Been having a great read through this thread getting a little further insights into our members. It would be a great travesty on my behalf if I didn't add to this amazing thread so here goes...
My real name is Thanh Nguyen. Just turned 42 years young, married with 3 gorgeous daughters who are the inspiration of our lives. My SCS nickname, THCLT, represents the first letter of the names in our family. Thanh, my wife Hang, daugthers Claire, Loretta & Theodora. We currently reside in south east Melbourne, in a house we built 6 years ago. We are a musical bunch at home, my wife plays and teaches piano and I (try) to accompany with my guitar. All our daughters plays the piano but not the guitar, probably best as I'm musically blind and only play through listening to the melody & rhythm.
My SuperCoach name, FLYING HORSES, came into existence for the 2014 SC season. For those that are familiar with the Chinese Zodiac (which is based on a 12 year cycle, each represented by an animal sign), my wife was born into the Year of the Horse. January 31st of 2014 signalled the beginning of The Year of the Horse cycle, so the name was my token gesture of gratitude towards my wife.
I currently work for a chemical manufacturing company looking after new product development and technical sales. I have been working in this capacity for 5 years. Prior to this, I worked as an application engineer for scientific instruments for 4 years and 10 years in an environmental laboratory doing various roles. I graduated with a BSc/BEng degree from Monash University, majoring in chemical engineering. After graduation, I took up studying Philosophy & Theology, which was a childhood interest of mine. This pursuit of my childhood interest enabled me to discover the real meaning of life and my self identity. I was sponsored to study abroad in 1997 so spent 12 months studying at the University of California.
I was always a lover of all sports from a very early age. I remember damaging one of the disc vertebrae in my lower back whilst playing footy at primary school and had to wear a back brace for 3 years for it to heal. I played a bit of cricket and field hockey through my early years at high school, but never at any competitive level. The only sports I really excelled in were volleyball and table tennis. I played volleyball competitively up until the age of 16 when I could no longer dedicate the time as studying took precedence, and played table tennis right through the end of my university days. Beyond my studying years, I enjoyed a game of pool or snooker or tennis with friends and was a very keen ten pin bowler in my early 20's. In fact, I almost had my name on one of the lane scoreboard at AMF Moorabbin for playing a perfect 300 game! I had 11 strikes and an 8-spare in the 9th frame to score 278. I also took up golf about 10 years ago, mainly so as not to embarrass myself at the work corporate golf days. I played quite regularly for the first 4 years and got my handicap down to 18. For the past 6 years, I seldom get an opportunity to play with the ever increasing family commitments, apart from the golf days through work. Nowadays, I can still hit a decent drive and my short game is still pretty sharp, and I generally get around somewhere in the 90's.
I got introduced to SC in the 2013 season through my current boss at work because someone pulled out of his home league at the last minute. I still vividly remember frantically trying to assemble a team to fit the salary cap on the day that the season was about to commence. My trigger friendly trading finger got the better of me that season and I ran out of trades by round 17 and stumbled my way to a ranking in the mid 8,000's. I bettered my boss that year though, so it was only just that I continue to give him an opportunity to have one over me. 2014 was only slightly better BUT I again ran out of trades by round 19 and faltered to finish in the 6,000's (lesson hasn't yet been learnt). Again I succeeded in finishing ahead of my boss, I told him that it was just beginner's luck, as I was still a relative novice at the game and hardly spent any time on it. At the end of that season, my boss says to me, 'you're too good for this current league, so for next year, I'll introduce you to some more competitive leagues amongst my friends'. This was a cue for me to start taking this SC fantasy thing seriously, so began to look on the internet for anything which would get me up to speed on how to properly play this game. I stumbled along the SuperCoach Scores website during September 2014, and have never looked back. That preseason prior to the start of SC 2015 was the most research and reading I've ever done in preparing my starting team. If you take a closer look at my signature, you'll noticed a marked improvement in my ranking for 2015! In fact, I was ranked well within the top 1K until faltering right at the end to fall just outside. The 'proof is in the pudding' that discovering SCS was the pivotal cog which ignited my passion and love of SC Fantasy. I have my boss to thank for introducing me to SC Fantasy. This year, I've even tested my wears in the other fantasy variants, namely, EPL & BBL. The knowledge and strategies which I've gleaned from SC have served me well so far.
At this juncture, I think it's appropriate to share a conversation I had with my eldest daughter prior to the start of SC 2015, when I was busy going through Rowsus & KLo30 players statistical analysis:
Claire: Daddy, are you working again?
Me: No darling, daddy is just busy with some stuff...go play with your sisters.
Claire: Mummy says that you're spending too much time on your computer of late and not enough time with us. What are you doing that is so important and taking so much of your time?
Me: Daddy is trying to pick the best players for daddy's SC team because daddy has to try to play seriously this year.
Claire: Is it hard to pick the best players, do you know who they are daddy?
Me: That's why daddy has to read and try to pick out the best players, now go and play with your sisters!
Claire: Is it just for fun daddy and why do you have to take it seriously? Do you win anything for playing this?
Me: There's money if you come first but it's very hard to win, daddy just wants to beat the boss's friends.
Claire: How much do you win if you come first daddy?
Me: $50K but that's not important, can you just please go and play with your sisters!!!
Claire: *screams aloud as she's running to get mum* Mum! Mum! Daddy's going to win $50K!!!
*Mum and the 3 daughters comes running in and in one voice asks: Can we go on a holidays when you win the $50K?
Me: If you all don't get out of the room and leave me alone, we won't be going anywhere!
They might have their wish granted sooner rather than later...but not through their Dad winning SC!
(Note: We've been on many family holidays in the past...I'm not that hard of a taskmaster)
My other great passion in life is bonsai, I've been a bonsai enthusiast since we moved into our current home. I've always had a love of bonsai from a very early age, and the project of building our own home presented a kind of like 'blank canvass' for me to create this serene environment to our house surroundings. I created a Japanese themed garden in my backyard, filled with maples and water features, and surrounded by bonsais which I have shaped, wired & form. I get my bonsai trees 'as is', that is, in its natural state as I like to visualise, create and transform that natural state bonsai tree into a 'work of art'. I now have quite an extensive collection, varying in different degree of maturity and types of bonsai. Below are some pictures which will give you a greater appreciation of this fine art...enjoy!
As you can read, outside SC, I do have a life and a pretty normal and full one at that.
