MCQUEENIE “JACK-IN-THE-BOX” RETRIBUTION

McQueenie Cup – Apr 27-29 @ Chicago

It’s the effort I was most impressed with. The time taken, the detail, and of course the sense of humor. I’m always in for good chuckle, even (especially!) at my (our) own expense and the Toledo team didn’t hold back, they in fact rubbed our noses squarely in it. Even though you can’t see everything let me ensure you that the entire 2011 McQueenie Cup DAC team is listed, the “Jack” in the box is wearing a pink dress – with DAC lettering - a pink bow in the hair, there is an Australian flagged pasted on the lid, and a post-it-note indicating the white towel was for me to wipe my tears away. They covered all the bases. I am actually touched they would do such a thing. Too funny.

This was the ‘consolation’ prize the Toledo team mailed to us after their second in a row McQueenie Cup victory last year. A legit win, unlike year one. (Just have to remind them of that!) So with this gag as inspiration for our DAC team, we are even more determined to conquer the competition. (Actually, I don’t care if we finish second last, just so long as we are ahead of Toledo!) Not quite true – we are going with the aim to win it. Unfortunately, playing in Chicago is like going to “Temptation Island”. A huge part of the battle will be how our boys tackle the non-squash activities when the evening beckons and how fuzzy their heads are when the morning reminds them of what they shouldn’t have done. It will be a tenuous balance.

After in-depth discussions with the Squash Committee, it was decided that the members asked to represent the DAC will be from the 2011 team. There are 8 players in total; two for each division of A, B, C and D. If a player cannot go, alternates were invited. We did in fact need to replace 4 players. Our 2012 team: Peter Logan – John Rakolta – Anthony Fracchia – Mark Gregory – Brien Baker – Andy Adamo – Patrick Petz – Ken MacDonald. Wish us luck!

We finished in third place last year, but the final order came down to the last 2 matches of the competition. We had our chances, so let’s see if we learnt anything from our defeat… What we did determine is that there are a couple of supplies we do need to make certain we carry for this year: 1. A stock of spare socks meant for Eric Green who regrettably cannot make it this year, so we’ll keep the socks for anyone else who may find themselves with one too few. 2. A travel pillow for Patrick Petz to keep his head upright in the bar late at night – at least he could look like he’s awake even if he’s not. 3. Strong coffee and Ibuprofen.

Last but not least – and in fact most importantly – we need to have a team powwow after the event to discuss what lovely consolation prize we would like to pass on to our southern friends congratulating them for trying so hard but falling short. I’m sure we can think of something flattering …