Heads held high? Nah. There’s only one thing you can do when you lose 13 games: Hang your head in shame.
The Fightin’ Prairie Dogs, the Omaha startup community’s slow pitch softball team, ended its dismal season Monday night.
The team went 0-13. That’s right: They didn’t even win one single, lousy game.
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The team, put together and funded as part of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s Event Draft, had players from Aviture, Elevate, GoodTwin, Omaha Code School, Pack, Silicon Prairie News, Startup Genome and more.
“We started with high hopes and delusions of grandeur, and then it turned competitive for us… and then just sad,” said outfielder and SPN events manager, Caleb Ulffers.
At one point, the team brought in non-startup ringers, attempting to improve its chances. Despite bringing on former standout high school athletes who made the outfield a black hole for hits and slugged homer after homer, a win was always just out of reach.
Season highs included back-to-back five run or less losses, bonding over the terribleness of the team and drinking postgame beers at Barrett’s Barleycorn.
Season lows included 2nd baseman and SPN writer Jordan Pascale breaking his collarbone on a freak baserunning accident at first. And, well, pretty much every other thing that happened during the season.
It’s safe to say the team lived up to the stereotype that tech folks and sports don’t mix. The La Vista Softball League proved to be a little bit more competitive than exepcted.
Finals scores included drubbings of 27-6, 19-4, 21-0, 22-2, 23-8, 21-10, 16-0, 13-5, 15-10, 10-6, 21-10, 20-2, 15-0 and 9-1.
Sumeet Jain, right fielder and co-founder of Omaha Code School, said despite all the losing, it was a great chance to meet others.
“I’m grateful to have these shared experiences with other members of the community,” Jain said. “When I see the guys around town and at events, we can laugh about game mishaps and celebrate the memories of games where we played well enough to not get skunked,” he said.
Shane Reiser, utility infielder and founder of Startup Genome, said it was good to get out from behind the keyboards and stretch the muscles a bit. He learned a lot about his fellow startup community members.
“I learned that Sumeet doesn’t run—he bounds like an antelope,” Reiser said. “We may not have won a single game, but we had a great time out there.”
Monday, Ulffers brought a bottle of $5 champagne to spray over the team in the event they won.
They did not. Instead, the champagne was poured in the trash.
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Organizers are looking at possible options for the next startup community sports event this fall. Interested in participating or have an idea for the sport? Email jordan[at]siliconprairienews.com.
Credit: Photos by Flywheel’s Bridget McQuillan.
One response to “Omaha startup softball team fails to win even just one game”
I can’t believe no one has commented on this. This is the best thing I’ve read all day. Hilarious. You took those losses like gentlemen.