International Basketball Championships 16 - Everything (IC)

[Electrum]

Centralis Mayoral Elections - Part 2
Andrew Simons - Labour Candidate
Na Chan - Conservative Candidate
Nick Andersen - Green Candidate

The Debate continued...

Andrew Simons valiantly hit back at any questions which were posed to him by the audience, and had his points well known and succinct. He was having the perfect time on the debate, when suddenly, he felt a bit tense around his face. It felt just a bit hotter than before - surely no one screwed up the thermostat? He took out a handkerchief and started swatting his whole face, Na Chan looking all the more devious - the parties had an agreement where they had a specific temperature to which they would debate at, but either, someone didn't get the memo, or someone was sabotaging the entire thing. Nick Andersen, or as Na Chan often called him, the homosexual, took off his jumper, to screams in the audience.

"Simons, you there? Keep your cool, your looking mighty suspicious with your sweating". Andrew couldn't reply - him having a secret receiver in his ear was also against the rules, but by this point, everyone was breaking them, but he still didn't want to get caught. Na then suddenly spoke up - "Is it true, Nick, that you had four boyfriends over the course of five years?" - she then found some photos out of nowhere and showed them to the camera. Andrew was surprised at the photos - they had banned pre-written notes on the stage, but nothing to do with photos. Nick, the candidate said, "Now, now Na, at least my boyfriends know when I've broken up with them, unlike you..." The audience oohed at that remark. "Simons, you've got to jump in and say something - Na's vulnerable, and Andersen is taking all of the credit."

Andrew looked up and took one more last swipe of his brow - "Say, Na, why did you want to get rid of the noise pollution ordinance? Is it so you won't be charged with noise pollution?" Na's jaw looked like it had dropped to the ground, "Well, I, I, you know what? I did it so we could have more nightclubs in the city, so that we can have more taxes for more services! It looks like you don't want to discuss the issues facing the city! But speaking of not wanting to discuss the issues, isn't it true Andrew Simons, that you had two parking ticket violations five years ago in this city?" The audience was shocked, and so was Andrew - she had actually bothered to dig up his fairly clean criminal record - Nick replied, "Oh no she didn't!" Andrew then said, "Parking tickets are a revenue raiser for the council, and we all know how crooked those timers and metre maids are, so you know what? Fine. I did get two tickets - because I was late to my car by five minutes!"

"Simons, great story - the worm really likes you, the audience are very happy with your performance - everyone hates parking tickets." Seemed like whatever the current Mayor, Mayor Chan had to say, both Anderson and Simons had a reply to. In the end, the results proved inconclusive - the worm - which was the machine which showed the sentiment of each candidate gave the result narrowly to Chan, with both Anderson and Simons close behind. This was going to be a tight election, and it seemed like every party wanted a piece of the pie.

[Electrum]

Cutoff. Please note that Mizuyuki is unable to scorinate, but another replacement has been commissioned.

Patistan has scorinated both matches which are ICly held in Electrum, whilst I have scorinated the matches ICly held in Mizuyuki.

---

Quarterfinal Results

Super-Llamaland 59–72 Venta de la Mesilla
at University of Achiga, Achiga
Series tied, 1-1

Ko-oren 86–59 Cosumar
at Imperial University of Yarizakura, Yarizakura
Ko-oren wins series, 2-0

Saintland 78-66 Abanhfleft
at Bayside Basketball Arena, Port Grenville
Saintland wins series, 2-0

Andromeda Islands 74-77 Electrum
at Prescott School Arena, Prescott
Electrum wins series, 2-0

---

Provisional Draw - Semifinals (48 hours)

Super-Llamaland or Venta de la Mesilla vs Ko-oren
at University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki

Saintland vs Electrum
at Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis, Electrum

[Ko-oren]

"So! Second plan? The first got me excited for the other two plans. Just start by identifying how you want to pretend you want the tournament, and then say what your idea is how not to get the tournament after all."

Next up were two people from the association. They were not bound to any team, but the best for the national team and for the league as a whole is their interest. Their introduction was brief and formal, just as their job, which entailed a lot of numbers, policy and so on. There was a high chance that nobody really knew what they were doing there, but they are looking at attendance trends, seeing where people are from and to what venue they go and so on. In any way, their name popped up in a lot of columns and articles that deal with number surrounding the basketball league.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we came up with a plan that uses the state of the IBC right now. It's been hosted by Electrum and Mizuyuki before. It would be a first ever if the IBC would be hosted by the exact same nations as the previous version. That said, it's been hosted by a Rushmori nation twice in a row now: Cassadaigua and Electrum. We have received an email from the federation that they wouldn't mind seeing a Ko-orenite bid. If we put two and two together: IBC hosting has been one-sided. I think we make a good chance of landing the tournament if we just stress the Atlantian Oceanian-ness of IBC 16. If we wanted to even have this tournament in the first place, of course. So that's why we came up with a few ways to lose the bid."

"Ooh, this is promising. It's a very empty pro, so that only leaves more room for good cons!"

"One: pretend it's actually the entire region, or even Northwestern AO, hosting. So have a host city in Southern Northland, Maraque, Andossa se Mitrin Vega, Quebec, Misrantis and even Vilita and Turori. And for ASMV, that's the IBC coming back to its roots after a while, they hosted the 12th IBC. And then ramp up the travel distance, cost and just make all teams travel around a fair bit. That's a bit easy to debunk though, so we came up with another way. Two: using non-basketball venues for the tournament. We've heard a few of you talking about losing money, so we can use remodeled places for the IBC. Say, have a tiny court up in an ice hockey rink, which is about three times bigger in any direction. And then claim that we can fit more people into ice hockey rinks. And then three, which actually has to do with our work: teams are simply more successful in the East. So we're going to host the IBC in larger cities in the West, which sounds all cool and impressive until you realise that people are not going to show up."

"Very combineable with the previous ideas!"

"Well done!"

"That leaves a third, uh, bid, the presentation of which will start after a small break. We've been sitting here for a while. Can I challenge anyone to a game? There's a court right outside the HQ, after all..."

---------------------------

"Welcome back, everyone, take your seats. Presentation three is about to start, take it away."

Now the three people stood up who only sat down and listened before the break. Renowned journalist in the sports&business category, Gregory Harrison, progressive Hazelster Dynamos manager, Annemieke Spoel, and internet famous basketball blogger Hyun-Ae Ji. This was also the only group that's over 50% female, so everyone in the room expected some different angles from this group compared to the others. Harrison began to speak.

"We came up with a plan that features all three of us. Hyun-Ae and her modern world blogosphere, Annemieke's calls for rule changes in Ko-orenite basketball as owner of a fairly successful team (and glances that were a mix of 'is he being sarcastic', 'we're better than that' and 'ok, he's kind of right' came his way), and my business stuff. With this plan, we might not only cover both the 'we want the IBC' and the 'we don't want the IBC', but should we get it, we're going to get a lot of money out of this. It's a three-point plan. We know how much three point plans are liked. That's because everything sounds better in threes. Three little pigs, three musketeers, three wise men, three points to a successful but actually unsuccessful IBC. We just remember things better when they come in threes. Blood, sweat and tears. Veni, vidi, vici. The list is endless."

The group listened in relative awe to the speech. Harrison was good at this bad idea thing.

"One. Allow the internet into this. Stream games, allow cameras into dressing rooms, direct people to the website for exclusive interviews and other content. Sell all that extra footage, and with extra cameras around there will be more interesting things happening on camera that we can again sell on to other media across the Multiverse for some Koronas. That's the money part. Now for the 'we want the IBC' part. Two: here's the thing. If we actually make a good bid, we're set to get it. So here's how we avoid the tournament. Three: accuse the MFBA* of vote-fixing and bribery should we get elected, and then our government has to step in saying that we do not want to join this corrupt federation and their plans. Failsafe. It's an easy way out through the backdoor. And here I would say that the cameras in dressing rooms works fine especially if there's an all-female team out there, but that's not going to fly because 1) I'm with two female group members and 2) the only team I can think of is Feministvs Sanctvsterra who probably won't be happy with that. And 3) we have to pretend it's about basketball. I just made up that third point, but as we just learned, everything is right with the world if things come in threes."

"Sound plan"

"Whoa, before we draw any conclusions, I would like one group member from each plan to make a combined plan, out of all three plans, to present to the MFBA*. It's a good thing that I divided you all up into three groups, because apparently three things are better than two or four. You can all be lucky with a chairman like me." His sarcasm came through on the last comment, but still a few rolled their eyes.

*Multiversal Federation of Basketball Associations, provisional name

[Electrum]

Centralis Mayoral Elections - Part 3
Andrew Simons - Labour Candidate
Na Chan - Conservative Candidate
Nick Andersen - Green Candidate

Election day was a week away, but pre-polling has started, and people were milling around the Town Hall to vote before the actual election - all three of the major candidates were in attendance, and each party which was participating were giving out their own how-to-vote cards but it was getting pretty tense. All five candidates were in attendance - the three major players, Andrew Simons, Na Chan and Nick Andersen, as well as Independent Marcia Sanders and Democracy United Party candidate Antoine Kolman. Democracy United Party, a far-left party, unexpectedly preferenced the Labour Party over the Greens after a secret deal so that they would exchange votes with each other. Fairly soon, each party had found out what happened.

Chan - Typical, typical left-wingers, you can never trust them, can you? They always back stab each other
Andersen - Andrew, I'm disappointed in you, and Antoine, even more so. What happened to us supporting each other?
Kolman - I support those who support me, and Labour is going to get more votes, so we're exchanging
Chan - You can't do that! I'm telling the commissioner about this, your how to votes are invalid!
Kolman - You're stressed, I understand, it's not against the rules to endorse a second candidate
Chan - You're not stressed, because your opponents aren't doing anything illegal!
Kolman - Oh Na Chan, you like to play by the rules don't you? Like the time you tried to drag everyone's personal lives in the debate, real mature Chan.
Simons - Let's all calm down, we all want the role, but we can't all be the mayor.
Andersen - Oh shut up you liar!
Chan - Grr...

[Electrum]

Quarterfinal Results

Super-Llamaland 85–79 Venta de la Mesilla
at University of Achiga, Achiga
Super-Llamaland wins series, 2-1

[Electrum]

Semifinals Draw

Super-Llamaland vs Ko-oren
at University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki

Saintland vs Electrum
at Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis, Electrum

[Electrum]

Semifinal Results

Super-Llamaland 74–99 Ko-oren
at University of Achiga, Achiga
Ko-oren leads series, 1-0

[Mizuyuki]

international basketball championships 16 - mizuyuki and electrum

---

electrum half - semifinal results

Saintland 80–87 Electrum
@ Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis
Electrum leads series, 1-0

[Saintland]

National Basketball Team Facing Elimination, yet again

(SP) It seems that the National Basketball Team is unable to make it through an IBC tournament without facing elimination at some point. Last night, they lost to Electrum following a Prince Ioannes foul-out that changed the course of the game. This is nothing new for the #1 ranked team in international basketball, who have had to stave off elimination many times to become the 2-time defending IBC champions. It is, therefore, no surprise that the champs find themselves down a game to none and facing elimination against Electrum in the semi-finals of this edition of the IBC. "I let the rest of the team down with several needless fouls last night and, consequently, we are now on the brink once again. We've overcome so much over these past few tournaments as we've climbed to the #1 ranking and won 2 consecutive IBC championships. Once again, I only ask for God's help as we seek to climb our way out of this hole, defeat Electrum twice in a row and claim yet another trip to the IBC finals."

The first such threat for the fledgling Sanctii dynasty came in the IBC 14 semis against Cassadaigua. After winning the first game by a 3 point margin, the hosts of the 14th IBC and then-reigning champions came storming back in the second game of the series with a 3 point win of their own. Facing elimination, the Saintland National Basketball Team came out firing on all cylinders, defeating Cassadaigua 95 to 77 in a surprisingly lopsided game 3. All of the apples in Cassadaigua couldn't stop the rise of the Saintland National Basketball Team to dominance in this sport. The IBC 14 Finals began with an Electrum victory in Game 1, but the Sanctii stormed back and won both Game 2 and Game 3 by comfortable margins before a narrow 2 point loss in Game 4 tied the series at 2 games apiece. In the end, the Saintland National Team defeated the upstarts from Electrum by 10 points in the 5th and deciding game, to become the IBC champions for the first time.

The road to a repeat was anything but easy for the Sanctii. In their first contest of the Round of 16, they lost to Erathore in overtime by a single point. However, they bounced back with 2 double-digit victories and claimed a spot in the quarterfinals. There, Cosumar managed to hand them a humiliating 83-71 defeat in Game 1. However, Game 2 would result in an 83 to 70 victory for the defending champs, setting up a Game 3 that was one of the greatest games in the history of the IBC. In the end, the Sanctii pulled out a narrow 3 point victory to advance to the semis, where they promptly routed Jeckland in 2 straight. That set up a battle against the Ko-orenite team, which jumped out to a 2 games to 1. The Sanctii, facing the end of their repeat hopes, rallied to an 85 to 67 rout of Ko-oren in Game 4, forcing a 5th and deciding game. The final game of the 15th IBC was another 18 point Sanctii rout, this time with a final score of 94 to 76. The champions had overcome all of the adversity that had been put in front of them and had, against all odds, repeated.

Let it not be said that the Saintland National Basketball Team has had an easy road to their dominant position in international basketball at the moment. Yes, a number of the former top teams have disappeared. The Andromeda Islands didn't participate in IBC 15 (although they have since returned). Cassadaigua, Qazox and Valladares are all long gone. Instead, Electrum and Ko-oren had joined the Sanctii as the new powers of international basketball while teams like Chiata, Jeckland, Cosumar, Nova Anglicana and Super-Llamaland made up a relatively deep second tier. The extremely high level of competition in the IBC has made this path particularly hard for Prince Ioannes and company, but when they've faced elimination, the Sanctii National Basketball Team has always found a way to rise to the occasion. They will need to do so over the next 2 games if they wish to keep their dreams of a historic three-peat alive.

[Ko-oren]

The deadline for bids was approaching (OOC: see the first part of this RP line) and the KNBA had their plan. It was all about internet and selling footage, making it all green and environment-friendly by making fans use trains for a small price instead of taking cars and buses, and they threw in an ice hockey rink as basketball court for good measure.

MFBA members came over to Ko-oren in order to inspect the bid and its practicality, as they did with every bid submitted. With most of the bid concerning the Eastern four islands of the country, the MFBA members were going to spend a night in all of the biggest cities on the four islands: Furune, Teragaseki, Esashi and Mika. They would then spend that day in that city, visiting the largest venue and looking at the city centres. They were transported by ferry between the islands (where they spent another night, so in fact they spent two days at every host city). Of course it was by ferry. Meanwhile, at all venues they would be greeted by the team owner and the general manager... but not a national team member playing for that club or by the star player of that team in general. Teragaseki was visited the day before garbage day. The hotel in Esashi 'did not have enough rooms left for the entire delegation', so the Ko-orenite side of the delegation would spend the night at some people who worked for the local team (in fact they stayed at the most luxurious hotel in the city) while the international delegation had to stay at a 4-star (not 5-star) hotel with three beds in a double room.

After the eight days were over, the MFBA members left, a little confused, but not suspicious. An email made it back to the Ko-orenite headquarters not much later.

From: MFBA Multiversal Federation of Basketball Associations/FMAB Fédération Multiversale des Associations du Basket-ball
To: KNBA Ko-orenite National Basketball Association/ANBC Association Nationale du Basket-ball Co-orenais
Subject: IBC 16 Host Bid Reception

Dear KNBA,

We have received your Bid and we thank you for your hospitality. MFBA members will reconvene in one month to start the voting process.

If there is anything you want to do to improve your choices, do not hesitate!

There was no salutation, and most of the happy tone of the initial email (the one asking for a host bid) was gone. There were a lot of happy faces around the KNBA the next day when the contents of the email were announced to all.

[Electrum]

Centralis Mayoral Elections - Part 4

Elections in Electrum are a funny thing, there are a lot of traditions that needs to be adhered to. On Election Day, supporters from all parties put out bunting in front of polling centre, and people hold traditional barbecues and fundraisers at the school hall-cum-polling centre. It is a breathtaking atmosphere unlike all other, and is always held on a Sunday. Campaigning had finished as quickly as it started - election campaigns only lasted for three weeks, just enough time to let everyone know what every party was about, and the final opinion polling was out.

No one had any idea how close it was going to be. On first preferences, the following votes were:

Candidate         Party           %
Nick Andersen     Green           26
Na Chan           Conservative    44
Antoine Kolman    Democracy        4
Marcia Sanders    Indepedent       1
Andrew Simons     Labour          25

Very close. All three major candidates were in with a shot for winning, but the question is, were the Conservatives going to beat the other two parties? A split vote didn't matter, as one-by-one, each candidate would be eliminated if a majority wasn't reached. Those damn hippies got in the way with that, and Simons was a percent behind Andersen. Meanwhile, the current Mayor, and Conservative Na Chan had a healthy lead, and looked set to win again. Another tradition was that the major candidates would take a picture at the end of polling, to signify the end of a long campaign, and to congratulate each other for all of their hard work. After all that was said and done, the candidates were finally allowed to say whatever they wanted to say without fear or consequence.

Nick Andersen: What the fuck Na? Why the hell did you distribute nude photos of me?!

There were no laws against slander in political speech.

Na Chan: Well I just wanted the voters to know exactly what they were voting for.

Nick Andersen: You bitch! Where did you get those photos!

Andrew Simons: Alright, alright, settle down. Let's not all get into a big--

Na and Nick: Shut up Andrew!

Na Chan: Too bad I couldn't find dirt on you Andrew, or you would be screwed too. You're lucky - or should I say unlucky - that no one knows you, that's why no one is voting for you, and that's why I am going to win.

Andrew Simons: Na, pls, I'm gonna win it.

Na Chan: oooh! Looks like you got some bite! That's what I like in a male! Unlike that homosexual over there...

Nick Andersen: That is not what you call me!

Photographer: Can we get this done already?

Andrew Simons: Fine.

And they all stood awkwardly and gave their biggest smiles for the camera... though, it took them a while to negotiate the three-way handshake they had going on.

[Mizuyuki]

international basketball championships 16 - mizuyuki and electrum

---

electrum half - semifinal results

Electrum 75–78 Saintland
@ Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis
Series tied, 1-1

[Electrum]

Semifinal Results

Super-Llamaland 41–86 Ko-oren
at University of Achiga, Achiga
Ko-oren wins series, 2-0

[Saintland]

Mirza's Shot misses Net as Sanctii hang on, 78 to 75

(SP) As time was running out in Game 2 of the IBC Semis between Saintland and Electrum, the captain for the Electrumite team, Tyler Mirza attempted a 3-pointer from just outside the arc. The Sanctii defense had broken down as Paulus Delluius failed to guard his man and the Electrum captain had a wide open look at the rim. Fortunately, Mirza botched the shot by putting too much power into it and it bounced off the backboard before falling harmlessly to the floor. Electrum's hopes of forcing overtime in Game 2 had been extinguished. "We are now one game closer toward our goal of a three-peat. Just like the previous time we played them, we dropped Game 1 to Electrum, but we have now come back to win Game 2 once again and I can only credit our victory to God. He was with us today, as we battled through yet another difficult game against a very capable opponent. The home fans have to be upset that we beat them tonight, but I want to see their faces when, God Willing, we beat them again tomorrow." - Prince Ioannes

After Electrum won the first game by a 7 point margin, the Sanctii jumped out to an early lead in Game 2, with a 12-2 run in the opening minutes. While Electrum would come back and make a game out of it, this opening run set the tone for the remainder of the game. At the half, the Saintland National Team led 37 to 31. Early in the second half, Petrus Sacerdus fouled out on a routine shooting foul. Sacerdus attempted to block a Marcus Walter shot, but he made contact with the Electrumite forward in the air and the refs called the foul against Sacerdus. This left the Sanctii without one of their starters down the stretch.

After Sacerdus's foul-out, the momentum in the game started to swing toward Electrum. By the time there were 2 and a half minutes left on the clock, Electrum had a 71 to 66 lead. However, Prince Ioannes called timeout after the Saintland National Team fell behind by 5 points and spoke to his team on the sidelines. Whatever he said proved to be effective, as the Sanctii went on a 12 to 4 run in the final minutes of the game, putting his team in position to win the game. When Mirza went for his shot, every player on the Sanctii roster was worried for a moment, but when it missed the net, they were relieved to have earned another game against Electrum and a chance to move on to the IBC finals and a rematch with Ko-oren. But before they can focus on the team that took them the distance in the IBC 15 Finals, they first have to defeat the team that pushed them to their limits in the IBC 14 finals and that was currently doing so once again...

[Mizuyuki]

international basketball championships 16 - mizuyuki and electrum

---

electrum half - semifinal results

Saintland 83–68 Electrum
@ Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis
Saintland wins series, 2-1

[Electrum]

Finals Draw

Championship - best of 5 (scorinated by Electrum)
Saintland vs Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Arena, Centralis

Third Place Playoff - best of 3 (scorinated by Mizuyuki)
Electrum vs Super-Llamaland
at University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki

[Mizuyuki]

international basketball championships 16 - mizuyuki and electrum

---

electrum half - third place playoff results

Electrum 79–86 Super-Llamaland
@ University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki
Super-Llamaland leads series, 1-0

[Electrum]

Cutoff! Sorry for the delay, but Australia just scored a goal in the Asian Cup... and Williams is completely dominating Sharapova... and it looks like Newman will be booted off the premiership in Queensland!

---

Championship Results

Saintland 62–68 Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Stadium, Centralis
Ko-oren leads series, 1-0

[Electrum]

Cutoff! Sorry for the delay, once again, but I've been mesmerised by the tennis... Mizuyuki cannot scorinate today, and so Jeckland has the honours of scorinating the third place playoff, without further ado...

---

Third Place Playoff Results

Super-Llamaland 66–87 Electrum
at University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki
Series tied, 1-1

Championship Results

Saintland 107–67 Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Series tied, 1-1

[Mizuyuki]

international basketball championships 16 - mizuyuki and electrum

---

electrum half - third place playoff results

Electrum 97–57 Super-Llamaland
@ University of Achiga, Achiga, Mizuyuki
Electrum wins series, 2-1

Congratulations to the winner; commiserations to the loser.

[Electrum]

Will someone take the lead once again for the Championship>

---

Championship Results

Saintland 69–78 Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Ko-oren leads, 2-1

[Electrum]

Will Ko-oren be able to seize the Championship today? Or will Saintland draw even once again? Find out now...

Championship Results

Saintland 79–73 Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Series tied, 2-2

[Electrum]

Alright, alright, it's time for the winner. Who will win the Championships? Will it be Ko-oren? Or Saintland? Find out now...

---

Championship Results

Saintland 83–79 Ko-oren
at Centralis University Basketball Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Saintland wins the Championship, 3-2

Congratulations to all teams who participated in the IBC.