Quote: Originally Posted By dcy0827 on 2/07/2010
Quote: Originally Posted By vandydave on 2/07/2010
1000 wins is impressive regardless of world. but lets not pretend that competition now is the same as it was years ago, both quantity and quality. my smith conference right now is a fine example.
Fair enough. A little story though. In my 6th EVER HD season, I picked up Becker in Wooden D3. The team had five returning players and I recruited five freshmen that season (had two walk-ons). Well, lo and behold, I ended up winning my conference tournament and along with the automatic bid came a 14 seed in the NT. Well, little old 14 seed Becker, with a coach who barely knew what he was doing, ended up losing in the Final Four in overtime.
My point being, if a coach who didn't know what he was doing, with a team consisting of half freshmen, could make it to the Final Four in D3 Wooden (which is supposed to be one of the toughest worlds for D3), how tough could the competition have really been?
Yes, there were many great coaches many seasons ago, but there have been plenty of great coaches who have replaced them as they have . Two of the best HD coaches of all-time came after that point: Lostmyth and Coach_BillyG. I would venture to say that they could hold their own no matter when they started. Just because it seemed tougher back in the "good old days", doesn't necessarily mean it was. It kind of reminds me of old time baseball players who always claimed that the game was so much better back when they played. Seems to me that they have a little selective amnesia to go along with an "our generation had it so much tougher" attitude.
Is it easier now then it was many seasons ago? I would say probably a little, but I'd also say not by as much as people "remember". Not to call anyone out, but Dave you've been stuck on 6 NT's for some time now. If the game is getting so much easier, shouldn't you have added some more rings to your collection? And before you go saying that "the press is magic", I've won 6 NT's myself without running the press (and a 7th with a press team) and I started WELL after you did. The game is not necessarily "easier", it's just different.
the game now is about athletes and the press, and has been for 2-3 years. i choose to not pander to that, nor would i find enjoyment building teams around those things, and i also put little to no time into my teams. i used to be able to name most all my players on all my teams, now i couldnt name a single player on a single team. i used to spend probably 3-5 minutes gameplanning per game, now i spend 10 seconds, my teams are basically on autopilot after initial set-up. i used to scan recruiting for hours, now i normally wait til the last day in d2 and d3 and in d1 just look at guys within 200 miles who wont create battles. this is not a recipe for elite success, but these are choices i make, choices that a sim engine that got worse rather than better and now is stale made easy for me. perhaps these are excuses, but they are my reality, and the reality of many coaches who have come and gone. i genuinely have no clue why i keep playing, i'd start dropping teams the second i found a better similar-type game. if this next release isnt markedly better the teams will start dropping quickly for me...