Food for Thought (Div B) – Week 3

When I don’t look, I imagine greatness. When I open my eyes, I see power. I see it being almost ripped apart between quarrelling foes in need of its uplifting and overwhelming presence. And I think to myself, what a wonderful sport. Because I know power is in short supply. And to waste your energies on keeping it within your grasp so early in the summer might leave you all dried up when the true test comes. What is the most important game in sports? The last game. The one you come up short in. The one after which you ask yourself: “what happened?”. Well, the expected happened; you lost track of where you were and did not fight accordingly. The greatest challenge in sports is to know when to step up, when to push yourself to the limit. But when you miss that moment, that’s when you start reliving it over and over for a very long time.

 

 

With great power comes great responsibility

 

Let’s have quick look as to who is holding that elusive power at this point in the season. As I have stated earlier, this is bound to change…

 

 

1. Terminators: Anthony Thompson + Marc Champagne = Stacked! If this team doesn’t win it all, (most of FPF actually thinks they won’t) it will be a major disappointment.

 

2. Prestige World Wide: Only team with a ‘0’ in the loss column, they rely on chemistry, Patrick Jérome’s ability to make game changing plays and several solid 2-way players.

 

3. Alkoholiks: When Paul Lapierre and Garrett Taylor are in the line-up, they are a force to be reckoned with. Who would be crazy enough to bet against a Jamaal Pierre-led team anyways?

 

4. G-Men: The division is so competitive I have to rate one of its best teams as 4th. The G-Men definitely have what it takes to win although their QB is a sophomore. Jinx?

 

5. Blackshirts: 2-0 with Rostyn Castleton in the line-up, 0-1 without him. Is he that much of a factor? Maybe. All we know is this team’s tough loss last weekend has exposed some of their defensive weaknesses and dropped them to the last contender spot.

 

6. Big TD’s: I was so impressed in Jamil Springer’s performance last week that I decided to rate Big TD’s as the top underdog. If he can maintain such a high completion percentage and keep being a threat on defence, he could carry his team pretty far this season.

 

7. Maniax: Now that Tony Khoury is back, they have a chance to bounce back from their 0-3 start. In my mind, this team is way better than its record states and to take them lightly would be a very dangerous thing to do.

 

8. FTMP: Coming off a disaster game against Big TD’s they will need to regroup, pray, meditate and whatever else seems appropriate to regain their funky ways and not continue to show us some monkey plays.

 

9. Redemption: As much as I love Andre Knights as a receiver and a safety, Redemption needs to get an experienced QB behind centre (where is Mike Godyn?). Till then, they will rule the bottom tier of these standings.

 

10. Rude Bwoys: Will Daniele Gentile be able to pull them over the hump? Chances are he won’t (they have the worst defence in the division). One thing is certain though. In the end, we will all be very sad to see this classy team go down in flames.

 

11. Falcons: Lucky for them, their defence has been ok till now. But their offence…seriously! Who would be afraid of a team averaging 13 points a game!?!?

 

 

Under Fire

An interview with Redemption’s Andre Knights.

 

Alex Porras: How do you think your team did in their last game?

 

Andre Knights: We struggled today. Luckily it was my last game as QB since Mike Godyn will be back form vacation this week. With him in the line-up, we will have a complete unit, which should enable us to bounce back.

 

 

A. P.: What’s the story behind the Redemption franchise?

 

A. K.: A couple of years ago, some of the Shockers’ backup players made a team, which was comprised mainly of the players now on Redemption. They had a terrible first season going 0-10 and decided to make some additions to the line-up and change their name for their second season as a franchise. That’s where the name Redemption comes from.

 

A. P.: So did you guys redeem yourselves?

 

A. K.: We made the playoffs last year, and almost upset the Kingz in the first round. I still think we should’ve won that game.

 

 

A. P.: How did you like your first 3 outings as a QB?

 

A. K.: Obviously, the first one went pretty well. In the second, I decided to go with a sub (Rob White) but that didn’t turn out as expected and I finished the game at QB and was quite successful.

 

 

A. P.: You were indeed quite successful in that second half against the G-Men two weeks ago. That left me quite surprised.

 

A. K.: I was surprised too! But now, I’m just looking forward to being on the receiving side of the ball.

 

 

A. P.: You’ve played with contending teams like the Montreal’s Finest and the Shockers. How does that compare to playing with an underdog team like Redemption?

 

A. K.: It’s different, mainly because you have to know your personnel a bit better, especially when you are calling the shots. Every game, you get a little bit scrappier. When you can’t rely only on your talent to win you games you have to play smart.

 

 

A. P.: You have to play “Small Ball”.

 

A. K.: Exactly. When you have players like Kevin Wyeth throwing the ball, you can take more chances on the defensive side of the ball. You can play more “man defence” when you got more athletes. Here, we’re a lot more limited, especially on defence. But if you have a competitive group of guys you can do anything.

 

 

A. P.: Are you looking forward to playing Ross’ Blackshirts further into the season?

 

A. K.:  Sure, that will be fun! He put a lot of energy into building his team. A couple of guys on Redemption were actually supposed to play with him at some point but decided to stick with us. Definitely, that’s a match up I ‘m looking forward to.

 

 

A. P.: Anything else you would like to put out there that concerns your Division?

 

A. K.: This team playing right now (Terminators were playing the Falcons during the interview) has no business in Division B. They have Marc Champagne, Gino Di Fazio, Anthony Thompson and so many others; seriously, they’re way too stacked to be here! And you know what? They won’t even win.

 

 

A. P.: Is there a player that you played in the past that you really hated lining up against?

 

A. K.: I would have to go with Michael Roy. He’s not in the league anymore, but when he was the Monarchs QB he definitely got on my nerves!

 

 

A. P.: And who would be your favourite teammate?

 

A. K.: All the Shocker players are amazing guys to play with and I choose all of them as my favourite teammate.

 

 

The Stars of the Week

 

Once again this week, we were fortunate enough to witness some great performances by some of the best players in the FlagPlus Football community.

 

Here are this week’s 5 Stars:

 

1. Jamil Springer: 81.3 completion percentage (!) to go with 3 TD’s and a whopping 139.3 QB rating. Don’t forget his interception and his 31 rushing yards!

 

2. Anthony Thompson: 129 yards on only 4 catches with most of those yards being won after the catch. Don’t forget that end-zone-to-end-zone interception return where he eluded 6 players (some more than once) to get a pick 6!

 

3. Paul Lapierre: Back after missing week 2, he led all QB’s with 217 yards and 6 TD to go with a 121.5 QB rating.

 

4. Mike Smith: 6 catches for 92 yards and 3 TD’s. Here’s someone who was happy to see Paul Lapierre back in form!

 

5.Jacques Void: The lonely star on his team this week with 3 TD’s on 6 catches and 92 receiving yards.

 

 

Technically Speaking…

 

For any questions regarding statistics, rules clarification or for any other FlagPlus Football related enquiries, please email me at [email protected]. As always, I hope I have entertained you as much as you entertain me weekly. See you Sunday.