07-28-2020, 04:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-28-2020, 05:00 PM by KoltClassic.)
5) 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.
My current occupation is a software developer / engineer / whatever the kids are calling it nowadays. While I would definitely say that this is something that interests me ( though how much it interests me and how much that has been fading recently are another story ), the aspect of my work that is more applicable to the league currently is web design. More specifically, user experiences and user interfaces for web applications. I’ve found through work as a software developer that the process of my coworkers that are designers has appealed to me greatly, and as a result of that I am hoping to make the eventual transition to becoming a web designer, UI/UX designer, also whatever the kids are calling it. While this may not appear to be directly related to the league at first glance, I’ve recently been involved in work more behind the scenes that has allowed me to contribute to the league and also develop my skills as a web designer.
If you read the trade deadline head office announcement you likely saw a huge variety of information around new changes that are coming to the league and other things that are currently in progress. A name change, rebranding, moving away from the forum, and a custom website for the league. The last point mentioned there is where I come into the picture. I’ll also note here that contrary to the belief of some folks, I have not had and currently do not have any involvement with the rebranding or forum migration aspects of the announcements and do not have any concrete plans to get involved in those things in the future.
Anyways, I am solely involved in the new website for the league. From the announcement “We’re still in the early stages of development, but we’re so excited to roll out new features such as a new player creation tool, streamlined banking, and so so much more.” While a lot of my work has gone into aiding the implementation of those features alongside Lemon and Exilizer, I’ve tried to keep most of my focus on the visual and interactive aspects of what the new website will be. The best current visual indicator of this can be seen from the “sneak peek” of the homepage that was shared in the announcements page. While it is still subject to change, I think this offers a good, simplified look into what I am trying to accomplish with new site.
When it comes to web design, I try to make sure that when I am creating something that I am taking as informed of an approach to the problem as possible. But what does informed mean? I want to make sure that everything that is put onto the site is put there intentionally and serves an actual purpose. You may have seen websites or apps that seem to have no clear distinction around what you are supposed to actually do when you get there. Dozens of links in the header, no clear calls to action, poorly contrasted text with no visual hierarchy, things like that. I try to look at a website or app more or less like a puzzle. Every piece of ( most ) puzzles goes in a specific position and rotation inside of the scope of the entire puzzle. It serves a specific purpose to complete a task ( displaying a cool picture ). That probably sounds a bit pedantic, but metaphors are a great way to make a good word count so here we are.
So, how exactly do you make these decisions? Anybody can throw some words and a sign up button on a page. I think the distinction comes in all of the little details that make up a page to take it to the next level. Here is one look into my thought process that I had around the homepage for reference:
- I knew that the main goal of the homepage was to get users to sign up for the website. I first wanted to make sure that I provided an easily noticeable and compelling headline to draw users in. I think that “Become the next gridiron superstar” is a succinct way to tell people that a.) we’re about American football ( gridiron was the best way I could find to distinguish that this was American football and not soccer) and b. ) you can be a superstar, how cool is that! The additional text below it is less marketing-y, but provides a nice little blurb that we’re a sim league and that you get to have control of a player. Neat.
- Signing up for the website is one of the main “conversion” techniques that we have as a sim league to get users into our ecosystem. The other conversion is Discord. Maybe users want to just feel out the community a bit as a precursor to joining. As the primary form of communication for many members of the league, I thought adding the discord link in the homepage was useful as well.
- For the picture to the right, I knew that I wanted to be able to highlight the not-real aspect of our league through edited renders. I also know that this would be a good opportunity to highlight users in the league that have been long-time supporters of the league and deserve some sort of recognition. I decided on an edited picture of Danny Grithead ( I think ), but I think that this could be a good opportunity to highlight other players in the leauge, possibly through a rotating picture monthly or more of a collage type of thing.
9) Pick any position, and determine who in your view is the greatest player to ever suit up at that position. Why do you view them as the GOAT? What achievements, records, accolades, or statistics do they hold? How do they stack up against the other legends in their position, and why does your chosen candidate come out on top?
Dan Miller is the greatest defensive tackle in the history of the league. To be honest, I’m not sure if this is even something that isn’t held as an objective fact, but I’ll make my case regardless. Some would say that Miller played in a different era of professional football in the NSFL when things weren’t quite as balanced as they are now. I could see that argument for some other players, but the fact that Miller is head and shoulders above any other defensive lineman statistically is proof that whether he played the game 20 years ago or now should come into consideration. It is the same argument that has been made time and time again throughout every other professional sports league when a historical player is compared to a contemporary all-star. Who would win? Would one player be better than the other back then? What about if they both played nowadays? Wayne Gretzky played in an era of hockey that most understand had a much lower level of defensive competitiveness, thus increasing the offensive output of players. That shouldn’t discount the fact that Gretzky is bar none the best hockey player of all time with 40 regular season records and 15 playoff records. Similarly, Dan Miller tops the all time sacks leaderboards with 132 total, more than 14 sacks a season! The numbers speak for themselves. Miller also has two of the top 10 spots for most sacks in a season, with the second place rank of 24 sacks in 2018 and ninth place in 2024 with 19. If you take a look at the annual sack leaders you will also see Jayce Tuck’s name on there with the first and third place position. While Jayce Tuck played primarily as a defensive end and therefore doesn’t necessarily fit the criteria of dethroning Dan Miller as the best defensive tackle of all time, I’ll further make a case why Dan Miller outs Tuck as the best defensive lineman of all time. Going back to the all time sack records, Miller has 26 more sacks all time than Tuck does, 132 to 106. Given this argument some would bring up the fact that Tuck destroys Miller in tackles for loss, 133 to 17. I can’t say that it is completely fair to compare these two stats against each other, but it is well known that defensive ends usually vastly outperform defensive tackles in tackles for loss. There is also the understanding of team performance during the players’ careers. For most of Dan Miller’s career he was on a SaberCats team that was consistently either last or in the bottom half of their division, which shows even more how impressive his stats are.
My current occupation is a software developer / engineer / whatever the kids are calling it nowadays. While I would definitely say that this is something that interests me ( though how much it interests me and how much that has been fading recently are another story ), the aspect of my work that is more applicable to the league currently is web design. More specifically, user experiences and user interfaces for web applications. I’ve found through work as a software developer that the process of my coworkers that are designers has appealed to me greatly, and as a result of that I am hoping to make the eventual transition to becoming a web designer, UI/UX designer, also whatever the kids are calling it. While this may not appear to be directly related to the league at first glance, I’ve recently been involved in work more behind the scenes that has allowed me to contribute to the league and also develop my skills as a web designer.
If you read the trade deadline head office announcement you likely saw a huge variety of information around new changes that are coming to the league and other things that are currently in progress. A name change, rebranding, moving away from the forum, and a custom website for the league. The last point mentioned there is where I come into the picture. I’ll also note here that contrary to the belief of some folks, I have not had and currently do not have any involvement with the rebranding or forum migration aspects of the announcements and do not have any concrete plans to get involved in those things in the future.
Anyways, I am solely involved in the new website for the league. From the announcement “We’re still in the early stages of development, but we’re so excited to roll out new features such as a new player creation tool, streamlined banking, and so so much more.” While a lot of my work has gone into aiding the implementation of those features alongside Lemon and Exilizer, I’ve tried to keep most of my focus on the visual and interactive aspects of what the new website will be. The best current visual indicator of this can be seen from the “sneak peek” of the homepage that was shared in the announcements page. While it is still subject to change, I think this offers a good, simplified look into what I am trying to accomplish with new site.
When it comes to web design, I try to make sure that when I am creating something that I am taking as informed of an approach to the problem as possible. But what does informed mean? I want to make sure that everything that is put onto the site is put there intentionally and serves an actual purpose. You may have seen websites or apps that seem to have no clear distinction around what you are supposed to actually do when you get there. Dozens of links in the header, no clear calls to action, poorly contrasted text with no visual hierarchy, things like that. I try to look at a website or app more or less like a puzzle. Every piece of ( most ) puzzles goes in a specific position and rotation inside of the scope of the entire puzzle. It serves a specific purpose to complete a task ( displaying a cool picture ). That probably sounds a bit pedantic, but metaphors are a great way to make a good word count so here we are.
So, how exactly do you make these decisions? Anybody can throw some words and a sign up button on a page. I think the distinction comes in all of the little details that make up a page to take it to the next level. Here is one look into my thought process that I had around the homepage for reference:
- I knew that the main goal of the homepage was to get users to sign up for the website. I first wanted to make sure that I provided an easily noticeable and compelling headline to draw users in. I think that “Become the next gridiron superstar” is a succinct way to tell people that a.) we’re about American football ( gridiron was the best way I could find to distinguish that this was American football and not soccer) and b. ) you can be a superstar, how cool is that! The additional text below it is less marketing-y, but provides a nice little blurb that we’re a sim league and that you get to have control of a player. Neat.
- Signing up for the website is one of the main “conversion” techniques that we have as a sim league to get users into our ecosystem. The other conversion is Discord. Maybe users want to just feel out the community a bit as a precursor to joining. As the primary form of communication for many members of the league, I thought adding the discord link in the homepage was useful as well.
- For the picture to the right, I knew that I wanted to be able to highlight the not-real aspect of our league through edited renders. I also know that this would be a good opportunity to highlight users in the league that have been long-time supporters of the league and deserve some sort of recognition. I decided on an edited picture of Danny Grithead ( I think ), but I think that this could be a good opportunity to highlight other players in the leauge, possibly through a rotating picture monthly or more of a collage type of thing.
9) Pick any position, and determine who in your view is the greatest player to ever suit up at that position. Why do you view them as the GOAT? What achievements, records, accolades, or statistics do they hold? How do they stack up against the other legends in their position, and why does your chosen candidate come out on top?
Dan Miller is the greatest defensive tackle in the history of the league. To be honest, I’m not sure if this is even something that isn’t held as an objective fact, but I’ll make my case regardless. Some would say that Miller played in a different era of professional football in the NSFL when things weren’t quite as balanced as they are now. I could see that argument for some other players, but the fact that Miller is head and shoulders above any other defensive lineman statistically is proof that whether he played the game 20 years ago or now should come into consideration. It is the same argument that has been made time and time again throughout every other professional sports league when a historical player is compared to a contemporary all-star. Who would win? Would one player be better than the other back then? What about if they both played nowadays? Wayne Gretzky played in an era of hockey that most understand had a much lower level of defensive competitiveness, thus increasing the offensive output of players. That shouldn’t discount the fact that Gretzky is bar none the best hockey player of all time with 40 regular season records and 15 playoff records. Similarly, Dan Miller tops the all time sacks leaderboards with 132 total, more than 14 sacks a season! The numbers speak for themselves. Miller also has two of the top 10 spots for most sacks in a season, with the second place rank of 24 sacks in 2018 and ninth place in 2024 with 19. If you take a look at the annual sack leaders you will also see Jayce Tuck’s name on there with the first and third place position. While Jayce Tuck played primarily as a defensive end and therefore doesn’t necessarily fit the criteria of dethroning Dan Miller as the best defensive tackle of all time, I’ll further make a case why Dan Miller outs Tuck as the best defensive lineman of all time. Going back to the all time sack records, Miller has 26 more sacks all time than Tuck does, 132 to 106. Given this argument some would bring up the fact that Tuck destroys Miller in tackles for loss, 133 to 17. I can’t say that it is completely fair to compare these two stats against each other, but it is well known that defensive ends usually vastly outperform defensive tackles in tackles for loss. There is also the understanding of team performance during the players’ careers. For most of Dan Miller’s career he was on a SaberCats team that was consistently either last or in the bottom half of their division, which shows even more how impressive his stats are.
![[Image: 5fKn9dY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/5fKn9dY.png)
