The Return of the North County Raiders

[Poli]

Since I'll be returning from sea shortly, I fully expect to have my dynasty up and running by the end of the month.

Until then, I'll fill you in on the history of the Raiders.

The Raiders were banded together and joined V.92 in mid July of last year. It was late in season 16 for HT, and we were informed we'd play four games of the season. Unfortunately, three of them would be on the road.

The Raiders started out in fourth position, but had hopes of finishing in third place.

Fortunately, despite my ignorance of rules, regulations, soccer, and everything Hattrick, we were able to win three games and tie the other, finishing in third place.

Our first game was against Bismuth FC and we tied it, 2-2.. We then reeled off our 3 wins to finish out the season. I don't have match reports for two of the games, and the games were very plain as well. The players were horrible, and I trained general in hopes of making them better than the other horrible teams and their horrible players.

My thought process on this was this: We all started new. Every team in V.92 was brand new. Therefore it was likely we had the same types of players. I figured if they started a training program, fine, but general would get me in better shape and maybe help me right then and there.

I continued with that general training for quite some time into the next season.

The wins were 8-1 (Tidus Final Fantasy XI), 3-0 (Terps), and 3-1 (El Diablo Magnifico, a MOTS).

Our NSIs were mind numbing low compared to Raider numbers now, even for our B squad. In order, 38, 42, 42, 42. Sadly, the 38 wouldn't be the lowest NSI ever registered by the Raider team.

Even our star outputs were horrid. 16, 19, 20, and 19, in order again. Fortunately, the 16 stars for the Bismuth game is an all time low for Raider league matches, which is all I will deal with in my review of the Raider history, seasons 16 to most of 20. I don't have records of my friendlies, unfortunately.

I will close by mentioning that there are currently only two Raiders on the team from the original squad, and only three from the teams that were fielded in season 16. The original members were Otto Hutton, who still starts for the team, and Michael Dailey. Dailey surprises us on occassion by starting a game here and there. The added player was Jerome Bettis. I don't recall the sale price, but I believe I purchased him at 50k, and his value was slightly higher. I might be slightly off here, however.

Regardless, a quick look at the Raider roster will show he's at 500k+ right now.

Best regards, I hope to add more tomorrow.

AE

[sterlingice]

And a giant cheer goes up from the audience as ardent has returned

SI

[Poli]

Thanks, SI. I appreciate the support. I really missed writing about my team. It gets you so much more involved with your team, I think.

The Raiders started their second season with a surprise. The team was selected for the US Cup (later known as the US Open Cup). It was to my surprise, because (again, due to my lack of knowledge about the game) I didn’t expect we’d qualify.

We ended up matching up with the Nickspastics. The opponent was recently relegated to D5 and apparently the owner had given up on the team after struggling in D4. Despite my effort to put the best lineup on the field and the best efforts of my players, we lost 3-1. This game, however, noted the last time we would ever use the 4-4-2 in a competition match. For the upcoming future, we were a 3-5-2 team.

It may be of some note to add, however late, that I am at this point already a HT supporter. I actually started supporting just before the third game of season 16 against the Terps.

We chose orange and black based of the colors of my former high school in Harrisburg, AR. The alternate kit is the actual colors of the high school I graduated from, North County.

Which leads me to that. The team was named after my high school. It’s kind of lame and not very original, but I do like it. I had thought of naming the team the Ardent Enthusiasts or something of that nature, but I felt if I stuck with the game, I’d be happier in the long run with the name of the Raiders.

After the game with the Nickspastics, in which we fielded a new all time high NSI of 46, we settled in for what would turn out to be one long season in D5.92.

It started off innocently enough. We had wins against both Bismuth FC (5-0) and Tidus Final Fantasy XI (6-1). NSIs were nothing to write mom about, with scores of 42 and 39 respectively. We felt that with a five game winning streak in our league play, we were ready to roll through D5.92.

However, and it pains me say this now, we were in tremendous debt. Bad decisions plagued the Raiders. We had enlarged the stadium again, this time to 11,000, bought more questionable players (a practice I enjoy today as well), and fired one coach after another in hopes of a solid. It never worked out, and we were over 300k in debt and sinking fast.

At the time the Raiders had just one hope. That hope rested in a man that the Raiders hung the team on. The one bright and shining star of the team.

Meet Robert Bacon.

One would think I would have said, Jerome Bettis. And it’s true, I liked Jerome. However, Bacon and his solid defense was the rock the Raiders leaned on. Our offense made The Afoci look innovative. We were pretty sad back then.

At any rate, we decided to sell Bacon in hopes of climbing out of our pit. We did, and Bacon has gone on to bigger and better things. Literally. The man has excellent experience as of right now. Sigh.

It really gets my goat to hear others give up on their team. Too far gone, they say. The Raiders were there. I was worried. I wondered aloud what would happen to my supporter options if I lost my team. I made it, though. Trust me, if I can, anyone with half a brain can. Just ask The Afoci. But only after you’ve fed him peanut butter.

Anyway, the next match after selling Bacon I figured I’d be victorious. Wrongo. Breadalbane FC came into our house and knocked us off, 3-2. Not only that, but we registered our worst NSI to date. A dismal 37. I worried the end was near.

[The Afoci]

Sadly it didn't end and the horrible, vile, North County Raiders live on today. This is a case were gov't forced team suicide would be for the better of the world. Long live the Crawfish!

[Poli]

The Afoci, you suck. Did you forget how to spell government or should I have BM remind you? Or could it just be your mild fascination with four letter words that brought the "gov't" out?

It was about this point I decided to start training playmaking. I really didn’t have a good group to train, and felt that I needed to start somewhere, anywhere. My goal, sadly, was to have someone make it to solid playmaking. In addition, despite Jerome Bettis being a forward, I wanted to train him for playmaking as well. Initially, Jerome was a passable scorer and inadequate playmaker.

At some point around now, we had a turnover of teams. Nearly all the teams that I started out with were replaced. The exception was El Diablo and I believe the MetroBombs. I know I could probably look this type of information up, but I prefer to try and remember the general history. Numbers for the team I’ll look up; general information I’d rather just try to recall. Among others came the Central Winners, my first rival. Well, second rival behind HFP.

Our fourth game of the season came against the Fighting Rhodes, and it turned out to be our only game against them. The team would be replaced before I faced them again. It was an 8-1 victory with a NSI of 40. It sure felt good to win again.

My next match was against the Winners, and I really didn’t think much of them. I just beat one of the teams that came in handily, and I felt we’d take care of these guys as well.

Nope. I lost, 4-1, NSI of 38. What was worse is that his NSI was lower. Darn Central Winners. The loss dropped us to 3-2 on the season.

We faced the MetroBombs next and had a narrow victory, 3-2. NSI of 38. I didn’t know of NSI ratings then, but now that I look back, I’d been playing for 10 league matches and still hovering at the horrible level. The win took the Raiders to 4-2.

Sadly, during a friendly, Jerome Bettis tore his left ACL. Told by his team doctor that it would take 4 weeks to heal, I refused to believe. I sought a second opinion. When that didn’t work, he sought a third; and on until I sought an eighth opinion. Finally, I finally agreed that there was an injury, but the man could wear a splint and play. Doctors told me it would still take a few weeks to get him used to the splint and playing at a high level. I told them to hurry before I brought in HFP’s Coach Pismehoff to encourage them. Jerome missed two league matches as a result. This inspired the quote that can be seen on occasion at FOFC.

The Raiders also pulled their best youth pull to date, as well as the best name of a Raider ever: Dhandapani Jagannathan. DJ, better known by HFP as Kordell, was a passable playmaker and inspired the half dozen of us or so that played HT here at FOFC. If I’m not mistaken, it may have been the first player with a passable rating at a “core” rating.

By core rating, I mean playmaking, defending, scoring, or winger. I’m now older and wiser in HT, and realize a player’s worth is more than just this core rating. I underestimated passing and stamina early on. I don’t underestimate that type of thing now.

Before I go on, I’d like to point out that Jerome Bettis is really Jerome Betts. Horned Frog Purple, or HFP, Coined the Bettis name and accused me of bringing in ringers to fill out my Raider squad. Last names on my club at the time included Betts, Tomlinson, Castle, and Connell. Later I would add a Dorsey, Russell, Warner, and Kennedy.

I sure miss talking to HFP about HT.

[Poli]

Back to back matches against El Diablo resulted in back to back victories. The first 4-2, and the second 5-2. The first game tied a NSI low of 37, but the second game was a 41. More importantly in our second match, we registered our first poor rating in the midfield. Never again would we register a disastrous or wretched rating in a competition match. The victories ran our winning streak to three. Our record now stood at 6-2. Our overall record at 9-3-1.
Another game against the MetroBombs led to a 4-1 victory, and the Raiders were rejoicing. A four game winning streak was the longest ever for the team. The NSI registered a 41. The record improved to 7-2. Life was good and we were looking for revenge against the Winners.

At this point, the Winners, who replaced the Terps in our series, were neck and neck with the Raiders. It was clear that this match would determine who won D5.92 this year.

By this point, we had a few improvements in our playmaking training. Jerome Bettis had become a passable playmaker. Jack Brown, one of our earliest youth pulls that stuck, improved to weak. Most importantly, the Raiders had their first solid playmaker in Norman Robinette. Norman, unfortunately, had wretched stamina, and was lucky to put up more than 1 star per game. I sold Norman shortly thereafter. Sick of playmaking training that had only improved three players, I switched to scoring.

I have trained scoring religiously since then, with a few weeks off for stamina and passing work.

The Central Winners defeated the Raiders that week, 5-2, despite our first weak midfield rating and a great NSI of 45. The loss dropped the Raiders down a notch to 7-3, with four games remaining. It appeared the Raiders would be held down for another season in D5.92.

We felt certain that the Winners must have MOTSed to do it, and it was later confirmed that the MOTS had been on for both of our games. Pretty frustrating, that’s for sure.

Fortunately, the next week, the Winners lost their next match, and the Raiders leapfrogged the Winners in the standings with an 8-0 win over the Militamen. It is here that I have a piece of the Raiders game reports. Scoring in this match were Jerome Bettis with a hattrick, Sam Albrecht, Oscar Castle, DJ, Paul Phelps, and Otto Hutton. The game was a display of dominance for the Raiders, who posted an 87.5 ball percentage and their first ever-inadequate midfield. The Raiders improved to 8-3 on the season. The NSI was a Raider best 48.

Before the next game the Raiders activated a little known player from their youth squad. Dave Sumner, who was a passable scorer, was just 17 when he joined the Raiders. Things were looking up for the Raiders.

The Raiders continued their dominance with a 6-0 victory over the Reflections. With a NSI of 47 and ball possession of 84.5 for the game, the game was not in doubt. Sumner would get a hattrick in his first match as a Raider, Bettis scored twice before he was sent off with two yellow cards, and George Flores knocked in a goal before leaving the match with a minor injury. The victory set the Raider mark to 9-3.

The Raiders shut out their next opponent, the Beeners, 3-0. Kudos to Roosevelt McIntosh, who was later sold to Superman=#54. The three shutouts in a row have only been equaled once since then, and only by a technicality. The Beeners were most impressive in their very first match, holding the Raider offense to just three goals. However, the Beeners just couldn’t overcome the Raider 91.5 percent ball handling or the record NSI of 49. The ball handling was the most impressive thing. The Raiders have never equaled this type of ball possession, and it’s doubtful we ever will. Scoring were Dan Fernandez, Michael Tripp, and Sam Albrecht. Raiders improved to 10-3 with their final match of the season against the San Marcos Texans.

The San Marcos Texans, owned by dentist, is a current supporter of the Raiders, and eventually made it to D4. Unfortunately, they were relatively new when we played them and lost, 6-2. Two goals each were scored by Oscar Castle, Dave Sumner, and Jerome Bettis. The Raiders had 59.5% ball percentage, but posted a low NSI of 44. The Raiders have yet to post a rating that low since then.

The victory improved the Raiders to 11-3 and left the Raiders in first place of D5.92. Auto promotion was not in store for the Raiders. With three losses, the Raiders would have to battle Irish FC for a spot in D4, and battle they did.

[Poli]

I’ll admit at this point I was a little weary of D4 competition. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but wanted to make it so bad.

After 10 minutes of play, Irish FC scored the first goal, but the Raiders countered with four of their own in the first half. Scoring were Dave Sumner (x2), Jerome Bettis, and Dan Fernandez. The Raiders appeared to be cruising to a victory, with a clear 62% ball possession. I was receiving congrats throughout the FOFC for a qualifier wrapped up at the half.

That, my friends, is why they play the game. I’ll let the second half speak for itself.

The game had been on for 47 minutes when Dave Sumner broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Raiders´s were up 1 - 5. This third goal made a hat trick for Dave Sumner. By now Raiders were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Irishs Marc Smith went wide in the 49:th minute, recieving a brilliant pass slicing through the visiting teams central defense line, putting the 2 - 5 goal away. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when Thomas Lawson, after a brilliant midfield combination, put the reducing 3 - 5 goal away for Irish. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Irish´s Jim Church got himself booked. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when Jim Church, after a brilliant midfield combination, put the reducing 4 - 5 goal away for Irish. After 53 minutes Irish´s Luca Lombardi contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game. Gilberto Cifuentes Muñiz of Raiders received a yellow card in the 60:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Raiders, bringing the final ball possession rate to 61 percent, dominated the battle.

The Irish FC nearly came back to win it, and I bet they wish they had. They’ve toiled in D5.92 ever since.

[Poli]

A brief recap of season 18:

Season 18 opened with promise. Road cup victories over the September Smokies and The Flares; sandwiched in between was our first D4 league road game, a victory over The Sweep.

The fun ended shortly thereafter with back-to-back home losses. One to the Buffalo Braves in league play, and then to Wolfpac in cup play. Fans were not happy and neither was I. To date, I had never used PIC, and had I known of the benefits then, I surely would have used it!

Three relatively easy victories later (combined score of 24-3), we were a paper lion 4-1 in D4.43.

Enter Cheetum and the Ghetto Superstars. Easily the best in D4 that year, I didn’t know how Cheetum did it. Clearly a notch above all but the Braves, it was clear he and the Braves would do battle for the title. In the end, it came down to goals scored, and the Braves had the edge. With one loss on the year, Cheetum would remain in D4.43 for another year.

Obviously, if Cheetum had just one loss, we didn’t beat them. J Buffalo did. Final score 4-1. That doesn’t tell the whole story. I was never in the game. Ball possession? 27.5% Ugly!

Two victories over the Fighting Illini later, we were beat again by the Superstars. This time 4-2.

It should be noted I inadvertently used the vaunted 2-6-2 in the second game against the Illini, and yes, I lost training that week. Bummer. But it was cool seeing six midfielders out there, even if I didn’t mean it.

After our second loss of the season, we reeled off our third 3 game winning streak of the season, clipping Rage, Birds of Life, and the Hooj Choons.

We ended the season on a very sour note. We lost to the Buffalo Braves 4-3, and I MOTS, in hopes of taking them down and maybe propelling my way to 2nd place. It didn’t happen, but nearly did! I don’t regret the decision at all.

What I do regret is the season ending loss to The Sweep. For some reason, instead of newly acquired Waldo Martinez, we started Airhog’s Trevor Penn instead. I’m still lost as to why that happened. I don’t know why. Losing 3-2, I kind of attribute the loss to the goal keeper, and to myself, for not catching that error in my lineup.

About this time, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t get very indepth. To be honest, I don’t have match reports for most of the second half. My bust. I wish I had them, honestly.

What I can tell you, is who had scoring improvements, and that I remember having some fun with Jerome Bettis and where he played/plays on the field.

[Poli]

Scoring improvements were by:

Jerome Bettis to solid.
Sam Albrecht to passable.
Dave Sumner from passable to excellent.
William Vang to passable.
Jack Brown to passable.
Lim Vien Van to solid.

My scoring training then was to get backups to solid scoring and then sell them. Which kind of leads me into the Jerome Bettis story.

Early into season 18, while home on leave, I pulled four solid players, Enric Peris, Stanley Dorsey, Ben Foster,and Burton Cagle. The feat has never been matched. Obviously, I'm looking forward to going home for a number of reasons (though HT is the least of them ). Peris manned the wing, and has done so ever since. Burton Cagle came to the Raiders with a scouting report of being a solid defender, but had other plans. When he's in shape, Foster can be seen manning the A team midfield. Dorsey was a solid winger/scorer, and he made Bettis expendable.

Expendable. I had never thought of that before. Jerome at the moment was training in scoring, but was still usable in the midfield. He began seeing double duty. A team midfielder, and B team forward trainee. Bettis wasn’t thrilled at the idea of being a midfielder, but continued to work on his scoring ability. Two weeks after the acquisition of Dorsey, the coaches reported that Bettis had improved to a solid scorer.

Looking for any excuse to make Bettis the starting forward, I sold Dorsey instead. I won’t sell Bettis. Ever. He’s the rock the club is built upon.

However, despite my fondness with Bettis, Dave Sumner was quietly taking over the Raiders scoring records. He beat Bettis to solid scoring, and then went on to become the club’s first excellent scorer. Life was good and I dreamed of having Bettis and Sumner until they retired.

[Poli]

Current Raiders that joined in season 18:

Enric Peris 18.4
Ben Foster 18.6
Bob Wiles 18.7
Burton Cagle 18.8
Trevor Penn 18.11

[vex]

And then Sumner hit formidable...

[Poli]

The history of this dynasty will be put on hold for a week or so as I transfer back to home. Wish me luck!

[The Afoci]

It was at this point, North County Raiders met the greatest squad in all of Hattrick. The Fighting Crawfish. Out of jealousy he attempted to sabotage the squads Pre-Victory Party. Then he did the unthinkable. The Afoci's Mom. He lost many peoples respect that drunken night.

[vex]

But many more congratulated him.

[Poli]

The Raider dynasty, despite me being home, is on hold indefinitely. Returning from deployment has helped me see I need to spend more time doing other cool stuff. No offense to anyone. I may return to try again at a later date, and will continue to read other dynasties on occassion.

[HornedFrog Purple]

I am glad you made it home! I know what you are saying.. go be with your family.

[The Afoci]

Anyone find it odd that this is coming right before Ardent is going to DIII and will likely be pummelled like a blue eyed, blonde farm boy in prison? Me either.

[Poli]

Originally posted by The Afoci
Anyone find it odd that this is coming right before Ardent is going to DIII and will likely be pummelled like a blue eyed, blonde farm boy in prison? Me either.

Dork.

You certainly can make me smile. Anyway, I just didn't expect the kind of atmosphere I'm getting here. My wife and I are doing a whole lot of talking, and I'm happy and amazed and how much we talk.

That said, she's gone on business until the end of the month. You guys do get me until then, but I don't want to post up a dynasty report...

it's so hard to say goodbye...lol

I got to let it go.