mnnorthstars is one of Capra's original eight owners. His Minnesota North Stars team is in the NL North.
1/What If Sports. How long have you been on the site, and how did you end up here? What is your favorite game here? Favorite team or experience on the site?
I signed up in November 2001 when I saw a promotional that the MLB site (I think that was back when mlb.com was still being used by a law firm, remember those days?) ran about the '27 Yankees taking on the '75 Reds and it had a little blurb about the website they used as the engine to run the simulation. That sounded like something really up my alley and I thought that I would give it a try. So I have tried SimLeague baseball and hockey and have done at least a free trial of all the Dynasty games except for racing. My favorite SimLeagues to be in are the ones that have an emphasis on pitching and defense, and the dynasty leagues like the progressive/regressive or the Talent Pool Draft League. That's how I ended up gravitating naturally to this side. I've been exclusively on HBD for a couple of years now, I like that it takes a little bit longer than the sim season and that I can track and shape careers of the players. Winning the S15 Double Mendoza World Series was an interesting experience because I was on a Mediterranean cruise at the time and my dad was running the team. So I was in Greece at a port with free internet access and I checked the site and saw the season was over, I looked at the calendar and saw that I had games played recently, and I looked at the bracket to see that I was the only one left in the playoffs. So I pretty much found out I was a World Series winner through the back door.
2/Sports. What are your favorite teams in the real world? Favorite players and/or sports memories? What drives you crazy about sports or sports culture?
I grew up within sight of the Gateway Arch, so my loyalties lie there. You could literally see the Arch from my subdivision or if you got up on my roof. In baseball my favorites are the Cardinals and Red Sox, with the Twins an emerging third. In hockey I like the Blues and Canadiens, while the Jets are still a fun novelty. Those are the teams I get updates on my phone about. I'm turned off about the NFL's culture, even moreso after they left St. Louis. I got into college football as an alternative in the mid-2000s and I like to root for Missouri and South Carolina. It's kind of cool that they play in Columbia every year no matter who's hosting. As for favorite memories, I've been to two World Series ('11 Game 1 and '13 Game 5) and we were outside the stadium in '06 when they took the lead for good in Game 5. Those are good, and going to Blues playoff games in the '90s and early '00s were a lot of fun.
3/Music. What are the last three things you listened to? All-time three favorite artists? Best show you've seen?
I'm old-timey with my music and I'm only 32. If I'm listening to music I pick, it's probably some rock from last decade or some singer-songwriter stuff.
4/Aside from sports and music, what are your favorite hobbies, films, books, etc? What might surprise us about your interests?
I've got a large collection of Axis and Allies games, particularly the miniatures games. For Axis and Allies: War at Sea I'm part of a forum that has been keeping the game alive through new card projects since Wizards of the Coast dumped the designer in 2011. It's rumored they canceled the 7th set in favor of making the movie Battleship, so I'm sore about that. I'm an amateur historian and enjoy Napoleonic Era naval stuff, and World War II. My wife and I also enjoy traveling tremendously.
5/Survival. Where are you from originally, and where are you living now? How do you pay your bills, assuming you do?
I'm still in the St. Louis area on the Illinois side. I teach high school Spanish, World History, and Recent US History about an hour away from home.
1/What If Sports. How long have you been on the site, and how did you end up here? What is your favorite game here? Favorite team or experience on the site?
I signed up in November 2001 when I saw a promotional that the MLB site (I think that was back when mlb.com was still being used by a law firm, remember those days?) ran about the '27 Yankees taking on the '75 Reds and it had a little blurb about the website they used as the engine to run the simulation. That sounded like something really up my alley and I thought that I would give it a try. So I have tried SimLeague baseball and hockey and have done at least a free trial of all the Dynasty games except for racing. My favorite SimLeagues to be in are the ones that have an emphasis on pitching and defense, and the dynasty leagues like the progressive/regressive or the Talent Pool Draft League. That's how I ended up gravitating naturally to this side. I've been exclusively on HBD for a couple of years now, I like that it takes a little bit longer than the sim season and that I can track and shape careers of the players. Winning the S15 Double Mendoza World Series was an interesting experience because I was on a Mediterranean cruise at the time and my dad was running the team. So I was in Greece at a port with free internet access and I checked the site and saw the season was over, I looked at the calendar and saw that I had games played recently, and I looked at the bracket to see that I was the only one left in the playoffs. So I pretty much found out I was a World Series winner through the back door.
2/Sports. What are your favorite teams in the real world? Favorite players and/or sports memories? What drives you crazy about sports or sports culture?
I grew up within sight of the Gateway Arch, so my loyalties lie there. You could literally see the Arch from my subdivision or if you got up on my roof. In baseball my favorites are the Cardinals and Red Sox, with the Twins an emerging third. In hockey I like the Blues and Canadiens, while the Jets are still a fun novelty. Those are the teams I get updates on my phone about. I'm turned off about the NFL's culture, even moreso after they left St. Louis. I got into college football as an alternative in the mid-2000s and I like to root for Missouri and South Carolina. It's kind of cool that they play in Columbia every year no matter who's hosting. As for favorite memories, I've been to two World Series ('11 Game 1 and '13 Game 5) and we were outside the stadium in '06 when they took the lead for good in Game 5. Those are good, and going to Blues playoff games in the '90s and early '00s were a lot of fun.
3/Music. What are the last three things you listened to? All-time three favorite artists? Best show you've seen?
I'm old-timey with my music and I'm only 32. If I'm listening to music I pick, it's probably some rock from last decade or some singer-songwriter stuff.
4/Aside from sports and music, what are your favorite hobbies, films, books, etc? What might surprise us about your interests?
I've got a large collection of Axis and Allies games, particularly the miniatures games. For Axis and Allies: War at Sea I'm part of a forum that has been keeping the game alive through new card projects since Wizards of the Coast dumped the designer in 2011. It's rumored they canceled the 7th set in favor of making the movie Battleship, so I'm sore about that. I'm an amateur historian and enjoy Napoleonic Era naval stuff, and World War II. My wife and I also enjoy traveling tremendously.
5/Survival. Where are you from originally, and where are you living now? How do you pay your bills, assuming you do?
I'm still in the St. Louis area on the Illinois side. I teach high school Spanish, World History, and Recent US History about an hour away from home.
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