MONDAY NIGHT IN SUMMER LEAGUE

Written by Andy Bandit

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Before I get to the recaps of the games I saw, in Venice last night Aqualung beat the Purple People Eaters 13-11 in the first Co-ed game to be shortened by lights.  And this one I’m told was more than the usual light-related issue as the lights actually went out early in the game. ….. From Chad Woodard: “Had to chase 2 separate soccer games off the fields before start and there was an awesome church revival going on across the street. Lights went out at 9pm with Aqua up 4-2. After 15-20 minute delay, got lights back on and Purple rallied to take half 8-7. Aqua scored 4 straight to start 2nd half. Traded points until lights ultimately prevailed in mid-pull. Venice field is still downhill, dark, and shitty.   No one was significantly injured.”

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It was truly a Clash of the Titans.  Like two heavyweight prize fighters going toe to toe, neither giving an inch.  It was Ali vs. Foreman in the Thrilla in Manilla -  just no way these two could go one more round.  Oh, I’m not even talking about the game.  I was referring to J.V.’s dog Temp battling Keegan’s dog Buzz.  I haven’t seen male on male fighting/loving like that since the volleyball scene in Top Gun. …… This one looked to be a laugher with Pink Floyd taking an early 6-1 lead against the Japanese Red Army on the strength of their zone D.  But just like Mine That Bird in this year’s Kentucky Derby, some horses like to come from behind.  Next thing you know it’s 6-5, and then Dominic Scarfe hand blocks Michael Cotter, and cuts hard to the opposite side of the end zone where Peter Carlin sends a lofty forehand to him, that Cotter comes back to D, but it was called an uncontested strip and just like that we’re tied at 6’s.  Pink had gone away from the zone while they were forced to start on offense, but now that they began their defensive points again, the zone brought them back up to 8-6, finishing the half with a Steve Loh shot to Crissy Vega.  Red refused to go away though. They scored the first two points of the 2nd half, ending with Tim Dulaney’s nice jump catch and quick throw to Dominic to tie it at 8’s. But then Andy Kennett sent a huck to Cotter to make it 9-8 Pink. The teams traded points to 10-9. And Dominic once again got the better of Cotter, skying him for the D that should’ve tied the game, but a turnover gave Pink the 11-9 lead. And once again, Red brought it back, tying it at 11’s with a Steve Boortz huck to Tim Dulaney. Pink grabbed the 12-11 lead, but blew the save once again when another Boortz to Dulaney huck made it 12’s. You can have Mariano Rivera on your team, but if your middle relievers can’t hold the lead, what good is he? Well, fortunately for Pink, they had Michael Cotter, who scored the final three goals of the game to give the victory to Pink 15-12. Maybe they should’ve put Dominic on that guy. Just a suggestion. …… You can’t deny what J.V. brings to the game. Not only does he consistently confuse his players in huddles (twice I saw Red players walk away from a huddle bewildered) but his cheers are the stuff of legends. If you added up the combined total of points from all three games played Monday night, I don’t think it matched the number of rhymes for “pink” that peppered Red’s cheer.

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I don’t know how Mean Joe Greene does it.  If they had legions of fans out to watch their games, half would’ve suffered cardiac arrests by now.  This team cannot seem to play a game that doesn’t come down to the wire. ….. When I showed up, I was amazed to see something I hadn’t seen yet.  Blue subs.  And that seemed to do the trick as Keegan Uhl hucked it to Umlaut for the 5-3 lead for Blue Öyster Cult.   Then a few points later Mark Miller ran down Drazz on a Jeff Chai huck to get the D, and followed with a huck to Luke Mitchell to make it 8-5.   Could Blue get their first win of the season?  Well, the excitement didn’t last long as Green scored three straight to tie it at 8’s.  Universe half saw a couple misfires on hucks by both teams and a slew of turnovers, but finally concluded with Miller hucking it to Keegan who skied two defenders to take half 9-8.  That boy is tall. As another ultimate player once said, you can’t coach height. …… The second half started with my favorite play of the game.  Jeff Chai finds himself wide open downfield.  I’m talking noone else anywhere near him, like he could’ve started talking to a volleyball he was that alone.  Ian Jipp throws a fa-Loaty forehand to him that hung in the air forever allowing half the field a chance to make a play.  They all scrambled toward the disc like an AYSO soccer game, where the ball is pretty much a giant magnet for little kids.  But Chai pulled down the titanic pop fly to tie the game at 9’s. …… Blue retook the lead 11-9 when Andrew Blythe and his 16-foot long arms sucked down the disc against Alex Korb like a hoover vacuum.  And sure enough, Green came back again, tying it at 12’s when Bishop’s layout D attempt forced a drop that led to an easy score.  And then came the “Foot Dragging Controversy”.  It happened on the far end of the field, so I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but if you saw Jeff Chai’s wild gesturing like an angry Italian who didn’t get enough sauce for his meatballs, it was pretty comical.  The play came back, but Keegan just zipped a blade to Luke Mitchell, who briefly bobbled it but held on for the 13-12 Blue lead.  Another turn, and then Keegan hucked it 70 yards (assuming the field was actually 70 yards long) to Miller to make it 14-12.  Ian sent his full field huck to Chai to make it 14-13.  The teams traded points to 16-15 when an errant swing pass off a stoppage of play gave Green a quick score to tie it once again at 16’s.  Yes, Green would go to overtime for a 2nd consecutive game.  Then Umlaut decided it was time to play hero, running down a long huck from Keegan, and getting a run through D near Green’s end zone to give Blue an 18-16 win.  Apparently subs do help.  Congrats on Blue’s first win.

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