10-08-2007, 08:37 PM | #1 | ||
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Madden08(PC) - The Kagoshima Warriors
September 13, 2006 - The NFL is in a crisis. Due to "mismanagement of funds" on a grand scale, the NFL is on the brink of bankruptcy. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell organises an emergency meeting for October the 1st with all team owners and executives, and Executive Director of the NFLPA Gene Upshaw invites all NFL players under contract to also attend. As there is no cash to honour the player's contracts, all players are eager to be in on the talks.
October 1, 2006, 10:15am - In downtown New York, the several thousand attendees meet to discuss the options to move forward and find financing to save the league. Then, just prior to recess, disaster strikes. A gas leak, believed to have originated in the basement, causes an enormous explosion. There are no survivors. October 1, 2006, 10:16am - While America first begins to learn of the disaster, Mark Cuban releases a lengthy statement to the press detailing both his personal devestation at hearing of the loss of lives caused by the tragic accident, as well as the loss of America's greatest sporting league. October 1, 2006, 10:44am - Via a live feed (which would later be argued by conspiracy theorists to have been pre-recorded, as a clock on a wall behind Cuban clearly shows 9:22am at one point) Cuban tells America that he can not bare to envision America without a professional football league and, for the sake of the late Goodell, Upshaw, and the many NFL players, he intends to bring American Football back. He briefly outlines the 32 new franchises in his league, the iNFL (International Football League), complete with photos of uniforms and new logos. Although no original franchises remain, many franchises are awarded to cities that held a team prior to the disaster, with several new American and international cities also receiving teams. Tokyo (Dragons), London (Blades), Mexico City (Warriors), and Hamburg (Zeppelins) are the founding international teams, while Hawaii (Dolphins) and Alaska (Anchors) also get their first pro franchises. October-Jan 2006/07 - The iNFL Completes its first season, with the Nebraska Miners taking out the Superbowl in a one-sided victory over the surprising Mexico City Warriors. Despite the success of Mexico City however, crowd numbers were very poor for the team all year long, and the same was true for the London and Hamburg franchises. Only Tokyo was drawing huge crowd figures for each game and Tokyo Dragons team owner Takamoto Yorimichi approached iNFL commish Mark Cuban with an idea; an all-Japanese AFC North, to be re-titled the JFC North. Cuban agrees, and the Mexico City franchise becomes the Kagoshima Warriors, the London franchise becomes the Osaka Suns, and the Hamburg franchise becomes the Takamatsu Tide. March 14, 2007 - Videotape footage, taken from a security camera just meters from the explosion that ended the NFL, appears to show a Cuban employee leaving the area of the accident minutes before the fatal explosion. The grainy footage is considered inconclusive, and further talk of the matter is dismissed as the mere rantings of conspiracy nuts.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
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10-10-2007, 12:03 AM | #2 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Osaka, Japan via Honolulu, Hawaii via Birmingham, Alabama
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LOL... Takamatsu with a football team is like Green Bay with a football team. Anyway, looking forward to this.
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U of Hawaii | U of Alabama | Montreal Impact | Montreal Canadiens | West Ham | West Indies cricket | Portland Trail Blazers |
10-10-2007, 12:34 AM | #3 |
Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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What a story idea....interesting!
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FBCB / FPB3 Mods |
10-10-2007, 12:46 AM | #4 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I'm hoping to continue this tonight. Have had no internet access at home the past few days but have all the text and pics ready to upload.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-11-2007, 07:39 AM | #5 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The 2007 iNFL Season
After a very successful 2006 season, the iNFL prepares for year number 2. Mark Cuban releases a list of the conference alignments following the addition of the JFC North: Code:
The second season proves more of a success than the first, with attendance up for each team by an average of 18.2%. America is again tuning in to Football. The quality of on-field play also improves dramatically thanks to an influx of talent through the NFL draft. West-coast styled offense seems to rule the day as teams such as Hawaii and Little Rock, with the two best QBs in the game, run the show. Both teams are eliminated one round too short however, and we see a Superbowl made up of very balanced teams in the Kansas City Rhinos and the Portland Eagles. Portland Eagles walk away with the championship, 20-12. Meanwhile, over in Japan, to everybody's surprise, the JFC North teams have no problems getting FAs or rookies to sign, and are drawing impressive attendance figures thanks to the high quality of play. Tokyo Dragons are the clear top Japanese franchise out of the gates, but the Kagoshima Warriors, co-directed by the mysterious, masked GM/Coach known only as "Groundhog" as he learns the ropes, lead a bruising defensive-styled squad in the Wildcard round with just an 8-8 record. They make it no further, falling to the Nebraska Miners 27-16. Things aren't quite so rosy up in Alaska. The Anchors struggle to draw much talent up to the North, but an impressive draft has the fans hopeful. Hawaii is having no such issues. Whether that's due to the draw of having the game's best QB, or just the chance to live in Hawaii, is yet to be seen.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-11-2007, 07:52 AM | #6 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The 2008 iNFL Offseason
I take over full responsibilities of the Kagoshima Warriors franchise to begin the iNFL 2008 offseason. Pre-Draft Free Agency The Warriors are arguably the best defensive unit in the nation. Offensively, well, it's an entirely different story. We had a QB who threw more picks than TDs, no big talents at WR, and a weak OLine. About the only positive is our HB Deion Lewis, who had a rough 2007 season but looks like a real impact player if we can beef up the rest of our offensive unit. To make this happen we snap up QB Marco Sanders, who started at Michigan last season. Sanders is an 79 rated QB with an accurate arm. He isn't going to out run anybody, but he's a big improvement. Next up we look at receivers, and snap up the talented John Osborne, who had a great year in New Orleans. He's quick, has decent hands, and with an 84 overall rating is our highest rated WR by 6 points. There isn't much talent available at the OLine, and we grab a few guys who figure as depth, and little else. We need to build this spot in the draft. 2008 iNFL Draft A look at the talent available to us in this draft brings us to a realization; the only player we really want is a QB who is rated top-10. The problem? We are picking at #21. There are no OLine guys or QBs likely to be available at that spot to interest us, so we look to move up. While on the phone to a few teams we get a call - it's Boulder, and they want to move their #4 pick to us for our #21 and our 2nd rounder. We jump at the chance and nab our guy, QB Leonard Cook out of UCLA. Cook is built like a linebacker at 6'2 249lbs, but has a great arm and decent instincts. Did we grab him too high though? He was projected top-10 and there was unquestionably some real talent available, but it just wasn't at spots that were a priority for us. In the 3rd round we grab a massive RG, Lennox Carson out of Wake Forest. The rest of the draft sees us grab a punter and some defensive depth.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-11-2007, 08:03 AM | #7 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The 2008 iNFL Season
We begin the year running an Arizona Cardinals-esque double-headed QB, with FA signing Marco Sanders playing the first halves, while bringing the rookie Cook in for the 2nd half of most games. After 5 games it becomes clear that Cook, despite the occasional Rex Grossman moments, is the best option we have, and he becomes the full time starter. Best of all? We are winning. But most of the credit goes to our running game. HB Deion Lewis is playing lights-out behind our tweaked OLine, and 3rd round pick Carson in particular is exceeding expectations, and soon becomes our most reliable blocker. With Carson and the rest of the guys on the line's help, Lewis has an amazing year, regularily rushing for over 100 yards, and even breaking the 200 yard mark, and leading our team to the Wildcards yet again with a conference leading 11-5 record, where we defeated conference rivals Tokyo in OT to make it through to the next round, where Nebraska once again spoils our fun, sending us home 25-20. That's not to say that Lewis did it all by himself, however. Our defense was still amongst the best in the league. We ran a blitz-heavy D that sometimes gave up too many big gains through the air, but countered that by usually decimating our opponents running game. We didn't force a lot of turnovers, but just played a solid brand of defense. Oh, and of course there was the rookie QB, Cook. Lewis might have outshone him most nights, but Cook really turned it on towards the end of the regular season. Four times he nearly single-handedly brought us back from the brink with his passing, and finished the year 24tds to 12ints and an 86.4 QB rating. Nice numbers for a rookie! He really struggled in both rounds of the playoffs though, showing he has some ways to go. As for the rest of the league, it was little surprise that Hawaii and Little Rock once again dominated, this time making it all the way to the Superbowl for the most eagerly awaited match-up of the year. Unfortunately iNFL MVP Little Rock QB Tom Collins makes sure it isn't close, as the Monsters beat the Hawaii Dolphins 35-24 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score suggests.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-11-2007, 08:11 AM | #8 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The 2009 iNFL Offseason
OK, so now we are up to date with where I'm at in this league. Pre-Draft Free Agency We look to further improve our offense and replace our kicker -- who missed far too many XPs and crucial 20-30 yard FGs last season, including one blown 4th quarter comeback thanks to a missed 22 yard FG -- in the pre-draft FA. It's a thin crop of FAs, but we grab a kicker, some depth at HB, and some depth on the OLine. Nothing flashy. 2009 iNFL Draft In the draft we are just looking for the BPA, but at the #28 pick it readily becomes clear that there isn't much there that interests us. We decided to trade down, sending our #28 pick to the Carolina Wildcats for their #10 pick in the 2nd round, as well as a 4th rounder. With that pick we grab TE Shane Casey out of Nebraska. Casey is a receiving TE but a poor blocker, and we plan on using him in multiple-TE passing formations mainly, as our current guy is a decent blocker. For our next 2nd round selection we look to address what was one of our major weakness last year - kick returns. All our returners wound up injured or just weren't effective, so we grab the quickest guy on the board, WR Wayne Slater out of Miami. The pint sized 5'8 Slater was a top quality returner in the NCAA ranks, but his WR skills are anything but certain, so a bit of a gamble this high perhaps. In the 3rd round we look to our OLine and bring in LT Jai Wagner. Wagner is a brute, but needs to work on his technique. With the 4th rounder we acquired in the earlier trade we grab a solid blocking FB in Travis Randall out of Stanford, a guy who will likely start from day 1 judging by first impressions. With our own 4th rounder we grab a kicker, Bobby Walsh, to see if he can challenge our FA signing in the kicking department. The rest of our selections are pure depth choices, and after some consideration we don't sign them up. The 2009 Draft First Round Code:
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-11-2007 at 08:12 AM. |
10-11-2007, 08:28 AM | #9 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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2009 Post Camp Offense Roster
QBs: Code:
Sanders is certainly a servicable QB and could probably start on a number of iNFL teams, but the amount of improvement Cook showed last season was incredible, and that's continued this offseason. At just 24 years of age he could one day wind up as one of the premiere QBs in this league. Clay was snapped up as an emergency backup, and has an OK arm but very questionable instincts. HBs: Code:
Lewis had a Pro-Bowl year in 2008 and was arguably the best HB in the league, even if he finished 2nd in voting. He has outstanding elusiveness, rarely goes down after the first hit, and even caught a few passes towards the end of the season. Andrew Knight was a FA signing and will be our 2nd back. He's nothing flashy, but he should be good for a few carries a night. Holcomb was our #2 man last year and filled in admirally when Lewis missed a few games, but age is beginning to catch up with him now. C.J. Thompson was a FA signing and has good speed but little else. Shouldn't see much time. FBs: Code:
Randall looked good in training camp, causing us to release last year's starter. Randall doesn't do anything particularily well outside of blocking, but that's all he'll need to do in Kagoshima. WRs: Code:
Osborne continues to look great, but Myers and Wooden also impressed last season and figure to do so again this year. Biggest surprise has been rookie Wayne Slater, who's recieving skills look MUCH better than I expected. TEs: Code:
2nd rounder Casey was as good with his hands as advertised, but he is also as bad with his blocking as we feared. We'll be using him mostly on twin-TE formations and passing downs, while Hamm will continue to get the starting nod thanks to his blocking skills. OTs: Code:
Tackle is a weakspot for us. We have a lot of guys who I'd class as "adequete", but no standouts. Rookie Wagner has some potential, but Lindsay and Smith will continue to start. OGs: Code:
Carson was great as a rookie, and Serra, who lines up at LG and takes a bit of a rating hit because of it, is serviceable. I've been trying for 2 seasons to get a solid LG, but no luck. Still, these guys got the job done last year. Cs: Code:
Finley has been a consistent blocker for us, and we brought in rookie Ricker as his potential replacement a few years down the road. Right now it looks like, his solid pass blocking aside, he has a lot of work to do to reach that level.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-11-2007 at 08:29 AM. |
10-11-2007, 09:06 AM | #10 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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2009 Post Camp Defence Roster
DEs: Code:
Sylvester is one of the best at his position in the NFL, and both him and Ball have a real knack at getting to the QB and disrupting our opponents passing game. One of the biggest strenghts of this roster. Even our bench depth would start on a number of teams. DTs: Code:
As good as our DEs are, our DTs nearly put them to shame. Abbott is arguably the best DT in the business, and Tubbs isn't far behind him. These guys are the reason why teams just can't run the ball up the middle against us. Not unless they want to face a never-ending cycle of 2nd-and-11s. OLBs: Code:
Martin Scott is a tremendous talent when it comes to shutting down the run, and Zeke Tate, though less heralded, certainly has his moments as well. Both players are lacking in pass coverage ability however. Baird looks like a starter down the road. MLBs: Code:
Austin may not be a household name like some of the guys on our DLine, but he is the heart and soul of our defense. We play him in coverage a lot, preferring to blitz with the OLBs, and he does a solid job, but is also more than capable of crushing the running game. We lost him for a number of games towards the end of last season, and it was a good thing that Mitchell, a very talented player in his own right, was able to step in and basically allow us to not miss a beat, even if we were forced to blitz more with the MLB spot due to his weaker coverage skills. CBs: Code:
Probably the deepest spot on the roster. Redmond and Franklin are both pro-bowl talents, while Meyers is too good to be a 3rd CB. Thomas and Rogers are all capable of filling in when need be, while Joyce is purely a kick returner. FSs: Code:
Graham has been real solid for us. We play him mostly back in deep coverage, but he has a surprising amount of tackles up near the LOS as he is great at sniffing out the run. He's not a spectacular interceptor, but he's had his share. SSs: Code:
Fields is another great tackler from the safety spot. We like to send him in on blitzes and even though he doesn't get a lot of sacks he usually sniffs out the running play and gets to the ball carrier. Justice didn't see a lot of time outside of special teams, but with a little more seasoning might be able to step in to Fields shoes when he retires.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-11-2007 at 09:07 AM. |
10-11-2007, 09:19 AM | #11 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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2009 Post Camp Special Teams
Ks: Code:
Walsh, our 4th round pick, beat out our FA signing and earns the starting spot. He is miles ahead of the guy we had last year, and a touch more accurate than our FA signing. Hopefully we'll kick greater than 90% on XPs now! Ps: Code:
Washington is by no means spectacular, but he did an adequete job as a rookie and gets the nod again this year, thanks mainly to there being no better FAs available. He'll get another shot this year to impress. KRs: Code:
Joyce and Slater split returns. Myers is a talented returner, but I prefer the quickness of Joyce and rookie Slater.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-11-2007 at 09:20 AM. |
10-11-2007, 09:31 AM | #12 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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We kick off 2009 with a road game against our rivals Tokyo. We played Tokyo three times last season -- twice during the regular season and once in the wildcard round -- with all three games amazingly going to overtime, and with us coming out on top each time. Tokyo's strength is it's offense, which is powered along by one of the better QBs in the iNFL in John Gilbert, a smart player who completed nearly 70% of his passes in 2008. Helping him tremendously is a fantastic offensive line, an elusive back in Gerald Law, and a very talented receiver corps led by 3rd year man Clyde McCullum, who catches everything thrown his way. Unfortunately for the Dragons, their offense doesn't line up on defense as well, because the Dragons really struggle to keep opponents out of the endzone. An already underwhelming defensive line took a hit as starting DT Cecil Holmes is out for the year, and will struggle against either the run or pass. They looked to build their LBs up in the draft, taking LOLB Ty Wheeler in the 1st round and Ron Summers ino the 2nd, and both these guys will help, but we intend on running the ball at these guys all day long. Their secondary is more talented than their front 7, but with the amount of running we plan on doing, we don't anticipate that being a big problem. If we can contain Gilbert and Law and keep the Dragons below 20 points, we should be able to take this one. Prediction: Kagoshima 24, Tokyo 17.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-11-2007, 09:41 AM | #13 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Somebody at ESPN better snap up the rights to show all Warriors-Dragons games, because this was yet another thriller. The Dragons came out sharp in the 1st Q, not allowing us to do very much in the air or the ground, while moving it down field to score the games opening TD to make it 7-0. We move it down field through the air, but have to settle for a FG near the beginning of the 2nd Q to make it 7-3, Dragons. After forcing a 3-and-out we get it back and finally our ground game gets working, with Lewis single-handedly moving the ball up field for 48 yards over the drive, capping it off with a 2 yard rush for the TD, 10-7 Warriors with just over 2 minutes remaining. The Dragons show off their 2 minute offense, with QB Gilbert attacking the sidelines and getting his team in to the endzone with a TD pass that was originally ruled out of bounds before the review, 14-10 Dragons with under a minute remaining in the half. A good kick off return convinces us to attempt to go for it through the air and try and put some more points on the board, but this proves a big mistake as the Dragons come up with a pick and return it all the way for a TD, 21-10 entering the half. We dominate the 3rd Q both on defense and with our running game, but can't get in to the endzone, having to settle for 2 FGs, making it 21-16 entering the 4th Q. Finally in the 4th Q we find the endzone when Cook hits our rookie TE Casey with a 9 yard TD pass. We go for the 2 point conversion to level the scores, but are stopped short on the run to the left side, 22-21 Warriors for our first lead of the half. Tokyo get the ball in to our half of the field but have to settle for a FG attempt from 54 yards, which they make to regain the lead at 24-22 with just over 7 minutes remaining. We aren't able to get anything going and punt away the ball, only to have Dragons stud HB Law bust out a beautiful 54 yard TD run after breaking a tackle and getting some great blocking to give Tokyo a comfy 31-22 lead with just 2:56 remaining. We get the ball back looking for big gains by bringing in all our quickest receivers on downfield routes, but the Dragons lose track of our HB Lewis who catches a pass out of the backfield and outruns the coverage 64 yards down field for the TD! 31-29 Dragons with 1:52 left, we go for the onside kick, but Dragons recover. We still have 2 TDs and thanks to a goalline D stand on 3rd and inches we are able to force the long FG, but they nail the 54 yarder once again and we get the ball back at the 25 with just 35 seconds remaining and needing a TD. All set for yet another classic finish. Our first throw is under the coverage to a receiver who takes it 8 yards. We call a no huddle offense, and Cook drops back, lobs the ball to rookie 4th WR Slater who has some space from the defender... the covering corner leaps to knock down the ball but misses, and the very quick Slater makes the catch and runs all the way for the amazing 62 yard TD!!! 36-34 Warriors with 8 seconds left. We kick off then bring out our quarter D with prevent coverage, and the Dragons are unable to complete a pass. We win! Result: Kagoshima Warriors 36, Tokyo Dragons 34
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-27-2007, 06:50 AM | #14 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Key Stats
Kagoshima Code:
Tokyo Code:
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-27-2007, 06:55 AM | #15 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-27-2007, 07:09 AM | #16 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The Miners have really had our number the last 2 seasons, knocking us out of the post-season both years. For whatever reason they've really had our number on both sides of the ball. This year would appear to be little different. The Miners have a strong defence led by a terrific secondary, and their front 7 - the biggest weakness for them the past few years - has been improved thanks to promising rookie DT Dave Massey, who loves to get to the QB. Offensively the Miners have handed the reigns back to QB Jamal Leon, who fell to 2nd on the depth chart last season after starting the year before. Leon, a scrambler with a good arm, has lots of help around him with RB John Bird and a great OLine, but will be missing top WR Ochuko Payton from an already thin WR crop. We'll be hoping to avoid a lot of long-passing situations by running the ball well and sending our WR on short routes to prevent our QB from putting up anything risky, because this secondary killed him in the post season last year, pulling down 4 picks. If we can get the ground game going and keep Nebraska under 24 points we have a chance, but I think the Miners will once again prevail. Prediction: Nebraska 27, Kagoshima 17
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-27-2007, 09:09 AM | #17 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Whittier
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How does this game handle on your PC? Any choppiness or lag time?
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10-28-2007, 06:11 AM | #18 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Quote:
Runs perfectly. Graphics are no where near next gen in this title though, and I believe they haven't improved much beyond the last Madden I had on PC, 2004.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
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10-28-2007, 06:28 AM | #19 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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We finally do it! The monkey is off our backs! It felt great to finally take the Miners down, but it sure as hell wasn't easy. The game got off to a disastrous start, with us receiving and getting hit by two holding penalties to take us way back in our own territory. Then on third down Cook is hit while throwing and fumbles the ball. Nebraska recovers, and is in the endzone 2 snaps later, 7-0. We equalled it up later in the quarter when the Miners fumble a punt return to give us the ball in decent field position, and we march it in to the endzone. These were to be the last TDs of the game. Early in the 2nd quarter disaster strikes us yet again when Cook takes a hit and is helped off the field, not to return for the rest of the game. The Miners speedy D is shutting down our running game and nothing is happening through the air either for us, but the good news is that we are holding the Miners in check as well and enter the half with the scores locked at 7-7. The Miners had a chance to go up 10-7 entering the break, but their rookie kicker missed a 28 yarder in the final minute. It's easy to see why Leon rode the pine for the Miners last season after that first half as, outside of a nice pass or two, he is really erratic, over and under throwing on several occasions and trying to scramble when there just isn't anything there. The second half is much the same for both teams, with neither team getting a lot from their QB or HBs and the defensive units refuse to buckle. We manage 2 FGs in the Q while Nebraska hits 1. 13-10 Kagoshima. The 4th Q is just as ugly. Both teams trade numerous punts, but the Miners manage to get a FG to level the scores. With just over a minute left we get the ball near the 30 yard line on 3rd down, but we fail the 3rd down conversion when my backup QB throws a terrible pass behind his receiver, and we are forced to send our rookie kicker in to attempt a 49 yarder for the lead. He nails the spectacular kick with ease to give us the lead with about 1:20 remaining. Miners get the ball with one last drive, but our heavy zone D gives Miners QB Leon no targets, and 3 snaps in a row he tries to scramble for no avail! On 4th down he throws a pass but it's caught just short of the 1st down and we get the ball back and kneel out the clock! Woo-hoo! Definitely not a pretty game for either offence, but considering we pulled this game out without our starting QB and without anything much from our running game, I'm happy.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-28-2007, 06:44 AM | #20 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
|
Key Stats:
Kagoshima: Code:
Nebraska: Code:
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-28-2007, 06:46 AM | #21 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-28-2007, 06:49 AM | #22 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Week 3 - Bye Week
We get the week off, which is a bit of a shame really as we have zero injuries entering the week. Cook's injury that saw him miss 3 quarters last week was thankfully a minor one, and he's back at 100%.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-28-2007, 06:55 AM | #23 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Takamatsu have been the door mats of the Japanese division, and that hasn't appeared to have changed this year, with 3 straight losses to begin the season. The Tide have a terrific offence led by cannon-armed QB Sammy Stafford, but defensively they are a poor team, and that has been the problem since their first year in the iNFL. They have improved their DLine, but are very, very weak in the secondary, and we'll be looking to exploit this tonight. Still, put a QB like Stafford behind an OLine like Takamatsu's, and you have a dangerous squad that is capable of scoring big. We'll need to keep them out of the endzone as much as possible to pull this win out. Prediction: Kagoshima 30, Takamatsu 27
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-28-2007, 06:40 PM | #24 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Whittier
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10-29-2007, 05:10 AM | #25 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Poor Takamatsu QB Stafford. We absolutely destroyed Stafford and the Tide's passing game today, picking Stafford off 4 times (twice in the endzone), and sacking him for a fumble that we would return for a TD. Thanks to our smothering D and a brilliant 41 yard TD run by Lewis we entered the 2nd Q up 16-0. Our offence didn't click nearly as brilliantly for the rest of the game but our D for the most part held, outside of a few fantastic 2nd half passes by Stafford that he got passed our secondary. Game could have been a lot closer when late in the 4th, down 26-14, the Tide got the ball in to the redzone, but Stafford threw his 4th pick in to the endzone as Kagoshima CB Redmond nabbed his 3rd interception of the game! This effectively killed their slim chance of coming back tonight. Worryingly, Cook took another hit early in the 2nd quarter and had to come off once again, but turned out he was just shaken up and he was soon back in the action. I hope this isn't a sign of a potential injury problem.
__________________
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-29-2007 at 05:27 AM. |
10-29-2007, 05:34 AM | #26 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Key Stats:
Kagoshima: Code:
Takamatsu: Code:
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-29-2007, 05:37 AM | #27 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-29-2007, 05:45 AM | #28 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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It hardly seems fair. 4th game of the season, and we once again play against against a top-class QB. There may be no better QB in the iNFL than Tom Collins, and his Little Rock squad has been arguably the most dangerous team in the iNFL over the past 3 seasons, winning the superbowl last year. It's been a rocky start for the champs, but I expect they'll turn it around soon enough. They have a very experienced and talented offensive unit and go 2 or 3 deep just about everywhere on offence. They aren't nearly so deep or talented on defence, but these guys ain't no Takamatsu, either. A strong secondary and an OK DLine should prove a problem for us tonight. I expect us to pick up our first loss of the season as the Monsters will just run the score up too high for us to keep up with. Prediction: Little Rock 34, Kagoshima 17
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce Last edited by Groundhog : 10-29-2007 at 04:59 PM. |
10-30-2007, 03:27 AM | #29 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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The two biggest surprises about this game were: A) we held the Monsters to 13 points, and B) we won?! A was directly responsible for B. The game started poorly with the Monsters moving the ball in to the endzone on their first drive with just 5 plays, all passes. It was quickly evident that our zone coverage just wasn't working for us as Little Rock QB Collins was reading our D with ease, so we decided to take a huge risk and start blitzing. The Monsters love to run with 3 or more receivers, so we sent our LBs after Collins, and to both team's surprise we started pressuring him, even with his usually great OLine. We ended the game with 7 sacks - nearly double what the Monsters had conceded in their first 4 games combined. Even so, this is still a great offence, and with as well as our D was playing we entered the half tied at 7 all after risking a 4th down conversion within FG range near the end of the half to instead look for the TD. It pays off, as Cook hits Osborne. The second half our D held, continually sacking and pressuring Collins and limiting to the Monsters to just two FGs in the 3rd, and we entered the 4th down 13-7. Neither team was moving the ball well, and we got the ball back with just under 5 minutes remaining, down by 6. Two nice passes get us in to FG range, and we nail the 35 yarder to reduce the deficit to a single FG with 1:39 left in the game. The Monsters get the ball back but aren't able to pick up the 1st, and using our time outs we manage to get the ball at our own 32 yard line with just under a minute left and no time outs. A few nice passes and we get the ball up field, but on 3rd down our receiver drops what would have been a competition that put us in range for a 30yd kick to tie the game, meaning that it's time for our rookie kicker to once again come through in the clutch for us with a 43 yarder to send it to overtime. He makes it! Ice runs through this man's veins! In overtime we receive, knowing that we need to win it now. I'm sure that the Monsters will work it in to FG range. We run a few plays, complete a 3rd down pass, and get the ball near the half way line. There the drive stalls, and we are forced to a 3rd and long. We line-up in the shotgun with all our receivers looking for big gains, and the coverage falls back in a prevent zone D, leaving HB Lewis to nab a pass under the coverage, and take it 37 yards up field to put us in comfy FG range! The rookie kicker comes back out, ices the kick, game over! Woot! A massive win against a premiere team, and all thanks to our pass rushing! The pass-orientated formations that the Monsters ran most of the game played a big hand here as it couldn't keep up with the 7 or 8 man blitzes we were bringing every so often. We got burnt a few times for first downs but thankfully nothing big, and this got us the win.
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
10-30-2007, 03:40 AM | #30 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Key Stats:
Kagoshima: Code:
Little Rock: Code:
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Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce |
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