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RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - Gwdjohnson - 11-10-2020
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7) You may use a PBE, SHL, and GOMHL PT as credit for a maximum of 1 TIER 3 TASK here. If your username is different on your affiliate task, you must provide the correct name in your response.SHL CW (2.5 TPE)
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Choose your favorite non-playoffs game of this season, whether your own team or another. Explain what was so special and why the winner ultimately came out victorious, including key players and moments.One game for the Orange County Otters that was very memorable this season was their absolute dismantling of Austin at the Otters' arena, a game where just everything clicked for Orange County, resulting in a 35-3 win. This one was memorable because it was debatably the best performance of new rookie QB Suleiman Ramza's Otters career. In the game, he showed a lot of confidence and composure, as he managed to throw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns, no interceptions. Now I know I just said it was memorable because of Ramza's performance, but that was an absolute lie because I just learned now how good a game that was for him. The REAL reason I found it memorable was that it was Garfield Despacito Jr.'s only multi-touchdown game of the season, as two of the five catches he made off Ramza's passes were in the end zone. Add in a 40 yard catch too at one stage of the game and it ultimately added up to a big 94 yards. This was made even better by the dismal performance of my "partner" in crime Owen Holloway who made only two catches for 12 yards in the game (we can ignore that one of them was a touchdown). But ending back on topic, the excellent performance of Ramza, who came out with an astonishing 134.8 QB rating, was the key part of OCO's victory, alongside the defense completely nullifying the Austin offense, blocking them on everything except one field goal.
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30) Reflect on the two expansion teams. How did their first seasons go? What were their key strengths and weaknesses, and how are they poised to improve in seasons to come?Well well well, I never thought you would ask. Before I even look at the standings to know how well they did, I can already tell you one weakness in their teams that the expansion teams failed to address: the lack of Garfield Despacito Jr. in their lineups. When Orange County inexplicably made the young wide receiver available for the taking in the expansion draft, neither pounced, to the surprise of everyone. Now if you look at the standings, you can see the effect this has had.
If we look at Berlin, they were...wow. Last place in the league? League worst offense? Colour me surprised. If only they had a dynamic and elite offensive player who could've contributed to that...what a shame. I don't know what their future looks like, but it probably would've looked a significant degree better if they had a certain top quality wide receiver.
On the other hand if we look at New York they...oh...they also suck...that's unfortunate...To the surprise of perhaps many people who aren't named Gwdjohnson, they were right behind Berlin for the league's worst offense. This Kingston dude was pretty solid for them as a WR so I'm not gonna be as harsh on them as I was on Berlin, BUT...they should've taken Despacito Jr. Judging by the fact that they got 1 win more than Berlin, I will make a guess that New York's future is brighter.
My closing point is they should've taken Despacito Jr. in expansion, no amount of research could tell me otherwise.
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16) Create an argument for your own player, or for someone else on your team, as to why they should be nominated for awards. Lay out their stats or compare them to other contenders. Make a convincing case.I'm not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on football, and my knowledge gets even worse when it comes to the defensive side of football, but I will try to make a case for my defensive teammate Prince Vegeta to win Defensive Player of the Year. A former 1st overall pick from the S21 draft, Vegeta had what is undoubtedly the best defensive performance of any player this season, coming in an away game against Arizona. Vegeta managed to get two touchdowns off interceptions in just the first quarter of the match, and in a game that was decided by just six points, those two pick sixes proved to be absolutely crucial. Sticking on the subject of touchdowns, Vegeta was the only defensive player across any position to get 3 touchdowns on the season, and he was tied for first among all defensive players in interceptions with five. In the tackles, pancakes, and whatever other departments that you might judge a safety on, Vegeta was not a clear standout, but with his best individual performances this season you could argue he was one of the most important pieces of Orange County having as good a record as they did. But if Vegeta is not someone who would be considered for DPOTY, his performance against Arizona with the two pick sixes will without question be winning best defensive performance of the season.
Total: 10 TPE
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - treant - 11-10-2020
2) This week will see the S25 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. In 800 words or more, recount any of the previous playoff cycles of either league. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse or Cinderella teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? How did the title game play out, and which players made their mark on the field? Tell the story of those playoffs as completely as you can. Do not simply recount your own experience in those playoffs or that of a singular team.
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Because I am a new member to the league I’m going to choose at random a season’s playoff to write about. This could be a fun way to learn about the leagues history so hopefully this proves to be the case for me!
The playoffs that I have chosen to write about is S17. I thought that S17 were long enough ago for there to be a different group of players in the league to there are now but still the league largely being the same enough that I can learn a few things about the way that the playoffs work and the what I can expect during my time here!
In S17 there was eight teams that made the playoffs. There were four teams taken from the two conferences of the league. The four teams that made it in from the NSFC were the Chicago Butchers who had a season record of 8 wins and 5 losses, the Yellowknife Wraiths who also had a season record of 8 wins and 5 losses, the Colorado Yeti with a season record of 5 wins and 8 losses and lastly the Baltimore Hawks who also had the common record of 8 wins and 5 losses. The fact that all of the teams had the same record suggests that it was a very close season for the teams in the NSFC that season and it will be interesting to see the way in which things turned out in the playoffs.
We will now take a look at the other conference in the ISFL, the ASFC! There was more variety in the teams that made it into the playoffs from this conference which suggests it wasn’t as close. The team that had the best record was the Arizona Outlaws who had 9 wins and 4 losses, the team with the second best record was the Orange County Otters who had 7 wins and 6 losses, the team with the third best record was the San Jose Sabercats who had 6 wins and 7 losses and the team with the fourth best record was the Austin Copperheads who had won 5 games and lost 8!
The first round of the playoffs saw the team with the best record in each conference play the team with the worst record. In the NSFC this meant that the Colorado Yeti had to play the Yellowknife Wraiths. This was not a good game for the Yeti and they were beaten very comfortably, by a score of 50-20. The Wraiths quarterback Cooter Bigsby had three touchdowns and there were two defensive touchdowns for Wraiths player Danny Grithead too.
The other game from the first round of the NSFC playoffs saw the Baltimore Hawks play against the Chicago Butchers. This was another game that was very one sided one which the Hawks won by a score of 40-6. The performance of the game went to running back Vander Jones who managed to get 3 touchdowns on the board to help his team win the game!
In the ASFC the Outlaws played against the Copperheads. They won the game 33-20, with quarterback Andrew Reese having two touchdowns in the game. In the last game of the round the Orange County Otters played the San Jose Sabercats and won the game by a touchdown. The Otters quarterback Franklin Armstrong was a big reason why they won! He had two touchdowns and really helped his team win the game!
The games in the next round weren’t quite as one sided!
The first game was the NSFC Conference Championship game, where the Baltimore Hawks played against the Yellowknife Wraiths! Both teams really wanted to win it all and it made for a close game that finished 27-24 for the Hawks! It was very close and the Wraiths came close to winning it but fell short, which meant that the Hawks would go on to play in the Championship game!
The ASFC Conference Championship game was a surprising result as the team that won was not the one with the better record in the season! The Otters were the team playing on the road but were still able to score a lot of points and win the game. They scored in a lot of different ways, including a punt return and rushing and passing touchdowns from their quarterback! They won the game and made it into the Championship game which was a big thing for them I’m sure.
The Championship game was played between the Otters and the Hawks and it was a very interesting game. It was a game from quarterback Franklin Armstrong that couldn’t have been better as he scored 4 touchdowns in the game which counted for all of the teams points.
It was very unexpected to see the Otters win the game based on the record that they had in the regular season. The Otters had the 5th best record out of all the teams that had made it into the playoffs but were still able to win all of their games which is something very impressive! It was very interesting to note that they were able to do all of this with their quarterback being a rookie too! It would have certainly been a disappointment for the team that had the best record, the Arizona Outlaws to have lost to the young team and miss their chance to make it to the championship given the experience that they had but that’s the way that things go some times!
I found it very interesting to follow the S17 playoffs and learn something about what happened in the leagues history. Congratulations to the Otters for their win back in S17, it was certainly a very impressive run for them to be able to make!
Total word count: 952 words!
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - Thor - 11-10-2020
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16) Create an argument for your own player, or for someone else on your team, as to why they should be nominated for awards. Lay out their stats or compare them to other contenders. Make a convincing case.There is no doubt in my mind that for the fifth season in a row, Heath Evans should be nominated to receive the Tight End of the Year award. With a second consecutive season of 100+ receptions Heath becomes only the second player in ISFL history to accomplish this feat, after Paul DiMirio who had four consecutive over seasons 100. Last season Heath Evans actually won the Tight End of the Year award off the back of a season with a statline of 106 catches, 1064 yards and 5 TDs. This season Heath Evans has 101 catches, 1018 yards and 7 TDs - so the seasons are very comparable, with 5 less catches, 46 less yards and 2 more touchdowns.
The unfortunate part about this season is that Evans is not very likely to win this award, as with the recent rule change allowing tight ends who play wide receiver to be included in the awards nominations also brings Jeffrey Phillips into contention - with a stat line of 90 catches for 1367 yards and 12 TDs, Phillips is expected to run away with the award. While the effects of this rule change may have been somewhat unintentional to effect this award race, it will have changed the landscape again of the only viable option for playing Tight End to win awards.
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25) Imagine that the league’s Pro Bowl included a skills competition similar to the NFL. What sorts of games could you see being implemented? Which players do you think would perform the best in ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, or other games? Which conference would come out on top?I think that a good alternative for skills competitions where participants could have potential to injure themselves would be a gaming competition. The league could set up a huge LAN set up in a stadium and use the jumbotrons to show highlights, playing a variety of game genres such as sports games like Madden or NBA 2k, battle royale shooters like warzone or pubg and even more casual party games could make for an interesting event.
It's very difficult to say which teams would win these competitions, because there's no athletic skill involved and I'm not even sure how you'd measure the results, however the real winners would be the crowd for the entertainment they'd receive, and the e-sports leagues for the exposure they'd receive being shown off on such a big platform. Perhaps you could even see professional e-sports players competing as well to push the ISFL players to perform their best, and see how they'd keep up.
My bet would be that if we put e-sports competitors in the mix against the players of our league, the guest stars would take the win easily. Though some teams would have some skilled competitors, on the whole I can't see how they would compete against players who do it professionally. Maybe next time we'll see the e-sports players out on the gridiron to see how they go.
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28) Select any player who was drafted in the back half of a DSFL or ISFL draft. Show how that player has outperformed their draft position, or how they will soon do so. You cannot write about your own player.For this discussion I'd like to refer you to a player who Myrtle Beach selected at pick #99 (pick 3, round 13) out of Nevada in the 2039 DSFL draft, a player with the name of Teddy Utterstruzen. The safety picked before Teddy was in round 7, pick 6 to Dallas Birddogs Bob Roberts - and despite being picked 45 picks earlier, Bob Roberts only has 50 TPE more than Teddy.
The next Safety selected after Teddy Utterstruzen was Steven Wadham, who was also a surprisingly good steal - but is still a drop off of 40 TPE. After them, the next safety is Brian Nelson who is nearly 200 TPE behind our boy Teddy Utterstruzen. The subsequent ISFL draft saw Teddy jump up 32 picks to #67 overall in the fifth round by Sarasota, who also took the aforementioned other late draft safety steal in Steven Wadham one pick later at #68 overall.
Utterstruzen has been a key element to a Myrtle Beach defense who has a stellar 11-3 record this season, while the team's main strength came from a potent offense, Teddy was able to fill a much needed versatile defensive back role, lining up at CB, FS and SS through different points in the season. with 71 tackles, an interception and 11 pass deflections, Utterstruzen has performed well beyond the expectation of a player from his draft position.
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29) Some positions are still under appreciated. Talk about the offensive linemen and/or special teamers on your squad. Show how they have contributed to the team, both on and off the field, and why they deserve recognition.I could talk all day about the Kicker/Punter for Myrtle Beach, Leo Bloomfield - but for you today I'll cut short at around 200 words. Bloomey (as he's lovingly referred to in the Buccaneers Locker Room) has been a special teams success story for the Beach on a team which has had a history of struggling to find a consistent rythym in the special teams part of the game. With a short list of the kicker history only including Baxter Frost and Kai Solarin, Myrtle Beach had never had a kicker find any significant success over a long period.
Bloomey has just completed his second season with Myrtle Beach (third, if you include the end of S23 when he was a post trade deadline waiver pick up) and has had kicked an astounding 100% of extra points on the most attempts of any player in the league (34 attempts, next closest at 31) and the only player that has attempted more than 10 with a perfect record.
While his field goal percentage isn't quite as high, Bloomey has had a further 30 attempts in that department, of which he has scored on 26. This combined point scoring means that this season, Bloomey has THE MOST POINTS SCORED OF ANY PLAYER IN THE DSFL. I apologise but I had to capitalise that for emphasis, and I'll even say it one more time because it's incredible that he has THE MOST POINST SCORED OF ANY PLAYER IN THE DSFL this season at 112 points scored. Anyway, given I'm now closer to 300 words than 200 I'll let my point rest, but vote #1 Bloomey for KOTY.
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - Bandit239 - 11-11-2020
Tier 1 800+ words for 10 TPE
6) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.
Im going to be writing my choice for a player who should undoubtedly win a league award. I know this player personally IRL, but im not going to be biased here. Just based purely on index stats and watching the games live on the sim. The Minnesota Grey Ducks Free Safety Damian Blackfyre is one of the best, if not the top choice for Defensive Player of the Year. I would think that he is easily a top choice for that and also for safety of the year. Now here is why. He leads in every major turnover category, interceptions, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries. He has notched a couple of sacks, and tackles for loss. This guys dot is all over the field making big plays. I imagine most of the time a corner or safety might lead in interceptions, while an LB or defensive lineman would lead in the fumble category. How often does a player lead in both? Id guess probably not very often. The real kicker for me is watching the games. Picks, fumbles and sacks always come at the most clutch moments. The kind of thing that doesnt get recorded in the sim. Looking back at earlier games and watching a few that I missed he is always making a big play when we need it. Away to Tijuana in week one he stopped a comeback drive in the final seconds of the game with a clutch. You cant get that info on the stat sheet. More recently against London, he forced two fumbles and recovered one. We needed big plays to happen and they did in a game where we were on the road against the top team in our division. Against Kansas City in week 14, a win and youre in scenario, the guy went off. He picked off Peterson late in the game which was crucial. but the biggest play of the game came when Kasas City was backed up in there own territory late in the fourth. They were set to punt, but this beast of a Free Safety blocks the punt to set up the game winning score that let us beat Kansas City and go to the playoffs. He obviously has the stats to win big time awards, but the killer for me is those intangible skills, and WHEN the plays occur. Almost always at a crucial moment that helps the team win a game. That kind of untangible stuff that lets you feel a play before it comes is never taken into account. I think Blackfyres play is enough to warrant an MVP bid, which is probably rare to see a defensive player on the ballot. Considering the ducks defensive play being probably the biggest reason we have made the playoffs, and he was easily the star of the defense he should be considered. At the very least he should win defensive player of the year. The other two players in my opinion who have a strong case are burfict and Skeeter. Burfict had the tackles and the sacks, which he killed in both. And skeeter had less than Blackfyre in almost every category except for touchdowns. In my opinion two lucky touchdowns on an interception shouldnt be enough to win over a player who made bigger plays more often and made more big plays in big time situations. If you put skeeter in the same exact situations where Blackfyre made the plays that he made, 9/10 Skeeter doesnt make that play. But you put Blackfyre in the position Skeeter was in to make his plays, Blackfyre makes those plays everytume and then some extra. An example here could be the running back position. Would you give an award to a back who made 1 huge 70 yard run, but then got stuffed at the line every other play of the game, or a back who broke the defense down play after play. Im gonna go with the guy who made it happen consistently, not the guy who took advantage of an opportunity but couldnt do much elsewhere. This is not to bash anyone, because all of the players i mentioned are really great, I am just looking at what I personally look at as being more important. Constant clutch plays in every part of the field carry more weight for me than a few big plays in one area that, while they are great plays, could be made by anyone in that situation. Then again, sim is gonna sim, and any player could make any play each week. But the case has to be made. Leading the league in so many categories, and i believe he has the most forced turnovers combined than any other defensive player. That to me is enough for defensive player of the year.
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - Kyle - 11-11-2020
30) Reflect on the two expansion teams. How did their first seasons go? What were their key strengths and weaknesses, and how are they poised to improve in seasons to come?
Well they both kind of sucked, but I assume that's by design in the first year. I refuse to look at their rosters but I know the GMs well enough that I don't think they have a roster that is both trashy and old. I mean don't get me wrong I hope that's the deal with the New York Chimps since they're in my division but I highly doubt that is the case. I know their secondary sucks because they're starting that scrub safety Bob Roberts. Can you believe that he once thought that he would be the second safety taken in the DSFL draft? Laughing. My. Ass. Off. I'm pretty sure he was about the 17th safety taken in the draft? Shows what he knows. okay I'll be serious, Bob is a max earning young safety and will be a defensive leader for the team for a decade to come. Ironically the only other players on the team I can think of are old ass men that need to retire. Possible future hall of famer Ashley Owens at running back who had roughly a billion yards this season, and once great defensive tackle Bubba Thumper. No offense but I think it's about time he is taken out back.
29) Whatamus? More like, What a great dude! I bet there's even multiple other teams that have tried desperately to trade for him. Maybe even multiple times. The dude just completed his second season in the DSFL and didn't give up a single damn sack. Not one. The dude will provide the quarterback protection that Easton Cole has been asking for his entire career. He is also a great addition to the locker room. Like better than great, possibly the greatest. The greatest ever, of all time, no argument, period. He will be the head of the wall for a new generation of Austin Copperheads. Leading us threw a heap of second rate defenses into more than one Ultimus. I would also like to shoutout our future kicker down in Myrtle Beach, Bloomey! Bloomey is the man and will one day tie Criscos record for longest field goal. Old man Crisco can tell you that Austin has always had a deep appreciation for its kickers and punters. We understand just how much easier they can make everyone elses job on the field. There is surely nothing better than a great kicker that can turn short punts into long range field goals into consistently or a punter that can pin the other team down in the red zone drive after drive.
28) Conner Quigley, also known as, Whatamus went to Austin in the Fifth round of the season 26 ISFL draft and although we knew we got a steal we didn't know we got the steal of the draft. First off Whatamus the user is great dude and worth the pick for locker room value alone. Dude comes in with all his jokes and musical knowledge and brings a constant chill presence to the place that everyone just totally vibes off of. Beyond that though, he has put in the work and turned up the pace at which he earns and has proven it on the field. He had an insane amount of Pancakes and did not give up 1 single damn sack all damn season. That shit is crazy and you know it, I know it, everybody in the entire league and their mommas know it. Now I'm going to rant about how awful the voting was for OLOTy in the DSFL. Conner didn't give up a single sack all season. the winner of the award did. If you think a small pancake difference is enough to overcome the ability to never let up a sack than you're an idiot. No room to disagree because I won't care by the time you read this.
27) Since S22 the league has passed rules to make the DSFL more about actually developing new players despite push back from those that are either simple of the mind or want to hold on to high TPE inactive players. These changes include a 4 season cap on time played in the DSFL (with an exception made for QB since they need more time to develop), the seasonal clearing of IAs off rosters to make room for new, active players in the league, and stricter rules for starting these young active users over the inactive ones. All of these rules have improved both the parity and activity of the DSFL and hopefully will help with the long term retention rate of new creates. It helps especially for positions like wide receiver and running back that are highly sought after. I am all for having a few active rookies just absolutely dunk on a bunch of useless 50 TPE bots. Who cares? It's the development league, let the new kids on the block have their fun before they get their asses whooped in the big leagues by the grizzled old vets. That being said I don't GM there anymore so who really cares what the fuck happens. not my problem.
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - SchwarzNarr - 11-11-2020
6) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.
The rookie experience is something that is very near and dear to my heart (obviously, as rookie mentor head). We are constantly listening to feedback and looking for ways to improve the experience for rookies. There is a lot of information when rookies start, there are too many things to do, there is too much pressure to join and be active in every single locker room. All of which, I don’t disagree.
Rookies feel overwhelmed as they join prospect chat after prospect chat. They feel the pressure during scouting season to be as active as possible in all of the prospect chats, fearing otherwise that they won’t be drafted well, and I think it’s important for GMs and others to remember that. Like joining a new job, joining all of the locker rooms can become stressful. The amount of “who is that again, are they the GM are they a current member an alum? What’s the culture like, do I sit and watch, just dive in? I don’t want to mess things up?” The pressure can be a bit overwhelming.
Some new users love this environment and this time of year because they can be in so many chats at once. Some people would prefer to never join a locker room until the draft and let that be that. What this comes down to is that rookie chat needs to be the “Class of SXX Locker Room” in a sense. Which means we need to do a few things:
Look at what players love out of their locker rooms. Aside from the socialization, what is it that players absolutely adore from their locker rooms? What is it that they find themselves wanting to be a part of and participate with over and over again. I know for a fact some prospects just loved being in Norfolk to engage with our bots. Everyone loves seeing pet pictures, and if that means that rookies are able to post and share pet pictures during the entirety of their time in the DSFL, all the merrier (and really, who wouldn’t want to see cute pet pictures). Giving dedicated channels to these fun features, these pieces that everyone loves most out of their locker room means that Rookies can engage with each other and bond as a class.
GMs get to see players interact in a different way when they view them from within the DSFL discord. You’re looking at players interacting with someone who may not have interviewed well. Not everyone invites every prospect to their locker rooms for further scouting. Some people just don’t want to share a lot, some people might have DMs turned off (this was me!!) and so the only opportunity you have to connect with them is via public chats. It’s important to make sure that we understand that at the DSFL level everything is new and a little bit overwhelming. By creating one home where rookies begin to feel comfortable, it begins to serve the needs of the entire community better.
Additionally, by allowing classes to bond within the DSFL discord, over bonding within unique locker rooms, you start to build more friendships that are across teams. It means that rivalries that teams may have don’t go “too far” and come from a place of messing with friends over a place of true toxicity. By creating the bond within a class you have users who are excited about any ISFL team they might go to because they know several people with them (and they aren’t the only Seawolf to get drafted to a team). Furthermore, by making the Rookie Discord the place to hang out, players who join after scouting (during the pre-draft, basically) aren’t left alone in this quiet chat where nobody is talking because everyone is already in a prospect chat, and a locker room. Players are engaged with each other while sharing the nerves of what might happen during the draft.
Another frustration that many rookies have is surrounding contracts. While some teams and GMs try to have a “Hey you’re gonna get drafted and you’ll have to negotiate a contract here are my tips and advice” talk early with their team, others don’t (or might not think about it if they are newer DSFL GMs). Contract talk feels so forbidden because of the rules, but this is something that everyone should be open and honest about with the newest class of rookies until the pre-draft starts. Rookies 100% should know that if they’re looking for extra money to be honest (but also realistic about budgets). If they want options, or to get called up, all of this is information that some players have never thought to have. Taking minimums sounds great for the team, but if you’re a player who struggles to earn money in the league, then you might feel pressured to put the team over your players performance.
At the end of the day this is a for fun league. We need to continually evaluate what we are doing for those new players to make sure that they are feeling welcomed, engaged, and understanding what the expectations are and what options they have available for them when they join. By enabling rookie chat to expand and offer more to the rookies in one location, one place, it helps make sure that they can feel they have a home, even during scouting season and the offseason when they are still waiting for that permanent residence.
RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - teddyoojo - 11-11-2020
16) Create an argument for your own player, or for someone else on your team, as to why they should be nominated for awards. Lay out their stats or compare them to other contenders. Make a convincing case.
Okay, so the first player on my team (Myrtle Beach Buccs) to deserve an award is Zach Crossley, star Wide Receiver. His stats truly speak for himself. 1097 Regular Season Receiving Yards on only 77 targets, sporting an amazing 14.2 average yards per catch is by FAR the highest out of ANYONE in the league. Leading the next best receiver by over 200 more yards total, it should really be no contest. The only thing stopping Crossley from collecting the award prematurely is his TD's. Myrthe Beachs Quarterback Jackie Daytona seemed to favour his other receivers alot more in the redzone, leaving Crossley with a mere 3 TDs on 1100 receiving yards.
However despite that, his performance is still one of the most impressive performances by any receiver I have ever witnessed in the DSFL, and all that while sharing the load. Myrtle Beach is also sporting a top tier dumbo tight end called Djubutters McJohn and another top tier receiver in Alex Reed. Making it all the more impressive to showcase the type of season Crossley has displayed. I desperately hope the committee wont get distracted by someones fancy TD count compared to Crossleys insane production throughout every game this year.
202 words,
9) It’s always important to look forward to the future. Examine your team, and in 400 words or more, talk about how they can improve themselves to get a stab at trophy contention next year. Are you loaded with draft capital for the next draft? Do you have plenty of cap space to sign free agents? Go through the roster and note the different strengths and weaknesses, and how you think those will change over the next few seasons. How should your team adapt?
Well, so my Team is the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, which is a DSFL team, therefore i will leave out considerations about cap space and free agents, since such a thing unfortunately does not exist in the DSFL.
Ok, so, i think the most important part for a DSFL team to plan ahead is looking at future losses in players, either due to inactivity, callups or unexpected character death (retirement). Without going into exact details here, myrtle beach appears to be one of the teams suffering from callups moreso than other teams in the DSFL coming this season. Therefore, the main focus for the Buccs is trying to replace the missing pieces as good as possible. The main avenue is obviously the draft. The Buccaneers retained all their draft picks for this upcoming draft, but unfortuantely could not add any outside picks. The main goal in the draft is going to be finding good TPE earners, who can fill the gaps. The Buccs are probably looking to target holes in their defense, especially on DLine, which hasnt been the same since the departure of Goat "Goat Tank" Tank. Defense will most definitely remain one of the main focuses of the team, such as is tradition in the DSFL. Possible holes will turn up in their secondary, however it was one of the strongest parts of the Myrtle beach boys, so i wouldnt expect much emphasis on it during the draft.
Another sore spot for the buccaneers will be the offense, which appears to get gutted during the offseason, leaving MVP Quarterback Jackie Daytona without many weapons, which will hopefully get remedied during the Draft.
Looking further than the draft, one of the most important parts of any DSFL team is the locker room. the Locker Room in Myrtle Beach has an amazing atmosphere (even despite losing in the playoffs to some bad hombres) and I believe is one of the reasons for their recent success. Keeping up that amazing Locker Room atmosphere is i think paramount to continue the success, On and Off the field. It definitely helps retaining players and keeping them motivated to earn.
Certainly stuff that does not need improvement includes the effort put in by management, i believe the GMs of MBB do a great job behind the scenes.
In summation, i believe the 2 most important steps during the offseason are a good draft, focused on defense and giving Jackie back some weapons, and keeping the locker room fun and breezy, leading to more player activity and performance.
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29) Some positions are still under appreciated. Talk about the offensive linemen and/or special teamers on your squad. Show how they have contributed to the team, both on and off the field, and why they deserve recognition.
This is where i want to take a Look at Myrtle Beachs Star Tight End Djobanana McJonnerson. Which already appears to be an incredibly odd thing, given that this task is about special teamers or offensive lineman. And while his blocking performance was nothing to write home about only collecting 17 pancakes through 14 games, his Special Team work is the area i want to highlight here.
Djibutter McJam was the only Tight End to return a Kickoff this entire season, and not only did he return one of two, he was the main Kick Returner of the Buccs.
And he did a commendable job, being the 4th best Kick returner with 10 or more returns. And that as a Tight End. Imagine that shit. While he obviously wasnt the best returner, i believe giving him recognition for his returns as a Tight End is the right thing to do. And while he unfortunately could not collect a TD on one of his returns, nor break out a very long run, he, as mentioned before, is still a top4 returner on Avg, speaking of his incredible consistency in his returns. Truly a rock to depend on. And ugly ass rock, but one afterall.
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RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - 124715 - 11-11-2020
Task 1: Notable Event
I’m going to write about the Season 1 draft, or specifically, its first overall pick and how that shaped the league for seasons after. Here was the pick, the first ever in the NSFL:
OCO selects DT JJ Reigns
Receiving [56 games]: 186 rec, 1703 yards (9.1 avg, 30 lng), 10 TD
Defense [42 games]: 122 tck, 28 sck 14 tfl, 1/0 ff/fr, 0 INT 0 PD
This remains the only time the disgustingly successful Otters have earned the #1 overall pick, and naturally it was entirely by lottery, as no teams had played yet. The only draft to follow a fully snaked format, it was full of chaos and shenanigans. In the leadup to the draft, WR Josh Garden was the soft consensus on the #1 prospect. As the player of the league commissioner, he had a certain expectation of greatness, and naturally had earned to the max. However, Garden’s user himself put another player first overall in his mock draft PT: DT JJ Reigns. Reigns was a player belonging to longtime sim user Shaka, who had a sizable reputation for putting a lot of effort into leagues, players, and especially character-building. He was also known for being thorough and knowledgeable in all of his sim league endeavors. Instead, he decided to win over the brand-new league and its GMs by being loud, proud, and self-assured, branding himself as the surefire #1 pick and a top-notch prospect. He realized - correctly - that DL would be one of the most valuable positions in the new league. He did not realize that, with only one or two relevant attributes, any low-TPE IA could fill the DL positions almost as well as a high-TPE active, however.
The pick ended up busting spectacularly. Reigns had a great first season and a decent second one, but Shaka’s status as an elite earner faded quickly, and his job was quickly taken by others on his team, forcing him to switch to WR. As a receiver, his best season was his first, an 832-yard campaign with Orange County in S3. Reigns played just four seasons with the Otters and was out of the league altogether by S8 - certainly not the career the Otters had in mind when they drafted him first overall.
It’s impossible to fault the Otters for the pick, or even Shaka himself. The S1 draft happened just weeks after the launch of the league, giving GMs limited information to base their picks on. Reigns wasn’t a bad pick - he did play a valuable position, he was a user with history, and he had checked all the boxes leading up to the draft. The pick looks worse mostly because of the one after it. With the second pick, Yellowknife drafted the aforementioned superstar WR Josh Garden, who performed like a true #1 overall pick. Even though he bounced between teams, he enjoyed a high peak with 3 straight 1500-yard seasons and a long, successful career, racking up 11643 receiving yards and landing at 4th all time.
The rest of the S1 draft has this same erratic quality as the first few picks. A pair of HoVG members at picks 3 and 6 sandwich two dramatic busts and picks 4 and 5. Round 7 saw three HOF players get drafted - as many as had been selected in the first six rounds. But in the end, the Otters did get their superstar at WR - not through the position-switching Reigns, but from 12th-round pick Bradley Westfield, who may be the best WR to ever set foot on an NSFL field.
So what was so significant about this? And how did OCO turn from busting badly on the league’s first ever draft pick to kicking off a 25-season dynasty? Well, the foundations of the dynasty were also from that S1 draft: in addition to Westfield, they snagged Hall of Famer Angus Winchester in the fifth round and legend Mike Boss in the eighth. From there, strong GMing and good drafting lead them into their period of dominance.
And the Reigns pick itself was notable, as it kicked off a disastrous three season sort of arms race on the offensive and defensive lines. Like I said, Shaka himself wasn’t wrong about the value of the two lines, and the league’s inaugural season featured shambolic O-lines that tanked offenses. In the S2 draft, 6 of the 8 first round picks were on the OL or DL. In the S3 draft, need forced the Yeti to reach for OL Antonio Sandoval first overall. And the S3 season itself was a complete mess. OL retention rates had dumpstered, and patchwork OL groups of inactives and bots crumbled against active DLs. S3 featured comical sack totals - Jayce Tuck himself had 32, and three others had over 20 - and eventually ushered in the OL bot era.
JJ Reigns had a lackluster and disappointing career, but was nonetheless one of the most important figures in league history, and the pick itself caused ripples all around the league.
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RE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - MrStennett - 11-11-2020
Task 1
After having heard several renditions of it over the last handful of seasons, I'd like to give my inside perspective on the so-called "Communist Chicago" rebellion. This recap isn't about opening old wounds or pointing fingers, but is merely a summary of the events through my own eyes. At this point, everyone in the league has more-than-likely heard the story about how a Chicago Butchers team in shambles lost both of their GMs in about a week and then refused Head Office's handpicked candidate to find one of their own. While that is basically the truth of the matter. It really is an over-simplified version that calls for more context.
Let's begin by examining who the key players are here, and what their roles were. The GMs of Chicago at the time were Steelsound and Valor. When I first agreed to the trade that sent my original player, Thorian Skarsgard, from the Orange County Otters to the Chicago Butchers, it was because of some very successful discussions with Steelsound. He seemed driven and motivated to turn a Chicago team that was a laughing stock at the time, into a contender. I hadn't conversed much with Valor, but had heard of him from around the league. Steel confirmed almost immediately that bringing my regressing player into a losing team situation was more about getting me in the locker room to help change team culture than it was hoping Skarsgard would turn things around for the team. It seemed like a perfect match to me. I get the payday that I wanted and that I knew the Otters couldn't afford, and Chicago got someone to come in and help reboot things. I was immediately added to the war room, where I came into contact with two other key players in the story. The only other members of the Chicago war room at the time were Jiggly and CDub. Everyone seemed pretty optimistic both in management and the locker room in general about the team's direction. This is where the problems begin.
Steel was the first GM to pull the plug. His moves, including bringing my player in, were being panned constantly by everyone in the league. The "Chicago sux lol" movement around the league was strong, with even players on other pretty awful teams taking shots. Most of those shots were directed at Steel. Some of them were fair, and others definitely weren't, but at the end of the day, he just got tired of being lambasted by every member of the league on a seemingly daily basis. With just a short message to the Chicago war room, he retired his player and to my knowledge has not been heard from since. This put co-GM Valor in the hot seat, and that last very little time. Valor had been vocal about the fact that he wanted his player, Ryan Leaf Jr., to have a shot at winning a title before he retired and it was seeming more and more like that wouldn't happen in Chicago. To reach his end goal, Valor decided to step down from the role of GM and immediately requested a trade. At this juncture, the war room of myself, Jiggly, and CDub were in a difficult position. We were trying to keep the locker room unified and also stay in contact with Head Office about what the situation was with the team. These events directly led to the situation in question.
A few Head Office members were brought into the Chicago war room so that a private conversation could be held between them and team leadership. Of course Bex was involved, and I remember infinitempg and terriblehippo being there as well. (If I missed anyone else, my apologies. I'm doing this completely from memory.) While I won't directly repeat anything that was said there, the general gist of it was that Head Office was assembling a list of candidates to interview and would decide amongst themselves who the replacement should be. I don't remember exactly how long it was between that conversation and finding out that TubbyTim had been chosen as the replacement GM, but I do remember thinking that it seemed like an awfully short period of time to properly vet a whole list of candidates. We discussed this amongst ourselves in the war room, after all the HO members had left, and decided that our ideal candidate would be someone with a long history of sim league management. We felt that such a person would come in with the tools necessary to turn this team around. The second reason we ended up rejecting Tim's appointment was that he stated to us himself that he planned to rebrand the Butchers to give the team "a new image". This was unpopular among both the war room and the active locker room members. We took these concerns to HO, and things admittedly went downhill from there. There was obviously jockeying on both sides. Jiggly, as the team's longest tenured member and default leader of the war room, felt strongly that the team should have a say in who was going to end up leading them. It was a popular sentiment among the players in the locker room, which brought myself and CDub on board.
Jiggly and myself were appointed "interim GMs" in order to conduct the search for the team's new GM(s), and were given the initial list of candidates who applied. The first thing we discovered was that multiple people told us HO never even approached them about their application, which was concerning. We did our due diligence with everyone on the list, first seeing if they were even still interested or not. This is how we landed on the tandem of Bayley and Muford. They had applied together and I had remarked to Bayley that I didn't even know they were in the running. Both of them had ample experience as GMs across multiple sim leagues and we felt like they were the pair to move the team in the right direction. Upon finding out that they were both still interested in coming to Chicago, we brought them in to talk to the players and vet any of their concerns. After it was agreed upon by everyone, we took our choice to HO and were then tasked with coming up with the plan to bring their players in. Bayley took the lead on this, as his new player would be in the upcoming draft and we could easily take him with our second round pick. This left acquiring Muford's player, John Smirh, from Colorado. I could get into the debacle that this became, but it's really not a part of this story.
To wrap this all up, Bayley and Muford did indeed become the new GM duo in Chicago and have now led the team to their second playoff berth in a row, contending for a conference title. Even though the route to get to this point was extremely messy, I feel like the goal was accomplished, which was simply to find the people capable of turning around a struggling franchise.
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1184 wordsRE: (S25) - Ultimus Week - TropicaliaCC - 11-11-2020
3) The Sarasota Sailfish are a young franchise having only been a professional team for four seasons now. That being said they have a relatively rich history making the playoffs the three out of their four seasons and having a cumulative record of 37-24 (.607). However, this article is about individuals, so without further ado, here is the Mount Rushmore of Sarasota Sailfish players.
Dexter Banks II: Any Mount Rushmore for Sarasota has to start with Dexter Banks II. He was the first overall pick in the expansion draft that sent him from perennial power house Orange County to Sarasota. At that point in time, Banks II was just hitting his stride as one of the better Wide Receivers in the league, and the change in scenery allowed him to flourish with career high numbers in yards and receptions. His 60 catches were good for 11th best in the league that year and the 939 resulting yards were the 8th best mark. Banks was named to the Pro Bowl after a season in which the Sailfish overperformed considerably given they made the playoffs as a wildcard team in their inaugural season. Banks helped the young offense put up respectable numbers as the 5th best passing attack in the league that year. Despite getting boat raced in the first round by the eventual Ultimus champion Colorado Yeti, Sarasota caught the attention of the league that year. Banks truly became the face of the franchise in the offseason prior to Season 23 when it was announced that he would be the starting Quarterback. The position switch came as a shock but would lead to an exciting offense down the road. In his first season, Banks was a solid Quarterback with middle of the road numbers across the board. Sarasota was a well balanced run-pass team and slightly improved their record from a year ago to finish as a .500 team. However, it was not good enough to make the playoffs. The wild volatile play that Banks is known for truly emerged the year in Season 24. The Sailfish were widely regarded as the most fun team to watch that year because of their philosophy change to an air raid system. Any given play could be a long touchdown pass or a pick six for Banks that year. The Sailfish offense was the best in terms of yardage that year and second best in terms of points scored. Banks finished with a historical 9th best all time 5033 yards passing. His league best 32 touchdowns and league worst 19 interceptions were a good summary of how that season went: high highs and low lows. Their 12-4 record that year was second best in the league, but unfortunately the best record belonged to the Yeti who belong to the same conference. Regardless, Sarasota took care of the Butchers and earned their franchises first playoff win. The Sailfish then had to take on the Yeti in the conference championship game and Colorado was believed to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league after winning 14 games and having the league MVP at Quarterback. A great performance by Banks almost led the Sailfish to an Ultimus birth, but a dropped pass on 4th down with a minute and a half left in the game crushed their dreams. Fast forward to week 7 of Season 25 and the Sailfish are 2-5 and Banks is off to a horrific start to the season. However, the team found something deep down and went on a tear through the league to win their final nine game of the regular season and find themselves in the exact same post season situation as the year before. This time the Sailfish let the Butchers get up to a 27-3 lead in the first half and couldn’t manage to climb back despite a 17-0 run in the second half. So in summary Banks played for the Sailfish in their first four seasons of existence and went Pro Bowl at two separate positions, won an Offensive Player of the Year award, is the front runner for an MVP award, and led the league in yards and touchdowns twice. Despite a couple of playoff runs falling just short, Banks had a great run as a building block and corner stone of the franchise.
Haha Mango-Panda: A player that is just reaching his prime, HMP is already a legend for the franchise. HMP looks like a Sarasota lifer as his rookie year and the team’s inaugural season line up. His lowest tackle numbers in a season are 105, but run stopping is only a part of his game and not even the best part. He has developed into a sack artist, notching 10 and 14 the past two years respectively. Additionally, he is a menace in pass defense with 20 plus pass deflections in consecutive years, including 27 this year which was tied for the second best in the league. HMP is vitally important to an improving Sarasota defense as he is all over the field. Look for his numbers to keep improving over the next couple of years and he will be hard to knock off this Mount Rushmore.
James Angler: Another young player. He was still in the DSFL during the Sailfish inaugural season, but he has set the league on fire in his first three seasons. He has led the team in receptions every single year with marks of: 74, 93, and 85. He and Banks had a great connection. 3,500 yards through three seasons is incredible. What more can be said besides this dude is the best TE in the league.
Raphitalia Chan (formerly Dax Frost): This player kinda sucks lmap and will be the first one eclipsed as the franchise ages a bit, but as the starting running back for all four seasons they did put up consistent decent numbers even though their production in the run game declined as the Sailfish transitioned to a more pass heavy offense.