(S41) Offseason Task

[Thor]

Task #7.
I had a bit of a difficult time thinking about what I'd write for this season's offseason task. Last season I actually skipped OT because I simply didn't have the time to get it done around my duties as a DSFL GM, but I've got an idea and I'd like to explore it in a freeform style. What I'd like to touch on today is the idea of "Coaching Trees" in the ISFL and how that might look if we did an assessment on the league to try and identify whether there are any major "trees" that still exist, and how the different people that have held GM positions through the years have impacted the league.

I've had this idea in my mind for a little while, and would like to eventually prepare a media article that goes in depth with exploring this idea across the whole league, but since this is an OT where I get no benefit from pushing over 600 words, for this example I'm going to focus on the team I'm most familiar with in the DSFL, Bondi Beach Buccaneers. To explain how I'm looking into this, we're going to look at who the GMs were on the team since it's inception - we'll also look to see whether their GM stint with the team was the first time they were in that kind of position, as only a GM with no prior experience would fall under the "Coaching Tree" of the GM that they co-manage the team with.

A little history first, before being known as BBB most people would know that the team was based in Myrtle Beach, and prior to that they were the Palm Bay Solar Bears. During their time as the Solar Bears, the team was filled with bots until Season 17 - so for the sake of keeping this brief, that's where we'll start. In Season 17, the GMs of Palm Bay Solar Bears were @Frostbite and @Hallmonitor_20. As far as I know, neither of these users had experience GMing prior to this - and since both came on at the same time we're going to label this tree the "Frostmonitor" tree. Hallmonitor went on to GM for the Philadelphia Liberty and the Frostmonitor tree would continue down that pathway if we were to explore it. Frostbite went on to create the Sarasota Sailfish as their founding GM, and we would also see the Frostmonitor tree continue along the Sarasota GM history as well.

After Hall stepped down, @scorycory stepped into the GM role in S19 to support Frost, creating the first pathway within the Buccaneers for the Frostmonitor tree to continue. Cory did not go on to GM elsewhere, and when Frost stepped down in S21 he initially brought in @jeffie43, and although that was shortlived I am going to count it, Jeff went on to GM in OCO - so it's likely the Frostmonitor tree has roots in there as well. The next user brought into this coaching tree is yours truly, Thor - though I haven't GM'd for any other teams I have had @AW13, @NicholasTheGreat who have GM'd alongside me - but I suspect AW was a GM prior so does not fit in the coaching tree category. The tree branches out following NTG as he took @UberBJ and @Void_DCXI under his wing. NTG also went on to coach with Baltimore, if explored further we'd find more paths for the Frostmonitor tree to follow within that team as well. Void brought in @Trempale to support. Trempale also went on to GM for Baltimore, further reinforcing the presence of the Frostmonitor system within that team. Since we're up over 600 words I'm going to rush through the end of this, Trempale brought in @ThunderTitan82, who brought in @rapideagle, and then the Frostmonitor tree ceases to exist within BBB temporarily as Rapid brought in @GlimsTC who had prior experience GMing through KCC - without further examination I'd hesitate to guess which coaching tree he brought in with him, however that perservered through BBB until I was brought back on as a GM at the beginning of S40 - and the Frostmonitor system has taken hold again, being passed on to @Akoustique and likely further on into the future.

I'd like to explore this idea more in the future but it may need to be a collaborative effort as there's a lot of research that has to go into it!

[speculadora]

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?

As a member of the Season 40 class, it may be a bit early to evaluate the class with any amount of authority, but that does not matter now – there’s TPE to be earned. So, let’s review the draft after the classes first season in the league.

1. Honolulu Hahalua – Liv Elsathelookout – DE
With the first pick in the draft, Honolulu grabbed Bayley’s recreate, Liv Elsathelookout. I feel like there’s something to that name that I should be picking up on, but it’s just not landing for me. Anyway, Liv was drafted at linebacker and has since switched to defensive end, where they compiled 51 tackles, including eight for a loss, and seven sacks. Solid contributions from the rookie who should only continue to improve. A perfectly solid top pick.

2. Baltimore Hawks – Money Tolliver – RB
I’ll admit that I was as surprised as anyone when Baltimore took convicted tamperer Jeffie with their top pick in the draft, and surprised again when they had him switch to running back. As a rookie he ran for 227 yards and poached four touchdowns on the ground, while adding 178 yards and three more touchdowns as a receiver. Not bad for a rookie backing up an all time great in Dante King, but the Hawks will be looking for a lot more out their top pick this season.

3. Orange County Otters – Jamadrian LeBayers – CB
I don’t know much about the Otters these days, or what their needs were, but they nailed this pick. All LeBayers has done is pace the class in TPE while posting a solid line for any corner, much less a rookie, with 66 tackles, four picks, and 18 pass breakups. There’s not much else left to say. A very good pick from Orange County.

4. Berlin Fire Salamanders – Clint Mustache – DE
Mustache was drafted as a tight end and is the latest in a long line of Manicmav’s great players. Drafted as a tight end, he has since switched to defensive end. As a rookie for Berlin he was a bit underwhelming, making just 21 tackles with three for a loss, and getting to the quarterback just twice. He’ll continue to earn TPE if his past is any indication, but Berlin will need more production from the fourth overall pick.

5. New York Silverbacks – Lionel Scrimmage – DT
According to the TPE tracker, this is Mojojojo’s new player. I don’t know the new users too well, but to my knowledge Mojo is pretty well liked and has a solid history of players. That being said, New York may have reached for the person and overlooked the earning ability, as Scrimmage has started to lag behind some of the other top picks in the class. That being said, as far as I know, defensive tackle is not a position where someone really needs to max earn, so this may be fine for the Silverbacks. Scrimmage underwhelmed in year one with 19 tackles, 1 TFL, and three sacks. 

6. San Jose Sabercats – Alex Armstrong – DE
A steal at the 6th overall pick, San Jose grabbed Duilio’s new player Alex Armstrong. Armstrong has been a more than reliable earner thus far, ranking third in the class in TPE and rocking the – to my incredibly limited knowledge – unique run stuffer archetype. He certainly stuffed some runs in year one by making 42 tackles, 9 TFL, and 5 sacks. Not quite as strong as Elsathelookout, but hardly anything to scoff at. A steal thus far for the Sabercats.

7. Cape Town Crash – Kairo Knight – WR
Cape Town grabbed a receiver with their first pick, and apparently held them down in the DSFL for their first year of eligibility, as I don’t see any stats from him on the index. Knight has roughly kept pace with his draft position in terms of TPE, and that’s about all I have to go on here. TBD on this one.

8. Orange County Otters – Big McLarge Huge – TE
Orange County’s second pick of the draft was the tight end with three names – great for my word counts. McLarge Huge was also held in the DSFL judging by the ISFL index, so there’s not much to see here. Huge is lagging slightly behind some picks that followed in TPE, but is by no means a slouch. Another TBD on this evaluation.

9. Baltimore Hawks – Walter Gunther – LB
Gunther was Baltimore’s second pick of this draft, and made a more significant impact as a rookie than their top pick. He piled up 80 tackles, one forced fumble, two sacks, and eleven pass breakups. Gunther is also holding up pretty well in terms of TPE relative to draft position. Two solid picks by Baltimore.

10. Austin Copperheads – Howard Coward – RB
Coward was also held in the DSFL in year one of his career. In terms of TPE relative to draft position, he’s crushing it. He’ll likely be featured prominently for Austin this year, but until then I have no further comments.

11. Sarasota Sailfish – Ginand Toxic – DE
Perhaps the first pick of the draft that might have been a true reach, but I don’t really want to say that about anyone because what do I know about who Toxic is or why Sarasota picked them. Anyway, lagging well behind in terms of TPE, Toxic did manage to find a role as a pass rush specialist, making five sacks while contributing just 17 tackles. Perhaps I spoke too soon.

Sorry to everyone else but I reached the word count I need, so we’ll revisit this again next season.

[Bmason0520]

Write 600 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 600 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.

First off, congrats to the Arizona Outlaws on their second Ultimus in three seasons! It was a very impressive season as they went 14-2, with losses to Sabercats and the Crash. This is the second year in a row of a Wraiths v Outlaws Ultimus. These two teams are definitely in dynasty mode as they continue to dominate the league the last couple of years. Let’s take a look at the stats and see what these 2 teams are doing great and allowing them continue their success.

First we will take a look at the offense for these two. Both were pretty solid with Arizona scoring 509 points and the Wraiths scoring 429. You know the name of the game is score more points than the other team, so let’s see how they manage to do that. Is it because of a purely generational talent taking command under center. For Arizona, Sailor has continued to impress. They have thrown over 30 touchdowns in all but 1 of their 9 season in the ISFL. They also haven’t thrown more than 18 ints in a season and is averaging 101.7 passer rating. This is an impressive stat line. For the 2055 season, they didn’t have the passing yards they have had in previous seasons but did have 33 touchdowns and only 11 ints. Also was only sacked 35 times. Now Unit, for the Wraiths, is a new starter for them under center. St. Christmas left Yellowknife to join the Butchers in Chicago. Not a bad first season for Unit, but it can’t be said that they were the reason for the success. Finishing second to last in passing yards, only 22 touchdowns with 16 ints, and a passer rating of 81.1. Unit will continue to grow and get better which is good for the Wraiths who still had a strong season.

As we saw, neither one of these teams was purely dominate through the air, but that might have something to do with their rush game. The Wraiths finished second in the league with 2241 yards, behind OCO who had 2504. The Wraiths managed 19 TD on the ground. Most of this dominate attack was led by Akinfenwa, who led the league in rush yards with 6 more yards than JHM. THey were paired with Archipelago and both of them averaged almost 5 yards a carry. Now that is an impress and dominating stat. This is clearly why the Wraiths passing game was a top tier one, but when paired with this rushing game, it clearly was a good combination. Arizona also had a top five rushing attack finishing 4th with 2025 yards. Nedelko led the team with 1276 yards, paired with Blue Jr. with 745 yards and combined they accounted for 20 TDS this season. Both averaging over 4 yards a play, not quite as good as the Wraiths, but still very solid performances if you can bet on 4 yards a carry.

So we have looked at the offenses for these teams, now let’s see what the defenses did. Arizona only allowed 249 points the whole season, that’s under 16 points per game. Wraiths with a solid defense too with 305 points allowed. We will break it down by categories that can make a difference in a game. First, sacks. THe Wraiths dominated this category totaling a whooping 72 sacks, a 4.5 per game average. That’s huge if you can put the other teams offense and a long distance position. The Outlaws also had a solid season with 61 sacks, which is a 3.8 per game average. This is big for both teams putting their opponents in long distance situations. Both teams actually finished in the bottom half for tackles for loss. Wraiths with 30 and the Outlaws with 27, but the league span was only 39 to 24, so they were far off. Next we will look at the turnover categories. This is very big category in the fact that it takes the ball away from opposition and give the ball back to your offense. The Wraiths forced 19 fumbles and also recovered 19, that’s a huge paired with their 11 ints, that’s 30 turnovers. Almost a 2 per game average which is an easy way to assure you win a game. Arizona forced 18, recovered 14, and had 23 ints, which is even higher than the Wraiths with 37 turnovers. Over 2 per game. The sailfish were the only team with a higher average as they totaled 42 turnovers.

For this season, i think defenses were a big key to success, and more specifically, the turnovers. Anytime you can give you offense more chances to score, the better off you are. And these 2 offenses were able to take advantage of those chances and led them to back to back Ultimus championships.

[CementHands]

Tier 1 - Long Form

Arizona man. 3 out of the last 4, and finalists in that one. Just imagine. My time in the league has seen a few absolute dominant teams. The Otters of old. The Hahalula (spelling?) after my time on the team (basically immediately after, and up until a few seasons ago). The Hawks. The Outlaws of right now. Each time we have seen a power team there has always been a fall. The teams try to hold on for dear life, selling their futures in an attempt to secure their now. To go for one more season. Maybe the thought it to hold on, that a run is still possible, all you need to do is make the playoffs and then just have to win the next game. We will see what father time has for the Outlaws, if they follow in these same footsteps, or if they are able to build up a stable new core, to replace this quickly aging fleet. Arizona definitely lucked out from some key free agents. Landing 3 essentially capped players the season of their first Ultimus of the run turned them instantly from a good team, to a favorite. A lot of things had to happen for this to happen. The situation in Orange County had to be dire for the Turtles to look outside and from this author's own opinion it was. They also had to put together the best pitch, because again there were several options of highly competitive teams, and some seemed to be in better positions, adding the Turtles would be a support move, where Arizona seemed to completely overhaul their defense in one single offseason. Names soon to hit the rafters would leave so that a new generation could take over.
Is this the same situation as they face themselves in now? Did they have a strong run and just not quite get enough out of the team? I think it is definitely similar. With experience I really do think the turtles are going to be top of the league competitive for another 2 seasons, but that second season is going to be a heck of a grind. What happens then. Do they fall out of favorite territory? Are they able to retool around a very strong upcoming running game? Is there going to be a sweet spot where they are pretty good at all aspects and is that good enough. If they aren't good enough for a championship run, but still good enough to compete for playoffs, do they try to trade away, or not sign their older aging players? Definitely a lot of questions for the good old GMs to ponder over.

Arizona has been really good for a long time. Until relatively recently they have not had much playoff luck to show for that regular season success. Now that they have had a run of good luck, will that luck run out or revert? I know I've only been adding a bunch of questions, but the short of it is they have started to replace some of their regressing players, but who knows how long those players can hold out. Regression is a cold hearted bitch, and they are getting the full brunt of it. I do think they will fall out of grace within the next few seasons. I imagine the league as a whole is tired of seeing their sexy banner, and everyone is going to be gunning for them. I'll leave this off with another question: Who is going to assume the seat once the Outlaws vacate their throne? How will they rule over the league, and how long will their reign last?

Code:

614 Words

SHL Claim For Good Measure

[UpperNet]

TIER 3
#22
Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj

Height: 6’7
Weight: 260lbs

Combine Results

40 Time: 5.2
10-Yard Split:
Vertical Jump: 27.5

Player Bio: Zisia was a big-name prospect who had 4 Stars in his junior year. Unfortunately, Zisia got injured in the first game of his senior year which took him out of the entire season. Injury concerns and bad grades forced Zisia to attend Greendale Community College. Zisia had an outstanding 2-year career, breaking the passing yard record for the school with 9200 Yards and the passing TD record at 65 TDS and 15 Interceptions. Zisia decided to take his chances and enter the DSFL Draft early.

Strengths:
Great short and medium ball accuracy
Can place the ball anywhere on the field
Cool Under pressure and stands tall in the pocket
The process reads fast and gets the ball on time
Tallest QB in recent memories and has great vision on the field.

Weakness:
Slow and unathletic
Inconsistent Footwork
Cant improvise or make plays on the run
Inconsistent deep ball accuracy

#31
As you can tell Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj by Insanely long and outrageous name, Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj award would have to be no other than the “Not to Name a kid” award. Obviously, there would be some other competition for this award. Lots of names in this league that would get your kid bullied by the other kids. For example, fellow QB draftee and NOT MVP Not Edd could be in the top spot of this award. Like what kind does the first name even is Not? Come on it was like the parents practically stuck a “make fun of me” sticker on the poor guys back. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, this award will for sure go to zisia. Do you know the worst part of the name? Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj isn't even his real name! Let me tell you the story of the legendary name Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj. One night at a party the man jackson johnson was so drunk he accidentally changed his name to Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj. Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj is truly the worst name someone can come up with and so zisia would deserve this award.

#36
https://probaseballexperience.jcink.net/...t&p=571017

#28
The Net proposal for a more exciting and fun football game. I have several rules to make the game more exciting

1. First of all I'd get rid of punts. all punters will have to become kickers instead. My reason? cause without punting the game will be even more exciting! Do you really wanna watch your team do some lame, wimpy punts? or do you wanna go with the Madden strategy and always go for it on 4th down? more tension and more fun!

2. Jersey numbers change. I will change it so that the cap for jersey numbers I now #200. Three-digit numbers just look so bad ass. also how often do sports allow #100+ jersey numbers?

3. Extra points. Extra points are now worth 5 points! why? to make the game more exciting! my new rules will bring more excitement and high intensity. I don't want any wimpy kicking! more points and more excitement!

[pazuzu]

Tier 1 (629 Words)

This is the first time I have been back in the ISFL for a while, but luckily, I was able to get on a fantastic team, Bondi Beach Buccaneers, who were able to win the DSFL championship this season! As someone who has not paid attention to this league in a very long time it was awesome to see, and hooked me back into the league again. Last season the Buccaneers finished dead last with a record of 2-11-1. That season Smokin Jay led the league in passing with over 4 thousand passing yards and 29 touchdowns on the year. The thing that held Bondi Beach back with the performance from their defense which was ranked as the second worst overall in the DSFL in S39. In S40 they ramped up the defense which seemed to make all the difference in the world. Compared to S39 Bondi Beach got 12 more sacks, 12 more interceptions, and 94 pass deflections which is double the amount they had the previous season.
The reason this worked so well for the Buccaneers was due to their drafting in the offseason previously. In the S40 draft the Buccaneers addressed their needs heavily, with the first overall pick taking an upcoming start Mary Marie at safety. Marie finished the season with 2 sacks, 67 tackles and 6 interceptions in their rookie season, one of the “safety” stones on the defense this past season.  In the first seven rounds of the draft, all but 2 players were defensive players taken. That had to be the most surprising thing for me this season, winning the Ultimini. Bondi Beach finished with the second-best record in the DSFL, a game behind the Seawolves. However, we were able to beat them at their home stadium in the first playoff game and edging out the Pythons in a super tight championship game.

In the ISFL, we had a rematch from last season as the Outlaws played against the Wraiths in the finals yet again. But this time was different story as the team I was just recently drafted to, Arizona, was able to win the Ultimus this season. Kind of like what I mentioned before with Bondi Beach, defense was the key to them winning the championship. In S39 the Outlaws had a good defense which helped them get to the finals of course but they stepped up and improved in areas they needed to in order to win the championship next season. In S40 the Outlaws increased their turnover rate on fumbles to just below 80 percent of the time compared to 68 percent in the season prior. Being able to secure turnovers when they happen is a huge turning point in any game and gives your team a great chance of getting the win at the end of the day. The biggest change for Arizona must be in their pass defense this season. In S40 Arizona had 123 passes defended and 23 interceptions, compared to in S39 they had 88 passes defended and 10 interceptions. This really must be attributed to the secondary of Arizona improving and continuing to earn TPE the past season and so.

Was this an expected result, absolutely. The Outlaws have won a few championships back-to-back before the Wraiths ruined that streak winning next season. So, the outcome was not surprising to anyone at all. The most surprising thing this playoff season has to be the first round match up between the Otters and Copperheads. The Otters finished the season with a losing record and were able to beat the second overall seed in the playoffs in a close game 20-13. And the game came down to a fumble recovery touchdown to win the game with less than 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

[sakrosankt]

Tier 1

In this version of the offseason task special, I want to take a look at a specific player and the career he put on turf. I am happy to take a look back at the career of Quarterback Carter Knight and what he achieved in his career. His user frostbite is most well known for frost sux lmap and as the founder of the Sarasota Sailfish. In season 31 fo the ISFL, he decided to create as quarterback and rally to glory with his henceforth known player Carter Knight.

He started his career in the DSFL, playing for the Kansas City Coyotes. The first season of his career on a developmental level was a quite successful one looking at the stats. He finished with a QB-rating of 90.1 and a TD-Int ratio of 22-9. The Coyotes finished third in the conference, missing out on a playoff spot. In his second season there, he lead the Kansas City Coyotes to a playoff berth, putting a 28-22 TD-Int season on the table. They even made it to the finals, but fell short to the Dallas Birddogs after a lackluster game of the young playmaker. In the season after, Knight showed his play much improved, posting a 24-10 TD-Int season. It wasn't enough to get into the playoffs this time around though, as the Coyotes only placed third in their division.

After three seasons on a developmental level, Carter Knight was promoted to be the starting Quarterback for his lifelong career stop in Sarasota. The Sailfish were in need of a young passer coming up, and Knight delivered right from the start. In his first season at professional level he scored 25 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions, which lead to a first seed in the conference. In the playoffs, the Sailfish fell short to the later winner, the Baltimore Hawks. Knight had a good game, scoring 368 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the running game never got going.
In his second season, he took a big leap in performance and improved to one of the best in the game already. From this season on, he never posted a season with less then 30 TDs again. Finishing the season at 33-13 TD-Int ratio and leading the Sailfish to another playoff berth at 10-5-1, the team from Sarasota went out of the playoffs in the wild card round. Posting only 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions with only 237 yards passing wasn't enough to beat the Berlin Fire Salamanders.
The following season Carter Knight scored 37 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Sounds like a good season, but the Sailfish only went 7-9 finishing second to last in the division. The ended the year with a 4 game winning streak and lost 6 of their 7 last games to miss the playoffs for the first time since years.
The next season up was a much bigger success for the Sailfish again, after finishing 12-4 as the second seed behind the butchers. Knight posted a fabolous 45-12 season, which led to an Offensive Player of the Year award. Jay Cure Jr had a pretty outstanding season that year too, posting 23 touchdowns on the ground and over 2,200 scrimmage yards which brought him MVP, with Knight falling behind as a close second. In the playoffs, the Sailfish advanced to the finals to get the first fish bowl ever in the history of the league. In a very close game, the Sailfish fell short with Knight scoring 3 touchdowns but also 3 interceptions.

In the following seasons, Knight scored 37 and 36 touchdowns respectively, but also, for the only two seasons in his career posted seasons with more than 14 interceptions with 21 and 19. In season 37, the Sailfish got the #1 seed again with a 12-4 season, but falling short to the Arizona Outlaws in the finals. In season 38, Sarasota missed the playoffs with a 7-9 record finishing 4th. Fun fact, in the wild card playoff game that season (that is simmed but not counted and forced to be won by the #1 seed), they had to bench Carter Knight and put in LT Stumpy Jones, otherwise they couldn't force Berlin to win the game.
Carter Knight didn't have enough after such a underwhelming season, and put together another 45 touchdown season, with only recording 10 interceptions while doing so. After this season, he only got OPotY again, although he was by far the most valuable player and would have deserved to get that award.
The winning RB had neither the most rushing, nor the most receiving yards. He posted 22 TDs from scrimmage. I'm still not quite sure how this voting ended that bad for Knight, as he very much deserved the nod with a QB rating of over 109, 45 TDs and only 10 interceptions. But well, it is what it is.
In his final season, Knight wasn't tired to throw the ball and scored 33 touchdowns again. He got to 291 career touchdowns, falling only short by 1 to tie the all time leader. The other stats are all easily in the top 10 for QBs.
Kudos to you, Carter Knight. Next stop hall of fame!

[ajtigger]

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

If I was commissioner for the day, I would introduce a new "playoff" game that would determine the team that gets to choose first in the ISFL draft. Normally the right to choose first is reserved for the team with the worst record in the previous season. However, rewarding the "worst" team with the top pick does encourage negative behavior such as intentional tanking. In professional sports, leagues such as the NBA have tried to combat this by introducing a lottery system that gives all non-playoff teams a chance to win the number one overall pick. While this solution may help curb tanking, it also creates questions about the fairness of the lottery system and who is drawing the numbers to determine the winner. Thus, the cleanest and simplest way to manage the top pick would be one sim game.

I like the idea of one game to determine the top pick for a few reasons. First, the game would be between the two worst teams in the league meaning we don't have to worry about a team just missing the playoffs swooping in for a top pick. Second, an actual game would create more excitement around the end of the season and the draft process. Playing the first overall pick game before the championships could lengthen the final week of our season and serve as a great opener to the Ultimus. Third, it gives a bad team a reason to celebrate. Look, being at the bottom of the league can be really demoralizing for a locker room. By giving the two worst teams a chance to win one final game, we are giving them a chance to celebrate a bit of a triumph at the end of the year. Finally, the game prevents total tanking. Now being the worst roster in the league no longer guarantees you the top pick. Instead, you still need to keep your team in good enough shape to win the final game of the season.

11. Expansion Expansion Expansion! Tell us why you think the league should expand / not expand or include any ideas (in words) for team branding ideas you have or team locations.

At this point in time, I do not believe that the ISFL should be looking to expand, rather they should be looking to rebrand some teams. I think the emergence of the branding for the Cape Town Crash has been successful and over time, other teams should also consider the rebrand. For example, I think the league could still use a team placed somewhere in Asia. The most obvious choice to me would be to put a team somewhere in Japan. Easy options for a Japanese team could be culturally historic items such as samurai and ninjas. If someone wanted to avoid more stereotypical names for the team other choices could include a reference to the long time fishing culture established in Japan or Climbers as a reference to Mount Fuji. Obviously, any team from Japan should be blue and red to match the historic colors of all of the national teams that compete under their flag.

Another option for Asia would be to place a team somewhere in China as the country has one of the richest histories in the world. Team names and branding should be easy to come by for Chinese teams as we could simply start with the Zodiac calendar for inspiration. Perhaps the most fierce and identifiable for China out of those options would be the dragon. I can imagine a fierce logo for the team with a gold dragon the center of the focus. Uniforms could be a deep gold color with jade accents to highlight classic dragon images from the country's history. If we wanted a simpler option, the Giant Panda is also an obvious cultural icon in the country. A simple design of a panda eating a bamboo shoot would make for a great logo and black and white uniforms could be a very unique look that we do not currently see in the league.

[CyloSaynx]

I decided to just add them all to a google doc so it’s be easier to see all the images I used for my graphics. (If I need to repost the images not in the document I can just let me know, I thought this would be easier for y’all).

I did three Tier 3 tasks worth 7.5 TPE, all three are graphics with a brief description.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-doQ...HXk4U/edit

[JoshiePoo]

Tier 1: Prompt 1:
Another season has come and gone, and another Ultimus and Ultimini champ have been crowned. Thus, it is time for my annual(?) breakdown of the journey of the champions to the championship. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the eventual champions would take the victory over my Yellowknife Wraiths, but it is in the past now. Congratulations to the S40 Ultimus Champion Arizona Outlaws. Let’s dive into it.


Arizona has long been a powerhouse franchise in the ISFL. Collecting Ultimus after Ultimus, they have become mainstays in any conversation about the league. Last year they were runner-up, playing second fiddle to the Wraiths in Season 39. In Season 40, it made them hungrier. The Outlaws dominated their ASFC competition, tallying up 14 wins and 2 losses on the year, while leading the league in points scored by a large margin, and brandishing a perfect 8-0 record at home. In the same vein, the Outlaws led the league in points allowed by a large margin, holding opponents to just 249 points on the season.

Under center Arizona was led by the efficient veteran presence of QB Wendell Sailor. Sailor’s 8th season in the league was par for the course over his illustrious campaign. While it wasn’t a dominant showing from the now 3 time Ultimus winner, and two time league MVP, it was still enough to drive Arizona to a league leading offense, including a bonkers 31.8PPG. Sailor himself led the league in Passer Rating, and completion percentage, as well as limiting interceptions to make for a rock solid year for the Outlaws.

In the backfield he was flanked by 3rd year running back Denny Nedelko, who carried the majority of Arizona’s rushing attack throughout the season. Out wide, Sailor had WR1A and WR1B to target, in ‘Captain’ Billy Stinkwater and Louis Blondin. Both wideouts recorded 1000+ yard seasons and kept the offense churning throughout the course of the regular season.

Yet the real story of the team came on defense. Arizona’s league leading defense suffocated teams all season, with only 15.6PPG allowed. They had a two-headed monster at LB/outside Edge rusher in LBs Leonardo McTurtle and Akaki Akayre, who recorded crazy stats throughout the season. McTurtle kept up his fantastic performances from years past, and had 96 tackles, 10 TFLs, 8 PBs, and 15 sacks on the season! Akayre was right there with him, and better in some categories. The 4th year LB totaled 104 tackles, 6 TFLs, 12 PBs, and 16 sacks in a monstrous year for the Outlaws. In the secondary, Arizona had great contributions for CB Spottie O’Dopaliscous and rookie FS NotSo Smart. O’Dopaliscious had a breakout 6th year, dropping 98 tackles, 6 Ints, and 31 PDs. Smart contributed all over the place on defense, finding 6 sacks, 5 Ints, and 37 tackles of his own from the safety position. All these contributions and more made the building blocks for an incredibly scary Outlaws team in 2055, who crushed the ASFC en-route to a first round bye over the course of the regular season.

In the Postseason, Arizona was equally as dominant. Playoff opponents were held to 19 points on average, while the Outlaws offense averaged 41 PPG. In the ASFCCG Arizona easily handled the upstart Orange County Otters 37-17, and cruised into the S40 Ultimus against their opponents from the previous year, the Yellowknife Wraiths. The Oulaws dominated the Ultimus all-game. They held the Wraiths to only 21 points, and limited every Yellowknife offensive option with their suffocating defense. An incredible team performance by Arizona, as they would go on to win their 3rd Ultimus in 4 years. Dynasty? Who’s to say, definitely not this writer.