Your Assignment is to Write a Theme....

[der meister 3,248]

It's no secret that I've been in a lot of sim leagues over the past 10 years. My first was the SHL, but after 26 seasons, I kind of fell out of love with it. There were a lot of unpleasant personalities, some completely over the top inappropriate comments, and frankly, a lot of burnout. Next was the VHL, but for the sake of this introduction, I'll just briefly mention two other leagues - one which fell apart before it even got going, where I was going to be a general manager for a Buffalo-based team out of the gate, and the GOMHL, which I thoroughly enjoyed for its very casual approach to sim hockey. The point is that I've seen sim leagues from all sorts of perspectives, whether it's as a manager, a member of administration / head office, or simply as a player.

 

The VHL was a league I started looking into a year or so before I actually joined. I was well-versed in the SHL at that point, and the VHL intrigued me, but it had a reputation as being elitist. This would have been back in the s25-s30 era, to be specific. I browsed the league, saw some of the nitpicky stuff in graphics and media, and bailed. The VHL also had a significantly smaller user base compared to the SHL, and I was frankly worried about trying to fit in to a community with a somewhat questionable reputation. Part of that was my own self-confidence; I knew I was a decent writer, but I lacked enough belief in myself to actually put stuff out there. Once I did, I found the community very welcoming, and it's the community that has kept me here for 40 seasons. But it's three people in particular who I found to be amongst the most welcoming, and I want to give them each a brief shoutout.

 

First, @Victor was tremendously helpful in helping me navigate the differences between VHL and SHL. Neither of us knew of the others' SHL identity, so it was a pretty blind experience, until we got to talking. Turns out we had both been interested on playing on a team together in the SHL for a handful of seasons at that point, and I remember that being a particularly amusing turn of events.

 

Second, @Phil was a huge part in me actually feeling comfortable enough to share my media spots. Phil's enthusiasm for the pieces I put out there certainly helped grow my confidence, and for a while, he got the first crack at things I was writing outside of VHL-land. He's also one of only 5 people who have actually read my first novel, though he read version 1.0 and I'm currently working on version 10.0.

 

Finally, from my first team, my Helsinki Titans' brethren @BOOM. Super casual, active in the Titans' locker room, and just an all-around good spirit. I believe Boom made my first VHL signature, unasked. To this day, I'm still flattered when someone makes a signature and throws my player's name on it - I have 3 different hard drives kicking around [not counting my phone] that have saved signatures on them. Hell, I even used one of Boom's graphics for my Facebook header, until I deleted that account because Facebook is a steaming pile of shit. But now we're veering into political territory instead of VHL Appreciation, so I'll give myself the hook and leave it at that. 

 

Long story short, whether it's the three people mentioned here, or people like @McWolfwho set up a locker room in London pretty much just for me, or the admin team here who do a couple of charity drives every year, it's the VHL community that I appreciate the most. 

[Phil 5,129]

You're the man!  You've helped me keep my interest in the league since joining. A member I am always happy to see posting or still active. Much love brotha!

 

Also, version 10.0!? Has it changed drastically since the first version??

[der meister 3,248]

Just now, Phil said:

You're the man!  You've helped me keep my interest in the league since joining. A member I am always happy to see posting or still active. Much love brotha!

 

Also, version 10.0!? Has it changed drastically since the first version??

 

Plot-wise, no. But I'm working on another full pass edit this week and I'm cleaning up a LOT of awkward stuff. Really hope the current agent who liked my Twitter pitch wants the full thing, but I gotta, you know, edit the full thing first lol

[Phil 5,129]

1 minute ago, der meister said:

 

Plot-wise, no. But I'm working on another full pass edit this week and I'm cleaning up a LOT of awkward stuff. Really hope the current agent who liked my Twitter pitch wants the full thing, but I gotta, you know, edit the full thing first lol

Amazing. Sending good vibes your way then! Let me know how it goes

[BOOM 8,818]

I usually expect to be named in someone's bottom 3 list, so this is unexpected. But thank you. 

I've always found you to be a great guy, and before I was emasculated by the forum boob ban, your interest in my threads was amazing and surely gave me a thousand "likes". I wish you all the best with your writing future and hope to continue to see you as part of the VHL. 

[Victor 11,023]

You are too kind my friend - albeit it is always nice to hear just having a chat goes a long way. Thank you for sticking around and I'm sure making a difference for many others on here.

 

I must say I've erased that memory of us not knowing who we were on the SHL. I've now known your SHL identity for so long that doesn't even feel real.

[der meister 3,248]

13 minutes ago, Victor said:

You are too kind my friend - albeit it is always nice to hear just having a chat goes a long way. Thank you for sticking around and I'm sure making a difference for many others on here.

 

I must say I've erased that memory of us not knowing who we were on the SHL. I've now known your SHL identity for so long that doesn't even feel real.

 

It was my first few months here. Then I mentioned Klose's SHL career and it was a big Whoa! wait a second! moment

[Victor 11,023]

1 hour ago, der meister said:

 

It was my first few months here. Then I mentioned Klose's SHL career and it was a big Whoa! wait a second! moment

Yeah sounds about right. Now that you had Klose here it's all merged but that makes a lot of sense. Ah what a time what a time

[der meister 3,248]

1 hour ago, Victor said:

Yeah sounds about right. Now that you had Klose here it's all merged but that makes a lot of sense. Ah what a time what a time

 

Klose coming out of retirement to join the rival VHL was one of my favorite stories to tell with my players. Especially being able to play in Germany, and then finish in Seattle [after I GM'd the SHL Seattle team for many seasons]. It was really fun to tie those timelines together.