Apology

I would like to apologize to the loyal readers of MecoPiledrivers.blogspot.com for the delay in updating our humbling results of the last two weeks. Be assured that i will try not to fall so far behind again. Enjoy the read and leave comments!

Thanks
Jon

Game 3

Meco 3 - DJ Building 9

There was a certain sense of enthusiasm in the air as game three began. The numbers were back for the Piledrivers. Only Rage was missing. Evel made his debut. Young BPY showed up as a guest player. There was electricity. Game 1 proved to be a return to form. The Piledrivers made short work of DJ Builders, eliminating the whole side while leaving four of our own on the field. It seemed the Piledrivers had righted the ship.

However, this was not to be. From this point on, the Piledrivers got pounded. It was not a fun and creative loss where the team found different ways to lose every game... it was simply a pounding. The Meco Piledrivers looked like Hurricane Pete McNeely. Most of the games lasted a scant 100 seconds.

There were a few moments worthy of note. In his first match, BPY was left 1 vs 5 with 1:20 to play. He put on a valiant fight, eliminating 3 before time expired. In other action, the Wolf attempted to trip a Builder at the line. Evel learned the hard way that the big balls are not a great weapon. Geoff Kelley reminded us all of a basic rule. As we all screamed at him to go get a little ball that was near mid field, he calmly pointed at the angry giant who played on the Builders and said "ball".

We also learned a little bit about trash talking. The captain of the Builders (we could tell he was the captain because he wore sleeveless periwinkle while the rest of the squad wore highlighter yellow)repeatedly hurled such insults as "c'mon" and "bring it". Perhaps his intimidation methods worked as we were clearly off our game.

The most exciting action of the night clearly belonged to Big Bri... In an attempt to lead by example, Big Bri valiantly went after a deflected ball. He hurled his body backwards and dove for a catch. The fall was broken when his face met the wall of the court. The compression of his neck was only matched by the folding of his wrist beneath his girth. As the arena hushed and people slowly moved in to see if he was ok, one compassionate teammate was heard saying... "Oh my god, Big Bri broke his neck" and this was followed by much laughter.

Better luck next week Piledrivers. Lets show some Meco Pride!

1 win - 2 losses, 15 points

Game 2

Meco Piledrivers 5 - Lark Street Tavern 6

In a sad night, the Meco Piledrivers struggled to field a team. As the 8:00 start time neared, there were exactly three Pildrivers to be found; The Wolf, Rage and Kelley. As they fought hard for all they could, reinforcements in the form of NY Caraco and Rich showed up and joined the fight during game two. THe game appeared to be going Meco's way. After a hard fought defeat in the first game, the underhanded Piledrivers began a slow and steady climb. Impressive play from Rage and Rich backed up by great defensive catches from Kelley and Wolf's mastery of large balls saw the Piledrivers run off 4 wins in the next five games.

Meco was leading the match 5-2 when fatigue started to set in. The fatigue resulted in Kelley out doing his pop fly from game 1. He appeared to be playing catch with an infant and tossed the ball gently to one of the LST'ers. Caraco's fatigue showed when he got out three times in one game (that must be a record!). Rage's game slowed down just enough to make him look mortal and the Wolf's sure hands seemed less sure.

The Piledrivers resorted to the only option they had... they threw a lucky fan, the one and only 'Xander into a pair of sneakers a mere 3.5 sizes to small to try to stop the bleeding. 'Xander filled the role of extra body in an attempt to prolong each game and milk the clock. The strategy back fired. Meco lost three straight and faced a final game with the score 5-5. Meco went down with a whimper....

The game brings up several what if's... what if Bornt showed up... what if Big Bri had the night off... what if Evel made his season debut... what if Squirrel had not broken his arm... what if TJ hated his parents... and most importantly, what if the Piledrivers didn't suck.

1 win - 1 loss, 12 points

Game 1

Meco 9 (or maybe 8) - Adirondack 3 (or maybe 4)

The 2006-2007 Session II version of the Meco Piledrivers opened their season against a familiar foe, the Adirondack Cow Tippers. The familiarity of the opponent was in striking contrast to the lack of familiarity with the new ball. The game showed off some shrewd work in the GM’s office as the newest member of the squad looked dangerous.
As the first game of the match wound down, the Piledrivers held a three man to two advantage. With the game seemingly in hand, NY (Caraco) became the first to suffer what would be a problem all night as he threw a big ball resulting in a Cowtipper catch and a crucial late game swing. The Tippers made this momentum change stick and held on to win the first game. Game two saw a more focused Piledriver. The strategy of “big balls for defense, little balls for offense” was born. This resulted in a short 95 second game that left all 6 of the Piledrivers on the floor. As Rage said , “that’s Meco dodgeball!”. The first half was a back and forth battle that ended with the Piledrivers ahead 4-3.
The second half began with the Piledrivers really hitting their stride. They ripped off four straight wins to open the second half. These were highlighted by a very well rounded attack. The Wolf had his arm firing well, including a facial that angered the opponent. Sanford caught almost everything that went near him. TJ helped explain to a Cowtipper what it means to be “out” moments after he triumphantly claimed “I’m in”! Rich picked up the rules quickly and was a threat all over the field. Rich was the only free agent signing this off season and if the early results are any indication, it was a great signing by the Piledrivers. Rage would have done well if he managed to stay on our side of the field. Geoff worked on building the confidence of the Cowtippers when they looked ready to throw in the towel (clearly he has trained with Cheney in the offseason). Big Bri avoided facials altogether and even tried a bizarre, yet beautiful, trap against the wall.
The last game of the night was a little chaotic and I am not even sure who won…

Perhaps, the most exciting news of the day was the new balls used in dodgeball. No longer are we leaving with demolished arms from throwing the paper weight balls. No longer are people laughing it off when hit with a facial... This year there are full fledged kick balls in use. This means they have some weight. It also means it is difficult to grip the big ones (thus the strategy used in game 1). Most importantly it means that the facials hurt and the ball can leave a mark.

The final score was either Meco 9 – Adirondack 3 or Meco 8 Adirondack 4. Either way, victory one is in the books for Meco.


1 win, 0 losses, 9 points

2006-2007 Session 2 Roster

Steve Wolfort, The Wolf
Ryan Bornt, Sanford
Geoff Kelley
Jon Caraco, NY
Brian Backhaus, Road Rage
Rob Updyke, Butch Evel
Brian Kelley, Big Bri
Tim Jones, TJ
Andy, Andrew
Rich Monroe

Reserve list:
Ted Horn
Ryan Collins

Injured List
Squirrel

Missing list:
Chris Wojeski, WOJ

THe Piledrivers return a strong core of players and add the athletic Rich Monroe to the fold. His intensity should help the Meco cause.