jRuutu

Look forward to your next article

And now I am hungry!! Thanks!! I guess I am going to eat ..... Hot Dogs!!

Cold but before it wrinkled, if it was still prime condition!!  I thought you got three?  I’d have eaten two on the road. Those damn pics make me hungry for dogs

Shame and other spices, I didn't stop to look. The idea of eating a hotdog when I get home took over my body and soul, I was blinded by the hotdog.
 
I ate it cold, but it was in prime condition, because I can't come home with a half-eaten hotdog

Today we celebrate "May Day" in Finland. To celebrate a day off and the beautiful weather; the sun is shining and it is warm outside, I decided to buy a hotdog from the supermarket's "bakery section". Because I am not an animal, I wanted to eat the hotdog when I got home, so I could eat the hotdog like a gentleman - using a fork and a knife. As I was walking through the crowded city center, the refrain of the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton started to play in my head: pa pa pa pa making my way back home, hotdog in my pocket, pa pa pa pa pa. I was having a good time. 
 
I then started to think about VHL and the playoffs.  I noticed that walking home with a nice hotdog shares similarities with the VHL experience. When you walk home with the hotdog instead of eating the hotdog right away you don't get the instant satisfaction. In VHL you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor right away either, you need to be consistent and work hard before your player gets better. A person who eats a hotdog in a public setting is close to a user claiming welfare in VHL: they lack patience, they do not want to work hard, and they often lack the ability to plan ahead. If you are able to walk home with the hotdog, it shows you have patience and discipline, you are willing to work for it, and you have the ability to think ahead. In general, if I think about what the world would look like if all the people ate hotdogs out in public vs eating the hotdog at home later, I think the world would be a better place if people would walk home with the hotdog.
 

 
The playoffs and the championship are what you are playing for in VHL. Daily and weekly you work towards being the best possible player and in the end, you hope it will translate to championship glory. Sometimes you will get lucky and you land in a solid VHL team, so you might win the championship sooner than many other players, but generally speaking, you need to have patience and discipline. If you ask me, I think it is only a good thing that you need to "work for it" as hunger and hard work make the victory taste even more special. For that reason, hotdogs should be bought from a store located a fair distance from your home. The walk home will make the hotdog taste even better. When you must walk for some time you also have the time to think about eating the hotdog. 
 
After a while, simply making the playoffs is not as big of a deal as the championship is the only thing that truly matters. Similar to buying a hotdog. If you buy a hotdog every time you can, after a while the idea of a hotdog gets less exciting. You would have to get some special hotdog or maybe eat it in some special place, or after some special event to make the whole "getting a hotdog" as exciting as it once was when you rarely got one. Luckily in VHL, it is still quite difficult to win the championship. However, it is easy to buy a hotdog and build a solid player in VHL, I think that is not good. I think the price of hotdogs should be higher and building a solid player in VHL should be harder. That way the status of the hotdog would automatically reach new heights, same with building a player. Right now in VHL, you get to enjoy multiple strong seasons as a strong player before depreciation hits, you also start scoring at a  fair rate quite soon after entering VHL, but the journey is not as satisfying as it could be as the difference between hard work and showing up doesn't feel as strong as it should feel. If buying a hotdog would be a difficult thing to do people would proudly wait until home before eating the hotdog as they don't want to be too flashy and rub it in the faces of other people. Eating a hotdog would be a rare thing, shared only with friends and loved ones. If building a strong player was harder thing to do users in vHL would feel more proud about building a strong player.
 
 

 
 
 
The idea of playoffs still carries you through the weekly grind. The regular season is a long process, you have to do a lot of work to improve your player, especially after a certain point. The idea of competing and maybe ending the season in championship celebrations is what pushes you to earn as much TPE as you can. The walk home today was not as bad as it could be, the sun was shining and birds were singing, but I still had to walk a fair amount. The thought of the nice hotdog kept my feet light. When you walk home with a nice hotdog, you make sure you walk home as fast as possible, but you make sure you are not taking any dangerous shortcuts that could prevent you from getting to enjoy the hotdog. Similar to VHL, you don't necessarily have to produce top quality every single week and spend hours researching something, but you can't take shortcuts and let the AI do the work for you. 
 
As I have now eaten my hotdog, I feel sad. I came home and started to write a small piece of this article. Then I ate the hotdog. I discovered that the idea of eating the hotdog is more satisfying than actually eating the hotdog. I am currently playing in a team that made the playoffs, I did not get a huge rush when we secured the spot in the playoffs. But the idea of competing still felt good before we were anywhere near the playoffs. Now that I am in the playoffs and still competing, just like with the idea of eating the hotdog, the idea of competing is more enjoyable than actually competing. We as people have the ability to hype things up in our minds to levels that reality can not match. 
 
 
1030 words
29.4 - 5.5
6.5 - 12.5
 

Shame and other spices, I didn't stop to look. The idea of eating a hotdog when I get home took over my body and soul, I was blinded by the hotdog.
 
I ate it cold, but it was in prime condition, because I can't come home with a half-eaten hotdog

Shame and other spices, I didn't stop to look. The idea of eating a hotdog when I get home took over my body and soul, I was blinded by the hotdog.
 
I ate it cold, but it was in prime condition, because I can't come home with a half-eaten hotdog

Don’t ask @frescoelmo this question…

Today we celebrate "May Day" in Finland. To celebrate a day off and the beautiful weather; the sun is shining and it is warm outside, I decided to buy a hotdog from the supermarket's "bakery section". Because I am not an animal, I wanted to eat the hotdog when I got home, so I could eat the hotdog like a gentleman - using a fork and a knife. As I was walking through the crowded city center, the refrain of the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton started to play in my head: pa pa pa pa making my way back home, hotdog in my pocket, pa pa pa pa pa. I was having a good time. 
 
I then started to think about VHL and the playoffs.  I noticed that walking home with a nice hotdog shares similarities with the VHL experience. When you walk home with the hotdog instead of eating the hotdog right away you don't get the instant satisfaction. In VHL you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor right away either, you need to be consistent and work hard before your player gets better. A person who eats a hotdog in a public setting is close to a user claiming welfare in VHL: they lack patience, they do not want to work hard, and they often lack the ability to plan ahead. If you are able to walk home with the hotdog, it shows you have patience and discipline, you are willing to work for it, and you have the ability to think ahead. In general, if I think about what the world would look like if all the people ate hotdogs out in public vs eating the hotdog at home later, I think the world would be a better place if people would walk home with the hotdog.
 

 
The playoffs and the championship are what you are playing for in VHL. Daily and weekly you work towards being the best possible player and in the end, you hope it will translate to championship glory. Sometimes you will get lucky and you land in a solid VHL team, so you might win the championship sooner than many other players, but generally speaking, you need to have patience and discipline. If you ask me, I think it is only a good thing that you need to "work for it" as hunger and hard work make the victory taste even more special. For that reason, hotdogs should be bought from a store located a fair distance from your home. The walk home will make the hotdog taste even better. When you must walk for some time you also have the time to think about eating the hotdog. 
 
After a while, simply making the playoffs is not as big of a deal as the championship is the only thing that truly matters. Similar to buying a hotdog. If you buy a hotdog every time you can, after a while the idea of a hotdog gets less exciting. You would have to get some special hotdog or maybe eat it in some special place, or after some special event to make the whole "getting a hotdog" as exciting as it once was when you rarely got one. Luckily in VHL, it is still quite difficult to win the championship. However, it is easy to buy a hotdog and build a solid player in VHL, I think that is not good. I think the price of hotdogs should be higher and building a solid player in VHL should be harder. That way the status of the hotdog would automatically reach new heights, same with building a player. Right now in VHL, you get to enjoy multiple strong seasons as a strong player before depreciation hits, you also start scoring at a  fair rate quite soon after entering VHL, but the journey is not as satisfying as it could be as the difference between hard work and showing up doesn't feel as strong as it should feel. If buying a hotdog would be a difficult thing to do people would proudly wait until home before eating the hotdog as they don't want to be too flashy and rub it in the faces of other people. Eating a hotdog would be a rare thing, shared only with friends and loved ones. If building a strong player was harder thing to do users in vHL would feel more proud about building a strong player.
 
 

 
 
 
The idea of playoffs still carries you through the weekly grind. The regular season is a long process, you have to do a lot of work to improve your player, especially after a certain point. The idea of competing and maybe ending the season in championship celebrations is what pushes you to earn as much TPE as you can. The walk home today was not as bad as it could be, the sun was shining and birds were singing, but I still had to walk a fair amount. The thought of the nice hotdog kept my feet light. When you walk home with a nice hotdog, you make sure you walk home as fast as possible, but you make sure you are not taking any dangerous shortcuts that could prevent you from getting to enjoy the hotdog. Similar to VHL, you don't necessarily have to produce top quality every single week and spend hours researching something, but you can't take shortcuts and let the AI do the work for you. 
 
As I have now eaten my hotdog, I feel sad. I came home and started to write a small piece of this article. Then I ate the hotdog. I discovered that the idea of eating the hotdog is more satisfying than actually eating the hotdog. I am currently playing in a team that made the playoffs, I did not get a huge rush when we secured the spot in the playoffs. But the idea of competing still felt good before we were anywhere near the playoffs. Now that I am in the playoffs and still competing, just like with the idea of eating the hotdog, the idea of competing is more enjoyable than actually competing. We as people have the ability to hype things up in our minds to levels that reality can not match. 
 
 
1030 words
29.4 - 5.5
6.5 - 12.5
 

Today we celebrate "May Day" in Finland. To celebrate a day off and the beautiful weather; the sun is shining and it is warm outside, I decided to buy a hotdog from the supermarket's "bakery section". Because I am not an animal, I wanted to eat the hotdog when I got home, so I could eat the hotdog like a gentleman - using a fork and a knife. As I was walking through the crowded city center, the refrain of the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton started to play in my head: pa pa pa pa making my way back home, hotdog in my pocket, pa pa pa pa pa. I was having a good time. 
 
I then started to think about VHL and the playoffs.  I noticed that walking home with a nice hotdog shares similarities with the VHL experience. When you walk home with the hotdog instead of eating the hotdog right away you don't get the instant satisfaction. In VHL you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor right away either, you need to be consistent and work hard before your player gets better. A person who eats a hotdog in a public setting is close to a user claiming welfare in VHL: they lack patience, they do not want to work hard, and they often lack the ability to plan ahead. If you are able to walk home with the hotdog, it shows you have patience and discipline, you are willing to work for it, and you have the ability to think ahead. In general, if I think about what the world would look like if all the people ate hotdogs out in public vs eating the hotdog at home later, I think the world would be a better place if people would walk home with the hotdog.
 

 
The playoffs and the championship are what you are playing for in VHL. Daily and weekly you work towards being the best possible player and in the end, you hope it will translate to championship glory. Sometimes you will get lucky and you land in a solid VHL team, so you might win the championship sooner than many other players, but generally speaking, you need to have patience and discipline. If you ask me, I think it is only a good thing that you need to "work for it" as hunger and hard work make the victory taste even more special. For that reason, hotdogs should be bought from a store located a fair distance from your home. The walk home will make the hotdog taste even better. When you must walk for some time you also have the time to think about eating the hotdog. 
 
After a while, simply making the playoffs is not as big of a deal as the championship is the only thing that truly matters. Similar to buying a hotdog. If you buy a hotdog every time you can, after a while the idea of a hotdog gets less exciting. You would have to get some special hotdog or maybe eat it in some special place, or after some special event to make the whole "getting a hotdog" as exciting as it once was when you rarely got one. Luckily in VHL, it is still quite difficult to win the championship. However, it is easy to buy a hotdog and build a solid player in VHL, I think that is not good. I think the price of hotdogs should be higher and building a solid player in VHL should be harder. That way the status of the hotdog would automatically reach new heights, same with building a player. Right now in VHL, you get to enjoy multiple strong seasons as a strong player before depreciation hits, you also start scoring at a  fair rate quite soon after entering VHL, but the journey is not as satisfying as it could be as the difference between hard work and showing up doesn't feel as strong as it should feel. If buying a hotdog would be a difficult thing to do people would proudly wait until home before eating the hotdog as they don't want to be too flashy and rub it in the faces of other people. Eating a hotdog would be a rare thing, shared only with friends and loved ones. If building a strong player was harder thing to do users in vHL would feel more proud about building a strong player.
 
 

 
 
 
The idea of playoffs still carries you through the weekly grind. The regular season is a long process, you have to do a lot of work to improve your player, especially after a certain point. The idea of competing and maybe ending the season in championship celebrations is what pushes you to earn as much TPE as you can. The walk home today was not as bad as it could be, the sun was shining and birds were singing, but I still had to walk a fair amount. The thought of the nice hotdog kept my feet light. When you walk home with a nice hotdog, you make sure you walk home as fast as possible, but you make sure you are not taking any dangerous shortcuts that could prevent you from getting to enjoy the hotdog. Similar to VHL, you don't necessarily have to produce top quality every single week and spend hours researching something, but you can't take shortcuts and let the AI do the work for you. 
 
As I have now eaten my hotdog, I feel sad. I came home and started to write a small piece of this article. Then I ate the hotdog. I discovered that the idea of eating the hotdog is more satisfying than actually eating the hotdog. I am currently playing in a team that made the playoffs, I did not get a huge rush when we secured the spot in the playoffs. But the idea of competing still felt good before we were anywhere near the playoffs. Now that I am in the playoffs and still competing, just like with the idea of eating the hotdog, the idea of competing is more enjoyable than actually competing. We as people have the ability to hype things up in our minds to levels that reality can not match. 
 
 
1030 words
29.4 - 5.5
6.5 - 12.5
 

Today we celebrate "May Day" in Finland. To celebrate a day off and the beautiful weather; the sun is shining and it is warm outside, I decided to buy a hotdog from the supermarket's "bakery section". Because I am not an animal, I wanted to eat the hotdog when I got home, so I could eat the hotdog like a gentleman - using a fork and a knife. As I was walking through the crowded city center, the refrain of the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton started to play in my head: pa pa pa pa making my way back home, hotdog in my pocket, pa pa pa pa pa. I was having a good time. 
 
I then started to think about VHL and the playoffs.  I noticed that walking home with a nice hotdog shares similarities with the VHL experience. When you walk home with the hotdog instead of eating the hotdog right away you don't get the instant satisfaction. In VHL you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor right away either, you need to be consistent and work hard before your player gets better. A person who eats a hotdog in a public setting is close to a user claiming welfare in VHL: they lack patience, they do not want to work hard, and they often lack the ability to plan ahead. If you are able to walk home with the hotdog, it shows you have patience and discipline, you are willing to work for it, and you have the ability to think ahead. In general, if I think about what the world would look like if all the people ate hotdogs out in public vs eating the hotdog at home later, I think the world would be a better place if people would walk home with the hotdog.
 

 
The playoffs and the championship are what you are playing for in VHL. Daily and weekly you work towards being the best possible player and in the end, you hope it will translate to championship glory. Sometimes you will get lucky and you land in a solid VHL team, so you might win the championship sooner than many other players, but generally speaking, you need to have patience and discipline. If you ask me, I think it is only a good thing that you need to "work for it" as hunger and hard work make the victory taste even more special. For that reason, hotdogs should be bought from a store located a fair distance from your home. The walk home will make the hotdog taste even better. When you must walk for some time you also have the time to think about eating the hotdog. 
 
After a while, simply making the playoffs is not as big of a deal as the championship is the only thing that truly matters. Similar to buying a hotdog. If you buy a hotdog every time you can, after a while the idea of a hotdog gets less exciting. You would have to get some special hotdog or maybe eat it in some special place, or after some special event to make the whole "getting a hotdog" as exciting as it once was when you rarely got one. Luckily in VHL, it is still quite difficult to win the championship. However, it is easy to buy a hotdog and build a solid player in VHL, I think that is not good. I think the price of hotdogs should be higher and building a solid player in VHL should be harder. That way the status of the hotdog would automatically reach new heights, same with building a player. Right now in VHL, you get to enjoy multiple strong seasons as a strong player before depreciation hits, you also start scoring at a  fair rate quite soon after entering VHL, but the journey is not as satisfying as it could be as the difference between hard work and showing up doesn't feel as strong as it should feel. If buying a hotdog would be a difficult thing to do people would proudly wait until home before eating the hotdog as they don't want to be too flashy and rub it in the faces of other people. Eating a hotdog would be a rare thing, shared only with friends and loved ones. If building a strong player was harder thing to do users in vHL would feel more proud about building a strong player.
 
 

 
 
 
The idea of playoffs still carries you through the weekly grind. The regular season is a long process, you have to do a lot of work to improve your player, especially after a certain point. The idea of competing and maybe ending the season in championship celebrations is what pushes you to earn as much TPE as you can. The walk home today was not as bad as it could be, the sun was shining and birds were singing, but I still had to walk a fair amount. The thought of the nice hotdog kept my feet light. When you walk home with a nice hotdog, you make sure you walk home as fast as possible, but you make sure you are not taking any dangerous shortcuts that could prevent you from getting to enjoy the hotdog. Similar to VHL, you don't necessarily have to produce top quality every single week and spend hours researching something, but you can't take shortcuts and let the AI do the work for you. 
 
As I have now eaten my hotdog, I feel sad. I came home and started to write a small piece of this article. Then I ate the hotdog. I discovered that the idea of eating the hotdog is more satisfying than actually eating the hotdog. I am currently playing in a team that made the playoffs, I did not get a huge rush when we secured the spot in the playoffs. But the idea of competing still felt good before we were anywhere near the playoffs. Now that I am in the playoffs and still competing, just like with the idea of eating the hotdog, the idea of competing is more enjoyable than actually competing. We as people have the ability to hype things up in our minds to levels that reality can not match. 
 
 
1030 words
29.4 - 5.5
6.5 - 12.5
 

1. Are we having fun yet? Tight race in the EU.
Would be more fun if the loser of the race would miss the playoffs, now it is good teams competing who is more good. In the end we will play against one of the good teams in the playoffs.

2. What team have we played that has surprised you the most?
LA - only 5 wins so far in the season,  you need to try to be that bad.

3. It's been a bit dead in the locker room lately, why?
No shoe policy has pushed players to hang out at the cafeteria

4. How is your player doing compared to your expectations?
Above expectations I would say, I was hoping few more goals, but overall solid so far!

5. Do you think we need to shake lines up or just ride it out?
I think we need to all put our names into a hat, and let the GM pick one name from the hat. Who is chosen will have their whole body covered in honey and feathers. The hope is that the show will please Simon T, which in return shows as favorable sim luck.

6. Who does Spartan listen to on Spotify?
The sound of old janitor trying to figure out which key is the right one to various doors. A lot of key chain sounds and key motion inside the locks mixed together on a loop.

A great tragedy took place, the good people of VHL were forced to continue with their weekend without getting to enjoy a sim on Saturday. As I am writing this, it is unclear what happened exactly, but when we consider the prestigious nature of the VHL Playoffs and how much these simulation leagues mean to people, I think it is important to do whatever we can as a community to heal together. A big part of the healing is, of course, finding those who are guilty and getting revenge.
 
When we think about days in a week, it is often considered more acceptable to not do something if that something takes place during the weekend. That is because we have been taught by the media and big corporations that weekend is an important time, that is when we should go out to spend our hard-earned money in stores, and that is when we should spend time with our families and loved ones. Throughout history, we have also been taught that Sunday is a holy day and no work should be done on that day. If we think about the horror show that took place, is it now fair to ask the sim team to work on Sunday if they were not able to work on Saturday? On one hand, I think that is only right for them, but then on the other hand, I think that is still not enough. I think the sim team should be forced to write a public apology where they explain what happened, why, and what steps are going to be taken, so something like this will never happen again.
 
If you were affected by the negligence of the sim team, write your comments in the comments. Remember, those who remain quiet do not speak and those who do not speak are quiet.

A great tragedy took place, the good people of VHL were forced to continue with their weekend without getting to enjoy a sim on Saturday. As I am writing this, it is unclear what happened exactly, but when we consider the prestigious nature of the VHL Playoffs and how much these simulation leagues mean to people, I think it is important to do whatever we can as a community to heal together. A big part of the healing is, of course, finding those who are guilty and getting revenge.
 
When we think about days in a week, it is often considered more acceptable to not do something if that something takes place during the weekend. That is because we have been taught by the media and big corporations that weekend is an important time, that is when we should go out to spend our hard-earned money in stores, and that is when we should spend time with our families and loved ones. Throughout history, we have also been taught that Sunday is a holy day and no work should be done on that day. If we think about the horror show that took place, is it now fair to ask the sim team to work on Sunday if they were not able to work on Saturday? On one hand, I think that is only right for them, but then on the other hand, I think that is still not enough. I think the sim team should be forced to write a public apology where they explain what happened, why, and what steps are going to be taken, so something like this will never happen again.
 
If you were affected by the negligence of the sim team, write your comments in the comments. Remember, those who remain quiet do not speak and those who do not speak are quiet.

I was having some free time, so just for the fun of it I decided to browse the portal. I noticed that it is not as common for players to have the "NTC" in their contract. Most teams have a couple of players with the clause on their current deal, and some teams have none, so it is fair to say that the majority of players in VHL at the moment do not have an NTC on their contract. I started to wonder why is that. Over the years I have learned that general managers appreciate when a player commits to the team and works towards the common goals. And in my opinion, nothing says I am interested in staying more than a NTC.
 
I think one big reason behind the lack of NTCs is the fact that general managers are too nice. They are out there helping and being good people. If your general manager approaches you and says there have been few offers for you or the season is not going well, so you might be traded, it is a given that the general manager then tries to find a nice place for you. That is wrong and a shame. Where is the fear of getting traded to a bad team? It does not exist, because it has become acceptable for general managers to be our friends. We should hate our general manager, we should be afraid of our general manager. When you are traded, you should hear about it on the forum first. Or ideally, you would not have to worry about it as you have that NTC on your contract.
 
Another reason is the lack of competition. It has become acceptable for teams to tank and suck. It is widely accepted as part of the experience to have teams rebuilding. On the surface, that is how it is in every sport, but in most sports, the level of competition is still more fierce. VHL simply has too many teams and not enough active players. The general managers are forced to be nice because the pool of actives is so small. When teams in VHL tank and suck, they are not even trying to compete and make deals. I think that is because welfare players are too good. It is too easy to build a solid player with welfare. Active players should be fought over, the should be hunted. Welfare players in return should be terrible. The league plays a big part in that, but the real enablers are the general managers and them being too nice. The general managers are out there understanding when they should be making threats and promises about the player getting traded out if they don't make that graphic or media spot next week. 
 
If you ask me, the league should drop a few teams, welfare should be made weaker, and like in Jason Bourne, before any general manager is accepted into the program they should be forced to fire a welfare player. I think through those steps VHL would have more passion and character. More importantly, the users in VHL would learn valuable lessons about thinking a few steps ahead and never describing who is or is not in the room with them when standing in front of a window.
 
 

I was having some free time, so just for the fun of it I decided to browse the portal. I noticed that it is not as common for players to have the "NTC" in their contract. Most teams have a couple of players with the clause on their current deal, and some teams have none, so it is fair to say that the majority of players in VHL at the moment do not have an NTC on their contract. I started to wonder why is that. Over the years I have learned that general managers appreciate when a player commits to the team and works towards the common goals. And in my opinion, nothing says I am interested in staying more than a NTC.
 
I think one big reason behind the lack of NTCs is the fact that general managers are too nice. They are out there helping and being good people. If your general manager approaches you and says there have been few offers for you or the season is not going well, so you might be traded, it is a given that the general manager then tries to find a nice place for you. That is wrong and a shame. Where is the fear of getting traded to a bad team? It does not exist, because it has become acceptable for general managers to be our friends. We should hate our general manager, we should be afraid of our general manager. When you are traded, you should hear about it on the forum first. Or ideally, you would not have to worry about it as you have that NTC on your contract.
 
Another reason is the lack of competition. It has become acceptable for teams to tank and suck. It is widely accepted as part of the experience to have teams rebuilding. On the surface, that is how it is in every sport, but in most sports, the level of competition is still more fierce. VHL simply has too many teams and not enough active players. The general managers are forced to be nice because the pool of actives is so small. When teams in VHL tank and suck, they are not even trying to compete and make deals. I think that is because welfare players are too good. It is too easy to build a solid player with welfare. Active players should be fought over, the should be hunted. Welfare players in return should be terrible. The league plays a big part in that, but the real enablers are the general managers and them being too nice. The general managers are out there understanding when they should be making threats and promises about the player getting traded out if they don't make that graphic or media spot next week. 
 
If you ask me, the league should drop a few teams, welfare should be made weaker, and like in Jason Bourne, before any general manager is accepted into the program they should be forced to fire a welfare player. I think through those steps VHL would have more passion and character. More importantly, the users in VHL would learn valuable lessons about thinking a few steps ahead and never describing who is or is not in the room with them when standing in front of a window.
 
 

I was having some free time, so just for the fun of it I decided to browse the portal. I noticed that it is not as common for players to have the "NTC" in their contract. Most teams have a couple of players with the clause on their current deal, and some teams have none, so it is fair to say that the majority of players in VHL at the moment do not have an NTC on their contract. I started to wonder why is that. Over the years I have learned that general managers appreciate when a player commits to the team and works towards the common goals. And in my opinion, nothing says I am interested in staying more than a NTC.
 
I think one big reason behind the lack of NTCs is the fact that general managers are too nice. They are out there helping and being good people. If your general manager approaches you and says there have been few offers for you or the season is not going well, so you might be traded, it is a given that the general manager then tries to find a nice place for you. That is wrong and a shame. Where is the fear of getting traded to a bad team? It does not exist, because it has become acceptable for general managers to be our friends. We should hate our general manager, we should be afraid of our general manager. When you are traded, you should hear about it on the forum first. Or ideally, you would not have to worry about it as you have that NTC on your contract.
 
Another reason is the lack of competition. It has become acceptable for teams to tank and suck. It is widely accepted as part of the experience to have teams rebuilding. On the surface, that is how it is in every sport, but in most sports, the level of competition is still more fierce. VHL simply has too many teams and not enough active players. The general managers are forced to be nice because the pool of actives is so small. When teams in VHL tank and suck, they are not even trying to compete and make deals. I think that is because welfare players are too good. It is too easy to build a solid player with welfare. Active players should be fought over, the should be hunted. Welfare players in return should be terrible. The league plays a big part in that, but the real enablers are the general managers and them being too nice. The general managers are out there understanding when they should be making threats and promises about the player getting traded out if they don't make that graphic or media spot next week. 
 
If you ask me, the league should drop a few teams, welfare should be made weaker, and like in Jason Bourne, before any general manager is accepted into the program they should be forced to fire a welfare player. I think through those steps VHL would have more passion and character. More importantly, the users in VHL would learn valuable lessons about thinking a few steps ahead and never describing who is or is not in the room with them when standing in front of a window.
 
 

Interesting take.
 
I'll add that GMs put their team together the way they want and coaches should be feared.  We don't have coaches though.  GM puts the roster together and the coach has to make do if he wants to keep his job or keep a positive reputation. 
 
Also, NTCs seem to be more reserved for elite talent, and with the Cap based on tpe and not market value, GMs can't save cap by offering NTCs, unless there's team/player options.  There's no actual mechanic for Salary vs Contract Conditions/Obligations.
 
Also, you didn't talk about ELCs.  Maybe they're too long?  They account for roughly 1/3rd of a player's career, unlike NHL standards it's more like 1/5th (roughly) of a player career.
 
Interesting read!

I was having some free time, so just for the fun of it I decided to browse the portal. I noticed that it is not as common for players to have the "NTC" in their contract. Most teams have a couple of players with the clause on their current deal, and some teams have none, so it is fair to say that the majority of players in VHL at the moment do not have an NTC on their contract. I started to wonder why is that. Over the years I have learned that general managers appreciate when a player commits to the team and works towards the common goals. And in my opinion, nothing says I am interested in staying more than a NTC.
 
I think one big reason behind the lack of NTCs is the fact that general managers are too nice. They are out there helping and being good people. If your general manager approaches you and says there have been few offers for you or the season is not going well, so you might be traded, it is a given that the general manager then tries to find a nice place for you. That is wrong and a shame. Where is the fear of getting traded to a bad team? It does not exist, because it has become acceptable for general managers to be our friends. We should hate our general manager, we should be afraid of our general manager. When you are traded, you should hear about it on the forum first. Or ideally, you would not have to worry about it as you have that NTC on your contract.
 
Another reason is the lack of competition. It has become acceptable for teams to tank and suck. It is widely accepted as part of the experience to have teams rebuilding. On the surface, that is how it is in every sport, but in most sports, the level of competition is still more fierce. VHL simply has too many teams and not enough active players. The general managers are forced to be nice because the pool of actives is so small. When teams in VHL tank and suck, they are not even trying to compete and make deals. I think that is because welfare players are too good. It is too easy to build a solid player with welfare. Active players should be fought over, the should be hunted. Welfare players in return should be terrible. The league plays a big part in that, but the real enablers are the general managers and them being too nice. The general managers are out there understanding when they should be making threats and promises about the player getting traded out if they don't make that graphic or media spot next week. 
 
If you ask me, the league should drop a few teams, welfare should be made weaker, and like in Jason Bourne, before any general manager is accepted into the program they should be forced to fire a welfare player. I think through those steps VHL would have more passion and character. More importantly, the users in VHL would learn valuable lessons about thinking a few steps ahead and never describing who is or is not in the room with them when standing in front of a window.
 
 

1. The players seem to be inactive in the locker room, why?
Moscow has evolved into communicating without using words

2. Our recent upgrade to defense hasn't panned yet. Any ideas what is going on?
I upgraded my wife to a new model, a better model, but then I realized I miss the old plow horse. Maybe something like that is going on?

3. Although we were on top of the EU world, we have fallen lately. Where will we end up?
 We will have super hot final run in the regular season that will carry us to first position.

4. As a whole, the team looks strong and resilient. Are you looking for that big win streak that I am?
Yes! We have gotten some away wins lately too, so keep pushing and we should be able to put together a nice run.

5. Our tender is doing a good job when you consider this is season two for him. Can the team rally behind him and push us to glory?
I think Reed and the bot should be played more, so Syko does not get too cocky.  Bench him for 5 games in row at least. "Yea you got 6 shutouts, but you still riding the bench". Keep Syko guessing.

6. Overall, not counting this last week, are you happy with your player?
Overall yes, started the season strong, then bit of a slower run, but lately things been picking up again. Hoping for a strong finish!

This season has been a little rough for Vancouver’s rookie winger, Logan Ninefingers.  He has done some good things at times and abysmal at times.  He has recently gotten into a physical role and had some good fights along the way.  So today I’m going to take a deep look at Nine finger’s career fight card.
 
VHLM S91
Game 304- vs Alexandros Mograine (Saskatoon) (fought to a draw)
 
VHLE S92 Oslo/Bratislava
Game 67- vs C1 (rome) Win-  at least I can beat up a bot
Game 78- vs Karol Lamb @dlamb(BRA) --  Loss---  Getting beat up by your GM really hurts. 
Game 114- vs S Winston Dixon jr @Rjdixon01 (VAS)  Win
Game 117- vs C1 (ROM) draw-   me and this dude have beef for sure
Game 21- playoffs vs Theo Allard @InstantRockstar (COL)  Loss
 
S92 Pro Am
Fight vs Callum Gary Yanick Janser @Daniel JanserDaniel -  LOSS
 
S93 VHL Vancouver
Game 195 vus Raimo Tuominen @SlapshotWrangler(CGY) Draw
Game 298 vs Jarmo Ruutu @jRuutu (MOS) loss
Game 306 vs Tommy Sleeves @dasboot(HSK) loss 
 
 
Conclusion, winning fights isn’t easy and apparenlty Logan needs to hit the weight room in the off season.  Happy Friday everyone
 
 
 
 
 

As if I needed more motivation.

I have never said a word beyond "hi" to my next-door neighbor and I don't even remember the last time I did that. I never even saw my other next-door neighbors in person before they moved (though I heard them a lot) and their unit has been empty ever since. I don't know whether I like that or not.
 
I think it would be interesting to go anonymous on the forum for a while, but people would figure it out pretty quickly if everyone kept just writing about their own player. Even things like writing style (I'm aware that mine rambles on in ways that most others don't) would mean something to people who know each other well.
 
But I do think that there's an interesting motivation here and that's the fact that I'm sure username does dictate a lot of how someone's content receives interaction. I like to think that I usually look for things based on first impressions of title and things unrelated to author, but I'm sure some people click on both my stuff and your stuff because we wrote it. I wouldn't mind writing something generic and seeing the kind of feedback I'd get under those circumstances.

It is Friday evening, and I am sitting somewhere in Finland listening to my neighbor play their flute. I have lived in this building for a few years now, and I cannot say for sure who lives in this building with me. I like it. I like the anonymous vibe this building has. Unfortunately, now I know someone here plays the flute. I don't know that person, I don't know where they live exactly, I don't know their name, but my respect for the person and towards this building has gone down as a result. 
 
Like a recently planted birch, sitting on a fertile ground, just waiting to get bigger and bigger, each minute that goes by my hatred grows. I started to wonder if this forum would be better if we were not able to see the usernames. All we would see is the content and when it was posted. You could comment and react to the content like now. The portal would not show the updating history, just the statistics and attributes. But of course the updaters/staff could see who posted and what. I think the anonymity and not knowing who posted and what could make for some interesting interactions. You would have to invest in the content in front of you as the username would not dictate whether you take the time to engage or not. You could perhaps be more open and honest in commenting on what you see and hear, both good and bad. Sometimes it is harder to be positive and give nice feedback because then you might feel like you need to do so all the time. Sometimes the content you see should be commented on more harshly than your "role" in VHL allows. Many great moments and stories never come alive because we are too busy keeping appearances up. 
 
If I now think about my flute-playing neighbor again, I would hate them even more if I knew who they were and where they lived exactly, because they knew other people lived in this building, and out of all instruments they decided to play the flute. But then again, now that I don't know who they are and where they live exactly I don't feel as bad yelling at them to stop. On some other day, I could even add a swear word or two into the yelling. If I knew who they are and where they live I would have a harder time yelling for them to stop, because I need to keep appearances up. Nobody wants to be known as the person who yelled at a kid practicing or a pensioner trying on a new hobby. Nobody wants to be known as the person who said nice things to a kid or a pensioner playing the flute - that would be weird.
 
Because of the anonymity, this great meeting of souls could take place. The neighbor feels like they can play the flute while surrounded by other people and I get to yell at them. They know that nobody knows who they are or where they live exactly and vice versa, I know that they know that they don't know who I am or where I live exactly. The flute was still being played, loud words were yelled, and feelings were hurt. This would not be possible if we knew each other on any level. 
 
If we knew each other well and where we lived exactly, the only thing that would have happened was the flute was being played. I would more than likely just ignore the noise. I might not even think twice about it. What a sad story that would be.