International Simulation Football League
*Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - Printable Version

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*Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - jreed12 - 04-08-2024

50/50 @griis @jreed12


A new season means a new assault on the eyes—in the annual ritual of aesthetic sacrilege, ISFL team members work tirelessly to design the most garish and outlandish fields and uniforms possible in the league’s Color Rush tradition! Half of the teams play their host in Week 8, and the other half will don their colors in Week 11.

Grading Rubric! Commitment to Unbiased Journalism!

In an effort to eschew bias in our fine publication, the ISFL Weekly Mirror uses a calculated formula of quantitative aesthetic metrics. We are only grading the field on how it looks—any inside jokes, sappy references to bygone players, blah blah blah we don’t care. To keep a level metaphorical playing field, we will be ranking the literal playing fields purely on aesthetics and cleverness, and assigning a letter grade. Let’s jump in:


Austin Copperheads
[Image: bWbVTbx.png]
In an ode to Evel Kinevel, or maybe Top Gun (?), the slippery serpents from ATX ditched the snek and took a very minimalist approach, using a patriotic-looking end zone and a pared-down king cobra logo, the latter of which made very tasteful use of negative space. The colors on the field pair nicely, and the fonts and shapes in the end zone are extremely clean. These graphic elements look like they might be painted on the side of a fighter jet or a wicked motorbike, which is probably what elicited the pop culture references. It’s not overwhelmingly creative, nor does it take many risks, but sometimes, less is more. Grade: B+


Arizona Outlaws
[Image: XK0bEhY.png]
*Gagging noises* *Vomiting noises* *Coughing* *More vomiting* *Dry heaving* *Coughing* *More dry heaving* *Sobbing softly into the toilet bowl at 4 in the morning and regretting all of life’s choices that led you to this very instant*

Get this unholy shitstorm of a field out of our sight. There is not a single saving grace to this trainwreck of a field. This design is absolutely disgusting, sickening, and completely self-indulgent and overblown. It is offensive to the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth in every sense of the imagination and ought to be purged from the earth and the memories of every poor soul who had the indecency to have its pallor cast upon their eyes on game day. Even the center of Dante’s inferno could not conjure as hellish of a punishment as having to witness this monstrosity another time. Grade: F–


Honolulu Hahalua
[Image: NYByBGs.png]
In a twist of soothsaying (or self awareness?) the Hahalua donned the drapes of the “Tankalulu” theme once again for S47, ironically procuring their first WIN of the season after a thrilling late-game rally. Tankin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo has the same neat tank logo from yesteryear, along with a pleasant ocean-blue background and a fish tank display that harkens to the Hawaiian islands. In a nice touch of detail, they also sprinkled Hahalua players around the field, including the Mirror’s very own Leo Simon Schwartz in the castle. The Hahalua’s black jerseys were also a rare, unconventional choice—but in a smarting twist of fate ended up looking the part for Yellowknife’s funeral. However, the end zone leaves something to be inspired, and this detracted from the overall design. Grade: A–


Orange County Otters
[Image: rqBk3Ee.png]
The Otters took a more slimmed down approach, similar to the Copperheads, a stark contrast from the offensively overwhelming otter poop snake that donned their field in S46. Based on aesthetics alone, the end zone leaves something to be desired, but the fonts are a neat nod to the wild west and perhaps an old gambling hall (though we aren’t sure how many of those there are in OCO). The cards in the center of the field are an excellent design touch, and the silhouette otter logo was one of the best “unique” logos on the day. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an ace in the hole for the Otters’ actual play against the Butchers on Monday night. Playing it safe was the right call, but there was definitely a bit of room for improvement. Grade: B–


San Jose Sabercats
[Image: Lkyeh0T.png]
Now THIS is clever. The SaberBats played an ode to a bygone era, when a particular Bay Area team-that-shall-not-be-named shared a stadium with a real life NFL team, and they would often play football games in September with the dirt of the infield still uncovered. The glowing blue on the bats and the font are a nice touch as well, and the end zone looks nice as well—although the Weekly Mirror is unsure if sabertooth tigers really had stripes.

Up yours, John Fisher! Grade: A


New York Silverbacks
[Image: mQXyvpQ.png]
Automatic half-off points for Comic Sans. However, the Ape-Ril Fools is a clever and timely pun. The graphics are a little disjointed, but entertaining nonetheless, and the jocular artwork elicits a circus-inspired design. The color scheme is interesting, but not terribly cohesive nor what comes to mind when you think of New York City. The little emojis at the 25-yard lines are quite entertaining, however, and reminded the ISFL Weekly Mirror of OUR reaction after NYS won five games in a row at the end of last season just to miss the playoffs. Grade: C


New Orleans Second Line
[Image: pSrCW98.png]
Once again, the ISFL Weekly Mirror will be grading merely on aesthetics and cleverness, not on meme potential. From an aesthetic standpoint, the color scheme is pretty nice, and the center-field logo has a unique aesthetic. The fonts feel very Spartan/mythical in both the end zone and the center-field logo. The shade of blue on the field is also a nice touch. The end zone is a little hard to read, and the music notes are a bit frustratingly off-center, but otherwise this is a decent field with some clever components. Play a doot for how the Salamanders sold that game. Grade: B–


Winner of the night: San Jose Sabercats
Loser of the night: Arizona Outlaws
Most creative honorable mention: Honolulu Hahalua

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - lemonoppy - 04-08-2024

F- is fair

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - UptownCord - 04-08-2024

SaberBats has been used this many times to be graded this highly

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - jreed12 - 04-08-2024

(04-08-2024, 08:54 PM)UptownCord Wrote: SaberBats has been used this many times to be graded this highly
Sorry that's what you get from the uninformed opinions unbiased journalism of some S46 creates

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - ztarwarz - 04-08-2024

If I remember Thor right, the reason the SaberBats were used at all was because San Jose was late in submitting their actual field.

The Outlaws field is REALLY clever for a couple reasons, from the asterisks with one lower down due to it having much less of one, to the Faith Train and boarding pass references, and even arguably the malicious compliance of people telling Arizona to change their field so often.

Being so clever, however, does not make it any easier to look at. I’d love the idea for the design a lot more than looking at it, though it might be a little funny if they win another Ultimus and then proceed to add one trophy and change absolutely nothing else about the field.

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - omg - 04-09-2024

F- was generous for Arizona.

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - OrbitingDeath - 04-09-2024

SUCH DISRESPECT FOR AUSTIN'S GI JOE THEMED FIELD. HOW DID THE WEEKLY MIRROR NOT SEE THIS REFERENCE?

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - jreed12 - 04-09-2024

(04-09-2024, 06:45 AM)OrbitingDeath Wrote: SUCH DISRESPECT FOR AUSTIN'S GI JOE THEMED FIELD. HOW DID THE WEEKLY MIRROR NOT SEE THIS REFERENCE?
Ohhhh *face palm*

RE: Weekly Mirror Special: Color Rush Roundup, Part 1! - UptownCord - 04-09-2024

(04-09-2024, 06:45 AM)OrbitingDeath Wrote: SUCH DISRESPECT FOR AUSTIN'S GI JOE THEMED FIELD. HOW DID THE WEEKLY MIRROR NOT SEE THIS REFERENCE?

GI Joe Kortesi