Sat, Nov 11 2006 - World RockPaperScissors Championship!!!! (View Original Event Details)
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Driving Ms. Scheurer!
(Oh, and something about a Rock Paper Scissors Game)
November 2, JennM posts in the TOC Forum a local event coming up November 11, the 2006 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships. She is ‘excited’ about possibly
attending after one of her hikes earlier in the day. The TOC Forums if you’re not aware is populated by some very unique individuals and personalities (myself included).
Also on our forums, we have the pleasure of having Rhonda, former president and founder of the Calgary Outdoor Club, and Current President and founder of the Calgary
Culture Club. She is also an active member on our forums sharing her COC wisdom with us. Long story short, Jenn says she’ll compete in the RPS (That’s Rock Paper
Scissors for the lay folk) Championship if Rhonda comes down and cheers her on! Rhonda is not one to back down from a challenge, and before we all know it, she has
booked a flight to Toronto to attend the RPS!!! So in the blink of an eye, a ‘haha’ funny post in the forum has become the event of the Century!
Fast Forward to November 11, not only is it Remembrance Day (I hope you all stopped for 1 minute), but the big day has arrived! Rhonda is set to arrive at 1pm at
Pearson International, and I was bestowed with the honour of not only picking up Ms. Scheurer, but also to ensure that all her needs where met (yes, all). Rhonda arrives
and checks out before I managed to get to the airport. A quick call confirms she will wait outside, wearing her BRIGHT red jacket and jeans. As I get to the arrival section,
I do see a bright red jacket, but this person was wearing a hood, and I figured what hearty Calgarian would find our moderate Toronto climate cold, so I drive on, looking
for another bright red jacket in the crowded airport. I quickly realize that it was in fact Rhonda waiting, as I look back in my rearview mirror and see this tiny red object in
the distance running towards me. With Rhonda safely in my car, we head off for lunch, as the paltry peanuts she ate on the plane didn’t do her justice!
We headed for some Tasty Popey’s Chicken ™ and once satiated, we met up with JennM and her hiking crew, where she not only got to meet some TOCers, but also the
venerable Gerry D! His legend has spread throughout the various clubs, and Rhonda was quickly impressed by our beloved Gerry. After a few beers and healthy eats (by
the hikers, Rhonda and I were still stuffed with Chicken), we headed south to our next destination, the Pho Xe Lua Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, where
we met up with Mel, Chuck, Steph, Dom, and Dobby! Dobby of course belongs to the COC as well, but he was in Ottawa for business, and decided to drive down to
meet up the rest of the gang! Now that’s Hardcore! After a few beers and some Delicious pho, we headed to our Main Event! The reason why THE Rhonda came all the
way from Calgary! The World RPS Championships beckoned to us, and we had to heed its call!
As we arrive at the Roundhouse, home of Steam Whistle Breweries, and the site of the 2006 Championship, we are greeted by a long line of contenders anxious to get their
game on! We run into Emma and Matt who are already waiting in line for registration, and are soon joined by Gerry who decided to join us after hearing bout the RPS
during Jenn’s hike and beers at the Firkin.
If you thought the World Rock Paper Scissors Championship was a lame joke of an event, then you’d be sadly mistaken dear reader! People really did come from far and
wide (Wider than Calgary even!) There was representatives from the UK, the US, some random Swedes and Finns, and even some guy from Montreal! All these brave
souls trekked out to Toronto for a chance to take home the $7000.00 Grand Prize! Not only did they come from far and wide, they also came in some of the most
colourful costumes this side of Halloween!
All told, Team Runs With Scissors consisted of Rhonda, Mel, Matt and JennM, sadly however, JennM got tied up by some fiendish publishers who kept her from making
the competition on time! Our team proceeded to warm up (ok drink, but who’s checking) until the main event was set to begin. With close to 500 competitors to sign in,
there was lots of time to warm up! The rest of our cheering section showed up shortly after, and by then, the party was in full swing! Rhonda even had the pleasure of
having her best friend from Calgary, Bridget show up, who also happened to be in Toronto for the weekend (really, really small world people).
The Competition started fast and the action was furious! Players where throwing their Scissors with reckless abandon! Rocks were smashing through Windows! And the
Paper was being littered everywhere! As with any competitive game, there must always be winners and losers, and sadly, our Team was eliminated quickly in the first
round. Props (rocks) go to Mel who managed to advance to the semis in her opening heat! After the quick out, we drank away our sorrows while being entertained by
Jeep Daddy H (Hassan) and his Hoe, Lil’ J (JennP). Jeep Daddy H was quite the pimp, hustling the unsuspecting crowd out of their RPS bucks! Had we known that
there was a side tourney for actually making the most RPS bucks we would have hustled a lot more!
They had to kick us out eventually, so we ended up getting some pizza on Spadina (Sadly, the Popeye’s was closed). The food was more than welcome, and we reveled in
the awesome day/night we had just had! Team Runs With Scissors and the crew said their final goodbye’s to our new BFF Rho, and with that, it was time to drive Ms.
Scheurer back to the airport.
That’s right, it was almost 3am, and with Rhonda’s flight leaving at 7am, we had some time to kill. There was no sense in getting some sleep before hand, because if did,
Rhonda would have most likely missed her flight. We stopped for some Tim’s on the way, and chilled in the airport until Rho could check in. Half Sober and totally
wired on caffeine, we passed the time quite effortlessly with some awesome conversation (you’re the Best Rho!) and quite frankly, I’m gonna miss my new friend!
Until we meet again Rho! <3
I’ll post the link. to the forum thread so you can see the behind the scenes look as to how the this event developed
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.