UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION
November 2002
Spokes Ableman Goes to
Montgomery with a banjo on his knee
By Ed Hooper
"Hey Helmet Head, is this an International tournament?” Said my smart aleck friend Spokes Ableman.
"What are you talking
about, Spokes?”
"Well, look at that South Florida team. You don’t need a classification card to play on that team, you need a green card,” Spokes jabbed. “Looks like a Canadian invasion with a little European flair. I think that coach just told me off in French. It sounded nice, though.”
"As usual, Ableman, you never get to the point. You know - the games!
“I swear, HH, you get grumpier and grumpier with each gray hair. And you have a Canadian of your own, eh? Oh, and what’s with the new name? Hoveround Lightning, what’s that a vacuum cleaner or something?”
"Stop. This is a fantastic tournament put on by Montgomery Therapeutic Rec Center’s Adaptive Sports Program – and they don’t even have a quad rugby team. They do a great job and the food is Southern and good, good. So please talk about that stuff,” I pleaded.
"Where do I start?" Spokes began. "This big dog Kirkland is knocking the opposition around like they cut in the fried chicken line and took the last of his favorite choice of white or dark. How the heck does anyone beat this Lakeshore team? Bobby, Cliff, Eddie, get to the ball faster than anything I’ve seen, and, of course Wayne came down on Sunday to seal the deal on you Lightning lads.”
"We’re learning, Spokes, as is everyone who is here, including Lakeshore. You grow or you wilt.”
"You’re wilting my
brain, HH - you and that dog that’s been barking for 3 days. Anyway,
there are some good looking teams developing.
Charlotte
picking up that 2.5 Aussie, Patrick Ryan, and Peter coming back from New
Zealand will help them. But Matt Crisp is out for post season and
that will hurt their rotation (a baby’s on the way for Matt and his wife).
Good luck with that!
“And Kentucky TNT hangs tough until like their name, they explode.”
"And now back to the South Florida boys. I’m not sure who is actually on their roster, but the team looks solid even though Charlotte played them one hell of a good game for 3rd and 4th. That Patrice races around like the energizer bunny. He never wears out. And Patrick and C Ray are playing well at the low spot.
“Rounding it out was Augusta and Jackson, both developing programs which will get better and better,” Spokes finished,
"When did you get so nice for such an extended period of time?” I asked.
“You bring out my soft nature, HH. As for scores and highlights, well I have a couple of comments.
“Charlotte had a solid
shot at third place but faded just enough in the fourth quarter to let the
Rattlers win it.
"You Lightning boys started slow, and let the Demolition get up on you, and even though you fought back in the second quarter and got it to within two and the had the ball you couldn’t quite overcome your inexperience playing together to get any closer to the Champs,” Spokes concluded.
"Well, thanks, Spokes. Again you managed a whole segment without mentioning a single score,” I said.
"Details,” Spokes retorted. “The way things are going, the only numbers I need to keep track of is the currency exchanges from 7 or 8 countries. For a fee, I can turn Rubles into dollars. Hey, do the Russians have quad rugby players?”
Thank you Montgomery!
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