PowerPlay περιοδικό

(Earlier this week, an article described the trip to an exotic city to visit with the manager of the USA champion handball manager.  The interview that took place can be found in the passage below.)

Thanks for allowing me to visit today.  I have a couple of warm-up questions and then we will talk about your championship season.

First question, what is your favorite sport?  "Hockey.  I love the combination of skill and strategy involved, and the hockey fanbase is pretty great.  However, I am quickly growing fond of quidditch, which is based on the sport in the Harry Potter series and is rapidly gaining popularity on college campuses."  (Cameron, I hope the quidditch clip is appropriate. )

Regarding Harry Potter, if you could become a fictional character, who would you choose to be?  "Albus Dumbledore - he can do anything he wants to with magic, and he is insanely clever".

What about athletes, do you have a favorite?  "Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche".

How did you become a PPM manager?  "One of my friends found it, and he showed PPM to our little group and I'm still here today". 

You own several PPM teams, which of your PPM teams are you most proud of? Why?  "The Rainbow Unicorns, my hockey team.  I went from IV.3 to I.1 in eight seasons, and I have had a hard fight every season to remain competitive". 

Your "The Rainbow Unicorns" are an impressive team, but, today we are here to talk to you about handball.  Regarding handball, how many games have you watched? Played? (outside of PPM)  "I watched an Olympic game on YouTube when PPM announced it as their new sport.  And I think we played it once in gym class in high school, but it ended up turning into a dodgeball game".

Your team, "Asshai Shadow Babies" was season 2 USA League 1 regular season and playoff champions.  Even champions have low moments throughout the season; describe your lowest moment during season 2.  "There was a span from November 3rd to November 14th where I lost 4 league games, and two National Cup games.  That was pretty rough".

When did you realize that you had a decent chance of winning the division?  "There was a game late in the regular season against Inter Melon that I won by 6.  I was worried about not having enough energy in the playoffs, but once I beat the Melons (who I consider to be a top 3 team in the country), I realized that I just might be able to pull this off".

Can you describe your strategy coming into season 2?  "My plan was to be successful in the regular season to gain OTR, and then hope that I would get top 4 in the playoffs.  I honestly didn't intend to win the playoffs, but I definitely can't complain!"

How do you plan to maintain the dominance that your team achieved during season 2 in USA handball?  "I'm planning on buying a star player or two this next season to fill some holes in my lineup, and I will also focus more on the non-league competitive games, like the National Cup".

Who do you feel is the biggest threat to take the division title from you in coming seasons?  "While both Inter Melon and Mojo Xpress are strong teams, I think I am most threatened by the Orlando Generals.  Despite having one of the weaker teams in I.1, they still made the playoffs and our games are always close when we play.  I think once he acquires some star players, he will be a force to be reckoned with".

What strategy has helped you most in becoming successful at handball?  "I chose to be aggressive in my use of energy for the match importance tactic.  By that I mean that I played at the medium or high setting often in the regular season.  I don't know if it will work as well in the future, but it definitely worked this season".

Do you seek advice from others within the PPM World? If so, who has provided you with the best advice during last season?  "Oh yes, definitely.  I'm always reading forums for advice and new strategies, and that played a big part in my success in all sports.  The best advice probably comes from the articles posted by Canucks357".

I agree with you about Canucks357's advice, I'm pretty sure he has hidden Super Powers.  Regarding Super Powers, which Super Power would you like to have?  "Flight.  But knowing my luck, I'd end up getting hit by a plane".  (subnote... it would sure make the trip to Asshai a whole lot shorter!)

If you were providing advice for a new player, what would you suggest as being the most important step to becoming successful in their league?  "Study what the successful teams do.  Whether it's a top team in the world, a top team in your league, or somebody that started late but quickly became successful, looks at what they did and combines the strategies to make your own".

One last question, If you were having a dinner party and could invite three famous people (living or dead), who would they be (and why)?   "Funny that you should ask, if you'd like you can join my dinner party tonight.  I am hosting Katy Perry, Daniel Radcliffe, and Jennifer Lawrence.  I'm pretty sure that they will be just as fun to be around in real life as they are on the big screen.  For entertainment, The Lonely Island will be playing during dinner, they are one of the best bands ever and besides that I love their song, "Boombox that features Julian Casablancas".  So if you are up for a fun evening, it should be an entertaining night".

I told Camrawrn that I'd speak with Ser Jorah and hopefully we could attend.  Unfortunately, Jorah was quick to remind me that he had work back home with Daenerys and not to forget our long journey home.  So after days of travel, I'm back home at Cold Mountain, coon dawgs barking in the distance and the smell of bar-b-que in the air, the excursion to Asshai was a trip to remember and provided the backdrop for an interesting interview with a winning PPM manager, a champion. 

By the way, I never was able to find out what were in those eggs that Ser & Camrawrn spoke of, but, I suspect they contained quality prospects for Cam's teams.  Note to myself, I've got to find a way to get some of those eggs.  Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did and best wishes in 2014.