THE SERIOUS CONTENDERS

Boasters League round 3~~

The contrast is blatantly obvious. Last night was a glaring example of which teams are challenging for the Boasters League championships and which teams are simply doddering through the weeks. Before I get into a couple of jarring stats for round 3, it should be noted that it was “meet the candidates” night and a high percentage of matches had to be listed as ‘self-schedule’, which certainly affected the amount of matches played. That being said, the reason the standings are as you see them is because of these two details: (Butter Nutz are excused here since they had the bye.)

·         The top 4 teams combined picked up 39 bonus points last night. The bottom 4 teams: 29.

·         23 matches have been played so far for round 3. The top 4 teams make up 16 of those.

It’s simple to see. After 3 rounds, there is already a 19 point difference between Paddy’s Dropshots in 4^th place and Wardogs in 6^th. Wardogs, mind you, have had the bye already, so their situation is not as dire as Mongoose, The Nicker Ballers (who have the bye next week) and Foss Nation (who have also had the bye but have not exactly torn it up either – they picked up only 9 points since round 2). Yes, it is only 3 rounds in, but catch-up is the worst type of game to play and typically does not work. There are still 12 players in the league that haven’t even played a match or picked up a bonus point for the half. No time like the present to start, right? A little communication, commitment…

But enough of the negativity, I’m sure you will all pick it up and get back on track. Let’s celebrate the positive instead and focus on a couple of great matches played for round 3.

Colin Bayer (Fire Birds) had his work cut out against Jason Currie (Space Geckos). Jason enjoys a fast pace onto his racquet and Colin enjoys a fast pace off his racquet, so the two complimented themselves rather well. Some long rallies, plenty of court coverage from both of them, it was Jason who ended up with the 2-1 win and his first victory of the second half.

Dave Devine (Paddy’s Dropshots) intends to blind us all with his bright pink shirt and maybe it threw John Mann (Winky-Dinks) for a loop. John struggled to match Dave’s ‘pink-power’, and lost 1-2. It was Dave’s second win for the season, so the shirt must be helping at least a little…

John Perkins (Fire Birds) extended his winning streak to 8 matches after taking care of the lovely Cathy Lysack (Space Geckos) 2-1. In fact, since we have tracking scores on Sporty HQ, John has won 22 of 24 matches, and he hasn’t lost since mid-October. I figure I may as well place a target on is back now, or at least jinx him!

So, heading into round 4 and it’s almost the half way mark of the second half. There is only 1 thing to say: Play your matches.