3.16.08

By BRYAN CLARK

Sports Editor

NEW YORK CITY (AP) – Quad One may have found the equalizer in their epic battle for blacktop supremacy. 

Wet pavement and stout defense by Team Torraveris limited Team Bryamy’s typical run-and-gun style, leading to a hotly contested second game in the fifth annual Quad One Braggin’ Rights Challenge. With the rosters at full strength for the first time since the Vegas shootout in 2006, Lee Delaveris and Dustin Torres led Game Two by a two-point margin for about 20 minutes before the defending champs finally rallied to win the game 15-10. Team Bryamy had won Game One by a score of 15-4 behind hot shooting from Jeremy Bridgman.

“Quite frankly, they were beating us at our own game,” said Bryan “Dressed by the Blind” Clark. “They were running give-and-gos, passing it well, playing solid defense. Give credit where credit was due. They left it all on the floor.”

Part of what they left on the floor was some of their skin. The weather at game time – 40 degrees with driving rain – led some pundits to speculate that the pavement on Roosevelt Island would be slick. Delaveris proved them right on the very first play.

“I started to drive and my feet just went out from under me,” he said as he limped down Madison Avenue the next day. “I mean, they don’t call me ‘Air ‘Nidas’ for nothing. I really got up there – which is why it hurt so much, I guess.”

Before it was over, all four players had hit the deck. Torres led all fallers with four, some of which led to laughter and game stoppages. But by the time Clark went down, Delaveris just took it as a chance for an open shot. He missed and Clark got the rebound anyway.

“I thought they were stupid for playing,” said Team Doctor Dan McFarlane. “And then they got back and expected me to patch them up. Hello, I’m on vacation. I wasn’t actually expecting to do any work.”

Game One went according to the usual script, with Clark and Bridgman running away with the game as Delaveris tried to stop the bleeding – literally and figuratively.

“Once Lee went down, we were out of it for a while,” Torres said. “We looked up, it was 12-2. I was thinking, ‘Wait, are we still playing?’ And then I started thinking, ‘I kind of wish I hadn’t walked across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday.’ But then I remembered how great their pizza was. And while I was thinking about that, they scored again.”

When Game Two started with a sweet alley-oop from Bridgman to Clark, it looked like the route was on. But as the weather improved, so did Team Torraveris. They jumped out to leads of 4-2 and 5-3, which they held for quite a while.

“If this was a real, 40-minute game, we would have won by a score of 10-6 or something like that,” Torres said. “Call it boring, call it pathetic, but it would have worked. Maybe we should change the rules.”

The turning point of the game came during a timeout when neither side had scored for quite a while. After Clark told Bridgman he thought the game was going “very excellent,” Bridgman grabbed him by the head and said, “No it’s not, ya dope. Drive the lane.” After that heated exchange, Clark and Bridgman started storming into the lane with reckless abandon, leading to some acrobatic lay-ups but also giving Torres and Delaveris a chance to swat the ball back in their faces on more than one occasion. Clark scored four straight to put Team Bryamy up 7-5, and Bridgman poured in four of his own to take the game to match point. One possession later, Clark finished it off with a jumper and celebrated with the first ever Roosevelt Island Leap – which would have worked better if the wall was a foot shorter.

“I’m not going to comment on Bryan’s poor celebration attempt,” Bridgman said. “But I’m happy to be taking home the world’s second-most-coveted trophy once again. It was harder than it should have been, but we knew we would pull it off. They don’t have the mystique, mystique, mystique.”

The trophy also drew the attention of some local children playing on a nearby court. The small replica of Michael Jordan – the event’s traveling trophy – was stationed at mid-court for the festivities. The children were confused until Bridgman told them it belonged to the Quad, which led to even more confusion.

All four lifetime ticket holders for the Braggin’ Rights game took a rain check (no really) on this year’s event, and missed out on one of the finest venues in the game’s five-year history. Set on the banks of the East River, the court had painted lines and two full-size hoops.

“There was a bridge on one side and a power plant on the other,” Torres said. “It was awesome. It felt like a game of Street Fighter – including all the blood.”

Organizers hope for another contest in 2008, either in Chicago or Ohio. There are rumors that Team Torraveris will hire “Young” Ross Frischmuth as a mascot for the game.