After last week’s whirlwind of a night, it looked like we could have a much calmer set of games on our hands. When the dust settled, we found ourselves excited at the prospect of a playoff bracket that got infinitely more thrilling than when the night began.
With the conclusion of Week One, there was two things that felt certain about the tournament.
- The Red team looked like it wouldn’t and couldn’t lose!
- The Blue team would need a miracle to pull off just one upset…
But this is JMS. Nothing is guaranteed… except for the Nassers and shisha!
After blowing a victory to the Black team on a walk-off to the Doctor (we’ll get to that bit later), captain Maysum Jaffer exuded a weird combination of hope and desperation. While his Blue team struggled to muster up even one victory, he walked around with an aura of confidence that his squad would defeat the dangerous Green team.
For much of that finale game, he looked a fool. Nothing looked like it was going to stop the combination of Ali Nasser, Imran Nasser, JMS #1 overall pick Miqdad Jaffer, and “#1A” Ali Manek. Not only were their bats connecting, but Green pitcher Aman Nasser was keeping the opposition’s big hitters at bay.
Boasting an 8-4 lead, the dugout began to feel themselves. “Yo, get me a burger and a couple hot dogs, will ya?” or “Where’s the coals? And will someone FINALLY tell me which of these is the paan mint?!” could be heard from bystanders. And then, in just two game-changing moments, the empire began its descent.
As Aman takes the mound, a thundering commissioner-like voice is heard; in an instant, he finds himself riding the pine as “closer” Miqdad Jaffer warms up his arm. The first inning goes by well, with Aman loathing himself for coming out of the game. Fast forward a bit, and we find ourselves with Green having runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, prepping itself to expanding its team run differential. Heading to home is Ali-Yasir Jessa with his odd style of running with his arm extended, fighting for every yard (oops, wrong sport) when suddenly, he finds himself ON home plate.
With the wasted opportunity behind them, the team was still oozing with confidence in their closer. One hit goes by, and then another, and another, and soon it felt like you were watching DJ Khaled on repeat. Slowly, you could see the smirk on Miqdad Jaffer‘s face fade into the abyss as he had no success against even the bottom of the lineup.
After some outstanding clutch pitching by Mohamed Walli and a stellar defensive outing by Hasan Abbas Kara, Blue was on their way to celebrating their only victory as if they’d ended 52 years of suffering (that’s a basketball joke, fellas)!
While all of this drama was happening on one diamond, the other was no less exciting. After keeping their undefeated streak following a tie against Green, the Red team still had this unwavering swagger about themselves as the teams convened for a meal. With arguably the best roster in the tournament and our pre-tournament favourites, they had reason to feel confident.
As for the Black team, after an injury to captain Bobby Bharwani, the team had to find ways to make use of the waiting list. With a winless first week to the tournament, the jury is still out on whether there was some shady dealings, as the team found itself with starter-quality players from the waiting list.
One of these call-ups is known to most as “Doc” and to some as Khalil Sivjee. Walking up to the plate with no batting gloves, he strikes fear in the eyes of players on the Red and Blue teams. In exact LeBron fashion, Doc hit “not one…” but two walk-offs to bring the Black team to third place at 2-3.
While beating the Blue team wasn’t much of an accomplishment in this tournament, finding yourself with your back against the wall against undefeated Red is another story. Just as this ghost writer was enjoying the other matchup, screams of happiness and joy came from the other diamond, serving as a precursor of the celebrations to occur.
The undefeated had fallen.
With playoffs just around the corner, it’s exciting to think about the potential matchups that could arise, especially after the last set of games. While Red and Green still remain the favourites to take the cup, if Week Two has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen… and you probably shouldn’t touch home plate.