SOUTHWEST DETROIT – The volatile weather of the Great Lakes State was on full display the weekend of March 4th, with a freezing ice storm on Friday and a beautiful 45 and sunny the following Saturday.

Click here to view the full photo gallery

The ice rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun shined down on Clark Park in Detroit for the second annual Champagne Showcase. The tournament included four teams consisting of mostly 30-and-over has-been’s and never-was’s playing in a final four tournament style bracket. All proceeds from the event go towards the park through the Clark Park Coalition.

The team sponsors this year included three returning teams- Champagne Athletics, Bowline Financial and Iris Mortgage, and welcomed newcomer Exo Freight.

The event ran from about 1pm-6pm and by the time the sun started to go down, we had crowned a new champion, Iris Mortgage…

…who took down defending champion, Bowline Financial, in the final minutes to win 2-1.

Game one of the day pitted Champagne Athletics vs the eventual champion, and with the weather conditions the night before coupled with bright sun beating down the ice was borderline unplayable.

But as hockey players do, we persevered, and were able to squeak out two 10 minute halves where Iris took advantage, winning 3-0.

For anyone following along at home, yes, Champagne Athletics has yet to win a game in their own tournament. Last year we fell to Iron Fish 4-3 bringing our total record to 0-2 all time.

Embarrassed? Bet your sweet ass I am. Deterred? Broken? Hope lost? Not in the slightest. I’ll get my sweet victory soon, hopefully before I’m 40.

Bowline Financial was able to secure their ticket to the finals with a convincing 4-0 victory over the newbie, Exo Freight.

The ice got progressively better as the day went on, the Zamboni was able to scrape off most of the ice rain from the night before, and the temps continued to drop.

With all that factoring in, we were able to get a pretty decent sheet of ice for the finals, where Iris would take the second annual Champagne Showcase over Bowline by a score of 2-1.

But while the on-ice games are a big part of the day, where everyone really delivered was off the ice. Between all of the sponsors, volunteers, donations, support and love the Showcase was a massive success, that only hopes to keep growing with each passing year.

A huge thank you to the following:

Joe Simancas of @Properties for donating a Solo Stove to the raffle in addition to sponoring the championship trophy this year

Sarah Sorise & Kassidy Herbert – running the raffle & donation table with impeccable style & grace.

Aaron Mucciante – Photography for the entire day (view full gallery here)

Men’s League Sweaters – our amazing jersey sponsor

Dog and Pony Show Brewing – gift box for the raffle

Better Made – gift box for the raffle

Mullybox – golf gift box for the raffle

Diamond Dogs – our favorite hot dog stand in Detroit

Delecta-bowl – Food truck on sight serving amazing food bowls

Curbside Eatery – Food truck serving up the best sandwiches in Southwest

Tuguava – Local Southwest born coffee shop, providing clean water to the world

And a huge thank you to everyone who came out, skated, watched, cheered, donated etc. etc. etc. It really is a community event and everyone out there was more than willing to support and give, so for that, I thank you VERY much.

Until next year. 🍾