(S43) Offseason Task

[LurchingCard]

Tier 2 (Task 11)

In his early years, Xavier was not particularly interested in organized sports. He enjoyed being active with his friends but hadn't found a sport that truly captivated him. That all changed when he turned eight years old. One sunny afternoon, while exploring the outskirts of his hometown Detroit with his friends, he stumbled upon a local football field where the town's youth team was practicing. Intrigued by the sounds of cheers and excitement on the field, Xavier approached the fence, his eyes fixated on the players running, tackling, and catching passes. A friendly coach noticed the curious young boy observing from the sidelines and invited him to join in on the practice. With no prior experience in football, Xavier hesitated at first but eventually mustered the courage to accept the invitation. From the moment he held a football in his hands, Xavier felt an instant connection to the sport, this was the feeling he had been searching for, he finally found a sport that resonated with him. The thrill of running, the precision of catching passes, and the challenge of evading defenders ignited a newfound passion within him. Despite his lack of experience, Xavier's natural athleticism shone through during that impromptu practice session.The coach, impressed by Xavier's raw talent and determination, encouraged him to come back for more practices. From that day forward, Xavier dedicated himself to football wholeheartedly. He attended every practice, honed his skills, and absorbed every piece of advice the coaches offered. Football became an integral part of his life, and he found a sense of purpose and belonging on the field that he hadn't experienced before. As Xavier progressed through youth football and later high school, his talent blossomed, earning him recognition as one of the brightest prospects in the state. His love for the sport continued to grow, and he became known for his relentless work ethic and unwavering dedication to improving his game.

[ZootTX]

OT pass baybee (task only done for affiliate purposes)

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)
On the backs of their recent Ultimini win, the Norfolk Seawolves also revealed that they will be breaking ground on a new stadium. The stadium will take a few years to build so fans will have to be patient, but the wait is sure to be worth it. Included will be a special display dedicated to team members, past, present, and future, as well as a display of the Seawolves Ultimini trophies. The field will be grass and not turf as the players were heavily against a turf field. A water park for the fans of all ages, appropriately named Seawolf park, will also be included and open during the summer months for fans to stay cool in the summer heat. Finally, a special aquarium display will be part of the stadium complex to both represent local aquatic wildlife, and to also serve as a rehabilitation center for injured sea animals. All admission fees will go to wildlife rehabilitation. (159 words)

[Yeenoghu]

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

Sarasota quarterback Willier Miller had a near perfect rookie season. He was voted as the Most Outstanding Player in the league by his peers, the Most Dedicated Member of the league for his off-the-field philanthropy, and even took home the coveted Most Valuable Player title for his remarkable season leading the Sailfish to the playoffs. However, this was two seasons ago—and unfortunately it means that Miller’s sophomore season would almost certainly be a decline from his outlandish rookie campaign. Miller had a respectable season in S42 leading the league in passing yards once again, but his efficiency metrics regressed to the mean. While this meant he still earned a Pro Bowl nomination alongside Hawks QB Preston Beatz, he did not win any additional hardware as the Sailfish failed to qualify for the postseason.

Though my player is not a quarterback, I do have some advice for Miller as he enters his third season. Stop focusing on touchdowns. I know this sounds strange, but I truly believe the team would be better served if more drives stalled out somewhere around the red zone so that the kicker could have more field goal opportunities. This would take a tremendous amount of pressure off Miller and allow him to focus on the fundamental aspects of passing. Another step that Miller could take off the field is to increase his media presence. I personally find that many players outside of Sarasota know little about the quarterback’s fascinating background, despite his storied rookie season. My suggestion for Miller would be to have his PR team beef up his Wikipedia page, which is seemingly abandoned at this time. This would allow fans to get to know Miller a bit better and make him a universally liked player in the league.

How will Miller’s career continue to unfold? Perhaps we will have to settle for Miller winning MVP only in odd-numbered years, but will that be enough to satisfy the cutthroat Sarasota management?

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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?

Before he became the kicker and punter for the Sarasota Sailfish, Swantavius King actually started out as an offensive lineman while on waivers for the Kansas City Coyotes and during the first week of his rookie season for the London Royals. After wrapping up my previous player’s career, I wanted to set my sights on breaking a significant league record. At first, I decided that I would target the career pancakes record then set by Bruce Buckley and now held by Stumpy Jones. However, I created King simultaneously with his in-universe relative Swantavius Payne, who was also an offensive lineman. Ultimately, I thought it would be more fun for both of us if we could each pursue our own records instead of competing head-to-head at the offensive lineman position, so I ended up switching to kicker to pursue the all-time points record, and I am happy to say that we are both on track to surpass our respective targets!

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34. New players join our teams every season, so which of those new players made the biggest impact on the field for your team?

Although the Sarasota Sailfish acquired a couple of veterans during the offseason in Rockbot Rockbo and Chim Rickles, the most important roster addition was calling up London linebacker Max Honestly from the DSFL. Honestly was drafted by the Sailfish in the first round of the S41 ISFL draft and made his Sarasota debut in S42. He was instantly a locker room favorite and was named team captain before his rookie season, one of only two rookie players in the league to be named defensive captain. Honestly joined an established linebacker corps of Aqeel Steele and Fronky Fresh and immediately made his presence felt. Despite being a rookie, Honestly was the only one of the three to receive a Pro Bowl nomination. Max led all rookies in tackles and forced fumbles from his inside linebacker role for the Sailfish defense. His play should only continue to improve as he works to adapt his skills to the ISFL level en route to becoming a star player.

[MikeWhiskey]

Code:

7. Write 600 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 600 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.

Well, it's happened. I've been fired from my GM position with the Dallas Birddogs. Ok, ok, I wasn't fired but resigned. In Dallas we have a bit of a tradition that our GM's only do it for 3 seasons and I did my time! It was a hell of a 3 seasons, with some ups and plenty of downs. A lot of downs. I still haven't won an Ultimini, hell, I never made the playoffs. My overall record was 17-24-1. Safe to say I am not a great sim football coach!

But there were some highlights! I signed new creates Craig Brand (@ElMerchanto), Justin Willis (@Cycro), Ace Anderson (@DangWookie), LeHarm James (@LHarm), Crasher Wake (@ZodiacEXE), and Logan Runswell (@ChickenLeg). All of these players are having a great few early seasons and I expect we will see them around the league for several seasons to come. I took the view that my primary responsibility as a DSFL GM was to not only welcome new creates, but help them flourish in the league. My list of new creates reflects that in my opinion. I truly tried to list everyone, if I missed a new create I'm sorry! Granted my record with recreates is less impressive, with massive busts of Infinitempg and Frostbite leading the way. At least I dodged Zoot.

Truthfully, it was a ton of fun, and I am both sad and happy its over. It was one of those journeys that sometimes was awful during it, but looking back you are so glad you did it. I would highly encourage everyone to get involved in a GM/war room capacity. It opens up the league and strategy overall in a way that just earning and applying TPE doesn't quite do. The excitement of new users, scouting them, trying to build a team with maybe less than complete building blocks, its tough. But can be very rewarding when it all starts to click.

I won't name names, because that would feel like I am putting people on blast, but I also got to bring a couple of recreates back from the brink of inactivity. That ranks among the most important things I feel I did. Let's face it, the league has to fight to keep users and gain more to replace those we lose to inactivity. Pulling someone back from the brink, showing them the fun that they can still have here, and getting them engaged again is second only to helping brand new creates find their way. On the off chance one or more of the recreates I am talking about read this, I am happy you stayed.

Let's move on to some of my trade work. I made a few deals while I was the GM. One of the best (in my most humble opinion) was getting Kraig Jontholomew from TIJ. Kraig was an IA linebacker stuck in TIJ's LB4 position. He wasn't doing much nor would he ever. So I offered Dallas' S42 R3 pick for Kraig. We managed to get Kraig to earn a bit (just over 100 TPE) and stay active enough to not "die", and he found himself in the S42 DSFL Pro Bowl! I would say a R3 pick for a pro bowl line backer isn't a terrible trade. Granted I didn't necessarily intend it to be the first pick of round 3, but TIJ took @TheCC with it, so I probably won anyway.

All in all, I had fun. To those I called out throughout my time as a GM, I meant every word. To those I didn't, I still meant to, just never got around to it. But you suckers can't get rid of me that easily, I'm not leaving, I just don't get to trash talk in management chats now (for now?)

622 words

[lordcoolcats]

PT/OT Pass

[WrittinDirectino]

1. The Season 42 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the Norfolk Seawolves and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?



639 words

The Arizona Outlaws’ championship journey started in the regular season when they managed to split wins in their two meetings with the New York Silverbacks. As the season went on it became clear New York would be competing for the top seed of the ASFC. If Arizona had lost their first matchup against New York, they would have failed the secure the number one spot, and thus the bye week. New York went on to lose in the quarterfinals against the Honolulu Hahalua. I can’t really say it was unexpected because I do think New York, Honolulu and Austin are in the same tier of teams, but the final score was definitely unexpected. New York could not get anything going against the Honolulu secondary and their quarterback threw three interceptions. How Unfortunate. In the semifinals, it was Honolulu on the other end of a beatdown this time. I also expected this game to be a competitive one, partly because we lost to them in Week 1, albeit by a point. Honolulu had a very hard time stopping Sherwin Blue Jr. and Danny Nedelko from getting what they wanted and Arizona ran them off the field. Everyone on the defense contributed and had a solid game.
While all this was going on in the ASFC, there was a blood bath happening in the NSFC. A lot more competitive than the ASFC for sure. Defending champs Cape Town Crash literally crashed out of the playoffs in the wild card game. Their regular season record was definitely underwhelming when you consider the fact that they were the reigning champions. Maybe they overachieved last year? The game was a total defensive grind fest and it was close right until the end. Berlin executed an exemplary two-minute drill and they steadily make their way up the field till field goal range. Definitely one of the most exciting ISFL games I’ve seen! In the conference championship game, the Fire Salamanders almost shut down the Baltimore Hawks in a 24-10 victory. It’s interesting how both Berlin and Baltimore were at the bottom of the league last season and made it this far and Berlin especially, deserves a lot of credit for going form 5-11 to the Ultimus. I was not expecting Baltimore to score just 10 points, but looking back at their regular season games Baltimore lost both of their games to Berlin so I guess it wasn’t THAT unexpected.
After the Hawks Fire Salamanders game, I remember going over the Fire Salamanders roster and thinking their defense was going to give us a lot of trouble. They had an insane secondary and a pretty good defensive line. Well, it turns out that I didn’t have to worry at all. We beat them handily and ended their worst to first dreams. Vincent-Vega had a 53 yard pick 6 in the third quarter to really seal the game. We were up by 21 points so we’ve probably won regardless, but it was definitely a great moment in my first Ultimus and reminded me of Malcolm Smith’s pick six back in Super Bowl XLVIII (I'm a Seahawks Fan).
All in all, this was a very exciting season and I consider myself pretty lucky to be part of a championship roster right away in my rookie year. It kind of reminds me of IRL NFL player Trent McDuffie’s season, where he was drafted to a Chiefs squad that had to count on the rookie defensive backs to contribute right away.
As for the DSFL playoffs, I can’t say much because I didn’t really follow it closely. But I was surprised and extremely heartbroken when the London Royals failed to get into the playoffs after a very intense last couple of weeks. I thought they would make it but I guess too many players were called up to the ISFL.

[KaleSalad]

12. Rival: 5 TPE
With Arizona’s recent success over the past few seasons and continuation of being a very strong team and contending it would appear the biggest rivalry that they have is with the rest of the league. They have not always come out on top and many were hoping for a Cape Town rematch in the finals this season but it would be the Berlin Fire Salamanders that would need to rise to occasion against the Outlaws. Who ended up falling short in the Ultimus. The Outlaws have taken on all challengers over the past 6 seasons going to the Ultimus each of these years. Since Season 37 they have won 4 Ultimus making them one of if not the most feared teams in ISFL history. With their continued run at the top it has seemed like the whole league is looking to try and take them down. This is what makes their rivalry with the entirety of the league. They are Outlaws after all… As teams have risen and fallen over these past 6 seasons there are two teams that have stood out. First the Honolulu Hahalua who have always been a thorn in the side of the outlaws and had their number for a lot of seasons leading up to this historic run. They will always have a good rivalry and whenever these teams meet up it is always a good game to be had! It is a lot of fun to have these inner division rivals and makes those games even more exciting and elevated during the regular season. The other one that since their rebrand has really come on is the Cape Town Crash. Since their rebrand they have seemed to always get the best of the Outlaws including beating them in the finals in Season 41. This has led them to be a new Rival in the recent seasons and as they look to continue to be strong for the ones to come as well.

Code:

WC:328

21: TV show 2.5

Leonardo has always wanted to have a show made about him and his brothers. The plot would be how he and his brothers would fight crime while hiding in the shadows and living in the sewers of New York. Heard this one before? Well it would only be the start because it would be the origin of where they would eventually end up putting that life to the side and turning to a life of football. The show would focus on coming out of the shadows and navigating the life Leonardo has always wanted. How he found his way through school and a passion for the game of football. Of course to keep it interesting they would have to add some love interests and focus on key parts of his life such as navigation of his free agency before moving to the desert! A turtle in the desert who knew right? Anyways it would be a light hearted story based off the true events of Leonardo’s life.

Code:

WC:167

36. Affiliate 2.5 TPE
SHL affiliate

[jeffie43]

OT Pass

[CROney3]

The Season 42 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the the Norfolk Seawolves and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?

Pew pew! Arizona wins the Ultimus in my rookie season, which was an incredible feeling. I don’t think it surprised anyone but it felt good for me, especially coming off of an Ultimini win in Tijuana in season 41. This season started off a lot better for Arizona than season 41 did though, when they started 3-5. They had a 7-game win streak to end the regular season which helped secure the 1st seed in the ASFC and home field in the Ultimus. I don’t think many people predicted that Honolulu would beat New York in the 1st round but the Honolulu/Arizona championship game will be a familiar sight for seasons to come.

I do believe the NSFC playoffs were a bit of a surprise! The NSFC was a tight race for a majority of the season and came down to the last couple weeks for who would even make the playoffs. Defending champions, Cape Town Crash, finished 2nd in the standings behind a red hot Baltimore team. Berlin had a better 2nd half than 1st half and was able to squeeze in at the 3rd spot. Berlin had a down year in season 41 so seeing them flip it around to make the playoffs was nice, but I don’t think anyone really thought they would do much damage. They have an amazing defense but the offense, despite high TPE, just doesn’t quite click on all cylinders. Yet they were able to take down the reigning champions in the first round in typical Berlin fashion with a 16-13 win on the road. That was definitely a disappointing loss for Cape Town as they were likely bummed that they didn’t get the bye. But negs is stinky and is trying to steal all my money so glad to see them go down.

Berlin’s defense kept on dominating into the championship round as they held high-scoring Baltimore to only 10 points. Baltimore was easily the most disappointed team in the playoffs as they secured the first round bye as they had the 2nd best point differential in the league and yet could only manage 10 points on offense. But that goes to show how bad ass of a defense Berlin had. So now underdog Berlin has managed their way to make the Ultimus, going up against the perennial contender and season 42 favorite in Arizona. The top offense in Arizona met up against one of the best defenses in the league. The problem for Berlin is that Arizona also boasted the top defense, so points were going to be a premium heading into this game.

Points did become a premium, for Berlin, as they only managed 10. Their offense was built upon their defense stifling the other team, but Arizona did not have any issues after putting up 38 points in the championship. Berlin only scored more than 38 points twice the entire season and those came against Colorado and Chicago, not exactly world beaters.

Arizona winning the Ultimus probably didn’t surprise many, but I think the utter domination in the leagues biggest game probably did. Arizona basically went wire to wire so losing in the Ultimus would have been the biggest surprise this season. Even as someone on Arizona, I figured the game would be much closer based on Berlin’s defense and it would take a couple sim breaks here and there but the team experience for Arizona’s players probably helped with not needing those lucky breaks. With Arizona not really losing any players to age/retirement, they will look to continue another season of domination, so the league better be prepared. I’ll end this OT with a big old PEW PEW, baby!

[tstols]

14. Expansion

The ISFL is quite diverse at the moment, with a strong and healthy upper and lower league. I personally don't think expansion is needed yet, especially since there seems to be enough players to fill all the holes that exist in a big football lineup.

That being said, it's always fun to think about locations the ISFL should grow too for the future! Here's four potential locations that would be fun to add!


Firstly, Philadelphia. Weirdly enough, there's no true Pennsyvlania team in the PBE (apart from State College) or the ISFL. Pennsylvania as a state has great sports culture, and adding a team in Philly or Pittsburgh I think would be a great overall addition to the league. A brand like the "Philly Cheese" could be a fun team to make, similar to the NFL's Packers.

Secondly, Paris. We need a European rival for Berlin, so why not go to Paris for the team? It's a beautiful city and would have a huge sporting market. The European rivalry would be a must see match for both teams. 

Thirdly, Liverpool. The Mersey-side Marines would be a great name, given that Liverpool is right on the edge of the water. I'm a biased Liverpool fan, sure, but it would be fun to have an English team in the ISFL to form a true European rivalry core, especially if Paris was getting a team.

Finally, Miami. I think a second Florida team in Miami would be a good addition. Especially if the branding would be Miami-Vice style, that could lead to some nice jerseys and really fun color-rush fields as well.

There's a lot of fun places to visit in terms of expansion, and there's even a few more that I didn't really want to include that would work: San Diego/Los Angeles (there's a few Cali teams, but fun cities), Seattle (northern rivalries), Montreal (Canada) or also a few DSFL teams to take to the ISFL: Dallas, KC, London.

I'm excited to see what will happen the next time we see the ISFL expand!


33. Rebrand

There are a few teams that could use a rebrand in the DSFL, but ironically the thing rebranding would need the most is to change locations. The DSFL has a few locations that honestly would be better used in the ISFL for teams, and three of them come to mind.

First: Dallas Birddogs
This is a really fun and wholesome team branding, but the city of Dallas I think belongs in the ISFL. It would make a prime Texas rivalry between them and Austin. A few other Texas or midwestern cities would be perfect for this team. Potentially, Houston, Waco, or even Oklahoma City could be good cities to free up a Dallas team/location. Birddogs is a fun nickname, so no need to rebrand it.

Second: London Royals
Realistically, a London or Paris team should be in the ISFL to be the European rivals to the Berlin Fire Salamanders. What would replace London? Well, another area of London! My personal pick would be the Buckingham Royals. Keeps the team in London, but allows a true "London" team to get put in the ISFL. Another option could be to move the London Royals to the ISFL, and use an expansion idea I had in the Merseyside Marines.

Thirdly: Kansas City Coyotes
Honestly, this one is more of a name rebrand than a city rebrand, although I also included the idea to bring KC to the ISFL from the DSFL. Coyotes just doesn't really give me a true KC vibe, and I think they could do something more special. I may have been hungry while thinking of this, but immediately two food related names came to mind. The Kansas City Brew Crew and the Kansas City Smokers.


36. PBE Affiliate Task

(Week 3 PT: https://probaseballexperience.jcink.net/...t&p=609809)