At Long Last

The longest scoring drought in Blues team history (maybe the longest drought in footy history) belonged to team president, Captain James Patrick "Los Manos De Los Pietros" Martin.  Chim-Chim had never scored in his five and a half year career.  Not one goal.  Ever.  Frankly, he had never really even been close.

But in dramatic fashion during the waning moments of a lopsided 16.13.109 to 4.8.32 victory by St. Louis over the Kansas City Power, Old Hands of Stone, himself, did the unthinkable.  With seconds to go in the game and not a clue of where to play in the forward line, Chim-Chim was instructed on the area in which he should roam and all of the sudden the ball was kicked out of the half forward line headed straight for Jim.  Standing all alone and despite his hands, somehow Chimmy managed to mark the ball.  Then fear enveloped him and his loved ones.

For a moment that seemed like hours, Chim-Chim froze, not knowing if he should back up or play on.  In an instant though, he was off.  Running with the fluidity of a stegosaurus recently wounded by a tyrannosaurs rex attack, Jim got within range with no opponent near him, dropped the ball to his boot, and miraculously kicked the ball inches inside the right post.  The Blues team and the fans in the stands erupted in cheers as Jim hugged a teammate and never broke stride as he pulled off his scarf and charged straight for the sidelines and the waiting throng of admirers.  Moments later, the final horn sounded.  It's just a good thing he had no idea he was that close to blowing it.

By the time Chimmay had scored, the game was no longer in doubt.  On the hottest and most humid day so far this St. Louis summer, the Blues cruised to their second straight one-hundred-point game and another lopsided victory.  The Blues seemed to control the ball more than KC in the initial stanza, but lead only 16-8 at the first break.  However, the Blues exploded for eight majors and 51 points in the second quarter, while holding the Power to a mere three behinds, and St. Louis coasted through the second half. 

Best on Ground honors have to go to Pre-Game Co-Captain Christopher "Bluey" Carroll, who had eight goals to go with no behinds and five marks.  He had a dominating day, seeming to catch anything that came within arm reach and never missing on kicks to goal.  Bluey's fellow Pre-Game Co-Captain spent the day behind the goal practically nude.

The Old Dark Blue mixed things up in the game, playing Nathan "Francis" Zenser and Somebody "Something" Flinn in the ruck at times, and putting Joseph "Shoe" Schomaker in the back.  "Something" even managed to put a knee in the chest of Former Blues President Now Power Player Ryan K. Richardson.  Good to see you, Rhine.  Some other minor experiments were tried in this "friendly," but none seemed to slow the Archers down.  With both ends of the Meat Curtain gone, the Blues defense was anchored by Matt "Bluto" Hans, who played a remarkable game.  Bluto's puissance was augmented by his frequent screeching, an affectation that no doubt contributed to the success of the defense.  The game also saw the return of Chris "CC" Cicci.  Cicci showed no rust, being an almost ubiquitous presence on the wing and taking two marvelous marks, thus earning some BOG votes of his own.

Perhaps the biggest experiment was the edition of a non-player coach for the Blues, Rob "Quiznos" Somethingorother.  Quiz did a great job managing the bench, and controlling the players when their tempers got as hot as the temperature on the field.  The Shadowy Executive Committee thinks it just may offer him a full-time position (assuming he starts showing up to practice).

The game was temporarily stopped when the flailing hand of Dan "Cameraman" Kocka smacked a KC player in the nose causing excessive bleeding.  Luckily, there was no real damage to the Power man, who was fine by the end of the game.  But even the blood spewing drama could not overshadow Jimmy Boy's major.  For that, Chim-Chim earns the One-Percenter award, since he's now scored a goal in approximately one percent of the games he has played.

Footy.  Yeah, that's the game.

Goals:

Chris Carroll (8), Jason Goodger (3), Chris Cicci, Dan Kocka, Jim Martin, Dan Sergott, Ben Kandy

Best On Ground:

Chris Carroll, Jason Goodger, Chris Cicci

- Benjamin Lipman
(371)