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+---- Thread: *A Decade of Dominance (/showthread.php?tid=10797)
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*A Decade of Dominance - RedCydranth - 10-18-2018
In the NFL, the 1990s were widely considered the Cowboys Decade. During that span of 10 years, 1990 to 1999, the Dallas Cowboys made the playoffs 8 times and won three Super Bowl titles. That was dominance defined. So, what of the Orange County Otters who made 10 straight trips to the post season, and walked out of the decade with 3 championships? Could it not be proclaimed that the first decade of the NSFL is the Otters decade? Let's recount the years and see.
Season One
The Inaugural Season. This season only had 6 teams, and every team was filled with rookies. It was a year in shambles, but it counts as the first full season in the National Simulation Football League. It was, unbeknownst to the rag tag group of players thrown together by Grapehead and Shaka, the beginning of a dynasty. Many of the players they picked up would become key players for a very long time. The foundations for the most successful franchise in history were magically set into place.
Key Acquisitions:
QB - Mike Boss
RB - Leroy Jenkins
RB - Omar Wright
WR - Bradley Westfield
WR - Robert Phelps
T - Gregor Clegane
T - Angus Winchester
C - Jordan Yates
DE - Adamle Tomlinson
DT - Franklin Harris
LB - Ian Bavitz
CB - Anthony Petrakis
FS - Dominic Verns
Mike Boss beat out 2 other QBs to win the starting role, Josh Bercovici and Ethan Hunt. Hunt was traded away to division rival, San Jose. Bercovici would have been traded however a clause in his contract prevented it, so he was relegated to the bench for the duration of the season. After the season was over, and the league expanded to 8, he was granted his release and he went to play for the new team, Las Vegas Legion.
The Otters finished the season with a 9-5 record, which was the same as the Arizona Outlaws. In the first week of the playoffs, the Outlaws handily defeated the Otters 36-13 on their way to their first Ultimus Championship win.
Season Two
After the league expanded to 8 teams, the Otters were forced to break up their dynamic RB tandem, coined Fire and Ice. Jenkins stayed with the team while Omar Wright departed for the newly founded Philadelphia Liberty. The Otters run game never quite found that 1-2 punch again, especially with Leroy Jenkins. The draft was an odd one for Orange County, as a draft SNAFU caused them to end up trading one of their picks, Ardie Savea, to the Las Vegas Legion. Savea would go on to be one of the franchise's most profound players at RB and TE. One of the few mistakes the Otters made on draft day.
Key Acquisitions:
C- Brad Madlad
CB - Marc Spector
WR - Trey Willie
DT - Ricardo Sandoval
Key Departures:
C- Jordan Yates
Behind the scenes, Shaka and Grapehead could not maintain control of the franchise, and handed the team over to Jbearly and Jiggly_333. Given the keys to the kingdom, they did everything they could to keep the pieces together and defeat the Outlaws who had powered their way into being even stronger than they were during season 1. With 2 new teams in the league, the schedule had more diversity and the Legion played very much like a young franchise. Picking up Trey Willie and Ricardo Sandoval part way through the season as rookie prospects helped strengthen the locker room and bolster both their offense and defense. sadly neither player would be able to return as they were drafted the following season by other teams. Their success in their small time in Orange County proved they were hot commodities and valuable picks.
Finishing the season at 8-6, in second place again, they would move on to their second straight playoff game. This time it would be a much closer match, but the result was still the same, a loss. 17-13 was the score, with Arizona once again moving on and winning their 2nd Ultimus trophy and proving to the league that 6 or 8 teams, we were all their bitches.
Season Three
Season 3, teams started to really realize tat Orange County was a force to be reckoned with. As veterans TPE amounts grew, players like Mike Boss, Angus Winchester, Dominc Verns, Ian Bavitz, Bradley Westfield and Robert Phelps became household names. Boss led the league in pass yards, TDs, Completion percentage and passer rating. Verns led the league in Tackles and both Westfield and Phelps led the league in passing yards and TDs. All these statistics were nice, but Arizona put up numbers where it counted most. The win column.
Key Acquisitions:
RB - Erlich Burnsman
CB - Jonathan King
LB - Julian O'Sullivan
Key Departures:
DT - Franklin Harris
WR - Trey Willie
DT - Ricardo Sandoval
Another regime change in the locker room, as the duo of Jbearly and Jiggly only lasted a single season. Taking over for them was Molarpistols and Roshambo. Molarpistols was a quick fit as the GM and he would go on to be the longest tenured GM of the decade. Roshambo, on the other hand, would only last one season. The carousel at Co-GM would continue on for a few more seasons.
Once again, the Otters posted an 8-6 record, which was good enough for 2nd place behind the Outlaws. Making playoffs, yet again, to face the Outlaws and then going on to lose to Arizona in the first round felt like a broken record. One more season of this humiliation and the outlaws would be the Buffalo Bills of the decade, not the Cowboys. Outlaws defeated the Otters by the miserable score of 27-7.
Season Four
Season Four was much like the first three in many ways. They had an okay draft, getting a TE and they acquired a Free Agent Running Back because their veteran RB, Leroy Jenkins announced early in the year that he would be retiring at the end of the season. The fans of the Otters were saddened by the announcement but Leroy had other things to do with his life. They would have a slight shift in their front office as JuOSu would replace Roshambo as co-GM under Molarpistols.
Key Acquisitions:
RB - Jack Durden
TE - Steven O'Sullivan
Key Departures:
None
One of the biggest things that made the Otters so much better in Season 4 than Season 3 was the addition of Offensive Line Bots. it allowed teams to take their best Offensive Lineman and convert them to other positions on the team. For the Otters, it meant Angus Winchester and Gregor Clegane could move from offense to defense. Winchester became a Linebacker while Clegane became a Defensive Tackle. The addition of Steven O'Sullivan also allowed George Wright to move to Defensive End as well. With a completely retooled defense, paired with Mike Boss, Phelps, Westfield and Jenkins, the were quite a strong team. This also allowed Brad Madlad to become the team's kicker, which he would be for the next 6 seasons.
The team finished 9-5 and again, in second place to the Arizona Outlaws. But the rally cry to win a ring for Jenkins gave the Otters an edge. for the first time, the Otters beat the Outlaws in the playoffs. And boy did they. They defeated the Outlaws 27-9 and to their first ever Ultimus game where they would face the Yellowknife Wraiths. The Wraiths finished 8-6, and presented a much lesser challenge, statistically, than the Outlaws. But as the prior week proved, any given Sunday, a team can triumph over the stronger foe. and the wraiths almost pulled it off. Orange County would defeat the Wraiths by a score of 30 to 23. Leroy Jenkins would be able to ride off into the sunset with a ring.
Season Five
During the off season, a huge scandal took place in Arizona. It came to light that several of the players who were responsible for the greatness of the Outlaws were actually fake. Many felt that this placed an asterisk on how dominant their first 4 seasons of winning truly were, but the league's head office decided to not asterisk their victories but they would ban all false players from any team they were on and restrict the person in charge of their creation. This provided a window for the Otters. They felt they were a strong enough competition as it was, even with the faked players, but with Arizona's scandal they knew this would be their time to shine. They had to prove last season was not a fluke.
Key Acquisitions:
CB - Tegan Atwell
RB - Jordan Yates
DT - Ryan Sierra
Key Departures:
None
Jordan Yates, who started off in Orange County as an offensive lineman, had become an underutilized running back in San Jose's system. After the retirement of Jenkins, and the mediocre play of both Durden and Burnsman the team signed their old team mate back. His return to Orange County would be a pivotal one offensively, as he would help shatter the mold for what the running back position could do. Along with Wraiths RB, Eric Kennedy, he and Yates would prove that running backs can be proficient pas catchers too. With Phelps and Westfield also catching passes, the Otters and Mike Boss would be an offensive fireworks show every single week. The Otters had become like St. Louis Rams circa 2000. The greatest show on turf. Defensively, the Otters were great too. Season 5, Winchester, Bavits, Sierra, Clegane and O'Sullivan were the top 5 sack leaders in the league. The league had never seen such a level of dominance, and likely never will again.
The front office made another small change this season, switching JuOSu from co-GM to BWestfield. With the addition of young Tegan Atwell, Anthony Petrakis switched from CB to FB to also help out in the running/receiving game.
Orange County would post an 11-3 record and dominate into the playoffs where they would face a familiar foe. But for the first time, Orange County would have a playoff game against the Outlaws at home. Orange County would not take their old foe lightly as they dismantled the Outlaws by a score of 43-19. The Otters had made playoffs 5 straight years, and made Ultimus for the second straight time. But this year, the Wraiths were a much better team than the season prior. Finishing 10-4, they were a stronger threat and could actually upset the Otters for their first Ultimus. However the defense and Boss led offense was too much for the Wraiths to bear, and would up defeating their Canadian foes by the score 26-15. With that, the Otters were two time Ultimus winning champions.
Season Six
Going into season 6, the team knew they had a good shot at the threepeat. A legitimate threepeat would being the product of a scandal, at that. They watched their former yearly foe slip away from their dominant form only to field a new divisional rival who threatened to overtake their glory. The San Jose Sabercats, once a joke, had emerged as a legitimate contender to the division.
Key Acquisitions:
LB - Elvin Enchant
DT - Bogdan Wojcik
Key Losses:
DE - Adamle Tomlinson
FS - Dominic Verns
RB - Jack Durden
Verns and Tomlinson were traded away as inactives and Durden was no longer needed with the emergence of Yates as a profoundly efficient as a RB out of the slot while Burnsman took over primary rushing duties for the first time in his career. This would also mark the first year in Otters franchise history there was not a switch at the GM or Co-GM position.
The season was strong for Orange County. Once again winchester would lead the league in sacks, while Boss, Yates and Westfield dominated the offence, as Phelps provided a solid 3rd option. It would also be the only season Burnsman would break 1000 yards rushing. Offensively the Otters were just as dominant as ever, but they took a small step back in the defensive category.
The playoffs would be different, for the first time in 6 years. Instead of their annual scrum against Arizona, the Sabercats were up to bat. This was their first, and only, playoff appearance in their franchise's history. The Otters defeated the Sabercats 32-29, in a very closely contested match. Another new face for the Otters met them in the finals. Instead of their first 2 victories over the Wraiths, the Otters would face the Philadelphia Liberty. They made the finals in only their 5th year as a franchise, which was very impressive since Colorado hadn't seen playoffs since season 1 and Las Vegas, now rebranded as the New Orleans Second Line, had never even sniffed the playoffs in that same time. Philadelphia failed to defeat the Otters, though. After the 23-17 victory over the Liberty, the Otters secured their threepeat and cemented what was already a dominant legacy.
Season Seven
Spirits were high after the threepeat was completed and a run for the 4th was underway. A big move was made, to bring in a young talented TE, Carlito Crush, to help out on offense. he was younger than Phelps, Yates and Westfield. And the TE position was never a solid one for the Otters since the early years when George Wright played there. Julian O'Sullivan was a huge loss on the defense, though. He wound up on the Second Line, a division rival.
Key Acquisitions:
TE - Carlito Crush
CB - Vlad Fyodorovich
DE - Fuego Wozy
Key Departures:
FB - Anthony Petrakis
DT - Bogdan Wojcik
TE - Steven O'Sullivan
LB - Julian O'Sullivan
The season was just as successful, in terms of regular season as the prior two were. they dominated the regular season and found their way to winning the division. Again, Westfeild, Yates and Phelps has 1000+ yard seasons. Again Winchester led the league in sacks. King and Spector led the league in Pass Deflections while Bavitz led the league in interceptions. George Wright even got in on the defensive action, leading the league in tackles for a loss.
With such a dominant performance, they were everyone's choice to steamroll through the playoffs and hold their 4th championship. again, in their way was their old friends, the Outlaws. Never one to be counted out, Arizona had overcome the shambles of their scandal and risen, like a phoenix, to become a legitimate threat once again. However, as a water based mammal does, the Otters doused the flames of that phoenix and defeated the Outlaws 48-24. In the finals, they faced the familiar foe from season 6, the Philadelphia Liberty. This Liberty were better than last year's squad, but the Otters were also a bit better than last year as well. Everyone had Philadelphia dead to rights, but Philly did what only they thought they could do. They defeated the Otters. 28-19, the Liberty finally held the Ultimus. The first team from the NSFC to ever claim the trophy as theirs.
Season Eight
Losing to Philadelphia was a jerker. Nothing crushes your spirits like having what you thought was a sure fire win out from under you. But Orange County Otters aren't ones to play the pity party. They knew they could still be a good team. Always try your best, no matter what. Season Eight also marked the change from BWestfield as co-GM to speculadora. Molarpistols was still the GM, and the team had his back, 100% through the whole run o their championship era. No reason to change that up now.
Key Acquisitions:
LB - Mason Brown
FS - Jaylon Broxton
Key Departures:
CB - Vlad Fyodorovich
DE - Fuego Wozy
Fyodorovich and Wozy were traded to the New Orleans Second Line and Broxton and Brown were added to their defense. Carlito Crush and Tegan Atwell also switched their positions from TE and CB, respectively, to Wide Receiver. Phelps age was really starting to show, and while Westfield was still a top flight receiver, his days at the top were numbered. Atwell and Crush moved so there would be a plethora of options for Boss to throw to. Westfield and Atwell finished top 5 in yards and Crush finished 7th. Boss still dominated the passing stats, while Brown and Winchester finished top 7 in sacks. not the dominance on defense they were the season before but still a strong overall team.
The Otters finished the season 10-4 and finished 1st in the ASFC for the 4th straight season. This year in the playoffs they would face the New Orleans Second Line, the team which years ago began as the Las Vegas Legion. Since their move to Louisiana, the team's management was much better handled and they built a solid and strong franchise, hich many said was a year or two away from "really being great." Well, New Orleans felt this was the season to "really be great" because they upset the Otters at home 20-17, officially preventing the Otters from claiming their 5th straight ASFC Championship.
Season Nine
Season Nine would be the start of a retool for the Otters. They looked at the power in the league and saw where the Second Line, Hawks and Yeti were trending, and realized their efforts would be best spent putting forward a competitive team, but focusing on the future. Unfortunately they also knew the clock was ticking on veterans like Bavitz, Boss, Phelps, Spector and Westfield. even Winchester wasn't the force he once was, but still was a solid player after 9 seasons in the NSFL.
Key Acquisitions:
SS - Marcus Kane
Key Departures:
None
With a team that many considered to be a bunch of relics, the Otters still went out and played the best ball they could. Finishing at a final record of 9-5, they were still able to prove they had plenty of fuel left in the tank. But much of that was also due to the Outlaws an Sabercats not putting any effort at all into their seasons, which tends to inflate the victory count for any team that tries. Still, a win is a win and the Otters headed off to their 9th straight playoff game.
In the playoffs, the Otters knew there was a slim chance they'd take out the Second Line, who finished with a 12-2 record. It would take a small miracle to defeat them. Well, no miracles were delivered to the Otter faithful that day. New Orleans would celebrate their second straight ASFC title at the hands of the Otters. And with that same divine grace, the Second Line would reclaim the Ultimus for the ASFC the following week.
Season Ten
The end of an era. Mike Boss retired. A complete regime change was in order. Molarpistols felt his job was complete and handed over the control of the franchise to his co-GM, speculadora. He brought in RedCydranth as his new co-GM and the two set out to hold the glory that Molarpistols and the great GMs and co-GMs before them has done. First order of business, get some new talent.
Key Acquisitions:
QB - Gus TT. Showbiz
RB - Ricky Adams
WR - Josh Garden
FB - Seer Zephyrous
SS - Danny Grithead
DE - Young Spaghetti
Key Losses:
QB - Mike Boss
RB - Erlich Burnsman
RB - Jordan Yates
WR - Robert Phelps
WR - Tegan Atwell
WR - Carlito Crush
SS - Ian Bavitz
The retirement of legend Mike Boss overshadowed the other retirements that the Otters suffered after Season nine. Jordan Yates and Robert Phelps also hung up their cleats. Ian Bavitz also walked away after an amazing career. Tegan Atwell left the team in free agency and part way through the season, the team traded Carlito Crush for Garden and a pick. Through the draft, the team went big at running back, taking Seer Zephyrous and Danny Grithead while calling up 3rd RB, Ricky Adams from the DSFL. Zephyrous would line up at TE and Grithead would be converted to Strong Safety.
With a fresh young QB, and a revitalized offense, the Otters went into Season 10 feeling decent about their chances to make playoffs. After the trade sending Crush to New Orleans, they knew they would never defeat them in the playoffs that year, but given how poorly the outlaws and Sabercats were playing, they felt they could still make playoffs. Finishing the season at 7-7, the worst finish in franchise history, it is only because the other 2 teams decided to not try at all, that the Otters made their 10th straight playoff appearance.
Of course, as predicted, the Otters lost to the New Orleans Second Line in the first round of the playoffs, however with a final score of 10-3, and the game coming down to the final drive to determine the winner, had the Otters not traded Crush, perhaps they could have pulled off a miracle upset that day. But it was not meant to be.
Conclusion
For many veterans, it seems like so long ago that the Otters were a dominant specimen the likes which had never seen. Many young players, fresh into this league, weren't here to experience the years which the Otters shined and completely overshadowed everyone else in the league. Even though they only won three trophies, there is still much accolades to be said for the Orange County Otters. Ten straight playoff appearances. Questions arose, how good they would have been during season 2 and 3 had the Outlaws not fielded illegal players. But that is a debate beaten to death over and over and I'll not touch upon it further here. the fact is, Orange County has never given up. Not once have they thrown in a towel and waived any white flags. A franchise dedicated to winning as many games as they can, every season. A franchise with class. A franchise who knows excellence. The Otters truly were the team of the first decade of the NSFL.
(3661 words)
*A Decade of Dominance - timeconsumer - 10-18-2018
Otter Slaughter
*A Decade of Dominance - DeathOnReddit - 10-18-2018
Otters succ
*A Decade of Dominance - TheMemeMaestro - 10-18-2018
Antonio was a Yeti for life. Ricardo Sandoval played his waiver season with the Otters
*A Decade of Dominance - timeconsumer - 10-18-2018
(10-18-2018, 10:36 AM)DeathOnReddit Wrote:Otters succ
You gonna be singing a different tune when we draft you next season
*A Decade of Dominance - majesiu - 10-18-2018
(10-18-2018, 03:54 PM)timeconsumer Wrote:You gonna be singing a different tune when we draft you next season
And even more different after he gets traded a season after
*A Decade of Dominance - timeconsumer - 10-18-2018
(10-18-2018, 11:21 AM)majesiu Wrote:And even more different after he gets traded a season after
No, he's a useful position
*A Decade of Dominance - DeathOnReddit - 10-18-2018
(10-18-2018, 09:54 AM)timeconsumer Wrote:You gonna be singing a different tune when we draft you next season
In your dreams. I'm not a traitor like adwyer
*A Decade of Dominance - kckolbe - 10-18-2018
Worst record is 7-7. Just...wow.
I do think this shows that maybe too many teams have been too quick to fire sale and rebuild, and maybe that isn't the best way to recover. After all, after S8, it would have made complete sense to sell off remaining pre-S6 talent and start over, but now, in S11, Orange County has a genuine shot at winning it all this year or next. They are easily 3rd best this year, and could be best in the ASFC in S12.
Great write-up, and I wish your team the second best of luck.
*A Decade of Dominance - mckee29 - 10-18-2018
enh, Wraiths better