Board 8 > B8UCA Discussion Topic X-69: One Last Ride

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was, yes.
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Title sheet will be updated tomorrow. Two more finals.
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I've been thinking long and hard about this.

I do not have an opponent for Exile.

The killer wants Blood! The Sultan wants to make a man scream and cry, in pain!

Their is one individual that I have not stepped in the ring against that that is love to choke the life out of!

It is ironic that this man happens to be named Egg. Beacuse when I am done with him his bones will be broken like the shell of an egg and his body will be left Scrambled!

I CHALLENGE EMRALDEGG TO EXILE IN A HELL IN A CELL Match!
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When is Exile anyway
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Exile will be this weekend. We are in the third week of the cycle.
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Right. Two more shows. Ok then.
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Ruin will be tonight.
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It feels good to be challenged. Makes me feel like I'm worth something. You're on Sultan!
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Ruin is here:
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76088500
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yay ruin
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eaedwards6400 posted...

I'm glad I made you wait so long that you had to catch the end of this contract signing on the UCA Network. We're having an end of company sale, get the network for 1 single payment of 30 dollars or 5.99 a month!

Tom, have you ever heard of redemption? It is a thing men do not get in one life time! I am a man who needs redemption. I have had the highs and lows in this company that is truly not comparable. Now, I have found that I have hit an all time low. I caused a time paradox that will cause this company to end early. It is sad and it is something that I will regret for the rest of my days. This weekend, at Exile, I will complete the my redemption by making you my victim by taking you out of my way. I will not fall into oblivion. I will to use your friends catchphrase, rise, to power one. More. Time. I don't care if I only have the title for a day, hour, week, or until the end of time. This is my story and I am going to finish it the way I want to with the help of the UCA Universe! This will be the last time for THE eaed! *signs*

Bring your A-Game, Tom. If nothing else we're putting on a show!

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UCA Title Sheet
Tom 11th in all-time Undisputed Championship Days (44); 7th in all-time singles championship days (335)

Nee 4th in all-time LW Championship Days (122); in a week, can pass Boko for 3rd (122 v. 127); 10th in all-time singles championship days (295); 13th in all-time overall championship days (459); in a week, can pass Solio for 12th (459 v. 465)

David 9th in all-time MM Championship Days (75); 14th in all-time singles championship days (262); 23rd in all-time overall championship days (294)

Strife 19th in all-time Tag Team Championship Days (151); in a week, can pass Flubbin for 18th (151 v. 153); Tied with KommunistKoala for 27th in all-time championship days (243x2)
Apollo 20th in all-time Tag Team Championship Days (148); in a week, can pass Flubbin for 19th (148 v. 153); 19th in all-time overall championship days (335)

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GOOD JOB ALABAMA RESULTS:

Tom -
Chris - 1 (via zsig)

Apollo/strife - 5
Nee/david - 5

Eaed - 1 (via zsig)
Emerald -

Eddv/Zsig - 6
XIII/Stifled - 3

DP/Solio - 6
Sultan/Shad - 4

Wigs - 6
Gravy - 1
Boko - 2
Stevie - 1
GTM - 1
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Combat tomorrow....I hope at least
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https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76099337
sometimes it's the small victories, like getting combat up at a reasonable time
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I don't think I can get results for this one, I'm working a convention all weekend
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well CMON MAN

(j/k no problem)
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there's a bad moon on the rise but here are results

Dp- nope
Solio- also nope
this means something probably

Tom/Apollo/Strife-4
eaed/eddv/ZSig-5
:(

Devastator-5
Gravy Train-4
Finally, we have our king of the nicknames! Only took us the entire cycle

XIII-5
Stifled-4
the chair was grabbed a few times, but nobody successfully used it!

Nee-7
Nick-2
A dominant win from the LW champ!

Emerald-4
Maniac-4
man we got two ties on a 9-vote card
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Okay everyone. XIII probably wanted to do this behind closed door but as members of this community this affects all of you and I feel you should have a say.

XIII messaged me saying that he would like to take back over and that feels that I did a great job and I could host a third show if I wanted. I resisted saying that I felt that Tom and I have done a great job over the last couple of months and we don't really feel that it is fair that XIII gets to show back up for the fun part of the year while we were in charge for the hard part of the year. He first told me to calm down and that he never gave up the administration duties. He was just at a part of his life that it was too much. I feel that in technicality he did give up admins duties. He gave the paperwork to Strife and Tom and I have been doing the booking ever since. And while we are all thankful that XIII held this company strong for 5 years it doesn't feel right to me that he get to take it back from under me right at the end for the glorious parts of the UCA year and the conclusion.

I am opening this up to you guys and I want to hear your thoughts. If you feel XIII is correct then that's fine. It is his and I will step down. If you feel I deserve this then please speak up and talk with us. And I just want to make this clear though this is aggravating I am not that mad, I am just kind of sad because I have worked very hard and it doesn't feel right for it to be taken away from me at the end.
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So hey my two cents is. I feel like Eaed deserves better than this, but I also feel XIII's argument deserves better than a "lol no," which is why I'm willing to open this up for debate. XIII maintains that he never actually relinquished power, just delegated it. He also ran UCA for a long time, and was very successful for the vast majority of that run. Eaed, on the other hand, has been operating this whole time under the impression that this was a permanent shift. He feels that he has been stuck with the hard part of the winding down process, while XIII has come to usurp the cool grand finale stuff.

That's my objective presentation of the arguments. My personal opinion is that Eaed has probably earned the right to call himself an admin. XIII lashed out at the userbase, disappeared for a bit, and delegated all of an admin's responsibilities to others. Eaed took up the more admin-y parts, and we have been working as a team since then, with no more input from XIII than from your average (active) UCA participant. Whether it was intentional or not on XIII's part, I do think Eaed's getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop if he is removed from power now, after carrying UCA through its most recent rough patch. I can't shed any light on whether or not it was clear XIII was planning to come back- I don't recall being in the loop at all until after Eaed's first Ruin.

XIII also proposed going to a three-brand model. That's a reasonabe proposal, but not one that Eaed or I think that UCA can sustain right now. Two shows is plenty with the current level of activity, and frankly, I'm not sure how well the three of us could function as a team. We have different goals and expectations of UCA, our personalities kinda clash, and I suspect there is no going back from a drama bomb of this level anyway.

For that reason I am also probably stepping down as co-admin if the people go with XIII. XIII/Tom has worked well in the past, and I don't hate the dude, but I don't think it would work at this point. I think he'd be happier with full control, and I think I'd be happier letting him have it, and I think UCA would be better off with a consistent vision. I won't take it personally if you think he has a right to come back. I will (I hope) not take it personally if you'd rather have XIIIbooking than Eaed/Tombooking. I think those are valid arguments, even if I don't agree. XIII has stuff to offer UCA, and a semi-legit claim to do so. Eaed and I do too. We're hoping that we can come to a reasonable consensus, but I think at this point it's either him or us. I'd like to do this without drama or hurt feelings, but I don't think either side is willing to back down for that to happen. I think the next best thing is to let UCA decide for UCA. Please discuss.
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*Picks up a mic*

From the very start I have told the man known as 13 that I returned with a singular purpose. To ruin him. To bring down upon him such ferocity in combat as to leave him a broken and shattered man. The final image of his UCA legacy him staring up at the lights in a pool of his own blood.

He Pmed me a month or so back and said it wasn't happening. I found this strange since he didn't appear to be an admin but he said that no, I would not be getting my match. That he had... other plans that did not involve the likes of me.

Well I am here to say that I have other plans for XIII's other plans. For you are he views himself as a visionary. A man who will ways run this show whrn in reality he was a pauper always playing at king. A fool professing to be wise.

I not only whole heartedly reject his so called leadership, but I reject the notion that he is going to face anyone other than me at epopmania. I am going to drag him to the ring by his hair if I must and beat the living hell out of him until he wishes UCA was never a thing.

And that's the bottom line, because Sir Chris said so.
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admin rights on a pole match

NGL the idea of settling it at Exile occurred to me

but I didn't want to screw up the card or deal with rallies >_>
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Wow, that's certainly a tough and major decision. Both sides have very legitimate arguments. My initial reaction was that XIII should be able to take the reins for the end of a project that he put so much into over many years. On the other hand, Tom and eaed also certainly deserve to see things through to the end after the work they've put in to give UCA a proper ending.

I really don't think I'd be able to cast a vote one way or the other. And it doesn't sound like a compromise would be too feasible.
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I say give it to XIII for the Epop buildup, just to let him lay his baby to sleep. But let eaed and Tom finish out through the Rumble at least. They've done a good job with the situation they've had over the past good while.
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As much as I would like to stick up for my boy eaed, I think it would be better for me personally to wait and hear XIII's side of it, if we're getting one. Being one of, if not the newest member on the roster, I've been under Eaed/Tom administration almost, if not completely, for the time that I've been here, and therefore lack proper perspective to be able to answer a question of this magnitude. All I can go on is what everyone else says, and draw my own conclusions from there, and I don't want to do that until I get a full view. I think Eaed and Tom make very valid points, but would like to hear from XIII and/or people who are familiar with what XIII's thinking and see if they can counter those points and tell us why he thinks he should get the administration back.
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I assume we will hear from him quite strongly when he wakes up but I am not sure when that happens
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This is really tough for me. XIII built this thing from the ground up for many years, but it does feel kind of shitty to have a situation of "this thing is ending now, you guys did a great job, but I'll take it from here".

Obviously a "best of both worlds" situation seems the fairest, but it's clear that won't happen.

My assumption is that XIII wants to be a big part of the finale here, and he has every right to be, but is there anyway he can continue to be a big part without actually doing the booking? He's already establishing himself as a bigger player as we near the end, it seems feasible to me that he naturally could be one of the "top guys" by the end of it, regardless of whether he books or not. If you told me "XIII main events Epopmania", even if it isn't for the title, I'd say "of course, he deserves it".

Many of us have had our ideas on booking heard over the last few months, I don't see why we can't have XIII divulge his own ideas on booking without necessarily having him as the final say that an administrator would be. If he has ideas on feuds/matches, I don't see why they'd be things that Tom/Eaed outright reject unless it's something like "book me to win everything".

I'm rambling here, but I feel like if I had to choose a side it'd be Tom/Eaed to continue to be administrators, but XIII deserves as much a right as any of us in the final days (more of a right) to have a say in direction.
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Keep the way it is. If 13 wants involvement havehim do the 3rd show he wants eaed to do. I mean that sounds fair to me
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Or alternating until the end or sommething between. The 3
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Not sure XIII is going to like you jumping the gun and blowing this out to all of us. While I appreciate the sentiment, this is the sort of thing (like UCA shutting down) that should be polled first in private. A survey of 5-10 people maybe.

Anyway, neither of you two leading changes the fact that wins and losses determine things. Both of you have done some good (Eaed tends to follow a more WWE centric feud based model, XIII wants more new matches and title switches, both hate double bookings...) However, a third show will not work. Sometimes, even two feels like a reset too much. It depends on what XIII said at the time. "I want this load taken off me temporarily," He's within his right to ask for it back. If he said, "Fuck, life is getting in the way, take it and go," then it's Eaed's.

But that's on you two. I don't care for this to turn into some ego-stroking competition or "match to determine booking rights," nonsense. To me, results matter, and that decides where users go: bookers go along for the ride.
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Anyway, I am on vacation at my parents' home after graduation, so let me say one more thing about Exile before going silent. I'm not putting on my crown or reading my future here, because both last week and this week PISSED me off. f*** ZSig. I said it last week, and it bears repeating that he has shown no interest in doing anything other than winning to spite himself. I showed him that proof, only for him to fight back with his dumbass catchphrases and lingo.

Do you have ANY interest in teaming with Eddv at all on a personal level? Are you just using him as a tool to win a title because you have no other options? Just wait three days for Exile to end. By then, either Eaed, XIII, or Tom might give into your weak-ass pleas and give you a singles opportunity again, seeing as how your "record speaks for itself." In case you forgot, myself and many other people have great years too. We don't keep track of them like some monument. We actually...remember winning. Oh I forgot, you remember winning "your" matches. My mistake. While you're still hung up on remembering you beat me for a title, I went on to help Apollo and Tom win titles for THEM. Outside of Nee, when have you ever done anything for anybody else around here?

UCA can be very cruel. You believe in something so strongly, only to see voters decide, "Yep, f*** your plan, your life story, your goal, or your friends. This guy is better than you." Or, "I don't give a s*** if he isn't active. He's my friend or whatever." Whatever game has been played, or whatever side I've been on, I have both succeeded and failed. But one thing I believe in is this.

You do something in UCA because you tell a story. Not because it gives you something to do. Not because it makes your internet c*** grow. Not because you love "Kicking ASS." We all "kick ass". We all WANT to be UCA Champion. We all WANT to be the main event guy. But unfortunately, life f***s you over. Sultan probably feels f***ed too, knowing some popular dips*** said, "Later nerd," for a title opportunity, just to accept someone's proposal for the same title he didn't want a day earlier. I haven't always been Sultan's friend or ally, but sorry a top 10 all-time wrestler like Sultan doesn't live up to your standards.

What I want was to make this championship mean something. I wanted new feuds with new people, even if it meant losing at Serious Survival and screwing things up for the Kingdom. Instead, I'm saddled with the realization that you might beat me just because you're "some popular dips***" instead of some guy who actually wants to do something with this championship.

I'll paraphrase something from last year I quite liked. If we beat you on Sunday, I want you to come out here on Ruin and tell the world that the Kingdom kicked "YOUR" ass. Cause if you don't, you're a liar. And if you do, you're a loser.
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Yeah I really don't like that this was made public, but I'm pleased with the balanced reactions so far
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Strife.

You talk too much.

Your reign as tag champs shall be history

Which will then dissolve.
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OK here are my arguments I guess

1) This is not the "fun part" of the year. It's the more important part, sure, but the idea that this is "fun" is insanity - it's Epopmania build. That's difficult to build in the right way and requires more thought and more delicate booking than at other time. I'm not saying it's shitty, but it's certainly challenging. I'm not coming back for the part that is in some way "the most enjoyable". The events themselves are enjoyable, setting them up is not.

2) For real, I never gave up my admin position. Intentional or not, me temporarily giving up the book and then not being able to have it back when I'm ready for it feels a bit - and this is going to sound super dramatic - mutinous. Tom, I wouldn't have sent you that message worrying how you were going to be able to execute BFW in the time you had if I had no stake in it. If I'd truly given up an administrative role why would I be worrying about how you were going to run BFW? It's the only time I've had a genuine concern with how things were being run so I felt I had to say something. (But you guys had the situation in hand, so it was fine, though I'd prefer BFW to be less congested and rushed to allow more flexibility)

I was the one who announced the end of UCA. It was my idea to do that. That was in the summer. I previously PM'd Football about him taking over Ruin temporarily also.

3) Tom is also being a little dramatic. There are 10 Ruins left. 10. If you really feel you can't work with me for a little over two months, when UCA has no long-term direction - only a finishing point - then I'm disappointed in you. Similarly, in a 10-week period it's actually kind of irrelevant whether or not a third show "works". It took years of UCA being a bit bloated before we took action and got rid of Eruption and the IM title. When you have only 10 weeks left, it doesn't actually matter all that much. Personally I think it gives us more flexibility in Mania season.

I just feel like the length of time we have remaining negates this problem. Making this "him or us" is mad. Like, totally mad. 10 weeks left. Are you telling me you'd be unable to co-exist with me for 10 weeks? Am I so overbearing, and if so, however did this place survive - thrive - under my tyrannical, impossible-to-work-with booking for so long?

4) At the risk of sounding arrogant, I am the best possible booker for Epopmania and Epopmania season. The long-term thinking and planning and ideas I have that are required for Epopmania (especially this one, our last show), is something I particularly specialise in. I couldn't do my best work this year because I had a laptop that was barely functioning and then broken entirely, life was shit and too busy, and then I lost patience with UCA. All of those issues are now thoroughly resolved.

Obviously (obviously) the great Epopmanias that have been planned, booked and executed in the past don't happen without the userbase responding and doing great things in the build and being receptive, so I'm not claiming sole credit or anything. But I'm sorry, and this is to Tom especially: look me in the eye and tell me Epopmania 3 (the last one before I arrived) was better than any of the ones I booked.

5) I appreciate how rude my original message must have sounded if you were under the assumption I'd given it up permanently. Obviously I would never have messaged you and said "OK I'll take it from here, but thanks for your efforts, here have a third show" if I'd legitimately given it up. That would be super presumptuous and a bad look. I apologise for that confusion.

6) My commitment to UCA is beyond question. I delayed a vacation to Thailand specifically so I could run the Rumble two years ago, and we're heading into the last ever show. You really think you aren't going to get the very best of XIII for these last two months?
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Here's the eaed/XIII Discord conversation where I handed over. I feel like this doesn't resolve things completely, and you can probably use it to argue the other way. But there are some telling quotes in there.

eaedwards - 06/12/2017
That works good.
Do you want me to post? Or do you want to since you're the man in charge.
XIII - 06/12/2017
Yeah you can
I'm basically done with it
Running it, that is
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
So to me, you're kind Vince
Kind of*
XIII - 06/12/2017
Sure
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
When we need executive decisions we come to you
XIII - 06/12/2017
That sounds about right. I still want to participate but the day to day is too much
Delegating out the different tasks is good though. Keeping track of the docs is right up Strife's alley
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
It really is
XIII - 06/12/2017
You can book too. Just make sure the formatting is good
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
I got my template made out so I should be good
XIII - 06/12/2017
:grinning:
Good
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
As long as I can get it done at work too. I rush too much at home.

Look at these parts in particular:

eaedwards - 06/12/2017
So to me, you're kind Vince
Kind of*
XIII - 06/12/2017
Sure
eaedwards - 06/12/2017
When we need executive decisions we come to you

XIII - 06/12/2017
That sounds about right. I still want to participate but the day to day is too much
Delegating out the different tasks is good though. Keeping track of the docs is right up Strife's alley

Now, admittedly, there's some stuff in the chat log that I said that could be interpreted as me giving it up for good, but I qualified it with "basically", so it's not concrete - and that's how I intended it at the time. What is concrete is that eaed himself acknowledged in the handover that I was still the overall admin, the "Vince McMahon", and I agreed. eaed himself acknowledged that I was at the top of the chain of command - "when we need executive decisions, we come to you" - so that should make things clear enough. I delegated out the tasks, while not giving up an overall administrative role. And, as an overall admin, I'm in a position to ask for the book back in order to take UCA to its conclusion.
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I will say coming back the day the end is announced and cutting solid promo after solid promo only to be vetoed feels pretty shitty.

Dropping character there.
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I had another plan for Mania before you showed up, sorry.
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A lot of things have changed in those 6 months. Not to mention that, while complimentary and a little ass-kissy, I walked away from that conversation thinking. "Yeah, XIII doesn't give a shit. This is mine now"
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I mean, there were several decisions along the way that if a true "Vince McMahon" was available don't you think I would have consulted him?
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The reason I brought this up in a very public matter is because of the way that XIII presents information. He's a good debater I am not and he has a way of stramrolling with the presentation of his data. But most important this affects everyone I felt everyone should be in the know and have a say because as I have said in promos the UCA is bigger than one individual person whether XIII likes that or not.

What XIII fails to tell everyone here is that the discord messages he is showing you was the very last time we spoke privately. Never did he contact me saying hey keep up the good work or hey things are getting better I'll be back in a few months. It was as things are starting the heat up that he felt that it was time for him to take the reigns back and ultimately that is one of the biggest issues here.

At the risk of sounding short, (I am responding at 4am when I had to wake up to go to the bathroom), this is nothing but arrogance from XIII. And I think he's proving it too.
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Well basically this comes down to "do you think I'm lying"?

If you do, then that's a problem.

If you don't, it's clear that we both walked away from that conversation thinking very different things, and we should come to a compromise that pleases both parties to some degree.

Again - this didn't need to be made public because it really comes down to that very simple question. And the additional question I suppose of "do I think you're lying, because you knew this might happen all along and you're now desperately clinging to power by feigning ignorance". I don't think that's true. It's a misunderstanding that can be resolved without namecalling or this weird, unnecessary hostility.
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Because honestly your accusation of "arrogance" is tantamount to an accusation of lying. If I thought it was available for me anytime, it absolutely is not arrogance of any sort. A misunderstanding, sure.
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XIII_rocks posted...

I was the one who announced the end of UCA. It was my idea to do that.

We took that as a suggestion, and liked it. It did seem odd to us that you presented it like a declaration. We took the heat for it, I'll point out. I think that was the point at which we started wondering if you were still thinking of yourself as an admin and/or planning to come back at the end. We probably should've sorted that out then, but I think we were both hoping that we could let it be without...exactly this happening. I'll admit fault there- that's always been a flaw of mine. I'd rather stick my head in the sand and hope things work out when it's usually better to go ahead and have an unpleasant conversation before it gets worse.

XIII_rocks posted...

I just feel like the length of time we have remaining negates this problem. Making this "him or us" is mad. Like, totally mad. 10 weeks left. Are you telling me you'd be unable to co-exist with me for 10 weeks? Am I so overbearing, and if so, however did this place survive - thrive - under my tyrannical, impossible-to-work-with booking for so long?

I can, but like I said, I think it'd be better for you, for me, and for the UCA for me to get out of your way if you get the book back. I don't really feel like putting in the work of GMing if I don't get much say in the direction, and I can guarantee you that I'd just settle back into a sidekick role because that's just how our dynamic works- you have bigger plans and the stronger personality. Worst case, we have another blowup like we did over the tag titles before you left, which is one of the closest times this project came to dying. I don't think I would bring enough to a theoretical XIII/Tom team to justify keeping me on, unless you're particularly in need of somebody to take a show a week off your back. (In which case I am guessing Apollo or Strife or somebody could also fill that role just as well?)

XIII_rocks posted...

look me in the eye and tell me Epopmania 3 (the last one before I arrived) was better than any of the ones I booked.

I am not challenging you on booking ability, but look me in the eye and tell me you've never cheated, rigged, rallied, or politicked to get your way. It goes back to the discussion we were having when you left. You have flashier presentation and better stories, and I (and eaed) give the participants more agency. I can't contest that you're the better booker, but I think there are some people out there that'd rather be under us anyway, if you set aside the question of legitimacy. How that ratio falls in current UCA, I dunno, but I don't think it's the slam dunk you think it is.

XIII_rocks posted...

Here's the eaed/XIII Discord conversation where I handed over.

...hm.
(Man I wish I had been in the loop for this >_>)
This log is stronger evidence for you than I expected.

XIII_rocks posted...

and we should come to a compromise that pleases both parties to some degree.

This would've been my plan if I'd seen a good compromise to be made here. I didn't see (and still don't really) a way to resolve this without somebody getting the boot. Eruption is a thing, but I don't it's worth bogging down UCA to give one of us busy work to spare our feelings. I figured the next best thing was to rip the bandaid off and go for a clean break either way.
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We ran three shows for a long time with less participation than this. I think it can be done, and even if it can't, the timeframe isn't long enough for it to be problematic.

I don't like that you turned this into a divisive issue. I PM'd eaed with the idea that the book was mine to take back anytime and instantly came to a compromise allowing him to retain his position because he'd done well. I didn't think you were so jaded that even the prospect of working with me for 10 weeks was so completely abhorrent to you. It's kind of disappointing.
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Expanding on the keeping me on part of things:

I don't inherently have a problem with the dynamic XIII and I have, it's just not one I am super interested in going back to right now. Real life is kicking my butt currently, and while I am able to carve out time to book shows, I think that it's only a sacrifice I'm up for making right now if I feel like I have a hand in things. I won't feel like that with XIII- he's more passionate, he has bigger ideas, and he has a far stronger personality, even if he tries to give me some of the power. I was cool with that as we transitioned into XIII's original admin run, I was cool with that when I came back on as a GM, and I'd probably be cool with that in a theoretical world where the ten weeks in question weren't Dec-Feb. I probably could suck it up for the good of the UCA, but again, I think it'd be better for XIII to just have full control, or to pass my spot off to fresher blood.

(On top of that I feel like we never quite resolved our tension from the last fight we had >_> And this is probably not gonna help it either?)
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I have no tension with you whatsoever. That last fight was me lashing out at a lot of people. It was also about a year ago so there's no issue on my end - dead and buried.
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XIII_rocks posted...

We ran three shows for a long time with less participation than this.

A) Did we? We're down to like ten people actively cutting promos and making stories. I THOUGHT we had more than that back in the 3-show timeline but I could be wrong.
B) And IIRC you correctly pointed out back then that it was a bad idea and we dropped it
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Yeah we've had much worse participation

And it's going to kick up a notch come Mania season anyway. You know people are going to want in on the last Rumble and there'll be a few people wanting a Mania match I imagine. I know I'll be making contact with a huge amount of alumni to get them involved in the home stretch.
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I hope you're right about that, but I was expecting that boost to have started kicking in before now and it hasn't lived up to my expectations so far

but networking and drumming up folks is another area where you unquestionably have me beat
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