Monday, May 14, 2012

Tribe Pride

Many years ago, a number of the members of the G:TB editorial staff were among the founding fathers of the Northern Virginia region of the Magnificent Seven croquet league. Not exactly Etonian stuff, Mag 7, in which teams of seven competitors engaged in parallel competitions that tested both their croquet skills and their tolerance for mid-label beer. The croquet, in most cases, served as a pleasant diversion while each team raced to be the first to finish their allotted keg of suds.

As you might guess, most Mag 7 competitions ended in some form of disaster. On one (less than) memorable occasion, one of our number (who shall remain nameless but might be typing this) found himself passed out on top of a storage shed and ripped a hole in his jeans from crotch to ankle while attempting to climb down. On another, the homeowner who foolishly agreed to host the festivities looked up to see one of the participants urinating from a second story window upon the driveway below. Still a third time, the valiant warriors of the Sevens awoke to find a backyard tree entirely spray-painted copper.

Imagine our surprise and pride, then, to stumble upon news of the evolution of our sport. On April 28 and 29, the William and Mary Tribe Croquet Club swept both the individual and team titles to earn the overall championship in the UnitedStates Croquet Association Collegiate Division at the historic Merion Club in Haverford, PA. Stuart Veal and Dixon Muller won the individual title to pace the Tribe, who topped traditional croquet powers such as SUNY New Paltz, Oklahoma Wesleyan, and Northern Virginia Community College to claim the title.

Hark on the Gale, young Tribesman. You’ve mastered half of the skillset necessary to succeed in Magnificant Seven play.

31 comments:

TR said...

Where did you get that picture of Juan Carlos?

Squeaky said...

Well done boys.

Is 2012 turning into the year music died? First Levon, then MCA and now Duck Dunn passed away over the weekend.

T.J. said...

VCU to A-10, per CBS Sports.

Jerry said...

The names of those guys are so croquet appropriate that it sounds made up.

Clarence said...

Quite a few amusing stories from those Mag 7 days. Some of them are even printable. I always enjoyed the look on people's faces when Evan would explain that each team of seven people would have to finish a keg.

rob said...

i think we've got some dandy photos someplace, as well, right igor? don't know if any made the transition to the digital age, though.

for you younger guys, once upon a time pictures were taken with 'film', which was 'developed' at a store. you had to 'pick them up' and could only view them as hard copies. it was a bleak time.

T.J. said...

Igor, I made the one layout switch you suggested...and also added something else fun.

Mark said...

I assume the additional change is the McDonalds/OJ pic. At least I hope it is. Because its amazing.

T.J. said...

Yep, that...and the twitter feed.

Mark said...

Myself and the group of guys I play league ball with began our annual summer tradition of scrimmaging the local high school team (Greg's alma mater) this evening. We went for 2+ hours. We beat the kids by 50+ and punctuated the ass kicking with an alley oop from me that our small forward hammered home. The first night is always humbling for the high school kids. And a reminder of how old I am for me. Felt good and played good. But holy shit will my bones ache tomorrow.

Mark said...

Oh yeah. My feet hate me this morning.

Mark said...

My wife is a victim's advocate for the local Sheriff's office. She was called out to a scene this morning where a Mom killed her four children and then herself. I have no idea how she handles the emotions of her job. Horrific scenes.

Dave said...

i'm proud to say that i've heard igor tell a story about me at the magnificent seven probably twenty or thirty times. and even though i was there, i still laugh when he tells the story.

mark, you should have your wife call igor tonight and have him tell it.

Mark said...

An article on the shooting from this morning:


http://www.examiner.com/article/port-st-john-fla-shooting-mom-kills-self-four-children

Clarence said...

Mark, that is awful and I give her credit for having the strength to deal with horrible stuff like that.

Which is probably why most of us like to dwell in silly stuff like keg croquet. We will have to indoctrinate the W&Mers Rob mentioned.

Stuart Veal? Him??

Dave said...

wow-- that is one wild story. the kids were pretty old: how the hell did the mom shoot all of them? did she lock them all in a room or shoot them while they were asleep? horrific.

Danimal said...

that's f'd up. too bad the mother died - that's not fair. your wife is a better person than me.

Danimal said...

http://www.jockular.com/14413/high-school-lacrosse-announcer-booker-corrigan

sorry....in a rush....but watch this guy, he's great. at least go to 3:05....

Danimal said...

mark - the story is on the front of msn.com

Danimal said...

one of the better us opens currently being replayed on golf channel.

Danimal said...

pretty amazing the difference between tiger, phil, vijay and others, then vs. now...i lived in pinehurst at that time. stellar week. had a divot hit on my by tigger, as did a young corey p...we got on t.v. as told by others that friday afternoon. that's my story.

rob said...

well told

mayhugh said...

Wow, Mark, that story is bizarre and don't envy your wife on addressing that. The article I read said the kids ran to a neighbor's house after shots fired and were then summoned home by their mom, who later did what she did. If that's a relatively true account, wonder why the kids went back and why the neighbor let them.

TR said...

I suggest you all go to thebiglead.com and their roundup story to see a pic of Sophie Turner. She seems nice.

zman said...

Sophie's rump looks familiar.

Mark said...

That's the story I've heard Mayhugh. Seems the Mom had some very strong psychological hold on the kids. Two of them had already been shot and for some reason came back inside their home.

rob said...

chuck brown, bustin' loose of this mortal coil. rip.

Dave said...

i have added the new "translate" feature to "sentence of dave." my blog looks really cool in thai characters.

Dave said...

arabic too.

TR said...

Not sure what I do less of - listen to Pitbull or drink Bud Light.

zman said...

I do not understand go-go.