The Best Spots for Zeppole Consumption, Faded Memories and Everyone’s Favorite Mirror
Paolo Della Rocca
19-03-2022 11:00 PM
This weekend is my favorite of the year. The St.Patrick’s day parade returns after missing two years due to the pandemic and I couldn’t be happier. Boozy breakfast, drinking in the streets, trying to ignore bag pipes; it truly is the best time of the year.
If, like me you’re of Italian descent it’s also time for Zeppole San Guiseppe. This makes it the perfect cross section of fried dough filled with ricotta cream and day drinking. The day starts with a 5:30 am predrink, public transit with a road rocket between walks to the bus and metro entry (don’t drive on St. Patty’s; have fun, don’t be a d*&k), breakfast, take to the streets and then something greasy to soak up the booze. Make sure you pick your spot well so that the Concordia Library washroom is available to you.
This used to be a big moment for a lot of my friends. However bit by bit we’ve lost our soldiers. Names have been changed to protect identities
Earl-had his last hurrah the year asleep at a local restaurant because he could no longer keep his head up.
Raymond- moved to a different province
Charlie- banned by his wife after not answering calls and running up an insane tab the year it was -45 and we could not leave the bar.
Agatha-kinda got pissed off about having to deal with her drunk a$$ friends
Morton-lost his hair and was never the same
Almeada-moved away and joined a cult (the name is fake but the story is true)
Sledworth- Children outnumber him and his wife; the war is lost
I still go out every year with my wife and a close couple of friends but each year we worry that it may be our last. Much like the movie the Sandlot, you never know when the last time you get to play outside with your friends will be.
Musings, Ramblings, Lies and Other Assortments
- I recorded Calling the Audible with Iggy this week. In Moe’s absence, we drank heavily and rambled for 3.5 hours.
- The playoff schedule has been posted: https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/article/winter-2022-playoffs-eliminatoires-hiver-2022
- Victor Davis had solid game for Team Poland. It’s a good sign but they haven’t gotten consistent performances from all their weapons in each game yet.
- I kinda think the Spanish Inquisition may be a trap game for Tropic Thunder.
- Nick Richard of the West Island boys is really dynamic with the ball in his hands. Worth the watch if they’re at the field the same time you are.
- Ryan Dobbs Garnett was a solid addition for Zidane ILF. They need help but it doesn’t mean the adding of a single player will do it.
- Baked Zeppole are not zeppole. If you want to eat healthy, eat vegetables.
- The Flamingos are struggling but Ben Levy (who was highlighted last week has 6 interceptions).
- The best Zeppoles in the city are at Alati or Montebello. Don’t @ me, it is what it is.
- Louis-Phillipe Dalpe of Wild Hogs is great at applying pressure. Once he learns to properly breakdown and take less aggressive angles he’ll be dominant.
- It’s been a rough start for Free Agent Squad. My worry is that they won’t score three times until late in the season.
- Jesse Dym of Tunesquad reminds me a lot of Brewers Eric Pawlusiak. Both are near the top of the division when it comes to targets.
- There may be issues with some of the team pictures. If so please let us know.
- Baby Billy’s Sweet Ambrosia
Memories, Hallucinations and Observations
Did We Just Become Best Friends?
There are times where I’m forced to reconcile the idea that not everyone sees the game the way I do. There’s different types of qbs, with different strengths and weaknesses and that leads to different results. I will never understand how it’s even possible to have single digits in completions. A grueling 18-12 win by The Step Bros over Stratton Oakmont produced two QBs achieving that feat. Joshua Riccardi of The Step Bros completed 3 passes in the first half. Luckily, one of these passes was a 2 yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Eric Carpanzano (his first of two scores).
Jeremy Elhadad struggled similarly. He did answer that initial Carpanzano strike with a 27 yard touchdown pass of his own to Luke Barazin. While The Step Bros did settle down and managed to score twice in a much better second half Stratton Oakmont sputtered and could get nothing right in the second frame. The teams would start the half by trading interceptions and Don Romeo would cash for Stratton Oakmont but Elhadad would complete only 2 more passes for 16 yards for the rest of the game. The ball rolling impotently after being knocked away by Mark Namour on the last play would be a perfect encapsulation of how this game felt.
Mane Street
Carmelo Di Giovanni seems to be the Lionheart’s quarterback of the moment. Just like when your local brewpub has a beer of the month, or beer of the moment this is a careful balance. You need to give it a minute so adapt to it. React too quickly and you’ll find yourself remembering, “hey wasn’t it great when they had this beer on the menu?” Di Giovanni will take some time to develop but he’s showed some promise. Anthony Iannancronz seems to be the chain mover for the offense but the Lionhearts looked to Alex Montanaro for scoring and he rewarded the team with their only score of the game.
Julien Cheaib has led the 7th Rounders to a hot start and the defense has helped in spots where the offense hasn’t converted. In this game it was Thomas Ste-Marie who recorded 3 interceptions and put 7th rounders in the best spot to win this game. The best skill Cheaib has shown this season has been his ability to manage game situations. This is an underrated skill in FPF. While blowing out another team is fun, not letting a team back into it is the best way to keep leads and guarantee wins. This was the case in a 26-6 win over Lionhearts
Tangerine Fever Dream
We did have a quick feature on Big Fat Bats in this week’s calling the audible so if you haven’t checked that out I do urge you to do so. They failed their first true test of the season when they lost to Thunder Buddies. However, Matthew Zeppetelli did make some mistakes but he did add a touchdown on the ground to his two passing touchdowns. Perhaps the most important of these scores was a 1 yard touchdown punch in by Pierre Eskander. His OC after the touchdown did give Henri Pi Sa Gang a chance to win the game on the last play but it would be for not as Big Fat Bats would hold on for a 24-18 win.
The final heave by opposing quarterback Frederic Desjardins was intercepted by AJ Zeppetelli. This would be the 4th interception by Desjardins but above all else, Desjardins struggle to move the ball at times is likely bothering him more than the counting stats. Olivier Francoeur and Alex Cacchione were the highlights for Henry Pi Sa Gang in a slightly stilted effort. They represented nearly 60% of the targets in the loss.
Declarations of Bravado
- Tropic Thunder (4-0): They had the big win in week 4. We discussed it in last week’s article.
- 7th Rounders (4-0): I really like 7th rounders defense. Julien Cheaib has a 4:1 TD to int ratio. He’s been solid but I think they can be a little more efficient.
- Thunder Buddies (3-1): Kerano Johnson delivers a hat-trick of touchdowns in another impressive win by TB.
- Beer Knights (3-1): I had said that I didn’t want to over react to BK’s 1 point loss. However, 7th Rounders and Thunder Buddies looked impressive.
- The Stormers (4-0): Alec Richard-Nantel: 20/22 218 yard and 7 touchdowns. I think ARN is the leader in the clubhouse for QB of the Year.
- Flag Football Team (4-0):Adam Lieblein has established himself as the team’s number 1. The next two games will be a test but we’ll see if he still has the same kind of room to work in.
- Killer Rays (3-1): Mark Hamelin’s 2 interceptions propelled the defense and helped allow Tylar Bianchi throw for 7 touchdowns.
- FKU (3-0): Their game was postponed due to a scheduling snafu. Let’s see how the time off affects them.
- Betway Bandits (3-1): I’ve said they needed to score more. They put up 33 against Free Agent Squad. That’s a great sign. Thomas Colicchio’s 4 TD’s is definitely worth a note.
- Primetime (3-1): They took a loss after a disastrous second half. Daniel Spina will learn to manage game situations better.
Peeze’s Playbook
Play Name: Smash Outs (mirror)
A smash route in FPF parlance is a combo route where a player runs the first part of an in. Sells the first move and then breaks back to the outside. It is key for the route runner does not break eye-contact with the QB throughout the entirety of the route. This way if the quarterback sees the in in the first window they can hit it for an easy score.
This is a common redzone play where the smashes break out on the goal line and the ins are on the back of the endzone. This creates two levels for the QB. Also, while the ins beat lanes, the smash outs beat man which are the two most common coverages in the red zone. The ins should also not pass the middle of the field and ideally should stop over where the slots started in formation. The snapper can also open up slightly opposite the rusher and must be on the goal line.
Call in the Huddle (play can be reversed): Deep in, smash out, hook, smash, deep in.
How to execute the play: The first look should be if either defensive half is lined up inside shade. If so, they will never be able to recover when the route breaks back outside. If it’s man especially or, if the defense is undisciplined this is a fairly easy throw for a TD. If the team plays a disciplined lanes defense the in at the back of the endzone is open. The easiest of the ins to throw is the on opposite the rush. Once in a while the 3 may drop to the back of the endzone. If so, the snapper is wide open.
Visions of the World of Tomorrow
Saturday’s Sacred Slam
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 march madness predictive tools and specialty bar equipment. 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!