Season 40 is upon us! Good luck to all and don’t forget to pledge fully to the Mediacenter right away!

I’m glad to be back in my old division, the AC West, though it looks completely different than when I left it. All new division rivals this season.

Good luck everyone

Well, it looks like this will be another season of struggling to get activity in the Fire forums. I will continue to be active in the forums, but it is much more fun to have a few other people active as well.

On another note, we are at 78% contribution to the Mediacenter. As Kanar said over in the Seadevils forum, the early bird bonus comes soon and big money comes with it. If we want to maximize that bonus, though, we need 90% contribution to the Mediacenter. We can do this!

With a little bit of time to spare before the first games of the season, I'll quick write a preseason power ranking. I'll base it primarily off of last season's results, along with what I already know about the teams in the league.

1. PR Chaser: One of the teams demoting from Elite, this team is the early favorite to go all the way.

2. Green Bay Hackers: It's only fair that the two teams returning from Elite get the top 2 spots, and I know that PR has a much better team than I, so I take the 2nd spot. I am confident that we can live up to this high ranking.

3. Neuseen Buccaneers: They came close to an Elite appearance, but could not make it past the TigerCats in the Conference Championship game of last season. Will they pull through this season?

4. GLADIATORI ROMA: Incredible bounce-back season for ROMA, going from the league's cellar to winning the division and making a Conference Championship appearance. I suspect they will be good again this season.

5. Lunatic Purple Cowboys: Don't let the early exit to last season's playoffs fool you. This is a very good team and don't sleep on them.

6. Novosibirsk Lions: They fared very well last season in what is now probably the toughest division in Fire 1. Only a two-point loss on the road against ROMA in the wildcard of last season's playoffs adds to their stock.

7. BoneCrushers: They have benefited greatly from have little-to-no division competition, and continue to crash and burn in the playoffs. Now they have a full division, albeit still a weak one. I see two paths for this team: they come down to earth once their division rivals get strong, or they respond to the challenge and become an Elite-level talent. I'm going to go with the former.

8. Sacko Del Toros: They have been a solid team for many seasons, able to rack up some impressive victories in the process. However, inconsistency has been their fatal flaw. They will need that to make a deep playoff run this season.

9. Watford Hornets: After a quick promotion to Elite, they have come back down to earth a little. Time will tell if their extremely high salaries (top 10 in all of RZA) can be sustainable.

10. AB Misawa Stars (formerly Misawa): Another team come back down to earth after a fantastic burst and Elite promotion. It seems they have started a slower-build approach while still being competitive.

11. BETIS SANPOL: Inconsistency is why they are the lowest-ranked of last season's playoff teams. Had some very nice wins but also some very bad losses. This season they will look to cut those bad losses.

12. Fargo Knights: Missed the playoffs last season for the first time in a long time. They will look to bounce back this season.

13. Andorran Castellers: After seeming to maybe have some moments of bad management, these guys are starting to show they can compete with anybody in this league. This is my sleeper team for the season; don't be surprised if they make a deep playoff run this season.

14. Hainaut Gamecocks: With last season's emergence of BETIS SANPOL, the Gamecocks didn't win the division and missed the playoffs for the first time in quite some time. I suspect that this will be their new home as long as BETIS sticks around.

15. Pitcairn Bounty Mutineers: They are still in rebuild mode, but will probably become a contender in the next season or so.

16. Dolphins Pisa: After being very bad two seasons ago, last season would fall into the category of mediocre, so an improvement overall.

17. neroverde: Another turnaround similar to Pisa. We will see if these two teams can turn out winning records this season.

18. Carbon Bay Baby Sharks: Ah, it's nice to be back to bashing Osta9er's squad . Prove me wrong this season! Show your razor sharp teeth!

19. Venice Winged Lions: A team that has taken the slow-build approach to the game (which is a good thing). Give them a season or two more and they will be on the radar.

20. Mikey's Pounders: Put together a solid debut season last year. They will look to build on that solid start.

21. Lincoln Towncars: The bottom third of the league has changed so much so quickly. Another new team looking to make a name for themselves in division 1 play.

22. negbone: I think these guys are starting to figure this game out. New team, but don't be surprised if they have a breakout season soon.

23. Bonaval Acorns: They have spent most of their time in the cellar of division 1; I doubt that will change anytime soon.

24. Arsago Seprio Boars: They had a good season a few years back. They will look to recapture that form this season.

25. Watersmeet Nimrods: Slow-build is the way to go, and this team has fully embraced this approach. Good choice, but don't expect them to make much noise this season.

26. Os Turtles Ninja: Welcome to Fire 1! We're glad to have you here. Good luck building your team! If you need any help, all us veteran managers would be happy to assist you.

27. Duluth Sharks: A second welcome to Fire 1! If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask one of the veteran managers and we will gladly offer our advice.

28. Schönspieler: A special place at the bottom of the rankings reserved for this team. I doubt they will ever be good, but it's good to have a human manager nonetheless.

Good luck all this first game of the season! Go Fire!
🦡

Good write-up Badgers

After an interesting first gameday that gives me a little bit better idea of the teams in the league, here are your week one power rankings:

1. PR Chaser, 1-0, —. Very nice 8-point road win to start out the season. Expect more of the same throughout the season.

2. Green Bay Hackers, 1-0, —. Blowout win against one of the many young teams in Fire 1.

3. GLADIATORI ROMA, 1-0, +1. Dominant victory against Misawa, who has become one of this league’s top teams. This team is the real deal.

4. Neuseen Buccaneers, 1-0, -1. Shutout victory for the Bucs. Probably won’t be the only one like it this season.

5. Lunatic Purple Cowboys, 1-0, —. Huge margin of victory against the Mutineers. It will take some time to know which team this game says more about. Initially, I’d say it means the Cowboys are very good, but time will tell.

6. Novosibirsk Lions, 1-0, —. This win further solidifies their presence as one of Fire 1’s top-tier teams.

7. BoneCrushers, 1-0, —. Solid week one performance; they will need more performances like this one to succeed this season.

8. Watford Hornets, 1-0, +1. Nice big win for the Hornets to start the season. They’re rewarded in the rankings, too, which never hurts.

9. Sacko Del Toros, 0-1, -1. Tough to lose the home opener, but they put up a good fight against a stellar team.

10. BETIS SANPOL, 1-0, +1. While Carbon Bay can’t be considered a contender yet, they certainly have had a couple of seasons to establish themselves. SANPOL’s big-time victory against them is certainly turning my head. Creo que tu equipo es muy bueno. (Google Translate that for those of you who don’t speak Spanish)

11. AB Misawa Stars, 0-1, -1. I think this team will have a similar season to last, but this game shows they probably aren’t looking at and Elite run yet this season.

12. Fargo Knights, 0-1, —. We are starting to see what this team looks like with divisional competition: a mid-level team. Look for them to be a fringe playoff team, with maybe a ceiling of divisional round contender.

13. Andorran Castellers, 1-0, —. Good first victory for these guys. Nice platform to build off of.

14. Hainaut Gamecocks, 1-0, —. Easy bot game to start out the season. It will get tougher from here.

15. Pitcairn Bounty Mutineers, 0-1, —. After the big loss to the Cowboys, the Mutineers might have farther to go on their rebuild than originally thought.

16. Dolphins Pisa, 1-0, —. Bot bashing for the Dolphins today. It’s good for them to get that PD up early in the season.

17. neroverde, 1-0, —. The low score in this bot game concerns me. This team will fall once they run into a good team.

18. Carbon Bay Baby Sharks, 0-1, —. The Baby Sharks were sure sucking on their nuks today. Might as well wear diapers too.

19. Mikey’s Pounders, 0-1, +1. I was actually impressed with how well the Pounders held up to the Hack Attack. I bet they have a winning record this season.

20. Venice Winged Lions, 0-1, -1. This team has come a long way, but has a very long way to go before we consider them a contender.

21. Bonaval Acorns, 1-0, +2. The quality of their opponent wasn’t very good, but the margin of victory was certainly enough to get my attention.

22. negbone, 0-1. Kept it pretty close to BoneCrushers considering the wide difference in ability between the two teams. Not too bad.

23. Lincoln Towncars, 1-0, -2. Unimpressive 20-point bot victory today. They will crash and burn if they put up that kind of performance against a human team not named Schönspieler.

24. Arsago Seprio Boars, 0-1, —. Got blown out in a game they should have been able to keep close.

25. Watersmeet Nimrods, 0-1, —. They will take a while to get good. For now they sit near the bottom of the league.

26. Os Turtles Ninja, 1-0, —. One game, one win. Not a bad way to debut in the league, even if it was against the worst team in the league.

27. Duluth Sharks, 0-1, —. Their debut did not go as well as the Turtles, but there is a lot of season left and the Sharks are still early in their development.

28. Schönspieler, 0-1, —. Losing to a noob further solidifies this team’s role as the worst in the league.

The season is just starting. There’s a lot of football left to play. Good luck to all!
🦡

At the risk of repeating myself great work again

I’d rather have you repeat yourself than just be talking to myself... though it would be good to hear some other voices in here.

Honestly, it's a relief to see this isn't just a Galaxy thing. Was starting to wonder if I said the wrong thing and my league mates agreed to shun me for it,