There’s a trail not too far from where we live in Austin that is part of a City park and is designated as an off-leash trail for dogs. We go there occasionally as a family for a stroll through the woods and last week I finally went for a run to get some trail work in. Last week I did one loop, and I verified yesterday that each loop is one mile. Yesterday I did two loops. Next time I might go for three. I do need to start training a bit because I signed up for a 20k trail race at the end of next month. Details here.
This particular trail I was on yesterday is not difficult by any means, but it does get a bit greasy when it’s wet, and we’ve had a decent amount of rain over the last 2-3 days. The earth is very clay rich and sticky, and the trail has just enough Ashe Juniper stumps to keep you on your toes. I ended up with a pretty good layer of mud on my trail shoes by the time I got back out to the parking lot.
**I started this post yesterday and lost steam. Wrapping it up.**
I’m not quite sure where I was headed with this line of thought, other than it’s nice to build a little momentum with my running again. Just now I went to the horseshoe pits in the backyard and threw 30-40 shoes as an excuse to get some fresh air. I have half a mind to re-up my NHPA membership and try to make a tournament or two in August here in Texas. It might be a bit hot – one tournament in August is called the “Kilgore Heat Beater” and another is titled the “Kangaroo Scorcher”. Yikes.
What else? Toads. I remember last year in the thick of the pandemic C catching toads here at the house just about every day. It was a favorite pastime of hers and she gave them names like “Jumper” and “Pumpkin”. This year they have been mostly absent, possibly due to the February freeze. In the past two days however I have seen two toads, both very tiny, one in the front yard and one in the back. So things are looking up, toad-wise. Maybe the bigger ones will come back as well.
Happy Friday! Here’s a little pop perfection, Paramore style.
Yesterday I took an opportunity to pitch a few shoes. I’ll admit that I had to dig out the rake first and uncover the pits, as nature had taken over due to lack of use. One pit still has good sand coverage. The other needs a bit of work and has been filled in by some clay rich soil deposited from storm runoff.
I’m not sure if I pitched horseshoes so I’d have an excuse to write a blog post or if I’m using a blog post as an excuse to pitch horseshoes, but no matter. I decided to throw exactly 120 because that’s what we used to throw (vs. an opponent) at the Hamilton Horseshoe Club every week. I kept track of ringers, just for kicks, to see what percentage I could throw. I was pleasantly surprised at the result, which was 28 ringers – about 23%. I don’t know exactly what my most recent NHPA stats are. They are old enough (8 years or so) that they can’t be retrieved online. But I think I was throwing right around 23% when I was playing regularly and competing in tournaments.
Provided I’m able to make the time, I’d like to continue practicing and maybe even find a live opponent or two, especially now that I’m fully vaccinated.
The odds are pretty good that there is not a banjo in my knee, but there is something in there, and it hurts. The pain manifested at roughly mile 6 of an 8 mile run on Sunday. My training program to push my long run to 12 miles is on hold for now. A few days of ice, rest, and summer olympics viewing should get me back on track. Oh, and stretching. My more flexible half has convinced me that working a handful of tried and true limbering up exercises would go a long way towards preventing future injuries. I was stretching some, but apparently not enough. As I work more distance into my runs, the potential for injury grows with every extra step. You know the phrase; not a question of if, but when. Time to get with the program.
What about horseshoes? The clay (and sometimes sand) pit action has been pretty steady this summer. In my last sanctioned tournament, which was the Mass Open in Shrewsbury, I ended up in a tie for second place (in terms of wins and losses) which turned into a statistical dead heat for fourth place (using ringer percentage as a tie break).
I also competed in an informal, luck-of-the-draw partners tournament in Sherman, ME a few weekends back. I had a bit of a slow start, a solid middle, followed by a strong finish, but it was a little too late. I finished in a tie for third place, and a playoff for third left me in fourth. I’m sensing a bit of a pattern here.
Club play in Hamilton has been going well. I didn’t quite make the cut at the mid point of the season to earn a bid into the season ending playoffs. I still have a chance to earn one of four spots in the second half. My club average has hovered pretty close to 25%, while my tournament average is consistently just under 30%. I like to think that this can be attributed to my ability to step it up under pressure, but there could very well be another explanation.
In other news, Lavender and I climbed Mt. Katahdin.
Katahdin deserves its’ own post, so I’ll follow with that in coming days. We’re going to try to hit it again before the summer is out. It’s a great climb, and renews my spirit every time.
“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration.
Light out after it with a club.” – Jack London
Monday league play is back at the Hamilton Horseshoe Club! April 30th was actually the first night of play, although the wins, losses, and other stats did not start piling up until this past Monday, May 7th. My ringer percentage was about 25% and change on both nights, with some hot and cold streaks here and there. I shot 40% for one game this past week, which I’m pretty sure is my best game to date. I won two games and lost one. I’m pretty happy with my start to the season. It feels great to see the gang and get back into the regular routine of weekly play. It doesn’t hurt that the resurgence of horseshoe play is also seemingly coinciding with the advent of warmer weather.
The three tournaments I played over the winter in Connecticut went a long way towards keeping my pitching steady, if not sharp, now that Spring has rolled around. I signed up for my first tournament, which is the Hamilton Open, scheduled for Saturday, May 19th. I’m going to have to get creative when it comes time to make the trek up to Hamilton, due to the fact that my more stylish half will be in the Granite State for the weekend. If we get a good turnout for the contest, maybe I’ll hitch with a pitcher heading north past Slummerville.
That shadowy figure in the shot below, pitching a horseshoe (trust me, he’s pitching a horseshoe), that’s yours truly.
grainy men on a granular planet
Things did not begin so swimmingly yesterday at the Central Connecticut Horseshoe Club for me. I had about 30 minutes to warm up before my class began shooting at 11:00. After a few horrid pitches, I got back into the swing of things and felt satisfied enough to relax for a few minutes before match play began. When the official play started, however, I had a bit of a rough time. It was a very slow start, but the ringers started coming. Fortunately they started coming before my opponent had built an insurmountable lead, and I won the first contest by a score of 35 to 17.
My second game turned out to be the toughest, at least on paper, though any of them could have had very different outcomes if not for a ringer (or a single point) at the right moment. I shot 31.25% to my opponent’s 27.1%, and won by a score of 36 – 28.
The score card does not lie. Here it is:
Opponents' names redacted by the self censorship bureau.
All told, I finished in first place in Class G, with a 5-0 record and a 32.24% ringer percentage for the day. It was my best day of pitching to date. I’m looking forward to returning to weekly club play at the Hamilton Horseshoe Club. If spring is here to stay, we should be off and running soon.
I’m about to hit the highway. Destination: East Hartford, CT. Occasion? Spring Thaw Horseshoe Tournament. The action starts at 11:00 a.m. Why am I posting about this before the event? Brace yourselves… You can watch the fast, probably not furious action from the comfort of your own living room! Yes, all you need is A.) an internet connection, and B) nothing better to do, and you can watch me play horseshoes today. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but horseshoes is not much of a spectator sport. You’ve been warned. If you’re still curious, wander on over to Central Connecticut Horseshoe Club’s home on the web. The link for the live video feed is in the upper left hand corner of the home screen. It will require downloading a small plug in. And the plug in does not work with Firefox, but should function fine with Safari or Internet Explorer.
This has nothing to do with the price of tea in China, or horseshoes, but it’s a nice way to start the day. Cheers.
I had a slight revelation about my horseshoe play last Saturday at the Stan Butkus Memorial Tournament, held in East Hartford, CT at theCentral Connecticut Horseshoe Club.
My class was scheduled to play at 3:00 p.m., and I showed up about an hour early. Fortunately the previous group finished up just after 2:00, and 3 courts opened up so that I could warm up before competition began. Even though it’s been a mild winter here in Massachusetts, I hadn’t been able to get any pitching in since the last time I made it to the CCTHC, which was back in November.
After hitting the chain link fence on my back swing, I remembered that I needed to adjust my position in the box forward a bit. I threw probably 40-50 shoes, trying to finish my warm-ups with a few ringers in order to end on a high note. In my first match-up I started slow, and ended up with a loss that I definitely deserved. I shot 16.67% in my first game. I won my next three games, averaging 26.87%. By the time my bye came, in round 6, I was 3-2. I lost my last match, to a very tough opponent, by a score of 36-22. So I finished 3-3 for the day, with an average of 26.87%.
I’m actually pretty happy with the way I shot, especially considering that I hadn’t thrown for so long. The competition was very tough, as I’m learning is the norm for this venue. Oh, and there was the revelation, which was thanks to two fellow horseshoe players at the tournament, one of whom was my opponent, and the other a scorekeeper.
As with lots of leisure activities, sports, music, etc… horseshoe players sometimes enter the fabled “zone”. Everything comes together. The ringers are effortless. I was in the zone more than once last Saturday, and I eventually found my way out. During two games, I started off throwing very well, and built up a comfortable lead. I then promptly cooled off, letting my opponents back into the game.
What I found out, through the kind advice of my fellow players, is that I started hurrying my pitches. My arm speed increased. I wasn’t aware in the least that I was doing this. Inevitably I start wondering what exactly I’m doing differently when I start to fall apart and lose momentum. Increasing my arm speed is one of those things, and now I know I need to make an effort to prevent this from happening. I’m not sure that it will drastically improve my pitching, but being aware of this tendency is definitely a step forward.
Here are the results, for the statistically minded.
Yesterday I made the trek down to East Hartford, CT for the Norm Rioux Open horseshoe tournament. The event was held at the Central Connecticut Horseshoe Club facility, which is quite a unique establishment. The CCTHC is an indoor pitching venue tucked away in an industrial nook of East Hartford. To say the place is unassuming would be an understatement, but it is a haven for serious horseshoe pitchers who want to stay active through the winter. The club hosts league play five nights a week from October through May. In fact, according to the club’s website, the courts are open seven days a week from 10.1 through 5.1. This level of participation is quite impressive, and is part of the reason I didn’t mind driving for a few hours to play there.
Norm Rioux Open action.
Neither the club, nor the players disappointed yesterday. The competition, as I expected, was tough. My group, Class H, was scheduled to start at 12:00 noon, and I arrived a few hours early. This allowed me to meet a few of the club members, including Tournament Director, Don Maine. I grabbed a sandwich across the street at the Greatful Deli. As luck would have it, I had a bye on my fourth game, which provided an excellent opportunity for a lunch break.
The previous group finished up a little bit early, which gave me an opportunity to throw some shoes and get used to the indoor courts. One adjustment I found that I had to make was stepping up a bit further in the box to throw. You’ll see in the photo above that there is a section of fence directly behind each pit. The fence is necessary because of the space constraints in the building and the fact that players need a protected place to stand between pitches. Normally I stand behind the stake a bit on the left hand side. I was confounded to find that my shoe was hitting the chain link fence on my backswing. This was corrected easily by stepping up about a foot closer. It was nice to have a chance to work this kink out before the competition started.
A view from the scorer's perch.
Before I get into the play by play, I should also point out an unusual feature of the CCTHC, which is the scoring. They tout the club as the “home of computerized scoring”. There is a scorer’s perch accessed by stairs and situated one level above the pits. Two scorers, each equipped with computers, receive the scores from the players after each inning. Practically speaking, this means that each scorer is keeping track of up to three games at once. The system works quite well, but it means that each player has to follow the correct protocol when reporting to the scorekeeper. As an example, if I were playing a game and got a ringer plus a point, I would make eye contact with the scorekeeper and report “ringer 4”. There is a monitor at the end of each court that is updated in real time with the players’ names, scores, and ringer percentages. It is a great feature, as long as you keep focused on pitching shoes and don’t get sidetracked by your ringer percentage.
Tale of the 'sheet.
Despite my warm up, I started off very slow. I think it was the sixth or seventh frame before I got a ringer. This allowed my opponent to build up a pretty comfortable lead. I did rebound and pitch a pretty good game, but my comeback wasn’t strong enough, as I dropped the first game 35 to 25. The game format was such that games went to 35 points or 50 shoes, whichever came first. I won my second game, although I was a bit off my average. My opponent had an off game as well, otherwise it probably would have ended differently. I had my best game in the fifth match, where I pitched 44%, which is a personal best for me. I almost finished at .500, but I lost my last game on the very last shoe, when my opponent threw a ringer to squeak out a win, 29 to 28. I knew I needed a ringer with my last two shoes, and I just missed high on my last shoe. So it goes. I finished with a record of 2 wins and 4 losses.
I ended up shooting 29.58% for the day, which is roughly 2 points above my average. I really liked playing indoors, after a fashion. It has a distinctly different feel. I found that even the acoustics came into play, with a very satisfying ‘clink’ when a shoe is buried on the stake just right. I plan on returning to the CCTHC a few more times over the winter.
What does Knoxville, TN have to do with it? Not much, except I found out from a fellow player yesterday that the 2012 World Horseshoe Tournament will be held there. I would love to attend, but we’ll see what happens. The New England Championship, held in Keene, NH, will be celebrating its’ 75th anniversary next year, so that’s something to think about as well.
As I alluded to in my last post, my next tournament is going to be an indoor affair in East Hartford, CT. It’s coming up next weekend, and I’m pretty excited about it. The host club, Central Connecticut Horseshoe Club, holds tournaments through the winter, complete with computerized scoring, to satisfy the cravings of hardcore pitchers who couldn’t possibly wait until the snow thaws and the temperatures rise again in April. I expect the competition to be fierce, and I’m hoping I’m not any worse for not practicing in the last 6 weeks or so. The lineups haven’t been announced yet -They should be posted on newenglandhorseshoes.com by Wednesday.
In other news, the little lady and I have undertaken the daunting, but not quite herculean task of revamping my Grandparents’ former residence in Silver Ridge, Maine. The house has sat vacant for more than eight years now, and is a little rough around the edges. Actually it’s a little rough everywhere. With some help from Mom and Dad, we got a good deal of it cleaned up last weekend. In just a few days it went from looking like it was going back to nature to looking semi-livable again. We’re both pretty excited about the prospects for the house. Just being in the place brings back a lot of great memories from my childhood. That old yellow house was a fantastic place to gather and share a meal and a few laughs in good company. With a little sprucing up, and a lot of sweat equity, I think we can keep that tradition alive. The next step will be hooking up the water again in the spring to do some further cleaning. After that? Remodeling!
Running, another of my leisure activities, has taken a back seat recently to more pressing things. I did manage to get out today, with my faithful companion Mushka, for a 10k jaunt in the golden afternoon of a late Autumn day in New England. It was a little rough for me during the first mile or two. It wasn’t painful or anything, no cramps, but let’s just say that if a comfortable looking couch would have presented itself on the sidewalk, I would have happily sat down for a breather. It wasn’t until the last mile or so that I really got into the groove. Running, at its’ best, feels as natural as breathing. No effort, no strain. Just one foot in front of the other. With any luck, the snow and frigid temperatures will hold off for another month or so and I can continue jogging in the out of doors. Running in place in our living room just doesn’t cut it.
Aside from the occasional trip to the constitution state for some indoor pitching, horseshoes will get damn near impossible once the snow starts flying. In the interest of keeping things, well…interesting, I’ll be filling this space with ramblings about other topics. Running may get knocked out of contention by mother nature as well. But then there are always musings about the nature of the cosmos, which I am lately very fascinated with, though I confess that I have never set foot in a Physics classroom. Go figure.
First off, I just want to say that my neighbors are building a backyard fence and leisure space, and I’m more than a little jealous. The smell of fresh cut cedar, coupled with the repeated sounds of a chop saw and a retracting tape measure are enough to send me to Zillow and thinking about putting down some tenacious roots.
Yesterday I was slated to play in the Andover (NH) Autumn Harvest horseshoe tournament. There were a few Massachusetts options towards the end of the outdoor pitching year, but I wanted to see a new set of courts and compete against a fresh set of faces. Unfortunately the tournament was called off due to lack of entries. As of last Saturday only 13 players had signed up, which isn’t nearly enough for a sanctioned tournament. The Massachusetts State Tournament, by comparison, had 39 entrants, which is still a little light. More participants logically makes for better competition, because shooting percentages are more evenly distributed throughout the classes. For the statistically minded, compare the outcomes of the following two tournaments: the Friday Night Challenge, from May of 2011, had 28 participants (yes, that’s yours truly at the bottom of class D); the Gale Green Shootout, by contrast, had 70 participants. Take a look at the percentage distribution in each class for both tournaments. The shooting percentages are much more evenly distributed in the Gale Green Shootout.
Let me get back to yesterday, and steer this post out of the statistical weeds. I decided to take a ride down to Lakeville, MA, where the Mass State Doubles tournament was being held. I figured I’d keep score for a couple of games, take some photos of the action, shoot the breeze, and just hang out. I also knew that there was an off chance that someone who had signed up to play wouldn’t show up, and I’d have a chance to play. I am planning to play in a few indoor contests over the winter, after all, and I need to stay sharp.
It was a pretty bleary morning, raining lightly when I left Somerville at about 7:45 a.m. My trusty forecast friends at Weather Underground had provided a radar map that looked relatively dry for the Lakeville area. It rained hard all the way through Boston, but let up as I passed Stoughton and the sky began to brighten as I neared 495. We were in business.
I showed up just before 9:00 a.m., when the matches were supposed to begin. As luck would have it, they were one person short for the tournament, and I happily obliged to fill in. I was paired up with an A player, which I initially thought was a mistake. What the organizers had done was to pair up A players with a C/D player in order to even things out a bit. My partner and I would be competing against 3 other teams in our class.
My partner, who shall remain nameless, is someone who I’ve seen pitch at a few tournaments in the past. I’m not one for hero worship, but I’ll admit to being slightly in awe of the elite players who can throw at least one ringer out of two shoes and do it consistently. It is no small feat. Perhaps sensing a little nervousness on my part, my partner told me not to worry about trying to keep up. “Just play your own game and have fun, you’ll do fine”, he told me. We had to share a pair of shoes, and it made sense for me to shoot his shoes. I don’t think I had ever thrown M&M Specials before, but they are a good shoe for those who throw a turn shoe. Mine is a turn and 3/4. It didn’t take too many warm up shoes before I felt relatively comfortable with the M&M’s, although they have a decidedly different feel than my Alan Francis All Ons, or my Dad’s DeadeyeEZ Grips.
Alan Francis demonstrating his 3/4 reverse, also a turn shoe, as opposed to a flip shoe.
We won our first match, against two of my fellow Hamilton Horseshoe Club members, then lost our second by only five points. The format was comprised of 30 shoe games (30 shoes pitched by each partner) with any ties to be broken by two innings of play. We had to play each team in our class twice, for a total of six games. At the end of the day, the tale of the score sheet would tell you that both my partner and I were a little bit off our respective games. I shot 23.89% for the day, with one 16.67% game hurting us quite a bit. We were .500 for the day, winning three and losing three. The team we beat in our first match ended up winning first place in Class A.
For a day that could have been a washout, and could have been a day of sitting on the sidelines, I was very happy with the way things turned out. I got to play with a Class A player who also turned out to be a class act, and had a great day. I’m looking forward to my first indoor tournament of the fall/winter season, which will be held here, in late November.
120 shoes 