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+---- Thread: (S28) Ultimus Week (/showthread.php?tid=31809)
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - TheRealMazatt - 05-13-2021
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2. Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?* - Deadline create, but was still drafted to ISFL.
** - Recreate but is one of many Carolina alum
Just looking at things from a base point of view, the biggest draft day surprise was Madison Hayes falling to 10th overall. Chicago got an absolute steal of a pick, where I would have been unsurprised to see Sve7en go 1st overall given his track record in the SHL, and the early dedication he showed to the league. It was a confusing drop and steal at the time and it still confounds me that he was able to last until double digits to be picked. While 7 is only the 8th ranked earner TPE wise, they are the ORotY and a great locker room presence. I am 100% biased as I'm his interim Co-GM in the SHL but going to 10th was just... weird. Hayes is a bonafide HoFer in my eyes, and seeing her dro is near inexcusable.
On a complete different note I feel me being selected in the 1st round was somewhat of a questionable decision for the Copperheads. Amid and I go back a bit with him currently playing on Carolina, where I was apart of management for some time, but trading up to pick me is grabbing a low ceiling pick on a guy that would've been available later down the line. While the assets given up weren't wild, it's hard to imagine the pick couldn't have been used better.
Moving down the line of SHL draftees there's Overdoo, who was taken ahead of where most expected. Nothing against him, but at the time he was behind in TPE and him going 2nd overall was a surprise. On the reverse, though, he's an absolute gem to talk to and him being selected up high purely for his personality isn't entirely unreasonable. While his ceiling and earning aren't top 2 quality he's such a solid guy that it's hard to see him not being successful in the league for a long time, as he can help run a back room and maintain activity on a rebuilding team.
Next up we have Borgo San Lorenzo, who is a bonafide #GoodPlayer. One of the biggest surprises on draft day is seeing AgentSmith end up out of the first round. He's another top earner in the SHL and went 1st overall in the S55 draft over there, but he ended up falling out of the 1st? He's currently rocking the 10th most TPE in the class, is established as a simmer in other leagues, and is just a real solid due all around. Not a hall of famer like I see Hayes being, but another good look from the SHL-ISFL draft class.
There are actually a few more guys that ended up out of the 1st round that aren't entirely surprising, but they are still a bit odd to look back on from the perspective of a Kraken alum. TheDangaZone and Gumbaman came in with two very different backgrounds on the ISFL side of things. Gumba was a late, late, late create in the ISFL and SHL and was drafted late in both leagues, whereas TDZ is an established guy who has created solid players at a HoF level in both leagues. Despite that, they both settled in as post-1st round draft picks. Their earning is pretty in-line with my own--much like Sparky, who can be mentioned in this post-1st convo. All three of these guys are good guys who will be ISFL players, and are also SHL players. I just had to mention them on this path to commenting on everyone who is currently in the ISFL from the SHL.
And now we come to the final member of the SHL gang and my former GM in Carolina--Fuzz. Carter Fox has a longer timetable to success than others. He just recently did training and activity check work on the 9th of this month, so he is putting in the work. Unfortunately he is well behind the curve in terms of class TPE. While Austin is accomodating, and I've been covering his DTotY journey in articles in collaboration with Southpaw, his path to the big leagues will need to come with a degree of deterimination. I am not sure on the eligibility rules for the DSFL, but if his eligibility runs out soon he may be forced into an unsavoury position of being teamless before he can earn to a solid point, and will need to force himself into the lineup wherever he can. I hope it can be with Austin, but if we are too full I just hope he can end up somewhere he will be happy.
Those are my consolidated thoughts on the S27 SHL draftees. Most of us have made our ISFL debuts already, and others should be on their way soon enough. This amount of representation from another league feels unprecedented and should be analyzed as such, wherein an already strong class is complemented by the depth brought on by joint Football-Hockey fans.
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>800 wordsRE: (S28) Ultimus Week - excelsior - 05-13-2021
2. Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?
The S27 draft was 2 seasons ago from this day, and a lot has changed in that time. There was a lot of anticipation going into this draft, especially with Maui Waialiki's draft story, as he was position switching, and no one knew where he would land. This draft class was not very large, and only about 50 people got drafted, and only about half ended up staying active. The first round itself was pretty predictable outside of Maui's landing spot, and the mock average was actually really high because of how easy and predictable the placements were. The draft started out with Honolulu, who everyone thought would pick EKW, consensus 1OA for many. What we didn't know until much later was that this decision was far from set in stone, in fact. Honolulu was actually debating with another player at this point, but no one could have seen this one. Maui Waialiki was also being considered for 1OA, and the team didn't even know who they would pick until the draft actually started. Much of this can be attributed to the close ties I had with Honolulu. Everyone is aware of the Dallas -> Austin/Honolulu pipeline, and many Dallas players are in Austin or Honolulu, and there's definitely a correlation there. Maui was regarded as probably the top newcreate prospect, but he wanted to be called up immediately, so that ended up making him unavailable for many teams, and only a few teams could fill those needs of his, one of them being Honolulu. It's not surprising, in hindsight, to think that Honolulu was considering drafting me 1OA, and part of me wishes they did so I could have had a chance to win a Ultimus really early, but now, I'm very glad to be on Baltimore and helping with the rebuild. With the 2nd pick in the first round, the Hawks picked Overdoo, a fairly quiet user from SHL who earnt decently well, even if he wasn't a max earner. Mind you, the old Baltimore GMs and war room were making these picks, so we can't judge them too much, as that administration ended up changing really quickly due to their incompetence. After this second pick, we get our first real bust of the draft, and probably the biggest one. At #3, the Philadelphia Liberty select Xander Creed, who is... retired. Yep, that's correct, this player retired within his first season of playing, and hasn't visited the website in 2 months. Womp, womp. There were a lot of better picks to be made here IMO, so while I won't say I told you so, I told you so. Marlon Brando was probably a much better pickup for the Liberty but he fell to number 4, where Berlin snatched him up with no regrets. Brando has earned very well, cracking top 8 in TPE in his class, despite starting out a bit lower than everyone else. He switched to defensive end from defensive tackle, joining me and making the S27 DE class somewhat fierce. We now have 3 max earning DEs competing with each other, despite going into the draft with only 1. After Marlon Brando, the Colorado Yeti selected SparkySparky Boom-Man, which was definitely a pick that everyone saw coming. Bagel (FleshBagsoup) has earnt well and is top 6 in the class in TPE earnt. He's going to be a key part of locking down the back end of the defense in the upcoming seasons. These last 2 picks turned out to be solid, and the next 2 after also. San Jose selected Duke Cheeks, a LB out of London, who has earnt pretty well, but it makes you think, could they have picked a DE, maybe one named Maui Waialiki? They switched one of their safeties to DE, but he ended up leaving the team in FA, so you wonder if SJS made the right decision here picking a LB at a oversaturated position. Quality, franchise defensive ends are rare, especially ones in the draft. To get a player you know will make an impact for a while is key, and that's exactly what I've shown. Now onto pick 7, I still haven't been chose yet, and OCO selects a defensive end here, one that doesn't earn as well, but still plays really well. Bean Beanman. This guy got 10 sacks in his rookie season, which outshone some of his peers with 700 TPE more than him. While he may be good on the field, we'll see if he can reciprocate that in the future. He's been a bit behind in earning, but overall still a top 12 earner in his class, which isn't really that deep. Onto the 2nd bust of the first round, we get to pick 8, where YKW selects Kita Chiasa can be seen as a real bust, as he hasn't updated in about 3 weeks and hasn't visited the site in about 2 and a half. He's a terrible earner, and only just at 420 TPE now, so not exactly the prospect YKW hoped they could get. This draft turned out pretty well for most teams, but they'll regret passing on Maui Waialiki.
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - Faelax - 05-13-2021
15. The MVP of the Ultimus game for me has to be Douglas Quaid from the Yellowknife Wraiths. The veteran pass rusher had a huge day, leading the Wraiths defense with ten tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, two pass defenses, and a sack on top of it all. It is the kind of performance you dream of as a defensive player, and it could not have come at a better time, as it helped Yellowknife secure the Ultimus title. The Wraiths treated the team with a celebratory trip to Disneyland, which was a wonderful time for the whole team. Quaid spent his time parading the trophy around Magic Kingdom for a couple hours while fans of the team cheered them on and got to take pictures with the team. After a couple hours of publicity, the team got to spend some time to themselves, enjoying the park in a special after dark outing, and then getting a premier dining experience afterwards. The next day they spent trying to get to all of the Star Wars attractions, but were beaten out by a bunch of rabid fans, so they had to take the party into another park. Rumor is that the experience with the Star Wars rides caused a lot of inter-team drama, but that bit is currently unconfirmed. (220 words)
26. If I could not have created my player as a Safety, I would have stayed on defense for sure. I would have probably leaned towards playing cornerback, which is basically just safety but in a different part of the field. The builds and roles for both are pretty much exactly the same, so not much would have changed for Evan Jones. Alternatively, I could have played as a linebacker, probably building more of a zone coverage linebacker than say a pass rusher or a hard hitting run stopper. I can’t really see myself being a pass rusher or a defensive lineman for some reason, and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but it just doesn’t sound that fun to me. If I had to play on the offensive side of the ball, I would probably be a tight end. The true utility man of the offense, the tight end gets to do a bit of everything, getting to go all over the field and dunk on slow linebackers, truck through smaller defensive backs, or throw some hands in the trenches. Tight end honestly sounds like a lot of fun. I don’t think I would consider playing anything else on the offensive side. (204 Words)
28. I think most of the brandings in the ISFL are pretty good. While they are nothing spectacular, they are not terrible either. Two of my favorites though are the Yellowknife Wraiths and the Austin Copperheads. The Wraiths have a very well designed logo, along with a very aesthetically pleasing color combination in light blue and white. It goes very well with the cold, snowy location in Yellowknife, and the classic imagery of a ghostly Wraith. The combination of unique branding, location, and pleasing color combo makes this an A+ branding in my book. The Austin Copperheads are great for a lot of the same reasons I like Yellowknife. The logo is very well done, the colors go very well together, and the location is a fairly untouched one, both in real life sports and in sim leagues. One team branding that I don’t particularly care for is the New Orleans Second Line. It might be that I just don’t know a lot about the city, but the team name doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me. It probably has something to do with Mardi Gras by looking at the logo, but it could really be anything. It’s one of those really city specific brandings that can get lost on people. There are a lot of good choices you could go with for a New Orleans team, but this one falls a bit flat for me. (239 words)
29. SHL Affiliate PT
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - Tomen - 05-13-2021
Tier 3: Written/Graphics Tasks (Each must be either 200+ words or a graphic)
Choose up to FOUR for 2.5 TPE each.
16. This task is exclusive to recreate/non-recreate rookies of the S29 class and later. The season is over and the draft is coming up. What do you bring to a team, and why should a team choose to take a chance on you next season?
I would like to think that Konstantin Selich would be worthy of a draft pick in the S30 ISFL draft class due to him being the son of 1st ballot Hall of Famer Alex Selich that previously held the career tackle record. Konstantin learned quite a lot of things from his father about how to be the best football player he can be as well as how demanding the lifestyle of a professional ISFL player actually can be so I am inclined to believe that the chances that Konstantin is going to end up being a bust is actually quite low. Konstantin also feels like he has a chip on his shoulder to prove himself on his own merits and not be drafted purely because of nepotism in the league. This lead Konstantin to strive towards quite a lofty career goal. He wants to break the record for most Tackles for Loss in a ISFL career which means he will try his best to immediately earn himself a starting spot on an ISFL roster after being drafted. To be quite honest Konstantin will let every GM know about his plans and is almost demanding for this to happen which very well means that Konstantin will see quite a fall in his own draft compared to his father who was drafted #2 overall in his own ISFL draft.
19. Theres a prompt about stadium design, but now lets dig deeper. Each stadium serves some concessions for the fans coming in to watch the games. Talk us through their menu. Graphic Option: Design a menu for your team's stadium.
Even though Konstantin doesn't have an official ISFL or even DSFL team yet he has been to quite a few of those in his childhood but the one he likes to visit the most is the Berlin Field which is the home of the Berlin Fire Salamanders which are basically his home team since he holds the german citizenship. Konstantin especially loves the Currywurst with fries that one can buy at the concession stands there and he likes to order quite a lot of them when visiting an ISFL game. His 2nd favorite food is an authentic Berliner Döner which is one of the staple fast foods in Germany and a great food one should eat while enjoying some alcoholic beverages. Konstantin's 330 pound frame also enjoy Kasseler with Sauerkraut together with some Rollmops from time to time. It's a nice mix of enough carbs and fat together with a decent chunk of protein to supplement his diet. His favorite desert available at the concession stands would be something called Berliner Luft which basically translates to Berlin Air. It's from the 1800s and is a creme mix of egg yolks together with egg whites , sugar and some gelatin which is served together with a bit of raspberries.
26. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?
If Konstantin Selich wouldn't have been able to play as a Defensive Tackle in the ISFL he would have definitely chosen to become an Defensive End. To be honest Konstantin's plans were actually to start his ISFL career as a Defensive End but after to listening some advice of family friends as well as his father Alex Selich, Konstantin decided to declare for the DSFL draft as a Defensive Tackle due to it being easier to gain a starting job on an ISFL roster in this position compared to Defensive End which is simply quite a bit more competitive. Konstantin's primary goal still will be to break the current tackles for loss career record set by Nero Alexander and therefore it makes more sense to start at Defensive Tackle so he can start to accumulate career stats from the get go instead of being send down to his DSFL team to gain more experience. A ISFL career is quite short and people will always lose the battle against farther time. Another option would have been to declare as a Linebacker but Konstantin didn't want to be compared to his father all the time during his own career but if an ISFL team would ask him to make the switch he would never refuse them outright and let them hear out.
29. SHL PT
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - 37thchamber - 05-13-2021
Quote:20. If your player had a show starring them, what would the plot be? Graphic Option: Create the cover art for your player’s show
Okay so, many of you will be unaware but there *is* actually a TV show starring Raphael Delacour. More than one, technically. See, doing his internship at a media production company -- Flying Thunder Studios; a joint venture between his father and acclaimed director Tobias Akinbobo -- meant all kinds of connections were forged. Tobias Akinbobo, much like he did with Babatunde Warrington before, has chosen Raphael to be the mainstream draw for his latest project: The Abominables.
The name is a bit of a giveaway but the treatment says the show will be set in "the mountains", following a professional football team... gee, that sounds familiar. The twist is that the players have the power to control the elements, though. It's exactly the kind of wacky, semi-realistic fantasy concept that Akinbobo is known for, and his experience on Medieval Kingdom of Kingdoms will probably help a lot in shaping the world of The Abominables, should the pilot be green-lit.
As for the overarching plot, it's not really clear, but Akinbobo is on-record stating that the main thrust of the show is to "show sport as a force for unity and goodness in the world". He was not clear on what they would be combating, however. Some rumblings have suggested that the show will tackle some of the darker aspects of professional sport, with drug abuse, political corruption, and financial pressures playing a part. The rumoured casting of Willem Dafoe as the show's primary antagonist has also raised eyebrows, but the studio is keeping additional detail under wraps for now.
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Quote:26. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?
I actually considered creating a linebacker at first, but I wanted to play offense, since both my previous guys were defensive backs. I think if wide receiver wasn't an option, I may have looked more seriously at linebacker. Main reason being that I still wanted to play an impact position, so I'd have a chance at making the Hall of Fame. Problem with linebacker is that it's trickier to be an immediate call-up, even though if you max-earn or close, you've got a pretty good shot at the Hall. The more I thought about it though, I decided I really wanted to play offense, because it just works better with the backstory I had in mind for this player (son of my first player, etc etc)
So, considering that, I guess if wide receiver was no longer a choice, I probably would have gone with running back. Tight end would be weird, given that the father is short, so having a massive son just would have sort of broken my immersion I guess? Offensive line doesn't interest me at all (also, size issues) and quarterback is too much of a crapshoot in terms of making the Hall. There's also a weird pressure associated with being a quarterback that I really didn't want, because I can't guarantee I'll be active through my player's entire career.
Obviously some of this still applies to running backs -- hard to be an impact player in year one; need to max earn or near to really be effective, stats are often situational depending on the team etc -- but it's probably the closest I can get to my chosen role. In the end wide receiver works because it's *directly* opposite the elder Delacour's position, it doesn't take much TPE to max out, and will be relatively easy to maintain near elite attributes in regression if I can get to around 1100 TPE before it hits. There's also the fun challenge of building specifically for the slot, and not maxing speed, and seeing if I can still make a player with a HOF level career.
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Quote:27. Football is a game that has been going on for a while, loved by fans all over. But what if you were able to make some rule changes? Talk us through your new version of football, and what would be different and why?
The main thing that gets me about football is the injury rate, so I'd look at making changes to reduce that first and foremost. So the first thing I would change is I'd scrap kickoffs. I'd also amend tackling rules to encourage wrap-up tackling like in rugby as opposed to the impact tackles we currently see. This isn't to say I'd outlaw impact tackles, I'd just encourage other approaches, and remove the incentive for them somewhat. Probably by changing how yards gained are determined, I'd have to consult with people more in the know to get clarification on how to do that, to be honest. On a similar note, punts would be abolished too. Or at least sort of. On the one hand I feel like punts are useful for getting the ball away from your end zone and getting rid of that option would make teams play differently in fear of being pinned inside their own half, so maybe only allow punts when within 30 yards of your own end zone on fourth down or something.
Another thing that bothers me is how long a game takes, compared to how little the game is actually being played. This might be the ex-footballer in me talking, but I'd alter the play clock to be shorter, and probably change the rules on when it stops so that happens way less frequently. Maybe make no-huddle drives mandatory after the two-minute warning or something like that. Speed things up.
I'd also get rid of the point after touchdown attempt. Instead, make it so everyone has to "go for two", but it wouldn't always be worth two points. Maybe you can opt to start further back, but it's worth three or four points instead.
Field goals would also change. Closer range field goals would be worth fewer points, with really long range ones worth more. I think this would enourage a more varied approach on offense, while making sure that defensive units were still versatile and had to play aggressively to prevent the accumulation of territory.
Honestly, I don't know that any of this would actually improve the game, but I'd like to see it out of curiosity. I should contact The Rock and see about getting some of this included in XFL if/when it ever gets revived (again).
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Quote:28. What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?
My favourite league branding is the sabercats. Has been for ages. I don't know if it's because I grew up watching Thundercats, or because I just really like cats... or the green/gold combination (which is actually the decor in the front room of my house; big up Jam Down!) but I just really like it. It even *sounds* cool, you know?
I feel like sports mascots should always be predatory animals if you're going for a nature vibe, or something stereotypically linked to power, or aggression. Alliteration isn't always good but it really works here, and the name flows nicely, one, two, then three syllables. San Jo-Se Sa-Ber-Cats. The 1-2/3 split is great for chants too. If I have a complaint about the branding, it's that it's not original. But I suppose that's why it works so fuckin well innit?
Silverbacks probably have the coolest branding after Sabercats for me. The 1920s New York vibe, plus King Kong allusions, the flow (1-1-3 is a common crowd chant rhythm), the colours... it's all great. Again, if I'm nitpicking, I don't really like that it's in New York. I sort of prefer the less obvious locations for teams in sim leagues to be honest. It's a fantasy world, let's have teams that straight up couldn't exist in real-life, you know? But in this case, the branding just wouldn't work anywhere else so... I get it.
Some teams I would say have questionable branding for various reasons, but I don't know that I'd change them. Just like how I feel more off-the-beaten-path locations are cool, I kinda get why some teams have odd mascots. So for example, the Otters, you can't change it at this point because they're an institution right? I know otters are also vicious little bastards... but it just doesn't scream "american football team name" to me. Similarly, Fire Salamanders just doesn't sound "tough" (although it's a really cool animal). These aren't really criticisms, to be honest, it's just a personal preference. I mean, I didn't really like "Baltimore Hawks" originally either, because it seemed too close to the real-life Ravens, but it grew on me.
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - ReverendOReily - 05-13-2021
1. This week will see the S28 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome?
The ISFL playoff race is one of the best parts of the season. 14 teams, only 6 roses to give out; how will our ISFL team contestants get out of this pickle? This season, we saw some pretty closely contested races in both conferences for much of the season, but this season was pretty unusual in that (if I am remembering correctly) all 6 playoff teams were decided by the end of week 15. Week 16 games had playoff implications in terms of seeding, but it was pretty strange to have all of the teams locked in before the regular season was over.
In the NSFC, we saw the Berlin Fire Salamanders take the first seed, steamrolling much of their competition throughout the season on their way to a 12-4 record, a franchise best for the young amphibians. The Yellowknife Wraiths, the eventual NSFC champions, locked up the conference's second seed with a week 15 win against the Yeti; the wraiths finished the season 11-5, splitting their games against the salamanders 1-1 throughout the season. Our last playoff team in the NSFC were last season's Ultimus champions, the Sarasota Sailfish. Sarasota's defense was INSANE this season. I think they've got some sort of voodoo going on with their linebackers/safeties/corners, because their coverage% in terms of catches allowed/targets is, from what I've seen, easily top in the league. I haven't even gotten to their offense yet, who scored more points per game than any other team. Before week 15, I think they would've been my pick to win the Ultimus again. And yet, bad things happened to this team at the end of the season. More on that in a bit.
Over in the ASFC, we had a bunch of non Otter teams take playoff berths and nobody really cares about those guys but for the sake of the writing prompt I suppose we can talk about them. First up, to the surprise of almost nobody, were the Arizona Outlaws. The Outlaws have made some great acquisitions to their team through free agency and trading, and they're built a powerful unit led by people who are very much familiar with the sim. In the second seed in the ASFC we have the other newest ISFL team, the New York Silverbacks, who finished their season 10-6 despite losing 3 of their last 4 games. They didn't collapse quite as hard as the Sailfish at the end there, but it was painful to watch no less. Except when they lost to the Otters, I liked that and hope it happens more. Last in the playoff seeding were the underdogs, the team not many people expected to see in the playoffs, let alone the Ultimus, the Austin Copperheads. The Copperheads took the third seed in the conference with a 9-7 record while fielding a pretty good offense in terms of points scored, but a pretty not pretty offense in terms of yards gained.
In the first ASFC playoff game, the Copperheads beat the Silverbacks in a tight 21-18 game. New York led Austin 10-7 at halftime, but New York was unable to recover after touchdowns by Videl-San and Zoe Watts put the Copperheads up 21-10. In the NSFC meanwhile, we saw the Sarasota Sailfish travel many thousands of kilometers to Yellowknife, where they continued their unfortunate losing streak, ending their dreams of a repeat Ultimus victory. Sarasota led 14-13 in the fourth quarter until Yellowknife kicker Blago Kokot kicked a league record 64 yard field goal to put the Wraiths ahead, and then later in the fourth, Rando Cardrissian punched it in for the Wraiths with only 2:35 left in the game, to put the Wraiths up 23-14 and give us the game's final score. Shoutout to Douglas Quaid who had 6 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass deflection.
In my eyes, both of the conference championship games were upsets, with the Copperheads beating the Outlaws 16-13 (both teams had great showings by their kickers in this game), and the Yellowknife Wraiths beating the Fire Salamanders 17-13 (Zee Rechs caught two touchdowns!)
In Ultimus XXVIII, held in Milan for those of you who didn't know, the Wraiths took an early 14-0 lead after touchdowns by Acura Skyline, and a touchdown catch by Kai Sakura. After a field goal by Copperhead kicker Bloomfield, Kokot broke his own record by kicking a 65 yard field goal, and Cardrissian ran it in from the 4 yard line to put the game at 24-3. Things looked bleak for the snakes. Austin was only able to kick field goals unfortunately, until the third quarter when Zoe Watts scored from the 1 yard line, but by then they were already down 21 points, so the Watts touchdown put the game's score at 24-10. In the fourth quarter, Austin mounted a near comeback, scoring 9 points and putting the game within reach, but alas their defense were unable to stop the Wraiths' final drive, and the game ended 24-19. While I was definitely surprised by the teams playing in the Ultimus (as evidenced by my 0 TPE playoff predictions), I was not too surprised that Austin was unable to pull off the fairy tale season. They are an excellent team and will likely be back soon, despite Kyle being stinky, but hopefully they wait to come back until after the Otters have won another ultimus or two.
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RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - Modern_Duke - 05-13-2021
6. Write 800 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.
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Duke's Choices for S28 Awards:
Most Valuable Player - Mattathias Caliban
I just want to take a minute to marvel at Caliban's stat line. 5668 yards is a new league record, and one that was previously thought to be unbreakable. Yes, he needed a lot of attempts to get there, but I feel it would be absurd to not honor an important piece of league history like this.
Offensive Player of the Year - Mattathias Caliban
See above.
Defensive Player of the Year - Dex Kennedy
Andrews has a strong case, but possibly his strongest stat (3 touchdowns) is overshadowed by Kennedy's 4 touchdowns. I also vote for Kennedy due to his more complete stat coverage.
Offensive Rookie of the Year - Luke Quick
To me this was between Quick and Chunt the Badger, each of whom had over 1000 receiving yards. Chunt had the edge on volume, but I give the vote to Quick as he had over 20 more receptions, plus more touchdowns and pancakes.
Defensive Rookie of the Year - Jonathan Shuffleboard
There were many solid candidates here, including Marlon Brando who had 9 sacks and 2 safeties. However, my vote goes to Shuffleboard due to his all around stat coverage, plus a defensive touchdown.
Offensive Breakout Player of the Year - Captain Rogers
Even though his touchdowns and receiving stats did not change much, Rogers went from a paltry 825 yards on 3.7 yards per carry up to 1329 yards, good for second in the league, along with much improved efficiency with 4.3 yards per carry.
Defensive Breakout Player of the Year - Mac Griddle
Griddle's tackles more than quadrupled from 16 to 78, which may have been enough to give him the award, but he also improved in most other categories as well, including 10 passes defended, up from only 1 in the prior season.
Quarterback of the Year - Mattathias Caliban
See above.
Runningback of the Year - Tatsu Nakamura
This is a two horse race between Nakamura and Chan, and I don't think Chan's lead in efficiency is enough to overcome the almost 300 yards and 3 touchdowns that Nakamura has over him.
Wide Receiver of the Year - William Lim
I have seen the arguments for others such as Barker and Videl-san to win based on advanced stats. However I think a lot of those arguments are a bit too granular. I'm going to overthink this and give it to the player with the most receptions ever for a wide receiver and the second most receiving yards ever.
Tight End of the Year - Clark Boyd
Boyd was one of two tight ends with 1000 receiving yards on the season, and also had strong contributions as a blocker.
Offensive Lineman of the Year - Calvin Golladay
Another easy call, as Golladay had the most pancakes among players with zero sacks allowed.
Defensive End of the Year - Tex Wrecks
Van Sanzo had one more sack than Wrecks, but Tex had the lead in almost every other category. Also of note, Rapid Eagle lead the league with 12 tackles for loss.
Defensive Tackle of the Year - Daymond Brooks
This is fairly straight forward, as Brooks lead defensive tackles in sacks with 11, and was the only one in double digits. He wasn't solely a pass rusher either, with 70 tackles.
Linebacker of the Year - Dex Kennedy
There are players with more tackles or more sacks, but no one can possibly match Kennedy's four defensive touchdowns. Other than that, Kennedy has a pretty full resume with plenty of tackles for loss, forced fumbles, sacks, and passes defended.
Cornerback of the Year - Harrison Andrews
This is a very interesting one, as Andrews has the edge on big plays with an amazing 9 interceptions and 3 touchdowns. Meanwhile Rich Triplet had an absurd 46 passes defended and 6 interceptions himself. I will give the edge to Andrews.
Safety of the Year - Bob Roberts
Roberts will take this one home due to a huge lead on interceptions, with 7 as the next highest total for a safety was 4. Roberts also contributed a fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown for good measure.
Returner of the Year - NationalSimulation FootballLeague
Speaking from experience, a kick return average of 30 yards is fairly uncommon, as it happens in about one half of all seasons. NSFL got 31 yards per return which lead the league. The only issue is a lack of a touchdown which voters always love. I wouldn't be surprised to see Flash Panda take this one home to do a very good average in addition to a touchdown.
Kicker of the Year - Danny King
Dougie Smalls had a better field goal percentage, but King get the edge here due to distance, as he was an amazing 8 for 8 from beyond 50 yards, and still managed to finish second in field goal percentage.
Punter of the Year - Matthew McDairmid
McDiarmid seems like a straight forward pick here, as he lead the league in punting average and was second in punts inside the 20 (but first in percentage of punts inside the 20).
Offensive Performance of the Year - Tatsu Nakamura W7
Raphtalia Chan's 5 touchdown performance is probably the biggest competitor here, but Nakamura had 4 himself, with better volume and efficiency. Also dark horse candidate that should actually win (but won't) is William Lim's record setting 219 receiving yard game.
Defensive Performance of the Year - Haha Mango-Panda W5
Three forced fumbles I believe ties the all-time single game record, so add a defensive touchdown and two sacks of top of it and that about clinches it.
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - MobiausGrander - 05-13-2021
1) Man, S28 was an interesting season, and for a lot of the time in key moments, surprising season for the ISFL! I am writing this after the playoffs and championship for the ISFL, so this will be a reflection on the teams that made the playoffs and how they got here and how each team did relative to their own expectations! Like last season, this season was completed with the new sim engine so there were a few surprises this season to me.
The biggest surprise that I noticed was that, despite having the same core roster with a few young players, my team, the New Orleans Second Line, for whatever reason bottomed out in the sim; I would guess that it was an anomaly in the sim; I think that we will bounce back into being contenders next season with the growth and progression of the rookies and younger players and retraining of the main core!
Onto the other surprises I noticed. Outside of my team, the biggest surprise I noticed was that the Arizona outlaws had the best record in the league after having an ok record in the previous season. They had the best point differential out of all the teams and nearly went undefeated on the road. However, in typical Arizona fashion, they failed to cap off a great season in the playoffs. They won the ASFC wild card against the Honolulu Hahalua 23-10, but lost in upset fashion to the Copperheads in the Conference Championship 16-13, ending the great season for the Outlaws in disappointing fashion.
On the other side of the above upset, we have the Austin Copperheads. After having a sort of disappointing season after making the playoffs with a 10 win season last season; the Copperheads went 9-7 this past season. However, they made up for it in the playoffs. After edging out the Silverbacks in the ASFC Wild Card 21-18, the Copperheads, as mentioned above, upset the Outlaws 16-13 in the Conference Championship and made it to their first Ultimus in a long while. They nearly even won it! However, their opponent, the experienced Wriaths, edged out the Copperheads to win their 2nd title in 3 seasons!
Speaking of the other side of the league, the Berlin Fire Salamanders had a great season in their own right! The Salamanders nearly took the first seed in the NSFC with an 11-5 record, just missing the one seed by one game to the Wraiths. They followed up their great season with a 48-15 destruction of the poor, poor Colorado Yeti in the Wild Card round before facing the YellowKnife Wraiths in a 1 vs 2 epic matchup in the Conference Championship. After an epic game between the two teams, unfortunately for the Salamanders, the Wraiths edged them out 17-13 en route to another Ultimus title; though I would say it was a great season as no one expected the Salamanders to be a serious threat to win it all!
Finally, we have the final surprise of the season: the YellowKnife Wraiths. Everyone thought that they would compete, but no one thought they would have the dominant and clutch season they would have like their past championship run two seasons ago. The Wraiths went 12-4 and clinched the first seed in the NSFC with the second best point differential in the whole league. After returning to prominence in the regular season, they solidified it in the playoffs. The Wraiths handedly defeated the Sarasota Sailfish in the Wildcard 23-14 and then advanced to the Conference Championship against the 2 seeded Salamanders in an epic 1 vs 2 matchup. After a close game the whole way through, the Wraiths prevailed 17-13 to advance to the Ultimus where they again edged out a great team in the Copperheads to the score of 24-19. With this victory, this makes it so that the Wraiths have won 2 titles in 3 seasons in dominant fashion, akin to the time period of 2015-2017 where the dominant Golden State Warriors also won two titles in 3 seasons. Is it possible that the Wraiths are becoming or have become the next dynasty or at least having the next dominant historical team run in this league? If so, then we are witnessing history! But I hope that NOLA can return to prominence again so that we can maybe spoil their run or at least compete against them like the Cavaliers did from 2015-2018.
All in all, this was an interesting season filled with epic games, suspense, and a great playoffs! I hope that this kind of season can happen again with refinement of the new sim next season! In addition, I hope that NOLA can return to prominence after a, hopefully, fluky season in sim so that we can finally break through and win our 4th title all time!
RE: (S28) Ultimus Week - ComebackZak - 05-13-2021
2. My draft, the season 26 draft, was a very top-heavy draft. There are quite a few max earners in the draft class and a lot of them happen to be on the defensive side of the ball. On top of this, the entire first round of the season 26 draft was predominantly defense with a huge run on linebackers and defensive ends. Offensively, there were a lot of wide receivers that went in the first two rounds. I’m not exactly sure how this draft specifically stacks up to other drafts but it has produced some very solid players.
Many of the first round draft picks have played three seasons already since being drafted (called up right away) and half of these same first round draft picks are teammates now whether it was through trades or free agency due to options being declined. In fact, the breakdown is as follows:
Berlin Fire Salamanders: 2 (BamBam McMullet and Derek Wildstar)
New York Silverbacks: 2 (Dogwood Maple and Tugg Speedman)
Sarasota Sailfish: 2 (Ernest Lover and Demon Jaxson)
Philadelphia Liberty: 2 (Ryan Negs and Alexander Franklin)
I feel like this is pretty unique to have over half of the first round being teammates on a small margin of teams. The list would have had an additional team but one of the top picks in the draft was forcefully retired due to a multi-account. Speaking of unique instances lets touch on this quickly. So the first wide receiver taken was Arthur Naught, which was surprising to me as a fellow wide receiver in the draft class who was out-earning Naught by a decent margin. The circumstances of the multi-account are not really known and a lot of the comments I’ve seen regarding the user were pretty overwhelmingly positive so it seems like a very unfortunate situation. Despite being a recreate, it’s another reason why this draft is unique in its own way, good or bad.
In addition to Naught, I think it’s safe to say that there was one other bust in the season 26 International Simulation Football League draft and it was safety Moe Skeeter who is still playing in the Developmental Simulation Football League on the Portland Pythons. Both of these picks were in the top 10 (Naught was selected 4th overall by the Yellowknife Wraiths and Skeeter was selected 9th overall by the Arizona Outlaws).
When it comes to this draft I think there are definitely some players who were stills, and I may sound biased but I do think my player Tugg Speedman may be one of the top steals of the draft. Tugg was selected 14th overall, the last pick of the first round) and is currently ranked 4th in TPE for the class and was just nominated for the breakout player of the year award in the ISFL this season. Another player who can be considered a steal from the draft is running back Cobra Kai. Honolulu selected them with the 7th overall pick however Kai is currently miles ahead of anyone else in the class in regard to TPE and has been an extremely productive player offensively for the Hahalua. Another running back can certainly be considered a steal as Mr Forty-Two (now called Botty) was selected with the 19th overall selection and is currently ranked 7th in TPE for the class and has been a nice addition to the New Orleans Second Line offense.Going even further into the draft you have third round selection linebacker Big Slammu (29th overall by Yellowknife Wraiths) currently ranks 11th in the class for TPE as well as fellow third round selection linebacker Chet Larson (31st overall by the Baltimore Hawks) who is currently ranked 16th in the draft class for TPE.
I think there was some phenomenal value found in this draft and I know that drafts aren’t solely based upon TPE as users can certainly contribute in other ways - locker room presence, war room membership, promising new user posts and bank accounts, etc.). I think despite the draft being relatively top heavy with defensive players both TPE-wise and based off of draft position, I think some of the best value to come out of this draft was on the offensive side of the ball.
Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with Hall of Fame players and what stats are required as a baseline to get in and I think 3 seasons (2 seasons for a lot of these players) is not enough time to get a feel for if any of these players will have a good enough career to make the Hall of Fame. I do think any of the players that have played since getting drafted will have a relatively good head start on a noteworthy career due to an extra season up in the ISFL. My hope is that if anyone out of this draft class is a Hall of Famer, it will be Tugg Speedman.
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821 wordsRE: (S28) Ultimus Week - negs - 05-13-2021
2. Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?
In comparison to other classes, I believe that my season 26 draft class has the potential to house multiple hall of famers. At the top of the class, it starts with two dynamic offensive players and two disruptive defenders. First off in our class, we have star running back Cobra Kai who got to the ISFL early with the Honolulu Hahalua. Although he is a running back, Kai showed out in the slot in his rookie season. In his second season, Kai became a dual threat as a runner too emerged as one of the top players in the class. The next two top players are a pair of linebackers in Ernest Lover and Vincent Jones. Both are dual threats who can cover and rush the passer. Lover specifically is elite at getting to the passer and specializes in getting an abundance of sacks. Vincent Jones is more of a do it all linebacker. He is great at rushing the passer, but also can cover the pass and stop the run. The Sarasota Sailfish are fortunate to have Lover who was integral in them winning an Ultimus. On the other hand, Vincent Jones looks like someone who the New Orleans Second Line will build the foundation of their rebuild upon. The next 4 players contain two offensive players and two defensive players. On offense, Tugg Speedman and Ryan Negs are a great up and coming wide receiver and quarterback duo. Speedman was recently traded to the New York Silverbacks while Ryan Negs is now operating as the franchise quarterback for the New York Liberty. Both coming off their rookie seasons, it was exciting to see both of them thrive this year. The next two active players are BamBam McMullet and Dogwood Maple. BamBam is someone who can rush the passer at an elite level and also has an elite render. Dogwood Maple is a Georgia alum like quarterback Ryan Negs who puts out media at a high rate and should have been the ISFL Breakout player of the year this season. A few more notable names from this class are Demon Jaxson, Raphael Decalour, and the Ultimus winning Big Slammu and Leonard Taylor who were integral in the Yellowknife Wraiths win this season. In terms of someone who was an unexpected steal, there were not any super late round steals, but I would argue that Ernest Lover far outperformed his draft position. Many mock drafts pegged Lover as the consensus first overall pick in the ISFL draft to Baltimore, but he ended up falling to the late parts of the first round to the Sarasota Sailfish. As the second best earner in the class, the Sailfish got fantastic value for their first round pick and someone who helped them earn an Ultimus under GM Frost. In terms of Hall of Famers for the class, I really believe that Cobra Kai is destined for the Hall of Fame. On the Hahalua, Kai has carved out a fantastic role as a receiver in the slot as a running back while running back Nick Ayers is the main ball carrier. This will allow Cobra Kai to rack up receiving stats as a running back that will top potential records in the future, while later in his career once he takes over for Ayers he will be able to balloon his rushing statistics as well. Another underrated hall of famer that I believe will come from the season 26 class, although it might be stupid and greedy to sahy, but I believe Ryan Negs has the potential to be a hall of fame quarterback. The only quarterback from the season 26 class, Negs has the potential to be set up for the future on offense while many teams are on the decline. On offense, Negs is surrounded by two max earners at the wide receiver position in Killian Chambers and Tsuyu Asui. At the running back position, Lonnie Jackson and Anders Christensen man an underrated backfield. On the offensive line, Rudy Gray and Alexander Franklin are big pushers on the front lines. Not to mention, a max earning tight end in Borgo San Lorenzo who can block and catch passes. The biggest thing about Negs is that he is one of two quarterbacks with Jackie Daytona that is on the sharp incline for quarterback play. Much of the S22 class is starting regression which will allow Negs and the high powered Philly offense to be at the top of their game when others may be faltering. Not to mention, if all goes well with player retention and earning it looks like Philly is headed towards being Ultimus contenders for a 4-5 plus year window. With these accolades, look for Negs to potentially take over the ISFL as one of the top quarterbacks. While lacking depth, the S26 class is elite at the top and houses potential multiple hall of famers.