2.) Baseball being your favorite sport, who's your team and favorite current and all-time player? Boston Red Sox. My favorite current player is Kevin Youkilis: hard worker, intense, and he stood up to Manny. Growing up, I was a fan of Dwight Evans from the beginning. Loved the outfield arm and he was an OPS machine before I knew what that was.
3.) Lots of success in Hoops Dynasty with a 329-110 record. Give it up for any reason? Any tips for noobs?
I kind of felt like the game was all about the recuiting period, with very little to do afterwards. Towards the end of my time there, I was adding more teams in HBD and I just started losing interest in HD. There's just no comparison between the depth of HBD and HD. Tips for noobs? Seems like so long ago that I was playing HD. From what I remember, plan ahead: when you're recruiting, look to be replacing your juniors, not your seniors.
4.) Whats your best sports moment? Best in-person sports moment? Best sports moment would be the 2004 ALCS. I was away at a convention and I remember a couple of Yankee fans shooting their mouths off in the bar every night during the comeback. For a Red Sox fan, it couldn't get any more exciting.
Best in person moment was May 19th, 2008. My father had been asking me for a week to go to this game with him and a couple of guys from his work. It was a Monday night game and a 3+ hour drive, but I decided to go last minute because I honestly couldn't remember ever going to a game with my father. Anyway, Jon Lester threw a no-hitter and the place was electric. My father still talks about that game.
5.) What sort of changes, if any, can we expect with the Trenton Crossing this season?
There could be a lot. Thatcher is another year older and most of my RP are FA. I haven't decided whether or not to start tearing it down...a lot depends on what's available in FA. Of course, I owe it to an aging Doster to make another run.
6.) What do you think is more important for an HBD team? A sure fire Ace? Strong pitching staff? Well rounded lineup? Speed, defense, coaching?
Defense, defense, defense. My teams will always be among the top defensive teams in any world I'm in. I've gotten away with mediocre pitchers in my rotation (check out Dave Malloy's 3 seasons) and made good pitchers great (Doster).
7.) If you could have one real life player in MLB transferred to your new team, who would that be and why, age irrelevant?
Felix Hernandez....dominant and throws a lot of innings. I could see him anchoring a rotation for 10-12 years in HBD.
8.) If you could sit at a poker table or play a round of golf with 3 other people who would they be and why?
Marc Cuban, Tony Kornheiser, Bill Simmons...3 guys that could cover all aspects of sports....there would never be a lull in the conversation. I read a lot of Cuban's blog posts (great head for business) and I listen to a lot of TK and BS podcasts. I think it would be a heck of an entertaining round of golf.
9.) What part of the country do you reside in and what do you like to do in your spare time when you're not running your HBD teams?I live in CT. I spend most of my spare time with my wife and 3 kids.
10.) If there was one thing you could add/change about HBD, what would that be? I would change the draft. It's my least favorite part of the game. At the very least, the should come up with a way of allowing us to import rankings via excel. I hate sitting at my desk at work and re-ranking 75-100 players manually....it just takes forever.
