Rock Hard Championship Challenge Cup -- Small Rocks and Very Small Rocks Fight It Out

[ibreak4coffee]

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!! Camara off the crossbar!!!! Springfield could have potentially wrapped up the cup there... like the relegation fight, this will go down to the wire...

[ibreak4coffee]

Ouch... Jerome Thomas ties it for Charlton... tragedy for Palace. West Brom looking good...

[Hal]

With 10 minutes to go, Rooney is subbed out. Absent bonus points, Rooney only gives FC Springfield a disappointing 2 points.

[Hal]

Back to real life -- Charlton tied up their match with Crystal Palace so now, leading 2-0, West Brom is back in the driver's seat to stay up.

[ibreak4coffee]

Arsenal concedes :mad: Loss of four points for Springfield... fortunately, King Wenger subbed out Van Persie in the 67th minute... he keeps his four points!

[ibreak4coffee]

After subbing Clement for Reyes and Queudrue for Gallas, FC Springfield leads 34-31... if all that stays, its a 9 point advantage for Springfield... Any changes by premierleague, as well as bonus points, could decide this tie!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned...

[Hal]

And I didn't even have a concession speech prepared!!

Congratulations to FC Springfield for a great comeback in the 5 game finals of the Rock Hard Championship Challenge Cup.

I grossly overmanaged my team. If I'd kept the players I dumped just the last two weeks, I would have been much better off.

Thanks to Michel for running this competition.

[ibreak4coffee]

And I didn't even have a concession speech prepared!!

Congratulations to FC Springfield for a great comeback in the 5 game finals of the Rock Hard Championship Challenge Cup.

I grossly overmanaged my team. If I'd kept the players I dumped just the last two weeks, I would have been much better off.

Thanks to Michel for running this competition.

Its not over Hal... they just docked a point to Senderos... and of course bonus points come into play...

[ibreak4coffee]

Michael Hughes picks up bonus points for the Aviators... last week provisionally stands at 34-34!!!!! If Gera gets a bonus, we're in a statistical tie... details to follow... will have to wait until the site update for the final verdict.

Congratulations, however, to Hal for a great final... you have been repped. Congrats to subbeto as well for winning the VSR as well...

[United Forever]

I want to be in this competition next year. I love all these competitions. I will be by far better next year as I have learned alot from my debut year. At least it looks like I was dumped out the competition by the future champions :D

[kopiteinkc]

The delay on the fantasy premier league site is because the beancounters are counting the hanging chads from both players on the Aviator and Springfield rosters.

Great final and great season.

Also nods to Jonathan's Winnin Connection for winning the overall title.

[ibreak4coffee]

Results are in... FC Springfield 34 - 29 Aviators

FC Springfield wins, FC Springfield wins... at the end of the day, it was a 11 point margin!!!!

Detailed report to follow...

[kopiteinkc]

Results are in... FC Springfield 34 - 29 Aviators

FC Springfield wins, FC Springfield wins... at the end of the day, it was a 11 point margin!!!!

Detailed report to follow...

I still zeros on all pages, I am holding off on the trophy presentation! ;)

Did I get third or did Michel?

[ibreak4coffee]

I still zeros on all pages, I am holding off on the trophy presentation! ;)

Did I get third or did Michel?

Weird because they've already factored in the automatic substitutions...

[Hal]

All team managers should send the following info to Mark (kopiteinkc) and myself (Hal) (the big disguise) so we can get organized earlier next season:

1. Name
2. Bigsoccer Name
3. Email address
4. Interest in playing in the Small Rocks and Very Small Rocks competition next season.
5. Willingness to help in any of the areas discussed previously. i.e. revise draft rules (Jay and ?); document all the standard operating procedures we've developed over the last four years of doing this game (Mark and Hal);
Compiling the history/hall of fame (???); Web Master Extraordinaire (Michel) (Next year we want all roster tracking for all Small Rocks Leagues the same and webbased.); Recruiting committee (Michel & ??) (I know Michel posted a notice in the Missed Penalty Division. Perhaps saving the Rock Hard Championship Challenge Cup Competition BigSoccer Thread would be worthwhile. We could let someone interested in joining next year, browse through that thread to see if it really interests them.; How to deal with inactive managers or managers that withdraw? (???); devising equitable promotion/relegation rules that rewards the internal cup competion nature of this league. (Hal & Mark & ???)

Based on commitments and early interest confirmation about late July before next year's game starts, we'll decide how many divisions to have and recruit as necessary.

Great season everyone. Congrats to Jonathan for winning Small Rocks and to Andrew for winning Very Small Rocks top of the table competition.

High five to Jason and his Nocturnal United who snuck into fourth place while Michel was making all those transfers trying to win 3rd place in the Rock Hard Championship Challenge Cup against Mark.

Despite the glitches, I think this was one of our more exciting seasons. I favor the idea of promotion and relegation and introducing new managers.

[ibreak4coffee]

SPRINGFIELD ERUPTS IN RIOTS AS FC SPRINGFIELD WINS THE ROCK HARD CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP

Springfield (AP) - Springfield erupted into celebrations and riots on Sunday night as FC Springfield unexpectedly captured the Rock Hard Challenge Championship Cup its in inaugural season. Already delighted at securing promtion to the Small Rocks league earlier in the day, FC Springfield faithful invaded the pitch at Springield stadium, mobbing coach Ralph Wiggum and CEO Andre, the two people responsible for reaching unexpected heights in the team's first season and orchestrating a significant comeback after falling behind in the early stages of the final.

"We really had to fight to gain some respect from the deep pocketed teams in the Small Rocks" said Andre, "and our job wasnt made any easier with a sub-par draft to say the least, where we tied our hands with injury-prone signings such as Kluivert, Forrsell, Hyypia, and Kewell, which made the board reluctant to finance new signings later in the season". Andre continued, "We always felt we had a fighting chance in the Rock Hard Championship Cup, but frankly we never expected to make it this far. Both financially and spirtually, a quarterfinal or semifinal would have exceeded expectations to say the least". Andre finished by noting that "Springfield also holds a good position in the Rocking Ladder and the Big Olympic Fantasy Challenge. Overall it will be hard to top this year."

FC Springfield won the Cup by the narrowest of margins, defeating the mighty Aviators 305-291. The victory was anything but easy. After going down by 38 points after the second gameweek, pundits had all but written off Springfield as a serious contender against the veteran and savvy Aviators team. However, the team rebounded in the final three weeks through a mix of veteran talent and newcomers. "The team was really built upon a strong foundation - Reyes, Rooney, Gerrard, Ljungberg, Sorensen, and Solano" said Andre, " but the Cup was won by some unexpected contributions in the final weeks - Nemeth, Kieran Richardson, Arteta, Weir, Senderos, and Milner". He finished, "This will definitely make our job harder next year in deciding who to include in the team... first priority will be signing Thierry henry, and after that we may decide to remain loyal to those who brought us so much success this year."

While Springfield was busy celebrating, several critics lined up to point to the element of luck associated with Springfield's victory. For one, some argued that Springfield had an easy schedule, dispatching a series of inactive managers throughout the knock out stages. Other critics point to the fact that Springfield was able to choose from a much larger pool of talent than the Aviators, whose hands were tied by more aggressive transfer activity in the Small Rocks. "Its true we lucked out being in the VSR" said Andre, "we definitely could wheel and deal more than Hal and the Aviators. However, we built our victory on the backs of many of our regulars. I do not want to diminish their contributions".

With the season over, the hard work now begins for Springfield, who will see itself promoted to a division with several strong managers, including the VSR champion Windsor Wanderers, next season. Accordingly, unidentified sources within the Springfield front office have confirmed that the team will seek to retain its core - Gerrard, Ljungberg, and Rooney - while going after several marquee signings, including Henry and Lampard. Only time will tell whether Springfield can build on this success.

[United Forever]

Well I lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions so know shame in that. Interesting... I got knocked of two competitions in the quarterfinals. I will be back next year though!!! :p

[subbuteo]

Wanderers' Manager Praises Wiggum
Windsor Wanderers' manager Sir Giffen congratulated FC Springfield manager via cell phone just moments after their VSR rivals lifted the Rock Hard Championship Cup in dramatic fashion. Windsor had just played out a celebration match of sorts after surging ahead of TVD to win the VSR title in the final week.

"I told Coach Wiggum it's a massive result and something to be pround of to come out on top against a well-known side such as Aviators. I also told him the first round of Duff would be on me next time we hit the links" said Sir Giffen.

When asked what Wiggum's reponse was Sir Giffen replied, "It was hard to hear because of all the celebrating and because he was slurring his speech after all the champagne, but I'm pretty sure he thanked me."