NOVI, MICHIGAN – Saturday’s Singles Tournament marked a historic moment for LEG, and a possible changing of the guard. Thirteen players arrived in Novi, hungry to claim the Singles Championship Belt and honor of being named the best player in the league. The talent pool and competition was incredible, and the Loser’s and Double Loser’s Bracket was an absolute gauntlet of heavyweights vying to remain alive in the tourney.

But in the end, two men survived the triple elimination royal rumble and stood nose to nose for the title. The likely 2018 Rookie of the Year, Galz, aimed to flip the league balance of power from the OG, Nick. Their paths to the finals couldn’t have been more different – after receiving an opening round bye thanks to earning the #3 seed, Galz lost his first match of the day in round 2 when 6-seeded Barker dropped a hammer on him, 21-8.

Galz immediately dropped to the Loser’s Bracket, which is never a good situation to be in. He handled the adversity by winning three straight matches over 12-seeded Jason (21-10), 9-seeded Coach Mike (21-9) and 8-seeded Justin (via forfeit, 21-20). He earned a rematch with Barker, who was ousted from the Winner’s Bracket by 2-seeded Nick (21-3) and survived a Loser’s Bracket match with 1-seeded Tony (21-19). Barker once again proved to be Galz’s kryptonite, manhandling him 21-3 and sending him to the Double Loser’s Bracket with no margin for error.

Galz had to win three straight games just to get to the championship match! In his first Double Loser’s Bracket match he faced KP, and faced a 16-13 deficit late in the game. Galz was cool under pressure, closing the game with an 8-0 run and a 21-16 win. He then beat Adam in a nail-biter, 21-17, and once again had a showdown with Barker, this time in an elimination game in the semifinals.

After getting blown out in the first two matches against Barker, Galz shed his glass chin and finally exchanged blows with Barker. Maybe closing the two previous games against KP and Adam gave him the confidence he needed, or maybe he finally found his rhythm. Nonetheless, Galz again surged late in the match and eliminated Barker from the tournament, beating him in another great match, 21-18.

While Galz battled for his life in the Loser’s and Double Loser’s Brackets, you would never know Nick hadn’t played since September 2017. He also earned a first round bye and then crushed 10-seeded Paul in round 2 (21-4), smacked Barker (21-3) and gave Adam the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag (21-14) to advance to the quarterfinals. Nick has been here before. He’s a prior champion, and he knows the key to surviving these tournaments is to avoid the Loser’s Bracket as long as possible.

In the quarterfinals, Nick awaited Barker, who had made a run through the Loser’s Bracket after his initial loss to Nick. Barker, also a LEG legend and savvy tournament player, let the lion out of the cage against Nick. He jumped on him from the beginning, holding a 10-0 lead and never took his foot off Nick’s throat. Barker dominated the game, winning 21-11 and dealt Nick his first loss of the tournament.

Barker’s reward? An immediate rematch with Nick in the semifinals with a berth to the championship on the line. There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably also in Tennessee – that says, ‘Fool me once, shame on…shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.’

Nick was fooled once, but wasn’t getting fooled again. The semifinal match with Barker was never in doubt, and the observers almost got what they’ve all wanted for years – for Barker to be bunrun and get naked. Ok, so maybe only KP has voiced his desire for this, but everyone thinks it. Anyway, Nick crushed Barker 21-1 and skipped on his merrily way to the finals.

Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the championship slugfest between Nick and Galz, but for now let’s touch on some of the other great parts of the tournament.

Winner’s Bracket Upsets

The Winner’s Bracket featured several incredible upsets, which is further evidence of the deep pool of talent in this league.

• Round 1 – Paul (10 seed) beat JV (7 seed) 21-10 – this is one KP had predicted, and several people were rooting for once the game was underway. These two guys have a long history of talking shit to each other, and were also head-to-head when one

  

  of the most historic moments happened…JV shit his pants (refer to the 2017 Week 6 Recap for details). This 7-10 matchup was intriguing, intense and didn’t disappoint. The crowd turned on JV, rooting for the underdog like a full arena during the NCAA tournament. Paul completed the upset, pissed JV off and sent him packing to the Loser’s Bracket.

• Round 2 – Justin (8 seed) beat Tony (1 seed) 21-19 – after Justin knocked off 9-seeded Coach Mike, 21-16, in the opening round, he earned a date with Tony. Justin was coming off a red-hot week 8 where he posted a 9.9 KPM and hit 61% of his shots. Tony showed up fat and sassy as the 1 seed and assumed he’d roll through his second-round opponent. Justin was having no part in laying down, and he welcomed the challenge of facing the top seed early in the tournament. Justin was excellent early, and weathered a late run from Tony to win the game 21-19.
• Round 2 – Adam (5 seed) beat KP (4 seed) 21-20 – Adam and KP had some opening round struggles, but still advanced to form one of the most enticing second round matches. Both guys seemed to let the pressure of the tournament affect their play, as neither of them looked like their “normal” selves. KP seemed to find his game late, building a 20-13 lead and was on the verge of advancing to face Justin. But Adam can hit cornholes in bunches, so no game is ever out of reach. He hit KP with a flurry of good rounds, and KP could never find that one last point he needed. Adam closed the game with an 8-0 run and sent KP to the Loser’s Bracket carrying the sorrow of a 21-20 collapse.
• Round 2 – Barker (6 seed) beat Galz (3 seed) 21-8 – Barker only knows success in LEG tournaments. In the prior 4 LEG tournaments, Barker has led his team to the following finishes:
  • 2016 Postseason Tournament – Runner-Up
  • 2017 Preseason Kick-Off Tournament – Semifinalist
  • 2017 Postseason Tournament – Runner-Up
  • 2018 Preseason Kick-Off Tournament – Champion

Meanwhile, Galz is playing in his rookie season and his only prior tournament experience was in the 2018 Preseason Kick-Off where his Los Tres Amigos squad struggled to gain momentum. The experience differential was evident, as Barker took it to Galz all game long and finished the upset in dominating fashion, 21-8.

Barker Adding to His Trophy Case?

Barker is lovable. He’s always great company, adds to the character of the group, and is the center of fun at any event. But he is to LEG as Alabama is to college football, or the New England Patriots to the NFL, or Duke to college basketball. He’s ALWAYS a contender, and in the way of the other members winning a championship. And quite frankly, it’s goddamn frustrating. But that’s the ultimate compliment. He’s an incredible player, and he elevates his play even more when hardware is on the line.

He came into this tournament as the 6 seed, and ready to wreak havoc on everyone. He barely let 11-seeded Erik breathe in the opening round, pummeling him 21-2. As already discussed, he baked Galz some humble pie in the second round, beating him 21-8.

After getting beat 21-3 by Nick, Barker ripped off an incredible run through the Loser’s Bracket that included the following unbelievable wins:

• Beat 1-seeded Tony, 21-19
• Beat 3-seeded Galz again, 21-3
• Beat 5-seeded Adam, 21-10
• Beat 2-seeded Nick, 21-11, getting revenge and giving Nick his first loss

That four-game winning streak earned him an immediate rematch with Nick in the semifinals, where Nick handled his business and forced Barker to the Double Loser’s Bracket for the semifinal elimination game against Galz.

As previously mentioned, Galz finally found a way to beat Barker in the third matchup between the two heavy weights. Galz eliminated Barker in a thriller, 21-18, and advanced to the championship to play Nick.

Even though Barker didn’t win the Singles title, or get to the championship, he showed the type of championship pedigree we all expect from him. When analyzing Barker’s run, nobody came close to having as difficult of a tournament as he did, and he still almost won the whole damn thing.

He played the following slate:

• 11 seed
• 3 seed (three times)
• 2 seed (three times)
• 1 seed
• 5 seed

Barker played 9 games on the day, including 6 combined against the two guys who played in the championship match. He finished 6-3 overall with a semifinal appearance and went 3-3 against the two championship contenders (2-1 against Galz and 1-2 against Nick).

Barker couldn’t add any hardware to his trophy case on this day. But he sent a message loud and clear to the rest of the league. He ain’t going anywhere.

Justin Showed Promise

Justin, another 2018 LEG rookie, looked like a seasoned veteran early on, beating Coach Mike, 21-16, in the 8-9 matchup and then taking down the top seed, Tony, 21-19. The way he pounced on Tony early and had enough composure to close him out was extremely impressive.

Justin couldn’t overcome Adam in the third round, losing 21-15 and was sent to the Loser’s Bracket. Unfortunately, Justin had family obligations and had to leave the tournament, which resulted in him forfeiting his last two matchups.

Had he stayed, he would have faced Galz in the Loser’s Bracket with a chance to advance. His final loss was against KP in the Double Loser’s Bracket because of a forfeit. Had Justin stayed, he would have had a major impact on how the tournament played out.

Justin gained some valuable experience in this tournament, which should benefit him tremendously in the 2018 Postseason Tournament.

Adam Ran Out of Gas

Adam won three straight matches in the Winner’s Bracket, including coming from behind to beat KP in the second round (21-20), and shutting down Justin’s hot streak in the third round (21-15).

Adam faced Nick in the fourth round, and battled for most of the match before finally giving way to a 21-14 victory for Nick.

There is no shame losing to Nick, but Adam could never regain his focus and it didn’t help that he had to play the best in the league to survive deep into the bracket. He lost his next two matches, 21-10 to Barker and 21-17 to Galz, and was eliminated. But Adam did things the right way, surviving the Winner’s Bracket as long as possible to avoid the cluttered mess that is the Loser’s and Double Loser’s Brackets. Ultimately, he finished just two games away from the championship by making it to the quarterfinals, and he can stash this experience in the bank for future tournaments.

JV’s a Fighter

We should already know this about JV considering he shit his pants and continued to play after doing so. But in case we needed more evidence about JV’s heart, we got it in this tournament.

After losing his opening match in an upset against arch enemy, Paul, he also lost his second match to Tony, 21-5. All the sudden it looked like JV was going to have a very short stay in this tournament.

But the 2018 Preseason Kick-Off champion found some pride and reeled off 4 straight victories, including a 21-12 rematch over Tony to eliminate the #1 seed from the tournament. After the win over Tony, JV marched on to face KP in an elimination game. All week JV talked shit to KP, including taunting him with pictures eating Jeffery Spaghetti from the Cup.

KP was motivated, and frustrated from his performances earlier in the day. He immediately declared victory and told Galz to get ready for their matchup after KP beats JV. It was a risky move, but KP delivered on his promise, beating JV, 21-12.

JV didn’t contend for the title in this tournament, but he certainly made noise along the way. He finished with a respectable 4-3 record after starting 0-2, and knocking out Tony was a huge shake-up to the entire bracket.

Tony’s Disappointment

Tony earned the #1 seed of the tournament by posting a 12.5 KPM thus far in the 2018 season. He had only played in four matches, going 2-2, but he scored 4.1 gross points per round and hit on 64% of his throws.

Some would argue Tony isn’t the number one player in the league, and that the 4-game sample size contributed to earning the top seed. And those people may be correct in their argument. However, it’s clear from Tony’s LEG history that he is firmly one of the top five players in the league and can beat anyone.

Unfortunately for Tony, he also showed that he can lose to anyone. He tried to salvage his tournament after the opening round upset against 8-seeded Justin. He beat JV 21-5 in the Loser’s Bracket, then advanced to play KP where he mauled him, 21-11.

Tony started to resemble a 1 seed during his two straight wins, but then ran into Barker. Barker doesn’t leave tournaments early, and he wasn’t about to let the 1 seed get in his way. The match was incredibly tight and well played, but Barker was the better player, winning 21-19.

Faced with a long road in the Double Loser’s Bracket, Tony attempted to regain focus with a rematch against JV, whom he had just beaten soundly, 21-5. JV’s will to win and championship mettle was too much, as he ended Tony’s day, beating him 21-12.

Tony’s day as the 1 seed was over quickly, without sniffing the championship belt.

KP Struggles

KP came into this tournament as the 4 seed, and recently had a great week 8. But he has battled inconsistency all season, and this tournament was no different. He won his opener against 13-seeded Mike, but was sloppy doing it.

In the second round he held a 20-13 lead over 5-seeded Adam, but couldn’t close the game. Adam came from behind to steal a 21-20 victory. He tried to regain confidence with a 21-3 win over 11-seeded Erik in the Loser’s Bracket, but then couldn’t get anything going against Tony, losing 21-11.

KP then faced a tall task of having to play, and win, six straight games just to get to the championship. He won three in a row facing elimination, including wins over Paul (21-11), Justin (via forfeit, 21-20) and JV (21-12).

That set up a major head-to-head with Galz for KP’s fourth straight elimination game. Things looked good for a fourth straight win when KP held a 16-13 lead over Galz late in the game. But again, KP couldn’t close on this day. Galz scored 8 straight (just like Adam did in the second round win over KP) to win 21-16 and send KP home.

It’s clear KP couldn’t handle the nerves and the pressure mounting on him from five LEG tournaments and no trophies.

Toilet Bowlers

We added a unique wrinkle to this tournament, providing the first five players eliminated from the Singles Tournament the opportunity to square off in the Toilet Bowl Championship. It was cool because it guaranteed everyone a minimum of 4 games, and allowed the players to compete for a championship.

The only “chalk” aspect about the Singles Tournament was that players seeded 9 through 13 ended up being the first five eliminated and sent to the Toilet Bowl. Coach Mike (9 seed), Paul (10 seed), Erik (11 seed), Jason (12 seed) and Mike (13 seed) were eliminated from the Singles Tournament early and moved on to compete for the Toilet Bowl Championship.

• Mike – he went 0-4 on the day, losing his first three matches of the Singles Tournament and then getting eliminated from the Toilet Bowl by Jason, 21-3. Mike had a nice moment where he made a run on JV in a Double Loser’s Bracket elimination game to close the game to 16-13 before ultimately losing 21-13.

  

• Jason – finished the day 2-4 with his only wins coming in the Loser’s Bracket and Toilet Bowl against Mike. However, he played his opponents tough in the Singles Tournament, losing to Adam 21-12 in a game that was much closer than the score indicates, and losing to Galz 21-10. He finally bowed out of the Toilet Bowl in the semifinals against Coach Mike, losing 21-15. When you look at Jason’s opponents, there is no shame in going 2-4.
• Erik – he struggled on this day, going 0-4. But he faced an incredible line-up of opponents who never let Erik get his head above water. He had losses to Barker (21-2), KP (21-3), and JV (21-5) before losing to Paul in the Toilet Bowl (21-14). It wasn’t his best day, but it was a good lesson for Erik – you must bring it in this league, or you’ll get beaten handily.
• Paul – there is little doubt about the highlight of Paul’s day, which was pulling the first round upset over his rival and 7 seed, JV. Paul beat him relatively easily too, 21-10. Paul got embarrassed by Nick, 21-4, which happens to almost everyone Nick plays. In the Loser’s Bracket Paul gave Coach Mike a run for his money, losing 21-18. Paul rebounded in the Double Loser’s Bracket to beat Jason (21-7) and keep his day alive. But KP handed Paul his third loss (21-11) and sent him to the Toilet Bowl. Paul beat Erik 21-14 in the Toilet Bowl to advance to the championship against Coach Mike, where he lost another epic battle between the two players, 21-16. Paul competed his ass off, and finished with one of the best upsets of the day while going 3-4 overall.
• Coach Mike – The 9-seeded Coach was crowned Toilet Bowl Champion after beating Jason and Paul. Prior to that, he was extremely competitive in the Singles Tournament before being eliminated. He lost a 21-16 game in the opening round to Justin, rebounded with the 21-18 win over Paul in the Loser’s Bracket before Galz handed him his second loss, 21-9. In Double Loser’s Bracket action, Coach faced JV and didn’t have enough horsepower to knock him off, losing another tough match, 21-16. Coach finished 3-3 and still won a championship. Granted, it’s not the championship he wanted, but it’s more than the other 11 players can claim.

These five guys all had great moments throughout the day. While none of them were pleased with playing in the Toilet Bowl, they should keep something in perspective – when the number one overall seed goes 2-3 and gets eliminated without threatening to compete for the championship, it’s proof that life in LEG is difficult. These guys are great competitors and will have better days ahead.

Galz vs. Nick for the Title

Back to the LEG heavy weight championship battle. Nick enters the match with the advantage, having only one loss compared to Galz having two losses. That meant Galz had to defeat Nick twice in a row to claim the LEG Singles Championship. Both guys are incredible players, but Galz faced long odds having to win two in a row against a player like Nick.

In game 1, the fireworks started. Both players were on fire…I’m talking NBA Jam level fire. We didn’t keep stats, but these guys were probably 75% accurate and were draining cornholes at a high clip. Not only that, the clutch performances from each guy were out of this world. When one player looked to be gaining an advantage with a cornhole or two, the other guy immediately answered to silence the momentum.

Galz claimed the lead late in the match, and eight eliminated players sat on the sidelines, stunned that the tournament might come down to one final game. Galz enjoyed an 18-14 lead, but could he close it? Nick has been here many times, and he isn’t intimidated. Galz, while talented, is still a rookie and has never been in this situation before. Nick closed it to 18-16, and Galz responded to make it 20-16. Nick came right back with a 2-point advantage to make Galz sweat at 20-18. But Galz fought the nerves, tension and odds to close out game 1, 21-18 and take this championship to an epic level.

Game 2 – both players with two losses, and this game was for the championship belt and right to be called the best player in the league. Galz had slayed the dragon once. Could he do it again? Barker couldn’t endure Nick’s rematch wrath after handing him a loss. Would Galz suffer the same fate?

Once again, both players were landing sledgehammer blows to one another. Nick would win a round and seem to take control, only to have Galz battle back and tighten the game. The game was never separated by more than 3 points, and both guys stood there looking like Rocky Balboa against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV – eyes swollen shut, blood and sweat dripping from their bodies, neither guy able to take control of the match, but neither guy willing to give up either.

This was the best cornhole this league has ever seen. The talent, clutch shots, ability to handle the pressure of the moment, and all eight spectators were entertained and amazed by the level of play. The cheers, groans and shouts of amazement that came from the sidelines weren’t heard by Nick or Galz because they were so locked in.

Nick held the lead late in the match, 20-16, before Galz answered back with one point to make it 20-17. Galz needed another great round to stay alive, but was facing a 7-5 deficit on his final throw thanks to two cornholes and one on the board from Nick, compared one cornhole and two on the board from Galz. Galz is always an aggressive gambler, and his last throw was no different. One on the board would still lose him the game, so he needed a cornhole to keep the game alive, which would also close his deficit to 20-18. But Galz also knew if he could make a cornhole AND take another bag into the hole with it, he’d win the round 10-7 and tie the game at 20.

His last bag was on line and aggressively at the hole. It clipped one of the bags on the board, but couldn’t take it into the hole, and his final throw had too much heat on it as it slid off the back of the board. Nick clinched the title match, 21-17, but Galz went down swinging and the entire audience applauded the effort.

Nick is a worthy champion, and Galz would have been too. Both players played great, with Nick being consistent all day and Galz surging at the end of the tournament. As both players shook hands and congratulated each other, Barker whispered to KP, “These guys are our two best players in the league. No doubt about it.” He’s right. And I’d pair our finalists up against any ESPN competitors outdoors with a few beers, and I’ll bet the house on our guys.

This league is stronger than ever, and Nick and Galz help bring out the best in everyone.