My beloved Catwitch came to play, but ended up directing instead, but quickly ran from the room and forced me to take over. So, here is what I saw and heard.

After a late start due to no director having signed up or being present and an incredible amount of patience by all those waiting for my laptop to fire up and to get the basics set up, registration began. Seventeen tables of cats and dogs and their humans and other compatriots began their weekly routine of trying to commit mayhem at the tables and in the lobby.

Round One began with the dogs howling their successes to the moon. Puppyfinn and I8Cats came bouncing out with their tails in a frenzy and yipped out the first win and the first slam (6SX!). POB claims the X shouldn’t count since he was only using good cat strategy and did the only thing he could do to win this round – double and hope they went down! Great strategy, but it didn’t work this time. Then another dog win and another. Finally, a cat came out hissing and snarling with tail high. By the end of the round, it was Dogs 9, Cats 8 with three slams announced by the dogs. A tight Ryder was in the making.

There was a fashion show of sorts commencing between Rounds One and Two. Draco apparently was shedding skin and was a beautiful/hideous (depending on whether you were talking to Barbie or Draco) pink. (I assume he was shedding his skin since I know no self-respecting dragon would be pink.) Hopefully, he will back to his normal color (colour?) (whatever that may be) next week. To offset this pink tinge, he sported a yellow scarf with green dots. Barbie pranced around in her transparent bikini. Fortunately, before things got out of hand and our Tom Cats noticed, Round Two began.

Round Two was uneventful (more or less), with all creatures settled in and playing fiercely. It ended with two more doggie slams and a score of 18-16 Dogs.

While this director valiantly tried to sort pairs, a barbeque was hosted by Puppyvw. Feline Fritters, Persian Pate and Kitty Liver in Bacon were the appetizers. There were slabs of Pink Dragon Meat. Kitten-K-Bobs, Kitten-on-a-Stick and Cat Drumsticks (which supposedly taste like chicken) were passed around. Barbara brought her specialty of RoastCat with Bechamel Sauce and an orange in the cat’s mouth. Hmm, this was either a very BIG cat or a very small orange! Kitten Cordon Bleu and Kitten-al-Fredo were shared. Fortunately, a few cats (and their human companions) did think to bring some food. There was the traditional Rottweiler-on-a-Stick and someone generously brought a large slew of microwaved bar-be-que (probably a Texan since us Californians say barbeque or BBQ) Dog Legs. For dessert, there was Catalope Mousse. Hopefully, when the cats decide to host the feast, they’ll remember to bring some food for the menagerie and maybe even for the doggies.

Round Three began with dogs announcing the first few victories. Then, the tides turned. The felines refused to lose!! Ultimately, the final result was 38-26 Cats.

Now, back to a serious note. This truly was the last tourney I will direct. I have enjoyed being your director and have done my best to do a decent job. This was not an easy decision for me. It was never my goal to make anyone unhappy, yet I did do that. This was never my intent and rather than have someone leave Ryder because they are unhappy with me, I will step down. I am not Dave, I am not Wayne or Iain. We all have our own styles and our own idiosyncrasies . Also, please accept my apologies for my goofs and my thanks for your patience while I corrected them. While Redwitch may be absent from Ryder, do look for Catwitch since she will be there to play and frolic.

Dog Teams were Glossit/Suegloss, Psspill/Morrisbud, xBrorsen/Jean, Puppyvw/Woof_Man_Veep, Dyna/Keychild, Superdog/Happilyeverafter, Lorraine/Seaweed, Betterduck/Mean_Ole_Dog, Saluki/Debb, RSquirrel/COL_f150, Jamesgreywolf/Deltagayl, Puppyfinn/I8Cats, IMTigger/Sparkle, JickytheJinx/Springer, Bruce/Clear_Blue_Sky, GMTown/WBPied, Barbara/Rebos.

Cat Teams were Maria_CL299/J_Lruh, Cat_Lady_Galadrim/Fingolfin2001, Overtroubledwaters/Harlequin_Smiles, Rae_Jean00/Lucia_MC, Producer/Wombie, Stick_Ahab/Sugarmt, AlanMitchell/LynH, Daniel_Bu/Gaunicz, POB/Aimejoue, TheHolyGuy/Suzy, Bert/ErnieTomCat, CherryRivits/Rueful_Rabbit, ACastofMany/ASeriousJoker, PPP_P3/Star_39200, Slam/Little_Ladybug, Errikos/Flaunce (dog team extraordinaire!), DPman/Deuce_Cat

Slams were bid and made by Puppyfinn/I8Cats (6SX [which X didn’t count lol]), Clear_Blue_Sky/Bruce (6S), Glossit/Sue Glossit (6N), xBrorsen/Jean (6S and 6n), Puppyvw/Woof_Man_Veep (6C). Not a cat slam in the bunch! Excellent bidding and playing by all.

Undefeated teams were: AlanMitchell/LynH (cats); Errikos/Flaunce (graciously playing as cats, but truly canines at heart), and Puppyvw/Woof_Man_Veep (dogs). Well done cats, dogs and humans!

The ever-so-faithful and oh-so-necessary subs were IMDJ (welcome back Iain!!!), J_Lruh (who quickly became a sub for Bulabi who was having server problems who in turn became a sub), Kenebabe, Felden, HBear. Thank you all for your assistance and willingness to fill in so quickly and efficiently. Ryders would have died without all of our subs more than once!

A most special welcome back to Puppyvw and Iain. Your gracious presence has been most sorely missed!!