(S28) PT 3 - What If?

[Mooty99]

This is a really tough topic for me, not because I don't know what to say but because there are so many different moments that I am able to chat about I just don't know which one to pick. In the end I think I will pick one that still haunts me and that down to a mistake by me. In season 22 Austin were the best team in the league and this was also my 1st ever season GMing. However the handover to me had missed what to do with OL bots. Now in Austin we were able to afford to have max OL bots for the 1st time, which I duly create. However I had not tagged the updater on these changes so we started the season with much weaker bots than intended. When we realised the error it was too late. This meant the 1st 3 games of the season  was with weaker bots and we lost 2 and drew 1. We went on a run after these loses and were knocked out in the playoffs however if we had the correct bots we could have likely got through as the 1 seeds massively increasing our chances. I always wonder if I had not made this error if Austin would have 1 more Ultimus.


WC 217

[zeagle1]

What if Arizona hadn't drafted me? Well I assume Colorado would have drafted me due to the amount of times Syl has tried to get me to sign there. Honestly, I'd have the same number of championships and I think one more playoff win so it really wouldn't be that different.
I most likely would still be playing OL if that were the case however, as COL took Katarn (who at the time was DE) in the S25 draft too. Maybe it's me who swaps to CB for them. That could be fun, as I don't super enjoy DT but it is what it is.
As far as locker room environments go, I feel like I would fit in fine on Colorado. I don't know a ton of people currently on the team, but those I do know are cool. Syl, Katarn, Duke, and Rusfan are all good guys and I am sure I would have been friends with many others in their locker room that I have not met yet since I am on arizona.
Ultimately, Arizona was my first choice in the draft so I am ecstatic they drafted me and I wouldn't change a thing about the S25 draft.

[Jimi64]

I’ve talked a bit in the past about the GM change in Philly after my rookie year in the ISFL. It almost feels like cheating to talk about it again, but it definitely fits the PT. If Pat and Cody had not become the GMs in Philly, my future with the Liberty would definitely be in doubt. Maybe I would have re-signed after my rookie deal, primarily just to keep playing with J0EB, but after that, I may have moved on to a team in a more successful situation. Re-signing probably wouldn’t have been a 3 season deal with a NTC like I’m on now. It probably would’ve been just a two season deal or even just one. It’s hard to say where else I would’ve been interested in playing. At the time of the draft I thought I might be going to Colorado, but with Soup’s signing there after the drama in Philly after my first year, the idea of playing for Colorado soured. I had enjoyed my scouting conversation in Chicago before the draft, so maybe I would be interested in going there. Of course, that reminds of of another what if: where might I have gone if Philly passed on me in the third? Chicago had the very next pick. I think there’s a good chance I would go there based on that previously mentioned scouting conversation. Arizona doesn’t stick out to me, and at the time I had made it clear I did not want to go to Honolulu due to an issue I had with their scouting process (nothing personal). Maybe Berlin would be an option, but if all those passed on me I think there’s no chance Orange County would pass on me, especially with my old Norfolk GM Blasoon being a big influence there (and who would later become the GM of the place).

[deadlunatic]

What if I hadn't been drafted to the Yellowknife Wraiths in the fourth round of the season 25 draft? Well they needed a receiver after losing some players to the expansion draft. For the upcoming season they had two receivers on their roster prior to drafting and calling me up. Well, I wouldn't have that Ultimus championship with the Wraiths. Looking at the teams that drafted a wide receiver within one round of me, and assume they had me on their scouting report as a decent enough prospect to take instead of the wide out they took. There are three teams that could have drafted me instead, the San Jose Sabercats(who picked a wide out one pick ahead of me, so realistically they didn't want me), the Honolulu Hahalua, and the New York Silverbacks. Obviously, out of those three teams one of them has won a championship(2) since I have been in the league. Odds are, only the Silverbacks would have considered calling me up for my first season, and honestly I am not sure they would have. So first off, I would have gotten an Ultimini by staying down one season and getting to dominate at the DSFL level. Had I been drafted by either of the Hahalua or Silverbacks and I would now be the number one TPE receiver on the Hahalua, and would be wide receiver three on New York. So, realistically speaking, I got drafted to the best place I could have gone. Got to join an awesome team full of great guys and got to win a trophy in my second season. Sometimes things work out the way they should!

[fever95]

[Kyamprac]

There are so many "what ifs" I could consider here. What if I didn't position switch from kicker, what if Dallas hadn't drafted me, what if they hadn't entrusted me with the team as its General Manager, what if Austin hadn't drafted me, what if I hadn't been fired from player progression team.

If I hadn't switched to running back and ended up playing for Dallas, I can tell you I probably would have gotten bored and stopped participating in the league a long time ago. I certainly didn't expect I'd be GMing for a team, but that job got me more invested in the league beyond just the Birddogs and gave me the opportunity to encourage other folks on our team to do the same. If Austin hadn't traded up to draft me in season 24, I suspect I might have ended up playing quarterback for the Colorado Yeti if my scouting discussions with Syl were any indication (I told him I didn't think I wanted to switch again, but I probably would have relented anyways). If I wasn't hired to PPT, I probably would have tried again to get onto events graphics team and none of the drama that eventually ensued over my firing and resulted in the league's most responded to punishment to date would have happened. If that whole gong with PPT hadn't happened, I would probably still be dumping too many hours into this league.

[124715]

I think I've told this story many times before in similar articles or league history conversations, but it's still fun. Unless you've been in the league for quite some time or made a concerted effort to look into league history, you don't know anything about my first player, tight end Paul DiMirio. He was pretty good, leading all players in career catches in a record that will likely never be broken with 12 pro bowls and 7 TEotY awards (a record, also one that will never be broken.) And back in S3, he almost switched to quarterback. You see, back in the early days of the league, teams didn't have the machined QB cycles they have now. The Liberty started Jameis Christ in S2, then Clifford Rove in S3-5, then Tyler Oles in S6-8, a period with Logan Noble from S9-10, then finally settling down with franchise legend Ariana Falconi from S11 onward. Could you imagine a team now starting five QBs in ten years? They would get mocked relentlessly, and they would deserve it. But then, QBs were difficult to find; you couldn't just draft great ones in late rounds. It was for that reason that Paul DiMirio considered switching to the quarterback position. So, what happens next? Well, DiMirio never makes the hall, likely enough. But more importantly, perhaps the Liberty win more with defense in the mid S# with Tyler Oles at corner. Do they win more? Impossible to tell, but if DiMirio is the team's quarterback, does he get tapped for the GM job? Does this prevent the Liberty from burning it all down in S8, thus preventing the rise of the New Orleans Second Line? It's impossible to know for sure.

286

[yonggarius]

Back in the season 22 ISFL draft, I was the second wide receiver to be drafted, at the 32nd overall pick. The first one was Eddie Jeeta, who went to the Austin Copperheads with the pick just prior.

And there was a real chance that I would have been the one headed to Austin with that 31st pick instead of Jeeta, as both of us were viewed as pretty much on par at the top of wide receiver draft board. And then, what would've happened if William Lim's destination was Austin instead of Colorado?

In Austin, I would've been called up my first season like I did with Colorado. And I would've had better stats in my rookie season, as I would have been the WR3 for Austin instead of WR3/4 for Colorado as I played in reality. However, the stat comparisin will show a drastic drop from season 2 onwards, as there's no chance of me grabbing the WR1 spot in the second season like I did with Colorado, as there were Rod Tidwell and Net Gaines still with more TPE than me. All in all, the Austin version of William Lim would be enjoying one of his few seasons as a primary receiver by now, and with stats that are nowhere near the Yeti Lim had accumulated. That pretty much shows how lucky I've been to be drafted by the Yeti. It was definitely worth dropping a few spots! (242)

[snazzlepuss22]

Seeing as I don't know enough about pivotal moments in the last few years in the league I will write about what would have happened if I was drafted one pick sooner and later. 

If I was drafted one pick sooner I would have been a yeti. Since I was never even scouted by the yeti I couldn't tell you what position I play, However I do believe that they had a solid Dline at the time so I don't believe I would currently be a DE if I was drafted by them. I don't recall what their pain points were at the time though, perhaps I would have been an offensive lineman or someone in the secondary. 

If I was drafted one pick later I would have been a Berlin Firesalamander, Which is disturbing to think about because they are our expansion rivals and that's the last place I would want to be now, I believe if I was a Fire Salamander I would likely end up in a similar position as I am now because they were building from the ground up as well and I don't believe you would pass up on the timing of playing me as a DE. 

Either way I can say I'm glad things shook out the way they are because I am a Silverback in my heart no matter what.

[huck24]

I haven't been around the league that long, so I don't have too many what if moments as of yet.  But the first one that came to mind was what if I had changed positions coming into the ISFL.  That was a question that I was asked by every single team in the scouting process, would you be open to a position change.  My answer was the same every time, I would if it was something the team that drafted me really needed it.  I was happy being a linebacker and wouldn't have been overly excited if I had to make a switch and luckily that wasn't even a question after the New Orleans Second Line selected me in the draft, they needed a linebacker and that's what they got.  But for the purpose of this PT, what if they needed another position filled more than an LB?  What if they really wanted me to become a kicker?  My player is the son of a retired professional soccer player and played soccer himself, so he does have kicking ability. We had some missed fields goals last season and some questionable punts, would my TPE earnings have been enough to make those misses into good field goals? Those short punts into punts inside the 10 yard line?  We will never know, but I'd like to think that my player would have been able add something there, he won the Defensive Rookie of Year last season, could he maybe have won the Kicker of the Year award? Maybe next time around I'll create a kicker and we can know for sure!