6/21/10 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match

24 Guns Entered  --   Match Won By Loren DeShon

     2nd place - George

     3rd place - Jeff

 

     Welcome to the first day of Summer, 2010.  The sky was overcast with patches of blue sky showing, the temperature was 58 degrees at gametime, but it was dry!!  We'll take it.  Many thanks tonight to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club for hosting our match.  Thanks to Mike Blondin for Directing & running the match, and thanks to Matt, Dillon & Paul for setting up the stage in time for a prompt start at 6PM.  Thanks go also to George Flaherty for running the scoreboard and the microphone.  With all this good match management, we were able to get in 5 Rounds and a Sudden Death Finale.

     As the Sudden Death Finals near their conclusion, Loren is kind enough to put this reporter, Hal, on the trailer.  Exit Hal.  George  then does the same for Kevin, exit Kevin.  George duels with Loren next, and gets the win in a fast, accurate duel.

Jeff duels with Loren next, and this duel goes to Jeff.  George & Loren have a rematch, setting the stage for duels to come later.  George gots way ahead, but then faltered.  loren started off slowly, but then bore down, and in a fast, accurate, come-from-behind finish, Loren DeShon took the flag.  George is up again, this time against Jeff, but Jeff's luck has run out and George puts him on the trailer, along with almost all the rest of the field, but willingly settling for 3rd place.

     Now it's down to George Flaherty & Loren DeShon, dueling for the match victory.  Coincidently, both George & Loren

are ex-military fighter pilots.  George is a veteran of the US Air Force, flying F-106s, while Loren is a veteran of the U.S. Navy,

having flown FA-18s off the decks of aircraft carriers.  George is currently retired, while Loren continues to fly as a Captain of Boeing 737s for Alaskan Airlines.  As has been noted in past reports, Loren carries his handgun on the flightdeck when he is in command of his flights.  George has 6 numbers on the board at this point, to Loren's 3. 

     Rather than let George agonize over the ensuing 6 duels, let it suffice to say that younger, well honed skills and reflexes took over at this point. Loren buckled down under the pressure that has marked his aviation career, and Loren won 6 straight duels over George.  Loren's runs were 6 of the smoothest, fastest, most accurate, computer programmed runs of the night,  and each and every one of the competitors in our match tonight looked on in awe.  George, if you had to go down in flames, it may as well have been by the best.  Even the Bloody Red Baron would have had his paws full the way Loren wrapped up this match.  Congratulations to you both, and congratulations to each & every shooter in our match tonight for a well run, well shot and most importantly Safe Match.  WELL DONE!!

     Our next match here will be on July 19, 2010, the July 5th match falling on the July 4th Holiday.  So, July 19, 2010 at 6:00PM we'll meet right back here for another match and we'll see who is the best gunslinger that night.  Until then always remember when you're shooting:

 

"SHOOT FAST!  SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

 

Hal