(S21) - Ultimus Week

[SabaDonutMan]

1) Playoff Reviews:
Written: Give a short write up of one or multiple playoff matches. If completed before the airing of the sims, give your predictions; if it is afterwards, give a review of the game.

Let’s talk about the most important game in the season, the Ultimus. This season’s Ultimus hosted 2 powerhouses, the Yellowknife Wraiths and the New Orleans Secondline. I’ll give a quick synopsis of each of the team’s seasons then get to the game itself. Starting with the Wraiths, their path to the Ultimini was bumpier than normally. They started the season going 3-3 which isn’t terrible but it also isn’t great for a team with Ultimini aspirations. Luckily they were able to win the games that mattered most and punched their ticket to the ultimini with a 24-19 victory over the Hawks in the conference final. The Secondline’s season could be summarized in one word, dominance. They were the best team in the league and destroyed the league by going 10-3 and gaining home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They then swept their playoff games and made it to the ultimus. The ultimus, similarly to the Secondline’s season, was completely dominated by the Secondline. In the first quarter they held the Wraiths scoreless while putting up 14 points of their own. The second quarter was less exciting but again the Wraiths were not able to score and the Secondline were able to put up 3 points from a 42 yard field goal. The third quarter finally saw the Wraiths put up points with a 27 yard field goal by Dougie Smalls. That being said, the Secondline were also able to put up points however they were able to put up 9 rather than 3. The fourth quarter was finally where the Wraiths began to hit their stride but unfortunately it was too little too late. They were able to get 10 points off of a field goal and a touchdown while the Secondline only got a touchdown but that touchdown put the game out of reach. Secondline Win 33 - 13.

9) Dynasty
Written: Convince us that your team will be the next NSFL or DSFL dynasty.

Why will Arizona be the next NSFL dynasty? It is very simple actually, it all has to do with our gms. Let me explain. Our current general manager, Unicorn, was able to secure us an absurd amount of picks in the upcoming draft(the most actually) which is almost certain to land us players who will bolster both our offense and defense. Not to mention that we are one of the youngest teams in the league with players like Jay Cue, Pete Miller, Jah Bur’Berry, and many other players being a while away from regression. Also, we have a ton of talent who are sitting in the DSFL and once they are called up they will be destroying the league left to right. Here is my prediction, I think that next season we will be one of the worse teams in the league and secure a top draft pick. That being said, around S23 - S24 is when our team will really hit our stride. All of our young players will be hitting their prime and I know for a fact that we will be competing in Ultimus around that time. To all the other teams, I’m sorry that you will have to face us.

12) Pay It Forward
Written: Write about someone in this league who you look up to or who you think of as a friend. Why do they deserve to be lauded?

There are many people in the league who I could write about here but the person I have chosen to honor is @SwagSloth. When I was in the DSFL I had heard of this game that the NSFL had called Werewolf. I decided to give it a shot and one of the first people I interacted with was somebody I had not talked to before, Swag. Unfortunately he died very early in the game but from the interactions I had with him he was a really nice guy. Fast forward to the near the end of the season. Since the draft was coming up scouting was in full swing. That’s when Swag dmed me. Instead of jumping into the “scouting part” he decided that it was better to have a friendly conversation. His conversation starter was that WW game that we met in and let me just say that from the beginning of the conversation I had a very good feeling. Once the conversation ended I felt very confident that I would not fall out of the first round. Skip ahead to draft day. This was very exciting for all of us S17 players as we were going to soon get drafted to a team in the big leagues. According to my mock draft I was supposed to go at pick seven to the Otters. I was just happy that I knew I wouldn’t fall out of the first round because the reigning champions, the Outlaws, had given me a really good feeling about them. After the first 4 picks I was fairly confident that I was going to the Otters as every pick in my mock draft had been right up to this point. That's when the Sabercats selected Tyron Brackenridge at fifth overall. This completely shook up my mock draft and I wasn’t so sure where I would go. We got to Orange County’s pick and they ended up picking Dexter Banks II, another wide receiver. Now we get to pick 9 and Philly was on the clock. Then a trade was announced!!! The Arizona Outlaws have moved up and selected wide receiver Saba Donut. I was ecstatic. I immediately dmed Swag saying that he had made the right selection. From the second I joined the locker room I felt right at home with all my fellow Outlaws. Very soon after I was drafted Swag dmed me asking if I wanted to join the war room(I had recently become the Portland GM). Of course I said yes as I had always wanted to be in an NSFL war room. Since then I had always looked up to Swag and he has been one of my favorite members of the league. As the seasons go bye I remained in the war room trying to help the gms as much as I could. That’s when I entered free agency. I had always wanted to enter free agency just to have gotten to experience it. That was probably one of the hardest things that I had to tell Swag. Luckily, he was very supportive of me and he swore to do whatever he could to get me back. After a while I had narrowed it down to two teams, one of which was the Outlaws. It was a very hard decision to make, but I decided to return to the Outlaws. One of the main reasons I went back was because of Swag. He had helped me so much, he believed in me, he had enough faith in me to let me remain in the war room while I was testing the market.(Also Jay Cue) From the second I resigned I knew that I had made the right decision. Eventually I hit a rough patch in my career. I was recently fired from my gm position in the DSFL. I was heartbroken at the time. I was really sad for a while and had lost the motivation to be active in the league. One of the main people who helped me get back up was Swag. Without him I don’t know if I would even be writing this right now. Then when Swag’s player was in his draft the amount of campaigning done in the war room to bring him back was insane. Thankfully we got him back. The Sloth and Donut duo was reunited again. So to answer the original question. Do I look up to Swag, yes I do. There are so many reasons to look up to him. He has always known what to do under pressure, is one of the nicest people out there, and is a great friend. Thank you Swag, for everything.

20) Nostalgia
Written: What is your happiest memory in this league?

I have many happy moments in this league, but for time’s sake I will only pick a couple of them. One of my happiest moments in the league were the weeks before the DSFL draft. These weeks really bonded me to some of my current league friends like Butter and Jackson. Not to mention that during this time season 15 still inhabited the rookie discord server so it was fun talking to some of them there before they left and the rookie server was ours. Not to mention that being scouted for the first time was very exciting. Another of my happiest memories was the entirety of the S18 season as the Pythons gm. In the previous season, my rookie season as a gm, we lost to Tijuana in the Ultimini by one point so I really wanted revenge. This was also the first season with my new co-gm Huskies311. We had an amazing draft with everyone of our players being active so we were feeling pumped. We had a very solid season in which we went 11 - 3. Unfortunately, Tijuana had an astounding 13 - 1 season which gave them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. We were able to beat Kansas City and punch our ticket to the Ultimini. Luckily, San Antonio had upset Tijuana and made it to the Ultimini to face us. We beat them by a decent margin and we brought the Ultimini back to Portland.