***** 2011 STN FANTASY RACING LEAGUE -- OFFICIAL THREAD!

[squeezer]

(This first post in the thread will be periodically updated as needed. Whenever I make a significant edit, I'll also post a bump.)

***** URGENT MESSAGE FROM YOUR COMMISSIONER:

THE MOTOGP SEASON STARTS MARCH 20! DEADLINE TO SET UP YOUR TEAM AND PICK FOR THE FIRST RACE IS MAR. 20, 12:00 PM PST!

To get in the game and join the league, see the bold type "HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW" section below.


The STN Fantasy Racing League is back!!  We're doing it again!!  It's better than ever!!
(Well, okay, it's actually pretty much the same, but marketing matters.)

HERE'S THE DEAL:
motorcycle-usa.com runs fantasy motorcycle racing games and allows folks to set up private leagues. I've set up STN: We Know Everything leagues for World Superbike and MotoGP.

The game is easy. You register and pick riders and a team for each race. You don't have to know jack. See the site for details on how to play.

It's completely FREE.

And what's the cool bit, other than being able to track yourself against other STN-ers and talking a little smack? We have cheesy stunningly beautiful yet surprisingly inexpensive trophies for winners of the STN WSBK and MotoGP leagues!  (see sample trophy photo below)


Here's what you gotta do now:

1. Set up your team and pick the winners at the game site. That will get you into the overall games. (You can join the WSBK game, the MotoGP game, or both.)
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Fantasy-Racing-Home/Default.aspx

2. Once that's done, PM me your email address so I can send you an invitation to join the STN Leagues.  You should, by the way, be the same email address you used when you registered for the game in step 1. Please let me know if you want to join the WSBK league, the MotoGP league, or both.

3. There is no step 3. You're done.

Those who registered for the WSBK league by Feb. 19 were automatically sent invitations to join the MotoGP league.


One rules clarification from last year: If you're an STN denizen and have been playing the game but haven't joined our league, no sweat. I'll add you at any time during the racing season. We're hoping for as many players as possible.


GET IN THE GAME!  IT'S EASY! IT'S FUN! YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW MUCH ABOUT RACING! (That last sentence is personal testimony, by the way.   ) IT LASTS THE ENTIRE RACING SEASON! YOU CAN TRASH TALK! YOU MIGHT WIN A CHEESY TROPHY!

And, of course, IT'S FREE!

Really, what could be better other than spring finally arriving?


Trophies for both WSBK and MotoGP leagues have been ordered. I'm going with the same trophies we used last year, same engraving except for the year. Here's last year's stunningly beautiful yet surprisingly inexpensive WSBK award:





WSBK ENTRANTS:
The following STN-ers (team name in parentheses) are in the WSBK league:

squeezer    (HM Faceplant)
Jason F.    (TeamShreadedElbow)
heinzrx   (Affegeschäft)
Cricket1  (Brutus Buckeye)
nater (Team Skid Marks -- who won both trophies last year)
RRdvark    (YMI Racing)
motodog650   (Burnt Toast Racing)
desert_rider  (Crossthreaded Racing)
1000lbs   (Sumo Moto)


MotoGP entrants:  (not quite up to date, by the way)
The following STN-ers (team name in parentheses) are in the MotoGP league:

squeezer    (HM Faceplant)
Jason F.    (TeamShreadedElbow)
RRdvark    (YMI Racing)
motodog650   (Burnt Toast Racing)
heinzrx   (Affegeschäft)
Cricket1  (TripleGP)
1000lbs   (Sumo Moto)
nater (Team Skid Marks -- who won both trophies last year)
desert_rider  (Crossthreaded Racing)


We seem to have a problem with the MotoGP league membership. There are more members than I sent invitations to. There may be a bug in motorcycle-usa's coding for private leagues in this game. I'll sort it out at some point.

[desert_rider]

Squeezer - Thanks for running this again!  

Crossthreaded Racing is back for another year and a shot at those trophies.

PM sent.

[Tyrroneous]

In before the lock....

Oh wait, wrong thread.  


Team JIK will be competing for sure.  Thanks Squeezer!!

[nater]

Count the ol' team skid marks in again!  Had a great time with it last year and can't wait for the season to start again!

[Cricket1]

I might have to try this, sounds like a blast!

[heinzrx]

Signed up..... team affegeschaft ready to do the business!

[motodog650]

Count the ol' team skid marks in again!  Had a great time with it last year and can't wait for the season to start again!

Burnt Toast Racing has you in their sights after coming up just short last year.  

[Cricket1]

Signed up!  Team Brutus Buckeye

[squeezer]

Bump for edits to first post. Please note the official entrant list at the bottom. Let know if there are problems.

[nater]

Burnt Toast Racing has you in their sights after coming up just short last year.  

I may as well just throw in the towel now, huh?

[motodog650]

I may as well just throw in the towel now, huh?

Thought maybe you just got lucky in WSBK but then when you backed it up in MotoGP, well...I know I've got my work cut out for me but I'm gonna try and claim at least one of them highly coveted ST.N WKE trophies at seasons end...

[squeezer]

Thought maybe you just got lucky in WSBK but then when you backed it up in MotoGP, well...I know I've got my work cut out for me but I'm gonna try and claim at least one of them highly coveted ST.N WKE trophies at seasons end...

I don't know...  I spent a lot of time going over data from last year in late night planning sessions and I think I've come up with the winning strategy.

Just before the last race of the season, I go to the "Edit League" screen and kick out everyone in front of me.  

[nater]

I don't know...  I spent a lot of time going over data from last year in late night planning sessions and I think I've come up with the winning strategy.

Just before the last race of the season, I go to the "Edit League" screen and kick out everyone in front of me.  

A little "You've been 'edited'" message should follow  

[squeezer]

A little "You've been 'edited'" message should follow  

 

[squeezer]

Bump because Superbike racing starts a week from today!

C'mon STN-ers -- if you're a racing fan, play along with us. It's free cheap thrills. See the first post in the thread for all the info.


Also bumped because the MotoGP game has finally shown up. Folks who already signed up for the WSBK league have already been sent invitations to join our MotoGP league.

[1000lbs]

PM sent. Sumo Moto is getting to the podium this year!!!

[squeezer]

Bump for one more shot at new players before the first WSBK race this weekend and for updates to the entrant list.

Please see the first post if you want to play.

[Jason F.]

In on both and I shall commence to dominate all....

































or not.  

[squeezer]

Last bump for WSBK players...  You have until 4:59 p.m. Pacific time to get pics in for race 1 of the superbike season.

Racing season means I'll get to ride soon too.  

[nater]

Oops.  I was a little late to get pics in for the first race  

[squeezer]

Oops.  I was a little late to get pics in for the first race  

I saw that. The rest of us needed the head start.  

I spent both races waiting for Checa to crash knowing I have that effect on the riders I pick. I was amazed and thrilled and how he ran away and stayed upright both races. Then I checked the game site and saw that I had actually picked Johnny Rea. That explains a lot.  

[motodog650]

Guintolli didn't help my cause by crashing out of race one and apparently banging himself up good enough to not be able to start race #2  

[desert_rider]

Guintolli didn't help my cause by crashing out of race one and apparently banging himself up good enough to not be able to start race #2  

Same here.  

[Jason F.]

Guintolli didn't help my cause by crashing out of race one and apparently banging himself up good enough to not be able to start race #2  

Yeah he got me as well. Fortunately my other choices panned out better.

[desert_rider]

Yeah he got me as well. Fortunately my other choices panned out better.

I think we had the exact same choices, we're tied at 114.

[1000lbs]

Another Guintolli victim here.  Otherwise I was ok with the first meeting's results.

[Jason F.]

I think we had the exact same choices, we're tied at 114.

Yeah we had everything picked the same. PM me your picks for the next event and I will tell you if they are the same as mine

[motodog650]

Another Guintolli victim here.  Otherwise I was ok with the first meeting's results.

The hard luck 'Flying Frenchman' is battered and bruised but nothing broken. Should be good for Donnington...

[squeezer]

Bump for the last chance to join the MotoGP game before the first race. See post #1.

Sign up and play the games. I can add you to the league at any point in the season -- or, at least, it worked that way last year.

[denydog]

Better late than never, Team Viertakt is back.   I don't expect anyone to feel threatened.

[1000lbs]

Wow, really got my ass handed to me this race.  Every rider I picked crashed out, with one getting back on to collect 2 pts.  The only other points were from my team pick where one of the riders (that I didn't pick) managed to finish  .

[denydog]

Ya this was a crazy race, and possibly my lowest point total ever, but a couple of people in the league did OK.

[motodog650]

Ya this was a crazy race, and possibly my lowest point total ever, but a couple of people in the league did OK.

Had a good points day so I can't complain but with two to go before Edwards rolled to a stop it was looking really good.  

[Tyrroneous]

I was in a hurry when I made my picks for the race and forgot to save them!  Would have had the race winner picked too.  Oh well...

[squeezer]

Well, I had Lorenzo, and I had Pedrosa/Dovi for my team, so I managed to scrape out something.

My B riders were Edwards and Simoncelli. Oh, what might have been...    

[Jason F.]

Yeah I completely bombed that one. Not a single choice in the top 10.

There is always the next race.

[squeezer]

Hey, this weekend I jumped up 17 spots and made it to the top 25 in the overall standings!  

And I lost one spot to 4th in the STN league.  

You guys are good.

Of course, I had Biaggi in both races.  

[desert_rider]

  #1

[RRdvark]

Had Melandri, Laverty, and Yamaha Factory for the second race...along with Johnny Rae.  Oh well, picked up a spot in our league, and just outside the top 20 overall.

[1000lbs]

For the first few laps of race 2, I had the perfect race going. 1, 2, &, 3 with my team running 1 & 2. One crash, one rediculous ride through, and a 5th from Troy later and I'm sucking wind.  Every weekend my picks have been so close and yet so far  .

[motodog650]

One good race, one bad race. Story of my picks so far for WSBK. Oh well, still early days...

[Tyrroneous]

One good race, one bad race. Story of my picks so far for WSBK. Oh well, still early days...

Seems to be how my picks turn out too.  Aggravating.

[denydog]

Crap!  I forgot about making my picks until a few minutes ago when I noticed the TIVO recorded the races.  And I even posted in the "Who's going to Miller" thread earlier.

[squeezer]

Hey! I moved to 2nd in the league and 14th overall in WSBK -- I think that's my highest ranking ever.

In MotoGP...   uh, let's change the subject.  

Crossthreaded is 10th overall in WSBK. That's pretty cool.

[desert_rider]

Don't forget to get your vote in for Sunday's GP.

[Tyrroneous]

Note to self:  Don't put all your hopes on the factory Yamaha squad when the race is wet.  

[denydog]

I'm scoring too many 0's from riders that crash out.  

[RRdvark]

Hmmm...who should I pick in race one?  Yeah, I guess it's worth using up a Checa pick for this race.  Top three for sure.  He never crashes.

Shit.

[squeezer]

Hmmm...who should I pick in race one?  Yeah, I guess it's worth using up a Checa pick for this race.  Top three for sure.  He never crashes.

Shit.

I had him too. And Smrz in both races.

Good think I got my bragging in after the last round.  

[desert_rider]

Good Sunday for me!  

97, 93 points.  Need a couple more Sundays like that!  

[squeezer]

Well, we let this thread slip far, far away.

So a bump with a quick update:

We have commanding leaders in both leagues. Burnt Toast Racing looks strong in MotoGP and sits just outside the top 10 overall (tied for 13th). Crossthreaded Racing is cleaning up in World Superbike and sits at 8th overall -- our only EOE in the overall top ten in either series at this point.

I'm feeling happy and surprised that I'm in a podium position in both leagues, but I'm going to have to hope that everyone's used up their good picks if I'm going to move up because, uh, I don't have a lot of strong ones left.  

[motodog650]

Kinda eyeing a spot in the man cave for the much coveted prize but still alot can happen in four races.

Looking good on 'A' riders but good 'B' riders & teams are getting slim.

Just clawing to get into the top five in WSBK.

[squeezer]

Kinda eyeing a spot in the man cave for the much coveted prize but still alot can happen in four races.

Sigh... I had a good spot too. Maybe I'll unpack them and set 'em on my shelf for a month to pretend.

Looking good on 'A' riders but good 'B' riders & teams are getting slim.

Yeah, I've got some Jorge and Dani picks left in A. But my B riders and teams? Ick.

[RRdvark]

I hope my Dani picks can keep me in the top three for the rest of the season.  My superbike picks are suffering now and I fear I am starting to slide down the leaderboards.

(YMI Racing)

[denydog]

Team Viertakt can only think of what might have been, had I not missed the first MotoGP race.  sigh...

[squeezer]

Team Viertakt can only think of what might have been, had I not missed the first MotoGP race.  sigh...

There are still bragging rights to be won.  

My HM Faceplant team is doing better this year than last, but it looks like I need to start buying stamps to mail those trophies to someone else.

[squeezer]

My B riders were Bautista and Barbera. My team was Stoner/Elias. I lost 3 out of 5 riders.  

[RRdvark]

Off the podium now in GP, but moved to first, yes FIRST, in superbike.  Wasn't expecting that.

[denydog]

Off the podium now in GP, but moved to first, yes FIRST, in superbike.  Wasn't expecting that.

Congratulations!

[1000lbs]

Don't miss your picks for Phillips Island boys.  The deadline is set for Fri. 7pm EST.

[motodog650]

Don't miss your picks for Phillips Island boys.  The deadline is set for Fri. 7pm EST.

Ouch, got me... I don't remember the deadline for Motegi being so frickin early ? Oh well, guess this will tighten things up for the trophy unless my nearest competitors got caught out too...

[RRdvark]

So much for my GP picks (Lorenzo).  If not for Super Sic, I'd have almost no points at all.  Don't think I'll get back into podium territory there.

[squeezer]

So much for my GP picks (Lorenzo).  If not for Super Sic, I'd have almost no points at all.  Don't think I'll get back into podium territory there.

After looking at practice times, I made a late switch from Pedrobot to Lorenzo.  Sigh...

At least I had Bautista. Oh, wait...

I haven't had the heart to look at the standings yet. I need to, though. We've got a WSBK winner to announce! I left the laptop at the office, so I'll get to that tomorrow.

[squeezer]

**** VALENCIA SPOILER ALERT ****








So, I just watched the start of the race. We're not even all the way through the first corner. Let's see... on today's team, I have Bautista and my team is Ducati.

Sigh...

I'm sure we'll be talking about it in the race thread, but man, I can't believe no one was badly hurt in that. Watch that crash in slow motion, and it's hard to believe that no one ran over dePuniet and that Rossi didn't have a crashed bike roll over him. Rossi had one of luckiest bounces I've ever seen.  

[denydog]

... on today's team, I have Bautista and my team is Ducati.

Sigh...

I think I scored 14 points.  That's OK, I had zero in the first race of the season.  

[squeezer]

I think I scored 14 points.  That's OK, I had zero in the first race of the season.  

Ha! I kicked your butt! I had 18.  

[RRdvark]

17 here.  Pedrosa, Bautista, DePunter, and Marlboro Ducati.  Ouch.