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+---- Thread: *Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most (/showthread.php?tid=34356)
*Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most - SouljaBoy2007 - 08-20-2021
Pain. Pain is one of the key aspects of sports. Players feel pain when they’re pushing themselves to their physical limit. But there are other types of pain. Emotional pain is felt by fan bases across all sports. Fans of teams like the Timberwolves and Mariners know nothing but disappointment. The ISFL is a league of considerable parity, but today I am going to search for the team whose fans and players have suffered the most across the 30 season history of the league.
NON-CONTENDERS
Before we can jump into the worst of the worst, let's look at the teams who have rarely suffered and how they got to that point.
Orange County Otters
Orange County has had a dynasty since the league began and there is no question about it. They won their first Ultimus in season 4 and they won their 3rd in season 6. Led by heroes such as Mike Boss, the Orange County Otters have appeared in 10 championship games and won 8 of them. This doubles the wins of any other franchise. Incredibly, the Otters have also never gone below .500 in a season, with their worst season coming in 2025 when they went 7-7. The Otters also have 12 Hall of Famers, tied for first, demonstrating the immense individual success that comes with playing for a dynasty. The consistent talent the Otters have had is a combination of both luck and incredible GM work. If you are a fan of the Otters, you have never had to experience a bad team.
Worst Otters team ever: The 2025 Otters went 7-7 and somehow walked backwards into a playoff spot where they played a disgusting 10-3 game that featured 19 punts. The 2025 Otters had just lost Mike Boss and were led by a future hall of famer in his rookie year, Gus T.T Showbiz. They also had lost star running back Jordan Yates, with rookie Ricky Adams. Neither of the rookies was terrible, with Showbiz throwing 13 TDs to just 8 INTs in a league that can eat rookie QBs alive while Adams rushed for 1000 yards on just under 4 yards per carry. The GMs of the Otters recognized that it was a rebuilding year, as they traded their superstar receiver Carlito Crush at the deadline. It says a lot about a team when their “rebuilding year” gets them within one score of the championship.
Arizona Outlaws
The Outlaws are an interesting team to cover because despite their hot start, winning the first 3 championships led by King Bronko, they haven’t really been great since then. Arizona is tied for second in Ultimus wins with 4. Impressively, they’re undefeated in the big game. The Outlaws have won more games than they’ve lost and have consistently been a force in the 16 game era, with a 67.3% win percentage across 7 seasons. The Arizona Outlaws dodged the pain train.
Worst Outlaws team ever: The 2029 Outlaws were god-awful. They had just lost their QB and Andrew Reese was forced to switch positions to fill the hole. He struggled as expected and the Outlaws suffered. RB Slim Shady was ran into the ground, leading the league in carries and rushing yards. This one-dimensional offense allowed the Outlaws to be the only team in the league to score under 300 points, with 224. Fortunately for Arizona, they got the 1st overall pick in an absolutely loaded draft class and picked up the stars that would help them win an Ultimus just 2 seasons removed from this disaster.
Yellowknife Wraiths
Yellowknife was one of the inaugural teams in the ISFL and has been historically excellent. Dermot Lavelle, easily the greatest defensive player in league history, gave them many incredible seasons. He is just one of their many hall of famers, which you would expect from a franchise holding a win percentage near .600. Postseason success has not eluded the Wraiths, as they have the same championship record as LeBron at 4-6. While a losing record in the championship is not desired, you can’t complain about 10 appearances if you’re a fan.
Worst Wraiths team ever: From 2026 to 2028, the Yellowknife Wraiths struggled mightily, winning just 11 games across 3 seasons. 2027 being the worst of the 3, with the Wraiths finishing a dismal 3-11. Unlike the first two teams I discussed, the Wraiths' problems did not lie on the offensive side. RB Dick Wizardry finished at the top of the league in several statistics and QB Ryan Applehort had a respectable 18/8 TD/INT ratio. Their defense, however, forced just 11 turnovers all year. Every other team had at least 20. It took them a couple seasons but the Wraiths were able to pick up the pieces and become respectable again.
Sarasota Sailfish
Sarasota hasn’t been around for very long, just 9 seasons, but they’ve used those 9 seasons to make some serious noise. They haven’t had a losing record since their inaugural season, a season where they made the playoffs, and their win percentage sits comfortably over .600. The Sailfish are on a breakneck pace and at the time of my writing this they sit at 9-5 and look to make it back to the playoffs. They’ve already won an Ultimus trophy and it seems as though more are in their future.
Worst Sailfish team ever: The 2038 Sailfish is the only team in their history ever to miss the playoffs. They were a respectable 8-8 in a crowded NSFC. There wasn’t much more the Sailfish could’ve done, they beat every bad team they played. Like the Otters, it says a lot about a franchise if their worst season is a respectable .500 year.
Berlin Fire Salamanders and New York Silverbacks
Neither one of these teams has been around long enough to really be bad. They both have historic records over .500 and both of them have appeared in an Ultimus. For two teams that were established just 6 seasons ago, that is an incredible start. The Fire Salamanders branding is also too cool for the team to be bad, so they’re permanently safe from feeling any pain. Maybe in 10 seasons one or both of these teams will completely suck, but for now they’re allowed to be fun new expansion teams.
Worst Silverbacks/Fire Salamanders teams ever: Both of these teams were god awful in their expansion year, with the Silverbacks and Fire Salamanders going 4-12 and 3-13 respectively. This is to be expected from teams that don’t really have a franchise QB and are full of young talent. Nick Kaepercolin led the league in interceptions for the Fire Salamanders while the Silverbacks went 0-8 on the road.
Honolulu Hahalua
The Hahalua barely made it to safety, as they have struggled so far compared to their counterparts in the Sailfish. As one of two teams never to make an Ultimus, they are in a select group of teams that has not had postseason success. The Hahalua still have time to turn it around, as it is not uncommon for expansion teams to struggle when they’re first implemented. They have good GMs and with a massive draft class likely waiting in the wings, they have the ability to change their fortunes.
Worst Hahalua team ever: The Hahalua had a rough start to their time in the league, with a 4-9 season in their inaugural year. Corvo Havran threw just 8 TDs to 9 INTs and the Hahalua scored just 194 points. Their defense was slightly more respectable, finishing 9th in points allowed instead of 11th. The Hahalua were the worst in their conference but were far from the worst team in the league. Part of why Hahalua scraped into this segment is because their floor was a young team with a lot of potential, and we are yet to see their ceiling.
That concludes the first segment of this article. All of these teams have avoided suffering, won championships or are on the way to, and have had great players shuffle through their rosters throughout the seasons. Now it’s time to look at the sad teams, the teams who haven’t won, the teams who have been miserable for 10, 15, maybe even 30 seasons. If you’re a fan of one of the upcoming teams I apologize.
INCONSISTENT TEAMS
Some teams have had success, but have not avoided some horrible seasons. In this segment we’re going to examine the teams who have either been able to temporarily put it together before collapsing or have built themselves up from being a laughingstock.
Austin Copperheads
The Austin Copperheads were added in the wake of a massive draft class in 2031. Since then, they’ve appeared in 3 championship games, winning one of them. But it wasn’t always that easy for the Copperheads. It took them 5 years to have their first winning season, but that winning season was magical. The first time the Copperheads went over .500 was also the first time they won an Ultimus. Since then, they’ve been relatively mediocre but they’ve avoided the embarrassment of being the worst in the league. The Copperheads are consistently fighting for playoff spots in a tough conference and their fans should take pride in that.
Worst Copperheads team ever: If you haven’t noticed a theme yet, it’s that expansion teams tend to suck. Consistent with this, the expansion year Copperheads might be one of the least competitive teams ever fielded in this league. They didn’t win a game all year, were the only team to score less than 200 points, and allowed the most points in the league. Austin was a team full of young players getting absolutely embarrassed, as they allowed 40 points more times than they had a final score within 8 points. They also lost 52-10 and 55-0 in the same season. The fact that they dragged themselves to an Ultimus after this horrific season is a testament to their GMs and the work of their players.
Baltimore Hawks
The Baltimore Hawks are a funny team to look at. Historically they’ve been very good, great even, but very rarely have they put it together in the playoffs and especially in the Ultimus. With a 2-6 record in the championship game, there has been a lot of disappointment for Hawks fans. The Baltimore Hawks have had an obscene amount of good players, great players, great seasons, and everything else that could be positive for a football team. It’s just that they have had the potential to compete with the Otters dynasty and they were never able to consistently put it together.
Worst Hawks playoff moment: The 2029 Baltimore Hawks were absolutely incredible, boasting a stacked offense and a fearsome defense. Childish Gambino, Marquise Brown, and Vinny Valentine might’ve been the best offensive trio in the league. They steamrolled their way to the top of the NSFC standings and home field advantage in the playoffs. In week 14 of the season, they played the Philadelphia Liberty and beat them by 35 points. Funnily enough, they matched up with them again in the NSFC championship at home. To open the 4th quarter, Gambino hit Viggo Squanch to give the Hawks a 2 score lead. The Liberty kicked a field goal to pull within 8, but all the Hawks needed to do was get a first down with the best offense in the league. They proceeded to go 3 and out. The Liberty won the game. This sequence might be the only reason the Hawks fell to this portion of the list.
Worst Hawks team ever: I originally wasn’t going to do this segment for the Hawks, but in my research for another team I stumbled across what may be the very worst a team has ever done in one season. The 2042 Baltimore Hawks scored 218 points in a 16 game season. The Sabercats had 2 players rush for more yards than their leading rusher. Scoring 218 points in a season is bad but it has happened and there are a variety of reasons why. Allowing 618 points has never happened and it’s hard to imagine how it could happen. The 2041 Hawks weren’t terrible and their defense allowed 406 points, good for 10th in the league. The 2042 Hawks allowed 38.6 points per game. From week 11 to week 15, not a single one of their opponents scored less than 40 points. There is no good explanation for why this happened and I am not even going to try to come up with one. 618 points.
Philadelphia Liberty
The Liberty have had some rough stuff happen to them. Sitting within striking distance of .500, the Liberty have often been respectable and competitive. Really only a couple things hold them back in terms of fan disappointment. After their first Ultimus win, they proceeded to go another 6 years without another playoff win, with a winless season right in the middle. They also had one of the most heartbreaking moments in ISFL history happen to them with a championship on the line. In 2031, the Liberty barely squeaked into the playoffs at 7-6 and surprisingly made the Ultimus against another Cinderella team in the Arizona Outlaws. They allowed a go-ahead touchdown with 1:30 remaining and needed a miracle. Their miracle happened on the last play of the game, with their runningback breaking off a screen pass inside the Arizona 5 yard line, before being chased down as time expired. For a Philadelphia fan, this had to have been soul-crushing.
Worst Liberty team ever: The 2025 Liberty were winless. They scored 100 points less than everybody else. As a team, they had ONE individual passing touchdown in 14 games. They scored 14 touchdowns all season. As the icing on the cake, the Liberty were on the wrong end of the most lopsided beatdown in ISFL history, a 68-7 evisceration by the Baltimore Hawks. It was rough.
New Orleans Second Line
New Orleans being in the middle segment of this list and not the last segment is a testament to the incredible work done by their GMs over the years. The team was created in the wake of a huge scandal involving the now defunct Las Vegas Legion. For the first 6 years of this team's (LVL and NOLA) existence they failed to win even 5 games. Through excellent work by GM Bovo, they quickly turned from horrible to contenders, rattling off 4 straight winning seasons. Unfortunately for NOLA fans, those 4 great seasons preceded a 7 year playoff drought. NOLA is a strange team, one that goes from completely horrific to completely incredible for seasons at a time.
Worst Second Line ever: The 2020 Second Line were a team that just couldn’t win close games. Unlike a lot of teams that win 1 game in a season, they played in their fair share of one or two score games. They even beat an 8-6 SJS team! Led by Logan Noble’s 21 interceptions, the Second Line/Legion had the second worst scoring offense in the league. Defensively, the Legion seemed to employ a break but also break strategy, allowing 453 points in 14 games. This season could not have been fun for a NOLA fan.
San Jose Sabercats
The San Jose Sabercats are a lot like the Baltimore Hawks. They’ve had some great teams, but for a long time they came up short in the playoffs. 10 win teams, 11 win teams, even 12 win teams all came up short when it mattered. Recently, San Jose put it all together and won back to back titles with a young, hungry team. Since then, they have failed to even reach the playoffs with those young players in their prime.
Saddest Sabercats moment: In 2041, fresh off of their 2nd straight championship, the Sabercats needed to win out to have a chance at the playoffs. This was no big deal. Last year’s Sabercats won the championship at 9-7 and they were in a prime position to do it again. Sitting at 7-7 going into their last 2 games, they had to beat a 2-12 Hahalua team and then a 9-6 Copperheads team. They won the hard one and lost the easy one. With a 37-23 lead and all of the momentum at the start of the 4th quarter, they allowed the Hahalua to score in 2 minutes. 65 seconds later, Monty Jack threw a pick six allowing the Hahalua to tie it. This was not their worst mistake of the game. In overtime they drove all the way down to the opponent’s 38 before punting on a 4th and 2. This punt has a surrender index of 292. Their kicker had made a 65 yarder that season. There is no excuse for a decision this cowardly and it rightfully cost the Sabercats their season.
This concludes the segment of this article talking about inconsistent teams and teams who have faltered in the playoffs. It’s time to get into the real heavy hitters. If your team is in this segment of the article, I apologize and offer you my deepest condolences.
NOTHING BUT SADNESS
Chicago Butchers
The Chicago Butchers were introduced as an expansion team at the same time as the Austin Copperheads. Since that time, they have the lowest win percentage of any team and have never appeared in the championship game. They started out hot, with a win now expansion draft strategy, winning 10 games and winning the first playoff game in team history. Since then, they have not won a playoff game. The Butchers seem to sit in the 3-5 win range all too often, never being bad enough to get the first overall pick. The Chicago Butchers are the Bengals of the ISFL. Something about Ohio teams.
Worst Butchers team ever: The 2039 Chicago Butchers won 1 game. A 9-5 snoozefest vs. an expansion team that featured more safeties than touchdowns. I think the manner of this win combined with their 1-7 start to the season caused the management to realize that a true rebuild was in order, so they dealt their starting QB Rose Jenkins to the Sarasota Sailfish. This decision would not be a bad one, if not for the fact that they did not have a backup ready. They called up the best free agent available. A man named Frankie LaFleur. LaFleur never threw a TD in 5 starts. His best game of the entire season featured a 51 passer rating, and his second best game featured 3 interceptions and 30 incompletions. The Butchers finished the season averaging 8.5 points per game. Their 111 points scored was less than half of 8 of the teams total numbers. The Kickers for OCO and Yellowknife both single-handedly outscored the Butchers. I can’t imagine what the locker room for this team was like.
Colorado Yeti
I love the Colorado Yeti. They are the ISFLs Cleveland Browns. All everyone wants is for the Yeti to succeed. They just can’t. The Yeti were one of the league’s first teams, being introduced in 2016 along with Arizona, SJS, OCO, Yellowknife, and Baltimore. It took them until 2037 to win their first championship. Wolfie McDummy’s go-ahead TD pass with 38 seconds left to win the Ultimus was a cathartic moment for Yeti fans everywhere. There was no championship drought, there was no 0-28, no 20+ INT seasons, no worst record in the league, there was just bliss. David had beat Goliath. But like any cathartic moment there needed to be pain to be released, and the Yeti have no shortage of that. Their winning percentage sits below .400 and for a long time over one third of their seasons ended in 10+ losses. Loyal fan-favorite Micycle McCormick had a .307 win percentage while on the Yeti. Maybe all of the sadness was worth it for that one magical moment, but who am I to judge. Since that moment, there have been some great Yeti teams that have come up short, with back to back 13+ win Yeti teams losing in the Ultimus to 9-7 SJS, but compared to what came before these disappointments are a breath of fresh air for the Colorado Yeti. I’m glad that they got their trophy.
Worst Yeti team ever: This was hard to choose. There have been some absolutely atrocious Yeti teams fielded over the years but in the end I had to go with the 2022 Yeti. Coming off a less-than-optimal 0-14 performance the season prior, the Yeti seemed to have nowhere to go but up. They forgot that they could hold steady. Led by Ryan Applehort’s 4/21 TD/INT ratio, the Yeti went 0-14 again. They allowed Mike Boss to throw 7 TDs in a game. They scored just under 10 points/game. But the saddest part of the entire season comes when you take a closer look at the final scores of their games. Only one time all season did they have a game finish within 1 score and they had to fight like hell to get that close. Facing off against a SJS unit that would finish 5-9, Ryan Applehort threw a TD with 33 seconds left to pull within 3 points. The Yeti then got a facemask penalty on the onside kick and did not touch the ball again. The Colorado Yeti have had just about everything bad happen to them, and they continue to fight through it.
In the end, every team goes through its own trials and tribulations, whether they’re private disagreements in the locker room or just bad performances in front of everyone on the football field. It is how teams persevere and keep pushing through the pain and how fans continue to stay loyal that makes this league what it is. I’m grateful for the Yeti’s struggles and also for the Otters lack thereof. Sports are nothing without hardship and it’s important for teams to face it.
RE: Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most - Net - 08-20-2021
All this when they could've drafted Oliver Sloan smh
RE: Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most - WildfireMicro - 08-21-2021
"Bengals of the ISFL"
At least the Bengals got to the Superbowl. Twice in the 80s actually
I'd say they are more like the Lions who have only had *1 playoff win* in the SB era
RE: Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most - infinitempg - 08-21-2021
(08-20-2021, 05:52 PM)SouljaBoy2007 Wrote: Maybe all of the sadness was worth it for that one magical moment
worth it
RE: Pain: A Look Into Which Franchise Has Suffered the Most - SouljaBoy2007 - 08-21-2021
(08-21-2021, 06:50 PM)WildfireMicro Wrote: "Bengals of the ISFL"This is a way better comparison. The Lions really are that bad.
At least the Bengals got to the Superbowl. Twice in the 80s actually
I'd say they are more like the Lions who have only had *1 playoff win* in the SB era