Week 1’s recaps, awards, rants and some exciting Week 2’s previews.

9 more weeks of practice.

I’ve grown into saying that FPF is 10 weeks of practice before the real season begins. Sure, it does take glory away from the actual season, but what really makes FPF great is our playoff formats and what it means to take the field in Brossard for the Finals (not that I would know).

Sure, making the playoffs isn’t a given for any single team and I shouldn’t be saying these words, but I truly believe that making the playoffs is only the beginning. For those of you who have been there, you know what I mean; the intensity is different, the guys don’t act the same, the game’s different. Step up your game, make it there this season and you’ll understand what I mean.

For now, let’s break down what’s been happening since my last article.

Let’s get started.

Week 1

The first week is in the bags and I can officially say, this division is bound to be GREAT. With the level of talent we host on a weekly basis, the way the schedule is made and the fact that it’s summer, we can expect more than one upset and things to shake up in the following weeks.

Don’t sleep on any given opponents as you might have some bad news when it’s all said and done. Everyone registered in Division C for a reason; to compete. A loss is so easily handed; try not to be on the receiving side of it too often.

Thoughts of the Week

Everytime Vince Nardone brags about his upcoming game to me, he falls flat on his face (Fun Boys vs Two and a half Dans. Top Sauce vs Obamacare. Top Sauce vs Coyotes). I’ll be around again Vince, just saying.
Watching Terry Tam bad snap his QB after bragging it’s not something he does anymore is absolutely fabulous. Literally made my week.
Hey, Sanner, you’re not eligible for awards in Div C, you can calm down now. Geez.
Didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but David Faucher had a serious rushing week with 4 sacks in his opener. Keep it up man.
It’s picture week gentlemen; look your best, for once.
This article has been ready for a while now; blame it on Peeze for submitting his draft OH SO LATE.
Although Chapman can’t work a computer, not having Bird screaming at us for a few hours felt really nice on Thursday night. Thank God we get a 2nd week of happiness.
I still can’t believe Eagle was in Mexico AND watching the podcasts. Even I wouldn’t do that. He really loves what he does.
The Draft format of Fantasy was much more fun to do than I had anticipated. Might become a permanent segment in the future years.
Regardless of the outcome of my games, I’ve missed FPF even if it was just a month or so.

Players of the Week

Zach Stachowski (Eskimo Brothers): 16/17, 193 yards, 6:0. Highest QBR of the week with 153.6. Nice way to kick it off.
Steve Sanner (No Fly Zone): 7 for 76 yards and 5 TDs is absurd, but add 3 interceptions on defense on top of it and you’ve got yourself a record (probably).
Domenic Benevento (Killa Beez): 103 offensive yards, 3 TDs and 10 (!!!) tackles. How does someone get 10 tackles? This dude’s got serious hands.
Anthony Vendrame (Varennes): Vendrame basically did everything; 5 passing TDs, 1 interception on defense, 1 rushing TD and a W. Well done, Sir.
Mike Addona (Show me Your TDs): 26/31, 209 yards, 7:0. Addona is on drugs. PEDs. But no one’s testing, so good for you.

Recaps

Top Sauce took the field quite cocky and confident on Sunday late PM against a fresh-off victorious campaign Coyotes and got their asses handed to them on a platter. In fact, Top Sauce started the game quite well as Nardone connected with McLean on a 40-yard bomb and got away with a dropped interception by Josh Feder in the middle of the field, but they had 0 answers for Sammy Feder and his deadly offense (even if he was without Kevin Smuda) as they headed into halftime with a 5 point deficit. The second half came rolling and, well, so did Coyotes. Feder’s offense was renewed from the small break they’ve got, but Nardone’s simply couldn’t find ways to move the chains and were held scoreless in the 2nd. Just a bad night or a repeat of last Spring’s disaster? I guess we’ll have to wait Sunday to see what’s what.
Show me Your TDs took the field on Sunday night against a ready-looking TOPSZN and simply torched their opponents for the whole 44 minutes without allowing 5 last plays. Mike Addona was giving out brochures as Maxwell struggled to move the chains and connect with his new receivers. Addona kept connecting with Bellavance in the redzone as TOPSZN’ defense looked more and more frustrated. Now with a gritty defense, SMYTDs can finally rely on winning with less than 40 points on the board and the possibility of creating turnovers with ease as Kevin Lubin decided to make a statement late in the 2nd with 2 pretty impressive interceptions. TOPSZN will look to bounce back from an ugly performance before the tides are stacked too high against them.
No Fly Zone delivered one of the ugliest beatdown I’ve witnessed in a while on Monday night as Cory Kennedy took the snaps for La Sauce and tried to feed his receivers for, well, not much. Connecting on only 8 of his 32 attempts, Kennedy looked like he had timing issues with his “new” receivers and their defense looked even worse as Humes marched all over them. It was so bad that he even subbed himself out for Walwaski late in the 2nd to try and ease the beating. Steve Sanner and Eddy Martinez went OFF on defense as they combined for 3 picks, 9 PDs and 6 TDs offensively. Can NFZ be stopped? From what I’ve witnessed, I’d have to say no and I get to play them next week; Awesome!

Power Rankings

Coyotes (1-0-0). I stay true to my preseason ranking; Coyotes won and beat a good team. They keep the mountain.
No Fly Zone (1-0-0). What a beatdown. Sure, La Sauce was with a backup QB, but still. Humes dropped the hammer and Sanner was, well, Steve Sanner. I’m not too happy to play them in a few days.
Show me Your TDs (1-0-0). I’ve watched their game and I was IMPRESSED. Nasty defense, nastier offense. SMYTDs are the real deal this season.
Honey Badgers (1-0-0). Not the prettiest of wins, but McKernan was fire on offense. Let’s see how their defense fares from now on.
Eskimo Brothers (1-0-0). They haven’t lost a single step during the offseason; Eskimo Brothers are off to an amazing start. Stachowski almost pulled off a perfect QBR. The new additions are paying dividends right off the bat.
No Big Deal (1-0-0). Somehow 6th, NBD, is, well, a big deal. Don’t sleep on them, they have an absolutely nasty team.
Stockton Slap (1-0-0). I saw the roster that played and verified if it was eligible; it’s GOOD. Taylor won’t have to do much with such a crazy defense.
Jagerbomb (1-0-0). The boys are back and won their first of many close games. They tend to keep it close, but we all know it’s much more fun to play anyways! Well done.
BearSkins (1-0-0). Even without Papich and Bertoldi putting up numbers, BearSkins got it done. Their offense is clicking and that defense is gritty; everything a real contender needs!
69ers (1-0-0). Took down my heavily favored Broccasion last night. I guess I’ve underestimated these guys for the first and last time!

FlagPlus Fantasy Football

So, this season, I’ve decided to do things differently. For the Fantasy segment, I’ve decided to switch things around and steal Nardone’s format from his Winter’s article (he doesn’t know about it, so thanks Vince).

Concept is quite simple really. Each and every week, we’ll have a fantasy draft across the division. The reigning champion vs a new challenger (Winner of the previous stays, loser’s out). We draft 8 players per team (1 QB, 1 rusher, 1 snapper, 1 defense, 4 WRs).

The twist? You cannot draft the same player twice (Winners are at a disadvantage).

Obviously, I will need new challengers on a weekly basis, so anyone willing to go up against our reigning champion send me a message and I’ll set you up as next week’s challenger.

Here’s the scoring format we’ll be using this season:

Quarterbacks

1 point per 15 yards passing
3 points per passing TD
1 point per
5 yards rushing
5 points per rushing TD
-2 points per interception
-1 point per sack

Receivers

1 point per 5 yards
5 points per TD

Rusher

5 points per sack

Defense

1 point per 3 tackles
1 point per 2 PD’s
2 points per sack
3 points per INT
5 points per pick-six
10 points for allowing 10 points or less
8 points for allowing 11-20 points
6 points for allowing 21-30 points
4 points for allowing 31-40 points
2 points for allowing 41-50 po ints
1 point for allowing 51 + point

I’ll be the reigning champ for this week as, well, it’s my article and I didn’t ask anyone. This week’s challenger will be none other than one of the most hated person in FPF, Peeze Della Reeze

Here’s our teams; may Peeze lose in humiliating fashion.

This week’s teams:

Simon

Peeze

Quarterback

Zach Stachowski

(Eskimo Brothers)

Doug McKernan

(Honey Badgers)

Snapper

Kevin Donnet

(TOPSZN)

Yoni Lehrer

(Keyport Lock)

Receiver

Anthony Addona

(Show me Your TDs)

Aleksander Papich

(BearSkins)

Receiver

Justin McLean

(Top Sauce)

Matthew Rupcic

(Stockton Slap)

Receiver

Kevin Laliberté

(Varennes)

Jordan McLaren

(No Big Deal)

Receiver

Francis Maheu

(Former Tomahawk)

David Centomo

(MVE)

Rusher

David Faucher

(Gotham Knights)

Simon Laporte

(No Name)

Defense

BearSkins

Broccasion

Previews

Coyotes vs No Big Deal: A repeat of this Winter’s 4A finale? Sort of. Coyotes are back with the full band and, hopefully, Kevin Smuda in the lineup against Applebaum and certain R4D players. The new additions might help No Big Deal strike early at Coyotes, but can they find a way to stop Feder? I do not expect NBD to be the kind of team to put up 40+ points on a weekly basis so their defense will need to be ON POINT to prevent Coyotes to do exactly that and stay within reach of a W. With guys like McLaren to cover Smuda and the White brothers to matchup against the Feders, we’re bound to have an exciting finish! Oh, and yes, I’ll be there.
Top Sauce vs Show me Your TDs: Top Sauce is looking to get over their week 1 woes and show everyone that Nardone belongs in Division C. Show me Your TDs are still proving to us and themselves that they’ve got a defense this time around and that Addona isn’t on PEDs. Regardless of who wins and losses, this might be the real test both teams were looking for to prep themselves for the rest of the way. Nardone needs to put up points, SMYTDs’ defense need to make plays; it’s a match up made in heaven and I’ll have front-row seats. Expect Top Sauce to have a plan for Anthony Addona and Julien Bellavance whereas SMYTDs might rely more on Zone defenses to try and conquer the ridiculous amount of weapons Nardone gets to play with for 60 minutes on Sunday night.
Keyport Lock vs No Name: It’s time to show up and prove that week 1 was no fluke. No Name played fantastic week 1 behind Roy’s performance. On the flip side, most people expected Keyport Lock to come out of the gates swingin’ but, instead, fell flat on their faces. Granted, KL didn’t have their proper roster in place, but that’s no excuse. Can No Name prove that Week 1 was no fluke and they belong in my Power Rankings? Can Keyport Lock prove week 1 was a fluke and won’t be creamed on a weekly basis? I expect Jonathan Grizzley to have an absurd performance on defense and make Jeff Rosenblatt looking his way. I also expect No Name to have 0 answers for Jeremy Cola as Grizzley will be busy taking out Gerville.
Stockton Slap vs The Commission: The Commission took most of us by surprise with, not only their Week 1 roster, but also their performance during said week. Avraam took time to get settled in, but it looked much better in the 2nd half and their previous opponent had NO answer whatsoever. Kudos to their defense. This time around, they’ll face a much steeper defense in Stockton Slap and the kind of offense you wish you never had to face; Joey Taylor’s. After Stockton Slap’s opener, we know their defense is bound to create plenty of turnovers for Taylor to enjoy and that the receivers will only get with the program and grow into it as the weeks progress. Can Stockton Slap remain ontop during the transition phase and keep piling Ws?

Picks of the week

So, last week, I straight up forgot about doing my picks. Since I’ve got no one to pick against on a weekly basis, it’s really not the end of the world and no one can *badmouth* me (hey, it’s a start) for not doing it. Anyhow, here it is.

Coyotes vs No Big Deal: Coyotes

Killa Beez vs Broccasion: Broccasion

Evolution vs TOPSZN: TOPSZN

Top Sauce vs Show me Your TDs: Show me Your TDs

No Fly Zone vs Brunch Buddies: —-

69ers vs Gotham Knights: 69ers

Honey Badgers vs Jagerbomb: Honey Badgers

BearSkins vs Les Blues Branleurs: BearSkins

Keyport Lock vs No Name : No Name

Varennes vs Warhawks: Varennes

Former Tomahawk vs MVE: MVE

La Sauce vs Eskimo Brothers: Eskimo Brothers

Stockton Slap vs The Commission: Stockton Slap

That sums it for this week’s article. It’s always a pleasure to write and hear back from you guys. After all, the content is meant 99% for you. I keep a percent for me; ranting here and there is fun after all. You can always reach me via twitter @DagenaisFPF or via email ([email protected]). I’ll be at Lachine every Sunday night scorekeeping/playing and at the new Stade on Mondays so you can stop by and chat. Don’t hesitate. Bird is missing 2 weeks of Podcasts; is this OUR vacation?