The Huntsman Games are a sort of Olympics for seniors 50 and older. 2014 will be the 28th year they’ve been held and they just keep getting bigger and better with each new edition. This year will see a record 10,500 athletes from 66 nations competing in 28 sports which, besides all the usual events, even includes competition in square dancing and bridge.
My team, the Rox, has won two silver medals and a gold in our three years of taking part in the games’ softball tourney which usually consists of 50-55 Over-60 teams. We’re the old guys now of the event as all but one of our players are 64+. This means we’ll be competing against young hotshot 60-year old kids making it our toughest shot to medal. But on the plus side, we’ll move up next year to the 65+ division, once again making us the terrors of the tournament, so wish us well in our last year as 60’s.
On Sunday, October 5, after winning our 4th consecutive tournament in the warm-up event in Mesquite, Nevada, we hopped in AB1 to make our way up Interstate-15 on the short 1-hour drive to St. George, UT. We quickly set up camp, then found our way to the Lexington Hotel where, courtesy of Jim and Carol Erickson securing the party room, Diedre and I would host our annual Margarita Party. 
We have hosted just such a party for every out-of-town senior softball tourney I’ve played in since 1999. It’s a great way for the team and other softball pals to get together for some camaraderie before the tournament starts. And this party was as good as any as we’ve ever had. We were joined by our parent club, the 65+ Rockies. A great time was had by all.The Huntsman Games softball tournament guarantees every team at least five games. You start off in pool-play in a four-team grouping where every team plays every other team. Then based on your record, you’re put into a division with other teams who have similar round-robin records to yours. The highest level, the “Major,” is what we’ve always been in during our Huntsman history. This year was no different as we swept two games on Monday at the scenic Gubler Park, beating the Codgers from Salem, OR, 15-3, and then thrashing Renton, WA, 21-5. We then won our third game played on Tuesday at the main softball complex trouncing Cut Loose from California 16-3. All games were shortened by the 12-run mercy rule. It’s really fun playing on a team where all 13 guys are hitting and no one guy is expected to carry the team. That’s how we were playing.
We would now be competing against four other undefeated teams for the Major (top flight) championship on Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday’s completion of our Round-Robin victories was celebrated in our usual fashion with a team victory-dinner at the Gun & Barrel Restaurant.
The Huntsman organization does everything here first class. This two week long extravaganza of senior sports has a trade show atmosphere along with gigantic opening ceremonies just like the real Olympics. Each sport has its own “social” get-together early Tuesday evening for players and coaches to renew old acquaintances and make new ones over some good food. The thing I think is really special is the fact that during every game in every sport at the Huntsman, they supply your team with a huge platter of apples, bananas, and oranges to help keep your old-guy-energy up at a suitable level. There’s little worry about the bottom-line here.
Seeded 2nd in the five-team, double-elimination event, we started off hot on Wednesday and won again, beating a good Athletic Outfitters/Trovato team from New York 16-4. The Rox Express was rolling. We were now in the winners’ bracket finale and were guaranteed no worse than a 3rd place finish and a bronze medal. However, we had our sites set higher than that.
Before the game, Tom Witucky, our left-fielder, told me a good story about the night before. Jim Sobek, the manager of the older Rockies team, is quite a character. Tommy was at dinner last night with Jimmy and a few other people. Everyone else had no problem ordering, but Jimmy was still considering his options. He likes to give everyone a bit of a hard time.
“So, how are the ribs?” he asked their poor waitress.
“They’re quite tasty,” she responded.
“Well,” said jimmy, “a guy in the bathroom said they’re dry.”
This flustered the waitress a little, but she managed to get out an “Oh, … I like ‘em” reply.
“And, uh, how about the potatoes?” Jimmy continued. “Are they any good?”
The waitress glared at Jimmy for a count.
“I don’t know,” she tartly replied. “Why don’t you go ask the guy in the bathroom?”
The place erupted in laughter.
In our second game on Wednesday, we finally met our match as a “youngish” 60+ team from Michigan, the Salsa Bombers, barely edged us 15-13 in the winners’ bracket finale. The Bombers roster was full of kids, the 60-year old variety, and their power was a bit much to keep up with. But we did, and when we got to the bottom of the last inning only down two, I was sure we’d rally and pull out a victory … but we didn’t. In years past, a comeback by us was the order of the day. Maybe the years are catching up with us. Who knows?
We would now need to win three straight on Thursday, October 9, to take gold. But again, we ran into a buzz-saw, this time by the name of Laff, a combination team from Nevada-California. The highest level of play at the Huntsman Games allows a team to hit no more than seven home runs. Well, we hit one; they hit seven! The final score was them-18, us-9, leaving us one win short of being in the championship game for the first time in our four-year history. Our four Huntsman wins and two losses record gave us bronze medals, thus completing our collection of all the Olympic color medals. Luckily, the wives stayed with us even after our not finishing first or second.Even though the Huntsman didn't end liked we had hoped, we were reminded by our coaching staff that we were really an Over-65 team playing Over-60 Major+ teams in the tournament. A 9-2 record for the two tournaments isn't bad when you consider we had a championship and a 3rd place finish.
So, that last game brought to an end the Rox 60+ team. I can’t wait to see the guys back in Arizona in January when we will again be the youth of the division, that division being “65-and-Older.”
The flying monkeys were just as scary as I remember them being when I first saw them at the Suburban World Theatre in Minneapolis in the 50’s. And the costuming and voices of Dorothy, the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion were all just excellent. By the time the Wicked Witch melted, I had forgotten all about our stunning loss earlier in the day. Of course, that may have something to do with my age.Friday, after seven straight days of playing softball (11 games in that time span), we were due a little R&B. We managed to get out just long enough for me to get my walk in. We followed a lovely path high above and with a great view of downtown St. George.
When we got back to AB1 (here’s a reminder that AB1 stands for “Air Barty One,” the name of our RV so christened for Diedre’s mom, Barty, who inspired us to go ahead and adopt the RV lifestyle. It just so happened that Barty would have been 96 years young on this day), there was an e-mail for us from Rox general manager Jimmy Erickson. Trying to keep our spirits up, he reminded us that the 60+ Rox record for four years ended at 126-41; that would have been easily good enough to win both the American and National League pennants this year.
OK, it’s Saturday. Since all of the rest of the team is gone, and DK is off getting her nails done, I decided to do something at the games I had never done before: I decided to see some other events in the two-week long senior games.
This would be the 12th year CAS was a part of the Huntsman Games. In this event, 103 men and women 65-69 years old would dress up in cowboy outfits for the shoot-off. Using old west monikers such as “Slue Foot Sue” and “Botch Cassidy,” the contestants competed mano-e-mano in an event which required them to use not one, not two, but three different kinds of firearms. In the race to knock down 14 total targets, they started with double-barreled shotguns aiming at, four tombstone-like targets with a shotgun reload in the middle. Then, they’d draw their holstered pistols and rapidly gun down five metal bottles on a ledge. After completing this task, they’d then race over to another table, pick up rifles, and shoot four human-silhouetted targets. Finally, after knocking down all 13 targets, they had one last tombstone to knock down. The winner would be the first one to hit this final target, barring penalties of additional time for missed shots.
The whole event was set up in an old western town. I stayed with the match-play format all the medallists were named for men and women in the Over-65 category. I’m sure I’ll be back again next year and plan on dragging along Miss Diedre to join the cow town excitement.
I followed that up by going to see racquetball, a sport I played for years until my untimely heart event. Just watching these old, GOOD players was enough exercise for me. Any thoughts I had of trying to enter this event evaporated when I saw how well they all played.
Before picking up DK at her marathon mani-pedi competition, I went over to the Temple View RV Park and reserved a spot for next year’s Huntsman Games. The place we stayed this year was a bit of a dump, and the RV park we were considering in Hurricane, UT, was very nice but just too far away. So it’s back to Temple View where we stayed in 2013.
OK, tomorrow we’re off for a week of doing altruistic volunteer work in the town of Kanab, Utah, also known as “Little Hollywood” for its years as the go-to site for making cowboy movies. Tune in to next week’s blog to see how we save the planet … and please, do NOT call us “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
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