Shaka

Case Martell 0AB30775VU298364N $1M Player Store Cash (If you are selecting this option please see here regarding claiming it) 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week Doubles Week

I've tried ?

Sounds like we have 10 years to figure it out.

That seems so fun. I feel I could be a fantastic DM, but it'd take a lot of time to learn. Sometimes I think about learning now and building the world so when my son(not yet 2) is old enough to play I have the most epic story with a closet full of crafted materials to make it extra nuts lol. A DND game 10+ years in the making would surely be a hell of a time to a 12-year-old. I just haven't started on it yet. I should start the grind at local gaming stores to find my village.

Welcome to the site @DizzyWithLogic! Ugh, I wish more people around me played DND. You play often?

Voted for The Borwinn Effect.

The Borwinn Effect For years ago, the Helinski Titans took a chance on a 28-year-old Roller Hockey star from Southern Ontario. With the third pick in the Season 63 VHL Draft, the Titans took the little known Left Winger despite having played just one season of Ice Hockey in the VHLM. As the Season 66 VHL Playoffs commence this week, the Titans are on the precipice of cashing in on that high risk, apparently high reward decision. For Julian Borwinn, it's an opportunity to relieve the weight of two frustrating narratives; He'd surpassed Ryan Kastelic as the top player from the S63 Draft and, more importantly, he'd lead a Titans team desperate to triumph over a run of devastating playoff defeats at the hands of the Toronto Legions, one for each year of Borwinn's playoff career. In Season 63, the hockey community could tell Helinski was on the rise. Borwinn was awarded the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy for the most outstanding rookie, the team won 27 games and were just outside of the VHL Playoffs. The future looked obviously bright. In Season 64, they won 41 games and were a game away from being crowned champions, a sign that the time of the Titans has come. Last year, it was nothing short of heartbreaking. After two Continental Cup losses, the Titans are at the doorstep of a legacy for a coaching staff and roster who will be hardpressed to shake another playoff disappointment. You ask any Helinski fan and this year feels different. For starters, the Titans are the top seed, having won 55 games, good for 13 more than the second-seeded Riga Reign. For the first time, there won't be a trip to Toronto. For the first time, they have the league's top point scorer on their team. His name is Julian Borwinn. For six years, Julian Borwinn has risen from the roller rinks of southern Ontario to the final game of the Continental Cup. Each year, he's made significant strides in his game, coinciding in a Helinski team that has made significant strides as a contender. This year, both Borwinn and the Titans are a changed team. They're on top of the league, but there's only one way to truly stand on top of the league. Win the cup. If the Helinski Titans finally pull it off, it will be a team effort, but there will have been one dominant contributor. It's the Borwinn Effect. @Jubo07

Case Martell Eyes The VHLM Playoffs As the season comes to a close and eight teams embark on the journey to be crowned S66 VHLM Champions, I can't help but look beyond the tournament and set my sights on the upcoming VHLM Draft. For my player, Offensive Right Winger Case Martell, the draft will be the formal beginning of what I plan to make a long and enjoyable career. While I'm not part of this year's playoffs, there's a strong chance the team I'll be playing for in Season 67 is. Assuming as much, this year's playoffs give me a glimpse of what could be. As someone who isn't in-tune with the VHL, the VHLM, the playoffs, the players or anything really, it's hard to write a ton about this weeks action. With that said, let's make a special Theme Week media spot on the VHLM Playoff teams as seen through the lens of VHLM hopeful Case Martell. It's the best I can do. A quik glance at the fabulous Live S68 Draft Class Rankings shows a top-heavy class of defenders and a lot of unknown. Martell, who is very much in the middle of the pack despite being mistakenly omitted from this most recent update, can reasonably expect to be drafted anywhere from 7th through the 15th pick. Being chosen earlier, rather than later, would put him right in the thick of this years contending teams. Those teams are the Mexico City Kings, the Saskatoon Wild, the Ottawa Lynx, the Halifax 21st and the Philadelphia Reapers. While I plan to keep an eye on earlier picks, Minnesota, San Diego and Mississauga, I'd be pleased to see Martell land with a team in the backhand of the draft. Let's analyze them. Let's start with the Mexico City Kings series against the Saskatoon Wild. At 42-25, the upstart Kings are making the playoffs in their first ever season and boost the league's 2nd ranked defense on the back of the league's top goalie in Wrike Chernobyl. They'll be facing a strong Saskatoon team fresh off its first 50-win season in at least 5 years(index only goes back that far), led by star Center's Vladimir Pavlov and Lucas Nygren. Both teams may lose the likes of all three leaders, making it hard to truly estimate the identity of either team in Season 67. Has it been Chernobyl's lights out season that led to a defensive focus by Mexico City and the cause of a near league-low 182 points scored? Or do the Kings plan to employ that kind of approach, regardless of talent brought in from year to year? Would Martell be hindered by playing for Mexico City, or be the answer to the team's offensive woes? While Saskatoon seems like a safe bet, Mexico City is an intriguing storyline going into their second draft. Pick for the series? I say the steady, if unspectacular, play by Saskatoon outshoots the Kings in a fun series. Next, we travel to Halifax were the 52-win 21st play the San Diego Marlins. This will be a series of much interest to Martell. Halifax, who own the league's 2nd ranked offense, are led by three of the VHLM's top offensive players; Blake Gaudette, AJ Axelson and Emil Passerelli. The 21st scored 286 goals this season in a fast-paced offense that focused on playmaking by its first line. Not only will they be fun to watch against a Marlins team just happy to make the playoffs, but they're arguably the most identifiable team to fit Martell's skill set. If they were to lose any of their top three players, or lean into the offensive strategy, Case Martell could be the next great scorer in a line of them in the great northeast. Pick for the series? Halifax, easily. Moving to Ottawa, because I don't know where to begin to look for the other team on a map, we get what should be a barn burner of a match between the offensive powerhouse Lynx and yet another expansion team in the top-heavy Hounds of Mississauga. A quik pick for this series is that no matter who wins this one, there will be a lot of scoring. That, again, is good news for Case Martell. On one side, you have the Hounds, led by league's top player Callum MacElroy, Dan Gles and the league's top scoring defenseman Hulg Hogan. On the other, you have an Ottawa team that can score in bunches across multiple lines and from anywhere on the ice. While the Hounds have shown an ability to showcase talent, and MacElroy has it in bunches, the Lynx have to be the top destination for any scoring winger entering the league for obvious reasons. Lastly, we end in Minnesota, where I expect the 31-39 Storm to end their season after a series sweep to the top-ranked Philadelphia Reapers. It's amazing to think a year ago the Reapers were an 11-win team and are now on the verge of it's first VHLM Title. Led by one of maybe 5 members I know on this site, Philadelphia has to be one of the top destinations on Martell's list come draft day. If he lasts to the 11th pick, which is very possible giving my complete unnknownness(word alert), it's hard not to hope the Reapers make the call. Blade clearly knows the game to be able to pull out such an impressive season. On the ice, last year's #1 pick in the VHLM Draft in John Frostbeard is set to take flight to the VHL. Could Martell follow the beard and help keep Philadelphia in contention? Only time will tell. There will be a lot to follow this week and next as the VHLM Playoffs commence and end, the VHL Draft takes place and those in this years VHLM Draft turn another page in their young VHL career. Case Martell's ready to title that chapter, he just needs a name.

And just like that, Martell was gone. ?

SBA and VHL having a doubles week at the same time. Better stretch these fingers.

@Robotastic made the trip over. Welcome!

Welcome to the league! @Chauchat

Welcome to the league! @Sinnoh

Welcome to the league @galle!

I'm in the process of working on a sort of consistent prospect piece in both the SBA and EFL. I'd love to work with VSN to facilitate that kind of media, ftr.

Awesome. Also, just now seeing this was posted on May 27th. I'm that guy now.

I appreciate this @rjfryman. Thanks for running this.

Since the beginning of leagues, there has been a desire by every league to run a branded or official media team. I think that's natural, because our leagues are often focused around media for points. Sometimes, I ask myself why we push that so hard if often times it just doesn't quite hit the mark? I can't speak for everyone, but one major reason I like things like a magazine or a network of media is that I like my sim leagues to simulate more than just the physical sport. I like to get wrapped up in the league, it's teams and it's players. I like storylines. I think, to some degree, that's true about most people who find and engage in a player sim league for the first time. As such, I think those league-driven media's are always best devoted to members. This thread is obviously in that mindset. But what often happens, and I don't know if that's true here, is that these media teams quickly lose sight of that and treat it as a job. "Oh, I have to write a league piece real quik." They become, as one poster wrote, just better written medias without much juice. In my experience, the pieces of media I have done that are fully devoted to member/player acknowledgement have been the ones more members read, engage in and get excited for. My advice would be to dive into that. Draft. Free Agency. VHLM player performances. Guys nearing records. Acknowledge multiple, or when you can a vast number of, people in an article that celebrates what they are doing in a way that's still written like an official VSN article. People like to be acknowledged. And when they read for themselves, they build the habit to read in general. I just came back and plan to tune into VSN. I hope you get feedback that will give you the clarity needed to take it to the next level.

Always a good problem to have.

There you go @Beketov we got this topic going.

Pretty fucking awesome to see that team, and city, make it happen. I don't know how I feel about Kwahi after the Spurs drama, but I sure as hell am happy for Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka and some of the other guys who have been on the grind for years. Feeling a little bad for DeRosan today. Want to see if Masai Ujiri really gets that Wizards money. He proved not just he can trade for Kwahi, but he built that whole squad. That's more impressive to me. He has the goods.

I may just hang out unsigned until the VHLM Draft, if that's cool.

Thanks. I'm as excited to chase it as I've ever been.

Case Martell: Chasing The 1K Club Recently, I read an article by @Jubo07 regarding Julian Borwinn eclipsing the 1000 TPE mark. Congratulations, Jubo! I thought to myself, "That's what I want. That!" For years, and I mean literal years, I have watched the VHL from afar. I've watched it grow through sixty seasons of history not as a fringe member on the sidelines, not in the stands, but as a community member just on the outside. In the time I've watched from a distance, I could have had multiple careers here. Several. In the end, something always cut the interest before it even took off. I've always had an interest in the VHL, but never enough to know how to engage in a sport that just hasn't hit the mark for me. I attend Lightning games. I enjoy them. I'm just not passionately involved in the game like I am football and I'm not a smark for statistics in the sport like I am in basketball. I just don't know the sport well enough to dive in and apply myself in this league. Until now. What I do know is sim leagues. I know them very well. It's hard not to understand them, really. Do a task, earn a point, update attribute. It's very easy. With the ever-expanding partnership between the SBA, EFL and the VHL, it's never been easier to partake in all of them at the same time. Why haven't I taken advantage of that? I don't know. So, let's go. I consider today the day I begin chasing that 1K club. Not just to hit a number of emphases, but to prove to myself I can apply myself in the VHL in a long, meaningful way. If I hit 1,000 TPE, I can guarantee the experience I have along the way will be well worth it. What I expect to happen is that I will learn to love the sport. I'll learn the sport, in general. I'll grow to appreciate the details behind the surface level entertainment of it. I think player sports simulations are interesting in that we're all playing pretend sports characters, but there is some surprising good that can come from them. You can really improve your work as a designer through endless weeks of sig work and iteration. You can really fine-tune your ability to write after seasons and years of crafting stories. You can also really improve your knowledge of a sport like I plan to do here. Additionally, I think player sim leagues are a really good way to build friendships with people you'd otherwise never meet in your life. Over the years I have been in sim leagues, I have managed to make some quality sim friends. I have a long history with some of the biggest names across the entire three-league partnership. I used to shoot the shit and get creative with Molholt long before the SBA. I made friends with Turner years before I practically dragged him back into the sim community to run the EFL for me. I go way back with Godfather Beketov. I've become real-life friends with mwhazard following a simple Duke recruiting letter two years ago. You never know who you're going to run into, what you're going to have in common and how much of a relationship you'll develop with people in these things. My hope for this run with my newest player, Case Martell, is to surround myself with some quality dudes, get engaged in some quality locker rooms and see where things take me. That's what I'm here for. That's the byproduct of chasing the K club to me, so here goes nothing. 1,000 Total Points Earned. Challenge Accepted.