Lakewood Croquet Club

MARYSVILLE, WA - Just days before Champions Cup X and his opportunity to defend his crown as Cup winner and Lakewood Croquet Club Champion, Brian S. Johnston III sat down for an exclusive pre-Cup interview. Never one to shy away from controversy, Johnston shares his thoughts on his position as champion, how he’s prepared for this year’s Cup, and his opinion of such key LCC competitors as “The Franchise” Jeff Gepner, the “Queen of Croquet” Lin Cherry, and LCC President Kevin Sutton.

Coming into Champions Cup X as the defending LCC Champion, how has that changed your preparations for the event? What are you doing differently than in years past?

I figure if I keep to my same regiment that made me a Champion in 2004, then I will be a winner in 2005. For example, I always shake the crumbs off my food before I eat it, I replace the toilet paper so it dispenses from the top, and I throw/shoot things at ducks.

“The Franchise” Jeff Gepner continues to insist that you only won last year’s Cup thanks to the direct actions of himself and Kevin Sutton to ‘run interference’ for you and eliminate SFECC’s “Blackrocket” Jon Prugh. How do you respond to these allegations?

Is Lance Armstrong (6 time winner of the Tour De France) less of a Champion because he needed a team of riders to draft behind? Everyone knows that one on one Lance could kick anyone’s ass. I acknowledge that I would not have won with out the help of Mr. Gepner and Mr. Sutton. When those hacks from the SFECC went kamikaze on me, it was Jeff and Kevin who helped fend them off so that I could claim victory for the LCC. However, one on one it is no contest, I am the best.

How has your perspective on the LCC and on your own game changed since resigning the presidency last summer?

Being President is an extremely difficult job. As President I was forced to sacrifice training time so that I could carry out my executive duties. With the weight of being President off my shoulders, I could focus my energy on winning the Champions cup. Being President was rewording, but so is winning.

What are your thoughts on the LCC return of the “Queen of Croquet”?

I do not recognize that person as a member of the LCC. That individual left the LCC with a flurry of insults and constant bantering… to a rival club no less! That person has done nothing but damage the image of the LCC, and in my opinion should not be reinstated as an LCC member until that person (at the very least) can give an official apology. Until then I consider that person a non entity.

Should you win your second consecutive Cup July 16th, what would be your ideal choice of “victory meat” at the post-Cup barbecue?

I’ll probably go with what I had last year… a rib-eye, rare and bloody.

Any final words for your competitors this Saturday?

Established members of the LCC, I look forward to the challenge and know it will be an exciting fight all the way to the finish… may the best person win. All other competitors, thanks for showing up!