Ted and Steph made it official Wednesday night. In case you weren’t at the club, Ted put the “big ring” on Steph’s finger and she put one through his nose (just kiddin). They said they are setting a date early next year. So please remember to congratulate them both. They are a match made in heaven.

Another week and another scoring update. Results are here.

This is getting a little exciting. I went ahead and added a few more simple calculations^* to give us an idea of what team was ahead before we got to the end of the season. The results: If we all keep shooting like we’re are Uncle Joe’s team will come out ahead by 3 birds. So, we’re pretty close right now.

*: I should probably come up with a better model than I’m using right now that tosses out outliers in previous performances when calculating future performance. Some of the previous scores are very unlikely to ever appear on the sheet again; like Arlen’s 3 and Jack’s 25. Just kidding, Jack.

A visual inspection of Trap House #2 has confirmed that Don’s shoulder has healed and he’s shooting again.

I’ve updated the online score sheet with this Wednesday’s results. You can find them here.

The sun had set, the lights were on and the wind had died down…the perfect conditions for shooting.

The Tri-Star had put up a pretty decent round an hour before. Now the decision had to be made. Should the next round be registered? A good portion of the whole team had shown up tonight and there was magic in the air. All the tea leaves said yes, count it.

The line was started on station 2. The birds were flying consistent and seemed to draw the Tri-Star‘s barrel into the perfect point of break. It felt so right…it was automatic. Station 3 and 4, same scenario. The Tri-Star was doing all the work and grinding up bird after bird. Could this be the night? Station 5 loomed. The heart was starting to pound. The first bird on five was a hard right, the Tri-Star came off the hold point, led the bird by a foot, fired…followed through and a solid break. Another one ground up.

Number 1 station was all that was left. The temperature was cold, every breath was visible. Steady, keep concentrating, control the breathing, stay into the gun, follow through, feet placement. Come on heart, slow down a bit. 24 straight so far. Could this be the night? The final bird, a straight away…no excuses, it’s the easiest shot and it wasn’t a hard left. Could this be the night? The Tri-Star pulled into position. Floated the bird 35 yards out. Just got to break this last bird. Squeeze the trigger, don’t flinch.

Yes, tonight was the night.

I’ve added a link on the left, to the 2009 Fall League Scores page. Scores will be updated as we progress.

A handful of the “Off A Lot” crew made their way to Seaway today and shot Sporting Clays, along with a line of trap.

Stephanie, Ted, Jack and Ben made the trip and to say they had a tremendous time would be an understatement. Ted was top dog among the troops, shooting a 26 in Sporting Clays. He has now been designated the Sporting Clays Captain of “Off A Lot”

The weather was very pleasant and waited until the shooting was over before it got windy. Ben shot his first round of Sporting Clays and left Seaway with a grin from ear to ear.

A very special thanks to Mike D. and the other gentlemen at Seaway, for their generous hospitality. The “Off A Lot” crew was able to shoot at member prices and got a free soda pop and peanuts to boot. It was the kind of day that you live for.