News Scrapbook 1989

San Diego CA !San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 123,0G 4 )

2 5 1989 , . C, II '·"

1188

Clo e may count in horseshoes, but for San Diego's pitchers, that's not good enough

gr nborns. But Riffle set them tra1gbt. Riffle, a world-cla horseshoer known for bis nearly perfect style, has tutored som of the top pitchers t the San Diego Hors hoe Club and has markedly improved their level of play. On member me a world champion I· t year, and a startling total of ven m mbers qualified for th y r's world-champ1onship tour- oam nt In Spearfish, D Thal ghl not sound like a big deal, but l's light years better than the locals used to pitch kWhen I first came out here they were so naive I could hardly land to be around 'em," Riffle rec lied. "But there' a lot of good ho hoe pitcbin' going on here now, buddy. ''This is one of the best horseshoe clubs 111 the U.S. Shoot, e got 150 m mbers now." That's up from only when be arrived, the increase bemg partly due to Riffle and partly due to Pre:;i- dcnt George Bush. Bush is an avid ho hoe pitcher who slings st I at the White House wh never he gets the chance. He's invited som of the best horseshoe pitchers in the United States to play on h' courts - whieh feature black- marble walkways - and has tirred mcreased media interest in the sport. Sports lllu tr led is among several

Tribune photos by Cindy Lubke Romero Don Helmich gets down to serious business - concentrating on his next pitch at the horseshoe club

able to hone their talents under Ril- fie's guidance. He's 72 now - long retired from his job as a production supervisor for General Motors - and age and a bad knee have diminished his horseshoe skills. But not his teaching skills. Blessed with a garrulous personality, he's eager to help others learn the simple but elusive secret of how to throw horseshoes perfectly. One of his prize students is Gam- ble, a boat repairman for Kettenburg Marine who won a world-champion- ship competition last August in Pleasanton, Calif., beating out 48 other men. "Glenn helps everybody out," said Gamble. "I was throwin' my shoe too fast, but he got me to slow it down." "Glenn's a good teacher because be deals with the basics," agreed Tucker. ''You learn bow to make it natural." Riffle began pitching shoes more than a half-century ago back in his native Ohio - the motherland of horseshoes, in case you didn't know. Ohio sponsored the first officially sanctioned statewide horseshoe tour- nament in the ·ted States in 1921. Please see GAM. : C-3, Col. 1

Perhaps more importantly, though, "it's made people who play the sport feel like it's not a barnyard sport anymore," Tucker said. In addition, a number of local hor- seshoers have gotten more serious about the sport because they've been

prominent publications that have re- cently featured articles on horse- shoes. The publicity has brought in 15-20 new members to the San Diego Horseshoe Club in the last year, said club president Chuck Tucker.

T e Court: feet between stakes. Children 11J1der 18 and women throw from 30 feet. ne Shoes: Tempered steel, 2 lbs. 6 oz. to 2 lbs. 10 oz. eacb. The Game: Each player throws two shoes consecutively. Jokes and caustic comments about a competitor's form acceptable be- tween throws. Tile Scoring: Ringers count three points, but ringers by competing players cancel each other. If there are no ringers, the closest shoe to the stake scores one point if it's within six inches. If one player has the two closest s oes, and both are within six inches, he or she scores two points. (No, leaners do Dot coDDt two points.) First person to score 40 PQints wins.

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Glenn Rim 's cla