Word from the Mouth: Ain't Kickin' No Trash Cans! edition

Word from the Mouth: Ain't Kickin' No Trash Cans! edition

Kevin Kousaie

Man, am I ever late with this week’s article! I was busy on Monday with training at another location, then spent two hours at the SAAQ on Tuesday. What a circus the government can be. I tried to get my abstract online, set up an account, did all the verification steps—only to be told they’ll mail me a confirmation number so I can access the account I just set up. Now that is some grade-A nonsense.

This week we’re kicking off the run to the finals, and except for D1, most teams will need to win three games to be crowned champs. All the games are at Leber this week, so no need to run from park to park. And as of now, the weather looks nice for Saturday, but who knows how that could change!

 

Recap

 

D1: Pocket Rockets vs KOLB (46-39)
Neither team had much on the line here. KOLB’s win would only tie with A-Team (who won the head-to-head), and Pocket Rockets just wanted to get a win on the board. Jermi made KOLB miss his flags at least once on his 9 catches and 118 yards, also scoring 2 TDs. The real star, though, was Ali, who scored 4 TDs on 8 catches and picked off 2 passes. He’s been open all season, but this game showed he should’ve been more involved. In the second half, Jon and KOLB struggled with the wind, giving Pocket Rockets a chance to pick off passes. Happy to see Pocket Rockets get their first win, but they needed this energy all season to be a real threat.

 

D2: Average Joes vs Rejects (26-20)
Eric Namts is Dobbs’ go-to for big plays, but Gio is the one he trusts for those tough catches. This week, the defense stepped up, with Lambert getting two picks off Avery and even scoring on one. Joes made the switch from Jason to Avery at QB, but was it the right call? We’ll see as the season wraps up. Devin and Jason did most of the work for Joes, totaling 16 out of 24 catches and 129 of 172 yards, scoring all 3 TDs. For playoffs, if they want to win, they need either those numbers to go way up, or someone else has to step up—or else Joes might be one and done.

 

D3: Ducks vs Drama Club (48-20)
Drama Club wasn’t exactly hyped for this game. Simon let Alex play QB just so they’d have 7 players and 1 person could rest on offense. Dave Lepine went 21 of 30 for 200+ yards and 6 TDs with no picks. Antoine was a beast, with 5 catches for 107 yards, 3 TDs, and a pick that he ran in. Both teams were content with how it ended, and no one got hurt, which is what matters since they’re both already in the playoffs.

 

D4: Mustard Tigers vs Slot Machines (16-31)
Eric picked Brian off 4 times. Brian tried to tackle once, but on another pick, Eric took off, thinking Brian would dodge, and guess what? Brian didn’t budge. Mustard Tigers are too old for this matchup; they just can’t keep up. Old man Jon promised to make a play on both sides of the ball, and he did—scoring two 1-point conversions and securing a big first down. But his defense game... well, age catches up. Eric was everywhere, getting 4 picks on defense and scoring 2 TDs on offense with 68 yards on 8 catches.

 

D5: Phoenix vs Big Booties (18-24)
Big Booties slipped away with this one. They know it, and I know it. Some calls went their way, and others didn’t get called at all. Jorge was smart, feeding the ball to Arthur (their sub) and Kayla. Phoenix played softer defense due to the way flags were being tossed around, which limited their aggression. Chrissy has been wearing the big dog’s nameplate all season and stepped up this game with 3 sacks and a TD. Big Booties played their best game of the season here, no question. If Phoenix wants any shot at the title, they need to wake up and play like they did earlier in the season.

 

Women’s
Sorry, ladies! I missed all your games this week. Hoping to catch a playoff game next week.

 

Studs & Duds


It’s the last week of the season, and some players saved their best for last, while others just phoned it in. Here’s who made it where:

Studs


D1

· Ali: 4 TDs and 2 picks

D2

· Edouard Guimas: 7 catches, 59 yards, and 3 TDs

D3

· Emilie Carrier: 3 catches, 81 yards, 2 TDs, 1 tackle, and 1 pick

D4

· Vincent Martel: 6 catches, 107 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 convert; 2 tackles and a pick

D5

· Julien Shabazz: Double-double with 2 TDs and 2 picks

Women’s

· Branda Léonard: 292 yards, 7 TDs, 5 2-point converts, 7 runs for 22 yards, and 1 TD in 2 games

 

Duds


D1

· Jonathan Plourde: 4 picks thrown

D2

· Jean-Francois Rolland-Leclerc: 4 picks

D3

· Blitzing Bastards for not showing up and forfeiting the last game—not cool

D4

· Brian Mustard: 4 picks

D5

· Ryan Wong: 5 picks

Women’s

Kayla Gauthier: 5 picks

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 10

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 10

Kevin Kousaie

**Predictions**

 

With only one week left to play, picking games this week will be a bit more difficult, as many teams are still fighting for their playoff lives. If last week is any indication of how this week will go, I went 16-10, or 61.5%. Let’s see who I have winning this week, and as always, my picks are in bold.

 

**D1**

 

**A-Team vs Iron Wolves**  

**Pocket Rockets vs KOLB**

 

**D2**

 

**Average Joes vs Rejects**  

**RawSauce vs Tigres**  

**Villains vs Respect**  

**

 

Bines vs Average Joes**  

**Tigres vs Double Dippers**

 

**D3**

 

**Tropic Thunder vs Blitzing Bastards**  

**Top Shooters vs Iron Wolves**  

**Ducks vs Drama Club**  

**Turf Ninjas vs CIA**  

**Top Shooters vs Blitzing Bastards**  

**Sour Puss vs Tropic Thunder**

 

**D4**

 

**F.A.T. Players vs Binettes**  

**Blue Badgers vs Witching Hour**  

**Action Squad vs Hawks**  

**Mustard Tigers vs Slot Machines**  

**Blue Badgers vs Mustard Tigers**

 

**D5**

 

**Jungle Squad vs Wong Dynasty**  

**Slicks vs Bear Hood**  

**PickSixers vs 28-3**  

**Titans vs 514**  

**Spartans vs Budget Cats**  

**Big Booties vs Phoenix NA**

 

**Women’s**

 

**Déesses du Drapeau vs Steeleuses**  

**Dirty Chia Latte vs Crazy B’s**  

**Majestic Divas vs Tigres**  

**Dirty Chia Latte vs Steeleuses**

 

Those are my picks for the final week of the season.

 

**Power Rankings**

 

With one week left to play and several important games still to be played, let’s jump into it and see who I have ranked where.

 

**D1**  

#1 - Outlaws  

#2 - Iron Wolves  

#3 - A-Team  

 

**D2**  

#1 - Respect  

#2 - Thunder Buddies  

#3 - Nice TDs  

 

**D3**  

#1 - CIA  

#2 - Ducks  

#3 - Iron Wolves  

 

**D4**  

#1 - Witching Hour  

#2 - Blue Badgers  

#3 - Slot Machines  

 

**D5**  

#1 - Slicks  

#2 - Phoenix  

#3 - Les Last Calls  

 

**Women’s**  

#1 - Steeleuses  

#2 - Tigres  

#3 - Déesses du Drapeau  

 

Those are my rankings after 10 weeks of games.

 

**Final Thoughts**

 

I was hoping to keep this week’s article under 2000 words, and I think I succeeded. I just don’t want to make Jon’s job as editor too easy. I mean, he already has Terry and me doing most of the work, and I forgot to mention that Willie runs the league but takes no liability; that’s all Jon. This is the last week of the season, and starting this week, no smoking inside the fenced area, or you will be suspended for the remainder of the day and the following week you are playing. With under 100 words left, I’ll let you go, but remember that we are playing a game, and it’s supposed to be fun, so go out, have some fun, get some exercise, and don’t kill anyone. See you all Saturday.

Word from the Mouth: Corrected by ChatGPT! edition

Word from the Mouth: Corrected by ChatGPT! edition

Kevin Kousaie & ChatGPT

Let me start by apologizing to everyone who had to witness my Antonio Brown moment on Saturday. I know I shouldn't have acted the way I did. The funny thing was, while I was losing my composure, Andrew was laughing and telling me to stay calm and focus on the game. At that point, it was too late, but I’ll act accordingly next time. You might be wondering what happened to make me lose it. I’ll just say I’m sick of getting hit over and over without a call just two feet in front of the ref. I’m not talking about soft contact; I mean when you can’t bend your arm, the rusher is on the floor holding his head, and the other team claims you hit him. This is BS, and we, as refs, need to do a better job of this. As players, we also need to tone it down a bit and take it easy. Someone thinks I’m going to have a heart attack at an early age (Ed’s note: too late!). I mean, that might happen, but it’s not from yelling and screaming; it’s from eating garbage for years.

 

**Recap**

 

**D1**

 

**A-Team vs KOLB (37-32)**

 

Dave started the game great, leading A-Team on three TD drives to open the game before Simon picked him off on back-to-back drives. At halftime, the score was 19-all, and it looked like the game would be decided by converts. With 5:45 left in the second half, Jonathan connected with sub Justin for a one-point convert, giving KOLB a 26-25 lead. In the past, this is where A-Team would start to bicker. After a bad snap on first down, not a word was said; the very next play, Andrew caught a 45-yard TD, regaining the lead. With five minutes left, Dilan calling the D, A-Team was in a great spot. We all thought that until Justin ran free on a post route for a 20-yard TD. After boring the defense with a few short passes, Dave hit Jeremy over the top in the end zone for another 20-yard TD. Up by five, A-Team went for two but failed, leaving it at five. With only a few plays left, Jon needed to get the ball downfield quickly, but after back-to-back drops from his receiver, he went to Simon twice for 23 yards. This left one play, a pass to the front goal line, where Jeremy batted it out of bounds, ending the game and preserving the win.

 

**Pocket Rockets vs Iron Wolves (12-35)**

 

I won’t say much about this game since Willie was in it, and I’m sure he’ll mention something on the podcast. The Pocket Rockets are one star player away from being a team that can compete in D1. Without Alexis, they aren’t the same team and lack a deep threat. How do you hold Manu, Josh, and Meis to six catches and 34 yards and still lose? I forgot to mention they had two TDs as well.

 

**D2**

 

**Phoenix vs Bines (12-25)**

 

Going into the game, Phoenix knew they were all but out of the playoffs, so they just wanted to finish the season and maybe ruin Bines' playoff hopes along the way. In the first half, neither team could score, no matter how close they got to the end zone. In the second half, Bines came out with a 12-play scoring drive to go up by six. This is when I tried to do more than I was capable of by attempting deep throws, leading to turnovers and the game getting out of reach.

 

**Nice TDs vs Rejects (34-20)**

 

It’s disappointing when a sub comes in and takes over a game, and that’s exactly what happened here with Francois. He only made four catches, but it totaled 63 yards, two TDs, and three one-point converts. He also made four tackles on defense and batted away at least two or three balls. Francois has been in the league, and most of us know who he is, so getting him at a 75 rating is a steal and allows Andrew to run free with only one defender around him. Dobbs put up good numbers except for three picks, but he was off this game. He had a few players open that he either missed or the ball was dropped. These two teams will play again, and when they do, take Rejects.

 

**D3**

 

**Drama Club vs Iron Wolves (26-28)**

 

With Iron Wolves missing Jon, Josh, Carlos, and JP, Drama Club should have had an easy win, especially since Alex was playing QB. The one player who wasn’t happy about that was Greg, who had to chase him down. Alex ran 10 times for 48 yards, but he also bought time and made a few easy throws on the run. JF went off for two TDs on three catches while racking up 63 yards. Simon kept it short most of the day, spreading the ball between Nico and Ben. Drama Club scored before halftime to go up 14-6 and were starting with the ball. If they could score and control the tempo, the game could have been wrapped up quickly, but they turned it over on downs after four plays. This allowed Iron Wolves to start their comeback, scoring on all three of their second-half possessions. After Ben scored his second TD of the game, Drama Club needed to go for two to tie it up. The play wasn’t good, and they couldn’t give up a first down, or the game would be over. With two passes to Ian for a total of 16 yards, they gained the first down, and the game was over.

 

**D4**

 

Missed out on this division; maybe I’ll catch a game this week before the season ends.

 

**D5**

 

**Phoenix vs Spartans (18-31)**

 

JF knew most of the plays I was going to run, which allowed his defense to be aggressive and jump routes. The Spartans needed this game to keep their playoff hopes alive. JF capitalized on short fields, limiting his chances of making bad throws. I didn’t play my best game; I never looked off, I was hurt and couldn’t throw deep, and I was even out of position once or twice on defense. The Spartans played a well-rounded game, and everyone on Phoenix played well except me, which was the difference in this game.

 

**Women’s**

 

Missed out on this division; maybe I’ll catch a game this week before the season ends.

 

That’s all I have for you this week. I know you need more, so look for Terry and Willie on Wednesday, and they will fill you in.

 

**Studs & Duds**

 

There is only one week of games left to play, and so far, it’s been a great season with many players stepping up their game, though a few players seem to have taken the season off. Now, let’s see who did what this week and where I placed them.

 

**Studs**

 

**D1**  

- Jonathan Lyristis: 8 catches, 87 yards, 2 TDs, 5 tackles (3 sacks), and a pick on defense. In game 2, he made 11 more catches for 80 yards and another 2 TDs with 2 more sacks.

 

**D2**  

- Yvan Desjardins: 3 TDs on 5 catches for 39 yards total, plus he had a pick on defense.

 

**D3**  

- David Carlos: 3 TDs and 1 one-point convert on 6 catches for 37 yards.

 

**D4**  

- Simon Torres: 10 catches, 155 yards, 5 TDs, 3 tackles, and a pick on defense.

 

**D5**  

- Benjamin Ohayon: 7 catches, 54 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 one-point convert.

 

**Women’s**  

- Charlotte St-Pierre: 10 catches, 65 yards, and 3 TDs. In her second game, she made 4 catches for 57 yards, 1 TD, and 1 sack on defense.

 

**Duds**

 

**D1**  

- Meïs Ngarane: After a few weeks off, I expected to see you go off, but 1 catch for 7 yards is not a great comeback.

 

**D2**  

- David Brisson: Threw 4 picks.

 

**D3**  

- Marvin: For being sick in the car. I heard he was hungover from sipping 1 light beer over the course of 4 hours.

 

**D4**  

- Mustard Tigers: For having a 12-player roster and forfeiting the game because you didn’t have enough players.

 

**D5**  

- Kevin Kousaie: For getting kicked from the game for losing my composure.

 

**Women’s**  

- Sarah-Jade Gagné: 7 picks thrown.

 

There you have my list of players who showed up and balled out, along with the few who choked it all away.

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 9

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 9

Kevin Kousaie

Predictions

 

Last week wasn’t a good week for my picks as I only managed to get 9 out of 17 games right or 53%. At this point of the season I should be doing better. I guess not picking against anyone takes half the fun out of it (ed’s note: wat?). Now here are this week’s winners, I hope, and like always my picks are in bold.

 

D1

Pocket Rockets vs Iron Wolves

KOLB vs Outlaws

Outlaws vs Iron Wolves

A-Team vs KOLB

 

D2

Respect vs RawSauce

Phoenix vs Bines NA

Thunder Buddies vs Average Joes

Nice TDs vs Rejects

Double Dippers vs Villains

 

D3

CIA vs Ducks 

Drama Club vs Iron Wolves

Sour Puss vs Top Shooters

 

D4

Hawks vs Witching Hour

Sour Peeps vs Slot Machines

Witching Hour vs Mustard Tigers

Binettes vs Nothing But D

 

D5

Wong Dynasty vs Big Booties

Les Last Calls vs 514

Budget Cats vs Jungle Squad 

Titans vs 28-3

Spartans vs Phoenix NA

514 vs Jungle Squad 

Budget Cats vs Les Last Calls

Big Booties vs PickSixers

 

Women’s

Crazy B’s vs Déesses Du Drapeau 

Tigres vs Steeleuses

Dirty Chia Latte vs Tigres

Majestic Divas vs Déesses Du Drapeau

 

That is who I have winning this week. I know you might not agree, but just follow the script and play your role. Good luck to everyone playing this week.

 

Power Rankings

 

Let’s jump right into it and see if I have your team ranked with just 2 weeks of games left to be played.

 

D1

#1- Outlaws

#2- Iron Wolves

#3- A-Team

 

D2

#1- Respect

#2- Rejects

#3- Thunder Buddies

 

D3

#1- CIA

#2- Ducks

#3- Drama Club

 

D4

#1- Witching Hour

#2- Blue Badgers

#3- Slot Machines

 

D5

#1- Slicks

#2- Les Las Calls

#3- Phoenix

 

Women’s

#1- Steeleuses

#2- Tigres

#3- Majestic Divas

 

Those are my rankings. You can love them or hate them, but the only way I’m changing them is with wins and loses. With 1 week left for my rankings, some teams still have a shot to crack the top 3 and others are just hoping to scrape into the playoffs.

 

Final Thoughts

 

It’s been a bit chilly these last few days, but if the weather app on my phone is right, Saturday will be a beautiful day with plenty of Sunshine at the field as well as in the sky. That means at least 1 more week of me setting up at 7am shirtless.

We have 2 weeks left to play of the season and only 1 week left before the league will suspend players for the rest of that day and the following week for smoking. That means if you want to be cool and smoke inside the fenced area, you could end up screwing over more than just one team for the playoffs.

I also don’t know why I should have to tell everyone pick up your garbage and throw it in the trash. This week we are playing at Arthur Therrien and Darcy McGee. I know there are garbages at Arthur Therrien and this week I’ll tie a bag onto the fence at Darcy McGee beside the entrance.

We don’t want to turn into schools and other places that no longer allow single use containers. I mean if we did that, some of you will die in the summer since I’m your only source of fluids.

Before I let you go, remember there are 2 weeks left in the season, so play hard, but be safe. Remember it’s a game and try not to kill anyone. See you all Saturday.

Word from the Mouth: Empty Wallet! edition

Word from the Mouth: Empty Wallet! edition

Kevin Kousaie

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and the extra day off. The league has notified all captains and posted on the Facebook groups about smoking while inside the park. Not only should you go outside the fenced area, but try to stay away from people as best you can. We don’t want people complaining about us, like the soccer guys did about D’Arcy McGee.

On top of everyone not smoking inside the park area, there has been tons of garbage left behind, and that’s not cool as well. We are all grown ups and if picking up our empty bottles and dropping them in the trash when you leave is not too much, what is the world coming to.

On top of taking everything down at the end of a 12-hour day, I shouldn’t need to spend half an hour picking up after everyone else. I already have bags of people’s stuff that they leave behind, you should see some of the crap I have found (house keys, car keys, one shoe, a wallet that was empty when I picked it up (ed’s note: sure it was…)). How do you leave this stuff behind and not ask about it?

 

Recap

 

D1

 

Outlaws vs A-Team (47-22)

I don’t know what to tell you, I picked A-Team to win this game knowing Steve wasn’t there and Brady made an ass out of me by throwing 7 TDs and controlling the tempo of the game. In the first half nothing was working for A-Team, and they were down 32-2 at half. In the second half they got going, but at that point Outlaws were taking it easy and just trying to avoid getting hurt.

 

D2

 

Phoenix vs Respect (7-24)

This was a must win for Phoenix to keep their slim playoff hopes alive and Kevin dookied the bed, missing wide-open players, bad plays being called. and then hesitating to throw the ball. I have to give it to Avery and the Respect team he was filling in on. Avery called lots of short plays that his guys were able to turn into big gains. Then on defense, Dilan had them playing off and they were shooting all over the place. Phoenix had chances to make it a close game, but couldn’t capitalize when they were there in front of them.

 

D3

 

Ducks vs Sour Puss (34-20)

Going into this game, I expected to see Ducks crush Sour Puss with ease. That wasn’t the case and Dave should be lucky that he had Steve to throw to because every time a play needed to be made, Steve made it. Ducks didn’t have a way of slowing Emilie Carrier who went off for 120 yards and 1 TD on 9 catches. I can tell you that Jessy could have gone to her all day as Ducks left the deep ins open all game long. Ducks will need to figure it out if they want to make a deep playoff push.

 

D4

 

Sour Peeps vs F.A.T Players (19-39)

Leon looked good in this game and Shawn was his guy catching 5 balls for 75 yards and 3 TDs. Let’s give Geneviéve Gaudet another weapon and see what she can do. Simon might be the best player on Sour Peeps, but the most exciting player to watch is Geneviéve. You needed to see her take off for her 45-yard TD run. She made every single player on the defense miss and, in some cases, miss twice. On the sideline we were like, did that really just happen?

 

Hawks vs Nothing But D (30-13)

This wasn’t a clean game from both sides of the ball. Both Thomas and Alec struggled to complete 50% of their passes, there were some drops, but there were a lot of passes that weren’t on target. What saved Hawks was their defense with Rob getting 2 picks and Eliott getting 1. If Thomas didn’t have Eliott scoring 4 TDs on short passes and making players miss this might have ben a different game. Marcel still isn’t 100% and will need to get there if Nothing But D want to make another run at the title.

 

Slot Machines vs F.A.T. Players (31-32)

I won’t take anything away from F.A.T. Players who were missing Sean who was off being a good father coaching his sons’ team. I hope they won cause if not Leon said he wasn’t invited to the victory party. The biggest issue for F.A.T. Players was dropped balls, I think when Dominic put on his sleeves for the second game he forgot how to catch. Kyle played QB for Slot Machines as Giovani was off somewhere coaching as well. This meant a lots of miscommunications and bad timing on routes being run at wrong depths. But Kyle relied on Eric with lots of drags and crosses all game long and it took a while, but F.A.T. Players figured it out before it was too late. In the last few moments of the game Leon elected to go for 2 and the win after not getting any converts all game. He was able to buy time before finding Seb with no defender around for the game winning points.

 

D5

 

Sorry folks I missed you this weekend, maybe next week if not before the season ends.

 

Women’s

Just like D5 I missed seeing any of your games. Ladies, I hope to see at least 1 more game before the season ends.

 

Big shout out to the Ladies on Crazy B’s for getting their first win of the season.

 

That’s all I have for you this week. I kept it short so that I can enjoy my Monday with Sunshine even if it does look like rain.

 

Studs & Duds

 

If you had been waiting for a slow week to make my list this was your week. There were only 18 games played over 6 divisions so there is a chance that your team was the only one playing. Now lets just jump into it and see who earned their Thanksgiving feast or who shouldn’t even get the scraps.

 

Studs

 

D1

- Marvin Steinberg 3 TDs and 1 pick.

 

D2

- David Michaud 1 TD on offense then 2 more on defense both pick 6s.

 

D3

- Jeanne Lewis 5 catches for 49 yards and 4 TDs. She also made 1 tackle on defense.

 

D4

- Dylan Rogers and his 3 sacks are the reason why F.A.T. Players won the game against Slot Machines.

 

D5

- Emilio Ulisse or the utilityman as he should be referred to as. Emilio threw 2 TD passes, had 3 1-point converts, ran the ball 13 times for 101 yards and 2 TDs. Then on defense he picked off 1 pass and made 1 tackle.

 

Women’s

- Zuzana Sichova 6 catches 76 yards and 2 TDs.

 

Duds

 

D1

- Jonathan Plourde for throwing 3 picks.

 

D2

- Robert White 1 catch 7 yards and no defensive stats.

 

D3

- Dave Lepine threw 4 picks in what should have been an easy game.

 

D4

- Gold for only having 2 players catch balls while only completing 7 out of 27 passes.

 

D5

- Jorge Hernandez threw 5 picks and only had 119 yards total.

 

Women’s

- Kayla Gauthier 10 picks thrown in 2 games.

 

There you have it, the players I felt balled out and those that didn’t need to come out in the cold and could have stayed home.  

Leagues
Montreal Flag Football League
Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
Division 4
Division 5
Women's Division
Brossard Div 1
Brossard Div 2
Laval Div 1
Laval Div 2
Winter Div 1
Winter Div 2
Winter Div 3
Winter Women
Aces Flag Football