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Previous Fantasy Sports Newsletters (FSN) by FISO - subscribe here
FSN 25 - 12.20 p.m. 25 July 2001
Today's Fantasy Sports Newsletter is probably the start of a glut of FSNs in the run up to the start of the EPL season, so be careful your inbox doesn't overload!
The Sun's Dream Team competition is probably the 'richest' fantasy Premiership Football competition on the planet so we were very pleased when Mark Maydon, Group Digital Director for News Group Digital, answered our questions and explained to us the great effort he and his team have put in to developing their very popular competition.
Interview with Mark Maydon:
1. Can you explain to our readers the relationship between News Group Digital and The Sun newspaper? What role do you personally play with The Sun's Dream Team competitions?
The Sun is published by News Group Newspapers Ltd. News Group Digital, is as the name suggests, the digital arm of the company and is responsible for the internet side of things. As director, I oversee the Dream Team game online. And because our game is totally integrated offline and online (i.e. you can enter by telephone and later come to the website to see how your team is performing) I co-ordinate the Dream Team activity between paper and website.
2. How do you feel the 2000/01 Dream Team football season went? Was it a success for The Sun and News Group Digital? How many entrants did you have?
Excellent – and yes a huge success. It was the first time we properly web enabled the game which led to a big uplift in entries. I’m not going to reveal how many players we actually had last season because that is commercially sensitive information, but rest assured with £250,000 in prize money we get more that any of the other UK-based fantasy football games around (despite what The Telegraph or others might claim!). Now we’re taking entries online from as far afield as Australia and Japan I’d be pretty confident we are the biggest fantasy football operation in the world too in terms of both play-rate and prize money. And unlike Premierwin we actually pay out! (FISO Editor - for anyone that is unfamiliar with the Premierwin debacle in 2000/01 then read
FSN 11)
3. What enhancements do you have planned for the 2001/02 Dream Team competition?
We’ve spent a lot of time and money improving the game. The basics will stay the same (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!) but we’ve tweaked the prize fund to introduce weekly prizes and online we’ve completely revamped the website to allow some big upgrades. Here’s what’s in store:
- We’ve added in a series of new weekly prizes which means you can still be in with a shout of bagging some serious cash even if you’re team is lurking well down the overall table. The weekly prize will go to the manager whose team moves the most number of places up the league (this may not be the highest scoring team in any particular seven-day period). There are still monthly prizes and of course the huge pots to the top four at the end of the season (£100,000 for 1st, £50,000 for 2nd, £20,000 for 3rd and £5,000 for 4th).
- Online at www.thesun.co.uk/dreamteam you can now form your own Mini League within the overall game, inviting up to 49 friends or colleagues to join in. The website will take the strain through the season, calculating each team’s points score and relative performance. And we’ve even thrown in an incredible £4,000 prize for the best Dream Team Mini League at the end of the season, based on the average team score in the Mini League, minimum five teams). I imagine this will generate big interest because tens of thousands of people in offices, pubs and clubs have been using the Dream Team rules (illegally as it happens!) to run their own private leagues. Now they simply
log on and we’ll take the strain.
- Follow your progress on your mobile phone. We’ve SMS enabled the Dream Team game to allow you to get regular updates via text messages to your mobile. So no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can still keep right up to date with your team’s progress.
- The Dream Team website allows you to enter up to five teams in one go. And what’s more we’re giving you five teams for the price of four! So if you enter five teams in one go, you only pay £20 rather than £25. Registration of multiple teams has just got a whole load easier! And when you log into the site, all the teams that you registered
- We’ve also made it easier for you to pay for your entry online. If you’re entering just one team you now have three ways to pay for your team – by debit/credit card (as before), by pre-pay card OR by premium rate phone call. So anyone worried about paying with a credit or debit card over the Internet needn’t be – now they don’t even need one to play Dream Team online! They simply visit one of 20,000 newsagents nationwide (and selected Spar outlets) that are stocking our Dream Team Season Ticket – a pre-pay card costing a fiver. Players just scratch off the panel on the reverse of the card, revealing their own unique ID number and follow the instructions at www.thesun.co.uk/dreamteam
- Online we’ve expanded the league tables section so that you now monitor how your team is faring in the seasonal, monthly and weekly tables. And if you’re in a mini-league, you can see how your league is performing compared with all the other mini-leagues in the game.
- And that’s just the start of the additional statistics on offer online. We’ve also making available all the stats on each player’s performance – not only from the current season but from last year’s game as well. You can now follow when and where a player scores points . . . and we’ll even plot it graphically. Talk about anorak heaven!
4. Can you remind us of the winners of the 2000/01 season, their teams and what their winnings were? Any idea what they have spent the money on?
See below for the full team line-ups for the top three finishers who walked off with an incredible £170,000 between them!
1st place and £100,000 winner:
Daniel Rofe's Danny's Dreamers XI
Total points: 1967
Code Player Team Position Price Team
023 Westerveld Liverpool Goalkeeper £4.0m 215
108 Harte Leeds Defender £3.5m 188
156 Dean Richards Southampton Defender £3.5m 162
170 Rio Ferdinand West Ham Defender £2.5m 244
163 Sol Campbell Tottenham Defender £3.0m 96
254 Bowyer Leeds Midfielder £2.5m 224
315 J Cole West Ham Midfielder £2.0m 90
266 S Gerrard Liverpool Midfielder £2.5m 201
387 Marcus Stewart Ipswich Striker £2.0m 219
369 Hasselbaink Chelsea Striker £6.0m 203
422 Pahars Southampton Striker £3.5m 125
2nd place and £50,000 winner:
Errol Julian's Imported XI
Total points: 1955
Code Player Team Position Price Team
021 Flowers Leicester Goalkeeper £2.5m 95
170 Rio Ferdinand West Ham Defender £2.5m 244
075 Desailly Chelsea Defender £4.0m 123
138 Silvestre Man United Defender £3.0m 130
120 Babbel Liverpool Defender £3.5m 255
266 S Gerrard Liverpool Midfielder £2.5m 201
281 Giggs Man United Midfielder £4.5m 136
254 Bowyer Leeds Midfielde4 £2.5m 224
393 Viduka Leeds Striker £4.5m 203
422 Pahars Southampton Striker £3.5m 125
387 Marcus Stewart Ipswich Striker £2.0m 219
3rd place and £20,000 winner:
Darren O'Grady's Dodge Rovers XI
Total points: 1944
Code Player Team Position Price Team
023 Westerveld Liverpool Goalkeeper £4.0m 215
124 Hyypia Liverpool Defender £5.0m 293
108 Harte Leeds Defender £3.5m 188
134 Irwin Man United Defender £3.0m 108
170 Rio Ferdinand West Ham Defender £2.5m 244
249 Holland Ipswich Midfielder £2.0m 152
213 Beagrie Bradford Midfielder £2.5m 9
254 Bowyer Leeds Midfielder £2.5m 224
352 Henry Arsenal Striker £6.0m 215
387 Marcus Stewart Ipswich Striker £2.0m 219
404 Goater Man City Striker £2.0m 77
Danny Rolfe said he was going to pay off his mortgage and get a new car. He also planned a trip to Las Vegas with friends to celebrate his win.
(FISO Editor - to see the above, and below, teams in table format then just click
here)
5. Who was the top Dream Team player for 2000/01 - presumably a Liverpool player given their cup runs?
The top players were indeed Liverpool ones, mostly as a product of the number of matches they played through the course of a very busy season. Sammy Hyypia (293 pts from 58 games) topped the pile. The top 10 players by position were:
GOALKEEPERS
Player Team Total
Westerveld Liverpool 215
Barthez Manchester United 183
Sorensen Sunderland 166
Poom Derby 143
P Jones Southampton 141
Seaman Arsenal 136
R Wright Ipswich 132
Martyn Leeds 119
James Aston Villa 112
Schwarzer Middlesbrough 108
DEFENDERS
Player Team Total
Hyypia Liverpool 293
Babbel Liverpool 255
Rio Ferdinand West Ham 244
Henchoz Liverpool 216
Carragher Liverpool 210
Harte Leeds 188
T Adams Arsenal 166
Dean Richards Southampton 162
M Elliott Leicester 159
G Neville Manchester United 158
MIDFIELDERS
Player Team Total
Bowyer Leeds 224
S Gerrard Liverpool 201
Merson Aston Villa 182
Scholes Manchester United 160
Vieira Arsenal 155
Holland Ipswich 152
McAllister Liverpool 150
Jensen Charlton 137
Beckham Manchester United 137
Hutchison Sunderland 137
STRIKERS
Player Team Total
Owen Liverpool 237
Marcus Stewart Ipswich 219
Henry Arsenal 215
Heskey Liverpool 215
Hasselbaink Chelsea 203
Viduka Leeds 203
Sheringham Manchester United 201
A Smith Leeds 184
Phillips Sunderland 170
Zola Chelsea 165
6. A number of our newsletter subscribers are not based in the UK. Please state whether the Dream Team competition is open to non-UK residents?
Absolutely – as long as the game is legal in their local jurisdiction. And you must be 18 to play.
7. What tips would you have for Dream Team players this year?
While we’ve put the budget up to £40m (from £35m) it’s still a real squeeze getting an 11-man line-up that hasn’t broken the bank (and if it wasn’t there’d be no challenge!). The key thing is to find a bargain-basement player who will rack up the points – last season Marcus Stewart (219 pts, only cost £2m) was in hindsight an absolute steal.
Clearly players from the six Premiership teams in Europe have increased opportunities to score Dream Team points. That said, squad rotation systems at the bigger clubs can have a negative effect (Man U frontmen Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole played 37 and 30 games respectively last season; Marcus Stewart played 41).
Finally log on and read the top 10 tips to entering the best possible side (registration starts from August 4). Good luck to everyone!
Many thanks, Mark, for sparing us the time to explain the developments to the Sun's Dream Team competition. On behalf of many fantasy sports
enthusiasts we would like to say that we really do appreciate the effort you are making in developing your competition and putting up some fabulous prize money. All the best for the 2001/02 season and let's hope a FISO subscriber wins that £100,000 first prize!
FSN 24 - 9.00 a.m. 19 July 2001
So with only 30 days to go until the kick-off to the 2001/02
EPL season we're heading into a period when many fantasy football games are
being re-launched. Today's newsletter contains a little of that flavour for we
cover:
1. A sneak preview of the key changes to Fantasy League's Fantasy Football
2001/02 Competition, and
2. An article written by Andy Tromans a Software Engineer and part-owner of Games
By Mail - one of the top UK PBM (Play By Mail) fantasy football games.
1. Fantasy League's
Fantasy Football
Officially launched at the end of this week The Fantasy League team have been
working hard during their 'pre-season training' and gave FISO a sneak preview of
some of the key changes and highlights which, when launched, will be as follows:
1. Much easier navigation around the site.
2. Enhanced "Challenge a Mate" service where you can customise goading
emails to get your friends to join your league.
3. Loads more weekly games (all paid for with one payment for a Game Card which
is £7.50 for the season).
4. Last season's Solo game is renamed Classic.
5. Classic game reverts to the prize structure of a couple of season ago where
you have to qualify for special competitions before the end of November and then
go into the Champions League, UEFA and Inter-Toto Cups where most of the prizes
are. This means that even if you enter late you can still win 90% of the
prizes and it is also more like real life football scoring (you will have to
read the site when launched to fully understand!).
6. SMS service for Premiership final scores and your teams scores and league
positions (additional payment of £10-£20 for the season depending on the level
of service).
Thanks to Charles at Fantasy League for the sneak preview!
'A game is born' - Andy Tromans - Games
By Mail
Where does it all start? When does the fascination begin? For me, it was at a
young age. It must have been between the ages of 10 and 15. I remember one
Christmas getting my first Subbuteo game. Now that was brilliant. This was well
before computers were on the scene and this was entertainment beyond belief.
Soon there were about 4 or 5 of us, each with our subbuteo sets, and a mini
league was set up. Being young it took a while to work out the fixtures so that
we all played each other and we eventually got to grips with it but we never
seemed to finish a season. I can remember laying out the pitch and practising
when I decided to set up a league that only I would play. I soon developed a
system using strict rules where I could play entire games by myself. Soon I was
playing whole seasons, writing down all the results and working out the tables.
The leagues got bigger as I soon got to grips with working out the fixtures, but
playing took too long. I moved on to dice and soon developed a very complex
system using 3 dice that would produce results. I won't bore you with the
details but it worked. Soon I had notebook after notebook filled with results
and tables and I was immersed in my own little world.
Now you may be reading this and frowning, thinking what a sad and lonely person
this is. Well just think about that the next time you turn on your computer -
alone - and play your favourite football management game, or any game for that
matter, and you become immersed in your little world. Anyway, in the early 80's
came the marvellous breakthrough known as home computers. As soon as I could I
had one - a glorious Spectrum 48k. And suddenly there it was. The very first
football management game on computer. Now this was heaven. Little stick men
kicking a small square ball to the sound of bleeps. Incredible! "What a
wondrous age we live in" I thought. Then computers got better. Commodore
came along with the whopping C64 and they followed that up with the crème de la
crème - the Amiga. I was besotted with this computer and started to dabble
in programming, which began to take over my spare time
and my life. I could make the computer do things, virtually anything I like. The
football management games on the market then were not that good so I began
experimenting and developing a way for the computer to play games. Before long
though, big companies were releasing great games and I gave up writing and began
playing. Playing until I could win anything and everything.
Computer management games were becoming predictable. Then it happened. A mate of
mine said he played football by mail. I was intrigued and sent for a starter
pack. It was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I was hooked. The
number of mornings I paced up and down by the letterbox in the hope my turn
would come before I went to work is unbelievable. But the game was no better
than I had on my computer but it was somehow different. I was playing against
real people and that was the attraction. Setting up deals. Going to pub-meets.
The interaction is what captured me. But the game turned sour. One update,
designed to make the game better, crushed everything. Bugs defeated every
possible logical thought. I tried other games but they were not the same. I
could no longer become satisfied and that was the turning point. "I'll
write one myself," I thought, and Tough At The Top was born.
It took two years programming the Amiga before things began to happen. I
released a play-test version that grew simply by word of mouth but the Amiga was
sadly inadequate. There just wasn't enough memory to continue expanding. And so
in 1997 the transition began to convert it to the PC, which was growing in power
by the month. Finally, in January 1999, the date arrived to show it to the
world. The first public adverts were placed and Tough At The Top was officially
released. Things did not exactly go to plan. I was struggling to get turns out
and update the program and things did not seem too bright. Then I received an
email that changed the future of Tough At The Top completely. It was from the
owner of Games By Mail, Colin, and he was asking about leasing my game. His own
game, Football Champions, was flagging. It was written in an old DOS language
and was bugged. His own programmer had moved to Japan and Games By Mail was
slowly declining. After careful thought, I declined the offer, knowing full well
that my game was better than theirs and it would one day be a success. So we
went into negotiations, and the outcome of it was that I was taken on board as
full partner. My stake in the company would be Tough At The Top, one I was happy
to make.
So now I am a full partner and software engineer of Games By Mail. I constantly
update the software and I am the webmaster of our site, www.gamesbymail.co.uk,
and we are growing by the month. We have many projects in the pipeline and the
future looks good. Ironically, Football Champions by Games By Mail was the game
I was playing when I decided to write Tough At The Top. It's a classic case of a
customer becoming a partner. As Victor Kiam once said "I liked the product
so much, I bought the company". Well I didn't exactly buy the company, but
at least I part own it.
Andy Tromans
Software Engineer
Games By Mail
Many thanks for sparing the time to tell other enthusiasts about your
experiences, Andy. Best of luck in looking after Games By Mail.
FSN 23 - 10.00 a.m. 17 July 2001
As promised a couple of weeks ago, today's instalment is an interview with
Mark Nunn who finished 3rd to me in the fabulous Telegraph Premier League
Online (TPLO) last season. Incidentally, TPLO is to be renamed TFFO
(Telegraph Fantasy Football Online) this year. In fact because the online game usually matches the players and their values
in the offline version you can already get a sneak preview of possible team line ups by picking up a copy of the Telegraph which starting issuing their
fantasy football competition details on Monday of this week - I can already see some potential bargains!
Right on to FISO's Interview with Mark Nunn - manager of team Hotshots FC -
3rd in TPLO 2000/01.
1. Hi Mark, that was quite a close finish between you, Michael Sumner (2nd) and the oddly named 'Bigfatron' (4th) with 8 points between you all going
into the last day and 15 points at the end - were you pretty relaxed about things at the end or did you find it quite an exciting finish?
It was pretty nail biting stuff, I sat there on the last day of the season watching the Teletext as scores updated, keeping my fingers crossed hoping
for some goals, and I had Hasselbaink up front with Stewart.
I had dropped Henry for Stewart, as Henry had not hit the target for a few
games. But 20 minutes into the first half Stewart was taken out with a hard
challenge and that was him out for the rest of the game And then Henry scored which I was gutted about as I had him on the bench.
2. Do you have any idea of who was in Michael Sumner's team 'Angels of Delight' which was only 5 points (i.e. one goal and £2,000) ahead of you at
the end?
I was pretty sure he had Owen, because near the end of the season when Owen was banging them in left right and centre, his team started closing in on
me. As my team didn't consist of Owen I got worried.
3. If I had to guess what your team contained then I would go for Harte and
a couple of Liverpool defenders, with Midfielders of Stuart, Pires and
Bowyer and Strikers of Henry, Hassselbaink, Stewart and probably Heskey. Am I close? Could you set out your full team details for us including the
transfers you made?
Well done! You're spot on.
I'm afraid I can only give you my team I ended up with as the TFFO site is down now.
GK Barthez, Wright
FullBK Campbell, Hyppia, Alpay
WingBK Harte, Babbel, Winterburn
Mid Beckham, Scholes, Bowyer, Stuart, Pires, Beattie
Att Henry, Heskey, Hasselbaink, Stewart
4. What was the rational behind your transfers and why didn't you drop Ian
Harte when O'Leary did not pick him for quite a long period of time?
I came very close to dropping Harte. It was my mate who is mad on Leeds made me keep him and I'm glad I took his
advice.
5. I see your team first appeared in the top 100 at the end of December 2000
and rose considerable during January, jumping into the top 10 in February. What do you put that sudden surge down to?
I decided to use my transfers up and buy the players that were on form at that time.
6. Did your team have a defining moment during the season?
It's got to be the last few weeks of the season, where there was quite a few of us battling for 2nd and 3rd. That was a worry as I was 2nd at one stage
then dropped into 4th then into 3rd.
7. What were your expectations in TPLO when you started out last August?
Just to come higher then my work colleagues, as we were in a mini league.
Not once did I think I could win any of the prizes.
8. What attracted you to playing TPLO and how many teams did you enter?
Because it's free mainly, with great prizes and also the interface is very well done and user friendly. I found other fantasy sites were very slow, and
not as quick updating the points week in week out.
9. What was your tactic for the starman selection?
I seemed to always have it on a striker if possible, and look to see who they're playing against.
10. How much time on average per week do you think you spent considering and
making your TPLO selections? Did you have any favourite injury and team news
websites?
I must have spent around 1 hour a week choosing selections. Injury news I usually used the telegraph site to start of with but the last
couple of weeks in to the season I was watching Skysports for the line-ups
before the matches.
11. Did you play TPLO last year and if so where did your top team finish?
Yes I did play last season and I think I got somewhere in the top 1000 and 2nd in the works mini league.
12. Do you play any other online fantasy sports games? What about newspaper
competitions?
I've played the Sky Fantasy football league, but I lost interest when my online telegraph team started to do well.
I've never done the newspaper ones, I find it a lot of hassle sending away transfers and phoning up. I prefer it online, as it's so much easier to
access my team. (FISO Editor - many of the newspaper competitions are now starting to allow internet transfers etc)
13. Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do in your spare time?
I'm 23 years old, and I'm from Hertfordshire. I'm a media developer, which involves creating 3d Graphics for training software.
In my spare time, I play football, pool, and workout down at the Gym. Also play a lot of footy manager sims on my games
console.
14. Do you access the internet from home or work or both?
I don't have a P.C at home, so I have to do it from work. Which is a pain, as I sometimes have to come into work at the weekends to make any final
changes.
15. Do you consider yourself pretty clued up on the Premiership football players and how hard do you study the new teams
coming into the EPL?
I feel I know a fair bit on the premiership players, as for studying the new teams and players I look at there stats from last season.
16. I see you support Spurs - how tempting was it to use players from Spurs
or do you let your head rule your choice of players rather than your heart (I'm not suggesting all Spurs players are rubbish just that some don't
belong in a fantasy team!)? Who will be the players to watch from Spurs next season? Who do you think Sol will be playing for next season?
I go with my head usually. My team did consist of a few Spurs players through the season (Carr, Campbell, Anderton). This season I might have
Poyet.
As for Sol I had my bets on Barcelona, I feel disgusted that he chose the
Gooners!
17. Do you have any tips for FISO users on playing TPLO?
Try to pick out the bargain players, like the next Marcus Stewart coming up from the first division.
Keep an eye on the team news.
18. How have you spent your £1,000 winnings?
Unfortunately most of it went on bills, and a new washing machine, so nothing exciting really.
I did want to purchase a PC if I had came second and won more. Maybe next time!
19. Do you fancy joining me in a TFFO (i.e. Telegraph Fantasy Football Online,
ex-TPLO) mini-league next season?
Yes please!
20. What 4 players (GK, Def, Mid and Striker) do you think are the ones to watch next season.
I not going to give too much away, but Veron (hopefully if his cheap) is certainly one to watch out for!
Good luck to everyone next season!
Thanks, Mark, for taking the time to talk to us!
FSN 22 - 10.00a.m. 14 July 2001
Today we take a look at recent online fantasy sports competitions reviews on
FISO.co.uk but first just a quick note on forthcoming newsletters.
Upcoming newsletters will cover exciting developments for The Sun's 2001/02
Dream Team game (I've seen a sneak preview and wow!), news on Sky Sports'
2001/02 Fantasy Football game (again exciting stuff!), news on The Fantasy
League's 2001/02 football game, the impact of Betting Tax on Fantasy Sports
Competitions and more new fantasy sports game reviews on FISO (including a
rather interesting Scottish Premiership football game).
Golf fans might also be interested to hear that Fantasy League Ltd have just cut the price of their Fantasy Golf game in half to just 5 pounds. The game
runs until November and they are giving away a fabulous Dynacraft Driver each week.
Why not try your hand at something a bit different? Click here to
give it a swing.
Okay on to recent reviews and listings on our website.
Fantasy Golf:
TalkingGolf
Talkinggolf's fantasy game is based on real life performances which
commences on 19 July 2001 and runs until 8 November 2001. Members pay £9.99
to join the TG Golf Club where the fantasy game is just one of the many benefits. They then pick a 12 man team from
Europe from a budget of 13 million Euros and watch their team score points
throughout the 16 event season. The 12 golfers must be picked from the top 100 from last year's Euro
tour and each golfer is rated according to the prize money he won last year. Up to 6 transfers are allowed and points are scored depending on a top 5
placing, shots under or over par, holes in one and making the cut. The
winning team wins a cash prize and competes with the editor's equivalent USA
team (already published) for the 'transatlantic bonus'. There are prizes for
the top 5 and the winner's is promised at a minimum £1,000 with the prize money pool to be increased if more than 2,000 members join Talkinggolf.
Fantasy Football:
Simulated Football Management Games:
Games by Mail
Games By Mail's headline competition is called 'Tough at the Top' and, as
they are proud to admit, you need to be a tough hardened fantasy football gamer to get the most out of their Play By Mail game. Each turn (i.e. one
week) costs approx. £2 but there is comprehensive information provided each week in the post and they do promise an enjoyable gaming experience. Plans
are in place to turn the postal competition into an email game. Their starter pack is free and comes with no obligation, so why not give it a go?
Or might it be too tough for you??
Premiership Manager
Premiership Manager is a simulated football management game that kicked-off
in 2000. Season 2 should see 2 divisions of 14 teams each and if you want to increase your chance of being selected to manage a team then a good
'role-play' on your managerial capabilities will stand you in good stead. The players' skills are based on how good they in real life and your
role-playing also gives your team that extra push in the game. The players
in your maximum 28 man squad are under contracts which must be renewed or
they will be eligible to leave on a Bosman. Players can also become unhappy or even put in transfer requests.
Football Prediction Games:
You're The Boss
You're The Boss (YTB) offers a fantasy football game based on selecting one
team from each division and points scored are dependent on the ranking of your team's opponent and the score between the two teams. Rankings are based
on previous season finishing positions so a low ranking team e.g. Derby thrashing a high ranking team e.g. Man Utd would result in huge points for
Derby whilst Man Utd beating Derby 1-0 will only result in a few points for Man
Utd. The game is currently free with no prizes.
Fantasy Formula One:
F1 Forecast
F1 Forecast is a Formula One prediction game run from Holland. The language
used is Dutch although there are plans to write it in other languages.
Fantasy Cricket:
You're The Boss
You're The Boss intends to have a fantasy cricket competition up and ready
for the 2nd Ashes test.
FSN 21 - 9.30 a.m. 7 July
2001
Today we dedicate the newsletter to probably
Ireland's top fantasy sports player - Tony Murnaghan. Tony is a 'big' name in
fantasy sports - you may have seen his name on the leader board of some of the
major fantasy sports games (particularly if you played the Telegraph's and
Times' fantasy football competitions this year) - and, well as his name is on
the lengthy side, it is hard to miss!
The newsletter takes the form of a copy of
two email updates from Tony, one on 24 April and the other on 8 June (a little
lazy from us I know but Tony's emails do demonstrate his passion for these
competitions which might be lost if we started to tamper with them). For the
players that take this newsletter, you know you've done well for the season if
you're placed above Tony and I hope some background information about him adds
to the competition. For the webmasters that take this newsletter, I hope his
comments on the games are of interest. Tony's permission to include his emails
in our newsletter has of course been given.
Tony, the stage
is all yours:
Tony Murnaghan - 24 April 2001:
At the beginning of the season, I entered 2
newspaper games (The Times and The Telegraph) and the Premierwin game via the
internet. I would have liked to play the online version of the Telegraphs game,
but the site carried a very prominent notice to the effect that the game was
limited to U.K. residents only (FISO Editor: I don't remember this restriction
and believe plenty on non-UK people took part) ....The rationale for this is
difficult to understand....Is it damaging from their point of view if an
overseas person wins it ? I did consider playing the Fantasy League game but I
refrained at the time on the grounds of cost (Stg£10 per team.....that's IR£12.50)
and value of prizes....first prize was only a fifth of what was on offer in the
two newspaper games.
As we enter the final weeks, I have to admit
that I have had a very enjoyable season. As I type this, I find myself in the
top 30 in The Times with my Mystery Men and in the top 50 in The Telegraph with
a team called Amateur Dramatics. Unfortunately, I have no transfers left at this
stage in The Times game but I still have a couple left up my sleeve for The
Telegraph. However, I feel that my only realistic prospect of a nice prize rests
with The Super League in the Times. My family and I submitted our teams for the
Super League (as well as the main competition) and it might pay a very handsome
dividend.....We have been in 1st place for the last couple of months and the
other groups have not eroded our lead during that time.....Fingers and toes are
being kept crossed at the moment ! I was fortunate enough to win the monthly
prize (£1,000) in January in The Times (thanks primarily to my fellow
Dubliner...Robbie Keane) so my outlays on all fronts for the season have been
well covered.
I have been playing Fantasy Football games
here in Ireland for the last 5 years or so, but the game went into decline for a
number of reasons e.g. same people winning all the time (have to admit I was one
of them) and poor management of the games by the papers and their I.T. people.
None of the papers are running them any more, but one or two internet versions
are
now beginning to crop up. I always wanted to make a serious effort to do well in
the U.K. to prove to myself that what I had achieved here in Ireland wasn't a
fluke (only 5,000 entrants approx in each game)... All things considered, I am
very happy with the way things have gone this season irrespective of my final
placings. My goal was to get into the top 100 in both games and I have safely
achieved that.
I will refrain from expressing my real
feelings about Premierwin to avoid any potentially libellous statements. In
terms of personal performance, I was lying 46th in the main game and 20th in the
best 10 weeks game when everything came to an abrupt halt. I am not unduly
concerned on a personal level as the decline in Beckham's performances, Dyer's
injury and Harte's return to form effectively meant I had no chance of
winning. However, I
really do feel for the poor guys who thought they were in with a real
shout.....This should not be allowed to happen...... I never received a decent
explanation as to what was going on but the most infuriating thing was that I
started receiving e-mails from them about the launch of a different game. I have
my own thoughts about what occurred and I had grave reservations at the outset
as the numbers simply did not add up ....entry income of circa £120k against
prize fund of £1.1m with no obvious sponsor. Some people thought the
prize-fund was underwritten by Sky Sports or Talk Sport, but I know from my own
business dealings that if someone is putting up that kind of money, they make
sure that their name is readily associated with the venture. That was not the
case in this instance. I wasted a lot of time and effort not just in the
selection of my 6 teams but primarily in carrying out the substitutions for each
set of games....I presume Premierwin managers will not be getting any refunds !
Would you mind e-mailing me the piece you are running on this topic ?
(FISO Editor - premierwin articles covered
in FSNs 11-13 - can be accessed here: http://www.FISO.co.uk/fsn11-15.htm )
.....Hopefully, The Office of Fair
Trading will be getting involved...Another appearance on Watchdog on T.V.
would not go astray....These people must not be allowed to bring the wonderful
game of Fantasy Football into disrepute....Sorry about the length of this....I
am passionate about this game and get carried away at times.
Despite what I said in relation to Fantasy
Leagues game earlier on, I definitely plan to play it next season. I took up
Charles Marks' (of Fantasy League Ltd) free offer to "Disgruntled
Premierwin Managers" and was really impressed with the game experience and
the site in general. I involved my 7 year old son in the game and he really
enjoyed it but I found I had to be very careful in terms of what was appearing
on the bulletin board....the language was awful...I don't know if anything could
be done to prevent the seriously bad stuff being posted on the boards...While I
originally thought that £10 per team was too expensive I did not realise that
there were only 6,000 or so playing from the start.....Against that background,
the risk reward ratio is acceptable and given the fun that Mark (my son) and I
had this year, I plan to enter about 10 to 15 teams next season and see how we
get on.
By the way, I have just entered Fantasy
League's Golf game and it looks great....really looking forward to
it....something to keep me amused over the summer months with no footie !
Yours in football, Tony Murnaghan
Tony Murnaghan - 8 June 2001:
Glad to report that my Super League in The
Times did the business - I had 48 pts to spare in the end but I had to wait
until last Tuesday to get confirmation. I thought I would be o.k., but you can
never be sure !
I made good progress over the last few weeks
in The Daily Telegraph and got up to 12th in the end...The (very) late arrival
of my Manager's pack meant an awful start as I had to carry the underachieving
Sullivan, Anderton, Burley, Barmby and Shearer until late September/early
October. On the positive side, I had Stewart, Neville, Irwin and Thome who
excelled up to Christmas. My final team was dramatically different and benefited
from key contributions from Hasselbaink and Harte in particular. Solano, Bowyer,
Poyet, Alun Armstrong, Babbel and Hreidarsson were also very welcome recruits.
In the main competition in the Times, I
ended up in 38th and 45th. I found it is very difficult to play catch-up in this
game because of the points structure, but I like it nevertheless. I thoroughly
enjoyed the season and I suppose I will now have to start doing my homework on
Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton !
To keep me going over the summer, I will be
managing my golf teams in Fantasy League. Off to a great start...Winning the
"Friends & Enemies" league, 2nd in the main competition and won
the weekly prize this week (a new driver). Put the grand total of 3 teams into
the Telegraphs Cricket game....I know absolutely nothing about cricket but just
put them in for pure fun. I don't expect to have anything to report on this
front !
I am enjoying the newsletters....Its great
hearing all the news...the performance of Jesper Pederson in Fantasy Leagues
game was incredible....a treble with the same team !
Bye for now, Tony Murnaghan
If anyone believes they can match or better
Tony's record then do get in touch with us and let us know why you deserve
similar coverage to Tony.
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