6) Write 800 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 800 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.
Now that we're officially moving sims at the end of this season and are heading into something bright a new, something almost unidentifiable to the old ways, I want to go back and talk about some of my favorite playoff series most memorable moment in the league that directly reflected or current sim. Things that defined the league, things of the like we may never see again, things that set me up to know exactly what to expect from DDSPF 16. It was the curious journey of the Philadelphia Liberty in my first glimpse of the league.
Lets go all the way back to the season 16 playoffs. I joined right before the playoffs began, so my first action in this league came during the NSFL wildcard round. I had no idea what I was about to witness, but I knew that things seemed pretty clear cut. In the NSFC you had two 10-3 teams who seemed to be absolute juggernauts. The Wraiths and Butchers were a clear cut above the rest and the third seed in the division just barely squeezed in at 7-6 due to winning in week 13 while the Hawks lost. They got in off of tie breakers, which was miraculous for a team that had been on a three game slide to that point.
So it all started with the Philadelphia Liberty taking on the 10 win juggernaut Wraiths. The game ended up far closer than it ever should have been, but with a little over three minute left things got a little silly. Down by four points with 3:20 left on the clock, the Wraiths found themselves at a 4th and 1 at Philly's 17 yard line. Instead of going for it, they elected to kick a field goal and close the gap to one point. They still had their timeouts, so I thought they should be fine. Just shut down Philly and go for one more drive. Not only did the Wraiths not use a single one of their timeouts on the next drive, the whole league got to watch a 200 TPE running back break off a 10 yard run on a 3rd and 2, allowing for Philly to run out the clock and win the game while the Wraiths just sat and watched and didn't bother even trying to stop the clock. So we watched as one of the two favorites to win it all got helplessly eliminated.
Clearly the sim gods had chosen to favor the Liberty. Locking in playoffs in the final week, no timeouts used by YKW to slip into the conference championship game. All they needed now was to finish and take out the favorite of the whole playoffs. The 10-3 first seeded Chicago Butchers. This was when it became clear that Philadelphia was going to be the destined team as they walked in and absolutely stomped the Butchers in Chicago to the tune of 47 to 34. Chicago never had a lead in the game and Philadelphia's 21 point 3rd quarter put it out of reach permanently. They were heading to the Ultimus and it looked like they were the team of destiny. One last hurdle.
That hurdle? The 7-6 Arizona Outlaws. The Outlaws were the 2nd seed in the ASFC due to tie breakers and the fact both they and SJS lost in the final week of the season. They had home field advantage over SJS in the first round as Andrew Reese, the Outlaws QB, showed up and absolutely wrecked the SaberCats. 41 to 21 and it was never really even close. Then they faced their biggest test as they went up against the 10-3 Otters who were sporting an aging QB and who's record reflected that the ASFC was the weaker conference in this particular season. Unlike YKW and Chicago, most thought OCO lucked into this record due to a week schedule. The Outlaws proved people right as they completely dismantled the Otters 31-3.
As a result, the Outlaws came in at home and as the clear favorites. They dominated both of their playoff games in convincing fashion, but Philadelphia couldn't be counted out. They'd shown luck was on their side and as the Ultimus came around, everyone was watching with expressed interest. Who would win? The favorite? Or the team of destiny? The Outlaws started off hot. They went up 24-13 in the first half and it looked liked Philly's luck had finally run out. Philly came storming back in the second half though and in fact even took the lead off of a pick six in the middle of the fourth. Arizona refused to give up though and with 1:30 left in the game, they took the lead back and went up by four. It looked like it was over for Philadelphia, but they still had their timeouts. Surely there was plenty of time left right?
With 42 seconds left on the clock, Falconi completed a huge 41 yard pass that brought them to Arizona's 12 yard line. 42 seconds, all their timeouts. The team of destiny was about to do it again. Except another play was never run. Much like YKW not calling a timeout and the end of their playoff game, Philly didn't call a timeout here. In a single play their burned off all 42 seconds and Arizona won the Ultimus.
it was in that moment I realized our sim was glorious. Team of destiny on the verge of winning it all after lucky break after lucky break just to be simmed themselves in the final moment. All of these insane moments brought on by our sim programming culminated to this moment and it was then I realized I was going to love this league because the games made no sense. There was a bit of fun to that. All of that is now changing as our league is upgrading, but I wanted to go back and remember it one last time.
Now that we're officially moving sims at the end of this season and are heading into something bright a new, something almost unidentifiable to the old ways, I want to go back and talk about some of my favorite playoff series most memorable moment in the league that directly reflected or current sim. Things that defined the league, things of the like we may never see again, things that set me up to know exactly what to expect from DDSPF 16. It was the curious journey of the Philadelphia Liberty in my first glimpse of the league.
Lets go all the way back to the season 16 playoffs. I joined right before the playoffs began, so my first action in this league came during the NSFL wildcard round. I had no idea what I was about to witness, but I knew that things seemed pretty clear cut. In the NSFC you had two 10-3 teams who seemed to be absolute juggernauts. The Wraiths and Butchers were a clear cut above the rest and the third seed in the division just barely squeezed in at 7-6 due to winning in week 13 while the Hawks lost. They got in off of tie breakers, which was miraculous for a team that had been on a three game slide to that point.
So it all started with the Philadelphia Liberty taking on the 10 win juggernaut Wraiths. The game ended up far closer than it ever should have been, but with a little over three minute left things got a little silly. Down by four points with 3:20 left on the clock, the Wraiths found themselves at a 4th and 1 at Philly's 17 yard line. Instead of going for it, they elected to kick a field goal and close the gap to one point. They still had their timeouts, so I thought they should be fine. Just shut down Philly and go for one more drive. Not only did the Wraiths not use a single one of their timeouts on the next drive, the whole league got to watch a 200 TPE running back break off a 10 yard run on a 3rd and 2, allowing for Philly to run out the clock and win the game while the Wraiths just sat and watched and didn't bother even trying to stop the clock. So we watched as one of the two favorites to win it all got helplessly eliminated.
Clearly the sim gods had chosen to favor the Liberty. Locking in playoffs in the final week, no timeouts used by YKW to slip into the conference championship game. All they needed now was to finish and take out the favorite of the whole playoffs. The 10-3 first seeded Chicago Butchers. This was when it became clear that Philadelphia was going to be the destined team as they walked in and absolutely stomped the Butchers in Chicago to the tune of 47 to 34. Chicago never had a lead in the game and Philadelphia's 21 point 3rd quarter put it out of reach permanently. They were heading to the Ultimus and it looked like they were the team of destiny. One last hurdle.
That hurdle? The 7-6 Arizona Outlaws. The Outlaws were the 2nd seed in the ASFC due to tie breakers and the fact both they and SJS lost in the final week of the season. They had home field advantage over SJS in the first round as Andrew Reese, the Outlaws QB, showed up and absolutely wrecked the SaberCats. 41 to 21 and it was never really even close. Then they faced their biggest test as they went up against the 10-3 Otters who were sporting an aging QB and who's record reflected that the ASFC was the weaker conference in this particular season. Unlike YKW and Chicago, most thought OCO lucked into this record due to a week schedule. The Outlaws proved people right as they completely dismantled the Otters 31-3.
As a result, the Outlaws came in at home and as the clear favorites. They dominated both of their playoff games in convincing fashion, but Philadelphia couldn't be counted out. They'd shown luck was on their side and as the Ultimus came around, everyone was watching with expressed interest. Who would win? The favorite? Or the team of destiny? The Outlaws started off hot. They went up 24-13 in the first half and it looked liked Philly's luck had finally run out. Philly came storming back in the second half though and in fact even took the lead off of a pick six in the middle of the fourth. Arizona refused to give up though and with 1:30 left in the game, they took the lead back and went up by four. It looked like it was over for Philadelphia, but they still had their timeouts. Surely there was plenty of time left right?
With 42 seconds left on the clock, Falconi completed a huge 41 yard pass that brought them to Arizona's 12 yard line. 42 seconds, all their timeouts. The team of destiny was about to do it again. Except another play was never run. Much like YKW not calling a timeout and the end of their playoff game, Philly didn't call a timeout here. In a single play their burned off all 42 seconds and Arizona won the Ultimus.
it was in that moment I realized our sim was glorious. Team of destiny on the verge of winning it all after lucky break after lucky break just to be simmed themselves in the final moment. All of these insane moments brought on by our sim programming culminated to this moment and it was then I realized I was going to love this league because the games made no sense. There was a bit of fun to that. All of that is now changing as our league is upgrading, but I wanted to go back and remember it one last time.