Croquet

Comment on "new" USCA handicapping system

2005-08-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

arthur.....it seems now that the croquet elite have achieved their lofty handicaps, they have pulled up the ladder and left those of us higher hdcps. languishing in the mire of a system that punishes a loss to a player 8 levels better.....perhaps penalty points should be assigned to losses of 1 or 2 levels to better players w/ no consequence of losing to a player of 3 or more levels better.....there should be "something to lose" for playing someone more closely matched w/ nothing to lose for taking on a player ranked as being far superior.......best to cindy.....BIGG

Please add your comments by clicking on "comments" below or email me with another subject for discussion!

Mid-South 2005 Won by Louisiana!

2005-08-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Fiasco II is over and Ron Hendry has taken the MidSouth Defenders Cup home
to Louisiana. With considerable help from Bill Martin Louisiana barely beat out
Georgia.

It's time for a new croquetblog subject. Please email me with your suggestions for the next topic of discussion.

croquetala@aol.com

Roy Gee calls for Peace but will do battle next week

2005-08-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward to seeing all my Mid South friends In Alabama at the end of this month. Come on people lets play croquet. Competition is good. Let's settle this on the court not in the courts! ;)Roy G

2005-08-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Martin Mid-South Dropout

2005-08-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Due to personal concerns I will not be participating in this years event. My best wishes go out to each of you whatever you choose to do.

Yours truly,

Bill Martin

Clue

2005-08-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Fiasco

2005-08-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

See the hapless fiasco victims!

More "fiasco" pictures at:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4221948&a=31359930&f=0

Martin responds to Arkansas Pundit

2005-08-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

From : Bill Martin to Jeff Caldwell 8/5/05

Okay Jeff:

You ask for immediate feed back, so; here it is! First of all, it offends me to see this type of "bickering" taking place. Not surprised, just plain disappointed! Granted I've had my share of flare ups, however; it now appears that what seems to be a personality conflict has been downgraded to a genuine "FIASCO"!!! This personal vendetta epitomizes the point I made in an earlier e-mail response to "pot shots" at the good folks in Alabama. In that correspondence, I strongly recommended that we make PEACE by having a face to face "meeting of the minds".

The only way I can imagine that happening is to have the tournament in Alabama if they are still inclined to host it. After all they earned the right to host it by winning last year and the year before. Yes. they had "ringers", and yes, I'm sure every person wasn't happy. Over the years there's been a lot of reasons for people to be unhappy about this tournament. I personally have been upset more than once with the lack of organization surrounding this event. I have personally voiced my disappointments openly and not behind any one's back.

My dear friends, we are supposed to know that the SPORT OF CROQUET is a GENTLEMANS game. If we are to have dialogue to organize the proper time, place, and format to play this tournament in the future, let us do it as GENTLEMEN!! And let us do it without isolating certain folks and alienating ourselves from others. In other words, let's take the Christian approach.

I love you all,

Bill Martin

The pen is mighter than the sword!

2005-08-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

From: jeff caldwell
Date: 08/04/05 23:37:42
To: dan.hise@butlersnow.com; esbryan@bellsouth.net; franzj@obu.edu; gpearson@memphis.edu; jeff caldwell; jjohnson@mcglinchey.com; malwall@comcast.net; rdavidsanders@msn.com; waden@jam.rr.com; bill_in_tn@msn.com
Subject: mid/so tourny
Arthur, what in the world are you trying to do? the mid-south defenders cup consists of tenn, miss, ark, and ala and it is based on a 4 player format. you are not delegated to change this format. also do not hold a tourny as the mid-south defenders cup unless all states are agreeable to changein format. you have abused this tourney with excessive ringers and putting on the worst tournament in the defenders cup history. you cannot bully your way through this. it is a very sad thing you are trying to do, why i don't know' . in the past the date for tourny has always been agreed on by all states not crammed down our throats by you or anyone else. i think tenn, miss, and ark are in agreement the tournament will be held either in memphis or jackson, by this i mean the majority! please inform the usca that the tournament you are holding in august ios not the mid-south defenders cup. i think for all parties concerned you should resign ala as you are the only legimate member of that team. please remember you asked for us to include ala in this tournament, we did, but we did not make you commander in chief. PLEASE RESIGN. thanks, jeff caldwell

Jeff and the "grand bawahna"

2005-08-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

From: jeff caldwell
To: gpearson@memphis.edu
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 10:19 PM
Subject: mid-south tourney
i see where arthur has posted the tourney to be played in birmingham, have you and david (tenn and Miss) agreed to this? i did not realize arthur was the grand bawahna. has he got an all ala. team? has everyone agreed on the date. i say boot alabama period. thanks , jeff

Martin Tells Caldwell "Whoa!!!!!!"

2005-07-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

From: Bill MartinDate: 07/11/05 18:47:01To: jeff caldwellSubject: Re: Fw: Date for Mid-South Defenders Cup

Gentlemen,
Whoa!!!!! Hold on Fellows! It seems to me that we might be jumping thegun a little bit. First of all, there has been no official dialogueconcerning this matter among all interested parties.Jeff, it's obvious that you're not happy about playing in Alabama; however, there are other logistical factors involved which need to be considered byeveryone.
As of this moment, I don't feel that the playing conditions at Germantownwould lend themselves to the quality of play which would be required orexpected by the players. In my opinion, there needs to be a meeting of theminds from representative of all past participants before officialdeclarations are made.
As most of you folks know, this particular tournament has not been one of my favorites to participate in. One big reason has been disorganization due to lack of dialogue and planning.
One of the biggest considerations should be choosing the most suitableplaying surface. From what I've experienced in the past, Alabama andMississippi would get the nod.
Now that the door to sensible dialogue has been opened, let's all try realhard to get on the same page. None of us are strong enough to vote for all!
Let there be peace!!!

Missive # 1 From Jeff Caldwell

2005-07-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

This missive is from Jeff Caldwell:

"arthur, those dates won,t work for arkansas and we will never play in alabama again. if alabama can,t field an all alabama team then you need to drop out. last year was a fiasco. i think tenn, miss and ark agrees the tournament will always be played in memphis or jackson. also no more ringers for any team period. thanks, jeff"

In reply to email from Arthur Bagby which follows:

----- Original Message -----
From: CroquetAla@aol.com
To: gpearson@memphis.edu ; waden@jam.rr.com ; bill_in_tn@msn.com ; crocaytexas@aol.combsanders ; @ezclick.net ; CroquetOK@aol.com ; dan.hise@butlersnow.com ; rdavidsanders@msn.com ; esbryan@bellsouth.net ; gtaylor@trtcpa.com ; gotitmade@watervalley.net ; kwikwa@cei.net ; jjohnson@mcglinchey.com ; dochuff@bellsouth.net ; franzj@obu.edu ; malwall@comcast.net ; Richardapowell@aol.com ; roquetroy@juno.com ; gypseadive@cox.net ; jbutts@dc.rr.com
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 11:53 AM
Subject: Date for Mid-South Defenders Cup
Alabama wants to host the Mid-South on my lawn and RP's lawn August 26th, 27th, and 28th. Please make plans for your team accordingly.

Ron Hendry of Louisiana said he will consider fielding a team for a pre Mid-South event against Alabama to determine which team will occupy the Alabama spot in the main 26-28th Mid-South.

Your comments will be considered

Arthur Bagby

Croquet

2005-07-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Jeff sets Gene straight!

Missive # 2 From Jeff Caldwell of Arkansas
"gene, arkansas ,miss. and tenn. were the original 3 states and it was played in the ice bowl in memphis.that was dec., 1995. the first ringer was ken scoggins of fla. for alabama. everyone should remember that this is as much a social tournament as dog eat dog. arthur ruined that as far as i am concerned, his only objective was to win at any and all costs.the courts do not need to be 60 miles apart. as far as the qualified team players, i object to your team members. roy gee and jimmy huff are great guys, but ken scoggins has been their (ala) 2 or 3 ), also miss. sometimes has more team players.bubba massey is also a member of the royal knights of croquet. all this said and done are we going to have a tourney this year? i would love to see louisiana in the tourney , but we would have to lengthen the days and i don't think we can. thanks, jeff

The above in response to message from Tenessee Director of USCA Gene Pearson
----- Original Message -----
From: gpearson@memphis.edu
To: CROQUETALA@aol.com ; waden@jam.rr.com ; bill_in_tn@msn.com ; bsanders@ezclick.net ; CroquetOK@aol.com ; dan.hise@butlersnow.com ; rdavidsanders@msn.com ; esbryan@bellsouth.net ; gpearson@memphis.edu ; gtaylor@trtcpa.com ; gotitmade@watervalley.net ; kwikwa@cei.net ; jjohnson@mcglinchey.com ; dochuff@bellsouth.net ; franzj@obu.edu ; johnd@automedrx.com ; malwall@comcast.net ; Richardapowell@aol.com ; passroll@hotmail.com ; lmstephn@memphis.edu
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 12:11 PM
Subject: Defenders Cup
To: Croquet Players of the Mid-South Defenders Cup

In Re: The Future of the Mid-South Defenders Cup (MSDC)

History

The MSDC was organized by Bill McAfee of Memphis, Tennessee in 1994 as a croquet contest between teams from Mississippi and Tennessee. The first contest was held at the Botanic Garden in Memphis on a very cold weekend in December. (It was so cold that the corner flags would not come out of the ground). Mississippi won the cup and hosted the following year’s event at the Pocahontas Mallet Club outside Jackson, Mississippi.

The Mississippi team subsequently refined the order of match play and rules of engagement, and invited teams from Arkansas and Alabama to join the competition while defending the “Cup” for 6 years, 1995 thru 2000.

In 2001 the Arkansas team (with a “ringer”* allowed because of their last place finish the previous year) won the cup. The following year (2002) the contest was held in Arkadelphia where the Tennessee team won. [*”Ringer” means good out of state player.]

In 2003, on courts in Germantown and the Botanic Garden, the Alabama team won and then in 2004 successfully defended the cup in Birmingham and Talladega. Ringers were used both years in part because of the inability of Alabama to organize a 4 person team with players from Alabama.

Now comes 2005 and a new direction.

Issues

Over the years there have been “conversations” about the following issues:

1. permanent home for playing the defenders cup matches.
2. use of ringers.
3. burden on the host team and escalating costs.

A general consensus has been reached as follows -

Permanent Home. Rotate the tournament between Jackson and Memphis on a schedule as agreed by these two states. (this will eliminate the complaints about trips to Arkansas and Alabama).

Ringers. Eliminate ringers with the exception that if a state can not field a minimum 4 person team from players within that state, the state can request approval from the three other states to add out of state players. (see “qualified players” below).

Hosting Burdens. With fancy evening meals and courtside service, the hosting of a contest has become an unwanted burden. Therefore, the refreshments to be provided in the future will consist only of daily courtside soft drinks and box lunches. Entry fees will be paid by all players (including host players and social quests at courtside). The entry fee will cover courtside soft drinks, box lunches and USCA sanctioning fees.

Dutch treat will be the order of the day for courtside beer/wine/spirits and evening meals.

Qualified Team Members. As a result of historical precedent and general fairness of competition the following persons are pre-qualified to play.

Alabama Mississippi Arkansas Tennessee
Arthur Bagby Bill Aden Jeff Caldwell Bill Martin
Cindy Bagby Joy Aden Glenn Taylor Will Stephens
Richard Powell David Sanders Joe Franz Gene Bryan
Roy Gee Dan Hise Bob Sanders Gene Pearson
Jimmy Huff Jerry Johnson Jack Scott Mal Wall
John Duke

Any other members of USCA in each of the respective states are also eligible.

If a state is unable to field a team from the USCA members in its state or the people listed above, the first source of additional players shall be the state of Louisiana until a way is figured to involve a team from Louisiana in the competition.

Any questions? I will be on vacation until July 26th.

Gene Pearson, FAICP
Director
Graduate Program in City & Regional Planning
Regional Economic Development Center
The University of Memphis
208 McCord Hall
Memphis, TN 38152
901-678-2161"