The Wrath of Khan (D2) – Week 9

First off, before I get into this column, some sad business to take care of. On behalf of the FPF family, I would like to extend my condolences to the Tassone family for their loss of a great son and man in Adriano Tassone. During the last two FPF seasons, I was privileged to know Adriano through the press conferences that the WEPL would always hold before finals weekend. Adriano was a class act, a funny guy, and a relaxed individual. One of the best FPF quotes that I ever heard was from him during the D2 winter press conference, when he described how he expected his QB to perform against the “other” McGill team’s defence: “This upcoming weekend is one of my good friend Ryan Kastner’s high holidays called Passover, so I’m gonna be looking for Ryan to be “passing it over” the Red Army defence, all night long”. A lot of people at these press conferences became reserved and hid their true personalities to some extent. Not Adriano. His comments were witty, clever and really showed a side of Tassone that everyone who knew him well will certainly miss. This world has lost a great person.

For all the great games that D2 has produced this winter season, I feel slighted since all of the playoff spots have been determined with one more weekend of games left to play. However, all the exciting finishes that occurred last weekend point towards an excellent few weeks ahead.

The Texas All-Stars and All Blacks game was a thriller from start to finish. This might sound like a broken record, but for a talented team like the All-Stars, they need to stop relying on their athleticism, and starting using their football IQ to win the one on one battles. Throughout the game, it seemed like the intensity was more relaxed than in previous weeks. In fact, they almost lost the game on the last play, however, their defense came up with a big stop when All Blacks quarterback Tony Tabet was stone walled at the 1-yard line.

In the post-game aftermath, the All Blacks were deflated, exhausted, and disappointed in their loss, but kudos to them for keeping the game close, playing with a gritty style that has been difficult on their opponents.

As for the All-Stars, they can finish as high as fourth or as low as sixth place, depending on what the Waterbuffaloes, and Thundering Herd do in their respective games. No matter what, the All-Stars have all the intangibles to be a difficult out, but they need to be more consistent, focused, and not too overconfident in their abilities to win. Should they do so and advance to the next stage of the playoffs, teams like the Shockers, and Messengers of Happiness who have the inside track at the bye week might be praying to the football Gods to avoid them as opponents. The speed they have can be dangerous in positive and negative ways for this club.

Will the real Click Clack please stand up? Ever since their loss to the Wolfpack, it seems that they are playing the style of football that is comparable to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), up and down. The Clack barely scraped by the last place Black Knights by a single point, then beat an undermanned Notre Dame team by four points, and beat a tough Homosapiens on a miracle due to a risky but great call on defense that resulted in a Ben Leger’s interception and an eventual TD on the last play. It seems the Clack have 10 lives to spare. This team has championship potential, but which one will show up on the weekends? The one that was dominant early on in the season when no opposing offense could score on their defense, or version 2.0 that was shutout by the Wolfpack in the second half of their game. In their first five games, they looked like the Dallas Cowboys of the 90’s, as they had scored 177 points for, and allowed 44 points against. On the other hand, in their last four games, they have scored a mere 112 points for, and have allowed an eye popping 106 points against.  For a team that is proud of having a stout defense, they need to start tightening up their ship’s loose screws, as they can ill afford to make these Christian Laettner comebacks a regular occurrence once the playoffs arrive.

If the current standings of Conference A and B end up the same a week from now, the Waterbuffaloes and Notre Dame will be the sixth seeds. Who is the more dangerous team? Throughout the season, everyone knew that a team that has Craig O’Brien as a starter and Chad Byers as a backup (?!?) will be tough to beat. In talking to a couple teams that are above the Buffaloes in the Conference A standings, they certainly do not want to face them in the playoffs. Looking at the past history of teams that these two players have quarterbacked, they have upended the likes of the High Rollerz (O’Brien), the Vipers (Byers) so there is a great chance they can pull a surprise or two during the playoffs this winter.

As for Notre Dame, the same can be said about teams higher ranked not wanting to play them in the opening round of the playoffs. With the magician, Hamid Mahmoudi showing up last weekend in their win over the Wolfpack, they have new life. If he continues to appear rather than disappear, the Golden Domers defense will be dangerous. Looking at the overall roster that includes team captain, Richard Shefteshy, Kishon Thompson, Mahmoudi, and Moe Menassa, they have the talent to compete with the best offenses. But the only question that remains is whether their offense will be consistent enough to ease the burden on their defense to win games? Otherwise, they have the potential to sneak up on a team or two in the playoffs.          

Percentages%

2%, that the Seminoles will beat a tough opponent in the Messengers of Happiness for their first win.

10%, that Rick Ninchieri, who has passed for 1844 passing yards, will crack the 2000 yards mark.

12%, that Red Ballers receiver, Sanchez Deschamps who sits at 43 receptions, will reach 50 catches in total.

15%, that the Monarchs will finish off the season with a win against the Brotherhood.

15%, that Happiness pass rusher, Stephane Cole will be the sack king in D2, currently he has 15 for the season.
 
21%, that my co-host, and Shockers’ own, Ros Castleton who has 11 touchdown receptions will reach the 15 touchdown department.

25%, that the Wolfpack, and Click Clack will respectively finish first and second place in Conference B.