(S32) Ultimus Week

[EricNCSU]

SHL CW +10

[IsaStarcrossed]

SHL Affiliate 10 TPE

Username WithTheMoose

[Lowlycrib]

Mount Rushmore:

When we think about the ISFL, we often think of the best teams in the league and the first team that should come to mind is the San Jose Sabercats. This team has seen a number of all-time greats suit up for the squad and makes this a particularly difficult decision to narrow down to just 4 options but I will do my best. The first choice may be slightly biased but I think it stands up to any criticism and I want to get it out of the way, the first player in no particular order would be linebacker Tyron Brackenridge. He was a stalwart of the defense during his time from S17 to the end of his career and truly took the team from a bottom dweller to their back to back championships with a game sealing pick six in overtime versus the Outlaws in the playoffs. He ended up top 5 in every defensive stat for the Sabercats as well as finishing 2nd all-time for the team in tackles and sacks and truly deserves to be on their Mount Rushmore. The 2nd player is going on the offensive side of the ball and was actually Breckenridge's teammate briefly and it is Joilet Christ. Joliet Christ can definitely be named as the greatest quarterback to suit up for the squad and can arguably be named as one of the best in the league all-time. Joilet up until recently led the career stats for this team in the throwing stats and also ranked quite high in the rushing stats. Joilet was an enjoyable presence in the locker room for when Brackenridge and him existed together and wish we could have teamed up longer. He lit up the league while at the helm with the team and brought them success on the field and definitely deserves to be on this stacked Mount Rushmore. The 3rd player I would name would be the runningback Jamar Lackson and his electric play on the field that has led the team to their championships and been one of the most electric players for the Sabercats all-time. Jamar Lackson can be the best player on the field in any given game and had shown that throughout his career on the ground and through the air. I'm truly not sure if we will see another runningback as great as Jamar Lackson suit up for the Cats as throughout their history they had seen a number of guys who just could quite break through as well as Lackson did. While Jamar Lackson is on the Mount Rushmore I'd like to give an honorable mention to his running mate in Rando Cardrissian who shared that backfield and became one of the best tandems of all time. The last player I'd name to the Mount Rushmore is another recent player in Matty McDairmid who became the best special teams player of all-time for the team. Matty during his career was easily one of the best punters in the league and garnered the respect that deserved by opposing teams but his influence off the field was equally important as he was a key piece in the locker room for their championship runs and building the squad into what it needed to be. His impact on the team was so great that he was also able to step into a GM role and truly help captain the ship in such a competitive league. He's also Scottish if you didn't know. While you could this Mount Rushmore in many different ways for this team, and It was honestly nearly impossible to narrow down this list to four people and I definitely missed some deserving people, I think this squad represents all of what it meant to be a Sabercat on and off the field

[LordEscanor]

5. I’m still fairly new to the league, as I have only completed two seasons so far, and haven’t even taken my first snap yet with my ISFL team, the Philadelphia Liberty. So keeping that in mind, I haven’t been around for a whole lot of the league’s history. With that said, I believe a very significant part of DSFL history, that I will never forget, is my rookie year. It’s not significant for being my rookie year. It’s significant for being the year the Dallas Birddogs won their second Ultimini Championship.

From the day that I was drafted, I knew that the team was going to be special. The team was firing on all cylinders from the get go. We suffered a tough loss in Week 1 against the team that was favored to win the South. That 2 point loss was all the spark we needed. We blew out Bozo Beach 50 to 17. We beat Norfolk, who had the highest average TPE in the DSFL. We then beat the reigning champs in the Minnesota Grey Ducks. We then suffered a tough, 6 point loss to Portland. After that, we went on a 5 game win streak. We blew out Kansas City, beat London, and then had our revenge game against Tijuana. We beat Bozo Beach and Norfolk once again.

That 5 game streak came to halt after we got mollywhopped by Minnesota by 27 points. I’m not exactly sure what happened there, so we’ll chalk it up to “sim gonna sim”. We then had our revenge game against the Portland Pythons, blowing them out by 27 points. That game clinched the playoffs and the #1 seed for us.

The final two games we lost, as we hadn’t put much stock into game planning, considering we were already the number one seed. Those games still sucked to lose, as we could’ve gone 11-3, but at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. We were not only number 1 in the South, but also number 1 in the league.

Come playoff time, we played Norfolk first. I was quite nervous about this one, as they were also 9-5. Sure, we beat them twice in the regular season, but the regular season isn’t the playoffs. Also, in those two games, we only won by a combined 7 points. Anything could’ve happened in that game. And once again, our matchup did not disappoint.

We had a 14 point lead with just under 6 minutes left to play. Somehow in less than 5 minutes, we allowed two touchdowns to Norfolk, effectively tying up the game with a minute and a half left. There was a HEART WRENCHING sequence in which we fumbled at our own 19 yard line and Norfolk recovered it. That should have sealed our loss, until Norfolk threw an interception at our 2 yard line. I don’t know how, or why, but the sim absolutely blessed us in that moment. The game went into overtime. Norfolk threw another interception on the first play of overtime, setting us up for a game winning field goal. That game may be more memorable than the championship game itself. Kansas City beat Minnesota and we had ourselves an Ultimini Matchup!

We went into the 4th quarter down 20 to 9. We scored 22 unanswered points to become the S31 Ultimini Champs!

We finished the season number one in Points Per Game, Yards Per Game, and Passing Yards Per Game. Whether the rest of the league sees it the way I do or not, I think this season is one for history, as it’s the team’s second Ultimini and one hell of a welcome to the ISFL for me.

[Patey]

PBE CW all 4 tasks

[Mavfatha]

Tier 1: Long Form Tasks (Must be 600+ words)
Choose ONE for 10 TPE.

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 draft class has been pretty dang impressive so far and is probably most noteworthy for having so few busts amongst the early picks. Out of the first 28 players taken (so the first two rounds and into the top of the third), only six of those have not reached a single pro bowl game. We also have the likes of Tre'Darius J'Vathon who was a nice steal for Honolulu late in the draft as a pro bowl wide receiver with pick 51 overall. A pro bowl kicker in Blago Kokot went right after him at pick 52 and has also been a high earner in terms of TPE. I was the first offensive lineman taken in the draft at the top of the second round by Chicago, and I am also the only pro bowler amongst offensive linemen from this class so I guess that at least somewhat justifies the draft position. A couple of late 2nd round QB's in Mattathias Caliban and Samuel Howitzer have been the best from the class in terms of TPE, each reaching just below 1600 at their maximum. 

With those 2 QB's as well as Mike Boss Jr. who went just a little after them and also earned just a little behind them, the class was fairly deep at the position. We also have several of the more well known RB's from around the league right now, including Tre'Darius who shifted over from WR. He's also joined by the likes of Zoe Watts, Deadly Memes, and Captain Rogers, all top players at the position and fantasy performers for their fantasy managers as well. A trio of linebackers have from this S24 class have been terrorizing the league for years - Juan Domine from my own Butchers, Melvin Murder-Moose who of course is a Yeti, and Adam Schell of the Fire Salamanders. The three have earned TPE at almost the same rate throughout their careers and are defensive stalwarts overall, with others at the position including Brach Thomaslacher and Alejandro Chainbreaker not far behind in skills or in awesome names. There are also three solid or better CB's from the class as a last fairly deep position. On the other hand, there are no TE's to speak of, and only one noteworthy player each at offensive line (myself), WR (Taro Raimon), DE (Asher Montain), DT (LeBong Simwell), and Safety (Joel Drake).

Moving forward with more on-field analysis beyond just pro bowls, Taro Raimon seems to be on track for a Hall of Fame berth. He's posted remarkably consistent and remarkably strong stats throughout his career, with 1261 as his fewest receiving yards in a season if you can believe that. Also averaging 10 TD's a season and a bit over 90 receptions. His current teammate Deadly Memes had a rougher start to their career and could not earn much playing time, but has been a receiving threat out of the backfield for 5 seasons and a top rusher for the last 3 seasons. Calliban is looking like another future Hall of Famer from the class with some absurd passing totals in every season of his career so far, though he's the very definition of a pocket passer. He's averaging almost 5500 yards a season though and was highlighted by a 48 TD season recently. Boss and Howitzer will likely always be in his shadow but have been impressive in their own rights as well. Zoe is basically the running back equivalent of Taro, with right around 1500 total yards per season highlighted by a 2000 yard performance this season, could be another hall of famer quite easily at this level of production. On defense, Mr. Murder-Moose just led the league in tackles and has otherwise dominated in sack totals. Domine is not far behind him overall and both could be on their way to the hall, but Schell is further behind despite being similarly skilled overall.

[huck24]

SHL CW affiliate

[Net]

Task 18:

This is a tough question, in San Jose we have a ton of amazing people, from CK to Jamar and AJ, but I really just gotta give it to Russ. Russ has been one of the most amazing people I've met in the ISFL since I joined in May of 2020. Even in my days with the Minnesota Grey Ducks he was around and was always helping. And when I learned he was the new GM of the San Jose Sabercats, that made things 1000% better! One thing that Russ actually did help me do was ask a girl to homecoming, and if someone is able to help someone else score, that's the ultimate bro. He's always around on discord, and he's excited for our future here in San Jose, knowing what to do at all times and if someone fucks up, he makes sure to get their ass back on track because that's the character Russ is. 

157 words

Task 27:

The best branding in all of the ISFL/DSFL I would say is the Sarasota Sailfish. It's a close race between them, the Colorado Yeti, and the San Jose Sabercats. Something about the fish and the color scheme just makes the theme of Sailfish work so well, and the Sarasota, Florida location fits just perfectly with the name, the Yeti have the amazing name and logo because Colorado flag and well, I'm from Denver so bias probably, and San Jose I'm just biased for also. The team that needs a touch up I would say is the Bondi Beach Buccaneers. I don't mind the name Buccaneers, but Bondi Beach just isn't a location I'm a huge fan of, plus if this was like IRL football I extremely doubt teams are playing east of London or Berlin. If I would change them I would go back to like the Virginia/Outer Banks area. That's just my personal thought though.

158 words

Task 34: 

Jaycee Higgins family is from the Northwest region of the US, and so while it isn't always snowy, it's the cold weather. So around the holidays, their is always some hot cocoa around, you can smell it throughout the house from anywhere between late November and the end of December! With it on the side is some tiny peppermint candy canes and marshmallows to top it all off. Along with that, it's always decorating outside and the Higgins go crazy! The Christmas tree is a plastic one, but it's very realistic looking trust me. And always, Christmas Eve, a showing of the Polar Express. The best Christmas movie around no doubt, well, maybe Home Alone can top it but still! Then, Christmas day arrives and presents are of course gifted but the holiday season is amazing in the Astoria, Oregon area. Magical if you will! So that's the holiday tradition!

150 words

Task 15:

Congratulations! The San Jose Sabercats have won the Ultimus over the uhhh? Anyways, you are going to Disneyland folks! The trip starts about 5 days after they win, because the championship parade, other stuff, yadayada. The plane ride their takes around 3-4 hours as we land in Orlando, Florida. The bus ride shows some card games between old heads Otis and Jamar. And when we finally reach the place, of course it's me and Mason who are running to the gates first! I personally still have some aspects of me that are the 12 year-old in me and I've always wanted to go here, especially since I lived on the other side of the US also. I gotta go to the Harry Potter area and celebrate their with whoever else is a nerd on the Sabercats and I mean, cmon, ROLLERCOASTERS MAN! Overall the days that would be spent their would be wild and definitely some drinking would be involved for everyone of age. The best team in the ISFL is gonna party hard!

174 words

done

[jzajenius36]

12.

I was very tempted to go back and revisit Ryan Negs, QB for the Liberty, for this task.  Last year I highlighted how he really failed to make the jump into where he belongs, which is with the best of the best in the ISFL.  This year he really quieted the critics as he had the highest QBR in the league.  But besides that, I’d like to spend the rest of these words on Liberty Tight End Borgo San Lorenzo.  Borgo established himself as the clear-cut best tight end in the league in season 32.  His 89 catches lead the grouping, as did his 954 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns.  This is especially impressive considering the Liberty were often a run-heavy team, finishing with the 4th-most attempts in the league, as well as the fact that receiver Jake Fencik, finished 3rd in the league in receiving yards and 10th in grabs.  Nevertheless, when the chips were down and Negs needed a safety valve, San Lorenzo proved to be that dude.  Even in the team’s uninspiring playoff performance against the Berlin Fire Salamanders, San Lorenzo finished with the most receptions and receiving yards on the Liberty, catching 7 for 50.  Those 7 catches were tied for a game-high as well.  Not to be overlooked, San Lorenzo also finished with 5 pancakes, tied for the firth-best number in the game, while also allowing no sacks.  Now entering his 6th year, San Lorenzo is no spring chicken and unknown commodity.  All those hits and mucking in the trenches will soon begin to catch up to him; however, that’s a few years down the line.  San Lorenzo should be poised for a similar – if not better year in season 33 (assuming he puts in the work in the offseason).  If he continues to improve, and his QB Negs takes even just another half-step forward, we may be talking San Lorenzo not only the best tight end, but perhaps the best pass-catcher in the ISFL.

(330 words)



14.

This what quite the season for the Liberty, that’s for sure.  Most wins in franchise history with 11.  A bye week heading into the playoffs.  One of the most impactful defenses in the league.  Finally, all the work our GM Pat and the rest of us season 25-ish veterans have put in finally came to fruition.  The master plan bore fruit!  After coming up short the past couple years, it looked like the Liberty had a really strong path to the Ultimus.  A lot of that had to do with QB Ryan Negs finally making THE jump.  While a good running game, offensive line, and skill position players rounded out an effective offense, the defense is what really lead the Season 32 charge.  The Liberty lead the league in sacks and interceptions, headed by linebacker duo Xavier Walls and Gary Goodman, who each posted 18 sacks.  CB Doy Fieri lead a group of 5 ballhawkers who all registered at least 2 interceptions on the season.  DT Honky Tonk Haywood lead all DT’s in combined sacks, tackles for loss, forced fumbles, and fumbles recovered.  A true team effort on that side of the ball, with few if any weaknesses.  Unfortunately, after all the win and accolades, it all added up to a playoff loss at home against the Berlin Fire Salamanders, 16-12.  Despite holding MVP-candidate Goat Tank to 28 yards on 13 carries and intercepting Zaylren once, and forcing 7 punts, Philly could not translate effective defense into points.  Negs was only able to post completions for 5.5 yard average, with the running game completely stifled outside of two 19-yard runs.  While there is still a ton of optimism surrounding the Liberty’s Ultimus hopes for season 33, Season 32 – while magical at times – will largely be remembered as a missed opportunity for a team that had home field and a bye on its path to a championship.

(316 words)

[ajtigger]

9. If I could be commissioner for a day I would create a once a season sick pass to be presented in exchange for any TPE task (except for Ultimus) in a given week. Given that we are still in a global pandemic people are likely to become sick or have to take care of a loved who becomes sick. I think that a one time sick pass per season could be used if the user has to miss a specific TPE earning thread. While earning TPE should not be the first thing on someone's mind when they are sick, we shouldn't pile on by having their player fall behind even more during the season. I see this rule being used in two ways. First, on weekly point threads the user could be awarded the full three TPE if they are forced to use the sick pass. For weekly predictions, the user who elects to use their sick pass would earn the median of TPE earned for that weeks predictions.

I can see some people arguing that this would be abused by individuals who just want to avoid doing a certain weekly assignment. While this will absolutely happen, I don't think we should worry about an individual getting a free 3 TPE when we can help those who actually could use the TPE. The other argument would be does giving someone a free 3 TPE really do anything when they are sick? While I agree it is not that much of a benefit it still is better than doing nothing. Individuals in this league are likely here because they want to be a member of the community and enjoy watching their dot play. By helping them mitigate the loss of TPE we may keep a user more engaged and maybe stay in our league for a longer time.

14. The San Jose Sabercats had a rollercoaster of a year in which the team finished 8-8. The season was also characterized by consistently inconsistent performance for the team. At no point during the season did the team have a win streak of more than 2 games and they also never lost more than 2 games in a row. Despite the ups and downs the future looks bright in San Jose. The major bright spot for the team has to be the emergence of rookie wide receiver Higgins. The stats for this young wide receiver were absolutely spectacular. Not only did the young stud have over 1000 yard receiving this season, he also had double digit touchdowns. His touchdown total was 11 which allowed him to be tied for 3rd place this season in the ISFL. The Sabercats have a lot to be excited for if Higgins keeps progressing and becomes one of the top receivers in the league.

The other piece San Jose has to be excited about is quarterback Panda McKyle. Panda amassed over 5300 yards this season allowing him to set the all time season record for the cats surpassing legend Monty Jack. Panda had a simply amazing year throwing for over 30 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. His 96.6 quarterback rating was also good for fourth in the league indicating that young Panda is already one of the top talents seen in the ISFL. If the young player can keep finding his weapons on the outside he has a real chance to go on to become a force in the league and maybe even a hall of famer. Overall, the Cats had a season that was encouraging for a team that was thought to be rebuilding. It seems the team has really hit on their most recent draft picks and the rebuild has progressed quickly. I expect big things out of the cats in the next few years as they try to recreate their successes from seasons 24 and 25.