After taking a year off due to an alleged scandal I returned to the world of competitive coits again this year attempting to upset last year's champion Fabio and defeat my bitter rival Jeffro. I succeded in one of the two tasks, but failed utterly in the second.
After securing a bye in the initial round due to a luck of the draw, I waited to see who my partner would be (due to a surplus of men, we had one extra man, so the first losing lady would be my partner). As luck would have it, my former co-winner of the 5th annual Coits St Cup, Joanne, was the first female loser, allowing us the chance of repeat victories.
Our first game saw Joanne and I go up against Tim and Char, while it was a close battle, Jo and I eventually nailed the final couple of points, and secured the victory.
In the semi-finals we would take on Jeff and April. Jeff has never won the cup, but he's a master coitsist for sure. April on the other hand secured victory with me once before, so I knew my game was going to be called into question. It should be noted that April was the first to have ringed during the day, and followed it up with two more ringers before anyone else could mark on the board.
The battle was fast and furious with the bad guys (April and Jeff) getting a quick leg up on the good guys (Jo and I) with a couple of quick rings. All looked lost with us down 13 – 7, a mere two points from defeat (and 6 of our 7 points coming from my partner who was steadily notching single and double points ever round). With Jeff lying a point, I nailed back-to-back ringers to end the round and bring us even at 13's. April scored a single in the next end. Jeff was up, and landed a decisive point which would have spelled the end for us, I had to get a point to keep us in the game…pulling all of the reserves of luck from my various totems, I nailed the point to keep the game at 14's.
Up next was the powerful end of April and Joanne…Joanne tossed, and nailed a point. A steal by April would win the game, but a miss would secure victory for Jo and I. April threw well, but ultimately came up short, giving us the victory in what I think was the most exciting game I've ever played in.
The finals were set with Nikki and Fabio vs Joanne and I. The game was quick, with me scoring only a single point, and Joanne marking us for six. Luck was not with us, and the game was lost as Fabio wins for the second straight year, and Nikki becomes the first person to be etched on the cup for a record three times!
The games were loads of fun, and the barbeque afterwards really hit the spot. It was great to see friends again, and hang out for a few hours with folks we don't get to see much of. Poor Kaylin was tired as a lamb, and a little bit whiny all day, but half an hour into our drive, she was out for the night.
I'll practice over the winter, and make my grand return to Coits next year.