Carmine’s Coffin Corner – Monster Jim picks the victory over 1st place O.A.S. to lock up 2nd place in Tier 1

Carmine’s Coffin Corner

35+ Week 9 review and jumbled thoughts

After spending 12 days touring Southern Florida and the Western Caribbean, coming back to Montreal weather was no fun! Landing in Toronto late on Monday to a wind that was bitter cold made me wish for the sun & warmth that I had left. The only advantage to coming home was escaping the brutal USD exchange rate and a return to Thursday Night Football!

What did we learn from Week 9?

– After taking much criticism from me throughout the season and having me making fun of them for game day recruiting, the Pacemakers somehow finished atop Tier 2 and get the first-round bye. Awesome job guys.
– Contrary to popular belief, offence is what wins games in FPF. The GOXM finished with the 3rd best defence this season, in terms of Points Against, and failed to win a single game.
– Kevin “K-Dub” continues to show what a bargain he is, from a ratings perspective, with an absolutely crazy “Pick-6” off of Cory Pecker. WOW does not begin to explain it.

What did we NOT learn from Week 5?

– While I will never accuse a team of playing at less than 100% intensity, OAS looked a little off on Thursday. Having clinched the first-place spot already there was little exterior motivation for them, but they now enter the playoffs on a 2-game skid.
– Did I jinx myself? I have said all season long that the Oldpack would be a different team with everyone there. Guess what? Everyone showed up and they took it to the Spitfire with Pascal Murray playing absolutely lights out football from the QB Spot.

Random Thoughts

– While he is not playing in 35+ this season, Rick Nincheri put on a clinic in D2 last Wednesday. He has not lost it.
– On the field next door, 35+ QB Jeff Rosenblatt was also having a great game in the GOTW. Watch the film…a sick one hand catch by Jeremy Anderson is crazy to watch.
– JMJ is the only 35+ team to finish with a perfect regular season. Hats off. It takes consistent play and the occasional lucky bounce to achieve this.
– Neil Etinson (D3 Bearskins) had quite the night this week with 7 TDs and 268 yards on only 18 completions. Evidently the 5-yard hook does not figure into his playbook…
– Facebook continues to be inundated with teams looking for spares. This is what happens when you run with a small roster. Week in and week out the messages appear. Today had the greatest message ever as a team was looking for FOUR (4) subs!!!

Week in Review

Paramount beat the Relics 32-30

With the loss the Relics needed help from the GOXM to hold onto first place. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and the Relics went winless in their last 3 games to slide out of the top spot. Now the question becomes “Can the right the good ship Lollipop” in time? Jeff Rosenblatt continues to rely on Yoni Lehrer, who finished 5-72-3 TDs but really needs to become less one-dimensional. Perhaps he has found some help as the Ageless Wonder, Imerio Amatucci, stepped up to the tune of 7-67-1 TD. It would not be enough on the night as Paramount finally righted their own proverbial ship and brought an end to a 5-game losing streak. Eugene McLaren was an efficient 10-17 on the night as his defence gave him a few short fields to work with. “Ringer” Derek Soles led the way with 3-59-1 TD numbers on offence. Chris Rosen stepped up huge with 2 big INTS moving him into Defensive POTY territory.

Pacemakers over the GOXM 25-20

And the comeback is complete. The Pacemakers had what could only be described as a frustrating season. Playing through a VERY short roster, facing some stupid scheduling/roster opponents, they never stopped playing and have clinched the Tier and secured a trip to the finals. Awesome job guys. Jason Rossie took this game over. 4 passing TDs, 33 rushing yards, and 2 INTS on defensive and you have a captain leading the way for his team. As for the GOXM, they need to find a way to score more points. As I mentioned earlier, they have a very respectable defence. However, the offence really did not hold up their side of the bargain this season. The NEW season begins next Thursday against the Relics.

Monster Jim defeat OAS 37-19

I was really looking forward to watching this game. 10 minutes in and the excitement had faded as MJ were in complete control. It has been said many times, but it bears repeating: if you cannot keep Any Peterkin in the pocket you will lose the game. PERIOD. Andy has a strong enough arm to beat most teams regardless, but when he becomes the dual threat that he can be…watch out. Too much for the defence to have to respect when he can buy time or roll, and cause match up nightmares. Crazy play and Andy evade the rush for a good 10 seconds and then, from his back foot, fire a rope into the back corner to Marco Ottoni. Crazy to watch. I wrote it earlier, but KW had the play of the night with his pick 6. People forget just how high of a ladder he can climb to get the ball. Cory Pecker learned that last Thursday. He then found himself as the only person between KW and the end zone. While Cory is great athlete in his own right there was no doubt in the building that KW would score. Kevin Wyeth and Jason Prince continued their strong seasons for OAS, but it was not enough on this night

Oldpack over the Spitfire43-39

A nice old-fashioned barn burner to close out the regular season. A 2-week break had some rust on display early on for the Spitfire and the Oldpack made them pay. Pascal Murray played lights out going 19-25-7 TDs. Alain Rousseau and Patrice Bernard combined for 5 of those TDs to pace the offence. Not to be outdone, the Spitfire also rolled to 269 yards on the night but got stopped twice inside of the 5 in the first half. Don Shepherd with his best game of his 35+ Division career as he finished 11-134-3 TDs.

A quick reminder of what the playoff schedule looks like, all games this Thursday March 31st

Away	Home	Time	Location
FlagPlus	JMJ	19h00	Kirkland Dome
Paramount	Polvige	20h00	Kirkland Dome
Grumpy Old X-Men	Relics	21h00	Kirkland Dome
Oldpack	O.A.S.	22h00	Kirkland Dome
Spitfire	Monster Jim	23h00	Kirkland Dome
Byes – No Game		Pacemakers

I have absolutely no vote but if I did, here would be my All-Star Team.

QB – Pascal Murray

QB – Stephen Harripersaud

REC – Yoni Lehrer

REC – Andrew Carruthers

DB – Joel Shahrabari

DB – Jeff Brown

Flex – Jason Prince

Rusher – Kevin Kousaie

I never thought that I would choose and All-Star team and not include Rob “I can do everything” Allen somewhere, but the stats did not justify it. FPF only allows you to be selected in 1 division. I left myself off of this list as a result.

Carmine’s Players of the Year

Again, I have NO VOTE with regards to this. Still fun to stir the pot. Here are my top three choices at each trophy

2 Way Player of the Year

Jason Prince – OAS

Rob Allen – JMJ

Chris Rosen – Paramount

DB of the Year

Joel Shahrabari – Relics

Chris Rosen – Paramount

Jason Prince – OAS

QB of the Year

Carmine Pollice – Spitfire

Pascal Murray – Oldpack

Stephen Harripersaud – JMJ

Receiver of the year

Yoni Lehrer – Relics

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s take a look at the week ahead.

JMJ host FPF

JMJ swept the season series. As has been said on multiple occasions, one of the hardest things to do in football is beat a team 3 times. That is what JMJ must do in order to avoid “wasting” their perfect regular season. Stephen Harripersaud had a phenomenal regular season and must continue his consistent play. I am really expecting Rob “I can do everything” Allen to explode in this game. Kevin Kousaie has been the top RUSHER in FPF all year long and must keep whichever Johnson brother lines up at QB from buying time. FPF will need a big game from the QB spot as well as more involvement from Tim O’Hara than we have seen in recent weeks. I am staying on the JMJ bandwagon for another week.

Polvige host Paramount

The season series was split between the two teams. Paramount won the first game big as Jon Moodie was busy distracting his own receivers with those oh-so fashionable yellow gloves. Game 2 was a different story as Polvige was led by Angelo Kalaidopoulos (who played enough games to qualify) which may set up a QB controversy. Eugen McLaren seems to have corrected what was bothering him, Dave Allen finished with 2 TDs in their last game so hopefully he is all the way back from injury. Paramount for the upset

Relics vs. the GOXM

This should be the tightest match up of the evening, if we use the regular season as a guide. The two games were decided by 1 point…COMBINED. The Relics took the first game 26-25 and then a 26-26 tie followed. Extra Points will be the KEY to this victory. For the Relics they need someone to help take the pressure off of Yoni. For the GOXM…STOP YONI because no one else has done anything this season. The GOXM are also going to have to find a rusher who can disrupt Jeff Rosenblatt. Much more agile than he looks he also has such size that most rushers do not interfere with his field of vision or throwing motion (I got SO jealous just writing that phrase…Oldpack RUSHERS knocked down 4 of my passes last week!!!!). While I would love to pick the upset in this one I have to stay with the Relics to win.

OAS vs the Oldpack

This one will depend on the Oldpack roster. Last week was a wash for OAS and I have no doubt that it has already been put behind them. Jason Prince and Kevin Wyeth have owned the right side of the field all season and will need big games should the Oldpack have their full roster as they will match up against JM Alerte and Hugo Dupuy who know what they are doing. Alex Cavanaugh will ensure that Cory Pecker does not have all day in the pocket, but Cory has not needed much time this season. If the Oldpack have a full roster, then I am going for the upset as I like the defensive match ups. If any of the BIG 4 are missing then OAS will walk away with this one, as they did in both regular season match ups.

Monster Jim vs the Spitfire

The oldest rivalry in non-contact football continues this Thursday evening. Of course, the way these two teams have played each other through the years you may wish to lighten up on the “non-contact” description. Monster Jim comes in on a high note as they were the only team to truly beat OAS this season (the 30-0 default loss does not really count in my eyes although the roster that OAS used was not cool). The Spitfire lost a barnburner last Thursday, but the offence moved the ball up and down the field in spite of drops and mental errors. This might come down to who has the ball last. Both offences have spread the ball crazily all year. MJ with 6 players in double digits for receptions and 12 players with receiving TDs. Not to be outdone, the Spitfire have 7 receivers in double digits and 9 have found the end zone. The key match up will be the Spitfire RUSH (welcome back Andrew Adams) vs. Andy Peterkin. Either way this should be a fun game to watch. The teams tied the opener and the Spitfire took game 2 40-30.

Enjoy the games this week. Catch you in the PUB after the action.