FROZEN TO THE CORE IN ROUND FOUR

Boasters League round 4~

♫♫..Do you want to build a snowman..?♫… Ummm… heck no!!! Way too cold for even that! Seriously, it feels like I’m back in Montreal where we once experienced -46 degrees C – without the wind chill – and after 3 weeks straight of below 20, when it finally did reach -10, it felt like a heatwave! But vortex, schmortex. A little chilly weather couldn’t possibly keep people away could it? Just because it felt like I was driving on a Sunday morning to work yesterday because of the zero traffic, it wasn’t at all an omen for the league participation, was it…? Well, yes. Yes it was.

Expectations were met. Participation was low last night, but I can hardly complain. Couple that with the DAC election the day before where many of you had a long day at the club – a day that extended into the wee hours of the morning – and actually we probably had a few more players here than I imagined we would.

Butter Nutz continue to lead the way. They picked up the most points this week (31) and increased their lead on top of the standings to 18 points. In second place now is Winky-Dinks, which is bad news for the rest of the league since they have already had their bye week. Winky-Dinks jumped up 5 spots from round 3. Still, 6^th placed Nicker Ballers are only 5 points back from them, so it is a tight race even if the scores are low overall.

Like last week, we don’t have a deep pool of matches to shine the spotlight on today. But that never has stopped me in the past… Chris Moyer (On the Rocks) was playing the mind games with Tom Fabbri (Winky-Dinks) when he turned up wearing (coincidently, I’m sure!) an old soccer jersey with a player’s name on the back: “FABREGAS”… or, what he was trying to say… “Fabbri-Gas”! Debate is still out whether or not Chris is innocent here, but it didn’t seem to bother Tom terribly much as he was able to snag the 2-1 win anyway… was Chris out of gas at the end… or did Tom have too much of it?

Newcomer to the league, Michael Wilson (Winky-Dinks) scored his second win of the season taking down Tom Pierce (On the Rocks) 2-1. We are seeing a few more of the younger crowd joining in the league and it can be tougher for the veterans to keep up with their speed and athleticism. Somehow, that ball just keeps on coming back! Case in point – Matt Paradiso (Nick at Night) – who won 3-0 against Robert “Hollywood” Welch (Wardogs). Robert kept up with the long rallies quite well… until he couldn’t! It’s wonderful to see the young blood mix in…

Round 5 is next week which is (believe it or not) the midway point of the second half of the season. Since the standings are so close, every point you earn for your team holds that much more meaning. Even bonus points... Nicker Ballers could jump from 6^th to 2^nd by simply playing and winning 2 matches. It is tough to envision oneself peeling themselves off the sofa and making their way to the club however in this ruthless cold. How cold is it? It’s so cold, I had to cuddle with Ann Coulter in order to keep warm… It’s so cold Richard Simmons is wearing shorts all the way to his knees… It’s so cold Dunkin’ Donuts is serving coffee on a stick… (disclaimer: I stole those from the internet…) Maybe you have better ones? What more can I say except: Get. Your. Matches. In!!!

DRINKS FOR FREE IN ROUND THREE

Boasters League round 3~~

The offering of free tacos and free drinks brings out people to the court area that I haven’t seen in… well for ever actually. “Follow the nose” I always say, and it’s remarkable how sensitive we become when the price is just right. It does make for a very social evening, especially when we can meet and greet the next round of members that will run this place. It did seem however, that most of the boasters league players forgot is was a league night, left their squash shoes and racquet at home and instead donned the suit and practiced their cocked wrist position with a few cocktails. At least they were working on something!

It was, anyway you look at it, an anemic turnout in regards to matches played. Yes, the courts were used, but most were just pick-up games. No team has played more than 5 matches (from 17!) so far, and the most bonus points picked up last night was 11… where are you all?

Winky-Dinks picked up the most points this week. But it wasn’t exactly a lot – just 25. Vivio’s effort was just half of that – just 12. Mongoose – who had the bye – also managed 12 points. Butter Nutz still hold on to top spot, and even though they scored a measly 22 points this week, they increased their lead by 10. No other way to say it, but these numbers are just… awful. I suppose the good thing to come out of this, is the standings remain very tight. Only 10 points separate 2^nd to 8^th.

Not too many matches to choose from and highlight, but of all the ones played last night, only 2 of them were a 3-0 score line. A pleasing statistic since I am all about competitiveness. Patrick Petz (Nick at Night) picks up his first win of the half, taking down the marathon-man Joe Leto (Winky-Dinks) 2-1… I am going to imagine it wasn’t Patrick’s fitness that saw him through this one, but his soft drop-shots from all and any angle.

Michael Francesco (Vivio’s) makes us all wish we were 20 years younger as he continues to improve just because of age (and the athleticism that comes with it!) as he sprinted his way to victory over Robert Welch (Butter Nutz) 2-1; Peter Shumaker (Winky-Dinks) proved that he is still a clever shot maker with his 2-1 win over Scott Langenburg (Nick at Night); and Peter Huthwaite (Nicker Ballers) scores his second win of the half holding back another fledgling to watch out for in the near future – Brady Savage (On the Rocks) 2-1.

Moving to round 4 next week, and just about every player has work to do to catch up on some matches. With the standings so close, just a couple of wins for your team is a major boost. Since Jan 29 is another day at the DAC where many of you can pick up a free meal, it would probably be a terrific idea to arrange a match that day and build up your appetite?