Let's rewind time: It's the end of S91 and the Houston Bulls say goodbye to GM, @STZ, due to VHL GM promotion. Who will fill these Houston Bulls shoes?
0. Hi: If you don't know me, Hi, my name is AJ and I was hired as GM of the Houston Bulls in the VHLM this season. I GM'd Houston from S84-S89, stepping down to focus on my schooling and football. Recently I had lost my VHL drive from being focused on my real life tomfoolery. But... with my football season ending the same time STZ stepped down, I threw my name in the hat. I didn't plan on applying for any GM jobs, I didn't even know STZ was going to get hired in New York. I just wanted Houston back, I missed it, and more importantly I missed the fire it used to bring me (more more importantly I have the time to do it again now). One problem I faced in the first week of this "new job" was the lack of an AGM, @Triller, to be specific. Triller and I worked together in Houston for 3 seasons before we both parted ways in S89. Triller did more than any AGM I have met, I even gave us both GM roles in the discord because that's how I viewed his role in our organization. He is incredibly talented and I honestly put a lot of the job's weight onto him because he just naturally was good at it, nothing was really a job for him. We worked so well together and now I'm stuck with just me, myself and I to start S92. This VHLM GMing stuff is time consuming, you need to work well with others, you need to be a teacher, a role model... I had no one by my side to help me start my return to Houston. With 6 seasons of experience I just had to lock in.
1. The Draft: Sitting at home, drunk on whatever night the draft was held, I got an invite to join the draft stream and have some fun. Good thing I was drunk because being on a stream and having to consistently say stuff to keep the viewers entertained ain't as easy as it seems. Anyways blah blah blah, the first round goes by in a flash and Houston still hasn't used their first pick yet. Houston's first pick was at 14th overall in the second round, from a trade that occurred a few days prior involving Miami. Miami gained a 3rd and a 4th round pick from Houston in return for the 2nd. 14th overall rolls around and Houston gets on the clock to SNIPE Chris Reynolds Jr @Crstats23. At the time of being drafted, Reynolds Jr was the only player on the Houston Bulls roster, lonely and needing someone to hold. 18th overall came quickly and Houston was on the clock again. To my absolute surprise (you can even watch the stream and hear the things I said because I don't remember) Trimiskez Artav @jake was my second SNIPE of the night. I would've taken Artav 14th, but I wanted Reynolds. I still to this day do not know how Artav fell that low, but also to this day I'm not questioning it. With two forwards out of the way, the next best possible thing to do is what? Correct. Draft another forward. 3rd round, 22nd overall Miner vHLer @Rhynex Entertainment SNIPED with the 40 TPA build. This was honestly without a doubt not a risky pick to me. I've GM'd and played with Rhynex before, I didn't care what their build was I just wanted them in my Locker Room especially after drafting Chris Reynolds Jr the round before (they know each other well). Last but not least, a goaltender was needed. At 25th overall, Herald Benson @Benson is my GEM SNIPE! Prior to the draft Benson was any average Joe, earning chill, nothing out of the ordinary kind of TPE. I chatted with Benson also prior to the draft and found out they were a 12 Affiliate earner from the SBA, just hadn't claimed any yet. Hence, GEM SNIPE!
Roster after the draft: 3-0-1: (LW) Chris Reynolds Jr, (RW) Trimiskez Artav, (LW) Miner vHLer, (G) Herald Benson
2. Recruitment Waivers, assemble!: Once the draft was completed, waivers officially opened up. Still in my drunken state from the stream, a user who I had been talking to before the draft wanted to sign right away. Ondrej Vencko @Mutti wanted into Houston! Funnily enough I think he wanted to join because he knew I was drunk bastard, and Vencko lovessss getting silly. Mutti was very nice to chat with in all honesty and Houston's first waiver signing would cap out our goaltenders for the season. Now with 2 goalies, I needed the rest of the team that would skate in front of them! Little did I know how open the flood gates would really get in Houston. Nathan Schwartz @Njschwartz03, Nathan Ecker @Nathan_8, Dylan Boland @shadowbloxgame, Deez nutz @Shadowpac12, Cody Toland @ctoland102, Filip Zinek @FiZi, Charles Losfeld @losfail, and Lucy Leitner @LucyXpher joined within a day or two of the Recruitment Ad dropping. Not only did two centers join, but THREE defenders did too! I felt like a kid on Christmas. Luckily I had those couple days off since it was around holiday season. So I had the chance to actually reach out to my signings right away which I feel helped a lot in building the base foundation of this team, but also in building my individual relationship with each member. I was really thrilled to have the group I got! It seemed everyone was excited to learn and get started. Our discord locker room seemed to finally start showing some life again but I wasn't satisfied just yet, we were missing something.
Roster after waiver signings: 8-3-2: (G) Ondrej Vencko, (C) Nathan Schwartz, (RW) Nathan Ecker, (RW) Dylan Boland, (C) Deez nutz, (D) Cody Toland, (LW) Filip Zinek, (D) Charles Losfeld, (D) Lucy Leitner
3. Pre-Season Trade?: That's right! The Las Vegas Aces were looking to move a skilled forward at discounted price. Barry McOckiner @LanerDUST got swept off the streets of downtown Vegas for a 3rd round pick in the next season's draft. McOckiner had around 180 TPE when traded, this is considered a steal. A big steal to me though, McOckiner was a discounted trade due to inactivity problems. As someone who had seen LanerDUST active in the past, I messaged them and started chatting to find out that they are still a cool guy! Laner said he wanted to be more active and I was hyped for it. With all the recent waiver players signed I knew our depth was an investment to put my big bills on, I needed this almost capped winger for when my investment reaches its full potential (playoffs lol).
Roster after trade: 9-3-2: (RW) Barry McOckiner
How I felt entering the season after starting with no players on my roster
4. Start of Season: I promise I didn't share the same facial expressions as Drew, but the emotion was there! I was so happy and proud of myself for getting this squad together and ready for game 1. This obviously didn't all happen because of me, I have the Recruitment Team to thank for getting these lovely people to the forum. Houston started S92 with a daycare roster, basically everyone was under the age of 100 TPE. We surprisingly did pretty good though, a lot of 1-1 sims was something that I wasn't mad about. We were cruising and I really didn't think anymore waivers would fly in but they did. Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee, Jack Dickins @Mystery_boy98, and SID THE FREAKING KID GOAT CROSBY @Sidthekid_87 would join in on the Bulls fun. All three, just like the previous signings, were a pleasure to meet and started off really strong! We had a juiced roster in the making, the most waiver signings out of any team, we were looking great... but then it happened.
Roster after Start: 11-4-2: (D) Benjamin Abenduct, (RW) Jack Dickins, (C) THE FREAKING KID GOAT CROSBY
5. THE GREAT CENTER DEPRESSION: Oh my it hit us as if the economy crashed! One center retired, then another went IA, then another was a multi-user all in a week!! I couldn't hold onto my head, all 3 of the centers that I had just signed, gone in a flash! I didn't know what to do... until, an angel rained down on me as it parted through the clouds. 4 gifts is what he brought. In each gift birthed a new center, to replace the centers Houston had sacrificed before... plus one for good luck I guess. Someone take the horseshoe out of my arse because I kid you not, the day of releasing Houston's three centers I was able to sign Murray Connolly @Blakemac22 and Tyler Lawson @Nyx, then a day or two later Micah Cederbaum @MicahC and Bolor Khan @Bolor Khan would follow. Shocked, an understatement. I don't know what I did this season to get so lucky with all these signings, especially at the literal most perfect times when I needed them. I'll give full credit to the waiver pitch I wrote. After this point in the season Houston started to see some double dubs to catch up to the top of the league in standings!
6. Almost TDL, one more?: Approaching Trade Deadline I had no plans on buying or selling. I wanted to cruise into it after the recent waiver addition of defender Bufert T Smustice @Crummer77. We had basically a full roster of waiver players who were all earning really well, and Artav was our first player to reach 200 TPE before the trade deadline with many more to follow. So, what else was I supposed to do?? Make a trade?!
Roster heading into Trade Deadline: 12-5-2: (D) Bufert T Smustice
7. Trade Deadline: Yeah I made a trade. It's trade deadline come on! We have a really good roster and with this recruitment drive, so does every one else! Before I get into that, a silly member created one week early for the S94 draft class and had to get a 1 week TPE ban for their silliness. This new player was a 2nd generation player, of a 1st generation player from Houston... Toby Cook @KRZY didn't hesitate for a second to join Houston since they enjoyed their time the first lap around with Todd Cooke! I GM'd KRZY in my first season with Houston in S84, so it was a cool feeling to see them wanting to come back. Okay now onto the trade! I didn't LOVE the lack of depth our center core had with each and every one of them just recently joining. I made my decision on which center I wanted to let go of, which isn't always easy by the way, and traded for Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica from Halifax to center the first line of the Houston Bulls. In return Houston coughed up a 1st and 4th round pick plus center Bolor Khan, all for the S92 VHLM 1st overall pick, Bucatini. Some say the trade was under value, some say that Cowboy would have fun on a team like Houston because of our positive and fun atmosphere, not because of winning a cup. I say, you are all wrong haters.
8. Present Times: I feel like I can take a breath now. After quite a few weeks of chaos we now have a finalized and full roster. This is the best roster I have created in my 7 seasons of GMing and it is the first time I have created a full 12-6-2 roster! (S84 we had a 9-6-2 roster). I am so proud of the culture and community we have built this season and I have no one but my players to thank. These are very talented people all with the same love and drive for Houston as I do. With tonight being the last sim before playoffs, it's been a long journey this season already and I just want everyone to know that Houston is far from done yet. The Bulls enter the first round this season as which appears to be 6th place. We've been underdogs all season, this isn't anything new to us, Houston is Coming.
She's a beauty, eh? (Thanks @Triller for making this)
Rejection 1 rolled in over the weekend. Still have 4 live queries out there. Would add to that list but I need to dig/prep/pour a concrete slab this week for a heat pump to replace our shitty propane furnace.
This week was Theme Week so while I have been mainly taking advantage of our welfare and pension system of late, I thought I would power up my phone and type out a 500 word article to earn a little bit extra this week. The topic of “All Star” is an interesting one…cause frankly the whole notion of All Star Events in real sports has become rather stale and I think in some ways that’s what we saw in the VHL in the past. People didn’t really care too much about it so it ultimately went mostly unnoticed. With that being said, I have always thought it would be an interesting way to bring in some different style of content. Therefore, this article will cover a couple of ways I think the league could bring forth the All Star Game again, but add a twist to it to bring some popularity back to it. Disclaimer: I don’t like all of these ideas. But some I’ve seen around and some I just feel like would be obvious ways people want to tweak it.
Idea 1: Make it Worth TPE
This is the obvious one that people would bring up and I don’t fully dislike the idea. Granted I would probably only want to see 1 TPE for getting nominated because any more than that just frankly just makes the rich much richer. Most probably wouldn’t support this ultimately (or at least those in charge) but I do think TPE will always convince some people to pay a little more attention to it and obviously that is important.
Idea 2: Visibility is Everything
This is my main focus because I am a sucker for things like career resumes and accomplishment pages full of statistics, accolades and awards. Adding All Star Game participation would give a lot more players some things to showcase in there which incidentally is a good thing for member morale. While not everyone cares about that stuff, as someone who does, I think it actually would be a big addition for some to make them care more.
Idea 3: NA vs World
While unlikely, I always thought this could be a fun way to present the ASG. Would be a tough one but I’d be curious to see how the teams differ with this format and maybe we would see some national pride involved to bring in more of a rivalry.
Idea 4: Ways to Present The Game
The obvious way is through STHS and while we could tweak that and put a lot of work into one on a NHL game or something like that, I do think that’s a lot of work, for a one game presentation it can be a very popular way to present the games. Id also like to see a fresh take in how to present it. Add a 1 TPE reward for anyone who shows up during the stream and partakes in the chat and maybe present it on twitch or through a different platform. Put it on the front page of the portal and showcase it everywhere and you should see an uptick in interest.
My final Media Spot while being player-less! I’m still tossing around ideas for a position, just waiting to see what the field does now. I know at least 3 big names are going with defenders, waiting to see what some of the other big names do, particularly Leandro. I’d like to get the chance to maybe stand above the crowd positionally. Landon Wolanin was great, and probably a top 10 forward of his time, but I’d like to get the chance to maybe tickle the Hall of Fame conversation. If I’m going to go TPE crazy, like I inevitably will, I may as well be in the running.
I am also hoping to get to play at least a few games with my San Diego Marlins. I’ve made it very clear to them that they should take whoever they get, particularly first-gens, and I’ll figure it out after the fact. We’ll see what the VHLM draft brings and I’ll do the best with whatever I get!
I do have an idea for each position as to what I’d want to do, and I think I can make something distinctly good at each position. Really excited to get build-crafting again and learn from some of the mistakes I made along the way with Landon. I’m also hoping to maybe make some off-meta decisions, and craft a player who can carry their growth a little better throughout their career.
It's really amazing to see so many players eligible for the VHLM, and see teams so full. I’m excited to get to meet and get the context around so many of these new users and maybe help them find their way to great VHL careers. I’m still really proud looking around the league and seeing all of the great S84-87 players that I got to help in the early stages of their careers making a lasting impact on their teams, their teammates and the league as a whole. Not to steal any of their credit, of course, but it’s a bit rewarding to feel like I made a bit of a difference along the way.
December and January did… not go the way I anticipated, and things are only looking a little wilder for February and beyond. I don’t anticipate it getting in the way of my ability to be in front of a computer for at least the length of time it takes to write some words on a page, but I hope that I can find a bit of security in the coming weeks. That is one thing I miss about the COVID era, was always knowing what my next day would look like. Things are always changing now, and it is a bit exhausting trying to keep up with all of the changes. But having something that can remind me of what day is Monday, and keep track of the days going by is nice. A week-to-week routine and knowing when my next measly affiliate check comes in to tell me the month, is pretty great.
It's funny you mention that. I'm almost done with Shadowrun, Deus Ex, and Landstalker. I'm guessing I have 2-3 episodes of recording left for each. I thought I'd put Donkey Kong Country in one slot, Larry in another slot, and maybe Illusion of Gaia in the third. But I also have a few Indie games to check out, so there might be a little longer gap for Larry.
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