What’s New Year’s Eve Eve without a countdown? Here’s a look back at five big moments from 2013.
5. Back in March, we were having a hard time filling a game at Tony Prokes’ home in Des Plaines, so out of desperation, I tapped my son Kevin to play. Kevin had been there for the club’s first game in September 2005, though he was only 4 at the time. At one point that day, he stood on our front porch and called out to a friend across the street.
"Hey," he said. "They’re playing Plomacy at my house!"
Almost eight years later, he finally played Plomacy with us, and he took to the game. He finished a strong second that day, and then topped his next two boards en route to capturing our Rookie of the Year award and a berth in the 2013 Weasel Royale club Championship game.
Three other kids debuted with us in 2013: Callum Mitchell (Pete McNamara’s stepson), Whitten Davis (fomer Prime Weasel Chris Davis’ son), and Jack Sundstrom (Matt’s son).
4. Like son, like father. We introduced the Bar Room Brawl Series in Season Eight, and at the beginning of September, we held the championship game at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. It was a good night for the Weasels and a better one for me, as I took the title with a 12-center board top.
3. We picked up several active new Weasels in 2013. Josh Heffernan, Matt Kade, Keith Ammann, Ted Phillips and David St. John combined to play a total of 43 games. Heffernan and Phillips both qualified for the Bar Room Brawl championship, and Heffernan also made the Royale as the fourth seed…and became the fourth No. 4 to win the Bull Weasel title.
2. After a down year for CODCon, we rebounded with a solid Weasel Moot. A total of 35 players, including 17 travelers, played on 13 boards as we avoided the post-WDC slump to host the largest tournament on the 2013 circuit. Chris Martin, the original Alpha Weasel, topped it off by winning Moot for the third time, but not before young Jarred Potter, the don of a new mafia from Greenfield, Indiana, made a final-round run at him. We know we can’t get rid of Martin. We hope to see Potter and his pals again.
1.Nate Cockerill played in 19 of our 30 games in 2013 and won the Season Eight Weasel of the Year title. In September, Cockerill earned the moniker Myth Chaser by posting the elusive bar game solo. But our No. 1 moment from 2013 came in October, when the Big Oozy captured the North American Championship at the DipCon hosted by the Potomac Tea & Knife Society in Silver Spring, Maryland. Pictured above is a Christmas present Cockerill got from his girlfriend, commemorating his feat.
Thanks to all 52 Weasels who played in our league this year, those who only came out for our tournaments, and to all the travelers who joined us for CODCon and Weasel Moot, for making 2013 a great year for the Weasels. We hope 2014 is an even better one for you.
