Discipline, Literature and The Other Team

Peeze’s Playbook

Week 9

by Paolo Della Rocca

My girlfriend and I have decided to start reading more. When I used to use public transit I would read over 100 books a year and have developed quite the library. Now that we have lived together for a couple of years my library has been relegated to two bookshelves and several rubbermaid boxes in my garage. Naturally, we had to make room for pretty dresses and shoes. Given that she looks stunning in these items, I put up little resistance. We took some time this weekend to go through a these books an pick out what we’d read next.

I cam across a book by Amy Hempel. I loved her short stories and she truly influenced my work and had a great effect on how I think. Her collected short stories are not plot driven. Rather within each story is a collection of shorter stories that discuss a specific theme rather than follow a specific group of characters through a linear plot. Her command of the English language is something to behold. While my editor would agree that maybe that was the influence I should have taken from her, I instead chose to focus on the idea of conveying specific themes woven into the fabric of one’s literature. For those who have read my work for years, this much should be evident. I wanted to take a moment to thank those who have spent countless hours reading my column on a weekly basis. For those of you who understand what we are doing with FPF media, I salute you!

“I moved through the days like a severed head that finishes a sentence.”-Amy Hempel

Division D-1

Kiwi’s and KGP RA Not Yet Ripe

As is now infamous due to Lance Daniel cleverly using my soundbite on the GOTW soundtrack, I said that Dan Lazzara would make 6 mistakes and it would cause Kiwi Island to lose by 2 scores. Clearly, this wasn’t the case. To be honest, a lot of what I do is satire and when I know people are reading or watching I do try to mention their teams and such to reward them for their patronage. When I know that players get easily offended or get wound up due to what we say in the media, I do my best to wind them up. So I was saying a lot of what I said in jest. I did however, truly believe that KGP RA would beat Kiwi Island and I was wrong. Kiwi Island went on to win the game 44-26.

This was the game of the week and you can see the game for yourself here: https://vimeo.com/225565516. I don’t want to do a traditional recap for this game as it is available for all to see as it was Game of the Week. However, I did want to share my notes. KGP RA started the game off fairly well. Dylan Garber (DG10) did struggle but the defence looked solid and shortly after Nathanial Niedermann’s first interception he would score the game’s opening touchdown. In fact I was impressed by the two-way play of Phil Cutler, Jonathan Garfinkle and the aforementioned Niedermann in this game. The players were responsible for all the scores and interceptions for KGP RA in this game. I am worried about Dylan Garber however. He did not look to be in playoff form, he rolled too often and seldom made quick reads that is important for an intelligent, and adaptive defence. He will need to improve in order for KGP RA to make a deep run into the playoffs. All of the interceptions, save for a deep ball where AJ Gomes our ran the receiver, came on plays where Garber’s first read wasn’t there and instead of scanning to his next read he scrambled and ended up making throws off his back foot or from bizarre throwing platforms. On the other side of the ball I did like what I saw from Gabe D’Amico “The Killer” Mazza who did a very decent job containing a very mobile Sean Fiorillo and would record two sacks before the game was done.

What I learned about Kiwi Island is that they themselves are not truly in playoff form. I know they won the game but they had several miscues on offence that has to bother them going into FPF’s second season. The scored 44 points but a lot of that is due to the fact that KGP RA gave them several chances to pad the score with their 4 turnovers. I also learned that AJ Gomes is a tenacious two way player who hardly gets the credit he deserves for being as talented as he is. We also had ample opportunity to watch him throw and he looked solid at the position. As it turns out he will have more opportunities to showcase his arm come playoff time.

This is where my article goes to a place I legitimately hope it would never get to. This game had a few tense moments and some moments that went, in my personal estimation, too far. I wasn’t at the field that day but, given that the game was broadcasted on GOTW and given input provided to me by commissioner Robert Campana and the official rulings of the disciplinary committee there is enough information for any of us to come to our own opinions. On a play where Jonathan Garfinkle caught a ball on the sideline, he was clearly and blatantly pushed out of bounds by Joey Fiorillo. This was excessive and was well worth the UR that was called by the official. Garfinkle rose to his feet and shoved Fiorillo in retaliation. This is when Phil Cutler came to separate the two from further engaging in obnoxious, violent behaviour. Joey Fiorillo then slapped Cutler in the face. I have said in previous articles that I believe choosing to act violently (regardless of the impact of the physical act) is serious and should be punished as such. A player always has the choice NOT to hit another player and it is never acceptable to do so. I made this case in the past in an incident that saw one of FPF’s marquee players (Theo Ojeaha) suspended for a similarly violent act. Given that Kiwi Island and Joey Fiorillo were already on probation and given that FPF has extended several warnings to the talented but often troublesome Fiorillo, he has been suspended from FPF play for the next 5 weeks.

This is a huge blow to a team that had serious championship hopes. As if losing their quarterback for the playoffs wasn’t bad enough, once the game ended, in an act of utter childishness, Sean Fiorillo refused to leave the field and took it upon himself to attempt to intimidate the referee by staring him down. Once again, this isn’t wasn’t the first time this had happened as Sean Fiorillo was specifically warned about this behaviour when he attempted to similarly intimidate a referee earlier this season. What’s most distrubing about all of this is that the Fiorillo’s may have cost their team an otherwise incredible season in a game where they completely blew out their opponent. Sean Fiorillo has been suspended indefinitely.

I do want to end on a positive note. Both teams have left me with questions this week as I worry about Dylan Garber’s performance heading into the playoffs and the remaining roster for Kiwi Island. However, after watching GOTW, I must say that I was truly impressed with Dan Lazzara. He should a great deal of poise and really worked to rally his team and try to keep tempers under control. I knew what kind of leader he was before the game but I’m glad to see I was right about his character even if I was wrong about his performance.

Bruh-Mitzfah Have Finally Become Men

I went for the joke. They already had a win so if winning can be equated to entering manhood Bruh-Mitzfah became men in week 2. We have also wasted weeks for them to return to winning form. This week was an example of what we thought this team’s potential was. David Daoust threw 7 touchdowns and did not turn the ball over. Earlier I thought that this team’s success would come from the team’s depth. Instead, it was brother Devin Daoust who caught 16 of David’s 25 completions. Of the 16 catches 4 of them went for touchdowns and he joined Marty Freedman’s two scores and Chris Kaliotzakis scored once to lead Bruh-Mitzfah over Affreux with a final score of 46-27.

Les Affreux had one of those games where they returned to looking mortal. While Mathieu Dubois and JD Joly scored in this game it was Dany Ostiguy who led the way for the Les Affreux offence with two touchdowns in this matchup. However, this game came down to too many stalled drives as Jonathan Lemieux had drives that stalled continuously. There are games where Jonathan Lemieux’s ball just doesn’t leave his hand well and perhaps the humidity in the complex affected him greatly as he just wasn’t able to connect with his receivers with any level of consistency. It seemed as though they had a great time coming from behind and keeping pace with Bruh-Mitzfah who flew all over the field and were quite the explosive offense. If Les Affreux truly want to compete in the playoffs they can’t expect to have the lead and playoff teams will perform more consistently than Bruh-Mitzfah. Nonetheless, this was a great win for Bruh-Mitzfah who struggled for large portions of this spring season.

Go Ghet Em’

Going into the game if I would have known that Dilan Daoust would only complete 7 passes and that Max Marini would complete more than twice as many I would have assumed that the Go Ghetters would have had a tough time handling Straight Outta Breath. Instead Dilan Daoust did have trouble completing many of his passes but when he did, the big armed quarterback connected for 4 touchdowns on those 7 completions. Jeremy Anderson scored three times while Mathieu Menniti scored a separate time. On defence, the Go Ghetters let the stronger side of their game show as Menniti and Dilan Daoust intercepted passes and th team forced a lot of difficult throws throughout the duration of the game.

Max Marini is a very athletic and mobile quarterback, he did run three times and one such run went for a touchdown. Still, for the most part, Go Ghetter quarterback Raffi Di Tella got in Marini’s face throughout the game and forced some difficult throws for Marini and the Straight Outta Breath offence. Olivier Emmons and Mickey Marini were able to score and were the highlight of the offense. In the end Go Ghetters would win 25-20 over Straight Outta Breath. Straight Outta Breath have lost some of the momentum they had early in the season but they still hold on to the third seed. A loss in week 10 can see SOB fall down the rankings but they have clinched a playoff spot. Meanwhile, Go Ghetters use this win to all-but-mathematically clinch a spot in the second season.

Division D-2

SKOL!!!

Similarly to my breakdown of the official game of the week, the unofficial game of the week will be an examination of what I learned about each of these teams heading into the playoffs and less about the breakdown of the actual game that can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/225631908.

What I’ve learned about this game is that the Vikings are a very different kind of monster than I expected them to be at the beginning of the season. While I do this Nicholas Gendron Vallee looks more like a pirate or buccaneer than a viking but I will say that Sylvain Paquette, Julien Schink and Phillipe Kotrabaty do have a viking-like aesthetic. Nicholas Gendron-Vallee lined up at quarterback this game. This was surprising as it always is to see one of the team’s best receivers take himself out of the receiving corps and takes snaps to lead the offence. However, Nicholas Gendron-Vallee looked impressive and he has breathed new life into the previously habitually stalled Viking offence. Phillipe Kotrabaty had a great connection with his friend and rekindled the flame as the two connected similarly as when they were a division 5 team named Spartans. Kotrabaty had 4 touchdowns in this game and looked unstoppable as NGV completed passes from the pocket and on the run alike.

For Trinity, they showed some vulnerability in a late season matchup that I thought the would win easily. However, the 32-27 loss to Vikings was nothing compared to the loss of Vincent Marquis who needed to be helped off the field and is likely done for the rest of the season. I wish him well and a speedy recovery. Jean-Felix Marquis was under pressure from Jean-Phillips Lemelin. I know that teams like to keep there nose down and play “their game”. This is where the age old adage is nothing more than a chessy cliche. In reality, Jean-Felix Marquis should have been more adaptive. This is hopefully a lesson he learned for playoff time. Early in the game it did appear that Marquis was making his reads “in the huddle” so to speak. There were throws in traffic and in double coverage where he wanted to make a specific throw regardless of what the defence showed him. Alexandre Jubinville and Alexandre Samson are elite receivers who will likely fill the void left by the injury to Vincent Marquis and they showed in this game that they can make plays for their strong armed quarterback. In the end, I saw that the Vikings are a stronger team than I gave them credit for and perhaps Trinity are not quite the unstoppable force they appeared to be earlier in the season.

Ravens Still in Flight

In a game that should have paired an old veteran receiver/mullet turned emerging star quarterback Alex David was set to take on young upstart Avery Lalla. While Avery Lalla has struggled in FPF his tackle accolades continue to grow. However, in this particular week, his ability as a tackle quarterback took him away from FPF. The young slinger was in South Carolina for a football camp and has used the opportunity to get invited to the American National Combine in Texas!

In his stead, was longtime TCO starting quarterback Mathieu Bondoux. Bondoux was a little rusty in this game and would only score one touchdown per half. Tony Lalla did attempt a couple of passes on throwback plays. One such was an eyesore that helicoptered through the air before it was intercepted by the quickly incoming Julien Bellavance. Bellavance was buys all game long as he pulled 10 flags and was a headache for Smoking on that Lalla.

The Ravens offence has looked less potent in recent weeks but the emergence of Adam Parasuco has been cutting up the defence in space recently and has been turning short passes into long gains. Amongst giants such as Mathieu “Flag Jesus” Houle, Danio Addona and Julien Bellavance, the diminutive Adam Parasuco caught 7 passes for 56 yards. In the end Alex David was able to take advantage of a good matchup with Smoking on that Lalla being without their starting quarterback and they won a tight defensive battle by the score of 19-12.

Sharks in Shallow Water

It must not have been easy for Alex Guertin to have been thrust into the Quarterback position for a team he didn’t put together only to be replaced shortly thereafter. It must have felt great however to have gone 30/35 for 231 yards, and 6 touchdowns. It must have felt even better to have beaten former U of M quarterback Stephane Larosiliere. Marc-Andres Desaulniers determined to be more than just “the other team” caught 9 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns. This was a steady accompaniment to Jean Sebastien Rochon who caught 10 passes in a heavy ball control offense.

Stephane Larosiliere of the Black Knights continues to struggle as an FPF quarterback. He did manage to get season long quarterback Joe Marceli 2 touchdown passes. Reginald Cafe intercepted the only errant ball the Guertin threw all day. When the dust settled Red Sharks would go on to win this game 37-31 over the Black Knights.

Playoff Notes:

Division D-1

Get Off My D has clinched the #1 seed.
Diablos could fall from 2nd to 8th seed with a loss this week.
Supply and Command needs a win + a loss from either Frosty Bronsons, Les Verges Aeriennes, Badgers, Green Lantern Corps or ICU to clinch.
Dreamville clinches with a win + loss from ONLY Green Lantern Corps, Les Verges Aeriennes or better PA in a 3-way tie (any of Bronsons, Les Verges Aeriennes, Badgers, Green Lantern Corps, ICU losing)
Frosty Bronsons clinch with a win or loss from Supply and Command
Les Verges Aeriennes clinch with a win or loss from 2 of the teams below them (badgers, Green Lantern Corps, ICU, Supply and Command, Dreamville)
Badgers clinch with a win or better PA than Dreamville
Green Lantern Corps clinches with a win OR loss from both Supple and Command and Dreamville OR better PA than Dreamville + loss from either ICU, Badgers, Les Verges Aeriennes, or Frosty Bronsons
ICU clinches with a win OR loss from both SnC and Dreamville.
KGP RA and Kiwi Island both clinched first 2 seeds.
Straight Outta Breath owns head to head over TOPSZN. Win locks them as 3rd seed. Could drop all the way to 5th with a loss.

Division D-2

Trinity has clinched a top 2 seed.
Warriors could drop out of the 2nd seed with a loss + win from All hooks.
Warriors is the only team that can steal the #1 seed away from Trinity.
ETC clinches with a win or a loss from Red Sharks
Red Sharks clinches with a win + loss from ETC Week 10
Les Montagnards could drop to 3rd if Loss + Roadrunners win and better PA
Ravens are locked in as #1 Seed.
Smoking On That Lalla clinches with a win + loss from either War Pigs or Pandas.
Longhorns clinches with a win + Loss from War Pigs
Pandas clinch with a win or loss from Smoking On That Lalla
War Pigs clinch with a win or loss from Smoking On That Lalla and Longhorns
War Pigs cannot go higher than 7th seed.
Pandas cannot go higher than 7th seed.

Elite 8

Division D-1

Kiwi Island (9-0): A big win over KGP RA may have cost this team in the future. However, for the moment, they are the best team in D-1 at the time.
Get Off My D (8-1): The slowest way to get the 40 points have been effective since the second week of the season GOMD simply can’t lose these days!
KGP RA (8-1): The only loss came to Kiwi Island this past week. I am concerned with the play of Dylan Garner over the last 4 games that he’s thrown he’s thrown 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This isn’t the kind of play were used to seeing from a quarterback who started the season as a front-runner for quarterback of the year.
Green Lantern Corps (4-5): Four straight weeks have yielded 4 straight wins. Hai Minh Luong has been rolling!
Fun Boys (5-4): They lost to one of the best teams in the division without Kyle Smith in attendence. Prior to this Fun Boys had won 2 straight.
Straight Outta Breath (5-4): They are holding onto the three seed in conference B but their performances have been up and down as of late.
TOPSZN (5-4): There is still time to right the ship but TOPSZN have lost two straight games. However Khalil Kerr will need to complete more than 9 completions in a game and he needs to protect the ball better as 3 interceptions is far too many to be competitive in tough games.
Frosty Bronsons (4-5): Turns out Frosty Bronsons were simply 3 Alex Holowach touchdowns and a Terry Tam hair flip away from a spot in the playoffs.

Other Teams Receiving Votes

Diablos (4-4-1): I simply couldn’t rank Diablos in my elite 8 as they have now lost 4 straight. One can only blame Francois Maritin.
ICU (4-5): ICU may be back on track after a big win over Badgers in week 9.
Les Verges Aeriennes (4-5): Every time I think they have things figured out, LVA get behind the 8 ball. They had no answer for Dreamville’s Daniel Sananes this week.

Francois’ Elite 8

1	Kiwi Island (9-0)	+1	Grosse victoire contre KGP RA. Ils ont même dominé leur adversaire en deuxième demie.
2	Get Off my D (8-1)	+1	Eux aussi ils ont eux une grosse victoire contre Fun Boys. Ils semblent être seuls dans la conférence A.
3	KGP RA (8-1)	-2	Ce n’est jamais évident d’avoir sa première défaite aussi tard dans la saison. J’espère qu’ils vont se remettre rapidement de leur premier échec.
4	Fun Boys (5-4)	—-	Leur belle séquence vient de se terminer, mais cette équipe représente toujours une puissance.
5	Straigth Outta Breath (5-4)	—-	Une défaite surprise contre Go Ghetters. Toutefois, avec une victoire contre SNC et ils vont terminer 3^ième de la conférence.
6	Green Lanterne Corps (4-5)	+3	Juste wow ! Ils ont tout donné lors de 4 dernières parties pour avoir une chance d’accéder aux séries. Ils auront un gros teste la semaine prochaine contre Fun Boys.
7	GGPC (4-5)	+2	Les revoilà dans mon top 8, alors qu’ils n’auraient jamais dû le quitter. Une grosse victoire contre TOPSZN pour bien se placer en vue des séries.
8	TOPSZN (5-4)	-1	Ils viennent de perdre contre deux bonnes équipes, mais cela reste 2 défaites. Ils devront retrouver leur aplomb cette semaine contre Backyard Bruisers.

Division D-2

Ravens (8-1): Snapper Mike Addona has been cleared to play and I expect to see the this offence to get back to their early season form.
Warriors (7-1-1): The Warriors won a tight game over ETC after a season ending injury to Juwan Edghill. You would figure they could have put that game away easier with the circumstances.
Trinity (7-2): They lost to the surging Vikings. I don’t want to overreact to one specific game and they are still 3-1 on the last 4 games.
All Hooks (6-3): All Hooks are back to their winning ways after a close win over Les Montagnards. Jeremy White scored 4 touchdowns to get All Hooks back on track.
Norfolk in Chance (5-4): Norfolk in Chance are 3-1 in their last 4 games and continue to defy expectations on a weekly basis. Two touchdowns to Chris Williams put them over Buffalo Wild Wings in week 9.
Lobster Dinner (4-3-2): Ties seem to be the name of the game in Division D-2 this season. LD have tied the last two games and they are the only team to have beaten the Ravens this season.
Vikings (4-2-3): Don’t look know but the Vikings have not lost since week 5. They are 2-0-2 in the last 4 and they are hitting their stride in the right part of the schedule.
Les Montagnards (6-2-1): Les Montagnards have lost two in a row and really have not looked great. They are holding on to their early season success to even be considered in the Elite 8.

Other Teams Receiving Votes

Roadrunners (5-3-1): They’re playing well but there are too many teams surging to make it into my elite 8.
Still Preaching (4-3-2): They haven’t lost since week 4 and they hold the 5th seed in the playoff standings.
Big Fun Party Mix (4-3-2): I guess Francois was the only vote for BFPM8. However, all I have to say is: FRAUD!!!

Francois’ Elite 8

1	Warriors (7-1-1)	+2	Ils profitent des défaites des autres pour monter au classement. Il faut quand même dire qu’il représente l’équipe la plus constante cette saison.
2	Ravens (8-1)	+2	J’aurais pu aussi le placer au premier rang, car je crois que se sont deux excellentes équipes. Ils sont assurés de terminer au premier rang de leur conférence.
3	Trinity (7-2)	-2	Est-ce qu’ils ont tous donné la semaine précédente contre les Montgnards ? Ça fait deux fois cette saison qu’ils tombent à plat après une grosse victoire.
4	Les Montagnards (6-2-1)	-2	Deux défaites contre deux très bonnes équipes. Ils ont la chance de reprendre confiance contre un adversaire plus abordable.
5	All Hooks (6-3)	+1	Grosse victoire contre les Montagnards. J’ai déjà hâte à leur affrontement contre Vikings.
6	Roadrunners (5-3-1)	+3	Battre BFPM8 n’est jamais simple, mais c’est ce qu’ils ont réussis à faire. J’espère juste qu’ils vont être capables de poursuivre leur lancée. C’est leur genre de tomber à plat lors de leur prochain match.
7	BFPM8 (4-3-2)	-2	Ils ont 5 résultats sans victoires, mais ils sont toujours dans le coup. Ils peuvent battre n’importe qui et ils pourraient bien le prouver contre les Ravens cette semaine.
8	Norfolk in Chance (5-4)	+1	Avec 3 victoires à leurs 4 derniers matchs, cette équipe risque de bien se classer en vue des séries. Avec tout leur talent, c’est loin d’être surprenant.

Sunday’s Sparkling Sceptre

It is week 10 and the playoffs are on the precipice. Get your game faces on gentlemen! Let me know what you think of my weekly column and all of our media production by reaching out to me @PeezeFPF on Twitter or by messaging me @ Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook.

For further analysis, tune in to the official FPF Division D podcast “Calling the Audible,” where Moe Khan and Alex Holowach will discuss how to improve our press conferences, the path to greatness and whether Cheetas taste better than Cheetos. Tune in to www.youtube.com/flagplus on Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m. or download the podcast on iTunes or Podomatic!