Peeze’s Playbook (Div D) – Week 2 – FlagPlus Football League

If the months of the year were to sit around a camp fire and tell tales, I would imagine October’s to be the darkest. October sees nothing but death and cold, callous days on the horizon. The month of May, however, I would imagine to be somewhat conflicted. The story it would tell would be kind of hopeful but with a nervousness that one would expect of a anthropomorphized month who is not yet a summer month but is rather associated with warm, humid, rainy days.

May’s story might be of a little girl who finds a unicorn but the unicorn is unable to fly. So really, the unicorn is just a horned horse-like creature (some would even say horny…but I won’t, that’s cheap). May would probably go on to discuss the Unicorn’s deepest feelings of regret that it was neither horse nor Pegasus. In the end the story concludes with three men sitting at a bar and having had enough drinks to move them half past charming and they’ve forgotten how it all relates to horse racing.

It’s week two gentleman; this is where we stand.

Fish Eat Dogs?

As strange as this pseudo-tabloid headline is, this game turned out to be stranger. With Underdog quarterback Chris Olson floating balls left and right to the tune of 5 interceptions and Wheel of Fish putting together a 26-13 lead at halftime, you would figure this would have been over before it started. However, just like the tale of a bearded mythical religious leader turning loaves of bread into fish, this was a tale of two halves.

The first half saw Chris Olson offering gifts to the opposing defenders. Even my arch nemesis, the evil Justin Blanchard, got in on the act, intercepting Olson twice. The second half of the game saw Avi Yayon returning the favor as the most catchable balls that he delivered were to the opposition. In the end, this proved to be a character win for Wheel of Fish as they held on for a 32-31 victory. The Underdogs fall to 1-1 but they have not yet debuted their weapon of mass destruction, as Micahael Malinaric has yet to play a game. Hopefully, we will see him on the field before the Underdogs fall too far behind the pack.

Some Wounds Are only Skin Deep

During the off-season, the Bearskins acquired Aleksander Papich. It turns out that this may have been the best off-season acquisition in Div D. In this week’s game against Ballz Deep, Papich caught 6 passes, 2 of which for touchdowns and he intercepted the ball 3 times to ensure that his presence was felt on defense as well.

Despite all the turnovers, Ballz Deep kept themselves in the game throughout. Vinnie Gualano had his share of snaps this game and he added a rushing TD in this one. Moreover, while the game ended 38-32, it is important to bear in mind that Ballz Deep scored to bring the game closer on the last play of the game. While this game was not as close as one would think, this isn’t cause for panic for Ballz Deep as they continue to make positive strides each week.

Gotham Slips Up

Often when you see a closely contested game that comes down to a convert, one would assume it was a well-played game. One would assume that one team worked hard to win this one. However, the true story in this sloppy affair was that the Gotham Knights worked hard to lose this game. With Bruce Candussi throwing 5 interceptions and another pass falling through the hands of the typically dependable Chris Rivest, Gotham looked to be off their game.

For Black Ice, Ian Einheiber struggled just as mightily as he completed only 7 passes. Despite the fact that it does not appear that way on the score sheet, Black Ice made several changes at quarterback as this game went on. The last drive saw Nyle Anderson lead the team down the field and throw a touchdown pass on 4^th down with less than a handful of plays left. When it was all said and done Black Ice stood alone as the victor of a very ugly game.

Tyrants Conquer Vikings

I had to cover this game because the names of both teams conjured images of an awesome fantasy series full of dragons and battle-axes. George Niktaris found a formula that worked in this game and was allowed to keep going to the well all game long. The formula was Karl Belafi+ Catching the ball = Good. Belafi scored twice and the Tyrants were able to pick up their first win of the season.

The Vikings seem desperate for answers at this point. Turning to Rick Cummins as quarterback was interesting and, while he did move the ball decently, the Vikings only scored 1 offensive TD. The Vikings added a defensive touchdown by Adrian Redmond, and the game ended 19-12 as the Tyrants got by the Vikings.

Power Rankings:

It’s important to note that I have ranked these teams after one week of action so the recaps above are not considered as I carefully select these teams by pulling them out of a very magical witches hat.

Lockdown- Defensively, Lockdown handled a very talented Dean Demetriou. Offensively, Mongeau and Binette helped an already effective unit spread the field. This type of balance has Lockdown leading the pack. Their schedule sets up quite favorably and I see them as one of the few teams that has a chance at going 10-0.
Project Mayhem- Played a tough game and won a close one against a very gritty Playground team. Gritty is just the way Project Mayhem likes it.
Shamrocks- They earned perhaps the biggest win this week. That being said, it was a game that could have gone either way and as such Shamrocks will slum it in third.
Affreux- Les Affreux did take down the Bearskins this week, but it was by a much smaller margin than I thought it would be. Bearskins are a tough team however and as such, Affreux hold their ground in the power rankings.
Ballz Deep- A receiving corps that showcases Vinny Gualano, Treldon James and Anthony Da Silva, what’s not to like?
Jaggerbomb- I am a huge fan of last season’s quarterback Simon Duchesne. However, the addition of Jérémie Gauthier takes Jaggerbomb to another level.
Gotham Knights- Gotham Knights put up huge numbers against the Black Mambas this past week. Hopefully we will continue to see this Bruce Candussi and not the one who struggled at times last season.
Le Zoo- I can’t believe I am putting two tied teams in the power rankings but that should serve to reiterate how incredible that game was. Patrick St-Amand put up huge numbers as a member of the Falcons this past winter; I expect him to be one of the season’s best off-season acquisitions.
Hostile Territory- I have questions about Angelo Garofalo at quarterback. He did lead them to a victory over the Mongoose who I think are one of the front-runners to win the division.
Blue Mountain State- Muscles R’ Us have set up shop and they look ready to play. Despite not being a huge part of the action this week, I expect Jad Aridi to add some quickness to a very steady offence. The comparatively diminutive Aridi will provide Gauthier with a receiver that can work well in space.

Other teams receiving votes (Just my vote of course because the Eagles votes were improperly logged and as such a recall has been put into effect):

Limetime: The brothers Cecere will help Patrick Manning come along as a quarterback and I do think they are a solid team. They beat Wheel of Fish, who despite looking solid, are quarterbacked by Avi Yayon who has limited experience at this position. Let’s see how they do against stiffer competition as the season progresses.
Centurions: Perhaps this is related to my prejudice from last season. This team hurt me in the winter. After having doubted them and then becoming a converted believer, the Centurions broke my heart as they failed to rise to the occasion in tough games. I hope this is not the case this season.
Underdogs: Chris Olson at quarterback, Michael Malinaric at wide receiver; a stunning combination. Malinaric wasn’t there this week and they did not look pretty in his absence.
Longhorns: The Longhorn defense lead the horned gentlemen to victory by picking of George Nicktaris 4 times. They have a much more difficult contest ahead of them as they face the Ghosts.
Ghosts- With the athletes they have on this team, I expect them to be a serious contender in Division D. However, this is a fairly new team and I’d like a larger sample to ensure that the whole is in fact at least as great as the sum of its parts.
X-Men- Having beaten a very solid Speed Demons team, the X-Men look primed for success. They play against a much more physical Park-X Streets team this week, and I’d like to see what they will do against a team with a similar stature.
Mongoose- They lost a game that could have gone either way. What bothers me about Mongoose is not seeing Nuckle’s name on the offensive stat sheet. My grandmother always says ‘If you have big breasts flaunt them!’ Dear Mongoose, Nuckle is your big breasts!
Checkmate: With names like Floreani, Mbaya, David, Morissette and Drouin on the roster, a week one loss is no reason to panic. However, losing a winnable game against an evenly matched Shamrocks team would have proven that Checkmate doesn’t only look good on paper.

Reflections, Rants and Ravings

League President Robert Campana hates being mentioned in our articles. As he isn’t in town and can’t stop me, he will be heavily featured in this segment (if not exclusively).
I wonder if Robert Campana will ever have the hosting venues allow us to use their field timers and scoreboards. I’ve seen them used for soccer and for all intents and purposes, soccer is stupid.
Robert Campana started this league some 8 years ago. I wonder if he ever thought it would have multiple weekly articles, games being live-tweeted or weekly podcasts. Makes me think what could be next…FPF hover-boards?
Referee George Latter wore a camera in his cap to record games to be used as a learning tool for new referees. Great idea, Robert Campana!
Did you guys ever read the Mr. Men series of books? Rumor has it that League President Robert Campana was in fact the model for Mr.Tall (http://blossom.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mr.Tall.jpg)

The Thursday Turnover

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