Portland Portal

[Guest]

Doesn't take as long as you might think. I'm halfway through doing a season review and after that I was going to ask if anybody actually reads this thread and finds it interesting. I guess as long as I enjoy doing it, I will keep it going.

[Guest]

PORTLAND PHANTOMS – SEASON REVIEW

With the season now over for the Portland Phantoms, we take a look back at the 2038 campaign with a player by player review.

The Phantoms finish with a respectable 8-8 record which saw them improve immensely as the season went on. Rookie GM, rush_27 can be proud of his debut season in the hot seat and will now look forward to improving the roster in the post season and draft.

Quarterbacks

Jarrod Gaddy – Struggled early doors but showed his class towards the end of the season.

Jon Lee – Jon stepped in when Gaddy was injured and surprised a few with some solid performances.

Will Heffner – Came in as back up when Gaddy was out. Unlikely to be retained.

Broderick Walz – The rookie spent a season on clipboard duties.

Running Backs

Bart Shue – Over 1000 yards and 9 touchdowns at a disappointing 3.16 a carry.

Lukas Alexander –Rookie protected the ball well and gained almost 350 yards.

Clyde Crawford – The rookie free agent didn’t see much action

Shar Savea – The veteran full back had a solid season with 26 catches.

Tight-Ends

Nate Hartman – Made a good contribution where he made 43 catches for just over 400 yards

Bubba Rodriguez – Not much contribution on the season

Gavin Sellars – The rookie didn’t play many downs so hopefully he can improve in the off season.

Receivers

Leroy Henry –Gaddy’s favourite target recording 1039 yards on 81 catches. Good contribution on special teams.

Neal Joyner – Neil had a breakout season recording 588 yards on 54 catches

Carter Garcia – Struggled with injuries and was restricted to less than 250 yards

Steve Worsham – The free agency signing made a decent contribution when fit but is unlikely to be retained

Colby McWilliams – The rookie showed glimpses of his talent but will need to improve to move up the depth chart

Irving Mendheim – Made the odd contribution on third down pass plays and special teams

Offensive Line

Oscar Tubbs – Didn’t have the best season and struggled with injury

Lenny Bishop – Had a very good season with 28 KRB

Conner Diaz – The rookie showed good maturity with 26 KRB

Norman Randle – Made 23 KRB on the season

Peyton Szalay – Made a decent effort at RT

Harvey Rizzo – Backup Center filled in nicely when Tubbs was missing

Tommie Kustok – Saw limited action

Dennis Hamilton – Back-up Guard didn’t play much

Patrick Gunja – Didn’t play much

Defensive Line

Randy Conway – Led the team in sacks with 6

Travis Kafka – Despite his hurries, only grabbed 3.5 sacks

Levon Wiltshire – Only played sporadically

Seth Woods – 2 sacks from a backup role

Shawn Babka – The big Nose Tackle had a good season clogging up the middle

Diego Cunningham – Rookie didn’t see much game time

Steve Schneider – Signed as a backup when Babka got injured

Linebackers

Alex Buchanan – Led the team in tackles and played well above his ability

George Sullivan – Rookie had a decent campaign at WILB

Diego Levine – Not much contribution

Tim Mueller – Didn’t play much

Cornell Guzowski – Was quite impressive despite his low ability

Marco Greer – The veteran grabbed 5 sacks on the season

Conrad Sullivan – Not a bad season

Orlando Harmon – 5.5 sacks on the season

Defensive Backs

Darrin Wheeler – Grabbed 3 interceptions on the season

Dean Burgower – 3 interceptions and over 80% on passes defended

Joseph Hansen – Back up CB was solid

Scott Oukac – Back up CB

Ian Cochrane – Solid if unspectacular

Junior Dernbach – Had a decent season

Kerry Holly – The Safety was solid all season

Riddick Bravo – Slow start but picked up towards the end

Matthew Hairston – Struggled with a niggling injury for most of the season

Special Teams

Lawrence Selmon – Under 80% success rate on field goals but picked up towards the end of the season

Jorge Buckner – Rookie Punter will get better after an OK season

Ricardo Wheeler – Long snapper. Unlikely to be retained

[Guest]

PORTLAND PHANTOMS - RETIREMENTS

The Portland Phantoms bid farewell to four players this off season as they decide to hang up the cleats.

TE Nate Hartman - Nate was drafted in the first round back in 2026 and went on to make 163 starts for the Phantoms either side of spells with Boston and Los Alamos.

He leads all Phantoms in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches.

FB Shar Savea - Shar was drafted in the 3rd round by Motor City in 2028. Shar was mainly a blocking FB who played for five different teams during his career.

He was rewarded for a fine season in 2037 when he made all pro FB for the Utah Bees.

WR Irving Mendheim - Irving was drafted in the 2nd round by the Dakota Totems in 2029.

Plagued by inconsistency, his best season would come in 2036 for the San Francisco Bayhawks where he gained over 1000 yards for the only time in his career.

CB Darrin Wheeler - Darrin was a top ten pick back in 2027 and would have a solid career by way of Los Alamos, San Francisco and Portland.

Darrin played 189 games and started every single one.

[Guest]

Phantoms announce Stadium plans

The Portland Phantoms have this week announced that they would be putting a proposal forward for stadium renovations in the off season.

It is believed that they are looking into increasing the capacity with more club seats and luxury boxes also mooted. The stadium itself, which opened in 1989, is starting to look a bit dated with the turf and parking lot in need of repair.

GM rush_27 is an ambitious guy and is said to be disappointed with the average attendance which dipped below 50,000 for the first time since 2032.

He is also hoping that the public get behind the project and is looking for a favourable vote. If the vote gets the nod, the project could be finished by 2042 season.

[Guest]

Hartman finally retires!

[Guest]

Never realised how good he was until I looked through his career.

[Guest]

the Portland D looks great this year. If only Sheldon didnt get hurt.

[Guest]

We gave up our first round pick last year and picked up Kelly Petit from Port City. Petit and last seasons DROY Heath Hall have been outstanding and I think Petit could be in the running for defensive player of the year. Ralph Reid continues to be one of the best safeties in the league and Ian Cochrane has been picking off QB's for fun last couple of seasons.

Looking ahead, we will be looking to improve our offense and over the next couple of seasons we could be competing.

When I took over Portland, we were one of the worst rated teams and still are the worst franchise in terms of value. But we have been taking baby steps over my tenure, building one block at a time, improving year on year which is pleasing.

Shame that QB Sheldon hasn't worked out. Who knows where we could have been if he had played all season

[Guest]

Shame that QB Sheldon hasn't worked out. Who knows where we could have been if he had played all season

Do you wish you didnt make the Sheldon - Gaddy trade? That was a tough trade for both of us...

[Guest]

It would be easy, in hindsight to have regrets but I honestly don't regret the deal. Gaddy was too much of a liability but they may have been down to the way I was using him. I knew that I would maybe get one season out of Sheldon and then look at the QB situation again. Not sure if Rogers is the answer but this season will certainly help his development.

[Pat]

I miss Eddie Castillo.

[Guest]

I miss Eddie Castillo.

Never had the pleasure Pat, well before my time.

[Guest]

Eddie Castillo cried whenever he saw a tree.

[Pat]

He "suffered from depression" during our entire playoff run to the championship.

That was the last straw for me.

[Guest]

He "suffered from depression" during our entire playoff run to the championship.

That was the last straw for me.

Haha! I'm now suffering with depression as GM!