Quad Rugby/Story - Spokes Ablemab visits Tampa

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

January 2006

Spokes Ableman, Speed Kills at Coloplast International
by Ed Hooper

"I’m sitting here trying to decide, Helmet Head.”

“What’s that, oh great wizard?”

“When you were playing back in olden days, do you think that you were just a little bit slower or a little bit faster than Phoenix’s 3.0 Shinichi Shimakawa?”

“Well, smart ass, I’d say slower, since I’ve never seen anyone in a rugby chair – maybe any chair – scoot like this guy. Wow!”

“True, you couldn’t fall off of a cliff that fast, HH.”

“Well, Ableman, at least you’re talking about rugby for a change.”

“Yeah, it’s always a pleasure watching you quads trying to kill one another. When Shimakawa spills, it’s like a NASCAR crash – scary but entertaining. He certainly deserved MVP. Hey, there were para whispers coming from the crowd.”

“Spokes, that’s why we have classifiers.”

“Yep, they should institute a .25 class – then you could play again, HH.”

“All right, Mr. Mouth, you were watching more than one person at this tournament, weren’t you?”

“Sure. There were some really attractive looking fans and volunteers there too,” Spokes said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

“Spokes,” I interrupted, “this was probably the best rugby of the season so far. Great, great games all the way through. Talk about that.”

“Oh, yeah, the games. Where does one start? Well, probably on Friday with Phoenix whipping up on the National Champs by 9. Nine! And it’s not just Shimakawa – who is a perfect fit for that team – but it’s the other starters, 2.0 Andy Cohn, 2.0 Brent Poppen and 1.0 Scott Hogsett who make them a rock-solid team – an obvious contender for the National Championship. That Lakeshore match-up in Birmingham next week should be something. Power and Speed vs Speed and More Speed.

“And don’t think Texas won’t regroup at Birmingham, HH.”

“For sure, Spokes. After the Phoenix disappointment, Texas played a hard-fought game against Great Britain in Saturday’s cross-over game – showing tremendous intensity in a gritty game. Still, they lost 30-28.

“Bob Boothby. Now there’s intensity. It flows out of him like lightning is coming out of his stumps.

“I gotta tell you, HH, it looks like a three-team race to the National finish line right now. Birmingham will be interesting. What’s this I hear, they’ll be using a shot clock?”

“Yeah, all those same teams will be there. It should be a shoot out,” I replied.

“So, what’s with the shot clock anyway?” Spokes asked.

“It’s a way to create more turn-over opportunities and speed up play, Spokes. There’s a 40 second clock for scoring and a 12 second half-court clock.”

“Won’t that screw up play under the standard rules and favor the faster teams? I mean, HH, it takes you 12 seconds to get to half-court without a defender in front of you. You know, it just dawned on me that with the 40-second clock you would have “real clock time” on any 12-second half-court violations too. I mean, what happens if a 12-second call is made and there’s still 30 seconds left on the score-clock? Or no call is made and there’s 27 seconds left before getting the ball over half court?”

“Good question. No doubt it changes the game, but from everything I’ve heard, Spokes, players really like it.

Keeping track of the clocks seems to be the challenge here.”

“So, when do you change the rules and speed up the game?”

“Don’t see that happening, Spokes. The rules are always changing, but all this was recently reviewed and the score-clock was not instituted.”

“Bummer, HH. I hate stalling. Weren’t you involved in an infamous stall back in…”

“That’s enough, Ableman.”

“What?”

“The Championship Game, please.”

“Man, you are grumpy, HH.”

“The game.”

“Yeah, yeah, Great Britain versus Phoenix. Great game. But we’re back to MVP Shimakawa again. If you throw a long lob against this guy, you better be sure your man is right there because Shimakawa will run it down first in a race. He ran down plenty in this tournament.

“GB was strong, but we didn’t see much of their three 2.5’s and one .5 lineup. Couldn’t figure that.

“Also, something odd happened: GB was down 2 and had possession with 40 seconds to go in the third quarter, plus had the possession arrow to start the fourth quarter, and inexplicably they scored right away. Phoenix came down and got last goal themselves, making it a 2-point game at the end of three, and after a dog-fight fourth quarter, it ended in a 36-34 win for the Heat.”

“Oh, there was a bench technical by someone who was purported to have been wearing a Union Jack cap. No names were named as to the ID of the culprit. I’ll bet I could pick him out of a line-up, though.

“You know, HH, Troy Collins – GB’s outstanding 2.5 – played a fantastic tournament. But what’s the deal though with these long-time 2.5 players getting classed down by the USQRA? Has the exchange rate affected this somehow? 2.5 in GB only gets you 2 in the USA? Is that it?”

“It’s a classification thing Spokes. There are subtle differences between international and USQRA in classing.”

“Come on, HH, how does a long-time player from anywhere lose a half point of classification without getting re-injured or something? Just a question.”

“Enough. Please wrap this up,” I asked.

“Ok, ok, don’t get your helmet in an uproar.

“First-class tournament. Great players. Great fun to watch. I’ve written down the results in case you forgot, HH.

“The National Championships should be the best ever. See you in Austin, Helmet Head.”

“See ya, Spokes.”

POOL A
1) Canada
3) Great Britain
6) Hoveround Gunners
8) Magee Eagles

POOL B
2) Texas Stampede
4) New Zealand
5) Phoenix Heat
7) Tampa Generals

Finish:
1. Phoenix Heat
2. Great Britain
3. Canada
4. Texas Stampede
5. Hoveround Gunners (Sarasota)
6. New Zealand (Developmental Team)
7. Tampa Generals
8. Magee Rebels (Philadelphia)

Hit Counter

How to Contact us | Quad Rugby Central Index