That is great.
Thanks Jonny Utah and MonsterT95.

Thanks Drogon, next episode should be out soon

i spend some

Well done guys,

This is a must read! Great stuff.

Could have arrived sooner if I didn't mess up with my messages

Are you a Dick ?

Rock it Murphy =Drogon]


Are you a Dick ?

New season, new episode of Blowing Smoke !

We thought that the beginning of S32 was a good time to get a new series of Blowing Smoke started, so here we are dear comrades

So Jonny, as you are still an Elite manager, maybe you could give us a hint about what an external opinion of our beloved Dragons 1.1 is

Thanks Monster, my honest view is there's a good number of teams that i believe are at Elite level in the D1. It's often hard getting to Elite because luck can be a big factor in any knockout tournament, teams like Pumas and Rebels are solid, maybe just need the dice to.role their way at the right times.

Unfortunately there are some managers that don't have a high opinion of us Dragons as we tend not do so well in the Supercup, or have won the Elite Bowl. I don't see that as a representation of our teams though and it's up to all of us to changes those opinions

So how's your schedule looking Monster? Both the Torpedos and Shocks look really good on paper (no disrespect to Sfniner08, could potentially have a great season), might be a brutal battle for the division!

Monster : Well, first I wanna support what you said about Dragons. Contrary to many other regions, we are about density, not rarity when it comes to top teams. I mean ,as you said we do not shine as much as we want in the Cups and Elite, but in terms of ELO avg. (a factor of long-term success IMO) we are among the best !

About my division, I've been lucky enough to hit the hat trick recently, but changes may come, as last season started really bad for me and the Torpedos were in the driver's seat most of the time, plus they were really impressive previous Saturday against the Shocks.

Jonny: What a game that was, 28 2nd quarter points and up 31-0 at halftime. Gutsy defence playing a good amount of 5-3 and 4-4 paid off well there, stopping the Shocks run game and forcing long throws with 3 picks. I don't think the Shocks were that bad in their planning though, just a bad one off game?

Monster: We can't count these Danish out just yet, they always have excellent good team ratings (plus an excellent QB in the making, I won't forgot him flimss ) so they can prevail over any overconfident opponent.
Then comes sfniner08, can't wait to fight against one of the most antique manager of RZA.

Now maybe you could light up our lantern (just a literal translation of a French expression, no worries guys ) about Werewolves which you were fighting against last year, and how this season in the AC North bodes for them ?

Jonny: Ah, the Werewolves, brilliant team and were so close to remaining in Elite, if only some idiot had managed to beat the Steamrollers on the last day
It looks like they've had a bit of turnover on offence but I expect them to be strong, and they might need to be in that division.

Panthers look great, they know how to get to the Bowl and their team has been built up well over the last couple of seasons.

Monster: Yeah the Panthers have been pretty good contenders for the last several season, going back to their NC West days about 5 seasons ago. What more?

Jonny : Outlaws look to have sorted their finances out and are building well, I'm not sure it's their season for the playoffs yet, tough division and looking at the other divisions it's going to be a battle for the wildcard spots.

I'm not so sure about Quack Attack, a lot of turnover on the offence, youth could be the way forward, but I think they've got a couple more seasons before they can contend.

Is there a true "top" division this year though? NC North has been number 1 for a while, but this year it looks like we have clear divide between the Eagles and Muscles, looking to get back to the Elite, then the Orc Boyz and Knights embarking upon their first campaigns in the 1.1.
I remember my first 1.1 season, started 0-10! Can be a hard time making the jump.


Monster: I remember mine too; a 4-12 season which ended in a relegation matchup loss against the Maringua Green City...

With Artifice going bot, an opening has been made in the NC North for 2.x teams. I'd say the AC West is now at the same level with Gardians and the Copenhagen Pumas as the top teams of this division.

Both of them have been fighting to get (back) to Elite for several seasons, are among the best in the AC and had really strong rushing offenses last season, so really a good recipe for a Conference Crown I think (not overlooking the Rebels here )

Jonny: OK, Panthers, Werewolves and now Linstock, three straight years where a team has made it to Elite who's not been there before, I'm liking the Saints to be that team this year.
People might disagree with me based on the strength of other teams, but this team had the number 1 pass offence last season and they're looking a lot better this year.
Am I crazy? Is there someone else I should be looking at?

Monster: Well, I used to be one of the managers that didn't count the Trnava Saints, and I'm not sure I will escape from this group this seasons, sorry dear Slovakians

They surprised me with a Divisional Round win over the Brasilia Muscles (though the Saints were the #2 seed last season) and also are 3-times in a row NC South champs.
So you're definitely NOT crazy, but I still won't bet on them this year, time will tell!

You could also look at the Wu Tang Clan, I think most of us remember their strange season last year, and with Lilywhites going bot recently, the Clan has a more than fair shot at the division crown and at least one home playoff game, so there's definitely something worth watching here

Jonny: Lilywhites going bot is a shock and definitely helps Wu Tang, but I'm not sure I'm sold yet, even at 2-0 with a win over the Pumas! Neither win was convincing in my eyes based on their amount of yards, especially the run game. I'm not trying to be harsh here, they definitely are a good team, and two games isn't enough to judge yet.
I'm now really looking forward to the 18th of December, Clan vs Saints, penultimate regular season game, possible implications

Monster: Maybe we could look at the AC, and more specifically at the Bandits and Thunder and Lightning, which also surprised a lot of people in the last post season, as we said in Episode #2

Jonny: Lightning were great in the playoffs, went toe to toe with Linstock, the two interceptions were the big difference, making the score look a lot more one-sided that it really was. Now into a new season and they were shockingly good against Southshore (you get two puns in one there ) with their air-raid offence racking up 536 yards, defence getting 3 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 recovered fumbles, all to the tune of 55 points!

I think I'm gonna go Panthers for the AC though, Lightning are gonna have to shout a bit louder before I see them as number 1

Bandits could be a dark horse, i think the AC is loaded with solid teams at the top, but I wouldn't bet against them, or more specifically i would bet against a team with Maayan Skrivan at LB. Just said about turnovers being difference makers, this guy already has 2 interceptions and 2 recovered fumbles, a player like that changes games.

Monster : Yeah the AC is already loaded with clear favourites to each division title (Rebels, Pumas, Gardians, Panthers, Werewolves, Walruses, Thunder&L), but in the NC, the Trnava Saints, the Madrid Vikings and the Wu tang Clan could all pretty well establish themselves as big fishes in the playoffs, joining the Eagles and Muscles in this role, and make the NC an also stacked Conference. If the NC East could do it on its own too, that would be great too

Jonny : Any thoughts on MVP's this season? Which players should we be looking out for?

Monster: Interesting question, I rarely paid attention with regularity to specific players during the season. But just 2 games in S32, I'll try to answer that with on judgement more based on S31 play instead of this season plays.

On offense, we should keep an eye on Khaliq Abbas, QB of the QUACK ATTACK, his worst seasons since joining 1.1 was a 4000yards, 80+ QBR season, I don't think we can count him out of the MVP race until his retirement

On defence, with all these Linstocks's LBs gone, the competition is finally wide open

I'd say it's an even more of an unknown here. Let's try to say some names
Lote Shifflett - Tillburg Torpedos; Luíz Siqueira - Brasília Muscles; Nickolas Schulte - Panthers. All three of them has, to my mind, proved regularity when it comes to intercepting the ball, so I don't see why they should stop this year.

Did you have any specific names in mind?

Jonny: Abbas might be a good call for QB's, if he does have a down year it'll be due to his team mates, if he's carrying them it'll show just what a difference maker he is. They really need to protect him though, he's been getting hit far too often already.
Stanley Henson for Thunder and Lightning has started strong though, was ranked 2nd behind Abbas last year but has the team and weapons around him this time to put up some big numbers.

You're right on Linstock, the numbers they put up last year were staggering! I'll add one name with Thomas Brunson, the British Blu LB who puts up good numbers, sacks and interceptions. But I'm also not sure on an obvious front runner yet, the field's wide open (i'll pick the horse who's got the biggest heart)!

Good luck this weekend against Thunder and Lightning what shall we look at in the next show?

Monster : There's still so much to talk about, I think we didn't study all the 1.1 Divisions in this episode, and no Dragons 2.1/2.2 at all yet ! Maybe we should think about that.
And thanks ! Looks like it's gonna be tough, but France vs South Africa might be even tougher aha (and I'll be in St-Denis to watch it live )

And to our reader, we wish you good luck too for this weekend and see ya for the next episode of Blowing Smoke

What a great night of sports