I riled up Merlot team (Loretta Madison in particular) to the point their attendance was up and they crushed the Chianti Team.  Grapes are meant to be crushed but not the fine ladies of Chianti.  My understanding is that Linda Bazoian is in mourning i.e. wearing all black and not drinking.  I fear for the club revenues if Linda continues to take the defeat so hard.  Loretta on the other hand has been reported table dancing to celebrate the victory.  The revenue might be a wash after all.

The current standings are:

Merlot with 167 points

Chianti with 150 points

Shiraz with 143 points

Amarone with 126 points

The match-ups for this week are: 1) Merlot vs Amarone   2) Chianti vs Shiraz

Rumor has it that the Amarone team is positioning themselves to make a late season charge to the podium.  Co-captains Carolyn Grinton and Josie Heath are rallying the troops, have done their calculations, recruited a couple of new members to their team: Elsa Nezoil and Norma Lowry, and are counting on the continued contributions of one of the club’s finest ladies, Bea Cranston.

A few things that Amarone should consider:

• We wish to caution Carolyn and Josie though that just like the NHL there is a salary cap --- you can’t be paying Elsa, Norma and Bea large bonuses to ensure your team success.
• Jeannie Boniface is on Amarone and has yet to make it out. Lookout teams when “Boom Boom Boniface” arrives!
• Catherine Swan has counted 5 of the 6 nights she has attended.  Now we all know the only reason Catherine comes out on Tuesday night is to have her meatballs after the game. The team will be in trouble if the menu changes.

Our attendance numbers continue to be strong with July 13^thpeaking at 46 ladies out for golf and beverages.  Worthy of note even of some the newbies to the league appear to be hanging around after the game and participating in the social activities.  The evening dinner features have been great and we encourage everyone to stay after the game and enjoy the best part of the league.  Cheryl seems to think it is the golf, while for many of us golf is the necessary “evil” to get to the social/camaraderie aspect.

Okay my apologies, I called one of our newbies Sandra Micucci “Susan” in last week’s blog.  Suck it up buttercup! It was affectionately meant as a compliment – you putt like Susan Robertson and drive like Susan Aubin.  It was an honest mistake.  Given my past minor indiscretions on the blog and the newsletter, an incorrect name is nothing.  Cheryl just let me start blogging mid-season this year with some criteria.  Chris Smith once mentioned at curling that similar to Don Cherry, there should be a five second delay on things coming out of my mouth for filtering purposes.  Good thing Sandra aka “Susan” and I are not the sensitive type.

Ladies, again we ask you to “MIX IT UP” at the tee and play with people you have yet to get a game in with.  Susan aka “Sandra” got stuck with me again last week.  Make a point of playing with someone you have not played with so far this season & please introduce yourself to the newbies.  My work schedule gets me there a little later so everyone stop rushing to get their early to avoid me.  Arrive a little later and you might be pleasantly surprised by whom you get to play with. FYI- there is kegs of beer and bottles of wine in reserve so whenever we finish there will be beverages!

Tues August 3^rd is the BIG BREAK EVENT with Carolyn Grinton and me planning a super evening of skilled and non-skilled activities around holes 1, 2, 3, the putting green and the short range.  Co-captains you can run but you cannot hide; we will be asking you to assist in the events.