PowerPlay Magazine

As another season of handball winds down, I couldn’t help but notice that a familiar face was the winner of both playoffs and regular season for USA division 1.  How has his team became so dominate?  I decided to check in with Outsider626 hoping to get a few clues to his success.  We discussed several locations to conduct the interview, Wimbledon, Rio de Janeiro, and other exotic spots were discussed.  We chose the spot and the meeting occurred.  The following dialogue is from the interview.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Outsider, I appreciate your willingness to talk with me today.  As always, it is truly a pleasure to be able to do this interview.

(Outsider626  - smiling) Yes, thank you as well.  I am glad to answer your questions.

(Coldmountainrebel)  A few icebreakers to start the interview… Have you seen any good movies lately?

(Outsider626) Yes, I recently watched The Wedding Ringer. Pretty easy and funny movie. I would recommend it.

(Coldmountainrebel)  If an alien visited Earth, would they be impressed?

(Outsider626)  I'm impressed.

(Coldmountainrebel)   If we're sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it's been, what did we achieve? (NOTE TO SELF)

(Outsider626) Hopefully maintained good health. That's the most important.


(Coldmountainrebel)  If you were granted a personal advisor and you could choose anyone (past, present, real, fiction), who would the advisor be?

(Outsider626) I would choose Nikola Tesla.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Wow!  Excellent choice.  For those of you who don’t know, Tesla is the guy who was born during a lighting storm and developed the idea for the smartphone.  I like your answers to our warmup questions.   Let’s talk about your PPM sports teams.  In handball, your team, Mojo Express, won everything.  Needless to say, your team was a dominate force during season 7(Regular Season / Playoffs).  Describe your most exciting moment from this season.

(Outsider626) The most exciting moment was winning the playoffs and having the ability to compete in Champions League next season against the best teams from around the world. 

(Coldmountainrebel)  Can you describe your strategy for last season? 

(Outsider626) The strategy was to rotate all the players during the season and give them plenty of rest so that they would be as fresh as a cucumber come playoffs.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Who do you feel is your strongest competition in USA handball? 

(Outsider626) I can't pinpoint a particular team, but there a couple decent teams like Covington Rowdies and Cunning Procrastinators.

(Coldmountainrebel)  If you were to name a most valuable player on your team, who would that be and why?

(Outsider626) You see I can't even name one player because it would be unfair to another if I didn't mention him. So the MVP's on my team were the goaltending duo: Dominic Fugate and Lucius Donaldson. Both of them played pretty much the same amount of minutes and had the rounded save % of 43.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Do you have a young player that you are excited to see grow into a future star?

(Outsider626) I do. His name is Stu Jones. At his 16 his overall rating is already at 675 and his average quality is at 84%. By the end of season he was finally able to make a team and get a spot on the 4th line. Hopefully next season he will get even more playing time.

(Coldmountainrebel)  I know that I’ve ask before, but, explain the strategy that has helped you most in becoming successful in handball?

(Outsider626) Investments into academy from day 1. All my team is build through academy and the draft.

(Coldmountainrebel)  I noticed that ALL of your PPM teams are currently in the top division of their sport.   That is quite an accomplishment.  I have a couple of questions in regards to that accomplishment.

(Coldmountainrebel)  What are similarities that you use to build your teams for each sport?

(Outsider626) In Handball and Basketball my priority is to upgrade academy. I'm relying on it to produce great talented players.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Which of your teams needs the most work to remain successful and why?

(Outsider626) I would say my basketball team Nite Slayers. I wasn't fortunate enough to get a team with bunch of good players from the beginning.

(Coldmountainrebel)  How much time do you devote to PPM activities per week?

(Outsider626) Maybe 7 hours a week. This is the main reason that I like this game. It doesn't require a lot of time.

(Coldmountainrebel)  Do you have an overall PPM goal?

(Outsider626) To have the best team in Handball and Basketball in the United States.

(Coldmountainrebel)  If you could have one improvement in PPM, what would it be? 

(Outsider626) To be able to loan players to other teams.

(Coldmountainrebel)  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?  (I know I’ve ask before…but, opinions change)

(Outsider626) Build facilities and stay patient. This game requires time. Cannot become successful overnight.

(Coldmountainrebel)  I think that’s a wrap.  Thanks again and good luck for the coming season.  For the readers, I think the advice from this article that provides the most value is build and keep building… and, don’t give up.   May this coming season provide you with the players and building tools to provide a strong and competitive team (just please be nice to the Cold Mountain Strikes).