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Sunday Champions League (#20 Washington Americans and #21 Dallas Tornadoes)


9innings

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Since 1999 I have been developing a concept league called the Sunday Champions League. Accompanying this league is a full collegiate universeThe first team up is the Cleveland Turfdogs.  Keep in mind I was in fifth grade when some of these teams got their names, and in honor of tradition the names have stuck.  The Turfdogs are a playoff team year in and year out but have lost all three SCL Championships that they have reached.  Running Back, Bruce Perry is the lone Dog that has reached the SCL Pantheon (Hall of Fame).  He holds the honor of being the first running back in SCL history to reach 2,000 yards.  The Dogs are hoping that their first round pick, QB Pat Cavanaugh, will turn things around for them.  They have missed the playoffs two straight seasons for the first time in team history.  

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1 hour ago, 9innings said:

Since 1999 I have been developing a concept league called the Sunday Champions League. Accompanying this league is a full collegiate universeThe first team up is the Cleveland Turfdogs.  Keep in mind I was in fifth grade when some of these teams got their names, and in honor of tradition the names have stuck.  The Turfdogs are a playoff team year in and year out but have lost all three SCL Championships that they have reached.  Running Back, Bruce Perry is the lone Dog that has reached the SCL Pantheon (Hall of Fame).  He holds the honor of being the first running back in SCL history to reach 2,000 yards.  The Dogs are hoping that their first round pick, QB Pat Cavanaugh, will turn things around for them.  They have missed the playoffs two straight seasons for the first time in team history.  

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Wow! Clearly you have devoted some time to this league. The Turf Dogs look great, I actually love the name. Very original, IMO. 

 

Can you give us any more back story into this league? How it works. Is it this universe's version of CFB? How do games work. Is this going to be a full on simulation? Im very interested. 

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This looks really good. A few minor complaints:

1. The green that you've used for the uniform is different from the green you used elsewhere in the presentation.

2. The cleats look different on the forward and backward templates.

3. The secondary logo reminds me of either the Cubs or Colorado. I know there are only so many ways you can render a C, but I can't see anything else.

4. Is there a road uniform?

 

I'm also kinda confused as to what 06, 10, and 15 mean. Everything else about this is excellent, though. Looking forward to more!

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This looks interesting. I look forward to seeing more. 

A few questions:

-Is that Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati? 

-what kind of collegiate universe is this? Are there multiple levels (division 1, 2, 3, etc.), bowls? 

-echoing ItDoesntMatter, what -does- 06,10,15 mean?

Good stuff so far!

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My biggest thing is the difference in quality between different elements. For example, the logo is crisp, clean and neat. But then you put that crisp, clean logo onto a blurry, pixelated helmet. The quality discrepancy between the logo and uniform is stark. It looks like you spent a ton of time getting the logo perfect, then rushed through the other uniform elements. Spend the extra time to get the whole presentation to the quality of the logo to streamline the look.

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Thanks for the initial feedback.  I will take it all into consideration as we go forward.  I tried to address most of the questions below. 

 

The Founding

In the summer of 1999, my family was in the middle of a move.  At the time, while the majority of my things were packed up in boxes the lone source of entertainment was a spiral notebook and a pen.  I began to think about how fun it would be for my brother and I to create our own sports universe.  We have created a hockey league as well as basketball and baseball.  But the first league that started it off, was the Sunday Champions League.  The league began with 16 original teams.  As your will see, some of the nicknames for the franchises seem like they were made by a fifth grader, and that is because they were.  To honor the true history of the league, we have kept the names and teams just as they were dreamt up 19 years or so ago.  The teams were broken down into four four-team divisions.  There were two divisions per conference, each named after us…The NFC (Nick Football Conference) and the LFC (Lucas Football Conference).  With our last name being Esposito, the league awards the ESPO Bowl annually to its champion. 

 

Since Then

Since then the league has grown to 28 franchises.  The teams are now in four seven team divisions.  We have had players who were stars in the beginning be inducted into the SCL Pantheon.  Uniforms have evolved and the ultimately brought back to what we would call ‘throwback’ looks to the way we thought them up in the beginning.  About seven years into the league I found CCSLC and for the first time, realized that there were other people doing what we were doing.  I have been developing my skills in design and am now ready to get the show on the road. Then the madness got cranked up when we started to think about where the players in our league have come from.. Slowly from then on, we began to populate a college system that would feed into the SCL similarly to that of the NCAA – NFL. 

 

How It Works

In the beginning, we invented what we called at the time a “flip league”.. We took quarters and flipped best of seven for the outcome of each game. Since then we have upgraded, but only slightly. At the beginning of the 2003 season we decided that we wanted the SCL to play out similarly to the NFL.  Therefore we put all of the names of the NFL teams into one hat and all of the SCL teams into the other.  We then began matching the teams up until each of them had a partner.  The teams were then put into their divisions and they played out the season.  So for example, if the Cleveland Turf Dogs were the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Bengals went 7-9 so did the Turf Dogs. Just because the NFL team makes the playoff does not mean that you make the playoffs in the SCL.

 

Once the teams are seeded in the playoffs they are matchup again but to the NFL team that has their corresponding seed. Then whoever wins the Super Bowl wins the ESPO Bowl.

 

It is simple but it gave us more time to dream up the rest of the universe with our other leagues.

 

This Project

 

I am going to roll out the identities and a more thorough history of each team.  Remember, the history is in real time.  There are no simulations or computer-generated scores.  The majority of the league history is in real-time (one season per year).  Once each team is unveiled I will begin giving a more holistic view of the league.

 

To address some of the questions that have been posed since the first installment.  The numbers in the squares are the years that a team has won a conference championship.  I will make titles and similar things more obvious going forward. The stadiums are going to be fictional stadiums in real cities.  Unless someone else knows how to make renderings of real stadiums, I have just used real stadiums as basic models for what we envisioned for each venue.  So yes, it is Paul Brown Stadium standing in for Goodyear Stadium (they just both happen to be in Ohio).  Additionally, if you see a jersey near the championships, it represents a player that is in the SCL Pantheon or Hall of Fame.  The player that is on the home uniform is one of the best players on the current team.   

 

For the teams that have won ESPO Bowls I will also include a description of the game.  The next team will be up later this evening.

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Thanks for the clarification. This definitely helps out. The way that you simulate the seasons is actually pretty cool. One question though, when you paired SCL teams with NFL teams, were those pairings different each season or has it been the same each season?

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@willmoenGreat question, that was something that I forgot to include.  Every year there is a different "Match Up".  To ensure that the league remains relatively consistent and not random champions every year what we do is a differentiated selection.  We put the playoff teams for each league from the previous year in two hats (enough prepositions?) and match them.  Then we do the non playoff teams.  Like the NFL there is usually a 50% turnover rate.  We then discuss the reasons that teams succeeded and or flopped and develop the narrative from there.  

 

Next Up is our hometown team the PHILADELPHIA YELLOW JACKETS.  I find that most times people make a concept team for Philadelphia they usually land on a colonial theme.  We tried to go another way.  The Jackets are named after the original NFL franchise in Philadelphia the Frankford Yellow Jackets.  My dad grew up in the area and told us about the team and it was easy to name the team from there.  The main, helmet logo is similar the logo of Frankford - we replaced the F with a P.  The Yellow Jackets are a respected franchise around the league but have yet to have a lot of post season success.  They made the playoffs during the first 4 seasons behind the attack of QB Jack Harvey and RB James Washington.    Harvey's career would ultimately become synonymous with playoff blunders.  Three of those four playoff appearances were abruptly halted by the Detroit Lancers.  The 2010's were pretty rough in the City of Brotherly Love.  It is never a good thing when you find yourself drafting in the top ten for 5 straight seasons.  Finally the Jackets hit on a number of draft picks that turned their team around.  2014 #6 overall pick Magellyn Williams has become an all-pro, safety Junior Colvin a ferocious defender, and free agent RB Rex Mathis propelled the Jackets to Espo Bowl XVIII last season.  Philadelphia was up big in the second half but lost their edge and ultimately the game.  They had to watch future Hall of Fame Luther Hawkins ride off into the sunset as Albuquerque topped Philly for the title.  

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The next team up are the Seattle Whales.  There is unfortunately not much of a narrative for the Whales.  They have played in the historically toughest division (the West) and have not been the team that has made it tough.  Teams from Las Vegas, Dallas and Phoenix have gobbled up most of the division titles, leaving Seattle fans a little hungry.  Stay tuned...tomorrow's team will be the first featured team with an Espo Bowl title.  

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Can I just say how fantastic and well done all of you really logos have been? The only flaw I could see is the uniform for Cleveland, as people said before, it's kinda disappointing to see such a well done logo on a blurry and rushed uniform. All of the graphics have been superb though, I appreciate the time put into this and can't wait to see what you have in store next!!

 

Edit: Just curious, will Cincinnati have a team?

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@BellaSpurs Thanks I agree with the comments about the uniforms,  I will be working to rectify that in the future.  As for Cincinnati, they do not have a team in the SCL.  They do have a great franchise our Hockey league.  I'll put together that league after we get done with the SCL.  

 

Next Up the defending ESPO Bowl Champions the ALBUQUERQUE INVADERS

 

            The Invaders are one of the newest teams in the SCL.   You can hopefully tell that they were a product of the early 2000s.  The identity depends on space-black and alien-lime green.  The logo is an alien’s head in the shape of a football.  Like Seattle, Albuquerque has had difficulties in a tough division.  However, over the past few seasons the Invaders’ stock has been pointing up.  They have put together an opportunistic defense as well as an offense that always seems to come up with a big play at the right moment.  In 2015, the SCL world was shocked when Phoenix chose to part ways with the best player in their franchise’s history, QB Luther Hawkins.  The stories of the legendary Hawkins will be rolled out when we get to Phoenix but for now we will mention his swan song.  In the twilight of his career, Hawkins chose to sign with a ready-made Invaders team.  In his first season with the team, he guided Albuquerque to their first playoff appearance.  The eventual ESPO Bowl champion – San Antonio, knocked them out of the tournament.  The second season however, Hawkins and the Invaders were primed to make a deep run in the playoffs.  In dramatic fashion Invaders came face-to-face with Hawkins’ former squad in the conference championship game.  While Hawkins played well, it was the defense that stifled Phoenix in order to punch their ticket to the ESPO Bowl.  It was odd seeing Albuquerque in the big show.  Despite being around for over a decade, the Invaders still have that expansion team feel still.  They had to go up against an equally frustrated franchise in Philadelphia.  The Jackets made every play in the first half and jumped out to a 28 – 3 lead.  Hawkins took the game on his shoulder and used his legs and athleticism to wear down the Jackets front.  The Invaders stormed back and ultimately won in overtime. 

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On 9/14/2017 at 5:02 PM, 9innings said:

@willmoenGreat question, that was something that I forgot to include.  Every year there is a different "Match Up".  To ensure that the league remains relatively consistent and not random champions every year what we do is a differentiated selection.  We put the playoff teams for each league from the previous year in two hats (enough prepositions?) and match them.  Then we do the non playoff teams.  Like the NFL there is usually a 50% turnover rate.  We then discuss the reasons that teams succeeded and or flopped and develop the narrative from there.  

 

Next Up is our hometown team the PHILADELPHIA YELLOW JACKETS.  I find that most times people make a concept team for Philadelphia they usually land on a colonial theme.  We tried to go another way.  The Jackets are named after the original NFL franchise in Philadelphia the Frankford Yellow Jackets.  My dad grew up in the area and told us about the team and it was easy to name the team from there.  The main, helmet logo is similar the logo of Frankford - we replaced the F with a P.  The Yellow Jackets are a respected franchise around the league but have yet to have a lot of post season success.  They made the playoffs during the first 4 seasons behind the attack of QB Jack Harvey and RB James Washington.    Harvey's career would ultimately become synonymous with playoff blunders.  Three of those four playoff appearances were abruptly halted by the Detroit Lancers.  The 2010's were pretty rough in the City of Brotherly Love.  It is never a good thing when you find yourself drafting in the top ten for 5 straight seasons.  Finally the Jackets hit on a number of draft picks that turned their team around.  2014 #6 overall pick Magellyn Williams has become an all-pro, safety Junior Colvin a ferocious defender, and free agent RB Rex Mathis propelled the Jackets to Espo Bowl XVIII last season.  Philadelphia was up big in the second half but lost their edge and ultimately the game.  They had to watch future Hall of Fame Luther Hawkins ride off into the sunset as Albuquerque topped Philly for the title.  

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Thanks for having a Wawa stadium, Always anted that in a Philly area venue.

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Thanks everyone for following along so far.. I will try to answer some of the questions.  I have not really given a thought to the uniform provider of the teams.  Due to feedback on the Cleveland uniforms I am revisiting the template and delivery of the uniforms.  Standing in for the uniforms I am trying to find still shots and working them to reflect what my vision is for each of the uniforms.  Eventually, I will pump in the official uniforms of the teams.  As for simulation, the seasons have been all played out, so what we will do is once we are done with the roll out of teams, i will post a season by season league view and then keep you up to date with the 2017-2018 season.  So I will tone down the history a bit for now and discuss more the concept.  But for now...let me introduce you to team #5.  Since @Darknes was wondering about New England...

 

#5 the BOSTON SILVERS.  The Boston Silversmiths (Silvers for short) play in the NFC-Eastern Division.  It is funny that you can't seem to run away from Colonial theme when you get to Boston or Philadelphia.  But unlike Philly, I chose to lean into it albeit with a little twist.  The Silvers are named for the legendary Paul Revere's profession.  Their logo depicts Revere galloping on his wild ride to warn that the British regulars were on their way.  Their helmet logo is simply an Ole English letter B.  I suppose the Silvers have a Detroit Lions type feel to them.  The Boston Silvers own the North and carry the torch for all of New England.  Boston has been a pesky team in the playoffs, especially for teams that were heavy favorites.    They play at the oft-snowy Life is Good Field.  Life is Good (a favorite brand of mine-based in Boston-founders went to Villanova-my alma mater).  Stay tuned tomorrow for #6 as the tour bus heads west. 

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That's a great name for Boston. Very creative and it feels very authentic too. I also really like the primary logo. The Paul-Revere-on-a-horse is not easy to execute. I think the B helmet logo is a bit lacking though. It's almost a completely different color scheme than the primary logo. Maybe simplify the color scheme in the primary logo and then replicate that same color scheme in the helmet logo?

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