RecapWinter 2022Marshall vs Ninja Squirtles

Oh to return to the fields of balboa and be close to the robin hood.  How did the robin hood become the bar of choice for post game drinks?  Ohhh. there’s a story there.  Back in the day, there weren’t a lot of people going out to post game drinks.  And when I say back in the day- I’m talking 2000-2004 ish…But we were going to drink.  And we needed a bar.  it took many many years before the robin hood warmed up to scruffy ultimate players.  They had their own crowd (Including Keifer Sutherland) but we wore then down with persistence and good cheer.

Which was kinda like the game….
Pregame – Brach once again asked what it would take for me to throw a winter league game… or even a winter league shirt color RoShamBo.  Let it be known, no matter how delicious the hamantaschen I cannot be bought!  So the RoshamBo was on.  It’s so simple.  All I have to do is divine what I know of Brach.  One knows Brach considers himself a smart man.  And a smart man would never start rock.  Good olde rock bashing problems away.  No.  But how bold can one be?  Rock is by far the most common first throw.  I mean, you don’t actually have to do anything on shoot.  You just bang your hand down again… Can I really go scissors for the win?  On something as important as shirt color?  No.  Play it safe… Paper.  Shit.. He went paper too… OK.  To scissors… because there’s nothing more satisfying than beating your opponent with double paper.  Shit…. he went scissors too… Fuck it I’m going rock.  Good olde rock.  He’s rock too?!?? It must be scissors… I shall win with scissors!  And so I cut his paper and marshall went blue.   They tried some sneaky ninja “we can wear not blue colors like brown along with our whites” mind games early on.  But the mind game had been won.  It was too late.

Marshall starts on O, scores, and promptly goes up a break. Squirtles gets the break back.  3-2 Marshall.  The game was filled with long points with lots of turnovers.  Couple breaks each way, soon it’s 8-7 half.  Marshall uses all the forces.  Backhand, forehand, flat. Marshall isn’t playing their cleanest or best game, but come the second half, we are using the whole team.  Everyone is doing their part.  We adjust a bit coming out of half, working on not cutting each other off.  Marshall leads 11-10.  Squirt on O.  And then it happens.  The late game hell point.  With a bazillion turnovers.  Goal line miscues. Throws that just miss.  Really nice D’s.   Sidelines are screaming, And it’s going to be won with hard grinding & a little luck.  Last night, the luck went Marshall’s way.  And after that, much like the robin hood warmed to us –  the game opened up.  Marshall went on a run to make it 14-10.  Final score Marshall, 15-11.  Every player on Marshall contributed.  And we needed it.  It’s always special to play Squirtles.  Usually the games are spirited and hard.  And they are the home to the only 4 former Marshall players in the league.  Annie, Lu, Joe and Allison.  And it’s great to see them whenever the chance arises.  According to Andy Bandit, we’ve got a lifetime 50/50 record against them.  Depending how the post season goes, we might just have to come back for 2022 for the tiebreaker…

Post game robin hooding was strong by all teams.  Excited we get one more trip there next week.

I always appreciate the rock paper scissors play by plays. And getting three ties in a row seems like it was a little foreshadowing to maintain the 50/50 stats for the Marshall vs Squirtle historical records.  It sounds like this game was destined to end in Marshall’s favor in order to maintain the the balance in the Winter League A division.

As we head into the final week, Marshall and Ninja Squirtles are both 4-3, with Squirtles just edging them out in the power rankings to take 3rd place.

Marshall will play their last game against the first place team, Dumbledore’s Army (5-1-1). This will also be their second matchup of the season, and their first game went to DA.

Ninja Squirtles faces off against  the second place team, Skeeter (4-2-1) for their last game. They played each other just two weeks ago, and Skeeter took the W.