13.
The expansion question is a good one, and probably one that’s best handled by individuals who have spent more time paying attention and being an active participant, but I suppose a more casual player’s viewpoint is important as well. The idea of expansion is great – and I think basically everyone would be in agreement with that sentiment. Who doesn’t love more? More chances for playing time for younger guys, more chances to negotiate for more unique or valuable contracts, more storylines, etc. I guess the ultimate question becomes – where is the tipping point in that you end up with a bunch of bots, inactive players, and crap rookies running all over the field just to get the games in? Offensive lines are already peppered with bots all throughout the league. The other part of that is, what are the numbers for new recruits? Personally I’ve only been here for around 6 months or so, so recruiting worked for me, but I wonder how many new members keep signing up, season after season. If the numbers have stagnated and/or declined, then maybe it’s best to not dilute the league by adding more teams, with less new members. I’ve also had a tremendous experience with the Philadelphia Liberty leadership. This new management has been fantastic, but I’m not aware of how rare that is, or if every team has really solidified its locker room. If the league is still having trouble in that area, then obviously new franchises, which require new leadership, would just end up being a chore rather than a benefit.
Ok so there are the pitfalls. However, ultimately my opinion is that expansion would be a boost for the league. My primary reason for this belief is that there are too many star players that have a stranglehold on their positions and playing time. Basically, there is enough talent to go around. Just clicking through a few rosters – I see the running back positions with 98 overall starts and backups at 91 overall. I get it that teams want to have succession plans, but without injuries, there’s just these rosters filled with talent that don’t see much playing time. Again, I’m cognizant of league dilution being a potential problem, but I like and encourage the idea of teams having to play more rookies, or less “complete” builds. More franchises also gives more people the opportunity to play quarterback. So I say YES! Let’s expand by at least two teams.
(410 words)
14.
Well another season done, and another less than stellar regular season performance from your boy, Honky Tonk Haywood. While HTH did pull down the opposing team’s quarterback 3 times, and did tally a safety on the year, the rest of Haywood’s counting stats weren’t exactly terrific. For qualified defensive tackles, Honky Tonk finished fourth to last in total tackles. This is a crazy number for several reasons – namely in the HTH is the only Liberty defensive tackle to record a tackle, yet he’s barely above a few players for total tackles even though those players all share that leaderboard with a DT teammate. Moreover, the Liberty did not have one player in the top 20 for total tackles. It should come as no surprise that the Liberty finished dead last in the league for total team tackles. That in itself seems to imply there were plenty of opportunities out there for Haywood to rack up some stats, but it wasn’t the case. To add insult to injury, Haywood did not record a tackle for loss on the season. While it could and probably should be considered a disappointment for the big fella, it is important to acknowledge how young and inexperienced this entire Liberty defense is. While strides have been made, the backbone of the defense is being built through season 25 draftees such as Honky Tonk and fellow draftees Gary Goodman, and Tex Wrecks. Even the team’s defensive captain and leader, Jimi DeSoto, is a Season 25 draftee with 2 years experience in the ISFL. The results, while encouraging for the future, has meant a lot of overmatched young players giving up big plays. While I hesitate to make too many excuses for Honky Tonk Haywood, it’s tough to pile up the tackles and sacks when teams are moving the ball downfield in 6 plays for a touchdown while the BOT across from him is still capable of keeping him out of the backfield. Hopefully next year we’ll see a big jump from the defensive unit as a whole, which should go a ways in helping Haywood’s play; however, it feels like this team may be another 2 to 3 years away from really impacting the league standings. But until that time, I’ll still be shamelessly watching the streams to see if the big fella managed to squeeze in a few tackles and a sack while the Liberty lose in the most sim-sadistic ways possible.
(406 words)
The expansion question is a good one, and probably one that’s best handled by individuals who have spent more time paying attention and being an active participant, but I suppose a more casual player’s viewpoint is important as well. The idea of expansion is great – and I think basically everyone would be in agreement with that sentiment. Who doesn’t love more? More chances for playing time for younger guys, more chances to negotiate for more unique or valuable contracts, more storylines, etc. I guess the ultimate question becomes – where is the tipping point in that you end up with a bunch of bots, inactive players, and crap rookies running all over the field just to get the games in? Offensive lines are already peppered with bots all throughout the league. The other part of that is, what are the numbers for new recruits? Personally I’ve only been here for around 6 months or so, so recruiting worked for me, but I wonder how many new members keep signing up, season after season. If the numbers have stagnated and/or declined, then maybe it’s best to not dilute the league by adding more teams, with less new members. I’ve also had a tremendous experience with the Philadelphia Liberty leadership. This new management has been fantastic, but I’m not aware of how rare that is, or if every team has really solidified its locker room. If the league is still having trouble in that area, then obviously new franchises, which require new leadership, would just end up being a chore rather than a benefit.
Ok so there are the pitfalls. However, ultimately my opinion is that expansion would be a boost for the league. My primary reason for this belief is that there are too many star players that have a stranglehold on their positions and playing time. Basically, there is enough talent to go around. Just clicking through a few rosters – I see the running back positions with 98 overall starts and backups at 91 overall. I get it that teams want to have succession plans, but without injuries, there’s just these rosters filled with talent that don’t see much playing time. Again, I’m cognizant of league dilution being a potential problem, but I like and encourage the idea of teams having to play more rookies, or less “complete” builds. More franchises also gives more people the opportunity to play quarterback. So I say YES! Let’s expand by at least two teams.
(410 words)
14.
Well another season done, and another less than stellar regular season performance from your boy, Honky Tonk Haywood. While HTH did pull down the opposing team’s quarterback 3 times, and did tally a safety on the year, the rest of Haywood’s counting stats weren’t exactly terrific. For qualified defensive tackles, Honky Tonk finished fourth to last in total tackles. This is a crazy number for several reasons – namely in the HTH is the only Liberty defensive tackle to record a tackle, yet he’s barely above a few players for total tackles even though those players all share that leaderboard with a DT teammate. Moreover, the Liberty did not have one player in the top 20 for total tackles. It should come as no surprise that the Liberty finished dead last in the league for total team tackles. That in itself seems to imply there were plenty of opportunities out there for Haywood to rack up some stats, but it wasn’t the case. To add insult to injury, Haywood did not record a tackle for loss on the season. While it could and probably should be considered a disappointment for the big fella, it is important to acknowledge how young and inexperienced this entire Liberty defense is. While strides have been made, the backbone of the defense is being built through season 25 draftees such as Honky Tonk and fellow draftees Gary Goodman, and Tex Wrecks. Even the team’s defensive captain and leader, Jimi DeSoto, is a Season 25 draftee with 2 years experience in the ISFL. The results, while encouraging for the future, has meant a lot of overmatched young players giving up big plays. While I hesitate to make too many excuses for Honky Tonk Haywood, it’s tough to pile up the tackles and sacks when teams are moving the ball downfield in 6 plays for a touchdown while the BOT across from him is still capable of keeping him out of the backfield. Hopefully next year we’ll see a big jump from the defensive unit as a whole, which should go a ways in helping Haywood’s play; however, it feels like this team may be another 2 to 3 years away from really impacting the league standings. But until that time, I’ll still be shamelessly watching the streams to see if the big fella managed to squeeze in a few tackles and a sack while the Liberty lose in the most sim-sadistic ways possible.
(406 words)
![[Image: haywoodsig.png]](https://i.ibb.co/jWrrj2B/haywoodsig.png)
