VITAL STATISTICS
Date: Friday, August 30th, 2002
Location: Lake Stevens, WA
Winner: “The Great One” Andy Cooper
Number of Times Young Madeline Interrupted Play: 53
The 2002 Champions Cup, though a relatively low-key affair by the usual Cup standards, will long be remembered as a turning of the tide in Lakewood Croquet Club history. The event marked the first time in the seven year history of the Champions Cup that the trophy was won by someone other than LCC legends Kevin Sutton and Jeff Gepner (each have three Cup wins to their credit).
Initially scheduled as a larger scale, multi-club event, the original scheduling of the 2002 Champions Cup was cancelled by LCC President Brian S. Johnston III amid rumored terrorist threats. Johnston would neither confirm nor deny such information, but such concerns were evident as the Cup was scaled down to a modest event featuring five of the LCC’s top competitors.
President Johnston kicked off the event with a ceremonial opening of the beer can (this year’s honorary Cup beverages included such top-shelf brews as Red Dog and Miller High Life) as play commenced. The field of competitors (Sutton, Gepner, Johnston, Andy Cooper, and Tom Carmony) remained closely matched through early play, but began to spread out later on.
The 2002 Cup course was a unique short-course design that featured multiple playing surfaces, including grass, pavement, concrete, dirt, and straw. The varying nature of the course truly tested competitors (Jeff Gepner spent a number of turns trying to extricate himself – and his ball – from a 18″ deep ditch at one point in the match). Andy Cooper and Kevin Sutton led through much of the early competition, though Cooper began to distance himself from Sutton during the second half of play.
Jeff Gepner rebounded from his ditching-digging nightmare early on to make a strong run near at Cooper near the final wickets. Andy, who had previously blown significant leads in past Cup events, was not to be deterred by his long-time compadre, though, and was able to keep his cool and focus on the shots at hand. He made a series of solid, basic shots on his final run en route to staking out for his first Cup.
OTHER NOTABLES
The course’s rough terrain wreaked havoc with virtually all competitors, including Kevin Sutton, whose ball ended up rolling into a drainage curb along the nearby street, and Brian S. Johnston III, whose ball was viciously roqueted early in the match and came close to landing in a nearby outhouse. Johnston was clearly not amused… Cooper’s young neighbor, seven-year-old Madeline, made her presence felt throughout the event, playing a portion of the course, as well as routinely interrupting players before, during, and after shots… Carmony’s continued Cup struggles did not improve this year, as he cursed himself early on by knocking over a full can of Miller High Life with one of his shots (the gallery gasped in horror at the sign of the precious brew helplessly pouring forth from the can, wasting away along the pavement).
2002 CHAMPIONS CUP COMPLETE RESULTS
1 – Andy Cooper
2 – Jeff Gepner
3 – Kevin Sutton
4 – Brian S. Johnston III
5 – Tom Carmony
6 – Young Madeline
