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+---- Thread: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office (/showthread.php?tid=103179)
Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - Leoben - 01-26-2020
Ready for grading. 1800 or so words, just pay me whatever you see fit. I realize this is in SHL Media and the first topic is Anaheim but it applies to both leagues really.
Another Off-Season, Another Shit-Show
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media.giphy.com/media/l0IylOPCNkiqOgMyA/giphy.gif)
Making Sense of the Anaheim Tampering Case
There is lots of drama every off-season. We can chalk it up to boredom and that would be fairly accurate. This off-season was fairly quiet until about five or six days ago when Anaheim got slapped hard. Whether we agree with the punishment or not is irrelevant. It brought to light much larger issues that I hope are addressed going forward. Similar to Hamilton’s ordeal last off-season, which has led the way to big changes which could be beneficial for the league, Anaheim’s punishment may have opened the door to something better.
Until then though, all the league has done is show that some members of Head Office prefer to run things like they are in the KGB rather than some democratic committee. It’s right there in the rule-book.
Quote:SMJHL HO reserves the right to make executive decisions when situations arise not covered in the written rules.
There seem to be so many un-written laws and rules that it’s like an old World War I minefield but they forgot where all the mines were placed until someone steps on one. But when someone does step on one these days, God help them. Rather than correct the action or even intervene (there’s a novel thought), Head Office seems content to let teams break rules, knowingly or unknowingly, and then drop their hammer. Picture a police officer seeing someone steal a soda but just decides to follow the perp around for a few hours and the perp ends up murdering someone. Then the officer steps in. The officer captured a murderer, sure, but earlier intervention would have saved a life.
I know there are no murders in the league, but that’s not really my point. My point is how is it perceived to an outsider? New players need guidance and it's clear they could accidentally break a rule and get punished. We all want the league to grow and have good player retention right? At least we say we do but we really only want retention if the user fits our criteria (more on that later).
Check this out.
@suavemente
Quote:Rookie perspective: brand new to the league so I don't really care/have a dog in the race but what I do care about is my updates not reflecting in the WJC roster stats. My submissions not being graded on time and affecting my ability to buy gear and training. Mayhaps there are bigger fish to fry, at least that's how it looks/feels like to me. Y'all would rather do this for 3 days straight than help out actual rookies making content and trying to have a fun time. I think the ramifications/ new player retention that are gonna be affected by this hubbabaloo is gonna be far more impactful than the actual issue being discussed.
Now there are some misguided frustrations in that post regarding stats and his updates. But he does have a point. Media grading is awful (no fault to the actual graders but it takes way too long). But this new player's perception is that Head Office would rather swing their giant e-peen around showing how powerful they are rather than actually help the league. We just had a huge draft and this is one of the first things they see.
And then the responses. As I said, whether you agree or disagree with the ruling and punishment is irrelevant here. But the responses from some of the senior and most respected members on the site have been, disappointing.
@JKortesi81
Quote:If anyone thinks that SMJHL HO just blew this off and didn't give this enough time, you couldn't be more wrong. The entire HO (And at times, Eggy and SD) spent a LOT of time discussing and debating this scenario yesterday, and today after the appeal was made. There were like 1400 messages over the first few hours alone, complete with input from every single member of HO.
If you want to debate the initial punishment and the ensuing lesser punishment from the appeal, be my guest, that's your right and everyone will have a different opinion on the matter. But I refuse to let the character of the Head Office members come into question based on your own personal opinions of how long anything "should" have taken. Believe me, this was taken incredibly seriously by everyone, and the last two days were dedicated to constant communication from everyone about the matter. Everyone in the Head Office cares about the league and takes this job seriously. Just because outsiders feel that enough time wasn't taken on the matter doesn't mean that it wasn't.
Thanks.
When briefly questioned, the response.
Quote:That’s my point: I don’t care what you or others find “hard to believe”. Im telling you what actually happened. Not speculation. If you choose to get bothered by your own assumptions and opinions as opposed to what did happen, go nuts. That’s not our problem.
Personally, I read the appeal not long after it sent, as I worked until 2am and was awake for a while after. Others started talking about it as early as 4:00am. When I woke up to get ready for regular work (I work two jobs) at 7:30ish, everyone in HO had already commented and were discussing the appeal, and it continued nonstop until the appeal decision post.
That’s really more than i need to tell you though. But just proving the point that assumptions get you nowhere.
There is nothing unreasonable written here. I have nothing but respect for the user and he has been a remarkable mentor to many people in the past, myself included. But the response was essentially “I know more than you so you can have your opinions and you’re wrong.” They know what happened and we don't so our opinions and concerns are invalid. You’d make a good Senator someday if the whole fake hockey thing doesn’t work out.
There is nothing out of line in the response. But the perception to new players is one of dismissal. We know more than you so don’t even bother. That’s not inclusive, that’s not welcoming. That’s “fuck you, we’re right, you’re wrong.”
You’re Welcome, As Long as Your Views Match Ours
For more on this attitude of inclusion versus dismissal, let’s go back a few seasons to the whole PenKnight debacle. He made some controversial comments in a locker room and they were pasted on the site for all to see. Team issues become league issues really fast around here. Regardless of how you feel about him or his views, the reaction and “cancel PK” reaction was clinically stupid. Apparently everyone over the age of thirty on this site is a boomer who needs to sit down. They need to sit down and probably take another driving test because they’re old as shit. Ironically, one of the sites biggest social justice warriors got in trouble for having a racist username in Discord. Sometimes the whitest knights have the dirtiest underwear.
![[Image: fish-mouth-300x162.png]](http://stakedintheheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/fish-mouth-300x162.png)
I didn't know it had anything to do with immigration
Granted, PenKnight chose to leave. He could have stayed and dealt with the bullshit. People would have moved on eventually. I’m a prime example of that. God forbid someone looks at my posts from two years ago. God forbid I search for my name in old Discord posts and see what my current teammates and GMs used to and some probably still do think of me (I have, and I don’t care, they were right at the time). If I said some of that stuff now that I said two years ago, I’d be banned. Rightfully so.
Personally I feel like there should be some locker room etiquette around here. Some shit should not be shared with everyone. That’s how real locker rooms are handled and the leaker is ostracized just as much as the offender. But as is the trend, we just pile on the perceived bad guy and treat him like Piggy in Lord of the Flies.
Maybe it's the recovering addict in me but I’m all about second, third, fourth, even fifth chances. People can change.
And there’s always another PenKnight. You can ban and ostracize the AssPancakes and PenKnights of the world, but it’s only a matter of time until another one pops up.
And maybe they won’t change. But having people with different views than your own is not always a bad thing. It teaches us what to not be like so we don’t get stuck in a hive. It’s a real thing. Most of us have probably used reddit at one time or another so we know what it’s like. God forbid you go against the narrative.
Head Office Should Not Have Skin in the Game
If you want to be a member of Head Office and want to have authority over the league and want to be in a position to make decisions that can alter the trajectory of a team, then you have no business having a player in either league, period. To hell with this independent tribunal talk or whatever you want to call it, people in power should not be able to make decisions that could directly or inadvertently benefit them or their team. It’s one of the main criticisms we have against U.S. Presidents, present and past. They make decisions that benefit their friends and family. It’s fucked.
“But what fun is it if we don’t have a player?” I don’t know and I don’t care. You either have power or you play. Those should be the only options. If you are appointed or elected (please not elected), you retire your player and he or she goes away. Leave them inactive or don’t, whatever, but you can no longer touch that player even after your tenure is up.
Big Changes
The league has never been more un-inviting to new people. I know we just had a big draft and I am sure a lot of them will turn into great players. But we could have more. I am sure some people came in, saw all these punishment threads, decided “you people are crazy” and left.
We also have a huge change coming with FHM6. It’s a very rocky time for the league. But between that change and punishments that do not fit the crime, it’s been a strange off-season.
All In All
Sometimes I'm not sure if we are here to play fake hockey or just police each other until one of us does something mean or wrong. I mean I'll still play but it's clear off-seasons are way too long.
RE: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - Segi - 01-26-2020
Gotta say, you do bring up some good points, but the take away of your article is simply not doable. People do an HO job, because they care about the league and want to make it better in some way. Whether or not they manage to achieve that goal, is not the question now. The point is, you don't care about the league when you don't have a player in it. And you really, really don't want people in HO who don't care about the league.
We need people in HO who can be impartial, which I believe most if not all current HO members can be. I feel the flaw in the Anaheim case, was that they felt personally attacked after the first ruling and weren't able to handle that too well. I know, it's easy to get to that point in HO, you do have to deal with a lot of uncalled for shit. That's why I think, if the appeal was handled by a different team than the original one, it would have come out a lot better, no matter what the ruling would've been then. They either would have come closer to what the other side expected or they would have been able to explain the reasoning differently and from a more believable point of view.
RE: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - PenKnight - 01-26-2020
@Leoben
OK BOOMER!!
RE: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - hhh81 - 01-26-2020
Your hyperbolic commentary is unhelpful.
As someone who has previously served in the J HO (during the dark times of the late Nobody era), and as J GM, I think I have a valuable perspective to have some empathy for all involved. I know HO has been working on rewriting the entire rulebook; that's not a quick or easy process, but to say they are doing nothing is silly and incorrect.
Also, it's a little silly to pick and choose the stuff from suavemente's post. Media grading happens weekly, and as far as I am aware SMJHL HO has had little to no influence on that. Grouping that in with other concerns (valid or invalid) is bad form.
RE: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - _Blitz_ - 01-26-2020
01-26-2020, 04:11 PMhhh81 Wrote: Your hyperbolic commentary is unhelpful.
Also, it's a little silly to pick and choose the stuff from suavemente's post. Media grading happens weekly, and as far as I am aware SMJHL HO has had little to no influence on that.
IIRC, to maybe further your point, Suavmente was informed of this shortly after making that comment, and conceded that the delay made sense with that in mind.
RE: Ramblings - Anaheim, New Players, Old Ideas, and Head Office - golden_apricot - 01-26-2020
01-26-2020, 04:11 PMhhh81 Wrote: Your hyperbolic commentary is unhelpful.
As someone who has previously served in the J HO (during the dark times of the late Nobody era), and as J GM, I think I have a valuable perspective to have some empathy for all involved. I know HO has been working on rewriting the entire rulebook; that's not a quick or easy process, but to say they are doing nothing is silly and incorrect.
Also, it's a little silly to pick and choose the stuff from suavemente's post. Media grading happens weekly, and as far as I am aware SMJHL HO has had little to no influence on that. Grouping that in with other concerns (valid or invalid) is bad form.
We don't have a role in media grading at all and in addition to that, when the post was made smjhl media grading was actually too fast, with the oldest article being 4 days old. I didn't comment on the thread this was brought up for obvious reasons.