SUNDAYS #9 vs. FLUKES:

(vol. 14S, no. 9; newsletter by j.c.)
Walt Disney, a singer named Springsteen, and a horse named Seabiscuit beat the Pirates on Sunday night.

The Pirates were matched up against the Flukes, but the heart of the Coastal Pirates lineup was out on R&R to shake off some of this season's blues: Mike Farrell at Disney World (Did you go on the “Pirates of the Caribbean Ride”? They move pretty slow — just like on the rink); Harris and Tim Hand at the Bruce Concert (“Wall township's a town for losers and we're blowing outta here to win”); Russ at Saratoga for the running Ferdinand's Wake (Save our Kentucky Derby winners and boycott Japanese pet food); and lastly, Chris a no-show due to schedule confusion (Misunderstood the “Let's have Fluke for dinner at 8:00 Sunday” comment and went to the Sea Shanty instead.)

With those staples out of the lineup, The Pirates “shortened” bench looked as follows: Wildman (recovering from respiratory infection), Dan DiPierro (drove five hours from Rhode Island to make the game), Kevin (played the game right before ours), Scooby, Scotty “The Bull” and Glenn Farkas. In net was Dougie Collimore, making his second start of the Summer season. The Pirates also picked-up a Blackhawk defenseman named Tim, which allowed the Pirates two substitutes.

In the 1st, The Pirates held the Flukes in check for the first 5:00 minutes and missed a few quality scoring chances before the Flukes netted a goal. We continued to play strong defensive game and pressured, but couldn't tie the game up. Eventually the Flukes capitalized and led 2-0 and that score held at the first break.

As the 2nd period moved on, the Pirates began to lose their step and the Flukes took it to us — scoring seven more goals by the time the final buzzer sounded. We would put in two of our own (both by Wildman), and probably should have had a couple more.

We can compete with “A” teams if we had some more legs and keep in shape. Work out this week, because we got the Flyers next week (who are coming off shutting out the Blackhawks).