Your Gator Nation Blog: In Swampy Conditions, Gators Chomp Frogs

"Raindrops kept fallin' on their heads" (BJ Thomas), but the Mount Vernon Park Gators shook off the heavy showers and relatively cold weather to post their second straight victory to open the 2015 A Meet season with a 220-200 win over the Fairfax Frogs.

As if there weren't enough water!

With the win, MVP is tied for first place with Little Rocky Run, our week four opponent. Not to look ahead, but to set the stage, both teams had close wins against Fairfax. Last week, the LRR Stingrays beat the Frogs 216-204, so that week four road meet could be special.

So, if I mention December 18th, The Force Awakens

will I receive an advertising check from Disney?

If I do, Disney will have still made a huge profit

off me over the years.

Back to the "Rainy Day in June" (Alan Jackson). The day before, the only discussion was whether the meet would happen. Our fearless team reps cautioned "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" (Bob Dylan) but "the Meet Goes On, yeah the Meet Goes On." (Sonny and Cher! Well, not really, and it's not about rain, but it works!).

There was a sea scout camp near a beach where the porpoises were so friendly that they swam to shore every night at dinner time. Every night the chef used to announce dinner by yelling: "Dinner! For all in tents...and porpoises."

(Editor's Note: Sorry, that joke is so bad it's good. With the tents, I had to use it. Carry on.)

Gator coaches are so well-paid they can afford

to hire their own umbrella boys. In the rain

that's called "trickle-down economics."

The conditions were as bad as this grizzled blogger can remember for an A meet. During set-up and warm-ups, the number one question was "Who'll Stop the Rain?" (CCR), but by the end, Gator fans were "Singin' in the Rain" (Gene Kelly). The Frogs were left with "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" (Willie Nelson). (Editor's Note: No they weren't. They were, like any team, disappointed not to get the win, but they weren't crying! Reporter's Reply: If you haven't figured out I'm trying to get as many songs about rain into this, you are denser than I previously believed. Besides, there is no way Willie is getting left out of this compilation. He may not pay his taxes, but he paid his musical dues. Editor: SMH).

"If only there were a device that I could use

to shield my eyes from the rain! I bet I could

make a lot of money if I could invent something."

Once again, the Gators seized the lead at the beginning of the meet and never relinquished it. Coaches Paul Makin and Emily Bayer were singing "It's Raining Men" (The Weathergirls) as the 8 & Under boys started the meet with another freestyle sweep. The team turned "Purple Rain" (Prince) into "Green Rain" (SHINee -- it's amazing what you can find on the internet! Editor's note: Not in this case.) in freestyle, racing out to a 52-38 lead.

I sure hope that little Gator paid his fair

share to have an umbrella holder! #Onepercent

The rain let up slightly, but as the Eurythmics know, "Here Comes the Rain again." However, like Clint Black, MVP decided it would "Like the Rain" in backstroke as well, winning 46-44 for a sixteen point lead halfway through the individual events.

Gator hide is impervious to rain.

Breaststroke flipped the backstroke score, as the Frogs noted that they were "No Stranger to the Rain" (the great Keith Whitley). The Fairfax two point victory in breaststroke (44 MVP/46 Fairfax) cut the lead to 142-128 heading into the butterfly.

By then, the rain was down to a drizzle, but no one was asking "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (CCR's second appearance on the Casey Kasem "Big Rain Top Forty!")

Our B Meet Correspondent coaches the swimmers

during freestyle. No wonder MVP won!

(Editor's Note: Casey Kasem's dead, and you just made that up. Reporter: To quote Scooby-Doo -- ruh-roh! Editor: Maybe you should take it out. Reporter: No, CCR IS the best darn band in the whole darn land!)

Swimmers in green won the race.

A six point Gator win the Butterfly proves that "Rain is a Good Thing" (Luke Bryan) as the 48-42 win opened the meet up to a 190-170 lead.

Cameron gives the Gators morey points

with a first place in 15-18 backstroke.

The Gators and the Frogs split the dozen relays, so the twenty point lead remained unchanged, leading to the 220-200 final. The Gators decided that they Love a Rainy Day (with apologies to Eddie Rabbit -- his song is better suited to a B Meet, but c'mon, could I really leave that one out? I didn't think so either.). Next meet, however, the Gators won't be clamoring to "Bring on the Rain" (Jo Dee Messina).

Sorry, without names on the caps of the Little Gators,

I have no idea who this is, but she's so cute in this

photo I had to include it. In the trade, we call this

the "Obligatory Cute Little Gator Pic."

The races of the week were swum by James Piland, who won 9-10 boys fly by 0.33 over his Frog opponent and Sheridan Phalen, who turned out to be a "Rainy Day Woman" (Waylon Jennings) for the Gators, winning her race by just 0.27 against her fierce Fairfax Frog freestyle foe. (Editor's Note: well, usually your writing is a series of painful reaches, such as this rain song theme, but this time, you deserve a high-five for having five straight alliteration words in a row!)

Swimming photos as art: The interplay of facial

expressions and water movement means

breaststroke is the most photogenic stroke.

Gator sweeps came at the hands (and arms, legs, and feet) of the 8 & under freestyle boys -- George Schulte, Matthew Makin, and Alexander North started their team off for greater Gator glory -- and the 11-12 girls fly squad, as Emily Makin, Gabrielle Greszler, and Olivia Blondin went 1-2-3 for the 9-0 run. The Frogs had one sweep, so MVP now has a 6-1 advantage in sweeps this season.

Even Gator parents are hiring umbrella boys. This
is a key indicator that the economy is picking up.

(Editor's Note: This might be the most obscure Stat Boy stats of all Stat Boy stats! Stat Boy Note: If you aren't innovating, you are losing.)

Andrew Baker, Gator Points Maker

Double winners for the Gators were Kevin Adams-Mardi (free and breaststroke), Tyler Swartz (breaststroke and fly), Sheridan Phalen (free and fly), Taylor Makin (back and breaststroke), Cassidy Bayer (breaststroke and fly), and Emily Makin (back and fly).

The 8 & under boys crushed it, so no

need to risk an early take-off here

Other MVP winners were George Schulte (free), Cassidy Crowther (free), Gabrielle Greszler (free), Matthew Makin (back), Joseph Humphreys (back), Cameron Morey (back), Lily Palmerino (back), Jack Dupuis (breaststroke), and James Piland (fly). Thus, the Gators won 21 of the 40 individual events, providing ten points of the 20 point victory.

Coaches work hard to instill this laser-like

focus on relay strategy. And it worked!

Second place points were earned by Matthew Makin (free), James Piland (free), Andrew Baker (free), Jill Humphreys (free), Isabella Van Damme (free and breaststroke), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free), Jessie Bricker (free), George Schulte (back), Andrei Zaitsev (back), Cassidy Crowther (back), Parker Fulghum (back), Alexander North (breaststroke), Jack Klopson (breaststroke), Olivia Heck (breaststroke), Miriam Keller (fly), Lily Palmerino (fly), Gabrielle Greszler (fly), Olivia Johansson (fly), Andrew Baker (fly), and Cameron Morey (fly). That represents 21 second place points, good for six more net points on the win.

Lily goes Frog giggin', keeps Fairfax from

padding their lead. Lily's team won!

(Reporter's Note: Did you see how I worked "Lily," a variation of "pad," and "Frog" all in there? Editor: If it worked, you would not have had to add this.)

Parker's start leaves the Frogs green with envy.

It's not easy being green. Unless you are a Gator.

Third place points were harvested by Alexander North (free), Donovan Kovalsky (free), Andrei Zaitsev (free), Nick Dupuis (free and breaststroke), Zoe Greszler (free), Parker Fulghum (free), Elizabeth Moorman (back), Abby Dittman (back), Olivia Johansson (back), Anna Fracasso (back and fly), Samantha Cowen (breaststroke), Caroline Baker (breaststroke), TJ Heck (breaststroke), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (breaststroke), Lily Penn (breaststroke), Torie Bolger (breaststroke), Jackson Foerster (fly), Donovan Kovalsky (fly), Cole Miller (fly), and Olivia Blondin (fly). The 22 third places added the final four points to the victory margin.

The AFrac Expressive Face of the Week photo.

(Or, as we call it here at the Gator blog world HQ:

The AFEFOTW)

(Editor's Note: "Harvested?" Reporter: It's the Swim Local movement. Gators are Aquavores).

The Gator victory dance!

After a scorcher of a first meet, and a soaker of a second meet, the Gators can truly paraphrase Sweet Baby James Taylor and say "they've swum fire and they've swum rain." Next week, MVP takes on the 0-2 Fairfax Station Flyers in the first Gator away meet of the season.

I hope you enjoyed the dry humor in this post.