10) Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?
Chicago started off as one of the hottest teams in the ISFL this season, due in no small part to their opportunistic defense. While they featured the worst pass defense in the league in terms of yards allowed, they forced a lot of turnovers and even more QB sacks. For Wasrabi Gleel, the dream of becoming a starting MLB for an ISFL team was actualized this season, as Gleel held down the middle of the defense from game one all the way to our playoff exit. It was a momentous achievement for him, due largely to the fact he’s built differently--slower than average, but with greater strength. His skills make him a better Run Stopper than a coverage linebacker and pass rusher, and that is echoed in his stats from this season. 70+ tackles is pretty good for a rookie, but with only 4 TFL, 4 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles, he’ll need to add to his game in order to become a larger asset to the Chicago Butchers.
The biggest highlight of this past season for Gleel had to have been the interception he got in the wild card playoff game against the Colorado Yeti. While Gleel doesn’t excel at coverage, he was sneaky good this season, allowing just 63% of catches when thrown his way, making him in the top ten among linebackers for lowest catch allowed percentage. In that particular game, the Gleel INT happened at the best possible time, with only 3 minutes to go in a one score game. It set the Butchers up with an opportunity to win the game, and yet the offense stalled and there was an eventual turnover on downs. In this way, the biggest highlight led to the deepest lowlight.
I might have applied the TPE I had been banking for the Athlete trait if I had to do it again. Try to get my intelligence up, or even my tackling. But heading into next season knowing I’ll be able to get that trait and the Competitor trait is a really good feeling, and now that the sim is being adjusted to make RBs harder to tackle, I think Gleel with his high strength and tackling will be even more valuable in the coming season. With the athlete trait boosting the speed of the player while blitzing, I fully expect Gleel to double his sack total to 8 or over next season.
(402 words)
11) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, your locker room, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?
The people are the single most important reason why I stick around in the league. I’ve made quite a few friends here, and I’m enjoying reaching out and talking with people from locker rooms other than Minny and Chicago. When I first joined it was all about dot football--I wanted to see my silly named player get as many sacks in the league as possible, maybe even try to set a record or two, and all the other stuff like league jobs and meeting people would simply be a bonus treat. But now, heading into my 5th season with the league, and my first season as a GM, I really feel the responsibility of managing the team is going to take my engagement to the next level. I firmly believe that if you want users to stay engaged, you have to give them progressively more responsibilities so that they feel challenged and don’t get bored--unless they’re only looking for a casual dot football experience, which is totally okay too.
I think what I like most about the league is that I get to talk to people from all over the world and bond with them on mutually shared interests. Obviously gridiron football is the main interest we share, but I’m active in a couple food channels, and I love talking DnD and seeing people's pets. The point is, you get the opportunity to make friendships with people from places you’ve never been--places I’ve dreamed of visiting. So getting to chat with someone from England about their favorite foods is really fun, or about how they came to love the sport of American football.
In regards to what could be improved, I think that issues with the sim are being managed appropriately. The DSFL penalty problem this past season really hurt the quality of the game, so I’m glad to see those improvements being prioritized. Same with running backs not being as effective. The sim team does a really good job at adjusting things to resemble how the sport plays out statistically in the NFL. Apart from that though, I would like to see a Walter Payton man of the year type award that is different from Most Dedicated User. There are people in the league that are a joy to be around, that help their teams or other players. These users highlight and exemplify the traits that the ISFL is trying to engender, and I think that holding up those users who demonstrate kindness and integrity could be a good way of fostering more positivity in the league and reject some of the more toxic behavior I’ve seen from all manner of users, new and old.
(446 words)
Chicago started off as one of the hottest teams in the ISFL this season, due in no small part to their opportunistic defense. While they featured the worst pass defense in the league in terms of yards allowed, they forced a lot of turnovers and even more QB sacks. For Wasrabi Gleel, the dream of becoming a starting MLB for an ISFL team was actualized this season, as Gleel held down the middle of the defense from game one all the way to our playoff exit. It was a momentous achievement for him, due largely to the fact he’s built differently--slower than average, but with greater strength. His skills make him a better Run Stopper than a coverage linebacker and pass rusher, and that is echoed in his stats from this season. 70+ tackles is pretty good for a rookie, but with only 4 TFL, 4 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles, he’ll need to add to his game in order to become a larger asset to the Chicago Butchers.
The biggest highlight of this past season for Gleel had to have been the interception he got in the wild card playoff game against the Colorado Yeti. While Gleel doesn’t excel at coverage, he was sneaky good this season, allowing just 63% of catches when thrown his way, making him in the top ten among linebackers for lowest catch allowed percentage. In that particular game, the Gleel INT happened at the best possible time, with only 3 minutes to go in a one score game. It set the Butchers up with an opportunity to win the game, and yet the offense stalled and there was an eventual turnover on downs. In this way, the biggest highlight led to the deepest lowlight.
I might have applied the TPE I had been banking for the Athlete trait if I had to do it again. Try to get my intelligence up, or even my tackling. But heading into next season knowing I’ll be able to get that trait and the Competitor trait is a really good feeling, and now that the sim is being adjusted to make RBs harder to tackle, I think Gleel with his high strength and tackling will be even more valuable in the coming season. With the athlete trait boosting the speed of the player while blitzing, I fully expect Gleel to double his sack total to 8 or over next season.
(402 words)
11) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, your locker room, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?
The people are the single most important reason why I stick around in the league. I’ve made quite a few friends here, and I’m enjoying reaching out and talking with people from locker rooms other than Minny and Chicago. When I first joined it was all about dot football--I wanted to see my silly named player get as many sacks in the league as possible, maybe even try to set a record or two, and all the other stuff like league jobs and meeting people would simply be a bonus treat. But now, heading into my 5th season with the league, and my first season as a GM, I really feel the responsibility of managing the team is going to take my engagement to the next level. I firmly believe that if you want users to stay engaged, you have to give them progressively more responsibilities so that they feel challenged and don’t get bored--unless they’re only looking for a casual dot football experience, which is totally okay too.
I think what I like most about the league is that I get to talk to people from all over the world and bond with them on mutually shared interests. Obviously gridiron football is the main interest we share, but I’m active in a couple food channels, and I love talking DnD and seeing people's pets. The point is, you get the opportunity to make friendships with people from places you’ve never been--places I’ve dreamed of visiting. So getting to chat with someone from England about their favorite foods is really fun, or about how they came to love the sport of American football.
In regards to what could be improved, I think that issues with the sim are being managed appropriately. The DSFL penalty problem this past season really hurt the quality of the game, so I’m glad to see those improvements being prioritized. Same with running backs not being as effective. The sim team does a really good job at adjusting things to resemble how the sport plays out statistically in the NFL. Apart from that though, I would like to see a Walter Payton man of the year type award that is different from Most Dedicated User. There are people in the league that are a joy to be around, that help their teams or other players. These users highlight and exemplify the traits that the ISFL is trying to engender, and I think that holding up those users who demonstrate kindness and integrity could be a good way of fostering more positivity in the league and reject some of the more toxic behavior I’ve seen from all manner of users, new and old.
(446 words)
"big boy has power."
![[Image: WGleel.webp?width=901&height=676]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/848088838664093696/848089433071943690/WGleel.webp?width=901&height=676)
