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Virginia Melton watches wily Paul
Weintraub employing the finer points of flicking. |
The head moose shows ny mercy in taking
down a young challenger in the opening rounds. |
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Uh oh ... a gaping ravine ahead ...
a veritable Marianna's Trench in the flicking world. |
Eric Brosius and Jay Fox logging one
of their more cerebral games of the week. |
grand strategy worthy of a legacy ...
Flickers continued to proliferate as the herd posted its sixth
straight attendance gain. A plethora of faces both new and old
descended on the aptly named Paradise room as the excitement
built awaiting the outcome of the WBC's only all-skill contest.
Such claims I'm told may show just a touch of bias by the author.
A special shout out to fellow TEAM X member Greg Schmittgens
for making buttons for every competitor. The button said it all,
" There will be flicking."
Three-time defending champion Dave Meyaard was there to defend
his title, as was his expected main competition: Brandon Bernard.
The 2009 champion was all that stood between Meyaard and what
would have been his fourth straight title. Or so the young bucks
thought. Leading a lady elks contingent of ten was Rebecca Hebner
whose guile had carried her an eyelash from the title last year.
And through it all, a battered old stag snorted defiance for
past glories.
The first round was again delayed by a shortage of games (please
bring one next year) necessitating doubling up. You know you
want to buy a copy so why wait?) But once past the usual backup,
the action was nonstop. The initial rounds take a heavy toll
on the newbies and the level of play increases as the numbers
decrease. All the expected names advanced without incident through
the first two rounds.
Defying the odds to reach the Sweet 16 were newcomers Claire
Pfeiffer, Scott Smith, Eric Brosius and John Roizin. It was here
that the serious flickers were separated from the also rans.
The first big upset was delivered as the king of the herd was
dropped by the old stag. Two-time champion Dan Dolan hadn't won
since 2004 and had been run off by the young bucks in recent
years, but every dog has his day and today belonged to the citizens
of Dan's World as three-time defending champion Dave Meyaard
was sent packing without so much as a sniff at laurels.
The upset cleared the way for Bernard who topped Roizin, to enter
the Elite Eight. Smith became the last survivor of the newbies
by knocking out Pfeiffer while favorites Githens and Hebner also
advanced. Thus, it was that the old stag confronted another former
champion in back-to-back rounds. The grizzled senior citizen
of the herd had never duelled Brandon before but knew from watching
his 2009 title run that the young buck was capable of making
spectacular shots. Could his arthritic hooves rise to the challenge
again?
The two ex-champs split the first two games, setting up a climactic
third crossing in which the younger Brandon steadily drew ahead
in the race for the far shore. But Dan wouldn't quit and made
a miracle shot to pull out the game and a trip to the semi-finals
where he'd be confronted by none other than princess Rebecca
- back from her second-place 2010 performance to finish the job.
The old stag had fallen victim to her wiles before ... culminating
in a humiliating first round loss in 2010 which had relegated
the old champ to the dustbins of elk history, or so everyone
thought. After winning the first game, an error allowed Rebecca
to storm back to take the second, setting up another hoofbiting
game 3. It was crowd pleasingly close until Rebecca knocked her
moose down allowing the old champ a three-shot advantage that
proved decisive.
Dan now breathed the rarified air of the Final for the first
time in years. Standing in his way was another in the seemingly
endless line of young bucks trying to deny him his rightful place
at the head of the herd. Josh Githens had finished second to
Bernard back in 2009 and was now looking to rise to the top of
the flicking world. For Dan, it meant a third title, his yellow
belt, and a return to dominance. The flicking world held it's
breath.
The veteran took the first game in a squeaker but youth had its
way and blew him away in the second with a perfect series of
shots to even the match at one apiece. Game 3 was for all the
marbles ... or whatever it is that elk value. Both elk crossed
the table at a good pace and the action in the center when the
two neared one another was worthy of a crokinole championship!
The young stud had a significant advantage and appeared to be
cruising to his first title when disaster struck. An errant flick
knocked his moose into the tepid waters of Lancaster. Realizing
that his chance had come, Dan's flagging spirits soared as he
made the most of his three penalty shots to draw even. Both were
a mere five inches from glory but Josh closed in on the island
first. At that point the veteran made a shot he had no business
attempting, let alone making, to get in range of a last shot
for the win. ...
And once again ... the only plaque at WBC that matters belongs
to me! My third Coussis! I hope to see you all again next year
when you try to pry my precious from my greedy grasp and knock
me off my perch at the top of the Elchfest laurels.
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Alexander Metzger pairs off vs Anna
Marion. |
Another young buck falls by the wayside. |
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Josh Githens eyes an adversary on
his way to the Final. |
Princess Rebecca falls in the semi-finals. |
Elchfest Junior
It was a good year for Elk. A veritable explosion of 33 Elk
calves tried to cross the river. The six fastest were:
1st: Brett Fox
2nd: Caleb Welker
3rd: Mandy Mossman
4th: Adina Weiss
5th: Jim Confor
6th: Lucas Holmquist
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Moose calves aplenty frolic in the
river. This ones being chased by a familiar wild dog. |
Brett Fox, a proud member of Jay's
Basement, gets his plaque from the head moose. |
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