“The Gauge”

Written by TheManWhoInventedSlamDancing – Your Venice Beach Correspondent

No matter how well or how poorly your team performed on week one of league play, there’s no way to tell where you truly stand. Week two is the first “gauge” week of the season… where two undefeated teams may begin to find just what they’re made of. Monday night saw two such unbeaten teams come together at Oakwood Park in Venice.

James Renfroe’s Purple guys reigned defeat upon team Black in week one, while Mike Dow’s icy cubes successfully cooled off team White.

With both Purple Rains’ and Ice Cubes’ rosters packed with talented players, the question was; which squad would execute?

It was Ice who came out strong, starting the evening on a 4-0 run — with 3 different handlers connecting to 4 different receivers.

In an effort to put a halt to Ices momentum, Purple called a time out. The strategy worked. After James talked to his Purps about chilling the O, Purple went on a three-point run of their own — with Rain receiver Souren Hajjar making a particularly tough catch in ‘the dark end zone’ with Ice defender Collin Rich literally on his back. (In a spirity, non-foulish, excellent D – but not quite enough to stop Souren’s sick catch type of way).

Ice then regrouped to score the next 2 points, with Collin throwing one and receiving the other – streaking 50 yards down the near sideline to haul in Mark Millers perfect flick, just inside the goal line at the cone… 6-3 Ice.

Purple then got one back, working it just shy of the goal line where James waited patiently as Aaron “Sleepy” Chaison made 4 (post knee surgery) cuts before finally breaking open in the near corner – James then tossing a short 8-yard backhand to Sleepy for the score… 6-4 Ice.

On the following point Miller got the poachey-D, then Captain Mike found Shaggy in the end zone to make it 7-4 Ice.

In what would turn out to be a game of runs, Purple went on the next one, scoring 3 consecutive times to tie the score at 7-7. On one of the points, Todd Krumpe made a sick ‘garbage’ catch to save Rains flow, then popped up and fired a 50-yard flick to Captain James in the end zone. On another, Eric Tener got the hand-block, then promptly threw a wicked hammer to Sleepy in the back corner of the ‘dark’ end zone.

Ice reclaimed the lead when Jason Grayeb made an extremely tough catch at the goal line with Purple defender Lance Larson all over him (again, in a great D that just couldn’t stop the receiver from making the catch kind of way). Jason subsequently completed a short pass to Andrew Rogier for the score.

Purple then went on the longest (and most impressive) run of the night, scoring 6 straight points, two in a row to take half, then four more to begin the second half… 13-8 Purple.

The Rain run included James throwing for 2 scores and receiving 2 others. Souren also scored twice during the run, while young Ian Powell experienced the joyous thrill of double-happiness underneath the crescent moon (perhaps for the very first time – only he knows for sure).

If Ice was going to make a game of it, it seemed like a now-or-never moment for them. And the Cubes DID INDEED make another three point run, with Shaggy throwing, and Andrew receiving two scores each… 13-11 Purple.

In this game of runs it was, once again, Purple’s turn… James to Sleepy, then Ian to Souren, and then Eric to Charlin… 16-11 Purple.

During Purple’s late run, Captain James accidentally butted heads with Miller, opening a gash above James’ right eye. Renfroe, playing with his usual quiet intensity, didn’t even notice (the severity of) the injury. James had to be told by Miller that he was bleeding, at which point play stopped just long enough for James’s simple response; “I’m fine”. The action then promptly resumed – at which point one of Renfroe’s closest & most trusted Purps was heard to have said; “James may have a lot of things, but he doesn’t have AIDS. Play on.”

After Purple scored the point, James subbed-out for one point while his wound was tended to by medical staff (always on site at Oakwood) before returning to the battle.

Trailing by five points late in the game (and after starting the night with a 4-0 lead) with their opponents on game-point, Ice could have easily thrown in the towel. But instead, showcasing a considerable degree of character & resiliency, the Cubes went on yet another three point run… 16-14 Purple.

But in the end, Purple had the answer… Eric Tener, who’d been playing solidly all night long for Rain, made a fine catch on a high floater near the Ice end zone (with an Icy defender all over him), then quickly flipped a pass to Charlin Wang for the clincher… Final socre 17-14 Purple Rain.

Does the three-point defeat mean the Cubes are doomed? Far from it. This team has a roster full of talented players that’ll have a chance to step up in their next “gauge” game in the weeks to follow.

Conversely, as talented as Purple is, the jury is still out in regards to how they’ll stack up in their next “gauge” game ‘round week 4 or 5.

An important component in this equation is… how many players from each team/roster show up at a gauge game – and which ‘big guns’ were missing?

Of Purple’s 18-man roster, twelve showed up this Monday night… among the missing were Brad Ross, Chris Perkel, Mike Enderola, and U.S.

The Cubes had ten men at their disposal Monday evening. Among the absent were Max Kaufman, O.J., and Mike Zurer.

The (completely unofficial) stats for the evening are as follows:

Leading Ice Handlers… Collin 5 scoring throws, Miller 3.

Leading Ice Receivers… Andrew Rogier 5 scores, Mike Dow 3.

Leading Purple Handlers… Eric Tener 5 scoring throws, Renfroe 4, Todd 3.

Leading Purple Receivers… Souren 4 scores, Sleepy 3, Renfroe 3.

P.S. I’m not sure who put the cones out, but they were aligned perfectly!

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