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…