2) Holiday Bowl
Written: This year’s Ultimus lands right in holiday season. What changes are made to this year’s Ultimus game to reflect the time of year?
Graphics: Depict any of these on or off- field changes
New Year’s is a time of great celebration and provides a tremendous background for the Ultimus to share in the spirit of the season. Or..if you will..share in the...spirits of the season. Yes, I’m calling for..in holiday appropriateness...the announcers of the Ultimus to be drinking. More than that, I encourage every man and woman of legal age who is in an ethically responsible situation and healthy mindset to drink before, during, and after the presentation of our great championship games.
Not only do the Ultimini and the Ultimus represent the pinnacle of the season of the teams who play, they also represent the end of the season for the league. They represent the end of struggles for the teams that fell by the wayside for so many reasons. They represent the week off for the Updaters. They represent the players GMs and teams will be losing to free agency, retirement, and necessary evil trades. They represent the DSFL GMs getting to start all over again. They represent the joy of a new season dawning and the bold possibilities that lie ahead of us. Like..maybe we won’t lose a Simmer, Commissioner, and three GMs next season. Perhaps everyone’s team will be accurate when the regular season starts. If we’re lucky..no more Nazis will find us.
So yes I encourage that in the spirit of the New Year in the real world and the new season in our world, we as a group come together and drink (not you kids hahahahahha). I would also say that with this plan we ought to bring that playback speed down. There’s only two games to play. We don’t need to rush. Sometimes...you gotta slow down just a little and enjoy the ride. These are our titles, played on a holiday, and if we follow my suggestion, it will help us follow it even better as we drunkenly comment both on mic, and in the chat section.
3) Revenge
Written: Write 200 words about a team you’d like to get revenge on next season and why. Did they knock you out of the playoffs? Blow you out?
Graphic: Create a graphic on why the stats back up that you’ll beat them next time.
There is one team that the Copperheads would love to run into again. A team that hurt us like no other. I’m talking about the Ultimus participant Yellowknife Wraiths. Seriously. This is a supposedly great team just came into Austin and what happened when it was time to be great? They crapped the bed yet again just like always. In the process, this “championship caliber” team dealt the biggest blow possible to Austin’s season. It allowed Ausitn to make the playoffs and forced the team to pick fifth in the draft instead of second. That’s right. By losing, they damaged Austin’s future more than any other team.
Our revenge will be sweet. Next season the two teams will meet again and when we do we will come fully prepared to hand YKW the 3rd loss in the 5 games the two have played. That’s right...the revenge will be immeasurable. A losing record to an expansion team that’s never posted a winning record yet. And with the NSFC thrusting towards group mediocrity, this lsos will harm YKW. Mark my words. You will be forever haunted by the trade leverage you took from us by...well..being yourselves really and losing at a weird moment.
10) Commissioner
Written: ADwyer, long time commissioner, is stepping down in the new year. If you were to replace him, what changes would you make to the league?
Well, it’s happened. The scenario dreaded by dozens of people, including me. I am the Commissioner of the NSFL. As I recently said to the collected HO members and GMs “I don’t trust any of you to be Commissioner and I barely trust myself.” I’ve now handed over the reigns of the Copperheads sadly and taken on twice the pay for seventeen times the work and a weird expectation that I actually do 35 times the work as if you people are giving me real money.
With that said I believe there are some immediate changes to be made. The first is a greater sense of communication regarding decisions and potential decisions the HO makes without seeking outside opinion. HO is a natural echo chamber and it’s extremely easy to fall into that. So every decision made unilaterally will now require an outside voice. Preferably one of dissent. It’s important to be reminded what consequences come from our decisions and what opinions exist other than our own. All votes will automatically be public. It should be noted that this is the direction it’s slowly going already with the voting. The Appeals Committee will have new member and GMs will be removed. I will work towards creating a larger pool of members for this who are randomly chosen for each situation (and thus more easily able to opt out if involved in any way).
I would do my best to be proactive. If an issue seems as though it’s arising, I would be assigning various HO members the task of looking into that topic and bringing the full HO the info. Before it became a big knock down drag out argument. I would of course want to update the member base periodically about these things. Let them know what we’re actually doing behind closed doors. A member base getting regular updates that HO is looking into all sorts of issues, discussing issues, taking steps to resolve issues, etc is a member base that feels more confident. And it's an HO that is going to see the feedback and reaction before decisions that affect the league most of the time. Of course, by pretty much necessity, my weekly vidcast would pretty much become a weekly Commissioner’s update and the questions would likely tend toward that realm as well.
Finally, I’d fight to get Huskies a bonus raise for making Ultimus great, look hard at conference realignment, and also rebirth the idea of a sustained NSFL reddit page (preferably under the sim-football branding). Not only would it create an extra place for content but heeeeey recruiting credibility goes through the roof.
16) Dynasty
Written: Convince us that your team will be the next NSFL or DSFL dynasty.
Graphic: Show us stats that back up your reasoning.
The Copperheads have been slowly and steadily building since the team’s inception and we are now close to reaching the pinnacle. You can start by looking at the originally maligned decision making in the inaugural drafts and see how it is now fairly well regarded as people begin to see the long term plans take shape. You can hear about the locker room that has gained a reputation as one of the best places to be in the league. For good reason too. You can also argue that the team already already has gone through a number of notable adverse situations. Founding big name players retired. Huge losses to free agency for various reasons. Terrible sim luck. Repeated significant update errors. Yet...here sits the Copperheads.
Not only is the team primed to be very very good on both sides of the ball and special teams for seasons to come, but also you can already see the team preparing for the next generation of players to develop alongside the budding stars. You can see the numerous players how don’t just extend their contracts, but they actually demand no trade clauses. This is a team with a roster that WANTS to be there, primed to not just compete, but to keep competing as time goes on.
Written: This year’s Ultimus lands right in holiday season. What changes are made to this year’s Ultimus game to reflect the time of year?
Graphics: Depict any of these on or off- field changes
New Year’s is a time of great celebration and provides a tremendous background for the Ultimus to share in the spirit of the season. Or..if you will..share in the...spirits of the season. Yes, I’m calling for..in holiday appropriateness...the announcers of the Ultimus to be drinking. More than that, I encourage every man and woman of legal age who is in an ethically responsible situation and healthy mindset to drink before, during, and after the presentation of our great championship games.
Not only do the Ultimini and the Ultimus represent the pinnacle of the season of the teams who play, they also represent the end of the season for the league. They represent the end of struggles for the teams that fell by the wayside for so many reasons. They represent the week off for the Updaters. They represent the players GMs and teams will be losing to free agency, retirement, and necessary evil trades. They represent the DSFL GMs getting to start all over again. They represent the joy of a new season dawning and the bold possibilities that lie ahead of us. Like..maybe we won’t lose a Simmer, Commissioner, and three GMs next season. Perhaps everyone’s team will be accurate when the regular season starts. If we’re lucky..no more Nazis will find us.
So yes I encourage that in the spirit of the New Year in the real world and the new season in our world, we as a group come together and drink (not you kids hahahahahha). I would also say that with this plan we ought to bring that playback speed down. There’s only two games to play. We don’t need to rush. Sometimes...you gotta slow down just a little and enjoy the ride. These are our titles, played on a holiday, and if we follow my suggestion, it will help us follow it even better as we drunkenly comment both on mic, and in the chat section.
3) Revenge
Written: Write 200 words about a team you’d like to get revenge on next season and why. Did they knock you out of the playoffs? Blow you out?
Graphic: Create a graphic on why the stats back up that you’ll beat them next time.
There is one team that the Copperheads would love to run into again. A team that hurt us like no other. I’m talking about the Ultimus participant Yellowknife Wraiths. Seriously. This is a supposedly great team just came into Austin and what happened when it was time to be great? They crapped the bed yet again just like always. In the process, this “championship caliber” team dealt the biggest blow possible to Austin’s season. It allowed Ausitn to make the playoffs and forced the team to pick fifth in the draft instead of second. That’s right. By losing, they damaged Austin’s future more than any other team.
Our revenge will be sweet. Next season the two teams will meet again and when we do we will come fully prepared to hand YKW the 3rd loss in the 5 games the two have played. That’s right...the revenge will be immeasurable. A losing record to an expansion team that’s never posted a winning record yet. And with the NSFC thrusting towards group mediocrity, this lsos will harm YKW. Mark my words. You will be forever haunted by the trade leverage you took from us by...well..being yourselves really and losing at a weird moment.
10) Commissioner
Written: ADwyer, long time commissioner, is stepping down in the new year. If you were to replace him, what changes would you make to the league?
Well, it’s happened. The scenario dreaded by dozens of people, including me. I am the Commissioner of the NSFL. As I recently said to the collected HO members and GMs “I don’t trust any of you to be Commissioner and I barely trust myself.” I’ve now handed over the reigns of the Copperheads sadly and taken on twice the pay for seventeen times the work and a weird expectation that I actually do 35 times the work as if you people are giving me real money.
With that said I believe there are some immediate changes to be made. The first is a greater sense of communication regarding decisions and potential decisions the HO makes without seeking outside opinion. HO is a natural echo chamber and it’s extremely easy to fall into that. So every decision made unilaterally will now require an outside voice. Preferably one of dissent. It’s important to be reminded what consequences come from our decisions and what opinions exist other than our own. All votes will automatically be public. It should be noted that this is the direction it’s slowly going already with the voting. The Appeals Committee will have new member and GMs will be removed. I will work towards creating a larger pool of members for this who are randomly chosen for each situation (and thus more easily able to opt out if involved in any way).
I would do my best to be proactive. If an issue seems as though it’s arising, I would be assigning various HO members the task of looking into that topic and bringing the full HO the info. Before it became a big knock down drag out argument. I would of course want to update the member base periodically about these things. Let them know what we’re actually doing behind closed doors. A member base getting regular updates that HO is looking into all sorts of issues, discussing issues, taking steps to resolve issues, etc is a member base that feels more confident. And it's an HO that is going to see the feedback and reaction before decisions that affect the league most of the time. Of course, by pretty much necessity, my weekly vidcast would pretty much become a weekly Commissioner’s update and the questions would likely tend toward that realm as well.
Finally, I’d fight to get Huskies a bonus raise for making Ultimus great, look hard at conference realignment, and also rebirth the idea of a sustained NSFL reddit page (preferably under the sim-football branding). Not only would it create an extra place for content but heeeeey recruiting credibility goes through the roof.
16) Dynasty
Written: Convince us that your team will be the next NSFL or DSFL dynasty.
Graphic: Show us stats that back up your reasoning.
The Copperheads have been slowly and steadily building since the team’s inception and we are now close to reaching the pinnacle. You can start by looking at the originally maligned decision making in the inaugural drafts and see how it is now fairly well regarded as people begin to see the long term plans take shape. You can hear about the locker room that has gained a reputation as one of the best places to be in the league. For good reason too. You can also argue that the team already already has gone through a number of notable adverse situations. Founding big name players retired. Huge losses to free agency for various reasons. Terrible sim luck. Repeated significant update errors. Yet...here sits the Copperheads.
Not only is the team primed to be very very good on both sides of the ball and special teams for seasons to come, but also you can already see the team preparing for the next generation of players to develop alongside the budding stars. You can see the numerous players how don’t just extend their contracts, but they actually demand no trade clauses. This is a team with a roster that WANTS to be there, primed to not just compete, but to keep competing as time goes on.