circus maximus 

Updated 11/29/2008

 2008 WBC Report  

 2009 Status: pending 2009 GM commitment

Josh Githens, SC

2007-08 Champion

Offsite Links

  

Event History
1991    Tim Flanigan        54
1992    Jeff Barnum        67
1993    Barry Smith        35
1994    Mike Stanley        47
1995    Mike Pantaleano        72
1996    Bruce Monnin        64
1997    John Jacoby        72
1998    Mike Stanley        84
1999    Frank Sinigaglio       74
2000    Mike Stanley       85
2001    Steve Katz       76
2002    Steve Katz       71
2003    Tom Saal     103
2004    Scott Sirianna       87
2005    John Tighe       87
2006     Karl Henning       75
2007     Josh Githens       95
2008    Josh Githens       98
 Laurels
Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Josh Githens       SC    08    225
  2.  Steve Katz         VA    02    144
  3.  Tom Saal           MI    04    120
  4.  Anthony Musella    VA    05    102
  5.  Scott Sirianna     NY    06     80
  6.  John Tighe         NJ    05     72
  7.  Bill Beckman       SC    03     72
  8.  Frank Sinigaglio   NJ    04     68
  9.  Mike Stanley       OH    00     60
 10.  Karl Henning       CT    08     56
 11.  Charles Goodwin    OH    00     42
 12.  Carl Walling       PA    02     38
 13.  Richard Curtin     NY    08     36
 14.  Nick Henning       CT    07     36
 15.  Bill Edwards       VA    03     34
 16.  Joseph Burch       MD    06     30
 17.  Kathleen Lockwood  VA    08     24
 18.  Paul Bolduc        FL    07     24
 19.  Tim Dolan          NJ    02     24
 20.  Jed Shambeda       PA    08     18
 21.  Lane Hess          PA    07     18
 22.  Kevin Hacker       PA    05     18
 23.  Alfred Wong        IL    01     18
 24.  Mike Hazel         SC    04     18
 25.  Mark Love          MD    99     15
 26.  Philip Livingston  DE    08     12
 27.  Gerald Lientz      VA    07     12
 28.  Stephen Quirke     WI    05     12
 29.  Matthew Beach      MD    04     12
 30.  Brett Mingo        MD    03     12
 31.  Chris Robbins      UT    06     10
 32.  Kevin Wojtaszczyk  NY    07      6
 33.  Angela Collinson   MD    05      6
 34.  David Weinstein    NY    03      6
 35.  Francis Spencer    MD    02      6
 36.  Carl Sykes         SC    01      6
 37.  Jim Munson         UT    06      5
 38.  Mike Fisher        PA    99      5

2008 Laurelists                                                  Repeating Laurelists 

Richard Curtin, NY
2nd

Kathleen Lockwood, VA
3rd

Jed Shambeda, PA
4th

Philip Livingston, DE
5th

Karl Henning, CT
6th


Past Winners

Barry Smith, NY
1993

Mike Stanley, OH
1994, 1998, 2000

Bruce Monnin, OH
1996

John Jacoby, VA
1997

Frank Sinigaglio, NJ
1999

Steve Katz, VA
2001-2002

Tom Saal, MI
2003

Scott Siriana, NY
2004

John Tighe, NJ
2005

Karl Henning, CT
2006

Josh Githens, SC
2007-2008

 

 


Frank Sinigaglio points out that the guy with the dice won last year. Didn't stop Josh from going back to back with the ponies.

I swear these horses get more exotic every year! Is it the last lap or did the velociraptors eat the candy already?

 So that's what Jake does in the off-season ... build gigantic colosseums.

 Now that's a track. The giant demolition derby heat sees midnight madness.

blood amongst the kisses

A sweet aspect of John Jacoby's Circus Maximus event is that he rewards the first driver into each turn with a Hershey's Kiss. The candies replace the dolphins which were upturned in the Roman Colosseum to record the number of laps run.

The 2008 Final played host to no less than 15 chariots: eight heavy, two medium and five light. Four chariots and as many horses were destroyed in the driving exhibition which followed. Amazingly, half of the destroyed chariots met their maker at the hands of Marie Pack who was driving a light as they kissed the wall while swerving from her whip. The end of the race proved that the dice gods hate any sign of hubris. On the last straightaway, defending champion Josh Githens carefuly counted and found that when his chit was pulled, he would just cross the finish line. He announced that he was not going to whip his horses since he had the race won without further effort. The dice god's ears pricked up at this audacity, It was then pointed out that by moving at a speed of 18, he had to roll his wheel damage. When the 3 damage wheel was checked, he rolled a 2, his chariot flipped, and dragged him 17 spaces forward. His speed had been reduced by one since a driver's modifier does not apply to a dragged driver. This left his hotses over the line, but poor Josh - the vicarious driver - remained prostate in the field of play.

Angela Collinson took this as a sign and killed a purple cow on Kathleen Lockwood's team, and then proceeded to trample the dragged side of beef that appeared before the finish line. When Josh had finally cleared the hooves, Josh had only two hits left from his original manly nine driver points. But now he had to be dragged some more to cross the finish line and he had to survive! When his chit was drawn he was dragged far across the line in first, but would he survive? A roll of 3 or more would kill the lad and deprive him of his posthumous victory. Apparently, the dice gods decided they'd had enough fun with Josh and having extracted enough blood and sweat out of his carcass, let him roll a 2 to survive to claim his second title. A wiser and humbler champion stumbled to his feet to reclaim his crown.

As the only returning laurelist, he improved on a 2nd place finish in 2005 that found him tied in distance over the finish line but lost by being drawn after the winner. Last year, he had to survive a final attack while straddling the finish line.

The Colosseum will keep the four-heat format in 2009 with a special demolition derby heat played on a single double- or triple-sized track. However, the starting time will be moved up from this year's 11 PM start to keep our charioteers awake.

Thumbs Up? I thought the gladiatorial games were next week.

Final: Josh wins again?!?

 

 Three GMs -- no waiting! Dave Gantt, Bill Beckman and Tamara Houde all qualify for sainthood in the Juniors room.

Admit it Frank ... you just volunteer so you can swipe the candy because your kids hide their halloween stash now.

 Circus Maximus Junior

16 little charioteers reported to the Juniors Colosseum which was ably manned by volunteers from the Greenville Mafia who earned their stables the hard way. The swiftest kid proved to be Lissa Rennert on Track 1 who was followed by Adam Wojtaszczyk and Sophie Harrison. Over on Track 2, Brian Pappas led the carnage followed by Claire Pfeiffer and Mirth Pack.

 GM     John M. Jacoby [10th year] 102 Deerwood Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22911
   NA 434-973-3065

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