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Q: Who is campbell1972?
A: I am a Winnipeg (Canadian) born high school geography and history B.Ed. graduate who is currently seeking work in Korea for a second tour. My first name is Campbell and am married without children with my wife of four years, Tiffany.
Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: Some North American teachers were playing it in Korea to pass the time while I was there the first time. They got me hooked.
Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: I have been into the hockey for three years now and am now coming up to 10 months in this league.
Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Tons. Outdoors and film, music and travel, geography and history, whatever hits me at the moment. I am currently working on designing my own home which I hope to have built within the next five years.
Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: Gene Roddenberry, Leonardo DaVinci, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Herbert Hoover, Queen Elizabeth I, the inventors, the intiators of development and change and the ones who saw it all. King and Hoover were odd ones but they were privvy to the goods of the 20th century. There are many others I would add like Kennedy, Roosevelt, Churchill, Trudeau, Castro, Gorbachev, Reagan, Mandela etc., etc.
Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: I am primarily a hockey fan and loyal to the home team but I would have to say my favorites to watch were Wayne Gretzky and Dominic Hasek in hockey, Michael Jordan in basketball, Rickey Henderson and Nolan Ryan in baseball, Doug Flutie and Warren Moon in both CFL and NFL and Tiger Woods. Only the best here.
Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: Winnipeg Jets, Quebec/Colorado, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings (NHL). Toronto Blue Jays (sorry Dique) MLB, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL). Most other sports I am impartial. Maybe Buffalo Bills (NFL).
Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Hockey, soccer, swimming, diving, track.
Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: It would have been nice to compete at a professional level but it was never quite in the cards. I am now working on the golf and curling skills. Still into rec hockey though. I have no real designs on awards or championships other than WIS now, lol.
Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: Currently have back to back Stanley Cups in one of the hockey Dynasty leagues I created. I have created a true Dynasty team. I am looking forward to going for a third.
Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: I am still green at HBD but I have been trying to plan for the major changes in veterans and much of the rest of it is for rookies. I would like to increase my scouting budget because I know I am missing some of the prime picks. I don't like missing out on the good ones.
Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: I just decide whether they will be valuable to the team the next season or not. I have a tendency to be too loyal at times though. I probably should have cut ties with Eugene Morgan but signed him on this season anyway. He has been on the ML with the franchise since game 1.
Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: Loyalty is important as is potential. I have been doing the same thing with the coaches as I have with the players, youth movement. I only have 3 coaches over 45 and they are highly skilled and highly loyal. I will spend big money on coaches who will negotiate less often. Saves money in the long run I think and reduces the PITA (pain in the ass) factor during the hiring process.
Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: The rosters are based on many factors. Performance, price and protected list are the three main things I look at when deciding on season rosters. Who is going to put up the numbers, who is going to put up value for the money and who is most likely to do so down the line. Spring training is restricted to the ones who have the most potential to make the ML. More towards the developing players than the veterans too. This is why my preseason stats are never very good, lol.
Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: Go with the best one with the most energy. That's it. I am hands on with this though. I hate the AI.
Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: I avoid assessing single stats. I look for the peaks and valleys. If they are lacking in one area they better have some really good stats in another area or I won't take them. From my International Signing history I am not overly picky though, lol. Some stat combos will only reach certain levels but I don't focus too hard on one stat or another. How they fit with the team is more important.
Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: I look at everything and give them a shot if I can. The numbers can be unpredictable sometimes. You never really know what is going to work. I keep a few mobile utility players and have a system for placement, releases/waviers and substitution that seems to be working as well. I believe in building from within too so you won't see me trade very often.
Q: Do you think your strategy will be conducive to building a multi-season dynasty? Or, do you feel that your team may be great for a couple seasons, but then must rebuild?
A: nordique93 and I seem to have the hockey worked out though our styles are very different. More often than not it has been one or the other of us running the dynasties in hockey (mostly him, lol). I think I can work out a consistent strategy and perform at a high level mostly because I don't like to lose.
Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: I am not really a 'favorites' person. I enjoy the whole picture.
Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: Too much just ask my wife, lol. I can spend hours on the WIS every day. I am an addict. I like to spend at least a few minutes checking things out before every game. I have also spent 12 hours or more through both days of a weekend doing hand-picked drafts in hockey. My wife is a good one for sure. She has done a bit of both hockey and baseball on WIS herself.
Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: Again I am not a favorites person. I have respect for most of the users out there. The hockey guys here and in my dynasties and the rest of the owners in this league all show good sportsmanship and attitudes. Honorable mention to steveajolie in hockey. He is a real leader inside and outside the game.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: The extent of management and variability in strategies. Hockey, I hate to say, is far more limited in this. Most of the time I only spend a few minutes on hockey. Most of my time is spent here because there is so much you can do.
Q: What is your least favorite aspect of Hardball Dynasty? As it is still a relatively new game, if you could change three things about HBD, what would they be?
A: My least favorite aspect is the contract bidding and lack of long-term coaching contracts. I want to know who else is bidding how much and reduce the tedious amount of time wasted guessing how much I should be offering to land a player or a coach. I would also like to see more variety in the AI settings and heirarchies to save some time.
Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: If I were a hockey player I would be a two-way, playmaking corner-digging, shorthanded specialist, right shooting left-winger with good skates and shoft hands or an offensive right defenseman 95 in both cases with high defense and speed and fairly high shooting. I would be a catcher in baseball because I need to be in the action all the time. I'd be about a 75 with solid fielding and a solid leadoff basestealing batting skill. Not a home run king but I'd keep the pitchers honest. I would be a point guard in basketball or a wide out or punter in football. Speed and finesse is my game no matter the sport.
