to excellent form and will likely put up *** today. However, he's a bit old and I don't like the idea that he's hanging out in a prime training spot without it doing him any good. I'm hoping to get about $200K from him, but I'm probably overestimating.

Two of our trainees got **~ last game so one of them could start gaining regular game experience and it would allow me to get another cheaper trainee on the youth squad. Plus, then our debt after stadium renovations would then be more manageable.

Still to Come
I have some fun stats I'd love to throw out but this is already too long and I've got to go soon. I'll probably compile a goal, card, and medal list along with some fun stats.

Plus, if you want a look at the preliminary spreadsheet I'm working on, it can be found here: Linky

SI

sterlingice · 06-09-2003, 03:58 AM

Preview
Bad team spirit, a road game, a PIC, and letdown from last week could make us primed for an update this week against the brand new Thumpers. They've bought up over $100K of players this week so I was a smidge worried especially after tying one of the teams in the upper tier of the series last week. Also, remember, I have a slim 3 goal lead over the Dragons for the V.62 title and they have a walkover game this week but they may also have to PIC.

Game Summary
Date: 6/9/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544419
Arena: Thumpers Arena
Crowd: 6443

6443 spectators had come to Thumpers Arena this cloudy day. Thumpers had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Herring - Kilskar , Poole, Moreno, Ross - Bagwell, Bradley, Wilburn, Šafárik, Curry - Gravesen.

Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Kimber - Romo, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Starks - Solomon, Phelan.

In the 3rd minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Derrick Solomon put the ball away for 0 - 1. The referee showed Hippopotamis Elmer Bush the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Thumpers had obvious problems in finding their positions. In the 40:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The away team´s Stephen Connors took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 42nd minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 3. Jon Bagwell was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Jesper Gravesen managed to kick one of them into 1 - 3 in the 45:th minute. After 45 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Mick Starks who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 4. Hippopotamis Donald Newsom got himself booked after a foul. Thumpers were forced to a substitution as Juan Carlos Moreno couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Halftime score was 1 - 4. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 66 percent possession rate.

Thumpers -coach had an extra briefing during the break, and after that his players looked a lot more organized. In the 68:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 5 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Elmer Bush rendered him his second booking of the match, and Hippopotami had to finish the game with a reduced squad. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 78:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 1 - 6. Albino de Sousa Bastos was noted down as the scorer. The away team´s Derrick Solomon took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 80:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 7. It was showtime for artist Derrick Solomon who showed off all his technical mastery when he rounded Paul Bradley and finished with a goal to 1 - 8 for Hippopotami. At that, Derrick Solomon was noted down for a hat trick. Derrick Solomon increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 9. In the 87:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 1 - 10 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Donald Newsom. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 75 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Thumpers player was Dag Kilskar . However, Erik Wilburn made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Derrick Solomon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 10.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TH: 4-5-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 3: Derrick Solomon(7): 1-0
HH: 40: Edwin Phelan(10): 2-0
HH: 42: Stephen Connors(3): 3-0
TH: 45: 3-1
HH: 45: Mick Starks(9): 4-1
Halftime Score: 4-1
Possession: 66%

2nd Half
HH: 68: Edwin Phelan(11): 5-1
HH: 78: Albino de Sousa Bastos(1): 6-1
HH: 80: Derrick Solomon(8): 7-1
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(9): 8-1
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(10): 9-1
HH: 87: Donald Newsom(3): 10-1
Final Score: 10-1
Possession: 75%
Final Possession: 71%

Cards
HH: xx: Elmer Bush (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)
HH: 45: Donald Newsom (yellow- foul)
HH: xx: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)

Injuries
None, thankfully

Stadium
Terraces: 0/9702
Basic seats: 0/3850
Seats under roof: 0/1740
VIP seats: 0/400

At his place so anyone sitting in the 'Drome would have felt silly

Team Ratings

Thumpers
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 33/35

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/56

Ok, a bit more back to earth after last week. If my TS were better and I had gotten my typical inad midfield, I would have gotten a 59 NSI, second only to last week's obscene 68

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Marcel Romo **~
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Elmer Bush RED CARD
WI Donald Newsom **~
MI Stephen Connors ***~
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
FO Edwin Phelan ***
FO Derrick Solomon **~

Total Stars: 29.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

If not for Bush's ejection, we would have put up a new high in stars. We'll give back quite a bit of this next week after the stamina training and general training hangover hit us with a double form whammy. Still, it's awesome to see everyone get **~ or higher. Connors, Benito, and Kimber all got ***~ ratings. Phelan gets his first ever *** to go along with Starks's typical one.

Three Stars
Another four goal game nets the gold

Bronze: Albino de Sousa Bastos
The UberTrainee(TM) scores his first of hopefully many goals
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Edwin's first *** nets him 2 goals and he barely stays ahead of our
Gold: Derrick Solomon
Solomon's second four-goal game of the year

Game Summary
I was worried a little about this one because of all the stuff I stated in the intro. It was unfounded, apparently. For those of you keeping track at home, Derrick Solomon now has 9 goals in his last 3 games. He is now within one of Phelan for the series lead. Remember that 3 goal lead on the Dragons, well, check below...

Press Release
6/9/2003 at 10:24 Solomon Continues Tear in 10-1 Massacre
The season started off poorly for Derrick Solomon, V.62's 3rd leading scorer last year and leading Hippo. He was demoted to B Team after a form slump but now he has returned and is making up for lost time. Today he scored 4 more goals, giving him 9 in his last 3 games and leading the Hippos to a rout of the Thumpers. Edwin Phelan added another pair of goals to retain the lead over now-2nd place Solomon. The score was quite suprising consider a PIC and only 10 men in the 2nd half.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P   Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  10 50 - 12 27  56
 
2. CC's Dragons         10 42 - 7  27  63
3. Toledo Blades        10 20 - 14 20  52
4. The Flying Midgets   10 22 - 10 17  52
 
5. Buccabeavzers        10 19 - 31 10  41
6. goonz                10 14 - 40 6   34
 
7. Thumpers             10 10 - 37 5   35
8. Beneamata            10 10 - 36 4   31

Around the League
You know, a 10-1 win sounds convincing, right? Well, I was worried most of the game about my differential, as anyone in chat knows.

CC's Dragons - goonz 9 - 0
Sure, you win 10-1 and think you'd gain in differential: WRONGO! I was watching this game in Criollo at the same time as mine and the Dragons had the series lead for quite a few minutes today. He was up 7-0 not long into the second half while I was still sitting around up 4-1. Lynn Whakaari matched Derrick Solomon's 4 goals and the Dragons recovered just fine from last week's loss. The Dragons put up a 63 NSI and 29 stars.

Buccabeavzers - The Flying Midgets 2 - 2
One week after the Thumpers stunned the Blades with a tie, the Midgets were stunned with a draw at Buccabeavzers arena. The Midgets put up out-bril-form across the backside but the Bucs are definately a team on the rise, putting up passables and inads for every rating except a poor at midfield. Adrian O'Keeffe scored twice for the Midgets while Alexander Nielsen and Rob Morrissey scored for the Buccabeavzers.

Toledo Blades - Beneamata 4 - 1
Toledo, on the other hand, bounced back from their draw last week to beat Beneamata at the Bladium. The Blades posted form-out-exc across the back and their weak midfield was enough for 92% possession in the second half. Jesse Mohr scored twice in the first half and Steve Hough twice in the second half for the victorious team from Ohio.

Notes
Big win that was quite fun. Only problem is that we didn't gain any ground on the Dragons because they won equally big. Our final FOFC Cup group play game is this Wednesday as we travel to play the Missouri Tigers. Did I mention I go to school at the University of Kansas and we don't take too kindly to those folk

SI

sterlingice · 06-13-2003, 05:00 PM

Preview
Not much on the line today: we already had a spot in the round of 32 locked up. However, I did want to run the table in Group Play just to say I did it. My opponent today will be the Missouri Tigers, which I guess is an allusion to Kansas's (my current school) rival to the East. They haven't scored a goal in Group play yet, but who knows- it could happen today: I don't exactly run a scary defensive set.

Game Summary
Date: 6/12/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7147133
Arena: Missouri Tigers Arena
Crowd: 369

369 spectators arrived at Missouri Tigers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Missouri started off with a 4-3-1 lineup. Lineup: Jansson - Mut, Miller, López, Weeks - Jones, Odom, Branham - Smith.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Buckley - Romo, Miquel, Stepp - Magnusson, Sanders, Jörgensson, Hultman, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón.

Marcel Romo seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 0-1. The previous Hippopotami corner kick was executed by José María Miquel. In the 22nd minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Marcel Romo finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The referee showed Missouris Carlos José Mut the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Björn Magnusson came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Tor Jansson, hitting the bar. The visitors Juan Miguel Tizón took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 41st minute. 0 - 3 for Hippopotami. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Scott Jones of Missouri received a yellow card in the 42nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 65 percent, dominated the battle.

After 54 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Juan Miguel Tizón who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 4. Juan Miguel Tizón increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 5. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Missouri seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Marcel Romo was suffering from cramps and had big difficulties keeping up as the opponentes pushed forward. Carlos José Mut had no problems getting through and hit home the 1 - 5 goal. When Randall Weeks left the game because of a back injury in the 80:th minute Missouri, lacking replacements, had to keep on playing decimated. The visitors Juan Miguel Tizón took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 80:th minute. 1 - 6 for Hippopotami. The referee showed Hippopotamis Marcel Romo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 85 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Missouri player was without a doubt Tor Jansson. However, Charles Odom made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Maarten Sanders. Björn Magnusson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 6.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
MT: 4-3-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Marcel Romo(F1): 1-0
HH: 22: Marcel Romo(F2): 2-0
HH: 41: Juan Miguel Tizón(F4): 3-0
HH: 41: *drawing back*
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 65%

2nd Half
HH: 54: Juan Miguel Tizón(F5): 4-0
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón(F6): 5-0
MT: xx: 5-1
HH: 80: Juan Miguel Tizón(F7): 6-1
Final Score: 6-1
Possession: 85%
Final Possession: 75%

Cards
HH: xx: Marcel Romo (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 0/9702
Basic seats: 0/3850
Seats under roof: 0/1740
VIP seats: 0/400
Total: 0/15692

A pretty miserable crowd showed up of only 369 and weather was good. I dunno what happened: Why didn't my fans travel?

Team Ratings

Missouri Tigers
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: weak (4)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: wretched (2)
Left Side Attack: wretched (2)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 26/28

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42

Not a great showing. A poor midfield... ick. Still, good enough to win but it will result in us getting drummed out of the Round of 32 if we play this bad next week.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Marcel Romo **~
DM José María Miquel **~
DW Rickie Stepp (m) **~
WI Bjorn Magnusson *
MI Maarten Sanders ***
MI Tobias Hultman (x) *~
MI Anders Jörgensson (w) **~
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Dafoe Chang **

Total Stars: 23.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Maarten Sanders is up for sale for $250K and his first ever *** only helps to enhance his value.
Sidney Buckley returned from last week's injury to post a ** for the first time in a few weeks. I'm not sure how Sanders, Jorgensson, and Hultman's combined 7 stars got a poor midfield...

Three Stars
The only race here was for third

Bronze: Maarten Sanders
Yet another Hippo with a *** performance
Silver: Marcel Romo
A defender with 2 goals- who would've thunk it
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón
Duh

Game Summary
I know- I took some hazing for giving up the only goal to Missouri but I don't really care that much since I was one of the two teams that was able to run the table in group play. Unfortunately, due to the ranking-based-seeding, we play the other team to run the table in our first Round of 32 game: Brillig's Slithy Toves but fortunately it's at the 'drome. As I said in another thread: this feels like the NCAA tourney's seeding committee.

Press Release
6/13/2003 at 23:28 Hippos Run the Table in FOFC Cup Group Play
The Missouri Tigers scored their only goal in the Cup but it didn't keep the Hippos from winning as, for the second time this week and fourth time in four weeks, a Hippo scored 4 goals, this time Juan Miguel Tizon. Wingback Marcel Romo also scored twice in the final game in FOFC Group E play. The Hippos were one of two teams to collect all 15 points in Group Play but only advance as the 16th seed. Round of 32 play sees the Hippos at the 'Drome against the 17th seed Slithy Toves next week.

League Standings

Code:

 
Sd --Group E--            FOFC        ID    Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI
22 Houston Hippopotami    sterlingice 8574  USA 6 0 0 20 4  16  15 42
5  Midwest Ice Storm FC   Pilotman    70500 USA 3 1 1 14 6  8   10 49
35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog      70559 USA 3 2 0 11 8  3   9  50
48 S. Boston Hooligans    McSweeny    71008 USA 2 3 0 11 11 0   6  39
61 Square Pegs            mckerney    71980 USA 1 3 1 7  10 -3  4  33
74 Missouri Tigers        Achilles    70392 USA 0 5 0 1  25 -24 0  28

Around the Group
The case was simple for Midwest: win and they're in. If they lose or tie, it's wide open.

Square Pegs - Oklahoma City Rednecks 0 - 2
The Rednecks started out big, scoring twice in the first half with 61% possession but the second half ground to a screeching halt. Here's the entire second half: "Square, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle." Boring, huh? Oklahoma City got the win they needed- now a draw or win by S. Boston would put them in by virtue of OKC's head-to-head win against S. Boston. A win by Midwest, however, sends the Ice Storm to the next round.

Midwest Ice Storm FC - S. Boston Hooligans 3 - 1
Pilotman pulled no punches and only his 4-5-1 kept this from being a massacre. Midwest put up a passable midfield and won NSI 49-39. Four different players scored in this game and one of the better teams in all of FOFC advances.

Notes
We move onto the Round of 32 and the race for promotion continues. Training update soon along with news of a sale and possible purchase.

SI

Katon · 06-13-2003, 05:12 PM

Um, the lineup that you sent out didn't match the bunch that got the stars. Your midfield got almost completely mixed up twixt start and end. Sanders, for instance, is missing from the stars list. Slight typo, maybe?

sterlingice · 06-13-2003, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Katon
Um, the lineup that you sent out didn't match the bunch that got the stars. Your midfield got almost completely mixed up twixt start and end. Sanders, for instance, is missing from the stars list. Slight typo, maybe?

Oops! I forgot to change that update from last game- it's corrected now. Thx for catching that. Basically, I just take last week's report and replace the info with this week's but sometimes I'll forget to change the info. A couple of weeks ago, I put in an entirely wrong match report- d'oh. So much information for a disorganized person like myself to worry about

SI

NAIWF · 06-13-2003, 05:45 PM

What can one REALLY expect from a Houstonian, or is it Houstonite, screw it a person from Houston anyway?

sterlingice · 06-13-2003, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NAIWF
What can one REALLY expect from a Houstonian, or is it Houstonite, screw it a person from Houston anyway?

{zing}I dunno but 6 of them can no-hit the Yankees {/zing}

EDIT: BTW, people from Houston are called Houstontians

SI

NAIWF · 06-13-2003, 06:38 PM

I guess you learn something new everyday

I was happy to watch that 6 man no hitter since I'm a Mets fan and that'll be the highlight of the season for us

sterlingice · 06-15-2003, 01:42 AM

Kraftworks Union (K.U.)
Along with FOFC, I am also a member of the HAM and Daytrading Federations to read their conferences. It's not necessary to be a member of the fed to read the conference but I kindof wanted to. Anyways, a guy who really helped me out a lot, especially when I started, Havoc99, started a new fed and I figured I'd give it a shameless plug here. We're looking for people to join if you're interested. Here's the fed's description:

Quote:

An alliance of fun, active managers dedicated to the advancement of our teams through mutual support, player training & information exchange.

Training
Trained stamina since I had such good form going for me. Took quite a few hits in form, but that was expected after two weeks of general. My middie trainees are now up to inad, pass, and excellent so I'm happy. Also, my starters are all in solid or passable form so no major harm was done. We'll see how that plays out the next couple of weeks.

Future Training
Back to playmaking.

Form
Starters: (+0) (-8)
Entire Team: (+3) (-15)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush Solomon Benito Bastos Phelan Connors
Passable: Starks Kimber StromliusNewsom Romo
Inadequate: -NONE-
Weak (or below): -NONE-

You may notice Sanders has been replaced in the lineup with UberTrainee(TM) Albino de Sousa Bastos. More on that later.

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 6(N/A)/8(N/A)
Above $200K: 3(-1)/3(-1)
Above $300K: 1(-1)/1(-1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($474K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($295K)
Milestones: Sidney Buckley ($100K)

Sanders is also conspicuously absent. You can probably guess by now that he's no longer with the team. That's where all the -1's come from. Benito is now the top money guy. Backup goalie Sidney Buckley keeps flirting with the $100K mark, going up and down. Carlos Alberto Benito is close to $300K but with his already excellent stamina, he couldn't get much help this week in the value department.

Value
Starters: (+5) (-3)
Entire Team: (+11) (-5)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 25560 (-3344)
Total Value: 2549000 (-303000)
Avg Value: 115864 (-8164)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: pass (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 22 (-1)
Nationalities: 8 (-1)

Youth Pull, Week 19.10

Last week's youth pull went for too much at $50K and I'm grateful to GUINNESSOHOLICS who might have been drinking too much of his own product when he bought a low level 17yo passable defender for $50K. Hopefully I can get more of the luck this week as I pulled yet another who will not be hanging out in the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM). I doubt he'll go for nearly as much- I just happened to get someone to bite on Lott's overly high price. I've had a little luck with that lately. Todd's got good secondaries- maybe I'll keep him around as a winger. I'll probably try him out in the friendly next week.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 23
Youth Pull Grocers: 19 (+0)
Youth Pulls Sold: 4 (+1)
Total Sold for: 412000 (+50000)

Youth Pull
Todd Crain (12825280)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 32 000 US$
Wage: 660 US$/week
Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate
Winger: passable Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (N/C)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C)

Sponsors: high on life (N/C)
Supporter Club: 1029 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: composed (up 1 level from irritated)
Confidence: decent (down 2 levels from strong)

A 10-1 massacre and our confidence goes down. Anyone want to try and explain this one?

Week In Review

On the Field
We played a PIC against a new league team and then got a player kicked off the pitch partways through the 2nd half so we only had 10. Plus the Dragons won 9-0. Ho-Hum, we still won 10-1 and retained our 3 goal series lead. This week will not be as easy with the Toledo Blades coming to the 'drome. For the FOFC Cup Group Play, we were one of two teams to run the table, winning 6-1 at the Missouri Tigers with Tizon scoring 4 goals. This week, we play the other team who went undefeated in group play in Brillig's Slithy Toves. Lots of tickets still available as the FOFC Elimination Round begins.

Off the Field
Sold last week's youth pull for $50K, sold Sanders for $250K and pulled another good youth pull. Wind sprints for everyone last week. Not much else and I'll go into the Sanders move below.

Comings and Goings
I don't like only training 5 players. Even my ***~ middie are only 22 and 24 so they are still gaining a little training each week. Sanders, if you don't remember was a 28yo bought to plug the hole we had earlier in the season before the UberTrainees(TM) came to town and improved even faster than expected. However, he kept some pretty bad form until the two weeks of general training where he bumped two levels twice to get to excellent and pulled down *** last week- the time was right to sell him so I put him up for $250K. Now it's time to get a trainee to replace him and Bastos will take his middie spot with his **~ last week. Time to find my next UberTrainee(TM).

Closing
I'm also long overdue for a stadium upgrade, but that will probably come in the offseason and I could use a few player upgrades but who knows when those will come. The race for promotion continues tomorrow against the Blades.

SI

sterlingice · 06-19-2003, 04:40 PM

Preview
Coming down the stretch, I'm up on the Dragons by 3 in goal differential with 4 games left. We each have to play the 3rd place Toledo Blades and 4th place Flying Midgets as well as two games against the lower half of the series. Likely two games will be blowouts with the others much closer. There is definately a possiblity of a loss or two in there for us since both the Blades and Midgets play very strong defense which can really disrupt games. Today we have the Blades while the Dragons have the Midgets.

Game Summary
Date: 6/16/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544426
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

15692 spectators had come to The Hippodrome this cloudy day. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Romo - Newsom, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Starks - Solomon, Phelan.

Toledo had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. They fielded: González - Stachowicz, Li, Stinson, Fauconnier - Goodson, Rees, Tucci, Mohr, Tran - Hough.

Hippopotami had a good opportunity to take the lead as Edwin Phelan came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into thearms of José Alejandro González. 20 minutes into the game Steve Hough was a hair´s breadth away from giving Toledo the lead. A prompt block by Tim Kimber saved the home team that time. Toledo appeared unsure on how to play. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Derrick Solomon completely alone with keeper José Alejandro González, who made a spectacular block. In the games 36:th minute Toledo´s Robert Goodson fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Robert Goodson for taking a dive. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 58 percent possession of the ball.

Toledo -coach had an extra briefing during the break, and after that his players looked a lot more organized. 47 minutes into the game Claudio Tucci was a hair´s breadth away from giving Toledo the lead. A prompt block by Tim Kimber saved the home team that time. Hippopotami created a good opportunity to score in the games 73rd minute when Edwin Phelan`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. In the game's 77:th minute Toledo´s Robert Goodson limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Hippopotamis Carlos Alberto Benito gave, after 78 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Toledo seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Jesse Mohr made a run for the goal in the 84:th minute but the home teams far left defense managed to sort the situation out in the end. A well placed corner kick from Derrick Solomon was followed by Marcel Romo´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-0 for Hippopotami. Hippopotamis Rickie Stepp got himself booked after a foul. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Thomas Strömlius on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Toledo player was Michael Stinson. Robert Goodson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
TB: 4-5-1

Events Summary

1st Half
Halftime Score: 0-0
Possession: 58%

2nd Half
HH: 78: Carlos Alberto Benito(5): 1-0
HH: 84: Marcel Romo(1): 2-0
Final Score: 2-0
Possession: 56%
Final Possession: 57%

Cards
HH: xx: Rickie Stepp (yellow- foul)

Injuries
None, thankfully

Stadium
Terraces: 9702/9702
Basic seats: 3850/3850
Seats under roof: 1740/1740
VIP seats: 400/400

Full 'drome- we really need to expand.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/59

Toledo Blades
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (11)
Central Defence: brilliant (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/58

Just one more point until a regular 60 (as opposed to the 68 from the MotS). That passable midfield sure looks good. The only thing that concerns me is the inad left side defense but some of that was the product of Bush being out of the game due to cards and the weaker Stepp in his place at left wingback. Wow- he puts up some sick defensive ratings, boys and girls. The Blades are a fine team but no one, including the Dragons, can match that passable midfield without MotS'ing.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Marcel Romo (m) **~
WI Donald Newsom **~
MI Stephen Connors ***
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon **

Total Stars: 28.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Those star ratings are starting to drop a half on most guys since our form is down some after the Dragons game. I'm not too worried about a lot of these as long as they don't keep falling.

Three Stars
Kimber definately earned his metal today

Bronze: Marcel Romo
Romo follows up the two goals in last week's FOFC Cup game with one here
Silver: Carlos Alberto Benito
Carlos's clutch goal in the 78th minute was the game winner
Gold: Tim Kimber
"Timber" Kimber pitches the shutout including two saves!

Game Summary
Some very nervous moments as this game was scoreless most of the way and, if not for Tim Kimber, they would have had a lead. But that's why the man gets paid over $3700 per week. Benito's goal was clutch and Romo's goal made me breathe much easier. Not much of a chance to gain ground on the Dragons but they had a fight of their own on their hands.

Press Release
6/19/2003 at 01:46 Hippos Trudge Past Blades
Carlos Alberto Benito and Marcel Romo scored in the 78th and 84th minutes, breaking the scoreless deeadlock as the Hippos exc-exc-pass offense faced off against the Blades out-bril-form defense. With the Dragons only winning by 1, the Hippos slim lead raised to 4 goals with 3 games remaining for each teams. FOFC Round of 32 play begins this Wednesday as the Hippos host the only other undefeated team in Group Play in the Slithy Toves.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P   Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  11 52 - 12 30  59
 
2. CC's Dragons         11 44 - 8  30  59
3. Toledo Blades        11 20 - 16 20  58
4. The Flying Midgets   11 23 - 12 17  50
 
5. Buccabeavzers        11 25 - 33 13  39
6. Thumpers             11 15 - 38 8   40
 
7. goonz                11 15 - 45 6   40
8. Beneamata            11 12 - 42 4   32

Around the League
The Dragons played the Midgets while the bottom teams struggled to avoid relegation

The Flying Midgets - CC's Dragons 1 - 2
As I said above, the Dragons were in a defensive struggle of their own. They won possession by 64% and 68% with their inad vs poor midfield rating, however, the Midgets put up an out-form-exc defensive front. Lai Soon-Wah's eight goals tied teammate Lynn Whakaari for 3rd in the league behind Hippos Edwin Phelan (11) and Derrick Solomon (10). This increases our goal differential lead to 4: 40 to 36.

Beneamata - Buccabeavzers 2 - 6
With 10 points and his chasers only at 6, the Bucs had a chance to guarantee a relegation game as a worst case scenario. They took care of business putting up pass/inad at all ratings except midfield. With the results of the other games, Beneamata is all but guaranteed automatic relegation.

goonz - Thumpers 1 - 5
The Thumpers just started hattrick a couple of weeks ago. He joined up with the Kraftworks Union (I put a shameless plug above- we're still looking for members, if anyone's interested) and promptly started a thread: "How do I avoid relegation". Well, after getting some good responses to the "I've got my team so now what" thread, he goes out, beats the goonz, and looks to at least have a relegation game in his future.

Notes
We have a Round of 32 game against the Slithy Toves and we're hoping to advance pretty far in the FOFC Cup this year. Still, with subs, I think two wins in the Round of 32 is about as good as we can hope for. If you'll remember, the Slithy Toves were the only other team to run the table in FOFC Cup Group play so we have a fight on our hands. Then we have a game against the goonz next week at home. Also, I'm still short one trainee so I've been hitting the transfer wire pretty hard. I don't have a Div IV caliber team yet but I'm trying to get to that point. Then again, there's no guarantees I'll be in Div IV yet.

SI

sterlingice · 06-19-2003, 08:12 PM

Preview
The Elimination Round of the FOFC Cup is underway. We drew the only other team who went undefeated in Group Play in Brillig's Slithy Toves. Hopefully our run and shoot can break their 4-5-1 so we can advance.

Game Summary
Date: 6/19/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7170616
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1451

A scorching day at The Hippodrome, where 1451 spectators were in place for today´s match. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Buckley - Stepp, Miquel, Bush - Crain, Jörgensson, Hultman, de Sousa Bastos, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón.

Slithy tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players had been chosen: Clifton - Fernández Rivier, Nourry, Navarro, Navarro - Bryant, Gardner, Fayet, Moffett, Tomasik - Vang.

Hippopotami were very close to putting themselves one up in the 2nd minute as José María Miquel got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Tobias Hultman received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 3rd minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Hippopotami broke through to the left in the 12th minute, Anders Jörgensson firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 1 - 0 lead. In the 26:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Juan Miguel Tizón coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. The visitors replied in the games 41st minute, scoring the 2 - 1 goal, as Michel Navarro broke through from the left, easily lobbing the ball over the home teams keeper. A great save by goaltender Ron Clifton in the 44:th minute kept the visitors in the game as Albino de Sousa Bastos struck from the left with a real cannonball. José María Miquel of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 44:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 2 - 1 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 61 percent possession rate.

Defoe Chang should probably have put his team up another goal in the 47:th minute, but some great goaltending by Ron Clifton kept the visitors in the game. The referee showed Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Slithy were forced to a substitution as Chad Vang couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Albino de Sousa Bastos squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 64:th minute, asserting the lead to 3 - 1. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Ivan Viseslav. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. Slithy´s best player was Ron Clifton. However, Philip Bryant made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
ST: 4-5-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 12: Anders Jörgensson (F1): 1-0
HH: 26: Juan Miguel Tizón(F8): 2-0
ST: 41: : 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 61%

2nd Half
HH: 54: Albino de Sousa Bastos(F1): 3-1
HH: 41: *drawing back*
Final Score: 3-1
Possession: 60%
Final Possession: 61%

Cards
HH: 44: Jose Maria Miguel (yellow- unsportsmanlike conduct)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 951/9702
Basic seats: 355/3850
Seats under roof: 115/1740
VIP seats: 30/400
Total: 1451/15692

We were supported by our biggest friendly crowd to date and I'm glad they got to see a win!

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/47

Slithy Toves
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 38/41

A weak midfield isn't too bad and definately better than last week's poor. I'm hoping that once I get a new trainee to take Bastos's spot, it will remain there or even bump to inad.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM José María Miquel **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Todd Crain **
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos **~
MI Tobias Hultman (x) *~
MI Anders Jörgensson (n) **
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *
FO Dafoe Chang **

Total Stars: 22.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Todd Crain got ** and we're hoping he can keep that up. Tizon's pitiful rating is worrysome- it's the only reason why the man who has scored 8 goals in FOFC Cup isn't starting. I'm hoping Hultman moves up to ** soon.

Three Stars
The UberTrainees(TM) led the way today.

Bronze: Todd Crain
Two stars for the youth pull from last week may keep him on the team for good
Silver: Juan Miguel Tizon
Tizon scored his 8th FOFC Cup goal
Gold: UberTrainees(TM)
Jorgensson and Bastos scored their first goals of the FOFC Cup

Game Summary
I dunno- there isn't much to say about this game like last week's fixture it was kinda dull. I guess that's the 4-5-1 for ya. We were up for almost all of the game and with the possession advantage I wasn't too worried. Still, a win in the FOFC Cup is still a win and there are better teams than I who didn't get them.

Press Release
6/19/2003 at 23:47 Hippos Win Battle of Undefeateds
With the elimination play starting up, either the Hippos or the Slithy Toves would have to go home with their only loss in FOFC Cup play. Fortunately for Houston, two of the UberTrainees(TM), Anders Jorgensson and Albino de Sousa Bastos didn't want to see their first FOFC Cup end so soon, scoring goals and helping control possession, overcoming another grueling battle against a 4-5-1. Run-and-shoot mentor ardententhusiast's and his North County Raiders wait in the Round of 16 next week.

Round of 32 Results

Code:

                          HOME  - AWAY
  4       MoKan Mighty Bastards - Greenlight Superior FC     0
  0                     Ruskies - Long Island Pride          1
  4                        Bees - Frankfort United           1
  5                   Gargoyles - North Plainfield Plague    1
  3        Midwest Ice Storm FC - Pintendre Pittbulls        0
  3            Screamin' Seamen - Concord Assassins          5
  8                   Slumlords - West Henrietta FC          0
  4        North County Raiders - White Sox Pride            2
  0           Hamas Mad Bombers - AnalBumCovers              3
  4          Galesburg Avengers - Boston Wyckyd Sceptre      1
  4     Cedar Pond Horned Toads - Fairfax Admirals           2
  2                   Aardvarks - Complex Spikes             3
  5       Chesapeake Cheapshots - Flying Condors             1
  0             Arkham Avengers - NE Oklahoma Sidekicks      5
  3              Negative Waves - Seagrove United            2
  3         Houston Hippopotami - Slithy Toves               1

Two big upsets as the number 2 seed Ruskies get edged out by the Long Island Pride 1-0 while the Screamin' Seamen lost 5-3 to the Concord Assassins.

Round of 16 Preview

Code:

                          HOME  - AWAY
          MoKan Mighty Bastards - Long Island Pride
                           Bees - Concord Assassins
                      Gargoyles - AnalBumCovers
           Midwest Ice Storm FC - Complex Spikes
                      Slumlords - NE Oklahoma Sidekicks
           North County Raiders - Houston Hippopotami
             Galesburg Avengers - Negative Waves
        Cedar Pond Horned Toads - Chesapeake Cheapshots

We get the Run-and-Shoot masters in ardent's North County Raiders. Long Island and Concord try to get their second straight upsets.

Notes
I can't say I'm too optimistic about next week's game but I haven't scouted ardent's second team either. Unfortunately, I just can't afford to play the big team in the FOFC Cup in the middle of a title race in series. I'm still looking for a new trainee and maybe a little more: I've been browsing for a offensive middle defender, a nice striker, and set pieces ace for the big club.

SI

daedalus · 06-19-2003, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
Kraftworks Union (K.U.)
Along with FOFC, I am also a member of the HAM and Daytrading Federations to read their conferences. It's not necessary to be a member of the fed to read the conference but I kindof wanted to. Anyways, a guy who really helped me out a lot, especially when I started, Havoc99, started a new fed and I figured I'd give it a shameless plug here. We're looking for people to join if you're interested.

I'm likely not knowledgable enough to add anything to the discussions but I'd be more than glad to offer up my support for your friend's federation. I haven't joined anything else other than FOFC's, anyhow. Heh.

sterlingice · 06-20-2003, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by daedalus
I'm likely not knowledgable enough to add anything to the discussions but I'd be more than glad to offer up my support for your friend's federation. I haven't joined anything else other than FOFC's, anyhow. Heh.

Oh, that's hardly fair- you've read practically every hattrick thread here and give good advice. You'd definately be a welcome member!

SI

daedalus · 06-20-2003, 12:59 AM

*flex* That shows I am skilled at recycling advices from threads I read into threads I write! Hee hee.

sterlingice · 06-22-2003, 04:54 AM

Hatstats
I love perusing these lists. It's vanity, sure, but it's just cool to see one's name in lights, so to speak. FYI: all rankings are for Div V only, unless otherwise noted. We still haven't slipped off the misunderstood list as our 14 yellow cards are good for 88th in the game (49th in Div V). Thank god, I didn't land in V.2 as three of the 15 teams are on the most expensive list including a pair at over $6M. Those teams need to promote, badly. In Kraftworks, I heard a new term, Water Buffalo, for those teams that stick in a division and won't move. We didn't make the expensive list this week and that's just fine with me. However, our 59 rating was good for 57th and with pretty good scores across the series, we ranked 18th in all of Div V. I'd check out our USA rank, but it doesn't appear to be working as it only compiled series from IV and V. Speaking of which, DK's death march of IV.49 was top in all of Div IV. That's just scary and it's led by those dangerous Croats at 80 NSI!

Training
Back to playmaking this week. Other than the trainees that I'm unsure of, no one else is due for a bump. Connors and Benito won't bump to excellent and formidable until about halfway through next year. Connors is 24 and only has 4 weeks from his bump to solid and Benito is 22 and only has had one week since his bump to excellent.

Future Training
Playmaking, playmaking, playmaking. It's time to get in some more training and hopefully bump up a trainee or two.

Form
Starters: (+1) (-2)
Entire Team: (+5) (-3)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Stromlius Solomon Benito Bastos Connors
Passable: Starks Kimber Newsom Romo Bush Phelan
Inadequate: -NONE-
Weak (or below): -NONE-

A couple more forms bumped back down to passable but all of our starters are either solid or passable so I'm not complaining one bit.

Value
Starters: (+6) (-4)
Entire Team: (+13) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 6(N/A)/8(N/A)
Above $200K: 3(N/A)/3(N/A)
Above $300K: 2(+1)/2(+1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($470K)
Outfield Leader: Carlos Alberto Benito ($306K)
Milestones: Carlos Alberto Benito ($300K)

This is Benito's first week at over $300K! Starks may soon join him as he's at $292K.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 28034 (+2474)
Total Value: 2741000 (+192000)
Avg Value: 109640 (-6224)
Avg Age: 20 (-1)
Avg Form: pass (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 24 (+2)
Nationalities: 8 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 19.11

Last week's youth pull, Todd Crain found a spot on the team! He will be our new second string winger. Unfortunately, this week's youth pull, Clyde Bateman earned himself a spot at the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM).

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 24
Youth Pull Grocers: 20 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 4 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (+1)
Total Sold for: 412000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Clyde Bateman (13063562)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week
Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: poor

Conditions

Youth Squad: solid (N/C)
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C)

Sponsors: high on life (N/C)
Supporter Club: 1053 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: composed (N/C)
Confidence: decent (N/C)

Argh- no change at all in TS or Confidence. I was hoping to get some improvement in these so I can score more down the stretch and/or a promotion game.

Week In Review

On the Field
This was definately one of the most boring weeks on the field: a pair of 4-5-1 opponents. We snuck by the Blades with 2 goals in the last 15 minutes for a 2-0 win. Then we played Brillig's Slithy Toves in our FOFC Cup Round of 32 game and ground out a 3-1 win on the strength of two goals by our UberTrainees(TM) and Tizon's 8th (yes, 8!) FOFC Cup goal.

Off the Field
See below: lots going on.

Roster Storms Brewing
(NOTE: There are any number of clichés I could have gone with but I picked this one) For those devoted followers with impeccable memories, you will remember Storm Jordan. Ok, I realize that last sentence referred to all of none of you, but that’s not important. I used to have a player with the cool name of Storm Jordan. Try it- it just rolls off your tongue: Storm Jordan. Now try it in that announcer's voice: "Storrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm Jorrrrrrrrrdaaaaaan". Cool, right? Well, unfortunately, I had to sell him off and tried to get a cheaper player with a cool name but no dice. Well, now we have another storm. Welcome, new UberTrainee(TM) Daniel Storm! He only has weak stamina but he's 17yo with solid playmaking, a value of $85K (high for someone with that low of stamina), and head speciality. He came to us from Boldklubben Stjernen in Denmark, where he was a youth pull a couple of weeks ago. Daniel gets the #18 recently vacated by Maarten Sanders.

Last week's youth pull, Todd Crain, put up ** at offensive winger for the B Team last week and will replace Bjorn Magnusson whose hideous form has caused him to only get * recently and he was already on his way out. Bjorn was going to give him his number 14 on the way out, but Storm wanted that one instead and Crain couldn't give two licks and traded. Unfortunately, that's where the number musical chairs begins. Lastly, we bring in a set pieces ace to try out for a game or two. He's got formidible set pieces, excellent stamina, and solid passing but only wretched scoring, it's 24yo Ramon María Balcol. He's in wretched form but there's no place for him to go but up and when he does, I'll sell him or keep him depending on performance. This opens the door for us to sell Dafoe Chang who isn't bad, but he doesn't really offer the team much. He has excellent stamina but only passable scoring and weak passing and wretched set pieces. He has been sent to market with a price tag of $25K which will go down if we don't sell him at that price. I've been looking for a set pieces badass at forward and Balcol will get that chance on the B Team before possibly moving up when Solomon retires which will be at the end of this season or next.

So, in a summary that has all the feel of a cable lineup reshuffling:
Daniel Storm gets plucked off the transfer wire with #18 which he traded for #14
Todd Crain got youth pulled last week, stays on, and takes the #18
New set pieces ace Ramon María Balcol gets the #24 that used to go to our clown
Our clown Silviu Radu goes to #3 since he's the third string goalie anyways
Which, in turn, makes Thomas Strömlius move to #7 which was previously unused.
Current Hippos Bjorn Magunusson and Dafoe Chang have been sent to the transfer wire
But some things never change as the youth pull gets shot out of cannon...

Closing
We'll be PIC'ing this Sunday at home and then Wednesday, we face Ardent's Raiders in the FOFC Cup Round of 16!

SI

sterlingice · 06-23-2003, 03:52 AM

Preview
We have a 4 goal lead over the Dragons. Next week, we both have tough defensive struggles but this week and the week after next will determine the series. We have games with the lower division teams and this week could look a lot like games a couple of weeks ago when I won 10-1 but he won 9-0 to keep pace. This week we play the goonz, a team who is in the lower section of our haves and have nots series. However, he has bought a couple of players since taking over and seems pretty active so maybe they are on the way up. We'll win this one with a PIC on the road- it's just a matter of how handily and how much will the Dragons win by and the rest who want to promote out of Div V, for that matter, since we're hanging around in the 130s and the autopromtion line is at 128.

Game Summary
Date: 6/23/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544428
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Romo - Starks, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan.

goonz started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Picone - Sowell, Bernardo, Randle, Noguerol - Claesson, Barnes, Jones, Gaither - Urbaneja Pérez, Wolff.

In the 10:th minute cheers broke out as Donald Newsom found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 1 - 0 goal in for Hippopotami. Stephen Connors almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. After 12 minutes goonz´s Shad Jones contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. A well placed corner kick from Derrick Solomon was followed by Marcel Romo´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-0 for Hippopotami. In the 24:th minute Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. Elmer Bush of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 36:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The home sides Derrick Solomon twisted a free kick home in the 37:th minute, putting Hippopotami ahead 3 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 72 percent, dominated the battle.

Edwin Phelan should probably have put his team up another goal in the 53rd minute, but some great goaltending by Valerio Picone kept the visitors in the game. In the 56:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Stephen Connors dashed through, knocking home 4 - 0 for Hippopotami. Derrick Solomon increased Hippopotamis lead to 5 - 0 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. Edwin Phelan should probably have put his team up another goal in the 74:th minute, but some great goaltending by Valerio Picone kept the visitors in the game. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Carlos Alberto Benito squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 85:th minute, asserting the lead to 6 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 79 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. However, Marcel Romo made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating goonz player was without a doubt Brent Wolff. Víctor Noguerol on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 3-5-2
G: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 10: Donald Newsom(4): 1-0
HH: 24: Marcel Romo(2): 2-0
HH: 37: Derrick Solomon(11): 3-0
HH: 37: *pulling back*
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 72%

2nd Half
HH: 56: Stephen Connors(4): 4-0
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(12): 5-0
HH: 85: Carlos Alberto Benito(6): 6-0
Final Score: 6-0
Possession: 79%
Final Possession: 76%

Cards
HH: 36: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behavior)

Injuries
None

Stadium
Terraces: 9702/9702
Basic seats: 3850/3850
Seats under roof: 1740/1740
VIP seats: 400/400

Another sellout. Hm... expansion plans are in the works but haven't been set in stone yet.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: excellent (8)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/57

goonz
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 38/40

Hmm... at home but a PIC means our midfield backed off to an inad. Ooh- special mention to PilotMan and that disturbing outstanding midfield. No Div V team should have an outstanding midfield

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Mick Starks (o) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) **~
MI Stephen Connors ***~
WI Donald Newsom **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon **~

Total Stars: 30.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play It Cool

Well, I think the only bad news I can find is Romo being only ** instead of his extra half star. Oh, did I mention that I got the same 30.0 I got for the Dragons game, Connors and Benito are back to being the ***~ twins, Starks is back to the *** I've come to expect from him, and 30yo Derrick Solomon scored **~ for the first time ever as a member of the Hippos.

Three Stars
Go figure: Derrick Solomon took the series goal lead despite playing most of the first half of the season on the B Team

Bronze: Stephen Connors/Carlos Alberto Benito
The star middies both get ***~ ratings and goals
Silver: Marcel Romo
Romo scores his second header in two games
Gold: Derrick Solomon
Solomon takes back the series lead in goals scored with numbers 11 and 12 and Edwin Phelan missed on his two chances

Game Summary
We won 6-0. A few things of note are in the press release below.

Press Release
6/23/2003 at 10:07 Hippos Roll Over Goonz
Derrick Solomon's 11th and 12th goals of the season gave him the series lead over teammate Edwin Phelan who missed on both of his chances as the Hippos beat the goonz 6-0 in front of another sold out crowd at the Hippodrome. Not bad for a player who, despite being last year's leading scorer for the Hippos, started the year on the B Team due to a form slump. The game also featured "Timber" Kimber's 3rd shutout in 4 games and wingback Marcel Romo's second straight week with a header goal.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P   Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  12 58 - 12 33  57
 
2. CC's Dragons         12 49 - 9  33  62 
3. Toledo Blades        12 20 - 17 20  56
4. The Flying Midgets   12 23 - 13 17  50
 
5. Buccabeavzers        12 26 - 33 16  40
6. Thumpers             12 16 - 38 11  50
 
7. goonz                12 15 - 51 6   40
8. Beneamata            12 13 - 47 4   33

Around the League
We won by 6, let's see how the Dragons did. Also, our series is getting deeper: check out the upsets.

CC's Dragons - Beneamata 5 - 1
"Only" a 4 goal win which gives us a 6 goal differential lead! The Dragons won possession by 86% and 94% with their passable midfield versus Beneamata's disastrous. He only put up 28 stars but a 62 NSI: WOW! 3rd and 6th highest series scorers Lynn Whakaari and Gough Fitter added to their tallys. It seems really unfair that only one of our teams will promote this year.

Thumpers - The Flying Midgets 1 - 0
Fellow Kraftworks member Thumpers all but guaranteed themselves a relegation game with this upset over the Midgets. Both teams put up NSIs of 50 but the Thumpers inad vs poor midfield advantage gave them 63% possession. The Thumpers are getting the most out of their talent as that 50 came with only 22.5 stars.

Toledo Blades - Buccabeavzers 0 - 1
Toledo, too, fell victim to an upset at the Buccabeavzers got passable or inadequate on every rating except midfield and were able to break the mag-mag-exc defense of the Blades. The Blades missed the only offensive chance generated by their wret-weak-pass offense in a dirty game where the zebras issued 4 cards.

Notes
It's looking more and more like I'll have the shot to advance but it's not over yet. Next week, I'll have to break the tough defense of the Midgets on the road and then build up some goal differential in my last game of the year. This week, in FOFC Cup Round of 16 play, we face the master of the run-and-shoot, ArdentEnthusiast who played a 2-5-3 today just to get more offense. I admire that man's thinking

SI

05-09-2003, 05:00 AM	#52
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Boy, it was nice to see a friendly friendly for a change. Don't get me wrong- I liked ever $50K payday the Cup brought in but sometimes it was at the expense of training. This week, finally, I get to catch up with vexroid and play a friendly I've owed him for half a season. His North County Raiders come to town and the B-Teams clashed. Maarten Sanders will make his Hippo debut and hopefully it will be a good one as he will almost certainly be in the Dragons game this week. Game Summary Date: 5/8/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 6980219 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 1003 1003 spectators had come to The Hippodrome this cloudy day. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Buckley - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Magnusson, Paige, Friedländer, Sanders, Viseslav - Solomon, Chang. Sidekicks had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Gill - Vikin, Snow, Andersen - Winters, Connor, Dehllind, Issjö, Paul - Garrison, Kirkpatrick. In the 6:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Stacy Garrison put the ball away for 0 - 1. The swift technical skills of Derrick Solomons was often too much for tall but somewhat slow Jonah Snow who looked almost humiliated at times. Stacy Garrison increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Derrick Solomon almost put the reducer away having drawn the entire left side defence away, but the shot went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 2. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate. Jonah Snow behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 58:th minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. A marvelous Hippopotami effort to the right resulted in a 67:th minute goal by Maarten Sanders, putting the score up to 1 - 2. After 69 minutes Derrick Solomon made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 2 - 2. The terraces were silenced in the 76:th minute as Sidekicks´s Donny Winters put the guests ahead 2 - 3, following an attack from the right. The referee showed Sidekickss Marco Andersen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami were forced to a substitution as Thomas Strömlius couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball. Most important Hippopotami player was Ivan Viseslav. Kyle Paige on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Sidekicks player was without a doubt Ulrik Dehllind. Mats Vikin was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 3. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (f) after the names designates the goal as scored in a friendly 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 SK: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half SK: 06: 0-1 SK: xx: 0-2 Halftime Score: 0-2 Possession: 57% 2nd Half HH: 67: Maarten Sanders (f); 1-2 HH: 69: Derrick Solomon (f); 2-2 SK: 76: 2-3 Final Score: 2-3 Possession: 57% Final Possession: 57% Cards None Injuries HH: xx: Thomas Strömlius (1 week- rough treatment) Stadium Terraces: 648 (9702) Basic seats: 237 (3850) Seats under roof: 92 (1740) VIP seats: 26 (400) Total: 1003 (15692) Hmm.. a far cry from the $50K in our Cup games. Then again, it's the first time to break 1000 for a friendly. Way to go Hungry Hungry Hippos and Sidekicks United fan clubs. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: poor (3) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/NevStar Index: 38/35 NE Oklahoma Sidekicks Player rating and Team formation Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: weak (4) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/NevStar Index: 30/32 While a 38 would beat half of our series, it was not enough today. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Rickie Stepp DM Marcel Romo DW Elmer Bush WI Björn Magnusson (o) ~ MI Kyle Paige ~ MI Philip Friedländer (x) ~ MI Maarten Sanders (o) WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ FO Dafoe Chang ** FO Derrick Solomon * INJ Thomas Strömlius (DM) Total Stars: 19.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal Blech! Maarten Sanders only gets in his first game. Well, hopefully I can turn that form around some. Solomon is still hanging around at only * but at least he got a goal. Along with Sanders, Friedländer and Paige and Magnusson all got ~ less than they should have. At least the defense stood up with for everyone including the injured Stromlius. Three Stars Only two goals but that's ok. Ivan and Maarten get his first stars ever. Bronze: Ivan Viseslav The Croatian winger trainee got his first ~ performance in his career Silver: Maarten Sanders Gets his first of (hopefully) many goals for the Hippos despite subpar stars Gold: Derrick Solomon Solomon shows he can still dominate if we need him with a goal, missed shot, and event about him schooling a Sidekick defender Game Summary Looks like this was the game where missed events finally caught up with us. Hopefully, this is our "lesson" and not the start of a streak. I want to thank vexroid for the friendly and hope to get out to his place for a return trip at some point. Next week starts FOFC Cup Group play. We open against Midwest Ice Storm, a very tough team. However, I think we're both running B Teams out there so who knows. Press Release 5/9/2003 at 10:13 Hippos drop friendly to Supporter Sidekicks In the only truly friendly game in weeks, the Hippos lost 3-2 to a reciprocal sponsor and fellow FOFCer vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks. Sidekicks forward Stacy Garrison scored twice while the Hippos got goals from newcomer Maarten Sanders and veteran Derrick Solomon. Sidekick Donny Winters scored the winner in the 76th minute. The Hippos were bounced from the USA Cup last week and will begin FOFC Group play next week against at Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena. SUNDAY: HIPPOS AT DRAGONS. Notes Sorry for the delay but this week was the time to work on projects and next week is finals week so I doubt I'll be too terribly punctual. A mixed bag coming up next time including training results and a few other goodies. The most fun was a little team description: you think a bit more about certain aspects of your team when asked to come up with a description for it. Don't forget: Fixture: Dragons. Hippos. At the Dragons Den. Be there. My lineup has been set and hopefully it will be enough to win at his place. Sunday is the day of judgement in V.62 this year. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

05-11-2003, 06:02 AM	#56
Eilim High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Foxboro,MA	Can't wait till match time, looking forward to seeing how your game turns out, even more so than my own. (Playing a low-tiered team this week, only thing in question is what the actual score will be but not the outcome.. Even with my star defender and star striker out for the match.) Some more useless trivia as it relates to your upcoming match. Some historical ratings for V.62 (Only stats by teams while in series included.): Historical standings Team Played Goals Points 1. The Darksiders 35 121 - 29 80 2. VagaBond 21 70 - 13 60 3. The Flying Midgets 33 63 - 48 53 4. CC's Dragons 17 80 - 15 48 5. Houston Hippopotami 15 61 - 16 39 6. Toledo Blades 5 11 - 10 9 7. Metal Mulisha 19 14 - 67 8 8. Buccabeavzers 6 6 - 16 3 9. goonz 5 6 - 18 3 10. PRODYGRAF 5 3 - 20 1 and yes.. I'm addicted to hattrick and gathering completely irrelevant info regarding my team and the teams I follow along with. -Eilim Last edited by Eilim : 05-11-2003 at 06:05 AM.

05-11-2003, 01:41 PM	#58
Havok College Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Florida	he stole my beer also.... bastard!!! he's raiding FOFC's beer reserves!!!! __________________ Maniacal Misfitz - We're better than you and we know it!

05-11-2003, 03:12 PM	#59
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	About 3 hours until game time. I'll be in chat for the game, most likely, but until then I have to study so I can spend time in chat for the game SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-11-2003 at 03:14 PM.

05-11-2003, 10:52 PM	#60
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Well, it's all come down to this. If I win, I win the series because this game is at his house. If he wins, it will come down to our game in three weeks. We replaced a couple of starters with better form guys of similar caliber and tried to line up favorably against him. All things being equal, we have about a 50-50 shot of winning this game. However, it's at his place and he might MotS, which I will not. Enough Introduction: Game On! Game Summary Date: 5/12/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544405 Arena: Dragons Den Crowd: 14748 Due to an all-day shower, 14748 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Dragons Den. Dragons had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Bauer - Fitter, Mansur, Land - Ulfsson, Whitmore, Foley, Talley, Soon-Wah - Refojo, Whakaari. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Starks - Chang, Phelan. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 in the 7:th by a breakthrough from Stan Whitmore, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Dragonss Lynn Whakaari got himself booked after a foul. The Hippopotami player was Defoe Chang who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Alarico Mansur behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 43rd minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. Alarico Mansur of Dragons received a yellow card in the 43rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Dragons lead up with 2 - 0. Stan Whitmore finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Gough Fitter of Dragons received a yellow card in the 44:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Dragons put themselves up 3 - 0 when Lynn Whakaari broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Dragons decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. 3 - 0 was the half-time score. Dragons held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate. Hippopotami had a good opportunity to reduce the score in the 50:th minute, breathing new life into the game, but the home side´s defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long range shot coming in from the left, rebounding off the Dragons held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate. The most dominating Dragons player was without a doubt Gil Bauer. However, Alarico Mansur made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 0. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 CCD: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half CCD: 07: 0-1 CCD: 43: 0-2 CCD: 44: 0-3 Halftime Score: 0-3 Possession: 47% 2nd Half NONE Final Score: 0-3 Possession: 47% Final Possession: 47% Cards None- suprising considering how big a game it was Injuries Argh. This is going to hurt as long as Tizon's form is still in the crapper HH: xx: Dafoe Chang (3 weeks- helped off the pitch) Stadium The Dragons Den only got 14768 out of 22000 due to the rain. Our crowd next week isn't going to be so pretty. Team Ratings CC's Dragons Midfield: passable (6) Right Side Defence: formidable (9) Central Defence: formidable (9) Left Side Defence: outstanding (10) Right Side Attack: passable (6) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 58/64 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: solid (7) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: formidable (9) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/58 Ouch- that's tops for our team but we got manhandled because he MotS'd. Still, I'm not going to complain about a 58 too much. Not only that, but our first formidable. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Rickie Stepp (m) ~ DM Thomas Strömlius ~ DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) * MI Maarten Sanders (x) MI Stephen Connors * WI Mick Starks (o) *~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón (replacement) ~ FO Edwin Phelan *~ IN Dafoe Chang ~ Total Stars: 28.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal Man, more good numbers news that didn't translate to a win. A new high of stars. Even better, all ~ across the backside. Starks dropped down to ~ for the game completely unexpectedly. Sanders still only got ** and needs form improvement. Both the injured Chang and his replacement Tizon only put up ~ in the game. Another week or two of this and I'll have to seriously look at snagging another striker off the transfer wire. Three Stars* Hard to hand out today. We played good but not good enough. We will forego awards in place of preparing for next game. Bronze: None -- Silver: None -- Gold: None -- Game Summary They must have crazy stamina. That late first half 2-goal flurry is what I expected to get me back in the game instead of for him to put it back out of reach. Typically, I have the better stamina but it looks like that isn't the case. We were game but not nearly game enough to beat an MotS'ing team at their place. It makes the rest of the season that much more ugly (see "Notes" below) as we will have to play that much harder to take back 1st place. Press Release 5/12/2003 at 05:12 Dragons Defeat Hippos at the Den CC's Dragons, playing at home and MotS'ing in the rain, won an ugly game 3-0 over the Hippos to take over 1st place in V.62. The Hippos offense could never get ontrack against a Dragons defense that has only allowed 1 goal all year and Stan Whitmore's 2 goals were more than enough. However, the Hippos have designs on taking 1st place back when the Dragons come to the Hippodrome in 3 short weeks. Additionally, the Hippos began FOFC Cup group play this week against the Midwest Ice Storm. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. CC's Dragons 6 23 - 1 18 64 2. Houston Hippopotami 6 23 - 7 15 58 3. The Flying Midgets 6 15 - 5 12 51 4. Toledo Blades 6 12 - 10 12 52 5. Buccabeavzers 6 10 - 17 6 39 6. Metal Mulisha 6 7 - 16 4 33 7. goonz 6 9 - 23 3 41 8. PRODYGRAF 6 4 - 24 1 31 Around the League Ok, not much to say since I'm writing out of time for writeups. Buccabeavzers - goonz 5 - 3 The only offensive game in the league this week. The lower teams in the league are starting to get better. However, no one has a midfield that can line up with the ours or the Dragons. The goonz actually have 3 players up to ~ but their 5-4-1 is sabotaging their offense. PRODYGRAF - The Flying Midgets 1 - 4 The Migets got some great defense across the back with a bril/bril/form. PRODYGRAF still needs a little help as his best player is a forward. Toledo Blades - Metal Mulisha 1 - 0 Toledo's Willie Lau scored in the 8th minute and their defense never budged. It's probably because he put up a pair of magnificents at right and central defense and his 4 defenders got 10.5 stars. Notes This leaves us in an awkward place. I can win our next game when it's at our place and I MotS to match. However, I could just let him win and get promoted and then the series next season will be between myself and the Div IV relegee. If I win, I risk neither of us getting promoted and having to battle him all over again next season. Well, I'm not in the business of forfeiting games so we're gearing up already for the rematch in three weeks. But now that game has even more on the line. I have two easy games before the Dragons game and one after so MotS'ing is a definite option. I'm kicking myself for not doing it this game but there's nothing I can do now. Time to pick up the pieces and gear up for FOFC Cup. Probably won't have another update until possibly Thursday after our Cup game due to finals. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-11-2003 at 10:53 PM.

05-11-2003, 01:05 PM	#57
NAIWF College Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York, NY	That Marcelinho stole all my beer too, many thanks for sending the Ninja Hippos to set him straight. Good luck with your game tonight, I'll be watching.

05-17-2003, 11:52 PM	#61
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Sorry for the lack of updates, but I kinda' warned you: finals week does this to a person. Even tho it's a couple of days late, it's time to update the Hungry Hungry Hippos on our first FOFC Cup game. I started hattrick too late to be in FOFC Cup or FOFC Cup 2. However, a few Hippo faithful may remember our game in the consolation bracket for FOFC Cup 2. Yes, our game, not plural but singular. The Aviators beat us 4-2 and we even played some starters. Hopefully things will be a little better this time. Here's brief preview of Group E. We weigh in as the 22nd seed in the tourney and the second for our group. The top team is the team we will be playing today: Pilotman's Midwest Ice Storm FC, the 5th seed. At #35 are Airhogs Oklahoma City Rednecks who we play in week 4. Our second game is against the S. Boston Hooligans of McSweeney at #48. Our other "mc" in the group are mckerney's Square Pegs, our week 3 game. Finally, our last game will be against Achilles Missouri Tigers, the #74 team in the FOFC Cup. Game Summary Date: 5/15/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 7010650 Arena: Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena Crowd: 783 Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 783 to Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena. Midwest started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Tsau-Wun - Sosa, Zarzalejos, Drakulič, Zwierzynski - Blanton, Alcaide, Coulter, Geiger, Nyhbrant - Foo-Foo. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Buckley - Romo, Stepp, Bush - Viseslav, Paige, Friedländer, Jörgensson, Magnusson - Solomon, Tizón. The referee showed Midwests Juan Luis Zarzalejos the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After 14 minutes Hippopotami´s Kyle Paige contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. After 25 minutes Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Joseph Sosa was just a finger´s breadth away from an equaliser for Midwest, but Sidney Buckley managed to ward the closing shot off for a corner. Midwest will have to do without Andrzej Zwierzynski for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Michael Webb. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. Midwest held the ball, with a clear 51 percent possession rate. Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 2 as Derrick Solomon scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. Paul Coulter really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal after a corner, but he lost his nerve. Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 3 as Derrick Solomon scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. After this Hippopotami lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Midwests Bruce Blanton got himself booked after a foul. Paul Coulter had a good opportunity to reduce in the 79:th minute but wasn´t cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Midwest´s Joseph Sosa got himself booked. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating Midwest player was without a doubt He Tsau-Wun. Torbjörn Nyhbrant on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Ivan Viseslav. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 3. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 MIS: 4-5-1 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 25: Juan Miguel Tizón (F1) 1-0 Halftime Score: 1-0 Possession: 49% 2nd Half HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F1) 2-0 HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (F2) 3-0 Final Score: 3-0 Possession: 52% Final Possession: 51% Cards None- but they had three. Dirty, dirty PilotMan Injuries None, thankfully. We can ill afford to have another forward hurt, or anyone for that matter. At least Chang is down to 1 week out now so he should be ready for next week's game. Stadium "Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 783 to Midwest Ice Storm FC Arena." Fairly sparse crowd. Man, I'm really starting to miss those 15K crowds from the USA Cup. Team Ratings Midwest Ice Storm FC Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: wretched (2) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 35/38 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: passable (6) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 36/39 As you can see- this game was a lot closer than the final score. Thankfully our second team wings are still good enough to give the offense a boost. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Marcel Romo ~ DM Rickie Stepp (m) ~ DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ MI Anders Jörgensson (o) MI Kyle Paige (x) * MI Philip Friedländer WI Mick Starks (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Derrick Solomon Total Stars: 22.0 Total player experience: disastrous Team Attitude: Friendly Looks almost like our A Team only with a bit less talent. Solid defense across the back. Then again, any of my four defenders could start in league or friendlies depending on form. Great to see Ivan get his second straight ~ which tells me that if Newsom or, god forbid, Starks, went down, we have a good 19yo replacement "down on the farm". We have two good middies, one offensive and one pure, and one middie who needs a little help. Then we combo the better forward with the better wing and offensive middie to create a mismatch. Run-N-Shoot forever, baby! Three Stars Sidney gets his first medal in limited work Bronze: The Defense Romo, Stepp, and Bush aid the shutout by collecting 7.5 stars, 2.5 each Silver: Sidney Buckley Sidney hasn't gotten a lot of action this year but showed no rust, pitching the shutout and even stopping an event goal Gold: Derrick Solomon Last year's leading scorer is tearing it up in friendlies Game Summary See, our 3-5-2 can beat your 4-5-1 any day. Ok, so it's not really much of a barometer since we were both playing B Teams. We benefited from better middie and wing trainees and only carrying 4 defenders on the team (3 of whom played). Great win to start out FOFC Cup Group play, knocking off the #1 team. I guess we're somewhat of a favorite, but, really, if anyone played their starters, they could win this group. We got really lucky today with 3 missed goals- possibly the first time we've ever been on the happy side of that stat. Also, it should be noted that we won despite our lack of players named Foo-Foo. Press Release** 5/18/2003 at 05:36 Hippos win FOFC Cup Game 1 The Hippos B Team started off strong, knocking off the #1 Midwest Ice Storm FC in their first game in FOFC Cup Group Play. Derreck Solomon, last year's goal leader, continues to lead the B Team with 2 goals. Form relegee Juan Miguel Tizón gave the Hippos a 1-0 lead at the 25 minute mark which backup goalie Sidney Buckley and a trio of ~ Hippos defenders made stick. For more on the FOFC Cup, check out the official page: http://webhome.idirect.com/~stevegougeon/FOFC-cup/ League Standings Code: Sd --Group E-- FOFC ID Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI 22 Houston Hippopotami sterlingice 8574 USA 1 0 0 3 0 3 3 39 35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog 70559 USA 1 0 0 3 1 2 3 49 61 Square Pegs mckerney 71980 USA 1 0 0 2 0 2 3 45 48 S. Boston Hooligans McSweeny 71008 USA 0 1 0 1 3 -2 0 35 74 Missouri Tigers Achilles 70392 USA 0 1 0 0 2 -2 0 32 5 Midwest Ice Storm FC Pilotman 70500 USA 0 1 0 0 3 -3 0 38 Around the Group Here's a little more info about the other teams in Group E. Oklahoma City Rednecks - S. Boston Hooligans 3 - 1 As an aside: I love Airhog's stadium name: The Trailer Park. Neither team pulled a lot of punches as a lot of starters were in the game so the 890 who showed up got the see the like of Rednecks starters and stars Cordell Shelton, Gaylord Jamison, and Byron Swartz as well as Hooligans starters like Narcís Collado Cervero and Raúl Ortega along with veteran Steven Mack. The 3-5-2 proved to be too much for the 4-5-1 again as Oklahoma City pulled down a better NSI across his defense even with 3 defenders. Four different players scored in the game. Square Pegs - Missouri Tigers 2 - 0 For anyone curious, the Square Pegs play at the City Lights in Minnesota which is where this game was played. They brought up the big defensive guns with a 5-4-1 and posted a pass/form/form across the backside which stopped Missouri's 4-4-2 cold. The Square Pegs got goals from Frank Cheatham and Art Frazier, two of Square's many starters who got time in the game. Missouri, on the other hand, played 10 players towards the end of the game as they lost a forward to injury and his replacement was booked for two yellows: ouch. Notes Finally getting caught up here and what better way to start than an FOFC Cup win. Next week we welcome the S Boston Hooligans to the Hippodrome. We have two easy fixtures in a home-and-home against the 5th place Buccabeavzers and the one at the 'drome will likely be PIC'd because after these two, it's time to host the Dragons FOR A REMATCH! We may be down but not out: he MotS'd at his place and we're going to match him when he comes here. Get your tickets now! SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-18-2003 at 12:01 AM.

05-18-2003, 01:05 AM	#62
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Training We gave back a lot of the form from our general training last week and then some. However, we did have a bump even if it wasn't the one I was expecting. Any week now, Stephen Connors will bump up to excellent playmaking but it just hasn't happened yet. But enough about the bad, for the good, middie trainee and basically 4th man in the middle, Philip Friedlander bumped from passable to solid. Put that along with his passable form, passable stamina, and inadequate wing and he's not too shabby. Future Training Playmaking as far on out as the eye can see. Maybe general before the other Dragons game, who knows. Form Starters: (+1) (-7) Entire Team: (+4) (-10) Starters Form Solid (or above): Benito Stromlius Connors Passable: Bush Stepp Newsom Kimber Phelan Inadequate: Chang Starks Weak (or below): Sanders Well, nothing critical going on right now- just giving back form gains from last week. If these last more than a week, then there is cause for some concern. Sanders needs to get his head back in the game- he's had a couple of weeks with the new club and it's time to warm up to them. Value Starters: (+4) (-6) Entire Team: (+10) (-10) Team Stats Total Wages: 28052 (+560) Total Value: 2530000 (+87000) Avg Value: 115000 (+3955) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: inad (down from pass) Avg Experience: wretched (N/A) No of players: 22 (N/A) Nationalities: 8 (N/A) Youth Pull, Week 19.6 The Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) will have to do without this week's recruit! Finally, we have someone either to train or sell. Judging by his value, his solid PM is nearly pop-able and I will probably hang on to him long enough for that to happen. Feast your eyes on Rolando Gontán: Youth Pull Status (NOTE: NC means "no change") Youth Pulls: 20 Youth Pull Grocers: 18 (+0) Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC) Total Sold for: 11000 (NC) Youth Pull Rolando Gontán (11903223) 19 years, passable form, healthy A popular guy who is calm and honest. Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities. Speciality: Technical Nationality: USA Assessed value: 109 000 US$ Wage: 1 080 US$/week Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: solid Passing: poor Winger: poor Defending: weak Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor Conditions Youth Squad: solid (NC) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC) Sponsors: high on life (NC) Supporter Club: 933 members (+6) Supporters: content (down two levels from delerious) Team Spirit: calm (N/C) Confidence: decent (N/C) The loss to the Dragons kept our confidence down (it had actually raised 2 levels last week and dropped after the game). Our sponsors are back to pissy but at least they still joined up last week, even if it was at the rate of 3 each time. Week In Review Due to finals week and the fact that I've been writing about the Hippos for a good 3 hours now, The Week In Review has been abbreviated. On the Field Well, CC's Dragons were more than ready for us: he MotS'd and we just couldn't get any chances. Our 3-0 loss wasn't too devastating, tho: it keeps us from winning the group outright. The rematch is in three weeks and he will be facing an MotS. The good news to come out of this is that even tho we lost, we got another team high with an NSI of 58. Speaking of good news, we did beat the #1 seed in our group, Midwest Ice Storm FC in FOFC Cup play. Derrick Solomon still can dominate the B Team, scoring twice in the 2-0 win. If his form will ever raise back above poor, he will be back with the A Team. Off the Field No moving and shaking on the transfer wire this week. But we did have a nice bump and youth pull that has overloaded my midfield. More on that below. Hatstats More fun with Hatstats. Our NSI of 58 and 28.0 stars were good enough for 45 last week in Div V. Too bad CC's Dragons 64 and 29.0 got them 14th. Ouch. That's tough competition. Not only that, but all 4 teams in the top half of V.62 scored above 50 and 25.0 last week so the series is getting that much tougher. Toughest for 13th in all of Div V, which is quite impressive considering the bottom four teams all got below 40 and 21.0. Can we say topheavy? Not only that, but 28 of the top 30 players (~ or higher) in V.62 play for the top 4 teams. The top 3 players are the starting goalies of the Hippos(3.5 stars), Dragons(3.5), and Midgets(3.0), all of whom are valued above $400K and 22 or younger. Insert Witty Comment about Toledo Here (Since I couldn't think of anything Toledo related) It has come to my attention (via the wonder that is HAM Series Spy) that the Div IV relegee from last year has started daytrading. He's only in 4th place now but he has a dangerous team and we still have to play him one more time. Now maybe he just figures he's going to fire his coach so taking a hit in team spirit isn't so bad or something like that, but if he genuinely begins daytrading, we could be in big trouble. We might have to resort to Dirty-and-Underhanded(TM) means to keep ahead of the crowd. Stuck in the Middle? With the addition of our new middie, I have a conundrum. A good conundrum but a conundrum nonetheless: how does one fit four middie trainees into three middie trainee slots. Not only that, but after training this week, 3 are at solid and the other is our uber-trainee who is only inad, but 18yo with passable winger and scoring skills. I think the solution may be the transfer market. I'll put two of the three solids up at above market price and hope someone bites. Friedlander has been placed at $150K and Paige at $120K. If either sells for that, I'll be pretty happy. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

05-20-2003, 10:21 PM	#63
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview After our huge game with the Dragons last week, it was time for a light, relaxing game against a team from the bottom half. We need something to get us back on track and this game, even PiC'd should do the trick. Game Summary Date: 5/19/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544410 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 15669 Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Hippodrome saw a crowd turnout of 15669. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Starks - Tizón, Phelan. Buccabeavzers tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Grace - Munkvold , Ventura, Nielsen, Buck - Putnam, Sánchez, Roca, Álvarez De Miran - Romano, Morrissey. Edwin Phelan gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. After 18 minutes Edwin Phelan put Hippopotami ahead 2 - 0 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Hippopotamis Rickie Stepp got himself booked after a foul. Carlos Alberto Benito seemed highly inexperienced when in the 34:th minute he was loitering with the ball, allowing Eduardo Alaín Sánchez to intercept and strike 2-1 for Buccabeavzers. Raúl Álvarez De Miranda D acted with superior experience when in the 38:th minute he predicted a pass, intercepted it and then finished off with a goal to 2-2 for his Buccabeavzers. The referee showed Hippopotamis Maarten Sanders the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The 43rd minute saw the home team take a 3 - 2 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Hippopotami was Juan Miguel Tizón. 3 - 2 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 76 percent possession rate. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 76 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Hippopotami. However, Graig Grace made a spectacular save. Juan Miguel Tizón increased Hippopotamis lead to 4 - 2 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. Graig Grace was caught napping a bit later as Stephen Connors lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. In the 86:th minute the excellent ball from the wing byMick Starks reached Juan Miguel Tizón's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 5 - 2. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. After 87 minutes Juan Miguel Tizón put Hippopotami ahead 6 - 2 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Rickie Stepp needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami put themselves up 7 - 2 when Donald Newsom broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 75 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Buccabeavzers player was without a doubt Graig Grace. Adam Buck on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 7 - 2. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 BB: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: xx: Edwin Phelan(6); 1-0 HH: 18: Edwin Phelan(7); 2-0 BB: 34: 2-1 BB: 38: 2-2 HH: 43: Juan Miguel Tizón(2); 3-2 Halftime Score: 3-2 Possession: 76% 2nd Half HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón(3); 4-2 HH: 86: Juan Miguel Tizón(4); 5-2 HH: 87: Juan Miguel Tizón(5); 6-2 HH: xx: Donald Newsom(1); 7-2 Final Score: 7-2 Possession: 75% Final Possession: 76% Cards HH: xx: Rickie Stepp (yellow- foul) HH: xx: Maarten Sanders (yellow- particularly nasty challenge) Injuries None, thankfully. And Chang is almost back to healthy. Stadium Terraces: 9702 (9702) Basic seats: 3850 (3850) Seats under roof: 1717 (1740) VIP seats: 400 (400) Total: 15669 (15692) Considering our supporters pissy mood: Wow! Um... who didn't buy those last few seats under the roof? Still, that's like finding a faberge egg and complaining it's not your favorite or finding a genuine million dollar bill (if such a thing existed) and complaining that you don't like whoever's picture is on it. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: passable (6) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 49/54 Buccabeavzers Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: weak (4) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 35/37 Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber * DW Rickie Stepp (m) DM Thomas Strömlius ~ DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ MI Maarten Sanders (o) MI Stephen Connors (x) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ~ WI Mick Starks (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Edwin Phelan ~ Total Stars: 27.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Play It Cool We only lost a half star despite the PIC. Plus, Carlos Alberto Benito got the first ~ not recored by Tim Kimber. But that's where the good news ends. Tizon still got ~ and Stepp went down to while Starks got his first ~ in weeks and Kimber continues his *~ to * flip flop. Sanders still hasn't adjusted and put up Sunday. Three Stars Pretty easy to hand out today, that's for sure. Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito Our first ever ~ that wasn't scored by goalie Tim Kimber Silver: Edwin Phelan* Regained the series scoring lead with goals 6 and 7 Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón Was there really any doubt? Game Summary It was a close game for the first part- Phelan staked us to a 2-0 lead but they fought back to tie. That's when the Juan Miguel Tizon show started and we didn't look back. This got us back on track and I may just PIC it again next week depending on how training and form goes. Also, our killer offense pushed our differential for the season up to 21, only 3 behind the Dragons. If we can beat them, we will likely have the lead. Press Release 5/20/2003 at 01:59 Tizon Explodes as Hippos Win Sometimes it takes an injury to get a player on track. Early in the game, Edwin Phelan scored a pair to regain the league scoring lead at 7 but the Buccabeavzers tied it up at 2 in the 38th minute. That's when Juan Miguel Tizon took over. His form had related him to the B Team but was playing in place of injured Dafoe Chang but that didn't keep him from scoring 4 times and breaking the game wide open en route to a 7-2 Hippos win at the 'Drome. FOFC Cup Group play continues Wednesday. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. CC's Dragons 7 26 - 2 21 54 2. Houston Hippopotami 7 30 - 9 18 54 3. Toledo Blades 7 15 - 12 15 54 4. The Flying Midgets 7 17 - 8 12 47 5. Buccabeavzers 7 12 - 24 6 37 6. Metal Mulisha 7 8 - 19 4 33 7. Beneamata 7 7 - 25 4 28 8. goonz 7 10 - 26 3 31 Around the League A few notes this week as they pertain to power in the league. V.62 didn't nearly match the uber performance of a week ago. We're back down to 65th in Div V after being in the top 20 last week. Metal Mulisha - CC's Dragons 1 - 3 If there was any doubt the Dragons MotS'd our game, it's gone now. He dropped from the 60s to 54 NSI this week and from passable to poor midfield. Still, his 3-5-2 put up a exc-form-out defensive front and that was more than enough for him to beat the overwhelmed Mulisha and their disastrous midfield. The Dragons held the ball 94% in the second half. goonz - Beneamata 1 - 3 Beneamata is a new team that took over from PRODYGRAF this past week and they opened up in style with a win. There were a lot of missed chances in this game and both NSI's were below 32. The Flying Midgets - Toledo Blades 2 - 3 Toledo is starting to scare me more and more. He put up a 54 NSI, but he still can't be taken too seriously unless he backs away from that ridiculous 5-4-1. However, that 54 is a product of his form/mag/mag defense more than anything. Still, of the 5 defenders he ran, 4 got ~ and the other got in the game. The Midgets ran a 4-3-3, go figure. It didn't help his offense any, tho. Hatstats For the week, Div V.62 dropped from 82 in USA to 147. That's primarily because the Dragons, goonz, and the Hippos dropped 24 rating points and a total of 30 for the series. As far as I can tell, Benito is the first *~ for any outfield position in V.62 or at least for this season. His rating gets him on the "Best Middies in Div V" list a couple of slots above a familiar player: Theodore Vega of Morrisville. Lastly, we are still one of the most expensive teams in Div V, this time coming in at 73. Notes Good news on the sales front, sort of. Both Friedlander and Paige got bid on for a grand total of $270K. I think it might be time to go snag a second Uber Trainee to play alongside Anders Jorgensson. Then I'll bump my youth pull from last week and buy a third. Right now, I'm looking for middies, 17yo (pass PM) or 18yo (solid PM) with weak or higher stamina and a good stat either in defense, passing, or scoring with set pieces being a plus. Another game next week with the Buccabeavzers which we might PIC. However, sales and an FOFC Cup game will be before it and more important. McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans are on tap for Wednesday as Group E play continues. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-20-2003 at 10:22 PM.

05-22-2003, 05:43 PM	#64
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview We continue FOFC Cup play at home today vs McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans. There was some moving and shaking for our team and we will be playing two new middies with solid PM. The first is our youth pull from last week, Rolando Gontán, and our other is new Canadian Uber-Trainee(TM) Albino de Sousa Bastos. Other than that, we will be playing the standard B Team: Solomon and Tizon up front, 3 of our 4 interchangeable defenders in the back, and our two winger trainees. Except for the goalie and a forward, the Hooligans will be using the same team they did for last week's fixture so we have our work cut out for us. The great thing about this game is that it's a pair of run-and-shoot teams so there should be some goals scored. Game Summary Date: 5/22/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 7038719 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 1220 Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 1220 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Romo, Stepp, Bush - Magnusson, Jörgensson, Gontán, de Sousa Bastos, Viseslav - Solomon, Tizón. Hooligans started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Mulligan - Fast Hansen, Collado Cervero, Ortega - Mcconnell, Mack, Ponder, Eller, Guyton - Loomis, Kimball. Hippopotami took the lead in the 16:th minute of the game by 1 to 0, as Rolando Gontán elegantly received a pass going deep, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. In the 19:th minute Hooliganss Narcís Collado Cervero received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 22nd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Juan Miguel Tizón dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Hippopotami. In the games 23rd minute Hooligans´s Ernest Guyton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Ernest Guyton for taking a dive. 36 minutes into the game Mark Loomis had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Woodrow Guajardo. In the 39:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Derrick Solomon dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Hippopotami. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate. Lionel Mcconnell was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Francis Kimball managed to kick one of them into 3 - 1 in the 67:th minute. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 4 - 1. Juan Miguel Tizón finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Søren Øvli Fast Hansen of Hooligans received a yellow card in the 74:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hippopotami´s Rickie Stepp refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon in the 74:th minute. Juan Miguel Tizón almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. After an industrious effort down the middle Björn Magnusson could have closed the game off in the 85:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. The referee showed Hooliganss Woodrow Guajardo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate. Hippopotami´s best player was Ivan Viseslav. However, Björn Magnusson made a disastrous appearance. Hooligans´s best player was Steven Mack. However, Leonard Eller made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 1. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 SBH: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 16: Rolando Gontán(F1): 1-0 HH: 22: Juan Miguel Tizón (F2): 2-0 HH: 39: Derrick Solomon (F3): 3-0 Halftime Score: 3-0 Possession: 62% 2nd Half SBH: 67: 3-1 HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (F3): 4-1 Final Score: 4-1 Possession: 56% Final Possession: 59% Cards Yeesh- none for us, but another three for our opponent. We're supposed to be the dirty team here and we've been outcarded 6-0 in our FOFC Cup Matches! Injuries None, and fortunately their only injury is just for a week. Stadium Terraces: 808 (9702) Basic seats: 286 (3850) Seats under roof: 99 (1740) VIP seats: 27 (400) Total: 1220 (15692) Largest ever friendly crowd at the 'drome! Woo! That was good for about $3500. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: weak (4) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 40/44 S. Boston Hooligans Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/47 I was a bit disappointed by the midfield rating but they are only trainees after all. This was just another one of those cases were if you win the midfield, you can win the game with inferior numbers as long as you stay close otherwise. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Marcel Romo ~ DM Rickie Stepp (m) DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Bjorn Magnusson (o) * MI Rolando Gontán MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) MI Anders Jörgensson (o) WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Derrick Solomon ~ Total Stars: 21.5 Total player experience: disastrous Team Attitude: Friendly Looks a lot like last week except for the new players. Romo has earned himself the starting spot for wingback in fixtures for a little while. Magnusson has some real problems now with his form in wretched and only collecting * in the game. Three Stars The first medal ever awarded to a youth pull and Tizon gets the first double gold medal week Bronze: Derrick Solomon Team veteran continues his scoring and leadership Silver: Rolando Gontán Last week's youth pull gets a goal, the first ever by a Hippo youth pull Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón Juan continues his hot week with goals 5 and 6 Game Summary Color me suprised. I really thought we were doomed as soon as I saw his lineup but there wasn't enough defense up the middle to stop our forwards. I can't believe we had a higher middie rating with our 3 guys than he had with his pair of ~ guys and a ~ guy. Still, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and we now have 6 points in FOFC Cup play. Press Release* 5/23/2003 at 00:42 Hippos Win Second FOFC Cup Game Juan Miguel Tizon continued his hot week, scoring goals 5 and 6 as the Hippos revamped midfield gave them the possession advantage and the win over the S Boston Hooligans. Last week's youth pull, middie Rolando Gontán, got the scoring started with a beautiful shot in the 16th minute. Even with the win, the Hippos fall out of 1st in Group E with Airhog's Oklahoma City Rednecks taking the lead in goal differential. Next week, the Hippos host the Square Pegs in the middle week of group play. League Standings Code: Sd --Group E-- FOFC ID Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI 35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog 70559 USA 2 0 0 9 1 8 6 45 22 Houston Hippopotami sterlingice 8574 USA 2 0 0 7 1 6 6 44 61 Square Pegs mckerney 71980 USA 1 0 1 4 2 2 4 45 5 Midwest Ice Storm FC Pilotman 70500 USA 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 60 48 S. Boston Hooligans McSweeny 71008 USA 0 2 0 2 7 -5 0 47 74 Missouri Tigers Achilles 70392 USA 0 2 0 0 8 -8 0 27 Around the Group Here's a little more info about the other teams in Group E. Midwest Ice Storm FC - Square Pegs 2 - 2 With all due respect to the Square Pegs, I have no idea how they didn't get crushed. Midwest had a 4(!!) level midfield rating advantage (passable vs wretched) and won the NSI battle 60-47. This was not the Ice Storm team that we rolled last week. Midwest dominated possession with 71 and 82% in the halves but found themselves down 2-0 only 5 minutes in. Apparently the Square Pegs stalwart 4-4-2 formation held the Ice Storm offense in check. Missouri Tigers - Oklahoma City Rednecks 0 - 6 Um... ow. Airhogs team may have went deep into Tiger country but they didn't care. A great defensive save by Missouri was the only thing that kept the Rednecks Ty Barnett from a hat trick and Cordell Shelton added two more goals. A New Hippo Don't ask what we paid for him: it's better you not know since we overpaid. Badly. That said, our new Canadian is an UberTrainee(TM) and at least I paid for some quality. I wish he had better passing skill since I plan on playing him offensive but he has decent stamina that can be improved and he's an 18yo solid PM and that's what I wanted. Albino de Sousa Bastos (11926561) 18 years, passable form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest. Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities. Speciality: Quick Nationality: Canada Assessed value: 134 000 US$ Wage: 1 416 US$/week including 20% Bonus Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: solid Passing: weak Winger: poor Defending: weak Scoring: passable Set Pieces: wretched Long Term I suppose Bastos is technically our only uber middie since our other UberTrainee will end up at winger. Once recent youth pull Rolando Gontan pops to excellent, we'll sell him and try to snag another beautiful middie trainee. I suppose that means our new Canadian will eventually supplant Connors but that won't be until he can match his * performances. I'm not sure when Jorgensson will pass Newsom, but it will probably be a little bit (middle of next season, most likely). Then it will be time to find a solid or excellent striker to play opposite Edwin Phelan and anchor the defense with a solid or excellent sweeper who can play alongside the pair of pass/pass wingbacks I have there now. You know, I could really live with that team in Div IV. It sounds like a sick team on paper but something that will take until the end of next season to solidify. Still, I like the thought of my only guys getting below * are my wingbacks and striker at ~ which is nothing to sneeze at. Right now, it's all about getting there Notes Blah-blah-blah, FOFC Cup, blah-blah-blah. DRAGONS-HIPPOS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! Ok, not quite, but that's what my season feels like. The FOFC Cup is a nice chance to watch my trainees and B Team but really, it's all about the league season and one big fixture looming on the horizon. This week, there's a little return trip to play at the Buccabeavzers in a PIC match and next week, we play the Square Pegs in the FOFC Cup! SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-22-2003 at 05:44 PM.

05-23-2003, 02:46 AM	#65
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	18YO solid playmaker? That sounds like a good chunk o' coins. But, wow, 18YO solid playmaker!@

05-23-2003, 09:19 AM	#66
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	What DID you spend? 220K?

05-23-2003, 09:20 AM	#67
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Wow, I was pretty close. I don't really think you overspent but by about 30K or so.

05-23-2003, 09:30 AM	#68
NevStar High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Raleigh, NC	congrats on the new blood. The passable scoring won't help you though & that's probably what inflated the price. Figured I should post something since my name is mentioned so many times in here I haven't been able to follow all these threads as much as I like, but I'm trying. I do plan to resume my dynasty at some point, but that darned real life has gotten in my way lately. I'm in the middle of buying my first home, coupled with unrealistic work deadlines. Once everything gets back to normal, the story of the Morrisvillians will continue. {/hijack} __________________ I can't think of a clever signature.

05-23-2003, 09:33 AM	#69
Alf Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rennes, France	My solid playmaker is also 18 . Was purchased at 14K and bumped to solid after one week of training. He is on his way to excellent in 2-3 weeks . And he also has solid stamina . Only drwaback is that he has no secondary skill at all... __________________ FOFL - GML - IHOF - FranceStats

05-23-2003, 10:06 AM	#70
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Oh, and to make you feel better, ice, I paid the same amount last year for a solid playmaker. Except, he wasn't even 18, but rather 19. Newbies...

05-24-2003, 03:45 PM	#71
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Training It's about time. Stephen Connors may be 24 but he was due for a bump nonetheless and he becomes our second excellent playmaker after Julius Acker, the player whose sale brought Tim Kimber and Anders Jorgensson to town and me out of debt (temporarily, of course). Oh, but that's not all: we just got our third excellent as well. I mused that last week's youth pull, Rolando Gontan, was "nearly pop-able" and apparently I was right. Hopefully a 19yo excellent PM fetches enough cash to get me a solid defender, a solid scorer, pay off my debt, and finance a stadium upgrade. I think that's an awful lot of wishful thinking. The debt is pretty much certain and maybe one of the solids. Future Training Hmm... general or playmaking before the Dragons game? I'm not sure... Form Starters: (+3) (-1) Entire Team: (+5) (-3) Starters Form Solid (or above): Phelan Benito Connors Passable: Starks Bush Stepp Newsom Kimber Stromlius Inadequate: Solomon Weak (or below): Sanders Made a couple of changes: Romo replaces a slumping Stepp (who was hanging around in poor form) and last years scoring leader, Derrick Solomon has gotten back to inad form and will return to his spot opposite Edwin Phelan. Tizon is still hanging around with poor form and I'd rather have Solomon's extra point in experience and passing to Chang's passable form. Hopefully Solomon is on the way back up the form curve because he's a monster when he's on. Still, due to his age, he won't be around much longer. In other form news, Starks and Phelan bounced back from mini-slump of a week but Stromlius continues to fall. This is two straight weeks, but he's still at passable so no real cause for alarm. Sanders form still will not budge! Value Starters: (+7) (-3) Entire Team: (+11) (-9) Team Stats Total Wages: 27816 (-236) Total Value: 2627000 (+97000) Avg Value: 125095 (+10095) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: pass (up from inad) Avg Experience: wretched (N/A) No of players: 21 (-1) Nationalities: 8 (N/A) Where Are They Now? Guess what? With finals done, it's time for a stealth segment of "Where Are They Now?" Even better is that these are three key players from the first season of the Hippos. Week One 1/12/2003 Sold (Fired player) to Rednecks 1 000 US$ (0 US$) 1/12/2003 Sold Hayden Hanks to C.A. Daedra (B.Bca.) 20 000 US$ (82 000 US$) 1/16/2003 Sold Rodney Walters to Brookland Cayce 16 000 US$ (100 000 US$) 1/16/2003 Sold Alvin Yeager to Sporting Milwaukee 145 000 US$ (98 000 US$) Week Two 1/26/2003 Sold Alvarado Lanza to Metaguacha 12 000 US$ (21 000 US$) 1/26/2003 Sold Ben Magnusson to Gringos 12 000 US$ (17 000 US$) 1/27/2003 Sold Tommy Lyhling to Hawkeye F.C. 50 000 US$ (54 000 US$) Week Three 1/26/2003 Sold Søren Andersen to Morrisville Morrisvillians 13 000 US$ (31 000 US$) 2/9/2003 Sold Pedro Villavilla Paz to Los N° 1 72 000 US$ (47 000 US$) Week Four 2/17/2003 Sold Matei Rosca to Racing Mexico 2 000 US$ (30 000 US$) 2/17/2003 Sold José Alberto Balbuena to K-Wings 1 000 US$ (12 000 US$) 2/17/2003 Sold Storm Jordan to Racing Mexico 4 000 US$ (35 000 US$) Week Five 2/24/2003 Sold Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz to JOB Squad 1 000 US$ (0 US$) 2/24/2003 Sold Augusto Almeida Lopes to snomus cf 2 000 US$ (33 000 US$) 2/24/2003 Sold Thomas Rosenthal to BACARDI C.F 21 001 US$ (74 000 US$) Today 3/5/2003 Sold Dawid Raduli to Snufl 84 000 US$ (78 000 US$) 3/8/2003 Sold Zlatko Koch to Livvy Loonies 26 001 US$ (57 000 US$) 3/9/2003 Sold Alfredo Crespo to Havoc 77 000 US$ (115 000 US$) For the Future 3/20/2003 Sold Julius Acker to Universitatea&Craiova 638 000 US$ (205 000 US$) 3/21/2003 Sold Klaas Slingerland to Gooner 16 000 US$ (78 000 US$) 3/25/2003 Sold Chiritã Vochin to Malignos Team 77 000 US$ (168 000 US$) 4/24/2003 Sold Liu Zuo-Lin to sv de Helden 11 000 US$ (26 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Gérard Longis to WTC 6 000 US$ (18 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Patrik Jonsson to Blätzbums 15 000 US$ (52 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Jeremy Rumbold to Most Wanted 50 000 US$ (41 000 US$) 5/5/2003 Sold Hugh Hebert to vv Appingedam 51 000 US$ (37 000 US$) 5/21/2003 Sold Philip Friedländer to India Rules 150 000 US$ (76 000 US$) 5/21/2003 Sold Kyle Paige to verandi 120 000 US$ (43 000 US$) Total Purchases: 1570513 US$ (+416000) Total Sales 1693002 US$ (+321000) Difference 122489 US$ (-95000) Average (bought) 44872 US$ (+9887) Average (sold) 60464 US$ (-5584) Average (bought + sold) 1944 US$ (-1806) Dawid Raduli Raduli was the starting goalie for most of our games in season one until he was replaced by Chiritã Vochin after a horrible form slump. He was sold to a team in Norge Div V.195 named Snufl who has a picture from bikini.com on as his team picture. I've gotta say I've seen worse logos, to be sure. Dawid currently starts for Snufl in their league games. His value has gone up nearly $100K since I sold him but he only is pulling down per game. Then again, when he was on the team, his value was as high as it is now but his form slump forced our hand and he was sold. He's only 20 so he may have a bright future with some team yet. Zlatko Koch Zlatko was brought in the same day as two other key players for year one including Dawid Raduli (Derrick Solomon was the other). It was on that day that I hit the transfer wire and (over)paid $30K for our new starting defender. It's not that he was bad, it's just that was a high price for a veteran passable defender. He typically put up or ~ at the center defender spot in fixtures for half a season. However, with the purchase of Elmer Bush and the good play of wingback trainees Gerard Longis and Patrik Jonsson, he became expendable and sold for $26K (so I guess I didn't overpay too much). He was sold to Livvy Loonies in Scotland's IV.16 series. He can typically be found playing on the backline of their 4-4-2 and putting up his usual * or ~ performance. Alfredo Crespo* If ever I regretted a transfer, this would be it. I was in the middle of my youth movement and somewhat foolishly sold this veteran who was our second winger. He occasionally had form troubles but was a pass/inad winger with solid passing and set pieces: i.e. he was idea for the run and shoot. Still, he only put up ** per game for us and I sold him to a guy who helped me out back when I was starting out (who also supports me, btw). The user is Havoc99 (not to be confused with FOFC's Havok) and his team, Havoc leads V.174 averaging about 30 stars per game and a mid-high 60s NSI. That's typically top 5 material for Div V if you check out hatstats which is amazing, but even more so that he's gone undefeated in what is also a top 5 series in Div V. Also, he never misses an opportunity to taunt me about my foolish sale: "Crespo had his first 3* game today I'll need him as my #1 winger just went down for 4 weeks!!!" or "I have Alfredo Crespo on the phones as we speak insulting the manhood of any GM who will listen." (in reference to looking for a friendly: gotta love those controversial personality ratings). Alfredo continues to get * for Havoc at starting offensive winger, helping with a formidable wing attack and passable midfield in the last game. Crespo would be an upgrade from Newsom, our current second winger, but I'm glad that he sold to a guy who helped me out a ton with strategy early on. Closing Remarks** This stealth edition of "Where are They Now" has been brought to you by NevStar, whose real life is getting in the way of his hattricking. What kind of priorities are these?!? Oh, and he came up with the WatN idea, blah, blah, insert redneck joke here, blah, blah. Closing A pretty easy fixture this week, FOFC Cup continues next Wednesday and then The Rematch. Dragons/Hippos at the 'drome next Sunday. For those of you into board participation or just looking to show off your knowledge, how much should I list my youth pull from last week for? I'll be sneaking him in with the youth pulls from this week since that seems to be when people shop the most: Rolando Gontán 117 000 US$, 19 years, passable form Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Technical] Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous Playmaking: excellent Passing: poor Winger: poor Defending: weak Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-24-2003 at 03:54 PM.

05-24-2003, 08:55 PM	#72
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Youth Pull, Week 19.8 I think I miscounted and this should technically be 19.8 not 19.7 so we'll skip 19.7. Unfortunately, despite his cool name Heywood Smart is not Hippo material and has been cut already. I guess I can't pull a Rolando Gontan every week. In fact, I've only pulled one guy of that caliber. If you missed out on the notes above- he really was close to popping and is now excellent and awaiting sale. Youth Pull Status (NOTE: NC means "no change") Youth Pulls: 21 Youth Pull Grocers: 19 (+1) Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC) Total Sold for: 11000 (NC) Youth Pull Haywood Smart (12140127) 18 years, passable form, healthy A pleasant guy who is temperamental and upright. Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities. Nationality: USA Assessed value: 4 000 US$ Wage: 520 US$/week Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: poor Passing: wretched Winger: poor Defending: poor Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable Conditions Youth Squad: solid (NC) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC) Sponsors: high on life (NC) Supporter Club: 957 members (+24) Supporters: high on life (up three levels from content) Team Spirit: calm (N/C) Confidence: decent (N/C) We were up to content in team spirit for part of the week, after our PIC last game. However, now we're back down to calm after the weekly updates. This makes it almost certain that I'll be PIC'ing this week and MotS'ing next week against the dragons. Week In Review On the Field It was Juan Miguel Tizón show this week. He outscored the Buccabeavzers and S Boston Hooligans 6-2 this week with 4 in the fixture and 2 in our FOFC Cup game. Edwin Phelan put us up 2-0 in the first half of our fixture but the Bucs tied us. However, that's when Tizon took over, scoring 4 goals from the 43rd minute on and the Hippos rolled 7-2. Tizon scored 2 and Solomon and Gontan each scored as we won 4-1 against McSweeney's S. Boston Hooligans, giving us 6 points in 2 games. Off the Field Last week I wasn't sure which trainee I wanted to move in favor of last week's youth pull Rolando Gontan so I put both Philip Friedlander and Kyle Paige up for sale for $150K and $120K. This way, whichever sold, I'd replace as with Rolando as a trainee. Amazingly enough, both sold. So, that prompted the purchase of new UberTrainee(TM): 18yo solid PM Albino de Sousa Bastos from Canada. Good news in training as starter Stephen Connors pops to excellent PM. Even better news as Gontan bumped as well and will be sold to get another UberTrainee(TM). BTW, I made a small little coaching change: I went from 7:3 goaltending:assistant coaches to 8:2. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

05-26-2003, 03:46 AM	#73
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview We rolled last week on Tizon's 4 goals. We PIC'd and play the same Buccabeavzers as last week- no problems, right? Well, as they say on ESPN: that's why "games aren't played on paper, they're played in television sets". I'm just glad to see last year's leading scorer Derrick Solomon back on the pitch with the starting eleven. Game Summary Date: 5/26/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544411 Arena: Buccabeavzers Arena Crowd: 7000 A scorching day at Buccabeavzers Arena, where 7000 spectators were in place for today´s match. Buccabeavzers had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Grace - Munkvold , Ventura, Nielsen, Boggs - Putnam, Sánchez, Roca, Álvarez De Miran - Romano, Morrissey. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kimber - Romo, Strömlius, Bush - Starks, Benito, Connors, Sanders, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan. A mistake by the home sides central defence in the 19:th minute allowed Derrick Solomon to score 0 - 1 for Hippopotami. Derrick Solomon came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Graig Grace, hitting the bar. Hippopotami had, after 27 minutes of the game, worked the left side industriously, creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but somehow didn´t achieve closure. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Elmer Bush needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. A tad of inexperience caused Stephen Connors to make a difficult dribble close to dangerous opponent Eugenio Roca who took opportunitt by scoring 1-1. In the 35:th minute Hippopotamis Marcel Romo received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Halftime score was 1 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball. Hippopotami took the lead after 59 minutes with 1 - 2. Derrick Solomon placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. A well placed corner kick from Arvid Munkvold was followed by Rob Morrissey´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-2 for Buccabeavzers. After 82 minutes Hippopotami´s Donald Newsom contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. After 84 minutes Hippopotami put themselves up by 2 - 3 as Edwin Phelan finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Derrick Solomon increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 2 - 4. By then Derrick Solomon was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The referee showed Hippopotamis Stephen Connors the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Buccabeavzers were forced to a substitution as Lex Putnam couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Hippopotami´s Derrick Solomon received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 88:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 2 - 5. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball. Most important Buccabeavzers player was Graig Grace. Eugenio Roca on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Derrick Solomon was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 5. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 BB: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 19: Derrick Solomon(2); 1-0 BB: xx: 1-1 Halftime Score: 1-1 Possession: 71% 2nd Half HH: 59: Derrick Solomon(3); 2-1 BB: xx: 2-2 HH: 84: Edwin Phelan(8); 3-2 HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(4); 4-2 HH: 88: Derrick Solomon(5); 5-2 Final Score: 5-2 Possession: 71% Final Possession: 71% Cards HH: 35: Marcel Romo (yellow- challenge studs first) HH: xx: Stephen Connors (yellow- particularly nasty challenge) Injuries HH: 82: Donald Newsom (slight foot injury- bruised) Stadium A scorching day at Buccabeavzers Arena, where 7000 spectators were in place for today´s match. Team Ratings Buccabeavzers Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: weak (4) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 34/36 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: solid (7) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/57 A 57 with a PIC. Some general training and an MotS next week at home- I hope to break 60 for the first time. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber * DW Rickie Romo DM Thomas Strömlius DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Mick Starks (o) ~ MI Maarten Sanders (o) ~ MI Stephen Connors (x) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ~ WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ FO Edwin Phelan ~ FO Derrick Solomon * Total Stars: 28.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Play It Cool Solomon is back with a so he'll keep his spot. Unfortunately, Romo and Starks stayed at their and ~ respectively along with Kimber and his * in the net. Stromlius unfortunately went back down to from his couple of weeks at ~ but Sanders finally showed some of why I brought him in posting ~ for the first time. Three Stars Pretty easy to hand out today, that's for sure. Bronze: Maarten Sanders Finally a ~ performance for the middie veteran Silver: Edwin Phelan Huge game-winning goal Gold: Derrick Solomon For the second week in a row: Was there really any doubt? Game Summary Another tense PIC. There were a lot of tense moments, even late. To be tied 1-1 at halftime was bad but with high possession wasn't much cause for concern. When Solomon scored his second goal to give us a 2-1 lead, I figured we would start pulling away. However, the Buccabeavzers were not to be denied so easily. When they tied it in the 70s, it was nervous times as I wasn't sure the game next week would mean anything. Fortunately, as anyone who was in the chat is aware, I was thrilled when Phelan's goal in the 82nd minute went in and then when Solomon put in his 3rd and then 4th in a matter of a couple of minutes, the rout was finally on. The good thing about the closing flurry is that it helped out our goal differential some since the Dragons won big today. Press Release 5/26/2003 at 10:10 Solomon Four Good in Hippos Win Yet another stressful game for the Hippos ended with a scoring spree. Derrick Solomon, recently promoted back to the A Team after last week's 4 goal scorer Juan Miguel Tizon sunk even lower in form, scored 4 goals including 2 in the final 5 minutes to put the game away. Edwin Phelan scored his league leading 8th goal with only 6 minutes to go in the game. It was tense times for the Hippo faithful as the game was tied 2-2 until Phelan's goal. NEXT WEEK: HIPPOS/DRAGONS! BE THERE! League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. CC's Dragons 8 33 - 2 24 54 2. Houston Hippopotami 8 35 - 11 21 57 3. Toledo Blades 8 15 - 12 16 54 4. The Flying Midgets 8 17 - 8 13 51 5. goonz 8 14 - 28 6 36 6. Buccabeavzers 8 14 - 29 6 36 7. Metal Mulisha 8 8 - 26 4 34 8. Beneamata 8 9 - 29 4 36 Around the League The Dragons rolled and the Midgets and Blades played to a 0-0 tie. The other game pitted two teams in the bottom half. CC's Dragons - Metal Mulisha 7 - 0 Sure last week's game was close but in front of 22K screaming fans at the Dragons Den, the Mulisha became completely unhinged. It was only 3-0 at the 71st minute but then the Dragons poured it on. In the second half, they enjoyed a 96% possession advantage. However, it was only with a weak midfield and that is where they are vulnerable. Still, against the Mulisha's disastrous midfield, the Dragons rolled. Beneamata - goonz 2 - 4 The goonz strike back and even up Beneamata's record at 1-1. Both put up identical 36 NSIs but the goonz proved to be too much. Beneamata was up until the goonz's defender Pierre Randle scored two goals at the 74th and 76th minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Randle was one of three goonz to get a ~ rating, a new high for him. One of the others was striker Brent Wolff who scored the 1st goal at the 11th minute and 4th in the 80th. Toledo Blades - The Flying Midgets 0 - 0 In the battle of odd formations and the 3/4 battle, neither the 4-3-3 or 5-4-1 could score a goal against the other and the game ends in a null-null tie. The Blades put up an exc-mag-out defense but were countered by the Midgets Svarg Ram who made a goal scoring save and their out-bril-form defense. Toledo led 3-1 in chances and possession with 63/77 percent. Notes Next up is our FOFC Cup match against the Square Pegs on Wednesday at the 'drome. Oh, and there's still that whole Dragons/Hippos Clash-of-the-Ages thing going on next week. In the next day or so, I'm considering an update with hatstats info and possibly a "Where are they Now" on Acker. And, if I haven't mentioned it enough: HIPPOS/DRAGONS NEXT WEEK! I'm setting my preliminary lineup now. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-26-2003 at 03:53 AM.

05-30-2003, 05:18 AM	#74
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview I love the name of the team. The Square Pegs belonging to mckerney come to the 'drome for game 3 of the FOFC Cup in Group E play. They are 1-0-1 coming into the game with a win against Missouri and a suprising tie to Midwest Ice Storm. We get to run out three midfielders again at least one more time as Gontan is on the transfer wire. Game Summary Date: 5/29/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 7074925 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 1091 At The Hippodrome, 1091 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Stepp, Strömlius, Bush - Magnusson, Jörgensson, Gontán, de Sousa Bastos, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón. Square tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Major - Lombardi, Mcgovern, Donald, Taylor, Taylor - Chavarria, Giner, Butcher - Frazier, Conner. Square seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Defoe Chang completely alone with keeper Levi Major, who made a spectacular block. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 28:th minute goal by Thomas Strömlius for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. In the 39:th minute the excellent ball from the wing byTim Chavarria reached Moses Butcher's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 1 - 1. In the 43rd minute the home side managed to get a 2 - 1 lead as Ivan Viseslav flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. In the 44:th minute Hippopotamis Elmer Bush received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In the 44:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 1. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Rolando Gontán coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. 3 - 1 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 73 percent, dominated the battle. The Square players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. The home side´s Juan Miguel Tizón came close to extending the lead in the 50:th minute. His shot came in off the right hand side but Levi Major managed saving with a fingernail. Square had obvious problems in finding their positions. Square fought on and, in the 64:th minute Art Frazier was able to reply with 3 - 2 after some excellent moves on the right side finished off by an incredibly clever chip. In the games 66:th minute Square´s Nicholas Mcgovern fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Nicholas Mcgovern for taking a dive. In the 70:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 2. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Rolando Gontán coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón got himself booked. Hippopotami made a substitution in the 74:th minute. Björn Magnusson limped off the field and was replaced by Donald Newsom. Albino de Sousa Bastos almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate. Hippopotami´s best player was Donald Newsom. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. Square´s best player was Art Frazier. Tim Chavarria on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 SP: 5-3-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 28: Thomas Strömlius(F1): 1-0 SP: 39: 1-1 HH: 43: Ivan Viseslav (F1): 2-1 HH: 44: Rolando Gontán(F2): 3-1 Halftime Score: 3-1 Possession: 73% 2nd Half SP: 64: 3-2 HH: 70: Rolando Gontán(F3): 4-2 Final Score: 4-2 Possession: 75% Final Possession: 74% Cards HH: 44: Elmer Bush (yellow- going into a challenge studs first) HH: 74: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incidents) Injuries HH: xx: Bjorn Magnusson (1 week- limped off field) Stadium Terraces: 714 (9702) Basic seats: 254 (3850) Seats under roof: 96 (1740) VIP seats: 27 (400) Total: 1091 (15692) A bit under last week because of "threatening clouds" but nothing ever came of them so we still got over 1K! Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/46 Square Pegs Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: excellent (8) Central Defence: outstanding (10) Left Side Defence: excellent (8) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/46 A little weak on the defense, but I suppose I can't complain too much about a 46 from the second team. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Rickie Stepp (m) DM Thomas Stromlius DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ MI Albino de Sousa Bastos MI Rolando Gontán (x) MI Anders Jörgensson (o) WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Dafoe Chang * IN Bjorn Magnusson (o) * Total Stars: 23.0 Total player experience: disastrous Team Attitude: Friendly These were deceptively high because of Newsom subbing in for Magnusson. Still, the good news is that all three middies still got with the bad being that two defenders went back to instead of the ~ they had been putting up. Three Stars Gontan gets a pair of medals in his only two games for the Hippos Bronze: Ivan Viseslav Viseslav gets his first medal with a goal Silver: Thomas Strömlius He may have only gotten but he did get a goal as a defender Gold: Rolando Gontán In his two games for the Hippos, he netted 3 goals in 2 FOFC Cup games and a gold and silver- not bad at all Game Summary A battle won on the midfield, to be sure. Plus, the 3-5-2 will typically beat a more defensive formation unless those defenders are damn good. This gives us 3 wins in 3 FOFC Cup games. A great showing considering I've been playing second teamers. Press Release 5/30/2003 at 11:55 Hippos Beat Square Pegs in FOFC Cup Rolando Gontán followed up his goal-scoring debut last week with a pair today as the Hippos doubled up the Square Pegs 4-2 in FOFC Cup play. The 19yo excellent PM is not long for the Hippos as he has been put up on the transfer wire and has already garnered bids in excess of $300K. Defender Thomas Strömlius got the scoring started and winger Ivan Viseslav added a goal. The Hippos are 3-0-0 in Group E play and have their 4th of 5 games next week against Airhogg's Oklahoma City Rednecks. League Standings Code: Sd --Group E-- FOFC ID Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI 22 Houston Hippopotami sterlingice 8574 USA 3 0 0 11 3 8 9 46 35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog 70559 USA 2 1 0 9 5 4 6 45 5 Midwest Ice Storm FC Pilotman 70500 USA 1 1 1 6 5 1 4 54 61 Square Pegs mckerney 71980 USA 1 1 1 6 6 0 4 46 48 S. Boston Hooligans McSweeny 71008 USA 1 2 0 8 7 1 3 46 74 Missouri Tigers Achilles 70392 USA 0 3 0 0 14 -14 0 27 Around the Group The other 2 Group E Games S. Boston Hooligans - Missouri Tigers 6 - 0 "Ouch" again as this is Missouri's second straight 6-0 loss, this time at the hands of the S. Boston Hooligans, who picked up their first win. Tho a bit of this has to do with them only playing 10 guys on the pitch as their 4-3-2 was overwhelmed by the Hooligans 3-5-2 which put up passable or higher ratings for all but their midfield. Steven Mack scored twice for the Hooligans in a * game at offensive middie. Oklahoma City Rednecks - Midwest Ice Storm FC 0 - 4 It's suprising that Midwest took this long to get a win. Not only that, but the Rednecks can't be happy the Ice Storm decided to get well against them. Midwest put up another stellar NSI, this time at 54. Four different players scored for the Ice Storm in a battle of 3-5-2s. Notes Another nice win. Our game with the Rednecks next week will go a long way to determining who else goes on in our group. This win more or less ensured I will move on, barring a catastrophic meltdown against the overmanned Missouri Tigers. Our win against Midwest is looking more and more flukish but a win is a win. Unfortunately for everyone here, there is a ton of parity in the group and so I doubt we will have one of the third place teams that moves on as the good teams all beat up on each other. Hippos-Dragons at the 'drome this Sunday! Favorable general training results to get us into good form and some exciting player movement in the next update. One small phrase to chew on about the most recent Hippo addition until then: "17yo solid playmaker". SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 06-08-2003 at 01:04 AM.

05-30-2003, 01:49 PM	#75
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	Woohoo! Go Hippos! Kick some CC Dragons behinds! PS . . . y'know, reading the Crawfish dynasty then seeing "player movement" in the next thread gave me pause for just a second.

05-31-2003, 12:05 AM	#76
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Training It's time for some boring form training. Still, it's extremely necessary: I want all of our big guns ready to fire coming into the huge game this week. Six starters bumped and all of them are now passable or better including Maarten Sanders who finally broke out of his form slump and jumped two levels from weak to passable. If you're curious, the one form drop belong to coach Ricky Braden: Oh well. Future Training Back to playmaking until the end of the season where some stamina training will come in. Form Starters: (+6) (-0) Entire Team: (+12) (-1) Starters Form Solid (or above): Benito (exc) Connors (exc) Newsom Romo Phelan Passable: Solomon Sanders Starks Bush Kimber Stromlius Inadequate: -NONE- Weak (or below): -NONE- This is as good as it's going to get: any form problems we had were whisked away, even if it is only for a week. Value Starters: (+11) (-0) Entire Team: (+18) (-2) Team Stats Total Wages: 28752 (+936) Total Value: 2855000 (+228000) Avg Value: 129773 (+4678) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: pass (N/A) Avg Experience: wretched (N/A) No of players: 22 (+1) Nationalities: 8 (N/A) Where Are They Now? The seventh segment of "Where are they Now?" focuses on one of the best players to ever play for the Hippos. His sale brought in an FOFC record in cash, beating the infamous Tom Sanders. This sale was our first move to "the big time" as it made a lot of things happen for our team that wouldn't have been possible before and a changing of mentality. Week One 1/12/2003 Sold (Fired player) to Rednecks 1 000 US$ (0 US$) 1/12/2003 Sold Hayden Hanks to C.A. Daedra (B.Bca.) 20 000 US$ (82 000 US$) 1/16/2003 Sold Rodney Walters to Brookland Cayce 16 000 US$ (100 000 US$) 1/16/2003 Sold Alvin Yeager to Sporting Milwaukee 145 000 US$ (98 000 US$) Week Two 1/26/2003 Sold Alvarado Lanza to Metaguacha 12 000 US$ (21 000 US$) 1/26/2003 Sold Ben Magnusson to Gringos 12 000 US$ (17 000 US$) 1/27/2003 Sold Tommy Lyhling to Hawkeye F.C. 50 000 US$ (54 000 US$) Week Three 1/26/2003 Sold Søren Andersen to Morrisville Morrisvillians 13 000 US$ (31 000 US$) 2/9/2003 Sold Pedro Villavilla Paz to Los N° 1 72 000 US$ (47 000 US$) Week Four 2/17/2003 Sold Matei Rosca to Racing Mexico 2 000 US$ (30 000 US$) 2/17/2003 Sold José Alberto Balbuena to K-Wings 1 000 US$ (12 000 US$) 2/17/2003 Sold Storm Jordan to Racing Mexico 4 000 US$ (35 000 US$) Week Five 2/24/2003 Sold Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz to JOB Squad 1 000 US$ (0 US$) 2/24/2003 Sold Augusto Almeida Lopes to snomus cf 2 000 US$ (33 000 US$) 2/24/2003 Sold Thomas Rosenthal to BACARDI C.F 21 001 US$ (74 000 US$) Week Six 3/5/2003 Sold Dawid Raduli to Snufl 84 000 US$ (78 000 US$) 3/8/2003 Sold Zlatko Koch to Livvy Loonies 26 001 US$ (57 000 US$) 3/9/2003 Sold Alfredo Crespo to Havoc 77 000 US$ (115 000 US$) Today 3/20/2003 Sold Julius Acker to Universitatea&Craiova 638 000 US$ (205 000 US$) For the Future 3/21/2003 Sold Klaas Slingerland to Gooner 16 000 US$ (78 000 US$) 3/25/2003 Sold Chiritã Vochin to Malignos Team 77 000 US$ (168 000 US$) 4/24/2003 Sold Liu Zuo-Lin to sv de Helden 11 000 US$ (26 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Gérard Longis to WTC 6 000 US$ (18 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Patrik Jonsson to Blätzbums 15 000 US$ (52 000 US$) 4/28/2003 Sold Jeremy Rumbold to Most Wanted 50 000 US$ (41 000 US$) 5/5/2003 Sold Hugh Hebert to vv Appingedam 51 000 US$ (37 000 US$) 5/21/2003 Sold Philip Friedländer to India Rules 150 000 US$ (76 000 US$) 5/21/2003 Sold Kyle Paige to verandi 120 000 US$ (43 000 US$) Total Purchases: 1820513 US$ (+250000) Total Sales 1693002 US$ (+0) Difference -127511 US$ (-250000) Average (bought) 50570 US$ (+5698) Average (sold) 60464 US$ (+0) Average (bought + sold) -1992 US$ (-3936) Julius Acker I never liked Julius. He was always in the doghouse with me and despite his awesome ratings, rarely geting above in a game (due mostly to poor form and stamina). Also, I could never decide whether to play him at wing or middie and he didn't seem to do well at either. However, as I said above, I'm pretty sure he still holds the record for sale ammount garnered from and FOFC hattrick team (people like TP, apoc, et al are discounted, of course). Not bad, considering we had bought his ~ replacement in Donald Newsom for $46K just a week earlier. What we lost in one player who never really fit in, built our team for the future. This sale really catapulted us "into the big time" as it allowed us to buy a big time goalie in solid (near excellent) keeper Tim Kimber for $313K. Then it allowed us to buy a pair of pass/pass players in wingback Marcel Romo and striker Juan Miguel Tizón in the next month. Lastly, it allowed us to buy our first UberTrainee(TM) and start building for the future with then 17yo Anders Jörgensson {more on UberTrainees(TM) below}. It allowed me to start thinking big in the next couple of years: I could start grooming Div IV and Div III caliber players for the Hippos for seasons to come. Oh, and it got us out of debt... for a little while. But we all know how that goes. As for Acker, what happened to him? He sold for $638K to Universitatea&Craiova, a team in III.11 Romania. He routinely gets * per game at offensive winger. The problem that team runs into is that it runs a 5-4-1 so it rarely creates much offense so he gets ratings of extra-terrestrial, magnificent, titanic, and mythical on defense but midfield and offensive ratings comprable to mine. Still, without Julius, he would have even more trouble with possession and scoring. Closing Remarks Well, Acker got a solo segment because it meant so much to our team. We upgraded at keeper to Tim Kimber and his beautiful ~ per game. Plus, we plugged the last of our starting holes and started our UberTrainee(TM) program. Not bad for a player who I never really could find a spot for. I love Magyarország (or at least their Transfer Market)* First little note is that we placed Rolando Gontán back on the transfer wire at $350K and almost immediately got a bid after getting none when I placed him at $400K. This made a new Hippo acquisition possible, our third UberTrainee(TM), Tobias Hultman, who will take Gontan's number 11. I was the only bidder at $250K, but wait until you see what I got for that much. I'm certain I did not overpay this time as I've been pricing these for a couple of weeks and finding one for under $500K is a chore. Now presenting, our new 17yo solid playmaker, Swede Tobias Hultman and stats of the other UberTrainees(TM) for comparasion (2 middies and a winger). He has the ability to be the best of the three. Tobias Hultman (11133558) #11 17 years, passable form, healthy A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest. Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities. Speciality: Technical Nationality: Sverige Assessed value: 90 000 US$ Wage: 936 US$/week including 20% Bonus Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: solid Passing: weak Winger: inadequate Defending: wretched Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: poor Albino de Sousa Bastos (11926561) #10 18 years, solid form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest. Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities. Speciality: Quick Nationality: Canada Assessed value: 150 000 US$ Wage: 1 416 US$/week including 20% Bonus Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: solid Passing: weak Winger: poor Defending: weak Scoring: passable Set Pieces: wretched Anders Jörgensson (8718431) #17 18 years, excellent form, healthy A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest. Has disastrous experience and solid leadership abilities. Speciality: Powerful Nationality: Sverige Assessed value: 157 000 US$ Wage: 1 224 US$/week including 20% Bonus Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor Winger: passable Defending: poor Scoring: passable Set Pieces: inadequate Closing That gives us three UberTrainees(TM) to break into the big time. And, not like I'd let the Hippo Faithful out there go two seconds without reminding you of our huge fixture against the Dragons this week. If I have some time, I'll update my medals count to see what everyone has gotten. Plus, I'll compile a goal list by Cup, Fixture, Friendly, and FOFC Cup. Then some more hatstat notes, maybe. That sounds like some stats for next week to be coupled along with another "Where are the Now" or maybe "Hippo Spotlight". Just pretend I'm a ghetto Bill James for my soccer team. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-31-2003 at 12:09 AM.

05-31-2003, 01:21 AM	#77
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	Nice buy! He'll be fun to keep an eye on for the next season or two.

05-31-2003, 02:37 AM	#78
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	Okay . . . there's an Italian team named the "Flying Hippos". Y'all REALLY need a friendly set up one of these days.

05-31-2003, 03:34 AM	#79
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Italia: Flying Hippos F.C. (50483) . I'll have to keep that in mind. Thx, daed. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

05-31-2003, 06:05 AM	#80
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	No problemo. I just want to be there for when the Hippos meet at midfield for a hug while mutter, "so, this is what it's like when doves cry!"

06-02-2003, 02:44 AM	#81
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Youth Pull, Week 19.9 The youth pull for 2 weeks ago, Rolando Gontan, sold for $350K. Too bad this week's youth pull can't hold a candle to that. He's passable... in passing but poor or wretched in the key stats so he's worth nothing. The Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) welcomes Williams Matos. Youth Pull Status (NOTE: NC means "no change") Youth Pulls: 22 Youth Pull Grocers: 20 (+1) Youth Pulls Sold: 2 (+1) Total Sold for: 361000 (+350000) Youth Pull Williams Matos (12386388) 18 years, passable form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest. Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities. Nationality: USA Assessed value: 23 000 US$ Wage: 600 US$/week Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: wretched Passing: passable Winger: wretched Defending: poor Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor Conditions Youth Squad: solid (N/C) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C) Sponsors: high on life (N/C) Supporter Club: 981 members (+24) Supporters: high on life (N/C) Team Spirit: satisfied (up 2 levels from calm) Confidence: decent (N/C) If we win this week, we'll have over 1000 supporters. Plus that team spirit is sky high. Then again, it will be down again after we MotS against the Dragons. Week In Review On the Field Derrick Solomon followed up Juan Miguel Tizon's 4 goal fixture against the Buccabeavzers with one of his own. However, the game was tied at 2 as late as the 84th minute before a closing barrage made the final 5-2. Then, on Wedesday, the Hippos extended their FOFC Cup winning streak to 3 games with a 4-2 win over the Square Pegs at home. Middie Rolando Gontan scored his third (and final; more about that later) goal in two games to lead the boys from Houston. If you've been living in a hole, the battle for first is this week: Hippos/Dragons at the 'Drome. Off the Field Rolando Gontan got sold for $350K which facilitated the purchase of our third and final UberTrainee(TM), 17yo solid PM Tobias Hultman for only $250K. Yes, you read that right: 17yo solid PM. He was hiding on the Magyarország (Hungary) transfer wire late at night and I was the only bidder. Philip Friedländer was resold in 10 days for only 90K, 60K less than we sold him for and we got $2700 in mother club cash. After all is said and done, we will be less than $50K in the hole by the end of the Dragons game. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

06-07-2003, 04:56 PM	#83
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Sorry for the lack of updates: I've been working on a hattrick spreadsheet for the past couple of days. Anyways, I'm going to try and get back caught up tonight. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

06-08-2003, 05:11 AM	#84
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been working on a spreadsheet to help keep track of bookkeeping. Also, a huge update is due but I'm not sure when exactly it will appear- lots of news to discuss. Anyways, after the huge fixture, the last 5 fixture certainly take on new meaning. But we leave all of that aside today for the continuation of FOFC Group play. A win today and we clinch a berth in the round of 32. A loss and we will probably win next week and still be in but with a lower seed. When we arrived at the Hippodrome today, a swamp met us as we try to run the table in group play. No doubt scoring chances will be few and far between today. Game Summary Date: 6/5/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 7109866 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 632 Due to an all-day shower, 632 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Buckley - Stepp, Miquel, Bush - Viseslav, Jörgensson, Hultman, de Sousa Bastos, Newsom - Chang, Tizón. Oklahoma started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Swartz - Sterling, Rubin, Turner - Pratt, Bolonha, Forslind, Elias, Reese - Shelton, Couillerot. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Benedito Bolonha needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami were very close to putting themselves one up in the 23rd minute as Defoe Chang got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. In the games 26:th minute Oklahoma´s Cordell Shelton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Cordell Shelton for taking a dive. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s José María Miquel got himself booked. 31 minutes into the game Sidney Buckley had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Silviu Radu. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate. Hippopotami tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. The referee showed Hippopotamis Albino de Sousa Bastos the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami broke through to the left in the 76:th minute, Defoe Chang firing at an acute angle giving the home side a 1 - 0 lead. In the games 77:th minute Oklahoma´s Bill Rubin fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Bill Rubin for taking a dive. In the 80:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 2 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Tobias Hultman coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 0 when Defoe Chang broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 68 percent possession of the ball. Most important Hippopotami player was Donald Newsom. However, Silviu Radu made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Oklahoma player was without a doubt Byron Swartz. However, Maximilian Forslind made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 0. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 CCD: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half Halftime Score: 0-0 Possession: 57% 2nd Half HH: 76: Dafoe Chang(F1); 1-0 HH: 80: Tobias Hultman(F1); 2-0 HH: xx: Dafoe Chang(F2); 3-0 Final Score: 3-0 Possession: 68% Final Possession: 63% Cards HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel(yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incident) HH: xx: Albino de Sousa Bastos (yellow- particularly nasty challenge) Injuries HH: 31: Sidney Buckley (1 week- knee injury) Stadium Terraces: 392/9702 Basic seats: 153/3850 Seats under roof: 63/1740 VIP seats: 24/400 Total: 632/15692 Darn weather. So much for 3 straight 1000+ butts in the seats for FOFC Cup games. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: weak (4) Left Side Defence: weak (4) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42 Oklahoma City Rednecks Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: formidable (9) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: passable (6) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 44/46 Another case of midfield winning the game. Great job by my trainees. Player Ratings GK Silviu Radu ~ DW Rickie Stepp DM José María Miquel DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ MI Anders Jörgensson (w) ~ MI Albino de Sousa Bastos ~ MI Tobias Hultman (x) WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Dafoe Chang ~ INJ Sidney Buckley ~ Total Stars: 23.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Friendly New middle defender Miguel only put up but no big deal. Two of our three middies put up ~ and Hultman put up as the "worst". Chang's great form got him ~ for, I think, the first time. Radu only got ~ as a sub but, what the heck, he's my clown and backup to my backup goalie. Three Stars He may never ever win another medal, but how could I not give it to Silviu Radu and his goaltending performance Bronze: Tobias Hultman The first of, hopefully, many goals with the Hippos for 17yo UberTrainee(TM) Silver: Dafoe Chang A ~ and two goals for the forward Gold: Silviu Radu Our clown gets some playing time and pitches a shutout despite his ~ rating Game Summary It may never happen again, but 3rd string goalie Silviu "Clipboard" Radu was the hero on the field this week. I was a bit worried with even more missed chances in the first half but things turned out all right in the end. This means we have at least one more friendly after next week's game against the Tigers: The Hippos have advanced into the Round of 32! Press Release** 6/8/2003 at 11:41 Hippos Win 4th Straight FOFC Cup Game With B Team goalie Sidney Buckley getting injured in the first half, 3rd string goalie and clown Silviu Radu came in and helped shut out the Oklahoma City Rednecks. The torrential downpours of the day helped keep the game scoreless in the first half but Dafoe Chang scored two goals and 17yo UberTrainee(TM) Tobias Hultman added a third. The win assures Houston a spot in the Round of 32 which begins in two weeks. Next week, the Hippos visit the Missouri Tigers in their final Group Play game. League Standings Code: Sd --Group E-- FOFC ID Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI 22 Houston Hippopotami sterlingice 8574 USA 4 0 0 14 3 11 12 44 5 Midwest Ice Storm FC Pilotman 70500 USA 2 1 1 11 5 6 7 38 48 S. Boston Hooligans McSweeny 71008 USA 2 2 0 10 8 2 6 43 35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog 70559 USA 2 2 0 9 8 1 6 46 61 Square Pegs mckerney 71980 USA 1 2 1 7 8 -1 4 44 74 Missouri Tigers Achilles 70392 USA 0 4 0 0 19 -19 0 27 Around the Group The other 2 Group E Games This Week S. Boston Hooligans - Square Pegs 2 - 1 The Hooligan's Francis Kimball kept them alive and broke the hearts of Square Pegs fans everywhere, all but eliminating them. Kimball scored twice in the 82nd and 85th minutes, turning a late 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory. The Hooligan's midfield dominated possession but they couldn't break through until Kimball's late goals. Missouri Tigers - Midwest Ice Storm FC 0 - 5 Midwest went back to playing their second team but it was still more than enough for Missouri especially with the weak midfield. Midwest is now in the driver's seat for the second spot in the Group as they have a 1 point lead on Oklahoma City and S. Boston. Notes Looks like we've advanced and have a chance to run the table next week. A giant update should be coming up but I'm not sure if it will be before or after the next game report. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

06-08-2003, 03:15 PM	#85
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Bookkeeping For those of you who follow this thread- you know this is inevitable. A couple of times a season, I have get bogged down when I have some extra stuff I want to type up so a super long bookkeeping extravaganza follows. Actually, I don't have it all here because I want to space it out a little but a lot of stuff is here: hatstats and supporter notes about the last game, a new Hippo, supporter update, and some financial decisions I could use some advice on. Also, there's the typical weekend fare of training update, youth pull, and week in review. Also, I have some stats from the spreadsheet I've been working on but those will have to wait until a future update. Hatstats Following last week's ungodly performance, we jumped in at #4 in all of Div V! In fact, that rating of 68 would make the top 100 on all of the levels (tho, MLS and Div II have less than 100 teams). I've gotta think we run a really efficient team or something because my I tend to get much higher ratings per star than most teams: quite a few teams beat or matched our 30.0 stars. Mick Starks's * performance was the only one to make the top players in Div V by position. However, Carlos Alberto Benito and Stephen Connors ~ ratings were equal to the highest on the list for Div V. Our series ranked 21 this week, which was our second best season rating (the week of the original Hippos/Dragons game saw us in the teens). We are still a long way from autopromotion at 173 (cutoff is 128). If the season ended today, we would play The Terrible Turtles who are in IV.55 in 6th. They are a computer controlled team so it would be a nice place to land. They have 2 teams who score in the 70s but the rest are in the high 50s so we would fit right in. That said, who knows what the future will bring on that front as things are very fluid. As for other stats, we are currently, the 63rd most expensive squad in Div V with our $2.7M team spread amongs 22 players. Our average would be even higher if they ranked that as most teams with high payrolls have more players. Also, as of this week, we ended up on the "misunderstood" list with 1 red card and 11 yellows spread throughout the team. Our 15K+ crowd just missed the top 100 but we might be changing that soon... (more on that below) Supporter Stats* More from last week's epic game, this time via the hattrick supporter stats. If you've never used this or seen it, basically your supporter stats tell you how good your performances are with relation to your best performance. Your top performance gets a 100% and below it you can see your previous best performances and how they stack up. Needless to say, this week's game was our best ever at forward, midfield, defense, and overall. Our defense and attacks weren't that great compared to normal: our best rating but many games were in the 90-99% range so it was only our best attack and defense ratings by the smallest of margins. Our previous best on attack was our game the week before against the Buccabeavzers (PIC'd) at 99% while our bset defensive game previously was at 99% in the first Dragons/Hippos game. However, how do you explain the fact that the Dragons game was 100% to the second best rating of 79% during the first Dragons game? We played more than 25% (~26.5%) better than our previous best due to our excellent midfield. The previous Dragons game was a mere 61% to this one's 100% performance: that's an improvement of over 60% over the previous game! New Hippo No, this isn't nearly as dramatic as some of our recent moves. I wanted to add a 5th defender so I didn't keep running out starters. Also, I wanted a player who could serve as team captain and set pieces ace for the B Team, particularly in FOFC Cup play, which meant his experience + leadership had to add up to at least 10 (our highest was 8) and his set pieces at least passable. Lastly, I wanted someone cheap so it was likely going to be a veteran. After bookmarking quite a few guys who went for way too much, I happened upon José María Miquel who came to us from Chuchua, a Div VI team in Argentina, for a mere $9000. He will be sporting the number 5 for us. While his stamina isn't great, we can work on that a little this offseason and he's basically just to help out for FOFC Cup play anyways (and injury avoidance). He's a passable defender with passable set pieces so he takes over the roles of center defender and set pieces ace. He also has weak experience and passable leadership so he takes over as team captain. Like practically every Hippo, he's controversial #5 José María Miquel (10565041) 27 years, solid form, healthy A controversial person who is fiery and honest. Has weak experience and passable leadership abilities. Nationality: Argentina Assessed value: 16 000 US$ Wage: 672 US$/week including 20% Bonus Career Goals: 0 Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: poor Passing: disastrous Winger: poor Defending: passable Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable Supporters I definately like to mention these guys a few times a season and this is the perfect opportunity. Our number of supporters recently got bumped back up to 8 as FantasyBandit and his Isla Vista Vandals of USA V.25 join the ranks. He gets to join all the others who have a place in the Hippos executive washroom and adjoining palatial suite. He gets to enjoy all of the amenities such as amazing catering and the girls who inhabit said suite. Here is a list of those we support and those who support us: Bees (70510) in USA Owner: ausonny Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-01-31 17:22:38 Supportee since: 2003-01-08 23:22:37 Series: V.41 Screamin' Seamen (70638) in USA Owner: dataking Status: supported Supporter since: 2003-02-02 09:05:12 Series: IV.49 Morrisville Morrisvillians (70926) in USA Owner: NevStar Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-02-02 22:57:25 Supportee since: 2003-02-03 04:56:37 Series: V.93 NE Oklahoma Sidekicks (71068) in USA Owner: vexroid Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-02-13 22:45:08 Supportee since: 2003-02-13 08:24:27 Series: V.111 Louisiana Cyclones (72080) in USA Owner: Doug5984 Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-03-07 01:07:40 Supportee since: 2003-03-06 19:44:19 Series: V.237 Bull Dogs (8421) in USA Owner: Eilim Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-03-28 03:55:19 Series: V.1 Manhattan Marauders (71399) in USA Owner: NAIWF Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-04-22 00:00:14 Series: V.152 goldurnears (71399) in USA Owner: robbgmaier Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-04-30 22:30:26 Series: V.230 Isla Vista Vandals (70384) in USA Owner: FantasyBandit Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-06-03 04:18:02 Series: V.25 Training Oops. Well, my face is red. After training general last week, I forgot to change back to playmaking. Needless to say, everyone is in great form. Unfortunately it's basically a wasted week of training. Future Training With form in such great shape, I'll do some impromptu stamina training then playmaking to finish out the season. Form Starters: (+6) (-0) Entire Team: (+11) (-0) Starters Form Solid (or above): Sanders (exc) Phelan (exc) Benito (exc) Connors (exc) Bush Kimber Stromlius Solomon Newsom Romo Passable: Starks Inadequate: -NONE- Weak (or below): -NONE- I'm going to take advantage of this great form and do some stamina next week. Value Highlights Above $100K: 6(N/A)/8(-1) Above $200K: 4(N/A)/4(N/A) Above $300K: 2(+1)/2(+1) Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($497K) Outfield Leader: Maarten Sanders ($333K) Milestones: Maarten Sanders ($300K) It's an interesting read in other dynasties so I though I'd include it here with a few. Goalie Tim Kimber remains the top value getter for the team as he has been ever since being acquired. For the first time ever, Mick Starks did not have the highest outfield value as Maarten Sanders crushed the $300K barrier. He was in the $240s with weak form just two weeks ago but now he's gone up 4 levels in 2 weeks and has gained nearly $100K in value. Benito passes Starks and is worth nearly $300K himself at $298K. Starks is at $286K, where he's been pretty much since the beginning. For the B Team, the two expensive players are UberTrainees(TM) Bastos and Jorgensson who are over $150K while the third UberTrainee(TM), Hultman, is at $86K. Value Starters: (+11) (-0) Entire Team: (+18) (-2) Team Stats Total Wages: 28904 (+152) Total Value: 2852000 (-3000) Avg Value: 124000 (-5773) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: pass (N/A) Avg Experience: wretched (N/A) No of players: 23 (+1) Nationalities: 9 (+1) Youth Pull, Week 19.9 I'm revising my numbering system based on my spreadsheet. This week is now 19.9 in my books instead of 19.10 as the season starts with the sunday of the first fixture instead of the first week of the cup games. The below numbers have also been revised. When reading back through my old dynasty reports, I got everything on track and I was correct way back when- I sold my first youth pull for $1K but his name has been lost to history as he was fired. Maybe in a future update, I'll list all the names of all the players who work for us in a non-soccer capacity. Speaking of which, the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) will have to go without the current youth pull. This is our second best pull to date after Rolando Gontan who sold for $50K. Unfortunately, I have no use for Ty Lott but I'm sure some defense training 4-5-1'er spit will. He has passable defense, inad stamina, and is only 17. Fortunately DK donated a youth pull a couple of weeks ago who can fill in for Mr Lott. One last note: we got some mother club cash for one of our previous youth pulls: forward Liu Zuo-Lin, who sold originally for $11K. After that, he was daytraded for $25K but now, it looks like he's daytrained and now sold for $101K. Youth Pull Status Youth Pulls: 22 Youth Pull Grocers: 19 (+0) Youth Pulls Sold: 3 (+0) Total Sold for: 362000 (+0) Youth Pull Ty Lott (12582154) 17 years, passable form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest. Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities. Nationality: USA Assessed value: 14 000 US$ Wage: 560 US$/week Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: poor Passing: poor Winger: wretched Defending: passable Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor Conditions Youth Squad: solid (N/C) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (N/C) Sponsors: high on life (N/C) Supporter Club: 1005 members (+24) Supporters: high on life (N/C) Team Spirit: irritated (down 4 levels from satisfied) Confidence: strong (up 2 levels from decent) With our win last week, we blitzed through the 1000 supporter mark. However, the MotS cost us quite a bit TS. Week In Review On the Field To say this was our biggest game ever is to say a fact without hyperbole. This one will likely decide the fate of our series and thankfully, the boys came through with aplomb. An excellent midfield, NSI of 68, and 30.0 stars later, we had a 5-0 victory and control of our own fate as 1st in V.62 was now ours by a slim 3 goal differential lead. The aforementioned midfield put up 3.5, 3.5, and 2.5 stars! The good news continued this week as we got one game closer to running the table in FOFC Cup Group play with a 3-0 win over Airhog's Oklahoma City Rednecks on a "pitch-turned bog". Clown Silviu Radu helped with the shutout when B Team goalie Sidney Buckley went down. Off the Field Not much happened this week, although technically the sale of Roalndo Gontan was this week and not last. We picked up a new veteran defender, team leader, and set pieces ace for $9K to help out the B team in José María Miquel. I stupidly did general training instead of playmaking but got a sellable youth pull who is on the market. Also, I'm considering some changes to the team again. I Need a Money Tree Three of my last four games this year are at home so I'd like to expand to get some extra cash. Unfortunately, with build time, I'll miss one of them but 2 of 3 isn't too bad either. The problem is that I'm hanging around at -$50K so it would put me over $250K in the hole or more. My supporter base is over 1000 and I could probably support most of a 28K stadium. However, this would cost over $300K and I don't have that kind of cash. So I'm thinking about selling Maarten Sanders, our 28yo middie. With the recent form improvement, he's up to excellent form and will likely put up * today. However, he's a bit old and I don't like the idea that he's hanging out in a prime training spot without it doing him any good. I'm hoping to get about $200K from him, but I'm probably overestimating. Two of our trainees got ~ last game so one of them could start gaining regular game experience and it would allow me to get another cheaper trainee on the youth squad. Plus, then our debt after stadium renovations would then be more manageable. Still to Come I have some fun stats I'd love to throw out but this is already too long and I've got to go soon. I'll probably compile a goal, card, and medal list along with some fun stats. Plus, if you want a look at the preliminary spreadsheet I'm working on, it can be found here: Linky SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 06-08-2003 at 03:35 PM.

06-09-2003, 03:58 AM	#86
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Bad team spirit, a road game, a PIC, and letdown from last week could make us primed for an update this week against the brand new Thumpers. They've bought up over $100K of players this week so I was a smidge worried especially after tying one of the teams in the upper tier of the series last week. Also, remember, I have a slim 3 goal lead over the Dragons for the V.62 title and they have a walkover game this week but they may also have to PIC. Game Summary Date: 6/9/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544419 Arena: Thumpers Arena Crowd: 6443 6443 spectators had come to Thumpers Arena this cloudy day. Thumpers had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Herring - Kilskar , Poole, Moreno, Ross - Bagwell, Bradley, Wilburn, Šafárik, Curry - Gravesen. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Kimber - Romo, Strömlius, Bush - Newsom, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Starks - Solomon, Phelan. In the 3rd minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Derrick Solomon put the ball away for 0 - 1. The referee showed Hippopotamis Elmer Bush the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Thumpers had obvious problems in finding their positions. In the 40:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The away team´s Stephen Connors took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 42nd minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 3. Jon Bagwell was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Jesper Gravesen managed to kick one of them into 1 - 3 in the 45:th minute. After 45 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Mick Starks who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 4. Hippopotamis Donald Newsom got himself booked after a foul. Thumpers were forced to a substitution as Juan Carlos Moreno couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. Halftime score was 1 - 4. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 66 percent possession rate. Thumpers -coach had an extra briefing during the break, and after that his players looked a lot more organized. In the 68:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 5 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Elmer Bush rendered him his second booking of the match, and Hippopotami had to finish the game with a reduced squad. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 78:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 1 - 6. Albino de Sousa Bastos was noted down as the scorer. The away team´s Derrick Solomon took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 80:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 7. It was showtime for artist Derrick Solomon who showed off all his technical mastery when he rounded Paul Bradley and finished with a goal to 1 - 8 for Hippopotami. At that, Derrick Solomon was noted down for a hat trick. Derrick Solomon increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 9. In the 87:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 1 - 10 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Donald Newsom. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 75 percent possession of the ball. Most important Thumpers player was Dag Kilskar . However, Erik Wilburn made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was Carlos Alberto Benito. Derrick Solomon on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 10. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 TH: 4-5-1 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 3: Derrick Solomon(7): 1-0 HH: 40: Edwin Phelan(10): 2-0 HH: 42: Stephen Connors(3): 3-0 TH: 45: 3-1 HH: 45: Mick Starks(9): 4-1 Halftime Score: 4-1 Possession: 66% 2nd Half HH: 68: Edwin Phelan(11): 5-1 HH: 78: Albino de Sousa Bastos(1): 6-1 HH: 80: Derrick Solomon(8): 7-1 HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(9): 8-1 HH: xx: Derrick Solomon(10): 9-1 HH: 87: Donald Newsom(3): 10-1 Final Score: 10-1 Possession: 75% Final Possession: 71% Cards HH: xx: Elmer Bush (yellow- particularly nasty challenge) HH: 45: Donald Newsom (yellow- foul) HH: xx: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour) Injuries None, thankfully Stadium Terraces: 0/9702 Basic seats: 0/3850 Seats under roof: 0/1740 VIP seats: 0/400 At his place so anyone sitting in the 'Drome would have felt silly Team Ratings Thumpers Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: solid (7) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: poor (3) Central Attack: poor (3) Left Side Attack: poor (3) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 33/35 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: weak (4) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: solid (7) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: excellent (8) Left Side Attack: formidable (9) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 52/56 Ok, a bit more back to earth after last week. If my TS were better and I had gotten my typical inad midfield, I would have gotten a 59 NSI, second only to last week's obscene 68 Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Marcel Romo ~ DM Thomas Strömlius ~ DW Elmer Bush RED CARD WI Donald Newsom ~ MI Stephen Connors *~ MI Albino de Sousa Bastos (x) ~ MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) *~ WI Mick Starks (o) * FO Edwin Phelan * FO Derrick Solomon ~ Total Stars: 29.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Play It Cool If not for Bush's ejection, we would have put up a new high in stars. We'll give back quite a bit of this next week after the stamina training and general training hangover hit us with a double form whammy. Still, it's awesome to see everyone get ~ or higher. Connors, Benito, and Kimber all got ~ ratings. Phelan gets his first ever to go along with Starks's typical one. Three Stars Another four goal game nets the gold Bronze: Albino de Sousa Bastos The UberTrainee(TM) scores his first of hopefully many goals Silver: Edwin Phelan Edwin's first * nets him 2 goals and he barely stays ahead of our Gold: Derrick Solomon Solomon's second four-goal game of the year Game Summary I was worried a little about this one because of all the stuff I stated in the intro. It was unfounded, apparently. For those of you keeping track at home, Derrick Solomon now has 9 goals in his last 3 games. He is now within one of Phelan for the series lead. Remember that 3 goal lead on the Dragons, well, check below... Press Release 6/9/2003 at 10:24 Solomon Continues Tear in 10-1 Massacre The season started off poorly for Derrick Solomon, V.62's 3rd leading scorer last year and leading Hippo. He was demoted to B Team after a form slump but now he has returned and is making up for lost time. Today he scored 4 more goals, giving him 9 in his last 3 games and leading the Hippos to a rout of the Thumpers. Edwin Phelan added another pair of goals to retain the lead over now-2nd place Solomon. The score was quite suprising consider a PIC and only 10 men in the 2nd half. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 10 50 - 12 27 56 2. CC's Dragons 10 42 - 7 27 63 3. Toledo Blades 10 20 - 14 20 52 4. The Flying Midgets 10 22 - 10 17 52 5. Buccabeavzers 10 19 - 31 10 41 6. goonz 10 14 - 40 6 34 7. Thumpers 10 10 - 37 5 35 8. Beneamata 10 10 - 36 4 31 Around the League You know, a 10-1 win sounds convincing, right? Well, I was worried most of the game about my differential, as anyone in chat knows. CC's Dragons - goonz 9 - 0 Sure, you win 10-1 and think you'd gain in differential: WRONGO! I was watching this game in Criollo at the same time as mine and the Dragons had the series lead for quite a few minutes today. He was up 7-0 not long into the second half while I was still sitting around up 4-1. Lynn Whakaari matched Derrick Solomon's 4 goals and the Dragons recovered just fine from last week's loss. The Dragons put up a 63 NSI and 29 stars. Buccabeavzers - The Flying Midgets 2 - 2 One week after the Thumpers stunned the Blades with a tie, the Midgets were stunned with a draw at Buccabeavzers arena. The Midgets put up out-bril-form across the backside but the Bucs are definately a team on the rise, putting up passables and inads for every rating except a poor at midfield. Adrian O'Keeffe scored twice for the Midgets while Alexander Nielsen and Rob Morrissey scored for the Buccabeavzers. Toledo Blades - Beneamata 4 - 1 Toledo, on the other hand, bounced back from their draw last week to beat Beneamata at the Bladium. The Blades posted form-out-exc across the back and their weak midfield was enough for 92% possession in the second half. Jesse Mohr scored twice in the first half and Steve Hough twice in the second half for the victorious team from Ohio. Notes Big win that was quite fun. Only problem is that we didn't gain any ground on the Dragons because they won equally big. Our final FOFC Cup group play game is this Wednesday as we travel to play the Missouri Tigers. Did I mention I go to school at the University of Kansas and we don't take too kindly to those folk SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

06-13-2003, 05:00 PM	#87
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Not much on the line today: we already had a spot in the round of 32 locked up. However, I did want to run the table in Group Play just to say I did it. My opponent today will be the Missouri Tigers, which I guess is an allusion to Kansas's (my current school) rival to the East. They haven't scored a goal in Group play yet, but who knows- it could happen today: I don't exactly run a scary defensive set. Game Summary Date: 6/12/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 7147133 Arena: Missouri Tigers Arena Crowd: 369 369 spectators arrived at Missouri Tigers Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Missouri started off with a 4-3-1 lineup. Lineup: Jansson - Mut, Miller, López, Weeks - Jones, Odom, Branham - Smith. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Buckley - Romo, Miquel, Stepp - Magnusson, Sanders, Jörgensson, Hultman, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón. Marcel Romo seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 0-1. The previous Hippopotami corner kick was executed by José María Miquel. In the 22nd minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Marcel Romo finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The referee showed Missouris Carlos José Mut the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Björn Magnusson came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Tor Jansson, hitting the bar. The visitors Juan Miguel Tizón took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 41st minute. 0 - 3 for Hippopotami. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Scott Jones of Missouri received a yellow card in the 42nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 65 percent, dominated the battle. After 54 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Juan Miguel Tizón who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 4. Juan Miguel Tizón increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 5. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Missouri seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Marcel Romo was suffering from cramps and had big difficulties keeping up as the opponentes pushed forward. Carlos José Mut had no problems getting through and hit home the 1 - 5 goal. When Randall Weeks left the game because of a back injury in the 80:th minute Missouri, lacking replacements, had to keep on playing decimated. The visitors Juan Miguel Tizón took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 80:th minute. 1 - 6 for Hippopotami. The referee showed Hippopotamis Marcel Romo the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 85 percent possession rate. The most dominating Missouri player was without a doubt Tor Jansson. However, Charles Odom made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Maarten Sanders. Björn Magnusson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 6. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (F) after the names is their goal tally for the FOFC Cup 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 MT: 4-3-1 Events Summary 1st Half HH: xx: Marcel Romo(F1): 1-0 HH: 22: Marcel Romo(F2): 2-0 HH: 41: Juan Miguel Tizón(F4): 3-0 HH: 41: *drawing back* Halftime Score: 3-0 Possession: 65% 2nd Half HH: 54: Juan Miguel Tizón(F5): 4-0 HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón(F6): 5-0 MT: xx: 5-1 HH: 80: Juan Miguel Tizón(F7): 6-1 Final Score: 6-1 Possession: 85% Final Possession: 75% Cards HH: xx: Marcel Romo (yellow- particularly nasty challenge) Injuries None Stadium Terraces: 0/9702 Basic seats: 0/3850 Seats under roof: 0/1740 VIP seats: 0/400 Total: 0/15692 A pretty miserable crowd showed up of only 369 and weather was good. I dunno what happened: Why didn't my fans travel? Team Ratings Missouri Tigers Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: weak (4) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: wretched (2) Left Side Attack: wretched (2) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 26/28 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42 Not a great showing. A poor midfield... ick. Still, good enough to win but it will result in us getting drummed out of the Round of 32 if we play this bad next week. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Marcel Romo ~ DM José María Miquel ~ DW Rickie Stepp (m) ~ WI Bjorn Magnusson * MI Maarten Sanders *** MI Tobias Hultman (x) ~ MI Anders Jörgensson (w) ~ WI Ivan Viseslav (o) ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ FO Dafoe Chang Total Stars: 23.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Friendly Maarten Sanders is up for sale for $250K and his first ever * only helps to enhance his value. Sidney Buckley returned from last week's injury to post a for the first time in a few weeks. I'm not sure how Sanders, Jorgensson, and Hultman's combined 7 stars got a poor midfield... Three Stars The only race here was for third Bronze: Maarten Sanders Yet another Hippo with a * performance Silver: Marcel Romo A defender with 2 goals- who would've thunk it Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón Duh Game Summary I know- I took some hazing for giving up the only goal to Missouri but I don't really care that much since I was one of the two teams that was able to run the table in group play. Unfortunately, due to the ranking-based-seeding, we play the other team to run the table in our first Round of 32 game: Brillig's Slithy Toves but fortunately it's at the 'drome. As I said in another thread: this feels like the NCAA tourney's seeding committee. Press Release 6/13/2003 at 23:28 Hippos Run the Table in FOFC Cup Group Play The Missouri Tigers scored their only goal in the Cup but it didn't keep the Hippos from winning as, for the second time this week and fourth time in four weeks, a Hippo scored 4 goals, this time Juan Miguel Tizon. Wingback Marcel Romo also scored twice in the final game in FOFC Group E play. The Hippos were one of two teams to collect all 15 points in Group Play but only advance as the 16th seed. Round of 32 play sees the Hippos at the 'Drome against the 17th seed Slithy Toves next week. League Standings Code: Sd --Group E-- FOFC ID Nat W L D GF GA DIF PT NSI 22 Houston Hippopotami sterlingice 8574 USA 6 0 0 20 4 16 15 42 5 Midwest Ice Storm FC Pilotman 70500 USA 3 1 1 14 6 8 10 49 35 Oklahoma City Rednecks Airhog 70559 USA 3 2 0 11 8 3 9 50 48 S. Boston Hooligans McSweeny 71008 USA 2 3 0 11 11 0 6 39 61 Square Pegs mckerney 71980 USA 1 3 1 7 10 -3 4 33 74 Missouri Tigers Achilles 70392 USA 0 5 0 1 25 -24 0 28 Around the Group The case was simple for Midwest: win and they're in. If they lose or tie, it's wide open. Square Pegs - Oklahoma City Rednecks 0 - 2 The Rednecks started out big, scoring twice in the first half with 61% possession but the second half ground to a screeching halt. Here's the entire second half: "Square, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle." Boring, huh? Oklahoma City got the win they needed- now a draw or win by S. Boston would put them in by virtue of OKC's head-to-head win against S. Boston. A win by Midwest, however, sends the Ice Storm to the next round. Midwest Ice Storm FC - S. Boston Hooligans 3 - 1 Pilotman pulled no punches and only his 4-5-1 kept this from being a massacre. Midwest put up a passable midfield and won NSI 49-39. Four different players scored in this game and one of the better teams in all of FOFC advances. Notes We move onto the Round of 32 and the race for promotion continues. Training update soon along with news of a sale and possible purchase. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 06-13-2003 at 05:36 PM.

06-13-2003, 05:12 PM	#88
Katon College Benchwarmer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Providence, RI	Um, the lineup that you sent out didn't match the bunch that got the stars. Your midfield got almost completely mixed up twixt start and end. Sanders, for instance, is missing from the stars list. Slight typo, maybe?

06-13-2003, 05:45 PM	#90
NAIWF College Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York, NY	What can one REALLY expect from a Houstonian, or is it Houstonite, screw it a person from Houston anyway?

06-13-2003, 06:38 PM	#92
NAIWF College Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York, NY	I guess you learn something new everyday I was happy to watch that 6 man no hitter since I'm a Mets fan and that'll be the highlight of the season for us