Three score and negative one years ago (59 years), our pickle fathers Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell, brought forth on this continent, a new game, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all athletes are created equal. Little did these pickleball Forefathers know just how much this game would shape our lives. Little did they know, that this game would bring strangers together to become family. And, little did they know, that 58 years after that first game was played on Bainbridge Island, the TPL would be born.
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| The Season 5 Crew! |
TPL Premier League Season 5
We once again went with the "Let's hold the draft aggressively early" strategy, which once again proved to be a fun decision. Many teams took advantage of this time to get some practice sessions in, others didn't get together at all (which actually worked well for the Crashed Aces and Free Young Thug). Over the 69 days between the draft and the big day, hype slowly began to build. You'd hear the murmurs each time you were out on the local pickle courts, "Who's on your TPL team?" was asked repeatedly, always followed by some variation of "Oh that's a good team." Because that's really what the all gentlemen cast of captains dialed up for season 5, eight absolutely star studded, very even teams. I was explaining the TPL to an outsider who understands sports more through the lens of football, and I told him that the TPL is much more closely related to the NFL as opposed to college football, where every match is tough, there are no real upsets, no team that will just sweep through everybody like the Saban Alabama squads. And on September 14th, we saw that come to fruition out on the courts.
We switched locations for season 5 to Apollo High School, which was the first great new change of the year. The new spot provided for better flow between courts, more room to serve and receive, and some nice on court colors to really make those photos pop, which of course, how we look on Instagram is the most important part of this whole thing.
Pool Play
We left the pool randomization in TPL veteran and season 2 champion Emily Gerad's hands, and after some questioning regarding how Nicole and her would once again not meet during pool play came from the league office, it was determined to be a fair draw, and play would commence. While we actually had less dreambreakers in pool play this season compared to last (6 this year, 8 last year), we had far more two point victories. Season 5's pool play provided us with nail biter after nail biter, ending with 21 two point margin of victories in pool play games alone!
Pool A
Almost Dead Dinkers
Speaking of two point games, the Almost Dead Dinkers, with the highest combined age in The TPL, came right out of the gates losing two heartbreaking close ones in their opening match with Abraham Dinkin'. After Mark Eliott and Kyle Jordre beat Tom Spaniol and Corbin Bentz in men's, Jen Markling and Nicki Pomeroy lost 22-20 to Lady Liberty's Missy Rosenthal and Kitri Boser. In mixed, it would happen again. After Tom/Kitri beat Kyle/Nicki, all eyes were on the Corbin/Missy vs Jen/Mark matchup, which ended 21-19 with Abraham Dinkin' coming out on top.
Their run of close games would continue in their next matchup, losing both gender games by only two points to The Young and Restless Legs, before splitting the mixed with Kyle/Nicki securing a win and Mark/Jen falling by only 3! Their pool play string of close games would end there, as they took on Free Young Thug, losing the match 3-1 with Mark/Jen securing their first mixed win on the morning.
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| Mark Eliott, Jen Markling, Nicki Pomeroy, Kyle Jordre |
Young and Restless Legs
Looking fresh in their red and black uniforms, Young and Restless provided the near capacity crowd with a dreambreaker thriller in round 1 against Free Young Thug. Teenage sensation Volly Johnson and veteran Nicole Idalski had a narrow 18-21 loss in women's before captain Adam Couzens and TPL first timer Julius Mejia won men's 22-20. They would split the mixed games with Adam/Volly getting their win to send it to the dreambreaker. It was a back and forth battle that ended 22-20, this time in favor of Free Young Thug. Young and Restless vowed to get their revenge if the opportunity presented itself, but would they get the chance?
In round 2, Y&R secured their first win of the day 3-1 over Almost Dead Dinkers, but it wasn't easy. Nicole/Volly got their first win of the day 21-19, Adam/Julius won 22-20, and mixed was split with a two point loss before Adam/Nicole secured the victory with a 21-18 win.
In round 3, they went for another dreambreaker run against Abraham Dinkin', because why not, they love playing as many pickleball games as they can! Volly/Nicole got the women's win, while Tom/Corbin handed Adam/Julius their first (and only!) loss of the day in men's. Mixed was split with their win coming from Adam/Volly, before losing a tightly contested dreambreaker, and leaving Y&R 1-2 after pool, which would later be found to be a quite an emotional record for team coach/assistant GM Jenny Johnson.
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| Volly Johnson, Adam Couzens, Nicole Idalski, Julius Mejia |
Abraham Dinkin'
Adorning our nations colors and displaying our national emblem bald eagle loudly and proudly, Abraham Dinkin' was a team that came in flying under the radar a bit. Who was this new Kitri Boser lady? And this Corbin Bentz fella? How would their games fit in with Missy Rosenthal's? What did team captain Tom Spaniol know that others didn't? Apparently quite a lot (I'm really smart, I even got a 21 on my ACT), as the newcomers Kitri and Corbin both played like long time TPL veterans. Corbin/Missy balled out after not getting any practice games in together, finishing pool play 3-0 in their mixed games. Abraham Dinkin' picked up a 3-1 round one win over Almost Dead, before suffering a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to Free Young Thug, where Tom/Corbin lost their men's game 20-22, and Tom/Kitri lost their mixed 20-22 to Lake/Dan. They used these close losses to fuel them, as they took down Young and Restless in a round 3 dreambreaker to secure the pool A #2 seed.
Feeling the weight of our nation upon them, could the Lady Liberty's stand tall, and the eagles soar high in the playoffs? Or would they find themselves stuck in a civil war?
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| Kitri Boser, Tom Spaniol, Missy Rosenthal, Corbin Bentz |
Free Young Thug
Captain Dan Forsythe said he would be back with vengeance this TPL, and he backed those words up, leading Free Young Thug to a 3-0 pool play finish. Lake Johnson and Lexi Portz would end pool play undefeated, as would Lake/Dan. With his new heart ticking strong, Matt Otto and Dan were a force in pool as well, finishing 2-1, with their only loss being a 20-22 loss to Adam/Julius. Was it their elite pickleball skills or homemade uniforms that had them sitting in the top spot after pool play? Was it the sharpied on #freeyoungthug that had us all intimidated, or the contrast between Lake's shit talking and Matt/Lexi's calm demeanors. Whatever it was, it was working, as Free Young Thug was riding high heading into the playoffs.
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| Lexi Portz, Dan Forsythe, Matt Otto, Lake Johnson |
Pool B
The Chefs
Dressed in their all whites and their fantastic chef hats, three time TPL champion Chris Mavetz and The Chefs looked ready to cook as play commenced. But perhaps it was a missing dash of salt, a lack of pepper, or too much acidity, as The Chefs seemed to be missing that special ingredient all day. Heartbreak after heartbreak, The Chefs lost more two point games than anyone in Season 5. They opened against Dink 182, dropping both gendered games in tight contests, and then storming back to claim both mixed matches. Mavetz and Alissa Spaniol topped Mitch Bates and Jen Sheedy, and Darrin Prince and Ali Brown beat TPL veterans Jason Krueger and Emily Gerads. The dreambreaker was a hard fought battle with Dink 182 coming out on top. Round 2 featured another dreambreaker loss, arriving there with wins by their men and Mavetz/Alissa. In round 3, The Chefs got burned by the Crashed Aces 3-1, with Mavetz/Ali getting their lone win. Could they fire up the ovens for bracket play and make a playoff run?
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| Ali Brown, Chris Mavetz, Darrin Prince, Alissa Spaniol |
Pickle Sharks
The Sharks arrived to the courts wearing arguably the best shirts of the day, with their sharks howling at the hand drawn TPL pickleball moon. Their first round matchup against the Crashed Aces was an all time TPL thriller. Emily Schadow and Genna Porter earned the women's victory 21-18, and in men's, the Aces Justin Dering and John Michaud topped Shark captain Manny Obregon and Jay Portz 21-19. The sharks bit back in mixed with Manny/Emily devouring John/Kris Portz, before Jay/Genna lost a heartbreaker 22-24 to Justin/Amanda Trunzo, sending this match to a dreambreaker. The Pickle Sharks flashed their teeth once more coming within striking distance, but the Crashed Aces slammed the cage shut and won the breaker 21-19.
Round two would be another breaker for the Sharks against the Chefs, arriving there in the exact same fashion with wins from Emily/Genna and Emily/Manny. This time they would prevail in the breaker, not allowing the Chefs to serve them up for dinner. In round three, they flipped their previous gender results, with Emily/Genna suffering their first loss in a 22-24 clash against Emily Gerads and Jen Sheedy, and Jay/Manny picking up their first men's win. In mixed, they found themselves needing Manny/Emily to get a win to send it to yet another breaker against Mitch/Sheedy. What ensued was the highest scoring game in TPL history, ending 32-30 in favor of Mitch/Sheedy.
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| Emily Schadow, Manny Obregon, Jay Portz, Genna Porter |
Dink 182
Dressed in shirts adorning the great late 90's punk band Blink 182, Dink 182 had us all wondering "What's My Age Again" as we thought we'd been transported back to the previous century. With a post draft addition to their team in Mitchel Bates after a scheduling error by Scott Thome, Dink 182 was ready to put All The Small Things aside and play some pickleball. They earned a round 1 win in the dreambreaker over The Chefs, suffered a gut wrenching 23-25 dreambreaker loss in round 2 to the Crashed Aces, before topping the Pickle Sharks in round 3 with the aforementioned 32-30 all timer. One can only assume many animal noises were made by Jen Sheedy as her and Mitch finished off the Sharks.
After coming up short on championship court the prior season, Dink 182 captain Jason Krueger appeared to have his team heading in the right direction once again. Could he and teammate Emily Gerads get back to The Rock Show to play on championship court? Or would the playoffs leave them singing Dammit?
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| Jason Krueger, Emily Gerads, Jen Sheedy, Mitch Bates |
Crashed Aces
Practice? Y'all talkin bout practice? The Crashed Aces found no need for team practice in the months leading up to The TPL, and they backed up this theory with their play on the courts. Wearing their 80's workout video American themed sweatbands, the Crashed Aces won their first two matches in dreambreakers before pulling out a 3-1 victory over The Chefs in round 2. Justin/John, with their double Animo forehands in the middle, finished pool play undefeated, as did Justin and RedBull Crashed Ice star Amanda Trunzo in mixed. Making his second TPL appearance, but his first as a captain participating in the draft, Justin was leading from the front and had his squad looking like they just might be adding another line to John's tattoo as they finished pool play with the #1 spot in Pool B.
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| Justin Dering, Amanda Trunzo, John Michaud, Kris Portz |
Standings after Pool Play:
Pool A
Free Young Thug: 3-0
Abraham Dinkin': 2-1
Young and Restless: 1-2
Almost Dead Dinkers: 0-3
Pool B
Crashed Aces: 3-0
Dink 182: 2-1
Pickle Sharks: 1-2
The Chefs: 0-3
Quarterfinals
Correcting my blunder from last season, we cross pollinated the pools for bracket play this season, which was very fun as each squad got to compete with at least one more new team. In the quarterfinals, we saw two 4-0 sweeps (the first sweeps of the day!), and two dreambreakers.
Young and Restless Legs came back strong after their round 3 loss to Abraham Dinkin', and earned a 4-0 sweep over Dink 182. They looked fierce, as opposed to the tight games we'd seen all day, their margin of victory in each game was 3 or more. The other quarterfinal sweep was a different story. The Chefs were finally ready to cook and play spoiler to Free Young Thug, and despite getting swept, it was one of the closes matches of the day in terms of each individual game score. Lexi/Lake topped Alissa/Ali 21-19 in women's, and Dan/Matt squeezed one out over Chris/Darrin 24-22 in men's. Darrin/Ali narrowly missed earning their Michelin star, losing 20-22 to Matt/Lexi, while Lake/Dan finished off Chris/Alissa before dessert could be served.
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| All smiles for the lady Chefs! |
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| Raise your hand if you love The TPL! |
The east side of the facility showcased two playoff dreambreakers. One between Abraham Dinkin' and the Pickle Sharks, and the other between the top seeded Crashed Aces vs the Almost Dead Dinkers. Scores for these matchups didn't make their way back to the scores table, but from what our investigative team could gather, here's how it went down. For the Crashed Aces, Justin/John stayed hot and got the win in men's, while their female teammates Kris/Amanda also held it down for the W in women's. Despite being on their last leg, the Almost Dead Dinkers weren't dead yet! They came rising back, handing Justin/Amanda their first loss of the day, and won both mixed games to force a dreambreaker! In the words of A.D.D. team captain Kyle Jordre, here's how the dreambreaker went down. "Nicki and Jen gave us a slight edge going into the second part of the dreambreaker, but John and Justin took us to task..." Their hopes of going from worst to first, as Kyle did in season 3, were officially over. The Almost Dead Dinkers officially died. (But only in the metaphorical sense of their TPL season 5 playoff participation. They are all healthy and thriving individuals!)
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| The deadly lefty/righty combo of Mark/Kyle |
In the other QF between Abraham Dinkin' and the Pickle Sharks, the dreambreaker was arrived at by splitting both gendered and splitting mixed, with wins coming from Genna/Emily (Sharks), Tom/Corbin (A.D), Tom/Kitri (A.D) and Jay/Genna (Sharks). The men went first in the breaker, and after losing the men's game Jay/Manny came back smelling Abraham blood in the water, and put their team up 11-9 at the break. But the Lady Liberty's Kitri/Missy sought revenge of their own, and after a fantastic back and forth battle in front of the gathering crowd, they came out on top 22-20, sending Abraham Dinkin' to the semifinals.
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The male sharks Jay/Manny
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The end of The Pickle Sharks day would also mark the first time in her TPL career that Emily Schadow would not play in the championship match, having done so for the past 3 seasons!
Semifinals
The semi's kicked off with Abraham Dinkin' taking on the undefeated Crashed Aces. Prior to the playoffs, Spaniol told his team the tales of previous TPL's, how ones record in pool rarely dictates their championship hopes. How he himself was playing poor to start the day, but vowed to be better for his team, for his nation. With the blood of the forefathers coursing through their veins, and the wings of the eagles lifting them to new heights, Abraham Dinkin' came out playing fast and free, handing Justin/John their first and only men's loss of the day. The Lady Liberty's Kitri/Missy did the same getting the win in women's, as they went on to earn a sweep over the Crashed Aces, sending Abraham Dinkin' to the season 5 TPL Championship match.
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| Justin/John were a force all day after having epic battles as rivals in season 4 |
Semifinal #2 showcased a different spectacle for the now near capacity crowd. A back and forth slugfest, each team exchanging blows. The Young and Restless Legs got on the board first with a men's win from Adam/Julius over Dan/Matt, but there stood undefeated Lake/Lexi, who knotted it right back up at 1-1 beating Volly/Nicole. Free Young Thug was looking to create The Freedom matchup in the championship game against Abraham Dinkin', as they were up 2-1 after a narrow victory from Matt/Lexi over Nicole/Julius. That setup a battle of heavyweights, as both Lake/Dan and Adam/Volly came into the game undefeated with their respective partnerships on the day. After Lake/Dan had a nice lead at the switch, Adam/Volly came roaring back, their young legs restless no more, as they chipped away at the juggernauts, handing them their first loss of the day (Lake's only doubles loss!), and sent the match to a dreambreaker. It was very likely this game that caused team coach and assistant GM Jenny Johnson's watch to tell her to calm down and breathe a bit.
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| A top mixed team all day, Lake/Dan finished 4-1 |
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| Lexi/Matt with a huge clutch win in the semi's over Nicole/Julius |
In the breaker, Lake came back with a vengeance, as she and Lexi handed it over to the men with an 11-5 lead. Once again, team captain Adam would not be denied, desperate for his first TPL title, as he and Julius fought and fought, and eventually, locked the cell doors on Young Thug, sending Young and Restless Legs to the title match!
Championship
A rematch of the round 3 thriller that ended in a dreambreaker, both teams were coming into the final on a high note. Could Spaniol continue to deliver and stay undefeated in the playoffs after his promise to his team, to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?
He could not.
The men of Young and Restless overpowered our 16th president, as Adam/Julius avenged their only loss of the day, the round 3 loss to Corbin/Tom, by taking it to them in the championship. Lady Liberty's also ran into a John Wilkes Booth situation, as Volly/Nicole gunned them down in the women's game. Heading into mixed, Young and Restless was the away team and put out their undefeated superstars Adam/Volly to close out the match. While deciding who to put out against them after they handed Kitri/Tom their worst loss of the day, a 12-21 blow out in the round 3 matchup, Kitri made it very clear she was ready to seek revenge for our country, or die on the court trying. In a much different looking game than their round 3 clash, it was Kitri/Tom who were too much to handle this time, as they got their revenge and handed Adam/Volly their first loss of the day, forcing a pivotal game 4 mixed match.
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The two squads deliberating before mixed doubles
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| Volly/Adam dominated all day finishing 4-1 |
In the round 3 matchup, Corbin/Missy had beat Nicole/Julius 21-17. This time season 3 champion Nicole was looking for a bit of revenge of her own, as they went to work on team freedom, and showed them that democracy is dead. After a grueling battle, with players being pushed to the brink of exhaustion, Nicole/Julius emerged victorious.
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| After getting 0 practice games in, Corbin and Missy balled out finishing 4-2 on the day |
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| Nicole/Julius saved their best mixed game of the day for last when it mattered most! |
Congratulations to the Season 5 TPL Champions: The Young and Restless Legs! For the first time in his storied TPL career, Adam Couzens will have his name engraved upon The TPL Cup. Newcomer Julius and sophomore season sensation Volly also claimed their first titles. And with all this focus on Christopher Mavetz having his name on the trophy three times, let us not forget, Nicole Idalski now stands alone as the only person to have her name on the trophy twice!
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| The champs getting a power up snack between matches |
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| Julius walking off the court forever a TPL Champion |
Stats for the nerds
Top Performing Gendered Doubles Teams:
- Justin Dering and John Michaud: 4-1
- Adam Couzens and Julius Mejia: 5-1
- Lake Johnson and Lexi Portz: 5-0
- Missy Rosenthal and Corbin Bentz: 4-2
- Kitri Boser and Tom Spaniol: 4-2
- Lake Johnson and Dan Forsythe: 4-1
- Volly Johnson and Adam Couzens: 4-1
- Lexi Portz, Dan Forsythe, and Justin Dering: 7-3
- Adam Couzens: 10-2
- Lake Johnson: 9-1
- 12 people finished the day with individual winning records: Emily Gerads, Emily Schadow, Julius Mejia, Nicole Idalski, Corbin Bentz, Tom Spaniol, Volly Johnson, Lexi Portz, Dan Forsythe, Justin Dering, Adam Couzens, Lake Johnson
- Highest scoring game: 32-30. Mitch/Sheedy over Manny/Emily
- Number of players making their TPL debut: 3. Kitri Boser, Corbin Bentz, and Julius Mejia. And they were all in the championship match!
- Outfit changes for Genna: only 1 (WTF?)
- Two point games: 25!!
- Really good pickleball players: 32
- Even better people: 32 🩷
- The team who has won the women's doubles game in the championship match has now won all 5 TPL Championships. The league office is considering making the championship match just a women's game since the rest of the games are clearly irrelevant.
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| What the TPL is all about |
Upon the final rally, sealing the deal for The Young and Restless Legs, a certain scent began to fill the air. The distinct smell of Snake River Farm's brisket tickled the nostrils, as the crew quickly packed up to head over to Emily Gerads' house for The After Party.
As I arrived, that familiar knocking could be heard from the street, as pickleball games had already broken out. Chris and Ali were back on the court together avenging The Chefs previous losses from the tournament. But they were no longer the chefs that mattered. The Chef title now belonged to Ryan Gerads and Brian Idalski, who had been at it since the wee hours of the morning, preparing what would become the greatest feast The TPL has ever seen. Delicious pulled pork, fall off the bone ribs, juicy birria, and that God Damn Snake River Farm's brisket, all cooked to perfection. There was no missing special ingredient for these chefs. Ryan and Brian delivered on every level and gave us all the exact refuel we needed as the gang spread out amongst the Gerads backyard, reminiscing about the day.
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| Nothing better than gathering around the food as one after a day of battling each other on the courts! |
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| Scorekeeper of the year, Marnie Whalen! |
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| The TPL loves our Whalen/Johnson crew! |
