3) For any team, certain players and users have gone above and beyond, shaping the legacy of the franchise. Choose any ISFL or DSFL team and create a Mount Rushmore for that team. Who in your mind are the four most noteworthy figures of the team’s history? Why does each one of your included figures deserve that recognition, and how did each of them make their mark?
Anyone who knows me is aware that I have had a special attachment to the Dallas Birddogs since the first week I joined the Developmental Simulation Football League. Initially, my interest in the Birddogs was sparked by my husband’s involvement in the team, as Amidships was drafted there the season before I ended up joining. Despite his involvement in the team and being the main reason for me getting involved in the league however, this article is not about Amid. There have been others on the team since I joined that really contributed to my buy-in to the league that deserve mention for being as amazing as they are.
When I created my first player, dynamic duo iStegosauruz and Kyle were the general managers for Dallas. Knowing my relation to Amid, they picked me up off waivers to replace their inactive kicker at the time, Bobby Boomski. I ended up being terrible. Zoe Watts did not do a whole lot to help the team and actually ended up missing a bunch of points that led to the Birddogs eventual demise just before playoffs that season. Despite all of that, however, Steg and Kyle kept morale high in the locker room and continued to encourage me to keep earning and growing. They took the time to teach me the ropes and helped me through a position switch to a much more rewarding role on the offense. After they drafted me, they soon gave me opportunities to get more involved in the team. This whole experience was not just unique to me.
As a pair, Kyle and Steg have made the DSFL experience a great one for every player to come through the Dallas Birddogs locker room. While they still value winning, earning awards, and all the things that a lot of people immediately think of as being part of building a legacy for GMs, the thing that I think makes them so noteworthy is the fact that they treat the DSFL as it is intended to be treated – as a developmental league. They put an immense amount of time into ensuring that players feel welcome, have fun, and gain enough progress on their players from season to season to go on to become successful players in the International Simulation Football League.
The Dallas Birddogs have a reputation for being so successful in these efforts that it almost acts as a detriment to the success of the team, as players very often get called up right away into the ISFL to continue their success streak there and go on to earn awards. Because of the work Kyle and Steg put into helping their players, the Dallas Birddogs have had the most immediate call-ups to the ISFL of any other team in the last four seasons despite still being one of the newer teams in the league. This made their jobs all the more difficult as general managers because they were tasked with filling massive holes year to year… but they continued to select individuals that impressed on the field and in the locker room despite this.
This was not enough for Kyle and Steg, though. These two are so dedicated to helping players grow and learn that they sacrificed their own positions as general managers so that others could get the experience themselves. Last season, Kyle stepped down and Steg moved into the GM role with Lim as his co-GM. This season, Steg stepped down to give me the opportunity to step into the co-GM role and continue to learn and help the league in other ways.
As far as I am concerned, these efforts alone make Kyle and Steg the Mount Rushmore for the Dallas Birddogs.
Having said all of that, Kyle and Steg’s success did not come out of nowhere. It would almost be sacrilege for me to go on about them without also mentioning the team’s founder, Gucci. Gucci played a huge role in getting Dallas up off the ground during expansion and did the work to ensure it’s long-term success from the onset. Since giving up his own role as GM, Gucci has been instrumental in providing invaluable advice and expertise to Dallas GMs and its war room members. He also continues to contribute actively to the locker room, further helping our players to develop and get involved in the league.
Now Lim and I have taken up the mantle and we are mostly just trying not to screw up the awesome job Steg, Kyle, and Gucci have done over the last few seasons. We have an amazing war room and several “old dogs” / veterans (enigmatic, cheeseman, and panda to name just a few) in the locker room that have continued to remain involved on the team despite moving on to the big league. Quite frankly, this has made our job really easy, so I can't say that we're the Mount Rushmore at all.
Going forward, the future looks bright for the Birddogs. The fourth and final person I want to mention as being part of this Mount Rushmore is r0tzbua. Brand new to the team, r0tz has already left a gigantic mark on the Birddogs. He singlehandedly rebranded the team without asking for any compensation or complaining about the endless suggestions for tweaking it, he consistently acts as one of our resident TPE Czars to help keep people on track, he goes above and beyond to help people feel welcome and get the information we need, and he goes out of his way to help anyone who needs it whether they play for Dallas or not. The fact we got him at 14OA still blows my mind and I am absolutely elated to mention him as the newest probably most influential member of the Dallas Birddogs. As long as he continues to remain involved in the team, I have absolutely no doubt that we will continue the team’s streak of success in producing active and contributing members to the league.
(995 words)
Anyone who knows me is aware that I have had a special attachment to the Dallas Birddogs since the first week I joined the Developmental Simulation Football League. Initially, my interest in the Birddogs was sparked by my husband’s involvement in the team, as Amidships was drafted there the season before I ended up joining. Despite his involvement in the team and being the main reason for me getting involved in the league however, this article is not about Amid. There have been others on the team since I joined that really contributed to my buy-in to the league that deserve mention for being as amazing as they are.
When I created my first player, dynamic duo iStegosauruz and Kyle were the general managers for Dallas. Knowing my relation to Amid, they picked me up off waivers to replace their inactive kicker at the time, Bobby Boomski. I ended up being terrible. Zoe Watts did not do a whole lot to help the team and actually ended up missing a bunch of points that led to the Birddogs eventual demise just before playoffs that season. Despite all of that, however, Steg and Kyle kept morale high in the locker room and continued to encourage me to keep earning and growing. They took the time to teach me the ropes and helped me through a position switch to a much more rewarding role on the offense. After they drafted me, they soon gave me opportunities to get more involved in the team. This whole experience was not just unique to me.
As a pair, Kyle and Steg have made the DSFL experience a great one for every player to come through the Dallas Birddogs locker room. While they still value winning, earning awards, and all the things that a lot of people immediately think of as being part of building a legacy for GMs, the thing that I think makes them so noteworthy is the fact that they treat the DSFL as it is intended to be treated – as a developmental league. They put an immense amount of time into ensuring that players feel welcome, have fun, and gain enough progress on their players from season to season to go on to become successful players in the International Simulation Football League.
The Dallas Birddogs have a reputation for being so successful in these efforts that it almost acts as a detriment to the success of the team, as players very often get called up right away into the ISFL to continue their success streak there and go on to earn awards. Because of the work Kyle and Steg put into helping their players, the Dallas Birddogs have had the most immediate call-ups to the ISFL of any other team in the last four seasons despite still being one of the newer teams in the league. This made their jobs all the more difficult as general managers because they were tasked with filling massive holes year to year… but they continued to select individuals that impressed on the field and in the locker room despite this.
This was not enough for Kyle and Steg, though. These two are so dedicated to helping players grow and learn that they sacrificed their own positions as general managers so that others could get the experience themselves. Last season, Kyle stepped down and Steg moved into the GM role with Lim as his co-GM. This season, Steg stepped down to give me the opportunity to step into the co-GM role and continue to learn and help the league in other ways.
As far as I am concerned, these efforts alone make Kyle and Steg the Mount Rushmore for the Dallas Birddogs.
Having said all of that, Kyle and Steg’s success did not come out of nowhere. It would almost be sacrilege for me to go on about them without also mentioning the team’s founder, Gucci. Gucci played a huge role in getting Dallas up off the ground during expansion and did the work to ensure it’s long-term success from the onset. Since giving up his own role as GM, Gucci has been instrumental in providing invaluable advice and expertise to Dallas GMs and its war room members. He also continues to contribute actively to the locker room, further helping our players to develop and get involved in the league.
Now Lim and I have taken up the mantle and we are mostly just trying not to screw up the awesome job Steg, Kyle, and Gucci have done over the last few seasons. We have an amazing war room and several “old dogs” / veterans (enigmatic, cheeseman, and panda to name just a few) in the locker room that have continued to remain involved on the team despite moving on to the big league. Quite frankly, this has made our job really easy, so I can't say that we're the Mount Rushmore at all.
Going forward, the future looks bright for the Birddogs. The fourth and final person I want to mention as being part of this Mount Rushmore is r0tzbua. Brand new to the team, r0tz has already left a gigantic mark on the Birddogs. He singlehandedly rebranded the team without asking for any compensation or complaining about the endless suggestions for tweaking it, he consistently acts as one of our resident TPE Czars to help keep people on track, he goes above and beyond to help people feel welcome and get the information we need, and he goes out of his way to help anyone who needs it whether they play for Dallas or not. The fact we got him at 14OA still blows my mind and I am absolutely elated to mention him as the newest probably most influential member of the Dallas Birddogs. As long as he continues to remain involved in the team, I have absolutely no doubt that we will continue the team’s streak of success in producing active and contributing members to the league.
(995 words)