FROM (ALMOST) LAST TO FIRST

Boasters League round 2~~

Clearly last week’s performance was unacceptable to Mongoose captain Paul Huth. I don’t know what type of tongue lasing he dished out to his players, but his team made up for it this round. As I was checking out the early action on the courts upstairs in the fitness room, Paul was standing, nose to the back of the glass of court 1, whip in one hand, chair in the other, steam rising from his ears, nostrils flaring, driving his players to win, win, win! And they did, for the most part.

Ten of the 17 matches were completed and Mongoose won 7 of them, picked up 11 bonus points (which is still under par for them and no doubt unsatisfactory for their drill sergeant) and moved from 8^th spot on the ladder last week to first this week, scoring a league’s best 37 points – 14 better than any other team!

The team that suffered the most this week was Foss Nation. Second on the standings after round 1, they were M.I.A. this time around and dropped all the way to 6^th. Only 7 of their players turned up. That doesn’t help. In fact, turnout overall was poor last night. In total, only 69 bonus points were picked up compared to week 1 where we saw a total of 80 bonus points. That needs to improve.

Some noteworthy matches worth noting with a worthy note: Mike Petix (Mongoose) was no doubt in fear of his life with his captain watching inches away as he was battling against Jordan Ellis (Winky-Dinks). I was watching at just the right time for Jordan – the second game – where he dominated and executed some squash-coach-pleasing volleys (since we worked on them last week!) taking the game 15-2. It was 1-game apiece at that stage and I didn’t stick around for the 3^rd game but maybe I should have. Captain Huth must have said some very ‘inspirational’ words to Mike during the rest as Mike did end up winning the match 2-1 and I did see him alive and well in the court area afterwards.

Julie Vande Vusse (Foss Nation) could not have been happier with her result this week as she finally was able to beat Mike McCuish (On the Rocks). She was 0 for 4 against him over the summer and the 2-1 victory this time was a sweet feeling no doubt. (Mike may choose to disagree with that though!).

Riley English (Butter Nutz) once again was putting his case forward of being the fastest player in the club. Andy Adamo’s “winners” (Nicker Ballers) just kept on coming back and back and back. Riley took the match 2-1, then had to douse his shoes in water to put the fire out.

So as we enter into round 3, Mongoose have the bye next week but I hardly expect them to sit idle. I will be anticipating some make-up results to come through. They will not hold on to top spot, but it will be interesting to see how close they will be to the leaders come next Thursday. Other questions that keep us up at night…   Who was it that left that dirty towel in my office a few days ago? Will the Blue Chips ever win a doubles match again? What is it that men don’t like the color purple? A lot to ponder as the season surges ahead!