Subject: I.1

Damn dude, You didn't even get any money for them. That blows.

RFA

Congrats again Psychos.......still working at it!

I'm hitting some crazy average practice numbers with camp going on.

I had an idea for the U18 national team for next season, and I wanted to run it by everyone else to get some second opinions. It probably isn't too likely that I would use it or even have the chance to use it if I am back next season, though it is still worth discussing.

If the United Stats promoted (this is still a ways away at this point), it would be very unlikely at this point that the United States would have a chance to win anything. Staying in the top league wouldn't be impossible, but it wouldn't be likely. What if, should the United States promote this season or in a future season, the United States were to play a roster with 2+ lines of 17 year olds? This would hurt its already low chances at staying in the top division, but the following season, the United States would have a roster full of 18 year olds with 100% chemistry. The United States would then start the World Championships with a team (or at least 2 lines) with 30%-40% higher chemistry than its opponents. In addition, the starters would only have to play 3-4 games to maintain their chemistry that season, and the 17 year olds who would start the following season would be able to build more chemistry for the following season. These players would then be able to build up to 100% chemistry by the time the World Championships start that season. Overall, I think the United States would be able to trade the probability of staying up in the top division for increasing the probability of promoting for the next two seasons.

There are usually 2-4 17 year olds that are good enough to start each season, but this would allow 10+ 17 year olds to go into the next season with very good chemistry. Of course, I would want to see how good the 18 year olds would be next season and how they compared to the other teams and the following season's projected starters first. Even so, the team looks like it will be especially strong 2 seasons from now.

An alternative is to play all exhibitions with three lines. This would increase the acquisition of chemistry for those lines by a little - a lot of other teams seem to be doing this.

In any case, I just wanted to get some feedback on these two ideas. In particular, I could see the first idea as being unpopular, despite its merits, unless a lot of the other managers with players on the team were to support it.

In my opinion, it depends on the group of 17 year olds and the relative talent. If they are above average in total stats and possibly some experience, I think it would be a great idea. If it is a below average group, I don't think we will gain much. I have my own calculations for where I feel a player should be at a certain age etc. that I use to judge if they are above average or just destined for the market. Experience factors in it of course, but at such a young age it would be hard to find many with it. One of the things I proposed years ago that did not receive alot of positive reaction, was to try and limit the national team players energy. Everyone knows that energy is king when it comes to the playoffs. If we could convince the owners to play their national team players.....and I'm only talking 18 year olds, at the lowest setting for energy, I think it would help once the playoffs arrived. I believe that this is a good start for trying to come up with a plan for the future......it can only help. I like Caps. idea. It would be nice to get more input from players around the leagues. After all, it is our National team.

honestly I think U18 is just for player development and not to worry about win "now"

Senior team is getting better with some great young players but as far as i know/remember the youngsters all started with zero chemistry.

My "vote" would be to play the most quality players that could reach Senior team with most OR.

Id also play 3 lines: more chemistry and experience.

Senior team is in the middle of process to renew the team with young players. If current youngsters don't reach senior with very high OR/experience it will be much harder to make the team than its been past couple seasons

PS: senior USA has great shot at promoting this season and if we do i believe we can stay there.

National team energy is separate from regular energy.

I think I would probably still use the best players who have a chance of making the senior team - these would also be the players who have a chance to play on the U20 team as 19 year olds. That's why I adjusted my original idea to suggest limiting it to 2 lines in some place. That way, there would still be some benefit to chemistry while still ensuring the development of the most elite players.

I can say that the depth at center and goaltending aren't too strong next year. Rutherford is likely the best goaltender despite having one bad quality. Milton is possibly the best center - he has good experience and OR, but he is not even close to players like Lance and Dupuis, or even Kreger. On defense, there are a handful of good players.

I like Headhog's modification to your idea. If you have an above average crop of talent at 17, go for it all out. If not, it's going to depend on the situation. If it sets the U18 team up to be in a better position going forward, then it's always a good idea. I used our friendlies to give a bunch of youngsters chemistry and experience and so far looking at the preferential votes, people seem to support building for the future. If it's the right call, go for it and you'll find support.

On a separate but related note, how are the lists coming for guys you need scouted?

I haven't looked through the 15 year olds or the 16-17 year olds in division III or division IV yet, but I have a list that I could post for the remainder that I can't cover. There are usually around 10 16-17 year olds pulled from division III or division IV (based on the divisions from the previous season).

I found an A+.

I also found an A+ defender and 2 more A's.

Man, the first day of a new season is always a bit of a bummer when you see some of your important players dropping Career Longevity.

One season in soccer, only a little bit after I first started playing PPm on my second season or so, all but 3 of my players CL dropped.

A lot of my players dropped one. However, club legend Waldo Gould remained at 2/6, at the tender age of 31. That guy...!