Opening Day Excitement

(crossposted at boccelism.com)

The Edgewood-Kirkwood, Atlanta Chapter (ABA South Region) celebrated Opening Day of the 2007 Regular Season on April 21st at the Montgomery Street Tossing Grounds. The festivities included the introduction of an electronic scoreboard and a splashy debut by rookie tosser Mr. Jeff Gates.

Tossing began as Judge Durrett declared "Case On" from the chair, with Mr. Rex Batson challenging the newcomer Gates. Mr. Gates swung the momentum in his favor with a devastating boc in the fourth quarry of the first dalrymple, and never looked back while coasting to a 29-19 victory.

In other action, former South Region Governor Mr. Tom Pittard returned to the fray after a long absence from the grounds, but showed no sign of rust as he demolished Mr. Tom Durrett 36-16. Lopsided scores were the theme of the day as "Thunderball" Mr. Todd Leopold lowered the wood on Mr. Frank Schultz 36-19. Mr. Schultz licked his wounds and recovered in time to school the rookie while posting the high score of the day in a 37-17 dismantling of Mr. Gates.

After a hiatus in play, EKA Chapter President and South Region Governor Mr. Lee Wilkins took on Mr. Durrett; tossing under the lights and under the influence resulted in a lower-scoring, but closer duel, with Mr. Wilkins eeking out a 21-17 win and bringing Opening Day's competition to a close.

Opening Day Update

Opening Day 2007 will take place at the Montgomery Street Tossing Grounds, the park-like arena at 100 Montgomery St., Atlanta, GA. EKA chapter officials have announced that the Grounds will open to the public at 2 p.m., with case play expected to begin no later than 3 p.m., absent any unforeseen delays. See the previous post "A Challenge" for information about team play and reserving roster numbers.

Boo Hoo Ramblers at Blind Willie's Tuesday

The boys are scheduled to start at 9:30 PM. Patrons wearing black shoes and white socks will be eligible to enter a drawing for a free bottle of Old Spice. Ask Clark for more details.

ABA site down

Due to a pending change in webhosts, the ABA Home Page is currently unavailable. Check back here for updates on the site's status.

A Challenge (Updated below)

In previous seasons the Edgewood-Kirkwood, Atlanta chapter (ABA South Region) has featured case play with the individual players representing themselves (with the single exception of a direct challenge from the Chattanooga chapter (ABA South Region) in August 2002), with the goal of acheiving glory through personal victory. This year EKA is encouraging participants in chapter events to organize as "teams" to further stoke the fires of the competitive spirit. This is not intended to alter the custom of all Official Cases being singles matches, but rather to organize play in Tournament Style.

Should players embrace this suggestion, all Official Cases shall be between members of different teams. Standings for the day will be determined by Tournament Points; for a refresher on the awarding of Tournament Points here is an excerpt from Article IV, Section 8 of the ABA Code Of Laws:

"Section 8. For every case played, three Tournament (or Team) Points shall be awarded. The points shall be awarded as follows: One point shall go to the player or team that scores the most points in the first end; one point shall go to the player or team that scores the most points in the second end; and one point shall go to the player or team which scores the most points in the case.
In the event that the players or teams score an equal number of points in an end, then the point for that end shall be divided, with each player or team being awarded one half-point."

UPDATE: Reserve your roster number prior to Opening Day. The following numbers are "pre-reserved" until Opening Day. Failure by these players to make an active reservation or to appear on Opening Day to lay claim will result in these numbers reverting to available status:

2 - GUBERMAN
3 - FELDMAN
5 - CURSON
8 - NUMBA EIGHT
13 - DURRETT
14 - MITCHELL
16 - BATSON
17 - SCHULTZ
41 - LEOPOLD
64 - GALE

The following numbers are on permanent reserve by ABA and EKA Officers:

6 - POTVIN
11 - PRIEST
67 - WILKINS

All remaining one- and two-digit numbers (including 0 and 00) are availble for reservation.

Opening Day At Hand

Saturday April 21st has been selected as Opening Day for the 2007 Regular Season of the Edgewood-Kirkwood, Atlanta chapter (ABA South Region). Starting time and location are To Be Announced at a later date. More details will be posted here as they become available.

Inman Park Exhibition

The 2007 Regular Season is just around the corner, so as a tune up the Edgewood-Kirkwood, Atlanta chapter is going on the road to Inman Park to set up a sneak preview of what Springtime has to offer when it comes to boccelism. The current plan is to tee it up this Saturday the 10th at the Freedom Park Tossing Grounds, Field A (bounded by Austin Ave., Sinclair, and Carmel). Should weather intervene, Sunday the 11th is available as a backup, which would also conveniently serve as a celebration of the advent of Daylight Saving Time. Check back here or with your local ABA representative for further scheduling updates.