Master Chiefs continued to show off their unstoppable offense scoring a combined 95 points in their semi-final and finals games, with Kiss My Pass almost being able to match them, but falling 40-48 to the new 2024 D1 Champions.
Congratulations to the Master Chiefs and thanks to everyone for a great season and hope to see you in the spring!
Welcome back everyone, after last week in the snow this week all games were played indoors. We could have played outside on the turf this week it was beautiful out.
Spring season is weeks away from starting and as of right now we are playing at the same parks as last year. We are still looking into getting another park to use in order to limit wear and tear.
Having Friday off and nothing to do I went to Le Ber to fix it up and I can tell you that the field does not look that bad. The grass was still yellow, but its still early. I did fix up the bad spots on the fields by using 80 bags of soil and 12 kgs of seed to fix it up. I hope it lasts all season.
For everyone planning to play in the spring and wants to practice before the season, be smart and use a different field. If not, the grass won’t grow and we’ll end up playing on crap once again. Let us keep off of it for as long as possible so those roots can get deep and have a sturdy base.
Recap
Division 1
Kiss My Pass vs Double Dippers (33-32) OT
I expected Double Dippers to lose convincingly in this one, for the following reasons: David has not played in a few weeks and the Kiss my Pass team is loaded with ballers. Was I ever surprised, Double Dippers showed up to play minus Alex who forgot his hands at home. The little I remember from the game was Benjamin Nolette being unstoppable for KMP and scoring 3 TDs. Late in the game after DD scored to take a 31-25 lead leaving 2:30 left on the clock Felix came up big for KMP. Catching passes of 19 & 25 yards. This left KMP on the 6-yard line where Mathieu connected with Baby Maynard to tie it up. In OT, DD had first possession and Simon scored to put the pressure on KMP who had to go for 2. With the game on the line Mathieu went to his guy Benjamin on a slant route. Ben caught it at the 2-yard line and was able to run through the weak tackle attempt from Alex. (ed’s note: damn, the Alex hate is real!)
Division 2
Punks vs Bandits (33-0)
With nothing on the line both teams came out with 6 players and just had fun. Bandits had someone new play QB, and his mechanics and arm strength looked good, but his receivers couldn’t pull the ball in. This led to 3 picks and only 4 completions from him. George on the other hand came out and played lights out going 19 of 20 for only 73 yards, but with 5 TDs and he also picked off 2 passes on defense. Tarek led Punks with 7 catches and 3 TDs. This game was very one sided and Punks could do nothing wrong.
Show Me Your TDs vs Team Rocket (7-44)
Last regular season game and it meant nothing to SMYT since they locked in the 4 spot no matter what. Team Rockets on the other hand needed to win to secure the 1 spot. It didn’t take long for this game to get out of reach. Guillaume came out and just let it rip, throwing 6 TDs and a surprising 2 picks both to the sole bright spot for SMYT, Abdullah. After SMYT scored with 7 minutes left in the first half the score was 13-7 Rockets. After the last few minutes of the half played out the score was 32-7. Wondering how the game changed so quickly, here it is. Mael Collet scored from 30 yards out, Rockets defense forced a punt, Bidgley Luzincourt from 6 yards out, a diving pick from Guillaume got Rockets the ball back. This led to David St Jean scoring from 12 yards out. Second half both teams took it easy knowing they would both be playing another game that night.
Show Me Your TDs vs Team Rocket (0-46)
This is a rematch of the previous game, but the only difference is winner gets to move onto the finals and SMYT is playing their third game of the day. With more on the line this time around Guillaume balled out and cleaned up his mistakes from last game by turning his 2 picks into TDs. This gave him 7 TDs in the game. Matthieu Kaneki with a monster game of his own scoring 3 TDs on 7 catches. We can’t forget about their defense. Edvard Baptiste racked up 4 sacks and Guillaume Fontaine showing up late and picking 2 passes off. Nothing good was happening for SMYT in this game. For their first season making the playoffs and winning a playoff game is huge and something SMYT should be proud of.
Division 3
Action Squad vs Tropic Thunder (25-13)
Both teams gave their defense the week off. With the exception of Shermika getting 1 sack for Action Squad and Connor getting the only pick for Tropic Thunder. Yes, both teams made tackles with only 3 plays being over 25 yards. There were 2 passes from Connor to Louis for a 30-yard TD as well as a 33 yarder to Mickael. Golds big play was a 36-yard pass to Michael. The difference in this game was dropped passes by Tropic Thunder. At least once Tropic Thunder was inside the redzone and had multiple attempts at scoring, but it was drop after drop and them walking away with no points. The points left on the field by Tropic Thunder were the difference between a win and a lose. The game got really interesting with under 5 minutes left. Connor ran in a TD from 6 yards out to make it a 19-13 game Action Squad. After a failed convert Tropic Thunder elected for an onside kick, but it was no good. This gave the ball back to Action Squad inside the redzone. After Gold threw his first pass away, on second down he connected with Zenyace for her second TD of the game and they moved on to the semifinals next week.
Studs & Duds
Well, it is that time of the week where I can see who filled p the stat sheet and who Buffy the Vampire Slayered it all away for their team.
Studs
Division 1
- Benjamin Nolette had 8 catches for 140 yards, 3 TDs and the game winning 2-point convert in OT.
Division 2
- Guillaume Renaud-Dumoulin threw 7 TDs and 261 yards on 19 of 29 passing. He also made a pick on defense.
Division 3
- Zenyace Cortes only had 2 catches for 7 yards, but both were for TDs and her second one sealed the game for Action Squad.
Duds
Division 1
- Alexandre Szalipszki for dropping a convert, but more importantly missing the tackle on the winning convert when the receiver was 2 yards short of the line.
Division 2
- Team Rockets offense looking for a PI call with under a minute left being up 46 points. (ed’s note: and it was note PI)
Division 3
- Justin White for having zero stats on offense, didn’t even get a pass thrown his way.
Reminder to everyone that next week is your last chance to make the list. It’s also finals weekend, so you better bring it if you want to win and see you name up on the list.
Predictions
With 1 week done in the playoffs, let’s see which games I got right. Before I jump to playoffs, we had 2 games in D2 last week. These games got played for seeding. In those 2 games I went 1-1 and that took me to 101 out of 150 regular season games. So far in the playoffs I have gone 1 and 2. I was not able to pick the D2 games before they were scheduled, so no D2 playoff picks. Now to my picks and like always my picks are in bold.
Division 1
Master Chiefs vs Inlaws
- They lock down Jeremy and Ashton and Steve controls the clock with Smuda getting at least 12 catches for 80 plus yards and 2 TDs.
Tourist vs Kiss my Pass
- They have been more consistent all season and KMP snuck by last week to a far inferior team.
Division 2
Team Rocket vs City Boys
- Guillaume has far too many weapons on offense and they have the studs on defense to shut down Gabriel.
Division 3
Blue Badgers vs Action Squad
- Their defense is far too good if they can stop the run and force Gold to throw it is an easy win.
Blue Ballers vs Nomades
- They have been rolling the last few games and Louis has been protecting the ball, which will continue this weekend.
Since I only know the Semifinals for D1, and D3 I will tell you who I have winning if it plays out like above. Inlaws take D1 with a convincing win and in D3 Blue Badgers with a game winning defensive stop.
Final Thoughts
What the heck is going on? Last Friday I spent 4 hours at Le Ber trying to fix it up and now they are talking about 10 to 20 cm of snow. Guess if that happens (ed’s note: it did!), we better pray that it melts quick or I find the time to shovel the entire field, this way we can start early May.
Speaking of spring season, better start putting those rosters together and submit them before its too late and we fill up.
Friday night I am going with friends to get his first tattoos and Nick is coming with us to get his first. A little back story first. Nick cracked an egg on his head and said it hurt, soft right? He wanted me to buy him numbing cream for the tattoo, which I refused, but Shannon picked it up for him. Should I let him use it or should he just do it like the rest of us and just get it done? After the egg story he told me I definitely think he is crying. I know if he does, he will deny it. Don’t worry there will be a video post somewhere. I might even do it live on Facebook so we can all point and laugh as the tears roll down his cheeks. (ed’s note: father of the year!)
This is the last week of the season and, yes, you will have time off before next season. Remember that we are playing a game for fun, so don’t kill anyone or take it too seriously. The NFL, CFL, XFL or USFL (ed’s note: or the UFL) isn’t calling you up and offering you a spot at camp, no way no how. Play the game for fun. See you all Saturday night.
Let me commend the Grizzles and Nomades for showing up on Saturday to play outside in the snow. This isn’t the first time we have played in the snow and I’m sure it won’t be the last time either. The funny thing is that with Ball Hawks deciding to just forfeit their 5 and 6 pm games, it meant that this game was being played for no reason since Grizzlies were cool with just taking the forfeit.
All day Friday I was dreading Saturday night’s games because of the snow and it was cold a bit windy and even a few flurries, but the worst part was cleaning the field lines which I donkey-brained up and put at 25 yards wide instead of 35 like it is indoor. All this snow really Jabroni’d my plans for this weekend since I had planned to fix Le Ber, but now I’ll need to wait for all the snow to melt and for it stay above freezing at night. I have a few ideas to try and fix Le Ber this season, so let’s hope it works.
Spring season is coming around, so get your roster ready, but remember that player ratings will be adjusted in the next little while, so your team might end up having to move up a division or cut a player or two to fit in a lower division.
Some good news for the league is that we are looking to expand and create a women’s division, so that should be interesting to see how it turns out. Right now, we have 2 confirmed teams and at least 1 free agent team, so spread the word so that for the fall season we can possibly have enough women’s teams to make 2 divisions.
Recap
Division 1
Villains vs Master Chiefs (24-33)
Villains started out slow as Will had trouble with the Chiefs defense. With their first 2 possessions, Will only completed 1 of his first 4 passes and they also had 2 muffed snaps. Now being down by 7, Villains got lucky when Mike used his arms to get separation to pull down a pass that would have put Chiefs inside the red zone. A few plays later Chiefs turned the ball over on downs and this gave Villains a short field which they easily scored on. At half is when things changed, Jeremy showed up for the Chiefs. The score was 13-6 at half with Chiefs starting with the ball. First play, Vinny noticed Villains in man and threw it deep to Jeremy who scored his first of 3 TDs (45, 45, and 1 yards). After Jeremi scored from 8 yards out, it made the score 19-13 with plenty of time left. After scoring with 3 minutes left to make it 25-18, Chiefs Vinny went for 2 and Jaz was left open and this looked sealed the game for Chiefs. Villains did score, but on the onside kick the pass was short of midfield and the receiver wasn’t able to make the line to keep their chances of winning alive.
Inlaws vs Rockets D1 (19-18)
With all the players missing all over the place this should have been an easy win for Rockets. Well, when you start out giving up a 45-yard TD it doesn’t look good, but the defense settled in after that. After that both teams struggled on offense with picks and turnovers on downs. Midway through the first half, Alexis hit Andrew who was running what looked like a post that he flattened out to score. Half time score 6 all. Rockets started the second half with the ball and Alexis took his time and used 10 minutes to reach the endzone and take their first lead of the game 12-6. Now late in the game, Inlaws hold a 1 point lead, Rockets have 5 plays to score and win the game. 10 yards to Andrew plus an extra 5 for contact, Andrew for another 4 yards, second down. At this point Rockets are around midfield and Alexis looks right, can’t find anyone, looks back left and Andrew is all alone in the endzone, easy 6 right. After all the smack talk Andrew gave Nick after his TD, Nick got him back by knocking the ball ever so slightly to knock it out for an incomplete pass. With 2 plays left, Rockets got a first down and on the last play of the game the pass fell incomplete. Game over, but at least we get to see a rematch this week and hopefully with both teams having their complete rosters.
Division 2
Sorry folks I didn’t get any D2 games this week and with 2 games being a forfeit and not hearing anything from either game, I’ll skip this division.
Division 3
Blue Ballers vs Action Squad (13-42)
In this game, Shermika started strong by making her first sack which led to a Blue Ballers punt, but Action Squad were unable to take advantage partly due to a muffed snap on their first play. However, Justin made a diving one-handed pick to place his team at the 15-yard line. Action Squad then got the first touchdown, but Blue Ballers immediately responded when Lambert did damage with his first catch of the game by running through the entire defense. After a Frank touchdown, Blue Ballers attempted a long pass, but it was intercepted by Michael (ed’s note: names and things, this sentence). The next touchdown put a lot of pressure on them as time was running out. The play that ruined the hopes of the Blue Ballers was definitely Shermika's second sack on a 4th down and 3 yards to go. The score was 27-7 at that point. Action Squad got the needed 5 yards to score and that pretty much seal the deal. (ed’s note: how does 27-7 get to 42-13?)
Grizzlies vs Nomades (20-34)
This was played out in the snow and let me tell you it did not have as many big plays as you’d expect. Corry was a dog for Grizzles pulling in 5 catches for 69 yards with 3 TDs. As was Elliot for Nomads who had 7 catches for 76 yards, 1 TD and 2 2-point converts. I think the difference in this game was Zack getting hurt mid way through the first half and didn’t return(bleeding nose), nothing too serious. In the second half Grizzles switched QBs and that’s when they fell apart and Nomades picked up their play.
Phoenix vs Nomades (20-47)
What do I say about a game that meant nothing to either team? Phoenix was eliminated weeks ago and Nomades locked up a spot with their win earlier. I’ll point out that Phoenix had cut their punter prior to this game, so they went for it on every fourth down. Elliot was a beast scoring 4 times while racking up 133 yards on 7 catches. Emma did a great job on defense making every tackle she was with in arms reach of and she had a pick that she ran in for a score. The one player that really stepped up for Phoenix this week was Haydee. She caught all 4 balls that were thrown to her and scored 2 TDs and had 65 yards in the game.
Lumberjacks vs Belloz in Business (13-44)
Cooper started the game off well for Lumberjacks going 3 for 4 for 40 yards and a TD. Cooper finished the game going 5 of 12 for 58 yards 2 TDs and 2 picks. Belloz in Business had 3 different players throw a TD pass, had 2 players run in a TD and even had a defender pick a pass off and run it in. Both teams are young, but Belloz in Business is fast and seem to have a bunch of athletes and once they learn the game a bit more, they might become a very dangerous team.
Studs & Duds
This was your last opportunity to make the cut. Let’s see who balled out and who fell the Babrovsky off the cliff.
Studs
Division 1
- Craig Browning caught 8 passes for 94 yards and 3 TDs. On defense he made 3 tackles and had 1 pick.
Division 2
- Guillaume Fontaine all I have to say is 4 picks with 1 returned for 6. The 2 catches for 36 yards, 1 TD, 1 1-point convert, and his 2 tackles are just icing on the cake.
Division 3
- Goldrick Noël went 12 of 21 for 166 yards, 5 TDs, 4 1-point converts, 1 2-point converts. Gold also ran 6 times for 34 yards and 1 TD.
Duds
Division 1
- Andrew Grant for his dropped pass that would have won them the game with 3 plays left.
Division 2
- The entire Ball Hawks team for not showing up for their 2 games with a chance to win out and make playoffs.
Division 3
- Mattei Caciula when you throw 4 picks there is a good chance to make the list, which you did.
There you have it, your final winners for the regular season. Big props to everyone who made the cut this season and for those who flopped, better luck next season trying to make the correct list.
Power Rankings
With the season over who the cares where you might be ranked when all that matters is if you win you move on and if you lose you’re done for the season.
All-Stars
I do this every year and every year it has the same rules. I will be picking 1 player per position, so no two-way payers, you can only make it for your highest division unless you play a different position then you can make it twice, but it’s never happened, not yet at least (ed’s note: that’s literally what never happened means). Now for the unveiling.
Division 1
Offense
QB- Vinny Gualano
Center- Alex Joltopuf
WR 1- Craig Browning
Slot 1- Kevin Smuda
Slot 2- Jeremy Rooney
WR 2- Jeremi Thompson O'Reilly
Defense (3-2) lineup
Rusher- Guillaume Malo
CB 1- Ali Issa
Middle– Mike Apa
CB 2- Sean Murphy
Safety 1- Marvin Steinberg
Safety 2- Andrew Grant
Division 2
Offense
QB- Guillaume Renaud-Dumoulin
Center- Roxanne Roy
WR 1- Gabriel Guérette
Slot 1- David St Jean
Slot 2- Steve Girardot
WR 2- Corey Horwood
Defense (3-2) lineup
Rusher- Edvard Baptiste
CB 1- Jason McAleer
Middle– Laïty Sow
CB 2- Pierre-Olivier Barbeau
Safety 1- Jacob Pilon
Safety 2- Alexandre Massie
Division 3
Offense
QB- Louis Vranderick
Center- Oliver Quinn
WR 1- Eliott Bourque
Slot 1- Jérémie Desrochers
Slot 2- Frank Mpeck
WR 2- Tyrell Sutton
Defense (3-2) lineup
Rusher- Shermika Bartley
CB 1- Alex Miquelon
Middle– Jelani Duhaney
CB 2- Darren Sylvestre
Safety 1- Lambert Vandycke
Safety 2- Connor Martin
Those are you 2024 winter all-stars picked by me. You all need to know I base it all off stats, so if you didn’t make the list, you didn’t do enough or everyone else just balled a little bit harder. Congrats and better luck to everyone who didn’t make it. Spring season is only a few more weeks away.
Predictions
Here we go, playoff time minus the 2 games we still have to make up for because of the lights being out. Last week I went 9 and 3 which took my season total to 100 of 148 or 67.5%. I would have liked to finish with a better winning percentage, but some players can’t read or just want to to be jerks and not help me out. At least I wasn’t picking against anyone else. Now here is who I have winning, and my picks are in bold.
Regular Season
Division 2
Punks vs Bandits
- Jesse
Show me Them TDs vs Team Rockets
- Better QB
Playoffs
Division 1
Double Dippers vs Kiss my Pass
- Defense and David possibly being rusty
Inlaws vs Rockets D1
- Speed
Division 2
No games scheduled because we are waiting on results of the last 2 regular season games.
Division 3
Action Squad vs Tropic Thunder
- Defense
Sorry to disappoint a few of you, but we all cant be winners like the teams I picked above.
Final Thoughts
Did the NFL just make the game even softer? Dilan, sorry to inform you but we need to follow suit and start banning you from those diving tackles where you let yours arms run down the players back and onto their flags. That used to be a great way to tackle when the old-style flags were used, but not so much anymore. I
How much longer until players are going to be carrying playing cards with their abilities and stats like Pokémon cards and the higher player wins. This is a complete sham of a game from what I grew up with. (ed’s note: old man yells at cloud)
I will say a lot of people aren’t happy with the kick off rule change, but I like it and we will have at least 6 kick returns for TDs this season, watch and see.
That’s enough for this week. Good luck to everyone playing this week and please remember we are playing a game, so go out, have fun, and don’t kill anyone. See you Saturday.
This week we had to postpone all the 6 and 7 games because there was no power in the dome. I arrived at 5:40 and when I got there, I saw the lights were off.
It’s a good thing Concordia was on top of it, not really though. I spoke to employees of the dome and found out what was happening and informed Jon and only a few minutes later did they notify him about the power being out.
After someone showed up from the downtown building, they figured out the issue, but the person didn’t want to flip the switch because it was 600 Volts not the 6000 (ed’s note: or the other way around?) they had initially said. I volunteered to flip it, but they wouldn’t allow me to do it (ed’s note: just so you know, Kevin, I will always allow you to risk your life for even the slightest potential of minor gains).
We had to sit around until a certified electrician showed up. Once he did show up the lights were back on in a matter of minutes. Instead of starting at 6 we started playing games at 8:30. There is a plan in place to get the games played, just waiting to see what we are doing as a league to get these games played, especially the ones that have playoff implication. (ed’s note: the schedule is already set and we’re all good!)
Recap
Division 1
Kiss my Pass vs Tourists (26-28)
Guillaume set the tone at the start of the game with a safety and the first of his 3 sacks. Now with the ball, Tourists marched all the way into the redzone before turning it over on downs. This gave Mathieu a chance to make up for the safety and all it took was a post from Nigel who caught it and scampered his way into the endzone from 43 yards out. KMP scored on the last play of the first half to take a 20-15 lead, then picked off a pass to start the second half and had a chance to blow this game wide open. After getting the ball inside the redzone, Mathieu ran and was flagged for an illegal run, loss of down and back up 5 yards. They walked away with no points keeping Tourists in the game. After scoring to bring the game within two points, KMP went for 2, but it was incomplete. After what seemed like an hour, they elected to go onside kick. Tourists played it smart and had everyone just before midfield and all Mathieu could do was throw it short of the line and hope for the best. He threw off his back foot because Guillaume was right on him, and the pass didn’t make it to the receiver. Game over at this point.
Red”not”Skins vs Double Dippers (28-39)
Willie looked like a kid in a candy store this week, seeing all those holes in the Red”not”Skins defense. Nico started the scoring with a 30 yard TD on a very very skinny post that he caught at about the 12 and did the rest on his own. It took Brad a while to respond, but after working his way down he connected with Alex for a 4-yard TD. I don’t know what was going on, but Red”not”Skins looked lost out there on defense, they left holes big enough to park a truck and when they were in position to make a play they just couldn’t, except for Myles who Willie didn’t see. On the offensive side of the ball, Franky was the top target for Brad catching 7 passes for 85 yards and 2 TDs. I knew Khalil was going to be a big factor in the game based off his skill set and that Brad isn’t a runner. He ended the game with 4 sacks on defense and 3 catches for 16 yards and a TD.
Division 2
CIA Fusion vs Cold TDs (33-22)
The funny thing in this game was Alex did nothing on offense, but did end up picking Simon off twice. Other than those 2 picks and at 1 drop from Charles and Thomas, Simon would have had a perfect day. The defense let Cold TDs down in this one, no sacks, no picks, no stops and made Jason like the star. Jason went 20 of 27 for 137 yards and 5 TDs. The amazing thing is Jason ran 3 times for 50 yards. CIA open the game with a long scoring drive, then Alex picked Simon’s first pass, and this led to CIA going up 2 scores. After that Cold TDs started to get going on offense, but with the way their defense played, they were not able to make up for that early mistake. The game ended with Simon throwing his second pick to Alex, but he didn’t have much of a choice to throw it deep they needed to score and with no timeouts left if they scored would need to get a stop on defense to have any shot at winning the game.
Studs & Duds
It’s that time of the week where you get to see who impressed and who played like a chump. With not all games being played I was limited as to how many players to pick from, but I managed to come up with a few names.
Studs
Division 1
- Guillaume Malo made 2 catches for 18 yards, 2 TDs and 1 1-point convert. On defense Guillaume made 3 sacks and was on the opposing QBs ass most of the game.
Division 2
- Nicolas Nadan stepped up making 4 catches for 19 yards, 2 TDs, 1 1-point convert a made 2 tackles on defense.
Division 3
- The Electrician who flipped the switch which allowed us to play even if it was later than normal.
Duds
Division 1
- Red”not”Skins defense there were far too many holes all game long and were out of place most of the game.
Division 2
- Charles Schiller registered 0 sacks and gave up 50 yards rushing to Jason on 3 carries.
Division 3
- Concordia for taking 3 hours to get the lights back on. It would have taken me 15 minutes and we wouldn’t have missed a beat.
Those are your week 10 winners and losers. We have 1 week left if you expect to see your name up on the list, so ball out and come out flat and you might see your name up here in the final week.
Predictions
Not sure what I should do about my picks from last week and where those games didn’t get played. With us only playing 5 out of 10 games I was able to get 3 right bring my season total to 91 of 136 or 66.9% on the year. Not great, but it’s still a pass. Now for my picks and like always my picks are in bold.
Division 1
Inlaws vs Rockets D1
- Defense
Villains vs Master Chiefs
- Stronger roster
Rockets D1 vs Red”not”Skins
- Speed
Division 2
Bandits vs Punks
- Jesse
Show me Them TDs vs Team Rockets
- Better QB
Ball Hawks vs Southsiders
- Better athletes
Ball Hawks vs Punks
- Better athletes
Rockets D2 vs City Boys
- Best player on field
Team Rockets vs Bandits
- Stronger roster
Division 3
Nomades vs Grizzlies
- Leadership
Phoenix vs Nomades NA
- Don’t pick my team’s games
Tropic Thunder vs Grizzlies
- More to play for
Blue Badgers vs Cheetahs
- Chemistry
Lumberjacks vs Belloz in Business
- Organized
Blue Ballers vs Action Squad
- Find a way to pull it off and make playoffs
Let’s all do our part and help me go out with a perfect week. Good luck to everyone this week, it could be your last game of the season. I decided to keep my picks from last week to see how they turn out.
Power Rankings
With some games being cancelled this weekend I didn’t make many changes to my rankings. Here they are.
Division 1
#1- Rockets D1
#2- Master Chiefs
#3- Tourists
Division 2
#1- Team Rockets
#2- City Boys
#3- Show me Them TDs
Division 3
#1- Blue Ballers
#2- Blue Badgers
#3- Nomades
That’s how I have my rankings heading into the last week of the season.
Final Thoughts
We are heading into the last week of the season, and we still have a bunch of games to play and at least 4 to make up. I know they will get played, it’s just a matter of when.
On my way to work today it popped into my head that the MFL is a better run league than the NFL, since we aren’t fixed (ed’s note: good, good, they don’t suspect a thing…). Two seasons ago the league cancelled a game late and never made it up and went off winning percentages and that’s BS in my mind. We could do what they did and not play, but Scrooge McDuck that.
Then we could be huge dicks and turn around and say the home team didn’t pay their bills and the power went out that’s on them and make it a forfeit. Don’t worry that’s not happening.
I want to mention that MFL does not test for drugs, but after what I heard today, we might need to. Someone playing this winter season thought Willie was the one running the league. I mean Willie’s a nice young guy who is pretty athletic and some people might say even nice to look at (ed’s note: I think Kevin has a little crush), but not once have I heard someone refer to Willie as a smart man and running the league takes someone with an IQ over 5.
Now that you have stopped laughing remember that we are playing a game, so go have fun and don’t kill anyone. See you Saturday.
What a week we had. Weather-wise, that is. Last week everyone was ready to fill those pools and start having BBQs, then Sunday rolled around and we woke up an hour later because of day light savings and to that white stuff all over the ground. No, you didn’t wake up in a hotel after a 90s Cowboys party, if you’re old you know what I’m talking about.
I want to give a big shout out to the only other player in this league that looks better with their shirt off than on, Mr. Alex Laroche for joining the 40 and over club Saturday night. There are 2 things that need to be said: look at his dedication to the team, sport, and what the Mogwai happened to my invite? Matt Demers better not have been invited and not me LOL.
With all that said, happy birthday Alex, one of the nicer and funnier guys in the league. As a gift from the league, you were given a 1 yard catch to start the game.
Recap
Division 1
Practice Squad vs Pookie Bears (27-25)
I knew this game was going to be tight and come down right to the end. Both QBs, David and Lucas, put up similar stat lines, each throwing 4 TDs and no picks. I will say that Marcus had himself a game for Practice Squad, going off for 110 yards on 10 catches and scoring 3 TDs. At half the score was 13 all. In the second half I was hoping to see some big plays on the defensive side of the ball, but that never happened. With the score 21-19 for Practice Squad, Pookie Bears has the ball and Lucas led them on an 11-play scoring drive to take a 25-21 lead. This is where the only mistake of the game was made. Lucas elected to go for 1 and try to take a 5 point lead instead of going for 2 and putting them up 6. The convert was no good and left Pookie Bears with 4-point lead. David was left with 1 minute plus 5 plays, and knowing he had time he never forced anything and took what was open. David connected with Marcus for the game winner from 15 yards out, leaving 1 play for Pookie Bears which was an incomplete pass. There was no defense in this game, both teams scored every time they had the ball except when ending halves.
Division 2
Cold TDs vs Show Me Them TDs (25-24)
Show Me Them TDs needed a second player to show up this week if they wanted a shot at winning, instead Fabien tried to do it all himself going off for 98 yards on 5 catches and 1 TD. Florent completed 9 of 17 for 130 yards and 4 TDs, but no picks and was sacked, he was also able to run for 59 yards on 9 carries. On defense, Cryil did his job sacking Simon 3 times and getting in his face most of the game. This now brings me to one of the most underrated players and teams in the division. Simon was 20 of 29 for 190 yards and 4 TDs. The thing with Simon is he takes what the defense gives him and this week he had 4 players gain over 30 yards and 3 different players scoring TDs with Roxanne getting in twice. On defense Cold TDs were in position to make a play or two, but if they could just keep 2 hands on the ball. With under 2 minutes left in the game, Show me Them TDs scored to go down 1, failed the convert, but only mentioned the onside kick after convert was no good (ed’s note: which we have all learned is fine!). To seal the game all Simon needed to do was use the last minute and gain a first down. He was able to gain that first down, but did it too quickly and needed to get another one and this time he was stopped 2 yards short on fourth down. All that was left was hopes and prayers for Show me Them TDs, but Florent wasn’t able to get the pass off and ran because Ben got to him in record speed.
Rockets D2 vs Southsiders (24-6)
This wasn’t much of a game as the defense was all over Southsiders offense. Ok, let me correct that, Nathaniel was all over Zachary racking up 5 sacks in the game. Ali all he does is catch TDs, scoring 2 more in this game for a season total of 12 on the year. Elijah didn’t have to do much going 10 of 14 in the game with 3 TDs and throwing 2 picks as well. PO is slowing becoming a very viable option as a receiver catching 4 balls for 40 yards, but he always finds and sits in the empty holes. PO got the only turnover for Rockets picking off a pass from Zachary and returning it for 6 to end the game.
Division 3
Action Squad vs Tropic Thunder (19-24)
This game couldn’t have started worse for Action Squad throwing a pick 6 to Louis on the opening drive. After that Gold looked rattled and ended up throwing his second pick of the game this time to Darren. Very quickly Tropic Thunder was up 12 nothing and looked to be in the drivers seat. With the way the game started for Action Squad it didn’t get much better after that, they dropped too many balls, Gold missed too many open targets, and their defense had issue getting any sort of stops. They gave up 2 scores on 3 catches to Arthur who totaled 81 yards of offense. Late in the game, Gold drove down to score making it a 24-19 Tropic Thunder and after a failed convert they attempted an onside kick which was no good as the pass never made it to the receiver.
Phoenix vs Blue Ballers (25-38)
This wasn’t the day for Phoenix as Mattei tore up the Phoenix defense like it wasn’t even there. Mattei only completed 9 passes with 5 of them going for TDs and 4 of those TDs being on plays over 39 yards. It was big play after big play and Phoenix looked to be lost not knowing how to slow them down and get a stop. There was a play where a Phoenix defender made a play on the ball, but couldn’t hold onto it and when the ball fell it landed in the hands of an offensive player who was laying on the ground. Phoenix’s defense wasn’t the only one that had issue. Blue Ballers had an issue with Ben running a deep post as he scored his 2 TDs right up the middle. I hate to mention it, but how the Gremlins 2: The New Batch did you give up 102 yards rushing to my fat ass? It would have been 6 runs, not 7 if I didn’t pull a Daniel Jones and trip after making a cut and being in the open field (ed’s note: I saw this. It was glorious). Blue Ballers are good athletes and will win games because of it, but they might need to tighten up that defense a bit and mix up their coverages and not play man 90% of the game.
Studs & Duds
Okay, it’s that time of the week where you find out if your numbers were mind blowing enough to pop up on my list and if you did enough not to make the Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai list. This week a few of you made it tough, but I managed to figure it out.
Studs
Division 1
- Kevin Smuda had 11 catches for 117 yards, 4 TDs and made 6 tackles on defense.
Division 2
- Nathaniel Oliva 5 sacks, offense doesn’t matter.
Division 3
- Mattei Caciula 9 of 11 for 230 yards and 5 TDs, plus 2 1-point converts, 3 runs 13 yards, 1 TD.
Duds
Division 1
- Lucas Romani electing to go for 1 point after scoring being up 4. Convert was no good and even if it was good you’re only up 5 and TDs are worth 6 points.
Division 2
- Thomas Svoiski for his number of drops on both sides of the ball.
Division 3
- Phoenix defense giving up 10 catches for 260 yards and 5 TDs plus allowing 1 to be ran in.
Only 2 weeks left before playoffs, so if you want to see your name make my list you better hurry up. Good luck and remember put up some crazy Gizmo numbers and you might make it next week.
Predictions
Another week in the books and after going 8-3 this week I have a season total of 88 of 131 or 67.1% on the year. Will I make my target of 75% with only 2 weeks left? That’s impossible (ed’s note: spoiler alert!) even getting every game right the last 2 weeks. Now to this week’s picks and like always my picks are in bold.
Division 1
Inlaws vs Rockets D1
- Defense
Kiss my Pass vs Tourists
- Consistency
Practice Squad vs Red Cats
- Athletic
Red”not”Skins vs Double Dippers
- Stronger roster
Young Old Timers vs Pookie Bears
- Chemistry
Division 2
Bandits vs Punks
- Jesse
Show me Them TDs vs Team Rockets
- Better QB
Ball Hawks vs Southsiders
- Better athletes
CIA Fusion vs Cold TDs
- Alex
Division 3
Nomades vs Grizzlies
- Leadership
That is who I have winning this week. You can either go with it or try and prove me wrong, which has yet to be done.
Power Rankings
Division 1
#1- Rockets D1
#2- Master Chiefs
#3- Tourists
Division 2
#1- Team Rockets
#2- City Boys
#3- Cold TDs
Division 3
#1- Blue Ballers
#2- Blue Badgers
#3- Nomades
With 2 weeks left to play, this is how I have the rankings at least this week. I can tell you that D3 will most likely be the same next week since there is only 1 game being played.
Final Thoughts
Its come to that time of year where NFL free agents get paid unless you play running back, then you’re not worth the money. Not sure when, but it was a few years back that the NFL changed the way free agency works and instead of it starting on Thursday at 4pm they added a tamper period that started on Monday at noon. This allows teams to talk to players and offer contracts before free agency actually starts. Now instead of getting these ridiculous contracts at 4:01 you’re getting them on Monday at 12:01, the funny thing is that those contracts don’t become valid until Thursday at 4 when the new league year begins.
There have been a few big signings, but none can be bigger than the move the Eagles made by picking up Barkley from the Giants. It was 3 years and $37.5 million. Tell me if you’re not the Giants you go out and offer him more.
The NFL landscape is going to look a lot different when next season rolls around. If you’re a GM, would you make this trade. Tee Higgins, a first-round pick and let’s add a fourth as well for Justin Jefferson. Higgins asked for a trade and wants out of Cincinnati, there is talks that Jefferson might be in the market for a 40 plus million $ contract very soon. Just think about it. It works for both teams if Jefferson, Chase and Burrow all take less money to get the trio back like at LSU. If they do that go out and get Moss to play TE and trade for Clyde Edward-Helaire and all the Tigers will be back together, and we can see if they can relive that magical 2019 season.
Last, but not least, remember we are playing a game, so go out, have fun, and don’t kill anyone. Thanks for reading and see you Saturday.
