As the guy who has now won the playoff panel two seasons running, I can say with full humility that when it comes to picking champs, we all miss the boat now and then.

Sometimes we adopt the herd mentality. Other times we ignore history. Whatever it is, it happens every year. This time around, I decided to reach out to a few of this winter’s looked-over types. Here’s what they had to say…

“As captain of FC Nightrage, I can only thank you for counting us out once again. You served as the spark we needed to ultimately win the cup,” writes Justin Renzullo, whose squad’s true superpower turned out to be its ability to step up in big moments, as displayed in both a miraculous come-from-behind semi-final win against B4 favourites CS Montreal and their 3-2 championship victory over Red Stars 2. “We joined Totalcampo in 2014 and have enjoyed many successful seasons, bringing home four championships along with several 1st place season finishes. Yet, the league continuously shows no faith in a team that has been nothing short of outstanding.”

Marco Lapenna of C1 Division champs FC Muortes was a little more forgiving in the wake of his squad’s 3-2 win over Touchez. “I think the staff simply made the prediction based on how we started the season. Other teams had good results and we had mediocre ones. We never doubted each other and when the playoffs came around, we changed our strategy and some positions around and obviously it worked!”

Unloved Bruno Sports Bar pulled a similar feat in the C2A Division.

Despite their sixth-seed finish, the squad went into the postseason with the mindset that with an extra push, they could beat anyone. “In the quarters and semis, we were down and had to chase the game,” explains captain Bradley Pereira. “On the pitch we kept pointing to our heads to tell each other to keep our composure.”

The squad eventually overcame two regular season losses to heavy panel favourites Trimax, posting a solid 4-1 win. “We went to edge one out when it mattered most.”

While Boavista captured the B5 championship on a technicality none of us could have really predicted, it’s a little harder to explain why none of us could have envisioned Camvi overcoming yet another mediocre season to turn it up when it counted most, again, as they did in the B3 Division with a 7-6 win over FC Botch.

But it’s also worth pointing out some of the more prescient panellist calls as well.

Rick was the only one to back FC Alma, who knocked out Compulsive Calcio 6-2 after disposing of favourites Azzurri in the semis. And John really nailed it with Vimont United, as that squad inched past Homenmen 4-3 to capture the C5B prize.

And I struck gold with Calcio D’Oro, who overcame all odds (no, not really) to beat Cafe Gentile 3-2, as they have somehow managed to do year in and year out for the tiny eternity that is now their legacy.

Why did I pick them? Simple. Because winners never let winners down!

See you all this summer, folks.

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