The Crackers were drawn to play one of the best if not THE best team in the league CH(upms) . In a televised season opener, the Crackers experienced a 7-0 lead at the start of the game courtesy of their go-to man, Rene Smith. He also provided the crowds with an astounding ankle braker to one of the CHumps, followed by a "Wussup now??" call by Smith!!. The game went the crackers way defensively too as CHumps struggled to score in the opening few minutes. It was only when their fill-in, Joel Wright and their dead-eye shooter Alex heated up that CH were back in the game. Apart from Smith, great play came from Jeremy King, Sam Ward (the now retired statistician, reactivated player) who made a couple of key jumpers in the first half and A-Rox who was remarkable on the boards and was solid with his shooting. The game also allowed us to see the rookie, Anna Walsh for the first time and Walsh looked very promising as she contributed 16 points (auto 10pts.incl.) to the game. The half ended the Crackers way as Nenad Petrovic stole the ball from Alex who was on a breakaway to score a buzzer beater. The second half continued on with the fast play of the first and the Crackers were not missing many shots but Alex was on fire and CH soon grabbed a slim 2 point lead. 6 second half points from Petrovic and a couple of great assists to King as well as Roxburgh's massive block on Wright were some of the highlights of the first few minutes. Scott Wilkinson contributed some needed hussle to the Crackers defence but was dismal offensively. Rene Smith overcame three missed shots in a row and continued on playing well in the second half and ended up top scoring for the Caucasians...I mean Crackers. With a few minutes left, the game began to take its toll on the physical and mental fitness of the Crackers. To add to that, the referee gave Jeremy King only 2 pts. for an obvioud 3pt. shot. Unnecessary turnovers and four failed breakaway attempts (open layups) helped CH create a 6 point lead. Simon Welsh picked up an unprofessional technical foul near the end of the game by throwing the ball into the crowd and hitting a small disabled child, Jimmy, causing brain damage, (actually, he only threw it into the wall...and didn't really get a tech). Alex and Welsh were solid on the offensive and defensive boards. The game finished as a high scorer 56:60 (10 pts. for girls included). Steve Hay did not make an appearence to the game and the Crackers administration will decide whether to fine Hay (up to $10,000) for not telling the coach in time. Coach Petrovic gave no comment regarding the matter. Postgame quotes: "Initially, I was very dissapointed with the loss but the more I thought about it the more optimistic I became. I mean, these guys are A-grade players who legally shouldn't even be allowed to play in this league. It would've been the upset of the decade had we beaten them. I also feel that the refereeing was a bit biased but that's what a coach is supposed to say, right? Fitness, or lack of it, killed us in the end. Next week will give us a chance to regroup and come out blazing as we did today."COACH NENAD PETROVIC " Good to see us playing well. I broke that mofos ankles and I'll do it again, next week is gonna be ON, youknowwhatimsaying?!: RENE SMITH "Can you smell what the Rox is cooking?" ANDY ROXBURGH " I thought to myself...Statisticians don't get any luving so I decided to get back into the game, keep telegraphing and get me some girlies - girls love the Crackers. We're buying whiteboards...um, yeah..." SAM WARD " Great team, will be a fun season" ANNA WALSH "I'm gay" REFEREE NOWITZKI