A record fell and the DOGS growled. That's the story for today's Ryder Tournament. We had 14 tables this week which set a new record. I was busy trying out a new tournament management program that I had written and didn't realize that the lounge was getting fuller and fuller. I was a bit puzzled when I found I had run out of spaces to enter new teams. I had only planned on our usual 10 - 12 tables and didn't allow for the growth in popularity of the event. There were a few bugs that came up because I tried to add another table on the fly, but all seemed to work out well.

Another thing that was a bit of a surprise and probably shouldn't have been is that when teams were registering, they were asking (no, demanding) to be put on a specific team. It seems the DOGS and CATS have developed into more than a way to split up the teams. These groups are quickly forming a core who would rather go play in a curling match than switch sides. Our friend Qatsmeow has even changed his name to Dogsmeow. With all the purring, spitting, growling and barking in the lounge, it is sometimes hard to read the messages. Acastofmany appropriately welcomed a visitor to the Social Zoo.

The DOGS jumped out to an 11 to 3 lead after the first round and the poor CATS had an uphill fight all day. Things didn't get much better in round two either although the CATS managed 5 wins to 9 for the DOGS. A word of warning here: between rounds the infamous "fishnets" were mentioned. There will undoubtedly be more on this in the next meeting. Final score was DOGS 35 CATS 21.

For those who question these things, the little boxes etc. in the pairings are cells in the spreadsheet that Yahoo puts in an interpretation for. I am trying to use a cut and paste method which I hope will work out better than the old hand entry. Also, for the first time we had a team play the same team twice. This is because I am now sorting opponents by their win/loss record for a fairer match-up. If we try to start a round before all tables have reported in, the outstanding pairs are assumed to have a higher winning percentage and therefore sorted to play a higher opponent. If we all play quickly and exercise some patience (have you ever tried to exercise patience when CATS are fighting DOGS?), it should work out fine.

There were no purrrfect games for the CATS today, but Big Dog Kenny_HA2/Softfire and Rueful_Rabbit/Kareyn_au howled for the DOGS. No Slams were reported, but if any of you hand fans want a treat, ask Dutchie about the one he had.

The CATS were: Harlequin_Smiles/Brokimit; Acastofmany/Golfnldy; Dtraum/Amanda; Littleswan/Myrna; Apachie/Farrin; Francylou/Jin; Shdevo/Macmarine; Cathugo/Dittny; Barbara/Ne_Junebug; Wyatt/Zukort; Felden/Anna; Lmdj1/Lorrrobb; Sunny/Elaine.

The DOGS were: B_Mckown/Mudg_Ca; Pflydbob/Happy; Connie/Glossit; Litedove/Sadie; Drannalee/Novelty; Jean/Dutchie; Pob/Orla; Polly/Cathy; Windstarsun/Steveburdette; Redrover/Qatsmeow; Kenny/Softfire; Rueful_Rabbit/Kareyn_Au; Billsgirl/Joel.

The top 10 and ties are: