Summer League semi
finals~~
Scuttlebutts v Loose
Cannons:
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” I don’t know who said
that originally, and it does refer to cold blooded vengeance, so the “Scuttlebutts” are quietly smirking in
their knowledge of righting a past wrong when the “Loose Cannons” beat up on them in round 2. No blood was spilled
(thankfully), but I’m sure a few tears escaped.
So who from the “Scuttlebutts”
stepped up when it counted and turned the tables on a previous defeat? Well it
wasn’t Brian Bartes. I’m not picking
on Brian here; he has improved steadily and continuously this season and has
nothing to be upset about. But this won’t be news to him – or his opponent Anil Kathuria – when I say Brian had
the match by the short and curlies and should have taken the 2-1 win. He lost
2-1 in round 2, and after splitting the first games here, had Anil 14-8 in the
3rd. That’s 7 match-balls. Suddenly, Anil found the ideal length and
had Brian scrambling around in the back corners. The unlikely comeback was
completed with a low backhand semi-lucky kill shot that was barely out of
Brian’s reach. It was certainly the one that got away but in the end, although
Brian would be kicking himself, he had the last laugh.
Who did change their fortunes was Julie VandeVusse. Julie lost to Mike Cooney in their first meeting 3-0, but with a summer league
season behind her, she has started to find her rhythm. Her 2-1 win was a huge
help for the “Scuttlebutts”. Also
making up for a past defeat was Dave
Morrison. He felt the bulldozer effect from Tom MacEachern in round 2 as he went down 2-1, but his experience
showed up for the semi finals and he wasn’t about to fall victim to him twice.
A smarter game, better length, and it paid off with a 3-0 win.
With a 2-1 victory to Steve
Murphy who had to play a sub because Chris
Moyer has regrettably left our sunny Michigan shores and followed in Ken MacDonald’s footsteps to the
fantasy world of “Denver”, and 3-0 wins to Justin
Jacobs and Mike Rock, the “Scuttlebutts” had an unconquerable lead
with one match to play. That match was still completed however, and they won
that too. Final score: 25-18.
Naval Fluff v Get
Some and Flop Some:
This was closer than it should have been. “Get Some and Flop Some” did themselves
zero favors with only 4 bonus points for the evening, plus two no-shows. (We
won’t mention names, they know who they are.) However, on a positive note, of
the 4 matches that played on Monday, they won three of them 3-0 which made up
for their shortcomings.
Jerry Rock (“Naval Fluff”) reversed his 2-1 loss to Paul Flanagan a week earlier with a 2-1
win this time around, and Mike McCuish
also took a 2-1 victory for the team. With 3 three matches left to play on the
Tuesday, and although Naval Fluff
had 4 wins to 3, plus 7 bonus points, they only held a slim 2 point margin.
That margin evaporated when Jay Bonahoom blanked Andrew
Tigananelli 3-0. Suddenly, “Get Some
and Flop Some” had a 1 point advantage with two matches left. “Naval Fluff” evened it up in the next
contest with Bruce Vande Vusse repeating
his result from round 7, taking Tom
Fabbri 2-1. The final match was for all the cookies. The score stood at
19-19. However, unforeseen circumstances would not see this ‘winner-take-all’
bout and it would have to be nullified. Because of “Get Some and Flop Some” poor bonus point showing, “Naval Fluff” held the tie break and
advance to the final.
So we have “Scuttlebutts”
v “Naval Fluff” for summer league
glory. These 2 teams played in round 5 with “Scuttlebutts” coming out on top 20-14. But only 2 results were 3-0,
and 7 of them were a close 2-1. (One didn’t play.) And “Naval Fluff” only picked up 2 bonus points that day. This could be
a very close final. Will bonus points once again be the deciding factor? Better
turn up!
