04-02-2023, 10:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-04-2023, 06:46 PM by xenosthelegend. Edited 4 times in total.)
Hey you all. I'm Gadget, GM of the Dallas BirdDogs, I'm not sure quite how to open this, other then getting straight into it. They finally got me, going into the next season, I will no longer be GM of the BirdDogs, and I wanted to look back on my career as a GM. Think of this as more of a love letter to GMing rather then a traditional media post. I had cut this down in length from like 7 pages in word to like 3, so that I don't run on too much, but there's so much I want to say.
Who hired this guy anyways?
Back at the trail end of S37, I was approached by the at the time current GM of the Birddogs, @TheHammer43. He was looking for a 2nd, after his co-GM had mysteriously vanished off the face of the sim league. I was hesitant to accept the job at first, for the same reasons I'm actually stepping down. GMing really is a second part-time job if you aren't prepared, and while at the time I was hesitant to accept, I wound up taking the job.
GMing sucks. I loved GMing.
To all the new GMs, if you are going to read any part of this, I would read this paragraph. GMing is more then just roster construction in the DSFL team. It takes commitment to the job because if you half ass it, someone else won't. Kansas City's back to back Ultimini trips were fueled by a little luck for sure, but @domffl and @TubaDeus are some big brains (as evidenced by Dom continuously whooping my butt in Town of Salem) and their success is no accident. Notably once work started picking up for me as I entered my third season, I didn’t have time to do my due diligence with scouting, so I wound up getting lazy, and I got bit by it, with poor roster construction and some users who had some unfortunate extraneous circumstances, (Along with poor Co-GM Choice, Fire @MikeWhiskey !) and I squandered what should have been a loaded team to just mediocrity. Another big part of the GMing cycle is interacting with other GMs. I was always a bit too soft when it came to trades, and I got punished for it. The most obvious example was a trade between and which we were in a position where it needed to happen, and was overall very messy, although it winded up with the BirdDogs receiving RAINN at QB.
On the topic of trades, it was easy to forget that this is a developmental league, and the primary goal is to get users ready for the ISFL. Often times that meant I tried to keep users who joined the league together on the same team, even if my attempts provided little success. There’s a lot of those stories in GMing, where you will put a ton of effort and planning into a project, only for it to crash and burn in front of you. Sometimes that means attempting to rejuvenate the locker room only for you to lose activity as a result, or taking a swing on a prospect and missing entirely, there’s a lot of work that goes into being a GM, and even then, you only win an average of one of every eight seasons.
Do Not Draft: Smells bad
Drafting is the hardest part of the DSFL as a GM. There’s so many factors that go into it, and for every @fnordypsyduck or @ElMerchanto you draft, you are just as likely to draft someone who goes IA a month in. Drafting sucks. You don’t get everyone you want, and oftentimes I would come out of a draft feeling like I missed out on big players who if I had just picked a spot earlier, would have been great additions to the team. Additionally there’s the ever tricky situations of waivers
Waiver? I hardly even know her!
If you are gonna get anything out of this, it’s that as a DSFL GM, you should claim every single player you come across. Every last one. Waivers are a use it or lose it type of deal, and if you end the season with 1st in waiver priority, it’s not going to roll over, it’s just going to waste away. Waiver claims are free. Please use them for every player you can. Even if they don’t fit your team, you can still play people out of position. I believe there was a strat I had submitted with a RB at RB, FB, WR, WR, and TE. The league is a developmental one, and part of development is fostering a locker room which you would want to be in.
Giving thanks, About 7 months too early.
Here’s the sappy stuff. I want to really thank those of you guys who made my time in Dallas special. To start, I would like to thank everyone who was my peer during my tenure, you all were (Mostly) great fun to chat with in the super secret GM only luxury lounge that I really shouldn’t talk about. Additionally there’s the DSFL HO, who while the GMs frequently butted heads with HO, we tended to come to a solution that left everyone satisfied. A massive Shoutout to @iStegosauruz for being a mentor to me as I was learning the ropes, and all the Dallas war room members. Additionally @TheHammer43 and @MikeWhiskey , I couldn’t have done it without you two, you helped keep me sane, and when I slacked due to IRL responsibilities you picked it up right away. A massive thank you to all the rookies who came through during my time as GM, and finally, a special thank you to @fnordypsyduck for taking the reigns as the new Dallas GM, and for the last time:
Who hired this guy anyways?
Back at the trail end of S37, I was approached by the at the time current GM of the Birddogs, @TheHammer43. He was looking for a 2nd, after his co-GM had mysteriously vanished off the face of the sim league. I was hesitant to accept the job at first, for the same reasons I'm actually stepping down. GMing really is a second part-time job if you aren't prepared, and while at the time I was hesitant to accept, I wound up taking the job.
GMing sucks. I loved GMing.
To all the new GMs, if you are going to read any part of this, I would read this paragraph. GMing is more then just roster construction in the DSFL team. It takes commitment to the job because if you half ass it, someone else won't. Kansas City's back to back Ultimini trips were fueled by a little luck for sure, but @domffl and @TubaDeus are some big brains (as evidenced by Dom continuously whooping my butt in Town of Salem) and their success is no accident. Notably once work started picking up for me as I entered my third season, I didn’t have time to do my due diligence with scouting, so I wound up getting lazy, and I got bit by it, with poor roster construction and some users who had some unfortunate extraneous circumstances, (Along with poor Co-GM Choice, Fire @MikeWhiskey !) and I squandered what should have been a loaded team to just mediocrity. Another big part of the GMing cycle is interacting with other GMs. I was always a bit too soft when it came to trades, and I got punished for it. The most obvious example was a trade between and which we were in a position where it needed to happen, and was overall very messy, although it winded up with the BirdDogs receiving RAINN at QB.
On the topic of trades, it was easy to forget that this is a developmental league, and the primary goal is to get users ready for the ISFL. Often times that meant I tried to keep users who joined the league together on the same team, even if my attempts provided little success. There’s a lot of those stories in GMing, where you will put a ton of effort and planning into a project, only for it to crash and burn in front of you. Sometimes that means attempting to rejuvenate the locker room only for you to lose activity as a result, or taking a swing on a prospect and missing entirely, there’s a lot of work that goes into being a GM, and even then, you only win an average of one of every eight seasons.
Do Not Draft: Smells bad
Drafting is the hardest part of the DSFL as a GM. There’s so many factors that go into it, and for every @fnordypsyduck or @ElMerchanto you draft, you are just as likely to draft someone who goes IA a month in. Drafting sucks. You don’t get everyone you want, and oftentimes I would come out of a draft feeling like I missed out on big players who if I had just picked a spot earlier, would have been great additions to the team. Additionally there’s the ever tricky situations of waivers
Waiver? I hardly even know her!
If you are gonna get anything out of this, it’s that as a DSFL GM, you should claim every single player you come across. Every last one. Waivers are a use it or lose it type of deal, and if you end the season with 1st in waiver priority, it’s not going to roll over, it’s just going to waste away. Waiver claims are free. Please use them for every player you can. Even if they don’t fit your team, you can still play people out of position. I believe there was a strat I had submitted with a RB at RB, FB, WR, WR, and TE. The league is a developmental one, and part of development is fostering a locker room which you would want to be in.
Giving thanks, About 7 months too early.
Here’s the sappy stuff. I want to really thank those of you guys who made my time in Dallas special. To start, I would like to thank everyone who was my peer during my tenure, you all were (Mostly) great fun to chat with in the super secret GM only luxury lounge that I really shouldn’t talk about. Additionally there’s the DSFL HO, who while the GMs frequently butted heads with HO, we tended to come to a solution that left everyone satisfied. A massive Shoutout to @iStegosauruz for being a mentor to me as I was learning the ropes, and all the Dallas war room members. Additionally @TheHammer43 and @MikeWhiskey , I couldn’t have done it without you two, you helped keep me sane, and when I slacked due to IRL responsibilities you picked it up right away. A massive thank you to all the rookies who came through during my time as GM, and finally, a special thank you to @fnordypsyduck for taking the reigns as the new Dallas GM, and for the last time: