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 5 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Thursday, 26 September 2019 11:48

Published: Thursday, 26 September 2019 11:48

Written by Patrick McGovern

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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 6^th 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 4^th 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 6^th 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

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

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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

The Sentinel - Week 4 Review

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Category: The Sentinel

Created: Wednesday, 18 September 2019 12:37

Published: Wednesday, 18 September 2019 12:37

Written by Super User

Hits: 4843

Welcome everyone to the Week 4 review! We are halfway through the regular season and things are really shaping up nicely. New contenders are arising and sitting on the top of their respective divisions. There were plenty of rivalry match ups this week, so much that I found myself not sure on which field I should spend most of my time. Fortunately, for the first time this season, there were no shut outs which is always good to see because let’s face it, it is neither fun to play in or watch a game when one team doesn’t score a point. Peachy Platoon put up 62 points on We Back but at this point no one is impressed and most of us just feel bad for We Back after their already depleted roster suffered the loss of their captain. It was a beautiful day for football as the burned faces of many at the bar later indicated. Let’s take a look at how things went…

Let me be the first to say Blitzkrieg is not as bad a team as their 1-4 record might make it sound. Sure there have been some blow outs in which their greenness showed a little more vibrantly but overall this team has the making to be a good team. This week they lost to TMA 31-32 but that’s a very close score against a team that is vet-savvy and just so happens to be on the upswing. Blitz’s QB continued his role as player coach and looking at the numbers I think I’d listen to him. His team is currently sitting in second last place in the division yet has the 3rd most points. It doesn’t take much analysis to see that the 189 points they are letting up on defense is the main cause of their problems. TMA on the other hand, seems to have hit their stride. They were missing some key personnel but the fire lit by the Godfather article calling out Prim for getting burned seemed to give them all an extra spark. It did not, however, prove enough of a spark to prevent Prim from being burned again as he was in the second drive of the game which resulted in a touchdown for Blitz. 

In the Hofbrauhaus/ Slytherin the Endzone game, Newman was a tale of two halves. This has been a common theme for the SITE QB throughout this season. In the first half, SITE could not be stopped. They were up 18-14, more than doubling the score allowed by HB against their past opponents. HB seemed to be having trouble catching Topper’s balls, I counted 4-5 drops in the first half alone. The game was in hand for SITE to start the second and they had the ball. They ran a beautiful play, HB defense completely broke down and left a receiver wide open down field and Newman sailed the pass 7 feet over his head. Two plays later Gary injured his ankle and HB’s defense had no difficulty catching Newman’s passes. HB continued to drive and SITE did not score again in the second resulting in a 36-18 HB win. 

Practice Squad beat Hope N Ruin in a close 49-46 victory. I’m not sure if HNR is aware, but we do have a sub list. They must not because once again they played a girl short. This team seemed to communicate best by yelling at each other and there was no shortage of it during this game. The QB made some really great throws but then they were offset by some really bad throws. I was trying to look for distinguishing characteristics for some of the guys on this team but there really were none so I will just say that the exceptionally tall guy made a great catch in double coverage that was certainly TSL Highlight Reel worthy. In the opening drive of the game Renee put PS on her back to move the ball down the field. Another noteworthy player on PS is McCabe, who may quietly be one of the top receivers in D5. This game came right down to the wire and ended with a controversial pass interference call. HNR might finally have a game go their way this week after a tough start to the season against all of the divisions’ tops teams. 

Come From Behind finally pulled out their first win beating Hung Buffalo 30-22. HB seemed to have a new female that I haven’t seen before and was missing one of their mainstays (not Kate). Conversely, CFB was missing Jenn and Leslie. These teams were pretty evenly matched athletically. Both had a couple tight end-type receivers to offer some height as well as some small, faster guys. CFB’s Sean had a good game and kept his team in it with some phenomenal catches. Paul LoVello was back as well which always gives his team an edge. These teams know each other well and this game as well as the final score are evidence to that. HB hangs on to the 5th place spot in the division despite the loss. 

Buffalo Solar Solutions beat Uncle Rico’s Time Travelers 41-34. This game was actually a good one to watch as UR finally seemed to be getting into the groove of things. Sure their season has been off to a terrible start but much of that can be attributed to attendance issues and team chemistry. Communication on defense was a problem to this point and while I won’t say it was completely resolved in this game, I can see them heading in the right direction. QB Tim is also doing a better job seeing the field and connecting with his receivers. BSS have also had a tough start to the season but have shown they do belong. After losing to Full Throttle and the Stunts, this was a much needed victory for them. Their schedule doesn’t get much better this week facing a double header against the speedy guys of Mountain Dew Me followed by Matty’s Angels. 

Vaspian fought a tough battle against End Game and came away with the win 25-13. The game was actually closer than the score shows. Both teams traded picks back and forth with Warren grabbing two for EG. Vaspian QB Lucas and EG QB Dave both had difficulty adjusting to the wind speeds. People have been asking what is going on with EG this season after their domination this spring and from what I saw they are beating themselves. On one pick in the endzone, an EG defender ran the ball out and was tagged on the 1 yard line instead of taking the touch back. Dave missed Farr wide open on the sidelines pretty much every play. The icing on the cake was Drew coming up with a pick at the 2 minute mark that Vaspian was able to punch in and go up 4. The rest was history. 

I didn’t see a lot of the pAssless Chaps versus The Replacements game but from what I did see the PC need to get some stickum to help out QB Coach Jay. They had a surprising amount of drops and clearly rely on their defense to win them their games. To be fair, I also saw Coach Jay loft a couple passes over his receivers heads, so I won’t put the blame solely on the receivers but overall this team is going to need to put more points on the board if they want to compete with some of the other teams in this division. On the other side of the ball, The Replacements finally had their full team show up. They continue to have their usual defensive issues but I did see on 2 separate occasions defenders laying out for picks. Moon was not afraid to let the ball fly, unfortunately more often than not no one was there to catch it and they fell to the Chaps 14-32. 

The Replacements went on to play the Graves Bros in one of the unadvertised rivalries of the day. Both of these teams are made up of players from the former 5 Star Generals who split up due to creative differences. Both teams were coming off an earlier noon game so fatigue could not be used as an excuse for either. As mentioned, TR had just lost to PC after being unable to score more than 2 TDs while GB tied Bipolar Express. It’s always tough for somewhat new teams to lose to gender teams so I’m sure both teams came into this game ready for a win. The game was a close, back and forth battle but it was TR day to shine and they came away with the win 29-27. 

The Ultimate Warriors got their first win of the season over Sticky Bandits 46-30. QB Scotty continued his deep ball approach which was just what the doctor ordered against SB. The athletes UW have at receivers were in the spot light as they were able to do what they wanted to do and go get those deep balls. Scotty and his receivers marched and sailed the ball down field then Sam Thompson took over at QB to punch it in for 8. SB didn’t have an answer to stop Sam on defense and the Warriors broke their losing streak. Mike Thomas played well for SB so it came down to their inability to get a defensive stop that cost them this game. 

The Matty’s Angels/ Mountain Dew Me matchup was one game of the day I was highly anticipating. I missed the beginning of it but when I heard the score at half time was 8-6 I was flabbergasted. Everyone knows the Angel’s can put up points and MDM is quickly becoming known for their fast guys and scoring ability. I don’t know what Matty Ice and the ladies were doing in the first half but they woke up hard for the second. I’m sure you heard by now Margo Pagano balled out making 3 picks and running one back for a TD. MDM made the mistake most new teams do against gender teams and failed to run out at the 1 after a deep completion. The Angels carried their momentum throughout the half and came away with a 44-18 win. 

Coming off a last second loss to Jabronies at 1:00, No Punt Intended went on to play right away against Frodo Swaggins. QB Kyle tried to take a page out of Peachy Platoon’s playbook and run the ball himself, however, this was proven time and time again to be unsuccessful. I’m not sure if he didn’t trust his receivers or he was nervous about the wind. FS QB Scott (random observation: there are a large number of guys named Scott in this league) was not afraid to throw the ball and use his females to move down the field. Things didn’t go as well for Frodo at 3:00 when they took on a previously defeated 3rd and Schlong. Katie Keller did what she does but the real MVP in this game was the tall guy who FS could not find an answer for. 3&S finally broke free from their losing streak at just the right time. 

All teams in D1 complain about playing the same teams and Tight Ends in Motion must really be getting sick of beating up on Gryffindor. They didn’t shut them out this time so Joey and Co must be improving but Joey did throw several picks, some of which were right to the opposition. Gryffindor was missing Burr leaving Joey with limited options of offensive weapons to throw to. Overall they just did not match up with the athletes on TEs. TE had the female advantage and QB Mike was able to get a great practice in during this 40-15 win. 

Once again a great day was had by all (well maybe not En Fuego, how embarrassing). We are at the halfway point and teams are either establishing dominance of their divisions or finally coming together to hopefully make a playoff run. The next 4 weeks will sort the men from the boys. We will see if Overcompensators can continue domination of D5, who will end up on top of D1, and which of the top 6 D2 teams are for real. Exciting times await, and remember I’ll be watching…

~ courtesy of...The Sentinel