11)
I’ll be honest, what keeps me coming back is the dot football believe it or not. I know there have been a lot of complaints or “sim gonna sim” comments, but I’m in it for the individual plays and team wins. To top it off, I feel like I’ve been a part of some terrific locker rooms as well. When I came up in the DSFL it was with the Portland Pythons, and the locker room was so encouraging and helpful. Now I’m with the rebuilding Liberty and even though we haven’t won a lot of games, the locker room seems so ambitious and hopeful. I’m starting to suspect all locker rooms may be like this, but so far my experience has been steadily solid.
However, despite the positive experiences, I actually feel as if I’m approaching a crossroads of sorts. As I mentioned I’m mainly here for the sims. I show up every day and do my predictions and point tasks, but I don’t have much interest in extending myself to moderator duties or writing several articles a season just to earn a few bucks. I’ve grown accustomed to just waiting for 1.5 or 2x media events to scrape up some cash. I’m also a bit older than most of the users here. At least that’s what I gather from the discord. I feel a bit as if I’m an outsider looking in – my own doing – but it makes me wonder how much of a shelf life this all has for me. I suppose I’m just using this as a soundboard right now, but I think it’s useful to put this stuff down on paper sometimes. I wish I had a suggestion for how the league could adapt to hold onto users like me, but to be honest I think it’s just a part of the league. Some people are just going to be hanging on by a thread haha. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s more on me to accept the fact that I may fall behind my peers a bit in TPE earnings, but that doesn’t mean I can’t build a very competent and effective player. To take a shot at an improvement suggestion – maybe double media could be a touch more open ended. This most recent one dealt with sim issues – but to be honest it seems to run ok with me – maybe I am not familiar with the historical relevance or minutiae of how the sim is supposed to work. I felt a little out of the loop.
(427 words)
14)
I’ll take this opportunity to write about a player on the opposite spectrum compared to my player. A guy who has gone through regression and has submitted his papers for retirement. That would be none other than the Philadelphia Liberty former quarterback, Brock Phoenix. Now I’ve only been in Philly for two years, and in that time I’ve had two team managers, but what has been apparent since I walked in the door was that Brock Phoenix was an adored member of the team. Although he isn’t the most vocal or active member of the team locker room discord, when he does show up it’s usually to apologize for an interception or congratulate other members of the team for their success. I myself found that immediately endearing. Here’s a guy who has maxed his build and is stuck on a completely torn-down team going through a long rebuild, on which he will spend his regression and last couple seasons operating with a roster full of young kids who are overmatched. Yet, here he is, apologizing for taking a tough sack late in the game, despite probably throwing 60 times for 400 yards.
Phoenix finished season 27 with a 70% completion percentage, easily the best in the league. The team pivoted more to a rushing attack in season 27 behind 100 overall rated running back Darrell Williams, who finished with over 1,100 yards rushing. As a result, Phoenix finished with the 5th least attempts in the league.
Although Phoenix took a bit of a backseat in his final year, he certainly saved his best for last. With the team sitting at 4-10, they went into Orange County for a week 15 matchup with the Otters. Despite the Otters holding a 7-point lead at the half, and needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, the Liberty scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to play the role of spoiler. Phoenix finished the game 21/28 at 75% for 232 yards and 2 TDs, no interceptions. A near perfect game.
But Phoenix was not done. In the season finale, matched against the season 26 champion Yellow Knife Wraiths, Phoenix was the main catalyst behind a 31-10 trouncing of the 10-5 playoff bound Wraiths, who had won 3-straight prior. I used the team ‘near perfect’ to summarize he week 15 performance, so we’ll have to invent a new superlative for this one. He finished 26/32, 81%, for 233 yards and three touchdowns, no interceptions. A 128 rating. Talk about a swan song.
The post game was classic Brock. As the team piled love upon the man for a hell of a game and a terrific career, he asked the team to give the game ball to one of the kids. Of course there would be none of that. While he will be sorely missed in the years to come, he has taught a lot of people how to be a true pro, and his imprint will be on this liberty roster for a long time. Cheers to a legend.
(508 words)
I’ll be honest, what keeps me coming back is the dot football believe it or not. I know there have been a lot of complaints or “sim gonna sim” comments, but I’m in it for the individual plays and team wins. To top it off, I feel like I’ve been a part of some terrific locker rooms as well. When I came up in the DSFL it was with the Portland Pythons, and the locker room was so encouraging and helpful. Now I’m with the rebuilding Liberty and even though we haven’t won a lot of games, the locker room seems so ambitious and hopeful. I’m starting to suspect all locker rooms may be like this, but so far my experience has been steadily solid.
However, despite the positive experiences, I actually feel as if I’m approaching a crossroads of sorts. As I mentioned I’m mainly here for the sims. I show up every day and do my predictions and point tasks, but I don’t have much interest in extending myself to moderator duties or writing several articles a season just to earn a few bucks. I’ve grown accustomed to just waiting for 1.5 or 2x media events to scrape up some cash. I’m also a bit older than most of the users here. At least that’s what I gather from the discord. I feel a bit as if I’m an outsider looking in – my own doing – but it makes me wonder how much of a shelf life this all has for me. I suppose I’m just using this as a soundboard right now, but I think it’s useful to put this stuff down on paper sometimes. I wish I had a suggestion for how the league could adapt to hold onto users like me, but to be honest I think it’s just a part of the league. Some people are just going to be hanging on by a thread haha. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s more on me to accept the fact that I may fall behind my peers a bit in TPE earnings, but that doesn’t mean I can’t build a very competent and effective player. To take a shot at an improvement suggestion – maybe double media could be a touch more open ended. This most recent one dealt with sim issues – but to be honest it seems to run ok with me – maybe I am not familiar with the historical relevance or minutiae of how the sim is supposed to work. I felt a little out of the loop.
(427 words)
14)
I’ll take this opportunity to write about a player on the opposite spectrum compared to my player. A guy who has gone through regression and has submitted his papers for retirement. That would be none other than the Philadelphia Liberty former quarterback, Brock Phoenix. Now I’ve only been in Philly for two years, and in that time I’ve had two team managers, but what has been apparent since I walked in the door was that Brock Phoenix was an adored member of the team. Although he isn’t the most vocal or active member of the team locker room discord, when he does show up it’s usually to apologize for an interception or congratulate other members of the team for their success. I myself found that immediately endearing. Here’s a guy who has maxed his build and is stuck on a completely torn-down team going through a long rebuild, on which he will spend his regression and last couple seasons operating with a roster full of young kids who are overmatched. Yet, here he is, apologizing for taking a tough sack late in the game, despite probably throwing 60 times for 400 yards.
Phoenix finished season 27 with a 70% completion percentage, easily the best in the league. The team pivoted more to a rushing attack in season 27 behind 100 overall rated running back Darrell Williams, who finished with over 1,100 yards rushing. As a result, Phoenix finished with the 5th least attempts in the league.
Although Phoenix took a bit of a backseat in his final year, he certainly saved his best for last. With the team sitting at 4-10, they went into Orange County for a week 15 matchup with the Otters. Despite the Otters holding a 7-point lead at the half, and needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, the Liberty scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to play the role of spoiler. Phoenix finished the game 21/28 at 75% for 232 yards and 2 TDs, no interceptions. A near perfect game.
But Phoenix was not done. In the season finale, matched against the season 26 champion Yellow Knife Wraiths, Phoenix was the main catalyst behind a 31-10 trouncing of the 10-5 playoff bound Wraiths, who had won 3-straight prior. I used the team ‘near perfect’ to summarize he week 15 performance, so we’ll have to invent a new superlative for this one. He finished 26/32, 81%, for 233 yards and three touchdowns, no interceptions. A 128 rating. Talk about a swan song.
The post game was classic Brock. As the team piled love upon the man for a hell of a game and a terrific career, he asked the team to give the game ball to one of the kids. Of course there would be none of that. While he will be sorely missed in the years to come, he has taught a lot of people how to be a true pro, and his imprint will be on this liberty roster for a long time. Cheers to a legend.
(508 words)
![[Image: haywoodsig.png]](https://i.ibb.co/jWrrj2B/haywoodsig.png)
