Summer League round
2~~
Lob-Otomies. None
of us want one and we all probably know someone we think needs one, but many of
you may wish that you were one! From dead last position after the first round,
the “Lob-Otomies” jumped up to second
spot on the standings picking up a league best 22 points over the week. And
where there is success with one team, another team needs to suffer. In an act
of trading places, “Art of Incompetence”
collected only 4 points and from equal second 7 days ago and now sit at the
bottom of the pile.
The complete mix-up of the standings is no surprise. Looking
over all the results from round 1 (including make-up matches this week), only 5
points separated first from last. So a couple of wins from the last place team
would catapult them up the standings. However, sitting idle for a week will
undo all that work. And let’s not forget about bonus points. Just about every
season the rule holds true: the teams with the most bonus points make the
play-offs. Guess what? Even after just 2 rounds, the standings would almost be
identical if it was ranked on bonus points alone. (Only “Technically Delinquent” and “Coordination
Zero” would swap places.)
It wasn’t a stellar night in terms of participation, but we
did have a few close results. I’ll mention Steve
Boloven (“Point of No Return”) here,
even though he lost 3-0 to Tom Pierce
(“Serves You Right”). The first two
games were 15-14 and 15-13, and the effort almost managed to kill poor Steve
from hustling so much. At one point after he sprinted into the front forehand
corner and hit the ball deep – almost directly over his head. From there, he
was done running. Recovery to the ‘T’ was no more an option. It was either
going to be a winner, or if Tom were to reach it and connect, it was going to
drill Steve square between the eyes. Tom did the best he could – he raced to
the ball and took one almighty swing… only to whiff. Like a real trooper, Steve
did not flinch as he awaited his fate. I, on the other hand, flinched, cringed,
covered my eyes, winced, and had a heart palpitation.
While that drama was unfolding, on the next court Cathy Lysack (“Nick-Knacks”) was taking some revenge from her cub championship
loss to James Van Dyke (“Art of Incompetence”). With some
powerful forehand kills and volleys, Cathy took the 2-1 victory. Both she and
James have played 4 times together – each match has gone the distance, and this
was actually Cathy’s first win in this ‘rivalry’.
The league now has a 2 week break. I don’t like to break
momentum, but we hardly can expect anyone to be here on Memorial Day next
Monday – not even I will be doing that! – and the week after is the 3B’s golf
outing which many of you participate in. The good news is that everybody has
plenty of time to make up your missed matches from weeks 1 and 2 and even get
week 3 in early. And, if you are really clever, play future rounds early too –
especially if you have vacation coming up!
