11. 5 TPE, 400+ words
Checking my profile it says that I signed up back in July 2020. At the time, well, it felt a bit like the world was playing out one of my failed SIM City games - some mysterious illness sweeping the globe, the residents of my city unhappy and looking to protest. In reality though I was just really bored. That’s not to say that my home life wasn’t interesting; dealing with a new born child, every day was different. But I needed something else. There are only so many times that you can re-watch Always Sunny in Philadelphia, right? So when @Crunk came across this place, suggested I check it out, it seemed like something else to get my brain going. I’m a UK based football fan, a loyal (naïve more like) Bengals fan. Work wise I analyse data, markets, trends – so something like this ticks those boxes of interest a little too.
So over half a year on from them, what keeps me interested in the game? Some of you will know that, despite being good friends, @Crunk and I have obviously followed different paths. He’s pushed hard, driven by the data, driven by wanting to win and finds himself as a co-gm at (probably) the team a lot of folk want to play for. But me, well i’ve not even tried to Sim test. I mean, I have a macbook so technically I can’t... but still.
No, my motivation is driven by ensuring my player has the best chance at being one of the best. For those of you who scouted me, hands up, this is different to when I was first scouted, and back then I was being honest… but times change. Back then I thought all I wanted was to be able to look back on my players career and remember a few highlight games, some plays which made a difference. I was happy to be a part of it all. I didn’t fully realise the impact the game would have on me.
But now, I wont lie, i’m driven by wanting success both as a player and within a team. I want more trophies on my shelf, I want that recognition. I’ve ticked of Ultimini, DSFL LBotY, DSFL DPotY. But I want more. That’s what drives me to look to max earn. I’m the kind of person who will check the TPE tracker, see how my fellow S25 players are doing. Would I love to be the top rated LB of the class? Sure… but I have a little ground to make up to get there. Do I want to leapfrog over S24 LBs? Certainly.
In addition, the added caveat of not being a sim tester, not having a role within an organisation or within the game. I 100% respect the users who put so much work into make this a great game to play, a great community to be a part of. And in the future, maybe I’ll get myself something with windows OS to give things a whirl. But for now, I thrive on being a bit of an unknown entity. It’s all part of the fun of the game, this is what keeps things interesting for me. Slipping down in drafts motivated me to want to prove GMs wrong, I want to make them think “shit, probably should have drafted that guy”. Maybe when I re-create you’ll get a chance.
So to sum up:
I want Arizona to win
I want Burfict to win
But if we don’t, if he doesn’t, it’ll still be great fun – I’m not going anywhere, keep up the good work all. Bring on the new season!
19. 2.5 TPE, 200+ words
Burfict Cleans House
L’Gazzy Burfict, the Linebacker for the Arizona Outlaws, was in town this weekend to compete in the 14th annual Shubutan wing-off. Taking his place in the line-up in between local greats Dont’a Williams and JaWhaun Smitty, Burfict was appearing to raise money to help fund repairs to the town park. A hotly contested competition over four rounds - Hot, Hotter, Hottest and Damn Hot - Burfict kept pace well; clearly he’d been practicing out in Phoenix. Williams slipped out of the running in the third round and so it came down to Burfict and Smitty in the final wing-off.
A game of chicken, literally, saw each competitor eat the hot wings in turn, only ending when one of them could take no more. And would you believe it, after being the only computer to handle wing number forty seven, Burfict came out on top (unlike the Outlaws this season) much to the joy of the locals who had packed out the sports bar. And the good news? Over $500 was raised and given directly over to the school board representative. Burfict spoke briefly after the event, eyes watering, and thanked everyone for their support. His father Dion, who had won the competition in its second year, was there as always to cheer his son throughout.
20. 2.5 TPE, 200+ words
L'Gazzy Burfict hears the phone ring and checks out the caller ID. Coach Crunk? L'Gazzy quickly runs through what it could be about; the chicken wings, the video games, perhaps he was being traded for the next five seasons worth of 1OA picks?
But it was none of that, the team had a major issue... a serious injury to star running back Tatsu Nakamura. Surely Gunner Thorbjornsson would be the obvious replacement to step up, but the coaches had talked it over and come up with something a little left field. Due to the severity of the injury the Outlaws has been given special dispensation to nominate one player to play both ends. And this is where L'Gazzy came in. Coach Crunk explained how they still wanted him to be causing havoc against the top offences in the league. But the extra ask, to come in, use his explosive speed, his power, agility, to put that on the field as a replacement running back for Nakamura. Coach Crunk saw this as the best way for the team to drive towards the playoffs, by which time the hope was that Nakamura would be in some sort of shape to get back on the field.
So of course, L'Gazzy accepted. But things didn't quite run out to plan. On his first offensive play of the new season he got distracted, lost his bearings and assumed he was set up as a linebacker. He promptly took down Cortez with a spear that his NFL namesake Vontaze would have felt uneasy about. Cortez was out for the season and his arm was never the same again. Jay Cue was pulled off the beach and out of retirement, putting together a solid run and taking the team into the playoffs. Nakamura was back, L'Gazzy moved back to LB. But the playoff curse for Cue continued and the team lost out in OT to the Hahaha.
Checking my profile it says that I signed up back in July 2020. At the time, well, it felt a bit like the world was playing out one of my failed SIM City games - some mysterious illness sweeping the globe, the residents of my city unhappy and looking to protest. In reality though I was just really bored. That’s not to say that my home life wasn’t interesting; dealing with a new born child, every day was different. But I needed something else. There are only so many times that you can re-watch Always Sunny in Philadelphia, right? So when @Crunk came across this place, suggested I check it out, it seemed like something else to get my brain going. I’m a UK based football fan, a loyal (naïve more like) Bengals fan. Work wise I analyse data, markets, trends – so something like this ticks those boxes of interest a little too.
So over half a year on from them, what keeps me interested in the game? Some of you will know that, despite being good friends, @Crunk and I have obviously followed different paths. He’s pushed hard, driven by the data, driven by wanting to win and finds himself as a co-gm at (probably) the team a lot of folk want to play for. But me, well i’ve not even tried to Sim test. I mean, I have a macbook so technically I can’t... but still.
No, my motivation is driven by ensuring my player has the best chance at being one of the best. For those of you who scouted me, hands up, this is different to when I was first scouted, and back then I was being honest… but times change. Back then I thought all I wanted was to be able to look back on my players career and remember a few highlight games, some plays which made a difference. I was happy to be a part of it all. I didn’t fully realise the impact the game would have on me.
But now, I wont lie, i’m driven by wanting success both as a player and within a team. I want more trophies on my shelf, I want that recognition. I’ve ticked of Ultimini, DSFL LBotY, DSFL DPotY. But I want more. That’s what drives me to look to max earn. I’m the kind of person who will check the TPE tracker, see how my fellow S25 players are doing. Would I love to be the top rated LB of the class? Sure… but I have a little ground to make up to get there. Do I want to leapfrog over S24 LBs? Certainly.
In addition, the added caveat of not being a sim tester, not having a role within an organisation or within the game. I 100% respect the users who put so much work into make this a great game to play, a great community to be a part of. And in the future, maybe I’ll get myself something with windows OS to give things a whirl. But for now, I thrive on being a bit of an unknown entity. It’s all part of the fun of the game, this is what keeps things interesting for me. Slipping down in drafts motivated me to want to prove GMs wrong, I want to make them think “shit, probably should have drafted that guy”. Maybe when I re-create you’ll get a chance.
So to sum up:
I want Arizona to win
I want Burfict to win
But if we don’t, if he doesn’t, it’ll still be great fun – I’m not going anywhere, keep up the good work all. Bring on the new season!
19. 2.5 TPE, 200+ words
Burfict Cleans House
L’Gazzy Burfict, the Linebacker for the Arizona Outlaws, was in town this weekend to compete in the 14th annual Shubutan wing-off. Taking his place in the line-up in between local greats Dont’a Williams and JaWhaun Smitty, Burfict was appearing to raise money to help fund repairs to the town park. A hotly contested competition over four rounds - Hot, Hotter, Hottest and Damn Hot - Burfict kept pace well; clearly he’d been practicing out in Phoenix. Williams slipped out of the running in the third round and so it came down to Burfict and Smitty in the final wing-off.
A game of chicken, literally, saw each competitor eat the hot wings in turn, only ending when one of them could take no more. And would you believe it, after being the only computer to handle wing number forty seven, Burfict came out on top (unlike the Outlaws this season) much to the joy of the locals who had packed out the sports bar. And the good news? Over $500 was raised and given directly over to the school board representative. Burfict spoke briefly after the event, eyes watering, and thanked everyone for their support. His father Dion, who had won the competition in its second year, was there as always to cheer his son throughout.
20. 2.5 TPE, 200+ words
L'Gazzy Burfict hears the phone ring and checks out the caller ID. Coach Crunk? L'Gazzy quickly runs through what it could be about; the chicken wings, the video games, perhaps he was being traded for the next five seasons worth of 1OA picks?
But it was none of that, the team had a major issue... a serious injury to star running back Tatsu Nakamura. Surely Gunner Thorbjornsson would be the obvious replacement to step up, but the coaches had talked it over and come up with something a little left field. Due to the severity of the injury the Outlaws has been given special dispensation to nominate one player to play both ends. And this is where L'Gazzy came in. Coach Crunk explained how they still wanted him to be causing havoc against the top offences in the league. But the extra ask, to come in, use his explosive speed, his power, agility, to put that on the field as a replacement running back for Nakamura. Coach Crunk saw this as the best way for the team to drive towards the playoffs, by which time the hope was that Nakamura would be in some sort of shape to get back on the field.
So of course, L'Gazzy accepted. But things didn't quite run out to plan. On his first offensive play of the new season he got distracted, lost his bearings and assumed he was set up as a linebacker. He promptly took down Cortez with a spear that his NFL namesake Vontaze would have felt uneasy about. Cortez was out for the season and his arm was never the same again. Jay Cue was pulled off the beach and out of retirement, putting together a solid run and taking the team into the playoffs. Nakamura was back, L'Gazzy moved back to LB. But the playoff curse for Cue continued and the team lost out in OT to the Hahaha.
![[Image: gazz.gif]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/771737978510114866/780569964469288980/gazz.gif)
