Okay Im going to see if I can get this in today, I have work to do, but its Monday and Im not 100% into work right now.
Normally I start with Alpha in these things, but if I get interrupted by work, I want to get Zeta done regardless, because it matters more to me and Zeta is a stronger conference.
Zeta
Probable Playoff Teams - 6
Stalingrad Gryphon Army
Last Two Seasons Zeta Champ
Notes: Should be the team to beat this season, they are only about 50% boosted and thats worrisome if that wasnt their plan, because all of their players are at L29 and could boost now without penalty. Half of their hard games are at home, if that matters. They have a lot of money, but are they content with their success and are they trying as hard as other teams who havent had as much success?
Prague Punishers
Last Season: Exit Round 2 to SGA
Notes: Perinneal playoff team, has never entered the playoffs lower than a 4th seed (Season 3), now that Scotch has gutted, certainly the team with the highest average levels in Zeta .. does that matter? SGA has put a beating on them the last two meetings. Prague has changed coordinators and Randy is out at least as DC for certain. The results of the last 3 games (Scrimmages) since the new DC, 146-21. That makes Prague optimistic that the tactics are finally on par with the talent and possibly they can beat SGA this season, but who knows about that, SGA is a very good team. Prague has a few inactives and a few unboosted, but for the most part are fully boosted, which most teams are not right now.
Dubai Lightning
Last Season: #1 Seed, But Lost to Scotch in 2nd Round
Notes: Entirely unboosted so far from what I see, maybe 2-3 players but other than that .. no one. This team rode their passing game into the playoffs last season, but after a crushing Week 15 loss to Prague seemed to lose their mystique and Scotch stomped them as well. They are still a good team, but if they dont boost, they probably arent going to be competitive with Prague and SGA just due to the fact that Prague and SGA already had level advantages on people and you have to boost to keep up with them. Even if they dont boost, as long as their players keep with it (there are a few disturbing dates from inactive players), Dubai will be a playoff team this season again.
Demoniak Piggies
Last Season: AAA2 Champ, beating Detroit, who said Demoniak had little chance
Notes: Mostly unboosted, most of them need to wait a level or so to boost, because their base team level is under 29. Right now, not that much of a threat to SGA and Prague, but clearly if they can beat Detroit and keep their talent together, they are a solid team. There are also some concerning inactive dates on this team, for example an OT has been inactive since Aug 10 and is still L27, that means he could be L33 right now .. and probably didnt get full playing time last season, a L34 or L35 OT would be an elite player had he stuck with it. So the question here is do they keep with it and do they recruit talent to fill holes by people who are obviously gone? Good team, will make the playoffs, but how far they will go will be determined by how good their talent and tactics mesh against the stronger teams they will find here in Pro. They have proven that their tactics are solid so we will see.
Dogdandy Dragons
Last Season: AAA#1 Champ Over Gutted Fox News
Notes: Not that familiar with this team, I will become moreso during the course of the season. What I do know is that they have boosted somewhat and thats a good sign that this team is at least active and wanting to win this season. Their OL looks very solid and thats the base of a good team, this team is certainly a playoff team this season and looks like they should keep up their winning ways. They have a few disturbing dates on their inactive players, who should be cut and replaced, but in the end they are good enough to beat up on a lot of teams here in Pro and get to the playoffs where it matters.
Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Last Season: 7pt Loss to Scotch in 1st Round (TO Margin -1)
Notes: Mostly boosted, mostly active with good inactive dates, 1-2 players added in the offseason to improve team quality and all their key players are back, this looks like one of the stronger teams as of right now, possibly on the level of SGA and Prague, but with not quite the talent level.
Teams on the Edge - 7
Leningrad Iron Fists
Last Season: 7th Seed Playoffs Round 1 Exit to SGA
Notes: Had Hoser been running this team since Season 1, it would have been a good team, when he finally got the team out of the hands of tpat in Season 3, they suddenly got a LOT better, the issue is that in Season 4 he lost a lot of talent and here in Season 5 he lost more. He seems like a good coordinator and can put tactics together, but there are several owners in this league that are good recruiters, he doesnt seem to be one. There is some elite talent on the team, Ive talked with a few people to see what is going on over there, they say the team is dead. I dont see them making the playoffs this season and is a likely candidate for gutting if Hoser isnt going to communicate with his talent.
Chernobyl Mutants
Last Season: 3rd Tier, Competitive for 1st year from gutted
Notes: Rezlov did a hell of a job last season getting talent on this team after the team was gutted and moved mostly to USA Pro and SA Pro, in fact if it wasnt for other owners being just a little better or a little more lucky, it would have been even more of a story. Decent starter levels on this team this season and should be competitive, depth levels are an issue, as they are with most non-elite teams. Could possibly make the playoffs, there are essentially two spots up for grabs in my mind in Zeta this season and they could do it, but they will be battling Greek, Solntsevskaya and Croatian for those spots, 4 teams that would really like to get a playoff spot at all .. 2 spots, of course its nice that Scotch, Helsinki and Bora Bora gutted, or else that would be already 9 possible playoff teams instead of 6 and the chances would be much slimmer.
Greek Fire
Last Season: 3rd Tier .. tried to make it in the playoffs but just couldnt do it, kept it close with 7,8,9th place teams, VERY impressive for a team that was gutted right before Season 4. big n rich has done a great job getting talent and depth onto this team and they are the leading candidate in my mind to take one of those playoff spots vacated by the gutted teams. They dont have elite talent, but they have enough where if they are patient enough to build and fill holes they can continue to improve and might outlast teams. I think that should be the lesson .. most teams arent lasting more than 2-3 seasons, thats all the patience you need to see other teams fall and snatch up talent. The only issue I see here other than raw talent is that they have a lot of inactives, but all the dates are good, so it could just be weekend inactives, which is normal for adults.
Cincinnati Tigers
Last Season: Tier 3, 9th place I believe
Notes: Depth just has never kept pace with the league. This was one of the earliest teams in EE Pro and they had an early advantage, but they never recruited like other teams and with demonicangel (by far their most active forum poster and recruiter) leaving before Season 4, they lost depth. The merger with the Moscow Monsters heck I think it was before Season 3 should have set them, but it didnt. I see some recruiting happening, but honestly they arent recruiting like Greek Fire, Solntsevskaya Bratva or Croatian Sensations all of which have added players that could have helped Cincinnati. They dont have the talent and havent shown the tactics since Season 2 to keep up with the top teams, they will battle it out with the teams that were gutted last season for a playoff spot.
Croatian Sensations
Last Season: Gutted, tried to rebuild, Tier 4
Notes: Talent level for starters just isnt there, they can be competitive, but unlikely to beat other Tier 3 teams. Owner could still use his own players to help this team, Id prefer to have my own players on my team if they could help immediately, but I guess there is always a fallback if your team tanks and you get sick of it, no need to burn bridges. Anyhow, expect them to beat up on the gutted teams, maybe surprise a few people, but being 5-10 levels lower than the best teams is a serious competitive disadvantage.
Silesia Miners
Last Season: 4th Tier
Notes: Team got banned in Season 2 (Still got to 3rd Round of Playoffs), stayed competitive through Season 3, Season 4 beat up gutted teams to stay in Pro .. all their agents are from Poland and had multi accounts and abused the referral system for what boosts they have, since the time they were banned they have hung on because people have gutted and they have not. They have kept scores reasonably decent for the past 2 Seasons and ... they must have some awesome tactics because they have no talent. Dont expect them to compete, but unless they have finally thrown in the towel they will also keep their losses within 70 or so.
Solntsevskaya Bratva
Last Season: Gutted, wasnt going to rebuild early, we convinced him to, almost relegated anyways
Notes: A few good players here, but they need more of them. Id say this team is better off than Croatian talent wise, but WR talent and depth is a MAJOR issue and that doesnt help a lot when your best player is a QB and he has no one to throw to. Overall Id say that this team will be competitive with other teams in this category, will kick the crap out of gutted teams, but they need more top shelf talent to be competitive in this league with the best teams. Somewhere from 10-13 in Zeta Id say, which is an okay start for a team that wasnt sold until like 3 games into the season last season.
Gutted Teams - 3
Bora Bora Brawlers
Last Season: Round 1 Playoffs Exit, Season 3 Round 2 Playoffs
Notes: Was a good team in Season 3, got sick of EE Pro .. crybabies for the most part I have found, they tried to run away, doing approximately what Scotch has done this season gutting 1 team for the explicit benefit of another, then they were dragged back. Knowing the personalities of their management, I knew they would gut again .. then I got attacked when I said they would .. they argued there was no way they would do it .. and BAM .. gutted. Solid team for several seasons in EE Pro, playoff caliber, gutted this time for good, players are all scattered, mostly to the teams that I suggested they would go to .. again that was denied. I find it very funny that, the idiot brady2moss2endzone who talked a LOT of crap despite not being in this league is stuck with a gutted team, I will be very glad when he is gone.
Scotch Cocks
Last Season: Round 3 Playoffs, lost to SGA, Season 3 won AAA1 championship, highest average level EE Pro team last season
Notes: Gutted team mostly comprised of 2-3 agents, but almost entirely Malachorn, who has had issues with Jed (who is a good guy and I dont know what the issue is). Anyhow, entire team pretty much packed up shop and moved over here http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=386 similarly to what Budapest Brawlers did last season and Bort pulled the choke chain and brought them back to EE Pro .. Im not suggesting that Bort do that again, but moving from EE Pro to USA BBB is a serious shift of power and it might happen if someone was to tell support about it ... of course then Malachorn might throw a fit and quit, he seems like a nice enough guy, dont know whats going on there. Malachorn also hasnt sold the team, which means that this team will certainly be worthless for the entire season, since the longer he waits to sell the longer it will take for the new owner to rebuild.
Helsinki Hell Raisers
Last Season: Round 1 loss to Prague, Season 3 Round 3 Loss to SGA
Notes: Was a very solid team until last season, where clearly they were not keeping up with game changes and there was grumbling from the troops and management issues. The team abandoned ship on Royce and many of the players moved to this team http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=1857 though some of them clearly had issues with the whole management of Helsinki and scattered throughout GLB such as to here http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=405 the team has not been cut loose yet for some dumb reason, so its clear they are not going to give a new owner any chance at all this season to try to bring players in to keep the team even somewhat competitive.
Normally I start with Alpha in these things, but if I get interrupted by work, I want to get Zeta done regardless, because it matters more to me and Zeta is a stronger conference.
Zeta
Probable Playoff Teams - 6
Stalingrad Gryphon Army
Last Two Seasons Zeta Champ
Notes: Should be the team to beat this season, they are only about 50% boosted and thats worrisome if that wasnt their plan, because all of their players are at L29 and could boost now without penalty. Half of their hard games are at home, if that matters. They have a lot of money, but are they content with their success and are they trying as hard as other teams who havent had as much success?
Prague Punishers
Last Season: Exit Round 2 to SGA
Notes: Perinneal playoff team, has never entered the playoffs lower than a 4th seed (Season 3), now that Scotch has gutted, certainly the team with the highest average levels in Zeta .. does that matter? SGA has put a beating on them the last two meetings. Prague has changed coordinators and Randy is out at least as DC for certain. The results of the last 3 games (Scrimmages) since the new DC, 146-21. That makes Prague optimistic that the tactics are finally on par with the talent and possibly they can beat SGA this season, but who knows about that, SGA is a very good team. Prague has a few inactives and a few unboosted, but for the most part are fully boosted, which most teams are not right now.
Dubai Lightning
Last Season: #1 Seed, But Lost to Scotch in 2nd Round
Notes: Entirely unboosted so far from what I see, maybe 2-3 players but other than that .. no one. This team rode their passing game into the playoffs last season, but after a crushing Week 15 loss to Prague seemed to lose their mystique and Scotch stomped them as well. They are still a good team, but if they dont boost, they probably arent going to be competitive with Prague and SGA just due to the fact that Prague and SGA already had level advantages on people and you have to boost to keep up with them. Even if they dont boost, as long as their players keep with it (there are a few disturbing dates from inactive players), Dubai will be a playoff team this season again.
Demoniak Piggies
Last Season: AAA2 Champ, beating Detroit, who said Demoniak had little chance
Notes: Mostly unboosted, most of them need to wait a level or so to boost, because their base team level is under 29. Right now, not that much of a threat to SGA and Prague, but clearly if they can beat Detroit and keep their talent together, they are a solid team. There are also some concerning inactive dates on this team, for example an OT has been inactive since Aug 10 and is still L27, that means he could be L33 right now .. and probably didnt get full playing time last season, a L34 or L35 OT would be an elite player had he stuck with it. So the question here is do they keep with it and do they recruit talent to fill holes by people who are obviously gone? Good team, will make the playoffs, but how far they will go will be determined by how good their talent and tactics mesh against the stronger teams they will find here in Pro. They have proven that their tactics are solid so we will see.
Dogdandy Dragons
Last Season: AAA#1 Champ Over Gutted Fox News
Notes: Not that familiar with this team, I will become moreso during the course of the season. What I do know is that they have boosted somewhat and thats a good sign that this team is at least active and wanting to win this season. Their OL looks very solid and thats the base of a good team, this team is certainly a playoff team this season and looks like they should keep up their winning ways. They have a few disturbing dates on their inactive players, who should be cut and replaced, but in the end they are good enough to beat up on a lot of teams here in Pro and get to the playoffs where it matters.
Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Last Season: 7pt Loss to Scotch in 1st Round (TO Margin -1)
Notes: Mostly boosted, mostly active with good inactive dates, 1-2 players added in the offseason to improve team quality and all their key players are back, this looks like one of the stronger teams as of right now, possibly on the level of SGA and Prague, but with not quite the talent level.
Teams on the Edge - 7
Leningrad Iron Fists
Last Season: 7th Seed Playoffs Round 1 Exit to SGA
Notes: Had Hoser been running this team since Season 1, it would have been a good team, when he finally got the team out of the hands of tpat in Season 3, they suddenly got a LOT better, the issue is that in Season 4 he lost a lot of talent and here in Season 5 he lost more. He seems like a good coordinator and can put tactics together, but there are several owners in this league that are good recruiters, he doesnt seem to be one. There is some elite talent on the team, Ive talked with a few people to see what is going on over there, they say the team is dead. I dont see them making the playoffs this season and is a likely candidate for gutting if Hoser isnt going to communicate with his talent.
Chernobyl Mutants
Last Season: 3rd Tier, Competitive for 1st year from gutted
Notes: Rezlov did a hell of a job last season getting talent on this team after the team was gutted and moved mostly to USA Pro and SA Pro, in fact if it wasnt for other owners being just a little better or a little more lucky, it would have been even more of a story. Decent starter levels on this team this season and should be competitive, depth levels are an issue, as they are with most non-elite teams. Could possibly make the playoffs, there are essentially two spots up for grabs in my mind in Zeta this season and they could do it, but they will be battling Greek, Solntsevskaya and Croatian for those spots, 4 teams that would really like to get a playoff spot at all .. 2 spots, of course its nice that Scotch, Helsinki and Bora Bora gutted, or else that would be already 9 possible playoff teams instead of 6 and the chances would be much slimmer.
Greek Fire
Last Season: 3rd Tier .. tried to make it in the playoffs but just couldnt do it, kept it close with 7,8,9th place teams, VERY impressive for a team that was gutted right before Season 4. big n rich has done a great job getting talent and depth onto this team and they are the leading candidate in my mind to take one of those playoff spots vacated by the gutted teams. They dont have elite talent, but they have enough where if they are patient enough to build and fill holes they can continue to improve and might outlast teams. I think that should be the lesson .. most teams arent lasting more than 2-3 seasons, thats all the patience you need to see other teams fall and snatch up talent. The only issue I see here other than raw talent is that they have a lot of inactives, but all the dates are good, so it could just be weekend inactives, which is normal for adults.
Cincinnati Tigers
Last Season: Tier 3, 9th place I believe
Notes: Depth just has never kept pace with the league. This was one of the earliest teams in EE Pro and they had an early advantage, but they never recruited like other teams and with demonicangel (by far their most active forum poster and recruiter) leaving before Season 4, they lost depth. The merger with the Moscow Monsters heck I think it was before Season 3 should have set them, but it didnt. I see some recruiting happening, but honestly they arent recruiting like Greek Fire, Solntsevskaya Bratva or Croatian Sensations all of which have added players that could have helped Cincinnati. They dont have the talent and havent shown the tactics since Season 2 to keep up with the top teams, they will battle it out with the teams that were gutted last season for a playoff spot.
Croatian Sensations
Last Season: Gutted, tried to rebuild, Tier 4
Notes: Talent level for starters just isnt there, they can be competitive, but unlikely to beat other Tier 3 teams. Owner could still use his own players to help this team, Id prefer to have my own players on my team if they could help immediately, but I guess there is always a fallback if your team tanks and you get sick of it, no need to burn bridges. Anyhow, expect them to beat up on the gutted teams, maybe surprise a few people, but being 5-10 levels lower than the best teams is a serious competitive disadvantage.
Silesia Miners
Last Season: 4th Tier
Notes: Team got banned in Season 2 (Still got to 3rd Round of Playoffs), stayed competitive through Season 3, Season 4 beat up gutted teams to stay in Pro .. all their agents are from Poland and had multi accounts and abused the referral system for what boosts they have, since the time they were banned they have hung on because people have gutted and they have not. They have kept scores reasonably decent for the past 2 Seasons and ... they must have some awesome tactics because they have no talent. Dont expect them to compete, but unless they have finally thrown in the towel they will also keep their losses within 70 or so.
Solntsevskaya Bratva
Last Season: Gutted, wasnt going to rebuild early, we convinced him to, almost relegated anyways
Notes: A few good players here, but they need more of them. Id say this team is better off than Croatian talent wise, but WR talent and depth is a MAJOR issue and that doesnt help a lot when your best player is a QB and he has no one to throw to. Overall Id say that this team will be competitive with other teams in this category, will kick the crap out of gutted teams, but they need more top shelf talent to be competitive in this league with the best teams. Somewhere from 10-13 in Zeta Id say, which is an okay start for a team that wasnt sold until like 3 games into the season last season.
Gutted Teams - 3
Bora Bora Brawlers
Last Season: Round 1 Playoffs Exit, Season 3 Round 2 Playoffs
Notes: Was a good team in Season 3, got sick of EE Pro .. crybabies for the most part I have found, they tried to run away, doing approximately what Scotch has done this season gutting 1 team for the explicit benefit of another, then they were dragged back. Knowing the personalities of their management, I knew they would gut again .. then I got attacked when I said they would .. they argued there was no way they would do it .. and BAM .. gutted. Solid team for several seasons in EE Pro, playoff caliber, gutted this time for good, players are all scattered, mostly to the teams that I suggested they would go to .. again that was denied. I find it very funny that, the idiot brady2moss2endzone who talked a LOT of crap despite not being in this league is stuck with a gutted team, I will be very glad when he is gone.
Scotch Cocks
Last Season: Round 3 Playoffs, lost to SGA, Season 3 won AAA1 championship, highest average level EE Pro team last season
Notes: Gutted team mostly comprised of 2-3 agents, but almost entirely Malachorn, who has had issues with Jed (who is a good guy and I dont know what the issue is). Anyhow, entire team pretty much packed up shop and moved over here http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=386 similarly to what Budapest Brawlers did last season and Bort pulled the choke chain and brought them back to EE Pro .. Im not suggesting that Bort do that again, but moving from EE Pro to USA BBB is a serious shift of power and it might happen if someone was to tell support about it ... of course then Malachorn might throw a fit and quit, he seems like a nice enough guy, dont know whats going on there. Malachorn also hasnt sold the team, which means that this team will certainly be worthless for the entire season, since the longer he waits to sell the longer it will take for the new owner to rebuild.
Helsinki Hell Raisers
Last Season: Round 1 loss to Prague, Season 3 Round 3 Loss to SGA
Notes: Was a very solid team until last season, where clearly they were not keeping up with game changes and there was grumbling from the troops and management issues. The team abandoned ship on Royce and many of the players moved to this team http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=1857 though some of them clearly had issues with the whole management of Helsinki and scattered throughout GLB such as to here http://goallineblitz.com/game/team.pl?team_id=405 the team has not been cut loose yet for some dumb reason, so its clear they are not going to give a new owner any chance at all this season to try to bring players in to keep the team even somewhat competitive.
