Readers of our bulletin board on Con Sim World are familiar with Dan's World ... an idealistic utopia ruled by Emperor Dan Dolan Sr with an iron fist and a ball peen hammer - a sort of Mad Max meets the Three Stooges version of justice. To keep the inhabitants of Dan's World in line, the Home Guard - consisting of his pair of burly linebacker-esque sons - is called upon with their ravenous appetites to spread the gospel as Dan sees it. And we thought he was kidding ... cue the Twilight Zone theme because now we're all living in Dan's World. Yes ... imagine all those WBC t-shirts walking by with the Dolan clan emblazoned across the back ... led by the mighty moose. Oh ... the horror! There is no joy in Lancaster - because Emperor Dan now reigns ...

The 19th-ranked Team X, made up of the Dolan boys and Greg Schmittgens (what's a Kansas boy doing in a place like this?) improved on their second place finish in 2003 by adding two more points and that was enough to put them over the top, besting 3 Men & a Canadian by those two points. The Board is rumored to be considering whether the win should be recorded with an asterisk to note the double Coussis character of the win - with both Dan Sr and Tim having won their own GM'd events. In some quarters that would be frowned upon, but not in Dan's World.

EPGS I were the biggest over-achievers this year - beating 115-1 odds to finish third. Although Foxco Gamers Inc at 250-1 finishing 14th and No One Can Catch Red at 400-1 at 23rd have a good case as well. On the other side of the ledger, GCOM Express was the highest rated (at 49-1) of 26 teams to be blanked. Perhaps more remarkable was the performance (if you can call it that) of the feared and highly respected Greenville Mafia whose four teams managed a combined total of just five points - all courtesy of the Fields' father-&-son duo. In the Team Tournament it is not enough to be good. You also have to predict where you'll succeed. Some say that is a flaw in the tournament. Others might say that is the genius in the format and that which keeps it from growing stale as evidenced by its growth and lack of repeat champions.

So how did the Happy Handicapper do? Not so good. Of his top 25 picks in the record field of 82 teams, only eleven made the Top 25.

Band of Fools and Me & Three Stiffs shared the Consistancy Award by being the only squads to have all four team members score points this year.

GCOM Express won the Misery Loves Company title for the second year in a row with 445 entrants for an average of 111.25 entrants per event. On the opposite end of the scale, claiming the Big Fish in the Small Pond title was The Old Guarde whose 78 total entrants averaged only 19.5 players per event.

 

Dan Dolan Sr - 8	Dan Dolan Jr 2	Tim Dolan - 7	Gregory Schmittgens - 0