(S8) - PT 4 - Rivalry

[Dawegg]

Some people like to hype up a Pennington rivalry between the three brothers, but being on a different team from Chad and Thad is actually not a huge deal to Brad. Before the draft, he made it known that whatever team drafted him was not forced to select the others. However, it may be stated by some that this was more detrimental to himself than the other Ad's since he was ultimately separated from them. Chad and Thad aren't trash talkers like you may expect, so being placed in another country entirely hasn't caused any resent on Brad's end. San Jose just didn't select Chad or Thad for whatever reason and took Ben Horne instead. It's a pick that would have been great regardless if it was an Ad or not. The NSFL is a business, and storylines are a solid way to get headlines. Brad still has a working relationship with the Yellowknife duo no different than with other players, even though one of them is bound to give him a concussion at some point. The competitive nature of a sibling rivalry may make that relationship slightly different than between traditional opposing players. The key is being professional about it and not bringing it up when the family gets together.

Word Count: 211

[Daybe]

Ryan Applehort had a few rivals in his DSFL days, them being Sam Penner of the and Cole McCoy of the . However, both quarterbacks have fizzled out, leaving only Applehort. Applehort quickly rose to the NSFL, while Penner and McCoy are stuck in the DSFL. Meanwhile, a new rival has risen. After all, Applehort's goal is to just see and obliterate rivals, and then find new ones later. I mean, you can't have a rivalry between a windshield wiper and a bug, right? Or a hammer and a nail? Or a candy jar and a kid? You get the point, Applehort beats his rivals. The newest ones he has are Borkus Maximus III of the trumpety bois (@bovovovo). However, this is not a big rivalry as Borkus and Applehort are good friends, and often share postgame Scooby Snacks. It's that dumb Pennington kid that drives Applehort's nerves. Brad Pennington came a year later than Applehort, and got drafted to . Pennington is having a much worse season, and Applehort snubbed him on a handshake in both Yeti wins over the Cats this year. Although Applehort came in a year before Pennington, Pennington has no excuses, having one of the better WR units in the league, headed by Mayran Jackson and Shane Weston.

[Official DT]

I don't know if you can really call it a rivalry but Stone Hans likes to create a mini rivalry with himself and his teammates for the best wide receiver statistics on the team. It was one of the things that really bothered him when he played for the Kansas City Coyotes. Despite having better attributes than another member on the team, he still had the inferior stats last year. It was something that had been nagging at him for a long time and he was so fed up with it that he went to the Coyotes front office and asked if he could be traded. It had taken a short period of time but the task had been done. He was sent out to the Tijuana Luchadores and he couldn't have been happier. That happiness fizzled when he was shown up by teammate Xavier Flash. Now he had something he had to prove to himself here but it seems like things weren't working out for him. He couldn't stay on the field long enough to really make a difference as his endurance was a lot less than his teammates. That might have been something that held him back in Kansas City as well but we will never truly know as Stone called it a career earlier tonight.

[enigmatic]

[dropbear]

Anyone with anything to do with the league will be aware of the developing rivalry between these two young up-and-coming teams: The New Orleans Second Line and the Colorado Yeti. Though they recently relocated and rebranded, the Second Line nonetheless carry with them the baggage of their past identity as the Las Vegas Legion, a failed expansion franchise with a history of woeful underperformance. The Second Line’s early years were also filled with losses, though they now look to have turned the corner. Similarly, the Colorado Yeti – a founding franchise of the league – have a sad history as one of the least successful teams in the NSFL, despite an Ultimus appearance in the competition’s inaugural season. But they too have built a team that looks ready to compete, and have already won 5 games this season after not winning a single game for more than two straight seasons, and even look to have a shot at a playoff appearance. As both teams continue their rise to the top of their respective conferences, the rivalry that is developing between them will only escalate, as they battle it out to become the new dynasty that dominates in the next era of the NSFL. Watch for them to inevitably meet in the Ultimus in a not-to-distant season.

[fusion247]

Jesse Marchand is in the middle of a big rivalry against his brother, Blake Marchand, who has been a great receiver for the Marshals this season. The two are performing awesome in their rookie season, but so far it is Jesse that has been making a name for himself as he quickly rises in the tackles statistics, now holding the number one spot in the entire league while also putting up numbers in the TFL, sacks, and passes deflected categories. On the flip side, Blake has been a solid second/third option for receptions on the Marshals roster, helping bolster the teams receiving game on a team that likes to run the ball.

The two players have been firey rivals their whole lives, but now that they are on a big platform it's showing more than ever. As the seasons progresses, it will become more obvious who is making the bigger impact on the league, but as of now the number one choice is Jesse, who purely due to the larger number of minutes on the field has been a huge piece of the Marshals success. If the two players continue to get better though, the competition will become that much closer, and with both players looking to play a second season simply due to their small progress in skill, we very well could see a great second year match up.

[PigSnout]

As a linebacker, I haven't really developed rivalries with other defensive players. Other than competing for awards, there isn't a lot of competition against other defensive players since we never play head to head. Because of this, I've developed more rivalries against the offensive players I go against since becoming a linebacker. In particular, I like going against opposing quarterbacks. If you can rattle the opposing quarterback, you can disturb the entire offense and force your opponent to make mistakes. As a linebacker, I've been good at getting to the opposing quarterback and getting sacks. I've sacked every quarterback I've gone against in my career as a linebacker except for one: Avon Blocksdale. I've played 4 games against the Hawks since transitioning to the linebacker position and have not recorded a sack in any of those games. Against other opponents, I've recorded a sack in 18 of my 20 games as a linebacker, but I've had twice as many sackless games against the Hawks than I have against any other team in that span. Blocksdale is a hard quarterback to go against from a defender's perspective. He isn't the most mobile quarterback, but he plays smart and makes quick reads so he's often able to get the ball out of his hand before the pass rush has a chance to be a factor. Blocksdale has frustrated me so far in my career as a linebacker, but I hope to break through one of these days and get a sack against him before my career is over.

256 Words

[Zoone16]

Alexandre LeClair has had 2 different types of rivalries in his career. The first one we’ll explore is his rivalry with Josh Garden. After being drafted to be a 1-2 punch on the Yellowknife Wraiths roster in Season 1, LeClair soon figured out that he was being set up to be second fiddle to the Josh Garden Show. This irritated LeClair who saw the opportunity to move into a primary receiver slot in the newly existing Las Vegas Legion. Eventually Josh Garden moved out of Yellowknife and went to Arizona but the rivalry between the two stayed.

The second rivalry to talk about is a lot friendlier and involves a teammate rivalry with fellow Wide Receiver, Trey Willie. Together since LeClair was traded to the Baltimore Hawks, they have formed an effective 1a-1b combination and given the team opportunities to win off their offense alone. Every season, their numbers have gotten closer and closer, whether it is yardage or touchdowns. This season, Season 8, has LeClair leading the rivalry in touchdowns but Willie leading the league in yards. The desire to beat the other and yet win together has brought a great air of freshness and camaraderie among the Hawks locker-room.

(201 words)

[Vikain]

Rivalries in sports are a funny thing. Teams, fans, even players wifes will feel a bit of hatred for that rival team. It just grows as you play them more and more. For Marmeladov its been the Baltimore Hawks for a very long time. While playing on the Liberty the Hawks always was the team that us on the Liberty tried to play a little harder against or it would leave a bad taste in our mouth if we lost to them. Being the Hawks rival for so long it was a bit strange when Marmeladov was traded to them just recently. “Yea...entering that lockerroom for the first time it was a bit awkward for sure. I know a lot of these guys, I’ve played against some of them for long time and we have been battling it out and talking trash on the field for years. Obviously the Hawks players welcomed me with open arms for the first couple hours we kind of just talked about the plays we had on each other.” While many were thinking that the Hawks were going all in their record has not been great ever since the acquisition of Rove and Marmeladov. As the Hawks have been 0-3. While they are not out of it yet they have a steep slope to climb.

[AzhekAhriman]

The Yellowknife Wraiths and the Philadelphia Liberty have had something of a rivalry during Rainey’s time in the frozen north, although its been more about when the games were close than the volume of close games. The Wraiths have went 3-1 against Philly during the last two seasons with one more regular season game and a probably meeting in the playoffs remaining. The Wraiths, however, are decidedly dissatisfied with that record as the one game they lost was the one they had to win, the conference championship that sent Philly to an Ultimus that they would win against the odds against the Orange County Otters juggernaut engineered by shadow coach Angus Winchester. The Wraiths view the now fire-selling liberty as fierce rivals despite the sentence that I just wrote, after all we had the best shot at a title that the franchise has ever had, with a 13-1 record and being prohibitive favorites against both Philadelphia and Orange County only to have the dastardly liberty steal it out from under us. Although you’re always sad to see any team go into rebuilding mode the Wraiths would be ecstatic if they could avoid seeing the Liberty in the playoffs again, it would surely signal a return to the title game for the spookiest of teams.