Definitely need an episode for each position, great!

Jonny: It’s been a while folks, but Blowing Smoke is back!
I won’t dwell on the past, anyone who wasn’t around when Blowing Smoke was putting things out can look back on previous posts, and it’s on to the future we go.
First call of duty is to welcome a new member of the mighty Dragons community, but not new to RZA, Roelvennegoor, manager of the Deventer Devils and new “partner in crime” for the BS thread.
Welcome Roel, it really is great to have you here, tell us a bit about yourself, just in case anyone isn’t familiar with the legendary Cheesehead .

Roel: Hey Jonny, first I want to say that is an honour to be featured in a true RZA tradition like the Blowing Smoke publication and to be interviewed by one of the really good guys of RZA!

So my real name is Roel and I live in Amersfoort in the Netherlands, which is right in the middle of the country. I am 44 year old, married and I have a 1.5 year old daughter who I have taught to shout BAM! when she sees a NFL player tackling another player

I've been involved with RZA since 2015, indeed under the username Cheesehead. I was manager of the Amersfoort Alligators in the Thunder region. I love the game but was has kept me here so long is the community. In Thunder there always has been an active forum and I love that aspect of the game a a lot. I am hoping that the Dragons forum can become like that as well!

I have just done a reboot with capital R and I have forsaken my old account and started completely afresh with a new team and even a new region and hence I have a new username Roel Vennegoor. I've chosen this really boring name as I will be role playing as a owner / GM of the Deventer Devils and I will be writing a blog from the owner's perspective of the (hopefully) rise and rise of the Devils!

Jonny: I do love the demonic imagery with the new team, it definitely screams "we are not to be messed with"!
Now that you are starting afresh, with lessons learned from your previous team, what sort of things are you planning on doing differently? I know you might not want to give everything away, but what sort of interview would it be if I didn't ask the difficult questions’
Are we going to see small tweaks here and there, or major philosophical changes to all aspects of the team?

Roel: Thanks for noticing the pretty ominous looking logo. It is indeed meant to convey a message. Externally but definitely also within the club itself.

There is going to be a major philosophical change. We are not choosing the easiest path, as the Devils will be a team that will develop their own talent. We will not buy players. The only way players will be able to join our squad is via the Draft or the Youth Team!

I've learned many lessons, most I have to keep relearning, like to always stay on top of training. Too often I've overtrained good players, making them too expensive to keep. Another one is to view the Depth Chart as a living document and not something you set once a season. Another one is to remember that scrimmages exist and should be used. Remember to renew contracts early and set Draft Board at start of season instead of the night before the Draft.

But if I have to pick one, it is to scout how other teams are being successful. There have a few teams that have had incredible success, only seasons after joining. Willemstad Bridges is prime example! Too long I've been relying on what worked for me at the start of my RZA career and I've not been innovative or not even as much as looked at my Playbook for example or how I assess players.

Finally, I think to stay invested in RZA over the long term I need someone else to keep me motivated and not drop back into auto-pilot mode again. Community is a big part of the answer but also role playing as the owner of the team via the Blog is a way I am trying now to stay invested over the long term.

Jonny: Damn Roel, great answer! Willemstad Bridges are a good example of a team worth scouting, they're not blowing a budget for success, so they're definitely doing something right, or got really lucky

I couldn't agree more on the depth chart, it's the first aspect I modify when things aren't working well. Falling back on what worked for me ages ago is my primary RZA sin, I must admit, I tend to get into an argument with myself though moving towards what appears to work well with other and having my team the way I want it regardless! This is especially true when it comes to playbook building, I have my method, it took a while to get there, and it's very difficult to let go of

The balance between building a playbook for the team and a team for the playbook can be extremely tricky, have you brought playbooks with you from the Alligators? Or are there aspects from previous playbooks you feel will work better now you're able to start from scratch and build a team for specific purposes?

Roel: I purposefully did not take any of my playbooks to my new team! Mentally I just found it impossible to make any real changes to my playbooks for fear of losing games due to a mistake. However I really really love that part of the game.

And I do believe your playbook needs to evolve to really be successful in RZA. New (and old) managers in RZA find new ways to beat you. One example was my playoff game against Valiant Pinoys last season. During the regular season I beat him handily. In the play offs however he completely shut down my rushing offense and I had no chance of winning. He later told me that he used that loss to make changes to his playbook. I hadn't changed my playbook and I paid the price for it. If you see his performance in the first half of the season compared to the second half, it's striking. He actually made it to Elite!

What I will take in playbook experience to my new team? I think the most important thing is to make a playbook that is easy to adjust while still being unpredictable enough to scouting opponents. One of the reasons my last base (offensive) playbook was so hard to change, is that it contained a whopping 227 lines! So the big learning I guess is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) :-)

Secondly, that defense is important as well. My main focus was always offense and my D playbook was very very simple compared to my offensive one. My aim is try to remedy this with this team.

Finally, I want to investigate if there is a good way to easily change the rush / pass percentages per game. I've seen teams that have an almost perfect split and I had that with my last playbook as well although I did arrive there kind of accidentally I must admit. With a playbook that is based on conditions around downs, distance or time I don't fully understand how and if you can manage these rules to get a rush / pass split to your choosing. An example of where this would handy: Last season I ran the ball about 50% of the time. If you face a team that has a better rush defense than your rushing offense, then you will lose 9 out 10 games against that opponent. In these instances’ I want to be able to relatively easily change my strategy for that game only.

Btw, one feature I would love Pete to add is conditional rules for playbooks in-game. One example rule might then be: "If after 30 mins, average per rush is less then 3.5 yards, switch to playbook X". It will never happen, I know, but one may dream, right? :-)

A long answer but I think I can talk about playbooks all day long if somebody lets me!

Jonny: Another great answer, you're making this interview way too easy for me the best part is you're setting the standard for anyone we might, and hopefully will, interview for future episodes

Changing the percentage is one thing, easy to change, I think, is something else. The logical way is using time, for example, every 3 minutes of passing for 2 minutes of rushing gives you 60% pass, depending how the game plays out. If you want to go deep into it you could add field position, remembering you'll almost certainly be playing more in your own 3rd compared to inside the opponents 20. You could use the totally awesome RZA Game Analyser (I had to plug this at some point) with enough game info to find out what percentage of plays are done at various positions on the pitch? I'm getting into a playbook discussion now, definitely a future episode here I reckon

So what's it like in Amersfoort? I did a Google search and it looks like a very picturesque city, but I'm guessing doesn't come with a major American Football loving community? I find in my town if I spot someone in NFL gear I strike up a conversation pretty quickly

Roel: Yes folks, this kind of discourse is the standard now for Blowing Smoke. It's a high quality publication with content that goes deep into the heart of what RZA is all about

We should indeed perhaps do tactical deep dives into specific formations etc but that is not for this conversation. Let me get back on track.

So I was born in Deventer, hence the name of my new team. But Amersfoort is where I live now. It's a medium sized city right in the middle of the Netherlands (there is actually a geographical marker in the centre denoting the middle of the country). The centre is indeed very picturesque. A lot of the old roads and houses are still standing and a large portion of the old city wall is also still up. I love living here. It's big enough to offer a lot of what bigger cities can offer but small enough not to have the downsides that large cities can have. It has a lot of festivals which is a big plus as well (not right now obviously).

There used to be an amateur american football club here called the Amersfoort Untouchables however I've only seen a few guys walking in NFL clothing here in my five and half years here. And like you I do strike up a conversation immediately. But it's not been very successful, they mostly give me a look that my attention is not warranted. I did watch a Superbowl (Eagles vs Patriots) in a pub here and there were about 30 people, but no one was talking to each other which was very disappointing. I've watched a SB in Manchester, UK and that was a riot

So, to wrap up the question: Amersfoort is a lovely city to spend a weekend and do send me a PM when you visit so we can have a beer!

Jonny: Definitely will I'll try and make it when a Packers game is on!
Let's jump into the quick-fire round here goes... What’s your favourite... Band/artist, movie, book, food, holiday destination, player who's not a Packer and NFL game ever played?

Roel:
Band/artist: Dire Straits
Movie: The Godfather II
Book: A Brave New World - Albert Huxley also anything by Isaac Asimov
Food: anything Mexican or Stim Stam (Mashed Potatoes with endive and sausage)
Holiday Destination: anywhere our camper (RV for the yanks out there) will drive us :-)
Player who's not a Packer: not a 'correct' pick for a Packers fan but Brian Urlacher always impressed me. Both as a player and the presence he had on the pitch.
NFL game ever played: The Ice Bowl of course

Jonny: I had Money For Nothing stuck in my head yesterday (when the question was posted), that's weird! And I don't think I've ever had endive, I'll put that down on the "list of things to try"

I'm sure the rest of the Dragons will join me in thanking you for giving a truly fantastic interview, I really didn't need to push for information at all there Although I'm sure we'll both come up with more questions randomly during future episodes.

So, what shall we do in the next episode? I've often felt bad that when Blowing Smoke was previously going we never did anything focusing on the 2nd Division, as you're starting there with your team, maybe we should start there with BS? Your choice Mr Vennegoor

Roel: Thanks, it was really fun.

For the next episode I would like to dig into Dragons 2 indeed. I was very surprised (and a little taken aback) at how competitive the division is. In Thunder it's mostly BOTs (only 3 human managers). Take the Miami Dolphins for example: have been around since S22 and have a wage bill of 5mill. Perhaps we can review some teams to get more exposure on potential future challengers in Dragons 1.

Jonny: Sounds good to me, looks like there could be some sleeping giants there and it will be fascinating delving in to what's been going on

We're almost at the end of our first episode back after a prolonged hiatus It's good to be back.
All for me left to do is say "goodbye, good luck and see ya soon", before handing back to my accomplice to sign us off, take it away Roel

Roel: Yes, let's take it away indeed. I love being involved now with this publication and, Dragons, watch this space for more to come! We have many ideas that are brainstorming on as we write this. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, hit that Reply button and let us know what you think of Blowing Smoke being back!

We definitely need more episodes of Blowing Smoke! As I said before I think that the lack of forum participation and sense of community is the only weakeness of Dragons region.

It was a great interview and kind of a class. The PB is my biggest problem and I am trying to fix it under the same K.I.S.S. philosophy. I hope my team can evolve this season with my huge investment and that I could finally win a playoff game. Or 2.

The only drawback of BS is that it was a bit looooong to read but it was really cool to read such great content. Congratulations for the initiative!

Another nice Episode of BS

A lot of BS

We named it before realizing the abbreviation of "BS", the second it dawned on me my eyes lit up with joy

If anyone has any BS questions they'd like answered/mused upon in an "episode", please feel free to PM them to RonaldVennegoor or myself, they can be about literally anything

Thanks for the positive feedback. Regarding the long time to read, we are a long form investigative journalism duo and we don't apologise for that

Thanks for the positive feedback. Regarding the long time to read, we are a long form investigative journalism duo and we don't apologise for that