A Defining Moment

[Fred]

A Defining Moment For The Sport of Horseshoes

The 1968 World Tournament was being held at scenic Wheelock Park in Keene, New Hampshire.  Not only was there great excitement and anticipation in the air about the tournament itself, but it was raised another notch when it was learned that legendary sports commentator Heywood Hale Broun was coming to Keene to do a piece for his weekly show aired on CBS Saturday Evening News.  Horseshoe pitchers and tournament officials could only speculate on what Mr. Broun would report on to enlighten his viewers about the sport of horseshoe pitching.  Was he going to do an expose on 19-year old Danny Kuchcinski who had shocked the horseshoe world the year prior by winning the men's world championship in dramatic fashion?  Or perhaps Vicki Winston the reigning women's champion?  Or the greatest pitcher of the times, Elmer Hohl, who had just established a world record with his qualifying round of 572 points (187 ringers) out of a possible 600 points (200 shoes)?  There was little reason to believe otherwise that Mr. Broun would showcase the best that the world of horseshoes had to offer.  After all, what better defines a sport than its ultimate champions?

Mr. Broun was greeted at the airport by Ottie Reno, representing the NHPA, and Frank Washer, representing the Keene Horseshoe Club.  As the party came rolling into the park on a brilliantly sunny but a pleasantly cool New England afternoon a murmur quickly spread across the courts.  With his famous trademarks in tow, a rusty colored handlebar mustache and a colorful plaid sport coat, Mr. Broun was met by tournament officials.  It is hard to imagine what may had been said in that initial meeting, but after a short while Mr. Broun, with his cameraman following, began to walk along side the courts.  Suddenly he stopped and asked what was happening on the court before him.  Being told that there was a playoff game in the junior's division ready to begin Mr. Broun instinctively instructed his cameraman to set up behind the court while he took a seat in the bleachers to see what would unfold before him.

A question that had to be in the minds of those present was why did he just setup for a junior boy's playoff game.  Mr. Broun had the answer as he once said, "I talk about the philosophy of sport, the assumption that excellence in sport is a splendid thing to achieve.  But those of us who cannot achieve it should not continually attack ourselves on the grounds that we are not going to run the four-minute mile, and a goal slightly above your previous accomplishment is triumph enough.  I think we've taken the fun out of sport by insisting that everybody must be a champion or a failure."  He did not come to Keene seeking the best pitchers horseshoe pitching had to offer as his sense of curiosity would not allow that to happen.  What Mr. Broun sought was an unusual story that matched his philosophy, and he was able to find it through two nine-year old boys from Michigan.

After five games Billy Smith from Dimondale and Jimmy Smith from Muskegon had tied for first each having four wins and a loss.  Jimmy, who threw a 1 1/4 reverse turn with the lighter weight Lattore shoes, quickly became the crowd favorite as he was rather small for his age, and Billy, who threw a flip with the American shoe, was more average sized.  However, none of that mattered as each had to pitch from 30-feet and both had to deal with the same intense pressure of trying to win a championship not only against each other, but also in front of a television camera, a celebrity national sportscaster, and a very large crowd of spectators.

The game was a mesmerizing performance as neither one succumbed to the tremendous pressure each was under.  The game, played to 50-points, went back and forth from start to finish with many four-dead that amazed everyone.  Billy and Jimmy averaged well over 40% for the game, and in the end Billy was able to squeak out the win.  After the completion of the game Mr. Broun interviewed the two together.  Billy recently said about the interview, "I don't remember much about it, but I do remember Jimmy and me eating ice cream cones and being told by him not to look into the camera when we talked."

That playoff game between those two nine-year old boys became a defining moment for the sport of horseshoes.  Mr. Broun captured the essence of what a game of horseshoes truly means because of his belief that a sport does not build character but rather reveals it.  Character was what Mr. Broun came looking for when he arrived in Keene, and character is what Billy and Jimmy revealed to him, and an entire nation, as they played their hearts out to win the Class E Junior Boy's World Championship.

[groberts]

Thanks for the great story! I truly enjoyed reading it. I, too, have a story related to this tournament. I celebrated my 21st
birthday on August 5, 1968 during this tournament. I must admit that some ingestion of alcoholic beverages occurred at this
time.

I had just graduated from the United States Army Intelligence School. During the final weeks of our training an officer
announced that all graduates would be proceeding to the Republic of South Vietnam upon completion of training. We
were given a brief leave which allowed me to attend the World Tournament. We departed for Vietnam shortly after the
tournament.

I'm sure there are other interesting stories among our members.

[Andre]

Wow!  Thanks very much.  I like the intriguing and destabilizing: "a sport does not build character but rather reveals it". 

Andre.

[vicki]

I thank Fred for the awesome story.  I was at that tournament in Keene, NH, but don't remember any of the events included in the story.  I was glad to read such a well written account.

What I do remember about my visits to Keene is the quality of the clay and the condition of the pits during World Tournament competition.  I always referred to Keene as some of the best courts I ever played on.  There was one World Tournament at Keene I remember quite well, but I don't know which year it was.  The pits were in great shape, rather like pitching into a giant bowl of jello.  If you stepped in the clay, the whole pit moved.  That's the reason I remember it so well, because when a certain judge was on duty, he invariably stepped in the pit and moved the shoes.  During one of my games, there was a shoe that was too close to call just by eyeballing it and not many people carried straight edges in those days.  We had to call the judge and as luck would have it, guess who was on duty.  He stepped into the clay and then asked what needed to be checked.  I had to reply, "Nothing now.  You've moved the shoes so much that its plain to see the shoe in question is not a ringer."  The best conditions in the world can be undone by a careless judge. 

[lumberjack]

What interesting stories coming to light here. This is great reading for a change. Hope you won that game Ms. Vicki. How about some more stories from people who have been around a year or two?

[fisherman]

What a great story Fred. I'm glad the young folk sometimes get the coverage, after all they are our future. I just learned that the curling is about to start at the olympics and it is one of the most viewed event by us.. REALLY curling, man I wish those folks had the chance to view a good horseshoe game, like THE GAME last year by Francis and Simmons, I can't imagine that it would be close, which contest,would be more spectator friendly..I sure wish we could get some TV coverage at ceder rapids...

[Casey]

It was in 1992 in Columbus OH, the two weeks we were there it rained 11 inches! All the pitching was indoors though on 8 inch raised platforms with the pits sunk into each end of each platform.  Something like 10K work of wood went into building those, the intent was to get away from the raised pits. Although they worked remarkable well, it felt as though one was standing on a small stage.

 Not certain which game it was, but my opponent would constantly bend down over the top of the stake about 18 inches from the top after all four shoes has been pitched. I’d say the score and he would state, “Whatever you say?”  Our judge was Blackie from KY my opponent was also from KY.  About a third of the way into the game I caught Blackie’s eye and must have had a puzzled look on my face as to why my opponent would get that close to the four pitched shoes each and every time.  He walked back with us and whispered to me, “he always does that, he’s legally blind”.  Talk about taking a person out of his game, man!  Needless to say I threw very few ringers after that and went on to loose the game.  I can honestly say that I’ve been beat at horseshoes by a blind man!

During off days in league a local club member would say, “C’mon Casey a blind man could beat you,” I simply said, “He did.”

[fisherman]

Casey, This is weird, I almost posted a note on this tournament yesterday..I remember driving to this one because it was so close for me, remember how difficult it was to find a parking spot, I pulled in and was stuck,it took five guys to push me out, I never saw so much rain,there is a pitcher here in Ohio that is legally blind also...Now I never saw so much snow, I think I'd rather have the rain...

[handlebars]

Unbelievable - I was in that same class at Columbus, and had almost the exact same experience.  I asked him on the second pitch "What do you think?", and his response was "Whatever you say".  It was over half way though the game before I realized what was actully going on.  He threw some doubles but the thing I remember most is the firm handshake and "Good luck the rest of the tournament" at the end of the game.  I will never forget that experience.

[mogregg]

I remember the mud outside and the courts at Columbus. Another thing many of the first week pitchers probably remember was the heat. We were told we would have a/c, but it didn't work the first week and they didn't open it up the first day or 2. Not quite as bad as Greenville, but pretty warm.

[vicki]

There are a lot of memories from the Columbus tournament - some good and some bad.  The Whetstone Horseshoe Club worked so very hard to put on that tournament and provided the platforms so that pitchers would not have to pitch at raised courts.  However, a pitcher died as a result of a heart attack suffered during competition in the indoor facility, because no medical help was available and the ambulance took forever to get there.  It is not known if the extreme heat had anything to do with it.  Perhaps World Tournament hosts have learned from that experience, as prompt medical assistance is a must at an event that large.

Because my husband was on the NHPA Executive Council at that time, we were involved in running some of the shifts.  As you may remember, sometimes there was pitching nearly around the clock because of the large number of entries.  One evening, or actually early morning, we were running the last shift for the previous day.  Both of us were keeping score and some pitchers may have had to keep their own score.  We finally got everything wrapped up and were preparing to leave when some members of the Whetstone Club came in to begin getting the facility ready for that day's play.  They commented that they were surprised to see us there so early.  We replied that we were just leaving after finishing the work of the day before.  It had already been daylight for quite awhile.  I can laugh at that experience after the fact, but it really was hectic at the time trying to get that shift completed without judges and a sufficient number of scorekeepers. 

 

[Casey]

In Columbus the excuse the fairgrounds used for not letting us use the parking lot is that during our event they were going to re-surface the parking lot. I believe they had too much rain to do the work, but they still would not let us use the pavement! They made us park in a field, put a fence up and everyone had to slosh through the mud and standing water to get to the building.  That's why fisherman got stuck in the mud.  I think we tore part of the fencing away, laid it down in ankle deep water and used it as a shortcut bridge to the building.

Columbus was not the only building where the AC didn't work the first week?  Remember Syracuse in 1994?  Lightning presumably hit an AC unit knocking it out of commission, causing the other units to work so hard that they overloaded, eventually shutting down all units. Not till the second week did we have AC.  Word spread rapidly that the NHPA was saving local clubs money by shutting off the AC units.  After all it happened in 1992 also...  Although totally false and caused by legitimate equipment failures it took a few years for the first week pitchers to again build up their confidence in the NHPA. 

[fisherman]

I do remember the heat in Syracuse....I also remember the heat at Ainsworth, of course it was outside...I'm going to throw two short stories together here.I'll never forget the last one in spearfish, I was pitching on the last court next to the chain link fence, against George Petro from PA, remember how those storms used to roll in over the mountains, well it did just that and before eye knew it a bolt of lightning hit the fence just as I released a shoe, I thought it hit the shoe and me it was so loud.. you could not see you're hand in front of you're face as it killed all power, A small group of us felt our way to a camper that had a generator and took cover, we were fine until someone in our group was loud and laughing and the camper made us move, I can't remember anymore.. Then at Kitchener, there was a man that went down on the courts and was having a heart attack, well for some reason the squad did'nt show up so I said I'll rush him to the hospital, I pulled my 92" ford van up to the front and away we went I was flying through the downtown area running every light.. Well I got him there in time and he is still pitching to this day, I remember going to see him the next day and the nurse said family only, So Jim Hill and I had to lie and say we were his brother and uncle...I could probably write a book and it would not be fiction,more later...

[Fred]

During the 1969 World Tournament held at Erie, Pennsylvania I distinctly remember qualifying two pitchers.  There were special rules for qualifying.  The scorekeeper and qualifier could not come from the same state.  Men pitched 200 shoes with a scorekeeper at each end of the court.  The clipboard used by each scorekeeper had a box on it with the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 that would be rotated to indicate the score that was just thrown, or a tap of the pencil on top of it if the score was the same.  There was a straight edge with a six-inch measure on it given to each scorekeeper.  At the end of qualifying the two score sheets would be compared for accuracy.  All of that was done to prevent cheating, because a point here or a ringer there could mean the difference from pitching in Class A or Class B.

I was qualifying Don Knotts from Springfield, Ohio, when Jim Knisley came over and asked me how his buddy was doing.  Don was on pace for a lower end mid 400 score.  Jim stood along the fence for a while giving encouragement to Don.  He pitched down to my end and one shoe was very close.  I got out of my chair to look at it, but I couldn't tell if it was a ringer.  There was a nice pocket around stake and I began to dig the shoe out.  Being careful not to move the shoe it took about a minute or so to get to the level to where I could measure it.  It was close, very close.  Both points were touching with the straight edge but I couldn't tell if it was also touching the stake.  I scraped what clay I could off of the stake but I still couldn't tell.  I took out a dollar bill and placed it against the stake, put the straight edge back on the points of the shoe and tried to pull the bill out.  I couldn't so when I sat back down I changed the box to four points.  All together I would say that it took about four minutes to make the determination.  After Don threw his shoes and was walking down to the other end I felt a hand tightly grip my shoulder.  It was Jim, and I did notice while I was checking the shoe he was upset.  With a stern voice he said, "You don't measure during qualifying.  If a shoe looks close enough to be a ringer then it is a ringer."  Don ended up qualifying for Class C  He won his group in the preliminary round and went on to finish fourth in the finals.

Qualifying juniors was different.  It was 50-shoes instead of 200 and there was one scorekeeper but still had to be from a different state.  Mark Seibold and I were very good friends.  It was the fourth year that we had competed against each other and before tournaments we would always practice together.  We agreed to qualify each other and got a court assignment.  Both of us were hitting extremely well while we were warming up.  Mark was throwing a little better than I so when the time come for one of us to start qualifying I told him to go first.  He fixed the court the way he wanted it with a start to a nice pocket around the stake.  He threw for another ten minutes working the pocket deeper, and making sure the wetness was out of the clay, and, most importantly, getting himself mentally prepared.  Then he said, "When I throw a double start keeping score."  He threw a double on his next pitch.  When he picked up his shoes he gave me a quick nod and I gave one back to acknowledge that I got the score.  We nodded back and forth 20 more times and he quietly said four points three times and three points once before his 50 shoes were completed.  Mark had qualified with 141 points, 46 ringers and 21 double ringers, all of which were world records that were never to be broken.  As for me, I couldn't get back to pitching like I was earlier but still qualified with 125 points and 39 ringers, good enough for the championship class.

[vicki]

This is fun.  Another trip down memory lane has brought up the system that came to be known as cheatifying.  I was just a teenager when I first entered WT competition, but I kind of think there might have just been one scorekeeper to begin with and the pitchers may have been calling their own scores.  A scorekeeper on each end was to try to eliminate the cheating and the wheels with numbers were so there would be no verbal calling of scores to distract the pitcher.  Of course, it didn't end all cheating, as pitchers had friends who resided in other states.  At one time there was also a cash prize for the highest qualifier in the Men's Division, so that was an added incentive to acquire as many points as possible.  That prize was eliminated in an effort to cut down on the cheating. 

Starting on a double was also popular in actual competition, especially in the Men's Championship Class.  They were supposed to flip for first pitch and get the game underway, but many did not start until they had four ringers on the peg.  I was keeping score one night for a couple of fellows, one who won a world title or two, and most of the other games were nearing the half way point.  These two guys had not yet started, because they couldn't get all 4 shoes on the stake at the same time.  This was back in the days of permanent outdoor courts and it was getting cold.  I kept wondering if these two would still be trying to start their game when the roosters started crowing.  I complained later to the tournament committee that if they had rules, they needed to enforce them.  Things got better as time went by. 

The best thing to happen to the WT was the elimination of onsite qualifying.  However, there was no such thing as NatStats in those days.  What pitchers had to do was fill out a World Tournament entry form and have a charter officer sign it and verify their ringer average and that they had pitched in the required number of sanctioned tournaments in the previous 12 months.  Those of us who were around in those days know how that system worked.  Just another form of cheatifying.  It was especially amusing one year when a woman pitcher was so excited about winning her class that she was sharing her excitement with anyone who listened.  She just happened to run up to the NHPA President and exclaim, "Can you believe it?  I won my class and I haven't pitched in a tournament in four years."

I keep reading all of the negative comments about NatStats and I'm sure most of them are from newer pitchers that never experienced the way things used to be.  It may not be a perfect system, but folks, I'm here to tell you it's the best thing we've ever had up to this point.  I'm very thankful to the person who gave of his time to get it started, although his name is escaping me right now, and I'm especially thankful for Glenn Jamieson who has carried on and greatly improved the system.  I don't know of many other people who would devote that much time to keeping stats for pitchers from all over a nation.  You pitchers out there need to be thankful for the system that is in place now.  You don't know how blessed you are to have it.