THE YEAR WAS 2006....

There was a lot of anticipation for the 2006 HC season. Having opened with a big time event in Miami, there was much to build on when the season rolled around in late May. As expected, many of the faces remained the same. But Greg Lamonica, the ‘05 MVP, was struggling with knee injuries that plagued most of his summer.  Darryl Nash teamed with Ben Killey to focus primarily on July’s Gay Games. Gunnar Stapp came out strong in the early season, ready to play no matter the commute. Chino was feeling out of shape (though he did block both Darryl and Greg in one day). Jack Vu was consistently sporadic. Gone was Mark Stapp. Gone was Young Nam. And suddenly the summer would be a challenge for the Hogan Circuit.    If there was a savior, it was Hogan himself, a master at scheduling Chicagoland visits on balmy summer afternoons. Playing the King of Grant Park series with reckless abandon, Hogan set the 2006 standard for wins and cheap overhand shots. Nash would finish second in the season’s first two KOGP events, with Killey, G. Stapp, and Luiz Sobrinho in the mix. Sobrinho, who struggled in Grant Park, sparkled elsewhere en route to being crowned the season’s Rookie Bachelor winner.    Along the way, some new faces came and went. Early on, Dan Jones and Brandon Breting thought they might challenge Luiz’s Rookie Bachelor aspirations, but after Jones gashed his leg and Breting stumbled out of the HC AVP Championships, the chase was over. The arrival of Dylan’s friend Andy was evened out by the departure of Greg’s friend Andy. Credit the latter (and Nash) with spanking Lamonica’s team in his final North Avenue appearance.    Somewhere along the line, Young Nam made a brief appearance or two, only to go winless in ‘06 - batting .000 for the first time in his career. And Dr. Rob Irksome was nowhere to be found, much to the delight of the Hogan Circuit.