What a night, what a game, what a Championship! Even Howard might have been speechless. Our Championship evening started off simply enough with a game between the Rollverines, who, after losing in the Playoffs, faced off against Pete’s Mission Imbocceballs. The Rollverines recaptured their regular-season brilliance, with Leslie, Jamie, Bob, and substitute Kelly rolling extremely accurately and denying the Imbocceballs- Pete, sub Travis, Tiffany, and Chris all but two measly chalk slashes on the scoreboard, and securing third place for the Rollverines. Captain June should be proud of her team’s excellent season.

Following the third place competition, we all enjoyed a fabulous dinner under the sparkling lights of ribeyes, twice-baked potatoes with Jim & Lynnes’ luscious tomatoes, Tiffany’s excellent chopped wedge salad, and starters of a picture-perfect cheese board contributed by Jill and Jamie, the famous deviled eggs (thanks to Clay & Gerda) and veggies by Karen. Starting it all off were two pitchers of Gin & tonics, and the sweet conclusion was Kelly’s incredible, as always, homemade citrus cupcakes.

Anxious to get rolling, Lynne, substitute Carla, and a few others started practicing to get a feel for the court’s speed and idiosyncrasies. Once the Championship match began, Captain Jill’s Pallino Posse quickly put nine points on the board, leaving Captain Jack and his Rolling Cannolis reeling. But the Cannolis- Gerda, Jim Leon, and Lynne were not to be cowed; even though they were missing star Scotty (vacationing in Tahoe), they rallied frame by frame to an eleven-all tie. Finally, the Posse’s Jim Woodcock and Carla (substituting for BD boy Garrett), with Jill and Karen, secured the night’s final points and this season’s Championship.

Congratulations to the Posse, who started the season in last place with three back-to-back losses, then won their fourth and fifth games to finish 2-3, tying both Balls Out and the Rolling Cannolis. Their superior TPS (Total Points Scored) put them into the league’s first-ever Roll-Off against the Cannolis to determine third and fourth place and who would face Captain June’s undefeated Rollverines. After losing the Roll-Off, unbelievably, the Posse defeated the Rollverines, advanced to the championship, and secured this year’s title. Also, Congratulations are due to Captain Jill, who, after earning more than a couple Wooden Spoons in her career, has now won two back-to-back championships!

Awards

Our Wooden Spoon recipients this year are Balls Out with Captain Clay, Kelly, Travis, and Jen; though tied at 2-3 at the end of regular season, their unfortunately low TPS left them out of the playoffs and into our infamous Wooden Spoon round against Captain Dianne, Hank, Carla, and Brooke of the Roll Models. The Roll Models, with a 1-4 season record, were in the unusual position of having earned more TPS than Balls, Out, Pallino Posse, and Rolling Cannolis, but their low win-loss record also placed them in the Wooden Spoon game. Finally, the Models scoring prowess paid off when they defeated Balls Out, leaving the Wooden Spoon in Captain Clay’s hands for the very first time.

5 Star Captain Awards- Captains are essential to the game and to our League. They organize their players, manage substitutes as needed, establish game-night focus and strategy, build a strong team bond, and represent their team at rule discussions and on-court measurements. Over fifteen years and thirteen seasons, remarkably, we have had only 26 individuals step up to be captain. Even more remarkably and admirably, six of you have served as Captain five or more times. The award goes to:

See You Next Year!