1. The Season 40 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the the Bondi Beach Buccaneers and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?
First of all, hats off to the GMs and players of both the Bondi Beach Buccaneers as well as the Arizona Outlaws. It is no small feat to win an Ultimus or an Ultimini and they should all feel great pride in this.
Bondi Beach had an interesting path to the DSFL playoffs, some may even call it streaky. They started the season off with 2 losses back to back then followed that up with 5 wins in a row. The Buccaneers then alternated the next three games going loss, win, loss, before moving back into another winning streak with 3 victories. They unfortunately ended the regular season with a loss to Minnesota to put them at 9-5. The first round of the playoffs pitted Bondi Beach against the Norfolk Seawolves who held the #1 seed in the South Conference. The Buccaneers won this game 27-16 off touchdowns from WR Plant Based (76 yard reception), WR Kairo Knight (28 yard reception), RB Malik Jordan (3 yard run) and 2 field goals coming from Bob Kickerson. The Pythons took care of business against London and came out of the Northern side of the bracket to match up with Bondi Beach in the Ultimini. In a very close game, Bondi Beach ends up scraping away with a 24-21 win over the Pythons. Bondi Beach, down 21-3 at one point, rattled off 3 unanswered touchdowns from WR Oliver Tolliver (16 yard reception), WR Plant Based (56 yard reception), and WR Kairo Knight (5 yard reception).
Arizona had an absolutely dominant season, winning 14 games and only losing 2 over the course of the 16 week gauntlet. Interestingly enough, those two losses came to the Cape Town Crash and the San Jose Sabercats. Could teams who have 3 words in their name be the kryptonite of the Outlaws? Even those two losses were very close for the Outlaws, a combined 22 point deficit in those games (a 7 point loss to the San Jose Sabercats and a 15 point loss to the Cape Town Crash). This 14 win season very comfortably earned Arizona the #1 seed and a first round bye in their conference bracket, with the Austin Copperheads coming in at the 2 seed (10-6) and the Orange County Otters bringing up the 3 seed (7-8-1). Orange County handled the Copperheads in the first round which brought the Otters to Arizona in a matchup that would send the winner to the Ultimus. That winner was, of course, the Arizona Outlaws, in a 37-17 rout of the Orange County Otters. The offense was firing on all cylinders in this game with touchdowns coming from RB Danny Nedelko (35 yard run), WR Louis Blondin (40 yard reception), RB Danny Nedelko (8 yard run), RB Sherwin Blue Jr. (3 yard run), and 3 field goals from Savathûn T. Witchqueen. We would see a return of this dominant Arizona offense in the Ultimus against the Yellowknife Wraiths where they dropped a whopping 45 points to beat Yellowknife’s 21 and hoist the trophy. Arizona saw touchdowns from WR Louis Blondin (9 yard reception, 13 yard reception), WR Captain Billy Stinkwater (7 yard reception), DE Leonardo McTurtle (3 yard fumble return), RB Sherwin Blue Jr. (1 yard run, 3 yard run), but only 1 field goal from Savathûn T. Witchqueen this time.
This section will be based purely on regular season record/seeding. Looking at the DSFL first, there were a couple of upsets. In the first round on the North side of the bracket, we saw the 1 seed Portland Pythons take down the 2 seed London Royals so no surprise there. However, on the South side of the bracket, we start off with the 2 seed Bondi Beach Buccaneers winning over the 1 seed Norfolk Seawolves. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Norfolk and Bondi Beach played each other twice in the regular season, with Norfolk winning both times, so this game really does come as a surprise. Moving on to the Ultimini, we once again have the 2 seed Bondi Beach winning over the 1 seed Portland Pythons for another upset. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Portland and Bondi Beach played twice in the regular season, with Bondi Beach winning one game and Portland winning the other game, so this game isn’t too big of a surprise given the results of the regular season. In the ISFL, the first round of the ASFC saw the 3 seed Orange County Otters upsetting the 2 seed Austin Copperheads. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Orange County and Austin played twice in the regular season, with Orange County winning one game and Austin winning the other game, so this isn’t too shocking here. In the first round of the NSFC playoffs, the 2 seed Chicago Butchers handled business and beat the 3 seed Cape Town Crash. Unfortunately, the rest of the ISFL playoffs follow this pattern and all go chalk with the higher seeded team winning the rest of the rounds so there isn’t too much else to talk about regarding surprises in the playoffs.
I think it would be foolish to say that the outcome of the Ultimus surprised anyone. While Yellowknife was a formidable opponent, that Arizona team was a well oiled machine that was not going to stop for anyone. Also, as mentioned earlier, Yellowknife Wraiths is a two word team name, so they really had 0 shot from the beginning to win this game. As far as the Ultimini, I guess I was a little surprised, but it’s the DSFL where anything can happen and chaos reigns supreme. Looking at their regular season records, you could see how this may have been a close game, but Bondi Beach really turned on their burners when it came to earning to close out the season. Looking at average TPE, the Buccaneers clocked in at 170 while Portland was down at 146. I’m sure this played a major part in the game and gave the Buccaneers the boost they needed to secure a championship.
Wc: 1010
First of all, hats off to the GMs and players of both the Bondi Beach Buccaneers as well as the Arizona Outlaws. It is no small feat to win an Ultimus or an Ultimini and they should all feel great pride in this.
Bondi Beach had an interesting path to the DSFL playoffs, some may even call it streaky. They started the season off with 2 losses back to back then followed that up with 5 wins in a row. The Buccaneers then alternated the next three games going loss, win, loss, before moving back into another winning streak with 3 victories. They unfortunately ended the regular season with a loss to Minnesota to put them at 9-5. The first round of the playoffs pitted Bondi Beach against the Norfolk Seawolves who held the #1 seed in the South Conference. The Buccaneers won this game 27-16 off touchdowns from WR Plant Based (76 yard reception), WR Kairo Knight (28 yard reception), RB Malik Jordan (3 yard run) and 2 field goals coming from Bob Kickerson. The Pythons took care of business against London and came out of the Northern side of the bracket to match up with Bondi Beach in the Ultimini. In a very close game, Bondi Beach ends up scraping away with a 24-21 win over the Pythons. Bondi Beach, down 21-3 at one point, rattled off 3 unanswered touchdowns from WR Oliver Tolliver (16 yard reception), WR Plant Based (56 yard reception), and WR Kairo Knight (5 yard reception).
Arizona had an absolutely dominant season, winning 14 games and only losing 2 over the course of the 16 week gauntlet. Interestingly enough, those two losses came to the Cape Town Crash and the San Jose Sabercats. Could teams who have 3 words in their name be the kryptonite of the Outlaws? Even those two losses were very close for the Outlaws, a combined 22 point deficit in those games (a 7 point loss to the San Jose Sabercats and a 15 point loss to the Cape Town Crash). This 14 win season very comfortably earned Arizona the #1 seed and a first round bye in their conference bracket, with the Austin Copperheads coming in at the 2 seed (10-6) and the Orange County Otters bringing up the 3 seed (7-8-1). Orange County handled the Copperheads in the first round which brought the Otters to Arizona in a matchup that would send the winner to the Ultimus. That winner was, of course, the Arizona Outlaws, in a 37-17 rout of the Orange County Otters. The offense was firing on all cylinders in this game with touchdowns coming from RB Danny Nedelko (35 yard run), WR Louis Blondin (40 yard reception), RB Danny Nedelko (8 yard run), RB Sherwin Blue Jr. (3 yard run), and 3 field goals from Savathûn T. Witchqueen. We would see a return of this dominant Arizona offense in the Ultimus against the Yellowknife Wraiths where they dropped a whopping 45 points to beat Yellowknife’s 21 and hoist the trophy. Arizona saw touchdowns from WR Louis Blondin (9 yard reception, 13 yard reception), WR Captain Billy Stinkwater (7 yard reception), DE Leonardo McTurtle (3 yard fumble return), RB Sherwin Blue Jr. (1 yard run, 3 yard run), but only 1 field goal from Savathûn T. Witchqueen this time.
This section will be based purely on regular season record/seeding. Looking at the DSFL first, there were a couple of upsets. In the first round on the North side of the bracket, we saw the 1 seed Portland Pythons take down the 2 seed London Royals so no surprise there. However, on the South side of the bracket, we start off with the 2 seed Bondi Beach Buccaneers winning over the 1 seed Norfolk Seawolves. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Norfolk and Bondi Beach played each other twice in the regular season, with Norfolk winning both times, so this game really does come as a surprise. Moving on to the Ultimini, we once again have the 2 seed Bondi Beach winning over the 1 seed Portland Pythons for another upset. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Portland and Bondi Beach played twice in the regular season, with Bondi Beach winning one game and Portland winning the other game, so this game isn’t too big of a surprise given the results of the regular season. In the ISFL, the first round of the ASFC saw the 3 seed Orange County Otters upsetting the 2 seed Austin Copperheads. Taking a deeper look at this matchup, Orange County and Austin played twice in the regular season, with Orange County winning one game and Austin winning the other game, so this isn’t too shocking here. In the first round of the NSFC playoffs, the 2 seed Chicago Butchers handled business and beat the 3 seed Cape Town Crash. Unfortunately, the rest of the ISFL playoffs follow this pattern and all go chalk with the higher seeded team winning the rest of the rounds so there isn’t too much else to talk about regarding surprises in the playoffs.
I think it would be foolish to say that the outcome of the Ultimus surprised anyone. While Yellowknife was a formidable opponent, that Arizona team was a well oiled machine that was not going to stop for anyone. Also, as mentioned earlier, Yellowknife Wraiths is a two word team name, so they really had 0 shot from the beginning to win this game. As far as the Ultimini, I guess I was a little surprised, but it’s the DSFL where anything can happen and chaos reigns supreme. Looking at their regular season records, you could see how this may have been a close game, but Bondi Beach really turned on their burners when it came to earning to close out the season. Looking at average TPE, the Buccaneers clocked in at 170 while Portland was down at 146. I’m sure this played a major part in the game and gave the Buccaneers the boost they needed to secure a championship.
Wc: 1010