5. “Sim gonna sim” is a popular expression in the league. Write about teams that have been graced by the sim gods and had amazing performances despite statistical odds, and/or about teams that were considered favorites but may have dealt with some bad sim luck that hampered their efforts. How much of an impact did it have on their season(s)?
At the start of the season, the Yellowknife Wraiths were considered a bottom tier team. They had just finished with the worst record in the ISFL, and their already league worst receiving corps had just gotten worse. Yes, a group with a 600 TPE WR1 got worse. With the second youngest roster in the ISFL, and the fourth lowest average TPE, this team was clearly not built to be a contender. And despite that, this team somehow managed to make the Ultimus and give the Arizona Outlaws (one of if not the highest average TPE teams in the league) one hell of a fight.
How did we get here?
It comes down to what I believe to be 3 main factors:
1. Playing in a far weaker NSFC division.
2. Always keeping games close.
3. My... questionable methods of appeasing the sim gods.
Let's start by breaking down the first point.
The NSFC this season was without a doubt far weaker than the ASFC this season. Just 2 teams in the NSFC finished with a winning record, the Baltimore Hawks, and the Sarasota Sailfish. Baltimore had the second best record in the entire league at 12-4, while Sarasota barely finished above 0.500 at 9-7. What is interesting here is that Yellowknife, despite having a worse record than the Sarasota Sailfish, had a significantly better point differential. Yellowknife managed this with just a +6 point differential while Sarasota was sitting at a shocking -38. Baltimore sat above everyone in the NSFC with a +135 point differential. Over in the ASFC, there were 4 teams with a winning record, and due to tiebreakers (I think), their 4th seed would've been the NSFC 2 seed. Arizona won the division with a league best 13-3 record, Orange County was second with a 12-4 record, the previous season's Ultimus winning Austin Copperheads were the 3rd seed at 10-6, and barely missing the playoffs was San Jose with a 9-7 record. All of the ASFC's playoff teams had good-great point differentials of 103, 98, and 51 respectively. Had Yellowknife been swapped with any of these teams, they would not have made the playoffs.
I would now like to focus on the second point.
Yellowknife always managed to keep the games close. As seen by their +6 point differential at an 8-8 record, this indicates that Yellowknife did not get blown out, or blow other teams out. Out of all 16 regular season games Yellowknife played in, all but 3 of them were single score games. Of the 13, 8 of them were decided by 3 or less points. This did not change in the playoffs for Yellowknife either. A 29-26 victory over the Sailfish brings our 1 score game total to 14, and our <3 counter to 9. A 34-28 victory over the Hawks brings our 1 score game total to 15. And finally a 6-14 Ultimus loss to Arizona brings our 1 score game counter to 16. Out of 19 games 16 of them being decided by 1 score is insane, and I can only assume the first time it has ever happened in the sim.
Now to focus on the final point.
Yellowknife's worst kept secret this season is that I was sacrificing goats before each game. I openly admit this. I did this to appease the sim gods, hoping that they would send a miracle our way. These miracles happened on more than one occasion, but I would like to highlight what I personally believe to be the worst case of simming I have ever seen. It was the 4th quarter of the wildcard game. Sarasota had the ball with the score tied. They had just picked up a first down on the Yellowknife 6 yard line with 0:56 on the clock. Sarasota spiked the ball on first down, then decided to burn some clock by running it for a 1 yard gain. Sarasota then spiked the ball again with 0:48 left on the clock. Everyone in the stadium knew Sarasota should take the field goal. Then, in a decision that would later result in their stadium being burned down, Sarasota went for it. The pass fell incomplete, and Yellowknife would go on to win the game in overtime.
At the start of the season, the Yellowknife Wraiths were considered a bottom tier team. They had just finished with the worst record in the ISFL, and their already league worst receiving corps had just gotten worse. Yes, a group with a 600 TPE WR1 got worse. With the second youngest roster in the ISFL, and the fourth lowest average TPE, this team was clearly not built to be a contender. And despite that, this team somehow managed to make the Ultimus and give the Arizona Outlaws (one of if not the highest average TPE teams in the league) one hell of a fight.
How did we get here?
It comes down to what I believe to be 3 main factors:
1. Playing in a far weaker NSFC division.
2. Always keeping games close.
3. My... questionable methods of appeasing the sim gods.
Let's start by breaking down the first point.
The NSFC this season was without a doubt far weaker than the ASFC this season. Just 2 teams in the NSFC finished with a winning record, the Baltimore Hawks, and the Sarasota Sailfish. Baltimore had the second best record in the entire league at 12-4, while Sarasota barely finished above 0.500 at 9-7. What is interesting here is that Yellowknife, despite having a worse record than the Sarasota Sailfish, had a significantly better point differential. Yellowknife managed this with just a +6 point differential while Sarasota was sitting at a shocking -38. Baltimore sat above everyone in the NSFC with a +135 point differential. Over in the ASFC, there were 4 teams with a winning record, and due to tiebreakers (I think), their 4th seed would've been the NSFC 2 seed. Arizona won the division with a league best 13-3 record, Orange County was second with a 12-4 record, the previous season's Ultimus winning Austin Copperheads were the 3rd seed at 10-6, and barely missing the playoffs was San Jose with a 9-7 record. All of the ASFC's playoff teams had good-great point differentials of 103, 98, and 51 respectively. Had Yellowknife been swapped with any of these teams, they would not have made the playoffs.
I would now like to focus on the second point.
Yellowknife always managed to keep the games close. As seen by their +6 point differential at an 8-8 record, this indicates that Yellowknife did not get blown out, or blow other teams out. Out of all 16 regular season games Yellowknife played in, all but 3 of them were single score games. Of the 13, 8 of them were decided by 3 or less points. This did not change in the playoffs for Yellowknife either. A 29-26 victory over the Sailfish brings our 1 score game total to 14, and our <3 counter to 9. A 34-28 victory over the Hawks brings our 1 score game total to 15. And finally a 6-14 Ultimus loss to Arizona brings our 1 score game counter to 16. Out of 19 games 16 of them being decided by 1 score is insane, and I can only assume the first time it has ever happened in the sim.
Now to focus on the final point.
Yellowknife's worst kept secret this season is that I was sacrificing goats before each game. I openly admit this. I did this to appease the sim gods, hoping that they would send a miracle our way. These miracles happened on more than one occasion, but I would like to highlight what I personally believe to be the worst case of simming I have ever seen. It was the 4th quarter of the wildcard game. Sarasota had the ball with the score tied. They had just picked up a first down on the Yellowknife 6 yard line with 0:56 on the clock. Sarasota spiked the ball on first down, then decided to burn some clock by running it for a 1 yard gain. Sarasota then spiked the ball again with 0:48 left on the clock. Everyone in the stadium knew Sarasota should take the field goal. Then, in a decision that would later result in their stadium being burned down, Sarasota went for it. The pass fell incomplete, and Yellowknife would go on to win the game in overtime.