The Golden Neep IC

PERFECT SEASON!!!

Now just playoffs and Neep. We can do this.



[Montrose +]
You all were AMAZING out there last week. Hopefully everyone's on the mend. I have to say, while it was an honor to serve as your captain, I think I'll let Micah take over for the post season.

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Montrose Magpies (11-0-0 1.000) versus Falmouth Falcons (3-7-1 0.273)
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Play Started:2000-04-12 at Scottish National (The Lamb)
Snitch caught in : 3 hours, 38 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montrose Magpies : 630
Falmouth Falcons : 220
Congratulations, Montrose Magpies
( And that's a wrap for the regular season, with no deaths to speak of, again. Look for playoff schedules and times in the Daily Prophet and other sources of news... )

( Owl to Meaghan McCormack (sent Friday 23 March) )

Who: Lex & Micah Yaxley Savage
What: Howler repercussions. And family feels.
When: The day of the howler - 13 March, evening
Where: The Cottage
Warnings: F for Feels, discussion of pureblood politics

( I’ve never met him and I know he doesn’t deserve you. )

[Montrose players & staff (not owners)]

I'm sorry you had to hear that. No one should ever have to hear anything like that.

I hope you all know that my aunt does not speak for me. It's always been my dream to play for Montrose, and it was a dream my family didn't always support. But since my first day donning the black and white, Montrose has been my family. All of you are what makes this game worth while. My years playing at Montrose are what broke down the bigotry my Uncle and other members of my family believed in. I have all of you to thank for that.

The fact that we have come back together, after the war, after injuries, with new players and old, and that we are a stronger and better team - well, I have never been prouder to be a Magpie.

And I will always have your back, on and off the pitch.

Montrose forever.

[Shona]

You have been the rock at Montrose through it all. Thank you.

[Alex]

I might be ready to talk about that article.

[Micah]

I love you more every day.

[Hamish]

Thank you.

Please don't say you regret it.

Who: Elektra Yaxley Savage & the Montrose Magpies Team
What: Practice Interrupted.
When: Tuesday, 13 March, morning
Where: Montrose clubroom / practice pitch
Warnings: offensive Anti-muggleborn languag; F for Feels

This can be ic/ooc or whatever you want.

( The shrill voice of Iphigenia Yaxley, wife of Corban Yaxley, rang through the the Montrose club room. )

Howlers sent Tuesday morning, 13 March:
Warnings: offensive Anti-muggleborn language; purists being dicks

How is Skeeter still employed by the Prophet?

[Lex]
Alright?

[Meaghan]
Missed you at the match last week. Make it through alright?

[Dunbar]
So?

[Study Group]
If any of you need to get in touch with me after tonight, send an owl.

How’s Kal, Auggie?

Congratulations, Magpies!

[Lennox]

Saw Witch Weekly. Anything you need from me?

[Lex]

Saw the Prophet. How do you want to play this? Would you feel at all comfortable with putting together a Letter to the Editor to put your thoughts out there?

Who: Lex Yaxley Savage & Hamish Roberts
What: Drinking and talking. Trying to figure out where they stand.
When: 7 March
Where: The Drunken Seer & Hamish's Room
Warnings: A for AWKWARD (talk of the war & relationships)

( We've never really talked about this. Probably because my uncle’s a death eater. )

Who: Lex Yaxley and Georgi Draganov
What: A beater heart-to-heart about family, bravery, and pink.
When: Friday, 9 March, after practice.
Where: Locker room, Montrose training grounds.
Warnings: A little sad.

( And no matter what we choose, we lose something. )

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Montrose Magpies (9-0-0 1.000) versus Wigtown Wanderers (4-5-0 0.444)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play Started:2000-03-11 at Scottish National Stadium at The Lamb
Snitch caught in : 6 hours, 0 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montrose Magpies : 950
Wigtown Wanderers : 940
Congratulations, Montrose Magpies
( It's always a sad day when they don't let us out of the stadium until after happy hour ends... )

[Montrose +]

Time to take on the last scottish team! We have a bit of experience playing with and against them from the charity match and unfortunately that means the opposite too so they will be a bit more ready for some of our tricks.

This is a mediocre write-off season for them (they’re 4-5), but it’s a rebuilding season for the league. They’ve got a firm grasp on 12th so this isn’t a playoff year for them, but that’s mostly because they haven’t been in any high scoring matches this year. In fact their top score was 350 with the snitch last bloc. Their offense struggles a bit too much with putting big points on the board for this ranking system I’m afraid. So on paper they are deceptively bad. Really, their season numbers look average to bad across the board and if we hadn’t played with them earlier and if you don’t look at the matches on an individual basis, it’s easy to believe that.

Wigtown Notes

Chasers: Better than they are at first glance frankly. Have suffered from some big injuries that seem to have thrown them off, and haven’t really been able to put together the points they need to push themselves up. The chasers alone though have held their own against some big teams and even been ahead before they lost the match on the snitch. You can tell from the fact that none of their matches have seen huge point differences (160 points is the highest final point difference of their season and that was with losing the snitch). Parkin is their big scorer and Maddox their main defense and support type, so hold off whichever of them you can.

Beaters: They had a promising beater in Okeke but alas too promising as Portree poached her a few blocs ago. The remaining ones are respectable but so far haven’t been anything to write home about.

Keeper: Another case of better than she seems on paper. She was knocked out early in one match and her stats have suffered since. Other than that match, for all but one other match she’s been a solid 80-90% keeper.

Seeker: Alright. Blythe suffers from poor timing, as they’ve lost a few matches within their grasp from that snitch. Although she oddly enough has had more success against seekers that were better than her in skill (Mather and Lynch most recently). She’s capable of coming through for them just hasn’t been consistent at all about it.

Lineup:

Chasers: Jason, Roger, Angus
Beaters: Kal and Georgi
Keeper: Ada
Seeker: Kenna

As for the team sporting pink this match:

It should be a surprise to none of you that I’m fully for it.

But this is not something mandatory or enforced, that would ruin the good spirit behind it. I do want to say though that if you are hesitant for any reason, that I hope you consider doing this for this match. At the very least in personal support of those in our Magpie family involved in this wave of pink that’s sweeping the League.

If you want to talk to any of the staff about it still, our doors are open. And if you have concerns about the PR side of things: there’s Alex.

Dani has ordered boots with pink, and there should be a stack of rosettes too. If you’re interested they should be somewhere by her office (or ask her) and will be around on match day in the locker room too.

Jason, I believe Mick and Dani may have something for you soon.

[Gabi]

Between Lorna's birthday just now and Florrie's coming up, I have never seen so much glitter everywhere. It's almost resistant to magic.

Is the night before the match still the big Pão de Queijo making night?

Micah

Why is it that when our schedule is busy I want to get away for a few days?

Hamish

Up for flying again? Or drinking?

Who: Kal Sharma and Lex Yaxley Savage
What: Kal stumbles across Lex after her talk with Jason
When: Monday, 5 March before Montrose practice
Where: Showers, Montrose club rooms
Warnings: Feelings

( I just need to get out there and smack some bludgers around. )

As the only BIQL commissioner for Scotland, I look forward to the existence of the Scottish Office and wish Desmond Parkin and his team well as he builds the institutions of government for the Coven of the North.

[Macmillan Clan]

I've been speaking to Jason King about Uplift and I'm putting together a proposal for the Macmillan Foundation to fund a Mental Health Practice at the Montrose Free Clinic. The idea is that it provides services to war trauma sufferers, and ideally be open to whatever that may mean, but with the goal of helping people who are hurting in ways we can't see.

Uplift would stay involved, advising on muggle and muggleborn health issues. Jason is looking for a recommendation to the foundation for a director.

This is directly in line with long-stated Macmillan Foundation goals and is complementary to the Montrose Free Clinic.

As such, we've invited the board of Uplift to attend the Wigtown match with us in the box, and that this may include their friend Monte Cameron, formerly of Falmouth.

At some point, perhaps when we have a director, we'll host a charity reception to kick things off. That will probably be post-finals, but some organizating will have to happen sooner.

[Ana Abercrombie]

Hey Ana,

How are you feeling about charity organizing these days?


[Montrose Management]

In a show of unity with our players and friends, Montrose is inviting the board of Uplift to attend the Wigtown match as guests of the Macmillans. We are honoring their mission and are planning how we can work together on areas of mutual interest. Monte Cameron and Justin Finch-Fletchley should be invited as well, but we don't want them to be uncomfortable, so no publicizing that. We'll just let other people see who we do and don't consider our friends.

Alex, I know you can put something together based on that. The Uplift board is Nobby Leach, Hermione Granger, Mary Cattermole, Jeremy Goodwin, and also Emerson Harper and Caroline Knightly. Pink Red Carpet treatment, please. The invites should come from Una, Bertie, and Charlie. Yes, they are aware of it. :)

For longer term use, the current working cooperative plan is to expand on the Montrose Free Clinic by adding a Mental Health practice that specializes in war trauma, because it's both clearly in line with Macmillan Foundation goals and it's also sadly needed. There are lots of people who came back from the war, but brought part of the war with them in their heads, and if we can get them help, we'll be doing some real good.

Anyone who needs to know what the extent and limit of wardrobe creativity allowed by BIQL and DOMGAS rules should ask here. I happen to know. And for anyone who wants to know, alterations may not 1) use other team's colors in an attempt to fool the opposing team. 2) cover or obscure the player's team colors on more than 50% of the uniform. 3) be made without prior approval of the team's manager. So, unless you fly out in a Harpies robe, and it's at least half black and white, nobody can get fashed.

[Monte Cameron]
On behalf of the Macmillan family and the Montrose Magpies, you are invited to be our special guest in the Montrose Box for Sunday's match against Wigtown. I know you're in great demand these days, so I wanted to give you a heads up before the owl arrives. Jason King will likely talk to you about it, but we had to go ahead with the invite because of the time.

[Ainsley]
I think I need some pink clothes.

[Hamish MacFarlan, Saxon Lethbridge]
We absolutely must come out against bullying before the end of the block. If you don't want a continuing pink revolution, we have to come out as even handed. I've got players coming to me complaining about 'hostile work environment' and 'harrasing behavior within other teams'.

Even if we do nothing, we have to disapprove of the term 'mudblood' about one of our players. If something was done to that idiot Flint, say so publicly.

Recovery is going good! I'm trying to get back to some kind of exercise routine. Champ is not a helpful workout partner unless it involves running.

Spell-o-Taped in

©tessisamess

Who: Lex Yaxley Savage & Jason King
What: A gesture, a conversation (argument?), and some uneasy resolution
When: Monday, 5 March before Montrose practice
Where: Montrose practise pitch
Warnings: Language, Feels

Note: If any Montrose player wants to find Lex drowning herself crying in the showers after this, feel free to let me know. She will probably be a little late to practice (despite showing up early to the pitch), but she will be wearing pink.


( Don’t just throw money at something you think you’re supposed to support. )

[Montrose+]

Alright team this is a big month for us. We're nearing the end of the regular season and the first Neep on the 31st.

Since at this point in this season, with only 3 blocs left, we have a very solid grasp on a good playoff seed, I’m going to turn our attention to starting strong with the Neep. We are not going easy on the regular season teams, but we are going to try and save some of our strength for hitting Portree hard right off the bat.

Which means the lineups for this month are subject to change and up in the air but I will tell you ahead of time some of my plans for them so a few of you are prepared. Please note these are tentative.

Tentative line up notes:

Chasers: I don Wigtown will be Jason, Roger, and Angus. Maddock, listen to Florrie and heal well. We still have a lot ahead we need you for. Unfortunately nothing much to give you lot right now other than the Wigtown lineup, it’s all up in the air.

Beaters: Lex and Georgi, you’re on Neep. But Kal, I’m playing you for both Wigtown and the Kestrels. You’re more than ready for both. Who's playing which match with you is still to be determined but one for each either way.

Keepers: Micah is leading us into the Neep so Ada you’ll be getting one of the two regular season matches. I’ll get back to you on which.

Seekers: Lennox, normally I’d rest you for the match the week before the Neep, you’re going to be absolutely vital there, but that match is against the Kestrels. And Lynch is the only one experienced and levelheaded enough to give you any kind of a challenge. So that’s not one I can rest you on, unfortunately we’ll need you to play both those matches. So Kenna, I’m giving you Wigtown. We’ll talk about their seekers in detail later.

[Montrose Staff]

Regarding having a pink team at the match:

I’m going to say again, it’s not mandatory, I want people to do it in the spirit of support and solidarity not because it’s mandated.

But I want to support this how we can. Roger had a mention of pink boots in Jason’s entry, that and rosettes might not be a bad idea? Opinions? Whatever we do will need to be a rush order though.

And Jason wants the magpie on his robes to be a neon pink, I’ve told him I’m very happy for him to have that screw any fines. But seeing as he won’t have time to fiddle around with designs...Mick? Should be a fun project for a change. Take the practice uniforms and experiment so that Jason has options to choose from.

[PRIVATE]

To Do list:

• Follow up with Florrie - Maddock for the Kestrels match?
  
• Speaking of Florrie: bday gift + dinner
  
• Dinner at mum’s this week
  
• Work out tentative lineups for the next 3 matches (Wigtown/Kestrels/Neep)
  
• Line up considerations:
  
  • Maddock recovery time (out for Wigtown, ?Kestrels but if so then iffy on playing him for Neep)
    
  • Jason’s Broom Race
    
  • Need for starter rest
    
  • Captain or ViceCap needs to be in play for each match
    
  • Kestrels > Wigtown, unfortunate timing though
    
  • Neep lineup needs to be saved up where possible, but balanced with what’s reasonable to put reserves on
    
  • Lennox vs. Lynch needs to stay
    
  • Georgi/Lex: Which on wigtown, which on kestrels
    
  • Ada - Wigtown or Kestrels
    
  • Chasers - who the hell knows right now
  
  
• Buckle down on Portree research
  
  • Roberts era Portree (focus on the prime years)
    
  • Old Ballycastle - Pepper (+possibly Okeke)
    
  • Dig up Wigtown matches - Okeke
    
  • Galbraith in case (no way they don’t play McCormack) - Cannons (this will be painful to go through) + Wanderers if there’s time
    
  • Listen to Parkinson recordings Gregor dug up - their giant hasn’t completely found his spot in the BIL style of play just yet, there’s more that can come from him
  
  
• Celtics for Kai’s potential debut on the 15th
  
• Attend Portree vs. Cats
  
• Consider updating Potential Future Players list for offseason wants/needs
  
  • Revisit Georgi’s contract pending Peppard’s progress
  
  
• Ideally keep the top seed for the postseason run (fuck the Bats)
  
• Follow up on pink additions for the match (for players/staff)
  
• Find some extra pink to wear or charm something pink for self

[Justin]

So, I've already talked to Monte. How are you doing?

[Lex]

Hello - have you heard about this Magpies-Pink thing? Georgi was talking to me about it.