(S48) Offseason Task

[Punk42AE]

PBE Affiliation
+2.5 TPE

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18. This task is exclusive to recreate/non-recreate rookies of the S48 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? (Written Task)

Being a S48 Recreate Dazen Guile has been excited to be drafted by an ISFL team.  And that team ended up being the rebuilding Colorado Yeti with their bounty of picks in this draft.  Dazen is going to bring his hard nosed rushing style that not only allows him to be speedy but also elusive whenever he's on the field.  If he's lined up as a running back or a wide receiver he's going to give it his all and try to make a play when nothing is there.  The hope is that he can also be a member of the special teams whenever the team needs him there too.  When you can rip off a huge kickoff return or punt return, no matter how the game is going that is straight electricity to every fan in the stadium or watching on television.  And now with the call up from the DSFL it's going to be Dazen's time to shine with the Yeti,,, we just have to see how many seasons it takes to show out.

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19. Your team has announced that they will be laying ground on a new stadium next season. What additions would you like to see included in it. (Written Task)

With the Colorado Yeti being in a rebuilding and up and coming situation, they have announced that a new stadium is coming on the horizon.  When you're a team that is about a icy mountain creature, it makes 100% sense to have a giant roller coaster around the entire park, with multiple Yeti strewn just off the tracks.  The hope is that it isn't too distracting for the team when the coaster goes zooming by the outside of the clubhouse and the windows outside.  Some places won't be able to be accessed by the coaster, but by and large the stadium in and out will be shown off in the 90 second ride.  The key is that when you get off the coaster to let the team staff know how many different Yeti you saw during the ride, as it is ever changing each game day, but if you get the number right you enter a raffle to get into the Owners Box for a choice of a future game.

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21. Written Option: If your player had a show starring them, what would the plot be?

Dazen Guile is going to be on the new show that will be in the vein of 'EdTV' as it will follow him around in his everyday life 24-7 during the offseason.  Since he is the Black Prism and one of the few people who have ever drafted Black Luxin it should make for an interesting following.  The hope is that there aren't any issues across the Seven Satrapies, as that could get messy and then you'd add on top of the problems having a full camera crew for every second.  The hope is that most of the show will be day to day events for the Pro Marchos and what all that he can do when it comes to drafting different colors.  A lot of different shows have tried to grasp what it's like, but having this show be 24-7 will leave little question to how busy the day to day schedule is when it isn't filled with Football.

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160 Words

[Supersquare04]

11. 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.

Reggie Battle has spent most of his career on the field hearing the same word over and over, potential. In high school, he was always the best player on the field. Whether it be at quarterback, runningback, or anywhere on the defense, he'd crush the opposition. When he arrived at Mizzou and took up his calling at wide receiver, he failed to quite live up to those expectations. So much potential, and yet Battle failed to make the starting lineup as a freshman and caught barely over two dozen balls as a sophomore. In his junior year, Battle finally decided to use that potential. He exploded, tearing apart defenses week after week and rising to the top of every analysts big boards. He broke the single game receiving record at Mizzou, catching for 242 yards in a mesmerizing performance...only for an ACL tear midway through the season to cut his breakout year short. Pundits were quoted to say "If it weren't for that ACL, he'd have been a first round pick". Battle came back the next season wanting to prove he could still play, but small injuries kept stopping him. Turf toe, a sprained ankle, or a random muscle strain... Battle would showcase week after week that he could still play like his old self, only for a random injury to take him out in the 3rd or 4th quarter. Too many scouts dismissed him, what was the point of taking a player who couldn't stay on the field? It all amounted to a season where Battle played 3 more games than his junior year, and had half of the stats in every category. Many thought his career was over...but he decided to give football everything he had in one last try. His only salvation was the ISFL, and thankfully the Norfolk Seawolves gave him a shot. Despite not popping off, he managed to finish the season without missing a game and was drafted to Honolulu late in the 3rd. If Reggie Battle can stay on the field, who knows what he's capable of.

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14. 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.

So first of all, I want to preface this with the fact that I don't actually know if the league has room for an expansion. However, if we do I think having teams in San Antonio and St. Louis would be a great place to expand to. I will be 100% honest in admitting that this is personal bias, I live near St. Louis and losing the rams sucked. In spite of that, it could be a really cool thing to have another team to root for in football, as I am not really a fan of the Battlehawks. I don't really know what the branding could be, maybe something like the Stallions or Stingers so you get that double S thing? Anyways, my other suggestion would be San Antonio. It's a great sports market that's needed a football team for a long time and has a ton of branding ideas. They could be either the San Antonio Wranglers or San Antonio Rangers, but the most important part is their stadium. This stadium has the potential to have the most iconic branding in ISFL history: The Alamo. Can you imagine how sick it would be to play in a stadium called The Alamo? There is so much potential in team slogans and whatnot. Its no surprise that San Antonio is one of the most common places for a relocation in Madden, although the branding is usually done as the Dreadnoughts. For legal reasons, I imagine we couldn't do that. The only other places I think that would be good to expand to would be overseas in locations that aren't often done. What I mean is that when teams expand overseas its usually done to somewhere like London, but expanding to Seoul would be super unique. We've already done this in part by expanding to Berlin, something that not a lot of other leagues would/have done I imagine.

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[fetty]

36. Affiliate PT

[Honoredmexican]

Tier 1: 7. 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.

I want to talk about my overall experience in general so far in the International Simulation Football League (ISFL) to include the ISFL Rookie League, DFSL.
I started off as a free agent pick up to the Norfolk Seawolves since I came right after the draft for DSFL S46. It was a little overwhelming with all the tasks and things that needed to be done in the (what felt like) short amount of time, but I wanted to do as much as possible to play catch up with the rest of my rookie class. You can immediately tell the difference from a first-time player versus someone who is a veteran in the league and on their third or fourth player. Veterans can use the money that they have been saving up to immediately hit that max TPE of 250 as fast as possible. That is where I want to be, but I know that it takes time and a lot of hard work to get there.
My overall experience in DSFL was fun and engaging. I think that has a lot to do with the team I was on and the great people in it. My general managers were really engaging and helped me stay on track to success. I believe Linebacker South West did a great job in his DFSL rookie year, almost getting triple digits in tackles. I worked alongside other great defensive players that helped push South West to be the best that he could be. I was getting more and more comfortable knocking out tasks such as weekly predictions and activity checks. I just felt like I was not earning as much as I would like to in order to keep up with the rest of my class. What did I do to keep up with them, you ask? I turned to gambling and let me tell you something. My gambling record was not pretty, and I did the opposite of helping me out. I lost around 15 million in gambling for the first year. That might not sound like a lot to some veterans who have triple digit millions but for a first-time user it was devasting. Needless to say, I needed to find an alternate solution in order to make money.
ISFL draft was upon us as soon as I felt like I was just getting my sea legs. There were plenty of teams that scouted me (all of them were great scouts) and that made me feel valued. I know that I won’t be a first-round pick going into my first year, but I know I wanted to be on a team that really felt like I can be a big part of what they have going on. Orange Count Otters (OCO) drafter South West using the thirty eight pick in the third round of the draft. There is not a moment like being drafted by a team. It gives you the “warm and fuzzies”.
OCO needed new blood in the form of a cornerback, and I was more than willing to accommodate my team as needed. Making the switch was not a terrible process. The biggest thing is the calculations of TPE and making sure you distribute accordingly for a cornerback to be useful. I would also be staying down in the DFSL until I am needed in the team. I was perfectly fine with staying with Norfolk Seawolves for another year.
I wanted to contribute and earn more so I can continue growing. I got a job as a Sim Assistant and helped Norfolk with scouting talent. I had a great time doing both and will continue to until my help is not needed anymore. My first year as a cornerback was not pretty. I did not get a single interception that year as a capped cornerback. Disappointing for sure. I had time to reevaluate my attributes and reached out to some valuable cornerbacks in the league for advice.
OCO has made the call to bring me up from DFSL. It is bittersweet knowing that I won’t be playing for Norfolk as South West anymore (as far as I know) but I’m excited to help out OCO in any way that I can.

[TomHanks]

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?

They say it takes 5 years to properly evaluate a draft class. While there have only been 3 seasons since the S45 draft class, I thought it would be fun to do a review of where we stand now, and then have another look after the requisite 5 seasons. We will take a look at the five top picks from the season 45 draft class.

Drafted with the first overall pick was Doctor Who, a player who has now been on 3 different teams in their young career. A send down their first season, The Doctor had a promising 2061 campaign with 44 tackles, 7 TFLs, and 2 sacks. Undoubtedly an extremely talented young player, they are also third in the class in TPE. The only caveat of course, is whether or not they were a good selection for Chicago considering they are no longer on the team. While this is certainly not the outcome Chicago had hoped for when they made the selection, they did turn the former first overall pick into a first, two thirds, and a fill in young defensive lineman. All things considered this is far from the worst it could have been for Chicago, and we will have to see what happens with the draft picks they received in return in order to properly evaluate this pick.

Pick number two is a solid enough addition to a growing NOLA squad, sitting at 7th overall in TPE. The only real question mark lies in whether or not Edgecomb should have been the first safety off the board. Keep in mind that despite being 7th overall in TPE for the class, he is 3rd in the class in TPE among just the safeties. Paul has been a strong on the field contributor for the Squared Line (Second Line Secondary), but management in New Orleans has to question if drafting Luke Hunter or Chappy McChapperson would have been the smarter move.

The third overall pick is a player whose fanbase may be dying, but he's just getting started. Sitting in a balanced offence with an even split in carries, Kit Fisto has been electric. Amassing 2,436 scrimmage yards and 17 TDs in just 2 seasons as a Sabercat, this is a player who is a major contributor to a phenomenal team. Sitting just 2 TPE behind the lead in the class, this pick was a slam dunk barring absolute disaster.

With the fourth overall pick, we're forced to look at this pick in a very similar way to Doctor Who. Hercules Henry is no doubt a phenomenal player and showed it off last season. For the Cape Town Crash, Henry had a nose for the end zone and was able to be extremely valuable for the offence, helping propel them to an Ultimus appearance with some phenomenal performances. He is the 6th highest TPE earner in the class. Unfortunately for the purposes of this discussion, Henry wasn't drafted by the Crash. So, we look to the first round pick that Colorado received in exchange for the former 4th overall pick. This pick, like the first Chicago received for Who, has not been made yet. Accordingly, we will have to revisit this pick to judge the overall outcome of drafting Henry at 4OA in even more seasons from now.

Siri Kjellstrom was the first linebacker selected in the S45 class. A phenomenal user and former commissioner, Orange County was no doubt highly considering their locker room with this selection. The question marks that currently surround this pick will firstly be TPE earning, she sits at 14th overall in TPE in the class despite being a top 5 pick, and her on field production has been slightly less than one might hope with such a premium pick at the linebacker position. With that said, Kjellstrom has shown tremendous improvement between her first two seasons. Finishing her rookie year with 26 tackles, no sacks, 1 FF, and 1 INT, there is a bit to be desired. However, in season 2 that jumps to 37 tackles, 1 FF and 1 FR, 4 sacks, 1 INT, and an additional PD. That is trending in a positive direction, and there's a good chance that in a few seasons on a revisit, this pick turns out to be exactly what OCO could have hoped for.

[Z-Whiz]

16) The Tijuana Luchadores and QB Puddles O’Duck had a very adventurous journey last season. The season started well and kept going well all the way until about 10 minutes left in the Ultimini. Tijuana was littered with talent all over the field as they completed the season with the #1 offense in the league and #1 defense in their conference (#3 in the league). The offense returned MVP WR Benn and OPotY/RotY QB Puddles O’Duck. But they also brought back rising stars in RB Brandon Johnson and TE Bob Kronkowski. If you thought last season couldn’t get any better, Tijuana’s offense stepped it up another notch. Puddles O’Duck wound up winning MVP with a stellar season leading the league in passing yards, passing TDs, and passer rating. In those categories, it wasn’t particularly close either. He had nearly 600 more passing yards, 5 more TDs, and 15 high rating than the next closest QBs. With such a dominate season, you’d expect Puddles to have been the runaway MVP candidate, but due to Tijuana’s high powered offense, it was a neck and neck race. Puddles, Benn, and Johnson finished as the Top 3 vote getters for MVP, and honestly, it could have been any of the three an no one would have complained. Now, on to the defense. It was expected the D would take a step back due to call-ups to the ISFL and forced retirements for inactives. However, the rookies stepped it up. As a collective, they allowed 22.1 PPG (3rd), 356.4 YPG (4th), 118.8 rushing yards per game (3rd) and 237.6 passing yards per game (5th). Being above or around league average for a team this young was impressive and allowed Tijuana to push for the Ultimini. However, they ended up 10 minutes short of glory with Portland coming from behind to win the league. Congrats to them on a great season. Tijuana reloaded in the offseason and will be back in the Ultmini before we know it.

19) The biggest thing for me is space. Too often arenas have limited space to move around. People are shoulder to shoulder walking through the concourses and it makes the general feeling negative as you try to navigate from your seat to the bathroom or concession stands. And speaking of bathrooms and concession stands, those are next on my to do list. Think of how many you believe are needed and double it. Nobody wants to miss half a period as they're standing in line to take a leak or waiting endlessly for another beer. Make food and bathroom more accessible. Space and accessibility are the key factors to any new arena and even if the other factors of going to a game aren't great, these two items make a massive impact on the game day experience. The arena can take care of the fans and keep them in a good mood. Also, if concessions are easy to get, more people will purchase them, making more money for the owners. It's a win/win/win.

23) Let’s be real here, the new sim engine is flawed. There is a clear meta and it’s being taken advantage of by the entire league Arizona Outlaws. The sim team is trying their hardest to make the game balanced and make all the different archetypes and positions viable and honestly, they are doing a great job. But the sad reality is that there are limitations to the sim engine and it has resulted in one team dominating for two decades. Could other teams just copy the meta builds and strats? Sure. That would work, but it’s easier to try your own thing through hours upon hours of testing and then blame Arizona for using the meta (who doesn’t sim test anymore btw). Wait…that actually sounds like way more work. Okay, well copying the meta wouldn’t be as fun then. Wait…winning Ultimooses is really fun, so that theory is out the window too. The sim engine is what it is. The new versions of DDSPF are, by all accounts, worse than this version so we are likely stuck with it. Teams are going to continue to try and forge their own path and fail when the answer is right there: Just copy Arizona.

[Dolphins]

Tier 2: Short Form Tasks (Each must be 300+ words)

Choose up to TWO for 5 TPE each.

11. 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.

Finn Murphy was raised to be an all-star football player and he knew that. His father was a professional football player and Finn wanted to follow in his footsteps. That's actually why he chose to be on defense, because that's what his dad was. When he was young, Finn wasn't the biggest guy around and that discouraged him at first because he thought he'd never make it. Then his dad suggested he try LB instead of DL and from then on, Finn's life changed. Finn carried not only his own fate and legacy, but the legacy of his father's NFL career as well. From the earliest memories of his childhood, Finn was immersed in the world of football. His father was both a coach and mentor to Finn and passed down his knowledge and passion for the game. Growing up in the shadow of his father's achievements, Finn felt the pressure to live up to the family name. But instead of buckling under the weight of expectations, he thrived. With each tackle, each interception, Finn carved out his own identity on the field, earning respect and admiration not just for his lineage, but for his skill and determination. In High School, Finn was unstoppable and became a force to be reckoned with. His speed, agility, and general football knowledge made him a nightmare for opposing offenses. But it wasn't just his on the field domination that gave him his All-American Honors, it was his relentless work ethic and dedication off the field that truly set him apart. Whether in the weight room, on the practice field, or studying film late into the night, Finn wasted no time trying to perfect his game and live up to his name. As Finn's accomplishments kept coming, he never lost sight of the man who had made him who he is now. With each game, each victory, and each award, Finn honored his father's legacy, proving that he was not just following in his footsteps, but blazing a trail of his own.

[shackleferd]

8.
Mr. Ferd has had a lot of fun in his first season of the year. It has been a long time coming, after first hearing about it from one of his real-life friends back in 2021. That real life friend came together with a couple more big names in the league to continue cajoling until it all came to a head during a get together where he had seen them all in person for the first time in ten years.
The ISFL/DSFL does an excellent job of blending traditional-style RPGs with traditional sports. It’s felt like those classic NCAAF/Madden create-a-player modes where you have a chance to build and develop your own player and watch them grow and succeed throughout their career.

Pretty much everyone he has interacted with in the league has made it more fun. From Fronk, Beck, Icebear, and LordCoolCats eventually convincing him to join, and walking him through character creation, to CROney helping him familiarize himself with the forums and keeping him up to date on my point tasks. He has also had a lot of fun talking with all the GMs of the DSFL who scouted him for a late pickup, as well as all the ISFL GMs who were looking to potentially draft him.

Mr. Ferd’s early start has been an exciting one, at least for him. Though he has not been one of the highest TPE earners in the league, he feels that he has made good decisions about spending it, leading to his name being called his fair share of times during sim nights.

Draft time was a very exciting time for Mr. Ferd. Getting DMs from several of the ISFL’s GMs really made him feel like a star, or at least like someone to invest in. He may have even mistook a mock draft thread on the forums as the real deal and celebrated a bit too early. Regardless of that, he is very glad to have landed with Sarasota, and looks forward to helping that defense dominate.
If Mr. Ferd had anything to suggest to the fine folks involved in the administrative side of the ISFL/DSFL, he might suggest an organized “orientation” via Discord or the like, where some mentors could walk the rookies through the layout of the forums, including maybe a couple example posts/claims/updates.


24.
For a sim football league, I think it makes the most sense to develop a sim half-time show. Create a new side-league, like American Idol, except for all musicians, rather than just singers. Anyone with a player in the ISFL/DSFL can create their own character, select their own archetype, (Rock band frontman, Prog-metal shredder, R&B vocalist) assign some stats and start competing. Assign them to a band, or let them pick their own and sim a performance weekly. Use AI to compose the setlist, or let the players do it themselves. Best performance of the week earns points and at the end of the season, the top three artists compose a joint performance that’s played during half-time of the Ulti. Visual depictions of the musicians would be dots, obviously, with smaller dots representing their instruments. Make a large-scale point task/$ task to produce the music, or I think an even better idea would be to represent the music visually with dots, (with little flags on top).

27.
When I originally created my character, I was torn between TE and LB, as those were the two positions I played in High School. With some coaching, I was guided towards LB, and after spending some time in the league I think I better understand why now.

If I were to pick a different position, I would be looking towards something that each team has more than one of, (WR, CB, OL, DL, etc.) as I would absolutely want to try and maximize my potential playtime/desirability to teams.

Additionally, I think it would be nice to try playing offense for a change. There is nothing wrong with defense of course, and I think defense is still my first choice. However, it would be nice to touch the ball a little bit more often than I do now. With all that in mind, I think I would end up picking WR and I would do my best to get in with a team that’s already got a pocket passing QB and an offense designed around throwing the ball as many times as possible during the game.

[ComebackZak]

Task 21: If my player, Frank Dux, had a show I believe it would be more of a documentary-style show than a reality dating show or something like that. It would follow Frank and other International Simulation Football League running backs training together in preparation for the offseason programs run by their own respective teams and eventually the preseason. The documentary would follow a daily schedule and where they would do all sorts of workouts consisting of strength and conditioning as well as footwork and agility drills. The behind the scenes of the documentary also shows the running backs working on ball carrier vision and fumble prevention drills. While the documentary will show other league running backs, Frank Dux will be the one highlighted and followed the most as he has been the top running back in the league for roughly 5 seasons. The documentary will also be produced by ISFL Films who is a multi-award winning documentary crew.

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157 words

Task 27: I think if running back was not an option when I created in Season 39, then I would have tried making a high to mid earning offensive lineman to build my bank up. I am currently struggling to keep my bank up and maintaining the desire to do podcasts and media. I think I could have been a valuable offensive lineman for any team and my draft stock would've been really really good, maybe even late first to early second round placement. I would've built my player based on whatever my General Manager's would've asked me to and I wouldn't have used any of my bank to save not only the team money but also myself money. The second option is making a Tight End as I really think Tight End would've been a really solid decision with meetable goals to make a Hall of Fame caliber player. The third option was either defensive tackle or linebacker because of the ability to have game changing plays constantly.

Code:

167 words

Task 30: For this past season, I think my player Frank Dux was worthy of winning several awards, namely the Most Valuable Player award and Offensive Player of the Year award. Now, you can only win one of these and I would be thrilled to either however the Most Valuable Player award has been an elusive one for Frank Dux as he has won three Offensive Player of the Year awards and you could make an argument he could have won at least one Most Valuable Player of the Year award during that time. Frank Dux once again led the league in total touchdowns from scrimmage once again and almost hit 2,000 total yards for the second time in his career. He has come short by less than 100 yards on three different occasions. Frank also led the league while averaging 4.9 yards per carry. I think Frank's ability to be efficient as a runner and receiver is what makes him so worthy of winning the MVP award.

Code:

166 words

Task 36: PBE Affiliate

[woelkers]

Obviously, I have to begin by offering sincere congratulations to the Arizona Outlaws. This team has consistently been among the most well-managed teams in the entire International Simulation Football League, akin to the way the Orange County Otters were in my early days in this league. The Outlaws are the type of team that should always be perceived as a threat, they are constantly well-constructed from top to bottom, I simply cannot offer sufficient praise for their efforts and their success, and it is no surprise they were in the running for, and ultimately won, another Ultimus.

That said, I would like to devote most of my time to their opponents from this past season's title contest, my own team, the Cape Town Crash. This team had a bit of a rollercoaster season after trading for Hercules Henry in the offseason, finishing with a disappointing record of nine wins and seven losses. That said, there were some significant accomplishments in Cape Town this season. The team had one of the most efficient rushing attacks in the history of the International Simulation Football League; the four-headed backfield attack of Thor Bollrsveifla, Nakiri Ayame, Hercules Henry, and Scorch von Turbo was borderline unstoppable on the ground, leading to a dangerous season of over two thousand yards and twenty-seven touchdowns for the unit, both league leading figures. The defense tied for the league lead in defensive touchdowns scored with six, The team had a nearly perfect seven wins and only a single loss at home, perhaps one of the benefits of being the lone team on their continent. There were absolutely positives from this season in Cape Town, and the team absolutely executed on those positives to have the success they had in the playoffs.

However, there were also some significant areas of improvement, things that may have cost them in the end against Arizona. The team had the lowest number of pancakes in the league, perhaps suggesting a lackluster pass blocking scheme. And, while Cape Town did have the most balanced offense in the league, they felt almost one dimensional due to the strength of their run game, and they ran far fewer offensive plays then the more successful teams did. And perhaps most critically, they were terrible on the road, winning just two games as the away side in the regular season. 

Now, playing in the National Simulation Football Conference, Cape Town did have a significant boost in working their way towards the Ultimus. The Baltimore Hawks, an early favorite for the title, fell victim to the curse of Wolfie McDummy Jr., who threw a record-breaking three pick-sixes in a five interception outing that sent the Crash to Chicago. Chicago, meanwhile, was mediocre at home all season, and the Butchers continued that trend against the Crash, who rumbled their way into an Ultimus meeting with the dreaded Outlaws.

The Outlaws, of course, ultimately proved too much for Cape Town. Arizona was the second most prolific rushing team in the league this season, but were also a top five passing team, and this duality of excellence was more than the Crash could handle. Further, the Outlaws played an exceptional defensive game, and although their regular season statistics weren't altogether telling, they did allow the second fewest points against on the season, with only the San Jose Sabercats allowing fewer. Simply put, the National Simulation Football Conference was not equipped to handle the American Simulation Football Conference this season, and I believe the Ultimus shows just how dominant the top end competitors on the one side were compared to those on the other. The Crash were exciting, they did well to get as far as they did, and the future is bright, but the Outlaws simply outmatched them in the final.