Frosty Hollow Freeze @ Well Strung:
The Frosty Hollow Freeze headed out on the road; all the way to Washington Crossing on a rainy and chilly day. The Freeze were set to take on Well Strung for a 3:30 start time. Because of the intense rain outside, this game was propped inside on the dome hard courts. The Well Strung crowd was already scouting out the Freeze team and the soft boos were ringing as the Freeze entered the building.
The PA announcer could not be heard to recite the starting lineups for this game, either because of the boos or the rain outside. The Freeze lineup was written out nicely.
Walking out on the Singles courts you have, Ian Blackman and Shawn Gallagher. Walking out to the Doubles courts you have, Dmitry Belov and Bill Burger, Ashish Patel and Eric Ulzinow, and Lance Shaffer and Mark Shaffer. You also have the loud Freeze crowd making noise to cheer on their team. Even on the road, the Freeze fans are involved!
The game began and with an exciting start. Ian Blackman flipped the scorecards fast by putting in 5 points to give the Freeze the lead with a solid performance. Ashish Patel and Eric Ulzinow unstrung their opponents. It was like their opponents were trying to climb a ladder in a rain storm to earn a point. Patel and Ulzinow struck to add 4 more points. Lance Shaffer and Mark Shaffer joined in on the fun by adding another 3 points. They grinded out points while the crowd was pounding on the glass behind the courts. Dmitry Belov and Bill Burger, paired together for the first time fit nice together and had a long close match. Shawn Gallagher's singles court seemed like it went on for days; literally.
The Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze win! A tight 12-10 score and the Freeze stay undefeated. They want to continue their road swing on a good note. The Freeze have some tough teams coming up so they are going to have to be fully prepared. It should be fun to watch! Go Freeze Go!
Also; The Carlos Araujo Show, aired on ESPN 8 (el Ocho) on Friday night:
Hello again aficionados of the Freeze, this is Carlos reporting on the match played against the Well Strung (or not so well hung) from BCRC. Reporting from ESPN 8 (el Ocho).
In the third match of the season, the Freeze rain on the parade of the Well Stressed. On a rainy day, with first place on the line, the Freeze dominated again. To start, 1st singles, Ian (good old Lemon Drop) Blackman, disposed of his opponent in record fashion, winning 6-2/6-3, not dropping a text in the match. Cool, calm and out of gas money, he efficiently washed away his opponent. 2nd singles was supposed to be Zack (The Kid) McGowan. However, The Kid had a prior engagement at Chucky Cheese and his match was played on Thursday.
One a quick note, The Freeze has recently hired a press secretary, to address any questions that the fourth estate might want to have answered, so Number One fan Heather “Spicer” is in the role now. The first briefing will be to answer questions about Nadine (Supermom) Shaffer asking for the loyalty of all the Freezers (a la Trump).
As far as the doubles matches, 1st doubles, Bill (I am usually not nervous) Burger and Dmitry (the terminator) Belov had a tough match in their hands, losing in two tough sets. It was Billy boy’s debut and possibly goodbye as well. Just kidding. There are rumors he can play better. Dmitry (The terminator) Belov commented about Billy boy “with the proper motivation, Bill will play better” as he prepared with torture room.
In the 2nd doubles match, Team Jellystone Park, Ashish (BooBoo Bear) Patel and Eric (Yogi Bear) Ulzinow, smashed their win to a victory. Any opponents of The Smash Brothers from now on will have to sign a waiver of liability in case their rivals get tattooed by a volley at the net. Great win and as a reward, the Team captain had a picnic basket ready for them.
Finally, 3rd doubles match, another match that was not be seen by those with heart problems, the Grinding Lobsters were taken to three sets again before prevailing. In the initial set, Lance (Baby grinder) Shaffer and Mark (Papa grinder) Shaffer seemed to be out of their element (water, perhaps). In the second set, things did not look much better, going to a tiebreaker, with the other team doing their part to make the match close (cheating). However, in the second set tiebreaker, Lance finally reacted to the water pills and began to play as always. Papa grinder was energized and although also playing on a bad claw, put the third set away quickly giving Super Mom Shaffer a great mother’s day gift.
Finally, the Freeze 2nd singles match was played. Shawn Gallagher wanted to put the icing on the cake on a match already won. However, Ole Lemon Drop came up short in his effort. We know he plays really, really good, so captain Super Mom has appointed an Special Investigator to if there’s any collusion between Lemon Drop # 2 racquet and the tennis balls used that keeps Shawn from winning. We will see where the investigation goes.
Overall, another great match for the Freeze, we are like the Post Office, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these Freezers from the swift beating of our opponents"
Until next time, I pity the fool who decides to take on Freeze. Carlos signing off.