5. The league has a rich and fascinating history, and our perspectives on it differ from person to person. In 600 words or more, describe any significant moment in ISFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not. Describe the context, the significant members, and the events. What exactly made this event so famous (or infamous) and why does it deserve to be remembered? Events might include championship wins, the inducting of players to the hall of fame, or even a league scandal.
With thirty five seasons in the books and over five real life years of history, there have been many important, meaningful, and significant events. One that is particularly important to me and my time in the league is the season 23 Ultimus game, in which the Yellowknife Wraiths took home the title in a dominating 38-13 win over the Austin Copperheads. To understand why this moment means so much to me, we have to rewind the clock almost an in-game decade to the season 15 draft. My player, Nero Alexander, was selected fourth overall by a Wraiths squad that was coming off of three straight losing seasons and, while stocked with young talent, didn't jump off the page as the next great NSFL dynasty.
They took the next step to reach the .500 mark with a 7-7 record the following year, then steadily improved under the leadership of their young talent to reach a playoff berth in season 16 that unfortunately ended with a first round loss by one point to the underdog Philadelphia Liberty. Season 17 saw another improvement to 8-5 (tied with the Baltimore Hawks and Chicago Butchers for the best record in the league), only to face another early upset to the Hawks.
By season 18, the Wraiths roster was shaping up into a dominant force through the growth of its recent draft picks, Alexander included, as well as some timely additions of seasoned veteran talent in free agency spearheaded by the connections and friendships league legend timeconsumer had made over his time in the NSFL. That year represented a turning point in the franchise's fortunes, as they put together a dominant 11-2 campaign in which they led the league in point differential by a wide margin. However, the regular season success once again would not portend postseason domination, as the Wraiths finally made it all the way to the Ultimus but found themselves on the wrong side of a 16-10 affair against the Orange County Otters, the most continually dominant dynasty in league history.
Season 19 was more of the same: a 9-4 record, good for the top seed in the NSFC and tied for the best in the entire league, only to fall a field goal short in a 30-27 Ultimus loss to - you guessed it - Orange County.
In season 20, the Wraiths recorded another 9-4 record, this time leading both the NSFC and NSFL, and entered the postseason as the top overall seed. Alas, the song remains the same; the Wraiths suffered their worst Ultimus loss of this era to date with a 37-20 home drubbing at the hands of the Austin Copperheads. If you're following along at home, that's three straight seasons as regular season champs all culminating in failure just when it appeared the team was ready to reach the mountaintop. With the structure of regression in the league, that has to be the end of their championship hopes, right?
Heading into the season 21 playoffs, that appeared to be the case. Yellowknife barely eked its way into the playoffs as the third seed in the NSFC with a 7-6 record, a clear sign that their window was dwindling. Amazingly, the team then took down the Colorado Yeti and Baltimore Hawks in back to back playoff games to reach their fourth straight Ultimus game, this time as the underdog. Maybe this is what they needed to get over the hump - a chip on their shoulder after entering as favorites and letting their guard down before! Nope, they lost by twenty points to the New Orleands Second Line. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
As season 22 rolled around, the team once again ascended to the top of the league standings at 11-2, but this time they wouldn't get a chance to blow it in the big game, instead being upset 17-16 by the 8-5 Yeti in the conference finals.
Finally, after basically Nero's whole career being spent dominating the league only to fall short in the elimination rounds, season 23 came. It was a good but not incredible season, as their 10-6 record was good for tops in the conference but behind OCO's 11-5 for the league's top seed. However, after sneaking past the also 10-6 Yeti by a field goal to reach the Ultimus, they luckily met up with the Austin Copperheads, who had previously taken down the Otters. This allowed the Wraiths homefield advantage, and they finally seized their opportunity with a dominant 38-13 win (if you're paying attention, that's a better point differential than their previous blowout loss to Austin).
I've written well over 600 words here, but it's important to wrap this up by noting how meaningful this was to me personally. I was GM by this time, and I had built a massive group of friends who had forged what was basically a superteam by TPE but had always failed when it mattered most. We were all disillusioned, but continued along despite most of our players starting to fade into regression. This win was the culmination of (if I recall correctly) a real-life year's worth of sim testing, free agency pitching, draft scouting, discord chatting, and more with a group of people who would soon be dispersed to the winds of retirement. That moment was unforgettable.
With thirty five seasons in the books and over five real life years of history, there have been many important, meaningful, and significant events. One that is particularly important to me and my time in the league is the season 23 Ultimus game, in which the Yellowknife Wraiths took home the title in a dominating 38-13 win over the Austin Copperheads. To understand why this moment means so much to me, we have to rewind the clock almost an in-game decade to the season 15 draft. My player, Nero Alexander, was selected fourth overall by a Wraiths squad that was coming off of three straight losing seasons and, while stocked with young talent, didn't jump off the page as the next great NSFL dynasty.
They took the next step to reach the .500 mark with a 7-7 record the following year, then steadily improved under the leadership of their young talent to reach a playoff berth in season 16 that unfortunately ended with a first round loss by one point to the underdog Philadelphia Liberty. Season 17 saw another improvement to 8-5 (tied with the Baltimore Hawks and Chicago Butchers for the best record in the league), only to face another early upset to the Hawks.
By season 18, the Wraiths roster was shaping up into a dominant force through the growth of its recent draft picks, Alexander included, as well as some timely additions of seasoned veteran talent in free agency spearheaded by the connections and friendships league legend timeconsumer had made over his time in the NSFL. That year represented a turning point in the franchise's fortunes, as they put together a dominant 11-2 campaign in which they led the league in point differential by a wide margin. However, the regular season success once again would not portend postseason domination, as the Wraiths finally made it all the way to the Ultimus but found themselves on the wrong side of a 16-10 affair against the Orange County Otters, the most continually dominant dynasty in league history.
Season 19 was more of the same: a 9-4 record, good for the top seed in the NSFC and tied for the best in the entire league, only to fall a field goal short in a 30-27 Ultimus loss to - you guessed it - Orange County.
In season 20, the Wraiths recorded another 9-4 record, this time leading both the NSFC and NSFL, and entered the postseason as the top overall seed. Alas, the song remains the same; the Wraiths suffered their worst Ultimus loss of this era to date with a 37-20 home drubbing at the hands of the Austin Copperheads. If you're following along at home, that's three straight seasons as regular season champs all culminating in failure just when it appeared the team was ready to reach the mountaintop. With the structure of regression in the league, that has to be the end of their championship hopes, right?
Heading into the season 21 playoffs, that appeared to be the case. Yellowknife barely eked its way into the playoffs as the third seed in the NSFC with a 7-6 record, a clear sign that their window was dwindling. Amazingly, the team then took down the Colorado Yeti and Baltimore Hawks in back to back playoff games to reach their fourth straight Ultimus game, this time as the underdog. Maybe this is what they needed to get over the hump - a chip on their shoulder after entering as favorites and letting their guard down before! Nope, they lost by twenty points to the New Orleands Second Line. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
As season 22 rolled around, the team once again ascended to the top of the league standings at 11-2, but this time they wouldn't get a chance to blow it in the big game, instead being upset 17-16 by the 8-5 Yeti in the conference finals.
Finally, after basically Nero's whole career being spent dominating the league only to fall short in the elimination rounds, season 23 came. It was a good but not incredible season, as their 10-6 record was good for tops in the conference but behind OCO's 11-5 for the league's top seed. However, after sneaking past the also 10-6 Yeti by a field goal to reach the Ultimus, they luckily met up with the Austin Copperheads, who had previously taken down the Otters. This allowed the Wraiths homefield advantage, and they finally seized their opportunity with a dominant 38-13 win (if you're paying attention, that's a better point differential than their previous blowout loss to Austin).
I've written well over 600 words here, but it's important to wrap this up by noting how meaningful this was to me personally. I was GM by this time, and I had built a massive group of friends who had forged what was basically a superteam by TPE but had always failed when it mattered most. We were all disillusioned, but continued along despite most of our players starting to fade into regression. This win was the culmination of (if I recall correctly) a real-life year's worth of sim testing, free agency pitching, draft scouting, discord chatting, and more with a group of people who would soon be dispersed to the winds of retirement. That moment was unforgettable.