King Of The Court

10/20/01 - 10/21/01 in San Diego, CA

OPEN Division

Thanks to everyone who turned out for some great play in awesome conditions on
Saturday and Sunday for the third annual King of the Court. Seems like we only
just started two years ago...Can't wait til next year, although we may want to
quit now cuz we'll probably never get conditions like that again.

Some narrative and some final results: 

The first day saw a late start (imagine that), but we were too inspired by the
conditions and the level of play, and we couldn't let ourselves quit. We had
planned on playing 11 games, more than enough under most circumstances. We went
through to the end of two round robins of play, though, with John Greensage
winning the day with a stellar 11-3 record. Conrad, who started the day with a
1-4 opening five games, ended strong to finish at 10-4. Harvey and Quiche
squeaked past Tony with matching 8-6 records. Blair played spoiler in the final
game of the day to keep Tony out of the top four.

The second day again got another late start (I know, I can't believe it
either). Still, we struck weather gold again with high clouds and low
winds. Two days in a row of ideal circumstances for high level play. We were
very inspired, and managed to overcome the lactic acid and fatigue from the
previous day for some more fun with 104 meters of colored rope and orange
plastic.

The consolation bracket was dominated by Tony Pellicane, who won all six of the
double round robin games. (He admitted afterward that he was fairly deliberate
about making up for not qualifying for the championship bracket.) The other
four players were each 2-4. Point diff came down to a close finish, but John
Kirkland got sixth, with newcomer to the K of C John Schiller finishing
seventh. Blair took his traditional spot in 8th place. (This by no means
indicates he wasn't deserving of being included in the field.)

The top four bracket started the six-game round robin final with an overtime
game. This typified play from the weekend, with many games going into OT to
settle the outcome. In a seesaw tilt, Greensage and Harv beat Conrad and Quiche
22-20. That would be the only game Conrad would lose on the day, though, and
his five game winning streak carried him to, you guessed it, a 5-1 record. The
championship was up for grabs through four games. At that point, there was
still a scenario in which there could be a four-way tie at the end of the six
games. However, Quiche managed to come from ahead to lose his last two games,
creating a tie for second between Greensage and Harv. By a bare margin,
Greensage won on the strength of the tie breaker- a left-handed only guts match
with CPI saucer tossers from 7 meters. Actually, John came out ahead on the
strength of point diff, so Harv got third and Quiche was the doormat of the
final four. Always a bridesmaid...but then who wants to marry those other guys
anyway?

Final rankings:
Conrad Damon
John Greensage
Harvey Brandt
Rick LeBeau
Tony Pellicane
John Kirkland
John Schiller
Blair Paulsen

If you're receiving this and you didn't play in the tournament, maybe you'll be
inspired to play more or come out once in a while to our fairly regular
get-togethers. We're definitely open to expanding the field. Eight is a great
number to have, but we could use more. To those we haven't seen in a while,
hope you're all well, and to Jon Freedman...happy double-dad-hood. Hope you and
Gail and the kids are doing well.

To those of you who did play this year, thanks for coming. I hope you all had a
great time. I know I did. The doctors tell me that the soreness is not
permanent, and that by this time next year I may be able to play another 20
games on one weekend. Of course, Conrad warms up with a ten game set, so who am
I to feel sorry for myself?