Cannabis Culture, At Least one Sophomoric Joke and The Grateful Dead
Paolo Della Rocca
17-07-2022 04:37 PM
I don’t get the Grateful Dead. I’ve noticed the Dead have recently had a rebirth. This is partially due to the cycle of old becoming new once more. I also think that much like the sports journalists kept Bruce Springsteen relevant (another artist I never understood), the now maturing sports journalist who either grew up in the acid dust of the 70’s or in the shadow of it are now the “old guard”in the industry and I’ve heard/read more references to “The Dead” in recent years. Sure, John Mayer and Dead and Company have also helped but it does seem to be more of a cultural phenomenon than one that’s simply musical.
In general, those who know me well assume I’m a Dead Head. I have all the elements. I’m crative, I’m a musician, I even played for a couple of jam band/experimental type of acts when I was earning a modest living as a working guitar player. Most of all, I LOVE weed.
In early incarnations of this article I would hint at my altered state of mind when writing. Times were a little more repressive and I was new to the FPF media team and simply didn’t know if my counterculture view would be accepted. Interestingly, the community seemed to embrace the spirit of experimentation and the combination of humor, flag football analysis and a tip of the cap to what was, at the time, still a deviant lifestyle.
I actually owe a lot to sweet leaf. I had stopped consuming in my 20s as I dated a girl who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. We learned quickly that marijuana conflicted greatly with her medication and as she quit, I did so in solidarity. Years later I was taking far too much medication to help me deal with a variety of pains that stemmed from prior injuries and to help treat my insomnia.
It was at this point, prior to legalization (but post-decriminalization) where I spoke to my doctor and asked if I should consider consuming cannabis. His answer was succinct. He said, “Look, I’m old and I don’t know much about it. However, all of the stuff your taking is pounding your liver. If you smoke pot, you may just get a little hungry.” However, the hunger never really did come.
By 2017, I ballooned up to 265 lbs and the late night drinking, partying, snacking and working in a cooking school took it’s toll. I started smoking late at night so as to avoid having a drink or two to unwind at the end of my day. As it turns out, weed had far less calories than whiskey or beer (homemade or otherwise). So I traded suds for seeds and realized that as I was focused on getting healthier the “munchies” of youth would simply not come. Instead, it was understood, this was to help me relax, to help with my anxiety and welcome a decent night’s sleep.
I’ve written about my anxiety in these articles as well. Now while cannabis has been linked to paranoia, the mindset once again, was focused on health. Rather than paranoia, the questioning proved healthy as rather than distract myself with mundane tasks of the next day it allowed me to confront the parts of myself that created inherent doubt. It’s n exercise that I still find very helpful up to this day. A moment of self doubt, followed by a methodical challenge and then cascading into a world of incredible thoughts has worked miracles for my once tortured psyche.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s for everyone or suggesting anyone to try this. I’m simply sharing what’s worked for me and trying to share to anyone who may still feel persecuted as counterculture even while it’s legal and taxed by our government.
Yeah, so, I just don’t get the Grateful Dead.
Musings, Ramblings, Lies and Other Assortments
- .Glory Boys have now lost 4 straight after starting the season 6-0. Still, the weirdest part about their season is they’ve now played 10 games and they completed their season week 6.
- Save the Turftles Sebastien Noel has been solid but the 16 ints are eye popping. The team has been successful nonetheless.
- My brother got caned today by an elderly man in the grocery store. I thought I’d live my whole life without saying that.
- VTown has allowed 134 points over the last 3 games. Somehow, they were able to win one of those games. That’s a steal!
- It’s been cool to see Alex Blais rushing for All-Stars in div 1. He’ll be taking my place and writing this article while I’m in Barcelona/Cannes/various parts of Italy/wherever we wander off to.
- Sara Parker got some reps in for Dirty Dawgs this week. It didn’t go well but I feel as though her system isn’t one where you can just pop anyone in and expect them to succeed.
- Man, the F2000 is a marvel.
- I think Centaures was the one game L8 had a chance to win. I don’t think they’ll get it done.
- Dan Lazarra’s been throwing in too many weekend tournaments. If your watching Tam Vilaydeth throw in your stead because you’re too sore…it’s too much!
- It doesn’t look like Alex Latkovski is the answer at the pivot for Selwyn Old Boys. His 37.9 completion percentage is anemic.
- Incredible thought. If our hands were actually made of glue then I wouldn’t have to rewind these paper towels back onto the roll. Why was that so difficult.
- Big Dracos put up 6.9 yards per play this week. Nice!
- I was shocked to learn that there are Only Fans pimp agencies. I’m clearly not industrious enough.
- Mad Dogs are allowing offences to complete only 42.9% of 4th down attempts on them. They’re converting 53.3% of their 4th down attempts. Those are in fact numbers.
- Wide Open Bar completely controlled the game against Glory Boys. I didn’t see that coming but Jean Lussier and co. are getting better at the right time of the season.
- The Montreal Canadiens have traded every first round pick from 2006-2018. Congrats folks, we’re the Knicks.
- Since June 21st Cite des Jetons have only wone a single game. I’m having a hard time knowing what to make of Jules Regimbald and friends.
Memories, Hallucinations and Observations
Formerly Known as Swoosh
Kiss My Vulture took the field with a lot of missing artillery. James Drysdale, Alexi Dubois and Steven Besner all missed this game and it clearly affected this divisional frontrunner. Honestly, I was very impressed with Ignacio Valdes-Manzenedo. He was missing a lot of weapons and while would take a 46-32 loss, he did put up 5 touchdowns (to bring his season total to 32). David DeAndrade was the greatest benefactor as he scored a hat-trick of touchdowns in this game.
The issue for KMV was clearly on defense. They allowed a touchdown once every 4.6 plays. The defense also had no answer for Fabrice Robiallard as he caught all seven of his targets for 73 yards and two touchdowns. This was the best game Alex Papineau has played at QB. He completed 77.8% of his passes and posted a QBR of 122.1. Clearly the defense of Kiss My Vulture is not the team’s strength in general and they are an offensive powerhouse. That said, with some key pieces missing they handed a win to an impressively athletic group in Former All-Stars.
Here Comes Timbo
Every time…Every damn time! I keep questioning them; I keep saying their shuffling of QBs will catch up with them. Every time I do they make me look stupid. The U family tree does this to me all the time. I wasn’t going to take the bait. Yet, there I was, writing the midseason report, grumpy af and even more exhausted. I gave in and said “This time around it appears to have caught up with them. “ As tepid as this criticism was it was enough for me to be caught with my pants down.
I was sure that there was absolutely no way Team Timbo would be able to get beyond the impressive 4th & Shlong. The game seemingly hinged on a bizarrely early turning point. While the teams started exchanging scores early, Matthew Caparelli saw Tim Horner knock away a first down pass and on the very next play, Kyle Pedvis would step infront of a pass and that interception would set up a two play drive that was capped by a 4 yard Joe Kano touchdown catch.
For the rest of the game Caparelli seemed fine but just not quite as sharp as he started this one. Everything seemed a little more labored than usual and 4th & Shlong never could close the gap. Nick Madiemenos would add a score to Nicholas Henry’s three but it simply wouldn’t be enough as 4th & Shlong would take a 37-32 loss to Team Timbo.
Declarations of Bravado
The amount of teams who’ve played wildly different amount of games actually makes this process fun. It also makes it so much more time consuming to analyze and write.
- Killer Rays (7-1): They haven’t played a game since I came out with my midseason report. They were 1 then; they’re 1 now.
- Peerless Scarred (6-1): Danny D’Amour’s int and 2 touchdown catches pushed PS beyond Mad Dogs in what I expected to be a tough game for them.
- 4th & Shlong (6-1): Nicholas Henry is now at 15 touchdown catches and 4th&S is rolling.
- Kiss My Vulture (6-2): It was hard not to overreact because KMV did take a loss but did so without several players. That said, other teams were just more impressive this week.
- Threat Level Midnight (4-2): I’m legitimately shocked that Threat Level Midnight but they beat Bandits and Replacements on the same night last week. Shoutout to JD Joly who hauled in 4 touchdowns in a single night.
- Bandits (5-2-1): The loss to Threat Level Midnight is surprising but generally, Bandits have played well and can still beat anyone in the division.
- Trapstars (5-3): They intercepted Malakai Roach 4 times en route to dismantling Ghosts. This team is so devastating with a lead.
- Primetime (5-2): I wanted to place them higher but I can’t shale the feeling that Lockdown let them off the hook this week. Carter Condon made an interception in the second half but it was on a post where Buck Aneer did not rea the backside and led the route too far onto that side of the field. They won, but if their being real, they know they got away with one.
- The Mighty 6 (3-3-2): Benjamin Reid has protected the ball and it’s been enough to pretty much keep The Mighty 6 competitive in nearly every game.
- Dirty Dawgs (5-2): I know they absolutely crushed VTown but this came shortly after just looking off against The Mighty 6. The inconsistency is bothersome.
Visions of the World of Tomorrow
These are picks. If I picked you, I think you’ll win. If I didn’t pick you it’s probably something personal.
These are my picks for the week. I didn’t make picks on Calling the Audible this week because I wasn’t on the show. Well I started the show but left as soon as I could file expenses for the week. So these are as official as it gets. My picks are in bold because fortune favors the bold.
Saturday’s Steaming Sandwich
For those who have any thoughts, commentary or complaints, I am very easy to find. I’m @peezehss on twitter, @pdellarocca and Peeze Della Reeze on facebook. You can also take a chance by emailing me at [email protected] but I don’t check it because it’s a death trap of junk emails all trying to sell me conical rolling machines and private boat tours of the Amalfi region. I really need to use incognito mode.
Folks, if your team is struggling, Eagle, Moe, (any of the media guys really), and I love talking flag. Let us know how we can help, let us know if you have any questions. Hey, even if you have some incredible thoughts, I’m always down for an ethereal descent into introspection.
Remember that each week you can join the party on our Facebook page or at www.youtube.com/flagplus on our weekly podcast: Calling the Audible. The show is released every Friday morning.
Till next week, I want to thank you falettineme be mice elf agin!