I don't know if I should be surprised or not anymore. After so many seasons of heartbreak how much hope can one truly muster when facing adversity once again? And when failing to rise to that challenge can it be called hopelessness if there never was any hope at all? Can one feel defeated without ever feeling victorious? I find myself swirling in bullshit existential questions when reflecting on my career as the quarterback of the Yellowknife Wraiths, both as an individual and as a collective.
How will the community as a whole remember the legacy of the Wraiths during this time frame? Will we be remembered as the team with the best regular season winning percentage, or will we be remembered as the ultimate choke artists who fell to both dynasties and underdogs alike? How will Cooter Bigsby be remembered? Will he be remembered as the gunslinger who threw for more yards and more touchdowns than anyone else in his time? Or will he be overshadowed by his peers Havran and Armstrong who were masters of efficiency?
Who gives a shit?
I'll admit I pilfered the clickbait title and overall core message of this entire article from Jon Bois in his History of the Seattle Mariners piece, but a lot of what he had to say as those episodes wound to a close made sense. We may not have won it all during our Ultimus trips or our finish as the top seed. I may not see Cooter enshrined in the Hall of Fame with his name in the top 3 on the career leaderboards. Yet I can't seem to really give a shit.
And when I say I don't give a shit, don't mistake it for apathy for the league or the team or my own player. This isn't me taking my ball and going home and pretending like I never liked football anyway. Instead all I can think about is how much fun it has been to be a part of this team. My teammates and GMs will undoubtedly tell you I'm barely a presence in the team locker room or the war room but I still feel such a great sense of pride and connection to the people that are there. I won't go off and start tagging names and naming people and all that song and dance because I don't have to. Anyone who has been a part of the team knows it already.
This is starting to sound a lot like a retirement post and in its own way it is, but not officially, not yet. There is one more season left to go for Cooter Bigsby. 13 final games under the lights as a celebration of all the people that have made Yellowknife a special place since I was drafted in Season 14. Win or lose, hall of fame or not.
How will the community as a whole remember the legacy of the Wraiths during this time frame? Will we be remembered as the team with the best regular season winning percentage, or will we be remembered as the ultimate choke artists who fell to both dynasties and underdogs alike? How will Cooter Bigsby be remembered? Will he be remembered as the gunslinger who threw for more yards and more touchdowns than anyone else in his time? Or will he be overshadowed by his peers Havran and Armstrong who were masters of efficiency?
Who gives a shit?
I'll admit I pilfered the clickbait title and overall core message of this entire article from Jon Bois in his History of the Seattle Mariners piece, but a lot of what he had to say as those episodes wound to a close made sense. We may not have won it all during our Ultimus trips or our finish as the top seed. I may not see Cooter enshrined in the Hall of Fame with his name in the top 3 on the career leaderboards. Yet I can't seem to really give a shit.
And when I say I don't give a shit, don't mistake it for apathy for the league or the team or my own player. This isn't me taking my ball and going home and pretending like I never liked football anyway. Instead all I can think about is how much fun it has been to be a part of this team. My teammates and GMs will undoubtedly tell you I'm barely a presence in the team locker room or the war room but I still feel such a great sense of pride and connection to the people that are there. I won't go off and start tagging names and naming people and all that song and dance because I don't have to. Anyone who has been a part of the team knows it already.
This is starting to sound a lot like a retirement post and in its own way it is, but not officially, not yet. There is one more season left to go for Cooter Bigsby. 13 final games under the lights as a celebration of all the people that have made Yellowknife a special place since I was drafted in Season 14. Win or lose, hall of fame or not.
Hank Winchester (S25 - Current) - Scrub
Angus Winchester (S1-S12) - 4x Ultimus Champ - #2 Career Sacks - Hall of Fame
Cooter Bigsby (S14-S23) - S23 Ultimus Champ - #4 Career Yards - #4 Career TDs - 2x MVP - Hall of Fame