BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Establishing a periodic “Belt Challenge” has been on the Commissioner’s agenda for almost two years, and it was finally implemented this week.

What is a “Belt Challenge”? As you all know, the Singles Tournament has been a midseason staple since 2018 with the winner of the tournament claiming the LEG Championship Belt. Ordinarily the winner of the LEG Championship Belt would possess it until the following year’s Singles Tournament, which would then require a title defense. However, the Belt Challenge allows for top challengers to play for the right to defeat the Singles Champion and take the belt.

Some of you may recall the “Monday Night Wars” between Monday Night Raw of the WWF and Monday Nitro of the WCW. The two wrestling organizations were so hellbent on topping the other in television ratings that they started periodic championship matches where the current belt holder would defend the title against a top competitor. It was a huge shift in the championship wrestling format, as all prior championship matches were saved for Pay Per View. Televising championship matches on cable TV was a ratings grab, and it worked.

Anyway, the concept is the same for the LEG Championship Belt…Belt Challenges allow challengers to claim the Championship Belt through other avenues besides winning the Singles Tournament. The format of the Belt Challenge is that the title holder – whether that’s the prior Singles Tournament Champion or the most recent Belt Challenge winner (on a go forward basis) – is automatically the #1 seed in the Belt Challenge and has a chance to defend the belt. The top three KPMs (excluding the current title holder, of course) on the night of a Belt Challenge become the #2, #3 and #4 seeds.

From there, the #1 seed plays the #4 seed in one semifinal and the #2 seed plays the #3 seed in the second semifinal. The semifinal winners advance to play for the LEG Championship Belt. The entire format is single elimination.

KP won the 2020 Singles Tournament and therefore automatically earned the #1 seed in the inaugural Belt Challenge. Nick earned the #2 seed with a 20.4 KPM, Galz the #3 seed with a 17.5 KPM and Dibble the #4 seed with a 16.3 KPM.

In the first semifinal between #1 KP and #4 Dibble, KP jumped out to an early 11 – 3 lead. But Dibble kept chipping away at the deficit and slowly crawled back in the game. Eventually he took the lead and never looked back, beating KP 21 – 14.

The second semifinal between #2 Nick and #3 Galz was tight the entire way and went down to the wire, each guy exchanging a few points per round and never gaining more than a three point separation. Nick held a 19 – 17 lead and picked the right time to sink two cornholes while Galz piled bags on the board. Nick won the final round, 6 – 3, after Galz chased glory with a final shot airmail that missed. That was the clinching moment of the game, advancing Nick to the title match with a 21 – 17 victory.

The Belt Challenge title match felt eerily similar to the first semifinal. Dibble found himself in an early hole, down 8 – 2. But Nick caught a cold streak and Dibble smartly took one point here, two points there…soon enough he jumped in front on the scoreboard. Dibble closed the game on a 19 – 3 run to win the Belt Challenge, 21 – 11 over Nick.

Dibble now has possession of the LEG Championship Belt! These Belt Challenges will occur every two weeks, so week 6 it will be up for grabs with Dibble defending the title.

MISSING – HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

KP was so disgusted after his semifinal loss in the Belt Challenge that he kicked a can of delicious IPA into the side of the house and dropped several four letter expletives. The frustration wasn’t necessarily about *this* loss. Rather, he’s been in a slump for the entire 2021 season and it all came to a head when he had control of the game and pissed it away. Just using tonight as an example, KP was actually #5 in the KPM rankings and would not have qualified for the Belt Challenge if it weren’t for his exemption as the current belt holder. Paul was actually in the top four players (15.8 KPM this week), but had to watch KP struggle through a loss to Dibble rather than have his own shot at taking possession of the belt.

To make matters worse, KP began hearing whispers that multiple players were taking joy in beating him and/or in the fact that he was struggling, culminating in massive shit talk from another LEG player during a casual setting over the weekend (days after week 4).

Go ahead and take joy in KP’s struggles, talk your shit, and laugh at the bun run Galz and Bushie handed KP and Paul in Game 9 this week (link below). Just know that the version of KP ya’ll are beating isn’t the best version, and the revenge tour will come sooner or later. When it does, each of the offenders are officially on notice because KP’s coming for that ass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNcn0sBfJvA

JIMMY 2.0

We last saw Jimmy in the final weeks of the 2020 season when he finished the year with a 7.9 KPM. Clearly not great, especially when compared to the swanky KPMs throughout the league, but also consistent with almost every other rookie in LEG history.

Jimmy made his 2021 debut this week and was noticeably different from the time the first bag left his hands. Rhythm was great, bag was flat and spinning like a pizza pie, and scoring was improved.

“Jimmy, have you been practicing?” KP asked.

“I have. I was getting my butt kicked last year and did not want that to happen again,” he responded.

The work paid off. Not only did he look better, but the stats proved he was markedly better. Jimmy finished this week with an 11.1 KPM, 62% shooting, 3.7 gross points per round, 0.60 cornholes per round and a 2 – 2 record.

Those are enormous jumps from how he finished the 2020 season – 7.9 KPM, 48% shooting, 2.7 gross points per round, 0.38 cornholes per round and a 7 – 15 record.

Jimmy capped his night with a great victory in Game 10, which was runner-up for Game of the Night (“GoT”). Jimmy and Dibble snuck by Erik and Barker, 21 – 20, and Jimmy scored 45 gross points and 8 cornholes, averaging 4.1 gross points per round while hanging tough in his head-to-head with Erik (47 gross points and 9 cornholes).

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Game 3 pitted JV and Galz against Turley in Dibble, representing one of the few instances when all four players had things rolling. Below is a snapshot of their Game 3 stats, and keep in mind JV and Turley were head-to-head, while Galz and Dibble were head-to-head:

• JV – 12.5 KPM, 68% accuracy, 0.70 cornholes per round and 4.1 gross points per round
• Turley – 14.2 KPM, 70% accuracy, 0.90 cornholes per round and 4.6 gross points per round
• Galz – 16.7 KPM, 73% accuracy, 1.2 cornholes per round and 5.3 gross points per round
• Dibble – 16.7 KPM, 65% accuracy, 1.3 cornholes per round and 5.2 gross points per round

Not a lot of separation in those head-to-head match-ups, making this a nail-biter.

With the score tied 6 – 6 in the fourth inning, JV and Galz each won their half of the inning, stretching their lead to 9 – 6. Over the next three innings they pushed their scoring run to 11 – 2, making the score 17 – 8. During that run JV contributed two of his team’s 11 points while also holding Turley at bay. Galz knocked in the remaining nine points during that stretch, capped with a 10-point round in the seventh inning.

Turley and Dibble needed to stop the bleeding quickly, and did so with Turley snagging one point in the top of the eighth inning to make it 17 – 9. Dibble scored all four of his bags, including two cornholes, in the bottom half of the inning, outscoring Galz 8 – 2! A seven point swing in just one inning cut the gap to 17 – 15.

JV drained two cornholes on his way to a 7 – 5 win over Turley in the ninth to make the score 19 – 15. All Galz had to do now was score two points to clinch the game, while Dibble could win it with a +6 point round.

With the game at stake, both players disappointed in crunch time. Whether it was nerves, lost focus, or playing too aggressively, both guys failed to deliver – Dibble scored two points and Galz managed just one, making the score 19 – 16.

Turley had honors to throw first in the top of the tenth inning, a golden opportunity against the best closer in the league. He answered the bell with an enormous three-pointer!

JV’s first toss landed on the board. Turley heated up with a second cornhole, pushing his advantage to 6 – 1.

Things were slipping away for JV. He threw a perfect bag at the middle of the board to block additional cornhole attempts from Turley. Unfortunately for JV, Turley is a smart player and was perfectly willing to lay-up, forcing JV to execute a miraculous shot to get back in the game.

Turley boarded his third bag for a 7 – 2 advantage. Cue the heroic attempt from JV. He lowered his release point on the third toss, attempting to push one or both of his existing bags on the board. The trajectory was good, but aim was off. JV just missed pushing his bags because of a wide toss.

Once again, Turley smartly decided to lay-up and board his final bag for an 8 – 2 advantage. JV had to make one bag or the game was over.

He surveyed the board, identifying all four bags littering the canvas. Heroics were needed, but the mathematician quickly calculated the odds of all possible heroic scenarios in his head and reached into his bag of tricks – out came an even lower and harder toss than his third attempt, this one directly on target. His toss smashed into a mess of bags, moved his own two blockers closer to the hole and rolled over the pile for a three-pointer! Not only did he deliver the cornhole he needed to extend the game, but he was fractions of an inch from pushing two more bags in the hole for a 9 – 8 round win!

Instead, Turley took the 8 – 5 advantage, which made the score 19 – 19 and turned the bags back over to Galz and Dibble. After a subpar prior inning, Dibble responded by scoring three of his four tosses, including two cornholes, to put the game away. He outscored Galz 7 – 3 to win the game, 21 – 19.

Not only were the players separated by fractions on the stat sheet (particularly in the head-to-head match-ups), but fractions on the board separated winning from losing in this one. It was an excellent match that was thrilling to watch.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

This week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment (“MSM”) was so incredible that it was crowned despite the fact it came in a losing effort. In Game 2 Galz and JV found themselves down 8 – 4 to Paul and Jimmy early on. In the bottom of the fourth inning Jimmy executed a perfect game plan through his first three bags, piling them around the hole to make things difficult for Galz. For all his positive attributes, one thing Galz does not have is patience. He plays 100 mph at all times. After bunching his first two bags around the hole (thanks to Jimmy’s blockers), his third bag was shot out of a cannon – it exploded into the pile of bags near the hole and somehow all three of Galz’s bags fell in for NINE TOTAL POINTS, WHILE ALSO PUSHING ALL THREE OF JIMMY’S BAGS AWAY FROM THE HOLE!

Jimmy’s final toss missed the board, and Galz had an alley of Jimmy’s dead bags to use as bumpers for a 12-point round. Apparently this was too easy of a shot for Galz, as he failed to make the cornhole for a 12-point round. The bag missed hole-high and just to the right, as he settled for 10 points.

However, Galz taking three bags into the hole on one shot, and the degree of difficulty associated with pulling that off, earns him this week’s MSM. It was one of the best shots you’ll see. That 9-point shot was a catalyst for his 10 – 3 round win that gave he and JV an 11 – 8 lead, but Jimmy and Paul wouldn’t let their opponent score again – they went back to executing their strategy and pieced together a 13 – 0 run to win the game, 21 – 11.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Erik had a great week going 2 – 1 with a 13.6 KPM, 66% accuracy, 0.87 cornholes per round and 4.4 gross points per round. Somehow he fell from #10 to #11 in the Power Rankings, despite the 13.6 KPM.
• Paul was exceptional with a 15.8 KPM and 3 – 2 record. He did enough to qualify for the Belt Challenge (was #4 in overall KPM on the night), but was left on the sidelines because of KP automatically qualifying. Still, a lot to be proud of for Paul on this night, especially his 5.0 gross points per round and 1.12 cornholes per round! Paul jumped from #11 to #8 in the Power Rankings.
• Turley continues to win, baby. This week he was 3 – 1, which runs his season record to 13 – 4. That’s an absurd winning percentage in this league (76%), while the next highest is just 63%. He finished the night with a 12.5 KPM and remains #6 in the Power Rankings.
• Bushie cracked the top-5 of the Power Rankings this week, jumping from #7 to #5 thanks to this week’s 14.3 KPM. Bushie continues to play extremely well this season, averaging 1.06 cornholes per round, 4.7 gross points per round, and 64% accuracy while posting a 14.8 KPM.
• Finally, Nick keeps re-writing the record book. This week’s 20.4 KPM isn’t quite a record for best weekly KPM, but it does help him stay #1 in the Power Rankings and bring his season KPM to 19.9. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you…19.9 KPM for the season! What is most impressive is that he’s averaging 1.59 cornholes per round (best in the league) while also being the most accurate player in the league at 75%. The only blemish on Nick’s record is his inability to close the title match of the Belt Challenge. Otherwise, he’s in a league of his own right now.