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Ladies and Gentlemen of the TSL, we are over the half way hump. Week 5 has come and gone leaving just 3 more weeks of the regular season. For some that means there’s only 3 weeks left to play. For others, the good stuff is just beginning. The competition is fierce. There were 8 games this week that were won by a touchdown or less. In D4 and 5, the way the leaderboard looks now is most likely how it will look come playoffs but that’s really it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some upsets on the horizon in any other divisions. Speaking of upsets, let’s talk about this week’s games…

Buffalo Solar Solutions had a slow start to their season but a win over Uncle Rico’s Time Travelers last week was the antecedent for a string of wins in the last two. I’m not sure if they were missing people in the first 2 weeks but BSS looked like the team we have known these last couple seasons and Andy and Co squeezed out 2 wins this week. First against Mountain Dew Me, they utilized their height advantage and veteran play calling to pull out a win over the young speedsters. Then in their second upset of the day, they brought Matty’s Angels undefeated season to an end by holding on to their 3 point lead after an uncharacteristic drop by the Angels to end the game. BSS finally did what all of us writers have been telling teams they need to do and went deep over the safeties heads then got out at the one and scored a gender touchdown. Plenty of edge-of-your-seat action ensued throughout this game making this a must watch match it if these teams meet in the playoffs.

Speaking of edge of your seat action, early in the day the Dilfs took on Bullet Club in a down to the wire game that had everyone on the sidelines holding their breaths. These teams know each other fairly well and there is some bad blood as BC has not yet forgiven Travis for leaving them this season. Both had their A teams in attendance for this game. Dubey was throwing for the Dilfs in his first appearance of the season and Chris Nelson was in for BC at receiver. The Dilfs continued to have trouble stopping the deep ball, a disadvantage Ricky capitalized on early and often. Fortunately for the Dilfs, Dubey was there to run the offense using his females and taking what the defense was giving him to march down the field. The game was tied at the 2 minute warning with the ball in Ricky’s hands. After a questionable time out taken by BC, the Dilfs were able to get the ball back and march down the field. On 6th down, Dubey hooked up with Stegs in the back of the end zone and the Dilfs took the win.

Uncle Rico’s Time Travelers finally notched their first win of the season in an upset over Full Throttle, 41-21. The first half was back and forth action with UR up by 2 to start the second half. QB Tim was finally hitting his receivers, taking the short yardage and utilizing his females. Full Throttle started the half with a female throwing. Not sure I agreed with this call and it proved to be costly as she lofted the ball up and into the waiting hands of Jackie. UR went back on offense at the 10 and proceeded to score a gender TD. The rest was history.

Pink Pteratacos fought a tough battle against Hope N Ruin. Both teams were looking for their first win of the season as well. HNR proved to have not only the desire but, more importantly, the man power to get it done. While it was by no means a perfect game for either team, with both QBs missing their receivers and both teams’ receivers dropping passes, there were some highlight reel-esque catches on deep balls. PP looked to have their full squad and the female advantage but they did not capitalize on either of these when it counted. HNR outplayed and out-athleted them to come away with the 22-12 win.

TMA won a few games and thought they were smooth sailing their way into the playoffs. While I’d be highly surprised if we didn’t see them come October, they may have to regroup as they seemed to let their recent run of wins get to their heads. Their QB looked a little too cocky trying to go deep instead of taking the yardage given to them and using his females. I know it’s tempting when you see receivers like Ron and Nick down field but smart throwing is always going to win out. The pAssless Chaps were their opponent and must have taken my words last week to heart. I mentioned they had been having trouble holding onto the ball so this week they found their hands. Coach Jay’s offense was moving the ball well. I was surprised by the amount of chirping going on on both sides of this game considering the amount of “good” kids on the block in this game. Close games do have that effect on people and PC was able to walk away from this one with a 26-18 win.

At noon, No Punt Intended took on End Game in an offensive battle of which NPI came out on top 44-30. EG had no defensive stops the entire game as they did not have an answer for Glenn, Jay, and the rest of the athletes NPI has on their roster. Kyle was utilizing these guys (and females) well. Dave looked to be having trouble with the man defense thrown at him. EG has no shortage of athletes on their end. To me, it looked more like a chemistry issue than being outmanned. NPI went on to play Puckett All Stars later in the day. PAS have been having a rough go of it this season and it didn’t get any better during this game. It was a back and forth offensive battle. PAS tried to force the ball deep WAY too often and didn’t use their females nearly enough. Kyle was playing in his 4th game of the day so we saw a significant decrease in his amount of scrambling and more throws from inside the pocket. NPI was up at the end of the day but PAS had a chance to close the gap and threw the ball out of bounds on 6th down. Gotta keep it in play and given your receivers a chance. NPI took the win 33-21. They turned it around late in the day when they took on Sticky Bandits. SB seemed short on clientele and had to bring in another female sub for the game. PAS continued to go deep but with much more success in this game. SB had no answer for their speed and as a result PAS tore apart their zone defense. They continued to be hesitant to use their females which could be their downfall later in the season. Rags was in at QB and threw several picks that were costly for his team. I’m not sure why Mike Thomas wasn’t throwing because I’m pretty sure I saw him playing at receiver but my advice would be to switch back.

Earlier in the day (all these doubleheaders are messing with the chronological format) Sticky Bandits took on the Jabronies in a much hyped up game that I’m pretty sure even had a bet attached to it. There appear to be a number of friendships between these two teams but after the Jabronies stomped the Bandits, 39-16, one can only hope those ships remain afloat. Rags was in at QB while Thomas ran routes at receiver. SB were down 25-0 at the half which would have had many teams hanging their heads and throwing in the towel. Not SB though. They came back with 2 defensive stops to start the second half and Meg had an amazing catch for a TD. Things were starting to look up for Sticky but then their fearless leader Dave Baker went out with an injury and the Jabronies once again pulled away. To be honest I’m not sure who the leader of SB is as it could be Krol, Rags, Alex when he’s here, etc.  But for the purpose of my story telling I’m taking some creative licensing and saying it’s Baker today. I must say, however, on the Jabronies side of things the Kleckers get all the press and media hype but the MVP of this game was NOT named Klecker.

Last but certainly not least I will talk about the D1 love triangle that happened earlier in the morning but once again did not fit in chronologically as it involved 3 games. The top of the triangle was the 10:00 game between Tight Ends in Motion and Public Enemy. PE took the win in a close game that came down to a couple picks and missed opportunities on TE’s end. They stepped it up at 11:00 against Marketing Mayors and stole the win from them by 1 point. A copious amount of chirpiness ensued. Not to be caught off guard again, MM went on to play PE at noon and came out with a 35-28 win. Aside from ED’s shutout victory over Gryffindor, the D1 games did not disappoint for excitement this week.

And that’s a wrap on your Week 5 review. Big news going into Week 6 is that Topper will be back from his pond hopping so all will be right with the world again. Let’s hope we get a few more days as beautiful as it was this past week. Five weeks have gone by and (for most) 5 weeks remain so let’s make the most of these remaining days of football we have left. Remember to try to hang out after or before your games for a while either at the bar or down at the fields. There’s a plethora of great people in this league, why not try to get to know some of them? In the meantime, I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel