Everyone is placed either on the "Cherry" team or the "Silver" team. I think these colors are used because the University of New Mexico has cherry and silver as its colors. The tournament is doubles, which means there are four people on the court at all times, so it is kind of crowded compared to singles. All the players only play one match (two games to twenty one, and a possible tie breaker to eleven.) There is no ladder advancement, or elimination. The winning team wins more matches. Earl Badger is a retired surgeon that plays handball, and he creates the teams. This year, like all previous years I played in, the seeding was extremely well balanced. There were thirty two total players in the tournament, three of which have the last name "Stinar." This made sixteen teams of two, for eight matches of two-on-two. We started matches at 9:00, 10:30, and 12:00, finishing around 1:30.
The Silver team had five match victories, while the Cherry team only had three. Everyone on Silver team won a commemorative beer mug. We had a table setup at the athletic club to organize the tournament. The only picture I have of the entire event is of my girlfriend and I sitting at the table!
My match was EXTREMELY close. I played with Roger Zimmerman, against Carl White (the UNM handball coach, my old teacher) and Mike Linley (a UNM graduate student.) Carl and Mike beat us the first game 21/17, we beat them the second game 21/20, and we beat them the tie breaker about 11/2. I'm not positive about the scores, but I think those are close. I'm pretty sure the second game was 21/20.
Brian + Lyric Manning The Organizational Table
After the tournament, many of the participants headed over to the Edelweiss am Rio Grande German American Club for beer and food. We had sub sandwiches, potato salad, chips, and dessert for people to eat. With entry in the tournament came two beer coupons.
Gerald and his wife took care of the majority of the organization, other than seeding. I helped out with a few things, but this tournament would not have happened without him taking on most of the responsibilities. As long as Gerald was happy, I'm happy to co-organize the tournament again next year. Thanks to all the participants, and those that sponsored the tournament.
I wish I had more pictures! If anyone has any, please email me them and I'll update my blog post with more pictures.
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