1) Playoff Predictions, Reviews:
If the Ultimus final in the rear view mirror lets go ahead and give a review of that one. Representing the ASFC we have the division regular season leader and reigning Ultimus champions, the Orange County Otters. These guys just breathe excellence. From the NSFC we have (also) the division regular season leader and reigning Ultimus runnerup, the Yellowknife Wraiths. For those at you at home looking puzzled, yes this is a repeat of the S18 Ultimus final game. Last time around the Otters won 16-10. Will they reign supreme again or will the Wraiths prove victorious this time around? A battle of defenses in the first quarter, the Wraiths would be the only team to touch the scoreboard with a lone field goal. They'd add to that lead in the 2nd quarter with the games first touchdown, but the Otters would break the donut with a field goal to end the half. The Otters did what they do best to start the second half racking up a pair of touchdowns and a field goal to jump out to a 20-10 lead to end the 3rd quarter. Yellowknife would narrow the deficit with a touchdown of their own very early in the fourth quarter, and after both teams swapped field goals the Wraiths would collect their 2nd touchdown of the quarter to go up by 4 points with just 4 minutes remaining. Sadly that lead would dissolve as less than 2 minutes later the otters would score their 3rd touchdown of the game to regain the lead 30-27 with 2:22 left on the clock. The Wraiths would try to rally, but were unable to respond in kind, falling short yet again to champion Orange County Otters.
5) Offseason Needs
Well for the first time since joining this league, and in fact across all sim leagues, I finally opted not to re-sign and test the wonderful world of free agency. While there was nothing wrong with my previous team, the Arizona Outlaws, they were heading towards a retool and looking at becoming a competitive squad down the road. Raymond Vans was set to hit his second year of regression and was eager to taste Ultimus victory once again so he joined the Baltimore Hawks. With the addition of Vans the Hawks shored up what was already an arguably strong defense, putting them in discussion as a potential favorite to compete for the NSFC title. The addition of Vans helps on the defensive side of the ball, but what else could the Hawks add to improve their chances next season? Based on last season they had no problems beating up on the less talented teams, but struggled mightily against the contenders. Their 0-3 record against the Wraiths is particularly glaring, especially the 55-14 blowout in the second round of the playoffs. Not sure how you add this, but "clutchness", or I guess another high end talented offensive player could certainly do the trick.
10) Commissioner
I'll start off by saying I have zero intention on taking over the commissioner position. I've been a part of sim leagues for some time now and I know I don't have the consistency and dedication to fill a position like that. Huge props to ADwyer. That being said, if I WERE to replace him there are a few things I'd consider changing. Coming from an SHL state of mind I'd love to see some tools to improve player creation and updating. It can be a pretty daunting task, especially if you have zero experience in the realm of sim leagues. This isn't the commissioners job to do, but as commissioner you could create jobs on the site that foster the creation of tools like this. Another cool idea would be to try a new site/server. jcink is a solid product, but having seen the potential of other hosting services such as MyBB used by the SHL there is a huge untapped potential that could be a lot of fun and potentially entice new users or bring back old ones. This is no small undertaking and it would be wise to review options now before the league potentially runs in to an issue with it's current set up.
11) Heroic Performance
So many games and performances to choose from. I'll keep it simple and pick myself. Week 6 against the New Orleans Second Line, Raymond Vans and the Arizona Outlaws collected one of their most decisive victories of the season. Andrew Reese would do as Andrew Reese always does, deliver. Going 29/45, 306 yards and 4 touchdowns he controlled the offense. His only blemish was a lone interception. On the other side of the ball though there was an equally impressive performance from long time linebacker, Raymond Vans. In addition to piling up a whopping 11 tackles, he managed to sack the opposing quarterback, San Francisco, twice. The biggest takeaway from this game though was in the fourth quarter when Vans intercepted a Second Line pass and returned it for a thrilling 55 yard touchdown. His final stat line was 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception and 1 defensive touchdown, which by seasons end ranked 2nd in top defensive performances. The top performance was by Richard D'Attoria, the favorite to win the defensive player of the year award. He raked in an insane 9 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and a defensive touchdown way back in week 1 and it stood the whole year as the top performance.
If the Ultimus final in the rear view mirror lets go ahead and give a review of that one. Representing the ASFC we have the division regular season leader and reigning Ultimus champions, the Orange County Otters. These guys just breathe excellence. From the NSFC we have (also) the division regular season leader and reigning Ultimus runnerup, the Yellowknife Wraiths. For those at you at home looking puzzled, yes this is a repeat of the S18 Ultimus final game. Last time around the Otters won 16-10. Will they reign supreme again or will the Wraiths prove victorious this time around? A battle of defenses in the first quarter, the Wraiths would be the only team to touch the scoreboard with a lone field goal. They'd add to that lead in the 2nd quarter with the games first touchdown, but the Otters would break the donut with a field goal to end the half. The Otters did what they do best to start the second half racking up a pair of touchdowns and a field goal to jump out to a 20-10 lead to end the 3rd quarter. Yellowknife would narrow the deficit with a touchdown of their own very early in the fourth quarter, and after both teams swapped field goals the Wraiths would collect their 2nd touchdown of the quarter to go up by 4 points with just 4 minutes remaining. Sadly that lead would dissolve as less than 2 minutes later the otters would score their 3rd touchdown of the game to regain the lead 30-27 with 2:22 left on the clock. The Wraiths would try to rally, but were unable to respond in kind, falling short yet again to champion Orange County Otters.
5) Offseason Needs
Well for the first time since joining this league, and in fact across all sim leagues, I finally opted not to re-sign and test the wonderful world of free agency. While there was nothing wrong with my previous team, the Arizona Outlaws, they were heading towards a retool and looking at becoming a competitive squad down the road. Raymond Vans was set to hit his second year of regression and was eager to taste Ultimus victory once again so he joined the Baltimore Hawks. With the addition of Vans the Hawks shored up what was already an arguably strong defense, putting them in discussion as a potential favorite to compete for the NSFC title. The addition of Vans helps on the defensive side of the ball, but what else could the Hawks add to improve their chances next season? Based on last season they had no problems beating up on the less talented teams, but struggled mightily against the contenders. Their 0-3 record against the Wraiths is particularly glaring, especially the 55-14 blowout in the second round of the playoffs. Not sure how you add this, but "clutchness", or I guess another high end talented offensive player could certainly do the trick.
10) Commissioner
I'll start off by saying I have zero intention on taking over the commissioner position. I've been a part of sim leagues for some time now and I know I don't have the consistency and dedication to fill a position like that. Huge props to ADwyer. That being said, if I WERE to replace him there are a few things I'd consider changing. Coming from an SHL state of mind I'd love to see some tools to improve player creation and updating. It can be a pretty daunting task, especially if you have zero experience in the realm of sim leagues. This isn't the commissioners job to do, but as commissioner you could create jobs on the site that foster the creation of tools like this. Another cool idea would be to try a new site/server. jcink is a solid product, but having seen the potential of other hosting services such as MyBB used by the SHL there is a huge untapped potential that could be a lot of fun and potentially entice new users or bring back old ones. This is no small undertaking and it would be wise to review options now before the league potentially runs in to an issue with it's current set up.
11) Heroic Performance
So many games and performances to choose from. I'll keep it simple and pick myself. Week 6 against the New Orleans Second Line, Raymond Vans and the Arizona Outlaws collected one of their most decisive victories of the season. Andrew Reese would do as Andrew Reese always does, deliver. Going 29/45, 306 yards and 4 touchdowns he controlled the offense. His only blemish was a lone interception. On the other side of the ball though there was an equally impressive performance from long time linebacker, Raymond Vans. In addition to piling up a whopping 11 tackles, he managed to sack the opposing quarterback, San Francisco, twice. The biggest takeaway from this game though was in the fourth quarter when Vans intercepted a Second Line pass and returned it for a thrilling 55 yard touchdown. His final stat line was 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception and 1 defensive touchdown, which by seasons end ranked 2nd in top defensive performances. The top performance was by Richard D'Attoria, the favorite to win the defensive player of the year award. He raked in an insane 9 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and a defensive touchdown way back in week 1 and it stood the whole year as the top performance.