A speedier way to do it would be to just have some sort of database inquiry such as a name or certain ranks, etc. This way you don't have to wait for the entire page to load full of names.
Speaking of, I was wondering if it was possible to use CSS and layers to get #'s on top of the maps, I know it wouldnt look as good, but it would save a lot of bandwidth.
That's possible, but the numbers overlay counts for only 10% of in-game bandwidth. The vast majority is the game log. When I bring in AJAX technology, that should drastically reduce the bandwidth.