Progress Report:
I) Basketball: I no longer have Kabelsky, who would be the 4th best player in the United States now (at 19), but my team is looking very promising. I ultimately got 175,000,000 for a player I paid 42,000,000 for (though that was a lot at the time).
I used the money to buy a new starting roster of elite young players. They were expensive, but Kabelsky's money and the money I got from selling the older players I replaced covered everything. I already had a great young SG who is on the U19 United States NT. I got a German PG (now 18) with extremely high passing who was on the German U17 team. I should have his ratio fixed (he came from a dead team that had him only training passing) by the end of the season. I still have a representative on the U19 Ukrainian national team with my new SF (now 18). When I bid on him, the only other bidder, the manager of one of the Ukrainian national teams, had posted his scouting information, but the numbers were all about 10 less than the numbers I saw (my scout turned out to be correct) - this ended up helping me win the player since the other manager didn't log on in time and scared away any other potential bidders. Finally, I picked up a now 17 year old PF that has about 600 OR at the moment from the Latvian U17 national team. He might be one of the best 17 year olds in the World in terms of OR at the moment and should be better than Kabelsky in the future. Finally, I drafted a pretty good center who has about the same potential as my 18 year olds but is a year behind. The center also managed to make the U17 U.S. NT. My center position is weaker now, but I managed to improve 3 other positions to build an entire team, which I believe could be one of the best in the U.S. in the future (they're already I.1 quality). I'm debating whether I should invest in TF 13. I mostly intend to focus on my stadium (finally) going forward, but TF 13 might better go along with my current strategy.
After 2 great seasons in II.1, my team's OTR has recovered and could end the season in the top 10 in the United States. Unless there is in upset, I should see the Detroit Pistons in the finals, though the Townplace Animals might be a darkhorse contender. I think 2 teams could promote from II.1.
I voted for the Russian for the U17 team as well. Hopefully the current manager will get better with experience and after scouting more players. Luckily, the current U19 manager added the key players that the U17 manager missed last season.
II) Handball:
My arena finished a while ago, and my facilities are developing nicely. I should have about enough money to upgrade to TF 15 and HRE 14 in 5 weeks when it becomes possible. Otherwise, my team is on autopilot and is one of the 4 best in the league (probably top 3 after the Doppelgangers swap with Beer and Pizza next season). I managed to pick up a decently trained 900+ OR player for about 1,000,000 recently when everyone else was bidding on NT players from a dead team.
III) Soccer:
My team is currently the 184th richest team in the world. My team was awful in I.1 last season. I lost about as much in sponsors as I earned by cutting salaries, but hopefully my sponsors jump back up next season. It looks like my team could be competitive for 4th or so and should continue to improve due to its age. I might see if I can pick up one older player - a strong goalie in his 30's or with low CL. I am completely done building infrastructure.
IV) Hockey:
My team is 34-0-0-2 in II.2. It looks like my team could possibly be a top 12 team in I.1 next season due to better teams folding (the loss of the Boilermakers cost the United States NT many quality players, especially forwards, who were too young to make the NT but too old for the U20 team). In addition, my sports academy has been producing 1-2 worldclass players (good enough to be a star player for an U18 team) per season for the last few seasons. I could have an pretty good team in a while without having to buy anyone. Lynn Pace could come close to hitting 700 OR as a 15 year old. For infrastructure, I only have to upgrade my scoreboard and lighting and sound once more, as well as my maintenance facility 2 more times.
V) United States U18 Hockey Team
The U18 team is in its fifth consecutive season in the top division. It made the playoffs in 3 out of 4 seasons in the top division and is now ranked 4th in world (it was in division II when I started) ahead of teams like Russia and Slovakia. This is the team that I'm probably the most proud of. The group looks challenging this season, but I have the 2 best goaltenders ever to play for the U18 team this season. The first game will be against Canada.