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01-21-2001, 08:22 PM
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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House Arrest Black Squirrels, 2034-2037
I’m playing this career under a fairly lengthy series of house rules—trying to compress most of the game’s many areas fertile for abuse, and to simultaneously make the game: challenging, interesting, steerable, and realistic. Since the house rules are fairly rigorous, I’ve adopted the name “house arrest” for this system.
If you want the long version of the rules and history from 2002 to 2007, try this link: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000098.html The team’s history from 2008 through 2011 is in this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000102.html Then, the team’s downward path from 2012 through 2017 is detailed here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000116.html Then, the years from 2018-2021 are on this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000122.html To see from 2022 through 2025 go here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000132.html The seasons from 2026 through 2029 are here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000139.html And finally, the 2030-2033 stretch is here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000157.html The short version of the rules I’m using follows: FOF 2001, Wall Street, empty cupboard start with the 2002 expansion team Ticket prices no higher than those of my nearest geographic competitor (Denver) Several contract restrictions, including: -no signing non-rookie players, other than the second half of the 20-stage FA process -no unrealistic contract durations for first and second year players -no backloading of contracts – annual salary increases up to 25% only -any free agent seeking a bonus gets one at least as big as the median annual salary -URFAs get one year deals, with one exception per year -One URFA per season gets a 7yr deal: x = rookie min, 2x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x No contract renegotiations, and no franchise tag – everybody we re-sign comes through the free market Full roster of 53 each season (no going cheap by leaving roster holes) Player from home state (Colorado) college at each position group at all times . . .I confess I have probably slipped up once of twice here, but I’m making an earnest effort Making effort to sign and hold Colorado players whenever practical I’m allowing some slack my Colorado school guys – re-signing after camp if nobody else wanted them No initiating trades – may only accept CPU trade after adjusting it (reality check) In short, the team is being almost exclusively built from within, with a few fill-in types from the late rounds of free agency. Once my players get past their first contracts, I compete on the open market to retain their services. Here is the short history of the team—the GM performance printout:
Starting after the 2029 season, we had a number of veterans retire or go elsewhere, and the “core” of our team has gotten appreciably younger. I had thought this would doom us to a serious hole for several seasons, but QB Fernando Stephenson has put together two all-star seasons, and has got some young, emerging talent on the team to keep him rolling. Our defense needs help, and that will be our main “acquisition” focus—but we’re on the lookout for a star-caliber running back as well. The story continues below... |
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01-21-2001, 08:23 PM
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#2 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2034 pre-draft
We have one retirement from the team—17 year veteran punter Doug Cunningham retired. He played just one season with us, after I coveted him for so long. He was an outstanding player—with a career average of nearly 42 yards. He might be a Hall of Famer. Last year, now that the costs of our stadium improvements are concluded, we made a tidy profit of $48m. We filled up our stadium again, and rely on tremendous fan support. Denver’s very lean years recently have certainly helped some more fans “see the light” and head to the Squirrels games. My coach and scout are both under contract, and I have no arguments with their performance. I skip through quickly. Here is my roster situation, as free agency begins:
Even with nearly $50m in room, I will feel some pressure this season. I see C Jerald Braxton and CB Johnny Sweeney as possible cuts—Sweeney is easy, but Braxton was a three-time award-winner before he started getting paid, and he hasn’t put up a big season since. The key re-signing will be LB Bernie Coleman, who was very expensive last time out. DT Humes is okay, and from Colorado, so he’d be nice, too—but only if he’s sitting at the end of the line. S Rod Caston has been a good return man, but if his demands go far above minimum, I won’t be retaining him. Among my young RFAs are two wideouts I’d like to keep. Jeff Eberhardt was a modest camp breakout, and has been a reliable starter for us. Perry Thagcher was a major breakout, and this year should step up and become a front-line player. I’d like to keep both, but certainly will keep Thagcher. I start off with 4yrs, $45m for LB Coleman. That should get him through the remainder of his productive years, and after that he won’t be in such demand (I wouldn’t expect). He’s the only one I pursue, but I do check WR Thagcher’s demands—he’s looking for big time money, of course. In this FA market, the apparent star is RB Antonio Woodard, from Washington—a 5th year player already with two 1,500-yard seasons under his belt. The chances of him slipping into week 11 are between slim and none, I’d guess. There are also some superb offensive linemen available—could be interesting. Green Bay outbids me for LB Coleman, and I’ll need to increase my offer, it would seem. I go to 4yrs, $48m. He has 100 loyalty, so I’d think he would stay. None of my other players receive bids. RB Woodard is being pursued by Atlanta, among others. In week 3, LB Coleman takes my offer, and returns to the Squirrels. RB Woodard sits pending until week 7, when Washington steps in and re-signs their guy for three more years. Week 11 finally comes, and I check out what is available. An insanely good OT from Tennessee, admittedly in his 14th season, is sitting with no bidders. My scout rates him 82/96/72—how can this guy get no love? He wants three years with a big bonus—I understand the reluctance, especially if he only plays one more season. Another good FA is RB Julio Franz, who has 1,200 yards with Green Bay last season, and now cannot get a bidder. He’s got a career average of 4.1 yards per carry, which is okay, but not spectacular. He wants about $14m/yr—it would be tough to justify unless he were a real anchor player. In week 13, my kicker Kerry Tatum is signed away from me by Baltimore. I’ll search for a Colorado guy to pick up. In the final weeks, I put in a bid for the old man at tackle—I offer 3yrs, $21m to T Donovan Mathis, and hope that I can get at least two seasons out of him. He may be the highest overall quality player I’ve gotten in free agency, including QB Tim Loverne. 12th year LB Edgar Ragan is also worthy of a bid here—I put in 3yrs, $17m for the four-time all-pro. Finally, I go after RB Julio Franz, with 4yrs, $46m. Since these players will seriously disrupt my salary cap, I go ahead and release LB Barry Wynn and CB Johnny Sweeney to make some room. CB Tyrone Corbett stays, for now—but we’ll drop him if things get at all tight. With all three veterans signed, we have $33m in cap room for the final week. I really don’t find any worthwhile second year players (as I usually do), and so I continue to shop around for veterans—a lot fell through this year’s marketplace, it seems. I check out the veteran CBs, but cannot come up with anyone who looks worth $10m or more. I put in a cheap bid for safety Bruce Gainey, and keep looking. C Gus Benedyk is a good run blocker in his 15th season. I decide to pick him up with a 2yr offer for $10.8m. LB Tito Stone listens to my 3yr offer for $19.8m, and he’ll make a very solid fourth linebacker for us. These signings drop me to $20m in cap room, but I think the addition of a number of veterans to this emerging young team makes sense—we ought to be much more “ready to go” this season. We pick #25 in this draft, and have little hope for an “impact player.” However, if our scout finds diamonds like he did last season, we could be in business. I’ll hope for a CB once again, though I’m about to lose hope that we’ll ever find the cover man we really want, and will be cursed to shootouts for all eternity. |
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01-22-2001, 02:09 PM
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#3 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Dear Quiksand, GM:
Hello old friend. I have kep a watchful eye on your team "down south." My beloved Denver Broncos have made a mockery of their former greatness in recent seasons, and my patience wears thin. The Broncos will have a high draft choice this year, and if a marked improvement does not occur up here in Denver, then I will begrudgingly abandon my team for another. As you know, I was once a huge fan of your Black Squirrel team, only to abandon them in tough times. Some might call me a fair-weather fan, but I would have to disagree. I abandoned your team, not because of the poor record, but because of the poor front-office decisions that resulted in those poor records. I offer this challenge to you Mr. Quiksand. If my Broncos team does not improve within a couple of years, and your team is able to win a championship, I will abandon the Broncos, get together my rather LARGE group of friends who spend countless dollars on the Broncos and Bronco gear, and switch our allegiance over to the Squirrels. We will purchase a couple of luxury boxes and show up for every game religiously, rooting the Squirrels on. This is quite a bit of money we are willing to spend, so I challenge you to win a championship, which is the only true sign of greatness. But remeber, if my Broncos have a resurgence and are able to win before you in the next few years, you will have many more years of taunting coming from your northern brethen. Good luck and good day to you sir. Marmel Still a Broncos fan.....for now. PS. If I get a certain number of Bronco fans to switch their team to the Squirrels and buy season tickets, will you give me free season tickets????
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-22-2001, 04:08 PM
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#4 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Dear weak-willed yellow-bellied turncoat,
Regrettably, for you, in the time since you abandoned the Squirrels in search of whatever it is you had sought up North, the Squirrels have developed possibly the most zealous fandom in all of sports. Each year we sell out the entire stadium with season tickets, and a waiting list has rapidly grown to extend beyond the current population-- every man, woman, and child-- of Colorado Springs. If you and your "friends" seek to purchase Squirrel season tickets now or in the future, we will be glad to append your name at the bottom of that list. Your descendents can expect a call in about 2085. Regards, QuikSand, GM |
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01-22-2001, 04:10 PM
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#5 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2034 draft and camp
In this year's draft, my scout identifies a few future stars-several at OL positions, led by outstanding OG Shawn Andrews. The top CB candidates look the same-great cover skills, and eerily symmetrical defensive skills. I smell busts, but they probably won't even get tome anyway. As for Colorado schools, there simply isn't a lot to see-but there is a Colorado kicker, who I'll hope to grab. The player I covet the most (for my team's pick) would probably be CB Jerome Pulido. The two CBs (including Pulido) go with picks 3 and 4, including one (the other guy) to Denver. On my turn, the most attractive players are, well, gone. I think the "best player available" is probably center Scottie Parrish, but I'm reluctant to draft a center in my opening round with so many defensive problems. The best DE is rather marginal, and the best CB is even worse. I'm stuck.
It was not a particularly good draft, I feel as though I ought to have taken the best DE, even though he was lesser talent. I'll be digging a hole for myself soon, I fear, with all these defensive positions going unresolved. After the draft, I'm down to $5m in cap room-there is no dobt that I need to make cuts just to afford a few rookies, not to mention the RFA re-signings I need to do (DE Meyer, WR Thagcher). This is going to get difficult-I may end up cutting a player or two I just signed. CB Tyrone Corbett is the first and most obvious to go-but his departure leaves us awfully think at CB. I may have to start a safety at CB this season. LB Dana Carter, T Rodney Griffith, and finally C Jerald Braxton get the axe, which give men plenty of room for all my signings. DE Brian Meyer gets 4yrs, $46m as his new deal. WR Perry Thagcher is tough, but he takes 4yrs, $37m for his new deal. I bring in some rookies, including G Levon Cascadden-a decent guy from Colorado who I make my "special" URFA. Most of my rookie invitees are at CB, where I am positively desperate for help. I just grab any rookie CB with any kind of green bars, and I hope that one of them makes some improvement. We need whatever we can get. Here is how we hit camp:
It wasn't a very exciting draft, at least they can have the courtesy not to blow up in my face as big busts. In camp this year, I decide to put more time into zone defense, as I think I'm going to try playing more zone this year (considering my CB talent). I zero out the I-formation for the first time, in order to make up the training time. Here are the scout's after-camp conclusions:
The top of the draft looks fine-C Scottie Parrish lost slightly in endurance, but still looks excellent. FB Corey Boselli lost a bit, but will still be solid. Regrettably, I got nothing out of the flock of rookie CBs that I brought in-we'll have to go with the crop (crap?) on hand. I get a third round pick for TE Norbert Drake. He'll be replaced by my good-looking rookie Dixon Strong, and it's a good deal for us. Another good deal comes when St. Louis offers a second round pick for RB Patrick Sanderson. He once looked like our man of the future, but after a season and a half of lousy production, he'll be shipped out as we go with the more proven Julio Franz. Here is our final cut of 53:
We had our biggest free-agent spending spree in franchise history, and we still punch out about $20m under the cap. Of course, we aren't paying anyone to play CB this year, and it shows-our roster is downright stinky there. I'll try a lot more zone defense this year, and we'll hope that we can keep up-maybe we won't get burned as often with more backup. This year, we seek another playoff berth, and I personally hope that the running game can finally find its legs. The oddly-named Julio Franz looks the part, and has the credentials--and our new-look offensive line ought to be pretty solid. My best shot with this team will be to simply outscore most opponents--our run defense ought to be good, but we won't be able to stop the pass, I fear, unless we get great pressure from our front seven. |
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01-22-2001, 05:07 PM
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#6 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2034 season
Setting up my game plan, we have a few changes. We will be dropping back into zone coverage much more than in prior years-probably 60% of the time. We'll continue to rely on our "willie" position as a designated blitzer-this year that will again be young Kelly Kennedy. On offense, I am cackling with glee over this offensive line. Here is what my scout sees in these guys' current ratings: LT Mathis (82/86/68), LG Cintron (75/81/84), C Benedyk (63/36/56), RG Thomas (62/62/32), and LRT Monroe (96/44/64). This is the best line I've fielded in this career (on paper) and we ought to be able to run all day behind that left side. Our roster is again dominant-the second best is Fargo with a 46, with several (including Denver ?!?!) at 45. Our cohesion is generally poor-66-61-80-60. Our team expertise generally tracks the cohesion rating-we got high marks in the areas limited to the defensive front, but past that pretty low. After our week 5 bye week, we will play 5 straight home games, meaning we have road games stacked up at the beginning and end of the year. Our finale is at home of Oakland-looming very large already. Pre-season brings injuries to a few guys including T Mathis, but we'll get through them. We open up at home against Cheyenne. Julio Frank is bottled up, but he does score the game's only 2 TDs as we win it 17-9. We head into Denver next, where the Broncos seem to be re-energized. We hand them a 20-10 loss, as we garner 5 interceptions to control them all game long. Our veteran OL is falling apart with injuries-C Benedyk just went down for probably half the season, and T Mathis is still hobbled. Facing 2-0 Buffalo, our late rally comes up short, and we lose 20-17. Our prolific offense of a year ago has seemingly turned into a dead weight-we haven't scored over 20 points yet! Our offense puts up 33 in Seattle, but we lose 35-33. QB Stephenson goes down, and Kennedy Williamson stepped in to replace him- guiding us to within a two-point conversion of tying the game and sending it into OT. QB Stephenson is fine, but our injury list is mounting-we now have 7 players who will miss at least a few weeks of action. After the bye week, we begin our home stand. San Diego is first, at 4-1. They dispatch us 31-21 behind QB Clifton Ulufale-a guy they have been trying to trade me for two seasons. We get back with a 23-10 win over KC, and get even on the year. Seattle is next, and a 24-10 win puts us back into the good side. Fernando has three fourth quarter TD passes to lead a charge from behind. We rock a crummy Dallas team 38-21, and get 5 TDs from Fernando to cover for a hurting running game. Our home stand ends with a 13-7 win over a decent Cleveland team, and we jump to 6-3 on the season. RB Julio Franz has not had any games where he really carried us, but his average is over 4 yps, and he is around 600 yards-on pace for 1,000 on the year. Not a bust, but not the boost we had sought, either. We get a 27-24 win in KC, to get to 7-3 on the year. Now we head into San Diego, to take on the division co-leaders, who are tied with us. The winner here has the inside track for the division, of course. With a 14-7 halftime lead, we hold them to two FG in the second half to win it 14-13. We now look like the team to beat for the division, with one major hurdle left. We have another major showdown on our hands, as Denver-8-3 Denver-comes into town. It's been a while since the Squirrels/Broncos game was this meaningful, but this one is obviously big. Looking at their stats, I don't see how they have won 8 games-they just don't look too good. However, here they are, and this game is huge. It's a shootout, wit the first salvo coming from Stephenson's two first quarter TD passes. We lead 28-10 at halftime, but they rally in the fourth quarter-but it's too late. We win it, 42-27. Looks like we did most of the shooting. Franz has a 109 yard, 1 TD day, and Williamson steps in for Fernando, and plays well enough to hold the victory. We now have Denver head-to-head, period. In Oakland, we play behind an injured Fernando Stephenson, and the Raiders cling to life with a 31-17 win to get to 7-6. Our rushing game gets 17 yards on 12 carries-that's not going to get you any wins. With three games to go, we're back tied with Denver. We get a 31-17 win in Washington, and move to 10-4, and we watch the Broncos lose. Fernando aggravates his injury, and he will have to sit for the final two games of the year, bringing Kennedy Williamson front and center. We win in Jacksonville 24-14, and get to 11-4 on the year, assuring a playoff spot and the division title. The worst we can get is the #2 seed at this point. Oakland beats us 13-10 in our finale, but we will still get the bye week as the #2 seed from the AFC. Denver finished 9-7, a vast improvement, but not enough to make the postseason.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 3,081 yds, 57.3%, 7.30 ypa, 24/8, 91.3 RB Julio Franz: 231-961 yds, 10 TD (4.4 ypc) WR Perry Thagcher: 50-759 yds, 8 TD (52.8%, 7 drops) WR Louie Foley: 50-759 yds, 8 TD (64.1%, 4 drops) OL unit: 35% KRBs, 36 sacks allowed OT Donovan Mathis: 26/63 KRBs (41.2%), 1 sack in 297 pass plays LB Bernie Coleman: 94 tackles, 2 sacks LB Edgar Ragan: 79 tackles, 3 sacks DE Skip Howe: 9.5 sacks, 1 block, 8 hurries DE Brian Meyer: 9 sacks, 3 blocks, 3 hurries S Corwin Negrete: 65 tackles, 7 int, 3 PD, 40.8 PDQ S Brian Hastings: 59 tackles, 7 int, 8 PD, 43.4 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.5 / 3.4 / 3.7 Passing: 7.0 / 6.9 / 6.6 Once again, these do not look like the stats of a dominating team. Our passing attack is not generating the explosive numbers as it did in the last couple years-in part, of course, due to Fernando's injuries and absences. Our safeties played very well, and our turnover margin of +12 was among the best. We also were among the very least penalized teams in the league, with only 28-209 all year. Regardless, we should have Fernando healthy for our playoff opener at home, and we'll look to make some noise in the postseason with this club. If not us, who? |
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01-22-2001, 06:02 PM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2034 postseason
Pittsburgh escapes their first round game, and they come into our place for the divisional playoff game. They are all about emerging star QB Harry Wayne, who had 29 TDs this year and uses a whole fleet of wideouts. They play good defense, but I feel that I might be able to out-man them with my multi-wideout sets. They probably feel the same way about our DBs. We are in pretty good shape with injuries-QB Stephenson will play through an injured hip, but we are in much better shape now tan we were through most of the season. We get the ball first, and Pitt stops us, takes over, and drives for an opening FG. We respond with a ground game drive, and add a FG of our own. They cash in a fumble, and move a short field to go up 10-3 at the end of the first quarter. We again are able to respond, and we move down the field and tie it up again. As the second quarter closes out, Julio Franz takes a 31-yard carry for his second TD, and we get ahead 17-10 for the halftime score. In the middle of the third quarter, I get one of these little "FOF Specials" PIT 19 Lindsay punted 36 yards from the CSP37. CSP 36 Lindsay returned the ball 4 yards to the CSP05. Tackled by PIT 25 Rhoades. Extra point by PIT 17 Schwartz was good. So, they punted, we get it to our 5, and they get 7 points. Very nice. It's 17 all. Late in the third quarter, a 28-yard carry from Franz sets up a go-ahead FG for us, and we lead 20-17. Just under 9 minutes to go, they penetrate deeply, but we stop them for a tying FG. It's 20 all. We then drive the field, and Frank gets his third TD as we go ahead 27-20 with 3:53 remaining. our defense comes up big, and we take the ball back on downs at their 42. A 40 yard FG all but seals it, as we take a 10-point lead. We hold on to win it 30-20, and RB Julio Franz gets the game ball for his 22-103, 3 TD performance as our QB was ailing. We will now head into Buffalo for the AFC Championship game. Buffalo has gotten a very nice season out of QB Vince Richardson, but they are a run-based offense. They play a 4-3, and will use a conservative defensive package against us-which may be the best way to play our offense, honestly. We have a virtually clean bill of health. Even QB Stephenson ought to be 100%. Great news. Our opening possession looks good when Thagcher gets a big catch, but the Bills stack the line against our run, and stop us cold. The Bills move well, and get a long FG for their first effort. We repeat the cycle-we drive to midfield, get stopped, give it over, they march for a FG. It's 6-0 as the first quarter ends and we get it back again. This time we drive to their 26, but Fernando makes a mistake and we get it picked off at the 20. After a trade of possessions, Buffalo gears up and pushes it in-they miss the two-pointer, and lead 12-0. Franz fumbles, and they get great position-but miss a long FG. it's 12-0 at the half, and we are worried-we've gotten 110 yards of offense, but we cannot close the deal. In the third quarter, our first possession is just what we needed-on the ground, we get first down after first down, and we punch it in with Frank for the score. We stop them, take over, and drive deep again. However, Franz fumbles again, and they take over at their 5, as the fourth quarter begins. On out next possession, we get to their 37, but decide to punt instead of kick. They get a touchback, and start at their 20. They grind out a couple of first downs, and we take over again with only 2:33 left. We get to our 49 with 1:44 remaining, and we have a chance here. However, Stephenson goes downfield, the pass is picked off and returned 78 yards to our 3. They only get a FG, but the damage is done, it would seem. We have 55 seconds to go 70 yards. In short order, it's 18 seconds to go 78 yards-not the math we wanted. The Bills reigned us in, and they take a 15-7 victory to punch their Superbowl tickets. The Minnesota-Buffalo Superbowl is the official league nightmare-neither team can win! Regardless, this game it's finally time for Buffalo, as they pound the Vikes 29-0 in the most lopsided Superbowl in this league's history. PK Brenden Middleton from Buffalo is their MVP with his 5/6 FGs on the day. Minnesota's QB Ellis Jordan wins the three big awards, with 33 TDs and a 103.9 rating. Oakland WR Nate Dotson gets his third straight first team award with 1,390 yards. The Squirrels' lone award winner was LT Donovan Mathis-the old man got first team for his injury-plagued but successful season. A solid season, and it's about what we could have hoped for. This team has too many holes to be a legitimate powerhouse, I believe. We will probably start having cap troubles as more young players reach free agency. I don't think the window of opportunity is closing right away, but I'm not too optimistic that this is going to be a great team anytime soon. |
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01-22-2001, 06:17 PM
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#8 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Just a curious side note or two:
RB Patrick Sanderson, now of St. Louis, had a career year with the Rams in 2034, with 1,233 yards and 9 TDs on 4.1 yards per carry, making him the legue's third-leading rusher. Cincinnati's LB Kirk Strader had 110 tackles in his second year. My LB Kelly Kennedy was in a rotation, but only ended up with 43. RB Ian Fackleman, now with Chiacgo but another one-time Squirrel, had 510 yards as a reserve for the Bears. |
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01-22-2001, 06:40 PM
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#9 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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By the way, I think the situation with Mathis' award is one of the subtle and largely under-appreciated improvement/changes in FOF2K1 (vs FOF2). Back in FOF2, I don't think he would've gotten the award. All-league OL's almost always had high 80-90+ KRO's, regardless of the number of sacks given up. I like it.  |
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01-23-2001, 09:20 AM
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#10 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2035 pre-draft
Two familiar names in the HOF inductees this year. Kansas City's longtime RB Wade Chanthavong, and WR Brenden Dye, who put up the two best seasons by a WR in league history, back-to-back for Denver. In 2034, we turned a $36m profit. Solid, but not outstanding. We put out a lot in bonus money, which shouldn't continue year to year like that. Attendance was golden again. My scout is in place, and I'm happy with him. My coach needs a new deal, and I fear that this might get pricey. Lamar Evans, Sr. has been aboard with us for 12 seasons, and we've gone to the playoffs 9 times. He hasn't won the big one yet, but we're trying. He is my kind of guy-only one rating below "good." At 61, he probably has one more contract in him. It takes a $10m deal to outbid SF, but we hire him back for another 5 years, which should finish him off pretty well. We have no retirements this year-it was a real threat that one or both of the elder statesmen we picked up last season for our OL might hang 'em up early. We escape that problem, and bring back the group intact. Here is the roster rundown, sorted by salary, then experience:
And yes, Fernando Stephenson is ticked that he was forced to sit during two games when he was listed as "questionable" last year. Hopefully, that will subside as he regains his starter's role. Portland offers me their first round pick-- #8 overall-for QB Kennedy Williamson. Alvin Weems has more potential anyway, and both guys are up after this year, so I think this is a deal I have to take. I haven't had a pick that early in a long time, and I'm excited at the prospect. With some $70m to spend, I start to think about my investments this go-round. DT Edwin grant has been very solid, and I'd like to keep him if at all possible. G Freddie Thomas was good, but his replacement Jeffrey Powell is on hand already-he'll go. DE Skip Howe has been a sack generator, but he's a bit suspect against the run. He'll be a tough call-I really don't like guys with weaknesses, but I also don't want to leave myself in a mess at that tough position, so I may pony up. DE Devin Kluge is okay, but not worth open market money. DY Humes we'll hope to sneak back aboard after training camp, if at all possible. T Tommie Monroe is a guy we will pay to keep-an Air Force lineman who is an excellent run blocker, we'll hope to keep him around. CB Nolan Sims is a modest talent-I wouldn't even consider him but for the fact that we are absolutely desperate at CB. Among the younger players, I might look at the end of the line, but nobody jumps out as essential right now. All that said, I could end up with a lot of unspent cap room if all I do is re-sign DT Grant, DE Howe and T Monroe. I have added an expensive first round pick in this draft, but I'll still have some extra cap room for acquisitions. I will hold off on being too aggressive, for now at least. DT Edwin Grant gets my first bid-he is asking for $15m a season. I start off with a flat, 4yr, $60m offer. DE Skip Howe wants even more, and he's clearly not that great a player. I decide to wait him out, and possibly revisit after a while-if someone is going to pay Howe $18-20m a year, I think I'll let him go. T Monroe is looking for a huge deal also. I get up to 4yrs, $73m, and he still won't even listen-he wants over $80m for the four year cycle. I decide to wait him out as well. I cannot believe how much these guys are asking for-as someone else has called it, "stupid money." My 5% number for this year is about $13.5m, and all three of these guys are looking to do substantially better than that. I'm not ruling it out, but I am a bit concerned about how much it could tie us up for future years. After week 1, I feel that my prudence is being rewarded. DT Skip Howe takes my offer, and neither of the other two guys get a single bid. Incidentally, RB Patrick Sanderson is fielding offers for about $22m a year. I check out the second year talent in this FA pool, and I see guys at DE and OT who could fill in, in case I lose one of my high-price free agents. I think I can afford to play chicken here. Weeks two and there pass, and no bids on any of my players come in. Pittsburgh's QB Harry Wayne is getting monster bids, and it looks like he may go elsewhere-he's an emerging star player and will certainly make any team better. I go to T Tommie Monroe, and offer 4yrs, $64m, but he remains unmoved by the offer. In week 6, I again go to T Monroe. I try 4yrs, $71m, but he spits on the offer again. This is getting comical. I finally acceded to his wishes-a 4yrs, $73m offer. He takes it in, and I hope to land him quickly now, before he starts to actually get interest elsewhere. After week 5, Dallas gets in and offer him 5yrs, $99m-more than I have per year. There are a slew of bidders now, and it appears I may have waited too long. I decide to bump up to 4yrs, $76m-far more than I had planned to spend on him. In week 7, DE Skip Howe gets his first offers-up to $16m a year. I put in 2yrs, $31m to try to stay in the race. I'm not the top bidder for either of my guys, but I hope to land one or both of them regardless. In week 8, I get part of my wish-T Tommie Monroe takes our deal, and re-signs a 4yr extension with the Squirrels. He'll play at LT for a season or two, and then will probably move back to the right side when old man Donovan Mathis retires. DE Skip Howe is now pending to Cincinnati, and I feel like I ought to let him go. My bid is fair, and I still have a shot, but we're approaching my open period in week 11. In week 10, CB Nolan Sims signs with the Jets for about $17m a year-far more than he's proven to be worth to me. In week 11, DE Skip Howe signs with Cleveland-the bids kept increasing, and he finally landed a big deal. QB Harry Wayne still sits out there unclaimed. The bidders busted their budgets, and he is available for under $30m a year. I'm actually tempted, but I'm pretty heavily invested in Fernando, and I don't think it makes sense to go in a wholly different direction just to get a few years younger and a few million cheaper. Regardless, someone ought to steal him soon. I don't see any veteran players to pursue, and so I sit tight until the final weeks of free agency. QB Wayne's name does not come up-he goes unclaimed, to my surprise. I put in a late bid for second year DE Ray Duffy-4yrs, $21m. He ought to be okay, a decent pass rusher, but not a great impact player. Probably about what Skip Howe was, or at least nearly so. I'm intrigued by a second year CB Greg McDaniel, who has (by my scout) an 86 potential in man-to-man pass defense, and a 70 in interceptions. The downside is that nothing else is above 35. An odd player, but he's intriguing. He wants about $10m a season, though, and that's out of the question for these modest skills. Instead, I put in a 3yr, $16m bid for a modestly-talented CB Amos Clayton, who has ratings in the 30s for pass defense skills, plus a 94/63 in return skills (plus high endurance). That concludes out free agent activity. With $29m in cap room, and an estimated draft cost of $23.5m, I'm pretty tight up against the cap. I have extra picks in rounds 1, 2, and 3-which means we have another shot at a great draft here. I get an offer for DE Brian Meyer (the #7 pick) but I cannot deplete myself at that spot too much. In the coming draft, I have my first top-ten pick in about a decade. With several extra early picks, I'll be looking for defensive help in several places. A top-grade CB is still priority one, but DE has also emerged as a need area. I'd like to go in one of those two spots early, and then try to fill in later. (But how long have I had those two positions at the top of my list?) |
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01-23-2001, 10:56 AM
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#11 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2035 draft and camp
For once, I can look at the very top rookies, and at least entertain the notion that I might be able to acquire one of them. My scout and I see DT Brent Cobb as the top-graded player, but I smell a bust-DT Malcolm Keith looks "safer" to us. DE Jeremy Newman is the best outside lineman, but I hold out little hope of seeing him. The nest best is DE Lionel Hanley, but I think he's better than even money to bust also. Leslie Bailey is the best corner, but he's really a grade B+ guy-nice to get at pick #25 or so, but at #8, he may be a reach. QB Brandon Booker looks very good, and he'll be an early pick as well, I am certain. I decide that CB is too critical for us-there are two I'm considering. Joseph Brecht is more ready to go now, and has great potential in run defense and m-t-m coverage. He is weak in zone coverage, but we don't use it much anyway. Leslie bailey is a bit better across the board, and has a better interception rating. I have a tough time deciding between them, but then decide to go with the bigger hitter Brecht. In doing so, I pass on the outstanding DT Malcolm Keith, but I just have too pressing a need at CB to overlook it again. Lightning strike for us, however, and as our second early pick arrives, we see that CB Leslie Bailey remains available. I cannot believe it. We grab him with our other first round pick, and we may have just acquired not just the beginning of our CB solution but the total package. I'm ecstatic.
My special URFA this year is Colorado FB R.J. Stephens, who will be a solid reserve, and will fulfill our home-grown requirement for years to come. He ought to be pretty solid. I just missed out on a pretty decent return-skilled Colorado WR, who went in the draft's seventh round. I decide to release CB Amos Clayton, who doesn't fit into our picture at CB any longer. I'll take a cap hit, but I need the room, and he was a fine insurance policy-one that I hope that I won't need any longer. We hit camp with an extended group as follows:
This camp, I decide to go back to our man-to-man focus on defense, but we will stick with using only three main formations on offense. I'm going to dump the shotgun, and go with the strong-I, pro set, and single back as my three main formations on offense. I'm going to put more time into my secondary coverages, trying to overcome what (I'm sure) will be dreadful cohesion there. Here's how we break camp:
QB Alvin Weems is really developing, and he may make an excellent security blanket in case Fernando goes for broke in the free agent market. My rookie Keith Anthony also looks to have some potential there, though really not as good as Weems's. My to CBs worked out in camp all right-both look just about like they did as we drafted them. Everyone else looks fine, including LB Butch Long (whom I drafted thinking he was about 50/50 to bust). According to the guy who advised me (always suspect) we did a bang-up job with this rookie class. We actually receive a trade offer for QB Alvin Weems, and it's enough to make me pause and think. The Saints are offering their #2 pick in next year's draft for him. I decide that it isn't enough-I would have taken a #1 pick, but not a #2. He's too important for next year's negotiations, and he might end up being our man of the future. I also turn down a first rounder for WR Jason Battle, who I envision as my starting flanker for years to come. I look back on the draftees, and both DTs Cobb and Keith turned out fine-not busts, as I had suspected. QB Brandon Booker, the #1 overall pick to Baltimore, ought to make a serious difference for them-he should be a star pretty soon. I get a fifth rounder for S Spellman, and I judge him to be pretty mush surplusage anyway, so I take the modest deal. New Orleans offers me a second rounder for LB Tito Stone, and I come to a similar conslusion about him-he can go without much pain, as young Kelly Kennedy is ready to step in and be a star. I make a few cuts, and get down to 53 with some effort-had to let go a few players I would have preferred to keep. This year, I do not bring in any after-camp free agents-I have my local contingent covered already. Here is the final cut of 53 players:
I pretty often end up with cap room at the end of the season, but this is in part due to the nature of the way I'm playing this challenge. In most years, I'm bringing in a handful of URFAs for training camp-each one is currently requiring about $1m in cap room. SO, I bring them in, and after I see how everyone looks after camp, I necessarily make a lot of cuts-some cuts of rookies, some of veterans (now that I have seen that their replacements are going to be okay). Having around 8% of my cap unused at the end of the season is a bit high, but it's within my reasonable range. This year, I don't expect miracles form our secondary, and I suspect that we will continue to have troubles stopping good opposing pass attacks. Our defensive line is a bit thinner this year, but we will adjust as need be. Our offense should be sharp again, and I'll hope that RB Franz shows me more in the regular season like he did in last year's post-season. In any case, our line looks very, very good, and I'm optimistic that we can play well this year on that side. We were close last year, and we shouldn't have moved backwards anywhere-we have a shot here, in Fernando's contract season. |
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01-23-2001, 02:00 PM
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#12 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2035 season
For the team's setup this year, I will not be using the shotgun (for the first time). We'll use the pro-set and single back sets a lot-hopefully we will not become too predictable from those setups. RB Julio Franz has slipped a bit in his abilities, but we'll still use him as our feature back ahead of the solid Erik Walsh. Our WR corps is strong, and Fernando Stephenson should be set to have a great season. Our offensive line is even better than last year's version, with Mathis and Cintron looking fabulous on the left side, our new center Parrish almost fully developed, new RG Powell an improvement there, and RT Monrone back with his huge contract. Behind this line, we should have a tremendous offensive season. The defense looks good-the front seven will be solid again, though we lost depth at DE. The LB corps is coming together and looks tough, and our secondary is okay-but with an eye toward getting better in a hurry. This could be-on paper-- the best team we've fielded in quite a while. I never know quite what to expect on the franchise value "roster rating," but this year we are the 100, with San Diego next at 65. Buffalo, the defending champs (who beat us in the AFC Championship game last year), are fourth at 50. Our cohesion levels are a bit better-73-66-85-60. For what it's worth, QB Harry Wayne remains unclaimed. He took the Steelers to the Superbowl just two seasons ago, and was named second team all-pro last year with 29 TD passes. He is now seeking a one-year deal worth under $5m. I cannot sign him under my own rules, but clearly someone has to do it-this is a bona fide difference-maker out there. We will start out this year with many home games, and will have to suffer a 3-game road swing before ending up at home for Denver. Not too bad, I suppose-the Denver game could be huge, if they continue to improve. We roll through an undefeated pre-season with few injuries-DE Ray Duffy is the worst among them. In our opener, we delight the home crows with a 41-24 win over San Diego, a good display overall, but we really didn't fire on all cylinders. WR Perry Thagcher had 11 catches for 144 yards-he may have a breakout season this year catching passes from a well-protected Fernando. In Seattle, we get a 31-30 win, as CB Bart Halela's interception sets up the winning TD pass to Battle with a minute left. The tome has been set-we're going to be an "outscore 'em" kind of team this year. We win over KC 38-29, as we roll up a big lead, only to watch them post 22 fourth quarter points. (This happens all too often in my games) RB Julio Franz had a great game-149 yards and 2 TDs (plus a TD catch). We now host the 1-1 Bills, and we thrash them 44-16. We built a big lead with 3 TD passes from Fernando, and then sat on their offense to ride it out. After the bye week, we host 4-0 Chicago. We double them up 38-19, and our offense is really smoking. Julio Franz scored four times (2 rushing, 2 receiving) and had 183 total yards. He currently leads the NFL in rushing yards with 509, despite the fact that several teams have played 6 games to our 5. In Oakland, we get another win, 21-13. RB Julio Franz is dinged, and will miss a few games. We get to 7-0 with a win in KC, 34-11. RB Erik Walsh finds a lot of daylight, and he runs for 174 yards and 2 TDs behind our monster offensive line to lead the way. We get another win in Miami, 30-24 to get to the halfway point unbeaten. My 284 pound DT Justin Sadowski managed to rumble 82 yards with an interception for his first career score-what a sight! We've lost QR Battle for the year with a bum shoulder-but this is at least a deep position for us. At home against Seattle, we look tough-winning 34-13. Again, it's only after we gain a "safe" lead that we start giving up many points-10 in the fourth quarter here. Next we're home for Green Bay, and we beat them 44-19. Things are clicking very, very nicely-our offense is looking tremendous. San Diego, with their pass-heavy attack, was expected to be our main division rival. They give us a good game here, but we win it 17-14, and the Chargers drop to 4-7. Julio Franz has another good game, but exits with another fairly minor injury. We go home to host Oakland, and we thrash them 51-6. Stephenson throws for 4 TD, runs for another, and is positively brilliant. We head into Denver, who stand at 8-4, for our first of two clashes with the Broncos. they would love to end our streak here. It's a 21-21 tie as we enter the fourth quarter, but Fernando throws his 4th and 5th TD passes to put us ahead for good, and we go on to win it 35-28. Fernando had quite a day-23 or 29 for 304 yards, 5 TD, and no interceptions. We're in Pittsburgh next, and the Steelers are 7-6 without QB Harry Wayne (who sits unclaimed to this day). They're now led by Clarence Reado-a former backup on my Squirrel team. They also feature RB Patrick Sanderson-their big money prize from free agency who probably made it impossible for them to re-sign QB Wayne. They really did need an upgrade at RB, but it seems like they could have chucked Reado and kept both of those guys. Anyway, they host us next. After that lengthy lead-in about how they're a dumb team made of our leftover scrap, they predictably kick our asses, 44-14. They win the turnover battle 5-0, and that makes a huge difference. Reado had 3 TDs to lead the opportunistic offense-we actually outgained them, but lost by 30. With the specter of the undefeated season lifted, we can focus again. RB Franz will return this week, and WR Battle is getting close-he'll be in for the playoffs. In Minnesota, we give a good Viking team a spanking, 27-0. We move to 14-1, and our last game is trivia for us-we have the #1 seed locked up. Hosting Denver, the game is critical to them. Cincinnati joins us as the other top seed, and the other four slots are still open to about 10 different teams. Denver probably gets in with a win here, and probably is out if they lose. I like the sound of that. We send the Broncos packing with a 37-6 trouncing, and we get to 15-1 on the season. This one was out of reach quickly-we've been a fast-starting team this season, which is encouraging.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 3,922 yds, 56.5%, 7.64 ypa, 37*/15, 92.8 RB Julio Franz: 194-1,100 yds, 10 TD (5.6 ypc) RB Erik Walsh: 128-681 yds, 7 TD (5.3 ypc) WR Perry Thagcher: 67-1,031 yds, 9 TD (54.0%, 7 drops) WR Louie Foley: 54-788 yds, 5 TD (60.6%, 2 drops) OL unit: ~39% KRBs, 37 sacks allowed LT Donovan Mathis: 41/83 KRBs (49.3%), 7 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 80 tackles, 3.5 sacks LB Kelly Kennedy: 47 tackles, 5 sacks DE Brian Meyer: 11 sacks, 4 blocks, 10 hurries S Corwin Negrete: 70 tackles, 9 int, 8 PD, 48.0 PDQ CB Burt Halela: 45tackles, 6 int, 12 PD, 45.5 PDQ S Brian Hastings: 84 tackles, 4 int, 13 PD, 37.4 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 5.2 / 4.3 / 3.8 Passing: 7.6 / 6.5 / 6.5 Well, the stats sure did soar this year-Fernando played healthy, and put up a tremendous TD count again. The offensive line had a great run-blocking season, and our running game exploded for over 5 yards a carry-which includes everyone, all the inside power dives to the FBs, and so forth. Defensively, we were solid again-not gaudy numbers since our offense moved the ball so well, but this secondary got a lot of interceptions and wasn't near the problem as in past seasons. I'm not sure we're totally "there" yet, but this team has come a long way in a pretty short time-in no small part due to the unusually high quality of free agents I was able to pick up in the 2034 pre-season, who settled in last year and then delivered this year-big time. At 15-1, there is only one acceptable outcome from the postseason. That's where we go next. |
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01-23-2001, 05:53 PM
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#13 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2035 postseason
My opening opponent is Oakland, who beat Tennessee 21-7 to advance. They used to be a pass-happy team, and will probably try to throw on us. Their QB, B.J. Erickson, has been a perennial leader in offensive numbers, but this year he threw 22 picks. WR Nate Dotson is a great player, one of the best, and his elder cohort Byron Torres is still solid. Their defense is a bit suspect-and we'll look to go after them early and often. Could be a shootout. Oakland comes out throwing, but we stop them after one first down. We block the punt, and take over at their 22. One play, 7 points, as TE Strong takes it all the way down the middle. 7-0, good guys. The Raiders try again. Three and out, and after a good return, we take over at their 49. Stephenson hauls back and hits Battle for a long strike, but he gets pushed out at the 1 yard line. We were close to having our first two plays both go for TDs. Franz punches it in, and we have 2 our of 3-and a 14-0 lead. Oakland fumbles the kickoff, and we take over at their 19. A few plays later, Franz gets another short TD run, and we are up 21-0. The Raiders have got to be saying "what next?" What's next is another three and out, and we take over at our 43. It's the first play from scrimmage on our side of the field. It doesn't stay there long, as we march again-but this time we miss a FG. It's the first thing that has gone wrong yet. The Raiders get a good play to open their drive, and kick a FG to get on the board before the first quarter runs out. They add another fairly late in the second quarter, as the pace has slowed considerably. We respond with a FG just before halftime. The second half is a virtual draw, but we don't let them get anything going. We add one late TD, and the final score is 34-6. Our offensive stat sheet has everything we'd want to see-run for 160 yards, pass for 297 yards, allowed no sacks and committed no turnovers all day. TE Dixon Strong had 112 yards and a TD, but the attack was pretty balanced overall. We host Cincinnati for the AFC Championship-as it should be. The Bengals are a running team now, with RB Timothy Banks leading the charge. They play tough defense, led by MLB Kirk Strader (a familiar name, a guy I passed on in the draft) and a strong defensive line. Early on, each team has trouble running, and it's a standstill. We go for it on fourth and 2 from the 50, and we gain 18 to get into scoring territory. We get in, as Stephenson runs a 3-yard draw for the TD. As the second quarter winds down, we add a FG to go up 10-0. They cash in an interception with a short TD drive, and it's 10-7 at the half. It's not until the early fourth quarter that things get hot again-we charge in and score another TD pass to go up 17-7. Our defense doesn't give them much chance to get back into this one, and we go on to win it 17-7 in a fairly dull, but nonetheless solid game. We head into the Superbowl a heavy favorite against Atlanta. It's unclear which QB will start for them-their regular starter is dinged up, and it looks like a decent backup Antonio Odom will get the nod. They will focus on the run in any event, and they'll throw two or three different backs at us. Their defense is solid, led by a very good DE Spencer Richard. They are especially tough against the pass, which could give us some trouble. We are in remarkably good health for this point in the season. LB Kelly Kennedy is dinged, but will play. Past that, we have almost no important injuries, as DT Edwin Grant returns to the starting lineup after missing the previous two playoff games. We get the ball first, and have no luck. They dig out of a hole, but then punt also. So much for an explosive start. Our engines get going with our second possession, a textbook 64-yard TD drive. 5 runs, 3 passes, and a 14-yard strike to the split end for the TD. Things are calm for a while, as neither team is rolling. With about 2 minutes left in the second quarter, Hastings picks off Odom and set up at their 49. However, we can't get going, and then Fernando tries to force a pass to Thagcher, and ends up giving up a near-TD interception, which they take down to our 18. A penalty give them a second chance, and they get the TD, to tie it up with 55 second left before the half. Stephenson hits Thagcher for the big play this time, and we add a FG to hold a halftime 10-7 edge. In the third, Atlanta comes out with a nice drive, but they miss a FG, and it stays 10-7. They are getting more traction that our last two opponents, and we're going to have to play 60 minutes in this game. (I saw a reference to a "snowy field" - where the hell is this Superbowl being played, anyway?) We get a great run from backup RB Walsh for 38 yards, and we setup at their 27 yard line. Frank gets a swing pass down inside the 10, and Stephenson takes it in himself for the TD. Down 17-7, they go three and out, and we have seized the momentum-hopefully for good. A good pass to TE Strong gets us into scoring territory, and we add another FG, to make it 20-7 as the third quarter ends. On a carry from deep in our territory, Franz fumbles it away, setting them up for great position. One play, and their injured starter gets a TD pass, and it's a 6 point game. Eight minutes left, and the crows is awakened from their slumber, and they are rocking all of a sudden, rooting for David against Goliath. We take over at our 29 yard line. Franz runs behind LTMathis, but Mathis is down with an injury. More bad news for our team, as our mood swings eerily negative. Walsh gets stuffed up the middle, but gets anther run, and he breaks through for a very nice 18 yard gainer. Our next three plays get us only 8 yards, to their 40, and we decide to go for a long FG. Foreman kicks it for the 57 yarder, and he hits it among much jubilation! A gutsy call (that I had nothing to do with) that pays off, and we lead by 9 points now. With 4:12 left, Atlanta's backup QB slings a 44-yar pass to put the Falcons again into scoring position at our 39. However, three plays and penalty net them -10 yards, and they punt from our 49. We take over with 3:16 remaining. We go three and out, and they get it back at their 42, with 2:29 left. Three completions in four plays notch a touchdown, and the crowd goes wild as the margin slips to 2 points. With 1:40 remaining, they opt for a regular kickoff, trusting their defense. We try a run, and get stuffed for a 3 yard loss. They are down to 1 time out left. Franz gets a carry for 7, and they cal their final time out with 1:22 left. On third and 6, we hand off again, and Walsh gets 8 yards-a huge play, that gives us the first down, and should seal the victory. Stephenson takes a knee twice, we run out the clock, and it's title time for the Black Squirrels! Colorado Springs 23, Atlanta 21. A championship season, and possibly one of the best teams in league history. We went 18-1 all told, and put together some pretty impressive numbers along the way. I'll have to dig and see if our 536 points is a league record-but it has to at least be close. We post several award-winners, not surprisingly. QB Fernando Stephenson gets the triple award-first team, OPOY, and MVP. He is denied the quadruple by his teammate, safety Brian Hastings, whose 6 tackles and an interception made his the most notable defensive star. TE Dixon Strong is named to the first team, as are two Squirrel linemen-LT Donovan Mathis, and LG Marc Cintron. FB Calvin Barba, in a bit of a surprise, is named to the league second team for his 361 total yards of offense. What a season-we managed to hold on to the veteran acquisitions from 2034, add in a few quality young players, and then our offense just snapped into overdrive behind that tremendous line. Next year will be tough financially, but we're glad to have this moment. T Donovan Mathis had won a title with Tennessee in 2029, but he is our only player who has a ring before now. We're very glad to get one for guys like LB Bernie Coleman, DT Edwin Grant, and of course QB Fernando Stephenson. Hopefully we can follow this up by staying in place as a major contender for at least a couple more years-though I sense that Donovan Mathis may look to cash out after this, his 15th season. Regardless, a great moment for this franchise. |
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01-23-2001, 09:08 PM
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#14 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Congrats!
Just wanted to add that I'm enjoying this a lot. Also, picking up a lot of useful strategy ideas. Keep it up! |
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01-24-2001, 01:48 PM
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#15 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 pre-camp
Our Black Squirrels salute our two retirees-T Donovan Mathis, and LB Edgar Ragan. Both were part of our free agent goldmine in the 2034 pre-season, and both were significant contributors to our successes in the 2035 season. T Mathis was named to the league's first team all-pro squad, and he definitely made a huge difference in our offensive line's performance. They both will be missed. Career Squirrel WR Kris Ferderer is inducted into the league Hall of Fame after five years out. He came within 11 yards of the career record in receiving yards, and is among the top in all relevant categories. An essential player in the team lore-and on the receiving end of "the score," our glorious highlight-reel play against Jacksonville in the 2027 AFC Championship game. With two (three?) home playoff games, we cleared a $71m profit last season-one of our healthiest ever, despite a jump in coaching costs. We sold out the entire stadium, as usual. We haven't raised ticket prices in years, and we don't need to do so. Our 60 year old scout is still under contract, but I start looking around, as he'll tail off pretty shortly. I don't find anyone good enough to displace my incumbent, but I'll keep looking-we'll need someone soon. Our coach, finally with a championship ring, certainly gets to stick around. With the retirements of two veteran players, we'll have a little extra cap room, but both players were fairly inexpensive, so I'll still have many challenges-not the least of which will be replacing the two departed vets. Here's the roster situation as we begin free agency:
Well, $109m to spend is good, but we clearly have a lot to do. QB Fernando Stephenson comes off an all-world year (and has been of all-star quality for four years running) and will deserve and demand big-time money-perhaps $40m a season, or more. G Marc Cintron is a pretty critical component to our offensive line, and he pretty much has to stay. T Herman Strand probably isn't worth real money, but we need someone to play tackle on this team. WR Casey Henry is a fine backup receiver, but he'll be too costly and will certainly go to start elsewhere. S Corwin Negrete is a tough case-his apparent talents are good but not great (current ratings of 54/54/59/69…52) but the guy just makes plays (23 int, 26 PD in four years as a starter-including 16 ints in the last two seasons, and a career PDQ of 38.8). Add in the fact that he is a Colorado guy, and it would be very, very nice to keep him on hand. Among the younger players (RFAs) QB Alvin Weems is a standout-a starting-caliber (and perhaps star-caliber) QB whom I'd love to keep around, but I doubt I can afford. RB Erik Walsh has been a very solid backup to Julio Franz, and he'd be a great asset-but wil doubtlessly ask for ungodly sums of money to stay. FB Calvin Barba has been good, but is replaceable. LB Kelly Kennedy is just starting to peak-he's a guy we need to keep, to anchor our LB corps for a long time. L Harris Lincoln is actually very solid-I wish I had drafted him rather than signing him to a one-year URFA deal. S Ray LeBlond was a very good return man for us last season, but will likely be left out if he demands a lot more than minimum salary. All in all-a lot of mouths I'd like to feed. Well, here it goes. QB Fernando Stephenson, fresh off his triple-award season, has set the bar for his services-he suggests a 4yr deal for $216m, with $64m guaranteed in signing bonus. He wants just about 18% of my cap this year, and it would grow to roughly 25-28% by 2039. I don't see how I can go forward without trying to retain him, but I had grossly underestimated the cost of doing so. I haggle a bit, and put in a bid-4yrs, $200m, evenly disbursed. He puts it on his list, but I suspect there will be others. I put in 4yrs, $58m for G Marc Cintron. He's another key component, and I don't mind putting up 5% of my cap for him. For now, that's where I will stop. S Corwin Negrete is appealing, but I need to see where I am before I can commit another $12m or so to a player who may very well be on the bench this season. After week one, I'm the top bidder-the only bidder-for G Cintron, who I expect to sign with us soon. However, Philadelphia has put in a bid for Fernando that literally boggles my mind-5yrs, $315m. They're up to $63m a year-and I'm struggling to come up with $50! (Of course, they'll all renegotiate with him next season, and my offers are real) I bump my offer to 5yrs, $280m-a flat $56m a season for the next five years. He's in his 11th season-this deal would take him into his 15th, right about the point where he'll start losing serious physical ability. Tough call, all around. I decide that I cannot commit another $10m a year on top of this offer (which is already well beyond what I had planned to spend for him). He has a 60 loyalty rating-I guess I'll have to put that to the test here. After weeks 2 and 3, the deals are still pending-PHI is still atop the list for Fernando. Same for weeks 4 and 5. After week 6, G Cintron has gotten several other offers, but mine is still the highest money, and I still expect him to return. In week 7, he does, and he's locked up for four more years. I have $96m in cap room, and I'm haggling over a QB contract. I finally decide to go in and bump up my offer a bit, to see if that can break the logjam. I put in 4yrs, $240m-an even $60m per year. My hope is that his demands will decline after that time, and we might be able to hold on to him in year five more cheaply than $55-60m. In week 9, just we are approaching my open free agent hunt, the dam breaks. . . Fernando Stephenson will be a Squirrel through the year 2039, and possibly the rest of his career. It lends stability to our offense and our team, but puts us in a precarious financial situation, needless to say. When week 11 hits, I'm down to about $37m in cap room-enough to look around, but probably not enough to make a big splash, especially with the RFAs that I want to keep. S Corwin Negrete has also gone unsolicited, and his asking price has dropped to under $9m for a one-year deal. I modify that into a three year deal for a little over $7m, and he listens to it. In week 11, he takes my offer right away. In week 12, my punter is signed away by Miami-I'll make efforts to secure another Colorado guy if possible. I advance to the final weeks. QB Harry Wayne, who sat out all of last year after being summarily dumped by Pittsburgh, has gotten no signs of interest in the FA process. Odd. There area few other pretty good players who slipped through this year, including a few QBs (my recent trade Kennedy Williamson among them). I put in a cheap offer for OT Monty Franklin, who will be a decent insurance policy there, and can start this year and next if need be. He's the only new FA I bring in this season-I'm still minding my pennies for a belt-tightening ahead. I am offered the #1 overall pick plus a decent WR for DE Brian Meyer, but I refuse. Despite the fact that he is only a "good" (not great) DE, he's the best we have, and I do not want to back track there. As we look into this draft, I imagine that we'll be looking for best players available. Looking toward next year's lineup needs-we'll probably be losing RB Julio Franz, CB Bart Halela, TE Dixon Strong (maybe), and FB Corey Boselli. It would be nice to have a quality second year player to step in at one of those places, just to be more prepared than usual. I'll try to grab a good-looking RB this season at the appropriate point, and I'll need to look for WR help as well (everybody's contract is up after next year). [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-24-2001).] |
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01-24-2001, 02:37 PM
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#16 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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What became of young master Weems? Glad Cintron is back, though. To my OL-obsessed mind, he seemed the key to FA this year. [This message has been edited by daedalus (edited 01-24-2001).] |
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01-24-2001, 03:19 PM
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#17 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 draft and camp
This looks to be a good draft for offensive linemen, including a star OT from Colorado. I have no idea what might fall to our pick at #36, but we'll play it by ear. The Colorado OT goes with the #4 pick overall-and I though I had some chance to see him! Ha! As I'm a few picks away, my scout likes a DE from Marshall as one of the top guys left, and I'd love to grab him. I cross my fingers, and he falls to our #36 pick-I'm very happy with our good fortune.
Trusting my scout, it's a successful draft all around. I'm not too thrilled about my handling of the second round-I wanted a T and a WR, and though the depth at WR was good enough that I could take the T first. Between the two picks, 5 out of 10 guys who went were WRs, and the talent pool thinned out raipdly. Davidson is fine, but he's not as good as the guys I coveted more. I ended up getting both of the Ots I coveted for round 2, as Buxo fell to my late third round pick. We have $10.9m in cap room after the draft, which will be enough to re-sign LB Kelly Kennedy, but that's just about it. I need to make some decisions here. I decide to cut DE Ray Duffy, and I hope that my two young DEs can handle the job this year. LB Kennedy gets a 3yr, $26m deal, and I'm back down to $8.6m in cap room-enough to sign rookie to fill the roster back up to 53, but that's about it. The Jets give me an old OG and a seventh round pick for TE Kenny Delgado, who is made expendable after drafting a superior backup this year. I cut the guard, who was making $4.5m even without a bonus. No other offer passes the "reality test." I also cut CB Leland Meier. CB Tommy Long is my "special" free gent this year, who gets a long term deal. He ought to be a decent third or fourth corner for a while, and will lend some stability to my reserves at that tough position. I pick up a few odds and ends URFA players-I've gotten two legitimate breakout players in the last decade doing this, so I do not discount its importance. At the end of the line, I push open enough room to re-sign LB Ricardo Finley, as I need him as my #4 linebacker this year. I'm left with a problem-no cap room, but only 52 players. I figure that I can work it out after training camp-I'll get to my full 53 in the end. As we hit camp, here is the scouting report:
This year in training camp, we will hope to move back toward man-to-man defense, and we'll stick with the same three offensive formations as last season-the pro set, strong-I, and the single back. After camp, here is the revised scouting report. . .
I'm pleased with everyone's development in camp. RB Julio Franz continues his decline, but past him, we are in pretty solid shape. Our young players are improving-last year's top picks at CB both look good (Bailey a little better, but he started last season) and second rounder S Brenden Honeycutt looks like the real thing, too. My rookie class holds up well through their first camp-DE Lonnie Sutton looks like he'll be very, very good-probably better than Brian Meyer. Everyone else held form-no great surprises for good or ill. To make things work out financially, I need to move out a costly player. I have trouble deciding, until I check my trade offers. I got an offer for DE Meyer, but also one for CB Bart Halela. Miami offers a third round pick plus al elderly LB for Halela. I cut the LB, but I get the draft pick and I clear out the cap room I need to fill out my roster. I sign S Willie Duncan, a Colorado State player who slipped through free agency this season. I also pick up a local player at LB, Dusty Grier, who should be useful as a deep reserve. That brings me to 53 players, with the need for any rookie cuts at all. It's a solid-looking roster we have, though I cannot believe that we really are spending a fourth of our cap room on one guy. Well, at least it pretty clearly seems to be the right guy. Here's the final cut:
This year, we will shoot to defend out title. We lost an overpowering left tackle and some WR depth, but past that have a pretty comparable team. I think our OL will still be very good, and Fernando ought to thrive once again in our system. Defensively, I think we'll be improved overall-the D-line and secondary both made nice steps forward this year. We should be tough. |
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01-24-2001, 03:53 PM
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#18 |
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n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nashville, TN
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Quik,
I'm sorry, but you're going to have to step it up a bit. Having to wait until nearly noon to read he latest update on the Squirrels is unacceptable. As a result of your lack of motivation I had to resort to work projects to keep myself busy today. And if that wasn't bad enough, there has been a mere one update since. Please get your priorities in order.  Joe [This message has been edited by JoeReymann (edited 01-24-2001).] [This message has been edited by JoeReymann (edited 01-24-2001).] |
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01-24-2001, 05:08 PM
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#19 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Sorry Joe, but it's likely to get worse before it gets better. I'm in transition from my slowest tiem of year (at work) to undoubtedly my busiest time. I'll still get some FOF in as a stress-buster, but it won't be as often as I'd like.
Alas, at least I seem to have found a franchise that I haven't lost interest in... though I am no longer suffering any financial woes, I am still finding my House Arrest Squirrels to be a pretty good balance of roster-building challenges... enough that I really never feel like I have a "complete" team in place, and that I have to make judgments about what to improve, and what to put off. |
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01-24-2001, 05:18 PM
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#20 |
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n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nashville, TN
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Ugh, nothing worse than a FOF slowdown.
Well the more you have to work, the more I have to work because I'm not reading your career threads! I agree that you seem to have a pretty good system in place for keeping the game challenging. You definitely seem to have more of the typical roller coaster pattern of good and not-so-good years. Much more interesting than win after win. Keep up the great writing! Joe |
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01-25-2001, 11:32 AM
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#21 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 season
Setting up our gameplan calls for "more of the same" as last year, not surprisingly. I will go with more man-to-man coverage schemes in general, and I'm going to try one other change with my secondary. I plan to use a "nickel" package more frequently this year-I'm bumping my rating there to 75, and I plan to slot S Brenden Honeycutt into the "nickel back" role, to get him playing time. Since my LB depth is a bit suspect, I think this works well for this team right now. This year, our 100 roster rating is followed by San Diego's 74, then several in the 60s. QB Fernando Stephenson is earning about 21.5% of my salary cap, which is a high mark for this franchise by far. We've made selective cohesion advances, with our rating up to 73-67-89-64. This year, we have 4 of our last 6 games at home, but we will end up in Denver. We'll see if they can hold up their end of the "big game" concept by winning at least 8 or 9 by that time. I'm pretty sure we can. In pre-season, we take a beating at WR, with Foley and rookie Davidson both going down for 2-3 months. We'll slot in URFA Melvin Major into the heavily-used third WR slot, and hope for the best. WR depth had been a team strength in recent years, but we couldn't afford to keep them together. With Davidson a minor training camp bust (I really just noticed that) we're looking thinner than we have in a while, but Major is a pretty good-looking rookie-I considered making him my seven-year keeper. We start out in Oakland. It's a typical FOF fourth quarter shootout, with the Raiders' QB B.J. Erickson throwing the winning TD pass with 32 second left to seal a 31-28 victory. The big problem is that they outrushed up substantially, which is a serious concern. We get back on our feet with a 40-10 home drubbing of San Diego. We hold them to 125 total yards, and we get our running game in gear with Franz and Mena both playing pretty well. Rookie WR Melvin Major has 7 catches for 71 yards, and is turning into a pleasant surprise. A 38-24 win in Seattle keeps it going, and Major once again leads the team in receptions. WR Perry Thagcher goes down with a knee injury, and we are suddenly getting truly desperate for WRs. I slot my third RB Mercury Guthrie into the starting split end spot, and leave Melvin Major in the third wideout role, where he has flourished so far. We escape Indy with a 17-16 win. It's a very even game, but Fernando's fourth quarter TD pass to backup TE Ty Brennan seals it for us. We get a merciful bye in week 5, and hope to heal up a bit. We get a 28-21 win in Portland, as rookie RB Alex Mena carries the load for an injured Julio Franz. Fernando is great, though, and we hold off a late 2TD rally to win it. We come home and smack KC 44-20 to get to 5-1 on the year. We score twice on punt returns, one by rookie WR Hamerink, and another by WR Jason Battle. Mercury Guthrie, currently slotted as our #2 WR and #3 RB, has a pretty big day-103 yards rushing and 4 catches for 30 and a TD. My return specialist WR Preston Hamerink had 6-122 in addition to his punt return TD. Everybody is being called upon to contribute, as we have now lost WR Jason battle for the rest for the regular season. I've never seen anything like this WR/TE squad (both TEs are hurt also)-I'm now declaring triage on guys, only those with severed limbs can actually receive medical attention from my limited staff. Lowly Seattle sneaks up on us, and they beat us 13-10 in our own home. They score their TD on a chump blocked FG return, and it's enough as our offense struggled all year. We get back in the W column with a 21-10 home victory over Miami, but we're still not thrilled. RB Mercury Guthrie runs for 50 yards and 2 TDs, and also gets 2 catches in occasional WR duty. We've now lost DT Edwin grant for probably the whole season, but several of our injured WRs are getting close to returning. We face a big game in San Diego-we are tied at 6-2 with Oakland, and the Chargers are one game back. We come away with a 28-21 win, and a great boost to our division chances. Our running game remains sluggish-Franz is just out f gas, it seems-but our renewed WR corps certainly helps us get it done through the air, through Louie Folye is re-injured and probably out for the year now. Next we're in Atlanta, to face the 7-2 Falcons-a Superbowl rematch. We jump out to a 20-0 lead at the half, and coast to a 30-17 final. Julio Franz responds to my criticism with a 127 yard day, his best of the season. With Oakland suffering a two-game skid, we have pulled a full two games ahead in the division race, as we come home to take on the Raiders. Our 35-0 domination leaves little doubt, and we look very sharp. We move to 9-2, and we start to think about playoff seeding-we'd like the home field advantage again here, and have a one game lead in that regard. A 31-13 win in Cinti gets us one game further, and Perry Thagcher has a great game with 147 yards and 2 TDs. We host Denver for our first of two with them, and it's another year of mismatch for us-they are at 4-8 on the season. However, as we know-rivalry games aren't about records. The Denver fans are thrilled as the Broncos rise up and beat the Squirrels, 24-20-their CB D.J. Rainwater gets two interception return TDs on the day, and he is clearly the man of the hour. They got 146 total yards of offense, but won it 24-20-incredible. RB Guthrie has another productive day, leading the running game (for Franz, who is injured again), but it isn't enough. Our home game against Cinti is very big-they are at 9-4, and we are 10-3. Pittsburgh is tied with us for the AFC top seed. Many top-level playoff implications here. We break a 9-9 tie with two fourth quarter TDs, and win it 23-9. We follow up with a 17-10 win over Carolina, and get to 12-3 on the year-now a game ahead of Pittsburgh, but not yet assured of the #1 seed. We will, however, have a bye week no matter what. In Denver, we wrap up our regular season. This will, of course, wrap up the Broncos' season, as they will miss the playoffs again. However, they do get one laurel that they can cherish-a season sweep of our Squirrels. They win it 7-6, and send us to 12-4 on the year. By virtue of Pittsburgh's loss, we still hold on to the #1 seed, so it's not meaningful itself-but it still stings. We again outgained them by more than 2 to 1, but they kept us from posting more then 2 FGs on the day.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 4,101yds*, 65.5%*, 6.95 ypa, 26/10, 93.3* RB Julio Franz: 169-681 yds, 9 TD (4.0 ypc) RB Mercury Guthrie: 130-620 yds, 5 TD (4.7 ypc), 48 rec-436 yds, 2 TD (71.6%, 0 drops) WR Perry Thagcher: 59-927 yds, 7 TD (61.0%, 6 drops) WR Melvin Major: 72-707 yds, 4 YD (64.8%, 3 drops) WR/KR Preston Hamernik: 30-434 yds, 2 TD; 7.2 PR avg, 1 TD; 28.4 KR avg, 1 TD OL unit: ~33% KRBs, 32 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 69 tackles, 8.5 sacks DE Brian Meyer: 16.5 sacks, 1 block, 6 hurries CB Leslie Bailey: 48 tackles, 5 int, 1 TD, 4 PD, 34.2 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.0 / 3.9 / 3.8 Passing: 6.9 / 6.4 / 6.6 I guess the total stats can be misleading, since we did outscore our collective opponents by more than 10 points a game, with the league's highest PF and third-lowest PA, we had to be more than a "smidgen" better than average. Regardless, we didn't really dominate in any one aspect. Not an outstanding season like last year, but we still were strong. It looks as though we may get WR Battle back for the playoffs, which would be a big gain. Fernando adjusted this year and threw a lot of short passes (to whomever was on the field with him- guy with numbers like 14 brought right from the practice squad) but we still had the #2 passing offense in the league. We have the league's best record, and are the defending champions-the stage is set. . . |
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01-25-2001, 11:38 AM
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#22 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Sorry I missed your earlier question daedalus. Young QB Weems was demanding about $21m in the first year of his extension, and as close to the cap as I was, there was just no way.
In retrospect, I should have taked the trade offer I got for him at the beginning of 2035-- a second round pick. He barely got any PT in 2035, and then walked away-- only to sit unclaimed in the free agent pool all season long. (The discarded ring-wearing QB Harry Wayne was finally picked up by Atlanta this year, and started all season, leading them to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth) As for G Marc Cintron, I have to agree-- he was critical. This year (though I didn't post individual numbers) I might have three all-star linemen, Cintron and his two neighbors (T Monroe and C Parrish)-- each of whom was very solid. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-25-2001).] |
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01-25-2001, 12:34 PM
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#23 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Congrats to the Denver Broncos on the season sweep of the Colorado Springs Sad Squirrels. This will mark the re-emergence of the Broncos as the dominant football power of Colorado and the AFC West.
Go Broncos!!!!!!!
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-25-2001, 01:17 PM
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#24 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2036 postseason
Cincinnati wins out in their game against the Jets, and they advance to take us on in our playoff opener. They just have a lot of weapons-a hallmark of the Bengals teams over the years, the league's historically most successful franchise. QB Duane Vance is their centerpiece, but they run a lot more than most Cinti clubs have in the past. I'm disappointed with the news on WR Jason Battle. It doesn't look lie he can play now, and it also uis clear that his injuries this year have reduced his overall skill set-I had planned to use him as a cornerstone player, but now I'm starting to think that doesn't make sense any longer-I may let him walk away after next season, when his rookie contract expires. We get the ball first against Cinti, and start out at our 20. With Julio Franz still ailing, Guthrie gets the start at RB. We've got early trouble-they stop us quickly, get a good punt return, a short drive, and a FG. However, we respond with a nice score-Stephenson hits his main man Thagcher for a 48-yard TD to put us ahead. After a punt trade or two, we enter the second quarter about to punt it away again. This one is returned 72 yards for the TD, and Cinti goes up 10-7. Stephenson hits Major on a 32-yard play in the next sequence to get us into position, and we deliver a tying FG. The half ends at that deadlock. In the third quarter, Cinti gets a FG to go ahead 13-10. It's been a pretty conservatively played game-lots of field position battling. My KR Hamernik gets a good return to our 41, and then we complete a pass to TE Strong to their 41. We can't advance any farther in, and punt to their 9. On our next possession, we get driving, and are in scoring territory when the third quarter ends. Guthrie springs a 20-yard run for the TD, and we take the lead 17-13. Oddly, Cinti opts to go for it on fourth-and-five from their 39, with 11 minutes left. We stop them cold, and take over. (It might have been a fake punt, but I couldn't tell from the narrative) We use the field position to add a FG, and take a 7 point lead. A penalty on the ensuing kick puts them at their 1 yard line. They dig out, but only to punt later. We get the ball with 6:16, and get two first downs before Stephenson is picked off at the Cinti 42, and it's returned to our 25. With 4:16 left, this possession is huge. They get tuns for 3 and 12, and set up first down at our 10. Vance throws the tying TD, and we're knotted up with 3:09 left to play. Though burned once, Stephenson is not afraid to let it fly, and he drives us to our 48 in one minute. With 41 second left, we are up to the Cinti 30 yard line-enough for a long FG attempt. Two runs knock us back three yards, and with 8 seconds left, we line up for a 50 yarder. Foreman kicks it, and it just sails to the right-no good. Cinti wins the toss, and they get the ball first (of course). We stop them, and take over at our 30. Passes to Hamernik and Thagcher get us to the Cinti 38. Guthrie makes a catch then a run for first downs, and we have first and goal from their 7. On third down, Guthrie takes it in, and the Squirrels get the win, 26-20. Whew. Next we host Pittsburgh, who was tough this season as well. They are without RB Patrick Sanderson, but they have been for over half the season, and have done okay with his lousy understudy Tom Culjat-who has 1,097 yards on the year. QB Clarence Reado (another former Squirrel) is their signal caller, but his job is mostly to hand off, and run the play action pass. They win with their offensive line play, and a very tough defense, with a great CB in Gabe Summers and a good LB corps. We again start with the ball, and the first play is a quick slant to Guthrie, who has returned to his third-receiver role, with the return of RB Julio Franz. We send the message quickly-you need to play this guy. Stephenson throws four straight short passes, and then goes long to hit Thagcher for the 28-yard TD strike. Very nice. Reado engineers a nice drive to get the Steelers 3 points. Our next drive look good, until they sack Stephenson and force a fumble, and they avoid giving up another score. Pittsburgh wraps up the first quarter with a long FG attempt, which they miss. Julio Franz fumbles on the first play of our next possession, and the Steelers take over at our 39. We keep them outside FG range, and they punt. We drive up, and add a FG to our total-it's 10-3 now. We get it back, and drive again-this time for a TD pass to TE Strong. So far, they have two turnovers, and that's been the only way they have stopped us-our punter might as well have been inactive. With 14 seconds left, Stephenson hit Thagcher for a 41 yard gain down to the Steelers' 15, and we have 2 seconds. We add the FG, and it's 20-3 at the half. Still no sign of their defense even slowing our offense down. Our first second-half possession is another FG, and things are getting out of hand on the Steelers' side. We take over, and miss a FG attempt-still no punting. Finally, on the last play of the third quarter, we face 4th and 15 and have to punt it away. The die is cast, though, and we manhandle the Steelers all the way home, and punch our Superbowl tickets with a 26-3 victory. Green Bay is out opponent in the Superbowl this year. Their 10-6 record was actually good enough for the #2 seed, and they beat Dallas like a drum to get here. Green Bay's QB Craig Manderville was 23/16 on the year, and will throw the ball a lot against us, we expect-including lots of underneath stuff. They use a 43, with lots of pressure from their front four, and they'll zone us to death in the secondary. I don't see any obvious matchups that favor them, other than our hideous injury list that will have 6-8 starters playing hurt. For us, Julio Franz is hurt again, but we will give him the start. WR Thagcher is fine, after playing hurt (but well) the last few weeks. DE BrianMeyer il play hurt, as will DT Edwin Grant and S Corwin Negrete. Its tough out there, but you just have to get through this one game. We get the ball first, but GB shuts us down, and we punt it right over. On our second possession, things look much better, ad we drive 72 yards for the DT run by Franz, right up the gut behind G Cintron. We try a FG after our next possession, but it falls short-but we're still looking pretty good so far. We're driving again as the first quarter expires-at this point we have outgained them 137-16. Through the second quarter, it's a little more even, but neither side can translate their successes into points, and it's 7-0 at the half. We come out in the second half re-energized, and our first drive nets another TD run, this time by the rookie Mena. At 14-0, we look to be in control. the Packers get a nice 44-yard pass play to get into scoring range, and get a FG to erase the goose egg. Our next drive matches their FG, and we lead 17-3. I sense that the scoring pace could really pick up here. GB drives, and on a fourth and goal from our 7, Manderville hits a TD pass to get them within 7. With 11:11 remaining, it's looking like it might be a game after all. In our next possession, we cannot get rolling, and punt it back to the Packers' 39. We stop them and get it back with 7:11 left. Stephenson goes to the air, and hits two straight passes that move us into their side of the field. We get another pair of first downs, and it's at their 20. A 15-yard TD pass to our TE Strong, and we pull ahead by 14, with 2:52 left. it looks close, but not quite a done deal yet. Less so when Mandrville gets a great pass play from midfield all the way down to our 4. A quick strike for the TD, and it's again a 7 point game. With 1:34 left, I expect an onside kick. Instead, they kick deep and rely on their defense. It's our chance to put it away here. Were I calling plays, I'd use someone other than Franz, a know fumbler. However, we go with our veteran, and he gets 1 yard on first down. He gets 6 on second down. Stephens, our FB, gets 2 yards on third and 3, and we face a fourth and 1. We get a crappy punt (34 yards) and they get a nice return (21 yards) and it's GB first and 10 from our 47, with 35 seconds left. Unbelievably, the Packers' QB escapes a rush and unleashes a long pass which is compete to our 5 yard line. They have 19 seconds-maybe three plays-to score a tying TD. It only takes them one. A quick slant, and they are in, and tie the game at 24. We are stunned. In overtime, we win the coin toss and get the ball first. We get 9 yards, and have to punt. They can't get going wither, but on third down, Manderville gets picked off by LB Bernie Coleman, and we take over at the GB 37. Two completions for Hamernik get us first downs, and Stephenson scrambles to get us down to the 2 yard line. We line up for a 19-yard FG-a total chip shot-and Foreman hits it to win the game. Our first overtime Superbowl, and the Squirrels take it to repeat as league champions! TE Dixon Strong, with a great game-10 catches for 123 yards and a TD, is awarded the MVP honors. What a patchwork team we ended up with-when I sort my team by salary, I find that 8 of my 12 top-paid players are injured as we end the season, an obviously tough row to hoe. Anyway, we eked it out over the feisty Packers, and come away with the franchise's first repeat championship. QB Fernando Stephenson again gets the triple award-first team QB, Offensive player of the year, and league MVP. My tackle Tommie Monroe, who moved from RT to LT this year, earned first team honors-while his colleague LG Marc Cintron garnered second team. Second year CB Leslie Bailey got first-team honors, which was unexpected, but appreciated. A fascinating season, and now we have to wonder-how long can this go on? Is Fernando Stephenson so good that he can just carry any offense to great heights (as seemed to be the case this year)? Our excellent offensive line ought to be together for a while, so we might be able to field a very similar offensive team for the years to come. With our defense still on the improve-is this team capable or even more? |
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01-25-2001, 04:01 PM
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#25 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2037 pre-draft
The streets of Colorado Springs have gone quiet. The banners have barely come down from the celebratory parade. We are barely past all the hoopla and hype, and not even focusing on the important off-season, when the local media break into their broadcasts with an emergency announcement. . . Fernando Stephenson has retired from football. The great quarterback of the Colorado Springs Black Squirrels, only 33 years of age, has foregone the remainder of a very lucrative contract, and will launch a movie career. Team spokespersons were without comment, but the news rocks this peaceable town. The team's complexion will certainly be completely upended. The effect of another veteran's retirement-that of LB Bernie Coleman-is almost a pebble in the pond following this tsunami. Regardless, the team will move onward into a new era without its veteran leaders on each side of the ball. ::gathering ourselves... dusting off... returning to the business at hand:: 2037 was another strong year financially for the Black Squirrels. We cleared $74m, despite paying out the huge contract to Stephenson and an overall increase in player costs. Ticket revenue was up, despite no price increases being imposed. Our attendance was again flawless. We have our front office in place, but I will again look for a replacement scout. My current scout has ratings that remain solid except for DL (where he has slipped all the way to poor-which causes me some angst about recent draft picks). My coach is slipping, too-he's 63 years old, and many of his VG ratings have slipped to "good." I cannot find a particularly appetizing scout, but I do like one available coach. I bid on 39y/o Todd Rowan, but Chicago outbids me mightily to hold on to him. I decide that I'll sit tight with my aging pair, and we'll see if we can hold this thing together a while longer. As we enter free agency, here is our roster situation-the obvious hole being on top:
The $55m isn't a lot in this climate (where a starting-caliber player might cost $20m). Fortunately, I'll be okay without most of my free agents. G Powell is good, but not worth a huge investment. OG Pierce might warrant money after things have died down. DT Ferguson might be a keeper, but doing so would probably mean making a cut somewhere. Among younger players, WR Melvin Major and RB Mercury Guthrie were nice players last year-but they will demand "stupid money" and will almost certainly be unaffordable. All in all-should be quiet for re-signings. That said, we need a QB. Hopefully, somebody will slip through the early stages of free agency, and be there for me in week 11 and beyond. If not, this will be a tough year with young Keith Anthony at the helm. He has thrown exactly one pass in the NFL-an interception. A career rating of 0.0 isn't what you're looking for. We probably will try to sign a veteran free agent LB this season, too. They seem to fairly often be around at the end of free agency, and I'll try to cherry-pick a productive guy who can give me three decent, cheap years. I'd survive at DT without Benjamin Ferguson, but I'd much rather keep him here. I'm already paying DT Edwin Grant $15m, and Ferguson will cost at least $18-20m-I might have to cut Grant to afford him. I put in an offer of 4yrs, $86m for him, and at least he listens to it. Chicago (who also got the coach I wanted) is atop the bidding for Ferguson-about $20m higher than my offer. I don't know what to do here-it's already a pretty deep position for me, but Ferguson is a very good player. I don't want to commit so much money that I cannot do anything else, though-it's a tough call. I bump to 4yr, $90m-still about $4m a year less that the Bears are offering. Ferguson sees my offer, and does the honorable thing-he follows the money, The Bears have their man, and I have a big open wallet. In week 10, G Jeffrey Powell signs a 3yr, $39m deal with Detroit, which I couldn't match if I wanted to. I start my search for free agent help. I check out the QB pool, and find it to be alarmingly shallow. Essentially, I'm cooked. Atlanta's backup is the best guy out there-and he's got rating no better than 50. LB is similarly very weak. It's a terrible time for me to roll snake-eyes here, but that seems to be where we are right now. At the final rounds of free agency, I put in cheap bids for G Shaun Arquette and T Cary Meadows, both of whom will be solid reserve-caliber players. DE Blaine Scott wants a 5yr deal, and I give it up-he should be a solid #3 caliber guy, if he develops soon. I decide to put in a bid for QB Antonio Odom, who wants about $18m a year. I talk him into 3yrs, $49m. It isn't a great deal, but he'll at least come in and provide some stability-hopefully while we groom a new star-caliber QB. Heading into the draft, it feels like this team is on a serious spiral downward. We now have gaping needs at QB and LB, to add to the top priority I had coming into this draft, RB. I'll need to do all things here-with an understanding that the reliability of my scout is not what it once was. Ugh. . . a brutal off-season. |
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01-25-2001, 05:05 PM
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#26 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2037 draft and camp
As defending champs, we get the #36 pick once again. We'll take it, of course, but right now we wish we had a nice high selection. At the to of the draft, my scout tabs WR Shaun Goins as a hall-of-famer in the making. It looks like a mixed bag, we'll hope to grab one of the top LBs with our late first-round pick. QB looks bleak at best. While the three picks right before us are all LBs, nobody takes the guy I like best, and I land LB Christian Smith as my first selection. Solid player, need position, looks good. However-and I mean this honestly-this is easily the worst QB draft that I have ever seen in FOF 2001. Of course it is.
My special free agent this year is WR Chad Gunn, a modestly talented wideout who will give me (hopefully) a little stability at a soon-to-be tumultuous position. I pick up a number of other rookies, and head into camp with a full load. Still a bitter taste in my mouth, but we're moving forward.
After such a difficult pre-season, we'll hope for some good news. Perhaps a big breakout for LB Marvin Ellison (I'm personally predicting a small one), perhaps even a nice boost from a URFA. In any case, we need some good news, and hopefully it's on the way.
Well, LB Christian Smith looks very good, and he will step in and fill our need there. CB Mike Scully looks like a huge second round steal, with 94/97 on top of his ratings. Good news there. Everyone loks fine. LB Marvin Ellison-boom! A bug breakout for him, and he now looks like a current and future stud: (43/78, 35/79, 43/74, 49/92, 75). Excellent, just what we needed. He is only signed for two years, unfortunately, but he ought to be very productive. I also get another boom in an unlikely place-TE Marc Nichols. He exploded in camp, and now looks like a bona fide keeper. He's only signed for this year, regrettably, but he looks awfully good now, with a 100 potential in catching. Nice. Also, DE Blaine Scott has developed more potential in pass rushing than I had previously thought of him-but I'm very skeptical with my lousy scout here. Buffalo offers me their 5th round pick for my rookie LB Henson. I picked him in the 6th, but of course I cannot run my usual "reality check" on this trade, as I get the error message. I decide that it's pretty fair (I'm eating the bonus I paid him) and I accept the deal. Here is our final roster cut:
It's hard to say what to expect out of this season. With Fernando gone to Hollywood, I feel like this season may be a real test of our offensive line. If the line is good enough, then we ought to be able to get things done on offense. If not, we'll probably struggle all year. The defense ought to take care of itself, but offense might be a real challenge. We'll see--are the Squirrels up to possibly their toughest challenge yet? |
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01-25-2001, 05:50 PM
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#27 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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The streets of Denver are alive with celebration!!! The misfortunes of the Sad Squirrels are always cause for celebration in Denver! Au revoir Fernando, au revoir!!!!!
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-26-2001, 08:51 AM
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#28 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2037 season
Setting up this year's team involves more decisions than usual. My scout prefers my young QB Anthony over the veteran Odom, but I decide to overrule him there, and I'll slot Odom first. At RB, we have a mess-veteran Julio Franz continues to decline, and we'll try out young Alex Mena as our starter for now. Second year man Shaun Arquette wins the starting job at RG, the only new face on our line. Rookie LB Christian Smith will step into our starting "willie" slot, and he'll do a lot of blitzing. I'll try again to use S Corwin Negrete as my "nickel back" as I again set my tendency to 75 for using that package. Our roster rating remains 100, but our margin has all but evaporated-the Jets now stand behind us with a 95. They're a tough defense, and I'll keep an eye on them as a possible developing power. Oakland and San Diego are both fairly highly rated, and project to again be our main division rivals. We have predictable movement in our cohesion ratings, which now stand at 60-73-74-60. Could be a tough year. We come out of a 4-0 preseason looking healthy. RB Alex Mena looked pretty good, and he cements the starting job. Franz will see playing time, and we might even rotate in our rookies a bit. We'll throw out whatever we have on offense. We have our traditional week 5 bye, and have a pretty even distribution of home and road games. We start with a home game against San Diego, and we finish at home for Oakland-both should be big games. In our opener against the Chargers, they lead 23-20 with our Squirrels mounting a two-minute drive. However, Odom is picked off, and it's run back 79 yards for a TD with 49 second left, and the Bolts get a 30-20 victory. We looked positively dreadful-only 75 yards rushing on 23 carries, and only 160 passing yards. Could be trouble. In KC, we lose 13-10. Our offense is even more anemic (26-31 rushing) and we lose C Scottie Parrish for 2-3 months. We'll slot a rookie in at center, and hope to patch things up okay. We finally get things going with a 38-10 home win over Seattle. Antonio Odom threw for 4 TDs, and Alex Mena ran for 147 yards, as we get our offense in gear-finally. The Jets come to town, and get away with a 13-10 victory. We are back to our sluggish offensive output, very disappointing. We hit our bye week at 1-3, and the team is feeling like the deck is stacked against them. We host 4-0 Cheyenne, and give them their first loss, 17-7. Our defense was brilliant, holding them to 7 yards rushing on 26 attempts, and only 114 total yards of offense. They are going to have to win some games for us if we're going to be legit-this was one. We go into Denver, the home of the most patently classless fans in all of sport. The banners and posters are unspeakable. Fortunately, we manage to get another great defensive game, and win the FG battle 9-6. We picked off the Denver QBs 5 times, but only managed 9 points-our offense is pretty sad. However, Seattle is up next. We beat them again, 30-13, as our offense clicks for really just the second time all season. Oh, if we could just play Seattle every week! With Alex Mena dinged up, Julio Franz steps in and totes the ball for 163 yards against the porous Seahawk front seven (or eight). We go into Buffalo, and get a 16-13 victory. Their TD came on defense-our defense has been playing brilliantly. We're back p to 5-3, and in a three-way tie for the division lead-with San Diego and Oakland, of course. We get another win, 13-10 over Kansas City. At this point, Antonio Odom is neither the solution nor the problem-he has thrown 10TD to 10 interceptions, but the team is winning and he's not killing us, so I'll let him play. We lose at home to a lousy Dallas team 16-13, and slip to 6-4. One of Odom's two interceptions was returned for a TD, which made the difference. I contemplate giving young Keith Anthony a shot at the starting job here, but we're in San Diego, and this game is pretty important-I'll stick with the veteran. The Chargers get a 23-10 win, and they return one of Odom's 3 picks for a TD also. It's time for the swith at QB, as we are 6-5 and perilously close to falling out of the playoff picture. We've lost G Marc Cintron to a broken hand, and he'll miss the rest of the way, it would seem. Our line is crumbling, and I don't even know who can play now. We take on Denver, and they relish the chance to possibly drive a nail in our coffins. Instead, we probably place the final nail in theirs, as we win it 22-7. Oddly, I started young Keith Anthony at QB, but he was felled on the first sequence, and Odom had to come in anyway-and got the game ball. Now we go into Oakland, with another do or die game. At 7-5, we're still in the picture, but we need to finish strong. Our 24-7 loss to Oakland doesn't really qualify there. We turn it over 5 times, and the Raiders predictably make us pay. Now we visit 6-5 Pittsburgh, and the urgency is mounting. The Steelers beat us with a last minute FG, and we drop to 7-7, all but eliminated form the playoffs. In Washington, we give more PT to the guys who will be returning next season, including Odom at QB. We get trounced 31-3. 24 carries for 24 yards isn't going to get it done. We drop our finale 26-15 to the Raiders, and end up 7-9 on the year. I did get a nice effort from rookie RB Leroy Thompsoin, with 122 yards and a TD in his second start. Anyway, the year is a washout, and our run at the top is rather obviously and horrifyingly ended.
Stat leaders: QB Antonio Odom: 2,420 yds, 57.4%, 5.38 ypa, 13/16, 67.1 RB Julio Franz: 128-542 yds, 4 TD (4.2 ypc) RB Alex Mena: 181-500 yds, 2 TD (2.7 ypc) WR Perry Thagcher: 75-849 yds, 4 TD (51.7%, 13 drops) OL unit: ~30% KRBs, 34 sacks allowed LB Kelly Kennedy: 107 tackles, 3.5 sacks DE Lonnie Sutton: 12.5 sacks, 4 blocks, 5 hurries DE Brian Meyer: 9 sacks, 4 blocks, 6 hurries S Brian Hastings: 66 tackles, 4 int, 5 PD, 33.4 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.2 / 3.7 / 3.8 Passing: 5.2 / 5.8 / 6.5 Okay, we know where to start the finger pointing. Our offense totally withered on the vine this year, and we never got rolling at all. The 5.2 yards per pass attempt-we've never had anything like that. We failed to cause turnovers, too-our margin was only +1 on the year, well below our average. Not a good season at all, and we feel the sting for sure. Miami beats San Diego in the AFC Championship to go into the Superbowl against Green Bay. The Packers get the win they were denied last season, with a 13-0 shutout in the Superbowl. It's their first title in this league's history. Atlanta's QB Harry Wayne almost carried his team all the way on his back (losing in the NFC Championship game) and he is awarded the triple awards of first team QB, OPOY, and MVP. Bart Halela, a former Squirrel, earned second team honors with Miami, and nearly won another ring. From the Squirrels, DE Lonnie Sutton is awarded first team for his breakout year, and LB Kelly Kennedy gets second team for his first season truly at the helm of our defense. It's certainly just that our offense is totally shut out. That wraps this season-one of disappointment all around, I fear. I'm not sure what it will take to get the ship righted here, but having a completely inept offense doesn't seem to be a helpful ingredient. |
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01-26-2001, 09:28 AM
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#29 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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I think losing your franchise quarterback was for the best... it was starting to look a little TOO easy there for a few years!
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01-26-2001, 10:03 AM
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#30 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I half-heartedly agree, I suppose. However, for him to leave me with such a cap mess (a $36m hit in 2037) was just unholy.
While I do want a challenge here, I don't want to feel like the system is broken if I occasionally do break through and start winning a lot. Alas, now I'll just start whining a lot. |
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01-26-2001, 10:13 AM
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#31 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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I assume the Lions would agree with you after having Sanders leave them with a huge cap hit a few years back without warning... but $36 million is about 15% of your cap right? At least you'll have tons of cap room next year to bring in a good QB.
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