Archive for January, 2012

January 13th, 2012

My finest rick roll yet

I sent the following e-mail to my colleagues this morning. Seems an innocent enough draft for a blog post, right?

We’re delighted here at Sportsmate Mobile to bring you our first blog post of 2012.

No longer will you be without a suite of sporting apps in your pocket and have to ask
strangers the score when your favourite team is playing and you can’t be there.

To help us make the best product possible that reflects the sports you know and
love, we are intent on using all available social and digital media platforms to keep
you all informed and up to date. It’s very important to us that our customers
know everything about our products and subsequent updates.

The Round 1 action isn’t far away, so let’s explore Rugby League and Aussie
Rules Live for the 2012 seasons, including some of the new additions to the app
and everything that you have come to expect from us over the years.

So many people have been in touch with their feedback and we thank them all.
Do you know that every single one of your submissions is read by our team?
I wish we could implement absolutely everything, but it’s not always possible.
A number of restrictions can prevent us from doing certain things, but our
full coverage of the AFL season won’t be diminished by this fact and our
commitments to you – our fans – will not waver!

What we heard from you in the off-season was a demand for more stats and
I’m hopeful that our latest updates have catered for this wish. If you were
thinking we would beef up our match-day engine too, you were absolutely right!

Of course we can’t tell you everything just yet (still tinkering with a few things), but
you will be the first to know when everything is submitted for approval. We know you
wouldn’t tell anyone, but we have to keep it hushed for now but can’t wait for you to
get your hands on it!

This year’s version will be bigger and better, but the fundamentals won’t deviate
from the 2011 edition that you were all so fond of (thanks for making it so popular).
Any time you have feedback on what we’re doing with our various apps, or any
other matters to raise, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! Don’t be “that
guy” who has issues with our product but doesn’t communicate. We love to chat!

I want you to know that our team will always respond to your query if you
just drop us a line. We’re online seven days a week and (to speak colloquially),
wanna do everything we can to help you get the most out of our apps.

Tell your friends and family about what we do, because our fans – that’s
you – are our biggest asset. We can’t do this without you guys and don’t know
how our apps would prosper without your downloads and feedback.

I’m going to wrap this up here. Sorry it might have been a bit vague, but we have a
feeling that the 2012 version of our sporting apps will be the best yet (so you’ve
gotta go and get them if you haven’t done so!)

Make sure you stay in touch all the way throughout the season. Remember that
you are our primary motivation for continuing to enhance our work and we
understand your desires for fast, visually appealing and informative sporting products.

Ok… now go back and only read the FIRST WORD of every line, then click here to see what else we have in store.

  • Share/Bookmark
January 5th, 2012

2011/12 Fantasy NHL – mid-season team breakdown

ROSTER

#2 Alex Ovechkin (Drafted 1st Round)
#17 Dustin Byfuglien (TRADE – Drafted 2nd Round)
#18 Zdeno Chara (Drafted 2nd Round)
#47 Pekka Rinne (Drafted 3rd Round)
#67 Chris Stewart (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 5th Round)
#79 Mark Streit (Drafted 5th Round)
#82 Vincent Lecavalier (Drafted 6th Round)
#84 Derek Roy (TRADE – Drafted 6th Round)
#94 P.K. Subban (TRADE – Drafted 6th Round)
#111 Gabriel Landeskog (Drafted 7th Round)
#114 Dustin Brown (Drafted 8th Round)
#129 Patric Hornqvist (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 9th Round)
#131 Teemu Selanne (TRADE – Drafted 9th Round)
#142 Jaroslav Halak (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 9th Round)
#143 Kari Lehtonen (Drafted 9th Round)
#146 Stephen Weiss (Drafted 10th Round)
#151 Steve Downie (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 10th Round)
#153 Brenden Morrow (FREE AGENCY – Drafted 10th Round)
#175 Brian Campbell (Drafted 11th Round)
#193 Michael Del Zotto (FREE AGENCY Drafted 13th Round)
#207 Sheldon Souray (Drafted 13th Round)
#308 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (TRADE – Drafted 20th Round)
#335 Vaclav Prospal (Drafted 21st Round)

KEY POINTS

9 of my 23 players (39.13%) are original Top 100 draft selections
6 of my 23 players (26.01%) have been plucked for zero cost from the waiver wire
3 of my 23 players (13.04%) were drafted from #207 downward in a 384-player draft
20 of my 23 players (86.94%) were drafted in the top half of the draft

ANALYSIS

Granted… draft position is absolutely not indicative of how successful a player is (or will be), however it’s a great way to evaluate the early season effectiveness of one’s wheeling and dealing.

The numbers above speak for themselves. I’m thrilled to have nabbed so many top-level players; some who are doing beautifully, others who aren’t but are more than capable of shaking short-term slumps. And those who were not originally that highly rated (Souray & Nugent-Hopkins), I dare say would both be top 150 picks if a re-draft was held right now.

Bottom line = any more trading and waiver transactions will be limited to injuries and absolute necessity. I do like having a ‘flex’ spot on my roster to stream with each passing day depending on need, but how can you refuse when the core of your team is from the top half of the NHL?

Catch me if you can.

  • Share/Bookmark