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The Journals of Doc Surge is the personal blog of Chris Billows. This blog’s purpose is to explore ideas and concepts through the discipline of writing as an exercise to further personal understanding.

Check out more about me, some of my thoughts on Games and Hockey.

Sep 09

Nostalgia – The Chemicals Between Us

September 09, 2018 by Chris Billows in Republic of Bloggers 0 comments tags: Defining Life, Human Condition, Virtuous Discourse
Thank you Chris for inviting others to suggest a topic for your Virtuous Cyborg project and thank you for your treatment of my suggestion on nostalgia.   Your post elicited my own nostalgic experience. It is as if you mentioning Micronauts acted as a chemical trail to other memories such other action figures, comics, Choose Your Own Adventure, D&D, and Fighting Fantasy. I remember vividly being at home during the summer break in 1982, lying on a bed, watching music videos on a small box television, and playing Final Fantasy/Sorcery books. It was one of those moments in time that is seared in my mind and brings a smile. Thinking about the past in this way initiates a sub-routine program in myself. This is not simply a bunch of electrons firing off, there is an actual change in my mood which has been documented in people who are exposed to nostalgia. There is no doubt that computers are chemical creations (drawing a circuit board alters the state of it) and I would propose that establishing nostalgia is like the etching of a circuit board in our nervous system. We know that nostalgia makes us emotionally settled but what is it […]
Aug 28

Winnipeg Jets Former Players Summary 2011 to 2018

August 28, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Former Players
The Winnipeg Jets arrived in 2011 from the old Atlanta Thrashers team. Between 2011 and the most recent 2017-18 season there has been players that have come and gone. I thought it would be a fun exercise to go through all of the former Jets players who has played with this franchise and see where they are at. Below we see the list of players who played at least one game (regular season or playoff) for the Winnipeg Jets and have left the organization. Other GP is the total NHL Games Played before and after playing for the Jets. I will consider changing this in the future to count only those games played after playing for the Jets. This list is current up to June 30, 2018.   Ex-Jets Status Summary from 2011 to 2018 (Regular and Playoff Seasons) Players not included: Those currently playing with Jets or Moose Player Name Pos. GP G A Pts PIM Seasons Yrs Reason Where To Other NHL GP Notable Events Tim Stapleton R 63 11 16 27 10 2011-2012 1 Did Not Resign Europe 55 Johnny Oduya D 63 2 11 13 33 2011-2012 1 Traded NHL 893 Stanley Cup Championships in 2013 […]
Aug 27

Winnipeg Jets Cumulative Trades Score 2011-2018

August 27, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Trades
Player Trading is a useful way for NHL Teams to supplement and refresh their roster. It becomes possible to get rid of players that need a change and giving a fresh start to the players you get or build for the future. The Winnipeg Jets used to be known to be a team that made very few trades. Since they arrived in Winnipeg, GM Cheveldayoff has made 28 trades over seven years which remains on the low end of activity. But how has the Winnipeg Jets fared with these trades? Are they winning or losing? This article attempts to answer that question. I have created a table that tracks each trade conducted by the Jets that compares traded players according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a traded player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a traded player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. So why just games […]
Aug 26

Atlanta Thrashers Prospects Evaluation 1999 to 2018

August 26, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The 2018 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone and the Winnipeg Jets adding to their cupboard of future hockey players. This is the eigth draft for the franchise since moving to Winnipeg. When it moved from Atlanta in 2011, the Winnipeg Jets inherited an empty cupboard of players and prospects. We just need to see the Winnipeg Jets records of marginal competitiveness for proof. The Winnipeg Jets essentially had to start restocking their prospects cupboard. Drafting and developing is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success yet you will see in the year-by-year breakdown below that the Thrashers did a very poor job of drafting good players and then did a poor job of developing them. How did I track this? By tracking each Thrasher draft prospect according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his […]
Aug 25

Winnipeg Jets Prospects Evaluation 2011 to 2018

August 25, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
Following the June 2018 NHL Entry Draft, I am updating my evaluation on the cumulative draft and develop progress of the Winnipeg Jets. Drafting is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success so its not surprising that Winnipeg Jets Management has made draft and develop its central strategy. This post (and the one that preceded it) will break down how the Jets have done with their 2011 to 2017 draft picks up to the end of 2017-18 season (which is why this evaluation goes from 2011 to 2017 even thought the 2018 draft class is listed). I have created a table that tracks each draft prospect taken by the Jets according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. While the goal of the draft is to have […]
Aug 11

Jung on Art, Games, and Fantasy

August 11, 2018 by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Games and Jung, Playstates
“One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves.” – C.G. Jung   What does Jung mean in this quote? Why would other despise the invention of a good game? Is it that games require instincts and ‘men’ are in denial of said instincts? Is it because it is one of the hardest things to do? I can only imagine that Artists will resent this quote. I will agree with Jung. I think that good games are very hard to create. They are hard to create in large part because they requires that the designer understand that instinctive something about themselves. Its fascinating that Jung did not say that good games required good rules or mechanics. Instead he said it was about self-knowledge, and not just any kind of self-knowledge – instinctive self-knowledge. But isn’t Art also about self-knowledge? A way to explore one’s self? Jung had this to say:   “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person […]
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