Task 5 -
It’s Ultimus Week! It’s always a fascinating time to go out there and get a boatload of TPE. I will say that had I not been exposed to this type of PT in the SHL world, I would’ve quickly shunned it and not participated, but the benefit is undeniable.
So far, my experience with the ISFL has been eye opening. The draft process is entirely unfamiliar – with my 10 years of experience in the SHL, it’s always been a true live draft. As a GM, I love the excitement of courting prospects and engaging with them to see what their level of interest would be in our franchise. There’s a degree of payoff as well, nearly immediately after you draft your prospect, you can engage with them in conversation, invite them to your Discord and community and get going right away. The fact that the ISFL draft is all pre recorded and these scouting departments and General Managers sit on their hands and manage to stay hush hush is pretty impressive. It’d take a lot of discipline and integrity not to ping the guy you were clamoring for in the draft once he miraculously fell to you. I’d want to shout from the rooftops and pop champagne bottles, and that’s possible in the SHL.
With that said, despite me thinking it’s a defined negative characteristic of the league, the ISFL certainly does well with the delivery of the draft. Having a live show with a crisp draft board and graphics for every pick makes it very intriguing. It moves at a faster pace than a live draft, and the hosts on the stream provide lively and often times educated analysis on a pick by pick basis. Unless your name is Arik Eller, and when you are picked, the commissioner disconnects from the stream and the whole draft goes sideways for about 2 minutes. Upon return, they just move on to the next pick like nothing happened. My wife was actually watching alongside me and laughing. “You fuckin’ broke the draft!” she joked at me.
I was picked up by Chicago. Bayley and Muford do a good job keeping it lively despite the fact that the Butchers are widely regarded as a basement team, the culture in the room seems like anything but that. It reminds me a lot of the way things are in the SHL, but the contract rules are certainly peculiar to say the least here. In the SHL, no matter what, you get three years of rights control on a prospect you draft whether you sign them or not. If the prospect signs a one year deal they remain a Restricted Free Agent, and other teams cannot bid on them unless they went untendered in contract negotiations, turning them into an Unrestricted Free Agent. When Muford informed me that at the conclusion of my one year deal I would be a free agent, able to sign wherever I wanted, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. Surely, a rebuilding team that is looking to get their feet underneath them should receive more support from the league than allowing a rookie to strong arm a franchise into chasing free agency immediately and leaving the team that drafted them at the altar? I would certainly expect there to be a better degree of asset management and player control for those that you spend a pick on.
I suppose I personally can’t complain about this rule however, as I could leverage it against Muford and Bayley and the additional members of the Butchers front office. I may not be a top end player for my class, but if I can continue this pace, I’ll be a more than serviceable defensive end. Now, because of the lack of restricted free agency, I can hit the market and see what kind of money I can reel in. I have no plans on doing media or getting a job here as my hands are full with the SHL, so I need to rely heavily on contractual compensation. Consider this my declaration of free agency I suppose, when in Rome do as the Romans do, right?
One thing I am having a hard time getting my head around is the overall time it takes to accurately re-tool a franchise. When I was drafted to Chicago, a few of my SHL buddies had a bit of a snicker about landing there. “They’ve always been in the basement” I believe one of them said. Was it inept management that led to the perpetual ineptitude? Or do people just give up and head out to where the grass is greener as soon as their deal expires? I think some improved parity could go a long way for the ISFL. Predictions got me a lot of TPE, and I basically copied the majority of the folks in that PT. It shouldn’t be that easy.
It’s Ultimus Week! It’s always a fascinating time to go out there and get a boatload of TPE. I will say that had I not been exposed to this type of PT in the SHL world, I would’ve quickly shunned it and not participated, but the benefit is undeniable.
So far, my experience with the ISFL has been eye opening. The draft process is entirely unfamiliar – with my 10 years of experience in the SHL, it’s always been a true live draft. As a GM, I love the excitement of courting prospects and engaging with them to see what their level of interest would be in our franchise. There’s a degree of payoff as well, nearly immediately after you draft your prospect, you can engage with them in conversation, invite them to your Discord and community and get going right away. The fact that the ISFL draft is all pre recorded and these scouting departments and General Managers sit on their hands and manage to stay hush hush is pretty impressive. It’d take a lot of discipline and integrity not to ping the guy you were clamoring for in the draft once he miraculously fell to you. I’d want to shout from the rooftops and pop champagne bottles, and that’s possible in the SHL.
With that said, despite me thinking it’s a defined negative characteristic of the league, the ISFL certainly does well with the delivery of the draft. Having a live show with a crisp draft board and graphics for every pick makes it very intriguing. It moves at a faster pace than a live draft, and the hosts on the stream provide lively and often times educated analysis on a pick by pick basis. Unless your name is Arik Eller, and when you are picked, the commissioner disconnects from the stream and the whole draft goes sideways for about 2 minutes. Upon return, they just move on to the next pick like nothing happened. My wife was actually watching alongside me and laughing. “You fuckin’ broke the draft!” she joked at me.
I was picked up by Chicago. Bayley and Muford do a good job keeping it lively despite the fact that the Butchers are widely regarded as a basement team, the culture in the room seems like anything but that. It reminds me a lot of the way things are in the SHL, but the contract rules are certainly peculiar to say the least here. In the SHL, no matter what, you get three years of rights control on a prospect you draft whether you sign them or not. If the prospect signs a one year deal they remain a Restricted Free Agent, and other teams cannot bid on them unless they went untendered in contract negotiations, turning them into an Unrestricted Free Agent. When Muford informed me that at the conclusion of my one year deal I would be a free agent, able to sign wherever I wanted, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. Surely, a rebuilding team that is looking to get their feet underneath them should receive more support from the league than allowing a rookie to strong arm a franchise into chasing free agency immediately and leaving the team that drafted them at the altar? I would certainly expect there to be a better degree of asset management and player control for those that you spend a pick on.
I suppose I personally can’t complain about this rule however, as I could leverage it against Muford and Bayley and the additional members of the Butchers front office. I may not be a top end player for my class, but if I can continue this pace, I’ll be a more than serviceable defensive end. Now, because of the lack of restricted free agency, I can hit the market and see what kind of money I can reel in. I have no plans on doing media or getting a job here as my hands are full with the SHL, so I need to rely heavily on contractual compensation. Consider this my declaration of free agency I suppose, when in Rome do as the Romans do, right?
One thing I am having a hard time getting my head around is the overall time it takes to accurately re-tool a franchise. When I was drafted to Chicago, a few of my SHL buddies had a bit of a snicker about landing there. “They’ve always been in the basement” I believe one of them said. Was it inept management that led to the perpetual ineptitude? Or do people just give up and head out to where the grass is greener as soon as their deal expires? I think some improved parity could go a long way for the ISFL. Predictions got me a lot of TPE, and I basically copied the majority of the folks in that PT. It shouldn’t be that easy.