CROWNING THE MONGOOSE

Boasters League final~~

"Winky-Dinks" versus "Mongoose"~~

Maybe after beating “Threepeat” last week, it took a little wind out of the “Winky-Dinks” sails. Captain Justin Winkelman was very focused on stopping Patrick Petz’ team winning three in a row and after achieving that goal in the semi final, it’s tough to back up that performance with another one. So often you see a major upset in a tournament from a low ranked player or team over a top seed only to have that player or team get annihilated in the next round.

Now “Winky-Dinks” didn’t exactly get bulldozed. And certainly the three results that they lost 0-3 weren’t upsets, however I predicted they would be closer. “Mongoose” also had 3 subs playing for them. It’s always a tricky situation in the finals to insert a sub. You have to be careful and try not to choose someone who is stronger than the player they are replacing, but still good enough to be competitive – and they have to be available. So, choices are limited. Two of the subbing players had previously lost to their respective opponents before, but both of them won 3-0 on this occasion. The third – Jim Miller - had not lost to Chato Hill before, but Chato stepped up well to win 2-1. Just goes to show how unpredictable it can be.

In other matches, “Mongoose” captain Paul Huth held off nemesis Blake Ellis 14-15; 15-13; 15-13 for a 2-1 victory. Paul and Blake always seem to have very close matches and the winner is usually decided by a couple of points either way. The final three matches played on the day all fell “Mongoose’s” way. Mike Rock reversed his round 1 loss to Geoff Kimmel by winning 2-1, David Pontes overcame a one game deficit against Greg Davis to claim a 2-1 triumph, and John Roarty kept Brien Baker at bay to also win 2-1. [Above picture: Mike Rock and Geoff Kimmel ~~~ Picture left: Brien Baker and John Roarty]

With 11 of the 12 results recorded, “Mongoose” held an unassailable 5 point lead. The final match was played anyway (2 days later) and once again it was team “Mongoose” squeaking out a 2-1 win. The overall result: 30 to 24. It was a warranted conquest. All season long, they kept themselves in the top 3 of the standings, and actually held the top spot for 3 of those weeks before coming into the finals as the 3rd seed. Their consistency paid off. Please congratulate with me the 2011 Boasters League champions:

John Roarty; Paul Huth (captain); Jay Poplawski; Bruce VandeVusse; John Conway; David Pontes; Mike Ng; Terry Lang; Mike Rock; Brian Rosman; Renee McDuffee; Tom Jordan.