Spotlight on Premier Dynasty ‘The Experience’ and Commish JCspartan2

I will be spotlighting the Premier Dynasty ‘The Experience’ and interviewing new commissioner JCspartan2 who has recently taken over the duties from staff member Shaun Mason. The Experience is a 3 conference dynasty divided up in the SEC, Big 10, and ACC. The dynasty is currently in week 4 of Season 6 and member GoGators with this Florida squad has taken home the last 3 National Championships.

Here is a quick rundown of how things stand and some projections for the season courtesy of JCspartan:

-I would definitely say that Gators is favored again. He has far better talent than anyone else in the dynasty. PSU (AJ Hart MN) is probably the next closest talent wise so they may have a shot, and Gators has to travel to Alabama this year (Maslerboros) which won’t be easy either. Still, Gators has shown that with the talent he has he is nearly impossible to beat. I have yet to play him actually so I don’t know too much about the way he plays, but my team couldn’t stack up against his talent-wise anyway.

-Gators would also be favored in the SEC with the other users being Masler (Bama), Fuzzyl0gic (Georgia), and LSU (PAgamer07). LSU is talented but already suffered an early loss to an inferior team. Georgia just beat me on a crazy TD reception with 2 broken tackles and no time left, they are decently talented but I don’t see them knocking off the Gators. Masler has a shot at Bama, but he always slips up once against the CPU.

-In the Big Ten it will probably come down to myself and AJ (PSU), but Big Suge has the best team he’s had yet (Michigan) so he might be more in the mix this season. My team has significantly less talent than the other two, but I have yet to lose to Michigan and lost on a late FG in my first game against AJ at PSU last season. Both of them come to MSU this season so I’m thinking the ball is in my court.

-The ACC is a tough one to call. GT (Gowazzucougs) is probably not competitive enough yet, he took them over last season and they were a mess. BlLL Flo (Clemson) is always tough and one of the top teams, but he has an early season loss already. Virginia (Recchem2000) is in the same boat as GT and is rebuilding. Florida State (Dakota7) is loaded once again and is probably the favored team at this point, but Clemson will be tough.

I then sat down with the new commish for a Q&A session.

Quick Bio:
Name: Jordan Cantor
Age: 24
Job: I currently work as a research technologist at MSU doing lab research on diabetes, and I start medical school at MSU in July.
Hobbies: I play a ton of video games, obviously, but I also play just about every sport. My main sport is tennis, I was all-state in high school and was the president of the MSU club tennis team for 2 years before graduating.

How did you become a member of Tradition Sports Online?

OFFL merged with TF in 2010, and thus all of us made our way over. With the drop of the 2011 game, those of us that participated in the E-league of OFFL (hova, basis, psycho, jello, big suge knight, masler, etc…) were made premier members of The Experience as the OFFL was completely transitioned into what is now TSO. I first became a member of OFFL in 2009 when I found it online and asked if I could join despite the fact that I was a lot younger than the rest of the guys. I believe Basis made the final decision and allowed me in.

What is the history of The Experience dynasty?

The OFFL (Old Fellas Football League) originated in 2009 when it first became available to participate in an online dynasty. It was basically TF but on a much much smaller scale and was designed for middle aged guys with busy work schedules. Eventually, the OFFL expanded into 5 leagues, one of which was the E-league and was our version of a “premier” league. It was the league that was supposed to generate the most content and have the most committed members. The E-league is what then transformed into the current “Experience” premier league.

How long have you been playing NCAA and playing it online?

I have been playing NCAA for a long time, probably since 2003 or so, and have played online ever since the online dynasty function became available.

What is your favorite NCAA team? Do you usually try to play as them or do you like to build up a weaker team?

My favorite team is Michigan State. I grew up an hour away from campus and recently graduated from MSU. I bleed Green and White. I usually try to play as MSU, and since they are not a top tier team in football it is usually a rebuilding project. I always prefer to take on weaker teams and build them up, I have yet to start any dynasty with a top tier team to date.

Is this your first time as a commish of an online dynasty?

Yes this is my first time. I have enjoyed my time in the Experience and E-league under basis and shaun. I never saw myself taking over nor being the commish of another league as I was mostly committed to The Experience and didn’t want to distract myself elsewhere. So far I have enjoyed being the commish and it helps when you have a good group of guys already in place like we did in the Experience.

How do you feel about taking over a premiere dynasty like the Experience and what do you think you bring to the table as the commish?

Well, the circumstance in which I took over we’re not ideal (shaun stepping down because of personal reasons). I would loved to have continued with Shaun at the helm, I have a great deal of respect for the guy and the way he goes about things. I am lucky in that I am taking over a league that I have been a part of since it’s inception, and already have a good core group of guys in place. It was not a difficult transition and I’ve really enjoyed the ability to add my own style to the way things are done. I’m still working on getting acclimated with everything, mainly getting a set of sliders FINALLY decided on. I feel that I am a very committed guy to both the league and it’s members. I’m not one to step on toes and would prefer the rest of the league act in the same manner. The most important thing, to me, in any league is that everyone enjoys and looks forward to playing each other and discussing various game issues on the forum. If that ever becomes a chore than I’m not doing my job.

What kind of hurdles do you and the league face finishing out this year and going into NCAA 12?

The biggest issue with The Experience this year has been turnover. We have had a lot of members, especially founding members, leave the league for their own reasons. We have had some luck in replacing guys like Basis, Jello, and Shaun with solid members from lesser leagues such as Recchem2000, AJ Hart MN, and PAgamer07, but we’ve also had our fair share of flake outs. With how recent some of this turnover has been my main goal is to get a group of 12 guys set in stone for the drop of the ’12 game and make sure they are committed for thelong run and not just using this as a side league. If I can get that done it should be smooth sailing into ’12. We do still have a few of the founding members: Maslerboros, Big Suge Knight, GoGators. My hope is that the newer guys can get acclimated quickly because of the experience surrounding them.

Any memorable moments that come to mind in the Experience in NCAA 11?

My most memorable moment in the dynasty is beating a far superior OSU team headed by Shaun in year 2 and winning the Big Ten. I should have headed to the national championship but I lost a close game at Miami (HovathegodMC) in the last week of the season. I still went to the rose bowl and won. That season has paid huge dividends in recruiting, making MSU a 6* team.

What do you think makes the Experience special and stand out from other dynasties?

I’m going to stick my neck out a little here. Based on my experiences in The Experience and T1 and from talking to the other guys in The Experience about their time in other premier or non-premier leagues, our league exhibits the most sim-style play and the most commitment of any of the leagues on the site from each member. No one is out to cheat the other guy, no one is a sore loser, everyone participates on the boards and gets their games done in a timely manner. Others may disagree, but I believe The Experience sets the standard for sim-play and community atmosphere.

I thank you for the interview JCspartan, is there anything else you would like to add?

Some of the members of my league deserve some attention as being great members to both the Experience and the site. I have played with Maslerboros16 and Big Suge Knight since 2009. Both of those guys are incredibly sim players, great forum contributors, and most importantly they are good guys to shoot the shit with. This year we added guys such as GoGators, Gowazzucougs, Dakota7, and AJ Hart MN who have all stepped up in a big way lately and brought a lot to the league. All of them are great guys and the site is lucky to have ‘em.

I greatly appreciate JCspartan2 for taking the time to let us take a look into The Experience Dynasty. I will start making this spotlight article a series and go around the leagues and members for interviews and Q&A sessions. If you would like to be a part of one, please send me a message.