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Rothman is USCA "Player of the Year" for 2009 |
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by Rich Curtis with additional materials from Ben Rothman, Doug Grimsley, and Bob Alman Posted February 6, 2010
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The two of them are Minus Three handicaps in American Rules - a distinction shared only with Carolinians Jeff Soo and Danny Huneycutt - and they probably play in more events at Championship level than any other players in the US. Grimsley can do it because he's mostly retired, and Ben because as a croquet nomad he combines playing with teaching, will go wherever the action is (and maybe a cash purse as well), and will sleep anywhere quiet and dry. So it makes sense that once again, this popular pair top the Grand Prix rankings, having switched places in the two last year-long contests.
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| One of their early American Rules triumphs was the 2008 Arizona Open, where Ben and Doug shake hands holding their doubles trophies. |
Grimsley finished a distant second this year at 21,550. Rounding out the top five were Danny Huneycutt (15th last year), two-time winner Jeff Soo (4th last year as well) and Johnny Mitchell (7th last year), in that order.
Although former winner John Osborn was sixth and Peter Just made a second consecutive top-ten finish at tenth, a few new faces made appearances in the remainder of the top ten. Ben Morehead of Connecticut was seventh, National Croquet Center head David McCoy was eighth and George Cochran of Louisiana was ninth. None of these three had cracked the top 25 prior to this year.
Tracking the Dynamic Duo
Rothman is 26 years old, and not wealthy. So how can he afford it all this croquet? "Because I have an insanely low overhead. I have no mortgage, debt, rent, dependants, or girlfriend. I will sleep on floors, fold out couches or the occasional dog bed (and slept on all three at various times in 2009). I travel by bus or train or super cheap five-stop cross country planes to arrive at the venue red-eyed and for much less cost than most of my fellow competitors."
Rothman admits to having no home at all: "I live near a croquet court," he explains, "in many different cities, states and occasionally countries. This winter I'm in Palm Springs or Rancho Mirage staying in various digs free. They have me in a club condo for fourteen weeks of my five-month stay. The rest of the time I'm in guest rooms of kind croquet supporters." It's not charity, exactly, as Ben is earning praise as a teacher and coach, as well as occasional Tournament Director, and is always willing to pitch in when help is needed.
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| In the tradition of Osborn/Osborn, Rodoni/Mehas and Soo/Scott, Grimsley/Rothman are the team to beat in 2010. Here they discuss tactics courtside in the Solomon Trophy matches at California's Mission Hills in December 2009, where they helped give the USCA its first win over England in the two-decade series by winning all three of their doubles matches. |
Rothman and Grimsley are fierce opponents, each respectful of the other's achievements. Doug comments, "Ben and I will be playing doubles at the AC Rules Nationals at Mission Hills in April (we're the defending champs), and most likely will be paired together at the MacRob in August. We seem to be a pretty good doubles team. Having played as a team for last year's AC Nationals, The Carter Challenge, and the Solomon Trophy, we have yet to lose a match - and only two games - over that time."
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| Although decades separate them in age, their beards are identical as they drink victory champagne after the American team's Solomon Trophy win. The Solomon isn't contested in MacRobertson years, but Ben and Doug will be playing against England in those international test matches in England in July 2010, along with four other USCA teammates. |
Both players press themselves towards mastery of the most advanced tactics in Association Croquet, some of dubious value. According to Ben, "Doug is the recently crowned 'King of OTP': six OTPs for one TPO this year, and one OTP for three TPOs in 2008 (I was the OTP). I have never been TPO'd by Doug and I was the victor in three of his seven OTPs, so I like to think I was at least a part of the coronation." [The OTP (Opponent Triple Peel) describes what happens when an aggressive player peels out one of the opponent balls on the expectation of winning the game by having two balls against the opponent's one ball. It's not a sure-fire strategy for winning and frequently backfires when the one-ball player hits in and finishes.]
That's not to say that Ben has a huge advantage over Doug in head-to-head games, despite the statistical failure, so far, of Doug's TPO attempts. Doug can quote the stats: "In Association games against each other, we played 20 times in 2009, with Ben holding a 11-9 lead. However, I did enjoy knocking him out of the USCA American Rules National Doubles in this year's final aided by an even better partner, Rich Curtis."
Younger players showing up in Grand Prix
The 2009 Grand Prix marked the emergence of other young players besides Rothman. Micah Beck, a recent graduate of St. John’s College who now resides in Ithaca, New York, grabbed first place in the 3-5 handicap range of the Grand Prix. St. John’s is noted for turning out numerous top notch croquet players and Beck is part of what will continue to be a long line. Beck was the USCA Rules First Flight National Singles and Doubles Champion in 2009. His doubles partner in the Nationals was Justin Berbig, another up and coming young player, who won the Second Flight Singles National Championship and finished second in the Grand Prix for handicaps between 9 and 11. Berbig is a student at the State University of New York at New Paltz and a member of its very active croquet team. Rothman, Beck and Berbig are just a few of the young players who have taken the game up in college and are playing actively in USCA tournaments.
The runner-up to Beck in the 3 to 5 handicap range was Bill Taft (fourth last year). Bill Cooley, Barbara Leeming and Mary Daly rounded out the top five.
Bob Roth of North Carolina topped the 6 to 8 competition. Second place went to one of the newer croquet players in the Fusz family - Jodie Rugart. Marty Ekstrom was third, Marie Haas was fourth, and Marc Campbell was fifth.
Rebecca Bergovsky of the New York Croquet Club finished fourth in the 9 to 11 handicap range in 2008, but took the top honors in 2009, partially on the strength of her first place doubles finish in the New York Osborn Cup. In third place behind Justin Berbig was Randall McAndrews. Billie Jean Taft finished fourth to insure a husband-and-wife top five Grand Prix finish. Marvin Salles was fifth.
In the 12 handicap and higher group, Cynthia Lee Williams, winner of the Houston Invitational Doubles, finished first. Ralph Heinz finished second, followed by Julia Wallace, Carla Rueck and Doug McChesney.
Fewer than 900 players competed in the 2009 Grand Prix, which means than less than one-third of USCA players competed in a USCA sanctioned event during the year. The Grand Prix typically had more than 1,000 players every year as recently as 2006, and the recent slip is likely a function of the sagging economy, as USCA membership remains stable at more than 3,000 nationally despite the recession.
The 2010 Grand Prix is already under way. You can see the current standings - representing early sunbelt results at this writing - on the USCA website. The top 100 finishers in 2009 are listed below.
USCA 2009 GRAND PRIX Top 100
RANKING HANDICAP SINGLES DOUBLES TOTAL Rothman, Ben -3 18570 12885 31455 Grimsley, Doug -3 11810 9740 21550 Huneycutt, Danny -3 15225 4640 19865 Soo, Jeff -3 13800 3820 17620 Mitchell Jr., Johnny -1.5 8080 8652 16732 Osborn, John C. -2 11180 3830 15010 Morehead, Ben -0.5 8828 5985 14813 McCoy, W. David 1 5637 8135 13772 Cochran, George -2 10780 2709 13489 Just, Peter -1.5 8360 4980 13340 Scott, Paul -2.5 9865 3120 12985 Knopf, Ted -1.5 9332 3485 12817 Curtis, Richard G. -1 5180 7248 12428 Lamm, Rich -1.5 7880 4200 12080 Jones, Jackie -0.5 7505 4420 11925 Wassink, Derek -1.5 9190 2580 11770 McBride, Leo -2.5 10025 1710 11735 Cherry, Bob -2 10100 1035 11135 Jones, Fred -1.5 5162 5120 10282 Hendry, Ron 0 4610 5661 10271 Young III, John 0 3750 6450 10200 Sullivan, Richard -1.5 8670 1365 10035 Bast, Jim 2 8060 1710 9770 Baird, Matt -2 7695 2059 9754 Gibbons, Michael -1 9370 0 9370 Ruby, Britt -1.5 6800 2570 9370 Berne, Freeman A. -2 5290 3410 8700 Johnston, Stephen C. 0 1850 6675 8525 Chilton, Bob 0 6528 1988 8516 Scalpone, Steve -0.5 8025 468 8493 O'Laughlin, Edward 1.5 2640 5850 8490 Butts, Jim -1 5870 2610 8480 Hayworth, Horace W. 0.5 4130 4190 8320 Hughes, Tom 0 4230 3965 8195 Cumming, Brian -2 7575 180 7755 Patmore, Chris -0.5 7635 85 7720 Martin, Bill 0 2170 5470 7640 Gillmarten, Charles 0.5 4970 2450 7420 Whitlow, Charles 0.5 2875 4545 7420 Lawrence, Stuart -0.5 6905 435 7340 Settlemyre, Norris -1.5 5280 1740 7020 Bennett, Paul T. -1.5 5940 1050 6990 Stark, Jerry P. -1.5 6975 0 6975 Van Tassell, Robert 1 5150 1776 6926 Brackett, Richard -1 4575 2345 6920 Roberts, Edward S. -0.5 4080 2355 6435 Emmett, Paul 0.5 6200 180 6380 Harrington, Tommy B. 1.5 4625 1715 6340 Essick, Jon 1.5 3195 3030 6225 Caldwell, Jeff -1 4970 1181 6151 Carmichael, Michael 0 2220 3910 6130 Rapuano, Timothy 1.5 4445 1658 6103 Hughes, James H.U. 0 5130 880 6010 Huxtable, Ron 1 3211 2681 5892 Taylor, Mike 1.5 2687 3145 5832 Bitting, Kenneth (Tim) -1 3180 2640 5820 Wilhoite, Richard 0 5350 420 5770 Sheely, Richard -1 2350 2844 5194 Thompson, Frank 1 2725 2415 5140 Weimerskirch, Mike -0.5 2840 2244 5084 Grey, Peter 1.5 2787 2183 4970 Ekstrom, David 0 3032 1768 4800 Soo, Eileen Kupstas 2 4025 620 4645 Beck, Micah 3.5 3511 1067 4578 Loat, Christopher 0.5 3308 1089 4397 Bayard, Rufus 0 2280 2050 4330 Grimsdale, Bill 1 3890 420 4310 Taft, William 3.5 2440 1870 4310 Houser, Jim -0.5 2510 1800 4310 Davis, Blaine 0 3112 1030 4142 Knott, John 2 1885 2245 4130 Mathieson, Don 1.5 3660 420 4080 Hall, Jr., Jim 1.5 4065 0 4065 Curington, John 1 2620 1290 3910 Peterson, Harper 0.5 3730 180 3910 Orgill, Michael 0.5 3185 600 3785 Lawrence, Vic 2.5 2440 1310 3750 Cooley, William 5 1111 2631 3742 Summer, Steve 2.5 2500 1230 3730 Hunter, John 0 3205 410 3615 Whitmore, Robert B. 2.5 2875 675 3550 Billings, Paul 2.0 2730 810 3540 Quimby, Ted -1.5 2880 640 3520 Simonds, Jane -0.5 3420 0 3420 Leeming, Barbara 4.5 329 3083 3412 Houghton, Neil 0 2820 560 3380 Daly, Mary 3.5 970 2360 3330 Huxtable, Linda 1 2877 448 3325 Lyon, David 1 1880 1385 3265 Smith, Matthew B. 1 1950 1270 3220 Northrop, Ken 4.5 1027 2130 3157 Kelley, Rory 0 1355 1800 3155 Hafner, Bob 1.5 1355 1770 3125 Morgan, Robert S. -0.5 1400 1700 3100 Campbell, William 2.5 1183 1902 3085 Foy, Patrick 4 500 2540 3040 Ramey, Martha 0.5 1880 1160 3040 Brodsky, Stuart 1 2150 811 2961 Lloyd, Ron -2 2485 460 2945 Spoonhour, James -1 2645 255 2900