MONGOOSE EYEBALLING THE REPEAT

Boasters League semifinals~~

I really enjoy controversy-free league nights. Especially when it’s the semifinals. I can calmly drive home, sing along in the car to my 1980’s rock music silently wishing I still had my long hair, relax in front of the idiot box for a while and savor my Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream dessert that little bit more. Ahhhh… peace….

By the time I got into work the following morning, all but 1 match had been completed (that’s 33 of 34!) and the winning teams had already been decided. No mess, no fuss, the score board spoke for itself, there wasn’t anything anyone could complain about. I hope I haven’t spoken too soon!

Vivio’s v Mongoose

Considering both teams required 2 subs for this match-up, there was no potential bonus point advantage to speak of here. However, as has been Mongoose’s M.O. this season, their captain Paul Huth was on the warpath ready to dish out whatever horrible punishment he could conjure up to any of his remaining players that didn’t turn up. And it must have been something utterly despicable as all 15 of them made the effort. That endeavor paid off as Vivio’s only saw 12 of their players make a showing. At this stage of the season, every point is important.

We start off with one of the best matches of not only the evening, but arguably the season including perhaps the best rally of the year as well. Kevin Thomas (Vivio’s) and Tom Fabbri had a unimpressive first game as Tom was still finding his way, but the next two games was when the excitement was at its maximum level. Literally nothing between them, at 14-all in the second game, Tom was in clear control of the rally. There was nothing Kevin could do but try to survive. Each desperate retrieval putting him in even more trouble. Bring out the dive! Not one – but two! Full body, head first, royal blue cape flying high behind him. And still the rally continued, until Tom… hit the tin. The yelp of despair resonated through the fitness room, but Tom was able to regain his senses after the two minute rest and kept the pressure up for the third and final game. Another down to the wire contest, Tom had the 14-13 lead, Kevin once again forced to do anything and everything just to stay in the hunt. And déjà vu all over again. (Minus the super-hero moves.) Kevin’s brick-wall method saved his skin anew, Tom clipping the top of the tin at the worst possible time. The 3-0 result was Kevin’s, his sigh of relief could be heard in the carpark.

More noticeable results were chalked up through the evening, each team picking up some solid wins. Paul Huth (Mongoose) pulled one out of the hat when it counted the most with his first win over Paul Van Tol in 4 tries and since May of 2017. Mike Hanchett (Vivio’s) reserved his round 3 loss to Andrew Peleman with a 2-1 victory here, and Mike Petix (Mongoose) continues his hoodoo voodoo powers over Rich Stimson winning 2-1 and keeping his perfect record against the Vivio’s captain intact.

Through the night, Mongoose kept its nose in front. That lead fluctuated from as high as 14 points early on to as low as 6 later on in the evening. The nail in the coffin for Vivio’s came when most were already out of the building (and I was probably drooling over my ice-cream spoon) when Mongoose’s David DeCew and Ian Edwards both completed 3-0 wins. Mongoose advance by ten points - 44-34.

Butter Nutz v Over Served

This was closer. Although for most of the night it did appear as if Butter Nutz didn’t have much of a shot. They fell behind early, and by a significant margin. Five of the matches were played before the scheduled Wednesday and Over Served had won four of them – all 3-0. So before the semifinal officially got underway, Butter Nutz were already losing 13 to 2.

The bonus point count wasn’t much of a factor for this match-up and I was a little surprised more of effort wasn’t made by both teams. Over Served picked up just 11, and Butter Nutz 12. Butter Nutz could have changed the outcome had more turned up.

As the evening wore on, Over Served was increasing their lead. The early results were not looking good for Butter Nutz as the scores came in. A couple more 3-0 losses and it was potentially turning into a total wipeout.

Is was up to Butter Nutz captain JC Tibbitts to lead by example and try to stop the rot against Jeff Gembis. Not an easy task as Jeff has beaten JC the last two times they played. These two are not too dissimilar with their styles, both can pound strong length, but both can also falter when it comes to ‘ending’ the rallies with their short game. Splitting games one and two, the third was no easy path for either player. However, JC started to exploit the front corners more often with clever use of the boast and often leaving Jeff a little stranded. It was catch-up time for Jeff and he did manage to scrape a few points back but it wasn’t enough. JC took the 2-1 and hopefully some of them momentum back for his team.

John Perkins (Over Served), though, was having none of it. Playing Brendan Fossee, it must have been in the back of his mind that Brendan took him to task in round 1 with a 3-0 drubbing, and he was unwilling to re-experience it. Admittedly, not the cleanest of matches between the two, not a particularly tight–ball performance, both players hit their fair share of loose shots and unforced errors. But, if we only would win when we played really well, we wouldn’t win very often, right? Have to hustle. And John and Brendan know how to do that. Kudos to both players here for also playing through a lot of interference, (although at times I do think a ‘let’ call would have been in everybody’s interest!). It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just have to be more effective than your opponents, and John avenged his early season loss here with a 2-1 win! Momentum back to Over Served? Not so fast.

Cue the comeback. Well, almost the comeback. When the next – and last - five results came in, Butter Nutz was ringing the bell every time. And – believe it or not – after all 17 results had been completed, Butter Nutz had won more overall matches than Over Served. But, their early 3-0 losses came back to haunt them. Over Served survived the last minute onslaught to get away with a 39-35 victory!

The final is set! Over Served v Mongoose. It wasn’t long ago that these two squared off – just 2 weeks ago in round 9 – and 13 of the 17 matches were done… Mongoose came out just on top 33-30. Looking at the individual match-ups, it does look too close to call and to be honest, going by my history if I do nominate my ‘favorite’ it’s a guaranteed jinx move. Keep in mind, Mongoose require 2 subs and that will affect their potential bonus point maximum. Over Served can take advantage, clearly every point will be crucial.

CONVINCING VICTORIES

Boasters League quarter finals~~

The writing was on the wall, apparently – or more specifically, the writing was in the statistics. You could say that stats don’t mean anything once the finals come around but the numbers held pretty true for these 2 quarter final match ups – at least for the winning teams. Obviously, we don’t announce winners based on past performances, and the ‘underdogs’ in these scenarios are always looking at upsetting the apple cart… it’s why you must turn up and play. You are only as good as your next result. (You can only brag about the last one…)

Vivio’s v Paddy’s Dropshots

Vivio’s are bragging today. Just ask captain Rich Stimson. The round 6 match-up of these 2 teams was a Vivio’s domination, even though only 10 matches were completed. This time, 16 matches were in the books, and it would have been all 17 had the result not already been decided well before then. Seasonal stats translated almost perfectly here… Vivio’s season win percentage was 67%. They won 68% of them here. It’s tough to lose winning that many matches. Especially when 6 of those wins were 3-0.

And bonus points did not play a part here. Paddy’s Dropshots actually picked up one more than Vivio’s despite having 2 subs stepping in for them.

Nine of the matches ended up with a competitive 2-1 score line. The two closest of those nine featured the Van Tol family. The veteran Paul Van Tol (Vivio’s) had to use all of his experience, wily tactics, short angles, long angles, guestimates, lung capacity, unconventional volleys, and his 2 foot height advantage over Jordan Ellis who wouldn’t stop running and running and running and is probably still running as I type this up. It was 1 game all and Jordan up about 3 points, deep into the 3^rd, when Paul somehow pulled back the deficit, ran some balls down of his own I am sure he never thought he could (or would) and with a signature PVT back hand push drop into the front corner finished the 15-14 in the 3^rd victory. I think Paul is still sitting on the bench outside court 1 getting his breath back.

The other Van Tol – Chris – had reverse fortune. Against another veteran Manny Tancer (Paddy’s Dropshots), who seems to be an effective racquets craftsman regardless of which type of racquet he wields. The players split the first 2 games – both with a 15-14 score line – and were point for point though the third and deciding game as well. Chris was doing all he could moving Manny around the court and looked to be getting a little frustrated as his opponent just wouldn’t stop. The extra couple of retrievals turned out to be the difference and Manny took the third 15-13. It seems Manny’s style does cause issues for Chris. Of the 5 results they have listed, Chris has only won once.

Certainly there were other matches were noting: Brian Ellison filled in for the injured Mike O’Brien (Vivio’s) to tackle Marc Lakin. A little touchy at times, the two battled hard sharing the first two games before settling down in the third. Brian’s frustration was causing him to lose a little focus as he started to over swing at times, but Marc wasn’t taking full advantage of those loose opportunities hitting too short himself. The lack of length cost Marc the third and Brian won 2-1. Nick Petcoff was another youngster having to square off with another veteran – this time Paul Fershee (subbing for absent Tripp Kennedy). Paul’s power serve was creating a little havoc with Nick, but Nick adjusted quick enough to escape with a 2-1 win.

So Vivio’s move on to next week’s semifinals with a solid 46-31 victory and take on the league favorites and reigning boasters champions Mongoose. We have to go way back to round 3 for their previous encounter: Mongoose took the honors – barely – 33-30. This one should (could) go down to the wire.

Over Served v Winky-Dinks

This encounter was closer. However, Winky-Dinks were behind the eight ball before this got underway. Unfortunate circumstances had 4 of their players unable to get on court and all required subs. Injuries mainly, the Winky-Dinks, it must be said, actually did pretty well to get to the play-offs in the first place considering they went through the entire season one player short. They were absent a number 17 player. The original member pulled out before round 1 even got to us and his replacement snapped his Achilles tendon in his first game of his first match. After that, my substitute cupboard was empty.

Despite the disadvantage, Winky-Dinks kept this close enough to stay mathematically in the hunt up until the final couple of matches. Remember, subs do not get bonus points, so Over Served could have really taken the benefit from that – had they all turned up. Winky-Dinks could only get a maximum of 13 bonus for the evening, and only managed to get 9. Just by all turning up, Over Served could have started with an 8 point lead, but they let themselves down somewhat – only 12 of them showed.

However, the seasonal match winning percentage translated itself fairly well for Over Served. 55% during the season – and just a little lower with 52% here. To state the obvious, winning more matches than losing is definitely a plus. To make up for it, the Winky-Dinks subs were apparently well chosen – too well maybe – as three of them won their matches. I of course take full credit for that – or full blame – depending on what team you are on.

The scores came in sporadically over the week as a third of them were played early, a third on the scheduled day and the other third a day late. Extends the interest I suppose, but it makes it difficult to actually see any of the matches. So the following report is pure speculation and vivid imagination (scores are at least accurate!): Steve Smihal (Winky-Dinks) spectacular display of power squash overcame the bull-doggish force of Colin Casey in an epic 2-1 victory that has the ESPN magazine screaming at me for action photos for next month’s cover. I hate to have to disappoint them… The magically soft hands of John Perkins (Over Served) had the captivated audience ooh-ing and aah-ing and aww-ing with his deft drops and subtle deceptive holds, sending the human Speedy-Gonzalez Seth Helfman zig-zagging from corner to corner. Seth was close, but not close enough – 2-1 for John. And let’s not forget about twinkle-toes Tom MacEachern (Winky-Dinks) who dazzled all who dared to witness with nifty footwork looking like he was auditioning for “Dancing With the Stars” as he took down one of the hardest working grinders on the tour in Jeff Gembis with a 2-1 triumph and savoring one the finest presentations of squash in recent DAC memory.

I’m sure I’m not too far off the mark there, but as we came down to the final four matches, Winky-Dinks were only trailing by 8 points. A Cinderella finish was on the horizon, would captain Justin Winkelman have his fairy-tale ending and live happily ever after for the next 7 days? No. It was not to be. The carrot was dangling a little closer – almost in smelling distance – when the next score came in as a 3-0 win for Winky-Dinks narrowing the gap briefly to just 5 points but it was short lived when Brandon Tasco secured the victory for Over Served earning a 3-0 win and crushing all their opponent’s hopes and dreams. All 17 matches completed, Over Served move on to survive another day 40-32.

Over Served now have to back up this effort next week against Butter Nutz. It was a round 1 match-up and the history books show that Butter Nutz squeaked out a 41-38 win – all 17 matches were completed that round, so we should be in for a mesmerizing contest!

DECENT LAST WEEK PUSH

Boasters League final round~

I have to applaud the effort that most people made during the final week and a half of the league. The good news was that the scores were coming in thick and fast. But the bad news – depending on which end of the standings you’re on – was that the scores were coming in from all the teams, which made the ones pursuing that play-off spot look like they were chasing their own tails.

Every team picked up at least 30 points – including the Butter Nutz who had the bye week! As you can see by the standings, Mongoose ended up well ahead of the pack, their league leading 55 points in the final week a real stamp of authority and a testament to their captain Paul Huth who has made it a special art form in compelling his players to turn up on Wednesdays.

Participation is always less than the first half, probably due to numerous factors – winter vacations, winter weather, DAC Classic… But the stats for the second half ended up relatively respectable… for the most part.

•  72% of matches were completed for the second half. That’s 10% down from the first half, so not terrible. Last season’s second half had 75% match completion. 
• Butter Nutz played the most matches with 85%.
• 2 teams had the least amount of matches played with 66%: Wardogs which is understandable considering they came last, and surprisingly, Vivio’s who ended up 4^th. 
•  Best winning percentage goes to 2 teams with 66%. Mongoose which is no surprise, and Vivio’s which is the reason they are in the play-offs. 
• Worst winning percentage… Nicker Ballers and Winky-Dinks with 39%.
• Bonus points. Always a telling factor. No prize for guessing which team had the most… Mongoose with 101. Second best team? Butter Nutz with 95. Over Served are third best with 83. Hmmm… 
• Wardogs had the least amount of bonus points with 56. Ugh.
• 17 players picked up all 8 bonus points. There were 20 in the first half. 
•  4 players did not pick up any bonus points at all.
• 20 players played all 8 of their matches. Only one of them went through undefeated – Adam Longo from Paddy’s Dropshots. The first half had 36 players play every match.
• Marc Topacio (Butter Nutz) scored the most of any player for the second half with 27. 
•  All 17 matches in any one round were completed just twice. 
•  Most points picked up in any one round was Mongoose in round 2 with 45.
• Least amount of points scored in any one round was 14 – Wardogs in round 7.

 

Now the league finals turn into a head-to-head battle. Vivio’s v Paddy’s Dropshots played in round 6 and it was a Vivio’s whitewash with a 32-16 score line. Given, only 10 of the 17 matches were done, so I do expect it to be somewhat more competitive but you would have to give the advantage to Vivio’s. The other quarter final we see Over Served v Winky-Dinks.  Also back in round 6, this one couldn’t have been closer as both teams ended up with 28 points. Four match were not played so this one appears up for grabs. As always, we can expect a few surprises though!