By BRYAN CLARK
Sports Editor
THE INTERNET, Cyberspace (AP) – In a year when Americans have come to expect the unexpected, it has happened again: For the first time ever, Team Torraveris defeated Team Bryamy in the 14th annual Pfizer Quad One Braggin’ Rights 2-on-2 Basketball Challenge presented by Hydroxychloroquine. Unable to compete in person because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the teams agreed to change the format to a virtual game of C-O-V-I-D (played like HORSE), played on Little Tikes basketball hoops across the country. After more than an hour of intense competition, Team Torraveris prevailed in dominating fashion, COVID to CO.
“I really liked the format change because it took away their primary advantages: running, passing, and playing defense,” Lee Delaveris said. “I think we should probably make the changes permanent.”
Dustin Torres agreed.
“At least now we know we can keep playing these games into our 80s,” he said after hitting a shot from his couch.
Consistency proved the key to victory. Torres hit shot after shot from 8 feet – a shot that became known as “The Dustin” – forcing Bryan Clark and Jeremy Bridgman to match him. Eventually, they couldn’t, picking up their final “D” after failing to make The Dustin in the final round.
“I can’t believe I got the D from The Dustin,” Bridgman said. “Now we have COVID. It was humiliating. But it’s a fitting way to end 2020, I guess. This year has been a Dumpster fire and this game was no exception.”
Much like the in-person games, Team Bryamy brought more entertainment to the arena – but unlike a real game, their razzle-dazzle style did not translate to victory. Clark (who earned the nickname “Carrot Top”) came prepared with multiple props and jerseys for tribute shots like “The Jordan” (a free throw line dunk that he made), “The D-Rose” (he missed), “The Andy Dalton” (he missed), “The Trevor Bauer” (he missed), “The Woody” (he made), and “The Dumpster Fire” (he made). He also tripped over a table and went flying into the “stands” on one fadeaway shot.
“I’m playing on a Little Tikes hoop by myself in my basement and I’m still ending up with rugburn,” Clark said. “I might be taking this too seriously. I also probably should have focused more on my shooting than my outfit changes.”
Bridgman, for his part, showed incredible confidence and persistence, trying and failing on the same trick shots over and over again.
“They’re going to be so screwed when I start hitting these,” Bridgman was heard saying after the game was over and as the Zoom call ended.
While Torres brought the ice cold consistency, Delaveris brought the flair to Team Torraveris, hitting a dazzling shot from a hoverboard that no one could match and hitting multiple clutch shots to save his team from taking a letter. He was also lethal from the corner.
“I understand that this victory will come with asterisk, just like any sports championship this year,” Delaveris said. “But it really feels good to win one. It’s almost enough to make me forget that there are 221 million people ahead of me on the COVID vaccine list.”
Bridgman, however, said he planned to protest the results of the game.
“In America, we count only legal shots,” he said. “Dustin’s camera was too far away, so we were not able to properly observe his shots. How do we know he was making those shots? Maybe Bryan and I were actually making those shots? Maybe dead people were shooting? What about the massive dumps of shots that he made late in the game? It’s all very suspicious. I think if you count only the legal shots, Bryan and I will win by a landslide.”
Clark’s response was more practical.
“Cool – you won the game? Then come get your trophy, boys. It’s at my house in Illinois. Be sure to wear a mask,” he said.
Perhaps the best metaphor was a shot Torres deemed “The 2020” - A shot 6 feet from the basketball, wearing a mask, on his knees. Fittingly, he missed.
“It doesn’t get much more 2020 than that,” he said.