The Black Flashes

The Black Flashes Logo

The Sports Guy Mansion

The Black Flashes is a Hattrick team from Schaghticoke (pron. "Skat-ih-coke") in Upstate New York. Previously known as the Los Angeles Samurais, they were renamed The Black Flashes following the team's being bought by Captain Marino and its subsequent move to New York on November 17, 2003 during week 2 of Hattrick's 21st season. The team currently resides in IV.37 of the United States after collecting their first series Division V championship in Hattrick season 32. The season 32 championship was their 2nd series championship overall; their first being their winning season in VI.118 during Hattrick's 24th season. Having earned the D-V championship in their 12th season of existence, the team was autopromoted out of their longtime home, V.255.

The Flashes play their home matches at The Sports Guy Mansion, a 44,374-seat stadium on the banks of the Hoosic River in the small town of Schaghticoke. "The Mansion," as fans of the club call it, is actually built upon what used to be the "Back Lake" and is bordered to the east and south by the B&O Railroad, to the west by the residences of East Street, and to the north by Backwater and AnkleBreak Hills.

Having been a longtime fan of Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons, a writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine, manager Captain Marino named his team after a Simmons article on then Portland Trailblazer Bonzi Wells. In it, Simmons describes the situation when Wells apparently flipped off a fan and then, when asked about it, said that he gets "black flashes sometimes" and couldn't remember doing it.

The team's logo (designed by uhcoog2k) contains a cartoon of The Sports Guy and contains the green, white, and orange elements, as well as shamrocks, of manager Captain Marino's favorite country and heritage, Ireland.

Team Record

Season	Place	Series	Points	Record
21	2nd	V.130	28	9-4-1
22	2nd	V.130	26	8-4-2
23	6th	V.130	15	4-7-3
24*	1st	VI.118	39	13-1-0
25	6th	V.225	18	5-6-3
26	6th	V.225	17	5-7-2
27	4th	V.225	26	8-4-2
28	4th	V.225	20	5-7-2
29	5th	V.225	18	5-6-3
30	4th	V.225	25	8-5-1
31	3rd	V.225	25	9-5-0
32*	1st	V.225	37	12-1-1
33	7th	IV.37	15	4-7-3

Division IV Record:	4-7-3
Division V Record:	78-56-20
Division VI Record:	13-1-0
Cup Record:	23-14-0
Qualification Record:	3-1-0
Overall Competition Record:	121-79-23

* Denotes championship season

Manager: Captain Marino

When not wasting time on Hattrick.org, Captain Marino (aka Cap'n) is a physics and pre-engineering teacher in Boston, MA. Although he grew up in Schaghticoke, NY, he left the farmland of Upstate New York for the Boston metropolis in order to attend Northeastern University. He received his nickname from co-workers at the campus gym, The Marino Center, during freshman year. The name, at first a humorous remark in response to the number of hours he spent working during freshman year, became a fitting moniker during sophomore year as he put out a towel fire while working the counter by himself. Currently in his 8th consecutive year of employment at the Marino Center, Captain Marino ranks among the longest tenured supervisors in its history.

When assuming his managerial role of the Black Flashes, Cap'n also attempts to commiserate with other New Yorkers through through his role as GOAL Ambassador for the Gathering of the Adirondacks League.

Team Photos by Season

Following the end of his 10th season as manager of The Flashes, Captain Marino began a seasonal tradition of posting a photo of the team that will start the season. Special thanks to SimCheeese for the photos.

Season 31

Season 32

Season 33

Season 34