(S26) Ultimus Week

[H0PPY75]

Player Biography: 

Fergus Callaghan Jr. was born in Boston Massachusetts to father Fergus Callaghan Sr. a former football player and professional wrestler and mother Mary Callaghan. Soon after birth the Callaghan’s decided to move out of Boston to a town in New Hampshire called Nashua. He decided at a young age that he was going to be a standout football player just like his dad was and dedicated every waking moment to becoming the best football player he could be. In his youth he would play for a bunch of different teams trying to match up against the best players in the state and in the northeast part of the country. When he was a freshman in high school he got into a fight with a senior defensive lineman and ended up knocking the player out but ended up getting suspended for the remainder of the season. The coach after seeing this decided he would give him one more chance during the young Callaghans sophomore season and if he acted up like this again he would be gone from the team. This chance also came with a  call up for Fergus to become a rotational member of the varsity team. Fergus took this chance by becoming one of the best underclassman defensive tackles in the state of New Hampshire. We would be top 10 in tackles and tackles for a loss as not many offensive linemen were able to keep up with power and speed. In his junior year at Nashua North High School Fergus would end up being named as a captain because he was able to command respect from his other defensive teammates and would kind of act as an enforcer when stuff wasn’t going the way the team wanted it, he was a force to reckoned with. He would get most of his defensive stats into the top 5 in the state but he didn’t consider that good enough and in his senior season wanted to lead all defensive categories and then be named Mr. Football for the state of New Hampshire. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to either has he spent some of the season academically ineligible because he was too focused on being a better football player. He would come back later in the year to help lead the team to their first playoff appearance in school history.  The team would ultimately come up short against the eventual State Champions in the semi finals of the state playoff. Fergus would be named New Hampshire Defensive player of the year but would miss out on Mr. Football. He only received one scholarship offer that he ended up turning down from UMass and would instead decide to walk on at Montana State University based on a recommendation from a former teammate. The Rest is history. 

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9 What Keeps Me Interested:

I think the one thing that really keeps me interested in ISFL is probably the locker rooms  and the fact that I don't really have any responsibility in the league outside building my player I told pretty much every team the same thing and that the best part about this league is I really don't have any responsibility here.  in the PBE  I don't only have the responsibility for myself but I also have the responsibility of signing free agents drafting players and building lineups so that my team can compete and honestly it takes a big amount of energy from me so it's really nice to be able to come into the ISFL  and just be able to talk to people without having to say hey what are we going to do this week yeah what we got to do with this player to make sure they're earning and keeping up on everything like that.  the locker rooms are probably the best part of the entire league it's nice to be able to go into a place where I don't know a ton of people and have them just be super friendly to me willing to help me build my player since I don't know a ton about building players at this point since has the longest time I've actually spent in the league at one time. I know there is a lot of people that don't really like the dot Football and stuff but to be perfectly honest with you  I do kind of find it amusing because it is kind of a different take on football pretty much every other SIM engine I have seen has real players you can see him locked up so the dots are pretty different in that case we're just kind of fun to see I just can't wait to see in the new engine wear watch to see the ball fly in the air during pass plays and actually get to see kick returns so that will be a nice addition to the Sim engine.  I told a lot of people during the draft interview process that I wasn't really looking to take a job you're just because this is my kind of chill out league but honestly more I think about it as I kind of want to get into a job at some point as long as I can make the time commitment for it whether that be maybe becoming a co GM  in the minor leagues or possibly at least becoming a war room number so I can give the experience that I have as a GM to other teams about what I see in a player how well I think they interviewed and yeah I would actually kind of like to take a bigger role at this point.

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[Cheech65]

12)
I remember that I wrote some media pieces months ago in response to the announcement of new expansion teams. They eventually would become the New York Silverbacks and my current team, the Berlin Fire Salamanders. Of the dozens of suggestions I made, the 2 that have stuck with me are the Billings Bighorns and the Gold Coast Breakers. The Bighorns would be playing out of Billings, Montana, the most populous city in the state. I thought that this would make a fantastic team concept, mostly because the existence of the NFL's LA Rams sells it for me. Ram horn helmets are a classic look in professional football, and on top of that, putting a team in Montana would bring in a region that only has the Colorado Yeti to root for. I imagined the team's color being silver, lime green, and a deep blue. Sure, that might wind up looking similar to a Seahawks jersey, but so what. Sue me. It's a color combination that shouldn't work as well as it does. And throw the ram horns on top; now that's a good-lookin' team.
But the want or even need for another team in the continental United States seemed at an all-time low. So I looked internationally and came up with Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Traditionally known as a surfing destination, Gold Coast is actually a pretty sizeable city, with more than 5 times the population of Billings (for example). And up until the rebranding and relocation of the Buccaneers to Bondi Beach in Sydney, the Breakers seemed to be a solid proposal, at least in my mind. I imagined them as having a cresting wave for a logo (as the name implies), with their main color scheme being a turquoise or aquamarine blue, sunflower yellow with electric yellow accents, and a russet brown. I think that the vibrancy of the uniforms would reflect the city's reputation and would therefore be a decent representation of the country. I think that this ship has sailed, unfortunately. The other major portion of this question revolves around who I believe is ready to GM a team. Now that is a loaded question. First, no I do not think I am capable or honestly willing to GM a team. I serve in the war room in Berlin, but I don't think I'd want more responsibility than that. Having said that, I am sure that other members of the Berlin war room would certainly be capable of running a successful team and franchise, if they were willing. I look forward to any new expansion announcements in the hopes that maybe one of them gets a chance to sprout their wings and make a name for themselves as a GM. Obviously this will be after the Fire Salamanders win an Ultimus.

18)
Perhaps surprisingly, the only sim league I play in is the ISFL. That being said, I think that an excellent sim league could be built around my sport of choice: rugby union. Rugby is a fast-paced and exciting sport, and is similar to football in its gameplay. Also like football, rugby requires players of different shapes and sizes in order to build a successful team. Positions require specific skills and follow different disciplines. However, I think that rugby could be more exciting as a simulation sport, or at least differentiate itself from the football-centric ISFL, because there is no stoppage. In football, every time the ball stops new players can come in, strategies can shift, and therefore advantages can be gained based on coaching decisions. Rugby is very different. All the players play both offense and defense, and substitutions can only be made in certain circumstances. Plus, the differing phases of play, whether they be line-outs, scums, or traditional rucks, gives the game more dimensions and complication. Players need to be able to think on their feet. Granted, set plays can be designed, but their execution is often difficult due to the stress of constant play. The variability of the gameplay requires dynamic player builds and I think it could become a huge success.

28)
With the introduction of a new sim comes many changes. But I am excited! I'm not much of a sim tester, but I understand the game well enough to understand what attributes help out the most. But, with the archetype changes and introduction of Competitiveness and Traits, I think that the new sim will be a fantastic improvement. My player, Berlin TE Clark Boyd, has had moderate success throughout his career. But, between the team improving at an incredible rate, plus the introduction of a new sim that hopefully won't screw us over as much as the last, Clark is looking to make a splash. He was a Pro-Bowler once and he is looking to repeat in the upcoming seasons. I think having the opportunity to review his build will help me optimize his ability, and with the new Traits available to his build, hopefully he'll make some big improvements statistically. But boy, do I think the interface is a downgrade. From what I've seen, I think the 2016 sim has a better gameplay look, even if the ball doesn't have an animation. I did really like having the fielded player's stats available on screen during their time on field, as well as the overall layout of the watch game feature. I hope that the 2021 edition has some customizable options to improve upon the viewing experience. I did grow to really like the current setup, and would hate to see it get stripped down in the way that it seems to have been.

[gbfn]

8) Player Biography 

Heinrich Kackpoo grew up on a farm in a little village in the northern part of austria. He never heard anything of american football until he turned thirteen. A school friend showed him some videos and that year he watched the superbowl for his first time. Although he hardly knew any rules of the game he was immediately fascinated and started to follow the league more and more. Over the next few years he learned the ins and outs of the game. But he never thought of playing himself.

Until one day where he was riding on the busin the next nearest bigger city. There was an amateur football team located there and a guy on the buswas handing out flyers to the people about a try out for the local football team. Heinrich was not sure what to do but ey, trying it won't hurt, yeah? His parents had mixed feelings about this and tried to convinve him that football was not the right sport for him but he insisted.
The day of the try outs came. The team had prepared a combine-like environment and Heinrich tried his best to impress the coaches. He felt he could have done a bit better but all in all he was pretty confident with his performance there.

The coaches were pleased themselves with Heinrich and offered a spot on their practice squad. From that time on this was passion. After school he would either go to training or the fitness studio lifting wheights. After a year the coaches gave him a chance and placed him on the roster. In his first game he was terribly nervous and a little scared as the other players where mostly quite a bit older than himself. With every game he played he got more and more confident in his abilities and at the end of the season he was one of the most outstanding players on the team.
After he finished school he applied at many universities in the usa to eventually get a chance to make it to the big leagues. The competition was big and he knew he had little chance but this was his only chance to play football professionally. He was denied at the better football programs but then he got the chance to play for a small college. There in his first year he immediately played himself into the spotlight and with his first season over scouts from everywhere in the country wanted to get this future star on their team. Heinrich shook his head and declared his elegibility for the DSFL draft after only one season of college football.

9) hat keeps me interested in the league
For me there is not one major thing that keeps me interested in the league. Sure, i want to win. Yes, i want to get awards and eventually be inducted to the hall of fame. Who is not dreaming of that? But to reach that goal you have to invest time, passion and a lot of patience. There will be times where the team is struggling. Hell i know what i am talking about. This year Heinrich played his fourth season and it was a horrible one. His individual stats where not bad but a bit underwhelming for a player of his potential. The sim luck definitely was not on his side. And sadly it was not on the side of the Honolulu Hahalua. But interestingly this is one major reason that keeps me interested. I want the Hahalua to get better. I want to make it to the playoffs with this team. I want to be on the roster when we eventually make it to the post season for the first time.
Another big reason that keeps me interested is the drama. Yeah often you get a bit fired up and that is ok. Many people invest huge amounts of time and work in this sim league. They are passionate about it. And everytime where passionate people meet each other and compete there will be discussions and fights. Yes, there are trolls and toxic people around also, but I honestly enjoy standing by and watch escalations. You can judge me by that if you want, I don’t care. I am the type of guy that enjoys people getting their mouths full.
What also is a big factor is that I am currently holding a league job. I got the opportunity to try myself at banking. I feel that as little responsibility as it is, I still want to do it the best way I possibly can and btw, I hate producing media to afford tier 6 equipment every season. So being paid helps a lot to keep my frustration level as low as possible.
The last thing that keeps me interested is the amazing war room discussions. The people really want to do things right, make the right decisions for the betterment of the team. Often there are hickups and rocks in our way. Often you get a feeling of frustration when the plan you tried to follow simply doesn’t work, but hey! That’s life. Get used to it!

[Billybolo53]

21) What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?

Best Branding in the league him. I have to shout out my team, The Sarasota Sailfish. I really love the color scheme, looks great on sigs and is unique. The only team that I can think of with a similar color scheme is the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Oregon, but each have their own uniqueness. I will forgive that the logo is actually a Marlin.

The second branding I really like is the Orange County Otters. The color scheme is great the mascot is unique. Def has made for an iconic team and one that is instantly memorable.

As far as a refresh, I think the Liberty are already doing a new logo. I think that is a good call. They should good with something that pops a little more and looks more like a modern sports teams logo.

Another team that I think could revamp their logo is San Jose. Their logo is why to close to the thunder cats logo. I love the name and the color scheme but think its needs something a little bit more to stand out.

As I need some more words, I love the Wraths branding. It was one of my favorites as a newbie to the league.


18) Write about another sim league you are in and which parts of it you enjoy. If you are only in the ISFL, write about your ideas for a sim league with another sport.

Through the ISFL, I found the PBE. The PBE has quickly grown into my favorite sim league. The biggest thing about that sets it apart is the sim engine. Having a good sim engine lets people's tpe matter. That is the biggest thing that drives engagement outside of a really welcoming community. You want the time and effort you put into your player to matter. You don't want to put a year plus into a charter and never really see them improve. The other great thing about PBE is the index. The index is built from the Sim engine and has the whole leagues history in one place. It's amazing to be able to the career stats of anyone you choose. I am sad that the wiki updates died, because that was the only equivalent thing the ISFL had. I've had a really fun time there. I play on a power house team and have already won two championships. My player there has a hof trajectory at this point. So it is easy to see why I became more invested in that player. I love the cross over between the two leagues and think it benefits both leagues. One day plan to add shl to my plate, but just don't have near enough knowledge of hockey so not sure if I would stick.

20) Pretend injuries are a thing in the ISFL and your team has had a lot of them lately – so many that your GM has asked you to play out of position. What position are they asking you to play and what about your player build will help you succeed in this role?

As i get closer to regression, this is something that I have thought about a lot. Not in this context but what my position will be for my next player. I have played DT and Safety on this character so I can rule those positions out. Both are cool and are def going to be more fun to play in the new sim, but I don't think I will go down the same road. The other positions I would want to play are all on the offensive side of the ball. I want to do a RB/TE/QB or WR. I want to play a completely new position and actually have stats that are good and not dependent on the rest of the team. I feel like my guy will do good to close his career but up till now he really hasn't been put in the best position for personal success. Clemente was the ultimate team guy, my recreate is going to be a bit of a diva. prolly try fa and hopefully have some more success in the stat sheet. I am leaning most to WR or RB. I want to pick the least popular arch or the one that goes against the meta and see if I can make it work.

28) The league is moving on to a new sim. What do you think about it? Are you excited to leave the old one behind? Maybe not so excited about it? Which parts of it do you think will be great, or not so great?

Man I am super excited about the new Sim. I think it adds to one of the lacking parts of the ISFL. With the current system, you reach the "end game" of your character to quickly. For the majority of your career you are pumping up stats that are basically meaningless or that have such a small impact they go unnoticed. Even before that, you are really only focused on getting strength and speed maxed with most archs. The new Sim, has a lot more ways you can build your character and is way more diverse with the addition of traits. Now you can max earn and not max out your guy till about 1100 tpe, a few seasons before regression, which is perfect. On the way to maxing, you also have some tough decisions to make that will be fun to see. I am curios if people go for traits and what builds become popular.

The other huge thing is the Sim AI. No longer will we have to cringe as the sim punts on the 35 or calls a time out before punting. We will have much more realistic sims which we help people stay active. I honestly was pretty close to quitting once I saw how big of a joke the sim is. The community got me to stick and the new sim will get even more people to stick. I think the added complexity with the plays and formations is good too. I hate sim testing and am glad that it is no longer viable. It will let a lot of people have fun with this league again.

[WhatAmUs]

PODCAST 
For WhatAmUs - Tier 1 Prompt 2 (20 min)
Time stamp:  1:25 

ANCHOR link
SPOTIFY link

[Kyle]

https://anchor.fm/connor-quigley/episode...K-2-eou69f

Podcast with whatamus

My chosen topics start at 22:30. 9 and 12 I think.

[AgentSmith]

2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall-of-famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?

There are several players and users that I can talk about in the S27 class. I’ve already written my Draft Class Analysis, but we can go back and touch upon the top player in each skill group, but this time, who I think gets picked first from each position, not just ranking it based upon stats.

QB: Joliet Christ Jr. - AW13 - Dallas Birddogs
Christ Jr. doesn’t have much competition for draft position among QBs anymore, as the others are either inactive, or in the case of the other active player, have switched positions. However, that doesn’t mean that he still wouldn’t be at the top of the list if the other were more competitive. Only 3 yards short of 2k passing yards on 176 completions, Christ Jr. made a statement that he was here to play, as long as he wasn’t handing the ball off to Cobra Kai, who carried the Birddog offense on the ground this season. While he ended up throwing more interceptions than touchdowns this season, he’s already capped for (hopefully) another season in the DSFL before being called up.

RB: Madison Hayes - sve7en - Minnesota Grey Ducks
Hayes had an MVP level season as a rookie, and her effort alone was almost enough to push the Minnesota Grey Ducks to the postseason. She racked up the second-most scrimmage yards in the league, behind only Dallas Birddogs RB Cobra Kai. She also played as a dual-threat RB, often targeted downfield as a receiver, where she managed over 300 receiving yards and pair of touchdowns. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a heavy favorite in most people’s MVP discussions and picked in the top 5 in the draft to a team that has a need for a Running Back that can do it all.

WR: Eleven Kendrick-Watts - 124715 - Kansas City Coyotes
Kendrick-Watts leads the rookie receivers in all stats with 75 catches and 941 yards, and he finished second in the league among all receivers in yards and touchdowns. It would be easy to make the argument for Kendrick-Watts to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, he played for a Kansas City team that only won one game this season, taking him out of the running for most, if not all, of the potential awards. This doesn’t mean that he’s not a top draft pick, however, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go in the top 5 to a team that needs an excellent Red Zone Threat receiver.

TE: James Wilkinson - treant - Bondi Beach Buccaneers
Wilkinson had an excellent rookie season on the Ultimini winning Bondi Beach Buccaneers, and I’m sure they’re hoping to have him back next season. Not only was he an offensive threat who managed to pick up 507 receiving yards in the regular season, but he helped bolster their offensive line when needed, recording a rookie TE leading 22 Pancaked and 0 Sacks Allowed. Wilkinson’s user, treant, is a fresh face in the league, but the fact that he was second in the class in TPE at the end of the regular season means that he’s showing a commitment to the league that most GMs look for in a first-round pick.

CB: HeHateMe PickSix II - Vorshayla - Bondi Beach Buccaneers
Vorshayla is a known quantity in the ISFL, and likely already has the Front Office connections he needs to be an early draft pick, but he also backs that up by being one of the top-earning players in the league. He helped the Buccaneers win the Ultimini this season, so while his regular season stats weren’t super impressive, his resume for his new player is already looking good. There are rumors that he’ll be a top 3 pick in the ISFL draft, and I would be likely to believe that with what he has stacked in his favor.

LB: Jim The Vampire - Kyle - Dallas Birddogs
The Vampire had a good rookie season with the Dallas Birddogs, who just missed out on the playoffs this season. It’s not hard to see why he’s one of the top prospects in the draft, as his 89 tackles put him in the upper half of linebackers in the league, and his TPE has him at 6th in the S27 class. It won’t be surprising to have The Vampire on an ISFL roster next season, likely with a pick in the first round. It also helps that Kyle is one of the class recreates this season, making him a known quantity for ISFL GMs who are not looking to take risks on players that might not pan out.

S: SparkySparky Boom-man - FleshBagSoup - Norfolk SeasWolves
Boom-man was drafted first overall in the DSFL draft a season ago, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go in the first round in the ISFL draft. There’s only one other Safety in this class, so it’s easy to pick SSB as the first one to go, as his competition in the position has less than half of his TPE, and doesn’t seem to be earning at a very fast pace. Couple that with FleshBagSoup being a popular user on the site, as well as him having at least one site job, and you have the recipe for a top-tier player.

OL: None

DE: Maui Waialiki - excelsior - Dallas Birddogs
Waialiki was the only Offensive lineman in the class to show interest in the ISFL level, and therefore would have been the top pick at that position. Then he made his announcement to switch to Defensive End, and with it, put himself at the top of the list for that position instead, edging out Bean Beanman, the only other active and earning Defensive End in the class, who would have taken this spot if Maui hadn’t switched.

DT: Candice D. Fitinyomouf - TheRealMazatt - Norfolk SeaWolves
Mazatt, Smatt, Matt, no matter what you call him, he’ll be one of the best people an ISFL GM could add to their LR in this draft. Mazatt is one of many SHL carryovers in this class, and it helps that he’s the highest-earning DT in S27. He’s easily worth a first-round pick, and if he falls, he’ll be one of the best steals in the past couple of seasons.

K/P: Cade York - LSUFAN101 - Portland Pythons
York is the only Kicker to have earned more than 100 TPE this season, and that’s with coming in as an undrafted free agent 2 games into the season. From what I’ve seen, not only is he an excellent earner, but he’s also an excellent Locker room presence, so if a team is looking for a Kicker, I’m sure they have York in their sights in the second or third round.

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[sve7en]

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2) Tell us about your draft class. Is there anything that makes it special in comparison to other classes? Where did your fellow draftees land, how are they doing? Did anyone turn out to be an unexpected steal of that draft based on what you know today? Do you think anyone in your draft class will become a hall of famer? If you’re new to the league, how do you think your class will do? Where do you think people will get drafted to?

The Class of S27 is actually really curious. It has an immense level of quality not due to reddit but instead due to a big crossover with the SHL. A number of big name SHL users made the jump over this past season, and they're all about to be drafted to the ISFL. I wanted to recap those of us (over 100 TPE, and in order of TPE), for the benefit of the teams that don't have much SHL presence in their war rooms.

sve7en (hi) - Madison Hayes (267 TPE, Running Back) - SMJHL GM, Event Team head, media network co-founder, and talk show host. It's been a year to the day that I learned about sim leagues, still going strong, and I actually had Amidships, r0tzbua, Dewalt, Revolution5, Blasoon, and Gucci all on the team I run this season.

treant - James Wilkinson (265 TPE, Tight End) - While I haven't interacted with them much in the SHL, Treant has fully overcome his past reputation as an inactive risk. They're comfortably earning in the J right now, just 50 TPE back of the class lead (650 vs 706)

overdoo - Lawrence Miller (250 TPE, Cornerback) - My co-GM with the Carolina Kraken, overdoo came into the SHL as a first gen a few seasons ago and has been a great locker room presence and friend to many. While we didn't get much time as teammates, this university student has the same energy for sim leagues that I do.

FleshBagSoup - SparkySparky Boom-man (227 TPE, Safety) - Soup was actually one of the first people I met from the ISFL, back in March or so last year. They're not a max earner over there, but their candidness and desire to be a team player has remained something admirable.

Sabremike - Kita Chiasa (225 TPE, Cornerback) - My friend in Anaheim has reported good things, and we liked him in Carolina but the draft didn't pan out. Our only concern was their real life demands and Mike is still earning well.

thecanadiancanuck - Kevin Morrison (223 TPE, Linebacker) - Boom, as I know them, is one of my favorite people in the SHL. We were in the same draft class together and now work as peers as Juniors GMs. I've always loved my conversations with them, and they were one of the people that convinced me to give this a shot.

TheRealMazatt - Candice D. Fitinyomouf (221 TPE, Defensive Tackle) - Another of the Carolina war room to come over, watching him and overdoo become good friends while in Carolina is one of my favorite moments of being a GM. He's been a captain in Carolina, and keeping him around as management afterwards was a great decision.

AW13 - Joliet Christ Jr. (215 TPE, Quarterback) - Warren's last SHL player was actually on his way out as I was climbing up, so we didn't cross paths much. Him and a number of his friends all created again as the Petrov clan and it's been fun to see them having a good time in the J. You guys know him well over here though.

TheDangaZone - Preston Parker (212 TPE, Running Back) - Carolina war room member number 4, and one of my current SHL GMs, TDZ is a veteran of the scene and while not max earning is a great personality to have around. Like the other GMs, we have our main focus, but we're less likely to flake out.

AgentSmith - Borgo San Lorenzo (210 TPE, Tight End) - Smith is an irl friend technically, but I pressured him in to joining the SHL. Since then he's low key gotten addicted to it, working as the Juniors simmer and taking a Co-GM spot at the SHL level. He loves to crank out draft media articles and isn't likely to miss equipment.

SeymourSnatches - Bean Beanman (208 TPE, Defensive End) - A rookie in the SMJHL, he's earning well for a team with title aspirations. We liked him in Carolina, but Gabe liked him a lot, so take that how you will.

Southie - Devonte Crook (198 TPE, Linebacker) - Kinda faded out on the SHL side, but also in PBE from what I remember. Earning decently now, but I don't have much to report here.

TheSparkyDee - Mike Hunt (174 TPE, Wide Receiver) - Sparky is a fun dude, he helps with simming in the SHL and has been a blast to get to know a bit better while together in the DSFL. He's fun to talk football with, and is earning decently in the same class as Mazatt and overdoo.

Gumbaman - Jason Bradshaw (166 TPE, Cornerback) - The fifth Carolina war room member by TPE, but the newest to sim leagues. Gumba loves playing with the tactics and sliders, and has been super ambitious and energized in the SHL, but he's a Pittsburgh fan.

FuzzISFL - Carter Fox (123 TPE, Defensive Tackle) - The sixth Carolina war room member by TPE, and the head GM of my SHL team. Fuzz followed my player to the big leagues in the SHL, so he's been my GM for a year at this point. I was his Co in Carolina, and he was the one that really got me into the SHL. 10/10 dude, but hella busy with life and with running an SHL team.

Retuperkele - Demetre Elliott (101 TPE, Linebacker) - More Carolina guys, Retu is one of our gems. We picked him up after the draft last season and he's been a blast to have around, especially because of the energy he brings to the noon live streams as a European.

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[JuOSu]

Write 800 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.

Well, today I am going to write about the prospect of a new project I may work on one day but it is still in somewhat of a planning phase.

For anyone who knows me, they know that I am just as active, if not more active in the PBE, the Pro Baseball Experience, which is the baseball equivalent of the ISFL. In the PBE, I have quite a few roles, among them being a GM but also being the head of the awards and history team and the hall of fame committee. Besides that role, I am responsible for keeping a lot of lists in the league, among them things like all star appearances, awards history and how many awards everyone has won, etc. Through this, I had this idea of a project called Legacy Score, which is a way to put everyone's awards into a simple number to compare different players, especially in the same regression class.

This actually took me a long time and over the years I changed a lot of how it worked. People would get points for top 3-5 finishes in different awards, all star appearances, championships and more. After some time I also added some yearly milestones (if players reached a certain number for a stat, I would also give them points) and career milestones (basically the same but for career numbers). 

In the end, it's nothing too serious but it is a cool project and something a lot of people seem to enjoy. People like numbers. And being able to compare themselves to other players. The system is far from perfect but it seems like a rather decent way to check how good players were, as the ranking seems fairly accurate to most people.

Since finishing that project in the PBE I have considered implementing a similar system here in the ISFL since I think people here would really enjoy it. That being said, there are some big hurdles that make it difficult to implement this here.

First off, awards work very differently here, or at least did for most of the early seasons. You only vote for the winner here, so there isn't really a top 5 for awards or anything. That means that we could definitely give people some points for winning awards but the lower spots would kind of make it a lot more random I think.

Milestones are also a difficult thing since we have had quite a few different eras here already. Different lengths of seasons and such and different league standards. It would be very difficult to choose milestones that would fit different seasons.

My idea to combat this issue is to maybe take instead a sort of top list. I.e. When it comes to quarterbacks, let's say the QB with the most yards gets 10 points, the one with second most gets 7 points, then 5, 3, 2, 1. You can do the same with Touchdowns, etc. You would basically have to do an own system for every position to be able to compare different position groups a little, though similar to regression classes, the easiest would still be to compare positions to each other specifically to get a more accurate result.

That being said I think this system could work and you could definitely make an argument that this would be a way to compare players to each other in somewhat accurate ways. I have not started on this but I think there is a lot of potential on this and something that could really be interesting to a lot of people.

I think obviously QB is easy but other positions would be more difficult. Especially defense would be a difficult thing since different positions often overlap in different categories. Would it be wise to just take every position group into their own stats? I.e. whoever had the most tackles among DTs? I actually don't think that's helpful sometimes because people play out of position and that makes it almost impossible to separate that. I think you just have to take things a bit less strict. I.e. top person gets 10 points, then the spots 2-5 get 7 points, the places 6-20 get 5, the places 21 to 50 get 3, or whatever. That way, even DTs or whatever would get points in that category. Same for other categories on defense. I think this way you could compare different players in the defensive end. 

I really do wonder who would end up being the greatest of all time in this league in this statistic. It was pretty obvious in the PBE but I actually don't know who would be the person here to do it. I wonder if me doing it, we will find out one day. I wonder if it would be a QB like Mike Boss or a defender since there are more categories, or if it was just someone who has played a lot of seasons. Very difficult to say!

If you are interested in helping, please do pm me on discord!

[JBLAZE_THE_BOSS]

6) Something that interests me—An in-depth season recap of rookie Mike Boss Jr and the Sarasota Sailfish

Mike Boss Jr. had a rollercoaster of a ride for his first season in the ISFL. The young phenom made his long-awaited professional debut this season, and by all accounts, was a success. While the team ultimately fell short of their collective goal of a world championship, they took steps forward to making the leap into the next stratosphere.
The season got off to a difficult start in the preseason. The Sailfish stumbled out of camp finishing 1-3 during the exhibition portion of the season. In his first ever game professionally, Junior was embarrassed in the 3rd quarter after being taken down for a safety, further increasing the team’s deficit on the scoreboard. Surely, this was a one-off situation? No—Junior would have the same issue in game two against the Fire Salamanders, again going down in the 3rd quarter for a safety that put the team down by a score of 22-6. The Sailfish would go on to lose the game 31-20, but Junior put up an otherwise solid performance 24/49 for 309 yards, 2D, and an INT. The all-important game three of the preseason was the best of them all for Sarasota, they won 45-24 over the Liberty. Junior avoided getting sacked for a safety and threw for 5 TD and over 400 yards, this was the coming out party for the youngster. For as great as Junior was in this game, he was horrible in the finale against the Butchers. Intercepted twice, along with a rating hovering around 50, the season began with a lot of question marks in Sarasota.

The Sailfish were quickly put into a hole in the season opener, losing on the road to the Yeti 27-15. Junior looked like a young boy amongst men. He failed to find the endzone and threw an interception. Insult was added to injury as the ferocious Yeti defense combined for five sacks against the rookie. All it took was some home cooking for things to get back on track, in week two Sarasota defeated Berlin 45-24. While Junior did not exactly light up the stat sheet, he threw for 369 yards, a touchdown, and had a rating of 98.4. Week three saw more of the same, the Sailfish were officially on a winning streak now. They traveled to Philadelphia and laid an absolute whooping on the Liberty, beating them 37-7. Junior threw for over 300 yards with 3 TD, easily taking home player of the game honors. Week four was the first time Junior’s magic was felt. With his team trailing 24-20 and 3:35 left on the clock, he led a drive that started on his own 34 yard line resulting in a TD pass with under 40 seconds left in the game; leading the team to victory. This was the moment the national media really started to take notice of what he was doing.
3-1 after the first quarter of the season, the Sailfish kept on swimming to victory this time again with 4th quarter magic led by Junior and the offense. The Sailfish were trailing Baltimore 17-13 headed into the 4th quarter when Sarasota scored 14 unanswered points off of a 62 yard and 10 yard touchdown pass by Junior. Things were not nearly as exciting in their week six trip to Arizona, but they came away with a victory and a 5-1 record. Junior put up a modest 361 yards with 3 TD and no interceptions. Little did the team know, however, that this 5-1 free ride would derail. The team was humbled in their week 7 matchup vs Yellowknife, getting their doors blown off at home 26-6. The offense couldn’t score a touchdown, mainly in part to Junior’s pathetic 2 INT and 47.9 rating performance. The halfway point of the season was capped off with a home victory against the Silverbacks, 23-13 where Junior again passed for over 300 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT.

6-2 through 8 weeks felt great for the Sailfish, until the world came crashing down around them. The pain began with a trip to San Jose, where they would lose 52-17. Junior completed under 20 passes and threw for 2 INT in a horrible effort all-around. This would be followed up by an unimaginable home loss to the lowly Liberty, where the Sailfish defense somehow allowed Philadelphia to score 37 points on them. Suddenly, at 6-4, the playoff certainty began to get cloudy a bit. The clouds would turn into a blaze of catastrophe a week later in Berlin, as the team lost 24-10 to the Fire Salamanders and the 2nd time in as many weeks where the Sailfish QB failed to complete 20 passes or have a rating above 60. Luckily, with some home cooking against the Yeti, the team finished up the ¾ mark of the season 7-5 behind a great performance by Junior, throwing for 398 yards on 4 TD 0 INT and a rating of 111.2.

After such a big win and convicning performance the week prior, week 13 was again met with disappointment as Sarasota fell at home to New Orleans, 27-13. Sarasota led this game as late as the 2nd quarter, but after that, it was all Second Line. Junior had a pedestrian day, no turnovers but no big plays to help his team win. The team was now 7-6, and had a huge road trip to Chicago staring them in the face. The Sailfish came away with a surprising victory on the road, winning the game 20-13 after Raphtalia Chan had a TD run early in the 4th quarter. This was a defensive battle and both offenses looked putrid. Headed back home to face Baltimore with a record of 8-6, the Sailfish suffered yet another massive beatdown at home. This time losing to the Hawks by a score of 37-17. This game was actually tied at 17 halfway through the 2nd quarter, until Baltimore went on a run and never looked back. Their defense held Junior to under 300 yards passing, only 1 TD, and forced an INT. The regular season was set to wrap up against the league leading Wraiths in Yellowknife, and it turned out to be one of the most entertaining games of the season. Trailing in the 4th quarter 44-27, the Sailfish came all the way back to within 3 points, losing 44-41. Junior again was over 300 yards, had 2 TD and 1 INT with a rating of 92.2; finishing the season with a record of 8-8 and barely making the playoffs.

That game was one of the best of the season, but the playoff matchup against the Butchers in Chicago, is one that will go down in the books forever for the Sailfish. The game started off slowly for everyone involved, the first half ended with a Butchers lead of 9-0. Early on in the 3rd quarter, the Sailfish cut the lead to 9-3. Less than seven minutes later, however, Chicago marched down the field and scored a TD extending their lead to 16-3 after 3 quarters. The 4th quarter started off with a drive that resulted in a 16 yard TD pass from Boss to Witheblock to cut the lead to 16-10. Chicago then marched right back down the field and George O’Donnell found Bender B. Rodriguez for 9 yards on a TD pass resulting in a 23-10 lead for the Butchers with 7:29 left in the game. Then, with under 5 minutes remaining, Boss Jr found James Angler for a 3 yard TD pass after a two and a half minute drive making the score 23-17. The Butchers took the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to their own 48 yard line, ran the ball three straight times and took under a minute off the clock. With 3:36 remaining in the game, Boss Junior led the Sailfish on an 8 play drive, 2 of which were 3rd and 10 and 3rd and 9 to go, respectively. When faced with those 3rd downs, Junior connected first with Witheblock for 35 yards, and then to Chan for 21. With 12 seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the Sailfish had time for one more play. Junior connected with Chan as the clock hit 0:00, Small hit the XP, and the Sailfish won 24-23. This will surely go down as one of the highlights of Boss Jr’s career.

The following game, the luck would run out and their season would come to an end. The eventual champion Yellowknife Wraiths worked their own magic in the closing seconds of the conference championship game. The hearts across Sarasota were broken, as the team took a 22-21 lead with 11:33 left to go in the 4th quarter. It was not meant to be for Sarasota, as the Wraiths had the ball with 4:13 seconds left in the game and drove from their own 22 yard line to get into FG range for Blago Kokot, who would hit the easy 29 yarder for the victory.

While Saraosta ultimately fell short, they went through a lot as a team and have a lot to look forward to.

[1514 words]