SBA Championship MVP: SF Eugene Shaw (Bangor)

MVP: PF Ira Diaz (Rivers End)     others considered: SF Eugene Shaw (Bangor)
Rookie of the Year: PG Santos Garza (Bangor)     others considered: SF Bob Bass (Stratford)
Coach of the Year: Byran Harris (Bangor)     others considered: Bradford Duncan (Silver Point),
Carlton Bates (Rivers End)
All-SBA:
PG Del Davis (Rivers End)     others considered: Santos Garza (Bangor), Jordy Jensen (Silver Point)
SG Brent McCormick (Sherborne)     others considered: Brian Morris (Stratford), Rufus Simon (Sherborne)
SF Eugene Shaw (Bangor)     others considered: Bob Bass (Stratford), Clarence Ward (Sherborne)
PF Ira Diaz (Rivers End)     others considered: Grant McCoy (Silver Point), Greg Johnson (Trent)
C Randal Franklin (Stratford)     others considered: Adam Lowe (Bangor), Pete Murphy (Rivers End)

So, let's get the name out of the way. St. Patrick gets its name from the Happy Islands often said to look like a smiling face, located in Patty's Bay. They are to play at Island Bridge Arena which seats 6,000. Green and Yellow have many ties to the city, but especially to the name of the province, Green Coast, and the strong Irish heritage, particularly of this area. The Happies script is a classic and unlikely to change, at least on the uniforms.


Wells Phoenix are owned by a HamOil executive. Upon their foundation they have used the brown and orange's of the brand. Their name was chosen to signify the resurgence of oil production in Silveria in the mid-1950's, otherwise known as second wave extraction. The separate wings are symbols of the cities of Wells and Carlisle opposite each other on the Roughneck River. They will play at the newly constructed HamOil Center (not to be confused with the HamOil Arena in Hamstead), conveniently it fits 500 more than in Hamstead, seating 5,500.

A 4-round serpentine expansion draft is to take place January 1970. The randomly assigned draft order is Haydon Hounds, St. Patrick Happies, Wells Phoenix, and O'Connor Chiefs. Original teams will be allowed to protect 4 players on their roster in addition to 1 they hope to re-sign.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (4/07/2020 2:45 pm)

Expansion Draft Protections
Bangor Farmers
Signed: PG Santos Garza (28-2 years left), SG Dom Byrd (29-4yl), PF Cary Joseph (26-1yl), C Adam Lowe (34-2yl)
Unsigned: SF Eugene Shaw (33-0yl)     Best Player Not Protected: PG Charlie McLaughlin (27-0yl)
Rivers End Rowdies
Signed: PG Del Davis (32-3yl), SG Edgar Carroll (34-1yl), PF Ira Diaz (29-1yl), C Pete Murphy (22-2yl)
Unsigned: SF Sylvester Carr (33-0yl)     BPNP: C Alonzo Doyle (31-1yl)
Silver Point Captains
Signed: PG Jordy Jensen (28-2yl), PF Grant McCoy (27-1yl), C Shane Conway (29-4yl), PF Saul Rodriguez (18-3yl)
Unsigned: SF Teddy Reese (22-0yl)     BPNP: SG Edmund Harrington (23-1yl)
Stratford Stars
Signed: SF Bob Bass (25-2yl), C Randal Franklin (27-1yl), SG Brian Morris (28-1yl), SF Jan Holt (22-3yl)
Unsigned: PF Bob Marsh (36-0yl)     BPNP: SG Tommie Fowler (21-3yl)
Sherborne Whalers
Signed: PG Bobby Ellis (26-2yl), SG Brent McCormick (28-2yl), SF Clarence Ward (24-3yl), C Kenneth Tate (30-1yl)
Unsigned: SG Tomas Carlson (30-0yl)     BPNP: SG Rufus Simon (19-2yl)
Trent Engineers
Signed: SG Sal Banks (29-1yl), SF Geoff Owens (23-2yl), PF Greg Johnson (32-1yl), SF Fred Love (29-2yl)
Unsigned: PF Sheldon Underwood (33-0yl)     BPNP: PG Kent Reeves (35-0yl)

Best Available
1. SG Rufus Simon
2. SG Tommie Fowler
3. PG Charlie McLaughlin
4. C Rick Howell (Sherborne)
5. PF Emanuel Fields (Sherborne)

It's amazing, although he's probably lost his spot as best player in the SBA to Ira Diaz, Eugene Shaw has been able to remain elite at 33 years old.  The length of his contract is of slight concern to the team, but they couldn't not re-sign the team legend. This decision may make it harder to retain Santos Garza after the 1971 season, however Adam Lowe may not be able to get much on the market as a 36 year old. Bench production may be a problem again this year as Cristo Ventura is widely considered the only viable option for regular minutes. All in all, they're not looking very different than last year in comparison to some of the other teams, but they need to plan for a future without Eugene Shaw and especially Adam Lowe. Cary Joseph is in a prove-yourself year with his production being pretty inconsistent so far for the Farmers.

Sylvester Carr was the only player to leave his team in free agency and sign with an SBA team, other than by route of the Expansion Draft. Pete Murphy seems like he might really break out this season. On the other hand, Edgar Carroll, not to mention Darren Singleton, looks like he may be out of the league soon. The Rowdies have some decent prospects, but the starting lineup is looking a little old. It's also Ira Diaz's contract year and team results  make affect his decision.

The SBA Magazine also released some other rankings.
Most Fans
1. Bangor Farmers
2. Silver Point Captains
3. Stratford Stars
4. Trent Engineers
5. Rivers End Rowdies
6. Sherborne Whalers
7. Haydon Hounds
8. O'Connor Chiefs
9. St. Patrick Happies
10. Wells Phoenix
Best Owner
1. Colin Burns (Bangor)
2. Carl Patterson (Sherborne)
3. George Castille (Rivers End)
4. Jackie McCarthy (Trent)
5. Lou Burton (Stratford)
6. Ozzie Fitzsimmons (O'Connor)
7. Levi Philips (Wells)
8. Aubrey Sherman (Silver Point)
9. Carson Singleton (Haydon)
10. Wally O'Leary (St. Patrick)
Best Coaches
1. Bryan Harris (Bangor)
2. Walt Ramsey (Sherborne)
3. Carlton Bates (Rivers End)
4. Bradford Duncan (Silver Point)
5. Ervin Fowler (Trent)
6. Blair Darwin (O'Connor)
7. Clyde Cooper (Stratford)
8. Len Hess (Haydon)
9. Glen Massey (Wells)
10. Hayden Briggs (St. Patrick)

Trent was fortunate not to have much turnover in the Offseason. However, many fans are skeptical that this core can bring success to the team, especially given Sal Banks' injury concerns. This year may be pivotal in deciding whether or not to rebuild and head coach Ervin Fowler could be on the hot seat if the season doesn't go well. Banks and Greg Johnson are set to be free agents this Offseason, so the Engineers could get off their money if need be. The Engineers were also the only team not to see any change to their identity.

Last edited by jxhnhvhn (4/11/2020 5:20 pm)

Old

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The Stars will be hoping that their choice of Jan Holt over Tommie Fowler pays off this year. They already messed up one of their expansion protections with Bob Marsh deciding to retire after initially telling the team he would continue to play. Marsh had an all-around disappointing tenure in Stratford, but even at his worst he was a decent player. These questionable decisions are starting to add up and fans are noticing. If things don't go better than expected, Clyde Cooper could be the first coach fired in SBA history. Despite managerial concern, the Stars have a good amount of young talent and are certainly one of the league's younger teams. Isaac Ross became the first player from Australia to sign with an SBA. Other players from new countries I forgot to mention were both on Silver Point, Gregoire Fabien of France and Patricio Matos of Brazil. Anyway, the Stars changed their uniforms too, moving away from the traditional blockletter font and getting rid of the mismatching shorts. They also became the third team to utilize a drop shadow joining Rivers End and Trent.