JCC Floor Hockey

 

Juranka's Corner

Apr 10, 2006

i would have been 100% for
rescheduling the next game
if red or yellow had lost

before the last game
jamie and i talked about
wanting a 3-game series

we love the extra playing time
as well as the back and forth victories
and finally the drama of the third game

jamie and i discussed it
before the game when
things were looking bad for red

now it seems likely
that we'll have a 3 game series so
i can't understand why there's a problem

if we wait for others to return
(which is unprecedented)
we make a 3 game series less likely

as jamie and adam may recall
last year the grey eminence beat the ronnellys
in the first semi-final game without tanner
and came within minutes of eliminating them
with only four players

amir had remarked at the time that those four
harris, chris, alan and roy had shown
in that losing effort
the most impressive playoff spirit

chambers and silverman were playing
the best games they had ever played

tanner returned for the tie-breaker
but the ronnellys won
in a real close squeaker

this year yellow and red's backs
are no longer against the wall,
black's and grey's is

last monday's games were played
with red and yellow knowing that if they didn't win
then then they would likely end up losing in 2 games

don't underestimate the power of that

black knew that if they didn't win
the last regular season game then
we could end up in third place
and have to play a quarter-final elimination game
without steve

playing that game was scarry enough but
the thought of having to do it without steve
was petrifying and so the need to win
our last regular season game
was motivated more by THAT
than it was by the desire to finish first in the league

red and yellow had that motivation in the last game
and it was probably an important INVISIBLE factor
which may have influenced the results

black and grey could afford
a more leisurely attitude
but for red and yellow
it was do-or-die

its unfair to grey and black
to reframe the situation after
yellow and red have won
potentially benefiting from that
invisible powerful motivator (IPM)

having said that, lets remember
how well teams have faired
without their franchise players

the raptors without carter
and the eminence without tanner
and lets not assume that
the second game next week
is going to automatically be won
by black and grey

over-confidence will have either of those teams
eliminated by the end of the evening

black and grey need to recognize that
even without two of their strongest players
both red and yellow stand on the verge
of ending their seasons in a flash

anyone could have won the last game
both went down to the final whistle

the black and yellow game even went into overtime

compassion could be shown towards a team
that unfairly faces pre-mature elimination (PME) but
red and yellow are not suffering from that ailment

if they do both lose next week
then they will both be at full strength
(minus timmy unfortunately)
when the ultimate showdown happens
two weeks from now


Juranka's Corner Archive

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