New owner interview hosted by Commissioner Daubs.
Q: Tell us about opie5. What is he like? What does he do in his spare time when not obsessing over your rosters?
Spare time - what is that??? I live at the beach in NC so when I find some spare time, I’m either on the golf course or swimming in the ocean. I retired last year (was a Dean at a University outside of Philadelphia) but my parents have had health issues and most of my time goes into assisting them.
Q: So you're a veteran to HBD, and previously owned a franchise in Cobbfather WAY back in Seasons 10-28. What do you enjoy most about the game? Besides the charming commissioner, what intrigued you about returning to Cobbfather after your hiatus?
I enjoy the challenge of building a team that can make the playoffs. Each world is so different that an owner can use different strategies to achieve that end. It is interesting to come in and see the previous owner's budget and try to understand what that owner was trying to accomplish.
I took on an orphan team in another world to help a commissioner out & stayed a couple of seasons until it was on the right track. The league had a couple of tankers in it - I can’t stand tanking - and Cobbfather had an opening, so I jumped at the chance. Some of the worlds take a long time to fill now - even the good ones - and I decided to get into some of the better worlds that I had been in previously so I can play continuously. Cobbfather was an easy choice - the timing worked. I also went back to Moonlight Graham a few seasons ago.
Q: What is your favorite part about building a franchise? Do you try to make a lot of trades? Would you rather build through the draft or IFA? Or just buy a team like Steinbrenner used to do?
I enjoy building a team through the draft and free agency. I’m not a big INT player - costs way too much of the budget to get really good players. I was in a league when an owner spent a bit more than $42M for an IFA - then had the balls to ask for salary relief because he couldn’t sign enough draftees for his rookie team. That’s over $80M of his roster on that 1 prospect. However - the first INT I signed in Cobbfather - Tony Lopez HoF 34 - went for $2.3M - I got very lucky!
I don’t make a lot of trades but will deal when the trade makes sense. I’m not afraid to give up good talent but there are some players that should not be traded.
Q: Of your current roster, who do you like most? Promise they will never read these articles! What about prospects? Who are you looking forward to the ML team in the next couple of seasons?
The good thing about a takeover is that one usually has no attachment to the players - same with this squad. On the ML roster, I like Sticky Baez & Wilton Perry. There were only 60 minor league players in the organization - and no prospects - so I don’t have any young players to like (yet).
This goes back to question 2 - the budget I inherited was nothing like the budget I like to run. The previous owner put most of the budget into FA’s & major leaguers - there was no scouting money in college, high school, or international for the last 6 seasons. Makes it difficult to make trades since most owners are looking for prospects back in a deal.
Q: What are your goals for the upcoming season? Are you looking to push for the playoffs? Or do you expect to rebuild for a couple of seasons?
This team needs to make the playoffs before its window closes - which could be difficult since it has only made the playoffs 7 times in 55 seasons. The squad has a chance - decent hitting & decent pitching - but defense is not up to par. The players on the squad are all pretty good players - just not good enough to excite other owners into making a deal to improve. So - I guess I’ll be watching the WW this season (sounds exciting).
Q: Since you've only returned to the league for a few days, this may be tough to answer but what has been your favorite aspect(s) of Cobbfather so far?
My favorite aspect is being back into the league with several owners that I competed against years ago. Nate (FW_Kekionga) was my mentor when I first started. I had gotten into Kruk & then joined Regulars on orphan takeovers - those were the days when you had to apply to leagues because there were so many people trying to play and not enough spots for owners - definitely had to take what you could get. I had no idea of what I was doing & got a mentor from the mentor list - Nate helped me immensely. He then got me into Cobbfather once I had a better grasp of the game, and I won the title in my 4th season here. Good to see other folks like Ploppie, ekoontz, topoftheworld, bjc30 and any others I didn’t shout out, still here & winning championships.
Q: What advice would you give a new owner in HBD? Besides making sure to ignore most conversations with the Commissioner of Cobbfather?
Improve your defense - it is an overlooked part of the game. Get close to the positional averages & surpass the average for position if you can. Also, don’t bid on any FA’s, Coaches or Int’s that I am bidding on.
Q: Any final thoughts as we head into the Season?
It is good to be back - thanks for having me!