Commish Report
Week 12 - November 16, 2002
Thanks go to Beaudin and HB for hosting Friday night's hockey game and to Pops for hosting Saturday's all day fiesta. I can't wait until the JCI winter meetings (non-members of the JCI should ignore that comment, unless it is a non-member that is up for membership and thus can affect his membership chances by arranging the winter meetings).
Well I would say that this week's LYA was truly a ground breaking experience, in just about every way possible. The previous best consecutive two-week performance was by G in 2001 at 16-4. That was bettered by not one but two 17-3's that culminated this weekend - Mick and Barfield. I can't even imagine going 9-1, much less following it with an 8-2, and that was only good enough for a tie for second to Beaudin's 9-1 ($260). Our first ever 9-1 was in the first ever weekend of the pool in 2000. The next one didn't happen until week 10 in 2001 - that's 21 weeks. We've now had 3 in the last two weeks. Macgruder is looking smarter every week as I drop like a porceline monkey off of Pops's entertainment center past him in the lifetime money standings.
While the events of the weekend may have alledgedly gotten a bit out of hand, it's fitting given that the picking has clearly gotten out of hand. The lowest winning score all year is a 7-3, and that would have only won twice and tied once out of 12 weeks. That's 9 of the 12 weeks that 3 losses at the end of Saturday means you've already been eliminated. I've only made it to Sunday one time all year, and I've picked more than half of the games correctly. This is total bullshit. Fuck bigguy.com.
Halvorsen hasn't made it past Saturday all year, which makes it sort of appropriate that he almost didn't make it past Saturday for real this time. But the little bastard held his 4's up like the champ that he is and forged through. I wonder, do the hockey players soak their chipped teeth in beer when they have a similar "accident"? If not they ought to try it because it worked wonders for him. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since he was voted toughest guy in the fraternity that year. The thing we're all having trouble getting past is the "the call" or better yet "the no-call". I didn't see it directly myself, but I understand that there was another player in the area and maybe a flag could have been thrown for pass intereference. Pops had the best view of it, and he chose to not throw the flag. Of course, there are those that think Pops was distracted and didn't actually see the play but we'll never know. You know, they had their arms on each other, there definitely seemed to be some pushing going both ways, sometimes I guess you just have to let them play.
While the pass interference (no)call can be debated, everyone in the stadium saw the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Barfield immediately following the Georgia game. He lobbied the official (shmoopy) and claimed that he was taunted by Dave Jones and that he was only retaliating, but we know it's always the second guy that gets caught, and he paid dearly with a gimp knee (karma).
But the pass interference and the excessive celebration penalties will quickly fade in our collective memory (maybe some faster than others). The most significant penalty, the shadow that will hang over the LYA for the rest of the season and possibly forever, the mother of all penalties - that's right I'm talking about the death penalty. We've never had a pledge before, so this is uncharted territory, but we all have some idea of how this goes. It is an awfully dangerous proposition to be the only member not present at the viewing party for any length of time. The tide can turn and someone can be voted out in a fit of anger simply because the remote control isn't working properly (Pops flirted with that a couple of times this weekend). It's sure as hell a rediculously risky proposition to be a PLEDGE and to not be present for any length of time, ESPECIALLY when the pledge promises to return when leaving. Now, maybe he was betting that we would all be too drunk to notice that he did not return, but I guess he didn't factor in an all too sobering (alledged) pass interference penalty only moments after he left. Maybe we got drunker as the night went on, or maybe we didn't. Maybe we noticed that he didn't come back, or maybe we didn't. Maybe we decided to go ahead and vote his ass out, or maybe we didn't. Maybe he'll just have to wait and find out after the season or … MAYBE HE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND FIND OUT AFTER THE SEASON, FOCKER.
Seeyainaweek!
P.S. Thanks to HamPster Balls for the hockey seats right on the glass. Keep up the good work!