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Thank you for the kind words BB King and congratulations on winning the gold! I loved your guys previews with the whole Star Wars/Star Trek themes haha!

I don't blame Poland for being given HCA or anything, and yes we did have HCA in S6. I'd like to point out that S6 was a very different time for us and BB as a whole than S16. In S6 HCA was not enough to close the large talent gap between everyone inlcuding ourselves and Italy/Spain. If we had HCA in S16 I can confidently say that we would've won the Gold as well.

I just think that the BBs need to think harder in the future about who they give HCA to. Its not your fault they gave it to you, you did exactly what you were supposed to do and it resulted in a gold medal. HCA allowed you to TIE every single game so you had an overwhelming enthusiasm advantage against us and Chile. I give you credit, you made the correct decision to TIE everything. No offense, but I think it goes beyond just saying that it would be "harder", I think it would be fair to say that it would've been nearly an impossible task for you to win Worlds Gold without HCA.

You guys have a great team and I hope you don't take that as criticism. I just think that looking at the final scores of the semifinal and the final, it appears to me that the entire season was pointless and that this whole season was over before it began. Considering this is my only Worlds as the manager, I'm kind of annoyed that I walked into a Worlds season with practically 0% chance of winning it, and everyone was just playing for second. Beating us by 45 in the semifinal, and then beating the best team in the world by 25 in the final...I just hope those scores opens the BBs eyes to the advantage they are giving away with HCA.

Don't even get me started on Joe Bronson's statistics, I can show you some more of his stats that will make you think twice. Thank you though for that link it is interesting stuff to look at!

Again, I don't mean anything I say as any offense to you or Poland, you guys are the champions! I understand that in real life, just like in the World Cup, someone gets to host the tournament and has an advantage. Problem is that in real life soccer, HCA might be worth one goal a game or might not result in anything in a game. In BB HCA gives you a 10 point advantage, and allows you to choose "Take It Easy" which adds to that advantage as the weeks go on. Can't "take it easy" in real life.

EDIT: I see that in the suggestions thread, you claim that HCA is not as big of an advantage as one might think. I agree. With = enthusiasm, HCA is not a 45 point advantage or a 22 point advantage. You know what is a significant advantage? 14 enthusiasm vs 7 enthusiasm + HCA. Thats a huge advantage.

While you were just cruising along doing PTB/m2m/TIE with a blank lineup every game, the rest of us had to fight desperately, normal games, and be creative tactically to even reach the semifinal. You think Wisnewski typically pulls 23.5 player ratings? He's an amazing big man and I'd love to have him, but at this point in BB, no player should be pulling a 23.5 rating.

I would like to reiterate the fact that you guys have one of the best teams in the World and I very much respect that!!! Hopefully some good will come of this season and HCA in the Worlds will be rethought.



Last edited by jfarb at 7/28/2011 5:53:37 PM

I'm sure in next tournaments Poland will have to play without HCA ;-) So it's challenge for us.

I know it's hard to play if You are underdog. But we had similar situation in European Championships, for many season we had no chance to fight with Spain, Italy and Germany or France. Because Poland joined to BB in 3rd season and in few first tournaments we had players one or two years younger than our opponents and therefore of course worse ;-) And we were frustrated we had no chance not only to win gold, but even bronze.

In season 15 I went to semifinals in EC with enthusiasm (afaik) by 7 levels less than Italia and Italia had HCA ;-) So we have 0% chance too. But we was happy because it was our first medal in history.

What would be if Poland had no HCA in this Championships? We would fight ;-) I think we could play different tactic than PtB in groups and we should have chance too ;-) Impossible is nothing ;-)

In my opinion HCA gives us +5 points (if compared to neutral ground). It's +10 points if we compare home game with away game.

Last edited by B.B.King at 7/28/2011 5:49:54 PM

Tell you what, if Poland wins the Gold in S18 I will gladly eat crow and apologize. I think you missed my point about it being more than just HCA. Its the fact that you could TIE every game and still easily reach the semifinal, no one else could do that. Its HCA+the enthusiasm you build from having HCA.

Different tactics? You mean LI? Even though you PTBd every single game this season everyone knew, including us, that you would LI in the semifinal and the final.

Problem is that without HCA and an enthusiasm advantage, your bigs become = to Chile's, Uruguays, Italys etc etc. Still better than ours tho ;). But also without HCA and enthusiasm advantage, and your guards become a liability. You face the same problems you face week in and week out in S15 and every European Championship. Your tactics become predictable, just like ours were vs everyone except Italy. You really think on a neutral court, with equal enthusiasm, you could beat us by anywhere near 45 points? I'd venture to say that if we played 10 times under those circumstances, both teams would win 5.

Again, none of this is your fault, and you didn't mess up and now you have a Gold Trophy to show for it. And if the roles were reversed for sure I would not complain one bit ;) I just think for the future of BB, HCA should not go to a top 10 Worlds team, because otherwise the season is totally pointless.

Who knows, maybe we would have luck like Chile and win two matches in overtime ;-)
There is many possible scenarios. In EC in three matches in row one of our players was injured ;-) Maybe in this WC (if without HCA) in 3 matches in row one of players of our opponents would be injured ;-) For example Tapia, Bronson and Zuya ;-)
Without HCA we would fight for bronze in this WC. And it would success for us. But with some luck maybe better result wouldn't be impossible. But with bad luck worse result would be possible.
Of course nothing is 100% sure. Look at Spain - they won EC and finished only 5th in WC. Gameshape, injuries, luck, bad luck. Everything can change situation. In EC Spain won twice with Italy (Italy had HCA). In WC Spain lost with Italy on neutral ground.
One thing is clear. I'm 100% sure in next WC Poland and USA will have no HCA ;-) So chance in next match will be equal. But for us it will be harder to qualify to WC, because in Europa we have more teams on similar level as Poland.

Wait Bronson led the tournament in something????? That's what he was doing when he was bricking shots.

Yes, If I didn't make mistake in my calculations he was 1st in assists and steals. But his shot % wasn't so good. So he should try less shots and more pass in matches.

I dont think it was luck that Chile won those games in overtime, I think they were the better team and the game engine just decided to make those games more interesting than they needed to be.

Agree that European teams have a more difficult road to the WC than Americas teams. I will say that Americas teams are getting better, and that Chile can beat anyone, and that Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina (Argentina was mismanaged last term IMO) can compete with anyone. It won't be easy for the US to qualify for the Worlds either.

Canada is pretty good as well, and check out Colombia's roster. Don't want to leave anyone out.

Last edited by jfarb at 7/28/2011 6:35:50 PM

No offense, but I think it goes beyond just saying that it would be "harder", I think it would be fair to say that it would've been nearly an impossible task for you to win Worlds Gold without HCA.

You've read my stories so You know, that I'm big fan of science-fiction. So You should know, that impossible is ordinary thing which we do every day in my world ;-)

Tell you what, if Poland wins the Gold in S18 I will gladly eat crow

May the Force be with You! ;-)

Maybe you didn't read my last post in the general BB thread where I congratulated Poland, but I understand your childish desire to bring up an old topic and rub it in my face. I would do the same thing in your position...no wait I wouldn't because winning is supposed to speak for itself. I still don't believe you would've won in S16 without HCA, because this team is different from that team and Chile was the most talented team in S16, but certainly this championship makes your argument a very strong one and I was wrong. I do apologize for singling you guys out as far as my argument that HCA should not be a factor in the Worlds, something that I still very strongly believe. Congrats again, and good luck in the future. Also congrats to that Polish D4 farm team who held on to Wisneiwski's 400k salary and kept him in 9 GS all season, give that manager a trophy, the guy is a beast and single handedly won several of your games for you. We need a player like that in the US

Last edited by jfarb at 2/6/2012 4:36:04 PM

I wished You Light Side, not Dark Side ;-)