Tier 1: Long Form Tasks (800+ words)
3) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.
* * * *
Before I start on the actual topic, I just want to say that I really like the new approach to the Ultimus tasks. When I get started on a topic, it’s easy for me to go overboard and I’ve doubled the word count on several Ultimus and PT tasks in the past. This rewards the people that go the extra mile.
What I’m going to talk about today is my run as GM and the direction of the new Arizona Outlaws. The current team is almost completely revamped, building on some seeds set in place back in S17-S18. The new GMs Unicorn and Isidore94 have done an absolutely incredible job IMO. They both have a passion and vision for the team and they’re committed to attaining the goals that they’ve set for us. I think I had a good run during my term as GM and several people expressed that they were sad to see me step down, but I’m a firm believer in that it’s good to pass the torch. I had the team from the end of S13 to the middle of S21, which is roughly 7.5 seasons or the time a player spends in the NSFL pre-regression. That, to me, is a good length for someone to be in power. IMO, this league has always and should always belong to the players. Handing the reigns of the teams off to fresh faces keeps things from getting stale and it shows new members that a position of power can be attained with hard work. On top of that, GMing can be a very demanding and stressful job, especially if you’re the type to put a lot of pressure on yourself like I am. It takes its toll on you and it certainly did for me. Some of that has been well documented by myself. No matter how well we were doing, I was always questioning if I could do more. So, the opportunity to pass the torch was a welcome one by the time I was finally ready to do so.
When I first inherited the team, the previous two GMs Run_CMC and DeathOnReddit were burnt out (much like I was at the end of my run) and were looking for someone to come in and put a fresh coat of paint on the team. As a former co-GM during my time with YKW (which I loved), I had been part of the war room and got to see first-hand what was happening behind the scenes. The team had taken some chances on draft picks that didn’t work out and frustration in the locker room from players had led to an overall decline in morale. The GMs were doing their best, but they were fighting an uphill battle. I had suggested a few times that we tank the team. The team was in perpetual 3rd place (out of 4 teams in our conference back then); we were the team that always missed the playoffs, but never got the top 2 draft picks. A top 2 pick may not seem like a big deal with the current quality of our drafts, but at the time, the drafts were much smaller and the gap between #1-2 and #3-4 was often much wider. I’m a believer that, if you do something, go all in. If you’re in a spot to win, focus on that. If you need to rebuild, stop dragging your feet and make it happen. It’s going to be painful no matter what, so it’s better to get it over with quickly if you can. Upon taking over the team, our draft position for the S14 draft was mostly set in stone once again at the #3-4 position, but the outlook for S14 was grim and so I sat down with the team and laid out my plan for the next few seasons. Working together with the veteran players that were in or close to regression and we worked on getting them to contenders and, in turn, traded for younger players and draft picks. These were players we would miss as locker room presences, but we wanted to get them somewhere where their talents would go to better use. We then preceded to have one of the worst seasons in NSFL history. The team knew it was coming and we dug our heels in to prepare for it. We sent down all of our eligible DSFL players, filled the open spots with inactive Free Agents, and did our best to feature the actives that were still there. Even if we didn’t win games, at least they could accrue stats that would benefit their careers. It was the least I could do in exchange for their patience and understanding. And make no mistake, communication was a big part of this. The team had to be in on the plan and they were well-aware of the lumps we were about to take. Some younger players did ask to be traded and we honored those requests, but the majority of our young players were in for the long haul and my goal was to reward that loyalty in the long-term.
The good news is the season came and went and we were primed for a great S15 draft. The draft itself was not as kind in hindsight as a few players went unexpectedly inactive over the next few seasons, but we also got some great steals in the 3rd and 4th rounds like SouljaBoy, Lucas_Knight, and Contacts. Still, we knew the spots we needed to fill and we aggressively went after players that we felt could fill those roles and provide value to our locker room environment. The most important job of any GM is to keep the locker room thriving. You can sim test and make blockbuster trades as much as you want, but the real key to long-term success is to keep your players active and happy. And that means you need a team environment that is enjoyable and motivated. Together, with so many young players putting their faith in the team we built, we bounced back in two seasons to win the Ultimus in S16. We were an underdog going into the playoffs and perhaps sim luck was on our side, but even having an outside shot at that point was a credit to the work that these guys were putting in. Even thinking about it now, I’m genuinely proud of them.
In S17 and S18, we were contenders, even favorites to some degree. The irony is that the S16 Outlaws were the underdogs that upset the S16 Otters and the S17 Otters were the underdogs that upset the S17 Outlaws. A bit of poetic justice, perhaps, but hey… you win some, you lose some. But for me, the greatest lesson came during that S17-S18 run when we were in our prime window to compete. Being a top team seems easy. You’ve put the work in and now you’re reaping the rewards, but winning comes with a lot of pressure. You’re constantly monitoring other teams to see if they’re making moves that might allow them to leap frog you. Is there a big player on the trade block for another team? Even if you don’t need him, maybe you need to grab him before another team does. Or so it seems at the time. It becomes easy to out-think yourself. We traded for some great players like Oles and Dangles, great locker room guys that brought a lot to the team, but we were already in a strong position and I sacrificed future draft capital that the team needed in cases players went inactive or left to Free Agency. I was so obsessed with our competitive window that I didn’t focus on what came after that window closed. I think there are good reasons for a “win now” mindset, but it’s a risky one. At the end of the day, if you sacrifice future value and you don’t walk away with the trophy, you end up with nothing to show for it. When I stepped down, my advice to the next set of GMs and anyone else willing to listen was to stay focused on the long-term. The team dropped off a lot in S19 and S20, but I knew the time was coming for me to pass the torch and so I put my efforts into making sure the team was in stable condition, so the next GMs would inherit a better situation than I did. I think I accomplished that and, even if I didn’t, Unicorn and Isidore have both made the best of the situation that I left them with. But if I give myself credit for anything, I think I knew I knew when to put my foot on the accelerator and when to pump the brakes. I had been a bit harder on the accelerator at some points than I needed to be, but overall, I think it all worked out pretty well.
1495 Words
3) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.
* * * *
Before I start on the actual topic, I just want to say that I really like the new approach to the Ultimus tasks. When I get started on a topic, it’s easy for me to go overboard and I’ve doubled the word count on several Ultimus and PT tasks in the past. This rewards the people that go the extra mile.
What I’m going to talk about today is my run as GM and the direction of the new Arizona Outlaws. The current team is almost completely revamped, building on some seeds set in place back in S17-S18. The new GMs Unicorn and Isidore94 have done an absolutely incredible job IMO. They both have a passion and vision for the team and they’re committed to attaining the goals that they’ve set for us. I think I had a good run during my term as GM and several people expressed that they were sad to see me step down, but I’m a firm believer in that it’s good to pass the torch. I had the team from the end of S13 to the middle of S21, which is roughly 7.5 seasons or the time a player spends in the NSFL pre-regression. That, to me, is a good length for someone to be in power. IMO, this league has always and should always belong to the players. Handing the reigns of the teams off to fresh faces keeps things from getting stale and it shows new members that a position of power can be attained with hard work. On top of that, GMing can be a very demanding and stressful job, especially if you’re the type to put a lot of pressure on yourself like I am. It takes its toll on you and it certainly did for me. Some of that has been well documented by myself. No matter how well we were doing, I was always questioning if I could do more. So, the opportunity to pass the torch was a welcome one by the time I was finally ready to do so.
When I first inherited the team, the previous two GMs Run_CMC and DeathOnReddit were burnt out (much like I was at the end of my run) and were looking for someone to come in and put a fresh coat of paint on the team. As a former co-GM during my time with YKW (which I loved), I had been part of the war room and got to see first-hand what was happening behind the scenes. The team had taken some chances on draft picks that didn’t work out and frustration in the locker room from players had led to an overall decline in morale. The GMs were doing their best, but they were fighting an uphill battle. I had suggested a few times that we tank the team. The team was in perpetual 3rd place (out of 4 teams in our conference back then); we were the team that always missed the playoffs, but never got the top 2 draft picks. A top 2 pick may not seem like a big deal with the current quality of our drafts, but at the time, the drafts were much smaller and the gap between #1-2 and #3-4 was often much wider. I’m a believer that, if you do something, go all in. If you’re in a spot to win, focus on that. If you need to rebuild, stop dragging your feet and make it happen. It’s going to be painful no matter what, so it’s better to get it over with quickly if you can. Upon taking over the team, our draft position for the S14 draft was mostly set in stone once again at the #3-4 position, but the outlook for S14 was grim and so I sat down with the team and laid out my plan for the next few seasons. Working together with the veteran players that were in or close to regression and we worked on getting them to contenders and, in turn, traded for younger players and draft picks. These were players we would miss as locker room presences, but we wanted to get them somewhere where their talents would go to better use. We then preceded to have one of the worst seasons in NSFL history. The team knew it was coming and we dug our heels in to prepare for it. We sent down all of our eligible DSFL players, filled the open spots with inactive Free Agents, and did our best to feature the actives that were still there. Even if we didn’t win games, at least they could accrue stats that would benefit their careers. It was the least I could do in exchange for their patience and understanding. And make no mistake, communication was a big part of this. The team had to be in on the plan and they were well-aware of the lumps we were about to take. Some younger players did ask to be traded and we honored those requests, but the majority of our young players were in for the long haul and my goal was to reward that loyalty in the long-term.
The good news is the season came and went and we were primed for a great S15 draft. The draft itself was not as kind in hindsight as a few players went unexpectedly inactive over the next few seasons, but we also got some great steals in the 3rd and 4th rounds like SouljaBoy, Lucas_Knight, and Contacts. Still, we knew the spots we needed to fill and we aggressively went after players that we felt could fill those roles and provide value to our locker room environment. The most important job of any GM is to keep the locker room thriving. You can sim test and make blockbuster trades as much as you want, but the real key to long-term success is to keep your players active and happy. And that means you need a team environment that is enjoyable and motivated. Together, with so many young players putting their faith in the team we built, we bounced back in two seasons to win the Ultimus in S16. We were an underdog going into the playoffs and perhaps sim luck was on our side, but even having an outside shot at that point was a credit to the work that these guys were putting in. Even thinking about it now, I’m genuinely proud of them.
In S17 and S18, we were contenders, even favorites to some degree. The irony is that the S16 Outlaws were the underdogs that upset the S16 Otters and the S17 Otters were the underdogs that upset the S17 Outlaws. A bit of poetic justice, perhaps, but hey… you win some, you lose some. But for me, the greatest lesson came during that S17-S18 run when we were in our prime window to compete. Being a top team seems easy. You’ve put the work in and now you’re reaping the rewards, but winning comes with a lot of pressure. You’re constantly monitoring other teams to see if they’re making moves that might allow them to leap frog you. Is there a big player on the trade block for another team? Even if you don’t need him, maybe you need to grab him before another team does. Or so it seems at the time. It becomes easy to out-think yourself. We traded for some great players like Oles and Dangles, great locker room guys that brought a lot to the team, but we were already in a strong position and I sacrificed future draft capital that the team needed in cases players went inactive or left to Free Agency. I was so obsessed with our competitive window that I didn’t focus on what came after that window closed. I think there are good reasons for a “win now” mindset, but it’s a risky one. At the end of the day, if you sacrifice future value and you don’t walk away with the trophy, you end up with nothing to show for it. When I stepped down, my advice to the next set of GMs and anyone else willing to listen was to stay focused on the long-term. The team dropped off a lot in S19 and S20, but I knew the time was coming for me to pass the torch and so I put my efforts into making sure the team was in stable condition, so the next GMs would inherit a better situation than I did. I think I accomplished that and, even if I didn’t, Unicorn and Isidore have both made the best of the situation that I left them with. But if I give myself credit for anything, I think I knew I knew when to put my foot on the accelerator and when to pump the brakes. I had been a bit harder on the accelerator at some points than I needed to be, but overall, I think it all worked out pretty well.
1495 Words
![[Image: baby-yoda-by-jango-sm.png]](https://i.ibb.co/1rgfYXP/baby-yoda-by-jango-sm.png)
Thanks to Jangorhino for the sig.
![[Image: SouthPaw1.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/SouthPaw1.gif)
![[Image: BODE.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/800790374204571721/893650710489628732/BODE.png)
![[Image: 62653_s.gif]](https://signavatar.com/62653_s.gif)
![[Image: alejandro_chainbreaker.jpg?width=769&height=364]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/372602034198806530/716040994080161802/alejandro_chainbreaker.jpg?width=769&height=364)
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/738567885815021628/1009981440815013949/unknown.png)
![[Image: 61210_s.png]](https://signavatar.com/61210_s.png)
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/341837318656753666/718158863240659014/unknown.png)
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/341837318656753666/718159348089749685/unknown.png)
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media.giphy.com/media/xUPGGyitR6ToRwBYuk/giphy.gif)
![[Image: k1pKl5v.png]](https://i.imgur.com/k1pKl5v.png)
![[Image: fISkuZu.png]](https://i.imgur.com/fISkuZu.png)
