In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?
This community has been a fresh start for me for online gaming. League leadership, such as Bex, introduced themselves literally seconds after me joining. The whole “waiver wire” concept is very welcoming as it gets a new player into a “team” setting as soon as possible. Joining with a group of friends made it a unique experience, so I got to meet a lot of people that Amidships new already. For example, Sylphreni (having played with Amidships in Tijuana) was a friendly face in London during my waiver year. Given that I was separated from my group of friends, having Syl welcome me in and help provide a nice locker room feel in London gave me a home away from home. Further, being drafted is a very engaging process. Although the DSFL scouting process is a little less engaging as I had hoped, because of the ever-changing nature of the DSFL due to call-ups and so on, I understand. Going first overall was something that was exciting, although nothing like going first overall in the ISFL would probably feel like. However, the ISFL process has been more varied and more engaging which made the hyper surrounding the ISFL Draft that much more intense.
I am proud of Asher’s development thus far. Being able to go to two Ultimini’s is an exciting start to a career, and the most recent one actually had a decent showing! Previously, I had only gotten one or two tackles, so actually making an impact in the playoffs was nice. Also, my Combine stats were exciting, even though I know they aren’t very impactful.
As has been said numerous times before, automating and streamlining the administrative processes of the league would help keep updates accurate and have them happen quicker. Allowing our bankers and updaters to focus more on accuracy as opposed to manually having to input things (thereby increasing the chance of a transposing error) will help with burnout, etc.
Secondly, the rulebooks should probably get refreshed. Although whether rules should be changed or not is a different discussion, the rules in the existing form are (in parts) written very broadly which is sometimes necessary, but the risk you run in doing that is inadvertently making the rules so broad that they are vague and unclear. I have gone to the rulebooks to check things and have been scratching my head over some of the phrasing of the rules, such as ISFL rookie contract rule clauses, as an example. Making the rules more accessible will increase compliance with the rules as well as will allow younger players to have more familiarly and not rely on their Front Office and other leaders to interpret the rules for them.
Choose your favorite non-playoffs game of this season, whether your own team or another. Explain what was so special and why the winner ultimately came out victorious, including key players and moments.
DSFL Week 6 – Norfolk @ Dallas
Going into Week 6, Norfolk was ripping through opponents and was undefeated going into Dallas. However, Week 6 turned into Norfolk’s fall from perfection. The impressive win by Dallas had a relatively even game statistically, but a massive scoring disparity. Dallas won 24 to 3. The teams had almost equal first downs, same 3rd Down percentage, only had 30 yards between total yards, but Norfolk had 7 penalties for a whopping 48 yards and an additional turnover. After adding in the relatively equal time of possession, the eye-raising part of this game is not that Dallas won, but how decisively they won. Keeping in mind that Dallas was 3-2 at the time, and (while they were by no means written off) the casino could have very well placed Dallas as the underdog or at least have a very close line. After this game, Norfolk went on to lose 4 out of their next 5 games. While they still ended up winning the conference and ultimately the Ultimini, it was the first strike that caused a crack in their armor that very well could have changed the outcome of the season. Prior to Week 6, they were looking unbeatable. Dallas was able to do it soundly, and it helped place Dallas in a position to strike them again in the Conference Championship to go to the big game. That did not happen, but the exciting storyline started here.
The league is prone to change. Reflect on a past change in either the ISFL or DSFL that significantly impacted something - be it a rules change, an expansion or contraction, or even a complete rebranding. What were the effects of this change, and how has it shaken the status quo?
The ban of inactives in the DSFL was a serious shift. Although some could argue it affected power projections and the competitive nature of some teams, regardless it did necessitate war rooms to abandon any long term strategic plans with drafting if they counted on having some inactives fill holes for them moving forward. Eventually, things will equalize, but it definitely shook things up. Although, one could argue this allowed teams operating without a large pool of inactives supplementing their performance to start rising up and get the recognition they deserve. Even the best front office teams drafting the best rookies would never be able to compete with established (potentially high TPE) inactives that are already solidly built from the very beginning of the season. Hopefully this trend will continue and will allow for the DSFL to become a more competitive league overall with parity between conferences and year-to-year performance. Because teams have such varied starts to seasons based on send-downs and call-ups, the removal of inactives should create a larger ebb and flow year to year. Historically, there have been some legacy teams that have consistently played well and been playoff contenders regardless of their roster changes year by year. Only time will tell if this will have the impact that leadership (and me for that matter) hopes it will.
This community has been a fresh start for me for online gaming. League leadership, such as Bex, introduced themselves literally seconds after me joining. The whole “waiver wire” concept is very welcoming as it gets a new player into a “team” setting as soon as possible. Joining with a group of friends made it a unique experience, so I got to meet a lot of people that Amidships new already. For example, Sylphreni (having played with Amidships in Tijuana) was a friendly face in London during my waiver year. Given that I was separated from my group of friends, having Syl welcome me in and help provide a nice locker room feel in London gave me a home away from home. Further, being drafted is a very engaging process. Although the DSFL scouting process is a little less engaging as I had hoped, because of the ever-changing nature of the DSFL due to call-ups and so on, I understand. Going first overall was something that was exciting, although nothing like going first overall in the ISFL would probably feel like. However, the ISFL process has been more varied and more engaging which made the hyper surrounding the ISFL Draft that much more intense.
I am proud of Asher’s development thus far. Being able to go to two Ultimini’s is an exciting start to a career, and the most recent one actually had a decent showing! Previously, I had only gotten one or two tackles, so actually making an impact in the playoffs was nice. Also, my Combine stats were exciting, even though I know they aren’t very impactful.
As has been said numerous times before, automating and streamlining the administrative processes of the league would help keep updates accurate and have them happen quicker. Allowing our bankers and updaters to focus more on accuracy as opposed to manually having to input things (thereby increasing the chance of a transposing error) will help with burnout, etc.
Secondly, the rulebooks should probably get refreshed. Although whether rules should be changed or not is a different discussion, the rules in the existing form are (in parts) written very broadly which is sometimes necessary, but the risk you run in doing that is inadvertently making the rules so broad that they are vague and unclear. I have gone to the rulebooks to check things and have been scratching my head over some of the phrasing of the rules, such as ISFL rookie contract rule clauses, as an example. Making the rules more accessible will increase compliance with the rules as well as will allow younger players to have more familiarly and not rely on their Front Office and other leaders to interpret the rules for them.
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452 Words
Choose your favorite non-playoffs game of this season, whether your own team or another. Explain what was so special and why the winner ultimately came out victorious, including key players and moments.
DSFL Week 6 – Norfolk @ Dallas
Going into Week 6, Norfolk was ripping through opponents and was undefeated going into Dallas. However, Week 6 turned into Norfolk’s fall from perfection. The impressive win by Dallas had a relatively even game statistically, but a massive scoring disparity. Dallas won 24 to 3. The teams had almost equal first downs, same 3rd Down percentage, only had 30 yards between total yards, but Norfolk had 7 penalties for a whopping 48 yards and an additional turnover. After adding in the relatively equal time of possession, the eye-raising part of this game is not that Dallas won, but how decisively they won. Keeping in mind that Dallas was 3-2 at the time, and (while they were by no means written off) the casino could have very well placed Dallas as the underdog or at least have a very close line. After this game, Norfolk went on to lose 4 out of their next 5 games. While they still ended up winning the conference and ultimately the Ultimini, it was the first strike that caused a crack in their armor that very well could have changed the outcome of the season. Prior to Week 6, they were looking unbeatable. Dallas was able to do it soundly, and it helped place Dallas in a position to strike them again in the Conference Championship to go to the big game. That did not happen, but the exciting storyline started here.
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237 Words
The league is prone to change. Reflect on a past change in either the ISFL or DSFL that significantly impacted something - be it a rules change, an expansion or contraction, or even a complete rebranding. What were the effects of this change, and how has it shaken the status quo?
The ban of inactives in the DSFL was a serious shift. Although some could argue it affected power projections and the competitive nature of some teams, regardless it did necessitate war rooms to abandon any long term strategic plans with drafting if they counted on having some inactives fill holes for them moving forward. Eventually, things will equalize, but it definitely shook things up. Although, one could argue this allowed teams operating without a large pool of inactives supplementing their performance to start rising up and get the recognition they deserve. Even the best front office teams drafting the best rookies would never be able to compete with established (potentially high TPE) inactives that are already solidly built from the very beginning of the season. Hopefully this trend will continue and will allow for the DSFL to become a more competitive league overall with parity between conferences and year-to-year performance. Because teams have such varied starts to seasons based on send-downs and call-ups, the removal of inactives should create a larger ebb and flow year to year. Historically, there have been some legacy teams that have consistently played well and been playoff contenders regardless of their roster changes year by year. Only time will tell if this will have the impact that leadership (and me for that matter) hopes it will.
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221 Words