The Press Democrat’s pop culture wiz, John Beck, stopped by the ranch yesterday to film his (highly entertaining, if not legally insane) 60-Second Weekend Podcast. Far from the bookish character I tend to invoke whenever I imagine a journalist, this man has combustible energy. So much so that he should probably be hooked up to wires and probed in a lab as a possible alternative energy source. That said, Mr. Beck had a lot of offbeat ideas as to how to incorporate the rock, paper, scissors into his podcast. Let’s just say he has single-handedly raised the sport to a new level. He also wrote a funny blog post about the event. And without further ado, I now present to you Rose’ Man… and the first ever, ATV RPS Joust.

One of the film crews at our Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament (from a video blog called Discover Wine Country) just posted a short piece which is DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING.  It’s short, funny, and for all of you who couldn’t make it, captures the spirit of the competition.  Enjoy!

Our 5th Annual Roshambo Winery Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament went off without a hitch as 192 competitors let fists and fingers fly for their chance at a piece of the $2500 pie. Once again, the World RPS-sanctioned championship was an international affair, with competitors from both near and far. A cute metal rock chick named Motoko came out from Japan. The one and only “Custard Chuck” and his lady friend, “Scissor Sista,” were in from Darwin, Australia. Wall Street Wonderboy, Matt Brown, trekked out from, you guessed it, Wall Street. And the world famous “Master Roshambollah” of Washington D.C. came for the fifth straight year. (Though, it should be noted that he didn’t officially compete as he retired from the sport several years ago as the world’s greatest champion. He’s kind of like Lance Armstrong, only different.) In other words, there was NO shortage of colorful characters to captivate the imagination. And if you don’t believe me, peep our Flickr page and THESE PHOTOS.

This year’s contest was won by Maricela Barrigan of Santa Rosa who beat out Healdsburg’s Zack Polston. Barrigan claims it was “beginners luck,” but anyone versed in basic RPS strategy (or common sense) knows that she’s just saying that. I mean, if you had just won 1800 big ones would you be racing to reveal your secret? Probably not, especially with our 6th annual championship in the works. (Next summer at our new Cornerstone tasting room!) She did, however, admit to John Beck of the Press Democrat, “I had one cocktail and that was it.” When he asked if there was any chance the rest of the field was inebriated, she said, “Definitely.” Perhaps sobriety was her secret (which is funny, because I heard one late round competitor attribute “cocaine” and his “speedy mind” to his successful run). Whatever the case, in the 5 year history of this tournament, 4 of the winners have been women. Naomi Brilliant has an interesting theory on this: “It just goes to show that men have no idea what’s going on in the minds of women, and women know exactly what’s going on in the minds of men.” True that.
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CLICK HERE for some video footage of the event and John Beck’s recap.

And special thanks to photographer Josh Adler for his sharp eye and contributions to our Flickr page. (He also snapped great photos of last year’s Pirate Prom. Adler is Aces.)

Last but not least, please send some of your best photos from the event to me: scott (at) scottkeneally.com. I’d love to add them to our Flickr page!

If anyone is hemming and hawing and wondering whether or not they should BUY A TICKET to compete in our 5th Annual Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship, or if anyone is wondering what the hell an RPS Tournament entails, well, I suggest you take a peek at this clip.  It’s from the CBS Sunday Morning Show.  I simply cannot express how much fu#king fun our signature event is.  Words fail me.  Luckily, however, I have this national news feature to back me up.  Enjoy responsibly and please, BUY A TICKET.  I promise… win, lose or draw, you will have the time of your life.  And isn’t that what it’s all about?