3rd Annual Detroit Open

April 27 – 29, 2007
Madison Park Bowl
Madison Heights, MI

3rd Annual Greater Detroit Open – April 27-29, 2007
(Write up not complete)

Jason Papa, proprietor of Madison Park Bowl Bar & Grill had already created a “buzz” about this tournament by his press releases in the weeks leading up to the event. His great job of promoting this tournament led to the participation of 64 players from eight states and $30,000+ prize money. The states represented were OK, OR, FL, IN, MI, CA, AK and TX. Because he couldn’t attend, Mike Koontz, of Journey’s End Bar & Grill in Bourbon, IN offered to pay the registration fee for the first 10 Indiana players and that worked out perfectly as there were exactly 10 players from Indiana!

Ladies ‘R’ Captains Draft Team Event
With Steve “Coco” Brown in charge of the draft, the twelve lady captains retired to the back room. For some of the ladies this was there first ever experience in the draft room and Coco kept things moving along nicely. When the ladies were asked if they wanted to bring in their first pick to help, there were two answers.. for some it was a resounding “hell no” and for others a just as resounding… “hell yes”!

With the draft complete, the teams were entered into Eddie Brayman’s software program for shuffleboard, Computer Peas. People could view the sale as it progressed on the large projection screen TV provided by Madison Park Bowl Bar & Grill. Each captain was presented with a tote bag designed by Ann Harrell with eshuffleboard.com on one side and Madison Park Bowl on the other. Steve Auten did the sponsor sale and with almost $10,000 up for grabs they were off!

Since the format was 2 out of 3 in both brackets, teams played late into the night. Of those lucky enough to still be alive at the end of the evening, they also got to play shuffleboard at 8:00 in the morning! Mid afternoon Saturday, with only two teams left and the time fast approaching for the Singles to begin, two of the least likely fellows on the face of the planet to go for a “split” reached an agreement. The team of Theresa Stephens (MI) (Capt), Darrol Nelson (OR), Gene Brown (IN) and Manny Lane (AK) won the winners bracket and took first place while the team of Vicki Morgan (Capt) (IN), John McDermott (MI), Cliff Viesel (TX) and Tom Shultz (MI) took 2nd place.

Michigan, Pioneers, Legends and the New Generation of Tabletop Shuffleboard
Steve “Coco” Brown called the group to order before the start of the sponsor sale for the open singles and division II singles. Betty Parrish presented the PLNG Award of Excellence to Ann Harrell of eshuffleboard.com. for “your many efforts and unselfish dedication towards the promotion and continuation of the sport of tabletop shuffleboard”. Ann, who had been sitting there (shushing the crowd) with her camera ready to take a picture of the recipient was practically speechless. She was only able to say, “My thank you is not making a speech”, but later recovered her composure enough to exchange handshakes and hugs all around.

Open Singles
While several folks that played in the draft event chose to sit out the singles to rest up for the 3 person bring, there were still 13 strong players in the open singles. With over $10,000 up for grabs in this event (not including side pot), competition was again fierce. The format was 2 out of 3 in the winner’s bracket and one 21 point game in the losers bracket (due to time constraints).

Mr. John McDermott of the Shuffleboard Federation was on top of his game. The word awesome applies, not in the valley girl sense, but more along the lines of “shock and awe”. John out lagged twos with confidence to defeat both Darrol Nelson (3rd) and to double dip Bill Melton (2nd) for the open singles crown. John Tischler of Michigan finished 4th .

Division II Singles (1s, 2s, 3s, 4s)
As with the Open Singles, several people involved in the draft team event opted out of the Division II singles to rest up for the final event of the weekend, the 3 Person Add to 4 Team event. There were still 28 willing participants in the singles. Play began Saturday afternoon and continued Sunday morning. When the smoke settled, Jessica Williams, local favorite, double dipped Jeff Cottrell, another local favorite, to take first place. Dick Smedberg of Florida took third place and Jim Earl Madary placed fourth. Placing 5th/6th were Carlos Capote and Doug Queen and 7th/8th were Coco Brown and Tom Meagher to round out the field.

3 Person Bring Team – Add to 4
Sunday afternoon brought the final event of the weekend, the 3 Person Add to 4 Team. At first it was thought that there would be only 6-7 teams and one team even left thinking “it wouldn’t be worth their time”, to play. We ended up with 33 hearty souls for 11 teams in the bring event and a just over $6,000! Not to shabby for the last event of the weekend!

The format was changed from 2 out of 3, to a single game, double elimination so we could finish before midnight and get everyone on their way and back to work on Monday. The pick up team of Jim Martin from California and bracket master Rob Kern and Computer Peas guru, Coco Brown of Michigan teamed up to take 3rd place. The Summitville, Indiana team from GI’s Town Tavern, Glen & Jeri Ingram and Gene Brown placed 2nd. Jessica Williams (a 2) and James Sanchez (unrated) carried Frank Blade through unscathed for the final win of the weekend.

Thank Yous
Many people work hard to make a tournament a success. And this tournament was a success. The prize money was great, the shuffleboard tables were wonderful, the food and the comrade could not be beat. Once again the great team of Coco and Cindy Brown and Rob and Deb Kern ran the registration desk. Coco and Rob, using Computer Peas, kept the tournaments on track and the brackets updated in living color. Jason Papa, going on about 8 hours sleep in 5 days, helped everyone that asked from hotel rooms to new tires.

See you next year! Expect more boards (in the bowling center), more money, more good times and more shuffleboard!!