თემა: II.1

It was a great last match. Sad to see another solid team bite the dust if you do leave.

Sad to see you go if that's what you decide. We've been competing since pretty much day 1 in handball.

You also have the 1 team that has always remained a mystery to me.

I'm gonna miss your discussions in the "gamer" forum thread too tbh. I felt like you and I had very similar tastes in games.

Good luck where ever you end up.

Of course you go normal just to toy with me Lank lol .

Sandbagging the final to avoid I.1?

Good luck to everyone next season!

Thanks! Good luck in I.1! Hopefully you can be competitive and stick around up there.

Hey thanks mate! you too!

HAHAHA. Not deliberately toying with you. See my response to kytihu below lol.

Meh... not deliberately. I was away for several days for halloween, and I wasn't really monitoring my team closely. I sold one of the players at season-end who was in my default "playoff lineup" so I ended up running with a random lineup for a few of the matchups against both [handball_team=15897] and [handball_team=16027].

Honestly though, even aside from that, I'm largely indifferent about advancing. If other managers feel strongly about being in division I.1, then I don't feel compelled to take a spot from them.

I suppose there are some monetary benefits to being in a lower tier, but my indifference largely stems from the added value I'm able to provide to the national teams by being in a lower division.

I suppose if I'd really cared about the competitive aspect, I probably could've conserved energy during the regular seasons, and perhaps advanced a few seasons ago... but by not doing so, I've been able to cultivate my facilities, which are arguably top 5 in the country.

*shrug*

Not deliberately? Cmon man. Playing backs as wingers, defenders on offense, vice versa, lower intensity. You even spent the rest of the post explaining why you'd prefer to be in II. And here's the thing: I can buy 100% of that. I really can. Everyone should play the game however they get their rocks off. Fully support that. But not the "oops, that was an accident" explanation for why you're staying in II again. I don't think people will buy that. It's clear you made many moves to ensure you stayed in II.

I'm just teasing you with the original sandbagging post and this response, because I think everyone knows you want to stay in II already. But your answer made me chuckle.

With absolute seriousness, any of the games from the past 2 weeks or so where Rolland Benedict and Franklin Calkins played as offensive wings were random lineups.

That includes:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015 vs [handball_team=15938]
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 vs [handball_team=15897]
Sunday, October 25, 2015 vs [handball_team=15897]
Friday, October 30, 2015 vs. [handball_team=16027]

I never intentionally play guys in the wrong position (backs as wings, etc.), though I do occasionally play offensive-focused guys on defense.

As I said before, if I cared... I probably would've taken the time to change my default lineup (so that if I did miss setting my lines, I wouldn't have a random one). I'd probably also spend more money buying higher OR players. I'd probably conserve more energy for the playoffs, and I certainly wouldn't sell players that are starters on my team (as I've done the last several seasons).

However, despite doing all that, my average team rating during the II.1 playoffs this season was above 85. That's the second highest team rating in my league, and just below average for division I.1... so I hardly think I can be considered to be "sandbagging" (which I actually consider to be poor sportsmanship in a way).

I hope you don't interpret this reply as confrontational... that's not at all my intent. I know you were just teasing, but I just wanted to set the record straight a little bit.

P.S. Note that I actually won 2 of the 4 games I played with a random lineup. That's hardly indicative of deliberate tanking imo.

One of my "B" rated players is 59 AQ unscouted. That's utterly horrible. Even if his scouted qualities average 10 better, he's still just plain bad.

More and more it's obvious to me that unless you get a player who's "A" or better, it's not even gonna be worth your time to train them.

My B rated player from the second round has an EQ of 74 (77 if I convert him to a goaltender), already with ~400 OR.

My first round pick, who might have been an A, has an EQ that I could push towards 85 if I have him specialize as a defensive back (89 if I don't train him in speed or agressiveness either). His OR is average, but being pulled early in the season will compensate for that.

I don't Pinson scouted yet, but I doubt his qualities are too far off.

Hi Everybody, back here again