Hello everybody! This is just a freeform piece. Not sure how long this is going to be, or if you’ll enjoy it, but if you indulge me in reading then consider this a vaguely sentimental ramble on last season and the coming season ahead. Here goes:
Man, the offseason is over.
That’s pretty great, honestly. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get back to watching some dot football action.
This was my first offseason. I really enjoyed it, though. I had the ISFL draft to look forward to, and somewhere along the way I hit the TPE cap and broke 300. What’s more, I started spending a little more time in the locker room and on a couple league servers. Having a season of knowledge under my belt, I suddenly felt less overwhelmed than I did before. Coming in as a true rookie to the league, it’s a lot to take in: the history, the players, the rivalries and punishment threads, the inside jokes, the “lmap”s and copypastas, the HO, the meta, and much more is a learning curve to be sure.
But if you’re a rookie reading this right now, I’ll tell you that I think it’s worth it.
Putting it into words is tricky. My initial thought was that “I’ve met so many interesting people since joining,” but that’s hardly true. Other than when the various scouts reached out, nobody introduced themselves. Joining the league, and eventually the locker room, is less of an introduction and more of an exposure.
I mean that in the best possible sense. You spend time around other people, and you get to know them--not just their player, but the user behind it; learn about their lives outside of here, where they’re from, what job they have, how many pets they have, etc. I’m not sure why that surprised me so much. I guess I thought what I was signing up for was a chance to watch my fake football player get sacks and put up stats. Ultimately what I found best of all was bonding with people over pictures of their cats. Incredible.
In the six weeks or so (god, has it really only been that long?) that I’ve been here I’ve seen acts of compassion and fits of rage. I’ve made friends with people who were otherwise strangers. I made a Twitter, which is something I’d never bothered with in my actual life. I’ve spent hours staring at the index, and just as long waiting for it to be updated, am I right? (lololol jk, gotta keep it light)
One thing that I didn’t think would happen is that I downloaded DDSPF16 and am learning how to sim test. The absolute rush of immediately going to Wasrabi Gleel and maxing his stats, then simming 40 games against the reigning champ London Royals was so invigorating! Once you start playing with the sim, that is like having an endless font of data at your fingertips. I recommend y’all do it if you haven’t yet.
I guess my point is, I think this league has been worth every minute I’ve put into it.
Alright, still with me? Good. We are getting cookin’ now. Let’s talk about the ISFL draft for a moment, shall we?
I think I played myself a little bit in the media I wrote shortly before the draft. In that piece, I had Wasrabi answer a question regarding where he thought he would end up after the draft. He/I said Honolulu. That’s honestly what I believed based on scouting discussions, and now looking back after the draft I feel a little embarrassed considering that I didn’t end up with them.
The inverse of that embarrassment is the pride I felt in being taken higher than I believed I would go. This draft class had some top-flight LB talent, and it wouldn’t have been a shock to see Gleel fall due to an abundance of talent at the position. I spent the entire offseason until the draft tweeting about how I was going to be a 4th rounder, and I believed it.
I ended up being taken in the 3rd round by the Chicago Butchers!
As if being taken a round earlier wasn’t good enough, Chicago drafted two of my fellow Grey Ducks before more in James Gath and Damian Blackfyre! I knew I was going to have some bruuthers in the Chicago Locker Room from day one, and that was such a great feeling. I also am now on a path to play alongside a great mentor in Mag’s Juan Domine in a few seasons. My Minnesota GM, CC, he plays for Chicago, too. Looks like the gangs all here, and I couldn’t have asked or anticipated a better outcome then what I got.
SO! Here’s a piece of unsolicited advice: Avoid speculation in your written media! Stick to what is factual and you’ll be golden. Or something, do whatever makes you happy. I guess, but expect surprises along the way.
With the draft out of the way, and my beer nearly empty, let’s turn our sights to the coming DSFL season.
Last season was rough for Minnesota. I think that as a unit, we remained strong, but we just didn’t play well enough to make it to the postseason, or ever look like a contender, even. I anticipate this season is going to be a different story.
I think we have seven capped players, five of which are on defense and the other two are absolute stud running backs in Jameson Vermillion and Mike Rotchburns. I think we are going to have an early edge defensively ov--you know what? I’m not taking my own advice right now.
Avoid speculation!
Obviously we all want to win an Ultimini with our squad, yeah?
But what if the real prize is the friends that we made along the way?
.
..
....
…
..
.
We need that ‘ship in Minny, doe.
Did I tell you that I’ve been made co-captain for this coming season? Along with. . . You guessed it, ThunderTitan AKA Damian Blackfyre! The Gruesome Twosome! It’s such an honor to be given that responsibility, and what’s more, it’s opened up my eyes to an otherwise unknown and clandestine side of the league: The War Room! I’m looking forward to learning what I can from the guys in there, and maybe even apply for a league job or two next season. Who knows? I just know that we in Minnesota are ready to get back to football and hopefully surprise some people this season.
Alright, that’s it! Woo, that’s the freeform piece! Thank you for indulging me.I hope you enjoyed these little musings half as much as I enjoyed writing them. Good luck on the season!
(1126 words)
Man, the offseason is over.
That’s pretty great, honestly. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get back to watching some dot football action.
This was my first offseason. I really enjoyed it, though. I had the ISFL draft to look forward to, and somewhere along the way I hit the TPE cap and broke 300. What’s more, I started spending a little more time in the locker room and on a couple league servers. Having a season of knowledge under my belt, I suddenly felt less overwhelmed than I did before. Coming in as a true rookie to the league, it’s a lot to take in: the history, the players, the rivalries and punishment threads, the inside jokes, the “lmap”s and copypastas, the HO, the meta, and much more is a learning curve to be sure.
But if you’re a rookie reading this right now, I’ll tell you that I think it’s worth it.
Putting it into words is tricky. My initial thought was that “I’ve met so many interesting people since joining,” but that’s hardly true. Other than when the various scouts reached out, nobody introduced themselves. Joining the league, and eventually the locker room, is less of an introduction and more of an exposure.
I mean that in the best possible sense. You spend time around other people, and you get to know them--not just their player, but the user behind it; learn about their lives outside of here, where they’re from, what job they have, how many pets they have, etc. I’m not sure why that surprised me so much. I guess I thought what I was signing up for was a chance to watch my fake football player get sacks and put up stats. Ultimately what I found best of all was bonding with people over pictures of their cats. Incredible.
In the six weeks or so (god, has it really only been that long?) that I’ve been here I’ve seen acts of compassion and fits of rage. I’ve made friends with people who were otherwise strangers. I made a Twitter, which is something I’d never bothered with in my actual life. I’ve spent hours staring at the index, and just as long waiting for it to be updated, am I right? (lololol jk, gotta keep it light)
One thing that I didn’t think would happen is that I downloaded DDSPF16 and am learning how to sim test. The absolute rush of immediately going to Wasrabi Gleel and maxing his stats, then simming 40 games against the reigning champ London Royals was so invigorating! Once you start playing with the sim, that is like having an endless font of data at your fingertips. I recommend y’all do it if you haven’t yet.
I guess my point is, I think this league has been worth every minute I’ve put into it.
Alright, still with me? Good. We are getting cookin’ now. Let’s talk about the ISFL draft for a moment, shall we?
I think I played myself a little bit in the media I wrote shortly before the draft. In that piece, I had Wasrabi answer a question regarding where he thought he would end up after the draft. He/I said Honolulu. That’s honestly what I believed based on scouting discussions, and now looking back after the draft I feel a little embarrassed considering that I didn’t end up with them.
The inverse of that embarrassment is the pride I felt in being taken higher than I believed I would go. This draft class had some top-flight LB talent, and it wouldn’t have been a shock to see Gleel fall due to an abundance of talent at the position. I spent the entire offseason until the draft tweeting about how I was going to be a 4th rounder, and I believed it.
I ended up being taken in the 3rd round by the Chicago Butchers!
As if being taken a round earlier wasn’t good enough, Chicago drafted two of my fellow Grey Ducks before more in James Gath and Damian Blackfyre! I knew I was going to have some bruuthers in the Chicago Locker Room from day one, and that was such a great feeling. I also am now on a path to play alongside a great mentor in Mag’s Juan Domine in a few seasons. My Minnesota GM, CC, he plays for Chicago, too. Looks like the gangs all here, and I couldn’t have asked or anticipated a better outcome then what I got.
SO! Here’s a piece of unsolicited advice: Avoid speculation in your written media! Stick to what is factual and you’ll be golden. Or something, do whatever makes you happy. I guess, but expect surprises along the way.
With the draft out of the way, and my beer nearly empty, let’s turn our sights to the coming DSFL season.
Last season was rough for Minnesota. I think that as a unit, we remained strong, but we just didn’t play well enough to make it to the postseason, or ever look like a contender, even. I anticipate this season is going to be a different story.
I think we have seven capped players, five of which are on defense and the other two are absolute stud running backs in Jameson Vermillion and Mike Rotchburns. I think we are going to have an early edge defensively ov--you know what? I’m not taking my own advice right now.
Avoid speculation!
Obviously we all want to win an Ultimini with our squad, yeah?
But what if the real prize is the friends that we made along the way?
.
..
....
…
..
.
We need that ‘ship in Minny, doe.
Did I tell you that I’ve been made co-captain for this coming season? Along with. . . You guessed it, ThunderTitan AKA Damian Blackfyre! The Gruesome Twosome! It’s such an honor to be given that responsibility, and what’s more, it’s opened up my eyes to an otherwise unknown and clandestine side of the league: The War Room! I’m looking forward to learning what I can from the guys in there, and maybe even apply for a league job or two next season. Who knows? I just know that we in Minnesota are ready to get back to football and hopefully surprise some people this season.
Alright, that’s it! Woo, that’s the freeform piece! Thank you for indulging me.I hope you enjoyed these little musings half as much as I enjoyed writing them. Good luck on the season!
(1126 words)