Day 2 Action!

Game 1:

Sturgeonface vs. Lady Berries

It was obvious from the first serve who the fan favorites were. Every time the ball went to Kirk, the crowd squealed his name with delight. "Kirko! Kirko! Kirko!" It was as if he was playing by himself, as Jean seemed to be completely ignored.

This game was tight, tight, tight! By my account, nobody was able to scratch out a lead higher than two points at any time. Every shot carried the drama of hopes and dreams. Strangely, though, one question was growing larger and larger in my brain until I could no longer ignore it.

If the game is this close, how could I be so bored?

I can't recall many shots resembling slams. I don't remember a lot of heated rallies. I have no recollection of any bang-bang-bang plays. This, ye fans, was a prime example of what we call Plinktastic Pong.

The phrase was partially coined by Mike B two years ago and it's used to describe table tennis that sounds like this:

plink
plink
plink
plink
plink...

The shots go back and forth with little authority and even less urgency. How could this be, in a game featuring reigning champion and Smash Queen Jean Shen? Beats me. The high point was when Kane animatedly observed, "Kirk's making the sturgeonface against Sturgeonface!" We hoped this might cause a tear in the fabric of reality, if only to give us something legitimate to get excited about.

The game progressed logically to it's pre-determined point total, I yawned, and one of the new compers farted dust.

Ho hum.

Lady Berries: 21, Sturgeonface: 17

Game 2:

Scottish vs. Muffintops

Speaking of ho hum...

Perhaps the long layoff was too much for Chuck Duke. Maybe The Bedazzler, his beloved paddle, out of retirement for the first time in two years, was a bit rusty, too. Maybe Joe's hat really wasn't that lucky after all, as Petey opined. Maybe Muffintops were just too much man. I don't know.

I won't go on and on here. I'll just note that this was the lowest scoring game I've ever seen.

Get thee to practice, Scottish!

Muffintops: 21, Scottish: 5

I'd like to see tomorrow's participants put a little more heart into it. We'll blame today's malaise on the inclement weather, but we can't use that excuse two days in a row!