(S26) Ultimus Week

[Air Crou]

Task 1

This season's playoff races had things in common, both in the majors and the minors level of the league. The presumptive favorite in the one conference, Yellowknife and Portland respectively, and chaos in the other conference, 5-way tie for #1 through #5 in the ASFC, Top 3 in SFC separated by a game. But how did each team make it to the playoffs?
Let's start with the DSFL. The NFC Championship Game participants were the 13-1 Portland Pythons, who left no doubt about their dominance, sweeping their road games, posting the #2 offence and #1 defence in the league. They were led by quarterback LeBron James III, who threw a league high 20 touchdowns, with only two interceptions, and the 9-5 London Royals, who clinched their playoff ticket after a 34-13 home win against the Minnesota Grey Ducks in week 12, eliminating the Grey Ducks in the process. The SFC Championship Game participants were the 8-6, freshly rebranded and joked about, Bondi Beach Buccaneers, and the 7-7 Norfolk Seawolves. The other 7-7 team, that was left out, was the Dallas Birddogs. The heartbreaking finish of the division was one for the ages. With 2 weeks left in the season, Dallas was first, with a 7-5 record, Bondi Beach was at 7-5 as well, and Norfolk was at 6-6. The only game left involving the two teams was Week 13's matchup between Bondi Beach and Norfolk. Dallas and BBB were holding their fates in their own hands. Dallas just had the roughest schedule, having to face London and Portland. They dropped both, and despite Norfolk losing to BBB, their win over Tijuana in Week 14, allowed Norfolk in the postseason and sent Dallas home.
Since we are past the championship games, let's talk about them as well. The Ultimini was contested by the two regular season conference winners, Portland and Bondi Beach. Portland was the favorite. And it was looking like they would win their 7th(?) Ultimini, as they were up big, 17-0, at halftime. It fell flat on its face. Bondi Beach rallied back, took a 20-17 lead with 7 minutes left in the game, and hoisted the trophy. LBJ3, who had an amazing season till this point, was not himself, and, rightfully so, his team lost. He went 11/25, with THREE interceptions.
Let's move to the ISFL now, where things get a little bit crazier. A little bit is an understatement actually, but keep reading to know. The NSFC was not as crazy. Yellowknife was back in form, posting a league high 13 wins in 16 games, never dropping below first in the division. Same with the 10-6 Chicago Butchers, who got the 2nd seed. They didn't drop below third, at any point during the season. The crazy part was for the 3rd seed. After 8 weeks, Sarasota was behind YKW, with a 6-2 record, and Colorado had a 4-4 record. Three weeks later, Sota was 6-5, after dropping three straight, and COL was 7-4, after winning three straight. We had a tight race out of nowhere. The 4-7 Berlin Fire Salamanders were also creeping, but an 0-5 start had already condemned them, so they only get an honorable mention. It was all between Sarasota and Colorado for the last seed in the NSFC playoffs. Colorado dropped the next 4 games, while Sota went 2-2 in that timespan, virtually ending the race in favor of the Sarasota Sailfish, who faced, and defeated the Chicago Butchers in the NSFC Wildcard Game.
The ASFC is where the craziness happened. As you know, we had a 5-team tie for the first place. And by now you know how ties are broken. What is crazy is how each team got to the 9-7 record. After 8 weeks, Austin and Orange County had 6-2, Arizona, New York, and San Jose had 3-5, NOLA was at 5-3. After 14 games, Austin and Orange County had 9-5, Arizona had 7-7, San Jose was at 7-7, NOLA and New York was at 8-6. The finish was to be tight. Six teams, separated by 2 games, for three slots. Week 15 saw NOLA and Arizona grab wins, while OCO lost to NOLA, Austin lost to Arizona, NY lost to Chicago, and San Jose lost to Honolulu, and was out. Last week would be the deciding games for the remaining five teams. Austin lost again. Arizona beat NOLA. NY beat OCO. And here we were. FIVE teams with a 9-7 record. It would be decided by head to head. NY was first. Another round of H2H calculations, NOLA was second. Round 3, OCO was third, and that's the end of the season. Austin and Arizona would have to try again next season. What is interesting is that both #1 NY and #5 Arizona had the same record after 8 weeks, and rallied back in the second half of the season. New York beat divisional opponents however. And in an ultimate form of shithousery, among the five teams that tied, OCO had the worst cumulative head to head record, with 3 wins in 8 games, being swept by NOLA and NY. But the cascading rule worked for them. But that was all the luck they had. They lost to NOLA in the ASFC Wildcard Game.
The Ultimus featured the NSFC champions and regular season winners, Yellowknife Wraiths, and the ASFC #2 and Conference Champs, New Orleans Second Line. The game went as expected, despite NOLA starting strong, taking a 10-0 lead, with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. It was their last score, until the last 100 seconds of the game, when Slothlisberger connected with Forrest Gump on a 1 yard reception. Yellowknife scored FORTY-NINE UNANSWERED points in that timespan, and proved to be too much for NOLA.

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[Hallmonitor_20]

Tier 2

9)

The thing that keeps me interested in the International simulation football league formerly the National simulation football league when I started back in season eighteen was the amazing community that has been formed. When I first joined as a young rookie to not just the ISFL but to sim leagues in general I was blown away by how deep the league was. Not only were there rivalries but there were seasons of memes, stories, copy pastas, heartbreak, joy, and cant forget games. It was amazing to see a fake league be able to turn 2d dots into something so magical. I expected to be in this league for a few weeks and get bored and never think of it again but the community and the history kept me around for well over a year and a half of my life.  The times weren't always great but the community was. From the rookie chats of s18 in the dsfl to the general manager chats in the isfl to the locker room in Philadelphia and Myrtle Beach. Everywhere I went I found new reasons to love the league. To see something built on a website and an old simulation software be so wonderful has made me fall in love. I lost the joy for a little bit and left the league but it kept calling my name and I came back to feel that spark again. Its amazing to see new sim rookies come in and have that same amazement I once had and honestly I have more fun explaining the league and its history to the new sim league rookies. I love telling them about the death of the Palm Beach Solar Bears and the birth of the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (Now the Bondi Beach Buccaneers) and I love telling them about how Philadelphia has grown from the team it once was in season 18 to where it is today. I joined the league when Sam Torenson was the hot young running back blowing up the league and got to watch him break the career rushing record for the ISFL has he gets ready to call it a career. Its amazing how something so simple can be so beautiful and how something so unique can feel so natural. The league has done a great job of creating a community and creating a history that is so vibrant. I will always love the league and everything it can be and will be.

10)

The Philadelphia Liberty had a roller-coaster journey this last season. The off season kicked off with the former General Manager removing a player from the team before trading him (after his request) which caused a falling out from a player that had been a major part of the team for years. This falling out lead to a trade not happening (the player opted out instead), other players on the team leaving for free agency, other players that were still under contract requested to be traded, and finally the General manager stepped down leaving the team without any leadership. Slm stepped in and ran the team's search for new general managers which lead to Philly hiring the amazing Pat. Pat and slm would then trade for the even more amazing Cody after the big babies in Baltimore cried about it the whole time. This new general manager pair would go on to completely revitalize the locker room and the Liberty's image. The locker room in Philly was at an all time low but Pat and Cody came in and completely flipped it on its head. They lit up the room with excitement and joy that the team hadn't seen in years. From the Hungy games to the Guy Fieri memes Philly had become the place to be. No one cared about the score or stats or how sim tests were going they just knew they were having fun and could enjoy the season with good friends. Philly may not of had the best season but we definitely had the most fun season. We had the highlight of counting down the yards until Sam Torenson broke the career rushing record for the international football simulation league and the excitement of watching our young players make amazing plays. Philly built an atmosphere that is like no other this season. It doesn't matter what day it is or if we were playing that day or not. People were there and they were having fun and that was all that mattered. Pat and Cody created something that everyone loved and they look to the next season and the seasons after that to grow and improve on the locker room and with it the team as well. They have brought in great players and have a great plan to build the Liberty back to the ultimus team it once was and I am happy to be apart of this amazing experience.

[rapideagle]

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

Wraiths Ring

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

Does wearing my own brand with nike count as endorsing a product

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

Disney World of course

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

We are Despacito

[GuitarMaster116]

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?

Season 26 was a very good season for some teams and abysmal for others. Let’s start with the big team that took the league by storm, the Portland Pythons. They did what very few teams have ever done by going 13-1, almost an undefeated season. Only losing twice, both of those times to the Bondi Beach Buccaneers in Week 9 and in the Ultimini. But even though this team unfortunately could not finish the job and win it all, they still need to be commended for what they as a team has done. Everyone knows that the DSFL is very unpredictable and the timelines are extremely small, especially since you never know when some players are going to be called up or not. But Portland, under the reigns of South and furiousPanda, were able to turn around a franchise that was not in good shape a couple of seasons ago. They also had help with one of the greatest QB seasons any player has ever had, with LBJ having 20 TDs to only 2 interceptions, and winning the MVP. The offense led by LBJ was one of the best in the league, and they also had a really good defense as well. It is honestly a shame they could not cap off this amazing season with a championship, but the team that won was no slouch as well.

Bondi Beach, while not having as good of a record as Portland, was no slouch either. They were in a close and tough division but were able to get to the top of the pact with an 8-6 record, and this was mainly in part to their amazing offense. Even without an MVP QB, this offense still produced and helped the team lead the league in points per game and yards per game. They had an amazing 1000 plus yard running back duo in Ozymandias and Chungus, the yard leading receiver in Reed, and they still had an awesome QB in Daytona who won MVP last season. While Daytona didn’t have a great season by any means, he still led the team to the best offense in the league even with his 15 interceptions. There defense wasn’t one of the top ones, being around the 4th best in the league, but it was good enough to shutdown Portland in the Ultimini and let the offense come out and win. Congrats to BBB for the well deserved Ultimini Championship!

Next up is London, and man I just don’t understand how they are always so good every season. They have to start sucking eventually right?! I have been here since S24 in the DSFL, and London has gone from Ultimini win, Ultimini loss, then one game away from the Ultimini. It just makes no sense. Maybe it is because they have had Cortez every season, so maybe they will finally have some unfortunate call ups and rebuild a year. There isn’t much to say though about London except that they are just a really good team and organization. They had the 2nd best record in the league at 9-5 and that could be due in part to them having an elite defense and passing game. The only negative about this season was there rushing game, which still Yaki was one of the best running backs this year, but this team has almost always been pass heavy and they continue this trend.

Norfolk definitely turned it around this season. From going 2-12 last season to 7-7 this season. While not a super impressive record, it was enough for them to squeak into the playoffs one season after being the worst team in the league. Overall, the team itself was not very impressive, ranking 7th or 8th in all defensive team stats, and really only doing well with the rushing game with the tandem of Mr. Forty-Two and Ace Savage. Hopefully they can take the momentum from this season and translate it into next season.

Minnesota unfortunately kind of stagnated this season. Going 5-2 at one point, but then ending up 7-7. I like a lot of the players on this team, and with Negs still young I am hoping that with a solid draft Minnesota can push themselves into the playoffs, especially since they have been very similar for 2 seasons now.

You can’t talk about Dallas without talking about Cobra Kai. This guy had one of the most insane seasons we will ever see by a running back, and was a major part in why Dallas improved and got a 7-7 record. They shouldn’t be sad about not making the playoffs though, with a up and coming rookie QB with Juliot Christ Jr. and most of the teams needing QBs, they have a wide open window to a championship.

The biggest fallers by far were KCC. I don’t know what happened, last season they were 7-7 and very competitive, but this season they just could not get any momentum going and almost went winless if it weren’t for the equally bad Tijuana Luchadores. There are some young pieces in this team so hopefully with a new QB next season they can get things turned around.

Finally, my own team, the Tijuana Luchadores. We came in to this season knowing it was a rebuild year for sure. Our record showed that, ending up 4-10. But a lot of our picks have been working out well, with the combination of Preston Parker, Drip Dad, and Boo T leading us to the best rushing attack in the league, and Devonte Crook and Buck Nekkid filling in along side some of our veterans Dimbi, Isaac, Shuffleboard, and Jones to keep the defense fairly competent. I am excited to see what we can do in this draft and see if we can build off our season.

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[124715]

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?

Well, I’m always going to pick the draft prompt. Analyses on the S27 and S15 classes have been done and done again, even as the S15 class begins to fade into inactivity, auto-retirement, and recreation. Forgetting is part of aging, especially in the collective memory of the ISFL where storied users drop out and blank slates take their place instead. Take that very S15 class, for instance. An unprecedented 23 straight picks made the pro bowl, from first overall quarterback convert Brock Landers to the much maligned Dorfus Jimbo, who squeaked in at his second position. This stretch included top players, top users, and top earners alike, a streak of 23 straight notable users.

Just twelve seasons later - a perfect dozen - all but four sit in retirement. The four are Quenton Bode, Nero Alexander, Forrest Gump, and Alex D. Retirement is inevitable, a natural, predictable (except in one-off cases such as that of Morgan Marshall), foreseeable process. Inactivity, its far more sinister cousin, waits for nobody. From the outsider’s perspective, it strikes without warning, quickly, dangerously, and often permanently.

That’s why, so few seasons later, the S15 class is spread thin across the memories of users who are by now long-tenured veterans. Most of the stories of the group are forgotten, probably never to be recovered. And most of the picks have just faded into the background - the 7th selection of the first round by the Outlaws, used on Arizona legend Ricardo Morris, or the final selection of the opening slate, placed on the Seawolf wide receiver with the long name. Discussions, deliberations, even arguments sprouted free about these picks. Now, if you ask a random member anything about this draft, they would surely run to check the wiki before being able to answer.

So what’s my point talking about S15 like this? Well, it shows how fast the league changes - how quickly things can turn from now to then. If S15 feels like forever ago, with even the highest draft picks marred by inactivity, the even older drafts are the deepest, most shadowy depths.

I’m going to take you way back.

The year is S2. The league is different. Teams have QB controversies; they are forced to switch people in at the most random of positions. They start 50 TPE inactives on the offensive line without bots. There is chaos, drama, and yes, there are multis.

The brand-new league enjoyed a strong opening class composed largely of sim league longtimers and old friends, brought to the nascent league by connections and friends from other leagues. This class was so strong, in fact, that in almost prompted the league to expand before its inaugural season; as new members poured in, bids for a 7th and 8th team were hastily pushed through and set up. This fell through eventually, but the desire for expansion came true after the season was over - after the Vincent Draxel Outlaws had hoisted the league’s inaugural Ultimus trophy.

Enter the Philadelphia Liberty and Las Vegas Legion - two franchises who had already come to drastically divergent paths before even kicking off their first game. Before even making their first pick!
Nowadays, teams have full locker rooms and largely active rosters, and often carry up to half a team stashed away in the DSFL. In S2, that wasn’t so. LRs were quiet and rosters thin. Thus, the draft was even more important. But with the rushed expansion and short offseason, plus overworked GMs and all-around shoddy organizing, the draft was a mess. It was a glorious mess.

Dermot Lavelle, who is the greatest player in history by my money, went off the board first. There were no surprises there; he was unquestionably the elite prospect of his draft.

Blaster Blade came after him. I was surprised by this pick - I hadn’t really seen the user around at all. Unsurprisingly, he busted.

Tim Pest was a fantastic player. Also, he was a multi.

With Dermot’s plans to step away from the league, this makes three straight picks that will soon no longer be around. In fact, only the users associated with Vincent Sharpei and Micah Hendrix remain.

Still, those picks look largely just fine in hindsight. Even though he may have left a while back, Fox North set most of Philly’s receiving records and holds many to this day. Bork Bjornsson was a great player and an even better user.

So what about the picks that didn’t work out so well? Aside from the aforementioned Blaster Blade, the first real whiff came near the start of the second round. Brokk Lee, just one of Baltimore’s shotgun approach to drafting OL, flipped from a rising star to a bust when his identity as a multi was revealed. Yellowknife linebacker Kevin Cushing proclaimed himself a massive draft steal, then forced his way off the Wraiths and switched positions. Another boggling one came at the twentieth pick of the draft, the Hawks selected little-known safety Jorge Masdival. He was inactive at the time of the draft and he never came back. Just three picks later, the Liberty selected Hall of Famer Paul DiMirio.

Some of the most bizarre picks came later in the drafts - not bizarre reaches or bad busts, but the draft’s most emphatic hits. Darren Smallwood, Hall of Fame legend, somehow slipped to the 7th round. This baffled me - his user was very active before the draft and was one of the names I actually knew going in.

And lastly, in perhaps the greatest draft steal of all time, Pro Bowler, ISFL legend, and future GM Eric Kennedy/SwagSloth was selected just 5 picks before the conclusion of the draft. With the advent of the DSFL, ISFL GMs now scout players who have been in the league for several months instead of several weeks. I feel confident in saying there will never be a steal of that magnitude ever again.

I went way over the word limit, but writing even marginally league history-related clues will always trick me into that. I don’t think anyone reads these so hopefully nobody minds.

1010 words

[TheDangaZone]

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?


My upcoming S27 class is my class so I will be writing about the future of the class instead of the past. In comparison to most draft classes I do think this one can be very special. While some select draft classes are extremely special in the history of the league, like some of our massive reddit ones, I think most end up being really good at the top end while falling off drastically after and creating a fairly average to above average draft overall. The S27 draft class just has that feel to it that can make it special and find a place amongst the league’s best and most memorable in history. There are a ton of special users who have come over from other leagues, like the Simulation Hockey League, in this class who I know for a fact are very amazing individuals who will be absolute beasts for whichever team drafts them. Sve7en, Overdoo, TheRealMazatt, AgentSmith, Gumbaman, retuperkele, TheSparkyDee, and FuzzISFL; each and every single one of these people I have full confidence can be very special for any team who drafts them and all coming together from SHL at the same time as me recreating makes this a very tight knit group of players who would be killer in any locker room together but more importantly will make this class that special one that will not be forgotten, even if just for us being the Simulation Hockey League group to everyone else.

Are there any future Hall of Famers in this class? I think that question can also be appointed to many of these players seen in the Simulation Hockey League group but there are also some absolute studs in this class outside of that group. Treant will be a huge force in this class with their Tight End James Wilkinson. I could easily see them being a top player for years. TropicaliaCC has Duke Cheeks the speed rushing Linebacker. A position known for its ability to dominate on the stat sheet and a user who has proven before they can be a great earner for any league they are in. Kyle’s player, Jim the Vampire, another speed rushing Linebacker, and another top earning player who has proven their ability to be that special player before so I have no doubt they can do it again. AW13 has Joilet Christ Jr, the top QB prospect by a wide margin coming into this draft. Yet another player that has a history of success and who I think will do great things and potentially if they do keep it up could make that Hall of Fame. 124715 has their recreate in the RedZone threat Wide Receiver, Eleven Kendrick-Watts, A user who has been a top user in every league they have been in including the ISFL before. A recreate who in my opinion will be the most sure fire thing to getting into the Hall of Fame in the future. Tsuyu Asui, the possession receiving frog of wildfiremicro’s. I think will sneak under the radar as how great they actually end up being only being overshadowed by 124715. Sve7en’s running back, Madison Hayes, someone I think has the best shot out of any new create in the league at being the number 1 player from this class. A user I know first hand how much they work and put in the time to be the best player and user in the league at every facet. Sparkysparky Boom-Man, the safety recreate of one of the best users in this class, Fleshbagsoup. Last but not least would be Cheese Farley, the athletic lineman of gurinwoodo. All of these players I think have the best shot of getting into the Hall of Fame from the S27 class. Obviously, the Hall is incredibly hard to get into, I know as I got voted off the balot my first season available on it with a former MVP. Most of these players probably won’t make it into that Hall and some others that I did not list will most likely make it and I can not wait to see which players emerge from this class as the top dogs in the end.

As far as where I think some of these players may end up in the upcoming S27 draft, any guess is as good as mine to be honest. I would be hard pressed to not see Eleven Kendrick-Watts going first overall to Honolulu as they should be the most sure thing draft pick in this class. Xander Creed seems to be a pretty consensus vote to go number 2 to Baltimore and I have no reason to argue against those mock drafts for it. Madison Hayes will be a top 3 pick in my opinion and if Sve7en is not picked in the top 3 then those teams have made a huge mistake that they will have to live with for the rest of their time. Sparkysparky Boom-Man should be in the top 5 I think could be as early as pick 4 to Berlin. I think rounding out the top 5 could be Lawrence Miller which would be a surprise to many I am sure but would be 100% the right pick in my personal opinion of knowing how great overdoo will be for whoever drafts them.


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[Huskies311]

10 TPE, 800 words.

2) My original draft class is one that is really dear to pretty much everyone involved with it. I know this is going to sound like “of course someone would think that about their class,” but my class was truly special. I’m going to set some context to really show why. The league was in a precarious place with the draft classes immediately after S12. People from the large draft classes of the first few seasons were bot recreating in huge numbers, and there was a huge lack of recruiting. Many discord and forum discussions revolved around very real fears of the league dying (it’s true, you can find some of the threads if you search enough). Triple digit ACs and even draft classes have become normalized since then, but at the time those were considered pipe dreams.
This feeling peaked when the S14 draft class had 1 full round of actives, in a draft where there was only 8 teams in the league.

That led to well respected member iamslm22 being forced to take the recruiting head role. He initially started recruiting on individual team subreddits, before firing off a message to mods of the very active r/nfl subreddit. Surprisingly, the mod team not only allowed the league to advertise there but allowed them to advertise twice a year. This move absolutely changed the landscape of the entire league. The league went from 80 active users to a draft class 115 strong. This number was the second highest in league history and the highest since the inaugural draft.

The league made an impact immediately, in so many ways. The first is that the league opened up two defunct bot teams, the Norfolk Seawolves and the Palm Beach Solar Bears (rest in peace). These two teams were highly active immediately and are two beloved franchises to this day. But prior to that, the s15 class was the first class to be a part of the now yearly prospect bowl. The prospect bowl is an awesome addition to the league that wouldn’t be around with s15. Another addition to the league that isn’t as major but still a plus was the now inactive S15 discord. If I recall correctly, we were the first class to make our own discord which was done a few times after us, most notably in s18.

Impacts were made immediately. Scorp was chosen as Norfolk’s coGM the second he was drafted, and it really never stopped from there. Before I get ahead of myself though I’m going to take a look at the DSFL draft. What really stands out is the quality of the players chosen well into the draft. I’ll go through the best picks of the draft here by round.

Round 1 - BWIII, Baron, Beaver
Round 2 - Scorp, dizzydc, shady, rradum, Payton
Round 3 - roly, numbers, terriblehippo, valor
Round 4 - steelsound, TomHanks
Round 5 - rising equinox, duilio
Round 6 - aircrou, fly, eco, frick, soulja (wow this one is stacked)
Round 7 - shipwreckrising
Round 8 - fordhammer, teyon
Round 9 - huskies, maxgnarland
Round 10 - THE Mr. Big Chest
Round 11 - SDCore, Calvin
Round 12 - nylar
Round 13 - BigKicks, wozy
Round 15 - nickymlp, gucci
Last overall pick - Gimmy Jarapollo

I mean... it doesn’t get any better than this. Round 6 may be the best round in dsfl history. You get future hall of famers in round 12 & 13. Gucci is the biggest jumper in isfl history, going from round 15 to first overall pick in the isfl draft. And Gimmy is a league icon whose slander will absolutely NOT BE TOLERATED.

There’s just so many people to talk about, and what they’ve done for the league. I’ll go through some of the achievements here.

Baron is a great guy and spent an entire year as PPT head, having very little issue. Scorp is of course another icon in this league. He won, what, 3 or 4 titles in Tijuana? He was also a good coGM in Baltimore. I know for a fact scorp is the type of person you want in any locker room. Shady was very successful in turning around Yellowknife and is likely the best DE in the history of the league. He’s a sure thing unanimous Hall of Famer. Rrad was also extremely successful GMing in San Jose, and is also the best updater in the league (he legit was the only updater id ever had in my like 2 years in Baltimore). Numbers is numbers. Valor is a treasure in the league and his growth is one of the best things I’ve seen in any sim league. Terriblehippo was in Head Office for a couple of seasons. Steel was an underrated player as well as user, and someone that really put a lot into this league. TomHanks is another major user in the league, being incredibly successful at both Tijuana and New Orleans. He’s also the current and first DSFL commissioner. Duilio is also great. He GMed San Antonio and Baltimore for awhile, and also was apart of the Fab Five. He also helped improve the Twitter team a lot and did great recruiting as well. Eco was truthfully my favorite user in this league and was great in HO. Frick was simmer, and turned Colorado around.

There’s really so many more people I can talk about, and each person above deserves their own 800 words. However I’m way above 800 so I’ll just stop now.

Edit: also, I can’t believe I missed Franklin Armstrong. He is the actual goat and the player to really discover the 79 speed QB game manager glitch.

[Cody]

10 TPE, 800 words. #2

The Season 25 draft class is a very special class. I say this not only because it’s my first class in the Sim League but it really is a special class. You just need to look at how many of us have been integral members of the league in the last couple seasons.  

Swanty – Swantavius Jones
The Number 1 pick in the draft to Berlin. This guy has been a huge help as part of the Sim Transfer team making the move from DDSPF16 to DDSPF21. He’s always willing to answer questions and is very helpful. He was definitely worthy of the first overall selection.

209tacos – Tex Wrecks
This guy is a graphics guru and we love him in the Philadelphia locker room. He’s my go to guy for making silly graphics and you’ll see his creations all over the league. Thank you for creating the Lips.
Katarn – Albert Ruschman

One of the new GMs for the London Royals. Katarn is known as Mr. Pizza as that’s what 90% of his conversations are about, but hey if he can build a team as a good as he can make a pizza London is in great hands.

GlimsTC – Felix Archstone
The first of S25 to get a GM position, Glims moved up to become the GM in Kansas City immediately. He’s super nice and was one of the first people I really connected with in the league. His player Felix Archstone was nominated in S26 for Best OL.

r0tzbua – Guy Fields
r0tz is a genius. He’s done a ton of work around the league and is super nice. He streams a lot of games and could probably build a custom simulator for us because he’s that smart…. And I believe he designs video games in real life.

Crunk – Tayshawn Crunk
CRUNKKKKKKKKK! He was nominated for Defensive Rookie of the Year just missing out for his great year with Arizona, a team he would quickly be promoted to managing. He was the first member of S25 to accept an ISFL GM position and he’s been doing great work so far.

Slate – Peter Patterson
Little Petey aka Slate has been another big part of the Sim Transfer team and has also joined Katarn in managing the London Royals. If anything can be said about Slate is that’s he WICKED SMAHT and WICKED NICE. He’s going to be big part of this league for years to come.

Zeagle1 – Chuck Roth
The Big Bad OL from Arizona. Zeagle is super nice and is great to converse with on Discord. Zeagle recently got promoted to being one of the GMs in Tijuana. Perhaps he will make waves and open up the Locker Room but if not that’s alright. We’ll try to get leaks about scouting and draft plans.

Charlit – Killian Chambers
He’s gunning to become the top receiver in Philly and he’s going to win OPoY very soon. He’s fun and a great presence in the LR.

Frazzle14 – Tony Yeboah
He was one of my fellow rookies in Kansas City and now he’s managing the team. He’s very friendly and helpful and he’s going to do wonders in Kansas City and help them bounce back.

Rev – Richard Leaking
Rev is great to talk to and is smart. His player is a big part of the OCO defense and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins some awards in the next couple of seasons.

Punter715 – Doy Fieri
Nothing to write home about here.

SDCore – NationalSimulaton FootballLeague
I don’t think I need to say much here. This guy is big time around here and a member of HO. He makes things happen.

Jimi64 – Jimi DeSoto
My teammate in the LB Corp in Philadelphia. Jimi has been great in helping us get settled into Philadelphia and he has done an outstanding job running Norfolk in the DSFL.

Zaynzk – Bob Roberts
The new Co-GM for the New York Silverbacks and the winner of S26 Breakout Defensive Player of the Year. He’s got a great team to work with in New York and I only see him helping make them better. He’s a great user and New York got a steal in the draft.

Xenosthelegend – Jake Fencik
His constant push to let people know “people are kickers too” has finally paid off as kickers have finally been recognized as people with the transfer to DDSPF21.

WhatAmUs – Connor Quigley
I’m just going to call him the Comeback Kid. He was initially inactive for a bit but came roaring back and now he’s GM in Kansas City. It’s like a Hollywood movie.

Platanocat – Marlon Alexander
One of the best all around people to talk to in the league. He’s finally earned a spot in the War Room in London and his player is having a lot of success anchoring that O-Line in New York. I consider him the gem of this draft.

If I missed you I’m sorry, there are truly so many great people from the Season 25 class and I only imagine they will get more involved as the seasons go on. They have a ton of great ideas and are a huge part of the making the league welcoming to new users. This class is going to shape the future of this league for the better. LONG LIVE THE CLASS OF SEASON 25!

[MrStennett]

Task 8 

Charlemagne Concord Cortez was born to an extremely affluent family in Atherton, California. It is known as the "most expensive zip code in America", where the average household income is over $80,000 more than the national average. His parents, Julian and Ava, are both corporate attorneys that work for the same firm, and always pushed for Charlemagne to excel academically. He put that same amount of tenacious effort and energy into his athletic pursuits as he did in the classroom, becoming both his senior class' valedictorian as well as breaking all of the passing records at Menlo-Atherton High School. While his parents wanted him to attend Harvard, which both of them had attended as well, Charlemagne wanted to chase his dream of being a professional quarterback. He received several scholarship offers from Divison I schools, but ultimately decided to make his parents happy by enrolling at Cornell and walking on to the Big Red football team. He redshirted his freshman year, but immediately took the starting role the following year. He took extra classes during summer and winter breaks in order to graduate on time, earning his degree and breaking multiple records at Cornell. After his incredible play in the Ivy League, Cortez was expecting some interest from NFL teams, but was shocked indeed to find out there was none. Refusing to let his dream die, he enrolled for the 2038 Developmental Simulation Football League Draft. He believed that his overwhelming success in both high school and college would make him a sure fire early round pick. Once again, he was to be disappointed. He wasn't selected until the sixth round by the London Royals. LONDON! He had to fly across an ocean to play football! What was obviously a rocky start would end up being one of the greatest periods of his football life to date, as he would end up winning the coveted Ultimini trophy with the Royals and garnered more than a few votes for end of the season awards, despite never actually winning one. We stand now on the precipice of Charlemagne's ascension to the big leagues, as he is due to join the Arizona Outlaws as their starting quarterback next season. Whether or not his run of great success as a football player is anybody's guess at this juncture, but I am incredibly excited for the ride to find out. Introducing your 2042 Outlaws starting quarterback, Charlemagne Concord Cortez, The Triple C! 

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407 words

Task 18 

I am in two other sim leagues besides ISFL, but I am choosing to write about the Pro Baseball Experience for this point task. The PBE was the first sim league I joined, just over three years ago, and I have been an active member ever since. Baseball has always been my first love as a sport, and so discovering this world of simulation sports and being able to create a player of my own design was incredibly appealing to me. During my time there, I have served as a fantasy manager, an updater, a member of the Hall of Fame Electoral Committee, and a co-GM. As a matter of fact, I served as co-GM of the Outer Banks Aviators for ten seasons, which I am still almost certain remains a record for concurrent time served as a co-GM. I think the thing I have always most enjoyed about the PBE is the people and the camaraderie. I have had both the honor and privilege of both enjoying playing a game and working with some fantastic people there. More of them than I could possibly list by name. That is the beauty of sim leagues, I think. They bring people together over the love of one thing, a particular sport, and then you discover lasting relationships and friendships based on this one shared trait.

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Task 28

Although I wish were moving on to a sim that wasn't just a bunch of dots running around, I will admit I'm pretty spoiled by OOTP, and that the advancements with the new sim should be an exciting addition to the league. Admittedly, I don't know much about it, but I have heard that you can see the flight path of the ball when it's thrown now, which is pretty awesome actually. I am also super stoked about the new archetypes, as I think they will bring more diversity to our league and thus make it a more interesting endeavor to undertake building a player. As a quarterback, and especially one who will have his rookie campaign in tandem with the rollout season of the new sim, I am really excited to see what this all means for my player was he takes over the starting quarterback role in Arizona from the retiring old man, Jay Cue. All in all, I believe that this is a very good change for the league as I know the old sim has been a gripe for many people over my entire tenure here. Between that and the archetype shakeup, even people who may be getting burnt out on the league are looking forward to season 27, I'm sure.

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[Gwdjohnson]

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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?

Well for this question there's a few teams I can touch on. I'll start with the Orange County Otters as they are obviously my team therefore the team I can talk the most about.

Going into this season, great things were expected of the Orange County Otters. They were expected to be one of the best teams in league history, because for all intents and purposes they were one on paper. Their already very strong defense was further bolstered by the free agency acquisitions of Rotticus Scott and Brandon Booker, and this in turn also strengthened their Offensive Line by moving Cornerback Lord Beerus into the line. Speaking of the offensive end, they managed to bag a third elite free agent in the league's best Tight End, Heath Evans. His signing got Wide Receiver Future Trunks moved into the Offensive Line along with Beerus, and in turn allowed room for young 3rd string Wide Receiver Garfield Despacito Jr. to move into the 2nd slot. But the regular season did not go quite as lofty expectations would predict, and they only managed to get into the playoffs as the last seed by an unexpected and rare tiebreaker after finishing 9-7. However, come playoff time, Orange County did not rise to the occasion to turn a catastrophic regular season into an unexpected Ultimus push, as they fell to the New Orleans Second Line for the third time of the season. It was the cherry on top of a very disappointing campaign for the Otters, who have to regroup and reshape things going into next season if they want to try and make another big Ultimus push.

Now let's have a look at the playoff runs of the two finalists:

The Yellowknife Wraiths were a team who everyone expected to be good this season, and they delivered just as expected, putting up a very impressive 13-3 regular season, sporting both the best offense and defense in the league. Their playoff run to the finals saw them demolish the 8-8 Colorado Yeti by a score line of 51-6, but then they only just about managed to beat the Sarasota Sailfish 24-22 to get to the finals, giving them a scare but not a big enough one to keep them out of the Ultimus. Now let's talk about their regular season. Their quarterback Colby Jack was phenomenal during the regular season, throwing for 4596 yards and 29 touchdowns, and more impressively was the only quarterback in the ISFL season to have single-digit interception numbers, only having seven of his passes picked off. Part of what led to this success for Yellowknife was having a great triple threat of wide receiving talent for Jack to pick out this season. The leader was the ever-present Kai Sakura, who continues his run of good seasons since his call up a few seasons ago, with 1283 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. Mark Walker and rookie Arthur (?) Naught were both good as secondary options, with Walker getting 962 yards and 6 touchdowns and Naught having a nice debut season with 830 yards and 7 touchdowns. Acura Skyline was fantastic at running back, as everyone expected, leading all running backs in yards (1337) by about 200 yards more than 2nd place, and tossing in 8 touchdowns along with it.

For our other finalist, we have the New Orleans Second Line who made an unexpected deep run to the finals after, as previously mentioned, beating the Otters, and then after that beating the New York Silverbacks in a close run 43-37 game. Now if we talk about New Orleans' season, there's many players that were absolutely crucial to the Second Line's successes this season. Ben Slothlisberger was not the best quarterback this season, but he had a very good connection with his reliable wing man Ed Barker, who was fourth in league receiving yards with 1410. Rushing was the strongest contributor to NOLA's offense this season, as Marcella Toriki and Mike Rotchburns proved to be an almost unplayable combo for opposition defenses, scoring a combined 26 touchdowns. Toriki rushed for over 1000 yards, and even more impressively scored an incredible 19 of the 26 touchdowns NOLA scored on the rush. Rotchburns was great as a secondary rusher too, with his highlight of the season being a 60 yard touchdown rush which was one of the main factors in their elimination of Orange County in the playoffs. New Orleans didn't quite have the amazing regular season numbers of Yellowknife, but they still sported the league's second best regular season offense, and the fourth best defense. This set the stage for what was sure to be an epic Ultimus match.

In the end, Yellowknife delivered in line with expectations and managed to top the Second Line in very convincing fashion, winning 49-17. New Orleans got off to a 10-0 start in the game, but could not maintain their lead and crumbled under the overpowering strength of the Wraiths offense, allowing all 49 of Yellowknife's points on the game unanswered. Kai Sakura was a massive part of the win, getting two touchdowns in the match, one of which was an absolutely phenomenal 69 yard play to the end zone. Yellowknife were the clear odds-on favourite heading into the playoffs, and despite the scare against Sarasota, they ended up completely living up to their billing, and we will see if they can match the performances again next season

(like 900 words)

10 TPE Pog