15th Anniversary Mailout Spiel (Christmas 2003)
Christmas, 2003
Well folks, in triathlon lingo this is what we would call the ‘first leg’ of our annual address. This year the board voted (Jon told us) to all make offerings to the piece. So here goes!
Jon and I made a pilgrimage to our nation's capital in June for a string of Cup meetings (and the Capital City Beerfest). The ‘raison d'être’?
We’ve had a plan in effect for a while now to grow the event into a bigger version of itself and it was time. Time to poke our heads up from the underground. Let people in on our little secret that winter in the capital can be a blast when the proper recipe is prepared: one part winter, one part spirit, one part will and three parts people. Obviously it is our opinion that you all make The Cup what it is. So in an effort to share the wealth that you all let loose, one winter weekend a year, we start to make some moves.
Move 1
Meet with NCC (National Capital Commission) to discuss becoming a part of Winterlude festivities.
Result:
They suggest that tackling federal ‘red tape’ might not be the right route for our event. We agree. We decide to move the Carleton Cup one week prior, ie. instead of being the first weekend in February, the Cup will take place the last Saturday in January.
Move 2
Meet with Byward Market Business Improvement Association.
Result:
No major announcements yet, but they love the idea of a big outdoor tent to house the mass of Cuppers for an after-party worthy of The Carleton Cup (this just becomes easier to pull-off the weekend before Winterlude...something to chew on.).
Move 3
Meet with The New RO.
Result:
The Cup will hit the big time and do its first TV commercial to mark its celebratory 15th Anniversary!
The rest as they say you will just have to wait and see, but trust me when I say we are going to have a great year. I figure if Dean can snowboard 4 times before December 1st in BC (his new home, we miss you), then winter is upon us. So in the words of an
exceedingly illustrious Canadian: “just show up and we’ll show you the best back yard north of Capricorn - your own back yard.”
Looking forward to seeing you,
Scott Rondeau
Grand Poobah
Jon, what say you?
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“Hey Hey Hey,” (said in a low guttural tone, Fat Albert-style)
As Scott has said, we've been hard at work on the Cup since June. This is our 15th anniversary and it's gonna to be a good one, I tell you what. This is definitely the year to round up all those fence-sitters you know and tell them it's time to come up to Ottawa and kick out the jams!
We're hoping everyone can really come through big this year in raising money for CF. Don't forget Christmas is the best time to hit up all your relatives for pledges, too. Get 'em on Christmas night post-turkey dinner when they're feeling bloated, drunk and vulnerable. Don't think of them as family members, think of them as "marks", and it's your job to liberate their money from them. But for a very good cause, of course. 'Tis the season!
A few bits of newsy news........the side of the Lafayette we usually occupy is now a Quizno's, and as they 'renovated' the eastern side a while back (a polite way of putting it!), we have no choice but to move our finish line for the first time in 14 races. It's a sad day, I know. However, the third leg of the Cup will now take place across the street at the Dominion Tavern. This is a great bar with a lot of character, and I know they will make us feel right at home.
There is talk of some fine people in Winnipeg taking the Carleton Cup model and starting a race out there. No date has been set as of yet, but it will likely take place at the end of February. Many of us Cup die-hards are seriously talking about making the trek out to the 'Peg for their inaugural race. Please consider joining us, it'll be a total blast, and the more the merrier. I'm sure we'll be treated like royalty, too; I imagine the Carleton Cup delegation's arrival in Winnipeg will be much like the Beatles arriving at JFK in '64 - pure mayhem, baby! We'll keep you posted on this as more news comes our way.
Thirdly, as Scott has mentioned the Cup will not be held during Winterlude this year for the first time ever. We had always thought that becoming an official Winterlude event was a inevitable step in the Cup's evolution....well, this past June Mr. Rondeau and I went to Ottawa to ask the powers-that-be if we could be included in that great 'lude of winter. We weren't told no exactly, but it was made quite clear that if we did become an official Winterlude event we would completely lose our own autonomy (ie. "you know, it'd be much better if you guys held your race Sunday morning at 10am, thanks. Oh, and Labatt is your sponsor? No, we deal exclusively with Pepsi as our beverage sponsor, you'll need to change."). In the words of Fred Willard in "A Mighty Wind": I don't think so!
We decided that we do not need to be affiliated with Winterlude, being that they cannot give us anything we do not already have. "Respectability"? Pluueeeze! We are the Ultimate Canadian Triathlon, for the love of Pete, and heading into our 15th year! Anyone who doesn't get the joke by now.....So, moving the Cup to the weekend before Winterlude means we can operate independently of any federal bureaucracies, god love 'em! Therefore the Cup will be held the last Saturday in January henceforth. Winterlude did of course offer afternoon activities before the event, but true Cuppers are too wrapped up in their own pre-race rituals (ie. Bisby's pancake breakfast, yoga, bong hits, etc.) to worry about walking around and looking at ice sculptures. (They were nice, though).
However, to fill this pre-race void there are outdoor hockey games Saturday afternoon with teams from the Exclaim! Hockey Association (a league filled with musicians and arty types, some well-known and some not so), which Bob will say more about in his spiel below. Forget that over-hyped televised letdown in Edmonton last month, these outdoor hockey games are going to be the shit! We need spectators so please join us.
The website has been revamped and apparently some wind-bag has submitted an essay entitled "ICE INTO GOLD: The Alchemy of the Carleton Cup." Haven't read it myself but I'm told it's pretty good.
So one of the things we've been working on is planning some hijinks after our awards ceremony at the Dominion Tavern. I'm not going to give anything away except to say we're pulling out all the stops to make this the best Cup ever. You'll love it! So have a great Christmas and we'll see you then.
Jonny Knowles
Dude/Local 165
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"It's been 687 days since my last Cup."
Right then. So yeah, I missed the fucking Cup last year. Fact is, the accumulated residue from 14 of them has long infected me far beyond a connection to one day per year so I miss it pretty much all the time. Rarely a day goes by I don't miss it. The day before the Cup I miss it. 10 minutes after I miss it. 687 days after I miss it.
Glad to return.
Rediscoverin' our National Sport
My reintroduction to the game of hockey has opened my eyes to a new world. A world of disrobed personas and real people wearing visible armour of a different kind for protection...sidetrack. My team... The Three Gut Feelings of Guelph have challenged Jon's team... The Hockey Lads of Parkdale to a classic OUTDOOR shinny game of sticks and toques, 2x4 boards and frozen toes. Puck drops 2PM Saturday, January 31st, McNabb Park (NE corner of Gladstone & Bronson). Following the Feelings VS Lads match-up, Ottawa's very own Songbird Millionaires will joust the Peterborough Pneumonia. If you're not playing... I suggest ya throw on your woolies, grab a horn and come watch. Three, one-of-a-kind, handcrafted 3Gut tee's will be up for grabs to fans in the stands.
If The Carleton Cup is the Ultimate Canadian Triathlon (which it is)... then this is The Ultimate Canadian Hockey Game... nice fit. Bob's advice: if you play hockey, play more. If you don't, start.
Check out our five dollar bill, it says it all.
Bob Millar
3-time Carleton Cup champion
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15 years... yes it's been that long. Over the years I have seen miracles, tragedy, acts of divinity, and law-defying wonder. Throughout all of it, the Cup has been a constant. Much like the watch on my wrist, the Cup has always been a part of my experiences. I have always believed that the Cup has been responsible for the civil well-being of this country and has kept us at peace whether the public knows it or not (the meadows??).
I implore all of you to remember that we were all first-timers at some point and that even the smallest voice can preach the gospel.
My message... I love the Cup. I am part of something that is bigger than I am. It’s bigger than all of us and is an engine that fuels our travels. Looking forward to 2004 with not a sense of hope, but of honour and tradition.
"It's the singer, not the song, that makes the music move along."
Peace out,
Dean HP
Carleton Cup President, Guru, and recent west coast hillbilly