Post by Old Bucks Admin on Dec 11, 2022 22:08:58 GMT -5
The Czech people love to tell an old folk tale as a way of describing their national psyche. A woman was by the side of the road picking snails for the evening’s dinner and putting them in a basket. A man came by and watched her for a moment before asking, “Shouldn’t you have a lid on your basket in case some of the snails escape?” “Oh no,” the woman replied. “These are Czech snails. As soon as one tries to crawl out the others will drag it back in.”
So it was with Steve Souza in Week 13. As soon as he had escaped to Red and got a fresh start with a winning team, Blue dragged him back into its ranks again to languish—and endure. That was our first impression of the new lineup card for Sunday. Our second was that Blue didn’t look half bad. They had both Freilings and all the intangibles. And by intangibles we mean Joe McNamara, Joe Buono and Jim Heffern—the first three names on the TeamReach app who habitually sign up Monday morning. Such enthusiasm can’t be overrated and can often be a game changer when combined with vim, verve and vigor. Sometimes even Vinnie helps but he was skating Red.
We sat next to Mike Tennant in the locker room. It was good to see him again. Living in New York makes Old Bucks a luxury, but he was down for his mom’s birthday—and so he splurged. Confusion reigned as not everyone in the email lineup card had showed, and so Kenny, on the fly, was shuffling players between teams, both from a shortage of personnel, and the realization that four of the players in the “Yes” column on the TeamReach app were Russian bots. Joe McNamara actually had to boot the lineup onto his phone so Kenny could consult it. Meantime Kiyoshi, who knew he was skating Red, still put on a Blue jersey because he was too distracted by explaining how Japanese and Korean soccer players differ in tactics. But somehow it was all sorted out and the two teams took the ice, confirming the light turnout—four subs on the Blue bench and three on Red.
During warm-ups we sat next to Joe McNamara, neither of us inclined to actually warm-up. “Who’s the kid?” Joe asked, pointing at Mike. “That’s Mike Tennant. He skates occasionally,” we answered. “Yeah, but who’s he the son of?” Joe asked. We cracked up. “Are you kidding? He’s 32 years old!” It was funny but at the same time a credit to the club that so many families skate together that such assumptions can be—and are readily—made.
The game started out a real slugfest. Both teams were taking shots in every wavelength from infrar-Ed to ultra-Vinnie with those in the visible spectrum actually lighting the lamp. Blue and Red played to a 6-6 tie with Bob Freiling a goal machine for Blue, and it was only when Bobby went on the fritz with a strained back muscle, hitting the showers early, that the tide turned in Red’s favor. Week 13 was coined The Hunt for Red December as Blue’s passive sonar was unable to detect the lethal combinations of Kiyoshi and Ryan Crowell or Josh Hunter and Chris Chairmonte and Red jumped out to a 10-7 lead, essentially icing the game for good.
We expected more from Blue players like Mark Herr, especially since Mark’s nemesis Mark Mayer wasn’t on the ice. We asked Mark if it was true that Mark Mayer “laid him out” back in their college days when Colgate and SUNY-Binghamton were hockey rivals. “I got laid out by a lot of people back then,” Mark confessed. “So—yes—it’s a distinct possibility.”
Red coasted to 15-9 win and the locker room was torn over whether to gather at TJ’s for the after party considering so many people were out. We did not stay long enough to see whether a small contingent made it, but hopefully it did, and hopefully a holiday spirit prevailed.
So it was with Steve Souza in Week 13. As soon as he had escaped to Red and got a fresh start with a winning team, Blue dragged him back into its ranks again to languish—and endure. That was our first impression of the new lineup card for Sunday. Our second was that Blue didn’t look half bad. They had both Freilings and all the intangibles. And by intangibles we mean Joe McNamara, Joe Buono and Jim Heffern—the first three names on the TeamReach app who habitually sign up Monday morning. Such enthusiasm can’t be overrated and can often be a game changer when combined with vim, verve and vigor. Sometimes even Vinnie helps but he was skating Red.
We sat next to Mike Tennant in the locker room. It was good to see him again. Living in New York makes Old Bucks a luxury, but he was down for his mom’s birthday—and so he splurged. Confusion reigned as not everyone in the email lineup card had showed, and so Kenny, on the fly, was shuffling players between teams, both from a shortage of personnel, and the realization that four of the players in the “Yes” column on the TeamReach app were Russian bots. Joe McNamara actually had to boot the lineup onto his phone so Kenny could consult it. Meantime Kiyoshi, who knew he was skating Red, still put on a Blue jersey because he was too distracted by explaining how Japanese and Korean soccer players differ in tactics. But somehow it was all sorted out and the two teams took the ice, confirming the light turnout—four subs on the Blue bench and three on Red.
During warm-ups we sat next to Joe McNamara, neither of us inclined to actually warm-up. “Who’s the kid?” Joe asked, pointing at Mike. “That’s Mike Tennant. He skates occasionally,” we answered. “Yeah, but who’s he the son of?” Joe asked. We cracked up. “Are you kidding? He’s 32 years old!” It was funny but at the same time a credit to the club that so many families skate together that such assumptions can be—and are readily—made.
The game started out a real slugfest. Both teams were taking shots in every wavelength from infrar-Ed to ultra-Vinnie with those in the visible spectrum actually lighting the lamp. Blue and Red played to a 6-6 tie with Bob Freiling a goal machine for Blue, and it was only when Bobby went on the fritz with a strained back muscle, hitting the showers early, that the tide turned in Red’s favor. Week 13 was coined The Hunt for Red December as Blue’s passive sonar was unable to detect the lethal combinations of Kiyoshi and Ryan Crowell or Josh Hunter and Chris Chairmonte and Red jumped out to a 10-7 lead, essentially icing the game for good.
We expected more from Blue players like Mark Herr, especially since Mark’s nemesis Mark Mayer wasn’t on the ice. We asked Mark if it was true that Mark Mayer “laid him out” back in their college days when Colgate and SUNY-Binghamton were hockey rivals. “I got laid out by a lot of people back then,” Mark confessed. “So—yes—it’s a distinct possibility.”
Red coasted to 15-9 win and the locker room was torn over whether to gather at TJ’s for the after party considering so many people were out. We did not stay long enough to see whether a small contingent made it, but hopefully it did, and hopefully a holiday spirit prevailed.