Summer 2021 - Championships
The Monday Night Summer League has been one of the most exciting seasons we’ve had at Carreau Club so far. A whole new crop of rookies and all of the coaches and returning players agreed that this is the strongest and most enthusiastic group of new pétanquers we’ve seen. Although The Incrediboules held the top four spots on the individual leaderboard, they have been trailing in the standings all season long. With only one night of league play left and a six game deficit they were going to have to put together a miracle run to claim the title.
Things got off to a rough start as Big Boule Energy took three out of four very close games in the first round. The underdogs started heating up in the second round, taking two out of three in decisive fashion. They put pedal to the metal in the final frame, coming up with a positive record of 6-5-0 for the evening but not gaining enough to prevent BBE from chiseling their names on the coveted trophy. Ernesto had a perfecto 3-0 evening and Manny, Adrian, and Chris each went 2-1 but they couldn’t stop the consistently energetic performances the Big Boule crew. When all was said and done, BBE sealed the deal with a 5 game lead on the Incrediboules despite a 23 point surplus for the season. How is it possible that the team with the strongest individual performers and a major point advantage could come up short?! C’est la pétanque, baby!
In other news, Adrian was able to hang on and take home the coveted Rookie of the Year award with a remarkable record of 10-4-0 with a stunning +3.00 points per game on the season. Honorable mentions to Chris, Evyn, and Steve, all of whom put together solid seasons.
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There is some competitive history in the Tuesday Night League. After all, most of these folks have been tossing boules for two or three seasons already and all four teams returned from the Spring season ready for more pétanque action. This was sure to be a grudge match and after the commissioner’s decision to merge teams for the championship, the stakes got even more interesting. This season’s league leader Panchito was combined with crowd favorite Boules Deep to take on the surging Carreau-No-Virus and “most likely to consider themselves the fun team” Team Too — two teams whose trophy dreams were rebuffed last spring. With one night left in the championship challenge, CNV/TT was up by four points and had all the momentum…could they pull it off?
Things looked good in the first frame as they took three out of four games, including a last-round squeaker by former ROTY Adam and Rafik over Sophie and Hugue. But, then, the wheels came off and everything just feel apart. PanXDeepo delivered blow after blow over the next three rounds, winning nine out of twelve games to solidify their place on the trophy for the second year in a row. Taylor, Aaron, and Ian went undefeated for the evening but it was a team effort with every member making their mark on the evening. Despite the drunken rumors of a tie and a potential ultimate death round, when the dust had settled, the returning champs were up 15 games to 13 in the finals with a 4 point margin of victory.
The Tuesday Night Rookie of the Year award went to the intrepid Cathy who smashed the learning curve this season in a league dominated by coaches and intermedios. Honorable mention to newcomer Taylor who just missed the minimum threshold but went an astonishing 7-0-1 in his inaugural season. Props to Intermedio of the Year Ian who crushed a seriously packed league with a 14-3-0 record over 17 games, second most played this season, and carried a disgusting +5.41 points per game! Honorable mention to rising star and head of her pétanque household Christina who went 7-5-0 and passed all of her exams this semester! Major shouts to Ernesto who earned Coach of the Year status going a combined 22-11-1 in both Monday and Tuesday Night Leagues and being the absolute nastiest player on the courts and somehow also the nicest and most patient teacher. On behalf of all of the rookies you’ve turned into pros throughout the years, a heartfelt THANK YOU…and now, we turn our attention to getting good enough to crush you!
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On the final day of August, we hosted our first inter-league challenge. Much has been said about the fresh batch of Monday Night rookies this season and don’t think that our Tuesday Night regulars hadn’t heard about the raw talent and enthusiasm that was on display every Monday. It’s true that Tuesday night had the home night advantage. Also true that some of our Monday night superstars perhaps had a bit too much to drink at a Gage and Tollner party the night before. But the deciding factor was the pride of our Tuesday night crew, their refusal to let the newbies walk all over them on their night, on their courts. Their poise and experience were evident from the first throws of the cochonnets as they took they took three out of four games in the first two frames, mathematically eliminating the possibility of a Monday victory. But Monday gave it a solid effort in the third frame, taking three tough games to make it respectable but losing the fourth to solidify a 7-5 Tuesday Night victory**.
**By some gross error, a certain undefeated member of the Tuesday Night squad played a game in the last frame for the wrong team…and lost…handing the victory to his own team. The League Commissioner has issued a statement of apology. The final score shall stand but not without an asterisk.
Summer 2021 Champion (M): Big Boule Energy
Summer 2021 Champion (T): Panchito & Boules Deep
Rookie of the Year (M): Adrian Tone
Rookie of the Year (T): Cathy Serpico
Intermedio of the Year: Ian Rosoff
Coach of the Year: Ernesto Santos
Pétanque Sicko (M): Clayton Hughes
Pétanque Sicko (T): Mark Green
Pétanque Sicko (T): Derek Dahmann
