05-06-2023, 12:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-08-2023, 10:46 AM by xenosthelegend. Edited 4 times in total.)
Most of the ASFC has losing records all time. Part of this is due to the dominance of the Otters for the first half of the league's history, but there is one other team who I'm pretty sure does not have a losing record all time. The Outlaws are an interesting team, with what is probably the single biggest scandal in ISFL history, at least in terms of benefitting a team's success, the best record in the Ultimus of any team in the league (not counting the team who's only been to one Ultimus), and the most recent dynasty in ISFL history, let's look back through the history of the team and see how they performed.
S10: 4-10
The Outlaws record over this decade was 79-61, for a 56.4% win rate. They also had a 6-3 record in the playoffs for the decade. All of these stats are going to need asterisks next to them, due to the Er Multi scandal. That said, even after the multis, the team didn't fall apart until S7. After S7, they did not have a record better than 5-9 for the rest of the decade, almost wiping away stats like their 3 straight seasons with 12 or more wins in a 14 game season, their 3 Ultimus trophies, tied with the Otters for the most in this decade, and their 6 playoff berths. That being said, I don't think the Multi scandal has any bearing on the personal awards from any player, except for the personal failings that led to what would probably be considered one of the best defensive players ever in Jayce Tuck to not even be a Hall of Famer due to the actions of his user.
S18: 9-4 (1-1 in Playoffs)
S19: 5-8
S20: 7-6
The Outlaws record over this period was 63-72, for a 46.7% win rate. Funnily enough, during the last 2 seasons the Outlaws tied the record for the last spot of the playoffs, and lost the tiebreaker both times. Overall, they went 4-2 in the playoffs for this period, won a couple more DPOYs to bring their total to 5 over the first 20 seasons, and won their 4th Ultimus in their 4th time going to the title game. That being said, there was a full decade between the last Outlaws season over .500 and their Ultimus Winning 7-6 season in S16. With a second half of the decade being far better than the first half, it would be hard to claim that the Outlaws weren't on the upswing at this point. So, how did that transfer to the S21 through 30 decade?
S21: 3-10
S22: 4-8-1
S23: 8-8 (Jay Cue wins OPOY, Galf Wilf wins DPOY)
S24: 9-7 (missed playoffs due to dumb sim reasons)
S25: 9-7 (Galf Wilf wins DPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S26: 9-7 (Jay Cue wins OPOY)
S27: 11-5 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S28: 12-4 (Tatsu Nakamura wins MVP) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S29: 11-5 (Tatsu Nakamura wins OPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S30: 14-2 (Charlemagne Cortez wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs, 5th Ultimus berth)
The Outlaws this decade were one more extremely dumb playoff upset from pulling a much worse version of what the Copperheads pulled off between S31 and S40. They went 90-63-1, for a 58.8% win rate. Twice, they missed the playoffs at a 9-7 record, one time in a fashion that was a lesser version of the 5 team pileup in S26, and the other time as the already eliminated team that helped make the 9-7 pileup of S26 even funnier. They did not have a single non-winning record from S24 onward, and lost 4 straight playoff games while heavily favored. They'd finally uncork the bottle 12 seasons after their last playoff victory to make it to the Ultimus, only to get upset again for a 1-5 playoff record overall. They had probably the second best award haul of any team over the decade as well, with two MVPs, two DPOYs, and three OPOYs. And yet, they won 0 Ultimus titles. In the words of the longtime GM of the Outlaws during this period, the team had "A playoff record that indicates I spend most of my time putting my shoes on the table before I walk under a ladder to smash a mirror." Most franchises who won an Ultimus during this decade were worse, if not far worse over the course of the decade.
S31: 9-7 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S32: 12-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S33: 12-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S34: 10-5-1 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S35: 13-3 (Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Jay Cue Jr wins OPOY) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S36: 9-7 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S37: 11-5 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP, Wendell Sailor wins OPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 6th Ultimus berth and 5th win)
S38: 13-3 (Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Mark Goodhead wins DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 7th Ultimus berth and 6th win)
S39: 11-5 (1-1 in Playoffs, 8th Ultimus berth)
S40: 14-2 (2-0 in Playoffs, 9th Ultimus berth and 7th win)
During this 10 year period, the Outlaws had a record of 114-45-1, for a 71.7% win rate. They won 3 Ultimus and went to a 4th, they won 5 straight MVPs and 3 other POY awards, they had a 10-7 playoff record, and they completely changed what I was thinking of talking about for this section. Going into this, I thought I was going to be debating with myself whether this was a better or worse decade than either of the first 2 decades for the Otters. Looking at this, I don't really think there's a debate. This decade has more MVPs than the Otters' first decade, and has a significantly better win rate than the second decade. If the first decade and second decade were the Otters', and the third decade was the Wraiths', there's absolutely no question that the 4th and most recent decade was the Arizona Outlaws. Currently, the Outlaws are on a 14 season streak of Playoff berths, a 17 season streak of winning records, an 18 year streak of at least .500 records, and an actual debate as to whether the Otters have been dethroned in my mind. Specifically, that 17 year streak of winning records is actually the longest in league history; the previous longest streak was the Otters from S11 through S26. So how exactly do they end up?
All Time Record: 346-241-2 (58.9% win rate)
Playoff Record: 15-14 (51.7% win rate)
Ultimus Record: 7-2
Playoff Berths: 24 over 40 seasons, 60%
Hall of Famers: 15 (Swagsloth, Crunk, Zwhiz [prior 3 as GMs], King Bronko, Harrif Ernston, Reg Mackworthy, Jaylon Lee, Dean Jackson, Raymond Vans, Galf Wilf, Saba Donut, Jay Cue, Tatsu Nakamura, Taro Raimon, Chuck Roth)
Major Award Wins: 9 MVP, 5 OPOYs, 9 DPOYs (note, 2 MVPs and DPOYs are for the same 2 seasons)
Best Team Period: S37-S40 (4 playoff berths, 4 Ultimus Appearances, 3 titles, 2 MVPs, 1 OPOY, 1 DPOYs, 49-15 record over 4 seasons, 76.6% win rate)
Worst Team Period: S7-S10 (17-39 record over 4 seasons, 1 Playoff berth, 30.4% win rate)
That Hall of Fame stat is far lower than it actually is; besides Jayce Tuck who is absent for user reasons and not play reasons, besides a certain former Outlaws QB who I think belongs in the Hall but currently isn't, there are at least 4 people who are getting into the Hall as Outlaws the moment voting starts on them: Kotasa and simo as GMs, and Jay Cue Jr and Wendell Sailor as players. There are probably others, those are just the 4 that there should be absolutely no argument whether or not they're destined for the Hall.
Honestly, with all the numbers on the table, I can't tell which team I have better all time between the Outlaws and Otters. I don't think any other team will compare to them, though I may be wrong there. But between the two, I think it's just a question of preference. Do you prefer the Otters' 5 more playoff berths, or the Outlaws' 1% better win rate? Do you like the currently higher Hall of Fame count for the Otters, or do you like the larger Award haul for the Outlaws? What's better, the 8-3 Otters Ultimus record, or the 7-2 Outlaws record? How hard do you punish the Outlaws for Er Multis? How much less valuable are the Otters' 8 wins with all of them coming before the league had expanded past 10, or 5 of their wins coming with an 8 team league? Do you prefer the Otters' longer domination of the league from S4-S19, or the Outlaws' shorter but more dominant period from S27 through 40? Is Mike Boss with an assist from Franklin Armstrong better than Wendell Sailor as the best player in the ISFL's history?
As a former Outlaw, it is difficult for me to claim to be unbiased. But at the very least I think I can say that both the Outlaws and the Otters have really good arguments to be the best franchise in the history of the ISFL.
I believe that there are two teams from the NSFC who can possibly claim the title of greatest franchise in the ISFL's history, and I don't think either have anywhere near as good of a claim as either the Otters or Outlaws. Funnily enough I'm going to cover both of them in the next two articles.
That being said, I'm going to do preliminary rankings for just the ASFC here.
1/2. The Arorangezona Otterlaws. If nothing else, I want to discuss this one further in the final ranking.
3. The Austin Copperheads
4. The Honolulu Hahalua
5. The New York Silverbacks
6. The New Orleans Second Line
7. The San Jose Sabercats.
Next time we'll see where the team with the most Ultimus trips, the NSFC team with the most history and Hall of Famers, stacks up compared to the ASFC's best.
Season 1 through 10
A Multi-Fueled Threepeat ends with a Whimper
A Multi-Fueled Threepeat ends with a Whimper
S1: 9-5 (Isaiah Rashad wins DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 1st Ultimus berth and win)
S2: 12-2 (Jayce Tuck wins MVP and DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 2nd Ultimus berth and win)
S3: 13-1 (Jayce Tuck wins MVP and DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 3rd Ultimus berth and win)
S4: 12-2 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S5: 8-6 (Harrif Ernston wins DPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S6: 8-6
S7: 5-9 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S8: 5-9
S9: 3-11
S2: 12-2 (Jayce Tuck wins MVP and DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 2nd Ultimus berth and win)
S3: 13-1 (Jayce Tuck wins MVP and DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 3rd Ultimus berth and win)
S4: 12-2 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S5: 8-6 (Harrif Ernston wins DPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S6: 8-6
S7: 5-9 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S8: 5-9
S9: 3-11
S10: 4-10
The Outlaws record over this decade was 79-61, for a 56.4% win rate. They also had a 6-3 record in the playoffs for the decade. All of these stats are going to need asterisks next to them, due to the Er Multi scandal. That said, even after the multis, the team didn't fall apart until S7. After S7, they did not have a record better than 5-9 for the rest of the decade, almost wiping away stats like their 3 straight seasons with 12 or more wins in a 14 game season, their 3 Ultimus trophies, tied with the Otters for the most in this decade, and their 6 playoff berths. That being said, I don't think the Multi scandal has any bearing on the personal awards from any player, except for the personal failings that led to what would probably be considered one of the best defensive players ever in Jayce Tuck to not even be a Hall of Famer due to the actions of his user.
Season 11 through 20
Recovery and Limited Success
Recovery and Limited Success
S11: 6-8
S12: 7-7
S13: 5-9
S14: 2-12 (Alex Selich wins DPOY)
S15: 6-8
S16: 7-6 (Raymond Vans wins DPOY) (3-0 in Playoffs, 4th Ultimus berth and win)
S17: 9-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S12: 7-7
S13: 5-9
S14: 2-12 (Alex Selich wins DPOY)
S15: 6-8
S16: 7-6 (Raymond Vans wins DPOY) (3-0 in Playoffs, 4th Ultimus berth and win)
S17: 9-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S18: 9-4 (1-1 in Playoffs)
S19: 5-8
S20: 7-6
The Outlaws record over this period was 63-72, for a 46.7% win rate. Funnily enough, during the last 2 seasons the Outlaws tied the record for the last spot of the playoffs, and lost the tiebreaker both times. Overall, they went 4-2 in the playoffs for this period, won a couple more DPOYs to bring their total to 5 over the first 20 seasons, and won their 4th Ultimus in their 4th time going to the title game. That being said, there was a full decade between the last Outlaws season over .500 and their Ultimus Winning 7-6 season in S16. With a second half of the decade being far better than the first half, it would be hard to claim that the Outlaws weren't on the upswing at this point. So, how did that transfer to the S21 through 30 decade?
Season 21 through 30
Returning to Greatness but coming up Short
Returning to Greatness but coming up Short
S21: 3-10
S22: 4-8-1
S23: 8-8 (Jay Cue wins OPOY, Galf Wilf wins DPOY)
S24: 9-7 (missed playoffs due to dumb sim reasons)
S25: 9-7 (Galf Wilf wins DPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S26: 9-7 (Jay Cue wins OPOY)
S27: 11-5 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S28: 12-4 (Tatsu Nakamura wins MVP) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S29: 11-5 (Tatsu Nakamura wins OPOY) (0-1 in Playoffs)
S30: 14-2 (Charlemagne Cortez wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs, 5th Ultimus berth)
The Outlaws this decade were one more extremely dumb playoff upset from pulling a much worse version of what the Copperheads pulled off between S31 and S40. They went 90-63-1, for a 58.8% win rate. Twice, they missed the playoffs at a 9-7 record, one time in a fashion that was a lesser version of the 5 team pileup in S26, and the other time as the already eliminated team that helped make the 9-7 pileup of S26 even funnier. They did not have a single non-winning record from S24 onward, and lost 4 straight playoff games while heavily favored. They'd finally uncork the bottle 12 seasons after their last playoff victory to make it to the Ultimus, only to get upset again for a 1-5 playoff record overall. They had probably the second best award haul of any team over the decade as well, with two MVPs, two DPOYs, and three OPOYs. And yet, they won 0 Ultimus titles. In the words of the longtime GM of the Outlaws during this period, the team had "A playoff record that indicates I spend most of my time putting my shoes on the table before I walk under a ladder to smash a mirror." Most franchises who won an Ultimus during this decade were worse, if not far worse over the course of the decade.
Season 31 through 40
Challenging the Otters for Best Decade
Challenging the Otters for Best Decade
S31: 9-7 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S32: 12-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S33: 12-4 (0-1 in Playoffs)
S34: 10-5-1 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S35: 13-3 (Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Jay Cue Jr wins OPOY) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S36: 9-7 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP) (1-1 in Playoffs)
S37: 11-5 (Jay Cue Jr wins MVP, Wendell Sailor wins OPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 6th Ultimus berth and 5th win)
S38: 13-3 (Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Mark Goodhead wins DPOY) (2-0 in Playoffs, 7th Ultimus berth and 6th win)
S39: 11-5 (1-1 in Playoffs, 8th Ultimus berth)
S40: 14-2 (2-0 in Playoffs, 9th Ultimus berth and 7th win)
During this 10 year period, the Outlaws had a record of 114-45-1, for a 71.7% win rate. They won 3 Ultimus and went to a 4th, they won 5 straight MVPs and 3 other POY awards, they had a 10-7 playoff record, and they completely changed what I was thinking of talking about for this section. Going into this, I thought I was going to be debating with myself whether this was a better or worse decade than either of the first 2 decades for the Otters. Looking at this, I don't really think there's a debate. This decade has more MVPs than the Otters' first decade, and has a significantly better win rate than the second decade. If the first decade and second decade were the Otters', and the third decade was the Wraiths', there's absolutely no question that the 4th and most recent decade was the Arizona Outlaws. Currently, the Outlaws are on a 14 season streak of Playoff berths, a 17 season streak of winning records, an 18 year streak of at least .500 records, and an actual debate as to whether the Otters have been dethroned in my mind. Specifically, that 17 year streak of winning records is actually the longest in league history; the previous longest streak was the Otters from S11 through S26. So how exactly do they end up?
Overall Stats
More than just all time records here
More than just all time records here
All Time Record: 346-241-2 (58.9% win rate)
Playoff Record: 15-14 (51.7% win rate)
Ultimus Record: 7-2
Playoff Berths: 24 over 40 seasons, 60%
Hall of Famers: 15 (Swagsloth, Crunk, Zwhiz [prior 3 as GMs], King Bronko, Harrif Ernston, Reg Mackworthy, Jaylon Lee, Dean Jackson, Raymond Vans, Galf Wilf, Saba Donut, Jay Cue, Tatsu Nakamura, Taro Raimon, Chuck Roth)
Major Award Wins: 9 MVP, 5 OPOYs, 9 DPOYs (note, 2 MVPs and DPOYs are for the same 2 seasons)
Best Team Period: S37-S40 (4 playoff berths, 4 Ultimus Appearances, 3 titles, 2 MVPs, 1 OPOY, 1 DPOYs, 49-15 record over 4 seasons, 76.6% win rate)
Worst Team Period: S7-S10 (17-39 record over 4 seasons, 1 Playoff berth, 30.4% win rate)
That Hall of Fame stat is far lower than it actually is; besides Jayce Tuck who is absent for user reasons and not play reasons, besides a certain former Outlaws QB who I think belongs in the Hall but currently isn't, there are at least 4 people who are getting into the Hall as Outlaws the moment voting starts on them: Kotasa and simo as GMs, and Jay Cue Jr and Wendell Sailor as players. There are probably others, those are just the 4 that there should be absolutely no argument whether or not they're destined for the Hall.
Honestly, with all the numbers on the table, I can't tell which team I have better all time between the Outlaws and Otters. I don't think any other team will compare to them, though I may be wrong there. But between the two, I think it's just a question of preference. Do you prefer the Otters' 5 more playoff berths, or the Outlaws' 1% better win rate? Do you like the currently higher Hall of Fame count for the Otters, or do you like the larger Award haul for the Outlaws? What's better, the 8-3 Otters Ultimus record, or the 7-2 Outlaws record? How hard do you punish the Outlaws for Er Multis? How much less valuable are the Otters' 8 wins with all of them coming before the league had expanded past 10, or 5 of their wins coming with an 8 team league? Do you prefer the Otters' longer domination of the league from S4-S19, or the Outlaws' shorter but more dominant period from S27 through 40? Is Mike Boss with an assist from Franklin Armstrong better than Wendell Sailor as the best player in the ISFL's history?
As a former Outlaw, it is difficult for me to claim to be unbiased. But at the very least I think I can say that both the Outlaws and the Otters have really good arguments to be the best franchise in the history of the ISFL.
I believe that there are two teams from the NSFC who can possibly claim the title of greatest franchise in the ISFL's history, and I don't think either have anywhere near as good of a claim as either the Otters or Outlaws. Funnily enough I'm going to cover both of them in the next two articles.
That being said, I'm going to do preliminary rankings for just the ASFC here.
1/2. The Arorangezona Otterlaws. If nothing else, I want to discuss this one further in the final ranking.
3. The Austin Copperheads
4. The Honolulu Hahalua
5. The New York Silverbacks
6. The New Orleans Second Line
7. The San Jose Sabercats.
Next time we'll see where the team with the most Ultimus trips, the NSFC team with the most history and Hall of Famers, stacks up compared to the ASFC's best.