(S27) Ultimus Week

[Shiny]

15) Write about another sim league you are in and which parts of it you enjoy. If you are only in the ISFL, write about your ideas for a sim league with another sport. 5 tpe 

The simulation hockey league is a sim league that uses the FHM 6 engine to run a hockey league. In this sim you are able to create a forward, defensemen, or a goalie. With the use of the FHM engine players are able to become more expressive in their builds and go into different archetypes for what they want. For forwards there are 20 different archetypes that they are able to choose for what kind of forward they want. For defensemen, there are 14 different archetypes. Goalie however there are not really any archetype builds and you can build as freely as you want. These different archetypes let teams be able to have their own identity and be able to become a more physical team or a very shoot happy kind of team. There is always the challenge in making sure the lines and pairings of the team work well together to make sure you are not hurting the team in the process.  Compared to the ISFL I feel like the SHL is similar to it. Earning tpe and getting money are basically all the same ways. Doing different point tasks and buying trainings are good ways to keep up with earning. Writing media, doing graphics, creating a podcast, or even getting a site job are all the same to me. The only difference really is how much money you make for each piece of media you put out. In the ISFL I feel like it is easier to make money off of written media than it is for the SHL. For the sim engine, I feel like FHM is not random enough for the sport of hockey. There are not much unexpected wins from lower teams or strange bounces that can happen in a hockey game in real life. Watching the sim itself is fine but having to go very long days waiting as a lot of live games happen just waiting for 1 game of our team makes the day drag on and makes people lose interest in watching the live sim. That being said the live sim was a huge bonus to the SHL as it brought in new and excited people into the league because they were going to be able to see their playing in a live sim contributing or even hurting their team.  I am not saying FHM is perfect or that they should go back to STHS but FHM did help grow the SHL more than I think it was supposed to.

22) Your player has been paid to endorse a product/service. What is it? How do you endorse it? 2.5 tpe 

David Ramczyk has always been big on keeping his game day routine as close to the original schedule as possible. This means that before every game Ramczyk will drink an entire Nesquik chocolate milk before the game, at half time Ramczyk will drink a second one, and then at the end of the game Ramczyk will drink 2 more for recovery purpose obviously. When Nesquik came to Ramczyk to be a sponsor for them and their chocolate milk. Ramczyk was super excited because one he loved Nesquik chocolate milk and two, this was his very first sponsor while being in the league. So, he signed on the dotted line and was now being sponsored by Nesquik for their chocolate milk. For some of his interviews all he has to do is make sure there is a full bottle with logo sticking out and also be in a few commercials for the company. Nothing he could not handle, and he was excited to try his hand an acting even if it were bad or cringy. Ramczyk was excited for the opportunity for his first sponsor, and this could mean that he would be able to get even more sponsors down the line and make even more money off of products that he already loves to use.


26) Your team has made it to the playoffs! Put together a pre-game playlist and explain how those songs will hype your players. 2.5 tpe 

For a pregame playlist you have to make sure you are playing hype music but also make sure you are playing feel good music. Everyone plays well when they are in a happy comfortable mood. Sure, the emotions are going to be high so people will be nervous, and some might have never played in a playoff of this caliber. The first song in the playlist is going to be “Light’em Up” By Fallout Boy. This song is a feel-good hype song. Everyone is able to get behind the fast beat and also the lyrics that are able to get the blood flowing. The next song would be “Ready for War (Quitting is NOT an Option) by T. Powell. This song is the mega hype up song. We are able to go to war on the field and getting in the right mind set is key to be able to go out there and beat another human being. The final song in the playlist is a classic hype up song. “Here comes the boom” By Nelly. This song is classic and gets everyone excited to go out their and take some heads off. It’s the last song they are going to hear as they excited the lockerroom so the last thing they hear is to bring the boom. To go out there and be as physical and great as they can be.

[bluesfan55]

affiliate pt: https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid2999523

[Crodyman]

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)

[shrub02]

7) This task is exclusive to non-recreate rookies of the S28 class and later. In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?

This season is my first experience with any sim league and so far I am loving it. It has been more fun than I could have imagined coming in. I thought that I was just going to be a casual player  but that has changed. The community encouraged me to become more involved and that has made my time a lot more fun. I’ve met some great people here. I love all my fellow Duckies. I get along especially well garagg9 and painted. They are very involved users and that, in turn, makes me want to do more. We bounce ideas off each other, joke about the league, and overall just have a great time.  I didn’t expect to actually make any friends when I joined so this has been a pleasant surprise that has made my time here much more enjoyable.
My player’s start in the league is partly what has motivated me to be more involved as well. It was disappointing because, even as the top TE in the draft class, my player struggled to receive much playing time because there was a better send down in the lineup. Not wanting my player to ride the bench, I set out to take a starting spot for myself. I threw myself into writing articles and doing graphics to earn money for the best gear. Through this work I managed to surpass the TPE of my rival TE. I expect next season to be a big one for Bender Rodriguez.
The DSFL draft was interesting for me. Being a noob, I thought that earning TPE was the most important thing to increase my draft stock. So I put my effort into that instead of interacting with the community. I had joined a team's locker room but didn’t say a lot. The discord notifications were blowing up my phone so I muted it and figured that I would check in on it. Well I completely forgot about it and ended up ignoring all of the scouts trying to get a hold of me. Oof. My stock fell hard and I was picked 43OA. I was disappointed but looking back on it, it was a great thing because I ended up a Grey Duck. The community is wonderful and I honestly wouldn’t want to be on any other team.
I am looking forward to the upcoming draft as I have actually engaged the scouts and hopefully displayed my commitment as a user. Look for a great story as I aspire to go from a 4th round pick in the DSFL to a 1st rounder in the ISFL!
Words = 435

25) How or where would you celebrate with your teammates after winning an Ultimus or Ultimini?

Bender has been planning his championship party for as long as ever since he got into the league. Every Year, he rents out the Slurm Factory in anticipation of his victory. He has yet to achieve it but this vision allows him to drive on. He will party with Slurms MacKenzie, the original party worm! Slurm is the mascot of Bender’ favorite drink (non-alcoholic that is). The plan is to take all of his friends and teammates on a party tour of the fabled Slurm Factory. The river of slurm that runs through the factory would be spiked with alcohol. The Grunka Lunkas would be given a night off from the toils of their work and allowed to party with the guests. Everyone will have all the cigars, alcohol, and Slurm they could dream of. The highlight of the party would be allowing everyone to drink some fresh Slurm, straight from the Slurm Queen. She would only be fed fermented Wompas berries to make her Slurm nice and alcoholic. Bender will kick off the night by doing a keg-stand straight from the tail of the queen herself. His goal: to drink until he reboots. The only thing he wants to remember is seeing Slurms Mackenzie saying “Whimmy-wham-wham-wazzle! Let's party!”
Words = 209

30) Make a scouting report for any of the ISFL or DSFL draftees. Show their stats, abilities, TPE, highlights, or totally fraudulent mail-in ballots. Whatever rookies get up to these days.

While Bender was temporarily exiled on Neptune for attempting to scam earth of all its prized positions, he was attacked by a group of Yetis. After he fending off the attackers, he noticed a binder lying on the ground. He flipped through it and found the following report:
"Scouting report for Yetiman Beardstein, OL. Rawr. Even though we are a Yeti-only football league, we must take a look at this so-called Yeti-man from earth. His skills as a Yetiball player are too great to pass up even if he lives on a planet with humans. Rawr. Yetiman is an athletic lineman that loves to eat. Rawr. Pancakes are his favorite meal. Nothing can stop his appetite for them. His Yeti size has allowed Yetiman to completely dominate humans when he plays the human version of Yetiball. Rawr. In combination with the intellect he has developed by being around humans, he will be  a ferocious player in the Yetiball league. He is fast for a yeti and his shoving skills are unmatched. We have even seen him run through an opposing player. No, literally run through. The only thing left of the player were his cleats. He received a 5 yard penalty.  Rawr. We must get our hands on this yeti. He is the type of player that you do not want to sleep on. We have to draft him before commits to that human Yetiball league. Rawr and out."
Words = 239

[LB3737]

SHL PT - 2.5

10) Season 27 has been an amazing season for both Demon Jaxson and the Sarasota Sailfish combined. The team opened in preseason with somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of their 4 games. In games 1 and 2 they lost back to back to the Colorado Yeti and Yellowknife Wraiths, but after that got back to back victories vs the Philadelphia Liberty and Chicago Butchers. These games neither worried nor encouraged the fishe however, as everyone and their dog knows that in the grand scheme of things, preseason games mean absolutely nought, and that in preseason anything can happen. However when Week 1 rolled around the Sailfish got revenge on the Yeti for the preseason loss and managed to beat them 33-27, in Colorado, showing everyone in the league that this fishe team were their to play. This was a big game aswell for Jaxson, as it was not only his first game at the ISFL level, but he also recorded his first ever career turnover, a Fumble Recovery, aswell as having the oh so prestigious DPOTG award bestowed upon him by the sim. The very next week however the Sailfish proceeded to lose to the other team that had bested them in preseason, the Yellowknife Wraiths. This game was a particularly bitter lowlight for the team as they had been 23 points up going into the locker rooms at half time, but when they came out for the second half there seemed to have been a complete shift in momentum and the Wraiths went on a dominant scoring run in the second half, putting up 31 points while Sarasota put up just 3, ending the game in a 31-26 victory in Yellowknifes favour. The next two games had this exact same pattern, as they beat the Philadelphia Liberty at home before losing in Chicago, to the Chicago Butchers, leaving them at .500 after 4 games. The fishe rallied and kept strong however, winning their next 3. However in the 8th game of the season they suffered a crushing defeat. As in the last minute of the game they turned the ball over up 3, and on the very next play the Outlaws threw a 59 yard touchdown pass to win. This was another very low point in the season for them. This Sailfihs team could not be put down easily though, as they managed to pick up their things, and finish the back half of the season 7-1, earning themselves a playoff bye. In the Conference Championship Game, one of the biggest of the franchises history they showed just how good they are, beating a solid Yeti side by 20 points, with a scoreline of 47-27. They will now be looking on to try and win the Ultimus as the franchise go to the big game for the first time in their short history.

16) I have got to say, Mr. Money or whoever runs the banks must be a big ISFL Guy because this is one change that would be sure to increase league activity. But for real, if I could make half a buck every time I made a buck in the league, there are a lot of things I can do, especially if the league stays a bit lesser known. Firstly, if this was possible then members such as infinitempg and isastarcrossed would almost instantaneously turn into real life one percenters, and both them and generations to come would have what is know as “fuck you” money, having hundreds of millions of real world dollars at their disposal, just because they were grinders in a fake football league. If I could exchange my money I would almost certainly quit any job I had and never apply for one ever again, as if this absurd exchange rate existed I would put all my time into media, as typing at 50 words per minute for about an hour would net you surplus of 2 and a half million dollars easy, and unless you’re Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk (or a league gfx creator), there aren’t that many ways to make that kind of cash in an hour. Secondly I would probably have to do something for the league, so every Ultimus I would need to rent out a different stadium, and fly out the entire league to the game to watch and enjoy, in a post corona world.

[Jangorhino]

22) Your player has been paid to endorse a product/service. What is it? How do you endorse it?



23) Design the ideal uniform or a helmet for a team in the DSFL or ISFL. Graphics only.



24) Create a billboard, magazine cover, unique trading card, or video game cover depicting a superstar of the league. Graphics only.



25) How or where would you celebrate with your teammates after winning an Ultimus or Ultimini?

[y2bobman]

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.

[C9Van]

Okay first off:

SHL Afffiliate = 2.5 TPE



19) Your player or team made big headlines in the news this week. What did they do, and why did it garner so much attention?

I guess I should do this one since New Orleans find themselves in the Ultimus. Which means they are back to back finalists now which is pretty neat for them to be. Hopefully this time round they do not suck and can pull off a ring for themselves. I think a few cool people will be rooting for the Second Line as well since we are underdogs and have some really nice users like Tesla and Tom Hanks but I guess if anything the bad apple would be me. I have been a dick to San Jose in a shitpost that upset people in funny fashion and also Arizona and Hahalua now which was very enjoyable. Probably the most shocking news overall is I am sadly indifferent on the finals.

It is pretty much win-win for Mr 42 (Who in other news will be getting a rename soon). NOLA win and I get a free ring. Nola lose and I get to lol at the GM I hate playing under. I am that indifferent about this shitty career which may surprise people since I usually go hard for these. I just get zero enjoyment out of this league and its cause zero loyalty exists. Though that wouldn't be shocking news I imagine.

It would be lovely to send Gump off with a ring though so yay go us?

[228 words = 5 total TPE]

21) What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?

I think the best team is actually the New Orlean Second Line and Yellowknife Wraiths. The logos are easily the best in this league and in fun to visit locations so without a doubt getting my vote. Some of the nicest people in this league too.

The worst? Very easily the 2 new expansion teams. I will say first off that Berlin and New York getting 2 teams here in this league was amazing and perfect but then they both bloody ruined it with garbage tier names and logos. On the logo side I think they're way above the quality they deserve to be considering how terrible the franchising is but not enough to save either franchise.

Silver Back and Fire Salamander? Should've called them after the drugs they were on at the time of choosing name. Berlin can be a bit like Florida of german. Lovely to visit but oh lordy living there can be scary. However it deserves a better name than fire god damn salamander. This aint mentioning the weak connection, if at all, that silverbacks have with New York.

Desperate need of a rebrand. The rest I think are okay or just need perhaps some TLC on the current logo but nothing urgent. Just these 2 bad teams need it as soon as possible really.

[224 words = 7.5 total TPE]

28) We’ve now finished a whole season in the new sim. What do you think about it? Are things working well for your player and team, or are there changes you think might be made?

I am glad this 1 exists because this new sim has huge pros and cons. I have no doubt in my mind in a sim engine setting it is greatly improved and it will have less glitches or exploitable bugs but if I am being brutally honest...I have the streams for it now. I've watched 2 games for NOLA just randomly when I got pinged in for our games and Honolulu's field is literal garbage to stare at. Just took away from the gameplay and was a mess to try and follow. The other game was Arizona which was not anywhere near as bad as the Honololu game but still rough compared to the basic pitch we had in the old sim.

I also find the text to be a bit of the smaller side but that might be me needing to put my glasses on when watching games. Still not easy as I recall the last sim engine.

I guess running back is also a dire position now if you have low TPE which is just even more great fun I should thank the worst sim league for? I wouldn't want to enjoy my contributions whatsoever now would I in this league. It will have pros like having traits I guess but I do not know about them nor want to this them.

[223 words = 10 total TPE]

[TropicaliaCC]

16) Oh my god, this would be dummy lit. I’m not even that wealthy in ISFL standards, I’m actually very much middle class, but my bank balance at the time of writing this is $16,199,103 which means I would have $8,099,551.50 USD. I could really enjoy that amount of money. To me, that isn’t never work again money because I would want to live a pretty rich lifestyle, but it is a hell of a start. First, I’m taking half of that and putting it into super conservative investments, ie long-term retirement nest egg that will fetch about 5% annual return. Next, I’m buying a sweet house in the 500k-800k range and I’m giving myself another $250k allowance for toys I’m going to buy immediately ie boat, car, golf clubs, etc. After that I will be left with around $3 million dollars. I think I can live off of $2.5 million comfortably for at least the next 10 years, so I am taking the remaining $500k and investing it in riskier stuff like stonks and property. I will continue to work and try to build my career, but I will accelerate my path to starting my firm because I know I have a pretty good safety net to fall back on. So there you have it folks, The majority will be reinvested, but I am able to still live a much more luxurious life and accelerate my entrepreneurial dreams.
17)
 

20) Trouble in San Jose as the two headed monster of Jamar Lackson and Rando Cardrissian both suffer from horrific injuries during training camp prior to the start of Season 28. No, it did not happen on the field. They were actually playing a large game of guerilla warfare style paintball in the woods when they were both caught in an unsanctioned makeshift booby trap that one of the more serious players on the opposing team through together. Jamar stepped on the trigger that caused a net to swoop them up into the air suspended at a height of 20 feet. Unfortunately in the process, Rando tore his Achilles and Lackson tore his ACL. Luckily, Duke Cheeks was a pretty good running back when he was in high school. He had D-1 offers to play the position for several group of 5 teams. Cheeks will run with a powerful style because of all of the explosive strength he has built up to play linebacker. Think of a mini Derrik Henry. Don’t expect him to be much of a threat as a receiver, but as a traditional between the tackles guy he should be able to help the cats establish the run this season. Expect him to work on his stamina in order to be able to play both ways.

27) Ultimus XXIIIX is a matchup between the Sarasota Sailfish and the New Orleans Secondline. In keeping with tradition, I believe the halftime show should be some sort of competition between the two teams mascots. This year it proposes some difficulty and a good amount of creativity. Sailfish are billed fish that grow up to 11 feet in length and 220 pounds in weight. They swim up to 70 miles per hour and are generally a bad ass predatory fish. Secondline is based off of Jazz musician(s) who would be considered a human being, with the average being around 5’9 and 197 pounds. The problem lies in one mascot being submerged in water for 99.9% of its life and the other being on dry land. My go to is generally an all out brawl to an inch within each others life, but each would easily win in their own environment. The plan is for the field to be submerged in 4 feet of water in order to even the odds a bit. The jazz musician will be armed with a net and a spear while the fish will be armed with a freaking laser beam on its head. Then they will fight to the death. For what it is worth, I am taking the fish with the freaking laser beam.

[xQCFamous]

Tier 2: Short Form Tasks (Each must be 400+ words)
Choose up to TWO for 5 TPE each.

8) Write about a potential new recruitment strategy for the league. How can we attract more new players, and what can we do to retain them better?

Recruitment is a tricky subject, a very fine line because you want to recruit in a way that is appealing to people without being overdone, but you also do not want to mislead them about what we are about. That being said, we're on the internet, we're connected through many different platforms, and I think the only way that makes sense for us is to extend our branches into many social media platforms and really bring the focus of the league to be front and center. For instance Instagram, a huge platform where small posts blow up for the biggest of things. We could implement a team to post sim results on there, trades, we could have team Instagram accounts, and so on. This would make it more interactive to a broader audience and since Instagram is already so huge, it makes me think that recruiting would almost become natural. Alternatively, using other social media platforms like Facebook, and Twitter could serve the same purpose. We're already on Twitter with our fake profiles for our players, so why not implement a way to recruit on there? Ads, etc go a long way, people love that stuff... Finally, TWITCH! We use Youtube to stream, so that is also an option, but maybe asking one of the streamers for like Madden or something football to put an ad in their Twitch or Youtube could be massive, it would gain huge traction and exposure, and maybe we could do like a bit of a fundraiser if we need to pay said content creator for the advertisement. At the end of the day, social media is your biggest networking to reach people, places like Reddit are one thing, but to me full of toxic people and just not super enjoyable anymore, but social media is the king of marketing and expanding just about anything. We need to bring this to light and show people what we're all about! Alternatively, if ALL of this somehow fails, maybe do some email campaigns, find some people who are in other leagues or just maybe make an email composition of trying to bring old members back and just simply send out a recruitment email. It would be amazing to see a bunch of returnees, but it could also get the word out to those that have never been here before, almost creating like a shockwave of events unfolding one after the other. We need to maximize our resources, maximize the people, it could even create more league jobs to have these new crews deployed, endless possibilities at helping us recruit, retain and so on. Make this feel real, while still being a sim league, people will eat it up.

(450 Words)

========================

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?

Starting from a player perspective, this season was absolutely amazing and really fun. When I decided to leave the league for personal reasons, I will be honest, I was not sure how I would be received when and if I chose to come back. After some people told me to give the league another shot, I figured what the heck, why not, and decided to bite the bullet and just go for it. This experience absolutely matched my last, and both were insanely good for different reasons. Minnesota really took me in, and showed me the ropes once again. They made the experience easy, and made me feel at ease nearly immediately after signing me. One thing I loved about being on Minnesota is the transparency, they were just so easy to talk to, the whole team seemed to be on the same page, every win felt like we won the championship, and every loss made us even more passionate about wanting to win. No matter if my guy was succeeding on the field or just simply existing, the experience never felt bad, I always had support from my team, the GM's and everyone involved, like I said, every game was just pure excitement. I ended off 1 tackle shy of 100, my goal was surpassed already as I knew I was at a TPE disadvantage so my hopes and dreams were not set high. I also ended up with 7 TFL, 2 sacks, and a bunch of other amazing stats that really impressed me again for the sole reason of being so far behind my other draftees in TPE. From a team perspective if I'm honest, the end of the season was the most heartbreaking thing in the world, and not just for me, but for the whole team. I really felt we had been competitive all season and this team as a whole deserved to be rewarded for their efforts with a playoff birth. While we thought we had it, the sim engine had other plans for us and the final game collapse sealed our fate. Even in our defeating loss, the team held their heads up with pride, we were all proud to be a Duck, we were all happy to be where we were, and the team knew there was only more to come in the future. Overall, I would not change a single thing that happened this season, other than obviously making it to the playoffs which is a no-brainers. But the way I was able to spend it with the group I was able to spend it with, the feeling was simply unmatched. Thank you for the amazing experience, it will truly never be forgotten <3

(452 words)