(S25) - Ultimus Week

[Jiggly_333]

Tier 1: Prompt 3

I’m doing the third prompt from the Tier 1 list here, so you’re probably expecting me to talk about a team that I am massively familiar with. However, despite my personal history with everything there, I’m not going to write about the Chicago Butchers. Maybe next season. Instead, there’s another team that’s been around for much longer that I am still pretty damn confident I can talk about. The Orange County Otters.

Now, Mount Rushmore was built (on stolen land from indigenous people) long after many of the people on that cliff had died, so my very deep knowledge of old OCO is much more helpful than knowing anything about what they’re currently doing. Also, I was deeply involved with the inner workings of that team for a possibly unfortunate amount of time for the team. As such, I’m not going to be shouting out players, but users. So, Mike Boss unfortunately doesn’t make the cut, but there are plenty of other legendary players that came from these users. So let’s start.

First up is timeconsumer. He takes the George Washington position on this, but he’s not exactly the team’s “creator”. I don’t think he ever even fully took a GM role until WAY later in his time in the league. That was when he was with the Marshalls, I think? Anyway, he’s honestly more like Jefferson in terms of being the architect of the Otter Slaughter dynasty. He helped set the tone for the team that has continued to propel them forward. I don’t think the Otters ever missed the playoffs while tc was still giving orders.

So, TC’s involvement with the team comes from a pretty innocuous moment when Shaka was looking for people to test-sim for him. The Otters used to have a completely separate discord server for Otter FO talk, so I’m not sure if those first talks are still on record, but TC was one of the first non-GMs invited into that chat. Almost instantly. I think it was Shaka, JBear, me, and maybe Teddy? But after Shaka dipped for the EFL, TC started taking charge more in that front office. No matter who was the actual official GM, TC was the power behind the throne. He perfected the sim not only to a point where he could create the very best strats and builds, but in the end he was the guy who helped the league figure out buffs and debuffs for players to try to make things as balanced as possible.

TC’s the best is what I’m trying to say.

Anyway, next on the list is MolarPistols. The first few seasons of the Otters were really shaky. First it was Grape, then it was the Shaka Triumvirate, then it was JBear. MP was the guy who came on after I left for the Blues and really helped to put TC’s plans into motion. I’d say that’s a Jefferson-esque role there. I don’t know how long he was GM, I’m not going to look it up right now because I know I’ll get caught up in a hole of memories. What I do know is that MP’s Ian Bavitz was the first player ever elected into the Hall of Fame and he when he finally stepped down from being GM it was a massive deal in the LR. I think that was sometime in my second stint with Atwell in OC.

I don’t have too much to say about MP’s management, but he was the guy who made sure that things got done and that’s about what you need to do as a GM. Good work from him.

Next is the Teddy Roosevelt position. The thing about him being on Rushmore is that it was mostly a publicity stunt so that he would approve of it and call it a national monument. Essentially, Roosevelt is the “one of these things is not like the other” up there on Rushmore. So while all of the others were GMs of OCO at some point, I don’t think this guy was.

JKortesi81 is my pick for the Teddy slot because he was a guy in the locker room who exemplified the spirit of the team. He was a true leader from the moment that Crush was traded there from the Yeti. He stuck around for an incredibly long time and his player was great, but really he was just the sort of guy you want in a locker room. He was friendly, easy to talk to, and was always willing to help his teammates. That is a true captain.

Finally, the Lincoln slot, the later of the greats. That’s Speculadora, whose original name was “Poopyface Tomatonose”. He went by PFTN for a while. It’s one of those things where, when you first see a guy come into the league with such a dumb joke name, you don’t expect them to last too long. The meme wears off. And that’s what made PFTN so interesting to me, because he actually put work into his early years in the league. So by the time he became GM, his player’s name had been changed, but his username was still PFTN.

Spec was another long-time GM of the team and he put a lot of heart and soul into it. I’m pretty sure he was responsible for a couple of my Ultimuses. I don’t really have much to say about him except that he’s always been a great guy to me and others. So, yeah, throw him up there.

And that’s it. I’ve got TC, MP, Kortesi, and Spec as my Mt. Rushmore for the Orange County Otters. Modern Otters may not remember these names, but they were important to the history of the team.