(S25) - Ultimus Week

[Cody]

13) Take a step back and predict what the league will look like three seasons from now. Who do you predict will be the dominant teams? Which young players do you think will have morphed into superstars? Will the league have expanded again in the next three seasons, and where would these new franchises be? Don’t be afraid to be creative, but don’t be entirely outlandish either.

The league will be vastly different, yet the same. There are a number of new users coming in and shaking things up but also upholding the things that make this place great.

There are batch of new users taking over as GMs for both DSFL & ISFL teams. This will have a major impact on the way teams are not only ran but how the entire offseason is handled. I believe the new batch of users are going to be far more aggressive to get the players they want and you’ll see a lot more wheeling and dealing in the offseason. This will definitely play a key role in the next couple of offseasons as a number of teams are having minor rebuilds and with the recent additions of Berlin and New York.

With the mention of Berlin and New York and the successful first year they both had, not necessarily in the win column but in building their teams and culture. I can only see these improving even more so in the next couple of seasons and you have potential of players wishing to jump ship to these new exciting teams and be there for there first playoff appearance and championship run. The success of these two expansion teams will evidently lead to the addition of two more teams by Season 28 or 29.

The league will award expansion teams to two more international teams. They’ll want to get into the Asia and Australia market. Japan, Tokyo specifically is perfect for an expansion team. The culture brings about a number of potential names and branding that really excites the league. The Tokyo Drifters were a very popular design for the Prospect Bowl in the Season 24 offseason and I have to imagine another Tokyo based team would be just as popular. The Tokyo Suns or Sea Devils would be great names and I believe there are potential GM candidates in the Season 25 class who could run that organization.
As for Australia, there are a number of users in the league who reside in this beautiful continent and I’m confident in the next expansion process there will be a number of bids based in Australia. There a few major cities in Australia that are perfect fits with Sydney and Brisbane standing out the most.

This is expansion will bring the total number of teams to 16 which will get the league to a 8 team playoff bracket. This is going to bring more excitement to the playoffs as more users will have a stake in the outcome. The league is doing great things and the next few seasons are going to have big changes.
(445 Words)

[SchoolboyShue]

10. Task 9

Unfortunately, I don't know shit about this league. So I had to do a little bit of research to find out who the best at their position was, for Qbs is wasn't clear, RBs I don't think it was clear, WRs more clear, but only 2 major stats to go off of, but finally I landed on the dorner backs, and I found this player named Dermont Lavelle, who is just head and shoulders better than the rest. In his career Lavelle was a one time champion with the Wraiths, was a 3 time NSFC Champion, was the 2024 defensive back of the year, 2024 defensive player of the year, was a THIRTEEN TIME pro bowler, and holds a shit ton of records, Shall we list them? Number one all time in career interceptions, number one all time in career deflections, number one all time in defensive touchdowns, number one all time in punt return yards, number one all time in punt return touchdowns, number one all time in kick return yards, and number one all time in kick return touchdowns.. Folks, thats nasty. He's like Deion minus all of the single season accolades, however in 2036 Lavelle set the ISFL single season record for punt return touchdowns with 3, and his craziest game ever was when he had 214 punt return yards... IN A SINGLE GAME! Naturally, he holds pretty much every Yellowknife Wraiths record that he is eligible for, a true beast on the field, and obviously, he's a Hall of Famer. It's interesting how all of these guys are going to be remembered awhile from now, obviously with an extended season all the records are going to be shattered, it'll be very interesting to see in like S60 if these O G guys will be remembered as some of the best ever, or if a new wave of guys (particularly Mike Rotchburns) come in and set the mark as the new, best players of all time. If all of those numbers weren't enough to convince you on Lavelle, he also sits at the top of the list of all time TPE leaders for the league, at a big old 1,480 mark, 8 TPE ahead of the next highest of all time. The argument is down, folks. Lavelle is the goat, and I'd love to see if someone could come up with another cornerback that even challenges him. The last thing that would really solidify Lavelle as the goat, is if his squad could have managed to win a few more Ultimus ships.

18.
My favorite moment of the season has to be our week 10 win, when we blew the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers out of the water by a score of 48-10. The boys were cooking that day, and yours truly Mike Rotchburns led the way for the Gray Ducks in their commanding win. On the day, Rotchburns toted the rock a crazy 31 times for a grand total of 131 yards, and he pushed the rock across the end zone line three times. On top of the running backs superb performance, rookie sensation Ryan Negs posted 255 yards in the air and 3 scores via the long ball to add on to the Grey Ducks offensive barrage. If you had to pick one single week out of the season where the Gray Ducks really balled out to their full potential, look no further. On the defensive end, linebacker extrodinaire Chainbreaker racked up 10 total tackles for Minnesota on the day, four different grey ducks had big time sacks on third downs, ultimately leading to holding the Buccaneers and the S25 MVP to a mere 10 points. Furthermore, the Minnesota defense picked off the MVP twice on the day, safety of the year Damian Blackfyre was one of the two players to make a play on the ball. Lastly, 8 total Daytona long balls were batted out of the air on the day. If it weren't for some stone hands on the defensvie side, Minnesota easily could have had another 2 or 3 picks, setting a DSFL record.
16.
The Rotch should have gotten some awards. Rotchburns was up for Running back of the year, offensive player of the year, performance of the year, and MVP. To his demise, he won nothing. He came in second for running back of the year, 3rd in offensive player of the year, second in performance of the year, and fourth in MVP (behind a linebacker, gross). Rotchburns got straight up snubbed, in my opinion. Not only did he lose 3/4 of those awards to a RB on a 4-10 team, but he also had more yards and more touchdowns than the guy who won the award over him. The vote getters reasoning was because Cobra Kai had more yards per carry, but it was a less than a half a yard extra per carry. Thats right, less than a foot and a half difference and 4 less touchdowns. Oh well, maybe in the future big Rotch can make some moves to win some other awards. His eye is set on the offensive rookie of the year next season, and if he keeps pumping the iron like he has in the past then he will be even more of a beast once he finally gets the call to New Orleans. I will say, I would be able to handle my losing of the running back of the year if it weren't for how the ISFL RBOTY voting went. The guy with more touchdowns and more yards beat the guy with more yards per carry but less yards and TDs? Hello? Does anyone see how backwards that is? No? Okay. voting is skewed. hate to see it.

[Rise of Smitty]

Task #7:

The playoffs are over a champion has been crowned and it is none other than the San Jose Sabercats. It was quite the journey for the Sabercats as they were not exactly world beaters during the regular season. They finished at a solid 9-7 but third overall in their own division and made it as a wildcard team. The journey to the Ulitmus was not easy, in fact, it was the hardest path any team faced in this season's Ultimus bracket. The first opponent they had to square up was the Arizona Outlaws, who also finished 9-7, but had much better statistics during the season. The Sabercats were an underdog in this matchup but they proceeded to win 33-27 showing big offense in a season where they were an average offensive team. From there the defense took over as they ousted the Orange County Otters, the first place team in their conference, by a score of 23-14. Finally they would square off with the 13-3 Colorado Yeti. Let's be blunt here, the Yeti were a special team, and they steamrolled each opponent on their path to the Ultimus by the scores of 44-17 (versus Baltimore) and 34-7 (versus Chicago). It looked like they would likely steamroll the final opponent, another 9-7 opponent with a sub-par offense, but it didn't quite work out that way. The Sabercats shocked the world by pounding the Yeti into submission both on offense and defense with a final score of 34-17. The biggest key to the Sabercats amazing title run was the ground and pound duo of Jamar Lackson and Rando Cardrissian. This duo averaged 115 yards per game on the ground and the Sabercats ran the ball over 40 times in the Ultimus victory. The ability to continue to churn out yardage, move the chains, and control the clock was the recipe for success that they flawlessly deployed. Combining that ground game with a defense that allowed only 19 points per game over the three playoff contests and an even better 15.5 points per game against the top two teams in the league would be tough for any team in the ISFL history to overcome and beat. It is hard to say if this team will carry it over next season as they really just hit a hot streak at the right time but that doesn't matter now. What matters now is that they won the Ultimus, hoisted that trophy, and get to celebrate all the way up until Season 25 kicks off and it is back to business again for everyone.

Words: 428

Task #8:

Normally I would take a look at the offensive side of the ball when giving my take for an award winner and I would like to say Jamar Lackson should be the MVP. Today, however, I am looking at the defensive side of the ball and want to give an endorsement for the Defensive Player of the Year award. I think there are several strong contenders but none are strong than linebacker Galf Wilf of the Arizona Outlaws. When looking at the defensive players stat leaders this guy completely jumps off the page. He put up a gaudy 20 sacks for the season which is insane from the linebacker position. He was essentially a human bullet coming after the quarterback this season and was a large reason why the Outlaws were able to go 9-7 and make the playoffs as a two seed this season. However let's keep looking at the numbers because he was not a one trick pony. Wilf put up a robust amount of counting stats with 121 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 3 interceptions, and 20 pass deflections. Wilf showed immense talent and ability to not only harass the quarterback but cover tight ends and running backs with the interceptions and deflections and clean up a bunch of plays in the run game with his 121 tackles. Outside of the sacks Wilf did not lead in any statistic among his fellow linebackers but his all-around production was clearly head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. It wasn't just the fact that his numbers were all around outstanding but he led the Arizona Outlaws to the leagues second best defense in points allowed. This shows that he wasn't racking up meaningless stats, he was meaningful impact in every game he played and in every victory the Outlaws had. Unfortunately the Outlaws were upset in the playoffs by the eventual champions but fortunately this is a regular season award. Looking at the rest of the field the next two choices would be linebackers Banks from New York and Mango-Panda from Sarasota. The difference here, other than the stats not quite being up to par, is that Banks were meaningless game stats and Mango-Panda led a below average Sarasota defense. Wilf's impact on each game is too great to overlook for this award which makes him the winner in my eyes. I think an argument could be made that Wilf should be in serious consideration for the MVP as well but that award rarely goes to a defensive player.

Words: 428

[UberBJ]

T3 Task (2.5 TPE) SHL Affiliate (CW)



25) (2.5 TPE) Imagine that the league’s Pro Bowl included a skills competition similar to the NFL. What sorts of  games could you see being implemented? Which players do you think would perform the best in ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, or other games? Which conference would come out on top? 

The league’s pro bowl clearly still needs an overhaul, because this question is asked every year. With that said, I propose that we do a position group from each conference pro bowl in different events to have a unique competition that will draw in the viewers and ratings, in order to keep the HO employed.

For OL/DL - There will be a sumo competition. While most of the hand fighting and leverage is similar to the current trenches, it is just 1v1 here and there are no pads to grip. Holding penalties are a thing of the past.

QB – No one cares about them, were tired of seeing them all season. So we send them to the pub to throw darts and drink medium quality local brews while we focus on other groups.

WR/TE - A greased pig capture competition. 1v1 race to see who can catch that piggy the quickest. This is to showcase the hands team for onside kicks and show who can reel that ball in in the 4th quarter when its pouring rain. Or grease in this case, with a pigskin (literally)

CB/S - Freeze tag capture the flag. You gotta be able to get to you


LB – Arm wrestling. Get Alpha on them other LBs, who will be king?

K/P - Foot volley. It’s beach volleyball with your feet. Let them showcase their athleticism beyond just kicking a ball, they deserve it.  (258 words)



21) Create a billboard, magazine cover, unique trading card, or video game cover depicting a superstar of the league. Graphics only. (2.5 TPE)



23) Show your player hoisting the championship trophy. Graphics only. (2.5 TPE)

[TheSparkyDee]

Tier 1: #6

The ISFL, what I have learned so far with this league is that it is a nice running simulation league. The way I can navigate the site is simple. I have some experience with these kinda sim leagues, I have noticed that it is a lot more involved even at the stage I am in. I am a S27 Draftee and I see that we close to the DSFL draft where we will see who takes a chance on me, but the teams that have communicated with me have take me in with open arms. I have enjoyed my first few days so far, seeing a lot of familiar faces joining in this seasons draft and from the past. It is cool to see the way I can build my player into something I want. My player is ready to catch TOUCHDOWNS in the end zone to win himself a championship, but I have learned from my previous sim leagues, you need locker room chemistry. If you do not have that locker room chemistry, you will lose the active players and get stuck with IA and we do not want that. But in this league I have noticed locker rooms that I have been allowed into and experience what the players experience is different than most leagues because they are always active with each other. And that is what I want for my player. A active locker room to shoot the shit and talk IRL football and even ISFL football. There is another thing I have noticed as well, is the help that people offer. As soon as I joined, I had the player almost perfect but frazzle14 helped me immediately, and I appreciated that a lot. Frazzle also helped me with my kick start to get the most TPE I could get as a new rookie starting out. The teams recruiting staff that reached out to me where amazing they helped if I had any issues, as well as leading me to more TPE opportunities! I love my TPE gains! The teams recruiters have been asking some good questions to get to know the prospects the new and the old. Being from the SHL I have been familiar with sim leagues and I am the simmer for the World Junior Championship and I am in two management teams or as other people could call it the “War Room”. I am familiar with those things and I want to look into the GM job. So, I understand that I am new, but that is definitely a goal here as well as the SHL. I want the POWER… I mean I want to be a GM. Yea not unlimited power *insert Palpatine GIF* but I want to run a team and help build a locker room that keeps players active because if you cannot keep active players that wants to stay in your locker room than you will not win with inactive players. I would bring things to the locker room nobody has every before done. We want the most active locker room in the league. You know as a GM, I would help this site grow. I mean it’s massive now but I want to think I can help this ISFL grow in the future and become a great place for someone who needs people to talk to and have fun doing it! I will take full responsibility of the team, if we are struggling it’s me not the players, and I will not point fingers. I will own up to my mistakes. I will bring on a new and exciting style to the ISFL. Being new to the ISFL, I have been trying to talk to as many people as I can to figure out the best way to gain every piece of knowledge! The way to learning how to be the best player you can be is to ask questions. I have learned that from this league, because everyone I have talked to have helped me and pointed me in the right direction to make sure I know what I am doing. When I first started the SHL it took me days and days to figure out the update page, and people were getting frustrated, but here I knew how to get it done, and now that I know how to do it. I do like the media portion of this league because I can talk about how I think I am ready to make my WR Mike Hunt a FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICK! Pick Mike Hunt at WR, you will have a great WR on and off the field. This league is going to be so much fun and meeting new players from all over the world and as well as the States. These sim leagues are not all about how your player does on the field, but how you do in the locker room that you get drafted in! Good luck to all the S27 Draftees!!!


(830 words)

[GuitarMaster116]

2) This week will see the S25 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. In 800 words or more, recount any of the previous playoff cycles of either league. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse or Cinderella teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? How did the title game play out, and which players made their mark on the field? Tell the story of those playoffs as completely as you can. Do not simply recount your own experience in those playoffs or that of a singular team.

Since I am pretty sure I can not talk about this year’s playoffs, I will talk about the other season’s playoff season that I was apart of, which was last season, S24. I am going to talk about the S24 DSFL season though and not ISFL. So, to start off, some of the things to note about the S24 season was that Tijuana, Norfolk, Portland, and London all made it to the playoffs. Out of those 4, London was the one who ended up winning the Ultimini.

Tijuana had the best record at 10-4 in the league and was just in general one of the best teams in the league that year, being amazing at home games, having a top defense and a top offense. But Norfolk upset them in a insanely close game that led to them winning and moving on to the Ultimini, where they ultimately fell to London.

Norfolk looked like by far the best team at the beginning of the season, basically curb stomping and team in their way. They went 5-0, but then went on a large losing streak. This way mainly caused by their poor offense in those games, they did have an elite defense though all year, and this showed in the game against Tijuana when Norfolk picked off Boss in overtime to basically seal the win.

Portland snuck into the playoffs with a 6-8 record and just beat out Kansas City. Honestly, this team stat wise seems more average than Kansas City was, except that Portland had the best scoring offense in the league, even though they had the worst rushing attack and one of the worst yards per game in the season. Howitzer just led this fairly strong passing attack and they were able to sneak by Kansas City with their strong offense, even with a rather poor defense. They eventually lost to London though since they were facing a London team who had the top passing offense and a top 3 defense.

Finally, the champions themselves. They may have only had a 8-6 record, but they were great team for sure. I wish we were able to see a Tijuana vs London in S24, but that would not happen until next season. They had a deadly passing attack, leading the league in it, and also had one of the best defenses in the league. Really the only downside London had was having a not so great running game, but they didn’t really need it with how well the passing offense was. This London team played amazing down the stretch to take it all and win.

I am now going to do a quick write up of each team who missed the cut and talk about their season and why they missed the playoffs.

Let us start with the team with the worst record, Minnesota. They had a horrible offense where they were trying to balance a two QB system but it just didn’t work for them. There defense as well was the worst in the league, which is surprising since they had some big name players who put up a lot of stats. But at the end of the day, this team was disjointed and ended up having the worst offense and defense. The lone bright spot on the team was the rushing attack with Vermillion and Rotchburns being one of the most dynamic duos. They ended up winning 5 games still do they weren’t completely horrible, but the wins the did have were all one score wins, and almost all of the losses were multiple score losses. Being the worst team at 5 wins is unfortunate, it just means that the rest of the league was really good that year, and Minnesota was unfortunately the team left behind.

Next up is Dallas, who had one more win over Minnesota with an 6-8 record. That is still a respectable record, as it shows how tough each team was this year. Tijuana just won the Ultimini this season with a 6-8 record. For Dallas though, they were not so lucky, being the bottom team of their conference. Compared to Minnesota, Dallas really was just a bad team in all aspects. Minnesota at least had a good rushing attack, but Dallas all across the board were not great, being 5th, 6th, and 7th, in every single major aspect. They also struggled heavily in away games, only winning 1 out of 7 away games. This led to them falling to last in their conference.

Next team up is Kansas City. The NFC North last year, while not quite as good as the SFC South, was a blood bath. All of these teams in this division were only a game or two away from being in the playoffs. Unfortunately for Kansas City though, they were the unfortunate team that just missed out. They were actually a really good team I thought though. They reminded me a lot like a lesser Norfolk. Some of the games they played in they looked ridiculously dominant. For a time, I expected them to make the playoffs as they were 6-5 at one point, which isn’t the best record, but in the last 3 games of the season they lost all 3, which ended up leading them to tying with Portland, which KC and Portland went 1-1 in the season, so Portland got in because they had the higher PF total. Looking at their stats, they had one of the better offenses in the league, they just had a relatively weak run game and defense, which unfortunately led them to their losses.

Next is Myrtle Beach. I mentioned the Minnesota were trying to imitate Myrtle Beach but were failing. That’s because what Myrtle Beach did on offense was special and unique. They had a really good QB in Daytona who actually just won the MVP this season, but they also had the one player that transformed this entire offense, and that was Owen Holloway. He was probably the most dynamic player in the league, and he led Myrtle Beach to having the number 1 rushing attack. Unfortunately though, the rest of the team didn’t perform as well as Holloway did, as they had one of the worst passing offenses and also the worst pass defense in the league. It is hard to win games by only running the ball, but Myrtle Beach did a pretty amazing job at that, getting a 7-7 record in an incredibly tough division.

That is a quick overview of the S24 DSFL Season! It was a great season coming off a reddit class and was super competitive and fun. Although it does bring back some painful memories.

Code:

Word Count: 1113

[RansackTheUniverse]

8) Awards season is a big part of the offseason festivities. Take the stand, in 400 words or more, for one or more players that are not your own, and argue why they should receive awards glory. They can be your teammates or anyone in the league. How did their stats and on the field contribution contribute to their case this year?

When looking at awards in the S25 ISFL season, there was one player that stood out to me as someone that had a chance to take home a lot of hardware. And that player of course, is Baltimore Hawks rookie wide receiver, Doug Howlett. While Howlett’s season was impressive by any standards, the fact that he did it as a rookie makes it all the more incredible. Howlett hit league by storm, going for over 100 receiving yards in each of his first four games. His strong play continued throughout the entire season, and he finished with an insane stat line of 102 receptions for 1646 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged 16.1 yards per reception over the course of the season. Howlett’s receptions and yards were enough for him to lead the league in both categories - he led the league in yards by a wide margin, his closest competition, William Lim of the Colorado Yeti, was over 200 yards behind him. Lim, who I just mentioned, was also Howlett’s closest competition for wide receiver of the year - he actually finished with 15 touchdowns on the season, four more than Howlett who had 11. However, touchdowns can often be a little bit more fluky than yards or receptions over the course of a season. Because of that, I think Howlett’s numbers are more than enough to make him the clear choice for wide receiver of the year.
The fact that Howlett’s performance this season was impressive enough to make him the front runner for wide receiver of the year, it should be obvious that he is also the clear favourite to win the offensive rookie of the year award. There were plenty of other standout rookie performances this season - including Howlett’s teammate, wide receiver Joshua Campbell - not to mention quarterback Suleiman Ramza, running back Zoe Watts, among others. But none of these players’ seasons were really comparable to Howlett’s. This should be another easy decision for voters here.
With two awards already looked up, the big question remaining was would Doug Howlett add a third, and take home the offensive player of the year award. Unlike the first two awards, Howlett was really going to have his work cut out for him with this one. While Howlett had the most impressive season of all wide receivers this year, there were some quarterbacks and running backs that were also very impressive.Quarterbacks like Wolfie McDummy and Dexter Banks, and also running back Ashley Owens would be very reasonable choices here as well, though Howlett definitely has a strong case to make the award his. Whatever ends up happening, his season will not be forgotten anytime soon


13) Take a step back and predict what the league will look like three seasons from now. Who do you predict will be the dominant teams? Which young players do you think will have morphed into superstars? Will the league have expanded again in the next three seasons, and where would these new franchises be? Don’t be afraid to be creative, but don’t be entirely outlandish either.

Three seasons from now, the league will probably look very different than how it does right now, though I’m sure there will be many things that still look the same. The Orange County Otters for example, have been the model of consistency in the ISFL - making the playoffs in every season of their existence. There’s no reason to think that will change in the next three years. They are coming off a season where they started a rookie quarterback in Suleiman Ramza, and still managed to finish as the one seed in the ASFC. Three seasons from now, Ramza will be in his prime, along with plenty of the Otter’s current young players, and they will likely still be contending for Ultimus titles year in and year out.
In the NSFC, the Baltimore Hawks have a real shot at being top dog three seasons from now. Their quarterback, Chika Fujiwara, will have maxed out stats for each of the next three seasons, and should continue leading a potent passing attack. Rookie wide receivers Doug Howlett and Joshua Campbell both had extremely impressive rookie seasons, and will be among the league leaders in TPE three seasons from now. It seems very likely that Chika’s connection with these two will only become stronger and stronger. On the defensive side of things, the Hawks have several players that will be right in their prime three seasons from now, including cornerback Eldrick Avery, who has a chance to be the highest TPE player in the secondary in the entire league three seasons from now.
In terms of expansion teams, it will be interesting to see how the two expansion teams, the Berlin Fire Salamanders and the New York Silverbacks, look three seasons from now. The Sarasota Sailfish are currently looking like an established franchise contending for playoff appearances and Ultimus titles already, while the Honolulu Hahalua have not been quite as fortunate, and are still looking for their first playoff appearance. Looking at the Fire Salamanders roster, they have a slew of S22 and S23 players that will be in the heart of their prime three seasons from now. They seem poised to be the expansion team that might just have a crack at an Ultimus three seasons from now. However, their window may be rather short, as they don’t have as many young players on their roster. The Silverbacks on the other hand, may still be on the outside looking in to the playoffs for the next few seasons, they do have a lot of youth on their roster, and could be building something that will allow them to start contending around three seasons from now.

[Rusfan]

11) History is not always kind to the losers. Tell the story of a team who you view as an all-time great but who did not win the title game. Why was that team so dominant? What were the major focal points of their offense and defense, and who were the star players? What makes them so special? What was the reason that they ultimately fell short of immortal greatness?

The S24 Colorado Yeti ended the regular season a league-high 14-2, one of the greatest records in league history. They scored a league-high 455 points, blowing any other total out of the water and allowing the second lowest points allowed at 290, behind only the Orange County Otters total of 278. They went 7-1 at home, a very strong record, and a mind-boggling 7-1 on the road, a feat not seen before or since. They went 9-1 in their inter-conference games and ended the regular season riding a 9-game winning streak. So what made this team so dominant? Their rushing attack and dominant defense. They led the league in points per game as well as rushing yards per game, and were second in total yards per game despite ending 5th in passing yards per game. On defense they finished second-best in the league in points allowed per game, yards allowed per game, and rushing yards allowed per game. This is again despite only finishing 4th in passing yards allowed per game. Who were their focal points as a team? Almost too many to name, but I’ll give it a shot. Starting with the most important position on the field, Wolfie McDummy was just at the end of his prime, and only 2 seasons out from retirement. Rated as a perfect 100 overall he contributed equal parts in both the teams passing and rushing games. At running back the backfield was shared by both Ashley Owens and Richard Gilbert, a kind of thunder and lightning duo, Owens brought the speed and Gilbert brought the power. Earl Sauce,a talented-yet-underachieving TE managed to wrangle over 400 yards and 3 TD’s in the season. Their receiving core was led by long time Yeti William Lim, with WR2 duties going to Jackson Kingston in what turned out to be his final year with the Yeti before he was taken in the following expansion draft by the newly-formed New York Silverbacks. The defense literally had at least 2 stars at every level, so I’ll just say that they possessed the best secondary in the league and their D-line was a nightmare for any opposing offensive line. They ultimately fell short in one of the greatest upsets in ISFL history, losing 17-12 to the 9-7 San Jose Sabercats. The team that meme’d their way into the big game somehow came out on top due to the sudden death of every starting Yeti offensive player. That’s not actually what happened but it sure felt like it.

14) Greatness emerges through trial by fire. Recount the story of a team who came back from adversity, whether it’s a single miracle game or an entire season or multi-season comeback. How was this team‘s challenge significant, and how did they engineer a recovery? What key moves or plays were the lynchpin to victory?

The S22 Colorado Yeti finished their regular season 8-5, and not many people expected them to go too far in the playoffs. They blew out the 6-7 Sarasota Sailfish 36-14 in the wildcard round and advanced to face the league's best squad the Yellowknife Wraiths. The Wraiths had home field advantage, and the best squad in their history. The Wraiths opened up as massive 17-point favorites against the Colorado Yeti and there was not one person across the league who picked them to advance to the championship game. The Yeti for the first time (but not the last) shocked the world, juuuuuuuust topping the Yellowknife Wraiths 17-16 in an instant classic playoff matchup with a game-winning field goal from Yeti legend Silver Banana. The Yeti advanced to the ultimus and the Wraiths still have not recovered from this defeat. This was it, the championship game. The 8-5 Colorado Yeti vs the 10-3 Orange County Otters. This wasn’t the first ultimus Colorado had been to, not by a long shot, but it was the first they had been to in a while. Once again the Yeti found themselves talked about as a national afterthought, a sure-fire loser to the great and unstoppable Orange County Otters, a team that has never missed the playoffs in all their history. With home field advantage and a team just as good if not better than Yellowknife nobody expected anything more than an Otter blowout and yet another trophy added to their ever-expanding hall of Ultimus trophies. The game started just as everyone expected. At halftime the score was a measly 14-3 Otter lead, and was expanded to 21-3 on the opening drive of the second half. Then, suddenly, something changed. Suddenly the Yeti defense stepped up and only allowed one more field goal for the rest of the game, and the Yeti offense came alive. They scored their first touchdown of the day on a Wolfie McDummy 3 yard run on their second possession of the second half. They then got the ball back after an Otter 3-and-out and scored another TD off of a Michael Vincent 4 yard run and a subsequent successful 2 point conversion. Down 18-21 both offenses traded empty drives followed by an Otter field goal. THen, with only one drive left, Wolfie McDummy led his squad down the field and scored the game-winning TD with only 38 seconds left off of a 10 yard strike to WR James Bishop. THe 8 play, 4:10 drive gave the Yeti a 1 point lead which they would just hold on to, and win perhaps the greatest ultimus in league history.

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Task 25: 
Another UW means another Pro Bowl competition suggestion, however, this year seems to be a bit different. With the global pandemic and the high transmission risk of COVID-19, I feel like this years Pro Bowl Skills competition games would be a little bit different. The first competition I would suggest would be a hotdog, pie, cupcake, some sort of food eating competition. I feel like this would be a great competition to feature Offensive lineman versus defensive lineman, defensive backs versus wide receivers, kickers versus punters, etc. With the amount of training players do, I feel like eating a high amount of food should be no problem for some of these guys. Secondly, I feel like there could be a huge tournament of Madden, or any video game really, that all of the players could partake in. This is another event that can be played at a socially distanced area to limit COVID concerns, but also involve the players competitive attitudes. Additionally, I think most players are huge gamers, so it would definitely combine two things they love the most: football and video games. Lastly, I think a great challenge would be individual obstacle courses. Like a football version of ninja warrior where each person competes by themselves. Could do either a tournament style or different stages until there is a last man standing! Like I said, this years pro bowl could get interesting with all of the Covid regulations and finding creative ways to still have fun and compete! (250 WORDS)

Task 16: 
Although awards season is already over (congrats to all of the winners) I still think that Thomas Rose should have won at least Linebacker of the Year for this past season. My player, Thomas Rose, was a huge part of the Kansas City Coyotes defense this year. Filling the top linebacker spot on the team, he finished with an impressive 114 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 9 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 7 pass deflections. Amongst active linebackers this season, Thomas Rose ranked: fifth in tackles, third in tackles for loss, tied for second in forced fumbles, third in sacks, first in interceptions, and sixth in pass deflections on a team that failed to make the playoffs. Compared to the winner who was second, fifth, tied for second, first, third, and first on a much better team. I understand that while Rose did not have a superstar season, he was the most valuable defensive player to his team this season. He kept Kansas City in a lot of games, commanded the defense, and was ultimately a huge reason why they made such a strong playoff push. After barely cracking over 80 tackles last season, Thomas Rose came with a vengeance this season and did not disappoint. I strongly feel that if his team made the playoffs and won, he may have locked up this award. But regardless, I am happy he got second place and earned some respect. (240 WORDS)

Task 22: 
This years DSFL draft has a boat load of talent. Tons of guys are finally beginning their careers, starting a fresh career, or simply continuing a legacy from a previous life. Every draft has one standout guy that I think will be above the rest. Last season I chose GOAT Tank, and this season, I am choosing one of my teammates Arthur Naught, Wide Receiver, out of the University of Pennsylvania. Representing Canada with a solid frame at 6’2” and 215 pounds, Arthur Naught is a route running wide receiver who has phenomenal footwork and speed that kills defensive backs; one of the highest max speed potentials I have seen in a while. This season he was the leading receiver for the Kansas City Coyotes and it is very easy to see why. Drawing comparisons of Antonio Brown (minus the off field antics) and Keenan Allen, Arthur truly knows how to get off the line and keep defensive backs on their toes all game. He excels at running every route and creating separation due to his high potentials in speed and agility, potentials that many secondaries will have trouble defending. He also has great hands and ball control, being able to bring down any ball that comes his way no matter the defender interference. Although his strength is a bit lackluster and his intelligence has yet to be truly tested, I think Naught will be a fine piece for any DSFL team and I think he is an ISFL star in the making. (253 WORDS)

Task 30: 
This year was a big year for the league because of the expansion draft and adding two more teams into the mix in the ISFL. Although an exciting time, it was definitely not exciting for the players on the team given the outcome of their seasons. This year we were introduced to the Berlin Fire Salamanders and the New York Silverbacks and even with top tier names, these two were bottom tier teams when it came to the standings. Berlin finished dead last in league and conference at 3-13, and New York did not fare any better at a record of 4-12. Both teams were pitiful at keeping opponents offenses off the field and were terrible at playing Road games. However, there was some good for both teams. Berlin was by far an elite rushing team, finishing first in their conference and third in the league for yards per game. So although they were dead last at scoring points, they have a huge upside in being able to run the ball with efficiency! Something they should game plan for. New York was also very efficient at running the ball, finishing fourth in their conference and sixth overall! Their biggest downside was not winning a single game away from home. Something that they truly need to be better at if they want to compete some day. Both teams need to improve heavily, starting with getting a couple offensive weapons and cleaning up the defense. However, both run the ball well and should probably build around that in the coming seasons. (259 WORDS)

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11. The Orange County Otters have a long and storied history. The most championships by far of any franchise in ISFL sim league history. They have had multiple dynasties, including two three peats. The only other franchise to have a three peat was the Arizona Outlaws who had multiple bots and cheaters during the earliest era of the league with barely any competition. This pales in comparison to the Otters of course who had three peats in the middle of the S1s and in late S10s. Despite all the wins, the Otters have had quite a few hard losses as well believe it or not. They lost an early Ultimus to the Liberty back in S7. They’ve lost multiple painful Ultimus Conference championship games. For example, they’ve lost two straight to the Sabercats who went on to win two straight Ultimus’s in S24 and S25. Yeah, some franchises are praying to even get to one conference game. But at the end of the day the Otters hold themselves to high standards. It’s either Ultimus or bust every season. And one particular bust is especially painful because of how it happened. This particular story is about the S22 Ultimus runner ups (aka losers) the Orange County Otters. 

The Otters of S22 may have been one of their strongest yet. Armstrong was still at the height of his powers, posting 23 total TDs to only 8 INTs, with nearly 4000 total yards. The Otters posted a top 3 offence and a top 3 defense. They were extremely well balanced as they were number 1 in the conference and second in the league in total amount of yards gained offensively and number 1 in the league in yards allowed per game. In addition, they had a number one in the ASFC run game and third league wide, while on the other side of the ball they had the number one rushing defense in the league. They had a top 4 team in passing yardage per game and were number one in the conference in passing yards allowed per game and second in the league in that category. Most importantly, they were able to translate that into wins, having a conference best 10-3 record. They steamrolled their way to the Ultimus Bowl as the Armstrong led Otters threw up 50 total points against the Austin Copperheads. They thought they’d have their easiest championship yet as they watched the 11-2 Wraiths lose 17-16 to the 8-5 Wraiths. The Otters had a 21-3 lead towards the end of the 4th quarter until watching as McDummy and the Yeti rallied of the 25-24 victory on the road. What could have been.

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7. The San Jose Sabercats are champions once again. Of course the question remains....how the fuck do they keep getting away with this? They’ve now won two straight Ultimus trophies in the Yeti’s home turf. The Yeti hosted league best records in most categories the past two seasons and they’ve been trounced almost easily in both matchups. McDummy was exposed in last year’s Ultimus and yet again in the Ultimus as a fraud. And enough picking on the Yeti, but how about the Otters who’ve lost two straight Conference championships to this team, while being dominated to boot. The Sabercats have made all the teams look bad in the past couple of playoff runs, but let’s focus on this season and how the Sabercats managed to get back to this game to achieve what the S14 Sabercats failed to achieve, successfully defending their title.

The Sabercats started off winning one out of four preseason games. In week one they lost to the Otters on the road 23-17. They then managed to get to .500 with a 27-19 win against the Outlaws at home. In week three they beat the Second line on the road on a high scoring 34-30 win. They then lost to the Hahalua 34-21. They then rattled off two straight wins against the Copperheads and the Silverbacks. Thet then lost two straight games against the Yeti and the expansion Berlin Firesalamanders. They then on another two straight games against the Butchers and Hahalua. They then lost two straight games against the Otters and Outlaws. At this point, they were in desperate need to make sure they win the next three games to end the season. Just like last season, it would come down to the last game when it came to the ASFC. They then managed to break the pattern of two straight wins and two straight losses when they won three straights against the Secondline, Liberty and the Copperheads. Winning against the Secondline and the Copperheads was huge as it gave them a bit of a breather and all but guaranteed a playoff berth for their resilient squad. They lost their last game of the season to the Silverbacks but they still made it into the playoff regardless, finishing third in the conference at 9-7. They would have to win three straight road games to make it back to the Ultimus. In the wildcard round they beat the Outlaws in OT overcoming a 21-3 deficit. In the Conference championship they yet again pummeled the Otters for a 23-14 victory. They then had an Ultimus rematch with the 13-3 Yeti. They beat them 34-17 as they bullied McDummy into a 14/44, 148 game, 2 INTs and a 31.2 rating. Congrats to the Sabercats. Is it a dynasty?

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