Las Vegas 2008 CAC Part Two

Monday morning was a special day for me as we started the day with a beautiful breakfast at Katy's in the Riviera Hotel. Seated at the table were Travis, Bill White, C.C. Starr and myself. About two tables away were Terry Funk, J.J. Dillon, Ronnie Garvin and Ted Gordienko. Across from them were Joyce Paustian, Fr. Jason Sanderson, Ross Hart, Jeff Sharkey and a few fans of the event.

The area was dotted with men and women coming for the 43rd CAC. We finished our informal meal and proceeded down the hallway to the reception area where our event would be held that day. On one side of the wall that had been pulled into place was a 16-foot ring being assembled for the Monday night matches to be held that evening.

We began to set up our tables for the annual Cribbage tournament that I would be in charge of. The first person to come over and get signed up was Lucy Porter, who would be the only lady involved in our tournament. She had been playing Cribbage for a number of years but had not gotten involved in the challenge during the past five years of its existence.

During the next few hours, we offered classes for beginning players and taught the basics of playing and counting points and pegging on the board. Jeff Sharkey and C.C. Starr, as well as Bill White and myself, were helping a few get involved in learning. At noon, I began to make the roster up for the 2008 games.

Since Bill White was the defending champ, I placed him with Paul Vachon, the 2003 champion. The matches were all two out of three falls with no referee. We did not allow hair pulling or eye gouging or any weapons to be brought into the event as it would leave blood on the cards and make it very hard for the next group to read them.

Paul got the right cards and played very tough in the games against Bill and was able to hand him his head in two straight. Bill was very gracious and shook Paul's hand and offered him all the support one could give while secretly grinding his teeth in disgust of his loss.

I took on a very tough Ricki Ataki, whom Bill called the new Rikidozan. Rikidozan was a legend of Japan and started much of the wrestling that is now a part of Japan's modern day heritage. Ataki and I went the distance after he judo chopped the cards and wanted to spray them with a green mist that had been growing in his mouth. I was able to squeak out a victory and go on to the next level.

C.C. Starr from Arizona then had the challenge of meeting a very tough Lucy Porter. She fought very hard but was sent to the canvas with a huge forearm and flying body press, somewhat like the super heavyweight Haystacks Calhoun. C.C. was a gracious winner, too, and offered her a hug, and they parted away from the table good friends.

Wes Daniel and Jeff Sharkey went head to head against each other. Jeff was very aggressive and, despite the constant ways of trying to get away from the game because of supposed Board of Directors meetings every five minutes, won the three-game battle without leaving much blood on the cards.

Dave Bodell took on Eric Chmiel ( I hope that I am spelling his name right ) and, in a very quick fashion, made the challenge short in two straight falls. I later found out that Dave was a service champion while in the armed forces.

Lastly, J.J. Dillon took on North Las Vegas resident Chris Ostrovsky. The two fought tooth and nail and, even with the help of Bob Roop, former Olympian, J.J. was handed the right cards and gained the three-fall victory without any foreign objects.

We broke out for a meal break, and, by the time we came back, it was nearing the time to have the Monday night wrestling matches in the next room. Coming back to the room, we couldn't find most of the players involved and decided by majority vote to continue the following day.

I was invited by Harley Race's wife, B.J., to come over to the ringside area as she had someone there that had not seen me in over 35 years. I went and found Haruka Eigen sitting in the audience with Ken Hirayama from Noah Honolulu. We just stood and looked at each other for what seemed like an hour when, suddenly, Ross Hart came by to pay his respects to Eigen and broke our visions with each other.

Eigen and Adachi were the tag team that dominated the Midwest under my command as The Great Togo and Tokyo Joe. They held the North American titles and were honored to accept the World's Tag Team championship after defeating many great teams. I gave Eigen a picture of our team the night we became champions, and tears started to swell in both of our eyes as we hugged and shook hands.

To be continued…

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
2004 CAC Hall of Fame Inductee
2006 LWA Hall of Fame Inductee
2007 TCCW Hall of Fame Honoree