The overall point you were making, to begin with, is THE point of consideration. Yes, we can tweak 'til our fingers bleed and the pliers break. But that alone doesn't guarantee you have worked enough to get a string of W's. We can contract and buy all the fast, and/or strong bases we can (or can not) afford but that still doesn't mean we have purchased a guaranteed string of W's. It may overwhelm your local league mates, or not. But when you enter someone else's Big House you NEED more than that.

One can buy the fastest racing car ever made. Surely that doesn't make one a race car driver. One can buy a bulldozer. But that doesn't qualify one as a heavy equipment operator. One needs to be able to coach. And that means being able to organize a game winning plan, with moderate but consistent talent, while having success. The best I have ever witnessed or know about can/could do it on the fly.

There is nothing wrong or foul about having a team of upper tier players. I have nothing against that at all. But I will say, from my own personal experiences, using them too often can contribute to "killing the skills." I have learned and relearned so much more by consistently using a team that is sub par or "good enough." Plus, as you mentioned, it gets obnoxiously boring to out push and out run your opponents play after play, day after day. Even worse when you know what is going to happen before you hit the switch. Worse still when you get so bored that you let it slip out to an opponent during a match. :::Yawn! Picks up down marker and moves it +15 yds before hitting the switch::::

-Mike Pratt