(Board Games)
In honor of today being the day of the Kentucky Derby, Joel cooked up an idea for a Trifecta of board games loosely dealing with racing. Since we were at Ptom's house, he called it the New Rome Tryathalon (Ptom lives just down the street from the infamous Speed Trap Headquarters of New Rome, OH). We would play three different board games: Win, Place and Show; Stock Car racing card game; and Robo Rally. Here is how Joel describes the action:
"Sunday results of the NewRome TRYathlon: This triathlon was (A) Win, Place & Show (mile & quarter x2) (B) NOT in NewRome 250 (stock car race) (C) Roborally (who put that flag THERE??!!). Contestants were: Ptom Pteriffic, Mike (I'm on a roll), Allen(not my knight on a horse) & Joel (who thought it up).
"The first mile & 1/4 was a horse race,fast, nip an tuck all the way. The luck of the dice were mine as my bonus number came up thrice, which enabled me to beat Mike's horse out by a nose. Ptom came in third and Allen, well...sorry....
"Standings: Joel 9pts; Mike 6pts; Ptom 3pts; Allen 0
"Next race Allen picked the horse first and had the "inside" rail. I pick last and was hoping for a fast race. Allen got off to a slow start in a s-l-o-w race. I was force to third lane in a turn #2, thanks to Mike & Ptom, and quickly lost ground. Meanwhile Mike and Ptom were whipping for the wire and Mike won with a last minute bonus number. Ptom was in second, Allen third, I crossed the line the next day.
"Standings were now: Mike 15 pts; Joel 9 pts; Ptom 9 pts; Allen 3 pts
"On to Stock cars, we shuffled the decks, Mike held his breath (and claimed never to do well in this event). It was a slow start, as the four of us floored it and bumped our way to the front of the pack. After some blood on the track, Ptom managed to work his way to the front and pull away. Allen was in second, while Mike and I hung back and watch & cursed (more of the latter). Ptom kept an iron grip on the lead for about 200 laps, Allen finally got into position to pass, put the petal to the metal and was in first when the exhaust cleared. It was right away the Allen hit debris on the track, had his engine overheat and was outta the race. Ptom was back in front, and cheering all the way into turn #3 and the wreck in front of him (and he was just as quickly out of the race (that made -3 for a "no finish" for Allem & Ptom). With just two on the lead lap, and less than 30 laps to go I was able to intimidate Mike enough to hold on the first place victory.
"Standings now were: Mike 21 pts; Joel 18 pts; Ptom 6 pts;Allen had some rum
"Roboraly time: Four player/Four flags and a whole bunch of lasers. Allen's rum kicked in pretty quick and his robot spun around in circles for the first two turns. I was shot out of a cannon putting distance between me and the pack, not enough though as Ptom shot me with a laser (ouch!). Mike and Ptom stayed close to each other and plotted. I reached the flag first, and stay in front of the dangerous Ptom. Mike had a plan, Allen's robot spun around more (it was really good rum). I reach the second flag, as Mike & Ptom pushed each other for the first. Allen's robot stopped spinning long enough to see the first flag. After everyone powered down, repaired and was ready to go again, my robot was doing the bump with Mike's robot. Ptom was on a fast track to second and Allen well...sorry..It ended with me in first, as Mike elbowed his way into second past Ptom.
"Final standing Mike 27 pts; Joel 27 pts; Ptom 9 pts; Allen had rum." -- Joel Sams.
Joel forgets to mention that we had a playoff -- my new dice football game, "Touchdown a Minute Football." We said we'd play one quarter (30 plays). Joel dominated me (as truly, he had all of us all night long) and won 14-0. It was only right Joel won the New Rome Tryathalon, as he won one horse race, Stock Cars and Robo Rally. We didn't know what hit us that night!