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*RashfordU* · 09-17-2023, 01:10 AM

I have spent a lot of time reflecting. I held off writing this at first as I did not want to bombard the site with Aurora content, after some great articles by fellow teammates. It has been a month over two years since I joined this site, and I will be honest I don't think I ever intended to stay this long. I did not join the league with ambitions of becoming a GM, or winning a Challenge Cup or Four Star. In fact, I distinctly remember early into my Rookie Season in the SMJHL thinking that I might just want to be someone who only players in the junior league. I had done the math, I could put in a little bit of effort and still become a "max tpe player" in the J while also getting to have fun in this new league that I had joined. I wouldn't need to do Media or a job (what the heck are those anyway?) and this entire thought process revolved around the fact that my wife and I had a newborn at home, and we expected life to continue to get busies and busier.

I'll leave out most of the thoughts on my J career. This article is not about that, but I am thankful for the time I spent with NL. Most importantly, I just want to thank @Nhamlet for taking the time to answer far too many DMs / pings / and other random crap. He will always be the person I look up to the most here on this site. This site is a much better place thanks to Nham.

Reflecting on my time with the Aurora, it is truly crazy how far this team has come. I remember in my early discussions with @Ace, he knew that he wanted to truly rebuild this team from the ground up, and that it would take some time to get the right pieces into the Locker Room. I can only imagine that Ace had some major reservations about taking me at 2 OA. I was a first gen, and wow were there a ton of fantastic options on the table for any team with draft assets. The S62 class had 16 players qualify for the 2k badge, not to mention how many of those same users have risen to prominent spots within the league, whether as a GM, HO member, or other integral role. But I remember immediately being asked my thoughts and opinions on potential trades, draft selections, etc. It seemed that there was a trust, and mutual respect for each other's passion and efforts that just "clicked" I also quite clearly remember two distinct negatives that happened immediately after joining the War Room with the Aurora. Day 1 in the War Room was a discussion on a player who wanted out, and basically only wanted to head to one team. It was a pretty easy resolution for us, the consensus was to just let the player go, as at that point, there is nothing you can do. But really, thats not the part that I remember the most, what I remember was a comment made as to our organization being a joke. That really stuck with me. Not that we "had something to prove", but rather we had such a clear opportunity. We knew we were going to be trash in the short term. A trade shortly after had another user in the league commenting how the trade was a terrible one that we would regret. In both instances, the players would go either IA or retire before becoming elite players within the league.

Getting a bit ahead of myself though. Looking back during the draft, It was crazy to see the talent we were able to bring into the team. I'll admit, my favorite move was the draft day trade that saw WPG ship out 8OA, and 2 2nds, to bring in the 5OA selection. WPG would use that pick to select Jay O'Neil, @Sburbine. I'll be honest, I think Jay should have gone 1 OA in that draft. I've been very fortunate to share many Locker Rooms with Sburb, and I am grateful for his efforts and commitments to all of those he spends time around in the SHL. He is a true gem. This draft would be a defining draft class for the Aurora roster. As five of the 8 selections during the draft would still be on the roster when the team hoisted the Challenge Cup in S72, a full sim decade after the selections were made.

While writing this article, I checked to see how many times I've sent a message in the Aurora Locker Room. To my surprise, I just passed 23,000 messages. To say that effort has been put in to get this team to this point is an understatement. and I think that is where the biggest part of my reflection has been happening. For so much of the last 6 months, I had truly felt I was wasting the Aurora players careers. We had, for lack of better words, put together a dream team. We had an extremely high level of TPE from the top tot he bottom of our lineup, while also having some absolutely fantastic users within the Locker Room that made this team an extremely unique place to play. But each and every season, I felt I was letting these users down. I would feel that we had lost because of so many things. Was it bad build advice that I had given? Did we set up the lines wrong or put the wrong roles for certain players? Were we simply making the wrong roster decisions every single time we drafted or made a trade? I never had an answer, but I couldn't shake the feeling that some players would simply be better off on another team. That really ate at me, in a way that I hadn't quite expected or been prepared for. I am thankful that we won this season, but I also recognize how easily we could be 0-4 in the finals, and I could have yet again been feeling the exact same way.

To any other manager in the league, especially those who are just starting, or well into a rebuild of a team. Just keep at it, stick to your gameplan.

While doing some reading back in 2021. I forgot that I nearly applied for the MTL GM position that was open at the time. If memory serves me, the opening for the job came about a week before my draft, and there was a part of me that wondered if I should simply dive in and try my hand at being a GM in the league. I guess that didn't really take me long though, as relatively shortly after joining the Aurora, Ace brought me in as his Co, and the rest is history.

If I had to sum up what my favorite thing has been since joining the league, it wouldn't be winning any trophy. It always has, and always will start and end with the users that I have met here in the league. I know I would not be here anymore if it was not for the connections that I have made along the way.

and to the S73 Draft Class, I wish you an absolutely fantastic day tomorrow as you join your new teams.

Rashford

***sliceruser*** · 09-17-2023, 01:20 AM

thank you for helping to bring together such a fun story as the 4 final appearance WPG cup run

**leafsftw1967** · 09-17-2023, 01:25 AM

Congrats Rash Heart

I am happy to see all of your hard work and persistency as part of WPG management pay off in the end with your Challenge Cup win!

tweedledunn · 09-17-2023, 09:47 AM

***By-Tor*** · 09-17-2023, 10:35 AM

So glad to have you as a co-GM

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, and tweedledunn for sigs

spidey · 09-17-2023, 11:12 AM

Congrats and well done!

***Ace*** · 09-17-2023, 12:13 PM

It's been my immense pleasure having you in the co-pilot's seat during this run. Here's to winning a couple more perhaps during this window!

***CapnCooper*** · 09-17-2023, 07:02 PM

Great read! Great guy!

***Patty*** · 09-17-2023, 07:40 PM

Congrats Rash! You've been on a journey here and I'm glad you finally got rewarded. Couldn't be happier for WPG

***Nhamlet*** · 09-20-2023, 11:32 PM

I'm so excited to see you and the Aurora have their patience and perseverance rewarded. I know that even if things changed, this is a path that you would have found yourself walking down one way or another so I'm grateful to have been able to be part of it early on. Congrats again!

**OrbitingDeath** · 09-24-2023, 07:39 AM

You did fine Wink

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