World Baseball Classic 32 - Everything Thread

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Congrats to Hicaña and to Patistan for advancing onwards to the semifinals!

WBC ROUND OF SIX MATCHUPS

Gregoryisgodistan v. Jeckland
Rack City Ballpark (cap 75,000), Rack City, Jeckland - scorinated by Patistan - victor plays Patistan
Cosumar v. Nova Anglicana
Patistan National Ground (cap. 95,000), Tachi, Patistan - scorinated by The Northern Union - victor plays Hicaña

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Jeckland               2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  6
Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0  5
Patistan National Ground(cap 95,000), Tachi - Jeckland leads 1-0

[Patistan]

Deleted

[Nova Anglicana]

Electoral Reform Act Passes

John McAvoy, Political Columnist, Londinium Courier

After months of crafting the bill and weeks of debate and political struggle, the Electoral Reform Act, the baby of Prime Minister Allen Mumford, has passed both the House of Deputies and the Senate. The controversial bill passed the House of Deputies 55-45 on the first vote, and eked through the Senate 13-12 after some last-minute maneuvering and a special-interests bill guaranteeing subsidies for the district(s) of the representative(s) who had initially opposed the bill. The new bill redesigns the Nova Anglican electoral process into a mixed-member proportional system, euphemistically called "personalized proportional representation."

Under the new system, 50 deputies will be elected via electoral districts, and 50 deputies will be elected via proportional representation. A party must win at least 3% of the national vote to be apportioned any deputies not elected via electoral districts. If a party wins more district seats than it would get from proportional representation, then the number of total deputies will be expanded from 100. It also provides for a nonpartisan committee to determine the new electoral districts.

The committee will be formed in the next two weeks and will have a three month mandate to complete the redistricting process. Elections will be held ten weeks after the completion of the redistricting process, though if the committee takes fewer than three months to redistrict, the local election boards will be allowed the extra time to organize as if the committee had taken three months.

So the composition of parliament won't be changing for at least another five months or so, but the groundwork has been laid. Surely at this moment there are individuals scrambling to register new political parties or rallying their bases and doing new recruiting in the hopes of snatching a seat or two in the House of Deputies. The electoral district seats will still be allotted by first-past-the-post system, except that a candidate is now required to obtain only 35% of the vote instead of 40. This is to account for the increase in the number of candidates, though it appears unlikely that this will be a major difference. Many of the new electoral districts are either expected to condense districts usually claimed by smaller parties and combine districts usually won by the two major parties, so that PJP and NAPP candidates will often be fighting it out for one seat where there was two and smaller parties may have to make a decision between two deputies of their party for one seat. It is important to know that the bill only affects the House of Deputies and not the Senate. However, as minor parties contest seats in the HoD, we may see candidates from other parties attempt to claim a Senate seat based on newfound popularity. The Senate is much more resistant to change, but we shall see.

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Cosumar                1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  3

[Patistan]

Cutoff...i'll score the proper results now

Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  3
Jeckland               0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Series leveled

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Cosumar                2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana         3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 X  6
Nova Anglicana wins series 2G-0

[Patistan]

Cut

Gregoryisgodistan      1 2 3 3 0 1 1 0 1 12
Jeckland               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Rack City Ballpark (cap 75,000), Rack City, Jeckland

Gregoryisgodistan Win's series 2-1

[Patistan]

WBC Semi-Finals

Patistan v. Gregoryisgodistan
Republic Ground (cap 58,800), Tahore, Patistan - scorinated by The Northern Union

Hicana v. Nova Anglicana
Magnus Denhølm Memorial Field (cap. 32,500), Port Syjælaen, Hakifao, The Northern Union - scorinated by Jeckland

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

cut. apologies for the delay, we had to work this out.

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Gregoryisgodistan      3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  6
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0  2
Republic Ground (cap 58,800), Tahore, Patistan - scorinated by The Northern Union

[Nova Anglicana]

NABL To Expand For Upcoming Season

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

With the firm entrenchment of Nova Anglicana as a top-10 international baseball nation (the Lions' losers' bracket travails notwithstanding) and the establishment of the Baseball Club Championships in which the Aquae Sulis Trappers and Eboracum Yeomen participated (with the Yeomen reaching the semifinals of the Unity Cup), baseball's popularity is at an all-time high in Nova Anglicana. Upwards of 30,000 fans packed Archbishop Stadium in Londinium for each of the five games of the BCC final series between the Eastern Dellwood Comets and the Ny Aucklanda Warlocks. Baseball's popularity has risen sharply, with nearly a quarter of the nation naming it as their favorite sport and finally breaking the 50% barrier for "some daily attention", now at 56%. These numbers are up from 18 and 45% several years ago.

With this in mind, Nova Anglican Baseball League officials announced that in the upcoming season, there would be two expansion teams in the league. Commissioner Robert Webster revealed that the league had been cultivating potential investors for the past few years in preparation for this move. "We had a feeling that baseball would get pretty big in our country and so we have been reaching out to individuals that we felt shared our vision for professional baseball in Nova Anglicana."

One of the two new teams has been announced as the Isca Town Greens, giving Isca Dumnoniorum a team in every major professional sport in Nova Anglicana. The "Greens" nickname was taken from the flag of Prince Edward Island and from the natural beauty of the island. Other nicknames considered were the "Maritimes" and the "Federals". The Greens will share the field of the University of Prince Edward Island while the 25,000 seat Queen Charlotte Park is constructed. The Greens will play in the Western Division with the Eboracum Yeomen, Newfield Express, Sept-Iles Bleus, Vinovium Gunners, and the Durovernum Cantiacorum (DC) Brewers.


The second team announced is the Londinium Novas, which immediately provokes the question: who will root for this new team? The Londinium Capitols have not been the best team of late, so maybe there will be some disaffected Capitols fans who will gravitate towards this new club. The Novas will reportedly feature a sunburst on their uniforms, but no word yet as to whether they will imitate the "tequila sunrise" look popularized by the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball in the 1970s. The Novas will play in Archbishop Stadium when the Capitols are on the road, paying hundreds of thousands of Anglican pounds for the privilege, reportedly. When the Caps and the Novas are both in Londinium, the Novas will retire to the field of the Memorial University Sea-Hawks. In time, the Novas will play in a 30,000 seat stadium named after commissioner Robert Webster. The Novas will play in the Eastern Division with the Londinium Capitols, Aquae Sulis Trappers, Portus Abonae Millers, Pons Aelius Mariners, and Mancunium Pilots.

Of course, with the expansion of the major league, minor league expansion is needed as well. The new teams in the Labrador League will be the Makkovik Evergreens (Northern Division, affiliated with the Novas), and the Red Bay Galleons (Southern Division, affiliated with the Greens). Moving into the Twin Provinces League will be the Blanc-Sablon Barachois (Eastern Division, affiliated with the Greens), and the Stephenville Stratos (named after the B-52 Stratofortress bombers on the former US Air Force base, Western Division, affiliated with the Novas). Finally, joining the top rung, the Maritime League, will be the Kings County Planters (Western Division, affiliated with the Novas), and the Miramichi Highlanders (Eastern Division, affiliated with the Greens).

This is a monumental day for baseball in Nova Anglicana. The details of the upcoming season are still being worked out, but stay tuned for the new 12-team NABL in this next year!

[Equestrian States]

As requested via IRC:

Hicaña                 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0  5
Patistan               0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2

[Jeckland]

Hicaña                 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  6
Patistan               0 0 0 0 4 1 0 1 2  8

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

Nova Anglicana         1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Gregoryisgodistan      2 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 X  7
Gregoryisgodistan wins series 2G-0

[Jeckland]

Patistan               1 0 2 0 0 0 1 4 0  8
Hicaña                 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0  4

Patistan wins 2-1.

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

WBC ROUND OF THREE

Hicaña v. Gregoryisgodistan

The Bear Pit, Byton, Jeckland

[Jeckland]

Hicana                 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1  4
Gregoryisgodistan      3 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 X  8
Gregoryisgodistan leads 1-0

[Patistan]

Cut

Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0  7
Hicana                 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Gregoryisgodistan win's series 2-0

[The Vjaal-Hakifao Northern Union]

WBC FINALS at TACHI NATIONAL STADIUM, scorinated by JECKLAND: Patistan v. Gregoryisgodistan

WBC 3PPO at RACK CITY BALLPARK scored by PATISTAN: Hicana v. Nova Anglicana

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions Not Quite Done With WBC

Allen Talos, Londinium Courier

This tri-hosted WBC has been byzantine to say the least, with double elimination being implemented from the quarterfinals onwards, and many scheduling irregularities. I'm sure that quite a few Nova Anglicans, this columnist almost included, thought that the Lions were done after dropping their second series of the double-elimination stage, this time to Gregoryisgodistan in the semifinals of the losers' bracket. But no, the Lions will continue to play, heading to Jeckland to face Hicaña in a rematch of a quarterfinals series that Hicaña won 2-0.

The prospect of revenge, while not really something Nova Anglicans are big on, is huge in this series. I prefer to call it "justice" or "comeuppance," seeing as the Hicañans really have no place being in the quarterfinals, let alone the 3rd place series. They may be ranked 20th in the world, but they are fielding a team composed entirely of amateurs, since "all the baseball players fled the country." It remains a mystery as to how they defeated the Lions, humiliating them in two games by an aggregate score of 11-1.

Veteran shortstop Jarrod Novak, known for his bold proclamations, made no bones about the Lions' intentions: "How bad do we want to beat Hicaña? Let me tell you something. I am so proud of the way our guys have been playing. We've been giving it our all on the field, when most of the other teams seem to be going through the motions. But we've been getting some bad breaks. Do we deserve to be in the championship series? Based on our effort, definitely. But that's not the way it's working out right now. So we're going to make the most of it by kicking butt and taking names in the 3rd place series."

Novak is confident about his team's chances, and so am I. I think that Felix Murphy will get back on track after a very inconsistent Classic, and that we'll see some fireworks from the batters. I personally hope that Kareem Al-Aniz, in what is almost certainly his final WBC, goes out in style, knocking a few balls into the bleachers and maybe even getting a chance to play a couple of innings at first for old times' sake. This Classic has been disappointing, but hopefully the Lions can end it on a good note.

P.S. I find myself in the strange position of rooting for Gregoryisgodistan in the final series. Although I detest their government, I don't think Patistan is in the least way deserving of winning a WBC title. It will be tough for the Bat Slaves, as they need to win two series to defeat their opponents, but I think they can do it. I wish it were the Lions playing, but we have to make do with the Bat Slaves.

Editor's Note: The views expressed in this column are solely the views of the writer and not necessarily those of the Londinium Courier or the government of Nova Anglicana.

[Jeckland]

Patistan               1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  6
Gregoryisgodistan      0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 1  7

Gregoryisgodistan leads the five game series 1-0

[Patistan]

Cutoff!

Nova Anglicana         2 3 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 11
Hicana                 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1  5

Nova Anglicana leads series 1-0

[Jeckland]

Gregoryisgodistan      0 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 3  9
Patistan               0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2  5

[Patistan]

Hicana                 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nova Anglicana         1 3 0 0 2 1 0 3 X 10