LIVONIA, MICHIGAN – Sometimes it takes stepping back to see what’s right in front of you. And sometimes, what’s right in front of you is an 89-year-old man giving you a masterclass in perspective.

This week, Monte K., an 89-year-old resident of Livonia, became the oldest person to ever play in a LEG event. Despite his age and having minimal prior cornhole experience, Monte stepped to the boards and dropped an 11.3 KPM with 3.7 points per round (“PPR”), 56% accuracy, and 0.7 cornholes per round. For some context, those numbers would have been good enough for the second-best ranking during the 2017 season and would have comfortably landed him inside the Top 10 in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Think about that.

The rest of us were in our 20s, 30s, and 40s during those seasons, playing our asses off every week and barely producing numbers like that.

Monte is doing it at 89.

He finished the evening 2-4 and even collected a head-to-head victory over Paul G.

But none of that really matters. Monte’s contributions this week were much deeper than how he threw a bag.

The man is a physical specimen. He’s tall, fit, and glides with ease when he walks. And his handshake is so firm it’ll squeeze the balls out of your nut sack.

But Monte’s real superpower is his soul. Monte is kind. Genuine. Humble. The type of person who immediately makes you feel comfortable. The type of person who somehow radiates wisdom without trying to.

Those who didn’t play this week missed out.

And those who did play but failed to spend any time talking with him missed out too.

In one of my conversations with him, he made a simple comment that left a lasting impact:

“You have such a diverse, great group. What an opportunity to bond and learn from each other. The young guys can learn from the older ones, and vice versa. This is special.”

Monte is right. This is special.

The universe works in crazy ways. Two weeks ago, I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and quite frankly, I was being a little bitch while hosting Week 4. I was focusing on the handful of annoying things that come with organizing 20 grown men every Thursday instead of appreciating the bigger picture.

Then two weeks later, an innocent comment from an 89-year-old man completely reset my focus and appreciation for what LEG represents.

The irony is Monte probably has no idea he said anything profound. But it changed me.

I started LEG in 2016 because I missed my friends and wanted a reason to see them regularly. That’s it.

Cornhole was never the destination. It was just the vehicle for the destination – friendship, both old and new.

THAT is what LEG was about then, and it’s what it needs to continue to be about now.

The little things don’t matter. Winning and losing doesn’t matter. Statistics, ultimately, do not matter. Do I want to be as good as I can possibly be? Sure. Are there others with a similar mindset? Of course. But this needs to be a haven where we all escape on Thursday night. A change of scenery, a break from work frustrations, or a momentary pause from whatever is going on at home. A place where we can laugh, compete, bust balls, and enjoy a few hours surrounded by people we care about. That has always been LEG’s mission, and it’s about time we all – myself especially – remember that.

Thank you, Monte.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Normally, one game receives the Game of the Week honor. This week, picking just one felt impossible.

So, congratulations, gang. You get double the reading pleasure.

Nominee 1 – Game 14

Mike V. and Carl V. vs. KP and Bob M.

The opening round of this match set the tone when Mike V. edged KP, 10-8, to post the first points. At the opposite end of the boards, a battle between beginners was underway, and Carl was putting belt to ass right out of the gates.

Carl dominated with rounds of 4-1, 3-0, and 6-1, yielding 11 points during that stretch. Meanwhile, Mike V. scratched and clawed his way to six points against KP.

After eight rounds, Mike V. and Carl owned a commanding 17-7 lead.

KP, feeling inspired by the famous quote from our heavenly friend Galz, yelled down the boards to Bob: “We are right where we want to be, Bob. The game doesn’t start until you’re down at least 10 points.”

Bob laughed uncomfortably, letting the noise pass in one ear and out the other. He seemed perfectly content to surrender four more points, lose the game, and return to his chair.

But Bob clearly didn’t know his partner, nor did he appreciate the absolute, unyielding hate KP has for losing.

The very next round, KP executed a flawless sequence:

Bag 1: Perfect block

Bag 2: Push and replace (i.e., nudged the block into the hole and left another blocker on the board)

Bag 3: Push and replace

Bag 4: Push everything in the hole

The result was a devastating four-bagger and a 12-4 advantage. Suddenly, the lead was cut to 17-15.

Bob surrendered one point the next round. But hey, at least it wasn’t four! An 18-15 lead for Mike V. and Carl.

KP snagged two more points with an 8-6 round, followed by Bob miraculously escaping with another point, tying the game at 18-18.

In the final round, KP pressed his foot squarely on his opponent’s neck. Another four-bagger. Another 12 points.

The pressure caused Mike to spray two errant throws, giving KP a 12-8 final round advantage. Just like that, a game that appeared dead and buried transformed into a ridiculous 14-1 run and 21-18 comeback victory.

Nominee 2 – Game 19:

Dan G. and Roger vs. Mike V. and Rumel

Mike V. and Rumel steadily built a 12-2 advantage, with each player contributing six points during that stretch, powered by a pair of huge 5-point rounds. Was that 10-point lead fool’s gold? After all, the first 10 rounds were mostly washes or 1-point grinders, save for those two massive 5-point rounds.

The Mikes certainly didn’t believe in fool’s gold, upping their lead to 16-7 after 14 rounds and appearing to have total control of the game.

That is, until a barrage of cornhole punches sent them stumbling into the ropes. The Mikes combined to throw exactly one bag on the board and seven bags on the ground in their final eight throws of the game.

Dan and Roger seized the moment, delivering knockout blows like Little Mack against Glass Joe. They won the 15th round 10-1 and the 16th round 6-0 to pull off one of the most improbable rallies you’ll ever witness. They strung together a 14-0 run in just two rounds to hand their opponents a monumental choke.

Poor Mike V. added two chokes to his ledger this week, with those catastrophes coming in two of his final three games. After that last collapse, he decided “dehydration” was suddenly creeping up on him and it was time to end his night.

In other words, Roger broke him.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

Many of you were likely anticipating the Mushroom Stamp Moment (“MSM”) coming from one of those two massive comeback games. And sure, those games had deserving moments.

Instead, we’re giving this week’s MSM to Dan G., who spent Thursday night using cornhole as a weapon to psychologically torture his older brother, Rick.

The algorithm paired Dan and Rick on opposite teams twice. Both times, Dan intentionally walked to the exact same end of the boards as Rick.

It was calculated. It was cold. One could argue it was cruel.

After all, Rick doesn’t even play cornhole.

But clearly Dan was looking to settle some old childhood debts.

Dan outscored Rick 48-14 across the two games, and his teams easily coasted to victory in both matchups by a combined score of 42-7.

There was no brotherly love on this night. Just decades of unresolved sibling business being settled one bag at a time.

For that ruthless display, Dan G. earns this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment.

Honorable Mention MSM goes to KP, for his psychotic refusal to lose. He finished the night with an unblemished 8-0 record, 25.4 KPM and nine four-baggers (a LEG record for four-baggers in one week).

That’s a wrap. Another Thursday with grown men laughing, bonding, busting balls, and forgetting about life for a few hours.

This week’s box score is below.

Week 5 Power Rank	Name	Week 5 Wins	Week 5 Losses	Week 5 Win %	Week 5 Saves	Week 5 Chokes	Week 5 Comebacks	Week 5 KPM	Week 5 Gross Points Per Round	Week 5 Toss Accruacy	Week 5 Cornholes Per Round	Week 5 Cornholes	Week 5 Cornholes Per Game	Week 5 Gross Points	Week 5 Gross Points Per Game	Week 5 Net Points For	Week 5 Net Points Against	Week 5 Net Points For Per Game	Week 5 Net Points Against Per Game	Week 5 Net Point Differential	Week 5 Foot Snags
1	KP	8	0	100%	4	-	1	25.4	7.8	86%	2.2	115	14.4	412	51.5	168	87	21.0	10.9	10.1	0
2	Roger	5	2	71%	4	-	1	19.4	6.0	73%	1.6	68	9.7	265	37.9	133	89	19.0	12.7	6.3	0
3	Dan G.	5	4	56%	4	-	1	18.2	5.8	83%	1.3	66	7.3	307	34.1	141	111	15.7	12.3	3.3	0
4	Jeff M.	3	2	60%	2	-	-	18.1	5.7	78%	1.3	51	10.2	223	44.6	91	77	18.2	15.4	2.8	0
5	Mike V.	4	3	57%	4	2	-	16.9	5.3	72%	1.2	48	6.9	208	29.7	121	83	17.3	11.9	5.4	0
6	Austin	6	4	60%	5	-	-	16.7	5.3	76%	1.2	62	6.2	288	28.8	168	136	16.8	13.6	3.2	0
7	Flowers	2	5	29%	1	-	-	15.7	5.0	66%	1.2	51	7.3	218	31.1	97	131	13.9	18.7	(4.9)	0
8	Mike R.	3	5	38%	3	1	-	15.6	4.9	66%	1.2	47	5.9	202	25.3	108	118	13.5	14.8	(1.3)	0
9	Paul G.	2	4	33%	2	-	-	13.7	4.4	67%	0.9	25	4.2	128	21.3	59	98	9.8	16.3	(6.5)	0
10	Monte K.	2	4	33%	-	-	-	11.3	3.7	56%	0.7	29	4.8	150	25.0	65	113	10.8	18.8	(8.0)	0
11	Carl V.	2	5	29%	-	1	-	9.2	3.1	55%	0.4	18	2.6	126	18.0	81	140	11.6	20.0	(8.4)	0
12	Bob M.	1	1	50%	-	-	1	8.1	2.8	56%	0.3	5	2.5	50	25.0	35	39	17.5	19.5	(2.0)	0
13	Rick G.	1	5	17%	1	-	-	6.9	2.3	42%	0.3	10	1.7	74	12.3	61	106	10.2	17.7	(7.5)	0

Week 5 Box Score