Boasters League
final~~
Not that I haven’t ever
chosen a winner when it comes to the Boasters League, but generally speaking
picking a team to win spawns some black magic voodoo over them and they suffer
the curse of subjugation. Last week, I did happen to envisage a “Winky-Dinks” conquest over the 2 time
reigning champs “Butter Nutz”, and
as luck would have it, I feel like a blind squirrel feasting on its nuts… ummm…
maybe I could have worded that better…
Anyway, it was a superb evening of Boasters League finals
matches. The “Winky Dinks” managed
to do what they failed to achieve the week before – turn up in numbers. Picking
up 16 of 17 bonus points, it was one more than the “Butter Nutz”, and even more pleasing was the fact that by the end
of the evening, all matches had been
completed. The reason for such a turnout is simple. The compliments must be
handed out to both captains. Sante
Fratarcangeli and Justin Winkelman
were very active with their communicating and encouragement – much like they
were all season long. It is a testament to how much a difference an active
leader can do.
The one thing that surprised most people was the amount of
3-0 results that littered the score sheet. Ten of them in total. It surprised
me too, but winning is about performing when it’s all on the line, not letting
the pressure get to you – or better still, stepping
it up when in do-or-die situations.
Jason Massey did
just that for the “Butter Nutz”. The
last 2 times he had played Matt Hayduk
he was spanked 3-0. Given, these results were a while back, but those scores
would still be in the back of his mind. This time, after he scraped through the
first game 15-14 and both players hurried of the court like they hadn’t drank
any water for a week, Jason was the one that recovered more quickly he was off
and running at the start of the second game. The momentum stuck and the 3-0 win
was in the bag.
For the “Winky-Dinks”
Tom MacEachern reversed his round
three 1-2 loss to Brian Bartes with
a take-no-prisoners steam rolling 3-0 victory this time. And following in Tom’s
footsteps was the experience of Jim
Miller. He went down to Charlie
Dabrowski earlier in the season 1-2 as well before taking him to town with well
placed angles and earning an important 3-0 win.
Two more scores came in that were an about face from matches
in January. And both of them were in favor of the”Butter Nutz”. Glen Milligan
has been a little inconsistent this half, but still managed to beat Robert Welch 2-1 and Shri Rangaswamy came from one game down
to take the next two from Mike Cooney.
As I mentioned above, there were plenty 3-0 scores. The two
teams did not perfectly split the goose eggs, “Butter Nutz” had 6 of them and so it wasn’t an overwhelming
difference. And “Butter Nutz” actually
won more of the matches that ended up 2-1, but a 1 point advantage is hardly
the same as 3, and as the final 3 matches went on to play, “Winky-Dinks” held onto an 8 point lead.
Not an impossible amount to overcome, but the “Butter Nutz” needed to win them all 3-0.
They did take all three games in the first match with Marc Lakin’s victory, but the “Winky-Dinks” picked up the first game
of the second match which effectively sealed the deal. Even though the result
had been determined, the final match still went ahead. Ryan Gannon toughed it and overcame the first game loss against Liz McClure to end the night for his
team on a high.
