NFL Discussion
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I guess I'm just checking in here, maybe just seeing how everyone is doing today. kaže:
So, that’s pretty much everything I was trying to get across. I feel bad if anyone here felt called out because I was being a bit clueless or making generalizations, I guess. It really wasn't my intention to undermine anyone, and if I did—which I clearly did to the Capitals—then it was just a silly mistake on my part, so I'm sorry about that.
I guess we can finally call this one a wrap. Case closed.
Adam Moore said:I guess you might be a little off on this one. I think the Raiders actually formed because of some personal beef between members of the Thunder, but honestly, I don't know all the specifics, so maybe you should check with the people who were actually there.
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Alright, I think some inspiration just hit me.☕
I guess even you don't really know how the Raiders actually came to be, though I suppose it makes sense when you consider just how much nonsense people were talking about me and some of the others who got this whole project off the ground.
It was definitely a bit of a mess, I guess, but things felt like they were more than just "personal" issues at the time. It all went down way back in 2007, so maybe it’s a little tough to draw a straight line between those old events and how the Raiders actually came to be.
I guess you can't even bring up the whole "back-and-forth arguments" thing between members without people getting defensive, so I might as well just lay it all out there. Since I’m Valerio Zannotti—the founder of the Thunder, if you need a reminder of who exactly is talking here—I should probably mention that I officially stepped down from the club after submitting my resignation during an official team meeting at the end of the 2007 spring season.
So, during that meeting, I let the other coaches know about my decision, specifically telling Sean Craig and Sinisa Stefanovic—who was basically my only supervisor there since the president at the time, Denis geto, was away on vacation.
I basically explained my reasoning by saying that I just didn't want to keep putting myself out there and looking foolish, you know? I’ve been pouring everything I have into organizing these games and giving it my all for the team, but then it feels like the president and the head coach just decided to go their own way and do the exact opposite without even bothering to check in with the rest of us first. I guess it just doesn't make much sense to keep going like this.
A day after that happened, I started seeing all these "lovely" comments about me popping up on various message boards, where people were basically calling me a traitor and saying I was the one stabbing everyone in the back.
I guess I managed to settle things with some people right away, though maybe it took me a little longer to get everything sorted out with others.
As far as the rest of this goes, I feel like I'm pretty much done with the whole situation. I guess if someone is actually willing to buy into those ridiculous rumors—you know, the ones claiming I "stole money from the organization," or that I was secretly working for another team while coaching the Thunder to try and lure away players I was supposed to be recruiting—and if they really think I acted like a complete jerk... well, if anyone can actually believe stuff like that, then I don't even think they're worth getting angry at.
I guess people who said those kinds of things really should have called each other out a bit more, because now all we're left with are descriptions of everyone getting punished... well, besides calling them cowards, of course.🤣
I noticed afterwards that even that former president went out of his way to write some pretty friendly comments on that other forum once he found out I was heading over to "help out" my old club before I ever actually played for the Thunder.
It’s kind of funny, I guess, how some people really go out of their way to cook up these wild stories by trying to link all these random events together that probably don't even have anything to do with one another.
I guess they’re basically building a case to prove I deserve to be exiled from the Thunder—kind of like a real-life Connor McLeod situation, haha. Apparently, because I skipped that game against the team from Canada and missed those last two or three weeks of practice, they’ve already started plotting how to "kidnap" some of the players away from me.
I guess it was pretty obvious why I wasn't at practice, since I had this absolutely terrible situation come up at work, and honestly, I was just so shaken up by it that I didn't really have the energy to lead any training sessions, and besides, for whoever decided we were actually playing a game, I’d already been planning this trip to Italy for three months now.
I guess I even heard that I had been in contact with some players who had already stopped showing up back then, and they were actually the first ones I sort of "stole." Though, honestly, I never even gave them a call, and if I recall correctly, I didn't even have anyone's phone number at the time.
I guess I could probably keep going on with this...
I even heard that someone actually called me and Basic "the bad guys" during our club meeting... like we're some sort of villains out to destroy the Thunder.
I guess that same guy probably just forgot that if he actually had a club to go to back then, he really should have been feeling pretty grateful toward me and Basic... maybe.
I heard that for a little while there, people weren't even allowed to say our name out loud... and apparently, if Basic and I had tried to call them over in the huddle, the players were actually supposed to report us!
I don't even really need to say it, but I personally wouldn't go out of my way to call anyone for any reason, and honestly, I feel like until the mods actually post some kind of rule against it, everyone should be free to see and talk to whoever they want, I guess.
Once I finally figured out what was actually going on—because, you know, I guess not everyone is completely clueless—I called the Head Coach right away. I told him straight up that if I heard my name being dragged into stuff with Basic like that ever again, I’d probably have to take some serious action.
You wouldn't believe what that scientist did. He actually went and reported me in the huddle, claiming I was calling him! I guess he's just making things up, maybe.
Any solutions? Not really... I guess I finally realized it was just a losing battle.
So, it looks like some sort of long-term club actually started taking shape back then. I remember being reached out to and asked if I’d be interested in coaching this new outfit. Basic was the one who called me, mentioning that a few people were looking to get something off the ground since it was already pretty obvious by then that the situation with the Thunder just wasn't sustainable. Among that group was Mr. Pusic, who had basically started spinning these elaborate yarns about how he could pull in tens of thousands of dollars in sponsorships; he claimed he’d tried doing exactly that with the Thunder, but that Denis geto just wasn't in a position to listen to him or anything like that.
I guess once I realized within about two months that things probably weren't going to pan out—which, looking back, was exactly what happened anyway—I just decided to let fate take its course and stop worrying about it.
By the way, the club was officially registered, and at that same time, Mr. Pusic had already been appointed as the vice president of the ZG RAMS and held some kind of position on the board over at Thunder, I guess.
Back in the spring of 2008, I actually started chatting with one of the players from the Thunder, specifically a guy named O. Gabersnik, who was kind of venting to me about how things weren't really going according to plan and that maybe everything should just go back to the way it used to be.
I think I’m finally starting to feel that spark for American football again, which is kind of funny because I actually spent the last two months working over in Chicago—and hey, they were actually paying me to be there! Even so, I ended up being the one to call it quits and head back. I guess I should probably clear the air, though, since there’s been some talk floating around that I got kicked out of the program because I supposedly injured four guys during a single practice session... but I suppose people are always going to talk, right?
Oz was just so convincing that I actually ended up agreeing to meet up with the rest of the coaches at a training session. After that, I suggested that maybe Denis geto and I could sit down one-on-one to see if we could just consolidate everything on one side and potentially start over from scratch... So, the meeting happened, though I guess I don't really know what he was so worried about, since I ended up being face-to-face with four or five other people anyway...
I guess there was some stuff in that conversation that didn't sound particularly promising, honestly. It felt like they were implying that ever since Basica and I left, everything has just been falling apart. They made it seem like I’d only consider coming back if I agreed to certain conditions, which is funny because it's not even like I was asking to return or anything. I remember Sinisa Stefanovic calling me once and really pushing me with lines like, "Look, the door is open right now, but it won't stay that way forever," basically telling me I had to give him an answer immediately or lose the opportunity entirely. He's quite the negotiator, I suppose... always making demands and throwing out these little ultimatums.
I guess we aren't quite finished yet, maybe.
I guess there was another meeting scheduled right when those "revolutionary" moves started happening, and honestly, this goes all the way back to the fall of 2008. It’s really just the same exact maneuvers carried out by the same group of people who are now causing all these issues for the Patriots; I suppose you could say they basically crawled straight out of the Thunder.
At the meeting, I noticed that people could already tell the club was heading straight for a disaster, though I guess they mostly just thought they might be able to step in and turn things around.
If you look at the results from 2009, it’s pretty clear they didn't really pull it off, I guess. Most of the people who were sitting around that table back in the day have actually moved on from the Thunder for all sorts of different reasons, maybe.
I could even name names if I really wanted to... it wouldn't be an issue at all...
The way things stand right now is this:
A bunch of players from the Thunder left the club all at once (which is actually what I suggested back then, I guess...) and they just went ahead and started their own new club immediately.
It’s all a little blurry, so a lot of those people aren't even quite sure which club they belong to anymore: one week they say one thing, then the next week it's something else... I think Sean Craig could probably back me up on that, since we were chatting about it earlier today.
And then there's me, starting the Raiders back in 2009 after I publicly moved on from the Thunder in 2007.... so would the Raiders really be considered a group formed out of personal grudges?
There are maybe 30 players in the Raiders right now... and including myself, I think maybe five of us used to be with the Thunder... and at least three of them actually left the club two years ago.
..I don't really follow...
But, well, at least now that you've cleared things up during that "game," I suppose I've explained things to you too, so hopefully you can finally just relax when discussing these topics now that you know the actual details.
As far as I'm concerned, the people who TRULY know me know that I'm always down for talking things through, explaining, working together, learning, and growing...
I'll just leave you with this:
just try not to fall into that trap that became the main trademark of the old Thunder "management"—where they treated any kind of feedback or pointing out a flaw as if it were some sort of personal insult to the club.
