JCarson

Not everyone, I have learned some interesting things looking at articles on prior seasons.

This Press conference is being written Wednesday Feb 28, the finals currently sit with London having 2 games and DC having 0. Hope this provides some context to the timing of he questions 1) If you had to choose a regular season MVP for London who would it be, why? 2) If you had to choose a playoff MVP for London who would it be, why? 3) What was London's greatest accomplishment of Season 92, why? 4) What are your expectations of the offseason? 5) What is your goal for season 93? 6) If we win the cup, what will you do with it?

The need for media spots There have been several conversations recently in a variety of forums about methods for earning TPE. One that spoke to me was a discussion about trivia and how disconnected it can feel. Now this is not an article trying to attack trivia, I know many that do it and prefer it over writing, I personally don’t. I find it takes too much time and sometimes the questions just make so little sense to me that I would rather choose a different option. So now I come to the real reason for my article. Currently our reviewing rules indicate to do a review it needs to be on a media spot, I suspect that is so there is enough content within the article to have the reviewer form an opinion and be able to provide some level of constructive criticism or rebuttal to what is written. Fine I can accept that as a logical part of the process, although I will note that I have seen many articles that have good in-depth points that could be discussed in a review. So, if media spots are required to do a review, then I am going to note that it feels like (I haven’t actually counted) that the volume of them has diminished recently. That coupled with the fact that I like to give positive, encouraging reviews has sometimes made it difficult. We all know this, but some media spots are just terrible (I apologize to the approvers who must read those) I try to avoid those and search to find ones that can be given some positive comment and a good score. How can you all help me, please write more media spots. I am not looking for professional level work but please try to string a few sentences together in a coherent thought I don’t care if it is pure opinion or an analysis of some data you have pulled from the depths of the system. So, to assist I am going to provide some ideas generating topics that people can write about. Hope you can have fun with these ideas. 1) For Team GM’s you can do a weekly analysis of the TPE earning of your team 2) For players new to a team, you can do a media series on your players getting to know the city, you can do a discussion on restaurants in the city, nightlife, tourist and cultural attractions, make it a learning experience for the rest of us. 3) For those who are first generation players do a discussion on your process of learning the system, what are the difficult parts, what would help. 4) For people who have been around for a long time, provide us with histories of certain time periods, what was the most memorable moment between season 40 and 49. 5) To someone on the Board of Governors, could you draft an article to explain to the rest of us what you actually do. Please. So here are a few ideas to help you get started, some are one off things, others could last you for an entire season. Some could be great theme weeks. Honestly can you imagine the pictures that could be created on the topic of what does the BOG do. Anyway, please everyone can we have more media spots.

Article Review: I liked this article as it tries to provide an analytical model on what can be expected from teams going forward. I think the comments are valid as round of draft and quality of draft class can make a huge difference in how it can impact a team going forward. We all know not each prospect is worth the same consideration based on their expected growth, build and position. Yet sometime we need to start the conversation before it can be ended. Is this the definitive model on a GM capability, definitely not. Is this potentially step 1, do we start including metrics on trade quality, free agent acquisition, ability to motivate players to earn more TPE, manage depreciation. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is step 1, would love to see this model expanded to look at a larger timeframe and at more aspects of GM capability. I give this article a 9/10. Job well done.

Article Review: Honestly I avoid doing trivia altogether based on the reason of the article above. I can do a game review or a media spot review in less than 5 minutes but most trivia questions you need to basically ask for the answer because as noted the question is so poorly worded that there is no way you can decipher what is being asked or you are left counting through 92 years of history on 3 different spreadsheets to get an answer. Trivia needs to be completely overhauled or eliminated. I like this article because it provides a whimsical stance on the entire issue, both welfare only players and trivia. I don't agree that people should just be given points, but trivia sure isn't the right answer currently. I give this article an 8/10

Article Review: Having ignored the VHLM for a number of seasons now I find myself intrigued by the goings on in the league I now find myself a part of again. This is a great summary article of what can be the potential outcome of the 2nd round series. Obviously we will need to wait for the actual results to evaluate this fully. The article is reasonably well written, touches on all the expected points and provides a reasonable analysis. As such I will give this article an 8/10. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to reading the analysis of the finals.

Article review: This is a great article, the fact that it is well before anything else and now will set the standard for al future draft reviews. The fact that the author fully understands that this is an opinion piece and what will actually happen will look nothing like their predictions is refreshing. The humor adds to the article. The fact that the author was able to get multiple weeks of TPE for doing such an easy topic. Honestly it could be as easy of listing the players in the forum and ranking them by TPE earned to date. Add some filler information and bang you have weeks worth of TPE. Great job, my opinion is that this article deserves a 9/10.

Season 93 ponderings for a new player’s media spot. I tend to do a media spot series every season to make the idea generation and writing that much easier. Last season was about Molly the Cat’s quest for London all-time career records. I am not set on what my season 93 series will be about, maybe because it might depend on where I am drafted and who is on my team. Here are some thoughts I have: Direct Comparison: As Jacob recreated with me, I had a thought of doing a comparative analysis of our development as defenders to see how we do against each other in the VHLM. Look at TPE build by week, production from a standpoint of goals and assists but also looking at hits, blocked shots and take away (I see this is in the index). I think this would be an interesting choice if we were on the same team, but I expect that won’t happen. City in Review: Another thought would be a location review of the place I got drafted to. Take each week and look at a component of the city, from the perspective of living there. I could look at such items as nightlife, restaurants and food scene, tourist attractions or recreation options, housing prices and living implications, cultural implications, and potentially famous sports people from the area. Team Development and Dynamics: Another option is to do a review of the team I am on and look at the development of the players and how that impacts the outcome of the team during the season. Average TPE growth, build structures, number of people who hit the 200TPE threshold. From the perspective of a VHLM team this may be a more interesting idea as TPE growth will have a more direct implication on team development. Personal Goal Review: I have found over a couple seasons that looking at my own personal goals for my player and doing an analysis over the season to be an easy task for a media spot. The first one is a laying out of the goals and a measurement methodology. Then each week I review the goals, review the methodology and then lay out how I am doing, looking at progress so far from a game played versus year end expectation. It becomes an easy template review. Interview Series: The concept of interviewer/sports figure methodology for writing media spots has been done many times but allows for both player development and commentary on how the player is doing. It also takes up word count as you get to play both sides and do an introduction, documentation of questions and then fill in the answers. Topics are almost endless as you can go as normal as asking about the players visit to the ice cream parlor or local restaurant to how they are doing at practice or at games. It becomes an effortless process of just writing run on sentences until you hit your word count. Well, that is a review of my thought process, not sure yet what I will pick for my media spot series or if I will go off the wall and do weekly separate items. Who knows, I still have at least one other week to figure it out. Until then let's finish the playoffs for season 92 and get through the offseason.

And Again. Molly the Cat is finishing her last playoff push and then will be retiring. It was a great run with many difficulties, many interactions with various players and a Continental cup win. I would count it a success. Now I am no longer a first-generation player, Felicia Hardy has entered the field. I am not sure I will do anything drastically different from last time. I will try to max earn and look at applying that TPE in a manner that builds my player as I want them to be. Going from scoring first forward to a stay at home, hard checking defender will mean only a few tweaks to the various stats. It will be interesting to find a method of evaluating a defensively minded player, to be able to manage it is a way that I can see the advancement and be proud of it. So much of the output we get from the simulation engine is related to offensive dominance, shots, goals, and assists. Yes, we get checks and blocked shots but there is so much more to defensive play than these two items. Outside of my play I am hoping that I get drafted to a fun and friendly team with an active locker room. It is tough to stay motivated to keep pushing when the locker room is either full of complaints or is stagnant. I do get a little say in where I go but not a lot. The reality is I don’t play the game of trying to jump teams to be better. I would rather build relationships and focus on putting together a career in one place. Anyway, all this to say here we go again, this time with a different focus.

I am a complete rule follower so I fully agree that a punishment should happen but I also am a statistics person and have a hard time defining this as tanking based on actual outcomes. Bot goalie played 18 games as per the index and had 3 wins and 2 ties, meaning 8 out of a possible 36 points or 22% of points were earned. Non-bot goalie played 55 games as per the index, had 11 wins and 4 ties, meaning 26 out of a possible 110 points or 23% of points were earned. Seems to me like the 2 goalies gave the team reasonably equal chances of getting points. Obviously this analysis does not take into consideration the quality of the starts the 2 goalies faced.

We are in the final stretch of season 92 so I am going to do a press conference on endings 1) Which movie has the best ending, why? 2) Do you like post/mid credit videos, why? 3) When your career ends will you recreate? why? 4) Give me your thoughts on Bidets? 5) Does your player have an end of game routine? What is it? 6) Does your player have an end of season routine? What is it?

AS the regular season has just ended we are going to do a Playoff focused Press Conference 1) Do you expect London to get past the play in round, why 2) Who do you think wins the North American Play in round and why? 3) What player do you expect to bring an extra push in the playoffs, why? 4) Will any player be a disappointment in the playoffs, why? 5) Other than London who do you think will represent Europe in the finals, why? 6) Who do you think will represent North America in the finals, why?

I don’t expect anyone to read this but with what I am going through right now it needs to be said. If you don’t know I am a Financial Planner by trade, I hold my Certified Financial Planner designation along with several other credentials. One of those credentials is my Life Insurance License. No, I am not here to sell anything and won’t answer questions related to investment selection and trying to get rich quickly. What I would like to make note of is our society's aversion to insurance to the point it causes great harm. Right now, I am dealing with a widow, she is distraught over losing her husband. And she should be. She is also living with an immense amount of guilt. She asked her husband to go to the grocery store. She sent him on the errand that took him to the point in time where a drunk driver didn’t stop at a four way stop, instead blew through the intersection at over 100km (about 62.14 mi)/h into the side of her husband’s car killing him instantly. He left her with a mortgage, some other minor debt, 2 children under the age of 18, and the cost of his funeral. Add on to this he was the largest income earner in the family. In fact, he earned 60% of the family income. Seems tragic to most of us. I am going to get a little more detailed, the woman I am talking about hasn’t clued in to the fact that she is now facing a financial crisis on top of her emotional crisis. It is still too new to her; she is still too caught in her grief and guilt to understand what she will be dealing with. The woman is 31, her children are 2 and 5, the mortgage for the house they bought 5 years ago still has a mortgage of $450000. Her income alone will not cover her basic lifestyle let alone the added costs of the funeral. She is in a financial crisis. When her and her husband bought the house, I talked to them about ensuring that they had a risk management plan, putting insurance in place to deal with the issue of what happens if one of them dies, I talked to them again when each of their children were born, as they had now brought another life into the world and should consider how that child will be cared for if something happens to one or both of them. All three times I spoke with them she was willing to investigate options, to look at the costs and to see if they could afford it. Unfortunately, he in all three instances looked at me then looked at his wife and said the exact same thing all three times “The chances of anything happening to us are extremely small, I won’t pay hard earned money to an insurance company and get nothing out of it.” The reality is he is both correct and incorrect all at the same time. The chances of an individual in their late 20’s to early 30’s dying at least in North America is extremely small, most of those individuals who buy insurance meeting that criteria get no financial payout. Where I argue is they do get something, and that is piece of mind and risk protection if the extreme happens. In his instance the extreme did happen. For less than $20 a month (assuming a Term 10 policy in Ontario) he was not willing to consider how his family would be impacted if the unexpected were to occur. In his instance the unexpected did occur. So, I will get to my point. If you are an individual who has anyone dependent on you or if you have debt (mortgage, credit cards, etc.). If by you dying someone will be left with not only an emotional crisis but a financial crisis, I urge you to contact someone in your area and discuss how you can put together a plan that reduces or eliminates that burden. If you say that you love these people you will not leave them to face what is coming for this woman. My secondary note. If you are the type of asshole who decides to have a few drinks and get behind the wheel of a vehicle, please rethink your life. You do not get the right to impact someone else to this level. No excuses, just stop doing it.

Article Review, everyone needs a pet project and why not have that be looking at name repetition in the VHL. I am not sure your research will change the way we view the VHL or how we build players in the future but it is fun and I like it. Keep up the great work, we all need to do something strange once in a while and why not have it link to the VHL community. If you have more time to spend doing something of little to no value but is odd and wacky then could you find out how many players name themselves after animals or even just living things. I give this article a 10/10 for fun.

This article amused me greatly, first it is a quick tale of the players life outside of hockey, it adds depth to the story. But secondly and maybe more important is provides a humorous place to point out an important aspect of life. Being a good global citizen and being conscious of our environmental impact. Great work bringing these two worlds of thought together in a fun article. Would love to see more imaginative articles like this. I give this article a 9/10

I thought I would get ahead of things when it comes to the next draft. Instead of waiting until the GM reach out for Draft interviews, I figured I would give a little bit of a summary of what they can expect of my next player (Felicia Hardy) and my activity over the seasons, Felicia Hardy is a defensive defender, focused on an elevated level of skating prowess, followed by a hefty dose of physicality. Her goal is to chase down anyone looking to enter her end of the ice and separate them from the puck. VHLM During this partial VHLM season she will be focused on building core defensive ability, puck handling, and skating. Outside of pure skill development her focus is on getting used to the larger professional ice surface and getting to know the other players who will be in her draft class. After her draft and in her full VHLM season she will be looking at continuing her building of defensive ability, puck handling, and skating but will also be building her checking and strength. VHLE Felicia Hardy in her VHLE season will be focused on building her passing ability. VHL The VHL will be a process of perfecting those abilities and maintaining them until retirement. As player manager I live by one philosophy, if I am going to do something I am going to put everything into it. So, what you can expect is that I will be focused on max building. So, if you are looking for a Max earn defensive Defender than Felicia Hardy should be your draft target

Felicia Hardy was born in New York and was raised by her single father Walter Hardy who was in the business of acquiring and trading unique and valuable items. As a result of her father’s unique employment, she spent considerable time with her nanny who happened to be a significant VHL fan. As a result, Felicia Hardy spent much of her childhood immersed in the sport of hockey. At the age of 3, Felicia got her first pair of skates. Like many things in her young life, skating seemed to come naturally to her and soon she was flying fearlessly around the ice, stick in hand. She joined the local girls’ hockey league and her love of hockey bloomed. For the most part her younger years were normal for a child obsessed with sport. School during the day, playing hockey in the evening and on weekends. Being somewhat of an absent father, he always made sure to enroll Felicia in the best hockey training schools possible. Unfortunately, there was always one thing that made Felicia Hardy different than other children her own age. Felicia Hardy was always a large child, hitting a massive growth spurt at age 8 that had her hit 6’1 and by the time she was done growing at 14 she was 6’8. By high school things had begun to change, Felicia’s height had made her an outcast among the children (she knew her size intimidated them), and they often mocked and ridiculed her, calling her names like The Beast. One day in the middle of grade nine, Felicia was approached by the school’s Physical Education teacher Marv Wolfman, who invited Felicia to try out for the school hockey team. Fueled by the love of the game she agreed to try it out. Her skills coupled with her size made her a natural fit for the team. It was while playing high school hockey that she first took up the position of defender. Marv Wolfman worked with Felicia to teach her everything she needed to know to grow into the position. Spending time helping her build a training plan. He even introduced her to VHL defender and New York American, Zeedayno Chara. She continued to learn and get better during her high school career, working hard to keep her grades high enough that she would be allowed to play hockey while spending all her time working on her skills. Felicia’s development showed that not only did she have the size to play an intimidating game she also had developed significant skating skills and hand eye co-ordination. Over time the nickname of The Beast faded, to be replaced by several new nick names, Freight Train, Cat Burgler and finally Black Cat. Throughout her high school career, she was approached by a variety of post-secondary institutions looking at providing her with a scholarship if she would agree to play for them. The issue was that throughout High school Felicia found herself not sure what she would do. Having not been an academic individual she never saw herself going to university and so she tended to push the various post-secondary organizations away. Felicia graduated and as she could not decide what to do, she decided to spend some time traveling the world. It was while traveling around Europe that she decided to take in a few VHL games. As luck would have it the London United were doing a European swing and she was able to follow them around, city to city catching games. While in London, prior to one of the games she was at the arena early trying to catch some of the players practicing as she was hoping to get some autographs. Finding the rink empty she decided to put on her equipment and take a lap around the ice. It felt good to be out on the professional ice surface cruising around stick in hand. Suddenly she heard a voice yell from around the bench area. Looking in that direction she found herself looking at several of the London United players and coaching staff. Embarrassed, she skated over to get off the ice, apologizing for intruding on their space. Sitting at the far end of the bench packing up her equipment trying to be as invisible as possible, she couldn’t help but watch as the London players took the ice. She had lost track of things when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. It was at this point she realized that she was going to be in trouble for being there to begin with, trespassing within the facility. She looked up expecting it to be security to there to escort her out but found that it was one of the London United training staff. He introduced himself as the penalty kill coach and was wondering if she would put her equipment back on and join them on the ice as they could use another person to assist in a few defensive drills. Ecstatic Felicia agreed and soon found herself skating with some of her idols. It was a fantastic experience. When practice ended, the coaching staff asked Felicia to come up to the offices. They introduced her to the GM of the London United Team, and he picked up the phone and made a call. Sitting absolutely stunned with what was happening she heard the London GM talking with someone, saying that he had a young talented player sitting in his office that might make a great VHLM player and hopefully would have a great career. Later that day she went to dinner with the London GM and was introduced to a player agent. This is how everything began.

Article Review: This is a fun article to read, a longer standing member heading back to the VHLM to help encourage and build up the new members yet at the same time knowing they are competing for a position on teams downstream. The VHLE and VHL await and those teams will want superstars. The fact that there are 5 people who have recreated D at the deadline and all have the potential to make and sustain high end players will make this one a unique situation. My player is also in the mix being the expected new D addition referred to. Time to see how everything turns out. Great article, let's go Marlins. I give this article a 9/10.

Review: After spending the last number of seasons reviewing VHL articles as they were relevant to where my player was I now find myself seeking articles about the VHLM so i can quickly come back up to speed so I know what my new player will be facing. This article provides a great summary of things going on at the trade deadline. To be part of the sudden change in the defensive structure of San Diego I hope it makes a difference in how they finish the season. Will be interesting to see how the draft plays out and how the VHLM looks for season 93. Great article, I give it a 8/10

Molly the Cat and the race for a team’s points leadership Season 92 for Molly the Cat has been a race to London greatness, well hopefully. The goal was to take over the top spot as the team’s leading scorer and point getter all time. To date Molly the Cat has already surpassed The Terrible Trivium to gain the honor of being London United’s all-time scorer and is continuing to increase that target for future players. Now the goal has turned to achieving the all-time point leadership as well. Unfortunately, that target is proving more difficult than expected. At the beginning of the season Molly the Cat needed to achieve a target of 619 total points and with 22 games left in the season 92 regular season is currently sitting at 591 points, 28 points away from the target. Now we all know that 28 points in 22 games is possible but with how Molly the Cat’s season has been going it is getting increasingly difficult. Yet Molly the Cat has never given up on anything and is dedicated to achieving this goal. So, what should we expect to see in the last 22 games from Molly the Cat? Well first Molly the Cat will be focused on doing the small things correctly, playing focused offensive hockey, skating hard, shooting as much as possible and making clean passes. Molly the Cat is working tirelessly with linemates in practice to improve in any way possible. Second Molly the Cat will be energized, expect an uptick in energy from Molly the Cat. Harder hitting, faster skating, more of everything. This Cat isn’t going to roll over like a dog and give up. Molly the Cat honestly believes that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And going is what you should expect over the next 22 games. Lastly expect Molly the Cat to pull out some tricks that you have never seen before. Molly the Cat has had some time to practice with a few up-and-coming players and has been trying to incorporate some of their talents into the game. Don’t be surprised if you see something new in the next game or two. It is all coming out, the gloves are off, and the claws are out. 22 games left in a storied career. Molly the Cat expects to have these games be as memorable as they can be. Targets are set, focus and determination are at an all-time high Molly the Cat is ready. I encourage you to tune in to these last games to raise your voice and cheer on Molly the Cat. Watch and see if history can be rewritten, if greatness can be achieved, if a player can forge their name into a team's collective history. 22 games left and a countdown begins. London United Fans, we encourage you to be part of that countdown to come to the rink and be part of history. One day you may be able to tell your friends and family that you were there the night that the historic point occurred, that you were there to experience the greatest moment in London United history. United we Stand.

Felicia Hardy is a brand-new face in the league, a beast of a defender, so what can you all expect? First, you can expect toughness, this tall, heavy-set defender is going to be a physical presence on the ice. Her training plan is simple, use her size as best she can. Whether it be her long reach or her above average size she is focused on taking the puck from the opposition and then getting it back down the ice to the offense. If she cannot do that, she will take away time and space and force the other players to make a mistake and turn over the puck. 250lbs of pure muscle focused on a single point can be an intimidating presence You can also expect Felicia Hardy to be an above average skater, puck handler and passer. The ability to maneuver in tight spaces, take the puck to safety and get it cleanly out of her end of the ice is her only focus. What else can you expect, Penalty kill specialist. At this point this should not be a surprise to hear that Felicia Hardy will be focused on penalty killing. Her mentality of protecting the goalie at all costs and keeping the puck out of her house will drive everything she does. Be prepared to suffer if you think you are going to spend any amount of time in her end of the ice. What not to expect, heavy offense. Felicia Hardy is not focused on achieving offensive targets, being a perennial points leader or scoring machine. So, you shouldn’t expect to see her on the power play controlling the zone. Now do not get me wrong she will have no issue scoring points, it just isn’t the focus of her game. Also don’t expect her to be the team captain or in the media spotlight, Felicia Hardy is an introverted person, quiet and focused. She believes leadership is not done through words but by your actions on the ice. She comes every game to play hard and fast, not to talk about the game. She will fulfil her obligation to the team and to the media, but she won’t be looking to do anything more than necessary. So, there you have it, Felicia Hardy is ready to join the VHLM, work her way to the VHLE and one day join the ranks of the VHL. She is ready to make a name for herself on the ice where she will leave everything.

Official Announcement On Monday February 5th Molly the Cat’s agent submitted the official resignation of Molly the Cat to London United front offices. It was a sad moment but one that Molly the Cat knew must happen. Molly the Cat had these words: I want to start by thanking the organization for putting their trust in me. Being made captain in my rookie year was a huge honor, one I took very seriously and hope that I lived up to. I want to thank the various players that I have had the chance to play with, learn from and grow with. There were so many great individuals who taught me so much about hockey, and myself. I could never list them all here. I will never forget them, and I expect our friendship to continue for years to come. To the fans of London United, thank you for your constant support. Please keep cheering the team, encouraging them, celebrating with them. As players we strive each day to be our best for you, to be worthy of the team’s name and to bring the championship to the city and the fans we play for. It was an amazing honor to bring the Continental Cup to London during my captaincy and our goal is to do it this year as well. I know that I must say goodbye, but I also know the team is well cared for. I like you, will be a lifetime fan of the London United. I get to join your voices, join in your hope, to see the Continental Cup once again be paraded down the streets of London. We are London, We are United.

This will be a predictive press conference 1) Who do you think will end the season with the most goal, why? 2) Who do you think will end the season with the most assists, why? 3) Which goalie will have the most wins, why? 4) Who do you think will be first in the NA conference, why 5) Who do you think will be first in the EU conference, why? 6) Who do you think will win the Continental Cup, why?

$1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week (6 TPE uncapped from a PT)

No, JCarson is jacobcarson877's father.