Vermont Championship and a proposal

Before the MA state championship, we went to the Vermont state championship to try to get one of their two spots to advance to the super regional, knowing that MA would leave someone behind because it is such a competitive state.  That is how we had advanced the year before and the MA teams realized that it was a real advantage if they could be on the wait list for VT.  They don't have enough teams to run a championship and so depend on out of state teams to have a championship at all.  But it is a long drive - 4 hours away from Boston.

So this year it was full of the best teams in MA and NH.  That means for such a small state it was a preview of the eliminations for the World Championship and that was kinda overwhelming for the staff.  In the end, we went up against a team we really respected - a pair of brothers in NH.  They had already won their state and so had qualified but edged us out for the #1 captain spot by only 5 points out of 1000.  That meant that we couldn't be their partner for the eliminations as the way advancement went, the winning team partner wouldn't advance.  So they begged us as they knew together we would set the world record that day.  But their father/coach realized we couldn't say yes and we respectful let them know before the public selection show.

When the broadcast 'selection show' happened, the captain actually took the mike and asked us to be their partner, even bending on one knee as a proposal - something they knew we had to say no to and we had told them - it was quite embarrassing as the crowd booed when our captain said no (And someone put it up on youtube with the title 'betrayal').  The kid had even written a poem to ask us.  But Miss Vermont was there and came over and hugged the kid in a show of fun sympathy.  In the end the matches were incredibly close and we barely lost.  That was the only championship we lost all year.  And the story of Gluten Free and The Brainstormers wasn't over yet...