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Q: Who is SBarrouque?
A: A 40-year old journlist from Metairie (suburb of NOLA) who should learn to evacuate for hurricanes instead of staying to work.
Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: Kevin Spain (aka spainard555)
Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: Everything but Car Racing.
Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Traveling, reading, music, the American West and Ireland.
Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: Ronald Reagan, Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Collins, Walter Hagen and Lewis Grizzard.
Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: Ryne Sandberg, Ernie Banks (never saw him play, met him..great guy), Roy Keane, Archie Manning and Guido Merkins.
Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: '87 Saints (famous Mora speech 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' then went to win the NFC West for the first time), '84 Cubs, '03 and '07 LSU Tigers. '06 Saints, '07-08 Manchester United.
Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Baseball, football, soccer and lawn darts.
Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: Shoot even par or under so I can put on my tombstone 'he shot par'.
Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: Winning a couple baseball championships (none in the HBD).
Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: Try to keep payroll in the 80s or lower, budgeting extra for training and college draft. For the first time in seasons, I budgeted money for international prospects although I don't have the funds to bid on the high end players.
Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: I go to arb with first and second year players depending on their demands . if the long term deal seems good, I will take it. And it depends on if I have a good replacement in the minors. As for free agency, I only sign backups and minor leaguers to fill holes.
Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: Rehire whenever possible.
Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: I promote my prospects to the best level for them. Spring Training plays no role in my decision making. I use it to help my players progress.
Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: Early in the season, I set up my lineup for the best righty-lefty combo. After a week or two, the hot hand players. As for pitchers, I try to find the best RH/LH, control, stamina and pitches.
Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: Not sure. Power seems important for hitters but it seems to vary from player to the stadium your team is playing.
Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: Love the draft . It took me a few seasons to figure out what I wanted in the draft. Now I spend time trying to set up my top 100 whenever possible. At worst Top 50....I always check waivers for players that could help....as for promotions, lately I have been trying to be patient with my prospects by bringing them along a bit slower.
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: I hope. I made the playoffs the first 8 seasons but did not win the WS (lost to philpitt). Sometimes, I feel the need for a couple of bad seasons to get some good young pitching.
Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: Giovanni Dawkins. If he played in a smaller stadium, his numbers would be out of this world. John Mullin is another favorite. He ratings are not good, but he is Rob Deer-like in homers.
Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: Depends on if I am at work!
Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: kbrick, phillyfan...and the owners who have been in this league for many seasons.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: I enjoy being the GM. Making all of the decisions.
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: Coach hiring. Just awful. You be able to hire coaches to multi-year contracts.
Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: I would play CF with good speed, good fielder with a strong arm. A line driver hitter who could steal a few bases. Batting second in the order would be ideal for me.
