01-01-2024, 06:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-04-2024, 11:28 AM by lemonoppy. Edited 2 times in total.)
Hello! I am returning after a period of inactivity, which I wanted to mention at the beginning of the article for a few reasons. The most pressing being that I want to say great job! The league is strong, which made me very happy to see when I decided to come back. Amazing job to all.
When I first joined the league in the offseason before season 26, I was immediately drawn to a few things this league offered that I had not found in other leagues I had been in. Namely, I fell in love with the index. Having all of our leagues history accessible by anybody was a very nice addition which tickled my brain in a fun way. In fact, even when I was away from the league, I would sometimes check the index to keep up with what had been going on. While I would look through the index and utilize it with my first create, something about it now is different. Yet it wasn't in a bad way. Or a good way for that matter. I realized that what struck me as different was the main reason for starting the index and why it has been such a key piece to the league.
When I first joined the league in the offseason before season 26, I was immediately drawn to a few things this league offered that I had not found in other leagues I had been in. Namely, I fell in love with the index. Having all of our leagues history accessible by anybody was a very nice addition which tickled my brain in a fun way. In fact, even when I was away from the league, I would sometimes check the index to keep up with what had been going on. While I would look through the index and utilize it with my first create, something about it now is different. Yet it wasn't in a bad way. Or a good way for that matter. I realized that what struck me as different was the main reason for starting the index and why it has been such a key piece to the league.
LEAGUE HISTORY.
The ISFL is on its 45th season.
Excuse me? I first created 20 seasons ago. I don't think we stop and appreciate moments enough as a society, with time as a concept strong-arming us into always looking for what is next. The next time you have to wake up for work or the next time you're going to eat. The next play, week, or season of dot football.
The index offers reflection. The index remembers a simpler time. The index knows Season 1. 6 teams, 14 regular season games with the Arizona Outlaws winning the first ever Ultimus against the Colorado Yeti. Yet, what the index can offer you is so much more than the basic. It does not forget anything. Reader, off the top of your head can you tell me which player in week 9 of season 1 had the most receiving yards? I can't either, but I know exactly where you can find that out. The answer? Damian West of the Baltimore Hawks had 9 receptions for 109 yards and a first quarter Touchdown to open the game up.
See, over everything else, the index is a resource. Any person can find out about any touchdown, in any week, in any season if you just look for it. I believe that this league functions because of the index. Obviously, our community is extremely strong, and I would not be able to continue stressing over dots if there wasn't the dedication and investment of time that we as a community have put in. Yet for instance, the Wiki, while an incredibly fun part of the league and a big draw for me personally, would not be anywhere close to what it is now if not for the index. I do not think that the community would be as invested if not for the index. I know I wouldn't.
Excuse me? I first created 20 seasons ago. I don't think we stop and appreciate moments enough as a society, with time as a concept strong-arming us into always looking for what is next. The next time you have to wake up for work or the next time you're going to eat. The next play, week, or season of dot football.
The index offers reflection. The index remembers a simpler time. The index knows Season 1. 6 teams, 14 regular season games with the Arizona Outlaws winning the first ever Ultimus against the Colorado Yeti. Yet, what the index can offer you is so much more than the basic. It does not forget anything. Reader, off the top of your head can you tell me which player in week 9 of season 1 had the most receiving yards? I can't either, but I know exactly where you can find that out. The answer? Damian West of the Baltimore Hawks had 9 receptions for 109 yards and a first quarter Touchdown to open the game up.
See, over everything else, the index is a resource. Any person can find out about any touchdown, in any week, in any season if you just look for it. I believe that this league functions because of the index. Obviously, our community is extremely strong, and I would not be able to continue stressing over dots if there wasn't the dedication and investment of time that we as a community have put in. Yet for instance, the Wiki, while an incredibly fun part of the league and a big draw for me personally, would not be anywhere close to what it is now if not for the index. I do not think that the community would be as invested if not for the index. I know I wouldn't.
My History
Most people here probably don't know me, but I have been around for a little bit. When I first joined the league, I created Drip Dad, RB. I had come into this league with a good amount of sim football experience, having been the commissioner of a failed league that peaked at 200 active members. My original plan was to learn all I could about how this league had been successful, the ins and outs of this very cool way to connect with people across all walks of life. I had to fold my league after 3 seasons, but I was a new create in season 26. My mind was blown, with a good amount of envy characterizing my first interaction with the ISFL. How could they sustain 26 seasons? Not only did they have 26 ISFL seasons under their belt, but I was in the developmental league that has 8 completely unique teams? What did I do wrong?
That is an answer for a different piece, one that is much too introspective for me at the moment. My only tactic was to go for the bones. Where were the foundations that I was missing? I dove in head first, which proved to be a great choice. I was lucky enough to get drafted by Tijuana and Tonzy, and immediately found a home. I held a watch party for my first game in the DSFL, with my then girlfriend, now wife, humoring me as I watched dots go back and forth on the TV. I celebrated so hard when I scored my first TD that game in the 3rd quarter and my puppy got so spooked! I loved the feeling when I got in the LR, even though we got spanked by Bondi 31-13. Scrolling through discord that night, I saw it.
When I clicked on that link, I realized what I had been missing in my failed league. Not only was I introduced to the index like a dot camel finding water in a dot desert, but I had seen why I hadn't had the success of the ISFL. To be fair, there were many key differences between the two. My team in Tijuana felt like an actual team, the community was so much more involved as a whole, and the product was truly enjoyable.
Yet the index gave a level of actuality and a sense of finality to an otherwise imaginative experience. Which is what simulation football offered me. A place to escape the ordinary and be a part of something. To carefully craft your player, put your energy into scouting and drafting, gameplan and sim test until you physically cannot anymore, all to have Baby Yoda drop 200 yards and 2 tuddys directly on your head. As much as I may persist, my wife will never allow me to name my son Ludicolo Bigsby.
I wrote earlier that the index was a resource, yet it's concurrently HISTORY. It is the reminder that we are living in the present, while also reminding us of our previous lives. Our creations which have produced statistically great careers, or a statistically unremarkable career in my case, and the memory of people and feelings attached. I had spent my energy trying to figure out what I missed. Unfortunately, it was never something that I could control. Nobody can control it, and it will always be moving forward. It is impossible to force time and history, because they will updoot itself.
It is to be natural, and it needs to be indexed.
That is an answer for a different piece, one that is much too introspective for me at the moment. My only tactic was to go for the bones. Where were the foundations that I was missing? I dove in head first, which proved to be a great choice. I was lucky enough to get drafted by Tijuana and Tonzy, and immediately found a home. I held a watch party for my first game in the DSFL, with my then girlfriend, now wife, humoring me as I watched dots go back and forth on the TV. I celebrated so hard when I scored my first TD that game in the 3rd quarter and my puppy got so spooked! I loved the feeling when I got in the LR, even though we got spanked by Bondi 31-13. Scrolling through discord that night, I saw it.
When I clicked on that link, I realized what I had been missing in my failed league. Not only was I introduced to the index like a dot camel finding water in a dot desert, but I had seen why I hadn't had the success of the ISFL. To be fair, there were many key differences between the two. My team in Tijuana felt like an actual team, the community was so much more involved as a whole, and the product was truly enjoyable.
Yet the index gave a level of actuality and a sense of finality to an otherwise imaginative experience. Which is what simulation football offered me. A place to escape the ordinary and be a part of something. To carefully craft your player, put your energy into scouting and drafting, gameplan and sim test until you physically cannot anymore, all to have Baby Yoda drop 200 yards and 2 tuddys directly on your head. As much as I may persist, my wife will never allow me to name my son Ludicolo Bigsby.
I wrote earlier that the index was a resource, yet it's concurrently HISTORY. It is the reminder that we are living in the present, while also reminding us of our previous lives. Our creations which have produced statistically great careers, or a statistically unremarkable career in my case, and the memory of people and feelings attached. I had spent my energy trying to figure out what I missed. Unfortunately, it was never something that I could control. Nobody can control it, and it will always be moving forward. It is impossible to force time and history, because they will updoot itself.
It is to be natural, and it needs to be indexed.