Sunday, September 21, 2008

WiredTiger and the Scottsdale Minotaurs Do it again!!!!

the Scottsdale Minotaurs, formally the Colorado Lumber Company win another world series title! In the past 6 seasons, WiredTiger has taken 3 out of 6 WS titles and been to the WS 5 times! The franchise as a whole has made the playoffs EVERY single season. Congrats Wiredtiger it would seem you truely cant be beat, no matter what park you play in!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

10 questions with Kahrtmen

Todays 10 questions is with kahrtmen owner of the El Paso Coyotes He is also the leagues commish and has been with us since the first season, and the commish since the second season. He has a knack for keeping the peace : ) Keep in mind these questions were asked and answered about a month ago!!!!

1.How did you get into whatifsports?

I started playing in baseball simleagues about six or seven years ago after hearing about whatif in a number of places online (Bill Simmons for one). I played in a number of open and theme leagues and I sitll have a few free simleague teams, but I doubt I will ever use them - HBD is so much more interesting to me that I have basically dropped simleague entirely. I have tried Hoops Dynasty and a couple of other whatif games, but HBD is by far my favorite.

2.Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Keep in mind that every manager will be asked this. Things like Age, Work, location, family things, hobbies/interests, personality quirks.

I am 33 years old and I live in Mountain View, CA, which is about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose, smack in the middle of Silicon Valley. I work as a software engineer at Lockheed Martin, working on missile defense programs. I am married and have a 3 year old son, with another son due to join the family in November. My main hobbies all revolve around sports. I play a lot of basketball and softball and am involved in more fantasy sports leagues than I care to count. I have played fantasy sports for about 17 years, and my wife can't seem to understand why my favorite fantasy sports team is made up of fake players.

3.In your opinion, what minor league player, in your franchise, has the most potential to be a ML star and why?

I have a bunch of decent hitting prospects, but my best prospect is probably SP Victor Gonzalez, who is currently on my HiA team. I haven't been able to add many top tier talents the past couple seasons since I have been drafting in the late twenties. Gonzalez could probably pitch in the majors right now and will certainly be up within the next couple of seasons.

4.Would you change anything about your budget this season?

Not really. I think I could have probably gotten by with a couple million less in coaching, but other than that I am happy with my allocation. I have several million dollars in payroll that I haven't used this season, so I'd like to try to swing a deal to use that.

5.How did you come up with your team name?

Well, I was looking for a fairly neutral park, so when I chose El Paso I had to think of a name that made sense for that city. I liked the Coyote mascot because it fits the desert landscape around El Paso and also refers to the people who bring people over into the US from Mexico.

6.In real life, what teams/sports do you like? Also did you play sports as a kid and what was that like?

I am a huge fan of the big three sports (baseball, basketball and football). My favorite teams in those three sports are the Yankees, Wizards, and Redskins (I grew up in North Carolina and DC). Living in California, I pull for the A's as long as they are not playing the Yankees. I played a ton if sports as a kid. Baseball, basketball, tennis, track, etc. My biggest regret is not being able to play football. My parents were dead-set against me playing because they were worried I'd get hurt. They're probably right, but I still wish I could have played.

7.Who is your team MVP thus far in the ML’s?

I have a balanced team, so I don't have many guys that stick out, which is part of the reason why I haven't had much success in the playoffs. I'd say it's either Walter Riggan or Trevor Stankiewicz so far.

8. Which of your three trades this season is your favorite so far?

I've only had one trade so far this season, and I feel like it has worked out fairly well so far. I traded two prospects for Jacob Abbott, and he has played very well for me.

9. After not making the playoffs the first two seasons, you turned your team around and have made it the last 4 in a row and are clearly headed for a 5th. What did you learn from the first two seasons that has helped you be so successful?

Well, the main thing I learned was to avoid sticking myself with bad contracts. I have made a concerted effort to build my system from within, which is one of the reasons why I think I have had sustained success. I have a number of players on my current ML team that were draft picks from earlier seasons. I definitely need to learn how to get a little further into the playoffs. My playoff record so far is very underwhelming.

10. What one team do you consider to be your biggest rival in this league?

Well, I doubt he thinks he has a rivalry with me, but Syracuse has been the best team in the NL for several seasons now, so I always feel like I am trying to keep up with them. They have knocked me out of the playoffs two of the last three years. Hopefully this year I can break through against oddson, but judging from his record so far, that isn't very likely.