Weekly Extra Point (Div A & B) – Week 3

The first third of the season has come and gone, and it seems like my patience for long introductory paragraphs has disappeared with it. So without further ado, here are a few random thoughts about the top 2 divisions for your enjoyment:

Parity is the key word in DA. All 4 teams are 2-1. All 4 teams faced, and defeated, their DB opponents last week. And most interestingly, as Alex D’Aquila pointed out on facebook last week, we have seen the Mercenaries beat the Snookers, who beat the Rainmakers, who beat DA Finest, who beat the Mercenaries. Which means common opponents doesn’t separate one team from the rest of the pack either. Truly a crazy situation.

The pre-season story had DA Finest and the Mercenaries as the probable finalists, with the Rainmakers trying (and failing) to play spoilers and the Snookers fighting valiantly but finding themselves out of their depth. Instead of becoming prophetic, in the first 3 weeks of the season, every single bit of that story has turned out to be fictional.

DA Finest were the pre-season favorites, but they have underwhelmed over the last two weeks. The Mercenaries, widely expected to be the team facing them in the Finals, haven’t fared much better. Both struggled against their DB opponents in Week 2, narrowly escaping defeat by 1 point, and both teams have seemed to be in cruise control at times this season, almost expecting good things to happen instead of making them happen. This is of course a natural outcome of being considered the top dogs in DA, but if they don’t start playing sharper football, they might regret it by season’s end.

Meanwhile, the Rainmakers and Snookers, by playing as well as they have, are the surprise of DA. Neither team has backed down against tougher opponents (the Snookers losing by 2 to the Mercenaries and the Rainmakers beating DA Finest), and both have succeeded in the one domain the big 2 have struggled with this season: consistency. Their intensity level has rarely dipped during the first 3 games, and there’s a good reason for that. Their margin of error is much smaller.

The Rainmakers come out and give an honest effort season after season, but they’ve never had the success of the other teams in D1/DA. With players unknown to most of the FPF community, the Snookers aren’t a team that scares anyone, on paper. But both teams know that if they don’t play 100 %, balls-to-the-wall football, they don’t have a chance of beating the big 2.

If these trends maintain themselves, we’re in for one hell of a DA season.

Things have been much more predictable in DB, with the exception of one team that refuses to follow pre-season prognostications: the Messengers of Happiness. In the pre-season power rankings, they were 8th out of 9 teams. With the talent they had on hand, we knew they had a chance at competing, but nobody expected this. They’re the only undefeated team in DB, they’re leading the division in points scored and are 2nd in points allowed. And all that seems impressive until you realize that the combined record of their opponents so far is 2-7.

I’m not saying that means you should write them off as undeserving of praise; they still won the games. But let’s see what they can do against some stiffer competition before we coronate them. For more on the Messengers of Happiness, check out this week’s ”Catching up with…”.

Excuses, excuses, excuses…

No huge preamble here; this is the second part of my non-award-winning exposé on the lamentable situation of DA, where we have only 4 teams duking it out for the spring championship.

”The higher divisions aren’t as fun.”

I hate this excuse because it’s so vague. What exactly does fun mean?

Winning is fun. It’s harder to win in a higher division, so I guess it’s less fun in that way. On the other hand, for many teams, challenging yourself against the best opponents is the only way to truly experience the best of what FPF has to offer. Look at the Express. After winning the W08 D2 championship, they moved up to D1 and took their lumps. They improved their roster where they had to, they learned from playing better opponents and then, in W10, they won that championship too. Want more examples?

The Rainmakers’ inaugural season was in W08, when they lost in the semi-finals to their McGill brethren, the Red Army. Since then, they have played in the top division every season. In that span of 8 seasons, they made the Finals once (S08), losing against the Kings. They have since gone 7 seasons without making the Finals, and they’ve never again reached the top contender status teams like Montreal’s Finest and the Mercenaries have enjoyed. Despite that, they have never even considered moving back down to D2. They want to win ”the big one”, and when they do, it will be that much sweeter because they will have earned it.

This season, the Snookers moved up to DA, despite having a roster that is, on paper at least, weaker than some of the top DB teams. They know that the odds are against them winning a championship this season, but they have enough pride to give themselves the opportunity to compete against the best FPF has to offer. And yes, I’m aware that there is a rule that forced them to move up, but that core of players has shown in the past that they are always willing to play at the highest level (as they did with the Wolverines in D1) and I have no doubt they would have been playing in DA whether that rule existed or not.

All that being said, I do have to concede that there are some ways in which playing in the lower divisions can be a more enjoyable experience.

First, not everyone has friends who are talented or have good football IQs. A lot of us just want to play on a sports team with a group of our buddies. This is harder to do at a higher level, because some of them will just not be able to compete with better players. With all due respect to teams that have succeeded with rosters made up of free agents, we all know that there is no substitute for winning with friends. It’s a feeling of accomplishment that is second to none in team sports. Moving up to a higher division might force changes to the roster, which could mean reduced playing time or outright cuts for some friends.

The second aspect of the ”fun” argument is the difference in the very nature of the divisions. The higher divisions, populated by football players who have many accomplishments (in tackle, touch or flag football), are generally more serious affairs. There are rivalries between teams that face each other often, but they are usually respectful. In addition, as I’ve learned over the last few weeks, there is generally less interest in the media hype in the higher divisions. The lower divisions are a different ballgame altogether. We often see legitimate rivalries that are hyped by the members of the teams, the media or both. The impact of the media is different as well, as more players contribute and interact (not criticizing, just stating a fact here). More people show up to watch the games, which helps improve the atmosphere. Whether this necessarily contributes to a richer experience is dependent on the player. To each their own.

The fact remains that, for many teams, the ”fun factor” is an important one when deciding whether to move up or not. It must be considered when trying to find a solution to the situation FPF found itself in with DA this season.

Catching up with…

The FPF media machine is great for a lot of things, but one area in which I have to admit it can improve significantly is its lack of depth. What I mean by that is our tendency to skim the surface of a story instead of probing deeper and finding more interesting information. Doing this requires effort, attention to detail and, most critically, cooperation from the teams/players. None of that is necessarily easy to achieve on a regular basis.

Since I stopped appearing on the WEPL, my role in FPF was shifted from observing individual teams towards looking at the bigger picture. Due to this change in focus, I’ve had to rely on sometimes-shallow analysis and oft-repeated catchphrases to keep up with several of the teams I now find myself covering. And while that type of information can be useful in certain situations, I find that it generally paints a somewhat inaccurate portrait of a team.

As a result, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Every week, in this segment, I will delve into the dynamics of 2 teams, with the help of one of their key players. The goal here is to provide a fuller picture of the team I’m writing about, while avoiding the clichés we’ve all become too accustomed to hearing/reading on a regular basis. So join me, as I catch up with…

Snookers

Key losses: Michel-Ange Pierrecin

Pierrecin was a prototypical Snooker/Wolverine. He was talented, he was confident, he did his job and he did it damn well. Not an irreplaceable part, but one of those guys you could rely on for steady and consistent play throughout the season.

Key additions: Andre John

Andre John is the rarest type of player, a top-flight talent with a role player’s attitude. He is the most athletically gifted player on the squad, but he buys in to the team concept like anybody else on the Snookers. He has DA talent, but the question mark on him is his motivation. If he can be consistent, he will be THE difference-maker on this team.

Secret weapons: Eric Kavaldjian

Kavaldjian is coming off his best offensive season in W12, and he looks like he’s ready for more. He’s a versatile athlete, one of those annoying guys who is good at any sport he plays. According to Tony Tabet, he’s one of the best route-runners on the team, and his quickness cannot be denied. A few times this season, he’s caught the ball in space and made some defenders look foolish. He wasn’t expected to get too many reps on offence, but he’s certainly earned a longer look.

X-Factors: Michael Young

The man they call Repus (the word “super” spelled backwards, for the uninitiated) will be the key player on defence for the Snookers this season. He will be relied upon to lock down the opposing team’s best players, and he has done that consistently well in the past. That being said, this will be the first time he will be facing DA-caliber receivers, and you have to wonder if there will be an adjustment period. As Young goes, so will the Snookers defence.

HOFers: Tony Tabet

When you look up the word clutch in the FPF dictionary, you will see a picture of Carmine Pollice. But if you look it up in the Armenian version of the FPF dictionary, you will undoubtedly see a picture of Tabet, who was part of FPF’s 2012 Hall of Fame class. A 2-time Playoff MVP, through sheer will and determination, he has turned himself into a solid FPF quarterback. He does not run the most orthodox offence, but he always seems to keep the ball moving, and that’s all that matters in the end. His experience and leadership will be an asset to some of the younger members of the Snookers following their move to DA, which has proven to be a tricky transition for many players in the past.

Future HOFers: none

Andre John has the talent to get there one day, but he’s still going to have to put together a few more dominant seasons to even get considered.

Controversy: Audible system

Most teams have a set of code words or phrases they can use to audible or hot route before a play. The Snookers have an entire language at their disposal, as 7 out of the 10 players on the roster are Armenian. This has been a tremendous advantage for the Snookers in the past and, unless teams start signing designated Armenians to their roster to decipher the audibles, I see no reason for them to stop using it.

What they will need to do to be successful:

With the veteran leadership of Tabet and Moumdjian guiding the big-play ability of John, Young and Kavaldjian, I believe the defence has what it takes to compete in DA. The pressure will be on Tabet and his offensive unit to keep up with some of the potent offences the Snookers will be facing on a weekly basis. DA defences can be quite physical, and it will be up to players like Sevag Kaloussian and Raffi Bastadjian to continue to make difficult catches in tight coverage, which is something they excelled at in lower divisions. Raffi Kozanian had a revelatory season in S11, putting up the best offensive numbers in his career. He will need to use his speed to stretch the defences and make the big plays when counted upon. Shane Paquette has a great rapport with his QB, and few have played snapper as consistently or as well as he has. Throw in a few big plays from the Kavaldjian brothers and Andre John, and you might have an interesting offensive unit. But if any of the aforementioned players struggles to produce, or if Tabet regresses as a QB, this will be a long season for the Snookers.

Messengers of Happiness

Key players: Rochdi Benabdelkader, Nareg Yessayan

No surprise here, these are the two most decorated players on the roster. Both have won multiple awards, in the regular season and the playoffs. Both have won multiple championships and both hide a burning, oftentimes obsessive, desire to win behind a relatively congenial exterior.

In his 3 prior stints at QB, Rochdi has been good (DK in W10), bad (FTMP in S10) and excellent (DK in W11). So far, it seems like we’re getting excellent Rochdi (leads DB in passer rating with 118.6).

Nareg Yessayan was expected to be an impact player, and in the first two games of the season, he certainly was (3 TDs and 3 INTs). His 3rd game was pretty mediocre, but I’m sure we can expect him to be a big piece of the puzzle throughout the season. His receiving credentials have never been in doubt, but the area in his game where we might really see an improvement is his defence. Under Rochdi’s tutelage, he might become as dangerous on defence as he is on offence. It should be noted that one of the main reasons Nareg joined this team was to be able to play with Rochdi, so you know he’s motivated to make this work.

Secret weapons: Kenton Lowe

Lowe is about as steady a player as you’ll find in FPF. You know exactly what you’ll get from him: 20-30 catches, 300-400 yds, 7-10 TDs. But what makes him the Messengers’ secret weapon is the sheer physicality of his play. He is tough and physical, and very good at getting yards in tough situations. On multiple occasions throughout this season, he’s been the guy getting the last TD to win the game or seal the victory.

X-Factors: Enrico Pierre

What makes Pierre an X-Factor is that we truly don’t know what to expect from him. The last time he played a significant role in FPF was in W07, when he won the WR of the Year award in D1 with the Machine. Needless to say, the league has changed a lot since then. Having been a part of this league since 2006, I can attest to the fact that the competition now is significantly stiffer than it used to be. If he can produce at a similar level, this offence will be very hard to stop.

HOFers: Rochdi Benabdelkader

I think we’ve mentioned the master of the spin move enough times for one article, don’t you?

Future HOFers: Nareg Yessayan, Matt Kirouac

Consistent excellence at the receiver position and clutch play during 3 championship runs (1 of which he won MVP for) make Yessayan an obvious HOF candidate. Kirouac is considered by many to be one of the best rushers in FPF. For my money, he IS the best. While he does have considerable quickness, he also understands that a big portion of being a good rusher is the mental game: taking correct angles to the QB, adjusting to the his movements and positioning himself for maximum disruption to the play (within the rules, of course). He just has a way of getting under a QB’s skin, which is basically what you want a rusher to do anyways. He’ll get in soon enough.

Controversy:

Beyond them calling themselves the Messengers of Happiness when only Rochdi was on the prior iteration of the team, there isn’t much. Apparently Rochdi and G.M. Kolethras couldn’t come up with a new name ridiculous enough to satistfy them, so they went with an old one instead.

What they will need to do to be successful:

The Messengers of Happiness are a solid group, built intelligently. You have a good mix of stars and role-players. There’s a lot of experience and veteran leadership involved, which means they should be able to weather the storms of the regular season. The emphasis on this team was put on chemistry, which is important, but a little more depth and talent would help them compete with the top teams in DB. For now they have succeeded in getting themselves into the playoff picture. Where they go from there will depend on how much their role players can step up, and how well their team as a whole can rebound from whatever difficulties they may encounter during the season. Nigel Thomas, François Deslauriers and Jeff Brown are reliable players, but for the Messengers to contend, they will need these guys to make big plays when called upon.

I’ve decided to put Sideline Reporter on hold for a bit. It will return at some point, but for now…

That’s it for this week.

Special thanks to:

Tony Tabet, for the information about the Snookers.
G.M. Kolethras, for the information about the Messengers of Happiness.
aaaaaand last but not least, the Daron Basmadjian Fan Club, for your impeccable taste in team names. Good luck in the Game of the Week.

Think I’m wrong? Think I suck? Think I’m great? Think anything? Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know how you feel. Whether it be interesting topics for the column, game facts I may have missed in my coverage or just some good old-fashioned hate mail, I welcome any and all comments.

Good luck in Week 4…