tournament

Poker Tournament for a Good Cause

By ARLnow.com

“Wild West” and “Caribbean Breeze” are two things that generally do not go together. Neither are “Habitat for Humanity” and “poker tournament.”

Nonetheless, a “Wild West” Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament and Networking Party to benefit Habitat for Humanity is being held tonight at Caribbean Breeze restaurant in Ballston (4100 N. Fairfax Drive).

Up to 40 players will ante up $100 to compete for a flat screen TV and a pair of gift certificates. Online registration for the tournament is still open.

In addition to poker, the event will also feature cigar rolling, whiskey tastings, special cocktails, raffles, a “special celebrity guest” and networking opportunities.

Non-poker players will be assessed a $20 cover charge, unless they “dress the part” (cowboy hat, huge belt buckle, cowboy boots, etc.), in which case the cover drops to $10. The event starts at 5:30 p.m.

Arlington First Responders Place First in Hockey Tourney

By ARLnow.com

The team was formed less than two months ago, and they only got their jerseys the day before their first game, but Arlington cops and firefighters managed to take first place in a charity hockey tournament over the weekend,

The joint ACFD/ACPD team beat Montgomery County Fire (score: 5-1), D.C. Fire (score: 7-0) and Baltimore City Fire (twice) to win their division at the annual D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation hockey tournament in Laurel, Md. They won 5-4 in overtime in the championship game against Baltimore City on Sunday.

Team organizer Sean Spencer says the 30-man roster contains people who have been playing ice hockey since they were kids and people who just took up the sport in the past couple of years. They had great chemistry on the ice, he said, despite only playing together as a team one time prior to the tournament.

“We’re pretty happy with the outcome,” Spencer said. “[The players] are ecstatic we got a team together and were successful at the level we were.”

Spencer says the D.C. and Baltimore fire teams have already asked for a rematch. To facilitate that, he’s planning on talking to Ballston’s Kettler Capitals Iceplex about setting up a charity tournament in a couple of months, to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Photo via Facebook

Soccer Tourney Coming to Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

The annual Arlington Spring Invitational soccer tournament will kick off Friday.

The tournament features 500+ boys and girls travel teams and about 4,500 players from around the mid-Atlantic region and beyond. One team is coming from as far away as Quebec, Canada. Teams range in age from Under-10 to Under-15.

The boys teams will play this weekend. Girls teams will play next weekend.

The tournament, which is sanctioned by US Youth Soccer, takes advantage of Arlington’s plentiful synthetic turf fields, which are ideal for the normally soggy month of March.

Unfortunately, rain is indeed in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

According to this article about the invitational, Arlington County has the highest concentration of synthetic fields in the country.

Fastpitch Softball Tourney Returns to Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Girls’ fast pitch softball teams from around the region will converge on Arlington this weekend for the ninth annual First Responders’ Cup tournament. The tournament is held to “celebrate the heroism of the Arlington Fire and Police who were the first at the Pentagon” on 9/11.

More than three dozen teams, in age divisions from 12 and under to 18 and under, will begin competing tomorrow night. Tournament play will continue through Sunday.

Games will be held at the Barcroft Sports Complex, Jennie Dean Fields (near Shirlington) and the Wakefield High School softball fields.

At 7:30 Saturday morning, an opening ceremony will be held at Barcroft. It will feature the Army Old Guard Ceremonial Fife and Drum Brigade, along with WJLA sports reporter Britt McHenry, Arlington County Manager Michael Brown, Police Chief Douglas Scott, and Fire Chief James Schwartz.

Photo courtesy First Responders Cup.

Arlington Youth Baseball Team Claims District Title

By ARLnow.com

The 13-year-old Arlington Babe Ruth All-Star Baseball Team won their league’s district tournament Monday night. They will now advance to the Babe Ruth League state championship, to be held later this month in Victoria, Va.

The Arlington team bounced back from a 1-11 loss against Vienna, beating the same Vienna team 10-4 to capture the district title.

“We were able to re-focus and win the game with strong pitching, great defense, and some timely hits and bunts,” coach Greg Wigton said. “We scored 8 runs in the 4th inning, and added 2 more in the 7th.”

The team’s first game in the state tournament will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 23.

The team roster, after the jump.

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Afternoon Notes: Petition Problems, Final Jeopardy

By ARLnow.com

Change-of-Government Petition Issues — The Sun Gazette reports that the Arlington County registrar’s office may have a difficult time processing the thousands of signatures being gathered for the Committee for a Better Arlington’s change-of-government proposal. Officials are worried that the county may have to hire temporary workers and pay overtime in order to verify all the signatures. In a separate article, a Committee for a Better Arlington spokesperson says that the group will probably not honor any requests by petition signers who have reconsidered and now want their name removed from the list, saying it’s “not required by the law.”

Final Jeopardy for Arlington Contestant — Despite a valiant comeback and a down-to-the-wire finish, Arlington resident Liz Murphy placed second in last night’s semifinal round of the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions, which means she will not advance to the finals.

Arlington Woman Wins First Round of Jeopardy Tournament

By ARLnow.com

Arlington resident Liz Murphy has advanced to the semifinals of the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions. The foreign service officer and Arlington Public Library regular roundly beat her two opponents — both returning Jeopardy champions — on last night’s show.

Murphy will compete in the semifinals next week. The tournament’s top prize is $250,000 cash.

Check out an interview of Murphy here.

Jeopardy airs at 7:30 p.m. on WJLA (Channel 7).

Photo courtesy “Jeopardy!” Productions, Inc.