Jugger….Not!

Tequila Thrashers 3 Strawbs 2

Final Game Report 2008

Last night, a peevish lesser god of sports, a god who probably just scraped his way into the Pantheon, beaned the Strawberries with a knuckleball so vicious, it may take weeks for the team to recover. It was the last game in a double elimination format. In game 1, the Thrashers won 5 to 4 in an overtime shootout. In game 2, the Strawbs replied with a 5-4 victory of their own. All the marbles in the schoolyard were at stake in game 3 and both teams came prepared to cart off the booty.

The betting line in Vegas had the Killer Strawberries favoured by 1.5 goals. To ensure the predicted victory, the Strawbs’ Executive and coaching staff had spent the previous week formulating a winning strategy at the Aloha Baby Compound East in Oahu. Unfortunately, Scotch, late night partying, Cuban cigars and a mind sapping addiction to Dionysian revelry, normally a fine combination if one doesn’t have to get up the next day, proved to be a toxic cocktail in this instance. What looked good on paper didn’t pan out so well on the ice.

The Strawbs struck early. By the 4 minute mark they were leading 2-0. Sadly, MagBoy, poorly versed in the concepts of premature counting of chickens and hubris, made the bald faced assertion that a cakewalk was about to happen. A shocked gasp shook the Strawberries’ bench. If the team’s unified wisdom has one major tenet, it is that cockiness will inevitably get whacked mercilessly with the Sledgehammer of Humiliation, which comes in many disguises. And arrive the Sledgehammer did, in the form of a dancing knuckleball to the squad’s collective skull. The Thrashers clawed their way back into the game, scoring the winning goal with a mere 1 minute and 48 seconds left to run on the clock. After having allowed absolutely no breakaways the whole game, a rare defensive brain fart left a good looking, nattily attired Thrasher of the female persuasion alone with the puck in front of Jesse The Leak, whose performance to that point in the match was deserving of induction into the Canadore Intramural Hockey Hall of Fame. Without hesitation, Tequila Sheila slammed the puck into the yawning mesh, thus emasculating, with one swing of a stick, a whole team of shocked hockey veterans. Despite a furious assault on the opposition’s net during the remaining seconds, The Strawbs could not pierce the Thrasher armour. A malicious god chuckled in glee as the final buzzer sounded. If a middle finger could make a noise, it would have been that noise.

Like the true gentlemen they are, the Killer Strawberries screwed up their internal fortitude, bit their bottom lips, donned the best smiles they could muster and lined up to congratulate the deserving victors.( Sir Gumby hugged the winning goal scorer and managed to get her grandmother's e-mail address.) Slowly, the Strawbs made their way to the dressing room, with each player repeatedly going through Kubler-Ross's 5 stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance swirled about the arena until the Vice put it all into perspective. “Although I too am crestfallen in light of the victory which has eluded us, I am proud of they way everybody played. Warrin’ Peace and Freight Train were selfless in shutting down the Rocket Man who scored 10 of the Thrashers’ 12 goals in this series. The Butcher played like a man half his weight and twice his IQ. Whoa.Horny didn’t drink for 3 whole days before tonight’s tilt. Shiny Sean was a much smaller liability on defence than the Executive predicted. Gumby showed up with his teeth brushed and his hair finely combed, each and every night. Dr. Thug fought his own demons and played like a young 56 year old, despite the fact that he is soon to enter his seventh decade of unchecked debauchery. Archilles played through his mediocrity with the determination of a dog attacking a bone. The Ice Marshall led us to courageous defeat even though his left ankle and right elbow were broken. Pyjama Man fought off the effects of lascivious and relentless pre-game sex to put in a couple of semi-solid shifts. MagBoy embarrassed himself much less than usual and often put his Crackberry away in time to take his turns on the ice. Jesse was so effective in shutting down the Thrashers, maybe we should change his name from Jesse The Leak to Jesse The Drip.” The Vice continued his inane yet enlightened prattling and finally summed the whole affair in the way only he can. “Winning is for losers” he philosophied. That kind of wisdom is priceless.

As this will be the last game report for the year, perhaps forever (given the whispers of forced retirement which have been emanating from the impatient younger players on the team), it would be an egregious oversight not to write a few words about the Strawbs’ loyal following. Thank you Miss White Go Go Boots for inspiring us with your sartorial splendour and the tireless work ethic which caused you to miss the most important game in Strawberries’ history. Thank you Madame LaChaise Lounge for allowing your man to travel freely back and forth between Aloha Baby Compound East and your home at the centre of the Compound For Minor Vice. You might want to install a couple of surveillance cameras to keep you better informed of the “strategy sessions” held during your lengthy absences. Thank you Pandaemonium for skulking out of town in the middle of the night after making us addicted to your less-than-undying support. Thank you MagGirl for cheering us on, despite the burden of the “umarried” label you are forced to carry around. Thank you Loans Jones and the Pyjama Man Spawn (Dora & Flora) for cheering on #74, even if he played like a dying Toller Cranston. Thank Lazily LaMoan for coming out to your first game in 6 years in order to see the Freight Train mow down little girls in the fashion taught to him by Dr. Thug. And a final big Merci to Samara Desert who continues to hope beyond hope that Warrin’ Peace will be elevated to the team Executive, based on his hockey skills alone. For being voted #1 Killer Strawberries Fan for 2008, the team hereby upgrades your moniker to Samara Dessert. You are now fully qualified to launder our equipment and attend, unescorted, all level 2 team functions.

Post-game, the Strawbs continued the grieving at the Terminal Tavren. Backs were slapped in commiseration, tears dried with dirty napkins and egos soothed with copious libation. 7 Guinness, 3 Steamwhistle, 4 largemouth Bass, 22 Stella, 4 Bud Light, 2 girlie drinks which looked suspiciously like sour apple martinis, 2 Blue, 41 Kilkenny, 5 pounds of wings with extra cholesterol, and a pile of Kubler-Ross were consumed.