(S21) - Ultimus Week

[HalfEatenOnionBagel]

Playoff Review

ASFC Championship: OCO vs NOLA

Of course the championship game is what matters most but whether it's the NSFL or the NFL, sometimes it's really the conference championship games that end up being the real showstoppers. This season in the NSFL was no different as the ASFC Championship featured the two best teams in the league. No offense to the Yellowknife Wraiths but I think most people knew that the winner of this game would be taking home the Ultimus.

The game started off heavily in New Orleans' favor with the Second Line leading 17-3 heading into halftime. But with the home crowd behind them and led by OCO legend Franklin Armstrong, the Otters battled back as Armstrong threw and rushed for touchdowns and Ludicolo Night added his own on the ground with just minutes left in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.

You had to believe that whichever team received the ball in OT was going to put the game away. The football gods looked favorably on the Second Line this time as they won the coin toss and marched down the field into field goal range for Prohaska and put the game away.

Between the strength of these two teams and the game needing to go to overtime to decide a Victor this game was easily and instant classic and with NOLA rolling in the Ultimus, was easily the best game of the season. The MVP of the game would be hard to pick but I'd have to give it to Stan Francisco for guiding the offense down the stretch even when the OCO defense turned up the pressure in the second half.




OL Appreciation

Givussafare Rubbe was easily the most dominant offensive lineman in the league this season with 73 pancakes and 0 sacks allowed. He continued his dominant performance in the playoffs as the New Orleans Second Line marched through to an Ultimus victory. In two playoff games he recorded 19 pancakes and 0 sacks allowed, a whopping 11 of which came in the championship game. Certainly the Second Line team as a whole was on point this entire season, but it's hard not to believe that Rubber in particular gave them an advantage that many teams do not have. Some GMs have seemed to scoff at the notion that human offensive linemen can make a difference. Rubbe has been known to be an outspoken advocate for other offensive lineman in the league and tried to bring attention to the lack of respect that they receive compared to other players. One such example is the exclusion of offensive lineman from the prob bowl despite the influx of talent at the position in recent seasons. Rubbe's fantastic performance both this season and postseason, as well as recent research done to understand the impact of human offensive lineman compared to their not counterparts should only help offensive linemen to gain ground in their quest for more recognition.


Team Culture

It's no surprise that the locker room and culture of Chicago right now feels a little off. Between our previous GMs both leaving in such a short window, players asking to be traded or released and of course very little draft capital for this upcoming draft, the little bit of wind that was left in our sails has gone out. It wouldn't be a surprise for anyone on the outside to look at the team and think that well there really is no culture. But I think the people we have left now to build around and our new GMs are a great group. We still have an active LR and people committed to really building an identity for this team. And despite the general feeling the league has towards Chicago, I think a lot of young players are interested in coming in and helping us to build that identity. I know I'm going to do everything I can to help the team regain its footing but it will be an uphill climb. That's why it's going to be essential for us to find players that really want to be here both through drafting and FA. I think the fact that we are basically rebooting this franchise yet again short of rebranding may actually be a selling point for players. The franchise in terms of the league is still relatively young so players coming in have a chance to cement themselves in the team's legacy.




Nostalgia

Definitely some of my favorite memories are from when I first joined the league in S2 and was drafted by the Liberty. Adam and SilverFox were extremely dedicated to the team right away and the draft experience was great with such a huge class that many members of are still here today. Our LR had a ton of great guys like TO, numbers and Perry, the Toleso gang. And there was so much surrounding our team and a lot of ground to cover in such a young league. The league had already expanded so we were coming in as underdogs, we had some fun rivalries already with the Legion (now NOLA) and the Wraiths and the league was still so new that everything was fresh.

The league is still fun and there are a ton of great people here. Obviously I still enjoy it since I'm here years later. But, there's been a lot of down times in between that I've seen. All the multis with Er basically made me leave the league for a while. Then with Hondo on my second time through I couldn't really enjoy it as much because of just being really busy with things in RL and being in other leagues. Now of course I'm driving back in again and have already experienced issues with GMs in the DSFL in Portland and of course now the shitshow in Chicago. My third run through here is off to a rocky start. I know it will get better but nothing will ever really match the bliss of that first player with easily what has been my favorite LR environment during my time here.