Monday, March 22, 2010

Cheating

As I was beginning season 5 of my Denver Broncos Franchise I was sick of not seeing my superb team reach its ultimate potential in the games I simulated. My belief was that this was do to an internal flaw in my coaching scheme and my coaching staff. During the offseason I completely revamped the staff and changed the coaching scheme so my team would use its strengths to its maximum potential. I came up with an idea, but I wondered if it was considered cheating. I decided to simulate a season without saving by experimenting with different coaching schemes to see which one would produce the most success. My theory was hey there is no way I can see my team practice with different scehemes considering this a video game, but I can adjust schemes and see how my team would perform in live action had that scheme been implemented. I did not consider this cheating because I was not saving whatever record my team recorded it was solely for experiemental purposes. Eventually I found a scheme that gave me a stunning record of a 14-2 season. I did not save that season, but of course decided to use the chosen scheme in the season I actually saved. I have no played 14 of 16 games in the real season 5. The result: I have played 2 games and won both, and the other 12 I simulated and went a stunning 9-3 which amounts to a record of 11-3 and currently has my Broncos sitting where they belong at first place in the NFL standings. Did I cheat or did I find an edge? I don’t really have a good answer, but I am content with my decision and I adjusted strategies to find the best one and that is what a coach is supposed to do. This may lead to my eventual championship. Go Broncos!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Close But No Cigar

The season was ours. We finished 12-4 and as I last said received the 2 seed in the AFC for the post season. We won handedly in our first game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-13. The running game was keyed by Knowshon Moreno who ran for 95 yards and a td. Kris Steven-Baker also had an effective game behind center throwing for 270 yards and a td, but most importantly not throwing an interception. I learned a lot from this game because in the past I had been unsuccessful time and time again in the post season. This game seemed to be a model for how to win a tough game. More importantly than all the previous individual offensive stats I mentioned was that I won two important battles: the turnover battle and the battle of time possession. My defensive forced one fumble and picked off quarterback Ben Roethlesberger 3 times. In a 40 min game I had the ball for a total of 27 minutes compared to the Steelers 13 minutes. These stats are the true reason for my victory. I played lock down defensive and I took my time when I had the ball because the fact of the matter is when you have the ball the other team cannot hurt you. The next game was a different story. I took on the top seed Patriots for a spot in the Super Bowl. These Patriots have won 4 of 6 super bowls during the span of my franchise. Like I said before defense is key in big games, and against the Patriots I never seem to have what it takes to stop their passing attack. Year after year I build my team with talent but mostly focused on stopping the run, and year after year I am sucessful, but the Patriots defy the odds they do not run! It as if I am helpless. I competed for 3 quarters with the game tied at 24, but eventually reality settled in and the Pats took me down. When I rebuild for next year I think its going to be important to not only build a team for the regular season, but build a team that can match up with the league's best such as the Pats. My ability in playing is rising, and hence so is my game iq, currently at a all time high 685. However, as the iq rises the game gets harder. So, I will adapt and step up to my challenges as this game is proving to definitely require adaptive learning. The Broncos championship may be in the near future if I play my cards right!