Safety, A Song No One Remembers and a Battle of Ages

Peeze’s Playbook

Week 3

By Paolo Della Rocca

With road conditions being what they are I am glad to see we had another week of FPF where most players arrived safe and sound. There were a few accidents but I’m happy to hear that none were particularly awful and the health and safety of our membership has been preserved. To those involved in fender benders and the like it’s awful to hear and luckily it wasn’t worse. For those who arrived safely please remember that arriving late is better than not arriving at all.

For those who are legitimately worried about their safety, team forfeits are an option as long as you aware of the associated fees and that you let the league know in advance. The positive behind all this is that spring is merely two months away. So if you make the playoffs your trips to games will be far more pleasant.

This was week 3:

As Cold as Frozone

Zone 6 Ballers have had a rough start to the season. They are now 0-3 (where one game was a forfeit) and Division 6 seems to be as deep with talent as it’s ever been. They faced off against a familiar face in Alessandro Barazzoni who was once a teammate of the Zone 6 Ballers is now the quarterback for Unknown Talent. UT have looked very impressive with Barazzoni at the helm whil the Ballers have struggled but the game did seem to start out well for Z6B. Jeansley Valbonard completed a 36 yard strike to Matthew Valente who scored what was at the time a score that helped them keep pace but it would be the Ballers last trip to the endzone as Valbonard would only complete 5 passes all game.

The Unknown Talent defense is where this team truly shines. Interceptions by Alex “The Other” D’Aquila, Alessandro Barazzoni and Nicholas Groppini helped keep the Unknown Talent onslaught ongoing. Rafaelle Morelli did struggle to contain Jeansley Valbonard as Unkown Talent did surrender many rushing yards in what was simply a crushing of an underdog. Unknown Talent won this game 33-6.

Dawgs Put Down

Shayne Feinberg is one of my favorite new quarterbacks in FPF. He has learned quickly and his development has been impressive. That’s why the game between Dawg Pound and Pension Plan was particularly interesting. This was his test going head to head with a smart and experienced team in FPF. This game did not disappoint. Ryan Castiel scored twice while Alex Finkelstien and Anthony Nocella rounded out the scoring. The game was score for score until Joe Marzilliano intercepted an errant pass and that was the only mistake Pension Plan would need to capitalize and win the game 31-27.

Conversely, Vince Pisano was nearly perfect having thrown more touchdowns than incompletions. His main target Anthony Siggia scored three times while Junior Spera dove to catch another touchdown. Still the strength in this game for Pisano was his ability to attack with his entire arsenal of receivers. Giovanni Giammarella caught a quick out on a key down in the redzone to score and this typified the effort put forth by Pension Plan in this game.

Barracudas Are Down, Down, Down

Chocolate Barracudas are in a tough spot. This isn’t a bad team but the quarterback play is about as bad as anyone could have witnessed in a nightmare. Lusson Pierre has the highest completion percentage of the entire team and that’s only 48.1 and the offense is only averaging 60.3 passing yard per game.

Trailer Park Boys looked the opposite of the Chocolate Barracudas in their week 3 game. Antoine Meunier threw 3 touchdowns despite not throwing for many yards (largely related to constantly having a short field). The Trailer Park Boys are learning about finer parts of the FPF game and are improving steadily. They managed the early lead early and kept the pace on the way to a 23-8 win.

Tigers Feast on Llamas

To be fair it was more a small meal that gave the Fightin’ Tigers indigestion. But you know what they say, a win is indigestion…or something relatively similar. In the absence of Seth Galina former baseball player Emilio Pampena took to slinging the pig skin and played relatively well in relief. He threw three touchdowns including one to his prime target Benoit Dussault.

Olivier Godard of Llamas Pyjamas had a decent night out as well and actually threw no interceptions while Pampena threw a pair. Alex Belanger was the recipient of both an interception and a touchdown pass from Godard in this game. However, the game would come down to converts as Fightin’ Tigers beat Llamas Pyjamas 20-18.

Elite 8

Each week Marc-Andre and I rank the top 8 teams and explain why we put them there. Our elite 8 serves as our power ranking for division 6 and 6D.

Division 6

Dirty Landry (3-0): I had said that Gabe Bardetti would be a huge addition and he’s already scored three touchdowns for the worst named team in the division.
Unknown Talent (2-1): The only thing more evident than Alessandro Barazzoni being the front runner for QB of the year is that Unknown Talent are the “Division Dodgers” of the year.
Average Joe’s (3-0): Beating Vick in the Box was huge but perhaps bigger than that is the play of Anthony Lepore who has intercepted 3 passes so far this season.
Vultures (3-0): Vultures have played a tough schedule and are 3-0. They have won all of their games by less than a score. This means they are battle-tested early this season but winning one score games is not entirely sustainable. They have a tough schedule but they me be the toughest out in that group of teams. It will take more margin of error for them to run the table however.
Warriors (2-0): Their shutout was more so related to the circumstances surrounding this game. Still, Warriors look strong after two games.
Vick in a Box (2-1): Their only loss came by a point. VIB will be at the top of this division by season’s end.
Hot Sauce Sports (2-1): Their only loss has come after allowing a 4^th down TD with three plays left and then a Hail Mary that was de-flagged at the one. They won this week with 4 receivers out of the lineup. That is persistence.
Dawg Pound (2-1): The loss to Pension Plan is concerning as they let Vince Pisano carve them up on defense.

Division 6D

BBallers (2-1): In his last two games Gianni Casati has thrown 9 touchdowns and a single interception. Bballers have arrived; take notice!
Los Siete Amigos (3-0): Circle February 9th on your calendar. It may lead the FPF All-Star Week but, it also is the week that will have Los Siete Smigos facing BBallers in a matchup of the top two teams in the division.
Bud Knights (2-1): The defense is making stops despite not having recorded a single sack and have only 3 interceptions under their belt. If they can force some more turnovers they will be a truly dynamic force.
Les Casses (2-1): They now have a winning record despite still having a negative plus/minus. Still, it feels like Les Casses’ season is starting to turn around.
Brewers (2-1): Jeffery Lefebvre is the division’s passing yardage leader. The man looks good and has the Brewers in prime position to compete.
MACDO (2-1): MACDO’s wins have come against some quality teams. They’re oding so even though the quarterback position is a mess. Etienne Cardinal, Louis-Phillipe Naud and Victor Nolin have all started a game apiece this season. If they figure out the most important position in the game MACDO will be as deadly as special sauce that’s been left in the sun.
DGC (2-1): Despite a concerning loss, DGC going down by a single point doesn’t worry me terribly much.
Real Bros of Simi Valley (2-1): It appears as though Ryan Shapiro and his bros finally heeded my warning. He took the reins and threw 3 touchdowns on route to victory over the Potatoes.

Top 8 – 3e semaine

Division 6

Dirty Landry : Quelle belle machine de football ! Gabriel Bardetti a connu tout un match en défensive !
Vultures : Trois victoires par la marge d’un touché ou moins… cette équipe sait gagner les duels serrés.
Average Joe’s : Une belle victoire face à Vick in a Box démontre qu’il va falloir arrêter de les prendre pour les négliger ! Ça sera l’affrontement de la semaine face à D2 !
Warriors: Wow ! Un différentiel de +/— de +51 après 3 parties. Leur fin de calendrier sera très difficile, à vous de jouer !
Pension Plan : Après un lent début, victoire décisive face à Scranton Stranglers et Dawg Pound ! Ils sont de retour en forme !
Unknown Talent : Alessandro Barazzoni et sa bande sont en feu ! Qui pourra arrêter leur progression vers le sommet ???
Dawg Pound : Un autre affrontement difficile cette semaine. On reprend la route de la victoire les boys !
n.W.o. : Petite baisse de régime cette semaine. Hot sauce Sports sera un autre grand défi pour vous.

Division 6D

Los Siete Amigos : Le duo Alexandre Fafard et Étienne Brisson forme le meilleur duo à l’attaque en ce début de saison !
BBallers : Quatre touchés suite à des interceptions cette semaine, fabuleux !
Bud Knights : Il parlait des personnes qui mériteraient d’aller aux Hall of Fame cette semaine dans le podcast, j’espère qu’ils auront une pensée pour Brad Evans !
Macdo : Lorsque les pièces du puzzle sont bien alignées, ils peuvent battre n’importe qui !
Brewers : Le succès ne pourrait pas arriver à de meilleures personnes ! Les « gentleman » auront tout un test cette semaine et pourront démontrer tout leur sérieux pour le titre.
DGC : Un match haut en couleur face à Macdo ! Ils vont être à prendre au sérieux malgré la défaite !
Trailer Park Boys : Les Frères Meuniers ont un début de carrière en FPF fort impressionnant !
Fightin’ Tigers : Belle victoire cette semaine face à un adversaire de taille. Cette équipe peut espérer gagner 7 ou 8 victoires, rien de moins !

Sunday’s Swampy Seconds

Just a reminder that players need to play 5 games to be eligible for the playoffs. It may seem early for a warning but I promise you that the playoffs are around the corner.

For further analysis, tune in to the official FPF podcast Calling the Audible, where Moe Khan Simon Dagenais and I work to annoy each other as we discuss the worst nicknames or serial killers, the countries most interesting reservoirs and the sickest roller derby uniforms.

Tune in to Facebook live on the FPF Facebook page on Thursday nights at 7:00pm, watch it later on www.youtube.com/flagplus or download the podcast on iTunes or Podomatic!

Thank you all, falettinme be mice elf agin.