Moose Droppings (a.k.a. Moose Tracks 7.0.1)

[Eynhallow 412]

Moose Droppings

A.k.a. Moose Tracks 7.0 (Part 1)

 

My first comment in this offering of my series has to do with the off-season and those players who don’t qualify to play in the World Cup.  I think it might be a good idea to have a Series B World Cup for those players who have less than 500 TPE.  They aren’t good enough to be selected by any of the World Cup teams, but many of us would like to be involved rather than outsiders looking in.  This would liven up the off-season for many of us and would provide invaluable experience for those who wish to experience the role of GM or AGM. Another merit to this idea is that it might enhance user retention.  Perhaps something for the Board of Governors to consider.

 

Have you ever looked at the Press Conferences for teams other than your own ?  I have and have found some intriguing questions that call for in-depth answers. I doubt that the person who posed the original question actually considered a better than average response.  Most of these questions either triggered a mini-semi-rant or caused me to wax philosophical (sorta).  I shall start with the teams Isau has played for and move on from there.  The shoutouts that are used are there to recognize the efforts made by people in organizing and running a team.

 

Mexico City Kings

 

Isau DaMoose started off by playing for the Mexico City Kings as a raw beginner and with the help of GM @Hylands managed to get started in, more or less, the right direction.  I reflect on the Kings’ pressers frequently:

 

What is your pregame ritual looking like recently?

 

Pregame rituals have always intrigued me.  I didn’t think I had any until it was pointed out that I always put on my right skate first, but tightened the left before the right.  One of my acquaintances, while waiting to troop on out to the ice, taps his stick on the dressing room floor exactly 93 times.  Shades of Doug Gilmour or what !!  Many players eat their pregame meal at exactly the same time before every game and eat exactly the same thing.

Then there are the guys who, despite the inherent danger of being injured, will use some of the same equipment they used in Junior hockey.  Butch Goring is a case in point, he wore a helmet that his dad had purchased for him.  Check this out, you can literally see his head through the top of the helmet.

 

 

Then, of course, there are the goalie who conduct personal conversations with the goal posts.  But. I can understand that as you have got to be partially crazed to be a goalie anyway.  Who would want to stand in front of a 6 ounce piece of vulcanized rubber going more than 100 mph!!

 

Have you been living up to you pre-season expectations so far?

 

That's a good one.  So, ya, we likely all have expectations upon entering a new season.  I modeled my player after another in the league who experienced a high degree of success and  he stunk.  You could smell him all the way to Helsinki.  My point here is that there are too many variables to try and account for:  linemates, ice time, PP time and just the sim engine itself.  So, I decided to chillax and just build the player with the attributes I would like to see in a real world player.  Maybe not the best in a sim league, but satisfying all the same.

 

The team is at the bar after a great win, you order a round of drinks for everybody, what do you choose ?

 

This is a more intriguing a question as it appears on the surface.  Sure you can step up to the bar and get a few jugs of draft for your teammates because that’s what guys from Northern Ontario do.  It becomes a question of stereotyping. Do we do what we do, in a lot of cases, because that is what is expected of us by societal norms ??  So, back to the bar and to step out of the stereotype I would get a round of Cosmopolitans.  But don’t mistake this pretty pink drink for something for something that fits another stereotype…...it kicks like a mule!!

 

Philadelphia Reapers

 

Isau was fortunate enough to play a full season with @DMaximus and his Philadelphia Reapers, winning a Founder’s Cup during that memorable season.  Isau did not perform particularly well, but he fulfilled his role on that historic team. His name is on the Founder’s Cup along with those of his teammates and they will walk together forever.

 

How has winter been for you ? Has there been any snow? I’m curious.

 

Snow !!   Ya we got snow like a leopard has spots.  Normally we get about 12 feet of snow over the snowfall months.  However, in 2019 we got 14 feet.  I hate the white stuff, but it is a blessing in disguise, at least recently.  Getting the snow off your driveway and walkways provides for a decent outdoor workout.  It’s a hell of a lot better than working out than the treadmill (more commonly known as a trudgemill).  Along with the snow, of course, comes the cold.  Although we experienced a mild winter in 2020 - 21, it is not unusual for us to get a couple of weeks where the temperatures stay around -30C.  

 

The Reapers are looking into enhancing our players with cyborg parts. To become a better hockey player, what part of your body would you ask to be upgraded? Why?

 

I thought about this and went through the litany of hands and wrists to improve my shot, legs and lungs to improve my skating and endurance, But, really, I don’t think a cyborg part could replace what is most needed and that is heart, not the pumping thing in your chest, but rather spirit.  Players with heart are natural leaders and play every game as though it were their last.  How could you go wrong with a team of players like that ?

 

Which do you prefer, pie or cake  and why?  

 

Dumb question, right ?  Wrong !! You can get the best of both worlds.  A few years ago I was introduced to Piecaken.  A piecaken is a cake with a pie inside it.  Talk about indulgent!!  I was invited to a small Piecaken Festival a some time ago.  I made a Black Forest cake with a cherry pie inside.  Another that got raves was a vanilla cake with a chocolate ice cream pie inside.  I think I am just recovering from the diabetic coma that stuff induced (JK).

 

 

If you could pick any city to expand to in the VHL(M), what would it be and why ?  

 

This discussion has been bandied about in several threads recently.  And. predominantly, people suggested large metropolitan areas, which make sense, I guess.  However, I suggested Isau’s hometown of Swords and made a case for it in that Swords is centrally located in Ontario.  It could attract fans from the North, the GTA and as far east as Ottawa.  There is a casino  an hour away and there would be plenty of parking as there are very few other buildings in Swords.  I even went so far as to suggest a name for the expansion team:

 

So far there has been no reaction to this.  I wonder why ??

 

Riga Reign

 

Isau has concluded his rookie season with the Riga Reign.  It wasn’t the greatest season that he could have had, but, on the other hand, chipping in for 54 points isn’t the worst season in the world either.  @hedgehog337 

 

 What would your ideal expansion team be called?

 

Now you might wonder why I include this question when I have just answered one like it in the preceding section.  Well, it occurred to me that this is a theme that ran throughout the various pressers as well as having a thread or two dedicated to this topic in the main forum.  If the Board of Governors does not want expansion, but feels that there are too many players for the jobs available, a possible solution would be to expand the salary cap and expand the number of rostered players on both VHL and VHLM teams.  The advent of the Junior teams was supposed to alleviate this to a certain extent, but to my knowledge, the Junior team concept has not been widely used.

 

What is something not many people know about you?  

 

When Ledge @Ledge_and_Dairy came up with this one, it caused me to pause for a second.  I mean was he asking about Isau or yours truly.  And is there much of a difference as Isau is pretty close to an extension of my real persona?  I was also reluctant to expose anything about me that could breach what little security I have.  Then it occurred to me that people really know a lot about me.  All the places that are mentioned in the Isau saga are real.  The stories involving Nikki Starr are embarrassingly true.  And the tales about Johnny Bigfeets, the self-proclaimed MMA Champ and his fateful ride on the Black Widow are embedded in local folklore ( a small town in Northern Ontario).  Even the graphics I use show part of the real person.

 

 

My response to this was a non-response.  All my secrets come out in what I write and how I respond to others.

 

Calgary Wranglers  @Ricer13

 

What is more important to you — Hits or shots blocked?

 

 

This is one of those chicken or the egg questions.  If you hit a guy, you don’t have to block his shot.  Conversely, if you block a guy’s shot you don’t have to hit him.  I don’t know how the STHS engine is weighted, but in real life you have to be prepared to be bruised either way !!!

 

Chicago Phoenix   @JeffD

 

Do you believe in love at first sight?

 

Not really the type of question one would expect on a hockey sim forum, but intriguing nonetheless.  Whether or not “at first sight”, what is love anyway?  This is a question that has been discussed by philosophers, romantics and, yes, even scientists for as long as there was the written word and, I am sure, before that.  Love is a commonality amongst all us humans.  It has been expressed in many ways over the centuries.  From Neanderthal man feeding his family to the weirdly regimented courtly love of Arthurian legend to modern relationships, love seems to have been around.

 

 

As you can see the “rules” have changed but the feeling hasn’t.  I believe it was Emi Rune @Emi who said that they believed in “enchantment” at first sight. But not love as love would be too expensive.  I doubt that she meant expensive in a dollars and cents way, but too emotionally taxing.  And I believe it !!

 

DC Dragons

 

bigAL @bigAL of the DC Dragons posed this question:

 

Someone on the playground tells you they heard Benny Graves got traded. You run back home to check the VHL news and you go to....

 

Frankly if someone were to have asked me that question on the playground I would be concerned about their mental well-being.  But on a closer look, this question brings up the problem that has been experienced in all online games, whether it be World of Warcraft or a hockey sim, how to ensure that your online life doesn’t take over or adversely affect your real life.  Some time ago I was playing an adversarial online game and had waxed another player unmercifully, laying to waste his little empire.  Subsequent to that I was verbally attacked with such vitriol that I was seriously concerned about how this individual could get so worked up about a dumb game.  There is no denying that there are a number of highly supportive people in the VHL who are concerned about the real lives of all of us.  But, I think it is wise to periodically stand back and put things into perspective.  It's a lot more fun when you are, in fact, having fun !!!

 

I realized now that this project has taken on a life of its own and will span several longer Media Spots, so please stay tuned for the next installment and thanks for reading the meanderings of a rogue moose.

 

Word Count: 2061

 

Using for PT weeks of: April 4

April 11

April 18

April 25

[Vat 234]

19 minutes ago, Eynhallow said:

Moose Droppings

A.k.a. Moose Tracks 7.0 (Part 1)

 

My first comment in this offering of my series has to do with the off-season and those players who don’t qualify to play in the World Cup.  I think it might be a good idea to have a Series B World Cup for those players who have less than 500 TPE.  They aren’t good enough to be selected by any of the World Cup teams, but many of us would like to be involved rather than outsiders looking in.  This would liven up the off-season for many of us and would provide invaluable experience for those who wish to experience the role of GM or AGM. Another merit to this idea is that it might enhance user retention.  Perhaps something for the Board of Governors to consider.

 

Have you ever looked at the Press Conferences for teams other than your own ?  I have and have found some intriguing questions that call for in-depth answers. I doubt that the person who posed the original question actually considered a better than average response.  Most of these questions either triggered a mini-semi-rant or caused me to wax philosophical (sorta).  I shall start with the teams Isau has played for and move on from there.  The shoutouts that are used are there to recognize the efforts made by people in organizing and running a team.

 

Mexico City Kings

 

Isau DaMoose started off by playing for the Mexico City Kings as a raw beginner and with the help of GM @Hylands managed to get started in, more or less, the right direction.  I reflect on the Kings’ pressers frequently:

 

What is your pregame ritual looking like recently?

 

Pregame rituals have always intrigued me.  I didn’t think I had any until it was pointed out that I always put on my right skate first, but tightened the left before the right.  One of my acquaintances, while waiting to troop on out to the ice, taps his stick on the dressing room floor exactly 93 times.  Shades of Doug Gilmour or what !!  Many players eat their pregame meal at exactly the same time before every game and eat exactly the same thing.

Then there are the guys who, despite the inherent danger of being injured, will use some of the same equipment they used in Junior hockey.  Butch Goring is a case in point, he wore a helmet that his dad had purchased for him.  Check this out, you can literally see his head through the top of the helmet.

 

 

Then, of course, there are the goalie who conduct personal conversations with the goal posts.  But. I can understand that as you have got to be partially crazed to be a goalie anyway.  Who would want to stand in front of a 6 ounce piece of vulcanized rubber going more than 100 mph!!

 

Have you been living up to you pre-season expectations so far?

 

That's a good one.  So, ya, we likely all have expectations upon entering a new season.  I modeled my player after another in the league who experienced a high degree of success and  he stunk.  You could smell him all the way to Helsinki.  My point here is that there are too many variables to try and account for:  linemates, ice time, PP time and just the sim engine itself.  So, I decided to chillax and just build the player with the attributes I would like to see in a real world player.  Maybe not the best in a sim league, but satisfying all the same.

 

The team is at the bar after a great win, you order a round of drinks for everybody, what do you choose ?

 

This is a more intriguing a question as it appears on the surface.  Sure you can step up to the bar and get a few jugs of draft for your teammates because that’s what guys from Northern Ontario do.  It becomes a question of stereotyping. Do we do what we do, in a lot of cases, because that is what is expected of us by societal norms ??  So, back to the bar and to step out of the stereotype I would get a round of Cosmopolitans.  But don’t mistake this pretty pink drink for something for something that fits another stereotype…...it kicks like a mule!!

 

Philadelphia Reapers

 

Isau was fortunate enough to play a full season with @DMaximus and his Philadelphia Reapers, winning a Founder’s Cup during that memorable season.  Isau did not perform particularly well, but he fulfilled his role on that historic team. His name is on the Founder’s Cup along with those of his teammates and they will walk together forever.

 

How has winter been for you ? Has there been any snow? I’m curious.

 

Snow !!   Ya we got snow like a leopard has spots.  Normally we get about 12 feet of snow over the snowfall months.  However, in 2019 we got 14 feet.  I hate the white stuff, but it is a blessing in disguise, at least recently.  Getting the snow off your driveway and walkways provides for a decent outdoor workout.  It’s a hell of a lot better than working out than the treadmill (more commonly known as a trudgemill).  Along with the snow, of course, comes the cold.  Although we experienced a mild winter in 2020 - 21, it is not unusual for us to get a couple of weeks where the temperatures stay around -30C.  

 

The Reapers are looking into enhancing our players with cyborg parts. To become a better hockey player, what part of your body would you ask to be upgraded? Why?

 

I thought about this and went through the litany of hands and wrists to improve my shot, legs and lungs to improve my skating and endurance, But, really, I don’t think a cyborg part could replace what is most needed and that is heart, not the pumping thing in your chest, but rather spirit.  Players with heart are natural leaders and play every game as though it were their last.  How could you go wrong with a team of players like that ?

 

Which do you prefer, pie or cake  and why?  

 

Dumb question, right ?  Wrong !! You can get the best of both worlds.  A few years ago I was introduced to Piecaken.  A piecaken is a cake with a pie inside it.  Talk about indulgent!!  I was invited to a small Piecaken Festival a some time ago.  I made a Black Forest cake with a cherry pie inside.  Another that got raves was a vanilla cake with a chocolate ice cream pie inside.  I think I am just recovering from the diabetic coma that stuff induced (JK).

 

 

If you could pick any city to expand to in the VHL(M), what would it be and why ?  

 

This discussion has been bandied about in several threads recently.  And. predominantly, people suggested large metropolitan areas, which make sense, I guess.  However, I suggested Isau’s hometown of Swords and made a case for it in that Swords is centrally located in Ontario.  It could attract fans from the North, the GTA and as far east as Ottawa.  There is a casino  an hour away and there would be plenty of parking as there are very few other buildings in Swords.  I even went so far as to suggest a name for the expansion team:

 

So far there has been no reaction to this.  I wonder why ??

 

Riga Reign

 

Isau has concluded his rookie season with the Riga Reign.  It wasn’t the greatest season that he could have had, but, on the other hand, chipping in for 54 points isn’t the worst season in the world either.  @hedgehog337 

 

 What would your ideal expansion team be called?

 

Now you might wonder why I include this question when I have just answered one like it in the preceding section.  Well, it occurred to me that this is a theme that ran throughout the various pressers as well as having a thread or two dedicated to this topic in the main forum.  If the Board of Governors does not want expansion, but feels that there are too many players for the jobs available, a possible solution would be to expand the salary cap and expand the number of rostered players on both VHL and VHLM teams.  The advent of the Junior teams was supposed to alleviate this to a certain extent, but to my knowledge, the Junior team concept has not been widely used.

 

What is something not many people know about you?  

 

When Ledge @Ledge_and_Dairy came up with this one, it caused me to pause for a second.  I mean was he asking about Isau or yours truly.  And is there much of a difference as Isau is pretty close to an extension of my real persona?  I was also reluctant to expose anything about me that could breach what little security I have.  Then it occurred to me that people really know a lot about me.  All the places that are mentioned in the Isau saga are real.  The stories involving Nikki Starr are embarrassingly true.  And the tales about Johnny Bigfeets, the self-proclaimed MMA Champ and his fateful ride on the Black Widow are embedded in local folklore ( a small town in Northern Ontario).  Even the graphics I use show part of the real person.

 

 

My response to this was a non-response.  All my secrets come out in what I write and how I respond to others.

 

Calgary Wranglers  @Ricer13

 

What is more important to you — Hits or shots blocked?

 

 

This is one of those chicken or the egg questions.  If you hit a guy, you don’t have to block his shot.  Conversely, if you block a guy’s shot you don’t have to hit him.  I don’t know how the STHS engine is weighted, but in real life you have to be prepared to be bruised either way !!!

 

Chicago Phoenix   @JeffD

 

Do you believe in love at first sight?

 

Not really the type of question one would expect on a hockey sim forum, but intriguing nonetheless.  Whether or not “at first sight”, what is love anyway?  This is a question that has been discussed by philosophers, romantics and, yes, even scientists for as long as there was the written word and, I am sure, before that.  Love is a commonality amongst all us humans.  It has been expressed in many ways over the centuries.  From Neanderthal man feeding his family to the weirdly regimented courtly love of Arthurian legend to modern relationships, love seems to have been around.

 

 

As you can see the “rules” have changed but the feeling hasn’t.  I believe it was Emi Rune @Emi who said that they believed in “enchantment” at first sight. But not love as love would be too expensive.  I doubt that she meant expensive in a dollars and cents way, but too emotionally taxing.  And I believe it !!

 

DC Dragons

 

bigAL @bigAL of the DC Dragons posed this question:

 

Someone on the playground tells you they heard Benny Graves got traded. You run back home to check the VHL news and you go to....

 

Frankly if someone were to have asked me that question on the playground I would be concerned about their mental well-being.  But on a closer look, this question brings up the problem that has been experienced in all online games, whether it be World of Warcraft or a hockey sim, how to ensure that your online life doesn’t take over or adversely affect your real life.  Some time ago I was playing an adversarial online game and had waxed another player unmercifully, laying to waste his little empire.  Subsequent to that I was verbally attacked with such vitriol that I was seriously concerned about how this individual could get so worked up about a dumb game.  There is no denying that there are a number of highly supportive people in the VHL who are concerned about the real lives of all of us.  But, I think it is wise to periodically stand back and put things into perspective.  It's a lot more fun when you are, in fact, having fun !!!

 

I realized now that this project has taken on a life of its own and will span several longer Media Spots, so please stay tuned for the next installment and thanks for reading the meanderings of a rogue moose.

 

Word Count: 2061

 

Using for PT weeks of: April 4

April 11

April 18

April 25

I have never seen a media spot like this before and its really unqiue which i like.  Also fun to see what others would answer to these type of questions 10/10

[Eynhallow 412]

Just now, Vat said:

I have never seen a media spot like this before and its really unqiue which i like.  Also fun to see what others would answer to these type of questions 10/10

Thank-you.  Too bad you gotta wait four weeks for the rest.  To be honest Part 2 is a lot better than Part 1.  I get to humorously rant, because that's all my rants are....laughable...

[Vat 234]

Just now, Eynhallow said:

Thank-you.  Too bad you gotta wait four weeks for the rest.  To be honest Part 2 is a lot better than Part 1.  I get to humorously rant, because that's all my rants are....laughable...

cant wait

[Eynhallow 412]

Just now, Vat said:

cant wait

BTW, I did realize that this type of article went beyond the pale, so I slid the idea past an updater to see if it had legitimate legs....

[bigAL 2,176]

45 minutes ago, Eynhallow said:

Someone on the playground tells you they heard Benny Graves got traded. You run back home to check the VHL news and you go to...

This was definitely commentary on the forums vs discord war of S75. Do you check for the trade on the forums? The portal? Your discord LR? VHL gen chat? I’m not sure what your answer has to do with the question haha but I love the idea of this media spot. It’s awkward to answer someone else’s pressers in their thread but why not in your own? Love it. 

[Eynhallow 412]

3 minutes ago, bigAL said:

This was definitely commentary on the forums vs discord war of S75. Do you check for the trade on the forums? The portal? Your discord LR? VHL gen chat? I’m not sure what your answer has to do with the question haha but I love the idea of this media spot. It’s awkward to answer someone else’s pressers in their thread but why not in your own? Love it. 

Thanks for your response.  I did follow the "trade war", but my answer to the question posed had nothing to do with the trade, but rather, the sad state of affairs when our fantasy lives impinge on our RL's.  The way the question was phrased, the context, is what triggered my thinking.

[bigAL 2,176]

Just now, Eynhallow said:

Thanks for your response.  I did follow the "trade war", but my answer to the question posed had nothing to do with the trade, but rather, the sad state of affairs when our fantasy lives impinge on our RL's.  The way the question was phrased, the context, is what triggered my thinking.

Ha yeah I imagine no one in the school yard is ever going to get into a debate about the dlamb free agency saga or the S78 draft class, but you never know!

[Eynhallow 412]

10 minutes ago, bigAL said:

Ha yeah I imagine no one in the school yard is ever going to get into a debate about the dlamb free agency saga or the S78 draft class, but you never know!

If it were to occur, it would make for some interesting playground conversation, as well as an avenue for some "off-track" betting.  

[Eynhallow 412]

Claiming Week 2

[Eynhallow 412]

Claiming Week 3

[Eynhallow 412]

Claiming Week 4