Playoffs Week 1 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 22 October 2019 18:12

Published: Tuesday, 22 October 2019 18:12

Written by Patrick McGovern

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If anyone told you they were not at all surprised by who we will be seeing this upcoming Saturday, they are damn dirty liars. NO ONE could have predicted the madness that occurred this week. A #1 seed got knocked out, Matty Ice will only be throwing for 1 team, and Gryffindor won their first real D1 game! The madness! The insanity! The playoffs! Let’s take a look at what went down…

At 10:00 Marketing Mayors were once again Andy Smith-less and took an L against Gryffindor, ending their season in what could only be described as a fall from grace. Burr made his triumphant return and helped to lead his team to a 36-28 victory. While yes, this is definitely an upset I can’t say I’m completely surprised. Last time these teams faced each other, MM squeaked by to steal the win, this time they just couldn’t pull it off. Now I’ve given Joey Batts some shit this season but I’ll give credit when it’s due. He stepped up his game when it counted most. He utilized his WR1 as well as the other threats in his arsenal, namely Jill and Jenn. MM had no answers on defense and Joey dropped dimes when dimes needed to be dropped. Gryffindor lives on to face Eyes Downtown in the semis next week so their moral victory will likely only last a week, but that’s a week longer than MM has.

Slytherin That End Zone was the technical favorite in this game as they were the 4^th seed over Bullet Club at 5. I’m not considering this an upset though. First of all, I heard from many sources Gary would be playing QB for STEZ as Newman had a prior engagement they all knew about back when the schedules first came out. So suffice it to say I was a little shocked to see Newman himself warming up on the sidelines this week ready to go in. I’m not sure if it was because of Gary’s no-so-great performance in his warm up game last week or if it was all an 8 week long head game they were playing but it didn’t matter. Good Ricky showed up and showed up hard. He was out there threading the needle and dropping bombs to his receivers. STEZ kept it close but Ricky but his team on his back and marched them into their spot in the semis.

The No Punt Intended/Puckett All-Stars game was probably the biggest legit upset of the day. NPI finished comfortably in 1^st place in their division with a +/- differential of +101. They allowed the fewest points to be scored and scored the second most. PAS however, had a -53 +/-, scoring the second least and allowing 278 points against. That said, anyone who read my article last week will know that this isn’t entirely surprising either as PAS has been known to tank in the regular season then turn on the jets for the playoffs. They did it last year, apparently they are doing it again. Now maybe they got lucky because NPI was without QB Kyle Coniff so Glenn Bird was in to throw. I have nothing but respect for Glenn but when a team has been playing around a Russell Wilson type QB all season, things aren’t going to go the same when Big Ben steps in. NPI picked the wrong day to have a bad day and it cost them what was very likely to be their championship. Puckett All Stars take on Frodo Swaggins next week in what should be a fairly evenly matched game if everyone has their full teams show up.

At 11:00, A&A took on a shorthanded Dilfs and I’m still trying to figure out WTF happened. A&A had most of their roster. I did notice Jamy was not in attendance along with a couple of their new receivers, but their main core of players was there. The Dilfs were missing Dubey and Tommy Hughes (honestly I’m not real sure who else is on this roster). It started off as a defensive battle which neither team is known for. In the absence of Dubey and Hughes, Travis once again went in at QB. Fortunately for the Dilfs, an entirely different Travis showed up than the one who played last week. The Dilfs kept their plays within 15 yards for the most part and marched down the field. A&A answered back using the same strategy and the game was within a score for its entirety. A&A scored to tie it up with 2 minutes left then got their conversion to take the lead. The Dilfs then got the ball and marched down the field. They scored to go up 5 with less than 10 seconds left. Matty Ice gave the ball to Delaney to attempt to launch it down the field but they were unsuccessful and the Dilfs moved on to face Peachy Platoon in the semis.

End Game went into the playoffs at 5^th seed after what can only be described as a roller coaster of a season. They lost game I feel they should have won and won games they should have lost. Luckily, none of that matters in the playoffs. This past week they took on 4^th seed Jabronies. Jabronies have also had some ups and downs this season but most people would have counted them the favorites. I’m not saying I would have but I know EG to be a vet savvy team with years of experience. If Jabronies slept on them at all, EG would capitalize. That could have been what happened here or EG just decided they were done messing around. Dave took charge of his team and they utilized all their weapons. He used the height of his receivers. I saw Brandon Farr jumped about 3 feet in the air to come down with a TD and their females were lights out. From what I saw, it looked like EG just plain wanted it more and they live on to play Sticky Bandits next week.

Speaking of Sticky Nation, they beat All We Do Is Quinn 33-7. Yes, you read that right, 7. One of the top scoring offenses in the league was held to 7 points by the 6^th seed. AND to top that off, SB were missing two of their main players in Andrew Kicak and Ricky Recckio. So what happened? Well, from what I saw, Vince had a rough day. In the time I was there, he threw multiple picks or overthrew open receivers. Moral was at an all-time low early in the game. Before half time, AWDIQ looked defeated. I’ve heard tell that the Quinns always choke in the playoffs and thought that was a little harsh but after witnessing it firsthand I have to say there’s something to it. Mike Thomas was back in at QB for SB who claimed he was always going to come back for the playoffs. SB rallied around their QB and were clicking on both offense and defense. If they can take that momentum into next week and get their full roster on the field, it will be a close battle next week between them and End Game.

Practice Squad has been quiet this season but came away with a respectable 5-4 record. After moving up from D6 last year, they seem to be fitting in just fine in D5. Hope N Ruin finished just below them after a season plagued with attendance issues. Both teams appeared to be at full strength (but let’s be honest, I haven’t memorized anyone’s roster) and the game stayed close. B was on the sidelines reffing instead of throwing for HNR as their usual QB was back in action. Their game plan doesn’t seem to change much from game to game and it was effective in this game. PS had a couple bounces go their way and made some big plays at key moments. In my humble opinion, Fiegel and McCabe should definitely be in contention for D5 MVPs and Renee should be in the talks for the females. I’m not sure who PS will be playing next week due to a snafu in D5 but whoever it is I don’t envy them.

TMA took on The Replacements, who appeared to be missing the vast majority of their roster. One roster check later and it was confirmed that TR had illegal players. The game continued as usual though because it’s the playoffs and who wouldn’t want to get a game in before the semis next week? Illegal players or not, TMA had the edge all over the fields. TR were missing Swanson and their QB Moon. TMA’s females had no match ups and Ryan was able to use them. Nick had a big game once again as no one on TR came close to matching him in height. So even though they would have won by forfeit regardless, TMA legitimately won 22-21. It looked like they were easing off the accelerator once they found out it didn’t count so hopefully next week they can pick it back up to a level they will need to be at in order to make a game against pAssless Chaps. I didn’t see much of their game against Tater Tots but I heard it was closer than expected. PC gave TMA their first loss of the season this year, so it could be anyone’ game come Saturday.

The En Fuego/Cobblestone game was the snafu I mentioned earlier. I’m not going to get into it but here’s the basics. Cobblestone miraculously got all their guys to show up, including Darryl. They balled out and took it to En Fuego, winning 26-23. EF complained of an illegal female, turned out they had one too. League management decided the best way to solve this conundrum was to replay the game.  So they will play again at 10:00 and the rest of D5 will wait to see who they face after that.

That’s all I have for you this week. To those of you whose games I did not catch I will do my best to take note and make it a point to see some of yours this week. My current weather forecast says it’s going to be cool but fingers crossed we have clear skies. That could change by week’s end though. This week only 22 teams will be making their way to the fields. If your team didn’t make it we would all still appreciate the support if you came out and watched some games. For those of you still in the running, I wish you all a healthy and happy semifinals. Remember, I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel

Week 7 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Wednesday, 09 October 2019 20:00

Published: Wednesday, 09 October 2019 20:00

Written by Patrick McGovern

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So Week 7 has come and gone. One more week of the regular season lies before us. After that, the race for coed football immorality officially begins. This was a light week in terms of attendance and games. But while many were representing the Bills Mafia in Nashville (I’m assuming that’s where most people were) the rest of us held the fort at the Rose Garden. Here’s what I saw…

A&A had only 2 of its rostered males there- Rameer and JZ- for their double header. They did have 3 females, but it was impossible for them to defensively stop anyone, even when Travis was allowed to play defense in their second game against Hofbrauhaus Buffalo. Travis had a very rough day at the office. He subbed in at QB but had trouble getting on the same page as his receivers. It was a terrible week to be missing Matty Ice and WRs 1-4. Tight Ends in Motion played well and came away with an easy 42-17 win. Later in the day against HB, A&A could not generate anything on defense. Nixon was in at rusher giving Travis a very small window to get the ball out but allowing 64 points to be scored against you really lowers your chances of success. HB walked away with a 64-34 win.

The scheduling gods did not do Buffalo Solar Solutions any favors, giving them both gender teams in one day. Added to that missing their fearless leader Andy to throw them the ball equaled a dismal day. Cunning Stunts mounted a comeback from 2 scores down to win the game in the last second. Joey Batts threw a late TD and then chose to go for the win by attempting a 2 point conversion- and GETTING IT! CS was none too happy later in the day though to get blown out by Uncle Rico’s Time Travelers who had 2 really good players in their lineup, including Chris Nelson. The game was close to being a forfeit due to Nelson being on 3 rosters and having plated for Bullet Club earlier in the season, but he apparently had played for Uncle Rico’s as well and formally said to Rameer that he renounces all ties to any other team. Nelson ended up being the unstoppable force that the Stunts couldn’t stop. They were NOT happy about it after the game and let league management know.

Bobby McConnell could have had the week off and rested for next weeks’ seeding match ups but risking the #1 spot of the QB Rankings was not an option. Instead, he looked like he was fighting for MVP contention in both of Matty Angels’ games as he took over for a missing Matty Ice. The Angels struggled in their last match up against BSS so I can’t say if it was Bobby running their offense or the motivation of revenge that caused the 54-12 domination. It could also be that the Stunts tried them out and they didn’t have Andy but all these teams will see each other real soon. The Angels definitely were not tired in their second game of the day versus Mountain Dew Me. MDM had no answer on defense for the females and fell 53-12.

Vaspian continued their up and down rollercoaster of a season going 1-1 against Ultimate Warriors (won) and the Jabronies (lost). Drew attempted to Mrs Doubtfire it by playing for both Vaspian and his D2 team in the 10am slot. For those of you who’s eyes just lit up, don’t get any ideas. I spoke to league management and there most likely will be a rule about this come next season. He was only able to pull off one win in that time slot as Public Enemy finally looked like their old selves again. Vaspian on the other hand needs to figure out how to generate some offense. They beat UW 28-22 then lost to the Jabronies 34-18.

League icon Darryl Carr was literally left in the trenches by his team as not a single Cobblestone player aside from  him showed up for their double header against En Fuego. The result was EF received 2 forfeit wins which sucked since they nor anyone involved knew prior to the first scheduled game that this was happening. I spoke with management again who assured me they will look into implementing new rules to prevent this from occurring in the future or resulting in consequences if it should. I hope En Fuego was able to enjoy their day regardless. I did hear them in previous weeks playing a fantasy football-esque game while watching a game which I think is a fantastic idea.

The Frodo Swaggins/All We Do Is Quinn game was marked by shaky play from AWDIQ- but more noticeably a number of questionable calls from ref, Billy. Probably not breaking news to anyone. No, the Quinners do not blame the loss completely on Billy but they and onlookers say he had a major effect on the outcome and flow of the game with multiple “bad” calls. One such call was at the end of the 1^st half when he took away a TD even though he wasn’t in position to see the players feet in bounds. Kasey discussed the call later in the day on Titos With Travis and FS QB Dro did not dispute any argument. FS walked away with the 38-36 win.

Come From Behind pulled off a surprisingly easy blowout upset over Practice Squad, even with a back up QB in. They may be one of the oldest teams in the league but they proved this week they still have what it takes to compete. Using smart play calling and exploiting PS’s weaknesses, CFB pulled off a 52-30 win. Practice Squad may have gotten complacent but those 3-6 spots in D5 are anything but secure.

Peachy Platoon won but with some interesting personnel changes- Dean did not play QB. Why? You ask. It was confirmed that he broke his thumb against Hofbrauhaus Buffalo last week and can’t grip the football to throw. Way to go Nixon you big bully. This could have a major effect on their chances for a D2 title. Their game against Schilling Em Softly may not have been a great indicator for how they will match up against the other D2 teams come playoff time. This game was a good practice for their new QB and also a moral victory they won 39-20.

Well that’s all for last week. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One week of the regular season remains. One week to do something amazing that people will remember going into the playoffs. One week to solidify where you fit in. One week to talk to that special someone you’ve been eyeing all season (this is a general comment, not directed at one specific person). The Fall 2019 season is quickly passing us by. Make sure you make the most of it from here. Meanwhile, I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel

Week 8 Summary

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Wednesday, 16 October 2019 19:31

Published: Wednesday, 16 October 2019 19:31

Written by Patrick McGovern

Hits: 8162

Holy smokes Batman! The regular season is over! For teams like 3^rd & Schlong, Ultimate Warriors, Shattered Dreams and Blitzkrieg that means football is over, at least until next year. Scott Keller Jr. announced there will be no next year for 3&S which is sad news for us all. There were some shake ups this week that altered the standings in a major way. Teams that were sitting pretty in the middle of their division slipped down while others made significant leaps up, giving them much better match ups. No D2 team won their crossover game this season which was disappointing. Looking at the standings, Slytherin That End Zone managed to finish in 4^th place despite winning only 3 games. En Fuego didn’t surpass them but took away Overcompensator’s chance at a perfect season. Puckett All Stars look like they are trying their strategy from last season finishing in 8^th place and taking a win over the #1 seed. Let’s see if lightning can strike twice. This week the weather was not as kind as in weeks’ past but at least it didn’t rain all day. Here’s what I saw on the fields…

At 9:00 am, Hofbrauhaus Buffalo took on the Dilfs in a make up game from earlier in the season. The weather sucked and everyone looked miserable. The Dilfs continued to look miserable throughout the game as HB basically did whatever they wanted to do. Topper and Co didn’t need to run complicated plays to beat the Dilfs defense who quite frankly looked lost. Travis was in at QB but could not get on the same page as his receivers resulting in multiple picks, some directly to the opposition. Tommy Hughes was there but looked defeated by half time. The females on both teams played well and HB utilized all 4 of their females often, leading them to a 40-22 win.

Eyes Downtown took on Public Enemy once again with several missing players on both team. Bobby McConnell missed the beginning of the game so Chadwick filled in to throw until he got there. Jeff Farr was also a notable absence. PE was missing Osika and Pauly J. It was a close game possibly because of the absent personnel. The demeanor of PE was always that of complete confidence and they were able to pull away with a 34-20 win. ED however, took their 3 game series this season 2-1. Playoffs are now upon us, however, and both of these teams earned themselves a first round bye (along with everyone else in D1 besides Gryffindor and Marketing Mayors).

Hofbrauhaus Buffalo played again at 10 against A&A in a clash of the D2 titans. All warmed up from their early game, HB came out hot. Unfortunately so did A&A who had a return of their players from last week. Jamy Stammel made her return from being injured all season and Shelley was also back in the lineup. A&A came out to a big lead in the first half but HB fought their way back into it and took the lead. It was a shootout game from there that stayed close right until the end. Basically it came down to Topper not being able to convert the extra points and A&A punching them in. In a strange turn of events, Peachy Platoon took over the #1 spot of D2 in the final week of the season and earned themselves a first round bye. HB will now have to beat Energy Buff to move on to championship weekend.

The Dilfs also had another game later in the day against Bullet Club, who they beat in the last seconds of their previous meeting. Once again, Travis was in at QB and struggled hard. Numerous more picks were thrown, his females were hardly utilized and his receivers never seemed to be running the routes he was looking for. Tommy Hughes was put in at QB for a while but that made no difference. Offensively the Dilfs could not do a thing. On the other side of the ball, Good Ricky showed up in spades. He was dropping dimes and using his females to do damage to the Dilfs spirits. BC rallied around him and walked away with a 26-6 win. Remember how I said there were some shake ups in the standings? This was one of them. With the result of this win BC jumped ahead of the Dilfs, giving them STEZ in the playoffs while the Dilfs will now take on A&A. If there was ever a time for Good Ricky to make his appearance this game was definitely one of the best times. Also, if you were curious about how tie breakers works, listen to the podcast this week. Joe K explains it succinctly. Spoiler: point differential has very little to do with it.

Full Throttle continued their decline from Week 2 of the season losing 6-35 to Mountain Dew Me. This was the 3^rd time these teams faced each other, as will happen in a division with 6 teams. FT won the first game but MDM bested them in the subsequent two. I’m not sure if attendance is their Achilles Heel or if they just don’t have the talent to keep up but when a veteran team loses twice to brand spankin’ newbies, something’s up. MDM have had a rough go of it and could be in the talks of moving down a division next season but they have come out with their heads high and played their game. They’ve been quiet but could be big if given the opportunity to play against more evenly matched competition. I did catch a glimpse of a not-so-newbie on their team this week. Sarah Barnes also made a comeback from a long term injury and brought some veteran experience to MDM in their win. They could use her next week against Buffalo Solar Solutions in the first round of playoffs.

Shattered Dreams had a double header taking on Graves Bros and The Replacements. Their playoff dreams are as their name states but they still rallied enough people together to get their final 2 games in. The Universal sub list was in full force as this game trotted out Joe K and James Hearn to fill in spots then playing with 4 guys. Graves Bros also didn’t have their full roster. Noticeable absence: Gronk! You get all the hype last week of being put on the Non QB Top 20 list and how do you respond? By not showing up the next week! Media attention is a fickle thing and shenanigans like this will not get you the press everyone covets. Joe K threw for SD and led them to a 29-12 victory. Hearn stepped up taking over the role of WR1 with 2 TDs and 3 conversions. SD had a chance to knock out Wild Oak Beard Co and make the playoffs with a win against The Replacements. Still short on players, they called in Non Award Winning Tommy Hughes to replace Joe K and Harris to play receiver. It was a tight matchup that could have gone either way. TR were able to pull away and take the win 32-27. Replacement’s QB Moon still has a lot to learn but if these guys stick together I can see them making their way up the divisions. Their females are outstanding and they have weapons on offense with Payton Spinelli and Katie Swanson. They take on TMA in the first round of the playoffs so they have their work cut out for them.

Vaspian pulled off a 34-26 win over Pucket All Stars taking over the 7^th seed and knocking them down to 8^th. This win matches them up against Frodo Swaggins who have had some rough weeks and this game could be prime for an upset. PAS did not fare as well as they are now facing No Punt Intended who do not seem to be slowing down at all. Vaspian is beginning to learn to use the weapons they have. Their QB seems to change on the regular so I’m not sure who will be in for next week but if they can play like they did this week I’m giving them a shot. Heather and Gabe can match up against the females of FS so if they’re utilized properly and Drew does Drew things I wouldn’t be surprised to see an upset.

Hope N Ruin and Come From Behind played each other once again this week. HNR took the win last time and did so again this time, 48-37. CFB was able to put up more points on offense but continued to struggle coming up with defensive stops. They were missing QB Paul and some of their speedsters but Sean had a great game for them which contributed to a lot of their scoring. B was in at QB for HNR, who actually had 2 females the entire game this time! I didn’t see many long shots downfield while I was there but they didn’t need to when CFB gave up 10-15 yards. B picked apart their zone and came away with the win, giving HNR the 5^th seed and dropping CFB down to the 6^th. In this division those 2 positions were probably interchangeable as they will face Overcompensators and En Fuego, respectively. Neither of those would be a match up to envy.

Uncle Rico’s Time Travelers had a double header against Buffalo Solar Solutions and Cunning Stunts and WON THEM BOTH! If there was ever a team to pull a 180 half way through the season and completely redeem themselves its URTT. They were getting blown out in the first couple weeks of the season then got a win over Full Throttle and never took the foot off the gas. I should also note the turnaround was not a result of Chris Nelson officially joining the team. QB Tim has finally been able to find his receivers. Jackee and John Senn have stepped up and made some key catches and they have finally started to take the shorter yardage early and get themselves in better field position. BSS had their QB back but were missing their WR1 (sorry I don’t know your name). He appeared to be injured as he was on the sidelines during this game. The Stunts game was a close battle that came down to the wire. The Stunts had a 9 point lead with 30 seconds when UR took over. Jackee made an outstanding catch to drive them down the field and they get a gender TD. They decide to go for the win and Josh made a phenomenal catch over the heads of Brandy and Joey Batts and UR takes the win. Fun fact: both of URTT’s wins this week were by 1 point.

Slytherin That End Zone played Peachy Platoon twice this week and lost them both, scoring a collective 14 points to PP’s 86. I feel for STEZ, no one wants to play PP twice in a day even with an injured Dean. Added to that, STEZ beat PP in the championship last year so PP may have had a slight chip on their shoulder. Dean did end up throwing despite rumors that he would be out with a thumb injury. Gary threw for STEZ even though Newman was in attendance. When the schedule came out this year, they knew Newman would not be able to play in the playoffs. So this week, they had Gary play QB to get some reps in to prepare him for his call up in the playoffs. They were also missing their WR1 Dawson which did Gary no favors. Gary had a rough day at the office throwing picks in the first 5 straight possessions. As the collective points show, neither of these games were close but I did see an adorable golden retriever puppy hanging around STEZ so they have that going for them. Also, due to the aforementioned standings mix up, they end up in 4^th place and will face Bullet Club next week.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week. I am beyond excited for the upcoming playoffs this week. This first week is when most of the major upsets happen and I love to see those. Even better, it’s not the end of October so there is a chance the weather won’t be a huge factor. To those of you whose teams did not make the playoffs, it would still be cool of you to come out and cheer on your favorite team that isn’t yours. Everyone has a team they like, if not, pick one this week and bandwagon it up for the playoffs. Maybe take a page out of En Fuego’s book and play some TSL Fantasy Football during a game or two. To those who are still in it to win it, I wish you all the best this week. Bring your A game and remember, I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel

Week 6 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 01 October 2019 13:27

Published: Tuesday, 01 October 2019 13:27

Written by Patrick McGovern

Hits: 12777

Here we are ladies and gentlemen, Week 6 is now behind us. In Topper’s infinite wisdom to start this season early, we have had yet another nice day to play some football. The rain held off, the music was bumping, and some people won big. In some divisions the standings look completely different than they did at the start of the season and with 2 weeks left of the regular season, everyone is really starting to see where they line up. Let’s take a look at this weeks’ games…

I was going to say Bullet Club took on Energy Buff but a more accurate statement would be Bullet Club took on some shreds of Energy Buff with mostly substitute players filling in the gaps. EB had no females of their own and instead called in Emily Schilling and Steph Czaja. They also had Matty Ice in to throw for them which seeing how a consistent QB has been a major detriment to their success, I figured would elevate their game. The good news for EB was Ben Stack was in attendance and according to my sources Chris Nelson bailed on BC right before game time. The game was a close one with back and forth action, INTs on both sides and plenty of deep balls. Ricky had some trouble with Schilling rushing him but fortunately for BC, “Good Ricky” showed up and was able to use his talented receivers effectively. Todd and Zach played playoff caliber football and they squeaked by with a 26-22 win.

Later in the day, Energy Buff met up with Slytherin That Endzone again with their depleted roster. They traded out Matty Ice for Ricky at QB and brought in Jillian Dibble. Looking at this game I was expecting SITE to run rampant given the promising start to their season and young athletes they seem to keep adding. Unfortunately for them, Good Ricky carried over from his win against them earlier in the day and continued to rain precision passes down on them. SITE had the game in hand with a commanding 30 point lead. EB kept on trucking and with Ricky leading them, overcame that deficit to take the win 45-41. The loss of captain Gary was evident in the game as the anguish on his face while watching from the sidelines was even hard for me. Hopefully he will return to lead his team when it matters in a few short weeks’ time.

SITE went on to play Schilling Em Softly later in the day. For those who are confused, We Back has officially dropped out so instead of their remaining opponents missing out on a game, league management has decided to have the current Breakfast Club Champions fill the spot. To refresh your memory, this team had Matty Ice, AW Tommy Hughes, Kyle Coniff (had a scheduling conflict), Sal (not playing), Jeremy from Jabronies and Drew from Zack Attack. For females, both Emilies and Kelly Liddle filled in. Hearn and Gordon also filled in for the missing players. It was a fun, close game that probably could have gone either way had the men of SES taken it seriously. As it was, SITE used their speedsters and SES couldn’t keep up giving SITE the 36-31 win.

The Overcompensators had a bye week last week that seemed to stall out their momentum for a while. Their offense came out sloppy and lethargic. Fortunately Renee didn’t miss a beat and Erica stepped up for them. Practice Squad also had a slow start on offense with their OQ missing some wide open receivers. Fiegel kept them in this game by not dropping a single pass (while I watched anyway). The game was close at the half but PS could not find a break in OC’s dominant defense. Once OC rubbed the sleep out of their eyes they took command of this game and put any thoughts of them not being the undisputed D5 favorite to rest. OC 28, PS 14.

The pAssless Chaps versus Blitzkreig game was pretty much over before it started. Blitz showed their inexperience on both sides of the ball. On defense, they stuck to man despite being picked apart by Coach Jay. On offense, they made the age old mistake of not using your females and getting down to 4-2 situations. In Blitz’s defense, PC is all too familiar with their plight as this was them not long ago. Leadership and experience are just what the doctor is ordering for them to improve next season. By half time, the score was 43-13 and Coach Jay sat himself. PC continued to dominant even without Jay leading the rush and the game ended with PC winning 65-13. The Chaps have had their share of upsets in past seasons (most notably the Fall in their defeat of the Jabronies in the semis) and I would not want to be a top tier D6 team facing them come playoffs.

At 11:00, A&A took on the Dilfs in what could have been a solid match up. Both teams seemed to have all their horses in the race with the exception of Kelly Mazur for the Dilfs. Even Award-winning Tommy Hughes graced the fields with his presence. The Dilfs got off to an early lead but A&A quickly recovered and marched down the field for a gender score. The Dilfs collective age hurt them as they could not keep up with the much younger athletes of A&A. Dubey in the backfield and Tommy calling the plays kept the game close until a pick 6 in the waning minutes sealed the deal. A&A walked away with a 45-15 win.

The Hofbrauhaus Buffalo/ Peachy Platoon game was much anticipated as it boasted 2 of the top 3 contenders for the D2 title this season. Everyone has been talking about whether HB is the real deal or if their success could be attributed to the ease of their schedule. I’ve also heard speculation about how PP would fair in D1. This game would answer both of these conundrums. The game started out with a pick six by Dave Wilbern which one would think would be a catalyst to go on to dominant. Not the case. Topper and Co turned on the burners and PP had no response. HB delivered a swift kick to the teeth and PP completely unraveled and lost their composure. Their frustration and angst was palpable from the sidelines as Topper continued to score. Granted, Topper also continued to throw INTs but PP could not regroup to settle back into their game. Dean was clearly not ready for the likes of Pete and Drew as he threw his fair amount of picks as well. This young team needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and move forward to next week and put this 44-21 loss behind them.

Frodo Swaggins QB, Scott Drosendahl continues to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to becoming a star in this league. He has all the makings to be great with his witticism, skill set and can-do attitude but seems to always fall short when the games on the line. This week, he pointed to the fences, called his shots and failed to rise to the occasion. Not only did he claim he was going to squash the rumors of his lack of game by courting LRG but he also said he would win both games of his doubleheader. On neither of these promises did he come through. LRG was there and not even eye contact was made. Even worse, in their game versus End Game, Scott threw multiple INTs and missed wide open receivers. Sure they beat the last place Ultimate Warriors 43-26 but those aren’t the games that are going to give you star status. Dave and Co outplayed FS in what was a much needed morale boost for this usually all-around strong team. Both teams have tough competitions this week as EG takes on Jabronies and FS takes on All We Do Is Quinn.

Did the league crown Quinn a bit too prematurely? Sure seems like it after watching how easily they were handled by NPI. NPI led the entire game and at one point were up 20-0. I will give credit to AWDIQ for not giving up and fighting until the end, but this was a stunner due to the ease in which NPI scored and shut down the Quinnsters. The key to this game was the females- NPI’s did whatever they wanted to do, as Elena Schratz seemed to be zipping all over the field. On the other side, Quinn’s females couldn’t seem to get open at all, severely hurting the team. LRG and Emily Peters are good players, but the absence of Kat Peters really stood out. Kyle has looked stellar in the past couple of weeks at QB and NPI is on cruise control right now. They took the easy victory 39-26. Quinn has to make some adjustments in the weeks ahead. 

In Part 2 of their double header, NPI took on Sticky Bandits. No one knows what SB is doing with Raj at QB. People like Raj, he’s a great guy. But at QB he’s the league equivalent to Rob Johnson. Then we have Kyle who is out here playing like Russell Wilson in his prime and it was no contest. NPI took their second win of the day 43-13.

What in the holy hell happened on Field 2 at 2:00 this past Saturday? Yes, Jabronies had Joe Miano and BOTH Kleckers in attendance. Yes, Joe did play QB. This is just one of those quintessential Any Given {Saturday} type games. 3^rd and Schlong delivered a WWF style smackdown to the Jabronies with a 41-9 win. Yes, you read that score correctly. Here’s the thing, and I mean this as a PSA to the entire league as there are exceptional females in every division. Katie Keller is an exceptional female. DO NOT put an average female on her to try to cover on defense. She will eat them alive. The Kellers loked smooth and on fire. The Jabronies looked shell shocked from start to finish. They couldn’t figure out anything on offense and defensively they were completely out of sorts. This was an eye opening game, exposing flaws in one team and showing strengths of another. If the Jabronies don’t want a repeat of their early exit from the playoffs last year, they better not have another game like this one.

To start the game, Come From Behind had no QB. Ferger was scheduled to play but since his game went late, they had to start shorthanded. Long time vet Craig Gerhard made his first appearance of the season and decided to try his hand at emergency QB. His strength is in his receiving and CFB couldn’t do anything against the Hope N Ruin defense. HNR ruin continues their climb up the rankings with a 43-20 win.

Come From Behind got another chance later in their game versus Pink Pteratacos that was much more competitive. Honestly, this game could be the Game of the Day. After playing earlier without a QB, CFB went to the sublist and called on B to lead them. Sure, he threw a couple picks initially while shaking some of the rust off but he had CFB moving and threw strikes to players all over the field. Meanwhile, PP gelled in the absence of Mark. Their new female player, Marla, continued to show her speed and strength of will. But CFB looked energized by having someone to throw them the ball and Craig showed us all retirement is still in the distant future. CFB inched by with a 38-36 win.

The Graves Bros demolished Tater Tots 52-0 but the real story of this game was “the play”. Dave, more commonly known as Drunk Meg’s boyfriend, goes up for a ball against a female player from Graves Bros and gets MOSSED! Now this isn’t the first instance of a male player being mossed by a female but it will definitely be talked about for the remainder of the season. Even his own teammates were howling about and continued to talk about it later. Fortunately for Dave it was not caught on film. The score speaks for itself regarding how the rest of the game went.

Tater Tots later had to play TMA in a Drunk Meg versus her boyfriend showdown. His spirits were probably at an all time low but mercy is not in the vocabulary of TMA. They scored early and often. QB Ryan played lights out and rumors are swirling he may be in the conversation for some MVP considerations. TMA took the victory 44-6 and sit comfortably in the second place spot in what is proving to be a very competitive division. The quote of the day comes from Drunk Meg who was heard telling Rameer at the bar they “mashed those little tater tots!”. TT are still in contention for playoffs so the next 2 weeks are of paramount importance to their rookie season in the league.

That’s all I have for you today. I say it every year but I seriously can’t believe how close we are to championship weekend. Here we are in October with another nice day of football weather upon us (at least according to the weather report today). Next week teams will be fighting for their playoff lives. Some notable absences this week could shake up the standings a bit as well. As everyone waits to see how it all plays out, remember I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel