Phasers also presented two medals at the awards ceremonies, which incorporated the Tonga map.
The Winter 1992 contest was delayed until January of 1993. A special medal, the "Croix de Stupid," was presented circa 8:45 AM to longtime players Dom Grillo and Ted Benson. When the contest was postponed from its original date to January's Winter Study, no one could contact Ted in time, and he flew in from Raleigh-Durham to find..... well, a lot of snow on the road and a lot of static on the airwaves.
Dom's tale is even more tragic. Word of the postponement DID reach Dom in Chicago, and he was able to successfully change his airline tickets from Friday, December 11th to Saturday, December 12th, the original replay date. However, when Saturday proved equally impassable, word of the second postponement did NOT reach Dom, and he flew in one day after Benson.
For showing so much more gusto than the wimpy Taconic-fearing Phasers, but mostly for flying BACK in January, their heroic imbecility was publicly honored. There were probably other, equally deserving players who had made extensive first and second trips, but Phasers just didn't know about them. Sorry. Maybe Ted or Dom will let you touch their medals.