Round 6, June 18 , Mordi away: The Power of Won, but who is the ONE ?

Summary:

Well what an outstanding result on Saturday; we beat the up-to-then undefeated top-side Mordialloc 33 games to 25, 2 sets all, to earn 6 points!  Pairs were #1 pair Nick & Mark (9-10, 10-3), #2 pair Alan & Nosti (10-2,4-10). Great result as it inches us closer to Pt Melb who crapped out against Parkdale 1-7 on the same day J  This Sat we’re also up against Parkdale (who are now top-side after our crushing of Mordi): team is Alan & Mark, Dean & Neale, playing away.  Team practice is on again this Thurs at 7pm, so come on down….

Round 6 Sat June 18^th

Many thanks to Nosti for artfully driving most of the Team (including coach & #1 Team supporter Kevin) down to picturesque Parkdale. We arrived to find a slightly befuddled (or as the Americans would say: befuffled) Alan who had just arrived after cruising up & down MacDonald St for 15 minutes with his window down shouting out at pedestrians: “Have any of you seen any tennis courts around here? I’ve lost a Tennis club somewhere, can you help me??”.

Now it’s not often that these Match Summaries mention player’s Race or Culture, but it was definitely the theme for the day based on conversations in the car and during afternoon tea, so if you are easily offended by such things then please read on…

The Team consisted of:

Nick (aka Black Caviar) the German: Partnering Nick can be quite amusing. There you are absolutely thrilled when you get any shot in over the net, ecstatic when it’s a drive down the line and frozen in disbelief when it’s a cracking backhand, all the while Nick is encouraging you on when you eventually fuck up saying “don’t get down”, “focus on the next point”, “if is the biggest word in the English dictionary…”. All good stuff, BUT, when the German misses 3 forehands in a row then the shoulders slump, a funk descends and there’s mumblings of “oh, my forehand is so crap today. I can’t play…”). Having banged in 20 previous forehand winners doesn’t seem to count; typically German, everything has to be done exactly right every time. That’s our Nick; failure is not an option.

Mark (aka too many to mention, none of them pleasant) the Polak: Pseudo/fill-in/acting/shadow Team Captain. Great overhead smash and occasional 1^st serve; not much else to say really. A damp squib all round.

Nosti (aka Golden Greek) the Greek: Official Power Tools sponsor to the Team. If you need to plane/shave flat spots from your racquets, shorten your racquet handle, jigsaw some grooves for added grip then see Nosti for a great deal and Team discount. First 20 orders will get an imported blender that makes ice-cream from frozen bananas (yes, really). Greek down to his boots.

Alan (aka man-about-town) the Scot:  Raconteur, conversationalist, our finger-on-the-pulse mentor in life. As a child having eaten haggis, porridge with cold water and salt, and deep-fried egg covered in pork fat, no wonder Alan has a permanent smile on his face now that he lives in Australia and is a closet food critic.

Match began with Nick & Mark (the Prussians) taking on the Mordi #1s, with Alan & Nosti against the #2s. Employing his usual tactics for team motivation, the captain (he really should be given more credit than he is…) told Nick we were the #2 pair playing the #2s to squeeze every bit of competitive juice out of the German, and didn’t tell the Scot & the Greek the true form of their opponents. At the end of the 1^st set the Prussians had just lost 10-9, although Nick was self-flagellating that he lost the last game (still thinking it was the Mordi #2 pair we were playing), while the Scot & the Greek demolished the Mordi #2s 10-2 and were on cloud 9:

The pairs reversed and the Prussians mangled Mordi #2s 10-3 and the self-proclaimed SuperStars lost 4-10 to the Mordi #1s. We won the day 33 games to 25, 2 sets all. Magnificent result and an upset to the standings. So, how did we beat the side that had not lost a match so far this season ????

The Big Tissue:

Alan’s verdict: The worse one yet! We were confronted with a bowl of soggy crisps and a plate of old tim-tams; we thought that was it, but thankfully some party pies & sausage rolls came out at the end. Conversation from the hosts was non-existant and it was left up to us to reminisce about Europe and our cultural roots. Nosti entertained us on how to make ice-cream from frozen bananas (yes, really).  Rating: 2 thumbs down and no facial exaltations. Quote of the afternoon: after Nick was spruiking the wonderous virtues of the German Autobahns and how you could get to Paris in 3 hours, Nosti replied “well we’ve got Albury in 3 hours, what’s your point ????”

Journey home:

Conversation pretty much dominated by how to make ice-cream from frozen bananas (yes, really). Thanks Nosti for driving and not leaving me behind….

Next round:

This Saturday away at Parkdale. The big Deano is back with his hand mended and a wedding under his belt, Neale is going to hunt cougars and MILFs, the urbane Alan will cast his judgemental eye on Mordi’s sister club’s fair, and Mark is going along for the ride. Practice this Thurs at 7pm.

The Team has turned the corner….. J

Mark