BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – In the Singles Tournament Preview we highlighted the handicap system that was to be deployed for this tournament, and talked about how it could deliver some Cinderella run(s) in the tournament.
In fact, the handicap system worked exactly how it was designed – to level the playing field and create an environment where every match was up for grabs.
We saw countless upsets – 13 of the 35 matches resulted in the lower (worse) seed winning! Sure, the handicap contributed to some of those upsets, but credit needs to be given to the players who pulled the stunners because many of those instances were the result of really good play.
Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Cinderella stories in a bit.
SEED SWAPPING
Per usual, LEG tournaments always have a twist. Since the seeding was pre-determined based on Power Rankings, there was no need for round robin games. Yet, nobody really wants to jump into triple elimination tournament play cold and sober.
So, the commissioner implemented a one-game warm-up to allow players an opportunity to knock the rust off and consume some liquid confidence. The twist? The lower seeded player got to pick a higher seeded opponent, and if the lower seeded player won the warm-up contest then the two players flipped seeds. The warm-up games were straight up, no handicap allowed.
It started with #12 seed Steve-O picking his opponent, and he opted with #5 seed JV – strange because they were slated to play in the first round anyway. My hunch is Steve-O did this to mind-fuck JV out the gates.
- #11 Jack then picked #4 Galz
- #10 Coach Mike picked #2 Dibble
- #9 Paul picked #6 Erik
- #8 Bushie picked #1 Nick
- #7 Turley picked #3 KP
Clearly nobody wanted a piece of Nick, since four players passed on the opportunity to take the #1 seed from him. I can’t say I blame them, and props to Bushie for having big enough balls to take on the challenge.
After all warm-up games were completed, only one “upset” occurred, resulting in a seed swap – #12 Steve-O beat #5 JV, 21-6.
CINDERELLA STORIES
Steve-O parlayed his warm-up game upset into an incredible tournament run. He stole the #5 seed from JV and immediately turned around to whip his ass again, 21-2, in the first round.
Steve-O advanced to the second round against #4 Galz, jumping out to a big early lead before Galz slowly chipped away at the deficit. Steve-O held him off, beating him 21-16 to advance to the third round.
His reward in the third round? #1 seed Nick. At this point the edibles were kicking in and Steve-O had nerves of steel. He dominated Nick, 21-14, taking down his third straight victim. Don’t look now but Steve-O punched his ticket to the quarterfinals in the Winners’ Bracket.
He faced #3 KP, who was fresh off a tense upset win of his own over #2 Dibble, 21-15. Steve-O started with an 11-0 lead because of the handicap against KP. I’m not mentioning this as an excuse, but rather to offer the full picture to help explain what came next.
Steve-O kicked the match off with an opening bag cornhole. KP followed with a first bag miss.
Steve-O applied even more pressure when his second toss found the hole for three points. KP’s second bag landed on the board, holding on the back-right edge of the board for dear life.
Steve-O drained a cornhole on his third bag, giving him a 9-1 advantage in the inning. The pressure was visible on KP’s face and his shoulders slumped. His third bag landed on the board, but was essentially dead as it rested on the front left of the board.
Without missing a beat, Steve-O launched his final green Game Changer and it landed in the center of the board before sliding into the hole for a four-bagger!
LET ME REMIND YOU…this was the first fucking inning! Steve-O dropped a 12-point round right away, not even allowing KP the chance to get a feel for the match.
Steve-O led the inning, 12-2, and the game, 21-0. KP had one bag remaining and needed at least one point to extend the match. His final toss started at the center of the board, but slowly cut to the right. It needed to hang on! The bag hit the right side of the board, tumbled over his cliff-hanging second bag, and fell to the ground.
Final first inning score – 12-2, good enough for a 21-0 win. Steve-O handed KP a first inning bun run in the goddam quarterfinals of the Winners’ Bracket!
Click the link (volume up) for the closing moments of Steve-O’s 21-0 win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X6huwRjCdw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=KurtisPeters
Steve-O marched to the Winners’ Bracket semifinals.
Let’s pause here and pick up on a few more Cinderella stories.
Jack significantly outperformed his #11 seed. He lost his first round match to #6 Erik, 21-9. But he rallied with an impressive 21-17 victory in the Losers’ Bracket against #4 Galz (yes, that’s consecutive losses to start the tournament for Galz).
Up next was a huge match against #8 Bushie. Unfortunately for Jack, Bushie’s edibles were also kicking in and his laser focus helped him catch fire. Bushie beat Jack fairly easily, 21-14, and Jack was on the verge of elimination.
In the Double Losers’ Bracket Jack ripped off two consecutive wins to keep his hopes alive, beating JV (21-9) and Erik (21-14). An elimination match with Dibble awaited him.
Sadly, Jack’s slipper no longer fit. Dibble eliminated Jack, 21-14. But Jack ended his day 3-3 with a sixth-place finish, and wins over #4 Galz, #5 JV (well, #12 JV after the seed swap), and #6 Erik. That’s an exception tournament for the #11 seed.
Bushie crushed #9 Paul in the opening round, 21-5, before losing to #1 Nick in the second round, 21-10.
As we just mentioned, he won a big Losers’ Bracket match against Jack, 21-14, which advanced him to play #2 Dibble. Bushie was amped for this match, as these two have a nice rivalry going. Bushie couldn’t miss, and Dibble didn’t handle the adversity well. Bushie rolled Dibble like an avalanche, 21-7, and celebrated his victory like a kid who got the perfect gift from Santa Claus.
Click the link below for video of Bushie’s victory (volume up). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEVqJL3VHs&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=KurtisPeters
When you get this far into the tournament, the road most definitely isn’t easy. Bushie didn’t have much time to celebrate his win over Dibble because next on the docket was #1 Nick.
This was a hell of a match, tied 19-19 late in the game. Bushie sank a cornhole and added two on the board for five gross points. But that wasn’t enough to overcome two cornholes and two more bags on the board for Nick. Nick’s 8-5 win in the inning gave him a 21-19 Losers’ Bracket victory. Bushie hung tough, but Nick’s championship mettle was the difference in this one.
Bushie found himself in the Double Losers’ Bracket and had another date with #2 Dibble after Dibble survived the match with Jack, 21-14.
Dibble wasn’t ready to go home, and certainly not at the hands of Bushie again. Though it was a nip and tuck match, Dibble pulled away for a comfortable 21-15 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
Bushie’s tournament was over with a 4-3 record. He was dominant in wins over #9 Paul (21-5) and #10 Coach Mike (21-10), while also picking up one of the best wins of the tournament in his 21-7 victory over #2 Dibble. He finished in fifth place, three spots ahead of his #8 seed. Overall, a solid 2020 Singles Tournament for Bushie.
BIG MEN
This was a Singles Tournament to forget for #9 Paul and #4 Galz…partially because they combined for a 2-6 record – Paul lost to #8 Bushie (21-5), #7 Turley (21-8), and #12 JV (21-14), while Galz lost to #5 Steve-O (21-16), #11 Jack (21-17), and #2 Dibble in an elimination match (21-18). To Galz’s credit, he did stave off elimination by beating #10 Coach Mike (21-11) and #7 Turley (21-12).
It was a disappointing tournament for both, but the real fun was these two thought they were “big men” and could party hard. Throughout the day these two could often be heard saying, “Paul, we’re big men, let’s have another,” or “Galz, I’m a big man, give me more.”
They were a riot, especially when they were glued to their tailgate chairs shortly after elimination, unable to stand.
Better days are ahead for these guys. Frankly, Galz deserved an “off” tournament after runner-up finishes in the 2018 and 2019 Singles Tournaments.
YOU ALREADY FINISHED?
Paul and Galz weren’t the only players with a short stay in the tournament. Coach Mike went 0-3 and wasn’t competitive, losing 21-5 to #7 Turley, 21-10 to #8 Bushie, and 21-11 to #4 Galz. However, it was Coach Mike’s wedding anniversary so he bounced early to enjoy dinner and an evening with his wife. Something tells me Coach Mike was the real winner on this day.
JV continued his trend of poor Singles Tournaments with a 1-3 record, losing his #5 seed to #12 Steve-O in the seed swap round, then losing again to Steve-O (21-2), #6 Erik (21-6) and #11 Jack (21-9). He did eliminate his arch nemesis, Paul (21-14), but that was little consolation for the #5 seed finishing in 10th place.
Turley had been playing extremely well leading up to the Singles Tournament, and appeared to get things started on the right foot with a 21-5 first round victory over #10 Coach Mike.
He hung tough with #2 Dibble in the second round before finally losing, 21-16. A 21-8 Losers’ Bracket win over Paul reinstated some good vibes, but then the train came off the tracks.
In a key Losers’ Bracket match with #6 Erik, Turley was bun run (21-0). Neither player had a handicap in this match since both were essentially even in the Power Rankings coming into the tournament (#6 seed Erik and #7 seed Turley, both with a 10.8 KPM), making the bun run even more embarrassing for Turley.
After dressing himself, Turley lost to Galz in an elimination match, 21-12. He finished the day 2-3, which was quite disappointing considering he has the game to contend for a Singles title.
Erik finished the tournament 3-3, so it’s hard to consider him an underperformer. He won his opening round match against #11 Jack, 21-9, before losing a tough match to #3 KP, 21-17.
In the Losers’ Bracket he dominated #12/#5 JV, 21-6, and then handed #7 Turley the bun run. At this point, he was in good shape and playing well.
Erik was throttled in his next Losers’ Bracket match against Nick, 21-9. In fact, Erik received a 9-0 handicapped start, which means Nick beat him 21-0 without the handicap. Erik is an honorable man and respects the rules of the game. So, he dropped his drawers and joined the naked parade around the yard with KP and Turley, both of whom had just been dealt bun runs moments later (KP by Steve-O and Turley by Erik).
Erik then continued the theme of players losing the match immediately following a bun run when he lost in the Double Losers’ Bracket to #11 Jack, 21-14. No disrespect to Jack because he played great, as we outlined earlier. But this was a match Erik should have won, especially considering he beat Jack earlier, 21-9.
The way Erik ended his tournament leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but his seventh-place finish is just about on par with his #6 seed.
THE DEFENDING CHAMP
Dibble has had an incredible 2020 season, coming into the Singles Tournament as the #2 seed and narrowly missing out on the #1 spot.
He’s the 2019 Singles Tournament Champion and arrived in Beverly Hills hoping to retain The Belt.
After a first round bye thanks to his #2 seed, he held off pesky #7 Turley, 21-16, in the second round. KP then sent him to the Losers’ Bracket, beating Dibble 21-15.
Next was the disappointing Losers’ Bracket loss to Bushie, 21-7, sending Dibble limping to the Double Losers’ Bracket after just three games.
Impressively, Dibble was determined not to go away quietly. With his back against the wall, he ripped off wins over #4 Galz (21-18), #11 Jack (21-14) and #8 Bushie in a rematch (21-15).
In the quarterfinals he squared off with #3 KP, and like how he handled Bushie, he looked to avenge another earlier loss to KP.
KP was reeling a bit, coming off a 21-0 loss to Steve-O and a 21-8 thrashing from Nick. Dibble was licking his chops, hoping to hang a third straight “L” on KP.
KP started fast and never looked back. He used a 12-point round to clinch the game, beating Dibble, 21-12, to advance to the semifinals.
Dibble was frustrated because he was hungry for more, and felt he could have won a semifinal match against Steve-O had he beaten KP. Instead, he was done and couldn’t quite defend his title.
JUST THE THREE OF US
Let’s quickly take inventory of the 12 players, making sure we check off those we’ve recapped.
- #12 (formerly #5) JV
- #11 Jack
- #10 Coach
- #9 Paul
- #8 Bushie
- #7 Turley
- #6 Erik
- #5 (formerly #12) Steve-O
- #4 Galz
- #2 Dibble
We’ve lightly touched on #1 Nick and #3 KP, and #5 Steve-O story is about to continue.
We left off with Steve-O beating Nick, 21-14, and KP, 21-0, to advance to the semifinals in the Winners’ Bracket.
Nick recovered nicely after his loss, trouncing #6 Erik, 21-9, and then surviving #8 Bushie, 21-19, in the Losers’ Bracket. That set the stage for a key match with #3 KP, the winner advancing to play Steve-O in a rematch game.
Nick left no doubt who the better player was in this showdown. He put his foot on KP’s neck early and kept stomping until he choked him out, 21-8.
Nick knew he couldn’t give Steve-O any momentum in their rematch. Steve-O was accurate, but couldn’t hit a cornhole to save his life. Meanwhile, Nick was red hot and continuously posted 4+ point innings. Nick won relatively easily, 21-14.
Since that was Steve-O’s first loss of the tournament he fell to the Losers’ Bracket and immediately faced Nick again, this time with a trip to the championship on the line. Each player had beaten the other with ease in their previous two matches. So, it was no surprise that the rubber match was an absolute war.
Steve-O’s accuracy continued and he began finding the hole again. He had taken a 19-17 lead late into the match before Nick surged with three cornholes in one inning. Steve-O had managed four points to offset Nick’s cornholes, but he needed a cornhole on his final toss to keep the game alive (Nick up 9-4, and those 5 gross points would give him a 21-19 win).
Steve-O didn’t have any magic left in his bag. He missed the board on his final toss and lost the game. Nick advanced to the championship, while Steve-O fell to the Double Losers’ Bracket to play KP, who had just eliminated Dibble, 21-12.
Steve-O had the highlight of the tournament in his only other match with KP, giving him a bun run after one inning. But KP was determined not to get embarrassed again.
KP survived the first inning this time around, and then made quick work of Steve-O, winning 21-12 and advancing to the championship against Nick.
Steve-O was eliminated, but a semifinal appearance and four straight upset victories to start the tournament over #12 (formerly #5) JV, #4 Galz, #1 Nick and #3 KP might be more impressive than Nick or KP winning the title. That was a hell of a run by the #12 seed (before seed swapping), and his only losses were to #1 Nick (twice) and #3 KP.
EVERYTHING AT STAKE
Nick arrived in the championship with one loss, while KP had two losses. Nick easily won the only match between the two earlier in the tournament, 21-8.
In the history of LEG, no player or team has ever won a championship coming from the Double Losers’ Bracket. So not only did KP have no room for error (a loss eliminated him), but he had history against him and an opponent who is arguably the best player in LEG history.
As KP walked to the beer fridge with Nick to reload a championship beverage, he reminded himself – “you can’t win two if you don’t win one first.” He cracked a Two-Hearted and collected himself.
Game 1 of the championship was a rollercoaster. Both players had shining moments with 8, 9 and 10-point innings. Both players also struggled with bouts of inaccuracy where they had innings of 1, 2 and 3 points. Strangely, the highs and lows for each player happened at the same time, so nobody pulled away on the scoreboard.
Late in Game 1 KP had an 18-16 lead and the final throw of the inning. A cornhole would win the match, sending the championship to one final game.
Say what you want about KP, but he has shown an uncanny ability to perform in clutch moments during the 2020 season. He seemed to draw on that experience with his final bag as he tossed a gem that found the hole with ease.
21-16! Game 1 went to KP.
The 2020 Singles Tournament was down to a winner-takes-all match.
Nick’s frustration from Game 1 carried over, as did KP’s focus and momentum from draining a game-winning cornhole.
The game was never that close, though Nick can drop a 12-point round at any moment to totally flip a match. KP played the perfect chess match, balancing defending against huge innings while also capitalizing on his own scoring opportunities.
On this day he found a way to solve the puzzle against Nick, beating him in Game 2, 21-13, to earn the 2020 Singles Tournament Championship!
It was KP’s first Singles Tournament Championship and second LEG title overall (he partnered with Bushie to win the 2019 Postseason Tournament).
Meanwhile, Nick fell just shy of capturing his second Singles Tournament Championship.
Salute to all 12 players for creating the most competitive Singles Tournament to date, and congratulations to your 2020 Singles Tournament Champion, KP!
