Task 1
As of this writing, the Ultimus has already well concluded and we now hoist a new championship banner in honor of the New York Silverbacks who were the winners of this season. I would say that despite the Silverbacks having won just a few seasons ago, this was still a surprise to me. However, the bigger surprise of this season, or not really a surprise depending at how you look at it, is the Philadelphia Liberty's success and them finally standing out as one of the better teams in the ISFL.
Ever since I can remember, the Liberty have struggled. Not due to poor GMing, but just horrible horrible luck. The people of Philadelphia have been incredibly patient however, and this seasons feels like it was finally a reward for their efforts. But when you look at how things were just two seasons ago, it's wild to think the time is finally now. They went from what is their usual in S30 with a record of 4-12, to bringing it to .500 at 8-8, and this season just absolutely blasting the league, finishing with the best record (and best tiebreakers) at 11-5. Compare this to a team like the Hawks for example which are still struggling, and it puts into perspective just how insane of a jump the Liberty took this season. Sure, they failed to win the Ultimus in the end, but I feel that with this sim, it's incredibly hard to just luck yourself to the top of the food chain like they did, and because of that I believe that this season was merely a teaser of things to come.
That being said, the Liberty's success and then failure to capitalize on it this season is a testament to just how consistently good Berlin has been. A team that's constantly competing and sort of follows the same fate that the Silverbacks do every year. It's rather amusing that the two expansion teams are so similar year in and year out, but then even with that, the Silverbacks are now 2-0 against the Fire Salamanders in the Ultimus. It's a shame they haven't been able to close the gap and finally beat out their fellow expansion team, but considering how often they're in the position to have a shot to make it to the Ultimus, there's no doubt that at some point they'll be pulling it off. And now that their division in general is becoming so competitive, it'll be interesting to see just how long their powerhouse last. For all we know, they could pull an Arizona and run that side of the league for a long time to come!
Lastly, I'd say the final team to really surprise me, and this was a team not in the playoffs, is the Baltimore Hawks. For a team that's had so many first round picks and high first round picks in general, they've steadily matched Philadelphia's record every season besides this one, where Philadelphia finally made that leap forward, Baltimore once again failed to cross the .500 threshold. One would assume with all the talent they've managed to gather that's currently sitting above 900+ TPE, that they'd be able to at least hit .500 by now. One must wonder if this is because the other teams they face really are just that much better, or if they've just been getting actually unlucky. I have to imagine they're due for some success soon, but it's definitely an odd trend that's plagued the franchise for a while now. Though, even if they do start going upward, I struggle to imagine that they'll break into the playoffs any time soon, unless one of the top four current teams drastically fall off. I am of the opinion that the other teams really are just that good, and as we've seen for a while now, the strangle hold that top teams have usually remain unless they blunder heavily somewhere.
(652 words)
As of this writing, the Ultimus has already well concluded and we now hoist a new championship banner in honor of the New York Silverbacks who were the winners of this season. I would say that despite the Silverbacks having won just a few seasons ago, this was still a surprise to me. However, the bigger surprise of this season, or not really a surprise depending at how you look at it, is the Philadelphia Liberty's success and them finally standing out as one of the better teams in the ISFL.
Ever since I can remember, the Liberty have struggled. Not due to poor GMing, but just horrible horrible luck. The people of Philadelphia have been incredibly patient however, and this seasons feels like it was finally a reward for their efforts. But when you look at how things were just two seasons ago, it's wild to think the time is finally now. They went from what is their usual in S30 with a record of 4-12, to bringing it to .500 at 8-8, and this season just absolutely blasting the league, finishing with the best record (and best tiebreakers) at 11-5. Compare this to a team like the Hawks for example which are still struggling, and it puts into perspective just how insane of a jump the Liberty took this season. Sure, they failed to win the Ultimus in the end, but I feel that with this sim, it's incredibly hard to just luck yourself to the top of the food chain like they did, and because of that I believe that this season was merely a teaser of things to come.
That being said, the Liberty's success and then failure to capitalize on it this season is a testament to just how consistently good Berlin has been. A team that's constantly competing and sort of follows the same fate that the Silverbacks do every year. It's rather amusing that the two expansion teams are so similar year in and year out, but then even with that, the Silverbacks are now 2-0 against the Fire Salamanders in the Ultimus. It's a shame they haven't been able to close the gap and finally beat out their fellow expansion team, but considering how often they're in the position to have a shot to make it to the Ultimus, there's no doubt that at some point they'll be pulling it off. And now that their division in general is becoming so competitive, it'll be interesting to see just how long their powerhouse last. For all we know, they could pull an Arizona and run that side of the league for a long time to come!
Lastly, I'd say the final team to really surprise me, and this was a team not in the playoffs, is the Baltimore Hawks. For a team that's had so many first round picks and high first round picks in general, they've steadily matched Philadelphia's record every season besides this one, where Philadelphia finally made that leap forward, Baltimore once again failed to cross the .500 threshold. One would assume with all the talent they've managed to gather that's currently sitting above 900+ TPE, that they'd be able to at least hit .500 by now. One must wonder if this is because the other teams they face really are just that much better, or if they've just been getting actually unlucky. I have to imagine they're due for some success soon, but it's definitely an odd trend that's plagued the franchise for a while now. Though, even if they do start going upward, I struggle to imagine that they'll break into the playoffs any time soon, unless one of the top four current teams drastically fall off. I am of the opinion that the other teams really are just that good, and as we've seen for a while now, the strangle hold that top teams have usually remain unless they blunder heavily somewhere.
(652 words)
![[Image: Glims.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Glims.gif)
![[Image: GlimsTC.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/GlimsTC.gif)
