A Season to Remember About: Installment III

MARAUDERS FALL TO 1-5 IN BACK-AND-FORTH BATTLE

SAN DIEGO, CA (turns out all of the games are in San Diego; team doesn't travel apparently): It was an emotional game of ups and downs, but the result was a famliar one for the Marauders: disappointing defeat. The final score of 42-103 doesn't really tell the whole story, as the Marauders kept it close for most of the first 5 minutes. Right about at the five minute mark SD JAMMIN's fifth player arrived and the Marauders started to lose control of the game.

The Marauder's made an impressive first strike by disqualifying two of SD JAMMIN's players just before tip-off (one of them was WAY over 6'2" and the other was about 15 years old). This shrewd maneuver brought SD JAMMIN's roster down to just four players, and helped the Marauders stay in the game early, playing five against four.

League-leading scorer "Roman" finally arrived about 4 minutes into the game, hurriedly put his shoes on amidst urgent cries from SD JAMMIN, and then proceeded to escort his team to a commanding 20 point half-time lead.

To their credit, SD JAMMIN had their heart in the game till the final buzzer sounded, and never lost focus. It is a rare spectacle nowadays to see rec-league teams run such effective full-court presses. Especially when they are carrying 30+ point leads, as SD JAMMIN did. Some in attendance speculate that SD JAMMIN turned up the intensity late in the first half. At that point, trailing by 20, Marauders leading scorer Phil performed a perfectly executed, AND1-style klowning against aforementioned SD JAMMIN star Roman. Phil accomplished this by scooping the ball past Roman's right shoulder, and then running around his left to retrieve the ball on the other side. While a crowd pleaser at the time, one can imagine that this was a hurtful and emotionally difficult event for Roman. It is easy to see how a team such as SD JAMMIN might be able to use something like this for motivation. Or perhaps they are just classy competitors who believe they are doing themselves and their opponents a disservice by not giving it all they've got for 40 full minutes regardless of the score.

Whatever the reason, the Marauders' win-streak has been broken, and many are again looking for a winning solution. Following the game, power-forward Victor suggested that the Marauders should hold practices. Please see my response below: