Glasgow Kiss

The Lone Star Subbuteo League played the “Glasgow Kiss” tournament on Saturday, October 13th, and hosted Malcolm Keenan, Calum’s dad, visiting from Scotland. 

The drama started early as Chris Barron came back from 2-nil to draw Keith Constable 2-2, while Calum Keenan took down his own father by running up the score 4-nil.  More drama ensued in the 2nd round when Calum took down Jeremy Stroop by a score of 2-nil.  When asked about the game, Jeremy had this to say:

“This is <bleep>!  There is no <bleeping> way that <bleeping> <bleep> <bleep> ball could have <bleeping> gone in.  That was a <bleeping> impossible angle!”

When challenged on the need for such language, Stroop’s response was:

“Well, I <bleeping> disagree.”

Then, in the 5th round, the upset of the day to that point occurred.  Calum was on the pitch with Keith in an exciting and stress filled match.  The tension carried through halftime with no score, until the 23rd minute, Calum put one by “The King.”  Calum then pulled back and played with 10 men on his shooting line.  Keith had shot after shot, but in the end, couldn’t put one in.  Keith only had this say:

“Oh c’mon, seriously??!!?!”

After trash talking about his win, Calum then realized that he would have to play Keith again as they were the 2nd and 3rd seeds.  “The King” promptly dispatched Calum to the 3rd place game by a score of 3-nil.  Meanwhile, Chris finished as the top seed with 3 wins and a draw, and would face Jeremy in the other semi-final.  Unfortunately for Chris, being the first seed didn’t amount to squat.  Things changed for the better for Jeremy in the knockout game.  In a hotly contested battle with balls bouncing off crossbars, great shots, and great saves, Jeremy came away with a 1-nil win to advance to the final. 

The final, as fate would have it, turned out to be the game of the day.  Strong offense vs. strong defense, Raptor Ultima’s vs. Rex-C’s, champion vs. underdog.  This game had all the makings of an upset.  Jeremy was now “in the zone,” and Keith was on top form as well.  Up and down the pitch they went making great shots and even greater saves for a scoreless draw at the half.  Who says that scoreless games can’t be exciting?  Then, in the 16th minute, Jeremy broke the tie with a blistering shot past “The King.”  Still, they both battled on.  As time began to get short for Keith, he threw all he had at Jeremy by putting all of his players up to Jeremy’s shooting line.  In a last ditch effort, and with only seconds to play, Keith slipped a through-ball past Jeremy’s defense.  He quickly took a shot on the moving ball.  Taking Jeremy off guard and without his hand on his keeper, they both watched as the shot slowly rolled into the net with 1 second to play.  And so the game of the day would go into overtime.  Stress, tension, and concentration filled the room as the game continued.  The silence was then broken by Bono singing, “It’s a Beautiful Day.”  Had U2 shown up to the tournament?  No, it was Calum’s phone with a demanding wife on the other end telling him that he better be home by 7pm for dinner, or he’s in trouble!  Shortly after, Keith set himself up perfectly for a shot.  The shot was a beautiful looping shot that went over Jeremy’s keeper and looped down under the crossbar.  After the 2-1 win, Keith said:

“That was the most dramatic comeback that I’ve ever made.”

Congratulations to Keith on an epic win, and to Jeremy, a fine and valiant effort!  In the 3rd place game, Chris took down Calum 3-1.  And in case you were wondering, Calum made it home in time for dinner.

The final standings look like this:
1st:  Keith Constable
2nd:  Jeremy Stroop
3rd:  Chris Barron
4th:  Calum Keenan
5th:  Malcolm Keenan
MVP:  The crossbar