joannes3000

I give up. I've suffered way too many close losses this season (3). We owned Baylor for 58 minutes. We were up 24-21 late in the 4th quarter, only to give up a 35 yard TD pass with just over a minute left. Our last-ditch effort fell short at midfield when we couldn't convert on 4th and 4. Our game plan worked well. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to run effectively against Baylor, we went to a pass-oriented attack on offense. We outgained their offense 368-344, won the turnover battle 1-0, and dominated time-of-possession by holding onto the ball for over 36 minutes. 24-28 L --------- Last season's 14-1 mark is long gone and I will undoubtedly get an email letting me know that our 9-6 campaign isn't acceptable. The disenchanting end to our season - CC loss and bowl game loss - is enough to essentially have me out the door and on my way to a BCS program. I will be leaving behind a meager amount of recruiting money from this season (28k), and Toledo will be in good shape with enough talent to contend within the conference. And while I can bide my time at Toledo and hope to pad my resume for the day that an elite opens up, I think I will be packing my bags for the Big East and the open coaching position at Temple. I still have a few more days before jobs open up, but I am about 95% sure I won't be returning for a 3rd season at Toledo.

From: Brandon Booker To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Congratulations, Coach! Sent: 12/28/07 2:49PM I just got off the phone with the organizers of the Independence Bowl and I've accepted their invitation. Great job this year, Coach. I think the exposure we will get playing in this game will really help out the program, not to mention recruiting next season. Keep up the good work! Brandon Booker Athletic Director University of Toledo --------- Talk about coming back down to earth. After our startling run to the Sugar Bowl last season, we're playing much more humbly in the Independence Bowl this year. I think our loss to Miami (OH) finally revealed our team's lack of depth. In a game that boiled down to execution, we failed because we weren't playing at 100%. Depth at key positions and an untimely injury (OL) cost us. Looking ahead to our bowl game, we are in the same position as we were last season when we matched up against Minnesota. Coming from a BCS conference (and Texas), Baylor is a more talented team across the board. We'll do our best to pull an upset, and it's not like we're going to just mail it in. -------- 12/31/07 vs. #22 Baylor 9-4

Miami (OH) got on the board first, taking the first possession of the game 70 yards for a TD. On our first possession, we respond with our own 70 yard TD drive to even up the score. Our defense comes up with a stop on the next possession and we limit Miami (OH) to a FG. We can't fully capitalize, however, as our offense fails to convert on a key 3rd down and we settle for a game-tying FG. We start the 2nd quarter with a stop and another chance to capitalize. Our offense has other plans, however, as we don't even cross midfield before punting away. To make matters worse, given our inability to capitalize on two consecutive stops, Miami (OH) ends the quarter with a 6 minute TD drive to take a 17-10 lead into halftime. We get the ball to start the 2nd half and roll for the game-tying TD, converting two key 3rd downs on the way. Our defense returns the favor by forcing a punt, once again giving us an opportunity to capitalize. Once again, we fail to do so and punt the ball right back. I start getting that bad feeling in my stomach. You know, that feeling of impending disaster? Miami (OH) starts the 4th quarter by scoring a quick TD. Naturally, we only respond because we've already been scored on. 3 plays, tied score. Miami (OH) scores another TD and we get the ball back with just under 4:30 to go and 80 yards for the game-tying TD. First play, 13 yard pass. Second play, 3 yard run. 3rd play, incomplete pass. 4th play, 18 yard pass. 5th play, 14 yard pass, lost fumble at their 32 yard line. 24-31 L ---------- I'm so disenchanted with how I ended the season that I'm going to write about our bowl bid later. Ugh.

Northern Illinois came calling first to try and derail our CC hopes. We took an early 7-0 lead and then had a huge INT that we returned for a TD. We went into halftime with a 21-7 lead. Getting the ball to start the 2nd half, we scored on our opening drive to take a commanding 28-7 lead and cruised from there. We ran for 150/1 and passed for 226/3/0. Our offense put up 376 yards and our defense allowed 302. 14-35 W Our final home game of the season was against a sim Central Michigan. We took a 28-0 lead into halftime and never looked back. We ran for 460/5 and passed for 86/1/0. Our offense put up 546 yards and our defense allowed 287. 7-49 W Our next hurdle was on the road against Western Michigan. We took an early lead, only to fall behind 10-7 late in the 2nd quarter. Amazingly, with just under 4 minutes before halftime, we scored 10 unanswered points and went into the half with a 17-10 lead. Feeling our offense getting a little stagnant, I switched our game plan a bit for the 2nd half and focused more on the run. We went on to score two unanswered TDs to seal the victory. We ran for 139/2 and passed for 336/2/1. Note: today's INT was QB James Pierce's first INT in two years. His TD/INT ratio stands at a robust 55/1! Our offense put up 475 yards and our defense allowed 292. 34-17 W The final obstacle in our way to a CC bid was another road game, this time against Ball State. We took a commanding 17-3 lead into halftime and continued with our ball control offense in the second half for the win. We ran for 198/1 and passed for 154/1/0. Our offense put up 352 yards and our defense allowed 236. 20-10 W --------- From: Brandon Booker To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Here comes the championship... Sent: 12/27/07 2:58PM Excellent job this season, Coach. Everyone has been congratulating me for the team making the conference championship game. I know Miami (OH) is a really good football team, but I have confidence in you and our team. Let`s bring a championship home to Toledo! Good luck! Brandon Booker Athletic Director Toledo --------- Our stumble to start conference play didn't stop us on our way to a CC bid. We rattled off 7 consecutive victories after that loss and now we will have a much-anticipated rematch against Miami (OH). Like I mentioned after our loss earlier in the season, I like our chances this time around on neutral turf. A win will hopefully propel us into the top 25 for the first time this season, and hopefully it will also lead to a level 4 bowl bid (Humanitarian, Peach, Cotton, Capital One, Gator, Outback). A loss will seriously put a damper on our season and will likely banish us to the likes of the Fort Worth or New Orleans bowls. Rumors are flying that I will be stepping down after this season to take a BCS job and I have been doing my best Les Miles impersonation. Temple will come calling in the offseason, and there are rumors that the Ohio State job could be opening in a few seasons due to the school underperforming as of late. A 3rd consecutive CC would go a long way to qualify me for an elite school, so maybe I'll stick around and further build at Toledo rather than take a complete rebuilder at Temple. We shall see. --------- 12/28/07 at Miami (OH)

Sorry for the holiday delay! This was NOT how I expected to start our in-conference slate. We were down 21-7 at the half due to a turnover and sloppy play. We buckled down in the 2nd half and took the lead late in the 4th, only to lose the game on a TD with 1 minute to play. I'll blame home-field advantage for the loss, and if I get a chance to match up with Miami (OH) again in the CC, I'm confident that I can win. We ran for 167/2 and passed for 244/1/0. Our offense put up 411 yards and our defense allowed 357. 24-27 L We took out our frustration against sim-coached Akron. We were up 31-7 at the half and kept hammering away in the 2nd half. We ran for 505/7 and passed for 205/3/0. Our offense put up 710 yards and our defense allowed 210. 73-10 W We come home for our first home game of conference play and got blitzed by Kent State. We came out flat in the first half again and trailed 10-7. We woke up in the 2nd half, however, and pulled out the win. We ran for 372/4 and passed for 105/0/0. Our offense put up 477 yards and our defense allowed 245. 17-28 W Game 4 brought another sim team in Bowling Green and another easy victory. We ran for 490/5 and passed for 106/2/0. Our offense put up 596 yards and our defense allowed 278. 13-48 W --------- At the halfway marker of conference play, we are straddled with that single loss against Miami (OH). Our CC destiny is still in our hands, however, as we have yet to lose against a divisional foe. The road to a CC will still run through us as long as we continue to win out against our division. The end of the season could prove to be very exciting, as our final two games are on the road against Western Michigan and Ball State. If we take care of business to that point those games will be elimination games, with the losers sitting home for the CC. I like our chances, but I also liked our chances of going undefeated during conference play. Our first big game will be at home against division rival Northern Illinois. ---------- 12/24/07 Northern Illinois 12/25/07 Central Michigan 12/26/07 at Western Michigan 12/27/07 at Ball State

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Link Whatifsports.com currently has free trials of their sim basketball, baseball, football, and hockey games. It's quite different from the Dynasty games I play, but those of you that read my GD journals might like it. And besides, it's free! Anyone that sets up a simleague basketball team, look me up under username joannes3000. I've got a Hawks team built using the 42 million cap.

Well, we hung in with USC for 2 quarters. We forced two turnovers in the first half and were only down 14-7 at halftime. Reality set in afterwards, however. We ran for 120/1 and passed for 161/1/0. Our offense put up 281 yards and our defense allowed 594. 42-14 L We did a little better against Miami, managing to keep the score tied at 14 going into halftime. 14 unanswered points in the 3rd was the difference and I was mildly surprised that we came so close. This game gave me hope that we could engineer at least one upset before we start conference play. We ran for 78/0 and passed for 332/5/0. Our offense put up 410 yards and our defense allowed 463. 49-35 L Another close game against another powerhouse, this time it was Florida State. We were down 24-14 at the half, and kept it close the rest of the way through. We ran for 123/1 and passed for 195/3/0. Our offense put up 318 yards and our defense allowed 416. 38-27 L Finally, a breakthrough! After getting our heads beat in to open the season, our game against Mizzou is actually fair in terms of talent. Not facing an all-world team, we took a 17-0 lead into the half and cruised to victory. We ran for 150/2 and passed for 265/1/0. Our offense put up 415 yards and our defense allowed 235. 23-7 W The final game of OOC play was against 4-0 Marquette. Their team is significantly better than Missouri but not nearly as good as USC, Miami, or FSU. We held a 14-3 lead at halftime and played to a tie in the 2nd half for the win. We ran for 168/1 and passed for 240/2/0. Our offense put up 408 yards and our defense allowed 288. 10-21 W --------- I've never been happier to start a season 2-3. We earned our two wins and were rewarded with a top 25 ranking going into conference play (#25), despite our 3 losses - testament to our SOS. Conference play begins with probably our biggest obstacle coming first. --------- 12/20/07 at Miami (OH) 12/21/07 at Akron 12/22/07 Kent State 12/23/07 Bowling Green 12/24/07 Northern Illinois 12/25/07 Central Michigan 12/26/07 at Western Michigan 12/27/07 at Ball State

Our first 5 games of the season will be a test of perseverance. We'll be lucky to win 2 games during the opening stretch before in-conference play provides a break. We play 3 sim teams during conference play, which should be gimme wins with the talent we now have on board at Toledo. Our home game against Northern Illinois looks to be a big one, as gemonyx is a returning coach and it could determine who goes to the CC from our side of the division. Our other tough conference game is also at home against Kent State, with toe64 being another returning coach. The remaining games should be entertaining, as we stack up fairly evenly against everyone else within the conference. I think our conference opener, a road game against Miami (OH), could set the tone for the rest of the season. If we win that game I think it will send the message that the road to the CC runs through Toledo. -------- 12/15/07 #2 USC 0-0 12/16/07 #6 Miami (FL) 0-0 12/17/07 #4 Florida State 12/18/07 at Missouri 0-0 12/19/07 Marquette 0-0 Yep, that's 3 of the top 6 teams to start off the season!

This season's class was mediocre again by my estimation. I feel that we landed a few studs but that was easily made up for by the duds in the class. My slow approach worked like a charm, as we were able to beat several BCS schools for recruits. My eagerness to land a few studs with this class caused me to settle on several players that will be nothing more than career backups. I must admit that I didn't spend enough time recruiting for Toledo because I was also recruiting for my brother's team and my freebie account. Not to mention my current obsession with HBD. I'm also all but resigned to move onto a BCS school after this season, so I was very ho-hum with Toledo. End result? A decent class with a few nice blue chip recruits, but also two AC recruits. -------- Offense With 3 currently on the roster it wasn't a necessity, but I recruited a QB to RS this season. We will be graduating our best QB after the season and I wanted to have a little competition for the starting QB spot. Douglas Morris has above average athleticism, speed, strength, and elusiveness; average game instinct, technique, and work ethic; and below average stamina. With a season to grow, he could be an offensive catalyst by his JR year. RB talent was a bit thin this year, as I saw Oklahoma and Connecticut scoop up top recruits this season. As a result, we settled for less elusive RBs, but they were fairly strong in other core areas. Dennis Delgado has above average speed; average strength, elusiveness, technique, and work ethic; and below average athleticism, stamina, and hands. Larry McGuire has above average speed and strength; average elusiveness, technique, work ethic, and stamina; and below average athleticism. WR talent was also fairly thin this year. This position also shows how we wound up with a mediocre class. One of my incoming WRs is a stud and the other is an absolute dud. Ernest Cohen has no place on a DIAA roster, much less a DIA roster. He has average speed, work ethic, and stamina; and below average athleticism, hands, technique, and elusiveness. Miguel Jackson, on the other hand, is one of my blue chippers who is a converted RB. He has above average athleticism, hands, elusiveness, and stamina; average speed, work ethic, and technique. TE is another good example of our class. James Adams is a DIAA blocking-only TE. He has above average strength; below average athleticism, work ethic, stamina, blocking, hands, and technique. Juan Barton on the other hand, is another blue chip recruit. He has above average speed, strength, hands, work ethic, stamina, and elusiveness. I don't even consider elusiveness as a core TE stat, but this illustrates how big of a receiving threat he is going to be. He also has average athleticism, blocking, and technique. I originally thought to switch Barton to RB, but he is going to do some serious damage as a receiving TE out of Trips. Our OL haul leaves much to be desired. Paul Baker has average strength and stamina; and below average athleticism, blocking, game instinct, work ethic, and technique. Robert Carpenter has excellent strength; above average athleticism and work ethic; average stamina; and below average blocking, game instinct, and technique. Defense Sticking with this season's recruiting theme, we landed one stud and one average DL. Robert Carr has average stamina, strength and tackling; and below average athleticism, work ethic, game instinct, and technique. Walter Gutierrez has excellent strength and tackling; above average athleticism and game instinct; average technique; and below average work ethic and stamina. We struck out completely at LB this season. Douglas McGraw is a converted DB and will hopefully only see spot duty. He has average speed, hands, and work ethic; and below average athleticism, stamina, strength, tackling, game instinct, and technique. I may have to switch to a 5-2 because we have horrible depth at LB this season. We did ok with our DB recruit. Kenneth Mack has excellent elusiveness; average speed and technique; and below average athleticism, work ethic, stamina, hands and game instinct. Our final non AC recruit was K Ronald Miller. Our two unfilled roster spots were filled in typical AC fashion - one kicker and one punter. You can never undervalue depth at special teams. ------- The recruit rankings has us pegged with the #80 class in the country. Kent State led the MAC with the #48 class, followed by Ohio (#58), Ball State (#72), Western Michigan (#74), Northern Illinois (#77), then us. That leaves us with the 6th best class in the conference which would normally concern me. With none of the teams placing in the top 25, nobody really set themselves apart with their class. Another reason I'm overly optimistic about how our class stacks up is the fact that we landed 4 of the top 15 recruits in the conference. Kent State has 3, Ohio has 1, Ball State has zero, Western Michigan has 2, and Northern Illinois has zero. Walter Gutierrez is the #1 DL and #2 overall prospect. Juan Barton is the #2 TE and #5 overall prospect. Miguel Jackson is the #2 WR and #6 overall prospect. Kenneth Mack is the #2 DB and #11 overall. I like my chances of continuing my conference dominance due to the fact that we signed several heavy hitters at key positions.

Another game against a sim, another expected outcome. We ran for 326/4 and passed for 109/0/0. Our offense went for 435 yards while our defense allowed 287. Injury update: Is this even fair? 9 carries into our game, #1 RB Patrick Mayfield goes down and doesn't return to the game. The post-game diagnosis is positive, but Mayfield won't be in game-shape until the last game of the season. 17-31 W Another game against a powerhouse, another expected outcome. We ran for 112/1 and passed for 131/0/0. Our offense managed 243 yards while our defense allowed 594. 7-45 L Our final game against a sim team was a disaster. With 3 healthy RBs, we were unable to execute our normal game plan, which is a heavy ground attack. We switched to our balanced attack for the first half and went into halftime tied 7-7. I went to our run-heavy game plan in the 2nd half hoping that our RBs would be rested enough to power us to victory, but I was wrong. We ran for 202/0 and passed for 103/1/0. Our offense put up 305 yards and our defense allowed 292. 7-14 L The final game of our long inaugural season came and went with little fanfare. Our loss to Va Tech eliminated what long shot we had at making a level 1 bowl. We ran for 107/2 and passed for 164/0/0. Our offense put up 271 yards while our defense allowed twice as many, 514. 14-52 L

Our first conference game produced the kind of results I had expected against a sim team. We ran for 414/5 and passed for 130/1/0. We put up 544 yards of offense and allowed 288. 42-16 W Our first game against one of the conference juggernauts also went as expected. We got blown out of the water offensively and defensively. We ran for 50/1 and passed for 249/1/2. Our offense put up 299 yards and our defense surrendered 450 yards. 49-14 L Game 3 of in-conference play brought another sim team and another chance at a win. We ran for 348/4 and passed for 52/1/0. We put up 400 yards of offense and allowed 247. 36-17 W Game 4 brings another powerhouse to Durham, and this time it was Virginia's turn to steamroll us. We ran for 190/2 and passed for 105/1/2. We managed 295 yards and gave up 532, all on the ground. 52-20 L ------- With 4 games left to go in the regular season our record stands at 4-5. We have two winnable games against sim teams left, and the remaining two look to be losses. We will surely lose when we travel to Coral Gables to play the Hurricanes and it will take a major miracle to pull the upset when we wrap up the season on the road against Georgia Tech. I would've felt slightly better about the Tech game if my #2 RB hadn't gone down, but we have very little offense when it comes to human teams. That said, we will likely finish the season at 6-7 and will not go bowling. I don't know if GD has a minimum win requirement to be eligible for bowls, but I'm willing to bet that our losing record will weigh heavily against us. With 28 bowl games and 56 participants, we have a remote chance of getting in based on our WIS ranking if it holds up. We are currently ranked #55 with Miami likely being a top 10 school when we face them. Georgia Tech is a top 40 team, so that will help our SOS as well. It will be interesting to see how the bowl picture shapes up, especially if we are in the top 50 at the end of the season. --------- 12/8/07 North Carolina 12/9/07 at #5 Miami (FL) 12/10/07 at Virginia Tech 12/11/07 at Georgia Tech

My inaugural game at Duke was a great one. First, because we won! Second, because even with barely a blip of talent on our roster, my offensive game plan showed that it has teeth. We went into halftime with a 28-21 lead and got the ball to start the 2nd half. We built a 35-21 lead early in the 3rd and then hung on for dear life. As good as our offense performed, our lack of talent on defense showed how painful this season can end up being. We ran for 236/3 and passed for 282/3/0. And while it was impressive to put up 518 yards of offense, our defense gave up 481. 42-45 W Any good feelings from our opening win were quickly dismissed in the desert against Arizona State. We were staring at a 21-0 lead before we managed to put points on the board. The closest we got was 10 points late in the 4th, but it was never really a contest. We ran for 146/4 and passed for 262/0/1. Our offense put up 408 yards, but our defense surrendered 526. 28-45 L Our road trip continued with a trip to Indiana. We got out of the gate quickly, taking a 14-7 lead in the 1st quarter, and went into the half leading 28-21. Indiana quickly tied the score in the 3rd and we took a 3 point lead going into the 4th. Indiana tied up the score with just under 8 minutes to play, but we scored a TD with a time-consuming drive that left Indiana the ball with just under 2 minutes. Our defense woke up just in time to stop Indiana 2 yards short of a first down on our 25 and we ran out the clock from there, notching win number two! We ran for 247/2 and passed for 203/3/1. Our offense put up 450 yards and our defense had it's best statistical game of the young season only allowing 403 yards. 38-31 W The final game of our road trip took us south to Fort Worth for our matchup against TCU. We got out of the gate early again, taking a 14-7 lead into the 2nd quarter. Reality set in, however, as TCU rattled off 21 points in the 2nd and the best we could do was kick a FG. The game got ugly in the 2nd half, as TCU dominated us on offense and our defense was absolutely helpless. We ran for 223/1 and passed for 246/2/1. Our offense put up 469 yards, but our poor defense got smoked for 615 yards. Injury update: Duane Garcia, our #2 RB went down and will be out until after the 12th. This ends his season and he won't get a medical RS because it's 4 games into the season. A player must play in less than 20% of the scheduled games and we will only play 13 games this season, making game #3 the cutoff. Garcia just rushed for over 100 yards the game before, and this will put a major damper on our offense. 27-55 L We come home in time to host Connecticut. The game got out of hand early and we did nothing to slow things down. We were down 14-0 after one quarter and were down 28-3 at the half. We were nearly held out of the endzone altogether until we managed to score a TD with 4 minutes to go in the game. We ran for 140/1 and passed for 128/0/0. Our offense was shut down for the first time this season, as we were held to 268 yards. Our defense was victimized again, giving up 479 yards. 49-12 L ----------- With the first 5 games in the books, I'm happy with what we've accomplished thus far. We're 1 win away from matching last year's win total, with 4 sim games yet to be played. Our offense is performing well, although that will take a considerable blow with Duane Garcia going down during the game against TCU. I've had to go through this situation before when I was at Appalachian State in Rockne, so it's nothing new. It's far from desirable, however. The next 4 games will bring both ends of the spectrum. We host games against powerhouses Boston College and Virginia, both coached by Hall-Of-Famers. The other two games are on the road against downtrodden sim teams - NC State and Maryland. We will likely match last season's win total with the first game and exceed it with the third. Games two and four will be learning experiences all-around. I will probably see a toned down version of the BC and VA offenses, so I won't learn much there as a coach. Our team will get absolutely schooled, however. ---------- 12/4/07 at NC State 12/5/07 Boston College 12/6/07 at Maryland 12/7/07 #6 Virginia

Sorry for the late entries! I've been wrapped up in HBD and GD has been put on the back burner a little bit. Time to play a little catch-up. Looking at the season schedule, wins could come few and far between. Our OOC slate features 3 teams from BCS conferences and 2 from non-BCS conferences. Our opening game against Ball State looks to be the most winnable game since we have it at home. Beyond that, we'll be lucky to win 2 games out of the first 5. Our in-conference slate is going to be a very humbling experience as well. We will take our beatings from division powers Miami, Virginia, and Georgia Tech. We also drew Boston College from the Atlantic. That's 4 losses right there. We do have 4 sim teams on the in-conference slate, which could make all the difference in year one of the great rebuild. First year expectations? I will at least match last season's mark of 3 wins. That should keep my job status from dropping. The 4 games against sim teams will go a long way toward reaching that goal. At best I see us winning 7 games and achieving a winning record, something Duke hasn't experienced in 15 seasons. ------- Recruiting went well, given our dire straits. The most important goal we accomplished was that we signed 13 players to scholarships, nearly all of which will be pressed directly into starting roles. We landed the #57 class in the country, which is amazing for what we had to work with. We couldn't exactly sell Duke's winning tradition (13-39 record the last 4 years). We also didn't have a bankroll to work with since it's our first season at the helm. The only positives were my reputation (A- after cutting dead weight) and loyalty (A+) ratings as a coach. Within the conference we had the 7th best recruiting class, and we had the 4th best class in our division. It's going to be a long road to even get to mediocrity. --------- 11/29/07 Ball State 11/30/07 at Arizona State 12/1/07 at Indiana 12/2/07 at Texas Christian 12/3/07 #20 Connecticut

Quote: I'm guessing the bowl lineup will be: LSU vs. OSU. UGA vs VT USC vs. Mizz WVU vs. KU. The team that really gets screwed in this is Hawaii.. UGA won't match up against VaTech. The SEC has a tie-in with the Sugar Bowl, and whichever team doesn't go to the NC (LSU/UGA) will be the replacement. If LSU goes to the NC, we're going to the Sugar Bowl instead, where we will match up with... Hawaii.

Quote: update us! Here's a link to a boxscore of my most recent game. Note the insane amount of detail. ------ I can literally do ANYTHING from: A manger's standpoint - setting lineups, pitching staffs, pitch counts, defensive replacements, etc. A GM's standpoint - player callups/demotions, trades (trading block, direct trades), waiver wire moves (pickups, placing players on waivers), free agent negotiations, tryout player negotiations, international player negotiations, etc. An Admin's standpoint - setting budgets, hiring/firing coaching staff (from ML down to rookie league!). ------ Keep in mind you are literally in charge of 6 full baseball teams. You control every aspect of not only your ML team, but also it's AAA, AA, High A, Low A, and Rookie League affiliate! When I talk about depth, name something in real baseball and I'm willing to bet it's accounted for. I'm getting ready for the amateur draft right now by looking at prospects and pre-ranking them like you would in fantasy sports. Here's a snippet of what the prospect screen looks like (I apologize ahead of time for the formatting): Rnk Player Pos B T Age Hometown School CL Signability 1 Chance, Dweezil 2B R R 18 North Branford,CT Wethersfield HS -- Undecided. He has scholarships on the table to play DI college basketball. 2 Reyes, Juan P R R 22 Fort Wayne,IN University of Nevada - Reno SR Undecided. He is also being scouted to play professional basketball. 3 Brock, Steve 2B R R 18 Apopka,FL Evans HS -- Looking to be drafted in the first five rounds. If not, he'll probably accept a scholarship to play DI college baseball. 4 Guerrero, Arthur P L L 22 Las Cruces,NM Princeton University SR Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. 5 Matos, Santiago SS R R 19 Saratoga Spgs,NY SUNY-Cobleskill FR Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. 6 Thomson, Bill SS S R 18 Louisville,MS Central Academy -- Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. 7 Greer, Gary RF L L 18 Middletown,CT Coventry HS -- Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. 8 Crede, Manny P R R 18 Kiefer,OK Booker T. Washingtoin HS -- May sign if the deal is right. Has been offered several scholarships to play college baseball at a DI school. 9 Suh, Brian P R R 18 Millersville,MD French International HS -- Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. 10 Vernon, Pat 2B L R 18 Winfield,KS Bishop Carroll Catholic HS -- Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money. ----- Any specific questions I can help answer?

Quote: Does a close loss help you more than a blowout loss or is that just a horseshoes and handgrenades sort of thing? Unfortunately, a loss is simply a loss. One quick update for the offseason is that the MAC nearly emptied out this season, with several coaches moving to different DIA schools. I started looking at some BCS schools that were vacant, but I'm leaning heavily toward staying at Toledo for a while now that the conference is about half full with human coaches. I should have a relative strangle hold on the conference during recruiting, and I've learned to tiptoe around the Ohio Valley while Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State get first dibs. I looked long and hard at the vacant Colorado job because it's a BCS school but decided against it. I actually applied for the vacated Florida job before withdrawing my application because I was underqualified (A loyalty required, I have an A-). And I hate to admit it since I'm a UGA fan, but Florida would have been a dream job because it's an elite school. My back-to-back CCs would've made me a serious contender too. I don't plan on moving, but I have my eyes on a complete rebuilder in the Big East - Temple! It's a BCS school in a ripe NE recruiting area. The sim tries to mimic real life, so the big recruiting areas are CA, TX, the SE, and the Ohio Valley; but it also generates recruits based somewhat on how many total schools are in an area regardless of division. The NE is chock full of schools at DIII and DIAA, so it has a surplus of quality recruits for only a handful of DIA programs. That's how you get schools like Boston College, Connecticut (back-to-back NCs), Penn State and Syracuse dominating more than elite schools like Texas and all the Florida schools.

I'll post something when I get to work tonight. Sleepy time for me.

Our first drive was a dominating 5 minute, 69 yard TD march that showed our Pro offense is a force to be reckoned with. Minnesota returns fire by running right at us and we are unable to stop them before they score a TD. Our next drive is much like our first one, attacking out of the Pro on our way to another TD and a 14-7 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Minnesota seems content to do nothing but run and I can't blame them. They go right down the field again to tie the score at 14. Not to be outdone, our offense continues to shine, moving right down the field for another TD without even having to convert a 3rd down. Our defense finally clamped down on Minnesota's next drive, forcing a 52 yard FG attempt that sailed wide. With just under 2 minutes to go, we manage to drive down the field and get into FG range ourselves and kick a last second FG to go into halftime with a 24-14 lead. Minnesota's offense gets back on track to start the 3rd, scoring a TD to cut our lead down to 3 points. We were knocking on the door at their 9 yard line on our next drive when disaster struck. We gave up a sack on 1st and goal, putting us at the 17. A 2nd down pass falls incomplete, leaving us with 3rd and goal from the 17. We connect on a 15 yard pass on 3rd down, but Minnesota forced and recovered a fumble for the first turnover of the game. Minnesota makes good on the opportunity and scores a TD to take a 28-24 lead into the final quarter. We open the 4th quarter with a TD drive that featured a critical 4th down conversion on 4th and 4. We missed the XP, however, leaving us with a 30-28 lead. No matter, as Minnesota drives for another TD to take a 35-30 lead. We return the kickoff almost to midfield and score a TD of our own. A successful 2pt conversion gives us a 3 point lead with just under 5 mins to play. We get Minnesota in a 3rd and 9 situation but they convert with a 10 yard pass. They enter the redzone with 1:30 to go, but a chop block leaves them with 25 yards for a first down and 26 for a TD. Two straight runs leaves them with 3rd and 14 with 57 seconds left in the game. Our defense couldn't come up with a critical stop, however, and we gave up a TD pass. They missed the XP, giving us a sliver of hope. We return the ball to the 31, leaving us 31 seconds to drive about 50 yards to get within FG range. We give up a sack on 1st down and that pretty much wrapped up the game. Time ran out with us at midfield, ending our Cinderella run. Remember that fumble we lost in the 3rd? That was the only turnover the entire game and it ended up costing us in the end. Even a FG from that possession could've affected the outcome, and a TD would have put the pressure on Minnesota. As it played out, however, we were in catch-up mode for the 4th quarter and our defense couldn't handle the pressure. Our offense took it to a superior defense, though, to the tune of 215/1 on the ground and 266/4 in the air for a total of 481 yards. Our defense got absolutely manhandled on the ground, however, giving up 355 out of a total 499 yards to Minnesota's rushing attack. 41-38 L -------- We end the season on a bit of a sour note, given that we were able to hang with a BCS school in a BCS bowl until the last drive of a game. The CC and 14 wins don't feel so good after suffering our only loss this season. We didn't get lucky getting that close to pulling that upset either. Minnesota couldn't stop me on offense except once. We put ourselves on the radar, however, and I think I put myself on the radar as a coach to be reckoned with. We took the CC from a brutal Big 10 to the brink of a loss with an upstart non-BCS school with a hotshot coach at the helm. We ended the season ranked 13th, with the next highest non-BCS school checking in at 17th.

Here's a breakdown of the current season I'm in. I was given this team when one of the GMs stepped down so it's already 1/3 of the way complete. Gives you an idea of how detailed HBD is: Dates: Friday, 10/26/2007 AM - Friday, 10/26/2007 PM2 Budget Distribution Set the tone. This is the time to distribute your organizational budget. Divvy up the funds to meet your franchise's goals for this season and beyond. Although there are some restrictions, you have a great deal of decision making awaiting you. Dates: Saturday, 10/27/2007 AM - Sunday, 10/28/2007 PM2 Rehire Coaches Bring 'em back. This is the time you can bring back coaches from the previous season without having to deal with other franchises getting in the way. Not all coaches will want to return for another season, but for those that do, be wise in your decisions because these are the guys that shape your franchise's future. Dates: Saturday, 10/27/2007 AM - Saturday, 10/27/2007 PM2 Avoid Free-Agency/Arbitration Keep your stars. This is your last opportunity to re-sign your departing free-agents before they they hit the open market. It's also time to avoid arbitration and lock up your young players to long-term contracts before the arbitration hearings begin. Dates: Sunday, 10/28/2007 AM - Sunday, 10/28/2007 PM2 Arbitration Hearings Avoid the big payday. For all players not under contract and with between 3 and 5 years of big league experience, this is the time when they'll be trying to cash in. It's your job to come up with reasonable counter offers. Dates: Monday, 10/29/2007 AM - Thursday, 11/1/2007 PM2 Sign Free-Agents Get the fans excited. Plug your team's holes with players from the free-agent market. It's a supply-and-demand world, though, so be prepared to go head-to-head with other league owners. Dates: Monday, 10/29/2007 PM - Thursday, 11/1/2007 PM Hire Coaches Choose your leaders. This is the time to complete the coaching staff that will mold your franchise with mentors that best fit your strategy at each level. But like the free-agent market, you'll be one of many franchises vying for the services of the better coaches. Dates: Friday, 11/2/2007 AM - Friday, 11/2/2007 PM2 Rule 5 Draft Take a flyer! This is the time to grab some surplus talent from another franchise. Any player with 4 or more years of pro experience not on a team's 40-man roster is ripe for the picking. If selected, though, it'll cost you $50K plus their salary and, most importantly, the player must remain on your big league club for the remainder of the season. And don't forget, you must protect your players, too! Rosters are frozen on this day, so be sure to handle your 40-man roster before this date. Dates: Saturday, 11/3/2007 AM - Thursday, 11/8/2007 PM2 Spring Training Prepare your team. This is your player's first glimpse at live game action in the Hardball Dynasty season. The spring training season lasts six-days and covers 18 games. Don't forget to set your lineups, pitching staffs and player settings from the Manager's Office. Plus, be sure to go to the Spring Training Squads page in the Manager's Office to bring up your top prospects and best gauge their progress to the big leagues. Dates: Saturday, 11/10/2007 AM - Monday, 1/7/2008 PM2 Regular Season Let the games begin. This is the time for the real thing. All levels begin play with the exception of the Rookie League which begins shortly after the Amateur Draft. Be ready for injuries, suspensions, trades, waiver claims, etc. It all starts happening now! Dates: Wednesday, 11/28/2007 AM - Sunday, 12/2/2007 AM Amateur Draft Preparation Are you ready for the future? The Amateur Draft takes place four days after this date. At this point, your scouting departments (or lack thereof) have compiled a list of the players available for the draft. It's now your turn to review players and make some crucial choices on your draft strategy. Dates: Sunday, 12/2/2007 AM Amateur Draft Build a dynasty. Whether you are winning now or not, the Amateur Draft will have a great impact on your franchise's success for years to come. The 25-round draft will run at this time. Once the draft has ended, it's your job to begin signing your prospects and get them on the field. Dates: Saturday, 11/3/2007 AM - Monday, 1/7/2008 PM2 International Scouting Find your diamonds in the rough. This is the first day of the season that your international scouts may begin to contact you concerning players they have found. You'll receive some correspondence anytime a scout finds a player you may be interested it. It's then up to you to sign him up! Dates: Wednesday, 12/19/2007 PM2 Transaction Deadline Deals are done. This is the last chance to make a deal without having to pass players on the 40-man roster through waivers. There's usually a flurry of deals made around this time as playoff bound teams prepare for the stretch drive. Dates: Sunday, 12/30/2007 AM Roster Expansion Call 'em up. Big league rosters expand to 40 players. This is the time of year you can help your club reach the playoffs with an extra bat or arm or catch a glimpse of the future with some up-and-comers. Don't forget -- in order for a player to be eligible for the playoffs, he must be on the 40-man roster prior to this deadline. Dates: To Be Determined Playoffs Win it all! Or, have you gone fishing? Four rounds of playoffs are held at each level, but prizes only apply to Big League winners. Good luck on the ring(s)!

I just got invited to a private GD coaches league and I must say that I'm extremely impressed with the depth of the game. You have control of everything from the major league level down to low-A ball! Anyone with questions on the game, feel free to click this link and take the HBD tour. If you have any further questions, ask away in this thread and I'll try to answer them to the best of my (limited) ability.

I was wondering if there were enough people here on the Squawk that were interested in HBD to open a private world. In order to do so, we'd need 32 total GMs, myself included. The cost for the first season is $14.95 and subsequent seasons are $24.95. You can also buy a 4-pack of seasons for $89.95. A season lasts roughly 4 months (117 days), so it's not like you're paying once a month. On top of that, you get prizes depending on how well your team does as follows: 1. World Series Winner will receive 5,250 Reward Points. 2. World Series Runner-Up will receive $25 in credits for a future HBD season. 3. League Championship Runner-Up (2) will receive $12 in credits for a future HBD season. 4. Division Championship Runner-Up (4) will receive $8 in credits for a future HBD season. 5. First-Round Runner-Up (4) will receive $4 in credits for a future HBD season. If you get to the World Series, you play for free next season. If you win the World Series, you can get a free season via reward points (3750) with plenty left over.

Quote: Congrats on the big year! Do you have a sense of how much of a boost an appearance in a BCS bowl will be to your recruiting? We had 7 teams (every human-coached team) make bowls, netting everyone in the conference $51,000 in additional recruiting money. The most noticeable boost is the amount of money that you get. The following chart shows how much each school in a conference gets for teams getting bowl invites: Bowl Level Additional Money BCS $15,000 Level 4 $10,000 Level 3 $8,000 Level 2 $6,000 Level 1 $4,000 Beyond that, it helps to build on our winning tradition: 3rd straight season with at least 14 wins, 3rd consecutive CC, 2nd BCS bowl game in 3 years, 4 bowl games in a row. That's about as dominant as you can get for a non-BCS school, minus a National Championship berth. This success will be short-lived, however, because our OOC slate for next season is going to be absolutely brutal. Here's a sneak peek into next season: #3 USC 14-0 #11 Miami (FL) 11-2 #4 Florida State 12-2 at Missouri 8-6 #22 Marquette 12-2 That's 4 teams ranked in the top 25 of the final regular season poll. That's 3 elite teams in USC, Miami, and FSU. That's 4 Hall of Fame coaches at USC, Miami, FSU, and Marquette. The one game that I've labeled as a must win even before the end of this season is the game against Mizzou. We'll realistically go into conference play at 1-4, but the way I see it, as long as we take care of business during conference play we can still defend our CC.

Miami(OH) got the ball to start the game and had no problem marching down the field. We managed to stop them just within the redzone and held them to a FG. We got to showcase our offense next, staying in Pro the entire time as we marched 65 yards for a TD without even seeing a 3rd down. Miami(OH) responds with a 69 yard TD drive of their own. We ended the 1st quarter with the ball and down 10-7. Our first drive of the 2nd quarter was going smoothly until we got to the 6 yard line. We manage to get 2 yards, leaving us with 4th and goal from their 4 yard line. Rather than settle for a FG, we went for it and scored on a TD pass. Not to be overdone, Miami(OH) drives 58 yards and answers with another TD. On our following possession, we go 67 yards and score yet another TD leaving Miami(OH) 2 minutes before the half. With two clutch 3rd down conversions, Miami(OH) gets down to the 18 before kicking a FG with 1 second on the clock. Going into the half, we have a razor-thin 21-20 lead. At this point, neither of our teams has turned the ball over or punted. We get the ball to open the 3rd quarter and pick up where we left off, driving 74 yards for a TD. Miami(OH) turns around and returns the favor, driving 82 yards for yet another TD. We end the 3rd quarter facing a 4th down on their 6 yard line, holding a 28-27 lead. We open the 4th quarter conservatively, opting for a FG to take a 31-27 lead. Miami(OH) proceeds to carve up our defense, not seeing a 3rd down until they get close to our redzone, but our defense stepped up in time to hold them to a FG. We start the next drive with just under 9 minutes left in the game and we roll down the field (again) for a TD and a 38-30 lead. Miami(OH) finally shows signs of slowing down, getting flagged for a critical holding penalty that ended with a punt. 52 minutes into the game and we finally saw a turnover! We start to run out the clock but draw our own holding penalty, setting us back to our 24 with 1:30 to go, staring at 1st and 20. Our offense does what it did all game long, however, as we rip off a 25 yard run out of the Pro set to get a first down that allowed us to run out the rest of the clock. We ended up running for 336/4 and passing for 159/1. We also allowed 203/1 on the ground and 230/2 in the air. Getting that much out of our running game against a top-notch defense was extremely encouraging. It reinforced the notion that our balanced offense is definitely hard to deal with. The most telling stat of the game, however, was the fact that there were zero turnovers and one punt all game long. In the end, we got one extra possession which made the difference in a one possession game. 38-30 W -------- All I can say at this point is wow! Talk about hitting the ground running. My first season at the DIA level is one win away from being perfect. We're 14-0, conference champs, and BCS Bowl bound! Here's the email I had waiting after our game with Miami(OH): From: Brandon Booker To: Coach joannes3000 Subject: Congratulations, Coach! Sent: 11/23/07 2:48PM I just got off the phone with the organizers of the Sugar Bowl and I've accepted their invitation. Great job this year, Coach. I think the exposure we will get playing in this game will really help out the program, not to mention recruiting next season. Keep up the good work! Brandon Booker Athletic Director University of Toledo Being the only non-BCS school to crash the BCS party, we are in for quite a matchup. We will be facing the Big 10 conference champ, Minnesota, and without even looking at the team it's safe to say that we will be facing a superior team in terms of talent.

Bowling Green was nothing more than a warmup before our game against Ball State, making it a perfect trap game. The game was actually close at the half (21-14) before we blew the game open in the 3rd quarter. We ran for 366/4 and passed for 111/2. 42-23 W At last, the game to decide who goes to the CC! Defense ruled the 1st quarter, where the only scoring was a Ball State FG. Our offense got in gear in the 2nd, however, and we rattled off 3 TDs to take a 20-13 lead into the half. The game was tied late in the 3rd when we forced a key fumble and got the ball back with a 27-20 lead. We went up by 2 TDs early in the 4th and the game never got close from there. We ran for 327/4 and passed for 208/2. 27-41 W With the CC wrapped up, the only thing keeping us from an undefeated regular season was this game against Northern Illinois. NIU scored the opening TD to take a lead and never saw it again. We took the lead with just under 2 minutes to go in the 1st and rolled to a 28-14 halftime lead. NIU never came within 14 points from that point on. We ran for 286/5 and passed for 237/2. Injury: RB James Smith gets hurt in this relatively meaningless game and likely won't be 100% going into the CC... Smith is last on the depth chart, but we only carry 5 RBs That makes for some depth issues, which isn't what I wanted going into the CC against Miami(OH). 49-24 W After losing James Smith the game before, could Central Michigan rub salt in the wound and pull the upset against us? Not a chance. We were up 28-0 at the half and managed to score even more than that in the 2nd half. We ran for 393/6 and passed for 280/3. 63-7 W -------- Looking back, here's what I posted at the beginning of the season: With all that said I don't know that we will be able to reach the same level that Toledo has been at for the past two seasons - 14 wins and a CC. I think we will at least win 10 games and depending on how quickly I can adapt my game planning, I don't think it would be impossible to win 12 or 13 games. Going into the CC we're 13-0 and I like my chances of winning the CC and going 14-0 into bowl games. Our matchup in the CC will be our biggest test of the season so far, however. Miami(OH) has more playmakers on offense than we do, so it could be a long day if we start to fall behind. Our offense should be a good test for their defense as well, however, so it could be a shootout. -------- 11/23/07 at #24 Miami (OH)