La Valse Du Temps - LANDMVRKS

[Spartan 4,953]

Well it's been quite the week. I don't really know a specific way to describe it, so this is one of the very few times I start writing a vhl.com before I have my song picked out. For the many who likely haven't noticed, I usually theme my articles off the song I've picked. Maybe the relation is flimsy and simply serves as a transition into what I end up talking about, but it's a fun little game I get to play where I think a song has some sort of relation to my thoughts about the VHL. This week though? Clusterfuck of all sorts.

 

Maybe we'll start with the bad I suppose. I have 0 clue what's going on in Moscow. There's usually a plan A, B, C, so on and so forth, for any given offseason. Now what happens if plans A-Z all get nixed? The situation Moscow is in now needed a plan AA I suppose. Pretty much every player we had on our sights via trade ended up not working out, and it's difficult when you're fresh off a cup finals appearance with a shallow draft class approaching, deflating our pick values even further. Teams with marginally better picks than ours won out over our offers, and there's a limit even staring in the face of desperation as to how much I'd give up to make a plan work out. Now we face an interesting 3-4-2 roster composition as even FA didn't necessarily work out when the two top FAs ended up working together to some degree and signing together with a team that had the cap space to make it work out. Funnily enough, if we didn't make the cap decrease, Moscow would have been in the same boat with the ability to pursue both FAs, not just one or the other. But alas, no FAs, no trades. Now to see how the season begins to unfold and where we pivot to over the course of the season.

 

The draft has come and gone, and our "devalued" picks have come out with some promising options. @Dukeston1111, our first round selection, has already begun to step up his earning and fills a pretty critical position of need. He's been engaged in the LR and seems like a swell fella given our chats so far, and I'm always intrigued by the potential ceiling a first-gen can have. @Dame and @nurx went at the end of the second round, both folks that we managed to coax out of inactivity. While it's always a challenge to keep folks engaged long-term to the point they can make an impact at the VHL level, it's the challenge I face and the responsibility I bear as well. Either way, I'm excited to bring in three active users when most people had this class written off as a pretty terrible one.

 

Lastly, the elephant in the room. Can I call myself a three-time Hall of Famer with a Builder induction on top of my two player inductions? Obviously, I'm in BoG and could see the voting while it was going on so I knew it was coming. I'm honored to be named a Builder, and it triggers a fairly vivid memory from when I was first gen back in the early 70's. I remember seeing @Beaviss, then VHL commissioner, and @OrbitingDeath , already known as a superstar player builder, both be inducted as Builders amongst others over time with phenomenal contributions to the league. I've always tried to be fully engaged with whatever hobbies or activites I participate in, so I'd always hoped that one day people would look back and remember me somewhat fondly and appreciate that I existed within a community. I still hope that the people in the Madden communities I was involved in remember my time there in founding leagues and community hubs. This was really no different, but what shocks me is how I felt that I didn't really want the title quite yet. Maybe it's because I feel like Builder generally honors someone's efforts up to the point of their induction, while I always hoped I'd receive it after my time in league roles was over. I still feel like there's quite a lot of work to be done in the league and efforts to make, but I suppose if I'm ever influential enough down the line, I'll make someone edit my Builder article to properly encapsulate what I had to offer to the league. I suppose that'll be my next goal in the VHL now that my cupless drought is over.

 

Now we circle back to a song befitting this hodge podge of thoughts. I think I've got the perfect one.

 

 

[Triller 1,804]

The prospect cycle has been broken but I am excited to see what you come up with to keep Moscow competitive.  This should give you a new challenge at least!  I've only been around long enough to see Moscow be prosperous, was wondering if you had the chops to resuscitate.  Have you had anything like this in your time as a GM?

[Spartan 4,953]

33 minutes ago, Triller said:

The prospect cycle has been broken but I am excited to see what you come up with to keep Moscow competitive.  This should give you a new challenge at least!  I've only been around long enough to see Moscow be prosperous, was wondering if you had the chops to resuscitate.  Have you had anything like this in your time as a GM?

Tbh it was kind of known that we'd be in a sticky spot with the retirements, it was moreso just needing to land a single 5.5/6m forward in order to make everything else fall in place. Some players chose not to be moved, others went for higher prices elsewhere, FA went the way it publicly went. We had things lined up and maybe still do if that one piece falls in place, but the other moves make no sense without that piece and I'm mildly picky with it too.

 

This is my third cycle with a Moscow contention window, maybe heading into a 4th, so it's not like I've never faced a rebuild before. You did specify during your time, so that sort of answers that bit. But no, I've never had this retirement situation lead to holes because I'm usually more cutthroat about moving people before they retire or have things more lined up. This time I thought the players we had deserved to retire with Moscow and felt like it was better to keep them given the composition and competition we had. It was a game 7 flip from being worth it so I don't think I'd undo it.

[Triller 1,804]

I like players getting to retire with their team and understand the hole that that leaves.  Just feels right especially with 1 team career players or players who contributed a lot to the team's success.  Seems like you've been through it all for the most part.  All part of the cycle and what makes it fun!

[Spartan 4,953]

1 minute ago, Triller said:

I like players getting to retire with their team and understand the hole that that leaves.  Just feels right especially with 1 team career players or players who contributed a lot to the team's success.  Seems like you've been through it all for the most part.  All part of the cycle and what makes it fun!

Yeah I've never had that opportunity with any of my players, because they've all ended up being GM players and ultimately being the first one out when needed, but I understand that users appreciate it. Just the difference between a player mindset and a GM mindset I suppose.