Offseason Point Task - 25th Anniversary Special

[ReverendOReily]

Before I get underway with this point task, I'd like to mourn the loss of the wiki task. I've always really enjoyed that many of the players in our league have a page in the wiki, and I hope we as a league continue to do something to incentivize people to expand and utilize the wiki. It's hard to believe I've already been in the league for several months - I can't tell if it feels like weeks or years, but it's definitely one of those, depending on the day. I am incredibly grateful to the league (if you can't tell by the big wall of text I just put out about it in the media subforum) for a variety of reasons, but at the top of that list of reasons lies the two teams that drafted me. I maybe not so secretly hoped I would be drafted by the Dallas Birddogs, and lucky for me, it ended up happening. Even luckier for me, the Birddogs have been an even more excellent team than I ever could have possibly hoped for. The locker room was excellent when I first joined the team, and I feel like it's only gotten better as we've added some key faces over the past few drafts. I'm sure there are a great deal of people in the league who feel that their team's locker room is the best in the league; to them I say, when your team has a minecraft server you may enter the contest. My fellow members of the war room have taught me a great deal about the league and, even better, have been some really great people to get to know over the last several months. I did not at any point when I joined the league expect that I would become friends with so many different people in the league, nor did I ever expect to dedicate as much time to the league as I do, but I have no regrets about it! Similarly, being drafted to the Orange County Otters has been such a blessing - I've gotten the opportunity to meet some of the league's most hilarious and all around wonderful users, and I've gotten the opportunity to work under two of the best general managers in the league. Both of them, in addition to my fellow Otter teammates, have been an invaluable wealth of knowledge that have formed a strong foundation upon which to build Richard Leaking's career. I am excited to win some trophies for my team!

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[Guriinwoodo]

The ISFL has yet to make a lasting impression on me as I have yet to really become all that integrated into the league. However, I can already say that without a doubt the DSFL has some fantastic locker rooms and personalities within them. During my stint in Tijuana, I was really taken away with how active the LR was. I was immediately stricken by how many active OL were in the discord, as I was told that that's a position that has been a struggle to fill in both leagues. Myth has been awesome and a tremendous resource for me to access and I'm sure that even though i'm in KCC, he'll continue to be a fantastic resource. I am so greatful for the help I've received from my former GM. Guitar Master has been equally as cool, and I'm sincerely hoping that I can keep in touch with him and the other guys in the locker room like JPach and Not Ben, guys like Pat Random Name, A. Mellott, W. Sconnie, Rich Triplet and others have really made my introduction to this league a welcome one. There are also many other guys in the LR that I am blanking on (sorry guys, been a long past couple of weeks!). Just such an awesome and wholesome locker room overall, they welcomed me with open arms and got me a trophy my rookie season! What an incredible thing to experience!

The KCC locker room has been equally as awesome, they have such a fun cast of guys in there that are active and very fun to be around. The guy who recruited me is actually now the coGM there, and the former co is somebody who I consider to be a friend in sim leagues! They're both great guys and so is Glims, who I secretly think has the same anime tastes as I do but I haven't asked. There's also so many PBE folks in KCC that it's been a really awesome experience.

I am thankful for so many things, and the community that these popping off discords provide for me is chief among them. I think the best part of sim leagues are the locker rooms and the interactions that happen within them, and I'm really enjoying my time in them and look forward to building and creating new lasting relationships on my DSFL teams and beyond! Thank you for providing me the opportunity to enjoy such an environment and play in the ISFL!

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[Nhamlet]

Having only experienced a mere 3 seasons in this league, it has felt both relatively long and short at the same time. Though I have come to expect that to be the general sense of most sims leagues given how much can happen in such a short period of time. I think the main things that stuck out to me was the strange and wonderful experience of being invited to a variety of channels and locker rooms all under the purpose of being scouted by various teams. This was definitely not the norm in a place like the SHL where everything was closed off and you were basically locked into that team almost like an arranged marriage and hoping that you fit in there. At least with these existing channels/general spaces for each team, you could get a sense of the vibe, know some of the people before having to formally be introduced as their teammate. As well, even if you hear any rumors about a place or people, you get to have at least a little bit of a taste for yourself to see whether that’s true or not. While I don’t have quite the time or activity commitment to this league in order to remain in so many channels, it’s also especially eye opening to see the general discord channel for the league as active as it is. I’d like to think that in 25 seasons, these elements of the league will not change and it’ll continue to be a wide open as it has been so far to myself and others. The only question is how much bigger it will get and how that will affect the style of this league’s introductions and form of conversation.

As for special personal memories, there’s definitely quite like getting drafted to a team at each level. Starting with going to the MBB, it was a place that I already knew that I had wanted to go and that was also the case with Philadelphia. Landing in a place where you were hoping to go added a little bit of extra sweetness to those memories. Getting to know a bunch of great characters that I still either chat with or hope to reconnect with in the future meant that I’m continually wondering “what if” in terms of the other locker rooms I’ve still yet to see and the people I’ve yet to meet. I had originally come as wanting to be a bit of a floater without necessarily a hard and fast loyalty to any one team and while I’ve played for 2 ISFL teams so far, it’d be interesting to see the rest of them. Maybe within the next 25 seasons I’ll make a player that will play once for every single team in the league.

[Matty7478]

Part of me thought it might be a struggle to do this, but really thinking about, it won't be too difficult for me at all. That's because this league has become so very important to me in recent times, and it would be tough to think where I would be without it. If I hadn't signed up during the famed r/NFL recruitment class of Season 22, then I wouldn't have met so many people, and wouldn't have had as much fun during this tumultuous year as I have had. So, let's look back a bit why don't we?

I began in this league as an essentially inactive kicker, taken midway through the S21 DSFL draft on an accidental pick by Starboy in KCC because he wanted to pick the kicker with the meme name instead. In the end, I guess the pick kinda worked out for them - and it truly worked out perfectly for me as well. The S21 Coyotes were one of the best places I have been in my short time in sim leagues, and you could tell there was something special about the people who were on that team; Starboy, Butters (wasn't on the team, but he was co-GM so it counts smh. Also he would become head GM during my time as Coyotes co, so I want to thank him here), Sakro, Mooney, Booger, Jeeta, Ismael, Phat Boi, Jon Bois, Sweets, Fakon. These people, alongside many others, brought me into activity and got me invested in the league during our brilliant Ultimini run. To you all, thank you for the great chats and fun times, and I am thankful for being able to speak to you guys openly whenever I see you on discord.

Then, I got drafted to the best team possible. Butters talked me up to the GMs in San Jose (to the point they knew verbatim that I was Scottish before I even got there :shock: ), to the point they drafted me in the 5th round of the S22 NSFL (at that point) draft. If KCC was one of the best places, San Jose might just be the best place I've been in sim leagues since I have been there. When I hear stories of what the team used to be like, I just don't believe it, cause the place is entirely different now. People ask all the time how we managed to win the Ultimus back to back in these most recent seasons and just put it down to luck - but really, I think there's 3 big things that we put together to make those 2 runs possible; great management from the top, good testing and instincts when testing, and young/active talent who keep each other going and keep updating however long they are on the team. And in terms of talent - especially from the S22 draft - we have that in spades. Bass, Jamar, Cheese, Fisher, Lanier. Thank you all for giving your all and helping to make San Jose the best place to be over these last few seasons. On top of that, thank you to all the new people who have come in and bought into our process instantly; Stein, Ty, Hilliard, Vaughne, AM, Kotasa, Connor, AJ. We're gonna be good for a long time and it's thanks to all of your hard work, please keep that up. And of course, thanks to the old guard as well. Brack, AW, CK, Kolt, Moosey, Rando, Jackson - hell, I'll even give a shoutout to the best RB in the game, Quindarius Tyerucker! You all helped make SJS into the giant-slayers that we are now, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

TL;DR - Haha Derpcat does still go, and forever will go, meow meow.

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[JaytheGreat]

So this league was the 3rd the sim league I ever played in, I came across the league while playing in the SHL. I'm a big football fan so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm very glad I did because I've had a blast playing in the league. I haven't done any media and I'm not super talkative in the discord locker rooms but I that hasn't stopped me meeting some awesome teammates. One thing that really stood out to me when I joined and still stands out to me is the culture and GMs that I've been honored to play for. 

It really started when I got drafted by the San Antonio Marshalls (Now the Minnesota Grey Ducks). @woelkers was the first person to get in touch with me when I joined the site and was the one to take a chance on me and picked me up in the 1st round of the DSFL draft. Even though I only spent 1 season in the DSFL our kinda unexpected playoff run was awesome and has a great way to start in a league I just joined. We had a great locker room and people like woelkers, @Revolution5, CLG Rampage, Waldo, and Nokazoa just to name a few. 

After San Antonio I got lucky again and went to another amazing team, after getting scouted by Bigred who made the whole process really enjoyable and is 100% a great guy, I got drafted as a Yellowknife Wraith. With all the teams I've been on in sim leagues Yellowknife without a doubt the 2nd best locker room I've ever been in. And a lot of that is because of Bigred, Shady, and flyeaglesfly who are/were great GMs and kept the locker room active.

It has also been pretty cool to join not one but 2 expansion teams and watch them build from the ground up, Honolulu are starting to become a threat and hopefully the same can be said for New York. Both have very active locker rooms and New York is one of the more fun LRs I've been in.

One last thing I want to mention is HO I think they do a pretty good job especially compared to some other leagues, Bex is a very good commish and the ISFL is lucky to have her. The ISFL also have a lot of good users which makes me think the sky is the limit for this league and should continue to over the next 25 seasons.

[MrStennett]

Happy anniversary, ISFL! I've been around for about half of these 25 seasons and I'm hoping to be around for the next 25 as well. I've had a great time playing simulation football here, as I'm now on my second player here, and hoping to see my first inducted into the Hall of Fame. I think the most important thing that has made my time here so great is how many incredible people have worked their asses off to keep this thing running. From Head Office, to the general managers, to the simmer and streamers, going the whole way to the updaters, graders, and rookie mentors. This league couldn't run anywhere near as smoothly if it wasn't for the immense amount of hard work and dedication from all of these great people. I do have to say that there are some people here that I just have to shout out because working and playing with them has been an incredible experience.

@speculadora - What can I say, man. You've been great since day one for me here. Not only were you a wealth of knowledge for someone who was still relatively new to this whole sim sports thing, but you became a good friend as well. In my mind, you'll always be this league's GOAT GM, but I may be biased because of the the three Ultimus trophies I have to show for my time with you at the helm of the Otters.

@DeadlyPlayer - I'm really glad I've gotten to know you during my time with the Royals, but super sad that I never got a chance to meet you earlier. You're a real character, dude, and I mean that 100% as a compliment. You obviously have a lot of love for this team and are always super motivational whether by love or by all caps yell-typing. lol My time with the Royals will always be some of my favorite memories with this league and you've been a huge part of that.

@nunccoepi and @iseedoug - It's been awhile since I've gotten to talk to either of you two, but I would be remiss to leave either of you off this list. You two were my first GMs way back when with the Luchadores and bear most of the responsibility for me coming to love this league. That Lucha locker room was incredibly fun, mostly because of the atmosphere that you guys fostered there. Even though we never broke through for that Ultimini during my two seasons in Tijuana, I had a great time being a part of that team and I just have to say thanks to both of you guys.

I could have put maybe 30 or 40 guys on this list, as there are so many other teammates or people I've worked with that have made this league an absolute pleasure to be a part of. Just know that I'm incredibly grateful and thankful for all of you.

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[abh89]

When I was reading the recruitment post on r/MiamiDolphins back in May, I would never have imagined that I would become so invested in this league and its community. I had been working from home for a short period of time and really didn’t have much going on so the timing was perfect and I gave it a whirl. It started out as a bit of a time wasting activity when things were slow at work during the day or later at night after I had settled down for night, but quickly became so much more than that. While the competition on game day is what we all thrive on, the friendship and interaction in the league community is really what makes this league special to me.

I made early connections with a few GMs, but one really stood out among the rest, @Sylphreni. Fortunately, Syl was able to add me to the London Royals via the S23 DSFL draft. This was where my future with the league began to take shape. Syl and @”Highhaschdi”, along with shadow GMs @Modern_Duke and @DeadlyPlayer, created a locker room that was essential to my development as a user and as a player. The environment was inviting and fun to be a part of at all times, which made it easy to stay engaged and fostered the growth of so many players. I’ve spent so much time interacting with these players that I consider many of them friends. I’d like to recognize a special group of those users now. @Z-Whiz is a user that I had an early connection with after finding out we were both Miami Dolphins fans and joined via the same recruiting post that has only gotten stronger as our ISFL careers have progressed in very similar ways. You could say we are still in a TPE race to this day. Another user that means a lot to me is @Maglubiyet. As two of the more quiet users early on, it took some time to connect with Mag, but he has become arguably my closest friend in the league. Upon being approached to take over as GM for the London Royals, I immediately knew that I wanted Mag to co-GM with me. While I knew the partnership would be a strong one, I never imagined we would have clicked quite like we did. At this point, I’ve lost count of times we’ve said the same thing at exactly the same time, almost like we share a brain. Three more users I’d like to recognize are @katarn22, @Crunk, and @Swanty. This trio has been a very fun group to work with each day and, as early war room additions, have made my life as a GM so much easier.

My jump to the next level with Sarasota is off to a great start thanks to @Frostbite and @sakrosankt. The GM duo has been great to work with and have Sarasota moving in the right direction for the future. I look forward to helping them bring the first Ultimus championship to Sarasota.

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[BigUnitBabs]

1 tpe plz

[TheRocheLimit]

I joined the ISFL (back then it was the NSFL) during one of the r/nfl recruitment drives. The premise seemed interesting to me but I put it off for a while. Eventually I decided to check it out and created my player. Honestly, the main reason I actually got around to joining is because of all the help from RainDelay22. Rain answered all of my noob questions, and was generally very helpful with everything. As it turns out, I had joined just before the draft. My player fell in the draft (rightfully so as I hadn't done much yet) but I was eventually drafted by the Norfolk Seawolves. I remember watching the draft stream and hearing Bex announce that I had been picked by the Seawolves. Bex said some kind things about me from my limited time in the league and that was super nice.

If Rain was the reason I joined the league then Norfolk was the reason I stayed. Being in that locker room while I was figuring things out was key to my success. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, in that locker room welcomed me with open arms. I'd mention individual people by name but I'm sure I'd miss someone and then I'd feel terrible. Just know that when you hear "Norfolk Best Folk" it's true. Having that locker room as a foundation was amazing. I still try and peek in from time to time and I can tell the tradition of excellence is continuing there.

After two seasons in the DSFL with Norfolk I moved on to the Honolulu Hahalua. Talk about a sweet logo. Being a part of a brand new team was exciting. Starting from the bottom and working our way up was a lot fun. And although my time there was relatively short it was really great to be a part of building toward something. I definitely wish those folks a ton of luck going forward.

And that brings me to my current squad, the New York Silverbacks. After being left unprotected by Honolulu I ended up going first overall in the new expansion draft. I was shocked and flattered. Going from a late pick in the DSFL draft to first overall in the expansion draft was a hell of a journey. I'm thrilled with being a part of another brand new team and I look forward to helping this group be the best they can be. Oh, and a big shoutout to Woelkers and BWest for being fantastic GMs.

This is my first player is this league, but I doubt it will be my last. Damn near everyone I've been in touch with here in the ISFL has been kind and generous with their time, and for me that's what this league is all about. Lots of good folks here. I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

[iStegosauruz]

Hell yeah the league is older than me. Kinda hard to believe I'm hurtling towards having been here for a year but I guess time flies when you're having fun. I still remember the day I checked my email and had a message about getting a forum PM. I had completely forgotten I had joined. That prompted me to hop back on and join the Discords. It took Gucci literally hours to walk me through how to update, what I could claim, etc. The excitement of the first few weeks in the league is a feeling I don't think I can ever replicate again. Everything is so new and so fun and you come in with this fresh slate where you can build an image.

I remember watching the sim the first few weeks of the DSFL season and having no clue how to follow the dots but it was still interesting to see a correlation between doing the tasks and how your team performs on the field. The marginal benefits of the weekly updates don't really impact performance in the sim that often, but while you're in the DSFL it does feel like every point into speed or strength is a huge difference for your team.

It wasn't long before I dove in and was cranking out media. I remember the first piece I did was this "approximate value" study that had some seriously faulty methodology because I had tried to adapt a formula meant for the NFL where you can have more granular data that tells stories better. It was still super fascinating to do. I meant to do it for both offensive and defensive players but could only do the offensive side of the ball - the defensive study required data I could find or measure. Thats when I started learning about the limitations of the sim and got interested in how everything worked on the back end.

That interest led me to do my OL studies. This was during the height of the "quarantine" period in March and April so I had no thing but free time. I would stay up until 3 am running sims on this archaic laptop thats still running Windows XP I'm fairly certain. It was a ton of effort because at that time I also didn't realize you could change the click speed in the autoclicker. The results were amazing and something I'm still proud of. Just crazy to think that was 9 months ago.