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Fordyford · 09-11-2020, 12:26 PM

So, this is quite a hard one to write. I’m finally calling it quits on the shl after quite a long period of relative inactivity. Most of you are probably thinking who is this guy, which is probably justifiable. But I have some thoughts on the shl that might be worth sharing, so here we go (it might be a long one).

As I reflect on my time in the SHL, it occurs to me I’ve done quite a lot of jobs badly. I was a fairly awful WJC gm, an equally bad IIHF co-fed head, a sometimes present member of the all star committee, someone who should’ve been fired from the PT team a long time ago (you know it’s true @hotdog) and I’m told a largely useless member of HO, although I was, I think, quite a large proponent of moving to FHM so you can blame me for that if you want.

But that’s not really what I’m going to talk about here, however, for any of it to be relevant, we’re gonna do a bit of backstory (character development or something idk), so for those of you outside my lrs who wouldn’t know most of this, let’s start at the beginning.

18 months or so ago, in February of 2019, I joined this site after scrolling through reddit and thinking eh why not give it a look. I was in my last year of (high) school at the time (in the UK, probably irrelevant). I was far too active for the first 6 months or so, applying for a lot, earning pretty much max tpe, and spending a lot of time on the site. I was doing all of this during my exams as well, which probably wasn’t wise, but whatever.

The relevant part of this, is that through my 14 years of school, other than some rare and fleeting exceptions, I never really had any friends. This was for a mix of reasons, some of which were my fault and some weren’t. This did mean that I had time to spend on the SHL, so I spent quite a bit here, discovered a wonderful group of people in the Anchorage locker room, and they really brought me out of my shell. The effects on the rest of my life were immediate. I started mending relationships (most crucially with a very long term bully, who is now a good friend), got a girlfriend for the first time (albeit briefly), and generally Became a lot happier. And I think this Change is mostly because of the Anchorage LR and the rest of the site in general.

So we come to the end of the summer, with this site allowing me to have mostly overcome my (diagnosed) anxiety and escaped from a very dark place thanks to the site, I realised that I had a perfect opportunity, heading to university, to get a new start. And, with the newfound confidence in social situations that id gained from talking to strangers on the internet, I seized it, and made enough friends to last a lifetime, with people from all walks of life and with experiences like mine in some cases.

And so, in October last year, I suddenly became very busy, with university, suddenly a social life, and this reduced my activity on the SHL to fairly minimal, diametrically opposed to the hours a day I’d been on the site and discords earlier in the year. Alas, the SHL had allowed me to fill the hole that it itself had filled in my life, and I struggled to find time to spend on it any more. And that leads us to now, where I’m finally leaving, to get on with the rest of my life, and while I’m sure I’ll still pop up periodically on discord, I doubt I’ll be back on the site.

So thank you, SHL, Anchorage, the S47 draft class and everyone else who talked to me, joked with me, and argued with me along the way, and know that you brought someone out from a dark place, and quite possibly saved his life.

And sorry for making you listen to my life story. And how rambly it is, I’m just writing whatever came into my head really.

***sve7en*** · 09-11-2020, 12:28 PM

I'm glad we were able to cross paths, and that things are so good to you now <3

Good luck man

**.bojo** · 09-11-2020, 12:30 PM

love ya, bud

***bluesfan55*** · 09-11-2020, 12:31 PM

love you fordy, im sure i speak for all of anchorage when i say that we're gonna miss you a lot.
it's great to see that the site's helped you get out of a dark time. it's helped me grow up and become more social so i've got a lot of things to thank it for

ty to @High Stick King @EvilAllBran and @Ragnar for the sigs

***Gwdjohnson*** · 09-11-2020, 12:32 PM

Safe travels fordy, love you man Armada

**bbjygm** · 09-11-2020, 12:33 PM

who is this guy?

***Chevy*** · 09-11-2020, 12:34 PM

Respect.

***golden_apricot*** · 09-11-2020, 12:34 PM

Ill miss you fordy you inactive HO member

***BadWolf*** · 09-11-2020, 12:35 PM

Best of luck <3

**bbjygm** · 09-11-2020, 12:35 PM

Good luck with life, fellow S47'er!

***hhh81*** · 09-11-2020, 12:37 PM

\_ \_ \_

***Acsolap*** · 09-11-2020, 12:38 PM

I know I paid you out a lot for having an opinion on everything but I've never had any regrets about adding you to our little family in Anchorage.

Smash it out of the park you legend. Don't be a stranger.

Credit to Ml002, King, Wasty, Carpy, Bruins10, Rum_Ham, Turd Ferguson, Ragnar and Enigmatic for the sigs.
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***Rangerjase*** · 09-11-2020, 12:46 PM

I don't know you at all bud but so happy to read your story.

Love hearing how beneficial this league was to you. Sounds like you have a bright future ahead :-)

Fordyford · 09-11-2020, 12:51 PM

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I really will miss you all

***hotdog*** · 09-11-2020, 12:56 PM

09-11-2020, 12:38 PMAcsolap Wrote: I know I paid you out a lot for having an opinion on everything but I've never had any regrets about adding you to our little family in Anchorage.

Smash it out of the park you legend. Don't be a stranger.

couldn't have said this better myself; was awesome to join the league and ANC together at the exact same time and so happy to hear the reasons for your inactivity

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