1. The Season 42 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the Norfolk Seawolves 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?
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The Arizona Outlaws’ championship journey started in the regular season when they managed to split wins in their two meetings with the New York Silverbacks. As the season went on it became clear New York would be competing for the top seed of the ASFC. If Arizona had lost their first matchup against New York, they would have failed the secure the number one spot, and thus the bye week. New York went on to lose in the quarterfinals against the Honolulu Hahalua. I can’t really say it was unexpected because I do think New York, Honolulu and Austin are in the same tier of teams, but the final score was definitely unexpected. New York could not get anything going against the Honolulu secondary and their quarterback threw three interceptions. How Unfortunate. In the semifinals, it was Honolulu on the other end of a beatdown this time. I also expected this game to be a competitive one, partly because we lost to them in Week 1, albeit by a point. Honolulu had a very hard time stopping Sherwin Blue Jr. and Danny Nedelko from getting what they wanted and Arizona ran them off the field. Everyone on the defense contributed and had a solid game.
While all this was going on in the ASFC, there was a blood bath happening in the NSFC. A lot more competitive than the ASFC for sure. Defending champs Cape Town Crash literally crashed out of the playoffs in the wild card game. Their regular season record was definitely underwhelming when you consider the fact that they were the reigning champions. Maybe they overachieved last year? The game was a total defensive grind fest and it was close right until the end. Berlin executed an exemplary two-minute drill and they steadily make their way up the field till field goal range. Definitely one of the most exciting ISFL games I’ve seen! In the conference championship game, the Fire Salamanders almost shut down the Baltimore Hawks in a 24-10 victory. It’s interesting how both Berlin and Baltimore were at the bottom of the league last season and made it this far and Berlin especially, deserves a lot of credit for going form 5-11 to the Ultimus. I was not expecting Baltimore to score just 10 points, but looking back at their regular season games Baltimore lost both of their games to Berlin so I guess it wasn’t THAT unexpected.
After the Hawks Fire Salamanders game, I remember going over the Fire Salamanders roster and thinking their defense was going to give us a lot of trouble. They had an insane secondary and a pretty good defensive line. Well, it turns out that I didn’t have to worry at all. We beat them handily and ended their worst to first dreams. Vincent-Vega had a 53 yard pick 6 in the third quarter to really seal the game. We were up by 21 points so we’ve probably won regardless, but it was definitely a great moment in my first Ultimus and reminded me of Malcolm Smith’s pick six back in Super Bowl XLVIII (I'm a Seahawks Fan).
All in all, this was a very exciting season and I consider myself pretty lucky to be part of a championship roster right away in my rookie year. It kind of reminds me of IRL NFL player Trent McDuffie’s season, where he was drafted to a Chiefs squad that had to count on the rookie defensive backs to contribute right away.
As for the DSFL playoffs, I can’t say much because I didn’t really follow it closely. But I was surprised and extremely heartbroken when the London Royals failed to get into the playoffs after a very intense last couple of weeks. I thought they would make it but I guess too many players were called up to the ISFL.
639 words
The Arizona Outlaws’ championship journey started in the regular season when they managed to split wins in their two meetings with the New York Silverbacks. As the season went on it became clear New York would be competing for the top seed of the ASFC. If Arizona had lost their first matchup against New York, they would have failed the secure the number one spot, and thus the bye week. New York went on to lose in the quarterfinals against the Honolulu Hahalua. I can’t really say it was unexpected because I do think New York, Honolulu and Austin are in the same tier of teams, but the final score was definitely unexpected. New York could not get anything going against the Honolulu secondary and their quarterback threw three interceptions. How Unfortunate. In the semifinals, it was Honolulu on the other end of a beatdown this time. I also expected this game to be a competitive one, partly because we lost to them in Week 1, albeit by a point. Honolulu had a very hard time stopping Sherwin Blue Jr. and Danny Nedelko from getting what they wanted and Arizona ran them off the field. Everyone on the defense contributed and had a solid game.
While all this was going on in the ASFC, there was a blood bath happening in the NSFC. A lot more competitive than the ASFC for sure. Defending champs Cape Town Crash literally crashed out of the playoffs in the wild card game. Their regular season record was definitely underwhelming when you consider the fact that they were the reigning champions. Maybe they overachieved last year? The game was a total defensive grind fest and it was close right until the end. Berlin executed an exemplary two-minute drill and they steadily make their way up the field till field goal range. Definitely one of the most exciting ISFL games I’ve seen! In the conference championship game, the Fire Salamanders almost shut down the Baltimore Hawks in a 24-10 victory. It’s interesting how both Berlin and Baltimore were at the bottom of the league last season and made it this far and Berlin especially, deserves a lot of credit for going form 5-11 to the Ultimus. I was not expecting Baltimore to score just 10 points, but looking back at their regular season games Baltimore lost both of their games to Berlin so I guess it wasn’t THAT unexpected.
After the Hawks Fire Salamanders game, I remember going over the Fire Salamanders roster and thinking their defense was going to give us a lot of trouble. They had an insane secondary and a pretty good defensive line. Well, it turns out that I didn’t have to worry at all. We beat them handily and ended their worst to first dreams. Vincent-Vega had a 53 yard pick 6 in the third quarter to really seal the game. We were up by 21 points so we’ve probably won regardless, but it was definitely a great moment in my first Ultimus and reminded me of Malcolm Smith’s pick six back in Super Bowl XLVIII (I'm a Seahawks Fan).
All in all, this was a very exciting season and I consider myself pretty lucky to be part of a championship roster right away in my rookie year. It kind of reminds me of IRL NFL player Trent McDuffie’s season, where he was drafted to a Chiefs squad that had to count on the rookie defensive backs to contribute right away.
As for the DSFL playoffs, I can’t say much because I didn’t really follow it closely. But I was surprised and extremely heartbroken when the London Royals failed to get into the playoffs after a very intense last couple of weeks. I thought they would make it but I guess too many players were called up to the ISFL.