Subject: II.3

From now on you are my "thou who shalt not be named".

I miss Mullings

You only miss him because he was wrong all the time.

I miss you too, buddy

But it feels so right (up here in I.1, looking down at you).

Looking forward to knocking you around again next season.

You had the easiest path to get up there. Starting in league 3 instead of 4 gave you an advantage (more money). Not being in the strong league 3s (III.1 to III.4) allowed you to promote to II easily and then reap the benefits of an easy league II (huge difference between top and lower teams so hard to demote from and more money). I remember comparing League III.2 where I was to league II.3 and finding ours to be a lot more competitive until the recent changes started slowly changing things.

Reaching league I.1 is quite the achievement and you should be proud. But the path Dynomite took to get there was much harder than yours.

Starting in division III meant lower finishes and more difficult competition. I didn't get the benefit of playing nonames and finishing first right off the bat. I doubt that I received any benefit here. To the contrary, I probably would have been much better off starting in division IV, where I could have finished higher in the standings immediately, increased my OTR at a greater pace, and reaped the benefits of player prize money while spending less on player acquisitions.

While III.11 wasn't as tough as III.1 through 4, the path to advance to division II wasn't easy. I played against teams that had been in the game for longer than mine with established and competitive rosters. It was an uphill climb into the playoffs and then into the top 4. I was poor and behind on facilities. I made cheap additions to be competitive without compromising my growth pace on infrastructure. I developed my core.

I didn't sit at the top of III.11 for long. I didn't dominate the prize money year after year and rake in top dollar for top finishes. I never even won the division. My aim was to advance and I did. I did it the year before promotion money kicked in and didn't get a cent for promoting. I'm sure you did, though, when you promoted.

My reward was stiffer competition, competition which was on par with divisions III.1-4.

I continued to build my infrastructure and develop a roster. My team steadily climbed in OTS. It would have been competitive in any of the division II conferences or top 4 division III conferences.

I built my team without the benefit of any 90+ AQ pulls to sell for immediate supplements to my finances. I did it without ever winning a division in the regular season or dominating player prize money awards. I did it without receiving promotion funds (until my latest to division I). I did it through slow and steady growth and frugal fiscal management.

I haven't gotten to where I am now because of luck or an easy path. I'm here because I managed my team well.

Making it to I.1 is an accomplishment. Although, both times I made it I was "pushed" up. Thanks nucks!!!

Nice dissertation. Yes, you did develop your team the right way and you did make it to I.1 which was, as I said before, an achievement.

But your whole argument about competition is wrong. During the seasons before the realignment of the promotions, I was studying the different leagues. Fact is, it was easier then to make the playoffs in II.3 than in III.2. The team in 8th place in strength in II.3 was lower than the 8th place in III.2.

So did you work hard to get to I.1? Yes! Did you make the right choices? Yup, you did. Was league II.3 an easier place to build up a team? Yes it was.

So be happy to be up there and doing well. But don't think that it gives you the right to look down on the other players.

Haha. What'd I do now!?!?!

Thanks.

Look, II.3 may have been easier than III.1-4. I really don't know. I pay some attention to other conferences, but don't study them. I study my competition to pace myself with them. When I was in div. III, that included checking out the teams in div. II, and in div. II, checking out div. I. I never had the pleasure of playing in III.1-4. I'm sure it was more interesting than III.11. Whether it was tougher than II.3 -- you sound like you're the expert. I'll defer.

What I do know is that II.3 was fairly competitive with the other division II conferences. I do suspect that it was more top heavy than the best division III conferences with I.1 teams being relegated.

What I also know is that I finished top 2 for the last 5 seasons and that my OTS suggested I'd have managed a top 4 finish in other division II conferences for most, if not all, of those seasons as well.

So maybe I had a few more wins per season. How big of a difference does that really make? Maybe some. Still, I doubt that my rise to I.1 was accelerated because of ease of division. It was accelerated because canucks357 choked in the finals and let me win.

Anywho, if it was the "looking down" comment that good this going, I meant nothing by it. You're competitive in II.1, so you're obviously doing a fine job. I was just giving you a chirp for saying I was "wrong all the time". All of my chirps about being in I.1 are tongue in cheek since it's about 50/50 that I'll be right back down in div. II next season.

I did not let you win, nor did I choke. All games have a sense of dice rolling. I just got snake eyes twice. 0.1%... as I've said before. Okay, maybe I did choke by not playing 3 lines in game 1.

Misspoke. You didn't choke. Your team choked.

I should have rolled 3 lines. I know it. But let's flash back to the series:

Game 1 (in RCR): 5-3 Pigs. Shots 40-19 Reds.
Game 2 (in TRP): 2-0 RCR. Shots 30-28 Reds.
Game 3 (in RCR): 2-1 (SO) Pigs. Shots 45-25 Reds.

I have confidence saying I was the better team. I had a 0.917 sv% in the series. But you had a 0.948 sv% which made a world of difference. Hard to win when you score on 1 in every 20 shots.

I also played VH in every period except period 2 and 3 in game 1. I had a 3-1 lead after 20min and dropped down to H. That is my only other mistake.