(S43) Offseason Task

[Sonny]

26. if your player wasn't a professional in the ISFL/DSFL, what would they be doing instead? (Written Task or Graphic Task)

[Big Edd]

7. I have been in the isfl for nearly 3 almost 4 years now. Time has flown by and really I only remember what happened when I take the time to sit down and think about it. sometimes I think about all the bad stuff that has happened and all the good funny stuff that has also occurred and that is what I decided that I would write about for this offseason task. I wanted to first talk about the camaraderie and togetherness I noticed in the isfl. players and their friends on their teams always make sure to stick together and defend each other. this is really funny because a lot of people, I would say most people don't even know each other in real life yet somehow through a virtual screen you can sense the real connection of friendship between people in the server. I really enjoy witnessing this on a daily basis and it really brings out the home and hominess feeling in the isfl.  I as well have experienced this  feeling of camaraderie amongst others. I have formed a very tight-knit group of people that I enjoy talking to playing games or cracking jokes with on a daily basis. 3 years ago I did not think that I would have a friend group that I would call my real friend group all from Discord. and the best part about this is I generally consider this group of fellows from the isfl that I associate with as my genuine friends.  in addition,  there are many more other people outside of that friend group that I contact and Converse with on a daily basis. these people as well I consider as real friends and funny enough I actually have gotten so much help from other people around the server on things outside of simulation football.  whether it is advice regarding real life stuff, what to do in college, or career stuff I have always found somebody willing to lend out a hand and assist me.  this next part is leading me on to what we have now is the isfl game day. game day is really at this point the peak of isfl camaraderie and the togetherness of this community. over 20 to 30 people always end up joining that voice chat Channel and are playing whatever game they have made up for the day and it's really cool to see people really having fun and enjoying their time amongst other players. this reminds me of a long time ago when we had a server dedicated for isfl Survivor. games would take nearly four to five hours of intense quizzes and trials that you would do competing against other isfl players all in good heart of course. It was really cool to see people from all around the Discord server come together on a random Friday each week and battle it out I can see each other to see who could be the best Survivor while cracking jokes and having fun amongst each other. speaking of amongst each other, this reminds me as I am typing this out of the among us server that we used to have.  boy were those some really fun times and really maybe the most enjoyable era of my isfl career thus far. as I look back I can really say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far in the ISfL,  and I can only hope for it to continue to be as amazing and fun as it has been. I look forward to making more isfl friends and potentially getting to brag about another Hall of Fame player.  my one only bad note is I wish we would bring back the Survivor server though that was really fun.

[honey]

3)

I think my draft class is pretty interesting, in part because of how small it was compared to previous classes but also the generally strong core of talent that will be able to go in the first round. This obviously played its part in how the DSFL was able to progress this year, with the majority of teams only able to add one or two solid picks before relying on waivers to fill out the gaps in their roster. This left the clearly dominant DSFL team, the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, struggling for high-end talent that could bolster a roster decimated by callups to the ISFL. While this didn’t hurt just BBB, it made it significantly harder for a number of teams to improve on their previous seasons. It’s clear that Bondi Beach got a steal in the draft with their acquisition of Dylan Duma, but TE is a difficult position to singlehandedly bolster a diminished offense even with the incredible throwing prowess of Aleris at the helm of the offense.

Things really picked up towards the end of the season, with a string of close games and wins that showed how well the waiver pickups had helped bring things to a more competitive level. If we had any form of adequate kicker, we’d likely have ended up with an additional win or two in a season that most everybody expected to be a wash. Bertie Mannering-Phipps is an exceptional RB that’s only expected to improve after being drafted as a complete steal in the ISFL draft, with an extremely strong WR performance out of our waiver pick ups in the last half of the season.
That’s really only the start, with Bondi Beach sacrificing picks in the last couple of seasons for an absolute hoard of picks in the huge reddit draft that’s already proving itself to be full of active, interested players that can hit the ground running and contribute early on. After taking NOR’s 2nd and 4th round picks, bring the total picks to 1.3, 2.3, 2.8, 3.3, 4.3, and 4.8 with the potential to fill out the roster with at a minimum three quality picks, and an expected high level contributor early in the first. This will provide a huge boon to the team’s talent pool, even after needing to replace their QB. Their star TE Is expected to stay on the roster and contribute to the team’s passing attack, letting whichever QB does end up slotting into the starting role much more likely to perform at a high level even before managing to increase TPE throughout the season. With reddit drafts typically having a deep talent pool, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the extremely talented GM tandem of Akou and Jenni will be able to add high-level contributors and strong TPE earners well into the third or fourth rounds.

NOR was a strong contender this year, ultimately winning the Ultimini. But without as many picks in this draft and many callups expected to drain their talent, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a weak season. Especially with stiff competition from BBB, who I’m fully expecting to make a strong push into the playoffs in this upcoming season, it’ll be hard for teams without as many options to replenish their ranks in the offseason. Even with a potentially decent waiver group, being able to select strong players from a draft class that is expected to be more than double the previous one would leave anyone in a rough position. So yeah, Bondi Beach taking it all. Send it. I’m poor but will accept 1 (one) bet stating as much to the tune of a whopping $1 million dollars.

As for the ISFL, I’m pretty clueless on performance so I’m going to go with whoever drafts me taking it all. They clearly know what they’re doing.

[caravaggio]

OT Pass

[Rise of Smitty]

Topic #2 - Tell us about your draft class (600+ words)

Normally I dread doing these off season tasks because the prompts are usually not something I want to write about. However, this time it's different, as I am a fresh faced draftee that just took place in the Season 43 ISFL Draft! Going through the scouting process I talked to a few teams, one team reached out and then ghosted me (Hello, Yellowknife!) and in general I didn't have a ton of draft day interest. It was really going to be tough to tell who wanted me the most as I felt it was going to be more former team in Sarasota or a new team in the Baltimore Hawks. After a lot of great pre-draft discussions I felt comfortable that the Hawks would draft me if they could and it turns out that is exactly what happened. They traded up to get the 28th overall pick to end my slide and select me there. Bad news for every other team that passed on me, it happens every time I am a draftee, when will these general managers learn that I bring first round talent and loyalty to the table? Regardless of that, we are here now, and I am a proud member of the Baltimore Hawks organization. Not only am I excited to be here but I am very excited about the draft class we were able to come away from the draft with. It started out with a savvy move in trading down to acquire an extra pick while still getting the guy at the top of the Baltimore draft board in Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker is a receiver by trade and has been a force in the DSFL at the position. There is the question of will he remain there based on the current roster make up of the Hawks but regardless of where he plays he will be a force on the field and in the locker room. As a matter of fact Skywalker was so sought after he had a whole management team crying literal tears when he was selected before they got a chance to. After Skywalker the Hawks used their next pick to grab a big bruising defensive lineman in Tunkha Danstrol. This was a great value pick to get a defensive lineman with his potential in the second round as that position is one of the tougher ones to get true talent in that is motivated to play the position. Danstrol will be a force off the edge for the Hawks in the future and he will be terrorizing many quarterbacks and running backs alike. The Hawks weren't done there as due to their previous trade they had back to back selections and followed up the Danstrol pick with running back Berte Mannering-Phipps. The Hawks don't have many holes on the roster but an area of need for the future was the running back position. Grabbing Berte in the second round certainly gives them hope that the running back position will be well taken care of when their current bell cow gets old and walks away. Berte is a great player in this league and a fun guy to have around in the locker room. He will surely adjust to the ISFL game quickly and be a nice weapon in the future for the Hawks. Getting three draft picks of this caliber would be a huge success for any draft but the Hawks had one final move under their wing. They made one more trade to move up to the first pick in the third round and select linebacker Sam Mercury. This is without a doubt the steal of the draft, unironically, as Mercury has done nothing but impress after joining late in the draft process. It is a wonder how a player like him falls in these drafts but it happens and the Hawks benefit from it. There is never any guarantees in these leagues but the Hawks certainly gave themselves a great chance at future success with this draft class. Skywalker, Danstrol, Mannering-Phipps, and Mercury will play a vital role in the future success of Baltimore and I am excited to see how these fantastic four turn out in their ISFL careers.

[Sonny]

10. Through a random lottery drawing, you have been named the league's new commissioner for a day. Congrats! What improvements would you make to the league if you had the power to do whatever you wanted?

I would make it real for players.

To start with, I would turn on injuries. Five powerful words. Injuries are part of a professional football player’s life. It’s part of the sport. It helps to shape a season, define a team’s destiny, and ultimately decides how far a player can succeed in his career. Will players be devastated if they suffer a multiple week injury? Absolutely. But that’s the game. Next man up. Real life football is littered with players whose stories would never have played out if the guy in front of them in the depth chart never suffered an injury. Let’s turn injuries on and watch the drama unfold.

The second change I would bring in would be a greater diversity of the salary cap. There is too much parity across the league regarding position to pay. The hardest position in sports, the Quarterback, in some, most cases, earns the same amount as a Tight End or a Defensive Tackle. I know the current system sets contract minimums by TPE earned, but I feel this can be improved. So, how would I address this imbalance? By setting a minimum level by position. With pay weighted by position importance.

And to end my day as the league’s new commissioner, I would expand the scope of a team’s ability to work their cap situation by bringing in a greater level of detail which would allow GMs a much greater level of flexibility. I would allow contracts to be written up that can include any of the following stipulations: Guaranteed money, Base salary, Signing bonus, Roster bonus, Option bonus, Workout bonus, Incentives and Salary escalators. Professional football roster management because of the strict salary cap is a minefield for teams that require deft skills to balance short and long objectives and for players too it can be a particularly tough business when it comes to talking money.

[Tiktaalik]

PBE Affiliate PT

[DangWookie]

10. Through a random lottery drawing, you have been named the league's new commissioner for a day. Congrats! What improvements would you make to the league if you had the power to do whatever you wanted?

I think the first change that I would make would be slowing down the game speed for the Ultimus stream. When I was considering joining the league, I made sure to go to YouTube to watch a game to get a feel for what a gameday looked like. Naturally, I clicked on the previous season’s Ultimus, that was impression of the league. As we all know, first impressions are the most important because if it is a bad first impression, then that could turn someone off joining the league right from the start. Joining the ISFL is a big commitment and we need to put our best foot forward at all times to make sure new players to see the value in joining and being a long-term player. In slowing down the Ultimus pace of play, I think we would be able to make a more eye-catching product. A slower pace of play, would allow the live announcers more time to see what exactly is happening on the field and provide them with the space to do some more akin to play by play commentary. When I joined the league and starting watching my first games, I know I had a ton of trouble keeping with reading each play in the top right corner and that was a little off-putting at first until I got used to it. Having that slower game speed would allow the potential new creates the time to really digest what is taking place on the field. That way, when they get to their first Prospect and DSFL games, they already know what to expect, where to find the play by play reports and digest what is happening fully. I know that this isn’t the most popular idea because everyone wants to be able to watch the games quickly and then get back to their day but I’m only talking about small change. If the Ultimus is currently 15 minutes long then I think a five minute change would be sufficient to get the point across and give new players the best chance they have of continuing on and becoming a regular.

(356)

16. Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?

I think this season started off a little rough for Ace. He was expecting to come into this season with a revitalized and improved Dallas Birddogs offense and be the main guy running the ball. While, he did receive the majority of the carries, he did split the runs a lot with Reginald Arceneaux, the rookie running back for the Birddogs and saw Ace receive about half of the amount of carries the guys at the top of league leaders list this season. This led to an adjustment of expectations for Ace when it came to his personal statistics. I think that, selfishly, everyone wants to see their dot with the ball, as often as possible and I was really hoping that Ace would be up near the top of the leaderboard this past season for rushing yards and touchdowns to his name. However, quickly after the first few games of the season, it was clear that this was the best thing for the Birddogs. Together, the Birddogs running backs were able to combine for just over 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns. Clearly, this had the desired effect for the team because last season, by himself, as put up a similar number of yards and half as many touchdowns. Even though this season ended somewhat disappointingly with the Birddogs failing to make the playoffs after being on the cusp of the berth for most of the latter half of the season, Ace was still proud of the team for what they accomplished after their awful showing in Season 41. Ace learned to be a team player and sacrifice his personal gain for the good of the team and it really showed on the field this season. Honestly, there are really only two things that I would change this season. Of course, the first would be the Birddogs making it to the playoffs. I think we had a really strong team this season that had the chance of doing something special if we were able to go the distance and we were really hoping to get Mike his playoff appearance (Oh well, we were always gonna fire him anyways). Secondly, I’d definitely change how I did my build. I had a few stats a little higher than I believe they should’ve been. I think I should’ve maxed out strength as best I could and matching agility with the same amount. Given that Ace was seeing less of the ball, I think the additional points in endurance held him back a little on the field and made it more difficult for him to really penetrate into the second layer of the defense.
(440)

[Allstar20890]

11. My player Giles Marrett grew up in a suburb outside of Akron, Ohio. His biggest role model was LeBron James because well he’s LeBron, doesn’t need much explaining there. A lot of people who grow up there come from very unlucky backgrounds and struggle to make it out, so Giles wanted to be the exception. Starting at 5 years old he would play sports year round, his favorite sport to play was baseball, but once they started throwing breaking balls he was done. Around 8 he was noticed by the high school football coach and the coach is former Akron legend Jason Taylor, former hall of fame defensive end when he played with the Miami Dolphins. At the time Giles didn’t really care where he played, he just wanted to see the field. He was always physically dominate over kids his age so they would play him two ways as a WR and a DE. Nobody to cover him and nobody could stop him, he was being hyped up as the new Jason Taylor of course. But he didn’t know if he wanted to stay close to home, and he still wanted to play in Ohio. So, he made the shocking decision to attend Ohio University. At OU he was a starter right away, he struggled at first of course, but showed a lot of promise towards the end of the season. By his senior season he was voted best defensive player in the MAC twice already, looking to three peat he thought he had a good chance. Until late in the season when he suffered a major injury, on a noncontact play trying to hawk down a HB that had burst past the other side of the defensive line. After taking three long strides Giles felt a pop in his knee, instantly hitting the floor. He knew it was bad, but he didn’t cry, he sat there calm as can be, almost psychotic. The trainers talked to him trying to downplay the situation, but he knew what was wrong instantly. Due to this injury, he wasn’t able to partake in any draft combine and workouts. Which is the reason why he believes he fell so far in the draft.

370 Words

18. My player is a standout candidate to be picked because Giles Marrett shows grit and determination that other players don’t. Even though he is new to the ISFL they have plenty of experience already and know they could build a dominant player. Giles is very team friendly, willing to do almost whatever it takes to bring home team success. Of course, he has some individual goals, but realistically all he cares about is winning. Does not matter if he is only logging 2-3 sacks a season at DE or 1-2 picks at DB. As long as the team is winning, he is happy. He eats, sleeps, and breathes football. It is something his family has even brought to his attention that is a problem at this point, something he needs to learn how to balance better in his life. Locker room wise he isn’t the most active, but he is a good experience when he does interact.

157 Words

19. Thinking of additions to football stadiums is a lot harder than thinking of how to creatively make a baseball stadium. When you are looking at real life stadiums the majority feel almost cookie cutter, not as bad as basketball, but still bad. Not many stadiums have key features, or if they do it’s something small like the pool at Jaguar’s stadium. Which if I was building a stadium, I’m definitely putting a pool at one of the end zones. Thinking of other key features, you have another Florida team with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their pirate ship that fires it’s cannons when they score a touchdown. Now to a newer stadium I would want a roof and scoreboard similar to the Los Angeles Rams, having the circle scoreboard in the middle of the field is a really unique feature. Now to look at college stadiums I would want to bring over the run down the hill that takes part at Clemson university. Running down the hill and high fiving the yeti on the way down the hill.

179 Words

[overdoo]

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