I am retiring from this site. Topic

No exclamation points at the end of that sentence, which means I am serious this time and not ranting. I will not return for any of my progressive teams, including the 3 that I run -- JFK, Jackie Robinson, and What If Things Were Different -- so all my teams in those leagues as well as others will be available as soon as their current seasons end. I have put this off for months because as the player with the 7th-highest Live rating, I would feel partially responsible if I stop playing should Live go under. This used to be a lot of fun for me and it still is more fun when I am winning, but overall I no longer care. That and I need to focus on my life goals -- my career, my kids, and my offline social life. It has been frustrating for me when other longtime players disappear without a trace, and when theme leagues that used to get 24 players -- all different owners even -- have to make do first with multiple owners, then reduce to 16 teams, then fade into oblivion. However, I will honor my existing commitments as long as those leagues end up actually running. I am not expecting a Jeter / Rivera type tour, just telling you all this because it's better than leaving without notice.

Since joining this site on March 12, 2002, after seeing an ad for it in what was then called Baseball Weekly (USA Today's Sports Weekly), I have played over 36,000 Live games (the Live part since its inception in 2003, actually) -- over 30,000 under this ID and over 6,000 as yankeeman69 up until the end of 2005. (I actually did quit the site for the first 8 months of 2006.) I have played an additional 15,000 or so games that simmed. Side note: I gave myself the Trump moniker in 2004 solely because I was a fan of the new hit show The Apprentice, and I had no idea that the real Trump ended up being serious about running for President. In fact, I had meant to use that name for football only and I called my only WifS league football team the New Jersey Generals with the home field being the Meadowlands. I even had Herschel Walker on my team! When I rented the basement apartment from my parents and they called me up for dinner, I would sometimes be a few minutes late because I was finishing a game. They reluctantly understood, even when it went into extras. When I was married, my then-wife got sick of this site. Even after we divorced, she got disgusted at the mere mention of it whether by me or by one of my kids. I even remember when my older boy was a toddler and then a preschooler all the times I would sit him on the left side of me so he would not mess with the mouse while I played, and also wondered how so many people could miss obvious subs since for the first several years I never did!

Fourteen years later, I am tired, and at 42 years old I finally need to prioritize! I am attempting to start a new career in real estate (which would require nights and weekends which would otherwise be spent here), and if that doesn't work out, then I will go back to accounting, but even before I took any real estate salesperson classes, I was seriously considering walking away from this site. God knows I missed countless hours of sleep by staying up very late to play Live games. Some of you know when to shut it down for the night, but I don't, because I just hate to see games sim. If I stop now, that won't be my concern anymore. Even now I am zombified as I play Live!

Last May 30th, just two days before the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair was released (I had not planned that coincidence, by the way; this is just a reference point), I told you all about my own similar transition. Certain close relatives did not talk to me for up to 3 months, and I am one of the lucky ones in that each and every one of my family members either accepted me immediately or eventually came around to doing so. My transition is not the reason I am leaving this site. On the contrary, every single one of you has been nothing but great to me, and I thank all of you for this! Another sidenote: A couple of you were maybe a bit too supportive! Two WifS players hit on me in the past several months -- not naming names, but neither one was a regular, and one of those had even been hostile to me years earlier over a trivial matter. And here I was thinking that this site was the only place I could go online without getting hit on! I quickly learned that the Internet is different for a woman! To everyone else, I am glad that we could shoot the bull just like we did in the first 12 years of Live play. I feel as if I was the Christina Kahrl of WifS!

Thank you all for a great 13 years on Live and 14 years overall on this site! I am Sarah Katherine Renzetti (my full name) on Facebook and Sarah247NYC on Twitter, and [email protected] is my E-mail address if anyone wants to stay in touch. I will still be on this site for about the next 2 months. Hug your significant others and your children tightly! Nothing is more important than family! I wish all of you the very best in life!

Love,
Sarah
3/24/2016 1:52 AM
Good luck. WIS should give you a nice monetary compensation package for all you have done for the site through the years!
3/24/2016 7:04 AM
Dear sarah,

even though you have sometimes made me crazy; coming into rooms and dragging players out, leaving me back in the lobby without a game
(as you did a few days ago), i have enjoyed playing in your leagues, and i have enjoyed our many conversations during games; crude, sometimes vulgar, sometimes sensitive and warm, and often just funny.

And while we have some serious differences of opinion on life choices, I Am going to force myself to overlook the fact that you have chosen to be a yankee fan.
who cares if you love the yankees; you know the value what's really important in life; bad tv shows and family.
and , of course, above all, i admire you for your courageous gender change and, even more, your willingness to talk about it openly and emotionally.
you're the most admirable Yankee fan I know.

WIS will miss you, most of the players will miss you, the leagues will miss you.
and I will miss you.

good luck, and be happy.

Jon
(coyote522)

3/24/2016 12:34 PM
gl, thanks for all the time you've put into this site
3/24/2016 12:45 PM
Sarah: Best wishes. We'll miss you! ... (-:
3/24/2016 12:46 PM
dont go!!!!!!! You are the glue that holds all the proggies together.. if you leave there would only be a few live ones left.. I hope an owner or 3 takes them over and continues them, as they are the leagues i truly enjoy. But whatever your decision (Arod just backed out of his retirement statement lol) I support you and all you have done for this site and the moral support re: my moms battle with cancer and her passing as well as your moms battle with cancer. I wish you and your family best wishes and hope you still play a little WIS here and there, After all, you were teaching your son how to play (beat me a few times too..lol). maybe he could take over the leagues..lol. Stay in touch and keep an eye on the site, maybe you will free up some time in the future and return
all the best
Rob
3/24/2016 7:14 PM
Thank you, everyone! Rob, I never used the Long Island Ale House gift card I won at your bowling fundraiser 2 years ago, and now they are permanently closed. I'm sorry!
3/24/2016 7:19 PM
You were here?
3/24/2016 7:37 PM
Yes, Kermit, for over 50,000 games. Reading is fundamental.
3/24/2016 7:57 PM
It's not easy being green.
3/24/2016 8:14 PM
GL in your personal life Sarah, you'll be missed here more than you know. I enjoyed our many live games together and even more the conversations that occurred during them. Hope you find some time to check back every now and again!! Thanks for all you did, Dave
3/25/2016 5:08 AM
Talked to Valerie Harper... she says you should continue on this site.
3/25/2016 6:02 PM (edited)
LMAO, Spark! Perhaps a nonzero chance I change my mind!
3/25/2016 9:39 PM
This sucks. Sorry to see you go. I wish you the best. May something else bring you a little joy in life, as this game and community has done.
P.S. It's not cheating if you just look in every once in awhile.
3/27/2016 12:27 PM
Wow...a sad day for Baseball...feels like a Ruth or Gehrig speech moment @ Yankee Stadium. Live is such a small community these days, it feels like losing a family member who's saying Bon Voyage & sailing into the great wide open. I understand & respect your decision - I only implore you to not make it a permanent one.

Take some time off to spend more time on other parts of your life- take a break - give up running Leagues that take up a lot of time- but please come back to play in a couple of Leagues for fun once you miss it. Create a different screen name if you want to. It was sad enough to lose long timers bulantz & habsfan - you are also an integral part of this family.

Cheers to you & l hope this isn't a permanent goodbye. Take a break. Focus on life. Then come back for a game of Rounders. You will be missed & we'd love to have you back anytime.
3/27/2016 8:43 PM
12 Next ▸
I am retiring from this site. Topic

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.