diamond_ace

Definitely in. Would also manage if you need another person

You were another example of the above actually Super happy to see how you've ended up so far

You'll be top 10 by the end of your career and have earned the spot. I can tell you that much. I whiff on vets all the time, but I very rarely misread a first gen. Like I said of McWolf a season or two into his career, the same I could see of you: 30 seasons from now your name will be in that Builder section of the HOF alongside mine.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a player to excise him/herself from a team, and in doing so create a hole in the back of the leadership of said team approximately the size of a Wusthof 6 inch hollow edge chef's knife, a decent respect to the interests of the league requires the recently-stabbed to declare the causes which impel them to the separation. I should know, it's happened to me twice. The first is well-documented: I was GM of the Calgary Wranglers from S26 to S41. For much of the league's history, this was the record for longest GMing tenure - a fact that is laughable at the moment given how readily @hedgehog337 and @Banackock have turned such a run into child's play, but nonetheless it was true. I had a defenseman on my team by the name of Ryan Sullivan, @Advantage's player, and a GM spot became open in New York that he was a logical candidate for, so I traded him there for Skylar Rift, @Devise's player and someone I assumed would be my franchise goalie for the rest of his career. Goalies simply didn't move at the time barring complete shifts in team direction, or so it seemed. Not too long after that, however, I was not entirely on top of things contract-wise during the season and despite my efforts after the season ended, he left in FA (along with several other players from other teams to form somewhat of a powerhouse in Quebec, although some questioned the methods by which that team was built). I didn't know it at the time, but apparently he'd been planning to leave partway through the season, which would have been nice to know but he kept it close to the vest. Obviously that wound has long since healed as Devise remains one of my closest friends on the site to this day (and as was made clear in the ensuing decades, I was partially to blame for the whole thing in that particular case). It's in a 40 for 40, which for the most part has closed the book on that chapter, and it's now simply just another moment in history. I only bring it up here as it has relevance to another situation that just occurred hours ago. Apparently, I'm just a very stabbable person. This particular GMing run, as the inaugural GM of the Prague Phantoms, began in S68 when the team was created. As an expansion, we were terrible for some time, then got mediocre, then had a few promising years (one of which we deserved better from the sim, and were led in goal by a certain Brick Wahl, which will become important in the ensuing paragraphs). Nonetheless, it has not been a particularly successful go around, sim-wise anyway, but it's been much more fun because I've taken the success of the team with a grain of salt and instead have focused more on generating a good team atmosphere and a place people want to play, especially if they've already done so once before and liked it at the time. There have been a lot of people I've gotten to know well over this run, from the only member I've now GMed on both teams @Doomsday, to multi-league veterans such as @Sharkstrong, @omgitshim and @Cornholio, to guys that have been around in this league for varying lengths of time such as @animal74, @Seabass, @Fire Vigneault, and @wcats. Many of you know, however, that I have a tendency toward promising first gens. It's why I've ultimately always been more at home in the VHLM in some capacity, whether as GM or as a commissioner. I've played a proud role in bringing a lot of guys their first experience with the league - for example, one of the guys I GMed in Ottawa before taking Prague is now sitting beside me in the other commissioner seat ( @McWolf ) and it's always a pleasure to work with him. For Prague itself, it's been a lineup of guys that in many cases have gone on to do quite a bit for themselves here, the most prominent current example being @Domg5, but along with that there's @Gaikoku-hito, @JB123, @Baby Boomer, @Mistxh J and many more. Apologies if your name's not here, I don't think anyone wants to just read off a list of names. My point is that I've gotten to know a lot of people, most of whom I consider friends in some capacity. Then there's @BladeMaiden. Someone who started off as a bit of a thorn in my side during her run as GM of the Philadelphia Reapers, but whatever you thought of her methods, she had a passion for that team that was unmatched and I was always grateful for that, whatever the result. Yes, there were times where that passion may have resulted in a few questionable methods, but ultimately the M is about getting people interested and then letting them blossom into good solid members in the bigs, and she was always reliable for that. She's polarizing as hell, probably one of my biggest opposites in that sense (it took me some time to decide to sit down and write this because I fear for the blowback, but ultimately decided I should get something out of the situation in any case) and a lot of people are not entirely fans of hers or weren't early on especially. I've never been in that group. I respected the hustle in the Philly years while not always encouraging the things that happened, and since then, I've developed a friendship enough that I've always wanted to have her around in some capacity, even more so if she's on my team. @rjfryman may have had the winning bid in EFL to get her to come back here and create Thightrap, but it was not for lack of trying on my part (and I could have gone higher, had RJ not had the same goal as I did, which was to bring her back here in particular). She obviously has her group of close friends here, but I count myself among that number. When the S74 draft came, I had the 4th pick. I was a bit tunnel visioning at the time, I'd convinced myself I was going to draft Blade come hell or high water. As talks wore on ahead of the draft, it became clear 4th would not in fact be high enough, and so I began to try to move up. Ultimately this was futile, no teams were budging, and in fact I had an offer from Warsaw to move to 1st overall that was ridiculous and would have broken my team ( @.sniffuM had already committed to who he wanted with that pick and did not want to go back on his word, which is certainly respectable - the offer was something in the neighborhood of 2 1sts and 2 2nds to move up 3 spots). The fact that I actually thought about the offer for more than 10 seconds tells you all you need to know about how badly I wanted this to work. Ultimately I traded down instead, managed to land Flyers' player at 8th, and certainly came out of that draft looking much better than I would have without all those extra picks I could have given away. When a former commissioner coming off of a hall of fame player falls in your lap, it makes it much easier to accept not getting the player you wanted. Several seasons later, I'd managed to acquire Thightrap via a trade with Seattle (and anyone who's been in the league for more than half a season knows the type of price that involves) for what at the time seemed like it would be the rest of her career. Three seasons, admittedly marred a bit by the fact that they'd be seasons of depreciation, but this was a good enough player to take the hit just fine. She was only signed for one more at the time of the trade, but surely securing an extension would not be a problem for a friend? Especially when early on she'd asked if 2 seasons would be enough value rather than 3 intending at that time to retire early, but basically just assuming as though things would be with Prague. This would be fine, right? Not remotely an issue? Right? Bueller? Bueller? When the blade slipped in, somewhere between the 6th and 7th thoracic vertebrae, it felt numbing at first. Like a slight tickle. Once the shock wore off, there was much screaming, many tears, and a long hard talk of reconciliation, but it happened nonetheless. I was backstabbed a second time. This time, however, I'm convinced none of the blame was my own - she would tell you the same, frankly. Extension talks began plenty early, I'd sent an offer weeks ago, an offer which she says she never saw (I'm not sure if that was a glitch in the site, or if she did see it and just didn't take it, or what have you). As things got closer, a slight doubt crept into the back of my mind, but I never actually doubted this would get done. Then it didn't. She went right back to Seattle, taking my picks with her. Then, like the first stab wasn't enough... she wanted to be removed from the discord. The claim was something about the team needing space to vent and it would be easier to be mad about it if she wasn't there. Sure, that sounds reasonable enough, but not if you know my discord. We're the type of environment where once you're a part of us, you're a part of us for good, as long as you remain in the league (unless you specifically indicate wanting to be removed, but even then that's generally been for people who have been there for a season or so). The term is not for everyone, and I don't really remember who coined it, but there's a reason people have called us the "Phamily" - you don't just stop being a Phantom just because your player has. This request, to me anyway, hurt as much if not more than her player leaving in FA. It also didn't last long. I'd initially compromised and moved her to Alumni (where she would not see the team section, where much of the chat is) but had already been talking to her in discord PM for some time at that point, and once I'd expressed just how not ok I was with that decision, she's back in. It lasted a whole 15 minutes. A body is a whole thing - you can't just cut off your arm, leave it sit out for a while, and then reattach it (unless under very specific circumstances, including a lot of ice, before @Renomitsu the doctor comes in here and corrects me). In any case, this time the fallout has actually gone much quicker, and while I'm still feeling a bit of a fresh wound, Blade and I are already back on good terms, and things are perfectly fine on that end. I'm not willing to lose a friend over a hockey sim, even if it would be easy to do so right now. Blade is a firecracker, far more impulsive than I'd ever be, but that's also a good thing. The world needs some people like that. If everyone was like me, quiet and unassuming, we'd never make any progress. However, there is one thing that has come of this. It's arguably been some time coming now, and has been somewhat in the back of my mind, but this has, shall we say... accelerated the timeline. I will not be stabbed a third time. I like to keep my friends as friends, and not think poorly of them, even if only for an afternoon. Therefore, the current plan is that season 80 will be my final season as GM of Prague. I will remain VHLM Commissioner, the role that enables me to do more good for a wider array of people and to help fuel the league with new members who enjoy this strange and wild trip we call a league. Obviously the decision as to my replacement will come primarily from the blue team, as it has always been, but my recommendation as of this moment (and assuming I'm not talked out of the decision, which I don't see as likely) would be @Acydburn - prior to McWolf, he stood by my side as my fellow VHLM Commissioner and has now taken the same role in the VHLE. He's been Prague's "unofficially official" since day 1, and would have been my inaugural AGM instead of Zoiderberg had he not already been GM of Ottawa (coincidentally the team I'd GMed up to that point). There is no one here I'd rather see get a spot, and frankly it's been a long time coming, if the blues do in fact decide to give him the position. 2,172 words. 4 weeks of claim.

FBR has been around far longer than Kai, it's just that some of it is on the old site. Great guy though, and someone I've GMed in the M a few times, but never quite managed to line up right for me in the bigs.

@MattyIce the guy Eno kept bragging about for so long was Raleigh Ritchie, from the 68 draft. Danger Golding's first guy here

Yeah this draft was goalie or bust for me - was obviously hoping to bring @Doomsday back to the fold, but honestly, there are very few people in the league more vital to how the place runs than @Josh and so the pick is about as safe as can be, in terms of active vs. inactive anyway. If Josh isn't here, the league quickly falls into a panic, the man is vital and so I'm definitely happy to bring him in. Still not 100% sure about whether he'll want to make his way to LA eventually but we have 3 seasons to sort that out.

Obviously this was a few years ago (hence the date on the Ultrasignup page) but yeah... I've run a 50k. Also, 7 marathons, including 2 on back to back days, and countless races shorter than that. Unfortunately it's been some time since I've done anything of that magnitude (2019 was more of a year where I sat back and let my fiancee shine, planning to have my year in 2020, and then actual 2020 happened and that went down the drain) but ultimately I do plan to get back to it once things are more managed. Also about to have a wedding in a month and a half, but that's more of a one time thing and less of a hobby

1 spot off of 69th place

1. Will @Mistxh J sign his extension? Will @BladeMaiden sign hers? 2. Who do you want to win the finals, Malmo or Seattle? 3. Are you looking forward to the inaugural season of the E? 4. Be the GM for a moment, if you had the 7th pick of the draft with our current roster, what would you do with it? 5. Is your player more the "enjoy the break" type or the "can't wait to get back out there" type? 6. Something fun you are doing in real life, or looking forward to doing in the near future?

The ironic part: I have a journalism and literature degree. Have not used it once.

Central admissions for a big hospital conglomerate comprised of 25 hospitals centralized around the Pittsburgh area, but extends to western NY, northeastern PA, as well as a hospital in western MD that's on board with the company but hasn't integrated with my particular department yet. If you're in that general vicinity, you're almost certainly aware of the company, it has a heavy presence in the area. Basically when patients physically move rooms/beds, they also have to move rooms/beds in a few computer systems (Medipac, First Net, and Teletracking, in our particular case, but different places may use different programs - we're also in the process of exchanging Medipac for Epic). We do that. Also status changes (if they were inpatient but need to be obs, or obs but need to be inpatient, or a few more specialty statuses like extended recovery), also medcalls (when a doc puts in with a hospital to get admitted directly to a floor and bypass the ED, they put in the orders with a group called Medcall, who then sends a booking to us and we enter a preadmit into Medipac for the AODs at the hospitals to see and assign from there), also a handful of other things as they come up. Only started here about 2 years ago as an indirect promotion out of ED registration at one of the specific hospitals that are part of all of this. Working on heading out the other way actually - have an app active with a position for a Systems Analyst and the hiring people were specifically looking for someone who started closer to ground level like me. One of the bosses specifically sent me the job number personally, so fingers crossed - the pay is almost double, and it's not like the current one is that small on that end, so it would be nice (and I'd be moving to an office building that has its own steakhouse in it, so...)

holy fuck you won! nice

You finally have a purple Prague shirt, which means I'm about to finally have a purple Prague shirt. Also got a teal one bc teal is life

he is simply referring to your slavic origins

So with the creation of the VHLE, this has set the VHLM on a pretty unprecedented task: having to replace half our GMs in a single go. Admittedly one of these was not really from the E, but the other 5 were, so fair enough. We wish the E a fantastic opening, and the departing GMs the best of luck in their new role in that league (and this one is fitting as the one guy who didn't go to the E as a GM did as an AGM). Now perhaps I have thrown in enough of an intro paragraph that the hirees won't be visible from setting the mouse on top of the thread and watching the preview, but if not, here's a gif, because I refuse to do the layered spoiler thing. Can't go wrong with snoopy. In any case, let's get to it finally: Philadelphia Reapers: @Alex_J32 (because who didn't see that one coming) Houston Bulls: @MattyIce (long overdue and will surprise absolutely no one) Miami Marauders: @Ledge and Dairy Mexico City Kings: @youloser1337 Mississauga Hounds: @N0HBDY San Diego Marlins: @JB123 Welcome to having rights, and this hiring should give you time to draft prep as well as to take rights away from potentially 6 other people (AGMs). Congratulations you 6!

did you intend to say "hit this on the exact day" then? bc you said "closest" so i cant really lose once it's closer to me than minion

i mean by definition if you go anywhere from oct 4 (just past halfway between me and minion) to like 2035 or 2040, i have won you can't leave "never" because eventually either the vhl will stop or you will, even if that's 10-20 years down the line, so you can't possibly win with your answer, so if it passes the halfway point between me and minion, i have won no matter what

requesting ping

Your draft values are a bit off. 2nds anymore are pretty much guarantees as well, just guys that will take an extra season. 3rds are pretty much never going to miss getting a player at all, but are basically what 2nds used to be (and it gives me an opportunity to hype the workhorse @Domg5 Dominic Gobeil who went from 46th overall to a top 10 guy in his draft class). 4ths/5ths are a bit more in the hail mary range, but actually still work out on occasion (in my particular case, the best example of this would be Braxton Hunter, 72nd overall but made it to the league for a few seasons - he's ia now as far as updating, but still talks in the discord from time to time. Victor had a better example in Pietro Angellini when he was Moscow).

An actual, real life trade deadline trade! Also, we have the cap for this - I know the finances look all weird with the $5m exceptions plus the $2m backup goalie space. We can go up to $7m over as a result, and this will put us $6.5m over, so still under by 500k. @DrummerBoy15 and @JCV - it's not ideal to have to ship out prospects like this, but honestly we'd have run into a bit of a logjam with you two, Baard, Numminen, Baby Bob, and Aky all coming up at the same time (and of those, everyone but Aky is a forward). So basically this clears a way for some better playing time for you in the future as we won't have half a roster of guys within a 1-2 season span. Saves us some future cap, and London needs a few more guys, so just works out better for everyone involved. @Matt_O I know you're not really around anymore, but if you see this, Zod's getting a little longer of a season now, coming to a playoff team. Not one of STHS' favorites this season, so hopefully it's a long run but it might not be, but it's something anyway.