JB's guide to building a continuously successful franchise.

[JesterBlaze]

so lets say Otey goes down for a while. you really think all of a sudden this whole show shuts down?

Otey will hurt but won't ruin you. I do believe that you already have an extremely suspect secondary and an injury to either of your "real CBs" will tear your defense apart.

i focus on starters. if one goes down then that's a bridge i'll cross when i get to it. i don't operate in a world of "ifs" and "maybes". i deal with the here and now.

No you don't. You operate in a (fictional) world of almost guaranteed injuries.

Injuries WILL hurt you this season. You will learn from it and with your passion I believe you will be a force in future seasons. Not this season unless Jeff/Sui turn injuries off.

[JesterBlaze]

i got DE Jose Gilpin - the top DE in the league - for a 1st and 2nd round pick i think. i'd do that trade every day of the year, even in a leap year.

The "Gilpin trade" was the most lopsided trade I've ever witnessed in any online football league of any kind. Savor the flavor on that one.

[JesterBlaze]

i just collect talent and worry about how it'll fit later on.

Please educate me here cause the only way I know of to make talent fit (that doesn't currently) is a position switch. I'd love to know the ancient secret of fitting the square peg into the round hole. :?

[Hell Atlantic]

agree to disagree then. i don't debate with people who call my secondary "extremely suspect". that's foolish talk.

[Hell Atlantic]

i just collect talent and worry about how it'll fit later on.

Please educate me here cause the only way I know of to make talent fit (that doesn't currently) is a position switch. I'd love to know the ancient secret of fitting the square peg into the round hole. :?

if the square peg doesn't fit into a round hole you trade the square peg. the whole point is to try to aquire that square peg without having to give up too much. in my deal to aquire S Herman Almeida i was originally going to give up a 3rd round pick along with S James Traylor. then i saw Tulsa had only 50-something players and not enough money to field a full 53 man squad and realized he needed to move Almeida more than i needed to make the deal. i offered a 4th round pick instead in the 11th hour. i've now switched Almeida to FS and he made the switch without losing any ratings, so i just improved my FS spot and only had to give up a 4th round pick. if Almeida doesn't fit then i'll move him, but i'll be able to get more for Almeida than if i tried to trade Traylor. that's value.

and when i say "doesn't fit", i mean if i have a chance to aquire another solid RB even though i have Larry Deason without giving much, i'll do it and try to trade that RB later. right now that RB doesn't fit, cuz only 1 RB can carry the ball at a time. to me, a 3rd stud DE wouldn't fit, but if i can get one for a bargain i'll do the deal and worry about it later. or another example, even though i have Colella that didn't stop me from trading for Ike Jordan. Ike Jordan was the top young QB in the league last year, is only a 4 year vet now and has some impressive ratings (high accuracy, timing). i didn't need him, but i can flip him for something i do need at a later date all because there isn't a team that can't use a good *young* QB. the deal worked out for you also, which isn't bad, but the fact remains i can get more back for Ike Jordan than i could with Rockwell. buy low, sell high.

[Hell Atlantic]

i got DE Jose Gilpin - the top DE in the league - for a 1st and 2nd round pick i think. i'd do that trade every day of the year, even in a leap year.

The "Gilpin trade" was the most lopsided trade I've ever witnessed in any online football league of any kind. Savor the flavor on that one.

thank you. i appreciate the props. i try.

[JesterBlaze]

agree to disagree then. i don't debate with people who call my secondary "extremely suspect". that's foolish talk.

I'll certainly agree to disagree if you wish to end the discussion. I meant no disrespect.

"Extremely suspect" isn't an insult. The "pre-season board" thought the chances of my DLine making it to the playoffs unscathed last season was (paraphrasing) "extremely suspect". I agreed but luck was on my side and I think all 4 started the Imperial Bowl.

[Pirates]

Great article Jester and great debate HA and Jester. I love this shit. You really dont get to hear what other owners philosphies are. There are no right ones, per se, some work and some dont. But, I love to hear them all.

[Kozure]

i think the easiest way at becoming good is to be bad for a very long time.

[Pirates]

i think the easiest way at becoming good is to be bad for a very long time.

Yup, hard to argue against that one.

[JesterBlaze]

You really dont get to hear what other owners philosphies are. There are no right ones, per se, some work and some dont. But, I love to hear them all.

Thanks Kurt!

This was my motivation. I wanted to throw out some but not all knowledge to get some debate going.

I feel we (as the IFL from what I've read at FOFC) like to think of ourselves as top-tier but at the same time hold everything "close to the vest" resulting in "good as the better GMs can be by themselves" atmosphere. I feel the best in any endeavor is not afraid to share what they currently own as tomorrow brings a new opportunity to prove your worth based on the current knowledge.

I think I've given the right balance of "thread talk bait" whilst not giving it all away.

One thing that I didn't say in response to r00k's generous post was that I tried (probably not successfully so to the astute student) to make this only a "GM post" (taking up only 1 of 2 areas of the game - as apposed to a GM/coach thread) thus leaving out a LOT.


BTW - r00k's name is untouchable in my estimation and I until I overcome his winning % and titles I've absolutely nothing to match up to him so this is NOT in defiance of his posts which we all should appreciate.

[JesterBlaze]

Yup, hard to argue against that one.

EASY to argue against that one: You're not good if you accept losses in exchange for wins. You're simply "robbing from Peter to pay Paul".

In the IFL's existence the Phantoms (although only making the playoffs 2 of many seasons) have been out of the playoffs for about a combined total of 3 weeks. No team has ever got a victory over the Phantoms that they didn't earn and I'm proud of that as well they should be. Especially SLC who's the current thorn in my side and the only team to ever blow me out, despite how long ago it occurred.

We say a GM shouldn't "tank" games but yet GM's can "tank" seasons. Logical? Maybe. I just don't see how.

I notice myself going towards the negative side so I'll back away and repeat: Anyone from the IFL's inception until I step down as GM that gets a win against the Phantoms that GM has earned it. Hats off to you who does so!

[Pirates]

Tanking is lame and weak. However, if you can get 2-4 high draft picks then you can develop a core nucleus.

What I have found with Orlando is we were very successful early and then age and injuries started to erode us. Poor drafts, giving up the future for the present, and so on, left us in a precarious state. I think hanging onto the high draft picks and getting the best available can make the most long term positive affect. Also, shore up your aging weaknesses before they bite you in the ass. Now we are playing catch up.

[JesterBlaze]

shore up your aging weaknesses before they bite you in the ass. What I have found with Orlando is we were very successful early and then disregarded our own advice and thus. Poor drafts, giving up the future for the present, and so on, left us in a precarious state. I think hanging onto the high draft picks and getting the best available can make the most long term positive affect on bad decisions in the past which left us playing catch up.

No disrespect to the past champs but wouldn't you agree that I fixed this for you? :mrgreen:

[Warhammer]

a team is as deep as the starters. bench players don't play, that's why they're called bench players. i focus more on the starters, guys who'll be getting the most playing time and are expected to make the biggest contribution to the team. i allocate more of my money towards my starters rather than trying to save money for that 4th WR or backup DT.

And that is why many teams have had seasons ruined by a single key injury.

On each of our playoff runs we have lost at least one key starter for significant amounts of time:

2003 - QB Scott Nelson was lost for the season after the second week. We go 8-6 behind a rookie QB.

2004 - We lose MLB Tony Martin, RB Julian Shwab, and CB Mac Breland to season ending injuries, but still make a run to the AC Conference Championship where a bout of food poisoning finally gives us too many players out to handle.

2009 - We lose three of our five starters on the offensive line for significant amounts of time, yet we don't miss a beat and win the whole enchilada.

Depth is a very important part of the puzzle if you want to be a significant title contender. If you spend all your money on starters and a key one goes down, kiss your season good bye.

i go for dominance across the board. look at my defense. do you really think any one guy is "The Guy" on the Heroes defense? let's start with my front 4. i have the best DE in the league on one side, the DE with the 3rd most alltime sacks on the other side (Joe Otey), in the middle i have one of the top 3 DT's in the game. behind them is the LB who got the 2nd most tackles in the league last year - Justin Callihan and two solid LB's. behind them are two of the top 15 CBs in the league in Darren Bruner and Duane Edwards and along with those 2 shutdown CBs i have one of the top man to man shutdown safeties in Alton Filmore - 8th alltime in interceptions - and the newest addition in Herman Almeida ("only" 10th alltime in interceptions). so lets say Otey goes down for a while. you really think all of a sudden this whole show shuts down? if you're a RB and you somehow escape that front hour, then manage to ellude Callihan & Co. and then can make it past those 4 guys in the secondary - you not only deserve to score a td but the Heroes will personally carry you back to your sideline and serve you a cup of Gatorade.

i focus on starters. if one goes down then that's a bridge i'll cross when i get to it. i don't operate in a world of "ifs" and "maybes". i deal with the here and now.

Huh? What? Did you say something? I couldn't hear you with a IFL Ring in one ear and a trophy in the other!


Seriously, I have seen injuries hit too many teams that seemed destined for greatness. Sure, you have studs across the board, but what happens when three guys go down? What will you do then? Secondary injuries can decimate a team even if you only lose one guy. All it takes is one guy that can exploit that injury and you're toast. You can say that you will fill the holes, but unless it happens early in the season, you're stuck with guys that no one wanted.