This is the first of what will likely be frequent columns looking at various aspects of the AD Blood Bowl league. It will particularly focus on historical context with a view to assessing situations past rather than predicting outcomes future. This first column will focus on the early period of the Junior Wildmen. The Wildmen were undoubtedly one of the best teams in the AD Blood Bowl League from 2003 through 2005 but few if any consider them to be truly great. This column will explore why this view might be held, what the Wildmen's achievements were, and how things might have been very different.
The Wildmen were the last team to sign up of the league's original 8 founding members. When they arrived they did so with a bang. Boasting a squad that included an astonishing blocking unit and future hall of famer Speedy McSpeedy, the Wildmen were a team to be feared. Under head coach Lord Bastardo they broke ground with their infamous Zerg tactic. However, 2003 was to prove a frustrating year for Wildmen fans primarily as a result of two teams: the Tempo Ray Mutineers and the KoPite MuGaz. The Wildmen blocking game relied on pure physical power, it was an intimidating style of play for sure but the Mutineers and Mugaz seemed to have the measure of that unit. The blocking technique used by players such as Zzharg Zzhargson, Kerval Axebreaker, and Klein were enough to halt Zergs and despite Speedy McSpeedy being a runaway player of the year the team as a whole fell just short of the post-season. Even with their defeats to the Mutineers and Mugaz, the Wildmen would have had enough to squeeze into the business end of the season if not for a draw against a poor In D.A N/a Police Dolts team.
Having fallen just short in 2003, the Wildmen were much improved during 2004 but they were to stop just shy of greatness once more. While still unable to come up with the answer to the now champion Mugaz, the Wildmen were able to clean-up elsewhere and became champions of the ADA West. Heading into the post-season, the team were too strong for a Revengers' Tragedy squad whose best was still to come and it was a final match-up against the Mutineers that beckoned. Having been the first team to defeat the Wildmen in 2003 there was no doubt that revenge was expected and in some quarters anticipated but it was not to be. The final was extremely close - a 1-1 finish at the end of regulation meaning sudden death overtime. The Wildmen lost the toss and that was it. Unable to mount a defensive stand, the Mutineers swept through to claim the title.
The 2004 final was the high watershed for the Wildmen franchise as things began to crumble from then on. The team's one thrower Lisa Furykup was killed during the final and 5 games into the 2005 season the team lost team captain Mr Wildman and 1/3 of their infamous blocking unit. The mystique surrounding the Wildmen had been well and truly shattered before head coach Lord Bastardo left the team shortly afterwards. The Wildmen still managed a post-season birth but replacement coach Fabien did not make the most of it. Since 2005 the Wildmen have propped up the ADA West and are a team lacking direction and confidence.
So the Wildmen were a team that came close to being recognised as one of the greats. They held a Conference title, reached the Championship Game, and had abundant individual talent but the 2003-2005 Wildmen are often not discussed as one of the greatest of all. The lack of a championship trophy certainly hurts their case for greatness but they had been within an overtime of lifting the title in 2004. The sparkling individual achievements of Speedy McSpeedy and the fearsome blocking unit that was Horny Wildman, Mr Wildman, and Woody Wildman struck fear into the hearts of opposing teams.
Three reasons why the Wildmen might not be considered truly great are thus: inconsistency, expectations, and comparison with other teams. The Wildmen were a highly capable team - they overpowered the All-Stars and Savages with ease during the period yet they floundered at times. They never defeated the Mugaz and fell twice in three clashes with the Mutineers. More difficult for the squad's claims of greatness were inconsistency against teams they should have brushed aside with ease. The draw with the Dolts in 2003 ended the team's chances of post-season qualification and a similar draw with the Ultimate Team the next year was surprising. Expectations were perhaps the largest hurdle the Wildmen had to overcome. Having stormed into an early lead in the ADA West in 2003, and with the Zerg seemingly unstoppable it had been a massive surprise for the team to have walked into Mutiny Island and left with nothing. The team never bounced back from defeat very well - the 2004 Championship Game loss was a blow that they seem never to have recovered from and expectations are a probable cause of this malaise.
Ultimately though greatness is about circumstance. The Wildmen were at their peak in an era where three teams outperformed them. The Mugaz, Mutineers, and Tragedy all scooped a trophy bewteen 2003-2005 and all made the post-season at every attempt. The 2004 final was the only one of the first three Championship Games not to be between two of the three teams and none were eliminated by a team other than one of those three. It was not until 2006 with the all-conquering All-Stars team that the title destiny was determined elsewhere.
What this probably tells us is that the perception of greatness is most significantly hung upon the altar of championship success. Players can be great but a team is only considered great if it is among the very elite of it's era. The Wildmen were not as successful as three other teams of their era though the margin by which they fell short is indicative of the fine line that leads to failure. Arguably the Wildmen would have been considered great had they been champions in 2004 when at the height of their powers and that final was determined in sudden death overtime when regulation could not split the sides. In a different time, the Wildmen's achievements may have been considered great - this was indeed one of the best offensive sides that has been seen. However, timing matters and the Wildmen's window was a three year spread during which time others had more success and the league as a whole evolved into a larger and more complex world. A great run like 2004 might be considered greater in an era where more teams are challenging but being simply the best of the rest falls short of greatness if only by inches.