(S21) - Ultimus Week

[majesiu]

1) Playoff Predictions, Reviews:
What a fascinating playoffs we just had, with my favorite team of New Orleans Second Line winning it all. They had quite a way there, first 23 to 17 win over Austin Copperheads, where they relied heavily on Forrest Gump - RB (NO): 20 att, 125 yds, 1 TD. ASFC championship was the classic against the otters where they won in OT, this time it was moreso of team effort on offence and arguably the kicker Herbert Prohaska was the hero with winning 46 yarder in the overtime. Finally in the ultimus they pummelled the wraiths and especially Forrest Gump - RB (NO): 25 att, 102 yds, 0 TD, 3 rec, 119 yds, 1 TD was nigh unstoppable in the performance for almost total of 300 yards since he added 70 kick return yards and 6 more from punting. Overall this team was build in several past seasons and finally achieved what it deserved, sadly a bit after Fyodo career was done, but nonetheless I was cheering for them here. There were many other heroes, beside Gump of course, like Toriki & Stan Francisco. Defence spearheaded by Quentin Bode and Bjoern Ironside was big reason for their success too. I think they might be favorites to repeat next year as well, as long as they keep that core through expansion and free agency.
(221)

6) Next Year
It was just the first season of existence for Dallas Birdogs and while sadly they didn't defy the expectations and finished last in the SFC south they were in it almost until the very last week and 5-9 record is quite respectable, especially since they only hit the rough patch toward the end of the season. They were actually 5-5 looking like dark horse of this year dsfl. Still as new team this is more so build for the future and with ton of S22 players they should regain ton of talent for upcoming season. Among hopefully signs they didn't have trouble scoring points despite not getting that many yards and they were actually about average in yard prevention too. Led by QB M. Jack and RB Goodman they have solid foundations to maintain this balanced approach. Surely they will need some more capable receiving corpse and actually some players they drafted last year might be called up already next season to DSFL, so this will be one more thing to overcome to really shine next year. Still ton of talented players like Phillips, Mongo-Panda, Bayley Jr. should really show how good GMs are at drafting giving good prognosis for the future. I certainly hope this will fulfil and they win the precious Ultimini in Season 22.
(217)

19) Team Culture
Honestly it was a bit rough at the start, because I felt slighted being drafted only 23rd in the dsfl draft, but it makes some sense given I'm unlikely to stay in dsfl for more than a season and I'm not that big of a presence on discord & forums anymore. Then I joined that Birddogs locker room and oh my it's been crazy how active & helpful that place is, without a doubt it's the most active place for an expansion I've ever been part of, which actually with my limited time make it hard to follow it usually, and I only react for pings. It's a great start and hopefully unlike some other dsfl experiments the Dallas team will stay for much longer than those. There is ton of people with appropriate roles, like usual offence/defence specialization, war room assigned & even plenty of NSFL TOP DOGS, that can scout players in #nsfl-scouting room. You can ask a question basically any time of the day there and answer usually is really quick, that's great spirit & culture that hopefully will keep the place going. There is plenty of other channels, even one for weebs that can't resist the urge, they also single-handedly guided me through fantasy, since I really don't know current best (or mostly any) players playing in NSFL, most of my contemporaries from Fyodo days are long gone too.
(234)

20) Nostalgia
The Second Line winning it once again, the 3rd time brings me back to my first ever sim league title that happened in S9, with one of the greatest teams in league history, that such legends as Borkus Maximus, Charlie Law, Benson Bayley, Paulo DiMirio, Darren Smallowd, Ardie Savea, Vincent Sharpei, Brian Mills, Jullian O'Sullivan, Tuck and many more played and was touted as one of the most dominant teams in league history - though record was just 12-2 the PF-PA ratio was incredible 530 to 197 - opponents on average scored 14 points per game while surrendering 38. The locker atmosphere was also great, filled with many personalities and even the story arch of redemption of once doomed Las Vegas Legion was finally fulfilled. In many ways, not just winning it, but especially being part of that group is one of my happiest nsfl memories and thing that kept me active well after those glory days while staying loyal to that franchise. It wasn't just about winning, but about having fun, memeing, creating door door culture and sense of camaraderie. I hope everyone gets a chance to experience something similar in their sim league career! I certainly hope for that with my recreate and I certainly wouldn't be mad if I were drafted once again to the Cresenct City.
(218)