Interviewer: Here today on the Yellowknife Sports Network I have along with me three great players from the Wraiths! On the show we have quarterback Mat Akselsen, defensive end Bork Bjornsson, and tight end Joseph Askins. Mat and Joseph are both exciting pieces of this revamped Yellowknife offense, while Bork is a leader and solid piece of the Wraith defensive unit, which experienced a great boost in confidence last season. We will start by asking our team’s quarterback and ultimate leader a question:
Hello Mat! This season is obviously a very new and exciting one for Yellowknife Wraith fans as their has been a major shakeup of the team. Former franchise quarterback Chris Orosz was traded away this past offseason, and you decided to cut some fat off and convert to be a quarterback in the NSFL. Tell me, who's decision was it for you to convert, and do you think it was the best decision for yourself and for the team? It is incredibly exciting to see a former offensive lineman become a starting quarterback in this league, so obviously fans are intrigued by it!
Akselsen: Yea after Chris was traded away all of us on the team were wondering what were going to do. I had a private meeting with coach and basically he turned on my pop warner tape where I was playing quarterback. I looked at him confused and he just said, "Son, I've been watching a lot of tape, and you're the athlete we're looking for at the quarterback position." I didn't know what to say, I was in shock, a thousand thoughts swimming through my head. I was wondering could I do it, what would happen at left tackle, can I drop the weight? Well I looked at coach and told him I was ready. He said "Good, because we've got five guys flying in to replace you on the line. Now put down that donut and get to cutting." I'm really glad I did, because this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It's not everyday that an offensive lineman gets to become a QB.
Interviewer: Now we will talk to one of the vocal leaders of our Wraith defense, Bork Bjornsson! I want to know how you feel about the team’s performance last season. As we all know, you are obviously a vocal leader of the Wraiths defense. After seeing better production on the defensive side of the ball last season, your team still finished with a worse record than the previous season, when you made the playoffs. This probably was a let down, especially since your teammates on defense stepped up their game, while still performing worse overall. What went through your mind last season knowing this and what do you plan to do this season knowing what happened in last years disappointing season?
Bjornsson: Yeah to say last season was a disappointment is a major understatement. We lost games we felt we should have won, and we lost games that statistically we should have won. But that's just how it goes sometimes.
I think the most important thing for me and the rest of the team during that time was to not point fingers. We didn't blame ourselves, we didn't blame each other, we didn't blame the sim, and we didn't blame the simmer (which one particular team seems to be in the habit of doing... which is hilarious to me). It was really cool to see the locker room take ownership of this identity where it's literally us vs. the world, and I think that gave us a lot of drive and motivation coming into this year. So it was definitely disappointing at the time, but we knew how good we could and should be so we were optimistic.
Then of course free agency came and we lost a good bit of key players, but I think that just solidified the mindset that I and the rest of the team have, that we're fighting an uphill battle. We take that mindset with us to every single game, no matter who we're playing against, because even if we're playing some scrub team at home we know in the back of our minds that we're not only against that team but we're also against the sim gods. I think that's a great attitude to have and it's helped us so far this season, as we beat the Otters in Orange County and only lost to the Hawks in Baltimore by 3 points. We may be rebuilding but we still feel like we have something to prove.
Interviewer: Thank you for that insight Bork! I am sure the fans of the team will love to have some more understanding about the disappointment of last season, as I can assure you the players were not the only ones left disappointed after last year. Now we will move onto the young tight end Joseph Askins, and ask him his first question. Joseph, replacing the shoes of the former GOAT player of your position seems like an almost impossible task to complete. After an uninspiring rookie season, what have you changed to try to replicate the production Ricky Maddox had when he played in the position you currently are?
Askins: Well, you are definitely right when you say it is nearly an impossible task to achieve! Maddox was one of the greatest tight ends to play the game in our era, and being the immediate successor to him has its challenged. Luckily, I was thrown into the perfect situation, as the locker room mentality of my teammates is amazing, and they push me to be better every single day. This past offseason, I worked relentlessly to try to improve myself as a player and a person to have a better mindset and better physique to my body that will hopefully help boost my effectiveness and production. At the end of the day, to me, all I care about is winning games and eventually a championship, so no matter what I do in a game or season, it will ultimately be a failure if we lose.
Interviewer: Wow! Those are some great words by the young and rising star in Joseph Askins and it makes me excited for our offense in the following years! Now let’s move back to Mat Akselsen, I have a few questions for him now. First, now tell me, this year appeared to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Wraiths entering the season, with many doubting the playoff chances of your team. However, after 2 games you have a 1-1 record, after an incredibly difficult schedule, and including a road victory against the Orange County Otters. At this point in the season, do you think fans should still consider this season a rebuilding year, or do you believe your team will achieve greater things?
Akselsen: Yea so our fans are pretty smart and I think they know we are in a short term rebuild, but that doesn't mean we won't be competitive this season. We're 1-1 in the early part of our schedule and we beat the Otters at home. How crazy is that? I think that kind of proves the resiliency of our team and the belief we have in each other out here. There's no quit on this team. Our early schedule is brutal, starting with three road games and then facing the Otters twice in three weeks. We aren't coming out of this unscathed, but we've started it off well enough. So to the fans, just keep cheering us on and you'll see a strong, competitive team that will fight to the end. The goal is playoffs, as it is every year around here.
Interviewer: Awesome to hear! Secondly, personally, your first game as a QB in this league was not very pretty, with you throwing 3 interceptions against an intense conference rival. How did this game affect your mentality entering Orange County, and was it beneficial or detrimental to your playing style in week 2?
Akselsen: If I'm being honest, I came into the first week cocky as all hell. I felt like I knew everything there was to know and I trusted my feet to create big plays. Well, that backfired and it really humbled me. Coach gave me a chewing too for going off script a couple times. I really deserved it. Come the week of preparation for the Otters, I sat down, went over tape and trusted the coaching staff. They're a bunch of smart guys and they get paid to come together with a good plan, so I need to let them do their job and I'll do mine. Which is to execute their plan. You know what? Once I got that ego out of the way, and we started playing as a team, well we won. We won with a great second half. It really showed me what the team and myself are made of.
Interviewer: That is very humbling of you, and I bet your teammates appreciate you taking most of the blame for that game! Thank you Mat for all of the feedback you have given us so far, it’s is really great to hear from our very own quarterback! Now we have a few questions to ask our defensive star Bork!
After game 1, your team had a disappointing defeat in Baltimore, losing 20-17. However, the scoreboard makes it look closer than it actually was as a last second kick return gave your team 8 additional points. After hoping for a bounce back season, what did this game do to affect your team's mood in the locker room, and how have you as a leader of the defense reacted to it?
However, as you know, you guys had an amazing victory in Orange County this past week! This victory is the main point of our interview here, as this victory has been seen as a major upset by players and fans across the league. What was your team's mentality entering the game and do you think it was a major part in your team leaving Orange County with a mark in the W column?
Bjornsson: Honestly for me, it wasn't that disappointing. This kind of builds off my last answer, but we knew we were significant underdogs in that game. Our goal was to try and surprise the Hawks, punch them in the mouth early on, and let them know that we weren't just going to roll over because this is a rebuilding year for us.
Obviously that didn't work out exactly as we had hoped, but I think we still sent a message, and I think the rest of the team feels that way too. Other than some nasty turnovers on offense, I think we played very well against an extremely good Hawks team.
As far as mood goes, I think we had the hardest first two games out of anybody in the entire league, having to play the reigning NSFC champs on their home turf and then playing against an extremely good Otters team at their house. We knew going into it that it was going to be rough, and I think some of us fully expected to be 0-2 right now, but we didn't roll over or neglect or DCs or strategizing, and I think it certainly paid off.
We're 1-1, technically tied for 1st in the NSFC, and in a rebuild year. And what's weird, is spirits are extremely high in Yellowknife, maybe the highest I've seen. After an entire season of underperforming and an extremely disappointing free agency, we didn't give up or roll over or complain or blame others, everybody kept grinding and it's paid off. Yeah, it's just one win that was probably a fluke anyways, and it won't change the chip on our shoulder, but I think we're a team that feels like it has a lot to prove to a lot of different people, and we're on the right track.
Interviewer: That is all very true! Obviously, getting the first one for a season is a major stepping stone, because once a team tastes victory once, it is easier to replicate that success. Do you believe your team has the correct winning mentality that is almost required to be a successful team in the NSFL, or do you think that the team is too young to carry on this momentum into the following weeks?
Bjornsson: Yeah I definitely think the Wraiths have a winning mentality. Like I said earlier, we don't excessively complain when we think we've been unlucky (which I still think we're the unluckiest team in the NSFL), we don't blame each other or others, we don't give up, and we're having fun. Add those things together and you've got a winning culture even if you're not actually getting wins.
I think our time will come, even if this season we regress. We have a fantastic core group of players to build around, great young up-and-comers, and a fantastic culture. We have realistic expectations about this rebuild year, but we have every intention of being competitive and I think we've shown that these first two weeks.
Interviewer: Thank you Bork for answering all those questions! Although I still have many more questions to ask all three of you guys, I only have time for a story from each of you. So after two long weeks, what has been one specific memory so far that has been on your mind a lot that you would like to share with your fans? We’ll start with Joseph!
Askins: For me, the best memory I have had so far is with some of the locker room talk with my teammate Eric Kennedy. He has really stepped it up this year, taking a bigger role in the offense and becoming a much better and more versatile player. Not only is he doing all of this on the field, but in the locker room he is a great guy to always talk with and have chat with. I also feel like he is one of the most underrated and disrespected skill position players in the league, and I feel by like the end of the season, he will be a recognized name by NSFL fans across North America.
Akselsen: Yea it's kind of funny. My first three years I was known as the fat guy on the field. I never really looked athletic; more like an uncoordinated seal in pads. But I worked at it every day and it kind of got me a cult following around Yellowknife. Any time there was a screen I would hear chants of 'Run fatboy run!'. It was all in good fun though. Anyway, to bring it all around we had an open practice last Tuesday and some residents came by to watch. As we were leaving the field for some conditioning inside, I overheard a little girl asking her mom if 'fat boy' was hurt today because she couldn't see him out there. I just chuckled as I head into the facility. I guess my transformation is just as surprising to the fans as it is to me.
Bjornsson: So I usually don't watch the streams because I typically just end up frustrated. But this time I watched all of the games because I was supposed to be writing a paper and was procrastinating. And it was awesome. I saw the Liberty lose (awesome), the Hawks lose (also awesome), and the Wraiths pull off the come from behind upset (the most awesome). Best procrastinating session I've ever had, I regret nothing.
I probably will continue not watching the streams though. I think I'm personally just better off that way... getting frustrated isn't very fun. But it's been a fun season, and I think it'll continue to be a fun season. It's pretty fun being the underdogs.
Interviewer: All three of those stories are great insights into the team practices and mentality! I am sure that all Yellowknife Wraith fans will be absolutely thrilled by all of the responses you have given me today, and I would like to thank you all for being here! You have great answers to all of my questions and I hope I get the opportunity to speak with all of you again in the future! Thanks again for coming onto my show today, and I wish you and your team the best luck in the coming weeks!
2,750 words, pay it all to me
GRADED
Hello Mat! This season is obviously a very new and exciting one for Yellowknife Wraith fans as their has been a major shakeup of the team. Former franchise quarterback Chris Orosz was traded away this past offseason, and you decided to cut some fat off and convert to be a quarterback in the NSFL. Tell me, who's decision was it for you to convert, and do you think it was the best decision for yourself and for the team? It is incredibly exciting to see a former offensive lineman become a starting quarterback in this league, so obviously fans are intrigued by it!
Akselsen: Yea after Chris was traded away all of us on the team were wondering what were going to do. I had a private meeting with coach and basically he turned on my pop warner tape where I was playing quarterback. I looked at him confused and he just said, "Son, I've been watching a lot of tape, and you're the athlete we're looking for at the quarterback position." I didn't know what to say, I was in shock, a thousand thoughts swimming through my head. I was wondering could I do it, what would happen at left tackle, can I drop the weight? Well I looked at coach and told him I was ready. He said "Good, because we've got five guys flying in to replace you on the line. Now put down that donut and get to cutting." I'm really glad I did, because this has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It's not everyday that an offensive lineman gets to become a QB.
Interviewer: Now we will talk to one of the vocal leaders of our Wraith defense, Bork Bjornsson! I want to know how you feel about the team’s performance last season. As we all know, you are obviously a vocal leader of the Wraiths defense. After seeing better production on the defensive side of the ball last season, your team still finished with a worse record than the previous season, when you made the playoffs. This probably was a let down, especially since your teammates on defense stepped up their game, while still performing worse overall. What went through your mind last season knowing this and what do you plan to do this season knowing what happened in last years disappointing season?
Bjornsson: Yeah to say last season was a disappointment is a major understatement. We lost games we felt we should have won, and we lost games that statistically we should have won. But that's just how it goes sometimes.
I think the most important thing for me and the rest of the team during that time was to not point fingers. We didn't blame ourselves, we didn't blame each other, we didn't blame the sim, and we didn't blame the simmer (which one particular team seems to be in the habit of doing... which is hilarious to me). It was really cool to see the locker room take ownership of this identity where it's literally us vs. the world, and I think that gave us a lot of drive and motivation coming into this year. So it was definitely disappointing at the time, but we knew how good we could and should be so we were optimistic.
Then of course free agency came and we lost a good bit of key players, but I think that just solidified the mindset that I and the rest of the team have, that we're fighting an uphill battle. We take that mindset with us to every single game, no matter who we're playing against, because even if we're playing some scrub team at home we know in the back of our minds that we're not only against that team but we're also against the sim gods. I think that's a great attitude to have and it's helped us so far this season, as we beat the Otters in Orange County and only lost to the Hawks in Baltimore by 3 points. We may be rebuilding but we still feel like we have something to prove.
Interviewer: Thank you for that insight Bork! I am sure the fans of the team will love to have some more understanding about the disappointment of last season, as I can assure you the players were not the only ones left disappointed after last year. Now we will move onto the young tight end Joseph Askins, and ask him his first question. Joseph, replacing the shoes of the former GOAT player of your position seems like an almost impossible task to complete. After an uninspiring rookie season, what have you changed to try to replicate the production Ricky Maddox had when he played in the position you currently are?
Askins: Well, you are definitely right when you say it is nearly an impossible task to achieve! Maddox was one of the greatest tight ends to play the game in our era, and being the immediate successor to him has its challenged. Luckily, I was thrown into the perfect situation, as the locker room mentality of my teammates is amazing, and they push me to be better every single day. This past offseason, I worked relentlessly to try to improve myself as a player and a person to have a better mindset and better physique to my body that will hopefully help boost my effectiveness and production. At the end of the day, to me, all I care about is winning games and eventually a championship, so no matter what I do in a game or season, it will ultimately be a failure if we lose.
Interviewer: Wow! Those are some great words by the young and rising star in Joseph Askins and it makes me excited for our offense in the following years! Now let’s move back to Mat Akselsen, I have a few questions for him now. First, now tell me, this year appeared to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Wraiths entering the season, with many doubting the playoff chances of your team. However, after 2 games you have a 1-1 record, after an incredibly difficult schedule, and including a road victory against the Orange County Otters. At this point in the season, do you think fans should still consider this season a rebuilding year, or do you believe your team will achieve greater things?
Akselsen: Yea so our fans are pretty smart and I think they know we are in a short term rebuild, but that doesn't mean we won't be competitive this season. We're 1-1 in the early part of our schedule and we beat the Otters at home. How crazy is that? I think that kind of proves the resiliency of our team and the belief we have in each other out here. There's no quit on this team. Our early schedule is brutal, starting with three road games and then facing the Otters twice in three weeks. We aren't coming out of this unscathed, but we've started it off well enough. So to the fans, just keep cheering us on and you'll see a strong, competitive team that will fight to the end. The goal is playoffs, as it is every year around here.
Interviewer: Awesome to hear! Secondly, personally, your first game as a QB in this league was not very pretty, with you throwing 3 interceptions against an intense conference rival. How did this game affect your mentality entering Orange County, and was it beneficial or detrimental to your playing style in week 2?
Akselsen: If I'm being honest, I came into the first week cocky as all hell. I felt like I knew everything there was to know and I trusted my feet to create big plays. Well, that backfired and it really humbled me. Coach gave me a chewing too for going off script a couple times. I really deserved it. Come the week of preparation for the Otters, I sat down, went over tape and trusted the coaching staff. They're a bunch of smart guys and they get paid to come together with a good plan, so I need to let them do their job and I'll do mine. Which is to execute their plan. You know what? Once I got that ego out of the way, and we started playing as a team, well we won. We won with a great second half. It really showed me what the team and myself are made of.
Interviewer: That is very humbling of you, and I bet your teammates appreciate you taking most of the blame for that game! Thank you Mat for all of the feedback you have given us so far, it’s is really great to hear from our very own quarterback! Now we have a few questions to ask our defensive star Bork!
After game 1, your team had a disappointing defeat in Baltimore, losing 20-17. However, the scoreboard makes it look closer than it actually was as a last second kick return gave your team 8 additional points. After hoping for a bounce back season, what did this game do to affect your team's mood in the locker room, and how have you as a leader of the defense reacted to it?
However, as you know, you guys had an amazing victory in Orange County this past week! This victory is the main point of our interview here, as this victory has been seen as a major upset by players and fans across the league. What was your team's mentality entering the game and do you think it was a major part in your team leaving Orange County with a mark in the W column?
Bjornsson: Honestly for me, it wasn't that disappointing. This kind of builds off my last answer, but we knew we were significant underdogs in that game. Our goal was to try and surprise the Hawks, punch them in the mouth early on, and let them know that we weren't just going to roll over because this is a rebuilding year for us.
Obviously that didn't work out exactly as we had hoped, but I think we still sent a message, and I think the rest of the team feels that way too. Other than some nasty turnovers on offense, I think we played very well against an extremely good Hawks team.
As far as mood goes, I think we had the hardest first two games out of anybody in the entire league, having to play the reigning NSFC champs on their home turf and then playing against an extremely good Otters team at their house. We knew going into it that it was going to be rough, and I think some of us fully expected to be 0-2 right now, but we didn't roll over or neglect or DCs or strategizing, and I think it certainly paid off.
We're 1-1, technically tied for 1st in the NSFC, and in a rebuild year. And what's weird, is spirits are extremely high in Yellowknife, maybe the highest I've seen. After an entire season of underperforming and an extremely disappointing free agency, we didn't give up or roll over or complain or blame others, everybody kept grinding and it's paid off. Yeah, it's just one win that was probably a fluke anyways, and it won't change the chip on our shoulder, but I think we're a team that feels like it has a lot to prove to a lot of different people, and we're on the right track.
Interviewer: That is all very true! Obviously, getting the first one for a season is a major stepping stone, because once a team tastes victory once, it is easier to replicate that success. Do you believe your team has the correct winning mentality that is almost required to be a successful team in the NSFL, or do you think that the team is too young to carry on this momentum into the following weeks?
Bjornsson: Yeah I definitely think the Wraiths have a winning mentality. Like I said earlier, we don't excessively complain when we think we've been unlucky (which I still think we're the unluckiest team in the NSFL), we don't blame each other or others, we don't give up, and we're having fun. Add those things together and you've got a winning culture even if you're not actually getting wins.
I think our time will come, even if this season we regress. We have a fantastic core group of players to build around, great young up-and-comers, and a fantastic culture. We have realistic expectations about this rebuild year, but we have every intention of being competitive and I think we've shown that these first two weeks.
Interviewer: Thank you Bork for answering all those questions! Although I still have many more questions to ask all three of you guys, I only have time for a story from each of you. So after two long weeks, what has been one specific memory so far that has been on your mind a lot that you would like to share with your fans? We’ll start with Joseph!
Askins: For me, the best memory I have had so far is with some of the locker room talk with my teammate Eric Kennedy. He has really stepped it up this year, taking a bigger role in the offense and becoming a much better and more versatile player. Not only is he doing all of this on the field, but in the locker room he is a great guy to always talk with and have chat with. I also feel like he is one of the most underrated and disrespected skill position players in the league, and I feel by like the end of the season, he will be a recognized name by NSFL fans across North America.
Akselsen: Yea it's kind of funny. My first three years I was known as the fat guy on the field. I never really looked athletic; more like an uncoordinated seal in pads. But I worked at it every day and it kind of got me a cult following around Yellowknife. Any time there was a screen I would hear chants of 'Run fatboy run!'. It was all in good fun though. Anyway, to bring it all around we had an open practice last Tuesday and some residents came by to watch. As we were leaving the field for some conditioning inside, I overheard a little girl asking her mom if 'fat boy' was hurt today because she couldn't see him out there. I just chuckled as I head into the facility. I guess my transformation is just as surprising to the fans as it is to me.
Bjornsson: So I usually don't watch the streams because I typically just end up frustrated. But this time I watched all of the games because I was supposed to be writing a paper and was procrastinating. And it was awesome. I saw the Liberty lose (awesome), the Hawks lose (also awesome), and the Wraiths pull off the come from behind upset (the most awesome). Best procrastinating session I've ever had, I regret nothing.
I probably will continue not watching the streams though. I think I'm personally just better off that way... getting frustrated isn't very fun. But it's been a fun season, and I think it'll continue to be a fun season. It's pretty fun being the underdogs.
Interviewer: All three of those stories are great insights into the team practices and mentality! I am sure that all Yellowknife Wraith fans will be absolutely thrilled by all of the responses you have given me today, and I would like to thank you all for being here! You have great answers to all of my questions and I hope I get the opportunity to speak with all of you again in the future! Thanks again for coming onto my show today, and I wish you and your team the best luck in the coming weeks!
2,750 words, pay it all to me
GRADED
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