12) It’s once again expansion season in the ISFL. Reflect on the additions of the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders and discuss how these teams will affect the league. How do you see scheduling or playoff seeding potentially changing? How will these teams change the power balances in their respective conferences? How do you think each team should go about building their roster, whether it’s through the expansion draft, regular draft, or many seasons down the line?
An expansion season always changes the landscape of a league and I do not believe that the ISFL will be immune to that change. With the creation of the two new teams, the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders, it will obviously affect each and every team as the expansion draft requires some generally good players or players with high potential, to be left unprotected. I imagine the teams in the NSFC such as the Colorado Yeti and Sarasota Sailfish will be the least effected by this draft, losing one or two players won't stop them from retaining a good team and a good record. However teams on the rebuild like the Philadelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks will have to choose carefully who they protect so that there aren't any setbacks on their way up the ladder. The ASFC on the other hand may see a chance for a clear leader to rise to the top. I have never seen such an even division in my life and with all teams within two games of each other, I think the GM's really have to think about who they will expose and whether the new team to join the division will be strong and compete against them. I think the ASFC next year will likely have some clearer winners and a little bit of a shake up with a new team joining will help this along. I think the new expansion teams will need to be careful in the way they draft in the expansion and make sure they pick players who they can build around and that will stick around for the foreseeable future. I imagine they will need to take a look at the upcoming draft crops and make a decision on positions that they want to focus on in the expansion to create a competitive team. Supplementing this with new recruits via the draft will help them create teams that are young and upcoming. For their focus on the draft itself, I think finding players that are committed to the league and committed to staying through a likely tough start will help them develop into a strong contender for years to come. It will be a bit of pressure for these new GM's but likely they have what it takes to make the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders teams that are consistent playoff teams. It will be interesting to see the strategies of the expansion teams and I hope to see some new or out of the box approaches, only time will tell.
9) Pick any position, and determine who in your view is the greatest player to ever suit up at that position. Why do you view them as the GOAT? What achievements, records, accolades, or statistics do they hold? How do they stack up against the other legends in their position, and why does your chosen candidate come out on top?
I am new to this league and there are many positions and great players in history so I have decided to go myself as a linebacker, and therefore for this task I am going to look at who I think is the greatest player to line up as.. a linebacker. This will hopefully give me a bit of an insight into the previous legends that came before me and to give me goals to aim for in my own career here in the ISFL. The definition of being the greatest of all time in a position is always tricky, you need to consider what you hold as higher importance, is it winning championships, personal statistics or records and even how the player affected those around them. There have been a few damn good linebackers throughout the 24 years of the NSFL/ISFL and I would suggest the best one would be Jaylon Lee. Lee who played for the Arizona Outlaws, San Jose Sabercats and Philadelphia Liberty over a ten year career. When Lee retired he had achieved a lot, he was a four time NSFL Champion and had nearly racked up 100 tackles for loss as well as a whopping 86 sacks. He was a five time pro bowl selection from 2017-2023 and when he had retired he held the league record for most tackles made at 1042. Winning the championship in four out of ten years is an impressive feat and Lee obviously had a hand in this with some impressive numbers in each of those championship winning years. The reason I believe he is the greatest pure linebacker to play in the league is that he managed to achieve personal greatness whilst also having the team achieve the goals of winning championship after championship. My close second was Austin Roenick, he had a terrific career which spanned 12 years and he was a mainstay at the Baltimore Hawks. Roenick was the man that broke Jaylon Lee's all time tackles record, he had some good years around the other key stats for a linebacker but to me, did not quite match Jaylon Lee. He was a multi time pro bowler with nine appearances and this shows the class that Roenick brought to the league but despite his own success his team did not always bring home the bacon despite being in the final multiple times in his career. I hope to be able to make my own mark on this league and follow in the footsteps of these legends. It is my hope that I can even surpass them but only time will tell.
An expansion season always changes the landscape of a league and I do not believe that the ISFL will be immune to that change. With the creation of the two new teams, the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders, it will obviously affect each and every team as the expansion draft requires some generally good players or players with high potential, to be left unprotected. I imagine the teams in the NSFC such as the Colorado Yeti and Sarasota Sailfish will be the least effected by this draft, losing one or two players won't stop them from retaining a good team and a good record. However teams on the rebuild like the Philadelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks will have to choose carefully who they protect so that there aren't any setbacks on their way up the ladder. The ASFC on the other hand may see a chance for a clear leader to rise to the top. I have never seen such an even division in my life and with all teams within two games of each other, I think the GM's really have to think about who they will expose and whether the new team to join the division will be strong and compete against them. I think the ASFC next year will likely have some clearer winners and a little bit of a shake up with a new team joining will help this along. I think the new expansion teams will need to be careful in the way they draft in the expansion and make sure they pick players who they can build around and that will stick around for the foreseeable future. I imagine they will need to take a look at the upcoming draft crops and make a decision on positions that they want to focus on in the expansion to create a competitive team. Supplementing this with new recruits via the draft will help them create teams that are young and upcoming. For their focus on the draft itself, I think finding players that are committed to the league and committed to staying through a likely tough start will help them develop into a strong contender for years to come. It will be a bit of pressure for these new GM's but likely they have what it takes to make the New York Silverbacks and Berlin Fire Salamanders teams that are consistent playoff teams. It will be interesting to see the strategies of the expansion teams and I hope to see some new or out of the box approaches, only time will tell.
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9) Pick any position, and determine who in your view is the greatest player to ever suit up at that position. Why do you view them as the GOAT? What achievements, records, accolades, or statistics do they hold? How do they stack up against the other legends in their position, and why does your chosen candidate come out on top?
I am new to this league and there are many positions and great players in history so I have decided to go myself as a linebacker, and therefore for this task I am going to look at who I think is the greatest player to line up as.. a linebacker. This will hopefully give me a bit of an insight into the previous legends that came before me and to give me goals to aim for in my own career here in the ISFL. The definition of being the greatest of all time in a position is always tricky, you need to consider what you hold as higher importance, is it winning championships, personal statistics or records and even how the player affected those around them. There have been a few damn good linebackers throughout the 24 years of the NSFL/ISFL and I would suggest the best one would be Jaylon Lee. Lee who played for the Arizona Outlaws, San Jose Sabercats and Philadelphia Liberty over a ten year career. When Lee retired he had achieved a lot, he was a four time NSFL Champion and had nearly racked up 100 tackles for loss as well as a whopping 86 sacks. He was a five time pro bowl selection from 2017-2023 and when he had retired he held the league record for most tackles made at 1042. Winning the championship in four out of ten years is an impressive feat and Lee obviously had a hand in this with some impressive numbers in each of those championship winning years. The reason I believe he is the greatest pure linebacker to play in the league is that he managed to achieve personal greatness whilst also having the team achieve the goals of winning championship after championship. My close second was Austin Roenick, he had a terrific career which spanned 12 years and he was a mainstay at the Baltimore Hawks. Roenick was the man that broke Jaylon Lee's all time tackles record, he had some good years around the other key stats for a linebacker but to me, did not quite match Jaylon Lee. He was a multi time pro bowler with nine appearances and this shows the class that Roenick brought to the league but despite his own success his team did not always bring home the bacon despite being in the final multiple times in his career. I hope to be able to make my own mark on this league and follow in the footsteps of these legends. It is my hope that I can even surpass them but only time will tell.
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435 Words