Association Rules games are long. The minimum time limit for sanctioning purposes is two hours. In the Championship flight, we play a three hour time limit. There aren't many things outside of my job that I spend three continuous hours doing.

 

So I realized today that AC can be a bit grueling in a national championship tournament like this. Especially on day three. Three long days of block play, but just before the adrenal jolt from the play-offs. What crystallized this for me was a comment that a really great player made to me late this afternoon. He had just missed a relatively easy shot that I have never seen him miss. He slumped down in the seat next to me and said he was gassed. He was tired and had just about had it. Me too, I thought. We were both tired. I saw some slopping play in other games too, even by top players. So it dawned on me that in an event like this, you also need some stamina to make it through the block. Once the play-offs begin, I think the energy returns. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

I also realized another dynamic today, something I call the reverse food chain. I realized that there are a couple of players I wanted to play and beat, because I viewed them as a cut above me. I have been nipping at their heels for a long time. And then I realized there are a couple of players in my local area who are getting really good and are nipping at my heels. And then the people whose heels I'm nipping at, they in turn are nipping at someone else's heels. And it goes on and on. Even Ben Rothman is nipping at the heels of English star Sir Robert Fulford or South African Reg Bamford. Everybody is nipping at someone else's heels, and in turn everyone else can feel the nipping at their heels. I call it the reverse food chain, because it's like the guppy trying to swallow the fish, with the fish trying to swallow the whale, etc. So I ask you, whose heels are you nipping at? And who is nipping at your heels? It can be a revealing exercise.

 

This morning I played Mike Orgill and beat him 24-8. People in Pasadena know of Mike from the "Odd numbered hoop Orgill" fame, a golf croquet shot I named after Mike. Not convinced I got Mike's A-game. I have been nipping at his heels for a long, long time. I think I took a chunk out. Sorry, Mike. He's the First VP of the USCA. He told me this morning, "You know, I can make you an unperson. People will be saying, Eric who? Never heard of him."

 

Then I played in the late game against Leo Nikora, who will be playing in the AC World Championships in April. Leo is a bit under the weather. I was just plain tired from sitting around all day watching the other games. So Leo and I got off to a bit of a ragged start. We are about half way through our match, but we had to stop because of darkness, the so-called "peg down." The stunning news is that if I beat Leo, and that is a huge if, then I may make it into the play-offs. But for now this is purely a theoretical discussion. The concept of me beating Leo to make it to the play-offs is similar to saying that the Bad News Bears have to beat the New York Yankees to make it to the World Series, literally and figuratively. But hey, you never know; it's why we roll the balls onto the court and actually play the game.

 

Michael Rumbin from Ventura County made a great point in a reply to one of my posts. He asks if I can take pictures of strategic value and include them in my e-mails. A great idea! Like when Ben Rothman or Rich Lamm lay down a great diagonal spread leave at the end of their first break, I can take a picture and show you what it looks like. Or I can take a picture of some of the colorful personalities who play in these events, like the great Brian Cumming or Doug Grimsley, who some call "Doug the Thug" or "the Captain," for reasons you would probably not guess correctly. A picture says a thousand words, right? Wish I brought my camera. Keep the great ideas and comments coming.

--Eric Sawyer | Pasadena Croquet Club | www.pasadenacroquetclub.org