Boasters League Final~~
As I mentioned last week, predicting a “Town Pump” victory for the Boasters League final could be the ‘kiss-of-death’. As it turned out, it was. Captained by Rich Stimson, “Vivio’s” poured it on to quash a round 5 pummeling they received from the very same team with a 17 point reversal. They not only beat them on the court, but they also beat them on the bonus point count – something that no team had been able to accomplish all season.
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| "Vivio's" captain Rich Stimson |
Only 10 of the 12 matches were needed to secure the triumph. The key to “Vivio’s” success were the four scores that were an about face from the round 5 results. Scott Langenburg’s 2-1 win over Brendan Fossee was the first avenged outcome and it appeared to fire up Rich Stimson who hopped on court immediately afterwards to tackle the colorful Patrick Petz, both of whom were relentless with their encouragement towards their teammates during the matches (as a good captain should!). Leading by example, Rich probably played his best squash of the season and he was determined to overturn his mid-season loss. He did with a convincing 3-0 pounding.
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| Todd Baker and Chuck Doyle |
Josh Slominski was the next to upset the applecart after he beat Alan Howard 2-1 (he lost to Alan 3-0 during the season). The two players were having an excellent match tied a 1-1, when in the third game Alan had to concede with a torn bicep tendon. Ouch! That just sounds painful. That match could have gone either way; it was an unlucky break for Alan and “Town Pump”. Alan is now looking at surgery to reattach the tendon and will be out of action for a while. We wish him a full and quick recovery.
The fourth score reversal secured the deal for “Vivio’s”. Chuck Doyle lost 2-1 to Greg Davis in round 5, but wasn’t in any mood to lose to him twice. A solid performance with few unforced errors locked in the 3-0 victory and with it gave “Vivio’s” an 8 point unconquerable lead with only two matches still open.
That’s not to diminish the other players – because without them, the above four matches would have been for naught. Every point counts, so even though David Pontes, Terry Lang and Doug Troszak lost 2-1, it all makes a big difference – as does every bonus point and picking up 11 of 12 was also significant. Special mention must go to Doug as he played Jason Massey in what was a real ‘clash-of-the-Titans’ (I better check the floor boards for dents…) as it was Doug’s 60th birthday! Thank you for still making the effort to turn up and play your match ~~ congrats on your milestone!
Congratulations to team “Vivio’s” for becoming 2011-2012 Boasters League champions – I suppose the mantra of ‘beat Petz’ Rich used to motivate his team worked! The twelve winners: Matthew Nichols, Tom Delaney, Terry Lang, Doug Troszak, Todd Baker, Chuck Doyle, Josh Slominski, David Pontes, Scott Langenburg, Rich Stimson, Al Iafrate, George Kordas.
