A few thoughts on the 17th Gus Macker 3 on 3 Hoops tournament in Norwich this past weekend.  First, congratulations to Tom Revoir, the Norwich Family YMCA, and all involved in the organization and running of the tournament.  With three family members in various age groups playing, I spent quite a bit of time bouncing back and forth between courts, and the " Gusbuster" volunteers were doing a fantastic job as far as I could see.

A few showers Saturday morning didn't faze anyone,as play went on, and after a short shower, the weather was great the rest of the way.

Also to be commended were the emergency medical staff from the Norwich Fire Dept, who unfortunately one of our teams needed two times. (Stitches in the forehead from an elbow and a fractured patella.)

I'm not sure exactly how much money is infused into the local economy as a result of the tournament, but if one of our family teams is any indication, I would say quite a bit.

The four members of the team were all from out of town, as were 8 family members that came to town to watch. By our estimates, between restaurants, taverns, grocery stores and gas stations,  our group dropped about 1500 dollars. That's just one team out of 400!. (and that doesn't count the approximately 1,000 dollars spent at Chenango Memorial Hospital by the injured players.)

With the economy the way it is these days, it would appear to be a nice boost for local business, yet amazingly a very small group of grumps was heard to complain about the extra couple hundred feet they might need to go  to get to the Post Office.

Congratulations again to the organizers, volunteers and participants.

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