Yesterday morning was the 1st annual [Enter GP’s Last Name Here] Family Horseshoes Tournament. 14 Teams. Double Elimination. The previous night, the picking took place (the traditional names out of a hat). I ended up with my uncle Pete, so hopes were high since we were both in the top 5 or so in the family.
The traditional way to play would be up to 21 with 11-0 as a shutout win. Since we only had 4 sets of shoes, and the tide working against us(we played on the beach), we decided on 15 points with 9-0 as a shutout win. Ringers are 3 points. Otherwise 1 point for shoes within one shoe’s length of the stake. Win by 2 (comes into play later). 35 feet from stake to stake. We played with the hard rubber shoes, not metal (we had some small kids with us, plus those metal shoes can be lethal).
Round 1
Round 1 put us up against my Uncle Chris and Aunt Jodee, both of whom weren’t too great. I got off to a bad start, but my uncle Pete helped us grab the 15-3 victory. We made pretty quick work of them.
Round 2
We were up against my Aunt Katie and Uncle Ed, and both were good players. It was an evenly matched game…or so I thought. Again, I start out ice cold. My Uncle Pete hit a ringer and early on, we were close. Then my Uncle Ed hit a ringer, and the next frame, my Aunt Katie hit a ringer, and pulled away fast. When you’re only playing up to 15, it’s hard to overcome back-to-back ringers like that. We ended up getting trounced 15-2, and took a trip to the Loser’s Bracket MUCH earlier than we had hoped.
Round 3
The bad news was that we were now in the Loser’s Bracket, and that one more loss would eliminate us. The good news? The next few matches should be fairly easy ones. We were up against my cousin Dan (Pete’s son, actually) and my Aunt Hilary. Pete shot against his son, Dan, and I went up against Hilary. It was close for a little while, with Hilary hitting an early ringer, and Danny shooting better than he usually did. But a point here, a point there, and we eventually took a 9-5 lead. Then Pete put on a ringer, and we just held them off from there for a 15-5 win.
Round 4
Next up was my Aunt Annie and cousin Catherine. Aunt Annie was perhaps the second best player in the family (next to my dad), but fortunately drew a bad partner in the picking. Pete shot against Annie and I shot against Catherine. Again, Pete carried this match since I guess I was a little hung over from the night before, and hadn’t found my groove yet. This was probably the most nerve-wracking game since my Aunt Annie could put a ringer on at any second-that’s how good she is. Pete had a ringer or two, and I managed a few points against Catherine. It was essentially a singles match with Pete and Annie. Annie shot well, but thankfully wasn’t dialed in like she can be, and we narrowly escaped 15-12.
Round 5
Somehow my little cousins BreAnn and Jake (well, they’re not THAT little, both teenagers) had advanced this far in the LB, and we had an easy time with them. Pete wanted to end it quickly, and since he had the hot hand, he went up against BreAnn, and I shot against Jake (his other son). I started heating up early and had some key points, and Pete threw a ringer on halfway through as we took a commanding 10-1 early lead and didn’t look back in a sound 15-2 trouncing.
Round 6
Now we’re getting down to it. There were just 4 teams left. We were running the LB gauntlet. Up next was my brother Mike and my Aunt Doris (Pete’s wife). I shot against Doris and Pete shot against my brother Mike (although it would have made more sense to do it the other way around for personal rivalries, haha). I kept up my hot streak and put us up 4-0 early with a ringer+close shoe. My brother Mike is very good, but was stone cold in this match. Pete and I made quick work with them to ensure that we would at least place. We won about 15-3/4ish. Don’t really remember.
Round 7
Now just 3 teams left. 1 WB team (my dad and Aunt Annette) and 2 LB teams (myself/Pete and my brother Pat/Dan’s friend Sam). Pat is even better than Mike and shot well. I matched up against him, and Pete matched up against Sam. Sam hit an early ringer, and Pat pumped in a few early points, and they took a 7-1 lead. Things were not looking too great. Things turned around when Pete got a hook (slang for ringer), and the next frame I pumped in 2. Then Pete and I just started both getting hot. Sam did nothing after the ringer, and Pat scored a few points to keep his team in it, but we ended up winning 15-13 to make it to the FINALS!
Round 8
Now we were up against the best overall player (my dad) and his partner, my Aunt Annette, who is decent, but not very consistent. Since they won the WB, we had to beat them twice in order to be champs. The first match went like clockwork. I had 2 ringers early on and Pete scored some big points against my dad. Mainly though, it was me against my dad, as Annette and Pete were wash-outs in this game. It was pretty fun to be in the championship, because that meant EVERYONE was watching us. And it was about noon (we started around 9), so people were pouring on to the beach. Like I said though, the first match went like clockwork, because I was totally dialed in. We won 15-4, giving my Dad and Annette their first loss of the day.
Round 9-For all the Marbles
The tide was coming up on us, so we shifted over about 5 feet and out of the way, but essentially went right into the last match. My dad started off real hot, and they got a quick 5-0 lead. Then in the 4th frame, I had a nice shoe that landed right next to the stake. Annette however, threw a hook, and the family went crazy, because they would have an 8-0 lead, and pretty much would have ended it since my Dad would have shot in the next frame. However, with my second shoe, I threw a hook on top of hers (thus negating both), resulting in one point for me because of the other shoe. 5-1. Luckily the next few frames for my Dad/Pete were scoreless, whereas I was on absolute fire. I hit a ringer and a few other points over the course of the next 3 of my frames, causing the family to go crazy. We got a slight upper-hand at 9-5. Then my Dad heated up again and pumped in a few points. It was a back and forth see-saw between my Dad and I. Pete had cooled off, and Annette wasn’t doing much. Eventually it was a 14-13 lead for my Dad and Annette. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. My Dad and Pete were up. Pete hit a point. My Dad had a bad toss. Pete hit ANOTHER point, thus tentatively making it 15-14(win by 2 though). Then my dad threw a nice shoe, and it HIT the stake and bounced away (phew). Honestly, I always cringe when my dad throws a shoe, because 9 times out of 10, it’s gonna be a point. He’s as close to automatic as you get, and usually really clutch too. So, it was 15-14, and we had to win by 2, and Annette and I were up. My first shoe is…ANOTHER RINGER. I drop to the ground and my family goes nuts again. “Holy shit, Matt, another one!” Annette’s two attempts came close, but no cigar. Pete and I had won the first annual family horseshoes tournament 18-14! We ran the gauntlet through the Loser’s Bracket and did the unthinkable in beating my dad two times in a row. We got some cool trophies that Pete had done up in his garage. It was pretty cool though that I took first, my dad took second, and my brother Pat took third (and even though there wasn’t a 4th place trophy, my brother Mike took that). Hooray me.
The traditional way to play would be up to 21 with 11-0 as a shutout win. Since we only had 4 sets of shoes, and the tide working against us(we played on the beach), we decided on 15 points with 9-0 as a shutout win. Ringers are 3 points. Otherwise 1 point for shoes within one shoe’s length of the stake. Win by 2 (comes into play later). 35 feet from stake to stake. We played with the hard rubber shoes, not metal (we had some small kids with us, plus those metal shoes can be lethal).
Round 1
Round 1 put us up against my Uncle Chris and Aunt Jodee, both of whom weren’t too great. I got off to a bad start, but my uncle Pete helped us grab the 15-3 victory. We made pretty quick work of them.
Round 2
We were up against my Aunt Katie and Uncle Ed, and both were good players. It was an evenly matched game…or so I thought. Again, I start out ice cold. My Uncle Pete hit a ringer and early on, we were close. Then my Uncle Ed hit a ringer, and the next frame, my Aunt Katie hit a ringer, and pulled away fast. When you’re only playing up to 15, it’s hard to overcome back-to-back ringers like that. We ended up getting trounced 15-2, and took a trip to the Loser’s Bracket MUCH earlier than we had hoped.
Round 3
The bad news was that we were now in the Loser’s Bracket, and that one more loss would eliminate us. The good news? The next few matches should be fairly easy ones. We were up against my cousin Dan (Pete’s son, actually) and my Aunt Hilary. Pete shot against his son, Dan, and I went up against Hilary. It was close for a little while, with Hilary hitting an early ringer, and Danny shooting better than he usually did. But a point here, a point there, and we eventually took a 9-5 lead. Then Pete put on a ringer, and we just held them off from there for a 15-5 win.
Round 4
Next up was my Aunt Annie and cousin Catherine. Aunt Annie was perhaps the second best player in the family (next to my dad), but fortunately drew a bad partner in the picking. Pete shot against Annie and I shot against Catherine. Again, Pete carried this match since I guess I was a little hung over from the night before, and hadn’t found my groove yet. This was probably the most nerve-wracking game since my Aunt Annie could put a ringer on at any second-that’s how good she is. Pete had a ringer or two, and I managed a few points against Catherine. It was essentially a singles match with Pete and Annie. Annie shot well, but thankfully wasn’t dialed in like she can be, and we narrowly escaped 15-12.
Round 5
Somehow my little cousins BreAnn and Jake (well, they’re not THAT little, both teenagers) had advanced this far in the LB, and we had an easy time with them. Pete wanted to end it quickly, and since he had the hot hand, he went up against BreAnn, and I shot against Jake (his other son). I started heating up early and had some key points, and Pete threw a ringer on halfway through as we took a commanding 10-1 early lead and didn’t look back in a sound 15-2 trouncing.
Round 6
Now we’re getting down to it. There were just 4 teams left. We were running the LB gauntlet. Up next was my brother Mike and my Aunt Doris (Pete’s wife). I shot against Doris and Pete shot against my brother Mike (although it would have made more sense to do it the other way around for personal rivalries, haha). I kept up my hot streak and put us up 4-0 early with a ringer+close shoe. My brother Mike is very good, but was stone cold in this match. Pete and I made quick work with them to ensure that we would at least place. We won about 15-3/4ish. Don’t really remember.
Round 7
Now just 3 teams left. 1 WB team (my dad and Aunt Annette) and 2 LB teams (myself/Pete and my brother Pat/Dan’s friend Sam). Pat is even better than Mike and shot well. I matched up against him, and Pete matched up against Sam. Sam hit an early ringer, and Pat pumped in a few early points, and they took a 7-1 lead. Things were not looking too great. Things turned around when Pete got a hook (slang for ringer), and the next frame I pumped in 2. Then Pete and I just started both getting hot. Sam did nothing after the ringer, and Pat scored a few points to keep his team in it, but we ended up winning 15-13 to make it to the FINALS!
Round 8
Now we were up against the best overall player (my dad) and his partner, my Aunt Annette, who is decent, but not very consistent. Since they won the WB, we had to beat them twice in order to be champs. The first match went like clockwork. I had 2 ringers early on and Pete scored some big points against my dad. Mainly though, it was me against my dad, as Annette and Pete were wash-outs in this game. It was pretty fun to be in the championship, because that meant EVERYONE was watching us. And it was about noon (we started around 9), so people were pouring on to the beach. Like I said though, the first match went like clockwork, because I was totally dialed in. We won 15-4, giving my Dad and Annette their first loss of the day.
Round 9-For all the Marbles
The tide was coming up on us, so we shifted over about 5 feet and out of the way, but essentially went right into the last match. My dad started off real hot, and they got a quick 5-0 lead. Then in the 4th frame, I had a nice shoe that landed right next to the stake. Annette however, threw a hook, and the family went crazy, because they would have an 8-0 lead, and pretty much would have ended it since my Dad would have shot in the next frame. However, with my second shoe, I threw a hook on top of hers (thus negating both), resulting in one point for me because of the other shoe. 5-1. Luckily the next few frames for my Dad/Pete were scoreless, whereas I was on absolute fire. I hit a ringer and a few other points over the course of the next 3 of my frames, causing the family to go crazy. We got a slight upper-hand at 9-5. Then my Dad heated up again and pumped in a few points. It was a back and forth see-saw between my Dad and I. Pete had cooled off, and Annette wasn’t doing much. Eventually it was a 14-13 lead for my Dad and Annette. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. My Dad and Pete were up. Pete hit a point. My Dad had a bad toss. Pete hit ANOTHER point, thus tentatively making it 15-14(win by 2 though). Then my dad threw a nice shoe, and it HIT the stake and bounced away (phew). Honestly, I always cringe when my dad throws a shoe, because 9 times out of 10, it’s gonna be a point. He’s as close to automatic as you get, and usually really clutch too. So, it was 15-14, and we had to win by 2, and Annette and I were up. My first shoe is…ANOTHER RINGER. I drop to the ground and my family goes nuts again. “Holy shit, Matt, another one!” Annette’s two attempts came close, but no cigar. Pete and I had won the first annual family horseshoes tournament 18-14! We ran the gauntlet through the Loser’s Bracket and did the unthinkable in beating my dad two times in a row. We got some cool trophies that Pete had done up in his garage. It was pretty cool though that I took first, my dad took second, and my brother Pat took third (and even though there wasn’t a 4th place trophy, my brother Mike took that). Hooray me.
