Today is September 21st, otherwise known as the last day of summer 2016. I’ve got to say that this summer was a great one for bocce in Syracuse. The Triple Crown standings not only serve as bragging rights for some, but as a way to relive the biggest moments of the season that has already past us by.
It all started in late May, when the regular season got under way. We had a month to get ourselves in mid-season form as they say, and then the Triple Crown race began in July with the one-on-one tournament.
Do you remember that day? It was 96 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I think we started at 11am, and we didn’t finish until after 9pm. Yes the championship was won in total darkness (not counting our lights of course). Some highlights that I remember . . . Phil Martino trailing Scott Mead 9-2 then vomiting from heat stroke, and yet still finding a way to come back and win the game. Phil Martino and Monica Angelosanto recreating their 2014 championship game and playing up to and beyond those lofty standards. Mike Aylesworth and Colin Donahoe showing up an hour before the tournament to play a make up game, and Mike making it to the championship by playing almost 12 straight hours in brutal heat, and ironically eventually losing because of the darkness.
You get 3 points in the Triple Crown standings for winning a tournament, 2 points for finishing second, and 1 point for finishing third. For the one-on-one tournament here are the point distributions.
Phil Martino – 3
Mike Aylesworth – 2
Monica Angelosanto – 1
The second leg of the Triple Crown came about a month later on August 27th when we crowned a Turbo Bocce Champion. This tournament was really all about the Dog Brothers who were able to win the Tuesday championship without losing a single game (in true Tipp Hill Tossers style!). The biggest story of the Tuesday league was the Cinderella run of the Deep Vees who started the season slow, then went on a huge winning streak to earn the 11 seed, and took that momentum through three big upsets and all the way to the Turbo Bocce finals. In the Wednesday league, Balls of Fury were the defending champions and the favorites, but found themselves in a fight for their lives in the championship game against the Expert Ball Handlers, finally beating them in a close third game.
Here are the Triple Crown Points:
Phil Martino – 3
George Christou – 3
John Bauman – 3
Robb Jones – 3
Mark Chambers – 2
Brian Roy -2
Mark Avery Claridge – 2
Ken Brenner – 2
Mike Aylesworth – 1
Colin Donahoe – 1
Sam Pascarella – 1
Pasquale Pascarella – 1
The final leg of the Triple Crown happened on September 17th at the Syracuse Italian Fest bocce tournament. This is a 4 on 4 tournament open to anybody in Syracuse, and after a seven year winning streak we failed to win the title last year or the first time and were hungry to make amends this year. 23 teams in total played, and 10 of them were teams from our league so the odds were in our favor – but let me tell you something, in this world you are either a sheep or a wolf – its either eat or get eaten – and unfortunately we proved to be sheep. Things got a bit wooly for us towards the end. I mean we got lamb-asted out there. Do ewe see where I’m going with this? I’m disguised by the shear incompetence of it all. By the end we were singing “baby don’t heard me, no more.” We got rammed in the . . . okay, I think you get my point . . . we lost, also my brain hurts. Even though we did not emerge as total champs as we are used to, several teams had very good days, especially Mike Aylesworth, Allison Bodine, Tim Maynard and Rick Heffernan who finished in third place and walked away with some prize money.
The points for the Italian Fest look like this:
Mike Aylesworth – 1
Allison Bodine – 1
Tim Maynard – 1
Rick Heffernan – 1
Lets add up some totals . . . for the season our Triple Crown race breaks down this way . . .
Phil Martino – 6
Mike Aylesworth – 4
George Christou – 3
John Bauman – 3
Robb Jones – 3
Mark Chambers – 2
Brian Roy -2
Mark Avery Claridge – 2
Ken Brenner – 2
Monica Angelosanto – 1
Colin Donahoe – 1
Sam Pascarella – 1
Pasquale Pascarella – 1
Allison Bodine – 1
Tim Maynard – 1
Rick Heffernan – 1
Finishing first in the Triple Crown Race is Phil Martino with 6 points. I know he was looking to win all three tournaments, but its a big deal to get even a single point in the triple crown standings, and winning two of the three big tournaments is a huge deal.
Mike Aylesworth finished second in the Triple Crown race and also deserves special mention for being the only person this year to finish in the top three in each of the three big tournaments.
Congrats to everyone on this exclusive list. You truly are the best of the best!
