NOVI, MICHIGAN – The regular season returned to Novi for the first time since week 1, and the players looked like they were in midseason form, making for an entertaining night of cornhole.

KP hadn’t performed well since week 4, at which point he was #2 in the Power Rankings and had a cumulative KPM of 12.0. Coming into week 8, he was fighting through a three-week slump where he dropped to #3 in the Power Rankings, his KPM tumbled from 12.0 to 11.4, and he was unimpressively 15-10 during that period.

The week 8 homecoming couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time for KP. He looked like a completely different player, snapping out of his funk to win 4 of his 5 matches (his only loss was a 21-20 stunner in game 6), hit 69% of his throws, scored 4.1 gross points per round and posted a dominating 12.3 KPM.

KP also earned his second straight Mushroom Stamp Moment of the week honor when in game 2 he and Mike M. held a 16-9 advantage after seven rounds over Paul and Erik. In the top of the eighth KP turned it on, draining four straight cornholes to post a perfect 12-point round against Paul. Paul, overwhelmed by KP’s flurry of cornholes, missed all four of his tosses to lose the round 12-0, and the game 21-9.

In game 5, KP was inches away from another 12-point round, with his last bag hanging in the hole. He settled for a 10-point round to clinch a 21-7 win for he and Adam over Coach Mike and Erik. KP averaged a ridiculous 5 gross points per round in that game and led all scorers with 30 gross points, while the next highest player recorded 14 gross points.

It’s going to be intriguing to see if KP can maintain this momentum in the Midseason Singles Tournament.

The final match of the evening featured Justin and Coach Mike against Paul and Adam, which was so thrilling it earned the week 8 Game of the Night. Paul and Adam raced out to an 8-0 lead after the first frame thanks to Paul burying two early cornholes while posting a 7-2 advantage over Justin, and Adam chipped in 3 points after getting the best of Coach Mike, 6-3.

Over the next three frames, Justin fought to keep his team in the game. He outscored Paul 13-7 to give his team 6 points, but he looked up at the scoreboard and still found his team down 15-6 thanks to Adam controlling Coach 14-7 over the same period.

Justin and Coach chipped away at their deficit, closing it to 15-9 when Coach finally came alive in the top half of the seventh. Coach drilled two cornholes and added another scoring bag for 7 gross points, while Adam only scored 3 points. All the sudden the game was tight, 15-13.

Justin focused and tried to seize the opportunity to flip the script on his opponents. He went 4-for-4 in the bottom of the seventh, with all bags on the board for 4 gross points. Paul, however, had 100% round of his own that included two cornholes, giving him an 8-4 gross points advantage and a major answer to silent Coach and Justin’s run. Paul and Adam held a 19-13 lead and were primed to close the night with an impressive win.

Coach kept swinging, landing another point in the eighth against Adam, and Justin again went 4-for-4 with all bags on the board, while Paul managed only 2 points, making the score 19-16. In the top of the ninth, Coach knocked in two cornholes and Adam managed only 4 gross points. The score was 19-18 because Coach was putting a whippin’ on Adam from the seventh through ninth frames, outscoring him 16-9 in gross points.

Justin made it 19-19 after he drained a cornhole en route to outscoring Paul 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. The bags turned back over to Coach and Adam, which didn’t appear to be a good thing for Adam.

Coach led things off in the tenth with a cornhole on his first throw, while Adam shakily missed his first throw. Coach couldn’t keep the pressure on, as his second throw missed the board. Meanwhile, Adam exhaled relief when his second shot found the bottom of the hole. Coach’s third toss landed on the board, and Adam seemed to find his rhythm when he swished a second straight cornhole on his third throw.

Each player had one throw remaining, Adam held a 6-4 gross points advantage, and Coach needed to score at least 1 point to extend the game. On his last throw, Coach had a little too much “tickler” on his back-handed toss and the bag wouldn’t hold the board, resulting in a 21-19 loss for him and Justin.

The win was Paul’s first of the night, helping him close on a high note after losing his previous five matches. It also helped Adam finish 6-1 overall and exercise his Coach Mike demons.

News and Notes:

• Mike showed improvement during week 8, recording 0.42 cornholes per round which is consistent with a KPM in the mid-7s. The highlight of his night was a 21-9 win over Erik and Paul where he matched Erik is gross points for the game (16), recorded more cornholes than Erik and Paul (4 for Mike and 3 for the other two, respectively), and averaged an extremely solid 3 gross points per round during the game until he struggled through the final two frames. Mike’s cornhole rate is good, but he needs to increase his accuracy to compete more consistently with the rest of the league. More repetitious should help him in the coming weeks.
• Erik is comfortable at KP’s house. He’s played some of his best cornhole there, including this week where he finished 3-3 overall with a 7.1 KPM. He was especially good from the left side of the board, posting an 8.1 KPM. Erik’s accuracy was 47%, which is on the cusp of being good enough for a 9 KPM. However, his issue was lack of cornholes, where he only scored 0.27 cornholes per round. The highlight of Erik’s night was in game 3 when he closed the game against Mike by making his last two bags on the board. In game 8 he partnered with Adam, losing 21-11 to KP and Justin, but he scored 31 gross points and averaged 2.8 gross points per round. If Erik gets out of his head and just throws, he can play with anyone in the league. And at KP’s house, he is more comfortable and confident, which could make for a great recipe for success during the Midseason Singles Tournament.
• Justin was a monster this week, recording a 9.9 KPM, hitting 61% of his throws and scoring 3.3 gross points per round. He was on fire the entire evening, but picked things up after he started slow in his first two games. Throughout his last five games, Justin averaged 3.6 gross points per round, over 34 gross points per game, and 4.2 cornholes per game. Justin also recorded his first 10-point round of the season in game 3, gaining a 10-3 advantage over Coach Mike and helping lead Erik to a 21-15 win over Coach and Mike. He finished the night with a 3-4 record, but he jumped his cumulative KPM from 9.2 to 9.5 and now sits JUST behind Barker and JV in the Power Rankings (9.7 and 9.6, respectively). Justin will be a very dangerous player during the Singles Tournament.
• Coach Mike damn near mirrored Justin this week, also registering a 9.9 KPM, scoring on 62% of his throws, draining 0.44 cornholes per round and scoring 3.3 gross points per round. He played loose and confident all night long, despite only a 2-4 record. In game 9 he was truly dominant, averaging 3.9 gross points per round while partnering with KP to earn a 21-16 win over Justin and Paul. Coach has now strung together two solid weeks in a row, after his 8.9 KPM in week 7. His cumulative KPM sits at 8.9 and he seems to be finding the magic in his back-handed taint tickler as we roll into midseason. Keep an eye on Coach to keep ascending the Power Rankings.
• Paul had a strange night, going only 1-5 but he had a solid 8.3 KPM on 55% shooting, which was one of his most accurate nights ever. He was victim of a few tough 21-16 losses, but outscored Adam head-to-head in game 4, 27-17, and held his own against KP in game 9, losing 32-25 in gross points. Paul was excellent in the Game of the Night, averaging 3.6 gross points per round and essentially drawing even with Justin in gross points (lost only 34-32 head-to-head), which was key to his team’s 21-19 victory.
• Adam was in full beast mode this week, hitting 10.4 on the KPM, scoring on 58% of his throws, knocking in 0.56 cornholes per round and scoring 3.4 gross points per round, helping him to a 6-1 overall record. The highlight of Adam’s night is hard to choose, but is arguably in game 6 when he partnered with Erik to grapple with Justin and KP. Adam and Erik faced a 20-12 deficit late in the game when Adam rallied his team to a 21-20 victory by scoring 7 of the 9 points during his team’s comeback (outscoring Justin 18-11 over the last three frames), including clinching the game with a 7-3 gross points advantage over Justin when the score was previously 20-17. He was extremely impressive in all his head-to-head matchups. He outscored Justin 57-38, Coach Mike 39-35, Paul 50-49, drew even with Erik (11-11), and held firm against KP, losing the head-to-head 40-39. Adam stays at #5 in the Power Rankings this week, with an absurd 10.5 cumulative KPM. He also added four more footsnags to increase his league-leading total to 32.

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – The footsnag controversy has returned, bringing out more venom in all players than ever before. Things got testy just three games into the evening when Marco and Bushie matched up against KP and Erik – that’s right, the controversy involves Bushie and KP yet again.

Marco kicked the game off with a 3-1 round over KP, and Erik responded in the bottom of the first with a cornhole on his way to a 5-2 advantage over Bushie. Marco again got the best of KP in the second frame, 3-2 to tie the game, 3-3. In the bottom of the the second both Bushie and Erik struggled to find the board, with each player missing their first three shots.

Erik’s fourth toss hit the board and carried off the back with too much power, but in Marco’s attempt to footsnag the errant throw he actually kicked the bag back on the board and into the hole! Erik was rewarded with a cornhole after what should have been an 0-4 round. Bushie was boiling with frustration after his partner kicked in the cornhole, and his anger got the best of him when he missed his last bag of the round.

Thanks to Marco’s unsuccessful footsnag, KP and Erik held a 6-3 lead going into the top of the third frame. KP rode the wave of momentum with three cornholes and another bag on the board for a 10-point round, while Marco only managed three gross points. KP’s 10-3 gross point advantage gave his team a commanding 13-3 lead, and Erik posted a 4-0 advantage over Bushie in the bottom of the third frame to increase the lead to 17-3.

In the fourth frame, KP made it 20-3 and Bushie finally stopped the bleeding when he scored 1 point for his team (4-3 gross advantage) in the bottom of the fourth frame. With the game wildly out of hand at 20-4, Bushie about the explode, and Marco ready to end the game because he and his partner were at odds, KP ended the misery in the fifth frame with a 5-3 advantage over Marco to clinch the game, 21-4.

KP and Erik used Marco’s footsnag snafu to turn a 3-3 tie into an 18-1 run to win the game. KP’s 10-point round to immediately punish Marco for that snafu is this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment of the week, and propelled KP to a 12 point advantage over Marco during the last three rounds of the game.

Bushie stood on the sidelines during Game 4, complaining to KP about Marco’s footsnag and how it changed the complexion of Game 3. Back to Game 4, when Adam footsnagged his partner, Paul, he turned to KP keeping score and proudly instructed KP to add a footsnag to the stat sheet. Bushie went on a tirade, “You think I’m the gay one, you guys are obsessed with footsnags, rim jobs and all this other shit. Did you know all my gay friends do footsnags? They do them in the clubs and they do them with c()cks. It’s greeeeaaaat!”

Hilarity ensued, including tears of laughter from KP and Erik as they tried to process what the fuck Bushie had just said. Before they could finish wrapping their head around everything, they hear a loud, “MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!” come from Bushie as he watched a hot biscuit (attractive female) run down the sidewalk.

The group struggled to recover, wiping tears from faces, holding stomachs because they hurt from laughter and the players tried to regain focus and continue the match. Everyone was encouraged because it appeared Bushie turned his footsnag frustration into comedy and moved on. Not so fast…

During the Game of the Night in Game 6, Adam and Bushie teamed to face Erik and Paul. Bushie requested to go head-to-head

with his favorite LEG member, Paul, which left the top two footsnaggers, Erik and Adam, going head-to-head at the opposite end. Early in the game Paul threw inaccurately and Erik fought Adam at the other end to claim the footsnag. Neither player was able to complete the snag, but they did incite rage from Bushie, who once again complained about how distracting the footsnag is, how it impacts his accuracy and how the rule should be banned from the league.

KP had enough and snapped, yelling at Coach Mike to “shut the fucking music off,” before he insisted Bushie shut up and listen while KP got on his own soap box supporting footsnags. Everything became incredibly tense during the brief delay caused by the footsnag argument, and Adam and Erik decided to do their best to mind their footsnag P’s and Q’s the rest of the game.

Before the explosion, Erik and Paul had built an 8-0 lead behind a great opening frame by Erik (beat Adam 6-1). However, Bushie and Adam ripped off a 10-3 run of their own to close the gap to 11-10 after five rounds, and all 10 net points were provided by Adam, as he outscored Erik 19-9 during that span.

Paul quieted the run in the top of the sixth with a big 5-1 advantage over his predator, Bushie, increasing his squad’s lead to 15-10. Adam made it 15-13 in the bottom of the sixth before turning it back over Bushie, hoping for his partner to provide some help.

Paul wasn’t having any of that, as he dodged Bushie’s butt-play attempts while blanking Bushie 5-0 and advancing his and Erik’s lead to 20-13. Once again, the pressure fell on Adam to keep his team in the game.

In the bottom of the sixth frame Adam drained a cornhole on his way to outscoring Erik 4-0, making the score 20-17. Paul had been dominating Bushie and only needed one point to close the game. But Bushie finally came through when Adam needed him most. He knocked in two cornholes, putting all sorts of pressure on Paul to keep the game alive. Paul had two bags on the board, facing a 6-2 gross deficit with only one throw remaining. At this point Bushie had secured a 21-20 victory unless Paul scored his last bag. Unfortunately for Paul, he couldn’t keep the game alive when he missed his last throw and Bushie celebrated a great comeback victory with Adam, winning 21-20 in a tense thriller.

Coach Mike’s venue continues to prove to be the most challenging in the league, as this week only two players recorded a KPM higher than 10, and only three of the 9 players were above 50% accuracy. That said, the competition was as strong as ever with Barker owning the best win-loss record for the night at just 5-3.

News and Notes:

• Aaron made his LEG debut this week, and was very successful after a slow start to his rookie campaign. He lost his first match of the night before ripping off four straight victories. He ultimately finished at 4-3, and the highlight of his night was in Game 10 when he drilled 8 cornholes, posted a game-high 33 gross points and outscored Bushie head-to-head 33-16. Aaron carried Barker to a 21-17 victory of KP and Bushie. Aaron ended the night with a 7.5 KPM on 0.52 cornholes per round, 2.4 gross points per round, 33% accuracy and posted a 10-point round.
• Marco regained his MVP form this week by recording the highest KPM (11.5) primarily due to a ridiculous 0.88 cornholes per round. He also scored 3.6 gross points per round, shot 46% and finished with a 5-6 record. Marco’s 5-6 record is a testament to the overall competition from all the players, but his 11.5 KPM and two 10-point rounds show how dominant he was individually. Marco held firm at #4 overall in the Power Rankings.
• Adam ended the night with the second-best KPM (11.1) and showed off impressive accuracy (57%) with balanced scoring (0.67 cornholes per round and 3.6 gross points per round). Adam recorded his seventh 10-point round of the season, added 4 footsnags to his league-leading total (28) and jumped to #5 in the Power Rankings after his solid evening. Adam continues to play better and better every week as we approach midseason, and he will be a force to reckon with for the rest of the year.
• Coach Mike has battled inconsistency all year, and this week was no different. He lost games by scores of 21-4, 21-7, and 21-9, where he and his partners all played poorly. He still rebounded to finish the night 4-6 overall with a very solid 8.9 KPM. Coach’s 8.9 KPM is even more impressive considering he was only 42% accurate, but his cornholes per round (0.58) and gross points per round (2.8) were solid. Coach maintained the #10 spot in the Power Rankings and is a scary player because he has top 5 talent when he’s on his game.
• Barker had an off-night with an 8.8 KPM. The KPM is not necessarily the issue…it’s that he was 54% accurate and ONLY recorded an 8.8 KPM. His cornholes per round were extremely low (0.39), and Barker was generally uncomfortable and lacked confidence all evening. He experimented with his throwing style for most of the night before choosing the “butterfly with sore feet” style (high, rainbow throw that lands extremely softly). Barker ham and egged his way to a 5-3 record, but showed some weakness in his confidence. It’ll be interesting to observe how he responds in the coming weeks, because ultimately he still has championship pedigree within him. Will it come out again?
• KP finally had a week below 10 KPM, recording a season-low 9.9 on a near season-low 63% accuracy (his season-low is 61% from week 6). The numbers are still very good, but like Barker, KP hasn’t seemed comfortable since week 4. He finished the night with a respectable 6-4 record, but dropped from #2 to #3 in the Power Rankings after his 9.9 KPM. Galz, who didn’t play this week, jumped from #3 to #2 after KP’s week 7 struggle.
• Paul finished the night with a 7.7 KPM, but was trending much better than that for most of the night. Paul ended the night with only three gross points in Game 19, which killed his KPM. Paul posted a 3-3 record, was 40% accurate, scored 2.5 gross points per round, and knocked in 0.46 cornholes per round. He was also pretty clutch in several moments throughout the evening.
• Erik stayed at #12 in the Power Rankings after his 7.6 KPM, which is impressive given the accuracy struggles he had most of the night (only 36%). His cornholes per round (0.50) were very good, and his 2.4 gross points per round was solid given the accuracy problems he had. Erik also added 2 footsnags on the evening, keeping him in second place for the season and still chasing Adam for the top footsnag spot (he trails Adam 28-18). Erik started the night extremely well when he busted open Game 1 with two cornholes in round 4 and closed the game with a 7-3 advantage (two cornholes and another bag on the board) over Coach Mike to give his team a 21-7 win. He started the night 2-1 before losing 4 straight games to finish 2-5. His 4 straight losses were by scores of 21-20, 21-19, 21-18 and 21-17, which shows how close Erik was to having a very impressive win-loss record.
• Bushie could never find his rhythm. This was his first time playing at Coach Mike’s house, and with all the tension and distractions, he could never get on track. He posted the week-low KPM (6.9) on just 34% accuracy, 2.2 gross points per round and 0.44 cornholes per round. He did have some good moments, including closing the Game of the Night and posted a 5-6 win-loss record. Bushie stays at #11 in this week’s Power Rankings.

 

 

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – The big news this week is that “Gramps” (Tony D’Ambrosi) played in a LEG event for the first time since his semifinal loss in the 2017 Postseason Tournament when he partnered with JV on “Sausage Factory.”

Speculation is Tony needed time away to work on his mental game after his devastatingly sudden end to the 2017 Postseason Tournament. If you ask Tony, he’ll do what any good father and poor sport would do…blame his kids’ soccer matches.

Whatever the excuse, Tony’s “break” appears to be just what the doctor ordered, as he returned with his big Italian dickcopter swinging on everyone. Tony’s 12.5 KPM was a warning shot to the entire league about what he has in store for the 2018 Postseason Tournament. He scored 4.1 gross points per round on 64% accuracy and 0.76 cornholes per round.

Scouting tip for the rest of the league, Tony is better from the left side of the board (at least on this night) so force him RIGHT!

Left Side – 13.3 KPM, 66% accuracy, 4.3 gross points per round, and 0.83 cornholes per round

Right Side – 10.4 KPM, 58% accuracy, 3.4 gross points per round, and 0.56 cornholes per round

Scouting tip #2 – Tony lost head-to-head battles against Galz (40-31 gross points) and Bushie (38-31 gross points), so if you are partners with Galz or Bushie and square off against Tony’s team, make those guys go head-to-head.

As great as Tony was, this night belonged to Galz. He was coming off a horrendous week 5 performance (by his standards) where he shot only 33% and recorded his lowest KPM of the season (9.1). On this night, he was locked in and the best he’s ever been.

Galz set a record for highest KPM at 14.7, which is absurd. He was 71% on his tosses, scored 4.7 gross points per round and drained an INSANE 0.95 cornholes per round! Yes folks, he essentially made one cornhole every round.

And if that wasn’t enough, he cawk punched everyone all night, going 8-1 overall, and tea bagged KP by sinking four straight cornholes in Game 3 to put his second 12-point round of the season on the board. Keep in mind, Galz has the only 12-point rounds of the 2018 season and matches Nick Winkler for most in LEG history with two (Nick recorded both of his 12-point rounds in week 14 of the 2017 campaign).

Galz was so good, it should surprise nobody that he earned this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment. In Game 3 he partnered with Marco and battled KP and JV. Galz was confident. Focused. Cocky. He wanted the head-to-head matchup with KP, who regularly gets the best of Galz (KP owns a 170-164 head-to-head gross points advantage on the season). KP granted the wish and was ready for business as usual…except, not this time. Galz outscored KP 26-14 for the game, which lasted only 3.5 rounds, and led his team to an impressive 21-1 victory. Galz closed the game with a 12-point round in the top of the fourth frame (outscored KP 12-4 in gross points) to propel his team from a 17-1 lead to a 21-1 celebration.

Galz’s 26-14 gross points advantage over KP in this game helped him to a 55-34 gross points advantage over KP on the night (Galz also got him 29-20 in Game 11), which significantly cut into KP’s head-to-head season gross points lead (now 170-164, was 136-109).

Congratulations to Galz for his dominating 12-point round and week 6 MSM!

The dynamic sibling duo of Janet and Ken joined LEG, and made their presence felt by going head-to-head in the Game of the Night. Janet partnered with Coach Mike, while Ken teamed with Bushie in Game 12. Bushie opened the scoring with a 10-point round, outscoring Coach Mike 10-1 to give his team an immediate 9-0 lead. Four frames later he posterized Coach Mike with another 10-point round, besting him 10-4, upping the lead to 17-7.

Down 17-7, cue Coach Mike, right? WRONG! Cue Janet against her brother! Throughout the next four rounds Janet crushed her brother to gain 7 net points (11-4 gross points advantage), while Coach Mike tried to find his back-handed taint tickler.

After Janet closed the deficit to 17-15 in the seventh frame, Bushie jumped all over Coach with a 6-4 gross advantage to make it 19-15. Once again, it was up to Janet to keep the game alive and she promptly drained a cornhole and added another bag on the board to claim a 2-0 net advantage over Ken (4-2 gross points) and tighten the game to 19-17.

In the bottom of the eighth frame Coach Mike discovered how to tickle Bushie juuuuuuust right – he drained a cornhole and landed two more bags on the board on his way to a 5-2 gross advantage and overcame an enormous, game-long deficit. Coach and Janet had faced deficits of 11-1 and 17-7, but now held a 20-19 lead.

The pressure was on Ken to avoid losing to his sister. He didn’t light the world on fire, but he did turn the keys over to Bushie one final time by outscoring his sister 1-0 to tie the game at 20.

Bushie vs. Coach, game tied at 20. What more could you ask for? If you’re Bushie, you could ask for a second chance. Coach swished a cornhole on his first toss to apply all the pressure on Bushie. Coach would only hit one more of his bags on the board, but it was enough to hold off Bushie 4-1 gross, and enjoy a 21-20 rallying win!

News and Notes:

• Galz – really, screw Galz and his great night.
• Gramps finally showed up, and played extremely well. In fact, he played so well that he now holds the #1 spot in the cumulative Power Rankings. Granted, he’s only played one week while his opponents have played several weeks. Everyone should not expect to see Tony again until the end of the season. He takes great pleasure in holding the #1 spot, even if all factors aren’t equal.
• Marco got back to his true form with an 11.6 KPM, 58% accuracy, 3.8 gross points per round, and two 10-point rounds. It’s still hard to understand how Marco didn’t make any noise in the 2017 Postseason Tournament, but he’s playing at an MVP level in 2018 and will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the year.
• KP somehow arrived at an 11.0 KPM, despite how he seemed to play very poorly. He went 4-4 on the night, and only hit on 61% of his throws (compared to above 70% for the season). KP is on a downward trend the last few weeks, but still managed to hang on to the #2 spot in the Power Rankings.
• Bushie played the best cornhole of his career, dropping THREE 10-point rounds on the night, recording a 10.5 KPM (his first ever KPM above 10) and going 4-2. Bushie scored on 45% of his throws, but hit 0.76 cornholes per round to demoralize his opponents and drive his KPM above 10.
• JV finally showed true championship form for an entire night. He locked in at 10.4 KPM, and was very accurate at 59%. He averaged 3.4 gross points per round and 0.54 cornholes per round. JV has been on a season-long struggle, and still only sits at #8 in the Power Rankings. More than half a season remains, but it appears JV is struggling to maintain his championship level after having won The Cup.
• Erik seemed to get back on track after having several down weeks. He played very well in week 1, but has been in a downward spiral since then. This week, he found his game again, hitting on 54% of his throws, scoring 3.0 gross points per round, snagging 5 foot snags, and posting an 8.9 KPM. Erik sits at #2 overall in cumulative foot snags with 16, chasing Adam and his league-leading 24.
• Paul had a very good night, scoring 53% of the time (one of his most accurate nights ever), averaging 3.0 gross points per round and 0.46 cornholes per round while producing a 9.1 KPM. Paul sits at #14 in the Power Rankings, but the league shouldn’t forget he was in the semifinals of the 2018 Preseason Kick-Off as Bushie’s partner. The league is filled with talent, and Paul sitting at #14 in evidence of that.

Speaking of deep talent in the league, after six weeks we have six players who own a cumulative KPM at 10 or greater. Nine other players have KPMs ranging from 7.0 to 9.8, which gives us 15 players above 7.0 KPM. The league is thriving, players are excelling and the rest of the 2018 season should be extremely competitive. Everyone is jockeying for prime position in the 2018 Postseason Tournament Draft Lottery, and with the deep talent pool The Cup is up for everyone’s grabs.

 

 

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – The curious case of KP’s missing sunglasses has been cracked! For those who don’t remember, KP lost his aviators the night of May 5, during the Preseason Kick-Off. KP stumbled into an Uber carrying two cell phones, a speaker, two cell phone chargers, a single cigar, his “MAGA” hat and All-Tournament Team medal. When he woke on Sunday, all items were accounted for, though scattered all over his house like a trail of bread crumbs. However, there were no aviators.

He called and texted the Uber driver from the night before, and the driver didn’t find them. He texted, emailed and called LEG members asking if they found the sunglasses…no luck. So, a few weeks passed, and he remained pissed off about the missing sunglasses until finally he decided to purchase a replacement pair.

But then came week 5…Steve strolls up the driveway, mandingo cigar in his mouth, cooler in his hands and informs KP that he has good news that will make him a happy man. He opens the cooler and voila! The aviators somehow made it into the cooler, which is a very logical place for drunk KP to put them.

Week 5 also marked the first time LEG was played in Clawson at Coach Mike’s house. As you might expect with Coach involved, it was an all-out PARTY! We had strippers in the living room getting it on, and they didn’t leave until 6 in the morning. Ok, that’s not true, but we had 11 guys running two boards, Coach Mike’s boombox blasting bangers for the entire neighborhood, and an industrial cooler full of booze that was damn near empty by the end of the night.

The whole evening was a dark, fuzzy memory for most involved. JV could barely get in the car when his girlfriend so lovingly picked him up. KP woke up Friday morning on Barker’s couch after he and Barker closed Renshaw Lounge after leaving Coach Mike’s place.

The quality of play suffered due to the party atmosphere, with 10 of the 17 matches decided by double digits and only four matches were within five points. However, the Game of the Night was a hell of a match between Steve and Marco, and Paul and Coach Mike.

Steve and Marco dominated early, pouncing on their opponents in the third and fourth frame behind Steve’s 6-0 advantage against Paul and Marco’s 6-1 dominance of Coach, respectively. After the top half of the fourth frame, Coach and Paul were staring at a daunting 13-1 deficit.

But Paul played his best cornhole of the year over the next four frames, going on his own 15-0 run against Steve (outscoring him 16-1 in gross points), while Coach kicked in 4 points (outscoring Marco 10-6 in gross points). Marco and Steve were stunned, grasping for their momentum but instead watched it slip through their fingers. Now they were down 20-13 and on the brink of losing a game they controlled.

This game was all about runs and major momentum shifts, and Paul and Coach had to deal with that harsh reality when Marco edged Coach 3-1 in the eighth, and Steve came alive to cool off Paul with a 5-2 win. The lead was now 20-18, and Coach Mike had a great opportunity to close the game against his nephew. But Coach uncharacteristically missed all four of his tosses in the ninth, and while Marco scored only one bag, he made it count by registering a cornhole to pull off a thriller, 21-20.

Marco scored only 10 of his 36 throws in the game, but NINE of them were cornholes. Paul’s 16 gross points during the middle four frames were extremely impressive, as it also provided a 15 point net advantage over Steve. However, Paul only scored 5 gross points in the other frames, which was a big reason why he and Coach couldn’t clinch the game.

The Mushroom Stamp Moment of the week belongs to Adam, and came in game 7 when he partnered with JV to battle Coach Mike and Steve. Coach Mike had just given his team an 8-4 lead by dropping a 10-point round on JV. In the very next frame Adam answered the bell with his own 10-point round, and a crushing 10-0 win over Steve. Adam’s dominance gave his team a 14-8 lead and they never looked back, going on to win 21-14.

As if the 10-point round wasn’t enough, Adam added 6 foot snags in the game. Congratulations to Adam for earning the week 5 MSM with his impressive and versatile performance.

News and Notes:

• Barker, the Preseason Kick-Off champion, made his first regular season appearance since taking home The Cup. Despite six weeks away, he dominated week 5 with an 11.4 KPM, 60% accuracy, and a 3-1 record. He even teamed up with JV to relive their championship glory in a 21-9 win over KP and Adam. Barker immediately jumped to the #2 spot in the Power Rankings.
• KP had a nice night, going 5-2 with a 10.9 KPM on 65% accuracy. KP also posted a 10-point round against Barker in game 12, which turned the tide and helped lead KP and JV to a 21-18 win over Barker and Steve. KP vaulted into #1 in the Power Rankings thanks in part to his good night, and Marco’s stumble (7.3 KPM, who was previously #1 in the Power Rankings).
• Adam earned this week’s MSM, recorded two 10-point rounds, posted a ridiculous 11 foot snags (which is as many as the second place person has on the season), and went 4-2 with a 10.7 KPM.
• Galz finally had a night below 10.0 KPM, coming in at 9.1. That is still very impressive considering he was only 33% accurate. By comparison, Coach Mike was also 33% accurate and Paul 34% with KPMs of 8.1 and 6.1, respectively. Galz continued to hit cornholes at a high rate (0.74 per round), which kept his KPM above 9.
• Overall, accuracy and KPMs were way down compared to normal, which, as mentioned earlier, is highly correlated to the amount of partying that was done. Of the 11 players, only two (Barker and KP) were above 50% accuracy and eight players ranged from 22% – 38% accuracy.