Dinosaur

With a flick of their wrist, three dozen men took turns hurling horseshoes at their target. Some of the competitors wore shirts embroidered with their name and hometown. They were from all over the country and threw an uncanny number of ringers. The throws that were a bit off, stuck like velcro in the clay surrounding the stakes.

Such was my introduction to big time horseshoe pitching in 1971 when the World Horseshoe Tournament was held in Mountain View Park. Although billed as a “world” event, nearly all of the 36 competitors were from the United States with one Canadian included.

Some competitors arrived in campers that were parked throughout the nearby grassy areas. NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry even stopped by one day. At the time, Barry was dabbling in sports broadcasting for WABC-TV in New York City.

It was a big deal. The bleachers surrounding the 24 horseshoe courts were pretty much filled during evening matches. The tournament lasted from July 31 through Aug. 10. There were separate divisions with fewer competitors for seniors, women and juniors. The competition got a write-up in the New York Times.

Curt Day, a precision machinist from Frankfort, Indiana when he wasn’t pitching horseshoes, took home the men’s title. Day won all 35 matches he played in the round-robin tournament. He was a three-time world champion during his career and pitched nearly 85% ringers during the 1971 world tournament.

Elmer Hohl of Ontario, Canada finished second with a 31-4 record and 83.9% ringer rate. Both Day and Hohl had been inducted into the National Horseshoe Pitching Association Hall of Fame two years prior to the tournament in Middlesex. The 1971 tournament was pretty much a Who’s Who of men’s horseshoe royalty. About a dozen more eventual Hall of Famers competed in addition to Day and Hohl.

That was no doubt the high-water mark as far as community interest related to those horseshoe courts. In years past, you might see a person or two using the courts in the evening. Periodically, other competitions were held there. But they never seemed to generate the buzz that the 1971 world tournament did.

It’s hard to recall the last time I saw anyone tossing ringers (or wayward shots) at those MVP courts. We’re now in the era of cornhole. If you want to marvel at competitors continually nailing a target, see one of the cornhole competitions shown on ESPN.

Times change as far as the popularity of certain games. Inherent in cornhole is an easy set up and dismantling of your playing equipment. To play horseshoes at home requires the constant wearing away of two grass areas in your lawn. Backyard horseshoes also carries the risk of an errant heavy metal pitch nailing Aunt Mildred during family get-togethers.

Borough officials have come to the same conclusion. At two recent public meetings, dismantling of the courts by the Department of Public Works has been discussed.

Three of the courts have already been removed to make way for a new playground being constructed in MVP. Department of Public Works Supervisor Len Vidal said on Tuesday, Oct. 14 that he is waiting for a contractor to schedule the dismantling of the 21 other courts. For now, the courts will be replaced with a grass area.

Along with lack of use, the potential cost to upgrade the courts was another factor in the removal decision. Vidal told the Parks Committee recently that it would cost about $150,000 to refurbish them.

In recent years, the horseshoe courts have hardly been a municipal revenue generator in terms of permitting fees. A group seeking to hold a tournament is required to pay $150.

“I can’t even buy paint brushes for that,” Vidal said.

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