7) Awards season is a big part of the offseason festivities. Take the stand, in 400 words or more, for one or more players that are not your own, and argue why they should receive awards glory. They can be your teammates or anyone in the league. How did their stats and on the field contribution contribute to their case this year?
This particular topic comes to me with ease. There is no one in this league that I believe is more deserving of an award than JOEB and Blasoon as a GM duo. GM of the Year should be theirs without any question, comment, debate, or complaint. This duo has consistently been one of the best GM pairs that I've ever seen and this is coming from a former GM who has been in this league for quite some time. Unfortunately for them, they're at a disadvantage. You see GM of the Year isn't as easily quantified as other awards. You can't just put down statistics and numbers and make it be clear who should win that particular award. More than that, they operate out of a closed locker room. Because of that, it is often for outsiders to see exactly how much work, effort, and love they put into the Norfolk Seawolves team.
These two guys are always around. They're always joking and memeing with their players. They're always encouraging them to be themselves. They're always pushing them to be the best players and users that they can be. Be silly, be wild, and earn the best you can while still being happy with the league. They really nurture an environment where people can come in and have fun and just relax regardless of how much they've earned or even if they've gone entirely inactive. They've created a place where everyone can be at home. Once a Seawolf, always a Seawolf. Its an incredibly loving environment and most of my best league memories have now happened in that locker room thanks to the culture that these two guys have built.
Last season the won the first playoff game that Norfolk had won since the first season of the DSFL. They lead Norfolk to their first Ultimus victory. Now they've only repeated that this season by being one of the top two teams in the league, competing with only Tijuana in record. More than that, they had the highest retention percentage in the league last season and are posting similar numbers this season. People want to be in Norfolk, they want to be involved. They want to make the team better and see everyone succeed as a group. This is all because of the atmosphere fostered by these two lovely GMs.
You never see arguments in Norfolk, you never really see a cross word. This is all while being one of the most active chats in the entire league. They didn't do it by having an open locker room and getting a ton of people in house to talk. They did it simply by being incredible GMs who have created a place where people are treated like family and want to communicate with each other. These guys are incredible and while they were in my opinion robbed of the award last season, I feel like they can't be ignored any longer. GM of the Year belongs to these guys.
12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?
There is a ton you can discuss with expansion teams, but I want to focus on one major potential change. With expansion always comes change and there is no way to avoid that. League growth is very important and as such, the need for expansion is one that should always be greeted with excitement and welcome. Unfortunately it isn't always that easy. For those who are behind the scenes, it is often met with grumbling and complaints because with expansion comes a change in competitive balance.
The most obvious frustration with expansion comes with the expansion draft itself. GMs spend countless hours toiling away, trying to build the best teams they possibly can. They surround themselves with great users who they know are loyal and love the team as much as they do. They make sure they have the right players to be competitive and make a push towards and Ultimus title. They do everything in their power to make their team the one everyone else in the league looks on with envy. Then comes the expansion draft. No one ever wants to see players or users leave their team. This is why for many, free agency and retirements are often dreaded. A GM worked hard to get that player to their team, they often give up assets to do so and it hurts to see them walk. That said, usually GMs can see the writing on the wall and lessen the blow because they know it is coming. Unfortunately with the expansion draft, you end up losing players you never thought would leave. Not because they want to leave or you want them to go, but because you can't protect everyone. This is a painful experience for both GMs and players as they're put in tough spots they wouldn't be in otherwise. As such, some of the top teams will see key players walk while some of the worst teams will only lose inactives or near inactive players. It is certainly enough change to make a top team who has dominated everyone fall back to to the middle of the pack and I think you'll see some hierarchy changes due to this.
Another thing that hurts teams is the fact that with two more teams, there are less rounds in a draft. With 12 teams and 60 active players, every team can expect to load up with 5 actives each as long as they don't make any trades. With two additional teams in the mix though, it goes from being five rounds of active players to just four. This makes rebuilding take even longer for some of the worse teams and also prevents top teams from potentially reloading. One less player may not seem like a big deal, but over the course of several seasons that can really add up. More than that though, you fall further down the draft order by virtue of being a better team and may miss more than just one player.
Then comes scheduling. With the current schedule, each conference could play everyone in their conference twice and still play every team on the opposite conference. Now though they'll have to make schedules that will likely be based off of previous standings. Teams who were bad last season will play teams at the bottom of the standings, team who were good the top. This means teams who compete at a high level will be consistently playing harder schedules more than likely to make the schedule work.
So all in all you're looking at some teams having obviously harder schedules, some with weaker. You're looking at top teams losing key players and worse teams not losing as much. And you're looking at teams who compete at a high level getting even worse draft picks than before. As a whole I think the biggest change you'll see is competitive balance in the league and I think it'll pop up faster than some may think as some of the top teams find it more and more difficult to stay on top.
This particular topic comes to me with ease. There is no one in this league that I believe is more deserving of an award than JOEB and Blasoon as a GM duo. GM of the Year should be theirs without any question, comment, debate, or complaint. This duo has consistently been one of the best GM pairs that I've ever seen and this is coming from a former GM who has been in this league for quite some time. Unfortunately for them, they're at a disadvantage. You see GM of the Year isn't as easily quantified as other awards. You can't just put down statistics and numbers and make it be clear who should win that particular award. More than that, they operate out of a closed locker room. Because of that, it is often for outsiders to see exactly how much work, effort, and love they put into the Norfolk Seawolves team.
These two guys are always around. They're always joking and memeing with their players. They're always encouraging them to be themselves. They're always pushing them to be the best players and users that they can be. Be silly, be wild, and earn the best you can while still being happy with the league. They really nurture an environment where people can come in and have fun and just relax regardless of how much they've earned or even if they've gone entirely inactive. They've created a place where everyone can be at home. Once a Seawolf, always a Seawolf. Its an incredibly loving environment and most of my best league memories have now happened in that locker room thanks to the culture that these two guys have built.
Last season the won the first playoff game that Norfolk had won since the first season of the DSFL. They lead Norfolk to their first Ultimus victory. Now they've only repeated that this season by being one of the top two teams in the league, competing with only Tijuana in record. More than that, they had the highest retention percentage in the league last season and are posting similar numbers this season. People want to be in Norfolk, they want to be involved. They want to make the team better and see everyone succeed as a group. This is all because of the atmosphere fostered by these two lovely GMs.
You never see arguments in Norfolk, you never really see a cross word. This is all while being one of the most active chats in the entire league. They didn't do it by having an open locker room and getting a ton of people in house to talk. They did it simply by being incredible GMs who have created a place where people are treated like family and want to communicate with each other. These guys are incredible and while they were in my opinion robbed of the award last season, I feel like they can't be ignored any longer. GM of the Year belongs to these guys.
12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?
There is a ton you can discuss with expansion teams, but I want to focus on one major potential change. With expansion always comes change and there is no way to avoid that. League growth is very important and as such, the need for expansion is one that should always be greeted with excitement and welcome. Unfortunately it isn't always that easy. For those who are behind the scenes, it is often met with grumbling and complaints because with expansion comes a change in competitive balance.
The most obvious frustration with expansion comes with the expansion draft itself. GMs spend countless hours toiling away, trying to build the best teams they possibly can. They surround themselves with great users who they know are loyal and love the team as much as they do. They make sure they have the right players to be competitive and make a push towards and Ultimus title. They do everything in their power to make their team the one everyone else in the league looks on with envy. Then comes the expansion draft. No one ever wants to see players or users leave their team. This is why for many, free agency and retirements are often dreaded. A GM worked hard to get that player to their team, they often give up assets to do so and it hurts to see them walk. That said, usually GMs can see the writing on the wall and lessen the blow because they know it is coming. Unfortunately with the expansion draft, you end up losing players you never thought would leave. Not because they want to leave or you want them to go, but because you can't protect everyone. This is a painful experience for both GMs and players as they're put in tough spots they wouldn't be in otherwise. As such, some of the top teams will see key players walk while some of the worst teams will only lose inactives or near inactive players. It is certainly enough change to make a top team who has dominated everyone fall back to to the middle of the pack and I think you'll see some hierarchy changes due to this.
Another thing that hurts teams is the fact that with two more teams, there are less rounds in a draft. With 12 teams and 60 active players, every team can expect to load up with 5 actives each as long as they don't make any trades. With two additional teams in the mix though, it goes from being five rounds of active players to just four. This makes rebuilding take even longer for some of the worse teams and also prevents top teams from potentially reloading. One less player may not seem like a big deal, but over the course of several seasons that can really add up. More than that though, you fall further down the draft order by virtue of being a better team and may miss more than just one player.
Then comes scheduling. With the current schedule, each conference could play everyone in their conference twice and still play every team on the opposite conference. Now though they'll have to make schedules that will likely be based off of previous standings. Teams who were bad last season will play teams at the bottom of the standings, team who were good the top. This means teams who compete at a high level will be consistently playing harder schedules more than likely to make the schedule work.
So all in all you're looking at some teams having obviously harder schedules, some with weaker. You're looking at top teams losing key players and worse teams not losing as much. And you're looking at teams who compete at a high level getting even worse draft picks than before. As a whole I think the biggest change you'll see is competitive balance in the league and I think it'll pop up faster than some may think as some of the top teams find it more and more difficult to stay on top.