diamond_ace

Wasn't around to watch the guy, but there's no denying he was a legend of the game, and a huge part of Montreal's past successes. Lung cancer from a history of smoking, it seems. 

Wasn't around to watch the guy, but there's no denying he was a legend of the game, and a huge part of Montreal's past successes. Lung cancer from a history of smoking, it seems. 

I was in a group called SET (Study of Exceptional Talent) based out of Johns Hopkins that was largely considered a middle school/high school precursor to Mensa at the time. Obviously did not put in nearly the effort to maintain that sort of thing as I got older and so I'm pretty sure I was never officially a Mensa member (I did get a lot of their mailings at the time) but pretty close. Tbh now it seems somewhat trivial even though at the time it seemed like such a huge thing

Why you heff to be mad

Player Information
Username: Snussu
Player Name: Dens Oden
Recruited From: Returning
Age: 18
Position: LW
Height: 80 in.
Weight: 250 lbs.
Birthplace: Sweden

Player Page
@VHLM GM

I am not a GM.

fair
 
but did it really take until this for people to have issue with rory as gm
 
when you have a guy whose entire personality is some combination of "troll everyone always" and "disagree with every action done by anyone with even the slightest bit of power, just for the sake of doing so" and hasn't the slightest capability of seriousness... is this a gm?

fair
 
but did it really take until this for people to have issue with rory as gm
 
when you have a guy whose entire personality is some combination of "troll everyone always" and "disagree with every action done by anyone with even the slightest bit of power, just for the sake of doing so" and hasn't the slightest capability of seriousness... is this a gm?

Don't know what he "tried to do" but this from the very beginning

It’ll be on the French website “OnlyPain” actually. Which has an inordinate amount of BDSM fetishists on it for some reason…

at what point did we decide cup ends with e

It's been a while since I really opened up about my life. Sure, I've shared big events in my life, joys and happy things, but there is always darkness in our lives. I've touched on it here and there, but it's been...
 
*looks at post*
 
Wow, almost one whole year.
 
Well I just finished wrapping up bath time for my son. As I wiped him down with soap and rinsed him off, and suffered slightly through the annoyed screams of my two week old, I reflected on the moment. I began to think about what the future will look like for him. What the world will be like that he is going to grow up in. It's an exciting and equally frightening thought process. What will he become? Who will he be? 
 
As I thought through these future events, reminding myself to enjoy the here and now while I have it, I began to think about my own parents. What was it like when they gave me my first bath or when I came home for the first time? These thoughts, inevitably bring up mixed emotions. There is a sense of joy and peace that comes with it, but the deeper and longer lasting sense of dread and sorrow. I think back to how my mother must have looked at me then and I wonder, "how could she have raised me the way she did." When I look at my son, I could never imagine doing what she did.
 
I grew up being raised by my mother. In Pennsylvania, especially in the 90's, mother's almost always got full custody in divorce cases. This meant that even though I lived only 1 mile from my Dad, I only got to see him every Wednesday night and every other weekend. The rest of the time I was stuck at my mother's house, in a meth lab. It was a dangerous scenario to be raised in. There wasn't comfort, love, concern, or even a general sense of care. It was dreadful, dangerous, disgusting, and devastating. While remembering these things brings the emotions of dread and sorrow, I can now look at them and find some joy and peace. It was in spite how I was raised that I value kindness and generosity with people even more. It's in spite of how I was raised that I look to God for hope and peace. It's in spite of how I was raised that I look forward to being a father for the rest of my life, knowing exactly what NOT to do when raising my son.
 
The reflection that comes from all of this is really quite simple... your current situation, condition, or even your upbringing do not have to define who you are, what you do, or who you become. By every rational line of thinking I should be an addict myself, or in prison, or dead. Instead, I have an amazing wife, the gift of a son, a job that I love, and a faith in God that carries me through every situation. Don't let your past define who you are now or who you are going to be. There is hope, there is redemption, and there are many, many chances to do better.

I apply for this, I think I did pretty fine with Malmo, why not give this another chance?

@Ledge going to save you the time looking



https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/3023

T before S 

You misspelled a name on your own list.

(No, this is not a signup)

January is a time of reflection in my house. We don't worry about new years day and new years resolutions because with a small child and family trying to make time December isn't a great time to do anything of meaning other than keep our head above water. Not saying its bad or anything just that we cannot really seem to think too far ahead then when it comes to new years and resolutions if we have one its usually half formulated and we would fail it in a short amount of time because we don't have any real substance to our resolution. So I try and use the month of January to think of a couple things that I want to try and work on for the new years. Some people may want to do more in the league, which as someone who at least believes he has done a decent amount for the league can with all honesty say that when I was excited about doing things for the league it was a joy. If you have that passion do what you want. For me as I get older and my son gets older I don't know what my relationship with the league will be. Maybe it will come back in waves. Maybe I will be welfare, and keep up slightly. Honestly with the Meta the way it is I could easily do 5 for welare and then do a couple small tasks and just wash my hands of the big points task every week. sure I would lose out on some tpe but if people with half my tpe can do better than my player maybe im the crazy one for working so hard.
 
Either way right now I am thinking of ways that I want to shape the next year. I'll be honest and say my first priorty has nothing to do with the league. It has to do with my own health. I have been working on my mental health lately with therapy and doing things that I want to do but its not always easy. The thing I will be working on the most at least for this first part of the year will be what I eat. I am lucky enough to have decent genetics and still be relatively young. (early 30's) That I can turn it around. I am healthy in my weight and I'm not the worst but I could be better and start to work with my own body and provide good example for my son. I will be working on getting things in order to be eating healthier in all ways starting the around Jan 10th, with a hard goal of consistenly eating better by Febuary. Giving myself time and grace to allow myself to do this right and set myself and my family up for success.
 
Things to think about: 
1. Picture your best life and what you would love to see yourself do more and be like
2. What is one thing you can change to make your best life more of a reality.
3. Figure out what is stopping you from making that one thing be more of a reality.
4. Start to remove any blockages.
5. Give yourself grace when you mess up.
6. repeat until you are living your best life.
 
For what ever your goals are whether they are league related or personal do your best to move toward your goals and not against them.

Hello, VHL...
 
With the conclusion of the regular season upon us, I think now is the right time to talk about the conclusion of something different. That being...
 
...that this will be my last season as Davos' GM.
 
I was (controversially) originally brought on in January of 2020, meaning that at the end of the playoffs, I will have served the league (somewhat) faithfully for just about exactly 2 years. This will also be my first time not being a GM of some sort since April of 2019, when I became the first GM of the Mississauga Hounds. I know that this will come as a surprise to some of you, but I have given this a great deal of thought on my own time and think it's the best decision to make for myself and for the league. Bear with me, because I'm going to try to address whatever I can about it in this post.
 
FAQ:
 
Why?
This is an interesting question, and it has a few answers.
Davos will be hit hard with retirement, and I don't have the heart to deal with it. We've had some not-fun times with me here, including S70-71 when we set the record for most consecutive seasons in last place (which wasn't really my fault) and S74-79 (I think?) when we underperformed and rebuilt (which kinda was my fault). While we're a playoff team now, I don't have the same enthusiasm for turning things around that I did then. It might be possible to make it work, but I've asked myself whether I see myself working to do that and I really don't. Hopefully we get someone who will! I haven't lived up to the hype. This by itself isn't a reason to step down--the reason is mostly represented in the first point--but I was meant to be the savior of the franchise and things didn't work out that way. I will always think it's more important that everyone had fun, but with one failed attempt to compete gone and another probably gone unless some playoff magic comes out of nowhere, I also think it's unfair to the league that a consistently underperforming team has the same GM for eternity. The league and I are moving in different philosophical directions. This actually isn't about the VHLE. Everyone's also aware of the whole meta thing, and it's more about that. I'm not here to criticize anyone for going along with it, but it's another "do I see myself doing this" situation where the answer is no. I am NOT saying that I want any replacement to try to make Davos a meta team--in fact, I very much do not want that--but I find the idea of running a team less fun when "this is what I want to do" is very different from "this is what I should be doing if I want to win a championship". Like the second point, this is a very minor issue for me in relation to the first, so please don't make me "that guy who left over the meta" or anything. Just something I find worth mentioning. I don't like that I'm saying any of the above, but I've had this on my mind for weeks and I think it's the most fair explanation of my thoughts.
 
Are you going inactive?
No. In fact, I hope I stay as active as always in the future.
 
Do you want to GM again?
I hope I do at some point, and at that point I hope I'm hired! Right now, I just need a break.
 
Are you leaving the BoG?
No, you can't get rid of me that easily. I like arguing too much.
 
 
A few (alright, quite a few) shoutouts to people who have made my time as GM fun:
 
@Berocka: I cannot possibly make a list without putting you on top. I don't like to speak in absolutes, but you are my best friend in this league. Thank you for putting up with all of my bullshit, and thank you for always being there to talk. It's been great working with you almost from Day 1 and I hope we'll do some other cool stuff in the future.
 
@Ahma: It's no secret that you LOVE Davos, and I'm amazed by your ability to stand by this team through thick and thin. Thank you for your loyalty, and also for reminding me to care when I start to lose it.
 
@WranglersSuck, @Banackock, @Darth Kaprizov, @Tyler, @KC15, and @JardyB10: to the rest of the active members of the current roster, hi! I know this comes on short notice, but thank you so much for getting Davos where it is today and making it a wonderful place to be. Best of luck!
 
@Brrbisbrr, @McWolf , @Laine, @FrostBeard, @Grape, @Snussu, @samx, and probably a whole lot of others I'm missing: you were the people who made the past 12 (yes, 12!) seasons fun as players. I hope you're doing well, whatever you're up to.
 
@Doomsday, @Renomitsu, @Esso2264 , @DoktorFunk, @diamond_ace , and especially @GlowyGoat (if you ever see this): you never played for me, but you still showed up to our server because you wanted to. I appreciate this endlessly and consider you my friends.
 
To the @VHL GM crew: some of you have given me advice, some of you have given me some respectful negotiations, some of you I've never really interacted with on a GM level. But none of you have ever made me feel unwelcome, even when I wasn't making the smartest moves, and I think that's great.
 
@Commissioner: I haven't talked to you about this, so I'd like to apologize again for the zero-notice thing. But here's the announcement. Thanks for keeping things running for all of us! If you'd like to talk to me about the next GM, feel free to do so; if you'd rather make the decision on your own, I respect that as well.
 
To anyone else I missed, and to many others I'd like to tag here but won't because the reasons don't really connect to my time as a GM: thank you for being you.
 
 
This isn't an easy post to make, but I've been hesitating to make it for a while now and it's time to push the button.
 
But before I do...
 
DAVID

Dear VHL Community,
 
Mental health is a very hard topic for many to speak on, but also a very necessary topic to cover and speak on too. I know that many people on this earth experience some form of mental struggle; from basic anxiety and nervousness, to bipolar and manic depressions–mental health is mental health. There’s no denying it that some people are looked down upon due to their struggles everywhere. But that is never, ever, ever ok, no matter what kind of struggle you face. I haven’t had the strength to tell many people but my closest family and friends, plus my significant other. But now I will tell you all. I am going to be tested for Bi-Polar depression. A very severe and chronic mental health condition. But I’m not going to look at it as a weakness, it’s a strength. It’s my superpower; I’m a superhero. 
 
I despise it when people will call a mental health condition a “weakness, burden, or a stigma.” I hate that. My mental health struggles do not make me weaker than others, they make me stronger. Stigma; a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. I wouldn’t consider something like anxiety or chronic paranoia a mark of disgrace. I don’t ever look down on myself for those types of things, I am never disgraceful for those types of things. I say I am strong, I am resilient, I am brave. I could’ve ended it all; made more lives other than mine worse, just to make mine better. That’s called being selfish. I decided to embrace my conditions and make the most out of life. That's what I call making a weakness, a “stigma” into a strength; a superpower. I love myself, and you should love yourself back.
 
Mental health in all isn’t a joke. Many people end their own lives every year just because of a condition that they couldn’t bear to live with anymore. Mainly because of people looking down on them for something out of their control. If people could fix an imperfection in their brain’s functions like a computer, then many people would easily be cured from mental health problems. But that’s never the case. They take mood suppressing or elevating drugs to provide a temporary cure. It’s never permanent, and can lead to addiction down the line as the drug becomes more hardcore. So the best thing we, as a community, can do is support each other and love each other. Positive environments prevent mental health issues. It’s a fact.
 
So, with that said, I want people to love each other, no matter what kind of condition or situation they are living through. Take it from me, I’ve been looked down by people for having unipolar depression and slight mania. But I never hated others for their conditions, I loved and supported them for it. I support my love, my family, my friends, and you all through anything and everything. I just wanted to share my experience with mental health struggles, so that you guys got to know me better. I’m not asking for attention with this article, these are just some of my thoughts and opinions. I believe that the VHL should be, and continue to be a safe space for all peoples and backgrounds. I believe that we are doing a great job in maintaining a safe space for all walks of life. Keep up the good work. I appreciate each and everyone of y’all. Bobo is back.
 
- Bobo. 

So it’s New Years Eve, and Ontario is in a bit of a covid hotspot right now, so I’m sitting at home with my family, and after playing some board games, everyone’s starting to just sit around and watch TV. So I figured since school is starting next week and it’s likely I won’t have anything to claim for it I’d crank out a media spot to give myself some extra padding if I don’t have any spare time. So here goes.
 
I was thinking about writing a media spot for a long time. I haven’t in a while, for a few contributing factors. For one, I’ve discovered graphic making, which I’ve begun to really enjoy and start to get barely below average at. It also takes significantly less time than media spots, at least in my experiences, which caters to my busy af schedule. 
 
I’ve also been a tad less active than I’ve been in the past for sure, largely on the forums but also on the discord. While, at least in my opinion, I’ve maintained activity for a functioning GM, I haven’t been interacting with other members as much as I would have been in my days of playing in the VHLM. Which I’d like to add has no connection to loss of interest, I still have a fire inside me for this league that brings me back every day, I don’t doubt that. I think over the Christmas holiday break over the past few weeks I’ve been more active than I was during the school year, which of course makes sense. It also helps that hockey has more or less shut down, at least for now. I’ve had more free time, and I’ve tried to spend more of it being with y’all.
 
I am kind of worried for the next month or so though. As aforementioned, school is starting up next week, and that means homework, which sucks away a lot of my VHL time. And it’s looking like, unless everything is further shut down for covid, I have 4 hockey games in the next 8 or so days, which is crazy insane, because in November I had one game a week. So basically what I’m saying is that shit is about to hit the fan big time, and if my activity takes a dip again there’s a valid reason and I’m definitely not losing interest.
 
I did have a purpose for this media spot, and I’ve been debating writing this for the last 36 hours with myself furiously. But I figured it would weigh on me heavily for the next month of not having time to do it, so here I am.
 
I want to start off by saying how although some of my comments in the next few paragraphs are pretty directed at certain people, I’m not going to mention their names to attempt to keep at least a thin level of confidentiality. 

 
I want to talk about some shit that was said about me in a podcast that was recorded not too long ago. I want to start off by saying how making a podcast that is based around rating certain members doesn’t strike me as just a harmless way to earn TPE. Like, you could have consciously chosen not to shit on certain people, but you did anyway. Which kind of pisses me off to begin with, before I had even started the podcast. I started listening to it and was already pretty disgusted when the first member was openly dissed, but I had to listen on, because I know I’m being talked about, right? I already have a bad feeling because I know my management style is fairly uncommon among VHLM GMs (more on that later). But honestly I have to believe I have no real enemies in the VHL, so I was a little surprised when I heard my name being dragged through the mud. And I wouldn’t usually get so pissy about someone calling me bad at something, that happens all the fucking time. But I’m a pretty proud person, and I won’t hesitate to defend myself.
 
Foremost, there were comments made about my activity recently. I believe I addressed those at the start of the article so we can skip this part, which is unimportant in the grand scheme of things here.
 
Then we got to grading the trade talks, where I got a ‘lower than C’ letter grade, which, of course, I’m not thrilled about, but that alone isn’t nearly enough to warrant a whole defensive article. So we get into the details, and at this point I’m on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear why I suck at GMing. Apparently my trade offers are ‘not the greatest’, and went on to say how our trade that would have gone through at the end of the season wouldn’t have been good for me. For the record, here is the trade:
 
Unnamed team receives:
 
Jeremy D (capped center)

Miami receives:
 
Randy (waiver player)
6th round pick
 
So by this point I’m pure fucking fuming. I just got publicly flamed, and like I said, I’m a relatively proud person. So here goes, my defensive statement.
 
Let’s start off with the trade that I put above. I would totally agree that the unnamed team absolutely blew me out of the water with this trade, and honestly I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been revoked by the commishes for being so lopsided. Here is my explanation. Throughout trade deadline week, I had been reaching out to a bunch of different teams, including the unnamed team above, about Jeremy and another forward. I had talked with Jeremy a few days prior and he was open and willing to be traded, so I began searching for a trade partner more intently. After a series of what I’m going to refer to as ‘unlucky’ misses (refusing a capped player for a 3rd and 4th?!??! One went for a goddamn first round pick earlier in the season!), I was running out of time and potential suitors. So I settled on convincing the final team, the unnamed team, about an hour before the deadline, to take him on. They had expressed interest in the past so I figured I’d float a deal that was in their favour just to fulfill my promise to Jeremy and be done with this madness. So I offered Jeremy in exchange for a 3rd round pick. Which I still think is absolutely silly, but I’m not a GM that will put anything on the line in order to win at this level, so I reluctantly proposed it. To my utter dismay and disappointment, that trade was rejected. At this point I’m desperate and a little bit angry. And they say that they’d go for Randy and a 6th rounder. Which is completely ridiculous. But instead of lashing out and calling this bullshit off, I bit my lip and accepted it. I now realize I shouldn’t have done either of those options, because it’s likely that both would have ended up in chaos. Luckily, the trade was submitted after the official trade deadline, so it didn’t go through. But it didn’t change the fact that I was feeling embarrassed and pissed off. If I wasn’t so passionate about the VHL, this is exactly the type of shit that would lead me to quit. And of course they top if off by going on this stupid fucking podcast and calling me out about it. I know there will be people commenting on how I’m overreacting, but this really irritated me, to the point of actually writing up a super long article defending myself. And for the record, I think my trade offers were pretty good. And I’m not going to fall for this bullshit ever again.
 
Now that that’s done, I’d like to address another trade of similar fashion recently executed in the VHLM. I’m sure you know which trade I’m talking about. Philly received a first round pick in exchange for a second rounder and a seventh rounder from Halifax. Which of course is totally bonkers. How it didn’t get vetoed by the commishes for its sheer one sidedness, I have no idea. But I think it for sure relates back to the Jeremy D trade that almost went through. And it leads me perfectly to my next point.

 
The VHLM is broken!!!!!!
 
The developmental league title it has plastered on it is crap. It is, as ever clearly shown by the two trades I have listed above, by no means a league focused on developing new members and ushering recreates into new careers. It is a league focused on winning at all costs, which apparently include robbing and striking down opposing teams. While I don’t by any means want a league where everyone is super nice and everyone wins every season, it’s a brutal bloodbath where it is technically supposed to be the near exact opposite. And I know this point has been repeated and stressed so many times, nevertheless I believe I can shred some light on what is actually happening on the management side of the argument. 
 
I mentioned earlier how my style of management is kind of unpopular among my fellow M GMs, but if I’m being honest, it’s a lot more unpopular than I thought, no doubt about it. As a GM in the lowest-tier, most developmentally-focused league in the VHL, my number 1 goal is to present new players with the tools they need to become a successful VHL member and player, and guide them along their way. My number 2 goal is to make my squad an enticing opportunity for recreating players to come and spend their short time in the juniors, where they can help out with goal number 1 and goal number 3. Goal number 3 is to field a playoff-competitive team every season, to give new players a sense of winning, to lure recreates, and to boost locker room morale. That usually means never going ‘all-in’ on one particular season where we have a good shot at winning it all. My 4th goal, my final and least important goal, is to win championships. While I do attest to the fact that winning cups is a huge morale boost, and everyone wants to win, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice any of the first 3 goals to achieve it. That is my pledge as general manager of the Miami Marauders. And I GUARANTEE you, the reader, that the majority of the general managers in the VHLM do not share my priorities. I believe the league would work much better if more teams adopted my priorities, but alas, I don’t have a ton of respect in the league yet and, laughing my fucking ass off, my skill and experience as a GM was just dragged through the dirt by one of my supposed colleagues.
 
If this is the culture we’ve built, the system that we’ve embraced in order to succeed at the demise of others at all costs, we have to recognize that some of the things that are being practiced here could have negative impacts on the members that this league is designed to be helping. I know that I might be overreacting and this is all just me ranting about nothing and I’ll regret it all tomorrow morning, but some version of this needed to be put out there. If there’s something happening in internet simulation hockey that is making me this worked up, something is probably off. My proposed solution to all this is very straightforward. All GMs of the VHLM, I’m talking to y’all. Can we just not fleece each other? Is it that hard to ask? We may not all be best friends, but can we have some empathy for the other guy? The most you will ever get out of this is one hell of a lot less than what someone else can negatively take out of this. There are a lot of possible parts of this article that could get a lot of heat, and I desperately hope this isn’t one of them. 
 

 
I’d like to end things off by saying that I don’t want to start a war. I’m posting this knowing how little attention it’s going to get compared to what I’m imagining, but I’m still going to put this here. You started it. You very publicly shamed and dissed me. I don’t appreciate that. You know who you are. Please refrain from doing so again.


 
2095 words
Claiming for 4 weeks
Happy New Year everyone

Please don't. We had to do something but I'm backing AJ to be back in a role by like 2 seasons from now. I was hoping everyone but rory would at least understand that it's more a delay than an outright block, so to speak.

Please don't. We had to do something but I'm backing AJ to be back in a role by like 2 seasons from now. I was hoping everyone but rory would at least understand that it's more a delay than an outright block, so to speak.

Please don't. We had to do something but I'm backing AJ to be back in a role by like 2 seasons from now. I was hoping everyone but rory would at least understand that it's more a delay than an outright block, so to speak.

As you are all aware, @ajwllmsn was caught updating for other members, and for the league side of things, he has received his punishment already. What remained to be seen was how this would be handled from the perspective of the VHLM, as he was the GM of the Las Vegas Aces. He had been suspended from the role until the final ruling was in place. @McWolf  and I were largely torn on this - on one hand, this was absolutely a large enough infraction to be considered fire worthy, but outside of this particular incident, AJ was a bright spot among the new members of the league. Basically he did many things right, but one thing very wrong, and so it fell to us to implement a punishment befitting the crime. 
 
After talking with all the directly affected parties per our final decision: AJ is fired from the role of GM of Vegas. However, he is certainly among the pool of applicants for future openings, and should he learn from this, it'll likely just be a bump in the road for him in the long term. We've seen firsthand how little a punishment can affect a good member in the long run *cough @Beketov cough* and so we suspect this will not hinder him going forward. In fact, he's landed somewhat on his feet already...
 
As it's close to playoffs, which is always an awkward time for a new GM to start in a role, and the current AGM of Vegas is a veteran member who is familiar with Vegas' setup at the moment and the inner workings of the VHLM: @MubbleFubbles will be taking over the role. (Don't worry those of you who might be looking for a job with apps, there will be one coming up soon, unrelated to this post). This leaves the AGM position open, which will go to AJ. Reminder that AGM is not a job, does not inherently come with job pay, and is in no way a guarantee to future promotions or the like, but this does put AJ among promising candidates heading forward. Obviously when a whole body of work is taken into account for future hires, this incident will be a negative for him and he's not likely to be the absolute first candidate on the page for the immediate next job, but he is definitely still on the list. Who knows, it may even be a future iteration of Vegas in particular, given the M's historical turnover rate.



*No, we do not expect everyone will be pleased with this ruling, but there was a wide range of opinions and that would be impossible. Instead we focused primarily on what McWolf and I in particular thought, obviously with some input from blues/mods/etc as pertained to the larger league ruling, and we were both somewhat in the middle. This seemed fair - he loses the job, a player of his earn rate loses the immediate job TPE going forward and will have to do a little more each week until earning his way back into a spot, but he's not blackballed or anything of that nature. If he's learned, it's ultimately not much in the long run, but it's hefty enough in the short run.

As you are all aware, @ajwllmsn was caught updating for other members, and for the league side of things, he has received his punishment already. What remained to be seen was how this would be handled from the perspective of the VHLM, as he was the GM of the Las Vegas Aces. He had been suspended from the role until the final ruling was in place. @McWolf  and I were largely torn on this - on one hand, this was absolutely a large enough infraction to be considered fire worthy, but outside of this particular incident, AJ was a bright spot among the new members of the league. Basically he did many things right, but one thing very wrong, and so it fell to us to implement a punishment befitting the crime. 
 
After talking with all the directly affected parties per our final decision: AJ is fired from the role of GM of Vegas. However, he is certainly among the pool of applicants for future openings, and should he learn from this, it'll likely just be a bump in the road for him in the long term. We've seen firsthand how little a punishment can affect a good member in the long run *cough @Beketov cough* and so we suspect this will not hinder him going forward. In fact, he's landed somewhat on his feet already...
 
As it's close to playoffs, which is always an awkward time for a new GM to start in a role, and the current AGM of Vegas is a veteran member who is familiar with Vegas' setup at the moment and the inner workings of the VHLM: @MubbleFubbles will be taking over the role. (Don't worry those of you who might be looking for a job with apps, there will be one coming up soon, unrelated to this post). This leaves the AGM position open, which will go to AJ. Reminder that AGM is not a job, does not inherently come with job pay, and is in no way a guarantee to future promotions or the like, but this does put AJ among promising candidates heading forward. Obviously when a whole body of work is taken into account for future hires, this incident will be a negative for him and he's not likely to be the absolute first candidate on the page for the immediate next job, but he is definitely still on the list. Who knows, it may even be a future iteration of Vegas in particular, given the M's historical turnover rate.



*No, we do not expect everyone will be pleased with this ruling, but there was a wide range of opinions and that would be impossible. Instead we focused primarily on what McWolf and I in particular thought, obviously with some input from blues/mods/etc as pertained to the larger league ruling, and we were both somewhat in the middle. This seemed fair - he loses the job, a player of his earn rate loses the immediate job TPE going forward and will have to do a little more each week until earning his way back into a spot, but he's not blackballed or anything of that nature. If he's learned, it's ultimately not much in the long run, but it's hefty enough in the short run.

As you are all aware, @ajwllmsn was caught updating for other members, and for the league side of things, he has received his punishment already. What remained to be seen was how this would be handled from the perspective of the VHLM, as he was the GM of the Las Vegas Aces. He had been suspended from the role until the final ruling was in place. @McWolf  and I were largely torn on this - on one hand, this was absolutely a large enough infraction to be considered fire worthy, but outside of this particular incident, AJ was a bright spot among the new members of the league. Basically he did many things right, but one thing very wrong, and so it fell to us to implement a punishment befitting the crime. 
 
After talking with all the directly affected parties per our final decision: AJ is fired from the role of GM of Vegas. However, he is certainly among the pool of applicants for future openings, and should he learn from this, it'll likely just be a bump in the road for him in the long term. We've seen firsthand how little a punishment can affect a good member in the long run *cough @Beketov cough* and so we suspect this will not hinder him going forward. In fact, he's landed somewhat on his feet already...
 
As it's close to playoffs, which is always an awkward time for a new GM to start in a role, and the current AGM of Vegas is a veteran member who is familiar with Vegas' setup at the moment and the inner workings of the VHLM: @MubbleFubbles will be taking over the role. (Don't worry those of you who might be looking for a job with apps, there will be one coming up soon, unrelated to this post). This leaves the AGM position open, which will go to AJ. Reminder that AGM is not a job, does not inherently come with job pay, and is in no way a guarantee to future promotions or the like, but this does put AJ among promising candidates heading forward. Obviously when a whole body of work is taken into account for future hires, this incident will be a negative for him and he's not likely to be the absolute first candidate on the page for the immediate next job, but he is definitely still on the list. Who knows, it may even be a future iteration of Vegas in particular, given the M's historical turnover rate.



*No, we do not expect everyone will be pleased with this ruling, but there was a wide range of opinions and that would be impossible. Instead we focused primarily on what McWolf and I in particular thought, obviously with some input from blues/mods/etc as pertained to the larger league ruling, and we were both somewhat in the middle. This seemed fair - he loses the job, a player of his earn rate loses the immediate job TPE going forward and will have to do a little more each week until earning his way back into a spot, but he's not blackballed or anything of that nature. If he's learned, it's ultimately not much in the long run, but it's hefty enough in the short run.