Is this how people felt following The Comeback at the time during the PEDs saga after months/years in this case of following a clean rider? Hope Marcus is innocent as he says (and wondering if this is a dream sequence or not )!
Option A
MDJ is a cool sounding initialism too
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@jandal7:Perhaps, but trying to put a new twist on it. Never want to rewrite the same story twice. But, can confirm, it's not a dream sequence. It's a flash forward. Expect more in the future.
And I agree. MDJ is pretty cool. You can all thank jaxika for the names for saying "Marcus and Grace" when I asked for baby names. So you get Marcus Diamond Jr. and Hannah, which means means "favor" or "grace."
For those who haven't noticed, thread posts #1 and #2 are updated.
Big matches ahead! World Cup qualifying continues with the penultimate group stage match at Burkina Faso. A draw or loss, plus a Cameroon road win over DR Congo would dash our World Cup hopes excruciating short.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid looks to expand on it's three-game win streak. We also get to host my former Dutch club, Feyenoord, in the Champions League this month. Looking forward to seeing some of my old teammates.
Match Day #7 vs. Deportivo La Coruna (2-4-0, 6 Points, 14th)
October 4, 2025
Starting at CAM, getting more minutes as squad fatigue becomes a thing.
Spoiler
Real Madrid 2, Deportivo La Coruna 0
Summary: A goal and an assist in the first half by Marcus Diamond leads Real Madrid to a rather comfortable 2-0 victory. It was glorified shooting practice, as Madrid outshot La Coruna 32-0 (13-0 shots on target).
Rating: 7.7 - Second goal, first assist and first game ball performance for the club. Starting to make a name for myself again.
Player of Game: Marcus Diamond, Real Madrid (7.7)
World Cup Qualifying at Burkina Faso
October 10, 2025
GS#5: A must-win if Cameroon takes three points from DR Congo.
Spoiler
Nigeria 3, Burkina Faso 1
Summary: Early goals by Burkina Faso's Lassina Bara (11th minute) and DR Congo's Firmin Mubele (3rd minute) set the stage for an excited evening with group leader Cameroon and second-place Nigeria looking up at 1-0 deficits.
Nigeria found its equalizer first in the 22nd minute with a fantastic volley outside the box converted by Azubuike Okey, assisted by Victor Osimhen. Cameroon went to halftime still trailing 1-0 despite DR Congo's Lukebakio being shown a red card for a bad tackle in the 32nd minute.
A little over a minute into the second half, Nigeria started dancing again when Isaac Success buried a tap-in to put the Flying Eagles up 2-1.
Tension around the grounds grew as the minutes ticked on. After providing both assists, Osimhen suffered a foot injury in the 81st minute. Nigeria covered up the bad news with a decisive game-winning goal off the head of Henry Onyekuru in the 89th minute.
All eyes in the stadium then turned to the scoreboard to see if 10-man DR Congo could hold off Cameroon for a couple more minutes...
At that exact moment, the scoreboard flashed 1-1. Cameroon pulled out a equalizer in the 87th minute from Pierre Ngongang to salvage a draw at the death. Nigeria's late goal however will give them the edge going into the final group game next month.
Both teams are tied on 10 points, but Nigeria now leads the group with a better goal differential (3-2). Meaning, Nigeria will now advance to the World Cup with a win or even a draw against Cameroon. The crucial, essentially World Cup play-in game, will be played at the Abuja Stadium in Nigeria. Get your tickets in advance!
Rating: 7.1 - Was a little stressful in the first half, but we gutted out a big win. Need one more performance like that to secure a spot on football's biggest stage.
Player of Game: Isaac Success, Nigeria (9.0)
Match Day #8 at Getafe (3-3-1, 10 Points, 11th)
October 18, 2025
Real Madrid last 100 matches (all competitions): 80-10-10 record.
Spoiler
Real Madrid 3, Getafe 1
Summary: Simply day in the office for Real Madrid, minus Emmanuel Boateng's lone goal to break up Donnarumma's shutout bid.
Perfect day for the Madrid supporters, as Atletico Madrid handed La Liga leaders FC Barcelona its first loss of the season, 1-0, earlier in the day. Putting Real Madrid back atop the table after eight league games played.
Rating: 7.0 - Not sure if I was in the Starting XI because I have earned it or coach wants to rest "better" players for the Feyenoord match in three days time.
Player of Game: Claude Monnier, Real Madrid (8.5)
UEFA Champions League vs. Feyenoord
October 21, 2025
GS#3: The one where former friends become new foes.
Spoiler
Real Madrid 2, Feyenoord 0
Summary: Dybala and Kovacic score to secure Real Madrid's second place in the group behind Liverpool after the first round robin wraps up. Three more matches (two on the road at Feyenoord & PAOK Saloniki) to settle who moves on to the knockout phase.
Rating: 6.8 - Spent the pregame chatting with Nicolas Messiniti and Otavio. Always nice to catch up. Got subbed on in the 66th minute and ran around a bit with the score already 2-0 in our favor.
Player of Game: Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid (8.3)
Match Day #9 at Sporting Gijon (4-3-1, 13 Points, 9th)
October 26, 2025
First match back as the new leaders of La Liga.
Spoiler
Real Madrid 4, Sporting Gijon 2
Summary: You know its going to be a rough day when you allow a penalty in the opening minute. Dybala slots it home and added another goal in the sixth minute. Add a laughable own goal in the 20th minute and Real Madrid held a 3-0 lead before the half hour mark.
A rout looked inevitable, but Succar buried back-to-back goals in the 30th and 50th minute to drag Sporting Gijon back within a goal, 3-2. Dybala laughed off the comeback attempt with his hat-trick goal in the 54th minute.
Rating: 7.2 - It's amazing just to watch Dybala play. A world-class player. The 31-year-old has 227 career league goals in 495 league games. Nearly one goal every two games. I wish I could be that efficient.
Three days later, Real Madrid went with its "B" or even "C" squad to win its opening fourth round, first leg match of the Copa del Ray over Marbella, 3-1. So, I guess it's a good sign I wasn't invited to play in the match. The team is starting to see me as an "A" squad player.
Player of Game: Paulo Dybala, Real Madrid (9.4)
League Standings (9/38 Games Played)
League Leaders
UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
World Cup 2026 Qualifying
Third Round
Calendar
Club
International
Evaluation
Training Ground *Community Growth Development*
Real Madrid Training Facilities Boost: +5 Points Per Member
Fountain of Youth: 16 Points
Spoiler
- Each member gets 10.0 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Only stats that aren't locked can be upgraded.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.
- Fountain of Youth: Once the target number between 25-250 is reached, a stat unlock will be rewarded.
World Cup Bound?: Correctly predict the score of the upcoming World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Cameroon to win 25 Fountain of Youth points. Also, Marcus Diamond will earn an additional 25 FoY points for every goal and/or assist he provides during the match.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Despite missing both the Canadian classics (GP Cycliste de Quebec and GP Cycliste de Montreal) last month, I enter my last race of the season with a 29-point lead in the World Cup competition. The winner of a monument only gets 30 points, so as long as second-place Gianni Moscon doesn't win and I finish outside the Top 20 (earning no points)... I will win the (cycling) World Cup!
Not only that, I will have done it in the most dominating fashion. Since the side competition was created in 2018, the most points ever scored over the 14 races has been 112 points by Marianne Vos in 2023. I currently have 144 points!
Grace was scheduled to race with me today, like she did two years ago, but she is with her family in London taking things easy. Six weeks pregnant. I'm sure they will be watching the race on TV. Let's end the season with a win, for them.
Summary: Big news before the flag even drops, Gianni Moscon from TAP Portugal didn't take to the start line. The Portuguese team decided their best bet to win today was bringing Colombian NC and former 2018 TDF champion Miguel Angel Lopez instead.
That means Marcus Diamond will win the World Cup competition for this season without a fight on the final day. Tip of the cap to the current British RR champion!
Following the lengthy descent heading into the final climb, there is a lead group of seven with a minute advantage over six chasers.
The leaders are:
Bernal Dominguez Matthews Gaudu A. Yates Martin Kwiatkowski
The chasers are:
Diamond Geoghegan Hart McNulty Gall Teuns Harper
The chasers work well together to bridge the gap. The two groups come together with 14kms to go. Another five-cyclist group is also trying to come back. They are roughly another minute behind, including the following cyclists:
Jungels Oomen Kiewiadoma Albanese Madouas
They make it back as well, giving us 18 brave souls climbing up the final ascent. The San Fermo Della Battaglia is no joke at 8.7% for 2.2kms.
Three-time TDF champion Bernal kicks first!
Wow! Bernal doesn't have the legs today. Now Gaudu goes!
Gaudu will create the gap on the downhill with Matthews, Dominguez, Kwiatkowski and Bernal keeping up.
Former World Champion Matthews is the quickest! Surprisingly, it's the first career monument victory for the 35-year-old Aussie.
Result: 12th - Missing that early split was crucial, it sapped most of energy trying to get back before the final climb. Not how I wanted the season to end, but there is always next year.
*Will be included in the upcoming Season Review post.*
Evaluation
Training Ride *Community Growth Development*
Upgraded Training Facilities Boost:+1 Point Per Member
Unlock Progress: 53 Points + 150 Points for World Cup Win = 203 Points
Spoiler
- Each member gets 4.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades
- Unlock Progress Points: Once the target number between 25-250 is reached, a stat unlock will be rewarded.
Pending Stat Decreases: The end of season now means possible stat reductions to attributes that haven't received an upgrade since July.
That means the following stats are safe from reduction: Recovery.
All other stats have a 25% chance of decreasing one attribute.
You can pick one stat to reduce that 25% chance down by 5%. The same stat can be picked by multiple members. Meaning if the same stat is picked five times, it will have a 0% chance of decreasing.
Fantastic job, well done! And with his current skillset, definitely possible to repeat this success next year!
We must be really unlucky with that first stat unlock, given that it should be between 25 and 250...
So +4 to unlock, and going for mountain stat as well.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
After leading Asheville to a 13-7 victory over Kings Mountain in Week 1, I basically became an instant celebrity at my high school the following Monday. My classmates and even teachers started to jokingly ask me for my autograph.
All the attention was a little overwhelming. I started to miss being the mysterious new kid who struggled to make new friends. As cool as I looked on the football field, I wasn't ready for this spike in popularity.
And, in my head, I knew this wasn't going to last. All it takes is one bad game for them to pity you, or worse, turn on you altogether. Plus, in a few weeks, I'll be handing the keys of offense back over to Ryan Reece when his wrist fully recovers.
I'm just the stand-in, waiting for my 15 minutes of fame to fade. Too cynical?
I just like to be realistic about things. Whereas, my dad is way to supportive. I can't do anything wrong in his eyes. The perfect son. Sometimes, I don't think he realizes how much added pressure that puts on my shoulders.
Mistakes happen. Nobody is perfect. So let's not pretend we are all saints.
Like practice this week, I sucked. Coach is lucky he didn't have any other quarterbacks on the roster to take my spot right now. Now, here I am in the locker room, fighting off all this negative thoughts minutes before kickoff.
"Let's go Marcus. Game time," head coach Greg Nelson said. "You ready?"
My head screamed no, but my mouth said, "Hell yeah!"
Week #2 at Hough Huskies (1-0)
September 11, 2043
First road game against a state semifinalist from a season ago.
Spoiler
First Quarter
Asheville doesn't waste any time taking the rowdy home crowd out of the game. They march the first drive of the game 71yds on 10 plays for an opening touchdown. QB Diamond Jr. connected on all six of his passes, including 8yd TD strike to WR Sarria.
Multiple punts both ways, and the score stayed pat at 7-0 after one quarter. QB Diamond Jr. looked in command, with an impressive first quarter stat line of 12/12 passes for 91yds and a TD.
The rookie senior quarterback didn't show any signs of nerves.
Second Quarter
Hough tied the score at 7-7 with an electric 89yd punt return TD by KR Love a little over a minute into the second quarter. All square.
A Diamond Jr. fumble set up the Huskies in prime position to take the lead moments later, but Asheville's defense held and forced another punt.
Great defensive plays both ways kept the contest tied going into halftime, 7-7.
Third Quarter
A muffed punt by the Huskies gave the Cougars great field position early in the third quarter. The Hough defense did their best to cover up the special teams mistake by sacking QB Diamond Jr. multiple times, but Diamond Jr. got the last laugh with a 29yd TD to WR Ostrander on 3rd down & 21. PAT by K Harvey was good, 14-7.
Two drives later, Asheville scored again! Diamond Jr. tossed his third TD pass of the game 13yds to wide-open third string TE Bennett. The defense didn't even bother to cover the TE, sending a blitz on 2nd & 4.
Too make matters worse for the Huskies, the first play of their next drive gave the ball right back to the Cougars. MLB Concepcion forced and recovered a fumble to set Asheville up on Hough's 25yd line.
However, the Cougars failed to get anywhere. Turning the ball over on downs. Asheville led 21-7 going into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
With 6:47 remaining, Huskies QB Sisk completed a 8yd TD to WR Keenan to cut Asheville's lead to one score at 21-14.
Diamond Jr. scrambled to pick up two first downs with his legs on the Cougars following possession, but eventually Asheville had to punt the ball back to Hough.
The Huskies got to their own 42yd line before Cougars SS Freeborg undercut a route and snagged an interception for Asheville. The Cougars bench erupted. The Hough crowd went quiet. All Asheville had to do now was kill the rest of clock -- 2:48 left.
They did exactly that, collecting multiple first downs on the ground to melt the remaining time away. A 2-0 start for the Asheville Cougars!
Box Score
MDJ Game Stats: 29/39 passing for 279yds, 3 TDs; 16yds rushing - Blocked out all the noise when I slipped my helmet on. Everything just fell into place. It was almost like I was playing in slow motion. It was a weird feeling. Maybe I'm actually a football player, a quarterback. Worth of all this praise and attention?
Player of Game: QB Diamond Jr. (stats above)
Standings (2/8 Games Played)
Only teams with a winning record in the conference at the end of the regular season are eligible to advance to the 16-team North Carolina State Playoffs.
Calendar
Recruiting: Interested Colleges
Recruiters: Marcus Diamond Jr. was approached by a recruiter from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte football team after the Hough game. He praised Diamond Jr.'s performance and asked for a phone number to keep in touch during the recruiting process.
(Option A): Give him a personal cell phone number.
Too bad I don't know a lot about that sport... Does anyone know a good beginner's guide so I can at least get the basics when reading the match reports?
@Fabianski: There are a bunch of videos on YouTube that could help you out. I think this one does a decent job of explaining the basics and goes into some depth: https://youtu.be/...
@All: Some pretty bad news. My computer crashed hard on Wednesday and I have spent the last two days trying to restore and fix things. Happy to say that I believe I have recovered the PCM save game. But, the Football Manager file looks corrupt. I have a working backup, but it's from the middle of the 2024 season.
Going to keep looking for a non-corrupt current version but it's looking like a lost cause. I have a few ideas on how to continue the FM side of the story, but I just want you to be prepared if drastic changes have to be made to keep the story moving along. These last two days have been a nightmare. Thanks for reading.
@All: Can't believe it's been over two months since my last update here. Life was been crazy to say the least and I hit a wall of discouragement when my computer crash in December and deleted the most current Football Manager save. (See post above).
While I now have a solution in place on how to move forward with the story, I just haven't had the free time to do so lately. Hoping to get back into the swing of things eventually, but I don't have a time table on when that might be at the moment. Hopefully sooner than later.
All that said, I'm extremely grateful for the recent recognition of being named Story Writer of the Year for a third time and this once again being named the One-Rider Story of the Year. The continued support is pretty surreal and helped me become the writer I am today, on and off the site.
Thank You For Reading! Stay tuned for more to come...
How quickly things can change. I was once Real Madrid's next biggest star. Now they want nothing to do with me. Let me explain, to the best of my memory:
I like to think I have a pretty calm demeanor. But, every once and in a while, a rage builds inside me. While I have had a few outbursts on my bike in the past, my first major eruption on the football pitch will ultimately cost me millions.
I'm extremely competitive and cracking the Starting XI at Real Madrid proved to be an outgoing struggle. After getting a few starts in a row at the League level, head coach Martin Schmidt benched me for our 10th league game vs. Espanyol.
I was a little frustrated, but whatever. I sat out and watched Madrid win 3-0.
I figured coach was resting me for the upcoming UEFA Champions League rematch against my former club, Feyenoord, in just four days time. I was completely wrong. When the team sheet was posted. I was on the bench once again.
Upset at the decision, I stormed into Schmidt's office. Before I could even get a word in, Schmidt looked up and said: "I don't want to hear it, Marcus. I'm going with experience over potential today. End of story."
I then said a few things I'm not going to repeat here.
Schmidt responded: "Go home. I'm not having that in our locker room today."
I packed my bag and caught a train home. Grace did her best to calm me down. She eventually convinced me to call coach back after my teammates knocked off Feyenoord, 1-0. I half-heartedly apologized for my vulgar choice of words.
The next day on the training ground, Schmidt was extra hard on me.
Extra running, extra criticism, extra everything. By the time we got to the end of practice for a 7-on-7 scrimmage, I had heard enough. I knew I couldn't say anything back to him, so I let my play do all the talking.
I contested every 50-50 ball with a crunching tackle. My teammates took notice.
"Diamond, chill man," I remember somebody saying. I didn't take the advice and shortly after collided with Paulo Dybala, Madrid's Golden Boy. A shoving match ensued as I got up and Dybala didn't. I quickly realized how many friends I had made in Madrid over the last couple of months... not many.
"What the hell, man? What's wrong with you?"
My head was spinning. Everyone was yelling. Another shove and I fell back to the ground. I threw a punch, to protect myself. It connected with Dani Carvajal's jaw.
Hope Marcus is innocent as he says (and wondering if this is a dream sequence or not 
Burkina Faso. A draw or loss, plus a Cameroon road win over DR Congo would dash our World Cup hopes excruciating short. 
Il Lombardia
