(S26) Ultimus Week

[Kyamprac]

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to Ultimus Week for Season 26! You will have ten days to complete the Ultimus Week point task, so the deadline will be Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 11:59PM EST.

Quick Rules:

• You can earn up to a maximum of 10 TPE through any combination of the available Tier 1-3 tasks. Follow the word count rules specified for each tier and keep your submissions on topic.
  
• Articles, graphics, or podcasts that have already been used to get media/graphics money cannot be submitted again for Ultimus Week credit (sorry – no double dipping!).
  
• Podcasts can only be submitted for Tier 1 and 2 written tasks. A podcast must include 20 minutes of discussion for Tier 1 and 10 minutes of discussion for Tier 2 about the selected topic. If you make a podcast with someone else, it must be 20/10 minutes apiece.
  
• As with PTs, graphics must show at least some effort (i.e. edits must be apparent, should be more than just text slapped on an image).
  
• You may submit one affiliate PT from PBE, SHL, or GOMHL for 2.5 TPE. You must link directly to your affiliate PT post made during the same time period (i.e. timestamped between Jan 4 – 14). Make sure you tell us if you have a different username.
  

Tier 1: Long Form Tasks (Must be 800+ words)
Choose ONE for 10 TPE.

1) This week will see the S26 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome? 

2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?

3) For any team, certain players and users have gone above and beyond, shaping the legacy of the franchise. Choose any ISFL or DSFL team and create a Mount Rushmore for that team. Who in your mind are the four most noteworthy figures of the team’s history? Why does each one of your included figures deserve that recognition, and how did each of them make their mark?

4) “Sim gonna sim” is a popular expression in the league. Write about teams that have been graced by the sim gods and had amazing performances despite statistical odds, and/or about teams that were considered favorites but may have dealt with some bad sim luck that hampered their efforts. How much of an impact did it have on their season(s)?

5) The league has a rich and fascinating history, and our perspectives on it differ from person to person. In 800 words or more, describe any significant moment in ISFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not. Describe the context, the significant members, and the events. What exactly made this event so famous (or infamous) and why does it deserve to be remembered? Events might include championship wins, the inducting of players to the hall of fame, or even a league scandal.

6) Write 800 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that 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 participation on a Werewolf server or something.

Tier 2: Short Form Tasks (Each must be 400+ words)
Choose up to TWO for 5 TPE each.

7) This task is exclusive to non-recreate rookies of the S26 class and later. In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?

8) Write a short biography or story about your player. This could include background about how they came to the ISFL and how they’ve done so far, a story about their role in an exciting game, or anything else related to their experience in the league.

9) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, the community, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?

10) Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?

11) Make an argument for who should be named “Most Dedicated Member” of the league this year. What have they done to deserve this award? Have they made some major breakthroughs with sim, taken on an important league job, done a great job mentoring rookies or something else?

12) It seems likely the league will undergo expansion again one day soon. What would you like to see in a new expansion team? What should it be called, where should it be located, and who do you think would be in the best position to GM? Explain why.

13) Write about your team’s biggest rivalry and what makes it so fierce. Is the competition founded in statistics and the team’s recent performance, or is it a rivalry that developed over time during the team’s history that would exist regardless of statistics?

14) Choose a team or player to write about that isn’t your own. What did they do well in the last season? Have they shown any drastic improvements from previous years? What could they do better?

15) You’ve been named Commissioner for a Week (your choice as to ISFL or DSFL). What do you do? Would you make any fast and drastic changes, or coast along with what’s already in place? Do you think you would do well in the position? If not, is there someone else that would?

Tier 3: Written/Graphics Tasks (Each must be 200+ words or graphic)
Choose up to FOUR for 2.5 TPE each.

16) Your team has made it to the playoffs! Put together a pre-game playlist and explain how those songs will hype your players.

17) You’re in charge of entertainment for the Ultimus or Ultimini half-time show. What would you do?

18) Write about another sim league you are in and which parts of it you enjoy. If you are only in the ISFL, write about your ideas for a sim league with another sport.

19) Design a championship ring or hat for one of the teams playing in the finals. Graphics only.

20) Pretend injuries are a thing in the ISFL and your team has had a lot of them lately – so many that your GM has asked you to play out of position. What position are they asking you to play and what about your player build will help you succeed in this role?

21) What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?

22) Your player has been paid to endorse a product/service. What is it? How do you endorse it?

23) Re-design the Ultimus or Ultimini trophy and show a player from the winning team hoisting it. Graphics only.

24) Design a ticket stub or promotional poster for a playoff game or the final. Graphics only.

25) How or where would you celebrate with your teammates after winning an Ultimus or Ultimini? 

26) Does your player have any New Years’ resolutions? If so, do you think they’ll stick with them? Why or why not?

27) Create a billboard, magazine cover, unique trading card, or video game cover depicting a superstar of the league. Graphics only.

28) The league is moving on to a new sim. What do you think about it? Are you excited to leave the old one behind? Maybe not so excited about it? Which parts of it do you think will be great, or not so great?

29) Awards season will soon be upon us. If you could create an award for anything in the league that doesn’t already exist, what would it be? Who do you think should get it?

30) Make a scouting report for any of the ISFL or DSFL draftees. Show their stats, abilities, TPE, highlights, or totally fraudulent mail-in ballots. Whatever rookies get up to these days.

Remember to have fun with this! If you have any suggestions for future PT prompts, post them here! PM the player progression team with any questions about how this will be graded or what we are looking for with these questions.

[OrbitingDeath]

12 - 5 tpe:

It seems likely the league will undergo expansion again one day soon. What would you like to see in a new expansion team? What should it be called, where should it be located, and who do you think would be in the best position to GM? Explain why.
-------------------------------
I would like to see more unique places in the league (like Honolulu), so perhaps a Japan or Korean based team could be a nice addition. The cities could be Tokyo or Seoul most likely. For Tokyo we could have the Cherry Blossoms. Yes, an awful name, but it’s not like this suggestion will be followed up. The Cherry Blossoms are blossoming in spring time and it turns the entire city pink in its leafs. In March and April there are also Cherry Blossom festivals in the city, so it is something that Tokyo is actually known for. The first name coming to mind for people for Tokyo is usually the Tokyo Drift, but lets not name our teams after a the fast and the furious movie. For Seoul we could go with the Seoul Wave, referencing the influx of the pop culture from Korea, mostly known for it’s K-Pop. I would hate having to play for a team that talks about k pop constantly , but at least we can bundle these people together so it will not interfere in the other locker rooms. A win / win situation regardless. Pure from a Dutch point of view I would also like to see my local city in a league, Nijmegen.  And as it’s a former Roman stronghold I would love to see the Nijmegen Emperors again (a name my local hockey team once used). But the city isn’t that well known to the rest of the world, so for the Netherlands it would probably end up being an Amsterdam team instead.

The major reason for wanting a different location is most of the teams in all these kind of sim leagues are usually United States or Canada based. As someone from Europe it’s also fun to see something different, we just always see the same cities over and over again, so different continents would certainly be an improvement for the expansion team.
GM wise, I don’t really have an idea yet, I don’t know who would be interested and what their qualifications would be. But I would like to select someone who would be in it for a long term, in the short time in this league I have noticed a lot of managers already switching 2-3 seasons in or switching co-gm positions. But for the stability of the new franchise, I would love to find people to do it for the long run, but the applications for this can be opened, as I don’t have anyone to suggest for this.


22 - 2,5 TPE

Your player has been paid to endorse a product/service. What is it? How do you endorse it?

My player seems to be a notorious alcoholic, so I would believe he would be paid to endorse some beer brand. But to put in the words of my player: not the light stuff, that is for pussies. So he would probably be promoting a type that could get you completely wasted in just a matter of minutes. The best way to show that a certain beer gets you smashed up, is to make sure you are caught drinking it before the game starts and then have some horrible plays. This gets the national media all over you, which in return of course is a great way to show off the brand. We don’t only have to do it for games, my player is also available to drink the product at training camp, while watching the games of other teams, or even on your own wedding if you pay for my ticket @"BayleyIsland"

The best way to endorse it, is to see my player in action with it. And with Kai being a drunk about 99% of the time, there is no doubt in my mind that this would be a successful campaign. But keep in mind, if your team loses, it is not because I was drunk, it was because your quarterback gave me the ball.




27 -  2,5 TPE

Create a billboard, magazine cover, unique trading card, or video game cover depicting a superstar of the league. Graphics only.

[ValorX77]

Task 2: The S23 Effect

[AgentSmith]

PH

[ReverendOReily]

2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?

Throughout the history of the league, there have been a few draft classes that have been proclaimed as the league's greatest draft class. Whether proclaimed by people drafted outside of that class, or proclaimed only by the people drafted in that class (looking at you, season 18), people never seem to agree on which class is the best one. I am here to settle that dispute once and for all by telling you that my draft class, Season 25, is the greatest draft class to ever come out of the ISFL. It isn't just any one thing that makes our class the greatest, which makes this a nice topic to write an 800 word ultimus week prompt on; rather, there is a multitude of things that makes Season 25 the greatest draft class this league has ever seen.

Let's start first with the size of the draft class - the Season 25 class had 115 prospects in it, down from the 141 prospects we had in our DSFL draft (confusingly named the S24 DSFL draft because god forbid things match up.) By my count, that's the second largest draft class in the league's history. The only draft classes that even really compare to Season 25 are Season 15 (the league's first /r/NFL recruitment class if I remember correctly), Season 18, and Season 22. Season 22 holds the record for largest draft class, Season 15 is the class where so many users who are still influential to the league today were first introduced, and Season 18, although the smallest class of the four, also introduced a lot of incredibly influential users to our league, including our current commissioner, our league's head updater, everyone's favorite Arizona quarterback, and two of the winningest GMs in Ultimus history (shoutout to Rev and Laser)

Lets look at how these four draft classes stack up against each other. How many people from each of these draft classes are (or have been) in positions of power? For the sake of this post, let's say a "position of power" means ISFL general manager, DSFL general manager, or a member of HO. Also for the sake of this post let's recognize that the record keeping in the league is maybe a little less than ideal, but there is a good amount of preserved league history that can be gathered between the wiki, league youtube page, TPE tracker, and by bothering some of the league's local boomers.

Season 15 - Flyeaglesfly (GM), Rradum (GM), Frick_Nasty (GM), Valor (GM), Huskies (GM), Teyon (HO), Gucci (GM), SDCore (HO), Air Crou (GM), ScorpXCracker (GM I think? If not, Scorp was a GM in UNO league so he still gets counted), Tom Hanks (DSFL commissioner, HO, GM), and Terriblehippo (HO), for a total of 12 Powerful Players (trademarked)

Season 18 - IsaStarcrossed (GM), Hallmonitor (GM), DeadlyPlayer (GM chat legend), Laser (GM/head updater), bex (ISFL commissioner), Revolution5 (GM), CLG Rampage (GM), Dewalt27 (GM), for a total of 8 Powerful Players

Season 22 - Flyeaglesfly29 again! (GM), BenDover (GM), Thor (GM), Memento Mori (GM), Highhaschdi (GM), sakrosankt (GM), qWest (GM), yonggarius (GM), mithrandir (GM), Matty7478 (GM), Rradum (GM), Blasoon (GM), J0EB (GM), iStegosauruz (GM/HO), NicholasTheGreat (GM), Exilizer (HO), gucci (GM), furiousPanda (GM), Oles (GM), Bayley (GM), TheCC (GM), thevoicelesscreator (GM), Colabear (HO), siddhus (GM) for a total of 24 Powerful Players

Season 25 - JuOSu (GM), timeconsumer (Head simmer forever/all-around league legend), Jimi64 (GM), Frick_Nasty (GM), ShnarlyDude (GM), Crunk (GM), Punter715 (GM), Bwestfield (GM), charlit (GM), Raven (GM/maybe HO at one point), slate (GM), r0tzbua (HO/GM), katarn22 (GM), Swanty (HO), GuitarMaster116 (HO), speculadora (GM), Mooty99 (GM/HO), zaynzk (GM), SDCore (HO), Air Crou (GM), AdamS (GM), GlimsTC (GM), frazzle14 (GM), WhatAmUs (GM), zEagle (GM) for a total of 25 Powerful Players

So, by this one infallible metric that I kind of made up on the fly, you can see that Season 22 and Season 25 blow the other two seasons out of the water. "But wait!" you say to me, "Season 22 and Season 25 had more people, so it's natural that they'd also have more GMs and members of HO in their ranks." To you, dear commenter, I say stop trying to apply logic and reason to my UW post. Anyway, since Season 25 has one more Powerful Player then Season 22, I declare Season 25 to be the best draft class in league history.
Comparing players by their TPE or stats on the field is obviously pretty unfair since the older players have a lead on the younger players (unless they're in regression), so while I'm not saying my "compare the draft classes based on what league jobs they've held" method is infallible, I do think it's better than that.

One last thing on the topic - while I know some absolutely wonderful users who were drafted in all four of the classes that I've compared in this point task, Season 25 has without a doubt some of the best people in the league. Users in my draft class like Zayn, r0tzbua, Asked Madden, Katarn, slate, zeagle, Swanty, platanocat, Pat, and Cody are what make this draft class truly special. They're wonderful people, and I truly believe you can't do an UW prompt about Season 25 without shouting those guys out. I'm sure I missed a few people, but thems the breaks.

(888 words)

[zeagle1]

S26 UW

8) Chuck was born and raised in Round Rock, Texas, just outside of Austin. He grew up playing soccer at the Round Rock Multi-Sport complex, the American home of FC Barcelona. While he was a solid player, he ultimately did not have much of a future in the sport. He discovered a love for BBQ in middle school and became too fat to play anything except goalie, which was a natural fit for Chuck, and where his nickname of big boy Chuckie comes from. He converted to football when he took a weightlifting class his freshman year of high school for an easy A. The Stony Point HS football team needed more offensive lineman, and the gym teacher was the head coach of the team. Chuck, as the strongest freshman in the class, was recruited to play football and quit the soccer team. He finally found his athletic stride and performed well for his school, and in Texas, football is a way of life.
As he grew older, he began to dislike living in the state of Texas. In an interview with his high school's newspaper, he was quoted saying "Everything's bigger in Texas? More like, every ego's bigger in Texas." Despite receiving some interest from the typical schools that any four-star recruit from Texas would gather, Texas, A&M, Baylor, TCU, etc, he wanted to go to college in a place as Un-Texas-y as possible. He wanted football to be a fun thing to do that might be a potential career path if he continued to excel, not the only thing that mattered in life where it was make it to the league or bust. He settled on Dartmouth because he liked their colors and thought going to a University in the Ivy League would be far enough away from Texas that the culture would be different. Also, Dartmouth would let him long snap, which was his dream position. In his four years at Dartmouth, he excelled once he found his footing, and lead Dartmouth to and Ivy league title, and received both first team All-Ivy and All-American accolades.
He went on to be drafted to the Portland Pythons of the DSFL in the 6th round, first pick. Chuck had a fantastic rookie season, being nominated for Offensive Lineman of the year, and having the second most pancakes in the league. Chuck then switched to Defensive Tackle. This position is where Chuck truly found his form, as he earned Defensive Tackle of the year in a landslide. This performance earned him a call-up to the Arizona Outlaws, where he happily plays to this day.
433 words
9) What keeps me interested in the league? Well, it definitely isn’t making the playoffs (please kill me). Frankly, this league is full of amazing people who have made my 3+ seasons here extremely fun. This league is a great outlet for my competitiveness; having played sports my entire life, I am naturally a very competitive person, but recently graduating college and having neither the skills nor time to dedicate to an adult sports league, sim sports seems like the natural solution. From my early days in the league, before even being drafted, I hung out in the Royals LR (gross, I know) and met cool dudes like Mag, Plat, and a ton of people who are now IA. Being drafted to Portland was a huge surprise for me, as they barely scouted me. There I met TONS of awesome people like qWest, Arkz, South, LP, lespoils, Rusfan, and probably a ton more that I am forgetting. Then being drafted to Arizona felt like becoming part of a second family; Crunk, Whiz, Saba, Moose, Brnx, and many others Make having some of the worst sim luck in the league bearable.
This league has such an incredible sense of community in it. Even with the users I do not necessarily get along with, I still have a fun time arguing with them in the YouTube stream chat during games and in the awards committee. I think it’s the people who I am not on a team with who have made this league so much fun. Being able to discuss a fake sport on the internet felt weird at first, but now that I have bought into it, it’s quite enjoyable. Having my own player whose achievements I can take pride in and brag about almost fulfils my childhood dreams of becoming a pro athlete.
So, I guess you can say this is a social league with a dot football problem, at least for me. The only improvement I could see from a social perspective is adding more and more players, so I can keep meeting awesome people! With a rumored reddit class coming up, hopefully we can have another S22 esque class and add in so many new players that the league has to expand as well. Adding new teams will only increase the number of active players in the league, as there will be more ISFL starting spots for them to work towards, which hopefully will increase DSFL player retention.
409 words

[Jo3fish5]

pH

[SamTwoSix]

TIER 2

Question 9- 410 Words

I came here from the Pro Baseball Experience. I know a few people over there who have a lot of experience here and they genuinely love it. Now, I'm not very well-versed in football by any means. I don't watch the games and I couldn't tell you who the first string cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars is (then again, who does) to save my life. I came here looking for something else to do while PBE was chillaxing in the offseason and here I am today! I joined in November, knocked out all of my rookie tasks, and chatted with some (two) DSFL General Managers. One of them was Mag, the former London Royals GM. We had a good talk and I was excited to potentially go over there. Then I talked with South, the Pythons GM, and we hit it off. Eventually, he brought me on and I switched from a Wide Receiver to a Running Back (which was HELL. Position swaps are HELL.) That's how I got here. But obviously, that's not the question. The question is... what keeps me interested in this league?

Well, that would not be the livestreams. Despite them being like 20 minutes long, I have better things to do (Just kidding, I don't, I just don't watch the streams lmap). But in all honesty, what keeps me invested in this league is SouthPaw. My top sim league priority is the Pro Baseball Experience. Baseball is a sport I know, love, and find comfort in. I'm definitely starting to feel that way about football as well, but for the majority of the season I was a semi-active. I'd come in, do my PTs and activities, update every week, and then ghost my Locker Room. Honestly, the only reason I kept doing these updates was SouthPaw. He constantly reminds me (and all the other Sneks) to update constantly. I always do it because I am a man of the people, but I digress. South has genuinely kept me in this league and has prevented me from going IA. I'm a member of the Pythons War Room now, and that's pretty much all because South has kept me invested in the ISFL. Now, I'm working on becoming a more active presence here and (despite me never talking in main and the draft being over I think) trying to make Gio Bianchi the best running back in the league. I tend to aim high with sim leagues.

Question 12- 429 Words

Ah yes, expansion. When leagues grow and player bases spike, It is only natural for the league to create new teams to accommodate these new players. Now the expansion franchise I'd like to see is one that specializes in having a kickass locker room where it's not necessarily all about winning, but about having a good time. Obviously, this seems like a dumb thing to say. But I, personally, would rather be on a team that goes winless that always has their spirits high than a team that goes undefeated but has a ghost town of a locker room and a toxic environment. That's why I love the Portland locker room- we win, yes, but it's also a very relaxed and fun environment to be in. Ultimately, I want to see a team that lives by the motto of "Football is good, but fun is better," or something like that. I don't know, I'm pretty shitty with catchphrases. Names, on the other hand? Now that's where I shine.

I'll mostly be focusing on the name of my new ideal expansion team because I don't know jack shit about any of the GMs in this league other than South. I am a semi-active, as mentioned before. Also as mentioned before, I'm looking to change that. Maybe I could start with knowing all of the GMs, I don't know. Anyways, naming.

I love naming things. Whether it's my computer (whose name is Dave), my dogs (shoutout Tess and Fiji), or my Kevin Harvick Cardboard Cutout (whose name is Kevin), I love to name things. So uh, here's my name for a potential new Sim Football franchise...

The Connecticut Colonials!

Look. Connecticut is not a place populated with Pro sports. The only professional sports team that we had at the top level was the Hartford Whalers, who played in a mall and ditched to North Carolina in the 90's. See? not the best place to have a team. But this is Sim Football Land, where anything is possible. So fuck it, CT Colonials it is. 

Now, why the Colonials? Why the alliteration? Well, golly gee, I'll tell ya, sport! The naming was actually pretty easy. Connecticut was one of the original thirteen colonies that helped birth the great nation of America. And by great, I mean "in shambles, ruined, and probably gonna get nuked sometime in the next decade." But I digress. Colonials is a great name because, well, it pays homage to CT being old as hell and being a founding part of our country. 

Ok that's it, gib TPE pls.

[WildfireMicro]

Tier 8)  Tsuyu Asui had never really had any interest in football at first. In fact she was born in Tokyo Japan and dreamed or being a great hero long before she had gridiron dreams. After graduating from UA she packed up her things and moved out to America to see the world and do more hero work along with getting a college education. That was all she was there for until she went to a few Kentucky Wildcats games and got immediately hooked. She was at first only interested in learning about the game and watching it but eventually she got the crazy idea in her head that she could try put for the team. So she would sneak onto the practice field and use a throwing robot to practice catching the ball and route running until she was noticed by Kentucky coach Mark Stoops. He took a massive chance on her and she would eventually prove it was smart when she became a big part of the teams identity and receiving core. She would become a major celebrity on the campus and was an interesting and slightly heartwarming story heading into the DSFL draft.

She was picked up on waivers by the London Royals and was used sparingly for small catches and didn't catch a single touchdown. She didn't let it get her down however and dedicated herself to slowly getting better so she could catch up with her teammates. She even went with them to the playoffs where they ultimately lost in the Ultimini to the Tijuana Luchadores. Despite the loss being extremely disappointing she just decided to focus on the upcoming DSFL draft. Luckily for her she was picked by the Royals in the 3rd round and has now become a big part of thier offense and playoff push.

She has been getting a lot of interest from ISFL scouts and some people she her as a first round talent. Wherever she ends ether as a first rounder or a steal she is definitely hoping to have a memorable career and be a positive influence on whatever team picks her. Even though she can't use her Quirk as much as she would like too due to the rules and how much they would not be useful for football her semi daily training regimen has helped her mold her body to be ready for any big hits and she is definitely ready for the next step in her career.



Tier 9) You know sometimes I wonder what keeps me here in this league updating and writing media about dlt football myself. I mostly ask those questions after an embarrassing loss but still. Guess one thing that keeps me interested is how quick the games go so I know the results pretty quickly. For me long games tend to stress me out as the game goes on, especially if its close. But with this league its like 5 minutes or so a game and that helps my stress. Another reason I end up staying here is the overall creativity the league allows us to have.

Tsuyu Asui would not be as fully realized as the football playing frog girl she is in most other leagues except for leagues like PBE and SHL I guess. The dots on the field means they could be anyone I can imagine so thinking of Tsuyu catching a pass is pretty easy when I don't have to associate her with an avatar. Plus all the creative graphics people in this league can put her in any uniform that I wish within reason of course. Helps that it is currently free as the league pays the graphics people for the work they do. I also love writing media for people to enjoy and getting paid for it. The interaction people have with media is something you don't get with most other leagues. I especially love mock drafts and look forward to every mock draft season.

One of the best things about the league is the various personalities and amazing people you meet along the way. I have met many people in this league that I would definitely talk to in real life like Sylphreni and Bayley and Mag among others and I wouldn't have met them without this league. Its impossible to be in this league and not make quite a few friends in my opinion. Plus those friends you make can make graphics and media about you helping people know who you are. If there is one I wish would improve its maybe make wiki task easier as it can be frustrating to new players in my opinion,  especially those who don't know how to do code like me. Luckily I had people who could help me but still. And maybe the events team could do better at thier job overall as they seem to keep making mistakes. Not insanely so, but it is something to note.

[SchwarzNarr]

8) Write a short biography or story about your player. This could include background about how they came to the ISFL and how they’ve done so far, a story about their role in an exciting game, or anything else related to their experience in the league.

Melvin didn’t expect to become a football player. It wasn’t really something that he dreamed about when he was younger, in fact, all he cared about was when he would finally start having large antlers. After he met his best friend Daria Guava-Fresca, it was important to him to be included in all aspects of her life. As her life revolved around football, this meant that he was now a football lover.

While he watched her career through college and her initial season in the DSFL, he began to learn the rules of the game, and became more and more interested. After her demise, he wanted to continue to honor her, and this new sport that he learned to love because of her. Melvin tried to take her place as kicker, but he was not a very good kicker. While Daria was clutch in helping Norfolk through the playoff series and win the Ultimini, Melvin was not so great at kicking. It was hard for him to know which of his four legs he should use to kick. If he used his back legs there was more power, but his body was in the way, his front legs sometimes made him stumble. Kicking backwards worked for a while, but he struggled to aim, which was truly his biggest downfall the one season he played with Norfolk.

After moving to Colorado, Melvin learned from former Yeti Legend Mo Berry, along with his friend Adelie de Pengu the importance of being a linebacker. He quite enjoyed getting sacks, as taking down the quarterback helped feed his bloodlust before it got too dangerous. In addition to taking down the quarterback, Melvin had learned that his teammates got incredibly excited when he would grab the ball. Making use of his Antlers, he was able to get numerous interceptions. It took Melvin a bit to realize that he needed to try and run into the endzone with the ball, but in his first season as linebacker, he was still able to do that twice and scored 12 points for the Yeti defense that season.

As the season came to an end and Colorado faced a devastating defeat to San Jose in the Ultimus (again), Melvin came time to shine on his own merits. He had done well enough to be nominated as a rookie for Linebacker of the Year, as well as Defensive Rookie of the Year. While it seemed a shock that Melvin would have done so much for his team in his first season, he was pleased as punch to win an award, just like his owner Daria had two seasons prior.

9) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, the community, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?

One of the best things about this league is rookie chat. Engaging with the newest members of the community as a Rookie Mentor is absolutely the best part. I joined the league not realizing that it’s basically a chat room that happens to have football, and having experienced rookie chat for the past several seasons, it is literally my favorite part. Helping to navigate the new users through the forums and updating, helping to watch their joy as they get to experience their first games, or becoming a new user who breaks a DSFL record, team record, or even just their own personal goal is awesome. I love that I get to have some part in that as they join and participate.

The prospect locker rooms inside of Rookie chat get to become these secret little worlds that only a few users get to experience. They can bond through them, and become teammates even after the DSFL draft. I think it’s important to let users know that they can bond together, and even if they are split up after having been on a team together, they still get to be with one another. It’s kind of the same way how DSFL rivalries are pushed aside for your ISFL team and ISFL rivalries. Our prospect locker rooms (and rookie chat in general) help ease that transition and make sure nobody has any true hard feelings about other teams and players from other team. I also know how much some players hold on to the accomplishments that their prospect team had during the rest of their career (at least their first few seasons in the DSFL level).

Things that make rookie chat hard are that users only stay for two seasons, unless they are a GM of the team, Sim Team, HO, or a Rookie Mentor (along with a few department heads). While it’s important to remember that we have a general chat to help everyone talk, there are definitely those few users who have always gone above and beyond what was called of them to engage and be helpful. Especially as they might still be heavily involved, or even still playing for their DSFL team, instead of being called up. They are the users I wish I could keep on the Rookie Mentor team, but I don’t think that HO would let me have a 25 man team for our rookies. (Although could you imagine! One rookie mentor for 2-3 users most seasons. It would be awesome!) Rookie chat is truly the best thing about this league, and it’s one of the most enjoyable places to hang out.