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| Main / Friendly Cups / Newbie Bootcamp Friendly Cup Search Forum | |
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| posted: 2023-10-25 21:11:39 (ID: 100177994) Report Abuse | |
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In case someone's waiting and wondering when the re-cap of the third game-day is coming: Life's giving me some lemons right now, so time to write is sparse, sadly. I'll try to give you something soon, but I don't exactly know when...
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| posted: 2023-10-29 11:44:51 (ID: 100178105) Report Abuse | |
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Review Game Day 3 & Preview Game Day 4
As we approach the semifinal games today I want to take a look back to last sunday when each team played their third (and four of them their final) game in this tournament. Only one of those games had implications on the playoff seeding, but there were interesting things to find in any of them. Let’s go: BobBoy Magpies 24:34 HAMBURG SEA LIONS Both teams started hot in the first quarter, scoring a Touchdown with their first possession each. After that the Defense of the Magpies took over, intercepted the QB of the opponent once and then forced a 3&out on the SEA LIONS’ 12 Yard Line, giving them a short field despite a pretty good Punt. The Magpies were up 10 points at half time, which could have been even more after the second INT thrown by the SEA LIONS’ QB, and it looked pretty much like a done deal for the home team. But they fought back, scoring 27 points in the second half and had a strong defensive outing, letting the Magpies only score 7 points in Q3, none in Q4, and winning the game by 10 points. This was the first game where the new „Dirty Dozen“-Playbook showed its potential, especially the strong running game that is implemented in the second half. I deviated from my first thought a bit that I wanted to make it Rush first, and Scrimmages showed that my team is capable of playing a pretty good Passing game, too, without relying too much on Rushing to set up the Pass. But those Scrimmages also showed that it’s a style of play that is very dependent on an experienced QB, since the Back-Up-QB is by far not as successful as the Starter with the „Dirty Dozen“. We’ll see how it goes beyond this Cup 
Hemet Hooligans 45:21 Motol Ducks The Ducks had a very unfortunate game since their QB threw 3 Interceptions, they lost a fumble on the 1 Yard-Line of the Hooligans and their Kicker missed a chip shot Field Goal from 25 Yards. They did capitalize on 2 Interceptions by the Hooligans’ QB themselves, but were not able to stop the strong running game of the opponent in the second half where they were outscored 28:14. With this win the Hooligans took second place in Group 1 and secured a spot in the playoffs of this Cup. The Motol Ducks again relied heavily on passing from one specific formation. And this time they came up very short because of the many turnovers that this style of play can be prone to. Passing a lot keeps, as I already stated, the tempo of the game at a high speed. You can score fast and generate more possessions, but as I learned with my own „Dirty Dozen“-Playbook, it does help to sometimes slow down the game with consequent Rushing. And of course it’s very conducive to stop Interceptions and crucial Sacks, which the Motol Ducks had to take at least 6 of in the second and third game of this Cup. Liz Biz 19:21 Braska Bangers 09 In this entertaining game Liz Biz took the lead in the first half by scoring two Field Goals and a Pick 6, with the Bangers only scoring 7 Points after a missed Field Goal and an ensuing short field. After the break and two punts the Bangers then took the Ball down the field in a 16 play 80 Yard Drive to take the lead 14:13, and then a series of crazy events happened: A Pass of the QB of Liz Biz was intercepted on the 9 Yard Line of the Bangers and returned for 53 Yards. 8 Plays later the Bangers turned the Ball over after an unsuccessful 4th-Down-Rush in the opponents 2 Yard Line, just to intercept the QB of Liz Biz again for a Pick 6. Trailing 13:21 Liz Biz managed to score two more Field Goals in the last 5 minutes of the game, but ultimately came up short. It didn’t matter, though, because both teams were already qualified for the Playoffs. Both teams have pretty neat playbooks set up, offensively and defensively. Some Defenses may be a bit tricky when not playing Power Mode and against very good teams, like defending 2nd and 3rd Down and short with 5-3-3, but that’s part of the experience gaining thing. The only situation which I’d spotlight here is the last FG of Liz Biz: The Ball was on the opp 14 Yard line, 4th Down, 2 Yards to go, with 2:20 on the clock. I’d have gone for a TD here, because it was nearly impossible to get the ball again in that short amount of time. The only chance to win this game would have been 6 or 7 points instead of 3. It’s, of course, a moo-point since both teams had already advanced, but in more meaningful games this would have hurt. Neptunes 20:12 mCon Neptunes exit the Cup with a win. The Italians took the lead in the first quarter with scoring a TD on their second drive and never looked back. mCon came close in the third quarter when they shortened the gap to 1 point, but they gave the ball away 3 times in crucial situations, with an Interception and a Turnover on Downs in their own half as well as an Interceptions on the 2 Yard Line of the Neptunes. With the lead the balanced play design of the Neptunes was never really threatened, and the Defense had a good handle on the Rush-heavy gameplan of the opponent. The Neptunes did surprise me with a heavy reliance on the 4-3-4 Defense which can be a bit tricky to use. If you choose to do so very, very good and fast Line Backers are imperative, or you run the risk of getting gashed in the passing game through the middle, like Liz Biz and the Braska Bangers did to them in the two games before. I was once told to avoid this formation totally, because it would not work properly… but then I was just recently blown out by a team (match) that used 4-3-4 very much, so it does. You just need the right players for it to work. With that we say „Thank your for participating in the Bootcamp Friendly Cup“ to the three teams that exited the tournament with us: Neptunes, mCon and the Motol Ducks. You hopefully had some fun and enjoyed the ride. 
Upcoming today are the two games of the winning teams of each Group, and the match-ups for today are the following: 1700 GMT Braska Bangers 09 @ Hemet Hooligans In this all-American match-up both teams meet for the first time. The Hooligans have the far more experienced manager and come off an impressive Divisional Playoffs win on the road, while the Braska Bangers dropped out of the league playoffs yesterday after a hard fought game. 1800 GMT Liz Biz @ BobBoy Magpies This European match-up is between the most seasoned manager in this Cup and the newest one, with more than 30 %-points overall between these two team. But it does not matter since we play „Power Mode“, and crazy things can happen. The Magpies lost an entertaining game yesterday, the Biz continues to gather experience after a friendly game loss. Good luck for everyone |
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| posted: 2023-10-29 12:14:14 (ID: 100178108) Report Abuse | |
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Thanks Chrill for putting this together and all your hard work! It's been fun! I don't see myself winning today, but you never know 🤷🏼♂️ what the sim rolls out...I have had all kinds of crazy games in the last few weeks 🤣.
Best of luck to everyone and thanks for an awesome tournament! 🍻🍻 Huskertarr |
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| posted: 2023-10-29 18:04:28 (ID: 100178128) Report Abuse | |
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Congratulations Hooligans! 🍻
Good game! Huskertarr 🍻 |
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| posted: 2023-10-30 13:04:06 (ID: 100178158) Report Abuse | |
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Review Semifinals
Just like that the Semifinals have come and gone, and that’s what happened: Braska Bangers 09 26:27 Hemet Hooligans The Hemet Hooligans were the first to score yesterday with a 45 Yard completion on their second drive where „the complete defensive backfield missed the tackle opportunity“ and again on their next drive with a 48 Yard Field Goal. But then the Offense of the Bangers arised, scoring two TDs in the second quarter, the second one being especially impressive, as they got the ball on their own 3 Yard line and marched down the field on a 13 play 97 Yard Drive. The Hooligans scored only another FG, so the men from Braska led at half time 14:13. But they were not able to score another TD in the second half of the game, had to settle for FGs on 4 opportunities and missed their chances to capitalize on turnovers by the opponent. The Hooligans on the other side scored a nice 49 Yard Rushing TD in Q3 and had an impressive TD-scoring drive in Q4. In the end they got the ball with 5 Minutes to go, leading by 1, and by clever play made sure that the Bangers never got the rock again. Not that much to tell here, the score being that even pretty much tells it all. Both teams had a pretty good plan and executed good. In the end it was the Defense of the Hooligans that was a bit more clever and made plays to win the game. Liz Biz 20:44 BobBoy Magpies This game was 10:13 at half time in favor of the Magpies, but even by then Liz Biz was quite overmatched by the opponent. The TD for the Biz in Q2 was scored thanks to a good Rushing attack, and they should have stayed with that. Because every time their QB dropped back to pass he was swallowed up in defensive players of the Magpies. The sacking started as early as the 3rd play of the game, in the end 7 different players of the home team had gotten to the QB, combining for a whopping 11 Sacks for 90 Yards. That nearly eliminated all of the Rushing Yards that Liz Biz achieved in the game. The Defense of the Biz on the other hand had a hard time stopping the Offense of the Magpies in the second half, which led to being outscored 31:10 after the break and thus loosing this one-sided match-up. Another game with A LOT of sacks for the Magpies, but another game where these sacks were made „easy“ for them because of the offensive formations that the opponent was using. I alluded to that on the very first game day, and it holds true in this game, too: 7 of the 11 sacks by the Magpies happened against offensive formations by the Biz without a FB (Pro Set, Singleback Spread, Singleback Big). In case the QB is dropping back the FB picks up the DE that breaks through the O-Line or the blitzing LB, giving the QB time to gear up to pass. There are other things that influence successful sacking, yes, like a slow, inagile or unexperienced QB/O-Line, but not having a FB in the line-up is one of those things that makes it extra easy for the (experienced) opponent to exploit. We say „thank you for participating, hopefully you had fun“ to the Braska Bangers 09 and the Liz Biz, and look forward now to the final game next sunday which will be a re-match from the very first game day of this second edition of the „Bootcamp Friendly Cup“
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| posted: 2023-11-03 18:56:43 (ID: 100178302) Report Abuse | |
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I did not have the time to write as many things as I wanted to, but I have managed to write one last chapter for the "Dirty Dozen" just before we head into the final game to this Cup on Sunday. Here it is:
The Dirty Dozen – Chapter 4 Setting up a playbook is like meditation. You clear your mind of everything that surrounds you and concentrate on one thing and one thing alone. You mute everything else, find a comfortable place and think of nothing else than finding an answer to the question: „How do I want my game to be?“. Will it be a safe and cozy, „risk nothing and rely on the squad to be just good enough to win“-type of play? Or will the design be risky, „go for the jugular“-like? You weigh from left to right, revisit games that left marks and try to think of all the little nuances that made you think „Damn it!“. At some point you see it all play out right in front of you: Pass from Flexbone, the Quarterback pitches the Ball to the Slot Back who catches the Ball, the Outside Linebacker misses the tackle, this is a run of 12 Yards, New First Down. Rush from Flexbone, the Quarterback takes the ball himself, this is a rush, the Quarterback is tackled by the Nose Tackle, 2 Yard Gain. Now is the right point in time to write it all down. And now the „Dirty Dozen Plays that (almost) always work“ come back into play. You take the paper right in front of you and place it so you can write as freely as you want. You take the pen, look at the tip if it’s sharp enough. And you begin to write. You know the rules. You have an arsenal. And you have your vision. Different formations on Downs and Distances, varying Plays to surprise the opponent, Punts, Fieldgoals, all that stuff. Your pen flies over the paper while he writes down everything you can think of. To manually bind your ideas to this sheet of paper. And after some time it is there. And you’re finished. Your meditation is over. You stand up. Stretch, because you’ve sit a quite long time. Look at your  and see that you need a re-fill. You walk away. Talk to your people. Maybe throw out the trash. And then you come back. And look again:
 Source: https://i.ibb.co/BfX9gZY/rza-gameplan-01-2400px.jpg Note: This is of course no gameplan that I drew up for RZA, but for the sister game RZC where I manage a team, too. I have plans made like this for RZA, though, the first one in the small booklet that you can see on the picture in the top left corner. And below that are all the formations that are in this game, written down in the first „RZA Notebook“. And yes, the Gameplan is stapled as a centerfold to another Notebook. I’m kind of a nutcase with things like that. Everything is there. The structure, the base, the repetition, the interesting wrinkles. Sadly now the fun part is over. At least it is for me. I do not like to put these things that I wrote down once put down once again, but different. But that’s what it is, because the thoughts on paper need to be translated to the Playbook mechanics. Although at some point it is no one way writing anymore, since you can more easily detect flaws when you try to put thoughts in different structures. So the handwritten Gameplan is always corrected, too, to always preserve both Gameplans being identical. From now on it’s testing. Doing Scrimmages and using the PB in Friendlies to iron out wrinkles. And constantly evolve. I have tested my playbooks many games before I used them in official games. Friendly Cups are a nice way to test new things… although I approach these Cups in a „do not need to win, let’s see what we can do“-mindset then to not get too mad at the results. But as the digital Playbook evolves, there’s always the basic plan on this sheet of paper. To think over when you’re not online. To help jumpstart thoughts. Or to just be there when you need to make a note sometime late at night. Right after you had this „Damn it!“-moment again.  |
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| posted: 2023-11-03 19:06:02 (ID: 100178303) Report Abuse | |
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wow ...
Here is a re-fill: |
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| posted: 2023-11-03 22:42:03 (ID: 100178316) Report Abuse | |
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| posted: 2023-11-05 13:56:39 (ID: 100178338) Report Abuse | |
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We're entering the most exciting stretch of the season when Champions are determined, and exactly that will be happening today in the final game of this second Bootcamp Friendly Cup with the match-up
1800 GMT Hemet Hooligans @ BobBoy Magpies It's a re-match of Game Day 1 which the Magpies won. But the Hooligans did not lose any game afterwards and seems well prepared to even the record again. Good luck to both |
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| posted: 2023-11-05 22:06:04 (ID: 100178341) Report Abuse | |
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Congratulations to the Hemet Hooligans by michaeltodd, the new champion of the Bootcamp Friendly Cup
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