Utba

[bigMatt]

Don't look now, but it appears the world champion Cawkney Crusaders team has rotated out its entire squad.

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by bigMatt

Don't look now, but it appears the world champion Cawkney Crusaders team has rotated out its entire squad.

Yes, they have and their short a fighter currently. I not sure what Tosti is doing, if I remember correctly the Crusaders had a ton of Prime fighters so maybe he wanted to get younger which he did. I wouldn't have touch my team if it had just won the Championship. Of course, the best I've done is a division title while he's taken two of those and a League Title so I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

[cubedrum]

420th Street Gym releases:
MW Freddie Cabral
WW Paul Williams
BW Pierre Cossemyns

[Bronx Bomber 15]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I think I should be pretty competitive this season. I've only got two beginners on my roster now, with one of them rated 11. I've added some experience and hopefully I can challenge for the silver conference wildcard.

I have the feeling I'll be taking a beating again. I think I made too many moves. O-well.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

I I've added some experience and hopefully I can challenge for the silver conference wildcard.

It is a much better team. Coupled with the schedule that you made for Oakland, I'd say it's a good bet that you'll be in it at the end.

[mh2365]

I really didn't make too many off season moves .. One big trade. I think I have a good mix but my 9's and 10's need to perform well. I'm looking right at you Oscar!

[Romultiltus]

Tomato City has turned over 1/2 of its roster for Season 4:

OUT:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxIN:

HW (10) George Chuvalo 41-18-1 (3) Primexxxxx(10) Young Stribling 0-0-0 (0) Beginning

LHW (6) Billy Fox 27-27-3 (19) Primexxxxxxxxxxxx(7) Freddie Mills 44-20-3 (31) Prime

WW (8) Oba Carr 39-22-2 (21) Primexxxxxxxxxxxx(6) Mark Breland 38-24-3 (16) Prime

LW (4) Juan Zurita 12-15-1 (5) Pre-Primexxxxxxxx(4) Ernesto Espana 26-30-1 (18) Pre-Prime

FW (9) Terry McGovern 46-17-1 (37) Pre-Primexx(8) Barry McGuigan 44-14-0 (33) Prime

BW (4) Eddie Cook 25-31-1 (17) Primexxxxxxxxxxx(3) Alimi Goitia 0-4-0 (0) Beginning

FLY (7) Ramon Arias 11-9-3 (5) Pre-Primexxxxxxxx(9) Benny Lynch 0-0-0 (0) Beginning

FLY (4) Gilberto Gonzalez 23-31-2 (16) Pre-Primex(4) Jiro Takada 25-26-4 (6) Prime

I don't know it this is much of an improvement, but since I can't seem to beat the Beavers, I felt a team overhaul was needed. I really wanted to upgrade at Flyweight and welcome Benny Lynch to the Tomatoes.

(And I'm still sore about not getting Alphonse Halimi)

Even with these roster changes, I confident that Tomato City is guarranteed to start the Season 0-3 thanks to the schedule. Hope the remaining schedule is posted before the beginning of the season.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Romultiltus

Hope the remaining schedule is posted before the beginning of the season.

I agree. I appreciate the work Dan has done on the schedule but I really do not care for it all. I will however go with whatever everyone else wants.

In my opinion, this isn't the NFL where market size disparities need to be addressed in-part through scheduling. We all have an equal opportunity. My goal is to finally beat Ice Tea. Of course he'll have a tougher schedule than me so my job will be a tad easier. The other side of the coin is that I probably have no shot at the wildcard because teams that were worse than me last year will get to pile up points against a slew of expansion and second year teams.

If we do this every year, we eventually will have the schedule to a large degree dictating who gets in the playoffs.

I hope that I am wrong about that, but that's my two cents on it.

I would far prefer to play multiple games against divisional rivals and then round out against conference opponents. Three against each division rival (make one a neutral site match) and three against non divisional conf. teams. You could do the parity shuffle on those last three games. That way, the best team in each division should advance rather than the team that can pile up points because they stunk last year and get to play other bad teams. The three 'parity' games would help decide the wild cards for sure but at least we wouldn't have the schedule potentially deciding divisional winners as well.

Christopher

[Romdawg88]

I went into the offseason not planning on making any big moves and focusing on shoring up my lower end fighters by grabbing productive low ranked guys. I think I accomplished this.

NEW xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx OLD
Sylvester MiteexxxxxxxGiovanni Parisi
Juan Zurita xxxxxxxxxxLarry Boardman
Ronnie ClaytonxxxxxxxxVictor Polo

Mitee is a huge upgrade over Parisi has Sylvester has proven himself capable of actually winning a fight which Parisi couldn't do. Zurita at worse is equaled to Boardman but I think he'll prove to be a superior fighter as well. Finally, I think Clayton will improve on his 6-7-3 record now that he will be at Pre-Prime for a full season, maybe a possible contender for Comeback Fighter of the Year. I've made my feelings about Polo already known in a different post. The only thing I'm not all that happy with is that I managed to once again come out of the offseason with no draft picks for the upcoming draft. I really think the Muckboys are vastly improved over last years model and will capture the division title.

[CONN CHRIS]

Less turnover than has previously been the norm for Hebron.

Dearly departed-----------------------New faces

LHW (2) Paul Smallman----------------(5) Miguel Angel Cuello
LHW (9) Georges Carpentier-----------(8) John Conteh
MW (6) Vito Antuofermo---------------(9) John Mugabi
MW (5) Walter Cartier-----------------(1) Ilyas Ahmed
LW (3) Justin Juuko-------------------(4) Claude Noel
BW (6) Khaokor Galaxy----------------(4) Rodolfo Martinez

Hoping to catch IceTea one of these years.

[mh2365]

Working on an alternate scheduling idea .. will have it posted in an hour or so. Just to give another option.

[GForce]

I've created some decent matchups for myself in my division, though I still thoroughly expect to get beat pretty soundly. I rushed to a MW upgrade, getting Antuofermo for a 3rd round pick, only to make a better deal later that left me with a surplus at the class. So Vito goes bye, and I piss away my 3rd round pick. Live and learn, I suppose.

Overall, I like my team, for an expansion crew anyway. We'll see how it plays out. Right now, I just want to fight

GH

[Lee]

I made a few changes, but I really wanted to get a few guys to Prime this Season hopefully. I am checking my early matchups and my first two opponents, though expansion teams look to match up fairly well against me. The question remains, how long will the UTBA's longest current losing streak continue, and was it smart to pass over a couple of tempting trade offers to hang on to the #1 pick????

Though Perez is a great Fighter, the Fly Division is by no means weak and he may take his lumps until he hits Pre-Prime.

[mh2365]

Absolutely no disrespect meant to Dan .. but here is an alternate schedule. It has nothing to previous year's records only based on alpha order.

4 year schedule (assuming no expansion) with 6 division matches and 4 conferences matches each year. Year 3 and 4 are just 1 & 2 flopped for home/away. There will be an occasional 3 match home or away stretch but in the end each team has 5 & 5 and the schedules flop in year 3 and 4

Zipped excel spreadsheet.

[CONN CHRIS]

Here is my dream schedule which is likely too narrow for most.

It consists of a home, road and neutral match with each of your divisional foes and one non-divisional match. I would rather have three non-divisional matches but that would push us to 12 bouts per season.

I did this quickly - if the idea (10 or 12 bout season) of more divisional play is desirable I can clean it up and correct errors that I am sure exist.

I echo Mike, no disrespect to Dan, I have only admiration for him. But that schedule simply is not fair in my opinion.

I will check Mike's suggestion out now as well.



WEEK ONE

Bonner Spring @ Kangaroos
Bears @ Brazil
Dublin @ Left Jab
Hebron @ Ice Tea
Cawkney @Hoosier
Chilton @ Juggernaught
Tile Hill @ Stockholm
McCune @ Long Island
Tomato @ Muckboys
420th @ Nobodies
Undisputed @Oakland
Punching @ Mexivilles

WEEK TWO

Stockholm @ Kangaroos
Long Island @ Brazil
Muckboys @ Left Jab
Nobodies @ Ice Tea
Oakland @ Hoosier
Mexivilles @ Juggernaut
Bonner Springs @ Tile Hill
Bears @ McCune
Dublin @ Tomato
Hebron @ 420th
Cawkney @ Undisputed
Chilton @ Punching

WEEK THREE

Kangaroos @ Tile Hill
Brazil @ McCune
Left Jab @ Tomato
Ice Tea @ 420th
Hoosier @ Undisputed
Juggernaut @ Punching
Stockholm @ Bonner Springs
Long Island @ Bears
Muckboys @ Dublin
Nobodies @ Hebron
Oakland @ Cawkney
Mixevilles @ Chilton

WEEK FOUR

Bonner Springs v. Bears (neutral site)
Kangaroos v Tomato (neutral site)
Stockholm v Long Island (neutral site)
Tile Hill v Muckboys (neutral site)
Brazil v Left Jab (neutral site)
Dublin v McCune (neutral site)
Hebron v Mexivilles (neutral site)
Ice Tea v Cawkney (neutral site)
Nobodies v Undisputed (neutral site)
Punching v Juggernaut (neutral site)
420th v Hoosier (neutral site)
Chilton v Oakland (neutral site)

WEEK FIVE

Kangaroos @ Bonner Springs
Brazil @ Bears
Left Jab @ Dublin
Ice Tea @ Hebron
Hoosier @ Cawkney
Juggernaut @ Chilton
Stockholm @ Tile Hill
Long Island @ McCune
Muckboys @ Tomato
Nobodies @ 420th
Oakland @ Undisputed
Mexivilles @ Punching

WEEK SIX

Stockholm v Tile Hill (neutral site)
Long Island v McCune (neutral site)
Muckboys v Tomato (neutral site)
Nobodies v 420th (neutral site)
Oakland v Undisputed (neutral site)
Mexivilles v Punching (neutral site)
Bonner Springs v Kangaroos (neutral site)
Bears v Brazil (neutral site)
Dublin v Left Jab (neutral site)
Hebron v Ice Tea (neutral site)
Cawkney v Hoosier (neutral site)
Chilton v Juggernaut (neutral site)

WEEK SEVEN
Kangaroos v Stockholm (neutral site)
Brazil v Long Island (neutral site)
Left Jab v Muckboys (neutral site)
Ice Tea v Nobodies (neutral site)
Hoosier v Oakland (neutral site)
Juggernaut v Mexivilles (neutral site)
Tile Hill v Bonner Spring (neutral site)
McCune v Bears (neutral site)
Tomato v Dublin (neutral site)
420th v Hebron (neutral site)
Undisputed v Cawkney (neutral site)
Punching v Chilton (neutral site)

WEEK EIGHT

Tile Hill @ Kangaroos
McCune @ Brazil
Tomato @ Left Jab
420th @ Ice Tea
Undisputed @ Hoosier
Punching @ Juggernaut
Bonner Springs @ Stockholm
Bears @ Long Island
Dublin @ Muckboys
Hebron @ Nobodies
Cawkney @ Oakland
Chilton @ Mexiveilles

WEEK NINE

Tile Hill @ Bonner Springs
McCune @ Bears
Tomato @ Dublin
420th @ Hebron
Undisputed @ Cawkney
Punching @ Chilton
Kangaroos @ Stockholm
Brazil @ Long Island
Left Jab @ Muckboys
Ice Tea @ Nobodies
Hoosier @ Oakland
Juggernaut @ Mexivilles

WEEK TEN

Kangaroos v Tile Hill (neutral site)
Brazil v McCune (neutral site)
Left Jab v Tomato (neutral site)
Ice Tea v 420th (neutral site)
Hoosier v Undisputed (neutral site)
Juggernaut v Punching (neutral site)
Stockholm v Bonner Springs (neutral site)
Long Island v Bears (neutral site)
Muckboys v Dublin (neutral site)
Nobodies v Hebron (neutral site)
Oakland v Cawkney (neutral site)
Mexivilles v Chilton (neutral site)

[bigMatt]

This is probably just self-interest speaking, but I'm for a balanced schedule as well. The balance should be toward division and conference matchups, and "strength of schedule" should not be much of a consideration, if any. The UTBA season schedule should not be about who made the playoffs the previous season or who is the stronger team, imho. There are certain teams a team should always face (Conference and division members) and a rotating list of non-conference/division opponents that changes with each season, which is scheduled randomly.

I'll also chime in with others in saying I appreciate everyone's work on the league, including Dan's. While my preference is for a balanced schedule more like what Mike just proposed, I'll happily abide by whatever we end up with.

[CONN CHRIS]

While I prefer more divisional match ups, I like the variety of Mike's schedule and far prefer it to the one in place.

Weighting schedules based on prior performance just makes no sense to me in a league where everyone is on equal footing.

Edit:

One other thing - we already have the draft as a normalizing factor. With that and a schedule such as the current proposal, we may well have the best teams frequently not making the playoffs or at the very least, enough of them not making the playoffs such that blow outs become the norm.

[mh2365]

Call it baseball old school .. I prefer the two conferences only meet in all star and championship matches. I also prefer the schedule being weighted to division matchups. So that's why I went with home/away in the division and 4 matches with the conference and no Intraconference play

[Ian Lord]

Absolutely no change with my squad. Most of mine are at prime, or soon will be, and I want to see how they do.
After that, it'll be rebuilding time.

[jbergey22]

I am in agreement with those of you above who believe past season results should have 0 influence on this years schedule. I realize its very hard to create a good accurate schedule, the only thing that really scares me is that(sorry expansion teams) the expansion teams are lucky to not give up 50 points every week. If two teams are similiar in talent and one team faces two expansion teams and the other 0, the team that faced 2 expansion teams will likely finish ahead of the other team by 40-60 points. I like Mike's idea myself but am really open to anything.