LEWISTON, NY -- With just over 11 hours (I think, math was never my strong suit in school, however I did excel at lunch and in being a wise ass) until the start of the 2017 John Henning Memorial Tournament, musky tournament fans from across the globe as well as the imaginary ones between my ears, are anticipating a heroic esox duel between all parties involved for supreme Dominion over the lower Niagara River and exclusive bragging rights on social media outlets like MySpace and the Musky Hunter forum page.
While most musky tournament fans show their team spirit adorning themselves with angling jersey replicas and signs rooting their favourites on to victory, an unseemly element of houlagans has plagued Lewsiton, as millions of fans decend upon this quant little town.
Several arrests have been made and other parties are being sought for questioning as the result of a rash of JHMT-themed grafitti, performance art pieces, and vandalism. Security at the Lewiston Sand Docks is up 100% now that a part-time launch attendant has been hired for tomorrow's event.
Two unidentified Lockport men were detained after they errected a giant, 90-foot inflatable pencil emblazoned with the number one, on the roof of the local McDonald's restaurant. A joint effort between officials of both the United States and Canada are still searching for several supporters of Andy and Dan Lacko who have apparently stretched a 900-foot sign reading, "We are Whacko for Lacko", across the breadth of the lower Niagara River.
To keep up with all the predicted website activity on this site for tomorrow's tournament, Ning, the site's provider, has dedicated an old Commodore 64 to keep up with site requests.
Las Vegas sporting books currently have last year's defending champions, Andy and Dan, as 2:1 favorites to repeat. John Pensyl and Josh Kane are at 3:1,
Dave Martin and John Miller are holding 5:1 odds, and field is at 10:1. Smart money is tying the two favorites and the field together in parlay bets.
Guyana has declared tomorrow a national holiday and day of prayer in order for the entire country's population to root for their favorite adopted son. Captain Larry Jones.
Jon MacSwan, former president of the Niagara Musky Association, will drop the checkered flag to begin the tournament at the blast off from the Lewiston Sand Docks, and then he'll probably go to breakfast somewhere in town.
Jon MacSwan, is also reported to be actively seeking advice on the beat local restaurants for breakfast; he likes pancakes.
Complete coverage the JHMT will be available on local public access channel 719, all Guyana television outlets and on this website.