(S26) Ultimus Week

[Memento Mori]

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? (long form, 800 words)

As a member of the Season 22 ISFL draft class, I was a part of the biggest draft class in league history. With so many players and teams to talk about, I’m going to focus on a particular aspect of this prompt: The Hall of Fame.

40 players have been inducted into the ISFL Hall of Fame, though 18 of these were from the inaugural Season 1 class and 7 more Hall of Famers entered the league in Season 2. I bring this up because important to the discussion of how many S22 players will make the Hall of Fame is the criteria they’re judged by: are they judged according to their own achievements, their achievements compared to their peers, to the 25 S1-2 players who are in the Hall or the 15 players to make the Hall from all the draft classes we’ve had since?

Let’s start with the quarterbacks as it’s the most important position on the field and the most contentious when it comes to Hall of Fame discussions. As in the NFL, I find this to be difficult to predict earlier in a quarterback’s career. I’m going to start by discounting Suleiman Ramza, Ben Slothlisberger and Nick Kaepercolin. Ramza has only played two ISFL seasons, so it’s too early to tell. Slothlisberger has only had one season as an above average QB by passer rating, and as a wide receiver who switched to QB Kaepercolin has played two seasons at the position (in the first, he was last in passer rating).

The two that are interesting to me are Colby Jack and Monty Jack. Monty Jack entered the ISFL in Season 23, before the rest of the QB class. The cheesier Jack bro had a difficult rookie season, before winning the Ultimus back-to-back in Seasons 24 and 25. His individual numbers were good (21:8 TD:INT in S24 and 22:10 in S25), though San Jose were a team heavily reliant on their run game (in the two seasons, the Sabercats were 11th and 12th of 12 teams in passing attempts). In Season 26, Monty threw the ball 567 times (7th in the ISFL), and the result was that he was the least efficient quarterback in the league (fewest yards, lowest passer rating, highest interception rate). Monty’s Hall of Fame chances are interesting to me in that he only needs to be a good quarterback, in my opinion, for Seasons 24 and 25 to make a strong case for the Hall of Fame. If he isn’t, then we may have found the ISFL’s answer to Eli Manning, a player with arguably the most contentious Hall of Fame case IRL.

His brother Colby’s rookie ISFL season was in S24. Like Monty, he struggled at times, but not nearly as much. His 25 touchdowns were good for 3rd in the league, but he was inefficient and inaccurate. In Season 25 he turned the ball over much less, but was still relatively inefficient. Season 26 is where things get interesting. Colby’s 13-3 Wraiths won the Ultimus in a season where the Yellowknife quarterback threw 29 touchdowns (3rd again) and a league-low 7 interceptions. He’s also amassed a respectable 1005 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns in the regular season. I believe Colby has a better team around him, and plays in the slightly weaker conference (giving him a greater chance of making the playoffs and achieving further postseason success). Colby needs to do more to make the Hall of Fame, but I think he’s in a better position to do more.

I’ll stay on the offensive side of the ball, as their statistics a lot more predictable year-to-year than defenders’. The ISFL has been the inverse of the NFL to some extent, in that all the passing records and single-season champions are from long ago and all the best rushers, statistically, are more recent (only one S1 and one S2 player finds themselves in the top 10 for career rushing yards). Enter: Jamar Lackson. Lackson has been the star of the running game that helped take San Jose to the two Ultimus wins mentioned previously. Since his debut in Season 23, in four seasons Lackson has run 1137 times for 4660 yards and 35 touchdowns. Five more seasons like this (and more is possible given that Lackson is 2nd in TPE for the entire class) and Lackson is looking at around 2558 carries for 10485 yards and 79 touchdowns. Those marks would be 5th all-time in each category with the titles to boost his resumé too. Lackson looks on course for the Hall of Fame to me, and looks ahead of the rest of the class. Tatsu Nakamura has two rushing titles, but those are his two 1000-yard seasons. Richard Gilbert’s career numbers are hurt by his time playing behind Darrel Williams, and Keʻokeʻo Kāne-Maikaʻi’s jack-of-all-trades role is going to hurt his chances at awards or attaining goady career numbers.

The stand-out tight end is Orange County’s Heath Evans. Called up as a true rookie, the Outlaw-turned-Otter has led the league in receiving yards among tight ends for each of the last 3 seasons – and in each season was the only one to cross the 1000-yard mark. He’s caught 415 passes in his five seasons, and was voted Tight End of the Year in S24 (at the time of writing, he looks favourite to win again in S26). Depending on how long Thor decides to play, Evans could accumulate more receptions than any player not named (Hall of Fame Tight End) Paul DiMirio and has spent almost his entire career in the conversation as best Tight End in the league. DiMirio’s records were set in a time when quarterbacks were regularly throwing for close to or over 5000 yards, and Evans only needs to keep pace with his previous production in order to enter the debate as the best receiving tight end in league history. At the time of writing, Evans is probably the player I’m most confident will make the Hall of Fame.

Finally, because I’m already well over 800 words, just a brief note on S22’s wide receivers. Two names stand out above the rest. Sarasota’s Michael Witheblock and Colorado’s William Lim. Witheblock was S26’s receiving yards champion with 1622, and in his career so far has 296 receptions for 5374 yards and 32 touchdowns. Lim, meanwhile, boasts almost identical yardage with 5354 yards on 328 catches but has 45 touchdowns. Both were called up as rookies, playing five seasons so far. William Lim has clearly had the better career so far, with an Ultimus win (and two further losses) to his name in addition to the Season 24 Wide Receiver of the Year award. It’s Witheblock who might end up besting him though, as Lim’s numbers have been achieved as a result of four 1000-yard seasons. Witheblock only broke out it in his third season, with yardage totals of 1312, 1399 and 1622 in the past three seasons. Both have had excellent careers, and it’ll be interesting to compare them again when they hang up their cleats.

Sorry, defensive players and offensive linemen. You’re neglected far too often. (1189 words)

[frazzle14]

9) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, the community, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?


There are many things that keep me interested in the league but I would have to say the biggest reason is the league community. I joined the league with the S25 class, which was a massive reddit class, as well as joining with a few IRL friends. So it was good when I got drafted to the coyotes as there was a good amount of other active rookies joining at the same time, like Slate, Glims and WhatAmUs. Throughout my time in KCC the best part about it has been the people involved with the team. Although we haven’t had any success, my teammates have made KCC a great place to be. From the early morning chats with Simo and WhatAmUs to watching Butters and Rigby suck very badly at Rocket League, it’s been a really great place to be!

Along with the community I never thought I’d get so invested in watching a dot run along a virtual field but here I am. I think seeing my player actually make some awesome plays keep me interested and wanting to earn as much TPE as possible. Although I won’t say that I enjoy doing point tasks, some of them can be fun as you try to come up with some ridiculous situation to put your player in.  Making my player a run support, now enforcer, safety maybe wasn’t the best decision in terms of trying to make flashy plays every game and win awards but I’m proud of the guy for having double digit sacks the past two seasons as a Safety which I would say is pretty ridiculous. 

I’ve also got a couple of league jobs, which I enjoy and they keep me busy. I really enjoy doing the Rookie Mentor job as it lets me get involved with the rookies and helping them get integrated into the league. It’s good seeing people you helped become active members of the league and it gives you a good sense of accomplishment. Being GM of one of the prospect bowl teams this season is also really enjoyable as well, even if my team is currently 0-3.

I’ve recently become GM of the Kansas City Coyotes also so that’s a really good opportunity that I look forward to getting to grips with. It’s my first GM job so I’m looking to dive right in with the upcoming draft and hopefully help get this team back to the playoffs and hopefully a Ultimini win.




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.


Another sim league I’m in is the Pro Baseball Experience or PBE. I’ve found that a lot of people in the ISFL are in the PBE. I found this out before I’d even joined as someone in this league recruited me to the PBE and when I joined. Although I watch a lot more football than I do baseball I was still quite excited to join and see what it was like. Just like in the ISFL, the PBE community is a great part of the league. It was really easy to get integrated into the community because of the friends I’d already made in the ISFL. 

Out of all the sim leagues I’m a part of, I would have to say that the streams in the PBE are the best. They use Out of the Park Baseball 21 for their streams and it is definitely the best game I’ve seen in a sim league. The presentation on twitch is also really good and adds a lot to the game streams. The presenters/commentators are also excellent as well as really knowledgeable about baseball, they make it easy for everyone to understand, as they don’t go overboard with the complex baseball terms.  The PBE, along with the ISFL, are the best sim leagues I’m a part of.




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?


Although I’ve only been in the league for 6 months, I would say that it seems like the new sim is long overdue. With all the little bugs, like the 79 speed, been found and used it felt like a new sim was needed. My first time seeing the new sim was the prospect bowl games, I was looking forward to seeing it in action for the first time. On first sight I thought it looked better. The UI seemed better, the same with the field, it looked more professional than the old sim.  Being able to see the ball go through the air is really good as well instead of the old sim where the ball just appears in the players arms. So for me the new sim should provide a much better viewing experience than the old sim.

The only possible issues I have with it is on the stat side. I’ve heard that this sim is much better for the max-earning players and they should play at much higher level. Obviously this is good and the way it should be, but I hope that the gap between them and the players who don’t earn as much isn’t massive as this could stop some of the lesser earning players as their players shouldn’t be a lot worse than the max earners. I would say this could be a non-issue but we’ll have to see when the regular season starts.

[Gumbaman]

Question 9 and 7
Raw link https://soundcloud.com/user-239828707/sets/ultimus

[LB3737]

Task 12) It is no secret that the league is due another expansion pretty soon, and I would not be surprised if we expanded in the next season or two. I believe that since the most recent expansion, with the introduction of the Berlin Fire Salamanders, it has opened a lot of doors for more expansion teams from the outside the United States America, and more specifically, from Europe. I feel like there are lots of good locations around the continent for a new expansion team to be based, such as Moscow, where you could have the Moscow Mules, named after the alcoholic beverage, Paris, and with that the French Baguettes (although this idea is somewhat shit because why tf would an expansion team be named after country) or even Madrid, who would get the particularly catchy name of the Madrid Matadors, but maybe that’s too similar to Tijuana in the DSFL. No, for my expansion franchise I have decided to go much closer to home, and, at risk of doxing myself, introduce to you the Cork Rebels. I chose Cork over the capital city Dublin, for a multitude of reasons. First off, Dublin are shit, but getting that out of the way, another main is that in one of Ireland’s national sports, Gaelic Football, Dublin have dominated, having won six of the last six All Ireland Senior Football finals, so they have done enough winning in that regard, and Cork now need a winning team, which is what my franchise will do. Thirdly, Cork do not have any “major” sports teams, and the closest thing they do have to a major team, Cork a City FC are complete dogshit, having most recently finished dead last in the Airtricity League and being relegated to the second tier of Irish football soccer (a team from Dublin won the first division there too, pricks). Therefore I think it would do the people of a Cork good to have a half decent team. The team will be dubbed the rebels after the county’s nickname “the rebel county”, due to their part in the war of independence in the 20th, but that part is irrelevant to this Ultimus Week task. I feel like the best person in the league to GM this expansion franchise would be me, of course, because I am probably the most familiar with the Cork landscape, and would be the best person to decide where this expansion franchise would be situated, I’m thinking somewhere like Turners Cross, making Cork City FC homeless. Anyway, this is as far as I have though into an expansion franchise, but I’m sure the Cork Rebels would be an easy recipe for success for an expansion franchise, despite the leagues European agenda.

Task 14) After having the first overall pick in this seasons DSFL draft, due to them finishing with a lowly 2 wins last year, the Norfolk Seawolves really managed to turn it around and got themselves a 7-7 record this season, a drastic improvement on last seasons performance and good enough to help take them to the conference championship, albeit where they got smacked up. The 7 wins the Seawolves got were down to a great draft by solid GMs, as well as their returning players picking up some solid seasons, such as Rune and Mr. Forty-Two. They started off this season the same way they did last season, with a loss. This season it wasn’t as bad as last years however, an 18-10 loss to the Minnesota Grey Ducks as opposed to a 21 point shutout defeat in Portland last year. They managed to pick up their first win of the season a week earlier than the previous year this season when they beat the Kansas City Coyotes, thanks in part to a master class in rushing from their newest rookie running back Ace Savage, who came up with 126 yards on just 26 rushing attempts. Another 3 losses on the bounce in weeks 3,4 and 5 meant it was looking to be the same as usual for them this season sitting at a poor 1-4 through five games, the same record as they had last season, and we all know how that one turned out. However week 6 sparked a magical playoff push for Norfolk, against the same week 6 opposition as last year. When they faced the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers last season they got crushed, 42-10, Jackie Daytona passing all over their defense for 111 QBR, however this time around it was a whole different story as they held him to a 60 QBR, while their dual threat rbs, Savage and a Forty-Two, controlled the ground game, rushing for 221 yards and 3 TDs between the pair of them. This win spurred them on to win their next 4 games in a row before the winning streak finally came to an end at the hands of the London Royals. However they were now at a 6-5 record and in a decent position to make the playoffs, with just 1 win more than likely sealing them a postseason spot. However, disaster struck as they lost their next 2 games by a combined 72 points, including a crushing 57-3 defeat to the Buccaneers. Going into their last game they desperately needed a win to secure their place in the playoffs, and win they did, beating the Tijuana Luchadores 26-7 and qualifying themselves for a playoff game against Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately for them, the game didn’t go quite as they wanted, however considering the previous season they went 2-12, I think this is a true testament to how good these players were, and how badly they wanted to win, and definitely is a drastic improvement over two seasons ago.

[Drip]

I was going do question 6, but the more I dove into it, the more I wanted to make a media article about it, so keep an eye out for that!

7) This task is exclusive to non-recreate rookies of the S26 class and later. In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?

A) I have made some dumb decisions on my time on this Earth, the very least of which is joining the ISFL community. I actually answered this last season, but after my first full season, I wanted to see if anything changed in my answer. And honestly, it has. I feel much more involved and a part of the operations of the league. When I was first welcomed in by Schwarz and Kyamprac I felt like the league cared about my presence, and was genuinely happy that I joined the league. Which was crazy because they didn't even know me! And then I spent more time in the league and I met so many more people that were glad to have me here! Meeting Tonzy and Shuff and GM and basically all of Tijuana has made it all worth it for me. I feel entrenched in the lore of Tijuana, as and the awards committee member I have made myself a presence in the LR as well. I am glad that my player went to Tijuana not only because of the amazing people I have met, but because of my players performance. I had over 1000 yards rushing, I was used in the passing game, and I can't see my stats being even better next season! The draft experience that I went through in the DSFL draft could not have been better for me. It all felt like it took a year, with all the interviews and getting to know the people who make the league run. I was taken in the second round when Tonzy traded up to get me, and I will always be so grateful that I got that chance to play in the best LR and grind for that 9th championship next season. For the league as a whole, I have no problem saying that I see no problems with anything! The amount of personalization that this league brings is so cool, it is what I imagined when I joined up. I would love to see the wiki be more active, but the fact that there is a whole wikipedia dedicated to the history of the league is unfathomable. I can't wait to see how we grow as a community, and I can't wait to welcome those new members in just like all of you guys welcomed me! Let's enjoy some dot football, like nobody has enjoyed dot football before!
(403 words)

8) Write a short biography or story about your player. This could include background about how they came to the ISFL and how they’ve done so far, a story about their role in an exciting game, or anything else related to their experience in the league.

A) This is the story about how a tweet landed Drip Dad in Tijuana, a pairing that will be written about in the history books. During the draft process, Drip was in all of the locker rooms except one. Tijuana. Long known as the Fort Knox of DSFL locker rooms, Tijuana only lets the select few in. These select few are champions among dots, the best of the best. While doing prospect interviews before the DSFL draft, the whole time Drip had Tijuana on his mind. Coming off their 8th Ultimini title over the London Royals, they were proven to be winners. And Drip wanted to play for a winner. He was thinking about the best way to go about this, because begging wouldn't be sexy. Sneaking in wouldn't work either, so there was only one option. He had to be drafted by the Luchadores. But here's the thing, it was a week before the draft and Tijuana hadn't even reached out for an interview. It was mind-boggling, every other DSFL team had reached out to the running back about playing for them. People started to talk, draft buzz started to push Drip Dad into the top flight of running backs. And still, no mention from Tijuana. He had to find a way. A way to get himself in front of the decision makers. It wouldn't be easy however. No amount of self promotion had worked so far, so he had to find something different. Something so drastic, that there was no way that the top brass of the Luchadores could ignore it. After many sleepless nights and days of brainstorming there was still nothing. It had seemed as though it was not meant to happen. Drip Dad's destiny was to end up somewhere else. He wasn't mad about it, just disappointed. Then one night, Drip awoke in a cold sweat. His girlfriend, Jessica Alba, asked if he was okay. No, Drip was not okay, how could he be okay with an idea as grandiose as this! No, Drip was not okay, he was a genius. He ran over to his desk, opened his laptop and typed in the search bar, T. W. I. T. T. E. R. It was perfect! How simple it turned out to be! The delusions of grandeur he had all but forgot about. The Ultimini championships, playing south of the border, being a Luchador, it was all possible with a tweet. And so he tweeted. He picked out the perfect GIF, drafted the tweet, and with the approval of Jennifer Aniston, his other girlfriend, pressed send. That is the story on how Drip Dad ended up as a Luchador. The perfect tweet.

(446 words)

[dogwoodmaple]

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.
I'm in both PBE and SHL, but because our hockey season just ended, I'll focus on SHL. Like the other two sims, it has a similar junior (minors) league where you play before being called up to your major league franchise. One of the main differences about SHL that I really like is the international competition aspect. There are World Championships for juniors and the major-league players which adds a whole other dimension to the gameplay. I'm really excited to see how that works - you might have player rivalries on different teams in SHL, but you might be teaming up with them to try and bring home a gold medal. I recently transferred from the United States to Sweden, so hopefully the Swedes take the next step and bring home some hardware. I'd love to see something like that with ISFL, but I just don't think football is conducive to that type of competition. Maybe a "Pro Bowl" type game in the future? Having the different competitions certainly helps cut down on the offseason boredom and is another area for your player to show off their skills. I'd love to see some offseason stuff here, but I also know that the mods do a ton of work and this place does not run itself. So far in SHL, I've definitely enjoyed my time and I'm looking forward to continuing to build my player there. Go Timber, go Sweden!
(238 words)

21) What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?
I've gotta go with the Norfolk Seawolves for best branding in the league. They just did a full logo change and it could not have been a bigger home run. In a lot of sports leagues, you have animal mascots or human mascots, but rarely do you get something entirely different - that's what you get with the Seawolves. Not only that, but in the other iterations of "Seawolves" in the sports world, many take that to mean some sort of pirate or buccaneer type character. For Norfolk, they focused on submarines giving them the clear vote for creativity and full marks for mascot/location combo. Some locations and mascots work, but few do it as well as Norfolk. Naval Station Norfolk is home to the U.S. Navy's Fleet Force Command and is one of the submariniest cities in the country. On top of all that, the colors are a great fit. Blue, black, and silver are the perfect match for the subs themselves, the water, and everything in between. If I had to pick a franchise that needs a refresh, I think I'd say the Baltimore Hawks. It's not a bad matchup, but it just seems "meh". Hawks are always a popular mascot in leagues and I think they could tailor something better to both Baltimore and something that would fit in with the league more. How about the Baltimore Calicos? It's Maryland's state cat and would give them a unique factor that's almost unmatched.
(245 words)

26) Does your player have any New Years’ resolutions? If so, do you think they’ll stick with them? Why or why not?
My main New Years resolution? Get back to the playoffs. I'm not nearly as focused on individual accolades and stats as I am on our team getting wins. We were so close to a trip to the Ultimus this season that it has started a fire in all Silverbacks to do everything we can to give it another run. A huge part of our success was our balanced play on both offense and defense this year and I definitely think that's something we can repeat heading into next season. We don't lose too many TPE to regression and have an incredibly young defense that should help lead the way. I definitely don't see myself straying too far from this goal just based on how successful we were this season. With a good group of top earners and the best front office in the league, I don't think it's unreasonable at all to set the postseason as a main goal and then branch of from there as the season unfolds. Winning Defensive Player of the Year or Safety of the Year would be great, but making the Ultimus was my goal as soon as I joined the site as a rookie DSFLer and I will not rest until that goal is achieved. The fact that we were a breath away in just our second season speaks volumes about our team, our staff, and the culture of winning that we've already developed here in the Big Apple. No sleep til playoffs!
(249 words)

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?
I am incredibly excited to move on to a new sim, but there's also a lot of nervousness and stress that comes with the new simulation. First off, I think the previous sim was deficient in some pretty big ways and from what I've seen so far, the new sim is much cleaner, much sleeker, and seems to operate at a high level. It's exciting to go into something totally new because nobody really knows what to expect. Contenders may become mediocre and we could see a previously awful team take a huge step forward. For that fact alone, it's going to be fun to see how this impacts the league as a whole. As a safety, I really like the new archetype options and I think they fit the role of a safety much more than the previous sim. I think this will give me more customization over what type of defensive back I truly want to be, which will make it that much more enjoyable as a player. For a team as a whole, I also think this allows some strategic decisions for setting up offense and defense that were previously unseen. I think I'd be a lot more stressed about the new sim if I was a GM or in an ISFL war room - gotta be some tough decisions and a whole lot of nerves as we head into the great unknown of the coming season.
(239 words)

[huck24]

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?

This is my first player in the ISFL, so my draft class in the only class I know.  When I first created my player, Vincent Jones Jr, I had no idea who I might be standing next to on draft day.  I knew a handful of people in the league from my time in the SHL, but I wasn’t sure who would be creating the same time as I was.  When I first started noticing the other players from the S26 draft class, some key names stood out, players like, BamBam McMullet, Dogwood Maple, Tugg Speedman, Cobra Kai, Tom Teboat, Moe Skeeter, Redbeard McFredbeard and friggin Slurms McKenzie!!  What a group I was in.  I could tell by these player names alone, I was in the right place.

I was able to chat with a few of my fellow draft mates, in some of the teams open locker rooms prior to the drafts and in the rookie discord channel.  I was in some great company with this class, so good people all around.  As we got closer to the actual DSFL draft, I was left to speculate when my player might be picked and where I would land.  Watching my S26 get called was awesome, I was happy for each one of them, and then when my name got called late in the second round, I was able to start celebrating!
I was drafted with some beauties to the Tijuana Luchadores, BamBam McMullet, Johnathan Shuffleboard, Maiteers Rico-Shea, Rocky Jackman and Julian Jurevicius.  We joined an amazing team and all of us helped the Tijuana Luchadores not only make the playoffs, we made it to the Ultimini finals and beat the London Royals to give the great franchise their 8th Ultimini win.  It was a heck of an experience and I can’t thank every enough for giving that to me.

After the big win, our sights were set on the ISFL draft.  The S26 draft was finally here and the entire draft class was doing everything they could to make themselves noticed.  It was even more nerve racking than the DSFL draft.  It was awesome to hear the first name called out though, it was my Luchadore teammate, BamBam McMullet was selected first overall by the Berlin Fire Salamanders!!  Not only was he my teammate, he was also my linebacker partner! It was amazing.  I was still celebrating BamBam’s selection, when out of no where, I heard my name called at the 5th pick by the New Orleans Second Line, what a thrill that was!!  I was over the moon!  At the end of the draft, I was able to sit back and actually look at what happened during the draft. 

Looking at my newest teammates, the S26 draftees selected by the New Orleans Second Line, I saw Mr. Forty-Two a top class running back, who my player faced off against a few times in the DSFL, a back who was a very difficult player to play against and who by all accounts fell a lot further in the draft than he should have.  Johnathan Shuffleboard, my Luchadore teammate and defense partner was going to be joining me in New Orleans as well!  The safety had been an amazing player and teammate already, I couldn’t have been happier to be staying with him. Next up was a wide receiver, another name I knew very well already, Julian Jurevicius.  Another member of the Tijuana Luchadores was going to be heading to New Orleans with Shuffleboard and myself.  I couldn’t believe it!  New Orleans final pick of the draft and the actual final pick of the draft (Mr. Irrelevant) was Tater Tosser, another wide receiver who played for the Kansas City Coyotes.

So, with the draft out of the way, the S26 draftees started to focus solely on becoming the best player they could be.  And looking at the current TPE of the S26 players, that is exactly what they have been doing.  Leading the pack is Cobra Kai, who stayed down in the DSFL after the draft, followed closely behind by Ernest Lover, who was called up to the team that drafted him, the Sarasota Sailfish.  Lover wasn’t the only player called up immediately, first overall pick and my Tijuana linebacker partner, BamBam McMullet played in Berlin this season, as well as Richard Littlewood for the Honolulu Hahalua, Dogwood Maple for the New York Silverbacks, Big Slammu for the Yellowknife Wraiths wow, there is a lot more players who went straight up then I thought!  Another 6 players actually, Raphael Delacour, Jaja Ding Dong, Alexander Franklin, Arthur Naught, Slurms McKenzie and Redbeard McFredbeard.

This is still a young draft class so I can’t sit here and tell you who might be a hall of famer down the road or who will win the most Ulitmus games.  What I can tell you is that this group will soon have some of the best players in the league, players that will lead their teams on and off the field.  I know that I will be keeping a close watch on my own teammates, both from the DSFL and soon to be teammates in the ISFL and right off the bat I feel that Mr. Forty-Two will be a player to watch.  He is very hungry and ready to show the league the player he is.  I know that I am very happy to only have to match up against him in practice, because he really turns it on when game day comes around!

Word count - 919

[Painted]

7) This task is exclusive to non-recreate rookies of the S26 class and later. In 400 words or more, how has your experience been in the league? Who have you met that has made your time here more fun, friendly, and exciting? Have you been satisfied with your player’s early start? What was it like being drafted for the first time? Do you have any comments or suggestions for the entire league that you think should be implemented?

(474 words)
I am very new to this league, and sim football in general, but so far I am very intrigued and am looking forward to my player getting drafted and actually begin playing in S28. Having a deep craving to develop players and experience the growth and satisfaction of watching a nobody become a star is what attracted me to this league in the first place. I have done this many times over in games like Fifa and Madden, for example, so I thought I would give the sims league a try after seeing a couple posts about it over on Reddit for the past few off seasons. 

Overall, my adjustment to this forum setting has... not been easy to say the least. I have not used forums in forever and starting my first player has been overwhelming at times. I am slowly getting adjusted and knowing what I need to do. But once I get more experience with the formats and everything, I hope to start really enjoying the league! I have already been PM'd over on discord by quite a lot of scout and other vet players that have helped make me feel more involved and guide me in the right direction. Two suck examples are Maglubiyet and Thunder Titan who have been excellent in reaching out and being responsive.

I unfortunately haven't been able to watch the prospect bowl yet, so I am not entirely sure how will Mr. Soulja is doing, but I hope he's done alright! I look forward to building him up and getting him drafted.

Ultimately, my biggest suggestion for the league has to do with the interface. I have not used forums like this in quite some time, which is one of the reasons it has been fairly difficult for me to adjust, but I am getting there. If there was a way to centralize all the posts for rookies into one area, so I would not need to jump back and forth through different tabs that would be beneficial. I also think the update process could be handled similarly to the TPE Tracker rather than have update posts for each week. If we could have a program or the site keep track for us, that would help newbies such as myself immensely! Lastly, if there is anyway to modernize the site to look more similar to the TPE Tracker I think that could be helpful! Nowadays, I am just use to that type of site format and it is easier to traverse, personally. I do not know if it would be feasible to move/update this site like that, but I feel that change could go a long way in helping with quality of life for the league. I lack the CS/Graphic design knowledge to know if that would reasonable/doable though. But it is just a thought!

[Beaver]

5) The league has a rich and fascinating history, and our perspectives on it differ from person to person. In 800 words or more, describe any significant moment in ISFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not. Describe the context, the significant members, and the events. What exactly made this event so famous (or infamous) and why does it deserve to be remembered? Events might include championship wins, the inducting of players to the hall of fame, or even a league scandal.

well you obviously know that for this ultimus week long response prompt relating to league history I will of course not be choosing something trivial like a championship win or a player's hall of fame induction or a losing team finally turning it around or anything meaningless like that I am instead obviously going to be writing about a league scandal now the big question here is which scandal should I pick our league has had so many but the two that immediately jumped to mind is the connor tanner slash las vegas legion mass retirement and for the other one the details are foggy but some irrelevant development simulation football league (dsfl) team changed its branding from like the el paso marshalls or something like that to the minnesota grey ducks and that irrelevant team asserted that they were rivals with the tijuana luchadores which caused great entertainment for the entire league hmmm this really is a tough choice but hmmm yeah I think enough words have been typed up about the mass retirement of the las vegas legion in fact there may be some posts in this thread about it I am not sure because I do not read other people's posts that is kind of weird so if you are reading this post just know that I think you are kind of weird anyway I will instead choose the rebranding but first before I get into that I will need to refresh myself on the details because right now all I remember is irrelevant kids being mad at how good the tijuana luchadores are so be right back okay I'm back and I have a couple corrections first of all it was the marshals and not the marshalls and second of all it was san antonio and not el paso but I think I was close enough so anyway in case someone is actually reading this (why?) here is the announcement link here is one tearful response media link and here is an unbiased reaction link so after browsing through those especially the comments on the announcement you probably have a pretty good feel for the drama that does not of course capture the mood of the league discord which I would summarize as gleeful but it is a good baseline nonetheless so anyway this event is so famous solely because of the flood of tears that rained down upon the league from former marshalls now I have no idea why anyone would publicly associate with the marshalls since at that time the marshals had not won a championship in 13 seasons and in that time they were 2-9 against tijuana in the playoffs so the biggest shock to me of the whole thing was that were were proud marshall alumni but that is pretty cool that they stood by their team and such and let's see yeah it was really just the tears that made this drama so good nobody actually cared about san antonio or its so called history and so since we in tijuana are benevolent gods we hijacked the attention away from the league mocking san antonio and made the drama about how awesome tijuana is and once we did that the tears and the drama disappated so I guess chalk that one up as one last W for tijuana over san antonio which to be quite honest is really the only way for this so called "rivalry" to end and I used sardonic quotes there because as discussed in those topics there was no rivalry lmao san antonio had the upper hand when the dsfl was brand new and tijuana had inactive GMs but once @jaskins811 and @PaytonM34 took over it was good night sweet prince choo choo the dub train was rolling and there was no stopping it well I guess that is not true as the tijuana luchadores have not beaten the san antonio marshalls since they tucked their tail and ran to the other conference under a new identity so that is nice for them I suppose but anyway rest in pieces to the san antonio marshals whose greatest contribution to the league was either paying for tijuana's wall that terrorized the dsfl for like 3 seasons or rebranding and giving us like 18 hours of drama both of which are of course very important contributions to the league and should not be diminished just because their dots on the field always lost to tijuana's dots and we should not hold that against them because tijuana's dots are incredible and amazing and beat up on a lot of dots so they should not feel ashamed or inferior because of that well actually they should feel inferior but I am trying to say there is no shame in being inferior to tijuana since everyone is inferior to tijuana

go luchadores

[Vaelynn]

Taking a Closer Look at ISFL Prospects (Topic 2):

This year’s Draft class is shaping up to be a strong one. A good class all around, but this may be one of the strongest defensive classes in the history of the DSFL.  A few offensive talents pepper the likely first round picks, but defense will steal the show. Headlined by a Purdue safety duo in Romulus and Remus Roman, and some pro-ready linebacker prospects in Gritt Gurdur and Xavier Walls.
Something about this class just feels different. These players join the ISFL ranks with a different level of intensity and passion… it forces one to wonder, are we witnessing the drafting of future ISFL Hall of Famers? It may be too early to tell, but here’s to hoping this injection of talent brings new life to this league.
The fearsome trio of the Roman brothers and star linebacker Gritt Gurdur dominated the FBS with an average of 16.1 points per game, leading the Boilermakers to the championship game against Alabama’s Crimson Tide. In game it’s tough to tell who the leader of this defense is, and who is most deserving of the first overall pick is, but you have to take a look at the raw talent and leadership ability of Remus Roman. Remus, the three time defensive captain and 2039 Jim Thorpe Award Finalist, really stands out as the most logical first pick. He is a complete package that excels in strong zone schemes like Purdue’s but could likely pick up more man to man oriented defenses that are popular around the league. He is truly a physical specimen too – we will see if it’s true in the coming Prospect Bowl matches, but rumor is he has 4.3 speed.
Moving from the elite Purdue defense, Wisconsin’s Xavier Walls has really stepped up his candidacy for a high pick – his strength in the run game and his ability to rush the passer could really contribute to the success of any team at the DSFL level. In his first Prospect Bowl games he even flashed some playmaking skills in coverage as well, almost pulling down an interception and batting down four passes covering some tight ends. Wall’s ability to diagnose the play incredibly quickly has made him successful at the college level. The real test will be seeing if he is able to think as quickly when the game is faster, and the offenses can properly disguise the next play. Wall’s infamous play against the Ohio State Buckeyes where he recognized a play from film, called it out to his teammates, and forced the Buckeyes to take their final timeout in a close game is only one instance of his mental aptitude.
Gritt Gurdur also shows a lot of promise – he is raw, but my god is this kid talented. In all honesty, he seems to have a strong temper and at times lets the game get in his head. He was ejected in one game in 2039 and was penalized 3 separate times this most recent season for Unsportsmanlike conduct. With the right coach and in the right situation, it probably won’t be a problem. Gurdur is strong and deceptively quick. He can move laterally and make a tackle on the sidelines, or he can fill the A gap on a goal to go fullback run. He has the natural ability; it is just a matter of honing the mental side of the game.
Finally, Romulus Roman. The truest comparison to my predicted first overall pick is Romulus. While they are identical, they could not play the safety position any more different. Romulus gets down and dirty in the run game, preferring to interrupt at the line of scrimmage and make a big play over pass defense. Where Remus is stronger at Zone, Romulus excels against physical receivers (and even Tight Ends). He led the FBS in forced fumbles last year and lead all safeties in tackles for loss. The Boilermaker defense ran Zone Blitz more often than any team in the FBS, employing Romulus in the Rush, and having the elite pass defense of Remus in the secondary. If any team is lucky enough to draft both Roman brothers you will truly have the flexibility to play any defense, in any situation.
The offensive class is middling, so those teams desperate and looking for their future franchise quarterback will probably need to wait for one more year to find what they are looking for. Those that are targeting some strong, key defensive pieces to make a championship run, however, are smiling at this strong defensive group of prospects.
I compare this defensive class to the legendary offensive classes of 1986, 2001, and 2027… Truly magnificent players that we are bringing in this year and we can only hope that they live up to the expectation. People may think that I’m crazy, but I’ll bet that at least five of this freshman class will be inducted into the ISFL Hall of Fame. (830 Words)