diamond_ace

Ottawa Ice Dogs. That is all.

Dear VHLers,
 
You probably ask yourself: 'What does he mean with that title? We can look up the HOF and check on the S62 cup winning Wranglers team and see for ourselves.'
 
This is undeniable true, but please humour me on this one. I will attempt a completely subjective comparison on the roles/impact the S87 cup winners had and what their equivalent was in the S62 Wranglers. To that purpose I will only look at the playoff performance, as this is when champions are being made. This is also why Karl Pedersen @JeffD is only a honobra mention in this article, as CGY S62 did not have a human backup goalie (but then again Pedersen is a superhuman backup...). Sorry, bro. I still appreciate your contribution to our title, despite not being able to find your S62 'soulmate'.
 
Let's start with Lindbergh @Doomsday the S87 Daisouke Kanou winner. The easy choice would be to say, that it is of course HOF netminder Norris Stopko @Bushito (who won the Kanou in S63). Alas a case can be made that Keaton Louth @Beaviss as the S62 Playoff-MVP is the equivalent to Lindy. But I will stick with the low-hanging fruit with Stopko and look forward for you banging on me for going for the easy kill.
 
Next up, Phil Strasmore @Phil. I will go with HOFer Mats Johnsson @Quik. Both players showed grit as well as a scoring touch in the post season and are valued for their leadership skills.
 
Lloyd Braun's @Toast equivalent would be Cayden Saint @Symmetrik, both being low scoring rookie defenders.
 
AirRig GoodBrandSun @Rhynex Entertainment is paired with Jesper Stromberg @Tim. Both being the second highest scoring defender. Although this is where the similarities end, as Stromberg has retired with a mere 199 TPE to his name. A fate that we confidently deny for AG.
 
Marcel Janser @Morcar80 by the rule of exclusion would be Peter Quill @OrbitingDeath . Both are low scoring defenders, both with very good +/- rating going for them. And both would not dress for Calgary after their respective cup win. Quill retired at the pinnacle of his career, Marcel moved on to Helsinki (Vancouver/London).
 
Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877 as the playoff top-scorer is matched up with Keaton Louth. Both exceptional scorer (Wolanin with a bit more balanced g/a ration), both leaders on and off the ice.
 
Leandro Gonçalves @leandrofg is matched with Niko Bodganovic @TurnDaddy. Both forwards provided crucial secondary scoring outside of the first line, and hence contributed heavily to the respective cup win.
 
Sax Justice @Eso, the reliable grinder in the second formation finds his opposite number in Evan R. Lawson @diamond_ace. Both rather on the light side in the goal scoring department but reliable, steady energy player who know how to shut down the opposition.
 
Larry Abbas Jr. @RileyL is reflected in Oyorra Arroyo @omgitshim. This may appear far fetched, as the latter is a HOF player and Abbas has still some ways to go to reach that level. But both were winger in the top formation and that is reason enough for me.
 
Vincent Laroche-Gagnier @vincentlg2007 is the S87 equivalent of Johannes Vihjalmsson, both adding some level of scoring to the squad. Vince was in his rookie season and the Iceland native was in his sophomore year.Alas, VLG has already double the TPE that Vihjalmsson retired with.
 
Daniel Janser is then by exclusion the equivalent of Jasper Canmore @Bushito. Both leading the first line and providing a one-two punch with their respective wingers. Canmore is a hall of famer and Janser is 50 career points short in overtaking Jasper in the Calgary all time scoring list.
 
So this is my absolutely biased RETROspective. I matched up as good as I could based on the stats only, as I was not nowhere near the VHL in S62. If veteran members have different opinions, I am open for input and would genuinely love to hear different point of views (affirmative action is of course equally welcome).
 
Live long and prosper
 
 

no longer! they've been sent off as donations! 

Isn't it funny how often the party of "small government" uses their governmental power to do whatever they can to shut down anyone who disagrees with them?

Brother Jones and Rep. Pearson expelled from the State House. Rep. Johnson survives. I fear for democracy in my state and hope that the future is strong for the state. I will be a little less active in the coming days as I join my fellow Tennesseans in fighting for democracy.

This as a default for me as well. There's lots of havens out there for people to think and say what they want. We are under no obligation for that to be in our spaces, affecting members ability to simply exist in our league. Rule changes for more "free speech" in these instances are rarely about equity and more about enabling assholes anyway. We aren't telling anyone what to think only to show common decency and manners. 

Not to pile it on but this pretty much sums it up.
 
For the most part I have appreciated how the league deals with these things lately, while there was certainly a time where I felt we fell short.

Not entirely sure, but if I'm going to compare it to people who've already posted in this thread who joined near the time I did, I'm going like late 2010 early 2011? Later than Adv, later than Mubble's initial joining date, but earlier than his first commitment

Holy crap. That's one thing I'd convinced myself that I'd never see.
 
Congrats to @MexicanCow123 and @Peace on the player inductions, and to whoever/however builders are decided.....thank you.
 

It has been a little over 2 years since the creation and formulization of the Code of Conduct (https://vhlforum.com/topic/110979-vhl-code-of-conduct/) so I feel that we've had a good enough time frame in which to look at it back in review as well as certain processes and directions that'd we like to head towards.
 
Currently we (well Sam is heading it) are reviewing the current state of the COC and looking at refining and changing certain aspects of it. As leaders and representatives of the community, I felt that this should be opened up to the BOG as well since you represent the community that we work for and its very important for myself and the team to get this feedback in order to know how to proceed with the future of moderation.
 
I'd like to open up several topics here I'd suggest you all leave feedback for and perhaps vote/group decide that we entail in the process but due to the nature of the revamp, It would be a limited time discussion while we work at reviewing the COC at the same time as well as bring some urgency to the issue.
 
1. Community Well-being and inclusion
 - People are likely no strangers to my hard approach to this. This was what I was originally brought on by generations ago commishes to bring about a hard stance to change out the old guard of hate and bigotry and create a safe space here for LGBTQ and others. This has recently in several cases come into conflict with myself due to the nature of what I was brought on for, and I feel that adequate discussion or verification of what/how we should be approaching these matters should be. Is this supposed to be a safe haven with zero tolerance towards bigotry and hate? Or do those opinions stand as well?
 
2. Moderation Penalties/Process/Warnings
- There has often been confusion in how we exact penalties but there are certain formulas we do follow and precedents we adhere to. It was rocky to start but for the most part we have learned to be more consistent. Like howmany warnings is enough? What kind of activities should be blatantly gotten rid of?
 
3. Pro-active or reactive?
- We have plenty of proactive initiatives throughout the year here for LGBTQ and equality related events. This applies to how we treat certain situations as well.
 
4. Other general ideas/thoughts.
 
Mostly I want to get a sense from BOG of what direction you want to head towards as we build the community into the future. This is your chance to speak now as we work to re-shape and refine the goals and nature of the team.
 
Would like to have your folks feedback in the next 2 weeks of sorts to bring back to the team. Silence is telling me we're fine and we'll push ahead as we are.
 
Deadline setting for April 19, 2023.
 

Not entirely sure, but if I'm going to compare it to people who've already posted in this thread who joined near the time I did, I'm going like late 2010 early 2011? Later than Adv, later than Mubble's initial joining date, but earlier than his first commitment

What AJW did was wrong but he did come forward and is serving his punishment for his actions.
 
He is being publicly shamed enough for what he did so let’s not pile on and make ourselves look like the bullies here. 
 
If you have a question about how he handled the situation and want to better understand it then do so by reaching out to him and having a conversation with him 1 on 1 like an adult.

Hello everyone,
 
Not gonna bother with a members tag on this, if you see it then great, you will be rewarded for that. If you don’t then…. Well why am I writing this because if you don’t see it how can you read this part?
 
Anyway, today marks 5717 days (that’s 15 years, 7 months, and 26 days if you’re curious) since the VHL opened its doors. What a random number you might say, why does that matter? Well if I do the math, and I have, I was born 5717 days before the start of the VHL. Given that I joined on day one and have been here ever since that means today marks the official day that I have been in the VHL just as long as I was outside of it. Is that a stupid thing to celebrate? Probably but that won’t stop me; so please let me indulge in a bit of sentimentality for a moment.
 
When the VHL started I had not yet completed high school, I had never had a girlfriend, hell I had never kissed a girl. I was a lonely nerd turning to the internet to find something to do; and I found it. The VHL was not my first sim league, wasn’t even the first one I joined ran by the people who ran it, but it was the first that felt different and felt like it had a good chance of surviving which so few at that point had done. I found a community here. I cannot honestly say that everything went perfectly or that my start in the VHL was without fault; I very nearly left for good within 2 months, but I stayed. I have now not only finished high school but university and going on 10 years working post-schooling. I have now not only had a steady relationship but a wife and two children, a life. All the while the VHL has been there, constantly evolving with the times sure but present. Over 5 years ago I took up the mantel of commissioner. I did it not because I thought I was necessarily the best person for the job but because I thought the league needed something, it was in trouble and I didn’t want to see it fail. I like to think that in these 5 years of growth I have at least stalled that failure.
 
5717 days likely means nothing to any of you, just as that paragraph likely means nothing to any of you, but it means something to me. This league, this place, this community has been a standard in my life for longer than most anything else. I’m not going anywhere right now, that’s not what this is, but I did want to mark the occasion because this league does mean a lot to me.
 
So if you’ve made it this far feel free to take 5 uncapped TPE for your troubles, on me. I’m not sure the insane total I’ve had over the years (probably over 10k by now) so 5 for everyone that I bored with this story should suffice as a thank you for being my weird extended internet family.

Welcome welcome all! Me and @leandrofg have come up with this wonderful roster for this upcoming tournament, so here is the reveal!!
 
Forwards
 
C - Jasper Davis (SDM) @Josh
RW - McDonalds BigMac (MIA) @ryf87
LW - BK Whopper (MIA) @Cyrxlian
LW - Noel Roux Jr (MEX) @Da Trifecta
C - Anthony Simmons (LVA) @Starchychaff
RW - Lucky Mitts (MIA) @Gmoneyman52
RW - Jeff Lewis (FA) @nerji
LW - Otis Boudreaux Jr (FA) @Otis Boudreaux Jr (via Waivers)
 
Defensemen
 
D - Mark Calaway (HFX) @Beketov
D - Eurydyka Sklodowska Dudzinska (LVA) @diamond_ace
D - Pope Francis (OTT) @nurx
D - Howdy Doody (SSK) @BigIrish
 
Goaltenders
 
G - Jeffrey Blake (PHI) @ElementStyx9
 
Let's get it this season!! Join the discord server if you haven't already -> https://discord.gg/6SaGRaYp

Bana Blabs #58
 
Another week, another blab. 17 days until I leave for Australia. That's pretty wild. I'm crazy, right? Some days I feel crazy but hey, once in a lifetime experience. Life is too short. Have fun. For the VHL, up and down once again for Seattle. After a hot start, we're basically a .500 team and looking around at others, it's surprising. LA has 2 d-men. Seattle has a decent enough goalie, great d-men and a mix of talent and depth up top. Could use more there but I think we're better than our record should be. Anyway, let's blab.
 
My player, Mikhail Kovalchuk, continues to do well with London. I really have enjoyed this player - as I do with all, but the excitement of this one has been a bit lower consistently. I'm looking forward to my next player but will keep trucking for now for Dil, London and to see if I can still have a decent ending. As mentioned, Seattle is up and down. Players builds like Bogatyrev are good enough to produce, but they struggle no matter what builds or players they're with. Yet, you look around the league and players with similar builds are thriving. It only bugs me so much because, as a GM would know and relate, we want all our players kicking ass. I was looking at player stats for their careers. Often, I write about which Seattle Bears players are coming up on career milestones. This time I hopped over to GM's. It's really cool to see how everyone is doing, has done and all the history with GM's. The wins totals goes like this (regulation, OTW, SOW) for top 15 GM's of all-time for wins. GREEN AND BOLD = STILL ACTIVE.  
1. @Banackock- 1,514 Wins
2. @hedgehog337- 1,305 Wins
3. @diamond_ace- 1,014 Wins
4. @Advantage aka hacker - 1,006 Wins
5. @Bushito- 924 Wins
6. @gregreg- 834 Wins
7. @Higgins- 815 Wins
8. @Devise- 768 Wins
9. @Beaviss - 675 Wins
10. @Frank - 662 Wins
11. @Victor - 656 Wins
12. @Enorama- 642 Wins
13. @Mike - 551 Wins
14. @eaglesfan0366 - 532 Wins
15. @JeffD - 506 Wins

Hi All
 
@diamond_ace won the Auction for the Megabite sized Berocka and I thought to myself that he was a VHLM Commissioner for a long time so my tribute to him would be interviewing the current VHLM Commissioners @Gustav  & @Spartan  I think this podcast went over quite well, and the 2 hours of recording went quite quickly. 
 
https://anchor.fm/howzat-league/episodes/MegaBite-Sized-Berocka-20---VHLM-commissioner-edition-e1u5r0j
 
 
I got them to talk about your VHLM suggestions and much much more I hope you all enjoy
 
@dlamb
@Triller
@Grape
@nurx
@JCarson
 
Mentions all start roughly 1:15:00 in
 
@vhlm gm I hope you enjoy! 

As the offseason ends, we here at the Las Vegas Aces would like to extend our best wishes to all the times and everyone that comes across this post! As the title suggests we will be announcing our leadership group today! 
 
Announcing our returning veteran and captain, Juan Ceson @dylanjj37! Juan has had an interesting offseason but chose to return to the city he has called home for his entire career and we are grateful towards him and his family. With this exciting news, we are planning to place a statue of our long time captain in front of the arena. 
 
Our first alternate captain goes to Ivan Varlamov @StoneWallGoalie077! Ivan is a returning player in which the team drafted with its second round pick. We have no doubt that he will lead the team to plenty of victories along side Juan Ceson. 
 
The second 'A' goes to Eurydyka Sklodowska Dudzinska @diamond_ace! Our first round pick will share the leadership role with fellow seniors. We also believe in his capabilities on and off the ice.
 
Our third 'A' goes to Rip Wheeler @ScottyP! Signed in waivers, he has shown strong leadership qualities and his teammates surely agree! 
 
Congratulations to everyone and let's all have a great S87!

the irony of it being you

So this'll be my first set of bullets with my new player. Feeling refreshed and excited for this new player. It's usually a good sign, as the first few seasons are really the most fun when you get to decide how to build your player before the stats are so high that it takes a month to really impact stats. Anyways here's what's on my mind for this week.
 
I took a season off so I have a fresh new class of players in my draft class. I'm excited for it as there are some familiar faces in @JardyB10, @fonziGG, @Beketov, @Josh, @MexicanCow123, and even @diamond_ace. @scoop in the class too, and the last time we had players close in age we had Unassisted and Diana Maxwell who played together. Pretty solid and deep veteran draft. I think for the most part these will be some safe picks and will likely hold some value. Should be interesting to see where everyone goes and if I were to play with any of them. I did just do a career length run with Bek, but it'd be cool to run it back. The rest I haven't really played with so that'd be alright. Pretty open minded as to where my player goes in the VHLM Draft. I always like experiencing a new GM, just to get to know them and see how they run things. A lot of the time your GM in the VHLM if they are good enough, will be a VHL GM by the time your player is in their prime - so there's that to look at. It's nice to have a number of days off from work with the holidays. I'll be spending quite a bit of time with family the next couple of days. Looking forward to recharging, as the last month has been a lot. World Juniors start up too and this year's tourney looks like it could be a really fun one to follow.  
That's it for me this week.. More bullets next.

Second this! I've actually been going around to my local used bookstores to find this series, and I have most of them but the first book, Redwall, funnily enough.

Also, as for my own personal reading history, I'll admit I'm the guy who genuinely likes some of the "school made me read it" books - I'll put a row of asterisks after the ones I first discovered through various classes, if you only want strictly outside of that realm, although as a literature/journalism double major I had some fairly out there classes so they're not all ones where you'd expect that to be the source. (I also most strongly suggest the last book mentioned before the asterisks)

I saw someone early in the thread mention Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground, and yes. Definitely a fan of that one. As far as other ones specifically from the country who must not be named I liked Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata, as well as a few Chekhov plays (even wrote an additional act to Cherry Orchard back when I was in high school - that was like 20 years ago don't ask me to find it). 
 
Other books I enjoyed that I first encountered through various classes: first off at the risk of sounding really strongly like "that guy" I do like some Joyce. Portrait of the Artist? Dubliners? Yes. Finnegans Wake? Noooooo. I appreciate the artistry but no, that thing is a mess, it's more puzzle than book and I quite like not having a headache. Speaking of artistry, basically any Kimiko Hahn poetry collection has to be pretty high up for me, not your traditional "school" type book but it was in one of my poetry electives back at Pitt so I count it. Hahn is my favorite poet by a mile, which is saying a lot since I'm technically one as well (one poem published in an anthology - not nearly enough to have a real accomplishment, but hey it's something).
 
This leads me to my single biggest recommendation of all books, ever: A Universal History of Iniquity by Borges. It's a collection of semi-historical accounts of famous disreputable figures of history, where he weaves some of the truth, some of the lies, and some things occupying the space in the middle, all into cohesive narratives and you never quite know which parts are the true parts. In some of these cases, the figures aren't entirely real themselves, so it's more a combination of "false that has been known as true" and false than strictly true and false, but most of them at least allude in some ways to a real person and a real story.

*****
 
Fantasy novels: I very much enjoyed the Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist, it was one of the series that first got me into the genre (the other I'll mention in a bit). One of my SBA players was even named after a character in this series, Arutha ConDoin. (Or for his full title that I made sure to put in a handful of game threads until the simmer expressed annoyance at it: Arutha conDoin, the Prince of Krondor; Lord-Marshal of the Western Realm and of the King’s Armies of the West, Heir Apparent to the throne of Rillanon.) I loved this series and recommend it highly - Silverthorn is slower but it's necessary to set up Darkness at Sethanon, which has more going on.
 
The other series that got me into the genre was the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, although I'll admit that has a bit of a younger target demographic. The characters very much play out the normal knights and castles stuff but they're also all animals; mice, weasels, foxes, badgers, etc. Still definitely something I enjoyed at the time and might look back in on at some point, even if it might be a bit odd for a 37 year old.
 
Others etc (sports books mostly): Fittingly for VHL in particular, Bill Boyd's Hockey Towns was a good one, about basically the lives of the more minor figures in the sport: guys in juniors who will likely not get drafted and this is kind of their last desperate crack at it, all the way up to former NHLers just getting out there in older players' leagues to keep doing the thing they enjoy.
 
Given my running background, there's quite a few there for me. Obviously I won't rehash too much of Ledge's recommendation of Once a Runner, or the slightly-less-but-still-good sequel Again to Carthage, but another running book I enjoyed (and yes it's a bit cliche among the running community) was Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It's about the Tarahumara tribe and how they run in their community, and when a few of their members entered Western States (big legendary ultrarunning event) and did better than most of the people who'd specifically been training for that race. Also Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, and a few Dean Karnazes ones (especially Ultramarathon Man) but I don't expect those to have much interest for people who aren't already runners. Surprisingly, I didn't get that far into Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, despite it being Murakami, a well known and established author, rather than a runner who happens to have written a book. I might have to give that one another shot sometime.

I'm struggling to stick with any one book and also struggling to find something to hold my attention long enough to read more than a chapter or two before setting and forgetting. (Thanks, ADHD)
 
Currently have bookmarks and tissues and other household objects stuck in:
 
Doctor Who: The Ruby’s Curse - Alex Kingston
The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkein (running the e-book and audio book at the same time because the writing style doesn't work with my brain when trying to read it)
The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief - A.F. Steadman
 
I might just give up and pick up Eragon to try and get my drive to read going. 
 

I'm currently reading Once a Runner by John L Parker Jr, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Even though hockey is my main sport, I did cross country for the first 'trimester' of sports, and my dad has this huge bookshelf of sports books, so he gave me the best one about running he had after I did well in a race and was enjoying the sport. I'm not too far into it, but it's definitely one of the more adult-oriented books I've ever read, so I find just picking up on some of the linguistics is fascinating. It's also a real neat perspective, I highly recommend it so far.

Dostojevski is so fucking good! ah.

Currently reading
Death's End by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu) - Third book of the Rememberance of Earth's Past (akaThree-Body Problem) trilogy. I'm enjoying it so far, it's a slightly different format to the first two, which I kind of enjoy to be honest since there are chapters interspersed from a different perspective that provides more context for what you're reading. There are some parts that can feel a little awkward but I think a part of that comes from the fact that it's translated from Chinese to English. All in all it's a really interest approach to sci-fi that I like a lot.
 
Last three (or four?) books read
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin (translated by Joel Martinsen) - Second book. I think this is my favorite of the series thus far? Not sure though. Goes in a really interesting direction from on  the first novel ends up. Some parts can feel a bit odd but at the same time I think there's a good combination of plot intrigue and new concepts introduced in a way that isn't quite as clunky as the first book.
 
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu) - Beginning of the series. I enjoyed this one too, but it's a mixed bag in some parts. I really enjoy the historical aspect of this novel, as it partially takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China and also includes a lot of footnotes which describe the aspects of Chinese culture/history that are brought up without explanation in the original book. But at the same time there's a lot of more detailed scientific parts that can feel a bit dry as I don't think I've read hard sci-fi before. But obviously it still kept me interested enough to keep reading.
 
Dune: Messiah by Frank Herbert - I believe this was the last book I read before that? I really enjoyed what I've read of the Dune series. I unfortunately fell off from it after starting Children of Dune (the one right after this) but this one I enjoy quite a bit. I really, really like the twist that this adds to the plot of the original Dune. I'm hesitant to discuss any of it for the sake anyone who may be considering reading the books and doesn't want to be spoiled, but I will just say that I honestly hope this is adapted as part three of the movie series because I think it's really important to the intent/themes of the books.
 
The only other book that I believe I could've read third was Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon, but I believe I read Messiah after it? I legitimately cannot remember, it's been months. Kinda fell off of reading for a bit there. Either way this is a really important and interesting book that I read a part of for a philosophy class in college, and is takes a good look at racism and colonialism from a philosophical and psychological perspective.
 
Up next
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Was browsing the library after grabbing Death's End and picked this up on a whim since the description seemed interesting. Check back with me in a month and I'll let you know if I actually read it or not lol.