[Tib]

Excellent comments, AdmiralACF. Let me speak to some of them.

Originally Posted by AdmiralACF

I was a bit disappointed with Bootsy's part in the chapter. As I was reading it, aside from the comment about Dave learning a lot from Bootsy, I had a gut feeling like Bootsy was being falsely cordial with Dave and was preparing to stab him in the back. The interview seemed to confirm that until it came off as a joke. I'd like to see a bit more conflict between Dave and a teammate. There hasn't been much since leaving Lino in Atlanta.

So far team conflict has been minimal among the Comanches, but then again they were united in their efforts to reach the playoffs. There was conflict on the team, even then, but Dave being the new guy wasn't a party to much of it. If you recall the part about Chicago and how the city doesn't allow for neutrality and about how players' personal tables being an indication of team politics, you'll understand when I say Cobblestones is going to become a very interesting place next season. I have conflicts among players in mind. Also, there will be plenty of personal conflict for Dave away from the field (the upcoming Castle Cove scandal). You want conflict? How about being universally distrusted by your teammates?

Change "mound" to "plate"? I think you were describing Viveros' ability to distract pitchers while on base, so it would make more sense to say attention (including that of the pitcher) was drawn to him from the plate, rather than from the mound.

I was thinking of the attention of the spectators. Everyone usually watches the guy with the ball, so I was trying to illustrate that even without the ball Flavio was worth watching. Re: Ricky Henderson in his prime.

About the trouble you mentioned in writing chapter 42, I would suggest when you hit a point where you feel like you are doing more reporting than novelization, just gloss over the unimportant parts. Like the Baltimore series, for example, could have been condensed into a few paragraphs. As it is, it's enjoyable with the little storlyine with Ron-O and Dave's homer, but in the future you could just skip past less important series or games. Pick up the pace, concentrate only on the most important things, as memoirs tend to do. Don't feel like the story needs to also double as a dynasty report. This work is on a very different level than a simple dynasty report.

Thank you and I agree. The pace of the baseball will increase from now on. That was part of the reason for the "time ticking toward midnight/it's a new day" motif of the last chapter. We're entering a new section of Dave's career now, a time when things naturally speed up (like life). Also, if I wrote the results of every important series the book would be 1,500 pages long.

One thing I started to wonder about as I read about KC cleaning house and recalled some of the odd management decisions made by the AI is if you have considered switching to OOTP 6 or 6.5 for the simulation. I know that the story was meant to expand on ITP and the things you can do with it, but I think at this point that realism in the sim has got to be a concern. There are only so many circumstances you can come up with to explain away the AI's sometimes perplexing decisions. I just wonder if the thought of making a switch has even crossed your mind.

I don't think 6.5 is compatible with ITP. I think OOTP5 is the only one where you can shuffle .lg fiiles back and forth. Also, I'm still determined to test ITP the rest of the way. Part of what makes this dynasty unique, IMO, is that it is all ITP. It's the only one (right now).

Thanks again for the great comments, everyone. I promise the off-season won't take so long this time. The wedding, some investment opportunities, the all-important arbitration period (the Magic Man is back in force here) and then it'll be 2009.