(S22) - Ultimus Week

[AW13]

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3) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.

One thing that I enjoy about this league is the locker room experiences that I have encountered so far and although I have only been in a few of them in my many years here, it is always a good time and the feel can change so many times depending on the status of your team. Like, I am sure it is cool and all, but I imagine Orange County locker room gets pretty boring when the team is just expected to win and make the playoffs. There is no hunger, there is no drive until playoff time.

During my career in the NSFL, I have been able to be part of a few locker rooms with different scenarios and it definitely makes you appreciate them for the bonding experiences you can get. When I first started back in like Season 9 or whenever it was, I created my QB Joliet L. Christ and was picked up off of waivers by the Portland Pythons and was given a chance to actually play a decent amount with our QB being pretty trash at the time, McCoy or something if I am remembering correctly. The DSFL back then was I think less competitive than now and with BOT teams and such, user teams were usually finding themselves in the playoffs. I remember at the time that the main goal for everyone pretty much was to beat Tijuana at all costs and unfortunately we fell short. The locker room was great and I got to meet some great people during my time in Portland especially as I was drafted there the following season after the brief stint as a waiver pickup which was cool to keep that continuity. The locker room was supportive and we had a dominant team and made the Ultimini in my 2nd year I believe where we were beat pretty badly if I remember correctly. Christ had a rough game in his last DSFL game but the locker room was upbeat and supportive as I made the jump to being a future NSFL hall of famer. I was actually invited to be co-GM of Portland and I was hired on, for one day as I got the co-GM spot of San Jose the next day.

My time in San Jose was great as I played with a lot of different people that I knew or at least got to know really well. I made a lot of good friends such as CK, TO, Muford, Aenir, and many many more. It was a great team and we were a team with an underdog story. A team that never won the championship and never even won a playoff game. We were essentially a joke franchise but we loaded up in Season 10 with many draft picks to go along with the already promising core. People were starting to notice the changes in both the play on the field and our outlook off the field as well. The locker room embraced being an underdog and after a few seasons, kept battling and won the first playoff games and first Ultimus in San Jose history. I will always remember this as after we had won the title, there was a huge party in the San Jose voice chat and everyone was extremely happy to have come out on top in such a big game with a victory over the Liberty. We were champions and no one would take that away from us. The focus was then shifted to being the hunted and we embraced that too as our team was still the team to beat, unfortunately we could not get back to back Ultimus wins and would never see a title again and as people aged out and left for GM positions, the team went into the next era. There was a slow period as we rebuilt up again, we had me be SJS GM for a few weeks and then things kind of reset back to a hungry cat team.

I see a lot of the hunger in our locker room and just being able to analyze the locker rooms from my long time here, I see a great group and a determined one. I see more brightness in our future as we bring up a new QB with a budding top tier defense and run game. I see a lot of the Ultimus winning champion Sabercats in this group. We will win again, and I predict that it will be soon.

We have a very active locker room again with people talking every day whether it be in the regular locker room or the war room or in any other channel. We have a lot of people that believe in the final product and the direction we are taking even as we shocked a few people last season with a winning record and came a tiebreaker short of the playoffs. The locker room is aware of how tough it will be breaking in a new rookie quarterback and while the team expects that there will be some struggles, this locker room is ready to rock and mostly because of our stacked defense. We have a future top of the league defense and it definitely helps the league run. Sure, we can lose some people to random retirements or leaving to play on a subpar squad in free agency but we are a resilient group and you can tell that just from the locker room. Something I always enjoyed and I enjoy the one we have in San Jose.