During the presentation of the "Beer Trophy" last year at BOFMECHIAN '96 Earl Clay yanked the trophy from winner, Ted Czechanski's, hands and loudly proclaimed there had been an intentional miscount. During the ensuing scuffle he managed to break the church-key from the top of the trophy and stab Dave Lange in the throat, and then broke Dan Dzierba's nose when he threw the trophy base across the scorer's table. Earl went on to cause a number of other minor injuries, including biting off two more of Andy Solar's fingers, until Bob Hinkle beat him unconscious with a three iron. ("I find the long irons always serve me well in this kind of situation," said Bob later.)

When Neal Ensign was asked what he thought was the biggest contribution to Earl's dramatic turnaround he said "I think when his cart rolled over on him on the second fairway and broke his leg. They took him away in an ambulance and he never returned."

Pictured left is the awards committee presenting the "Most Improved Behavior" award to a lifesize cardboard cutout of Earl Clay.

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