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+---- Thread: *What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? (/showthread.php?tid=52433)
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*What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - juniped - 07-22-2024
Hey everyone, I apologize in advance for the meandering thought process.
For those that don’t know me. I’m Juniped or Juni for short. I was just appointed as the Co-GM of the Yellowknife Wraiths, and for a lot of people I imagine this came out of nowhere. If you do know me at all, it might be from MLR, SHL or PBE. I imagine my reputation there is a lot from place to place but most people know me as pretty much an inactive low earner. I'm not going to dispute that, ever since my first player started regression I really haven't put the effort in towards earning as much as I should have or I really feel like my teams deserved. So why out of everybody, am I the new general manager, honestly I don't really know. I've been through a lot here and I really just wanted to get my thoughts down on paper about everything.
I joined the league right before COVID started when a recruitment post was thrown up in the MLR server. Now I am not a football fan let me get that out first. I've always been a fan of baseball and despite living in the south I can't say I've ever really watched football that much. sure it's been on here and there and I understand the basics at a very basic level, but I can't say I know anything about strategy or team building. however a bunch of my friends were joining so I figured hey why not. I went I believe in the 6th round to the Norfolk SeaWolves, like a third decision pic when the options before me that were wanted were picked. Believe it or not this is a trend that continues. Well I can't say I fell in love with the ISFL at first glance, to this day I still cannot watch The sims. I just don't understand them. I have no clue what's going on and I just wait for somebody to tell me what happens. however I really started to get into the analysis of the game to be honest. I loved reading media about analysis of the game, I think numbers have always just been something I enjoyed and really makes it a lot easier for me to understand what's going on. anyway that was the first season that Norfolk came back from being a bot team and it was restocked with almost all mlr players who almost all went inactive. It was fun and I enjoyed the camaraderie but it felt kind of bland. I like watching my number go up as I earned TPE but I can definitely say I was not a Max earner. however for some reason when a position opened up to be the Co-GM of Norfolk with scorp I jumped at the opportunity. I don't really know why, I can't ever say I've had a passion for leadership or wanting to run things especially in this league more on that later but I really liked the people and wanted to help encourage the environment.
So next thing I knew I was the Co-GM and I took my first step into a job in the league. turns out it would be my last job for a long time. now you have to understand, it's not like I'm trying to be a boomer about the league here, in fact I really only joined halfway through the League's lifespan at this point. DSFL GM chat back in the day was the wild west. some managers wouldn't even join it because they hated the others, and there was fighting almost every day. I'll be honest it was kind of amazing and hilarious to me. The intense rivalries that we had there I feel like it's some of the reason why I feel like I do about the DSFL now. I still think it's important but I have a lot of strong opinions that don't belong in this article about how it should be run. anyway it was the end of the season and the draft was coming. Now I had gotten some interest and finally enough I was pretty sure that I was going to end up going maybe in the third or fourth round to the Yellowknife Wraiths. I now know that they never planned on taking me (Because I can see what they said back then) and I cannot remember why I thought that but you can imagine how surprised I was when I went third overall to the Philadelphia Liberty. I remember getting a message from Hallmonitor saying something like yo will you position switch and I was like yeah sure he went cool and then stopped talking to me. turns out the pick they wanted retired literally that morning and so I was the next pick. I only knew Hallmonitor from an argument I got in the dsfl general chat about NC State versus NC A&T. So I was really shocked either way, I think I went almost a full week without joining their war room because I didn't want to do the first round pick task and so they added me to the war room so that I wouldn't have to.
Funnily enough despite how much I joke Hall has become one of my best friends, not even just inside the league but outside of the league. I think he was really the first person I had ever really made friends with purely from the internet. By coincidence we lived within an hour of each other and we both like a lot of similar things but I think even before then just talking with him every single day for years just turned to him being one of my best genuine friends and somebody that has gotten me through a lot. and that's really the meat of what I want to talk about. I've had a lot of relationships in this league Throughout the years, both positive and negative but even though I have waxed and waned and activity I can say I feel like I have made genuine connections here. Anyway that's the last positive thing I'm going to say about Hall. but I will start to talk about some other people that really meant a lot to me in those early seasons. some of my first draft picks in the DSFL came to be some of the most influential people to me in the league. Tesla, J03B, Bassoon, Isa. Honestly I could go on and on and pad this article but I probably shouldn't. I'll continue this train of thought anyway. They were just some wonderfully lovable people who just really brought a lot of joy to my heart.
Serious time,, I've been struggling with depression since I first got into college. sure it's only been 12 years but it's been an up and down Journey. The relationships I've built here have really just done a wonderful thing in terms of positivity to bring me up at some of my worst times. People in this league have been here to celebrate some of my best times and some of my worst times I've had in the past almost half-decade. from the birth of my second child, to having my oldest have his kidneys fail at 3 years old, they have been able to support me the entire time. Some of these people don't even like baseball and they listen to me rant about it for hours probably, whether in a regular chat or listening to my stupid podcasts as Hall and I rent about something entirely unrelated. I wonder if that's why the podcast team is being more serious about having to keep on topic because my God in a two-hour podcast I feel like we would only talk about this league like 25% of the time so sorry about that. anyway I'm sorry if I'm rambling but the positivity that some people have here is infectious.
On the flip side, there are definitely times where the negativity people have here shocks me. I've been genuinely hurt for months at a time for things that people have done in this league and sometimes I still carry a grudge which I hate. I won't lie when I say I want everybody to like me but sometimes I've gotten so frustrated with people that I just want them to leave, which is a really bad thing in my opinion. I think the fact that this week and appeal to a wide range of people, people who just like to have the stats grow, people who like to write in character articles, people who like to talk about the analysis, people who like to volunteer in a small community thing and encourage that, I could probably go on but I think it's just wonderful to see how many different ways people can grow the community so seeing those things hurt hurts me. I never thought I would get so attached to a silly dot football game or get so invested in how my team does, but I do get it I really do. What I'm trying to say here I guess is that before you say something scathing or attack somebody in Discord or on the Forum just think about the person on the other side before you say it. People here are volunteers and I've seen enough people turned away from this league by the negativity that it can disgust me.
Anyways moving on from all that, I played two careers on the Liberty/Crash and I thought that I would never play anywhere else. I was going to be Crash for life, and while I still love the people on that team I am very grateful that I got to go somewhere else. For my third player, Orga panda I got drafted to the team I first thought was going to take me in my very first season, the Yellowknife Wraiths. I won't lie when I say I was pretty tentative at first, pretty much everybody I really knew was in the crash and I've always been worried about meeting other people. Even though the atmosphere and the people were different though, I found a new home. I just want to say before I continue though, that I wasn't going to force my way back to the crash, I hate doing that but I just never expected anybody else to take a flyer on me. so I guess the fact that Zoot and Arkz did draft me despite him being late in the draft I think it meant a good amount to me.
I can't say I was the best earner for them but I definitely tried for a while to be at least a mid-level earner. I was doing really well up until September, when my son was hospitalized. The outpouring of support I got from this team was something that I really didn't expect. I didn't tell a lot of people, or maybe I did. I don't really remember but I do remember that the support I got from people I knew was just astounding. I think that was the time that the league went from something that I hung out with friends in, to something where I really felt like my path in life had changed because of. Since that whole event, and a few others as well, I haven't been super active. In fact I've been the exact opposite, I have been inactive and have barely earned it all. My heart really wasn't into these leagues and I had some regression in terms of my mental health, but recently with support from friends and I'll be honest, with some extra medication to help with some new diagnosis I've gotten, I've realized that I really want to give back to the league. It just happened that about the time all this happened, Tuba made the decision that he had to step down because of personal things going on. I had jokes about taking over the team many times before, and I did again, but Tuba, despite me being inactive, asked me if I was genuinely honest. I laughed it off and said no way nobody would want me as GM, and I kind of moved on.
But then I thought about it, my life is busy but I still have time to goof off all the time, so why didn't I step up and help out as a Co-GM. I've never really disappeared from the locker room even when I was inactive, and I enjoy helping the team out, why not just take a few extra steps. So I started to really consider it and I thought about what I could help the team with. I'm not going to be the most strategic person especially when it comes to football, and I already have a history with being a GM that honestly left scars on my heart. I know this may sound overblown but I really felt like I can make a difference on the team at least. I've been riding along as just somebody who has taken from the league in a sense and I wanted to take a step forward and give back in any way that I could. I’m not creative enough to really write media the way a lot of people do, but I enjoy building relationships and helping people out, so I thought why not put my toe back into the management space. Obviously I have never been an ISFL level manager here so I have a lot to learn but I have a lot of people that care on this team that want to support and help the team succeed, and I really just want to help them reach their goals.
Now maybe that doesn't really explain what the ISL means to me, maybe I made a misleading title but I have all these thoughts showing around in my head that I wanted to get down. I have written and Rewritten this article for a couple years now, and I planned on posting it as my last post in the league. but recently I think I've got a new fire of interest in the league, despite still knowing very little about football, that I want to put out and show everybody. sure it's a silly little dot football league, but it's my silly little dot Football League and I want to help others help it grow. I think this league and the people in it are hard-working and they care and they really have the potential to make a positive impact on lives. not just with some of the charity they do but just emotionally reaching people, no matter how far they are. I've seen friendships and camaraderie here that can rival the ones I have had in real sports leagues, and I think that's really special. Now I don't think this will ever be a mainstream thing, and maybe in a few years it won't be a part of my life, but for now, right here, it means a lot to me and it's real. So thanks to everybody who has supported me and encouraged me and been there to listen to me, people who have had to deal with my quite insane regression posts where I have no idea what I'm doing. Thanks for everything so far and thanks in advance for the future.
- This was dictated so it may be an AWFUL read and I really am not going to go back and fix it, my time is too precious. I’ve been serious enough for 2024, genuinely not making sarcastic jokes and maintaining even a single train of thought like this was hard. Even with how meandering it was. Real Scorp stream of consciousness. That’s not spelled right is it? There's probably a few thoughts I never finished in here but meh.
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - juniped - 07-22-2024
Oh also I had shoulder surgery in June so, that took me out of commission
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - Hallmonitor_20 - 07-22-2024
Wow way to call out that I was scouting you illegally while we were on the clock and that I used the war room as a way to make low earners earn TPE for free.
Now HO is going to vacate all 5 of my wins from my time in Philly.
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - juniped - 07-22-2024
(07-22-2024, 04:11 PM)Hallmonitor_20 Wrote: Wow way to call out that I was scouting you illegally while we were on the clock and that I used the war room as a way to make low earners earn TPE for free.@HO get this man
Now HO is going to vacate all 5 of my wins from my time in Philly.
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - lock180 - 07-22-2024
Maybe you were right about not putting this out until I'm done with my piece. How am I supposed to do my thing when you put out this type of media piece?!
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - juniped - 07-22-2024
(07-22-2024, 04:58 PM)lock180 Wrote: Maybe you were right about not putting this out until I'm done with my piece. How am I supposed to do my thing when you put out this type of media piece?!
Who are you, where am I
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - TubaDeus - 07-23-2024
Honestly it's incredible just how much life you've breathed into every server you've joined since the decision to name you the next GM. Loving the energy!
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - Opera_Phantom - 07-23-2024
(07-22-2024, 04:11 PM)Hallmonitor_20 Wrote: Wow way to call out that I was scouting you illegally while we were on the clock and that I used the war room as a way to make low earners earn TPE for free.
Now HO is going to vacate all 5 of my wins from my time in Philly.
You're lucky i have zero power now
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - juniped - 07-23-2024
(07-23-2024, 08:36 AM)Opera_Phantom Wrote:(07-22-2024, 04:11 PM)Hallmonitor_20 Wrote: Wow way to call out that I was scouting you illegally while we were on the clock and that I used the war room as a way to make low earners earn TPE for free.
Now HO is going to vacate all 5 of my wins from my time in Philly.
You're lucky i have zero power now
Can we punish him retroactively?
RE: What the ISFL means to me. Or who the heck let me be GM? - Pat - 07-23-2024
(07-22-2024, 04:11 PM)Hallmonitor_20 Wrote: Wow way to call out that I was scouting you illegally while we were on the clock and that I used the war room as a way to make low earners earn TPE for free.
Now HO is going to vacate all 5 of my wins from my time in Philly.
I didn't know you were Philly's GM for 7 seasons.