It was an awesome game I am happy that Nando is doing good in the game I set up, I have to give you credit for it though the rushing part of his game was only thought of when I saw your own Stanzetti rush for a TD and his rushing makes the opponents defense more susceptible to the pass which happened once during our game, I will keep the advice about keeping the same formation in mind I had not thought too much on it. I am very happy about my first win against you, even though it was in power mode Your defense still won't let my run game do anything so I still have that to figure out. Thank you so much for all you do Chrill we appreciate it.

You're welcome

When the sun went down on the Cooliseum, home of the Juggernauts, the crowds began to scatter and the various parties around the Stadium and the team facilities slowly dissolved. It has been a great sunday with a game that had everything this sport has to offer and surrounding entertainment worthy of a Cup Final. In the end, of course, it were the fans of the winning team that cheered a bit louder, and lucky for them were they the ones with the shorter trip home. When the final whistle was blown, the Juggernauts were the winners of the first Bootcamp Friendly Cup.

They came out of the gates with conviction, taking the ball on their first possession all the way to the end zone of the Antelopes, scoring the first Touchdown of the game. Their second possession ended in an Interception, but the Defense that had stopped the drive of the opponent before held the guest from Lusaka to a Fieldgoal.

The Defense of the Juggernauts then showed Dominance in the second and especially the third Quarter, not letting the Antilopes score at all. They allowed only 5 First Downs in Q2, three of them in the last minute when the Antelopes with all might tried to score before halftime. And in Q3 the Defense of the Juggernauts ended 3 of 4 possessions of the Antelopes with Interceptions that each led to a Touchdown for the home team.

After some great performances in past games the Quarter Back of the Lusaka Antelopes had a quite mediocre outing this afternoon. The three Interceptions in Q3 did not look that good, especially since the were all thrown way to long.* It felt like desperation at some point.

But in Q4 he came through again, leading the team to two touchdowns to make the outcome of the game look a bit better in the end. The Defense of the Juggernauts, though, despite easing up a little in the last Quarter of the game, still kept the opponent working hard for each new First Down, thus making sure that the Antelopes never developed any kind of hope to make the game more close.

So with the last whistle the Juggernauts had won the game 41:17 and with this are the Champion of the first edition of the Bootcamp Friend Cup.

Congratulations to the winner , but to the Lusaka Antelopes on second place as well.

* one more thing about those three Interceptions: The first one was unlucky, but the second and the third were on 1&10 from Pro-Set, both 15 Yards. Is this coming from „Pass Deep“ or „Pass Medium“? These options sadly lead to A LOT of Interceptions, all the more with an inexperienced team. Remember: with „Pass“ your QB will try to reach the First Down Marker. You don’t need to tell him how far he should throw, even on 3rd&long. But he will always try the safe way. When you tell him to throw medium or deep you tell him to also throw caution to the wind. So it’s used best when the situation is dire. Which I guess it was in Q3, though, being 24 points behind already…

So the first Bootcamp is over. I really enjoyed this experience and will have a look to if, how and when I'll start a new one. Until then I wish everyone good luck for future games and look forward to meet again.

RZA Bootcamp is coming back in S53 ! ! !

The Cup is set up, invitations are sent. We're very much looking forward

Well done Crill, you do a fab job with the Bootcamp

I'm competing in a different cup on Sundays this season, but I will say that the Newbie Camp is an excellent experience.

For anyone considering - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I learned a lot from the experience, especially with my playbook making big strides throughout the process. I will certainly be reading Chrill and other's posts to learn more and improve my team.

GOOD LUCK to all participants this season

It's been a month of inviting new players, but since no one of those seems to have interest in this program, at least this season, I open the cup for everyone interested to join.

There are already multiple requests pending which I'll now confirm, which takes us to only one free spot to fill before we can start the Cup.

If you're interested click - - > here <- - , join the fun and get some awkward commentary about the games during the cup, because everyone will be treated like a newbie here

Just like that we're set, and the Bootcamp Friendly Cup of S53 will start on October 8th.

This time we'll have one group of seasoned managers and one of fairly new ones (although the transition is quite fluid). These are the participants:

Group 1

1. BobBoy Magpies by dell_g, joined in S11
2. Hemet Hooligans by michaeltodd, joined in S38
3. Motol Ducks by Mr. Pumpkin, joined in S06
4. HAMBURG SEA LIONS, joined in S48

Group 2

1. Braska Bangers 09 by huskertarr, joined in S50
2. Neptunes by Stigma71, joined in S50
3. mCon by Praedyn, joined in S52
4. Liz Biz by Tarvan, joined in S53

As you can see we have two teams, mCon and Liz Biz, that have a disadvantage in experience. These two, and of course anyone else who's asking for it, will receive all the help they need to get up to speed. And hopefully they'll enjoy the game like those who have multiple seasons under their belt.

Just like that the first Game Day of this new iteration of the Bootcamp Friendly Cup is upon us.

The last time we had a full slate of Rookie Managers, so I had put togeter a fairly basic offensive playbook. This way I wanted to give the opponents a chance to scout and formulate maybe a defensive plan themselves. Since the opponents at group stage are way more advanced this time I won't use that playbook, but open a new one called "The Dirty Dozen". I got the idea to set up a new one when I read an interview with Sid Gillman in the
Illustrated NFL Playbook (a great book, by the way) where he said that many teams formulate their gameplan around 12 plays that always work. So I sat down, scanned the official games this season and found our 12 plays that (mostly) work. Over the course of this Friendly Cup I will now work on a playbook with these 12 plays and we'll see how it goes... maybe I'll even write about it

But for now let's have a look at the games that are on the schedule for today:

BobBoy Magpies @ Hemet Hooligans, 1700 GMT

Being by far the most accomplished franchise of this iteration of the Bootcamp Cup with 22 seasons in the Elite League – the current streak is already in it’s 5th season – the BobBoy Magpies are not exactly in need for what this Cup promises to deliver, as in Depth Feedback about the gameplay and first steps to build a strong team are things the manager has mastered a long time ago. They visit the Hemet Hooligans, another seasoned franchise, having joined in S38. The Hooligans reside in the Monarchs-League and had 2 seasons with the Elite themselves, with being relegated down just at the end of last season.
Interestingly enough they have never met to this point. The Magpies won a close one yesterday, defeating the division opponent VenoM with 30:27, while the Hooligans had an easy win against the Impalers, the final score being 132:0.

Motol Ducks @ HAMBURG SEA LIONS, 1800 GMT

The Motol Ducks are around since S06 and were very successful for a long time. It has been quiet for the last few seasons, but just recently the Manager of the Ducks announced that the franchise is working on a comeback to glory. It may still take a few seasons to add another trophy to the case, but they are on track to play in the postseason for the first time since S44 when they even won a playoff game in the ELITE.
The HAMBURG SEA LIONS already were one of the victims on the Ducks’ path to success, losing in the Supercup 27:30 just over a week ago. It was one of those defeats that have a lingering effect, being the first in a streak of now 4 losses in a row against human competition in official games that began in that meeting.
They added another loss yesterday when they were defeated by the Space Kraken, 10:38. The Motol Ducks won their match-up against the Lakfakalle Eagles easily without even letting the opponent score once.

Braska Bangers 09 @ Neptunes, 1800 GMT

Two fairly young teams meet in this match-up, both Managers having founded their respective franchises in S50. The Braska Bangers 09 joined the Monarchs-League just before Game Day 5 of that season and even managed to find the first W against human competition on Game Day 15. They switched to the Fire-League in S52 where they finished the regular season 14–2 and even won their first postseason game. They again lead their division with a nearly spotless record and are nearly a lock for the playoffs again. All the while the Neptunes joined the Admirals-League in the middle of S50 where they had to go through some tough competition early on and struggled to find their groove. They switched to the Claymore-League in S52 and play very sophisticated against the ball, but struggle to get over the hump offensively, which has them stuck on 3rd place in their division.
The Bangers won their game yesterday against the Aberthaw Dolphins, the Neptunes won theirs against the Brisbane Bears as well.

Liz Biz @ mCon, 1900 GMT

The two franchises meeting in this match-up are the youngest of all the contestants in this cup, both having had their very first official game just at the start of this season. mCon joined the Galaxy League at the end of S52 and enjoyed some noise-free time in the offseason to get prepared, maybe even get a feel for the game before being thrust into the action, an advantage that Liz Biz was not having. The latter entered the Fire League on Game Day 2 of this Season and had to take some tough lumps. Slowly but surely the found their groove, though, and on Tuesday this week were able to get the first win against human competition.
Meanwhile things that mCon do are already looking pretty good, with positive records in the League and the Supercup. It does seem the management was able to pick up the game pretty fast and find ways to win without giving up too much money for players, which is impressive.
LizBiz won a close one in overtime yesterday, defeating the Pitcairn Bounty Mutineers by scoring a TD in Overtime. mCon won an easy one against the Tyneside Tigers.

Damn, we're the only team that lost yesterday

Here's hoping for a great start to the Cup and wishing everyone good luck

GL HF everyone!