Genesee County All-Stars 20, Evans Scholars 1
Wow. I mean, wow. The poor bastards we were playing against never had a chance. Again, they were not a bad team; they won both opening sprints. (Each half opens with both teams lined up alongside their respective goals. The ball is thrown into the exact middle of the pool and the teams race out to get it. We're fast, but they beat us squarely both times.) Early on, we just passed around on offense and took quality shots; before they got a single decent chance, the score was 5-0. Then, we clamped down on defense. Their forwards had to come back farther and farther to get the ball and every time they wheeled to face the goal and look for passes, they found either Lube or myself right there. You just aren't going to win if your forwards are stuck ten yards out from the goal. With about five minutes left in the second (the game consists of two fifteen-minute halves), one of their forwards - the one responsible for their solitary goal - turned around and extended his hand. "Hey, good job, you guys play some great defense." The credit should go to Lube, Palmer, and Purman before me. (Purman played goal in the first. Up 10-1 at the half I let him have some field time and put Lube in goal, where he was flawless in the second.) No G tonight, though I don't know why. The Bald Mountain had a meeting that ran late; he didn't get to play last year and it is so critical to his development to get him in the water before the playoffs. Reports indicate the Trevor King has some kind of massive shoulder injury; however, Martel landed a wicked backwards shot tonight, filling Trevor's specialty. Secret Sunday practices have yielded a few "trick plays" that we're going to try out next week, competition permitting. My favorites: the "Circle Jerk" and "Blue 32."

This season is a dream. Honestly, we're just that good compared to our opponents thus far. A little surprisingly, all the guys defer to me. I ask them where they'd like to play and the response is always, "Wherever you need me." Guys who I know want to play forward I need back at mid, potentials middies back on defense, but everybody does his job without complaint. It's really, really gratifying. I swear, we need to take innertube water polo national.