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Minutemen Weekly Newsletter Interview
(EDIT: In light of Buck's recent journal post, I thought it would be appropriate to add Sam and Blaze's reaction to the news.)
MINUTEMEN WEEKLY
Special Pre-Draft Edition
Excerpts from the newsletter are below.
GWOSDZ REVEALS PART OF DRAFT PLAN, SOLIDIFIES FREE AGENT PITCHES
We sat down with new Minutemen general manager Sam Gwosdz to discuss the plans for the Minutemen before the free-agent signing period and draft. He was only all-too-happy to accommodate us in his new arena office.
MW: So you’ve been GM a couple of months and you’ve already stirred the FBA pot.
SG: Yeah, maybe just a little. (laughs) I decided that we needed to be bold in order to get Williamsburg back into the picture and back into the playoffs.
MW: So you decided to go after Chuck-Chuk (Charles Yotechuk).
SG: Exactly. Last season, power forward seemed to be our biggest weakness. No offense to (Jason) Issacs or (Corey) McDaniels, but they didn’t seem to be cutting it at all.
MW: Some people would say that every position was the team’s biggest weakness last season because they played so poorly.
SG: Let them say that. I’ve talked to Teo (Masalia), Nick (Nwabudike) and Coach Roosevelt and they believe that the chemistry of the team was destroyed beyond repair.
MW: How so?
SG: Deborah Walker.
MW: Oh, yes, the first-round draft pick. She wanted to be a heart surgeon.
SG: That’s what I heard, but she was drafted in the first round anyway against the scouts’ better judgment. I think that’s why Mr. (Jason) Muttley was fired.
MW: It’s a shame what happened to her. Ten weeks into the season and she hangs them up.
SG: That’s right. Teo told me that weighed in on everyone after she retired. Reggie (Mackenzie) was wishing that he could have helped her improve more. Adrian (Jefferson) thought he had failed her on the floor. Even (Liam) Weems, who’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet, thought that he could have been better to her.
MW: Wow.
SG: Yeah. There was something else, too: Coach Roosevelt told me that he realized a little too late that a move he made was the wrong one: starting Eleanor Rigby.
MW: There was practically a fan revolt over that. Some even said that Coach was breaking up Ebony and Ivory for no good reason.
SG: That’s what he told me. But he also insisted that Eleanor had earned the starting role with her play. That didn’t mean the team played any better. Because of that, Coach told me he’s moving Teo to shooting guard.
MW: So that is why you traded Lola (Richards) for Lemack (Leonard Mack): to create space for the move.
SG: (points) You got it. Coach told me he liked Mack and thought he could be a great power forward so we decided to acquire him. We don’t think he’s starting material, though…
MW: So we’re back to Chuck-Chuk.
SG: (folds his arms) We want him here. Coach and I are absolutely convinced that Yotechuk can bring the Minutemen back to the team they were two seasons ago before everything fell apart. The core of the team is still under contract and I’m absolutely confident that we can re-sign Nwabudike and Rigby. We’ve got Jefferson and Teo under contract and that’s four of the starting five from that 56-win team. Imagine what they can accomplish with Yotechuk on board…
MW: So that’s where you came up with the “Ebony, Ivory and Amber” stuff?
SG: Well, it wasn’t me. The marketing department came up with it. They ran it by me after the first offer we made and I thought it was gold, so I pitched it to Charles in the second offer. He really liked it.
MW: I can hear the chant in Patriot Stadium now: “E I A! E I A! E I A!”
SG: (claps and chuckles) That’s it!
MW: Yes! But even with Yotechuk on board, that leaves the guard positions a little bare… is that where the #1 pick comes in?
SG: Absolutely. We’re going to draft Vera La Tierra first come draft time. You wouldn’t believe how much Willie (William Butenschen) raves about her.
MW: We’ve heard. Her exploits are practically legendary to him.
SG: She can do everything on the court. I’ve seen video of her myself. She’s incredible. Plus, even if the Liga Baloncesto de Puerto Rico is a lesser league, her statistics shouldn’t be that inflated.
MW: What stats of Vera’s do you think are inflated?
SG: The scoring and assists. From what I understand, it’s an offensive-minded league, much more so than ours. So we look at the way she scores the points and gets the assists, and that’s how we decided to pick her. She’s got the cuts, the dribbling moves, the crisp passes, the jump shot and the range that you look for in a point guard.
MW: So whom do you intend to get to compliment her?
SG: We’re trying to re-sign Eleanor. She’s been with the organization a few seasons, so she knows the system and she can show Vera the ropes on how we do things around here in Williamsburg. She knows we want her to stay and that she’d be an important part of the team.
MW: And Ivory?
SG: Ivory’s essential. He’s been with the organization his entire career and I can’t see anyone else starting under the boards but him.
MW: Right. You know, one of our bloggers saw Vera, Eleanor and your wife at Water Country USA (OOC: A real water park just outside of Williamsburg) the other day…
SG: (smiles) Oh, that’s where she took them? Well, maybe if she had told me, I’d have joined them!
MW: So your wife is…
SG: Going to be joining the team, yes. As a walk-on. As soon as we can sign her, she’ll be a Minutemen player.
MW: That’s interesting, kind of like Darren and Valencia Zeraus (the famous brother and sister GM and point guard in Newark). Is she really that good?
SG: She’s only one year removed from all-ACC at Georgia Tech. Double digits in points her senior year, but just barely. She has a decent shooting touch and can pass well, but her real problem is defense. She’ll make a fine backup, though.
She told me that she hopes that Eleanor will join the team because it’s nice to have another Brit to gab about how dreary the English weather is. (laughs)
MW: Sounds good!
SG: Looks good, too. (grins)
MW: (laughs) So can you tell us the plans about who you are looking to draft with the second round pick?
SG: (shakes head) No can do. We have a couple of plans in mind, but this is the kind that we can’t let get out.
MW: That’s fine. We’ll be looking forward to the season and the kind of team you and Coach Roosevelt can mold.
SG: Thanks, appreciate it.
So we left the office with a clearer picture of the Minutemen’s plans. What remains to be seen is if it will all pan out. Then again, most anything aside from a repeat of last year is a victory in itself.
*At a hotel in Williamsburg*
It was midnight. Sam sat on a hotel bed, dressed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts, and pored over his laptop. It was earlier in the day where he had completed his interview and he was searching over the FBA news just to see if there was anything else he needed to keep tabs on. Blaze said that he was trying to get his ego stoked by looking for any Twitter breaks for his interview, but he just laughed it off.
That was one thing he looked for, of course, but no one had broke anything yet. But Sam found another item on the FBA main site:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:14475950
Sam then uttered a noise that made Blaze rush from the bathroom, dressed in a nightshirt for bed. "What's wrong, Samuel?!" she asked in a worried tone. She found Sam flopped on the bed he was sitting on with the laptop open, still sitting in his lap.
"Guh..."
"What is it??"
"Read the laptop..." Sam only said. Blaze, worried, did what her husband instructed. She took it in her lap, she scanned the article and then frowned. "Oh, that's a shame," she only said.
"Yeah, real shame..." Sam groaned. He felt like his heart was just stomped on because he put so much work into trying to sign Charles. The red fox just stared up at the ceiling for a minute, feeling blank. "What am I going to do now?" he moaned.
"You know, there's still a week left in the signing period; you could go after someone else," Blaze said matter-of-factly. Sam's eyes widened and he didn't say anything. When he finally sat up, Blaze had a smug "See, I told you so" look on her face. "You could go after someone else," Sam mockingly replied. Then he grinned widely. Blaze stuck out her tounge in reply and smiled back. The arctic vixen always seemed to know what to say.
The red fox then trudged over to the room's small desk with the computer. He started making phone calls to rectify the situation.
In professional sports, when one job stops, another one begins, even if you're in your underwear.
MINUTEMEN WEEKLY
Special Pre-Draft Edition
Excerpts from the newsletter are below.
GWOSDZ REVEALS PART OF DRAFT PLAN, SOLIDIFIES FREE AGENT PITCHES
We sat down with new Minutemen general manager Sam Gwosdz to discuss the plans for the Minutemen before the free-agent signing period and draft. He was only all-too-happy to accommodate us in his new arena office.
MW: So you’ve been GM a couple of months and you’ve already stirred the FBA pot.
SG: Yeah, maybe just a little. (laughs) I decided that we needed to be bold in order to get Williamsburg back into the picture and back into the playoffs.
MW: So you decided to go after Chuck-Chuk (Charles Yotechuk).
SG: Exactly. Last season, power forward seemed to be our biggest weakness. No offense to (Jason) Issacs or (Corey) McDaniels, but they didn’t seem to be cutting it at all.
MW: Some people would say that every position was the team’s biggest weakness last season because they played so poorly.
SG: Let them say that. I’ve talked to Teo (Masalia), Nick (Nwabudike) and Coach Roosevelt and they believe that the chemistry of the team was destroyed beyond repair.
MW: How so?
SG: Deborah Walker.
MW: Oh, yes, the first-round draft pick. She wanted to be a heart surgeon.
SG: That’s what I heard, but she was drafted in the first round anyway against the scouts’ better judgment. I think that’s why Mr. (Jason) Muttley was fired.
MW: It’s a shame what happened to her. Ten weeks into the season and she hangs them up.
SG: That’s right. Teo told me that weighed in on everyone after she retired. Reggie (Mackenzie) was wishing that he could have helped her improve more. Adrian (Jefferson) thought he had failed her on the floor. Even (Liam) Weems, who’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet, thought that he could have been better to her.
MW: Wow.
SG: Yeah. There was something else, too: Coach Roosevelt told me that he realized a little too late that a move he made was the wrong one: starting Eleanor Rigby.
MW: There was practically a fan revolt over that. Some even said that Coach was breaking up Ebony and Ivory for no good reason.
SG: That’s what he told me. But he also insisted that Eleanor had earned the starting role with her play. That didn’t mean the team played any better. Because of that, Coach told me he’s moving Teo to shooting guard.
MW: So that is why you traded Lola (Richards) for Lemack (Leonard Mack): to create space for the move.
SG: (points) You got it. Coach told me he liked Mack and thought he could be a great power forward so we decided to acquire him. We don’t think he’s starting material, though…
MW: So we’re back to Chuck-Chuk.
SG: (folds his arms) We want him here. Coach and I are absolutely convinced that Yotechuk can bring the Minutemen back to the team they were two seasons ago before everything fell apart. The core of the team is still under contract and I’m absolutely confident that we can re-sign Nwabudike and Rigby. We’ve got Jefferson and Teo under contract and that’s four of the starting five from that 56-win team. Imagine what they can accomplish with Yotechuk on board…
MW: So that’s where you came up with the “Ebony, Ivory and Amber” stuff?
SG: Well, it wasn’t me. The marketing department came up with it. They ran it by me after the first offer we made and I thought it was gold, so I pitched it to Charles in the second offer. He really liked it.
MW: I can hear the chant in Patriot Stadium now: “E I A! E I A! E I A!”
SG: (claps and chuckles) That’s it!
MW: Yes! But even with Yotechuk on board, that leaves the guard positions a little bare… is that where the #1 pick comes in?
SG: Absolutely. We’re going to draft Vera La Tierra first come draft time. You wouldn’t believe how much Willie (William Butenschen) raves about her.
MW: We’ve heard. Her exploits are practically legendary to him.
SG: She can do everything on the court. I’ve seen video of her myself. She’s incredible. Plus, even if the Liga Baloncesto de Puerto Rico is a lesser league, her statistics shouldn’t be that inflated.
MW: What stats of Vera’s do you think are inflated?
SG: The scoring and assists. From what I understand, it’s an offensive-minded league, much more so than ours. So we look at the way she scores the points and gets the assists, and that’s how we decided to pick her. She’s got the cuts, the dribbling moves, the crisp passes, the jump shot and the range that you look for in a point guard.
MW: So whom do you intend to get to compliment her?
SG: We’re trying to re-sign Eleanor. She’s been with the organization a few seasons, so she knows the system and she can show Vera the ropes on how we do things around here in Williamsburg. She knows we want her to stay and that she’d be an important part of the team.
MW: And Ivory?
SG: Ivory’s essential. He’s been with the organization his entire career and I can’t see anyone else starting under the boards but him.
MW: Right. You know, one of our bloggers saw Vera, Eleanor and your wife at Water Country USA (OOC: A real water park just outside of Williamsburg) the other day…
SG: (smiles) Oh, that’s where she took them? Well, maybe if she had told me, I’d have joined them!
MW: So your wife is…
SG: Going to be joining the team, yes. As a walk-on. As soon as we can sign her, she’ll be a Minutemen player.
MW: That’s interesting, kind of like Darren and Valencia Zeraus (the famous brother and sister GM and point guard in Newark). Is she really that good?
SG: She’s only one year removed from all-ACC at Georgia Tech. Double digits in points her senior year, but just barely. She has a decent shooting touch and can pass well, but her real problem is defense. She’ll make a fine backup, though.
She told me that she hopes that Eleanor will join the team because it’s nice to have another Brit to gab about how dreary the English weather is. (laughs)
MW: Sounds good!
SG: Looks good, too. (grins)
MW: (laughs) So can you tell us the plans about who you are looking to draft with the second round pick?
SG: (shakes head) No can do. We have a couple of plans in mind, but this is the kind that we can’t let get out.
MW: That’s fine. We’ll be looking forward to the season and the kind of team you and Coach Roosevelt can mold.
SG: Thanks, appreciate it.
So we left the office with a clearer picture of the Minutemen’s plans. What remains to be seen is if it will all pan out. Then again, most anything aside from a repeat of last year is a victory in itself.
*At a hotel in Williamsburg*
It was midnight. Sam sat on a hotel bed, dressed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts, and pored over his laptop. It was earlier in the day where he had completed his interview and he was searching over the FBA news just to see if there was anything else he needed to keep tabs on. Blaze said that he was trying to get his ego stoked by looking for any Twitter breaks for his interview, but he just laughed it off.
That was one thing he looked for, of course, but no one had broke anything yet. But Sam found another item on the FBA main site:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:14475950
Sam then uttered a noise that made Blaze rush from the bathroom, dressed in a nightshirt for bed. "What's wrong, Samuel?!" she asked in a worried tone. She found Sam flopped on the bed he was sitting on with the laptop open, still sitting in his lap.
"Guh..."
"What is it??"
"Read the laptop..." Sam only said. Blaze, worried, did what her husband instructed. She took it in her lap, she scanned the article and then frowned. "Oh, that's a shame," she only said.
"Yeah, real shame..." Sam groaned. He felt like his heart was just stomped on because he put so much work into trying to sign Charles. The red fox just stared up at the ceiling for a minute, feeling blank. "What am I going to do now?" he moaned.
"You know, there's still a week left in the signing period; you could go after someone else," Blaze said matter-of-factly. Sam's eyes widened and he didn't say anything. When he finally sat up, Blaze had a smug "See, I told you so" look on her face. "You could go after someone else," Sam mockingly replied. Then he grinned widely. Blaze stuck out her tounge in reply and smiled back. The arctic vixen always seemed to know what to say.
The red fox then trudged over to the room's small desk with the computer. He started making phone calls to rectify the situation.
In professional sports, when one job stops, another one begins, even if you're in your underwear.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 486 x 497px
File Size 21.4 kB
Listed in Folders
I have to wonder what they saw in Deb Walker in the first place.
Was she ballin' at college in addition to pursuing her medical major or some such? Or was she - given how much of a timesuck being a medical student is - an enthusiastic amateur? Or was it sumfin' else?
Oi mean, what could they have been basing their decision on?
Was she ballin' at college in addition to pursuing her medical major or some such? Or was she - given how much of a timesuck being a medical student is - an enthusiastic amateur? Or was it sumfin' else?
Oi mean, what could they have been basing their decision on?
Deborah most have been ballin' enough to get noticed like that, but yes, she was doing both. She probably viewed basketball as only a hobby and was happy to be playing professionally.
She was quickly exposed for lack of talent and it killed the Minutemen for that season because they couldn't get over her stinking so badly and feeling so sorry for her after she retired.
All Sam knows is that it was Muttley's idea to draft Deborah against the better judgement of the team's scouts; that's why he thinks Muttley got fired.
She was quickly exposed for lack of talent and it killed the Minutemen for that season because they couldn't get over her stinking so badly and feeling so sorry for her after she retired.
All Sam knows is that it was Muttley's idea to draft Deborah against the better judgement of the team's scouts; that's why he thinks Muttley got fired.
The drafting of Deborah Walker was rumored to be anything from a move made to win a bet, to a move made by Muttley because he wanted to get fired, to a move made to sabotage the team. In any case, Deborah Walker was not even predicted to be on the Cusp of the first round, and she was clearly nowhere near the front of the pack in regards to talent. Her name was in the draft, yes, but she never seriously believed she'd make it.
Still, even a draft bust such as her shouldn't have had such a poor effect on a playoff team. I think the management was just too bad for the team to succeed, but that stands to change this year with Sam and Blaze helping things along. :)
Still, even a draft bust such as her shouldn't have had such a poor effect on a playoff team. I think the management was just too bad for the team to succeed, but that stands to change this year with Sam and Blaze helping things along. :)
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