Loving the Hadley and Duvall rivalry!  This is, I believe their 3rd time against each other?  Always great to see!  I'm goin' with Hadley with the predicted win!  Maybe after this year, Norfolk will get back on track and make another championship appearance!

1968-69 Offseason

Uniform Changes:
The League unveiled its 10th anniversary patch, which will be worn on the right shoulder of all uniforms this season


The only other change uniform-wise was made by Hadley, who added a second star to their patch to celebrate their win, with the patch on the right shoulder as example.


1969 Entry Draft:
1st - Augusta: RB Daniel McNabb (University of Pattal)
2nd - Kierport: LB Thomas Rowe (Kier University)
3rd - Orcaster: QB Rudy Aleshire (Montagrada University)
4th - Homestead: DB Earl Grossi (University of Pascoa)
5th - Tallokope City: DB Roger Breckinridge (Pascoa Provincial)
6th - Saint Blaise: OL Alexis Schumacher (Kier University)
7th - Adelaide: DB Xavier Castelo (Bristol University)
8th - Ashonta: LB Eric Hamilton (University of Pascoa)
9th - Ellesby: DB Stefan Hurst (Bristol University)
10th - Norfolk: OL Francis Brisbois (Toukier Provincial)
11th - Duvall: OL Patrick Marlow (Tallokope University)
12th - Hadley:OL Christian Wernher (Tallokope University) 

Player/Coach Movement: 
No coaches were let go this offseason, although fans in Augusta have been protesting for the replacement of the entire front office and coaching staff, but owner Wilfrid Charles is rather reluctant to let them go after winning them the 4th Cup. 

Orcaster is cleaning out the house in the process of a rebuild, and shipped off some of their stars to begin it. Some highlights of their transactions this offseason include WR Jordan Samson was traded to Ashonta in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 1969 draft and a 3rd rounder in the 1970, and most notably sent 1964 1st rounder LB Jamie Thatcher to Adelaide for a 1st round pick in 1970 and a 2nd round pick in the 1969 draft.  

Retirements:
Three notable players put on their uniforms for the last time in 1968. These players were: 

Gabriel Sydney (RB ORC 1956-1960, AUG 1961-1968):
After assisting the Racers to the 1st Escalian Cup and then fumbling the game away in Adelaide’s favor, Sydney found new life as the main back in the Bulls’ roster. He helped the Bulls to their first, and currently only, Cup appearance and victory in the 4th Cup, where he won game MVP. 
Paul Dane (QB KIE 1953-1968):
The Dane Train has left the station for the final time this season. This future Hall of Famer finishes his career with the most rushing yards by a QB at 3,267, 1961 Offensive Player of the Year, 1962 MVP, 1962 Escalian Cup MVP, and 2 Escalian Cups in the trophy case for Kierport.  
Adrian Norris (QB ORC 1959-1968):
Norris was a key player on the 1960 Racers team that got them to the 1st Cup, but was largely seen as a one-year wonder in the league, never eclipsing the mark he set in that inaugural season and walks off as what many think as wasted potential for a one-and-done Racers squad. 

TV Deal: 
When the EBN signed on the broadcast all EFL games back before the 1960 began, they had signed a deal set to expire after the 1969 season. Instead of shaking on the EBN’s proposal of a 5 year, $1.65 million per year deal for sole broadcasting rights, the Owner’s Council instead decided to open the deal to any network, which has evolved into a massive bidding war that has lasted all of last season and has bled into this offseason. Three stations have brought up deals, including the National Broadcasting Service (NBS) offering to split games with the EBN for a 3 year test contract at $1.5 million per year, the National Television Company (NTC) also offered a similar deal to NBS but had a longer deal at 6 years worth $2.15 million per year, and the Escalian Broadcasting Company (EBC), who owned local stations across most of Escalia and wanted some local deals instead of being broadcasted by a single company. After months of tense debates, the Council to take the cheaper split-deal option with NBS and EBN, with each network signing a 4 year, $6.2 million contract for broadcasting rights, and each network broadcasting the Escalian Cup every other year, with the deal beginning in 1970 with EBN broadcasting the Cup in even years and NBS in the odd years. The Council would also sign a minor 2 year test contract with EBC and its local stations worth $2 million for rights to broadcast games in local markets not already covered by EBN or NBS. The NTC was the odd man out, allegedly having its contract thrown out at the 11th hour after seemingly being the prime candidate. Rumors circulated that NTC founder and owner George Curtis wanted either partial or full ownership of a team, and had tried to negotiate getting ownership as part of the clause, which may have been why NTC representatives were escorted out of league headquarters in Hadley before settling a deal with NBS and EBC. 
 
11th & 12th Escalian Cup Host Vote:
The vote for the 11th Cup will be limited to the other 4 cities that tied with TC for host, being Hadley, Homestead, Saint Blaise, and Orcaster. The 12th Cup vote will have the same cities as the 9th minus TC as they won that vote, with the previous 4 cities mentioned being joined by Ashonta. Below are the synopses for the cities in both votes:

Harbour Coliseum - Hadley - Capacity: 52,900 (Ranked 6th in Capacity)
Hadley is home to the league’s offices, and holding it in what is essentially their backyard is a good way to experiment with neutral site games. With Hadley’s perfect season in the wraps, the league could keep the hype around them strong by holding the Cup here.
Speedway Sports Park - Orcaster - Capacity 55,555 (Ranked 3rd in Capacity)
The largest stadium that has yet to host a Cup, the Racers’ ownership has been constantly renovating the stadium to make it an all-in-one destination, as the field is built into the Orcaster Speedway infield, which can allow for more temporary setting if needed. Orcaster is struggling on the field at the moment, so bringing the Cup here could help ease some tension on the team.
Brown County Stadium - Ashonta - Capacity 40,000 (Ranked 12th in Capacity)
Currently the smallest stadium in the EFL, the city is still looking to host the Cup so they have a chance to build a bigger and better field that could hold more Cups in the future. With a Miners team on the rise, there may be a chance that they could appear in their home stadium like what Ellesby did in the 8th Cup
Cathedral Field - Saint Blaise - Capacity 49,625 (Ranked 8th in Capacity)
The Angels’ field is becoming more and more famous for its astonishing architecture, and hosting the Cup will allow for the team to expand upon it and become one of the league’s best stadiums. The Angels are stuck in mediocrity at this time, so the additional revenue would help them rise out the the bottom of the North and become a good team.
Frontier Stadium - Homestead - Capacity 47,960 (Ranked 9th in Capacity)
Hosting a Cup at the Reapers’ home can help solidify the eastward push that the league has been going for in its recent expansions, hopefully bringing more fans into the league. With expansion being in the works at the moment, bringing football out east to Homestead can help finalize the process and make it go smoother 

Link to Google Forms Here

I'll close off the poll on Monday, so get your votes in before then!
 

Last edited by DireBear (11/20/2020 11:13 pm)

NeoPrankster wrote:

So Escalia has three television networks, right?

Of those three, which one(s) are subsidized by the Escalian government and which are part of the private sector?

There's currently 4 major networks that have been mentioned: EBN(private but subsidized by the goverment), NBS(private), NTC (private), and EBC(fully owned by the government). NTC is the largest and technically the oldest of the 4, tracing its roots back to 1920 when it was founded as the Escalian National Broadcasting Company as a radio network, eventually merging with another company, Curtis Radio Broadcasting, in 1939 and turned to television and never stopped growing from there. NTC is currently the largest TV network in the nation, with EBN coming in 2nd, EBC in 3rd, and NBS in 4th. 

Hope that answers your question and I'm glad you're enjoying the series!

P.S. This TV deal should be the catalyst for a lot of things to come in the future, mainly to deal with NTC owner George Curtis, so stay tuned for what's to come

DireBear wrote:

NeoPrankster wrote:

So Escalia has three television networks, right?

Of those three, which one(s) are subsidized by the Escalian government and which are part of the private sector?

There's currently 4 major networks that have been mentioned: EBN(private but subsidized by the goverment), NBS(private), NTC (private), and EBC(fully owned by the government). NTC is the largest and technically the oldest of the 4, tracing its roots back to 1920 when it was founded as the Escalian National Broadcasting Company as a radio network, eventually merging with another company, Curtis Radio Broadcasting, in 1939 and turned to television and never stopped growing from there. NTC is currently the largest TV network in the nation, with EBN coming in 2nd, EBC in 3rd, and NBS in 4th. 

Hope that answers your question and I'm glad you're enjoying the series!

P.S. This TV deal should be the catalyst for a lot of things to come in the future, mainly to deal with NTC owner George Curtis, so stay tuned for what's to come

Now, of those four, which would you say is closer to the BBC in the UK or PBS in America?

1969 Season



North Division 
It was a three-way dog fight for the North Division title between Ashonta, Ellesby, and Hadley. The Miners surprisingly swept the defending champions in the Gatekeepers in their regular season matchups, as well as splitting their games with the Mariners, resulting in both the Miners and Mariners going into week 12 tied at 8-2-1, where they would face each other to determine the division winner. Only problem for the loser of that game was that the Gatekeepers were at 8-3, so only a win against the Racers at home would clinch their playoff berth. The game for the North Division title was not even close, as the Miners and Offensive Player of the Year QB Daniel Haumann rocked the Mariners 31-7 to clinch their first division title in franchise history, and then worried Mariners fans prayed that the ‘Keepers lose so they could get in the playoffs. Luckily for them, the Racers-Gatekeepers game was extremely close, as the Racers tore out to an early lead before Hadley stormed back to tie the game at 20 in the final few minutes of the game. The Racers ended up with the ball last, and punched in a field goal to play spoiler and kick Hadley out of the playoffs for the first time since 1962. Besides those three teams, the other three weren’t much of a story. The Saints started out the year at 2-1, but quickly fell off and finished at .500. The Racers’ sole moment of this year was their upset victory over the ‘Keepers, but were sloppy on the field that saw them lose 6 straight games. Kierport saw their worst season yet, as former ROTY RB Robert Underwood was injured in week 2 and had no momentum the rest of the season.  

South Division
Duvall was expected to compete for the South Division title against Adelaide and Norfolk, but lost their key offensive piece in former MVP QB Harold Bauer going down in week 4 to a leg injury, and would not return until the last week of the season, going 2-5 in his absence. He returned to beat the Reapers to avoid being in last place, but they were already out of the playoff race. The Owls and Lumberjacks took over the division race from there, as ADL QB Terry Rogers redeemed himself from his days in Norfolk by winning MVP, and new acquisition LB Jamie Thatcher strengthened their defense by snagging DPOY from Raleigh Gibson of Ellesby, who finished third in voting this year. Coming in second was Norfolk rookie DL Darren Abrahams, who took the league by storm by reinvigorating the Norfolk defensive line who kept opposing offenses to a league-low 19.8 points per game, the lowest since Adelaide’s dominant defense earlier in the decade. The other three teams weren’t too much to talk about; the Reapers had  a season to forget, the Bulls even more so after owner Wilfrid Charles passed away mid-season at age 81 and not having any offspring to pass the team along to, so the team will be sold in the offseason. The Anchors had a mediocre season, although it technically was their best season by far, even though they’ve never had a season above .500 yet. 

Awards
Most Valuable Player: QB Terry Rogers (ADL) 
Most Valuable Coach: Jeb Thompson (ADL) (x2)
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: QB Daniel Baumann (ASH)
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: LB Jamie Thatcher (ADL)
Most Outstanding Rookie: DL Darren Abrahams (NOR)

Playoff Preview

Ellesby Mariners @ Ashonta Miners 
These two teams just face off the week prior, so this game looks to be especially fierce. The Miners look to make a statement and not be embarrassed in the postseason again, while the Mariners have to face another roadblock in order to get to the Cup again and win.
Escalian Sports Magazine Prediction: This game is honestly a toss up. Despite how last week’s game was a crushing defeat for the Mariners, their other matchup resulted in a tie game. If there had to be a winner in this game, it would come down to the Mariners having more playoff experience than the Miners, seeing them go to their second Cup. 24-23 ELB 

Norfolk Lumberjacks @ Adelaide Owls 
Adelaide have looked nigh unstoppable in the regular season, only falling to Duvall in week 2 and resting their starters in week 12 to narrowly lose to the Anchors. Norfolk has not beat the Owls all season, and has struggled at points during the season. Besides that, we get to see the first playoff matchup between QB’s Terry Rogers and Nathan Slezak, who were both on the ‘Jacks for the 1966 season, where Slezak uprooted Rogers for the starting spot, and Rogers was traded to the Owls where he’s seen a career revival leading the Owls back to the playoffs for the first time in years. 
Escalian Sports Magazine Prediction: Norfolk will get their act together and finally beat the Owls this year, as they get another chance to win the Cup. 17-13 NOR