Farewell Philadelphia

[DMaximus 1,046]

During S77, I announced I was stepping down as the GM of the Philadelphia Reapers. I completed 10 seasons as GM (tied for the 3^rd longest tenure in VHLM history) and the time felt right. I have worked with 33 other GMs during that time and countless players. It has been a heck of a journey and one I’m so glad I had the privilege to take.

 

Shortly after joining the league, it became clear to me that I wanted to run a team. I have always loved sports management games like Football Manager and Franchise Hockey Manager, among many others. Heck I even created a league on pen and paper with the first version of EA Sports NHL Hockey on Sega Genesis, back before they had a season or stat tracking. So being a GM seemed like a great role and good fit for me. I quickly learned that GMing players who are real people is vastly different from running a team in a game where the players are just a bunch of numbers. That difference highlights the best part of being a GM in a league like this, the people behind the players.

 

Part of my journey as a GM was the evolution of my thinking about the position itself. Naturally I started out as a GM thinking winning was the most important thing. That’s basically what we’ve learned our entire life, winning is everything. After spending some time in the VHLM GM world, I started to understand that the people are more important than winning. It’s more important to have a welcoming culture for the players than it is to win. Then I realized that the league itself is more important than any of that. The culture of our team needs to enhance the league. Creating an environment where it’s us against the world can backfire because once those people are off your team, they might keep those negative opinions of the world.  Ultimately the community is the most important thing. That’s the primary role of a VHLM GM, to welcome new people into our community and give them the best opportunity possible to join and contribute to our community. Not unexpectedly, all of those goals: winning, working with people, promoting the league and community are all interconnected. If you have great people who are active in the community, you’re going to have a winning team.

 

I debated listing out everyone I wanted to thank, but it’s a massive list. I’ll just summarize it, thank you to everyone I’ve interacted with during my time as Philly’s GM. So many of you have made my experience here wonderful. Especially all my players, thank you for giving your time, energy, and focus to the Reapers and to the league.

 

It’s tough to describe the highs and lows that a group of people can go together even if that experience is reading the results from an old crappy hockey simulation. But those feelings generated by our group reading those results are real. The togetherness we have, the joy, the sadness, all of those emotions we feel are real. That’s why this matters. That’s why being a GM, being a leader of people, matters. That’s why this league, this community, matters. It is an absolute privilege to be named a GM. The position and this community demands you give it your all, because if you don’t you’re failing real people who are relying on you.

 

I’ve given it my all for 10 seasons. I know it’s time to move on, farewell Philadelphia. Thank you.

[KaleebtheMighty 1,508]

It's amazing to see the effect you have had on the league in your tenure with the Reapers. And this piece of well constructed literature is both inspiring and heart breaking. I truly appreciate the help you have given me as I've gotten started on my own VHLM journey. You mention here how community is important, and without a doubt I absolutely agree. It really is a privilege to be a GM and already I can see how impactful that is to other players. Thank you for everything you've done for the Reapers and the entire VHLM/VHL community, these are great words to say goodbye to Philadelphia with.

Score: /10

[Spaz 297]

I'm glad I got a chance to play a season under you thank you so much for the opportunity and helping me as much as you could

[Banackock 8,003]

Good stuff what you did during your time with PHI. Definitely choppy waters for many reasons at the start and you did well. Congrats! 

[diamond_ace 3,107]

What's your most recent FM save? Good to see someone else plays FM. I have one going right now with Dorog of the Hungarian second tier, got them promoted, currently on pace to make the Europa Conference League

[thadthrasher 1,692]

Thank you for this amazing and heart-filled write up. It was clear and to the point. Your formatting was beautiful, and this was an easy read (despite me having to wipe away tears just to see my screen). Congratulations on an amazing career, it's been a pleasure working with you! 10/10

[DMaximus 1,046]

6 hours ago, diamond_ace said:

What's your most recent FM save? Good to see someone else plays FM. I have one going right now with Dorog of the Hungarian second tier, got them promoted, currently on pace to make the Europa Conference League

 

Haven't played it in a little bit, but my last run in FM18 I stayed in the USA and ultimately became manager of the US national team. Did a lot better than the real US team, made the elimination phase of 2 straight world cups.