Reminiscing

[scoop 3,294]

I swear I wasn't planning on doing this. I didn't want to. I was going to write about one of the drafts this week, but now I'm not. You can blame @Wolverine for his press conference questions making me think of the past. A lot of people in the league nowadays don't know who I am, though, so I'm going to write about my time in the VHL. I will get to have the joy of reminiscing (though some of the memories won't exactly be fun ones), and the people who don't know me can learn about my past. The next media spot I write won't be all about me, I promise. Honestly though, this article won't be all about me, just past times in the VHL that include me.

 

The hype behind the S12 draft

I created my first player during S11 before the trade deadline, so I was a part of the S12 VHL Entry Draft. I was still fresh in the league, not knowing many people. I was earning my points for the most part, but I still was not really involved. Most things I wrote were about me because I was not paying much attention to the things around me (I swear it's not always about me!). I do remember, though, that people were really hyped about this draft, and it had very little to do with me. I think overall it was an average draft for the time, certainly not low tier (looking at you, S9/13/15). Just to give you guys something to think about as far as TPE inflation goes and how far the league has come in terms of player base, I was drafted eighth overall with 82 TPE.

 

At the top of the draft, though, there were three superstar-potential players in Matt Bailey, Devon De La Soul, and Geoff Gartner. The race between these big three was apparently something special back then, so special that the league did something different for the draft: a live podcast. I don't know if had been done before in the league, and I would guess that it has been done since, but I think it was pretty memorable. If I recall correctly, I didn't even get to listen to it live, so I tried to avoid finding out what went down so I could listen to it later without knowing. Ultimately, it was Bailey who was the first overall selection, after which @Quik was named the new GM of the Helsinki Titans. Maybe it was just my ignorance, but I'm pretty sure this was a well-kept secret going into the draft. In the end, Bailey was definitely the right pick, as De La Soul and Gartner, while not being bad players by any means, did not live up to the pre-draft hype. Hey, this paragraph wasn't even about me!

 

Getting used to disappointment

Back in the S20's, I was the GM of the New York Americans. This was my second stint in charge of the team, with the first lasting just a couple seasons in the late teens. At the time, the franchise was regarded as one of the worst on the league, but I was determined to do a better job than the first time and change the perception of the team. I took over in S22, created my goalie Benjamin Glover for the S24 class at the deadline, and by the time he was a rookie, the team was looking prepped for the future. Really, the team was set up for the present as well. With Jukka Hakkinen, the first draft pick I made back in S18, still on the team leading the way, we were set to be a playoff team even with all the young guys we had. Although we were going to be underdogs for sure, I made some deals at the deadline to try to give us a shot in the playoffs, and while it didn't pay off, I didn't give up much.

 

As I said, the team was set up pretty well going forward. While Hakkinen, along with other American vets Keon Henderson and Fantastic McAwesome, did not have much time left, we had developing players to take their place while also still making relevant draft picks along the way. If I told you that Glover ultimately became the first player to make the playoffs eight times with the same team, you might think I did a good job with New York. When it comes down to it, though, my time as GM was filled with major disappointment. In S25, we made it to the finals, coming off of a sweep of a Toronto team that had some damn good players. We proceeded to lose in five games, leaving Hakkinen cupless in his career. He was the first player to spend a full eight-season career with the team, so I desperately wanted to win it that season. The following season, we helped Vasteras end their historic cup drought by losing to them in the finals, again in five games. In Season 27, we lost to the Titans, but this time we at least took two games. We made it to a record-setting fourth straight finals in Season 28, where we lost to the rival Seattle Bears. We lost a record-setting fourth straight finals. It was miserable.

 

I had one more season as GM, in which we didn't make the finals. In S30, I passed the torch on to @Devise, who I would argue did a much better job than I did. I think he, and @Advantage who followed him, do like to give me some credit for laying the groundwork for the turnaround of the franchise, and I wouldn't say I completely failed in that regard, but ultimately I never won a cup as GM. Glover's career was still going on when I stepped down though, so at least he had a shot. In S31, his final season, we were up 3-1 in the finals against Davos. This was it. I was finally going to win that cup with New York. No. Just kidding. We lost three consecutive games to blow it. Keep in mind, around this time, I was a sad college student racking up debt to pay for an education when I had no clue what I wanted to do in life. The VHL meant so much to me because I didn't really have much else going on in my life. That's why I put so much into the VHL, because it's what I had; and season after season ended with disappointment. It was heartbreaking.

 

Oh, and the first season after Glover's career ended, the Americans won the Cup.

 

My early writings

That doesn't seem like a good note to end on, so let's go back to my VHL beginnings again for something a little more lighthearted. When I first started, I had no idea what to write about, so I decided to make up a story about my own player, Fayt Leingod. I don't know what compelled me to write about what I did, but for some reason, I opted to write about him setting a pogo stick record. This is one of those things that just sticks in my brain. I'll never forget that I wrote that. I even looked up the record and made sure to pick a higher number of bounces or a longer amount of time, whatever record he supposedly set. Thinking back on it now, it seems like such a bizarre thing to decide to write about. I don't recall being fascinated with pogo sticking as a teen or anything like that. This was a media spot as well, so not even just a 200-word bullshit Fan590, give-me-a-single-TPE kind of article. No, someone had to read and grade that on a scale of 1-6. There's some VHL throwbacks for you: 200 words, Fan590, single TPE, grading.

 

A few seasons into my time in the VHL, there was a Fan590 article that I do specifically remember writing. It was about Sean Costello and Brandon Lapham, two players in the VHL at the time. What was significant about this article is that I only wrote a few sentences for like 40 or 50 words, and then copied and pasted it several times. That's really all I remember about it, but I did that once. I have no idea why. It's not like a Fan590 article was difficult to write. It might have been something where I made it cyclical, so it kind of made sense but was obviously jibberish, or maybe I just wanted to see if someone would catch it. I think it got zero comments and I was never caught. There's no proof of it ever happening so you can't punish me for it now.

 

While a lot of people still around will remember my reign as GM of the Americans and the success and failure that came along with it, and the fun of the Season 12 draft is certainly at least remembered by Quik, probably @Victor, and potentially others, I doubt anyone knew about Leingod's pogo stick record or my illegal Fan590. Now you do. There is at least one of you out there who read this. I know it to be true.

 

 

 

1546 words, claiming for weeks ending 5/16, 5/23, 5/30

[JB123 722]

Review: Awesome article, I enjoy hearing people’s stories about the VHL and their past experiences. Something that really stood out to me was the inflation of TPE you mentioned. It’s ironic that TPE inflates just like real money over time. Anyways, again very cool to learn some things about the early days of the VHL, considering there are very few records left. 10/10

[Viper 530]

3 hours ago, scoop said:

You can blame @Wolverine

I hear this often