Summer League semi-finals~~
What is it that just about every single league season, the team competing for the title has Patrick Petz on it? And seriously - this is the summer league, where there are no team captains, no draft, and the teams are put together by me, randomly. Luck of the Irish? Is Patrick a true leprechaun?
Patrick’s team – the “Boast-Busters” - put in a solid on-court performance in the semi-final against the top seeded “Gone in 60 Seconds”. Taking into consideration that “Boast-Busters” picked up 2 less bonus points on the night, and had a sub playing for them, they still claimed the victory with a match to spare.
The match that drew the most interest was John Mann versus Brittany Paquette (who was stepping in for the injured Steve Murphy). Trash talking aplenty, poor John was copping the rough end of the pineapple for most of it. He must have been feeling the pressure and wondering how he would be able to show his face in public if he lost, but he stepped up to the task. With authority. And power. Serving as hard as he possibly could – at a pace John White would have been proud of – he stifled Brittany’s ability to control the rallies. How John didn’t yank his shoulder out its socket is a medical miracle but the tactic worked for 2 of the 3 games. Brittany took the third – a point that proved valuable.
After Joe Moran once again proved that experience conquers youth, speed, and fitness with a 3-0 win over Dane Fossee, it came down to the last match of the evening between Brian Schrage and Ted Morris. Back in round 5, Ted beat Brian 2-1; so on paper Brian’s task was a tall one. Cheered on by his teammates including one big leprechaun, Brian scuttled around the court chasing every ball down. It was close, it was exciting. And it was Brian’s day. The 3-0 win secured “Boast-Busters” ticket to the final since with a match left to play they had a 4 point lead.
Continuing their on-court dominance, “Nightmare on Madison Street” took “Robodrops” to town. The two teams managed to get 7 of the 8 matches played, with “Nightmare on Madison Street” winning 6 of them. It was an impressive result all through the line-up, highlighted by strong 3-0 victories by Manny Tancer, Andrew Spohn and Al Iafrate. Dave Simmet and Drew Van Tongeren repeated their round 6 results over their same opponents winning 2-1, while Tom Fabbri revenged his loss to Dave Devine also taking the match 2-1. “Robodrops” lone savior was Justin Winkelman as he beat Todd Baker 2-1.
The final is set – The two teams were scheduled to play each other in the final round if the season, but only one match was played. I will presume that will not be the case next Monday. Predictions? That’s always a dangerous game to play, and I am normally a ‘kiss-of-death’ when I do, but what the hey? I foresee a “Boast-Busters” narrow victory, just to put a little extra pressure on the Patrick Petz leprechaun lucky-streak.
