Peeze’s Playbook (Div.E) Week 2 – FlagPlus Football League

“La vida pasa y pasa rapido, y por el sender que va dejando ella”

-Luis Fernando Zuniga

I met an interesting man this past week. He spoke little English and yet his words inspired me. This poet, writer, jeweller, artist, doctor and sage surrounded by many books from a long lost time sat with me took some time to share his wisdom. The words roughly translate to “Life happens and it happens quickly, and a trail she leaves behind scatters all her valuables”.

The wonderful sage looked at the window while talking to me as if with one eye he could see all the passersby and with another he imagined a distant village that remained unchanged as he left it many years ago. He explained that in life as time passed it left memories and experiences scattered behind and while they can never be touched after the moment passes it remains in the corners of our hearts and minds. The light from a flickering oil lamp shone upon his face as he continued to express his thoughts.

He mentioned that these ideas were inspired from an old folk song and how he reflected upon it and how, through this lens he was in fact reflecting upon his memories. He used this song as a parable and used its sentiment and its meaning to describe his life and his family. Luckily, I had a young translator who herself seemed to out of time as if, despite her youth she too was a relic of years past much like the oil lamp perched at the corner of his desk. She was from a time not quite as distant as the lamp, but from when people wore hats and underground jazz bars played the darkness into the final chord of dawn. With her help I was able to decipher his magical words. I found his descriptions and his reflections truly touching. When writing my introductions I tend to take things that happen during the week and sprinkle them into my articles to share them with you all. As such, I figured I would share this anecdote with you.

I also tend to think about how this reflects on the league in general and the division that I’m covering. I guess all I can say is that the FPF season happens and it happens quickly. While we will all strive for the trophy and one team will get to touch it and hold on to it for a moment in time, it is important to remember that it is just that. Remember that throughout the season what is truly important is the series of moments in a game. The experiences you leave on the field and share with your teammates are all that will be left in years to come. The wise man was right, when the moment passes we can never touch it again but the imprint it leaves in one’s mind and heart are eternal. Enjoy the moment everyone!

Winning; As Refreshing as Orange Crush

When I saw that Yannick Doston was recruited as the new Orange Crush QB, I was excited. I have been hard on Doston in past seasons as I have taken issue with his play-calling and game management. That being said, I think he will prove to be a very good passer in Div.E. Week 2, may prove to be the start of something for Orange Crush. Doston threw 7 touchdowns and ate up the Gingers defense. A week after playing hurt in the second half Doston lead the impressive Orange Crush offense and did not give the Gingers any room to breathe. Another higher division free agent acquisition, Jonathan Chevalier (most recently of Mongoose fame) caught 5 passes (3 of which for touchdowns) to help lead the charge. Perhaps even more inspiring is how well Orange Crush’s team defense performed. Team defense is the hardest thing to learn as it relies on discipline, trust and communication. This all takes time to learn and given that the OC came away with 4 interceptions from 4 different players, it looks like that time is now.

The Gingers have to learn the lesson that Orange Crush now seems to have embodied. They have now lost their first two games in their franchise’s history and the culprit seems to be their porous defense. The Gingers look quick but they need to be able to make adjustments and learn how to work as a unit. They have given up a league leading 79 points. QB Steven McFee has looked good but he continues to make the 1-2 mistakes that are costing the Gingers games. If he can eliminate those mistakes, they will start to win games. For now however, the Gingers fall to 0-2 as Orange Crush win this one 45-19

Always Fresh

I hate complementing my Div.E co-host (Terry Tam). Luckily I don’t need to because he hasn’t been playing well. However after beating The Pack by a score of 26-20 I do have to give credit where credit is due. Fresh MTL has looked good as they start the season 2-0. This team is athletic and they have played solid defense while there offense has done just enough to win. The key to victory in this game was Yacoub Telemaque as he caught 9 passes for 158 yards and caught 2 touchdowns. Another play that doesn’t show up on the score sheet is an incredible catch by Michael Cafe where he went up, with one hand and brough it down at the back of the endzone. Fresh MTL looks poised to make a run going forward.

As for The Pack, something just seems off. Daniel Krebs doesn’t seem like his normal dominant self. In fact after Terry Tam came very close to throwing the game away, he intercepted Krebs to secure the victory. Krebs needs not to worry too much after this game, it is still early he just needs to dig deep and remember the punches that get him into the endzone rather than just the big uppercuts that got him to be QB of the year last season. Zack Goldstein had another big game as he caught 6 passes and scored twice. Defensively, David Barth, Alex Cohen and Goldstein all intercepted passes as the Pack defense looks to be as cohesive as ever. Despite the loss I still do like this team moving foreward. Let<s see how they fare against Jean Guy this week.

Guns Don’t Kill People, Chicken Kills People

In the absence of quarterback Vince Pisano, Patrick St-Cyr had to step in for the Old Guns and he did not look great. He did manage to connect with Alex Gaudet and Jean-Benoit Bourassa for touchdowns. However, he did throw just as many interceptions in this effort. It is difficult to make out exactly how good the Old Guns are because they played a team with a lot of missing pieces in the Minge during the first week and they then played a second game with out there starting quarterback. In their defense, the Old Guns were in striking distance after the first half but their offense looked completely inept after halftime as they were outscored 13-0 in the second half.

Los Pollos Hermanos rebounded from a heart breaking loss in week 1 as they went on to beat Old Guns by a score of 25-18. Quarterback Ryan Moncarz played well again as he is completing a whopping 75% of his games thus far. Greg Wainberg and Zack Zeigler combined for 15 catches 107 yards and 3 touchdowns. This shows LPH’s flexibility as they relied on Garfinkle heavily last week, and we now have seen two other weapons emerge. The true story however was the adjustments that they made on defense as Los Pollos Hermanos were truly able to dominate until the end of the game. The ability to adapt is the mark of a strong team and I think this will give teams some difficulty in weeks to come.

5 plays Till Half Time-. Each week The Eagle at Master Control will send me five quick fire questions and I will do my best to answer them with the least amount of forethought possible. I like annoying him so many f these may be insults.

Eagle- The Division QB rating is 74.5. Does this surprise you?

Peeze- Considering that my QBR is weighing it down heavily I guess it would surprise me. Seriously, I’m not surprised at all. The offensive talent is getting better each season and defences take time to gel. What I am more surprised about is the fact that only one team has scored more than 60 points so far (Jean Guy). So quarterbacks are moving the ball down the field but not scoring.

Eagle- After two weeks it would appear that there is a great deal of parity in Division E. Do you think this will last for 10 weeks?

Peeze– I think it will for the most part. I think as time passes we will see the more experienced teams and the more experienced quarterbacks shake the rust off and start to look the part. I still think there isn’t a great disparity between the top team and the weakest team however.

Eagle- Any advice to Gingers and Hangar Crossfit?

Peeze- Win a game before Killuminati! You don’t want to be the last winless team. However, that being said, I think these teams will grow and will start to turn the corner soon. In this early stage you need to learn every game and apply what you learn week in and week out. The best way to get good fast is to speak to people who know the league more than you do. If you see me at the field or if you have friends that have played on successful teams in the past ask for help. It’s great to learn, because knowledge is power!

Eagle- Which 2-0 team will lose first?

Peeze- Alcohol of Fame, just because I don’t like you. Since the DG Goons play Killuminati in week 4 I’ll say that they’ll lose first. Their schedule also looks more challenging over the next couple of weeks (they also play Old Guns this week). I will say that I predict that they will finish ahead of the other teams currently standing at 2-0.

Eagle- Did you notice the addition of the Offensive/Defensive rating next to the player picture and the games played added in the stat section? However does El Presidente come up with all these wonderful ideas?

Peeze- Firstly, as I always take credit for any positive changes in FPF, I will say that I come up with all these wonderful ideas. In all honesty, the boss did this one on his own and both are great ideas. The games played is nice because it was insane that it used to take 38 minutes and 47 clicks to find out if a player was playoff eligible.

Reflections, Rants and Ravings:

Remember to look half decent this week because we are taking team pictures. Since many of you are going to be using these as your cover photos on facebook, remember to smale for your Facebook stalkers.
On this week’s Flag Plus Bromance we talk about the top 5 quarterbacks and the best of the best and best of the worst. Check it out to see who made the list.
Apple flavored coffee. Surprisingly, it works.
With 3 teams at 2-0 and 3 teams at 0-2, the bulk of the division is 1-1 (12 teams). This looks like it’ll be one of the most interesting seasons ever.
It looks unlikely but a throwback to 1993 would be pretty cool as for the moment the Habs are still live and the Kings have all but punched their ticket to the show.
On a related hockey note, does anyone remember Robert Kron? The playoffs always make me miss not watching the Whalers as they would have been seasoned golfers by this point in the calendar year.
I called out some 2 players on n.W.o who left their game early. I’m doing it again here because it’s unacceptable! If anyone else wants to be blasted for this you know what to do; just abandon your teammates and you too will get a dishonorable mention.
Yacoub Telemaque put up 158 yards receiving this week! What a freak!
I rarely do this but I have to give a guy a shoutout on my own team Antonio “Chapman” D’ Aversa had a career high catching 6 passes 75 yards. Impressively it seemed as though 100 of these yards came after the catch.
See how often I made reference to the podcast. This is what we call synergy.
The previous point can be considered superluminal messaging.
I saw a job posting today and it appears as though the Toronto Argonauts are looking for human Gatorade dispensers. I didn’t realize that was a real job.

Power Rankings

Alcohol of Fame (1-0)- AOF have a disruptive defense and are making some noise early. However, they will need to fix their offensive woes if they expect to see success as the season goes on.
Junkyard Dogs (1-1)- They are as even as it gets, they have a .500 record and a 0+/-. It has the markings of a team that hasn’t started clicking yet. We know they’ll be good, it’s just a matter of time.
Fresh MTL (2-0)-This is probably the rawest talent on any team. Given that Terry Tam is tied with yours truly for most interceptions thrown so far this season and they are still 2-0 shows that they have the athleticism to overcome his shortcomings.
DG Goons (2-0)- On this week’s Flag Plus Bromance, I referred to them as the best 2-0 team. They don’t score higher than 4 because week one dominance is usually not an accurate indicator and they escaped the Junkyard Dogs with a narrow victory this week.
The Pack (1-1)- I wouldn’t put too much stock into their week 2 loss as Daniel Krebs will rebound and look more up to form in weeks to come.
Cream Team (1-1) Cream Team looked more like the team we expected to see in week 2. I like what I see so far, will they be consistent in the weeks to come?
Los Pollos Hermanos (1-1)- Ryan Moncarz has a cool name and he may be the division’s best kept secret. This is a very strong team and they have the ability to let different players lead the way on any given day. They have the potential to be very dangerous.
The Minge (1-1)- They beat an 0-2 Killuminati but they looked a lot better with Matt Young in the line up and Corey Pecker is showing his worth as a receiver. This team will be good despite their shortcomings in the first week.

Other Teams Receiving Votes:

While on break during this week’s Flag Plus Bromance I asked Terry Tam to cast his vote but he was bitter because he didn’t have enough followers and boycotted this section of the article. End the boycott follow Terry @TerryTamFPF. Remember, it’s not ok to follow him home.

-Old Guns (1-1)- There week 2 loss has them sliding out of the power rankings but they may be right as rain as soon as Vince Pisano returns to quarterback the team.

– DX (1-1)- DX has had a fairly stagnant offense but they do have a ball hawking defense. They have 7 interceptions in 2 games and that cannot go unnoticed.

Hung-over Visions of the World of Tomorrow

I cannot remember the last time I ever had a losing record in my predictions. To be honest part of me is hurt as I do take pride in my predictions. However, I am quickly overcome with a sense of pride for the division. The truth is the writers prefer upsets because it means that the division is unpredictable and more interesting. Oddly enough, none of us had a winning record this week so it does keep me in striking range.

GAME	PEEZE	TERRY	GM	EAGLE

Killuminati vs. Los Pollos Hermanos	n/a	Los Pollos Hermanos	Killuminati	Los Pollos Hermanos
Jean Guy vs. The Pack	The Pack	The Pack	The Pack	The Pack
DG Goons vs. Old Guns	DG Goons	DG Goons	DG Goons	DG Goons
Gingers vs. Wax on, Wax Off	Wax on, Wax Off	Gingers	Wax on, Wax Off	Wax On, Wax Off
Fresh MTL vs. TDs and Beer	Fresh MTL	n/a	Fresh MTL	Fresh MTL
Hangar Crossfit vs. The Minge	The Minge	The Minge	The Minge	The Minge
Orange Crush vs. Junkyard Dogs	Junkyard Dogs	Junkyard Dogs	Junkyard Dogs	Junkyard Dogs
n.W.o vs.Cream Team	Cream Team	Cream Team	Cream Team	Cream Team
Alcohol of Fame vs. DX	Alcohol of Fame	DX	n/a	n/a
Record	6-10	8-8	10-6	9-7
Winning pct.	.375	.500	.625	.563

Tuesday’s Turnip Tornado

Having witnessed 2 weeks of Division E I can say that, despite the quarterback cap the talent pool has grown exponentially from last spring. I am really excited to see where this season will take us.

The new posters advertising the podcasts can now be seen in the FPF Facebook group and at the beginning of each show. Perhaps no poster has ever been more disturbing. Luckily it represents a fairly disturbing show in and of itself. You can download it at http://fpf.podomatic.com/. Got nothing better to do? Who am I kidding, there no such thing as having something better to do than watching Flag Plus Bromance and you can watch it live at www.theunclehood.com Monday nights from 8:30-9:00pm. Be part of the show by tweeting us live @EagleFPF. Until then if you have any questions, comments or letters of blackmail please feel free to email me at [email protected] or by tweeting me @PeezeFPF.

Have a great and safe week of action. See you at the fields!