Ship Drops Anchor in Fifth Place

As Franky said, and now the end is near and so we face the final curtain.  Having already guaranteed the best finish in franchise history, the Ship faced the Justice League in the last match of the season, needing at least a tie protect a 2-point lead to lock-up fifth place in the hotly contested C-1 division of the NYDO.

Rich surprised everyone with a win to start things off in S501, but when Fred lost, there was speculation that this night might be the complete opposite of a regular match.  (It wasn't clear whether or not that was a good thing.)  Meredith put up a tough fight before losing a close match, but Holly, Mindy and Jen all picked up wins, giving the Ship a 4-2 lead and almost half of their goal for the night.  Meanwhile, in the nail-biting intra-squad competition, Fred's shocking loss opened the door for Mindy to capture the S501 Win % title with a .750 winning percentage.

Under strict orders not to lose, Fred / Mindy "R9" Robinson swept the first round of Cricket.  Rich / Holly picked up a split (despite some bad strategy), and Nikki / Meredith played two incredible games, but fell to very tough competition.  At the end of Cricket, the Ship had 7 points, needing only 1 win in D501 to get at least a tie.

In D501, Fred / Mindy walked the walk with a win in the first game, completing Mindy's undefeated night and proving she can beat people other than Holly and Rich.  Holly / Jeremy lost a tough match, despite making a strong comeback.  In the last game, D501 stalwarts Jen / Nikki appeared to be a lock, but they lost a double-out battle.  However, with one win, the Ship managed a 9-9 tie for the night, which was as good as a win, because it secured sole possession of fifth place.

Overall, it was by far the best season ever for the Ship.  The fifth place finish was not only just one spot out of the playoffs, but it was the first time in 3 seasons we didn't finish in last (or tied for last) place.  We scored 115 points, 13 more than last season (which included 2 BYE weeks) and 26 more than a year ago.  As a team, we scored 7,950 AS points, 258 more than last season and 2,017 more than a year ago.  And, as always, we had a damn good time doing it. 

So the Ship is docked for the season, and hopefully it will set sail again next season. Either way, as Jimmy says, it's been a lovely cruise.

Season-Ending Props: 
Ironman: Fred (55), Rich (54), Meredith (47)
AS Points: Fred (2218), Holly (1551)
Total Wins: Fred (31), Rich (28)
S501 Win %: Mindy (75%), Jen / Fred (71%)
Cricket Win %: Mindy (61%), Fred (61%)
D501 Win %: Jen (71%), Nikki (67%)
Overall Win %: Mindy (60%), Fred (56%)