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***JR95*** · 04-24-2024, 05:19 PM

READY TO GRADE - 2726 words

8 years - kinda hard to believe I've been around that long. There's been some ups and downs and a brief hiatus, but 8 years is a long time and so much has changed in my life from the time I joined to now. I moved in with my girlfriend, married her, got a culinary degree, burnt out from the restaurant industry, moved again, had a kid, went back to school... but one of the only constants through the last 8 years has been the SHL and I couldn't be more thankful for some of the friendships and connections I've made along the way. There are people on here I consider among my closest friends and I've been fortunate enough to be apart of some locker rooms that are among the best online communities I've ever been apart of.

I've held a variety of league jobs from simming for nearly 20 seasons, to GMing countless more, and many others between. I've been fortunate enough to bring home 3 four star cups and 5 challenge cups in those 8 years, along with a gold medal and a few Littletons along the way. I've also been incredibly lucky to work with so many great people as a part of various team management positions, you know who you are. Together we've been nominated for a combined 9 Uppercuts and McKeils, and won a few of them to boot.

Anyways, on to the reason I'm actually here - to make a bit of cash. Ask me anything about anything and I'll do my best to give you a thoughtful answer. It can be about me and my personal life or my time in the league. I'm an open book!

@slothfacekilla

Quote:What are some of your favorite memories from the past 8 years?

I've been fortunate enough to have quite a few awesome highlights during my time here. I'll try and think of a few..

I think the first big one was my whole first season experience. Back when I joined we were still doing the prospect showcase before the smjhl draft (go stingrays!) and the players involved were always very excited about it. It was my first experience with any kind of sim league and I was absolutely the kind of guy that was checking the box scores as soon as the sim happened, and I was also naive enough to think that player stats mattered to GMs (they don't). It was so much fun following those tournaments even though we were still on STHS. Then shortly after we had the draft and it was a bit of a reality check on how the recreate factor can affect draft stock. You can do everything right but sometimes people just want what's familiar, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not an ideology you necessarily always understand stepping into the league as a first gen. The whole first season was a blast, I remember very few of my players individual seasons, but I remember that one and I remember it taking me an ungodly amount of time to score a goal. It was in the very last week of sims that I scored my first, and I was way happier than I should've been looking at a (1) on screen. I'll never forget my first season on the rebuilding whalers, even if I was the only active other than @Phobospwns .

The back to back cup wins as Vancouver GM and co GM with @kaisonious came shortly after, and those were some great times and such an awesome team and group of people to play with. It was my first taste of success in the league and although I had already GMed vancouver, then Hamilton, then back to Vancouver, it was the management experience that cemented me wanting to pursue managing long term in this league. I think I've basically been in a management position ever since in some capacity or another.

Winning a cup with West Kendall. I'm going chronologically for the most part but that is definitely at the top of my list. The people we had on that team I consider among some of my best friends, some of which I still talk to daily, or at least weekly. It was surreal to be able to win one with those guys, let alone 3 in a very short span. Honestly, even though the rebuild of a rebuild team didn't end up coming away with any hardware, I'm very proud of the group we put together there too. We stumbled along the way, but by the end of my tenure we had an incredible team that had set a modern day TPE record (at the time). I guess we got some hardware if you count a presidents trophy, but we never saw much playoff success unfortunately. Probably one of my biggest regrets was not getting that group a cup. There were so many people that deserved the world and It would have been so nice to deliver.

Lastly I'll mention my four star cup with this player on QCC. While I had won back to back cups as a GM, it was my very first 4 star as a player and, yet again, what made it special was the group I got to do it with. That QCC roster was special to me in so many ways that I can't properly articulate, both in the game and in real life. It was also a stark reminder that LRs change as time goes on.

Quote:What's the biggest change you've seen since you joined compared to now?

There's a few major ones that stick out more than others. First off, the portal is the biggest practical change in how the game is played. It has been such a boon for the league (and the numbers prove it) and I honestly can't imagine ever going back to text updates. I even recentyl joined the SSL and they have an update assistant to help text updates, and even that feels stone aged compared to here. We are truly blessed to have the talented people that put togehter not just the portal, but the indexes and many bots we use on a day to day basis.

Next would be the cultural shift. When I joined, this site was a nasty place. Maybe that's not entirely fair, it wasn't very widespread. But there were some absolutely vile groups of people that made it their pleasure to detract from other user's experiences in any way they could. It was a bit of a wild wild west in terms of bigotry and there's so much that was said back then that would earn lifetime bans today. While it's not perfect, and the new SHL does have it's fair share of issues, I think the more wide-spread progressive mindset has been an incredible change to witness. We're in a much better place than we've ever been, and I truly wonder if some of the members that dropped off along the years would still be around if the abuse they endured wouldn't have been tolerated back in the day.

Lastly, obviously the change to FHM was huge, and in more ways than one. Seeing the league shut down for weeks while dozens of people put in endless hours getting files ready, testing, fixing, testing again etc... was such an awesome sight to behold. It was a lot of work (I had a few hunderd hours in FHM before our first fhm season even started, and others had lots more than me) but the way everyone came together to make it happen was impressive. I've seen real life businesses fail and migrating xyz yet this rag tag group of hockey dnd nerds got it done. incredible.

Quote:Favorite food?

If I'm ordering out, gotta go with Shawarma. It's expensive sure, but you also get 2 meals worth if you order a platter! I also live in Ottawa so there are more shawarmas than mcdonalds and subways combined. You can't trun a street corner without runnig into a few.

now if I'm not ordering the answer changes a bit if it's "whats your favourite food to make" or "what's your favourite food to eat". I think my favourite foods to eat that are homemade would be butter chicken, curry or Tourtierre. Those wouldn't be among my favourite to cook though. I enjoy making simple meals with a pan sauce. Something like Chicken Alfredo, or pork tenderloin with a maple dijon glaze (thanks to tgtj). THey're simple meals that can be elevated so easily with an equally simple sauce. Easy to make and fun to make as well.

@Troy_McClure03

Quote:Who was your favorite lover? Who was the most rough?

@mastersheep was an absolute babe. Honestly one of the hardest working Co GMS I've ever had. good lookin to boot! He was also the roughest, it was hard to feel adequate with someone like him around!

Quote:Favorite person on the site who's name starts with a T?

@Toast just because I had to find someone that wasnt you or cheese.

Quote:How many times a day do you check the forums?

These days not nearly as much as I used to. When i first joined I swear I was checking every 15 minutes, but it was a different time back then. We barely had instant chats (a few teams had chatzy) and 99% of the league and communication including LRs happened on the forums. I'd say now I check probably 2-3 ties per day, and I honestly could get away with less and not really miss much.

@luke

Quote:Favorite period of Baltimore?

I know we didn't bring anything home, but that last stretch before I stepped down we really had buit such a special group. It was an incredibly strong team from top to bottom and sheep's coaching gave us a chance to win every single game. Seriously some of the best times I've had with an online community and one of the best cultures I've been lucky to be a part of. I was very proud of the team we had, both on and off the ice and I only wish we could've gone all thew ay before I momentarily stepped away from the league.

Quote:Favorite GM?

I'll pick one that I didn't work with, but had the pleasure of working against for a long long time now. @Tomen is the epitome of what a good GM can and should be. I don't know if there's another GM that I've had as many trade talks with taht didn't go anywhere, both because he was very tactful and wouldn't settle for less value than he was seeking, and because he was always willing to talk shop even if the outcome seemed unlikely to end up in a deal happening. He know lockerrooom culture and how to keep people around and it shows with how few seasons Buffalo has been truly bad since he's been there. There are a few other amazing GMs I've worked with or against, but who else is the reason behind "don't fucking trade with (insert team here)".

Quote:How d id you grow in the last 8 years?

Vertically a little bit. horizontally some too unfortunately

Quote:Favorite SHL person to meet IRL?

@r1cebowl22 definitely takes the cake here, and it's happened quite a few times! Given he lives in teh same city as me, we've done quite a bit together. We first met at a redblacks game, and if I remember correctly we went to a soccer game together too. He's also been to a few of my shows with a few different bands. One of the guys I'm really happy I got to meet because he's just as awesome IRL as he is on the site.

Quote:Favorite Cup Win?

In the SHL definitely that first one with West Kendall. The franchise ahd been starved for a while and so many good people had been working towards it for a while. Although we'd go on to win 2 more, the team was already getting old at that point and people were starting to wonder if they'd ever get a cup with this player or if they'd have to go elsewhere to do it in their careers. In the J the QCC one was special because I was starting to think I'd just never win a four star as a player. After so many players it seemed like such a hard goal to reach, but luckily we did it and some 40 seasons after joining I finally got one.

@Carpy48

Quote:Do you think you'll still be here in 8 years?

That's a tough one to answer, but if I had to guess I would be. I don't know how involved I'll be in management or league jobs, but if I've done 8 years already then another 8 is definitely feasible! The league doesn't seem like it will be going anywhere any time soon, so as long as it's kicking I probably also will be in some capacity.

Quote:What do you think will have changed 8 years from now?

Automation and league tools like we've been seeing implemented in the recent past will probably continue to expand and get more complex. We have quite a healthy growth rate since the portal too so we can probably reasonably expect another few expansions. Other than that it's hard to really picture what will change. If you would've asked me 8 years ago if I expected all these major changes like the portal, index fhm switch, shl analytics etc.. I would've never guessed these were things that were on the horizon.

@enigmatic

Quote:Do you remember what you thought of the league when you first joined?

I remember not being ready for how much the social and community aspect played a part in the league. I thought you joined, made your dude, and a few hundred people just collectively silently checked indexes daily. I was blown away but just how much the community aspect was essential to the league experience and honestly pleasantly surprised by it. I don't think I'd still be here if the league was what I thought it was when I joined. I also remember being thoroughly impressed when I realized just how many poeple and jobs were involved in making the league go round. Especially back in the days of forum updates and banking.

Quote:What award did you win that you're the proudest of?

Probably the littletons. I put a lot of work into the league for a good many years and it was nice to get some recognition for them even if I felt I didn't deserve some of the ones I won. They're all special in one way or another but I definitely think of those first.

@ThePyroAlpaca

Quote:Other than the portal, What do you think is the best improvement the league has implemented?

I touched on this a bit earlier but I think the general shift to a more progressive mindset throughout the majority of the league has been one of the best improvements and a big reason the league continues to grow the way it is. It is so much more welcoming than it used to be and much less hostile. It's not all gone, but it's nowhere near as bad as it once was and I definitely don't think we'd be as big, or have such a diverse userbase if those in charge didn't adapt with the times as well as they have. There's still work to do, but we're on the right path in my opinion.

slothfacekilla · 04-24-2024, 05:28 PM

What are some of your favorite memories from the past 8 years?

What's the biggest change you've seen since you joined compared to now?

Favorite food?

Popol · 04-24-2024, 05:47 PM

That's amazing! Congrats on 8 years!

Troy_McClure03 · 04-24-2024, 05:49 PM

Who was your favorite lover? Who was the most rough?

Favorite person on the site who's name starts with a T?

How many times a day do you check the forums?

***luke*** · 04-24-2024, 06:13 PM

Congrats on 8 years?

Favorite period of Baltimore?

Favorite GM?

How d id you grow in the last 8 years?

Favorite SHL person to meet IRL?

Favorite Cup Win?

*thiefofcheese* · 04-24-2024, 06:40 PM

04-24-2024, 05:49 PMTroy_McClure03 Wrote: Who was your favorite lover? Who was the most rough?

Favorite person on the site who's name starts with a T?

How many times a day do you check the forums?