RecapSummer 2018Scratchy vs Brian Griffin

A good old fashioned upset.  Who doesn’t love an upset?

Actually, I think it was Malcolm Gladwell who was on a podcast and said he didn’t like upsets because it’s not how things are supposed to go.  The better team is supposed to win, and when they don’t, it disrupts the balance of the universe or something.  I don’t remember what his argument was, but I do remember thinking it was a very interesting take.

I, however, love upsets.  Except when they happen against my team of course.  Please.

So here’s Stephen Thies of Brian Griffin to discuss the latest upset.

A couple of weeks ago I talked a bit about a trap game. This is where you overlook an immediate opponent to prepare for the following opponent who seemingly poses a bigger threat. The lack of preparation for the immediate opponent proves costly and often ends up in an unexpected defeat.

I wonder if there’s a term for when you come off a really big win, and maybe build a bit of over self confidence and lose a game you expect to win.

Well that was what happened last night.

Brian was somewhat still riding high after taking on and coming out victorious against the undefeated giant that is Scooby Doo. Unfortunately, we were not prepared mentally or physically to take on the team of Scratchy who’s record is not much of an indicator of who they really are. Cue Dennis Green…

Now maybe the 2007 NFC Champion Bears isn’t the best comparison for Scratchy, but they have the players to make some noise in the tournament, if their top end of the roster can withstand the heat in two weeks.

It was a hard fought game all night, mostly trading points up until 6’s when Scratchy went on a bit of a run to take half and another to go up 9-6. Brian was able to come within 1 a couple times, and even tied it once again, but we were just unable to put it together and Scratchy never really faltered.

Final score was 15-12 Scratchy.

Props to Scratchy, they played well, they for sure earned it. They were also super spirited. There were a fair amount of calls, but the minimum discussion time on all calls. It’s nice when that happens and calls don’t disrupt the flow of the game.

Props to Jeni Kwok, Joanna and Annie for helping our ladies out.

Not going to lie, this one hurt a bit for Brian. Scratchy played well and earned it, but Brian did not play to it’s potential and losing that way hurts more than losing when you play well and the other team just outplays you. Plus, If my math is right, a win would have secured us a 1st round bye in the tournament. As of now we still hold that spot, but a loss next week would drop us out of the top 4… yikes.

That is correct, a win over Scratchy would’ve ensured a first round bye.  Because Brian holds the tie-breaker over Ren due to head-to-head, and they hold the tie-breakers over both Hello Kitty and Princess Unikitty due to Record Against Common Opponents.

But this just adds to the drama, and makes the final week of the season matter, which is how it should be.

This is the second recap in which Dennis Green’s quote was added.  Popular.  More popular than “We’re talkin’ about practice” and “Playoffs?????” which have each been shown once apiece I believe in previous recaps.