09-03-2024, 09:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2024, 02:53 PM by Bazooka_Joe. Edited 1 time in total.)
Celebrating 50 Seasons 
With the conclusion of the S50 ISFL draft, we now have 75 users joining an ISFL locker room (some for the first time!) Not to mention players that have been traded or joined a team in free agency. Now that everyone has had some time to get acquainted, it’s time to ask the most important question. “In which team’s misery do I now get to rejoice?!”
That’s right! Let’s talk about rivalries! Now there are some good football rivalries already but Ravens / Steelers or Bears / Packers or Cowboys / Eagles have nothing on the rivalries in the ISFL! So listen up and find the section on your new team so that you can become properly informed where your allegiances should lie.
How do you calculate a rivalry?
As someone that has only been in the league since S43, I don’t have the historical background to truly know the ins and outs of all the rivalries the ISFL has had. However, I do have access to the index. Over a longer period of time than I care to admit, I have organized the results of every ISFL regular season and postseason game into a google sheet (link here). Using this info, I wanted to come up with a way to represent rivalry in a measured fashion.
That led me to consider what would make a rivalry. Or at least what could I measure that would constitute rivalry. I eventually settled on the list below:
Number of Times Played
Equal Success Against One Another
Number of Upsets
Number of Close Games
Increased Importance of Playoff Matchups
All of this I put together to make what I termed “Rivalry Opportunity Score”. The higher this number, the more likely teams consider each other to be rivals.
The calculation of this score first took the number of regular season games played and subtracted the difference in the number of wins from each team. Then you add the number of upsets (times the team with less wins on the season won the game) along with the number of one score games (7 points or less separating winner and loser). Finally, the postseason goes through a similar calculation but everything gets a straight times 2 multiplier followed by an additional weighting of which round the game took place (x1 for wildcard round, x2 for conference championship round, x3 for Ultimus).
As we look at the results of this calculation, I have broken down each team’s top rivals both All-Time and for a more recent sample (S40s). I also asked for users around the ISFL to add their input into rivalries as sometimes things go deeper than the numbers can show.
Let’s get to it!
Berlin Fire Salamanders All-Time Regular Season Record: 187-209-2 .472
S40s Regular Season Record: 66-91-1 .421
Last Ultimus Victory: None
Top Rival All-Time: Yellowknife Wraiths
Rivalry Score: 116
Berlin has played Yellowknife 53 times if you combine the regular season and postseason and yet just one game separates the two teams (Yellowknife 27 - Berlin 26). A hallmark for this rivalry has been how close the games are played with 30 of those 53 games being decided by only one score. There has also been a fair share of upsets - 19 to be exact.
Honorable Mention Rivals All-Time:
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 101
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 96
Top ASFC Rival All-Time:
New York Silverbacks - Rivalry Score: 60
Recent Rival: Yellowknife Wraiths
Rivalry Score: 41
In more recent times, the rivalry between Berlin and Yellowknife has had plenty of ammunition. While there have been no playoff matchups in the past ten seasons, 16 of the 20 games have been one score games without either team having too much success against the other (Yellowknife 11 wins - Berlin 9 wins). Now, if these teams would just start having these matchups in the playoffs, a strong rivalry is waiting to be ignited.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 38
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 34
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 14
From the Berlin Fire Salamanders Locker Room (@Gadget)
In the modern day, or at least since I've taken over, Berlin hasn't been in any long term entrenched rivalries. The team's not had any heartbreaking playoff losses, or even last minute eliminations because the team's not been in contention. Where Berlin's rivalry has been forged is in the tank bowl and the media subforum. HON and BER are on almost identical timelines, with both expecting to start competing around the same time, so without a doubt there's some feuds to be had. On the media side, YKW and BER have become must watch matchups as DE D'Jasper Probincrux IV (@jreed12) seems to take issue with the all time great kicker Zenzeroni Xystarch, er… Space Dino (@lock180), and it helps that BER's been punching way over their weight in the YKW matchups prior.
New York Silverbacks All-Time Regular Season Record: 192-207-1 .481
S40s Regular Season Record: 79-81-0 .494
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 32 over Berlin
Top Rival All-Time: Austin Copperheads
Rivalry Score: 106
Games between Austin and New York are always a toss up, with an even 25-25 split in the regular season. With 22 of those games being upsets and 18 of them within a score, there has been plenty of opportunity for a rivalry to form. That trend continues in the playoffs as well though New York has found more success in the playoffs.
Honorable Mention Rivals All-Time:
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 101
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 101
Top NSFC Rival All-Time:
Berlin Fire Salamanders - Rivalry Score: 60
Recent Rival: Honolulu Hahalua
Rivalry Score: 45
In recent times however, the Silverbacks nemesis has been Honolulu. Having won 11 of the past 20 regular season meetings, the Hahalua have ended New York’s playoff chances twice in the past 10 seasons. With half of the meeting being one-score games, this rivalry is worth watching as both teams push towards relevance once again.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Austin Copperheads - Rivalry Score: 41
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 35
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 29
From the New York Locker Room (@zaynzk)
The Silverbacks have a lot of different teams who could be considered a major rival for us. The Outlaws, as for many ASFC Teams, have always been a thorn. The Copperheads have had many playoff bouts with the Silverbacks. However, our biggest Rival is actually in the other conference - Berlin, the other "new" team in the ISFL. Berlin and New York came into the league together and we have had a lot of combined history with the European team. The biggest moments include two separate Ultimus battles in which the Silverbacks won both times, intensifying a rivalry between the two franchises who are still writing a new history!
Osaka Kaiju / Chicago Butchers All-Time Regular Season Record: 257-265-1 .492
S40s Regular Season Record: 78-82-0.488
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 34 over Honolulu
Top Rival All-Time: Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty
Rivalry Score: 139
With the Osaka Kaiju just completed their first season since moving from Chicago, it is only fitting that their rival is another team that has relocated in the Cape Town Crash. These two franchises have had their fair share of close games with Osaka/Chicago winning 36 of the contests to Cape Town/Philadelphia’s 35 wins. With the change in identity though for both teams though, it can be difficult to think of this rivalry as a continuous one but recent history is showing that it may be here to stick around for a while.
Honorable Mention Rivals All-Time:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 124
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 115
Top ASFC Rival All-Time:
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 39
Recent Rival: Cape Town Crash
Rivalry Score: 50
Sticking to recent matchups, the Crash would still be counted as the biggest rival for Osaka/Chicago. They have met in the playoffs twice over the past 10 seasons, splitting the games. Even more recently, this past season the Crash and Kaiju split the season series with only one score separating the teams both times. With both teams located outside of the North American continent, this budding rivalry might even intensify for Old World dominance!
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 34
Berlin Fire Salamanders - Rivalry Score: 31
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 15
From the Osaka Kaiju Locker Room (@TheCC)
We've had rivals but none of them really stuck. Philly was the main rival for most of the beginning of franchise history, up until around when I got drafted. I think it died off because we sucked so bad lol. Then I feel like it was SAR because we faced them in the playoffs like 3 times in 4 seasons in the mid S20s. You could also make a weak case for AUS because CHI/AUS were expansion teams together, but neither team has ever thought of each other as a rival, at least since I've been with the team (which was S22).
(@Triceracop)
So I asked the locker room and the consensus is we don't have any rivals at the moment, but we should start one with NYS.
San Jose SaberCats All-Time Regular Season Record: 331-399-3 .454
S40s Regular Season Record: 76-84-0 .475
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 25 over Colorado
Top Rival All-Time: Orange County Otters
Rivalry Score: 195
The first of the founding rivalries on this list, the SaberCats and the Otters have been going at each other since S1. These two teams have played each other 108 times if you include the playoffs. Unfortunately for San Jose, the Otters have come out victorious 64 times compared to just 44 wins for the SaberCats. So what makes this a rivalry besides longevity? Eight playoff games with an even 4-4 split for these two teams. Granted, none of those have happened in the past eight seasons so maybe a better rival can be found elsewhere in the division.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - Rivalry Score: 164
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 161
Top NSFC Rival All-Time:
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 108
Recent Rival: Arizona Outlaws
Rivalry Score: 51
Recently however, the SaberCats have run into the Arizona Outlaws repeatedly in the playoffs. All three of their playoff appearances in the past ten seasons have been ended by a defeat to the Outlaws. While they have nearly split the regular season matchups, the SaberCats can’t quite seem to carry that parity into the postseason.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 37
Orange County Otters - Rivalry Score: 34
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 11
From the San Jose SaberCats Locker Room (@RussDrivesTheBus)
San Jose's biggest rival, despite any sort of numbers or metrics, has to be the Outlaws of Arizona. Time and time again, the SaberCats have been thwarted in one way or another by those desert bandits. Most recently, the Outlaws have ousted the SaberCats 3 playoffs in a row, ending the best string of seasons the team has had in its illustrious history. Taking things back even further, the course of league history also changed with the FA acquisition of one @Kotasa. San Jose drafted the incredible user, but wasn't able to retain his services after his first contract. The Outlaws swooped in and snagged a user that went on to head the Wiki team and GM Arizona to insane measures of success. A similar situation arose with star wideout, Gordon Bombay. After one of the best seasons San Jose had put together since winning back to back Ultimus titles in S24 and S25, Gordo's contract had expired. Again, Arizona was waiting in the wings to swoop him up in FA and the Cats were left holding an empty bag.
Now, every season in San Jose is spent in fear of ending in the desert, but we have found our footing and hope to change the tides in our favor over the next 20 seasons.
Honolulu Hahalua All-Time Regular Season Record: 204-240-1 .460
S40s Regular Season Record: 73-87-0 .456
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 44 over Cape Town
Top Rival All-Time: Arizona Outlaws
Rivalry Score: 117
While the Arizona Outlaws dominate the Hahalua in the regular season (38 wins for Arizona and 18 wins for Honolulu), the Hahalua have been able to find success against the Outlaws in the postseason. Ending the Outlaws season 4 times, the Hahalua have been able to make a handful of statement wins when it matters most.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 102
New York Silverbacks - Rivalry Score: 101
Top NSFC All-Time Rival:
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 50
Recent Rival: New York Silverbacks
Rivalry Score: 45
The Hahalua have recently seen a lot of close games against the Silverbacks and have met them in the postseason two of past ten seasons - ending their season both times. With the Hahalua looking to complete their rebuild in the coming seasons, the New York - Honolulu rivalry might showcase a few more top games in the near future.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 41
Austin Copperheads - Rivalry Score: 40
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Cape Town Crash - Rivalry Score: 24
From the Honolulu Hahalua Locker Room (@IceBear32)
Being HON as long as I have, I’ve been able to have good battles with most of the teams in the ASFC and have met a lot of great people that have added to some of these rivalries.
But for me and HON we believe that to be the best you have to beat the best. And until very recently, you could look at the ASFC and see that AZ and HON owned the majority of the ASFC championships.
As HON looks to re-enter the discussion of competing for an Ultimus. Not only will we have to battle with AZ but will also have to dethrone the Secondline. Is this the start of a new rivalry? You have to beat the best to be the best. So I look forward to these battles to reclaim our spot atop the ASFC.
Austin Copperheads All-Time Regular Season Record: 249-270-3 .480
S40s Regular Season Record: 80-78-1 .506
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 45 over Sarasota
Top Rival All-Time: Arizona Outlaws
Rivalry Score: 141
The Arizona - Austin rivalry seems pretty one-sided if you look at the all-time record (28-43-1 in favor of the Outlaws). So what makes this as Austin’s biggest rivalry? The amount of times the games are close! Of the 72 games they have played, 44 of them have been one score games (over 60%). The playoff matchups have also been fairly even, with the teams splitting the four games so far.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Orange County Otters - Rivalry Score: 135
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 130
Top NSFC All-Time Rival:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 53
Recent Rival: Orange County Otters
Rivalry Score: 46
In the past 10 seasons however, the Otters and Copperheads have had quite an interesting rivalry. With over half of the games being upsets, both teams know that you can’t overlook the other team on the schedule. Particularly fierce, both playoff matchups of the last 10 seasons have resulted in the away team winning by only one score. Those kinds of games stick with you!
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
New York Silverbacks - Rivalry Score: 41
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 40
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 30
From the Austin Copperheads Locker Room (@modpro)
New York is our top rival. We're always close and our windows have lined up a whole lot. We always seem to be in the same stage of our rebuild. Though @Gadget is trying to steer us to say Berlin - talking a lot of smack about @Mooty99.
Sarasota Sailfish All-Time Regular Season Record: 263-177-3 .597
S40s Regular Season Record: 82-74-1 .525
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 30 over Arizona
Top Rival All-Time: Yellowknife Wraiths
Rivalry Score: 123
The Sailfish and Wraiths seem to take turns having the upper hand. While not a lot of upsets have occurred over the years, the all-time record is fairly even (32-30 in favor of the Sailfish). The split six playoff meetings also point to rivalry at its finest. However, Sarasota definitely has the upperhand in these rivalry games of late.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Osaka Kaiju / Chicago Butchers - Rivalry Score: 114
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 108
Top ASFC All-Time Rival:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 65
Recent Rival: Baltimore Hawks
Rivalry Score: 48
More recently, the Baltimore Hawks and Sarasota Sailfish have been going at it. An even 10-10 split over the past ten seasons, it always seems that at least one of these matchups goes to the worse team on paper. The Hawks have also been a hurdle in the playoffs where the Sailfish have ended their season twice - most recently this past season.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 40
Cape Town Crash - Rivalry Score: 39
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
Austin Copperheads - Rivalry Score: 30
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any contributions from the Sarasota locker room. So we will just need to trust the numbers on this one.
Colorado Yeti All-Time Regular Season Record: 304-424-3 .418
S40s Regular Season Record: 50-107-1 .320
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 22 over Orange County
Top Rival All-Time: Yellowknife Wraiths
Rivalry Score: 167
Another rivalry that includes two original teams of the ISFL, this rivalry relies on the fact that both teams have been around forever. In fact, I wouldn’t even call this much of a rivalry as the Wraiths have won 69 of the 103 games these two teams have played. But they have played each other 103 times! The playoff matchups have been a little more even with Colorado besting Yellowknife 2 out of 5 times. Though all of them occurred more than 10 seasons ago.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 147
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty - Rivalry Score: 147
Top ASFC All-Time Rival:
San Jose SaberCats - Rivalry Score: 108
Recent Rival: Berlin Fire Salamanders
Rivalry Score: 34
Without a lot of recent success, the Colorado Yeti have been able to split the last 20 games against Berlin 10-10. The fact that the Yeti have been able to steal wins from Berlin in the middle of their down years is a testament to this budding rivalry. As Colorado looks to turn things around, it starts by continuing to find ways to beat the Fire Salamanders.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 29
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 27
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
New Orleans Secondline - Rivalry Score: 12
From the Colorado Locker Room (@wetwilleh)
While I've only been a part of COL for the last 2 seasons, there's a lot of history surrounding the Yeti since we've been around since the founding of the league. Asking around the locker room, SJS is a team that comes up as a rival due to past Ultimus losses but recently we've been struggling to win so things have changed a bit. In the ASFC, I consider HON to be one of our rivals as we've both come fresh off bad seasons and are currently rebuilding. I think whenever we match them, we want to win even more, especially since our matches are considered 'tank bowls'. While there's not a real reason, I think it's fun to go against HON as they have a lot of well known users so I'd consider them one of our recent rivals.
In the NSFC, the entire conference is our rival. I don't think there's just one I could pick. BAL, CTC, and YKW have all had good recent seasons so we're working to get to their level to get some payback for the beatings that have been put on us by them. SAR, BER, and OSK (recently CHI) are more on our level but we play each of them twice a season and are all wanting to pass the other on standings so I think it's safe to say they're all our in-conference rivals. With our rebuild almost ending, we're grateful to get some well needed revenge on some of these teams and put COL on top once more.
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty All-Time Regular Season Record: 348-367-2 .487
S40s Regular Season Record: 100-58-0 .633
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 41 over Arizona
Top Rival All-Time: Baltimore Hawks
Rivalry Score: 232
Whether the games are in Baltimore, Cape Town, or Philadelphia, the Hawks - Crash/Liberty games have always been very competitive. With 104 overall meetings, 49 of them have been one score games. The Crash/Liberty are slightly ahead in regular season meetings but the Hawks have gotten them in the playoffs. Still all properly balanced and meeting 8 times in the playoffs, these two teams have a long standing, fairly even rivalry.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 171
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 147
Top ASFC All-Time Rival:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 108
Recent Rival: Baltimore Hawks
Rivalry Score: 69
In the past ten seasons, the Crash and Hawks have only increased the rivalry with both teams finding a lot of success. Meeting in the playoffs four of the past 10 seasons, each team has ended the hopes of the other on multiple occasions. An even 10-10 split in the regular season also goes to show that these rivals are evenly matched.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Osaka Kaiju / Chicago Butchers - Rivalry Score: 50
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 39
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 29
From the Cape Town Locker Room (@lordcoolcats)
At least during my time in the league (S35-current), CTC's biggest in-conference rival is definitely Baltimore. Both teams have remained competitive for a string of several seasons, commonly fighting each other for playoff dominance. Hawks vs Rhinos is a consistent title card in the NSFC.
Out of conference, Cape Town had bandied words on several occasions with Honolulu. Tensions have been high between the two teams ever since their Ultimus matchup where HON's very own Ray Baker (@jdc4654) put a nail in the CTC coffin and sent GM @lordcoolcats into a fugue state of madness. Also @IceBear32 can huff my shorts.
Another match up of note is Arizona. CTC is 1-1 against the Outlaws in the Ultimus. However, relations have consistently remained friendly.
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion All-Time Regular Season Record: 300-417-1 .419
S40s Regular Season Record: 56-103-0 .352
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 49 over Baltimore
Top Rival All-Time: Orange County Otters
Rivalry Score: 166
Let’s just forget about the short time spent in Las Vegas (the Otters won all 8 games played). Since the move, the Otters have dominated the Secondline in the regular season (59-29) while the Secondline have dominated the postseason matchups (7-2). I’m sure that New Orleans will take the playoff success any day and should hold it over the Otters any chance they get!
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 166
San Jose SaberCats - Rivalry Score: 164
Top NSFC All-Time Rival:
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 118
Recent Rival: San Jose SaberCats
Rivalry Score: 37
As the S40s come to a close, the resurgent Secondline have found themselves often battling with San Jose for supremacy of the ASFC. In fact, 15 of their 20 matchups have ended up being one score games. Surprisingly though, the teams have not played each other in the playoffs in their entire franchises’ histories.
Honorable Mention Recent Rival:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 34
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 29
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Baltimore Hawks - Rivalry Score: 17
From the New Orleans Secondline Locker Room (@Tmoney6996)
My view and perspective on the league is a little bit newer, so my thoughts on who NOLA’s biggest rival is will be skewed to only the last decade or so of ISFL action. With that in mind, I’d definitely say AZ. The games are always tight, homefield is meaningless, and Discord chat can get chippy when the games happen. It feels like a rivalry through and through.
Historically though, at least what I’ve been told by some of the remaining NOLA legends, is that NOLA’s biggest rival has been OCO. This was back when OCO was the dominant team in the league, so sensing a theme here with whoever NOLA has as their rivals.
I’ll add one more to this that definitely makes more sense after the last Ultimus: Baltimore. Just from a team perspective, BAL and NOLA (or at least BAL) are always dogfights in games that matter. I think I read somewhere recently that NOLA has played BAL 5 times in the Ultimus, so that feels like fertile ground for some sort of rivalry.
Yellowknife Wraiths All-Time Regular Season Record: 413-317-1 .566
S40s Regular Season Record: 85-73-0 .538
Last Ultimus Victory: S39 over Arizona
Top Rival All-Time: Baltimore Hawks
Rivalry Score: 232
The Hawks and Wraiths have played 100 regular games and 10 playoff games against each other. Historically, the Wraiths have been the better of the two teams with 57 regular season wins and 7 playoff wins. With 49 one score games and 38 upsets, this rivalry has the metrics to be among the top in ISFL.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty - Rivalry Score: 171
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 167
Top ASFC All-Time Rival:
Orange County Otters - Rivalry Score: 138
Recent Rival: Baltimore Hawks
Rivalry Score: 51
While the Wraiths have had a lot of historical success against the Hawks, the S40s have not been kind in this rivalry. The Hawks have won 14 of the 20 regular season matchups and the teams have split the two playoff games. But the games always seem to be close and neither team can take each other for granted.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Berlin Fire Salamanders - Rivalry Score: 41
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 40
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
Arizona Outlaws - Rivalry Score: 22
From the Yellowknife Locker Room (@lock180)
It’s funny. Looking at Caleb’s intense excel (google sheets) file with all the fancy calculations showing why Baltimore is Yellowknife’s biggest rival I think about how true it is. Not because of the wins and losses, being in the same conference for so long, games played, 1 score games. None of that matters to me. I hate Baltimore for one reason and one reason only: @Baron1898. No, I’m just kidding. While she is one reason I don’t like Baltimore, there are plenty of other reasons for this to be the biggest rivalry for Yellowknife. Since I joined the team it hasn’t been much of a “rivalry” with Baltimore winning 9 out of the 12 games but if I’m looking at Caleb’s charts correctly, Yellowknife has a pretty significant win percentage against Baltimore. This rivalry is what it is because of the longevity of the two teams. These are two founding teams that have been through it all together. Now recently the rivalry has been renewed as they placed one and two in the NSFC and a date in the championship. They have both seen success in the playoffs and even Ultimuses. Unlike other teams (Colorado), they tend not to slump for long and are constantly middle to above average which adds to the tension. I’m going to be honest, the Yellowknife/Baltimore rivalry is not one that I hear about very often but it is one of the most storied matchups dating back to season 1 of the ISFL and is arguably the most historical rivalry to date. Add on individual player animosities like myself with Baron and you can see why this rivalry holds through the test of time.
Orange County Otters All-Time Regular Season Record: 401-322-2 .554
S40s Regular Season Record: 76-83-1 .478
Last Ultimus Victory: S19 over Yellowknife
Top Rival All-Time: Arizona Outlaws
Rivalry Score: 220
The Orange County Otters have a long, rich history that includes 8 Ultimus victories, so it’s only fitting that their top rival is the only team with more Ultimus victories in Arizona. However, the height of this rivalry is from early in league history. The first six Ultimus champions were either Arizona or Orange County. Since then, these two teams have played each other often but the results have been fairly one-sided. 13 playoff matchups though led the ISFL and go a long way to boost this rivalry towards the top.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
San Jose SaberCats - Rivalry Score: 195
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - Rivalry Score: 166
Top NSFC All-Time Rival:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 138
Recent Rival: Austin Copperheads
Rivalry Score: 46
Recent league history has started to bloom a rivalry between Orange County and Austin. This matchup has produced an upset in 12 of the 22 meetings in the past 10 seasons with nearly an even split in wins and losses. The two playoff meetings were both one score upsets with each team winning once. Look for these two teams to play many more meaningful games in the near future.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
San Jose SaberCats - Rivalry Score: 34
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 34
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 13
From the Orange County Locker Room (@UptownCord)
While the Orange County Otters have had many rivals during their storied time in the ISFL, one stands above all others, the Arizona Outlaws. This rivalry has persisted since the beginning of the league until the modern day, although much to my chagrin as GM of the Otters, Arizona has had the upper hand for the better part of twenty seasons. Still, the games remain competitive and the memory of the past battles persists. The beginning of this rivalry was perhaps the most exciting part of it all, with the two teams meeting in six of the first seven ASFC title matches, seeing both teams win three games apiece. The winner of five of these matchups would go on to win the Ultimus, showing that the two best teams of the early days of the ISFL played in the same conference. The Outlaws eventually regained the lead in championship victories from the Otters in the 46th season of the league amidst the Otters long hangover after twenty-six consecutive playoff appearances. Despite being dethroned, the Otters are ever striving forward to take their crown back from their fiercest rival.
Baltimore Hawks All-Time Regular Season Record: 368-362–1 .504
S40s Regular Season Record: 97-60-1 .617
Last Ultimus Victory: Season 43 over New York
Top Rival All-Time: Yellowknife Wraiths
Rivalry Score: 232
The Wraiths and Hawks have been battling it out since the beginning of the ISFL. In the early stages of league history, the Wraiths dominated the Hawks both in the regular season and in the playoffs. Not until recently have the Hawks started to establish themselves and put up a fight in games between these longtime rivals.
Honorable Mention All-Time Rivals:
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty - Rivalry Score: 232
Colorado Yeti - Rivalry Score: 147
Top ASFC Rival All-Time:
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - Rivalry Score: 118
Recent Rival: Cape Town Crash
Rivalry Score: 69
Without a doubt, the two most successful teams of the S40s in the NSFC have been the Crash and the Hawks. These two teams have the only Ultimus victories won by the NSFC and have represented the NSFC in the Ultimus six of the last ten seasons. Splitting their games perfectly over this time span, things couldn’t be more ripe for a rivalry to form as they often battle it out for bragging rights in the conference.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Yellowknife Wraiths - Rivalry Score: 51
Sarasota Sailfish - Rivalry Score: 48
Top ASFC Recent Rival:
New York Silverbacks - Rivalry Score: 29
From the Baltimore Hawks Locker Room (@SwankyPants31)
Recency bias would say that Baltimore’s biggest rival is the New Orleans Secondline. Both teams have been at or near the top of their conference the past few seasons, including back to back Ultimus faceoffs between the two which were both won by the Secondline. Those games pushed the number of BAL/NOLA Ultimus matchups to 5, the most frequent Ultimus matchup in league history. There’s also the factor that Baltimore Hawks GM @swoosh had his current player, Dino Nuggets, traded to Baltimore after being drafted by New Orleans. @dude_man, the GM of Baltimore who orchestrated that trade, also got his start in the league with NOLA. These combine for both a recent but very strong rivalry both personally and competitively between the two teams.
If you look historically however, the Hawks biggest rival is likely the Yellowknife Wraiths. While it may not have the personal touch the more recent NOLA rivalry has, both of these teams have storeid histories going back to the beginning of the league and seem to always be fighting for the top of the NSFC.
Honorable mention goes to the Sarasota Sailfish. While they don’t have the longevity of Yellowknife, the Sailfish hit the ground running from the time they joined the league and have consistently been a thorn in the Hawk’s side.
Arizona Outlaws All-Time Regular Season Record: 434-289-2 .600
S40s Regular Season Record: 110-50-0 .688
Top Rival All-Time: Orange County Otters
Rivalry Score: 220
As mentioned earlier, the Otters and Outlaws have a rich history with 18 Ultimus victories between them. All the makings for a natural rivalry. However, Arizona has dominated the head to head matchups with 58 wins to only 42 losses in the regular season. The playoffs have produced a more even result with 7 wins for Arizona and 6 wins for Orange County. But most of that is ancient history. How much is a rivalry that’s been one-sided for so long?
Honorable Mention Top Rivals:
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - Rivalry Score: 166
San Jose SaberCats - Rivalry Score: 161
Top NSFC Rival All-Time:
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty - Rivalry Score: 108
Recent Rival: San Jose SaberCats
Rivalry Score: 51
In recent seasons, the SaberCats of San Jose have been constantly fighting with Arizona for tops in the ASFC. The Outlaws have struggled the most against the SaberCats “only” winning 11 of their 20 matchups (just goes to show how dominant Arizona has been). Arizona has continued to get the last laugh though, ending the SaberCats season 3 straight seasons.
Honorable Mention Recent Rivals:
Honolulu Hahalua - Rivalry Score: 41
New York Silverbacks - Rivalry Score: 35
Top NSFC Recent Rival:
Cape Town Crash - Rivalry Score: 29
From the Arizona Outlaws Locker Room (@lemonoppy)
I haven't been in the league long so I didn't really have the history to know about any rivalries that the Arizona Outlaws had or have.
I did really want to win that Ultimus to make us the sole Ultimus winners over Orange County, but they haven't been good the whole current sim era so that was less exciting.
From an out of conference, I really wanted to beat the Sailfish since two of my draft class cohort in @110radio and @ctots went there, but that felt more like I was cheering for the Sailfish based on them not being able to get over the hump with pretty horrendous sim luck. But the entire NSFC basically is getting sonned by the ASFC so that kinda sums up my thoughts there in terms of thinking of them as rivals.
With how much that we are the heel in the ISFL general, I don't feel like we have any rivals other than Honolulu, the Hahalua have had an amazing stretch of winning, and with their previous rebuilds, they were the only ones to actually kind of challenge the dynasty tag that the Outlaws have enjoyed for so long. I think they've got the second best management in the ISFL and it's not close.
I would put the rivalry as Honolulu and then ISFL General Discord and then maybe... specifically winning against specific players and teams? All personal wants, but not team ones.
So we’ve gone through each team but which rivalries top the league? With little surprise, the top rivals have been in the ISFL from the early seasons. Here are the top ten all-time rivalries per the Rivalry Opportunity Score in the ISFL.
Top Ten Rivalries of All-Time
1.
Baltimore Hawks - Yellowknife Wraiths 2322.
Baltimore Hawks - Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty 2323.
Arizona Outlaws - Orange County Otters 2204.
Orange County Otters - San Jose SaberCats 1955.
Cape Town Crash / Philadelphia Liberty - Yellowknife Wraiths 1716.
Colorado Yeti - Yellowknife Wraiths 1677.
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - Orange County Otters - 1668.
Arizona Outlaws - New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion 1669.
New Orleans Secondline / Las Vegas Legion - San Jose SaberCats 16410.
Arizona Outlaws - San Jose SaberCats 161Of course, some of those matchups are ancient history at this point. Which rivalries will continue into the future? Here are the top ten rivalries of the past 10 seasons.
Top Ten Recent Rivalries
1.
Baltimore Hawks - Cape Town Crash 692.
Arizona Outlaws - San Jose SaberCats 513.
Baltimore Hawks - Yellowknife Wraiths 514.
Cape Town Crash - Osaka Kaiju / Chicago Butchers 505.
Baltimore Hawks - Sarasota Sailfish 486.
Austin Copperheads - Orange County Otters 467.
Honolulu Hahalua - New York Silverbacks 458.
Austin Copperheads - New York Silverbacks 419.
Berlin Fire Salamanders - Yellowknife Wraiths 4110.
Arizona Outlaws - Honolulu Hahalua 41There you have it! All you rookies and veterans alike can now know where to focus all that negative energy you get from the frustrations of dot football! Let everyone know who you feel your top rival is!
A big thank you to all that contributed to this project!
Graders would you please give the following users the proportional cut of the pay? Thanks!
@Gadget - 2%
@zaynzk - 2%
@TheCC - 2%
@Triceracop - 1%
@RussDrivesTheBus - 3%
@IceBear32 - 2%
@modpro - 1%
@wetwilleh - 4%
@lordcoolcats - 2%
@Tmoney6996 - 3%
@lock180 - 4%
@UptownCord - 3%
@SwankyPants31 - 3%
@lemonoppy - 4%
@caleb.grim - 64%
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14 Gemini Nominations
Best Article (Limited) - S43 "Do Penalties Really Matter?"
Best Author - S43, S44
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s43 Baron Nomination for Best Author, and Best New Author. Quite possibly, the greatest compliment I have received from anybody. I am no author I draw because I can not write. Most of you can not read.