The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
A four-year quest for the prize
It was a classic Crested Butte Dodgeball showdown on March 20 in Jerry’s Gym, as the Rat Pack came to defend their hard-earned trophy from the hands of the Maniacs, Crabs, and their ancient enemy: the Nads.
With a single-elimination suffer-fest, low-seeded teams like Sky High, Nordic Inn, Eldo and Dodgin “D” were sent to the bars early. Mid-playoff suspense grew as the fifth-place Maniacs almost toppled the Rat Pack. Strategy and discipline got the best of the Maniacs and the Rat Pack proved their adroitness to move on.
The Dodgeballers came confident out of a victory to face the top-seeded Nads but were completely shut out. The Nads had clearly come for redemption from the fateful night one year prior, where the trophy was so close to their lips they could smell its honor. They headed back to the strategy room as the Crabs and Rat Pack engaged in an epic battle that lasted well into overtime. Pat “The Agile Decoy” Addabbo seemed un-hittable as he lured the “Rat-Pack-Matts” into his vortex.
JEFFRAAYYY, Beat-em-all-Betty, and Nathan “The Jugular Catcher” Venn whittled away the now-frightened Rat Pack. In a late overtime one-on-one mêlée the Crabs proved they are the new team to beat. The Nads would have come in to the finals with more confidence had they not lost their last game to the Crabs two weeks prior. The thronging 15-person crowd hushed for a full three seconds as each team huddled. Then the chaos commenced.
This was some of the best dodgeball ever played above 8,800 feet. Rare it is to see so much class and respect amidst so much hurling of projectiles intended for maximum pain. The score was 3-2, Nads, with one minute left, which means the Crabs could tie the game to force a tie-breaker (the exact scenario that ended the Nads one year ago). Two minutes later, Nad veteran Timmy “Cannon” Kugler was all alone against four determined Crabs. The benched Nads were silent and grimacing in the back, braced for the worst. Like a death-squad, all the Crabs fired in unison. Timmy miraculously managed to dodge three and catch one. Two seconds later he caught yet another ball, pulling a double switch-a-roo. The three Nads cleaned up the shell-shocked Crabs within moments. After four years, the trophy was theirs, ending yet another fantastic Crested Butte Dodgeball season.
