(estimated read time: 29 minutes)
THIS LEAGUE!
If you've never seen this expression used on Twitter or elsewhere online, it is "used to express a sense of astonishment or amusement at a surprising, illogical, or outrageous event."
While I wouldn't call The TPL illogical (maybe it is to some), I would describe it as astonishing, surprising, and outrageous. Every single time. We've completed 8 of these historic events now, and the only thing we've learned over the past few years is this league is completely unpredictable. The matchups are too even, the variables too capricious. Guaranteed victories just don't exist in The TPL.
Leading up to the tournament after the draft happens there's always the barber shop talk, the predictions amongst friends. People so confident in who they think will be the teams to beat. While fun to do, it's rarely correct, as THIS LEAGUE doesn't care what your predictions are. We're here to be surprising and outrageous, and this past Saturday we got more of the same in season 8.
Pool Play
September Reign
A team many predicted to be tough as nails came out of the gates proving those folks right, as they opened with two dreambreaker wins over The Avengers and The Buckthorns, winning both dreambreakers in tightly contested battles, 22-20, and 25-23! My eyes witnessed the 25-23 dreambreaker win as Kitri/Adam pulled it out over Jenny/Jay Kedrowski in a phenomenal back and forth battle where each team had game point chances on their paddles.
In round 3 they decided they were sick of the dreambreakers, and took down Dink Floyd 3-1, winning both gendered games before splitting the mixed in close two point finishes. But by round 4 they realized they missed playing that 5th dreambreaker game, so they reverted to their old strategy against The Talls and split both the gendered and mixed games, before coming up short against the tall people in the breaker. Their gendered lineups were clicking, as both Adam/John and Kitri/Jen finished 3-1 in pool play. As a squad, September Reign would also finish pool play 3-1, and secured the #1 seed in Pool A heading into the playoffs. Perhaps they lost that last game as they didn't want to deal with the curse of the undefeated. But what about the curse of the top seed?
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| I finally get it, they were dressed as the changing fall colors |
Dink Floyd
Finally the day had come and it was time to See Emily Play. And play did she ever. Emily G/Lexi came out of the gates hot with a 21-12 win over the Funky Bunch gals setting the tone. However, after the men lost and they split the mixed, they found themselves in a round 1 dreambreaker, coming up just short to Marky Mark. They decided it was Time for The Hero's Return in round 2, sweeping the defending champion 4 Talls No Smalls.
In round 3 they took a tough 3-1 loss to September Reign, before deciding to save their energy for the playoffs, and took a 0-4 sweep loss to The Buckthorns. Dink Floyd finished pool play 1-3, and secured the #3 seed in Pool A. Despite the 1-3 record, hey had High Hopes of Coming Back To Life in the playoffs.
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| The Happiest Days Of Our Lives |
4 Talls No Smalls
A few weeks before they hit the courts to defend their title, The Talls got some tough news. TPL veteran Justin Dering would miss season 8 due to a celebration of life event for a family member. How would they ever replace Justin? Could they find someone close to as tall? Luckily their network of great pickleballers and great humans is vast, as The Talls snagged Brandon Schenck a week before the event.
Having a new lineup and throwing a lefty into the mix proved to be an early challenge for The Talls, as they lost the opener 3-1 to Volley Llamas, lost round two 4-0 to Dink Floyd, lost 3-1 to The Buckthorns, before finally getting back in the W column with a round 4 dreambreaker win over September Reign. The Talls would finish pool play 1-3 as the #4 seed after losing the head to head tiebreaker with Dink Floyd. But you wouldn't overlook the defending champions when things moved inside to The Shed, would you?
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| Whispers- "I see tall people" |
The Buckthorns
Invasive AF. That was the motto for The Buckthorns. And while they lost their first two matches in tightly contested dreambreakers, you knew they weren't going to just go away. These are The Buckthorns we're talking about. One does not simply get rid of The Buckthorns. The first two "extra innings" dreambreakers, where they lost 22-20, and 25-23, did nothing but excite the Buckthorns, as they knew it was now their time to deplete their opponents of all their nutrients and leave them starving. And deplete them did they ever as Jenny/Kris started to heat up. In round 3 they cruised to a 3-1 win over The Talls, before sweeping Dink Floyd 4-0 to end pool play. Spaniol reminded his team of a quote legendary high school baseball coach Bob Karn would say each spring, "Our record doesn't matter, our goal is to just be playing our best ball heading into the playoffs."
With that in mind, The Buckthorns were feeling great about their 2-2 record, slotting them as the #2 seed in Pool A heading to The Shed.
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| So invasive of our partner's court space, or maybe that's just me |
The Avengers
As Coach Herman Boone said in Remember The Titans, "You cannot replace a Gary Bertier." The same could be said for TPL staple Nicole Idalski, who had played in each of the first 7 seasons, winning the title twice. But with just a few weeks to go, Nicole had to drop out due to injury, and captain Dan Forsythe was left with the monumental task of filling the void. Dan and squad picked up Faith Lee who made her TPL debut, and the rookie stepped in and had a great showing. The Avengers lost a tight 22-20 dreambreaker in their wild card round to September Reign, and dropped another dreambreaker in round 2 to Volly & The Picklecats.
They found their footing in round 3 with a tight 3-1 win over Marky Mark, with three of the four games being decided by 2 points. The Avengers won their round 4 matchup in a dreambreaker over The Volley Llamas, meaning their 2-2 finish would hand them the #3 seed in Pool B. Much like the aformentioned Buckthorns, they were feeling strong heading into the playoffs with some momentum at their backs, led by their undefeated mixed squad of Dan/Jasmine.
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| I really like this patio photo backdrop |
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch
Front runners for best dressed with Mark looking jacked as ever, Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch won their opening wild card match in a Dream Breaker over Dink Floyd, lost a round 2 dreambreaker to Volley Llamas, before deciding they've had enough of going to 5 games, as they got their next two matches done in four games. Round 3 they lost a barnburner to The Avengers 3-1, and ended pool play with one of the wildest scorelines we've ever seen against The Picklecats. The end result looks like domination, as they won in a 4-0 sweep. But looking at the scores, the 4-0 sweep consisted of:
Womens: 25-23
Mens: 23-21
Mixed 1: 22-20
Mixed 2: 22-20
I can't say I recall ever seeing a sweep with all 2 point games! With that wild sweep, they earned themselves the #2 seed in Pool B.
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| I think they won best dressed |
The Volley Llamas
Also very well dressed with their matching custom Volley Llama tank tops, the llamas were ready to adapt to the harsh environment of The TPL. They came out of the gates hot with a 3-1 win over the defending champs, their only loss being a 23-25 mens thriller! Then they decided they wanted MORE PICKLEBALL, and went to dreambreakers for every match against their pool. They won their round 2 and 3 breakers against Marky Mark and The Picklecats, before losing a two point thriller to The Avengers to end pool play. We will not mention the shot that Chris Mavetz missed to end that dreambreaker. We definitely will make sure we do not mention that in the write up.
Volley Llamas were fine with the round 4 loss, as they too didn't want the curse of the undefeated. They finished pool play as the #1 seed in Pool B with a 3-1 record.
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| But these Llama shirts also totally rocked |
Volly and The Picklecats
With their cat ears ready to go, this squad got a full family matchup in round 1, as Volly squared off against her mother, and Jay was set to play his bride Kris. Volly and Jenny would trade blows in the doubles games, with Volly/Emily coming out on top in womens, but Jenny/Tom getting the win over Volly/Manny in mixed. Jay P/Emily topped Jay K/Kris in the Portz mixed matchup, forcing a dreambreaker. The breaker started with Tom/Jenny again getting the best of Manny/Volly, and as Jay K/Kris came on they widened the lead all the way to 20-13 at one point. But there these cats were, using up all 9 lives, as they just kept hacking away at the Buckthorns. Jay and Emily came all the way back to win it 22-20 in one of the finest comebacks in TPL history. It was not the first time Emily Schadow has come back to win being down 13-20, and probably won't be her last!
For the remained of their pool play session, The Picklecats continued to be in nothing but tight battles. They won round 2 in a dreambreaker, lost round 3 in a dreambreaker, before losing round 4 in that ridiculous sweep with every game being decided by 2 points and going "extra innings."
While they finished as the 4th seed in Pool B with a 2-2 record, this team was extremely battle tested, and they felt confident they could weather any storm that they playoffs would throw at them.
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| Album drops on October 30th |
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| Picklecat fans! |
Standings after Pool Play
Pool A
#1 September Reign (3-1)
#2 Buckthorns (2-2)
#3 Dink Floyd (1-3)
#4 4 Talls No Smalls (1-3. Lost head to head to Dink Floyd)
Pool B
#1 Volley Llamas (3-1)
#2 Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch (2-2)
#3 The Avengers (2-2)
#4 Volly & The Picklecats (2-2)
(3 way tie, came down to games net)
Quarterfinals
Both top seeds chose to take a rest, which sent out the 2 v 3 matchups to get things kicked off at The Shed. On the far court, right out of the gates we of course had to go to a playoff dreambreaker between Dink Floyd and Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch. Emily G/Lexi won the women's over Sheedy/Nicki, before Marky Mark/Zach got funky on Jason/Julius. In the first mixed match Sheedy/Zach bested Lexi/Julius, setting up a win or go home game for TPL legends Emily/Jason against the lefty/lefty combo of Nicki/Mark. The local's TPL experience, Shed experience, and partnership experience all paid off, as they took down the lefties, sending this match to a playoff dreambreaker. The Funky Bunch chose gendered, and Dink Floyd sent the men out first. Jason/Julius avenged their men's game loss and handed it over to their ladies 11-8. In one of the most dramatic playoff dreambreakers we've had, Dink Floyd held on to a late 20-18 lead, before the Funky gals Nicki/Sheedy went on a 4 point run to seal the win, 22-20. While the members of Dink Floyd could have decided to Run Like Hell and get out of there, they all chose to stay until the very end, sink into their IPA's, and get Comfortably Numb while watching the rest of the TPL action.
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| Dink Floyd held it down for the playoff watch party |
On court 1, the other QF matchup between The Avengers and The Buckthorns got under way with the Buckthorn ladies starting hot as Kris Portz could not be stopped, giving their squad an early 1-0 lead. I (Tom) recall watching from the sidelines and yelling things like "Are you kidding me!?" And "Kris Portz everybody!" Multiple times. The men came on and kept their streak going, as Tom/Jay K beat Dan/Yang, despite Yang growing an epic mustache nearly overnight. The Buckthorns chose to be the away team and sent out Jay K/Kris first, with The Avengers leaving their season in the hands of Yang and TPL rookie Faith Lee. Both played lights out with impressive angles and overheads galore, as they clutched up to set up a battle of the undefeated mixed teams, with both Dan/Jasmine and Tom/Jenny coming into the game 4-0 in mixed on the day. While The Avengers duo had the strength of the galaxy behind them, it still wasn't enough to get rid of the pesky Buckthorns, as Tom/Jenny secured the win sending their team to the semi finals.
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| The dynamic duo of Jasmine & Dan |
After both #1 seeds chose to take a break following pool play, it was time for them to get back at it as top seeded September Reign squared off against low seeded Volly & The Pickle Cats on the far court. The two would split gendered with Emily S/Volly getting the win over Kitri/Jen, and Adam/John beating Manny/Jay P. Mixed would go in a similar fashion, as Adam/Kitri beat Emily S/Jay P, and Manny/Volly beat John/Jen. With another playoff dreambreaker set to take place, the home team September Reign decided to go with the new mixed dreambreaker format. They chose their lineups of Adam/Kitri, and John/Jen. The Picklecats then got to counter with who plays again whom and when. They decided to send out Adam/Kitri vs The Cat's Emily S/Jay P first, with September Reign leading 11-6 at the switch. John/Jen fought to hold on to that lead, but Manny/Volly kept on chip chip chipping away, again using all of their 9 lives, as they edged out John/Jen, 21-18, sending the top seed to the buffet early.
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| This is the type of form they advertise in magazines |
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| Tough to beat a good kitchen hang at The Shed |
On court 1 The Volley Llamas were looking to not fall prey to the curse of the top seed as they matched up against the defending champion Tall squad. Missy/Lake started off hot for the Llamas beating the Tall gals Genna/Jamie. Genna questioned her pickleball abilities for a solid 20 minutes after the game on the sidelines, but she would get her chance at revenge. The men came on and Kyle/Brandon found their groove getting the bounce back win for The Talls. The first mixed matchup was a battle as Lake/Corbin had been playing great all day, against Jamie/Kyle who were looking to get in synch. And get in synch just at the right time they did, as they handed Lake/Corbin only their second loss of the day, setting up TPL rookie Brandon and his tall partner Genna with the chance to secure the upset. But waiting on the other side of the court was 3 time champion Christopher Mavetz and veteran Missy Rosenthal, who wouldn't go down without a fight. The decompressing time on the sidelines worked wonders for Genna and Brandon, as they played a clean pickleball game, and sent the top seeded Volley Llamas to the showers early. (well, none of them showered, but maybe they should have?)
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| Wait, who is this guy? |
Semifinals
On the far court we had a round 4 pool play rematch featuring The Picklecats and Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch. You know, the famous 4-0 sweep where each game went to "extra innings." Things would end up working a bit differently this time. Well, quite differently. Emily S/Volly avenged their 25-23 loss by topping Nicki/Sheedy in the opener, 21-16. Zach/Marky Mark came out blazing and had the Funky Bunch up with a 13-3 lead. When you're watching at The Shed you can't always hear the score on the far court, and if you caught the score at 13-3, you might have thought, oh okay, that one is over, I'll watch the action on court 1. If you heard the score a bit later at 16-8, you might have still thought the same thing. But those damn Cats kept clawing away, as Manny/Jay P were not to be denied. They brought it all the way back, and after losing to Zach/Mark 23-21 in pool play, they beat them by that exact score, 23-21, to secure a 2-0 playoff lead for their Picklecats. The Funky Bunch sent out Sheedy/Zach to keep their season alive, but Manny/Volly had other plans, as they topped the Funky Bunch 21-17, avenging their pool play sweep loss with a sweep victory of their own! For the first time in his TPL career, Jay Portz would play for The TPL Cup. The rest of their team had been there before, behind Volly's season 5 title, and Emily's 4 championship appearances. Would that experience, and the momentum of their playoff upsets be enough to hoist the cup!?
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| More impeccable form |
Court 1 also featured a pool play rematch, as 4 Talls No Smalls met up with The Buckthorns in round 3 at Apollo. The playoff match started with The Tall ladies avenging their 16-21 pool play loss, getting a win over The Buckthorn baddies (am I allowed to call them that?) The Tall men, who also lost 16-21 to Tom/Jay K during pool play, looked to be on their way to avenging their loss as well, as they were up 17-12 when The Buckthorn boys took a timeout. Whatever they talked about during that timeout seemed to work, as they rattled off 5 straight points, tying the game at 17 all. It continued to be a back and forth thriller, with Tom/Jay K pulling it out 22-20, keeping their winning streak alive. The Buckthorns, who chose to be the away team, sent Kris/Jay K out first, and The Talls matched with Genna/Brandon. Genna, now on fire after figuring it out during the quarterfinals, and Brandon playing like a veteran in his TPL debut, got the win, setting their team up with a chance to once again play for the TPL Cup. It would be up to Buckthorn Captain Tom Spaniol and two time cup chugger Jenny Johnson to try and clutch up against defending champs Jamie Voelker and Kyle Jordre who were now playing their best pickle of the day. After not having the desired control on her 3rd shots, Jenny said something to the effect of, "If it comes to me, I'm just going to rip the shit out of the ball." Rip away she did indeed, as Tom/Jenny got the W to remain unbeaten on the day, and more importantly, send this semifinal to a playoff dreambreaker.
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| Tall gals taking up the full court |
The ladies went first, and crazy Kris Portz was back, defending off blow after blow from The Talls, as The Buckthorn gals handed it over to their men on fire, 11-9. No epic comeback would be necessary this time, as Tom/Jay K commanded the lead, and held on to send The Buckthorns to the TPL Season 8 Championship Match.
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| Invasive and in synch |
Championship
The storylines were aplenty for the championship match as The Buckthorns took on Volly & The Picklecats. It was a rematch from round 1 that went to a dreambreaker with Emily S/Jay P pulling out that epic DB comeback. We knew some sort of Portz/Johnson combo would be winning the title, but who would fare best against their household? What were Tom, Jay K, Manny, and Emily S supposed to do- sit back and not get in the middle of it, or help stir up the family drama?
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"You ready to rumble young cat?"
"Sure am old buckthorn."
-Me and Volly, probably |
Both squads decided to put ancestry aside and go for it all, as the championship match was underway. The Picklecat ladies backed up their round 1 win over Jenny/Kris by doing it again, giving the cats an early 1-0 lead. But The Buckthorn boys would not be denied, as they cruised to a 21-14 win, finishing the day undefeated in men's doubles. Buckthorn captain Tom once again chose to be the away team, and The Buckthorns trotted out Jay K/Kris to take on Emily S/Jay P. The Picklecats had more than just the on court storm to weather, as much of The Shed collective was yelling and booing any time Jay Portz hit the ball at Kris. But they kept their heads down and continued to play spoiler, as they beat Kedrowski/Kris, setting up the all important game 4 mixed showdown.
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| I find that a good lunge really helps the pickle game |
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| Clutch city from these cats! |
In round 1 these two played, with Tom/Jenny cruising to a victory over Manny/Volly 21-16. They would then see them again in the round 1 dreambreaker, and again bested the two youngins in their half. Perhaps Manny/Volly had learned along the way, as they had a different energy on the court this time, now 9 hours later. The heavyweights exchanged blow after blow, for much of the game it seemed no one could score on offense, as points were traded one at a time. Tom/Jenny led 11-10 at the switch, but The Picklecats did what The Picklecats do, and they hung in there, refusing to give any ground to The Buckthorns. With Volly ripping speedups and angles, and Manny being a brick wall, The Picklecats were just too much in this family affair, as they came out on top 21-18, securing The TPL Season 8 Title!
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| Sunset champagne, come on! |
And incredible "worst to first" run for The Picklecats, as they went from the last seed in their pool to hoisting The TPL Cup. But an even more impressive "worst to first" individual story for Jay Portz, who told me after the match that he went 0-10 during season 7. To go from not winning a game, to being so clutch in the playoffs and helping lead his team to victory, has to be the finest comeback story The TPL has ever seen. So I once again say- THIS LEAGUE.
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| This man found the luck of the troll while in Norway! |
And of course a big congratulations to the rest of The Picklecats squad! After finishing second 4 times, Emily Schadow finally won The TPL Cup, and she went 2-0 in the championship match to make sure there would be no second place this time. Manny also won his first title after playing in 7 of the 8 TPL's. And Volly won her second title, even though her mother completely forgot about her season 5 win while posting on Instagram the next day. Worthy champions all around, who will forever have their names engrained upon The TPL Cup as our Season 8 winners!
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Season 8 Champions: Volly & The Pickle Cats
 | | No more silver medals for Emily! |
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Stats for the nerds:
Top Performing Gendered Doubles Teams
- Lake Johnson and Missy Rosenthal: 4-1
- Adam Couzens and John Michaud: 4-1
- Tom Spaniol and Jay Kedrowski: 7-0
Top Performing Mixed Doubles Teams (min 5 games)
- Jasmine Lindberg and Dan Forsythe: 4-1
- Volly Johnson and Manny Obregon: 5-1
- Jenny Johnson and Tom Spaniol: 6-1
Top Individual Performances
- Lake Johnson: 7-3
- Tom Spaniol: 13-1
The following quote is Jenny Johnson's, and she said I have to put it here otherwise she won't play with me ever again- "And that's why it's called The TPL, bitch."
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| Getting locked the F in before The TPL |
Other Stats
- Highest scoring game: 25-23 (twice!). Sheedy/Nicki over Volly/Emily S, and September Reign over The Buckthorns in a dreambreaker. Once again Sheedy was in the highest scoring game!
- Dreambreakers: 12. There were 11 last year!
- 39% of pool play games were decided by 2 points! (29 out of 73)
- 73 pool play games were played. The max would be 80 if every match went to a DB
- People who stayed until the championship ended: Tons of you, well done folks!
- Outfit changes from Genna: 5. Saturday driving outfit, playing outfit, afterparty outfit, sleeping outfit, Sunday driving outfit.
For all that "curse of the undefeated" talk, it looks like that doesn't just pertain to teams, but also individuals. Perhaps I should have thought of that and dropped an early pool play game. Taking your first loss in the championship, in the game that was needed the most is always a heartbreaker, but that's sports. I'm still mighty proud of The Buckthorn gang. We set out to be invasive, and we remained invasive all day. I've loved all 8 TPL's, but this was some of the most fun I've had, despite losing a soul crushing championship match.
32 of us want to win this thing each time it rolls around, and 28 of us will leave disappointed. Well, "leave" disappointed isn't quite true. For the most part, it seems as though the heartbreak and disappointment is there for the first 30 minutes or so. You question whether you want to ever play in The TPL again, and even whether you ever want to play pickleball again. But then you have some pizza and maybe a beer or two, you sit around and laugh with your 32 best friends, and by the time the night is over you're already looking forward to the next one.
Dan had a great quote after he and Jasmine lost their first game all day and their Avenger's playoff run was over. He said to me, "Man, I really wanted to beat you guys (Jenny and I). I really like winning against my friends."
Ain't that the truth, and so relevant in The TPL. In other tournaments, you'll play games where you have no idea who the other team is. But in The TPL, we're all great friends. And whether we all want to admit it or not, there is something great about beating your friends 😂. On the court, I want to beat you, I think you're stupid, and your face is dumb. But as soon as the game is over, we're back to being great friends and are laughing and joking about who knows what.
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| Just look at how intense these two are |
This really seems to be the spirit of The TPL. Somehow we gather 32 people that mesh and truly appreciate each other. We give each other plenty of shit, and will have our fiery moments on the court, but the day always ends with laughter and hugs (and maybe even some tears!)
As the Buckthorns were reminiscing on this past event in our group text, Jenny was describing why it was such a great day, and she added "Can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's because I just felt like I was at home with my family."
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| 💖 |
A family indeed. Thank you all for fostering this environment where we all care for each other, all want the best for each other, except for those few minutes when we're across the net from each other. What an exceptional balance of competition and camaraderie- the motto of The TPL. Both have only gotten stronger as the seasons have gone by, and that's due to all of you and how you choose to approach this event. Thank you for making it what it is. It is a great honor of my life to play a part in cultivating the movement that has become The TPL.
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| Thank you, from the both of us |
I can't want to see you all for season 9 on January 31st!
(and hopefully before then too! Please hang out with me!)
I love you all and will miss you like crazy.
-Tom Spaniol
p.s.
A special thanks to Troy Poetz for not only creating the waivers to make sure you guys don't sue me, but for also helping all day long with scorekeeping, hauling gear, filling coolers, taking down nets, and cheering on The Buckthorns (maybe he was also cheering for your team, but I doubt it.)
More photos:
