Week 4 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Tuesday, 08 September 2020 11:39

Published: Tuesday, 08 September 2020 11:39

Written by Patrick McGovern

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Welcome back! As we all know, these past couple weeks have been a huge headache for everyone involved in the TSL. I want to start with a huge thank you to all those who have volunteered to help out with getting us back on the fields. So many people stepped up to help us get in touch with government officials leading to our confirmation that we are good to play. A special thank you goes out to Topper who worked tirelessly; losing sleep and hair…ok maybe just sleep, in the process of getting us back on the fields. All of your efforts are greatly appreciated as it was an awesome day for football.

In watching some of this week’s games from the social distant viewing area, I had a thought (well I had many thoughts but this one is relevant now). When I first began this article, the Topper Sports Official Podcast was on hiatus. I saw an area of need in reviewing the previous week’s games so I took it upon myself to fill that need. Well now, Joe K, Emily and Co have returned and I do not kid myself in believing I can match the wit and insight those fine individuals provide. That said, the Sentinel will look a little different moving forward. Henceforth, I will be providing all you fine folks with a Roll the Highlight Reel type segment. That’s right. Starting this week I will discuss all the big plays I saw you uber-athletes make. Offense, defense, maybe even at the bar later, anything is open for spotlighting. I might even throw in some low lights, just for the fun of it. If I do see some newsworthy performances from a team or individual in general, I will continue to spot those games. So consider this your invitation to shine. You want recognition and co-ed touch football immortality? Time to do something amazing.

This week was basically like a second week 1. Everyone got the rust out opening day but it may have started to settle back for some people during the 2 week pause. There were also some for whom it was opening day if they had a bye Week 1. Take for instance, Tight Ends in Motion. They did not play Week 1 so they were among the teams with an extended off season. But Derek Bongiovanni did not look like he missed a beat. I will say TEIM’s game against Eyes Downtown had its fair share of highlight-worthy plays. Mike Radon appears to have come out of retirement for Bobby McConnell’s revamped ED team. Jeremy Burr also joined his ranks and had some nice defensive stops. The catch of the game goes to Derek though for a deep touchdown late in the second half. He used all 6 foot whatever he is to make a back of the end zone catch thrown outside and get his feet in. TEIM could not pull off the win but they have the skill at receiver to make a statement in the coming weeks.

I will admit I did see a good amount of the Public Enemy/Gryffindor game. Gryffindor looks a little different this season. I saw some new, youthful faces that added much needed speed to their ranks. Unfortunately for these rookies, the offensive prowess of Chris Cole, Mike Boccio and Greg Osika is a tough act to open up with and Cole took advantage of their inexperience.  The game did remain close with Gryffindor needing a TD to tie it up but Joey Batts took a sack to end it, 27-21.

Pete N from Why So Serious tried his hand at QB to begin the game against Marketing Mayors but that’s not where he gets his mention here. Eventually, he handed the reins off to a teammate and assumed the WR1 position. This is where he merited mention. Pete was a force to be reckoned with. He always had my respect for not shying away from putting his team right to D1. His performance kept this game close. While the final score may not reflect how close of a game was, Why So Serious has proven they can hang in D1 in their opening 2 games this season.

Let’s jump over to D5 where Mountain Dew Me took on the Interdimensional Lightning Falcons. Now unfortunately I don’t know which McGregor is which but the one wearing the blue bandana was making some big plays. They certainly seem to have found their home in D5 and should definitely be on their opponent’s radar. These guys are quick with solid hands. Holding opponents to 12 points in 2 games is no small defensive feat either. I would love to highlight players more specifically so if you guys want to send a description of who’s who, we can make that happen.

Dave Eickhoff and Grey Hair Don’t Care had an impressive game against the Untouchaballs. He was slinging downfield and his receivers came up big. This game got heated at times but GHDC ultimately came up with the win thanks to Dave’s solid play calling and spot on passing.

I’m going to go ahead and call it a highlight, though some may disagree, but I witnessed the most hilarious play of the day over on Field 4 when Scott Keller Jr “flashed” Topper just as he went to throw then proceeded to pick off the pass. It was magical. Was it a game changing play? Maybe, maybe not, but Intentional Pounding came away with a 39-35 win over TOX so you can make of that what you will.

Speaking of Kellers, Katie Keller was over on field 1 with the Dilfs later in day and graced us all with another highlight worthy catch. I’m not sure who was throwing for the Dilfs but he slightly overthrew her in the end zone. Katie got one hand on it and managed to knock it down to herself and secure it for the TD. The Dilfs went on to defeat Morning Wood 28-15. While I’m on this game though I do need to spot light the QB for Morning Wood; I believe I heard someone say his name is Ertel. I was impressed by his scrambling and deep yard confidence. He was able to buy his team a ton of time by running around the backfield for easily 10-15 seconds. His passing was also pretty outstanding. I did not see him throw to his females at all while I was watching so if I could be so bold as to give my humble opinion here I would say if he starts getting them involved, MW could be a contender in D2.

The Bambs had a couple big plays against Lenny’s Ladies. Most notable was the guy with poofy blonde hair. He was not shy going deep and their QB was not afraid to send him. LL had trouble finding an answer to this play on defense and the Bambs embraced the old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” They came away with the win 44-28.

That’s all for this week. It was so great being out there playing again with all you fine people. I didn’t say it before but I want to thank all of you for following the covid protocols so well both at the fields and at the bar. Please remember to wear a mask in the playing area when you are not playing and use the designated entrance and exit accordingly. Everyone did an amazing job this week so this is just a friendly reminder.

Feel free to let me know what you think about the new format by emailing the league website (I don’t have a fancy personal email). We writers do what we do for you guys so if you liked today’s article, if you liked the old way, or if would rather me just stop talking all together, let your voice be heard. Until next week, I’ll be watching…

Championship Saturday Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Wednesday, 30 October 2019 18:44

Published: Wednesday, 30 October 2019 18:44

Written by Patrick McGovern

Hits: 6156

And that’s all they wrote! The season is officially over and our victors have been crowned (actually they were given champagne which we feel is way more practical). I would like to start by thanking everyone for a superb season. Topper, Rameer and whomever else is involved in running this thing have done a wonderful job of coordinating schedules, handling the problems that inevitably arise each week and making sure everyone out there has a good time. We cannot thank you enough for allowing us to spend our Saturday’s playing football in the greatest league with the greatest people around. Thank you to all those who ref each week and try their best to make the games run smoothly. And lastly, thank you to all the players who show up every week, bring the right amount of fun and competitiveness and hang out at the bar later. Because of you all, this league is what we all know and love. But enough of that, let’s talk about what happened on Championship Saturday.

At 10:00, D1 and D2 got us started off with some tight, back and forth games. Eyes Downtown took on Gryffindor and ended the Cinderella story that could have been. Gryffindor didn’t get annihilated by Bobby and Co seemed to have a steady command of the game. Both team seemed to have the main core of their rosters in attendance. Amanda was back in the lineup which gave Joey another solid receiver. Burr tried his darnedest to be the playmaker he is known to be but bottom line was they just did not match up against the talent on a full ED roster. ED took the win 40-29 and waited to see who they would play in the Public Enemy/Tight Ends in Motion game.

Public Enemy also have had a season of attendance issues but everyone showed up when it mattered. Tight Ends were missing Lindsey but luckily for them they added Margo Pagano to their roster at the beginning of the year so they were able to bring her in. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough and they fell 34-32. Mike McKenrick has shown improvements all year and could one day lead this team to a championship but alas it was not this year. He made some costly errors but PE’s defense was a well-oiled machine that would give any QB troubles.  

The championship was what we all expected; Public Enemy vs Eyes Downtown. The fact that ED was the top seed no longer seemed to matter as these teams have played each other so much, what happens in the regular season is irrelevant. It was close at the half and I’m told the half time pep talk really ignited the spark that pushed PE to step up their game. Bobby made some ill-timed mistakes resulting in 3 turn overs but what really sealed the deal was the poor time management on the part of ED. They were in such a hurry to score they took no time off the clock and gave PE the ball with WAY too much time left. Cole demonstrated how to masterfully execute the 2 minute drive, resulting in them walking away with the Championship title. Lenny would be proud boys.

In the D2 semifinals everyone was expecting Hofbrauhaus Buffalo to smoke Bullet Club and Peachy Platoon to run circles around the Dilfs. Alas, the opposite was true. It wasn’t a smoking on the part of BC and the Dilfs have never run circles around anyone (well maybe the team formerly known as We Back) but both teams did manage to pull of wins. So what happened? Well the Dilfs were almost at full strength with Dubey in a QB and only missing Tommy Hughes. Josh Jablonski was in attendance as well. PP had their full squad as well, albeit some showed up a couple minutes late. Dubey took control of the offense and Rogo balled out. Dean and his receivers could not get on the same page and somehow were held to 1 offensive TD the entire game. The Dilfs held them off and came away with a 21-14 win.

Hofbrauhaus’ females showed up late and had trouble gaining the chemistry we have seen all season. Their defense was talked about all season as they started allowed 1-2 TDs per game. Everyone has off days and for this team it just happened at the worst possible time. Good Ricky showed up and Zach Newberry had an amazing day. BC took what they were given and played smart. Topper had a tough day at the office and BC’s defense capitalized. If these teams play each other 10 times, HB might win 9 but not this time. This was BC’s time and took it to the championships.

So in a match up that was expected by no one, the D2 finals came down to The Dilfs versus Bullet Club. Travis may have been conflicted in a match that pitted his former team against the team he left them for. BC maybe wanted some vengeance. These teams know each other well though with seasoned veterans on both rosters.  Ricky continued to play at top level making highlight reel passes both across the field and deep. Dubey and Co continued to battle and march down the field. Katie Keller played outstanding despite being covered by a guy most of the game. The Dilfs took the lead and were able to draw enough time off the clock to take the win and claim their D2 title. Stegs proceeded to spend the rest of the day into the evening sporting a WWE belt just to make sure everyone knew who got that win. Straight savage.

The D5 play in game went on as scheduled at 10:00. Cobblestone was not able to make magic happen twice and they fell to En Fuego who kept their playoff hopes alive with a 37-12 win. With that result, they went on to play Hung Buffalo while Overcompensators took on Practice Squad. Blasé brought the jorts back out for playoffs so it very well could have been this which motivated his team to hold on in a close game. I didn’t see much of this game but from what I did see EF looked to be just a little bit more athletic from top to bottom. HB had no answer for Matt Kieta, Frank and Derek’s speed. They used this to take the win 25-21.

The Practice Squad/Overcompensators game was not so close. Larry and his team came out fires blazing. Practice Squad was just standing in their way to the ship. Now, don’t get me wrong, PS has talent. QB Brian missed some of his opportunities and they had no answers on defense. Given time and consistency, PS will be top contenders but today was all about OC. OC had a short roster with their men going iron man and only 1 female sub. Sometime this works for the better as everyone can establish chemistry. Larry played smart and his team stepped up to dominate this game and give them motivation to face their rivals in the finals.

While a good number of people were rooting for Cobblestone, that scenario did not play out so we got En Fuego vs Overcompensators in the championship game. All things considered these were the top teams throughout the season and this is what we all really expected anyway. Added to that, these teams have done nothing but talk shit to each other all year so I think the most fitting way to end all that talk is to go at it when it matters most. And I have to hand it to both teams, go at it they did. This game definitely got heated at times, with more trash talking happening during the game as well as some arguing with their own teammates and the refs. The passion was real. In the final minutes of the game EF took a 5 point lead. OC got the ball back with under 2 minutes and scored a gender TD, giving EF 40 seconds to make a game winning drive. EF completed 3 quick passes to get down to the 10 yard line. With the championship on the line the play is called, Blasé sees Matt Kieta on the backline, he throws the ball…and Matt fails to make the catch. You hate to see it happen but there it was. OC walked away with the title and the last word.

In D3 Frodo Swaggins took on Puckett All Stars and got thrashed! PAS was in true playoff form and easily scored on drive after drive. FS could not find a way to get a stop. Offensively, FS had way too many drops and failed to make the big plays when they needed them most. Scotty Dro did not play his best game and WR1 Garrett could not get open. An early injury may have slowed him down and the absence of Josh Schneider really hurt Scotty’s options. Props to the defenders of PAS who looked like they watched film on this team and shut them down. On offense they chopped up the field to get them into scoring position every drive and as a result they came away with a 38-22 win and a shot at the title.

Simultaneously we had Sticky Bandits taking on End Game over on Field 2. The Bandits had their full team as well as numerous fans parading the side lines. End Game appeared to be loaded up on players as well so fatigue was not going to play a part in this game. This was another close game in which both teams played smart football. Dave Eickhoff finally seemed to be seeing the field better and finding his open receivers. Brandon Farr lived up to his D3 MVP nomination by continuing to demonstrate solid hands on offense and smart defensive playmaking. Mike Thomas was back in at QB for SB with an arsenal of talent surrounding him. Brian made some huge plays on offense while Ricky Recckio had some big defensive stops. Laura on SB gets my vote for Most Underrated in this division as she was shutting it down on defense. EG had some unfortunate bounces while SB had the brain power of Jeff Krol and Rags on the side lines resulting in Sticky Nation reigning supreme and holding the D3 title at the end of the day.

Over in D4, Matty’s Angels took on Buffalo Solar Solutions in what some were toting as a likely upset for the day. BSS had won against the Angel’s during the regular season and they finally seemed to have their full roster back in the line up. The first play of the game seemed to put a halt to that prediction when Andy Clark threw a pick directly to Matty Ice. The Angels were able to score off that play then get another stop on defense. BSS was playing catch up from then on. They did come back to make it a close game by the end of the first half. Unfortunately for them, the Angels turned on the jets and the second half was all about the female team. Katie Salsibury had an outstanding game making deep catching and soul-crushing picks and Lindsey Stoddard showed up big on offense for the Angels. Due to a delay on the other field, the Angels were able to watch some of the other D4 going on while they waited to see who they would face.

Uncle Rico’s Time Traveller’s took on Cunning Stunts for the who-knows-how-many timeth. They could not find a way to cover the females and the Stunts were pretty much able to score every drive. URs played a WAY too soft zone, giving up 8-10 yards per play. Jamy Stammel will feast on a soft zone and feast she did. Even after getting a pick in the second half, UR could not punch it in and the Stunts used the momentum from that stop to propel them through the rest of the game. QB Tim was making the throws he needed to but in their hurry to keep up with the scoring of the females they forgot you can’t keep scoring male TDs and win a game against a gender team. The Stunts ran circles around their defense and headed over the championship game.

If there was ever a crowd worth talking about at a co-ed touch football game, it was the one watching the 2 gender teams get the rematch we were all hoping for. These teams know each other better than probably any other teams in the league. They’ve all played against each other, some earlier in the day. Some of them even play together on their coed teams. So there were no surprises to be had by either side. Joey was missing Jill and it was rumored that Katie Keller suffered a head injury in her game earlier in the day and may not have been feeling 100%. Both teams were ready to go and the crowd was ready for a show. The Angels got off to a fast start and were able to consistently drive down the field and score. The Stunts struggled on defense and were not able to produce the offense we have seem from them all year. The looks of defeat were prevalent across the team and the Angels cruised to the win and another championship.

In D6, Zack Attack was trotted at the #1 seed with the least potential to win a championship so they had some grudges going into the semis. First up they went against Bipolar Express who were missing Gordon as well as all of their females from TMA. Bipolar did have a solid roster of females however and they were able to keep the game somewhat close. Unfortunately, they could not match the speed or height of ZA. The score was kept low due to some untimely drops on the part of both teams but Zack Attack was able to edge out Bipolar 26-17.

TMA was hyped as having one of the greatest shots at winning it all but they came up severely short against the pAssless Chaps. Their offense could not get anything going and QB Ryan struggled to see the field. They made the rookie mistake of going into panic mode and continuously trying to take the long shot instead of marching down the field. PC stuck to their usual game plan and executed it well. They were able to basically shut TMA down on defense and played solid offensively. I saw Mackenzie make some nice catches while I was checking out this game. Overall, the Chaps hands game has improved tenfold and it showed in this game.

In the finals, we saw Zack Attack and pAssless Chaps going at it. Both teams seemed intent on taking the short plays given to them with the occasional long ball thrown in for good measure. Zack Elphick was reading the field well and using his females wisely. Coach Jay also played smart football. Jill Dibble had a great game, gaining her team copious yardage running slants and outs. It turned out Zack Attack was as good as the regular season showed and they walked out with the D6 title.

And that’s a wrap on the Fall 2019 season. It had its highs and lows for sure. We had the favorites win their share of games. The underdogs won (quite often actually). We made it through an entire season with no real drama with the bar. Overall I will call it a success. The weather is my MVP as this is the first Fall season I remember actually wanting to play in the championships game instead of going inside. Hanging out outside the bar was even an option. So while the season is officially over be sure to stay tuned (via Telegram most likely) for TSL events in the offseason. Most importantly mark your calendars for the banquet on January 3^rd that will be held somewhere downtown. If you have been to one you know how much of a blast it is, if you haven’t no time like the present to find out. I guarantee you won’t regret it. I want to thank all of you for reading my article each week, even if you only skimmed it to read what I said about your team (I don’t fault you for this, that’s why I bold the team names). I enjoyed watching the games all season and can’t wait to see what next year brings. My eyes; however, need a rest so I won’t leave you all with my usual sign off line. Instead I will just say, see you next time.

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel

Week 1 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Monday, 17 August 2020 16:26

Published: Monday, 17 August 2020 16:26

Written by Patrick McGovern

Hits: 4018

It’s finally here! WNY’s best co-ed football league is back in action and I know we all could not be more excited. Sure some things look a little different and there are new rules and regulations to follow but personally, as long as we are out on the fields enjoying some friendly competition, all is good. By this point you all know the new regulations so I won’t rehash them again here, just make sure you are following them so we can continue to play! That said, due to the viewing area restrictions preventing me from closely watching all your fine games, I will mainly try to focus on the big plays. SO, if you want to be mentioned, now is the time to make those highlight reel catches, 45 yard passes, and ankle-breaking double moves.

It was a beautiful (if not swelteringly hot) opening day for the TSL. We saw some new faces and teams; I’m looking forward to watching to see how they fit in with the league. We also saw who spent quarantine watching Tiger King and baking bread versus those who have a home gym and will power. That said, let’s see what went down week 1.

Peachy Platoon took on Bullet Club in a down to the wire match up. BC played 2 alternating QB’s with the return of Jeff Easton. We saw some new additions with Glenn and Chelsie Bird, which helped spruce up their team defense. PP seemed to have a familiar cast of characters. They were given a lot of props by the Godfather, making them the favorite for the D2 title. In my personal opinion I wouldn’t put too much stock on this games outcome. PP was undoubtedly the most “in shape” D2 team prior to Covid and based on their athletic prowess and youth I’m guessing they still are. I did mention earlier that highlight reel catches are going to get you noticed though and with that said I need to point out Todd Halas from BC. Probably one of the most underrated players in the league, he made his presence known when he made a 1 handed touchdown catch with 10 seconds left to put BC ahead and take the win.

The Jabronies/Slytherin that Endzone game was pick central. SITE added some new talent which seemed to help them pull out the victory. Both of these QBs are going to need to reevaluate their game plan though if they want to compete in D2 and more importantly, secure their tops on the Power Rankings.

I can’t see all the highlights but I heard from multiple sources that Number 0 on Buffalo Solar Solutions had a beast of a game. He pretty much carried his team in the first cross over game of the season against D3 All We Do is Quinn.  I don’t know his name but you can bet I will make it a point to look for him in the coming weeks.

Hobstrauhaus Buffalo suffered a bitter defeat to a newly revamped Morning Wood. Mo Saleh was on cloud 9 beating Topper after a very long off season of trash talking. MW’s newest receiver Matt O added some much needed speed which their new QB Wade took full advantage of. Always a solid team who were just missing a couple pieces may have finally found them and could give D2 more than the Godfather is predicting for them.

The Angels feat. Bobby McConnell squeaked by the Freeballers. For those who don’t know, FB is 40 year plan guys new team so they have some remnants from the late 3^rd and Schlong. The Angels allowed FB the use of Cat Peters as they claimed no one from the Universal Sub List was available. Unfortunately for the FBs, they seem like yet another team that doesn’t utilize the females enough. Still, they were able to hang with the Angels right up until the end of the game when they took a safety and the L. Budda and Taylor Pagano each had their fair share of highlight reel catches to keep the Angels in the game. QB George was caught unawares by what it’s like to be rushed by Maggie.

The last game of the day was D4 Champs Sticky Bandits versus D2 Champs the Dilfs. SB moved up, Dilfs did not so make of that what you will. The Dilfs had a rough start to the game. They were missing Travis and Dubey so had to call in Topper for an emergency sub. This was Topper’s 3^rd game of the day but he trucked through it. Brian Stevens went Beast Mode, scoring pretty much all of SBs TDs. Alex Buchlis showed off some of his athleticism by making a TD catch and toe tapping the line. The SB proved they belong in D2 early and I’m excited to see how they progress throughout the season.

Notable Performance of Week 1:

1.      Mountain Dew Me found their place in D5 where they won their opening day game 53-0 against Intentional Pounding

2.      Steph Czaja played pretty much every hour (at least that what it looked like to me)

3.      Everyone (mostly) following the new rules and regulations without causing Topper to go home and chug a bottle of wine (which he might have done anyway but not because he had to)

4.      Why So Serious had a tough game but had the balls to play in D1 so props to them

That’s all for this week. I am still just beyond excited that football is here and I was able to see all your beautiful faces this past weekend. I am looking forward to a long season and hoping to see new heroes arise, new names to be recognized and who knows what else may happen? Until then, I’ll be watching…

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

Hits: 5637

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