Season Wrap

It is with great sadness that i report the session II is over. The season was a blast. I think all who participated would agree. We certainly learned some things... throwing hurts, the game is more involved than we thought, throwing underhand isn't necessarily synonomous with "throwing like a girl", we are all out of shape... i could go on.

Some of the season highlights include getting pasted in the first game, followed by a three game win streak... Me being hated by most opponents.... The three straight weeks in the middle when we could do nothing right... Backhaus's "7 man swing" in his debut"... Woj's brain fart... Worms dancing... Cheneys gun... Wolf's intensity... Evel's consistency... Geoff's humor.... Collins cannon (when he could make it)... Horns dedication...

My vote for MVP is the WOLF!

Please, leave your MVP vote or any other comments you have. Stay tuned to the blog.. .Wolf still claims there will be videos forthcoming. We will also keep posted on Session 3.

Game 9

Meco Piledrivers 3- CDYSL Refs 0

Meco secured a forfeit victory, as CDYSL refs could not field a team.

CD Refs scraped together some guys so that we could play a bit and there were a couple of highlights that must be mentioned, although a full game report is unnecessary. Early in the game Worm managed to catch a ball with the back of his leg. It needed to be seen to be believed. And very late in the game, Road Rage took a hard shot to the face, knocking his glasses through the air. The only other moment worth mentioning was when the Wolf attempted to duplicate one of the Refs underarm shots. It was remarkable!

VIDEO - Game9 Highlights / Lowlights
*This one is a little big, might take a little longer

Final Standings
5 Wins, 4 Losses, 57 points, Third Place

Game 8

Meco Piledrivers 8 - Adirondack Cowtippers 2

The Meco Piledrivers came out with an emphatic win to return to .500 with a 8 – 2 victory over the Adirondack Cowtippers. The game saw Meco play an aggressive style of attack to keep the Cowtippers on their heels for most of the game.

Meco jumped out by winning all 6 games in the first half. In most of the games, Meco eliminated all of the Cowtippers. During the second half, Meco slowed a bit and split 2-2 for the 8-2 final.

With that kind of performance, it becomes very difficult to pick out individual play, although there are a few things that need be mentioned. Brian Backhaus made a play that may go down as the greatest ten seconds of dodgeball ever played. In game 6 with Meco behind 3 men to 5, Backhaus took matters into his own sure hands. As he made his way into the attack zone, he made three catches and hit one of the Cowtippers. By the end of this run, Meco had the advantage back and went on to win the game. When asked about the play, Backhaus said “That was one of my all time highlights… of my life, not just dodgeball”.

Other plays of note were the return to form of the Wolf. With the exception of one play when the Wolf showed mercy (and incidentally missed his target) he was relentless and threw the ball well. Cheney is becoming one of our most dependable catchers, especially when we are numbers down. Caraco had one of the worst displays of throwing since Wojeski’s game 3.

The season comes to a bitter end next Monday at 9:00 when the Piledrivers square off against the CD Refs.

VIDEO - Game8 Highlights / Lowlights

Record: 4 wins, 4 losses, 48 points; Third place

Game 7

Meco Piledrivers 3
Old Skool 7

With the frustration level rising, Meco Piledrivers dropped their third straight game to a much improved Old Skool; final 7-3. The Piledriveers seemed to be suffering from an emotional let down after the crushing defeat to the Five D’s in last weeks game. After two games, the score was 1-1, and then Meco dropped the next 4 games. After that, Old Skool simply killed off the game.

The first game was a rather quick affair that set the tone for the whole evening. Old Skool had an aggressive and organized attack that kept the Piledrivers on their heels and tentative all night long. Their fine offense was bolstered by many close calls that had the Meco side flustered. There were several plays when Meco was fairly sure they had hit some one only to see that player stay on the field. The second game was won by the Piledrivers.

The next four games were all losses. The most impressive part of the run was the variety of ways Meco found to lose… from complete annihilation, to slow painful losses to shocking last second blunders… mix in a few overtime losses and you have the recipe for an awful night of dodgeball. There were blind side hits, line violations and rainbows sent to the otherside…

It was an ugly night. If forced to pick out individuals, I would say that Geoff Kelley and Rob Updyke continued to shine, Jason Cheney made some outstanding catches (now if he could work on that arm) and nearly everyone else played sub par. After a promising start to the season Meco Piledrivers find themselves in a precarious position… in order to salvage a .500 record, the team must run the table and win their last two matches. While this is certainly a possibility, it will take every player doing a gut check to see if they have it in them.

VIDEO - Game7 Highlights / Lowlights

3 wins, 4 Losses; 39 points

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery…

This may be the very cause for our dodgeball league. The success of the 2004 film, “Dodgeball :

A True Underdogs Story”, led to the formation of several leagues. As popularity has grown, rumors have been floating around about a sequel to the movie. The rumored title is “Meco Piledrivers Dodgeball : Redefining what is dodgeball ”.

Please click on the link below to see the first trailer of this exciting new film.

VIDEO - Dodgeball Spoof

Game 6

Meco Piledrivers 4
The 5 D's 6

When the word choke is heard in a sporting context, various things can come to mind. Scott Norwood, the 2004 Yankees, 2005 AC Milan, Chris Weber and the Fab Five... the list could go on. Add to the list "The Meco Piledrivers". The game was very much in our hands, however mental mistakes cost us the honor of being the first team to defeat the first place 5 D's.

The game started ugly with the 5 D's eliminating 5 players in the first minute. The last three went down with little more than a whimper. Meco stepped out for game 2 and played much better, winning the game and sending a clear message that it would be a long night. The 5 D's re-established their advantage by taking game 3. What happened after this was impressive.

Led by the unassuming Geoff Kelley and Mr. Consistent, the Wolf, Meco took three straight games. Geoff's arm was impressive. Many of the D's learned early to be alert when he was winding up. Wolf continued his array of aggressive play, accurate and powerful arm and even an occasional catch. Rob Evel contributed many outs and late season signing Brian Backhaus played well.

With an impressive 4-2 lead, the Piledrivers felt comfortable. However, like many "chokes" do, this one started out small. An unfocussed game cuts the lead to one. And then, with Kelley and Wolf the only two players left against 7 of the D's, The Piledrivers put on a great comeback. With in thirty seconds it was three players for Meco as a Wolf catch brought on Woj. Seconds later, with time winding down and a possible swing in our favor, Wolf got hit, Kelley missed a player prone on the floor and Woj fell asleep and was eliminated as the buzzer sounded sending the Piledrivers to a loss. A once 2 game advantage was now tied.

Game 9 would give one team a crucial late advantage. With time running out and a three man to two advantage, Caraco was trying to retrieve a ball deep in 5 D's territory. Inexplicably he turned around to see what his teammates were yelling and got hit sending the game to overtime. Overtime went the same way. With a one man advantage and under ten seconds to play, three Piledrivers had thrown their balls and two were caught. This gave the D's their first lead since very early on.

The final game went to overtime with a chance for Meco to tie the match. However, in the last three seconds of overtime, the theme continued, and two Piledrivers were eliminated.

Final Score, Meco 4, Five D's 6, and a lot of frustration for meco.

Does anyone know the heimlich?

VIDEO - Game6 Highlights / Lowlights

Record: 3-3, 36 points, Third Place