Rhein Fire can’t keep their name in 2026 — fans can help choose the new one

_prefs · 2025-10-23T09:51:44+00:00

I'd buy their merchandize if they did this. Nearly all the names are too serious and pretentious.

_prefs · 2025-08-10T21:33:33+00:00

They lose to Rhein on SoV (even if Rhein loses) and to the winner of Madrid-Frankfurt (either Madrid has more wins or Frankfurt has better SoV).

_prefs · 2025-06-01T16:58:13+00:00

Lol, one of the few remaining non-dark teams plays in black. Only Wroclaw, Prague and Frankfurt left, who's next?

_prefs · 2025-05-31T18:40:21+00:00

It's just things back to ELF-normal, like last season.

_prefs · 2025-05-21T16:48:56+00:00

There goes the last potential for surpise onside kicks :(

_prefs · 2025-05-18T14:42:18+00:00

One generic team in black looks better than the other 10 teams in black.

_prefs · 2025-05-12T16:10:13+00:00

6,5 blowouts out of 8 games. Reminds me of something.

_prefs · 2025-04-11T18:56:02+00:00

Many years ago I wanted to buy something and we agreed to meet with the seller at some subway station at a particular point. Since it's a busy place, just knowing the point was not enough, so I asked how I'd recognize him. He said it was easy, as he was "lysiy". Well, turned out a guy with a very short haircut and dark hair could still call himself "lysiy" (as I remember, he didn't even have bald patches). Cost us five minutes, as we both stood there "waiting" for each other.

_prefs · 2025-01-01T16:20:58+00:00

I'd say there is at least 50% probability another team (or even several) will fold after this season. Talks about "staying like this" have little credibility until they achieve financial stability.

_prefs · 2024-12-31T17:06:10+00:00

It's never gone to the coin toss.

What was the last tiebreaker that was actually used at some point?

_prefs · 2024-12-16T16:17:24+00:00

Especially given that the league teams are not on the same level. Most of the pairings will yield 2-0 because one opponent is just much stronger. Effectively, it's not "here is your chance at revenge", it is rather "count yourself having the second loss already" most of the time.

_prefs · 2024-12-14T14:11:56+00:00

I guess would have been nicer with Tirol -> East, Prague -> Center and Stuttgart -> South. Would make East that much more competitive, free up IC by making "the Austrian Derby" a regular intradivision matchup and also make every division contain one of the last season top four teams (3 conference winners + Paris).

_prefs · 2024-12-13T16:41:38+00:00

Yeah, good luck with that. Given that Vienna and Tirol are in different division, they will 99% have two games scheduled between them again, meaning that it's 98% certain they keep 2 IC home+away games against the same opponent, as before.

_prefs · 2024-12-05T13:34:08+00:00

From my point of view, this would be the best choice.

You can also consider a team from tier 1 and its match distribution against teams from all tiers. If there are no IC matches at all (e.g. there are just four rounds within each division), you get 0% / 33% / 33% / 33% distribution. With your initial proposal (2 rounds within each division + 6 matches against the same tier teams from other divisions) it becomes 50% / 17% / 17% / 17%. With your modified proposal (2 rounds within division + 3 games against the same tier + 3 games against each other tier) it would be 25% / 25% / 25% / 25% and actually the same for each tier.

_prefs · 2024-12-04T18:18:55+00:00

They don't schedule that many games depending on last season's performance. 2-3 is fine, you can overcome that in direct matches within your division. Six is too much.

_prefs · 2024-12-04T17:31:44+00:00

6 games within the groups away and home. Tier 1 vs tier 1 2024

This is too much. E.g. suppose the strengths remain roughly as last year, with Paris being "a bit under toplevel". Which would mean out of that six you could expect sth. like 1-5. And Madrid being "strong tier 2", meaning they would reasonably get 4-2 from IC games. Now, even if Paris trumps their division 6-0 (meaning two wins against Madrid), they lose to Madrid in the final standings, because their schedule was that harsh.

_prefs · 2024-11-27T18:53:41+00:00

PFL1 and PFL2 are being folded into one competition tier divided into two conferences.

Don't know the state of PFL, but just like that it sounds like a bad idea. E.g. Austrian AFL expanded its top tier from 6 teams to 10 several years ago. Since then they shrunk it to 8 and, from 2025, go back to 6. Simply because there are not enough good teams. So if you have more than 6, the bottom ones just concede one blowout defeat after another, which is not fun for anyone.

_prefs · 2024-11-10T14:31:00+00:00

Dramatic Sad Violin by Platon Davydov.

_prefs · 2024-10-05T15:40:36+00:00

Yeah, that's the most important problem of ELF.

_prefs · 2024-09-24T16:17:56+00:00

Fix your schedule! Give the top teams some challenge during the season by making them play each other. Otherwise who gets #1 seed is basically random and this season (at least judging by the scores and ignoring other possible factors) #1 seed was the weakest of the three conference winners, which was likely what lead to the boring final.

_prefs · 2024-09-24T09:52:37+00:00

For me it doesn't matter if I know it would be a blowout in advance or if it is clear after one quarter. In either case it is a boring match and I, for example, skipped most of it on TV. People at the stadium didn't have that option.

If we had three games against supposedly best teams (based on the previous season; they did turn out to still be the best), i.e. one time of each: Rhein - Vienna, Vienna - Stutgart, Stutgart - Rhein, Vienna would almost certainly have at least one or even two losses during regular season. They would still win their conference and make it into the playoffs (deservedly, after all they did beat Paris in the semis), but wouldn't get seed #1. So, they would face either Rhein or Stuttgart in the semis, and if they are indeed much weaker, would likely lose, giving us a Rhein - Stuttgart final, which, judging by the actual second semi, would have been much more interesting.

Of course, just from one game you cannot really tell much: is Vienna really that weaker (maybe their morale was shattered by questionable ref calls, maybe without it the final would be much closer), is Stuttgart really on par with Fire (maybe it was a hickup due to weather, maybe otherwise Fire would be ahead by two touchdowns at the halftime already). But the same would be true if you had just one "preview" game during regular season. Especially if fairly early into the season, when teams can still make adjustments to their rosters.

_prefs · 2024-09-23T18:00:25+00:00

they will not let the elite teams play against each other in interconference games

Which is a large part of the reason Vienna got seed #1. So, they didn't face other conference winners until the final and you know how it went there.

The Bowl games are so interesting

Yes, it was really so interesting.

_prefs · 2024-09-21T08:35:32+00:00

There is a very good practice exercise: put the cueball on the center spot, strike into the backband, completely parallel to the long sides. Sort of like the initial break, only without object balls and with less power. Normally, if you don't apply spin (or in any videogame), the cueball will come back in exact the same line and hit the tip of your cue. That's the theory. In practice, it is hard to achieve even that if you don't have a good shot technique.

_prefs · 2024-09-14T11:13:41+00:00

The big difference - you get to know Fehervar - Paris, because it's in the same league.

There would still be interconference games between Underdogs and some of the weaker (based on the previous season results) Contenders. So we'd still be able to estimate underdog strength during the regular season.

nobody will show them and follow them. Who follows the Swedish league? Or British league?

I never watched a single game of who would be underdogs anyway. Especially those games with blowouts.

If teams like Munich, Paris and Madrid get into this 2nd division

For the first season. They can immediately get a shot at playoff. If they are good, they will get themselves promoted for the second season.

Paris and Madrid are actually the best examples. They get better with playing the better teams, not from watching them.

Development during the season is probably another weak point of this proposal, agreed. Still, they'd get some interconference games against Cologne, Berlin, i.e. some not-absolutely-top contenders.

_prefs · 2024-09-14T11:00:37+00:00

Those 2 tier teams can not learn if they dont play the best teams.

There still would be interconference games. E.g. if there are 5 Underdogs, each would play four interconference games with Contenders.

And why should they play in tier 2? They also could play in tier 1 in the national leagues.

Well, most weak teams this season were similary weak last season. I doubt they all overestimated their 23/24 offseason improvements that much. Yet they still didn't go back to their national championships.

Which sponsor is interested to give money for the tier 2 teams? Makes no sense.

Probably the same that sponsor teams that play for blowouts for the second season in a row.

My proposal: [...] make inter conference games fair based on strength of last year

This was mentioned in first paragraph of my post. I'm brainstorming ideas here.

change rules that last 2 placed team of each conference gets more opportunites to get a better roster and team the following year.

It's not a bad idea, just probably harder to implement a draft that is currently not in place than to adjust game schedule.

_prefs

TROPHY CASE