CowboyInAmerica Builder Article

[Spartan 4,531]

Zach Warren (CowboyinAmerica) - Class of S81

 

Joined: S33

Jobs Held: Board of Governors, Financier, Updater, VHLM GM, AGM, Moderator

HoF Players (at time of writing): Hans Wingate, Gabriel McAllister

 

Many members have joined the VHL in an effort to leave some sort of fingerprint on the league. Some chase championships and cups, some hope to lay a stake in the Hall of Famer, and others simply hope to contribute their time and efforts to the league that has provided so much enjoyment to many in its 15 year existence. CowboyinAmerica, colloquially known as CIA, has been able to achieve all three of the aforementioned points in his 50+ seasons in the VHL. His efforts in various league management positions along with his pursuit of player excellence has landed him in the Hall of Fame for now the third time, this time recognizing his status as a crucial figure in the esteemed history of the VHL - a Builder.

 

CIA first discovered the world of sim leagues in 2006, joining a football league called the MSFL. At this point, he began his path to become a consistent, contributing member of any sim league community, rising to the title of Commissioner and starting to amass the vast sim league knowledge and experience he is always happy to share today. A year later in 2007, the VHL was founded with similarities and cross-over between the two leagues. At the time, CIA was admittedly not a huge fan of hockey and declined to join, preferring to watch from a distance as such new leagues tended to fail. After experiencing vast changes in his personal life in the form of graduating high school and then going to college, CIA returned to the sim league scene in around 2011/2012 and was surprised to see that the VHL was still going strong and in S30 at the time. The stability and consistency of the league drew him in, and he finally began what was to be a storied VHL career with a player eligible for the S33 draft class.

 

As a new member in the VHL but with history and experience in other leagues, CIA chose not to pursue league positions citing his experience with feeling burnout and having to deal with toxicity. In order to maximize his experience and feel committed to the VHL, CIA chose to solely focus on his player. However, the league came calling quickly for a member with experience on how such sim leagues function, especially during an era when the VHL didn't sport significant membership. From S33-S34, CIA stepped up to GM the VHLM team formerly known as the Minnesota Storm/Oslo Screaming Seamen. From there he was added into the BoG to participate in league-decision making, and took on jobs like league Financier to review all things related to the salary cap. He is known for being one of the most dedicated Updaters in league history during the forum updating era - spending nearly 20 seasons up until the portal updating era handling thousands of forum updates, which is understandably recognized as the most difficult form of updating.

 

As a member of the BoG, CIA helped shape some prominent rules and movements that are still known to the VHL today. Before the S60's, the league had a consistent albeit small user core, and it was tested in the league's history during some minor userbase contractions. In order to address the lack of players, the league decided to adopt "Project Player Two," a significant change to the league in 2016 which allowed for users to have two concurrent players to fill up rosters. However, CIA was steadfast in his belief that such a change would burn out the existing userbase and wouldn't adequately address the real issue at hand - a lack of new users. From his position on the BoG, he fought to repeal Project Player Two and dedicated his time to developing sustainability plans for the VHL, creating recruitment strategies and budgeting donation money to fund league growth plans. Despite not being recognized as a formal member of Recruitment, it's clear that CIA's vision was crucial to the sustenance of the VHL and even factored into its growth. 

 

It's quite impressive to see how much of a league can be impacted by someone who intentionally never stepped into a single commissioner position, and CowboyinAmerica really blew away all expectations in that regard. While he currently has stepped away from most league positions since the S60-S70's, his contributions in BoG and as an updater have been one of the pillars that the modern VHL is supported by. Despite not currently holding any positions, he still remains a wealth of knowledge that he always shares in some of the most insightful and well-written Media Spots, and also with teammates in any locker room that he happens to be involved with. We will continue to appreciate his time and dedication to the VHL, and look forward to seeing what legendary player he will develop next.

[Spartan 4,531]

Super delayed, I am so sorry @CowboyinAmerica. I hope that this does some justice to your fantastic history in the league, and conveys some appreciation for all that you've done  

 

@Victor for portal