Mary's Nipple Cup 2007

The competition for the Utah State Zimmerstutzen Championship and for the possession of the coveted Mary's Nipple Cup was held Saturday, the 15 of September in Mayfield, Utah. The day started early with eager competitors sighting-in and tucking-in. To start,the unscrupulous organizer, himself a competitor, stuffed the visiting and unsuspecting rubes with a huge breakfast and high octane coffee-a tactic designed only to gain advantage. The competition then began promptly an hour or so after the first call of the hunting horn. The firing of the targets lasted precisely for one hour plus what time it took Gaylord to finish. Certainly a contest to remember.

While this was going on, the ladies availed themselves of the opportunity to visit the historic Gunnison theater, a Utah Historical Site, and the recently completed dragon mosaic of Roman proportions, under the Gunnison Sanpitch bridge.

After the competition ended and the scoring was being done, Paul Lambert conducted a small contest where, I am loath to report, money seems to have changed hands. Alas, the times we live in. When the ladies, finally, arrived back from their cultural expedition, champagne toasts were made and the awards were granted the victors. Paul Lambert won the Glueckscheibe award, a fine reproduction of a Spanish flintlock in an easy-to-handle size. Common decency and humility forbid me from announcing the winner of the other prizes. Detractors, to their everlasting shame, may assert that some advantage was taken merely by the coincidence of the victor happening to have a: made the rules. b: shot the match on his "home range." and c: did all the scoring. "Evil to those who evil think," I say.

Pictures from the event are here and I encourage those who also took some photos to send them to me. I want to thank all of those who were present-I don't know if I have ever had a more pleasant weekend- and would encourage all to look forward with anticipation to MNC III.