(S26) Ultimus Week

[BRNXB0MBERS]

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

• "Cue The Sun" - Forgive Durden:  We wish it was Cue the touchdowns, but the Sun will work.  #SunsOutGunsOut
  
• "Run, Gunner Recall, Run! The Town Wants You Dead!" by The Prize Fighter Inferno: We don’t really care why he’s running.  We’re just glad he’s running for us.
  
• "Rocky Raccoon" by The Beatles: We just like it
  
• "Tarot Woman" by Rainbow: It doesn’t take the supernatural to know that Taro is going to light up this league for a long time.
  
• "Donuts" by Phora: Saba only wants one thing, and it’s disgusting.
  
• "Mattress Music" by Marques Houston: It’s literally named after him.  It’s his music.
  
• "Mistreated Roth" by Yngwie Malmsteen: He’s not mistreated, but it fires him up before the game.
  
• "Plop! Plop!" by Caskey: That’s a lot of Plop.
  
• "New Galfriend" by Diana King: Galf is the only thing better than a girlfriend.
  
• "Gazzy Garcia" feat. Trippie Boi by Lil Lano: What can we say?  He loves German music.
  
• "Scarlett Ribbons" by Willie Nelson: This is only played at the after-after party.  Most of the team doesn’t even know what goes on there.
  
• "Crunk Juice" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz: It’s all fun and games until Crunk puts his juice on you.
  
• "Hotdogs And Hamburgers" by John Mellencamp: At least hotdog likes hamburgers.
  

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17) You’re in charge of entertainment for the Ultimus or Ultimini half-time show. What would you do?
We’re recreating the 2001 Super Bowl XXXV halftime show.  Why?  Because it’s the best of all time.  It had something for everybody.  Pop.  Rock.  Rap.  Young.  Old.  It was the first one to have fans on the field.  Other than that sock, it was flawless.  We never wanted to say “Bye Bye Bye” to the performance, and now we don’t have to.  You’ll be glued to your TV since “[You] Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”.  And who is putting this masterpiece together?  “It’s Gonna Be Me”; I’m not trusting it to anyone else.  Now, I know what you’re thinking: won’t this guy celebrating a Super Bowl halftime show from 20 years ago just be grouchy and “Jaded”?  If you “Walk This Way”, I’ll show you why that’s wrong.  In order for us to be in sync with the current generation, we will team up with the Mary’s and J’s of today.  I’m sure they’ll come up with something better than the aerodynamic show previously proposed.  They will spear the perfect idea, and I will put it into action.  Now we just need some modern artists; older musicians might be our death knell.  Actually, it’s my halftime show.  We’re bringing them all back.  No changes.  I guess I’ll reach out to a brokerage company to get a sponsor.

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


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

[Naosu]

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?

Expectations for Sarasota were quite high this season. We were hoping to be fighting for the top spot in the NSFC, but stumbled to barely .500. Thankfully we still made the playoffs as it would have been a truly disappointing season otherwise. I believe our GMs underestimated YKW since we had SAR/COL/CHI fighting for the top 3 spots. Heading into the season I think our only truly poor win percentage games would have been away against both teams just mentioned. Week 1 we lost at Colorado, more or less as expected. Then we went on a 5 game win streak, beating Chicago at our arena. It was all downhill from Week 7. We managed to turn 5-1 into 8-8. Somehow we lost to both Philadelphia and Baltimore while at home and we probably had very high win percentages for both of those games. Pulling out a win in Chicago during week 14 was insane and the reason we made the playoffs, but we limped in losing the next two games, one of which was the aforementioned Baltimore game. However in the NSFC wildcard game we had a highlight that will be the best game we’ve seen until we win the Ultimus. I think that S26 NSFC Wildcard Sarasota @ Chicago could be argued as one of the top five games of ISFL history. A winning touchdown with zero seconds is absolutely insane! It’s definitely a highlight of my entire sim career across all leagues. Sadly after that it was business as usual. In a disappointing glitchy stream we lost the NSFC finals to YKW after being ahead a majority of the game. In regards to my player, I don’t really have a baseline for what stats are good. Looking at the league defensive stats Goku had a decent season, but nothing exceptional. He had similar stats to two DEoTY nominees, but wouldn’t have been close to the actual winner, Etrigan Slayer. Next season I have pretty big expectations. With the sim changes I think TPE may be more important than it is now for DE. I’m currently 6th highest for DE and could move up to 5th by the time the season starts. Even if I don’t win DEoTY I hope to be in the conversation for the next couple seasons as I’m in my peak. For expectations for the Sailfish, it’s Ultimus or bust. We have a single player on the main roster who just hit regression this offseason. Hopefully we make something happen as the team reaches its peak.


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.

I originally come from the SHL, which is where I got started with sim leagues. I’m also in PBE but I don’t pay as much attention to the league. This is confirmation bias as I invest more time there, but I really love the SHL community. I’ve been there for 1.5 years now and it’s become a big part of my life. I’ve been able to make some awesome friends and form a network of great people that I know. I find it amazing how I’m able to message someone on discord if I need assistance with college. I also love that it’s relatively easy to find gamer friends for almost any game you might play. Leagueception: I play in the Simulation Hockey League F1 Racing League. For an actual league topic, I really enjoy being a minors GM. I like paying it forward and helping people get started with their sim career. When I was fresh myself not knowing what a sim league truly was, my favourite part about the SHL was how welcoming and helpful the league as a whole was (and this is the case with each league I’m part of)  It’s also quite fun when I recognize names from PBE/ISFL and get to scout those people.


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?

Without asking someone, I actually don’t know what the current sim engine is. Although since the stats are nearly identical I would assume we’re currently on an older version of Draft Day Sports. As a user not involved with any of the hard work I am most definitely excited for the change. I think any time there’s a move to a newer, more improved version it’s a positive change for anyone except maybe those involved with the transition. Hopefully those guys got a huge payday or lifetime PT pass. The part I’m most interested in with the new sim is traits. Since we’re essentially working on a D&D character sheet, but for football I think traits are an amazing addition. They add a new layer to character building and could be a huge factor in how a player performs. I believe the balance team spent a lot of time on it, but I’m hoping that each archetype’s signature traits provides a decent boost to each player that unlocks it. Though I believe it’s fair for more popular positions, the one part I dislike is the amount of TPE required to cap under the new structure. I picked DE as it needs less attention to be good, and I would have been nearly capped around 950 TPE with the current system. With the new system I’m going to need closer to 1200 TPE to have most things capped and traits unlocked.

[FootballIsCool]

2.) Stumpy Jones’ draft class is the Season 28 draft class. Being that the Season 28 draft class is the upcoming class to be drafted this will be more of a predictive stance. The season 28 reddit class,  it’s expected to be a deep draft class. Currently there are sixty-nine prospects for the upcoming Season 28 draft. The number of players for each positions are as follows: five defensive end prospects, four defensive tackle prospects, six linebacker prospects, nine cornerback prospects, eight safety prospects, eight offensive linemen prospects, five tight end prospects, seven wide receiver prospects, eight running back prospects, eight quarterback prospects and 1 Kicker/Punter prospect.

I expect Kansas City to select a primer wide receiver with the first pick. An easy choice would be to select Bayley Cowabunga-JKortesi81 first overall. This user is a reliable producer with a history for greatness and I think Kansas City could use every little sprinkle of greatness they can get.

The second pick in the DSFL draft is a bit of a toss up. But I’d think the Tijuana Luchadors would be looking to pick up their Quarterback of the future in either taking a risk on Red Arrow-RedArrow12c, but they will likely be picking up the reliable  Jacob Raske -CLG Rampage. Raske is a recreate that offers a bit of security and this works out perfectly for where the luchadors are currently in the league. They have a solid running back tandem in Preston Parker and Drip Dad so securing a dual threat could be just what Tijuana needs

With the third pick in the DSFL draft, I predict we see our first defensive player go off the board. With how few linebackers there are in this draft The Minnesota Grey Ducks should pick up a linebacker to replace Alejandro Chainbreaker. I predict Grit Gurdur-Miller is selected with the third pick. He’s a versatile linebacker that’ll fit all of the needs that Minnesota has (which is plenty).

The Dallas Birddogs are a DSFL team that are sitting pretty in this position. With a team that is mostly full of actual players there are few positional needs. I would consider the teams needs are only Defensive End and the big boys on the Offensive Line. With the fourth pick overall I am predicting the Dallas Birddogs are looking to either Trade out or pick up the first bigman in the draft. I think Defensive End Manhattan Project-Modern_Duke is selected with the fourth pick. Manhattan Project brings the BOOM! He’s a man about power and isn’t afraid to bulldozer over his competition and will slot in extremely well in Dallas.

The fifth pick is held by the Norfolk Seawolves and will be selecting another Linebacker from this small linebacking class. Which linebacker gets selected by the Seawolves is a toss up but my early prediction is Dexter Hall being selected by the Seawolves.

The sixth pick in the DSFL draft belongs to the London Royals. Who should be losing a few players to “graduation”. So it’s really whoever they are vibin’ with the most. I wouldn’t be surprised if they reach for one of the few remaining linebackers on the board. It would be wise of them to grab the Elite running back prospect in this draft Busch Goose-Infinitempg. Busch Goose is known for his soft hands, some say they are so soft they are as soft as down feathers which will work well coming out of the backfield as a receiving back.

The Portland Pythons are back and they’re pissed. This powerhouse of the DSFL are returning from a 13-1 regular season with all of their previous roster. This draft can go one of two ways for the Pythons, their immediate needs for the coming season are in the trenches. There is a world where the Pythons use this pick to nab top earner Stumpy Jones from the board. But this is unlikely, I could see the pythons prepare to reload for next season grabbing a player with more flexibility for next season. If the pythons really think they can get an offensive linemen they need late in the second round they should trade this pick away. There are plenty of teams that are thirsty for this pick. However if the pythons choose to do neither of the previously mentioned.  Python's plan is to reload for next season, in which there are plenty of players to do that within this player pool.

The final pick in the first round is held by the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, although the Buccaneers ended up winning the Title there are a lot of positional needs. If they would be smart to grab Defensive Tackle Prof. Godfrey Gravity-Z0rem this guy is great! I had the opportunity to commission an art work for him recently and I can safely say he’s the real deal. Poised, sociable, determined, the works!!!! Bondi Beach would be getting a sure thing with Prof. Godfrey Gravity. 


That concludes the first round of the DSFL draft. In general, I am surprised at how few linebackers are in my draft class. Due to how few linebackers there are, I would not be surprised to see 4 out of the 5 players gone in the first round just due to demand. Even though Stumpy Jones will be a max earner, I would be surprised if he were taken in the first two rounds. Honestly, I think it would be a mistake. Stumpy Jones will only be down in the DSFL for one season. So I think you could get more mileage out of a different pick.


[930 words]

[Tomasnz]

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.

Chet Larson grew up in Odense Denmark, which is the main city of the island of Fyn, which lies between the main island of Zealand (where Copenhagen is located) and the mainland, Jutland. He grew up in a fairly typical way, with a sports loving family and with a dad supporting Manchester United because that's where Peter Schmical played, and an American mum who used to let him watch American sports on Sunday night. He was good at school and earned his high school diploma with distinction.

He first found football (the one played in armor) through sunday night TV watching and was lucky enough to live across the road from the park that hosted the small stadium that the local amature gridiron (as they call it) team. When he was in high school he tried out for the team and ended up with a special teams role and as one of the depth safeties. He continued to develop and grow over his time with the team and eventually became their star linebacker, moving to that position when his late growth spurt filled out his lanky frame and enabled him to be that rangy utility linebacker, apt at reading Quarterbacks and being the extra blitzer either from the edge or deep inside, or dropping into soft zone coverage to break up passes.

Oh finishing highschool he was invited to try out for the semi-professional Danish team in the big six European completion the Arhus Aurochs. He quickly became one of the starting Linebackers and future stars for the team. Helping to establish a formidable defensive unit, that unfortunately could not be matched for competence on the other side of the ball. Chet undertook an apprenticeship in highway engineering while playing, since there wasn't an engineering programme he was interested in at Arhus University. 

Peter Larson (no relation) the Danish TE of the Austin Copperheads, maintained a annual training camp with the Aurochs. It was during one of these that Peter introduced Chet to his agent Tomas Nuk-Zoma, and the idea that Chet might have the talent necessary to trying out for the DSFL. The DSFL commission reviewed his application to be included in the s25 DSFL entry draft and decided to admit him. Due to unusual travel circumstances around the led up to the draft Chet was unable to register in time, but the league allowed him to be added to waivers and was subsequently picked up by the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers

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

Nothing hypothetical about this one. Chet and the boys in Bondi just won it all. In Portland, so the first step was recognising this was a good location to start and epic journey home (well to Bondi anyway) partying all the way. First stop was the microbrewing scene in Portland. Way too much beer and food was consumed. Followed by the team bus driving overnight down to San Francisco in what will only be referred to as a colossal mistake, rummors are that the bus was just burned rather than trying to restore it. 

An enjoyable day wandering around the San Francisco waterfront as wealthy tourists was a great recovery, dinning across for the marina and watching yachts come and go. Basically doing as little as possible after a hard fought game the day before and possibly too much partying.

From San Francisco the direct flight to Sydney is 13 hours long. Looking to break it up a bit we decided to fly via Nandi (Fiji) and enjoyed a night at the resort's to break up the jet lag. Also the pools and massages were at this point necessary, also the coconut flavoured everything... Got to enjoy those anti-oxidents. 

By this time, we are well overdue in Bondi so we decide we may as well make our way back. So we jumped back on the last leg, 5 hours flying and touched down late Thursday, back in our own beds for a night then on to the parade down the beach road in Bondi on Friday afternoon and ending with a giant community BBQ that the GMs have set up to welcome us back victorious. A few stops a few dents and we have brought the Ultimini to Oz for the first time.

[noanic]

30) Kevin Goldman is an absolute beast when it comes to picking an O-liner. He might not be the most experienced athlete yet, but he will definitely improve. He might go down in history as one of the greatest players you have ever seen in the trenches. Something indicating his potential was his dominant time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he won his well-deserved outland trophy.  His size of 6' 3" is helping him a lot to protect the most important man in the offense and his strength makes him one of the best run blockers I have ever seen in the NCAA. Not only the physical attributes are astonishing but also his personality and mindset. He is super focused on his career and puts in the work to get some extra TPE. The coaches from Fighting Illini were always super proud of the player they produced at their university. They say he is easy going and always spreading a good vibe in the locker room. The other players always loved to play with him and respected his work. He is also playing in the prospect where produced six pancakes until now. I wouldn't be surprised if a team picks him up early in the draft.

17) The Ultimus half-time show is the event of the season. So it has to be super spectacular, and people should remember it as one of the most exciting experiences of their life. To manage a big task like that, we need the most weird and unconventional equipment we can imagine. An Idea would be a Kung Fury themed half-time show where David Hasselhoff is riding a robotic laser raptor while singing true survivor. After the song, the lights in the arena will give the impression that you are in a time warp while a music band of pirates will enter the stage to sing Sailorsongs with Rebecca Black as their leading singer. Then you will hear some guitar riffs, and The Offspring starts to play the theme of sharknado. Because a sharknado theme song wouldn't be exciting without flying sharks, we need some of them as well. These are going to drop by the players' signed t-shirts on the crowd and will disappear afterward. To give it the final touch Ken Jeong will play on his keytar while flying away with a helicopter. Maybe this halftime show is not for everyone, but people with a weird taste and a special liking for trash TV will absolutely love it.

27)

19)

[King Jellyfish]

17) 
In a different universe in the year 2019, we have been doomed! Bamboozled! And we have been smeckledorfed! What has been set up as the most historic and most anticipated Half-Time Show the world would ever seen, turned into the biggest letdown in modern centuries.
The great betrayal of Maroon 5, Travis Scott and the NFL! They promised to perform Sweet Victory and pay homage to the greatest cartoon that ever existed and will ever exist: Spongebob Squarepants!
It implementation and execution would be so simple and yet the result would satisfy the fanbase and unite the world for a brief moment in time. So we all got up in front of our television during the Super Bowl hoping to experience a true work of art. But what did we get you may ask?
We got f*cking  S I C K O  M O D E….
So the ISFL can claim this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and give us fans what we deserve and need in those daring times. So let me pitch my idea oft he greatest half time show you will ever witness:

You just replicate what the episode „Band Geeks“ is already given us. Let a giant glass bowl elevate from the ground. All the musicians that play the various instruments get the iconic red suits. The main singer is obviously going to be someone in a Spongebob costume, just like Plankton, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Sandy; Mrs. Puff and all his company.
So the shows starts. Lights out. A single stage lights focuses the audience attention to keyboard player. Than he hits the famous tunes. After that the focus shifts to the singer in the spongebob costume and the audience hears him singing the words:

„The winner takes all
It's the thrill of one more kill
The last one to fall
Will never sacrifice their will“

And the drummer in hits his instrument and a epic fire and light show starts tot he beat oft he music. The rest is and will be history…..


19)



27)



30) 
Troy Abed the next great Drew Brees?

Troy Abed is an underrated and often overlooked QB prospect from the Greendale Community College. He is 23 years old, 6´1´´ tall and brings a weight of 210 lbs. The biggest strength and the most promising feature is most likely his arm. Even in his young career, he is able to sling the ball deep and accurately into the field. Is high intelligence, football IQ and his overall understanding of defensive schemes and concept gives him a big advantage to take the step into the next level.

Even though it seems like his lack of speed and agility and therefore his ability to extend plays could be a potential problem for his offense, he will make up with his quick decision-making. He truly can control the game and create a calm and confident atmosphere for his offense and lead them to a victory.

Personality-wise his biggest strengths are his leadership, work ethic and competitiveness. His absolute will to put in the extra hours of work to improve his skills matchlessly.

He is definitely a draft sleeper and scouts and GM´s should look more into his talent and potential. If given some time to improve he has the potential to develop into the next Drew Brees.

[MobiausGrander]

1) Man, S26 was a great and, for a lot of the time, surprising season for the ISFL! I am writing this after the playoffs and championship for the ISFL, so this will be a reflection on the teams that made the playoffs and how they got here and how each team did relative to their own expectations!

    I will begin with one of last season's true contenders, the Orange County Otters. The Otters went 9-7 this season which is usually a decent record that should be enough to make the playoffs; however, last season they went 11-5 and were first in the ASFC; by comparison, because they went 9-7 this year, they almost missed the playoffs but clinched the last playoff seed in the conference due to a four-way tie at 9-7. The regression in the team showed in the playoffs as they lost in the first round to my team, the New Orleans Second Line, in a low scoring game that was akin to the "Beast Quake" playoff game as Rotchburns sealed the game away for us through a timely grand run to put the game away against the Otters, ending their season on a sour note and below expectations as a defending champion.

    The next team I will reflect upon are the Colorado Yeti. The Yeti, like the Otters, had a very disappointing season as they went 8-8 and barely made the playoffs by claiming the last playoff seed in the NSFC. This is a disappointment because they went 13-3 last season and made it all the way to the Ultimus. The 8-8 record showed in the playoffs as they unfortunately had to play the dominant Wraiths, who I will write about coming up, as they got humiliated and destroyed with a score of 51-6, ending their playoffs before they even began.

    The next team up are the Sarasota Sailfish. The Sailfish's record this season was a step back from their last season record of 11-5 as they went 8-8. However, unlike the Yeti, the Sailfish made up the semi-disappointing regular season by going farther than they did last season in the playoffs. They flipped the script on the Chicago Butchers from last season's playoffs and went as far as the conference championship round where they went toe to toe against the dominant Wraiths in a close game before falling 24-22. However, that is a great season for the Sailfish relative to their overall expectations!

    The next team up is the team that the Sailfish beat in the playoffs this year, the Chicago Butchers. The Butchers went 10-6 this season after going 8-8 last season and going to the conference championship after upsetting the 11-5 Sailfish. However, this year was a bit of a underwhelming one for the Butchers as the Sailfish got revenge on them this season as they defeated the Butchers handily in this season's playoffs, leading to a disappointing exit. 

   The next two teams up that I will reflect on are going to be combined: the Austin Silverbacks and the New York Copperheads. The both of these two teams improved massively from last season as they were both expansion teams last season and exceed expectations by going 9-7 and making the playoffs this season. Unfortunately, they both matched up in the playoffs where the Silverbacks blew out the Copperheads 34-15 and went onto the conference championship where they had a massive lead against the New Orleans Second Line a la the Browns-Steelers playoff game last season before losing in OT to the Line after a 14 point comeback by them in the fourth quarter. Still, both these teams should be proud with their developments.

   The final two teams that I will write about are the YellowKnife Wraiths and the New Orleans Second Line! Both these teams had great seasons relative to last year where they both went 7-9. The Wraiths went 13-3 this season, while the Second Line went 9-7, leading to them being at the top of their respective conferences. The two teams were top 5 in both offense and defense throughout the season and it showed throughout the playoffs! The Wraiths easily defeated the Yeti and won against the Sailfish in a close game, while the Second Line won against the Otters and emerged victorious in an epic conference championship game against the Silverbacks, leading for the two teams to matchup against each other in the Ultimus. Unfortunately for the Second Line, the Ultimus went like Super Bowl 48 where the Line were the Broncos and the Wraiths were the Seahawks as the Wraiths blewout the Line 49-17, leading to the title for this season.

All in all, this was an interesting season filled with epic games, suspense, and a great playoffs! I hope that this kind of season can happen again with the introduction of the new simulation next season!

[DatSmolBoi]

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)?

Im not sure if a type of answer like this is allowed but Im going to tell about the first season of the New York Silverbacks. There isn't normally any hype around expansion teams and their first season because well...its their first season in the league. But still, when your starting in a new league your expected to have a average season at best with the sim not really caring about you right? As a Silverback my first thought when we started the season was to get a season like the Sailfish did in S22 when they went 6-7 and made the playoffs. That was my predictions and oh was it so wrong from the start. First game for New York starts off home against the Berlin Salamanders. Everything seems to start out great for us as we were moving the ball down the field great. 20-20 in the 4th is where the sim decides to turn on god mode for berlin as they march down the field insanely fast to make it 20-27. But its okay! Because we scored a touchdown to tie it with a minute or so left in the game! Berlin completes a deep ball pass to get in field goal to win it 30-27. But its only 0-1 to start the season...not like were going to stay winless for a while or something. Week 2 in the making as the Silverbacks are winning by a field goal against the Otters with 2 minutes to go! The sim can't screw us for a second time right? Otters connect a deep ball to not only get in field goal range but to get the touchdown to win. 0-2. Week 3 starts as this time we are first to play in franchise history. Unlike the two other games, we can't do anything. 16-0 against the Outlaws. But wait..the talent is back! Its 19-20 with 7 minutes to go! Too bad the sim hates apples and makes Arizona march down the field and score a touchdown. Oh and thats not all. Howitzer throws a pick to end it for the Silverbacks. 25-20 final score. 0-3 record. Week 4 comes along in the same video as this time maybe we won't lose? Its only 6-7 and Howitzer throws a interception. 4th quarter, 6-27, 2 minutes to go. But hey! We scored a touchdown! WE SCORED A TOUCHDOWN! 27-13 BABY! 0-4 BABYYYY! We start week 5 with a expansion battle against Honolulu and JESUS CHRIST 23-7 IN THE 3RD? Isn't Honolulu supposed to be BAD? No wonder we are 0-5 when we are getting blown out by the HAHALUA. 0-5. This time though, we are facing the Sabercats. This team is ugly. We can't lose to them right? Well, were tied in the 4th right now. 20-20. Remember last time it was 20-20? We lost to Berlin by a field goal. THIS GAME THOUGH, we lose 20-23. I hate 20-20. 0-6. Week 7! Today, we might lose against NOLA! My old team! Well lets see.. we are down 17-9, and we are doing good on offense and defense, yeah were not coming back. NOLA wins 24-26 and our losing streak continues. 0-7! We face the Sailfish on week 8 and we suck. We just really suck. We suck so bad that its 41-13 IN THE 4TH. This is where I turn my TV off and cry myself to sleep. 0-8. We have talent. We have good coaches. What the hell is happening? Its okay though, we have the Liberty next week. That should be a easy win. Alright lets see here....its 14-23 and the Liberty are winning. I expect nothing more from my fellow Silverbacks. All I want to know is why does the sim hate us so much? Were actually decent while the Liberty was horrible last year! Dead last in the league! 0-9. Color Rush Week! This is where we look like literal piss. Actually it looks like the Hawks. Eh, same thing. Anyways, everything looks horrible. Our uniforms, our playcalling, our game, and DDPSF16 does too. Basically to summarize the whole game up, our piss colors gave us bad luck and we lose not scoring a single point besides a garbage time TD. 0-10. Double Digit Losses! Its now week 11. We face the Arizona Outlaws again! Last time we faced them, the sim decided to let them win with a field goal. Today though, we are up 24-21. We actually have a chance to win! YOU HEAR THAT SIM! YOU CANT STOP THE BIG APPLE TODAY! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON BY A FIELD GOAL! IM SO HAPPY! But it was already too late. We got out of the playoff picture week 9 and were bound to go 1-15. Yeah fuck that, fuck the sim, and fuck berlin. The Silverbacks decide to win more games and let Berlin take the #1 spot in the draft. Are the Silverbacks Sad? Hell no. We just proved how dangerous they could be next year if they keep it up like that. Do the same thing without the sim interfering, and we might make the playoffs going 9-7.

[StevenOSullivan]

18) I am in the Pro Baseball Experience, the PBE. I really enjoy that league a lot, maybe even slightly more than the ISFL. Both leagues are very similar for the most part. I think the game they use is a lot better than what this league uses, as OOTP is really a fantastic game. The league is very interesting and has a lot of cool features and I really like my time there. I am currently on my third player there. My first player was a hitter who played in the outfield and was very good at taking walks. My second player I just retired and he was a relief pitcher. I was actually really successful with him and won two awards with reliever of the year. I have some hope that maybe he will make the hall of fame there. Now I just recreated again and made another hitter who will be good at drawing walks, I think that will be very fun to play with. I hope that I can be more involved here and there both and having new players in both leagues is really fun and exciting so far. I am going through the draft processes and enjoying my team in these leagues a lot.

21) I really enjoy the Berlin Fire Salamander as a branding and as a logo. I think at first it looked a bit random to me and maybe the city seems a bit random for a football team in this league but I think a Fire Salamander is a really cool animal to pick for a logo and brand. I also really like the Colorado Yeti as an idea, though maybe their logo could use some more pep. The Yellowknife Wraiths have a really cool logo and color combination and I am a really big fan of them. On the other hand I think the Baltimore Hawks are really boring. There isn't really much to say about Hawks, there are just far more unique and cool animals to pick than a Hawk. I think similarly I think the Philadelphia Liberty, while a bit unique, seems a bit boring to me. I also feel that way about the New York Silverbacks. Of all the cities in the world you can pick you pick the most cliche one? When it comes to the minor leagues, I really like the Norfolk SeaWolves, which is the team that I am on. I also really like the Tijuana Luchadores as a branding and that is also a fun logo.

28) I will admit that I don't know the sim in and out and have no particular interest in learning it but from what I have seen of it, it is not the most advanced sim. The way games are shown seems rather dull and boring and very very old school with the 2 D models. I really don't enjoy watching the sims here and usually just check my statistics afterwards. I also know that the sim was not very advanced strategically. I don't know how much the new sim fixes that, I think we still use the same game and just a new version of it? It feels like we have moved into the future a little with these new traits. I am unsure how they really work and what kind of impact they will have but it seems like there is a lot of potential to make more unique players now that these traits exist and there is more to figure out what works and what doesn't. I haven't really understood how this is going to work moving forward but I hope that once I get drafted by a major league team we will have some conversations about what the player build should look like.

[overdoo]

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?

Well, my experience so far has been pretty great, I really can't complain about a lot. I feel like I've answered this question a ton in regards to ISFL scouting, but if anything that has made me more sure of my answer. Obviously coming from the SHL helps, I have some sim league experience under my belt that made it much easier to get engaged, and overall just get started in the ISFL. Of course, when first coming into the league the waiver system was much different than the DFA (Draftable Free Agent) system we have in the SHL. I was lowkey looking forward to picking a team to sign with, but in the end, Norfolk was probably the team I would have picked anyway. The first person that reached out to me was Blasoon, and it took almost no time for J0EB to help me out with some things in the league. They both helped out with an article I had, and were super welcoming overall, definitely encouraged me to be active in the LR quickly, and a big reason I still pop into Norfolk every once in a while. 

Then there was the draft, which was pretty exciting, got to talk to a lot of cool people, but SouthPaw was one of those that stood out for sure. He was great to talk to, and we had talked somewhat continuously until the draft, when I was taken by the Pythons. Obviously going back to Norfolk would have been cool, but South was great in getting me over, making me feel welcome, and, well, in the end, encouraging me. He, along with the rest of management, worked their asses off to get the Pythons doing well, and we had a crazy season, although we didn't win it all. It was really exciting to be a part of, and just in general the Pythons were a great place to hang out during the season, so a lot of credit goes to fellow users in there too. But there is a reason South and Panda got that GM award this season, I'll tell ya that much.

During the season, I think Lawrence Miller played pretty good, tied among a few other players for interceptions on the season, and put up great numbers for a CB as far as tackles and passes defended went. As a rookie, it is hard to complain about that at all, honestly. The first interception was really cool, and each after that was a nice surprise. In week 6 against Tijuana, Miller ended up getting the defensive game ball for the Pythons, which was also nice, because it meant he was doing something right.

Other than that, draft tomorrow which is exciting, scouted by almost every team, and most conversations I had I felt were fantastic. I was hoping that I would not really have any idea as to where I go, but most mocks have me at 5 to Colorado, or 8 to Yellowknife, which are both great teams, but like I said some mystery would be nice. Who knows though, it is easy for everyone to be wrong at the same time!

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

In my opinion, the New York Silverbacks have the best branding in the league. The combination of the black, grey, mint, and yellow actually turns out to be quite beautiful, and works incredibly with both the gorilla, and the general theatre them from the city that houses Broadway. Having a Silverback as a "mascot" is actually great, it is a strong, powerful, and well-respected animal that will strike fear. At least, if seen in person, it will. Then, with the gorilla as a mascot, there is the reference to King Kong on the Empire State Building, considering that the Silverbacks play in New York. Wrapping around to Broadway as a reference, it may not stick out as much as you would think, but definitely has an old-school theatre look to it, with the yellow and black combination, lines, and font used for the text. It isn't exactly like Broadway is or was (at least that I know of), but gives off that vibe that relates the time to more known history of New York. Taken together, I think it is far and away my favourite branding in the league, and is incredibly well done. On the other end of the spectrum, I think the San Jose SaberCats could definitely use a change. It seems like an original team, so I'm sure people would be opposed to a change, but it just.. isn't that great. The colours are alright together, but bland, more to be desired, along with the logo. It just doesn't pop out. 

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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?

Well, I certainly have not been around for the old sim much at all, at least enough to have the same hatred for it's quirks as much as the rest of the league seems to have. Regardless, I am pretty excited for the new sim, it'll be going once I make the ISFL which I think is neat, and there is a lot to look forward to in this one. 

As far as I have heard, playbooks are much nicer, and will be much more fun to experiment with fi you are a part of a team's management that works on rosters and tactics. Maybe I get into that part of the league, maybe I don't, but even if I don't I think that will improve the ability of what is possible with a team in the sim, which hopefully results in some pretty good games between teams.

New archetypes is cool, not too excited about them, but it is nice to see how much work lots of users in the league have done in terms of balancing them all well with each other. It takes a lot of time and effort, so I appreciate that, in the very least. The traits introduced are interesting, because that is another thing that separates archetypes, and may make people choose something they normally would not. Then, there is the "problem" of when do you buy it? At what point is it more useful to spend 50 TPE on a trait, rather than on more attributes? Will that differ per position? Probably. I think that is all pretty neat.

It is hard to complain about anything that has been done for the new sim, so yeah, looking forward to it.

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