I guess this is a Chicago Phoenix appreciation post

[JeffD 648]

It is theme week and I finally have a player again so it is time to talk about who I appreciate within the league. I’ve been in and out of the VHL since the very start almost 15 years ago, and returned to full activity almost exactly three years ago, so I have interacted with a lot of different members from different eras during my time here. I’m not quite sure which direction this article is going to go in yet but let’s see where typing this up takes me. Let’s talk about some of the people I appreciate most in the VHL.

 

@solas - Jean Pierre Camus was my first draft pick as the Chicago Phoenix GM and he, along with most of the core selected in those first couple of seasons, decided to take a flier on me as a general manager and play their entire careers with us. Solas quickly became one of my favourite VHL members while talking to him in our locker room and his personality was definitely a huge part of why those early Chicago locker room days, despite all the losing and lack of players, were bearable. Between his insane Jeopardy knowledge and his willingness to really just talk about anything he is an enormous reason why the Chciago locker room became what it did during the peak years, and I have no doubt in my mind my tenure as Chicago general manager would not have been nearly as enjoyable as it has been if I had no selected his player 7th overall all those season’s ago.

 

@fishy - Mine and fishy’s VHL interactions did not get off to the best of starts way back when I drafted their player, Matty Socks, 22nd overall in S73. It was my first draft as a VHL general manager and while I reached out to players I considered with my top end picks, I had not reached out to fishy before selecting Socks. Of course since then Socks ended up playing his entire career with the Chicago Phoenix, and there are many things that I appreciate about fishy, but the first thing was that they gave me perspective on what it meant to be a general manager and how much even a low effort thing such as reaching out to a prospect, even if they are not one at the top of draft boards, can mean to that person. Ever since then I have made an effort to reach out to a lot more players in draft classes and the positive feedback I have received from doing so has made it completely worth it.

 

@Quik - Although he isn’t around too much anymore Quik is a user that I have always appreciated in the VHL. I first was in leagues with Quik before the VHL was a thing and Scotty was running leagues using a Playstation 2, and we interacted every once in a while. However when I selected Christian Mingle second overall in the S74 draft and had him join the Chicago locker room I knew immediately I had made the right selection. Not only was Quik, with all of his experience throughout the years in the VHL, a great resource for myself as a new general manager, his personality and willingness to bring activity to the Chicago locker room really galvanized that core into the powerhouse it became. Quik would instantly answer any questions I had and would often give me suggestions that would lead to further success for the team, but his biggest contribution was his ability to make friends with everyone on the team and really keep those users together. Quik was the special ingredient that made those Chicago teams what they were and for that I appreciate him and hope he can make a return in the future.

 

@Blazzer - Blazzer is no longer active in the VHL but still comes by the Chicago locker room every once in a while and it is always a nice surprise when she does. My first interactions with Blazzer were when she, Quik and myself would be talking in the VHL general chat early in the mornings and the topic of conversation often turned to Quik’s post-coffee bowel movements. After selecting Quik’s player with the second overall pick in the draft, and knowing how social Blazzer was with Quik and myself, I made it an absolute priority to pick her player, and it may have been one of the best picks I ever could have made. Blazzer soon became my first, and only to date, assistant general manager and was an immense help to me in my role. Someday we will have to play some Valorant if you still do.

 

I guess this just kind of became a Chicago Phoenix appreciation post but honestly it would be kind of hard for it not to be. These four users, all of whom played their entire careers for the Phoenix, made what would normally be a very tough job as a VHL general manager very easy.  While building this early Chicago core I tried to prioritize the members over the players but even I had no idea that this group would become what it did. I am just very happy that through the tough times that the pandemic brought upon us I could have this small group of users that I could pretty much talk to about anything without judgment, and I hope all of them felt the same way. I’m not sure I truly appreciated what we had at the time but if I had not had that locker room to distract me throughout those times of isolation I’m not sure how I would have coped with that terrible situation. The ability to just hop into Discord at any moment and be able to talk about anything was a godsend during those times.

 

Anyway this has kind of dragged on at this point, and I did not expect to write this much so late on a Sunday, but it kind of just happened. There are of course many other members I appreciate for many different reasons, but these were the four that popped into my mind first, and it kind of fit a theme.

 

1039 words - claiming 5/29 and 6/5

[fishy 1,757]

sorry for bullying you into scouting but also thanks for drafting me in 73

[Dil 1,763]

9 minutes ago, fishy said:

sorry for bullying you into scouting but also thanks for drafting me in 73

Bullying works?

[JeffD 648]

Claiming for 6/5