16) The Tijuana Luchadores and QB Puddles O’Duck had a very adventurous journey last season. The season started well and kept going well all the way until about 10 minutes left in the Ultimini. Tijuana was littered with talent all over the field as they completed the season with the #1 offense in the league and #1 defense in their conference (#3 in the league). The offense returned MVP WR Benn and OPotY/RotY QB Puddles O’Duck. But they also brought back rising stars in RB Brandon Johnson and TE Bob Kronkowski. If you thought last season couldn’t get any better, Tijuana’s offense stepped it up another notch. Puddles O’Duck wound up winning MVP with a stellar season leading the league in passing yards, passing TDs, and passer rating. In those categories, it wasn’t particularly close either. He had nearly 600 more passing yards, 5 more TDs, and 15 high rating than the next closest QBs. With such a dominate season, you’d expect Puddles to have been the runaway MVP candidate, but due to Tijuana’s high powered offense, it was a neck and neck race. Puddles, Benn, and Johnson finished as the Top 3 vote getters for MVP, and honestly, it could have been any of the three an no one would have complained. Now, on to the defense. It was expected the D would take a step back due to call-ups to the ISFL and forced retirements for inactives. However, the rookies stepped it up. As a collective, they allowed 22.1 PPG (3rd), 356.4 YPG (4th), 118.8 rushing yards per game (3rd) and 237.6 passing yards per game (5th). Being above or around league average for a team this young was impressive and allowed Tijuana to push for the Ultimini. However, they ended up 10 minutes short of glory with Portland coming from behind to win the league. Congrats to them on a great season. Tijuana reloaded in the offseason and will be back in the Ultmini before we know it.
19) The biggest thing for me is space. Too often arenas have limited space to move around. People are shoulder to shoulder walking through the concourses and it makes the general feeling negative as you try to navigate from your seat to the bathroom or concession stands. And speaking of bathrooms and concession stands, those are next on my to do list. Think of how many you believe are needed and double it. Nobody wants to miss half a period as they're standing in line to take a leak or waiting endlessly for another beer. Make food and bathroom more accessible. Space and accessibility are the key factors to any new arena and even if the other factors of going to a game aren't great, these two items make a massive impact on the game day experience. The arena can take care of the fans and keep them in a good mood. Also, if concessions are easy to get, more people will purchase them, making more money for the owners. It's a win/win/win.
23) Let’s be real here, the new sim engine is flawed. There is a clear meta and it’s being taken advantage of by the entire league Arizona Outlaws. The sim team is trying their hardest to make the game balanced and make all the different archetypes and positions viable and honestly, they are doing a great job. But the sad reality is that there are limitations to the sim engine and it has resulted in one team dominating for two decades. Could other teams just copy the meta builds and strats? Sure. That would work, but it’s easier to try your own thing through hours upon hours of testing and then blame Arizona for using the meta (who doesn’t sim test anymore btw). Wait…that actually sounds like way more work. Okay, well copying the meta wouldn’t be as fun then. Wait…winning Ultimooses is really fun, so that theory is out the window too. The sim engine is what it is. The new versions of DDSPF are, by all accounts, worse than this version so we are likely stuck with it. Teams are going to continue to try and forge their own path and fail when the answer is right there: Just copy Arizona.
19) The biggest thing for me is space. Too often arenas have limited space to move around. People are shoulder to shoulder walking through the concourses and it makes the general feeling negative as you try to navigate from your seat to the bathroom or concession stands. And speaking of bathrooms and concession stands, those are next on my to do list. Think of how many you believe are needed and double it. Nobody wants to miss half a period as they're standing in line to take a leak or waiting endlessly for another beer. Make food and bathroom more accessible. Space and accessibility are the key factors to any new arena and even if the other factors of going to a game aren't great, these two items make a massive impact on the game day experience. The arena can take care of the fans and keep them in a good mood. Also, if concessions are easy to get, more people will purchase them, making more money for the owners. It's a win/win/win.
23) Let’s be real here, the new sim engine is flawed. There is a clear meta and it’s being taken advantage of by the entire league Arizona Outlaws. The sim team is trying their hardest to make the game balanced and make all the different archetypes and positions viable and honestly, they are doing a great job. But the sad reality is that there are limitations to the sim engine and it has resulted in one team dominating for two decades. Could other teams just copy the meta builds and strats? Sure. That would work, but it’s easier to try your own thing through hours upon hours of testing and then blame Arizona for using the meta (who doesn’t sim test anymore btw). Wait…that actually sounds like way more work. Okay, well copying the meta wouldn’t be as fun then. Wait…winning Ultimooses is really fun, so that theory is out the window too. The sim engine is what it is. The new versions of DDSPF are, by all accounts, worse than this version so we are likely stuck with it. Teams are going to continue to try and forge their own path and fail when the answer is right there: Just copy Arizona.