SPIN CITY IS CALLING: West Division Teams Clash in Seattle and for MLTT Fans, it’s Pong Nirvana
The Seattle Spinners host MLTT’s West Division teams in the season’s penultimate tour stop, and the stakes could not be higher with all four teams bunched up and within 11 points of the top playoff spot. Here’s our preview article bundled up with a little musical history lesson for all you young ‘uns who were still In Utero when Seattle was spinning at the center of the music universe.
February 21, 2024. Seattle is famous for many things, but in the music industry it is renowned for being the birthplace of Grunge. The airwaves the 90’s were dominated by the garage band sounds of such bands as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and of course the undisputed GOAT, Nirvana. Kurt Cobain’s most recognizable song and essentially the anthem of an entire generation of youth was the viscerally savage “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Fast forward 25 years and the spirit of youth is still alive and well in Seattle, with a group of precocious kids too young to even remember the days when Seattle was the music capital of the world (the Spinners’ elder statesman Ola Omotayo was still four years away from being born when Nirvana was ruling the airwaves). With the youngest roster in MLTT, Coach Luba Sadovska will be relying on teen spirit as she leads her Seattle team into their much-anticipated home tour stop this coming weekend at the Angel of the Winds Arena. Tickets are available here, just Come As You Are! But Nevermind if you can’t be there in person, here’s the link to the livestream where you can view all the action along with Majorponghead staff and editors making dumb comments in the chat.
Current standings in the West Division. Oddsmakers have no idea what to do.
Texas Smash lineup: Hiromitsu Kasahara, David McBeath, Nandan Naresh, Yoan Rebetez, Amy Wang, Darryl Tsao. Shepherding the team with the most incoming momentum, Coach Jörg Bitzigeio heads up to the great Pacific Northwest with his optimal lineup, looking to extend Texas’ newfound but tenuous lead. When pressed by announcers Evan Lepler and Sean O’Neill about Texas’ recent surge to the top of the standings, Coach Bitzigeio assiduously played it close to the vest…but you can bet if he’d let you peek into his Heart-Shaped Box of hope, you’d see Texas running out to a double-digit lead in the West in advance of the final week of play in March.
BREAKING NEWS: David McBeath has been replaced by Free Agent Nishant Lebaka…McBeath’s better half is expecting their first child and so McBeath is taking paternity leave to be by her side (good man, good priorities). This will mark the second time that David has become a father, as he recently also became Adam Bobrow’s daddy.
David McBeath demonstrates that he is ready for fatherhood. Go to Adam’s YouTube channel to see more…and snake that sss-scribe button!
Bay Area Blasters lineup: Ma Jinbao, Tao Wenzhang, Lashin Elsayed, Lily Zhang, Senura Silva, Alexis Douin. The recently-dethroned squad led by Coach Maggie Tian will look to reclaim the top spot, as they also bring an optimal lineup to Seattle…but not without one major question mark, as Master Tao Wenzhang returns to action from the injury list, having missed last month’s action due to a knee problem. We saw him on social media working hard in physical therapy and he’s been training recently with Jinxin “The Professor” Wang, so fingers crossed…but a less-than-100% Tao might make Bay Area’s fortunes more About A Girl, as in the indomitable Lily Zhang will need to step up in Coach Tian’s oft-used strategy of playing her in a singles match, in order to slot a men’s doubles team against an opposing mixed doubles pairing.
Seattle Spinners lineup: Nikhil Kumar, Olajide Omotayo, Johan Hagberg, Andrew Cao, Paul Qi, Fabiola Diaz. Notably absent from the home town squad’s roster is Aditya Sareen, and there’s no getting around it…that’s a big MIA. To avoid the dreaded hometown curse, Seattle will turn to their #1 main man Nikhil Kumar, who should be in peak form (one might even daresay he’s In Bloom) following his phenomenal performance at the World Teams Championships where he led Team USA to its most consequential victory in at least a decade over Team England (3-2) with wins over both Paul Drinkhall and world #22 Liam Pitchford.
Portland Paddlers lineup: Kou Lei, Jiwei Xia, Jonatan McDonald, Tyrese Knight, Rachel Sung, Isaac Vila Ortiz. With All Apologies to Seattle’s youth movement, Coach Christian Lillieroos’ Portland team is built on the back of not youth, but experience…veterans Jiwei Xia and Kou Lei are like fire and ice in their respective temperaments on the table, but supposedly more like the melodic Earth, Wind and Fire on the karaoke mic (we only know this from unreliable sources). How well Portland does this weekend will depend much on how these two are able to harmonize their efforts. We also look forward to the return of Mr Highlight Reel himself, Isaac Vila Ortiz.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this preview of MLTT’s Seattle upcoming tour stop, as well as the musical trip down memory lane revisiting Seattle’s greatest band, Nirvana. Be sure to catch all the action. Much like the East Division two weeks ago in Winter Haven, the players will be fighting with an overwhelming sense of urgency…for falling out of the playoff race means a long, unhappy offseason waiting for MLTT’s 2nd season to begin in September.
Never stop pongin’, Pongheads!
