Saturday, June 9, 2018
Franklin, MA
Schedule
Participants
Dave (22nd), Marc (22nd), Span (), Brian (), Eugene (), Matt (), Mehr ()
Photos: Highlights | Complete Set
Videos: Highlights | Complete Set
Anecdotes
Reviews
Planning
The planning for MBBB 22 began on March 2nd when David sent out a feeler email which asked the two biggest questions for every MBBB: "Where?" and "When?". In the email, David mentioned that the group had talked about him hosting this year, and he said was happy to do so if everyone else was also okay with it (it's a long drive for some). As for the when, David threw out a number of dates that worked for him and that didn't work for him and asked for everyone's input.
Matt, Brian, and Mehr all agreed that Franklin, MA would be a great venue this year with Matt adding that he'd probably stay at a hotel even though David offered up his house to one and all. Matt also declared that he felt it would be prudent to have the event earlier in the year rather than later so as to avoid the sweltering summer weather that the gang had sometimes suffered through during previous MBBBs*. Using these responses as a guide, David pinpointed the weekend of June 9-10, and everyone quickly agreed on the date. Amazingly enough, this was the second year in a row that the date was decided upon in such a speedy fashion.
After this initial rush, David, Marc, and Matt created a new three-way text so that they could start creating a list of events as well as put some initial work into selecting where to eat (David being vegetarian and Marc vegan). David also mentioned a cool new event that he wanted to try this year: ax throwing. Yes, it was expensive, not that close to his house, and would take up a large chunk of the day, but it would be something truly new and exciting for the group.
To compensate for the location and duration, David mentioned that there was laser and go-karting in an entertainment center adjacent to the ax throwing facility. The only problem was that this would only drive the cost of the day's activities even higher. To counteract this, the three of them brainstormed further and put together a list of potential events that could be played either at David's house or nearby AND done so on the cheap: Ga-ga ball, bocce (which, for some reason, Marc forgot they did during MBBB 14), a group of events similar to those played on the TV game show Survivor, and old-school video games were just some of the suggestions.
As noted above, the trio also talked a decent amount about the possibilities of eating both in and out. A few ideas for breakfast were bandied about, but the focus quickly turned to nailing down lunch and dinner. David mentioned that the Franklin Village Plaza had a Five Guys, Panera, Chipotle, Jersey Mike's, and a few other restaurants. This spread of options would work well for most, and Marc sealed the deal by noting that Chipotle could serve up a tasty, made-to-order vegan dish. Dinner was a bit more difficult to figure out, but eventually David, Matt, and Marc decided that an Indian spot named The Curry House would fit the bill. After reviewing the online menu, Marc discovered that it actually had five items that were specifically labeled as vegan. Another huge plus was that The Curry House also had any number of other close-by restaurants in case someone wasn't in the mood for Indian cuisine.
On March 21st, David took all of the ideas that Matt, Marc, and he had discussed and sent out an email to the entire group. He pushed ax throwing as a new, unique event, and also listed go-karts, laser tag, mini golf, and bevy of additional events so that everyone could sort through them. He asked that everyone provide general feedback as well as advise if there was any event that someone just wanted to outright veto. The hope was that they could then move forward with a vote using a spreadsheet similar to the one Brian had created for MBBB 21. (Brian advised soon thereafter that he had added David's suggestions to his Google Notes.)
While David waited for feedback, the three-way texting continued as David, Matt, and Marc tried to settle on a location for breakfast. With some people staying at David's house and some at a hotel, restrictions in some people's diets, and the quest to prevent breakfast from putting the gang behind schedule (as so often happens with MBBB), there was much to talk about. The discussion wasn't super serious, though; when David suggested the King Street Cafe as a possibility, Matt looked at the menu and decided that they must go. The reason? Supposedly, if you ordered the King's Breakfast, when the waiter or waitress served your food later, he or she would ask, "Which one of you is the King?"
The texting also included ideas for even more potential events, ones that would be a bit more complicated to put into action. Tennis, for example, would require equipment, an available venue, and willing (in-shape/athletic) participants. Transmitter hunting, on the other hand, would require expensive equipment (which Matt thought he could wrangle up), but also a person to hide the radio transmitters (preferably David, as he would be the only one familiar with the area).
Eventually however, they realized that they should just move forward by voting on the events that Brian had already compiled as there were already so many options. Despite a big push early in the planning, the list actually ended up excluding ax throwing due to all of the concerns listed above. Anyway, it took a couple of days, but the votes finally trickled in as follows, with the top four choices, Wiffle Ball, Ga-ga Ball, Miniature Golf, and Spikeball, officially becoming the events for MBBB 22. The fact that two brand new events, Ga-ga and Spikeball, made the cut was very surprising.
One point to mention was that miniature golf and Ga-ga ball won spots despite Marc and Eugene ranking them at 12 out of 13 respectively. David contacted both of them (?) to make sure that they weren't effectively vetoing the events because they didn't want to do them, but they both assured him that this wasn't the case at all. They just preferred other events to those.
The gang then decided that they also would like to vote for the after-dinner activity, but eventually everyone agreed that it would be easier if they simply brought a few options (video games, board games, poker cards, etc.) and play it by ear when the time arrived.
And so, everything was settled: the time and place, the events, and the locations for meals. All they had to do was wait a few more weeks.
*Note: At this point in the conversation between David, Matt, and Marc, David mentioned a rather comical anecdote that took place during the weekend of MBBB 17. In the lead up to MBBB 17, it looked like the day was going to be a scorcher, and David only had a few air conditioners in his house which didn't cover every room. So Mehr, not wanting to have to sleep and sweat at the same time, actually brought a portable air conditioner in his car! It was a good thing too as the A.C. was plugged into one of David's bedroom windows, and that's where the group spent all of their time during the after-dinner activities. Thankfully, David has bought a new house since then and now has central air!
Pre-Breakfast
Having driven in on this own from Delaware Friday night, Span decided to head straight to David's house so that he could relax before the big day. Meanwhile, Marc, Brian, and Eugene also drove up on Friday night, but needed to first stop at the hotel, Best Western Milford, so that they could drop Eugene off. After parking in the hotel's parking lot, Mehr and Matt came out of the room and a lively conversation ensued. A number of topics were touched upon, with high school taking up a large chunk of the attention.
At one point, Mehr regaled everyone of the story regarding how he left the football team behind to join cross country. A big part of it was the attitude of the football players, but the locker room was sadly also a breeding ground for illicit drug use. During his time on the team, performance-enhancing drugs were talked about, taken, and offered to others, and Mehr didn't want to be a part of this activity. This conversation actually segued into talking about how the Powerhouse Gym in their hometown of Merrick closed down many years ago and had yet to find a new tenant. One of the reasons it shut down: it became a place to sell and purchase PEDs.
While all of this sounds very serious, the members of MBBB found the whole idea rather silly, and so the conversation was actually quite light-hearted as it also gave them a chance to reminisce about some of their former high school friends (and enemies!). And so, after spending around 30-45 minutes conversing about this and a myriad of other subjects, everyone realized that it was time for Marc and Brian to depart to David's house so that they could rest up. Besides, they had all day tomorrow to catch up!
The remainder of the drive was pretty short, and Span and David were waiting for Marc and Brian when they arrived. Walking in, Marc noticed that the Warriors were celebrating another NBA championship on David's TV in the living room. Being a big NBA fan, Marc asked David and Span if the game had been close. "Nope, it was another blow out." At least he didn't miss anything interesting during the drive then.
Marc and Brian emptied the car of any necessary belongings, and more talks ensued. Sleeping arrangements were also finalized, with Marc offering up the bed upstairs to Span as Marc had no issues sleeping on the couch (he falls asleep on the couch at home fairly regularly). Span did NOT look a gift horse in the mouth, and no sooner than the offer had been made, he had already moved his luggage to the guest bedroom at the top of the stairs.
The next morning at David's house was relatively normal: everyone woke up, showered, and pampered themselves as much as regular men do. There were but two irregularities to the standard flow of the morning:
1. For the second year in a row, Marc got up very early so that he could get in a six mile training run. Doing that before a long day of physical activity might seem strange, but it's nothing he can't handle.
2. After getting dressed, Span started fumbling around in his short pockets to see if anything had been left there. And, in fact, something had! To everyone's amusement, Span pulled out some tiny pencils that were imprinted with the words, "Robert Moses State Park" (?). The group had played Pitch and Putt at this park during MBBB21, so, apparently, these pencils had remained in his pockets for an entire year!
Breakfast
During planning, the gang had decided that avoiding a typical diner would be prudent considering how busy diners can get on a Saturday morning. Perhaps it would be all right if everyone was an early riser, but...
Going to Panera was also helpful for Marc as they have a solid selection of vegan items. And so, around 9:15 AM, the people staying at David's house (David, Brian, Marc, and Span) met up with the people staying at the hotel (Mehr, Matt, and Eugene) for their first get-together in around a year.
It's probably tiresome to tell this tale, but as usual, conversation revolved around the goings-on of everyone's lives over the past year. Nothing of particular import comes to mind. It was a nice breakfast, and soon it would be over and on to the first event.
Notes:
Mehr, Matt, and Eugene all ate some food at the hotel prior to meeting up for breakfast. They did pay for it as part of their hotel stay after all!
Mehr ordered a large meal at Panera prompting people to ask if he ate anything at the hotel. He answered in the affirmative, and nobody was really surprised. Mehr still burn calories like they're nothing.
Matt ate a little something at the hotel, and then also ate a little something at Panera.
Ga-ga Ball
It was a short but not so short (i.e., 10 minute) ride from Panera to Memorial Elementary School, a school that had decided some time ago to use precious taxpayer dollars to construct not one, but two (!) Ga-ga courts on their property. As both cars pulled into the parking lot, they found no one else around, and therefore had their pick of the litter when it came to which court to play on.
Before starting the games however, it was imperative that David familiarize the rest of the group about the rules and conduct of the event. It helped that there was a sign posted on the outside of the octagon that included a list of the rules, and Matt read them voraciously, perhaps with the hope that he could assist in managing the games while also avoiding any undue controversies.
First things came first, and the group decided that it would smart to play at least one practice game to get a hang of the style of play. Unfortunately, the door that provided access to the octagon was stuck, so instead of walking onto the court, everyone had to climb or otherwise jump in. This became an issue as the ball would often be hit out or bounce out of the arena. Without a door to walk through, it was necessary for the MBBB crew to jump out to retrieve the ball before jumping back in to resume play.
At one point, Mehr asked why everyone was being such idiots and not using the door. When the rest of the group pointed out that they had been unable to dislodge the door despite how much they pulled with their hands, Mehr offered a different solution. He kicked the lock with his his foot and, wouldn't you know, that worked like a charm. The door would henceforth swing open and shut.
The results of the games are listed below; suffice to say, Ga-ga ball ended up being a very enjoyable new activity that many members were eager to play again in the future.
Practice Game 1: Mehr won (The group wanted to get used to the rules.)
Practice Game 2: Marc won (Marc didn't believe this was a practice round, and was very disappointed that he didn't get a "real" win.)
**Players are listed in order of elimination.
Game 1: Brian, Eugene, Span, Dave, Marc, Matt, Mehr (winner)
Game 2: Dave, Matt, Eugene, Mehr, Brian, Span, Marc (winner)
Game 3: Dave, Brian, Span, Matt, Marc, Eugene, Mehr (winner)
Game 4: Span, Marc, Dave, Mehr, Eugene, Matt, Brian (winner)
Game 5: Matt, Span, Eugene, Marc, Brian, Dave, Mehr (winner)
Game 6: Marc, Brian, Mehr, Matt, Span, Eugene, Dave (winner)
Game 7: Span, Brian, Marc, Mehr, Dave, Eugene, Matt (winner)
*Game 8: Matt, Dave, Span, Marc, Brian, Mehr (winner) - where's Eugene? Do we have video?
Notes:
Mehr split his shorts during Game 7 which led to people claiming that Matt's win was as legitimate as Barry Bonds' home run record. Mehr had to go to the hotel to change after the event.
At the beginning of each game, the ball is thrown into the pit by a referee. As there was no referee (everyone played), the loser of each game was given the option to choose who would start each game (they could choose themselves or someone else). However, if a person got eliminated because they were the last person to touch the ball before it escaped the octagon, that person would then act as a referee and throw the ball into the pit.
When the ball is thrown in at the start of a point, all of the remaining players are supposed to shout "Ga!", "Ga!", "Go!" during the first three bounces before taking their hand off the octagon to pursue the ball. Mehr abstained with some colorful language.
A number of times, the "referee" threw the ball in, and it bounced right out of the octagon before bouncing three times. It happened atleast once to both Matt and Marc. Matt mentioned that he thought it might make sense to release some air from the ball to make it less bouncy.
Thanks to the heat and the lack of construction of the floor of the pit (it was gravel), an ample amount of dust would get kicked up and go flying around during every game. People's shoes, ankles, and the ball all got really dirty because of this. The players thought the game might have worked better with a cement floor, but thought better of it due to the fact that the ball was already very bouncy and didn't need any additional assistance in leaving the octagon (see the above note).
Due to the fast paced nature of the game, players were sometimes eliminated in succession with little time in between. This made it occasionally difficult to remember the order of elimination after the game with multiple people needing to chime in.
Span loved the strategy of the game so much, both mentally and physically, that he said he already planned to nominate it for next year's event. Marc realized this meant he would have to find a Ga-ga court somewhere on Long Island since L.I. is generaly the host location during odd years.
Span also talked about the possibility of doing a post-match video/audio commentary for this event and perhaps others. It didn't happen though.
Matt was the self-designated rule enforcer. He kept referring back to the rules on the outside of the octagon, whether it dealt with the ball going out of bounds, resuming play, or anything else that came into dispute.
Miniature Golf
Another short drive took the crew to a local miniature golf course. Upon arrival, everyone paid at the register and grabbed a ball with a color of their liking. However, with seven players in total, it was a little tough for everyone to find a uniquely colored ball for themselves. Thankfully, after they mentioned this to the cashier, he pulled out a big bucket from behind his desk that had enough golf balls to satisfy all of the members of the group.
From there, the group walked around to the golf clubs, chose one of an appropriate length, and headed to the practice green for a few putts before taking on the course. The gang decided to split into groups to avoid slowing down the game and cluttering each hole with seven golf balls. Dave, Mehr, and Span went first followed by Marc, Eugene, Brian, and Matt.
As the group moved through the holes, they agreed that the course compared very favorably to others that they had played before and was a very good course just in general. This sentiment was augmented by a sound system that was playing classic rock for most of the time that they were there. Apparently, whoever chose the playlist enjoyed songs such as Stairway to Heaven, Don't Stop Believin', and Hotel California. You really can't go wrong with those selections!
Beyond this, there's not much else to tell (it's only mini-golf after all!), but the scoreboard and some additional interesting notes are listed below.
Notes:
There were certain holes that subtracted two holes off your score if you got a hole-in-one. If you did that, your score for the hole was -1. As you can see on the scorecard above, that rule was taken advantage of twice, both times on the same hole.
Par for the Front 9 was 21, for the Back 9 it was 22, and so the Total Par was 43.
The group of four that included Marc, Eugene, Brian, and Matt ended up letting two other groups of people pass them because they were playing so slowly. And then, they further broke up into two groups of two (Marc/Eugene and Matt/Brian) because they had fallen so far behind Dave, Mehr, and Span.
While lavishing praise upon the classic rock playlist that played during their visit, Marc mentioned to Matt that his former childhood neighbor (Jeffrey Vista) had borrowed his Rocky 4 soundtrack cassette tape and never returned it. This upset him greatly as it's the ultimate workout movie album soundtrack. Thankfully, it can now be listened to on Spotify.
On one of the holes (which one?), there were three holes (left, right, middle); Eugene hit a great a shot straight up the middle which he thought was necessary to get the hole-in-one that came from it. But then Marc followed by pulling his ball into the left hole, and still got a hole-in-one anyway! Eugene was not pleased.
On hole 8, Matt hit the ball up the ramp, but not hard enough, and it rolled back down to the tee. Marc suggested that Matt hit it harder as there was a cement wall at the top of the hill that would prevent the ball from going too far. When Matt tried this, however, the ball bounced off the wall and back down the hill for a second time! Matt sarcastically said, "Thanks Marc!" while Eugene claimed Marc was trying to sabotage Matt's game.
Matt hit his ball off the course once, and had to use a drop.
Mehr twice bounced his golf ball off and back onto the course.
Span went off the course once and simply played it back on instead of taking a penalty stroke.
Lunch
After golf, the group headed off to find something to eat. Originally they had planned to eat at the Franklin Village Plaza, but they weren't currently near it. Thankfully, David was able to locate a closeby strip mall with similar options in short order. Once they arrived there, several sub-groups split up (because of those aforementioned and various dietary restrictions) with the goal of meeting up once everyone found something palatable:
1. Brian, Span, and Mehr, having no dietary restrictions, chose to eat at Five Guys with their selection of made-to-order burgers. And because Five Guys now has vegetarian options, David opted to go with them.
2. Marc, being a vegan, decided to go to Panera Bread again, and Matt tagged along. They got their food to-go.
3. Eugene had eaten some food at the hotel during breakfast and suffered a slight upset stomach because of it (he's lactose intolerant and there must have been some dairy hiding in one of the food items). So, instead of taking the risk that he would suffer further discomfort by ordering lunch from Five Guys or Panera, he went to Stop and Shop to purchase some groceries that he was familiar with.
After everyone had purchased their lunch, they met up at Five Guys. The people who actually ordered their lunch from Five Guys ate at the counter that faced out the front window of the restaurant. The rest of the gang took ownership of a table in front of the restaurant (that was theoretically reserved for customers of Five Guys). Then, when a person in the restaurant finished his lunch, he would exit the building and sit with the group that was eating outside so that they could join in on the conversation.
Once everyone was 100% done with lunch, they headed back to their cars and the next event.
Notes:
Eugene purchased some non-dairy items from the grocery store including cereal, tortilla chips, salsa, and Snapple iced tea. The funny thing was, despite purchasing them from a normal grocery store, each item was super-sized. This led Marc to joke that Eugene had instead slipped off to a bulk store like BJ's or Costco.
Marc also talked to Eugene about his recent 5K race which he finished in a scorching time of 18:21. Eugene said that 18:21 was even faster than his P.R. from high school. This comment sparked a memory for Marc about how he always got on Eugene's case for eating food shortly before each race because he thought it would slow him down or that he'd get a cramp. But now, Marc does the same thing: he eats about 45 minutes before his races and doesn't suffer any ill effects from it. So, basically, Marc was wrong all those years ago (in high school). Sorry Eugene!
As they were leaving the area, Marc saw a Chipotle and wondered why it hadn't been suggested as a venue for lunch. It's a restaurant that's very friendly for both vegans and non-vegans. When he mentioned it to David however, he said that his car saw it too, but that it wasn't open yet (i.e., it wasn't yet open for business because it was still under construction or getting permits or something).
Spikeball
As Spikeball was one of two new events this year, David and Marc took some time to watch a video of how the game was played and also to garner some tips. The twins laughed as the player in the video called himself a "semi-professional Spikeball player" or some nonsense, but they quickly stopped laughing for two reasons:
1. The YouTube video they were watching had hundreds of thousands of views.
2. A very salient piece of information was relayed in the video: when you pass the ball, pass it towards the net, NOT your teammate. This would make it much easier to spike the ball onto the net and at your opponent.
Armed with this newfound knowledge, the duo moved outside so that they could set up the "court" on the side of David's house. There was a lot of practice due to the newness and difficulty. In fact, the game was deemed so difficult that the gang changed the games from teams with 2 players to teams with 3.
The teams chosen were Mehr, Matt, and Brian vs. Marc, David, Span, and Eugene with Span and Eugene rotating in and out after each game. This meant that Span played games 1, 3, and 5, and Eugene played games 2 and 4.
The games proved to be very competitive and a lot of fun. The results for the games are listed below. Of particular note was Game 4. Marc, David, and Eugene were on the verge of victory, up 19-15. That was until the opposing team of Mehr, Matt, and Brian rallied off six straight points to win the game.
Game 1: 21-16 - Mehr, Matt, and Brian won.
Game 2: 21-11 - Mehr, Matt, and Brian won.
Game 3: 21-?? - Marc, David, and Span won.
Game 4: 21-19 - Mehr, Matt, and Brian won.
Game 5: 21-18 - Marc, David, and Span won.
Notes:
After Game 3, because they were enjoying the event so much, everyone agreed that they would play five games regardless of whether Mehr's team won the fourth game (by doing so, Mehr's team would be up 3-1 and have already won a best of five series).
After the event, Span noted that his record was 2-1, while Eugene's was 0-2. Span felt that this happened because the team's roles were more well-defined when he played. He was used as a "safety valve" so that Marc and David could play more of a two player game. Eugene complicated things because he and Marc wouldn't always know who David was passing the ball to.
At one point, Marc complained that he was getting a little too much sun in his eyes, and so the teams rotated ("switched courts" a la tennis). Soon thereafter, they chose to move the "court" to an area that was fully shaded by David's house and the trees in his yard.
On the final point of one game (will have to check the video to determine which one), Marc tried to spike the ball really hard but instead missed it completely and tumbled over onto the ground. Point lost, game lost.
Serves were supposed to be done from six feet back. Due to the difficulty of serving from this distance and the incredible amount of faults, it was determined that each server would get infinite do-overs. Midway through the event, the rules for serving were further tailored: the returner had the option to verbally call and play a serve even if it took a weird bounce off of the net. However, any ball that hit the rim on a serve remained a fault.
Additionally, because so many players had problems hitting the ball in the center of the net (i.e., without hitting the rim or close to it), Mehr and David practiced for a few minutes after the event was over. Apparently, the practice worked because David remarked afterwards that he felt proficiency in the game was simply a matter of muscle memory.
Prior to the game, Span offered Marc some sunscreen. Only it wasn't lotion; it was a glide on stick that looked like deoderant. Not only that, but it went on clear! Yeah, science!
Wiffle Ball
As host, David had taken the liberty of scouting a few baseball fields prior to the weekend (?), but hoped that his first choice, Kennedy Elementary School, would be available so as to avoid the extra time it would take to travel to another. As luck would have it, when everyone arrived, they were able to claim one of the fields straightaway.
A number of items needed to be decided upon before play could begin: how would they split the participants into teams that would be fair and competitive, and how would scoring be accomplished? Making teams could have proven to be difficult with seven players. It would have meant that one team always had an extra outfielder on defense. But luckily, Matt volunteered to be the designated pitcher for both teams. After that, breaking up the six remaining members wasn't too hard, and it was decided that David, Marc, and Eugene would clash with Mehr, Brian, and Span. The former would bat first with the latter getting last licks.
After this, the crew turned to Mehr as the always dependable rule-maker. Orange cones were placed around the field while Mehr laid out the system for outs and hits. Outs would include strikeouts, caught flyballs, and ground balls that were cleanly fielded before they reached the second set of cones (?). Singles were any ball ground balls that pushed past the second set of cones (?). Doubles were flyballs that landed beyond the first set of cones without being caught. Triples were flyballs that landed beyond the second set of cones without being caught, and home runs were flyballs that landed beyond the third set of cones without being caught. Finally, the game was played on a half-field; this meant that fair balls needed to land between the foul line and the imaginary line that ran from home plate and straight through the pitcher's mound.
Having settled on all of the rules, each team created their starting lineup. They both figured that it would make sense to put their presumed best hitter first to maximize his number of at-bats, and so they each ended up with the following batting orders:
1. David
2. Marc
3. Eugene
1. Mehr
2. Brian
3. Span
The game ended up being extremely exciting. David, Marc, and Eugene opened up an early lead with two runs in the first before Mehr, Brian, and Span exploded for six runs in the third. David, Marc, and Eugene the chipped away inning after inning while playing stellar defense to keep the other team's score at six.
Heading into the final inning, it was do or die for David, Marc, and Eugene. They were down 6-5 and on the brink of defeat. Eugene led off with an out, followed by another out from David. It was up to Marc to save the day. And save it he did, nailing a line drive solo home run down the left field line that dipped down onto the ground just before Mehr was able to catch the ball. It was truly a clutch moment, his Derek Jeter moment if you will.
The game stayed tied at six for one more inning, but that was all the time it took for Mehr to crank out a game-winning bomb of a home run over David's head (?). It was expected; Mehr hadn't hit a home run yet, and David, Marc, and Eugene realized that it really was just a matter of time. Mehr is just that good.
With daylight waning, everyone took the long walk back to the cars and headed back to David's house to figure out what they were going to eat for dinner. Here's the box score for the game by the way:
Notes:
As mentioned above, each team asked their best hitter to bat first. This strategy applied to their defense as well, with David and Mehr both playing deep outfield so that they could cover the most ground and catch the most flyballs.
After Matt struck out Mehr one time, Mehr got frustrated and yelled, "Too many K's!" at him.
All regulation runs scored by Mehr's team were scored in the same inning (six runs in the third).
At the start of one of the innings, David mentioned to his team that he just realized a hard truth: because each team had three players and also received three outs per inning, they would always have to face at least one at-bat from Mehr.
Mehr, Brian, and Span hit a bunch of doubles, much to the chagrin of the opposing team. At least three or four of these doubles were by mere inches (or less) which caused the whole group to look for a mark in the gravel and/or ask if anyone got a good look at where the ball landed. It was practically like a tennis match!
A lot of errors occurred due to the uneven field and spin on the ball. As to the first point, the field was made of gravel, it had plenty of bumps, and grass was also growing sporadically in different parts.
David complained that the batter's box (at least for right-handed batters, so Brian was unaffected) had two big holes and bump in the middle right next to the plate. That is to say, the batter's box was well worn.
Span paused the game at one point so that he could follow the Belmont Stakes race. After a few minutes, he confirmed that the horse named Justified had completed the Triple Crown. Marc said that they should have gone (since they're all from Long Island) to witness history. David mentioned that Matt suggested that very idea a few years (?) ago, but then Eric noted that MBBB was going to take place on the weekend prior to (?) the Belmont Stakes. David noted how ho-hum the Triple Crown was nowadays. Everyone waited 37 years between Affirmed and American Pharaoh, but only another three years to Justified. David and Marc remembered that Secretariat and Seattle Slew completed it, but forgot about Affirmed.
Matt actually struck out the side once (Mehr, Brian, Span). In wiffle ball!
Eugene batted about .800 for the game with multiple extra base hits. Marc joked that he went from being the LVP during Spikeball to the MVP in wiffleball.
While Marc and David consistently failed to hit the ball the other way (and avoid the "shift" by the defense), Eugene had no such problems.
Dinner
Indian cuisine has a vast variety of foods that (almost) everyone can enjoy: meat or veggie, spicy or mild, and dessert and drinks (lassis) as well. Choosing an Indian restaurant for dinner therefore was a pretty solid idea. This was buoyed by the fact that the whole group had already eaten Indian for dinner a few times for MBBB. That is, with one exception: Mehr was not as adventurous as everyone else, and so instead asked David if there was a Subway restaurant nearby (there was!).
Meanwhile, David provided the rest of the group with a menu from The Curry House, the restaurant they had planned to order dinner from so many months ago. A few minutes (or more?) later, and selections were made followed by a phone call so that they could place the order for pickup. As the food got cooking right away, David, Mehr, and Brian departed to fetch their dinners soon thereafter. David first dropped Mehr off at Subway so that he could purchase his made-to-order sandwich, and then drove Brian to a Stop & Shop so that he could grab some soda. David finally picked up the Indian food and grabbed Mehr on the way back to the house.
Once everyone was settled at the dinner table, conversation quickly ensued with much of the discussion revolving around events that occurred during both junior high school and regular high school. Here are a few examples:
For some reason, the group talked about Mehr's former girlfriend during his senior year. They met on an escalator at the mall. In fact, Marc was with Mehr that day, but he said he totally didn't remember this occurring even though he did remember something else that had happened that day. Mehr and Marc were in McDonald's at the same mall, and a fight ensued between two groups of people who were apparently trying to steal money from the Ronald McDonald charity case. The fight even spilled right over to the table they were sitting at!
Mehr noted that a major reason he quit football (despite the drugs talked about the night prior) and joined cross country was to meet a better class of people (e.g., some of the current MBBB members). Marc said that this was the smartest decision Mehr had ever made (later, he realized Mehr getting married likely topped this moment).
Marc talked about junior high school and how he met Eugene (in chorus), former MBBB member Rolly (in shop class), and Span. Marc met Span when they were both part of something called the Yellow Team. As far as they could recall, this Yellow Team was one of four teams (named after colors) created by their school to participate in a year-long contest (must be where J.K. Rowling got the idea for the House Cup). Though no one in the group could remember how points were tabulated, they did remember that the Yellow Team was announced as the winner at the end of the year. Further, they recalled that this was not surprising at all considering the team had so many nerds on it (Marc, David, and Span plus Adam Siegel and Josh Dunetz, two other childhood friends). Thus, the points must have been academic in nature to some degree.
After Dinner
Directly after dinner, the group moved one room over to David's living room/den. After everyone had taken a seat, a vast number of stories and anecdotes were told.
One such anecdote was David and Marc mentioning that they had celebrated their 40th birthday together (since they're twins) the weekend prior to MBBB 22. David came down to Long Island, and they did two of the events that had been previously suggested for MBBB: go-karting and rope bridges/ziplining. They noted that, after doing both, they didn't feel the events would have been great for MBBB for a couple of reasons. In addition to the high cost for go-karting, there was a separate track for non-licensed drivers, which would have meant that Brian would have been separated from the rest of the group. The racing was also intense, and might not have been enjoyable for some people. As respects the rope bridge park, there were multiple paths with very different difficulties, but even the easiest path might have been a strain for a few members of the group. Additionally, due to the number of paths, some members would likely choose the more advanced ones which would split up the group during most of the event.
At one point, the topic of conversation turned to the fact that most people were scared to be in a car when Eugene was driving. This, despite the fact that he has a great physical skill for driving. Eugene recollected that Matt had a particularly bad experience while in the car with him; Matt didn't remember this, but David backed Eugene up by saying that he remembered Matt mentioning it to him. That said, isn't it weird how the offending party will often remember a bad deed they've done whereas the offended party doesn't?
This segued into a related story from Marc. During college, a few of the MBBB members were in a chat room, and Marc made a really bad joke about how he and Mehr were tired of Span, and this upset Span. Now, though, Span doesn't remember it happening.
Anyway, the group turned back to Eugene with Marc saying that he was totally comfortable with Eugene's driving (because he's so talented). So much so that he even fell asleep when Eugene drove him home from David's house after MBBB 20. It's worth noting that this was during the middle of the night because Marc had to get back for work (overtime).
In another moment, Mehr asked Marc if he remembered the first time they met. Marc believed that it was senior year when Mehr joined cross country, but Mehr said he was wrong. Mehr said that he had tried out for track during their freshman year, and that they had briefly had their first contact then. Because Mehr didn't officially join the team however, they didn't cross paths again until three years later.
Another random moment after dinner occurred when Marc casually mentioned a girl that he had a crush on during high school. This prompted everyone else to mention their high school crushes as well.
Finally, Eugene talked about how there was a baseball player that people said that Mehr looked like during high school and college. Marc noted that it was Paul O'Neill. This was ironic as Mehr was a big Mets fan and despised the Yankees, and so he hated when people made this comparison. Related to this, Marc said that people often told him he looked like Ethan Hawke back in the day. Marc didn't really see it, though when he was in college, he had a mustache and goatee, so perhaps it wasn't a terrible comparison. A few people (Span, Eugene?) remarked that they could see the resemblance.
Okay, seriously, here's one last, BIG, story from the after-dinner party: in the middle of March, when the planning of MBBB 22 had just gotten underway, Marc got a little nostalgic, and it jogged a memory into his mind that he just had to share. It was a memory that was both vague but specific at the same time. Marc could remember that he and a few friends were hanging out in his bedroom in the basement of his mother's house. They had just finished listening to Undone from Weezer's debut album (there's a good chance they had just watched the video on MTV). It was then that Span chimed in and said something the effect of, "The only bad thing about that song is that it's not longer." When Marc texted this to Span, he laughed and recalled not only how much he enjoyed that album, but also how Marc had helped him open up to music during their years in high school.
Inspired by how pleasant a conversation this memory had generated, Marc decided that he would do the same for each member of the group during breakfast time, despite how sappy they might consider it. Unfortunately, he forgot to do it during breakfast, and then lunch, and even dinner. And so, before the group got started with their plan of playing video games, he asked everyone to wait a moment so that he could finally get the stories out. Here are the anecdotes he told:
1. For his brother David, he told a story that involved David, Span, and Marc. The three of them had been on the math team together and, one day, they were riding on a school bus to a competition. They were all big Stone Temple Pilots fans and, impromptu, decided to start singing Plush a cappella (it's possible other team members joined in as well). They probably sang the first verse and chorus before stopping, but Marc remembered thinking that they actually sounded really good.
2. Eugene's memory was interesting because it also involved a previous MBBB member: Russell Lark. Russ had purchased a Sega Dreamcast and wanted to modify it so that it could play Japanese games as well as American games. He knew Eugene was technically proficient and asked if he could help. They found a guide on the internet, Eugene went to town with some soldering tools, and in the end, it worked! Russ tried to pay Eugene, but Eugene wasn't having it. And that's not it! Months later, Marc borrowed Russ' Dreamcast so that he could play Resident Evil: Code Veronica. He wanted to save his game, and so he went to connect the controller to his desktop computer. The only problem was that the basement in Marc's house had some electrical issues and, when he connected the controller, it blew out the Dreamcast. Russ and Marc then had to travel to a video game store to get the Dreamcast fixed. When the employees at the store opened up the system, they took a gander at Eugene's handiwork and exclaimed at how great it was. Such complicated work! Well, that's Eugene: Mr. Mechanical.
3. Turning to Matt, Marc remembered when he and Matt had lunch period together during their senior year. Marc took to playing a game after finishing his lunch each day, a kind of reverse-Jenga. You see, instead of taking his tray out of something, he would balance it on top of the garbage in the nearest can. The object was to do so without it falling. The funny thing was, Marc wasn't the only one. Most people in the lunch room would gravitate towards one garbage can while ignoring the rest: it must have driven the janitor nuts! Anyway, at the end of the year, Marc put his lunch tray on top of the garbage can for the last time, and Matt declared Marc the undefeated reverse-Jenga champion of Calhoun High School.
4a. As Marc moved on to Mehr, you, the reader, first have to understand that, as hinted at above, for the first three years of high school, Mehr played sports like football, baseball, and volleyball. During his senior year however, this changed as Mehr wanted to start spending time with a gentler, kinder class of people. At the same time, while Mehr was crushing it while participating in sports that required a high level of athleticism, Marc was dominating long distance running at Calhoun. This was especially true during his sophomore and junior years, the culmination of which was him going to States for cross country and finishing near the top 50 in 1994. Then, just a few days before Marc's senior year started up, some teammates came up to him and told him that a new person was joining cross country and that it was his personal goal to beat Marc. Who could be that competitive, but also have the athletic ability to think he could back it up? Why Mehr, of course! After telling this story however, Mehr immediately said it wasn't him who made that claim because he knew he wasn't that good and really only wanted to get into better shape and meet some of the cute girls on the team. So, they agreed that it was probably John Ravener who made the claim.
4b. Because Mehr said that previous memory wasn't him, Marc spit out a backup story that he had remembered. He mentioned how Mehr would always toss his Super Nintendo controller onto the floor when he got knocked out while playing the multiplayer mode in Super Bomberman. Marc got so scared that Mehr would break the controller that he woudl put a pillow in front of Mehr so that the controller would hopefully land on it. One day, Mehr showed up at Marc's house with a wrapped present. Marc was nervous because he thought Mehr had gone overboard and purchased him an expensive game, but then someone blurted out that it was just a controller, and Mehr proceeded to yell at that person for revealing what it was before Marc even had the chance to open it.
5. Finally, Marc took to speaking about his second oldest brother, Brian. When Marc was a freshman in high school, Brian was a senior, and they were on the cross country and track teams together. One random day, while Marc was getting dressed in the locker room, some stooge starting making fun of him. Brian was standing nearby and told this knucklehead to stop making fun of his brother. A fight ensued, with Brian fending off not one, but two, assailants. The fight ended somehow, and Brian came away from it with a black eye. When they got outside and their coach (Levy) saw the black eye, he questioned Brian about it, and Brian lied saying that he had bumped into a locker. The ironic part: Marc recalled not really caring that he was being made fun of, and so Brian probably didn't need to get into the fight in the first place.
Video Games
After a LOT of talking, it was time to get down to business and play some video games. Matt had brought his Wii and a few controllers, and there was a discussion as to which game they should play. Matt had some points that he could use to purchase a game on Nintendo's Virtual Console, but first he'd have to connect the Wii to the internet. Everything was so slow-going, it was extremely difficult to navigate the storefront, and so eventually, the group gave up and decided to play some games that Matt already owned.
The first game was Super Mario Kart, one of the all-time classic competitive video games and the first of eight super successful entries in the franchise. David played against Eugene to start, and they decided to race each other in the Versus mode. They chose a number of random courses on which to race, one of which was Ghost Valley 1. This course brought up a lot of memories as it was a favorite for David, Marc, and others such as their oldest brother Eric.
Ghost Valley 1 included a very narrow shortcut right at the end of the lap of this course, and it allowed for a lot of very exciting finishes because you could only take the shortcut if you had certain items such as the feather, mushroom, or invincibility star. Sometimes, however, the player leading the race could also shoot a red shell back down the shortcut and hit the trailing player that was trying to take it. David mentioned he did this to Eric one time, and Eric was incredulous as to how it was accomplished. Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand, the battle between Eugene and David ended with Eugene victorious after a total of seven (?) races.
Interestingly enough, Mehr, who rarely played video games outside of Super Bomberman and a baseball game (Baseball Stars?) for the NES, decided he would give the game a shot. He raced against Eugene in the Grand Prix mode and did very well: Eugene finished with the most points, and Mehr with the second most (?).
At this point, Span requested that they play Super Mario World, and the group obliged. Matt booted up the game, and everyone took turns trying to beat different levels while onlookers suggested strategies, offered helpful tips, and also laughed whenever Mario would fall to his untimely demise.
There was one stage in particular, Donut Plains 1, in which multiple people tried to use Mario's cape to fly over the entire level. They kept running into issues, however, due to the cloud platforms and sky high pipes at the end of the level. When it came to David's turn, he noticed that there was a key near the pipes and used the cape to fly up to it thereby accessing a secret exit to the Donut Secret 1 underwater level.
After a little more time playing video games, everyone was bushed (some, like Marc, even napped during the video game playing), and it was decided that they would call it a night. Mehr, Eugene, and Matt departed to the hotel, while everyone else headed to their respective rooms to sleep.
The next morning, Marc and Brian drove to the hotel to pick Eugene up. Eugene mentioned that Matt had been kind enough to stay a while to keep Eugene company because Mehr had had to leave at the break of dawn to get back home. In fact, Mehr almost snuck out of the room undetected, but Eugene woke up just as he was leaving and got to say goodbye.
This final departure meant that everyone had now gone their separate ways, but not without the anticipation of the great times that the next MBBB might bring; it was only 12 months away!