Moose Tracks 7.0 (Part 2)

[Eynhallow 412]

At the outset of Part 2 I must make a disclaimer.  I might not include questions from all teams.  Not because there haven’t been a few provocative questions, but rather, I have already spoken to the subject.  So, I apologize in advance to those teams omitted.  As you may remember, Part 1 looked at interesting questions that various teams had posed in their press conferences.  This is a continuance:

 

Los Angeles Stars

 

@Brewins15 came up with a good one:

 

What makes a good leader in the locker room?

 

Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn says, "A lot of your success and failure is going on in the locker room. Your leaders are key to managing the locker room." Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Tom Renney echoes his statement when he says, “If you don't have good people, first and foremost, in your dressing room, it will be a long season.”

 

Locker Room Leaders serve as the critical creators, champions, and caretakers of your team’s culture. Through their words and deeds on a daily basis, trusted Locker Room Leaders mold, monitor, and maintain your team’s culture into one that is positive and productive for your team.

 

As well Locker Room Leaders must possess a great deal of knowledge about the VHL and its workings in order for newer players to feel confident in what they are doing and what is happening to their persona.

 

In Riga, thanks to @hedgehog337, @Ledge and Dairy, @RedSus, @tcookie and @Hoopydog (to name just a few)  our locker room is a great place to be, both fun and informative.

 

 

New York Americans

 

@dlamb of the New York Americans posed a different kind of question, one that was personally interesting as I like to combine text and graphics:

 

Use a GIF to describe how your player has played this season.

 

Here not only do you have to assess how your player performed, but also discover a gif that adequately describes that performance,  A little more than meets the eye.

 

And so, for Isau’s nondescript Season 76:

 

 

Or

 

 

Seattle Bears

 

@Banackock posed a question to the Seattle Bears that got me to thinking about the last year of lockdowns and isolation:

 

2020 has had it's challenges. What are some good things that have happened for you?

 

I spent a lot more time with my partner (wife).  We have been married for a long time and were always close.  The enforced isolations just brought us that much closer.  I also reached out to some family members with whom I hadn’t spoken since Christ was a choir boy.  My cousin Geno commented, “So it took a pandemic for you to call me !!!”  The silver lining for me in all this was that I renewed some family ties that had gone too long neglected.

 

Toronto Legion

 

@Peace, of the Toronto Legion asked his players this:

 

Do you feel like you can be yourself within our locker room? Dangerous question, I know!

 

I think this will depend on the toxicity level of the Locker Room.  In Riga the players were friendly and supportive with some minor-league chirping going on .  All good and one could afford to let down his guard a bit, so to speak.  If the stress level were higher, players would be a lot more careful in what and how they say things.  If they were to speak at all.  I mentioned the role of Locker Room Leaders earlier.  Your leader would be the conductor on this bus.

 

Now, we could get into the thinking that we are really all actors on the World stage and, as such, we really ever know anyone, but that is too much for my few remaining brain cells !

 

Vancouver Wolves

 

Can insanity bring out more creativity ?

 

Maybe I should have posted this question first.

 

Everyone can cite famous people from Vincent Van Gogh and Virginia Woolf to Tony Hancock and Robin Williams, who were exceptionally creative and experienced mental health problems. There are so many examples that it seems obvious that there must be a link between mental illness and creativity.

Surely research would support this common wisdom? Not exactly.

In fact there is remarkably little good data on the topic. In a review of 29 studies conducted before 1998, 15 found no link, nine did find a link and five found it was unclear. So hardly a straightforward connection.

 

In addition, the relationship between mental illness and creativity is more complex,  mental health problems allow people to think more creatively than others, but this creativity drops back down to average levels or lower during severe episodes of illness. 

 

What is your favorite part of the VHL and why ?

 

This is a multi-faceted question with no clear answer as what I like about the VHL is not what someone else would necessarily like. I like the realism of the sim experience; a draft, a contract, free agency, no-trade clauses and the like.  Even the sim engine is mostly realistic with the “best” team on paper not winning all the time.  But most of all I like the camaraderie of the VHL users.  They are a friendly supportive bunch with whom I am very happy to be associated.  The Christmas Charity Drive was something that was so unexpected and so generous…..WOW !

 

Davos Dynamo

 

Thanks @GustavMattias for this one:

 

What's your favorite little-known fact?

 

Initially it occurred to me that if it were little known, it might not be a fact.  One of the bits of factual trivia that has always been a bit arresting is that humans are the only animals that blush.  Hmmmmm!

 

We are also believed to be the only animal that feels embarrassment—a complicated emotion requiring understanding others’ opinions and other factors. Charles Darwin called blushing “the most peculiar and most human of all expressions,” while Mark Twain said, “Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”

 

Mark Twain’s comment certainly reflects on our human behaviour, doesn’t it ?

 

Helsinki Titans

 

@BladeMaiden was just churning out the questions this week:

 

They say it's all about ambiance, if that is true do you pick warm lighting or bright white lighting? What are the advantages to your choice?

 

This is a two part question with one part being more thought-worthy than the other.  As far as the quality of light.  It depends on what you are doing, setting a mood or growing plants.  Your call.

 

Ambiance on the other hand has more to it than just lighting.  Ambiance can be a determining factor in how we feel at any particular moment.  Ambiance is a sum total of what all of our senses are telling us..  Interestingly though, science has figured out that there is no greater sense that a human being has for memory recall than the sense of smell.  Therefore, if you are trying for a mood setting ambiance, things better smell pretty fine.  Of course, then there is the problem that not all of us like the same smells.  Then there are the mixed messages that we get from our brain.  So something might be visually appealing, have a great sound, but stinks.  Here is where 2 out of 3 just doesn’t cut it !!

 

London United

 

London United’s @der meister posed this question:

 

What's the last movie you watched, and how would you rate it out of 5 stars?

 

Ya, so what’s the big deal here ?? Looks like a pretty simple question, but really, when you think about it, this deals with our concepts of art and aesthetics.  There are university courses on this topic.  What makes a movie, or any other creative work good or not so good ?  I like movies that entertain me.  I like “Hollywood Endings” because they make me feel good.  So, maybe, that is what makes a movie, novel, art or a song “good”, the fact that it makes us feel something.  But I know I am missing something here.  For example:

 

 

This is a painting by Edvard Munch called The Scream.  Firstly, it looks like an effort by my 11 year-old that she did with her pencil crayons.  Secondly, although it makes us feel something,  it’s a pretty negative feeling...terror.  So what am I missing, I mean the painting only sold for $119 million U.S. in 2012.  Obviously, I am not appreciating what the art world does.  And so, I dare not tell you what the best recent movie is, in my opinion.

 

Malmo Nighthawks

 

@Juice, of the Malmo Nighthawks asked his team mates:

 

The off-season can be rough for players not in the playoffs around this time. What is keeping you busy while we wait for the draft and next season to start?

 

I have some concerns about the off-season.  If your player is not in the playoffs, nor in the World Cup, nor in the World Juniors, it tends to be a very slow time.  I can see people losing interest and motivation during this slack time.  I see where people start “Town of Salem” type games in order to keep up interest, but that’s not hockey.  And hockey is what we are here for (mostly).  My thinking is, if there were a volunteer to take on the job, to run another secondary tournament, or even two, so that most players would have some off-season involvement.  I really believe that retention becomes an issue during this lay-off.

 

Moscow Menace

 

@Telkster provided this question for the Moscow Menace players:

 

Where is the furthest north you have ever been in your life?

 

Ya, a pretty simple question on the surface.  I live in Northern Ontario, so I have been pretty far north, but not in Canada.  The Isle of Rousay, in the Orkneys is further north than Churchill, Manitoba.  I was there on one of my mystic Highland adventures.

 

This also brought to mind a mildly humorous story.  When I was in high school (Toronto Area) my school soccer team went to Buffalo to play another team.  During warm-up there were a few girls around who I chatted up as young guys do.  They asked where I was from.  To which I responded with the name of my town and its location, about 350 miles north of Toronto.  One of the young things, with a very serious expression, asked if we lived in igloos up there.  I am still smiling !!!

 

Prague Phantoms

 

@Domg5 of the Prague Phantoms writes:

 

 If you could change one rule of your choice in hockey, what would it be?

 

Firstly a shout out to the Phantoms.  One of my favourite teams, earlier on, were the Philadelphia Phantoms.  They went on to become the Adirondack Phantoms when the Spectrum was demolished,  Then, they became the Lehigh Valley Phantoms where they are today.

 

 

As far as what hockey rule should be changed.  It has got to be the no icing when you have a penalty.  That should be abolished.  If you have a penalty and ice the puck, then play is stopped and the face-off returns to your own zone.  As well, you still wouldn’t be able to change the players who are on the ice.  There is some thinking as well, that if a team has a penalty then the entire 2 minutes must be served regardless as to whether or not a goal is scored.  This might be excessive.  I don’t think a >1 goal penalty is required for an inadvertent trip, or a light hook.

 

Warsaw Predators

 

From the Warsaw Predators, @dasboot asked this :

 

Are you a hat person? If so, which style of hat ?

 

I really never thought about that too much.  When I was younger, I really didn’t wear a hat, unless it was cold winter weather.  Then, ball caps were the rage.  And so my collection increased because every event a person went to, there was a ball cap given away.  And now...well

 

So, my point is that our hat styles change with age and the times.  Very much like what kicks you use.  What are your “dress” running shoes ?  How about your hackers ?  It comes down to the same  kind of thinking.

 

Thanks for reading my effort.  I hope you got some enjoyment from the two articles.

 

Word Count:  2023

Claiming Week Ending May 23, May 30, June 6, June 13.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Eynhallow

[Hoopydog 195]

Review: I really like this concept as a media spot and you do it quite well. It's good to see that you got some community engagement for this media spot and you have some god take and answers to the questions. I also like that you went and got a different player per team to ask a question rather than just have a ton of people on the one team. All in all, amazing job!

 

9/10

[Banackock 7,974]

Awesome. Love how you got the questions!  

[diamond_ace 3,107]

This is fantastic and deep and just the sort of thought experiment I enjoy, both to read about and to sometimes have for myself. Honestly feel like I've learned something about you as a member.

[diacope 2 764]

Hello. I think this was a pretty excellent idea. My favorite pressers are the ones where hard or philosophical questions are asked because it makes you think, which is something a lot of people forget to do sometimes. Thumbs up for your color coordination and use of images. I like your style and hope you will continue to make creative articles like this in the future. 10/10

[Eynhallow 412]

Thanks for the kudos.  This was a fun article to write.  I would be embarrassed to tell you how many G&T's it took.

[Eynhallow 412]

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