12-01-2023, 05:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-05-2023, 03:27 PM by DL14. Edited 1 time in total.)
Welcome to a moment in history. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Don’t take it too seriously but let this short media rant about one amazing user consume your very existence for as long as it takes you to read every single word. I think Baron1898 described this feeling the best so I will let her take it from here, “Holy crap the word wall” and with that, I introduce the word wall of truth.
Reflection
As I look back on these words I have written below it made me think about something. You can spin any story the way you want to and make it sound believable. The words laid out ahead are built on a storyline of a villain, an egotistical maniac who only thinks about herself. But this could very well also have been a story about how accommodating and helpful and crucial Baron is to the rest of this league. You may see brief pauses like this written in between my….rants where I remove myself from the mind of a madman and attempt to normalize and center myself. These pauses are not necessarily for you but for me so I don’t go absolutely insane and allow myself to have some kind of moral compass. I’m a nice guy I swear! So with that in mind just know that the words ahead are not meant to be taken seriously and without Baron1898 the media world and ISFL would not be the same. You are the goat Queen Baron and you deserve all the praise in the world. With that being said…..If you don’t know my writing style, you are about to learn about it real soon. Time to ruin some relationships.
The Setup
It was just another average day, Friday night now that I think about it. Scrolling through Discord mindlessly when I get a notification in the “media hype” channel called “The S44 Gemini Media Awards” by this point I was well acquainted with what this media article was all about but for those who don’t know, it is simply “recognizing merit in the league” or so the author proclaims. I mentioned I am well acquainted with this type of article and let me explain why.
It was September 17th (don’t ask me the details of what I was doing at the time but just know that an article of a similar title as the one mentioned above was posted but this time for S43). Being new to the league I was curious to see what this was as I love to see a good award show (don’t we all). Now imagine my surprise when I found the categories that laid before me were in regards to written media. I’ve written a few articles in my short time in this league, I thought to myself. And sure enough there my name was. But my name wasn’t just under one category, no, it was under two no, three? No. All four categories? Yes. In my first season in the league, I had been nominated to every single category and was honored to win best new author.
Fast forward to November 17th, 2023 having just finished my chicken sandwich I gazed upon this article and nomination list with much more scrutiny than I had in my first season. Because unlike last season I was EXPECTING my name to be under these categories. And unsurprisingly my name was rightfully placed in the two categories I could possibly be nominated for. You see, I had lightened up on the writing and focused in on some central themes and as I was not a new author anymore, I was ineligible for that category as well. So, I was nominated for best-limited article and best author. Alas, I was not chosen as the winner of either category. With my ego bruised I looked at the winners of those two categories and saw that lemonoppy was the winner of the limited article category which I applaud for his excruciating attention to detail but did question the overall voting method after being the only author with two articles nominated and still not winning. That being said, I could understand how he could have been picked to win the award for he had graded many of my own articles so I trusted he had an impressive quill himself. And then to best author where to my disappointment caleb.grim won but not only did he win, he won the category for the second season in a row. My mood ruined, I went about my weekend like nothing happened having forgotten all about the nominations, the article, and all the paparazzi that went along with it. I continued my normal behavior, until the night of November 20th.
It had not been a good day to say the least. In the fake football world, the Packers had won, and the Vikings had lost in excruciating fashion which is the only way they know how to lose games, and on top of all this, I was trying to survive my last semester in college where I had just received a project back saying I had failed….Not ideal. But you don’t care about that so let’s dive into the ISFL.
To compound problems, Thor Dangerson and Crazy Tomato wanted me to join their foolish little game of Codenames. I have no time for your tomfoolery I tell them. I’m too focused on being miserable watching my Vikings play I tell them. Thor Dangerson calls me a coward anyway. That I can handle. This next part however, would shock me to my core and would ultimately lead me to writing the very article you are reading right now.
After the Vikings loss, I went to Discord to see what I had missed and, after going on a rant in the BBB Locker Room, I went to the ISFL general chat which was something I rarely do. In fact, the only reason I had gone to the general chat was because of a notification I had received earlier regarding playing codenames. And with the Vikings game now over I wanted to see if they had said anything more to me that I may have missed. Well, in the time I had been gone, the conversation had shifted slightly to the topic of the Gemini Awards. Like I said earlier, I had forgotten about those silly little meaningless awards a day after they were posted but here they were talking about them yet again and they had brought up my name. Who is they? You ask. None other than the topic of this article Queen Baron aka Baron1898. At 10:16 pm CST (the superior timezone) Queen Baron said “Lock180 came up second place in two and won neither lmao”. LMAO Queen Baron?! LMAO?! You think this is some kind of joke? You think I don’t put hours and hours of pointless time into these articles just for you to laugh at me for coming in second?! That was what I was thinking at the time but I played it off super well as I always do because I’m so cool and nonchalant. Made a couple jokes and basically said “good game well played” in different forms. But in my head I was seething mad. A fury that was about to explode if I didn’t come here and write this very article. This article about the FRAUD that is Queen Baron aka Baron1898. Originally I wasn’t going to make this article. In fact, it never even crossed my mind. But then after this whole kerfuffle I got to thinking and one thought stuck out above all others, “Why are we letting one person decide the fate of the entire journalism field? We are the most in tune and descriptive in our explanations, and yet we let one person decide the fate of many?!” With that thought in mind, you better sit up straight, buckle up, and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times because this is going to be a bumpy ride. After all, I just wrote a full page and a half of an intro that really didn’t say anything. But that’s how we roll and I am honored to get this show on the road that will tear down the throne of the Gemini and bring truth and justice to the media world once more.
Break numero uno
As I dwelled on all my angry thoughts I immediately rushed to the ISFL website searching for her name as fast as I could so I could dive in deeper but was shocked to find every time I looked her up, nothing showed up! Strange I thought to myself. Fine, I will do it the hard way, so I went to the evil S44 Gemini Awards article and clicked on that tiny little clickable name and was ready to completely discredit Queen Baron. However, I was unable to do so. Upon arriving at her main page I was greeted by an incredibly well-put-together signature highlighting her various multi-part series, her former teams, and one very powerful message. Foiled! I thought to myself. How am I supposed to tear down the Queen Baron Gemini empire with organization and creative skills like this?
Pre-draft problems?
To discredit Baron1898 we must first start at the core of the ISFL….the sport itself. See, Baron1898 may be a menace to society when it comes to media but to understand where this frustration and amusement from knocking others down comes from, we must look at the player themself, and with that, we have three long (and not so long) storied players: Regina Ferarro, Venus Powers, and Morgan Marshall. Queen Baron knows exactly what she is doing with these player creations. She knew I would eventually write an article trying to discredit her which is why she had her hall of fame player be a kicker just to really rub salt in the wound. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we must talk about her first ever player Mr. Morgan Marshall, or should I say, the player she gave up on.
Baron1898 joined the league in time for season 14 of the DSFL draft where Morgan Marshall would make his first imprint on the league. Despite being fresh to the league Baron1898 was excited to be a part of the league and immediately went to media to express her enthusiasm about her new player Morgan Marshall. She staged a press conference for Marshall who was leaving Princeton Law School behind to pursue his dream in the ISFL. This next part is important so listen up: According to Marshall’s coach, Marshall was “a real team player and clearly a fantastic talent on and off the field. He has good decision-making, good shiftiness, versatility in the running and passing game. I’m confident he will find major success at the next level, no doubt about it. Whichever team ends up drafting Morgan won’t regret it.” Whichever team ends up drafting Morgan won’t regret it. I said WHICHEVER TEAM ENDS UP DRAFTING MORGAN WON’T REGRET IT. Remember those words as we look back at the legacy (or lack thereof) of Morgan Marshall. But wait, there’s more! Morgan Marshall couldn’t handle just one press conference to talk all about himself. He had to set up ANOTHER press conference where there are a couple other things that would be humorous to look back on. The first is regarding Marshall’s role with his team where he states “The most important thing to me is helping my team succeed, no matter where I’m lined up”. Help the team succeed no matter what? I’m sure that will definitely be the case and there will be no ill will toward the team or his role on the team because that would be selfish and egocentric and Baron and Marshall are not capable of having those terrible traits right? Right?! One more pre draft question of note that is HILARIOUS when you look back on it is the question of why Marshall is the best running back in the entire class which he responds with “ I think the deciding factor is my commitment to the game and my versatility… As it stands right now, I think I am the running back in the draft with the fewest red flags and the most suited to fit into any particular scheme”. At this time Baron1898 paints Marshall as a versatile running back who trains his heart out to help the team and boasts of having the fewest red flags, everyone has red flags Mr Marshall and those would certainly rear their ugly head sooner rather than later.
Things were not going to plan for Baron early on. She wasn’t getting the credit she thought she deserved and this wasn’t any more apparent than in the article “NFY S14 DSFL Draft Primer: Draftocalpyse” which attempted to rank some of the many (80+ prospects) of a stacked class. And when it came to running back, Marshall wasn’t even mentioned. Absolutely dumbfounded by not even getting a mention, all Baron could manage to say in the comments was “Great article, but can’t wait to surpass your expectations” and this is where I believe Baron’s hate toward all other media writers began and why she has worked so hard to become the leader in written media. My hunch was proven correct not but 12 hours later when Baron would write her OWN article labeled “Forgotten Prospects of the S14 DSFL Draft”. Funny how it works out that Marshall just happens to be on this list. Strange don’t you think? Then two days later. That’s right, TWO DAYS LATER she makes yet another post labeled “Ranking S14 DSFL RB Prospects” And I bet you will never guess who she put number 1 on that list….I know it will come as a shock to everyone but she put her own player, Morgan Marshall as number 1 on the list of top running back prospects. And I thought I had a huge ego! But either way, it would appear Baron had done her job in brainwashing everyone else into thinking Marshall was a top prospect because a few days later an article labeled “S14 DSFL Draft” predicted Morgan Marshall would go to the Marshall’s with the fourth overall pick (the article would go on to be correct).
PAUSE
I take this pause to take a look at what in my eyes is the first glimpse of what Baron1898 is capable of as a media writer. There are 90 pages of posts from Baron and I’m only on the third page so strap in folks but I think this article labeled “Ranking S14 DSFL RB Prospects
Vol. II: Electric Boogaloo” Demonstrates both her writing skills and her research ability and what makes Baron such an engaging and entertaining writer. Besides listing off the various prospects and their TPE, Baron goes above and beyond to give her own recap, their prospect bowl statistics, and even links to other media articles that have scouted and said things about said prospects. She even includes what things the prospects have done to be engaged in the community and any red flags she had seen. It’s a wonderfully put together piece that likely would have won her a Gemini Award….
Pre draft problems? (Continued)
As if one article ranking running backs wasn’t enough, Baron goes ahead and writes another article with even more detail about how great Morgan Marshall is “Oh look at this article saying how good I am”, “Look at all the things I have done in the community”, “Wow for some reason I can’t find any red flags for this player. They must be really good!”. It is clear to me the propaganda she was spreading when she wrote these articles but the rest of the league was oblivious to it at the time. She had them right where she wanted them. And she knew it.
Signs of Betrayal
Selected fourth overall Baron had created a running back that looked to make an immediate impact on the league and that appeared to be the case. Morgan Marshall and the rest of the San Antonio Marshalls put up a season to remember. They became one of three teams EVER to go 13-1 in the regular season behind a strong performance from Morgan Marshall and QB Cooter Bigsby. But questions were already being raised in the San Antonio Marshall locker room because Morgan Marshall, the RUNNING BACK had decided to create what became known as “The Fabulous Five” a group of five individuals in the San Antonio Marshalls locker room consisting of Marshall, Quenton Bode, Mo Berry, Walt Green, and Nero Alexander. All of this is fine and dandy to the uninformed. Many different sets of players create a name for themselves, take for example the Purple People Eaters or the Steel Curtain, something that allows them to stand out amongst the rest of the pack. So you take the fabulous five and think to yourself that’s a good and catchy name for a very solid San Antonio team. But then you dig closer and unveil the truth behind this group of players. Let’s take a look at the positions of each player:
Bode = LB
Berry = LB
Green = S
Alexander = DE
Marshall = RB
….. Strange that you would have an all defensive unit associated with an offensive member, especially at the Running Back position. So I think it is safe to say that Marshall was already trying to maneuver his way out of the running back room and into the defensive unit before the ISFL draft had even occurred (if only they had known the truth back then). But we continue our story for now.
The regular season was incredible for Marshall as mentioned and was a clear pro bowl pick and running back of the year. With all this success you already know that Baron was going to write ALL about it and two games in there it is, her first article in what would eventually become a series but for now is issue 1 of “Where Each DSFL Team Stands Going into Week Three”. It’s a well thought out piece talking about the positives and negatives of each team so I’m sure you can guess when she got to the 2-0 San Antonio Marshals what she would be talking about first “What’s Gone Right: The running back duo of Morgan Marshall and Max Vaz have filled the shoes of the departed Fast Boija admirably, combining for 320 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns off of 59 carries”. She does go on to talk about the stifling defense (rightfully so) but pretty much discards QB Cooter Bigsby’s performance as an afterthought compared to Marshall’s running. Then in issue 2 of the series, Baron completely throws out talking about the other teams in favor of making the series all about her player. Sure she lists other players and recaps of every game but she can’t go two sentences without bringing up Morgan Marshall in some way shape or form. In fact, she goes so far as to say that the “League Is Still Under Marshal Law” even though the defense is a big part of why they had such a good record and should be named after the defense, not some random running back.
Going through Baron1898’s post history and looking through her media pieces was all fine for the most part and up to par with what I expected. What I wasn’t expecting was a scandal that not only Morgan Marshall was involved in, but the entire San Antonio Marshalls team. I originally missed it because Baron1898 just so happened to omit it from Morgan Marshall’s Wiki despite it being a crucial part of the season. There is an article called “ResimGate DSFLControversy or Conspiracy?”. The author claims that the Marshalls who are 9-1 at this point, wanted to be the best team in the league both by record and statistically, and in a game against the 1-9 Coyotes their stats were less than up to par so they hired a member of the Coyotes to “juice up” and have power he wasn’t supposed to have. Despite winning the game, they wanted better stats so they informed the league who forced a resim where the Marshalls would dominate and gained a sharp increase in their stats. Many users in the league took this seriously however one user on the Marshalls took it as an opportunity to show off a little sarcasm saying “I bet every one of those sneaky Marshal players is cackling with laughter over how the league is rigged and how the team planned for this to happen all along. I propose a loss of all San Antonio S15 draft picks, suspending Cooter for four games for being “generally aware” of how resims work and firing every Marshals player over 100 TPE. That’ll show ‘em”. The user speaking these words is none other than Baron1898 who shows her hand in this brief and unassuming comment. First, saying the Marshalls should lose their upcoming draft picks. Baron was already starting to grow a disdain for the San Antonio Marshalls because, despite Morgan Marshall’s performance, he was being overshadowed by the defense and, going into the next sentence of her comment, Cooter Bigsby. Baron saw a chance for their star quarterback to get suspended leaving the team no option but to give Marshall the bulk of the plays on offense. Of course, this never happened but it is clear where Baron’s head is at and her constant attempts to manipulate and deceive.
While this scandal had gone and past, the playoffs loomed ahead and that 13-1 regular season record meant nothing entering the playoffs. Sure the Marshalls had won all four previous games against the Luchadores, sure the Marshalls were first in just about every category, and sure the Luchadores were one of the worst teams in the league in regards to rushing yards given up, but that all goes away when the running back on the other team doesn’t want to be a running back. The Luchadores offense averaged 181 yards given up on the ground which was ranked 5th out of 6 teams in the league. Marshall and the Marshals were expected to have a field day feasting on that fatal flaw in the Luchadores defense. But the ground attack never came for the Marshals. In a do or die first round playoff matchup Morgan Marshall ghosted the team. Barely reaching over 100 yards and no touchdowns anywhere to be seen. The Marshals would lose this game 30-21 and end their season with a whimper.
So let’s recap what we’ve got so far: On the pros side for Morgan Marshall we have one of the best regular seasons ever and easily being selected to be on the pro bowl team and running back of the year, on the negative side we have the fact that Marshall had put together a defensive unit by the name of the fabulous five, and for some reason added himself. On top of this Marshall was showing signs of carelessness, especially in the playoffs where he was an overall nonfactor as they went on to lose the game despite an impressive regular season.
As mentioned earlier, Marshall received running back of the year and a pro bowl nod but Marshall wanted more, and when a user released their “DSFL Award Power Rankings” that included MVP and offensive player of the year Baron must have been excited. But she wouldn’t have been excited for very long as she would have read the article and seen that Marshall was ranked 2nd and 3rd in those respective categories neither of which Marshall would go on to win in the actual award ceremony. But Baron was livid and commented on the article in the form of what I like to call “AKTCHUALLY” where the angry commenter types a 500 page report on why the person writing the article is wrong and is definitely not what I’m doing right now. Anywho moving on to the third and final edition of “Ranking S15 NSFL RB Prospects” we finally see the first look of humility from Baron as she looks back on previous articles written about Marshall and while feeling bummed about what was said (or not said) she still acknowledges how well put together those articles were. That being said, she goes and puts herself as the number one overall running back in the upcoming draft. HAVE SOME HUMILITY!
Interlude
As I sit here now, one day after I first started this adventure I have stumbled upon and fallen into countless rabbit holes. Morgan Marshall and Baron1898 have hidden a lot of secrets within the walls of the ISFL hoping they wouldn’t be uncovered. Too bad Queen Baron messed with someone with a little too much time on their hands and nothing else to do. The only problem now is remembering every single thing that needs to be mentioned. But maybe, just maybe, if I stopped going on random tangents and creating a random interlude for frankly no reason, I might just remember what I’m really supposed to talk about.
Red Flags
Where were we? Ah yes, Morgan Marshall’s ego. Well maybe I’m getting slightly ahead of myself so let’s go back just a tiny bit. Morgan Marshall, I’m sure was on everyone’s radar considering he was the running back of the year and selected to the pro bowl he would likely be the number one running back off the board. Not only that, but considering he was picked fourth overall I’m sure he was thinking he would be selected in the first round in the ISFL as well. But things aren’t so simple. I think, what I stumbled upon earlier in this article, is something the other GMs in the ISFL noticed as well, Marshall only cared about himself. He didn’t care about his team, he didn’t care about the players, didn’t care about the fans, he was doing this for himself. In a team game, that isn’t a good attribute to have. In fact, I don’t just think all of these things about Marshall, I KNOW all these things about Marshall because he freakin frackin said it in his open letter to the league!
In this open letter, there are some glaring red flags that I think even Marshall would agree he now possessed unlike earlier in his career where he proclaimed he had none. Here are a few excerpts from the letter; “I am confident that I am a better prospect than Gump, no disrespect intended. I have trained more, I have better stats, I am more active”, “I want to win. I don’t care if that’s next season or five seasons after that, if you don’t have a viable plan for postseason success sometime in the concrete future, I don’t want to be stuck in mediocrity my entire career”, “I do not want to spend a good portion of my prime years as a backup on a team whose established starter has another five to six years left before I can take their place. I am confident that I am good enough to be a franchise star in the right situation, especially after a season or two more of training. You will not find a better starter in this draft”, “I’m a team player at heart, and I am fully committed to buying into any culture that selects me…I’m willing to take lower contracts for the sake of the team, can accept backup roles if necessary, and can help set the tone of a locker room”, “I’d like to issue a word of warning: I don’t plan on giving up any time soon. My career is just beginning”.
Now look, hindsight is 20 20 but if you knew what I know now you would be ROFLING so hard right now because every single thing Morgan Marshall just wrote in that letter….was a LIE.
Quick Rewind
I need to rewind a bit more. Baron1898 had knowingly created a player with the last name Marshall. It was almost like she was asking for her player to be drafted onto the San Antonio Marshalls. Possibly to usurp the first overall pick in the ISFL draft the previous season in Cooter Bigsby. You see, Baron1898 and Morgan Marshall (one in the same) knew what they had in the San Antonio Marshalls and the players surrounding that team (this will come back around later. Be patient there’s a lot to get to!) so she tactically created a player KNOWING they would have no choice but to draft her with a name like that. And as if by magic her and her player were scooped up by the Marshalls and she could try and become the face of the franchise. I think I can confidently say that did not happen.
The Big Day
Back to the ISFL draft, we have skeptical GMs unsure of what they are likely to actually get from Morgan Marshall. Unaware of growing concerns from GMs, Morgan Marshall had his sights on the number one overall pick. So when that didn’t happen I’m sure he was a little surprised but still content with going in the first round however that never happened. Unexpected but not something to go completely bananas about I’m sure is what was going through Morgan Marshall's mind. But then when things didn’t look like they could get any worse, somehow, SOMEHOW a running back was drafted before Morgan Marshall. Morgan Marshall, the running back of the year was not the first running back off the board. And to add insult to injury it wasn’t just any running back, no that would be too simple, the ISFL gods had decided the running back to be selected before Morgan Marshall was to be Forrest Gump. Some of you may be familiar with the name, no not from the movie, from the ISFL but I won’t get into why YOU may know him quite yet (patience!). Why Morgan Marshall would know Forrest Gump is because of a certain game in the DSFL, that’s right, the playoff game that Marshall decided not to show up to? Yeah, Forrest Gump DID show up to it, on the other team. In that game, Forrest Gump ran for 160 yards, 2 touchdowns with a 96 yard touchdown to put the icing on the cake.
Morgan Marshall’s ego was officially bruised. After being drafted fourth overall in the DSFL draft and being the best running back in the league, Morgan Marshall was not the first running back off the board and was not drafted in the first round. Morgan Marshall claims to have a good relationship with Gump after all these years but Wiki articles are known to lie. And I think it is safe to say Morgan Marshall threw that in there to save face from the truth. Because the truth hurts and I don’t think Morgan Marshall will ever admit his shortcomings.
Things had gone about as bad as possible in the season 15 ISFL draft but there was one more sick twist that Morgan Marshall was unprepared for. 1 season ago Cooter Bigsby had been selected first overall to the Yellowknife Wraiths. He was sent down to the DSFL for the year to improve his arm but was likely to play in the upcoming season for the Wraiths. And when Round 2 Pick 14 was put on the board, it was the Yellowknife Wraiths that were on the clock. Baron1898 had named her player after the San Antonio Marshalls to become the face of the team but was spoiled when Cooter Bigsby had an incredible year himself. In fact, the defense was arguably even more memorable which is why Marshall had created the Fabulous Five to make it seem like he was part of the elite group as well. All this in an attempt to be THE GUY. But Morgan Marshall wasn’t THE GUY on the Marshalls (how ironic) and wouldn’t be THE GUY on his next team either, because he had just been selected in round 2 with the 14th overall pick, to the Yellowknife Wraiths.
After all these attempts to be noticed by everyone….anyone! Morgan Marshall had been noticed by someone, the GM of the Yellowknife Wraiths. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooter Bigsby had advocated for Marshall oblivious to Marshall's hatred toward the QB. Marshall had found a home in the ISFL but was more unhappy than ever. You don’t believe me, do you? You don’t believe that Marshall hated Bigsby. You think they were hand in hand walking into the sunset together? YOU ARE WRONG. You think I’ve gotten this far into my article to provide you with false information?! HAH! I laugh in your face! Don’t worry I have my receipts. In one presser alone, besides all of the obvious signs by themselves, Marshall made the following remarks regarding how many times he had thrown an egg at Cooter; “At least three times. Once was getting off the plane in San Antonio, he was there at the airport to greet me and I thought he was there to mug me and I didn’t recognize him in person so I threw an egg at him. I think I threw an egg at him one time he was on TV after the week we lost to the Pythons. I threw at least two in person after we lost to Tijuana”. Then this about his relationship with Bigsby “Given that all my friends on the team are on defense (suck it, Cooter) I’d say I most look forward to playing Walt Green in the future because he’d be the most likely to never have to tackle me since he’s a safety”. Then on someone else’s podcast Baron decided to ask “Why is Cooter the worst QB ever?”. Keep in mind THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SAME TEAM FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
Despite ALL of this hoopla, Marshall may not have been as surprised as I may have implied. Surprised not to go in the first round? Yes. Surprised to not be the first running back? Yes. But surprised to be picked by the Wraiths? No. Baron had done a mock draft where she placed a 90% chance of her going in the first round (LOL) but she was lured in by a false sense of hope because she wasn’t the only one to think that. Before the draft a shocking 92% of users had Marshall going in the first round. This aside the more important aspect of this prediction was that she accurately predicted Marshall would go to the Wraiths…she was just one round too early.
Side Note
Also, time for a quick side note here: I was trying to find the season 15 ISFL draft on YouTube but MYSTERIOUSLY it wasn’t there. In fact, the entire length of Morgan Marshall’s career is mysteriously missing from the youtube archives. Coincidence? I think not! Morgan Marshall knew what lay ahead and tactically cut the feeds to the ISFL cameras so that it would be hard to have an accurate depiction of Marshall’s tumultuous years in the ISFL. Too bad I’m one of the best internet sleuths there’s ever been.
Side note Over
Side Side Note
Side Side Note: I have so far ignored Marshall/Baron’s PT Tasks but this one was too good to pass up that I have to at least mention it. This PT task asks what the player would do with a big signing bonus and Marshall responds by saying going to Disney World and goes on to list every single one of my favorite rides at all of the parks. Really brought me back to my childhood vacation. The only thing missing was a trip on It’s a Small World. Hate it or love it you haven’t had the Disney experience if you haven’t had It’s a Small World stuck in your head all day from riding it at least once. Okay sorry back to business just had a lot of good memories there that’s all. IM NOT CRYING DAMMIT YOU ARE!
Side side note over.
Surrounded
I mentioned patience regarding a couple of things earlier in regards to Morgan Marshall’s past teammates and other players and now is the time I have set aside to quickly (hopefully) talk about them and why I needed a whole separate paragraph and time frame to talk about this. As we know Morgan Marshall was unhappy with not being the face of the franchise but you may be asking how it is possible for the best running back in the DSFL to not be the face of the franchise. Boy do I have some news for you.
There was a reason that the San Antonio Marshalls (I find it funny every time that Morgan Marshall was on the Marshalls and wasn’t even the best on the team and that Marshall was named after the Team and not vice versa) were 13-1 and that was because they had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4, that’s right FOUR hall of famers on that team. Not only that but remember how we were talking about the fabulous five and how fabulous and defensive and definitely not offensive or running back related they all were? Well, 3 of those 5 were hall of famers. Quenton Bode, Mo Berry, and Nero Alexander all went on to have Hall of Fame careers. The only ones not inducted into the hall of fame were Walt Green who had a 10 season run with the Baltimore Hawks where he dominated being on the franchise record books in just about every category a safety could be on as well as being a top tier punt/kick returner. Then there is the fifth member of the fabulous five. The odd man out so to speak. The man that never played defense, was never inducted into the hall of fame, and the man that had become increasingly unhappy as the season and later seasons went by. Morgan Marshall was NOT inducted into the hall of fame. Knowing he was surrounded by better talent on all sides of the ball, Morgan Marshall hastily put together a group that involved him so that he could seem like he was a key part of the team….He was not.
I have named three of the four hall of famers on the season 14 San Antonio Marshals team but without even saying their name I bet you can guess who that final member is….. That would be correct all you Dora the Explorer enthusiasts! Cooter Bigsby drafted first overall in that season 14 ISFL draft was also a lock to be in the hall of fame. So imagine you are Morgan Marshall, a running back looking to make a big impact on whatever team picks you up. You end up on the Marshalls as you had hoped but are surrounded by almost too much talent and overshadowed by your QB and strong defense. So you make it to the ISFL, the big show where you are once again met with a future hall of fame Quarterback. That same quarterback that had overshadowed you in the DSFL is once again going to do it to you again in the ISFL. I almost feel bad for Morgan Marshall….ALMOST.
Now there is one last thing that really drives the knife in even deeper. The running back that Morgan Marshall lost to in the playoffs, the running back that went one pick before him in the ISFL draft, the running back that Morgan Marshall wanted to be so badly, yeah that running back? Would ALSO become a hall of famer. So putting yourself in Morgan Marshall's shoes once more you can see just how infuriating it must have been to be so good and yet not one person notice it. It would be due to these issues that Morgan’s anger would only continue to grow as he started his first season in the ISFL
Season 15
With a chip on his shoulder, Morgan Marshall came into the ISFL looking to make a big impact and show all the doubters who’s boss….that did not happen. Marshall’s speed, agility, and power all seemed to decrease entering the ISFL. His longest run on the season went for a measly 16 yards. While he did have a decent amount of touchdowns and yards he still felt underutilized in the Wraith's scheme feeling Bigsby was getting an unfair amount of chances to throw the ball when he should have been given the opportunity to make a bigger impact. This season ended in an even 7-7 record and left Marshall seeking answers.
You see, while he was angry that he was on a team with Cooter Bigsby there was also conflict within the running back room.You would expect if a team drafted you in the second round that it was a position of need that they were after. That did not appear to be the case for Yellowknife who drafted Marshall despite having veteran running back Dick Wizardly and recently signing free agent Jerrod Canton to the team. So did Morgan Marshall have a right to be angry about his position on the team? Possibly, but it’s a team sport and sometimes two is better than one and sometimes sometimes, three is better than one, and that’s what Yellowknife appeared to think. Through all this turmoil and anger, Morgan Marshall still ended up with the most attempts, yards, and touchdowns of any of the running backs. Talk about a ball hog am I right?! Rookie shows up and thinks he owns the place. This is a demonstration of good not being good enough for Morgan Marshall. He was the lead rusher on the team and yet he wanted more, MOre, MORE! And he would do anything to get his way.
PAUSE
We take a pause after season 15 to look at not Morgan Marshall but Baron1898. I have an admission to make. There’s a lot of history so I don’t think anyone can fault me for this but I didn’t know that Baron had another media award show before the Gemini Awards! Why didn’t anyone tell me! Well, this is the first season it is created and it lays the ground work for the future Gemini Awards. While the Gemini Awards seem to be a more condensed version of the so called “Efteling Awards” they remain grounded in the same foundation. So season 15 is where it all began for Baron. It’s been 30 seasons since then and she’s still kicking. Incredible commitment and dedication. Everyone stand up and give her a round of applause because she certainly deserves it. Okay not too much we still hate her remember? Okay let’s continue.
Season 16
We have now made it to Season 16 and Yellowknife is looking like a formidable foe to anyone who dares to stand in their way. Despite the disgruntled Morgan Marshall, Cooter Bigsby is officially HIM. And while the Wraith's defense isn’t that solid either, Bigsby carries this team to a 10-3 record good for first in the NSFC. Notice how I said “Bigsby carries” that was super intentional and something I totally meant to do because Marshall had taken a turn for the worst and was NOT carrying the ball….at least not as much as he used to. Despite Marshall now only sharing the backfield with Jerrod Canton Marshall would have less carries, less yards, and less touchdowns than he did in his rookie season. Whether this was because of his outspoken attitude in the locker room about his frustrations or whether it was Bigsby’s overwhelming skill that caused the coaches to change the playbook, the Wraiths had one of the worst running attacks of any team which is impressive considering they were first in their division. This means they were winning despite one whole half of their offense. This was only one half of the problem for Marshall. Being on a team that didn’t respect the run (or so he alleges) was one thing but as long as he was considered a top back in the league and got the recognition he thought he deserved he could handle being the second in command on offense. But this was not the only problem. While he was fighting for reps, two rookies had entered the league and both had monstrous seasons well above not only Marshall's second season but his very impressive rookie season as well.
The problem with these two rookies and the state of the league in general was that Marshall felt like he was being over shadowed by people everywhere he looked. First, it was Bigsby and the Fabulous Five then entering the ISFL he had to share a workload with two other backs, then Bigsby had a breakout year, and to cap it all off Marshall entered the league a year ahead of two running backs that would go on to have hall of fame careers. One of those names, Gump, we mentioned earlier. Shockingly selected before him in the draft Gump would build a legacy with the New Orleans Second Line and make the hall of fame. Forrest Gump aside, this next back would haunt Marshall’s dreams for the rest of his life. Marshall respected Gump, they had played against each other in the DSFL and were drafted close together in the ISFL draft.
However, this new up-and-coming rookie who led the ISFL in attempts and yards and was third in touchdowns would become public enemy number 1 for Morgan Marshall. Sam Torenson was drafted first overall in the season 16 draft and was EVERYTHING Morgan Marshall wanted to be. Torenson ended up getting drafted first overall, was on a team that ran more than anyone in the league, was fast, strong, powerful, smart, golden boy, face of the franchise, and future hall of famer.
Meanwhile, who was Morgan Marshall? Just another player in the ISFL. A name in the long list of players forever lost in the pages of the ISFL. Would anyone remember his name? I am here to bring his name to the surface once again but only to show what greed and lack of teamwork gets you in this league. The Wraiths had made the playoffs after all! Marshall should have been thrilled to be in a position where he could win an Ultimus but he had already made his mind up before the end of the regular season. Grumpy Morgan Marshall did not show up to the opening round of the playoffs. Well, that isn’t totally true. He did show up in his physical form but his mental was far from the field. A miserable 54 yards in a devastating 35-34 loss was all Marshall could muster in what could have been a playoff run for the ages. Instead, Marshall was outrun by 20 yards on the same number of attempts by Farley Hank who, while not getting inducted into the hall of fame, was on the ballot in season 27. Everywhere he went, hall of farmers overshadowed Marshall and he was getting fed up.
Despite growing frustration boiling within Marshall, he decided to accept a 3 year contract extension with the Wraiths which would be a costly mistake for the Wraiths moving forward. But at this time the boil is still at a simmer and not in danger of boiling over so they sign Marshall for seasons 18-20. Marshall needs the money and growing awareness and concern over Marshall’s lack of enthusiasm was making its rounds throughout the league so Marshall didn’t really have an option anywhere else.
Season 17
With that in mind, Season 17 was the tipping point for Morgan Marshall. In one of the most competitive seasons ever to be played in the ISFL, Yellowknife would win the NSFC on technicalities over two other teams with the same record (8-5). But it was a similar story as season 16. The Yellowknife coaching staff, whether it was because of the amount of talent they saw in Bigsby or the lack of talent they saw in Marshall, Marshall was once again (according to him) underutilized. That being said he did have arguably his best season to date with nearly 200 carries, 800+ yards, and 9 touchdowns but of course that wasn’t enough for Marshall. In fact, that wasn’t enough for really anyone. Yellowknife’s rushing offense ranked dead last in yards averaging 94.5 a game. Marshall was clearly not the answer and despite the coaches attempting to make him work it just was not a fit. But it wasn’t just Marshall that was having problems. Even Bigsby wasn’t having as much success and was throwing more interceptions than ever. That being said, the Wraiths still ended up having the second best passing game in the entire league. But it wasn’t the offense that was the highlight of this team, instead, it was their defense. They would become the best overall defense in the league and further cemented Marshall’s place on the team. Now he was officially at the bottom of the totem pole. Lower than the passing game and now lower than the defense, Marshall was thrown onto the field just to say they had a running back. Nothing more nothing less.
The PT Task (PT3) - Marshall goes crazy
In a season where Marshall was already disgruntled this PT task would seal his unfortunate but unsurprising fate. I rarely talk about these PT tasks so you KNOW that this one is important. Now in normal circumstances, you could chalk his response up to just doing the task to do the task but if you look at the bigger picture and where Marshall stood with the team and his role with the team it is a glaring look into Marshall’s inner monologue at the time of writing the task. I think this assumption is further grounded because he responded to the prompt a mere 3 hours after it was originally posted. This would mean Marshall was likely sitting on these thoughts for a while and finally had a reason to flesh out his true thoughts. So what is PT Task #3 in season 17? “You are a diva and you want out. You also happen to be a crazy person. What crazy things do you do?”. I mean COME ON it’s like they wrote the prompt with Marshall in mind. And Marshall did not let them down responding “Ok. I want out of Yellowknife… I will then post a bunch of two sentence media articles stating that I have been traded to the Austin Copperheads (definitely my destination) without trade talks having ever been initiated beforehand. My GMs will probably try to sit me down and talk to me, and I’ll agree to apologize. I will do so over twitter with a fake NSFL Leaks Volume II account, on which I will call Daybe and Big Red angry lumberjacks. They will try to suspend me, to which I will yell “who is gonna rush for this” while bunting a football into the face of Cooter Bigsby. I’ll call him Booger Bigsby on social media. If they force me to suit up for a game, I will actively give balls to the other team and sabotage the Wraiths offense”. I mean this is pretty damning evidence as to Marshall’s true intentions with his team and it is fleshed out by Baron’s top tier writing skills. This wasn’t some one off comment to get much needed TPE, this was a DIRECT message to the GM’s in Yellowknife telling them if Marshall didn’t start getting recognition, the team would pay the price. And once more we can see Marshall’s hate for Bigsby, further cementing my early theories of Marshall’s disdain for him.
Spiraling
It was the same story different season for Marshall. His team had made the playoffs once more but that didn’t seem to matter. His mind was elsewhere. And this time his mind was on something instead of last season where it was wandering aimlessly as his team lost in heartbreaking fashion. This time, his mind was on his new role with the San Antonio Marshals. That’s right welcome the Marshals back into the picture. Now why would his mind have wandered to the Marshals (besides it being him namesake of course). Well, possibly seeing the end of his career was near, Marshall began looking for other escapades to pursue to gain fame and he saw this opportunity in an internship role with new management in the San Antonio front office. The front office, unaware of Marshall’s terrible work ethic opened their doors to Marshall seeing him as a perfect member of their new front office. Of course, this would only last for a short time before Marshall found that he was once more overshadowed by the two GMs ahead of him and resigned from his internship role at the end of the next season.
But while still excited about the opportunity for fame on the Marshals, Marshall for the most part ignored his teams playoff run because unlike last season it was indeed a run and not a one night stand. The opening round saw the 8-5 Wraiths face off against the 5-8 Yeti and it was not a competition. The Wraiths would obliterate the Yeti 50-20. With his team scoring 50 points surely Marshall would find a way to reach over 100 yards and at least have one touchdown right? Of course not! Marshall only had 69 yards and not a single touchdown to his name. This to me is a clear demonstration of Marshalls attitude toward his team and the game at hand. He was running mindlessly, no rhyme or reason to his game he was just running to run. His mind in the clouds thinking of the potential fame he could have as a successful GM, he failed to see that he had a perfect opportunity to make a name for himself in this very season. In this very game. In this very playoffs. Instead, he had already forgotten his team. And soon would forget the team he would GM.
Bigsby was growing tired. It was the NSFC championship game and the Wraiths had been relying heavily on Bigsgby all season. So, despite throwing the ball another 44 times in this game they would need to rely on Marshall to at least give them some yards. They trusted Marshall with 22 carries and while he didn’t give up the ball he only ran for a measly 71 yards good for 3.2 yards per carry. Marshall constantly got stood up at the line of scrimmage forcing the Wraiths to throw the ball more than they would have liked. Marshall did end up with two touchdowns which is good and my assumption is as follows: He realized, as the game progressed, they were giving him the ball more and he saw his opportunity to make an impact on the game but the only problem is, as soon as Marshall started trying all the way in the NSFC championship game, the Wraiths were doomed for failure. Marshall was not that guy. He was not HIM. He could not carry a team to victory. Only Bigsby could do that. Only Forrest Gump could do that. Only Sam Torenson could do that. Marshall tried to do that in this NSFC championship game and he failed. The Wraiths lost 27-24 with Marshalls final run being a 0 yard gain.
Anger and frustration fueled Marshall in season 18 which, spoiler alert, would be Marshall’s final season.
PAUSE
Marshall or more so Baron had come forward to inform the league and her player’s team she would be retiring Marshall at the end of season 18. It is a very heartfelt letter that I can’t do proper justice so I will link the article here. But it revolves around her player underperforming which sucks when you put so much time and effort into building a character/player only for them not to be what you expected. So I do now feel a little bad about ripping Marshall as much as I have. However, Baron herself acknowledges Marshall’s poor performance so I don’t feel TERRIBLE. That being said it was a huge shock to the league and I’m sure was not an easy decision so I applaud Baron for doing what is in her best interest. I will also link Morgan Marshall’s last presser here which is where Baron reflects on lack of postseason success and lack of proper usage and makes me feel EVEN MORE BAD than I already feel about writing this article because everything I have said was said in tongue and cheek and not meant to be taken seriously but it seems some of my thoughts and conjectures proved to be right (completely on accident) regarding Marshall’s direction. Needless to say I think Baron is just fine with how things turned out as we look forward to her future in the league but in season 18 I’m sure there was a lot of disappointment.
Season 18
GMing was not what it was made out to be and his lack of power and influence over the real GMs vs his measly internship role was getting to him as he played through season 18. It finally appeared as though Morgan Marshall had snapped. He rushed for nearly 900 yards and 14 touchdowns in a pro bowl caliber performance but it wasn’t to help the team. It was to send a message. Marshall had already informed the Wraiths of his intent to retire so he did everything he could to show why they should have used him more. From actively taking the ball from Bigsby when it was clearly a passing play to refusing to allow anyone except himself take press conferences Morgan Marshall did everything he could to become the Wraiths….but it didn’t work.
While Marshall did make the pro bowl, Bigsby was still the number one passer in the league and the defense was still number one in just about every category. This combination and the anger fueled Marshall catapulted the Wraiths to an 11-2 record 5 games up on second place in their division.
Marshall’s anger compounded on the fact that Gump but more importantly Torenson remained at the top of the running back ladder with them being the only two to reach above 1000 yards rushing. He would use this anger to help finish off the Butchers in the first round of the playoffs rushing for 90 yards and a touchdown. But after that first round playoff victory, Marshall thought of one final twist of the knife to stick it to a Wraiths franchise he despised oh so much. He realized the Wraiths had the best offense, and the best defense in the league and that they would likely easily win the Ultimus. Knowing he would retire at the end of the season there was no reason to help this franchise he hated so much to win an Ultimus. So he decided in the NSFC championship game against the Hawks who they had lost to last season in similar fashion, that he would throw the game handing the Wraiths a loss in their best opportunity since season 7 to win the Ultimus. He failed. He ran (ran is a strong word) for 22 yards, 1.7 yards per attempt but the stellar Wraiths defense held strong holding the Hawks to only 14 points and scoring a touchdown of their own to give the Wraiths a 29-14 victory and send them to the Ultimus. But Marshall had done his job. The Wraiths offense had become one dimensional because while they were pass heavy they still relied on Marshall to open up the pass game. But not willing to risk what happened in the NSFC championship game, they would only give the ball to Marshall 8 times in the Ultimus. While their defense held strong, only giving up 16 points, Bigsby grew tired and had one of his worst games ever as the Wraiths lost to the Otters 16-10.
Marshall would retire and after failing to be a GM went back to school to become a lawyer attending graduate school at Columbia. Whether that is Columbia the school or Columbia the country I can’t be sure but knowing Marshall’s willingness to stretch the truth I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it is a degree from the country. All that being said, Marshall’s impact on the team was apparent. Bigsby would bring the Wraiths to 4 Ultimus’ in 5 seasons after the retirement of Marshall, a remarkable feat that will be nearly impossible to replicate. But that is exactly why Marshall left. Bigsby had the fame and the glory and Marshall could not handle it. Bigsby despite going to 4 Ultimus’ only ended up winning one of those 4 that one being his last season in the ISFL. So I think it is time to bring Bigsby’s opinion into all of this. Not much is known about Bisby and his interactions with Marshall but he said this regarding season 20 which is two seasons removed from when Marshall made his ungraceful exit from the team “This season saw the team shift to a much more balanced offense with a strong rushing attack”. I think this is all that needs to be said regarding Bigsby’s thoughts on Marshall. He never saw Marshall as an elite running back. Serviceable? Yes. But a good tandem that Bigsby and the coaches could use interchangeably? No. And that is likely why, after Marshall left, Bigsby and the Wraiths had as much success as they did. Because for as much as Marshall tried to tear them down Bigsby and the Wraiths refused to let him get in their way of their ultimate goal. So in one last twist of fate, Marshall had failed once more at being the anti hero.
There was nothing left for Marshall and there is nothing left to talk about regarding him. So how does this relate to Queen Baron and myself and the Gemini Awards themselves? Marshall was created by Baron and while it may not be who she actually is, a sliver, no matter how small, of Baron is in Marshall and that sliver whatever it may be, whether it is the anger Marshall felt, the need for attention, or the lack of teamwork, something connects Baron to Marshall, and taking a step back, I think all of these traits apply. Holy run on sentence sorry about that. There’s like a million commas in that last sentence that’s my bad.
But back to the three traits I have offered up as traits that may apply to both Baron and Marshall first is anger. Why would Baron be angry with me? Well, if I was forced to read my articles I would be angry too but that isn’t why I think Baron is angry with me. I think Baron is angry with me because my current player (the phenomenal Zenzeroni Xystarch II) is currently on the Yellowknife Wraiths. And she still feels the pain the Wraiths caused her first ever player so what better way to get revenge for Marshall than to not give awards to a user who’s player is finding great success on that very team? Second, is the need for attention. How does Marshall’s need for attention connect with Barons need for attention. As we saw with Marshall, he wanted to be the face of everything, center of attention and that is exactly how Baron feels with the Gemini awards. She has to be seen and people have to give her attention so that she can feel validated while crushing other authors hopes and dreams. And that brings us to the final point, lack of teamwork. Marshall refused to work with or support his teammates and Baron does the same with the Gemini awards. She has created these awards and declared herself the one judge and executioner of all media. Is that fair? Isn’t art subjective? Shouldn’t we get multiple voices to get various viewpoints? Not according to Baron. She thinks she knows everything and that couldn’t be any clearer.
The Next Chapter
So where do we go from here? Surely things can’t possibly get worse from here right? Surely there won’t be some bigger vendetta against me that will make it even clearer as to why she hates my media so much right? I mean we have a laundry list of items already. What more could Baron be holding a grudge on? She has a reputation as one of the best users in the league surely there is nothing else to talk about. Well, I think it is time we meet our next topic: Venus Powers.
To be continued……
Who doesn’t love a good cliff hanger?! And you’ve already read 10k+ words so you deserve a break (more importantly I deserve a break). In the next part we talk about the Hall of Fame career of Venus Powers and how it increased Baron’s lust for recognition, power, and built her idea of a dictatorship and resentment toward myself as a future Hall of Fame kicker.
Reflection
As I look back on these words I have written below it made me think about something. You can spin any story the way you want to and make it sound believable. The words laid out ahead are built on a storyline of a villain, an egotistical maniac who only thinks about herself. But this could very well also have been a story about how accommodating and helpful and crucial Baron is to the rest of this league. You may see brief pauses like this written in between my….rants where I remove myself from the mind of a madman and attempt to normalize and center myself. These pauses are not necessarily for you but for me so I don’t go absolutely insane and allow myself to have some kind of moral compass. I’m a nice guy I swear! So with that in mind just know that the words ahead are not meant to be taken seriously and without Baron1898 the media world and ISFL would not be the same. You are the goat Queen Baron and you deserve all the praise in the world. With that being said…..If you don’t know my writing style, you are about to learn about it real soon. Time to ruin some relationships.
The Setup
It was just another average day, Friday night now that I think about it. Scrolling through Discord mindlessly when I get a notification in the “media hype” channel called “The S44 Gemini Media Awards” by this point I was well acquainted with what this media article was all about but for those who don’t know, it is simply “recognizing merit in the league” or so the author proclaims. I mentioned I am well acquainted with this type of article and let me explain why.
It was September 17th (don’t ask me the details of what I was doing at the time but just know that an article of a similar title as the one mentioned above was posted but this time for S43). Being new to the league I was curious to see what this was as I love to see a good award show (don’t we all). Now imagine my surprise when I found the categories that laid before me were in regards to written media. I’ve written a few articles in my short time in this league, I thought to myself. And sure enough there my name was. But my name wasn’t just under one category, no, it was under two no, three? No. All four categories? Yes. In my first season in the league, I had been nominated to every single category and was honored to win best new author.
Fast forward to November 17th, 2023 having just finished my chicken sandwich I gazed upon this article and nomination list with much more scrutiny than I had in my first season. Because unlike last season I was EXPECTING my name to be under these categories. And unsurprisingly my name was rightfully placed in the two categories I could possibly be nominated for. You see, I had lightened up on the writing and focused in on some central themes and as I was not a new author anymore, I was ineligible for that category as well. So, I was nominated for best-limited article and best author. Alas, I was not chosen as the winner of either category. With my ego bruised I looked at the winners of those two categories and saw that lemonoppy was the winner of the limited article category which I applaud for his excruciating attention to detail but did question the overall voting method after being the only author with two articles nominated and still not winning. That being said, I could understand how he could have been picked to win the award for he had graded many of my own articles so I trusted he had an impressive quill himself. And then to best author where to my disappointment caleb.grim won but not only did he win, he won the category for the second season in a row. My mood ruined, I went about my weekend like nothing happened having forgotten all about the nominations, the article, and all the paparazzi that went along with it. I continued my normal behavior, until the night of November 20th.
It had not been a good day to say the least. In the fake football world, the Packers had won, and the Vikings had lost in excruciating fashion which is the only way they know how to lose games, and on top of all this, I was trying to survive my last semester in college where I had just received a project back saying I had failed….Not ideal. But you don’t care about that so let’s dive into the ISFL.
To compound problems, Thor Dangerson and Crazy Tomato wanted me to join their foolish little game of Codenames. I have no time for your tomfoolery I tell them. I’m too focused on being miserable watching my Vikings play I tell them. Thor Dangerson calls me a coward anyway. That I can handle. This next part however, would shock me to my core and would ultimately lead me to writing the very article you are reading right now.
After the Vikings loss, I went to Discord to see what I had missed and, after going on a rant in the BBB Locker Room, I went to the ISFL general chat which was something I rarely do. In fact, the only reason I had gone to the general chat was because of a notification I had received earlier regarding playing codenames. And with the Vikings game now over I wanted to see if they had said anything more to me that I may have missed. Well, in the time I had been gone, the conversation had shifted slightly to the topic of the Gemini Awards. Like I said earlier, I had forgotten about those silly little meaningless awards a day after they were posted but here they were talking about them yet again and they had brought up my name. Who is they? You ask. None other than the topic of this article Queen Baron aka Baron1898. At 10:16 pm CST (the superior timezone) Queen Baron said “Lock180 came up second place in two and won neither lmao”. LMAO Queen Baron?! LMAO?! You think this is some kind of joke? You think I don’t put hours and hours of pointless time into these articles just for you to laugh at me for coming in second?! That was what I was thinking at the time but I played it off super well as I always do because I’m so cool and nonchalant. Made a couple jokes and basically said “good game well played” in different forms. But in my head I was seething mad. A fury that was about to explode if I didn’t come here and write this very article. This article about the FRAUD that is Queen Baron aka Baron1898. Originally I wasn’t going to make this article. In fact, it never even crossed my mind. But then after this whole kerfuffle I got to thinking and one thought stuck out above all others, “Why are we letting one person decide the fate of the entire journalism field? We are the most in tune and descriptive in our explanations, and yet we let one person decide the fate of many?!” With that thought in mind, you better sit up straight, buckle up, and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times because this is going to be a bumpy ride. After all, I just wrote a full page and a half of an intro that really didn’t say anything. But that’s how we roll and I am honored to get this show on the road that will tear down the throne of the Gemini and bring truth and justice to the media world once more.
Break numero uno
As I dwelled on all my angry thoughts I immediately rushed to the ISFL website searching for her name as fast as I could so I could dive in deeper but was shocked to find every time I looked her up, nothing showed up! Strange I thought to myself. Fine, I will do it the hard way, so I went to the evil S44 Gemini Awards article and clicked on that tiny little clickable name and was ready to completely discredit Queen Baron. However, I was unable to do so. Upon arriving at her main page I was greeted by an incredibly well-put-together signature highlighting her various multi-part series, her former teams, and one very powerful message. Foiled! I thought to myself. How am I supposed to tear down the Queen Baron Gemini empire with organization and creative skills like this?
Pre-draft problems?
To discredit Baron1898 we must first start at the core of the ISFL….the sport itself. See, Baron1898 may be a menace to society when it comes to media but to understand where this frustration and amusement from knocking others down comes from, we must look at the player themself, and with that, we have three long (and not so long) storied players: Regina Ferarro, Venus Powers, and Morgan Marshall. Queen Baron knows exactly what she is doing with these player creations. She knew I would eventually write an article trying to discredit her which is why she had her hall of fame player be a kicker just to really rub salt in the wound. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we must talk about her first ever player Mr. Morgan Marshall, or should I say, the player she gave up on.
Baron1898 joined the league in time for season 14 of the DSFL draft where Morgan Marshall would make his first imprint on the league. Despite being fresh to the league Baron1898 was excited to be a part of the league and immediately went to media to express her enthusiasm about her new player Morgan Marshall. She staged a press conference for Marshall who was leaving Princeton Law School behind to pursue his dream in the ISFL. This next part is important so listen up: According to Marshall’s coach, Marshall was “a real team player and clearly a fantastic talent on and off the field. He has good decision-making, good shiftiness, versatility in the running and passing game. I’m confident he will find major success at the next level, no doubt about it. Whichever team ends up drafting Morgan won’t regret it.” Whichever team ends up drafting Morgan won’t regret it. I said WHICHEVER TEAM ENDS UP DRAFTING MORGAN WON’T REGRET IT. Remember those words as we look back at the legacy (or lack thereof) of Morgan Marshall. But wait, there’s more! Morgan Marshall couldn’t handle just one press conference to talk all about himself. He had to set up ANOTHER press conference where there are a couple other things that would be humorous to look back on. The first is regarding Marshall’s role with his team where he states “The most important thing to me is helping my team succeed, no matter where I’m lined up”. Help the team succeed no matter what? I’m sure that will definitely be the case and there will be no ill will toward the team or his role on the team because that would be selfish and egocentric and Baron and Marshall are not capable of having those terrible traits right? Right?! One more pre draft question of note that is HILARIOUS when you look back on it is the question of why Marshall is the best running back in the entire class which he responds with “ I think the deciding factor is my commitment to the game and my versatility… As it stands right now, I think I am the running back in the draft with the fewest red flags and the most suited to fit into any particular scheme”. At this time Baron1898 paints Marshall as a versatile running back who trains his heart out to help the team and boasts of having the fewest red flags, everyone has red flags Mr Marshall and those would certainly rear their ugly head sooner rather than later.
Things were not going to plan for Baron early on. She wasn’t getting the credit she thought she deserved and this wasn’t any more apparent than in the article “NFY S14 DSFL Draft Primer: Draftocalpyse” which attempted to rank some of the many (80+ prospects) of a stacked class. And when it came to running back, Marshall wasn’t even mentioned. Absolutely dumbfounded by not even getting a mention, all Baron could manage to say in the comments was “Great article, but can’t wait to surpass your expectations” and this is where I believe Baron’s hate toward all other media writers began and why she has worked so hard to become the leader in written media. My hunch was proven correct not but 12 hours later when Baron would write her OWN article labeled “Forgotten Prospects of the S14 DSFL Draft”. Funny how it works out that Marshall just happens to be on this list. Strange don’t you think? Then two days later. That’s right, TWO DAYS LATER she makes yet another post labeled “Ranking S14 DSFL RB Prospects” And I bet you will never guess who she put number 1 on that list….I know it will come as a shock to everyone but she put her own player, Morgan Marshall as number 1 on the list of top running back prospects. And I thought I had a huge ego! But either way, it would appear Baron had done her job in brainwashing everyone else into thinking Marshall was a top prospect because a few days later an article labeled “S14 DSFL Draft” predicted Morgan Marshall would go to the Marshall’s with the fourth overall pick (the article would go on to be correct).
PAUSE
I take this pause to take a look at what in my eyes is the first glimpse of what Baron1898 is capable of as a media writer. There are 90 pages of posts from Baron and I’m only on the third page so strap in folks but I think this article labeled “Ranking S14 DSFL RB Prospects
Vol. II: Electric Boogaloo” Demonstrates both her writing skills and her research ability and what makes Baron such an engaging and entertaining writer. Besides listing off the various prospects and their TPE, Baron goes above and beyond to give her own recap, their prospect bowl statistics, and even links to other media articles that have scouted and said things about said prospects. She even includes what things the prospects have done to be engaged in the community and any red flags she had seen. It’s a wonderfully put together piece that likely would have won her a Gemini Award….
Pre draft problems? (Continued)
As if one article ranking running backs wasn’t enough, Baron goes ahead and writes another article with even more detail about how great Morgan Marshall is “Oh look at this article saying how good I am”, “Look at all the things I have done in the community”, “Wow for some reason I can’t find any red flags for this player. They must be really good!”. It is clear to me the propaganda she was spreading when she wrote these articles but the rest of the league was oblivious to it at the time. She had them right where she wanted them. And she knew it.
Signs of Betrayal
Selected fourth overall Baron had created a running back that looked to make an immediate impact on the league and that appeared to be the case. Morgan Marshall and the rest of the San Antonio Marshalls put up a season to remember. They became one of three teams EVER to go 13-1 in the regular season behind a strong performance from Morgan Marshall and QB Cooter Bigsby. But questions were already being raised in the San Antonio Marshall locker room because Morgan Marshall, the RUNNING BACK had decided to create what became known as “The Fabulous Five” a group of five individuals in the San Antonio Marshalls locker room consisting of Marshall, Quenton Bode, Mo Berry, Walt Green, and Nero Alexander. All of this is fine and dandy to the uninformed. Many different sets of players create a name for themselves, take for example the Purple People Eaters or the Steel Curtain, something that allows them to stand out amongst the rest of the pack. So you take the fabulous five and think to yourself that’s a good and catchy name for a very solid San Antonio team. But then you dig closer and unveil the truth behind this group of players. Let’s take a look at the positions of each player:
Bode = LB
Berry = LB
Green = S
Alexander = DE
Marshall = RB
….. Strange that you would have an all defensive unit associated with an offensive member, especially at the Running Back position. So I think it is safe to say that Marshall was already trying to maneuver his way out of the running back room and into the defensive unit before the ISFL draft had even occurred (if only they had known the truth back then). But we continue our story for now.
The regular season was incredible for Marshall as mentioned and was a clear pro bowl pick and running back of the year. With all this success you already know that Baron was going to write ALL about it and two games in there it is, her first article in what would eventually become a series but for now is issue 1 of “Where Each DSFL Team Stands Going into Week Three”. It’s a well thought out piece talking about the positives and negatives of each team so I’m sure you can guess when she got to the 2-0 San Antonio Marshals what she would be talking about first “What’s Gone Right: The running back duo of Morgan Marshall and Max Vaz have filled the shoes of the departed Fast Boija admirably, combining for 320 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns off of 59 carries”. She does go on to talk about the stifling defense (rightfully so) but pretty much discards QB Cooter Bigsby’s performance as an afterthought compared to Marshall’s running. Then in issue 2 of the series, Baron completely throws out talking about the other teams in favor of making the series all about her player. Sure she lists other players and recaps of every game but she can’t go two sentences without bringing up Morgan Marshall in some way shape or form. In fact, she goes so far as to say that the “League Is Still Under Marshal Law” even though the defense is a big part of why they had such a good record and should be named after the defense, not some random running back.
Going through Baron1898’s post history and looking through her media pieces was all fine for the most part and up to par with what I expected. What I wasn’t expecting was a scandal that not only Morgan Marshall was involved in, but the entire San Antonio Marshalls team. I originally missed it because Baron1898 just so happened to omit it from Morgan Marshall’s Wiki despite it being a crucial part of the season. There is an article called “ResimGate DSFLControversy or Conspiracy?”. The author claims that the Marshalls who are 9-1 at this point, wanted to be the best team in the league both by record and statistically, and in a game against the 1-9 Coyotes their stats were less than up to par so they hired a member of the Coyotes to “juice up” and have power he wasn’t supposed to have. Despite winning the game, they wanted better stats so they informed the league who forced a resim where the Marshalls would dominate and gained a sharp increase in their stats. Many users in the league took this seriously however one user on the Marshalls took it as an opportunity to show off a little sarcasm saying “I bet every one of those sneaky Marshal players is cackling with laughter over how the league is rigged and how the team planned for this to happen all along. I propose a loss of all San Antonio S15 draft picks, suspending Cooter for four games for being “generally aware” of how resims work and firing every Marshals player over 100 TPE. That’ll show ‘em”. The user speaking these words is none other than Baron1898 who shows her hand in this brief and unassuming comment. First, saying the Marshalls should lose their upcoming draft picks. Baron was already starting to grow a disdain for the San Antonio Marshalls because, despite Morgan Marshall’s performance, he was being overshadowed by the defense and, going into the next sentence of her comment, Cooter Bigsby. Baron saw a chance for their star quarterback to get suspended leaving the team no option but to give Marshall the bulk of the plays on offense. Of course, this never happened but it is clear where Baron’s head is at and her constant attempts to manipulate and deceive.
While this scandal had gone and past, the playoffs loomed ahead and that 13-1 regular season record meant nothing entering the playoffs. Sure the Marshalls had won all four previous games against the Luchadores, sure the Marshalls were first in just about every category, and sure the Luchadores were one of the worst teams in the league in regards to rushing yards given up, but that all goes away when the running back on the other team doesn’t want to be a running back. The Luchadores offense averaged 181 yards given up on the ground which was ranked 5th out of 6 teams in the league. Marshall and the Marshals were expected to have a field day feasting on that fatal flaw in the Luchadores defense. But the ground attack never came for the Marshals. In a do or die first round playoff matchup Morgan Marshall ghosted the team. Barely reaching over 100 yards and no touchdowns anywhere to be seen. The Marshals would lose this game 30-21 and end their season with a whimper.
So let’s recap what we’ve got so far: On the pros side for Morgan Marshall we have one of the best regular seasons ever and easily being selected to be on the pro bowl team and running back of the year, on the negative side we have the fact that Marshall had put together a defensive unit by the name of the fabulous five, and for some reason added himself. On top of this Marshall was showing signs of carelessness, especially in the playoffs where he was an overall nonfactor as they went on to lose the game despite an impressive regular season.
As mentioned earlier, Marshall received running back of the year and a pro bowl nod but Marshall wanted more, and when a user released their “DSFL Award Power Rankings” that included MVP and offensive player of the year Baron must have been excited. But she wouldn’t have been excited for very long as she would have read the article and seen that Marshall was ranked 2nd and 3rd in those respective categories neither of which Marshall would go on to win in the actual award ceremony. But Baron was livid and commented on the article in the form of what I like to call “AKTCHUALLY” where the angry commenter types a 500 page report on why the person writing the article is wrong and is definitely not what I’m doing right now. Anywho moving on to the third and final edition of “Ranking S15 NSFL RB Prospects” we finally see the first look of humility from Baron as she looks back on previous articles written about Marshall and while feeling bummed about what was said (or not said) she still acknowledges how well put together those articles were. That being said, she goes and puts herself as the number one overall running back in the upcoming draft. HAVE SOME HUMILITY!
Interlude
As I sit here now, one day after I first started this adventure I have stumbled upon and fallen into countless rabbit holes. Morgan Marshall and Baron1898 have hidden a lot of secrets within the walls of the ISFL hoping they wouldn’t be uncovered. Too bad Queen Baron messed with someone with a little too much time on their hands and nothing else to do. The only problem now is remembering every single thing that needs to be mentioned. But maybe, just maybe, if I stopped going on random tangents and creating a random interlude for frankly no reason, I might just remember what I’m really supposed to talk about.
Red Flags
Where were we? Ah yes, Morgan Marshall’s ego. Well maybe I’m getting slightly ahead of myself so let’s go back just a tiny bit. Morgan Marshall, I’m sure was on everyone’s radar considering he was the running back of the year and selected to the pro bowl he would likely be the number one running back off the board. Not only that, but considering he was picked fourth overall I’m sure he was thinking he would be selected in the first round in the ISFL as well. But things aren’t so simple. I think, what I stumbled upon earlier in this article, is something the other GMs in the ISFL noticed as well, Marshall only cared about himself. He didn’t care about his team, he didn’t care about the players, didn’t care about the fans, he was doing this for himself. In a team game, that isn’t a good attribute to have. In fact, I don’t just think all of these things about Marshall, I KNOW all these things about Marshall because he freakin frackin said it in his open letter to the league!
In this open letter, there are some glaring red flags that I think even Marshall would agree he now possessed unlike earlier in his career where he proclaimed he had none. Here are a few excerpts from the letter; “I am confident that I am a better prospect than Gump, no disrespect intended. I have trained more, I have better stats, I am more active”, “I want to win. I don’t care if that’s next season or five seasons after that, if you don’t have a viable plan for postseason success sometime in the concrete future, I don’t want to be stuck in mediocrity my entire career”, “I do not want to spend a good portion of my prime years as a backup on a team whose established starter has another five to six years left before I can take their place. I am confident that I am good enough to be a franchise star in the right situation, especially after a season or two more of training. You will not find a better starter in this draft”, “I’m a team player at heart, and I am fully committed to buying into any culture that selects me…I’m willing to take lower contracts for the sake of the team, can accept backup roles if necessary, and can help set the tone of a locker room”, “I’d like to issue a word of warning: I don’t plan on giving up any time soon. My career is just beginning”.
Now look, hindsight is 20 20 but if you knew what I know now you would be ROFLING so hard right now because every single thing Morgan Marshall just wrote in that letter….was a LIE.
Quick Rewind
I need to rewind a bit more. Baron1898 had knowingly created a player with the last name Marshall. It was almost like she was asking for her player to be drafted onto the San Antonio Marshalls. Possibly to usurp the first overall pick in the ISFL draft the previous season in Cooter Bigsby. You see, Baron1898 and Morgan Marshall (one in the same) knew what they had in the San Antonio Marshalls and the players surrounding that team (this will come back around later. Be patient there’s a lot to get to!) so she tactically created a player KNOWING they would have no choice but to draft her with a name like that. And as if by magic her and her player were scooped up by the Marshalls and she could try and become the face of the franchise. I think I can confidently say that did not happen.
The Big Day
Back to the ISFL draft, we have skeptical GMs unsure of what they are likely to actually get from Morgan Marshall. Unaware of growing concerns from GMs, Morgan Marshall had his sights on the number one overall pick. So when that didn’t happen I’m sure he was a little surprised but still content with going in the first round however that never happened. Unexpected but not something to go completely bananas about I’m sure is what was going through Morgan Marshall's mind. But then when things didn’t look like they could get any worse, somehow, SOMEHOW a running back was drafted before Morgan Marshall. Morgan Marshall, the running back of the year was not the first running back off the board. And to add insult to injury it wasn’t just any running back, no that would be too simple, the ISFL gods had decided the running back to be selected before Morgan Marshall was to be Forrest Gump. Some of you may be familiar with the name, no not from the movie, from the ISFL but I won’t get into why YOU may know him quite yet (patience!). Why Morgan Marshall would know Forrest Gump is because of a certain game in the DSFL, that’s right, the playoff game that Marshall decided not to show up to? Yeah, Forrest Gump DID show up to it, on the other team. In that game, Forrest Gump ran for 160 yards, 2 touchdowns with a 96 yard touchdown to put the icing on the cake.
Morgan Marshall’s ego was officially bruised. After being drafted fourth overall in the DSFL draft and being the best running back in the league, Morgan Marshall was not the first running back off the board and was not drafted in the first round. Morgan Marshall claims to have a good relationship with Gump after all these years but Wiki articles are known to lie. And I think it is safe to say Morgan Marshall threw that in there to save face from the truth. Because the truth hurts and I don’t think Morgan Marshall will ever admit his shortcomings.
Things had gone about as bad as possible in the season 15 ISFL draft but there was one more sick twist that Morgan Marshall was unprepared for. 1 season ago Cooter Bigsby had been selected first overall to the Yellowknife Wraiths. He was sent down to the DSFL for the year to improve his arm but was likely to play in the upcoming season for the Wraiths. And when Round 2 Pick 14 was put on the board, it was the Yellowknife Wraiths that were on the clock. Baron1898 had named her player after the San Antonio Marshalls to become the face of the team but was spoiled when Cooter Bigsby had an incredible year himself. In fact, the defense was arguably even more memorable which is why Marshall had created the Fabulous Five to make it seem like he was part of the elite group as well. All this in an attempt to be THE GUY. But Morgan Marshall wasn’t THE GUY on the Marshalls (how ironic) and wouldn’t be THE GUY on his next team either, because he had just been selected in round 2 with the 14th overall pick, to the Yellowknife Wraiths.
After all these attempts to be noticed by everyone….anyone! Morgan Marshall had been noticed by someone, the GM of the Yellowknife Wraiths. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooter Bigsby had advocated for Marshall oblivious to Marshall's hatred toward the QB. Marshall had found a home in the ISFL but was more unhappy than ever. You don’t believe me, do you? You don’t believe that Marshall hated Bigsby. You think they were hand in hand walking into the sunset together? YOU ARE WRONG. You think I’ve gotten this far into my article to provide you with false information?! HAH! I laugh in your face! Don’t worry I have my receipts. In one presser alone, besides all of the obvious signs by themselves, Marshall made the following remarks regarding how many times he had thrown an egg at Cooter; “At least three times. Once was getting off the plane in San Antonio, he was there at the airport to greet me and I thought he was there to mug me and I didn’t recognize him in person so I threw an egg at him. I think I threw an egg at him one time he was on TV after the week we lost to the Pythons. I threw at least two in person after we lost to Tijuana”. Then this about his relationship with Bigsby “Given that all my friends on the team are on defense (suck it, Cooter) I’d say I most look forward to playing Walt Green in the future because he’d be the most likely to never have to tackle me since he’s a safety”. Then on someone else’s podcast Baron decided to ask “Why is Cooter the worst QB ever?”. Keep in mind THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SAME TEAM FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
Despite ALL of this hoopla, Marshall may not have been as surprised as I may have implied. Surprised not to go in the first round? Yes. Surprised to not be the first running back? Yes. But surprised to be picked by the Wraiths? No. Baron had done a mock draft where she placed a 90% chance of her going in the first round (LOL) but she was lured in by a false sense of hope because she wasn’t the only one to think that. Before the draft a shocking 92% of users had Marshall going in the first round. This aside the more important aspect of this prediction was that she accurately predicted Marshall would go to the Wraiths…she was just one round too early.
Side Note
Also, time for a quick side note here: I was trying to find the season 15 ISFL draft on YouTube but MYSTERIOUSLY it wasn’t there. In fact, the entire length of Morgan Marshall’s career is mysteriously missing from the youtube archives. Coincidence? I think not! Morgan Marshall knew what lay ahead and tactically cut the feeds to the ISFL cameras so that it would be hard to have an accurate depiction of Marshall’s tumultuous years in the ISFL. Too bad I’m one of the best internet sleuths there’s ever been.
Side note Over
Side Side Note
Side Side Note: I have so far ignored Marshall/Baron’s PT Tasks but this one was too good to pass up that I have to at least mention it. This PT task asks what the player would do with a big signing bonus and Marshall responds by saying going to Disney World and goes on to list every single one of my favorite rides at all of the parks. Really brought me back to my childhood vacation. The only thing missing was a trip on It’s a Small World. Hate it or love it you haven’t had the Disney experience if you haven’t had It’s a Small World stuck in your head all day from riding it at least once. Okay sorry back to business just had a lot of good memories there that’s all. IM NOT CRYING DAMMIT YOU ARE!
Side side note over.
Surrounded
I mentioned patience regarding a couple of things earlier in regards to Morgan Marshall’s past teammates and other players and now is the time I have set aside to quickly (hopefully) talk about them and why I needed a whole separate paragraph and time frame to talk about this. As we know Morgan Marshall was unhappy with not being the face of the franchise but you may be asking how it is possible for the best running back in the DSFL to not be the face of the franchise. Boy do I have some news for you.
There was a reason that the San Antonio Marshalls (I find it funny every time that Morgan Marshall was on the Marshalls and wasn’t even the best on the team and that Marshall was named after the Team and not vice versa) were 13-1 and that was because they had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4, that’s right FOUR hall of famers on that team. Not only that but remember how we were talking about the fabulous five and how fabulous and defensive and definitely not offensive or running back related they all were? Well, 3 of those 5 were hall of famers. Quenton Bode, Mo Berry, and Nero Alexander all went on to have Hall of Fame careers. The only ones not inducted into the hall of fame were Walt Green who had a 10 season run with the Baltimore Hawks where he dominated being on the franchise record books in just about every category a safety could be on as well as being a top tier punt/kick returner. Then there is the fifth member of the fabulous five. The odd man out so to speak. The man that never played defense, was never inducted into the hall of fame, and the man that had become increasingly unhappy as the season and later seasons went by. Morgan Marshall was NOT inducted into the hall of fame. Knowing he was surrounded by better talent on all sides of the ball, Morgan Marshall hastily put together a group that involved him so that he could seem like he was a key part of the team….He was not.
I have named three of the four hall of famers on the season 14 San Antonio Marshals team but without even saying their name I bet you can guess who that final member is….. That would be correct all you Dora the Explorer enthusiasts! Cooter Bigsby drafted first overall in that season 14 ISFL draft was also a lock to be in the hall of fame. So imagine you are Morgan Marshall, a running back looking to make a big impact on whatever team picks you up. You end up on the Marshalls as you had hoped but are surrounded by almost too much talent and overshadowed by your QB and strong defense. So you make it to the ISFL, the big show where you are once again met with a future hall of fame Quarterback. That same quarterback that had overshadowed you in the DSFL is once again going to do it to you again in the ISFL. I almost feel bad for Morgan Marshall….ALMOST.
Now there is one last thing that really drives the knife in even deeper. The running back that Morgan Marshall lost to in the playoffs, the running back that went one pick before him in the ISFL draft, the running back that Morgan Marshall wanted to be so badly, yeah that running back? Would ALSO become a hall of famer. So putting yourself in Morgan Marshall's shoes once more you can see just how infuriating it must have been to be so good and yet not one person notice it. It would be due to these issues that Morgan’s anger would only continue to grow as he started his first season in the ISFL
Season 15
With a chip on his shoulder, Morgan Marshall came into the ISFL looking to make a big impact and show all the doubters who’s boss….that did not happen. Marshall’s speed, agility, and power all seemed to decrease entering the ISFL. His longest run on the season went for a measly 16 yards. While he did have a decent amount of touchdowns and yards he still felt underutilized in the Wraith's scheme feeling Bigsby was getting an unfair amount of chances to throw the ball when he should have been given the opportunity to make a bigger impact. This season ended in an even 7-7 record and left Marshall seeking answers.
You see, while he was angry that he was on a team with Cooter Bigsby there was also conflict within the running back room.You would expect if a team drafted you in the second round that it was a position of need that they were after. That did not appear to be the case for Yellowknife who drafted Marshall despite having veteran running back Dick Wizardly and recently signing free agent Jerrod Canton to the team. So did Morgan Marshall have a right to be angry about his position on the team? Possibly, but it’s a team sport and sometimes two is better than one and sometimes sometimes, three is better than one, and that’s what Yellowknife appeared to think. Through all this turmoil and anger, Morgan Marshall still ended up with the most attempts, yards, and touchdowns of any of the running backs. Talk about a ball hog am I right?! Rookie shows up and thinks he owns the place. This is a demonstration of good not being good enough for Morgan Marshall. He was the lead rusher on the team and yet he wanted more, MOre, MORE! And he would do anything to get his way.
PAUSE
We take a pause after season 15 to look at not Morgan Marshall but Baron1898. I have an admission to make. There’s a lot of history so I don’t think anyone can fault me for this but I didn’t know that Baron had another media award show before the Gemini Awards! Why didn’t anyone tell me! Well, this is the first season it is created and it lays the ground work for the future Gemini Awards. While the Gemini Awards seem to be a more condensed version of the so called “Efteling Awards” they remain grounded in the same foundation. So season 15 is where it all began for Baron. It’s been 30 seasons since then and she’s still kicking. Incredible commitment and dedication. Everyone stand up and give her a round of applause because she certainly deserves it. Okay not too much we still hate her remember? Okay let’s continue.
Season 16
We have now made it to Season 16 and Yellowknife is looking like a formidable foe to anyone who dares to stand in their way. Despite the disgruntled Morgan Marshall, Cooter Bigsby is officially HIM. And while the Wraith's defense isn’t that solid either, Bigsby carries this team to a 10-3 record good for first in the NSFC. Notice how I said “Bigsby carries” that was super intentional and something I totally meant to do because Marshall had taken a turn for the worst and was NOT carrying the ball….at least not as much as he used to. Despite Marshall now only sharing the backfield with Jerrod Canton Marshall would have less carries, less yards, and less touchdowns than he did in his rookie season. Whether this was because of his outspoken attitude in the locker room about his frustrations or whether it was Bigsby’s overwhelming skill that caused the coaches to change the playbook, the Wraiths had one of the worst running attacks of any team which is impressive considering they were first in their division. This means they were winning despite one whole half of their offense. This was only one half of the problem for Marshall. Being on a team that didn’t respect the run (or so he alleges) was one thing but as long as he was considered a top back in the league and got the recognition he thought he deserved he could handle being the second in command on offense. But this was not the only problem. While he was fighting for reps, two rookies had entered the league and both had monstrous seasons well above not only Marshall's second season but his very impressive rookie season as well.
The problem with these two rookies and the state of the league in general was that Marshall felt like he was being over shadowed by people everywhere he looked. First, it was Bigsby and the Fabulous Five then entering the ISFL he had to share a workload with two other backs, then Bigsby had a breakout year, and to cap it all off Marshall entered the league a year ahead of two running backs that would go on to have hall of fame careers. One of those names, Gump, we mentioned earlier. Shockingly selected before him in the draft Gump would build a legacy with the New Orleans Second Line and make the hall of fame. Forrest Gump aside, this next back would haunt Marshall’s dreams for the rest of his life. Marshall respected Gump, they had played against each other in the DSFL and were drafted close together in the ISFL draft.
However, this new up-and-coming rookie who led the ISFL in attempts and yards and was third in touchdowns would become public enemy number 1 for Morgan Marshall. Sam Torenson was drafted first overall in the season 16 draft and was EVERYTHING Morgan Marshall wanted to be. Torenson ended up getting drafted first overall, was on a team that ran more than anyone in the league, was fast, strong, powerful, smart, golden boy, face of the franchise, and future hall of famer.
Meanwhile, who was Morgan Marshall? Just another player in the ISFL. A name in the long list of players forever lost in the pages of the ISFL. Would anyone remember his name? I am here to bring his name to the surface once again but only to show what greed and lack of teamwork gets you in this league. The Wraiths had made the playoffs after all! Marshall should have been thrilled to be in a position where he could win an Ultimus but he had already made his mind up before the end of the regular season. Grumpy Morgan Marshall did not show up to the opening round of the playoffs. Well, that isn’t totally true. He did show up in his physical form but his mental was far from the field. A miserable 54 yards in a devastating 35-34 loss was all Marshall could muster in what could have been a playoff run for the ages. Instead, Marshall was outrun by 20 yards on the same number of attempts by Farley Hank who, while not getting inducted into the hall of fame, was on the ballot in season 27. Everywhere he went, hall of farmers overshadowed Marshall and he was getting fed up.
Despite growing frustration boiling within Marshall, he decided to accept a 3 year contract extension with the Wraiths which would be a costly mistake for the Wraiths moving forward. But at this time the boil is still at a simmer and not in danger of boiling over so they sign Marshall for seasons 18-20. Marshall needs the money and growing awareness and concern over Marshall’s lack of enthusiasm was making its rounds throughout the league so Marshall didn’t really have an option anywhere else.
Season 17
With that in mind, Season 17 was the tipping point for Morgan Marshall. In one of the most competitive seasons ever to be played in the ISFL, Yellowknife would win the NSFC on technicalities over two other teams with the same record (8-5). But it was a similar story as season 16. The Yellowknife coaching staff, whether it was because of the amount of talent they saw in Bigsby or the lack of talent they saw in Marshall, Marshall was once again (according to him) underutilized. That being said he did have arguably his best season to date with nearly 200 carries, 800+ yards, and 9 touchdowns but of course that wasn’t enough for Marshall. In fact, that wasn’t enough for really anyone. Yellowknife’s rushing offense ranked dead last in yards averaging 94.5 a game. Marshall was clearly not the answer and despite the coaches attempting to make him work it just was not a fit. But it wasn’t just Marshall that was having problems. Even Bigsby wasn’t having as much success and was throwing more interceptions than ever. That being said, the Wraiths still ended up having the second best passing game in the entire league. But it wasn’t the offense that was the highlight of this team, instead, it was their defense. They would become the best overall defense in the league and further cemented Marshall’s place on the team. Now he was officially at the bottom of the totem pole. Lower than the passing game and now lower than the defense, Marshall was thrown onto the field just to say they had a running back. Nothing more nothing less.
The PT Task (PT3) - Marshall goes crazy
In a season where Marshall was already disgruntled this PT task would seal his unfortunate but unsurprising fate. I rarely talk about these PT tasks so you KNOW that this one is important. Now in normal circumstances, you could chalk his response up to just doing the task to do the task but if you look at the bigger picture and where Marshall stood with the team and his role with the team it is a glaring look into Marshall’s inner monologue at the time of writing the task. I think this assumption is further grounded because he responded to the prompt a mere 3 hours after it was originally posted. This would mean Marshall was likely sitting on these thoughts for a while and finally had a reason to flesh out his true thoughts. So what is PT Task #3 in season 17? “You are a diva and you want out. You also happen to be a crazy person. What crazy things do you do?”. I mean COME ON it’s like they wrote the prompt with Marshall in mind. And Marshall did not let them down responding “Ok. I want out of Yellowknife… I will then post a bunch of two sentence media articles stating that I have been traded to the Austin Copperheads (definitely my destination) without trade talks having ever been initiated beforehand. My GMs will probably try to sit me down and talk to me, and I’ll agree to apologize. I will do so over twitter with a fake NSFL Leaks Volume II account, on which I will call Daybe and Big Red angry lumberjacks. They will try to suspend me, to which I will yell “who is gonna rush for this” while bunting a football into the face of Cooter Bigsby. I’ll call him Booger Bigsby on social media. If they force me to suit up for a game, I will actively give balls to the other team and sabotage the Wraiths offense”. I mean this is pretty damning evidence as to Marshall’s true intentions with his team and it is fleshed out by Baron’s top tier writing skills. This wasn’t some one off comment to get much needed TPE, this was a DIRECT message to the GM’s in Yellowknife telling them if Marshall didn’t start getting recognition, the team would pay the price. And once more we can see Marshall’s hate for Bigsby, further cementing my early theories of Marshall’s disdain for him.
Spiraling
It was the same story different season for Marshall. His team had made the playoffs once more but that didn’t seem to matter. His mind was elsewhere. And this time his mind was on something instead of last season where it was wandering aimlessly as his team lost in heartbreaking fashion. This time, his mind was on his new role with the San Antonio Marshals. That’s right welcome the Marshals back into the picture. Now why would his mind have wandered to the Marshals (besides it being him namesake of course). Well, possibly seeing the end of his career was near, Marshall began looking for other escapades to pursue to gain fame and he saw this opportunity in an internship role with new management in the San Antonio front office. The front office, unaware of Marshall’s terrible work ethic opened their doors to Marshall seeing him as a perfect member of their new front office. Of course, this would only last for a short time before Marshall found that he was once more overshadowed by the two GMs ahead of him and resigned from his internship role at the end of the next season.
But while still excited about the opportunity for fame on the Marshals, Marshall for the most part ignored his teams playoff run because unlike last season it was indeed a run and not a one night stand. The opening round saw the 8-5 Wraiths face off against the 5-8 Yeti and it was not a competition. The Wraiths would obliterate the Yeti 50-20. With his team scoring 50 points surely Marshall would find a way to reach over 100 yards and at least have one touchdown right? Of course not! Marshall only had 69 yards and not a single touchdown to his name. This to me is a clear demonstration of Marshalls attitude toward his team and the game at hand. He was running mindlessly, no rhyme or reason to his game he was just running to run. His mind in the clouds thinking of the potential fame he could have as a successful GM, he failed to see that he had a perfect opportunity to make a name for himself in this very season. In this very game. In this very playoffs. Instead, he had already forgotten his team. And soon would forget the team he would GM.
Bigsby was growing tired. It was the NSFC championship game and the Wraiths had been relying heavily on Bigsgby all season. So, despite throwing the ball another 44 times in this game they would need to rely on Marshall to at least give them some yards. They trusted Marshall with 22 carries and while he didn’t give up the ball he only ran for a measly 71 yards good for 3.2 yards per carry. Marshall constantly got stood up at the line of scrimmage forcing the Wraiths to throw the ball more than they would have liked. Marshall did end up with two touchdowns which is good and my assumption is as follows: He realized, as the game progressed, they were giving him the ball more and he saw his opportunity to make an impact on the game but the only problem is, as soon as Marshall started trying all the way in the NSFC championship game, the Wraiths were doomed for failure. Marshall was not that guy. He was not HIM. He could not carry a team to victory. Only Bigsby could do that. Only Forrest Gump could do that. Only Sam Torenson could do that. Marshall tried to do that in this NSFC championship game and he failed. The Wraiths lost 27-24 with Marshalls final run being a 0 yard gain.
Anger and frustration fueled Marshall in season 18 which, spoiler alert, would be Marshall’s final season.
PAUSE
Marshall or more so Baron had come forward to inform the league and her player’s team she would be retiring Marshall at the end of season 18. It is a very heartfelt letter that I can’t do proper justice so I will link the article here. But it revolves around her player underperforming which sucks when you put so much time and effort into building a character/player only for them not to be what you expected. So I do now feel a little bad about ripping Marshall as much as I have. However, Baron herself acknowledges Marshall’s poor performance so I don’t feel TERRIBLE. That being said it was a huge shock to the league and I’m sure was not an easy decision so I applaud Baron for doing what is in her best interest. I will also link Morgan Marshall’s last presser here which is where Baron reflects on lack of postseason success and lack of proper usage and makes me feel EVEN MORE BAD than I already feel about writing this article because everything I have said was said in tongue and cheek and not meant to be taken seriously but it seems some of my thoughts and conjectures proved to be right (completely on accident) regarding Marshall’s direction. Needless to say I think Baron is just fine with how things turned out as we look forward to her future in the league but in season 18 I’m sure there was a lot of disappointment.
Season 18
GMing was not what it was made out to be and his lack of power and influence over the real GMs vs his measly internship role was getting to him as he played through season 18. It finally appeared as though Morgan Marshall had snapped. He rushed for nearly 900 yards and 14 touchdowns in a pro bowl caliber performance but it wasn’t to help the team. It was to send a message. Marshall had already informed the Wraiths of his intent to retire so he did everything he could to show why they should have used him more. From actively taking the ball from Bigsby when it was clearly a passing play to refusing to allow anyone except himself take press conferences Morgan Marshall did everything he could to become the Wraiths….but it didn’t work.
While Marshall did make the pro bowl, Bigsby was still the number one passer in the league and the defense was still number one in just about every category. This combination and the anger fueled Marshall catapulted the Wraiths to an 11-2 record 5 games up on second place in their division.
Marshall’s anger compounded on the fact that Gump but more importantly Torenson remained at the top of the running back ladder with them being the only two to reach above 1000 yards rushing. He would use this anger to help finish off the Butchers in the first round of the playoffs rushing for 90 yards and a touchdown. But after that first round playoff victory, Marshall thought of one final twist of the knife to stick it to a Wraiths franchise he despised oh so much. He realized the Wraiths had the best offense, and the best defense in the league and that they would likely easily win the Ultimus. Knowing he would retire at the end of the season there was no reason to help this franchise he hated so much to win an Ultimus. So he decided in the NSFC championship game against the Hawks who they had lost to last season in similar fashion, that he would throw the game handing the Wraiths a loss in their best opportunity since season 7 to win the Ultimus. He failed. He ran (ran is a strong word) for 22 yards, 1.7 yards per attempt but the stellar Wraiths defense held strong holding the Hawks to only 14 points and scoring a touchdown of their own to give the Wraiths a 29-14 victory and send them to the Ultimus. But Marshall had done his job. The Wraiths offense had become one dimensional because while they were pass heavy they still relied on Marshall to open up the pass game. But not willing to risk what happened in the NSFC championship game, they would only give the ball to Marshall 8 times in the Ultimus. While their defense held strong, only giving up 16 points, Bigsby grew tired and had one of his worst games ever as the Wraiths lost to the Otters 16-10.
Marshall would retire and after failing to be a GM went back to school to become a lawyer attending graduate school at Columbia. Whether that is Columbia the school or Columbia the country I can’t be sure but knowing Marshall’s willingness to stretch the truth I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it is a degree from the country. All that being said, Marshall’s impact on the team was apparent. Bigsby would bring the Wraiths to 4 Ultimus’ in 5 seasons after the retirement of Marshall, a remarkable feat that will be nearly impossible to replicate. But that is exactly why Marshall left. Bigsby had the fame and the glory and Marshall could not handle it. Bigsby despite going to 4 Ultimus’ only ended up winning one of those 4 that one being his last season in the ISFL. So I think it is time to bring Bigsby’s opinion into all of this. Not much is known about Bisby and his interactions with Marshall but he said this regarding season 20 which is two seasons removed from when Marshall made his ungraceful exit from the team “This season saw the team shift to a much more balanced offense with a strong rushing attack”. I think this is all that needs to be said regarding Bigsby’s thoughts on Marshall. He never saw Marshall as an elite running back. Serviceable? Yes. But a good tandem that Bigsby and the coaches could use interchangeably? No. And that is likely why, after Marshall left, Bigsby and the Wraiths had as much success as they did. Because for as much as Marshall tried to tear them down Bigsby and the Wraiths refused to let him get in their way of their ultimate goal. So in one last twist of fate, Marshall had failed once more at being the anti hero.
There was nothing left for Marshall and there is nothing left to talk about regarding him. So how does this relate to Queen Baron and myself and the Gemini Awards themselves? Marshall was created by Baron and while it may not be who she actually is, a sliver, no matter how small, of Baron is in Marshall and that sliver whatever it may be, whether it is the anger Marshall felt, the need for attention, or the lack of teamwork, something connects Baron to Marshall, and taking a step back, I think all of these traits apply. Holy run on sentence sorry about that. There’s like a million commas in that last sentence that’s my bad.
But back to the three traits I have offered up as traits that may apply to both Baron and Marshall first is anger. Why would Baron be angry with me? Well, if I was forced to read my articles I would be angry too but that isn’t why I think Baron is angry with me. I think Baron is angry with me because my current player (the phenomenal Zenzeroni Xystarch II) is currently on the Yellowknife Wraiths. And she still feels the pain the Wraiths caused her first ever player so what better way to get revenge for Marshall than to not give awards to a user who’s player is finding great success on that very team? Second, is the need for attention. How does Marshall’s need for attention connect with Barons need for attention. As we saw with Marshall, he wanted to be the face of everything, center of attention and that is exactly how Baron feels with the Gemini awards. She has to be seen and people have to give her attention so that she can feel validated while crushing other authors hopes and dreams. And that brings us to the final point, lack of teamwork. Marshall refused to work with or support his teammates and Baron does the same with the Gemini awards. She has created these awards and declared herself the one judge and executioner of all media. Is that fair? Isn’t art subjective? Shouldn’t we get multiple voices to get various viewpoints? Not according to Baron. She thinks she knows everything and that couldn’t be any clearer.
The Next Chapter
So where do we go from here? Surely things can’t possibly get worse from here right? Surely there won’t be some bigger vendetta against me that will make it even clearer as to why she hates my media so much right? I mean we have a laundry list of items already. What more could Baron be holding a grudge on? She has a reputation as one of the best users in the league surely there is nothing else to talk about. Well, I think it is time we meet our next topic: Venus Powers.
To be continued……
Who doesn’t love a good cliff hanger?! And you’ve already read 10k+ words so you deserve a break (more importantly I deserve a break). In the next part we talk about the Hall of Fame career of Venus Powers and how it increased Baron’s lust for recognition, power, and built her idea of a dictatorship and resentment toward myself as a future Hall of Fame kicker.
Howdy! I am responsible for quite possibly the greatest kicker to ever grace the ISFL and am the most accomplished media writer the ISFL has ever seen (no need to ask anyone else regarding either of those claims)
Important Media You Must Read If You Want To Be Cool Like Me
The Villainous Jreed12: The Case Against the WEAKly Mirror|Jreed is a multi|Coming soon
The Truth About Baron1898: The Self Proclaimed Queen|The Evil Queen|The Curse of Venus|The Truth
The Year of the Joker: Year of the Joker|Doubling Down|Bye to Losers|Win or Not?|Last Dance
Read the full 56 Chapter Book of Zen Catalog here: The Book of Zen
Miscellaneous Articles: The Clown Car Four|The Nauseating Nine|1 Star Mcdonalds Prospect Analysis
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s43 Baron Nomination for Best Author, and Best New Author. Quite possibly, the greatest compliment I have received from anybody. I am no author I draw because I can not write. Most of you can not read.