AND AAWAAAAY WE GO!

Boasters League round 1~~

 

Finally, the squash season has blessed us with its presence. After a summer that kept more than most of the players away on the golf course, on the lake, up north, standing at the BBQ, and not watching the Tigers, it was refreshing to see that you still remembered where the DAC is located, where the keg stands in the court area, and where the Handballers located their taco bar.

Timing was perfect for those of you celebrating week 1 as we introduced our new squash pro into the squash family mix. Stu Hadden is still trying to let it all sink in as he tries to recollect the 100 plus names thrown at him (and forgetting most, if not all of them!) and icing and massaging his hand from all the handshakes. He is of course not the only one sore from all the activity. I am going to imagine that a decent portion of you are suffering with some sort of muscle tightness in the legs, shoulders, back and derriere areas… actually, some of you probably are sore from the tips of your toenails to the flaps of your earlobes. Our morning porter that sweeps the court is sore from cleaning up all the rust particles as well.

The top team out of the gates this season was Mongoose. A tally of 31 points, helped along not just by winning 7 of their 9 matches (so far) and picking up an acceptable 11 bonus points, but having 4 of their team members attend last week’s referee clinic. Just 3 points behind are the Wardogs, who actually scored exactly the same amount of points on court and amount of bonus points as Mongoose, but only had 1 player at the referee clinic.

Slower starts for Over Served and Winky-Dinks, completing just 4 matches and also receiving the fewest bonus points for the week. We are only 2 days into the season, so I wouldn’t be reading anything into the standings right now. But that being said, a good start is very helpful.

We have over 30 bodies in the league this year that are new to us. Many of those very new to squash as well. Aaron Haubert (Vivio’s) and Landon Lefler (Wardogs) were 2 of those, and as Aaron ventured out for his first ever match he declared that he was setting his expectations rather low as not to disappoint himself! Well, he actually exceeded those expectations, he didn’t win, but a 1-2 result for him was a good start to his very young squash career.

Another first-timer, Will Owen (Butter Nutz) actually won 3-0 in his opening contest against Spencer Forester (Nicker Ballers), but of course when you are over 6 foot 5 and Will is, there isn’t a lot of balls you can’t reach.

Michael DiFrancesco (Wardogs) started off his 2019 campaign against his good friend (and squash nemesis) Max Ritter (Vivio’s). Max had beaten three times in a row leading up to this match so he had the mental advantage. However, Michael isn’t one to shy away from a challenge and up to the task, he broke the streak with a 2-1 victory. In probably one of the best matches of the round happened later in the evening when (I guess) no one was watching. Blake Roller (Mongoose) bragged it was a ‘really good match’ even though he lost 2-1 to Schuyler Hamill (Foss Nation). When the loser of the match compliments the standard, it must have been worth something!

The race has started. Don’t let your matches pile up. Don’t fall behind. Don’t be surprised at how much food John Mann can eat in one sitting. Don’t give up on the Lions just yet, they have actually been impressive so far (even though there are many weeks left to change that fact!). They can’t lose this week, so how often in the history of the franchise have you been able to boast that after 5 weeks, they have only lost once? Be proud!

And play more squash.