(S29) PT 3 - Teammates

[slate]

Sarasota's Blue Crush defense has been a force to be reckoned with in the league over the past couple of seasons. On a defense with as much talent across the board as the Sailfish have it can be hard to single out individual players as the crucial pieces that make everything around them work as it should, and in past seasons I might have had a harder time answering this question for that very reason. But this season it's easy to pick one teammate who has been leading the charge as the Sailfish have gotten out to a 7-3 start, and that player is safety Cuco Clemente (@Billybolo53).

Cuco is always the player who sparks the fire for the defense when we need to come up clutch in a big game. His first interception of the season came in week 1 as we played an important opening game against the now division leading Colorado Yeti, but unfortunately we came up just short in that game. Realizing he needed to do even better, he followed that up in week 2 with an incredible 2 interception performance against last season's division champs, the Berlin Fire Salamanders, and scored a TD off of one of the interceptions to boot. The turnovers and the score were vital in securing just a 4 point win and avoiding a deflating 0-2 start to the season. He's added on another 2 interceptions since then, sitting at the top of the league leaderboard with 5 on the season (tied with teammate and potential back-to-back CBotY Handrews). Through his play both on the season and in individual important games, Cuco has definitely been the standard bearer for the S29 iteration of the Blue Crush defense as we hope to claim another Ultimus title.

[zaynzk]

One teammate who has been playing really good this season is my man Sam Howitzer. He has already thrown more TD than he did all of last season!!! And he still has a few more games to play in my own opinion I think that he should be the breakout player of the year on offense as he has finally gotten it going. He had one rough game where he threw 5 ints which might hurt his long term chances at the award but I believe in him and his ability to really win this award. I think that he is finally coming into his own since him Kingston and Speedman have formed a deadly combo which is super dope and has been going off every week and been a huge move for a huge wins which is why we are tied for first in our confrence right now. We will see if he’s good enough too keep it up down the stretch but it seems like he keeps getting better every day and every week. So in my own opinion the best and most crucial player on our team is our very first player and our QB; Sam Howitzer the man the myth the legend himself with something to prove now.

[Mojojojo]

Wow, where do I even start?! I could write about any one of the players on the Sarasota Sailfish as a standout teammate, which is one of the things that makes the team competitive every season and such a fun place to be. On the field, there is no shortage of playmakers on both sides of the ball, especially among the team veterans. But today I want to take the chance to acknowledge an up and coming star on the Sarasota offensive line: Stumpy Jones. 

Stumpy, who is in only his second season in the ISFL, has shoulder the pressure of an immediate debut in a position of team weakness with aplomb and a good sense of humor. Stumpy had only one season in the developmental league before being called-up to start in the ISFL on a notoriously shaky Sarasota OL. There were high hopes for the promising rookie, who was dedicated to improving his technique. And his hard work is starting to pay off on the field. But equally as important, he has become a key member of the Sarasota Sailfish family, fitting right into the locker room, helping to encourage his teammates. I’m looking forward to spending many more seasons working alongside him in the weight room and getting to know him better.

[Void_DCXI]

I don’t think I would even be able to pick just one teammate from New York’s locker room this year. The entire group has been incredible, and a ton of fun to hang around with. The best I would be able to do is 5 people, so here we go. In no particular order, we start with @zaynzk. Zayn has been a fantastic GM for us this year, and it also helps he is the only one who finds my jokes funny. He is a great motivator, and a great leader. He is more than fitting of a GM role. Next up is @TheRocheLimit. Another GM, he has also been a great presence in the locker room. Like Zayn, he is also a great motivator. I like to joke around a lot in the locker room, and when joking about my performance, both of these guys will turn it into a positive. Moving on from GMs now, @TeyonSchavari has also been a great leader in the locker room. He is basically my mentor since he is a running back that has been around for a while, and I’m a rookie running back. He fits into the role of mentor perfectly. He is incredibly uplifting, super supportive, and a great leader. All of these things contributed to him being voted a Silverbacks captain for season 29. Next on my list of epic cool gorilla people is @iStegosauruz. I really don’t want this post to be just me repeating myself five times over, but at this rate it will be. Again, very supportive, very uplifting, and a cool dude to talk to. Last but certainly not least is @dogwoodmaple. There was 2 accounts with the name dogwood maple so I am hoping I Hague tagged the correct person but regardless, dogwood is just the best. As stated in my Twitter bio, dogwood is my favorite person ever. He doesn’t talk that much, but when he does it is absolute gold. He is also the best defensive back in the league and I refuse to accept any other person as such. So yeah, all in all the silverbacks locker room is incredibly chill, and I love playing for them.

[Alucas]

With half of the season down, the Baltimore Hawks are doing better than last year (not a terribly hard feat to accomplish but still an improvement nonetheless). Our defensive core has been performing admirably and we have a decent squad across all positions. I think one of our key players has been a fellow defensive minded player - Jeremiah Zelos, our Strong Safety has been having quite the season. Coming into his third season with the Hawks just like me, he has improved his game all around and having a great season picking people off, he has 3 interceptions at the midway point and that is more than he had in his prior 2 years combined, same can be said for his sack total, he has 4 sacks already and is doubled his previous tally of an entire season last year. He is still consistently making tackles and only missed one so far which is a terrific improvement on last season. I think he is having a breakout season and this is only good news for the Hawks as we try to bring ourselves back slowly into contention. I hope we can continue to have him compete and bring his A game to the field for the reason of the season and see if we can push out a couple more wins.

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[Pib]

It’s easy to overlook special teams. People talk about corners being on an island all the time but kickers are really stranded in complete isolation. Cade York is having an exceptional rookie season with Arizona, bailing out the offense when they can’t quite get it over the line and pinning back the opposition whenever the offense can’t get him within field goal range but thankfully, that doesn’t happen too often as he has punted less than any other starter in the league. Cade hasn’t missed a field goal under 40 yards so far this season and holds a spot in the top 3 for field goals made, as a percentage (for regular starters). Exceptional stats for a rookie.

In the looker room, Cade is always a positive source of energy and extremely active throughout the week. Every time I check in on the LR, I see messages from him displaying copious amounts of enthusiasm and energy. I genuinely don’t think Arizona could have drafted any better at the position, as Cade York really does tick all the boxes. While he’s unlikely to pick up Punter of the Year due to Arizona’s relentless offense, I do hope that he maintains his current output so that he is at very least given a nomination for a positional award.

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[Vorshayla]

Firestorm-Fjord is definitely one of PickSix II's teammates that has stepped up his game this season.  Even though he's starting to slow down a bit due to his age he is still the main attraction on the Butcher's secondary.  This allows PickSix to cover other team's 2nd best receivers and as such he himself is slowly putting together a solid season.  With the surprising trade of franchise icon Shields in the middle of the off-season, Firestorm-Fjord has had to take the reigns as both a leader on the field as well as a mentor to the younger cornerback in the making.  The results have been mixed, however, the Butchers are slowly rebuilding and moving on from their vaunted defense of a few years back as they now have to develop the younger players in hopes to get back to the big dance.  

PickSix II has definitely been blessed to have played with great cornerbacks so far in his young career as he has been able to take the time to learn and observe from superstars on how they carry themselves on the field.  Off the field, PickSix won't change who he is because he has to stay true to himself.  However, with only half the season gone, Firestorm has definitely started to turn some heads with his strong defensive play and keeps the Butchers in also every game on the defensive side of the ball, at least in recent memory.  


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[firstfray]

How could I pick one teammate? Everyone on the Coyotes has been a phenomenal teammate. I think I've already talked about star WR Troy Abed enough in my previous posts so for this week I'll highlight a mate on the defensive side of the ball. My man Siege Cameron, locking down the secondary as a shutdown corner is definitely one of the best teammates I've had in my time as a Coyote. Not only does he ball out year after year on the field, he also motivates the entire team during the games. Siege will be your biggest hype man when you make a big play. Whether its on offense of defense, he will make the whole stadium know who made the play. Abed took off for a 76 yard TD? Siege is screaming down the sideline to celebrate with him in the endzone. Amabacus Fitted gets a strip sack? Siege is tossing the WR he was covering away to dance with him. Even when Fitted Cuddles runs for 2 yards to convert the first down Siege is going nuts. He just brings such a special energy to the team during the games and its going to feel real different when its time for him to play for the Austin Copperheads. It won't be the same when I'm also playing for the Butchers without him, but I look forward to playing against him for many years to come.

[Memento Mori]

The user who's stood out this season is Gragg. We drafted him with the third overall pick in last season's draft, and after sending him down to Minnesota for a season we called him up in S29. It's what he's done as a user that's stood out rather than what his player has done, though Anton Bruckner did record a sack on Mike Boss Jr. in our 37-27 victory over the Sarasota Sailfish in Week 8. Gragg is the league's spreadsheet wizard, who's kept lots of data on all the draft classes since he joined the league, and getting a front-row view and access to all the data he has has been really useful for draft, roster and sim decisions. He's been a huge addition to our war room, and most of his work - his draft class spreadsheets are basically a more detailed TPE tracker, and he wrote an explanation for a testing method with the new sim - is public, which speaks to the kind of person he is as well. Orange County is very lucky and thankful that we have Gragg, but the league as a whole should be thankful too. Whether he branches out into a GM role, HO or just continues what he's doing, Gragg makes the league better and I'm very happy he's here. (218 words)

[Bayley]

SHL PT