It's a day I thought would never come, and honestly it had some pretty awful timing. Turns out that earlier this morning I was traded to the Orange County Otters by the Colorado Yeti, who previously had drafted me first overall. I have to say, I had huge dreams when I joined that team. I was surrounded by a roster unparalleled by anything else (save maybe New Orleans) in terms of potential at the time, and the locker room was electric. There was such a good cast of leaders around, and we had a fantastic group of guys that were all pumped to someday win what seemed like a guaranteed championship. Veteran presences like Eli Kamaka, Dan Miller, and Jonathan Saint were massive in the locker room, and during my second season breathed the little bit of life into our team that kept me around even the small amount that I was. Newer and more hungry guys like Ryan Applehort, Howard Miller, Dwayne Aaron, Micycle McCormick, and Andre Bly Jr. were paramount to our success and everything was looking up. I think the dream started to fall apart right at the beginning of S9 sadly.
The first big knock was knowing that Dan Miller was around for a year, closely followed by the inactive streak of Kamaka, and the quick decline of Saint. Ishigawa was nearing his prime still which left our defensive core much intact, but soon with Mark Grau announcing he would be leaving the league, closely followed by Dwayne Aaron's disappearance and the eventual complete inactivity of Andre Bly Jr. it seemed like everything was falling around us. There were very few active members left on the team by the end of S9 and it was heartbreaking to see a team that had so much potential suddenly fall around us. Couple that with the recent loading on of a very high level job, an entrance into some very real commitment with my long time girlfriend, and the fact that I had been completely burning myself out I found myself losing interest in the league as a whole. I completely failed as the head updater, I started to slip as the San Antonio GM after years at the helm, and eventually I began to forget to update, more so checking in on the site from time to time to see what people were saying and doing. My discord presence dropped to an all-time low and suddenly I was gone completely.
Now, a few months and a full season later, I'm back not just in the league but also with a fresh start on a new team in California. While I loved my time in Colorado, I understand from the GM's perspective that despite the guarantee of my eventual return I wasn't worth it to keep around in the long term as the team started to drift apart. I wish things could have been different, but me and Colorado part ways on good term despite the circumstances of our separation. I won't be jumping back into the league completely just yet, and will remain semi-active for the first bit of my time back so that I don't overwork myself again, especially with my recent promotion and a very exciting romantic development. I love what I've had on this site, and I'm really looking forward to meeting some of the new faces around the league and getting to know the prospects and my younger team mates as I do. I want to raise a glass to Colorado for three beautiful seasons, and to the Orange County Otters for many more.
The first big knock was knowing that Dan Miller was around for a year, closely followed by the inactive streak of Kamaka, and the quick decline of Saint. Ishigawa was nearing his prime still which left our defensive core much intact, but soon with Mark Grau announcing he would be leaving the league, closely followed by Dwayne Aaron's disappearance and the eventual complete inactivity of Andre Bly Jr. it seemed like everything was falling around us. There were very few active members left on the team by the end of S9 and it was heartbreaking to see a team that had so much potential suddenly fall around us. Couple that with the recent loading on of a very high level job, an entrance into some very real commitment with my long time girlfriend, and the fact that I had been completely burning myself out I found myself losing interest in the league as a whole. I completely failed as the head updater, I started to slip as the San Antonio GM after years at the helm, and eventually I began to forget to update, more so checking in on the site from time to time to see what people were saying and doing. My discord presence dropped to an all-time low and suddenly I was gone completely.
Now, a few months and a full season later, I'm back not just in the league but also with a fresh start on a new team in California. While I loved my time in Colorado, I understand from the GM's perspective that despite the guarantee of my eventual return I wasn't worth it to keep around in the long term as the team started to drift apart. I wish things could have been different, but me and Colorado part ways on good term despite the circumstances of our separation. I won't be jumping back into the league completely just yet, and will remain semi-active for the first bit of my time back so that I don't overwork myself again, especially with my recent promotion and a very exciting romantic development. I love what I've had on this site, and I'm really looking forward to meeting some of the new faces around the league and getting to know the prospects and my younger team mates as I do. I want to raise a glass to Colorado for three beautiful seasons, and to the Orange County Otters for many more.