(S29) Ultimus Week

[Drip]

13. Expansion Expansion Expansion! The league seems to love talking about it, but it has still not happened. Tell us why it should happen / should not happen soon?

A: The topic of expansion has a lot of people buzzing, and for good reason. the prospect of building a team from the ground up and creating a championship caliber organization is something that I am very interested in, and I would place a lot of money on the bet that many others in the league would love that chance as well. But seeing that through is hard work, and requires a lot of dedication on a lot of peoples parts. That time commitment applies to all parts of the league, from the future gm, users who would create a team culture, the simmers adding an extra little bit of time to sim and stream the games, even HO. My take on expansion really boils down to a few key points. As of today, I don't think the league should expand. Over the last 29 seasons, the ISFL has cultivated a large and dedicated user base, and while there are more out there to find, a lot of our best users have been here since at least season 16. So as a league, I believe we are in this limbo where the next generation of league faces are either being cultivated or not in the league yet. And that's not to say that if we did expand that the personnel would be lackluster. I can think of like 10 people who deserve it and would be great leaders of new teams. But rather than expanding and hoping the next generation will pop up, the more realistic plan (and the plan I believe the league has bought into) is to have a solid group of those "next up" and have them be ready for when expansion time comes. I think the most important aspect of expansion is what we would do with the DSFL, and I don't believe that HO has figured that out yet. the concept of a development league is amazing, and the execution of the DSFL up to this point has been fantastic. But the number of active players in the DSFL has been declining, and I think that's because it is the development league. I was so lucky to play for Tijuana, where the culture is about winning and community, so the people who want to be involved are. I don't know too much about other locker rooms, but I know that the amount of actives on other teams have been dwindling. How we approach expansion of the ISFL would have to start with how we want to utilize the DSFL moving forward. I think we are too loud about how much we would want expansion that it will happen eventually, and I hope to get a chance to be one of those GM's. But today, as I'm writing this sitting in a Starbucks parking lot, I don't think it would be a smart move. 

18. Written option - which teammate of yours is the ultimate team player and why? How does this person exhibit selflessness and put the team first? Are they a great locker room presence who encourages others? Do they play an important but unappreciated role on the team which doesn't receive much recognition for awards? Graphic Option: Create a graphic of your player with your teammate who exhibits a team-friendly attitude.

A. I am so lucky to be in Colorado, where we have a very large number of extremely nice and selfless people. It's pretty telling about our team culture that most of the rookie mentors are Yeti. You can't talk about selfless users in the entire league without talking about Scwarznarr. Not only did they first welcome me into the league, but I have had tons of (very dumb) questions and I always get a kind answer. That attitude has helped me feel involved even when I take some time to deal with rl stuff. Always hyping the game time up, when we finally get our win at the Ultimus, it will be in large part to them. Of course, isastarcrossed is the exact same, and I wish them the happiest and longest time together. Going back to my time in Tijuana, I have to give a big shout out to Tonzy. Not only did he take a chance on me in the second, but he helped me navigate my first few weeks through the league, he listened to my crazy ideas, and was there for me when I went through a lot of rl stuff. In the Tijuana LR and during our playoff stint, he was there every game, every play letting every person know how much they meant to the team. The league is lucky to have these 3 people as faces.

25. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?

A. When I created Drip Dad, I was hellbent on being a RB. Not only were there not very many in my draft class at the time, but I had wanted to play RB in every other sim league I got to be a part of, but I prioritized playing time over my firs choice of position. If that was not available, and knowing what I know now, I would absolutely pick Kicker. I love the league, and being active means being good. I am absolutely not the most active user, but I feel as though I am active enough to have a decent player for a few seasons. But banking cash and building a name in the league are two aspects that I didn't know about when I first joined, and creating a kicker is the easiest way to do that. Also, kickers aren't super prevalent, given that there are only a few spots available. Good ones will always have jobs and playing time. I would have changed the name as well, something related to feet. Honestly, I probably will make my second player a kicker, because of how much fun it seems to be. You don't have that much to update, and if you try hard enough you could probably be a maxed out kicker before you make it to the ISFL. From that point it's earning money and having a good time. Should've been a kicker!

[Kyamprac]

18. Written option - which teammate of yours is the ultimate team player and why? How does this person exhibit selflessness and put the team first? Are they a great locker room presence who encourages others? Do they play an important but unappreciated role on the team which doesn't receive much recognition for awards?

I think one of the most selfless players on the Austin Copperheads is Jackie Daytona, or mooty99. This may come to a shock to some as he's probably got one of the most charismatic personalities in the league, but Daytona always has the team's best interests at heart and will go above and beyond to do what he can to help his fellow Copperheads. Not only is he a great locker room presence and always among the first to encourage his teammates and boost their spirits, but he spends a great amount of time doing what he can to help the coaching staff behind the scenes as well. As the team navigates through choppy waters, Daytona continues to be Austin's rock and provides a level headed and thoughtful outlook on every challenge that comes our way. He also pours more time into testing for the team than anyone else, even when things don't pan out as he hoped the last time around.
Two other amazing members of our team include Felix Archstone (Glims) and Annie May (frazzle). Despite coming from a team with a troubled past, these two joined Austin with a positive attitude that emanates throughout the locker room whenever they're around. We're so lucky to have them!

25. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?

Zoe Watts originally joined the league as a kicker. I had no idea if I would enjoy my time here, and didn't want to commit to a position that needed a higher earner attached to it. Turns out I did enjoy it for a little while and ended up switching to running back shortly after joining the Dallas Birddogs.

Anyways, if kicker (or even running back) had not been available at the time I created, I probably would have joined as a wide receiver. As a relatively new fan to the NFL (I only just started cheering for the Vikings not long after Amid and I met), I always found the long pass plays the most exciting - Minneapolis Miracle kind of stuff. While I understand the value of defense, those fast moving big offensive plays are what keep me interested in the game. Coming from hockey, anything slower than that can be a little dull. Besides that, I understand offence a little bit better. To this day I'm still kind of learning how different defensive positions work in football (although I'm much better after spending time in this league and in the sim), but I've got a pretty good understanding of how things work on offense.. which was important at the time I created because I wanted to be able to understand what was working well and what wasn’t for my player.

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

I'm biased and still love the Birddogs/Copperheads branding the most.. so I'll go with my first league impressions for this. When I first joined the league, back before NYS and BER brandings came out, my favorite ISFL branding was the Yellowknife Wraiths. Some might argue they don't belong in the league because Yellowknife is a smaller city in the middle of the Canadian north where no real team would probably have enough of a market to survive.. but to this day they are still one of my favorites. They might have missed out on an opportunity to do branding related to a polar bear or something, but I can understand wanting to be a little more original/unique than that and still think their brand came out looking great with the cyan and so on.

I think any team that hasn't updated its branding in the last few years could use at least a bit of a refresh, similarly to what Philly and Baltimore did recently (e.g. kind of keeping colours but the same idea). Logos just get a little bit stagnant so I don't think it hurts to modernize them a little bit. Some examples that come to mind might be CHI, SJS, and NOLA.

29. Affliate PT from either SHL/PBE. The Weeks must match with the timeframe of this UW, which would mean SHL's PT #2, SMJHL PT #3, and PBE's PT 26-2.

SHL Affiliate PT2

[y2bobman]

14.

So another season ends in disappointment for the Outlaws, but how did it happen this time?
Well actually things stared off pretty well. Five straight wins on the bounce meant that it was full steam ahead, spirits were high.  Perhaps the game on opening day was a sign of things to come with a "leave it all out there on the field" close victory against New York.

So having gone 5 and 0 through to week five things started to go a little off track for a while. Two away from home matchups in a row brought the first two defeats of the season; first at New Orleans and then over in Berlin. Sandwiched between these and a loss on the road in Colorado was a routine home win against Philadelphia.

Things looked like they were picking back up in weeks 10 and 11 with two home victories against New Orleans and Chicago... But things are never that simple. Outlaws would lose on the road in New York and then again at home this time when Austin came to town. That one was pretty hard to take to be honest. But in true Partridge style the Outlaws could either drive to Dundee in their bare feet or get a European girlfriend and and a prime time slot on UK Conquest. Thankfully they chose the latter, ending the regular season on a roll with three victories in a row, securing them the championship. A home record of 7-1 was an improvement on going 5-3 the previous season. Could it be a sign?

A simple enough victory against Orange County first off was followed up by a home matchup against New York. And this is where the journey ended. The same stage as the previous season, favourites to win and again packing their bags early.

Do good teams win Ultimus trophies? Yes, sure they do. But great ones get knocked out in the semi finals. The Outlaws will be back in the mix again next season and maybe, just maybe, they'll be there to leave it all out in the field in the big Ultimus showdown.

From a personal standpoint I can't not be happy with what L'Gazzy Burfict is achieving in Arizona. The king of forced fumbles, Burfict is only going to be getting stronger over the next few seasons. If there is one stat I'd like to see it would be the infamous sack per game ratio. Hit that and he will be in LBoY contention for sure. Oh, and still chasing that TD. But maybe that's more of a dream.

So to round up, keep an eye on the Outlaws again next season, and keep an eye out for Burfict too when the ballot papers come around.

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458

22.

So fans love to meet the players, so if want to do something around that. But obviously you couldn't have the fans holding up the players participating in the Ultimus game itself, those guys need to head back to the locker room and top up on their fight milk. No, my plan is for fans to be invited on the field to go head to head with a player they have bad mouthed online during the course of the season.

"Your slower than..."  - a simple foot race
"Your so fat..." - perhaps a vertical jump challenge
"Your weak ass..." - an Oklahoma drill
"You can't throw for..." - a game of Dodgeball
You get the idea. And as some fans will probably be a few beers/Gatorades deep they may even be up for the challenge. 

But in all honesty, it's not about that. It's about promoting the message that it's not big or clever to throw insults, be they at sports stars or just at each other. We are all just people, with feelings. So think before you speak, think before you type. But as that's too long to stick on a banner I'd just gave "Hate ain't Great" shown up on the big screen. And with that, the lights dim down, the music builds up, the second half has arrived.

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29.

PBE PT 26-2

[krazko]

14. Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?

The preseason started relatively poorly for the Portland Pythons, 1 win against the Bondi Beach Buccaneers and 3 losses wasn't what we had hoped for. While it wasn't totally unexpected with quite a number of rookies on the roster it's never the preparation games you want.

Starting the regular season with a 10-9 loss against Ultimini bound Tijuana Luchadores was sour, but still gave us inspiration and hope we could perform at a high level.
Following the tough loss we had a close win against the Dallas Birddogs which was very inspiring and boosted morale a lot!
Directly after we had a dominating showing and 16-6 win against the other Ultimini team, Minnesota Grey Ducks. Things were looking up and we were starting to hope we could reach the playoffs already this season!
The Kansas City Coyotes put us down to earth in a relatively close game where we lost 20-14, positive from the game was Calvin Hobbes first regular season Touchdown!
Quickly bouncing back, we won 16-3 against the Bondi Beach Buccaneers and things were on the up again, but we knew the Buccaneers were among the weaker teams.
Following that came our toughest stretch where lost against the Norfolk Seawolves, London Royals and Tijuana Luchadores pushing us far down from a playoff spot a the time. The toughest loss there was the loss to our rival London.
We bounced back against the Minnesota Grey Ducks and whopped their ass 34-7 which was a great moral boost and made us believe we could get to the playoffs...
A reality check came against Dallas Birddogs and Kansas City Coyotes, 2 tough losses that pushed us out of the playoff race.
Ending the season with 3 wins, 45-17 against Norfolk Seawolves, 36-14 against Bondi Beach Buccaneers and finally 28-15 against London Royals was a good ending to a otherwise somewhat disappointing season. With the win against the London Royals we did finish above them in the standings which was important.
The strong ending shows what the team will be capable of come next season when we've added a few new prospects and some of our slower growing players have earned some more TPE!

For Calvin Hobbes, while it's bitter we didn't make the playoffs, he still recorded 8 Touchdowns, over 1100 yards, both half of the Portland Pythons totals. So it's a rookie season he's happy with and hopefully can improve on next season when the entire team is stronger!

All in all the season isn't a complete disappointment, the team has gelled together and while we are losing some players who have been important in their stay with the team, we are all confident we will be a force to be reckoned with when next season rolls around!

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16. This task is exclusive to recreate/non-recreate rookies of the S30 class and later. The season is over and the draft is coming up. What do you bring to a team, and why should a team choose to take a chance on you next season?

Calvin Hobbes will bring a very active, high performing Wide Receiver that will take every opportunity to work hard and to improve as a player. Every training and opportunity to better himself will be taken and nothing will be left to being second best. The goal is becoming the best player in the league with a HoF career. The bank is already secured to be able to buy T6 equipment for at least 3 more seasons, so there is no concern on how he will afford training for the near future. Calvin will also listen to advice from the GMs and coaches on what areas to focus on when improving as a player. Having already reached the DSFL cap, any more TPE that will be earnt will be banked until the time he is called up.
On the user side I, Krazko, will be an active presence in the Locker room and interacting with my fellow teammates, creating a fun and pleasant atmosphere that everyone will enjoy. We need to work together to make this game we play as much fun we play for everyone! Hopefully find some people to play games with, sit and chat and like I’ve done in some Locker Rooms already, chat about current real life sporting events and other things in our day to day life

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25. Imagine your current position was not available to be picked when you created your player. What other position would you have picked, and why?

As I was already considering different positions when I created, this one will follow that train of thought.
As I knew very little about football (still do), I initially looked at the positions with least active players, Kicker / Punter and Quarterback. I did some more research and found that each team only needs 1 of each K/P and QB, and with a lot of the spots filled, I did not want to be in the position of not being picked due to a bad position (recent Goalie issue in SHL came to mind). I asked around in SHL where some teammates were already in ISFL and had different suggestions and advice. Some did suggest Kicker/Punter still and it did sound fun with the importance of the position!
The position I was closest to picking though was Quarterback as that is the one position the ignorant me knew about. Being able to direct the play, be a key piece on the field at most times and as I already knew I would be max earning TPE, I saw no issue with being a difficult position to obtain.
I was also looking at Offensive Line, again mostly because there were not too many players in the position in relation to how many each team can field. It also does sound like a fun position to play and make a big impact for your team, especially when you reach the prime of your career!

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[LancedJack]

1. This week will see the S29 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome?

In spite of the results of the Season Predictions this weeks Ultimus comes as a surprise to not many users of the league. The teams involved have not arrived there by accident but by careful roster balancing, interesting trades and free agency acquisitions and a moderate sprinkling of sim luck.

In the NSFC we saw the Fire Salamanders, the Wraiths, the Sailfish and the Yeti arrive in the playoffs at surprise to no-one. I don't think anyone would honestly try to make the point that the ASFC is more competitive than the NSFC. The more competitive division putting out four teams that could easily take the Ultimus home was no surprise. What was surprising, however, were the results. We had the Fire Salamanders opening up their campaign with a 41 point shellacking of the defending champion Yellowknife Wraiths.  The Fire Salamanders being a recent expansion team has done nothing to quell the ambitions of this outfit as they've been there or there abouts now for quite a few seasons since their inception and look ready to capitalize on this position and take the Ultimus international. The second of our opening round games saw my beloved Yeti unfortunately fall by a 20 point deficit to the Sarasota Sailfish. I'd like to blame sim magic for this but unfortunately we just didn't show up on the night and Sarasota capitalized on what was available and progressed to the next round.

The next round saw the Sailfish taking on the Fire Salamanders and it was a closer game than I think anyone would have predicted with Berlin only holding off the Sailfish with a field goal in the end. Linebacker Adam Schell being the different with his pick six and Danny King limping the Berlin outfit over the line. One could make the case that both outfits appeared to have exhausted their offensive prowess in the opening rounds as this game certainly lacked firepower, barely surpassing the score of just Berlin in the round previous. Lets hope for something more from Berlin in the Finals! It's fascinating to see an expansion team arrive in the post season so frequently and rings true some real life parallels with the Vegas Knights expansion outfit of the NHL. I can't imagine we'll see this success repeated with the Seattle Kraken and their terrible coaching staff. A lesson to learn from Berlin perhaps?

In the ASFC we saw perennial post season attendees the Otters taking on the Outlaws in the opening round, followed by the Second Line facing off with the Silverbacks.

The Otters are no strangers to the post season themselves, being quite successful since their inception. Unfortunately being familiar with the post season does mean getting familiar with post season losses and that's what we saw here, as the Otters were trounced by 26 points by an absolutely lethal Outlaws outfit. Garfield Despacito Jr barely managed to wrangle a TD back in the waning minutes of the final quarter to keep this scoreline somewhat respectable to stop the, admittedly unusual, scoreline of 38-5. As always Tatsu Nakamura was on fine form with a five touchdown performance. Enjoy those MVP honours! It was to be quite telling that the defensive MVP fell to a team who had conceded 38 points however. An ominous tell of the next round.

As for the alliteration based matchup of the Second Line vs the Silverbacks it was to be the New York collective who saw success on the day, a wonderfully weighted pass coming in from Mr Howitzer in the embers of the match letting James Wilkinson fall into the endzone and into the final spot of the playoff picture. Credit to Howitzer who kept his head above water after an ugly interception to lead the team to the win. Leon McDavid was a complete menace to the Second Line with a two sack/fumble day. Terrifying stuff.

So that left us with Arizona to take on New York to determine our Ultimus contestants and wouldn't you know it, it was another nailbiter for Silverbacks fans. Outlaws RB Nakamura was absolutely stifled on the day, 2 rushing attempts for 12 yards and a pedestrian receiving effort left fans perplexed as to the usage. As Arizona should've learned from the opening round, defense wins championships and the Silverbacks were no exceptions. Colt Mendoza's pick six on the opening drive of the second half lowering the heads of most Arizona players in the game. They would mount a futile comeback in the final few minutes but that wouldn't be enough to see off the Silverbacks. 

So now we have a final with two expansion teams, equidistant from their inception. One could argue something needs to be looked at for these expansion teams. Equally one could argue this just shows how much talent there is available and a positive argument for expansion. I, personally, can't look past the Fire Salamanders for this win. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I wrote a love letter to New York who subsequently didn't draft me. Nothing to do with that whatsoever.

[deadlunatic]

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?

Time to revisit the historic Season 25 draft class. I will go through and see where the different players are out now that we have long enough to really see who has turned into a star and who busted. 

For round one, there weren't really many busts in the traditional sense of the word. In reality, you could really argue one was a bust as far as earning and expectation goes, and the other was a bust for the team that drafted them. You could argue that one other first round was a miss as a first rounder, but not a bad draft pick, just not where he was picked. 

Picks one and two are both great picks for both teams, Jones and Foster have been a big part of their team and league since being drafted. The third pick was Tex Wrecks and with a lower total TPE he seems like a slightly lesser pick, but the user is good people and makes some killer graphics, so another solid pick. Picks four and five were both really good picks, Crowder and Ruschmann, both good earners, still playing on the same teams. So far, the top five picks were all good picks, still with their team and contributing overall. Pick six is the first "bust" of the draft, but not for the player, it is instead because he is no longer on the team that drafted him. Archstone does have a lower TPE than anyone above him and most of the first rounders below him, but he plays offensive lineman and they can be plenty effective at a lower TPE. Pick seven and eight are both great first round picks. Fields and Crunk have both performed at a high level and are still with the teams that drafted them. Pick nine is where we hit on the first actual bust of the draft, Gath is at 388 TPE so far, not exactly good for a season 25 draftee. He is still on the team that drafted him and did swap to offensive lineman, so he is at least technically useful. Picks ten, eleven and twelve are all hits, the lowest of them having 1160 TPE. Toblerone, Tank and Patterson are all still with their initial team and all performing quite well. Pick thirteen was Hank Winchester and he has been an ok pick overall, with a sub 1000 TPE total at this time, which is pretty low for a first rounder. Not quite a full on miss, but most likely not worthy of a first round pick. Pick fourteen is the steal of the first round as far as TPE earning goes to Triplet, the last draft pick of the first round. The only downside here is that he is no longer with the team that drafted him. But that isn't a bust for him, just for the team that drafted him. 

In the second round, the first two picks of the second round were solid wins for their teams, with McJimmerson and Roth, I can vouch for UberBJ as a user in the wraiths locker room. The third pick in the second round was not exactly the best pick, but not a full on bust either, just one of the ones below 1000 TPE, Chambers. Fourth, fifth and sixth in the second round are all solid hits at the least, Yeboah, Mellott and Leaking. Quick shoutout to Mellott as the top earning OL from this class. Yeboah is the miss here, but not because of him, but he is no longer on the team he was drafted by.  One of two highest earners in round two is Lavigne who was drafted with the seventh pick of the round. Definitely a hit. Picks eight and nine of round two are both really good hits at this point, Vance Slattery (Doy Fieri) and Rucker are both high earning. The issue with Rucker is he left his team to move on, so a miss for them, but a hit for him. Pick ten is the highest earner of round two, granted he was a forced round two pick as GM of the silverbacks, Quakstak. Pick eleven of the second was Daytona, the only quarterback so far and a great pick overall. Pick twelve of the second round was Stallworth, the biggest bust so far in the draft with a super low max TPE and completely inactive. Pick thirteen was a bust as well, Batista has since retired and the user has recreated. Pick fourteen was a solid pick at the end of round two, Flaxon Jaxon Waxon, still earning and active over 1000 TPE. Hard to argue with that.

Pick one of the third round was a solid pick, with Footballleague being drafted and breaking the 1000 TPE mark. Pick two was a bust with him going inactive not too long into his career, Vermillion. Pick three was another good pick, with DeSoto being on the team and being a solid earner. Pick was Blackfyre, who is not quite a hit, but also not a complete miss either. Pick five was McBobby, a complete miss, having never broken 500 TPE. Pick six was Haywood, who was a solid hit at this point also breaking the 1000 TPE mark. Pick seven was Gleel, who is another good pick in third round breaking the 1000 TPE mark. 

And I am at the end of my coverage of this draft. I have a media piece I am writing that will cover more of it than this. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

[TheDangaZone]

1 short task - SHL PT

potential placeholder for the rest if I get unlazy.

[KezKincaid]

10. 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.

Tight End Gronku Muerto is finishing up his second season in the DSFL, playing for the Tijuana Luchadores. It was a much different experience compared to the first season. In his rookie season, the Tijuana offense was led by MVP Lonnie Jackson, the amazing Running Back who was given the responsibility of carrying the load for the most part. As a rookie, Gronku was relied upon more for his ability to block and read defenses, than to be a major weapon. He did get a few targets per game and had some ok stats but certainly was not someone relied upon to make big plays. The team had a great season going all the way to the Ultimini final game, which they unfortunately did not win. But Gronku's job was more to just keep grinding and improving and raise his skills to become more of a threat.

The second season, all that changed. Gronku was no longer a wide-eyed rookie trying to prove himself in a new league - he was a capped player, a first round ISFL pick, and more eyes were going to be on him. As one of the few non-rookies on offense, along with Quarterback ReallyInvisible, Gronku was a team Captain and was also going to be utilized more frequently in the play calling. There were some great rookies like Wide Receiver Jason Waterfalls and Running Back Miracle Whip who showed great talent and promise, but they would need time to gel in the system. The inexperience showed as Tijuana struggled early, only winning 2 of their first 6 games, and had difficulty putting points up on the board. Gronku tried to be a steadying influence in those games, picking up some TDs and being a prime target for the QB, and was often able to break through the coverage and give the offense some life. The second half saw the Luchadores really start to come together on offense, as Whip gained more confidence to be a running threat, that opened up the field a bit more for ReallyInvisible to start spreading the ball around. Waterfalls lived up to his promise, becoming a real vertical threat for big gains, which allowed Gronku to settle into his primary role of being a possession receiver who could get first downs and keep drives alive. the Tijuana team was able to win 7 of their last 8 games, Gronku playing a big role, finishing the season as a top 10 receiver with 80 catches for 944 yards and 9 touchdowns. His total receptions and yards was best in the league for a Tight End, possibly putting him into discussions of some trophy talk. Gronku continued his fine play into the playoffs, with 90 yards and a TD in the semi-final game versus the Dallas Birddogs to help Tijuana secure a spot in the Ultimini. At this time, that game is yet to be played, but Gronku has high hopes that he will have a chance to shine and take home the championship trophy! All in all, the sophomore season for Mr. Muerto went very well and the transformation from raw rookie to grizzled veteran leader was a smooth one!
(529 words)

22. You’re in charge of entertainment for the Ultimus or Ultimini half-time show. What would you do?

This season's half-time show will include a team of Elvis Impersonator sky divers all jumping out of a plane and landing at mid-field, where they will perform a choreographed presentation of some of Elvis' Greatest Hits, like 'Hound Dog' and 'Blue Suede Shoes' along with a medley of his other great songs. Following that, there would be a display of fireworks, both in the sky and along the field, sending huge flares into the sky along with loud explosions. The smoke left lingering in the air will be the backdrop for the next segment - a laser show blasting highlights from both teams in the finals all to the tune of NWA's 'Dope Man'. Fans will ooh and ahh as they see their favorite players in holographic form running, passing, tackling in the air! The next segment is interactive with the fans, as they have all been given a Nintendo Duck Hunter gun, and the laser show will feature ducks flying around and the fans can try to shoot the ducks out of the sky - the highest scorer will receive a brand new car to drive home in! What a deal for some lucky person! The finale of the half-time extravaganza will bring in Taylor Swift live to sing a medley of her greatest hits, surrounded by a team of high-stepping dancers who will show off their boogie skills and be sent off with another booming cascade of fireworks and lasers! It will be great fun for all the fans and they will be super-hyped to watch the second half of the Ultimini Game!

29. Affliate PT from either SHL/PBE. The Weeks must match with the timeframe of this UW, which would mean SHL's PT #2, SMJHL PT #3, and PBE's PT 26-2.

SMJHL PT #3  : username Muerto

[qWest]

9. Through a random lottery drawing, you have been named the league's new commisioner for a day. Congrats! What improvements would you make to the league if you had the power to do whatever you wanted?

Being named commissioner of the ISFL for a single day, and thus not having too much time to make considerable change, I would opt to primarily make a few competitive updates to the ISFL and DSFL.

For the DSFL, I would change the builds and balance for the league entirely. When DSFL players go up to the ISFL they're already usually unbanking quite a bit of TPE and many may be making archetype or position changes. This, on top of facing a very different kind of competition means that one's player is already usually very different when they transition to the ISFL. So, instead of keeping the extremely low quality of DSFL play and generally keeping players beholden to potential build or archetype flaws, I would institute a full change to DSFL builds, allowing players to choose entirely new archetypes or even positions upon being called up to the ISFL. This would allow us to more closely model play in the DFSL along the lines of NCAA football rather than seemingly modeling it after Vermont middle schools as it is now. Perhaps these archetypes could be significantly simplified too with an "athlete" archetype and a "technician" archetype for each position with each having a higher emphasis on physical stats or skill stats.

Additionally for the DSFL, I would implement the idea of a filler draft as pitched by user AdamS. This would involve ISFL players have the ability to create a player for the DSFL that has a more limited cap and lifespan than primary creates. The hope is that these filler players would help better populate DSFL teams, increase interest in DSFL teams and LRs, and reduce the amount of DSFL players forced to swap for their DSFL team.

As far as ISFL changes, the number one thing that I think the ISFL needs to change is our current playoff structure. Though I'm certain that logistically it would be a nightmare to implement given DDSPF's extremely limited functionality and customization, the ISFL needs to get rid of one and done playoffs. I don't really know what if any options exist inside the sim to change the playoffs structure, but I would propose at least a change to best of 3 for Wild Card and Conference Championship matchups and a best of 5 Ultimus. This would a) vastly improve the enjoyment of users playing in these matchups, b) increase hype and engagement in the playoffs from spectators, and c) make the playoffs a much more rewarding process for the league's best teams.


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

What makes a good ISFL logo? Personally I would want my ISFL logo more closely resemble a logo in the NFL. Looking over the designs of these logos, there are a few critical features that define them (with some outliers to each rule, mostly in older logos)

1. Well-defined forward motion
2. Contained color scheme (2 or maybe three colors + black and white)
3. No or very limited shading
4. High clarity in all sizes and at distance
5. Text limited to monograms

Very few of these features are generally found in ISFL logos. In fact, I could probably say only Baltimore, Sarasota, and Orange County seem to fit all 5 of these features. While I think that all three of these logos could be cleaned up further, they're probably the three logos that would best be able to blend in amongst the logos of the NFL. Though it fails to meet feature 1, I believe that Yellowknife's logo could also blend in alongside this group quite well, sharing a great deal of DNA with the likes of the LV Raiders.

Overall, there are a few features I see commonly used around the ISFL that I'd like to see removed from future designs/rebrandings.

1. Muddled color schemes and overshading
2. Over reliance on framing devices (outline and shapes around the primary part of the logo, e.g. Berlin, Arizona, Austin)
3. Poor clarity
4. Poor sense of motion or aggression
5. Too much text/word art
6. Too many outlines

Probably the biggest criminals here and the logos I'd most like to see redone then are: Arizona, Berlin, Chicago, New Orleans, and San Jose.


29. Affliate PT from either SHL/PBE. The Weeks must match with the timeframe of this UW, which would mean SHL's PT #2, SMJHL PT #3, and PBE's PT 26-2.

SHL Affiliate - PT #2

[Dp-420]

Task #7
So far my experience in the ISFL has been, for a lack of a better term, a shit ton of fun. I originally got interested in the ISFL when not only one, but two rookies landed on my PBE Minor league team the Dallas Dynamos. The first one came into the league, shortly after I did. That would be @Air Crou, Him and I connected immediately and became bash brothers from different mothers. His minor league career was more impressive than mine was, as he nearly became MVP his final season there. Semantics. We didn’t really talk much about other sim leagues, until this other dude came into the league. That would be the one and only @Crunk. Some baseball rules are misleading, and OOTP itself can be confusing, so I did my part in the locker room to keep these dudes informed whenever they had a question about the rules or wanted some information on where best to put their TPE to get the best bang for their buck. I don’t even recall how the subject of a football sim league came up, but all I do remember is I was instantly interested. PBE is a lot of fun, but FOOTBALL! Come on! Crunk and I got into a conversation about the ISFL and let me tell you he didn’t need to sell me on the league, I was already sold, but everything he said to me, just made me that much more interested in getting things started. I can without a doubt thank these two dudes for getting me into the league. Once I got here, I wasn’t expecting much. It was getting late into season 28, and I was on the waiver wire, again not expecting anything but to sit there until the draft. Then in comes Kotasa. For those of you who may be sleeping under a rock, Kotasa is one of the GM’s for the Tijuana Luchadores. He scooped me off waivers even though they already had an established QB in IsHe ReallyInvisible, and just so you know, he really is. Tijuana was able to dominate in a few games which allowed me to get some in the game for garbage time. Nothing crazy, but that taste is all I needed to know, this was the league for me. Kotasa also helped me out in making a wiki. Might I add that stuff is HARD! But once you get the hang of it (or just look at other pages to figure out how/steal their tables stuff so mine didn’t look stupid) its not too bad. Also got a taste of the Ultimini as the Luchas played against my current squad the Royals. We wont talk about the results of that game. Its like talking about an ex-girlfriend with your current girlfriend. Not a good idea. Next in comes @slate and @Katarn22. At the time, they were the Co-GMs of the London Royals. They drafted me in the first round of the DSFL draft, 8th Overall. That was a complete shock for me, and I was so pumped. Then I got into the Locker Room a couple hours late, but when I did finally make it in there it was like a party. Bradley Welch, Savior Hawkins, and I were all drafted by them and we were all just going nuts. Welch was originally bummed because he wanted me as his QB and he talked a little smack about the Royals in one of his media articles, just for the Royals to SHOCK him too! Then you had Buffalo Hunter, Sam Squanch and Lucid Dreams in there with their crowns and fresh off their Ultimini victory. It was a great time. That moment cemented my existence in the ISFL. Ever since it’s been all up hill, even if our season didn’t finish the way it started. Im hooked. Im excited for the upcoming ISFL draft. I do not know where ill be selected if Im selected at all. It’ll be fun to watch it unravel though. I have a couple teams Im keeping my eyes on and will be interested to see what they do. One final thing, if you have not listened to Lucid Dreams’ podcast’s I would urge that you do so, especially the new creates. Lots of good information on there, especially the episode with Kotasa and talking about rookie contracts. Check it out.

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Task #14
My Player is Dustin Parmelee. The QB for the London Royals. We had a season of mediocrity. We finished the season with a 7-7 record, good for tied in last place in our division. We had quite a few high points and low points through out the season. The Royals offense was young. London had 9 rookie starters on offense and defense. The offensive rookies included Dustin Parmelee, Kiara Tenoh, Electric Squirrel, Brent Suzuki, Bradley Welch, Savior Hawkins, Cedric Wilkins II (waiver pick up will be placed in next DSFL draft), Eric Bolanos (Waivers), Doo Fus (waivers) and Ripoff Cheesebrand (waivers). With 4 of these guys being waiver pickups, this team was very young and wet behind the ears. They had veteran leadership lead by DE Lucid Dreams, LB Sam Squanch, TE Buffalo Hunter & OL Keane Lover. The baby Royals started the season off in good form. They won 4 of their first 5 and 5 of their first 7. However after that 5th win versus Portland in week 7, the London Royals really started to spit and sputter as they limped their ways to the end of the season 5 of 7 including 3 in a row that really cemented our fates of missing the playoffs. Performance wise this team was hit with some surprise performances. Rookie Running Back Kiara Tenoh had a huge first impression on the DSFL in her rookie season. Shes a speed back that is proving her worth every single week. Tenoh finished the season 4th in carries and 2nd in rushing yards, 100 yards behind league leader Jon Huntsman. Kiara also crossed the goal line 10 times on the ground, which is 3 behind Huntsman and only 1 behind Eric Gaare, both veterans of the DSFL. Another rookie player that jumped into the DSFL and started dominating from day one would  be defensive back Savior Ball-Hawkins Island. Don’t worry about all those words in a row, its just a personal nickname I gave to who in my eyes Is the best defensive rookie this season. Hes a Ball Hawk, and with the last name Hawkins, Ball-Hawkins just goes together so well. Any of you remember Revis Island? Darrell Revis of the Jets was such a great CB, that the Jets would just let him go man to man with their opponents best WR and he would shut them down week-after-week. That mirrors Saviors game, thus I termed the nickname Savior Ball-Hawkins Island! This past season Hawkins had 75 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, was second in the league with 3 interceptions.  He also had a league high 28 passes deflected and he also blocked 1 punt. What an amazing season for this first year DB. The last player I want to mention here would be Bradley Welch. I calls him B-Dub. Hes my go to guy. Hes constantly improving, Im constantly improving and Im hoping next season we both go off and become the greatest DSFL QB-WR tandem in league history. In 14 games this season B-Dub was able to secure 52 receptions for 675-yards, which was 15th in the league, he also brought in 7 touchdowns and the biggest stat of all, he returned a kickoff to the house for a touchdown, being the only DSFL player to successfully accomplish that this season.
My expectations for the Royals next season are awfully high. I hope and expect that everyone builds off last season and will be improved heading into next season. I expect to make the playoffs and play in he Ultimini.  The only thing I would have changed for the Royals this season is I would have allowed myself to air it out more. My numbers were very solid for a Rookie, but no where near the league lead, which is where I want to be by the end of next season.

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