Post by Jim H. on Nov 22, 2014 7:24:27 GMT -5
Marty’s absence weighed heavily on Old Bucks in Week 11, the Rock in goal now the Rock in adversity and not a member of the club who wasn’t thinking of him and wishing him well. Red and Blue squared off again with Kenny G. in net for Blue and Doug Rendell’s neighbor, Eddie, between the pipes for Red. Blue began the game in the midst of a four-game skid, which was actually part of a four-year skid, their prestige having degenerated in something that can only be described as “Washington Redskinish”. Nor did they appreciate Steve Souza defecting to Red for the night, seduced by the temptation of playing for a winning team, even as they noticed Rich Cerbone, who defected to Red in Week 10, repatriate himself either from pangs of guilt or his “Legacy Motors” jersey was in the wash. Apparently Rich had trouble shaking his former alliance with Kenny and his marauding minions as Red jumped out to a 3-0 lead with one of the goals deflecting off Rich’s skate and several on Blue claiming the skate made a “distinctive kicking motion”. But bless the beasts and the Basserts as the two brothers retaliated, chalking up three goals which in combination with a classic Jim Heffern hang/breakaway goal gave Blue the 4-3 lead. Rich Cerbone, however, flabbergasted his teammates once again by highsticking an arching, deflected puck right over Kenny’s G.’s shoulder and into the Blue net, leading Saunders to chortle in his thick Brooklynese, “Rich is workin’ the hattie—for the other team!” Then Steve Souza, showing some pop from the point, pounced on a bad clear from the stick of George Bassert and slapshotted Red to a 5-4 lead. The game ground on, more goals were traded, and a 7-6 advantage lied with Red for the longest time. Jim Heffern tied the game and ushered in the final frenetic half-hour where Blue made a desperate bid to win the game and salvage a season that was going south faster than Kenny in the club class lounge of JetRed Airways. Leave it to Bob Freiling, who had been gallivanting around the ice all game, his flashy play a constant thorn in Blue’s side, to snap the tie with an odd-man rush in which he was the oddest of the men rushing, that culminated in a score. Blue’s morale seemed broken; nor were they disinclined to believe the Fates had found a way to give the Victory laurel to Red once again. Incredibly things turned on a dime as Chris Chairmonte and the Bassert kin commandeered the Blue offense for the duration of one shift and exploded for three goals that had the whole Red bench hitting the deck to avoid shrapnel. Blue took a 10-8 lead into the last five minutes of fidgety torture that nail biters induce in the leading team before the zamboni driver calls the game. And how precarious its hold on the lead was! Tim White, his part by no means a negligible one in Red’s star-studded lineup, snuck a wrister past Kenny G. to draw Red within one. Still Blue was confident time would intervene on its behalf and end the game in its favor. Its confidence, it turned out, was severely misplaced. In the closing two minutes of the game Jim Heffern was in the Red zone running his version of the “Give n’ Go” meaning “Give me the puck and go away while I shoot it.” His teammates watched in bewilderment as his directionless escapade carried him out to the blue line where his defensemen were hard put to get out of his way, nor were they able to as he collided with Rich Cerbone and fell to the ice, losing possession of the puck. Then he watched with inexpressible horror as Dan Dougherty scooped up the loose puck and carried it the length of the ice for the easy goal and tie game, a blunder that scarcely seems credible when the zamboni driver already had his hand on the latch of the door, which he flung up even before the cheers on the Red bench had subsided. Blue was crestfallen, like a beast cheated of its prey. Red filed into the locker rooms and showered, groomed and dressed in a state of utter elation. It was intoxicated with the tie while Blue, on the other hand, soberly looked forward to the after party and wondered how many beers it would take before they were intoxicated with the tie too.