I'll tell you my story (hopefully someone will benefit from it) and then maybe you can post some of the dumb things you've done to help me feel better about things, because I am way more down about some silly simulation game than a grown man ought to be...
Tark signings just began last night. I'm at Colorado there. We had 7 openings and good post season cash (but only a C+ prestige).
Recruiting at Colorado is interesting. There aren't a lot of other BCS schools within a few hundred miles, but there aren't always great recruits around either, and a couple nearby mid majors are always something to deal with.
This season [a highly rated 5 star center] was generated 30 miles from my campus. I was hoping for under 70 bonus treatment, but didn't get it, but I did get the backup message. [West coast school #1] showed up either 1st or 2nd cycle. Despite [WC 1] I decided to continue to pull him down. [WC 1] was a long way away and had other stuff going on. I pulled him down and took the lead from [WC 1], knocking them off somewhere overnight the first day.
Meanwhile I did some evals on a number of other recruits on my board. I was surprised at how few evals it seemed to take to get "considered" by these recruits. I ended up showing like 14 considering me, with very little effort. I prioritized my picks based on the info from the evals and offered the other 5 freshmen I wanted to complete the 6 man class of my 7 openings. I sent redshirt notices to the rest. 5 of them said naw, its cool and kept showing on my list. (Really wish there was a "We are never going to sign this kid he is more of a stalker than a recruit" button)
So I still had quite a lot of cash at this point. [West coast team #2] shows up considering on [5 star center] (I get no change of status email). FSS confirms I am "definitely leaning towards". I pump a few HVs in anyway. Meanwhile [Local mid-major] starts sniffing around one of my 3 stars.
I knock [LMM] off that kid and maintain lead on [5 star center] and still have a respectable reserve going into the final day. [LMM] comes back sometime that morning. I let it slide for a couple cycles, figuring if there is no action anywhere else I throw a few HVs on the [LMM] kid last cycle before and try to knock him off and sign the kid outright at 8. This works as planned.
What I didn't plan is the bad part. Also last cycle I threw about 50 more HVs on [5 star center] to try to knock [WC 2] off too. 8 rolls around and I check my signings. The first message is this one:
Coach, the WCAA has a maximum limitation of 6 players per class so we just can't sign [local 5 star center].
Stephen Landrum
Director of Athletics
Colorado
See, last season I redshirted one of my recruits. I know the rule that redshirts count as the listed class and that they interfere with the 6 man class thing. I've seen this posted before. I've warned people about it before. And I didn't pay attention to it and it cost me a 5 star center at a C+ program in the middle of a decent BCS conference.
So that's my long winded story. Tell me one of yours.
tl, dr - lost 5 star because I forgot to count last year's redshirt against 6 man class. Feels bad.
EDITED: Decided to remove the other schools involved in case they are still recruiting other players and/or in battles or anything.
11/6/2012 3:20 PM (edited)