Post by Old Bucks Admin on Dec 4, 2022 23:08:41 GMT -5
The Great Reset continued apace for Week 12, with Red and Blue rosters jumbled to nearly unrecognizable levels. We saw Eddie O. and John Lupisella on Blue which is unheard of in the modern era. We saw Paul Egan on Red, prompting Red to tell Blue they were not only going to rue the day but Ru the Paul, as Paul has recently replaced his neck laces with a diamond brooch. He shared the bench with Joe Herbert, the polite Canadien who has settled nicely into his role as the overzealous new guy—the kind of player who will call offsides even on his own team! This distinguishes him from Joe Bruno who has been with the club for a year and is still trying to work his way up to zealous. Joe, incidentally, was on Blue where he knows his scope and never goes beyond it.
Both teams crammed into a single locker room, which can actually accommodate them—but just barely. Outside, in the rink, the TCNJ-George Mason University game ran late so there was plenty of time to shoot the bull as hockey players are wont to do in locker rooms. Red reveled in downplaying Blue’s victory in Week 11, claiming that even a blind squirrel can think it had 13 nuts when it really only had 12. Otherwise conversations varied depending on where you sat. We listened to a symposium on preparing kielbasa between Vinnie, Eddie and Tim White. Vinnie’s a straight-out-of-the-package guy—don’t even heat it up. Eddie opts for the slow-cooker adding Yuengling lager and sauerkraut. Tim likes tofu with his—a choice we roundly defended when Eddie became too critical of tofu as an ingredient. Nothing out of the ordinary as locker room banter goes—and the foodies ate it up.
“The South will rise again!” Such was our thought when GMU, a college from Virginia no less, eked out the 6-4 win against TCNJ. Perhaps it was an omen that Blue would rise to the occasion too. It took a 2-0 lead with goals by Eddie O. and John Lupisella, normally Red stalwarts but not so loyal when there’s a one-game winning streak on the line. In quick succession Dan Dougherty scored for Red and Steve Souza ripped one from the point that deflected off Josh Hunter’s knee and past Vinnie for the 2-2 tie. Give credit to Steve’s glasses. They’re multi-focus with three levels: one for reading, one for the computer and one for scoring from 40 feet out.
Red snapped the tie when Frankie set up Joe Herbert for the goal; then Frankie, whose stealth is slow but effective, converted a wraparound by deflecting the puck off two sticks: Eddie’s and Vinnie’s. Red massaged a two-goal lead; then Joe scored again and made it a three goal lead, 5-2.
We couldn’t figure Blue out. It had studs at every position but only the geldings were scoring. This couldn’t last and it didn’t. Brian Urban struck first, threading the puck through the legs of Brian Pike with a crafty move that’s crafty by any standards; and then going five hole on Ed Conrad to draw Blue within two, 5-3. Fittingly Ben David scored right after Brian; fittingly we say because Ben scores every game, and Blue was down only one, 5-4.
Hope springs eternal Alexander Pope once wrote. With Red hope springs paternal. If the Freilings aren’t there, try the Chairmontes. Dad and son hooked up on a nifty give-and-go and Red had a two-goal lead again. Kiyoshi narrowed the lead back to one but Andrew Tona squandered a chance to tie the game on a breakaway. Joe Tona, as undetected in the slot as a Netherlands soccer player, one-timed a beautiful feed from the point to make it 7-5 and ice the game for Red. That Ben David scored with a mere 30 ticks on the clock was not enough to provide any drama. But it made for a close score 7-6. And all the locker room buzz was about how the after party lost a half hour’s worth of precious time because of the TCNJ game. But the club still squeezed it in. And, for all its pains, it was treated to a free Brooklyn pie—a sign of mutual respect and mutual gratitude.
Both teams crammed into a single locker room, which can actually accommodate them—but just barely. Outside, in the rink, the TCNJ-George Mason University game ran late so there was plenty of time to shoot the bull as hockey players are wont to do in locker rooms. Red reveled in downplaying Blue’s victory in Week 11, claiming that even a blind squirrel can think it had 13 nuts when it really only had 12. Otherwise conversations varied depending on where you sat. We listened to a symposium on preparing kielbasa between Vinnie, Eddie and Tim White. Vinnie’s a straight-out-of-the-package guy—don’t even heat it up. Eddie opts for the slow-cooker adding Yuengling lager and sauerkraut. Tim likes tofu with his—a choice we roundly defended when Eddie became too critical of tofu as an ingredient. Nothing out of the ordinary as locker room banter goes—and the foodies ate it up.
“The South will rise again!” Such was our thought when GMU, a college from Virginia no less, eked out the 6-4 win against TCNJ. Perhaps it was an omen that Blue would rise to the occasion too. It took a 2-0 lead with goals by Eddie O. and John Lupisella, normally Red stalwarts but not so loyal when there’s a one-game winning streak on the line. In quick succession Dan Dougherty scored for Red and Steve Souza ripped one from the point that deflected off Josh Hunter’s knee and past Vinnie for the 2-2 tie. Give credit to Steve’s glasses. They’re multi-focus with three levels: one for reading, one for the computer and one for scoring from 40 feet out.
Red snapped the tie when Frankie set up Joe Herbert for the goal; then Frankie, whose stealth is slow but effective, converted a wraparound by deflecting the puck off two sticks: Eddie’s and Vinnie’s. Red massaged a two-goal lead; then Joe scored again and made it a three goal lead, 5-2.
We couldn’t figure Blue out. It had studs at every position but only the geldings were scoring. This couldn’t last and it didn’t. Brian Urban struck first, threading the puck through the legs of Brian Pike with a crafty move that’s crafty by any standards; and then going five hole on Ed Conrad to draw Blue within two, 5-3. Fittingly Ben David scored right after Brian; fittingly we say because Ben scores every game, and Blue was down only one, 5-4.
Hope springs eternal Alexander Pope once wrote. With Red hope springs paternal. If the Freilings aren’t there, try the Chairmontes. Dad and son hooked up on a nifty give-and-go and Red had a two-goal lead again. Kiyoshi narrowed the lead back to one but Andrew Tona squandered a chance to tie the game on a breakaway. Joe Tona, as undetected in the slot as a Netherlands soccer player, one-timed a beautiful feed from the point to make it 7-5 and ice the game for Red. That Ben David scored with a mere 30 ticks on the clock was not enough to provide any drama. But it made for a close score 7-6. And all the locker room buzz was about how the after party lost a half hour’s worth of precious time because of the TCNJ game. But the club still squeezed it in. And, for all its pains, it was treated to a free Brooklyn pie—a sign of mutual respect and mutual gratitude.