*CC+Russ for GMotY - Printable Version

*CC+Russ for GMotY - Printable Version

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*CC+Russ for GMotY - Painted - 02-25-2021

Split pay 33% @shrub02, 33% @Painted, 33% @Gragg9, $1 split between @RussDrivesTheBus and @TheCC.

TheCC and RussDrivesTheBuss for GM of the Year! MIN

As the regular season draws to a close, many of us have started thinking about end of the season awards. The three of us (Gragg, Painted, and Shrub) feel strongly enough about one particular award that we have decided to write an article about it. The award in question is GM of the Year, and should without a doubt go to RussDrivesTheBus and Cruise Control (CC). Below the three of us will write a little bit about why these two should win the award. We tried to pick different aspects of GMing to talk about but there is bound to be a little overlap.

(@Painted) Locker Room Wholesomeness and Winning Culture:
With the DSFL being the development league to the greater ISFL, the most important part of being a GM is to ensure that all the players are having fun and enjoying the league! Russ and Country Club have done an exceptional job at keeping all the duckies in our locker room engaged and feeling welcome to the community. For brand new players, such as myself, it was very intimidating to join a sim league with all the rookie tasks that are thrown at you, not to mention the feeling of being lost when you are not sure what to do or how to do it. Since being drafted, both our GMs, and Carbon Copy in particular, have been great at making sure I have been keeping up with the league, I am not being outcast in the locker room, and (most importantly) I am enjoying being a Duck in the first place. Most of us joined the league because of our love of football and simulations/video games, but we stay in the league because of the newfound comradery that grows from being active during the game broadcasts and the downtimes such as the middle of the day when you just want to chat.

Russ and Community College do a great job at making us new ducks more active by being active and available almost all the time themselves! And this alone has helped drive our new winning culture. Minnesota had a rough start, to say the least, going only 1-3 in the preseason then 0-4 in the first four regular season games. Things looked bleak even though most of those games were close. We lacked a consistent offense, and a losing record would be sure to drive away most newcomers, in the same way a losing season loses bandwagon fans in any real life sport league. But Russ and Cross Country kept our Ducks’ heads high and encouraged us to keep updating and that the sim would eventually turn our way. And boy did it! After 8 weeks since the 0-4 start, Minnesota is now 6-2 in the last 8 games with an incredibly active rookie class that even leads the league in TPE growth week to week (see Gragg’s section!). Their positivity and hopefulness shined onto the rookies like myself, and we kept updating and the hard work finally has started to pay off. We’re now in the playoff driver’s seat and are soon going to be the team to beat.

Lastly, it can’t go unnoticed how much fun the locker room is when everyone is just stopping by to chat or hang out. Quack Chat always seems to be popping even when most users are at work/school/etc. And even during these more-or-less “off hours,” City Counsel and Russ always are there to help us out when we have any questions or if they just want to chat too. The off topic channels are my favorite. Especially the counting channel, since we now have beaten the old high score and are now well into the thousands (no jinx tho)! One day I will beat Can’t Count for the #1 spot.

(@shrub02) Guidance:
One of the main jobs of a DSFL general manager is to help guide new players as they take on the challenge that is getting acquainted with everything in the league. Like many newbies, I struggled early on. Luckily, Russ was there to advise me on how things work. He showed incredible patience with me (and some other rookies) as we tried to figure out how to do the update page correctly. He never once showed any sign of being annoyed even though it probably wasn’t the most fun thing to do. Russ’ willingness to help in that process made me really comfortable when I had other questions.

Which leads me to my next point: Russ is great at communicating when he helps you. He doesn’t simply tell you what to do. Instead, he explains the reasons behind his guidance, making you more knowledgeable in the process. For example, when helping with player builds he listens to your input and then suggests how he would do it and why he would do it that way. When he is unsure, he asks for help (usually from Cotton Candy the tyrant), which is another sign of quality leadership.

Finally, and most importantly, Russ mentors his ducklings on how to get the most out of being in the league. He is not content with just helping you in the technical aspects, rather he wants to make sure everyone is having a good time. I know this personally because when I first started, I was not very active on our team discord. He saw that I was earning but not contributing to the locker room. He suggested that I participate more, knowing that being more engaged with the community would elevate my enjoyment. And you know what, it worked! Simply hanging out with everyone has made me want to be more involved by writing articles, tweeting and such. Without Russ’ encouragement, I may have continued to be a casual player and missed out on all the league has to offer.

(@Gragg9) Encouraging Player/Rookie Activity:
Another of the incredibly important duties for DSFL GMs is to get new players (and remake players), active and involved in the league. We all have more fun when more players are active. Having a solid DSFL GM can shape early experiences in the league leading to higher retention (and more fun for everyone). You can simply check out some of the awesome media that members of this team have been putting out to see how they’re contributing to the community, in large part thanks to the GMs that encouraged them to make such media. Now anyone can claim that their team’s rookie class has been more active than average. I have data to back it up. Many of you have seen the S28 stalking tracking spreadsheet where I have been keeping track of TPE gainz. With the exception of a single week Minnesota has topped the chart in TPE gain. Perhaps most impressive is that a large portion of these gains are from new players to the league. Not ISFL GM recreates who are a sure thing, but new players that need to be fostered. Do I expect you to take my word for it? No! Have a chart!

[Image: rppFmMW.png]

In blue we have the average TPE for the Minnesota Grey Ducks and in red is the league average excluding the Ducks. Right off the bat the draft looked below average in terms of TPE. Not a lot of league vets comparatively and many of the new folks drafted didn’t have equipment or all their tasks done. Not only did Russ and Creepie Crawlie take us rookies back to average, but we passed the league average by a wide margin and continue to lead the league in earning every week (I am confident this will be true this weekend as well). The fact that Credit Card beat us with bricks in pillowcases shouldn’t be held against them, cause look at the results! The effect is apparent on the field when we started 0-4 then got ourselves in playoff position regardless.

Prevention of the second CHOCCY MILK apocalypse:
If after all this you’re still not convinced we saved the best for last. I’ll admit I don’t know the details of the first CHOCCY MILK ‘happening’ but I gather it was slightly unpopular among the other teams of the league. What you might not know is that our leaders single handedly held back the hordes which would have resulted in a CHOCCY MILKpocalypse the kind that this league would not survive. If nothing else, Closed Caption and Russ deserve the award for saving the league from utter decimation.

Hopefully by now you important people have already written and cast your votes for this award. The fact that three rookies decided to write this piece should alone be enough to get them nominated. Thank you for reading.

Words: 1471

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - BenDover - 02-25-2021

wooo go Call Center and Russ

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - RussDrivesTheBus - 02-25-2021

I don't even know what to say. Seeing that the efforts we've put in have had a positive and meaningful impact on you all is the greatest measure of success we can ask for as GMs. I'm truly flattered by this article. Thank you guys so so much. BRB. Totally don't need to go cry it out before our game.

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - TheCC - 02-25-2021

This put a big ol' smile on my tyrannical face. Love you guys and all of our rookies!

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - Muford - 02-25-2021

tldr CC sucks

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - zaynzk - 02-25-2021

Thank you for saving us from another choccy milk invasion.

Shout out Calvin Coolidge and the guy who rusfan is a fan of!!

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - slate - 02-25-2021

[Image: EarlyUglyCicada-size_restricted.gif]

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - Gragg9 - 02-25-2021

(02-25-2021, 07:08 PM)slate Wrote:

I saw this gif when I first joined the league but it makes so much more sense now and is hilarious.

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - NicholasTheGreat - 02-25-2021

ngl, I'm tempted because they saved me from Zamir

RE: CC+Russ for GMotY - LimJahey - 02-25-2021

ThePP