Rookie league update:

Brigadoon maintains a slim lead heading into June (not sure how they managed to lose 3 straight games to my mediocre bunch, but even a blind hog can find an acorn once in awhile I guess :p)

Standings Incorrect, but Charlatan Correct
 

Be aware that the standings are a bit eschew. I think I messed up the order when I changed Hidden Valley's name. I'll fix it for tomorrow. One thing that won't likely change is Kansas flying in an other worldly orbit.


Aside to Charlatan: I'm sure you're right about there being a Hidden Valley Ranch. I knew someone whose daughter was a former olympic equestrian and she worked there as an instructor in their riding academy. She said the school dietician really pushed the students to eat salads, and only served them home made condiments. She said it was actually a riding student that sparked the commercialization of the creamy topping when she took some home with her during a break. The student's mother, who worked in culinary marketing, loved the stuff and approached the school with the idea of selling it. So you see, your wit had a sharp ring of truth to it.


By the way, my friend's daughter taught dressage.


My turn to leave.

Very cool. Thanks for putting that together!

Haha, I love it! This team was funded by a fortunate pull of 97 George Sisler. I was very tempted to keep him since he fits the speed/contact/defense theme of the Rangers, but I sold him for 235k. He then funded all the live collections plus a lot of other cards to pick up, as you can tell. I'm sure this team will run its course in due time. One lucky pull set them up for quite a while.

My pleasure. He played well for me last year.

I applaud your astuteness. Believe me, I kicked my good luck away last year. Never again., except if I pulled a Willie Mays.

Meet me in iron?
 

I actually hit play PT on Asylum for the first time in awhile because they had a pack to open. The classic 5 & 1, with the bronze being live. I actually looked at my tourney line-ups to see if something went haywire, because they were generating packs, but seem to have dried up. They seemed the same. Of course that's counting on my memory. However, I did notice that the Keepers had some 3rd place points, so I guess it's just the law of averages. I mean the teams are all so close in quality at silver and below.



Terra Incognita also opened a live 5 & 1. I think that makes about a half-dozen packs in a row that haven't yielded anything higher than a live bronze. Speaking of the Rustlers, since they aren't really generating much to satisfy my pull craving, I'm thinking of shutting down their buying to get ready for next week. I'll miss that 2/3 pack per day.


Was gonna start my sell off on Saturday when teams are tuning up for the playoff and buy quickly, even paying a slight premium. Might start sooner.



Most of PT time now is spent playing with graphics and popping the teams into fruitless tourneys. The only team I check on is Port Ruppert because they have an OL chase. However, Kansas has taken care of that, it seems.



Like I said, today was the first time I checked in on Asylum for awhile, which finally brings me to the point of the headline on this post. It seems the jump to bronze was too much for them and they are nearly at relegation and losing in bunches of 3 and 4. Hopefully that means they'll meet up with OL teams and make next season relevant. Shinbone is solidly in a promotion slot, which means I fear the worst in our side bet. I've attached a sample of what the Keepers put up. They're available at the ballpark, and wherever top quality White Pigeon Bakery products are sold.

OL Whale is kind of funny. Maxfire did a nice job taking advantage of those points for sure.

heh.... gotta love those big pulls when they do show up... only downside of being an "OL whale" is you might end up outpacing everyone else in the group in promotions and be isolated awhile until the rest of us can catch up

Unless you pull a big card, it's gonna be a long time.

I like buying and selling cards in the AH. Seems to me that many people are going for collections instead of using the AH. I haven't tried that route yet, but maybe that is the way to go??

You might want to read my posts earlier in this thread as a cautionary tale. Though I tried to be humorous, the facts are genuine. I chased one player per team, intending to proceed patiently with that as a side item, but my heart overcame my head in pursuing Eddie Plank and I over paid. Chuck Klein, on the other hand took a little longer and came in at about 4500 PP. Harold Baines kind of fell into my lap. Many of the cards came in pulls, including the most "expensive" in that collection. I completed that one for less than 500 PP.


All that being said, I have now gotten over the Plank splurging, because it was my sentimental favorite of the collection cards.



I think it's possible, if you're diligent and and self-disciplined, to get the cards at decent prices. That said, I'm done with them, but mostly because I like variety on my teams, and I don't like having to hold the amount of cards you need to as you go along. For an old-timer like me, that kind of clutter in the mind makes the mistakes I detailed in my previous posts inevitable.


I think there's an opinion in here somewhere. Wait, there it is. Collections are a viable way to go if you're not a dumbass like me.

Well, I'm not saying you are a dumbass...But I know I am!! Plus, I don't think I have the patience to go the collection route.

No, it was definitely me, not just saying it, but proving it every day.:p

The big pulls definitely help. Never had a pull anywhere near that level on PT20. I know you all will catch up anyways because you all built some great teams in PT20 too.

As you can tell by other OL team, the Bombers, they aren't doing so hot. It doesn't help they also are going against the grain and focusing on power/eye though too.

When you know it's not going to be a good season...
 

The Ring Road Rams ridiculous run in R85 remains (Perhaps if I had alliterated the team name with P's I'd be headed for Perfect now)

As a sign of how ugly the season has become for the Rams (currently 20.5 games out in the NC East), the Rams gained 3450 PP in a game against MrDanboy's Daytona Beach Tortugas for, among other things, "Double Digits" and "Contact Inning" - the result of 11 runs on 13 hits in the 7th inning.

And, of course, the Rams lost. 18-14.

The Rams would get relegated from Rookie if possible.

Logging in tonight found a nice surprise.

Turned it into this Longoria. Probably not the best use of funds but my starting 3B was batting .173

OL ST107 Standings are Now Correct: Story's the Same
 

The most interesting thing to note is that while Kansas clearly dominates OL, they are 41-2 against the rest of the PT teams.

Rookie league update:

Hooterville jumps into the lead at the halfway point.

Mid-season Review
 

Of the three squads, only Port Ruppert met its goal, and then at the very last minute. After my last check in, the Mundys were also lagging, the goal for all three being to get some packs from tourneys. Imagine my surprise this morning to find that they had met their goal in fine form grabbing 4 packs from one and 8 from a daily.


Imagine my disappointment when the pulls yielded one live gold, one live silver, one OL silver who won't make the roster and a bunch of meh. With the sales of the live stuff, I'm guessing about 3,000, a fine haul, but not what I envisioned in my bubbling optimism when I saw the 12 spot.


On the field, the Mundys are not in relegation...yet. They are a bit above the line, and Luke Gofannon and his staff will, hopefully, keep them above.


I now appears that Terra Incognita will make its return to Our League at the rookie level. They have not earned well and have lately been pulling only the odd 200 out of tourneys. They are in stone with the OL teams, but are in the relegation group and, without a big turnaround, likely headed down.


Asylum, in bronze, is currently only 2 games above relegation. It would not be a great disappointment to seem them go iron, where they'll be able to meet other OL teams. In their season series with Shinbone, which was recently named "The Great OL Food Fight," by one wag, the Keepers trail the stars 2-5. Shinbone is currently a couple of game to the good inside the promotion zone.


How do others feel about the state of their team(s)?