VHL Editorial

[Devise 4,475]

Coaches - Do They Matter?

 

While I normally wouldn't feature another sim league in my article I decided to take some time to take a look at an option offered in the PHL and how it may work in the VHL. For those that don't know the PHL is an owner, GM, coaching league where members control one of the three I mentioned. If you go down the coaching route, you can updating your coaches overall attributes in STHS. 

This is where I really got curious about what coaches even do in STHS. Currently we have coaches turned off in the VHL. According to the manuals for both versions of STHS coaches do have an impact. They play a direct role on the personal strength and morale of players. Furthermore they also impact team morale.

 

But more than that, coaches also have several attributes that go from 1 or 100 on an update scale. The attributes are Physical Style, Defense Style, Offense Style, Player Discipline, Experience, and Leadership. There is also a potential stat, however usually in STHS regardless of the coach it often stays at zero.

 

Personally I am a fan of a coaching system. However a lot more research would have to occur on what kind of impact, if any, the coaching ratings have in the VHL. On top of turning on coaches again there is also a setting for how big of an influence a coach has on a team. The default of which is at 50 out of 100.

 

However in the post TPE inflation world, where even welfare players can happily get their attributes where they want within the depreciation seasons only to start banking, or throw TPE to attributes they care less about, another layer to the puzzle of building a succesful team might be a welcome thing in the VHL. The question is, if we found out coaches overall ratings do make an impact, would anyone care/want to see something implemented? If so would people be more in favor of members being allowed to create a coach, or some sort of team system where players could give extra TPE for their coach usable by the GM?

 

There is tons of opportunity to continue to grow the VHL, something that is always important. However we always we need to make sure what we do carry out doesn't interfere with league integrity. What are your thoughts?  

 

Bold Quote: There is tons of opportunity to continue to grow the VHL, something that is always important. 

 

 

Ryan Power is the writer of the Offside Editorial, the creator of the infamous Pajodcast and personally responsible for ruining the VHL Player Store. He is known for hating malls, posting three paragraph rants, and lacking a true comprehension at pronouncing anything correctly, specifically player names. 

Edited August 3, 2015 by Mr. Power

[Devise 4,475]

League Parity

 

The VHL is not perfect. While the Board of Governors remains hard at work debating through ideas on potential changes to the league, one thing that we constantly reference as a strong point of the VHL is parity. While some may not like it, and wish to see more harsh rebuilds and super teams, parity remains a VHL reality.

 

As we enter the playoffs in our forty fourth season, league parity is at an all time high. There are five teams in the playoffs that all have legitimate cases to a Continental Cup. With the North American top spot separated by a meager eleven points, and saw a third spot playoff race between sort of still rebuilding New York Americans and actually rebuilding Seattle Bears. 

 

Europe showcased this parity even greater. With three potential Continental Cup contenders in the conference it was a tight battle all season long. Cologne finished a single point above Stockholm to take the top spot in the league, and both teams were only five and six points behind the Victory Cup winning Muete respectively. Meanwhile Davos the third place team in the conference was a point away from one hundred.

 

Furthermore even the players are starting to get into the act of this parity. Eleven players finished above one hundred points, with another ten finished between eighty to ninety-nine. That is twenty-one total players whom are likely happy with their output this season. That doesn't include players who finally hit a point per game and may have previously struggled and the list goes on.

While some players and some teams are still going to disappoint, league parity is very much apart of the core fabric of what makes the VHL strong. But why is league parity so important? Well the biggest reason is that it keeps the league more active and paying attention to the games. We have enough serious active members in this league that all of them are not going to wind up on the same team. In fact the opposite, many of these core members make up the fabric of several teams across the league.

 

When you have that many serious members putting that kind of time into earning TPE you can bet that all of them want the big reward for their players. That of course being the Continental Cup. In a world with less league parity, we could be losing several of these members. If only one or two teams had real chances of winning, there would be zero hope for several teams, and thus several key members who give very greatly to the league.

 

That is why parity is so crucial to the VHL. As a team you can never relax with what you have, you need to always be pushing finding the right balance that can take you barely past the competition. As a player there are tons of places to fit in. There are hard rebuilding teams that just started, rebuilding teams that will be competing in a season, and then the competing teams. That parity is important to team growth, as no matter where you wind up following a draft, trade, or free agent signing chances are likely that you can fit in somewhere perfectly.

 

Ultimately, realizing that parity is one of the core aspects of what makes the VHL successful is paramount to any blueprint for changes going forward. 

 

Bold Quote: When you have that many serious members putting that kind of time into earning TPE you can bet that all of them want the big reward for their players.

 

Ryan Power is the writer of the Offside Editorial, the creator of the infamous Pajodcast and personally responsible for ruining the VHL Player Store. He is known for hating malls, posting three paragraph rants, and lacking a true comprehension at pronouncing anything correctly, specifically player names. 

Edited August 11, 2015 by Mr. Power

[Devise 4,475]

The Battle of Recreate Versus First Gen

 

There has long been a myth in the league that first gens have a hard time rising to prominence due to how intimidating it is competing with the top-level recreates. The reason I call this a myth, is because there has never been any evidence brought up to support this theory. People just look at players like Tom Slaughter and Thomas O'Malley and assume that first generation players rarely rise to prominence.

 

Realistically recreates don't start with much of an advantage than first gens. The only significant advantage they start with is league experience. Having gone through the rough patches of seasons, the weeks where you miss a point task becoming unmotivated and battled through it, the recreate member has a better understanding of what it takes to make a long-lasting player in this league. While the recreate also can get a TPE advantage at start, with all the easy points targeted at first gen members TPE difference shouldn't matter come draft day provided the first gen was earning regularly.

 

Instead of focusing on why this battle takes place, I also wanted to look at some of the facts about success in the VHL for both first generation players and recreates. Looking at the Hall of Fame it maintains what on the surface looks like an even balance. For every Conner Low and Alexander Valiq you have a Nicklas Lindberg, Brennan McQueen and RemyLeBeau. You see names like Leeroy Jenkins, CAL G, Alexander Chershenko, but so to do you see names like Daniel Braxton, Benjamin Glover, and Ethan Osbourne.

 

Era's became defined not by consistent dominance of a returning member, but more so by the success of the great players from their own draft classes. Even when you look at awards you have a strong dose of both parties. First gens like Benjamin Glover and Ethan Osbourne have dominated MVP race as well as others. It was only season 40 that NicklasLindberg was able to lead the league in points. The point? Dominance statistically and successfully hasn't been had by either side. You could argue that there is stretches where a recreate dominates in awards, like say Odin Tordahl did over the span of a few seasons. But it's easily countered with dominance by players like Braxton and Glover at their respective positions over the span of seasons.

 

Digging through the data the only conclusion that you can come to about what determines who succeeds in the VHL is the sim. There have been positional battles throughout era's between a recreate and a first gen and the sim determines who comes out on top. As long as you earn regularly, keep active, and build a good solid player you can have success in this league regardless whether your a first timer or returning member. It's as simple as that. 

 

Bold Quote: As long as you earn regularly, keep active, and build a good solid player you can have success in this league regardless whether your a first timer or returning member.

 

 

 

Ryan Power is the writer of the Offside Editorial, the creator of the infamous Pajodcast and personally responsible for ruining the VHL Player Store. He is known for hating malls, posting three paragraph rants, and lacking a true comprehension at pronouncing anything correctly, specifically player names. 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Mr. Power

[Devise 4,475]

League Parity - Star Power Player

 

It is no secret that league parity in the VHL is at an all time high. In fact I wrote an editorial article on it not too long ago. However when you start to check reasons for the high league parity, you come upon a very interesting trend. Nearly every VHL team post expansion has enjoyed runs of success. Not all of them have won it all, however all at one point or another were arguably good enough to do so. A big reason for that is the current distribution of star power players around the league. Even if you stop the league now you can look at every single team and see that almost all of them either have a high-caliber star power player or a young member equal, or they will from the upcoming draft. To define star power player, I mean someone who is earning a TPE level that they are going to easily a top-level player for their career. While some members are better than others at this, you still get the root of my point.

 

I'm not just talking about GM players either, since every team should get one of those and unless your name is Edgar most GM players recognize the benefit of being active enough to take advantage of the free GM player rule. And to back up my point, I"m going to go through rosters to prove this to you.

 

Calgary has bona-fide higher tier TPE players in Tyler Cote, Hans Wingate. You could argue Kerkko Hyvarinen as diamond_ace is coming off a fantastic finish with Martin Brookside. New York has both E-Twaun Delicious and EdwinReencarnacion. Quebec has Thomassen, Wylde and Mikaelson. Seattle and Toronto represent a few outliers, as they just both began rebuild in the past season after needing GM changes. They were previously GM"d by arguably the two worst in the league, which didn't help the franchises out.

 

Over in Europe the Express have Bismarck Koenig and Thomas O'Malley. Davos has James Faraday and Mason Richardson. There is an argument for Callum Sinclair as well. Helsinki has arguably Marcel Faux, but otherwise they have four first round picks in the deep S45 Entry Draft. The first three picks on top of that. So they are nearly assured more future star power players. Riga has Bronson Faux and have the 4th overall selection in the previously stated deep draft. Rounding out the league, Stockholm has Jerrick Poole and Jody 3 moons, with arguments for others.

 

To the point, this type of distribution of top end talent in the league has been one of the best things. Not just for league parity, but league activity. Your higher tier members are some of the more active members in the league. The reason for this is usually because they put in the hardest work, and obviously have a more vested interest in seeing the reward. Because of this, these members help foster a team culture and attitude that is more welcoming to other members and players. Unless your name is Trifecta, a lot of these members I just described are key reasons why locker rooms are active, why free agents choose to sign with other teams. 

 

While I don't mean to insult quality depth players here, as they are just as important. It's the key fact that these higher tier members are spread out that makes this type of system work as well as it has. Because of this, once newer members hit the VHL there is activity and competitiveness among almost every team. How is that not anything but good for the future of the league? 

 

 

Bold Quote: It's the key fact that these higher tier members are spread out that makes this type of system work as well as it has. 

 

 

Ryan Power is the writer of the Offside Editorial, the creator of the infamous Pajodcast and personally responsible for ruining the VHL Player Store. He is known for hating malls, posting three paragraph rants, and lacking a true comprehension at pronouncing anything correctly, specifically player names. 

Edited August 25, 2015 by Mr. Power

[Devise 4,475]

Wranglers Set To Repeat

 

After a hectic off-season the focus of Season 45 thus far has been on the epic playoff race over in Europe. As many have probably told you by now, each one of the European teams could very well be headed to the Continental Cup finals. But a constant miss in these conversations is regardless of whomever wins in Europe, can they upset the Calgary Wranglers?

 

Make no mistake about it, the Wranglers are well on their way to becoming a top dynasty in the VHL. Calgary is the only contender in the league who improved their status from last season. While both Riga and Helsinki improved, they were non playoff teams last year, so team improvement given their move was natural. They still sit far away from the overall star power and depth of the Wranglers, as does the rest of Europe, and the league.

 

While I'm not signalling the Wranglers victory parade just yet, I wanted to give Calgary the attention they deserve. In this, one of the most parity driven seasons we have seen, the Calgary Wranglers have arguably the best chance to repeat since Davos did it a few seasons ago. Yes, I feel they have an even better chance than Cologne did when they faced Seattle two seasons ago. The teams only weak spot is having 5 forwards. But those forwards are all difference makers. Even defensively they feature good young prospects mixed with the recently acquired Jake Wylde. They also boast the best active goalie in the league. While Mikaelson and Waldron are better TPE wise, both of their player agents have retired. Which gives Wingate even more time to bridge the gap, a gap that proved very little difference when Wingate won the Aidan Shaw trophy last season.

 

Ultimately, I feel the Wranglers deserve their due this season. Eaglesfan saw a unique opportunity where talent, specifically in Europe began to spread out. So much so that icing the big dominant roster as he has presents a very good opportunity to make league history, with a franchise known for its rich history in the league. While Europe may feature a more exciting race, any team looking to beat the Wranglers in the playoffs will be hoping to pull of an unlikely upset.

 

This is a fact the league needs to keep in their minds, regardless of how much progress franchises like Helsinki, Riga and New York have made. Regardless how much fight Cologne shows in its retool, and how much Stockholm and Davos remain elite. Every team attempting to stop the Wranglers from making history will play the role of the underdog, a role that every team should get comfortable with this season. 

 

 

Bold Quote: Every team attempting to stop the Wranglers from making history will play the role of the underdog, a role that every team should get comfortable with this season. 

 

Ryan Power is the writer of the Offside Editorial, the creator of the infamous Pajodcast and personally responsible for ruining the VHL Player Store. He is known for hating malls, posting three paragraph rants, and lacking a true comprehension at pronouncing anything correctly, specifically player names. 

Edited September 14, 2015 by Mr. Power

[sterling 1,990]

I'm Back and You'd Better Read This

 

It's been a long time since I appeared in the magazine, and most unfortunately, not as the fucking lottery winner once in the last million editions! I filled this role for about 100 editions back before most of you were born and checking through this thread (in the magazine forum) I can tell you a bunch of scrubs have been leading this tremendous article in that time. (Victor, Higgins, Doomsday, Devise). In another unfortunate series of events, I just read Victor's tribute to me done in Magazine number 167 and what a great job he did! Except I don't have an ego you motherfucker, it's all a ruse. With that said, in Edition 165 (my last editorial) I said I was tired of writing. Now I have a little more piss and vinegar in me again and quite frankly I was inspired by the thought of this great VHL institution shutting down once and for all.

 

Back six years ago I was a big proponent of helping Ray get this thing started. Going onto Edition 273 and on our third Magazine Editor in over five years, I'd say this has been a bloody amazing success. Kudos to all of you fine people for keeping this thing going and what a tremendous job you've all done over the years. Times have passed, good members have come and gone, but Ray's magazine still lives on strong, and for the time being I will live inside of it or under a rock as some of you may believe. It appears people believe me to be a bit of a curmudgeon of sorts, but that's just because most of you don't understand my point of view well enough because often times I'm a man of few words around these parts. Thankfully, writing will give me the opportunity to explain to all of you why Phil should be banned once and for all.

 

On a serious note, the editor of this rag recently reported that he was feeling worn down. I know the feeling all too well. It seems a lot of great folks do a lot of great work around here for little reward at times. I wanted Molholt to know that although I'm unwilling to actually do an interview to write for the Magazine, I'll happily help him out whenever he needs because he's a good guy doing a hell of a job. I personally think that this magazine is one of the most important things we have even if people aren't reading it as much as they used to. I think we as a league need to do a better job of advertising this beautiful thing we produce on a weekly basis. How many other places can brag of that? So many good people have also put great writing and great art into this over the years. The fact that it has survived with three editors and literally hundreds of writers is simply damn well impressive. So needless to say when I heard the magazine was going to possible cease, I said not while I'm still alive. I'd be happy to give you the editorial piece again and if it helps, good. If not, well at least you can fill a few pages with my non-nonsensical drivel. So for the foreseeable future you'll have my opinions back here in the magazine - for better or worse.

 

If you have any questions or concerns about the articles, or you feel that Phil should indeed be banned, feel free to drop me a line.

[sterling 1,990]

All-Star Change Was Needed

 

For all 46 seasons prior to this one we've done All-Star games here at the VHL much like the NFL does - at the end of the season and really shitty! The problem has always been that no one really cares about the All-Star game because it has always just been seen as a mere nuisance. Voting was a nuisance, simming the game was nuisance and obviously interest was therefore quite minimal. In the Board of Governors Devise suggested we make the season a little bit longer and through that suggestion we were able to come up with something that I really hope sticks. I really hope the new process sticks for the sake of the VHLM is particular because when he have mother fuckers saying 'nobody cares about the VHLM', we've got a problem. I for one believe the VHLM has come a far way and I'm enjoying the experience of GMing the Bern Royals and attempting to retain new members.

 

The young stars game was great. We may not have had enough young talent to produce a tremendous product, but the individuals involved seemed to really relish the opportunity to have their players showcased in a special game well ahead of the draft. This gives us an opportunity as a community to welcome newer members and also an opportunity to get introduced to them and their players. The biggest tragedy has been the prospects game which routinely was simmed after the Entry Draft and involved literally no member or community input. I hope this is a change that will translate to the future nicely. It's really important to engage new members right at the beginning and to get them involved. Having the doubled point tasks also rally helps get people engaged. We used to have a lot of free or double's weeks because it generally boosted activity. Let's revert back to having these every 'all-star' break.

 

Another thing is the engagement and excitement that comes from what I assume will start next year - all-star captain voting. There's a certain level of pride that comes with this process as well as being drafted highly in the subsequent draft. What's exciting to me is that members will have to slut themselves out like a politician in order to be elected as a captain for the team. I think the draft went well and will continue. It also offers General Managers a bit of a bump in activity and also a bt of time to look at trade deadline deals while the games aren't being simmed. Overall, there will be nothing but positive benefits from making a change like this to the format of the VHL. Engaging members in fun events is something we should be striving to do. Things like this will transform that attitude that the VHLM isn't important, which I think is mistaken now more than ever. We certainly need to continue our focus on retaining the new members we get because they are the lifeblood of the league and events like these will do that for us.

[sterling 1,990]

Award Voting

 

It seems to be an every season occurrence now where we have people not happy with award voting. The historical trend of awards has always been a bit of hot topic and a general pain in the ass for the admin office of the league. There's a certain real level of conflict of interest that can happen, such as when the league simmer is also a General Manager of a VHL team. I've never been a fan of this stemming back from the days when Scotty Campbell simmed and also happened to preside over an unhistorically dominant era of both the Davos Dynamo, but also the defensive side of the game. One could ask how it was possible to move from 170 plus points a season to under 100? It was suspicious to say the least. Nevertheless, the commish office was in charge of award ballot selection for a long time. Once the Board of Governors was created in an effort to make the power structure in the league more democratic, it made more sense to have the Board have final say on award ballots. We have always relied on General Managers to select the actual award winners and I for one believe it should remain that way.

 

Last season we saw some hubbub in the award list thread about Austin Gow's voting for an award was apparently deemed biased. I didn't agree with the criticism at the time and I don't agree with the need for removing this process from the hands of General Managers. Over the course of time I think the league General Managers have actually done a good job of the process. At the end of the day, if you put a player on the ballot, a General Manager voting for them is fair game for me. That's why we allowed the input of the Board of Governors so that we could get that second, less biased opinion on the ballot. I've seen many instances where members were upset, but I've never seen a real instance where anyone player was essentially screwed out of an award like that of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame committee.

 

Another thing that I've been a proponent of in the past is the natural drama that comes from these kinds of incidents. That's life folks, we'll never make everyone happy. To continue to add safeguards to the process will seriously limit the fun of the awards. Do I think Gow is biased? Probably. Do I think I'm biased? Absolutely. We all have our own biases, but I always made sure that when I had the tying vote in any award that was deadlocked, I didn't vote for my own teammate. These kind of concerns didn't happen that often, but it is something you have to be aware of when he are the leader of an organization. Even the appearance of a conflict of interest will raise the flag. With that said, I still hold true that one vote doesn't make a difference. In order to win an award, five other General Managers have to agree that the person was worthy. I know the outrage was about a single vote mattering in the case of a tie, but at the end of the day both candidates would have been worthy regardless, in my opinion. Therefore, this is something that I'm still not convinced need to be changed.

[sterling 1,990]

Balls Taken Home

 

We're back after a week-long hiatus due to an unforeseen scuffle that apparently left two vacancies in key positions here in the league. From what I can ascertain, Joseph Kendrick really doesn't care for StevenStamkos' magazine article, and having never read it, I can't blame him. Therefore Kendrick started a poll to gauge popular opinion on whether or not the article should scraped in favour of a better topic. Truth be told, it probably should be as many people don't care for it in particular. Just weeks prior, magazine editor Molholt had put a desperate plea out to the Board of Governors to help the magazine and we responded with many different suggestions to help. Most of them were adopted.

 

Kendrick has also done a phenomenal job writing VHLSC - the weekly prospect profile that enlightens us all on top prospects and gives he prospects a nice feature to hang their hat on. Molholt had done a terrific job with the magazine editing and I really thought the last few issues were great work. Here you have two important people doing really great and needed jobs in the league only to get into a big disagreement and to both quit. Essentially they picked up their balls and went home. Now the trul;y unfortunate thing is that neither of them were really intending to insult or provoke each-other and even still, as a result we lost two key people from important jobs.

 

Kendrick was also insulted that Molholt suggested that the prospect profile piece he wrote become part of the magazine. I for one thought this was a bad idea because we started the profile as a means of showcasing prospects. We also have dedicated VHLM writers in the magazine. The true fact of the matter is that Kendrick had done such an amazing job with the piece that it would be hard for us to ever hire a replacement. He certainly turning the ranking into what I had originally envisioned for it and then some. I think we need the ball to come back as it's heavily important to the league.

 

Another key point is that Kendrick believed General Managers were leaching off his work to do scouting. He saw this as a negative, but I consider it a positive. He was producing something so important that General Managers were using it frequently. You can't argue with that success. Likewise, when Molholt took his ball and went home I think he did it moreso because he wanted out of the role. One could say this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Thankfully STZ stepped back into the editor's role in a move that I thought was too quick to find a replacement after Molholt quit. Perhaps we could have pitched a bit harder to bring these guys back, afterall Molholt was really doing a nice job with the magazine. This has become a true shame, but Molholt has a lot of other responsibilities on his plate too and he's a good member. As is Kendrick. Hell, Kendrick's the only other member that has been here non-stop, active every week since the beginning. That means these two should bring their balls back to the room so we can all play again.

[STZ 5,288]

For the record, if Molholt ever wanted the position back, I wouldn't have an issue with it.. I'm more just here to make sure the Mag continues.. Whether it is for a couple issues or another 100.. Don't want it to seem like I was jumping on dat free jobz..

[sterling 1,990]

1 hour ago, STZ said:

For the record, if Molholt ever wanted the position back, I wouldn't have an issue with it.. I'm more just here to make sure the Mag continues.. Whether it is for a couple issues or another 100.. Don't want it to seem like I was jumping on dat free jobz..

I didn't say that you sob, you're a welcome addition.

[sterling 1,990]

General Manager Hubbub

 

There's sure been a lot of drama lately in the VHL, which doesn't bother my ass none. No, I quite like the liveliness of spirited debate because that means people are passionate about the league it what's going on. What's been going on lately is a lot of General Manager turmoil. As expected, and as I predicted, expansion has largely proven to be unsustainable and as a result we're having lesser quality General Managers emerging from the ranks. I would argue we don't have the member base to support as many teams as we have, but that's neither here nor there. The issue of poor succession has arisen from these less reliable choices for General Manger. Unfortunately, there are no longer a tonne of good candidates chomping at the bit to secure these positions. That's one reason why I decided to begin the Bern Royals - we need stability in these positions while the better VHLM General Managers move up after a few seasons.

 

Therefore we've been left with four dire situations recently without clear cut replacements for General Managers who have either gone inactive or up and quit without much notice. Now I tend to blame this on the individuals more than the league as each situation is unique. Toronto was left by Jaladolar suddenly a few seasons back and as a result they received Molholt for a second round pick. Was that fair at the time? No, but the team was in limbo without a draft nearing. The other instance around that time were the Seattle Bears who were abandoned suddenly after Bushito went inactive again. They paid a second round pick for Mike who was on his way to retirement. Cologne needed a replacement for Devise and for whatever reason he didn't have one picked out when he decided to step down. Why the league didn't step in and ask him to find a replacement via trade or free agency is beyond me.

 

The most recent situation has been that of the Davos Dynamo who were left suddenly by Ahma when he just stop showing up for some reason. Davos was left in the same situation as the aforementioned teams. The difference was that this happened in the off-season right before a draft where the prices for the replacement General Manager's player (who was a draftee) were well defined. Some people wanted to say that teams should never pay for a General Manager or that every team should only have to pay a second round pick because two teams did that once. Every situation is different and warrants different consideration as to what is most fair for all parties involved. What we should be fostering is teams that each have a suitable replacement lined up. Whether that comes from bringing co-general managers back or just being more logical with succession plans before hiring questionable people, it's a must have. I for one have enough integrity to stay doing what I said I'd do until I can find someone else to do it. Now I understand real life takes precedent, but truly finding a replacement for fair value doesn't take that long. Sometimes we have to take a deep breath and look at these situations in the most reasonable way.

[sterling 1,990]

Recruitment Drive Flops

 

This seems to be the age old question, how do we get and keep more members here? I have to think that since I stepped down from recruitment crew lead and the rewards were changed, recruitment has been in the shitter. Even this most recent recruitment drive failed to bring in many new members over the course of the three or four week run. Here's what I think the problems with this more recent drive were:

 

1) No excitement from the leadership team. Hell, the recruitment crew doesn't even have a leader at the moment and Victor thankfully stepped up to run this. There's

really been no strong push toward advertising this drive or any discussion in the thread other than people asking about prize draws. The problem is that no excitement was built up in the community for this effort. No one was encouraged to talk about things or come up with new ideas.

 

2) Wacky prize structure. People don't really want a chance to win, they just want a reward. Admittedly all the people who actually recruited are receiving massive rewards as a result which I think goes laughingly against what the intention was. Simply put, the reward structure has to be better than it has been. The lottery idea is cool and all, but it doesn't give people an immediate reward from the drive. That's the point of the drive, to give people something they can use right away. The initial prize was quite small and giving people the chance to win a bigger prize is just silly if the prizes are free to give away, you may as well give them to everyone.

 

3) Too long and not well coordinated. This goes hand in hand with my earlier complaint that there was little excitement about this. No one was pumping this thing's tires. The problem was that this was announced and lingered on for 2-3 weeks. I would prefer a shorter period of time - say during an off-season or the week leading up to the trade deadline so that people are committing a lot of time to it in a short period. The longer it runs, the less successful it will be because people will be more apathetic toward it.

 

4) It's been too damn long since the last recruitment drive and people are unfamiliar with them.

 

I'm afraid the VHL won't be made great again until we honestly and truly have someone back in charge of recruiting. The basic structure is there, but there's no leadership. Most recently the Board of Governors suggested they just run recruitment out of the Board which I strongly oppose as nothing happens from that vantage. Usually it's a lot of talk and little solution. I'm afraid we need a leader to take this on and run with it. Especially when other sites are coming up with great ideas and recruiting a lot of members. I still believe we have a great product here for free entertainment, but we aren't reaching enough people. Somehow, there's got to be a better way about this entire process. How can we improve recruitment so that future drives don't flop?

[eaglesfan036 4,585]

The Reddit ads were a flop, not a single person came from Reddit so far and I think around $30 of the $60 has been spent already

[sterling 1,990]

Free Agency

 

This season I will be hitting the open market. It's not something I have done for some time (since I left the Toronto Legion with goalie Alexander Labatte to sign in Riga). There are a few reasons for the move and I will tell you them as a matter of opinion. First of all, I am not pleased playing with Seattle. I like the guys on the team, but I don't feel like we are headed for much success. Over the past three seasons the Bears have been bad, mediocre, and this season I believe Seattle will be mediocre again. The reason why the Bears are going to continue to be mediocre for the foreseeable future is because the leadership of the team is quite poor. General Manager Mike is not particularly inspiring and bordering on inactive. A recent post in the Seattle Locker Room solidified the position for me after Mike said he'd be active if all of Seattle's pending free agents decided to re-sign. Sorry pal, that's not how you impress people on your team after accomplishing nothing in free agency or the trade market during the off-season.

 

The Bears have been largely inactive in the locker room over my time there. I'm surprised as Jardy is in the room, but there just isn't much energy to go around for whatever reason. A lot of that comes from a General Manager and having people who really want to talk. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of talkers on the team and our GM may as well be inactive. Overall it has amounted to three of my most boring seasons here. Nothing to look forward to on the team when its bad as we were never given the sense that we were building a winning team. No direction from the General Manager as to a long-term goal. Hell, that doesn't add up to much excitement in what should be an exciting season for the Bears.

 

A lack of personal player success has been disheartening. During Hamilton's rookie season there wasn't much success to be had. The second season again the Bears were not very good. This third season the Bears have had a fair amount of success, but I don't see them as a legitimate threat to be a good playoff contender this season. Unless the Bears make a move before the deadline, which they haven't historically done in previous years, I think the Bears will regress. My player has been decent, but the stats just aren't there. I'd rather go play for a team that has a star forward or two as opposed to young, developing talent. Why waste the last five seasons of a career on a continually underwhelming team?

 

The last point is possibly the most satisfying. Because although I typically don't hold grudges (and came into Seattle with a fair, open mind), I do feel like this will be just desserts for a General Manager who I don't think has every been that capable. A General Manager that I went out of my way to help as a free agent previously. After winning the Scotty Campbell Trophy and bringing Riga to game seven of the Continental Cup final, I was callously traded to New York for Jehovah without even a word or consideration. So to me it is fitting that I can leave Mike via free agency and perhaps finally get the last laugh. At some point, poor communication and general apathy will come back to bite you in the ass.

[sterling 1,990]

A Positive Note

 

Since I launched a scud missile at my General Manager last week I figured it would be better this week to spread some positive attention. No, not toward Seattle General Manager Mike, who so elegantly told me to fuck myself, but toward the commmish team and the lovely alternately coloured admin team for the work that they do. I believe that the blue team in the league often doesn't get enough credit for what they do for us. I'd also like to extend this to the green team of Smarch and Eaglesfan as they both do a great job to make sure the VHLM is running as smoothly as possible. Victor and Jardy have done a lot of work for the league, and Jardy in particular still does a lot of work. He's been simming for close to 25 seasons, which is no small feat here. The other guys - Draper and Higgins, have taken on a lot of work and have continued the ship on a good path.

 

As we approach 50 seasons and nine real life years, I can't help but think that the league wouldn't have survived any seasons if it wasn't for dedicated individuals stepping up to make sure the league runs on time. I've always said that it takes a lot of work to run a place like this and these guys do it for free. We've never paid anyone for their work beyond what they get in TPE. It takes a seriously dedicated individual to come into the VHL and assume a leadership role when there are already so many established years and established leaders in the community. The fact that leadership transitions have been so smooth in the league is the reason for our success. Really, the league hasn't lost much at all from the previous commish team change to the current one. My only complaint is that I believe they have too much work on their plates since Flyersfan stepped down.

 

It's important to note the amount of commitment it takes to have games simmed every day. You're responsible to a lot of people who give you grief if you don't and yet you don't really get anything out of it beyond maybe winning some games. For Jardy, he's seen some success over the years with two Hall of Fame players and a number of awards and Cups, but he hasn't personally gotten much else out of it other than providing entertainment for a bunch of strangers. Likewise, Higgins has stepped into simming the VHLM and has really changed the effectiveness of the entire league. We've greatly improved over the years due to the number of people willing to step up and share the workload. These guys all work well together and figure problems out as best they can. So remember the next time that something doesn't go your way, these guys are volunteers and they have done a great job to keep the league going strong. They have helped to foster in another successful generation of the league. So thanks to all the dedicated members that keep this fine league going, and especially those blue and greens guys.

[sterling 1,990]

VHLM Life

 

I've enjoyed myself acting as a VHLM General Manager with the Bern Royals for the past three seasons, which is the longest I've ever held a General Manager post in the league. The reason for it is that I simply prefer being a player and being able to leave a franchise whenever. I think I may have had the shortest ever General Manager reign with Toronto when  I traded myself to Vasteras for General Manager Jeff Hunter (Hybrid). I've never chased the dream of being an all-time General Manager. Thankfully though over the past 15 seasons in the league I've taken on three separate VHLM teams at different times, generally when the teams needed some stability and until another General Manager could be found. I also believed that the VHLM General Manager positions should be held by newer members wanting General Manager experience and so I decided to leave quickly. I did this with Vasteras (Now Moscow) and Ottawa, but I haven't done it with the Bern Royals.

 

I've come to see that there is some benefit to having secure, stable long-term members in VHLM General Manager positions like myself and Jardy currently. We've done a poor job with retainment and perhaps some of that is on our previous VHLM GMs not making the experience good for prospects, but some of it is also a very complex system and well established community that is hard to get into. Jardy is the exact kind of person you want in a role like this. As is Phil, because they are dedicated members with good histories, but also very personable and able to get people to commit to the league. Therefore it's okay for me to toil away in the VHLM with the Bern Royals. If we win that's a good thing, but preferably the goal will always be to retain new members and show them an active locker-room. To help new members want to stay is the goal of a VHLM General Manager.

 

This season hasn't been overly successful with Bern, but I knew that going in as I liquidated the team's roster at last trade deadline. It was a move that was necessary as the entire team, albeit successful, was inactive. I didn't do this to win with a bunch of inactives. The only way I want to win is with a bunch of active, preferably new members. I've been able to acquire a great deal of draft picks in the coming seasons in hopes of bringing more active players onto the team and in doing so, I hope to eventually win. Even if I can't win though, I hope my original goal will always be met; we need more active new members making it to the VHL. One VHLM GM and one season at a time hopefulyl we will see some improvement there.

[sterling 1,990]

Pension Problems

 

It was recently brought up by a newer member that the current pension system seems unfair because members are collecting 4 TPE per week for nothing. I can understand why this system may seem unfair for newer members who are working really hard to earn 6 TPE per week from point tasks. The fact of the matter is though that the current welfare and pension system is the only thing that is making it possible to field ten teams. If we cut those 20-30 members we`d lose a lot of good players from the league. I understand that the system may also be deterring new members from sticking around as they perceive an unfair advantage to older established members.  The fact is that many members have brought this up in the past and perhaps they have been right that the current system isn't fair. Unfortunately I am biased being one of the oldest members here, but I also want to see the league grow and believe in new members being a lifeblood.

 

I suppose there are some things we could do to improve this for newer members, but I would argue that there are lots of jobs out there for new members to claim these days. Back in the old days, jobs were few and far between. We`ve added so much stuff around the league in recent years and add pay for things that it is really easy for even a semi-active person to claim a job, do a point task and earn 7-8 TPE per week. The older members, some of whom have been here for over five years, need to be respected for their contributions in the past. The most important thing is that you can`t teach the experience older members bring.

 

The league has been through a lot and having good, long-term members around who know that helps. At the same time, we have been doing a very poor job retaining new members. So what exactly is a fair compromise between the two camps? Perhaps we could add in a first generation weekly claim like we run for with the VHLM practice facility. If the new member posts in five topics per week, they get an additional TPE every week. Something like that would be a fair compromise as opposed to taking something away from long-term members and punishing them. The fact is that many members have brought this up in the past and perhaps they have been right that the current system isn't fair. The difference between a point task and the full pension claim is 2 TPE. Though I think this is a fair amount considering the need for older members to stick around, I can also see why this would piss new members off. So what can we do to make this system better for everyone? I'm not sure, but if you read this, I'd like you to post your idea in the comments section.

[sterling 1,990]

Boring Season

 

Perhaps it has been the two day break over the weekend with no games or something else, but it appears that activity this season has been fairly low. It has been hard to get into the games this season, even on a winning team, and I have to assume I'm not alone. Perhaps it is just the time of year where lots of people are busy with exams and spring cleaning. I haven't had the motivation to come up with good articles even. So what is with the recent slowdown of activity and action around here? Is it the general boring season we experienced or is it because things have moved too slow? Is there just not enough to do? I don't know.

 

Perhaps it is just me being really old and crusty. We're almost at nine full years of existence and 50 seasons! I haven't heard many plans at all in terms of celebrating 50 seasons or doing something revolutionary.  There was some talk about making radical changes for Season 50 - like using a new sim engine or completely arranging the fabric of the league such as destroying the VHLM or destroying all the big league teams and starting over again. I don't know what would be the best solution as in one breath I'm finding it increasingly boring here these days, but at the same time I see the league's history as heavily important to uphold. All I know is that we seemingly aren't attracting enough new members. Despite having a bunch of ideas and a lot of support with a hundred recruitment crew leaders, we've still failed here.

 

So this is my call out to you fine VHL folks. Is this just a momentary lapse in activity or is it a real concern? Have things really been slow or am I just crazy? And if they have been, what do you propose we should do about it? I kind of think it would be interesting to announce a monumental change ahead of or in time for Season 50. Having been here since Season 1, I can say that change never comes easy, but that eventually it is fully accepted into the fabric of the league. I'd like to hear some of your opinions on the matter. What should the VHL do to celebrate 50 seasons and soon to be nine real life years?

[STZ 5,288]

I think everyone is getting to old for this shit lol...

[Will 4,608]

1 minute ago, STZ said:

I think everyone is getting to old for this shit lol...

 

Yeah everyone hates on the SHL for having a bunch of kids but I'd welcome a herd of 15 year olds 

[STZ 5,288]

3 minutes ago, Draper said:

 

I'd welcome a herd of 15 year olds 

 

That's what the old SHL Commish said and he is now behind bars for child porn... #truestory

[FacePuncher 1,343]

9 minutes ago, STZ said:

 

That's what the old SHL Commish said and he is now behind bars for child porn... #truestory

Wait what????

[STZ 5,288]

1 minute ago, ADwyer87 said:

Wait what????

Their founding commish and prominent member is locked up for having child porn. His name was Fernando but is known as "Nando" over there. There's lots of controversy about it. SHL literally wiped all his players and history off their records. And still to this day if you bring it up you can get suspended..

[sterling 1,990]

People still seem to respect him and try to vindicate him at times, which I don't understand.

 

Either way, this week I am using my S48 free week and not writing an article. I will return next week