The 1st Annual Brown Family Independence Day Triathlon

We were sitting around Thursday night trying to decide what to do for the fourth of July. The decision was slightly complicated by the fact that I am just about broke. What can we do for free entertainment we all wondered. Fortunately, I had an idea…a triathlon.

Three sports testing the intellect, athleticism, and endurance of the contestants. The games would consist of Badminton, Croquet, and Ladderball. Annie would be the event planner. Granpap, Big A, Ethan, and Alex would take the field. To the victor would go the spoils…a paper machete medal and a week of being able to choose what we watch on TV.

The Planner

The Contestants

The Games

Badminton and Ladderball would be battled out in a double-elimination tournament. Seeding was determined by drawing numbers out of a hat. The championship for each would consist of a best-of-three match.

Croquet would be played in two games. The first would be
played by all four contestants. The top two would play in a two-ball championship game.

Scoring

Here's how we determined our winner. The winner of an event earned 100 points, second place got 75, and third received 50. The last place finisher took a goose egg. Add all of the scores and voila, we have a winner.

How it panned out

Alex was a big talker the night before. He projected the final rankings at Alex, Big A, Ethan, Granpap. We started off on Badminton.

Qualifying Round: Badminton

Alex opened up with a big win over Ethan. Big A took care of Granpap in the opening round and pulled off the upset in Game 2 by knocking off Alex. Ethan put a hurtin' on Granpap in his loser's bracket game, and tempers began to flare. Facing elimination Ethan knocked off Alex for a chance to play for the championship later that night against his pop. Alex clinched third place and Granpap failed to show.

Qualifying Round: Ladderball

It was a grudge match for the ladderball championship. Again Big A muscled through everyone to the championship game. Granpap kept it close, and knocked off Ethan to go the championship. Alex was still reeling from his badminton loss and failed to place. Ethan nailed down third.

Qualifying Round: Croquet

Big A stumbled out of the gate, but quickly recovered to take the lead. The remaining three contestants battled it out with Ethan nosing in for the second place finish, and the opportunity to compete in his second event championship. Alex edged out Granpap to take third place.

The Championships

We opened up with the best-of-three championship for Badminton. Fatigue began to set in and Ethan pulled the stunning upset in three games to hand Big A his first defeat of the day.

Big A continued his skid as Granpap defeated him in two games to take first place in Ladderball. This would put Big A and Ethan in a tie for first with Granpap and Alex in a tie for third. It would all come down to the Croquet championship for Big A and Ethan. Granpap and Alex were forced into a Ladderball tiebreaker.

The third time was the charm for Big A as he blasted Ethan in the Croquet finals. Granpap made easy work of Alex and the stage was set for the closing ceremonies.

Closing Ceremony

We started out with an amazing rendition of The Star Spangled Banner by Annie. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

National Anthem

Afterwards it was time to announce the winners. Annie again served as our Master of Ceremonies. Here's how it went down.

Award Ceremony

We capped off the night with a steak dinner (veggies for me), and a fireworks show in the front yard. Not a bad event considering it was planned the night before. Special thanks to our event planner, Annie, as well as to our four contestants.

Tune in next year when we do it all again. I'm sure they'll all be gunning for Big A, but I wouldn't have it any other way.