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+---- Thread: *A CITY ABLAZE (/showthread.php?tid=49954)
*A CITY ABLAZE - ztarwarz - 03-06-2024
On Sunday afternoon, Sarasota hosted the NSFC Wild Card game in Fishnet Stadium, facing a Yellowknife Wraiths team that they had beaten just the week prior. The game was a sloppy, back and forth affair that saw four total turnovers, nearly 100 yards in penalty yardage for the Wraiths specifically, and a single, solitary decision that overshadowed all of it.
The sold out 75,000 seat stadium was mostly kept quiet in the early part of the game; after an early safety opened the scoring before some had even reached their seats, the Sailfish gave up back to back sacks and immediately fumbled to give the Wraiths a golden opportunity on the 3 yard line. Yellowknife dutifully punched it in after getting stuffed twice, taking a 7-2 lead. The Sailfish were able to cut into that lead on their next possession, driving to the inner edge of legendary kicker Swantavius King's worst range before he split the uprights and cut the lead to 2. Fishnet Stadium began to spring to life towards the end of the 1st quarter; following a 3 and out by the Wraiths, the Sailfish drove down and punched it in off an Ace Anderson run in the waning seconds of the quarter, taking their first lead of the game.
The Wraiths appeared to open their next possession well, with a long return near the 40 yard line, followed by successive long runs to get into Sarasota territory, only for that 2nd run to be undone by a holding penalty. Yellowknife brought it down to a 3rd and 4, but could not convert, giving up a sack to set the tone for the rest of the half for their offense. The Sailfish quickly entered the outskirts of field goal range, gaining 33 yards on a pair of pass plays to their running back, eventually leading to a 4th and 1 on the 32 yard line.
Swantavius King was excellent from every range that wasn't 40-49 yards out, going merely 6-11 on kicks from this makable but difficult range. No kicker in the league missed more from this range than King, and the one player who missed the same number had attempted 7 more kicks. Coach Lane Frost Sr decided against having King try for a 49 yard field goal, and went instead for a run play on this 4th down play. Anderson, who averaged over 5 yards per carry on the day, was unable to gain the full one yard and thus the Sailfish turned the ball over on downs. The Wraiths promptly crossed midfield on the following possession, only for Wide Receiver Jimmy Ryder to commit Unnecessary Roughness and Unsportsmanlike Conduct to bring the ball backwards twice in a 3 play span to end the drive.
The Sailfish and the Wraiths traded punts until there were 5 minutes left in the half, when Sam Mercury caught a 20 yard pass on 3rd and 5 to bring Sarasota back over midfield. After gaining only 7 yards on the next 3 plays, Lane Frost decided to go for it to get into field goal range. Anderson was able to get 2 yards only, leading to the 2nd turnover on downs for the Sailfish in a 3 drive span. Yellowknife was yet again unable to do anything on offense, and the Sailfish ran out the half after a good punt, leading to the Sailfish taking a 5 point lead into the locker room, and getting the ball first to start the 2nd half.
The stadium went quiet to start the 2nd half yet again, as the Sailfish opened their 2nd half with a drive that went backwards, a short punt, and a good return leading the Wraiths to begin their drive over midfield. Yellowknife proceeded to capitalize by putting together a surgical drive with no plays shorter than 4 yard gains en route to a touchdown to Tight End Anthony Simmons II, retaking the lead. Sarasota made some progress on their next possession, but stalled at Yellowknife's 40 yard line, leading to another punt. Sarasota's defense was able to make a splash play to inject some life into their offense immediately afterwards; Jamie Orion picked off Maximus Boudreaux on the 2nd play of the drive to give Sarasota a very short field. It took the Sailfish offense only 2 plays to convert: a 26 yard pass to Johnny Blaze Jr, and a 6 yard touchdown pass to Thomas Robinson. The Sailfish retook the lead, 19-15. Yellowknife could not respond on their next drive, going backwards over 3 plays, leading to a golden opportunity for Sarasota as the 3rd quarter neared its end.
Sarasota's offense was unable to add to their lead, so the defense stood up again. Wide Receiver Tyler Hunt almost lost the ball before coming down with it, only to immediately fumble it into the waiting arms of Cornerback Spruce Willis, giving the Sailfish an immediate red zone possession. It looked like they were going to be unable to capitalize, but on Ace Anderson's 2nd best run of the day, he evaded defenders, broke tackles, and took a 3rd and 3 play that looked like it was going to end in a loss of yardage 12 yards for a touchdown. Now with an 11 point advantage, the Sailfish Defense went back out on the field again. They stopped Yellowknife on 3rd down, but with a 4th and 1 at their own 49 and with barely 10 minutes of game time left, Yellowknife decided to go for it on 4th down themselves, converting with an 18 yard scamper to put them in field goal range. 2 plays later, Jimmy Ryder got behind the defense and scored a 32 yard touchdown to bring it to a single possession game. A 2 yard run on the 2 point conversion by Money Tolliver brought the lead down to 3 with just under 9 minutes to go. Sarasota had been unable to put together any long drives all second half, and this continued after a first and 10 at the 37 ended with a 4th and 21 at the 25. King boomed a punt 51 yards, but his coverage team let him down, letting up a 19 yard return, giving the Wraiths excellent field position to at least tie the game.
Yellowknife did not really take advantage, however. After getting a 1st and 10 at Sarasota's 42 yard line, they committed yet another backbreaking unnecessary roughness penalty, this time by Anthony Simmons II. It took them both 2nd and 3rd down just to bring up 4th and 10 at the 42. This left it all on the foot of Zenzeroni Xystarch II, a position that the Wraiths did not want to be in. Xystarch was the 2nd worst kicker by field goal percentage this season, and went 3/8 from 50+ on field goals. So naturally, Zenzeroni booted the field goal clean through the uprights to tie the game at 26 with 3:30 left in the game.
Then Sarasota's offense woke up. Ace Anderson sprang free for a 26 yard reception on a 2nd and 9 to put Sarasota on the outskirts of field goal range. Then they ran for another 1st down. With just over a minute to go, Willier Miller spiked the ball despite having a timeout left to bring it to a 4th and 2 on the 17. While King was abysmal from 40-49, he was his usual excellent self from every range outside of that, and everyone watching expected the ISFL's record point scorer to all but end the game right then and there. Instead, Willier Miller came out and truly seemed to end the game by completing a 10 yard pass. Now Sarasota could run down the clock and completely end the game with an easy chip shot field goal.
Sarasota spiked the ball, ran for a short gain, then spiked it again to bring up 4th and goal from the 5 with 48 seconds to go. Coach Lane Frost Sr then proceeded to call a play that immediately went down in infamy: "Go for it!"
Willier Miller was unable to connect with Sam Mercury on an inbreaking route, turning the ball over on downs. Immediately the stadium erupted into a chorus of boos. The TV broadcast was more confused than anything, with ten full seconds of silence followed by the color commentator saying "Did we really just see that happen?" Local Radio commentator and Hall of Famer Chizuru Ichinose was much more scathing. "This is why this team hasn't won a damn Ultimus since I retired. They care too much for the production and the feelings of their Quarterbacks over actually winning games!" Current ISFL player Hank Mardukas was quoted as saying "Surely they wouldn't not kick it on fourth down TWICE." And the ISFL Commissioner was only quoted as saying "What the <expletive> happened?"
Lost in the excitement of the moment was the fact that the game was not over; indeed, Yellowknife almost managed to make it into long field goal range before time expired. Sarasota was saved by a sack with 19 seconds to go by Ignatious Cleetington, preventing Yellowknife from crossing midfield and at least making an attempt at a game winning field goal. In Overtime, the Sailfish got the ball first, but Ace Anderson, who all day long had produced for Sarasota and gave them the 11 point lead they had just squandered, was completely out of gas. On the first play of scrimmage after a bad return, Anderson fumbled the ball, Dan Dandrews of the Wraiths came out of the pile with it, and despite not being able to get a 1st down out of the turnover, Xystarch was able to kick a 22 yard field goal to end the game.
Pandemonium ensued immediately. Bottles were thrown at the Sailfish sideline, multiple people jumped onto the field, and a photo of Swantavius King yelling at his coach in disbelief went viral on social media. But this was just the prelude. An hour and a half later, as the second game of the day was in progress, a fire broke out on the south side of the stadium. Reportedly set by a particularly irate bettor who was set to win over a million dollars with the entry of the Sailfish into the conference championship game, the conflagration soon spread out of control due to the large amount of spilt alcohol on the premises during the closing minutes of the game. Much of the plastic seats melted from the intense heat, and the lower concourse cracked in multiple areas. According to longtime owner Ken Griffen, the damage has "completely ruined Fishnet Stadium as a sporting arena for at least the next few years without significant public investment".
In an unconnected incident, an unidentified group of young adults broke into the Sarasota home locker room and spray painted arrows pointing towards King's locker.
The riot was only just beginning; among the tailgaters outside, a pile of jerseys was set on fire, with many onlookers joining in and tossing their own jerseys onto the pile. Multiple cars were turned over, and while police arrived on the scene in a somewhat prompt manner, they were unable to truly rein in the crowd. It spilled out of the parking lot and into Sarasota proper. The riot included several more impromptu uniform bonfires, numerous cases of people climbing up streetlights, overturned cars, and a couple hour long sessions in which people tried to make field goals from 20 yards out.
As is, the Sailfish begin their offseason earlier than they hoped, or indeed, probably expected after winning their final 3 games, and 6 of their last 8. They now lack both a stadium to play in, and a first round pick in the upcoming draft. Their longtime stalwarts on offense in Willier Miller and Johnny Blaze Jr are exiting their prime, and while Blaze might be replaced satisfactorily by Sam Mercury, Miller is currently without replacement. Thomas Robinson, a decent WR3 who came on for a possible title run, is retiring. More pertinently, nobody wants Lane Frost Sr to coach the team again; it took less than 4 hours for him to be fired after the Sailfish were eliminated. The Sailfish are going to have a long offseason with plenty of questions and a lot of logistical problems to fix before next season begins. And as for Sarasota, the city still bears the scars from Monday Night. Those scars may remain for years.
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - infinitempg - 03-06-2024
![[Image: SN3AD1g.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SN3AD1g.png)
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - ztarwarz - 03-06-2024
(03-06-2024, 11:58 AM)infinitempg Wrote:Makes me wonder what the worst of the anti-Surrender Index would look like. The "Aggressor Index".
also I'm not sure I've seen 15% before on any of these, it feels like they usually top out at 10%.
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - Pat - 03-06-2024
(03-06-2024, 11:58 AM)infinitempg Wrote:
I know it's not the most important piece of data in this screenshot, but a FG attempt from the opponent's 5 yard line having under a 98% success chance just seems insane.
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - JJ5 - 03-07-2024
(03-06-2024, 04:28 PM)Pat Wrote:1/50 seems somewhat realistic?(03-06-2024, 11:58 AM)infinitempg Wrote:
I know it's not the most important piece of data in this screenshot, but a FG attempt from the opponent's 5 yard line having under a 98% success chance just seems insane.
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - Pat - 03-07-2024
(03-07-2024, 02:26 PM)JJ5 Wrote:(03-06-2024, 04:28 PM)Pat Wrote:1/50 seems somewhat realistic?(03-06-2024, 11:58 AM)infinitempg Wrote:
I know it's not the most important piece of data in this screenshot, but a FG attempt from the opponent's 5 yard line having under a 98% success chance just seems insane.
You know I went and looked at NFL kicking stats from 2023, and it looks like as a whole, the league went 239/243 from 20-29 yards out, which is 98.3%. I am honestly kind of astounded at how close it is to 1/50. Color me shocked.
RE: A CITY ABLAZE - JJ5 - 03-08-2024
(03-07-2024, 03:53 PM)Pat Wrote:and they said the sim was unrealistic(03-07-2024, 02:26 PM)JJ5 Wrote:(03-06-2024, 04:28 PM)Pat Wrote:1/50 seems somewhat realistic?(03-06-2024, 11:58 AM)infinitempg Wrote:
I know it's not the most important piece of data in this screenshot, but a FG attempt from the opponent's 5 yard line having under a 98% success chance just seems insane.
You know I went and looked at NFL kicking stats from 2023, and it looks like as a whole, the league went 239/243 from 20-29 yards out, which is 98.3%. I am honestly kind of astounded at how close it is to 1/50. Color me shocked.