Fourth-and-Goal (Div C) – Week 3

I’ve got a fair bit of content in this article, so I’m going to skim over the recaps this time around. Even though I watched a good chunk of Division C games this week. Apparently, Simon thinks that I spend too much time in Catalogna. So I’ll go straight to the power rankings, then my debate. I’ve also got a new segment, and now a really, really long article to keep pace with for the rest of the season.

 

Power Rankings

 

There are obviously standout teams in the division. Get used to seeing them consistently in the power rankings, with little movement.

 

1: Prestige World Wide – They’re perfect, up until this moment. Without a doubt they’re strong. But it’s not easy sailing with a bulls-eye on your back.

2: Hall of Famers – The opposite of PWW; the under-the-radar undefeated pick. I consider them a very, very dangerous team.

3: Daron Basmadjian Fan Club – Where in the heck is Joe Birds? Has he abandoned this team for good?

4: Monstars – Cue the broken record of my feelings that their offense will never match the prowess of their defence.

5: Broccasion – Becoming the Marco/Theo show. Quite possibly the most dangerous QB/Receiver tandem, and it’s backed up by a finals-worthy team.

6: Predators – They look surprisingly solid. They fit well together, and have made themselves even deeper with Marcoux and Lavallee.

7: Flight of the Concords – An already well-functioning team with an addition of talent in Tam Villaydeth.

8: The Commission – A light schedule, but they’d likely be here regardless. Bringing back the Avraam/Ciampini connection will be tough for teams to counter.

9: Sphinx – Definitely a darkhorse at this stage of the game. Let’s hope that they keep it up.

10: Mustangs du Gridiron – They had their first real challenge and only lost by one. The move up has been a good one.

 

My Debate With Simon

 

Speaking of Monsieur Dagenais, he and I agreed to go over three specific and talked about subjects in the division. Luckily for me, his article came out before mine did, so I got the chance to read his opinions. Even luckier for me, I disagree with them (for the most part). So, after you’ve read my article in its entirety, feel free to go check out Simon’s. Google translation optional.

 

–        What do you think about Mustangs du Gridiron?

I’ll start this one off by reminding everyone that the Mustangs called me a hater for picking against them on the WEPL a few times in a 10 week season. In all honesty, I’m not; I did follow them briefly in their freshman year with Simon Fortier and Samuel Nadeau. They weren’t strangers to football then. Now, however, they’ve evolved with more and more repetitions in the league. They’re a good fit for Division C. They’ve got a good and somewhat light schedule, and should do well. However, if you’re asking me what I think of them, I’ll point out that they’ve run up the score on a few teams on more than one occasion, which we can always go without. Playing your hardest when you face a 5-man team, or running up the score when you’re up 36-0 at the half to ensure a 64-0 win is not an admirable thing to do. Aside from that, it’s all dandy. I also love their new jerseys and shorts. My colleague Simon thinks that their defense is their strong point, and their offense is just catching up. I’m not sure that it’s 100% accurate. Yeah, having a full defense and offense will mean that the defenders are always fresh and waiting, but I feel that their offense doesn’t get their share of the limelight. Very few passes are dropped, and execution is top notch. All that remains is adjusting to the play style of C.

 

–        Should FlagPlus Football intensify its rules concerning aggressive behavior and lack of sportsmanship?

This is definitely a loaded question. I’m also going to give my opinion based on aggressive behavior and lack of sportsmanship separately. Aggressive behavior: I feel that this one is the trickier and less evident one of the two. Because we, as players, are giving all of our intensity and focus for each 6-10 second play at a time, it’s understandable that our physicality and drive to be the better man on the play is bound to come out. But it’s also understandable that because of this, it’s harder for an official to not be able to tell the difference between physicality and aggressiveness. We have players in the division who are physical, yes. However there is a HUGE difference between the physicality of a player and the aggressiveness. Off of the top of my head, I’ll name two physical players: Sebastien Pereda and Marc-Andre Paquin. Both of these guys are physical. Pereda will out muscle you going up for a ball, and Paquin will box you out when catching a pass. But it’s important to note that neither of these guys are aggressive. They’re not about to throw elbows or drop their shoulder, which is more of an issue with some other “aggressive” players. Referees should be punishing aggressive behavior, but not physical. And it’s a tough job.

Regarding lack of sportsmanship: I’d be all for officials enforcing a more gentlemanly game. Yes, smack talk makes the game more exciting and interesting. But this isn’t contact, where the winner of the smack talk is the one who hits the guy harder on the following play. There’s nothing more humbling than a crack block. However, that’s not about to happen in this league. As such, the intensity gets pent up. There’s however, no need to gloat and shout over someone while they’re down, or drop hateful or hurtful words. The “hand back the flag” rule was a perfect step in the direction of lessening the lack of sportsmanship. Perhaps we’ll see more changes in the upcoming seasons.

 

–        Prestige World Wide

The subject was bound to come up eventually. Yes, Prestige are strong. However, the debate is as to whether they are too strong. I’m not going to answer this with a yes or no answer right away; I’m going to answer it with empirical evidence and a rhetorical question or two. The facts: PWW were a Division B team last spring with a very different roster. PWW were a Division 3 team last spring with the same exact roster. Patriotes were a Division B team last spring, as well as Division 3 in winter, with the same roster. Patriotes beat PWW back to back; In week 10 of the season, and then immediately in week 1 of the playoffs. And yet, no one has said anything about the Pats. Is it because of their 1-1-1 record, or is it because the Pats belong in C? If Prestige had a 1-1-1 record at this point, would we even be having this discussion? And if the Pats belong in C, shouldn’t Prestige as well?

 

 

 

Random Thoughts

 

–        Longhorns/Sea Assassins: How often do you see a rusher picking off a SNAP??? Huge props to Christian Talbot for the INT.

–        Well, I know that we’re underway in the season when my FPF email account gets spammed. Mature love is telling me not to waste my time on youngsters. Wise words indeed.

–        There’s nothing cooler than a 4-way tie in Division A! I would have delved further, but Alex D’Aquila already stole my thunder in the Facebook group.

–        Next week, I will be once again submitting my picks for this season’s (imaginary) FPF fantasy football. Stay tuned.

 

5 For 5

 

Here’s a new part of the article. I’ll grab a panel of five guys from the division and ask for quick answers to 5 questions. This way, my weekly influence is somewhat mitigated; you’re in for a change each week. It also gives me the opportunity to get more emails; I’d like to hear from you guys. I’ll try to cycle through all of the C teams, so if a teammate of yours has already been asked…sorry. This week’s panel consists of: Andrew Funamoto (Monstars), Bryan Nguyen (The Commission), Gautama Swaminadhan (X-Men), George Latter (Referee) and Steve Hodhod (Broccasion)

 

1: Favorite game that you’ve ever watched/been a part of in FPF.

2: Most underrated player in FPF

3: Lachine or Brossard?

4: What’s better; being down in the score with the ball, or up and on defense?

5: Who first told you about FPF?

 

Andrew:

 

1: I’m not really a player who remembers specific moments or games, but I really love watching the Incredibles. They have an explosive offense and they’re a group of great guys. I’m a little biased because I played a few games with them, but the combination of Jake’s finesse and Marco’s physicality is simple and exciting.

2: I don’t know too many players around the league, even though I’ve been around the league for a bit, but I would say that Jad Aridi is an unbelievable two way player for my team, the Monstars. He comes to play every week, defending passes and forcing mistakes. Not only is he aggressive and disciplined on defense, but he also has great hands and an uncanny ability to turn small plays into big ones.

3: BROSSARD. Better lighting, better turf, more accessible. There is absolutely no question.

4: I’m a QB so I love the pressure of needing to score with the game on the line, but with my defense behind me, I’ll take the lead and give the other team the ball every time.

5: I started playing with the Monstars in 2010 after Moh Azab heard I was looking for a team. He has been the cornerstone of the Monstars since day one. He makes good decisions on the field, and has made better decisions as a team manager. His focus has always been on finding players who share similar qualities so that team chemistry always supersedes a superstar.

 

Bryan:

 

1. I haven’t watched many games in FPF, so I can’t really answer that first part, but my favorite game being a part of was the Spring 2011 Finals against MMM. Although we lost, it was my first ever contention for a championship/MVP trophy. It was also one of my best games ever.
2. The most underrated player that I know of in FPF is my teammate in Div D, Alex Lewis. He’s a natural safety and makes incredible plays on defense. That’s why I recruited him onto my Div D team.
3. Depends on the season, so Lachine in the summer, and Brossard in the winter. I can’t stand the Lachine Dome…too cold.
4. Up and on defense, because as a rusher, I get that adrenaline rush knowing that each sack I get, makes the QB’s job much harder and our defense’s a lot easier.
5. I was first told about it by Gianni Settino, who I knew from CEGEP. We played with friends and our first season was horrible. I also didn’t play rusher then.

 

Gautama:

 

1: X-Men vs. Boom Goes the Dynamite! in our first season.  We started off the season 0-5 and got destroyed by them in the regular season.  We were the 7th ranked team facing the 2nd ranked Boom in the playoffs.  No one expected us to play the way we did.  We had a game plan to neutralize their rusher [Chris] St-Francois which worked and we ended up upsetting them 31-18.

2: It is hard for me not to choose someone from my team as I feel that Suhael Brohi is an amazing player who always seems to go unnoticed.  He is a real good defensive player who covers so much field and has also emerged as an offensive threat.

3: Brossard has the better field and facilities but Lachine has the better location.  The bridge is to be avoided!

4: I would rather be down with the ball and have the game decided with our offense. 

5: My brother told me about FPF as he played in one of the first seasons of the league.  He thought it would be a good idea for a bunch of us to form a team.  It has been fun ever since.

 

 

George:

 

1: Man, this is a tough one. As an official, I get to see about 10 games each week, so I’ve seen a lot of great games, I really can’t think of one that stands out as being a favorite. Most zebras would probably agree that our favorite game to work would be a close one that leaves you physically and mentally drained, without too much complaining from the players (apparently those types of games exist, I’ve read about them in books).

2: As a referee with FPF, I get to see a LOT of different players from pretty much every team from every division. Based on that, I’m going to have to go with my fellow sub-5’6er, Mitch Chiba as the most under-rated. Maybe I wouldn’t put him up against Don Shepard for a jump-ball, but he’s a smart, speedy guy who runs crisp routes, has exceptional leadership abilities and can help out on defense. Honorable Mention to Theo Ojeaha, who is having an incredible year from the games I’ve seen so far this season.

3: Lachine in the summer, Brossard in the winter. Zebras hate the cold.

4: Thankfully, I have an unbeaten record of never trailing at any point in any game I’ve been a part of in FPF.

5: Sol Gliksman [Former Head of Officials] recruited me after I’d started hearing about this great up-and-coming league in Lachine.

 

Steve:

 

1: Winter 2009 Division 2, Round 1 of the playoffs – Pacmen vs Notre Dame. ND was stacked; they had Hamid Mahmoudi, JM Laplante, Kishon Thompson and Moe Khan! Pacmen had hard workers AND Kevin Wyeth. We were down by 5, got the ball back with 3 plays and Wyeth scored (what else is new)… 46-44 Pacmen!

2: Tough question, the guy that comes to mind first is Kyle Lebofsky. We knew what he was capable defensively over the past couple seasons, but last winter he broke out offensively as a receiver and showed how good he really is. Other guys in Div C…Francois Deslauriers, Olivier Saleh, Sebastien Pereda.

3: Brossard- better field and better overall scent! 

4: Up and on Defense- you never wanna be down in the score!

5: Phil Ackaoui and Richard Shefteshy told me in 2006, they were friends with this guy named Robert Campana. Many, many years later I am glad they did. 

 

 

Quick Picks

 

As usual, picks in bold.

 

KGP Champs vs. Broccasion: Broccasion have the ability to deal with everything that KGP throw at them…it’s going to be a tough one.

Favre Dollar Footlongs vs. Sphinx: FDF are still learning how to get those athletes to play as a team, and Sphinx function too well as a unit.

Mustangs du Gridiron vs. Pump & Ditch: Shawn Haney is going to be very important for them in the coming weeks ; go with Pump & Ditch for this one.

Predators vs. Le Zoo: Le Zoo are very smart and work well together, but Predators just look too deep right now to be stopped.

The Commission vs. Mongoose: The Commission are looking for revenge. Mongoose have trouble fielding a full roster. Play it safe. The Commission

Rude Bwoys vs. Formerly Teamless: N/A

Eagles vs. Hall of Famers: It’s the first time that Hall of Famers play against an unorthodox offense. But I still think that Hall of Famers will take it.

Silent Assassins vs. Pap n’ Co: With the acquisition of former Vanier and Southern Alabama phenom Myles Gibbon, Pap n’ Co have become the most dangerous winless team in the division.

X-Men vs. Monstars: Despite the flack I thrust upon them from week to week, Monstars should take this one.

Flight of the Conchords vs. French Toast Mafia FFC: FTMFFC will have their hands full against FOTC’s duo of Lemieux and Villaydeth. Flight of the Conchords

Ninja Turtles vs. Like Our TDs: I get the feeling that this game is going to be won on defense. Like Our TDs have a weaker O, but play better D.

The Incredibles vs. Patriotes: All you need to do is not get into head games with Patriotes in order to win. The Incredibles should do just that.

Real Deal vs. Jewish Cucumbers: I think that we’re finally going to see what Real Deal are made of.  

Prestige World Wide vs. Daron Basmadjian Fan Club: The Bisharas know the key to unraveling Lever’s offence. This is definitely the game to watch. Daron Basmadjian Fan Club

 

 

Finally, I’m done. Reach me at [email protected] if you like. In the meantime, I leave you with how my readership finds my articles.

 

 

Quote of the Week

 

Colin Taylor of DBFC: “Gordie’s just upset because you said that his time in the spotlight was over”

 

Gordon Hogan: “He’s dead to me.”