Shoot the Rapids 2003

Shoot the Rapids 2003

“Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight ’s past.”

--A Canadian Boat-Song. Thomas Moore.

It’s Michigan. It’s February. The east coast is still digging itself out of the worst storm in years. But it’s 45 degrees here and time for the 2003 version of “Shoot the Rapids,” the Grand Rapids Dart League annual tournament.

Being that it is at my home venue, there isn’t much searching involved. Marty Huver, the owner has got my personal table set aside for me. I’m breaking in a new truck this year, the lease on the trusty red one has expired, and so, I’m in a brand new 2003 sleek silver one.

To set the tone for the evening—I had the excellent Prime Rib—appetite satiated, it’s time for Jamie Nowak, “the best damned waitress in the world,” (to quote her), to do her duties. The laptop is set up and the first round names are being called. Game On!

Friday night is the Blind Draw Doubles. Looks like a pretty good turn out, must have something to do with the weather. As the names are called, it sounds like there have been a few good draws as far as many are concerned. Of course, there will be the usual moans and groans will be heard from those whom got less than stellar partners. That’s why they call it “Luck of the Draw.”

As usual, a constant stream of friends and acquaintances drop by with greetings. You just got to love dart tournaments. Getting to see people who love the sport as much as you do, and always willing to tell you some lie about how great they are throwing…

There are 84 entrants in the draw—should be an interesting night.

The early predication is in from one of the top local darters, Keith “Higgy” Higginbotham—Paul Nighswander and Dave Quint. Time and darts will tell if he’s correct. But I know Keith—and you can never count him out of the final mix.

“Bill” stops by to commiserate about the fact that he’s been recalled from the reserve to active duty—and he’s on 72-hour notice to move out. Hope’s he’ll make it through the weekend without getting the call.

It’s official—there will be”Second Chance Luck of the Draw” for those who felt they deserve another shot at the money. It could be a very long night.

At the quarterfinals—“Higgy” made a liar out of himself. He and his partner faced off against Nighswander and Quint. Advancing to the semi-finals—Higginbotham and Postma. Now they face Keith’s oft times partner, Rodney Raimer and his draw partner, Ken Coeling. This is a tough call, Keith and Rodney are among the elite in the crowd—this one will ride heavily on their partners. My money is on Keith. I’m still winning; they have made it to the finals. My premonition about partners came true—the pair of Don Bolt and Tom Wyntjes succeeded in knocking off Keith and Tony to take First Prize.

Now it’s up to the Second Chance and their results. The duo of Andy Johnson and Dave McClure met up with AJ Snyder and Kirt Robinson. When the final dart was thrown, Andy and Dave claimed the $160 top prize.

The amber fluid has been flowing freely and “Last Call” is made. Time to climb in the silver beast and head for home. Another full day of darts will be here too soon.

The crack of noon has arrived and I’m seated at my little table. Once again, “the best damned waitress” is tending to my needs. “Good Job Jamie!” As the saying goes, the “out-of-towners” have arrived. There is George Lane, Mario Mendoza and the Lansing gang, another ‘east-sider’ Steve Hertzfeld, and much to my delight—the one and only Wade Wilcox, all the way from Akron, Ohio. He’s solo this weekend, Lydia stayed home. Time to catch up on what everyone has been up to, but they start the call for the mixed triples—and they head their separate directions. “Game On!”

Mixed Triples was down to the finals. The trio of David Bibler/Lori Dibble/Shawn Lantzy faced off against Travis Miller/Bruce Guttrich/Rob Ramereiz. Claiming the top prize, the trio of Rob, Bruce, and Travis.

For a change, being near the home venue was an advantage. Wade Wilcox had brought his entire tape collection along—as he always does—only to discover that his TV/VCR didn’t work. As a fellow “Hall of Famer,” how could I refuse his request? Off to the Silver sled, a quick stop at home, and a replacement TV/VCR was up and running…the sound of “One Hundred Eigh-ty” blaring in the background.

Under duress, I once again volunteered to play Doubles. My partner, Kevin Becker is a decent shooter—we’ve toed the line a few times. Unfortunately, we came up against Kirt Robinson and Monty Jones. We pushed them to the third leg. Had a shot and missed it. As I said to Kevin, “at least I can go back to writing now…”

The “best damned waitress” had to go, her shift was over. Replacing her was Lindsay Farrah, and an admirable job she did.

Men’s and Women’s Double’s are progressing—as previously mentioned—I watch from the sidelines. The Women’s Doubles pairs Lori Burgett and Deb McQuillan against Lisa Dallas and Jana Baringer. The winners of the 2003 Women’s Doubles were Lisa Dallas and Jana Baringer.

Men’s Doubles have come down to the finals—Wade Wilcox and Steve Hertzfeld are facing off against Shawn Lantzy and Jim Gilmet. The 2003 Doubles Champions are Wade and Steve. At least a top eight team knocked out Kevin and me.

The call is made and the bonus “Luck of the Draw” is on. Another long night lies ahead for me.

The final “official” events of the tournament are the Singles, Men’s and Ladies. There are some favorites going in: Wade Wilcox, Steve Hertzfeld, Keith Higginbotham, and Rodney Raimer. But we all know this is a dart tournament, and upsets happen. As we get to the final four—the favorites are gone. Undoubtedly, someone has a good bet running on a long shot. Time will tell. The front-runners all confessed a common symptom: “I suck.” Not wanting to acknowledge any shortcomings—I may have to face them sometime in the future—my response was, “you just had a bad night.” Good answer. Accepting that fact, they all seemed depart somewhat less depressed at their less than stellar performance. We have reached the finals and the line-ups are: Men—Shawn Lantzy and Travis Miller. The Ladies were—Jana Baringer and Betty Sowter. The 2003 Men’s Single Champion is Shawn Lantzy. The Ladies Singles Champion is Jana Baringer.

The tournament “done” we are off to cover the “Last Chance” luck of the draw. Tomorrow we will be covering the Coreen (Corky) Welch Benefit 50/50 Luck of the Draw. That’s another story, and hopefully you will have read and responded to it.

Once again, I was sucked into the “Last Chance” luck of the draw. I drew a decent partner and we made to the Semi-finals. Not too bad for having sat around all day consuming a few libations and not throwing. The winners for the Second Chance Luck were Tom Wyntjes and Julaine DeJong with their victory over George Lane and Mary Falk.

The winners and losers gather around the bar to celebrate and commiserate the day’s events. Last call is made—it’s time to go home.

Once again, the Westwood has provided an excellent venue for the tournament, and the Grand Rapids Dart league volunteers John Zimelis, Tom Patton, and Scott Smith ran an efficient schedule of events. Truly, a good time was had by all.

Reporting from the Westwood Ranch, Belmont, Michigan, Bruce W. Gerber.