It’s the last day of 2023, and the penultimate day of the 2023 Dynabowl season, though by the end of this year our champion will almost definitely be known. Chris Braithwaite’s Dyna Hard hold a 55 point lead over Dave Slater’s Dynasore Losers and as we know from the Dynabowl Records, only one team has ever come from behind in the Superb Owl – 2017 when the Hard overturned a first leg deficit of 6.800 points against the Dynasty of Sadness. It will take a record-breaking result in week 17 for the Losers to come away with the victory, but as Braithwaite is keen to remind everyone at every opportunity, he is known to choke in the playoffs.
It’ll be a happy new year for somebody, but who could that somebody be? Well, it could be Chris or it could be Dave.
In the meantime, it’s time to crack on with the 2023 Coach of the Year. And sticking with a previously broken tradition, let’s take things in reverse order…
A brief note on the format. Everyone has 15 points to award to other GMs (not themselves), and you know what that means – name and shame time. I’ll let Adam off – he gave everyone 2 points meaning a total of 18 were awarded. He joined midseason, he doesn’t understand the league (or the sport?) and so we will excise his points from the tallies.
Ian, however, awarded only 11 points while Max awarded just 10. The survey says unawarded points will go to the Commish, but we’ll forego that, if only because it wouldn’t make me the winner anyway, so what’s the point?
So where does that leave us? Nine teams awarded points and there’s no tenth place for the second year on a row, and no team go no points, while two teams tie for ninth and make up the Barely Competent Corner.
=9th Place – James “Goody” Goodson – Tamworth Two – 5-9 – 1 point
It’s been about 4 years coming, but his team has finally fallen apart.
They were going to bad with Justin Jefferson, they’ve been abysmal without. It’s legitimate to say their best player has been their kicker (not that he is the best player though : Garrett, Parsons, Jefferson and Deebo are there!). So many holes on this roster, but none deeper than the pit of suck which is their set of back up RBs, and still no 1st rounder.
The best team in a fallow year but somehow managed to win 4 of the first 5 games, thereby screwing themselves over
Not a banner season, but a good ambassador for Peter
Imagine how much worse it would be if they played by the rules.
Feels like TT has been up and down, and lacking in consistency across the season, not for the want of trying. Their roster has it’s stars but is largely middling, especially at QB.
The beginning of the end for T2. Rebuild started in earnest with the trade away of Mixon. Picks are wasted on them though
What is there to say about TT? Seriously, someone tell me…
=9th Place – Geoffrey Manboob – Dynasty of Sadness – 4-10 – 1 point
Even worse than usual
The best players are Kyle Hamilton and Devon Witherspoon. A safety and a CB. And this team didn’t get the number one pick. Bravo Adam, takes a hell of an effort to be worse than Mike was.
I’m not sure they are getting any better.
I should say “no, when this team/GM makes an effort, I’ll make an effort to comment on them”
Under-performed a bit. But a great ambassador for Peter
An average season for an average team
But seriously, this team is baaad man. Boring, there’s not a single offensive piece you look at and think “oooh, I’d quite like him (maybe Dalton Kincaid?)” – the leading RB is Zack Moss and the leading WR would have been Christian Kirk before he got hurt. Kyle Pitts, man, he is right at home in this vortex of misery.
2nd to last in every stat that counts. You gotta feel for the guy because I think he’s trying as opposed to some more successful GMs.
=7th Place – Max Cubberley – Champions of the Sun – 6-8 – 3 points
Race to the bottom with TT! But also quite bad
Of course not
Feels like this team should be better than it’s record, I’m surprised Max isn’t much higher in the rankings. There are some depth issues but some amazing players at the skill positions too.
A bit absent this year from the chat, sadly. Still, he picked a player called Deneric Prince, who sounds a bit like a cool Disney hero
Somehow managed to remain in playoff contention until the last few weeks, despite not really trying. Gets a point for that.
Tim can’t even get tanking right. Max had a good draft, which hurt him set up for the draft this year ironically. Aside from those picks though, this is very much the “one last job” team, with a bunch of old guys making key contributions at big positions.
They’ve basically just been there this season.
Put less time and effort into the Dynabowl than into styling his hair.
=7th Place – Adam Earle / Pete Conaghan – East Flanders Dungeoneers – 0-14 – 3 points
Can I give a negative number?
He inherited the team halfway through and couldn’t really do much with the roster. He could, however, routinely leave players who were designated as out or on IR in his lineup.
Seems to have understood bidding on free agents a little better than Pete though.
I’ve given them a point for each of their wins.
Not even playing so no surprise at the 0-14 season. Good luck Adam.
Poor lad, what was he supposed to do. Going 0-14 is sort of impressive, have a point.
The only way is up! Maybe.
Adam had a tough ask to turn it around, and whilst he hasn’t yet, there are signs of improvement. And #1 pick next year of course.
Terrible. Even for Pete. Come on Pete!
Like Emilio Estevez, I’m expecting Adam to turn this rag tag bunch of Mighty Dungeoneers into contenders next year
6th Place – Neil Hawke – Hawkesville Hurricanes – 8-6 – 5 points
Never in a million years would I imagine he would miss the playoffs by 4 all play wins. Astonishing performance given the state of his roster at the start of the season
I feel like he overperformed more than anyone else in the league. Some really good in season additions.
Unlucky this season. A bit of a renaissance, though that may just have been Bland and his amazing streak of pick 6s.
Made some bold moves at draft time and got a lot of stick for it. But who’s laughing now? …
I might have given Neil a point if I had one left, but Ben got it in a tiebreaker.
I have to tip my hat to Neil, I disagree with almost everything he’s done – his trades seem lop-sided, his FA strategy seems weird, his roster unbalanced. And yet it works out. Dak has been good, Nico Collins is working out, somehow Adam Thielen isn’t the worst contract in the league (it’s still bad though), Josh Jacobs and James Cook are not busts now.
Including his IR he has 6 corners, 6 safeties and 9 LBs and only one is on $1. Madness.
Strangely in with a shout towards the end. They never quite managed it due to the success of the other teams
5th Place – Ben Archer / Stew Carter – Here Comes The Brees – 8-6 – 9 points
Please be nice
Some strong work this season, only to just miss the post season. QB position is a mess though.
Decent but unlucky
The defending champs were in the playoff hunt to the end but to only get 8 wins in Peter with those receivers is a shambles.
Not much of a title defence. This team, with these receivers, should have been a serious threat to repeat and an easy route to the post-season with 6 free wins from the division. But the obvious issues weren’t addressed well through draft or free agency, and the team started with multiple FAs on the roster and kept them there for way too long. Complacent.
I feel like they got quite a few bad beats, but it might just have been underperformance.
Unlucky to miss out on the playoffs, arguably the best in the Division – scored more points, had over 150 more points against than the Losers, so perhaps undone by schedule.
4th Place – Ben Hendy –Dynablaster Bombermen – 8-6 – 20 points
Unlucky to be out of the playoffs
Scraped into the playoffs by having 4 more all play wins than Neil. The finest of margins. 3rd highest scorer so probably deserves it
They are better than their record, especially with some rough injury luck.
Close, but… describes the team and a lot of the players on it. A lot of good, but not elite contributors, except Josh Allen (and Aaron Donald, just not this year)
Great draft picks of Gibbs and Nacua. Well set up for success
Great scoring across offence and defence. Good rookie draft.
I was lucky to make the playoffs, relying on the fortuitousness of the tiebreakers to get there. But then again, 3rd most points for and 3rd best all play record, so unlucky to only be the 4th seed. A mixed bag, really.
Always in the mix for post season and deserved a spot this year. Unlucky on some weeks and probably should have a better record as a result.
3rd Place – Ian Kulkowski – Kelkowski Don’t Play By Any Dyna Rules – 10-4 – 23 points
Second in pretty much every metric. Probably going to win the whole thing for a record setting third time. Booo……
Not a strong draft by the looks of things, but keeping up with the pack
Almost as consistent as Chris!
A good mix of free agents and draft pieces as contributors, reasonable depth at key positions.
Have bubbled along nicely but not sure they deserve to be in the play offs. Like the Falcons I have no idea why they are in the hunt after some results.
Consistent and strong. Iran has done very well with only a few low scoring games this year and deserves a place in the post season.
Best dynabowl GM ever
They are the team I don’t want to play in the playoffs.
2nd Place – David Slater – Dynasore Losers – 9-5 – 24 points
His year. Great scoring. Deserves to win it IMO
Token point for winning Peter
Nice draft pick with Achane and Mostert in the pre-season. Decent chance of winning it all this year
Despite winning Peter, I feel like they’ve underperformed.
8-0 v Peter. 9-5 overall. Taking care of business. (You made me answer this)
Thought he would stroll Peter based his RBs and WRs but flattered to deceive somewhat and only just made it. Only 5th highest scorer so got away with it.
Winning this division is like winning the proverbial tallest dwarf competition – meaningless and nothing to shout about. 5 losses in 6 games against Tim and now facing an all-Tim playoff field.
Deserves to be top of the division, and record wise should be better. Consistently scored well and only missed out against teams that balled out.
1st Place – Chris Braithwaite – Dyna Hard – 12-2 – 37 points
The bastard is a great manager. Has assembled an exceptional team
Such consistency!
That move up the draft board to take Robinson. One of the surprises of the year
I don’t know how he has such strong depth. Thank god he didn’t get Tyreek in the summer. It is infuriating. He needs to get shit, and get shit quick. Weirdly, only his second division ever title though.
Dominant. Comfortably the best team. Potential for a 14-0 bar tough losses to brees and bombermen. Will lose in the playoffs
Devastatingly handsome
Bunch of cunts
Once again a super high performance from Chris with minimal wastage. The big question is whether he’ll be that 14 year old emo girl again and wear that Choker to the Big Dance.
So overall that means…
| Place | Coach(es) | Points |
| 1st | Chris Braithwaite | 37 |
| 2nd | David Slater | 24 |
| 3rd | Ian Kulkowski | 23 |
| 4th | Benjamin Hendy | 20 |
| 5th | Ben Archer & Stewart Carter | 9 |
| 6th | Neil Hawke | 5 |
| =7th | Adam Earle & Pete Conaghan | 3 |
| =7th | Max Cubberley | 3 |
| =9th | Geoffrey Manboob | 1 |
| =9th | James “Goody” Goodson | 1 |
And now some Dynabowl moments, reflections, and predictions:
Best Dynabowl related moment?
Has there been anything good?
To me – the Achane and Mostert games vs the Dolphins. Generally – Max not starting Khalil Mack when he went off.
The optimism of a new season based on nothing but hopes and dreams
Not the best, but Slatz doing so well with a QB picked up on waivers and smashing Ian was funny, but not for Ian
I’ve enjoyed the Peter v Tim banter. That’s not really a moment though.
Getting 8 wins
Neil’s phoenix-like rise back to averageness
Me joining!
Adam going 0-14. I mean, that takes effort
Ben’s admin. Spot on this year [I’ve let it drop at the end of the season – I just needed this acknowledgement to come in and then I could take my foot off the gas]
And the worst?
Me joining!
I’m assuming Pete is gone, so that. Welcome Adam, nothing against you, but it’s a shame to lose Pete.
The Dungeoneers.
It feels like a few people have all but dropped out of the league. I really enjoy it, but it impacts my desire to keep going if half the league are, whatever (legitimate) reasons not really engaging with it. And are still beating me.
Slatz winning Peter
Slatz doing so well with a QB picked up on waivers and smashing Ian was terrible. It’s Slatz for Christ’s sake
Moving to a different, new Discord server. Seems like a minor inconvenience on the surface, but it’s a right pain in the arse. An extra couple of clicks to go back and forth between servers rather than just skipping channels – sure it doesn’t sound like much, but multiply that by the amount of times I’m doing it and I’m wasting ages…
Bijan trade.
Just missing out on the playoffs
My team
All the abuse of Peter. It’s a decent division, you’re just jealous
Anything else to say on the league?
Why is this a required question? What if I don’t have anything?
Since you twist my arm. We should cut two defensive starters (one CB, one S for a db flex) and remove one DT, LB and DE starting position and expand to 3 flex positions.
Nothing at the moment
Cheers Ben for your effort running it all
Nope
No
What’s with all these mandatory questions making me have an opinion?
The Bijan trade was horribly lopsided and a real example of something that should be vetoed and is bridging on exploitative
You need to sort out the new wage scales before extensions come around for expired contracts in Jan/Feb
I would like to see more trades. There aren’t enough trades.
General concern that interest is waining amongst some teams.
The Dynabowl MVP?
Run CMC – 6 votes
Tyreek Hill – 3 votes
Jamie Gillan, the record setting punter – 1 vote
Factored into the above is the following comment from the ‘Other’ option:
I’m using this box to irritate Ben, Bland would be a great pick if Neil had made the playoffs, but he didn’t. So Run CMC [It did not irritate me]
Rookie of the Year [Adam wasn’t an option, but maybe he should have been]
Puka Nacua – 5 votes
CJ Stroud – 2 votes
Tank Dell, Devon Witherspoon, Brandon Aubrey – 1 vote each
Best free agent signing?
Raheem Mostert – 3 votes and the following comments:
Not to be a homer, but Raheem Mostert: RB2 for buttons. 10 points less than Tyreek Hill for 60 dollars less.
Mostert. $8 for the no 2 RB!
Tyreek Hill – 3 votes, including this comment:
The salary cap google sheet appears to be gone so I can’t see for sure who was signed in the off season. I’ll say Tyreek Hill again and hope that he was signed this year.
DaRon Bland, Jamie Gillan – 1 vote each
Best in-season signing?
DaRon Bland – 3 votes and these comments:
Interception machine
Number 3 defender overall
Others receiving single votes:
Robert Spillane
Benjamin St-Juste
Kyle Van Noy
Jake Browning
Whichever punter has the most points. I’ll go with Thomas Morstead just because I know that’s technically correct.
*Shrug emoji*
Best draft pick?
Puka Nacua – 6 (and a half?) votes, this comment:
Value wise Puka Nacua. Achane is 2nd behind only Stroud in PPG, with near QB scoring at RB, but has been hurt too much. Witherspoon is the #6 overall rookie and top defender. But I’ll go with LaPorta because of the position and how hard it is to be good in Y1 as a TE.
Others receiving votes:
Achane, CJ Stroud and La Porta (above)
And now the big one – who’s winning the Owl?
Ian over Chris
Iran v Chris. Chris will win.
It should be Chris over Ian. Or, if Chris does his usual first round choke, Ian over Ben.
Hard over losers
49ers vs Ravens, 49ers to win
Chris vs Slatz – Slatz to win it
Chris and Dynahard
Ian will beat Slatz
Slatz, unfortunately
Losers beat Dyna hard
And with all that that out of the way…
OK, that’s not quite right, because this reflection on the first decade of the league also includes 2023, but I don’t give a shit about your logic. Let’s see what everyone thinks everyone else’s teams. And maybe their own.
So, if each team/GM were an NFL franchise, GM, coach, owner or whatever, who would they be? We’ll run through the teams in what I call “League Order” – the order in which they were assigned to divisions in the initial league setup…
First up then, who are the Dungeoneers?
For right now, Josh Harris. New owner of a dumpster fire of a team. However, the Dungeoneers have a title in living memory so maybe the Giants?
Pete = Snyder, Adam = Harris
Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders. Not great, but some optimism
2008 Detroit Lions
The Panthers. Just give everything away for picks and then give those away
Panthers – a mid-season coaching change had no effect on wins and losses
Bucs. Consistently shit, but then randomly spend a year or two being good, grab a title, go back to being shit.
I don’t know who any of them are
Next, it’s the Brees…
Late Sean Peyton era Saints – competitive bit always feel like they should be better
The Saints (whichever doesn’t win the NFC South) – made a mess of an easy schedule, no long-term answer at QB on the roster, cap problems incoming.
Bengals. All the receivers but no one to throw to them
Bengals. You expect them to be shit. They usually are shit. But at the moment they are quite good and it’s very surprising.
Buffalo Bills – can’t work out why we weren’t better this year
Jeff Saturday
I don’t know who any of them are
Tampa Bay. Owned by incompetents but brought in a serial winner from outside to lift them to the title before settling back into mediocrity.
The Broncos. Lots of pre-season hype. A should be decent RB that doesn’t work out. Look like they’re pulling it together. But ultimately not great
The Tamworth Two
The Peyton Manning/Tony Dungy era Colts. Usually quite decent, but also shit in the playoffs and propped up by a consistently shit division.
The Cards? Because they’ve been quarterbacked by Kyler and Josh Dobbs. If they had a run game and no receivers, instead of the other way around, it’d be the Browns…
I’m going to settle for the Vikings – trying to execute a competitive rebuild with mixed success, cannot run the ball with a bunch of (at best) back-ups. JJ is their one true star, and they rely on throwing everything into the pass rush to bail out an otherwise crappy unit.
Jeff Saturday
Seattle Seahawks. Had moments of brilliance, but can’t get out of their own way.
I don’t know who any of them are
Post Brady patriots
The Pats. Not used to failure. It just feels wrong that they are doing poorly.
Pat’s. History of cheating and now the good times are over
If they could win something, the Pats because of all the cheating. Maybe the Saints. Kept winning the Division but not doing anything in the playoffs. Overspent the cap (TT, not the Saints, though how they’ve not is amazing to me).
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Dynasty of Sadness…
LA Chargers. They’ll find a way to lose…
The Chargers – they’re not allowed nice things. Unserious.
Bears
I don’t know who any of them are
Jim Zorn’s Washington Redskins
The Rams. Irredeemably likeable but they peaked a couple of years ago
Jeff Saturday
Browns obviously
J-E-T-S – Jets Jets Jets. Mainly rubbish but occasionally stumbles into the playoffs.
The Dynasore Losers?
Jeff Saturday
Jets obvs
Bills. Look good on paper but never delivers
Miami Dolphins. Talented and deep (the only exception being a lack of QB).
Miami. He just loves those Fins
49ers. Looks good. But will probably crumble
Brandon Staley. Obviously smarter than you and better at coaching. But the results don’t really support it.
Who the Steelers think they are – strong running game, solid defence. Only beat shit teams. (You made me answer this)
It would be the Steelers if he’d actually won a title. Oh, and also he hasn’t gone above .500 every season. It would be the funniest answer though. However, given he’s been shit at times, hasn’t won the title and isn’t exactly a running a thrill-a-minute team I’ll say the Titans.
And now we move onto Tim, and the Hawkesville Hurricanes
The Saints/Mickey Loomis- roster building insanity. This cannot work out. And yet they keep doing it every year.
Seahawks. Came good despite how bad it was looking
I don’t know who any of them are
Bill Belichick. In that Neil the GM is pretty actively bad, but his team always seems to overperform the talent available. Not in the “always winning championships” way.
The Jags. They are quite good but everyone knows they won’t win it.
Blake Bortles’ QBed Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs
Jeff Saturday
Texans
Bit of a cheat but Joe Flacco. Rode a ridiculous streak to a title before becoming shit and then having a late comeback which was ultimately for nought.
The Dynablaster Bombermen
The Bills – nearly men lead by Josh Allen. Waiting for the stories to leak about what Ben used 9/11 as a metaphor for.
Buffalo Bills. Should be an easy top tier team but seem to make it hard on themselves every year.
Miami. Pulling it together across both sides. Good rookies. Some great individuals
I don’t know who any of them are
Jerry Jones – he runs the thing
Lions – play-off contenders but probably won’t make it to the Owl
Mike Tomlin. Obviously good, but never elite.
Mike McCarthy era Packers
The Packers? I’ve won a solitary title, and always seem to be in the mix without ever being able to make the step up and push on through. Ultimately let down by the small-c conservative nature of the team president.
The Champions of the Sun
Riverboat Ron..just dialing it in now
Arthur Smith’s Atlanta Falcons
The Vikings. Some nice players but really not that remarkable
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sum of their parts should be better.
Possibly Mike Vrabel? They never look particularly good, but they are actually usually pretty good.
Titans
Titans – even when they should suck, they find ways to win. Which is not really a good thing.
I don’t know who any of them are
Jeff Saturday
This was really tough and I’m not happy with the end result. The Rams. Even in a down year managed to spring some upsets and acquit himself well.
Kelkowski Don’t Need Any Dyna Rules
The Falcons (sorry). No idea how they may make the playoffs.
I don’t know who any of them are
John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens
Eagles. Just always pretty good.
The Eagles – consistently there or thereabouts, great RB rotation, bit top heavy at receiver. Does not give a shit about line backers or the secondary.
Philadelphia Eagles. Very consistent and deep, with a few challenges but tonnes of star talent.
There isn’t a serial winner in the NFL who is also sometimes quite shit. Or is there. The Niners perhaps? They haven’t got the (recent) title winning experience but they’ve got to the Owl and to the conference championship game. And also gone 4-12. Close enough.
Jeff Saturday
Jaguars
There is no comparison
And finally, Chris Braithwaite and Dyna Hard
Payton Manning era Colts – should have won more
Dallas. Superb players in some places but can occasionally fuck up.
Dallas Cowboys. Always beating the drum and making noise in the regular season, but had a track record of bailing.
Chiefs – you just expect them to be in the Owl
Steelers. Good team, have won before. But generally lose in the playoffs
Ravens? Can be relied upon to make the playoffs. Has won a title, but generally bottles it at the first sight of playoff football.
Jeff Saturday
I don’t know who any of them are
The most handsome one.
Bengals – might seem loaded but certain to fuck up in the playoffs (except for that one time)
And now (Bill Belichick voice) it’s onto the NFL…
What was this season’s highest high?
Not watched enough
The bit where that one guy did that thing
Brock Purdy beating the odds
CJ Stroud breaking out
Possibly recency bias, but the Kadarius Toney offside was absolutely beautiful.
The Jets/Packers game early on was funny. I’ve also enjoyed Miami and Dallas offensives being explosive
I don’t know, Deshaun Watson getting injured and being outplayed by 38 year old Joe Flacco? Nobody likes to see an injury, but there are exceptions to every rule. He’s still getting $250m though.
Something that was actually positive, the Dolphins scoring 70 was hilarious.
Dolphins 70 points
Miami 70-20 Denver
And the lowest of the low?
Von Miller. Someone who seemed like one of the good guys.
Jonathan Taylor’s holdout
Gamepass on DAZN
So. Many. Injuries.
All the quarterbacks
I don’t really think it’s a moment, but the amount of QB injuries this year has really sucked.
Kirk Cousins getting injured
That the Browns might make the playoffs. It doesn’t feel like that miserable a season, compared to many years. Von Miller is shitty news, as is the 9/11 teamwork speech by the Bills Coach…
I guess more generically, the ongoing loss of all the QBs. I think over half of all teams have now started 2 or more QBs in a game. It’s getting ridiculous. I think it’s just back luck though, there doesn’t appear to be a specific trend.
Pittsburgh losing to not one but two 2-10 teams.
The majority of prime time games. Luckily I’m asleep
Anything else you want to get off your chest?
The blue tent, which I suspect is actually a hidden toilet
Officiating is woeful at best, been a terrible year for the zebras. Also, injuries and losses of so many QBs and skill positions.
I’m looking forward to all the Taylor Swift / Yoko Ono takes when the Chiefs season ends in a disappointing first round defeat to the… Joe Flacco led Browns(?)
We need to do away with Division winners getting into the playoffs. I’m looking at you, NFC South. 7 best records only.
Make all penalties reviewable. Or add a sky judge. Just eliminate penalties that are factually inaccurate (e.g. hit to the head of a defenceless player where they don’t hit their head)
Teams should use laterals more. Surely it’s a massive opportunity
I still think this shouldn’t be a mandatory question [You don’t have to answer, you can just do as these people have…]
No
Nein
No
The best NFL-related Podcast?
CBA Sports Fantasy Football Today Dynasty – Heath Cummings
The Ringer
The exempt list
Around the NFL
CBA Sports Fantasy Football Today Dynasty – Heath Cummings
I’m sure it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I really enjoy Ben and Sheil on the Ringer’s NFL feed. Nora and Stephen are great too, but I feel like Ben and Sheil should annoy me and really don’t, I really enjoy the dynamic and the insight.
Most fun is the ringer fantasy football show. The football is mostly incidental, the podcast is just laugh out loud funny.
I haven’t listened to an NFL podcast since 2022 (if you couldn’t tell from my performance)
Who’s going to be playing in the Superbowl, come February, and which of those teams will win?
[Note: both teams and the winner were requested. As they are every year. And as with every year, some people failed that low bar]
Ravens beat 49ers
Ravens vs 49ers – Ravens to win it
Ravens over 49ers
Niners over anyone the AFC can put up against them. Unless they get injuries. I’ll say the AFC puts up the Ravens.
49ers v Chiefs. 49ers will win.
Dolphins v Niners. Niners win (31-24)
49er versus Dolphins
San Francisco 49ers
Cowboys over broncos
Cowboys and Dolphins. Cowboys will win.
And finally, the most important bit….
The following questions were suggested last year – a request for recommendations that other GMs may enjoy…
What’s the best new film you saw this year?
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Oppenheimer
Mission Impossible
Guardians Of The Galaxy 3
Talk to me (great Aussie horror film)
Have barely watched any this year. I enjoyed The Killer.
I don’t think this is, but I’m struggling to remember what else could go on the list, so Theatre Camp (now on Disney+). It’s really good. Highly recommended. I just feel that there’s probably something I saw that was better.
Not sure I’ve seen a new film? Do kids films count? Epic Tales then
Lol I have two children under 4
Not seen any
And the best TV show?
The Last Of Us
The Bear
The Bear s2
The Mandalorian
Succession [x2]
Colin from Accounts
If only I kept a spreadsheet… errr. I actually enjoyed (particularly against expectation) Gen V a lot. As with most sequels, I expected the Boys, but 10% worse. But actually got something that was a lot better.
Taskmaster as always
It’s always Taskmaster, but that aside, Slow Horses is brilliant.
Best (new or old) book you read this year?
I only read fantasy/sci fi books, so none, I know they’re trashy. If you pushed me, it’d be the Red Rising books, since I smashed the first three in a week on holiday.
Birds by Jim Moir
I read one that was good but I forget what it was called
See new film answer [Lol I have two children under 4]
Definitely not read a book
None
I read half the Slow Horses series before taking a break. They are very fun books.
100 years of Solitude
A life with footnotes
The Dandelion Dynasty series by Ken Liu
Best album you bought / streamed this year?
Dunno, listened to so much I can’t narrow it down
Was Harry Styles this year?
Nation of Language – Strange Disciple
72 Seasons – Metallica
Asphalt Meadows – Death Cab for Cutie
Javelin
Ashamed to say also not listened to a new album this year. What the hell has happened to me!
I’ve enjoyed Wrest’s albums a lot (Scottish indie folk for the Idlewild fans ie Stew) and good live. New Matthew and the Atlas was more of the same, but nothing wrong with that. But the best album was Preacher’s Daughter, hands down.
The Silver Cord by King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard
I’m old. I don’t get / listen to new music really. Wet Leg, probably.
Favoured musical format?
6 x streaming
1 x Vinyl, Live, Buying from Bandcamp and I only listen to music on my iPod classic
Best game (board or video) released or discovered this year?
I do not know, sorry
Cocoon
Baldur’s Gate 3 [x2]
Terra Nil
Board: Earth. A really smart reimagining of Terraforming Mars.
Video: Factorio, Snap, BG3, God of War 3 and Cyberpunk have dragged me off Warcraft for chunks of time, no small feat.
Scout. Technically a card game. Not sure if it came out this year, but I definitely discovered it this year. It has dominated games nights, not as the main event, but as the (only) filler game we play towards the end of the evening.
Paradise Killer
Madden 24
Recently got into geoguesser
Best podcast that was new to you this year?
The invention of… Series on BBC Sounds
The CX Cast by Forrester
I don’t think I’ve listened to anything new, I don’t get through all the existing stuff as so much of it has spun out from one or twice a week to four or five times.
One of the Everton ones. Blue room probably. Love listening to scousers moaning
The Rest is Money
Pass
Genuinely not sure if I’ve listened to any new podcasts this year. So I’ll say Judge John Hodgman (been listening since it began which is probably over a decade ago) and Three Bean Salad, which I think is 2 years old now…
Quickly Kevin will he score
Bad, Bad Thing
Don’t really listen to them.
Worst thing in popular culture at the moment?
Popular culture
I don’t really follow popular culture
No idea. I’ve made a pact to move myself away from social media, where all these things come out
Nothing offends me that much that comes to mind
Nigel Farage
Review bombing by people who haven’t actually consumed the thing in question.
Cocomelon
Reality tv
Netflix. So few genuinely good things on there, yet I can’t convince the family to get rid. They just churn out mediocre stuff, never striving for greatness (Netflix, not the family).
Any new year’s resolutions?
The upcoming one? To master React.
Don’t do them
I don’t bother making them. But probably something about fitness.
Finish a thing.
Win it all
To get better at Dynabowl
Don’t have one
Something I won’t complete
Secret
To use my time better
And finally…. Anything I should have asked but didn’t?
A whole section of quick fire what’s better questions:
dogs or cats,
fish and chips or pie and mash,
golf (not the Ryder Cup) or literally anything else,
Liverpool or Manchester United
Etc
Also, every year we should ask
Best player name / tv show (new players edition). It’s still the greatest riff we ever did, it lasted months.
Which dynabowl GM would you choose to trapped on a desert island with an why
We should do an auction in the Chatterbowl, right?
Why do you hate TT so much?
What constitutes success?