Deerfield proved a welcome break from Riata.
You pandas who are avid fans are right--it's a lot like Argosy, and that fact brought out some familiar faces--Mikey, Attorney Scott, Jess, Dave, Creepy, Wescott, Ronin Steve, and yours truly.
At the Deer, that's what's known as a quorum, that will allow good games all day. Much skill and valor was displayed, just like old times!
We did an experiment with cameras on each side of the court that might lead to TOTAL COVERAGE, if the kinks can get worked out.
That's the good part, which is plenty good.
But...
There are still problems:
Issue #1--winning hearts and minds.
First game I got in on involved perhaps 2-3 other residents besides Deer Chief Rob. They were grumbling about our rules. I've seen this from both Riata and Deerfield--they like to volley for serve. Y'all remember PING, right? I think we've outgrown it, but humor them, please.
They also didn't like our penchant to armpit crash the net. Well, I've only been pining over the solution to this for 20 years or so, and I don't have one. The league is pretty inflexible on the subject of net contact, so our basic implicit message on this day was this: "Yes, visitors make the rules now. We are here at the invitation of Resident Rob, and there are more of us than there are of you. We're also better than you are, and more experienced. If you can muster sufficient manpower to field a team that will defeat us and thereby prove the superiority of your rules, we'll play by them. No? Then go bounce a ball in the corner, or participate, and try not to get hurt."
Initial impression is that Deer Chief Rob is a hard drinking, music loving, mouthy player. Reminds me of... me! We can work with him. Still remains to be seen what his level of involvement is (I'll get to that soon). The rest of them... not so much. I was stuck with a 1 and over player for about half the day, which is like giving the other team an extra point guard. He put nice high floaters over every time. The others, worse!
Smaller pool = less buoys, and less damaging when they play. But they exist. And we must be willing to work with them. However, they seemed rather grumpy and/or intimidated to me. That ain't good, but it's about the best we have to offer under current conditions.
Resident Rob took the lead in chasing away a family of children with water wings who wished to occupy the ball pool, when there is another one they could bask in. And there was only a little hating. 6 beer Scotty almost hit em with a ball to chase em out. Bad Scotty. That step is only taken when they refuse to leave, and you tell them you will play "around" them. See Wescott putting the mark of shame in the back of a Riata drunkard with a serve right into his back! And children are NOT targets...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU04j2ssNAk
Issue #2 Deerfield Obstacle
Remember the SNL skit with the single issue candidate for NYC Mayor who kept saying "The rent is too damn high!"? Well, you're no doubt familiar with my refrain: "The net is too damn low!" That remains true. Gosh, it's been a while since I've been beaten up real good playing ball. Current Riata net height prevents that. Got to block and spike at Deer though. Mixed bag for a professional, but a higher net will make residents possibly less fearful, and will make the game better, dammit. Since we're trying to recreate Argosy, someone get out there with a tape measure and determine differentiation in net height, so that we can dismiss the how full of shit am I question.
Hear me out before poopy head judgment is rendered. Turns out the fix is easy. Upon further examination, Deerfield net is affixed at the top with holes drilled through the poles, with bolts and screws holding it in. So, guess what, rather than replacing the poles, the fix is simple and non-invasive--drill holes higher--I recommend 2-3 at various increments. Raise it when you start the day, lower it when you're done. No muss, no fuss. Now all we need is Resident Rob's permission to do a really simple thing--drill baby drill! (still after dark say I). And no reason to ask management permission to put extra holes in a pole that already has holes. Quite different than complete replacement.
However, the second day I've played there brought another annoying problem to not just my attention. POINTY PLANTS. I lost Grippy and Jethro lost Dragon Grippy to the pointy plants. This is actually worse than any issues with the net.
No one likes being poked in the balls! Those plants either have to be clipped, or, with permission of management of course, moved way the F away from the court. I won't bring another ball out there until this is done.
Issue #3 Game time
I understand it's early on for this venue, and many of you have little experience with this in terms of your various tenures at Argosy, but setting up a regular schedule is crucial. When and who's going to be there are questions that kill ball. They need to be answered more or less ahead of time. I'm in the dark. What does Resident Rob, Chief of Deer say? I've taken to bringing my fight bag with me to work, in case the go code is issued, but I'd rather know when to do so. Can we work on that?
Issue #4 The Big Picture
We've been a bi-poolar league for some time now. Longer than some of you would care to admit. When Panda Corps lost the rebel base, that could've been the end. Instead, Riata took us in, because certain pandas had been building rapport up there.
I'm unwilling to completely abandon a reliable venue for the hopes and dreams that the Deergosy will rise. It could also turn into the Mirage. So far I have no guarantees. So, as I did when I saw the handwriting on the wall for Argosy, I intend to hedge my bets. What I'm getting at here is that Dub is a panda, Tbone and Jared are basically pandas, albeit ones who don't travel all that far, or in Tbone's case, at all.
Therefore, in the interest of the greater league, I'm not willing to play every game at Deerfield this summer. Especially since issue #3 has not even been debated, let alone resolved.
Here's what I propose, based on input and schedules I'm aware of: Deerfield Saturday, Riata Sunday.
Dub wants to see the Deerfield "professionalized" in terms of the Obstacle (metrics, not players) before he travels, echoing my concerns. Jared can't play Saturdays, and we'd really have to sell the venue to get him that far south. I ain't willing to sell it yet.
Just speaking for myself, but I don't value leaving 3 northside pandas in the lurch. And the go code has been really shaky for the Deer.
See issue #3 again. I got's ta know what's going on more than an hour before kickoff on the weekend, or I'm headed to Riata, where I know there is "game."
This ain't hard, gents. Just give me solace in saying there's Deerfield game on Saturday at a certain time, and I'm there. I'm the only one who has to split my time between venues, and if Riata really pisses me off, I will make the long ass drive from R to D on Sunday.
Leaving everything up in the air just damages both options.
Chief Lear has spoken