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Captains, We have a bit of an unfortunate situation with the Ducks and it appears they didn’t even give any effort to going to Whiteford even though they had enough to play. David Castle was ready to play and his team told him not to bother, which upsets me. I feel he deserves to be on a roster so I am going to allow him to be on waivers. The remaining Ducks will be frozen on their team and can only play if the Ducks play their scheduled games. The issue with Castle is unique, so for the first time in league history we will implement the waiver system. It works like this: The team with the current worst record will get the first choice to sign him, if they pass, the 2nd worst team can sign him and so on. I doubt another waiver will happen this season, but if it does the team who does sign Castle will then move to the end of the waiver order for the next waiver signing. Keep in mind Castle lives in Southgate, and would like to be signed by a Downriver team. That doesn’t mean non-Downriver teams can’t sign him, because all teams still play away games there or could use him in a trade. Also, teams with 8 on their roster would have to bump someone out since he will be a full-time player. - Commissioner Coffee in a message to league captains |
Above is a communique sent from Commissioner Coffee to seven WSEM captains after the Ducks failed to show up for their Week 6 Marquee Match-up with the Wicked Aces, which was supposed to be a grand home opening of Poolside Park. In it he notes the lack of effort on the part of team, especially in leadership and on an organizational level. Most intriguingly though, is the unprecedented concept of utilizing a waiver system for a player. What may be surprising to anyone out there who has attended a Winter Meeting is this: in the open forum, no captains disapproved or voice concern over allowing David Castle to be put on waivers. Talk instead shifted immediately into the order of teams.
Castle's 2012 team, Belgian, was first up and passed. Linebrink, of the Islanders, weighed the signing for a few minutes before deciding a Downriver team would be a better fit. With a full roster, King Friday also passed quickly; although, Hurd did jest about releasing Coffee to sign David. Finally, four teams deep, Holy Balls picked Castle up without hesitation. Operating out of Wyandotte and with four or five players
usually at the field for games, they feel the fit is perfect: Castle goes to a committed roster and provides a boost to the lineup as they continue their playoff push.
The Westside Warriors also showed interest in signing Castle had he gotten to them, but Alex Shore praised the Balls' signing, "Paquin with an aggressive roster move. Love it!"
The Commish stayed on-point with his wording, but it seems more than just Castle's desire and ability to play weighed into the decision to implement the waiver system. David took initiative with the Ducks on things like getting their field in order and attempts to organize. That commitment to team and league seems to have gone a long way in granting Castle this opportunity.
Why, though, is the remaining Ducks roster locked? Well, that action is demanded based on the accounts of hundreds of messages sent between the Ducks, league office, and third party teams since the Islanders sweep of the Ducks last weekend in conjunction with this week's no-show. The messages indicate the intention of a great migration by the Ducks roster. The first indication of anything happening was a trade offer to send Dylan Braden to the Balls. The terms were not disclosed, however the front office does tell us they were too low to move a two-time All-Star in their response to both teams. A simple trade offer, nothing there to raise concern. Yet.
Full alert sounded with the very next message received by the league. Included in it were the lines, "Ducks want out. Talking about dissolving the team to play for competitors." The league immediately made it clear that anyone involved in dissolving a team mid-season would not be allowed back on field with a new team this season. That ended talks of folding the team outright, but it set off a flurry of criminally low-balled, often unreasonable trade offers for three of the Ducks core players: Dylan, as before, along with Pearson and Nagorski. Over several days the deals began to look more and more feasible. In fact, one including Ducks/Islanders/Balls was about to be sent to a captains vote for approval, however, the Ducks pulled it off the table at the last minute.
"We are going to give it some time and see if anything changes," Nagorski stated. Things started to look up. The franchise looked like they might be ready to straighten up and push back into playoff contention; after all they were just two games out at that point. Then, they no-showed a Marquee. Leaving an opponent dressed up with nothing to do, nearly hanging a teammate out to dry, and making the league look foolish for promoting big games that never happened in the process.
Throughout this display the Ducks have shown a lack of regard for the other players around the league, lack of concern for what is in the best interest of WSEM, and even a lack of responsibility for their own franchise - the exact opposite of what Castle has done to be given a chance to play elsewhere. That is why the rest of the roster is frozen; it is now up to them to salvage their season out from the hole they have dug for themselves.
Castle's 2012 team, Belgian, was first up and passed. Linebrink, of the Islanders, weighed the signing for a few minutes before deciding a Downriver team would be a better fit. With a full roster, King Friday also passed quickly; although, Hurd did jest about releasing Coffee to sign David. Finally, four teams deep, Holy Balls picked Castle up without hesitation. Operating out of Wyandotte and with four or five players
 Signed on waivers by Holy Balls on 6/3, Castle will wear #8 |
The Westside Warriors also showed interest in signing Castle had he gotten to them, but Alex Shore praised the Balls' signing, "Paquin with an aggressive roster move. Love it!"
The Commish stayed on-point with his wording, but it seems more than just Castle's desire and ability to play weighed into the decision to implement the waiver system. David took initiative with the Ducks on things like getting their field in order and attempts to organize. That commitment to team and league seems to have gone a long way in granting Castle this opportunity.
Why, though, is the remaining Ducks roster locked? Well, that action is demanded based on the accounts of hundreds of messages sent between the Ducks, league office, and third party teams since the Islanders sweep of the Ducks last weekend in conjunction with this week's no-show. The messages indicate the intention of a great migration by the Ducks roster. The first indication of anything happening was a trade offer to send Dylan Braden to the Balls. The terms were not disclosed, however the front office does tell us they were too low to move a two-time All-Star in their response to both teams. A simple trade offer, nothing there to raise concern. Yet.
Full alert sounded with the very next message received by the league. Included in it were the lines, "Ducks want out. Talking about dissolving the team to play for competitors." The league immediately made it clear that anyone involved in dissolving a team mid-season would not be allowed back on field with a new team this season. That ended talks of folding the team outright, but it set off a flurry of criminally low-balled, often unreasonable trade offers for three of the Ducks core players: Dylan, as before, along with Pearson and Nagorski. Over several days the deals began to look more and more feasible. In fact, one including Ducks/Islanders/Balls was about to be sent to a captains vote for approval, however, the Ducks pulled it off the table at the last minute.
"We are going to give it some time and see if anything changes," Nagorski stated. Things started to look up. The franchise looked like they might be ready to straighten up and push back into playoff contention; after all they were just two games out at that point. Then, they no-showed a Marquee. Leaving an opponent dressed up with nothing to do, nearly hanging a teammate out to dry, and making the league look foolish for promoting big games that never happened in the process.
Throughout this display the Ducks have shown a lack of regard for the other players around the league, lack of concern for what is in the best interest of WSEM, and even a lack of responsibility for their own franchise - the exact opposite of what Castle has done to be given a chance to play elsewhere. That is why the rest of the roster is frozen; it is now up to them to salvage their season out from the hole they have dug for themselves.
