BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – The most controversial aspect of LEG is the foot snag. And while it’s not as exciting as an airmail, 12-point round, or a match decided by a walk-off toss, it has always been a hell of a source of entertainment.

For those who don’t know, the foot snag was invented by LEG in 2016. That’s right, we invented it and I’d challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

The concept is simple – a wayward toss that is gathered and controlled on another player’s foot (like a hacky sack) prior to the errant toss hitting the ground is considered to be a successful foot snag.

The thrill of a foot snag is twofold: 1) it’s damn hard to perform considering the unpredictability of speed and direction of the bag’s carom off the board; 2) and more importantly, the player who threw the errant toss is required to chug/finish their beer before the match is allowed to continue.

The concept was perfected by Humberto, who is widely considered to be the best foot snagger of all-time. He has single-handedly been a difference maker in tournaments through use of the foot snag, snagging players so that their intoxication level skyrockets and their skills diminish.

It wasn’t hard to convince the league that the foot snag needed to be a staple of LEG, and the numbers reflected that.

• In 2016 there were 38 total foot snags.
• In 2017 the total grew to 139, and we had a legitimate regular season race between JV and Adam for the foot snag crown. JV totaled 35, while Adam fell just short with 34. It was like a modern day McGwire vs. Sosa, without the steroids.
• In 2018, Adam was on a mission to win the foot snag crown and he did with ease, snagging 43 bags on the year. The league total dipped to 99, which was reflective of some brewing controversy among certain league members.
• In 2019, the controversy came to a head with several players calling it a distraction, claiming the game suffered because of it. Arguments can be made for each side, but the divisiveness of the topic caused many players to stop attempting the foot snag. The 2019 league total was just 11 snags, and JV had six of them.

Foot snags were trending toward classification as an endangered species. But it’s amazing what some new blood can inject into the league!

This week Jimmy popped his LEG cherry, which allowed players the opportunity to paint a full picture of the league – we gave a tutorial on the scoring format, the statistics spreadsheet, KPM concept, warned him of the consequences of losing a game 21-0, and of course, introduced the foot snag.

Listen, it’s our obligation to ensure every LEG player knows the league inside and out. We owed it to Jimmy to educate him on the foot snag rule. And then that new MFer went out and snagged three bags in his first week, including foot snagging his own partner, Paul, TWICE in Game 6! Of course Paul had to return the favor, foot snagging Jimmy later in Game 6.

No wonder they lost that game 21-5 to Erik and Barker…

Many players think it’s a sin to foot snag at all. But foot snagging your own partner is about as bad as it gets, in some players’ minds.

My view? Fuck it, foot snag anyone and everyone. You don’t want to be foot snagged? Don’t throw an inaccurate bag!

Thank you, Jimmy. We needed your energy and passion for rejuvenating the foot snag.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

The Game of the Night featured Jimmy and JV against Paul and Turley in Game 1. Jimmy’s inaugural game, and he makes the cut for Game of the Night!

Things didn’t go Jimmy’s way early on in this one. Through the first three innings, Jimmy scored just one gross point – 1/12 shooting to start his LEG career, and Paul capitalized by outscoring him 9-1 during that stretch.

JV wasn’t much better during that period, losing his head-to-head battle with Turley, 8-7. Jimmy and JV quickly found themselves in an 11-2 hole.

Jimmy flashed his potential in the fourth inning when he outscored Paul, 4-0, but his team’s deficit was still 14-6.

In the top of the sixth inning JV scored all four of his tosses, including one cornhole, while Turley managed only one toss on the board. A 6-1 advantage shrunk the margin to 14-11, and Jimmy piled on in the bottom of the sixth by besting Paul, 3-0.

The sixth inning surge allowed Jimmy and JV to tie the match at 14-14, and JV gave his team a 16-14 lead in the top of the seventh to cap a 10-0 scoring run.

Paul and Turley needed to answer. They were on the ropes, at risk of nearly choking away the game. That’s when Paul stepped in to save the game – in the bottom of the seventh he nailed a cornhole on his first toss, then scared the hole with his second toss settling fractions from another cornhole. Paul’s third toss was aggressive, clearly trying to take the second toss into the hole. But the toss was offline and long. Paul collected his nerves, and fired his final bag at the hole. It had a lot of steam on it, but tracked directly at the hole…the bag hit high on the board and slid into the hole, taking the other bag with it!

Two cornholes on the final toss of the inning, good for a 9-3 advantage and a 20-16 lead overall.

JV kept his team in it, cutting the deficit to 20-18 in the top of the eighth inning. But all eyes turned back to Jimmy and Paul in the bottom of the eighth.

Jimmy’s four throws produced four gross points, and Paul had managed just two points after his first three tosses. Paul had one bag remaining, and faced the possibility of a 20-20 tie, with bags going back to JV and Turley.

Paul stared at the hole, swinging his arm slowly back-and-forth, presumably developing a rhythm and measuring his throw. But it’s entirely possible he was daydreaming about which beer he’d drink next, and was clueless about the situation he was in. Nobody can ever tell with Paul, which is why we love him!

Paul let a low line-drive go toward the hole. Once again, this toss had heat on it. Once again, his final bag landed high on the board and pushed another bag in for a cornhole on it’s way into the hole.

Two cornholes on the final toss of the inning, for the second consecutive inning! This time, he erased a 4-2 deficit and flipped it to a 7-4 advantage, which closed the match, 21-18.

Paul’s clutch shots in the seventh and eighth innings were turning points in the match, and prevented Jimmy from his first career victory. For that, Paul earns this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment, his second of the 2020 season.

NEWS AND NOTES

Week 3 presented difficult playing conditions because of a strong breeze and uneven footing for the players to navigate in their throwing stance. KP decided to play in a new area of the yard to help preserve the health of his grass, and to avoid pissing off his neighbors, who interrogated Paul and Jimmy at the beginning of the night.

Several players still had really strong performances, but in general accuracy and consistency suffered.

• Jimmy cracks cornholes and he don’t care! It’s true, Jimmy knocked in 0.41 cornholes per round, which is really good given the playing conditions and the fact that he was making his LEG debut. His KPM was just 6.4, primarily due to 31% accuracy. By comparison, Jimmy wasn’t too far off from the following players, who have a solid track record:
  • Paul shot 32% and had a 7.1 KPM, which is crazy given the loud moments and MSM he had this week.
  • Erik shot 39% and registered an 8.0 KPM
  • Turley shot 43% and had an 8.6 KPM

Though Jimmy lost his first career game in heart-breaking fashion, he did finally get his first win and ended the night with a 2-4 record. Most importantly, he brought the foot snag back into style!

• Barker made his season debut and didn’t have much rust in his game. Despite the playing conditions, he shot 63% on his way to a 12.1 KPM and 2-1 record. The highlight of his night was holding off Galz in Game 10, losing the head-to-head battle, 39-37. Barker’s neutralization of Galz was key in helping his team to a 21-11 victory, including surviving a 10-point round from Galz by posting eight points to prevent a huge scoring swing.
• Speaking of Galz, the playing conditions seemed like no problem for him. He was the only player to produce a 10-point round (he had three of them), and he swished cornholes at a ridiculous 1.18 per round while also shooting 62%. His 15.4 KPM is really high on any night, let alone one like this. Galz was a stud, finishing the night 4-2 overall and was the most imposing player this week.
• JV was the most accurate player, shooting 65% this week. His 11.8 KPM is also impressive, and could’ve been much higher if he had made a few more cornholes (he averaged 0.66 per round). He finished 2-3 overall, and was oh-so-close to being on the right side of .500 if the Game of the Night had swung his (and Jimmy’s) way.
• KP posted a 13.4 KPM, which looks great on paper. However, that was inflated simply because of his cornhole rate (0.97 per round). His accuracy was way down (58% tonight, compared to 69% for the season coming into week 3) and, even more importantly, he was victim to two 21-5 losses. It’s hard to call that a good night when you get bombed that badly, no matter what the numbers say. He finished the night 3-3 overall