Hurried Media

[MubbleFubbles 1,301]

Struggling for time this week as I'm set to go away on vacation tomorrow morning and won't have access to a computer until next Friday and god knows what the internet will be like down there so best submit a PT now instead of bank on being able to do a phone based submission. I haven't paid much attention to the VHL for the last couple of weeks in truth, mainly cause I've invested 100+ hours into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for the Switch and it's an absolute gem of a game that still has plenty of content remaining. I do know that Chicago were knocked out by Seattle in the NA Semi's which was a little disappointing but in truth it felt a bit weird being there with a 400 TPE goalie in the first place. The finals matchup looks to be something of an S81 Aces matchup as the GM for most of that season AJ Williams goes up against the best draft pick for the team that season Girts Galvins, so I'd be good with either team winning to get their cups. Speaking of Aces, they won their second straight Founders Cup so congrats to Shindigs on that front! 

 

One article I did catch that caught my interest was by Astro Singh asking GMs what they looked into when they drafted a player. The member behind Singh isn't exactly a stranger to being picked high themselves, having gone first overall in the last draft they were in (Season 36) but it led to some interesting responses from former GM's, which makes me kind of envious of the fact that I never actually got to have a proper VHL Draft experience as GM as I'd either traded out of the draft (Season 48,49,50) or had picks in a weak class (S47). I'd like to say I had some good draft experiences in the VHLM though in both my reigns as Aces GM, especially picking then under-the-radar talented first-gens like Colton Rayne, Girts Galvins and PJ Daniels. I'd say on brief points I'd make about drafts until I hit around 500 words:
- Do I look differently at members who've had a rougher history than others? I don't completely dismiss them, but I'd definitely move them down my board quite a bit if it was significant enough to warrant it. For example, if a member has had double digit player numbers in the portal, but finds themselves projected in the first round based on TPE earning, I definitely wouldn't take them in the first just because there's enough reason to have doubt that their player would last, but I wouldn't flat out dismiss drafting them in say the second round. 
- Attitudes are also a bit of an odd one, because I think there have been some members in the past that had been outwardly toxic but didn't necessarily create a toxic environment in their own locker room despite what they did on the public forum suggesting otherwise, so it can be difficult to get a proper gauge on that stuff, along with how much said toxicity would have on future acquisitions were I to draft that member (e.g. "I refuse to play with this player"). I think the only first-hand example I really have of that was drafting Anderson in the VHLM Drafts in my first stint with the Aces. I took a chance on him despite his reputation and while he annoyed a significant number of people on the public forum, that never really transitioned to the team locker room from what I recall.  

Edited August 18, 2022 by MubbleFubbles