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Thanksgiving Beach Bash
Gulf of Mexico Beach -- Gulf Shores, AL
November 27-28, 2008

Perhaps the first two-day tournament*, though it only consisted of 12 players, brought a lot of excitement. The Beach Bash brought the Salmon/Patterson clan to Gulf Shores, Ala. for a 4-day retreat for the Thanksgiving holiday. What better way to show family love than to eat, drink and smack talk over Monkeyball? This tournament saw seasoned SoMoCo'ers and first-time tournament rookies come together and "sweat" it out in 65-degree (with ample sunshine) weather. The two day timeframe was due to the aforementioned drinking, the LSU football game (a poor last-second loss to Arkansas), the aforementioned drinking (again) and the unavailability of wireless (and a printer) in order to print out a bracket…though Uncle Tom's iPhone saved the day!

SoMoCo verterns Judd, Michelle, Scott and Jason cruised through the early stages only to meet and knock each other out. Judd took out Jason 15-10 and Michelle beat Scott 15-10. Michelle beat Judd in the winner's bracket 15-6, while Jason beat Scott in the loser's bracket 15-5, setting up the game now known as the "BS-call game that cost Jason a shot at his second overall title"; never mind the fact that Jason had Judd down 13-3 moments before the critical blown call (rope not hanging on the horizontal ladder, but rather on the vertical elbow joint). Note: blame also goes to the Commish for not being available by cell phone at all hours of the day, even during the Holidays, to field rules questions**. After the blown call made the game 13-7 (should have been 13-5), Judd drops 8-points on the next toss to win 15-13 and set-up a rematch with Michelle. With Judd drinking more Abita Andigator, Michelle liked her chances of laying waste to Judd and claiming her first-ever MB title. However, much to the surprise of Michelle, and the entire peanut gallery, Judd remained upright and dispensed Michelle in 2 games, 15-8, 15-10, to claim his first-ever MB title. Yes, another SoMoCo'er with a tournament title, this time representing New Orleans where MB is sure to grow. Plans are in place for a Mardi Gras tournament in February, with veteran SoMoCo'ers travelling west to spread the MB gospel to the folks in the Big Easy.

Congrats to Judd on his win. With continued practice (and the balls to travel northward), Judd could prove a force at World's V.

* Commish's note: This was not the first two-day tournament.
** Commish's note #2: It comes as no surprise to the Monkeyball community that a Salmon was at the center of this controversy, and that a Salmon is now complaining about a ruling. The irony is that had they waited a few minutes for my return call, the Commish would have sided with Jason.