An Uncomfortable Conversation, Wizards v. Crocs and StaceGod
Paolo Della Rocca
04-03-2022 04:25 PM
I’ve always found it interesting that every once in a while people take issue with me being political. Interestingly enough, those who actually know me consider me to be a-political with my leanings being toward anarchism (for example, I don’t believe in citizenship). In fact politics is of little interest to me. It is largely dogmatic discourse by many who I think have little that make them interesting. I consider politicians to be career opportunists and have a complete distrust for anyone who throws their hat into the arena.
Yet, I am interested in people. Policy and environment affect people much more than they affect the minority who have been empowered to make decisions for the majority. Trust me when I tell you, I’m far from a socialist, my investment accounts tell that tale, but I digress.
It seems strange to me when science informs us that climate change is in fact real and is reaching a critical stage, then we see evidence of it (we NEED Bees and they’re dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing and, yo FIRE TORNADOS?!?!?!!) yet people feel comfortable debating often answering with mundane answers to empirical evidence such as “well, I don’t know about that”. It seems strange how plainly simple ideas become politicized. I don’t think Black people should be jailed or murdered by authorities at a completely disproportionate rate. It seems weird to even have an opposing view then, yeah, people should be treated well and should have a good life.
So, my article takes me to the state of Florida. Most recently is the bill being championed by Florida politicians being referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Essentially, what this bill prescribes is that educators are restricted and not entitled to discuss sexuality and gender in schools. This comes just months after what I deem “the white discomfort law” which makes it such that teachers are not entitled to discuss occurrences in history that makes the empowered feel uncomfortable. This ostensibly turns History courses into discourses in propaganda. What was perhaps even most egregious of the initial draft of the Bill was the requirement for teachers to out students to their families when they know that they’re students are gay. Firstly, not only is this completely inappropriate (so much more than teaching about slavery or homosexuality), secondly it exposes these students to potential harm.
I’ve been an educator for my entire adult life. I’ve worked in the field since I was 19 years old (as you can tell by my gray hairs, it’s been a while). The bond between educators and students should not be repressive. It should be supportive, that of a mentor and should lead to open and intelligent conversation. When it comes to the LGBTQ community there are several important facts to remember. Firsty, this community is far more likely to commit suicide, be victims of violence, and to be unhoused by virtue of unaccepting family. Not sure about this? The Google machine is your friend.
The bill is being masqueraded as protecting family values. This of course completely devalues the fact that members of the LGBTQ community also have families. It is a dog whistle of hatred that discounts the value of human life, literally divides a group of people as “other”, and endangers children because the most sensitive adults care more about the power of words than the finality of suicide. The same decision makers who feel like it makes sense to honor Juneteenth as a holiday but can’t explain why it is. Snowflakes…amirite?
The town hall meeting was terrifying. A man referred to sexual orientation as sexual preferance (he didn’t misspeak, he corrected himself) which is nonsensical. Others made inappropriate generalizations that were as based in fact as the comedic cannabis slandering in “Reefer Madness”. I still see people railing at trasngender athletes ruining women’s sports. Yet, how many of these people watch women’s sports? How many defended the US soccer team’s quest for better pay and conditions (as they have merited far beyond the continually disappointing men’s team). How many have spent a minute watching the WNBA? I don’t have an answer for this issue personally but I do know one thing. It’s JUST sports. As much as I love sports, it does not mean more than protecting a community who are at great risk. Furthermore, let’s stop pretending that this is a widespread issue. Transgender athletes are not dominating women’s sports. Stop with the what-ifs and what aboutisms. People are dying. People are marginalized. People are being harmed. People are people.
The politics of this is meaningless to me. Anyone, on any side of the aisle who denies rights, access and devalues human beings are human trash bags. I instead, choose to spend my time helping others. I make myself available to listen to others. If someone’s life is affected, it is nonsensical to process their words through barriers of dogma, intolerance hidden behind a veil of morality or used coded hatred to divide and harm. FPF has gay players. While this may have some clutching their pearls, my first team had an openly gay player (he would be part of my wedding party and my brother’s best man years later). Remember that the people you know and the people you love are impacted and the people who are suffering who you don’t know deserve the same compassion.
I’m willing to discuss this with anyone who’s willing to discuss this without the filter of politics. For those who are bothered by me discussing these themes. Feel free to contact the head of FPF media. Here’s how you can contact him:
Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook
@PeezeHSS on twitter
@pdellarocca on IG
People are people. But I digress…
Musings, Ramblings, Lies and Other Assortments
- It turns out that week 3 is picture week, try to look your most mediocre
- Zidane Il L’a Frappe will henceforth be known as Zidane ILF.
- Nobody’s yet buying propane or propane accessories from Henri Pi Sa Gang but keep an eye on Alexandre Drouin.
- Tim Duncan was the system!
- Unfortunately, the podcast was recorded without audio this week, this makes it the single worst podcast of all time.
- Zidane ILF have an interesting approach. They don’t huddle before plays and seem to play a backyard style. However, it became apparent by game’s end that the newcomers didn’t know that they had 25 seconds on the play clock. They thought that when the ref blew the play in they needed to run their next play. FPF certainly does have its learning curve.
- Incredible Thought: The Extreme Bros are the O’Doyle’s of the White Castle-verse.
- Cavaliers de Rohan’s Felix Gagne and The Off Island Boys Marcus Labropoulos lead the division in targets with 17 a piece. Thye have a combined 1-2 record. Perhaps, it’s time to start spreading the ball.
- Jordy Melnick is doing everything for Macabees. He has an interception, 2 sacks and has added 60 receiving yards.
- Carmine Pollice gonna cry, cry, cry.
- Free Agent Squad looked better in week 2. Giordano Proulx needs to protect the ball a little more but this was a much better performance for the rookie quarterback.
- I saw The Batman on opening night. It is excellent. Comic book lovers, lovers of action movies or anyone who just wants to be entertained for three hours should have a good time.
- Dusters 2.0 showed some moxy before losing out on the last play of the game. Their downfall was simply not having a single conversion on third or fourth down.
- If I had a girlfriend (sadly my wife doesn’t approve). She would cheer for Dave Allen. The dude’s post up game has been indefensible since the black and white days of FPF. This week he scored his 151st regular season receiving touchdown.
- Chill David St.Jean, you scored 3 TDs; I see you. You can’t be that guy
Memories, Hallucinations and Observations
Traffic for Days
Got a left hand, some legs and a single eye of newt? If you do you may be able to clone West Island Boys QB Nick Richard. As a fellow southpaw, SALUTE! Richard went off against Stratton Oakmont. If I’m being real for a minute, Nick Richard has some to learn to play QB in FPF. Does it mean he can’t win in this league? Obviously not! Richard is a one read and run QB. It’s not sophisticated but it’s made easier when you have his athleticism. The greatest beneficiary has been Zack “Stace God” Stacey. We’ve seen div 6 make stars of players like Max Burah and Will Power, but ZackStacey may be that next dude. In the first half Stacey intercepted a triad of passes (two for touchdowns) and caught an 8 yard pass for a TD in the first half. If you were hitting Stacey overs on your in-play app for the first half you’d be laughing.
Stratton Oakmont looked more like the sheep of Ontario St. and less like the Wolf of Wall Street. You may be thinking you’re debuting Steve Madden but FPF can see a ponzi scheme in the making. Jeremy Elhadad was inefficient, throwing interceptions and had an issue moving the ball. The Starting QB for Stratton Oakmont only attempted 10 passes and 40% of them were intercepted in a 36-12 loss. The only spark came when Harrison Oberman completed a single, long pass to James Wiseman for a 35 yard touchdown. Stratton Oakmont had a terrible outing after the fraud that was their first win against Free Agent Squad. The Schedule does ease up a little bit so we’ll see how they improve before the meat of their schedule hits from weeks 5-11.
From Stripes to Bright Lights
Immediately after reffing a game Quarterback Terry Bablis switched from Zebra to Caballo…ney to Caballote! Thunder Buddies may seem unassuming at first. Sure, you immediately recognize future HOF receiver Will Power, and sure Terry Babalis will likely be the fourth dedicated rusher inducted to the FPF Hall of Fame (after Matthew Kirouac, Ryan Aridi and (likely) Julien Paiment). Thunder Buddies are not all too familiar to FPF faithful however, Babalis recruited heavily in FPF’s sister league MFL and they are pretty solid from top to bottom. Will Power has had his imprint. His 10 catches have yielded 2 touchdowns but Daivd St. Jean and Kerano Johnson have also been impactful and are on the precipice of becoming household names.
The dude I want to draw attention to is Francois Rochette. He’s not insanely tall or incredibly athletic. He’s just a smart, instinctive player and he intercepted Matthew Zeppetelli twice in a 51-6 win over Big Fat Bats. This only represented a third of the interceptions thrown by Matthew Zeppetelli. Zeppetelli has thrown 7 interceptions so far this season after only throwing two for Oscar’s Hockey School last spring. Perhaps most amazingly, Anthony Giacomodonato and Michael Christofano intercepted Bablis who still managed some wizardry to allow him to throw 7 touchdowns. Are wizards worse than Crocs? These are the questions that keep me up at night.
Demonic Performance
The greatest trick the Devil ever performed was convincing me he improved at flag football. On Calling the Audible last week I talked about how I thought the Demons improved over the course of last season. They got lucky by arning 12 points as their opponent was late last week. This game was also a difficult measuring stick as they took the field without quarterback Adam Antel. In his absence, Matthew Neiss, Dov Vas, and Neil Wright found it incredibly difficult to move the ball. The game started with a 17 yard loss on a bad snap and that was, more yards than any single play earned the Demons in this game. After Dov Vas was intercepted 3 of his 4 times Neil Wright was also intercepted on his only attempt of the game.
Jacob Soles also had some snap inconsistencies. Primetime also had a bad snap early in the game. However, Soles remained calm and took advantage of continuous good field position to pile on the Demons. George Zergiotis doubled his touchdown output from last week and scored twice. However, the defense was the key for Primetime as Carter Condon intercepted a hat trick of passes while Alessio Muro intercepted a pair en route to a 34-6 stomping as Primetime extinguished the Demons.
Declarations of Bravado
This is my favorite thing to do. While I dislike predictions in sports, I do like making grandiose, largely-unfounded statements about teams and the seasons that they’ve yet to play. The main reason I love doing it is that a few moments upon reading the article neither you or I will remember what I wrote. For a fleeting moment you will largely be offended by where I’ve ranked your team. Isn’t that what life is all about?
- Beer Knights (2-0): Michael Pietrobon is on pace for 30 TDs in a single season. I don’t think he’ll hit it but that that would be second place all time between Adam Crystal’s 35 touchdowns and Adam Crystal’s 28 touchdowns.
- Thunder Buddies (2-0): Thunder Buddies have 5 receivers with at least 6 catches. More than their talent, their ability to attack from all positions makes them truly dangerous.
- The Stormers (2-0): Alec Richard Nantel played a nearly perfect game. He only had three incompletions and threw 5 touchdowns while running in for another.
- Tropic Thunder (2-0): Regardless of attendance, Mikael Arseneau has been the best quarterbacking we’ve seen for Tropic Thunder. The completion percentage is a little concerning but overall, the offense has been moving and this ensures that at the very least, they’ll be competitive in every game.
- 7th Rounders (2-0): They “haven’t played anyone yet” but they’ve been effective. A week 3 game between 7th Rounders and Thunder Buddies will be a worthy high water mark.
- The Spanish Inquisition (1-1): Michael Timmins has returned from his sojourn yet Chad Buck still player quarterback. Still, the team with all of it’s pieces proved to be stronger in the second week.
- Tune Squad (2-0): A closer effort than expected but a last play, 7 yard pass from Garner Ross to Ben Arnovitz took them past the first pairing of games unscathed.
- Lionhearts (1-1): Has the QB carousel settled on Carmelo DiGiovanni? If so, it’s going to take some work but if he can be competent I think the defense and athletes can keep the Lionhearts relevant.
- Glory Boyz (2-0): It does worry me that Glory Boys do have these games where they struggle to put up points. I’m a fan of Michael Hiotis but I think he does need to be a little more patient with his reads before breaking out and running his off-script offense.
- Killer Rays (2-0): Evan White needs to limit turnovers. If not for the early interception be Curtis Ryan, I don’t know if Killer Rays get passed your Girlfriend Cheers for Us.
Peeze’s Playbook
As this is an article to FPF’s introductory division. I wanted to take some time to talk about some plays that are commonly called by teams across all divisions. I will have the plays drawn up by our graphic artists (the very talented David Della Rocca).
I will then take the time to explain the concept, how/why it is effective and how QB’s should read the play. Additionally, I’m going to show how a single play can and does work against a variety of common defences.
The first play I wanted to bring up is one that is fairly ubiquitous in FPF. This is a concept for which I’m probably most familiar. I run this so often that opposing defences often call “watch for the drag” before my teams even run the first play. Still, I run it all the time and it is effective more often than not. I ran it this past week in division 4B and it led to 3 touchdowns thrown to three different routes.
Play Name: The Drag Play
Call in the Huddle (play can be reversed): Drag, 7 out, 7 out right (snappers need to know which direction their outs or ins are), post, fly.
How to read the play: The first look is to the side where the two deep routes are occurring. Given that most of us (myself probably more so than anyone reading this) were not blessed with a rocket arm, your first reads should always be deep. The idea is you want to get the ball out of your hand early if you’re throwing deep because throwing deep late leads to interceptions. Trust me, I’ve perfected the art of throwing late progression interceptions.
So, if the middle defender needs to bail to be one of the two safeties in a two deep look (an exotic cover 2 scheme seen more commonly above div 6), the ball needs to go to the fly as the middle defender cannot get there. If the defense is dropping both corners then the post is undefended.
If the deep reads are not available then one of the two outs could be open. This is especially true, if like me, you hit the drag often. If the defense starts leaving their position to jump the drag then one of the two outs should be open. It is important to note that while the slot receiver runs a 7 yard out to the sideline, the snapper needs to stop over where the slot receiver started the route so as to not have two routes ending in the same location. This can often go for lots of yards after the catch because the defender who was supposed to cover the out has abandoned their zone.
If the defense is playing lax, then the drag should be an easy reception with some YAC attached to it. This happens frequently as defenders typically get antsy and will begin drifting backwards as plays take time to develop. This is how you can get a team to pay for playing lackadaisical.
If the opposing team runs man defense against this play the drag is usually open as well as the drag is a single step in-cutting route against a defender who is typically playing 5-7 yards off the line of scrimmage. Additionally, if the defender is playing outside technique (lined up over the outside shoulder of the receiver) they are completely out of position. If the defender is faster than your receiver, or is he’s line-up closer to the line of scrimmage and playing inside technique, then you still have a one on one on both the post and fly.
If the defense is playing 4-1 corner lock then the corner will release the drag to the interior defenders. If they do not jump the drag, attack the lackadaisical defence by hitting the drag in their faces. If they do jump it, then look for one of the 7 yard outs to be open. Given that the single high safety is occupied with the post this usually creates a nice pocket for the snapper to sit in.
Visions of the World of Tomorrow
Friday’s Flourishing Fudge
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 even more guitars and anti-aging cream. 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. This week’s unfortunately has no audio.
Till next week, I want to thank you falettineme be mice elf agin!