I remain humbled and sincerely amazed at the number of people who approached me over the past few weeks to ask if I would consider periodically updating the site over the winter.  It's nice to think that there are people out there who look forward to reading whatever I come up with each Friday morning but I find it tough enough during the summer so the prospect of writing about golf during the winter is too much to bear.

     On the other hand, I thought it might be fun to look back through the archives and re-post some of the articles that I found entertaining.  This particular article revolved around one of our earlier Men's Night drafts and in addition to being mildly amusing (in my opinion) it's also somewhat aprepeau considering Murphy's year-end offering when he suggested that he invented the concept of leadership.  For those of you who are new to the club and/or the program; Murphy was a Captain in 2004 and 2005... isn't it interesting how quickly we, or should I say he, forgot...

     The Men’s Night draft has become a nice tradition and it continues to generate a fair amount of interest from the rank and file.  To even the uninitiated the concept of drafting a team seems simple enough; when it’s your turn - pick somebody good.  I imagine that most of the boys experienced their first lesson in recruitment back in the schoolyard.  A couple of guys would stand out front and unapologetically pick people based on their apparent ability.  It was direct, brutally honest and because there was no hiding exactly who was chosen last, for guys like Mr. Joe McPherson and Mr. Bob Hamilton, it must have been tough.  Things really aren’t that much different when choosing our Men’s Night teams other than our "captains only" policy which was put in place to spare poor Joe and Bob the humiliation of once again being the last two guys with their butts up against the backstop.

     In order to keep things fresh we implemented a two-year term limit for our Captains. Approximately half of last year’s Captains completed their first term and as such they were eligible to come back for a second.  The others, Mr. Brian Knott, Mr. John Kocsis, Mr. Jeff Pulham, Mr. Rob Grinton, Mr. George Foubert, Mr. Jeff Snyder, Mr. Don Murphy and me have all been thanked for their commitment to the program but told to get the hell out.  Regardless of your perspective, it is quite evident our achievements differed significantly; Captains Knott (2005), Koscis (2004) and I (2003) each have a team victory to look back on while Captains Pulham, Grinton and Foubert leave us just as they arrived – in need of a bath, a boost and a brain. 

     Sports organizations the world over have wrestled with the prospect of ensuring parity in their leagues while still providing an entertaining product for the fans.  Although salary caps, revenue sharing and collective bargaining agreements are fun for everyone involved, I think we’ve discovered the most sure-fire method for guaranteeing the balance that major sports leagues covet… just remove the draught from the draft – or perhaps more accurately… stop Snyder and Murphy from drinking all the draught.  The boozer and the bonehead have been team Captains for a few years now but in 2005 it became obvious neither one of them had any idea of what the hell they were doing. Snyder did manage a third place finish a couple of years ago but their respective teams occupied the final two spots in last year’s standings yet again so, as the saying goes, "enough is enough".  In addition to their removal from the list of Captains, the lush and the loser were properly pounded and rolled down a 45 degree hill.  Free at last. On Sunday May 7, 2006 the third annual Men’s Night draft took place - sans the dope and drunk!

     In the past we weren’t totally satisfied with the format but this year I think we have things well in hand.  In 2003, I just took the list of participants and randomly assigned each one to a team (oddly enough that was the year my team won).  In 2004, we instituted the draft and despite a great deal of very sound advice to the contrary, I awarded the first pick to myself (my team finished 3rd that year).  In 2005, a random draw determined the sequence of selection.  Experience has taught the committee that having a couple of solid gross players on your team is an absolute must so it only seemed sporting that for 2006 the selection order should be determined by handicap; the Captain with the highest handicap being the first to choose and the Skipper with the lowest going last.  Each Captain is provided with a sort of Men’s Night "survival kit" that includes non-stop chicken wings, ribs and beer as well as a detailed explanation of the team concept, an alphabetical list of all of the eligible players accompanied by their Wednesday handicap, participation data and of course any embarrassing personal information that might provide those present with a little sophomoric entertainment at the draftees expense.

     I should tell you there was a certain degree of trepidation from a few of my most loyal readers that the removal of Mr. Knott from the list of Captains would result in a serious decrease in the entertainment value of their weekly read.  To make matters even worse the word had spread that our list of new Captains for ‘06 included the immediate past president along with representatives from the automotive industry, manufacturing, finance, education, accounting, engineering and medicine.  People were uneasy that such a significant increase in IQ points around the Captains table would result in an entertainment level inversely proportional to the added brain power or, as one member put it… are you sure these Captains are dumb enough?  Not to worry my friends, it appears that the new Captain of Team # 11, Mr. John Sharp, will provide me with plenty of material.

     As if to honour Brian’s memory Mr. Sharp attempted to draft fellow Captain, Mr. Jim Turnbull (Jim estimated they have known each other for close to 20 years), vehemently disputed the eligibility of a draftee that he himself had chosen not 10 minutes earlier and undoubtedly consumed more than his share of the food, the booze and the conversation.  In my opinion, Sharpie’s performance at this year's draft did more to justify the expense of private school tuition than the exaggerated rumours of a deteriorating public school system ever could.  Tune in later my friends; I’m sure he ain’t finished yet.

See you in a few weeks,

Pat