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

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:57 AM

Welcome back to the new year, Hippopotami faithful. Last year was an exciting inagural year as the Hippos went 8-2 in league play and snagged 4th place. This year, we have our sights set on promotion to division IV but the fight will not be easy as we don't have a division IV caliber team... yet.

I want to thank anyone and everyone who has been reading this post and I welcome any and all comments- I try to respond ASAP. Also, if you got pointed this direction because of the FAQ, take a look- I try to make this as reader friendly as possible. I will make an effort to update the FAQ as much as possible, as well, so you might want to check back often for updates.

FYI, most of the front matter of this thread was done between weeks 2 and 3 of the league season due to computer troubles so updates in the first part are a little more sparse and may seem a tad out of order. For example, I have my team spirit listed as "wonderful" despite the fact that team spirit is reset at the beginning of every season. There is a post right before the week three league game (along with a youth pull) where I have caught all of the preseason bookkeeping up so everything after that should be posted as it happens.

And with that, welcome or welcome back, Hungry Hungry Hippos...

Posting Schedule
This was the tenative schedule I was working towards last season and I'll try to maintain this year. I was never good at getting around to the Week-In-Review. Hopefully, I can get around to posting "Where are they Now"s since I'm caught up. It will probably be a week from now since I'll still likely have my hands full with the FAQ.

Sunday: Fixture Summary, Standings
Monday/Tuesday: Hippo Spotlight, Where are they Now
Wedensday: Friendly Summary
Friday: Training
Saturday: Youth Pull, Team Attitude, Weekly Economy, Week-In-Review
Bi-Weekly or Monthly Updates: Youth Squad, Training, Staff, International Report, Supporter Update

Previous Posts In this Dynasty
Hippopotami Introduction: Hippopotami Hattrick Prequel (Old Board Conversion)
Hippopotami - Season 18, part II

SI

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:57 AM

[Placeholder for FAQ]

SI

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:57 AM

CURRENT ROSTER
Finally, after some fortunate sales and team rearrangements, I have a full compliment of players: 11 on the A Team, 11 on the B team, a clown, and a coach. Certainly there are some guys I would like to upgrade but not a one is useless any more. The Hippos A Team is capable of putting up 25 stars and an NSI of 50 every week while the B Team is closer to 17 and 35.

A few notes:

Due to computer troubles, these were actually posted partway through week 2 of the season and stats are from then.

For ratings, italics means weak or inadequate, bold means passable or solid, and bold italic is above that.

Also, we have a numbering system based on what position a player plays:
1-2: The franchise starting goalie always wearing #1 while the B Team goalie sports the #2
3-9: Any other single digit plays defense at either wingback or middle defender
10-19 If your favorite Hippos number starts with a 1, then he's a middie or winger
20-23 The four forwards all start with 2's
24-25 The clown and coach are clad in 24 and 25

GOALIES
The huge piece of the puzzle from the Julius Acker sale, franchise goalie Tim Kimber is the giant shadow in our nets. He pulls down ***~ per game since that solid is very close to popping to excellent. He will likely be with us for quite a while, but I've said that about previous goalies as well. Still, he is better than anyone else on the field so that's a statement that will likely hold up. Backup goalie Sidney Buckley is a decent ** inadequate guy for our B Team- we don't need any more.

#1 Tim Kimber (3952839)
22 years, solid form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is fiery and upright.
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: England
Assessed value: 477 000 US$
Wage: 3 732 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Stamina: passable Goaltending: solid
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: passable

#2 Sidney Buckley (7898678)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is tranquil and upright.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 85 000 US$
Wage: 940 US$/week
Stamina: poor Goaltending: inadequate
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

DEFENSE

A TEAM: Back when this team was just starting off, I trained defense for a week and Hugh Hebert bumped from inadequate to passable and has been our best wingback every since. Elmer Bush, on the other hand, was picked up off the transfer wire for a discounted rate since he was injured. Unfortunately, his form has never recovered from the injury so he may have to spend a few weeks on the B Team until it comes back up. Thomas Strömlius beat out Rickie Stepp in the race for center defender late last season.

B TEAM: Tho, Longis and Jonsson come from België and Sverige, both are strikingly similar. They were purchased within a couple of days of each other and are both inad/inad at wingback skills. Jonsson is a year younger and has slightly better at peripheral skills. Stepp lost the race for starting center defender but is an admirable fill in for wingback should Bush need a little more time to recover from his injuries. FYI: The defender #4 is the only one not in use currently.

#3 Thomas Strömlius (8733970)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 49 000 US$
Wage: 924 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 3
Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: passable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak

#5 Patrik Jonsson (8193638)
19 years, weak form, healthy
A popular guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 42 000 US$
Wage: 924 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 0
Stamina: passable Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: inadequate Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: wretched

#6 Rickie Stepp (5939343)
21 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 36 000 US$
Wage: 690 US$/week
Owner: Houston Hippopotami
Career Goals: 2
Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: wretched
Winger: weak Defending: passable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

#7 Hugh Hebert (7555483)
23 years, inadequate form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and honest.
Has wretched experience and disastrous leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 41 000 US$
Wage: 750 US$/week
Career Goals: 0
Stamina: solid Goaltending: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: passable
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

#8 Elmer Bush (7098202)
23 years, poor form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and upright.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 30 000 US$
Wage: 790 US$/week
Career Goals: 0
Stamina: poor Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: disastrous
Winger: passable Defending: passable
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: wretched

#9 Gérard Longis (8249084)
20 years, weak form, healthy
A controversial person who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: België
Assessed value: 12 000 US$
Wage: 696 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 1
Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: inadequate
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor

WINGERS

A TEAM: I've always thought wingers were highly undervalued as a way to generate some added offense or defense for your team. Then again, maybe it's because our best outfielder is a winger. Granted, it takas away some midfield, but having Mick Starks play offensive gives the forward in front of him at least 10 more goals than our other forward and helps us put the pressure on teams offensively. Mick has been with us since day one and was named team MVP last year. Also, with his experience and leadership, he is team captain, one of Coach Braden's first moves when he came in and his nastiness can be seen across the team. On the other wing is a relative newcomer in solid/passable Donald Newsom who is the friendly popular ying to Starks yang. Both have good stamina and maintain that is is key to their game.

B TEAM: Cheap winger trainees are very easy to come by and that fortunate circumstance allowed us to acquire and now train a pair of 19yo passable winger/inad playmaking for very cheap. Björn Magnusson from Sverige and Ivan Viseslav from Hrvatska add to our international flavor, contrasted to our pair of Americans on the first team, and can put up ** a game routinely.

#13 Mick Starks (7555487)
25 years, solid form, healthy
A nasty fellow who is balanced and honest.
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 283 000 US$
Wage: 2 210 US$/week
Career Goals: 2

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

#14 Björn Magnusson (8582470)
19 years, poor form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 24 000 US$
Wage: 792 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 0

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

#16 Ivan Viseslav (5501146)
19 years, inadequate form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: Hrvatska
Assessed value: 53 000 US$
Wage: 960 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 2

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

#19 Donald Newsom (8721221)
20 years, passable form, healthy
A popular guy who is fiery and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 68 000 US$
Wage: 860 US$/week
Career Goals: 3

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

DEFENSE

A TEAM: Unfortunately, with the sale of Julius Acker for a small fortune (something north of $600K), we are left with a small hole at middie as German trainee Philip Friedländer was pressed into service early. "Veterans" Carlos Alberto Benito and Stephen Connor anchor the midfield with exc/pass and solid/solid stamina/playmaking combos. Benito frequently plays offensive to take advantage of his inadequate scoring and solid passing. Connors has inad defense so he stays normal or will occasionally play defensively.

B TEAM: The pride and joy of our youth squad is 18yo Anders Jörgensson. He is all around awesome and could develop into our team's first superstar. He has excellent stamin with passable winger and scoring and inad set pieces. Right now, he's only at inad playmaking and that's what we are training. With those periphery stats, we could sell him for a mint in the not too distant future, especially considering his age. The second trainee is Kyle Paige. He's been with us since the start and just bumped to solid playmaking (2nd week of this season). However, he's always been in the doghouse with me due to his poor stamina and poor form. Ideally, I can just sell him for pretty good money since he's only a 21yo solid playmaker. The last trainee is 21yo Jeremy Rumbold. He has solid stadmina and inad at playmaking, scoring, defending, and set pieces. He's a decent utility guy and we'll probably try to sell him when he hits solid playmaking or possibly keep him on as a starter.

#10 Kyle Paige (7555474)
21 years, poor form, healthy
A nasty fellow who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 27 000 US$
Wage: 680 US$/week
Career Goals: 2

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

#11 Philip Friedländer (7895342)
20 years, inadequate form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is balanced and honest.
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: Deutschland
Assessed value: 60 000 US$
Wage: 972 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 4

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

#12 Stephen Connors (7555486)
24 years, inadequate form, bruised, but training
A controversial person who is calm and upright.
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 96 000 US$
Wage: 1 190 US$/week
Career Goals: 5

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

#15 Carlos Alberto Benito (7555476)
22 years, inadequate form, healthy
A popular guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 201 000 US$
Wage: 1 700 US$/week
Career Goals: 9

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

#17 Anders Jörgensson (8718431)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and solid leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 116 000 US$
Wage: 1 224 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 3

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

#18 Jeremy Rumbold (5670922)
21 years, weak form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.
Nationality: Oceania
Assessed value: 39 000 US$
Wage: 876 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 1

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

FORWARDS

A TEAM: With only two forwards, having a pair of good ones is of the utmost importance and thankfully, we can count on our two to put up five stars per game. Both Edwin Phelan and Juan Miguel Tizón are young (21yo and 19yo) and are pass/pass scorers and passers. But the comparasions end there: Phelan is a technical guy, has great stamina, is loved by his teammates, and has been here since the beginning while Tizon is a head specialist, has poor stamina, is controversial & infamous(!!), and was acquired in the last month. Phelan has the fortunate of playing ahead of Mick Starks so 15-20 goals is very possible.

B TEAM: Dafoe Chang is one of the first ever Hippo trainees and the only one from England. Derrick Solomon came to us from the fertile transfer fields of Oceania before it became infested with other FOFCers, driving prices up

. He may be old but he scored 13 last year and was Offensive MVP last year. Unfortunately, his form has plummeted since the end of last year so he will start on the B Team. However, he is an excellent 3rd forward and starter-worthy as soon as his form gets back up to where it should be. Both Chang and Solomon boast the team's only excellent stamina players.

#20 Derrick Solomon (2651563)
30 years, poor form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and honest.
Has poor experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: Oceania
Assessed value: 22 000 US$
Wage: 948 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Houston Hippopotami
Career Goals: 22
Career Hattricks: 3

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

#21 Juan Miguel Tizón (7363704)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A controversial person who is temperamental and infamous.
Has disastrous experience and disastrous leadership abilities.
Speciality: Head
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 47 000 US$
Wage: 900 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 4

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

#22 Edwin Phelan (7555484)
21 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is calm and upright.
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 154 000 US$
Wage: 1 340 US$/week
Career Goals: 16

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

#23 Defoe Chang (6110091)
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
A controversial person who is fiery and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: England
Assessed value: 46 000 US$
Wage: 948 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 5

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

"STAFF"
Coach Braden has been with the Hippos almost since their inception. The only exception was our first friendly loss to the Bees. His overall record is deceptive at 15-8-2 with a 88-49 goal differential as he stresses that friendlies are a learning experience first and foremost and his 4-6-2 record shows that. This belief is the root of his solid coaching ability which helps speed improvement in the Hippo players. However, in competitive play, every player knows when to have fun and when to put on a game face as he has compiled an impressive 11-2-0 record and the Hippos have outscored opponents by more than 50: 63-12, a demonstration of his "all out" offensive mentality. He truly sets the example for the team as he's like his players: a bit of a hardass (controversial) and this can lead to low team spirit. Lastly, he has led to many an FOFC'ers "I hate you" for the pure dumb luck of being drawn after only two firings (initial coach and first crappy replacement).

To counteract coach, the team signed 21yo clown Silviu Radu. While we can't afford a solid/popular clown, Silviu is the next best thing at solid/sympathetic. His Romanian humor is a welcome change to coach's typically sour mood. In a pinch he can play goalie but that's about it. His days will be spent on the bench.

#24 Silviu Radu (7766792)
21 years, wretched form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is fiery and upright.
Has disastrous experience and solid leadership abilities.
Nationality: România
Assessed value: 36 000 US$
Wage: 1 008 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Stamina: poor Goaltending: weak
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: wretched
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: wretched

#25 Ricky Braden (7583297)
34 years, poor form, healthy
A solid coach who goes all out
A controversial person who is calm and upright.
Has brilliant experience and weak leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 0 US$
Wage: 500 US$/week
Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

My Best Team Ratings
A new feature for the terminally curious. These are the various MyBestTeam Ratings for the Hippos, using common formations.

4-4-2
Overall:39.38%
Midfield:38.83%
Left Defence:38.8%
Central Defence:38.67%
Right Defence:38.61%
Left Attack:41.18%
Central Attack:38.69%
Right Attack:42.28%

4-5-1
Overall:37.05%
Midfield:50.64%
Left Defence:38.82%
Central Defence:38.67%
Right Defence:38.59%
Left Attack:40.9%
Central Attack:21.15%
Right Attack:25.77%

5-4-1
Lineup strength
Overall:39.84%
Midfield:38.83%
Left Defence:50.07%
Central Defence:44.47%
Right Defence:48.29%
Left Attack:41.11%
Central Attack:20.92%
Right Attack:25.77%

3-4-3
Overall:37.59%
Midfield:38.83%
Left Defence:39.11%
Central Defence:30.52%
Right Defence:27.29%
Left Attack:41.18%
Central Attack:53.23%
Right Attack:41.95%

4-3-3
Overall:38.61%
Midfield:22.95%
Left Defence:38.59%
Central Defence:38.33%
Right Defence:38.29%
Left Attack:41.89%
Central Attack:52.2%
Right Attack:41.01%

Standard 3-5-2
Overall:37.32%
Midfield:50.37%
Left Defence:38.59%
Central Defence:30.39%
Right Defence:27.29%
Left Attack:41.04%
Central Attack:38.74%
Right Attack:41.95%

Specialized 3-5-2 (the formation we run with instructions)
Overall:39.63%
Midfield:50.37%
Left Defence:43.6%
Central Defence:32.44%
Right Defence:25.48%
Left Attack:48.62%
Central Attack:39.64%
Right Attack:45.85%

Maybe it's time to change up our lineup a little. That said, I don't really want to mess with what works. And I'll be damned if it's to a 5-4-1 at the expense of my balance, moving midfield and attack to defense.

Series Preview
This is a series of haves and have nots. There are three good teams in the Hippos, Dragons, Blades, and a dark horse in the Flying Midgets. The Mulisha have been around a while but are not very good but should probably get 5th. Then there are the new teams: PRODYGRAF, Buccabeavzers, and goonz. Here is a brief scouting report of all of the teams in our league and also when we play them. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you V.62 for Season 19.

CC's Dragons
The Dragons finished in second place last year with 36 points and our toughest competition for the title as their NSI routinely breaks 50. Solid 19yo goalies Steven Atwood and Gil Bauer anchor this team (both youth squad pulls, presumably). Young *** and **~ offensive wingers Lai Soon-Wah and Patrik Ulfsson key an attack which feeds 18yo Ed Becker or 27yo unpredictable Lynn Whakaari and series runner-up in scoring last year, Victorio Refojo. They run a 3-5-2 with **~ Gough Fitter manning any of the three defender spots and **~ middie Stan Whitmore scouring the midfield. We play them at home in week 6 and then at their place in week 9.

Toledo Blades
Toledo was the division IV relegee from last year. They aren't quite up to the standards of the teams in DK's division and will be tough but beatable competition here. Along with us and the Dragons, they can get an NSI of 50 routinely even with their bastardly 4-5-1 and 5-4-1 *spit*. Their goalie is Tommy Coffey, who only nets two stars per game, which is fortunate for us. Their biggest star is offensive specialist Wade Rees who gets **~ per game, typically at offensive middie or sometimes at forward. Defenders Dacian Vãrzaru and Georgicã Dinu typically collect **~ and are an integral part of their back 4 on the 4-4-2. Offensive winger Willie Lau is another player who routinely gets **~ for them. Both the Blades and Dragons are somewhat active in the transfer market, tho it appears neither are daytraders but it does mean he could get an instant upgrade at any time. A week one matchup with CC's Dragons looms large as we can see which of the two will be our biggest competition this year. They come to the Hippodrome in week 4 and we visit Ohio in week 11.

The Flying Midgets
This team is my dark horse to sneak into the top 3 this year. They play a very defensive 4-4-2 and are led by goalie Svarg Ram who posts **~ per game. The thing that really holds them back is that they haven't been active in the transfer market in months. They have two ***/**~ players in middie Chu Kok-Chong from Singapore and 29yo defensive veteran Curtis Bond. The rest of their team posts ** or *~ but with a good youth pull or two, they will be dangerous. We visit the Midgets in week 2 and they are our home finale in week 13.

Metal Mulisha
Metal Mulisha have been a team longer than I have but are the perfect example of what can happen when you don't have a good knowledge base to pull from. They log in regularly but do not play friendlies and have only made three transfer purchases, the only recent one being $45K for a *~ forward. They play a standard 4-4-2 with *~ across the back including 4 defenders and goalie Corey Mcduffie. Their only ** player is forward Albert Metz. We play Metal Mulisha in Boston in week 5 and at Houston in week 10.

Buccabeavzers
We're not sure what a Buccabeavzer is but they play in Oregon and are one of the two new additions to the league who are active and trying to better themselves. They are playing in friendlies, dabbling in the transfer market (getting mistakes out the way), and putting together a B Team. They were fortunate enough to start out with a passable goalie in **~ Graig Grace. However, the rest of their team was not so fortunate with only four other ** players: defender Arvid Munkvoid, wingers Lex Putnam and Raúl Álvarez De Miranda D, and middie Eduardo Alaín Sánchez. We play them and their 4-5-1 in a home-and-home in weeks 7 and 8. Hopefully, they have not improved too much by then but they have some promise.

goonz
The goonz have also been active, playing a friendly within our division with the Buccabeavzers but have they have no transfer history. However, in that friendly, they did display part of a second team so there is still hope for them. They have recently played a 3-4-3, 3-3-4, and 4-4-2 so they are still in a feeling out period but one thing they know for sure is that Brent Wolff is a **~ force at forward. Unfortunately, their goalie, Frederick Torres gets *~ and only two other players get ** in winger Dan Dockery and forward Miguel Urbaneja Pérez. We play the goonz at home in week 4 and in Florida week 12.

PRODYGRAF
PRODYGRAF is a new team which hasn't logged in recently and will be replaced at some point. They have never done a transfer or friendly and are just plain fodder. They have a ** forward in 28yo Bennett Slater and no one else who scores above *~ in their 4-4-2. We get nice, relaxing games against them in our home opener in week 1 and season finale in week 14. Hopefully, they haven't been replaced by then if I'm needing an easy win late.

SI

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:58 AM

Supporters
I want to give a hearty welcome to my supporters and express my support to my supportees. For those who don't know, any official supporter gets special treatment during games (more on that down in the Stadium section) and, at one time, recieve reciprocal support. Unfortunately, my support spots are now filled and only 4 are reciprocal: I support DK's Screamin' Seamen non-reciprocally. Ideally, I want to play a home-and-home with everyone one of my supported teams. However, so far, I have only played the Bees and Morrisvillians. Ardent's North County Raiders were supported at one time (see logo section) and are now honorary supportees and thus enjoy the same privilage as supporters and supportees despite having no supporter status. It should also be noted that I owe the Sidekicks our first available mutual open date for a friendly that was cancelled at the end of last year.

Supported/Supportee teams

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

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

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

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

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

Maniacal Misfitz (72203) in USA
Owner: Havok12
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-03-18 22:48:07
Series: V.253

Havoc (71573) in USA
Owner: Havoc99
Status: supportee
Supportee since: 2003-03-25 10:03:22
Series: V.174

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

Staff
The first thing you notice about the staff is that I use 7-3 instead of 8-2 for coaches. Early on, I had problems with keeping goaltenders in good form so I switched from 8-2 to 7-3. Hasn't slowed down training a whole lot as all but my two oldest middies have bumped. I'm a firm believer in lots of spokespersons and I think they have to do with my huge and growing supporter base almost as much as my early success. I want to keep 1 physio and 1 doctor on staff just to keep the injuries lighter but if I start seeing more injuries, I'll either adjust the training rate or add more staff. Lastly, I have no economists since I don't have enough money or much debt and my confidence is typically at wonderful so I don't want a sports psychologist mucking it up by making them overconfident.

Staff
Goaltending Coaches: 3
Assistant Coaches: 7
Sport Psychologists: 0
Spokepersons: 5
Economists: 0
Physiotherapists: 1
Doctors: 1

Training
Most weeks, I'll be training playmaking. The other things I might train are general to help form and stamina but we are pretty close to where we need to be for that. I train at 95% despite my 1 physiotherapist and doctor and seem to be pretty good for it- not too many injuries but lots of training. Our confidence is from two weeks into the season and 5 straight competition wins-it'll do wonders for your confidence. Unfortunately, our team spirit is rarely above calm due to our coach being a hardass. The clown can only counteract him so the damage isn't worse but he isn't good enough to turn the tide towards the positive. As you can see, we used to play a 4-5-1 in friendlies to have a second formation but I found it to be annoyingly unbalanced so I'll just run the 3-5-2 and if, for some reason, I need a second formation, I'll go with the 4-4-2.

Training Specifics
Training Level: 95%
Training Type: Playmaking
Coach: Ricky Braden
Team Spirit: calm
Confidence: wonderful

Formation experience
4-3-3: poor
4-5-1: passable
3-5-2: excellent
5-3-2: poor
3-4-3: poor
5-4-1: poor

Sponsors/Supporters
Speaking of supporters and sponsors and spokespersons, that's alliteration. Our supporter club has been growing quickly and it has a large part to do with keeping them happy. We've only lost 2 games in league play and have yet to have a week where we lose supporters. Also, our troupe of 5 spokespersons can't hurt. We thank every one of them profusely for filling our stadium every week by trying to win every game and keeping them in good moods like "delirious" and "high on life".

Sponsor Info
Sponsors: delirious
Supporter Club: 869 members
Supporters: high on life

The Hippodrome
The beloved Hippodrome, a clever (ok, not really) play on words on the name of the old Roman stadium, doesn't boast it's 250,000 capacity... yet. However, a stadium expansion in mid season 18 more than doubled the seating from 7000 to 15692. The only seats that don't fill up currently are the VIP boxes but they do for big games. Future stadium expansions will not have quite the ratio of VIP boxes that the current configuration does. An expansion to 22K-25K will probably occur towards the end of the year.

There's also the matter of the executive washroom and attached box suite which are not included in the other stadium stats. However, any official supporters of the Hippos are familiar with, and enjoy their games from, the comfort of the suite. A classical feel of marble is meshed with technological wonders along with full service dining and full service girls- take that as you will. Other than official supporters, only the owner is allowed up here on a regular basis. The end of year awards banquet is also held here and the event has contributed to some of the team loyalty.

Arena Info
Arena: The Hippodrome
Belongs to: Houston Hippopotami
Country: USA
Region : Houston
Last improvement: 1/29/2003
Total capacity: 15692
Terraces: 9702
Basic seating: 3850
Seats under roof: 1740
Seats in VIP boxes: 400

Youth Squad
Our youth sqaud is much maligned- there's no debating that. Originally, we only put $5K to $10K in for the first month. However, ever since we've put in $20K a week, it's bumped all the way to solid at the end of last season. We're expecting excellent by the end of this season. Despite it being solid, we have only pulled one player which we could even sell and he only netted $1K. We need two nice pulls of the ~$100K to $300K variety by the end of the year to make me feel comfortable about competing in Division IV next year. Maybe we'll get lucky- redemption could be only a button press away.

Youth Squad
Youth Squad: solid
Investment in the Youth squad: 20,000 US$ / week

Finances
Here is the ideal budget for this season. I'm getting $43K per week from sponsors, but I gain $1500-$2000 per week. Also, a sellout nets me $83K but I can only get that half of the weeks of the season. Ideally, I will have no interest but who knows. The $2K temporary per week is for youth pull. As you can see, we are barely in the black on an average week, but hopefully youth pulls can offset this. Also, towards the end of this year, I'm looking to get more high profile trainees such as Anders Jörgensson. Not to mention the stadium upgrade I mentioned before.

Revenue
Crowd: 3000 (83000)
Sponsors: 45000
Financial: 0
Temporary: 0
Two Week Revenue: 176000

Expenses
Arena: 10300
Wages: 27000
Interest: 0
Temporary: 2000
Staff: 25500
Youth squad: 20000
Two Week Expenses: 169600

Total
Two Week Gross: +6400

Team Profile
Our wages have gone up quite a bit since last year but so has the quality of our team: Our value is 91st in all of division V. We are a quite young team but with that, we have low experience which can occasionally lead to events in games. Our average form is pretty good but I'd like it to be slightly higher. Lastly, we have quite an international flavor as I have dabbled quite a bit on the transfer market. We have players from the USA (10, coach), Sverige (5), England (2), Oceania (2), Deutschland (1), Hrvatska (1), België (1), and România (1).

Team Stats
Total Wages: 23570
Total Value: 2075000
Avg Value: 90217
Avg Age: 21
Avg Form: inadequate
Avg Experience: disastrous
No of players: 23
Nationalities: 8

Federations
We are limited to three federations slots but I currently only belong to two. I'm not wildly involved but I try to do some and check out their conference a couple of times a week. I'd check the conferences more often but they seem down so often. I wish they would get better board software.

Federations
Front Office Football Community- I think we all know what this one is.
Daytrading Federation- I'm in here more than anything to read their conference. It's one of the largest in all of hattrick with 358 members currently and is led by the legendary daytrader karate of fumpen. I hold the status of "mini trader" just because I'd rather be something other than just "member".

Team Colors
NOTE: copied from last year's dynasty report
As Hippopotamuses are only grey/black, I figured I could go with pretty much any color I wanted but I wanted something with a dark look. At first, I kindof liked the idea of dark red and black as those seem like Hippo colors but then I decided on purple and black. Also thought dark green socks sounded like a good idea even though they look like black to me. Our color schemes are as follows: (any thoughts?)

Match Kit
Shirt: Black
Shorts: Purple
Socks: Dark Green

Reserve Kit
Shirt: Purple
Shorts: Black
Socks: Dark Green

Fan Club
Thanks to a small impromptu contest last year (which wasn't really a contest but me taking the first good suggestion that came along), ardent's suggestion of "Hungry Hungry Hippos" stuck with our fan club. It resulted in our sponsoring of his North County Raiders until a better offer came along- i.e. reciprocal sponsorship from another club. Ardent was pretty understandable that he lost out to a better bribe

Logo
NOTE: also copied from last year's dynasty report
I have a creepily cute logo befitting my team's status as not even able to win in division V. Maybe I'll find some scarier images once my team improves. The image came somewhat from the cover of a book called "Hippos Go Berserk" by Sandra Boynton. I've never heard of it or read it before but it had a picture that fit. Here's a link to the book:Hippos Go Berserk And here is our new, ultra-intimidating team logo:

SI

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:58 AM

Preview
It's our first ever cup match and I'm not quite sure how to strike the balance between who to play in cup and league games. Then again, this is my only match of the week so it's time to go full throttle while we are training set pieces. I just hope no one gets hurt.

I'm playing a computer division VI team who will hopefully get an owner. But right now, they're going to get annihilated as we try out Viseslav at offensive winger as well as most of my normal lineup. BTW, we PIC'd this game but it didn't matter.

Game Summary
Date: 4/3/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6818800
Arena: Indiana Palace
Crowd: 4661

4661 spectators had come to Indiana Palace this cloudy day. Spartans started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Wilder - Posey, Hubbard, Smith, Rapp - Paxton, Felder, Casarini, Ayers - Ferrell, Jackson.

Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Stepp, Hebert - Starks, Connors, Friedländer, Jörgensson, Viseslav - Chang, Phelan.

Hippopotami took the lead in the games 1st minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Anders Jörgensson was the scorer. Spartanss Lewis Jackson got himself booked after a foul. After 23 minutes Vernon Hubbard made a complete fool of himself and dropped the ball to Mick Starks who shuffled it into goal. 0-2 for Hippopotami. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. After the ball got lifted in from the left Edwin Phelan was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 31 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The visitors Philip Friedländer took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 36:th minute. 0 - 3 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 43rd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 4. Edwin Phelan was noted down as the scorer. Halftime score was 0 - 4. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 73 percent possession rate.

The visitors Stephen Connors took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 52nd minute. 0 - 5 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 52nd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 6. Defoe Chang was noted down as the scorer. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Mick Starks somhow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Ivan Viseslav who struck for 0 - 7. The visitors Defoe Chang took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 71st minute. 0 - 8 for Hippopotami. In the games 75:th minute Hippopotami´s Ivan Viseslav fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Ivan Viseslav for taking a dive. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 84:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 9. Rickie Stepp was noted down as the scorer. In the games 88:th minute Mick Starks nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through and fired from just outside the box, his shot passed just over the bar. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 88 percent possession rate.

Most important Spartans player was Lewis Jackson. However, Vernon Hubbard made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 9.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names would have a goal number if it were a fixture
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
IS: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 01: Anders Jörgensson (C1); 1-0
HH: 23: Mick Starks (C1); 2-0
HH: 36: Philip Friedländer (C1); 3-0
HH: 43: Edwin Phelan (C1); 4-0
Halftime Score: 4-0
Possession: 73%

2nd Half
HH: 52: Stephen Connors (C1); 5-0
HH: 52: Dafoe Chang (C1); 6-0
HH: xx: Ivan Viseslav (C1); 7-0
HH: 71: Dafoe Chang (C2); 8-0
HH: 84: Rickie Stepp(C1); 9-0
Final Score: 9-0
Possession: 88%
Final Possession: 81%

Cards
HH: 75: Ivan Viseslav (yellow- taking a dive)

Injuries
None- woo!

Stadium

Less than 5K fans for a cup game so our take was pretty small. Oh well. I wasn't expecting a lot from a computer team. At least we'll likely have one nice home game before we exit the cup.

Team Ratings

Indiana Spartans
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: wretched (2)
Central Defence: poor (3)
Left Side Defence: poor (3)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing Index: 19
NevStar Index: 20

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing Index: 44
NevStar Index: 47

I do believe that is our highest score to date and wasted completely. If only we could save some points (and goals) for future games.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Elmer Bush *~
DM Rickie Stepp **
DW Hugh Hebert **
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
MI Stephen Connors ***
MI Anders Jörgensson *~
MI Philip Friedländer (extra) *~
WI Ivan Viseslav (off) **
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Dafoe Chang **

Total Stars: 24.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Play it Cool

Connors is now our third *** guy after Starks and Kimber (***~). Bush's form slump is getting distressing- he may be benched in favor of Stepp until he gets back on his game. I don't think we've broken 25 stars yet but it's bound to happen soon.

Three Stars
In an effort to bring continuing innovation to hattrick threads (or at least steal them from NevStar, typically), I have a new feature for the new season. Anyone familiar with hockey should know of three stars. This is my own version which is very similar: basically I'll select the three top players on my team each week for this reward. The bronze looks a lot more like copper but without specific colors, I had to make do. Plus, I've always preferred copper to bronze, anyways.

Bronze: Rickie Stepp
Our defenders don't get nearly enough credit and Rickie scored a goal today.
Silver: Ivan Viseslav
Great debut game with a debut goal and debut card.
Gold: Dafoe Chang
The only multi-goal scorer of the game nets the gold.

Game Summary
Up 2-0, 23 mins in. Then we drew back. And scored 7 more in the game. In a PIC game. Ho-hum, a crushing victory. New uber trainee Anders Jörgensson (unofficially) scored the first goal of the USA FOFC season with a goal 1 minute into a game. Also, a nice debut for Ivan Viseslav. He will make a nice trainee.

Press Release
4/3/2003 at 06:11 Hippos Move Onto Round Two
The Hippos crushed a computer controlled Indiana Spartans team by the score of 9-0. It was going to be a long day for them when new Hippo phenom Anders Jörgensson scored in the very first minute of play. Eight different players scored for the Hippopotami and forward Dafoe Chang scored twice. Only the two wingbacks didn't score for the starters on the field. Goalie Tim Kimber collected 3.5*'s for the second straight game as a Hippo. Onto the series season and round two of the Cup!

Notes
We have a game this week against someone in our series who shouldn't be too tough and a cup match next week against another division VI team, this time with a human owner. They should be a little tougher but they just don't have the talent to compete. The season is starting out nice but the week after next will be tough with a game against a dark horse in our division and likely a division IV team in the cup.

SI

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 02:58 AM

Training
To anyone who is thinking of training set pieces: DON'T. That's today's lesson. Form sunk like a rock and value with it. A couple of players are going to be demoted: last year's offensive MVP Derrick Solomon and newly acquired wingback Elmer Bush. Bush's is likely temporary but Solomon may have played his last game for us. He may retire into the sunset but that remains to be seen.

Future Training
Next week, back to nice, comforting playmaking after this debacle. With the above changes, all of our players have forms of inad or better. So we may go back to stamina training next week since a lot of our B team needs it (four of our players are poor or worse and there are a lot of inads across the board).

Form
Starters: (+1) (-3)
Entire Team: (+1) (-8)

Value
Starters: (+9) (-2)
Entire Team: (+9) (-13)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 23570 (+4750)
Total Value: 2074000 (+34000)
Avg Value: 90217 (+1531)
Avg Age: 21 (+1)
Avg Form: inadequate (down from passable)
Avg Experience: disastrous (N/A)
No of players: 23 (N/A)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)
NOTE: Much of this, especially the wages and age, are from the year end changes.

Youth """"Pull""""
Yet again, another """"youth pull"""" of crappiness but at least there were a couple of "weak"s in there. Will Craven has now been put on the bus to our Mickey D's.

Will Craven (10781047)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 9 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week
Owner: Houston Hippopotami

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

SI

DataKing · 04-04-2003, 09:55 AM

[Placeholder for witty comment]

DK

NevStar · 04-04-2003, 10:08 AM

[Placeholder insulting the toothless fans of Houston and/or the heart & drive of your team]

Nev - jumping on the bandwagon a bit late

sterlingice · 04-04-2003, 12:59 PM

Well, I've screwed up my computer even more than when I posted that last night (nothing like booting into win2k and getting a blue screen while proggies are loading). So, my computer, she is getting a formatting. Right now I'm just writing to update people on a comp in the KU library.

SI

sterlingice · 04-10-2003, 04:14 PM

Good news: my computer has finally submitted. Granted, it's still taking part in many small battles of will with me but the majority of it is working. Hopefully I'll be able to start getting caught up. Right now, I just posted last week's training update before it gets changed again. Hopefully I can get a couple of more things posted tonight so I can get started on the FAQ.

SI

sterlingice · 04-11-2003, 03:52 AM

Preview
Two PIC cup games in a row and our team spirit still is at "content". I was tempted to PIC this game but figured I should come out of the box firing in a league game and try to get some differential between me and the other contenders (CC's Dragons, Toledo Blades, and The Flying Midgets). PRODYGRAF just got a new owner and no transfers so he's likely still in the feeling-out period. This week begins our attempt to move up to division IV.

Game Summary
Date: 4/7/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544384
Arena: PRODYGRAF Arena
Crowd: 7000

7000 spectators arrived at PRODYGRAF Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. PRODYGRAF tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Aparisi Miralles - Osborn, Roe, Willard, Gonzales - Ryder, Cook, Bass, Williams - Slater, Mcclendon.

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

Seemingly due to lack of experience, Stephen Connors needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami took the lead in the games 21st minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Philip Friedländer was the scorer. The visitors Carlos Alberto Benito took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 25:th minute. 0 - 2 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 40:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 3. Thomas Strömlius was noted down as the scorer. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. 0 - 3 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 79 percent, dominated the battle.

Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Carlos Alberto Benito delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. In the 51st minute Hippopotamis Donald Newsom received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Don Ryder the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. In the 62nd minute Hippopotami put themselves up 0 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Edwin Phelan. Joseph Willard made several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in the defensive line. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 73rd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 5. Derrick Solomon was noted down as the scorer. The visitors Donald Newsom took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 79:th minute. 0 - 6 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 89:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 7. Edwin Phelan was noted down as the scorer. As Kyle Gonzales had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the PRODYGRAF player a red card without batting an eye. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 83 percent possession of the ball.

PRODYGRAF´s best player was Bennett Slater. Joseph Willard was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 7.

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
P: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 21: Philip Friedländer (1); 1-0
HH: 25: Carlos Alberto Benito (1); 2-0
HH: 40: Thomas Strömlius (1); 3-0
HH: 40: *pulling back*
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 79%

2nd Half
HH: 62: Edwin Phelan (1); 4-0
HH: 73: Derrick Solomon (1); 5-0
HH: 79: Donald Newsom (1); 6-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (2); 7-0
Final Score: 7-0
Possession: 83%
Final Possession: 81%

Cards
HH: 51: Donald Newsom (yellow- going into a challenge studs first)

Injuries
They picked up a red card late in the game for a leg sweep but fortunately we avoided injury on that one

Stadium

They filled their stadium up to a full 7K. Can't wait to get home next week for our home opener and have the Hippodrome rocking with 15K fans.

Team Ratings

PRODYGRAF
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 28/30

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 46/50

Another team high! We cracked 50 on the NSI. Suprising, considering the following.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Hugh Hebert **
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Elmer Bush *
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
MI Stephen Connors **~
MI Philip Friedländer (extra) *~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito **~
WI Donald Newsom (to mid) *~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Derrick Solomon *~

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

Connors gave back his *** after getting it last week but **~ from him isn't something to worry too much about. Newsom's experiment at winger towards middle will end. I was trying to shore up the middle with him while Benito was playing offensive, but it dropped him back to *~ and I simply can't afford anything less than ** from any of my players. Derrick Solomon looks like he has lost his starting spot to 19yo Juan Miguel Tizon, who picked up **~ in the cup game. I can't see us selling him, tho- we may need the cash, but it would be like seeing Jerry Rice in a Raiders jersey or Roger Clemens in Yankee pinstripes- d'oh. However, the most distressing news came from wingback Elmer Bush. He has been ripped from the A team for his * performance and will be with the B team until he gets that back up to the ** or **~ I know he can get. His form is in the crapper and really needs to start ticking back up again.

Three Stars
First game of the season brings some new guys to the forefront.

Bronze: Donald Newsom
While the "towards middle" experiment didn't work, he collected a goal and earned a real yellow card for going in spikes up.
Silver: Thomas Strömlius
Three games in a row with a defender scoring!
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Two goals today nets him the title of series leading scorer; If he stays paired with Starks all season, I could be $10K richer after he gets 15-20 goals.

Game Summary
Great way to start out the season. Some things worked and some didn't but those have been corrected and next week our team will be stronger for it. Stepp and Tizon will make their A team debuts next week against The Flying Midgets and I can only hope that what is wrong with Bush and Solomon corrects itself. We should be pulling down at least 25 *s and an NSI of 50 from this game forward and possibly 27* and DKI of 50.

Press Release
4/7/2003 at 20:16 Hippos Roll in Season Opener
Like last Wednesday's cup game, everyone got in on the action as the Hippos pummeled PRODYGRAF in the season opener. Edwin Phelan, matched up on the left side with Mick Starks in what could be a new killer combo, scored twice. Five other players scored for the Hippos including defender Thomas Strömlius. The Hippos also racked up a pair of yellow cards, showing they are still a misunderstood team. It should be noted that they had a franchise best 50 NSI despite some substandard star ratings.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  1 7 - 0   3   50
 
2. CC's Dragons         1 5 - 1   3   53
3. The Flying Midgets   1 2 - 0   3   46
4. Metal Mulisha        1 2 - 0   3   30
 
5. goonz                1 0 - 2   0   25
6. Buccabeavzers        1 0 - 2   0   29
 
7. Toledo Blades        1 1 - 5   0   48
8. PRODYGRAF            1 0 - 7   0   30

Around the League
A somewhat new feature but I've always had some league notes. Now they get their own heading. With the Darksiders getting a well deserved bump to Div IV, the series is wide open this year. Curretly, we're in first but that's only by goal differential over a team with an owner for less than two weeks. BTW, if we are in the race for promotion about halfways through the season, I'll try to add that to our status here. Also, taking DK's lead, I've added league NSI's. As you can see- it's clearly a league of haves vs have-nots and it just so happened that two of the haves played this week.

The Flying Midgets - goonz 2 - 0
Well, The Flying Midgets looks like they could still be a problem: that 46 NSI includes exc-form-exc across the back of their defense and their **~ goalie Svarg Ram who has gotten *** before. The goonz are more fodder than anything.

Buccabeavzers - Metal Mulisha 0 - 2
The Metal Mulisha have been in the league longer than I have but have never quite gotten anywhere with their team. However, they were more than a match for the new Buccabeavzers.

Toledo Blades - CC's Dragons 1 - 5
In the stunning score of the week, the Dragons crushed Div IV relegee Toledo. However, I think this might have been one of those days when CC's had all the breaks as they only won the possession battles 52 and 51 in the halves. Still, Toledo was at home (although only 6700 showed up) so it has to make one wonder. Toledo is a bit better on defense (exc-form-exc to exc-sol-exc) and plays a 4-5-1 to CC's 3-5-2 who won the offense battle (sol-inad-pass to inad-weak-wret) with both playing a weak midfield.

Notes
A nice win to open the season and being in first just is fun. That said, I'm not putting a whole lot of stock in it until I've played CC's, Toledo, and the Midgets. A somewhat harder cup game next week but still not extremely difficult and then our first league test against the Midgets. Who knows what the cup will bring but my fixtures alternate hard-easy (Midgets-goonz-Blades-Mulisha-Dragons) until week 7/8 when I have a home and home against the Buccabeavzers.

SI

sterlingice · 04-11-2003, 03:53 AM

Preview
We may have rolled in round one against a division VI team, but that was a bot team. This time out, my opponent has a human owner. However, he only has 5ish guys capable of ** and the rest, not even that. Maybe it's a mistake, but I'm going to play my B team and PIC the game. The cup income is nice but training must go on. If I can't beat a team like this with these restrictions, I don't deserve to go on.

Game Summary
Date: 4/10/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6867881
Arena: Teke United Arena
Crowd: 7000

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 7000 to Teke United Arena. United had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Ashton - Marks, Kearns, Breeden, Daley - Crane, Dowell, Hunt, Banda - Alvarez, Rubio.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Buckley - Longis, Stepp, Jonsson - Magnusson, Rumbold, Paige, Jörgensson, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón.

In the 8:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Kyle Paige put the ball away for 0 - 1. Rickie Stepp increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Ivan Viseslav was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Defoe Chang managed to kick one of them into 0 - 3 in the 19:th minute. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The away team´s Jeremy Rumbold took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 27:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 4. In the game's 33rd minute United´s Guy Hunt limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Anders Jörgensson increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 5 by a superb free kick strike, flying in just under the far top corner. After the ball got lifted in from the left Juan Miguel Tizón was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 38 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. 0 - 5 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 64 percent possession of the ball.

The visitors Ivan Viseslav took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 50:th minute. 0 - 6 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami´s Kyle Paige received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 54:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 7. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. In the 58:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 8 as Gérard Longis finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Björn Magnusson got himself booked. After 74 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Defoe Chang who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 9. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 71 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important United player was Willie Breeden. Brent Dowell was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Juan Miguel Tizón. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 9.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals
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
TU: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 08: Kyle Pagie (C1); 1-0
HH: xx: Rickie Stepp (C2); 2-0
HH: 19: Dafoe Chang (C3); 3-0
HH: 27: Jeremy Rumbold (C1); 4-0
HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (C2); 5-0
Halftime Score: 5-0
Possession: 64%

2nd Half
HH: 50: Ivan Viseslav (C2); 6-0
HH: 54: Kyle Paige (C2); 7-0
HH: 58: Gerard Longis (C1); 8-0
HH: 74: Dafoe Chang (C4); 9-0
Final Score: 9-0
Possession: 71%
Final Possession: 68%

Cards
HH: xx: Björn Magnusson (yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incidents)

Injuries
None- woo!

Stadium

A full 7K in a division VI stadium netted a cool $10560. Not bad for an away cup game. Next week we're playing on home turf, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Team Ratings

Teke United
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: poor (3)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing Index: 28
NevStar Index: 29

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: inadequate (5)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing Index: 35
NevStar Index: 37

Not bad for the second team. Still, lots of room for improvement. But they're the trainees.

Player Ratings
GK Sidney Buckley **
DW Gerard Longis *~
DM Rickie Stepp **
DW Patrik Jonsson *~
WI Björn Magnusson *~
MI Kyle Paige *
MI Jeremy Rumbold *~
MI Anders Jörgensson *~
WI Ivan Viseslav (off) *~
FO Dafoe Chang *~
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **~

Total Stars: 18.0
Total player experience: disastrous
Team Attitude: Play it Cool

Well, some good news: Tizon got a **~ and will likely move into the starting lineup along with Buckley's first ** performance at backup goalie. But lots of bad form has cost so many stars for the B team: Viseslav, Chang, Longis, and Jonsson all got *~ instead of their usual **.

Three Stars
The new three star feature. Check out the first cup game in the dynasty for a complete explaination. Also, I figure I should mention something: this will not always go to the "most deserving" player (ie most goals, etc) because I want to spread around some of the hardware.

Bronze: Juan Miguel Tizón
Didn't score as he missed on his event but his **~ performance gets him elevated to A team.
Silver: Dafoe Chang
Tallies his second straight two goal game.
Gold: Kyle Paige
The stars claimed him a disappointment (*) but he scored twice and that gets him the gold.

Game Summary
Ok, so it's silly to say a 9-0 game was closer than it appeared. But the only reason we outscored them so badly was because they were so bad not because we played well. The B team is suffering some serious form problems and that will just be compounded when Tizon and Stepp move up to the A team for this week's series game and Solomon and Bush, two form casualities, get a little workout time with B.

Press Release
4/10/2003 at 07:31 Hippos Stampede in Final Cup Road Game
Teke United didn't know what hit them as the Hippo B team as Kyle Paige and Dafoe Chang each scored twice en route to a 9-0 devastation. The Hippos matched or exceeded Teke in every single facet of the game from midfield to defense to offense. New forward Juan Miguel Tizón collected **~ and will probably pass 30yo forward Derrick Solomon for the starting spot opposite Edwin Phelan due to Solomon's bad form. Next week, the Hippos will battle division IV Dark Lotus at home.

Notes
Pretty big league game this week against a possible dark horse in the division, The Flying Midgets. I can't look past him at all. Then we might play the big guns for next week's cup game, too: getting two home cup paychecks would be really nice if I could steal a winnable but tough game next week. Training results up next.

SI

sterlingice · 04-11-2003, 03:53 AM

Training
It seems as if my luck keeps coming in pairs: for every bit of good news, I get some bad and vice versa. First, the bad: Looks like we may be hitting the down side of the form curve at a very bad time. Our B team has 7 players at weak or poor form and that simply won't do.

Only one bump, but it's a huge one: Kyle Paige, career trainee who has always been in my doghouse due to his low form (poor) and stamina (wretched), has bumped up to solid playmaking at only 21yo. I really don't like him but his solid playmaking is accompanied by weak winger, passing, and defending skill along with inadequate set pieces so he has been put to sale in an attempt to get a buyer to bite at the high price of $250K. If he sells, great! If not, I'll keep training him and hopefully his stamina and form will slowly and surely rise. Not only that, but I can have him to excellent playmaking before the end of the season, at which point he will sell for quite a nice sum.

Future Training
As bad as our form is, it's not going to get any better next week as I have some stamina training scheduled. Next week, only our starters will play since we have a pretty big league game Sunday and a winnable cup game against a division IV team.

Form
Starters: (+1) (-3)
Entire Team: (+4) (-9)

Value
Starters: (+4) (-6)
Entire Team: (+9) (-13)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 23570 (+0)
Total Value: 2035000 (-29000)
Avg Value: 88478 (-1739)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: inadequate (N/A)
Avg Experience: disastrous (N/A)
No of players: 23 (N/A)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

What to do now?
It looks like I may be heading for a form crisis and all I'm going to do is escalate it next week by training stamina. I may have to take a step back and train some form after this to soften the blow. While the starters are all inad or above, my youth squad is mostly hanging around at poor or lower so no replacement help is coming. Currently, I was planning on going back to my all-playmaking training after this week of stamina provided I either have an unwinnable week 4 cup game or I'm already out (ie so I'll be back to playing the B team). Hopefully I can still do that or I may have to do some general training. I'm just unsure at this point.

SI

sterlingice · 04-11-2003, 03:55 AM

Well, boys, girls, and NevStar, it looks like updates are finally underway: I've gotten in last week's training and cup game and hope to have this week's series and cup game and training up soon. So that's good news for anyone hoping to catch up on our adventures. However, there is a major issue that we need to decide (unless I am the only one left on this planet with the sanity to play some offense).

"The Defense Rests" Contest

While I was posting in another thread, I decided it's time to come up with a nickname for those offensive non-offenders, those dastards of defense, those agents of inertia, those nefarious knaves of nil, those brigands and bandits and bringers of boredom, - well, you get the idea. That's right, I'm talking about those 4-5-1 and *spit* 5-4-1 mouthbreathers. You know who you are

. They have plagued our hattrick world, nameless and without form- umm... scratch that last part- nameless, at least, for too long! This scourge and menace needs a name and needs it now- what are you abominations to be called?

I haven't come up with a prize yet and I really don't have anything to offer, but, um... at least you will be mentioned in this thread and your nickname will echo throughout the halls of hattrick history. Well, I can't even promise that but it might be muttered a couple of times in this thread. Still, it should be some fun and this contest is open to offensive and defensive coach alike. And if I don't get a suggestion from some of you, Afoci's punishments are going to look tame indeed.

*Heads to yellow pages to look up "eugenics" and finds the entry: "eugenics: see mad scientists" Argh!*

SI

sterlingice · 04-17-2003, 09:37 PM

Preview
I keep calling The Flying Midgets the dark horse to win our division and indeed they are. Our starters get two games in a row as they will be playing this and the next cup game and possibly four in a row but who knows. Our performance today should be a step up from the win over PRODYGRAF as we have shuffled the lineup for the better. Forward Juan Miguel Tizón will be taking over for Derrick Solomon and former middle defender Rickie Stepp will make the move to the outside and take Elmer Bush's spot at wingback while he's rehabbing his injury with the B squad.

Game Summary
Date: 4/14/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544390
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Hebert, Strömlius, Stepp - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan.

Midgets had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Ram - Kearney, Lugo, Bond, Michel - Stern, Griffith, Kok-Chong, Storey - Blombom, O'Keeffe.

Midgets´s Adrian O'Keeffe gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead in the 18:th minute with a superb strike from the right. In the 18:th minute Hippopotami was able to score the equalising 1 - 1 goal. Edwin Phelan picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away teams goalie. Hippopotami created a good opportunity to score in the games 28:th minute when Edwin Phelan`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. Thomas Strömlius received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 30:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Hippopotamis Mick Starks gave, after 33 minutes, the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Chu Kok-Chong of Midgets received a yellow card in the 40:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 67 percent possession rate.

Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Chu Kok-Chong rendered him his second booking of the match, and Midgets had to finish the game with a reduced squad. After an industrious effort down the middle Anders Jörgensson could have closed the game off in the 59:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Hugh Hebert almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 3 - 1. Anders Jörgensson finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The referee showed Midgetss Curtis Bond the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 91 percent, dominated the battle.

Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Anders Jörgensson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Midgets player was Svarg Ram. Lars Blombom on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (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: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
FM: 18: 0-1
HH: 18: Edwin Phelan (3); 1-1
HH: 33: Mick Starks (1); 2-1
Halftime Score: 2-1
Possession: 67%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (1); 3-1
Final Score: 3-1
Possession: 91%
Final Possession: 79%

Cards
None, thankfully. Tho, Thomas Strömlius got some harsh words form the coach in the 1st half.

Injuries
Again, none, thankfully

Stadium

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

Full house rocking the Hippodrome. It may be time to look into upgrading again. More on that later in the week. Let's see how the cup game sells.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56

The Flying Midgets
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/43

Another week, another team high. That said, I think we'll be leveling off here since we don't have any purchases in the work and this is our best lineup until some team form improves.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Hugh Hebert (def) **
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Rickie Stepp **~
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito **~
MI Stephen Connors (extra) **~
MI Anders Jörgensson *~
WI Donald Newsom (off) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

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

A very suprising **~ from pass/weak Rickie Stepp but his solid form is probably the key. Tizon went back to 2 but that's about the only noticable thing. The only real room for improvement is get a middie up to ** or **~ stars. If Paige sells, we might get some good veteran leadership to put there. I'd like to get Hebert back up to his **~ days but he's only done that once.

Three Stars
A defender at gold- Who would've thunk it?

Bronze: Anders Jörgensson/Edwin Phelan
Both had one goal and whiffed on a second attempt.
Silver: Mick Starks
He'll never get all the awards he deserves since I tend to take Mick for granted, but he scored his first goal of this season today.
Gold: Rickie Stepp
Rickie bursts into the starting lineup with **~ and defending the Midgets best scorer

Game Summary
We got lucky that we didn't need those three missed events but we still walked away with a win over a pretty good team. Hopefully, Phelan will regain his scoring lead again next week.

Press Release
4/14/2003 at 03:54 Hippos Outlast Midgets in Home Opener
Despite possibly crucial event misses in the game, the Hippos managed to beat The Flying Midgets 3-1. Edwin Phelan, Mick Starks, and Anders Jörgensson scored for the inspired home team, playing in front of a rocking Hippodrome sellout of 15692. Phelan, Jörgensson, and Hugh Hebert all missed on events which could have meant three more goals for Houston. Both the Dragons and leading scorer Victorio Refojo have tied the Hippos and Phelan for 1st in the standings and scoring titles. Cup Next!

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami 	2 10 - 1   6  56
 
2. CC's Dragons 	2 10 - 1   6  51
3. Metal Mulisha   	2  5 - 3   4  28
4. Toledo Blades 	2  6 - 6   3  46
 
5. The Flying Midgets 	2  3 - 3   3  43
6. PRODYGRAF 		2  3 - 10  1  26
 
7. goonz 		2  1 - 7   0  36
8. Buccabeavzers 	2  0 - 7   0  30

Around the League
Our lead is all but gone but after two weeks, only three teams are unbeaten and only two (Hippos being one) have six points. If we want to move up to Div IV, this is likely the year as we won't get a nicer shot with another relegee and a better team moves up from VI.

CC's Dragons - Buccabeavzers 5 - 0
CC's won a ho-hum type game which was very expected as he's emerging as the primary competition for the top spot over the now 8th place Buccabeavzers. The Dragons are pulling ** to *** from every player except one and will be a tough matchup but they have a hole and hopefully I'll be able to exploit that when we meet in a few weeks. The Buccabeavzers outfielders all pull in *~ or less but 21yo Graig Grace in the net pulled down **~ which means he's likely passable keeper, passable form. Victorio Refojo scored twice and tied the Hippos Edwin Phelan for series lead at 3. Not only that but the Dragons are now tied with the Hippos at 9 goal differential for series lead.

goonz - Toledo Blades 1 - 5
Toledo bounced back after last week's game versus the Dragons with a convincing win. They racked up an NSI of 46 and every player got between *~ and **~ in the game. Like, the Buccabeavzers, the goonz only had one player get higher than *~ with Brent Wolff getting **~ at forward. The goonz will be playing us next week. FYI, the goonz and Buccabeavzers are playing a friendly this week so it's good to see that even though they are the bottom teams in the series, they are still trying to improve. With time, I'm sure they will.

Metal Mulisha - PRODYGRAF 3 - 3
PRODYGRAF and Metal Mulisha played to a tie when both teams got under 30 NSI. Each team got only one player with ** and no team scored after the 63rd minute. Probably not the most well played game and the downpoor didn't help at all.

Notes
Nice start at 2-0. A pretty easy game next week before our first game against Toledo. Cup game coming up this Wednesday and it should be close but if we win, we get another home game and a lot more cash.

SI

sterlingice · 04-18-2003, 02:11 AM

Preview
Our first home cup game ever! Woo! That should be good for lots of cash even if we lose. While Dark Lotus is a division IV team, he got a lower NSI in his last league game than I did. It looks like he plays his A Team at all time and does not rotate sides so he has some tactical weaknesses. I should be able to win this but it will be close. However, even if I don't, I should make a lot of good money. I'm playing my starters and training stamina this week in an attempt to get two nice paydays.

Game Summary
Date: 4/17/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6898669
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15012

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Hippodrome saw a crowd turnout of 15012. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Hebert - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan.

Lotus had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Yazzie - Nagle, Lapointe, Hayes - Hendrix, Hicks, Irby, Vest, Allen - Taylor, Thornton.

After a fine move down the middle Edwin Phelan nearly gave the home side one up in the 18:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Stacy Nagle of Lotus received a yellow card in the 27:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 34 minutes into the game Stacy Nagle had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came David Cordova. In the 39:th minute Hippopotami had a chance to take the lead by an awarded penalty, but Stephen Connors´s shot was blocked by Hung Yazzie. Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón got himself booked after a foul. The 42nd minute saw the home team take a 1 - 0 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Hippopotami was Edwin Phelan. Lotuss José Taylor got himself booked after a foul. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 2 - 0. Juan Miguel Tizón finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. In the game's 44:th minute Lotus´s Ronald Hicks limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Thomas Strömlius needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. In the 45:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Carlos Alberto Benito dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Hippopotami. Halftime score was 3 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball.

Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 0 when Juan Miguel Tizón broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The referee showed Lotuss William Thornton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami were forced to a substitution as Stephen Connors couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan putting the lead up to 5 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Hippopotami put their lead ahead another goal as Juan Miguel Tizón struck home the 6 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 66 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Anders Jörgensson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Lotus player was without a doubt Hung Yazzie. David Cordova on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 0.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals
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
DL: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 42: Edwin Phelan (C2); 1-0
HH: 44: Juan Miguel Tizón (C1); 2-0
HH: 45: Carlos Alberto Benito (C1); 3-0
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 65%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C2); 4-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C3); 5-0
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C3); 6-0
Final Score: 6-0
Possession: 66%
Final Possession: 66%

Cards
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- foul)
HH: 44: Thomas Strömlius (yellow- trip, free kick)

Injuries
HH: xx: Stephen Connors (1 week- rough treatment)

Stadium

Terraces: 9308 (9702)
Basic seats: 3850 (3850)
Seats under roof: 1485 (1740)
VIP seats: 369 (400)
Total: 15012 (15692)

Almost a full house for a cup game and I got over $50K! Not only that but I get to do it again next week for another cool $50K provided the weather holds.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 50/55

Dark Lotus
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 42/45

Not a new record, but who cares: we won!

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) **~
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Hugh Hebert **
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) **~
MI Philip Friedländer *~
MI Anders Jörgensson (xtra) *~
WI Donald Newsom (off) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

MI Stephen Connors (injury) **

Total Stars: 25.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

What we expected. Cannot complain at all. Hopefully, I can get some form up so Hebert and Tizon can get back up to **~ and I can find a middie who can do the same.

Three Stars
Pretty easy to pass out today.

Bronze: Tim Kimber
Kimber and the defense shut out an exc-sol-sol offense.
Silver: Edwin Phelan
He's having an awesome year and added 2 more today; 6 total for the year.
Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón
First career hat trick gets the gold.

Game Summary
WOW! What an impressive last five minutes of the half:
At 39, Connors misses a free kick.
Then Tizon scores his first, 3 minutes later.
Hippos take a 2-0 lead as Phelan scores at 44.
Quickly thereafter a Lotus player was hurt.
In a separate incident, in the 45th minute, we get a card and they get a free kick and miss.
Just before time expires, Benito puts us up 3-0.
It was an amazing turn of events that took a 0-0 game in the 38th minute to a 3-0 game at the half. Tizon's first career hattrick was icing on the cake and we get another home date in the cup.

Press Release
4/17/2003 at 10:37 First Ever Home Cup Win for Hippos
Recent Hippo transfer Juan Miguel Tizón got his first career hattrick as the Hippos blitzed Dark Lotus with a three goal barrage and survived a PK in the last few minutes of the first half in the first home cup game ever for the Hippos. Edwin Phelan (1st of 2 goals), Tizon, and Carlos Alberto Benito scored in minutes 42, 44, and 45 of the first half and Lotus was not able to recover. "It was amazing- I don't think they knew what hit them," said coach and offensive genius Ricky Braden.

Notes
Next week will be a very tough cup challenge and my cup road will probably end there. I play a tough division IV team called BostonCity Ajax FC who posted an NSI of 61 despite being a seemingly inactive team. In their cup game, they played without two players who were injured and won 9 on 11 with an NSI of 47. Unfortunately, his players are only injured for one week so they will probably be back in time for our game. He does have holes in his defense, but 5 of those 9 players had 3 or more stars so this poses a unique challenge.

I may be making a huge mistake- so here is where I open the floor to criticism. I'm going to hold back some of my starters in my series game this week because it's eminently winnable (I have about 20 NSI to give on him but it's on the road)- playing my B Team midfield and wingers so they get training. However, I can't afford to drop this series game because it's against one of the two cellar dwellers. Hopefully I'm fretting over nothing and with a little luck I can win next week's cup. But my main motivation is to not get shut out at home as that would cost me legions of supporters.

SI

sterlingice · 04-18-2003, 02:57 AM

Training
The form trouble continues to mount but that was to be expected as I trained stamina. Still, it wasn't too bad so I think I may finally have hit rock bottom. Stamina training is well worth it, tho. All but three of my starters went up and the only subs that didnt go up were the two solids, the backup goalie, and coach. Now, all of our starters have stamina of inad or above except new forward and hattrick man Juan Miguel Tizon, who showed no signs of fatigue in this past week's cup game. The current form drop that is concerning me is Hugh Hebert who is down to weak and I don't have anyone to spare at wingback. I'll have to hide either him or Bush by keeping the middie towards his side and hope that Stepp's hot streak continues.

Future Training
Due to our game situation, where we are playing a lot of starters in the cup, I'll be doing playmaking for this week. I'm playing my second string midfield so they'll get the benefits, at least. Then, the next week, before the Toledo game, it's time to get some needed general training to help out form. I suppose that could change if I win my cup game this week, tho.

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

Value
Starters: (+8) (-3)
Entire Team: (+15) (-7)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 23570 (+0)
Total Value: 2075000 (+40000)
Avg Value: 90217 (+1739)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: inadequate (N/A)
Avg Experience: disastrous (N/A)
No of players: 23 (N/A)
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

Dilemnas
I'm sitting on a troika of choices:

The first is whether or not to sell Kyle Paige who bumped to solid last week. Then again, I've already made my decision and have put him back up on the market for $175K, hoping someone will bite.

Secondly, I have my lineup crisis for this week. I have a possibly winnable cup game so I'm benching my starting midfield so my subs and starters can both get training for the week.

Lastly, I'm pondering a new stadium upgrade but I need to decide in the next day or so. I've breezed past 850 supporters on my way to, hopefully, 1000 by the end of the season so I'm pondering a stadium renovation to bump the Hippodrome up to about 22K. Since I nearly filled up the stadium for a Cup game and sold it out for my last home game. It will cost me $150K and put me back into debt but I could pull in an extra $30K per home game and that would be some welcome income. That said, I think I will probably wait until I find some more cash because it's not worth the interst costs.

Now I'm all caught up with current news. Time to finish catching back up on all the old updates. Until next time...

SI

sterlingice · 04-20-2003, 05:16 AM

Actually Caught up!!!
All of the preseason bookkeeping is actually caught up! Sure it took three weeks of fighting a broken computer and the last round of midterms, but it's finally finished and better late than never. This week will be dedicated to working on the FAQ and keeping everyone abreast of the Hippos adventures.

Youth Pull and... what the f-
Do my eyes decieve me or did we actually get a youth pull who might sell for something other than rubles?!? 18yo Liu Zuo-Lin is a passable scorer with quick speciality. Sure he's worthless otherwise, but he might actually sell for a few thousand and that's more than I can say for anyone else from the youth squad.

Liu Zuo-Lin (11100166)
18 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 26 000 US$
Wage: 620 US$/week

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

Lastly
With everything caught up, it's time to look ahead. This week, a relatively easy league game made difficult by playing only some starters. Then a cup game with all starters which is even more difficult because we are overmatched. But everything is right with the world right now because we have a youth pull worth more than $1K

SI

sterlingice · 04-21-2003, 01:46 AM

Preview
Not to insult them, but the goonz are not very good. So, I'm taking a risk and running out part of my B Team in an attempt to squeeze out another cup win. So here's to taking a league team for granted and trying to win a nearly impossible cup game to get another $50K at the expense of possibly ruining my entire season. Argh- maybe this isn't the best idea, but it sounded good on paper.

Game Summary
Date: 4/21/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544393
Arena: The Pit
Crowd: 4571

4571 spectators had come to The Pit this cloudy day. goonz had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. They fielded: Torres - Ambrose, Barnes, Washington, Callejo - Heras, Ropero, Dockery - Urbaneja Pérez, Wolff, Gaither.

Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Stepp - Magnusson, Rumbold, Paige, Jörgensson, Viseslav - Chang, Phelan.

Hippopotami took the lead in the games 11th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Defoe Chang was the scorer. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Anders Jörgensson needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. The referee showed goonzs Jackie Washington the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 42nd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 2. Defoe Chang was noted down as the scorer. In the 42nd minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 75 percent, dominated the battle.

Dan Dockery of goonz received a yellow card in the 58:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A header from Dan Dockery connected with a corner kick after 62 minutes, and the ball ended up with Al Ambrose of goonz who shot the 1-3 goal. In the game's 72nd minute Hippopotami´s Rickie Stepp limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Man, what a shot by Björn Magnusson! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 1 - 4. goonz had obvious problems in finding their positions. Ivan Viseslav was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Defoe Chang managed to kick one of them into 1 - 5 in the 84:th minute. At that, Defoe Chang was noted down for a hat trick. Elmer Bush of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 85:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The away team´s Ivan Viseslav took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 86:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 6. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 91 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating goonz player was without a doubt Brent Wolff. Mannuel Heras on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. However, Kyle Paige made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 6.

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

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

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 11: Dafoe Chang (1); 1-0
HH: 42: Dafoe Chang (2); 2-0
HH: 42: Edwin Phelan (4); 3-0
Halftime Score: 3-0
Possession: 75%

2nd Half
G: 62: 3-1
HH: 72: Björn Magnusson (1); 4-1
HH: 84: Dafoe Chang (3); 5-1
HH: 86: Ivan Viseslav (1); 6-1
Final Score: 6-1
Possession: 91%
Final Possession: 83%

Cards
HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (pk-needless trip)
HH: 85: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behavior)

Injuries
HH: 72: Rickie Stepp (limped slightly, stayed in game)

Stadium

It was cloudy but he only got 4500 fans at The Pit. Not the greatest crowd in the world but it's at his place so I don't mind so much.

Team Ratings

goonz
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 31/32

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: passable (6)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42

Considering the mixed lineup, this isn't too bad. We're going to drop like a rock in the FOFC standings, tho. Oh well- no big deal since tourney rankings have already been determined. I'll be back up there in a couple of weeks.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Elmer Bush *~
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) **
WI Björn Magnusson *
MI Jeremy Rumbold *~
MI Kyle Paige (extra) *
MI Anders Jörgensson (off) *~
WI Ivan Viseslav (off) **
FO Dafoe Chang **
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 20.0
Total player experience: disastrous
Team Attitude: Normal

Kimber is down to *** which is annoying but not distressing yet. Unfortunately, Rickie Stepp also went back down to his expected ** at wingback. Even after bumping to solid playmaking, Kyle Paige get * for the game. Absolutely no good news out of the stars department week .

Three Stars
No one really stands out except Chang. Magnusson gets his first star, tho.

Bronze: Edwin Phelan
Edwin gets it more or less by default since his goal today kept him tied for the series goal lead.
Silver: Björn Magnusson
Björn gets the silver solely on the basis of his 35 yard shot going in.
Gold: Dafoe Chang
Dafoe gets his first career hat trick!

Game Summary
Another pretty ho-hum game. Not to talk down on goonz, but we are quite a bit better and should have won this going away even with half of our team being saved up for the cup game. Thankfully things turned out that way and Chang's hat trick was a nice suprise. Unfortunately it wasn't Phelan that got them or he would have a really nice series league.

Press Release
4/21/2003 at 07:49 Chang's Hat Trick Beats goonz
The Hippos took a gamble and held back their starting midfield (and others) to prepare for this week's very difficult cup game. It paid off as second team forward Dafoe Chang got his first career hat trick and Edwin Phelan scored his league-lead-tying 4th goal. Like Phelan, the Hippos kept pace with their Dragons counterparts and are still in a virtual tie for 1st. Also it appears the Hippos have finally kicked their missed events habit that had plagued them the previous two games.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  3 16 - 2   9   42
 
2. CC's Dragons 	3 15 - 1   9   53
3. The Flying Midgets   3 7 - 3    6   49
4. Toledo Blades 	3 9 - 7    6   42
 
5. Metal Mulisha 	3 5 - 7    4   30
6. PRODYGRAF 		3 3 - 15   1   30
 
7. Buccabeavzers 	3 1 - 10   0   33
8. goonz 		3 2 - 13   0   32

Around the League
I know I'm itching to play our game in 3 weeks with CC's Dragons but a couple of weeks of form training won't hurt my feelings. Toledo played down to their competition but still won in the only possible upset. The Dragons and Midgets won shutouts going away.

Buccabeavzers - Toledo Blades 1 - 3
Toledo looks like they either played it cool or held back some players since they only got a 42 NSI. Halftime was 1-0 Bucs but Toledo scored 3 in the second half to take the lead. Four different players scored in the game.

The Flying Midgets - Metal Mulisha 4 - 0
One of the two other pretty boring games this week (along with hours). The Midgets 4-4-2 didn't allow anything through and Lars Blombom scored two goals.

PRODYGRAF - CC's Dragons 0 - 5
Ed Becker scored twice and Victorio Refojo scored to tie Edwin Phelan for the league lead. Like the Midgets, the Dragons beat their opponent pretty soundly and their 5 goal differential kept them tied with us.

Notes
3-0 and onto cup game number 4. It's a pretty good season when the first game where we are not favored is seven games in. Then a somewhat tough series game next week. However, as soon as this week is over, it's probably time to hit general training for two weeks and improve our form immensely heading into our big matchup with CC's Dragons in 3 weeks at the Hippodrome. Even if we win this cup game, next week's will likely be impossible but it will have been a good run either way. Our Cup game Wednesday which should prove to be exciting as we try to knock off a second division IV team in a row. Until next time, Hungry Hungry Hippos.

SI

sterlingice · 04-22-2003, 03:26 AM

FYI
I forgot one thing in my season preview: a preview of our series. That is posted now in the bookkeeping messages above.

Also, our youth pull has been put up for sale for $10K. He has yet to get any bids. Oh well- still 2 days left.

More bad news: our Cup opponent has logged in so the help I was hoping to get by having him play some injured players is gone. Likely so is our hope of winning as his healthy teams can put up and NSI of 60 and our starters can't get more than about 56. I can't afford to MotS a cup match with a tough series game coming up this week.

A spot of humor as the team that was promoted from last year paid our guestbook a visit: "Oh man, I wish I was still in V. IV is brutal!!! Everyone with their half million dollar middies and forwards." We wish the Darksiders of IV.30 well and hope they can turn the season around.

Lastly, I'll be getting to work on the FAQ Wednesday or Thursday night once I get a chance to escape from under some school work.

SI

sterlingice · 04-25-2003, 12:30 AM

Preview
Well, I can't say I'm confident about this game. It's the first game where we are the definite underdogs: they a million dollar player and four guys each over $300K. The good news is that the past couple of weeks, they haven't played a player or two and have been lopsided due to injuries, i.e. 9 or 10 on 11. The bad news is that they still gone 1-1-1 in their last three games even with their 3-4-2 (NSI 51) and 2-4-2 (NSI 47). Nothing like a team that can get close to your team in NSI, even with 2 men not on the pitch. The worst news came Tuesday: they logged in for the first time in over two weeks (since it only shows logons in the past 2 weeks) so I'm guessing he patched any and all holes I hoped to take advantage of. Still, I stacked my offense on the side he kept forgetting to put people on and hoped he didn't actually change anything or put vastly inferior players there. At least a rocking full Hippodrome was there to witness a match which turned out as far from expected as possible.

Game Summary
Date: 4/24/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6924050
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Stepp - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Friedländer, Starks - Tizón, Phelan.

Ajax started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Kinder - Lester, Burland, Ward - Dahl, Rodriguez, Gill, Burnett, Johnson - Thomas, Mihnea.

Elmer Bush gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 12th minute levelling of scores as Ajaxs Brice Thomas equalised to 1 - 1. Juan Miguel Tizón of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 23rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A well placed corner kick from Stephen Connors was followed by Juan Miguel Tizón´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-1 for Hippopotami. Mick Starks was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Edwin Phelan managed to kick one of them into 3 - 1 in the 34:th minute. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Edwin Phelan squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 38:th minute, asserting the lead to 4 - 1. The teams went for a half-time break at 4 - 1. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami put themselves up 5 - 1 when Juan Miguel Tizón broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. In the 73rd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Edwin Phelan dashed through, knocking home 6 - 1 for Hippopotami. By then Edwin Phelan 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. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate.

Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Ajax player was Dryden Johnson. However, Doug Burnett made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 6 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals
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
BCA: 3-5-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Elmer Bush (C1); 1-0
BCA: 12: 1-1
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C4); 2-1
HH: 34: Edwin Phelan (C4); 3-1
HH: 38: Edwin Phelan (C5); 4-1
Halftime Score: 4-1
Possession: 60%

2nd Half
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C5); 5-1
HH: 73: Edwin Phelan (C6); 6-1
HH: 73: *pulling back*
Final Score: 6-1
Possession: 64%
Final Possession: 62%

Cards
HH: 23: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour)
That's 2 for him- he'd better be careful next game.

Injuries
woo! none!

Stadium

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

Another cool $50K from a cup game!

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 50/55

BostonCity Ajax FC
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: formidable (9)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: inadequate (5)
Left Side Attack: formidable (9)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 55/58

Let this be an object lesson to anyone out there who thinks midfield is unimportant: make sure that you don't lose the midfield battle by two levels or you'll still get killed even if you outscore the other team elsewhere by 9 points.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) **
DM Thomas Strömlius **
DW Elmer Bush *~
WI Donald Newsom (off) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) **~
MI Philip Friedländer (xtra) **
MI Stephen Connors **~
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

Total Stars: 25.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Damn- I guess Kimber's drop to *** is permanent since he's in passable form. Same with Stepp's ** performance. However, the great news is that Friedländer is up to ** instead of *~ at middie. Hopefully it's permanent.

Three Stars
It must have been a good game when a defender with a goal only gets bronze.

Bronze: Elmer Bush
His goal put us out in front really early in the game
Silver: Juan Miguel Tizón
Tizon falls back to silver since he "only" got 2 goals
Gold: Edwin Phelan
His hat trick gets him the gold medal today

Game Summary
This is our third hat trick in as many games: Tizon, Chang, and now Phelan. It's a great day when your a two goal scoring player only gets the silver! Everything went right: a defender scoring a goal and five from the forwards in a game I really expected to lose. The offense just is clicking on all cylinders right now and I hope it never stops.

Press Release
4/25/2003 at 07:18 Hippos Advance! Hippos Advance!
Edwin Phelan's hat trick took the team cup goal lead (6) away from Juan Miguel Tizón who only had 2 goals. The two forwards were more than enough for the Hippos to beat their second straight Div IV opponent. Wingback Elmer Bush go the scoring started a few minutes in with his first ever goal for the Hippos. Unfortunately, the Cup run is likely over next week versus Div II "The Minutemen". Still, fellow FOFCer and supporter/ee Morrisville beat a Div II team last week so anything is possible.

Notes
Ok, we won our big game this week which got us another home game next week and another $50K. Not only that but we have a big game in series this week against the likely-3rd place team and he might MotS it at home which could be really dangerous for us. At least we have a new toy and a little good news on the training front but that's coming in the next update.

SI

Aesyrqwe · 04-25-2003, 12:37 AM

Congrats on the win sterlingice. Another FOFC'er advances.

-Aes-

sterlingice · 04-25-2003, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Aesyrqwe
Congrats on the win sterlingice. Another FOFC'er advances.

-Aes-

Thx. The writeup would have been sooner except forthe hockey game that would not end.

SI

sterlingice · 04-25-2003, 03:05 AM

Training
It was about time. Only three of our six middies hadn't gone up yet and it was getting to be their time. For starting middie Carlos Alberto Benito, the time was now. He moves up to solid to go along with his excellent stamina, solid passing, and inadequate scoring. And, to think, he's only 22. The other to go up was middie trainee Jeremy Rumbold who moved up to passable playmaking to go along with his solid stamina, inad scoring, and inad defense. Jeremy will probably go on the transfer wire as he is my 6th middie trainee and I'm looking to snag an improvement in the upper 5 to low 6 figure cost until Anders is ready. This leaves 24yo Stephen Connors and his solid playmaking as my only middie left to bump.

A few other notes: Tim Kimber is down to passable form but up to $466K value after dropping quite a bit when he dropped from solid to passable form. Mick Starks is approaching becoming our first ever homegrown $300K player as he sits at $296K after this week's update. Also, I feel I bad for overlooking this earlier: current bumpee Carlos Alberto Benito became just the third $200K Hippo in the week between season 18 nad 19. Dafoe Chang's experience went up, which is handy since it's likely he'll be playing this week in our series game. Lastly, Coach Ricky Braden's form went down: his wife will not be pleased.

Future Training
I think I may have to train playmaking one more week due to winning this past week's cup game. I can't play my 2nd team against a Div II team or else I'll be slaughtered and the fans will leave in droves.

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

Value
Starters: (+8) (-2)
Entire Team: (+16) (-5)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 24290 (+720)
Total Value: 2200000 (+165000)
Avg Value: 91667 (+3189)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: inadequate (N/A)
Avg Experience: disastrous (N/A)
No of players: 24 +1
Nationalities: 8 (N/A)

Comings and Goings
Last weeks youth club pull 18yo forward Liu Zuo-Lin sold to sv de Helden in Nederland Div VI for $11K. We got $10210 of that. I kindof was hoping for more, but oh well. Thanks to last nights win, I'm guaranteed another $50K in the cup that I didn't expect. So rather than use it to get out of debt, I essentially used it to bulk up my floundering wingbacks for only $51K. Not only that but he's a head specialist on defense which is huge for both offensive and defensive corner kicks. He gets the number 4 on his back and will be the main wingback until Elmer Bush and/or Hugh Hebert get their form back in order.

Marcel Romo (11151037)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is fiery and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Head
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 43 000 US$
Wage: 720 US$/week

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

Next Cup Game
I like to throw in stuff for morbidly curious people: this is about as morbidly curious as things get. My chances in the next game are not good at all but just to make sure, I dug out the good ol' Hattrick Match Calculator.

Using our most recent Cup ratings, it doesn't seem so bad, does it? (His numbers, my numbers) 40%/59% possession, 4/6 on attacks, 1.553/2.658 average goals, 15.6/66.9 win percentage with 17.5 chance of a draw. Heck, it says I could even win 4-1 (and he could win 6.0). But that assumes I will be playing my best team (which I wont) and his B Team (which he won't, I'm guessing).

Now, let's try this again with the team I'm likely to use against his B team he used last week in the cup. 27/72% possession, 3/7 on attacks, 0.895/3.047 average goals, 5.9/84.7 win percentage (9.4% chance of draw) and 3-1/7-0 lopsided wins.

Lastly, let's take this morbid curiousity to it's logical conclusion: my likely team vs his A team which put up some >100 NSI during his series game last week. 15/84% possession, 2/8 attacks, 0.477/4.309 average goals, 0.1/98.1 win percentage with 1.8% of a tie, 2-2/8-0 best wins. Now that's pain.

Fortunately, unlike the Midwest Ice Storm last round, we have a friendly opponent. Sounds like he's a nice guy, or at the very least, not a gloating one. I sent him the "good luck, it was a good ride for us but now it's time to take my medicine" type message. His response:

Quote:

"have confidence amigo! Or...team spirit....ya, maybe the second one makes more sense

Good luck to you.
- boon"

SI

sterlingice · 04-28-2003, 03:50 AM

Youth Pull, Week 19.4
I think I've made a mistake: I'm not sure I've ever sold a youth pull at all. I had a couple of $1K sales early on but I'm starting to think it's less and less likely that I've actually sold someone I pulled. So, in celebration of what is my first successful youth pull sell, I've decided to bulk up this section a little. I think the stats are correct (the number of pulls, I mean)

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 17 (+1)
Youth Pull Grocers: 16 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC)
Total Sold for:

Along with these few stat changes, we've changed our store. Upgraded, even, to a grocery store. Not just any grocery store, but we have the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) which is fully staffed with useless youth pulls. Once we hit, say 25, useless youth pulls, we'll have to expand again to something even larger and more useless.

Youth Pull
Cory Moyer (11302507)
19 years, passable form, healthy
A pleasant guy who is tranquil and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Technical
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 11 000 US$
Wage: 540 US$/week

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

Conditions

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

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 895 members (+26)
Supporters: high on life (NC)

Team Spirit: calm (NC)
Confidence: strong (NC)

Frankly, I'm not really sure if my confidence changed or not. I think it did, but I'm not sure. I was up to wonderful a couple of weeks ago and then I think I went over the edge with overconfidence and was back down to normal a week or two ago.

Week In Review

On the Field
We took a risk and it paid off. Most of the B Team played in our fixture in which we beat the goonz 6-1. Then we came back with our starters and decimated our Cup opponent by the same score despite being underdogs. Our competition winning streak has reached 7 now as we have won 4 Cup games and 3 series games. Big matchup this week at Toledo against the Blades. Our Cup game will see our B Team get decimated by the 13th best team in USA.

Off the Field
Our new youth pull was useless but our old one sold for $11K. We "upgraded" our store from a Mickey D's to a Piggly Wiggly. Also, we snagged a pass/pass wingback off the wire in the person of Marcel Romo for $51K. We'll see how he does Sunday, hoping for a **~ performance. Also, we had two pops in playmaking training.

Finances
Our Cup runneth over both for good and ill. Our (sellout) Cup win nets us another home game and another $56K. Also, early in the week, we will break 900 supporters. The downside is that we will get creamed and may even lose supporters for the first time ever in this franchise's history. Along a similar line of thought, our sponsor money keeps rising and is up to $44250.
For the curious, here are our expenses: arena $10286, wages $27274, interest $3344, temporary $200, staff $25500, and youth $20000. Our series game is away this week but our final home Cup game will cause us to pretty much break even. Not only that but, after next week's home fixture, we will likely be above 0!

Wrapup
That is all for now. Big fixture against one of the big three in our series and then our first Cup loss likely. It's been a good run, but, well, "a man's gotta know his limitations" and ours will be shown against a Div II game. But take heart, Hippo faithful, if we win this series game, we only have 2 games the rest of the season to really worry about. Next up: Hippos-Blades game report unless news breaks first.

SI

sterlingice · 04-28-2003, 03:35 PM

Preview
We should win this game. Sure, Toledo is a Div IV relegee but they kindof deserved to be. They are likely going to be in the battle for 3rd or 4th (against the Midgets) behind us and the Dragons. However, this is at their house and they MotS'd the game so we have pretty much everything working against us.

Game Summary
Date: 4/28/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544395
Arena: Bladium
Crowd: 7000

7000 spectators had come to Bladium this cloudy day. Toledo started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. They fielded: González - Stachowicz, Dinu, Li, Stinson, Vãrzaru - Rees, Mohr, Jung, Tran - De Araoz.

Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Romo - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Friedländer, Starks - Chang, Phelan.

After 5 minutes Hippopotami put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Philip Friedländer finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. In the to 11th minute a very unfortunate collision in the home teams penalty area led to Toledo´s Michael Stinson being carried off the pitch and replaced by Theodore Fauconnier. Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Carlos Alberto Benito delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. The away team´s Carlos Alberto Benito took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 18:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 2. The referee showed Toledos Dacian Vãrzaru the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Donald Newsom could have put his team up another one in the 23rd minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. Toledos Julius Tran got himself booked after a foul. José Alejandro González kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Stephen Connors delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle.

Toledo´s Juan Miguel De Araoz got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge putting the away teams lead down to 1 - 2. The away team´s Mick Starks took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 56:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 3. Hippopotami´s Defoe Chang made it through the home teams defence in the 67:th minute, and had only to place the ball in an unguarded goal when the home side´s defender sprang up from the left, clearing the ball on the line. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Toledo, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Toledo player was without a doubt José Alejandro González. Theodore Fauconnier was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Philip Friedländer was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.

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

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

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: 5: Philip Friedländer (1); 1-0
HH: 18: Carlos Alberto Benito (2); 2-0
Halftime Score: 2-0
Possession: 51%

2nd Half
TB: xx: 2-1
HH: 67: Mick Starks (2); 3-1
Final Score: 3-1
Possession: 48%
Final Possession: 49%

Cards
None!

Injuries
None, but they had one guy carried off the pitch and out for 3 weeks when he collided with a teammate

Stadium

He filled up his 7000 seat stadium. How in the heck was he in Div IV with a 7000 seat stadium?!? By the end of the season, I'll likely have a 20-25K stadium and I may not even be in Div IV.

Team Ratings

Toledo Blades
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: excellent (8)
Right Side Attack: wretched (2)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 50/55

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 49/53

We lost the index battle but won the war. Apparently an exc-sol-exc offense beats an out-bril-exc defense. I'm guessing those midfields were very close since possession was pretty much identical.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Donald Newsom (off) **~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) **~
MI Philip Friedländer (extra) *~
MI Stephen Connors **~
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
FO Dafoe Chang **
FO Edwin Phelan **~

Total Stars: 26.0
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Normal

Marcel Romo, our new wingback, was somewhat disappointing at **. But that was offset by Thomas Strömlius hitting **~ at defensive middie.

Three Stars
Hmm... low scoring games make these awards more interesting.

Bronze: Thomas Strömlius
Strömlius gets **~ for the first time in defense
Silver: Carlos Alberto Benito
A goal and a near goal nets Benito's first award
Gold: Tim Kimber
Only gave up one goal but it was to a 5-4-1

Game Summary
I think he MotS'd this game at his house and we still won. What does that mean? It means that our game with Toledo at home drops down to the same level as our road game against the Midgets and that we have only two huge MotS-level games this season: the two against the Dragons. Those two will determine whether we move up or stay in Division V next year. We lost the possession battle and missed on two events but we still won and I guess that's all that really matters in the end. FYI, the one goal scored by Toledo was by Juan Miguel De Araoz who has now tied Edwin Phelan and Victorio Refojo for the league lead at 4.

Press Release
4/28/2003 at 22:35 Hippos Grind Out Win at Bladium
Philip Friedländer, Carlos Alberto Benito, and Mick Starks scored goals for the Hippos in a grueling battle with the Blades that ended in a 3-1 victory and 4th series victory. The offense rated exc-sol-exc and was barely able to break the Blades out-bril-exc defense. The Hippos will likely be exiting the Cup this week, playing a top 20 USA team in "The Minutemen". Next week's fixture will against the Metal Mulisha at home leading up to the following week's huge matchup at the Dragons Den.

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  4 19 - 3  12   53
 
2. CC's Dragons         4 16 - 1  12   55
3. The Flying Midgets   4 7 - 4    6   51
4. Toledo Blades        4 10 - 10  6   55
 
5. Metal Mulisha        4 6 - 11   4   30
6. Buccabeavzers        4 5 - 10   3   35
 
7. goonz                4 6 - 14   3   35
8. PRODYGRAF            4 3 - 19   1   27

Around the League
It was judgement day for a second team in our league today as the Dragons and Midgets met in the other top 4 clash. Also, the bottom got more mixed up as the two teams with 0 points previously picked up wins against the teams which had points. Next week will either be a real yawner or there will be a huge upset as all of the top teams play the bottom teams.

Metal Mulisha - goonz 1 - 4
The previously winless goonz beat 5th place Metal Mulisha. Four different players scored for the goonz who has passable's across their offense, beating the Mulisha's inad/pass/pass defense. Both had disastrous midfields but the Mulisha's 51% possession advantage at the half collapsed as the goonz stamina won out in the second half (64-36%).

Buccabeavzers - PRODYGRAF 4 - 0
This ugly game had 2 cards, two injuries and quite a few missed chances but in the end, the Buccabeavzers got their first win of the season. The Bucs 4-5-1 got passables across the defense and goalie Graig Grace was the only player to get more than ** at **~

CC's Dragons - The Flying Midgets 1 - 0
The Dragons eeked out a win as they dominated possession (61, 69%) but failed on three events. The visiting Midgets goalie Svarg Ram kept them in the game with some awesome goaltending and their out/out/exc defense limited the only scoring in the game to Lai Soon-Wah's goal 13 minutes in. The Dragons turned in an all around nice effort with form/exc/exc on the defense and sol/inad/pass at offense.

Notes
This season now literally comes down to two games and the first is in two weeks at the Dragon's Den in front of 12000 angry screaming fans. We're going to get killed in the cup this week, but then we should get some confidence back this weekend when we drill the Mulisha with the A Team. Anyways, we have some players on sale and hopefully we will get some cash because after next week's fixture, we might even be in the hunt.

Coming up soon: the first "Where are they Now?" of the new year which will be updated with news of our sales and who knows what else. Also, some hatstats notes and a supporter landmark. And, maybe, if I get really ambitious, a Hippo Spotlight but don't hold your breath on that one since I have a test tomorrow.

SI

vex · 04-29-2003, 12:08 AM

I was checking prices on excellent keepers and came across this.

4. Steven Atwood 500 000 US$ (opening price)
Belongs to: CCs Dragons
Age: 19 years
Value: 499 000 US$
Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42
Stamina: poor Keeper: excellent
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

And he'll definitely get at least $700,000 out of him. Just thought you'd like to know.

DataKing · 04-29-2003, 09:52 AM

That does not bode well.

Alf · 04-29-2003, 02:43 PM

Transfer list: Keeper
Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42
Asking price: 500 000 Euro

3/30/2003 Was promoted from the youth squad in CC's Dragons

No bids so far

DataKing · 04-29-2003, 03:19 PM

It's early yet. At half a million for an excellent keeper, I suspect he'll sell.

vex · 04-29-2003, 03:49 PM

I'm thinking of training my keeper for 1-2 weeks, let him pop to excellent, sell him and then get another solid keeper. I just don't feel like messing with my training schedule though.

vex · 04-29-2003, 11:57 PM

Transfer list: Keeper

Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42

Asking price: 500 000 US$

Highest bid:
500 000 US$ by Ork Deth Boyz

Not good, not good.

sterlingice · 04-30-2003, 03:18 AM

Once... Twice.... Sold!
A confluence of events caused us to put four players up for sale. The one who didn't sell was Kyle Paige, the 21yo solid PM middie who I keep putting up for sale at $150K. He's only good for * per game but I'm sure I can get some good cash for him once he raises to excellent towards the end of the season. I successfully sold one of my trainees who just popped to passable playmaking along with a couple of inadequates (one of our first trainees from back in February). Jeremy Rumbold sold for an even $50K, the price I put him up for.

The other two were sold as a result of the excellent treatise on the economics of a B Team by QuikSand. With the recent wingback purchase of Marcel Romo and no need for spare guys, my pair of inad/inad wingbacks were really unnecessary. Both Gerard Longis and Patrick Jonsson had mini bidding wars and ended up at $6K and $15K, respectively. BTW, the numbers 5, 9, and 18 are all back available.

Where Are They Now?
In a similar vein to selling players, it's time for the fifth installment of the stolen segment (from NevStar) "Where are they now?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3/21/2003 Sold Klaas Slingerland to Gooner 16 000 US$ (78 000 US$)
3/25/2003 Sold Chiritã Vochin to Malignos Team 77 000 US$ (168 000 US$)

4/24/2003 Sold Liu Zuo-Lin to sv de Helden 11 000 US$ (26 000 US$)

4/28/2003 Sold Gérard Longis to WTC 6 000 US$ (18 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Jeremy Rumbold to Most Wanted 50 000 US$ (41 000 US$)
4/28/2003 Sold Patrik Jonsson to Blätzbums 15 000 US$ (52 000 US$)

Total Purchases: 1154513 US$ (+101005)
Total Sales 1372002 US$ (+82000)
Difference 217489 US$ (-19005)
Average (bought) 34985 US$ (+911)
Average (sold) 54880 US$ (-6549)
Average (bought + sold) 3750 US$ (+798)

Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz
Ildefonso Besteiro Saiz was a simple solid/pleasant mini-clown for a couple of days before I bought Silviu Radu, our current solid/sympathetic mini-clown. He was bought for $1K from Orgasmos f.c. in Chile's III.11. However, about a month ago, Orgasmos f.c. was no more and Deportes Melipilla took over for them. He was then sold for the same $1K to JOB Squad in V.164, another team which no longer exists as Tunafat took over and renamed them the Tuna Warriors less than two weeks ago. He no longer exists just as the two teams he played for.

Augusto Almeida Lopes
Continuing the backup player motif, Augusto was our former backup goalie. He was sold to snomus cf (cool logo- if you have time to drop by their team page) in Schweiz V.110, the series he's currently leading. Unfortunately, Lopes has hit a bit of a form slide and is down to poor form. He's only 19 and is a nice guy (pleasant/calm/honest) but I doubt he has much of a future in soccer.

Thomas Rosenthal
Rosenthal was a starting defender for us for quite a while and sold for a pretty nice sum of $21001 to BACARDI C.F who finished in first place in España's VI.611 last year. However, the team was replaced in the last week so Thomas is no longer playing professional soccer. Unfortunately, like the other two, he has no stats.

Closing Remarks
That ends our fifth edition of "Where Are They Now" featuring those soon to be or already out of soccer. Next time, however, are three key players in our first season in a starting goalie, defender, and middie.

Dragons Sale Crisis
More bad sales news. As you have seen from our crack reporters or reporters on crack or whatever (vex, DK, Alf)- our main competition beat us to the punch on the youth pull bonanza. They pulled the first big gun and will be selling it. I've messaged him but haven't received any comment (likely hasn't had time to respond). Regardless, I'm sure he'll be gearing up to spend that cash before our big game. I'm currently looking for a **~ to *** middie trainee but those aren't cheap so I may have to go to war with the team I have. This may require an MotS and even that may not be enough. More as this develops.

Hatstats Ranking Notes
This may end up in the sunday report with fixture results but I'm not sure yet- no formatting or anything yet. Then again, it may end up only being a once in a while thing. For those of you unfamiliar with Hatstats, it's a website with weekly ratings including one the same as the NSI and stars. Also, you can check where your series and your team rank in the entire country provided you are in one of the countries they service.

Currently, we are the 90th most expensive team in Div V at $2,204,000 worth. However that will drop next week once the above sales go through. Just a brief mention of our competition since CC's Dragons show up on a lot of charts, too. He is the 96th most expensive team in Div V. Also, both of us have a *** winger but neither shows up on the list but they would be tied with a lot of other players for 6th best wingers in Div V. Our 53 NSI dropped us off the list for this week, ratings wise, but the bottom of the list is 53 and that would put us tied for 66th. The Dragons got 55 which is good for 54th. Our division, on the strength of the top 4 teams is 32nd out of 256 which makes us the last team in the top 1/8th of Div V.

BTW, one thing I just noticed this week is the Cup rankings: of the 1028 teams remaining in the Cup before last weekend, we were ranked 882 and the team we beat, BostonCity Ajax FC is 143rd. CC's is ranked 663 and beat the 362nd seed. Morrisville's 1010 ranking was the *2nd* highest upset last weekend when he took down #15 ShootingStar. So NevStar will only be #511 this week when he faces Slashers FC. Number 1017 (of 1028) Heavy Metal Superstars in V.56 upset another Div II team, CrazyCoCo of II.2 which makes him this week's Florida A&M or McNeese St. One other 1000+ seed won as 1001 Lost Planet Airmen beat II.4 Criminal FC. FOFCer Blades Bombers pulled off the 5th biggest upset of the week which earns him that dubious date with an MLS team. The Hippos seed for next week should be 497 out of 512 when we face #15 The Minutemen.

Crawfish Events
The first of three FOFC-related news bytes involves Afoci's outrageous dynasty. He's having a bit of a shindig up there in BFE, or as he calls it Fargo. As per his request, we'll be sending our two best players up there for some partying and general wellwishing. Ok, not really, Mick is heading up there for some beer and vomitting. Tim, well, Tim is just Clueless Tim. Hopefully the Crawfish can eat some Cheesecake and take over first. Here's our previous press release:

Quote:

While many Hippos want to attend, the two player limit means that those slots will go to our best players.

Goalie Tim Kimber, who is the mild mannered sort and a bit of a wallflower, would like to sign up for Hornsmaniac_2's book signing: he would like to learn the art of being cocky and funny. But, being the boy scout straight-arrow type, was overheard to have said that he doesn't quite understand what a "she-male" is and it sounds like something he really doesn't want to find out about.

Team captain and all around badass Mick Starks is catching the red-eye after the cup game Wednesday since no party that ends at midnight is a party. He is on record as saying that he does not trust Les alone with the strippers. Nor does he want to see them *after* Les has, um... been with them. Mick plans on staying the rest of the week until our fixture on Sunday.

Supporter Change
We had a supporter drop but added a new one in the past week. First, Havok's Maniacal Misfitz are no longer supporting us. We think it's because of his need to sell his supporter spots to support his transfer wire addiction. His spot in the opulent exective washroom and adjacent palatial suite will now be occupied by NAIWF, owner of the Manhattan Marauders. We have good wholesome Texas girls and run a 3-5-2 so hopefully it doesn't disagree too much with his 4-5-1 and New York tastes. I'm sure he'll find some way to manage once he sees the girls. The previous paragraph was in the key of:

CALLING ALL FOFC'ers!
The Hippos are welcoming everyone to the fixture in a week and a half. We have bought out a block of seats at the Dragons Den and need all the help we can get from the crowd. These are complimentary tickets and are first come, first serve to anyone who can fill the stands with some Hippo purple and green! RSVP here if you want tickets!

However, if you cannot come because you have a game of your own, you can take part in the Sponsor-A-Hooligan(TM) program where, for a small fee, you can bail out a needy soccer hooligan so he can make it to the game in your stead. These men and women need your help so they, too, can go back to rioting at soccer games. For just pennies a day, you can help fill this need in their life and in your heart. Please, save the soccer hooligans!

SI

vex · 04-30-2003, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
Supporter Change
We had a supporter drop but added a new one in the past week. First, Havok's Maniacal Misfitz are no longer supporting us.

He's not supporting the Sidekicks now either.

Eilim · 04-30-2003, 12:12 PM

Quote:

I was checking prices on excellent keepers and came across this.

4. Steven Atwood 500 000 US$ (opening price)
Belongs to: CCs Dragons
Age: 19 years
Value: 499 000 US$
Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42
Stamina: poor Keeper: excellent
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous

And he'll definitely get at least $700,000 out of him. Just thought you'd like to know.

When I saw this.. I have to admit, the first thing in my head was.. "Wow, it sucks to be him.."

Until this morning when I took a look to see what he was going for now to delight in the misery of someone.. (I'm an evil bastard like that..)

Thats when I saw...

Transfer list: Keeper

Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42

Asking price: 500 000 US$

Highest bid:
510 000 US$ by snizzle_nizzle_a_drizzle

*sigh* My main competitor for the series title in V.1 this year. Seeing as he has a 50k plus stadium which has been pretty much in a constant packed state the past two seasons. In the history of his team (5 seasons) only has one transaction on his transfer list. All I can think now is.. "It sucks to be me..."

-Eilim

vex · 04-30-2003, 02:04 PM

Yeah, but you can train a keeper to excellent in no time, so it wouldn't take that much to catchup, keeper wise.

Qwikshot · 04-30-2003, 02:50 PM

Heavy Metal Superstars are in my series...V.56...2nd toughest in Div 5. I fought bravely to a draw...the scary thing is, they're not even the best team...Mesa Mehados are in the top rankings and have lost twice (they've got no scoring)...

sterlingice · 05-01-2003, 03:52 AM

Preview
Another full rockin' Hippodrome and we'll need all the help we can get. We've more or less given this game up for a loss but who knows what could happen. We'll be playing one of the best Div II teams in the entire game, The Minutemen (not to be confused with The Minute Men from MLS). That's like thinking a Div V team from Appalachia could take an MLS team to golden goal time. Stranger things have happened...

Game Summary
Date: 5/1/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6949377
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 15692

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Hebert - Newsom, Paige, Benito, Jörgensson, Starks - Chang, Tizón.

The Minutemen started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Gunnarsson - Shkrobov, Henley, Oba, Soto, Fredriksson - Felder, Pitu, Trent, Hudureanu - Arnold.

In the 11th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Dan Hudureanu put the ball away for 0 - 1. The Minutemen came close to extending their lead as Dan Hudureanu delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. The Minutemen had, after 30 minutes of the game, worked the left side industriously, creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but somehow didn´t achieve closure. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by The Minutemen, with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball.

Dan Hudureanu of The Minutemen received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Dan Hudureanu increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. By now The Minutemen were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The referee showed The Minutemens Joel Felder the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the 87:th minute The Minutemens Marc Soto received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Dan Hudureanu came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Tim Kimber, hitting the bar. In the games 88:th minute Hippopotami´s Anders Jörgensson fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Anders Jörgensson for taking a dive. The Minutemen held the ball, with a clear 69 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The most dominating The Minutemen player was without a doubt Alexandru Pitu. However, Djoko Oba made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 2.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals
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
MM: 5-4-1

Events Summary

1st Half
MM: 11: 0-1
Halftime Score: 0-1
Possession: 35%

2nd Half
MM: xx: 0-2
MM: xx: *pulling back*
Final Score: 0-2
Possession: 31%
Final Possession: 33%

Cards
HH: 66: Anders Jörgensson (yellow- taking a dive)

Injuries
None

Stadium

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

Unfortunately, our last $50K from the Cup games. Great fan support for the cup!

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: weak (4)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Right Side Attack: solid (7)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 44/48

The Minutemen
Midfield: solid (7)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: brilliant (11)
Left Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/NevStar Index: 55/62

Well, putting in our sub midfield showed. However, everyone else played well. This just shows how far out of our league we were playing today, tho. I'm glad he played a 5-4-1 and a lot of subs or this would have been much worse. Just think what that score looks like if he puts in some of his stars and some attacking instead of holding back.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***
DW Elmer Bush **
DM Thomas Strömlius (off) **
DW Hugh Hebert *~
WI Donald Newsom (off) **~
MI Kyle Paige ~
MI Anders Jörgensson (xtra) **
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) **~
WI Mick Starks (off) ***
FO Dafoe Chang **
FO Juan Miguel Tizón **

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

The offensive Stromlius experiment didn't buy us anything so I don't think I'll do that again. Anders Jörgensson bumped up to ** so he may be replacing Friedlander in the starting lineup permanently. Kyle Paige's ~ was most distressing. Fortunately Bush is back up to ** at wingback.

Three Stars
Well, tough to give out awards when we did not score a goal

Bronze: The Offense
They couldn't do much with low possession but they got us to this point
Silver: The Defense
They kept the score 1-0 most of the game
Gold: Tim Kimber
Tim Kimber made a save to prevent Dan Hudureanu's hat trick and also played out of his mind to keep it this close

Game Summary
The crowd kept us in it, but there was just too much to overcome. They outplayed us with their second team but, then again, they are a Div II team. It was a great Cup run that net us $200K and included two Div IV upsets. Next year, the goal is to get two rounds further. But who knows. Anyone who didn't see: amazing credit to NevStar, whose Morrisvillians went to golden goal time before finally succombing to MLS team FC Slashers 1-0.

Press Release
5/1/2003 at 10:07 Hippos Bounced From USA Cup; FOFC Cup Next
The guys fought valiantly, but in the end, seed #497 couldn't upset #15. Just 11 minutes in, The Minutemen scored and it looked like the rout would be on. But the Hippos hung in there, keeping it 1-0 most of the game until Dan Hudureanu scored his second goal of the game with less than 10 minutes to go. The Hippos had a great run with 2 home upsets over Div IV teams and we'd like to thank all of our fans and supporters, and welcome them to watch for us in the upcoming FOFC Cup.

Notes
I don't want to sound cocky about our next game, but it's at home against a team that averages an NSI of 30. I could PIC and get some team spirit and some confidence going into next week's game with a 6-1 type win or just play normal and obliterate them 9-0 and get my fans and confidence back in a hurry.

A couple of minor notes unrelated to the game: as the day updated, we lost 1 fan. This marks the first time we have ever lost 1 supporter. Our supporters/sponsors and spirit/confidence took a hit, but you can read all about that in the weekly update on Sunday. We also got a new hattrick supporter and some mother club money. Those will also be updated at the end of the week. Also, if I get really motivated, I might throw in some cup stats for the team, but I'm not sure I'll have time with finals week quickly approaching.

SI

NevStar · 05-01-2003, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
That's like thinking a Div V team from Appalachia could take an MLS team to golden goal time. Stranger things have happened...

I resemble that remark. Except Morrisville is near Raleigh, not in Appalachia. You must be thinking of the Asheville Ashevillians, we're confused a lot.

sterlingice · 05-02-2003, 02:38 AM

Training
Quite a few form increases but no playmaking bumps. Stephen Connors, our last middie to bump is due any week now. However, those will have to wait. Also, I need one more middie trainee now that I sold one. That said, this next one will be a doozie- he'll be one of the next generation of starters. Or at least, that's my hope.

Future Training
I desperately have been needing some general training lately and now that I've been bounced from the cup, it's time. Everyone will play this week in an attempt to get as many form raises as possible.

Form
Starters: (+4) (-3)
Entire Team: (+9) (-4)

Starters Form
NOTE: A new feature but long overdue
Solid (or above): Kimber Stromlius Phelan
Passable: Starks Stepp Benito Romo Connors Newsom Jorgensson
Inadequate:
Weak (or below): Tizon (poor)

If you're a forward and your name isn't Edwin Phelan, then you have bad form. All of our forwards are inadequate or below except Phelan. Everyone else is in passable or or solid form on the starting team which begs the question "why am I doing general training"? Because I have a huge game coming up and I could use even more help. Not only that but only 2 of the B Team are passable and the rest are below that. Hm... after looking closer, I may end up changing back to good ol' playmaking before the week is done, but I have lots of time to decide.

Value
Starters: (+7) (-3)
Entire Team: (+14) (-5)

Team Stats
Total Wages: 24278 (-12)
Total Value: 2154000 (-46000)
Avg Value: 102571 (+10904)
Avg Age: 21 (N/A)
Avg Form: inadequate (N/A)
Avg Experience: wretched (up from disastrous)
No of players: 21 (-3)
Nationalities: 7 (-1)

Upcoming Friendly
I've always wanted to play vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks. We've been mutual supporters pretty much since I've had supporter and I want to try and get in at least one friendly with all of my supporters. We had a game ready to go at the end of last year but I had forgotten I already had a match scheduled so now here we are. It will be the first major action the B Team sees this year, but a lot of them have seen time in other games.

Speaking of Supporters...
The Hippos would like to welcome robbgmaier's goldurnears to our list of official supporters. He had a great game last weekend to take full control of first place in his series. This brings the number of our supporters to 8. This definately means that as soon as we expand the stadium towards the end of the year, we will be expanding the executive washroom and suite. Maybe even bringing in more girls.

SI

sterlingice · 05-05-2003, 09:31 PM

Youth Pull, Week 19.4
Deke, Zeke, whatever. He's not really trainner or keeper material so he has now been shot out of a cannon and landed in the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM)

Youth Pull Status
(NOTE: NC means "no change")
Youth Pulls: 18
Youth Pull Grocers: 17 (+1)
Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC)
Total Sold for: 11000 (NC)

Youth Pull
Deke Crowe (11489056)
17 years, passable form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 520 US$/week

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

Conditions

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

Sponsors: high on life (NC)
Supporter Club: 907 members (+12)
Supporters: calm (down from high on life)

Team Spirit: composed (down from calm)
Confidence: decent (down from strong)

Gained 13 but lost 1 supporter. We took some very obvious hits from our loss but that shouldn't be a problem. We should have a crushing victory this week to get our supporters and confidence back.

Week In Review

On the Field
The game against Toledo turned out to be much ado about nothing. We won 3-1 at their place with despite some missed chances. In our cup game, we were not so lucky. We held a very tough Div II team to 1-0 most of the game and ended up losing 2-0. Unfortunately, it was at home so we ticked off some fans and team spirit fell. This week, we get the Metal Mulisha at home in a fixture where we should bowl them over and get some of that back. Then we finally get back to our friendly against the Sidekicks that we've owed them since last offseason.

Off the Field
I sold a couple of backup wingbacks since I was up to 6, I believe. Also, since Jeremy Rumbold popped to passable at PM the previous week, we were able to sell him for $50K. Farewell Gérard Longis, Patrik Jonsson, and Jeremy Rumbold. They'll be missed, but the $65K makes us happy. Right now, I'm looking for a solid defender or a **~ or *** middie. It should be noted that our competition, the Dragons, sold a goalie trainee for $500K and bulked up his defense with some young defensive trainees.

Finances
WE ARE IN THE BLACK. We got another $56K from our cup game and hopefully the supporter's mood doesn't hurt our home take too much. We passed 900 supporters for the first time. However, after our cup loss, we lost a supporter for the first time. Also, we got a smidge of mother club cash from a daytrader who resold our youth pull from a couple of weeks ago. Even with the loss, we still sold $750 more in sponsorships than last week.

Wrapup
Well, we got bounced from the cup. However, we have a pretty easy fixture this week which I'll be PIC'ing to repair some of the recent damage. Then the long awaited friendly with the Sidekicks. This time next week, we'll be in a frenzy about the Dragons game.

SI

sterlingice · 05-06-2003, 01:34 AM

Preview
Tis a time for beatings. After suffering some team spirit and support from our fans, it's time to get it back with a nice swift asskicking of the Metal Mulisha. It's at home and, really, the only thing that will keep this from being a 9-0 game is that I'm going to PIC.

Game Summary
Date: 5/5/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5544402
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 11279

11279 spectators arrived at The Hippodrome, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Romo - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan.

Mulisha had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Mcduffie - Cardenas, Singh, Labranche, Lang - Hannah, Forcier, Metz, Tharp - Rowland, Landry.

Edwin Phelan gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Man, what a shot by Reed Landry! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 1 - 1. In the 22nd minute Juan Miguel Tizón almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. Hippopotami were very close to putting themselves one up in the 37:th minute as Juan Miguel Tizón got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Edwin Phelan completely alone with keeper Corey Mcduffie, who made a spectacular block. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 1. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 86 percent, dominated the battle.

The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 in the 53rd by a breakthrough from Stephen Connors, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Hippopotamis Marcel Romo got himself booked after a foul. Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 1 when Carlos Alberto Benito broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. In the 77:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 1. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Juan Miguel Tizón coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. In the 80:th minute Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Mulisha player was without a doubt Corey Mcduffie. Jérémie Forcier was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 1.

Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (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
MM: 4-4-2

Events Summary

1st Half
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (5); 1-0
MM: xx: 1-1
Halftime Score: 1-1
Possession: 86%

2nd Half
HH: 53: Stephen Connors (1); 2-1
HH: xx: Carlos Alberto Benito (2); 3-1
HH: 77: Juan Miguel Tizón (1); 4-1
Final Score: 4-1
Possession: 93%
Final Possession: 90%

Cards
HH: xx: Marcel Romo (yellow- foul)

Injuries
None, again. We've been lucky *knock on wood*

Stadium

Terraces: 6750 (9702)
Basic seats: 3175 (3850)
Seats under roof: 1114 (1740)
VIP seats: 240 (400)
Total: 11279 (15692)

Darn fairweather fans. Still, we did lose this past week so only 11K fans turned out for this game. Then again, this was going to be a pretty lopsided game and the weather was a bit cloudy.

Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: solid (7)
Right Side Attack: excellent (8)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: solid (7)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56

Metal Mulisha
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: poor (3)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 29/30

Crush. Good to see that 56 return. The only thing I really want is to bump up that midfield rating to passable. Time to find a way to 60.

Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Rickie Stepp **
DM Thomas Strömlius **~
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Mick Starks (o) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) ***
MI Anders Jörgensson (x) **
MI Stephen Connors ***
WI Donald Newsom (o) **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Juan Miguel Tizón *~

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

Lots of stuff this week. Hark, is that another ***~ from Tim Kimber even without improvement in his form? Woo! I keep forgetting to put Rickie Stepp towards the middle. D'oh. Jorgensson at ** may keep him in the starting lineup. Tizon is down to *~ and that could be a problem. I need some form help there and Chang may take his spot for a game or two if he doesn't improve. However, the big news of the week is the midfield: both Benito and Connors got *** this week after **~ for the longest time. For Benito, that's his first *** performance and Connors's second. Those 27.5 stars are a team high by a full star but we can do better. If everyone is clicking on all cylinders, we can get 30 as Romo, Stepp, and Phelan can get ~ more and Tizon can get a full * more. Our new goal is 30 stars and 60 NSI.

Three Stars
This might have been more fun if we hadn't PIC'd and had a hattrick or two to throw around.

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Hopefully his second goal in as many games is the start of a streak
Silver: Stephen Connors
The go-ahead goal was his first of the year
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Stays tied for the league lead with a goal to get the game started but missed on a second and had a third blocked by their goalie

Game Summary
The PIC kept the score down but we still won convincingly over an overmatched team. Still, there were a lot of nervous moments. Nothing like going into the half with 86% possession yet still tied. Not only that but I thought this was finally the week our missed events caught up to us. Still, in the end, it all worked out for us and next week will be the game.

Press Release
5/6/2003 at 22:56 Hippos Win 4-1; Look to Next Week
It was a nerve wracking first half where the Hippos wasted three scoring chances and went into the half, tied 1-1 with the Metal Mulisha despite 86% possession. However, Stephen Connors, Carlos Alberto Benito, and Juan Miguel Tizón all scored second half goals as the Hippos rolled. Edwin Phelan scored his league lead-tying 5th goal of the season to start the game out 1-0 Hippos. Next week is THE Game: Hippos/Dragons for the series lead at the Dragons Den! Be there!

League Standings

Code:

 
N  Team                 P  Goals  Pts NSI
1. Houston Hippopotami  5 23 - 4  15  56
 
2. CC's Dragons         5 20 - 1  15  57
3. The Flying Midgets   5 11 - 4  9   54
4. Toledo Blades        5 11 - 10 9   47
 
5. Metal Mulisha        5 7 - 15  4   30
6. Buccabeavzers        5 5 - 14  3   33
 
7. goonz                5 6 - 18  3   35
8. PRODYGRAF            5 3 - 20  1   30

Around the League
As you can see from the above standings, there is a widening gap between the top 4 and bottom 4. The top teams played the bottom teams this week and they top outscored the bottom 13-1 this week. In case I haven't mentioned it enough yet, next week is the big game.

The Flying Midgets - Buccabeavzers 4 - 0
If the Midgets could ever get their midfield in order, they'd be dangerous. They posted out-bril-form across the back and inad's across the front but he only scores a poor at midfield. Still, that was more than enough to crush the Buccabeavzers. All for of the goals were scored in the first half and then the defense pulled back. There's no way the Bucs were going to break that defense.

goonz - CC's Dragons 0 - 4
Like us, the Dragons had a nice little PIC-style warmup going into our game next week. As is typically their style, they got exc and above across the back with inad and above across the front. They only got a weak midfield which is why I figured they PIC'd. Scouting for next week, seven guys got **~ along with two *** a ** and their goalie with ***~ which is just a nasty lineup. That's 29 stars for those of you keeping score at home.

PRODYGRAF - Toledo Blades 0 - 1
It looks like Toledo played their training 5-4-1 instead of their typical 4-5-1. At least that made it close. His defense was bril/bril/exc and his possession was 78% but this defensive slugfest's only goal was by Steven Li in th 60th minute.

Notes
Well, it was mostly a snoozer of a week in league and with our game. But that's ok, because this week we have our makeup friendly against vexroid's Sidekicks a team we support and who supports us.

Then: Next Sunday. Hippos. Dragons. At the Dragons Den. Series Title Up For Grabs. Be There!

Oh, but that's not all... (as soon as hattrick is up, you'll see)

SI

sterlingice · 05-06-2003, 04:02 PM

Katon · 05-06-2003, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
.

Eloquently put!

sterlingice · 05-06-2003, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Katon
Eloquently put!

Well, I accidentally put a message there that I didn't want so I just deleted it. But, here's the post now that it's done: (in next post)

SI

sterlingice · 05-06-2003, 04:20 PM

Other Features
This would usually be when I posted "Where are they now?" However, I won't be able to this week or the next due to finals. It will be back sometime soon, probably in two weeks. Another feature is the Hatstats rankings but their site hasn't updated yet due to the massive downtime on the hattrick servers.

Goodbye and Hello
Last week, we put a couple of players on the market at pretty high prices hoping someone would bite. Well, we got lucky and someone did. Wingback Hugh Hebert, who was part of the original team, was sold to vv Appingedam in VII.385 Nederland. He was passable defense (bumped in our one week of defensive training way back at the beginning) and inad winger and we have a couple of better guys than that now. He sold for $51K when two teams bid on him and we got nearly $49K of that. This will put us even more in the black...

...Or will it. The black is a good place to be but it appears to not be for me. I had been wanting to get a quality veteran winger and now I have one. Ever put out a feeler bid just to see how much someone goes for? Well, I did that with Maarten Sanders and no one else bid on him. Now I have my offensive middie who can put up **~ now and, as soon as I do some form training, he'll get *** regularly. He's old and that's why I probably got him for cheap. Cheap, being a relative term as I spent $187K on him, but when you see his stats, I think you'll see it was money well spent. The only big problem I see is that his wages are $3K per week but we've been cleaning out salary space for the last couple weeks so it's no big deal. Maarten will get the number 18.

He belonged to a Dutch Div VI.849 team called Torcida-AJAX and propelled him out of debt. Message from him:

Quote:

Sent 2003-05-05 10:43:00
From tjakalele
Subject Maarten Sanders

thanks for buying my starplayer. now i have no debts anymore
greetz from the Netherlands

Maarten Sanders (8587387)
28 years, weak form, healthy
A nasty fellow who is fiery and upright.
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: Nederland
Assessed value: 237 000 US$
Wage: 3 444 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Career Goals: 1

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

Notes?
Well, Maarten will get his first Hippo workout against the Sidekicks and will definately be in the lineup against the Dragons. I think we lucked out because the Dragons used that money on two more defensive trainees while his big weakness is still at middie. Hopefully, running 3 **~ or *** middies against his weaker midfield might be just enough to get us a win.

SI

DataKing · 05-06-2003, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
Well, I accidentally put a message there that I didn't want so I just deleted it. But, here's the post now that it's done: (in next post)

SI

You aren't fooling anyone. We all know you're just trying to boost your post count.

On a more serious note, Sanders looks like a nice pickup. His salary is up there, but should help your midfield rating as well as your side attack a little bit.

vex · 05-06-2003, 11:42 PM

That's an impressive middie you got there.

daedalus · 05-07-2003, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sterlingice
Maarten Sanders (8587387)

Awesome pick up! I remember talking about you chasing a midfielder on Sunday after the game.

My question is . . . with a midfield name Sanders on board, how long until we get the inevitable Tom Sanders-reference?

robbgmaier · 05-07-2003, 01:04 PM

daedalus you are a bastard.....maybe none of the hippos will notice.....

04-28-2003, 03:35 PM	#26
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview We should win this game. Sure, Toledo is a Div IV relegee but they kindof deserved to be. They are likely going to be in the battle for 3rd or 4th (against the Midgets) behind us and the Dragons. However, this is at their house and they MotS'd the game so we have pretty much everything working against us. Game Summary Date: 4/28/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544395 Arena: Bladium Crowd: 7000 7000 spectators had come to Bladium this cloudy day. Toledo started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. They fielded: González - Stachowicz, Dinu, Li, Stinson, Vãrzaru - Rees, Mohr, Jung, Tran - De Araoz. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Romo - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Friedländer, Starks - Chang, Phelan. After 5 minutes Hippopotami put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Philip Friedländer finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. In the to 11th minute a very unfortunate collision in the home teams penalty area led to Toledo´s Michael Stinson being carried off the pitch and replaced by Theodore Fauconnier. Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Carlos Alberto Benito delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. The away team´s Carlos Alberto Benito took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 18:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 2. The referee showed Toledos Dacian Vãrzaru the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Donald Newsom could have put his team up another one in the 23rd minute, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. Toledos Julius Tran got himself booked after a foul. José Alejandro González kept the home side in the game with a magnificient save, as Stephen Connors delivered an almost perfect free kick to the far cross bar. 0 - 2 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 51 percent, dominated the battle. Toledo´s Juan Miguel De Araoz got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge putting the away teams lead down to 1 - 2. The away team´s Mick Starks took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 56:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 3. Hippopotami´s Defoe Chang made it through the home teams defence in the 67:th minute, and had only to place the ball in an unguarded goal when the home side´s defender sprang up from the left, clearing the ball on the line. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Toledo, with an impressive 52 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating Toledo player was without a doubt José Alejandro González. Theodore Fauconnier was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Philip Friedländer was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 TB: 5-4-1 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 5: Philip Friedländer (1); 1-0 HH: 18: Carlos Alberto Benito (2); 2-0 Halftime Score: 2-0 Possession: 51% 2nd Half TB: xx: 2-1 HH: 67: Mick Starks (2); 3-1 Final Score: 3-1 Possession: 48% Final Possession: 49% Cards None! Injuries None, but they had one guy carried off the pitch and out for 3 weeks when he collided with a teammate Stadium He filled up his 7000 seat stadium. How in the heck was he in Div IV with a 7000 seat stadium?!? By the end of the season, I'll likely have a 20-25K stadium and I may not even be in Div IV. Team Ratings Toledo Blades Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: outstanding (10) Central Defence: brilliant (11) Left Side Defence: excellent (8) Right Side Attack: wretched (2) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 50/55 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: weak (4) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: solid (7) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 49/53 We lost the index battle but won the war. Apparently an exc-sol-exc offense beats an out-bril-exc defense. I'm guessing those midfields were very close since possession was pretty much identical. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber * DW Rickie Stepp DM Thomas Strömlius ~ DW Marcel Romo WI Donald Newsom (off) ~ MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) ~ MI Philip Friedländer (extra) ~ MI Stephen Connors ~ WI Mick Starks (off) FO Dafoe Chang FO Edwin Phelan ~ Total Stars: 26.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal Marcel Romo, our new wingback, was somewhat disappointing at . But that was offset by Thomas Strömlius hitting ~ at defensive middie. Three Stars Hmm... low scoring games make these awards more interesting. Bronze: Thomas Strömlius Strömlius gets ~ for the first time in defense Silver: Carlos Alberto Benito A goal and a near goal nets Benito's first award Gold: Tim Kimber Only gave up one goal but it was to a 5-4-1 Game Summary I think he MotS'd this game at his house and we still won. What does that mean? It means that our game with Toledo at home drops down to the same level as our road game against the Midgets and that we have only two huge MotS-level games this season: the two against the Dragons. Those two will determine whether we move up or stay in Division V next year. We lost the possession battle and missed on two events but we still won and I guess that's all that really matters in the end. FYI, the one goal scored by Toledo was by Juan Miguel De Araoz who has now tied Edwin Phelan and Victorio Refojo for the league lead at 4. Press Release 4/28/2003 at 22:35 Hippos Grind Out Win at Bladium Philip Friedländer, Carlos Alberto Benito, and Mick Starks scored goals for the Hippos in a grueling battle with the Blades that ended in a 3-1 victory and 4th series victory. The offense rated exc-sol-exc and was barely able to break the Blades out-bril-exc defense. The Hippos will likely be exiting the Cup this week, playing a top 20 USA team in "The Minutemen". Next week's fixture will against the Metal Mulisha at home leading up to the following week's huge matchup at the Dragons Den. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 4 19 - 3 12 53 2. CC's Dragons 4 16 - 1 12 55 3. The Flying Midgets 4 7 - 4 6 51 4. Toledo Blades 4 10 - 10 6 55 5. Metal Mulisha 4 6 - 11 4 30 6. Buccabeavzers 4 5 - 10 3 35 7. goonz 4 6 - 14 3 35 8. PRODYGRAF 4 3 - 19 1 27 Around the League It was judgement day for a second team in our league today as the Dragons and Midgets met in the other top 4 clash. Also, the bottom got more mixed up as the two teams with 0 points previously picked up wins against the teams which had points. Next week will either be a real yawner or there will be a huge upset as all of the top teams play the bottom teams. Metal Mulisha - goonz 1 - 4 The previously winless goonz beat 5th place Metal Mulisha. Four different players scored for the goonz who has passable's across their offense, beating the Mulisha's inad/pass/pass defense. Both had disastrous midfields but the Mulisha's 51% possession advantage at the half collapsed as the goonz stamina won out in the second half (64-36%). Buccabeavzers - PRODYGRAF 4 - 0 This ugly game had 2 cards, two injuries and quite a few missed chances but in the end, the Buccabeavzers got their first win of the season. The Bucs 4-5-1 got passables across the defense and goalie Graig Grace was the only player to get more than at ~ CC's Dragons - The Flying Midgets 1 - 0 The Dragons eeked out a win as they dominated possession (61, 69%) but failed on three events. The visiting Midgets goalie Svarg Ram kept them in the game with some awesome goaltending and their out/out/exc defense limited the only scoring in the game to Lai Soon-Wah's goal 13 minutes in. The Dragons turned in an all around nice effort with form/exc/exc on the defense and sol/inad/pass at offense. Notes This season now literally comes down to two games and the first is in two weeks at the Dragon's Den in front of 12000 angry screaming fans. We're going to get killed in the cup this week, but then we should get some confidence back this weekend when we drill the Mulisha with the A Team. Anyways, we have some players on sale and hopefully we will get some cash because after next week's fixture, we might even be in the hunt. Coming up soon: the first "Where are they Now?" of the new year which will be updated with news of our sales and who knows what else. Also, some hatstats notes and a supporter landmark. And, maybe, if I get really ambitious, a Hippo Spotlight but don't hold your breath on that one since I have a test tomorrow. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-28-2003 at 03:46 PM.

04-29-2003, 09:52 AM	#28
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	That does not bode well. __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

04-29-2003, 02:43 PM	#29
Alf Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rennes, France	Transfer list: Keeper Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42 Asking price: 500 000 Euro 3/30/2003 Was promoted from the youth squad in CC's Dragons No bids so far __________________ FOFL - GML - IHOF - FranceStats

04-29-2003, 03:19 PM	#30
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	It's early yet. At half a million for an excellent keeper, I suspect he'll sell. __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

04-30-2003, 02:50 PM	#37
Qwikshot Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: ...down the gravity well	Heavy Metal Superstars are in my series...V.56...2nd toughest in Div 5. I fought bravely to a draw...the scary thing is, they're not even the best team...Mesa Mehados are in the top rankings and have lost twice (they've got no scoring)... __________________ "General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams

04-04-2003, 02:57 AM	#2
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	[Placeholder for FAQ] SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-04-2003, 02:58 AM	#4
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Supporters I want to give a hearty welcome to my supporters and express my support to my supportees. For those who don't know, any official supporter gets special treatment during games (more on that down in the Stadium section) and, at one time, recieve reciprocal support. Unfortunately, my support spots are now filled and only 4 are reciprocal: I support DK's Screamin' Seamen non-reciprocally. Ideally, I want to play a home-and-home with everyone one of my supported teams. However, so far, I have only played the Bees and Morrisvillians. Ardent's North County Raiders were supported at one time (see logo section) and are now honorary supportees and thus enjoy the same privilage as supporters and supportees despite having no supporter status. It should also be noted that I owe the Sidekicks our first available mutual open date for a friendly that was cancelled at the end of last year. Supported/Supportee teams Bees (70510) in USA Owner: ausonny Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-01-31 17:22:38 Supportee since: 2003-01-08 23:22:37 Series: V.41 Screamin' Seamen (70638) in USA Owner: dataking Status: supported Supporter since: 2003-02-02 09:05:12 Series: IV.49 Morrisville Morrisvillians (70926) in USA Owner: NevStar Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-02-02 22:57:25 Supportee since: 2003-02-03 04:56:37 Series: V.93 NE Oklahoma Sidekicks (71068) in USA Owner: vexroid Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-02-13 22:45:08 Supportee since: 2003-02-13 08:24:27 Series: V.111 Louisiana Cyclones (72080) in USA Owner: Doug5984 Status: reciprocal Supporter since: 2003-03-07 01:07:40 Supportee since: 2003-03-06 19:44:19 Series: V.237 Maniacal Misfitz (72203) in USA Owner: Havok12 Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-03-18 22:48:07 Series: V.253 Havoc (71573) in USA Owner: Havoc99 Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-03-25 10:03:22 Series: V.174 Bull Dogs (8421) in USA Owner: Eilim Status: supportee Supportee since: 2003-03-28 03:55:19 Series: V.1 Staff The first thing you notice about the staff is that I use 7-3 instead of 8-2 for coaches. Early on, I had problems with keeping goaltenders in good form so I switched from 8-2 to 7-3. Hasn't slowed down training a whole lot as all but my two oldest middies have bumped. I'm a firm believer in lots of spokespersons and I think they have to do with my huge and growing supporter base almost as much as my early success. I want to keep 1 physio and 1 doctor on staff just to keep the injuries lighter but if I start seeing more injuries, I'll either adjust the training rate or add more staff. Lastly, I have no economists since I don't have enough money or much debt and my confidence is typically at wonderful so I don't want a sports psychologist mucking it up by making them overconfident. Staff Goaltending Coaches: 3 Assistant Coaches: 7 Sport Psychologists: 0 Spokepersons: 5 Economists: 0 Physiotherapists: 1 Doctors: 1 Training Most weeks, I'll be training playmaking. The other things I might train are general to help form and stamina but we are pretty close to where we need to be for that. I train at 95% despite my 1 physiotherapist and doctor and seem to be pretty good for it- not too many injuries but lots of training. Our confidence is from two weeks into the season and 5 straight competition wins-it'll do wonders for your confidence. Unfortunately, our team spirit is rarely above calm due to our coach being a hardass. The clown can only counteract him so the damage isn't worse but he isn't good enough to turn the tide towards the positive. As you can see, we used to play a 4-5-1 in friendlies to have a second formation but I found it to be annoyingly unbalanced so I'll just run the 3-5-2 and if, for some reason, I need a second formation, I'll go with the 4-4-2. Training Specifics Training Level: 95% Training Type: Playmaking Coach: Ricky Braden Team Spirit: calm Confidence: wonderful Formation experience 4-3-3: poor 4-5-1: passable 3-5-2: excellent 5-3-2: poor 3-4-3: poor 5-4-1: poor Sponsors/Supporters Speaking of supporters and sponsors and spokespersons, that's alliteration. Our supporter club has been growing quickly and it has a large part to do with keeping them happy. We've only lost 2 games in league play and have yet to have a week where we lose supporters. Also, our troupe of 5 spokespersons can't hurt. We thank every one of them profusely for filling our stadium every week by trying to win every game and keeping them in good moods like "delirious" and "high on life". Sponsor Info Sponsors: delirious Supporter Club: 869 members Supporters: high on life The Hippodrome The beloved Hippodrome, a clever (ok, not really) play on words on the name of the old Roman stadium, doesn't boast it's 250,000 capacity... yet. However, a stadium expansion in mid season 18 more than doubled the seating from 7000 to 15692. The only seats that don't fill up currently are the VIP boxes but they do for big games. Future stadium expansions will not have quite the ratio of VIP boxes that the current configuration does. An expansion to 22K-25K will probably occur towards the end of the year. There's also the matter of the executive washroom and attached box suite which are not included in the other stadium stats. However, any official supporters of the Hippos are familiar with, and enjoy their games from, the comfort of the suite. A classical feel of marble is meshed with technological wonders along with full service dining and full service girls- take that as you will. Other than official supporters, only the owner is allowed up here on a regular basis. The end of year awards banquet is also held here and the event has contributed to some of the team loyalty. Arena Info Arena: The Hippodrome Belongs to: Houston Hippopotami Country: USA Region : Houston Last improvement: 1/29/2003 Total capacity: 15692 Terraces: 9702 Basic seating: 3850 Seats under roof: 1740 Seats in VIP boxes: 400 Youth Squad Our youth sqaud is much maligned- there's no debating that. Originally, we only put $5K to $10K in for the first month. However, ever since we've put in $20K a week, it's bumped all the way to solid at the end of last season. We're expecting excellent by the end of this season. Despite it being solid, we have only pulled one player which we could even sell and he only netted $1K. We need two nice pulls of the ~$100K to $300K variety by the end of the year to make me feel comfortable about competing in Division IV next year. Maybe we'll get lucky- redemption could be only a button press away. Youth Squad Youth Squad: solid Investment in the Youth squad: 20,000 US$ / week Finances Here is the ideal budget for this season. I'm getting $43K per week from sponsors, but I gain $1500-$2000 per week. Also, a sellout nets me $83K but I can only get that half of the weeks of the season. Ideally, I will have no interest but who knows. The $2K temporary per week is for youth pull. As you can see, we are barely in the black on an average week, but hopefully youth pulls can offset this. Also, towards the end of this year, I'm looking to get more high profile trainees such as Anders Jörgensson. Not to mention the stadium upgrade I mentioned before. Revenue Crowd: 3000 (83000) Sponsors: 45000 Financial: 0 Temporary: 0 Two Week Revenue: 176000 Expenses Arena: 10300 Wages: 27000 Interest: 0 Temporary: 2000 Staff: 25500 Youth squad: 20000 Two Week Expenses: 169600 Total Two Week Gross: +6400 Team Profile Our wages have gone up quite a bit since last year but so has the quality of our team: Our value is 91st in all of division V. We are a quite young team but with that, we have low experience which can occasionally lead to events in games. Our average form is pretty good but I'd like it to be slightly higher. Lastly, we have quite an international flavor as I have dabbled quite a bit on the transfer market. We have players from the USA (10, coach), Sverige (5), England (2), Oceania (2), Deutschland (1), Hrvatska (1), België (1), and România (1). Team Stats Total Wages: 23570 Total Value: 2075000 Avg Value: 90217 Avg Age: 21 Avg Form: inadequate Avg Experience: disastrous No of players: 23 Nationalities: 8 Federations We are limited to three federations slots but I currently only belong to two. I'm not wildly involved but I try to do some and check out their conference a couple of times a week. I'd check the conferences more often but they seem down so often. I wish they would get better board software. Federations Front Office Football Community- I think we all know what this one is. Daytrading Federation- I'm in here more than anything to read their conference. It's one of the largest in all of hattrick with 358 members currently and is led by the legendary daytrader karate of fumpen. I hold the status of "mini trader" just because I'd rather be something other than just "member". Team Colors NOTE: copied from last year's dynasty report As Hippopotamuses are only grey/black, I figured I could go with pretty much any color I wanted but I wanted something with a dark look. At first, I kindof liked the idea of dark red and black as those seem like Hippo colors but then I decided on purple and black. Also thought dark green socks sounded like a good idea even though they look like black to me. Our color schemes are as follows: (any thoughts?) Match Kit Shirt: Black Shorts: Purple Socks: Dark Green Reserve Kit Shirt: Purple Shorts: Black Socks: Dark Green Fan Club Thanks to a small impromptu contest last year (which wasn't really a contest but me taking the first good suggestion that came along), ardent's suggestion of "Hungry Hungry Hippos" stuck with our fan club. It resulted in our sponsoring of his North County Raiders until a better offer came along- i.e. reciprocal sponsorship from another club. Ardent was pretty understandable that he lost out to a better bribe Logo NOTE: also copied from last year's dynasty report I have a creepily cute logo befitting my team's status as not even able to win in division V. Maybe I'll find some scarier images once my team improves. The image came somewhat from the cover of a book called "Hippos Go Berserk" by Sandra Boynton. I've never heard of it or read it before but it had a picture that fit. Here's a link to the book:Hippos Go Berserk And here is our new, ultra-intimidating team logo: SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-20-2003 at 05:05 AM.

04-04-2003, 09:55 AM	#7
DataKing Pro Rookie Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Chicago	[Placeholder for witty comment] DK __________________ Current Games Diablo III (BattleTag: DataKing#1685) Allegiances: Chicago Bears - Detroit Red Wings - Kansas Jayhawks Awards: 2011 Golden Scribe - Other Sports Category (The Straight(away) and Narrow - A Forza Motorsport 3 Dynasty)

04-04-2003, 10:08 AM	#8
NevStar High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Raleigh, NC	[Placeholder insulting the toothless fans of Houston and/or the heart & drive of your team] Nev - jumping on the bandwagon a bit late __________________ I can't think of a clever signature.

04-04-2003, 12:59 PM	#9
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Well, I've screwed up my computer even more than when I posted that last night (nothing like booting into win2k and getting a blue screen while proggies are loading). So, my computer, she is getting a formatting. Right now I'm just writing to update people on a comp in the KU library. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-10-2003, 04:14 PM	#10
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Good news: my computer has finally submitted. Granted, it's still taking part in many small battles of will with me but the majority of it is working. Hopefully I'll be able to start getting caught up. Right now, I just posted last week's training update before it gets changed again. Hopefully I can get a couple of more things posted tonight so I can get started on the FAQ. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-11-2003, 03:52 AM	#11
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Two PIC cup games in a row and our team spirit still is at "content". I was tempted to PIC this game but figured I should come out of the box firing in a league game and try to get some differential between me and the other contenders (CC's Dragons, Toledo Blades, and The Flying Midgets). PRODYGRAF just got a new owner and no transfers so he's likely still in the feeling-out period. This week begins our attempt to move up to division IV. Game Summary Date: 4/7/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544384 Arena: PRODYGRAF Arena Crowd: 7000 7000 spectators arrived at PRODYGRAF Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. PRODYGRAF tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Aparisi Miralles - Osborn, Roe, Willard, Gonzales - Ryder, Cook, Bass, Williams - Slater, Mcclendon. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Hebert, Strömlius, Bush - Starks, Benito, Connors, Friedländer, Newsom - Solomon, Phelan. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Stephen Connors needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Hippopotami took the lead in the games 21st minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Philip Friedländer was the scorer. The visitors Carlos Alberto Benito took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 25:th minute. 0 - 2 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 40:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 3. Thomas Strömlius was noted down as the scorer. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. 0 - 3 was the half-time score. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 79 percent, dominated the battle. Hippopotami came close to extending their lead as Carlos Alberto Benito delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. In the 51st minute Hippopotamis Donald Newsom received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Don Ryder the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game. In the 62nd minute Hippopotami put themselves up 0 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Edwin Phelan. Joseph Willard made several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in the defensive line. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 73rd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 5. Derrick Solomon was noted down as the scorer. The visitors Donald Newsom took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 79:th minute. 0 - 6 for Hippopotami. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 89:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 7. Edwin Phelan was noted down as the scorer. As Kyle Gonzales had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the PRODYGRAF player a red card without batting an eye. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 83 percent possession of the ball. PRODYGRAF´s best player was Bennett Slater. Joseph Willard was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 7. 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 P: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 21: Philip Friedländer (1); 1-0 HH: 25: Carlos Alberto Benito (1); 2-0 HH: 40: Thomas Strömlius (1); 3-0 HH: 40: pulling back Halftime Score: 3-0 Possession: 79% 2nd Half HH: 62: Edwin Phelan (1); 4-0 HH: 73: Derrick Solomon (1); 5-0 HH: 79: Donald Newsom (1); 6-0 HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (2); 7-0 Final Score: 7-0 Possession: 83% Final Possession: 81% Cards HH: 51: Donald Newsom (yellow- going into a challenge studs first) Injuries They picked up a red card late in the game for a leg sweep but fortunately we avoided injury on that one Stadium They filled their stadium up to a full 7K. Can't wait to get home next week for our home opener and have the Hippodrome rocking with 15K fans. Team Ratings PRODYGRAF Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: weak (4) Right Side Attack: poor (3) Central Attack: poor (3) Left Side Attack: weak (4) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 28/30 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: weak (4) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 46/50 Another team high! We cracked 50 on the NSI. Suprising, considering the following. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Hugh Hebert DM Thomas Strömlius ** DW Elmer Bush * WI Mick Starks (off) * MI Stephen Connors ~ MI Philip Friedländer (extra) ~ MI Carlos Alberto Benito ~ WI Donald Newsom (to mid) ~ FO Edwin Phelan *~ FO Derrick Solomon ~ Total Stars: 23.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal Connors gave back his * after getting it last week but ~ from him isn't something to worry too much about. Newsom's experiment at winger towards middle will end. I was trying to shore up the middle with him while Benito was playing offensive, but it dropped him back to ~ and I simply can't afford anything less than * from any of my players. Derrick Solomon looks like he has lost his starting spot to 19yo Juan Miguel Tizon, who picked up *~ in the cup game. I can't see us selling him, tho- we may need the cash, but it would be like seeing Jerry Rice in a Raiders jersey or Roger Clemens in Yankee pinstripes- d'oh. However, the most distressing news came from wingback Elmer Bush. He has been ripped from the A team for his performance and will be with the B team until he gets that back up to the or ~ I know he can get. His form is in the crapper and really needs to start ticking back up again. Three Stars First game of the season brings some new guys to the forefront. Bronze: Donald Newsom While the "towards middle" experiment didn't work, he collected a goal and earned a real yellow card for going in spikes up. Silver: Thomas Strömlius Three games in a row with a defender scoring! Gold: Edwin Phelan Two goals today nets him the title of series leading scorer; If he stays paired with Starks all season, I could be $10K richer after he gets 15-20 goals. Game Summary Great way to start out the season. Some things worked and some didn't but those have been corrected and next week our team will be stronger for it. Stepp and Tizon will make their A team debuts next week against The Flying Midgets and I can only hope that what is wrong with Bush and Solomon corrects itself. We should be pulling down at least 25 s and an NSI of 50 from this game forward and possibly 27 and DKI of 50. Press Release 4/7/2003 at 20:16 Hippos Roll in Season Opener Like last Wednesday's cup game, everyone got in on the action as the Hippos pummeled PRODYGRAF in the season opener. Edwin Phelan, matched up on the left side with Mick Starks in what could be a new killer combo, scored twice. Five other players scored for the Hippos including defender Thomas Strömlius. The Hippos also racked up a pair of yellow cards, showing they are still a misunderstood team. It should be noted that they had a franchise best 50 NSI despite some substandard star ratings. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 1 7 - 0 3 50 2. CC's Dragons 1 5 - 1 3 53 3. The Flying Midgets 1 2 - 0 3 46 4. Metal Mulisha 1 2 - 0 3 30 5. goonz 1 0 - 2 0 25 6. Buccabeavzers 1 0 - 2 0 29 7. Toledo Blades 1 1 - 5 0 48 8. PRODYGRAF 1 0 - 7 0 30 Around the League A somewhat new feature but I've always had some league notes. Now they get their own heading. With the Darksiders getting a well deserved bump to Div IV, the series is wide open this year. Curretly, we're in first but that's only by goal differential over a team with an owner for less than two weeks. BTW, if we are in the race for promotion about halfways through the season, I'll try to add that to our status here. Also, taking DK's lead, I've added league NSI's. As you can see- it's clearly a league of haves vs have-nots and it just so happened that two of the haves played this week. The Flying Midgets - goonz 2 - 0 Well, The Flying Midgets looks like they could still be a problem: that 46 NSI includes exc-form-exc across the back of their defense and their ~ goalie Svarg Ram who has gotten * before. The goonz are more fodder than anything. Buccabeavzers - Metal Mulisha 0 - 2 The Metal Mulisha have been in the league longer than I have but have never quite gotten anywhere with their team. However, they were more than a match for the new Buccabeavzers. Toledo Blades - CC's Dragons 1 - 5 In the stunning score of the week, the Dragons crushed Div IV relegee Toledo. However, I think this might have been one of those days when CC's had all the breaks as they only won the possession battles 52 and 51 in the halves. Still, Toledo was at home (although only 6700 showed up) so it has to make one wonder. Toledo is a bit better on defense (exc-form-exc to exc-sol-exc) and plays a 4-5-1 to CC's 3-5-2 who won the offense battle (sol-inad-pass to inad-weak-wret) with both playing a weak midfield. Notes A nice win to open the season and being in first just is fun. That said, I'm not putting a whole lot of stock in it until I've played CC's, Toledo, and the Midgets. A somewhat harder cup game next week but still not extremely difficult and then our first league test against the Midgets. Who knows what the cup will bring but my fixtures alternate hard-easy (Midgets-goonz-Blades-Mulisha-Dragons) until week 7/8 when I have a home and home against the Buccabeavzers. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-11-2003 at 02:18 PM.

04-11-2003, 03:53 AM	#12
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview We may have rolled in round one against a division VI team, but that was a bot team. This time out, my opponent has a human owner. However, he only has 5ish guys capable of and the rest, not even that. Maybe it's a mistake, but I'm going to play my B team and PIC the game. The cup income is nice but training must go on. If I can't beat a team like this with these restrictions, I don't deserve to go on. Game Summary Date: 4/10/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 6867881 Arena: Teke United Arena Crowd: 7000 Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 7000 to Teke United Arena. United had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Ashton - Marks, Kearns, Breeden, Daley - Crane, Dowell, Hunt, Banda - Alvarez, Rubio. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Buckley - Longis, Stepp, Jonsson - Magnusson, Rumbold, Paige, Jörgensson, Viseslav - Chang, Tizón. In the 8:th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Kyle Paige put the ball away for 0 - 1. Rickie Stepp increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. Ivan Viseslav was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Defoe Chang managed to kick one of them into 0 - 3 in the 19:th minute. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The away team´s Jeremy Rumbold took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 27:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 4. In the game's 33rd minute United´s Guy Hunt limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Anders Jörgensson increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 5 by a superb free kick strike, flying in just under the far top corner. After the ball got lifted in from the left Juan Miguel Tizón was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 38 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. 0 - 5 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 64 percent possession of the ball. The visitors Ivan Viseslav took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 50:th minute. 0 - 6 for Hippopotami. Hippopotami´s Kyle Paige received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 54:th minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 7. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. In the 58:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 8 as Gérard Longis finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami´s Björn Magnusson got himself booked. After 74 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Defoe Chang who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 9. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 71 percent, dominated the battle. Most important United player was Willie Breeden. Brent Dowell was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Juan Miguel Tizón. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 9. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals 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 TU: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 08: Kyle Pagie (C1); 1-0 HH: xx: Rickie Stepp (C2); 2-0 HH: 19: Dafoe Chang (C3); 3-0 HH: 27: Jeremy Rumbold (C1); 4-0 HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (C2); 5-0 Halftime Score: 5-0 Possession: 64% 2nd Half HH: 50: Ivan Viseslav (C2); 6-0 HH: 54: Kyle Paige (C2); 7-0 HH: 58: Gerard Longis (C1); 8-0 HH: 74: Dafoe Chang (C4); 9-0 Final Score: 9-0 Possession: 71% Final Possession: 68% Cards HH: xx: Björn Magnusson (yellow- several obvious shirt pulling incidents) Injuries None- woo! Stadium A full 7K in a division VI stadium netted a cool $10560. Not bad for an away cup game. Next week we're playing on home turf, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Team Ratings Teke United Midfield: disastrous (1) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: poor (3) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing Index: 28 NevStar Index: 29 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: inadequate (5) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing Index: 35 NevStar Index: 37 Not bad for the second team. Still, lots of room for improvement. But they're the trainees. Player Ratings GK Sidney Buckley DW Gerard Longis ~ DM Rickie Stepp * DW Patrik Jonsson ~ WI Björn Magnusson ~ MI Kyle Paige * MI Jeremy Rumbold ~ MI Anders Jörgensson ~ WI Ivan Viseslav (off) ~ FO Dafoe Chang ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizon ~ Total Stars: 18.0 Total player experience: disastrous Team Attitude: Play it Cool Well, some good news: Tizon got a ~ and will likely move into the starting lineup along with Buckley's first ** performance at backup goalie. But lots of bad form has cost so many stars for the B team: Viseslav, Chang, Longis, and Jonsson all got ~ instead of their usual . Three Stars* The new three star feature. Check out the first cup game in the dynasty for a complete explaination. Also, I figure I should mention something: this will not always go to the "most deserving" player (ie most goals, etc) because I want to spread around some of the hardware. Bronze: Juan Miguel Tizón Didn't score as he missed on his event but his ~ performance gets him elevated to A team. Silver: Dafoe Chang Tallies his second straight two goal game. Gold: Kyle Paige** The stars claimed him a disappointment () but he scored twice and that gets him the gold. Game Summary* Ok, so it's silly to say a 9-0 game was closer than it appeared. But the only reason we outscored them so badly was because they were so bad not because we played well. The B team is suffering some serious form problems and that will just be compounded when Tizon and Stepp move up to the A team for this week's series game and Solomon and Bush, two form casualities, get a little workout time with B. Press Release 4/10/2003 at 07:31 Hippos Stampede in Final Cup Road Game Teke United didn't know what hit them as the Hippo B team as Kyle Paige and Dafoe Chang each scored twice en route to a 9-0 devastation. The Hippos matched or exceeded Teke in every single facet of the game from midfield to defense to offense. New forward Juan Miguel Tizón collected ~ and will probably pass 30yo forward Derrick Solomon for the starting spot opposite Edwin Phelan due to Solomon's bad form. Next week, the Hippos will battle division IV Dark Lotus at home. Notes Pretty big league game this week against a possible dark horse in the division, The Flying Midgets. I can't look past him at all. Then we might play the big guns for next week's cup game, too: getting two home cup paychecks would be really nice if I could steal a winnable but tough game next week. Training results up next. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-11-2003 at 04:49 AM.

04-11-2003, 03:55 AM	#14
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Well, boys, girls, and NevStar, it looks like updates are finally underway: I've gotten in last week's training and cup game and hope to have this week's series and cup game and training up soon. So that's good news for anyone hoping to catch up on our adventures. However, there is a major issue that we need to decide (unless I am the only one left on this planet with the sanity to play some offense). "The Defense Rests" Contest While I was posting in another thread, I decided it's time to come up with a nickname for those offensive non-offenders, those dastards of defense, those agents of inertia, those nefarious knaves of nil, those brigands and bandits and bringers of boredom, - well, you get the idea. That's right, I'm talking about those 4-5-1 and spit 5-4-1 mouthbreathers. You know who you are . They have plagued our hattrick world, nameless and without form- umm... scratch that last part- nameless, at least, for too long! This scourge and menace needs a name and needs it now- what are you abominations to be called? I haven't come up with a prize yet and I really don't have anything to offer, but, um... at least you will be mentioned in this thread and your nickname will echo throughout the halls of hattrick history. Well, I can't even promise that but it might be muttered a couple of times in this thread. Still, it should be some fun and this contest is open to offensive and defensive coach alike. And if I don't get a suggestion from some of you, Afoci's punishments are going to look tame indeed. Heads to yellow pages to look up "eugenics" and finds the entry: "eugenics: see mad scientists" Argh! SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-11-2003 at 04:01 AM.

04-17-2003, 09:37 PM	#15
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview I keep calling The Flying Midgets the dark horse to win our division and indeed they are. Our starters get two games in a row as they will be playing this and the next cup game and possibly four in a row but who knows. Our performance today should be a step up from the win over PRODYGRAF as we have shuffled the lineup for the better. Forward Juan Miguel Tizón will be taking over for Derrick Solomon and former middle defender Rickie Stepp will make the move to the outside and take Elmer Bush's spot at wingback while he's rehabbing his injury with the B squad. Game Summary Date: 4/14/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544390 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 15692 A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Kimber - Hebert, Strömlius, Stepp - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan. Midgets had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Ram - Kearney, Lugo, Bond, Michel - Stern, Griffith, Kok-Chong, Storey - Blombom, O'Keeffe. Midgets´s Adrian O'Keeffe gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead in the 18:th minute with a superb strike from the right. In the 18:th minute Hippopotami was able to score the equalising 1 - 1 goal. Edwin Phelan picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away teams goalie. Hippopotami created a good opportunity to score in the games 28:th minute when Edwin Phelan`s hooked ball created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. Thomas Strömlius received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 30:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Hippopotamis Mick Starks gave, after 33 minutes, the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. Chu Kok-Chong of Midgets received a yellow card in the 40:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 67 percent possession rate. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Chu Kok-Chong rendered him his second booking of the match, and Midgets had to finish the game with a reduced squad. After an industrious effort down the middle Anders Jörgensson could have closed the game off in the 59:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. Hugh Hebert almost managed to score another goal for Hippopotami, but his header was tipped to a corner by the visitors goalie. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 3 - 1. Anders Jörgensson finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. The referee showed Midgetss Curtis Bond the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 91 percent, dominated the battle. Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Anders Jörgensson on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Midgets player was Svarg Ram. Lars Blombom on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (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: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half FM: 18: 0-1 HH: 18: Edwin Phelan (3); 1-1 HH: 33: Mick Starks (1); 2-1 Halftime Score: 2-1 Possession: 67% 2nd Half HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (1); 3-1 Final Score: 3-1 Possession: 91% Final Possession: 79% Cards None, thankfully. Tho, Thomas Strömlius got some harsh words form the coach in the 1st half. Injuries Again, none, thankfully Stadium Terraces: 9702 (9702) Basic seats: 3850 (3850) Seats under roof: 1740 (1740) VIP seats: 400 (400) Total: 15692 (15692) Full house rocking the Hippodrome. It may be time to look into upgrading again. More on that later in the week. Let's see how the cup game sells. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: solid (7) Central Defence: solid (7) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56 The Flying Midgets Midfield: wretched (2) Right Side Defence: excellent (8) Central Defence: formidable (9) Left Side Defence: excellent (8) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: weak (4) Left Side Attack: weak (4) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 41/43 Another week, another team high. That said, I think we'll be leveling off here since we don't have any purchases in the work and this is our best lineup until some team form improves. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Hugh Hebert (def) DM Thomas Strömlius DW Rickie Stepp ~ WI Mick Starks (off) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito ~ MI Stephen Connors (extra) *~ MI Anders Jörgensson ~ WI Donald Newsom (off) ~ FO Edwin Phelan ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón Total Stars: 26.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal A very suprising ~ from pass/weak Rickie Stepp but his solid form is probably the key. Tizon went back to 2 but that's about the only noticable thing. The only real room for improvement is get a middie up to or ~ stars. If Paige sells, we might get some good veteran leadership to put there. I'd like to get Hebert back up to his ~ days but he's only done that once. Three Stars A defender at gold- Who would've thunk it? Bronze: Anders Jörgensson/Edwin Phelan Both had one goal and whiffed on a second attempt. Silver: Mick Starks He'll never get all the awards he deserves since I tend to take Mick for granted, but he scored his first goal of this season today. Gold: Rickie Stepp Rickie bursts into the starting lineup with ~ and defending the Midgets best scorer Game Summary We got lucky that we didn't need those three missed events but we still walked away with a win over a pretty good team. Hopefully, Phelan will regain his scoring lead again next week. Press Release 4/14/2003 at 03:54 Hippos Outlast Midgets in Home Opener Despite possibly crucial event misses in the game, the Hippos managed to beat The Flying Midgets 3-1. Edwin Phelan, Mick Starks, and Anders Jörgensson scored for the inspired home team, playing in front of a rocking Hippodrome sellout of 15692. Phelan, Jörgensson, and Hugh Hebert all missed on events which could have meant three more goals for Houston. Both the Dragons and leading scorer Victorio Refojo have tied the Hippos and Phelan for 1st in the standings and scoring titles. Cup Next! League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 2 10 - 1 6 56 2. CC's Dragons 2 10 - 1 6 51 3. Metal Mulisha 2 5 - 3 4 28 4. Toledo Blades 2 6 - 6 3 46 5. The Flying Midgets 2 3 - 3 3 43 6. PRODYGRAF 2 3 - 10 1 26 7. goonz 2 1 - 7 0 36 8. Buccabeavzers 2 0 - 7 0 30 Around the League Our lead is all but gone but after two weeks, only three teams are unbeaten and only two (Hippos being one) have six points. If we want to move up to Div IV, this is likely the year as we won't get a nicer shot with another relegee and a better team moves up from VI. CC's Dragons - Buccabeavzers 5 - 0 CC's won a ho-hum type game which was very expected as he's emerging as the primary competition for the top spot over the now 8th place Buccabeavzers. The Dragons are pulling to * from every player except one and will be a tough matchup but they have a hole and hopefully I'll be able to exploit that when we meet in a few weeks. The Buccabeavzers outfielders all pull in ~ or less but 21yo Graig Grace in the net pulled down ~ which means he's likely passable keeper, passable form. Victorio Refojo scored twice and tied the Hippos Edwin Phelan for series lead at 3. Not only that but the Dragons are now tied with the Hippos at 9 goal differential for series lead. goonz - Toledo Blades 1 - 5* Toledo bounced back after last week's game versus the Dragons with a convincing win. They racked up an NSI of 46 and every player got between ~ and ~ in the game. Like, the Buccabeavzers, the goonz only had one player get higher than ~ with Brent Wolff getting ~ at forward. The goonz will be playing us next week. FYI, the goonz and Buccabeavzers are playing a friendly this week so it's good to see that even though they are the bottom teams in the series, they are still trying to improve. With time, I'm sure they will. Metal Mulisha - PRODYGRAF 3 - 3 PRODYGRAF and Metal Mulisha played to a tie when both teams got under 30 NSI. Each team got only one player with and no team scored after the 63rd minute. Probably not the most well played game and the downpoor didn't help at all. Notes Nice start at 2-0. A pretty easy game next week before our first game against Toledo. Cup game coming up this Wednesday and it should be close but if we win, we get another home game and a lot more cash. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-18-2003 at 12:48 AM.

04-18-2003, 02:11 AM	#16
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Our first home cup game ever! Woo! That should be good for lots of cash even if we lose. While Dark Lotus is a division IV team, he got a lower NSI in his last league game than I did. It looks like he plays his A Team at all time and does not rotate sides so he has some tactical weaknesses. I should be able to win this but it will be close. However, even if I don't, I should make a lot of good money. I'm playing my starters and training stamina this week in an attempt to get two nice paydays. Game Summary Date: 4/17/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 6898669 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 15012 Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Hippodrome saw a crowd turnout of 15012. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Hebert - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan. Lotus had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Yazzie - Nagle, Lapointe, Hayes - Hendrix, Hicks, Irby, Vest, Allen - Taylor, Thornton. After a fine move down the middle Edwin Phelan nearly gave the home side one up in the 18:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though. Stacy Nagle of Lotus received a yellow card in the 27:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 34 minutes into the game Stacy Nagle had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came David Cordova. In the 39:th minute Hippopotami had a chance to take the lead by an awarded penalty, but Stephen Connors´s shot was blocked by Hung Yazzie. Hippopotamis Juan Miguel Tizón got himself booked after a foul. The 42nd minute saw the home team take a 1 - 0 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Hippopotami was Edwin Phelan. Lotuss José Taylor got himself booked after a foul. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Hippopotami lead up with 2 - 0. Juan Miguel Tizón finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. In the game's 44:th minute Lotus´s Ronald Hicks limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Thomas Strömlius needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. In the 45:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Carlos Alberto Benito dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Hippopotami. Halftime score was 3 - 0. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball. Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 0 when Juan Miguel Tizón broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The referee showed Lotuss William Thornton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Hippopotami were forced to a substitution as Stephen Connors couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan putting the lead up to 5 - 0. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Hippopotami put their lead ahead another goal as Juan Miguel Tizón struck home the 6 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. By then Juan Miguel Tizón was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 66 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Anders Jörgensson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Lotus player was without a doubt Hung Yazzie. David Cordova on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 0. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals 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 DL: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 42: Edwin Phelan (C2); 1-0 HH: 44: Juan Miguel Tizón (C1); 2-0 HH: 45: Carlos Alberto Benito (C1); 3-0 Halftime Score: 3-0 Possession: 65% 2nd Half HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C2); 4-0 HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C3); 5-0 HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C3); 6-0 Final Score: 6-0 Possession: 66% Final Possession: 66% Cards HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- foul) HH: 44: Thomas Strömlius (yellow- trip, free kick) Injuries HH: xx: Stephen Connors (1 week- rough treatment) Stadium Terraces: 9308 (9702) Basic seats: 3850 (3850) Seats under roof: 1485 (1740) VIP seats: 369 (400) Total: 15012 (15692) Almost a full house for a cup game and I got over $50K! Not only that but I get to do it again next week for another cool $50K provided the weather holds. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: solid (7) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/NevStar Index: 50/55 Dark Lotus Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/NevStar Index: 42/45 Not a new record, but who cares: we won! Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) ~ DM Thomas Strömlius DW Hugh Hebert WI Mick Starks (off) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) ~ MI Philip Friedländer ~ MI Anders Jörgensson (xtra) ~ WI Donald Newsom (off) ~ FO Edwin Phelan ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón MI Stephen Connors (injury) Total Stars: 25.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal What we expected. Cannot complain at all. Hopefully, I can get some form up so Hebert and Tizon can get back up to ~ and I can find a middie who can do the same. Three Stars Pretty easy to pass out today. Bronze: Tim Kimber Kimber and the defense shut out an exc-sol-sol offense. Silver: Edwin Phelan He's having an awesome year and added 2 more today; 6 total for the year. Gold: Juan Miguel Tizón First career hat trick gets the gold. Game Summary WOW! What an impressive last five minutes of the half: At 39, Connors misses a free kick. Then Tizon scores his first, 3 minutes later. Hippos take a 2-0 lead as Phelan scores at 44. Quickly thereafter a Lotus player was hurt. In a separate incident, in the 45th minute, we get a card and they get a free kick and miss. Just before time expires, Benito puts us up 3-0. It was an amazing turn of events that took a 0-0 game in the 38th minute to a 3-0 game at the half. Tizon's first career hattrick was icing on the cake and we get another home date in the cup. Press Release** 4/17/2003 at 10:37 First Ever Home Cup Win for Hippos Recent Hippo transfer Juan Miguel Tizón got his first career hattrick as the Hippos blitzed Dark Lotus with a three goal barrage and survived a PK in the last few minutes of the first half in the first home cup game ever for the Hippos. Edwin Phelan (1st of 2 goals), Tizon, and Carlos Alberto Benito scored in minutes 42, 44, and 45 of the first half and Lotus was not able to recover. "It was amazing- I don't think they knew what hit them," said coach and offensive genius Ricky Braden. Notes Next week will be a very tough cup challenge and my cup road will probably end there. I play a tough division IV team called BostonCity Ajax FC who posted an NSI of 61 despite being a seemingly inactive team. In their cup game, they played without two players who were injured and won 9 on 11 with an NSI of 47. Unfortunately, his players are only injured for one week so they will probably be back in time for our game. He does have holes in his defense, but 5 of those 9 players had 3 or more stars so this poses a unique challenge. I may be making a huge mistake- so here is where I open the floor to criticism. I'm going to hold back some of my starters in my series game this week because it's eminently winnable (I have about 20 NSI to give on him but it's on the road)- playing my B Team midfield and wingers so they get training. However, I can't afford to drop this series game because it's against one of the two cellar dwellers. Hopefully I'm fretting over nothing and with a little luck I can win next week's cup. But my main motivation is to not get shut out at home as that would cost me legions of supporters. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-18-2003, 02:57 AM	#17
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Training The form trouble continues to mount but that was to be expected as I trained stamina. Still, it wasn't too bad so I think I may finally have hit rock bottom. Stamina training is well worth it, tho. All but three of my starters went up and the only subs that didnt go up were the two solids, the backup goalie, and coach. Now, all of our starters have stamina of inad or above except new forward and hattrick man Juan Miguel Tizon, who showed no signs of fatigue in this past week's cup game. The current form drop that is concerning me is Hugh Hebert who is down to weak and I don't have anyone to spare at wingback. I'll have to hide either him or Bush by keeping the middie towards his side and hope that Stepp's hot streak continues. Future Training Due to our game situation, where we are playing a lot of starters in the cup, I'll be doing playmaking for this week. I'm playing my second string midfield so they'll get the benefits, at least. Then, the next week, before the Toledo game, it's time to get some needed general training to help out form. I suppose that could change if I win my cup game this week, tho. Form Starters: (+0) (-4) Entire Team: (+2) (-4) Value Starters: (+8) (-3) Entire Team: (+15) (-7) Team Stats Total Wages: 23570 (+0) Total Value: 2075000 (+40000) Avg Value: 90217 (+1739) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: inadequate (N/A) Avg Experience: disastrous (N/A) No of players: 23 (N/A) Nationalities: 8 (N/A) Dilemnas I'm sitting on a troika of choices: The first is whether or not to sell Kyle Paige who bumped to solid last week. Then again, I've already made my decision and have put him back up on the market for $175K, hoping someone will bite. Secondly, I have my lineup crisis for this week. I have a possibly winnable cup game so I'm benching my starting midfield so my subs and starters can both get training for the week. Lastly, I'm pondering a new stadium upgrade but I need to decide in the next day or so. I've breezed past 850 supporters on my way to, hopefully, 1000 by the end of the season so I'm pondering a stadium renovation to bump the Hippodrome up to about 22K. Since I nearly filled up the stadium for a Cup game and sold it out for my last home game. It will cost me $150K and put me back into debt but I could pull in an extra $30K per home game and that would be some welcome income. That said, I think I will probably wait until I find some more cash because it's not worth the interst costs. Now I'm all caught up with current news. Time to finish catching back up on all the old updates. Until next time... SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-20-2003, 05:16 AM	#18
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Actually Caught up!!! All of the preseason bookkeeping is actually caught up! Sure it took three weeks of fighting a broken computer and the last round of midterms, but it's finally finished and better late than never. This week will be dedicated to working on the FAQ and keeping everyone abreast of the Hippos adventures. Youth Pull and... what the f- Do my eyes decieve me or did we actually get a youth pull who might sell for something other than rubles?!? 18yo Liu Zuo-Lin is a passable scorer with quick speciality. Sure he's worthless otherwise, but he might actually sell for a few thousand and that's more than I can say for anyone else from the youth squad. Liu Zuo-Lin (11100166) 18 years, passable form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest. Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities. Speciality: Quick Nationality: USA Assessed value: 26 000 US$ Wage: 620 US$/week Stamina: wretched Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: wretched Passing: wretched Winger: weak Defending: poor Scoring: passable Set Pieces: poor Lastly With everything caught up, it's time to look ahead. This week, a relatively easy league game made difficult by playing only some starters. Then a cup game with all starters which is even more difficult because we are overmatched. But everything is right with the world right now because we have a youth pull worth more than $1K SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-21-2003, 01:46 AM	#19
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Not to insult them, but the goonz are not very good. So, I'm taking a risk and running out part of my B Team in an attempt to squeeze out another cup win. So here's to taking a league team for granted and trying to win a nearly impossible cup game to get another $50K at the expense of possibly ruining my entire season. Argh- maybe this isn't the best idea, but it sounded good on paper. Game Summary Date: 4/21/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544393 Arena: The Pit Crowd: 4571 4571 spectators had come to The Pit this cloudy day. goonz had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. They fielded: Torres - Ambrose, Barnes, Washington, Callejo - Heras, Ropero, Dockery - Urbaneja Pérez, Wolff, Gaither. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Stepp - Magnusson, Rumbold, Paige, Jörgensson, Viseslav - Chang, Phelan. Hippopotami took the lead in the games 11th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Defoe Chang was the scorer. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Anders Jörgensson needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. The referee showed goonzs Jackie Washington the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 42nd minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 2. Defoe Chang was noted down as the scorer. In the 42nd minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as Edwin Phelan finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 3. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 75 percent, dominated the battle. Dan Dockery of goonz received a yellow card in the 58:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A header from Dan Dockery connected with a corner kick after 62 minutes, and the ball ended up with Al Ambrose of goonz who shot the 1-3 goal. In the game's 72nd minute Hippopotami´s Rickie Stepp limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Man, what a shot by Björn Magnusson! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 1 - 4. goonz had obvious problems in finding their positions. Ivan Viseslav was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Defoe Chang managed to kick one of them into 1 - 5 in the 84:th minute. At that, Defoe Chang was noted down for a hat trick. Elmer Bush of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 85:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The away team´s Ivan Viseslav took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 86:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 1 - 6. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 91 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating goonz player was without a doubt Brent Wolff. Mannuel Heras on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. However, Kyle Paige made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 6. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (num) after the names is their goal tally for the season 3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified 4. Most stats will only be for our team Formations HH: 3-5-2 G: 4-3-3 Events Summary 1st Half HH: 11: Dafoe Chang (1); 1-0 HH: 42: Dafoe Chang (2); 2-0 HH: 42: Edwin Phelan (4); 3-0 Halftime Score: 3-0 Possession: 75% 2nd Half G: 62: 3-1 HH: 72: Björn Magnusson (1); 4-1 HH: 84: Dafoe Chang (3); 5-1 HH: 86: Ivan Viseslav (1); 6-1 Final Score: 6-1 Possession: 91% Final Possession: 83% Cards HH: xx: Anders Jörgensson (pk-needless trip) HH: 85: Elmer Bush (yellow- unsportsmanlike behavior) Injuries HH: 72: Rickie Stepp (limped slightly, stayed in game) Stadium It was cloudy but he only got 4500 fans at The Pit. Not the greatest crowd in the world but it's at his place so I don't mind so much. Team Ratings goonz Midfield: disastrous (1) Right Side Defence: weak (4) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: inadequate (5) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 31/32 Houston Hippopotami Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: weak (4) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: passable (6) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 39/42 Considering the mixed lineup, this isn't too bad. We're going to drop like a rock in the FOFC standings, tho. Oh well- no big deal since tourney rankings have already been determined. I'll be back up there in a couple of weeks. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *** DW Elmer Bush ~ DM Thomas Strömlius * DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) ** WI Björn Magnusson * MI Jeremy Rumbold ~ MI Kyle Paige (extra) MI Anders Jörgensson (off) ~ WI Ivan Viseslav (off) * FO Dafoe Chang FO Edwin Phelan ~ Total Stars: 20.0 Total player experience: disastrous Team Attitude: Normal Kimber is down to * which is annoying but not distressing yet. Unfortunately, Rickie Stepp also went back down to his expected at wingback. Even after bumping to solid playmaking, Kyle Paige get * for the game. Absolutely no good news out of the stars department week . Three Stars No one really stands out except Chang. Magnusson gets his first star, tho. Bronze: Edwin Phelan Edwin gets it more or less by default since his goal today kept him tied for the series goal lead. Silver: Björn Magnusson Björn gets the silver solely on the basis of his 35 yard shot going in. Gold: Dafoe Chang Dafoe gets his first career hat trick! Game Summary Another pretty ho-hum game. Not to talk down on goonz, but we are quite a bit better and should have won this going away even with half of our team being saved up for the cup game. Thankfully things turned out that way and Chang's hat trick was a nice suprise. Unfortunately it wasn't Phelan that got them or he would have a really nice series league. Press Release 4/21/2003 at 07:49 Chang's Hat Trick Beats goonz The Hippos took a gamble and held back their starting midfield (and others) to prepare for this week's very difficult cup game. It paid off as second team forward Dafoe Chang got his first career hat trick and Edwin Phelan scored his league-lead-tying 4th goal. Like Phelan, the Hippos kept pace with their Dragons counterparts and are still in a virtual tie for 1st. Also it appears the Hippos have finally kicked their missed events habit that had plagued them the previous two games. League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 3 16 - 2 9 42 2. CC's Dragons 3 15 - 1 9 53 3. The Flying Midgets 3 7 - 3 6 49 4. Toledo Blades 3 9 - 7 6 42 5. Metal Mulisha 3 5 - 7 4 30 6. PRODYGRAF 3 3 - 15 1 30 7. Buccabeavzers 3 1 - 10 0 33 8. goonz 3 2 - 13 0 32 Around the League I know I'm itching to play our game in 3 weeks with CC's Dragons but a couple of weeks of form training won't hurt my feelings. Toledo played down to their competition but still won in the only possible upset. The Dragons and Midgets won shutouts going away. Buccabeavzers - Toledo Blades 1 - 3 Toledo looks like they either played it cool or held back some players since they only got a 42 NSI. Halftime was 1-0 Bucs but Toledo scored 3 in the second half to take the lead. Four different players scored in the game. The Flying Midgets - Metal Mulisha 4 - 0 One of the two other pretty boring games this week (along with hours). The Midgets 4-4-2 didn't allow anything through and Lars Blombom scored two goals. PRODYGRAF - CC's Dragons 0 - 5 Ed Becker scored twice and Victorio Refojo scored to tie Edwin Phelan for the league lead. Like the Midgets, the Dragons beat their opponent pretty soundly and their 5 goal differential kept them tied with us. Notes 3-0 and onto cup game number 4. It's a pretty good season when the first game where we are not favored is seven games in. Then a somewhat tough series game next week. However, as soon as this week is over, it's probably time to hit general training for two weeks and improve our form immensely heading into our big matchup with CC's Dragons in 3 weeks at the Hippodrome. Even if we win this cup game, next week's will likely be impossible but it will have been a good run either way. Our Cup game Wednesday which should prove to be exciting as we try to knock off a second division IV team in a row. Until next time, Hungry Hungry Hippos. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-22-2003, 03:26 AM	#20
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	FYI I forgot one thing in my season preview: a preview of our series. That is posted now in the bookkeeping messages above. Also, our youth pull has been put up for sale for $10K. He has yet to get any bids. Oh well- still 2 days left. More bad news: our Cup opponent has logged in so the help I was hoping to get by having him play some injured players is gone. Likely so is our hope of winning as his healthy teams can put up and NSI of 60 and our starters can't get more than about 56. I can't afford to MotS a cup match with a tough series game coming up this week. A spot of humor as the team that was promoted from last year paid our guestbook a visit: "Oh man, I wish I was still in V. IV is brutal!!! Everyone with their half million dollar middies and forwards." We wish the Darksiders of IV.30 well and hope they can turn the season around. Lastly, I'll be getting to work on the FAQ Wednesday or Thursday night once I get a chance to escape from under some school work. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

04-25-2003, 12:30 AM	#21
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Well, I can't say I'm confident about this game. It's the first game where we are the definite underdogs: they a million dollar player and four guys each over $300K. The good news is that the past couple of weeks, they haven't played a player or two and have been lopsided due to injuries, i.e. 9 or 10 on 11. The bad news is that they still gone 1-1-1 in their last three games even with their 3-4-2 (NSI 51) and 2-4-2 (NSI 47). Nothing like a team that can get close to your team in NSI, even with 2 men not on the pitch. The worst news came Tuesday: they logged in for the first time in over two weeks (since it only shows logons in the past 2 weeks) so I'm guessing he patched any and all holes I hoped to take advantage of. Still, I stacked my offense on the side he kept forgetting to put people on and hoped he didn't actually change anything or put vastly inferior players there. At least a rocking full Hippodrome was there to witness a match which turned out as far from expected as possible. Game Summary Date: 4/24/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 6924050 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 15692 A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Stepp - Newsom, Benito, Connors, Friedländer, Starks - Tizón, Phelan. Ajax started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Kinder - Lester, Burland, Ward - Dahl, Rodriguez, Gill, Burnett, Johnson - Thomas, Mihnea. Elmer Bush gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Some brilliant football from the visitors right wing resulted in a 12th minute levelling of scores as Ajaxs Brice Thomas equalised to 1 - 1. Juan Miguel Tizón of Hippopotami received a yellow card in the 23rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. A well placed corner kick from Stephen Connors was followed by Juan Miguel Tizón´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 2-1 for Hippopotami. Mick Starks was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Edwin Phelan managed to kick one of them into 3 - 1 in the 34:th minute. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Edwin Phelan squirmed himself through the central defense line in the 38:th minute, asserting the lead to 4 - 1. The teams went for a half-time break at 4 - 1. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate. Hippopotami put themselves up 5 - 1 when Juan Miguel Tizón broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. In the 73rd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Edwin Phelan dashed through, knocking home 6 - 1 for Hippopotami. By then Edwin Phelan 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. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate. Hippopotami´s best player was Tim Kimber. Elmer Bush on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Ajax player was Dryden Johnson. However, Doug Burnett made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 6 - 1. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals 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 BCA: 3-5-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: xx: Elmer Bush (C1); 1-0 BCA: 12: 1-1 HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C4); 2-1 HH: 34: Edwin Phelan (C4); 3-1 HH: 38: Edwin Phelan (C5); 4-1 Halftime Score: 4-1 Possession: 60% 2nd Half HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizón (C5); 5-1 HH: 73: Edwin Phelan (C6); 6-1 HH: 73: pulling back Final Score: 6-1 Possession: 64% Final Possession: 62% Cards HH: 23: Juan Miguel Tizón (yellow- unsportsmanlike behaviour) That's 2 for him- he'd better be careful next game. Injuries woo! none! Stadium Terraces: 9702 (9702) Basic seats: 3850 (3850) Seats under roof: 1740 (1740) VIP seats: 400 (400) Total: 15692 (15692) Another cool $50K from a cup game! Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/NevStar Index: 50/55 BostonCity Ajax FC Midfield: poor (3) Right Side Defence: excellent (8) Central Defence: formidable (9) Left Side Defence: outstanding (10) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: inadequate (5) Left Side Attack: formidable (9) DataKing/NevStar Index: 55/58 Let this be an object lesson to anyone out there who thinks midfield is unimportant: make sure that you don't lose the midfield battle by two levels or you'll still get killed even if you outscore the other team elsewhere by 9 points. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber * DW Rickie Stepp (to mid) DM Thomas Strömlius ** DW Elmer Bush ~ WI Donald Newsom (off) ~ MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) ~ MI Philip Friedländer (xtra) * MI Stephen Connors ~ WI Mick Starks (off) * FO Edwin Phelan ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón Total Stars: 25.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal Damn- I guess Kimber's drop to * is permanent since he's in passable form. Same with Stepp's performance. However, the great news is that Friedländer is up to ** instead of ~ at middie. Hopefully it's permanent. Three Stars* It must have been a good game when a defender with a goal only gets bronze. Bronze: Elmer Bush His goal put us out in front really early in the game Silver: Juan Miguel Tizón Tizon falls back to silver since he "only" got 2 goals Gold: Edwin Phelan His hat trick gets him the gold medal today Game Summary This is our third hat trick in as many games: Tizon, Chang, and now Phelan. It's a great day when your a two goal scoring player only gets the silver! Everything went right: a defender scoring a goal and five from the forwards in a game I really expected to lose. The offense just is clicking on all cylinders right now and I hope it never stops. Press Release 4/25/2003 at 07:18 Hippos Advance! Hippos Advance! Edwin Phelan's hat trick took the team cup goal lead (6) away from Juan Miguel Tizón who only had 2 goals. The two forwards were more than enough for the Hippos to beat their second straight Div IV opponent. Wingback Elmer Bush go the scoring started a few minutes in with his first ever goal for the Hippos. Unfortunately, the Cup run is likely over next week versus Div II "The Minutemen". Still, fellow FOFCer and supporter/ee Morrisville beat a Div II team last week so anything is possible. Notes Ok, we won our big game this week which got us another home game next week and another $50K. Not only that but we have a big game in series this week against the likely-3rd place team and he might MotS it at home which could be really dangerous for us. At least we have a new toy and a little good news on the training front but that's coming in the next update. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-25-2003 at 03:54 AM.

04-25-2003, 12:37 AM	#22
Aesyrqwe High School JV Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Indiana	Congrats on the win sterlingice. Another FOFC'er advances. -Aes- __________________ Go Bears! #8 Grossman #33 Tillman

04-28-2003, 03:50 AM	#25
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Youth Pull, Week 19.4 I think I've made a mistake: I'm not sure I've ever sold a youth pull at all. I had a couple of $1K sales early on but I'm starting to think it's less and less likely that I've actually sold someone I pulled. So, in celebration of what is my first successful youth pull sell, I've decided to bulk up this section a little. I think the stats are correct (the number of pulls, I mean) Youth Pull Status (NOTE: NC means "no change") Youth Pulls: 17 (+1) Youth Pull Grocers: 16 (+1) Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC) Total Sold for: Along with these few stat changes, we've changed our store. Upgraded, even, to a grocery store. Not just any grocery store, but we have the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) which is fully staffed with useless youth pulls. Once we hit, say 25, useless youth pulls, we'll have to expand again to something even larger and more useless. Youth Pull Cory Moyer (11302507) 19 years, passable form, healthy A pleasant guy who is tranquil and honest. Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities. Speciality: Technical Nationality: USA Assessed value: 11 000 US$ Wage: 540 US$/week Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: poor Passing: poor Winger: weak Defending: inadequate Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor Conditions Youth Squad: solid (NC) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC) Sponsors: high on life (NC) Supporter Club: 895 members (+26) Supporters: high on life (NC) Team Spirit: calm (NC) Confidence: strong (NC) Frankly, I'm not really sure if my confidence changed or not. I think it did, but I'm not sure. I was up to wonderful a couple of weeks ago and then I think I went over the edge with overconfidence and was back down to normal a week or two ago. Week In Review On the Field We took a risk and it paid off. Most of the B Team played in our fixture in which we beat the goonz 6-1. Then we came back with our starters and decimated our Cup opponent by the same score despite being underdogs. Our competition winning streak has reached 7 now as we have won 4 Cup games and 3 series games. Big matchup this week at Toledo against the Blades. Our Cup game will see our B Team get decimated by the 13th best team in USA. Off the Field Our new youth pull was useless but our old one sold for $11K. We "upgraded" our store from a Mickey D's to a Piggly Wiggly. Also, we snagged a pass/pass wingback off the wire in the person of Marcel Romo for $51K. We'll see how he does Sunday, hoping for a ~ performance. Also, we had two pops in playmaking training. Finances Our Cup runneth over both for good and ill. Our (sellout) Cup win nets us another home game and another $56K. Also, early in the week, we will break 900 supporters. The downside is that we will get creamed and may even lose supporters for the first time ever in this franchise's history. Along a similar line of thought, our sponsor money keeps rising and is up to $44250. For the curious, here are our expenses: arena $10286, wages $27274, interest $3344, temporary $200, staff $25500, and youth $20000. Our series game is away this week but our final home Cup game will cause us to pretty much break even. Not only that but, after next week's home fixture, we will likely be above 0! Wrapup That is all for now. Big fixture against one of the big three in our series and then our first Cup loss likely. It's been a good run, but, well, "a man's gotta know his limitations" and ours will be shown against a Div II game. But take heart, Hippo faithful, if we win this series game, we only have 2 games the rest of the season to really worry about. Next up: Hippos-Blades game report unless news breaks first. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid:** "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 04-28-2003 at 03:52 AM.

04-29-2003, 12:08 AM	#27
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	I was checking prices on excellent keepers and came across this. 4. Steven Atwood 500 000 US$ (opening price) Belongs to: CCs Dragons Age: 19 years Value: 499 000 US$ Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42 Stamina: poor Keeper: excellent Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous And he'll definitely get at least $700,000 out of him. Just thought you'd like to know.

04-29-2003, 03:49 PM	#31
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	I'm thinking of training my keeper for 1-2 weeks, let him pop to excellent, sell him and then get another solid keeper. I just don't feel like messing with my training schedule though.

04-29-2003, 11:57 PM	#32
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Transfer list: Keeper Deadline: 5/2/2003 at 02:42 Asking price: 500 000 US$ Highest bid: 500 000 US$ by Ork Deth Boyz Not good, not good.

04-30-2003, 02:04 PM	#36
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	Yeah, but you can train a keeper to excellent in no time, so it wouldn't take that much to catchup, keeper wise.

05-01-2003, 03:52 AM	#38
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Another full rockin' Hippodrome and we'll need all the help we can get. We've more or less given this game up for a loss but who knows what could happen. We'll be playing one of the best Div II teams in the entire game, The Minutemen (not to be confused with The Minute Men from MLS). That's like thinking a Div V team from Appalachia could take an MLS team to golden goal time. Stranger things have happened... Game Summary Date: 5/1/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 6949377 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 15692 Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 15692 to The Hippodrome. Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Strömlius, Hebert - Newsom, Paige, Benito, Jörgensson, Starks - Chang, Tizón. The Minutemen started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Gunnarsson - Shkrobov, Henley, Oba, Soto, Fredriksson - Felder, Pitu, Trent, Hudureanu - Arnold. In the 11th minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Dan Hudureanu put the ball away for 0 - 1. The Minutemen came close to extending their lead as Dan Hudureanu delivered a long range shot from the right but the angle was to sharp, and the shot hit the side of the goal. The Minutemen had, after 30 minutes of the game, worked the left side industriously, creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but somehow didn´t achieve closure. The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by The Minutemen, with an impressive 65 percent possession of the ball. Dan Hudureanu of The Minutemen received a yellow card in the 61st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Dan Hudureanu increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 2. By now The Minutemen were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The referee showed The Minutemens Joel Felder the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the 87:th minute The Minutemens Marc Soto received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Dan Hudureanu came close to extending the visitors lead as he, completely unmarked in front of the goal, lifted a ball over Tim Kimber, hitting the bar. In the games 88:th minute Hippopotami´s Anders Jörgensson fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Anders Jörgensson for taking a dive. The Minutemen held the ball, with a clear 69 percent possession rate. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Kyle Paige was a disappointment, however. The most dominating The Minutemen player was without a doubt Alexandru Pitu. However, Djoko Oba made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 2. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (C) after the names designates the goal numbers as cup goals 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 MM: 5-4-1 Events Summary 1st Half MM: 11: 0-1 Halftime Score: 0-1 Possession: 35% 2nd Half MM: xx: 0-2 MM: xx: pulling back Final Score: 0-2 Possession: 31% Final Possession: 33% Cards HH: 66: Anders Jörgensson (yellow- taking a dive) Injuries None Stadium Terraces: 9702 (9702) Basic seats: 3850 (3850) Seats under roof: 1740 (1740) VIP seats: 400 (400) Total: 15692 (15692) Unfortunately, our last $50K from the Cup games. Great fan support for the cup! Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: weak (4) Right Side Defence: inadequate (5) Central Defence: inadequate (5) Left Side Defence: inadequate (5) Right Side Attack: solid (7) Central Attack: passable (6) Left Side Attack: excellent (8) DataKing/NevStar Index: 44/48 The Minutemen Midfield: solid (7) Right Side Defence: excellent (8) Central Defence: brilliant (11) Left Side Defence: outstanding (10) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: poor (3) DataKing/NevStar Index: 55/62 Well, putting in our sub midfield showed. However, everyone else played well. This just shows how far out of our league we were playing today, tho. I'm glad he played a 5-4-1 and a lot of subs or this would have been much worse. Just think what that score looks like if he puts in some of his stars and some attacking instead of holding back. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber * DW Elmer Bush DM Thomas Strömlius (off) ** DW Hugh Hebert ~ WI Donald Newsom (off) ~ MI Kyle Paige ~ MI Anders Jörgensson (xtra) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) ~ WI Mick Starks (off) * FO Dafoe Chang FO Juan Miguel Tizón Total Stars: 23.0 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Normal The offensive Stromlius experiment didn't buy us anything so I don't think I'll do that again. Anders Jörgensson bumped up to so he may be replacing Friedlander in the starting lineup permanently. Kyle Paige's ~ was most distressing. Fortunately Bush is back up to at wingback. Three Stars Well, tough to give out awards when we did not score a goal Bronze: The Offense They couldn't do much with low possession but they got us to this point Silver: The Defense They kept the score 1-0 most of the game Gold: Tim Kimber Tim Kimber made a save to prevent Dan Hudureanu's hat trick and also played out of his mind to keep it this close Game Summary The crowd kept us in it, but there was just too much to overcome. They outplayed us with their second team but, then again, they are a Div II team. It was a great Cup run that net us $200K and included two Div IV upsets. Next year, the goal is to get two rounds further. But who knows. Anyone who didn't see: amazing credit to NevStar, whose Morrisvillians went to golden goal time before finally succombing to MLS team FC Slashers 1-0. Press Release 5/1/2003 at 10:07 Hippos Bounced From USA Cup; FOFC Cup Next The guys fought valiantly, but in the end, seed #497 couldn't upset #15. Just 11 minutes in, The Minutemen scored and it looked like the rout would be on. But the Hippos hung in there, keeping it 1-0 most of the game until Dan Hudureanu scored his second goal of the game with less than 10 minutes to go. The Hippos had a great run with 2 home upsets over Div IV teams and we'd like to thank all of our fans and supporters, and welcome them to watch for us in the upcoming FOFC Cup. Notes I don't want to sound cocky about our next game, but it's at home against a team that averages an NSI of 30. I could PIC and get some team spirit and some confidence going into next week's game with a 6-1 type win or just play normal and obliterate them 9-0 and get my fans and confidence back in a hurry. A couple of minor notes unrelated to the game: as the day updated, we lost 1 fan. This marks the first time we have ever lost 1 supporter. Our supporters/sponsors and spirit/confidence took a hit, but you can read all about that in the weekly update on Sunday. We also got a new hattrick supporter and some mother club money. Those will also be updated at the end of the week. Also, if I get really motivated, I might throw in some cup stats for the team, but I'm not sure I'll have time with finals week quickly approaching. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-01-2003 at 03:53 AM.

05-02-2003, 02:38 AM	#40
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Training Quite a few form increases but no playmaking bumps. Stephen Connors, our last middie to bump is due any week now. However, those will have to wait. Also, I need one more middie trainee now that I sold one. That said, this next one will be a doozie- he'll be one of the next generation of starters. Or at least, that's my hope. Future Training I desperately have been needing some general training lately and now that I've been bounced from the cup, it's time. Everyone will play this week in an attempt to get as many form raises as possible. Form Starters: (+4) (-3) Entire Team: (+9) (-4) Starters Form NOTE: A new feature but long overdue Solid (or above): Kimber Stromlius Phelan Passable: Starks Stepp Benito Romo Connors Newsom Jorgensson Inadequate: Weak (or below): Tizon (poor) If you're a forward and your name isn't Edwin Phelan, then you have bad form. All of our forwards are inadequate or below except Phelan. Everyone else is in passable or or solid form on the starting team which begs the question "why am I doing general training"? Because I have a huge game coming up and I could use even more help. Not only that but only 2 of the B Team are passable and the rest are below that. Hm... after looking closer, I may end up changing back to good ol' playmaking before the week is done, but I have lots of time to decide. Value Starters: (+7) (-3) Entire Team: (+14) (-5) Team Stats Total Wages: 24278 (-12) Total Value: 2154000 (-46000) Avg Value: 102571 (+10904) Avg Age: 21 (N/A) Avg Form: inadequate (N/A) Avg Experience: wretched (up from disastrous) No of players: 21 (-3) Nationalities: 7 (-1) Upcoming Friendly I've always wanted to play vexroid's NE Oklahoma Sidekicks. We've been mutual supporters pretty much since I've had supporter and I want to try and get in at least one friendly with all of my supporters. We had a game ready to go at the end of last year but I had forgotten I already had a match scheduled so now here we are. It will be the first major action the B Team sees this year, but a lot of them have seen time in other games. Speaking of Supporters... The Hippos would like to welcome robbgmaier's goldurnears to our list of official supporters. He had a great game last weekend to take full control of first place in his series. This brings the number of our supporters to 8. This definately means that as soon as we expand the stadium towards the end of the year, we will be expanding the executive washroom and suite. Maybe even bringing in more girls. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

05-05-2003, 09:31 PM	#41
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Youth Pull, Week 19.4 Deke, Zeke, whatever. He's not really trainner or keeper material so he has now been shot out of a cannon and landed in the Hippos Memorial Piggly Wiggly(TM) Youth Pull Status (NOTE: NC means "no change") Youth Pulls: 18 Youth Pull Grocers: 17 (+1) Youth Pulls Sold: 1 (NC) Total Sold for: 11000 (NC) Youth Pull Deke Crowe (11489056) 17 years, passable form, healthy A sympathetic guy who is balanced and dishonest. Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities. Speciality: Unpredictable Nationality: USA Assessed value: 8 000 US$ Wage: 520 US$/week Stamina: inadequate Goaltending: disastrous Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate Winger: wretched Defending: poor Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: wretched Conditions Youth Squad: solid (NC) Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week (NC) Sponsors: high on life (NC) Supporter Club: 907 members (+12) Supporters: calm (down from high on life) Team Spirit: composed (down from calm) Confidence: decent (down from strong) Gained 13 but lost 1 supporter. We took some very obvious hits from our loss but that shouldn't be a problem. We should have a crushing victory this week to get our supporters and confidence back. Week In Review On the Field The game against Toledo turned out to be much ado about nothing. We won 3-1 at their place with despite some missed chances. In our cup game, we were not so lucky. We held a very tough Div II team to 1-0 most of the game and ended up losing 2-0. Unfortunately, it was at home so we ticked off some fans and team spirit fell. This week, we get the Metal Mulisha at home in a fixture where we should bowl them over and get some of that back. Then we finally get back to our friendly against the Sidekicks that we've owed them since last offseason. Off the Field I sold a couple of backup wingbacks since I was up to 6, I believe. Also, since Jeremy Rumbold popped to passable at PM the previous week, we were able to sell him for $50K. Farewell Gérard Longis, Patrik Jonsson, and Jeremy Rumbold. They'll be missed, but the $65K makes us happy. Right now, I'm looking for a solid defender or a ~ or * middie. It should be noted that our competition, the Dragons, sold a goalie trainee for $500K and bulked up his defense with some young defensive trainees. Finances WE ARE IN THE BLACK. We got another $56K from our cup game and hopefully the supporter's mood doesn't hurt our home take too much. We passed 900 supporters for the first time. However, after our cup loss, we lost a supporter for the first time. Also, we got a smidge of mother club cash from a daytrader who resold our youth pull from a couple of weeks ago. Even with the loss, we still sold $750 more in sponsorships than last week. Wrapup Well, we got bounced from the cup. However, we have a pretty easy fixture this week which I'll be PIC'ing to repair some of the recent damage. Then the long awaited friendly with the Sidekicks. This time next week, we'll be in a frenzy about the Dragons game. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-05-2003 at 09:35 PM.

05-06-2003, 01:34 AM	#42
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Preview Tis a time for beatings. After suffering some team spirit and support from our fans, it's time to get it back with a nice swift asskicking of the Metal Mulisha. It's at home and, really, the only thing that will keep this from being a 9-0 game is that I'm going to PIC. Game Summary Date: 5/5/2003 at 01:00 MatchID: 5544402 Arena: The Hippodrome Crowd: 11279 11279 spectators arrived at The Hippodrome, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Stepp, Strömlius, Romo - Starks, Benito, Connors, Jörgensson, Newsom - Tizón, Phelan. Mulisha had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Mcduffie - Cardenas, Singh, Labranche, Lang - Hannah, Forcier, Metz, Tharp - Rowland, Landry. Edwin Phelan gave his Hippopotami the lead with 1 - 0, as he successfully challenged both the guests central defenders, then placed the ball unreachably at the goaltenders right post. Man, what a shot by Reed Landry! Firing from 35 yards he didn't give the enemy goalie a chance and it was 1 - 1. In the 22nd minute Juan Miguel Tizón almost put the home team one ahead on a cross pass coming in from the right, but the shot went wide. Hippopotami were very close to putting themselves one up in the 37:th minute as Juan Miguel Tizón got through, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Hippopotami made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Edwin Phelan completely alone with keeper Corey Mcduffie, who made a spectacular block. The teams went for a half-time break at 1 - 1. Hippopotami, bringing the final ball possession rate to 86 percent, dominated the battle. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 in the 53rd by a breakthrough from Stephen Connors, who unaided came in out of the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors keeper. Hippopotamis Marcel Romo got himself booked after a foul. Hippopotami put themselves up 3 - 1 when Carlos Alberto Benito broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Hippopotami decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. In the 77:th minute Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 1. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Juan Miguel Tizón coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. In the 80:th minute Hippopotami´s Edwin Phelan tried to nail the coffin shut, but the shot rebounded off the bar to fall behind the net. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball. The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Tim Kimber. Juan Miguel Tizón on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Mulisha player was without a doubt Corey Mcduffie. Jérémie Forcier was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 1. Events and Stats A few notes: 1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind 2. The (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 MM: 4-4-2 Events Summary 1st Half HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (5); 1-0 MM: xx: 1-1 Halftime Score: 1-1 Possession: 86% 2nd Half HH: 53: Stephen Connors (1); 2-1 HH: xx: Carlos Alberto Benito (2); 3-1 HH: 77: Juan Miguel Tizón (1); 4-1 Final Score: 4-1 Possession: 93% Final Possession: 90% Cards HH: xx: Marcel Romo (yellow- foul) Injuries None, again. We've been lucky knock on wood Stadium Terraces: 6750 (9702) Basic seats: 3175 (3850) Seats under roof: 1114 (1740) VIP seats: 240 (400) Total: 11279 (15692) Darn fairweather fans. Still, we did lose this past week so only 11K fans turned out for this game. Then again, this was going to be a pretty lopsided game and the weather was a bit cloudy. Team Ratings Houston Hippopotami Midfield: inadequate (5) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: solid (7) Right Side Attack: excellent (8) Central Attack: solid (7) Left Side Attack: solid (7) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56 Metal Mulisha Midfield: disastrous (1) Right Side Defence: passable (6) Central Defence: passable (6) Left Side Defence: passable (6) Right Side Attack: poor (3) Central Attack: poor (3) Left Side Attack: poor (3) DataKing/Nevstar Index: 29/30 Crush. Good to see that 56 return. The only thing I really want is to bump up that midfield rating to passable. Time to find a way to 60. Player Ratings GK Tim Kimber *~ DW Rickie Stepp DM Thomas Strömlius ~ DW Marcel Romo WI Mick Starks (o) * MI Carlos Alberto Benito (off) * MI Anders Jörgensson (x) MI Stephen Connors * WI Donald Newsom (o) ~ FO Edwin Phelan ~ FO Juan Miguel Tizón ~ Total Stars: 27.5 Total player experience: wretched Team Attitude: Play It Cool Lots of stuff this week. Hark, is that another ~ from Tim Kimber even without improvement in his form? Woo! I keep forgetting to put Rickie Stepp towards the middle. D'oh. Jorgensson at may keep him in the starting lineup. Tizon is down to ~ and that could be a problem. I need some form help there and Chang may take his spot for a game or two if he doesn't improve. However, the big news of the week is the midfield: both Benito and Connors got this week after ~ for the longest time. For Benito, that's his first *** performance and Connors's second. Those 27.5 stars are a team high by a full star but we can do better. If everyone is clicking on all cylinders, we can get 30 as Romo, Stepp, and Phelan can get ~ more and Tizon can get a full * more. Our new goal is 30 stars and 60 NSI. Three Stars This might have been more fun if we hadn't PIC'd and had a hattrick or two to throw around. Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito Hopefully his second goal in as many games is the start of a streak Silver: Stephen Connors The go-ahead goal was his first of the year Gold: Edwin Phelan Stays tied for the league lead with a goal to get the game started but missed on a second and had a third blocked by their goalie Game Summary The PIC kept the score down but we still won convincingly over an overmatched team. Still, there were a lot of nervous moments. Nothing like going into the half with 86% possession yet still tied. Not only that but I thought this was finally the week our missed events caught up to us. Still, in the end, it all worked out for us and next week will be the game. Press Release 5/6/2003 at 22:56 Hippos Win 4-1; Look to Next Week It was a nerve wracking first half where the Hippos wasted three scoring chances and went into the half, tied 1-1 with the Metal Mulisha despite 86% possession. However, Stephen Connors, Carlos Alberto Benito, and Juan Miguel Tizón all scored second half goals as the Hippos rolled. Edwin Phelan scored his league lead-tying 5th goal of the season to start the game out 1-0 Hippos. Next week is THE Game: Hippos/Dragons for the series lead at the Dragons Den! Be there! League Standings Code: N Team P Goals Pts NSI 1. Houston Hippopotami 5 23 - 4 15 56 2. CC's Dragons 5 20 - 1 15 57 3. The Flying Midgets 5 11 - 4 9 54 4. Toledo Blades 5 11 - 10 9 47 5. Metal Mulisha 5 7 - 15 4 30 6. Buccabeavzers 5 5 - 14 3 33 7. goonz 5 6 - 18 3 35 8. PRODYGRAF 5 3 - 20 1 30 Around the League As you can see from the above standings, there is a widening gap between the top 4 and bottom 4. The top teams played the bottom teams this week and they top outscored the bottom 13-1 this week. In case I haven't mentioned it enough yet, next week is the big game. The Flying Midgets - Buccabeavzers 4 - 0 If the Midgets could ever get their midfield in order, they'd be dangerous. They posted out-bril-form across the back and inad's across the front but he only scores a poor at midfield. Still, that was more than enough to crush the Buccabeavzers. All for of the goals were scored in the first half and then the defense pulled back. There's no way the Bucs were going to break that defense. goonz - CC's Dragons 0 - 4 Like us, the Dragons had a nice little PIC-style warmup going into our game next week. As is typically their style, they got exc and above across the back with inad and above across the front. They only got a weak midfield which is why I figured they PIC'd. Scouting for next week, seven guys got ~ along with two * a and their goalie with ~ which is just a nasty lineup. That's 29 stars for those of you keeping score at home. PRODYGRAF - Toledo Blades 0 - 1* It looks like Toledo played their training 5-4-1 instead of their typical 4-5-1. At least that made it close. His defense was bril/bril/exc and his possession was 78% but this defensive slugfest's only goal was by Steven Li in th 60th minute. Notes Well, it was mostly a snoozer of a week in league and with our game. But that's ok, because this week we have our makeup friendly against vexroid's Sidekicks a team we support and who supports us. Then: Next Sunday. Hippos. Dragons. At the Dragons Den. Series Title Up For Grabs. Be There! Oh, but that's not all... (as soon as hattrick is up, you'll see) SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-06-2003 at 04:03 PM.

05-06-2003, 04:02 PM	#43
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	. __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 05-06-2003 at 04:03 PM.

05-06-2003, 11:42 PM	#48
vex Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Tulsa	That's an impressive middie you got there.

05-07-2003, 01:04 PM	#50
robbgmaier College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2001	daedalus you are a bastard.....maybe none of the hippos will notice.....

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