Peeze’s Playbook (Div D) – Week 3

 

This Tuesday, a group of reasonably intelligent, overqualified men will gather at Della Reeze Manor for pizza, beer and to hurl insults at each other for hours on end.  When we return to the real world we will return as general managers of our very own fantasy FPF teams. 

 

 

 

For the first time ever, last season, yours truly took the idea of an FPF fantasy league (proposed by a reader) and made it a reality. It was so popular that we’ve brought it back for a second season.  As much as the players loved it, FPF personnel really did enjoy ragging on each other and gloating every chance we got.  Last season, the Eagle took it home while Simon Dagenais was stuck holding onto the proverbial Sacko for an entire year.

 

 

 

This season we’ve increased the amount of participants and I will now need to face the likes of Terry Tam, Mat Domon and Justin Blanchard, as well as last season’s adversaries (George Michael Kolethras, Simon Dagenais and the Eagle).  One thing is for certain; Justin will be punished for those disparaging remarks in his weekend article about Wham! Nobody messes with George Michael! Our reigning – and soon to be usurped – champion and reluctant fantasy league president Eagle at Master Control put together the league and roster rules as well as a crib sheet describing how the scoring is tallied. It is with great pride that I present:

 

 

 

The League of Not Quite Legends

 

 

 

Team Composition:

 

• 2 QBs
• 5 WRs
• Team Defense
• Flex WR/DB

 

 

 

Roster Rules:

 

• Can’t select any players from your own team
• Can’t select any players who play the same position in a higher division
• Can’t select more than one person from the same team
• One player must come from each subdivision (6)
• One additional player must come from each conference (2)
• One player can come from either conference (1)

 

 

 

Scoring:

 

QB:

 

• 1 point/ 10 yards passing
• 3 points/Passing TD
• 1 point/5 yards rushing
• 5 points/Rushing TD
• -2 points/INT
• -1 point/Sack

 

 

 

WR:

 

• 1 point/5 yards
• 5 points/TD

 

 

 

Defense:

 

• 1 point/3 tackles
• 1 point/2 PD
• 2 point/Sack
• 3 point/INT
• 5 points/Pick-six
• 5 points/FTW (For the Win)

 

 

 

Flex:

 

Combine scoring rules for WRs and Defense, without Defensive Win

 

 

 

Updates are to appear in Peeze and Justin’s midweek articles.

 

 

 

Thursday’s Recap

 

 

 

Vikings Stomp on Black Mambas

 

 

 

I was concerned about the Vikings decision to go to Rick Cummins at quarterback.  Cummins is an experienced FPF player and a very gifted athlete.  However, his best successes at QB are a few years in the past. With a win in his pocket, we can all start to perhaps take a look at the Vikings.  Cummins spread the ball well and his 4 touchdowns were divided among three receivers (Chris Williams, Bryan Marshall and Shako Dimanche).  The Vikings started this game strong, which has been an issue for them in the past.  This allowed them to be in a position to win the game despite a very close second half.

 

 

 

I was very excited to see Kevin Lubin join the Black Mambas.  Having Lubin and Cardichon at his disposal will surely help Previllon as the season progresses.  In earnest, the two left their imprint on the stat sheet.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win.  The main issue in this game was that Previllon just made some poor decisions.  He is a developing quarterback and he does seem to get better each week.  I know that the Black Mambas lost this game by a score of 33-25 but I’m certain that they will overcome this minor setback.

 

 

 

Game of the Week

 

 

 

Upon the return of FPF’s Game of the Week, FlagPlus nation decided that the featured game would be between Checkmate and Project Mayhem.  As such, I’m responding in kind to give you my perspective on this game. 

 

Each time Frédéric Morissette took the field, it looked as though it was just a matter of time before Checkmate would score.  More often than not, it was very little time as Morissette averaged 23.5 yards per pass. On three occasions, Morissette dropped back and hit James Floreani on 40-yard touchdowns.  The rest of the receiving corps earned their keep as well and Alex David and Yann Drouin combined for 5 catches, 116 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Perhaps the turning point came early in the game as Minh-Ton That went vertical, ignoring an obvious height mismatch and won the ball in the air.  The interception on Project Mayhem’s second drive turned out to be the only one in the game.

 

 

 

In his own right, Alex Holowach had a great game as well.  In his third career start against Checkmate, he put up his highest ever QB rating against this familiar foe.  After the game, Holowach told me “I gave everything I could, you (Checkmate) were just better tonight”. Most often, when you complete 76.7% of your passes, throw 6 touchdowns and post a quarterback rating of 118.9 you expect to win the game. This would not be the case, as Mayhem would go on to lose this one by a final of 47-40.

 

 

 

In all honesty, this game lived up to its billing.  It not only showcased an offensive explosion, it also was an epic battle between two teams with a great deal of respect for each other.  When the video for this game comes out, do check it out.  Between James Nowakowski’s 7 catch performance and Mike Addona’s late game sack, this GOTW is entertainment the whole family could enjoy (mostly because it will have a musical score covering my incessant profanity).

 

 

 

5 Plays ‘till Halftime

 

 

 

The Eagle at Master Control is a strange fellow.  He chronically over-prepares for everything. Luckily he took a quick break from preparing his FPF mock draft to send me these 5 quick-fire questions.  Remember, if you aren’t satisfied with these questions please target all hate to @EagleFPF (it’s about time he got himself a real FPF Twitter handle).

 

 

 

  1.Q: Who’s gotten off to a better start than you would have predicted?

 

 

 

  A: The chorus that the choir sang about the X-Men last season was that they would struggle without Nicholas Abelhauser.  When they returned without their towering menace I thought we would see them struggle again this season.  The additions of Kevin Boustany and Wade Williams have been huge.  Moreover, last season Suhael Brohi proved that he can be an effective target.  He has returned to form this far as the X-Men now have three scary offensive options.

 

 

 

 

 

2.Q: Which team has been deserving of more coverage than they’ve received? Show them some love.

 

 

 

A: I often get accused of ‘hating on’ teams.  Many in fact have accused me of hating on Limetime. Nothing could be further from the truth.  They are good guys and I have done nothing but sing the praises of guys like Mike Zenone and Joseph Cecere.  The fact remains that they did lose in what I felt would be their first real challenge this season. In my mind, Limetime are a very solid team with a group of immensely talented players.  Once they get all the pieces to play together like a team, I think we will see them excel and start peaking on their way into the playoffs.

 

 

 

3.Q: Who has gotten off to a worse start than you would have predicted. 

 

 

 

A: Considering Big Blue Wrecking Crew went 4-6 last season; this spring, they got screwed with their schedule.  That being said, 4-6 is very respectable for a new team, and adding Dean Demetriou on a full-time basis should only make them stronger.  It hasn’t worked out thus far.  They have looked better each week and I think they should start seeing some positive results soon.

 

 

 

4.Q: Who is an MVP for their team in the true sense of the word?  By this I mean, which player’s absence would severely handicap their team? There’s a catch; you can’t list a QB. 

 

 

 

A: Quite simply, Michael Malinaric.  This roster goes from looking quite ordinary to remarkable when he’s on the field.  Chris Olson is an experienced player but he is also a developing quarterback.  When Malanaric is on the field it gives Olson a player that will go up, win almost every jump ball and is a nightmare to cover.  When Malanaric is on the field Underdogs look more like the top dogs.

 

 

 

5.Q: Explain how you rigged the voting for GOTW.

 

 

 

A: Well, it all started when Daron Basmadjian set up the polling station in the Watergate hotel.  Armed with LED Maglites, black turtle necks and ski masks, my group of cronies broke-in and altered the votes for this game.  When the Eagle at Master Control demanded a recall, we ensured that he would be silenced.  By that I mean we drove him to Taco Bell in Plattsburgh and left him there.  They have Dorito shell tacos so he’s in good hands.

 

 

 

So that’s the actual truth.  The story I’m going with is far less entertaining. This in fact represents the first time that Checkmate has accepted the honor of being featured in the Game of The Week.  In past seasons we always voted for all of the other games so that we would not get chosen.  The idea was that we shouldn’t provide our enemies with game film.  However, the team felt that I was over-cautious and bordering on psychotic. 

 

 

 

For that reason we decided to let the FPF community choose without our conspiring. This proved to be the case as, of the 23 people who voted for this game, only 4 voters play for either of the teams involved.  You’ve got to give the people what they want: an offensive showdown that ended 47-40; the people are a bright group.  Good job voters!

 

 

 

Tuesday’s Headlines Today

 

 

 

While my picks are generally solid, my predictions in this segment have been off the hook.  Over the course of the first two weeks, I have gone six-for-six when predicting headlines and I’m starting to think that if you’ve been picked against this segment, you’ve been blown a kiss of death.  Since, I firmly believe that I am the center of the universe I find this explanation to be quite likely.

 

 

 

• They Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts

 

 

 

The Ghosts beat up on the Vikings in week 1.  The Vikings do not play in winter and they did look rusty.  Not to mention Chris Bell played quarterback in that game rather than apparent starter Rick Cummins.  In week 2, the Longhorns destroyed the friendly apparitions 40-0.  Darnell Lovelace was so frustrated by his team’s performance that he left the sideline and hit the showers before the game had ended.  The Ghosts will definitely be approaching this one with far less arrogance than they did for their week 2 matchup.  The Gotham Knights are a team that has the potential to score a lot of points and I don’t think Ghosts will be able to keep up. 

 

 

 

• Playground Invaded by Mongeese (Mongooses?)

 

 

 

Picture it; it is both cute and somewhat terrifying.  Regarding this game, Justin Blanchard mentioned that Playground is the best winless team in FPF. I don’t think he could have figured that out on his own, so I’m going to assume he heard me say it at the fields this past week.  Unfortunately, I think Playground will go 0-3 to start their season.  They had the misfortune of being scheduled against 3 of the division’s elite competition in the first three weeks.  For the Mongoose, they’re gaining traction despite having lost during the first week of the season. While Playground can score points, I definitely give the edge to Alexandre Gaudet and his squad in this one.

 

 

 

• Shamrocks Flourish in Hostile Territory

 

 

 

For those who say that I choose games that are easy to predict for this segment, I point to this piece of evidence.  This is probably the most difficult game to predict this season but rather than shying from it I’m diving in head first.  Hostile Territory is a strong team and has beaten two solid opponents.  However, they have a good offence and a good defense but they do not do anything extremely well.  I think they will have trouble controlling the pace in this game and the Shamrocks have something to prove after getting blown out last week.

 

  

 

Going for 1/Going for 2

 

 

 

This is the time of the week where I go off on a tangent that is interesting, odd or infuriating.  I tend to go off the deep end with these rants so, bear with me.  This week, after having received many mysterious, threating calls, I’ve decided to go for one.

 

 

 

What I want to talk about this week is division dodging.  However, I’m going to take somewhat of a different stance on it than most other players and FPF media personalities.  I want to talk about the tired, drawn-out, overblown conversation related to division dodging.

 

 

 

Every season, we act as if this is a plague and that teams are going out and stacking their rosters.  People complain about ringers and about how certain teams should just move up.  In reality, we have taken this minority occurrence and treated it like an epidemic.  In reality, how many teams, or players, does this refer to in all of FPF.  Usually we see 1 or 2 cases per season and they rarely win a championship.

 

 

 

Still, we keep urging the league to fix this ‘problem’.  We have a set idea of what the caliber of each division should be. In reality, the lower divisions are getting much stronger.  Many division D teams can compete in division C; this was not the case when I started playing FlagPlus Football. I think in time teams will progress and move up the ranks.  I like the suggestion that we introduce a salary cap of points.  The reason that I like this idea is not to force players and teams to move up but rather it will create a more even distribution of teams throughout the divisions.

 

 

 

In the end, what I find interesting is that we complain that teams are too strong but how many among us are willing to say that we helped the teams that were too weak for the division?  This conversation is stale, and in reality, most people that complain about division dodging are only doing it because they too saw themselves at having a chance to win the championship. Let’s just go out there and have fun.  If you are facing a ‘division dodging’ team, it’ll be even sweeter when you go home with the victory.

 

 

 

Weekend Wrap-up

 

 

 

Unlike the terrifying and hopefully mythical landshark, I don’t bite.  So feel free to contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter @PeezeFPF. We can talk about your team, this league, or even your thoughts on cyborg surfing. 

 

 

 

If you haven’t already caught our podcast: Calling the Audible, I highly recommend it.  Join Terry Tam (@TerryTamFPF) as we combine in-depth analysis with off-the-wall hysterics bysubscribing via iTunes or at http://fpf.podomatic.com.  Have fun; see you at the fields, and thank you for letting me be myself.