Good grief, we made it to the playoffs, but we were hardly satisfied with just getting there. In its first post-season appearance, The Ship put together a strong, gutsy performance that was apropos of our season, and once again delivered a drama more compelling and gripping than anything on TV.
The night started out perfectly, according to the "Grand Master Plan". We took a chance sending Fred out first, but then again, you take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan. But Fred came through by doubling out on his first shot and beating Mr. FanMan. Mindy backed up Fred's win with a win of her own, and suddenly we were sitting pretty, just 8 points from victory. Then the co-captains spoiled the GMP, as Rich got his ass handed to him by "B League" Jon, and Holly lost to Miss Random. Dave put up a big win before Nikki "83%" surprisingly lost, leaving us in a 3-3 tie after S501.
The GMP really took a beating once we got to Cricket. Despite our best efforts to get favorable match-ups, we got some tough pairings in round two. Mindy / Dave opened things up with 2 losses, narrowly dropping their second game. With the GMP rapidly unraveling, Fred / Rich played two good games, but they were not good enough to hold off their annoying opponents. Jen / Eric also played well, and were on the verge of taking their games, but ultimately rounded out the Cricket bitch slapping handed to the Ship. The sweep left The Ship with its back to the wall, down 3-9, meaning that Shoot Em needed only 1 win in D501 to win the night, and we needed a sweep to force a tie-breaker.
Shoot Em decided to throw their two best players at us in the first game, obviously thinking they would only need one game to end the night. And frankly, that made the resulting game all the more satisfying. While Jon / FanMan doubled-in first and put up a bunch of points, they stalled out when they got to double-out. Dave / Meredith stayed tough, and continued to knock down points until they reached 41. With 3 darts in her hand and Rich uncomfortably breathing down her neck, Meredith threw a 7 and a double-17, absolutely crushing Jon / FanMan and driving a wedge into the Shoot Em team. They were so enraged that their true colors emerged, as they a) refused to shake hands with Meredith, b) started ranting maniacally, and c) nearly came to tears. Riding a wave of euphoria, Rich / Holly followed this game by nearly tossing a midget and coasting to an easy win. Suddenly, the match, and the season, came down to one game. A win by The Ship would force a 1001 tie-breaker, and a win by Shoot Em would end the night. Nikki / Jen were up to the task, as they immediately followed a double-in with a double-in of their own. While the game was moderately close, Shoot Em managed to double-out first, ending a glorious season for The Ship.
In some post-match conversation, Shoot Em said that they "knew we'd get in some lucky throws" and also apologized for their dickheadian behavior. But as Tanner Boyle and Timmy Lupus said "You can take your apology and your trophy and shove it straight up your ass! And another thing, just wait 'til next year!"
