(S42) Offseason Task

[ztarwarz]

7.

For this season’s offseason task, I decided to talk about draft stock, mine specifically, and why I inadvertently caused one of two extremely funny scenarios to happen.

First, I’d like to go back to my first player in order to add some context. I was part of the S25 draft, I earned as much as I could, and going into draft night I was excited. I ended up going much further down than I expected, and this might have fueled me to earn as well as I did while I was active. One of my goals for my new player was to have a much better draft position, though that took a bit of a hit when I was drafted exactly in the middle of the DSFL draft; by ratio it’s the lowest I’ve gone in my 3 drafts. I don’t care that much though, instead I put the pedal to the metal earning, and ended up near the DSFL TPE cap by the final update and well over it now. This, along with my propensity to write way too much on this site leaving me with well more than enough cash, put me near the end of the first round, or as an honorable mention, in a large number of mock drafts before the draft officially started at the end of the Ultimus.

But there was a problem that I did not anticipate: I had a vacation to go on, and it left me without internet connection for basically the entirety of it. Moreover, I had not warned anyone I was going to be away from the league; I did tell a couple scouts that I was going on vacation, but not that I would be totally inactive as I was for about a week. Considering I should have had internet connection on the vacation, I did not even tell anyone in my locker rooms about this.

So, the draft begins. At the time of writing this, it’s probably over and we’re less than a day out from the draft stream. But for the first 4 or so days of the draft, I didn’t show up anywhere; not on Discord, not on the forum, I didn’t even claim the TPE I got from the season and playoff predictions. As I write this, I don’t know where I have been drafted, but I know that one of two things have occurred:

Either I fell past the area I expected to go, somewhere between picks 11-18, and whoever picked me got a max earner who didn’t actually miss a single task even with the vacation messing things up, or I got picked somewhere in the first 2 rounds, and whoever picked me then had to agonizingly wait for any signs of life, which I ended up showing on Tuesday. It could have been a lot funnier if I went with my original plan, which would have had me not do any updates until Friday morning, but I decided to come back to do the tasks I needed to earlier, so whoever drafted me won’t be left in the lurch THAT long.

With all that said, draft picks can make or break a franchise’s future in this league. This draft WILL make or break the Second Line. And my absence from the league from the Tuesday before the Ultimus to the Tuesday after it could end up making the franchise that drafted me extremely pleasantly surprised. Or it could have scared whoever drafted me immensely as an entire 3 day weekend came and went without a peep out of a player who, prior to the draft, had a late 1st round grade.

[DoubleDub]

Number 10

So commissioner for the day, I guess let's start with a small item and work your way up. Only three things are now for sale at every stadium in the ISFL and the DSFL. Firstly is the classic and humble hot chip but they have to be served a certain way. They have to be a thicker cut chip and they need to be heavily salted, next they have to be kept in a cardboard box for a while before being served. This will keep the chips sweating and really let those salty flavours soak. Next is the hot dog's, yes you can have variety of flavours and variations but you must offer a standard option which is a cheese kransky with mustard and sauerkraut. The third thing is beer but it has to be the local low alcohol volume and low price option. This will let us all drink more and also be more refreshed which is the main function of the beer.

Next I want to change the ISFL and DSFL relationship into one that is a relegation/demotion system as we see in the English Premier League. This just brings something extra into a season as teams at the bottom can't just tank - rather they need to perform well enough to still keep their spot in the league. How does this physically work, no idea that's for people far smarter than me to work out. Basically it's just about having more games matter over the course of the season.

Finally each team will channel their inner Bondi Beach Buccaneers and more down under to Australia. Why? Dunno it just sounds like more fun. This was I can properly become engrossed with the league as finding all those cities for teams will leave some lower populated centres as homes of ISFL or DSFL teams.

Number 11

Josh Gibson in a different universe was an elite defender in the Australian Football League (AFL), the skills he had meant he was fantastic in 1v1 contests and knew exactly when to leave his matchup to come and help his team mates. It's for this reason that I have decided to make him into a safety in this universe. At one point Gibson was on thr brink of finding himself without a job, he was traded for next to nothing to a team that was trying to get back to the top. What happened next was a three peat for Gibson's team in the early 2010's.

In this timeline, Josh decides to take his skills abroad and finds himself entering the DSFL draft after less than a dozen games with the London Royals after the Trade Deadline. The skillset that he brings across to the ISFL should make him an enticing prospect who is physical enough to not be a liability for the run defense, but his strength are his instincts for finding the ball in the air and then making a play on it.

Joining the DSFL at the trade deadline, Gibson has been able to show his varied skillset. Over 4 regular season games and 1 playoff game, Gibson has posted 22 tackles with only 1 missed tackle. He also added a sack during his first career game in the league, during the playoffs London were knocked out in the first round. However Gibson was able to show his athleticism and instincts first hand to the scouts in attendance. Gibson saw ball and exploded to intercept a short pass at his own 25, he would manage to find some space and get free for a 41 yard return that would set up a touchdown for the offense on the very next play.

[Jumbo]

22. Scouting Report


31. Award


35. Newspaper



34. New Teammates
In New York we had several rookies join the team. In all we had 6 rookies, 4 of which were S41 true rookies. So even with a younger squad we still managed to get 7 wins on the season improving on the season prior. All the rookies played a part, but the biggest rookie for us was Blaine Falco our Quarterback. Quarterback is arguably the most important position in football. So as a rookie slated to start, Falco had his work cut out for him. But Falco stepped up to the challenge. He threw for over 3800 yards, and 25 TDs to only 13 INTs. He was able to keep us in some big games and get us the wins we needed. Luckily we have stud RBs to help ease the load on him but Falco kept his composure over the course of the season and did really well. I think Blaine Falco is up for Offensive Rookie of the Year and rightfully so. 
-164 words

[CROney3]

Task #1

For me, personally, this season was quite the wild ride that ended in a bittersweet fashion. Going through my 2nd season in the league, it was fun to have both a DSFL team (Tijuana Luchadores) and an ISFL team (Arizona Outlaws) to root for! I wasn't sure if I'd be called up after this season so I remained invested in Tijuana and its incoming users since they might be my teammates for even more than 1 season. Both Arizona and Tijuana came into their respective seasons as the favorites. Arizona since they had just won the Ultimus and didn't lose any major pieces to the regression monster, and Tijuana for having a boat load of positions with capped players to start the season. I was looking forward to being a part of 2 amazing teams!

Once the season started, Tijuana showed why we were the favorites, starting a strong 5-0 and doing that in a dominant fashion. I didn't expect to go undefeated as other teams would surely start to catch up on TPE. But I also didn't expect 2 losses and a tie after those first 5 games, while then going 3-3 to finish up the season. Thankfully, Tijuana locked up the 1 seed in the South for playoff time. Going against Bondi Beach was a bit of a surprise as they started out 0-5 but climbed their way back into the playoffs, looking to repeat. I was prepared to get simmed as it seemed like the end of the season was going that way, but Tijuana was able to pull it out over BBB to head to the finals! In a matchup for the ages, Tijuana edged out Kansas City in OT to take home our 10th Ultimini trophy! It was definitely a blast of a season for our locker room and I was glad to remain in the DSFL to help Tijuana bring home some hardware.

Arizona had quite the season, starting out 2-5 and looking like there was no chance to repeat. Trading away their 1st and 2nd round picks was starting to look like a bad move as they looked to join NOLA at the bottom. However, this wild ride was about to begin. Arizona pulled off 9 (yes, NINE) straight wins to tie Honolulu for the top spot in the ASFC. Due to tiebreakers, Arizona had to settle for 2nd seed and face off against OCO in the first round. Arizona wasn't about to stop winning come playoff time, so after a thorough beat down of OCO, they were off to Honolulu to battle against the surprise 1-seed. This game saw Arizona thoroughly control the ball and easily took down Hon, ending their cinderella season one game away from the Ultimus (but Hon will be a force to reckon with for many seasons to come). Arizona was about to face off against Cape Town in their first Ultimus appearance since the rebrand (I think that's accurate). That game was one for the ages. Unfortunately, despite getting into FG range with little time left, the sim decided it was done and Arizona fell by 2 points when the clock hit 0.

So that Friday night, I had an amazing, but stressful, time watching Tijuana duke it out and take home the Ultimini. Then the bitter part of the night hit as I watched Arizona get simmed. But both teams had amazing seasons and as I mentioned, I was glad I could be a part of both teams for season 41. My player, Benji Aguilera, is getting called up to the ISFL for season 42, so while I won't have a player on Tijuana next season, I'll be rooting for them each and every week. They're in good hands with Wizard and Baz, so I know they'll continue the Tijuana ways. Hopefully I can help Arizona get back into the championship and bring another one to Arizona.

[MMFLEX]

OT Pass

[FootballIsCool]

23. What are your thoughts on the sim engine? What sort of improvements would you make to the sim engine if given the opportunity?

I joined the league just as we switch to the most recent simulation engine, so what we currently have is all that I know. I will say that the change is probably a very good thing. From what I have been informed is that the previous simulation engine was largely figured out and that there were some positions, like offensive line, that were deemed worthless for a player to be occupying that position. But they are now relevant. Since we are a few seasons into the new simulation engine, it has what you would want in a simulation engine. It has a fair bit of randomness that feels like your team is not completely doomed if you are playing against a roster that is "far and away a better TPE". This allows for playoffs and individual games to feel far more meaningful and allows upsets and that is good for entertainment and in return is good for the league. With these positives that does not mean that this simulation engine does not have it's own set of flaws. The one initial issue that I had with the game was the lack of display of post game stats. This has since been remedied with displaying of the box scores. Kudos to the simulation team for adding that bit. Overall from what I have heard the switch was largely a success and an improvement over the old simulation engine. Not sure how I feel about the changes to the removal of individual positional awards.  I would absolutely buff fullbacks they seem largely underutilized and as attributes just very bad half backs due to speed being so important in the game. Fullbacks have the potential to be a really cool and unique position.

[290 words]

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

The headliner for this half-time show is the former artist formerly known as Prince.

Starting out the entertainment the ghost of Prince’s past, blouse and all will rise through the middle of the stage on a pedestal and will challenge Charlie Murphy, Eddie Murphy and his crew to a basketball game titled “shirts vs blouses”. Prince’s crew will blow out the Murphy boys. Prince will open up with a cover of Queen’s hit song “We will rock you”.  Then a smooth transition into Eddie Murphy’s hit song, “Party all the time”. That’ll then transition into Prince’s song “Let’s go Crazy” followed up by “Baby I’m a Star”. Doves will be released and there will be a dancing brigade that will be dropping some sick choreographed moves. As Prince and the Revolution start playing “1999” the pastel colors everywhere really made you feel like you were partying like it was 1999. Followed by the classic "Raspberry Beret". Then all of a sudden it begins to rain right as the lights dim down low and "Purple Rain" is then performed.

[177 words]

27. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why? (Written Task)

I would have been a Full back. I would have been like Tampa Bay Legend Mike Alstott, a true threat when running the ball. I would have actually made running the ball as a full back. However I would also have the ability to ground and pound everyone on the field. The main reason I would like to be a fullback is because they are just offensive linemen with hands. They also serve up quite a considerable amount of pancakes to all of the friends on the team. That’s why being a fullback would be amazing. It would also like to see the ball every once in a while with handoffs and would live to show off my celebration dance that I have been planning on showing off. It is called the spruce shake. I will leave that to the imagination of what that is but I will likely get fined for it. Kids will need to avert their eyes from the Television because of it but it will be good for the environment

[174 words]

29. What team do you think has the best branding in the league? Why?

There are a lot of teams in the league that have some really great brandings but I think the team that has the best branding in the league is the Colorado Yeti.  I would consider the Yeti to be my favorite branding because of their use of black as a focal point with how colorful this logo is by using the Colorado state flag. Everything is on a red backdrop in front of which is the Colorado flag’s iconic C outlined in royal blue in front of what is assumed to be a yeti but it is actually just a silhouette of what is unknown. In addition to that I think of all of the potential ways you could portray a missing link or yeti going with something unknown and lacking in detail was the right move. This is a team branding that I could see at a professional level and is something that I would happily purchase merchandise for.

[160 words]

[Matty86]

Task 36 - SHL affiliate

[Duilio05]

OT Pass

[PugWalrus]

OT pass

[toivo]

Affiliate PT SHL PT +3

Code:

14. Expansion Expansion Expansion! Tell us why you think the league should expand / not expand or include any ideas (in words) for team branding ideas you have or team locations.

I absolutely think the league should expand. If we have football players to fill teams, then we need to grow the league and give ISFL a bigger footprint. I always think the league could expand more overseas. We have some markets represented overseas, but it would be great to have some more. I would like to see a team in Finland. I became interested in Finland after following the careers of some great Finnish hockey players. A couple decades after Teemu, Finland is pushing out a lot more stars. Perhaps if Finland had a football team there would be future generations of Finnish football stars. The small nation can crank out some great athletes. There are a lot of lakes in Finland, so call them the Oulu Lakers if you would like. Finland, and probably much of northern Europe would likely gather around this team. There are other markets I would like to see. Put a franchise in Rome. The ISFL will really grow the game by going into these non-traditional markets for American football. I would love for a Rome team to just be called Rome Football Club (FC) and perhaps they would like the humor in that. If they don’t take to it, possibly adding American to the Football Club will clear things up better. Another interesting location, albeit domestic, would be Disneyland. I am sure that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of football fans pass through Disney every year. Let’s be honest, if you are spending the money to stand in line at Disney, wouldn’t it be nice to sit down and watch some football. The team may have a hard time building a home fan base, but I think fans that aren’t fans of the away team playing at Disney would embrace the Disney team. It’s all apart of the big picture, expanding the league and making things grander.

Code:

19. Your team has announced that they will be laying ground on a new stadium next season. What additions would you like to see included in it. (Written Task)

This arena will be focused on having the best game day experience. Because of this, one side of the arena will be 50% screen so that everyone can have amazing views of replays on one of the largest screens ever crafted. This will cut into fan seating, but that is okay, there will still be 50,000 seats in the stadium to pack all the crazy NOLA fans. Behind one of the field goal posts will be a magnificent waterfall with rocks, think Los Angeles Angels, but way better. For the home team, we will love kicking field goals that way since we will be use to the beautiful scenery. But on the other end, the away team will be mesmerized by the beauty of the fall and get distracted when they ought to be focused on kicking field goals and scoring touchdown. This will go a long ways towards giving the home team a good solid (but fair) advantage.