SUNDAYS #5 vs. JAGUARS:

(vol. 30S, no. 5; newsletter by h.s.)
I sent Tony a congratulatory email on his 7-point effort the day after this game, and his reply follows:“I felt good and after a slow first 10 minutes, the team looked GREAT!”

Many of us newsletter writers could take a tip from Anthony when it comes to summing-up these games in a concise manner (i.e. #67). In fourteen words, he managed to capture the essense of the Pirates' fourth win of the season — a “mercy” with 6:00-mnutes remaining on the clock. For those who like a slightly longer account, keep reading ...

The Pirates began the second half of the regular season with a shortened eight-man bench. Missing were Kevin, Dan DiPierro, and Russ (more on that below). Dan, incidentally, was in Chicago watching his son Greg compete in State Wars; The Pirates have secured Greg's contract when he becomes eligible for the over-30 league in 2022. Subs were a bit hard to come by, but Bobby Farkas suited-up for the Pirates in his first appearance since last season's Championship game.

The Men In (New) Black scored on the first shift at the 21:01-mark on a beautiful pass (yes, pass) from Brooks. Brooks and Tony raced down the ice together and at the last possible moment Brooks shuffled-off the puck to Tony for a great one-timer and the 1-0 lead. After that it was, as Tony said above, an even game for the next 10:00 minutes ... but that's when the Pirates woke up. Beginning at the 9:20-minute mark, the Pirates scored three goals on consecutive plays in the span of :90 seconds: Mike (assist Brooks); Brooks (assist Tony); and Tony (assists Brooks, Farrell). Thing got even worse for the Jags when Brooks was pulled-down in the waning minutes of the 1st period and awarded a penalty shot; he deked the goalie so well that Peter Forsberg would've been envious.

Entering the final period with the 5-0 lead, the Pirates were clearly in control. Brooks finished-up his hattrick early on (assist Tony), but a strange penalty to LeMatty gave the Jags a powerplay. They scored their lone goal of the night on the following play — a strange bounce off the boards that landed on the blade of Jag at the edge of the crease. Although the shutout was through, the Pirates were not — they would score three more times before the game was officially called at the 6:00-minute mark: Tony (assist Brooks); G. Farkas (assist Tony); and Ralz (assist B. Farkas). The win boosted the Pirates to eight points on the season — double that of the second place team in our division.

Pirate items of interest: As of this writing, Gucci is in Las Vegas competing in the Million Dollar Blackjack Tourney that you've no doubt heard about. Debbie (aka “Gucci's Girl”) reports that in the 1st round Gucci qualified from the field of 300 down to 120 players. In the 2nd round, he again advanced to the field of 48. Only 18 of those will go to the money round (and ultimately the million bucks!), so stay tuned for updates. • No word yet on whether the S.O.C. will pursue “fines” against the Captain for missing Sunday's game without giving proper notification. At the post-game, teammates were split amongst those who felt he should pay the fine, and those who said that that Haskell day is a given that he won't show.
date of game: 8.05.07