A Failed Expansion Bid - Printable Version +- Simulation Hockey League (https://simulationhockey.com) +-- Forum: League Media (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=610) +--- Forum: SMJHL Media (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=48) +---- Forum: Graded Articles (https://simulationhockey.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=403) +---- Thread: A Failed Expansion Bid (/showthread.php?tid=107179) |
A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 ***ready for grading - 4730 words + pictures as well as the visual application, pls split pay 50/50 between jeffie and I*** With SMJHL HO announcing that I was one of the finalists not chosen for a team, instead going with Evok and Jearim to head up the two new expansion teams, I have decided to publicly post my app in order to at least get some semblance of value in return for the time I spent on writing this app in alongside my co-GM, @jeffie43. Although we weren't chosen to lead a team, we do respect the decision HO made, even if it comes at our expense. To that, please feel free to read through my full application in its unfiltered, unedited glory; (For those that like visuals and don't want to read my 4500 word application, my co-GM Jeffie put together the following: JFisherr and Jeffie Visual Application ******************************************************************************************************************** To Commissioner BadWolf and the fellow members of the SMJHL Head Office, What an exciting, prosperous time for the SHL as a whole, and the SMJHL specifically. Talks of (an) expansion team(s) being added to the SMJHL due to increased player retention, as well as improved recruiting efforts is an incredible accomplishment, and I commend you HO members for your role in that. I am jfisherr, and I am writing to you today to express my profound interest in becoming the General Manager of this possible expansion team. I will begin my application by first introducing myself and why I think I would be a great fit for an expansion team, followed by introducing who I expect my co-general manager to be for this undertaking. This will be followed by introducing my first potential expansion idea, where I will elaborate on the choices made for location, nickname, as well as the reasoning behind the team’s colours. This will be followed by my second suggestion, where I will go over the same information. The reasoning on providing two sets of branding is simple; there are two conferences, each of which could be worthy of an expansion team. Additionally, my co-GM and I have full confidence that either of our suggestions would be worthy of being the winning bid for this heavily sought prize. About Me: jfisherr To begin, I am jfisherr, commonly referred to on-site and in locker rooms as either Fish, Sushi, or Fishy. I joined the SHL in July of 2019, a week or so before the S49 SMJHL Entry Draft. Although I have been on the site for just under one real year, I have been blessed to have joined some of the best, most active locker rooms on the site. To really give HO a taste of the person I am and the knowledge and experience I would bring into this role, I will be breaking this part of my application down into two parts; my On-Site Roles, as well as my Locker Room Experiences across every portion of the SHL. The jobs and experiences I have held and learned from help make me one of the more well-rounded candidates for this potential position. On-Site Roles Not only am I a committed and caring individual that values team success, and more importantly, personal enjoyment of the SHL, I also bring in number of other experiences that would help me in this role. Firstly, although I have been an updater for the SHL for only one season, knowing how the league runs behind the scenes would be hugely beneficial, as I would be in a position to directly help these new individuals with their updates. Additionally, I have held a number of SMJHL jobs that show how much I care for this league, including being the SMJHL Awards Show Host for 3 seasons, being an SMJHL Media Grader for multiple seasons, as well as being one of the voices that led to the creation of the SMJHL All-Star Committee, as well as being a member of this committee for two seasons. Additionally, throughout my tenure as a member on this site, I have been an advocate for a change to how the SMJHL Point Tasks are structured, as I reached out to Jenny back in S49 about introducing a Playoff Predictions Point Task, as well as making some suggestions to Gabe about point tasks for when he took over as SMJHL PT Director. The SMJHL is the best part about this site, and I would love to be given the opportunity to give back to the league that got me hooked on the SHL and give other people the same, positive experience I had in my time in the J. Locker Room Experiences To start, the first SHL Discord I joined was Czechia’s, which has exposed me to some of the most caring, influential members on the site. Czechia is the place where I formed some of my best friendships on the site with some of the site’s best users, including Caltroit, LukeTD, Infidel, and others. Czechia is one of, if not the most active IIHF LR, and I am so grateful I took a leap of faith and chose them as my home. Being exposed to people that care about the SHL so much helped me become further engrossed in the site, learning more and more as time went by as I was able to directly pick their brains on site issues, real-life events, and more. Not long after I joined Czechia, St. Louis selected me in the S49 draft, and it is here my caring for the SMJHL really took off. Joining a LR with legendary SMJHL GMs, such as TML, JoeK, and Nictox, and seeing how they cared and interacted with both new creates, recreates, and alumni of St. Louis was highly influential, and robbed off on me dramatically. These interactions, specifically from Nic, inspired me to be one of the most active, helpful rookies on the team. In fact, as a second-season player, Nictox saw enough in me to name me captain over more established, veteran players such as MrStennett, JayGreatness, and others. This was quite the honour, and something I took very seriously. Additionally, Nic saw something further in me, as after giving me the title of captain, he invited me to St. Louis’ Head Office. It was here my curiosity for GMing really began to grow, as I was able to directly help Nic with the draft, trade ideas, and more. I believe I have been a valued addition to the St. Louis Head Office team, as we have now undergone two regime changes, from TML -> Nic -> Blitz, with each one requesting I continue to remain in the role as well as remain engaged in the St. Louis Current Players channel, even as I aged out of the SMJHL. This brings me on to my final stop in the league, the Buffalo Stampede. Joining what I can guarantee is the most active locker room across all of the SHL has only further enhanced my time on site, as Buffalo has some of the most active, funniest members across the league. Although people consider some of Buffalo to be toxic, much of the team are just vocal, outspoken individuals who only want what’s best for the site. I am not oblivious to some of the negative connotations that being a member of the Buffalo Stampede brings, yet I think almost everyone can admit that WannaBeFinn and Tomen have built the Stampede into a perennial powerhouse through elite drafting and smart trades. I think the LR culture that WBF and Tomen have constructed, where everyone is chatty and great friends with one another is one of the biggest reasons behind the Stampede becoming one of the best run organizations in the league. I have been extremely lucky to see first-hand how this great organization is run, as near the end of my rookie season in Buffalo, WannaBeFinn invited me into Buffalo’s Head Office Chat, where I began to learn how they identify draft talent, what they look for in certain players, as well as how they engage in major trades, such as that for noted SMJHL legend Kalakar. This first-hand learning experience is something I consider to be invaluable hands-on learning that I would use as a GM if given the opportunity to run my own team. To summarize, I think throughout my year-long journey on the SHL, multiple teams with very different people in charge such as Nictox, Blitz, WannaBeFinn and Tomen, as well as all of my teammates, have seen the leadership skills I bring to the table. They have additionally seen the care I have for each and every one of my teammates, and they see the potential I have to be a true leader on this site. 2. The Chosen One: jeffie43 Sim Experience Jeffie43 is my choice to be my co-GM for a wide variety of positive reasons. Jeffie, although a recent addition to the SHL, has been involved in a number of various sim leagues for a long time. Getting his start in the MLR, a baseball-sim league, Jeffie held a number of important jobs for this league, including being a general manager, as well as even being commissioner of the MLR for a short while. In addition to working for the betterment of the MLR, Jeffie has been a notable user in the NSFL since creating his first player. While being an upstanding member in the NSFL, Jeffie quickly became more and more engaged in the site, becoming a graphics grader, a wiki grader, and even earning the title of General Manager of a DSFL team, the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, which unfortunately ended quickly. Those of you who are aware of, or active in the NSFL, knows what happened with Jeffie. I am not hiding from the fact Jeffie was fired in the DSFL, I am actually embracing the fact Jeffie has been punished and fired, and I think the voting members of HO should to. Jeffie was fired for being in violation of the NSFLs strict tampering rules, for re-recruiting gwdjohnson to the league to create a new player. I think this was a huge error on behalf of the NSFL HO, as Jeffie in his short time here in the SHL has proven to be one of the most active and engaging members of his draft class. SHL Experience Jeffie has helped continue the great culture that Tig and Nour have built in Detroit, while also being part of the draft classes that have helped turn around the Toronto locker room from a team that is quiet and tanking, into a fun and active locker room of a team on the rise (Sorry ML, you’re doing an incredible job). The different locker room perspectives that Jeffie and I share, St. Louis vs. Detroit, Buffalo vs. Toronto, Canada vs. Czechia, is something I think would be hugely beneficial to creating a fun, positive locker room experience for this expansion team. Being able to combine the cultures of some of the best locker room experiences across both leagues is a huge positive to myself, and I hope to potential future players as we strive to become one of the top teams in the SMJHL. I am not the only one who thinks Jeffie is an incredible asset to the site. ML knows what he has in Jeffie, allowing Jeffie to sometimes help out with Toronto management decisions. Additionally, Jeffie has even given the keys to his own team already, as he was the GM of Canada’s WJC team, helping Canada earn their way to a gold medal. Furthermore, the members of the J Head Office know the hard work and dedication Jeffie is willing to put into the site, as he is a fun and vibrant presence in discords, while not being afraid to put in the work that being an SMJHL intern requires. I am happy to announce that Jeffie is my top choice as co, and I hope the members of J HO see what I see in Jeffie. 3. Challenges Facing Us Fostering a Positive Locker Room Culture I believe one of the biggest challenges facing Jeffie and I and our desire to foster one of the best locker rooms in the SMJHL immediately as an expansion franchise would be developing relationships between all of our players in order to form strong, lasting bonds as a team. I think this would be done in a variety of ways. First, would be identifying talent that we feel would fit to the culture we would want our locker room to have, which is a fun and easy-going place that is still respectful and inclusive to all. We would then focus on the cultivation and fostering of relationships amongst the team, which would be done in a variety of ways. We would initiate playing free-to-play mini-games such as Skribbl, have a gaming/public channel where people could invite friends from other locker rooms to play games such as Rocket League, Warzone, and others with one another, to even possibly having movie nights as a team. In addition to having games and other activities for everyone to participate in, I think one of the best ways to foster a strong locker room and ensure player retention is to have an active locker room where people are always around to chat, yet don’t feel pressured to always be active. I think Buffalo does this very well, and with the retention rates Detroit has, I believe Detroit has also done this very well. This is also partly why I’m happy to have Jeffie as a co, as the background he has from being a member of the Falcons is incredible, as Tig and Nour have built an absolute incredible team in Michigan. Identifying and Developing Winning Talent The second challenge we’ve identified that would be up to us to overcome would be the identification of the users that would provide Seattle with a winning culture. We think that once we are able to get users into our locker room, we would be able to foster their growth in a positive fashion, as our activity level would help these users remain motivated in their goals of making it to the SHL. Additionally, Jeffie and I have plans to foster this growth, as we would have a TPE task channels for rookies, as well as a separate channel for send-downs. These would aid our users as they would know when PT tasks are posted, when they are due, and more. Additionally, Jeffie and I both are knowledgeable about the on goings of the site, and would be able to provide assistance for users that participate in fantasy as well as for the PT tasks that require in-depth site knowledge, such as CW questions, Season Predictions, etc. We would ensure that the Trident players would not have to search far and wide in order to accomplish PT tasks, helping increase player retention, and hopefully developing these players into elite talents to increase graduation levels into the SHL. 4. Our First Suggestion: Seattle Our first and preferred team location would be returning a franchise to the emerald city, Seattle, Washington. With the Riot packing up and heading to the sunshine state, there has been a void left behind in the city, and I think our expansion franchise is the one that could help repair the damage left behind by the relocation of the Riot. We chose Seattle for a variety of reasons. The first is that Seattle makes sense as a city for an SMJHL team, as their close proximity to Vancouver and Kelowna, as well as Anaheim, would create natural rivalries among these close junior teams, specifically with the Whalers. We ultimately debated other cities west of the Mississippi, including but not limited to; San Diego, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, but with three teams, including one SMJHL team already in California and in close proximity to Las Vegas and Phoenix, we decided on Seattle. With the city chosen, we went on to figure out which name would fit the city best. Wanting to be original in our ideas like a sim league should, we didn’t want to go with names that were suggested for the NHL team, eliminating good suggestions like the Totems, Pilots, and others. We had a number of viable options, yet were able to narrow it down to three choices; the Seattle Seals, the Seattle Tridents, and the Seattle Sea Dogs. Ultimately, after polling some of my closest friends on the site (shout out Luffy, cal, and luke), Jeffie and I settled on one name; Welcome to your first glimpse of the next SMJHL franchise: the Seattle Tridents.
With Seattle being on the coast of the Pacific, I ultimately wanted to include something ocean/water-related, yet wanted to be creative and original in my branding. The Trident, the weapon of choice for the god of water Poseidon, screams originality and creativity to me, while also fitting my desire to have a water-related team name. With the team name chosen, I went looking for possible logos to serve as concept pieces for this application and found the following; Tridents Logo Concept I think one of the first things new users look at is the branding of each team, and so having a distinct yet great logo to go along with a phenomenal jersey set is important. Photoshop isn’t my strong suit, so I can’t offer logos in our colour scheme, but these are the colours we will be using if given the expansion team; Primary Colour: Seattle Sky Our primary colour choice would be a nice, light sky/powder blue that would bring in memories of a clear sky and calm waters. Powder blue is a colour that hasn’t been used by any current team either in the SHL or the SMJHL, and as far as I can tell, hasn’t been in use by any previous teams. Powder blue would give us an immediate identity, setting us apart from all of the other SMJHL teams. Secondary Colour; City Blue Our second colour of choice is another shade of blue, this one bringing in more green hues to give us a nice shade of a deep teal. This would accent the primary colour well, and although we would not be the first team with two different shades of blue as our primary and secondary colours, I believe they are distinct enough for people to not think of us as similar to Edmonton and Tampa Bay, especially with the powder blue as our primary. Additionally, this colour has similar tones to the official flag of Seattle, which I think is a great touch. Tertiary Colour: Trident Yellow The Trident wielded by Poseidon throughout all his mythological depictions, from movies, to cinema, to books, has always been clad in the best gold the sea has to offer, and so it is only fitting that we decided on Trident Gold as our tertiary colour to really pull the branding together. When combined with Clear Skies and Troubling Waters, the Seattle Tridents would have one of the best and most unique colour schemes across both leagues, and would provide us with branding that makes both recreates and first-gens excited to play for Seattle. To go along with our logo and our colours, I was able to get the following mock-ups of what our jerseys could look like; Home Jersey Concept The stripes on the arm sleeves, the bottoms of the jersey, and on the socks comes from the city flag of Seattle, shown below, which I think is a great touch to the city and would help the fans embrace the team. We are also considering bringing back the center stripes on our jerseys, which have been missing in the SHL and the SMJHL since Halifax relocated to Maine. This would be a distinct look and would set-us apart from other SMJHL teams. I would be excited to see what the notable graphic experts on the site could do with our ideas for logos and colour schemes. 5. Our Second Suggestion: Ottawa With no SMJHL team in the great-ish province of Quebec, one may think that a team in Quebec or Montreal would be the play. Although I think those are great locations, and would love to see a team in either Quebec or Montreal, there is a multitude of reasons as to why Ottawa would also make a stellar location for an SMJHL team. To begin, Ottawa is a great hockey city, Eugene Melnyk be damned, as evidenced by the great, long-term success of the Ottawa 67s over the years, in addition to the Senators being one of the better teams in the league throughout most of the 2000s, prior to Melnyk’s development into the worst owner across all of sports. In addition to these teams, Ottawa is also home to the world-famous Rideau Canal, a 202-kilometre stretch of water that when fully freezes over, is considered the world’s largest skating rink. Furthermore, Ontario is the largest and most influential province in Canada, slightly ahead of BC, and yet BC has two SMJHL teams, while Ontario has none. Ottawa’s close relation to the province of Quebec would thus be basically killing two birds with one stone. Branding Ottawa is a city that could have a variety of ways to go with a name. Referencing the federal government would be great, but also an easy way out. This is similar to bringing back an old franchise, such as the Ottawa Rough Riders, a former CFL team. I wanted to embrace the local roots in a distinct sense, and so after much back and forth, I was deciding between two team names; the Ottawa Redtails, and the Ottawa Watchmen. Redtails embraces both the city, the city’s preferred colour scheme, as well as has notable local ties. The Red-Tailed Hawk is an especially prevalent predatory bird in the city, with many being sighted in and around the city. In addition to being a local bird, the name Redtails also ties into the cities CFL team, the Ottawa Redblacks. With Redtails as a name, Ottawa would be able to have an iconic logo and a great, distinct colour scheme. The other name under consideration is the Ottawa Watchmen. Canada’s federal government buildings are built on the tops of a small cliff, overlooking where two rivers meet and merge together. In addition to this, Canada’s version of the CIA, known as CSIS, also calls the city of Ottawa as its main home, and thus, the Watchmen name references both using the expansive views from the cliffs, as well as CSIS for inspiration behind the name Watchmen. With that said, I think there is a clear winner between these two names, and that is the;
Ottawa Redtails The local ties the name Redtails has to the city was too great to overcome, and comes off the tongue a little nicer than the Ottawa Watchmen does. In addition, I think Redtails would give the graphic guys and girls of the site a broader paintbrush to play with when designing logos and jerseys, and we would really truly get to see their creative sides expanded. Every major sports team in the city of Ottawa has red, black, and white as a colour scheme, and with Ottawa being home to the federal government, I think keeping these notably Canadian colours is important. However, as seen below the possible logo concepts, I would make slight tweaks to the colour scheme in order to set us apart from Detroit and Newfoundland. Logo Concepts Ottawa, like Seattle, is another team I would commission logos and jerseys for, yet I used these as possible logo concepts. The modern-day take on the Blackhawks logo could be a great way to embrace the Aboriginal heritage of the city of Ottawa. Ottawa is home to more than 40 000 Native Canadians, and using a logo inspired by aboriginal artwork and culture would be really distinct and would help embrace a community that doesn’t get enough recognition for their beautiful artwork. This is seen in my possible second logo concept, which is a hawk inspired by the Haida tribe, which calls parts of Canada their home. Although not directly local to Ottawa, taking inspiration from Indigenous tribes across Canada makes sense as Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Primary Colour: Redhawk Staying true to the city of Ottawa, we would have a dark, bloody red as our primary colour. Using a darker shade of red would help set the Redtails apart from the other Red-birded team down in Michigan, while also being an extremely different red to the one used in Newfoundland. This would tie in the name and embrace the sporting roots of Ottawa. Secondary Colour: Talon Gold I wanted to come up with a colour scheme that would set Ottawa apart from the other red-dominated teams in the league, and using a red and gold colour scheme is a great way to do that. Red and gold is a colour scheme not currently in use in the league, outside of alternate jerseys in Detroit and St. Louis, and these teams only use these two colours sparingly. This would result in the Redtails being distinct enough to form its own identity, while staying true to its roots as a red-dominated city. White would serve as our tertiary colour. Possible Jersey Concepts Blitz unfortunately wasn’t available to listen to all of my ideas, so I don’t have any original concepts to provide to you here. However, I love the look of the following jerseys, and would love to see something in a similar vein potentially; The Calgary Flames heritage homes and heritage aways are some of the best heritage jerseys the NHL has to offer, and I think are some of the best-looking jerseys across all of sports. I love the traditional stripes on both the sleeves and the bottom of the jerseys, and the lack of black to muck up the great colour scheme is an added plus in my opinion. Overall, I would love to see a red and yellow colour scheme in the SMJHL, and when combined with the potential of a logo that embraces Native Canadian artwork, would really give the Ottawa Redtails a unique and notable identity. 6. The Conclusion First off, I want to thank all of you Head Office members for taking the time to read my application. It ran a little longer than I wanted it to, and I know you guys are probably neck-deep in expansion GM applications, yet I wanted to make sure all of my ideas and suggestions were fully formulated. I am truly interested in this opportunity, and wanted to make that clear. I am truly a caring and dedicated individual that would do everything in my power to make this expansion team one of the best, and most active locker rooms in all of the SHL. I think with Jeffie as my co-GM, we would be more than able to make that happen. I truly believe our two suggestions for expansion team names, the Seattle Tridents with our two-toned blue and gold colour scheme, and the Ottawa Redtails, with a potential Native Canadian inspired logo and a unique red and gold brand, stack up very positively next to any of the other suggestions for expansion teams, and I hope you guys see it the same way. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my application. I don’t envy the decision the members of J HO have to make over the foreseeable future; however, I do hope I receive good news. Sincerely, Fishy RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - bluesfan55 - 06-09-2020 that seattle branding is fucking beautiful fish, i think you would've made a great gm if you got picked RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - goldenglutes - 06-09-2020 god damn this was a great application. I'm sad that you didn't get it RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - TheWoZy - 06-09-2020 nice RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 07:55 PMbluesfan55 Wrote: that seattle branding is fucking beautiful fish, i think you would've made a great gm if you got picked Yeah I was informed Seattle was the option HO liked more, which was also the option I liked more, but oh well. RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 07:56 PMgoldenglutes Wrote: god damn this was a great application. I'm sad that you didn't get it Appreciate the support! Maybe next time I guess RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - Rotti - 06-09-2020 Seattle colors are sick. Great application, sorry you guys didn't get picked. RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - ACapitalChicago - 06-09-2020 Inb4 bUt WhAt AbOuT mOnTrEaL Regardless, I love the Ottawa idea. That looked like a great idea to expand upon RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - CapoPirate - 06-09-2020 This is amazing guys! Don’t let not getting picked get ya down because this for sure grabbed attention, you can tell. There’s always next time but dannnng those Seattle jerseys are insane! Wouldn’t have minded wearing those bad boys! RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - Thelastheraclid - 06-09-2020 Those Seattle home unis ::chef's kiss:: RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - golden_apricot - 06-09-2020 yo show then seattle alts baby! RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 08:25 PMThelastheraclid Wrote: Those Seattle home unis ::chef's kiss::yeah they're spicy af, woulda been excited to see Karey/Wasty etc. come up with original logos RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 08:28 PMgolden_apricot Wrote: yo show then seattle alts baby! If u insist RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 08:17 PMACapitalChicago Wrote: Inb4 bUt WhAt AbOuT mOnTrEaL I went with Ottawa because I figured almost all the expansion apps would go with Montreal + Quebec, which was pretty acccurate imo. RE: A Failed Expansion Bid - fishy - 06-09-2020 06-09-2020, 08:12 PMRotticusScott Wrote: Seattle colors are sick. Great application, sorry you guys didn't get picked. Thanks fella! It is what it is, appreciate the feedback! |