RECORD ATTENDANCE AT JOURNEY'S END SPRING 2006 1.5> by Ann Harrell

Attendance at the Friday night draw partner was an indication of things to come as 16 teams vied for the entry fee in the double elimination draw. It should have been 17 teams but bar owner Mike Koontz dropped out to make an even number and it wasn't until the board was being drawn up that Ann (Koontz) Harrell (that's me) realized that she hadn't signed her self up. D'uh!

Gary Neff from Bourbon and Jesse Lainhart from Summitville (left), finished 1st by double dipping the team of Steve "Simi" Simison and Gene Brown, both from Summitville. Last year all three events ended with double dips.

Approximately 50 different people participated from Fairmount, Bourbon, Etna Green, Warsaw, Ft. Wayne, Kokomo, Plymouth and Silver Lake, Indiana. Cincinnati, Ohio and Durand, Michigan also were represented.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I want to thank Shelly Skinner for stepping in and helping me with the registration. I could not have done it with out her. It was way less nerve wracking for me to have Shelly taking care of the money while I recorded things on the computer and it was also a double check that all monies were paid properly for the two events. Two heads truly are better than one. Even if it is Shelly and I <G>.

ESHUFFLEBOARD.COM SPONSOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A second thank you goes out to Jeri Ingram from GI's Town Tavern. Between the singles and doubles sponsor sales, Ann Harrell of eShuffleboard.com stepped to the Karaoke machine to make a brief presentation. At the 2005 Fall Amateur Jeri and Glen Ingram made a donation to the maintenance of eShuffleboard.com. Jeri was presented a pink eShuffleboard.com t-shirt with much appreciation. As stated in the speech, "Jeri's sponsorship is priceless, but they accidentally put a 2nd shirt in the shipment which is for sale for $15". Jeri generously purchased this matching t-shirt for third generation player and her grand daughter, Jackie Horn.

GARY NEFF YOU ARE FABULOUS!
Gary Neff did a fabulous job as usual of running the charts with Mike Koontz as his game spotter and runner. Mike kept close track of what games finished first and rounded up players for the next games and Gary kept the bracket board up to date. An amazing 88 games were played before circumstances (a person in the singles losers bracket also in the doubles losers bracket) forced an open board. A contributing factor to getting 109 out of a possible 110 games played between 1:15 PM and 2:45 AM (13.5 hours), besides the masterful organization, was no practice weights all day and of course, the addition of the sixth board to the usual 5 that are on hand. A third contributing factor was an almost complete absence of meetings in the middle of the board between partners in the doubles. Oh, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of chatter, but more along the lines of hollering hit it, stick it, go around it, lag it, not the "secret" meetings the pros seem to favor.

UNRATED PLAYERS TAKE TOP PLACES IN SINGLES
A record 35 people participated in the singles event, beating the old record by 4. Monty Wolf from Etna Green and Jesse Lainhart from Summitville tied for 5th/6th. Journey's End own Uriah Graham placed 4th, and Keith Spencer of the Bourbon Legion Son's placed 3rd.

We first met Cincinnati Glen Smith (left), who took 2nd place in the amateur singles, at "The Palace" in Fairmount in February 2006. He had been following events online for awhile and took the plunge after a 20 year absence from the shuffleboard circuit and visited the Palace. He and I partnered for a couple games and at the end of the day he said that the next time he played he would do "better". Apparently a man of his word, Glen won the winners bracket with borrowed weights.

Then came Tony Watson from Fairmount. Unrated Tony (right), with brother Danny, placed 3rd in a "pro" tournament at "The Palace" in March 2006. Tony powered his way through the losers bracket to face Glen Smith in the finals. Tony and Glen both played their hearts out and Tony forced a second game and then won the final game to complete two-thirds of the double dipping for this tournament.

DOUBLES BREAK RECENT HISTORY
Tony Watson took home two beer steins this weekend. He can be using one while one is waiting to be washed! With partner, Jumpin' Jack Hamilton (left), they went undefeated in the doubles event for the day. Second place team, Jay King and Ann Harrell (right) had their hat's handed to them by Jesse Lainhart and Simi for their first defeat of the day but prevailed against them later in the evening to move on to play the all Ohio team of "the big guy" Terry Wolfrum and partner Roger Wilhelm. With the score 14-13 in favor of the Ohio team, Jay King lagged a 2 to put the game out and they advanced to the finals. Tony was still hyped up from his win in the singles and there was just no bringing them down. Tony and Jack won the first game of the finals soundly to end another successful Journey's End Amateur 1.5>.

THE END
If you have suggestions for the next Amateur 1.5> tournament send me an email to ann@eshuffleboard.com.
I'll try to get the flyers for the Fall Amateur out as soon as we can get a date nailed down. I've also ordered a laser printer so sheets can be printed faster (and cheaper). It's my hope to have some Missouri players at the next tournament!

1st Gary Neff & Jesse Lainhart
2nd Steve Simison & Gene Brown
3rd Dave Arnett & Tony Skinner
4th Uriah Graham & Ed Stachulak

Glen Smith & Jane Seybert
Ken Reed & Keith Spencer
Doc DeVentor & Jim Hartung
Ernie Pyle & Gary Anglin
Dennis Creighbaum & Bob Lang
Jay King & Sharon Crowder (OH)
Jackie Imus & Roger Wilhelm
Bill Niswonger & Tony Watson
Michael Susits & Bud Esterline
Chris Musselman & Shelly Skinner
Chet Seybert & Monty Wolf
Laura Sheppard & Bill Smith

1st Tony Watson
2nd Glen Smith (OH)
3rd Keith Spencer
4th Uriah Graham
5th/6th Jesse Lainhart
5th/6th Monty Wolf

Doug Queen (MI)
Mike Cork (MI)
Mike Grimes
Ann Harrell
Chet Seybert
Roger Wilhelm (OH)
Keith Webb
Jackie Horn
Dave Petty
Gene Brown
Doc Deventor
Chris Musselman
Bill Niswonger
Jeri Ingram
Missy Rupp
Jim Hartung
Vicki Morgan
Jay King
Judy Findley
Jim Fletcher
Terry Sidle (OH)
Terry Wolfrum (OH)
Bob Lang (OH)
Shelly Skinner
Jack Hamilton
Ken Reed
Ron Merrill
Ed Stachulak
Bob Reyes