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

[sterlingice]

Breaking News
"Oh, hey Havoc- I figured I'd see you here. My name is SterlingIce and I'm a transfer wire addict."

Well, Jorgensson, our very first UberTrainee(TM) was not of the caliber of some of our recent players and not as good a winger trainee as I had thought. He has yet to even bump to passable playmaking at 18 making him pretty useless. Still, he gets 2.5 stars when played as a middie towards wing. So, on a whim, I put him up for $200K even tho, in a bidding war, he's unlikely to fetch half that, someone bid on him: UIW who is #7 in V.249, which sony luangphone is leading.

This, of course, required me to find a new trainee and I wasted no time, finding a 17yo solid PM by the name of Robert Tryggvesson who used to belong to The BoozeHounds who are the leaders of V.152, the series in which NAIWF's Manhattan Marauders are #3. In typically Hippos fashion, our new #17 had this reaction: "A newly bought player got a really bad start when he arrived in the club. The team spirit fell when he initially turned out not to get along very well with the other ones."

Robert Tryggvesson (12375514)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A nasty fellow who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 76 000 US$
Wage: 936 US$/week including 20% Bonus

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

Well, so on another whim, I listed all three of my 17yo solid trainees for $400K (yes, even the cooly named Daniel Storm). If I get any bites... well, my team will be due for another couple of changes but I doubt anyone will. Still, it's worth $3K for a shot at really helping my team (buying another trainee for $200K then going shopping for the striker and defender I've been looking for). And it's a win/win situation: if no one buys any up, I'll just train them as I had previously planned.

SI

[NAIWF]

You bastard!

Just kidding. I'm hoping the BoozeHounds move up and out this year, and I think they can do that even without autopromoting. If they don't I'm sure they will next season, which will be a tough pill to swallow, but will allow me another season to train 'D' without having serious title aspirations. The guy's splurged a lot and upgraded his stadium to 30,000 seats, so he's not planning to stick around from what I can see. But I will hold you personally responsible if he doesn't get out of my series by next season, oh yes I will.

[Masked]

Originally posted by sterlingice
So, on a whim, I put him up for $200K even tho, in a bidding war, he's unlikely to fetch half that, someone bid on him: UIW who is #7 in V.249, which sony luangphone is leading.

Damn, you're lucky. I am also in in V.249, and UIW hadn't logged in for weeks until yesterday.

[The Afoci]

Nice pick up. I love his name, Robert "You can just call me Bob" Gawperua;ajsghwpeuit9erauiopsfyhgggasdgfhqwetasdggqtg'.zxvvaghiutahdson.

[DataKing]

Originally posted by The Afoci
Nice pick up. I love his name, Robert "You can just call me Bob" Gawperua;ajsghwpeuit9erauiopsfyhgggasdgfhqwetasdggqtg'.zxvvaghiutahdson.

How do you pronounce that?

[The Afoci]

Originally posted by DataKing
How do you pronounce that?

Its really not that hard if you break it down in to small parts:

Gaw
peru
a; This is where it gets difficult, how do yo pronounce a ';'
aj
sgh I assume this is similiar to 'sigh'
wpeuit Ummm...
9er
auiopsfyhgggasdgfhqwetasdggqtg'.zxvvaghiutahdson. Screw it I give up...

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by DataKing
How do you pronounce that?

He's Sweedish so you'll have to forgive him. Judging by stereotypes, his parents spend all their days very busy: his dad shoveling snow and his mom being a member of the Sweedish Bikini team.

SI

[DataKing]

Originally posted by sterlingice
He's Sweedish so you'll have to forgive him. Judging by stereotypes, his parents spend all their days very busy: his dad shoveling snow and his mom being a member of the Sweedish Bikini team.

SI

MILF!

[The Afoci]

Is he pretty like his mother or rugged like his father?

[NAIWF]

Your 8-1 drubbing today was the punishment for buying from The BoozeHounds

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by NAIWF
Your 8-1 drubbing today was the punishment for buying from The BoozeHounds

I'm still in mourning or else, I'll have had my writeup by now.

(Actually, I'm playing around in another game but that's none of your filthy concern )

SI

[sterlingice]

Well, my self-imposed writing break is over. It was one of those "I waited a day and then waited another so then decided to just wait a week" and now I feel a bit more willing to do some writeups. They will be forthcoming between now and Thursday before I leave for the 4th.

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about this matchup because it really should have been a fun one. I could have talked it up as being about two of the biggest offensive juggernauts in a high scoring fun-n-gun shootout. Or I could have mentioned how it was one of those teacher v student matchups that the NCAA Hoops committee loves so much. Or how it is a matchup of two teams with really good showings in Group Play who advanced into the FOFC Cup round of 16. Unfortunately, I know the outcome and it was not pretty.

Game Summary
Date: 6/26/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7203853
Arena: North County Raiders Arena
Crowd: 1714


1714 spectators had come to North County Raiders Arena this cloudy day. Raiders had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Martinez - Lyon, Piotrowski, Boykin - Dailey, Albrecht, Claassen, Castle - Cagle, Lay, Wagner.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Stepp, Miquel, Bush - Viseslav, Hultman, Tryggvesson, Storm, Crain - Tizón, Balcol.

In the 21st minute cheers broke out as Burton Cagle found his way through the guests central defense line, clipping the 1 - 0 goal in for Raiders. Daniel Storm of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 33rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 35:th minute levelling of scores as Hippopotamis José María Miquel equalised to 1 - 1. Raiderss Burton Cagle gave, after 38 minutes, the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Burton Cagle squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 41st minute, asserting the lead to 3 - 1. At that, Burton Cagle was noted down for a hat trick. 3 - 1 was the half-time score. Raiders held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Dan Wagner squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 49:th minute, asserting the lead to 4 - 1. As Todd Crain had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Hippopotami player a red card without batting an eye. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Robert Tryggvesson needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. In the 84:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Thomas Piotrowski dashed through, knocking home 5 - 1 for Raiders. The structure of the game started to change as Raiders decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. After 84 minutes, Dan Wagner managed to intercept a pass intended for the opposing keeper and flip it in, making the score 6 - 1. After 87 minutes Dan Wagner put Raiders ahead 7 - 1 as he rose to head in a hooked ball, the result of an effort from the right side. By then Dan Wagner was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Dan Wagner squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 89:th minute, asserting the lead to 8 - 1. Raiders´s Waldo Martinez left the field after 89 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was Trevor Penn. Raiders, bringing the final ball possession rate to 76 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Raiders player was without a doubt Sam Albrecht. Ciske Claassen was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Ivan Viseslav. However, Ramon María Balcol made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 8 - 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
NCR: 3-4-3

Events Summary

1st Half
NCR: 21: 0-1
HH: 35: José María Miquel (F1): 1-1
NCR: 38: 1-2
NCR: 41: 1-3
Halftime Score: 1-3
Possession: 38%

2nd Half
NCR: 49: 1-4
NCR: 84: 1-5
NCR: 84: 1-6

NCR: 87: 1-7
NCR: 89: 1-8
Final Score: 1-8
Possession: 24%
Final Possession: 31%

Cards
HH: 33: Daniel Storm (yellow- unsportsmanlike conduct)
HH: xx: Todd Crain (red- unprovoked leg sweep)


Injuries
None, but we got one of his: the humorously named Waldo Martinez


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

Our largest friendly crowd ever. Too bad it was at their place. Just goes to show that ardent's got a huge fan base. Our third highest total ever was 1400 against him in our second ever friendly quite a long while ago.


Team Ratings

North County Raiders
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: formidable (9)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 46/50

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: passable (5)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 33/35

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. There's no silver lining to be had here.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Rickie Stepp **~
DM José María Miquel **~
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Ivan Viseslav (o) **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (w) *~
MI Tobias Hultman (x) *~
MI Daniel Storm *~
WI Todd Crain RED CARD
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~
FO Ramon María Balcol ~

Total Stars: 18.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Keep in mind Crain's ** isn't here since he was kicked out, but still... these are awful. It's official, our B Team has been gutted. Jorgensson and Bastos, a pair of **~ middies have been replaced by Storm and Tryggvesson who only put up *~ but that will probably change with stamina training in the offseason. The Balcol experiment failed. He has solid passing and formidable set pieces but only wretched scoring. That ~ performance hurts. Badly. Um... at least the defense played to form? Well, yeah, Stepp got back to **~ and Miguel scored the lone goal. Then again, they let 8 goals through...

Three Stars
Um... hard to pick today and probably one of the worst golds ever

Bronze: Sidney Buckley
Keeper didn't commit suicide... you gotta give him that
Silver: Todd Crain
You know what- a red card will usually get you a medal
Gold: Jose Maria Miguel
Sure the defense let in 8 but he scored the only one of the game and posted **~


Game Summary
We got completely taken out of our game. Ardent blitzed us and our lack of stamina in the trainees gave us absolutely no help in possession. We lost the possession battle and gave up outrageous goals. Dan Wagner scored 3 goals between the 84th and 87th minutes! His 4 second half goals along with Burton Cagle's hat trick in the first half obliterated us. These boys need some stamina training but that will have to wait a couple of weeks until the offseason. Look on the bright side: at least we collected our second ever red card


Press Release
6/28/2003 at 04:34 Hippos Ran and Shot from FOFC Cup
In a battle of two of the most prolific run-and-shoot teams in FOFC, ardent's North County Raiders showed why he was the teacher and the Hippos still the students. Burton Cagle got a hattrick in the first half and Dan Wagner got one in the second half as the Raiders 3-4-3 was too much for the Hippos 3-5-2 H-Gun. The Hippos FOFC Cup MVP is Miguel Tizon with 8 goals. With the Hippos FOFC Cup run at an end, they will be looking to do a little traveling for friendlies; this week it's Hong Kong.


Round of 16 Results

                          HOME  - AWAY
  3       MoKan Mighty Bastards - Long Island Pride          0
  0                        Bees - Concord Assassins          3
  4                   Gargoyles - AnalBumCovers              1
  1        Midwest Ice Storm FC - Complex Spikes             2
  8                   Slumlords - NE Oklahoma Sidekicks      0
  8        North County Raiders - Houston Hippopotami        1
  2          Galesburg Avengers - Negative Waves             4
  0     Cedar Pond Horned Toads - Chesapeake Cheapshots      5

Concord keeps plowing along, this time beating the Bees. Complex Spikes take down Midwest Ice Storm FC in a battle of 4-5-1's while Negative Waves and Chesapeake Cheapshots score minor upsets.


Round of 16 Preview

                         HOME  - AWAY
          MoKan Mighty Bastards - Concord Assassins
                      Gargoyles - Complex Spikes
                      Slumlords - Negative Waves
           North County Raiders - Chesapeake Cheapshots

The #65 Assassins will try to continue their improbable run and the Raiders will move on to meet Chesapeake.

Notes
Well, that was wholly unpleasant. We had a 23-5 goal differential in the Cup coming in and laid a big egg. Granted, quite a bit of that was the result of shuffling around the team and putting the new trainees in place. Still, that hurt. Just goes to show how good some of those hattrick veterans really are. Next week, we will travel to Hong Kong to take on the Chow Chows then I'm lining up a couple of matches against supporters including a return grudge match with a team we've already played twice (suprisingly, not Morrisville) and one we haven't played at all.

SI

[sterlingice]

Training
No bumps, but we aren't expecting other for a couple of weeks. Just kindof a ho-hum training week but form is staying up so that's good news.

Future Training
Playmaking this week, another week and then stamina in the offseason.

Form
Starters: (+4) (-1)
Entire Team: (+7) (-3)

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

Benito dropped two levels to inad form but he's not losing his starting job with that. I'm hoping this is just a little mini-slump. Over the course of his career, he's had pretty high form, never below inad.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+12) (-6)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 6(NC)/7(-1)
Above $200K: 3(NC)/3(NC)
Above $300K: 2(NC)/2(NC)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($498K)
Outfield Leader: Mick Starks ($306K)
Milestones: Mick Starks ($300K)

Benito's little form crash dropped him back from his $306K last week to $268K but team captain Mick Starks finally broke $300K after flirting with the $280K line most of the season.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 25986 (-2048)
Total Value: 2638000 (-103000)
Avg Value: 114696 (+5056)
Avg Age: 21 (+1)
Avg Form: pass (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (N/A)
No of players: 23 (-1)
Nationalities: 9 (+1)


Youth Pull, Week 19.12

Our solid youth squad continues to produce sub-standard players. Our latest stock boy in the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly (TM) is Song Che-Yin.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 25
Youth Pull Grocers: 20 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 4 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (+0)
Total Sold for: 412000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Song Che-Yin (13293753)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is fiery and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 7 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week

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


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: 1077 members (+24)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: composed (N/C)
Confidence: wonderful (up two levels from decent)

Some confidence is good. Also, we should break 1100 supporters next week. If we get promoted, that's at least 1200 to start off next year. We need that new stadium.

Week In Review

On the Field
We thrashed the goonz 6-0 on Kimber's second straight shutout and 3rd in 4 games, a pair of goals by Solomon, and another pair by the midfield. The Dragons only won by 4 so now we're up 6 with only 2 to go. Unfortunately, we were not so fortunate in the FOFC Cup. Our undefeated run came crashing down about us as ardent's run-n-gun Raiders destroyed us 8-1. The good news to come out of that game is that we now have 3 solid 17yo PMs but news on that is below.

Off the Field
Anders Jorgennson just didn't fit in with the rest of our UberTrainees(TM). Frankly, he just wasn't as good as the others, so he was put on the market with the really high price of $200K. Fortunately, someone bit and so we welcomed "Robert 'You can just call me Bob' Gawperua;ajsghwpeuit9erauiopsfyhgggasdgfhqwetasdggqtg'.zxvvaghiutahdson" (or at least, that's what he's referred to as in crawfish country. Robert Tryggvesson joins Daniel Storm and Tobias Hultman to compose the new, improved UberTrainees(TM). Proving it's an even smaller world than first thought, both sony and Masked are in the division of the team who bought Jorgennson. NAIWF was none too pleased as I bought him from a series competitor and we blame his curse for the loss to ardent Also, we sold Dafoe Chang, backup forward, for $25K.

Closing
Our last challenge of the season comes next week at the Flying Midgets against their tough defense. For a truly leisurely match, we are heading to Hong Kong for some time in the exotic city for our friendly on Wednesday.

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
It's our last big challenge of the season. Next week against Beneamata should be a cakewalk and our scoring prowess will be put to the test but the game isn't really in doubt. This week, we will play The Flying Midgets who typically sport a nasty 4-5-1 which makes goals hard to come by. They've been a bit in flux lately, however. They sold off their most visible player in goalie Svarg Ram and got $650K for him and have bought up a couple of players to improve elsewhere so I'm not really sure what to expect from them.

Game Summary
Date: 6/30/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544431
Arena: Joe C. Memorial Arena
Crowd: 8264

8264 spectators arrived at Joe C. Memorial Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Midgets tactics involved an interesting 4-3-3 combination. They fielded: Whitt - Álvarez Sánchez, Lugo, Bond, Noe - Stern, Greenfield, Griffith - Blombom, Aastrup, Winiak.

Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Romo - Newsom, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Starks - Solomon, Phelan.

Some quick foot work on the left side of the field in the 18:th minute left Hippopotami´s Donald Newsom completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After the ball got lifted in from the left Edwin Phelan was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 20 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The visitors Edwin Phelan took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 20:th minute. 0 - 2 for Hippopotami. Donald Newsom was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Edwin Phelan managed to kick one of them into 0 - 3 in the 21st minute. After this Hippopotami lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. Stephen Connors came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Gordon Whitt, hitting the bar. 0 - 3 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 80 percent possession rate.

In the 47:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 0 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Stephen Connors. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 87 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Midgets player was without a doubt Laverne Griffith. Trent Greenfield was a disappointment, however. Most important Hippopotami player was Stephen Connors. However, Marcel Romo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 4.

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
FM: 4-3-3

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 18: Donald Newsom(5): 1-0
HH: 20: Edwin Phelan (12): 2-0
HH: 21: Edwin Phelan (13): 3-0
HH: 21: *pulling back*
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 80%

2nd Half
HH: 47: Stephen Connors(5): 4-0
Final Score: 4-0
Possession: 87%
Final Possession: 84%

Cards
Clean game

Injuries
None


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

The Midgets drew a modest 8200 fans- not a good crowd but not a good crowd, either.


Team Ratings

The Flying Midgets
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/45

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

He put up some pretty good ratings on the defense, as usual, but we played a balanced game. Plus with that 3-level midfield, we actually had set up a picnic blanket on his side of the pitch and a few of the defenders were busy eating lunch while the Connors, Benito, and co. controlled the ball.


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

Total Stars: 30.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Starks is back up to ***, Romo back down to ** and Benito back to *** instead of that extra half star. No big news here.

Three Stars
Tough choice between the top 2

Bronze: Donald Newsom
Scored the first goal and assisted on another
Silver: Edwin Phelan
His two goals in two minutes takes back the goal lead from teammate Derrick Solomon
Gold: Tim Kimber
Timber gets the nod with his third straight shutout

Game Summary
Apparently all the sales from the Midgets (they sold more than just Ram) gutted the team some and running a 4-3-3 hurt. Their good defense and the fact that we pulled back were the only things that kept this from being a massacre.

Press Release
7/2/2003 at 11:32 Phelan's Goals Give Him Lead, Hippos Win
Edwin Phelan scored 2 goals in the first half to take the lead in the V.62 scoring race away from teammate Derrick Solomon and "Timber" Kimber got his third straight shutout as Houston beat the Flying Midgets and new starting goalie Gordon Whitt. Donald Newsom and Stephen Connors also scored for the Hippos, who are starting to pull away from the Dragons in the race for promotion with a lead that now stands at 7 goals. Houston finishes up at home against Beneamata next week.


League Standings

 
N  Team                 P   Goals  Pts NSI
eep- I forgot to update this and I don't really want to recalculate.  
Rest assured, I'm still in 1st and, as for the Dragons, well, see below.

Around the League
We had a 6 goal differential coming in...

Toledo Blades - goonz 2 - 0
A kindof boring game unless your name was Jesse Mohr for the Blades. He missed a shot in the first half then scred a goal, "behaved like an inexperienced youth player", and then just missed another goal in the second half and also "had a terrible day". It was an eventful day for the Blades ** midfielder. The Blades 5-4-1 put up mag-wc-out defensive ratings. WOW!

Beneamata - Thumpers 0 - 6
The Thumpers are continuing to roll and could be a dangerous team next year. Beneamata just got blitzed at home.

Buccabeavzers - CC's Dragons 1 - 4
I was really worried about this game as the Dragons could have annihilated the Bucs. But after scoring 4 in the 1st half, they pulled back and didn't score again in the game. Dragons put up a 61 NSI.

Notes
Yeah, this is a couple of weeks late in delivery but, oh well, it couldn't be helped.. One week to decide the series and an international friendly in exotic Hong Kong this week.

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
I'd like to get out and see the world: I'd really like to have my team visit all the countries I can. However, small and esoteric is the way to go for me. The problem with that is finding a team who plays about on my level for friendlies. Fortunately, I checked the Friendly Ads and ran across a team from Hong Kong called the Chow Chows. They play a 5-3-2 and put up nice defensive numbers but not much of a midfield or attack so I figured I could hang with them. Not only that but they draw 2K-5K crowds which has got to be good for recouping lost travel money.

Also, I want to put out a hearty thanks to Apoorvahk who is # 1 in IV.20 Hong Kong who was very friendly and a gracious host!


Game Summary
Date: 7/2/2003 at 11:00
MatchID: 7231818
Arena: Whiskas Bowl
Crowd: 3652

3652 spectators had come to Whiskas Bowl this cloudy day. Chows had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. They fielded: Foo-Foo - Ayd-n, van Beek, Holtengren, Erin, Larsson - Lu, Foot-Yow, Chee-Yang - Mellon, Chin-choong.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Buckley - Stepp, Miquel, Romo - Viseslav, Hultman, Tryggvesson, Storm, Crain - Tizón, Balcol.

In the games 12th minute Daniel Storm almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a spectacular scissors shot just past the bar. Hippopotami had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially in the 24:th minute when Rickie Stepp came up alone against Tang Foo-Foo who managed a block. Chows made a substitution in the 31st minute. Mats Holtengren limped off the field and was replaced by Gebhard Schwarz. Wouter van Beek was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner which then was extended byConny Erin, but the ball went into the frame. Merle Mellon sprinted between the opposing defenders after 36 minutes, but the keeper deflected Jin Chin-choong's shot. After 37 minutes Hippopotami put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Daniel Storm finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Hippopotamis Rickie Stepp got himself booked after a foul. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 64 percent possession of the ball.

The referee showed Hippopotamis Ivan Viseslav the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 60 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Chows player was without a doubt Tang Foo-Foo. Wouter van Beek on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami´s best player was Rickie Stepp. Ramon María Balcol on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 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 shows this is 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
CC: 5-3-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 37: Daniel Storm (F): 1-0
Halftime Score: 1-0
Possession: 64%

2nd Half
*NO EVENTS*
Final Score: 1-0
Possession: 60%
Final Possession: 62%

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

Injuries
None, thankfully. Unfortunately we injured one of his an appologized profusely


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

WOW! 3642 at the Whiskas Bowl! We made nearly $3500 after the $6000 travel costs. By comparasion, our big crowd against ardent last week netted us $4500 so I'll pay the extra $1000 for extra training on the weeks when we have time.


Team Ratings

Chow Chows
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 42/44

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 35/38

Well, we lost most of the battles but won midfield and, hence, the war. I'm really hoping some stamina training fixes some of these problems.


Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Rickie Stepp (m) **~
DM José María Miquel **
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
MI Daniel Storm *~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **
MI Tobias Hultman (o) *~
WI Todd Crain (o) **
FO Ramon María Balcol ~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

Total Stars: 20.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Wow: Tryggvesson gets ** which was somewhat unexpected. The defense backs off a little with a pair of ** but was still good enough today. Tizon is back up to ** for the first time in a while!

Three Stars
A lot easier than last week

Bronze: Daniel Storm
UberTrainee(TM) Storm gets his first goal for the Hippos
Silver: Apoorvahk
Chow Chow's owner gets a medal for being a good host
Gold: Sidney Buckley
One week after finding him hanging from a shower rod, he matches Kimber's shutout


Game Summary
Again, I want to thank Apoorvahk for hosting and I appologized profusely for injuring his player. Also, FYI, games in Hong Kong take place exactly 12 hours before games in the USA. It was good to have a game with no strings attached at all to it so I could continue to experiment with player placements.


Press Release
7/3/2003 at 11:28 Hippos Do Hong Kong
The Hippos hit the road and, in the process, shattered a record for friendly attendance as 3652 screaming fans watched Houston down the Chow Chows 1-0 at the Whiskas Bowl. New UberTrainee(TM) Daniel Storm scored his first goal and the Hippos defense led by goalie Sidney Buckley made it stick. The Hippos would like to thank Apoorvahk for being such a gracious host and I appologize for my players getting too rowdy and injuring one of his. Next week: a supporter match at the Louisiana Cyclones.


FOFC Cup Quarterfinals Results

                          HOME  - AWAY
  1       MoKan Mighty Bastards - Concord Assassins          6
  3                   Gargoyles - Complex Spikes             0
  2                   Slumlords - Negative Waves             1
  2        North County Raiders - Chesapeake Cheapshots      4

I don't know how they keep doing it, but this time Concord obliterated the MoKan Mighty Bastards. The Raiders got upset by the Cheapshots. C'mon, ardent, you need a better showing than that after obliterating me last week


FOFC Cup Semifinals Preview

                           HOME - AWAY
                      Gargoyles - Concord Assassins
                      Slumlords - Chesapeake Cheapshots

Can the Assassins go all the way? Another huge test next week with the Gargoyles.

Notes
Check off Hong Kong as my second international friendly (Sweden being the first). We played a really competitive match and the boys came through, winning on the road. For next week, we have booked reciprocal supporter/supportee Doug5984 and his Louisiana Cyclones to our first ever match down at The Cyclone Center. When I messaged, he said he had been thinking about the same thing so it must have been hattrick ESP at work. We've never played before and I'm really curious to check his team out.

Also, we will probably go forward with that grudge match in 2 weeks during the offseason when we can play full teams but the details on that are yet to be worked out.

SI

[Doug5984]

"For next week, we have booked reciprocal supporter/supportee Doug5984 and his Louisiana Cyclones to our first ever match down at The Cyclone Center. When I messaged, he said he had been thinking about the same thing so it must have been hattrick ESP at work. We've never played before and I'm really curious to check his team out. "

I just accepted the friendly. Good luck to your team; hopefully no injuries. It must have been the hattrick ESP . It should be a good game but chances are you will just beat me pretty bad; I will be playing 1 starter (starting forward w/ a red card for the league match and he needs a game to help his form out). Besides that it will be all backups; in my friendly earlier today against FrogMan I put up a
Right Side Defence: formidable
Central Defence: outstanding
Left Side Defence: solid

So I wouldn't expect to many highlights from this game the 5-4-1 is very boring.

Also- good luck in your league game this weekend...and hopefully good luck in Div IV next season.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Doug5984
I just accepted the friendly. Good luck to your team; hopefully no injuries. It must have been the hattrick ESP . It should be a good game but chances are you will just beat me pretty bad; I will be playing 1 starter (starting forward w/ a red card for the league match and he needs a game to help his form out). Besides that it will be all backups; in my friendly earlier today against FrogMan I put up a
Right Side Defence: formidable
Central Defence: outstanding
Left Side Defence: solid

So I wouldn't expect to many highlights from this game the 5-4-1 is very boring.

Also- good luck in your league game this weekend...and hopefully good luck in Div IV next season.

I don't mind playing against starters at all: been there, done that with the red card a couple of times this year. You'll get the see the UberTrainees(TM) in action, but I figure they aren't worth much until next year after a couple of weeks of stamina training.

Good luck, yourself, in Div IV
I'm just hoping for no fluky loss or tie this week that could jeopardize my spot in Div IV. I'm playing normal just in case I need to MotS in a qualification game.


SI

[sterlingice]

Training
Whoa! A bump out of nowhere. Albino de Sousa Bastos had been getting 2.5 stars for a while at middie so he got elevated to A Team. But we didn't expect this: our 18yo bumped to excellent playmaking. Also, we had a couple of experience bumps. B Team captain Jose Maria Miguel bumped to inad experience meaning he'll be the captain for as long as he's there. A Team captain and all around badass goalie "Timber" Kimber bumped to weak experience so he will get to wear the C for a while instead of Mick Starks. That's a lot of ABCs.

Future Training
Another week of playmaking then stamina, set pieces, and... stamina, I dunno.

Form
Starters: (+0) (-2)
Entire Team: (+2) (-4)

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

Not much movement. Connors dropped two levels. At least Benito stayed at inad. I guess this is the best time of the season to have a mini-slump at midfield.

Value
Starters: (+6) (-4)
Entire Team: (+11) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 7(+1)/8(+1)
Above $200K: 4(+1)/4(+1)
Above $300K: 2(NC)/2(NC)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($487K)
Outfield Leader: Mick Starks ($316K)
Milestones: Albino de Sousa Bastos ($200K), Donald Newsom ($100K)

Along with Bastos's bump, he also got a milestone. Newsom barely broke the $100K mark.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 26156 (+170)
Total Value: 2747000 (+109000)
Avg Value: 119435 (+4739)
Avg Age: 20 (-1)
Avg Form: pass (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 23 (NC)
Nationalities: 9 (NC)

Youth Pull, Week 19.13
Following hot on the heels of last week's 19yo Asian American Song Che-Yin, we pulled Qiu Tuck-Meng who fared substantially better. He's 19 and has poor passing and set pieces, but he has solid scoring! He has been set for sale at $120K.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 26
Youth Pull Grocers: 20 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 4 (+0)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 2 (+1)
Total Sold for: 412000 (+0)

Youth Pull
Qiu Tuck-Meng (13526508)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 64 000 US$
Wage: 840 US$/week

Stamina: weak Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: solid 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: 1099 members (+22)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: composed (NC)
Confidence: wonderful (NC)

Well, the supporters keep coming and the spirit and confidence will soon reset. Shame.

Week In Review

On the Field
We surived our final test, beating the Midgets 4-0. Phelan took the scoring lead back from Phelan and the Hippos pulled to 7 goals in front of the Dragons with one week to go. Also, we eked above the auto-promotion line! CASH! Then we went to Hong Kong for a friendly and got over 3500 people to see a friendly. Daniel Storm scored the only goal in the game as the Hippos won 1-0 while on holiday.

Off the Field
Only one significant move this week. I purchased Efrain Castaneda, 18yo wingback (solid def, weak wing) for just a smidge over $125K. Hopefully he will be able to play either wingback or middle defender for us very soon. I'm going to start putting up some of our more expensive guys for exorbitant prices in a chance someone will bite. Maybe I'll get lucky. In particular, I'm putting my 17yo solid PMs up for $400K so that if someone buy them, I can replace them with a 17yo passable next year and still have room for veteran improvements like a central defender or striker.

Closing
One more match left this year. Hopefully this time next week I'll be talking about my new Div IV series and hopefully it won't be too hard.

(NOTE: I'm still about a week behind...)

SI

[DataKing]

Just a small sidenote. Team captains in soccer typically don't wear a 'C' on their jersey, as far as I know. It's actually an armband that they wear. At least that's how it is in the E.P.L., but hey, it's your team. You can have them tattoo it on their forehead if you like.

Glad to see things are going well with the Hungry Hungry Hippos.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by DataKing
Just a small sidenote. Team captains in soccer typically don't wear a 'C' on their jersey, as far as I know. It's actually an armband that they wear. At least that's how it is in the E.P.L., but hey, it's your team. You can have them tattoo it on their forehead if you like.

Glad to see things are going well with the Hungry Hungry Hippos.

We've been training our team more as a hockey team than soccer team. Just ask Doug after injuring 4 of his last friendly

BTW, I'm going to have over a million bucks to play with. I have high bids on my youth pull (the solid scorer), my recent bump (excellent PM), and another trainee (one of my solid PMs). I can pretty easily replace those guys and upgrade massively: probably a *** striker and *** center defender.

*dances a jig*

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
It's all come down to this. However, the last couple of weeks have given us some breathing room: the differential is at 7 and the Dragons have to face a decent team in the Toledo Blades. I'm guessing both with MotS. For some reason, I decided not to MotS today because I figured I could rack up 6-10 goals without it and there's an off chance of a qualification match. So, here we go...


Game Summary
Date: 7/7/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544437
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692


Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 15692 at The Hippodrome today. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Castaneda, Romo - Starks, Benito, Connors, de Sousa Bastos, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan.

Beneamata had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Pomar - Wen-Wei, Bonilla, Parris, García Soler - Pai, Tobin, Lange, Mckinley - Ramirez, Guerrero.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 4:th minute goal by Derrick Solomon for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 2 - 0. Derrick Solomon finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The referee showed Beneamatas José Tobin the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area, but at last Hippopotami´s Marcel Romo was able to shove the ball in. 3-0. In the 39:th minute Hippopotami´s Carlos Alberto Benito tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Derrick Solomon putting the lead up to 4 - 0. By then Derrick Solomon 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. The teams went for a half-time break at 4 - 0. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 82 percent, dominated the battle.

A lunatic dribble by Tu Wen-Wei, in front of the own keeper, set up Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan for an embarrasingly easy strike. 5 - 0... In the 55:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 6 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Efrain Castaneda coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. Hippopotami put their lead ahead another goal as Edwin Phelan struck home the 7 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 8 - 0. Mick Starks finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 85 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Marcel Romo was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Beneamata player was without a doubt Rollo Pomar. However, José Tobin made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 8 - 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
BM: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 4: Derrick Solomon (13): 1-0
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (14): 2-0
HH: xx: Marcel Romo (2): 3-0
HH: xx: Derrick Solomon (15): 4-0
HH: xx: *pulling back*
Halftime Score: 4-0
Possession: 82%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (14): 5-0
HH: 55: Efrain Castaneda (1): 6-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (15): 7-0
HH: xx: Mick Starks(4): 8-0
Final Score: 8-0
Possession: 85%
Final Possession: 84%

Cards
Clean game, again

Injuries
None- woo!


Stadium
Terraces: 9702/9702
Basic seats: 38500/3850
Seats under roof: 1740/1740
VIP seats: 400/400
Total: 15692/15692

This will probably be our last crowd ever of this size. Stadium expansion plans in the offseason.


Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 53/59

Beneamata
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 36/38

I can't help but love getting passable on the midfield. However, we're going to have to step that up a level next year to keep from sinking in Div IV. Hopefully, we can keep up a solid or better attack and then a formidable attack on one side.


Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
DM Efrain Castaneda **~
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: 29.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Some pretty lackluster star ratings as Connors, Benito, and Kimber only put up *** instead of their ***~ maxes. Castaneda was only good for **~ instead of the *** I was hoping for. Oh well.


Three Stars
Three high quality winners today.

Bronze: Tim Kimber
It's tough competition when your 4th straight shutout only nets you a bronze
Silver: Edwin Phelan
Pair of goals ties Solomon for season series goal leader
Gold: Derrick Solomon
His hat trick completes the journey from B Teamer at the start of the season to series season goal leader


Game Summary
It looks like we will be going to Div IV next season after throttling Beneamata. Timber ends the season with 4 straight shutouts and 5 in 6 games and Phelan ties for the series goal title with 15. However, in true storybook fashion, Solomon ties him with a hat trick this game despite starting the season on the B Team. He had 11 goals in his last 7 games! Somehow I doubt the Dragons will win by 15 this week to take away the V.62 title.


Press Release
7/8/2003 at 22:25 Solomon, Phelan Close Out Season in Style
Derrick Solomon collected a hat trick and Edwin Phelan scored twice, ending the season in a tie at 15 goals apiece for the V.62 scoring title while "Timber" Kimber extended his shutout streak to 4 straight games as the Hippos routed Beneamata in front of another sellout at the 'drome. Marcel Romo, Efrain Castaneda, and Mick Starks also scored for the Hippos, who ended the season at 39 points with a 70 - 12 goal differential and are due for autopromotion, edging out a very good Dragons team.


Around the League
So let's go to the big board...

Thumpers - Buccabeavzers 4 - 0
Thumpers are definately going to be a team to be reckoned with last year. They're still fighting to avoid relegation and put up a passable midfield! I warned the Dragons that they will be their fiercest competition next year. They "only" put up a 53 NSI (and it may have been MotS induced) but with a little more patching, this team will be very good. They've come a long way, winning 4 in a row since the 10-1 beating we gave them 5 weeks ago.

goonz - The Flying Midgets 2 - 3
The Midgets finished the season, barely beating the goonz in a meaningless game. The goonz are destined for relegation, already having cemented a 7th or 8th spot while the Midgets were all but guaranteed 4th unless they won 10-0, they would have moved up to 3rd.

CC's Dragons - Toledo Blades 4 - 0
I'm pretty sure the Dragons MotS'd and they put up a solid midfield and 66 NSI. As long as they can hold off the Thumpers and the Div IV relegee, they're heading to Div IV next year after narrowly missing out this year. The Dragons lowest rating was a passable center attack and only one player got ** with the rest getting more. The Blades put up a World Class-Supernatural-Outstanding defense across their backside but that was with a 5-4-1.


League Standings

 
N  Team                 P   Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  14 70 - 12 39  59
 
2. CC's Dragons         14 57 - 10 39  66
3. Toledo Blades        14 22 - 21 23  58
4. The Flying Midgets   14 26 - 19 20  45
 
5. Thumpers             14 26 - 38 17  53
6. Buccabeavzers        14 27 - 41 16  43
 
7. goonz                14 17 - 56 6   42
8. Beneamata            14 13 - 61 4   38

Notes
Ok, I've started catching up. Hopefully I can be completely caught up in the next couple of days. We win and are going to be moving up to IV.21. Next up, a pair of friendlies, the season awards banquet, a lot of player movement, and next season preview.

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
Last week, we traveled to Hong Kong. This week, we head to the Cyclone Center to face Doug5984's Louisiana Cyclones. We've been mutual supporters since early March but with the Cup and FOFC Cup going on, we've never had a chance to play. After this game, I'm not sure he wants to be my supporter any more. Ever had one of those days where pretty much everything goes wrong?


Game Summary
Date: 7/10/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7264582
Arena: The Cyclone Center
Crowd: 1237


Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 1237 at The Cyclone Center today. Louisiana started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. They fielded: Glenn - Pinoy, Rusu, Blalock, Rusu, Persson - Hightower, Spalding, Kumar, Moon - Silva.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic incomprehensible 2-6-2 formation. Lineup: Buckley - Strömlius, Castaneda - Crain, Miquel, Hultman, Tryggvesson, Storm, Viseslav - Tizón, Tuck-Meng.

Hippopotami´s 0 - 1 goal came from a questionable penalty. José María Miquel struck that one home without a second thought. The referee showed Hippopotamis Thomas Strömlius the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The Louisiana player was Erin Glenn who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Hippopotami appeared unsure on how to play. Fine winger Todd Crain made one of his many passes from the wing into the middle in the 19:th minute. Juan Miguel Tizón went to the air and hit the ball firmly with his forehead for 0 - 2. Qiu Tuck-Meng was, after 21 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors lead with a well placed diving header but home side keeper Freddy Mata saved. Louisiana´s Albino Silva got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge putting the away teams lead down to 1 - 2. 23 minutes into the game Albino Silva had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Hud Yazzie. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 2. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 52 percent, dominated the battle.

During the break Hippopotami´s coach went through the teams new tactics yet again. In the 48:th minute Hippopotamis Efrain Castaneda received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The player down was Alexandru Rusu. The Louisiana bench looked worried a while but in the end he managed to get up. Hippopotami seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. After a fatal mistake from the away teams right side defense in the 62nd minute, an alert Hud Yazzie bagged the ball, evening the score to 2 - 2. Daron Blalock behaved like an inexperienced youth player in the 68:th minute as he gave the ball away to an opponent. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 77:th minute goal by Dwight Moon for Louisiana, putting them ahead 3 - 2. In 83rd minute of game time Hippopotami´s Efrain Castaneda received his second yellow card and was sent off. Sebastian Rusu the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Louisiana, with an impressive 55 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Louisiana player was without a doubt Yadhavan Saxena. Tyrone Hightower was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Thomas Strömlius. However, José María Miquel made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 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 shows this is a friendly
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team

Formations
HH: 2-6-2
LC: 5-4-1

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Jose Maria Miguel (F): 1-0
HH: 19: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 2-0
LC: xx: 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 52%

2nd Half
LC: 62: 2-2
LC: 77: 2-3
Final Score: 2-3
Possession: 45%
Final Possession: 49%

Cards
HH: xx: Thomas Strömlius (yellow- particularly nasty challenge)
HH: 48: Efrain Castaneda (yellow- going into a challenge studs first)
HH: 83: Efrain Castaneda (yellow- foul)


Injuries
None, but we inflicted *four* on the Cyclones. Who wants the next "friendly"?


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

Over 1200 people showed up at the Cyclone Center to watch us injure his players.


Team Ratings

Louisiana Cyclones
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: outstanding (10)
Left Side Defence: formidable (9)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: wretched (2)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/43

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 37/39

We need to get some of those trainees better stamina training since midfield is the only rating that matters to me in friendlies (as that is what I'm training).

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Thomas Stromlius (m) **~
DW Efrain Castaneda RED CARD
WI Ivan Viseslav **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson **
MI Daniel Storm (x) *~
MI José María Miquel (x) ~
MI Tobias Hultman (w) *~
WI Todd Crain (o) **
FO Qiu Tuck-Meng **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

Total Stars: 19.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Pretty miserable. Tho, Tryg put up another ** and looks like he is a little ahead of the other UberTrainees(TM). Tuck-Meng put up **~ but will be sold shortly. Miguel, for his good **~ at center d isn't much of a midfielder.

Three Stars
Silver linings were a bit hard to find this game

Bronze: Qiu Tuck-Meng
Last week's youth pull almost scored a goal
Silver: Juan Miguel Tizon
Scored a goal and didn't hurt anybody (a big plus this game)
Gold: Jose Maria Miguel
Scores a goal despite being accidentally placed at middie


Game Summary
This was almost a total and complete collapse. I suppose I didn't have any injuries but that's about the only good news (see below)


Press Release
7/10/2003 at 04:13 Just One of Those Days
It started off a good day- I'm playing a supporter a match at his place with nothing on the line except a few bragging rights about whose B Team is better so I didn't so much mind the fact that I blew a 2-1 lead. Of course, I accidentally put a 2-6-2 so I lose my weekly training. Then I get a player thrown out with a red. And, to top it all off, I injure 4 of his players including 2 trainees. Somehow, I don't think I'll be getting any fruit baskets from Louisiana this week... *sigh*


FOFC Cup Semifinals Results

                          HOME  - AWAY
  1                   Gargoyles - Concord Assassins          0
  7                   Slumlords - Chesapeake Cheapshots      2

The crazy upset run of Concord comes to an end. The Assassins were ground down by the Gargs great defense despite posting a passable midfield, an NSI of 57, and possession of 58%. The Garg's goalie Torbjorn Kullenhult made 3 goal-saving stops. The slumlords put up excellent and formidable on all ratings except midfield and destroyed Chesapeake. Frankie Heck got a hat trick.

FOFC Cup Finals Preview

                           HOME - AWAY
                      Gargoyles - Slumlords

A pair of tough Div IV teams face off. To add even more to this championship, it will be the only game for each this week so starters will likely play.

Notes
Well, this certainly could have gone better. I've already appologized profusely to Doug and I really need to stop playing friendlies where I injure the other team. Actually, hold that thought for a second. Next week, the between seasons week, our starters (and some purchases) will get a shot at one of our big rivals, the Bees.

SI

[sterlingice]

Preview
To casual readers of this dynasty, the Morrisville rivalry is easily the biggest. However, the hardcore fans and our players know we owe the Bees big time, too. They have beaten us in two previous meetings and we definately want some revenge. Both of our teams started within days of each other last January so this will be a good way to see where both of our teams are. We'll both be playing a mix of starters and trainees since ausonny's team had a qualification game. I have quite a few new players I wanted to try out and the new experience changes come into play, too. When we showed up at the field today, it was pouring rain...


Game Summary
Date: 7/17/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 7309008
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 882


Due to an all-day shower, 882 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Castaneda - Connors, Meek, Benito, Storm, Starks - Phelan, Houben.

Bees tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Burroughs - Siegel, Sherwood, Strozynski - Marechal, Martínez, Jackson, Vieren, Clifton - Gallegos, Ladd.

Many thought Coskum Houben ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 7:th minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Derrick Burroughs. 11 minutes into the game Chad Gallegos had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Erik Martin. Edwin Phelan was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn´t move the ball around with his usual grace. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 28:th minute goal by José María Miquel for Hippopotami, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Herschel Meek of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 30:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 75 percent possession rate.

Herschel Meek should probably have put his team up another goal in the 49:th minute, but some great goaltending by Derrick Burroughs kept the visitors in the game. In the 53rd minute of the game, Hippopotami´s Herschel Meek had to leave the pitch after receiving his second booking. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Bees´s Erik Martin got himself booked. The game was characterized by rough play and many physical challenges. Florentino Martínez showed great heart and had a good game. Edwin Phelan almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 88 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Hippopotami. However, Derrick Burroughs made a spectacular save. Mick Starks of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 88:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 82 percent possession rate.

Most important Hippopotami player was Tim Kimber. Edwin Phelan was a disappointment, however. Bees´s best player was Witold Strozynski. Max Jackson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 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 shows this is 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
B: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 28: Jose Maria Miguel (F): 1-0
Halftime Score: 1-0
Possession: 75%

2nd Half
*No Goals*
Final Score: 1-0
Possession: 82%
Final Possession: 79%

Cards
HH: 30: Herschel Meek (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)
HH: 53: Herschel Meek (yellow- removed from pitch)
HH: 88: Mick Starks (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)

Injuries
None, but he had one. That's injuries in 3 straight friendlies


Stadium
Terraces: 560/9702
Basic seats: 202/3850
Seats under roof: 86/1740
VIP seats: 34/400
Total: 882/15692

Not bad for a complete rainstorm, but blech: only 882.


Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: passable (6)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 56/61

Bees
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: excellent (8)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/49

How this game was only 1-0 is beyond me. That weak right side attack will go up on days when the rain isn't completely hampering Phelan, Connors isn't playing wing, and the inner middie on that side doesn't get kicked off the pitch. Highest ratings to date except for the Dragons game and a bunch of guys were playing out of position. That excellent defense across the backside really makes me happy, especially since my best purchase, a potential *** middle defender, is out for another two weeks and should only miss one league game. Not bad. Not bad at all.


Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Elmer Bush (d) ***
DM José María Miquel (n) **~
DW Efrain Castaneda (d) **~
WI Stephen Connors (m) **~
MI Herschel Meek RED CARD
MI Daniel Storm (x) *~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Edwin Phelan *~
FO Coskum Houben **~

Total Stars: 26.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly

Lots of news, good and bad. But that's what experiment games like this are all about. I plan on experimenting more next week in our cup game. First, the great news: with the new changes and their current forms, Starks, Benito, and Kimber all get ***~ this game. Bush put up a *** when I put him in defensive, so I may try that out more often. However, that was on the side with the weak offense. Don't worry about Phelan- that *~ is mainly the product of his technical skill and the fact that the field was soaking wet. There was even an event about it: "Edwin Phelan was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn´t move the ball around with his usual grace." I'm a little disappointed by Houben with only **~ especially after I spent $150K on him and he's got solid/pass scoring/passing and a pretty assessed high value for those levels ($143K).


Three Stars
Silver linings were a bit hard to find this game

Bronze: Mick Starks
Welcome to the ***~ club, super winger
Silver: Tim Kimber
Timber keeps his shutout streak alive
Gold: Jose Maria Miguel
Two friendly golds in a row after scoring the only goal today


Game Summary
I really have no idea how this was only a 1-0 game, but I chalk it up to the soggy field. All in all, a pretty good game as I got to test out a lot of guys at alternate positions. Now, if only I had been able to cut into that 15-2 differential more.


Press Release
7/22/2003 at 16:40 Hippos Beat Bees in Grudge Match
Jose Maria Miguel scored the only goal of the game in the 28th minute as the Hippodrome looked more like a lake than a field. The Hippos were looking for more than a 1-0 win after the teams' previous meetings but coach Ricky Braden was very pleased with the passable midfield and 61 rating. The two teams are nearly identical in age at about 7 months old- just a few games short of 2 seasons. However, the Bees had won the previous two meetings 15-2 combined. Hippos begin Cup play next week.


FOFC Cup Finals Results

                          HOME  - AWAY
  4                   Gargoyles - Slumlords                  1

While both team didn't play starters, they did play more than just their B Teams. The Gargs 3-4-3 put up ratings of form and exc in all but their inadequate midfield. The Slumlords went with a 4-4-2 and put up an exc-out-exc defense with a form-out-form offense but only a poor midfield. The Gargs ***~ forward Bryce Jackson was the difference, getting a hat trick. Congrats to ravenhawk and the Gargoyles for winning FOFC Cup III.

Notes
Well, the season is officially over. No match Sunday but there is the universal birthday, wage changes, and all kinds of offseason moves. Stay tuned for lots of news from the Hippo Press Agency.

SI

[sterlingice]

Training
A pair of weeks condensed into one. The first week, we botched training by accidentally playing a 2-6-2. The next week was stamina training and the obligatory crossed fingers for form drops. Unfortunately there were two big problems: Robert Tryggvesson and Daniel Storm, UberTrainees(TM), stayed at weak stamina instead of bumping to inadequate or passable as I had hoped.

Future Training
Stamina -> Set Pieces -> back to Playmaking. At some point, a week of stamina and general.

Form
Starters: (+2) (-4)
Entire Team: (+2) (-10)

Starters Form
Solid (or above): Bush Starks Schrader
Passable: Benito Phelan Connors Meek Newsom
Inadequate: Kimber
Weak (or below): Romo Houben

Eep. New arrival Coskum Houben and wingback Marcel Romo dropped down to weak. However, both also raised from poor to weak stamina so that's not too bad.

Value
Starters: (+6) (-4)
Entire Team: (+11) (-5)

Value Highlights
Above $100K: 8(+1)/9(+1)
Above $200K: 3(-1)/3(-1)
Above $300K: 3(+1)/2(+1)
Team Leader: Tim Kimber ($449K)
Outfield Leader: Mick Starks ($319K)
Milestones: Carlos Alberto Benito ($300K)
Albino de Sousa Bastos ($200K), Donald Newsom ($100K)

Benito becomes our third $300K player. We lost a $200K player because Bastos was sold.

Team Stats
Total Wages: 27066 (+910)
Total Value: 2723000 (-24000)
Avg Value: 123773 (+4338)
Avg Age: 22 (+2)
Avg Form: pass (NC)
Avg Experience: wretched (NC)
No of players: 22 (-1)
Nationalities: 10 (+1)

Youth Pull, Week 19.14 & 19.15
Here are our two youth pulls from 19.14 and 19.15. Moe Harding from 19.14 has been fired. We were hoping Saturnino Sales would be a lottery pick but no such luck. Still, he's not bad and is on the market, awaiting his sale. BTW, we sold Todd Crain, who was playing B Team winger for us for a couple of weeks. He just wasn't quite good enough to stick.

Youth Pull Status
Youth Pulls: 28
Youth Pull Grocers: 21 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 6 (+1)
Youth Pulls Still With Club: 1 (-1)
Total Sold for: 550000 (+138000)

Youth Pull 19.14
Moe Harding (14435704)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 14 000 US$
Wage: 580 US$/week

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


Youth Pull 19.15
Saturnino Sales (14727506)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 50 000 US$
Wage: 760 US$/week

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


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: 1258 members (+137)
Supporters: high on life (N/C)

Team Spirit: composed (NC)
Confidence: wonderful (NC)

The huge jump in supporters comes from the extra 10% from jumping to Div IV.


Week In Review

On the Field
We beat Beneamata 8-0 to finish off the season and capture the V.62 title and autopromotion. Phelan and Solomon tied for the series lead with 15 goals and Kimber got his 4th straight shutout. In our friendly that week, we botched with a 2-6-2 so we lost training for the week. Also, we injured a bunch of the Louisiana players, got a player thrown off the pitch, and lost 3-2.

The Sunday after that, we had no qualification game. Then we played the Bees in absolutely miserable soccer conditions and won 1-0 in a grudge match. We put up a passable midfield and 61 NSI!

Off the Field
Really, too much to do here- there will be a separate post about our offseason moves. We had over a million bucks to spend after a couple of sales and we have spent about half of that.

Closing
We're heading to Div IV! Lots of information to come!

SI

[Fonzie]

Great read, as usual, SI!

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Fonzie
Great read, as usual, SI!

Thanks a lot! I'm kindof sleep addled so if I could have just gone on some random tangent in the third match review and never would have been the wiser (if you see a confusing phrase like "But our players played well in this match which was good because our players played well in our match"- those lines are the result of my brain skipping a track from lack of sleep). but I really wanted to get these in so people could get caught up on the Hippos. The offseason has been really fun (3 new and damn fine players with probably 2 more on the way) and hopefully I can get completely caught up and finish off this season Tuesday/Wednesday with offseason moves info and the awards banquet.

Next season's preview will take a while but I'm going to try and get that done quicker than last season, when it took two weeks to finish it all.

SI

[sterlingice]

Season Awards
There may be construction going on outside, as the seating capacity of the Hippodrome is being doubled to 32000, but the beautiful and opulent interior of the Hippodrome's Executive Washroom and attached Suite remains chaste and pure. In the ballroom, various media members and select few guests are awaiting the season awards banquet. It is one of the best perks of being a Hippo as the players are allowed in here for this ceremony. The Dom Perignon is plentiful and all varieties of food are being served from caviar down to Mick Starks favorite: beer and pizza. Although it must be stated that it looks out of place, served on fine china and placed on a marble table. Some of the guests are taking in the various art on one wall, while, on the opposing wall, a huge plasma televion hangs, displaying Stephen Connors's and Carlos Alberto Benito's intense match of NHL2K4. Still others are being attended to by the girls who work here. Our supporters (ausonny of the Bees, NevStar of the Morrisville Morrisvillians, vexroid of the NE Oklahoma Sidekicks, Doug5984 of the Louisiana Cyclones, Eilim of the Bull Dogs, NAIWF of the Manhattan Marauders, and robbgmaier of the goldurnears) enjoy the amenities of this room year round and, should they choose to attend, have seats reserved for them, provided they took the time to have the inhouse tailor fit them for a tux. Thus the ceremony begins...


Year In Review
As owner and master of ceremonies tonight, I ask supporters, players, staff, media, and other guests are asked to be seated at three long tables. Servers and chefs begin to bring out the finest dining money can buy. While this is going on, three large screens descend out of the ceiling and guests are invited to begin eating while watching a highlight film documenting the season.

The Hippos began their second season in V.62 as one of three teams that could challenge CC's Dragons for the series title. One was the Flying Midgets, whose killer defense and keeper Svarg Ram makes scoring goals tough. The other was Div IV relegee Toledo Blades who ran a pretty solid all-around game but who also specialized in defense. All three teams would test the Hippos high flying run-and-shoot offense led by last year's scoring champ and veteran Derrick Solomon, winger and crazed team leader Mick Starks, 21yo forward Edwin Phelan, and offensive minded middie Carlos Alberto Benito. However, coach Rickey Braden's plan to train and win on the midfield would be the key to the season. Our primary target was to win the series and get promoted. The second was to make a decent cup run in our first appearance.

For the cup, we started with a pair of walkover 9-0 PIC wins over the Indiana Spartans and Teke United. The first was a computer controlled team and the second, a new human controlled one. Then, on April 17th, 2003, the Hippos hosted their first ever cup game against Div IV team Dark Lotus. Tizon collected a hat trick and Kimber pitched a shutout en route to a 6-0 win, meaning the Hippo faithful would get yet another home game. The next week, an even tougher Div IV team, BostonCity Ajaz FC came to town and each team scored a quick goal for a 1-1 tie. However, Tizon scored once and Phelan twice toward the end of the half to blow the game wide open. Tizon would end up with two goal and Phelan, a hat trick, as Houston won again 6-1. Finally, in the 5th week, our Cup run came to a close as we had to face the Div II Minutemen. We may have only been 497th of the remaining 512 but we fought hard, keeping them to 1 goal most of the game. In the end, however, our offense could not break through and we had 0 chances, losing 2-0. Still, our Cup run made us a lot of money that could go toward player development and the team spirit gained from the PICs would help us the rest of the season.

The series season could be divided into three parts: before Dragons, between Dragon, and after Dragons. Our eyes were set on the highest of prizes and the path to the V.62 Title goes straight through Connecticut and the Dragons Den. We play the Dragons in weeks 7 and 10, sandwiched around a pair of games with a much weaker team, the Buccabeavzers. As for the rest of the season, we played the tougher teams in alternating weeks with the Midgets in 2 and 14 and the Blades in 5 and 12.

The season started with a crushing 7-0 victory over PRODYGRAF on the road. For our home opener, we got a hard fought 3-1 win over the Midgets at a sold out Hippodrome. On the road again, we beat the goonz 6-1 on the strength of Dafoe Chang's hat trick, who was subbing in for the poorly performing Derrick Solomon. The Blades game may have been our closest call of the year, although the 3-1 final doesn't indicate it. We actually lost the possession battle and got incredibly lucky as three middies scored for us. Finally, we had one last tune-up game at home against the Metal Mulisha, which we PIC'd and won 4-1. At this point, both the Hippos and Dragons were 5-0 with 19 goal differentials (23-4 for us, 20-1 for them). The stage was set for Dragons-Hippos I at the Dragons Den.

We really didn't need any artificially generated hype on that rainy May day in Connecticut. Both teams knew what was on the line: the winner had the inside track for series title. If the Hippos won, we'd just have to hold serve at home in 3 weeks. If the Dragons won, they would just MotS at our place and finish us off. The soggy conditions didn't hamper them at all as the Dragons scored 7 minutes into the game. For the next 35 minutes, a pair of players were carded and Chang carried off the field, but no one could break through until the 43rd minute when Stan Whitmore scored his second of the game for the Dragons. And, in the 44th minute, the game started unraveling for us as another goal got through. They went into the half leading 3-0 with a possession advantage. No one scored the entire second half and the Dragons MotS gained them the upper hand in the race for V.62. After the game, Coach Braden wondered if he should have fired the guys up more for the game, as opposed to his conservative plan of playing the game normal, but he knew there was still another shot at the Dragons in two weeks, at the 'drome.

The next two weeks, we had a (PIC) home-and-home against the Bucs and handled them 7-2 at home and 5-2 on the road. In the first game, Tizon got 4 goals, and, in the second, Solomon celebrated his return to the starting lineup with 4 more. The second game was quite tense as we were tied 2-2 at the 80 minute mark before putting them away. With our team spirit at an all time high (satisfied) and our form in good shape after a week of general training, we prepared ourselves for Hippos-Dragons II, the game which would decide the fate of our series. In these same two weeks, the Dragons had batted around the Metal Mulisha, but were only up on us by 7 in goal differential. If we could win the game, we'd still have a shot at catching them.

June 2nd, 2003 is a day that will live in infamy for the Hippos- it was the day that the team took its first big step forward. Edwin Phelan's goal 12 minutes in delighted the entire standing room only crowd at the Hippodrome. However, neither side could do anything for the rest of the half. We were extremely encouraged as we were winning the possession battle, should our stamina hold out for the second half. The game continued back and forth until the 59th minute when Derrick Solomon scored, putting us up 2-0. This goal ignited the crowd yet again, and the floodgates opened as Houston scored 3 more times. Our goal differential went from a 7 goal deficit to a 3 goal lead on the strength of the 5-0 win. With the high team spirit and an MotS, the team's ratings were bound to be high, but we could not have anticipated 30 stars, excellent(!) midfield, and 68(!!!) NSI.

Due to The Game, the series title would come down to goal differential down the stretch. The next week, the Dragons won 9-0 and we were concerned as they had a 7-0 lead early in the second half. However, the team responded with 5 goals in the final 12 minutes including Derrick Solomon's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of the game as we beat the Thumpers 10-1. The next game was a tough one against the Blades but we had home field advantage. The game was scoreless until we broke through in the 78th minute when we broke through and Tim Kimber had his 2nd shutout in three games. We won by 2 but the Dragons only won by 1 so our lead was stretched to 4. The next week, we started pulling away with a 6-0 win over the Goonz while the Dragons only won by 4. Game 13 would provide the final test at The Flying Midgets. However, they had begun a rebuilding process and we defeated them 4-0. Finally, our last game of the season and last game in V.62, we beat Beneamata (PRODYGRAF's replacement) 8-0 with Derrick Solomon netting a hat trick and Edwin Phelan scoring twice, earning them both a share of the series scoring title. Kimber had ended the season with 4 straight shutouts and 5 in his final 6 games. In the end, our goal differential allowed us to autopromote.

The major friendly event we took part in was FOFC Cup III. With a good mixture of veterans, who are capable subs for the A Team, and the UberTrainees(TM) manning the middle, we expected to make a pretty good run. In group play, we ran the table with wins against Pilotman's (higher seeded) Midwest Ice Storm, Airhog's Oklahoma City Rednecks, McSweeny's S. Boston Hooligans, mckerney's Square Pegs, and Achilles's Missouri Tigers. Juan Miguel Tizon was a monster with 8 of the team's 24 goals. B Team goalie Sidney Buckley and injury replacement Silviu Radu combined to give up only 4 goals in group play including 2 clean sheets. In the Round of 32, we edged the only other undefeated team in group play: Brillig's Slithy Toves by a 3-1 score. However, we were dismantled in the Round of 16 by run-and-shoot guru ardent enthusiast.

We had four other friendlies: three against mutual supporters and an exotic trip to Hong Kong. Sandwiched in between the US Cup and FOFC Cup, we took lost to vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks 3-2 at home. After the FOFC Cup, we set a friendly record as 3652 came to see the Hippos 1-0 win over the Chow Chows in Hong Kong. The next week was our ugliest game ever, a 3-2 loss to Doug5984's Louisiana Cyclones. We blew a 2-1 lead, had a man thrown off the pitch, ran a 2-6-2 which negated training, and injured 4 of his guys. The following week, between seasons, we recovered with a 1-0 win against an old rival, ausonny's Bees, which allowed us to try out some of our guys at different positions.

The biggest off-the-field move this year was the creation of the UberTrainee(TM) program. We put a concerted effort toward finding young players who we can train for a couple of years and either sell or make them cornerstones of our team. Anders Jorgensson was the first, bought at the end of the last season. He was an 18yo winger trainee to start the year and the crown jewel of our development system. However, towards the end of the season, some favorable transactions caused us to reevaluate his place in the organization and he was sold. We brought in three mid-high level solid 17 year olds: Robert Tryggvesson, Daniel Storm, and Tobias Hultman. Along with them was an 18yo Canadian, Albino de Sousa Bastos, who quickly bumped to excellent playmaking before the season was over. At the end of the season, they were all placed for sale at very high prices in an attempt to rebuild the team yet again. We were fortunate as both Hultman and Bastos purchased, fetching nearly one million dollars. That money will be spent in the offseason upgrading the defense, getting a younger and better striker, and purchasing a third UberTrainee(TM) to go alongside the remaining Tryggvesson and Storm.

One of our biggest moves early in the season was to purchase 28yo *** middie Maarten Sanders. Once he got over his form slump, he was a valuable contributor and combined with Benito and Connors for the excellent midfield rating in Hippos-Dragons II. He was eventually sold at the peak of his form for a $50K profit. Older trainees like Philip Friedlander, Kyle Paige, and youth pull Rolando Gontan (who bumped to excellent in his first week of training) were sold off to bring in the UberTrainees(TM). A flurry of activity occurred in the offseason including 8 sales and 4 purchases as players who had no place in the team's future were moved for upgrades. The large sales at the end of the season also facilitated the opening of the new Hippodrome32K which will accommodate the extra fans we have gained by moving to Div IV.

Who knows what our future holds in IV.21. It will likely prove to be one of the toughest in all of Div IV and our first season goal is merely to survive. We are also in a division with a pair of teams who routinely get 80 NSIs and another who gets 70s. Everyone has a passable or higher midfield and is training something long term. However, by the end of the season, we should have 2 UberTrainees(TM) with formidable playmaking, and we will continue to improve along the way. Where this season read as a fairy tale, the next may be a suspense thriller to see if we can stay in the Div IV we worked so hard to gain entrance to. But stay tuned Hippo faithful, we’re just getting started.


Awards Presentation
This year, there is a new Rookie of the Year award. It was added to last year's five awards: Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Old Man Award, Under-20 MVP, and Team MVP. As owner, I will continue my duties as emcee, but each award will also be presented with one of our special girls.

Offensive Player of the Year:
Season 18 Recipient: Derrick Solomon
Season 19 Recipient:Edwin Phelan

This was a hotly contested award as both Solomon and Phelan finished with 15 goals. However, in the end, Edwin Phelan's consistency won out over Solomon's explosiveness. Phelan's 15 goals were spread out across 10 games and many of them were in clutch situations. In fixtures this season, he earned two golds, five silvers, and two bronzes. His advanced skill and experience as an original Hippo more than make up for his young age. This is Phelan's second award as he won U-20 MVP last year.


Defensive Player of the Year
Season 18 Recipient: Hugh Hebert
Season 19 Recipient:Elmer Bush

This award came down to our three starting defenders: Marcel Romo and Elmer Bush on the wings and Thomas Stromlius up the middle. Although Thomas Stromlius played in more fixtures and Marcel Romo scored more goals, Bush was the closest thing to a shutdown corner we had as soon as he got over his early season injury and slump. From game 6 on, he put up **~ every game and never had form lower than passable. He was either assigned to match up with the opponents best scorer or cover the hole left by the run and shoot. In his most recent game, the friendly against the Bees, he posted his first ever *** performance.


Old Man Award
Season 18 Recipient: Derrick Solomon
Season 19 Recipient:Derrick Solomon

The Old Man Award goes to the best player on the team who is 27 or older, and, unlike last year, there was actually competition for this award. However, despite the contributions of Maarten Sanders and Juan Maria Miguel, Derrick Solomon walks away as the only repeat award winner. Due to a prolonged form slump, Solomon only played in 1 fixture the entire first half of the season. However, he turned it on in the second half, scoring 14 goals in the final 7 games. Derrick is the first Hippo ever to win three awards.


Rookie of the Year
Season 18 Recipient: None
Season 19 Recipient:Juan Miguel Tizon

This is our new award, as everyone was a rookie Hippos last year. It goes to the U-20 player who contributed most to the club while spending his first year in Houston. Special consideration will be given towards any Hippo youth pulls who contributed significantly. Juan Miguel Tizon was purchased early in the season but started off injured. However, he was the star of the B Team with 5 goals in limited fixture time, 5 goals in USA Cup play, 8 goals in the FOFC Cup, and 1 goal in another friendly. In this special presentation, we will also be awarding him the Hippos FOFC Cup MVP award.


Under-20 MVP
Season 18 Recipient: Edwin Phelan
Season 19 Recipient:Albino de Sousa Bastos

While Albino de Sousa Bastos may be gone, his contributions will not be forgotten. He was bought early in the season as an UberTrainee(TM) but improved so quickly that the club felt they could sell veteran Maarten Sanders. At only 18 years old, he could be counted on to put up **~ on the midfield and bumped to excellent playmaking at the end of the season. He was sold for a new Hippo record of $695K, over $400K more than we paid to acquire his rights.


Team MVP
Season 18 Recipient: Mick Starks
Season 19 Recipient:Tim Kimber

For the second year in a row, the winner of the MVP didn't score the most goals in the run-and-shoot. This year, quite the opposite, in fact, as "Timber" Kimber gets the biggest piece of hardware and the hottest girl. Without mild mannered Tim Kimber, the yin to Mick Starks's wild and crazy yang, the team would not be going to Div IV. We bought his rights about this time last season for the highest purchase price of any Hippo ever. But it was this purchase which started us on the path to the next level as his high-solid keeper ability allowed him to put up either *** or ***~ every game he has played in a Hippo jersey and his gamecalling ability raised the level of the defenders around him. In a very uncharacteristic show of emotion, Starks turned over the captain's C to him after the Hippos-Dragons II. The typically quiet Kimber was utterly speechless but responded on the field tallying 5 shutouts in his last 6 games.

Kimber politely thanked everyone he could think of and tried his best to contain an inner smile that went from ear to ear. At one point a visible inebriated Starks whooped "Wayyda go, Timber!" much to Tim's embarassment. Solomon, as much an assistant coach and surrogate parent as he is a teammate to some of the younger players, leaned over and whispered to Coach Braden "That kid's gonna take us far." Braden smiled, knowing full well that if the Hippos were going to make it out of Div IV, it was likely going to be on his young goaltenders capable shoulders.


Closing
I hope y'all, or rather, you all, enjoyed the evening's festivities. You just can't take the Texas out of the Texan even for events as formal as these. We hope you enjoyed the awards ceremony and Season 20 is just around the corner. The competition is much more fierce but we are definately on the way up.

SI

[sterlingice]

Quo Vadimus
Sorry, I know that was a long time coming but I like to put some extra effort into the awards post as it really is our season in review. If you haven't checked it out, I know it's long, but I think it's quite good. I took some extra time to actually edit it and try to create more of a story around it than, say, the typical match report. If you haven't read a post for a while- this is the one.

I'll be starting up the season 3 thread soon with all the new information but this season isn't done yet. There will be a link from here as soon as I start.

However, I have some offseason analysis that I want to throw in here. The spending has gone pretty well and it's not over yet. I kindof want to get in a "Where are they Now" but I don't know if I'll have time- that may have to wait until the new season.

Lastly, I finally had a troika of breakthroughs on my spreadsheet the other night so I want to post that and a little users guide for it. It's really handy for writing dynasty reports and keeping track of a lot of other stuff for your team.

SI

[Fonzie]

Great work, SI! I'm looking forward to the third season.

[sterlingice]

Onto Season Three
I was going to add an offseason update message here, but just decided to post it in the next season's reports. Plus, I'm not entirely done with my changes but I wanted to close out this thread.

The Hippos adventures continue in Division IV for season 3. The thread can be found here:

[Hattrick] Houston Hippopotami, Season 3: IV.21

SI

[sterlingice]

Oops- nothing to see here. Accidentally posted in the wrong Hippo thread.

SI

[Havok]

hehe wrong Dynasty report bro