Media Roaming Raz Interviews Sweet FA

[Raz]

Well howdy ClarkeM, or do you prefer to be called Clarkeeeeeeee,

prefer just my name thanks.

it is great to have you back for our follow up interview, many callers we received after the last interview wanting to know so much more,

I'm thrilled to be asked back, it was such a good time last time although I did notice some fine and selective quoting by you

"Raz laughs but moves along quickly "

Many of our fans have been wondering about all the rumours happening behind closed doors of the SFA Board meetings. Have you heard of any rumours you feel free to talk about

What are rumours? Never heard of that word. Does Mobbs know, maybe?

Yes I must see if Mobbs is free soon, he is a very busy man, so busy he has had to resign as Captain of his team. it is so amazing that SFA has been around a long time now and has well established rules for just about everything, do you feel for a fun league like we have do we need all the rules. if you could change one rule what would it be

A Strang silence occurs and ClarkeM looked around, so Raz moved on another tact

You have been leader of SFA teams in the past does leadership cause stress. You know, having to post those team sheets. encourage players to be active, keep players mindful of all those rules. or did you just let the team do what it wants

Funny you should ask about the stress of posting team sheets... well, I'm not really allowed to talk about it but let's just say I've posted less team sheets this season than I would have liked to. And yes, it is stressful.

Yeah we all know how that is so pointless, just use last week's team sheet if none entered the current week. those damn Mods are are so picky on those rules you wouldn't talk about earlier.

Raz let out a little chuckle

Those banal rules as they are written mean that captains are, I think, unfairly punished for genuine non-issues. I get there needs to be rules but seriously, the rules got stricter and the amount of people that stayed seemed to lessen. Wonder if there's a correlation in that.

Good to hear you speak from the heart, so back to the rule change

If I could change one rule, mmmm well I think in light of recent events, if I was admin I would probably do the job firstly (and this is important). I would change the Administrator Conduct rule to clearly define voting rights, notification requirements, conflict of interest procedures, communication channels, and who handles the process, as the current version is too vague - especially in scenarios where the Administrator is also a club captain.

Hmm so the rumours are true discord occurring?

Kind of a no brainer to me and is nothing new to what's already been posted.

Lets move off that topic and lets hear a question from the fans, have people in the past in SFA cheated the sim, any simmers been banned for manipulation. or is it all just fun and games.

Have people cheated the sim? Well categorically yes, there has been.

Oh surely we can give more detail to the fans . Name Names

There have been people who have played with alt accounts, we know about this already and I'm sure there's been other minor little ways in which people have cheated the sim or the process - perhaps it's through as simple as knowingly playing someone that was banned or something to that effect, but I don't really know.

And Simmers ?

Well, I've done many a media threads on uncovering some of the strong accusations against previous admins/simmers. I'm well aware of the rules these days with accusations of such and so nothing I say here is aimed at anyone currently in the system nor is it new information but back in the early days, the Administrator also ran the match sim for all games including finals quite often at the time. There was a notably convenient pattern where the Administrator/Simmer’s own team happened to win the premiership in their first year as Admin. This was something like roughly 5 out of the first 6 admins, I'd need to reread one of my old threads about it. The odds of this happening without some kind of manipulation, well, the data tells the story.
Actually nah here you go, here's the thread - https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/clarkemedia-presents-corruption-in-the-sfa.1100963/ Read it yourself and you can make your own mind up.

That is some amazing stuff ClarkeM, do we need to do something about this ?

I think enough time has passed now that we all kind of just accept that that's what it was at the time. And that's okay too. We're in Season 40 now and the system now with multiple simmers has been a welcome change. I still think while I trust all simmers, that there needs to be a level of two-factor authentication on the finals matches in particular and even for the simmers sakes themselves. Cadsky and I started this with the Season 37 or 38 Grand Final I think it was and truthfully, I know deep down that it was the right thing to do for the league but also too the simmers who volunteer so much of their time and energy and would hate to ever be accused of manipulating a result to get their own outcome - the more we can prevent this, the better in my view.

Some deep stuff there sir, we will leave it to our fans to phone in and see if they want more information or to go full werewolf game and call for a lynching, meanwhile, another question from the fans, based on you being in SFA so long, who was the person you rated best to interact with for fun and which person was must frustrating

Best to interact with, there've been many over the journey. Some that come to mind are Wise Guy Sam , Dingster, Elton Johns Wig , Coopers , croweater 41 , marklar 33 , BallaratBulldog and then from outside the Wonders, I guess Pie 4 Life is up there as one of the more genuine people going around in this place. There's a lot of them out there.

Most frustrating, well where to begin. BFFL or whatever his name was. Did he get drafted in the end? HaroLad early days but we formed a great bond in the end. Whatever Nakia's username is these days, probably Bruhn something. Actually no one has ever been frustrating, I think they've just been annoying, but I think you need that in this league. In small doses.

I think you are being too nice to some rather annoying people, but that is the way to be i guess.
Thanks Once Again ClarkeM, i hope our channel fans are enjoying gettign to see the world from others perspectives.

Go and enjoy the QOOTY !

And to all our fans .

Like , Share and subsribe the YouQootyTube Channel (it makes us lots of money)

 

[Raz]

Todays Roaming interview occurs as Raz visits the local Sweet City Bowling club
There he find Grav laying on his hammock enjoying the cool evening
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good day mate, great to have you hear for our next episode of Roaming Raz, now that the season is over for the Bombers, what does Grav do in the offseason

Glad you asked that Raz you see I’ve often wondered that myself, but in all seriousness, I’ve taken up the art of lawn bowls…. to save me from listening to myself.

Yes if only we could do the same during match threads.
How does the fact Bombers are struggling to bounce back to their glory seasons and premierships affect the team morale

Well! I know there are a few of us that couldn’t give a rats arse on ladder position, as of a team, we are a very close knit of friends. But in saying that, to newcomers (where we are extremely good at recruiting) it must be disappointing & they lose interest quickly!

Yes we should give a Rats arse more often, just ask damicky, but moving on,
Tube Radio is a really big hit now with many people coming to join in even when they not playing the Bombers, what are your thoughts on this


Personally I love Tube Guerilla Radio, such a great place to air your feelings in music.

Raz mutters under his breath about the silly producer getting the Radio Station wrong

You have been around SFA for a while now Grav. What keeps you coming back

One word.. “Camaraderie” …. although it may appear to some that there are a few dickheads within in the league, those people themselves are crying out for help, all they have to do is ask!

Yes do we name names now? who are those dicks? I guess we better not, those maybe the biggest fans of the interviews
What are your thoughts on players activity in the match threads. Seems a lot may just post once and that’s it.

Disappointing, if a person says that they want to play for a team, at least one post a week before game day is not too much to ask. Unfortunately, it is my belief the league is slowly dying with most teams selecting players that haven’t posted in donkey years. What is the reason? I think to many rules & regulations for a fantasy league, it’s not the AFL!

Well lets not get into those rules right now, we covered that in the last interview
You do seem to love your position at Full forward, we promise not to tell Jaffa , but what were your thoughts when mid season you were moved off the hammock and made to actually play other roles.

Hahaha! Once upon a time in real life, I used to play footy in the backline, played a few games in my life & probably kicked 2 goals throughout my career. To be moved from full forward I was absolutely rat shit, couldn’t believe how unfit I’d become from doing nothing up in the square….. can see why BLUEALLTHRU wants to play there.

Hmm you deep mentioning those Rats, are you having some form of Bromance with damicky

Grav suddenly throws and empty beer bottle at Raz and the interview is over with Raz high tailing it across the Green to safety, luckily Gravs throw accuracy is equivalent to his Qoal kicking accuracy recently .

Fortunately Raz escapes and makes his way back to his little Sweet City Inn, (thanks Mobbs )

 

[Raz]

Safely sitting behind he bar of his little inn in Sweet City , Raz looks at a familair face walking in. Raz watches for awhile and then joins the familiar figure in the corner
----------------------------------------------
So ClarkeM how fantastic to see you hear at the bar of my little Inn in Sweet City, hope you like this place that Mobbs created for me. The best wood fired pizzas in all of Sweet and all top shelf liquors behind the bar with a range of 8 draught beers. I seen you looking at the wine list going to buy any?
ClarkeM continues to read the wine menu and doesn't respond

So lets get back to the questions asked by the SFA fans.
What does ClarkeM think would be the best personal characteristics of a SFA Mod/ Admin and who in your opinion has been the best one in the role
I suppose the only personal characteristic you need in the role is simply to just do the actual job and what's required of it. That would be nice to see. Not sure who the best has been, maybe Kennedy Parker

Do you think more effort should be put into growing SFA into a 14 team competition to remove the BYE or perhaps one team needs to be merged to go back to 12 as we seem to be struggling for numbers of highly involved people

I've always been pro-expansionist but it's clear to me now that because we never expanded properly when we had the momentum, the league is now dying as a result of the stale place it's become.
Should the SFA go advertising for more persons in other Sections of the BigFOOTY world or is best just for current participants to seek known persons personally
Well of course, one of the ideas I had a few seasons ago was that I think every user that signs up to BigFooty should be given a snapshot of this place on their sign-up email that they would get. Naturally it's not everyone's cup of tea but also forums as a vessel of information are dying - there's no denying that as social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit in particular grow and grow. People don't need forums the way that we used to need them.
Yes Forums are now becoming just another social media space where people share their thoughts whether they should be shared or not.

What are your thoughts on how we reward active people. without making it a Spamathon

Reward them by giving them their preferred positions on the field. Nothing else really matters, not beez votes, not LG positions, that's all superfluous and somewhat tokenistic.
Great idea there, hope all captains are listening

Do you think the SFA Gorrilla Radio is a good idea? Do you participate at all
Gorilla thread? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Yeah i have no idea either really. apparently, it is something the Bombers do for entertainment on Friday Nights. Post lots of Music Videos. Many others joining now.

Have you personally recruited any people to SFA and if so did they become a big part of the league or fade away into the history books too soon

I have recruited many, many people to the Sweet FA. It's arguably what I like to be most known for if anything but the list is so long that I can't be bothered trying to remember them. I think there was a thread last year about this though? The only one on that list that's wrong however is Wosh . I recruited Wosh to the Sweet FA and she actually played a pre-season game for the Wonders in her very first season but she essentially refused to show up until a year or so later, Frankston Rover claimed her to join the Warriors which technically is where she played her first Sweet FA game but the truth is that yes, Wosh was a Wonder before anything and yes, I recruited her to the Sweet FA. I reckon I recruited beez too. Probably did, I'll just say I did. The dirty dog.

Finally ClarkeM, can you please let our fans know , how much do you love your time with Raz

at this point ClarkeM got up and walked out of the Inn

 

[Raz]

Raz was checking his supplies in the kitchen of the Inn and noticed the Pantry was running low on Cheese. He quickly flew across town to the Swamprats Lair to order some Cheese.
Whilst there he bumped into an old ex team mate and ex captain

-------------------------------
Yo!, is that you damicky ? Great to bump into you, you might have heard i doing some Roaming Interviews across Sweet City of the SFA players, Hope you got some time to sit down and chat

damicky flittered about startled , but relaxed when he saw it was raz.

Hey its a former Swamprat ! Sure I will happily chat

Well Damicky you are another player who has been around for some time now, but not everyone knows you, so can you tell the listener when did you join SFA, and have you always been a Swamprat or any other teams

Actually, everyone in Sweet knows me
I joined the Sweet FA in S32 & played for 2 Clubs in my Rookie Season … Furies & Demons
In S33, I joined the Wonders where I lasted 4 whole Seasons
I am about to complete my 4th Season at The Swamprats … maybe it is time for a change again

Wow 2 clubs as a rookie, everyone needs a home though, so you should stay at the Rats
SFA is sometimes a fun place, and sometimes not so much fun, can you give the listeners some idea of the funnest time you have had here, and also what was the worst time. Any bad experiences

Is funnest even a word?

Well for all those that done think so here is the AIs response
"Funnest" is a superlative form of the adjective "fun," meaning "most fun," but it is often considered informal and some prefer "most fun" instead. While dictionaries include "funner" and "funnest" as sometimes-used forms due to their common usage, many style guides and careful writers avoid them. It can be used informally, especially when paired with similar-sounding adjectives.

Anyway, the highlight of my time in Sweet has been as Captain of The Allies in SOO … winning Back to Back
The worst experience has been losing 2 x GFs to The OOBs

Excellent stuff being part of the SOO, for those that havent heard that is State of Origin, a part of SFA not many people have been to. We will have to do an investigation into Team Selection for the fans so they understand how it all works. But for now more questions from our Fans to damicky
Captaining a club as you have done can be a totally unrewarding role, stuck between abiding by the Rules of the league and keeping your teams enjoyment continuing, has there been times when you think the Rules of SFA dont help with the overall fun of the interactions or are you quite happy with all the rules.


Without all of these Rules, we would have anarchy
Nobody wants that … except ClarkeM & The Bombers

Oh a bit harsh, i think you will find most teams just want the same rules for all. But we will let that one slide on down the STREET. If you know how to get to the Street.
The Rats had a good year so far, making finals again. Tell the listeners who you think are the players who have lifted this year to get the Rats another opportunity for end of year success.

It has been a combination of our new Recruits TheGoatBaron , SweetD , The_Reaper & Rookie Slingshot Footy alongside old heads like jackster83 & MP_

Yes i miss the interactions with Jasckster and MP. ensure to say to them at the next Rats swarm meeting

Now to the imporant stuff everyone wants to know
Obviously as a Rat you love your cheeses. any favourite cheese? or is it any cheese in a storm

Camembert is definitely my favourite
Most cheeses are delicious though

Do you ever feel like it is time to stick to eating cheese and ignore the SFA for ever , what keeps you coming back.

It is getting more difficult to stay engaged each Season
The Sweet FA is definitely not in great shape
There are many good people who have supported me in difficult times
I also like to check in on others who are struggling to get through each day

Many post negative things about you, part of the banter i am told. how do you handle this negativity,

I really let it upset me in my first few Seasons here
Now I just ignore people who just want to bring others down

Well i truly want to say thankyou to you and the Swamprats for having me in my Rookie Season. Without that first year i wouldnt be here still. I totaly pissed off some of the rats due to my posting style but heck stuff happens

Thanks for your time. we hope this helps all in the SFA


It was nice to catch up with you again

 

[Raz]

Folks that roaming interviewer is back again Jabba73
-------------------------------------------------
Great to have you here for the this installment sir. As the greatest captain around i am sure many folks are interested in your thoughts.
But for all those that know little about you, how long have you been playing with the SFA?

Well you know i tend to play with every club, a bit like a lion plays with its food before killing it....

Raz interrupts I meant how long being a team member and which clubs
Jabba73 is still laughing and then catches up Oh... you meant playing Qooty !!
I joined the Baghdad Bombers in time for the start of Season 31 and I have played all 10 seasons with the best club in the league, I truly found my home at the first attempt.
That's truly amazing a one club person, and now you have progressed up to the captain role. How long have you been captain of the Bombers and what led you to accept that position
Halfway through Season 38, and mere minutes after the trade window closed, our captain at the time followed the completely unoriginal and well-worn path already trodden by a plethora of other clubs LG members by joining the OOBs.
We tried hard not to nominate a replacement captain ... which would be business as usual for that season, until someone worked out we couldn't be punished for any transgressions without one. As I was already in our LG and our Committee Rep, I was volunteered to finish off the season in charge until we had time to vote on a replacement. It probably didn't help that I was absent during the team vote on who got to take on the role.

You miss one ****ing meeting ...
Well i did hear that trend of missing meetings has continue. or so says Kilroy, or maybe it Kilroy missed meetings, just seems you never both in same meeting.
Speaking of Kilroy, the Bombers have a really diverse group of players, how does a captain maintain the team bond with such differences?
We embrace and celebrate all our team members and their differences, it is what makes our team PM such a vibrant community. Our team works because we have a very strong identity and purpose which allows everyone room to be themselves while being part of, and contributing to, our folklore and history.

Also, we are the club at the center of every scandal, shenanigans and serious topic in the SFA so there are opportunities galore for every type of poster to get involved and help us maintain the health of the league by propping the place up. You are all welcome.

We push the boundaries, no denying that, and that is why we are both loved and feared by other teams and those charged with keeping the peace in here. There is nothing that galvanizes this place more than the Baghdad Bombers being on one side of an argument or discussion. Our very diverse and active team is what keeps many of the media threads alive and makes sure that the Bombers match threads are not to be missed. You would not want it any other way.

Well i certainly wouldnt want it any other way. Bombers also have some of the most active people on the Game threads and also in other places. How is this encouraged behind the scenes
We do not have any posting requirements or mandated limits, everyone is encouraged to participate how and when they like.

There are no expectations to be a prolific poster, and we use the rigorous and deliberately tough preseason training session to weed out the ones who will not be able to handle the extra scrutiny of being a target "because Bombers" so only the strong survive it.

When someone makes it onto our list, you can be assured they have passed enough tests to handle the crap dished out by the self-appointed guardians of the SFA. It is child's play compared to what they have already been subjected to.

Our team PM is very active and there are many meaningful discussions that take place, beyond what the SFA is about. The genuine connections made within the team allow us to be ourselves and motivate the rookies and new players to stay involved, which then translates to media and match thread participation.
Yes I still can't get used to how many posts in that PM and they often are not SFA related. Luckily Kilroy keeps the SFAS related posts coming, as you well know . But lets forget the bombers for awhile, you also have a role in the Administration of the game for rules and other admin stuff. How does this extra work affect your overall enjoyment of the Game
Normally, the rules are where the bulk of the fun and games can be had.

The previous Admins have all taken their fair share of the jokes and shenanigans when rules were taken advantage of or bent to within an inch of breaking, because that is where the excitement of this place used to be ... right on the fringes and dealing with the fallout of such behaviour.

They also worked with me to find solutions to identified problems, without taking it personally as though it was them being criticized.

When this is the case, the extra work doesn't bother me as I see the role of the Committee to find where the rules are no longer fit for purpose and fix the problem before it needs to be implemented. This allows the merits of the case to be debated properly, without getting confused with how to implement a rule that doesn't actually work in reality.

It has been a bit of a slog this season as there are many outstanding issues that need addressing and haven't been. As a consequence, I fear we will be in exactly the same position next season.

Is there anything you believe needs to change in the SFA, anything at all ?
It seems we are intent on killing the fun in the SFA, too many things are removed or not allowed to be discussed, yet they affect all of us in some way. It would be a massive improvement if there was much more transparency.
I guess it all depends on what people call fun i guess, many are not interested in the SIM SFA and just want more and more banter, maybe the wishes of the league are changing to suit the changes in Society, but what about that BYE, LOVE IT or HATE IT

The Bye is not so bad, it allows teams to have a midseason break and catch up on some things without the pressure to keep up with match threads for a week. If used correctly, it is a good thing ... despite the problems it causes with the fixture.
Oh i hate the bye, i hate off season too ! a new team perhaps to remove the bye, merging of less active teams?

I would hate to see teams with a good and/or long history disappear from the league due to a lack of activity. It is everyone's responsibility to ensure their teams are active and a place that people want to be and contribute to.
Any Rules changes you would like to see?

There are multiple pending rule changes/updates required. For some reason or other it always seems to be the wrong time to be discussing them unless or until there is an immediate breach requiring rectification. It gives the impression of a rudderless league lurching from one crisis to another. Some forward planning and preventative maintenance would go a long way to fixing that.
Well lets move on from those Administrative details, can you recall the biggest highlight you have had since being in SFA?
By far, the biggest highlights would be the connections made with people I would not normally have met without this place.

There are several PMs that have genuinely gone way beyond the persona in here and have led to meaningful discussions over a wide range of topics and opened my eyes to things going on in other peoples lives that have helped change my perspective and given me a sincere appreciation for who they are and what they are going through.
Also what is the worst lowlight?
The personal cost of shining a light on this place and not knowing which post you make could be your last.

Sometimes you take a stance because it is the right thing to do and there are often consequences for doing this.

Thank you to those who have reached out and offered their support when I have done this, it is genuinely appreciated.
Yes shining lights are not always appreciated, what some see as a way of just revealing issues, others see as interrogation
and onwards and upwards we go, other people i have interviewed spoke of growth of the League and attracting new players. Recruitment of new players is obviously a skill not something everyone is gifted with that skill, so for starters who recruited you and have you recruited any and if so any future stars of SFA that were here due to your recruiting them?
I was recruited from an SFA tour which visited the Carlton board, I had already received a number of invitations to join clubs prior, it just hadn't really made sense until participating in a match with people I already knew from our board.

Two of my fellow blues VainGlorious and BLUEALLTHRU are the most responsible for me being here and part of the Baghdad Bombers.

There are some real recruiting superstars within the wall of Abdu Prison who can identify talent from the most unlikely of places. My sole contribution is to make contact with said potential players, if needed, and formally offer them a place on our list.

Once they are on the list, I am part of the team that works extremely hard to keep them there.
Finally Jabba, what is the official relationship beteen you and Kilroy, is he seriously just one of your alt accounts?

Does anyone believe I have the time to do all the stuff I currently do plus all the behind the scenes work that Kilroy does ... and then not want to take credit for it?

Me either.

And no one would have the time to post all the contributions to the ever popular TubeRadio segment under two different names and remember which alt you were posting under to not mix up the styles.

We work so well together as we have different ways of expressing our passion for the club and different strengths that compliment and enhance each others contributions. We are both cogs in the very strong machine that runs our club so effectively.


Want to thankyou again my captain oh captain. Has been a pleasure to learn more about you.


To all our listeners out there in SFA world. Hope you enjoyed this, please feel free to me to your place for a drink or two and a quiet chat.