18 Guns Entered Match Won by Loren DeShon
2nd Place won by Lee Lewis
3rd Place won by Mark (OJ) Kimura
Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. We're finally getting back on track for our bi-weekly plate matches, and a perfect summer evening provided the setting for tonight's contest. Our Match Staff was in fine form again this evening, and they deserve a standing ovation for their efforts. The stage was set up and ready well before 6:00PM,
The match ran smoothly, safely, and efficiently. Due to this efficiency, we were able to get in 5 rounds of preliminaries, and a Sudden Death Finale. Many thanks go to our Match Director: Mike Blondin, our Set-Up Crew: Mathew Seagraves, Lee Lewis, and Dylan Hasselhuhn. Our scoretable was handled with skill & efficiency by Mike Blondin, and the shooting itself was kept safe and on time by our Head Line-Marshall Mark (OJ) Kimura. Virtually everyone in the field pitched in to help OJ run the line tonight, and rather than list everyone entered in the contest, I'll just say a grateful Thank You to everyone who contributed to the running of tonight's match.
The summer weather was perfect tonight, with clear blue skies, and mid-sixties temperatures, all combining to offer a perfect summer's backdrop for the match. 18 guns contested the victory tonight, and there were a couple of features of tonight's match worth noting. First, to add a bit of challenge to the match, Mike Blondin directed that all of the duels, all night long, be directed at all of the plates, before engaging the popper. There are 5 plates on the racks, and the popper, which equals 6 targets. The number 6 equals the load out of ammunition allowed to start a duel. So, if one can "run the rack" and drop the popper, 6 rounds of ammo is enough. But, don't miss even one plate, or the popper, or a reload is mandated. Therefore, the watchword is: "Don't Miss".
The "don't miss" dictum sounds easy enough, so the set-up crew, at Mike Blondin's direction, made it a bit more challenging.
The plates, and the poppers, were all painted a dark Olive Green. Our plates stage more closely resembled a "subdued light"
stage. Well, this lasted for the first half of the first round, after which the plates, and the center circle of the poppers, were painted a bright snowy white again. I guess no one brought their weapons mounted flashlights.
As everyone is aware, there are no classes in Gig Harbor Spotsmans Club Plate Matches. Whoever shoots best, wins.
While 10th place pays the same as 1st place, which is a large measure of satisfaction, there is but one winner. We can be assured of the fact that the winner of a Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match worked!! for his victory.
As the Sudden Death Finale wound toward it's conclusion, 18 guns were reduced to only 3: Loren Deshon, Lee Lewis, and Mark (OJ) Kimura. OJ's night came to a screeching halt at the hands of Loren. Exit OJ. At this point, Loren and Lee had what looked like most of the numbers publicly available on the board. For the next 6 duels, Loren & Lee traded wins & losses. Finally it came down to a point where Loren still had 8 numbers up, to Lee's 1. I suppose the end result was predictable, and I must say that Lee went out in a blaze of glory. It's hard to beat runs like Loren demonstrated all evening long.
So that's the straight dope on tonight's match. Loren DeShon won it convincingly, and we all know what we need to do to improve our performance two weeks hence. Our next match will be in August, and as pretty as the weather was tonight, August should really present some elegant weather. We'll see you right here on August 2, 2010 at 6PM. In the meantime, practice often and properly. Concentrate on fundamentals, putting accuracy ahead of speed, and safety ahead of all else. When you are practicing, always remember:
"SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL!!"
Hal
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