Gustav

Week 3

I do fully disagree with the idea of giving out a free 12, but I don't mind agreeing with the motivation for that. Part of me is intrigued by the idea of doing catch-up tasks--perhaps someone could earn at least some stuff back that they previously wouldn't have had any opportunity to by doing things that would otherwise have been claimed in other weeks.

 

I don't even fully like that because I think it introduces some real discussions about burnout and hitting new players with too much at once, but it could also be a valid counterpoint that we do run into people every now and then who absolutely would do that and let it shape them into a more involved member, faster.

 

I'd have to think about whether or not I actually want that, but I think it's at least interesting.

Some people ask me when I'm starting the game.

 

To that, I say "it will start in one second."

 

Any All wins the poll every time, and while most of the time I listen, sometimes I change it up for the heck of it, because I want to make sure that those people picking the other options are heard or because we haven't done one in a while or whatever. In this case, those two options apply, but we also have a few new faces this game--so for the added reason that some might like to work with a role list, we're going STANDARD MAFIA today.

 

 

Said role list is as follows:

 

2x TOWN PROTECTIVE

2x TOWN SUPPORT

2x TOWN INVESTIGATIVE

1x TOWN KILLING

3x RANDOM TOWN

 

1x GODFATHER

1x MAFIOSO

2x RANDOM MAFIA

 

1x NEUTRAL KILLING

2x RANDOM NEUTRAL

 

3x ANY OF THE ABOVE

 

 

Player list (20):

@Adrest245

@Advantage

@Alex

@Berocka

@Cartripp14

@Dadam30

@Da Trifecta

@Doomsday

@eaglesfan036

@GoodLeftUndone

@Grape

@jacobaa19

@jhatty8

@Lemorse7

@NSG

@omgitshim

@Ptyrell

@Ricer13

@rory

@woog

 

Gustav will not be starting Night 1 tonight, but tomorrow night--if "on schedule", we're talking a little under 1 day and 6.5 hours away. I may or may not start a bit ahead of schedule because there's no real point in dragging D1 that long, but should have it up and running by then.

 

Here is the copy-paste, and if you aren't a fan of it being in dark mode, I will personally remove your kneecaps with an ice cream scoop.

 

 

Rules are here

The wiki is here

 

 

-JOIN THE DISCORD SERVER! YOU'RE REQUIRED TO! HERE'S ANOTHER LINK!

 

-I'm going with my usual starting and ending times as a general guideline: WHENEVER THE HELL I WAKE UP marks the start of each day phase, and 10 PM EST marks the start of each night phase. Those will be the times that I'll aim for, but, officially, the start of one phase and the end of another comes whenever I make the announcement. You'll be pinged. I will do my best to give out expected announcement times, but I reserve the right to kick off any phase at any time.

 

-No talking in this thread during night phases. That goes for everybody, regardless of role. I have no power to lock this thread at night, and there's no official penalty for talking in here at night, but if you see one of your fellow citizens doing so, please yell at them for me. I CAN LOCK THE THREAD AT NIGHT, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! If for some reason I forget, or if you have mod powers and can comment in locked threads, please keep the "no talking" rule in mind anyway.

 

-Do not edit posts. I've been relaxed about not yelling at people who have, but editing is a sneaky way to take out potentially incriminating information. If you say something stupid, too bad. Don't change it.

 

-If you are reasonably able to be online at the start of the night phases, please make an effort to do so. The JAILOR (if there is a Jailor) is able to speak with you in their own Discord channel at night, and that is when I will put the Jailor's target in said channel. If it is within your power to do so and doesn't present a huge inconvenience, please be online when the night phase starts and please join the server out of respect for the Jailor and their time. If you know you won't be around at the start of the night phase, it might be helpful to give me a message to forward to the Jailor during the day phase should you be placed in jail that night.

 

-DO NOT PM ANYBODY. All communication must happen in this thread, unless you have already received an invite to a Discord server where you may speak as well. If you haven't, keep everything here. Should you wish to contact someone directly, too bad! Whispers don't exist in this format.

 

-STAY ACTIVE. If you do go two day and night phases in a row without speaking in public, speaking in a private Discord, or sending me a night action (or specifically telling me you do not want to take a night action), I will swing the Mighty Gustav Hammer of Death. You do not want the Mighty Gustav Hammer of Death, and neither does anybody on your side.

 

-NO ROLES ARE OFF THE TABLE. If you play the online game, you may be familiar with a Classic mode being the default, where many of the newer roles are not used. In these games, if the evil faction is the Mafia, ALL roles which are not members of the Coven may be used, and vice versa. This includes Any All and Town Traitor.

 

-Last but not least, friendly reminder that no discussion relevant to this game in particular is allowed in the #general channel of the game server while this game is running.

 

-Just kidding! Actually last but not least--IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CHECK YOUR DISCORD CHANNEL FOR NOTIFICATIONS PRIOR TO EACH DAY PHASE. It might not end well for you if you don't!

 

-And last but not least for the third time, if you choose to change a night action, please, please, send a new message rather than editing your old one. I've missed changes because of this before as an edit doesn't give me any sort of notification if I've already seen and missed the first one...so make sure I've got it right by separating your submissions!

VOTE JANNULA YOU COWARDS

1 hour ago, Berocka said:

When are we starting this?

 

Best-case scenario, within 24 hours, worst-case scenario, within 72. Depends how motivated I am with my Friday night and how busy I am with my Saturday one.

To be honest, this isn’t even as impactful as some Louth Rule punishments IMO. The punishment here is a slap on the wrist for a class where there’s very much a top 2. Whether that’s appropriate is up to opinion. 
 

The VHL will always have shady GM tactics, whether we’re talking this or trying to fleece new GMs or tampering or even weird borderline insider trading policy change proposals that we have to look out for in BoG. So even though not everything will be caught all the time, I’m glad that there’s some effort made to keep it in line. I’m sure that stuff happened in more places than just Seattle this season, and I’d understand if that’s a reason to keep it mild, but we as players should also be doing our best to make sure we get the playing time we deserve and speak up when necessary. 

I don't need any more TPE this week, but hello. I thought I'd get on the random thoughts train just because--I have things on my mind and I like putting them in nice places.

 

• A week ago was my 5-year VHL anniversary. I still remember the day I joined. I was a super bored college freshman and scrolling through Reddit for way too long, putting off doing some assignment, and happened to come across the right post at the right time. I was a bit weirded out by the idea of talking to strangers and I had basically quit already when I got a couple emails that I'd been messaged ahead of the upcoming VHLM draft--sure, I welfared for a couple weeks at the start, but coming back on then was the reason why I stayed. That's why you scout people!
• Talking to some of you is weird. I'm a very different person than I was as an 18-year-old VHL noob, but the kids keep getting younger. I didn't think anything of it when I was 18 or 19 and learned that someone was 14 or 15--and I still don't really do that today, because I get that we'll get new kids all the time--but realizing last night that one of you was nine years old when I joined the league blew my mind a little bit. 
• I'm running another Town of Salem game, and sign-ups are open now! I'm not sure how clear it is that my games are open to everyone regardless of experience--and that those who have gained it are totally cool with you learning by playing. I do apologize if it's looked like an exclusive club to anyone on the outside, because that's never been the intent.
• People who have been accepted to my program will be visiting my campus in a week, and it gives me major VHL vibes in some ways. People a year below me generally know me and like me OK because I got involved in all the events to welcome them and I did my best as their TA last semester--and now I have the chance to positively affect a whole new year of people. We're fortunate enough to have a culture that encourages older students helping younger ones, and I hope that's something we do on this forum as well. But if you say we do, please either do it or get out. I don't have time for the fake stuff.
• Don't underestimate the depth of your relationships with friends. I'm OK, but I've had a lot going on in my head lately that's really weighed down on things and I recently decided to tell a couple people I trust about that. It's the first time I've ever made a point to sit down and do that with anyone and the ways I've been supported have been unreal--from things I didn't know existed being sent my way to a dysfunctionally communicative group chat randomly, magically, just so conveniently happening to suddenly have everyone available and willing to get together and have fun, I can tell that people I know actually care and that feels nice.
• Anyway, back to the VHL stuff. Vandelay had his last-ever disappointing playoff campaign and is now gone for good. Interestingly, Lazlo Holmes had a pretty solid end-of-year run with Halifax and I'll be interested in seeing what happens when next season rolls around. I still have no plans to have anything to do with the E, and I'm fully prepared to write about how I don't like the circumstances of that and be told I'm stupid for saying so for as long as long as it takes.

List of players:

1. Adrest245

2. Advantage

3. Alex

4. Berocka

5. Cartripp14

6. Dadam30

7. Da Trifecta

8. Doomsday

9. eaglesfan036

10. GoodLeftUndone

11. Grape

12. jacobaa19

13. jhatty8

14. Lemorse7

15. NSG

16. omgitshim

17. Ptyrell

18. Ricer13

19. rory

20. woog

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 

Come to my arms, my beamish boy! 
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” 

He chortled in his joy.

 

"What the hell are you on about?" says the cashier at the Salem Wawa, who's about to deny @Doomsday his sixth Zyn canister of the day.

 

In other news, Gustav has been bored enough these past few weeks to be thrown off by it. We're going to see if a little Town of Salem does a thing or two to correct that. Stat sheets are updated, article multiclaims are in, other articles are even set up, and I'm running out of dumb nerd stuff to do. Give me more dumb nerd stuff to do here, please. I don't have anything better to do with my life.

 

As was the case last game, you'll notice that I've added ToS2 as an option for a game mode. I will not be tracking stats for ToS2 games because it's too much work for something that will never really matter--but it exists as an option and you're free to take it if you wish.

 

Trivia is back as always (I'm a fan of #3 this time around!) and so is your favorite friend, the copy-paste.

 

 

 

Rules are here

The wiki is here

 

CLICK THIS LINK IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE DISCORD SERVER

 

JOINING THE SERVER IS REQUIRED  FOR ALL PLAYERS! Non-players are welcome as well.

 

Remember that ALL game-related notifications will be given on Discord! Make sure you join the server, and check it BEFORE speaking in the game thread each day. Also, do your best to be there at the start of each night phase!

If you're new to the game, read up on some roles on the wiki and go through some old game threads in this subforum.

 

TRIVIA TIME:

HERE IS THE LINK TO TRIVIA!

-If you won the last game, you have an automatic 30% chance to receive a role of your choosing, if you'd like to request one. The winners of last game are listed below:

 

@Grape

@Lemorse7

@woog

@Ptyrell

@jhatty8

@Advantage

@Ricer13

@Adrest245

@eaglesfan036

 

 

 

 

-If you didn't win the last game, you can still request a role! Play trivia, and for each correct answer, you'll earn a cumulative 5% chance toward a role of your choosing, for a maximum chance of 20%.

-If you won the last game, you can still play! This possible 20% chance will be added to your 30% chance for a maximum of 50%.

-No, you do not need to do this if you don't want to.

-If you'd like to play without requesting a role, simply write "Random" in the role request box.

 

Vote for your preferred format up top and sign up down below, as always.

 

 

Target start date: I'm not sure yet but maybe Saturday? I might have plans that day and it might be best to start at a time where I should be able to start N1 on time.

This wasn't even on purpose, but--2,001 words.

 

Week 2

14 hours ago, Victor said:

Not entirely sure this is true, are you being swayed by the fact someone fucked up and imported the season's stats into the portal twice?

 

Very much so; that would make far more sense than what the portal says happened honestly.

 

Part of me is surprised that LeBeau got in right away, not because I don't think it was deserved but because I'm not convinced today's standards are the same. It probably wouldn't take much for one voter or another to pull out the career totals argument or the "not first ballot" one--but granted, I wasn't there for it so I don't know.

"...you could make a strong case that the defining player of this concluding decade was Skylar Rift. Rift was not an untalented player by any means and one of the best goaltenders of his time."

-VHL 40 in 40 #34: Causing a Rift

 

"#SabotageHoFChances
#RiftDon'tDeserveIt"

-@Devise; Can Quebec Repeat?

 

"My second vote is a toss between [S52 HoFer] Felix Peters and Skylar Rift. The reason I say that is because Rift had the same W's as Moher and Bagleface and did it in 70+ games less with a better Sv % and GAA. But maybe the low games allowed those numbers to be good?"

-@Kendrick, S41 HoF Discussion

 

 

Most non-HoF players from the S30s likely wouldn't be recognizable to members who have joined in the years since. Heck, most players who are in probably aren't known to the VHL's modern generation. It's a sad reality, but it's one that speaks to the sheer depth of the league's history and suggests that there's always a little bit more to discover if you think you've learned all you need to learn about the VHL. The S30s had it all--building on a rich history that had been developed as the league established itself in its first three decades, the community moved to its current forum, experienced its most insane statistical season ever in S36, and had another great decade that prompted the fantastic 40 in 40 series. It also featured a player who was involved in all three of those things, and one that even the newest of the new may have seen mentioned: Skylar Rift.

 

Skylar Rift, of course, is the namesake of the VHLM's Playoff MVP trophy, and a player who late S60s players could infer was created by @Devise--S64's JB Rift was the league's top goaltender by far in S67 and one of the more underrated players of that decade. Though players of the S60s knew Devise as a well-regarded GM and simmer, Rift's already-linked-at-the-top 40 in 40 article sheds some light on a side that newer members never saw--one shrouded in a controversy that made Rift a villain in his time. Having started his VHL career in S31, he made it up in S32 and immediately won a championship in New York. That was short-lived, though, as he'd be traded to Calgary for the third season of his rookie contract. Having made it to a starting position on a team with a bright future, one would think that Rift's career was set. He had other ideas, though, and in extremely abnormal fashion, abruptly left for Quebec in free agency. The situation went a bit deeper with the revelation that Rift had set up his move with fellow free agent Yuri Grigorenko, burning bridges around the league and catapulting the still-new Meute to high-level competition for the first time in their existence. While with Quebec, Rift won another Cup, but the damage was still done--most VHL fans saw Quebec in a negative light, and the league's first ever championship from a non-original franchise was viewed negatively across the board. Rift would do two more things of note with the remainder of his career: put up great numbers in the all-time crazy S36, where many single-season scoring records still stand today, and retire early--potentially blowing up his HoF chances.

 

In his time, Rift stared across the ice at quite a few great goalers. Let's look at a few.

 

Tuomas Tukio: a Hall of Fame player. Also, another drop in the bucket for the @Higgins agency and arguably the greatest goaler of the S30s. Tukio was a fellow member of Rift's draft season and played in the VHL both before and after Rift, putting up a full 8-season career mostly spent in Helsinki between S31 and S38. Winning one Cup to Rift's two, Tukio made up for it in an individual sense by winning MVP twice, Slobodzian twice, and Shaw twice, as the league's uncontested best in both S37 and S38. Tukio's career numbers are fantastic and would be great even in today's inflated era--359-114-37 with a 1.99 GAA and .925 SV%. He'd end up retiring top all-time in wins and currently sits in second.

 

Alexander Labatte: a Hall of Fame player. One might guess that Labatte was a @sterling create, and one might be right. The lesser known of the two Labattes to make the HoF, Alexander was still an incredible player. First making it to the VHL in S28, He spent his career team-hopping more than the face of a franchise ever does, playing for four teams despite a championship, three Shaws, and an MVP campaign in S33. His career statline is just a shade below Tukio's in every category, but not by much--his 335 wins are currently fourth all-time.

 

Remy LeBeau: a Hall of Fame player. The first player ever created by @OrbitingDeath , LeBeau was the start of something special. A member of the S31 class just like Tukio and Rift, LeBeau was a Toronto lifer who stuck it out through a disappointing rookie contract and turned on the jets with his team as they improved. Winning the Shaw twice, along with a Kanou and a Cup in S37, LeBeau's unfortunate rookie circumstances may have lagged his rookie numbers a bit, but he was every bit as good as the others once he found his footing and was eventually inducted on the first ballot.

 

Eggly Bagelface: NOT a Hall of Fame player despite an all-time name. Created by @Corco, Bagelface spent six and a half seasons of a seven-season career with Vasteras before moving out to Helsinki for a final push. This was the era of GM goalers--Rift was one, Tukio was one, and Bagelface had not much choice but to backstop a cursed franchise. Regardless, he was one of the players that helped define the S30s for what they were, winning the Shaw in S39.

 

It's a wonderful thing that the S30s had as many great players in net as it did, but it also means that there was lots and lots of competition for Rift. Let's throw in some charts to put that in context.

 

 

 

Were it not for his short career, Rift could have been right up there with the best of them in the team-related categories. He maintained a win rate just a shade under Tukio's and had more shutouts by his fifth season than any of the others here. It's very true that Rift used his ability to pursue the best teams to his advantage, but it's also very true that this paid off. Where it didn't, interestingly enough, is in the case of LeBeau, whose slow start gives him a lower shutout total as well as a lower total win rate--something that shouldn't take away from his later career but something that also presents a very noticeable difference between Rift and someone already in the Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

Here are the percentage-based metrics for each player, which I've taken the time to normalize for your convenience. Rift's career averages (.923 and 2.12) are shown here as zero, while other numbers are shown relative to that average (for example, LeBeau's approximately 2.1 at the start of the GAA chart indicates his horrible 4.22 GAA as a rookie). We would expect that normalized SV% to increase, and the normalized GAA to decrease, over the course of a player's career, and that generally holds up in all cases here--indicating that we shouldn't have to worry about any massive outside factors that may have affected one player or another mid-career. There's again a clear separation between Tukio/Labatte/Rift and LeBeau/Bagelface, which really interests me in the same ways as above. We can pretty safely conclude that Rift maintained a Hall of Fame pace through his whole career, but it's pretty easy to say that Tukio and Labatte were "better" when it's considered that they played their whole careers out. What about LeBeau, though, who did the same but apparently clearly at a lower standard than Rift?

 

 

I hate making these charts because they take forever (I have to change the color of every bar individually because either Google Sheets doesn't work that way or I'm dumb), but they can be useful. This sort of format was where I went in HoNB #3 to suggest that Jakab Holik had a better chance than most people thought--take out his abysmal first season, and the rest of his career starts looking amazing--and I figured it would be nice to try it out here. I look at these charts in the context of finding out who stands out--look on the right for players who showed the most dominance in individual seasons, and look on the left for players whose career numbers might have been thrown off by one or two bad showings. In this case, Rift looks pretty average. He doesn't have anything sitting all the way on the right (and it's very important to point out that LeBeau is over there twice), and we can't say that he had a horrible rookie year either because everyone else we've talked about has at least one worse season. It might actually be worth it to dig into Bagelface without the rookie campaign in a small future article, but I don't think I'd have enough to support a full HoNB campaign on him and he's not the main focus here and I just want to finish writing today, so we'll leave that as an idea for the time being.

 

Rift was great; there's no question about it. It's not very often that a 5-season career gets a player two championships, an all-time great historical article, and an award named after them, but it's true in this case. I think the points for and against inducting him are pretty short and sweet.

 

The case for Rift is based on historical impact and pure talent. Rift was one of the best players of his time, for sure, and I think there's a layer of unquantifiable stuff that can be applied here. It's the Hall of Fame, and he was as famous as anyone in his time. If he truly was the "defining player" of the S30s, that's a lot of fame going around--that he backed up well on the ice. Plus, in terms of career pace, Rift outdid the HoFer in LeBeau easily.

 

The case against Rift is pretty obvious--he only played 5 seasons. We've seen that it can be really difficult to induct a player based on 6 or even 7 seasons, and in this day and age when we're considering players with 9, how could we ever go for that?

 

But was that 5 seasons enough, and is Skylar Rift a Hall of Fame player?

 

I don't think so. I believe that the 7-season career Rift earned by staying down for a season would have easily been enough, but it's often the case that players with significantly shorter careers have to outpace the rest, and by a lot, to make it. He does do that to LeBeau on the surface level, but LeBeau's career was very unbalanced and very affected by his first three seasons. It just isn't enough to justify bringing Rift up to the same level. Maybe I'd have a different answer if Rift had played even one more season, but I just don't think there's enough of a body of work present here. The VHL will always be left wondering what could have been--Tukio and Labatte deserve all the credit as the best, but with a longer career, this article could very well have been about LeBeau as compared to Rift rather than the other way around. Regardless, Rift's "Fame" lives on as the namesake of one of the VHLM's finest awards.

 

Skylar Rift was removed from the Hall of Fame ballot in S44 with 6 of 12 votes, having received one vote for induction in S41. He might not be a Hall of Famer, but his presence in this series is very much warranted.

 

Previous HoNB articles:

Volume 1: Alexander Pepper

Volume 2: Shawn Glade

Volume 3: Jakab Holik

Volume 4: Bo Boeser

Volume 5: Tyson Kohler

Volume 6: Lasse Milo

Volume 7: Voittu Jannula

Volume 8: Brendan Telker

7 hours ago, Victor said:

Can you throw vapes in the same place as batteries

My department had a safety meeting a couple weeks ago where it was specified that we are NOT allowed to vape in the lab. I’m not sure who prompted that memo. 
 

More to come on our vape disposal guidelines as I learn them. 

4 hours ago, Daniel Janser said:

For any electronic gadget (fridges, computer, HiFi, television etc) you pay a disposal fee in advance when you buy the thing and every shop who sells such goods, needs to take them back for proper disposal (even if you did not buy it there).

 

This is really cool; in the parts of the US I'm familiar with you usually have to wait for a community event for this.

 

I volunteered at one once through part of a student organization, and out of everyone in that it was only me and one girl who also wasn't part of club leadership who showed up (it was cold and rainy too, so fun times). That by itself didn't mean much, but cut to the next meeting where one of our leaders talked about how "we" went and it was a great experience--student clubs telling themselves they're changing the world is already fairly dumb in most cases, but that took the cake.

Congrats! I think we should really be keeping a closer look at hybrid-era records and drawing that distinction more than we currently do. It's true that the system changing gives us an obvious reason to, but it also helps us keep better track of special things like this that deserve to be recognized.

My complex apparently used to do recycling but got rid of it years ago because people kept putting all the wrong stuff in the recycling bins. It annoys me because I'm fairly conscious about that and if I want to do it I have to take a drive to some community drop-off.

 

And then they got rid of the drop-off that was actually convenient for me to visit and made the next-closest one a 10-minute drive instead of almost walkable. Almost as if they don't want me getting rid of my batteries.

We could have seen both Taro and Tarro Tsujimoto if the latter had made it up. 
 

I’ve always been super anti-“let’s make players who are related,” even more so as a GM and even more so than that when people insisted on playing with each other. It’s interesting that the list has lots of people on it who are there both accidentally and on purpose—and even more interesting IMO that the top 2 were by accident. 

I brought this up in BoG last year (other leagues have an "equipment" system that works like this) and while it didn't get tanked, it had mixed reviews and the thread died out after a while. Some of the reasons against are that it's difficult to balance cost with effectiveness (especially with hybrid attributes) and that, if properly balanced, the effects aren't much different from the existing system anyway since you don't want the new one to be way better or worse.

 

I do think there's something to be said about having more options and it isn't necessarily a bad idea. It would just be hard to draw up a new system that shows a real improvement beyond simply more stuff existing, and I suppose it would be even harder to convince people that the work should be done to make it happen.

The good old article about how you don't have any ideas that just ends up being 150 words of talking about how you have no ideas. I'm guilty of the same often enough.

 

I love press conferences when they ask fun questions and I find that I usually write more than 150 words when they do. Of course this isn't universal but I think it can be nice to have a reason to talk about one thing or another that I otherwise never would have thought of.

No, this isn't about the less cool VHLM commissioner. This is about 300. Not the movie, though--it's the magical number goalers chase throughout their careers. So far, thirteen people ever have reached 300 wins over the course of their career. Eleven are in the Hall of Fame. The others? One is Alexander Pepper, subject of my first-ever Hall of Not Bad. The other one, as of today, is me--Art Vandelay.

 

Barring a practically undefeated run or a major crash and burn before the end of the season, Vandelay will finish his career tenth all-time in wins, as the new not-in-the-HoF leader in wins with a career SV% equal to or better than practically everyone else with as many. Sure, the GAA is a bit higher, but those 1.something career numbers are a thing of the past anyway. All in all, I'll be retiring with a very impressive line on the spreadsheet.

 

It's less impressive, though, that Vandelay has a full season on all those other guys. In the case of Shaw, it's two seasons. 300 wins doesn't mean all that much when you realize that I only had 264 of those things after last season. I'm sort of the Eric Dickerson to your OJ Simpsons, if you understand a nice unfortunate football reference or two. Plus, I've never been on top of the league in anything, and my cool-looking SV% leaves some things to be desired when you consider how insane that number has been league wide over the last generation. Perhaps someone, I wonder who, could write a nice long article detailing Vandelay's career numbers and putting them in context.

 

Even though lots of players have quite a few more chances to hit 300, I'm glad to be the first one to do it since Pepper and fellow S63er Kallis Kriketers (as well as the first player to ever hit the mark in a 9-season career). Now that career lengths have left the door open to more playing time, I'm sure others will follow and that 300 will just become a "solid" number rather than a "generational" one.  For the time being, though, I'll happily accept my cool-looking line on the all-time stat sheet. You'll never be able to tell me that I didn't win 300 games.

 

Art Vandelay

300 WINS FOR ART VANDELAY

I’m usually indifferent on whether we need to induct a Builder lately and this season is one of those times as well. That said I’d be fine with either name mentioned there and would support a vote if it came up. 

Art Vandelay

An actual ghost light.

 

One of the more intriguing, and one of the more recently forgotten, bands of my side of music (and apparently my #5 artist on Spotify last year) was called Turkuaz. They had nine members, put out one of my favorite albums ever, were also pretty solid live, and had some massive shit go down after their Halloween show in 2021 that led to seven of those members leaving the group in the middle of its tour. And that was that.

 

Bassist Taylor Shell was the only one of the group who didn't make what was apparently a decision to get away fast from its frontman, but everyone knew it was over, and the next year he'd committed full-time to the band Ghost Light (who I finally got around to looking at today, and they're not bad either). I tried looking them up and in turn learned what a ghost light is actually supposed to be--a lightbulb that's left to burn by itself on stage in an empty theatre. Maybe it's old and it hums a little. A bit creepy, right? Gives you that large, dark, liminal space type of feeling where you can almost sense the people who you feel are supposed to be there with you and you can only imagine the huge amounts of sights and sounds that have come across that space over the years.

 

In the wake of Vandelay's retirement, and impending VHL nonexistence, it makes you wonder just how many unique experiences have been had in the VHL. If Taro Tsujimoto covered most of my GM tenure in Davos, then Taro Tsujimoto also saw the great majority of my 25,890 messages in the Dynamo server. Taro, through me, also saw most of my behind-the-scenes trade talks during that time, stood up to the majority of a VHL decade's worth of bad jokes, moderated every single action in so many Town of Salem games, personally oversaw the development of a solid handful of solid VHLers, won MVP twice, learned how cricket works, was briefly a distinguished EFL member, ended up (I think) somewhere in the top 5 all-time in VHL genchat messages, and even mailed a bottle of Kranch across a country and a continent to @Beaviss (about 30 dollars I'll never get back, but a great story). And there's so much more that could be said from a personal standpoint. "Taro" also wrote thousands of words on the forum, influenced league policy, and was a friend where people needed it in ways that they hopefully appreciated quite a bit.

 

But every point I've made there only pertains to a minority of individuals in the VHL. I'm sure that, if you've been here a while, my path has crossed with yours in some meaningful way that pertains to a few of the things I mentioned there. I don't think there's anyone, though, that can connect with me on every single one of those points--maybe one or two of you come close. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you had no idea who I mean by Taro or even by Beaviss. Hidden behind those tables on that player page is a story that's now just an empty room with just a little bit visible to those with very little reason to be in it.

 

I set up the third ghost light of my time in the VHL yesterday when I retired Art Vandelay (Art Vandelay), and the rest of the lights are going to be shut off the second he gets knocked out of the playoffs (or somehow takes the team all the way). He'll stay at the back of some minds for a while. Maybe someone will click on LA's portal page and be surprised to see someone else in net. Maybe some noob will try to pick him in VHFL and get berated for it. And maybe there will be some LA-rebuild-related articles that contain phrases like "with the retirement of Vandelay" that I'll run into when I try to dig through all the times I wrote his name in game threads for some meaningful content related to his eventual Hall of Not Bad article. Some nerd who's watched a bit of Seinfeld might stop for a second in S150 when digging through the all-time stats spreadsheet, and that same nerd might write some stupid "let's look at the great goalie debacle of the early S90s" article that has me briefly mentioned with everyone else who's been putting up exactly the same numbers. Really, the only way I'll have my name remembered is if I use my VHLM executive power to create the Art Vandelay Award for Sportsmanship and Excellence or something.

 

I'm fully aware that every other player is a ghost light in their own right. I might know your player, but no one knows your experiences the way that you do. I also have no idea what you've been involved with or the stories you have to tell unless you choose to share that with me. Chances are that if you have an old player, no one is showing up to that performance on most days. The room sits empty and the bulb hums into space. And that's a little bit sad, but who knows--maybe the theatre is closed so the ghosts get their chance to come out and play. And maybe someone might come along, sneak in through a busted-up side door, and take some pictures that they can post on their not-really-legal urban exploration Instagram. Who knows indeed--the room will stay empty, but maybe the next VHL generation will stop scrolling and double tap.

2 hours ago, mattyIceman said:

1 - Did your team do any deals before the deadline?  Has your team improved for a Cup run, or sold off assets for your team's future?

 

We haven't, but we've been going pretty good and we're close to the cap. I think we're kind of going all in this season because LA will be hit really hard by retirements and won't be getting much back, but the goal was to get us a championship and I respect that.

 

2 hours ago, mattyIceman said:

2 - Renomitsu's first question:  Do you do sim leagues anywhere else?  How active do you need to be to manage so many leagues?

 

I've been in a bunch, but none at the moment. My most active point was when I was (briefly) maxing out, and actually actively talking, in the VHL, EFL, and PBE all at once. That's because I lived at home and had nothing else to do with my life when I wasn't at work. I don't have anywhere near that sort of time in my life anymore and I'm glad I'm only in one.

 

2 hours ago, mattyIceman said:

3 - What are your favorite pizza toppings??  If you don't like pizza, what's up with that?

 

I'm a really big fan of the supreme pizza (sausage, onion, pepper, mushrooms, pepperoni, and maybe other things depending on your style). In general, I like a lot of things on my pizza, but it's risky. It's harder to screw up when you keep it basic.

 

 

1. What's your favorite food that I probably have never eaten?

 

2. My new player, Lazlo Holmes, is a reference to a character who, like me, doesn't know much about the NHL (I do like to watch but just don't do it consistently). What's something I should know about the current state of the league, and what's a player I should have an eye on?

 

3. Which VHL city would you most like to visit and why?