ATD #12 Bio Thread
 

This is mostly self-serving, but as you can't edit posts in locked threads, I thought I'd bring back an ATD staple- the bio thread. Post them here in any order and link to them in your roster post.

Good idea. I probably won't personally use it because I am so used to using the ATD threads (and they'd get more exposure there anyway) but it will be nice to have a good, concentrated source of player bios.

In fact, just to help the cause, maybe I'll post all my bios again in this thread so that they're there. This will help every player's body of knowledge get built up for posterity, which is only a good thing.

By the way, two drafts ago I started linking to my roster posts in the roster thread and last draft EB joined me. This time around, Leafs Forever and overpass have begun doing it as well. It's all guys who spend a good amount of time on their bios and want them to be readily accessible. Kudos, guys. I hope this catches on.

But it's annoying and confusing to other GMs and I for one deliberatly ignore them for that reason.

Me too. I ignore most of them.

I'm not sure which you are referring to. bios posted in the draft thread? Surely when you say "confusing" you can't be referring to that.

Yeah, I am. It's confusing to see big bolded entries on already drafted players in the draft thread. It looks like a selection when I'm scrolling through trying to get caught up.

I've done a double-take on numerous occasions when I see Player X (selected in round 7) being introduced as "The Winnipeg Jets are pleased to select XXX XXXX"...in round 15. It's definitely a minor inconvenience IMO, but I've often been left thinking for a few seconds before I realize: "How the **** did I skip over this guy for 6-7 straight rounds?"

I love the bios and think they are going to be really useful when it comes time to compare teams, at least in the playoffs.

But it is pretty confusing when they come up in the main thread several rounds after a guy was picked.

It does get confusing when someone posts the bio for a player they drafted 7 rounds ago. And it makes me go read through it fast. If you dont post the bio when you first draft him or a little bit after then just post it in your roster post. That's what i've been doing anyways since its hard to keep up with the bios.

Question: Would you folk be less critical of these late bios if they were preceeded by "These bios are for players picked long ago" or something to that affect, and than posted the bios right under that?

Maybe if they are for picks that are more than a few hours old, they could just be posted in this thread?

I doubt many people read bios for guys that were picked several rounds ago the first time they are posted.

Yes, it is.

I wish they would start with "Team x was pleased to draft in the 6th round..." or some other indication of the past tense.

I'm fine with something like this. It's not that big of a deal really. It's just hard to rememeber what page the bio was on if you ever want to go back and look. But I do enjoy reading the bios and you guys do some excellent research.

Personally, I don't want bios in the draft thread.

I love when people post bios on the draft threads. At the end my biggest fun in the ATD is to learn about the players, so when someone post a big bio on a player I might be less accustomed to, I'm thrilled.

Then why not keep them all in a seperate thread that's just chalk full of info.

I myself do not like picks without bios.

I love piecing together mini bios to highlight my picks. It is fun and interesting. Good to know that some here are annoyed by there entry and don't even read them but .go on and on and ramble through the the draft about their players and their draft buddy's players

I say lay it all on the line when you make your draft selection or pit a mini bio or in the roster thread.

If that's your biggest problem in the draft, then you're laughing. So you did a double-take and got confused for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure you'll recover from your confusion. And Nalyd, I'm pretty sure you'll recover from the two extra spins on the scroll wheel and catch up a mere two seconds after you otherwise would have if the bio wasn't there.

It is the highlight of the draft for me. Every draft we get another step closer towards collecting all available info on each player.

I take player bios seriously. They are useful from a player pimping standpoint but that's not the main aspect of it. This is my chance to shine as a researcher and present my findings to the group; to make a case for the player. In the ATD the average player bio takes me probably 90 minutes to put together. Some more (see Tommy Phillips last draft), some less (see anyone I have selected in the past and therefore have the info at my fingertips) - Having them all linked up, not just from me, but from the other members who have started doing it, has been slowly turning this ATD section from a drafting and discussion board into a concentrated player information archive.

It's pretty disappointing to read that some people have an expectation of us to post player bios at the time of picking. Yeah, I could use up my whole clock putting together a bio, I guess. I'd be quite the *****, but I could do it that way, I suppose.

Realistically, we all want the draft to move along quickly. And we all have lives. The only way to post comprehensive bios is to make your pick as soon as it's your turn, and then post your bio as soon as your life allows you to. If that's two weeks, so be it. If you don't want to read it, move along. It's there for future reference, whether it is for use in playoff arguments, or for the information of the next person considering picking him next draft.

The best reason to have a bio thread isn't to get them away from anti-player-bio people, it's to consolidate the information and have the bios in a thread that won't one day be locked for editing.

But why post them there if there is a better more organized option?

I don't think it is necessarily better. If anything, I think the two should be used in tandem. I wouldn't want to just completely stop posting bios in the draft thread. Maybe there are those who, as a rule, don't read them, but there are also those who otherwise wouldn't see them if they weren't there in the draft thread.

I mean, we all post for a reason, right? We all want to be heard.

Now I'm torn as to where to put my bios I caught up on...:(

Use both! You can't go wrong. No one ever said you had to use one thread or the other, and no one ever said you couldn't use one or the other.

With our 13th selection, the Cairo Desert Dogs proudly select..

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6783/kenwharram.jpg
KEN WHARRAM!

Awards and Achievements
1 x Stanley Cup (1961)
2 x First Team All-Star (1964, 1967)
1 x Lady Byng Trophy (1961)

Top 20's
Goals- 20th(1963), 2nd (1964), 11th(1965), 14th(1966), 3rd (1967), 17th(1968), 15th(1969)
Assists- 20th(1961), 15th(1964), 11th(1967), 9th(1968), 20th(1969)
Points- 6th(1964), 4th (1967), 9th (1968), 17th(1969)

Top 10 Playoffs
Playoff Goals- 6th(1961)
Playoff Assists- 4th(1961), 8th(1963)
Playoff Points- 7th(1961)

Biography
Ken Wharram began his NHL career in 1958-59, after four stellar seasons in the AHL, a career that he would spend entirely in Chicago. With his great speed, work ethic, and accurate shot, he was able to find a great niche on the "Scooter Line" with Stan Mikita.

He would contribute well to Chicago's stanley cup victory in 1961, and from there his success would continue on the "Scooter Line".

Ken Wharram would blend very well on this line, which would terroize oppisition throughout the league in the late 1960's. He would be rewarded with two first team all-star births (both over Gordie Howe!) for his outstanding work on the line.

Wharram was looking better than ever during the 1969 camp when he was attacked by myocarditis, a virus that attacks the muscles of the heart with symptoms similar to a coronary, and was forced to retire, tragically robbing hockey of a few more seasons from this great hockey player.

With our 14th selection, the Cairo Desert Dogs proudly select, the man to centre our two-way third line...

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/1425/edgarlaprade.jpg

EDGAR LAPRADE!

Top 20's
Goals- 19th(1949), 12th(1950)
Assists- 14th(1946), 12th(1947), 3rd(1948), 13th(1952)
Points- 19th(1946), 20th(1947), 12th(1948), 17th(1950)

Playoff Goals- 8th(1950)
Playoff Assists- 6th(1948), 3rd(1950)
Playoff Points- 10th(1948), 5th(1950)

Biography
Before beginning his NHL career, Laprade would dominate the Thunder Bay Senior League during the war years. He would join the canadian forces in 1943 and would play for various millitary hockey teams.

Despite the efforts of both the Rangers and Canadiens. Laprade would not join the NHL until 1945-46, when he debuted with the Rangers. He would be worth the wait, and would not take long to make an impact, being awarded the Calder trophy.

Following the 48-49 season, he would share the Rangers MVP award with Chuck Rayner, and would win it outright the next year, when he led his team in scoring.

It was in the 1950 playoffs that the Rangers came closest to a Stanley Cup win. Facing a Detroit team minus star forward Gordie Howe, Laprade would score 3 goals in the series. But it would not be enough, as New York lost a heartbreaker in overtime in the 7th game.

Laprade would have a few more productive years before retiring in 1955, leaving behind a legacy good enough to geth im inducted to the hockey hall of fame in 1993 in the veteran categories, for his many years of great defensive and two-way play.

It's not a problem for me, at all. Just pointing out that I understand how it could possibly be for some others, although IMHO again it's not really that big a deal.