The second BDP saw a large increase in players. Eighty players came from all over the globe: Austria (4), Canada (1), France (5), Germany (7), Holland (6), Italy (16), Portugal (10), Spain (6), Sweden (1), Switserland (5), UK (9), and US (10).
The fear having to equal
the previous year quickly disappeared. New and old players mixed in well and the tournament was a great success once again.
The only small blemish was that a calculation error at the end of the round-robin put the wrong teams facing each other in the semi-finals: French Fried Feet should have played against Sand Eaters, and Selecção should have played In The Shadow. If this would have changed the final outcome we will never know... Considering the
feedback that we got after the tournament, it didn't matter and that we can only assume that the 2nd BDP was another success :-)
Semifinals
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French Fried Feet - Selecção 9 - 3
In the Shadow - Sand Eaters 6 - 3
FINAL
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French Fried Feet - In the Shadow 9 - 7
Melissa Larky, Sharlene and Pablo Martinez (US), Peldi (Italy), Cédric (France), Rocky Beach (Spain), Benjamin Silcock (UK), Zuli (Austria).
Congrats go out to: Chris Scheider (Switserland), Toffi, Luisa (Italy), Jaison DeCicco, Stuart Wishart(UK), Kaleen Moriarty (Spain), António Fernandes, and Patrick van der Valk (Portugal).
I just realized I haven't written you since BDP. As usual, people that
come home after the tournament fall in a dull state of half-depression.
All the sweet memories, the people, their faces...
During the tournament those of us who had been there in '97 noticed in
the eyes of the newcomers the sparkle of true happiness. Zuli, for
instance, kept coming to me, grabbing my arm and telling me: "Peldi I
have never been so happy". And this was before we won the tournament.
For us quot;oldtimersquot; it wasn't new any more, it was a confirmation of our
memories. quot;It's the only tournament worth coming to every year
regardless of where you'll livequot; (it could be BDP's motto).
Melle is the living proof.
The tournament was, once again, perfect and the Portuguese players are
a lot of fun.
Peldi, Italy,
Skipping out on school to run away to Portugal for the weekend was a mischievous
and terribly irresponsible thing to do and boy am I ever glad I did it! How
fabulous, how magical, what a country you live in. You know, by the time we
reached the campground from the airport that first day, my face was aching --
I was grinning so hard and couldn't stop, so full of glee was I to be at another
Bar do Patrick & Sofia tournament, in this magical land. I don't know
what it is about Portugal but it's really one of my favorite places in the
world. I have already sent two people, who were wondering what to do with
their summer vacations, to Portugal. Perhaps that wasn't fair of me
because they couldn't hope to have the sort of exhuberant experience as
what I had twice at the tournaments, or even the prowling around Lisbon as
we did last year, with a pack of Swiss, Italians, Brits and you two.
Hopefully I'll be on the ball enough next year to pull the same sort of
disappear-appearance act. You've made this a priority for me, you know!
I got lots of email from my French Fried Feet teammates in the weeks afterward,
still glowing in the glory. You really do something wonderful when you provide
an arena for old friends to meet up from far corners of the earth, and for
us to make new fabulous friends. Bar do Peixe tournaments enhance my life,
and I'm sure many other people feel the same way.
Melle, USA,
Thank you soooo much for the tournament. I had the time of my life. I am
going to do everything in my power to make it back next year. I already
have my pictures developed and they turned out great. There are some
really funny pictures from the naked game. I will send you a couple if you
like. I hope all is well.
Thanks again,
Rocky, Spain,
Before too many people realize I'm back at work, I just want to say
THANKS for a GREAT tournament, and hope that we can come close to
equaling how smoothly it went with our smaller tournament here.
Thanks for the shuttle service again, for vegetarian food, for a
beautiful baby to look at live and in person, and for a great reason
to spend 4 days on a Portugese beach.
obriagado, grazie, danke (sorry, can't remember the spelling in dutch),
thanks, gracies,
Matt, Spain
hey guys, a note from eindhoven.
just wanted to send a computer full of thanks for a GREAT time at the tourney.
everything was perfect. I think it will become an annual event for me. so go
ahead and sign me up for Bar Do Peixe '99!
Onno, Holland
I would like to say that a tournment on the beach I recently went to was
one of the best times I've had in my life. And I think that the person
who organised it should be given a big cream cake-if they like cream
cake of course, or they could have a dougnut in stead.
Thank You for arranging so much fun for all of us. I can still remember
it all so well ( well all the bits I was able to remember at the time,
which certainly wasn't everything!) I have now caught the travel bug
and plan to go to the Swiss tournment PARTY ON.
Dreaming in anticipation of next years return to Portugal thanks a
million again
Vicky, England
I wanted to say thanks so much for all your hard work and kindness in
June. Man, did I have a blast! I can honestly say that I loved every
second of my trip -- all the way down to the gorgeous women I kept
getting seated beside on the airplanes! Amazing!
I got all my pictures back. And I am afraid I am succeeding in
advertising for next year's tourney. I'm sure there will be 6 or 8
Vancouverites in attendance -- but none are as gloriously bald as me.
Especially not the women. But I suppose they're good-looking too.
Anyway, I will send some pix to you -- some by mail if I get off my ass,
or some by e-mail if I get adventurous. We'll see.
Art, Canada
Other websites with memories of BDP1998: |
Pablo Martinez' webpage |
