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+---- Thread: (S31) Ultimus Week (/showthread.php?tid=35541)
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Frostbite - 10-26-2021
I will be doing one long task, this one about one of the more... entertaining trades in the last ISFL century.
OCO Receives:
Curtis Saul*
CHI S21 R1
PHI S21 R3
CHI Receives:
Thorian Skarsgard*
OCO S21 R1
OCO S21 R2
$2,000,000 S21 cap space
*Contracts are retained for both players
So this is one of the most major trades of recent memories that I can think of, and definitely one of the biggest for me as when it happened I was a fairly new user.
Something important to note is that Chicago was projected to have first overall and while a 900 TPE DT like Skarsgard could have potentially changed that, it was unlikely to fix their several missing holes. I think for this trade it’s very important to note that they still had Ryan Leaf Jr, a DT already better than Skarsgard, so getting a DT would not have been extremely beneficial to the team, especially considering the extreme needs at RB, TE, and nearly all defensive back positions. But hey, maybe OCO missed in the first and Chicago crushed this draft with 3 picks in the first two rounds!
Let’s see what these picks turned into.
CHI S21 R1 turned into 1oa, as many expected to happen, and Orange County would pick their next GM Prince Vegeta at 1oa. Vegeta would be a max earning safety before eventually going inactive right before regression, at 1430 TPE. Overall a very good pick and likely well worth it for OCO, as Jeff kept that lr active during a semi rough stretch (at least for old OCO standards).
PHI S21 R3 would turn into 23oa, the third pick of the third round. At this spot OCO would pick Lemon, aka Remon Kurisuto, who would hit 926 TPE before going inactive and actually swapping positions for cap purposes. This is another player who would be massive for OCO’s continued domination, and Lemon was actually the DSFL simmer for a couple of seasons; an obvious good user and good selection.
For Chicago’s acquired picks:
OCO R1 would turn into 6oa, which all things considered doesn't really make this trade all too bad.
At 6oa CHI would end up selecting TE Osiris Firestorm-Fjord. This would prove to be one of Chicago’s few good picks, as Osiris would hit 1195 TPE, and is still active to this day! I know for a fact that HEOB was a main locker room contributor during the dark days of Chicago, and without him I’m not sure Chicago ever makes it out of the cellar, 10/10 pick and honestly due to still being active today I would say the value HEOB brought to Chicago was even more than what Jeff brought to OCO.
OCO R2 would actually be traded AGAIN, this time to Arizona. S20 was by far the season where Chicago did the most trades, and unfortunately for them most were not good trades. Let’s see what Chicago traded this second for….
ARI Receives:
OCO S21 2nd Round Pick
CHI S22 5th Round Pick
CHI Receives:
Leighton Lee*
$1,000,000 S21 cap space
*Contract is retained by Arizona
Leighton Lee was a 695 TPE LB, who would enter regression at the end of the season, and honestly trading a second in a deep class (at the time) is very, very bad. If AZ managed to draft someone good with that second round pick then this would be a highway robbery. Key word “if.”
Arizona would end up selecting Trevor Mouseman with their OCO R2 selection, which while at the time Mouseman was a good pick he would go IA almost immediately after being drafted and never made it to the big leagues.
That Chicago S22 5th however, would prove to be a steal of a pick for a 695 (nearly) regressing linebacker. With that S22 R5 pick, AZ would end up selecting Zamir Kehla, and while he did retire early, he provided several seasons of above average CB play and a pro bowl selection.
AZ gets a grade of: B+
Overall this is a very good deal for AZ, and just Leighton Lee for a 5th is worth it if I'm AZ, however missing on that second makes me unable to give this an A.
CHI gets a grade of: F-
Honestly I can’t even believe this trade was approved. Really? You're going to trade a second in a deep draft, and while you didn't know the 5th would be as valuable as it was, you did know it was a reddit pick, and you traded all that away for not only a not high TPE LB, but a regressing one!? In a season where you started off the season poorly and are unlikely to make playoffs? Chicago has made several trades like this in recent years and this is one of the reasons why they were in such a bad spot for so long.
Now back to our main trade:
OCO Receives:
Curtis Saul*
CHI S21 R1
PHI S21 R3
CHI Receives:
Thorian Skarsgard*
OCO S21 R1
OCO S21 R2
$2,000,000 S21 cap space
TLDR; That OCO R2 would turn into Leighton Lee essentially, which is not a very good trade for who they could have gotten in R2. Let’s narrow it down to who received what to dumb it down.
OCO Receives:
Curtis Saul* - 195 TPE DT, just a placeholder for losing Thorian. In his last season.
CHI S21 R1 - Prince Vegeta - S; a future OCO GM and is on the top 25 TPE list. ISFL Pro Bowler - Currently IA
PHI S21 R3 - Remon Kuristuto - WR/OL; a (former)valued OCO WR member and former DSFL simmer. ISFL - Pro Bowler - Currently IA.
CHI Receives:
Thorian Skarsgard* - 900 TPE DT - Entering his 3rd regression season in the offseason. - Turned into a valued CHI WR member before leaving CHI in FA for his last season.
OCO S21 R1 - Osiris Firestorm-Fjord - CB/TE; Valued CHI WR member and helped them through the rebuild
OCO S21 R2 - Turned into Leghton Lee - 695 TPE LB - Entering his first regression season in offseason - Would retire after only 1.5 seasons in Chicago.
$2,000,000 S21 cap space
I think that it is pretty safe to say that OCO won the trade, however the value in trades are closer than one may think.
OCO gets a grade of: A+
OCO got two cornerstone players for their franchise including a GM, if you get that in a trade I honestly can't give you anything less than an A+.
CHI gets a grade of: D+
If they didn't luck into HEOB falling to 6 this would be another F-, however getting HEOB was key to their successful rebuild so I do have to give kudos for that. However if they didn't make this trade and just picked Jeff 1oa alongside a good player in the third they may have never needed to go full rebuild. Could have been worse definitely, but still a very much not good trade.
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - JaytheGreat - 10-27-2021
Tier 2: Short Form Tasks (Each must be 400+ words)
8. With awards season upon us, make up an award for your player win for something not on the football field?
So in my 2nd season with Portland I won what I think is my favorite award I've ever gotten. After the season the community gave me an award for most outreach in the community. I was given the award by a group of medical professionals and school kids at the stadium, if you've seen the picture I had the biggest smile on my face. It means so much to me that the people of Portland cared enough about me to vote for me and appreciated all of the time I spent with them when I wasn't training or playing the game. I love doing things for the fans they come and cheer every week, doesn't matter if we are playing at home or on the road the fans always show up. So the least I could do was go and show them some love and how much we appreciate them. I've visited hospitals, schools, factories, food places and everywhere in between, it is really cool to visit all these different places. My favorite is going to the hospitals, my brother works in a hospital so it's always interesting to see how other hospitals do it differently then where he works. I love to see the patients (it just sucks that they are in the hospital) and talk with them for a while, it really seems to brighten up their day. I also get to hang out and talk with the medical staff and they are always awesome to talk with and hear stories. The award in itself is a pretty prestigious award, its past winners have included commissioners, head office members, hall of fame members, and many memorable players. It's an award my uncle Jayson Kearse never won throughout his career, so that makes it extra special to me. The award comes with a trophy which is cool I guess, but the coolest thing to me is that the city of Portland win as well. The ISFL gives the city some money that comes towards different organizations around the city to help kids of all ages build places to play, which includes more then just sports fields and equipment but parks and playground equipment as well. Which is another reason why I'm so happy to win this award. The downside to this is that it's a one time award and I won't be able to win it again as long as I'm a player but I could win one if ever become a GM. I won't be able to win it for my next team (Yellowknife) but its ok they've won it a few times before.
25. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?
If the safety position went away tomorrow I would more then likely end up playing LB, even though I think right now my better position would be CB. I would be playing LB because that's the position I would like to play, when I created my player I was in between S and LB and ended up picking Safety which is really a combination of CB and LB. I didn't want to be a corner because honestly I find the position to be boring, I kinda like to see my player pick up stats and you don't really get that a lot besides the occasional Pass break ups and INTs. LB you get a ton of tackles along with sacks, fumble and sometimes PDs and INTs, plus I think LBs make a bigger impact on the field then a CB. Wouldn't really want to go the offensive route maybe next player though. The offensive players are too prima donnas while I like to just go out and hit people. If I did want to pick an offensive position I would probably go with RB, I always liked to watch RBs play and they are a big in part in team's offense in the sim engine.
27. What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?
So this probably comes off as a little homerish but I think the best branding in the league is Yellowknife. First off when you think of a city called Yellowknife you think of ghost's or things of that nature. To go with that the logo has always been my favorite and is probably my favorite logo of any sim league, it looks like a grim reaper staring at you. The white, black, and lighter blue color is cool and makes for some very cool jerseys, I've seen some Yellowknife jerseys that I would 100% buy in real life they are awesome. Some other real cool brands in my opinion include the Arizona Outlaws, New York Silverbacks, and Berlin Fire Salamanders (I did not like the name until I saw the logo). In the DSFL I'm a fan of the Portland Pythons and Bondi Beach Buccaneers brands/logos as well. Outlaws name and logo just fits with Arizona and I think the brand is really tied together well. I think the last two expansion teams knocked it out of the park with their designs even if I'm not sure what relationship Fire Salamanders have to do with Berlin but I've been told there is a relation there. Portland's logo is great and I think the whole Buccaneer logo fits very well with any team with beach in their name.
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - taterswc - 10-27-2021
10. Write a short biography or story about your player. This could include background about how they came to the ISFL and how they’ve done so far, a story about their role in an exciting game, or anything else related to their experience in the league.
Zephyr was excited for his first regular season game on the London Royals. When the day finally came Zephyr was ready to hit the field and play his first regular season game in the DSFL. Kansas City had first possession starting at their own 23rd line. After they had moved the ball for a first down Doc looked at Zephyr in the huddle “you ready” Doc asked. Zephyr nodded; he knew exactly what play they were about to do. After practicing for weeks, they wanted to open this game with a statement and that statement was the Royals are here to play. When Kansas City hiked the ball Zephyr ran full speed at Doc. Doc holding the offensive line kept himself low and just as Zephyr reached him Doc jumped. Zephyr jumped off Doc’s back and went straight over the offensive line. The Kansas City quarterback never saw it coming. Before he knew what hit him it was already over. Sacked for a loss of 10 yards. Zephyr loved the looking of shock and maybe a little fear in his eyes. Kansas City would need to change their formation to prevent this from happening again. Now that Kansas City has a man standing directly in front of the quarterback to prevent an ariel wolf assault Kansas City feels better about their offence. Despite setbacks they do manage a 67-yard touchdown pass. Zephyr was disappointed he couldn’t get to the quarterback in time to prevent that one. London answers back with a touchdown of their own. Despite being sacked Parmelee follows up with a 54yard pass to Toucan Sam for another London touchdown. Now London has the lead and Zephyr can smell victory. However, heartbreak was just around the corner. On the kickoff Kansas City makes a 96yard return. Kansas City was able to convert that into another touchdown now taking the lead back. Tensions are high going into the 3rd quarter. Zephyr knows he needs to make a move. Kansas City is on the London’s 8yard line and will surely make this a two-touchdown game. Zephyr sees his window and rushes past the center. The quarterback has just enough time to see teeth and fur before he is down for a loss of 11yards. Kansas City is forced to take a field goal and now the game is only separated by 10 points. Things went from bad to worse after that. Kansas City managed to get another touchdown and followed it up with an interception for a touchdown. The royals were disappointed when the game ended 31-14. Practice after that loss was brutal. Doc had the defense running wind sprints all week. 96 a day to be exact. One for each yard that was given up on the kickoff return. That’s where it all started going south and now Zephyr will remember that moment.
14. Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?
Preseason was hard on the Royals. There was not much time for practice after being trapped on an abandoned island for the weeks leading up to preseason. The team got what little practice in they could, but things were not clicking yet. The Royals dropped all 4 preseason games losing to Kansas City, Minnesota, Tijuana, and Bondi Beach.
London’s first regular season match was against Kansas City. Like many games to come this one started out good for London. By the end of the first quarter London lead 14-7. However by the end of the second it was a tie game. By the time the fourth quarter came and went the game was well out of hand and London lost 14-31.
The next few games were ups and down. Mostly downs. One way down. But then game 4 came around. Bondi Beach was ready to capitalize on London’s poor start. The first quarter started out good for London. A field goal made the game 3-0 in London’s favor. The second quarter was even kinder with 4 touchdowns for London. London started the third quarter with a field goal and Bondi Beach answered back with a field goal of their own. Early in the fourth quarter London got another touchdown bring the final score to 41-3 in favor of London. This win meant a lot to the team, and we were ready to use this momentum to get more wins.
Game 6 was a heartbreak for London. The Portland Pythons were the closest team in the north division to London. A win here would have meant a lot for the team. The trend continues with London starting out well. The first quarter had no scoring, but the second quarter was great for London. 2 touchdowns for London with only one answered back for Portland. The third quarter saw Portland with 1 touchdown. The fourth quarter saw Portland get a safety and a touchdown. Only answered by one touchdown for London. Portland wins 23-20.
When game 14 came around London was out of the post season picture but that wouldn’t stop them from going out with a bang. Facing Dallas in the last game of the season. Last time they met Dallas won in overtime and London still remembers. In true London fashion the first quarter was a good one. London got a touchdown while Dallas was only able to answer back a field goal. The second quarter was much closer. Dallas had 2 touchdowns and a field goal while London only had 2 touchdowns. Making it a 1 point game for London. The third quarter was a touchdown for London. The fourth was a field goal for London and just like that London ends the season on a win.
London may have only gotten 4 wins this season but we are looking up and on the rise.
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Mooty99 - 10-27-2021
13. Expansion is always such an exciting topic to write about and creates so much discussion in the league. I have in my previous life as a member of HO reviewed the requirements for whether we should have an expansion a few season ago so I know a fair amount about it. So for this exercise I will try and cover pros and cons, well until I get to my word limit so let’s see how this goes. Firstly the pros for expansion, firstly moving to a 16 team makes so much sense, the league can be structured like a really football league with 2 divisions each spilt into 2 groups of 4 and the top 2 teams from each can go to the playoffs, the whole thing will be so much nicer and neater and we can get rid of the of the wild card bye that the rope 2 teams get. Expansion would allow more people to lay more fun positions too, more chance for people to play QB, or WR1or OLB and really rack up those stats. Now however are the cons, well the are less cons and more issues that already exist to really stop expansion from really happening or at the very least make it much harder to pull off. The first and biggest issues is number of users. We had an explosion of users just over a year ago but that has been declining, this has been the case for all sim leagues as the world pens up more people are looking less to the online world to escape, with less users it makes keeping an additional 2 teams much harder to do. Now teams are quite large at the moment so there sizes could be reduced but doing so would almost certainly mean that an ISFL expansion would lead to a DSFL contraction, which is never fun or popular at least with some users so that is also an issue. The only way I could really see expansion happening is if a radical change was made such as allowing players to have more than one player, maybe not everyone but say maybe allow lineman to play both sides of the ball, neither are stat rich positions so making up for that with having the chance. To play on both sides is a nice little idea. You could even allow something like safety’s also play TE or FB as they are the other less fun and stat based positions. All in all I really don’t think that expansion will happen at least in the near future, there is too much risk involved and to make it work there would need to be too big a change to the league more most people to stomach I think, this is a sham but maybe it is for the best. If it were to happen I know I would love to apply to run a team, I have already had a number of people say to me independently that they would love me to put in a bid with them so if it does watch this space, maybe the Memphis Jackels or Tuscaloosa Bootleggers might become a reality.
WC 530
21. Now as the person who does the bulk of theism testing for Austin both before on the old sim and with the new one I am in a fairly good position to talk about this and how I have found it, we can probably split it into good and bad, and only have 200 words to do it so I better crack on. The good, there are no more ridiculous penalties like in 16, in 16 my player, a QB, got a penalty for tripping, on a pass play, which is of course pretty much impossible and these types of penalties happened a lot so I am glad they are gone. I like the fact that more defensive plays are actually shown such as picks, before it was just text which sucked. Another big improvement is the calming down of HFA, in 16 it was crazy strong so now it is less which again a very good thing. Now for the bad, no bulk testing sucks, it is harder and more time consuming to get and I hate that and I am sure I am not allow on that one. Next the actual screen needs to be zoomed it, it is harder to see your dot on the field which is not the best. Lastly there are still positions which get S few stats and that is no fun, think of the poor defensive linemen and safeties or really struggle in this sim I do feel bad fo them.
WC 250
27. I not 100% sure why but everyone loves to talk about and review branding and I can answer this question in a couple of sentences or in a 1000 word essay so to fit the200 words I will need to pace myself just right, because of this I will split up the branding into various parts for things I like and don’t like and see how it gos from there. Now best location for me and I am not being biased is Austin, Texas lives and breathes football so I am shocked I took till season 16 to have a team in the state and that combined with it not being a place that has an NFL team is a huge win for me. Worst location has to be Yellowknife, I will take about there actual branding later but for a location it is just dumb, I am sorry but so on had to say. Now for the logo/colours the best is Yellowknife, I know I just trashed the location but the logo is iconic for all the right reasons, for me it is the best logo in all sim leagues I love it so much. The worst logo/colours has to be Sarasota, why them, THAT IS NOT A SAILFISH IT IS A MARLIN. I don’t know why this annoys me so much but it really does, it is such a knock off of the Florida Marlins which is such a shame as it has always been an amazingly well run team.
WC 253[url=https://simulationhockey.com/showthread.php?tid=119523&pid=3118437#pid3118437][/url]
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Vorshayla - 10-27-2021
Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?
S27 was an interesting draft class to be sure. There were a few recreates along with some new users that had definitely proven themselves in the DSFL the previous year for ISFL GMs to take notice. Numbers went #1 overall to Honolulu as the can't miss prospect and through 5 seasons, he definitely lived up to the billing becoming Honolulu's primary option out of the backfield and he has a great career so far. That being said, here is where things take a turn for the unexpected. Miller was the next pick up as the top CB in the draft to Baltimore, overlooking other secondary options like SparkySparky Boom-Man and PickSix II. Miller seems to have had a lackluster career so far in terms of earning having fallen to the mid-teens in his draft class.
Xander Creed at number 3 unfortunately for the Liberty became a bust as he disappeared almost as fast as he shot up the draft boards prior to the draft. Creed just couldn't figure it out at the pro level and it's safe to say his career path was not what anyone had expected. It is always a shame to see a promising rookie not have the career that anyone expects, but wherever Xander is, we hope that he's happy.
Marlon Brando has definitely been a huge hit for Berlin, the big buy has definitely been a star for the Fire Salamanders and looks to be a defensive leader on that line for a few more years at least while the new crop of stars slowly start to form up in the league but Brando is looked up to in the locker-room and he has been everything Berlin could want out of the 4th overall pick.
SparkySparky-Boom Man goes to the Yeti at 5 and the Yeti have to be proud of this guy as is Sparky as it seems to be a very good fit and Sparky's career has definitely been a solid one for the Yeti as well being drafted into an already strong team.
I think there were two unexpected steals in this years draft as well with Madison Hayes as well as HeHateMe PickSix II going both the butchers at 10 and 1 overall respectively. Hayes has been tearing it up in the league on the offensive side of the ball having most recently been nominated for Offensive Game of the year this past season as well as being a great offensive captain for the team. I expect more great things before this class hits regression from Hayes and she continues to round out her career. On the defensive side of this coin, PickSix II has had a very steady career so far. Often ranking among the elite corners of the league but never quite having enough breakout performances to be nominated for any awards himself. For someone drafted in the 2nd round, Chicago has definitely got to be happy with this kind of production. The world on the street is that he's a little more reserved than his name-sake was earlier in the league's history, but he is every bit as ferocious of a defender on the field as the original PickSix as well. Definitely someone to keep an eye on in the future to see if he can have a few more product years before his body breaks down along with most of the people in this amazing draft class.
Lastly, at 20, Chicago also gets Mike Hunt, their current WR1. It's very hard for teams to hit on a player that is not a lottery pick. It's very hard for teams to hit on players that are lottery picks as evidenced by this very class at 2 and 3. But for Chicago to hit at 10, 18 and 20 is very impressive. Mike has been a big play WR for the team and often will make great catches and drive the ball downfield for big yardage for the Butchers. With this draft alone, Chicago definitely shortened their rebuild time and just this past year finally managed to get back into the playoffs, but not only that, also advance to the conference title game. This is going to be a scary team in a few years for sure.
In terms of Hall of Fame. I don't think anyone from this class makes the hall. There are definitely some players that would be close, Eleven might squeeze by if the production ramps up a bit in the next few years. If PickSix can stay consistent for 4 more years and still put up 25+ PDs a season like he's been doing, he might get a few looks his way, but I think for now he is definitely on pace to become Chicago's all time PD leader which in itself is a feat to be proud of.
It's definitely an interesting class to revisit, like all drafts, this one also had stars in the making as well as unfortunate busts for teams that took a chance and didn't quite get the results they were looking for.
844 words
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - MMFLEX - 10-27-2021
1. This week will see the S31 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome?
Writing this after the outcome of the games and we know that the Honolulu Hahalua and Dallas Birddogs won their respective championships. In the ISFL, the ASFC teams from top to bottom were Austin, Arizona, and Honolulu. And in the NSFC, Colorado, Sarasota, and Chicago. Colorado started the regular season looking like the best in class, but stumbled into the playoffs, going 4-4 in their last 8. Of the 6 playoff teams, Colorado was entering the playoffs with the worst record in their last 8 games. Austin, on the other hand, rallied late in the season, going 7-1 in their last 8 with their only loss to Baltimore. Shocking in itself, another shock was their week 13 commanding win over the Arizona Outlaws, 44-20, which cemented themselves as the clear favorites heading into the playoffs. The eventual Ultimus winners, Honolulu, started the season 2-4 and everyone was thinking this would be the same old Honolulu. But the Hahalua rallied late in the season, going 6-2 in their last 8 and clinching a playoff spot in week 15 with New York's loss to Orange County. Entering the playoffs, the Hahalua, likely with the lowest odds, would travel to Arizona where they lost both regular season games to the Outlaws, both a 1 score game. Seemingly, Honolulu's only advantage was on defense, where they lead their conference in points allowed and trailed only Chicago for the league lead by a small margin. What ensued was an offense that stepped up, dropping 33 points, and amount that was exceed in only 3 of their regular season games. Honolulu would go on to win that game and face Austin in the Conference Championship. A big underdog, Honolulu would end up scoring double from the average of their 2 games against Austin in the regular season. The entire game was controlled by Honolulu throughout, and if not for a garbage time score from Cowabunga this game wasn't as close as the score indicated. Now onto the Ultimus game where we would see Colorado and Honolulu play for the S31 title. Colorado arrived to the game by butchering the Butchers in a 23-10 game. This game was a slugfest as it was back-and-forth throughout, which ultimately led to Salamanca hauling in his 2nd touchdown of the day with less than two minutes to go for the winning score. "Were you surprised by the outcome?" Yes, along with everyone else. I'd be lying if I said I was confident with any of the 3 games in this playoff run. Hard to say winning the Ultimus wasn't the biggest surprise, but Honolulu averaged an entire touchdown more than their regular season average. So much of the offense stepped up big, and not even always the players you'd expect. Ace Savage was the hero against Arizona with 175 yards on 15 touches. Against Austin, Honolulu relied on their studs, Cobra Kai and Eleven Kendrick-Watts. Perhaps Freddy Bly's 56 yard FG as time expired in the 1st half was the biggest score of the game. Bly was only 2/3 on 50+ attempts in the regular season and only had a long of 52 yards. If he misses that Honolulu is staring at overtime with the best team in the league. And in the Ultimus, Lalo Salamanca earned OPOG as Kendrick-Watts struggled to get going. Salamanca finished with 130 yard and 2 TDs.
In the DSFL, both Semifinals games were exciting very exciting until the very end. In the Northern Conference Final there were 2 scores in the last 2 minutes of the game. Minnesota's Levy Tate nailed a chip shot, 24 yarder, to go up 27-24. Kansas City then marched down the field and ultimately led to a Keedic game winning touchdown from to Carter Knight. Imagine would could have happened if Minnesota went for it on 4th down for the kill shot, or even not converting, pinning the Coyotes deep in their own territory. In the Southern Conference Final we got a headbanger that everyone expected. The best two teams going at it that ended up going into overtime. This looked to be a runaway as Dallas scored 2 early touchdowns in the 4th quarter to go up 14 points. Malcom Savage and the Norfolk defense wasn't going out without putting up a fight. They rallied to score a 27 yard TD pass to Malcador The Hero with 3:37 left in the game. 2 plays later Spike Daniels picked off Ricky Stanzi and led to a Savage to Patey touchdown to tie the game that would end up going to overtime. Norfolk's stomach is still in their throat because the defense secured another turnover under 2 minutes and in the redzone. Instead of a go-ahead score, a costly interception was thrown just 2 plays later. With momentun in Dallas' favor heading into overtime, the first play was another interception off Savage that led to a game winning FG. The winner of this game was going into the Ultimini as the favorite. However, that's not how the game started. Kansas City entered half time with a 20-9 lead. With a scoreless 3rd quarter, Dallas really got it going in the 4th and scored 22 unanswered points to win the Ultimini.
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Words: 900+RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Haseo - 10-27-2021
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Task 6 - 847 words“Sim gonna sim” is literally how I would describe Season 31 for two teams: the Honolulu Hahalua and the Orange County Otters.
Going into the beginning of the season, the Otters were extremely excited at the prospect of making it back to the playoffs. For everyone in the war room, the Otters were testing at 8-8 at the absolute worst, with wins over the Arizona Outlaws, New York Silverbacks, Colorado Yeti, Sarasota Sailfish, and the Austin Copperheads. All of these teams were considered the top playoff teams in the league. We managed to win against Arizona… twice. That was the highlight of our season though. We finished 4-12, and ended up with the second overall pick in the draft. Our best player was, as usual, GOAT TANJ (@Eldorian). Even my player, Zack DiNozzo, who is one of the most promising Tight Ends in the sim after having almost 900 yards receiving in Season 30, had a huge sophomore slump (after my testing had me hitting the 1,000 yard barrier) while the Otters Quarterback for the last few seasons, Suleiman Ramza (@Blasoon) had his worst season as a Quarterback. My testing had Ramza throwing ~30 touchdowns to 9 interceptions with DiNozzo being his favorite target in the red zone. That clearly didn’t happen.
The Otters defense was damn near unstoppable in my testing, with Rean Schwarzer (@bowl0) most likely earning Defensive Breakout of the Year after doubling his tackle and interception numbers, and Brandon Booker (@Memento Mori) had a season similar to Rickie Vaughne’s Season 30 (almost 10 INTs with 2 Defensive touchdowns). Our defense felt like a turnstile in a subway for a while. We didn’t give up too many points against, I thought. We just didn’t have a pass attack. We can’t feed GOAT TANJ the ball 50 times or we would probably win every game.
Now, the Honolulu Hahalua.. wow I did not expect them to have the season that they did. For the past few seasons, all I’ve seen or heard is “lol, it’s the HAHAlua”, like they were the butt of a lot of jokes in the league. This team came to play with a vengeance this season, improving to 9-7 and a playoff berth this season compared to 6-10 in Season 30 and missing the playoffs. The Hahalua actually won their first Ultimus trophy! Congratulations to the entire Honolulu organization. I think this might be the first Hawai’i team I’ve seen win some sort of championship, actually. That’s pretty cool now that I think about it!
Honolulu was spearheaded by the dominant rusher, Cobra Kai, named after one of the best shows on Netflix. I still can’t believe they made a sequel to the original Karate Kid movies, and that it’s actually as amazing as the movies were! Kai improved upon their Season 30 rushing total by almost 200 yards, and finished the season with 12 touchdowns. They lost almost 400 yards in receiving compared to last season though, so they probably didn’t get as many fantasy points. Shame!
Eleven Kendrick-Watts was electric as always in the receiving game, finishing with almost 100 yards shorter in Season 31 compared to Season 30. They did, however, score two more touchdowns compared to last season. There weren’t as many 40 yard+ plays, but Kendrick-Watts did some work in the off-season since they dropped exactly half as many passes in Season 31 than they did in Season 30 (10 to 5).
The unsung hero in the whole offense would have to be Joliet Christ Jr. Simply put, Christ Jr didn’t lose games. He kept the offense moving at times, and allowed his playmakers to… make plays. I can’t stress this enough: you don’t need a Patrick Mahomes type player to win championships. You can get away with your Baker Mayfields and your Jimmy Garappolo’s… ok maybe not the Jimmy’s. You can have a game manager and still win championships. They won’t lose the game for you. If you build a good enough team around them, and have a defense that keeps the opponent from scoring too much, you could have a championship caliber team on your hands, especially in this sim. Case in point - Honolulu had the fewest points scored compared to any other playoff team.
When your defense allows the third fewest points against in the league, you’re gonna have a good time watching them. The Honolulu defense allowed 340 points, which is only 10 points away from first (the Chicago Butchers only allowed 330 points against them). This just proves a point my boss at work always says - “defense wins championships”. If your opponent can’t score, they can’t beat you. So, when your defense is playing as well as Honolulu’s did this season, you can let your defense do all the work while your offense doesn’t lose the game for you.
Honolulu didn’t have a great start to the season, but damn did they finish VERY strong. It’s almost like they were blessed by the sim or something. Whatever; they’ll take it any day of the week (especially Ultimus Week! hehe)
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Ephenssta - 10-27-2021
Task 6:
The sim gonna sim task is always one of the ones I have wanted to do, but I have always struggled to feel that I have anything substantial to say about it, but this time I am going to do it. The Colorado Yeti are only 8th in the league in total TPE, but that is probably a bad measure of how good (or not) a team actually is. If we sort by Average Effective TPE, the Yeti jump all the way into first with 1,005. The next best team is Arizona with 924, followed by New York and Sarasota with 881 and 880 respectively. Basically, the gap is not really that close, and the gap between first and second in the NSFC is over 120. Unfortunately, we cannot look at the Average Effective TPE broken down between offense and defense, but the Yeti plop into third in defensive TPE in the league with a cool 11,262 (tied with Sailfish).
One would think, then, that the Colorado defense would be pretty damn good. When you look at the Yeti secondary, only one member is not above 1,000 TPE and that player is at 882. The Yeti have two defensive ends over 1,000 and a pair of linebackers over 1,300. If we look at the other playoff teams in the conference (Sarasota and Chicago), we should have a good baseline to compare the Yeti defense to. Sarasota has two cornerbacks over 1,300 TPE, but their safety department falls significantly further behind. They have one safety around 850 and another below 600, clear edge to the Yeti at the safety position. Sarasota has more depth at the linebacker position, though, where they have two over 1,100 and another over 900, though their defensive end position is just slightly weaker with one player over 1,200 and the rest of their d-line under 1,000. Pivoting to Chicago, they have one cornerback over 1,000 and another over 900, but none of their safeties cross the 1,000 mark and a couple aren’t even close at this point. Their D-line is significantly weaker, although they have a lot of TPE at the linebacker position. To my eyes, the Yeti have one of the strongest secondaries in the league, but certainly the strongest top-to-bottom secondary of the three playoff teams in the NSFC.
Yet, with all that TPE invested in the secondary, the Yeti are in the bottom half of the league with interceptions on the season, totaling only 12. We finished tied with Yellowknife, who finished out of the playoff picture and has roughly 3,000 TPE less invested in their defense than Colorado does. The Baltimore Hawks, who at this point have the LEAST defensive TPE in the ISFL and who have ZERO players in their secondary over 1,000 TPE at this point, finished near the top of the league in interceptions.
The Yeti pass defense, despite an incredible defense, finished 5th in the conference and 12th in the league in pass yards allowed per game. Baltimore, who again has the least defensive TPE of any team in the ISFL, finished only slightly worse (6th/13th), allowing only 10 yards per game on average more than the Yeti throughout the regular season. Sarasota, Chicago, Berlin, and Yellowknife all performed better against the pass, despite only one of those teams having more TPE invested on defense (Sarasota and Colorado are tied, remember) and none of them (to my eyes) having a better secondary as a whole than the Yeti.
Obviously things are out of our hands beyond our earning, but it almost feels like things are even more out of our hands as users now than they used to be. Despite putting together an incredible secondary full of high earners, the Yeti pass defense continues to struggle when it probably should not. It is not a pressure thing either, as our defense finished third in the league in sacks and only one off the league leaders, who were Chicago and Sarasota (tied with 62). But for some reason, we just could not stop the pass. We were in the bottom half of the league in pass deflections and interceptions, as mentioned before. It is frustrating to see a secondary that should be dominant based on their on paper attributes struggle so heavily in the sim. The worst part is the problem is not even an anomaly to this season. We were bad in the secondary last season too, finishing with only 10 interceptions (only Honolulu, Baltimore, and New York had worse seasons in that regard), though we were better in pass deflections and put up similar sack numbers (2nd in the league, 5 behind first place Sarasota). That time, though, the Yeti mysteriously had the fewest passing yards per game allowed in the season. I genuinely do not understand what more the sim wants us to do. Perhaps we are not investing our TPE in the right spots or using the right builds to be getting those interceptions and PDs, but it is incredibly frustrating seeing the pass yards allowed per game number fluctuate so incredibly while the other measures of a good secondary remain incredibly low compared to the TPE totals of this secondary. I hope things turn around for us next season, but sadly the group is going to be regressing together soon and sim gonna sim…
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RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - thevoicelesscreator - 10-27-2021
#16 (2.5 TPE)
Why should you draft Franklin the Turtle? If you’re looking for a rock to sit in the middle of your defensive line, look no further – Franklin is the Turtle for you! As a turtle, mobility has always been an issue for the veteran from UCLA. However, his lack of agility is compensated for by his massive strength! Also by the fact that he is a turtle and can be incredibly hard to move if he doesn’t want to. And a hint for the scouts – he doesn’t want to move very often. Franklin would be perfect for a team that is looking for a plug and play defensive tackle that can stop the run.
As for why you should draft me, TVC, the user? Well first off, I’m incredibly active on Discord. Like you would think I have no life how often and quickly I’m on there. The reality is, it’s just one of my five monitors I have up when I’m working, and I can always find 30 seconds to reply to a message. My life/work balance is still settling, and I’m starting to find the energy to be passionate again. That can all change of course, but you know what they say: If you don’t want me at my worst – you don’t deserve me at my best.
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218 Words#31 WSBL PT Affiliate (2.5 TPE)
RE: (S31) Ultimus Week - Gragg9 - 10-27-2021
4. “Sim gonna sim” is a popular expression in the league. Write about teams that have been graced by the sim gods and had amazing performances despite statistical odds, and/or about teams that were considered favorites but may have dealt with some bad sim luck that hampered their efforts. How much of an impact did it have on their season(s)? (Tier 1, ~830 words)
Boy this is a big topic this season. I think most will agree with me when I say that this has been the wackiest and most topsy-turvy sim season in recent history. Teams that should be doing great can’t get any traction while teams that have hardly any TPE and use bad strats are making playoff runs. Let’s start with talking about last year’s championship winner, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A team full of aging and regressing free agent signings, yet they continue to dominate. Their quarterback (probably a dermot alt) is decades into regression yet still seems to perform better than QBs at their peak TPE. I’ve done a lot of testing and it’s clear to me that this is a bug but nothing has been done about it. Heck, I’m not sure if Tampa will ever have to draft another QB as it seems theirs doest just fine with -897 TPE at the moment.
Then there’s the Bronces. I swear they’re a DSFL team. If it weren’t for the 250 TPE cap on minor league players I bet they would lose to some DSFL teams. Yet here they are with 3 wins 4 losses. Sure it’s a losing record but that’s still more wins than the sim should allow. It’s like HO doesn’t even care about how hard players work for their TPE when they chose this sim. Speaking of the AFC west, what the hell is up with that Mahomes player? I swear all their user does is troll, impersonate, and steal HO twitter accounts yet they are having one of the best careers of all time! They spent one short season down then blew up the league. I swear there’s some hidden stat in the sim where it picks favorites. At least it led to one of my favorite media posts ever about whether or not Mahomes will regress. Like sure he’s good but regression is literally a rule so I don’t get the uproar about it. Anyway, not touching that topic.
On the other hand there’s a few sim screwed teams. Arizona for example. ‘But wait, they have 7 wins!’ Ya whatever. We all know they’ll be the regular season champions again then make an early playoff exit. For real, what do you have to do to get that bad of luck in the postseason? We should make extra sure the sim team isn’t doing anything funny for those past few weeks cause it sure seems like it. I guess it’s some sort of karma for when they had a single person playing like, 5 different positions at once a few seasons ago. Dude was so fast and could get all over the field in the blink of an eye so that others thought it must be two different people. Imagine what his career woulda been like if he just played by the rules instead of pretending to be multiple people at a time.
Then there’s some teams that just deserve to be sim screwed. Y’all hear about the stuff that goes down in that Washington LR? Definitely ‘conduct detrimental to the league’ stuff. If they didn’t pay HO so much money I’m sure something would have been done by now. But hey, if anyone has those DMs from the Washington GM that I hear are floating around, feel free to leek them. That’s some league drama I’m all here for. I bet that's a 30 page media, 20 page punishment thread ez. Heck maybe even some HO turnover. Way more fun than the Las Vegas Co-GM 10 page punishment thread. Sad!
While we’re complaining about the sim and being sim screwed, can we talk about this last balance change? Who decided we needed more penalties? Sure I guess you could argue it’s more realistic but does anyone think it’s more fun? If so, point them out so we can ban them from the league. Just a single GM that I know of but they have a history of making bad decisions so I don’t know why we let them have a say in balance changes. If you don’t know what I’m talking about by now it’s the insane number of taunting penalties we’re getting. We really increased the weighting on those all the way to 100. Heck, I think we should just turn them off. No one cares about the dot’s feelings, let's just watch some dot football and forget the rest.
Anyway, guess I’m at least thankful that I get to write 800 words campaigning about this trash football engine so I got that going for me. Hopefully someday we can switch to a better sim. Looks like next season’s is about the same as this season’s but with a dark mode feature. So like, games after 8pm? Woop Dee do. Call me when they make a version that lets you turn off injuries or fixes that Tom Brady bug. Then we can talk about switching.