On your mark, get set ...
Fifty of the WBC's best athletes turned out this Olympic year
to go after the championship in Decathlon late Friday
night. As in previous years the players were free to select any
of the eight athletes that they choose as they were each given
a handicap based on their performance.
The first item of interest is the lengths that Bruce Monnin
went to try and improve his chances for victory. He spent two
days at his in-law's analyzing Vasily Kuznetsov's performance
to come up with his "ideal" strategy. Now, I'm all
for players preparing themselves for the tournaments, but this
is Decathlon, it's a dice rolling game, there should not
be a whole lot of strategy involved. I made it a point to announce
this fact to the group and everyone replied with a resounding
chorus of boo's to Bruce's incredibly misguided efforts. What
makes it all the worse is that Bruce came no where near winning
the tournament. We love you Bruce, but maybe next year you should
try a different athlete.
As for the actual tournament, the Gold Medal went to Devin
Flawd who led Raefer Johnson to an impressive score of 8595 points.
Raefer Johnson also took the Silver Medal as Keith "Boom-Boom"
Hunsinger coached him to 8525 points. The Bronze Medal went to
Mark Love who took Bill Toome to 8490 points. Rounding out the
top six were Scott Sharp (Bob Matthias), Dave Gantt (Vasily Kuznetsov),
and Andy Lewis (Raefer Johnson).
While this was Raefer Johnson's first victory in the four
years I've been running this tournament, his taking three of
the top six spots has me a bit concerned about the handicaps.
While I don't intend any changes for next year, if the trend
continues I will possibly make some modifications in 2002.
So ends another exciting Decathlon tournament. While
it may not be the most mentally challenging game at the WBC,
it offers an excellent opportunity for some fun and craziness.
Bruce, just remember we'll be checking your cheat sheets again
next year!
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