2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?
Well, I’m always going to pick the draft prompt. Analyses on the S27 and S15 classes have been done and done again, even as the S15 class begins to fade into inactivity, auto-retirement, and recreation. Forgetting is part of aging, especially in the collective memory of the ISFL where storied users drop out and blank slates take their place instead. Take that very S15 class, for instance. An unprecedented 23 straight picks made the pro bowl, from first overall quarterback convert Brock Landers to the much maligned Dorfus Jimbo, who squeaked in at his second position. This stretch included top players, top users, and top earners alike, a streak of 23 straight notable users.
Just twelve seasons later - a perfect dozen - all but four sit in retirement. The four are Quenton Bode, Nero Alexander, Forrest Gump, and Alex D. Retirement is inevitable, a natural, predictable (except in one-off cases such as that of Morgan Marshall), foreseeable process. Inactivity, its far more sinister cousin, waits for nobody. From the outsider’s perspective, it strikes without warning, quickly, dangerously, and often permanently.
That’s why, so few seasons later, the S15 class is spread thin across the memories of users who are by now long-tenured veterans. Most of the stories of the group are forgotten, probably never to be recovered. And most of the picks have just faded into the background - the 7th selection of the first round by the Outlaws, used on Arizona legend Ricardo Morris, or the final selection of the opening slate, placed on the Seawolf wide receiver with the long name. Discussions, deliberations, even arguments sprouted free about these picks. Now, if you ask a random member anything about this draft, they would surely run to check the wiki before being able to answer.
So what’s my point talking about S15 like this? Well, it shows how fast the league changes - how quickly things can turn from now to then. If S15 feels like forever ago, with even the highest draft picks marred by inactivity, the even older drafts are the deepest, most shadowy depths.
I’m going to take you way back.
The year is S2. The league is different. Teams have QB controversies; they are forced to switch people in at the most random of positions. They start 50 TPE inactives on the offensive line without bots. There is chaos, drama, and yes, there are multis.
The brand-new league enjoyed a strong opening class composed largely of sim league longtimers and old friends, brought to the nascent league by connections and friends from other leagues. This class was so strong, in fact, that in almost prompted the league to expand before its inaugural season; as new members poured in, bids for a 7th and 8th team were hastily pushed through and set up. This fell through eventually, but the desire for expansion came true after the season was over - after the Vincent Draxel Outlaws had hoisted the league’s inaugural Ultimus trophy.
Enter the Philadelphia Liberty and Las Vegas Legion - two franchises who had already come to drastically divergent paths before even kicking off their first game. Before even making their first pick!
Nowadays, teams have full locker rooms and largely active rosters, and often carry up to half a team stashed away in the DSFL. In S2, that wasn’t so. LRs were quiet and rosters thin. Thus, the draft was even more important. But with the rushed expansion and short offseason, plus overworked GMs and all-around shoddy organizing, the draft was a mess. It was a glorious mess.
Dermot Lavelle, who is the greatest player in history by my money, went off the board first. There were no surprises there; he was unquestionably the elite prospect of his draft.
Blaster Blade came after him. I was surprised by this pick - I hadn’t really seen the user around at all. Unsurprisingly, he busted.
Tim Pest was a fantastic player. Also, he was a multi.
With Dermot’s plans to step away from the league, this makes three straight picks that will soon no longer be around. In fact, only the users associated with Vincent Sharpei and Micah Hendrix remain.
Still, those picks look largely just fine in hindsight. Even though he may have left a while back, Fox North set most of Philly’s receiving records and holds many to this day. Bork Bjornsson was a great player and an even better user.
So what about the picks that didn’t work out so well? Aside from the aforementioned Blaster Blade, the first real whiff came near the start of the second round. Brokk Lee, just one of Baltimore’s shotgun approach to drafting OL, flipped from a rising star to a bust when his identity as a multi was revealed. Yellowknife linebacker Kevin Cushing proclaimed himself a massive draft steal, then forced his way off the Wraiths and switched positions. Another boggling one came at the twentieth pick of the draft, the Hawks selected little-known safety Jorge Masdival. He was inactive at the time of the draft and he never came back. Just three picks later, the Liberty selected Hall of Famer Paul DiMirio.
Some of the most bizarre picks came later in the drafts - not bizarre reaches or bad busts, but the draft’s most emphatic hits. Darren Smallwood, Hall of Fame legend, somehow slipped to the 7th round. This baffled me - his user was very active before the draft and was one of the names I actually knew going in.
And lastly, in perhaps the greatest draft steal of all time, Pro Bowler, ISFL legend, and future GM Eric Kennedy/SwagSloth was selected just 5 picks before the conclusion of the draft. With the advent of the DSFL, ISFL GMs now scout players who have been in the league for several months instead of several weeks. I feel confident in saying there will never be a steal of that magnitude ever again.
I went way over the word limit, but writing even marginally league history-related clues will always trick me into that. I don’t think anyone reads these so hopefully nobody minds.
1010 words
Well, I’m always going to pick the draft prompt. Analyses on the S27 and S15 classes have been done and done again, even as the S15 class begins to fade into inactivity, auto-retirement, and recreation. Forgetting is part of aging, especially in the collective memory of the ISFL where storied users drop out and blank slates take their place instead. Take that very S15 class, for instance. An unprecedented 23 straight picks made the pro bowl, from first overall quarterback convert Brock Landers to the much maligned Dorfus Jimbo, who squeaked in at his second position. This stretch included top players, top users, and top earners alike, a streak of 23 straight notable users.
Just twelve seasons later - a perfect dozen - all but four sit in retirement. The four are Quenton Bode, Nero Alexander, Forrest Gump, and Alex D. Retirement is inevitable, a natural, predictable (except in one-off cases such as that of Morgan Marshall), foreseeable process. Inactivity, its far more sinister cousin, waits for nobody. From the outsider’s perspective, it strikes without warning, quickly, dangerously, and often permanently.
That’s why, so few seasons later, the S15 class is spread thin across the memories of users who are by now long-tenured veterans. Most of the stories of the group are forgotten, probably never to be recovered. And most of the picks have just faded into the background - the 7th selection of the first round by the Outlaws, used on Arizona legend Ricardo Morris, or the final selection of the opening slate, placed on the Seawolf wide receiver with the long name. Discussions, deliberations, even arguments sprouted free about these picks. Now, if you ask a random member anything about this draft, they would surely run to check the wiki before being able to answer.
So what’s my point talking about S15 like this? Well, it shows how fast the league changes - how quickly things can turn from now to then. If S15 feels like forever ago, with even the highest draft picks marred by inactivity, the even older drafts are the deepest, most shadowy depths.
I’m going to take you way back.
The year is S2. The league is different. Teams have QB controversies; they are forced to switch people in at the most random of positions. They start 50 TPE inactives on the offensive line without bots. There is chaos, drama, and yes, there are multis.
The brand-new league enjoyed a strong opening class composed largely of sim league longtimers and old friends, brought to the nascent league by connections and friends from other leagues. This class was so strong, in fact, that in almost prompted the league to expand before its inaugural season; as new members poured in, bids for a 7th and 8th team were hastily pushed through and set up. This fell through eventually, but the desire for expansion came true after the season was over - after the Vincent Draxel Outlaws had hoisted the league’s inaugural Ultimus trophy.
Enter the Philadelphia Liberty and Las Vegas Legion - two franchises who had already come to drastically divergent paths before even kicking off their first game. Before even making their first pick!
Nowadays, teams have full locker rooms and largely active rosters, and often carry up to half a team stashed away in the DSFL. In S2, that wasn’t so. LRs were quiet and rosters thin. Thus, the draft was even more important. But with the rushed expansion and short offseason, plus overworked GMs and all-around shoddy organizing, the draft was a mess. It was a glorious mess.
Dermot Lavelle, who is the greatest player in history by my money, went off the board first. There were no surprises there; he was unquestionably the elite prospect of his draft.
Blaster Blade came after him. I was surprised by this pick - I hadn’t really seen the user around at all. Unsurprisingly, he busted.
Tim Pest was a fantastic player. Also, he was a multi.
With Dermot’s plans to step away from the league, this makes three straight picks that will soon no longer be around. In fact, only the users associated with Vincent Sharpei and Micah Hendrix remain.
Still, those picks look largely just fine in hindsight. Even though he may have left a while back, Fox North set most of Philly’s receiving records and holds many to this day. Bork Bjornsson was a great player and an even better user.
So what about the picks that didn’t work out so well? Aside from the aforementioned Blaster Blade, the first real whiff came near the start of the second round. Brokk Lee, just one of Baltimore’s shotgun approach to drafting OL, flipped from a rising star to a bust when his identity as a multi was revealed. Yellowknife linebacker Kevin Cushing proclaimed himself a massive draft steal, then forced his way off the Wraiths and switched positions. Another boggling one came at the twentieth pick of the draft, the Hawks selected little-known safety Jorge Masdival. He was inactive at the time of the draft and he never came back. Just three picks later, the Liberty selected Hall of Famer Paul DiMirio.
Some of the most bizarre picks came later in the drafts - not bizarre reaches or bad busts, but the draft’s most emphatic hits. Darren Smallwood, Hall of Fame legend, somehow slipped to the 7th round. This baffled me - his user was very active before the draft and was one of the names I actually knew going in.
And lastly, in perhaps the greatest draft steal of all time, Pro Bowler, ISFL legend, and future GM Eric Kennedy/SwagSloth was selected just 5 picks before the conclusion of the draft. With the advent of the DSFL, ISFL GMs now scout players who have been in the league for several months instead of several weeks. I feel confident in saying there will never be a steal of that magnitude ever again.
I went way over the word limit, but writing even marginally league history-related clues will always trick me into that. I don’t think anyone reads these so hopefully nobody minds.
1010 words
Jurisprudence Jones, OL ![[Image: cYhSwFY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/cYhSwFY.png)
