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JuOSu · 08-10-2021, 09:02 PM

I will also post this in the PBE and ISFL, but posting it here first to make sure I get paid here for sure.

Yesterday, I received a wonderful pm by @luke who specifically reached out to me knowing that I love to write these crossover league articles. I was actually really touched, it often feels like not many people read them or are interested in league history like I am, so it really felt special to hear from someone I hadn't interacted with before and only knew of cause of Nour's appearance on the commish podcast.

As always, I write about these three leagues because these are the leagues I am actively participating in. I know many people are also in the EFL, VHL, SBA or others but for the sake of my articles, I count these three.

Luke's idea was simple: How long did it take the original teams of the PBE, ISFL and SHL to win a championship?

On the aforementioned commish podcast people had mentioned that the PBE team Outer Banks Aviators had just won their first championship in team history, the last of the PBE teams to do so.

So with that in mind, I went out and have collected the data and will present them in order of shortest to longest time below and comment a bit about what they have achieved and such. If you only care about the list, scroll down to the bottom where I have an easily read list.

Tied for fastest teams to do it (all three obviously did it in Season 1 respectively):

New York Voyagers (PBE) - S1

The Voyagers had a great first season, lead by some really strong players, such as Most Valuable Player Laddy McBantershire, Pitcher of the Year Chaz LaLocke and Reliever of the Year Penny Kowers. While not the number 1 team in TPE at the time, they managed to win the title right away. It took them quite a while to win a second title, in Season 12. Recently, they won two more titles in S24 and S25, bringing their total championships to four now.

Arizona Outlaws (ISFL) - S1

Arizona dominated the early history of the ISFL, winning the first three seasons in a row, partially based on a strong team but also partially through one of the biggest multi scandals in sim league history where Er was caught with 8-13 players, most of which were on Arizona. The very big asterisk aside, the next and only title since then came in Season 16 for them.

Winnipeg Jets (SHL) - S1

Admittedly, the SHL is the league I know least about and I was not around for this title. They won six titles in total so far, besides the one in S1 they also won in S7, S19, S25, S37 and S44.

Vancouver Vandals (PBE) - S2

The Vandals had been the team with the most TPE even in S1 and started their big dominance of the PBE in S2 officially. Under the lead of iamslm22 they were built to be a juggernaut and won five straight titles from S2 to S6. Since then? Not quite as dominant, admittedly. A rebuilt followed the five titles. After a few seasons they managed 8 straight playoffs seasons but stayed without a title. The 5 titles still remain the only titles in team history.

West Kendall Platoon (SHL) - S2

While they won two titles in the first five seasons, it then took a loooong time to win again. West Kendall did not win another title until the 40s, but have since won three, in S41, S43 and S47. A very historic franchise obviously and only one title behind the Jets.

Orange County Otters (ISFL) - S4

Following the first three-peat in the ISFL came the second. The Orange County Otters won three titles from S4 to S6. Yours truly was actually on that roster and even co-GM briefly. Once hailed as heroes for breaking the Outlaws dominance, the Otters quickly turned into the villain themselves, reaching the playoffs every season for the first 26 (I think?) seasons and have won a league high 8 championships, though the last of them is already quite a while ago in S19. Can they return to former glory at some point?

Berkeley Bulldogs (PBE) - S7

For the unaware, that was the original team name of the San Antonio Sloths, the team I am the GM of in the PBE. The team changed names in S2 and has stayed that way ever since, but the original starting team was Berkeley. Despite the bad first season, the Sloths quickly managed to turn it around and broke the Vandals 5 season streak. The first Sloths dynasty managed to win three more titles in the next four seasons after that. In a second run as a dynasty we won one more title, though we made the playoffs for 11 straight seasons (ongoing).

Death Valley Scorpions (PBE) - S8

As dynastic the Vandals and Sloths are in the PBE, the true villain are the Death Valley Scorpions who started their reign of terror in S8. After a rough initial run with some not so great GMs, they truly started their dominance in this time, leading to 18 straight playoff appearances and six more titles after this one in S8, including one run of four straight titles. The Scorpions have won the most titles in the PBE and have the most regular season wins as well.

Yellowknife Wraiths (ISFL) - S8

After losing two championship games earlier in the league, the Wraiths finally came through in S8. It would stay their only win for a while, despite some fantastic teams. From S18 to S21 the Wraiths ended up in four straight title games and losing all four. Since then, they have managed to turn their reputation of losing finals around a bit, winning three titles in the last seven seasons and bringing their finals record to 4-6.

Calgary Dragons (SHL) - S8

Fun fact, S8 is the only other season besides S1 where all three leagues saw a first-time original team winner. I am not sure why! Calgary has been a very strong team in SHL history, winning a staggering 8 titles. They came in S8, S9, S27, S29, S32, S40, S42 and S50. Their 8 titles are tied for the most of any SHL team in history (with the Edmonton Blizzard).

Baltimore Hawks (ISFL) - S10

Yet another ISFL team known for losing finals, the Hawks started off 0-3 in finals before finally winning one in S10. They promptly lost two more finals in S11 and S12 before winning a second title in S15. Today their finals record is 2-6. I believe this was yet another team run by slm for a while, though this time the finals luck wasn't on his side.

Hamilton Steelhawks (SHL) - S11

The Steelhawks still have the same name today and rightly so. Their most dominant times have come in the last ten seasons, winning four of their seven total titles. Their first came in S11 after a little bit of a wait to get there. Going through 8 GMs in their first 11 seasons will do that to a team I suppose.

San Jose Sabercats (ISFL) - S14

The first ckroyal92 run team on the list, the Sabercats struggled early in the ISFL to get going, but eventually managed a title in S14. They won two titles in a row later in S24 and S25, finally getting a few wins back after many struggles earlier.

Wisconsin Monarchs (SHL) - S18

The team now known as the Tampa Bay Barracuda started out in Wisconsin and went through quite a few rebrands already. Their first title came in S18, at the time they were the Seattle Riot, which was already their 5th branding, which seems rather crazy. Often I feel like re-branding is looked down upon nowadays but it happens far more rarely than it seemed to have happened early on here, especially for this team. This team is not the most successful, having only won the one title in S18. They also managed to lose all 50 of their games in S54, another crazy feat.

Providence Crabs (PBE) - S19

Another team with only one title in their history, the Crabs actually had a really good run early in the PBE, where they were a playoff team six seasons in a row and just could not win a title, despite going all in with big trades several times. They finally got it done in S19 after a long wait. Another long rebuild followed, though they seem primed to reach the playoffs again sooner or later. Hopefully they will be able to add another title soon.

Colorado Yeti (ISFL) - S22

The last of the ISFL original six teams to win a title, the Yeti were long seen as the lovable losers of the ISFL. They are yet another ISFL team with a bad history in the finals too, with their current record in finals being 1-4. Their only title came in S22 after a long wait. They have recently made headlines by signing some great free agents and competing again but haven't reached the finals since S25 now again.

Outer Banks Aviators (PBE) - S26

The reason the article idea came up in the first place, the Aviators were the last original six PBE team to win their first title last season in the PBE Season 26. The other long-time ckroyal run team struggled to get the title for a long time, though they already had a chance to win it in S1. The wait made the title all the better now, I am sure. It was definitely a struggle, as the team had some rough first round upset losses on the way to finally having their triumph.

Toronto North Stars (SHL) - S35

And finally, the last of the SHL teams and the last of ALL the original teams to win a title are the Toronto North Stars who took a staggering 35 seasons to finally win the big one. Looking through their records throughout history, they weren't even a terrible team for most of it, but apparently just could not win a title. They reached the playoffs a staggering 24 times before they finally won the title in S35, so that really shows they were a solid team for most of it! It must have been quite frustrating for their GMs and players to never do it, and quite the celebration when it finally happened. Despite making the playoffs a lot, they only lost the finals twice before their first win.

And there you have it, the complete history of the first title wins of the original six teams of the three big leagues.

Easy to read list:

S1: New York Voyagers (PBE), Arizona Outlaws (ISFL), Winnipeg Jets (SHL)
S2: Vancouver Vandals (PBE), West Kendall Platoon (SHL)
S4: Orange County Otters (ISFL)
S7: Berkeley Bulldogs (PBE)
S8: Death Valley Scorpions (PBE), Yellowknife Wraiths (ISFL), Calgary Dragons (SHL)
S10: Baltimore Hawks (ISFL)
S11: Hamilton Steelhawks (SHL)
S14: San Jose Sabercats (ISFL)
S18: Seattle Riot (SHL)
S19: Providence Crabs (PBE)
S22: Colorado Yeti (ISFL)
S26: Outer Banks Aviators (PBE)
S35: Toronto North Stars (SHL)

***Wally*** · 08-10-2021, 09:21 PM

This is awesome! Nice nugget of info!

trella · 08-11-2021, 04:27 PM

Cool stuff! Super happy to see OBX finally get one after so many years of trying

Thanks to @karey and @JSS for the sigs!

Former USA Fed Head, Carolina Kraken Co-GM, Tampa Bay Barracuda GM

Grapehead · 08-11-2021, 08:41 PM

OC Otters baby!

Vik · 08-27-2021, 02:44 PM

This is late but I just read this article because of the project we're working on together @JuOSu and I love an article this, very interesting. Also feel the pain of waiting forever for a championship lmao I've never won one in SHL and it's been a while to say the least lmao. Also a caps fan irl so I know when I do finally get there it will be sweet lol.

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