02/14/2010: "The Ides of February"

Well I'm not feeling any funnier, but I do feel more awake, and it's important to be awake when you're writing things I find.

New Players
Welcome to: Raphael "Is cool but crude" Lubrano, Marvin "Steven" Eckhardt, Ratiasu "Northern, Eastern, Western" Southern, Kevin "Rick" Coroller

New Records
Only 2 records in the whole of February so far as activity in the higher ranks slows, and both of these were lap times. As a result of this slowdown, our worldwide dominance falls to below 35%.
Max Anossow beat the old N64 DK's Jungle Parkway lap time of 0'42"098 with a time of: 0'42"038
Nick Meade beat his own N64 Bowser's Castle lap time of 0'49"024 with a time of: 0'49"017

Movement
We have a change again at the very top. Nick Meade takes over the #1 spot again, as David goes inactive. Only a single position separates them. 1/64th of an AF point. Anyone beating any of Nick's times will cause a tie for #1 spot and will cause the site to explode in a mushroom cloud of numbers and text. The rest of the top 10 made 10 PRs between them, but it wasn't enough for anyone to move up a spot. The first person to make up some solid ground this week is #13 Mark Schmidt, who passed Brendan and Alvin Le. #17 Mickael Smolen didn't climb this week, but did improve his AF, as he attacked Sherbet Land and made significant gains. He also scared away one of the penguins. #18 Mike Zarro is back this week, as he smashes through the door to the top 20, and knocks a couple of people over who were standing near it. It's Mickael vs Mike next week, as the Penguin intimidator meets the sword.

#25 Tony Ruiz moves a spot closer to #24 Eric Hacksell this update, who also played a little. Both may decide to team up to take out Moseley this week, or turn on each other. #27 Fabien Jacques is creeping up behind both of them, stealthily hiding behind a bush each time they look around. With RVZ in the middle of this encounter, anything could happen. #30 Dustin Enders breaks into the top 30 with healthy dose of 16 PRs.

#39 Sam Hoar plays for the first time in 2010, and passes Bob who was Holden him back. #43 Franco Gubser does 1 better than Sam and passes 2, whilst #49 Henrik Distel breaks into the top 50 and says so Long to David. The last mover in the top 50 is #49 Ricardo Costa. He passed both Both and Doffine. Welcome to our 2 highest new entries to the AF chart this week, #53 Gavin Price and #54 Ross Coleman. They both sent in a full set of times and impress by starting in the top 100. They are now pitted against each other in a lifelong rivalry against each other, because I said so.

#55 Ashley O'Hara played for the first time in a month and got some decent Legend times to add to his collection. Another player back from inactivity is #59 Andrew Tran. Andrew hadn't played since July, but whistled passed Dixie, ate some Ham, and finally beat the Boss. Elsewhere, #67 Salvatore Bellusci improved almost 4 AF points, but gained no positions. Luckily he only needs to gain 1 more to pass a clump of 3 players. Also hoping to pass that clump is #68 Oliver Martin, who had the Will to pass Kristopher and got the Best of Justin. #70 Max Anossow has a great week with a 14 place move. He's definitely living up to his name. Another one on the brink of success is #75 Bastian Brinkmann. His 20 PRs nets him 4 places. #86 Sophie Steiner makes up some lost ground from the few weeks she was inactive, making sure to stay clear of the #100 dropzone for another while. Finally, congratulations to #91 Michael Schnieder who breaks into the top 100 this week with an impressive 41 place move, which is the best move of the update.

Closing in on the top 100 is #104 Michael van der Willick who cuts 2.5 AF points but is still 6 away from his goal. Making a very impressive effort to reach the top 100 is #106 Nicholas Harvey. With 24 PRs, he passed 9 players. Just 6 more to go! Those final 6 are always the most difficult of course. Especially when new people suddenly appear on the AF chart. #116 Fintan Kelly is up 3 spots and is about to take the #1 Irish spot away from Robert Lee who is just 1 ahead of him. Finally, honourable mentions this week to Luke Berrill, Dexter Howe and Adam Gilbert Pelling

See you next time.