Post 2006 Duck Soup Notes

Greetings, all you faithful Soupers. I will start with two negatives and then take the high road.

Who was the idiot that scheduled four teams to play at two different fields at the same time?  Well, it was me. You knew it all along and you were just waiting for it to happen, weren’t you?  For that I apologize. I apologize to the teams affected by the mix up and to the Duck Soup Board that resulted in everyone leaving Aquila fields at 9:10 p.m. or so.

We have remedied this situation and replaced the bum with Dan Broin from the Menacing Midgets, who so bravely stepped to the plate and volunteered to be on the Duck Soup Board. See how easy that is fans and fannies?

Secondly, representatives from the City of St. Louis Park called me to say the field areas (benches and spectator areas) were left in the worst condition they have ever seen for a Duck Soup event.

Next year, please pick up after yourself or bring your mother, whichever is easier.

Now, onwards and upwards. Great weather once again. It rained the two days prior to the Fiasco and the day after!!!

It appears Duck Soup made a profit of $4,100. That money will be divided and go to two or more 2007 St. Louis Park graduates and our permanent scholarship fund.  Thank you very much for your continued support. Thanks also for your donations to Toys for Tots. We will be collecting again next year.

The GAMES. The GAMES. Many, many close games that ended with ½ run difference. For winners, go to the end of these notes.

In a stunning upset, the Faue Concrete Menacing Midgets lost the Michael C. Smieja Memorial Hot Dog Eating Contest to the Faue Concrete Menacing Midgettes. Seems the Midgets couldn’t pronounce Faue at all and could not enunciate Midgets very well. Final score: 1.Midgettes 126

2. Mt’s on 8^th---80

3. County Crew---46

4. The Other Team Too---35

5. Team Nemi---33

So, we gave the Midgets the “I whined and complained so much that they gave me this trophy” trophy.

Costumes. Wow, some fantastic costumes again this year. Duffy’s the defending champion and multi-time winner again shocked the throngs with their Vegas theme. BUT, in a suspected voter fraud scenario only Cook County, Illinois would be proud of, Duffy’s   finished 3^rd in the contest.

In reality, the votes were tallied by Frank (what eye chart?) Tsuchiya (SLP ’68) whose eye sight with glasses is 200-6000. Normally, we would apologize, but we used our one apology earlier. We are proud to say Frank will be back next year calling balls & strikes.

The real winners of the Steve Alpert Memorial Costume Contest were, The Other Team, with a theme of Space Balls, whatever that is or was.  I must get out more. Their costumes were very detailed and great!

Other great costumes were:

2^nd Place---Team Nemi---Super Heroes

3^rd Place---Duffy’s –Vegas

4^th Place---Thirsty Thursdays---Witches

5^th Place---Saggin & Draggin----Cowboys

6^th Place---The Other Team Too---Road Signs

7^th Place---Shooters---Vegas Headliners

8^th Place---Hillbillies

9^th Place---Misfits---Golf Attire

10^th Place---Dead Wrong

11^th---Famous Duos

12^th Place---B-Dale

13^th Place---RTTO---Gang Green

Saggin & Draggin along with the St. Louis Park Hillbillies deserved better. Costumes, theme and accessories were great. We particularly liked S & D’s dog with a saddle and the little chuck wagon boasting “Duck Soup of Bust”.

Best use of SPAM trophy was won by Duffy’s Elvis doing a daring Evil Knievel like stunt. The hushed throngs (11) watched as he jumped over 9, count em, 9 cans of spam. He succeeded in grand spam style and his in flight picture can be viewed on the Duck Soup web site http://ducksoupsoftball.tripod.com

Second best use of Spam was awarded to long time volunteer Al Cady for his concoction of spam, bacon and God only knows what. People consuming this dish were never seen again that weekend. Al also took home the Life Time Achievement Award. This was his 11^th consecutive year volunteering. Obviously touched by the award, Al was seen wiping away the tears as he stated, “I said I would never cry”.  Personally, I think it was the salt from the baked Cheetos.

In a rare occurrence, one fan was spotted eating a banana. She was chastised on the spot for consuming healthy food. Get with the program Missy!

Cutest dog #1 went to the 8 week old Dachshund, Ivan the Terrible, who fit inside “Dad’s” softball glove. Adorable, even to cat lovers. See our web site again.

Cutest baby vote was rumored to be tainted, this time under the suspicion of nepotism. Yes, nepotism even at Duck Soup. Where will it stop? The over all winner was Zachary Bartsch. See our web site, once more.

We also sang Happy Birthday to Joey, who was born the Saturday of last year’s Duck Soup(off site thank you), so Mom & Dad missed DS 2005.

2007 will mark our 25^th Annual Duck Soup Softball Fiasco. Plans for this event have already started.

Stu (The Big Duck) Alexander and his stunning spouse Diedre (Web master) will return for next years event, as will co-founder Steve (the Human Stomach,  a.k.a. Alpsssssss) Alpert.

These three will be available for autographs ($1 ea) after the purchase of your Duck Soup Hall of Fame InDuckTee T-shirt. The fee will be waved for any past scholarship winners (Julie Mohs, etc.)

Any team registering BEFORE August 1, 2007 will have their team name (not the costume theme) printed on the back of the shirt.

The rumor mill is a buzz about Alexx or Steve, or both of them taking one at bat in each of the scheduled games. This might result in a payoff costing teams up to $2 or $3 dollars, begging them not to bat.

Team Manager of The Sheiks, Ken Crichton, was quoted as saying, “We must be getting old” after losing the Men’s A bracket. Well, Ken, you have been playing in the Fiasco for over 20 years, you might be right. But don’t let that stop you next year. Don’t let that stop anybody.

The 2007 Duck Soup Registration Form will be posted on the web site by November 1, 2006.

And last and certainly least, the game winners were:

Women “A”----Joe’s Shortstops over Thirsty Thursdays

Women “B”---B-Dale over Twins

Women “C”---Crackers over The Midgettes

Co-Rec “A”---Stardust over The Blue Line Club

Co-Rec “B”---Misfits over MT’s on 8th

Co-Rec “C”---NASCAR Junkies over T-Check Systems

Men “A”---QA Sports over The Sheiks

Men “B”---The Mud Ducks over The Unholy Alliance

Men “C”---Team Choke over Souper Stars

Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.

Sidney Wood

Here's a recap of the wonderful 2005 Fiasco.  Thanks to Bill Gregg for the rhyme.  Anyone else have their version of a recap?  Send it to Diedre at diedre@cox.net and she'll post your version of the event!

Bill Gregg