Within a Whisker

The story of the Toroidal/Season 4 double choke is deeper than just the double choke. It's an allegory about greed, about getting caught up in success, about the inherent danger in not following through.

Going into Toroidal/Season 4, the Texas were seemingly cemented into their reputation as a Cold League Choke Artists, but the Texas knew that it would only take one pennant to shrug off the curse. In a stirring motivational speech delivered before the opening Game 1 of the Baltimore Texas - Long Beach Flightless Birds matchup, the Texas radio announcer, Dallas Huston, fired up the Texas and sent them charging into Game 1 like a team possessed. The Texas mopped up the Flightless Birds in the first 2 games, and showed little sign of slowing down.

The Texas, one win away from a pennant, could hardly believe their luck. They were so elated that the entire collective, that night, booked their flights for the Season 4 Toroidal Cup - to Detroit, of course, because the Grape Chews, their fellow Hot League Choke Artists, were also up 2 games to none, and also looked to be on the verge of clinching their first ever pennant and breaking their own curse.

Except the next night, in a veritable arm-wrestling match, the Flightless Birds won Game 3 by the thinnest of margins - 4 points. They came back out the next night and beat the Texas again in Game 4, stunning the Texas (as well as the many Long Beach fans in attendance). Tied up at 2 games apiece, the winner-take-all Game 5 ( 4ab2a8d7-6105-4de3-8f32-457f879b7234) saw the Flightless Birds shot out of a cannon, only to see their lead crumble away to half of the Texas total. But in the closing moments of the game, the Flightless Birds executed an emergency bloom maneuver, leaving Baltimore virtually untouched but spiking their point total. Then, the Flightless Birds' bloom maneuver began to rapidly fade, the Birds' score began to crash, all but certain to return the lead back to the Texas. And then the game clock froze - the final generation ticked - the elated Baltimore Texas stormed the field, cheering and shouting, as the match was declared over - until gradually, a hush fell over the Baltimore Texas fans on the field. Some of the fans were pointing at the scoreboard, some fans were crying, some staring with shock and horror, others were holding and consoling each other.

The final bloom maneuver by the Flightless Birds had been perfectly executed, and the Long Beach Flightless Birds had beaten the Baltimore Texas and clinched the pennant by a single point: 153-152.

Season 4 Cold League Championship Series Results Table
Long Beach Flightless Birds vs. Baltimore Texas
	Winner	W Score	Margin	L Score	Loser	Generations	Link
Game 1	Baltimore Texas	163	18.40%	133	Long Beach Flightless Birds	1,110	06796e18-f472-450e-b9ad-2262d4789337
Game 2	Baltimore Texas	189	64.02%	68	Long Beach Flightless Birds	1,644	08d5d1af-b0ce-4d35-8340-bd23f11dca72
Game 3	Long Beach Flightless Birds	174	2.30%	170	Baltimore Texas	1,081	45a2fbd3-aa02-43c6-b4a9-c6f14c211fe5
Game 4	Long Beach Flightless Birds	187	15.51%	158	Baltimore Texas	3,751	f2ca2cb6-9aa7-4fa8-be47-48bb69e55b21
Game 5	Long Beach Flightless Birds	153	0.65%	152	Baltimore Texas	1,846	4ab2a8d7-6105-4de3-8f32-457f879b7234