6) The playoffs have finally arrived. Choose one playoff team that is not your own from either league and recount how they got here in 400 words or more. What challenges and hurdles did they face in the regular season? Did they cruise into home field advantage, have to fight off contenders for the wild card, or sneak in on obtuse indexing rules? Are they led by MVP players on offense, or is a stifling defense the engine to their success? Don’t be afraid to go deep.
The Chicago Butchers came into Season 24 hyped up and ready to get back in the playoffs after being absent for a number of years. However, the start of the season was not what Chicago expected. They started off by visiting the Season 22 Champion Colorado Yeti and promptly got stomped 41-6 and things wouldn’t get any better in Week 2 traveling to Baltimore and getting trounced again 33-6.
The Butchers wouldn’t see their first win until Week 4 against the Philadelphia Liberty. This setup Chicago with a 1-3 record, it wasn’t anything to write home about but at least it stopped the bleeding or so Chicago thought. After back to back losses to Sarasota and New Orleans, Chicago was sitting towards the bottom of the NSFC with a 1-5 record and were facing a 3 game deficit for the final Wild Card spot to Yellowknife. It wasn’t looking good for the Butchers of Chicago.
Chicago was again able to taste victory in Week 7 by beating San Jose but the celebration was short lived as again Chicago suffered back to back losses to Orange County and Arizona. Yellowknife was able to hold a 3 game lead in the Wild Card spot and with over half the season gone most people thought Chicago was starting to prep for the offseason and hoping to reload for Season 25.
Things started to change around Week 10. Chicago was able to travel to Honolulu and get a much needed road victory and they followed that with their first winning streak of the season by beating Austin. Chicago had a hiccup in between by losing to Colorado in a close match in Week 12. This left Chicago with a 4-8 record but now they were only a game back of Yellowknife for the final playoff spot.
Chicago then went on a tear in Weeks 13, 14 & 15. They were able to beat Baltimore by a field goal to pull into a tie with Yellowknife and in Week 14 they vanquished Yellowknife to take sole position of the 3 seed in the NSFC playoffs. Chicago followed it up with a Week 15 victory against Philadelphia to lockup a playoff spot. Even with a loss in Week 16 it didn’t matter Chicago was set to head to Sarasota in the Wild Card round of the NSFC playoffs.
Halfway through the season they were left for dead but through sheer grit Chicago was able to turn it around and clinch a playoff spot. Even though they go into the playoffs with a 7-9 record, the future is looking bright for this group.
12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?
As a player who just joined the league, it’s an exciting time as my first ISFL draft is part of a league expansion. The announcement of the New York Silverbacks and the Berlin Fire Salamanders were met with cheers and boos. I think it’s great to finally see a team in the most famous city in the world New York and the league expand their international brand by announcing a team in Berlin, Germany.
The most immediate change these teams bring are the fact that established teams are going to lose veteran players, not only to the expansion draft but to some players retiring because of rules or the fact they don’t want to play for a new team. It also gives a chance for more DSFL prospects to move up and could swing the standings a bit come Season 25 in the DSFL.
As for scheduling, I would imagine teams would still play their division rivals twice a season for twelve games and then teams would be set to play four games against the other conference based off teams records from the previous season. An example of that would be a team that finished fourth in the conference in S24 would play the third, fifth, sixth and expansion team in Season 25.
When it comes to playoff seedings, it’s hard to come up with a concept that will make everyone happy. Do you keep it the way it is with the Top 3 teams in each conference locking up a playoff spot? Do you adjust it to the Top 4 and there are no byes? You may even have people argue that the Top 5 teams receive a playoff berth and the Top Seed receives a bye. You need to have some incentive for finishing first while not diluting the regular season schedule. It seems at this time I would stick with the Top 3 teams making the playoffs. If there is further expansion to 8 teams in each division then it would be viable to expand the playoffs.
I think the expansion teams are going to both go heavy on offense in the expansion draft. There are a number of great defensive prospects coming up in the Season 25 draft and a respectable defense can be built. I certainly can’t wait to see what happens in the next couple weeks!
The Chicago Butchers came into Season 24 hyped up and ready to get back in the playoffs after being absent for a number of years. However, the start of the season was not what Chicago expected. They started off by visiting the Season 22 Champion Colorado Yeti and promptly got stomped 41-6 and things wouldn’t get any better in Week 2 traveling to Baltimore and getting trounced again 33-6.
The Butchers wouldn’t see their first win until Week 4 against the Philadelphia Liberty. This setup Chicago with a 1-3 record, it wasn’t anything to write home about but at least it stopped the bleeding or so Chicago thought. After back to back losses to Sarasota and New Orleans, Chicago was sitting towards the bottom of the NSFC with a 1-5 record and were facing a 3 game deficit for the final Wild Card spot to Yellowknife. It wasn’t looking good for the Butchers of Chicago.
Chicago was again able to taste victory in Week 7 by beating San Jose but the celebration was short lived as again Chicago suffered back to back losses to Orange County and Arizona. Yellowknife was able to hold a 3 game lead in the Wild Card spot and with over half the season gone most people thought Chicago was starting to prep for the offseason and hoping to reload for Season 25.
Things started to change around Week 10. Chicago was able to travel to Honolulu and get a much needed road victory and they followed that with their first winning streak of the season by beating Austin. Chicago had a hiccup in between by losing to Colorado in a close match in Week 12. This left Chicago with a 4-8 record but now they were only a game back of Yellowknife for the final playoff spot.
Chicago then went on a tear in Weeks 13, 14 & 15. They were able to beat Baltimore by a field goal to pull into a tie with Yellowknife and in Week 14 they vanquished Yellowknife to take sole position of the 3 seed in the NSFC playoffs. Chicago followed it up with a Week 15 victory against Philadelphia to lockup a playoff spot. Even with a loss in Week 16 it didn’t matter Chicago was set to head to Sarasota in the Wild Card round of the NSFC playoffs.
Halfway through the season they were left for dead but through sheer grit Chicago was able to turn it around and clinch a playoff spot. Even though they go into the playoffs with a 7-9 record, the future is looking bright for this group.
12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?
As a player who just joined the league, it’s an exciting time as my first ISFL draft is part of a league expansion. The announcement of the New York Silverbacks and the Berlin Fire Salamanders were met with cheers and boos. I think it’s great to finally see a team in the most famous city in the world New York and the league expand their international brand by announcing a team in Berlin, Germany.
The most immediate change these teams bring are the fact that established teams are going to lose veteran players, not only to the expansion draft but to some players retiring because of rules or the fact they don’t want to play for a new team. It also gives a chance for more DSFL prospects to move up and could swing the standings a bit come Season 25 in the DSFL.
As for scheduling, I would imagine teams would still play their division rivals twice a season for twelve games and then teams would be set to play four games against the other conference based off teams records from the previous season. An example of that would be a team that finished fourth in the conference in S24 would play the third, fifth, sixth and expansion team in Season 25.
When it comes to playoff seedings, it’s hard to come up with a concept that will make everyone happy. Do you keep it the way it is with the Top 3 teams in each conference locking up a playoff spot? Do you adjust it to the Top 4 and there are no byes? You may even have people argue that the Top 5 teams receive a playoff berth and the Top Seed receives a bye. You need to have some incentive for finishing first while not diluting the regular season schedule. It seems at this time I would stick with the Top 3 teams making the playoffs. If there is further expansion to 8 teams in each division then it would be viable to expand the playoffs.
I think the expansion teams are going to both go heavy on offense in the expansion draft. There are a number of great defensive prospects coming up in the Season 25 draft and a respectable defense can be built. I certainly can’t wait to see what happens in the next couple weeks!
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