BIG SUMMER BLOW-OUT

2022 Summer Leagues Breakdown

“Big Summer Blow-Out?” You may think I’m talking about the Detroit Tigers? You know, our baseball team that gets blown out every other game? The one that – at the time I am writing this – are 33 games below .500… A team clearly trying to grab the mantle of “worst franchise in Detroit” from the Lions… the team with a stadium that seats 45,000 more people than needed… But no! Nor am I talking about the Big Summer Blow-Out where you can get half off swimming-suits, clogs, and a sun-balm of Oaken’s own invention… ya? (see link) No!!

I’m talking about the Summer Squash leagues that have smashed all previous records! The stats below will show how good we were, you should be very much proud of yourselves. Of course, I am a perfectionist, so there is always room for improvement and we can always do better. Just like me deep cleaning the house for 2 days straight with a magnifying glass and an arsenal of cleaning products before my wife and daughter return from their European trip, the first words out of her mouth when she enters the door is, “hmmm, you missed a spot”.

The Doubles League was a 10-week session. A record 57 registrations. Four divisions. Nine matches per week. Like every summer, we do get a substantial increase in the amount of sub requests compared to the regular season, and like every summer, those subs are generally more difficult to find. It comes with the territory although I do wish we had less last-minute cancellations. I also wish we had less fish flies asphyxiating my garage door, but who can stop nature?

•        90 matches were arranged overall. 83 of them were played which is 92%... not bad for the summer, and not the record.
•       Only one of the matches that was not played was due to a no-show… sort of. This individual did actually turn up but had mis-read the time and was an hour late.
•       Three of the matches that were not played vowed to rearrange and complete it at a later date. Shockingly (!), that never happened.
•       Monday A League…  29 of 30 matches were completed. They required a sub 35% of the time, and only 3 matches did not need any subs at all. Shail Arora played 13 of the matches and therefore ended up with the most points, Patrick Petz played 12 matches. Results were pretty evenly spread: 10 results were 3-0; 9 results were 3-1; 10 results were 3-2. Tai Tran ended up with the best average, but since he’s a DAC manager, he is ineligible to take the gift card, so next best goes to Rich Stimson.
•       Tuesday B League… This level was definitely the most reluctant to sub. Only 17 matches of the 20 were played. In 2 cases, we simply couldn’t find a sub and one time the foursome vowed to play at a later date but never did. Four matches didn’t require any subs. Overall, subs were needed 34% of the time, but the final 3 weeks of the season, it was 50%. Daniel Dusina easily won best average amongst the players that reached the 5 match minimum to qualify, over 1 ½ points better than his closest rival. Paul Gormley scored the most points, but he also played half the matches. Only 4 matches ended up 3-2.
•       Wednesday C League… 19 of 20 matches were completed. This group, led by the effervescent, cattle prodding, cat-herding, “I’ll-play-8-hours-a-day-if-I’m-allowed” Reneé Fershée, was the most responsive to sub. In fact, in one match, I had 6 people thinking they were all playing. Good problems to have! Five of the 19 matches didn’t need any subs, and overall, subs were needed 27.5% of the time. (Best of all the levels.) This group was also the most competitive – only 5 of the 19 results were 3-0. 14 regulars for the C league is a summer league record. Brian Weitzel accumulated the most points and Spencer Roed came away with the best average.
•       Thursday Open League… I was a little skeptical about a league that was running at 6am, but it didn’t turn out too bad. The Open group is notoriously less reliable in the summer, but they did get 18 of their 20 matches completed. Subbing was somewhat like pulling teeth, cancellation threats saved some matches. Subs were needed 40% of the time (highest of the levels), and it was actually 50% for the last 4 weeks. Only 1 match did not need any subs at all. John Mann played 12 of the 18 matches and ended up with the most points, and Corey Kabot showed everybody he can still hit a mean ball and comfortably won best average.

The Singles League was even more impressive. A record 107 players spread over 10 teams (some teams had 11 players, some 10). It was 16 weeks, taking everybody up through Labor Day. Many new faces which I think helped the numbers as generally speaking, the ‘newbies’ are extremely keen to get active. Shout out to Fred Minturn’s secretary – Shirley – she took on task of arranging and reporting many of the matches for Fred’s team, and in fact registered the full team all at once! You will see how that paid off below:

•      A total of 804 matches were reported. That. Is. Amazing. It’s an incredible 168 matches better than the previous record. We averaged 50 matches a week – or even better, 7 matches a day.
•      The most matches played in one week was 72. That was the 13th week of the season. The least amount was 31 matches – the final week of the season, but it was also Labor Day weekend, so no surprise there.
•      Scrambled Legs played the most matches with 165. (That’s Shirley’s influence!). They managed to complete a full round for an extra 10 points and were only 4 matches off completing the second round as well.
•      Only one other team played at least 100 matches: Planet Volleywood. But 2 others got to 99 (!): Blood Bath and Beyond and Run Like the Winded.
•      Five teams played at least 1 match every single week. That’s actually a good stat.
•      Six of the 16 weeks had every team play at least 1 match.
•      The most matches played in one week was 19 by Scrambled Legs in week 14.
•      10 players failed to play at all. This is always a disappointing number if it isn’t zero.
•      Biggest point getter was Spencer Roed (Run Like the Winded) with 269. Three other players reached 200 points as well.
•     Matt Paradiso and Ian Edwards (Planet Volleywood) played 22 times. The most in the league. Ian apparently loves the punishment. And bagels.
•     17 players scored at least 100 points. Six of those were on Scrambles Legs.

So, there you have it – bask in the glory of fantastic-ness. We definitely raised the bar this summer, so naturally I will have these expectations next year… 900 matches perhaps? Looking forward to upcoming ‘busy’ season, if you haven’t yet registered for the league, you better send me an email asap… not many spots left!