SecretAgentMan

Part 4: 2024 Bowl Tie-Ins -For Immediate Release from NCFA Offices in Indianapolis, Indiana- The NCFA has announced the 2024 Bowl Pairings. They are as follows: ---------------- New Year's Six - Week 20 ---------------- Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas)- Playoff Semi Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona)- Playoff Semi Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)- Big 10 #1 vs Pac 12 #1 Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, Louisiana)- SEC #1 vs Big 12 #1 Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida)- ACC #1 vs At-Large Peach Bowl (Atlanta, Georgia)- At large vs At-Large ---------------- Power Five Bowls - Week 20 ---------------- Citrus Bowl (Orlando, FL)- Big10 3 vs SEC 3 Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tennessee)- Big10 4 vs Big12 3 Las Vegas Bowl (Paradise, Nevada)- Big10 5 vs Pac12 3 Pinstripe Bowl (New York, NY) - Big10 6 vs ACC 3 Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN) SEC 4 vs Big12 4 Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA)-SEC 5 vs Pac12 4 Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL)- SEC 6 vs ACC 4 Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX)- Big12 5 vs Pac12 5 Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA) Big12 6 vs ACC 5 Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX)- Pac12 6 vs ACC 6 ---------------- Group of Five Champion Bowls - Week 20 ---------------- Motor City Bowl (Detroit, MI) MAC #1 vs Big10 #2 Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, AL) Sunbelt #1 vs SEC #2 Texas Bowl (Houston, TX)- C-USA #1 vs Big12 #2 LA Bowl (Inglewood, CA)- MWC #1 vs Pac-12 #2 Fenway Bowl (Boston, MA)- AAC #1 vs ACC #2 ---------------- Promotion Bowls (Go5 to P5) - Week 19 ---------------- Chicago Bowl (Promotion Bowl #1) Chicago, Illinois- MWC #2 vs C-USA #2 Seattle Bowl (Promotion Bowl #2) Seattle, Washington- MAC #2 vs Sunbelt #2 Denver Bowl (Promotion Bowl #3) Denver, Colorado- AAC #2 vs SoCon #2 ---------------- Lower Five Champion Bowls - Week 19 ---------------- Corn Bowl (Lincoln, Nebraska)- MVFC #1 vs MAC #3 Myrtle Beach Bowl (Conway, S. Carolina)- SoCon #1 vs Sunbelt #3 Tulsa Bowl (Tulsa, Oklahoma)- SLand #1 vs C-USA #3 Commonwealth Bowl (Richmond, Virginia) CAA #1 vs AAC #3 Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise, Idaho)- BigSky #1 vs MWC #3 ---------------- Group of Five Bowls - Week 19 ---------------- Bahamas Bowl (Nassau, Bahamas)- MAC 4 vs C-USA 4 New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, New Mexico)- Sunbelt 4 vs MWC 4 Military Bowl (Annapolis, Maryland)- AAC 4 vs Sunbelt 5 Arizona Bowl (Tucson, Arizona)- MAC 5 vs. MWC 5 Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu, Hawaii)- C-USA 5 vs AAC 5 Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama) - MAC 6 vs Sunbelt 6 Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida) - MAC 7 vs AAC 6 Beehive Bowl (Salt Lake City, Utah) - C-USA 6 vs MWC 6 Gateway Bowl (St. Louis, Missouri) - C-USA 7 vs Sunbelt 7 Lambeau Bowl (Green Bay, Wisconsin) - MWC 7 vs AAC 7 ---------------- Promotion Bowls (Entry 5 to Group of 5) - Week 18 ---------------- Sycamore Bowl (Promotion Bowl #4) (Indianapolis, IN)- SLand #2 vs CAA #2 Ice Bowl (Promotion Bowl #5) (Minneapolis, MN)- Sky #2 vs MVFC #2 ---------------- Entry 5 Bowls - Week 18 ---------------- Steel Bowl (Pittsburgh, PA)- MVFC 3 vs CAA 3 Frontier Bowl (Laramie, WY)- SLand 3 vs Big Sky 3 Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, N. Carolina) CAA 4 vs SoCon 3 Beaver Bowl (Portland, Oregon) - MVFC 4 vs Big Sky 4 Magnolia Bowl (Jackson, Mississippi) - Sland 4 vs SoCon 4 Iowa Bowl (Iowa City, Iowa)- MVFC 5 vs SLand 5 Chili Bowl (Cincinnati, Ohio) - MVFC 6 vs SoCon 5 Bluegrass Bowl (Louisville, Kentucky) - CAA 5 vs SLand 6 Little Apple Bowl (Manhattan, Kansas) - CAA 6 vs Big Sky 5 Little Rock Bowl (Little Rock, Arkansas) - Big Sky 6 vs SoCon 6 *Standard disclaimer* This is CLEARLY a work of fiction. The stories you are reading are being crafted using the seminal college football sim Bowl Bound College Football and the overactive imagination of one midwestern college football fan. Any resemblance to real-life events is purely coincidental. Any depictions of forceful restructuring of the NCAA should not be used as guide for actual real-world change. Because, let's face it, the real world of college football is going to continue to do anything it can to money-grab while it transforms into a very different version of what it once was.

Part 3: NCFA Conference Selections You know that all of us here at the Wednesday Morning Quarterback (WMQB) Blog are committed to providing the most lukewarm of college football takes on the hottest news stories...from last week. So in that manner, let's be the 247th article to look at the NCFA Conference Selections and prestige values that were recently announced. WEST REGION PAC 12 NORTH Oregon (82) Washington (76) Oregon State (67) Washington State (64) California (59) Stanford (50) PAC 12 SOUTH Utah (75) USC (69) UCLA (66) Arizona (60) Arizona State (57) Colorado (48) Teams Removed: None Teams Added: None Analysis: Honestly, we just think it's funny that the PAC-12, the conference that the NCAA was willing to let completely fall apart, is the one that the NCFA left completely intact. It looks...like the PAC-12 we've come to know and love in years past. More PAC-12 After Dark, we say! MOUNTAIN WEST NORTH Boise State (64) Air Force (61) BYU (58) Wyoming (51) Colorado State (39) Hawaii (37) MOUNTAIN WEST SOUTH Fresno State (58) San Diego State (49) Utah State (48) San Jose State (45) UNLV (43) Nevada (37) Teams Removed: New Mexico Teams Added: BYU Analysis: Sending BYU back to the Mountain West makes sense. To us, BYU just doesn't feel like a Power 5 school right now. Sucks for New Mexico, but we think they'll be happy with their landing spot (more on that in a bit). Our main concern here is the divisions. No, not the fact that the talent looks unbalanced right now (though that is true). It's the silly names. Mountain West North? And South? Really?? BIG SKY Montana State (44) Montana (42) Weber State (34) Sacramento State (33) UC Davis (32) New Mexico State (31) Idaho (29) New Mexico (28) Eastern Washington (28) Teams Removed: Northern Arizona, Portland State, Idaho State, Cal Poly, Northern Colorado Teams Added: New Mexico State, New Mexico Analysis: We're happy to see the Big Sky getting added to Division 1 as an "Entry 5" conference, and we think that fans are going to like the brand of football they play and their passion, especially up in Montana and Idaho. The two New Mexico schools feel like a good fit here, too. GREAT PLAINS REGION BIG XII NORTH Kansas State (76) Iowa State (68) Missouri (67) Texas Tech (66) Baylor (63) Kansas (56) BIG XII SOUTH Oklahoma (82) Texas (80) Texas A&M (72) Oklahoma State (71) TCU (68) Arkansas (59) Teams Removed: BYU, Cincinnati, West Virginia, UCF, Houston Teams Added: Missouri, Texas A&M, Arkansas Analysis: There's a lot of movement here, but it basically amounts to one thing: the old Big XII is back, baby! With the exception of Nebraska (which has committed to scheduling a Big XII foe each year), all of the previous Big 8/Big XII stalwarts are here, and the addition of Arkansas provides some fun Southwest Conference flair. We can't wait! The North division looks a little bit weaker, but that's nothing we haven't seen in the past anyways. CONFERENCE USA NORTH Tulane (56) Louisiana (51) Tulsa (42) Arkansas State (36) Louisiana Tech (33) UL-Monroe (29) CONFERENCE USA SOUTH SMU (61) Houston (55) UTSA (50) North Texas (41) Rice (33) Texas State (33) Teams Removed: Liberty, New Mexico State, Jacksonville State, W. Kentucky, MTSU, Sam Houston, UTEP, FIU Teams Added: Tulane, Louisiana, Tulsa, Arkansas State, UL-Monroe, SMU, Houston, UTSA, North Texas, Rice, Texas State Analysis: See, this is the kind of thing we like to see. This conference makes sense, right? You read that list and go, yes, of course those teams are in the same conference as each other. They seems like a natural fit. Except none of them were! The new C-USA is pretty much an amalgamation of old C-USA, the Sunbelt, and the AAC, but it works. Like, well. We are really pleased to see the existence of this conference. Plus, the notion that an entire division of "Conference USA" is made up entirely of teams from Texas is just....*chef's kiss* SOUTHLAND UTEP (30) Sam Houston (28) Incarnate Word (27) Missouri State (26) Central Arkansas (23) SE Louisiana (21) SE Missouri State (19) Nicholls State (17) Stephen F. Austin (15) Teams Removed: Lamar, Houston Christian, Texas A&M-Commerce, Northwestern State, McNeese State Teams Added: UTEP, Sam Houston, Missouri State, Central Arkansas, SE Missouri State, Stephen F. Austin Analysis: There's a lot of turnover here, too, but less than Conference USA. Again, though, it's a group that feels like a good fit. No standout programs coming up from the FCS, but enough regional matchups that should lead to some fun. The addition of Missouri State from the MVFC should be a good fit as well. MIDWEST REGION BIG TEN EAST Ohio State (92) Michigan (90) Cincinnati (62) Michigan State (59) Illinois (56) Northwestern (53) BIG TEN WEST Notre Dame (82) Iowa (70) Wisconsin (70) Minnesota (64) Purdue (59) Nebraska (58) Teams Removed: Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana Teams Added: Notre Dame, Cincinnati Analysis: We have mixed feelings here. On the one hand, Penn State and Indiana leaving the Big Ten feels so, so, wrong, even if there are good reasons in both cases. But Notre Dame to the Big Ten? That feels very, very right, and is something that should have happened a long time ago. The wild card is Cincinnati. Are they going to feel like an afterthought, or a valid member? And was their inclusion worth bumping Indiana down to the MAC? MAC EAST Toledo (51) Miami OH (48) Ohio U. (47) Bowling Green (34) Kent State (31) Akron (21) MAC WEST Indiana (51) W. Michigan (42) N. Illinois (41) Ball State (39) C. Michigan (39) E. Michigan (39) Teams Removed: Buffalo Teams Added: Indiana Analysis: This sort of feels like a "whatever shrug" sort of situation. So, "whatever shrug". The conference is basically unchanged except for some division adjustments. Indiana isn't going to move the needle in any sort of way. What we're really looking forward to is Year 2 in the MAC, when two very interesting things will happen. 1) A strong program or two will get bumped down from the Big Ten, and 2) A Dakota program or two will likely ascend from the MVFC. Then things will get fun. This year, though: "whatever shrug" MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (MVFC) S. Dakota State (59) N. Dakota State (57) N. Iowa (36) S. Illinois (34) S. Dakota (30) N. Dakota (30) Youngstown State (29) Illinois State (28) Indiana State (15) Teams Removed: Missouri State, Murray State, W. Illinois Teams Added: None Analysis: Want some outrage about this whole process? Here's where it should be directed. There is NO way that SDSU and NDSU shouldn't have been put into the MAC. To be honest, they already profile as borderline Big Ten schools, and to see them disrespected like this is a HUGE problem. They should sweep through the conference and both be favorites to get promoted immediately, but it's a shame that they have to take a year to do it in the first place. SOUTHEAST REGION SEC EAST Georgia (95) Tennessee (74) Florida State (71) Florida (67) Kentucky (67) Miami (60) SEC WEST Alabama (93) LSU (80) Mississippi (71) Auburn (68) Mississippi State (64) S. Carolina (61) Teams Removed: Missouri, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt Teams Added: Florida State, Miami Analysis: This is going to be so much fun. So. Damn. Much. Fun. The schools that are really Big 12 schools were sent back, and the current competitive chaff has been cut. And now....Miami and Florida State are finally here. So. Much. Fun. It just means more, am I right? SUNBELT EAST UCF (64) Georgia Tech (53) Coastal Carolina (47) Navy (46) Vanderbilt (41) S. Florida (39) SUNBELT WEST Louisville (64) Memphis (60) Troy (54) W. Kentucky (50) UAB (46) S. Alabama (43) Teams Removed: James Madison, Appalachian State, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Marshall, Texas St., Arkansas State, Louisiana, Southern Miss, Louisiana Monroe, Georgia Southern Teams Added: UCF, Georgia Tech, Navy, S. Florida, Louisville, Memphis, UAB, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky Analysis: The Sunbelt has been radically reshaped, but it stands to be the strongest Group of 5 conference. Louisville and UCF arguably both belong in power conferences, and Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt have also been demoted from Power conferences. There's a slew of other strong programs here as well, all clamoring for a chance to get into the SEC. Does anybody here have the power to stick? That remains to be seen. SOUTHERN CONFERENCE (SOCON) Florida Atlantic (44) Georgia State (44) Georgia Southern (41) MTSU (40) Southern Miss (36) Jacksonville State (34) Furman (26) Florida International (22) Wofford (15) Teams Removed: Chattanooga, Mercer, WCU, Samford, VMI, ETSU, The Citadel Teams Added: Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, MTSU, Southern Miss, Jacksonville State, Florida International, Georgia Southern Analysis: Funny enough, this conference is basically functioning as junior version of the Sunbelt, rather than the traditional SOCON. That means very few truly "new" teams, and a lot of teams who will be disappointed to be demoted to the Entry 5 rather than maintaining a place in the Group of 5. It will be interesting to see who responds. ATLANTIC EAST REGION ACC ATLANTIC Clemson (81) NC State (65) Maryland (62) N. Carolina (61) Wake Forest (59) Duke (57) ACC COASTAL Penn State (84) W. Virginia (65) Pittsburgh (60) Virginia Tech (56) Syracuse (54) Virginia (53) Teams Removed: Florida State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami, Boston College, Teams Added: Penn State, W. Virginia, Maryland Analysis: This is weird. Like, most of the rest of the conference being back feels like the ACC, and Maryland's return feels like the ACC. But Penn State? Really? Yes, it will provide some great rivalry matchups with Pittsburgh and West Virginia, but it feels really weird, since Penn State has been in the Big 10 for 30 years or so. Having said that...the potential to have a Clemson-Penn State conference championship every year seems like something we're down for. And Penn State has agreed to schedule a former Big 10 opponent each year, so that should help. We know that the NCFA is doing this for competitive balance perhaps, and we hope that their analysis is correct. AAC ATLANTIC Appalachian State (58) James Madison (57) Liberty (51) E. Carolina (44) Old Dominion (36) Charlotte (28) AAC COASTAL Boston College (50) Army (50) Marshall (48) Rutgers (47) Buffalo (39) Temple (33) Teams Removed: SMU, Tulane, UTSA, Memphis, S. Florida, Rice, Navy, N. Texas, UAB, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, Teams Added: Appalachian State, James Madison, Liberty, Old Dominion, Boston College, Army, Marshall, Rutgers, Buffalo Analysis: Much like Conference USA, this doesn't feel remotely like the same conference. It does show you just how little geographic identity there is in the Group of 5. Anyways, this group will have to try to find a way to form an identity as an "Atlantic East" conference. It should be interesting to see how that develops. COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (CAA) Villanova (29) UConn (25) Delaware (22) Richmond (21) New Hampshire (19) William & Mary (19) Rhode Island (16) UMass (15) Maine (15) Teams Removed: Albany, Elon, Towson, Campbell, Monmouth, Hampton, NC A&T, Stony Brook Teams Added: UConn, UMass Analysis: It's a shame that the prestige levels of these teams are so low, because this conference feels like a very cohesive distillation of the "Atlantic East" Region. Do they have any hope of being successful on a national, level, though? That's the real question that we have here. Overall, while there are some oddities, those of us here at Wednesday Morning Quarterback can't wait to see what the first season of the NCFA will bring! Look for our next article next week breaking down the new bowl tie-ins, which will be announced....yesterday morning. See you soon! *Standard disclaimer* This is CLEARLY a work of fiction. The stories you are reading are being crafted using the seminal college football sim Bowl Bound College Football and the overactive imagination of one midwestern college football fan. Any resemblance to real-life events is purely coincidental. Any depictions of forceful restructuring of the NCAA should not be used as a guide for actual real-world actions. Because, let's face it, the real world of college football is going to continue to do anything it can to money-grab while it transforms into a very different version of what it once was, and there's nothing you or any of us can do about it. And let's face it, we're still probably going to watch anyway.

Part 2: From the Desk of J.J. Moore: Dear college football fan: There has been a lot of speculation recently about the future of college athletics. As I am now in a position of power to do something about that, it is vital that I explain directly to you, the fan, what you can expect. INTRODUCING THE NCFA First, it's not correct that I am now the president of the NCAA. The NCAA, under current administration, is going to stay in its' current form, with one exception- football. Let me therefore announce the creation of the NCFA, the National Collegiate Football association, which I shall oversee as its' first president. The NCFA will take over all Division 1 College football from the NCAA and run it in a way that makes sense for fans and coaches and athletes alike. I can tell you that some changes are going to happen to make college football better. I believe that college football is an amazing and wonderful thing, but I also believe that it has lost its' way in recent years. So, we will fix it. Simple as that. Let's explain how. CONFERENCE STRUCTURE I think large conferences are complete nonsense. So most of the NCFA will follow the 12-team, 2-division structure that has worked so well in the past for many conferences. A few conferences will also be 9 teams in a single division. That way, every team in the country gets 8 conference games- 4 home, and 4 on the road. POWER 5: PRESERVING THE PAC-12 I also hate at the NCAA has allowed the traditions of the PAC-12 to wither away. So the NCFA is restoring the Pac-12 with 12 West region teams as an official "Power 5" conference. For that matter, each of the 5 regions in the country will have a "Power 5" conference with 12 teams. The ACC will serve the Atlantic East, the Big 10 will serve the Midwest, the SEC will serve the Southeast, and the Big 12 will serve the Great Plains region. GROUP OF 5: SOME GEOGRAPHIC SENSE We also value geography in the NCFA. The NCAA's conferences make no geographic sense at the Power 5 level, but they are actually even worse at the "Group of 5" level. So that will be fixed as well. Each Group of 5 conference will follow the same structure as the Power 5, with 12 teams from a particular region split into two divisions. So the American Athletic Conference will focus on the Atlantic East, the MAC will focus on the Midwest, the Sunbelt will focus on the Southeast, Conference USA will focus on the Great Plains, and the Mountain West Conference will focus on the West. ENTRY 5: ELIMINATING THE FBS/FCS NONSENSE Having two "Division 1s" makes no sense. Either call FCS "Division 2", or open it up and make a much bigger Division 1. We think "All Football is Good Football", so expanded Division 1 is the way to go. That means the "Entry 5" conferences will be part of Division 1 football. Each of these conferences will have 9 teams in a single division. The Colonial Athletic Association will represent the Atlantic East, the Missouri Valley Football Conference will represent the Midwest, the Southern Conference (SoCon) will represent the Southeast, the Southland conference will represent the Great Plains, and the Big Sky will represent the West. Now, if you are counting carefully, that means that Division 1 football will have 165 teams spread through 15 conferences. PROMOTION & RELEGATION PROCESS Perhaps the most radical change is the idea of promotion and relegation. It's also the change that requires the most honesty. It's nice to dream about Cinderella teams winning the national title in college football, but it will never happen in the NCAA's current format. Teams from outside the POWER 5 have no chance in reality of winning a title. So the way to address that change is simple. Give GROUP OF 5 teams and ENTRY 5 teams a realistic chance of becoming a POWER 5 team, so that they have a chance of winning a title in the future. Here's how it will work. Every conference will have a conference championship game. The conference champion from each of the ENTRY 5 schools will automatically get promoted into the nearby GROUP OF 5 conference every year, while the worst GROUP OF 5 team in each conference will get relegated to the ENTRY 5 conference in their geographic region. Similarly, the conference champion in each GROUP OF 5 school every year will be promoted to the POWER 5, while the worst POWER 5 team in each conference will get relegated to the GROUP OF 5 conference in their region. In addition, the 2nd place team in each ENTRY 5 and GROUP OF 5 conference will have one more chance to get promoted. Those 2nd place teams will play each other in their postseason bowl games, and the teams who win their bowl game will get promoted to the next level. This means that the 2nd worst team in each POWER 5 and GROUP of 5 conference is ALSO at risk for getting relegated at the end of the season depending on the bowl game results. EXPAND THE POSTSEASON, BUT MAKE IT MEANINGFUL Speaking of bowl games...if we can't seem to prevent 5-win teams from making bowl games, then let's at least make the bowl games MEAN something. First of all, the postseason will expand to 51 games, including many brand new bowls in locations that haven't hosted bowls before. Technically, the postseason will continue to start with conference championship week. As a reminder, those games will be quite meaningful, since the ENTRY 5 and GROUP of 5 conference championship game winners get promoted, while the POWER 5 conference championship winners strongly increase their odds of making it into the 4-team playoff at the end of the season. As for the actual bowl games...each POWER 5 conference will play each other POWER 5 conference at least once. The POWER 5 conference with the best record against other POWER 5 conferences will see their bowl game payouts increase, while the conference with the worst record will see a decrease in payouts. Similar structures will occur at the GROUP of 5 and ENTRY 5 levels, so individual conferences will have a chance to become more prestigious than the rest of their level. Of course, the "Promotion Bowls" will be highly charged as well. Each of these 5 bowls gives the GROUP of 5 and ENTRY 5 teams a chance to win their way into promotion to the next level. Conference Champions in the GROUP OF 5 and ENTRY 5 will also get to play in a bowl game against a team in their future conference, so that they can begin establishing rivalries at that level as well. And finally, the 4-team playoff bowls will continue to be incredibly impactful as we crown a definitive national champion on the field. EXPAND ACCESS TO DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL Team invitations and conference setups will be revealed in the coming days, but know that the goal of the NCFA is to make sure that college football matters to the whole country. There will be Division 1 football programs in 48 states, and there will be end of season bowl games in 37 states. We will also be helping many programs expand their stadiums to help grow their fanbases. REGIONAL TIES AND RIVALRIES MATTER Finally, there's one more problem with the NCAA. Traditional rivalries and regional ties have not been preserved in recent years, and it has led to some very odd schedules being released. Well, no more. The NCFA's structure forces teams in the same geographic area to potentially play each other on a more regular basis. Traditional regional conferences are back, and we're going to play as many traditional rivalry games each season as we can. There will also be some new rivalries to develop as teams are finally forced to play would-be in-state rivals that they have been ducking for years. Some teams will find themselves in new conferences as a result of this structure, but it's going to lead to great schedules throughout. Traditions and regional identities will matter again in college football, and I believe that they will in fact be stronger than ever. More information will come out in the days to come, but please know, college football fan, that these changes are going to make college football better and more fun for everyone involved, and I cannot wait for you to see the product on the field. Regards, J.J. Moore *Standard disclaimer* This is CLEARLY a work of fiction. The stories you are reading are being crafted using the seminal college football sim Bowl Bound College Football and the overactive imagination of one midwestern college football fan. Any resemblance to real-life events is purely coincidental. Any depictions of forceful restructuring of the NCAA should not be used as a guide for actual real-world actions. Because, let's face it, the real world of college football is going to continue to do anything it can to money-grab while it transforms into a very different version of what it once was, and there's nothing you or any of us can do about it. And let's face it, we're still probably going to watch anyway.

Part 1: BREAKING NEWS- NCAA leadership replaced in "coup" attempt ************************ "The NCAA is dead! Long live NCAA 2.0! The NCAA is dead! Long live NCAA 2.0" In a bizarre scene far beyond the imaginations of most sports college fans, it was announced on the steps of NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis this morning that a coup had occurred in the ranks of college athletics leadership. The prior president has apparently been deposed and forced from his position, and a low-level NCAA employee named J.J. Moore had ascended to the presidency. Moore and his acolytes apparently waited until most of the NCAA leadership was out of the building at the national championship game and just....took over operations. While details are scant, the takeover was apparently so comprehensive that the current NCAA administration has already admitted defeat, and been taken in exile to a secret location. Throngs of college football fans welcomed the news, and a spontaneous crowd descended upon Indy and gathered at the entrance to the administration building for the NCAA. Little is known about Moore at this point, other than that he is a midwestern football fan who had apparently been working for some time to infiltrate NCAA offices. He apparenly has full support of a strong majority of NCAA employees and is expected to put out a statement in the near future explaining his vision for the new NCAA, which is being termed "NCAA2" by the throngs of fans gathering outside. Many collegiate coaches and athletic directors were taken aback by the news, and none were immediately available for comment due to the unusual nature of the situation. Many were furiously working to reach contacts at NCAA offices, but outside communication from the NCAA appears to have been temporarily disabled. When reached for comment, a spokesman for the U.S.Congress simply snorted and stated "Nope, the NCAA is on its own this time. They've head more than enough time to figure this one out" before walking away with a smile on his face. The FBI and local law enforcement groups are also declining comment. More details on this story are expected to emerge in the coming days. ******************************************************************** *Standard disclaimer* This is CLEARLY a work of fiction. The stories you are reading are being crafted using the seminal college football sim Bowl Bound College Football and the overactive imagination of one midwestern college football fan. Any resemblance to real-life events is purely coincidental. Any depictions of forceful restructuring of the NCAA should not be used as a guide for actual real-world actions. Because, let's face it, the real world of college football is going to continue to do anything it can to money-grab while it transforms into a very different version of what it once was, and there's nothing you or any of us can do about it. And let's face it, we're still probably going to watch anyway. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Year 1, Chapter11- What in the Worlds "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks There was a knock on my office door. "Come in!" I replied cheerfully. I had reason to be. Katja had brought coffee! (And pastries) It was a Tuesday morning, and it was my first day back in the office after a long month (mostly) spent on the road. "Jeff, it feels like forever since we have both been in the office." Katja exclaimed. "Because it has been!" I replied. "I was at the Nordic World Championships for quite a while." "And then I was at the Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing World Championships" Katja responded. "And right about the time you got back from that, I was on my way to the Alpine Skiing World Championships" I bantered back. "So how about we touch base and go through these reports?" She was cheerful "Sure. I'll go first" I was cheerful, too. ************************************************ "So, the Nordic World Championships were interesting. We had competitors in Cross Country Skiing and Ski Jumping, but not Nordic Combined. We really did not have a lot of success with cross country, which was expected, but not good. I think maybe 38th place was the best I saw, and that was Sigurdur Olvirsson in the sprint event. I really suspect that we are going to need to invest in some youth cross country skiing resources, because we really should not be finishing quite this low in events like this. I would characterize ski jumping as a bit more positive, though. Rakel Hilmarsdottir did not make it into the final 30, but she looked like she belonged. I am really hoping that we can push her along over the next several years....it might lead to some good things. At any rate, the weather was great, and it was a fantastic trip! Your turn, Katja!" *************************************************** "So, this was my first time watching snowboarding and freeski competitions, and I have to say that I am really impressed with all of the athletes that do this. It really is quite fascinating. Now, as for the results. Well, you could certainly tell that our athletes were young. I think we were very near the bottom in almost every event we entered on the snowboarding side, and I saw a lot of falls and misses and nervousness. Not that we should be surprised by that, of course, but it is something we will need to get better at. Freestyle skiing was pretty much the same, with one exception. Mikael Robertsson was 24th in the slopestyle. He has not been on our radar, and I do not know if he can repeat this kind of performance....his coach said he put down the run of his life, so we will have to see what that means long term. Still, we might want to consider keeping an eye out for him. I cannot say it was a fantastic trip, but it was still interesting. Finish us off, Jeff." ***************************************************** "So, Alpine World Championships. First off, a blast. So much fun to be there. But the results....honestly not great. We had a few top 45 finishes, but nothing much closer than 33rd. That was Julia Leifsdottir...was glad to see it, since she has had such a rough season. Viktor Armannson did not do all that well in the downhill or Super G, and Karen Viljalmsdottir had a couple of pretty tough slaloms. We can definitely do better than this." ***************************************************** "But we cannot do better than these pastries, no?" Katja smiled She was right there, and I flashed a smile back. More work to do as always, but we could eat, drink, and be merry for a bit first. [END Year 1, Chapter 11] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week we start closing in on seasons end with March 2023

Year 1, Chapter 10- European Youth Olympic Festival Results "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks It had been a long week, but I was heading back to Reykjavik from my first ever European Youth Olympic Festival. It had been a fun week, but had we won anything? Well, in short, no. Did we come close? Also no. Hopefully it was good experience, particularly for the athletes who will be returning next year, but our kids are not at medal levels yet. ************************************************ Our young Alpine Skiers had 10 different events to compete in during the week. In Downhill Skiing, Benedikt Armannson had had a respectable finish, coming in 13th of 57 youth skiers. In the Super G, his weaker event, he had finished 47th. Viktor Stefannson had finished 41st in Giant Slalom and 45th in Slalom. Viktor Sigurdsson was 45th in the Combined. On the girls' side, Sigrun Sigurdsdottir was 49th in the Downhill, 35th in the Super G, 45th in Giant Slalom, and 46th in Slalom. Sigrun Armannsdottir was 50th in the combined. The next sport we were watching was Cross Country Skiing, where we had Kari Leifsson in the 3 boys' distance events. At 18, this is his final chance to be in the EYOF. He was 55th out of 58 in the 15km event, 58th in Skiathlon, and 29th in the 50km, by far normally his best event. It was disappointing, to say the least. Finally, we had athletes competing in Snowboarding. Emma Stefansdottir was 30th out of 49 in the Halfpipe, Daniel Robertsson was 18th out of 43 in the Slopestyle and 34th in the Big Air, Emma Olvirsdottir was 17th in Slopestyle, Emilia Stefansdottir was 33rd in the same event and 34th in the Big Air. [END Year 1, Chapter 10] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week, on to February 2023.

Year 1, Chapter 9- January 2023 Results "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks I finished typing, and clicked save on the file. I sighed with relief. The final task of the morning was done. I had just finished a press release that we had been sending out to the Icelandic press every month. That was my last task to do before heading out on our next trip. The European Youth Olympic Festival started this weekend, and I was to be there as part of Iceland%s delegation. It was technically going to be my first time marching in an opening ceremony, which would be interesting. I closed the computer. Time to get ready to go! ************************************************ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Icelandic Athletic Committee would like to announce the following results and highlights from winter sports athletes during the month of January 2023. Alpine Skiing The Icelandic Ski Team continued to compete on both the World Cup and European Cup this month. In the world cup, Karen Vilhjalmsdottir continues to be our most consistent slalom skier. On January 6th, she nearly got world cup points, coming in 36th place out of 75 starters. Speed Skier Viktor Armannson had several finishes in the 5%s and 6%s, while Olympian Julia Leifsdottir has continued to struggle to find her form. On the European Cup, multiple Icelandic skiers are gaining experience, but were unable to gain any points in January. Bobsleigh Social media darlings Katla_Vilhjalmsdottir and Emilia_Olvirsdottir continued their season by appearing at both the Junior World Championships as well as the European Championships. At the European Championships, they started the first run in 5%th out of 5%, but improved to 43th for the 2nd run, 48th for the 3rd run, and 43th for the 4th run. While that puts them far down the standings, it does show that they are off to a strong start in their bobsleigh journey competing against Europe%s best teams, including the tough German squads. In the junior world championships, things were more favorable. 27th out of 32 in Run 1, followed by 29th, 27th, and 27th in the remaining three runs. They will still be eligible for junior worlds for two more years, and we look forward to seeing them compete for medals in the future! Cross Country Skiing 6 male and 3 female skiers competed at the Scandinavian cup minor circuit event in Estonia. The highlight of the weekend was Benedikt Johnsson, who far outperformed his 7%1st ranking in the world to finish 2%th of over 65 participants in Saturday%s sprint race and receive our first Scandinavian Cup points of the season. Julia Sigurdsdottir followed as well, securing a 25th place finish out of 36 in both Friday AND Sunday%s Women%s 1% km events. Figure Skating Guomundur_Sigurdsson and Katrin_Leifsdottir turned in a strong performance at the European Figure Skating Championships, finished 21st out of 51 in the rhythm dance, qualifying them for the original dance. They slipped to 28th in the original dance, but overall had a great competition. Alex Robertsson did not qualify for the free program in men%s figure skating, but since he is eligible for junior world championships, he still has another big competition later in the season. Luge Daniel Stefansson competed in his first Junior World Cup Luge events. While he finished 39th of 39 in both events, he did improve during the course of the event. In Saturday%s race, he was 39th in both runs, while on Sunday he finished 37th and 38th in the two heats, though that unfortunately still led to a 39th place finish overall. Short Track Speed Skating Iceland sent two representatives to the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships. Each of the 4% plus men%s and women%s competitors competed in 3 different events. Telma Jonsdottir had a high finish of 24th, while Arnar Hilmarsson had a high finish of 3%th. Skeleton Daniel Vilhjalmsson represented Iceland valiantly at the European Championships, but unfortunately finished 29th out of 29 in the event. Ski Jumping Rakel Hilmarsdottir continues to represent Iceland in Ski Jumping%s Continental Cup, and competed in 8 events this month. She received her first points of her career on January 15th, when she finished in 29th place. She also placed 37th in a different event later in the month Snowboarding Daniel Olvirsson participated in two European Cup snowboardcross events, but did not finish in the Top 3% in either event. [END Year 1, Chapter 9] Sorry about being a day late this week! As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week we FINALLY get a look at our young snowboarders during the European Youth Olympic Festival.

Year 1, Chapter 8- December 2022 Results "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "Jeff, I am so, so, sorry...." "Katja, it's fine. It's fine." My voice tailed off. Even I wasn't actually sure if it was fine, but I was trying not to let her know that. I had been heading towards the door with my coffee. Katja had been heading to the other side of the door with this month's reports. A few moments later, all of this month's reports were scattered on the floor. Unfortunately, so was my coffee, and a few of the reports looked unrecognizable. We had a mess on our hands. ***************************************************** A few minutes later, things were calmer, and we had decided that Katja, who had already read the reports, would simply summarize December 2022. "Alright, so we had competitions in Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, and Bobsleigh this month. Which would you like me to start with?" began Katja "Let's start with Alpine Skiing." "The European Cup, which is the 2nd level of skiing, started up this month. We did have one skier, Sara Ingolfsdottir, get 23rd place at a downhill event in skiing. Most of the rest of the events were not as successful, but we did at least get some competitions in for a number of athletes. The World Cup, we did not get any points, but there were a couple of good results. Karen Vilhjalmsdottir got 45th out of 75 or so in one of the slaloms, and Julia Leifsdottir was 51st in the same event. Julia also had 41st in a world cup downhill this month as well. Still no points for either of them, but they got closer a couple of times. Unfortunately, Viktor Armannson did not have a lot of success in the downhills in Beaver Creek early in the month, though." I nodded. Nothing too exciting, but a couple of good results at least. "How about cross country?" was my next question "As you know, the press is a touch disappointed that we do not have anybody in the World Cup this year, so we have sent our top skiers to the Scandinavian Cup instead. We had a weekend in Norway, and it really did not go all that well. The men really struggled. Julia Sigurdsdottir was in the Top 30 of the second 10km race, but given that there were only 36 entrants, the coaches did not seem very excited." That was, to be fair, an expected result, but not one that anybody was going to be happy about. Cross country skiing was one of the few sports where we had homegrown coaches, and they seemed to be struggling to connect to the skiers and and interest the population at large. We quickly moved on to Ski Jumping. "Janne was really pleased with how Rakel jumped over the weekend." "When is he not?" I shot back. Katja ignored me. "She took 52nd and 38th out of 57 on the two Continental Cup competitions." I shut my mouth. Janne was too optimistic by some margin, but 38th was a definite sign of progress. "Okay, well, that seems like a good thing", I offered. "Now what about Bobsleigh?" We had made the decision to send Katla and Emilia to the next competition, despite not being fully recovered from the hamstring injury earlier in the month. Katja looked a bit dismayed. That probably meant that she had bad news. "17th of 17, followed by 17th of 17, followed by 16th of 17. They were dead last in 5 of the 6 runs this weekend." Not a shock, but not great. Thankfully, they would have some time to recover and train before European Championships and the World Junior Championships. But that would have to wait until after the holidays. And this coffee spill. I hoped that the stains would come out of the carpet. Happy New Year, indeed. [END Year 1, Chapter 8] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Got the scripts that sim the minor level leagues working correctly. Unfortunately had a bit of a problem with the scripts that organize the results, so I decided to work it into the story. That will be the bug fix focus for next week, it looks like! See you then.

Year 1, Chapter 7b- Bobsleigh Update "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks I was waiting at the Airport gate in Oslo Norway, about to fly back to Reykjavik, when my phone rang. It informed me that it was, in fact, Bobsled time, which meant that Gunther, our bobsleigh coach, was calling me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNJN-1MvnWg "Gunther, what news do you have for me?" With a flight upcoming, I had no time for pleasantries today. Thankfully, Gunther must not have either, because he jumped right into the conversation. "Do you want good news first or bad news?" "Give me the good stuff first" I replied. "We took a 15th place of 17 teams in one of the events in Park City this weekend. Took 11th in the second run to move u from last." He paused "16th and 17th in the other two events." He continued, knowing I would want that information. "That is good news," I offered. "So then what's the bad?" "Emilia got injured during the last run today. Possibly a hamstring problem. We are going to need to wait and see, but there is a chance she will be out for the runs in Lake Placid later this month." I grimaced. Seeing that happen to one of the few investments we had made was not a good sign. "Okay, keep me informed." I got on the lane shortly after, wondering yet again if this Bobsleigh experiment was going to be worth it. [END Year 1, Chapter 7b] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Short post today, because I spent the weekend fixing bugs on the program. I had some good success, and I believe I have made some subtle improvements that will help build up the game and also make this dynasty thread a touch easier to run. At any rate, NEXT week will be back to the office for remaining December results.

Year 1, Chapter 7- Airborne "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks I found myself on the ground, once again, which was a bit funny if you thought about it, since today was all about being airborne. The location was Vikersund,Norway, and it was time for the Women's Ski Jumping Continental Cup. As had often been the case this year, I was watching a lower-level competition, since Iceland still did not have many participants in proper World Cup events. Rakel Hilmarsdottir, our top ski jumper, would be competing in the Continental Cup this year, and I was looking to see how things were going. Part of the reason for needing to do that was the man next to me, Janne Matinen, our coach. He was once a competitor for the Finnish national team in ski jump and now coached Rakel and our other elite level ski jumpers (who were sadly nonexistent at this point). He was very positive and upbeat, which was great. Unfortunately, he also was prone to being overly optimistic, sometimes ignoring reality. He had, for example, suggested during the summer that Rakel might get World Cup points this year. However, a Continental Cup invitation had barely materialized, much less a World Cup place. I wasn't even sure that she was likely to get points in the lower cup, to tell the truth, but Janne continued to insist that she was going to be right up there with the best of them. The competition was starting soon enough, so we would see if he was right. ************************************************** As it would happen, Rakel was one of the last jumpers to go. Many of the preceeding women had been quite good, and it would be difficult to match, in my opinion. When her time at the starting gate was approaching, I pushed Janne for some information. "Janne, how far does she need to jump to get into the Top 30 here?" I asked. He hesitated, as though he didn't want to offer up the information. "Probably about 90 meters" he finally offered. "And how far did she jump in the practice round?" I followed up. A longer pause. "About 75 meters." A shot him a look, and he immediately pivoted his attention up the hill. Rakel was settling in to the starting gate. She looked focused. Like all of the other ski jumpers, she pushed off from a seated position, remained completely still as she rocketed down a ridiculously long ramp. Then...flight! Ski jumping is a quick sport once you get in the air. You are there for just a few seconds, then land far more gracefully than should be possible, and then it's done. Rakel landed smoothly, and Janne pumped his fist and shouted "Yes!". I looked to the scoreboard. To my untrained eye, she had looked like she had gone less far than the other jumpers, but I needed to be sure. 82.0 meters. Not bad, honestly. I could see why Janne was excited, since Rakel had bettered her practice jump by a good margin. She had also landed in front of several other jumpers (I would later confirm that it was 5 jumpers who she had beaten). She was not, however, anywhere near the Top 30. 52nd place was not necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it wasn't going to get you Continental Cup points, much less World Cup points. I made a note to take everything Janne said with a grain of salt going forward. Ski Jumping: Women's Large Hill Jump 1- Vikersund, Norway 180.2|4|2;3;|91(0)|000024919|Olivia_Lam |*1|Canada 172.8|4|2;4;|92(0)|000035592|Ingrid_Haugen |*1|Norway 171.7|4|2;4;|91(0)|000035618|Melissa_Johnasen |*1|Norway 168.1|4|4;3;|90(0)|000019785|Mina_Kato |*1|Japan 162.4|4|5;2;|91(0)|000032884|Emma_Neumann |*1|Switzerland 161.3|4|3;5;|91(0)|000010723|Joern_Weber |*1|Germany 158.9|4|6;2;|92(0)|000010729|Joern_Becker |*1|Germany 157.7|5|4;4;|87(0)|000021520|Emilia_Leskinen |*1|Finland 155.2|4|5;3;|91(0)|000052013|Saida_Satpayev |*1|Kazakhstan 154.7|4|6;3;|90(0)|000026315|Zuzanna_Baginski |*1|Poland 153.1|5|5;4;|86(0)|000012886|Cecilia_Rossi |*1|Italy 152.8|4|4;5;|92(0)|000010756|Monika_Schulz |*1|Germany 152.4|4|5;4;|90(0)|000046468|Martina_Eder |*1|Austria 152.3|4|5;4;|90(0)|000021547|Sara_Heikkinen |*1|Finland 152.2|4|4;5;|90(0)|000032894|Eva_Wolfisberg |*1|Switzerland 150.7|4|5;4;|90(0)|000021531|Maija_Aho |*1|Finland 148.7|5|6;4;|87(0)|000008398|In?s_Boudreaux |*1|France 147.9|4|5;4;|91(0)|000010749|Emma_Schmidt |*1|Germany 146.9|4|4;5;|91(0)|000052005|Sophia_Mokin |*1|Kazakhstan 146.9|5|4;5;|87(0)|000002514|Rachel_Collins |*1|USA 144.9|5|5;5;|88(0)|000037269|Denisa_Sobotka |*1|Czech_Republic 144.3|5|5;5;|86(0)|000028997|Jimin_Yang |*1|South_Korea 144.0|5|5;4;|87(0)|000012899|Melania_Ferrari |*1|Italy 142.7|5|5;5;|86(0)|000024922|Sophia_MacKinley |*1|Canada 142.0|6|6;4;|83(0)|000008410|Emmanuelle_Morin |*1|France 141.8|4|5;5;|90(0)|000046496|Hannah_Treffen |*1|Austria 141.6|4|4;6;|92(0)|000035605|Sofia_Haugen |*1|Norway 141.4|4|5;5;|90(0)|000074605|Neza_Potocnik |*1|Slovenia 140.6|4|6;5;|90(0)|000019767|Miyu_Kobayashi |*1|Japan 140.3|4|5;5;|91(0)|000046456|Lena_Hofer |*1|Austria 139.4|4|6;5;|91(0)|000026303|Zofia_Wojciechowski |*1|Poland 138.8|5|5;5;|86(0)|000026316|Maja_Wozniak |*1|Poland 137.4|5|6;5;|86(0)|000021548|Noora_Korhonen |*1|Finland 137.0|4|5;6;|90(0)|000074611|Lana_Rozman |*1|Slovenia 136.2|5|5;5;|89(0)|000002520|Isabella_Hill |*1|USA 133.4|4|6;5;|91(0)|000035585|Emilie_Larsen |*1|Norway 132.9|5|5;7;|89(0)|000019769|Yuki_Saito |*1|Japan 132.6|5|6;5;|88(0)|000074581|Anisa_Hribar |*1|Slovenia 131.5|5|5;6;|86(0)|000024924|Leah_Chan |*1|Canada 131.3|6|6;6;|83(0)|000026305|Marlena_Baginski |*1|Poland 128.5|5|7;4;|88(0)|000024920|Emily_White |*1|Canada 128.5|6|6;6;|82(0)|000028992|Haeun_Jun |*1|South_Korea 127.7|5|5;7;|89(0)|000005105|Polina_Pavlov |*1|Russia 126.1|5|7;5;|89(0)|000032911|Eva_Maurer |*1|Switzerland 124.5|5|6;6;|87(0)|000026304|Maja_Kwiatkowski |*1|Poland 123.2|5|7;5;|89(0)|000019777|Rie_Fukuda |*1|Japan 122.5|6|8;5;|83(0)|000008406|Chantal_Dubois |*1|France 122.1|6|5;8;|82(0)|000029002|Jiwoo_Kim |*1|South_Korea 121.2|6|6;7;|83(0)|000040049|Kristina_Kobin |*1|Ukraine 120.5|6|6;7;|84(0)|000026333|Julia_Szymanski |*1|Poland 118.2|6|7;6;|84(0)|000012905|Federica_Conti |*1|Italy 117.9|6|6;7;|82(0)|000070764|Rakel_Hilmarsdottir |*1|Iceland 116.3|6|6;8;|83(0)|000026314|Natalia_Jaworski |*1|Poland 112.9|6|6;8;|81(0)|000040045|Mariya_Husyev |*1|Ukraine 110.4|6|7;7;|85(0)|000005114|Tatiana_Sokolov |*1|Russia 107.9|6|6;8;|85(0)|000066990|Milana_Mihhailov |*1|Estonia 104.3|6|8;7;|84(0)|000002539|Elizabeth_Clark |*1|USA ****** The next day, I would unfortunately be further proven correct, as there was another day of competition. This time, Rakel unfortunately finished in last place during Jump 1, which meant no Jump 2 and no points. We had work to do. Ski Jumping: Women's Large Hill Jump 1- Vikersund, Norway 175.1|4|2;4;|92(0)|000010729|Joern_Becker |*1|Germany 173.4|4|4;2;|91(0)|000052005|Sophia_Mokin |*1|Kazakhstan 171.1|4|3;3;|91(0)|000035618|Melissa_Johnasen |*1|Norway 170.0|4|2;4;|91(0)|000010749|Emma_Schmidt |*1|Germany 169.2|4|4;3;|91(0)|000052013|Saida_Satpayev |*1|Kazakhstan 161.6|4|3;4;|91(0)|000032884|Emma_Neumann |*1|Switzerland 160.3|4|3;4;|90(0)|000046468|Martina_Eder |*1|Austria 159.5|4|5;3;|91(0)|000035585|Emilie_Larsen |*1|Norway 158.9|4|4;4;|90(0)|000074611|Lana_Rozman |*1|Slovenia 156.0|4|4;4;|90(0)|000026315|Zuzanna_Baginski |*1|Poland 155.5|4|4;4;|92(0)|000035605|Sofia_Haugen |*1|Norway 154.6|4|5;3;|90(0)|000032894|Eva_Wolfisberg |*1|Switzerland 154.5|4|3;5;|91(0)|000024919|Olivia_Lam |*1|Canada 154.4|4|3;5;|92(0)|000010756|Monika_Schulz |*1|Germany 153.9|4|4;5;|90(0)|000019785|Mina_Kato |*1|Japan 151.8|4|4;4;|90(0)|000046496|Hannah_Treffen |*1|Austria 149.0|4|6;3;|90(0)|000019767|Miyu_Kobayashi |*1|Japan 148.8|4|4;5;|92(0)|000035592|Ingrid_Haugen |*1|Norway 144.8|4|4;6;|90(0)|000021531|Maija_Aho |*1|Finland 144.7|4|5;4;|91(0)|000010723|Joern_Weber |*1|Germany 144.6|5|4;5;|87(0)|000012899|Melania_Ferrari |*1|Italy 144.5|6|5;5;|84(0)|000012905|Federica_Conti |*1|Italy 144.1|4|4;5;|90(0)|000074605|Neza_Potocnik |*1|Slovenia 142.7|5|5;5;|89(0)|000019777|Rie_Fukuda |*1|Japan 142.4|5|5;5;|89(0)|000002520|Isabella_Hill |*1|USA 140.3|5|5;5;|89(0)|000019769|Yuki_Saito |*1|Japan 139.2|4|5;5;|91(0)|000046456|Lena_Hofer |*1|Austria 138.7|5|5;5;|87(0)|000008398|In?s_Boudreaux |*1|France 138.5|5|6;5;|86(0)|000024924|Leah_Chan |*1|Canada 136.3|5|6;5;|86(0)|000012886|Cecilia_Rossi |*1|Italy 135.9|6|6;5;|83(0)|000040049|Kristina_Kobin |*1|Ukraine 134.7|5|6;5;|87(0)|000021520|Emilia_Leskinen |*1|Finland 134.3|5|5;6;|88(0)|000024920|Emily_White |*1|Canada 131.2|4|6;6;|91(0)|000026303|Zofia_Wojciechowski |*1|Poland 130.4|5|6;6;|89(0)|000005105|Polina_Pavlov |*1|Russia 129.8|5|6;6;|87(0)|000002514|Rachel_Collins |*1|USA 128.7|6|7;5;|85(0)|000066990|Milana_Mihhailov |*1|Estonia 126.6|4|6;6;|90(0)|000021547|Sara_Heikkinen |*1|Finland 125.8|6|5;7;|83(0)|000026314|Natalia_Jaworski |*1|Poland 125.5|5|6;6;|87(0)|000026304|Maja_Kwiatkowski |*1|Poland 122.9|5|6;7;|86(0)|000028997|Jimin_Yang |*1|South_Korea 122.8|6|6;7;|83(0)|000026305|Marlena_Baginski |*1|Poland 121.6|5|7;5;|86(0)|000021548|Noora_Korhonen |*1|Finland 121.1|5|7;5;|88(0)|000074581|Anisa_Hribar |*1|Slovenia 120.3|6|5;8;|82(0)|000029002|Jiwoo_Kim |*1|South_Korea 120.1|6|7;6;|85(0)|000005114|Tatiana_Sokolov |*1|Russia 119.1|6|7;6;|84(0)|000002539|Elizabeth_Clark |*1|USA 117.5|5|7;6;|88(0)|000037269|Denisa_Sobotka |*1|Czech_Republic 115.9|5|7;6;|86(0)|000024922|Sophia_MacKinley |*1|Canada 115.6|5|7;7;|89(0)|000032911|Eva_Maurer |*1|Switzerland 115.6|6|7;6;|81(0)|000040045|Mariya_Husyev |*1|Ukraine 110.3|6|7;7;|84(0)|000026333|Julia_Szymanski |*1|Poland 108.7|6|8;6;|83(0)|000008406|Chantal_Dubois |*1|France 108.6|5|7;7;|86(0)|000026316|Maja_Wozniak |*1|Poland 107.5|6|6;8;|83(0)|000008410|Emmanuelle_Morin |*1|France 107.5|6|7;7;|82(0)|000028992|Haeun_Jun |*1|South_Korea 99.1|6|8;8;|82(0)|000070764|Rakel_Hilmarsdottir |*1|Iceland [END Year 1, Chapter 7] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week...back to the office for some more December 2022 results.

Year 1, Chapter 6- November 2022 Results "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks It had been a good week and a good weekend. We had been hard at work at the office for most of it, of course, but on Thursday several of the employees, knowing that I was still missing some of the comforts of home in America, had thrown a surprise Thanksgiving feast. There was even Turkey! Thankfully, Iceland grocery stores seem to carry them! They prepared it a touch differently than what I was used to, but it was still a great meal and a great day. Today, it was Monday, and first thing in the morning, it was back to work. Katja had just brought in the November 2022 results, and it was time to take a look and see how are athletes had done. We had, of course, started the month with some bobsledding in Canada, but there had been other action later in the month as well. November 12th Alpine Skiing: Women's Slalom 1:44.74|2|1|97(0)|000045890|Laura_Kuhbauer|*1|Austria 1:46.26|2|1|96(0)|000045872|Martina_Spitzaner|*1|Austria 1:46.80|3|1|93(0)|000014010|Lotta_Lindberg|*1|Sweden 1:46.98|4|2|92(0)|000012201|Giulia_Giordano|*1|Italy 1:46.99|3|2|94(0)|000012172|Martina_Mancini|*1|Italy 1:47.02|4|2|90(0)|000007688|Doriane_Dufriche|*1|France 1:47.24|2|2|97(0)|000032123|Beatriz_Kuhn|*1|Switzerland 1:47.27|4|2|90(0)|000032125|Laura_Vonlanthen|*1|Switzerland 1:47.54|3|2|93(0)|000045893|Lena_Reiter|*1|Austria 1:47.85|3|3|95(0)|000032153|Chloe_Maurer|*1|Switzerland 1:47.90|5|3|86(0)|000023938|Sophia_Roy|*1|Canada 1:48.07|4|3|90(0)|000012180|Roberta_Colombo|*1|Italy 1:48.19|2|3|96(0)|000012199|Federica_Moretti|*1|Italy 1:48.20|2|3|96(0)|000045900|Hannah_Wiesner|*1|Austria 1:48.33|4|3|90(0)|000045896|Eva_Margreiter|*1|Austria 1:48.58|4|3|90(0)|000032131|Sofia_Huggel|*1|Switzerland 1:48.59|5|3|86(0)|000023954|Ava_Anderson|*1|Canada 1:48.60|3|3|93(0)|000074203|Sara_Kotnik|*1|Slovenia 1:48.73|4|4|91(0)|000032144|Alina_Spycher|*1|Switzerland 1:48.82|5|4|87(0)|000009907|Mia_Wagner|*1|Germany 1:48.84|4|4|90(0)|000045853|Anna_Rosenberg|*1|Austria 1:48.87|3|4|95(0)|000032133|Aurora_Wolfisberg|*1|Switzerland 1:48.94|4|4|90(0)|000045834|Sarah_Poestinger|*1|Austria 1:48.99|3|4|93(0)|000074179|Sara_Zupan|*1|Slovenia 1:48.99|4|4|90(0)|000032089|Ladina_Inler|*1|Switzerland 1:49.03|5|4|87(0)|000023937|Ava_Gagne|*1|Canada 1:49.04|3|4|95(0)|000001551|Madison_Turner|*1|USA 1:49.12|5|4|86(0)|000014009|Lotta_Carlsson|*1|Sweden 1:49.25|3|4|94(0)|000032126|Melissa_Huggel|*1|Switzerland 1:49.47|5|4|88(0)|000058408|Lucija_Golob|*1|Croatia 1:49.55|5|5|88(0)|000023925|Ava_Smith|*1|Canada 1:49.56|5|5|86(0)|000001519|Isabella_Cox|*1|USA 1:49.57|5|5|88(0)|000012181|Giorgia_Colombo|*1|Italy 1:49.58|6|5|84(0)|000074188|Eva_Vidmar|*1|Slovenia 1:49.62|6|5|84(0)|000004191|Olga_Sokolov|*1|Russia 1:49.64|5|5|86(0)|000023976|Chloe_Johnson|*1|Canada 1:49.69|5|5|86(0)|000035030|Emilie_Andreassen|*1|Norway 1:49.70|5|5|88(0)|000058413|Anisa_Horvat|*1|Croatia 1:49.72|6|5|85(0)|000036681|Simona_Katetov|*1|Czech_Republic 1:49.78|5|5|89(0)|000012142|Laura_Lombardi|*1|Italy 1:49.86|4|5|92(0)|000045861|Nicole_Badem|*1|Austria 1:49.92|3|5|94(0)|000045892|Martina_Reithoffer|*1|Austria 1:50.12|4|5|90(0)|000001546|Olivia_Green|*1|USA 1:50.21|3|5|94(0)|000012215|Paola_De_Luca|*1|Italy 1:50.21|5|5|89(0)|000007774|Emma_Badeaux|*1|France 1:50.28|6|5|85(0)|000074223|Anja_Kovacic|*1|Slovenia 1:50.30|4|5|91(0)|000007725|Doriane_Durand|*1|France 1:50.31|5|5|89(0)|000007713|Sandrine_Andrè|*1|France 1:50.35|4|5|90(0)|000012188|Melania_Russo|*1|Italy 1:50.35|5|5|88(0)|000023961|Mya_Li|*1|Canada 1:50.48|6|6|83(0)|000006068|Isla_Smith|*1|Great_Britain 1:50.59|4|6|91(0)|000032143|Mia_Abdi|*1|Switzerland 1:50.62|6|6|84(0)|000070452|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|*1|Iceland 1:50.64|6|6|82(0)|000071328|Mia_Schneider|*1|Liechtenstein 1:50.68|4|6|91(0)|000001555|Abigail_Gomez|*1|USA 1:50.72|5|6|87(0)|000009863|Hanna_Weber|*1|Germany 1:50.75|5|6|89(0)|000001563|Abigail_Brooks|*1|USA 1:50.81|4|6|90(0)|000023964|Mya_Martin|*1|Canada 1:50.85|5|6|89(0)|000001507|Ava_Hall|*1|USA 1:51.00|6|6|85(0)|000058400|Lana_Novak|*1|Croatia 1:51.06|6|6|81(0)|000019192|Mizuho_Shimizu|*1|Japan 1:51.11|5|6|89(0)|000012211|Giorgia_Esposito|*1|Italy 1:51.13|5|6|86(0)|000007696|Chloé_Bonnet|*1|France 1:51.16|5|6|86(0)|000009859|Joern_Schneider|*1|Germany 1:51.20|5|6|88(0)|000023973|Emma_Hill|*1|Canada 1:51.24|5|6|87(0)|000013986|Jessica_Jonsson|*1|Sweden 1:51.34|6|7|84(0)|000072975|Adéla_Jelinek|*1|Slovakia 1:51.76|5|7|89(0)|000041950|Jessica_Singh|*1|New_Zealand 1:51.84|6|7|85(0)|000058402|Lara_Kovac|*1|Croatia 1:51.90|5|7|86(0)|000007715|Marion_Coron|*1|France 1:52.04|5|7|86(0)|000001561|Linda_Gray|*1|USA 1:52.06|5|7|88(0)|000007767|Marion_Morel|*1|France 1:52.08|6|7|84(0)|000058399|Lana_Hribar|*1|Croatia 1:52.62|6|8|84(0)|000034993|Leah_Haugen|*1|Norway 1:52.75|7|8|80(0)|000070456|Julia_Leifsdottir|*1|Iceland Sunday, November 13th Figure Skating: Ice Dancing 164.84|1|2|98(0)|000000563;000002026|Joshua_Williams;Emma_Ross|*1|USA 160.39|3|3|93(0)|000003365;000004688|Aleksey_Solovyov;Viktoriya_Golubev|*7|Russia 158.22|3|3|93(0)|000009094;000010378|Leon_Meyer;Anna_Wagner|*11|Germany 158.06|3|3|94(0)|000003355;000004673|Daniil_Volkov;Yelizaveta_Kozlov|*6|Russia 153.38|3|4|95(0)|000015871;000016660|Han_Peng;Xian_Kang|*8|China 149.13|3|4|95(0)|000000548;000002020|Thomas_Phillips;Mary_Allen|*1|USA 146.62|6|5|84(0)|000036145;000037013|Felix_Kučera;Klara_Procházka|*23|Czech_Republic 145.19|4|5|91(0)|000022997;000024437|Noah_Roy;Haley_Gagnon|*1|Canada 142.97|3|5|93(0)|000023028;000024402|Ethan_Gagnon;Mya_Martin|*14|Canada 142.10|5|5|88(0)|000007118;000008090|Vincent_Vaillancourt;Soline_Popelin|*22|France 138.15|4|6|91(0)|000039333;000039849|Vladyslav_Husyev;Alexandra_Klitvintsev|*20|Ukraine 136.78|5|6|86(0)|000005701;000006348|Charlie_Wilson;Mia_Wilson|*23|Great_Britain 135.73|6|6|85(0)|000018503;000019476|Hiroto_Kato;Ria_Hayashi|*23|Japan 134.64|6|6|81(0)|000020399;000021224|Leevi_Tikka;Ella_Kivi|*23|Finland 132.50|6|7|85(0)|000015870;000016668|Ho_Ming;Fang_Tian|*23|China 130.07|7|7|78(0)|000021876;000022310|Gheorghe_Lupei;Elena_Barbu|*23|Romania 129.88|6|7|84(0)|000066369;000066874|Urmas_Alekseev;Sandra_Jakobson|*23|Estonia 127.19|7|8|80(0)|000031397;000032537|David_Kuhn;Milena_Spycher|*23|Switzerland 114.28|7|9|77(0)|000070121;000070604|Guomundur_Sigurdsson;Katrin_Leifsdottir|*1|Iceland Saturday, November 19th Figure Skating: Ice Dancing Short Program 175.70|1|1|98(0)|000000563;000002026|Joshua_Williams;Emma_Ross|*1|USA 159.77|3|3|93(0)|000023028;000024402|Ethan_Gagnon;Mya_Martin|*14|Canada 155.81|3|4|94(0)|000003355;000004673|Daniil_Volkov;Yelizaveta_Kozlov|*6|Russia 155.80|3|4|95(0)|000015871;000016660|Han_Peng;Xian_Kang|*8|China 153.37|4|4|91(0)|000039333;000039849|Vladyslav_Husyev;Alexandra_Klitvintsev|*20|Ukraine 151.93|3|4|95(0)|000000548;000002020|Thomas_Phillips;Mary_Allen|*1|USA 149.97|4|4|91(0)|000022997;000024437|Noah_Roy;Haley_Gagnon|*1|Canada 145.42|6|5|84(0)|000066369;000066874|Urmas_Alekseev;Sandra_Jakobson|*23|Estonia 143.32|3|5|93(0)|000009094;000010378|Leon_Meyer;Anna_Wagner|*11|Germany 142.90|3|5|93(0)|000003365;000004688|Aleksey_Solovyov;Viktoriya_Golubev|*7|Russia 140.75|6|6|84(0)|000036145;000037013|Felix_Kučera;Klara_Procházka|*23|Czech_Republic 140.47|6|6|81(0)|000020399;000021224|Leevi_Tikka;Ella_Kivi|*23|Finland 139.12|6|6|85(0)|000015870;000016668|Ho_Ming;Fang_Tian|*23|China 137.57|5|6|88(0)|000007118;000008090|Vincent_Vaillancourt;Soline_Popelin|*22|France 136.21|6|6|85(0)|000018503;000019476|Hiroto_Kato;Ria_Hayashi|*23|Japan 134.44|5|7|86(0)|000005701;000006348|Charlie_Wilson;Mia_Wilson|*23|Great_Britain 121.36|7|8|80(0)|000031397;000032537|David_Kuhn;Milena_Spycher|*23|Switzerland 120.37|7|8|77(0)|000070121;000070604|Guomundur_Sigurdsson;Katrin_Leifsdottir|*1|Iceland 116.99|7|9|78(0)|000021876;000022310|Gheorghe_Lupei;Elena_Barbu|*23|Romania Sunday, November 20th Figure Skating: Ice Dancing Free Program 167.43|1|2|98(0)|000000563;000002026|Joshua_Williams;Emma_Ross|*1|USA 165.96|3|2|93(0)|000023028;000024402|Ethan_Gagnon;Mya_Martin|*14|Canada 161.69|3|3|93(0)|000009094;000010378|Leon_Meyer;Anna_Wagner|*11|Germany 160.32|3|3|95(0)|000015871;000016660|Han_Peng;Xian_Kang|*8|China 159.28|3|3|93(0)|000003365;000004688|Aleksey_Solovyov;Viktoriya_Golubev|*7|Russia 153.78|3|4|95(0)|000000548;000002020|Thomas_Phillips;Mary_Allen|*1|USA 152.32|3|4|94(0)|000003355;000004673|Daniil_Volkov;Yelizaveta_Kozlov|*6|Russia 152.26|5|4|88(0)|000007118;000008090|Vincent_Vaillancourt;Soline_Popelin|*22|France 146.63|6|5|85(0)|000018503;000019476|Hiroto_Kato;Ria_Hayashi|*23|Japan 140.02|4|6|91(0)|000022997;000024437|Noah_Roy;Haley_Gagnon|*1|Canada 139.85|5|6|86(0)|000005701;000006348|Charlie_Wilson;Mia_Wilson|*23|Great_Britain 139.35|6|6|85(0)|000015870;000016668|Ho_Ming;Fang_Tian|*23|China 134.83|4|6|91(0)|000039333;000039849|Vladyslav_Husyev;Alexandra_Klitvintsev|*20|Ukraine 134.26|7|7|80(0)|000031397;000032537|David_Kuhn;Milena_Spycher|*23|Switzerland 131.02|6|7|84(0)|000066369;000066874|Urmas_Alekseev;Sandra_Jakobson|*23|Estonia 127.99|6|7|81(0)|000020399;000021224|Leevi_Tikka;Ella_Kivi|*23|Finland 124.30|7|8|77(0)|000070121;000070604|Guomundur_Sigurdsson;Katrin_Leifsdottir|*1|Iceland 122.34|6|8|84(0)|000036145;000037013|Felix_Kučera;Klara_Procházka|*23|Czech_Republic 118.27|7|9|78(0)|000021876;000022310|Gheorghe_Lupei;Elena_Barbu|*23|Romania Saturday, November 26th Alpine Skiing: Men's Downhill 2:06.62|1|1|98(0)|000000016|Shawn_Long |*1|USA 2:07.49|1|1|98(0)|000044824|Philipp_Fuchs |*1|Austria 2:07.72|1|1|99(0)|000000006|Ryan_Peterson |*1|USA 2:08.09|2|1|96(0)|000031033|Luca_Kuhn |*1|Switzerland 2:08.63|2|2|97(0)|000030934|Nico_Inler |*1|Switzerland 2:08.84|2|2|96(0)|000022537|Lucas_Wilson |*1|Canada 2:08.86|2|2|96(0)|000006800|Hubert_Thomas |*1|France 2:08.88|3|2|94(0)|000011028|Mattia_Bruno |*1|Italy 2:09.29|2|2|96(0)|000030929|Tim_Kuhn |*1|Switzerland 2:09.33|3|2|95(0)|000044848|Wolfgang_Baumgartner |*1|Austria 2:09.61|2|3|96(0)|000030940|David_Huggel |*1|Switzerland 2:09.67|3|3|95(0)|000011017|Riccardo_Bruno |*1|Italy 2:09.68|3|3|93(0)|000031027|David_Kuhn |*1|Switzerland 2:09.73|3|3|95(0)|000044832|Felix_Ebner |*1|Austria 2:09.76|4|3|92(0)|000030916|Tim_Vonlanthen |*1|Switzerland 2:09.77|3|3|94(0)|000000094|David_Bailey |*1|USA 2:10.05|3|3|95(0)|000030995|Leon_Vonlanthen |*1|Switzerland 2:10.06|4|3|92(0)|000000023|Ryan_Johnson |*1|USA 2:10.18|1|3|98(0)|000008600|Luca_Meyer |*1|Germany 2:10.21|4|3|90(0)|000006699|Alexis_Dufriche |*1|France 2:10.32|3|3|94(0)|000044891|Felix_Kinigader |*1|Austria 2:10.42|4|4|91(0)|000013145|Johan_Karlsson |*1|Sweden 2:10.42|5|4|89(0)|000035830|Ivo_Sedláček |*1|Czech_Republic 2:10.46|3|4|94(0)|000030924|Levin_Maurer |*1|Switzerland 2:10.48|3|4|93(0)|000044890|Simon_Schichegger |*1|Austria 2:10.49|4|4|92(0)|000044837|Alexander_Freindametz |*1|Austria 2:10.67|4|4|91(0)|000006689|Gregory_Jacquet |*1|France 2:10.68|4|4|91(0)|000006709|Victor_Gagnon |*1|France 2:10.70|4|4|91(0)|000000009|Jackson_Flores |*1|USA 2:10.71|4|4|90(0)|000000021|William_Jones |*1|USA 2:10.73|4|4|91(0)|000011029|Francesco_Ricci |*1|Italy 2:10.96|4|4|92(0)|000033997|Emil_Nilsen |*1|Norway 2:11.00|3|4|93(0)|000030980|Simon_Neumann |*1|Switzerland 2:11.07|3|4|93(0)|000006711|Victor_Bernard |*1|France 2:11.12|4|4|92(0)|000000007|Daniel_Cooper |*1|USA 2:11.16|3|4|93(0)|000057917|Luka_Novak |*1|Croatia 2:11.22|4|4|90(0)|000013133|Nils_Petersson |*1|Sweden 2:11.22|5|4|88(0)|000073518|Matic_Kos |*1|Slovenia 2:11.29|3|4|95(0)|000006715|Daniel_Baillieu |*1|France 2:11.29|4|4|90(0)|000006708|Jordan_Plantier |*1|France 2:11.31|3|4|94(0)|000044825|Florian_Kolowrat |*1|Austria 2:11.40|5|5|87(0)|000011059|Luca_Conti |*1|Italy 2:11.47|5|5|88(0)|000073500|Žiga_Bozic |*1|Slovenia 2:11.48|3|5|93(0)|000044847|Florian_Schuster |*1|Austria 2:11.50|4|5|91(0)|000034062|Adrian_Olsen |*1|Norway 2:11.51|5|5|86(0)|000034000|Jonas_Olsen |*1|Norway 2:11.56|5|5|86(0)|000008623|Elias_Becker |*1|Germany 2:11.60|5|5|89(0)|000008601|Elias_Wagner |*1|Germany 2:11.64|5|5|86(0)|000073506|Žiga_Rozman |*1|Slovenia 2:11.71|5|5|87(0)|000013146|Hans_Hansson |*1|Sweden 2:11.74|5|5|88(0)|000034003|Emil_Jacobsen |*1|Norway 2:11.76|4|5|92(0)|000044821|David_Shifferer |*1|Austria 2:11.84|5|5|89(0)|000022517|Jayden_Taylor |*1|Canada 2:12.03|5|5|87(0)|000011015|Luca_Giordano |*1|Italy 2:12.11|6|5|85(0)|000034022|Lukas_Larsen |*1|Norway 2:12.24|5|5|86(0)|000011018|Francesco_Esposito |*1|Italy 2:12.34|7|6|80(0)|000072330|Nikola_Kout |*1|Slovakia 2:12.35|5|6|87(0)|000011049|Luca_Lombardi |*1|Italy 2:12.38|6|6|82(0)|000002866|Yegor_Kuznetsov |*1|Russia 2:12.38|7|6|80(0)|000057960|Matic_Zupan |*1|Croatia 2:12.70|6|6|85(0)|000008598|Jonas_Fischer |*1|Germany 2:12.72|5|6|86(0)|000073509|Žiga_Horvat |*1|Slovenia 2:12.96|6|6|83(0)|000069957|Viktor_Armannsson |*1|Iceland 2:13.00|6|6|85(0)|000035866|Stanislav_Kolovrat |*1|Czech_Republic 2:13.03|5|6|88(0)|000022521|Nathan_Clark |*1|Canada 2:13.19|6|7|85(0)|000033992|William_Johannesen |*1|Norway 2:13.24|5|7|89(0)|000022532|Jack_Gagnon |*1|Canada 2:13.56|5|7|89(0)|000013179|Karl_Carlsson |*1|Sweden 2:13.78|7|7|80(0)|000067058|Andris_Krumins |*1|Latvia 2:13.88|7|7|80(0)|000035857|Lukáš_Hrabal |*1|Czech_Republic 2:13.93|5|7|88(0)|000022558|Noah_Smith |*1|Canada 2:14.09|7|8|80(0)|000013166|Erik_Karlsson |*1|Sweden 2:14.17|7|8|80(0)|000037459|Emiel_Smets |*1|Belgium 2:14.40|7|8|80(0)|000040874|Guilherme_Costa |*1|Brazil 2:14.45|7|8|80(0)|000002868|Yegor_Vasilyev |*1|Russia 2:14.59|6|8|81(0)|000035841|Augustýn_Novotný |*1|Czech_Republic Sunday, November 27th Alpine Skiing: Women's Slalom 1:46.91|3|2|93(0)|000045893|Lena_Reiter|*1|Austria 1:46.97|3|2|95(0)|000032133|Aurora_Wolfisberg|*1|Switzerland 1:47.16|2|2|96(0)|000045900|Hannah_Wiesner|*1|Austria 1:47.34|3|2|95(0)|000032153|Chloe_Maurer|*1|Switzerland 1:47.52|3|2|95(0)|000001551|Madison_Turner|*1|USA 1:47.78|3|3|93(0)|000074203|Sara_Kotnik|*1|Slovenia 1:47.81|4|3|90(0)|000032089|Ladina_Inler|*1|Switzerland 1:48.05|2|3|96(0)|000012199|Federica_Moretti|*1|Italy 1:48.05|4|3|91(0)|000032143|Mia_Abdi|*1|Switzerland 1:48.10|2|3|97(0)|000032123|Beatriz_Kuhn|*1|Switzerland 1:48.14|3|3|94(0)|000012172|Martina_Mancini|*1|Italy 1:48.40|4|3|91(0)|000007725|Doriane_Durand|*1|France 1:48.47|4|3|90(0)|000045853|Anna_Rosenberg|*1|Austria 1:48.55|5|3|89(0)|000001563|Abigail_Brooks|*1|USA 1:48.71|3|4|93(0)|000014010|Lotta_Lindberg|*1|Sweden 1:48.80|5|4|87(0)|000023937|Ava_Gagne|*1|Canada 1:48.93|3|4|93(0)|000074179|Sara_Zupan|*1|Slovenia 1:48.98|2|4|96(0)|000045872|Martina_Spitzaner|*1|Austria 1:49.00|5|4|88(0)|000007767|Marion_Morel|*1|France 1:49.10|4|4|92(0)|000045861|Nicole_Badem|*1|Austria 1:49.15|2|4|97(0)|000045890|Laura_Kuhbauer|*1|Austria 1:49.17|6|4|85(0)|000058400|Lana_Novak|*1|Croatia 1:49.19|4|4|90(0)|000007688|Doriane_Dufriche|*1|France 1:49.39|4|4|90(0)|000045896|Eva_Margreiter|*1|Austria 1:49.41|4|4|90(0)|000032131|Sofia_Huggel|*1|Switzerland 1:49.43|5|4|86(0)|000009859|Joern_Schneider|*1|Germany 1:49.45|4|4|91(0)|000001555|Abigail_Gomez|*1|USA 1:49.50|3|4|94(0)|000045892|Martina_Reithoffer|*1|Austria 1:49.53|6|5|84(0)|000034993|Leah_Haugen|*1|Norway 1:49.54|5|5|86(0)|000007715|Marion_Coron|*1|France 1:49.62|6|5|85(0)|000058402|Lara_Kovac|*1|Croatia 1:49.65|4|5|90(0)|000023964|Mya_Martin|*1|Canada 1:49.65|5|5|87(0)|000009907|Mia_Wagner|*1|Germany 1:49.67|4|5|90(0)|000012180|Roberta_Colombo|*1|Italy 1:49.72|5|5|86(0)|000023954|Ava_Anderson|*1|Canada 1:49.81|5|5|86(0)|000001519|Isabella_Cox|*1|USA 1:49.82|5|5|88(0)|000023925|Ava_Smith|*1|Canada 1:49.91|4|5|91(0)|000032144|Alina_Spycher|*1|Switzerland 1:49.93|4|5|92(0)|000012201|Giulia_Giordano|*1|Italy 1:49.97|6|5|82(0)|000071328|Mia_Schneider|*1|Liechtenstein 1:49.99|5|5|86(0)|000014009|Lotta_Carlsson|*1|Sweden 1:50.02|5|5|89(0)|000007713|Sandrine_Andrè|*1|France 1:50.06|5|5|88(0)|000058408|Lucija_Golob|*1|Croatia 1:50.09|4|5|90(0)|000045834|Sarah_Poestinger|*1|Austria 1:50.10|5|5|89(0)|000012211|Giorgia_Esposito|*1|Italy 1:50.14|3|5|94(0)|000012215|Paola_De_Luca|*1|Italy 1:50.22|4|5|90(0)|000012188|Melania_Russo|*1|Italy 1:50.23|5|5|88(0)|000012181|Giorgia_Colombo|*1|Italy 1:50.23|5|5|86(0)|000023938|Sophia_Roy|*1|Canada 1:50.28|5|5|86(0)|000035030|Emilie_Andreassen|*1|Norway 1:50.33|3|5|94(0)|000032126|Melissa_Huggel|*1|Switzerland 1:50.38|4|6|90(0)|000032125|Laura_Vonlanthen|*1|Switzerland 1:50.45|5|6|89(0)|000007774|Emma_Badeaux|*1|France 1:50.48|6|6|84(0)|000074188|Eva_Vidmar|*1|Slovenia 1:50.55|6|6|84(0)|000072975|Adéla_Jelinek|*1|Slovakia 1:50.66|4|6|90(0)|000001546|Olivia_Green|*1|USA 1:50.69|5|6|86(0)|000001561|Linda_Gray|*1|USA 1:50.69|6|6|84(0)|000004191|Olga_Sokolov|*1|Russia 1:50.79|5|6|88(0)|000058413|Anisa_Horvat|*1|Croatia 1:50.80|5|6|88(0)|000023961|Mya_Li|*1|Canada 1:50.88|5|6|87(0)|000013986|Jessica_Jonsson|*1|Sweden 1:51.02|5|6|86(0)|000023976|Chloe_Johnson|*1|Canada 1:51.13|5|6|89(0)|000001507|Ava_Hall|*1|USA 1:51.20|5|6|87(0)|000009863|Hanna_Weber|*1|Germany 1:51.38|5|7|89(0)|000041950|Jessica_Singh|*1|New_Zealand 1:51.58|6|7|85(0)|000036681|Simona_Katetov|*1|Czech_Republic 1:51.67|5|7|89(0)|000012142|Laura_Lombardi|*1|Italy 1:51.75|5|7|86(0)|000007696|Chloé_Bonnet|*1|France 1:51.75|6|7|84(0)|000058399|Lana_Hribar|*1|Croatia 1:51.81|5|7|88(0)|000023973|Emma_Hill|*1|Canada 1:51.97|6|7|83(0)|000006068|Isla_Smith|*1|Great_Britain 1:52.10|6|7|85(0)|000074223|Anja_Kovacic|*1|Slovenia 1:52.29|6|8|84(0)|000070452|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|*1|Iceland 1:52.94|7|8|80(0)|000070456|Julia_Leifsdottir|*1|Iceland 1:52.96|6|8|81(0)|000019192|Mizuho_Shimizu|*1|Japan So, what all had happened? First off, there had been some figure skating. We had qualified one ice dancing team for the grand prix circuit this year, but the results were not great. Last of 17 teams in one event, 16th of 17 in the other. That means that they will not move on to the Grand Prix Final. There had also been some Alpine Skiing of varying sorts. There had been two World Cup womens slalom events in the month, and one giant slalom event. We were fortunate enough to have had two athletes in all 3 events. Each slalom event had had 75 entries, while the Giant Slalom had 83rd. Karen Vilhjalmsdottir had been 53rd and 73rd, and Julia Leifsdottir finished 75th and 74th. In the giant slalom event, Karen finished 83rd, while Julia finished 75th. No points for either, unfortunately, since you need to get Top 30 for those. In the one mens downhill event, Viktor Armannson took 63rd out of 76th skiiers. Unfortunately for us, he did not get a chance to participate in the Super G the same weekend, as he has only been at top form for Downhill this year. No points for him, other, unfortunately. Was this a good month for us? Hard to say. There had been a couple of decent results, but it was concerning to see a spate of poor performances from Olympian Julia Leifsdottir. Though, to be fair, she did generally perform better in the downhill and Super G, so that will be something to look forward to in December. What else in December? More bobsleigh for sure. Probably some snowboarding, too. First, though, was a trip to see some ski jumping. Maybe we would get some World Cup points there? We will have to find out! [END Year 1, Chapter 6] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week...Womens Ski Jumping kicks into gear for the season. (Also, still have not had any time to squash the aforementioned bugs...that's still an ongoing problem

Year 1, Chapter 5- Whistler While You Work "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks We were on the ground and out of the office once again. Today, it was the first weekend in November, and Katja and I were in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. In 2010 it had been the site of the Winter Games, but today it was hosting an event in the North American Cup, the smaller of Bobsleigh's two minor circuits. Many people mingled around the track, including near the starting gate, which was where we currently were stationed as part of the first ever Icelandic delegation at a women's Bobsleigh event. It was exciting, but I kept reminding myself to temper the enthusiasm with some reality. I thought back to the conversation I had had with Gunther Schuller, our German coach, earlier in the week. "Okay, so 17 competitors signed up....what are we realistically hoping for?" I had probed, wanting to know if this crazy endeavor had any hope of working. "First off...." he said, speaking in English for my benefit with a slightly halted German accent. "Ignore what happens with the American and Canadian teams. They will...what is the expression you Americans use....wipe the floor with us." "Lovely" I muttered. "The best European countries send their developmental sleds to the European Cup, and we are not going to be able to compete with them right off the bat, so the hope is that we will stand up better with the North American Cup, which have some really strong American and Canadian teams, and then everyone else in the world who is hoping to eventually break into the World Cup." He paused. "I told the girls that we should be happy if we beat somebody." "And will we?" I asked hopefully. He paused again. "We'll see." So now it was time to start, and time to see what the actual reality would bear out. ****** A short while later, it was time. We were 12th to start, and it was pretty clear that nobody outside of North America had a realistic chance of a medal. We were focusing on the Irish squad, which had come down the track in the slowest time thus far (57.088), as well as the Chilean squad, which had yet to run. I could see Katla and Emilia in the starting gate. They were still, though it was impossible to tell if that meant they were nervous or relaxed, given that their faces were hidden beneath a helmet. Their hands hovered over the pushbar, then I heard Katla bark out the start cadence. EINN....TVEIR.....ÞRIR........FARA! They pushed and sprinted down the chute, and hopped into the sled with what I thought was a surprising ease. I had a chance to sneak a peak at Coach Gunther's face, and his expression seemed proud. So that had been a good start! Unfortunately, his expression wouldn't hold their long. They made a pretty clear mistake, obvious enough that I even I could tell, in Turn 1, going high up into the turn before overcorrecting and skidding too far to the other side of the lane and bumping the wall. That would slow down a lot of speed, unfortunately, and it was evident even from the video boards that Emilia and Katla were not generating the kind of speed that most sleds had. A few more mistakes occurred as they continued down the track, but the damage had been done early. They crossed the line just a short minute later in 57.130, putting us into a last place 12th. 5 more sleds came down over the next few minutes, and each was faster than that, including the aforementioned Chilean sled. So, unfortunately, it looked like 17th (last) place was where things were going to stand after the first run. One more run to go, though, so we had to hope for some improvement. ****** An hour later, and we were back in the gate. This time, we were going first, because we were currently sitting in 17th place. Once more, Katla barked out the countdown, and once more the start looked solid. The first curve, thankfully, went a little bit better. Still too high, but no overcorrection. Turn 3 looked similar, but Turns 4 and 5 seemed good. Turn 6 was once again a bit high, and it was becoming clear that small mistakes were starting to add up. By the time the ladies got to the bottom, they had lost a lot of potential time....but it turns out, NOT as much as Run #1. At 57.096, they had improved, and that was a step in the right direction! I chatted with Katja, and we were both pleased at the improvement. We were so caught up in conversation that we almost missed a huge development. Ireland had scuffed up the first turn pretty badly! They banged into the wall and struggled to right themselves before continuing down the track. Immediately, our eyes shot to the scoreboard. There was time check coming up. It was.....green. That meant they were ahead, but they still didn't appear to be gaining much speed. Our eyes glued to the screen, we waited for the next time check....still green. But they were dropping time! We watched each of the next two time checks, as Ireland kept coming back towards our sled, even though they were still in the lead. The finish line was approaching. We waited with baited breath. Red! We had done it, and beaten a team! Ireland had crossed the line 17 hundredths of a second behind Iceland! I threw my arms in the air and hugged Katja, and Gunther pumped his fist. On the video screen, we saw Katja and Emilia in the leaders' chairs, hugging each other in celebration! ****** It was a small triumph, obviously. Kajta and Emilia still finished 16th out of 17 teams on the day. But they had indeed beaten someone in their first bobsleigh competition, and that was something to celebrate. There were still two more competitions to be had in Whistler that weekend, but for this Friday night, Iceland was celebrating its' first small victory! [END Year 1, Chapter 5] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week...back in the office for November results to come trickling in! (Also, have not had any time to squash the aforementioned bugs...that's still an ongoing problem

Little bit of game work this month. Mostly, that consisted of making it possible for the program to use different last name sets based on whether an athlete is male or female. (In certain countries, including Iceland, the Czech Republic, Russia, and a few others, male and female children of the same family have separate last names) Small thing, but hey, progress is progress!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5682[/ATTACH] Year 1, Chapter 4- Ski Season Begins "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "Now on course, our first skier, Austria's own Nicole Badem!" A huge roar went up in the crowd around me, and the event was underway. We were in Solden, Austria, for the start of the world cup ski season. 82 women were about to head down the mountain in two Giant Slalom runs. We were, of course, keen to see how our Icelandic athletes would do. We were also excited because we had, for the first time in recent memory, been given 2 spots at this event, thanks to some cancellations in some of the bigger delegations. So we were looking to see how Julia Leifsdottir and Karen Vilhjalmsdottir would do. Julia had been given full funding in our high-performance program and had gone to the Olympics last season, largely because she was capable of skiing all 5 disciplines. Karen was a slalom specialist, and coaches said she was having a great start to training so far this year and that she could possibly surpass Julia in the slalom events this year. Was that going to happen? Well, we would see. Eventually. Little-known fact is that in skiing, they generally let the top-seeded skiers go first, and the lower-seeded skiers go last. Ours were seeded 80th and 81st today, unfortunately, so it was going to be a while. Austria's Marie Fiser blistered the course early in a time of 1:19.00, which looked like the time to beat...for all of about 3 racers. Then Anna Rosenberg, also from Austria, set down a 1:18.75, and nobody else seemed to be able to touch it. As we got into the lower rated skiers, a lot of 1:21s and 1:22s were coming down. Then, finally, it was time. "Now in the starting gate...Karen Vilhjalmsdottir, Iceland" Katja and I cheered, and there was some polite clapping in the crowd around us, but there was no big contingent of Icelandic ski fans to make noise on this day. The coaching staff would be excited, of course, but most of them were at the top of the mountain, and we certainly couldn't hear them down in the stadium. Karen's image flashed onto the video board. How was she feeling behind those ski goggles? Nervous? Excited? It was her first world cup race at age 26, so probably a mixture of both. The starting gate countdown beeped, and she pushed off and took off down the hill. Tentatively. It was very clear she was tentative. Earlier skiers had slid aggressively through the gates. Karen was arcing more carefully, traversing the course safely, but definitely not with the kind of edge that others before her had shown. She bobbled and stood up in her stance a bit at one point, then recovered. Still, she made it down. The time clock, though, wasn't kind. 1:23.05. Last in the first run, and with only two skiers left, that wasn't too likely to change. One of those skiers, though, was Julia Leifsdottir. Two years older than Karen, but possessing some actual world cup and Olympic experience, she was the next starter, and when she pushed off from the starting gate with a yell, she looked like she meant it. She skied like it, too. Much tighter line, much more purpose, much more nuance. Still, though, that doesn't always translate into the leaderboard. She didn't have the speed that the Austrians and Swiss carried down the pitch, and while the time of 1:21.65 was solid, it was not going to be anywhere near a Top 30 finish that would get world cup points. It was, however, good experience, which was the whole point of this weekend. Normally, a World Cup giant slalom would only allow the Top 30 from the first run to take a 2nd run. Today, however, was a special dispensation, and all 82 would get a 2nd run. On top of that, Iceland had been given 2 athletes today via special dispensation, rather than the 1 that would typically be allowed on the world cup. So we would take it. ******* A few hours later, and we had an Icelandic athlete back in the gate again. This time, Julia was up first, and she strode down the course with the same sense of purpose as before. Unfortunately, the course was breaking down and getting choppy (the winners had already taken their 2nd runs and held their victory ceremony), and she wasn't able to match her first run time, coming in at 1:22.07 for her second trip down the hill. That would be good for 66th place on the day, a result that the coaches would later told me that felt was acceptable. Now, it was Karen's turn. Would the second run be better? She hovered in the gate...still nervous? I couldn't tell via my view from a video screen. She pushed off from the gate, and immediately, things were different this time. That much was clear. Straddling gates tightly...taking an aggressive line....this was a much better run. That was immediately clear. She built up speed, continued arcing through her turns with precision, and got to the bottom with a fist pump. 1:22.01 was substantially better! In fact, she had even beaten Julia's time on the second run, and had been one of the few late skiers to ski faster on the worsening course conditions. The surge had moved her up 3 notches, finishing in 79th place. Certainly a positive building step. As the season moved on, we would have to choose between the two skiers and decide which to send to each World Cup slalom event, but for today, there was some experience for them both. Katja and I chatted amicably as we left the venue and headed back towards the hotel. Back to Reykjavik tomorrow, but we would be on the road again soon....since it was Bobsled time! Alpine Skiing: Women's Giant Slalom 2:37.76|2|1|97(0)|000045853 |Anna_Rosenberg |*1|Austria 2:38.05|1|1|99(0)|000045851 |Marie_Fiser |*1|Austria 2:39.09|2|1|97(0)|000012190 |Roberta_De_Luca |*1|Italy 2:39.52|4|2|92(0)|000007746 |Manon_Duclos |*1|France 2:39.85|2|2|96(0)|000045861 |Nicole_Badem |*1|Austria 2:40.15|3|3|94(0)|000032108 |Aurora_Maurer |*1|Switzerland 2:40.21|4|3|91(0)|000058396 |Tanja_Zupan |*1|Croatia 2:40.26|4|3|91(0)|000032113 |Melissa_Wolfisberg |*1|Switzerland 2:40.36|1|3|99(0)|000074179 |Sara_Zupan |*1|Slovenia 2:40.38|3|3|93(0)|000032046 |Sofia_Ziegler |*1|Switzerland 2:40.40|2|3|96(0)|000032117 |Leonie_Maurer |*1|Switzerland 2:40.41|3|3|93(0)|000007728 |Aline_Petit |*1|France 2:40.68|1|3|99(0)|000012180 |Roberta_Colombo |*1|Italy 2:40.88|4|3|90(0)|000007731 |Soline_Badeaux |*1|France 2:40.89|4|3|91(0)|000034993 |Leah_Haugen |*1|Norway 2:40.97|3|3|94(0)|000001536 |Susan_Howard |*1|USA 2:41.00|3|4|95(0)|000012172 |Martina_Mancini |*1|Italy 2:41.09|4|4|91(0)|000013986 |Jessica_Jonsson |*1|Sweden 2:41.14|4|4|90(0)|000004185 |Irina_Solovyov |*1|Russia 2:41.34|3|4|93(0)|000012199 |Federica_Moretti |*1|Italy 2:41.34|4|4|91(0)|000012174 |Gaia_Rossi |*1|Italy 2:41.44|5|4|87(0)|000009885 |Sofia_Schulz |*1|Germany 2:41.47|4|4|91(0)|000032034 |Lena_Huggel |*1|Switzerland 2:41.47|5|4|86(0)|000001507 |Ava_Hall |*1|USA 2:41.52|4|4|91(0)|000045857 |Sarah_Rainmayr |*1|Austria 2:41.55|3|4|93(0)|000032098 |Aurora_Abdi |*1|Switzerland 2:41.65|4|4|91(0)|000001518 |Susan_Ramirez |*1|USA 2:41.72|4|4|91(0)|000045870 |Marie_Steggall |*1|Austria 2:41.74|4|4|90(0)|000007725 |Doriane_Durand |*1|France 2:41.95|5|5|88(0)|000023932 |Emma_Lavoie |*1|Canada 2:41.96|4|5|90(0)|000009897 |Lina_Becker |*1|Germany 2:41.98|4|5|90(0)|000023938 |Sophia_Roy |*1|Canada 2:42.08|4|5|91(0)|000009895 |Sofia_Schmidt |*1|Germany 2:42.16|4|5|90(0)|000007715 |Marion_Coron |*1|France 2:42.16|5|5|86(0)|000009888 |Lina_Hoffmann |*1|Germany 2:42.16|5|5|86(0)|000013975 |Maja_Svensson |*1|Sweden 2:42.21|3|5|94(0)|000045900 |Hannah_Wiesner |*1|Austria 2:42.26|4|5|90(0)|000074203 |Sara_Kotnik |*1|Slovenia 2:42.32|4|5|90(0)|000034994 |Linnea_Hansen |*1|Norway 2:42.32|5|5|89(0)|000013992 |Nilla_Olsson |*1|Sweden 2:42.35|5|5|88(0)|000001519 |Isabella_Cox |*1|USA 2:42.48|3|5|93(0)|000045847 |Nina_Fiser |*1|Austria 2:42.49|5|5|87(0)|000058381 |Fata_Kovac |*1|Croatia 2:42.50|4|5|90(0)|000045858 |Claudia_Shiegl |*1|Austria 2:42.54|4|5|91(0)|000032089 |Ladina_Inler |*1|Switzerland 2:42.56|4|5|92(0)|000004191 |Olga_Sokolov |*1|Russia 2:42.57|5|5|88(0)|000001555 |Abigail_Gomez |*1|USA 2:42.58|5|5|86(0)|000009890 |Mia_Becker |*1|Germany 2:42.72|5|5|89(0)|000032032 |Milena_Neumann |*1|Switzerland 2:42.73|5|5|87(0)|000074199 |Lucija_Potocnik |*1|Slovenia 2:42.82|5|6|89(0)|000012188 |Melania_Russo |*1|Italy 2:42.83|5|6|87(0)|000074153 |Eva_Bizjak |*1|Slovenia 2:42.90|5|6|88(0)|000004183 |Anastasia_Petrov |*1|Russia 2:43.04|4|6|92(0)|000032112 |Elina_Spycher |*1|Switzerland 2:43.15|4|6|90(0)|000009859 |Joern_Schneider |*1|Germany 2:43.23|5|6|88(0)|000001546 |Olivia_Green |*1|USA 2:43.25|6|6|85(0)|000004192 |Dariya_Vasilyev |*1|Russia 2:43.27|5|6|86(0)|000036681 |Simona_Katetov |*1|Czech_Republic 2:43.30|5|6|87(0)|000012178 |Giulia_De_Luca |*1|Italy 2:43.31|5|6|86(0)|000007747 |Jade_Joubert |*1|France 2:43.38|5|6|87(0)|000009892 |Monika_Meyer |*1|Germany 2:43.42|5|6|88(0)|000012181 |Giorgia_Colombo |*1|Italy 2:43.44|5|6|86(0)|000013977 |Alice_Johansson |*1|Sweden 2:43.66|6|6|85(0)|000034992 |Sahra_Johnasen |*1|Norway 2:43.69|5|6|89(0)|000001523 |Maria_Myers |*1|USA 2:43.72|6|7|84(0)|000041950 |Jessica_Singh |*1|New_Zealand 2:43.72|7|7|78(0)|000070456 |Julia_Leifsdottir |*1|Iceland 2:43.75|5|7|87(0)|000012201 |Giulia_Giordano |*1|Italy 2:43.76|5|7|89(0)|000045843 |Leonie_Pirktl |*1|Austria 2:43.79|5|7|87(0)|000001468 |Margaret_Carter |*1|USA 2:43.85|6|7|85(0)|000007768 |Doriane_Galopin |*1|France 2:44.35|6|7|85(0)|000007767 |Marion_Morel |*1|France 2:44.38|5|7|89(0)|000058385 |Nika_Turk |*1|Croatia 2:44.39|6|7|85(0)|000023925 |Ava_Smith |*1|Canada 2:44.50|5|7|86(0)|000014010 |Lotta_Lindberg |*1|Sweden 2:44.51|6|7|84(0)|000071328 |Mia_Schneider |*1|Liechtenstein 2:44.54|6|7|85(0)|000058402 |Lara_Kovac |*1|Croatia 2:44.72|7|8|77(0)|000006068 |Isla_Smith |*1|Great_Britain 2:44.96|6|8|85(0)|000058398 |Dragica_Zupancic |*1|Croatia 2:45.06|7|8|79(0)|000070452 |Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir |*1|Iceland 2:45.35|6|8|82(0)|000017680 |Isabella_Carter |*1|Australia 2:45.44|7|8|80(0)|000040530 |Vasiliki_Panousis |*1|Greece 2:45.46|7|8|79(0)|000049631 |Ruby_Doyle |*1|Ireland [END Year 1, Chapter 4] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week...Bobsled time! (Also, have not had any time to squash the aforementioned bugs...that's still an ongoing problem

Year 1, Chapter 3- They Have Figure Skating in August? "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks The plane accelerated down the runway and began lifting off the ground. Shortly thereafter, we were airborne. I relaxed back in my seat, and waited for the signal to get out electronic devices. When that was given shortly thereafter, I had my laptop out ready to work. My assistant Katja, to my left in the window seat, had a dossier ready where she could take notes. (The seat to my right was mercifully empty) We were on route to Austria for the start of the world cup ski season, but this trip was still mostly business, after all. There was work to be done, after all. "Well, what are we starting with today, Katja?" "Nothing too exciting, unfortunately. We have a lot of expense reports and financial paperwork to approve today. Lots of electronic signatures and the like." I grimaced. Necessary, but not fun. Katja detailed more of the day's tasks, all of which were similarly mundane. "...oh, and we do have one more thing. I have a report for you to review. Figure Skating results from August and September." I did a double-take. Had she said what I thought she had said? "They do figure skating in August?" I asked incredulously. Katja laughed. I knew that she had been a novice skater when she was younger, and that she was more knowledgeable about the figure-skating world than was I. "Jeff, the figure skating season never stops. But, yes, the Junior Grand Prix circuit goes from August to October" I had probably been told that, mind you, but that particular piece of information apparently hadn't stuck. "Ah. That means we'll be checking in to see how Alex Robertsson did, then. Let's take care of that first, then." Katja nodded, and handed me the report. Junior Grand Prix- Riga, Latvia Sep. 7th to 10th 152.56|5|4|83(0)|000077859|Adam_Tremblay |*1|Canada 120.31|7|5|71(0)|000066328|Jaagup_Mihhailov |*1|Estonia 116.44|6|6|78(0)|000007045|Gabriel_Bouchard |*1|France 112.29|5|6|82(0)|000015807|Yang_Tao |*1|China 110.27|7|6|68(0)|000007047|Etienne_Caillat |*1|France 109.89|6|5|75(0)|000000470|Joshua_Miller |*1|USA 109.34|6|6|77(0)|000011441|Luca_Romano |*1|Italy 106.74|6|6|78(0)|000009016|Lukas_Schmidt |*1|Germany 106.16|7|6|71(0)|000084346|Janis_Jansons |*1|Latvia 99.73|6|7|77(0)|000003263|Oleg_Zaytsev |*1|Russia 98.11|6|7|77(0)|000076251|Gabriele_Rossi |*1|Italy 96.41|6|7|74(0)|000077856|Reginald_Campbell |*1|Canada 92.03|7|7|73(0)|000075152|Ivan_Solovyov |*1|Russia 85.06|7|7|69(0)|000076248|Davide_Bianchi |*1|Italy 82.26|7|8|70(0)|000011434|Gabriele_Esposito |*1|Italy 77.80|7|8|69(0)|000077249|Sora_Ogawa |*1|Japan 77.25|8|8|67(0)|000080190|Mykyta_Homenyuk |*1|Ukraine 73.32|8|8|66(0)|000084997|Lukas_Fischer |*1|Luxembourg 71.93|8|8|67(0)|000077246|Sho_Miura |*1|Japan 70.61|8|8|67(0)|000078538|Min-jun_Ha |*1|South_Korea 70.14|6|8|77(0)|000009035|Maximilian_Wagner |*1|Germany 69.91|7|8|68(0)|000036103|Michal_Hrozný |*1|Czech_Republic 68.00|8|9|65(0)|000084755|Alexanderson_Robertsson |*1|Iceland 65.68|8|8|66(0)|000031374|Levin_Abdi |*1|Switzerland 58.34|7|9|70(0)|000037574|Robin_Goossens |*1|Belgium 58.30|8|9|65(0)|000017286|Jackson_Parker |*1|Australia 54.75|8|8|65(0)|000062199|Koba_Jgenti |*1|Georgia 52.92|8|9|65(0)|000072495|Matyáš_Procházka |*1|Slovakia 51.03|8|9|67(0)|000013494|Anders_Eriksson |*1|Sweden Junior Grand Prix- Yerevan, Armenia Sep. 21st to 24th 106.44|5|7|83(0)|000077859|Adam_Tremblay |*1|Canada 105.55|6|6|77(0)|000009035|Maximilian_Wagner |*1|Germany 103.30|5|7|82(0)|000015807|Yang_Tao |*1|China 102.50|6|7|77(0)|000076251|Gabriele_Rossi |*1|Italy 100.09|6|6|78(0)|000009016|Lukas_Schmidt |*1|Germany 98.91|6|7|75(0)|000000470|Joshua_Miller |*1|USA 98.16|6|7|74(0)|000077856|Reginald_Campbell |*1|Canada 96.66|6|7|78(0)|000007045|Gabriel_Bouchard |*1|France 94.23|6|6|77(0)|000011441|Luca_Romano |*1|Italy 93.39|7|6|69(0)|000077249|Sora_Ogawa |*1|Japan 90.30|7|8|73(0)|000075152|Ivan_Solovyov |*1|Russia 90.26|6|6|77(0)|000003263|Oleg_Zaytsev |*1|Russia 88.76|7|6|68(0)|000036103|Michal_Hrozný |*1|Czech_Republic 88.74|7|7|70(0)|000011434|Gabriele_Esposito |*1|Italy 87.29|8|7|65(0)|000084755|Alexanderson_Robertsson |*1|Iceland 77.89|8|8|67(0)|000078538|Min-jun_Ha |*1|South_Korea 71.28|7|8|68(0)|000007047|Etienne_Caillat |*1|France 70.70|7|8|71(0)|000084346|Janis_Jansons |*1|Latvia 70.57|8|8|67(0)|000080190|Mykyta_Homenyuk |*1|Ukraine 70.09|7|8|69(0)|000076248|Davide_Bianchi |*1|Italy 69.53|7|9|70(0)|000037574|Robin_Goossens |*1|Belgium 60.80|8|8|65(0)|000072495|Matyáš_Procházka |*1|Slovakia 57.59|8|9|65(0)|000017286|Jackson_Parker |*1|Australia 52.98|8|10|66(0)|000031374|Levin_Abdi |*1|Switzerland 51.97|7|9|71(0)|000066328|Jaagup_Mihhailov |*1|Estonia 43.45|8|9|67(0)|000077246|Sho_Miura |*1|Japan 42.55|8|10|66(0)|000084997|Lukas_Fischer |*1|Luxembourg 38.37|8|10|67(0)|000013494|Anders_Eriksson |*1|Sweden 34.30|8|10|65(0)|000062199|Koba_Jgenti |*1|Georgia 23rd in Riga, and 15th in Yerevan. The results looked okay, but it was clear that Alex had a lot of work to do still if he hoped to move up in the figure skating world. "Didn't Aldis say that she thought there was a chance of Alex qualifying for Junior Worlds this year?" I had spoken with Aldis Bjornsdottir, our national figure skating coach, over the summer. Katja nodded. "She did." "And will these results get him there?" Katja shook her head. "I don't believe so, no" I frowned. "I hope she's not just trying to sell hopes and dreams here. We don't have the budget to fund or market athletes that have no chance of international success" "I know that, sir. Hopefully our senior ice dance team will have better results." "I hope so, or Aldis and I will have to chat about setting realistic expectations." The mediocre report and impending paperwork had now made me grumpy, and I proceeded to sulk my way through part of the flight. On the other end, though, skiing and Austrian Alps awaited...soon enough, things would be fun again! [END Year 1, Chapter 3] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week will begin the world cup ski season IF I can fix some program bugs....right now, something about the event creation process is unstable and not working...I have to find time to fix before I can begin running results If not, I may have to pad with some filler

Year 1, Chapter 2- Bobsleigh Presser "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks A camera flashed to my left, then another to my right. A short distance away, I could see TV crews getting a live look at the proceedings. Yes, indeed, it turned out that this was going to be a big deal. We were out and about in Reykjavik today, and the scene was an interesting and joyous one. The athletic committee was holding a press conference to announce the new formation of our women's bobsleigh team, and far more media had shown up than I was expecting. Again, the reason for that was likely the athletes themselves, though. Katla and Emilia (they were on a first name basis with a lot of the local sporting press at this point) had taken their viral fame from earlier in the year and run with it, and were already among the most famous winter athletes in Iceland without even having run in a competition yet. They had been posting training and workout videos and pictures continually in the ensuing months, as well as engaging their new fanbase in the process of designing bobsleigh uniforms. It was working, at least in terms of garnering attention. Today was the next official step, though, and an important one at that. Ada Thorsdottir had the honor of introducing the proceedings. I was glad not to have to be the one giving a speech today, though Kris Einarsson and I were seated on stage along with the bobsleigh team, not too far from where she was currently speaking. Most of the office was in attendance today, and I could see Katja, as well as intern Gunner in the crowd. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the new coach of our national bobsleigh team, Mr. Gunther Schuller!" As the audience applauded, the large German man who was seated directly to my right got up and strode to the microphone. We had been pleased to get a chance to hire Gunther. He was a recently retired from competing with the German national team, and he had been angling to get into coaching. A number of small countries were bidding for his services, but he seemed to be impressed with Iceland's potential. He answered a number of very simple questions from the press before getting thrown a more difficult one. I listened intently to his answer. "Coach Schuller, given that we have no bobsleigh tradition here in Iceland, how will develop these athletes into an Olympic squad?" Gunther paused. "It is true that you have not done bobsleigh in this country before. But you have such a strong fitness tradition, especially with crossfit, that there is a lot we can build on. If we teach good fundamentals to these young ladies and they bulk up and keep training like I have been hearing...good things are going to happen." The room clapped, and you could tell that everyone was happy to hear that answer. I was too, though not surprised, as it had been one of his pitches when we interviewed him. The plan was solid, in my mind. Were these, however, the right ladies for the job? That, in my mind, was still to be determined. Speaking of which, Gunther was done with his questions, and it was time for the main event. With a great roar, Katla and Emilia took the stage. The questions began shortly thereafter. "Ladies, given that this whole program came about because of your social media posts, how does it feel to be on stage as the first members of the Icelandic bobsleigh team?" Katla beamed with a million dollar smile, and took the question. "Honestly...really damn great!" Her smile got bigger, and the crowd laughed and cheered. The ice, as it were, was broken. If the press had been expecting boring stock answers today, they were not going to get them. Katla, slated to be the team's driver, was enthusiastic, gregarious, and not opposed to peppering her answers with some occasional salty language. In other words, she was a sportswriter's dream. Not that Emilia, the brakeman, was any less enthusiastic, mind you. She responded to a question about how her training was going by standing and flexing, which the crowd just absolutely ate up. If there were any doubts in the room prior to the day about why Katla and Emilia had swiftly gained a social media following, those doubts quickly vanished. Social media and personal dreams don't produce results on their own, though. That was my worry. This story certainly was a feel good situation, but I was worried about the very real matter of making sure that our bobsleigh team could actually succeed in competitive situations. I already loved Gunther's enthusiasm and evangelism for the sport, but how far is that and the dreams of two young women who are barely past their teen years going to carry us? That would be seen possibly as soon as November, when the bobsleigh season got underway. It was still early October, though, and there were other sports and events to focus on in the interim. On with the season! [END Year 1, Chapter 2] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week, a press conference to introduce the new bobsleigh team and bobsleigh program. Also, the roles of the athletes in this post are being played by the following: Katla (the driver) is portrayed by Thuri Helgadottir, an Icelandic Crossfit athlete Emilia (the push athlete) is portrayed by Katrin Davidsdottir, an Icelandic Crossfit champion who twice previously earned the titled "Worlds Fittest Woman" Gunther (the coach) is portrayed by David Golling, a German Bobsledder

2022-2023 Season Preview Winter Sport by Sport Iceland High-Performance Winter Sports Program Fully-Funded Athletes |83(0)|70a|7000|Alpine Skiing|000069957|Viktor_Armannsson|27|0|M| |80(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070456|Julia_Leifsdottir|28|0|F| Half-Funded Athletes |63(0)|72a|7205|Bobsleigh|000070486|Katla_Vilhjalmsdottir|20|0|F| |64(0)|72a|7207|Bobsleigh|000070498|Emilia_Olvirsdottir|20|0|F| Watchlist |84(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070452|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|26|0|F| |81(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070423|Sara_Ingolfsdottir|23|0|F| |78(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070061|Sigurdur_Olvirsson|23|0|M| |79(0)|75a|7508|Figure Skating|000070604|Katrin_Leifsdottir|25|0|F| |75(0)|75a|7507|Figure Skating|000070121|Guomundur_Sigurdsson|28|0|M| |76(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070276|Arnar_Hilmarsson|23|0|M| |82(0)|82a|8201|Ski Jumping|000070764|Rakel_Hilmarsdottir|26|0|F| Youth Watchlist |66(0)|70a|7008|Alpine Skiing|000084738|Viktor_Sigurdsson|16|0|M| |62(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000084807|Sigrun_Sigurdsdottir|17|0|F| |65(0)|83a|8302|Snowboarding|000084790|Daniel_Robertsson|17|0|M| |64(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000070777|Emma_Olvirsdottir|18|0|F| |61(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000084853|Emma_Stefansdottir|17|0|F| |58(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000084855|Emilia_Stefansdottir|16|0|F| Alpine Skiing Overview Current Rating 20/100 for Speed Events, 23/100 for Slalom Events Current Ranking #26 for Speed Events, #23 for Slalom Events Athletes to Watch |84(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070452|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|26|0|F| |83(0)|70a|7000|Alpine Skiing|000069957|Viktor_Armannsson|27|0|M| |81(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070423|Sara_Ingolfsdottir|23|0|F| |80(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070456|Julia_Leifsdottir|28|0|F| |77(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069984|Kari_Armannsson|22|0|M| |77(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070457|Julia_Thorirsdottir|23|0|F| |74(0)|70b|7004|Alpine Skiing|000069972|Viktor_Olvirsson|23|0|M| |74(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069980|Daniel_Olvirsson|23|0|M| |66(0)|70a|7008|Alpine Skiing|000084738|Viktor_Sigurdsson|16|0|M| |62(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000084807|Sigrun_Sigurdsdottir|17|0|F| Coaches' Notes Alpine Skiing might be Iceland's strongest area of talent right now. There is actually some depth, though most of the skiers are not at World Cup level. We expect Viktor Armannsson and Julia Leifsdottir to be world cup regulars, and we could see Karen Vilhjalmsdottir or Sara Ingolfsdottir get some starts as well, though they both run limited numbers of events. If we can't get them World Cup starts, we'll try really hard to get our skiers into minor league cups. We also have two teen prospects who we would like to monitor, Viktor Sigurdsson and Sigrun Sigurdsdottir (no relation). The hope is to send them to junior world championships, since they both run all 5 events. We're optimistic that the year will end with some world cup points, and maybe we will surprise some people at World Championships. Biathlon Overview Current Rating 0/100 Current Ranking #47 |63(0)|71a|7107|Biathlon|000070482|Julia_Sigurdsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|71a|7100|Biathlon|000069997|Gunnar_Thorirsson|23|0|M| Coaches' Notes The Biathlon foundation continues to struggle to attract talent. We are putting all of our focus this year into finding competitive starts for our top female athlete, Julia Sigurdsdottir, and our top male athlete, Gunnar Thorirsson. We are hoping that they will qualify for the IBU cup, but if they do not, we may not have a lot of good options. Bobsleigh Overview Current Rating 0/100 Current Ranking #50 |63(0)|72a|7205|Bobsleigh|000070486|Katla_Vilhjalmsdottir|20|0|F| |64(0)|72a|7207|Bobsleigh|000070498|Emilia_Olvirsdottir|20|0|F| Coaches' Notes Well, at least we have a bobsleigh team now. Katla and Emilia have certainly captured people's hearts, so we hope that we can find some actual competitions to enter to get them some results. They are training hard, at least, though we think they are going to need to pick it up even faster than their current pace if there is any chance of making a go of this Cross-Country Overview Current Rating 23/100 for Sprint, 19/100 for Distance Current Ranking #36 for Sprint, #37 for Distance Athletes to Watch |78(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070061|Sigurdur_Olvirsson|23|0|M| |75(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070540|Julia_Sigurdsdottir|27|0|F| |72(0)|73a|7301|Cross-country Skiing|000070525|Emilia_Hilmarsdottir|27|0|F| |71(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070064|Kristjan_Leifsson|21|0|M| |71(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070545|Emilia_Stefansdottir|29|0|F| |71(0)|73a|7304|Cross-country Skiing|000084749|Kari_Leifsson|18|0|M| |68(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070066|Benedikt_Johnsson|23|0|M| |66(0)|73a|7302|Cross-country Skiing|000070054|Arnar_Sigurdsson|23|0|M| |66(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070069|Daniel_Hilmarsson|23|0|M| |66(0)|73a|7305|Cross-country Skiing|000070535|Sigrun_Ingolfsdottir|21|0|F| Coaches Notes To be honest, we are pretty embarrassed by the lack of progress in cross-country skiing lately. We feel that we should be more competitive on the world cup and Olympic levels, and we feel like our current roster is lacking in that department. We are going to try to push the young guys hard in the hopes of being stronger by the time 2026 comes around. Curling Overview Current Rating 10/100 Current Ranking #45 |76(0)|74a|7401|Curling|000070554|Emma_Olvirsdottir|23|0|F| Coaches' Notes Unfortunately, while we do have some players at the local level in Iceland, we have only identified one curler that we think can be competitive on an international level, and that doesn't work especially well in a team game. If we can find a decent male curler in the next few years, we might at least be able to try to qualify for the mixed doubles world championships. For now, no competitions for any official Icelandic curling teams. Figure Skating Overview Current Rating 10/100 Current Ranking #52 |79(0)|75a|7508|Figure Skating|000070604|Katrin_Leifsdottir|25|0|F| |75(0)|75a|7507|Figure Skating|000070121|Guomundur_Sigurdsson|28|0|M| |65(0)|75a|7500|Figure Skating|000084755|Alexanderson_Robertsson|17|0|M Coaches' Notes We are looking forward to seeing how Katrin and Guomundur (our top ice dancing pair) do at the European Championships, and we would love it if they were to get an invite to a Grand Prix series event, though we aren't counting on it. As for Alex...we think he has some potential in men's singles, and we are hoping to see good results from him at Junior Grand Prix and Junior Worlds. We only get one entry for those events, and we expect it to be him. Freestyle Skiing Overview Current Rating 10/100 in all disciplines Current Ranking Varies (20s to 40s) |75(0)|76d|7611|Freestyle Skiing|000070657|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|23|0|F| |68(0)|76d|7610|Freestyle Skiing|000070172|Mikael_Robertsson|23|0|M| Coaches' Notes Karen has had some success in Park & Pipe competitions locally, so we're hoping she might be able to take things to the next level. Granted, the next level is still pretty far away from the Olympics, but we like to emphasize progress in Freestyle Skiing! Same goes for Mikael, to be honest. However, even though we try to stay positive...we can't see any other disciplines where we are even going to get minor competition slots, much less world cups, so there's a long way to go before we have a breakthough in freeski. Ice Hockey Overview Current Rating 59/100 Current Ranking #28 |85(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070686|Karen_Thorirsdottir|26|0|F| |84(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070219|Viktor_Johnsson|26|0|M| |77(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070206|Aron_Vilhjalmsson|23|0|M| |77(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070694|Freyja_Johnsdottir|27|0|F| |76(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070661|Viktoria_Johnsdottir|29|0|F| |75(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070192|Viktor_Vilhjalmsson|26|0|M| |75(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070200|Mikael_Armannsson|23|0|M| |74(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070211|Jon_Armannsson|26|0|M| |74(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070669|Viktoria_Robertsdottir|21|0|F| |73(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070184|Arnar_Robertsson|21|0|M| Coaches' Notes Look, the nice thing about ice hockey is that there is ALWAYS a ladder to climb. For the men's team, we're in Division II Group B this year, and we like to think that we stand a good chance of getting promoted to Division II Group A. That's our goal at worlds this year. The women's team is in the exact same boat, hoping to get promoted to Division II Group A. It will be a successful year for us if that happens! We think the men's team has a better chance of making that happen, but we would be thrilled if either does it. Luge Overview Current Rating 0/100 Current Ranking #44 Athletes to Watch |64(0)|78a|7800|Luge|000070237|Daniel_Stefansson|20|0|M| |64(0)|78a|7801|Luge|000070727|Karen_Ingolfsdottir|23|0|F| |58(0)|78a|7802|Luge|000070250|Aron_Olvirsson|25|0|M| |58(0)|78a|7802|Luge|000070255|Arnar_Armannsson|22|0|M| Coaches' Notes We're trying to get younger, so our focus is on youth development right now. We have a young doubles luge team, Aron and Arnar, and a young women, Karen, who has been improving greatly. We think our best hopes right now lie with Daniel Stefansson, who we are hoping might have the potential to make the world cup someday. Nordic Combined Current Rating 10/100 Current Ranking #28 Athletes to Watch Coaches' Notes Nope. Not this year. Short Track Speed Skating Current Rating 0/100 Current Ranking #49 Athletes to Watch |76(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070276|Arnar_Hilmarsson|23|0|M| |69(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070283|Jon_Robertsson|29|0|M| |68(0)|80a|8001|Short Track Speed Skating|000070742|Telma_Johnsdottir|28|0|F| |63(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070277|Benedikt_Johnsson|23|0|M| Coaches Notes Arnar Hilmarsson is on the way up, and we're doing whatever we can to support him. We think we have some short track fans in the country who are starting to get excited, and we want to generate a buzz around him. If we can get that going, we are hoping we can convince the Committee to give him training funding for next year. Skeleton Current Rating 0/100 Current Ranking #50 |70(0)|81a|8100|Skeleton|000070293|Daniel_Vilhjalmsson|25|0|M| Coaches Notes Daniel continues to live and train in Germany, where he's also a university graduate student. We have heard positive developments, but we don't have much other information to go off of at this time. Ski Jumping Current Rating 10/100 Current Ranking #33 Athletes to Watch |82(0)|82a|8201|Ski Jumping|000070764|Rakel_Hilmarsdottir|26|0|F| |74(0)|82a|8202|Ski Jumping|000070306|Kristjan_Ingolfsson|24|0|M| |72(0)|82a|8201|Ski Jumping|000070767|Maria_Ingolfsdottir|21|0|F| |66(0)|82a|8202|Ski Jumping|000070311|Sigurdur_Vilhjalmsson|19|0|M| Coaches Notes Even we are surprised to be saying this, but we think we might have a shot at World Cup results this year. Rakel Hilmarsdottir has been training in Austria and coming on strong, and we think she can get some Top 30 finishes on the women's side. There's a few other athletes who could make an impact in the lower cups, too, and we are especially interested to see how Sigurdur Vilhjalmsson can fare in some of those cups. Looks like it will be a fun year! Snowboarding Current Rating 11/100 for Park & Pipe, 10/100 for all others Current Ranking 30s for all (#33 max, Park & Pipe) Athletes to Watch |72(0)|83b|8306|Snowboarding|000070334|Daniel_Olvirsson|23|0|M| |70(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000070776|Emilia_Hilmarsdottir|21|0|F| |68(0)|83a|8305|Snowboarding|000070781|Maria_Stefansdottir|22|0|F| |67(0)|83a|8304|Snowboarding|000070328|Guomundur_Stefansson|23|0|M| |66(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000070778|Katla_Hilmarsdottir|20|0|F| |65(0)|83a|8302|Snowboarding|000084790|Daniel_Robertsson|17|0|M| |64(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000070777|Emma_Olvirsdottir|18|0|F| |61(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000084853|Emma_Stefansdottir|17|0|F| |60(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000070774|Viktoria_Olvirsdottir|19|0|F| |58(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000084855|Emilia_Stefansdottir|16|0|F| Coaches Notes We are thrilled as a sport to be getting so much attention after the success of our social media campaigns over the offseason, and we intend to use that attention to highlight our young and upcoming athletes. Most of them will be in local competitions and minor circuits rather than world cups, but we think there is a lot to build off of here! Speed Skating Current Rating 0/100 for Speed, 0/100 for Distance Current Ranking #49 for both disciplines Athletes to Watch |75(0)|84b|8400|Speed Skating|000070360|Benedikt_Armannsson|26|0|M| |73(0)|84a|8407|Speed Skating|000070843|Sara_Johnsdottir|22|0|F| |71(0)|84b|8405|Speed Skating|000070838|Anna_Olvirsdottir|22|0|F| |67(0)|84a|8408|Speed Skating|000070392|Jon_Robertsson|21|0|M| |64(0)|84a|8410|Speed Skating|000070410|Jon_Johnsson|20|0|M| Coaches Notes Iceland has not had a lot of success in speed skating, and this is probably not the year, either. Maybe we can find some results amongst these younger skaters or something.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5682[/ATTACH] Year 1, Chapter 1- 2022 2023 Preview "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks Outside, the sun was hanging low in the August sky. It was late in the day. Inside, my head was buried in a report as I sat at my desk. A quiet knock broke my concentration. I looked up. Katja was poking her head in the doorframe. "Mr. Dalesson?" "Jeffrey." I patiently reminded her. Formality had never been my strong suit. "Sorry, Jeffrey. I keep forgetting..." she seemed flustered for a moment, but quickly recovered. "You told me to let you know when I was leaving, so you wouldn't forget to get dinner." I smiled. "That I did. I figured it would be a good reminder to go get something for myself." She seemed concerned. "Are you done for the evening? You've been poring over those reports nonstop since they came in this afternoon." "Don't worry, I had just finished." "And how are things shaping up for the season? I didn't get much of a chance to look at the reports myself." I paused. "We'll see. I have reports from each of the coaches, and we've got a list of athletes to keep an eye on. So hopefully we'll get the schedules compiled soon, and we can start observing." She smiled. "That sounds good, sir, but do please get some rest this weekend. You've got a busy schedule the next few weeks." She paused, then added "And get some dinner! They make a great Plokkfiskur at the restaurant down by the docks, you know!" I did. Fish Stew was an acquired test, but one that I was starting to acquire. "I'll swing by there in a little bit once I leave." "Good! Have a nice weekend, sir!" "You too, Katja" Satisfied, she left for the night, while I spent a few minutes collating my files into a binder titled "2022-2023 Season Preview", and left it on my desk as I turned the lights off, locked up the main doors for the office, and headed off for the weekend. [END Year 1, Chapter 1] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week, a press conference to introduce the new bobsleigh team and bobsleigh program.

Haven't updated this thread in a few months. With the winter Olympics in the rear-view mirror, I have continued to work on the data for my game, adding in and refining results. I have also started a dynasty thread you may have seen here in the forums ("Iceland is Nice") as a way of showcasing progress and getting myself working on upgrades. Because of that, I have been working on improvements to my process for creating youth athletes. More updates at the end of April, I hope. See you then!

Year 0, Chapter 6- Social Media Campaign Results "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "All right, Kris. How do things look?" I had barely given Kris Einarsson, our youth development director, time to sit down before I was agitating for his report. After all, this was where we found out if our social media campaigns had been worth the time. He adjusted his glasses. "We're pleased. We definitely have discovered a few athletes that otherwise wouldn't have found." "We got big pushes from four sports. The fans of Biathlon, Short Track, Speed Skating, and Snowboarding were very vocal in their interactions. Our scouts followed up on every lead they gave us. Unfortunately, the Biathlon and Short Track campaigns were a bust in terms of identifying athletes, but the speed skating campaign discovered two new men's athletes that we are now monitoring." "And the snowboarding?" He smiled. "There's the big success. 4 men's athletes found and 4 women's athletes found. That includes the Stefansdottir sisters...Emma and Emilia are both siblings who were not on our radar before" "Hey, I like to hear that. Let's take a look at their scouting reports, then, how about it?" Snowboarding (4 men's 4 women's) 000084789 |Iceland |83a|17|M|0|Arnar_Olvirsson |8300-52(0) 000084790 |Iceland |83a|17|M|0|Daniel_Robertsson |8302-65(0)|8304-57(0) 000084796 |Iceland |83b|16|M|0|Kari_Ingolfsson |8306-52(0) 000084798 |Iceland |83c|16|M|0|Mikael_Thorirsson |8310-37(0) 000084853 |Iceland |83a|17|F|0|Emma_Stefansdottir |8301-61(0) |8303-52(0) 000084855 |Iceland |83a|16|F|0|Emilia_Stefansdottir |8303-58(0) |8305-53(0) 000084860 |Iceland |83b|18|F|0|Freyja_Stefansdottir |8307-45(0) 000084862 |Iceland |83c|18|F|0|Emelia_Leifsdottir |8311-39(0) Speed Skating (2 men's) 000084801 |Iceland |84b|16|M|0|Dagur_Johnsson |8402-43(0)|8400-38(0) 000084805 |Iceland |84a|18|M|0|Jon_Thorirsson |8410-39(0)|8408-34(0)|8414-38(0) "Now this number here, the 52(0) that I'm seeing....that's the rating from 1-100 by the scouts, correct?" "Correct" "So realistically, which of these athletes should we be keeping a close eye on?" "Given our current international standing, I would say that anybody rated 60 or higher would be a candidate for future funding." "Got it." I made a note to Katja to add snowboarders Daniel Robertsson, Emma Stefansdottir, and Emilia Stefandottir to our lists. "Anything else for today, Kris?" "Not today, sir, but I will have more reports from our coaching staff as we get closer to the season. There will be some additional youth athletes coming through the ranks via more traditional methods there." "Sounds good. See you soon, Kris." Finally, the 2022-2023 season was coming soon, and it looked like there were some reasons to be optimistic. [END Chapter 6] As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week! Next week, a sport-by-sport preview of our new season

Year 0, Chapter 5- Bobsleigh Time??????? "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "You realize how much this is going to wreck the budget, right?" My voice was already exasperated, and that still didn't properly convey the astonishment I was feeling. "And you realize, Mr. Dalesson, that the amount of interest we've had in these two young women is absolutely unprecedented. This social media campaign you cooked up has provided us a great opportunity here." Ada Thorsdottir stared at me from the other side of a video screen. The head of the Icelanic Athletic Committee was normally quite pleasant, but the conversation we were having today was an intense one, and she was making it clear that she was going to get her way in this situation. I sighed. "It's a great opportunity, yes, but a very expensive one. We don't even have a sliding track. We'll have to send them off somewhere to train." "That's true, we will." "To say nothing of starting a national Bobsleigh Foundation!" "Also, true. But tell me....what else have you found so far to even spend your budget on?" She had me there. Only two athletes identified thus far for the High-Performance program meant a lot of leftover money. That we apparently were going to spend on bobsleigh. I paused for dramatic effect, even though we both knew the outcome of this one was already over. "Alright, alright. Let's give the people what they want." "Good. See to it that they do." She smiled for the first time in several minutes, and the conversation terminated shortly thereafter. What the people apparently wanted was Bobsleigh. Well, not just bobsleigh, specifically. They were possibly more interested in the sledders themselves. The social media campaigns had been in full swing for a few weeks now, and we were turning up leads on prospective athletes all over the place. There were pushes being made for particular young athletes in Snowboarding, Speed Skating, Short Track Speed Skating, and Biathlon, and we were checking up on all of them with due diligence. However, early in the campaign a runaway favorite emerged. Well, two of them, really. A pair of 19 year-old women, Katla Vilhjalmsdottir and Emilia Olvirsdottir, had started sharing pictures of themselves photoshopped into racing suits as the "Iceland Women's Bobsleigh Team". Judging from their social media posts, both women are outgoing, engaging, and quite attractive, and the photos took off quickly and went viral- well, viral around Iceland at least. There's only one problem. Iceland doesn't have a Women's Bobsleigh Team. Or a Men's Bobsleigh Team. Or any Bobsleigh teams at all. No National Bobsleigh Federation. No sliding track. Just....none of it. And THAT was what caught on the biggest from this. We thought our whole campaign was going to derail...some jokers making a mockery of our efforts. We contacted them to try to get them to take their posts down, and that's when things got REALLY weird. See, it turns out that they were serious. They do WANT to be Iceland's Women's Bobsleigh Team. And they're both athletic. We checked carefully, and it turns out that both are capable track sprinters and willing to train full-time to be athletes. Its just that they are interested in a sport that we absolutely do not have here in this country, and they figured this was their ticket. We told them that we would love to work with them to promote Icelandic winter sports, but that we couldn't afford to fund any of their efforts in Bobsleigh. We figured that would be the end of it. Of course, it wasn't. They posted a crowdfunding campaign. With more pictures. And videos. And it went viral, too. Before we knew it, they had each raised 20K dollars to train full-time for bobsleigh. (Which is a pittance, to be fair, but these are 19-year-olds, and they can probably live off it for a year) We had no choice but to work with them at that point. Well, that was what Ada said, at least, and I had to acknowledge that she was right, even though that was not what I had planned. So that brings us back to now. Now we need to start a bobsleigh foundation. And hire a coach. And possibly provide even more training money for these young women in the hopes that it will pay us dividends. Bobsleigh time, indeed. [END Chapter 5] Alright, let's peel back the curtain a touch. If you put in a social media campaign, you will see what the results were from that next week. However, I wanted to take this bobsleigh thing and run with it a bit. See, I was doing some behind-the-scenes work updating my sport ratings and rankings this week, and I discovered that, indeed, Iceland does not HAVE a bobsleigh foundation in real life. That means that the game shouldn't create athletes for that sport. However, it looks to me like I had some sort of settings glitch or other problem when I ran the original files, because, well, there most certainly are bobsledders in the athlete list. There shouldn't be, but there they are. So we're going to take it and have some fun with it! As always, remember that you can help improve Iceland's fortunes! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week!

Year 0, Chapter 4- Audience Participation "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "Alright, Gunnar, what do you have for me?" The eager face staring at me from across the conference table was that of Gunnar Kristjansson, a tall blond intern who was probably 23 or 24, but still looked like he was 17. "Well, we're going to try and flood social media with a campaign to nominate the next Icelandic winter sports star. We have some posts lined up, with some memes for youth engagement, and we are going to ask them to tag any potentially strong winter athletes below the age of 21. That way, we can reach out and scout them and see if they would be a good fit for developmental athlete funding." I smiled (internally). The whole notion of this method of finding athletes was silly, but Gunnar had done an admirable job putting together the logistics of such a thing. "You said you had some memes lined up." "Yes, a few. I can show you the first one" <a href="https://imgflip.com/i/69d4jv"><img src="https://i.imgflip.com/69d4jv.jpg" title="made at imgflip.com"/></a><div><a href="https://imgflip.com/memegenerator">from Imgflip Meme Generator</a></div> Of course. "Won't the youth contingent find this to be a bit...old?" "Possibly. We think that will benefit us, though, because they will see it as ironic. More importantly, we think it's going to encourage older people to participate in the campaign, and we think that they might have eyes on some promising athletes." I nodded. "Why not?" I thought. Stranger things have worked, after all. "Alright, let's get this going, and push it out to as many social media sites and forums as we can manage. "Just leave it to me, sir!" I sat at my desk, and looked out the window as he exited. Early spring in Reykjavik was pretty. I felt good about this, surprisingly. Time to see if that optimism is misplaced. [END Chapter 4] Okay....so, this is where you, the reader, come into play. This is your first chance to help formulate the direction of this dynasty effort. *Anybody who has been lurking and reading this thread has 1 Dynasty point *Anybody who has made comments has 1 additional Dynasty point for each comment they have made on this thread Here is that list ntndeacon = 8 Dynasty Points DavidCorperial = 5 Dynasty Points Chas in Cinti = 5 Dynasty Points QuikSand = 2 Dynasty Points Olsson = 2 Dynasty Points Anybody else reading = 1 Dynasty Point (A quick note on this: I am cross-posting this at 3 different sites (SimNation, GMGames, and FOFC), so if you see a name you don't recognize, that's probably why) What can you do to spend those dynasty points? 1 Dynasty point = Discover a youth athlete (They will be added to the high performance watchlist, and we will track their performance. Please find an athlete of your choice (age 21 or lower) from the athlete list at the bottom of the post. 1 Dynasty point= Add $10K to any athlete's training budget for the year, which makes a skill increase more likely. (Max $100k per athlete) The following athletes are already receiving funding as part of the high-performance program $100k (Full) = Viktor Armannsson, Alpine Skiing $100k (Full) = Julia Leifsdottir, Alpine Skiing 1 Dynasty point= Create a Level 1 Social Media campaign for a particular winter sport. This gives a 10% chance of creating an extra Under-18 athlete in that sport for next year. (These campaigns stack, so if you do 5 of them, it's a 50% chance of creating an extra U-18 athlete in that sport, for example) If you don't want to spend your points now, don't worry. You can bank those dynasty points to make a big impact at a later date if you choose. Let me know what questions you have, and let's have some fun with this! -Jeff Iceland Athlete List |83(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070219|Viktor_Johnsson|25|0|M| |81(0)|70a|7000|Alpine Skiing|000069957|Viktor_Armannsson|26|0|M| |81(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070427|Freyja_Ingolfsdottir|26|0|F| |81(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070452|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|25|0|F| |81(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070686|Karen_Thorirsdottir|25|0|F| |80(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070456|Julia_Leifsdottir|27|0|F| |80(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070661|Viktoria_Johnsdottir|28|0|F| |79(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070545|Emilia_Stefansdottir|28|0|F| |79(0)|82a|8201|Ski Jumping|000070764|Rakel_Hilmarsdottir|25|0|F| |77(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069962|Alexanderson_Johnsson|24|0|M| |77(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069969|Kristjan_Ingolfsson|24|0|M| |77(0)|75a|7507|Figure Skating|000070121|Guomundur_Sigurdsson|27|0|M| |77(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070423|Sara_Ingolfsdottir|22|0|F| |77(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070540|Julia_Sigurdsdottir|26|0|F| |76(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069984|Kari_Armannsson|21|0|M| |76(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070061|Sigurdur_Olvirsson|22|0|M| |76(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070192|Viktor_Vilhjalmsson|25|0|M| |76(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070205|Kristjan_Leifsson|26|0|M| |76(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070206|Aron_Vilhjalmsson|22|0|M| |76(0)|75a|7508|Figure Skating|000070604|Katrin_Leifsdottir|24|0|F| |76(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070668|Rakel_Thorirsdottir|29|0|F| |76(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070694|Freyja_Johnsdottir|26|0|F| |75(0)|70a|7008|Alpine Skiing|000069991|Alexanderson_Armannsson|22|0|M| |75(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070200|Mikael_Armannsson|22|0|M| |75(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070211|Jon_Armannsson|25|0|M| |75(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070283|Jon_Robertsson|28|0|M| |74(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069980|Daniel_Olvirsson|22|0|M| |74(0)|84b|8400|Speed Skating|000070360|Benedikt_Armannsson|25|0|M| |74(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070660|Freyja_Ingolfsdottir|24|0|F| |73(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069966|Daniel_Stefansson|25|0|M| |73(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070276|Arnar_Hilmarsson|22|0|M| |73(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070457|Julia_Thorirsdottir|22|0|F| |73(0)|74a|7401|Curling|000070554|Emma_Olvirsdottir|22|0|F| |72(0)|70a|7000|Alpine Skiing|000069960|Gunnar_Leifsson|28|0|M| |72(0)|70b|7004|Alpine Skiing|000069972|Viktor_Olvirsson|22|0|M| |72(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070187|Benedikt_Stefansson|24|0|M| |72(0)|76d|7611|Freestyle Skiing|000070657|Karen_Vilhjalmsdottir|22|0|F| |72(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070664|Sara_Thorirsdottir|30|0|F| |71(0)|70a|7008|Alpine Skiing|000069992|Jon_Armannsson|22|0|M| |71(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070184|Arnar_Robertsson|20|0|M| |71(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070454|Sigrun_Ingolfsdottir|30|0|F| |71(0)|73a|7301|Cross-country Skiing|000070525|Emilia_Hilmarsdottir|26|0|F| |70(0)|75a|7505|Figure Skating|000070104|Guomundur_Olvirsson|28|0|M| |70(0)|82a|8202|Ski Jumping|000070306|Kristjan_Ingolfsson|23|0|M| |70(0)|84b|8404|Speed Skating|000070385|Kristjan_Robertsson|26|0|M| |70(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070433|Emma_Vilhjalmsdottir|30|0|F| |70(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070437|Sara_Johnsdottir|26|0|F| |70(0)|71a|7101|Biathlon|000070468|Emma_Vilhjalmsdottir|20|0|F| |70(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070669|Viktoria_Robertsdottir|20|0|F| |70(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070716|Emelia_Vilhjalmsdottir|29|0|F| |69(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070064|Kristjan_Leifsson|20|0|M| |69(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070218|Aron_Robertsson|20|0|M| |69(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070721|Katrin_Armannsdottir|26|0|F| |69(0)|83a|8305|Snowboarding|000070781|Maria_Stefansdottir|21|0|F| |69(0)|84a|8407|Speed Skating|000070843|Sara_Johnsdottir|21|0|F| |68(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070191|Guomundur_Robertsson|21|0|M| |68(0)|81a|8100|Skeleton|000070293|Daniel_Vilhjalmsson|24|0|M| |68(0)|83b|8306|Snowboarding|000070334|Daniel_Olvirsson|22|0|M| |68(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070432|Anna_Johnsdottir|31|0|F| |68(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070449|Karen_Sigurdsdottir|23|0|F| |68(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070461|Elisabet_Vilhjalmsdottir|22|0|F| |68(0)|76a|7605|Freestyle Skiing|000070636|Emilia_Leifsdottir|21|0|F| |68(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070702|Anna_Stefansdottir|24|0|F| |68(0)|82a|8201|Ski Jumping|000070767|Maria_Ingolfsdottir|20|0|F| |68(0)|83a|8305|Snowboarding|000070780|Julia_Ingolfsdottir|26|0|F| |68(0)|84b|8405|Speed Skating|000070838|Anna_Olvirsdottir|21|0|F| |67(0)|70a|7008|Alpine Skiing|000069988|Jon_Vilhjalmsson|20|0|M| |67(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070220|Jon_Vilhjalmsson|22|0|M| |67(0)|83b|8306|Snowboarding|000070336|Kristjan_Armannsson|26|0|M| |67(0)|84a|8408|Speed Skating|000070392|Jon_Robertsson|20|0|M| |67(0)|70a|7001|Alpine Skiing|000070414|Rakel_Ingolfsdottir|21|0|F| |67(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070667|Freyja_Robertsdottir|22|0|F| |67(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070683|Katla_Hilmarsdottir|19|0|F| |67(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070689|Emma_Johnsdottir|31|0|F| |67(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070700|Maria_Olvirsdottir|24|0|F| |67(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070717|Katla_Olvirsdottir|18|0|F| |67(0)|80a|8001|Short Track Speed Skating|000070742|Telma_Johnsdottir|27|0|F| |66(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069964|Mikael_Sigurdsson|22|0|M| |66(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069979|Benedikt_Armannsson|26|0|M| |66(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069981|Dagur_Thorirsson|20|0|M| |66(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070066|Benedikt_Johnsson|22|0|M| |66(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070069|Daniel_Hilmarsson|22|0|M| |66(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070188|Viktor_Robertsson|18|0|M| |66(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070202|Aron_Ingolfsson|18|0|M| |66(0)|70a|7001|Alpine Skiing|000070419|Anna_Thorirsdottir|21|0|F| |66(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070426|Emelia_Hilmarsdottir|21|0|F| |66(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070438|Viktoria_Armannsdottir|25|0|F| |66(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070450|Viktoria_Hilmarsdottir|27|0|F| |66(0)|71a|7103|Biathlon|000070470|Viktoria_Stefansdottir|19|0|F| |66(0)|75a|7501|Figure Skating|000070580|Anna_Vilhjalmsdottir|20|0|F| |66(0)|76a|7605|Freestyle Skiing|000070639|Telma_Sigurdsdottir|22|0|F| |66(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070679|Maria_Leifsdottir|31|0|F| |66(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070692|Katla_Leifsdottir|25|0|F| |66(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000070776|Emilia_Hilmarsdottir|20|0|F| |66(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000070778|Katla_Hilmarsdottir|19|0|F| |65(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069967|Gunnar_Armannsson|31|0|M| |65(0)|70b|7004|Alpine Skiing|000069976|Kari_Leifsson|20|0|M| |65(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070067|Kari_Vilhjalmsson|27|0|M| |65(0)|76c|7608|Freestyle Skiing|000070170|Daniel_Armannsson|21|0|M| |65(0)|76d|7610|Freestyle Skiing|000070172|Mikael_Robertsson|22|0|M| |65(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070183|Sigurdur_Olvirsson|22|0|M| |65(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070203|Viktor_Hilmarsson|26|0|M| |65(0)|78a|7800|Luge|000070237|Daniel_Stefansson|19|0|M| |65(0)|83a|8304|Snowboarding|000070328|Guomundur_Stefansson|22|0|M| |65(0)|70a|7001|Alpine Skiing|000070411|Arnar_Ingolfsdottir|23|0|F| |65(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070431|Elisabet_Vilhjalmsdottir|21|0|F| |65(0)|73a|7305|Cross-country Skiing|000070535|Sigrun_Ingolfsdottir|20|0|F| |65(0)|75a|7501|Figure Skating|000070575|Freyja_Sigurdsdottir|21|0|F| |65(0)|76b|7601|Freestyle Skiing|000070612|Emma_Armannsdottir|31|0|F| |65(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070666|Anna_Ingolfsdottir|18|0|F| |65(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070684|Rakel_Armannsdottir|18|0|F| |65(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070712|Freyja_Stefansdottir|18|0|F| |65(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070715|Anna_Johnsdottir|19|0|F| |64(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069970|Mikael_Sigurdsson|31|0|M| |64(0)|75a|7500|Figure Skating|000070095|Mikael_Stefansson|24|0|M| |64(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070181|Jon_Sigurdsson|17|0|M| |64(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070225|Guomundur_Johnsson|32|0|M| |64(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070232|Viktor_Vilhjalmsson|22|0|M| |64(0)|82a|8202|Ski Jumping|000070311|Sigurdur_Vilhjalmsson|18|0|M| |64(0)|84b|8402|Speed Skating|000070369|Gunnar_Olvirsson|27|0|M| |64(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070447|Julia_Johnsdottir|26|0|F| |64(0)|71a|7101|Biathlon|000070465|Telma_Leifsdottir|31|0|F| |64(0)|84b|8403|Speed Skating|000070826|Rakel_Thorirsdottir|24|0|F| |63(0)|70b|7006|Alpine Skiing|000069987|Aron_Johnsson|22|0|M| |63(0)|73a|7304|Cross-country Skiing|000070057|Kristjan_Sigurdsson|26|0|M| |63(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070068|Jon_Thorirsson|31|0|M| |63(0)|75a|7505|Figure Skating|000070112|Mikael_Armannsson|29|0|M| |63(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070198|Viktor_Armannsson|31|0|M| |63(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070207|Gunnar_Vilhjalmsson|19|0|M| |63(0)|80a|8000|Short Track Speed Skating|000070277|Benedikt_Johnsson|22|0|M| |63(0)|84b|8402|Speed Skating|000070367|Mikael_Sigurdsson|26|0|M| |63(0)|84a|8408|Speed Skating|000070397|Arnar_Sigurdsson|31|0|M| |63(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070435|Rakel_Ingolfsdottir|22|0|F| |63(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070448|Anna_Robertsdottir|24|0|F| |63(0)|73a|7303|Cross-country Skiing|000070528|Emelia_Stefansdottir|31|0|F| |63(0)|76c|7609|Freestyle Skiing|000070644|Sigrun_Leifsdottir|21|0|F| |63(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070690|Emma_Sigurdsdottir|24|0|F| |63(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070691|Sigrun_Leifsdottir|23|0|F| |63(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070693|Sara_Leifsdottir|25|0|F| |63(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070708|Elisabet_Robertsdottir|26|0|F| |63(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070714|Viktoria_Johnsdottir|17|0|F| |63(0)|81a|8101|Skeleton|000070747|Elisabet_Thorirsdottir|31|0|F| |63(0)|83a|8305|Snowboarding|000070779|Katla_Leifsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069965|Mikael_Hilmarsson|31|0|M| |62(0)|73a|7300|Cross-country Skiing|000070043|Daniel_Stefansson|30|0|M| |62(0)|73a|7302|Cross-country Skiing|000070054|Arnar_Sigurdsson|22|0|M| |62(0)|73a|7304|Cross-country Skiing|000070056|Alexanderson_Johnsson|27|0|M| |62(0)|73b|7308|Cross-country Skiing|000070063|Sigurdur_Sigurdsson|20|0|M| |62(0)|84a|8410|Speed Skating|000070410|Jon_Johnsson|19|0|M| |62(0)|70a|7003|Alpine Skiing|000070424|Freyja_Hilmarsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070436|Emelia_Leifsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070443|Sara_Stefansdottir|20|0|F| |62(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070464|Sara_Leifsdottir|19|0|F| |62(0)|73a|7305|Cross-country Skiing|000070534|Sigrun_Johnsdottir|20|0|F| |62(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070537|Emilia_Sigurdsdottir|20|0|F| |62(0)|73b|7309|Cross-country Skiing|000070541|Emma_Robertsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|74a|7401|Curling|000070561|Anna_Thorirsdottir|28|0|F| |62(0)|76b|7601|Freestyle Skiing|000070614|Telma_Hilmarsdottir|20|0|F| |62(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070682|Maria_Ingolfsdottir|31|0|F| |62(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070695|Anna_Johnsdottir|20|0|F| |62(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070719|Emma_Vilhjalmsdottir|28|0|F| |62(0)|78a|7801|Luge|000070727|Karen_Ingolfsdottir|22|0|F| |62(0)|78a|7801|Luge|000070729|Emma_Robertsdottir|30|0|F| |62(0)|83a|8303|Snowboarding|000070777|Emma_Olvirsdottir|17|0|F| |61(0)|70a|7000|Alpine Skiing|000069959|Mikael_Stefansson|26|0|M| |61(0)|70a|7002|Alpine Skiing|000069968|Mikael_Ingolfsson|25|0|M| |61(0)|70b|7004|Alpine Skiing|000069973|Mikael_Robertsson|31|0|M| |61(0)|73a|7300|Cross-country Skiing|000070044|Daniel_Stefansson|29|0|M| |61(0)|76b|7600|Freestyle Skiing|000070137|Jon_Thorirsson|19|0|M| |61(0)|76c|7608|Freestyle Skiing|000070164|Guomundur_Johnsson|22|0|M| |61(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070226|Jon_Olvirsson|31|0|M| |61(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070231|Benedikt_Leifsson|31|0|M| |61(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070445|Elisabet_Armannsdottir|24|0|F| |61(0)|70b|7007|Alpine Skiing|000070453|Maria_Vilhjalmsdottir|31|0|F| |61(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070458|Maria_Olvirsdottir|20|0|F| |61(0)|71a|7107|Biathlon|000070481|Emma_Robertsdottir|31|0|F| |61(0)|71a|7107|Biathlon|000070482|Julia_Sigurdsdottir|21|0|F| |61(0)|75a|7501|Figure Skating|000070568|Katrin_Johnsdottir|31|0|F| |61(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070662|Sigrun_Johnsdottir|18|0|F| |61(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070680|Emma_Ingolfsdottir|18|0|F| |61(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070696|Rakel_Vilhjalmsdottir|25|0|F| |61(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070720|Rakel_Sigurdsdottir|22|0|F| |61(0)|83a|8301|Snowboarding|000070772|Katrin_Hilmarsdottir|21|0|F| |60(0)|74a|7400|Curling|000070087|Sigurdur_Hilmarsson|25|0|M| |60(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070193|Kristjan_Thorirsson|29|0|M| |60(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070197|Daniel_Sigurdsson|31|0|M| |60(0)|77a|7700|Ice Hockey|000070212|Kari_Sigurdsson|32|0|M| |60(0)|82a|8202|Ski Jumping|000070310|Daniel_Vilhjalmsson|30|0|M| |60(0)|84b|8402|Speed Skating|000070376|Sigurdur_Armannsson|20|0|M| |60(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070439|Julia_Vilhjalmsdottir|18|0|F| |60(0)|70b|7005|Alpine Skiing|000070444|Karen_Robertsdottir|30|0|F| |60(0)|70a|7009|Alpine Skiing|000070463|Sara_Thorirsdottir|22|0|F| |60(0)|72a|7205|Bobsleigh|000070486|Katla_Vilhjalmsdottir|19|0|F| |60(0)|72a|7207|Bobsleigh|000070498|Emilia_Olvirsdottir|19|0|F| |60(0)|73a|7303|Cross-country Skiing|000070531|Maria_Hilmarsdottir|33|0|F| |60(0)|75a|7501|Figure Skating|000070572|Sara_Ingolfsdottir|20|0|F| |60(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070675|Telma_Olvirsdottir|22|0|F| |60(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070677|Emelia_Sigurdsdottir|31|0|F| |60(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070701|Sigrun_Johnsdottir|22|0|F| |60(0)|77a|7701|Ice Hockey|000070709|Emelia_Vilhjalmsdottir|19|0|F|

Year 0, Chapter 3- Mar. 2022 Report "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks "A year away? That's seriously the best we can do?" Kris Einarsson nodded at me from across the table. He was a large man, with a build that could be reasonably described as 'formerly athletic'. His glasses, almost impossibly small, were pinched onto his nose. "Building permits and land acquisition take time, sir. Plus, we have to find coaches and other employees. Even a basic Level 1 Youth Academy for an outdoor sport will take some time to accomplish. We definitely won't have any before 2023, and that's assuming we can quickly decide which sports to target." I sighed. "How in the world do we get anything going this year, then? We need youth athletes if we have any hope at the international level in basically any sport. You've seen the March world cup reports, right?" He had. I had seen them, too. There was one bright spot, but that was it. Skier Viktor Armannsson had gotten world cup points by finishing 23rd in a Super G in France, but otherwise, things were not good. Arguably worse than last month, in some cases. MARCH Performance Report- Viktor Armannsson- Alpine Skiing Results 3.4.22 Men's Downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway 41st, 2:13.42 (Winner 2:05.78) Results 3.5.22 Men's Downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway 40th, 2:14.09 (Winner 2:06.18) Results 3.6.22 Men's Super G in Kvitfjell, Norway 43rd, 1:23.02 (Winner 1:18.43) Results 3.16.22 Men's Downhill in Courchevel, France 37th, 2:13.05 (Winner 2:05.90) Results 3.17.22 Men's Super G in Courchevel, France 23rd, 1:21.69 (Winner 1:17.78) MARCH Performance Report- Julia Leifsdottir- Alpine Skiing Results 3.5.22 Womens Super G in Lenzerheide, Switzerland 43rd, 1:31.50 (winner 1:27.73) Results 3.6.22 Women's Giant Slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland 32nd, 2:43.48 (winner 2:36.25) Results 3.11.12 Women's Giant Slalom in Are, Sweden 47th, 2:44.92 (winner 2:36.74) Results 3.12.12 Women's Slalom in Are, Sweden 36th, 1:51.30 (winner 1:44.90) Results 3.16.12 Women's Downhill in Meribel, France 64th, 1:47.87 (winner 1:43.87) Results 3.17.12 Women's Super G in Meribel, France 44th, 1:31.52 (winner 1:27.92) Results 3.19.12 Women's Slalom in Meribel, France 42nd, 1:52.12 (winner 1:45.65) Results 3.20.12 Women's Giant Slalom in Meribel, France 38th, 2:44.04 (winner 2:37.07) MARCH Performance Report- Emilia Stefansdottir- Cross Country Skiing Results 3.3.22 Women's Cross Country Ski Sprint Drammen, Norway 90th Place, 3:01.42 (Winner 2:38.77) Results 3.5.22 Women's Cross Country Ski 30km Mass Start Oslo, Norway 57th Place, 1:24:01.7 (Winner 1:10:13.2) Results 3.11.22 Women's Cross Country Ski Sprint Falun, Sweden 72nd Place, 2:58.05 (Winner 2:35.27) Results 3.12.22 Women's Cross Country Ski 10km interval Falun, Sweden 88th Place, 42:47.2 (Winner 32:37.3) "You know...", he said, breaking the silence that had fallen under the room. "We may not be able to build a youth academy this year, but there are likely still ways to increase our youth participation at the various local facilities that we do have." I perked up at this. "Such as what?" "Well, we can certainly put together a social media campaign. Encourage kids and teens to try out local sports programs, that kind of thing. It probably won't reach the whole country, but it also won't cost us much. We probably have some young staffers who can run the campaign." "Well, that's a start, at least." I said. "I will see if I can find some assistance here within the office." I paused. "And then next year, we hit the ground hard with youth academies." Kris nodded. "That I can agree with. We need to decide which sports soon, and then we'll get moving on the infrastructure." We exchanged pleasantries, and he exited shortly thereafter. At least that was some sort of plan, if not a great one. Now, to figure out the social media campaign. And then...budgets. If we can even find someone to spend the money on! -END Chapter 3- Would you like to help improve Iceland's fortunes? Don't forget that you can! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week!

Year 0, Chapter 2- Feb. 2022 Report "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks The door opened. It was Katja, my assistant. "Mr. Dalesson?" I looked up. "Yes, Katja?" "I have this month's performance reports." She set a pair of small reports on my desk. I was surprised. I hadn't been expecting these just yet. "Already? The winter games just ended a week ago." "That's true, sir, but the world cup circuits get going again right away, so we have some results from February." "Right, right...how could I have forgotten?" Okay, so maybe I wasn't quite used to the way winter sports seasons worked just yet. There was a LOT of things to remember at this job, after all. But I will get the hang of it eventually. "Only two reports, I see. I thought we had our eye on three athletes?" "We do, sir, but Viktor Armannson only competes in the speed alpine events, and there were only slaloms this weekend." "Got it." I paused. "How do they look?" She sighed, and her lips curled into a frown. "Honestly, I don't think they're great, but I'll let you be the judge of that." It was my turn to sigh. "Alright, I'll take a look. Thank you, Katja." She scooted out of the room, and I settled in with my reports. FEBRUARY Performance Report- Julia Leifsdottir- Alpine Skiing 2.26.22 Women's Downhill: Crans Montana, Switzerland 48th place (1:47.28, +5.89 seconds behind winner) 2.27.22 Women's Downhill: Crans Montana, Switzerland 55th place (1:47.67, +6.23 seconds behind winner) Hmm. Not great, and definitely more in line with her worse Olympics results rather than her better. FEBRUARY Performance Report- Emilia Stefansdottir- Cross Country Skiing 2.26.22 Women's Cross Country Ski Sprint: Lahti, Finland 69th Place, 2:59.02, +16.98 seconds behind winner) 2.27.22 Women's Cross Country Ski 10km: Lahti, Finland 64th Place, 39:41.4 (+7:08.4 behind winner) I made a mental note on the list in my head to cross her off the high-performance program list for next year. This kinds of results aren't close enough, in my opinion. So, we have maybe 2 athletes in the high-performance program. If that. I made a note to call Kris Einarsson tomorrow. Kris is in charge of our youth development academies. Or, rather, he will be once we actually get those up and running. Right now he's location-scouting. We'd better find some locations fast so we can get some coaches in place, I'm thinking. That's probably our best hope at present. March had come in like a lion, but would it go out looking like a lamb? For that matter, do they even use that expression in Iceland? Hmm. Questions for another day, I think. -END Chapter 2- Would you like to help improve Iceland's fortunes? Don't forget that you can! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I update this thread once each week!

Year 0, Chapter 1- Taking Stock "Greenland is Ice, but Iceland is Nice" -D2: The Mighty Ducks I sighed, and looked back at the report on my desk. Ada Thorsdottir had just dropped it off. Ada was the head of the IAC (Icelandic Athletic Committee) and had hired me for the new job. I had been able to read through the report quickly, because it was nowhere near as thick as it should have been. Unfortunately, it was also far bleaker than I would have liked. I glanced at it again. Iceland 2022 Winter Games Summary Alpine Skiing ------------------------------------------------------------------ Viktor Armannsson 25th place Men's Downhill 29th place Men's Super G Alexanderson Armannson 44th place Men's Combined Viktor Olvirsson 63rd place Men's Giant Slalom 52nd place Men's Slalom Julia Leifsdottir 21st place Women's Giant Slalom 64th place Women's Slalom 28th place Women's Super G 46th place Women's Downhill Julia Thorirsdottir 63rd place Women's Combined Biathlon ------------------------------------------------------------------ Emma Vilhjalmsdottir 73rd place Women's 15 km individual Gunnar Thorirsson 90th place Men's 20 km individual Viktoria Stefansdottir 75th place Women's sprint Dagur Stefansson 101st place Men's sprint Cross-Country Skiing ------------------------------------------------------------------ Daniel Stefansson 88th place Men's skiathlon 97th place Men's 15km Classic 81st place Men's 50km Mass Start Freestyle Sigurdur Olvirsson 71st place Men's Sprint Freestyle Emilia Stefansdottir 54th place Women's Skiathlon 71st place Women's Sprint Freestyle 79th place Women's 10 km Classic 47th place Women's 30km Mass Start Freestyle Emilia Stefansdottir/Julia Sigurdsdottir 24th place Women's Team Sprint Classic Nordic Combined ------------------------------------------------------------------ Daniel Olvirsson 89th place Nordic Combined Normal Hill 90th place Nordic Combined Large Hill Iceland had only gotten 13 athletes to the games, and that was....let's say "generous" at that. All but one of the spots had been qualified via open access rules that let ANY country enroll their athletes if they wanted to. (And that one qualified spot, the Women's Cross Country Team Sprint, had resulted in a dead-last finish) There had been 25 events where an Icelandic athlete had competed, and we had had no more than 1 athlete/team in any event. Of the 25 events, we had managed only 5 results in the Top 30 for the entire games. Nothing in the Top 20. Certainly nowhere close to a medal or even a Top-10. Not good. There were maybe 2 or 3 athletes here who had any sort of future in their sport at an elite level. If that. Viktor Armannson, a speed skier, has some hope. He at least finished in the top 30 in both of his events. Julia Leifsdottir, a balanced alpine skier, also got 2 Top 30s, though she also skied far below those places in her other two events. Beyond that...I don't see anything. Right now, we're going to have only a handful of athletes in the High-Performance Winter Sports Program. I'm going to have to scout our youth ranks hard to figure out where to even put our limited resources, honestly, because I'm not sure where all of the potential is. It's not there right now, at the very least. I pressed a buzzer at the intercom on my desk. "Katja, could you come in for a moment?" Katja Leifsdottir, my assistant, popped into the the room a short time later. She was a young woman, with her hair pulled up in a bun. "Yes, Mr. Dalesson?" "We've only got a few weeks left in the winter sports season. Can you make notes that I will need detailed reports on a few of our athletes when they attend world cup events?" "Certainly, sir. Who do you need reports on?" "Well, I need to see how Viktor Armannsson and Julia Leifsdottir do on the Alpine Skiing World Cup, so I will want reports on them. I'd also like to see how Emilia Stefansdottir does on the Cross-Country Skiing world cup." "3 athletes. Got it! Anybody else?" I shook my head. "Not at the moment, no. We're going to be checking the youth development ranks over the summer, but nothing else for now." She exited the room with a smile, and I turned and looked out the window. I had to hope that there was something in those youth ranks, because right now, I wasn't sure how I was going to perform a (sorry) "Miracle on Ice". -END Chapter 1- Would you like to help improve Iceland's fortunes? Don't forget that you can! With any comments you make on this post, you get Dynasty Points that you can spend at a later date to increase Iceland's budget. I plan to have the next update out in a week!