The 1st Annual Lord of the Ringer tournament went down in the Golden Gate Park Horseshoe Pits. It included a SkateJam and was benefiting a Golden Gate Park SkatePark.
This is a story of sweat, pain, focus, and beer. Our heroes are just a couple of Original Joe's, growing up WestCoast, skating, surfing, you know the type, kinda good at everything, but only great in their own minds.
But once in awhile, once every so often, when the sun shines hot on Golden Gate park, the beer is cheap, and the crowd small, well, I'm getting ahead of the story.
In the beginning there was shit. And then some hard working, hard throwing folks who wanted to throw some shoes got to work and cleaned up what was once a beautiful arena.
The pits are in a small valley that was a quarry for rock for the rest of the park. It has quite a history of grandeur, but up until quite recently was a junkie/homeless destination restaurant. BYO.
Stolen Photo from SFHPC
It was a beautiful day. Hot In The City. We rode our bikes up to the event, bringing our own, and found our people camped out in a shady overlook. Some truly prime real estate.
The throwing got under way.
Double elimination. If you lost in the first bracket you moved to the second bracket. If you lost in the second bracket you were done. Bo and Luke, I mean, Byron and Sam, won the first round.
Then they won the second round.
Then there was a long wait while the second bracket played out their round. In the interim there was sun, Rock, and beer.
While we wait, look at these, reliefs that were back behind removed blackberry bushes. From former Horseshoe Glory Days.
They're were 32 teams and some great players. Dirtbags from all over the Northern State. There was a table selling gear and another selling Gatorade-itas. Byron picked up a pair of pro shoes and it showed.
Because then they won in the third round.
They Won In The Fourth Round.
And They Won In The Fifth Round!!
Now things were getting good. Undefeated and in The Finals. There was a scout checking things out.
Heavy discussions about points.
And some great commentary from Emile.
About this time, they had to settle out the one loss bracket and our heroes had quite a wait. The wife and I jumped on our bikes and missed the finals.
But those who remained to witness the spectacle have told a story of how Bo was not throwing to the best of his ability that day and tried to remedy this by drinking and talking shit. Luke had to go into his box, he stopped drinking and talking and brought out his inner horse.
In the Finals our Goblins faced the SFHCP! team of Bastian and Zepponi. These guys were serious and wanted it bad but had lost in the first round so were facing elimination. They needed to beat the Goblins twice to be victorious. The Goblins only needed one of the two.
SFHCP! won the first match. But our boys dug deep and won the second, becoming the Champions of the 1st Annual Lord of the Ringer.
Each receiving a fine trophy, a cash prize (that they immediately donated to the cause), and the admiration of Tens of People.
Photo by LC/DC
The After Party was, of course, at the 500 Club.
Photo by LC/DC
Congratulations Goblins. We're all very proud.
It was a great day.
Not my video:
4 comments:
Spellbinding!
best. recap. ever. Hey everyone should be a part of the magic, sign up here: www.sfhorseshoepitching.com
My wife's "people" were pitchers, farm stock with pits in their yards. The poles were always axles with the bevel gears still on them. Her Uncle "Snoose" had a set with real shoes from draft horses. I always thought that was a nice touch. I tried once in awhile, but those old dudes were pitching every evening. Hard to play with guys who could throw ringer after ringer.
LORD of the RINGER 2!!! is set for Saturday June 26th, 2010! Come back Orange Goblins! check out the new flyer posted at www.sfhorseshoepitching.com. See you there. - SFHPC
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