21 Burning Questions

 

 

 

What’s up guys? Sorry for no article last week. With work, the Super Bowl, and my birthday (February 2nd), things honestly got really hectic, and with only 3 new games on the slate, I figured taking a week off, wouldn’t be the end of the world. For some of you, maybe that was, and I apologize. 

Speaking of the Super Bowl, what a heck of a game! Anyone that knows me, knows that I hate the Patriots, but I have to give credit where it’s due, and the Pats beat a Falcons team that totally collapsed at the end of the 4th quarter, due to horrible play-calling on both sides of the ball. Yes, Matt Ryan should know he needs to throw the ball away instead of taking the sack, but he never should’ve been in that position to begin with, and why was Atlanta playing prevent against #12 in the final 5 minutes? Especially when all game long you were being aggresive and getting to Brady. That’s just stupid.   

As great as the game was, it will unfortunately and sadly, be the last bit of meaningful tackle football we’ll have until September. Yeah I’m already depressed just thinking about it.  

With that said, I am back this week, and so is the Division 6 article. In my never-ending desire to keep things fresh, I am going with a question format this time around. While I will give some answers, I am more interested in what you guys have to say, so please hit me up on Twitter @BADNEWS 51, or the email that I always give at the end of the page. 

Without further wait, here are the 21 burning questions that need to be answered in D6. 

1. Will the Mogadishu Pirates go undefeated? (I am a journalist, so yes, I’ll start with a hard-hitting question) 

The closest the team has come to tasting defeat came in Week 3, when they squeezed out a 7-6 win over Sticknmovers. Besides that close call, the team has pretty much had their way with whoever has stood in their path. 

From Week 7 on, the Mogdishu Pirates play a tough slate of games in the Super Troopers, Rolling Rock, Broke Boys, Warriors, and Pardon My Swag. Beating all 5 of those teams will definitely be a tough task, but the Pirates are capable of pulling it off. Let’s see what happens. 

2. Will the Ravens wake up offensively?

If you look past their (3-0-1) record, you’ll notice that the Ravens, have been underachieving on the offensive side of the ball. Through 4 games this season, their offense has average a mere 23 points a game. Naturally, for some teams, that number would be fine, but for a squad that includes Marc-Antoine Vallee, Mathieu Houle, and Gabriel Boyer, you would expect there to be a bit more firepower.  

Although the absence of Jean Lussier and McGill Redmen Joel Houle, has hurt their production, they still have enough weapons and experience to score more than 30 points just once this season. 

3. Will One Speed: Power win a game this year?

If you remember my pre-season rankings (God knows I’ve tried to block them out), I had One Speed: Power ranked as the 5th best team, and I thought they would finish with a (7-3) record. As football has taught us over the years, (and I seem to never learn) a team on paper always looks great. Just ask the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, and New York Jets to name a few. Playing the games is what matters most, and OSP has looked downright horrible doing so. 

One Speed: Power’s 26-21 loss to Cette Équipe Là in Week 4, officially put the nail in their coffin. With a team that added Will Power and Lucas Blanchard this off-season, everybody, including themselves, were expecting a heck of a lot more than a (0-4) record. 

4. Who will win Quarterback of the Year?

Ryan Shapiro (Goofy Goobers) 

Daniel Sananes (Savage mode) 

Massimo Cicchini (Goon Squad) 

Michael Solimene (Warriors) 

Michael Sanchez (N.W.O) 

Normand Bellemare (Rolling Rock) 

Cameron Wilson (Broke Boys) 

All 7 pivots can make a claim that they are the best passer in D6. Each QB is capable of taking over a game and picking apart opposing defenses. It will definitely be interesting to see how the race shakes out. My choice as of right now is Massimo Cicchini, but that can definitely change.

 5. Who will be the new rush king?

The era of having rushers like Simon Laporte and Charles-David Martel, is officially over. The new wave however, looks just as promising, as guys like Charles-Olivier Touzel, Benjamin Szwimer, Cory Wener, Zackary Alberts-Gill, Sammy Falletta, and Joe Calabrese are starting to emerge, and have made their presence felt so far this season. 

So far this season, if I had to pick the most impressive player, I would go with Wener, for the simple fact that he is a first-year player that is playing on a predominant rookie team.  

With that said, I still think that a personal favorite of mine in Zackary Alberts-Gill will capture the title of best rusher this year, if only because his motor never stops, and as a former Defensive Lineman, I can appreciate someone who looks like one himself, and puts a little fear in opposing QB when he is running their way.  

6. Which non-first year player will be the division’s best Wide Receiver?

So far the leading options are Angelo Mourelatos (Warriors), Pietro Mignacca (N.W.O), Alex Joltopuf (Greendale Human Beings), Marc-Mathieu Houle (Ravens). While there are a few rookies who have put up impressive numbers so far, these vets know what it takes to do so over a full season. 

7. Is Gabriel Béland-Lapointe,the long lost son or brother of Ryan Fitzpatrick?

Yes, I think he is. At FPF, we already have a hard-to-fool rating system. How long do you think it’ll be before we get blood testing?  

8. Who is the Conference A dark horse team?

Sons of Mitches have size, speed, and a lineup that full of underrated players. While Sticknmovers lack in a true dominant player, their overall team play has put them right in the thick of the playoff race, and has the team looking like a squad that will extremely dangerous come playoff time. The same thing applies for Channel 4 News Team, whose leading Receiver Aidan Strasser, has a grand total of 8 catches. 

9. Who is the Conference B dark horse team?

In all honesty, I don’t know the answer this one, as there is a such huge gap between the contenders and non-contenders in Conference B. This however, is why we play the games. Only time will tell. 

10. Speaking of contenders, who is the best team in Conference B?

With Victorious Secret, Pardon My Swag, Ravens, Warriors, N.W.O, Greendale Human Beings, Smokin Axolotls, and the Super Troopers, there are more than a few options who are capable of representing Conference on April 9th in Brossard. It will be fascinating to see who will remain standing at the end remainder of the regular season, and the playoffs. 

11. Who will be the Ezekiel Elliot of Division 6?

With Joey Musumeci (The Baker Boys), Chad Buck (The Spanish Inquisition), Shamar Joassaint (Broke Boys), and Max Burah (Goofy Goobers) in the race, there are a lot of worthy competitors. Let’s see how this shakes out.

12. Will the N.W.O end up with more ties than wins, and will they able to shed their playoff ghosts?

The veteran squad is as talented as any team in D6, but so far they are lacking in the win department, curtesy of separate ties against the Warriors and Victorious Secret. While they are undoubtedly still a contender, the N.W.O will need to start racking up victories soon, in order to get better playoff positioning. Getting there won’t be enough either, as there are plenty of other teams on the horizion, and as we have seen in the past, the black and white seem to falter under the bright post-season lights. 

13. Who is the best first-year team?

My choice for now is the Greendale Human Beings, but it can certainly change quickly. Needless to say, there are certainly a lot of other solid options on the board, in the Broke Boys, Sons of Mitches, Savage Mode, Sticknmovers, and the Channel 4 News Team (I shouldn’t really count these guys, since they stole the name from an old FPF team, but it’s all good).   

14. What’s wrong with Rolling Rock?

A veteran team with lengthy post-season experience, the Rolling Rock got off to the start that many, including yours truly, thought they would, as they started off 3-0. The last 2 weeks, have seen the double R get blown out by the Warriors, and dispatched rather easily by another veteran team, in the Smokin Axolotls.  

While it’s a little early to panic, the losses do make you wonder if the Rolling Rock are perhaps not as good as we all thought.  

The team finishes the regular season with a brutal schedule that begins this Saturday in Lachine against the Goofy Goobers, and ends with a Week 10 matchup with the Broke Boys. Over the next 5 games, we’ll find out exactly who the Rolling Rock really are. 

15. As a die-hard 49er fan, should I be worried that Kyle Shanahan is my Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, after what went down last Sunday? (Sorry, I had to ask)

The answer I am obviously hoping for is no, but a part of me is. Seriously, how do you not run the ball on 3rd and 1 from the Pats’ 22, with the only thing standing in your way of winning the Super Bowl is time? More importantly, how do you call a second running play after you get a holding penalty, that drops you to just inside the edge of Field Goal territory? Shanahan better Step It Up next season! 

16. Who will win Defensive Player of the Year?

There is some stiff competition in this group, as Marc-Antoine Jette (Farmers), Michael Khazaka (Pardon My Swag), Matthew Gottlieb (Blitz Babes), Daniel Sananes (Savage Mode), Daniel Pisaturo (Goofy Goobers), and Nicolas Lefebvre (Cette Équipe Là) have all made plays, and carried their respective teams on the most important side of the ball this season.   

What makes this list even more impressive, is the fact that not of these players have more than 3 seasons of experience, and the majority of it is made up of rookies. The future of this league is in good hands. 

17. Will the semi-bye week cause a problem for teams?

This is obviously a two-sided question. For the 6 teams who played this past Monday and Tuesday, will having a game tomorrow or Sunday be too much to handle? While this isn’t tackle football, it still is a contact sport, and injuries can happen (one of my teammates on my 4A team just tore his bicep playing two weeks ago). Conversely, for all the other squads that haven’t had a game since January 28th – February 1st, will we see a little rust, or lack of timing? It happens more often than you think.  

18. Are the Warriors officially back?

After tying the N.W.O in Week 1, and getting soundly beaten by Victorious Secret in Week 2, the Warriors have reeled off 3 straight wins, and have looked like the team we remember from the spring season offensively, as they have averaged a shade over 36 points a game during their winning streak. 

Weeks 8 through 10 represent the Warriors’ toughest games of the season, as they face Pardon My Swag, the Smokin Axolotls, and the Mogadishu Pirates. We’ll find out for sure they are really back or not. 

 19. Who has been the biggest surprise this season?

This one is hard to answer, as perennial losers the Goon Squad and Victorious Secret (sorry guys, but it’s the truth), along with a second year Super Troopers team, that didn’t exactly look like they close to competing for a championship last spring, have all looked solid so far this season.   

20. As of right now, who do I think has the best shot at making the championship game?

I’m throwing a curve ball here, and I am going with Savage Mode versus the Warriors. 

In Conference A, I like Goon Squad, but realistically, they have by far, the weakest schedule out of the contending teams. The playoffs are a different beat, and beating up on struggling teams for most of the season, doesn’t really get you prepared for what’s to come. 

The Mogadishu Pirates beat Savage Mode in Week 1 (30-12), but as I always say, you can pretty much throw out what happens in the first game of the year. Just for the record, I think these two teams will meet for the Conference A title.  

Savage Mode, arguably has the most balanced offense, and arguably the best QB, and two-way player in Daniel Sananes. 

As I mentioned earlier, the Warriors are heating up on the offensive side of the ball. If (and that’s obviously a big one) they are able to keep the momentum up, (their plethora of scoring options say they should) this team will be extremely hard to stop. One key important fact, is despite only putting 6 points in their Week 2 loss to Victorious Secret, the blue and gold still lead all D6 teams in scoring with 147 points. 

21. When will I get back to the regular format?

In my last article I said this week’s would be back to normal, but the Super Bowl and the one creative bone I have in my body, inspired me to change it up once again. So, the short answer to my question is next week, but we’ll see how I feel Thursday night. 

 

Picks (Favorites in bold)

Sons of Mitches vs Goon Squad – Sons of Mithces (Upset Special #1)

Smokin Axolotls vs Bruins – Smokin Axolotls

Greendale Human Beings vs Blitz Babes – Greendale Human Beings

N.W.O vs Cette Équipe Là – N.W.O

Rolling Rock vs Goofy Goobers – Rolling Rock (Upset Special #2) and (My pick for Game of the Week)

Los Avocados vs Super Troopers – Super Troopers

Broke Boys vs FBG – Broke Boys

Savage Mode vs Sticknmovers – Savage Mode

DGC vs Ravens – DGC (Upset Special number #3)

Channel 4 News Team vs Victorious Secret – Victorious Secret

Pardon My Swag vs The Baker Boys – Pardon My Swag

Warriors vs One Speed: Power – Warriors

Mogadishu Pirates vs Rogue Squad – Mogadishu Pirates

Dez Nuts vs Farmers – Dez Nuts

Last Week: 9-5-1

Season: 19-14-3

 

That’s it for this week guys. Once again, I’ll remind you to check out the weekly podcast at 9PM every Tuesday night, with Stefan Fennes, Paolo Della Rocca (Peeze), and yours truly on the flagplusfootball.com website, or the FPF YouTube channel. 

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt that I left something out, feel free to contact me at Brent_Bodkin @yahoo.ca