Cookies and Muffins

With a plate full of cookies and a cheering section full of muffins, The Ship returned home for a match against the other A&M team. Although they were late, at least this squad decided to show up. Things started off strong, as Fred and Mindy returned to action, with Mindy winning and Fred getting off the season-long schneid with his S501 win. In the last game, Dave answered the call to action with a big come-from-behind win, and we had a 3-3 match after S501.

And then came Cricket. Our play was not sharp, and Road Rage posted a total of seven R5s and one C3 across the six games, which proved too much to overcome, as The Ship ended up dropping all 6 Cricket games. There is one word that sums up the problem with Dave / Rich's opening round Cricket match, and that word is "strategery". After taking an early lead in game 1, they failed to put up any points, and allowed the Road Rage to come back and steal the game. In game 2, they fell behind and couldn't manage a come back. Meredith / Jen and Fred / Mindy fared no better, as they each dropped 2 games, as well. Luckily, Fred snuck in a C4 and a R5 before the games ended, to pad his ASS (All-Star Stats).

After the humbling sweep in Cricket, The Ship needed a sweep in D501 to salvage a tie for the night. In game 1, Fred / Mindy broke out to a 200+ point lead, and looked to be on their way to a midget tossing. But Road Rage came all the way back, before Mindy finally hit a double 1 for the win. Jen / Meredith played their usual feisty game, but lost in a close match. Rich / Nikki stepped up for the final match, and doubled-in on their first dart. After a workman-like effort to get the score down, they doubled-out on their first dart to seal the final game.

With 4 points in D501, we ended the night with a 7-11 loss. Next week we face the Huckleberries, in what might be a battle for 3rd place. Holy Cow!

Props:
Whitney - For supplying the cookies.
Dave / Nikki - For picking up the slack.

Worst Episode Ever

Rarely has a team raised the ire of The Ship as The Angels managed to this week. In an ironic parallel to the recent Yankees series against The "Baseball" Angels, The Ship played neck-in-neck with The "Dart" Angels all night, only to lose in a shocking upset, 8-10.

The Angels began their rankling early in the day, when the bartender told us to "show up early, and we can get started." Apparently this was a joke, since the boards were crowded when we got there, and the match started a whole 5 minutes early. Once things got underway, we played to a 3-3 tie with 6 tight games in S501.

The night started to get interesting during Cricket, where all 3 matches ended in splits. Nikki / Jen played two close games, the first of which they nearly out-bulled their opponents and almost got the win. In game 2, N / J pulled out to a big lead, and gave themselves some room with points. Apparently this offended the delicate flower on the other team, who later picked a fight with Nikki and said "Where I come from, you don't go for points when you're ahead." This girl was subsequently invited to our next match by Nikki, who told her she'd "see you next Tuesday". Later, while Dave / Meredith were playing, another one of the Angels offered a bizarre compliment, when he said "We almost don't want to beat you guys, we're having so much fun." At that point, we made a team decision to screw the match, and just hit their players with darts.

Tied 6-6 going into D501, we needed 2 of 3 to win the night and put the Angels in their place. Dave / Nikki did their part with a win in Game 1. Holly / Meredith lost a very close game, and in the last game, Rich / Jen lost despite doubling in right away. The final indignity came after they won the last match, and celebrated like they had won the World Series. They jumped up and down, cheered and broke out bottles of champagne. Then, they took pictures of the dartboard with their double-out in the board, the scoreboard, each other, and even tried to take a picture of Rich. Those not there to witness the outburst should be thankful, as an uglier scene can not be imagined.

Needless to say, Week 10 should be circled on all Ship Mates' calendars, as the date we get payback.

Props:
Nikki - Monster night, plus a TKO in the catfight
Jen - For sharing the love in a night full of hate.

Fore-Phat

OK Pyramid fans: A bride left at the altar...a comedian...a happy audience... Full of Ship.

And the answer is "Things that are stood up". Yup, for the first time in team history, we recorded a forfeit win. At 7:50P, the Guys & Dolls had only 2 people at the bar, and they were standing conveniently out in the street, instead of letting us know what was going on. After giving them another 1/2 hour, they finally told us they weren't going to have enough people, so they fore-foot. Apparently their problem is that their bar is all the way downtown (waah!) so they couldn't get to the Ship. Fortunately, all FOS members have completed their mandatory NYC subway instruction, and know how to get to the away matches (which are ALL downtown).

For the record, The Ship will get 10 points this week (they will get 0) and after week 5, everyone that was at the match will be credited with their average weekly AS points.

Not wanting to waste the boards, we played a few games of doubles and Fred / Mindy romped.

Props:
The Dart Tarts - Just because
Bernie Williams / Jason Giambi - So clutch

Break Out The Rustoleum

Welcome back, to that same old placed that you laughed about. Summer vacation is over, everyone is back from their trips, and Tuesday night dart matches are back in session.

It took a while to get going, but Rich (back from nowhere) eventually launched The Ship's season by blowing a perfectly good lead. Not only was his aim off, but apparently he also forgot how to do math in the off-season, as he expertly managed to leave himself with a 33-out. Picking up right where she left off last season, Mindy (back from Italy) won, and threw a Ton-25 (5 Bulls) on request from Fred. Dave (back from the DL) and Jen (back from a Road Trip) both worked themselves back into shape, but lost their matches, before Nikki (back from Nam) put up a well deserved win. In the final match, Fred (back from Parsippany) lost to the bartender and after a long first round, The Ship found itself down 4-2.

As the night slowly dragged on, the rust build-up on The Ship started to show. We only managed to put up one win in Cricket, and the stamina we were once known for was strangely absent. Our reserves started to fade, and we were down 9-3 going into D501, needing a sweep to pull out a tie. Nikki saw what needed to be done and finally called for a food run. A boatload of supplies were brought in, making our table look like a bulimic's wet dream. As we shamelessly scarffed down snacks, the oil in our pores started to wear away the rust in our arms.

Riding a sugar high, we rolled into D501. Fred / Mindy lost a close match in the first game, but Meredith / Jen posted a big win in game two, almost threatening to toss a midget. In the last match of the night, Rich / Dave put up a win in a very tight match, giving us 4 points in D501 and making the final score 7-11 for the night.

All things considered, not a bad night for The Ship. Next week we return to our newly refurbished home port (where renovations were done BEFORE the season started), to sit on the fancy seats and watch the Sampos.

Props:
Nikki - For the Salt & Vinegar chips
Mindy - For the Oreos
Jen - For the Pringles
Fred - For the Bagel

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%)

Ship Flipped Off by Road Ragers

The last time we played Road Rage, we were in a battle for third place. This time it was a battle for fourth, and Road Rage treated us like we cut them off on the highway, as they slapped us with a 13-5 loss.

We started off the match slow, in the left lane, with our turn signals on. In the first game, Rich came back from a big deficit, but lost after failing to double out on 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1. We had a few close games, but we didn't manage to get into the flow of traffic until Fred asserted his S501dominance, posting our only win and extending his season S501 winning percentage to an astounding 77% (10 of 13).

Down 5-1, we couldn't manage to turn the corner in Cricket. In the first game, Rich / Dave got bitch-slapped for a loss, before coming back to earn a split. Jen / Meredith played really well until they were given bad directions, and ended up with two losses. Fred / Mindy also managed a split, but made things interesting by narrowly winning their second game after building up (and then giving back) a 6-bull lead.

Going into D501, we still had a chance to tie the match if we could manage to blow them off the road. Unfortunately, the powerhouse team of Dave / Fred dropped the first game. Luckily, Jen Cen returned from her cross country adventure and showed she has not lost her D501 touch. Jen / Mindy scored an impressive win, and Jen increased her D501 record to 83% (5 of 6). (Side note: Jen has won with Rich, Mindy and Meredith as partners, and her only loss came when she was paired with S501 champ Fred.) Rich / Meredith concluded the ugliness by not only losing the final game, but getting doubled-out on by their worst player.

Next week is the final week of the season, and will likely be a battle for fifth place, as we face the Justice League. 

Props: 
Jen - Back with a vengeance.  D501 win plus 100 AS points.
Dave - For stepping up to play, even though he lost 3 out of 4 games to a girl.

Meredith Kline Kicks Ass!

Turnabout is fair play and payback is a bitch. After last week's romp over a short-handed squad, we went into the match against the Loud Drunks with Darts with only four hands on deck. Although it would be tough to win the night, we had our own fierce internal competition brewing, with Rich and Fred battling for the most wins and Rich / Fred / Holly / Meredith battling for the title of Ironman.

To start the night, Fred and Rich lost their opening matches, keeping them even in total wins. Then Meredith not only won, but embarrassed her opponent, throwing a 94 and a Ton-33, and doubling out on her second try. Holly opened up a huge lead in the final game, but got nabbed at the end for a tough loss. With both Jeremy and Dave** getting destroyed in their matches, we finished S501 down 5-1.

In Cricket, Fred / Meredith took the first game and managed a split, with Meredith throwing a C3 in the second game. Rich / Holly also managed a split, winning a hard-fought game in their opening match by out-pointing their opponents. In the final game, Nikki / Mindy** got mopped up like the floor under Patrick Ewing during a free-throw, and we lost Cricket 4-2. 

Jen** opened up D501 by getting her midget tossed in a 2-on-1 game. In the second game, Rich / Holly nearly came back, but couldn't manage to double out. In the final game, Fred / Meredith rolled over the competition, taking a much-needed 2 points for the Ship and making the final score 13-5. In the equally important intra-Ship competition, Fred's 2 wins moved him into the "wins" lead by 1, while the Ironman title remains up for grabs.

Props: 
Meredith - 327 AS points, 3 wins, in on 4 of the 5 points, and 1 hernia from carrying the entire team.

** For purposes of this recap, all losses have been fictitiously assigned to non-attending teammates. You got a problem with that?

Papa Got a New Pair of Shoes

Rich, Fred and Mindy hit AC on Saturday, and brought back some fortune for lucky week eleven. The cards were stacked in our favor, as we were back in our home port and the Indigents didn't bring along a full house. At home, we have outscored our opponents 65-43 (versus 31-77 on the road) and with only 3 people on their team, anyone who bet against the Ship this week was facing long odds.

In S501, we only played 3 games. Holly drew their ace in the first game and, despite a valiant comeback, lost a tough match. Rich and Mindy cashed in with wins in their matches, and 3 forfeits gave the Ship a 5-1 lead after S501. Fred / Mindy doubled down to start out Cricket, taking both games of their 2-on-1 match. Holly / Nikki split the aces in their match, and with the final game forfeit, we took another 5 points in Cricket.

By the time we got to D501, we were up 10-2 and playing with the house's money. While it would have been easy to let down, we kept the pressure on, even though two of the games were 2-on-1. Jeremy / Holly started things off with a win. Rich / Nikki fought a war of attrition, before Nikki finally ended it by hitting the point. In the last game, Fred/Mindy faced a strong opponent, but Mindy's Ton-33 and Fred's Ton opened up a big lead. With Fred's double-out, we sealed a sweep in D501 and a final score of 16-2.

It might not have been as fun as a 12-1 payoff on "match the dealer", but it's still money in the bank.

Props: 
Mindy - 3 earned wins (no forfeits), 331 AS points. And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

Abbey Normal

Normally there is nothing I like more than hanging out in seedy bars at the bottom of Manhattan and throwing darts. But in last night's 6-12 loss to the Imports, nothing seemed normal. Your fearless leader started the squad out on a low note with a loss, for the fifth time in six weeks. Luckily, your other fearless leader stepped up with a win and her usual Ton. We had some close games from Nikki and Meredith, and then Fred won a war of attrition, to extend his S501 win streak to eight games. The newly resurgent Jeremy showed up just in time to post another "W" and knot the match, and normally, there is nothing better than a knotted match.

Cricket started out with a bang, as the new dominant team of Fred and Jeremy posted a sweep. Normally, there's nothing better than starting out Cricket with a bang. But just as quickly, your fearless leader (and Nikki) gave it back by getting swept. Thankfully, your other fearless leader (and Meredith) stepped up, once again, and threw a great game, and secured a split, leaving us tied-up going into D501.

Normally, there is nothing better than being tied up going into Doubles 501. But we couldn't close the deal with the mixed-pairs teams we sent out. Fred/Nikki played a strong game but couldn't close the door. Jeremy / Meredith played well, but the other team doubled out on their first try. And then your fearless leaders stepped up for the final game. Normally, there is nothing better than being teamed up with Holly and having someone toss in a midget. But somehow it didn't seem so fun when it was actually happening. Down by over 250 points before they doubled in, Rich/Holly fought back hard to get back in the game. But, they missed their chances at doubling out and The Ship's decks were swept in D501.

Normally, there is nothing better than having The Ship's deck swept (say that 10 times fast), but last night, not so much. Let's see if we can return to normal next week, at home, versus the Indigents.

Props: 
Fred - 3 wins, 216 AS points. Another day at the office.
Holly - 2 wins, 220 AS points. Solid.
Jeremy - Off the S501 schneid.

You Don't Mess Around With The Ship

A little karaoke, to the tune of "You Don't Mess Around With Jim":

Uptown got it's hustlers
West 3rd Street got it's bums
The Pussycat has the Brew Crew
Some dart-throwin' son of a guns
Yeah, they're big and dumb as a man can come
But the darts they can surely toss
And when you go to the NYDO site
They all call Da Brew Crew "Boss"

Well outta the North came a fiesty team
Good-lookin', fun-lovin' and hip
A dart-throwin' squad
With a dollar and a dream
You know them as The Ship
They came lookin' for the team at the top of the league
That was wearin' headbands like a bunch of dorks
We knew we had a chance
As we stepped up to the dance
And it was time to throw some corks.

Undaunted, The Ship stepped up with guts
Two Singles 501 games were won
Fred continued his streak
And Holly rolled along
After starting her game with a Ton
In Cricket two games were taken
Setting the match at eight to four
And like it has so many times
It came down to doubles 501 once more.

Well a hush fell over the dart room
When Mindy played with her cut-up hand
With her gutsy performance
She set the stage
For Meredith and Jeremy to take a stand
We took two points, you should have seen their faces
And you can bet we weren't done
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big Fred hit Double-one.

Now they say...

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with The Ship

Props:
The Squad - 8 points against the top team is a solid night.
Meredith - Treble, Treble, Treble. 15, 16, 17 and 19, all in one game.
Mindy - For snubbing the DL and laughing at pain.
Jeremy - 96 AS points, 2 wins
Fred - Off the schneid in D501.
Jim Croce - For the lyrics.

Ship Too Damn Good-Looking

Statistics, schmagistics. After careful study and in-depth analysis, it has been determined that proficiency in darts has nothing to do with practice. Won / Loss percentage, partner pairings, past performance all mean nothing. In the end, it appears that the less attractive you are, the better you are at darts. Frankly, what else could explain these guys from the scary Canadian team, and the Ship's 13-5 loss to O'Hanlon's?

Rich, playing in a suit that upgraded his appearance to "passable", started off the night by getting crushed by Kowalski. Then, the lovely Holly and Meredith both lost close games. Dashing Fred (6 - 2) and stunning Mindy (5 - 1) extended their strong records in S501, where they have consistently and fortuitously been matched up against a string of Victoria's Secret models and Brad Pitt. (Oddly, they have also consistently played trolls and gnomes in their D501 matches, where they have a combined record of 1 win and 11 losses. Apparently there's no "I" in the beholder of doubles.) Then, in a heartbreaking ending, Nikki lost when her troglodyte opponent got out from 77.

When paired up, the Ship's attractive powers multiply, causing real trouble with Cricket and D501. In the Cricket round, the strapping Fred and sultry Meredith lost two hard-fought matches. Sexy Mindy and exotic Nikki, who should absolutely never win together, amazingly managed a split. (Their win was credited more to their lack of practice than to attractiveness, which is a corollary to the newly discovered phenomena that must be researched further.) Rich and Holly didn't stand a chance in their match against two ogres. While Holly tried her best to buck the trend, even her heroic effort was not enough to overcome the disparity between pulchritude and repugnance.

In order to overcome their combined splendor, The Ship needed a sweep in D501 to tie up the match. While everyone else in the bar was becoming more attractive with each passing beer, Rich and his Cokes managed to maintain their unsightliness, allowing him to double out for a win to start D501. But the exquisite team of Fred and Mindy were doomed from the start, and the dazzling pair of Meredith and Holly were so gruesome-impaired that they needed some magic to avoid an embarrassing midget tossing.

When it comes right down to it, we look marvelous, and we pay a price for it.

Props: 
Holly - For the lineup.
Meredith - The Einstein of darts theory.

Bang! Bam! Pow! Ship Fights Justice League

The entire crew was on deck for the match against the Justice League. We started out strong, taking four games in S501, including a Superman-like finish in Rich's match in which he came from way behind and won with a 78 Out (two 20's and a double 19).Our Cricket pairs played more like Gleek than the Wonder Twins, and we were only able to pull out 1 win in a comeback by Dave / Rich. They needed to hit a bunch of bulls to catch up in points, and then won in a rare ending for a Cricket game of two 16's. So, down 7-5, we needed 2 wins in D501 to tie the night and prevail over the Justice League.

Luckily, we had better luck against the Justice League than the Legion of Doom does. Dave and Jeremy proved to be a dynamic duo, as they started out with one of the most solid D501 games we've seen in a while. They doubled in right away, and opened up a 250 point lead before the other team even got in. With huge points in each round, they were down to the double out quickly, and wasted no time putting the game away. Mindy / Holly had a tough game, but almost came back to win before they were edged out. But then we pulled out the anchor of the Ship, our undefeated (3-0) Wonder Women team of Jen / Meredith, to get us the tie. They got in right away, and then assaulted the League pair. The League tried to mount a comeback, but their efforts to save the day were thwarted when Jen doubled out before they could do any damage.

So, it was fitting that we marked the half-way point of our voyage with a 9-9 tie. As we turn the corner of the season, we are sailing on an even keel. We are in the middle of the league (5 points out of the playoffs) and averaging about 9 points a night (50%). As a team, our overall winning percentage is 47% and our head-to-head record is 3-3-1.

Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice (aka Iggy's Bar).... a fiendish plot was being hatched to torture the ears of the citizens of Metropolis. I didn't need my spider sense to tell me that the singers were evil. Meredith saved the day with a rousing version of "Just A Girl", and Jeremy turned in a heroic effort on "Pour Some Sugar on Me". The nefarious villains fought back by butchering classics like "Dead or Alive", "Enter Sandman" and even "Yakety Yak". Resorting to the only weapon left to defeat this menace, our heroes countered with the extended remix version "American Pie" (plus the hypnotic dance accompaniment). Lulled into a state of calm, the villains were foiled, left with only harmless Pat Benatar songs and a clichéd "New York, New York". The menace was gone and our heroes will go on to fight another week.

Props: 
Mindy - 138 AS points. Off the schneid.
Dave - 325 AS points, 1 Cricket and D501 romp (w/ Jeremy).
Meredith & Jen - Big win to secure the tie, and in perfect harmony.

An Ode to the Ship (Redux)

You asked and you pleaded
You begged and you moaned.
Your calls have been heeded,
For another "Roadhouse Poem".

Back downtown the little Ship did sail,
To write another chapter of its ongoing tale.
The characters may have changed and Dewan was not there,
But there's beer and darts, so we don't care.
This time there was Rage, not Pirates, to face,
As the Ship went into a "Battle for Third Place!"

The match started out strong, or so it did seem.
Fred won his game and put the "I" back in "team".
And once again our rookies were a hit,
As Jen and Meredith won to give us a split.

We tried to select our Cricket players discreetly,
But Meredith drew some attention by missing the board completely.
After randomness had decided our fate, Jen and Fred did truly dominate.
But the rest of the round really gave us fits,
And we finished the round with another of our patented splits.
Plus the round cost us, as Jen was brought to her knees,
by a questionable bowl of Roadhouse Mac and Cheese.

As in weeks past, the match was tied, with Doubles 501 the round to decide.
We paired-up the best we can be, to try and take two out of three.
We even made an attempt to distract, with H 'n' M doing their G 'n' G act.
And Meredith's siren song nearly created a row,
As she proclaimed "I don't want a lap dance, I want a show!"
But all the distractions went for naught, as the matches were all well fought.
The first and second games both came down to the wire,
But we lost both and the situation was dire.
We won the last game and gave them a fight, making the final score 10-8 for the night.

We put on a good show for the sales force from Time.
They were so happy, in fact, that it was all on their dime.
We'll see you next week with your darts all pointy,
Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Props:
Fred - 315 AS points, 3 wins... now if you can just win at D501 .
Jen - 3 wins. I think the Mac n Cheese was spiked.

Loud Drunks Quieted by Ship

The crew of the Ship is rapidly expanding. This season our family has added a new baby, a new brother-in-law and cousins crawling out of the woodwork. With our founder on hand to watch, along with many of our growing legion of fans, the Ship put on quite an entertaining show last night, in our huge 10-8 win over the Loud Drunks with Darts.

Although sparsely attended due to many in the crowd being distracted by our mascot, the Singles 501 round was well played. We won 4 games and took a commanding lead into Cricket. Unfortunately, Cricket proved to be a tough round, although we managed a split from Nikki / Meredith, and two hard fought games from Mindy and Fred that also ended in a split. With Rich / Jen dropping 2 games, we lost the round 2-4, setting the stage for Doubles 501.

With the match all tied going into D501, Fred and Nikki lost the first game in a very close contest. The second game was eerily reminiscent of last year's match at home against Finnerty's, in which Rich and Dave pulled out a close game against Jose and Matt. This time, it was Rich and Mindy pulling out a tight game against Jose and Ricky. So, after a long night of tough competition, all of the pressure fell on the newest shipmates, as the entire match came down to one last game.

For the second time this season, Jen and Meredith put together a phenomenal final D501 game to secure the victory for the team. At first it seemed as if no one wanted to double in, and the tension mounted with each attempt. The Drunks got in first with a 41, but Jen answered right back, getting in with a 38 on the next throw. From there, the former rookies took charge and quickly worked their way down to their out. With a few attempts from each team at getting out, Jen nailed the double "3" to seal the victory for the night.

With 3 wins in the 3 home matches this season, our fans are getting their money's worth.

Props: 
Meredith / Jen - My heroes, again.
Mindy - For S501 and D501 wins and a split in Cricket.

Ship Hits Rough Waters "On the C"

It was a dark and stormy night. The Ship set out on the sea for a long voyage to a distant land. The storm clouds on the horizon foretold doom, but our intrepid adventurers forged ahead, determined to complete their mission and boldly go where no one has gone before.

The captains led the way in the first stage, winning the first two games of Singles 501. Jeremy waged a fierce battle, but was just edged out in the race to double "1", and Nikki ran into a raging torrent and was nearly washed overboard. But, with Fred's win, we were tied 3-3 going into Cricket. The stage was set with a split in the first game, but it proved to be the calm before the storm. Suddenly, the seas got rough and our little ship was tossed around in the fierce waves. The crew fought gallantly, but forces beyond their control seemed to take over. After eking out a split in the second game, we lost the final games, and were down 5-7 going into D501. At this point, the storm clouds broke open and the sea raged. We lost the first two D501 games, and it looked like the Ship might actually sink. But the crew rallied together, and fought back against the tumult. Nikki broke through with a double "2" to get on the board and a glimmer of hope emerged. Slowly but surely we fought back, and in the end we doubled out, making the final score 7-11. The storm passed and we made it through unscathed. Now on back to our home port, for another adventure.

Props:

Nikki - For cab fare.