Finishing Projects

First thing I wanna say is, all gamers are different. Perfectly acceptable. Recently, I saw a couple of posts
and a couple of vids of gamers bemoaning the fact that they have problems finishing their projects. I don't
have much patience with this type of complaint, but I can see how projects can get created in a frenzy of
anticipation, then fizz out like an antacid dropped in a glass of water. I read of a gamer blaming his inability
to finish projects on something he called MGD, which I at first thought had something to do with beer, but sometime
later learned it stood for multi-game disorder (please correct me if I'm wrong). Another mentioned his problem was
a short attention span. I don't have remedies for any of this stuff. You can either finish projects or you can't.

I do have an observation if anyone is interested. I have read multiple threads for example at the delphi forums,
where a gamer is posting his results for his season replay, and in these posts he notes where he is at in the replay
by use of either game number or percentage of season completed. Sometimes both are presented. To me this is folly,
because it is a self-defeating process. "This is game 143 of 2,148." Wow. You've got a long way to go! I can see this gamer
quitting long before he has reached game 200. A better way is to use the date the game was played on (for those who use
actual schedules). Since I play draft leagues, I have no use for an as-played schedule. My league has eight teams, so
they all see action on the same day. Four games. Opening day games are numbered A1, B1, C1 and D1. Simple. Easy. Not
overwhelming at all!

I don't want to come down too hard on gamers who can't finish what they start. What I do want to do is put it out there
that there are those who do finish their projects.

Prior to retirement, a full season requiring at least 620 games would take me two years to complete. The exception to this
was a replay of the 1908 NL season that I began in '84 or '85 and finished around '95 or so. Yeah, it took a decade, I got
married, yada yada yada, but it got done. In that same time period I finished a bunch of mini-seasons and about ten play
by mail leagues. Beginning in 2000, I concentrated my efforts on playing complete seasons, and in-between them I would
sneak in a short project. A good example of this was between the last two seasons of my 5Y League when I played three king
of the hill type tournaments, the last one played by phone with my buddy the Veet, and going more than 160 games in total.

I have a lot more examples, but you get the cut of my jibe. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, but around 2000 I got hit
with what I can only describe as a serious tabletop baseball jones. Keeping score of a game was something I looked forward to,
and I couldn't get enough of it. Still can't. A lot of it has to do with what a great game baseball is. Recent rule changes
notwithstanding, I'll just say that the attraction of baseball to me has always been that it is totally different than other
sports. And this attraction motivates me to play year round. That being said, if I'm going to invest my time, then I will
design a league that will be completed. I guess you could call this "results oriented gaming." For many gamers, planning
can be more fun than playing. I enjoy planning, but playing is by far more fun.

I've been retired now going on four years. My current project is an eight team 154 game draft league based on the '71 season
which I began in February of this year. As of this writing, all teams have completed 106 games, so I'll be done in a couple of
months. It's not much of a pennant race, as the first place team is ten games ahead, but I don't care. I'm pushing on because each
game is so much fun. The Veet and I are talking about a very long king of the hill project that will involve 24 teams from the
Louieball era (1901-1920), but it's just in the planning stages right now. The thing about the Veet is he also finishes projects
that he starts. He's completed long projects in EI, Statis-Pro, and is involved in several keeper leagues with Out of the Park.

Again, we're all different. I get it. But I can't emphasize enough the feeling you get when you record the final out of your
project, put your pen down, and let it all sink in!

July 15, 2023