Creative Freedom, Wasted Time and Air Conditioning Repair

Peeze’s Playbook

Week 2

I have a tremendous amount of respect for league commissioner Robert Campana.  I’ve never worked with anyone so willing to put their brand in the hands of such creative people with virtually absolute trust and freedom.  Rob loves naysayers and believes that having various opinions helps us deliver the best product. 

A testament to that fact is hiring people like myself, Terry Tam, Lance Daniel, and Dan Lazzara (scorekeeper).  These are all people who have had disagreements with him and have been vocal about the league when the league does get things wrong.  However, despite that we have an interesting and engaging product that is always pushing the limits of what is possible for a local recreational league.  

At times I get engaged with the social media controversies.  I feel as though it is my responsibility to do so.  I work here to give opinions and I will do just that.  Those who have been here for a while know that I’ve never backed down from any of these controversies.  Part of me enjoys the banter.  For the most part the debate is healthy and interesting.  Still it makes me truly appreciate the work environment where players can feel free to voice their displeasure, and we, the media can join in on the commentary without having to tote the company line.

X-Men Mutate into Mediocracy

The connection between Guatama Swaminadhan and Suhael Brohi is well established.  This game was no different.  Brohi caught 3 touchdowns and recorded 90 yards receiving in a close game against Los Banditos.  Swaminadhan is a methodical quarterback who doesn’t make a ton of mistakes. That was evidenced by his lack of turnovers in this game and the fact that he has a 8:0 TD to interception ratio this season.  Those who know X-Men well know it takes a tough defense that hides their looks and jumps routes to disrupt their passing attack.

Los Banditos are a newer team and definitely kept it far closer than predicted. However, they were simply unable to close the game out despite leading in the first half.  Despite the familiar names of Jeremie Gauthier (who did have a touchdown in this game), yet it was Vincent Benjamin who turned 3 of his 5 receptions into touchdowns in this game.  After scoring only 12 points in their FPF debut, it does appear that Francis Desrochers has found the target that will allow his offense to best succeed moving forward.

Dans, Tams and Automobiles

The Braves were without quarterback Jonathan Maheu and they had yet to defend against the Joey Taylor experience.  The evidence of this is score was tied at 6 at the half.  For the most part Joey Taylor moved the ball well and kept the ball away from defenders.  GM Kolethras caught 3 passes and two were touchdowns as he seemed to have fit into Joey Taylor’s system perfectly.  On defense, Dans & Tams were unable to take advantage of the errors perpetrated by back-up quarterback Jason Courchesne.  Jasmin Rioux was able to get his hands on 3 passes but would drop 3 interceptions before the end of the day.  Courchesne was in fact intercepted twice (once by GM Kolethras and once by Alex Holowach). 

Jason Courchesne took advantage of being given second life and connected twice for a touchdown with snapper Mike Pierrecin, once with Guillaume Ward and another time with Georges Gariepy.  Mike Pierrecin would not allow this to be the only way he would have an impact on this game as he scored on a pick-six that allowed for the Braves to cover the spread.  The Braves would go on to win this game 34-18 over Dans & Tams.

Not in the Cards

Most, if not all college cafeterias are known for the prevalence of card playing, small stake gambling and all other assorted measures of killing time.  Dawson Caf’s Finest seemed to be as offensively lethargic.  Perhaps one the oldest clichés in football is that if you have 2 quarterbacks it actually means you have none.  This seemed to be the case for Dawson Caf’s Finest.  Ben Delvasto completed just 4 of his ten attempts and while two of them went for touchdowns, 1 was intercepted.  Matt Stellas protected the ball but, the offense seemed to be stagnant with him as the pivot.  Delvasto ran his offense to the pace of 8 yards per play, meanwhile, Matt Stellas saw his team gain only about 3 yards per play when he was behind centre.  The two beneficiaries were Cosimo Spartari and Daniel Tuccinardi who caught the only two touchdowns for Dawson Caf’s Finest.

For Sunday touch Boys Mark Bellini had more struggles than a cocktail of Prosecco and Peach Puree would imply.  Bellini threw three interceptions in his first FPF start and first FPF game.  Damien Jean-Jacques helped break the game open as the former Expendables big play magnet turned his only catch into a 40 yard touchdown and he intercepted a ball on defense to keep his team ahead until the clock turned zeros.  The first half saw nearly as many empty values as the game was scoreless at the half.  In the end, one convert would be the difference as the Sunday Touch Boys.

Greendale’s The Way it Goes

Whether you’re standing in a bookstore line, waiting for the bell to chime so you could go to class or dancing in your underwear, taking air conditioner repair, Greendale is the way it goes.  Just a few short seasons after the abrupt end to the relationship between Joey Taylor and Danny Aylward, Aylward has since become a quarterback and has already taken home a championship. A big part of that championship run was snapper Alex Joltopuf who caught 9 passes for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Greendale Human Being’s 40-26 win over the Ducks.  GHB did allow 26 points in this game but a lot of this has to do with the fast pace that this offense runs at.  They call plays quickly, the ball gets out of his hand sin a heartbeat and that game flow is exhausting for many opponents.

This seemed to wear down the Ducks who’s Zachary Frenkiel threw two interceptions.  Frankiel has had 2 decent starts and connected twice with Aaron Bauer for touchdowns (Yoni Loeub and Robert Greenberg caught the other two touchdowns).  Joseph Hopmeyer had a big game defensively and did what he could against an overpowered opponent.  Yoni Loeub had the only turnover for the Ducks defense but, Hopmeyer was all over the field making tackles and recorded a PD as well.  I think the ducks are stronger then they get credit for but that may only begin to show in the qualifying round.

Monday’s Morning Mistakes

 We are getting nearer and nearer to the next round. If the stats from your game are erroneous please feel free to contact me @PeezeFPF on Twitter or by messaging me @ Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook. Also, feel free to reach out to let me know what you think of my article, the podcast or any other specific part of our media team output.

 For further analysis, tune in to the official FPF Division D podcast “Calling the Audible,” where Simon Dagenais and I discuss why seafoam green is superior to all other shades of green, Oprah’s book club and why Eli Manning can’t take a good picture. Tune in to www.youtube.com/flagplus on Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m. or download the podcast on iTunes or Podomatic!