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About Jambolia |
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THE BEGINNING
Jambolia is a NBA-based fantasy basketball
simulation league that is run on an annual
schedule. Created in August of 2000 by Shane Veinot
of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Jambolia is now in
the 2009-10 season, its 10th year and season.
It was in June 2001 that the Jambolia.com domain was
purchased, and since that time Jambolia's website
has become its most prominent and famous feature.
After simulating the first two seasons on the NBA
Live series, and the third season on Fast Break
Basketball, the switch was made for the next three
seasons to the Total Pro Basketball series. Entering
the seventh season, the developer of the TPB series
created a new game, Draft Day Sports: Pro
Basketball, which is the game Jambolia now uses as
its simulation engine. This is a text-based
simulator, and all Jambolia General Managers are
welcome and encouraged to buy it, as Jambolia's game
file is readily available to everyone.
THE HISTORY
Jambolia has completed nine seasons, recently
concluding the 2008-09 campaign in June. During
those nine seasons, the league has crowned eight
champions - the one exception coming in 2008.
Jambolia's inaugural campaign came during the
2000-01 season, where the Minnesota Timberwolves,
led by GM Marc Ryan, won a JBL-record 80 games on
their way to being crowned the league's first ever
champion. Their top competition throughout that
first season was their Eastern Conference rival, and
Finals opponent, Orlando Magic, who were led by GM
and Jambolia-creator Shane Veinot. The Magic had
gone 77-5 during the regular season - still the 3rd
best regular season record of all-time - including a
record 64-game win streak following a 12-4 start.
The Magic and Timberwolves met in the Finals once
again the following season, with the Magic this time
coming away victorious. The Magic had taken a
considerable step back during the regular season,
going 53-29 and finishing as the 4th seed in the
East. But behind Tim Duncan, the team caught fire in
the playoffs en route to their first championship.
Orlando returned to form the following season,
finishing the 2002-03 campaign with a 74-8 record.
No other team in the league won even 60 games, as
Minnesota posted the league's second best record at
59-23. After cruising through the regular season,
Orlando was once again heading back the Finals, but
this time facing a new opponent in the upstart
Phoenix Suns. But the opponent didn't matter, as the
Magic became Jambolia's first team to win
back-to-back championships.
After the complete domination of Jambolia's first
three seasons by Orlando and Minnesota, the 2003-04
season saw a new dynasty rise to power: the Atlanta
Hawks, led by GM Daniel Chase. Chase had taken over
the team late in the 2001-02 season, and guided a
mediocre Hawks team into the playoffs for the first
time in their history, clinching the 8th seed in the
East after the team won its last ten regular season
games. The Hawks established themselves as a
legitimate force in the 2002-03 season, winning 57
games, but finally broke through during the 2003-04
campaign, finishing the season 67-15. But Orlando
and Minnesota still refused to go away, winning 69
and 65 games respectively, and once again met in the
Finals. The Timberwolves denied Orlando's attempt at
a third straight title, en route to their second
championship.
The 2004-05 season saw big change come to Jambolia,
as Shane Veinot resigned his post as GM of the
Magic, and took an open position with the Toronto
Raptors. Upon his arrival back home in Canada, the
Raptors were relocated to his hometown of Halifax,
and the team was re-named the Explosion. The
expansion team was expected to have a mediocre first
season, but instead finished an impressive 63-19 and
made it all the way to the Finals, where they would
eventually be defeated by the Minnesota
Timberwolves, who claimed their second straight
championship. The Orlando Magic, who had been
disbanded upon Veinot's departure, finished the
season with just 17 wins.
Change struck Jambolia again leading into the
2005-06 season, as Marc Ryan followed in Veinot's
footsteps from the previous year, and disbanded his
team following his championship run the season
before. However, Ryan opted to stay in Minnesota and
rebuild, and led his team to a respectable 42-40
record. However, the '05-06 season marked the first season
in which the Hawks exhibited their complete
dominance over Jambolia and finished the season with the best
record in the league, an impressive 79-3 mark, which
still stands as the second best record all-time. The Hawks
would go on to win their first championship,
sweeping the Houston Rockets, and becoming the first
team other than Orlando or Minnesota to win the
title in Jambolia's first six seasons.
The 2006-07 season saw more of the same, as the
Atlanta Hawks continued to display their dominance
over Jambolia, tying the Timberwolves regular season
record of 80 win in a season. But they were unable
to run away with the East, as Halifax and Milwaukee
kept it tight, both winning 74 games. Minnesota also
returned to their winning ways, finishing the season
58-24, and claiming the 2nd seed in the West behind
the 61-win Los Angeles Clippers. Minnesota would
find their way back to the Finals that year, after a
two year absence, and were expected to face off
against the Hawks in an attempt their fourth title.
But the Hawks shockingly fell to the Explosion in
the Eastern Conference Finals, and once again a Veinot-led
team stood between the Timberwolves and their goal.
They would come up short, as the Halifax Explosion
claimed their first title in convincing fashion,
sweeping the Timberwolves. The championship was also
Shane Veinot's third, tying him with Marc Ryan for
the most all-time.
Following the Hawks difficult playoff loss that year,
and with news of a new set of stringent financial and
luxury tax laws to be set in place for the start of the
2007-08 season, Atlanta Hawks GM Daniel Chase decided it
was time to step away from the league in the summer of
2007. It marked the end of one of Jambolia's greatest
eras.
Throughout the years, like any league, Jambolia
experienced its ups and downs. But that was never
experienced more drastically than during the 2007-08
season. By March of 2008, just a month before the
season was to end, the leadership at Jambolia
decided to shut down the league. The season was
simulated to its conclusion, but the playoffs were
never commenced. Had they been played out, the
Halifax Explosion would have been the overwhelming
favorites to win their second straight title, having
finished the season with a 67-15 record, eleven wins
better than their closest competition in the West,
the Denver Nuggets.
Many believed the league had shut its doors for
good, including Commissioner Shane Veinot. But by
June of that same year, the rumblings of Jambolia's
return had begun to surface. And on June 25, 2008,
it was official: Jambolia was back. Not only was it
back, but it was a league reborn. The events surrounding Jambolia's demise, and ultimate resurrection, are
best described in Shane Veinot's June 25th article,
Jambolia: A League Reborn.
When the 2008-09 season kicked off, there was one
notable difference - the Halifax Explosion had
relocated back to Toronto, and adopted their old
Raptors nickname, and Shane Veinot had gone back to
where he first began, as GM of the Orlando Magic.
Both Orlando and Minnesota returned to their
seemingly rightful places atop the league, winning
57 and 56 games respectively, but it was the Toronto
Raptors and Denver Nuggets who finished the season
as conference leaders. The Nuggets entered the
playoffs as the favorite to win it all, but no team
had played better over the second half of the season
than the Timberwolves, behind the brilliant play of
LeBron James. But behind injuries to LeBron and to
key players on the Nuggets, it was the Houston
Rockets, led by GM Jeff Wickman - who in eight
seasons in Jambolia had never led a team to the
playoffs before, that ultimately made it to the
Finals to represent the West. Not surprisingly, they
were met there by the Veinot-led Orlando Magic. In
the closest Finals series in Jambolia's illustrious
history, the Magic defeated the Rockets in seven
games, giving the franchise their third title, tying
them with the Timberwolves, and giving GM Shane
Veinot his fourth championship ring - a Jambolia
record.
As the 2009-10 season approaches, and Jambolia
celebrates its ten year anniversary, its record
books have yet to be written. But it has a history
that it can be proud of.
THE TEAMS
The Jambolia Basketball League has 30 teams in it,
each operated by a General Manager, as well an
Assistant General Manager if the GM so chooses.
For four seasons, from 2004 to 2008, only 29 of
Jambolia's 30 teams were NBA franchises, as the
Toronto Raptors were relocated from Central Canada
to the East Coast and called the Halifax
Explosion. But for the start of the 2008-09 season,
the team was relocated back to Toronto.
All 30 teams are filled with real NBA players; there
are no fictional players in Jambolia.
DISCLAIMER
Jambolia and Jambolia.com are in no way affiliated
with the National Basketball Association. This
website is meant for entertainment purposes only. |
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