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Colonel gets mad, then gets even

When the Colonel got mad, his team got even.

Stinging from a blistering clearing shot that careened off his thigh, the fiery forward knocked down the evil orange plastic ball and launched a laser of his own past a shellshocked Billy Idol. The goal sparked his side's 21-19 overtime win.

"I was mad, I was in pain," said the Colonel of Smith's clearing blast gone awry. "I just wanted to hit the ball as hard as I could and get it on the net."

The sizzler bounced off Billy Idol's chest and rolled past his pads into the net. For the fourth time in Sunday's game, the Colonel and his mates had pulled themselves back within a goal of their foes. But while the other comeback attempts were quickly snuffed out, this time they were not to be denied.

"That was a big motivator for us," said Gump, whose early struggles helped put his team in the hole from which they spent most of the day trying to escape. "You hear that yelp first and then you hear the scream when he scored, that fired us up for sure."

And it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. After spotting their opponents a quick 6-0 lead, the Colonel and his mates had battled back to within a goal three times; but they lacked the fire inside to take their game up the notch they needed to tie the score.

"it's like quicksand," said Gump of his side's inability to seal the comeback deal. "You're trying to pull yourself out, but you can't quite seem to make it."

Until Smith's sloppy thighslapper ignited the Colonel's famous temper.

"Everyone knows that when the Colonel gets angry, you've got to keep your distance from him," said Bird. "They started to get sloppy defensively."

Indeed, both the winning goal and the clincher were the result of giveaways in the defensive zone.

"In the moment, you think it doesn't matter," said Smith of the sloppy clearing passes that cost them the game, including one off his own stick right to Tractor, who made no mistake to tie the game for the first time, 19-19. "In hindsight, you think you shouldn't have done that. We just woke up the wrong people."

"We were coming from behind the whole game," said Colonel. "We just wanted to try to win, and when we got a few good bounces, we buried them."

With no rain, and the courts drying, it seemed a perfect day for road hockey. But the tardy arrival of a number of roadsters had some of the early arrivals thinking a game might not even happen. In fact, they were preparing for an improvised scrimmage of two-on-two when Smith, Cowboy Bill, Kid, Colonel all showed up late.

They were joined by Sunday Morning upstart, Tractor, a visiting journalist on the prowl for a story about the enigmatic Beetle Boy who was handed a stick and implored to learn about the real Beetle Boy, he'd have to play against him. After a shakey start and some unsure footware sent him tumbling to the court three times in his first two shifts, he rallied to muck it up along the boards and then score the game-tying goal.

For Sunday's victors, it was a long road back. But despite playing from behind all game, they never lost confidence.
"I think when you're battling and battling, you just have that drive, you don't give up," said Gump of his side's persistence.
"As long as it's close, you're always in it here," said Colonel. "We knew we just had to keep playing hard. You're working hard because you have to come from behind, you can't afford to take any shifts off."
Meanwhile, said Smith, constantly seeing their leads whittled away may have had a deflating effect on his team. "It wears on you. You're scoring a few goals but they you keep blowing the lead. It sucks."

With only six games remaining before the start of the Stanely Stick championship series, time is running out for veterans like Paul One, Lobsterboy, Wendel, Pig Farming Goalie and Ottoman to play the requisite games to be elligible for post-season play.

Posted by jaysuburb at March 18, 2007 04:00 PM