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+---- Thread: (S14) Ultimus Week! (/showthread.php?tid=13069)
(S14) Ultimus Week! - Toasty - 04-25-2019
12. Sit down with a fan @Frick_Nasty
Frick_Nasty:What game would you say was your best game? worst?
Fire-Bred:My best game would have to be week 14 when I got my pick six and 8 tackles with 5 passes defended. My worst game was the next week in the playoffs I feel like I could have done more to help my team get the win and I let them down.
Frick_Nasty: Obviously you aren't happy with the playoffs results but what positives can you takeaway this year?
Fire-Bred: All of our rookies put up awesome stats, showbiz threw under half his total picks from last season. Everyone seems to be on the right path to bring us another trophy soon.
Frick_Nasty: If there was a Offensive position you could play what would it be and why?
Fire-Bred: Runningback, It is my position in real life when I played football, and it would be nice to beat TBs records and crush his stats every year just to deflate his ego.
Frick_Nasty: What is your goal for next season?
Fire-Bred: Win it all baby, I also want to put up a career year in every stat so I can boost my ASPARQ score and pass dermot
11: sit down with a star @Frick_Nasty
Fire-Bred:okay man...
What was your favorite game of the season?
Frick_Nasty: My favorite game of the season was the overtime win week 14 at Tijuana. Just to come from behind and win was a way to end the regular season.
Fire-Bred: what will you bring to the team that drafts you?
Frick_Nasty: I will bring drive, versatility, and a great locker room presence.
Fire-Bred: What do you feel like is your biggest weakness?
Frick_Nasty: Weakness is I can be too hard on myself and I'm a perfectionist.
Fire-Bred: How do you like the playoffs results?
Frick_Nasty: The playoffs, you wanna talk about playoffs. Next question. I all honesty I'm disappointed with the outcome because I feel we are the better team. For NSFL I thought they were all great games. It was a fun playoff to watch.
Fire-Bred: Out of all of the teams which has the best logo?
Frick_Nasty: Otters... Lol to be real I like the wraiths Logo and secondline. They're different. Wraiths face is intimidating and brings a badass feel to it. The second line logo just screams new Orleans jazz and it's different.
(S14) Ultimus Week! - iamslm22 - 04-25-2019
All about QBs
Well when I think of the QB I most wanted to watch in the NSFL playoffs the easy answer is Childish Gambino. This dude is one of the best QBs in the history of the league and had a historic performance this regular season. You think about all the talent that was on the Hawks and it made sense. We have the amazing and criminally underrated Vinny Valentine as the star WR but that is only the beginning. The other guys on the team are also star level players. There is Errol Maddox who is a pro bowl level receiver to catch from Gambino. Then there's Viggo Squanch and Howard Miller who both came over from the yeti. Miller was in his last season and Squanch in his second to last. Then there's also the greatest Tight End in the history of the NSFL in Verso L'Alto. Having all those guys to catch passes from Gambino made him have a great season and obviously have a lot of fun as well to watch because he has such amazing talent. So Gambino coming off an MVP level season is definitely the guy I want to watch, he's a stud. Now we just have to hope he does well in his last season coming up in S15. 215
Rivalry
When you think of an overrated team and city the obvious answer is the Philadelphia Liberty. The Liberty beat the Baltimore Hawks in the first round of the playoffs but they got incredibly lucky. The Liberty are the kings of luck in the playoffs. They won their ultimus by winning two games on the road and both of the times they were under dogs. In this game specifically against the hawks they won when they had about a 10% chance to win. They are immensely overrated. Then on top of that you think of the city. Philly is a trash place, essentially its a better version of boston. Their signature food is chopped crap meat with cheese from a can (which is very tasty) and they have like 0 public transportation to get around the city. When you think of Philly you think of their psycho sports fans. You have the crazy eagles fans who literally licked poop when they won, you have the 76er fans who basically have a stockholm syndrome type relationship with their team post process the flyers fans who play an irrelevant sport and then there's the phillies fans who are already ready to drive Bryce harper out of town. What a trash team and trash city. 211
5) Spotlight on Youth - Only task that is specifically for the NSFL and not DSFL
The player I want to spotlight is the stud Charlie Trout. Trout is the versatile linebacker and safety for the Baltimore Hawks. Trout is managed by the greatest human in the history of sim leagues, the stud iamslm22 who has had a championship pedigree. Trout is a strong and fast linebacker who has had a lot of accomplishments in his career. Trout has been in the playoffs numerous times, has been a pro bowler, won the DSFL DPOY, MVP and LB of the year, won the NSFL defensive rookie of the year and was runner up in the defensive player of the year as a rookie (all of this is very impressive). Now he is one of the leaders on this hawks defense, but as been playing out of position as a box safety. He was able to get a few sacks and contribute but he is not contributing as much as he was when he was playing in the Strong side linebacker position where he was an excellent pass rusher and pass defender, leading the league in passes defended and finishing near the top in sacks. He is a young player who is going to make a giant impact on the Hawks in this playoffs and beyond, and he is going to be the best player in the league sometime soon at least on the defensive side.
PBE PT
http://probaseballexperience.jcink.net/ind...indpost&p=76658
(S14) Ultimus Week! - infinitempg - 04-25-2019
PH as wolfie
(S14) Ultimus Week! - Duress - 04-25-2019
Next Year
Next year is the year that the Palm Beach Solar Bears will make a run for the Ultimini. This year it was simply impossible for an expansion team in a division with the reigning Ultimini champions and the most stacked team in the league to compete for the majority of the season. All the players on our team had low TPE to begin the season, and we didn't have the Kansas City Coyotes in our division to beat up on 4 times per year, and so we simply didn't have any realistic chance of making the playoffs in the first place. Next year will be different. We don't know who will be returning, but regardless of who does, the team will start the year in a much better position. The Marshals and Luchadores will still be good, but they won't have the advantage that they did this year, so the entire league should have a hell of a lot more parity, which will bode well for the Palm Beach Solar Bears. If I end up being sent down for another year in the DSFL, I can't wait to show the league that Palm Beach is back baby! It's time for the Solar Bears' second championship.
Unsung Hero
The unsung hero of this year's Ultimini championship was the most polarizing player in the game: Franklin Armstrong. People will look at his 3 interceptions and think, "wow, he could have done a lot better for his team." He also threw 3 touchdowns. He also had a 70% completion percentage. He also threw for 247 yards. Sure the 3 interceptions were bad, nobody is arguing otherwise, but he put up some stellar stats despite throwing 3 picks. He led his team back into the game and took them to the promised land. He was accurate (just sometimes to the wrong colour of jersey) and had great yds/comp and yds/att stats. The Luchadores defensive backs simply could not deal with the greatness of Armstrong this game. Unsung might be the wrong word for him, though it seemed like everyone was praising the running back by committee that the Pythons run instead of the guy hitting every throw and keeping drives alive for his team. He had 14 first down throws of the pythons 29 first downs in the game. For the DSFL, those are some exceptional numbers since the league is very run-first. I guess we should be thanking him though, since without those interceptions he threw this game would have gotten out of hand quickly.
Going to Disneyland
The MVP of this year's Ultimus was obviously Neo Donaldson. I shouldn't even have to say why he deserves the Ultimus MVP, but I will anyway. He didn't miss a single kick. That's already pretty great, but some might say, "Kulture didn't miss any kicks either!" Okay, so Mr. Fulture had a good game too, but it didn't compare to Neo. How many kicks did Fulture make? 4? Neo made twice that. He made 3 extra points and 5 field goals. He scored 18 points. That's half of the points that the Sabercats scored in total. What matters if you want to win games? Points. Did anyone else score half of the Sabercats' points? No. Therefore there should not be a question that Neo Donaldson is the MVP of this year's Ultimus. When Neo heads to Disneyland, he will indulge in all the lovely foods that Disneyland has to offer. Cotton candy, ice cream, Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes. Neo will then have to ride some of the spinny things that they have at the park, which will cause him to puke so that he can eat everything again. Neo will likely have to drop some weight after his Disneyland trip because all the sweet amusement park food goes right to the hips, and Neo needs to be limber so that he can kick the ball real far.
Playoff Review
This year's Ultimini was a tale of two halves. The first quarter opened with a strong drive by the Portland Pythons, and my thoughs immediately went to 'blowout'. With home field advantage and an easy opening touchdown, could this turn out to be a runaway win for Portland? But they quickly made things difficult for themselves, as even though the Luchadores offense quickly stalled they were given a gift. Franklin Armstrong threw an interception which led to a quick red zone possession and game-tying touchdown. Armstrong then promptly gave the ball away again, this time leading to a field goal. The teams traded poor drives for a while until Portland drove down the field and tied the game at 10. Tijuana couldn't quite get into field goal range, and giving the ball back to the Pythons led to a field goal as time expired on the first half. 13-10 Portland. The second half began with Armstrong's third interception, and another game-tying field goal. Portland began setting the tone with their next drive, as they adding a second touchdown. After a missed Stephen Harris Jr field goal they took the ball down the field again for a 14 point lead. The Luchadores got a long kick return which led to a quick touchdown, but Portland followed with another long drive ending in a touchdown. This put the game out of reach, and Portland took home this year's Ultimini.
(S14) Ultimus Week! - SDCore - 04-25-2019
GOMHL Claim
PBE Claim
14) Going to Disneyland!
Ultimini MVP would go to Forrest Gump even in a losing effort. He managed to have a stellar campaign this season and year, this was capped by a great game in the Ultimini, even though Tijuana ended up losing the game. Forrest celebrated by going to the same place that all winners go, Disneyland. He got a free park hopper pass so he could go to both Disneyland and California Adventure. He started his day by getting a green churro, which yes is a thing, and walking over to Cars Land. There he fast passed Radiator Springs Racers. Then he went to wait in line at Toy Story. Luckily Gump got to bring a friend and brought linebacker Slothy with him. These two dueled it out on Toy Story with Gump getting an impressive 192,000 while Sloth could only manage 50,000. Then they went off to ride cars. Heading back to Disneyland to go on Small World, Peter Pan, Buzz, and Star Tours. The day got really interesting after a Space Mountain experience that left Sloth sick. Gump decided to stay and watch the fireworks over the castle. The last thing he did was go on Big Thunder Mountain and rode off into the night happy as could be.
6) Our Time
In Tijuana we are building a wall, that San Antonio is going to pay for. We are going to build the wall so high and so tough that no men can get around it. This is one big reason why it is our time in TJ. The wall will be strong and the pieces around the wall will be strong. We have a great quarterback and a good receiving core. We are led by our captain Forrest Gump, who is a beast with the ball. He led the league in rushing touchdowns and had some incredible kick and punt returns. Then there is Rod “Money” Tidwell, his nickname changes by the minute, who is out here playing for the Kwan. Speaking of Kwan, Tijuana has all the kwan baby. We got the kwan, the wall, the runningback, and soon we will have the championship. This is our time, Tijuanas times. Fear us, or be stupid. Fear the wall that San Antonio is paying for. I hope you like to watch the back of my man Forrest Gump, cause he is going to be running on you all day. Then just when you aren’t paying attention to him Rod Tidwell goes over the back and he is gone. OUR TIME BABY!
(S14) Ultimus Week! - Ryan0413 - 04-25-2019
PBE PT
(S14) Ultimus Week! - enigmatic - 04-26-2019
1) Playoff Review:
Let's talk about that Baltimore Hawks vs Philadelphia Liberty game.
Man oh man what a game! We trailed for most of it but then a TD from a catch by Batoff and Fulture being his usual MVP self brought us to victory.
I don't think my player performed this well before and I'm glad she kept that performance for a playoff game. The first one we won since I went up to the NSFL. Other than my pathetic 1 yard rush for the entire game, it would have been difficult to play better. With 3 TDs, 394 passing yards and no interception (which is great for me), it was an amazing match for me.
I really could rely on all my receivers, Bush, Batoff and von Matt having an awesome match as well. It's more or less the total of points they produced that I'm looking at but just the length of their runs that are super impressive.
On defense, Smyles really showed up with 2 sacks. Barnes and Garnett as well with some insane kick returns.
I mentioned Kulture Fulture earlier but he deserves a little paragraph of his own. He gave us a bunch of points and succeeded in difficult situations. Without him at his best, we wouldn't have won the game.
3) All about the QBs
It's that time of the season where I'm incredibly humble. I might actually be this season because I've honestly been outplayed in the Ultimus Bowl.
I could talk about how well my player did against the Baltimore Hawks (again) but to be honest, ever since I was drafted, I've been comparing myself to Joliet Christ so that matchup is the one I was the most excited for to happen. The outcome wasn't what I had hoped for but I've got to give him credit for the amazing game he played. We have pretty different games, since he is a great runner and I can't rush to save my life. I like to believe that my passing game is slightly better, though. Sure, I'll get a couple more yards than him from passing but his ability to run the ball means I can't compete with him as much as I'd like to. He ran for 76 yards just in the final game against us and I think I didn't even get that in the entire regular season, even if I tried to improve that part of my build. That to me is what makes him the better QB. Being able to get those last couple of yards himself instead of having to pass all the time is huge.
7) Next year
Maybe now will finally be the time where everybody who placed us low in the standings in the past will start taking us seriously. When a team is fresh off an Ultimus Bowl appearance, even if we lost the ultimate game, you got to start seeing them as contenders. I don't see our lineup changing a lot over the next season, even if some of our key players such as Bush aren't getting any younger. But on the other hand, you have Jordan von Matt who's an excellent target and who is only getting better. Our running game took a hit with the loss of Brown but our passing game vastly improved in just the last two seasons.
Our defense was always reliable and they will be key of course for our next Ultimus run. With players such as Luke Smyles and Lennox Garnett in our lineup, just a couple of additions hopefully via the draft would help us greatly.
Finally, our general manager knows what he's doing. With a lineup that's not as complete as say the Baltimore Hawks, he was able to lead us to a finals appearance anyway. Having a good team is important for sure but having someone at the helm with a good knowledge of the game is just as important.
17) Banner
I know it says your team but it's kinda useless
![[Image: 7YDy547.png]](https://i.imgur.com/7YDy547.png)
(S14) Ultimus Week! - Jiggly_333 - 04-26-2019
PBE PT
12) Sit-down with a fan:
Questions from @nunccoepi:
1. How did it feel for your team to win the championship without your contribution?
2. Is this how you expected the beginning of your career to look? If not, what were you expecting?
3. What do expect next season to look like and do you think you will be affected by expansion at all (as many are predicting)?
4. Do you have any career goals for Jenkins?
Answers:
1. I think back to Tegan Atwell's first victories with the Orange County Otters. Being a cornerback, especially on a defense like the Otters' at the time, makes you fairly invisible. I didn't really see any of the fun numbers. So, I've gotten Ultimi before where I didn't feel like I did anything, but it's still nice to be in a locker room where people are happy.
2. I was mostly expecting to be a backup originally, but when the spot in Arizona opened up, I thought that that would be where I would be playing. Things are different now, but I'm excited to hopefully be a part of an expansion, hopefully the Chicago one.
3. So, the expansion teams aren't playing yet next season so I will continue to play another season for the Kansas City Coyotes. My contract with the San Jose Sabercats runs out at the end of that season, so I could quite possibly sign with an expansion team without having to be traded or drafted out of the expansion draft. I think that both expansion GMs are smart people and I would love to work with either of them.
4. I want Rosie to leave a better legacy than her father. I admit that Leroy's career was cut way too short and I could've molded him into a more receiving back type player later in his career. But I think that after a couple of real life years in this league, I want to try my hand at this massive challenge. I like being a major part of a team, when I was on defense I didn't feel like I was doing anything but when I'm a runningback or a wide receiver I can do something. I don't think there's anyone more important than a QB. But that comes at a cost in this league. I need to be on top of everything in this league, then I have other leagues that I want to be a top earner in, and then I have real life stuff like school and writing about soccer. A big thing that I'd love to see Rosie do isn't just to win an Ultimus. I'm already tied for the most Ultimi for a single user (Er notwithstanding). I want her to get a personal accolade, to be recognized as the best in her position. That's just something that would mean a lot to me, since I've never won a personal award in the league.
Future Link to Nunc's post
7) Next year
Being good is about consistency. The Kansas City Coyotes have absolutely not had consistency at the QB position. Last season they started the season with a multi at QB and ended it with a rookie. This season they started it with that same rookie, but had to also add in a new rookie to that mix. The Coyotes are a talented team. They have active members and I feel like they can benefit from consistency. Their big question is if they will be allowed to. With expansion looming, it appears as though undisputed starting QB Rose Jenkins may be taken and after all of these QB battles they will be left without a QB.
But if this doesn’t come to pass, if Rosie stays at least one more season with the Coyotes, I believe that they can win. There are talented players on the team that were not able to shine because of a situation at QB that was out of their control. The defense has a solid foundation, but scoring points is difficult when your offense can’t decide who’s the leader. So if Rosie stays in KC, I expect a playoff run from them. If not, then it probably wasn’t their year anyway.
16) Robbed
I will tell you that the Kansas City Coyotes have consistently been one of the most talented teams in the league since I stepped down as GM. The problem has been that the sim has absolutely fucked them over. Specifically this season, it was more of the rules causing issues. If Rose Jenkins was allowed the majority of snaps for the Coyotes, the team would’ve seen a much different season than the one they had. Instead, they had drafted then QB Ryan Leaf Jr, which absolutely screwed with the QB depth charts, keeping Jenkins off the field for a dumb amount of time. Both players suffered early on in the season, which caused the entire offense to suffer. After Leaf was traded, the Coyotes saw a marked increase in production.
Basically, Rose Jenkins has spent most of her career getting screwed over by dumb front office decisions and in this instance, these decisions screwed over the entire team. The Coyotes have a large amount of fantastic players and for some reason none of them were able to perform. In those cases, that’s the sim’s fault. If Rose Jenkins ends up staying next season, which would be very surprising, I would expect her to lead the Coyotes on a playoff run on her own. If she’s allowed to play on her own.
(S14) Ultimus Week! - Roly - 04-26-2019
1) Playoff Predictions, Reviews:
Written: Give a short write up of one or multiple playoff matches. If completed before the airing of the sims have predictions, after if it is a review the game.
Graphic: Make a graphic displaying the matchups in the playoffs. If completed before sim, predict scores and show stats, if after, give a summary of game showing stats and top performers.
Review of the Ultimus showdown between the San Jose Sabercats and the Philadelphia Liberty. I decided to go with the ultimate game because of the surprise that either team made it to the Ultimus. The Liberty overcame what had appeared to be a stacked Baltimore Hawks team after the trade deadline and almost stole the show from the Sabercats, who had likewise upset the homefield advantage of the Orange County Otters. What a storyline and what a game, a nice high scoring affair that ended 34-26 for the Sabercats to take home the ultimate prize. Heading into the game the Sabercats were known for their stingy defense, providing the lowest points allowed in the regular season and the fewest yards in air plays in the league during the regular season. Meanwhile the Liberty had started strong, but went into a tailspin before the start of the playoffs, ending the season 1-5 in the last six games. Still – their defeat of the Hawks showcased steady determination and the score (31-28) does justice to how close the margin of victory had been. The Ultimus game itself was a shoot out, and one that was helped not by the Sabercats air defense, but their ground defense. Keeping Philly to 29 rushing yards, meanwhile raking up 212 on their end, meant that the Sabercats were able to play slightly above even in the air and still walk away with the victory. Congrats cats!
239 words
3) All about the QBs
Written: Write 200 words on one of the QB matchups in this year's playoffs. What are you most excited to see (Or excited to have seen), who will play better (Or who played better), etc.
Graphic: Create a graphic on a QB matchup, (Pictures with side-by-side statistics).
Let’s talk about the Ultimus QBs – Falconi and Christ. Adriana Falconi is the 993 TPE quarterback by manager enigmatic and drafted in S10. Joilet L. Christ is the 915 TPE quarterback by manager AndrewWarren and also drafted S10. The neat thing about comparing the two passers is we get a perfect timeline up until this point that they meet in the biggest games of their respective careers. Both drafted in S10, they both played another season in the development league before they were both thrown to the wolves in S11. In that season they had remarkably similar statistics in completions (291 for Falconi, 272 for Christ), yards (2977 for Falconi, 2851 for Christ), and interceptions (both at 19) despite the attempts being unequal (527 for Falconi, 476 for Christ). The TDs were also unequal, as Falconi shredded Christ 19 to 10 in arguably one of the most important categories. The script would flip in S12, as Christ received 80 more attempts and put up 700 more yards and 5 less interceptions. S13 reversed again, as Falconi took the attempts and yardage, although they shared similar TD and INT numbers. And through S14, Falconi was hands down the better and more relied upon QB with 700 more yards on 80 more attempts, despite similar underlying numbers. Yet, when push came to shove on the Ultimus game, Christ managed to upstage his biggest competition and put up more yards, and 1 more TD than his S10 counterpart.
245 words
5) Spotlight on Youth - Only task that is specifically for the NSFL and not DSFL
Written: Write 200 words on one of the players in this year's Ultimus Week that are Season 12 or newer and spotlight on how they can affect this year's Ultimus. (Or have affected)
Graphics: Create a graphic of a Season 12 or newer player with a statistical breakdown on their season.
Well there’s a couple options to choose from in the Ultimus game, unfortunately all the rookies in the lineups were on the ultimately unsuccessful Philadelphia Liberty side. There’s a couple that stand out, both in the negative and the positive from the Ultimus game and playoffs in general, so I’ll focus on the big Liberty names. First, lets get it out of the way at the start, Fast Boija did not have the best showing at the Ultimus game. With 10 attempts and 29 yards, a middling 2.9 yards per attempt, a share of the blame has to be shouldered by the rookie for not being able to keep better pace with San Jose’s experienced backfield committee. On the plus, he did score a TD, something he showed a knack of accomplishing in a very solid rookie season during the regular season with 781 yards and 5 TDs already under his belt. And against Baltimore he had a much more accurate showing, knocking off 37 yards and 4.1 yards per attempt. It’ll be important for Philly to keep the young rookie engaged and developing, he’s shown flashes of brilliance in his rookie season and there’s no doubt that he’ll be able to redeem the Ultimus experience later in his career.
210 words
13) That Magic Moment
Writen: Pick one moment from a playoff game and describe what made it so amazing to watch.
Graphic: Create a graphic immortalizing that moment
Ah one of my old favourite to do… for some reason I love writing about the magic moment in final games. So let’s take a look at the options from this Ultimus game. Let’s go back to 4:15 left in the 3rd quarter of the game. It’s 19-17 for the San Jose Sabercats and they have spent 3:15 minutes roughly to move from their own 25 yard line to Philadelphia’s 27 yard line. They have what appears to be a doable field goal at least, but its 2nd and 10 and there’s still hope to maybe make a touchdown happen before the end of the 3rd quarter. Joilet Christ takes the ball and scans the field, seeing no open receiver but a gap form in front of him. He nails the open lane, rushing the ball 13 yards and past the first down marker. As he’s tackled by Bucky Barnes from the Liberty, the ball is pushed loose. In a lot of ways, the game could be very different depending on who wins the fumble. Ultimately it’s Zapp Brannigan, the Sabercats TE, who is deemed to have possession and the Cats get to keep the ball – and end up moving 14 yards further for a TD that gave them much needed breathing room going into the 4th quarter. Although its impossible to say what would have happened if Barnes, or another Liberty, had recovered the fumble, Brannigan keeping the drive alive and helping lead to the 26-17 score leading into the 4th is my magical (if mundane) moment.
258 words
(S14) Ultimus Week! - PDXBaller - 04-26-2019
All about the QBs
The Ultimus game was an epic matchup for both teams in different ways. The Liberty had only been to the Ultimus twice before that game and San Jose was itching to get their first Ultimus victory in league history. It was a historic first that saw Adriana Falconi as the first female quarterback to make it to the Ultimus. There was a common thread between the teams though besides their matching 9-5 season record; this was a matchup of the S10 quarterbacks because Falconi and Christ were both from the same draft class. It’s always exciting to see 2 players peak at the same time and play each other in their prime. Both players had pretty comparable performances: Falconi went 22/36 completions/attempts for 286 yards and 1 touchdown. Christ had 18/28 completoins/attempts for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns. These quarterbacks each had 1 interception and the extra touchdown was the only reason why Christ had a better QB rating. I do think San Jose had better receivers than Philadelphia which helped decide the game more in the favor for San Jose. Oles, Brannigan, Flash, and Justice were all on their game and Christ had an easier time throwing to them compared to Falconi’s receivers.
Next year
After setting a league best record of 11-3, the Baltimore Hawks were primed and ready for the playoffs clinching home field advantage for the NSFC playoffs and possibly the Ultimus based on the ASFC playoffs. In a massive trade during week 6, we saw Pro Bowl cornerback Axel Hornbacher leave Colorado to bolster the Hawks roster and increase their playoff chances. Unfortunately, the Hawks were not able to defeat their long standing division rival, Philadelphia, in the NSFC playoffs. Next year will be different though, but whether or not the Hawks can replicate their success is a big mystery. They have one last chance before starting quarterback Childish Gambino is retired and numerous players will be departing the team this offseason: Ishigawa, Mills, and Miller. I remain optimistic that the Hawks will win the Ultimus next season, but realize that it will require lots of luck for us to be able to win again. The team can remain competitive in the NSFC again if they can fill those holes left on defense by Ishigawa and Mills. If the Hawks can do that, I believe they’ll have another good shot at winning the Ultimus. Next year will be the last chance the Hawks have at getting into the playoffs for sure.
Sit-down with a star & Sit-down with a fan
Sat down with @moonlight and asked him questions. He asked me questions as well.
To Moonlight:
1. How does it feel to win the Ultimini as a rookie quarterback?
This has been a dream rookie season for me. I really have to thank Pablo Sanchez, of the Sanchez Company (and also my Pythons GM) who gave me a chance. He brought me in during S14 as a practice squad body, and while I didn’t get any real playing time, I gained some of the valuable experience that I was yearning for. He then drafted me in the S15 draft (albeit, a little late). No one else wanted me, that is for certain.
To play and win the Ultimini was something I couldn't have foreseen even just a few months ago.
2. What do you have to say to all the teams that passed on you and drafted other quarterbacks ahead of you so early?
How do you like me now? Drafting scrubs like Ryan Leaf Jr. (who I hear has gained over 200 pounds and is now playing defensive tackle) among others, rounds and rounds before me. How did that work out for those other teams? Draft day was pretty rough but to get a chance to play, and be the starting QB, for the Portland Pythons was a dream come true.
3. What prospective NSFL teams appeal to you?
They all do. Though, I definitely want an opportunity to get a starting job within a couple seasons and that simply isn’t an opportunity many of those teams can give me, no matter how sincere their intentions may be.
4. What expectations do you have for the next season if you come back to Portland?
We are trying to repeat. It might be a much tougher challenge because we are losing a significant amount of talent to the NSFL, but we remain confident all the same. It's Ultimini or bust.
Q&A from Moonlight:
1. What went wrong in the S14 playoffs against the Philly Liberty?
2. In S14, you had 1 Int, while the season before you had 5? Is this a decline or are QBs just not testing you anymore?
3. What is the expectation in the Baltimore locker room on how you guys can get back to the big game in S15?
4. Are there any defensive beasts in the S15 draft that you hope to play alongside in a Hawks uniform?
1. We felt really confident going into the playoffs against Philadelphia. We had home field advantage and beat them in week 14 handedly. I think we underestimated them and they came back with a great gameplan that we weren’t expecting. They threw tons of different looks at us from offense and we didn’t adjust well.
2. I think it’s a testament to my off season work and conditioning in Colorado. The elevation prepares you for everything much better and I worked very hard in the off season to learn as much as I could from my coaches and gameplanned well in those games that I got interceptions.
3. We have high hopes for next season considering the success we had last season. I think with a few more pieces to replace our retired guys and we have a shot at making it to the Ultimus again. I have no clue what our general managers have planned, but I hope that they can draft well and give us another shot.
4. I love the defense coming out of Palm Beach and I think playing with anyone of those guys would be awesome. I hear their linebacker corps are awesome and the defensive backs are great too.