Manager Spotlight: Anfield Road
Manager Spotlight: Anfield Road
This month I have the honor to shine the spotlight on Scandinavias two-time Olympic Team Captain, Anfield Road. Almost all of us have fought him, so this just might give us the edge we need to beat him. Happy reading.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Well right now my life is a bit undecided, and the future is a bit unclear. After a minor incident involving a stupid woman, I couldn't begin at university like planned this spring.
So right now I'm unemployed, except for helping out a mate at his business once in a while.
And also I'm still living at home in Gävle, with my mom and sister. (I think that it's OK
For 19 year olds), but with a bit of luck I might be able to get in to university in a couple of weeks, in that case it'd be down in Stockholm where my girl lives, and I'd probably live with her throughout the spring in that case. Well, that was the latest in my life.
Almost forgot do add, hehe, my real name is Christofer Olsson.
I thought we could begin with a few small questions to get a better picture about who you are.
Favorite movie?
Tough one, there are many good movies but few great ones. I'd have to settle for the Godfather, slightly ahead of JFK.
Favorite food?
A large bit of tender meat served with fries or similar, and a pepper sauce. Yummy.
Favorite TV-show?
Mostly comedy, Seinfeld, Simpsons, Futurama etc. "Homicide" is the favourite among the none humour shows.
Favorite Book?
I'm currently reading through the LOTR trilogy and love it. The two books that would compete are "Strangers" by Koontz or "Duty of the genius" by Ray Monk, a biography on Ludwig Wittgenstein, a person I would call one of the most interesting people to live in the previous century.
Favorite Band?
I'm not really a band person, I'm more of a guy who likes a few songs by a variety of bands. The band I'm into the most is Bad Religion. A punk band growing old, and I hope to see them before they retire.
Favorite song?
This is hard, it changes from day to day, and with the mood. Right now I'd say "Ingen neråtsång" by Thåström. If I'd name something in English it'd be "She talks to rainbows" by the Ramones.
Favorite pet?
I had a cat once, it was amazing, he lived to be 13 years and I adore the ways cats are so independent as opposed to dogs. I do like dogs too though, my family has got a Cavalier now, a fun little thing. It's the first dog in my family ever, so I'm getting more and more used to it.
Favorite vacation destination?
In the true meaning of the word I'd say Gambia. Best place I've set my foot on. It's a shame they don't have any of the cool African animals there though, like lions and elephants.
But right now I'm more in the mood for a party destination I haven't been to, so maybe Ibiza.
And to get a better picture of what you recently have done...
Last movie you saw?
LOTR, fellowship of the ring actually. While it was a slaughter on the book, the film rocked from beginning to end.
Last food you ate?
Wow…it's been a while now…kinda hungry here =) Last meal I had will have to be yesterday's Falukorv and macaroni.
Last TV-show you saw?
We were watching Jeopardy last night while drinking.
Last book you read?
Before the one I'm reading now I think it is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.
Last song you heard?
Some crap eurodisco from last night.
Last pet you petted?
The family dog, his name is Timo btw.
Last place you went on a vacation to?
Kos, not the relaxing kind of vacation.
Wow, I've never know so much about Anfield, but let's talk a little boxing now. How did you get into playing WeBL and when did you start?
I had always been looking for a boxing simulation that was online and free. I thought the idea sounded really good, too good for one to not exist. That went on for a long while until I found a link at a site called Shawn Masters games directory or something…masters-shawn@tripod.com was the URL. And I immediately signed up and starting playing. I think it was week 20.
Do you have any "real-life" friends that also play the game?
Yes, but not seriously. Most serious guy is St James Park.
Why do you love WeBL?
For a number of reasons. WeBL is a neverending thing, it's never too late to begin, everyone has to create new fighters once in a while any way. And the feeling of reading a few fight cards each day is awesome. And then the community plays an important role, after a while you get to know so many people's personalities, and it's a great thing. The last, and most important thing is the mind game. In a big fight I love to sit down and try to guess my opponents moves, without being predictable myself.
How many active fighters do you have right now?
There are currently 16 active fighters in my gym, of which 3 are contenders. I have been having less fighters than that active lately, but I think I can keep up with 16, a larger portion might be contenders in the future though ;)
Your gym name, Anfiel Road, does it mean anything special?
Well when I signed up for the game I just wanted to call myself anything, and as I love Liverpool FC, and Anfield Road is their home arena, it was my choice. Later when people started referring to me as Anfield, it was hard to change ;)
Is this your first and only gym or have there been others?
Nope, this is the only one.
Are you a number-cruncher or do you play by feel?
I play by feel, but I think I have a good understanding of the maths in the engine, so my intuition always relies on maths. My scouting is almost never down to the exact stats, and I spend little time in the sim.
Have you read all the rules?
I didn't read them at first, because I've played so many games that wasn't any fun after a month, and I didn't want to spend useless hours on the rules. So that hurt my record at first. But then I started reading them, I even printed them, and now I look up anything I didn't know when I hear about it.
Do you know the rules by heart?
I think so, well maybe 98%.
Do you pay attention to every fight or are some fighters automated?
If I at some point would pay less attention to a fight it's because a) I have reason to believe that my opponent is very bad, and little needs to be done. Or b) I couldn't log on for various reasons. But generally all fights are about equally prepared for.
How much time do you usally spend on a fight?
I usually spend about 5 minutes scouting the opponent, maybe more if it is a good but unfamiliar manager. Less if he looks bad. Then I generally write a new fp every time too, and that could be from 2-20 minutes. 20 is extreme though
.
How many fightplans do you have?
Well most my fightplans are fightplans that one particular fighter used for all his fights (I just edit them) and nobody else used. They are about 300 I would guess.
How many fightplans do you write per week?
Well, around 15 then, averaging at 5 minutes.
What type of fighter do like best and why?
Really mean sluggers that leave their opponents wrecked when they win. Strong sluggers, often with high agility. One example of such a fighter is Loop R Evil, he has broken more noses than I can remember.
Any favorite weights or do you play them all?
They are all fun in their own unique way, the ones around bantam tend to have lower ratings though, and that is fun.
In your opinion, what is the most important part to be good at in this game if you want to go all the way?
Well as long as you have a good understanding for the game, why it works the way it does and so on…then the most important part of a successful manager would be anticipation, and figuring out how your opponent works, and how his fp will work, then adjust according to that.
You recently won your first World Title with David Ellis, and since then he has won a few more. Could you tell us a bit about him?
Well his name is just something I saw at the backside of a book while creating a fighter long time ago. He started out with a loss, which would be reason to retire a fighter for most people, and me too at times. But I let him continue, and he went through regionals by winning 13 straight fights, including wins over Flat Out and Futagoyama. The actual title fights were a lot easier than most fights the week before though. And after losing the first contender fight (or being robbed if you wish) he went on to win 5 straight fights, which was a really big thing for me in contenders back then. And still is, it's just that it was bigger back then.
Anyway, then he continued to win a few and lose a few, before retiring in the summer. He stayed retired for 4 weeks before coming back. And it was quite a comeback! First he had 4 straight wins, over Goalkeepr, Scooby, Albino and Pure Power.
That's when he got the first title fight ever for a fighter of mine, against Ty's Bud "Beef" Croddle, the fight was a draw and I wasn't satisfied. So after numerous attempts, the 5th try was the lucky one and he became champ. He is now a 9 time champ, split between middle weight and super middle weight and he has fought for 12 straight weeks in title fights now.
And just to add, he is top 10 ranked all time in earnings and he is the fighter with most titles and earnings ever from Scandinavia. His current goal is to first of all reach 10 titles, so that he will be a candidate for the Hall of Fame, and then the next goal is to win as many titles it will take for people to vote for him.
Wich Anfield Road fighter will be the next to win a WT?
I'm glad to see it ever happening again. The only fighters of decent ranking I have now are Loop R Evil at r/s 21 and Maik Burghard at 25/26. I think Loop can do it, but it's a long way. Burghardt is old and worn, and I am only loaning him for a while, but he might be able to win it. If not any of these two guys then anyone in the gym could be the one. I would like to win with a slugger though, as Ellis is a dancer.
Wich fights do you remember the most?
The fight I remember the most is the one I hate to remember the most. Last year's first round Olympics fight, I lost 113-112 to a poorly designed guy from Odin. I guess I just choked.
The "To-do List", what is it?
It is a list of all WT winning gyms that I haven't beaten. But it might need an update.
What keeps you motivated?
Motivation and success are very closely related to me, and as long as I win titles, and win against good opponents, I will keep motivated.
Any advice for newbies?
Learn how the game works, by reading the rules and asking questions. Learn how to write your own fightplans rather than asking for them. Don't be afraid to experiment or use 70 fighters just for the fun.
If you ever were to quit this game, how do you wish to be remembered and how do think people actually will remember you?
I wish to be remembered as a guy who could beat anyone, and who was one of the better Scandinavian gyms of his era, inside the ring. Outside the ring I wish to be remembered as a helpful guy that posts a lot =)
But I might be remembered as the idiot that always discussed pointless topics in the other stuff forum. =)
Any managers you respect more than others?
punch is a guy I have a lot of respect for, it is probably the name I'd least want to see in the schedule. He for some reason is the only good gym I don't see as a fun challenge, but a horrible mindgame opponent that I probably won't beat. Same for Gazza, but to a lesser extent. I also respect many of the people just for being good guys, like foxxx, AZE, LM and LGD for instance.
How about up'n'commers?
It's quite hard to tell without having fought the gyms a few times, and really get a feel for their ability. But among the really new guys tnt and Martin are looking good. Then the batch that started playing last summer or around then, the Aggerud people and Vinterviken all seem to have what it takes to win anything. Eventually =)
You are quite active in the forums and seem to have a very good knowlede about all the aspects of the game. Is there anything you would like to change about it?
When it comes to the game engine, I am quite content and would only change a few minor things if I could. What I would like the most is to somehow having a bigger community, with more players, without rating inflation.
In the near future the second Olympcs is going to start (it might have started when this get published tho), what are your thoughts about the Olympics?
Yeah, the Olympics are just about to begin, and I love the idea! It gets the entire community together, and it's a chance for the lesser known managers to shine when everyone's looking. The good thing is that while realistically 5-6 teams have the chance to win, and the other 10 or so teams all have managers that can go far. I am very excited about this and read every sentence written about it.
This is the second year in a row that you're captain of the olympic team. Do you like that role?
Yeah, well I do. But it's not really much work, last year I picked the team myself, this year we had a better system and at the same time gave less work (actually depends on how you see it) to the captain. But the title I like ;)
Scandinavia won last year, what chanses do you think the Scandinavian team have this year, will you defend the title for us?
We should, we have such an amazing team. Sure everyone wants to win, but we are simply the best. Other teams will struggle to keep up with us in the early rounds.
Wich team do you think pose the biggest threat to Scandinavia?
US Gulf states. Texas Cowboys and the Hole are both very capable of winning a division on their own. And then with WT winning gyms like Goalkeepr, DQ and Red Dog to name a few to back that up, they are a big threat.
Any predictions?
We will win, 24 points to Gulf's 22. Us Pacific will finish 3rd again.
I think Blizzard will be able to cause a number of upsets in the heavies, and Gazza looks to be favourite to win his division. Other than that I think all of us have a really good chance of winning the gold. On a more general note, I think that this Olympics will see more upsets than the last one, thanks to no scouting at first, and thanks to the over all level of play has been raised.
Did you get anything nice for christmas?
Well pants, shirts, sweaters socks and lots of other clothes. Along with a few good CDs it was perfect.
And what was your newyears resolution?
I made one the year before, to not make one the following year, so I didn't have one.
Anyone you want to thank or mention here in the end?
You AZE for doing this every month, it's great reading. And Pitypart for being the father of our Scandinavian success with this site.
Final words.
I'll be seeing you guys in many fights to come. Especially you LM, you have ducked me for almost a year ;)
Thank you.
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