CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – In any sport rivalries can be good for the game and fun for fans. They can also be foul and toxic. In LEG, we’ve seen our share of rivalries throughout the years – Paul and JV always comes to mind, but it all started with the O.G.s, Nick and JG. Fast forward to 2021 and we have some new rivalries brewing among the likes of Bob and JV, Paul and Erik, and Dibble and Bushie.
The latter might be the hottest rivalry in the league, and at moments may even approach the foul/toxic category. But this week, Dibble extended an olive branch inviting Bushie to be partners in Game 1. When he did, everyone and everything stopped in their tracks, like a DJ bringing the beats to a screeching halt when the awkward white guy walks into a black club and starts dancing with the hottest chick in the room.
Once everyone picked their jaw up from the ground, Bob and Turley were there to accept the challenge from the frenemies. Less than 10 minutes and eight throws from each player later, Bob and Turley regretted accepting that challenge. Dibble and Bushie were cooking, holding a 10 – 0 lead after the first inning primarily because of Dibble smacking Bob around with a 9 – 0 round.
In the top of the second inning Turley was dominated by Bushie, 9 – 3 to make the score 16 – 0 overall. Turley was disgusted because he knew what was coming…a 9 – 3 win for Dibble in the bottom of the second inning to win the game, 21 – 0!
The quickest bun run in the history of LEG (not counting when Steve-O gave KP a bun run in the 2020 Singles Tournament in just four throws – read more about that here https://legcornhole.com/2020-singles-tournament-recap/ ).
“Did we just become best friends?” Dibble asked Bushie after the game. Without answering, Bushie
walked away and grabbed a Coors Light refill. Guess we’ll have to stay tuned a bit longer for the Bushie-Dibble romance to heat up. In the meantime, if you want to get hot fast, check out the bun run footage from this week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BngHTnikD-U
SPEAKING OF RIVALRIES…
Bob and JV have a neighborly rivalry going this season. The strange thing about this rivalry is that it is not rooted in head-to-head matches. In fact, the two have only played head-to-head one time this season, with Bob narrowly edging JV, 28 – 25.
The rivalry was established with Bob using JV as a measuring stick, and proclaiming it publicly in the group text after week 3.
Bob: “Dude! JV and I are tied for KPM?”
JV (clearly annoyed): “After 3 weeks you should just put yourself on the trophy. That’s what I do.”
JV (still annoyed and unprompted from any other messages): “I would suggest a different measuring stick though. The battle between 8th and 9th doesn’t hold a lot of the crowd’s attention.”
Crickets…
JV and Bob may have only been 8th and 9th in the Power Rankings at that point of the season, but they were tied at 13.1 KPM, which is ridiculously high for the 8th and 9th ranked players. After this week, they still reside in 8th and 9th, with Bob holding the edge at 13.5 and JV checking in at 13.3. JV did get the best of him this week, though, with a 14.7 KPM compared to Bob’s 14.1.
Will Bob supplant Paul as JV’s arch-nemesis? That’s unlikely. But this neighborly rivalry has potential to add some juice to the league. Now they just have to play each other head-to-head more often!
FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE NIGHT
There is seemingly never a shortage of hilarious moments at LEG, and Coach Mike is almost always involved in those moments. During a rough stretch of Game 2 this week, Coach Mike struck again. He was head-to-head with Jack and the dynamic duo posted the following scores in four straight innings:
- Inning 1 – Jack 1, Coach Mike 1
- Inning 2 – Jack 3, Coach Mike 1
- Inning 3 – Jack 2, Coach Mike 1
- Inning 4 – Coach Mike 2, Jack 1
After Coach Mike’s final bag of the fourth inning, which shockingly (note the sarcasm) was a miss, he yelled down to JV and KP at the other end, “Sorry guys. Stoner bags down here!”
For the game Coach scored 11 points in seven innings (average of 1.57 gross points per round) and made just one cornhole. Jack, on the other hand, wasn’t much better with his 19 points (average of 2.7 gross points per round) and two cornholes. In their defense, they were moments removed from a few rips of fantastic ganja.
HOLY CHOKES, SCOOB!
This week there were three chokes/comebacks! Since the metric was developed in 2018, there were only 11 total coming into this week. In other words, when a team builds a 10+ point lead, they almost always close it for the save. Not this week.
In Game 3 Dibble and Paul built a 10 – 0 lead over Nick and Bushie, and then never scored another point! Nick and Bushie ripped off 21 straight points to complete the comeback, 21 – 10.
In Game 18 Paul and Bob had multiple 10+ point leads over Jack and Dibble, including 10 – 0, 14 – 3, and 16 – 4. Yet, they somehow choked and lost 21 – 16. Jack was responsible for 10 of his team’s 17 points in their comeback from the 16 – 4 deficit.
In Game 19 Erik and Coach Mike were on the cusp of victory with an 18 – 8 advantage over Galz and Turley. Not only did they fail to score again while giving up a 13 – 0 run to choke away the game, but they lost that lead, and the game, in just one inning! Galz always jokes about toying with opponents, letting them get a 10+ point lead before he actually starts playing. I’m beginning to think he’s telling the truth. Turley outscored Coach Mike 8 – 2 and Galz cleared the bases, bringing all runners home with his 9 – 2 win over Erik to clinch victory, 21 – 18.
Paul involved in two of this week’s three chokes. Ouch.
THIS JUST IN, NICK IS REALLY GOOD
Another week, another record for Nick. This time he posted a weekly record-high KPM of 21.7, breaking his old record of 21.2 from week 2 this year. This guy has a 20.2 KPM for the season, including weeks of 17.6 (week 1), 21.2 (week 2), 20.4 (week 3) and 20.4 (week 4).
He busted off a 5 – 0 record this week with a +10.6 scoring differential. Say what???? He shot 82% this week (76% on the season) while averaging 1.73 cornholes per round (1.61 on the season) and 6.7 gross points per round (6.3 on the season). He’s practically untouchable right now with those numbers.
MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT
Nick and JV partnered against Dibble and Adam in Game 8. And no, that’s not a typo. Adam actually showed up for the first time since playing in only weeks 9 and 10 of 2019 (only 12 games for the season). We basically haven’t seen Adam since the 2018 season.
With Nick and JV up 20 – 10, Nick signaled to the bullpen. Moments later Jeff “Wild Thing” Vaughn…err, Valantas came sprinting onto the field. Okay, JV doesn’t run. But he slowly bent over to collect all his bags and then took Adam to school.
Adam had a 4 – 3 lead after each player tossed three bags. JV then hit Adam with the high heat on his fourth toss, sinking an airmail and dragging another bag in with it for a double cornhole! Ballgame. Nothing Adam could do on his fourth toss would change the outcome.
The league’s best closer does it again, earning the week 5 Mushroom Stamp Moment.
GAME OF THE NIGHT
Game 7 featured Erik and Dibble against Bushie and Adam, and let’s pick up the action in the top of the fourth inning when Bushie and Adam held a 12 – 4 lead. Dibble bullied Adam in the top of the inning, beating him 8 – 3 to cut the deficit to 12 – 9. Erik evened the score at 12 – 12 when he outscored Bushie in the bottom of the fourth inning, 7 – 4.
In the top of the fifth, Dibble bent Adam over and stuffed it in dry, outscoring him 8 – 1! It’s the first and only time in Dibble’s life he’ll use seven of anything when he has someone bent over in front of him.
19 – 12 advantage to Dibble and Erik.
Bushie kept his team’s hopes alive in the bottom of the fifth by scoring all four of his bags, including two cornholes, topping Erik 8 – 2 and cutting the deficit to 19 – 18.
Everyone in attendance expected Dibble to continue raw dogging Adam. But then we realized he already finished. We should’ve known he’d be that quick.
Adam scored a point to tie the game, 19 – 19, then waddled to the bathroom to flush Dibble’s seed down the toilet.
Don’t worry Adam, Bushie didn’t need any more help – not because he had the game under wraps, but because Erik did. The Lefty from French Lick swished two cornholes and boarded his other two bags to score eight points. Bushie could only manage three points, giving Erik five net points. Victory for Dibble and Erik, 21 – 19.
That was a hell of a game-clinching round by Erik, finishing a phenomenal scoring run by he and Dibble.
NEWS AND NOTES
None this week. You want more stats, check the website!