Bob and I decided to make the trip to Vegas back in December. We went in 2016 and 2017 and I had a title to defend. Bob had scored well enough to be in the pro division in conventional spin knives and hawks. He's also proficient in no spin. I suspect he'll go pro in that, too, soon enough.
He's committed to winning some money.
Besides, we didn't go to Austin last year and missed all the drama.
I still don't know the whole story.
All I know is I've had fun in Vegas, even when we were staying in an AirBnB with police choppers overhead, ambivalent hookers on the street corners, and a drunken brawl going on upstairs.
It reminded me of home.
This time, though, Bob scored us a great deal on an apt. at the Tahiti Village Resort on S. Las Vegas Blvd, just five minutes from the Superhero Foundry and two minutes from our favorite restaurant, the Home Plate Bar and Grill.
Tahiti Village has a Denny's on-site, so breakfast was easy. It has one of those lazy river things, too, and nice gas grills, but the weather was chilly until Saturday, and we had a full schedule of blade throwing after that.
I always debate with myself about going, but this year was worse. Pam wound up in the hospital and rehab again and I was having major issues with pain and just walking.
But I went with Pam in the hospital last year, and I've gone when I was worse, so, when I saw 18 people had paid and the first 20 would get prizes, I paid my entry fee. The payment process was quick and easy.
I was committed.
And I needed to do my taxes asap.
I went to the Blade Aces website and checked out what TJ had to say about the event. I know, I should've done it months ago, but I've had other things on my mind, so just shake your head and read on.
I saw they had some of the same sponsors from last year: Jeremy Beintema of Bullseye Blades, Matto Forgeworks, Bo McNees, Bill Page, Michael Buzbee, Neil Kehler, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Rex Velasquez, Jim Leone...
The pro prizes looked good, too, higher than any before. $900 each for conventional spin, no-spin, and tomahawk/axe, paid out 5-3-1.
Sweet!
Senior Division Prizes. Check.
Awards Banquet and Costume Contest. Check.
Gambling Games. Check.
Fast Draw. Double Check. That scoring system TJ came up with is great, especially the buzzer for Lee.
An auction to help out everybody's friend, Adam, who has cancer, and to help a Veteran's Transition Fund. Check and Cool.
Massages. Check, and Sold! to the chiquita with the magic hands.
However, what with Ms. Pam's frequent hospital stays and my own issues, I only had two weeks of practice, but I felt pretty good about my throwing afterward. Bob's targets are missing big chunks, but I like them that way. Throwing at half a target will improve your accuracy, especially when bending over to pick up knives really, really sucks.
I didn't practice hawks, per my doctors' orders.
We drove over on Wed. Took us 11 hours, but we stopped for 4 or 5 breaks. It's nice to get to town with a day to recuperate from the drive.
One of these days, we're going to leave a couple of days early and do the Grand Canyon. We also pass by Petrified Forest National Park and that big-ass meteor crater in northern Arizona.
The drive from Socorro to Holbrook Az is one of the country's most scenic, running right through trophy elk country via US 60 and US 180. We passed by the VLA, where Bob works one day a week doing technician stuff.
The llano alto of western NM abounds in wildlife. We saw antelope, deer, elk, jackrabbits, cottontails, quail and turkeys before we crossed the continental divide west of Pie Town, where the entire economy is based on... you guessed it... pie. Of the ten buildings in town, two of them serve pie.
The summertime pie festival is awesome.
They have a windmill graveyard, too.
What an unusual little town.
It's a long way to anywhere from there.
We even have our favorite pee spot between St Johns and Holbrook, 'cause that's where we are after the coffee we bought in Springerville kicks in.
We stood on the side of the road for about 15 minutes one time. Never saw another vehicle.
We also crossed the Little Colorado River 5 times on US 180 and once on I40.
Or, as Bob was quick to point out, the river crossed our route, not the other way around.
Poor Bob. He got us a handicap-accessible place, only to find out it had but 1 BR. For the third time, he had to sleep on the fold-out couch.
Thurs., we helped set up for 2 hours. TJ, Chris and their crew were hard at work. There was a huge white board filled with things to do and TJ said that was board #3.
Putting on a major event ain't easy.
Afterward, we cruised S. Las Vegas Blvd and ended up at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, where they film Pawn Stars. It looks different in person. I bought Pam a salamander necklace. She's been through the fires of hell a dozen times and she's still alive.
We hooked up with John Forrest Davis for dinner at the Tahiti Village restaurant. We followed the lazy river, which turned out to be about a half-mile long.
I know Bob gets tired of waiting for me.
I get tired of it, too.
Friday, we participated in the Silver Aces Amateur Tournament. I made it through 7 rounds of the knife competition, the most ever for me. I lost in the losers bracket final to AJ Moore, who, like me, was throwing knives made by Talon Newton.
AJ lost in the final round to Martial Mauger of Ouistreham, Normandy, France.
AJ went on to win the amateur hawk tournament.
I did poorly. My left knee buckled twice, my right knee three times.
I was hurting.
Chris Miller won the pro division in knives and hawks. There were really only a few throwers who could offer him a challenge: Paul Maccarone, Micah Posada and John Grabowski.
The new format was interesting. The Gold and Silver Aces tournaments allow throwers to throw what they've got. You can throw spin or no-spin. Hawks/axes can be thrown 1/2 or full spin, as long as you're behind the distance line.
From what I saw, the no-spinners were way out-classed by the conventional spinners, but few good no-spinners were there. Bob was the best of the bunch this year.
It would be interesting to watch Taylor Hull throw both ways and see which one yields the higher score.
Of the people I've never seen throw before, Teri Steele-Potter impressed me the most. She's only been throwing for 6 months, and teaching herself. She throws with authority and picked up fast-draw in 30 minutes, though she chickened out of the competition.
I liked the fact she showed up the first day in a Jack Daniels shirt and the second day in a Motorhead shirt and Motorhead sneakers.
Overall, I was most impressed by the use of two flat screen televisions to display brackets and scores during the Aces tournaments. They helped keep participants informed and ready to throw.
Melody and Sara worked fast and efficiently at the scorer's table, but then, this wasn't their first rodeo.
I think these head-to-head tournaments are the future of the sport. Way more fun to watch than the Saturday throws for points. I especially like the double-elimination process. Statistically, the losers bracket winner has a good chance of winning the trophy, but Killer Miller seldom loses in Vegas, except that one time when Cliff Payne beat him at hawks.
"Killer" was probably the most colorful participant. He wore a Marine Corps tartan kilt. He could take some lessons from the ladies on how to sit in a chair while wearing a skirt, though. However, no matter if he's a cross-dresser or not, he consistently throws at a master level. He is one of the rock stars of blade throwing, a real Bruce Jenner to the sport.
He was our rangemaster/emcee much of the time.
He and Paul Maccarone threw no spin; two guys who once said they would never do that.
Kinda funny.
Bob won amateur no spin with a score of 156.
The highest pro score was in the 130s, from Paul Maccarone.
Bob should've thrown pro.
There was plenty of free water and plenty of beer for $3 throughout the competition, the proceeds of which were added to the charity funds.
I wonder what happened to the Monster Energy guys from last year?
Saturday, wearing a knee brace, I got a massage like I did last year, when I threw a 181 score. This year, I scored 189. Had 3 drops worth 14 points.
C'est la vie. I still won the senior knife-throwing championship and I had the second-highest amateur score. Matt Franta fetched my knives for me and brought me good luck.
So did the other Matt, the blacksmith from Nebraska.
Got another massage before the hawk competition. Paiute Ed got one, too. He said I got one earlier and beat him, and that was cheating.
Sure enough, he beat me at hawks.
I had not picked up a hawk in a year, but I still got a 3rd place award for my 95 score. I couldn't just leave it sitting on the table, even though my doctors told me not to throw hawks.
Chris Miller won pro knives and pro hawks, so it was pretty much the Chris Miller Show.
Again.
Martial Mauger won amateur knives.
I can't remember the kid's name who won the Youth Division, but he had the highest amateur score at 197. Paramon, maybe?
A few people wore costumes to the feast of roast meat. Simultaneously, there was a wedding reception with cake for the Leones who were in their Tombstone outfits, and birthday cake for Dan Pegg.
There were SCA people in medieval garb and carrying wicked swords. TJ was in his Quicksilver duds and Melody and Sara looked fetching in frontier skirts and blouses. Teri and Kimberly dressed up, too, but it was Tammy in that tight black leather Valkyrie outfit and mask who took my breath away. I would die just so she could carry me in her arms to Valhalla!
The award ceremony and auction lasted til 1230. $511 was raised for Adam, $700 for the Veteran's group.
I can't say enough about Jeremy Bientema's support of the Blade Aces events.
Smart man. Where else would a knifemaker advertise?
Hmmm... I need a new sheath and so do others... How about it sheathmakers???
And speaking of people who need a quickdraw sheath, I drove Teri Steele-Potter back to her hotel, which was down the street from ours. While we were looking for the side street, we passed right by the hotel. I took the first left, thinking it was a side street, too, but it wasn't. It was an interstate entrance ramp. We got off 3.5 miles later, and promptly got lost.
Six-foot tall Teri was cool. She got out at a restaurant and asked for directions, still wearing that slinky black dress from the festivities.
She's also got rooms reserved in Austin, so I guess I'm going there in October, if at all possible.
I'll try twice as hard if she promises to bring that dress.
Sunday, I threw the silhouette game and did okay with the lightweight Dolly Daggers Talon made for me, but I ran out of gas afterward and had to go back to the room for a while.
It was 90 degrees by noon.
I went back to say goodbye around 4pm, then I directed about 10 people to the Home Plate for a last celebration.
I had a great time talking to Kimberly Mitchell about nothing in particular. She's an awesome spokesperson for the sport.
I enjoyed getting to know a few people better, like Alvis Solis, and I especially enjoyed hanging out with 88 yr-old Paiute Ed and his wife, Corky. Amazingly active for their age, though Ed, like me, suffered some heat exhaustion that laid us both low for a few days after the event.
The 3 French dudes were cool, especially Martial Mauger, who lives in a part of Normandy I have visited.
Crazy Rolf from Switzerland was there with his wife Rina, who is from Lucerne, where my parents spent their honeymoon in 1956.
The Maccarones drove in from NY again. The San Diego Chuckers sent three reps. JW Wiseman and Matt Franta drove over from LA, Chill Bill and his girlfriend Judy came from Big Bear, and John and Roman Grabowski, Rick the Rocket and his wife Tonya, and Lee Fugatt came from the Bay Area.
We had people from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Nebraska, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Canada, too.
I'll put in a good word for the Home Plate here. It is literally just two minutes from the Superhero Foundry and has a full-service menu; pizza and burgers to beef tips and cordon bleu. The food is excellent and all items are under $15. You can do lunch there in less than an hour and the margaritas are good.
Thanks to TJ, Melody, Chris, and Sara for a great throw. The SCA people were a nice touch and that trebuchet was fun to watch, but it would've been better if we'd launched berserker Erik Bloodaxe into a horde of rampaging Vikings! (And tell him I said so)
It was on the way home that I remembered why Jim Leone the Tombstone gunfighter looked familiar. Last summer, Bob and I went out to Horse Mountain, NM, and the reconstructed western town of Gabriela.
Jim was a main character in the OK Corral re-enactment. I would never have guessed that I would one day be a guest at his wedding reception.
Tinker Pete
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