BUST OR LICK - SEASON 77 DRAFT EDITION

[gorlab 4,321]

Salutations VHLiens,

 

Welcome to the league's most anticipated VHL.com written article of the season, with the 8th-annual Bust or Lick draft review. You know the rules, there aren't any. I decide if the players are going to be good or not, based on logic and reasoning I don't have to back up or even divulge. Basically it's VHL Award voting if it were just one person and it was a draft review instead of awards.

 

Let's get it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BUST OR LICK - S77 VHL ENTRY DRAFT

 

 

 

1.  Paul Atreides - @Mr_Hatter - I haven't even looked at picks 2/3/4 yet but this strikes me as the obvious #1 choice of the draft class. BoL has never had anything but licks at the 1st overall position, and that.......... IS FINALLY OVER. I got love for Hatter and he had an exceptional first-gen career. To not be long-winded, here's why it's a bust. The actual good MOS core is now gone with the mastermind of it all, Big Vic, stepping down. Hatter had a great rookie career, but it was on the backs of actual VHL legends like the philly bros and a certain iconic member who hatter also robbed of trophies. MOS under someone besides Victor is nowhere near the same tier of aura that Raymond Bernard was a part of. Hatter looks to build his first skater and should also sophomore slump in terms of career quality, just because that is very possible of happening on a team I think is not looking to revive the S70 glory days anytime soon. BUST.  *shocked gasps* 

 

2.  Reylynn Reinhart - @Ricer13 - Davos slides in with a lotto pick here and Gustav manages to probably fumble the bag with a BUST. I still haven't looked at who's pick 3/4 but here's the problem with this pick.... Ricer13 is well-liked and his name hold weight in the VHL community, but he's a fucking VHLM legend. His time and energy is dedicated to whatever goes on in the VHLM. There's no problem with this, and VHLM legendary members like him are necessary and do great work, but it doesn't translate to VHL success. I had to look up his last player (Kris Rice) and saw a decent PPG but cobwebs in the trophy cabinet. 1 of 2 things happens here, his VHL player is average again cuz he's committing his focus on his VHLM duties, or he gets a VHL GM job and fucks your team over that way. Bag = fumbled but it could be worse depending on who's left in the 1st round. Edit: It's far worse now that I saw pick 3.

 

3.  Duncan Idaho - @OrbitingDeath - Oof. This pick ruined BoL S77 for me, personally. Legendary VHL member who really isn't even visibly active on VHL yet still cranks out dominant HoFer after HoFer. This pick does dilute some of what I wrote about MOS in pick 1, as Green brings a monstrous aura to any team and has winning pedigree. However, I'll stick with my claim and hedge my bet on MOS without Victor being meh and predict this plays out as a Condor Adrienne situation with Green statpadding individual awards but no major team success. You obviously can't give this pick anything other than LICK status though. So the full-BUST-draft dream ends here.

 

4.  Zeedayno Chara - @Jubis - Yes! One of my original BUSTs has come full-circle to re-appear in the BoL rankings! I guess it makes sense since this is the 8th edition, but it didn't dawn on me until this pick. Jubis is a member with kind of a mixed reputation amongst the VHL, but for my money he's pretty good shit. I assume this is his second go at a career, and he comes with a big d-man build. There's something about esso's aura that gives me hope for NYA, but I've been saying that for like 8-10 seasons now, and it's gone absolutely nowhere. Definitely has the ability to crank out a HoF-tier player, but how can I give Jubis anything but a BUST? He never got a chance to throw player1's career back in my face, so I'll give him another chance with Zeedayno here. 

 

5. Brendan Telker - @Telkster - Very solid pickup here from rookie GM hylands, and I have some good history with Telkster as he was a part of Moscow's glory years as a very solid role player and iirc might have been the man to wear the C after Jaguar. Telkster is much like green IMO, a pretty grey-man type VHL member who doesn't cause much drama on the league stage so is kind of underrated but is committed to their team/player. I think hylands is capable of steering Malmo to success, so this is an interesting pick for me. I hope Telkster's second career is more all-star-tier calibre instead of role player, but I have to be convinced. BUST.

 

6.  Asher Reinhart - @rjfryman - Massive oof here for picks 2, 4, and 5. fryman coming for his second career after a dominant showing with career 1. Can't go with anything but a LICK here even though he's going to a cursed franchise. Peace with possibly his first good 1st round pick of his tenure might have a player to build a team around here. Haven't spoken too much to fryman lately, so only thing that could go wrong here is him getting disillusioned with VHL and leaving. Look for Reinhart to leave TOR and win cups in late career. 

 

7.  Rolf Fizzlebeef Jr - @TacticalHammer - Could be a decent depth pick here. I remember Roll Fizzlebeef, so I guess this is the same member? Don't know too much about them and it's Calgary.... BUST.

 

8.  Jan Hlozek - @Bojovnik - Hedge committed to his franchise model of unearthing the next great first gens. His sim-team philosophy clashes with mine, and that's okay! He's taken his vision and had success, albeit pretty spread out success, and his S77 first pick does not surprise me. It's a player/member I have never heard of before typing out this article. Good luck to you, young VHLer, may you be the next Mr_Hatter or rjfryman. I wouldn't bet on it though, and I love to gamble. BUST.

 

9.  Aurelien Moreau - @Frank - Great sneaky pick from Jubo here. Frank is a legendary VHL member and has been back in-forum-force lately. He's got the aura and he's been cranking out sigs like a madman so you know he's got the PT capabilities stacked up. Activity is definitely a question, but to try and envision a reality where Frank stays active on VHL is worth it enough for me to throw my dawg a certified LICK status. IMO is worth a top-4 pick in this draft so getting him at 9 is a nice little play by Jubo. Playername is questionable because didn't DaTrifecta have a player named Moreau recently too?

 

10.  That Dude - @Cornholio - Feel like I know this guy but don't know them. Possible SBAer? IDK why but he has the stink of beav on him so maybe his last player was on VAN? Either way, it's London, the player name is cringe, and I can't think of a single reason to support this being a lick so we'll go with the inevitable BUST.

 

11.  Druss Deathwalker - @animal74 - Familiar username but I'm drawing a blank. Could be a good role player for hylands, but this draft class is devolving quickly. Don't know too much about the member, and player name is kinda cool but kinda cringe. Lick detector is basically giving no response anymore. BUST.

 

12.  Gustislav Nasherov - @Vat - Hopefully Jubo knows something I don't because I literally know nothing about this pick/player which isn't a good sign for BoL determination. BUST but good luck to them.

 

13.  Miles Johnson - @Midnite - Pretty solid pick considering the last 3-5 picks but it's Davos and I can't quite piece who the member is together. Possibly an SBAer? Apologies if we have a relationship but I remember very little about sim league affairs. BUST but good luck to ya.

 

14.  Joe Madison - @Brewins15 - Another player/member I have no clue about. Like the last several picks, could be a rare first-gen HoFer but I sincerely doubt it. Probability is low. Good luck to him. BUST. 

 

15.  Hadrian - @bluesfan55 - This could actually be a snipe of a pick by muff. Pretty sure this member has been around sim leagues for awhile, could be an affiliate leaguer, I don't particularly know, or care, but I recognize his username. Obviously not giving a lick out at this point. This draft class looking garbo to me. BUST. 

 

16.  Barron Kruulenstien - @LefLop -  BUST... Just,  BUST. 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining me for another edition of Bust or Lick. Not a particularly strong draft class by any means, but we still unearthed a couple LICKS so nothing wrong with that. This may actually be the lowest number of licks ever given out in a draft class, which is a little unfortunate, but historic never-the-less.

 

See ya for S78 where we will decide the fates of the next generation of VHL stars! 

 

 

[ 3 LICKS  /// 13 BUSTS ]

Edited March 13, 2021 by gorlab

[.sniffuM 1,741]

warsaw's first ever bust :pepehands:

[Ricer13 2,623]

7 minutes ago, gorlab said:

Ricer13 is well-liked and his name hold weight in the VHL community, but he's a fucking VHLM legend.

ilu

[Sixersfan594 247]

After being dead wrong about me last season u do this again? smhmh @gorlab

[Zetterberg 862]

Dope another S76 lick or bust, weird you didn’t do S77 though

[gorlab 4,321]

Just now, Zetterberg said:

Dope another S76 lick or bust, weird you didn’t do S77 though

 

 

:dead: 

[OrbitingDeath 2,948]

Love you too @gorlab

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

@gorlabCan't even do the 3rd round? Maybe you're the bust.

[Bojovnik 487]

You're a bust

[animal74 1,624]

Maybe I should write a VSN history article on your BoL predictions?

[bluesfan55 103]

5 hours ago, .sniffuM said:

warsaw's first ever bust :pepehands:

i'll prove him wrong bby

[BOOM 8,453]

My favourite article of VHL draft /off-season. 

[Jubis 1,282]

@gorlab

This time im ready 

[McWolf 3,112]

that's an enioyable bust-to-lick ratio

[bigAL 2,176]

I love that you can’t even be bothered to click on their username and do like 3 or 4 clicks of research on anyone who is legendary and/or degen hours. That would’ve answered so many of your questions or blanks but it’s also not the BoL style. Solid methodology, solid ratio, solid draft recap. 

[DMaximus 1,045]

6 hours ago, gorlab said:

BoL has never had anything but licks at the 1st overall position, and that.......... IS FINALLY OVER

Quote

Pistil Stamen - @DMaximus - S75 has made history. This is the first edition of Bust or Lick where the 1st overall pick is receiving a BUST status.

 

Can't even be remembered as the first 1st overall bust.  :dead:

[Mr_Hatter 1,603]

FINALLY

[Sixersfan594 247]

10 hours ago, Sonnet said:

 

who are you?

woah woah woah wtf.

 

 

who are you?

[TacticalHammer 95]

6 hours ago, McWolf said:

that's an enioyable bust-to-lick ratio

This comment makes me uncomfortable. 

[McWolf 3,112]

1 hour ago, TacticalHammer said:

This comment makes me uncomfortable. 

don't you like it when @gorlab gives you a bust every 3 or 4 licks?

[gorlab 4,321]

7 hours ago, DMaximus said:

 

Can't even be remembered as the first 1st overall bust.  :dead:

 

 

 Damn, this goes to show how much actual effort/research I put into this thing.  Sorry DMax, I didn't mean to disrespect your legacy.

[STZ 5,301]

This is the off-season content we look for every year.

 

RIP all the busts.

[Cornholio 182]

Saddens me that @gorlab no longer remembers me :’( 

 

#NeverForgotYou

[omgitshim 899]

On 3/13/2021 at 4:39 AM, bigAL said:

I love that you can’t even be bothered to click on their username and do like 3 or 4 clicks of research on anyone who is legendary and/or degen hours. That would’ve answered so many of your questions or blanks but it’s also not the BoL style. Solid methodology, solid ratio, solid draft recap. 

 

Research would ruin the mystique.

[v.2 1,275]

We need these back