The blog this week is filled with deep sorrow and a terrible sense of loss – Lemmings team member Matt Rogers passed away suddenly last Friday. His comments on this blog made it a much more interesting read and his analysis of the week’s questions and scores showed great insight.
Matt previously played for the Robin Hood in Rainow and when the Lemmings were desperately looking for a replacement at the beginning of the season they decided to approach the Robin Hood as they had strength in depth. Nick mentioned this to Matt and with the agreement of his team mates he became a Lemming - pretty much as Nick had hoped. Throughout the season he has consistently scored over 30 and was the B League’s top individual scorer; he was a team player and a warm and humorous personality and will be sadly missed. Our thoughts reach out to his family at this terrible time.
The Lemmings faced the Royal Oak in the semi final of the Cup who had generously offered to postpone the game but we felt the game should go ahead; the question master Glyn from the Park Timers also showed himself to be flexible and understanding – our appreciation to both team and Glynn.
Sunil stepped in to make up the team numbers, but we did keep an empty chair at the table …
The questions were pretty good only one causing some discussion – the wording of Q32.
It was a close-fought game with each round swinging one way or the other – the Lemmings took the lead with 19/17 in round one, lost it in round 2 14/20, lost again in round 3 11/14 then made up some ground in round 4 19/15 before slipping back again with 15/17 – still only 5 to make up. But then disaster struck – in the final round while the visitors picked up 20 points the Lemmings scored 0 – certainly a first for the Lemmings and it must be very rare throughout all Leagues – final score 103/78 to the Royal Oak. We wish them well in the final.
Matt’s funeral is on Monday 6th March 12 o’clock at Holy Trinity Church Rainow and Laura will be happy to see people from the quiz community there.And thank you to all the teams who have sent their condolences.
3 comments:
The Altrincham local paper has printed a deeply appreciative and truly moving memorial to Matt from his former colleagues and pupils:
http://altrincham.today/2017/02/22/altrincham-school-mourns-death-teacher-described-truly-amazing-man/
That is a very touching tribute from Matt's school, it reinforces how much he will be missed by so many people, not just those of us who meet on wintry Tuesday nights.
A personal memory
Last season, Alan a Dale exchanged banter with Lord Flame both on Nick’s blog spot and via e mail – though given Matt’s erudition it probably qualified as badinage.
We didn’t meet until the end of season’s presentations when he introduced himself: I had been expecting a senior Oxbridge don type instead of a young, athletic figure, full of joie de vivre.
He was top of the B league when the table was last published, and was improving all the time as he gained experience in the league. The one blip in his performance inspired the brilliantly observed self-deprecating school report he posted on the blog spot 3 weeks ago.
His mastery of words was remarkable; the valediction for Alan Levitt was subtly nuanced. In comparison, my unstructured, emotional ramblings seem inadequate
I can only finish with the words Matt himself used:
Requiescat in pace
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