The Mafia is resplendent in their new pink duds. As usual, Josh didn't get the memo.	Hey, Yoshi even gets to play ... must be a slow night in the penalty box.
Did the Junior's Room get out early or is this the semi-finals after all the old folks went to bed?	And then there are the rest of us old geezers who need our beauty sleep for the long ride home tomorrow!

or so it seemed to those who have kept track of Bruce Reiff's infamous winning streak over the years. Saturday night, and at the end of a long week of gaming, it's time to blow off steam at the crazy party that is the WBC Slapshot tournament. This year saw the new edition from Columbia games bring some new players, allowing us to crack the 200-player barrier for the second time and set a new attendance record. There are some differences between the new Columbia rules and the "Classic" Slapshot that has traditionally been played, so "translation sheets" were handed out. These are also available on BoardgameGeek for anyone who didn't get one.

During the traditional Reading of the Rules, we had a shock, and a Slapshot first - the traditional Andy Lewis wussy open-hand table was playing with closed hands! It took over a decade to convince them to play the right way, but sometimes slow progress is the best progress.

After the reading of the rules, the players got down to business. Ray Stakenas Sr. won his table despite having to play "Tom Cruise Style", whatever that means. Drew DuBoff (who we will see again) won his table in a triple overtime final game. At the Degenerate Loser Table, players such as Mark Mitchell, Peter Stein, Dennis Nicholson, and Mark Yoshikawa somehow found some chivalry as Laura Brown won the table, and the dubious distinction of staying up for the next round. At the Beach family table, the celebrations over Matthew's Facts in Five victory must have been going strong, as Johan Vanhuyse won the game despite having never played before. The Beach family table had a defector as well, as Natalie ran off to a different table and won there. The most impressive first round win was probably made by Keith Boone, who won his championship game in style, using Tiny Tim to score the deciding goal.

Once all of the losers went off to bed, the annual Massively Unfair semi-final round commenced, generating our eight finalists standing above the fray (and yawning):

Johan "I don't want to stay up this late" Vanhuyse, who decided he valued sleep over a chance at wood, and ran off to bed.
Natalie "I'm glad I abandoned my family" Beach, playing the Murder button.
Samantha "Holy Cow, I might get some laurels!" Berk, playing Chewbacca.
Leonard "It's a shame someone has to win" Two-time champion Omolecki (is that allowed?), playing a Coca-Cola bottlecap.
David "What am I doing around all of these crazy people?" Metzger, playing the bottle opener. "It's for beer, make sure you write that down", he told me.
Luke "Yes, dear" Paruda and his girlfriend playing the deflated ball.
Drew "Tiny but mighty" DuBoff, playing the pin back from Jay's Basement. He wanted me to be sure to mention Jay's Basement in the writeup- I hope they're giving him sponsorship money.
Nicole "If I win this, my Dad will kill me!" Reiff playing the boring playing piece out of fear that someone would steal her dollar bill.

Most of these players are decidedly on the younger side. Whether this is because they are gaining skill as players, or because the old guard doesn't want to stay up till 2 AM for a Final is left as an exercise for the reader.

The game started quietly, with five of the players choosing to draft in their first turn. Leonard opened the action in a quest to "find someone he could beat". His quest stalled early though, as he ran into several tied games, then lost his best player to Samantha's bruiser, and became the table patsy. The real patsy at the table though, was Samantha, who didn't score her first point until most of the rest of the group had already scored five. David, who was also doing badly, then convinced Samantha that they should try to play each other so that they won't help one of the leaders. This brilliant plan was for naught, as they proceeded to tie each other.

On the other side of the table, Nicole was using Drew as her personal patsy, playing him just about every chance she got. She won most of her games, putting her in good position for the playoffs. As the game progressed, some of the players started eyeing what might be called "Secondary victory conditions". The fact that there were four plaques for this event, and that only six of the seven finalists would gain laurels weighed heavily on a lot of minds. This was especially true of Samantha, who was looking for her first-ever laurels at WBC, and was willing to miss the 4-person playoffs to guarantee it - Sandman be damned. So, sitting in sixth, with David the current patsy in seventh, she played Leonard in an effort to start the playoffs early. This didn't work, as another tie resulted. Next Natalie, calling David her "favorite guy", played him giving David an extremely rare win, to the applause of the entire table.

It wasn't enough, though, as Luke challenged Samantha in the next round, with a win putting him in the playoffs, and guaranteeing Samantha sixth. Despite the chants wishing for another tie, Luke pulled out the victory sending David home in the unfortunate seventh position. Samantha then lost to Leonard in the 5/6 game. The playoffs were then set. In the first matchup, Luke's mediocre team with a bruiser was up against Natalie's mediocre team without one. Luke's bruiser ripped through Natalie's players on the way to a 3-0 win.

In the other playoff, the Nicole-Drew rivalry repeated itself when Nicole's better team had to withstand Drew's bruiser. Nicole won the first two games, but lost her best player in the second. Drew took advantage of the injury to tie the series, leading to a deciding fifth game. At this point the excitement in the arena was palpable, with both players slamming their cards down with extreme force, and the rest of the table slapping the table in unison to add to the noise. Nicole managed to pull out the fifth game win, but not before slamming a card down on the table so hard that she injured her hand. Nicole went to rest her hand while the consolation playoff round was played for the third place plaque. Natalie and Drew faced off, and Natalie won in the deciding game.

The preliminaries dispensed with, the Final was set - Luke's bruiser versus Nicole's slightly superior players. Nicole's injured hand was not an issue, as the table pounding resumed enthusiastically. Nicole won the first game, losing a 4-strength player. Luke took the second game, again bruising a 4-strength player from Nicole's hand. The third game had Nicole lose her best player in a victory. However, the Reiff luck must be genetic, as her replacement player was the Superstar. Luke refused to give up, winning the fourth game, leaving the series tied at 2 games apiece. Game 5 went to overtime, and Luke decided to not think too hard about what card to play for the sudden-death segment. This cost him the game, and led to some loud coaching from his girlfriend. Game 6 also went to overtime, and this time Luke's girlfriend said: "Focus!". Her instructions must have worked, as Luke won that game, forcing a deciding game 7. Before the last game, Nicole declared to the table "Second is fine with me". Luke then offered "Why don't you concede then?". Nicole's one word reply: "No" started the game off. The game was close, and went down to the last card. Luke's best player was up against Nicole's goalie. If he could just make the roll, he would force overtime, where his focus could give him the win.

Alas, it has been my experience that the two luckiest things in WBC are Reiffs and teenage girls. Nicole encompassed both of these, and Luke was doomed from the start. Nicole went home clutching the coveted Superstar plaque, and got to enjoy the long ride home, plaque-checking her woodless father at every other exit along the way.

The Tighe family breaks them in early. Slapshot is more party than tournament - a rousing farewell till next year - with Round 1 tables composed of friends and family.	Pam Gutermuth subbed for her AWOL sister in tormenting moi. With bruiser in hand and under orders from Lisa she snagged my Superstar in the first game. How do they do that?

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 Slapshot Junior

Mark Yoshikawa dropped the puck for 19 little hockey players this year. Caitlin Jaeger proved to be the toughest little bruiser in the rink. She was followed by Wes Lewis, Aidan Czyryca, Matthew Roizin-Prior, Nick Evich and Serge Philip.

GM Mark Yoshikawa drops the puck and runs for cover. No WBC education is complete without an introduction to the Saturday nite party.	Caitlin gets her plaque from the head zebra - the always affable Mark Yoshikawa - recovering from assorted kid-induced puck bruises and prepping for the Saturday night party.