BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – The sun has set on the 2022 LEG season, yet that glimmer of light in the darkness is Turley’s star reflecting off The Cup. Turley becomes the fourth player to claim two championships in the same year, joining JG in 2017, Barker and JV in 2018, and Nick in 2020 and 2021. His wire-to-wire titles in 2022 give him three straight championships, which is the second-longest streak in LEG history behind Nick’s four consecutive titles.

Turley didn’t win the 2022 Postseason Tournament alone – he joined forces with Brendan to form “Tool Time”. Though Brendan looked the part of Al Borland, he was anything but the sidekick in this tournament. He was the better player statistically and won the head-to-head match-up against his opponent in every tournament game.

Don’t get it twisted, Turley played well. It’s hard to win a championship. Period. But it’s almost impossible to win a championship without both players playing well. Statistically, Turley was just a little off his season average, primarily because cornholes were harder to come by on this day. He averaged 4.78 points per round (“ppr”), 0.81 cornholes per round and 79% accuracy for the tournament (he averaged 5.4 ppr, 1.19 cornholes per round and 76% accuracy during the season).

Meanwhile, Brendan averaged 5.19 ppr, 0.97 cornholes per round and 81% accuracy. They key to their success? Accuracy. Neither player drained cornholes at an alarming rate, but they littered the board with bags, creating more obstacles for their opponents to navigate while trying to gain a scoring advantage. “Tool Time” was comfortable playing conservative, placing bags on the board while watching their opponents grow impatient and attempting more aggressive shots.

Was that their strategy? Was that just how their “misses” came to rest? Those are great questions for them. No matter the answer, it worked to the tune of a 2022 Postseason Championship.

HOW “TOOL TIME” DROPPED THE HAMMER

The suspense of who won is broken, but let’s revisit how it all played out.

Eight teams were divided into two pools consisting of four teams each. Round robin games were played within each pool, and the results of pool play were used to determine tournament seeding. This is how round robin play and subsequent tournament seeding unfolded:

Pool A:

1. “Tool Time” (Turley and Brendan) finished 3 – 0, earning the #2 overall seed in the tournament
2. “The Nature Boys” (Galz and Bushie) finished 1 – 2, earning the #5 overall seed in the tournament
3. “Log Smokers” (Bob and Dan F.) finished 1 – 2, earning the #6 overall seed in the tournament
4. “Average Joes (“AJs”) in the House” (JV and Coach Mike) finished 1 – 2, earning the #7 overall seed in the tournament

Pool B:

1. “Benoit Bag Boys” (Dibble and Erik) finished 3 – 0, earning the #1 overall seed in the tournament
2. “Step Brothers” (Scott G. and Jeff M.) finished 2 – 1, earning the #3 overall seed in the tournament
3. “Dickheads” (Nick and Steve-O) finished 1 – 2, earning the #4 overall seed in the tournament
4. “Erotic City” (KP and Dan R.) finished 0 – 3, earning the #8 overall seed in the tournament

“Benoit Bag Boys” looked strong through round robin, coasting to victories of 21 – 8, 21 – 13, and 21 – 6. Dibble’s tournament demons are well documented, but earning the #1 seed was an enormous first step in exorcising those demons. That is, until his team’s first round match against #8 “Erotic City”.

All his struggles surged to his head when Dan R. outscored him head-to-head and KP averaged 7.7 ppr against Erik, resulting in “Erotic City” undressing the undefeated #1 seed, 21 – 5.

The remaining first round matches were all chalk (i.e., the higher seed won).

• #4 “Dickheads” vs. #5 “The Nature Boys” – “Dickheads” mushroom stamped “The Nature Boys,” 21 – 2, despite not even playing well. Nick averaged just 4.4 ppr and Steve-O 4.5 ppr. However, Galz hadn’t properly summoned the Ric Flair spirit – he was too sober and hadn’t yet slayed his groupies waiting for him in the bushes. Actually, his struggles were likely due to throwing while wearing his suitcoat, which clearly wasn’t easy given his 2.0 ppr. Bushie wasn’t much help, averaging just 3.3 ppr.
• #3 “Step Brothers” vs. #6 “Log Smokers” – “Log Smokers” held a late, 16 – 13 lead. Then Jeff M. stopped trying to finesse his throw and turned into an athlete with excellent hand-eye coordination. Jeff dominated Bob down the stretch, finishing the game with rounds of 4 – 2, 4 – 2, 6 – 6, and 6 – 0, the last of which was the game clincher. During that critical stretch, Scott also neutralized Dan F., who was heating up in an attempt to carry Bob to victory. “Step Brothers” pulled out a 21 – 17 win.
• #2 “Tool Time” vs. #7 “AJs in the House” – “Tool Time” raced out to a 14 – 6 lead, but “AJs in the House” battled back, cutting the deficit to 14 – 10. Unfortunately they could not manufacture anymore points, losing 21 – 10.

Second round Winners’ Bracket matches were set.

• #4 “Dickheads” vs. #8 “Erotic City” – After looking terrible and going winless in pool play, Dan R. and KP continued to write their Cinderalla story in the tournament. Dan averaged 5.5 ppr while dominating Steve-O head-to-head, 22 – 10. KP averaged 7 ppr, helping him outscore Nick head-to-head. The #8 seed advanced again, this time blowing out “Dickheads,” 21 – 3.
• #2 “Tool Time” vs. “3 “Step Brothers” – Jeff M. and Scott G. slept through game time. When they woke up, they found themselves in a 15 – 2 hole against “Tool Time”. Honestly, “Step Brothers” hadn’t played that poorly, despite the scoreboard. Scott surrendered only three of those 15 points, and although Jeff M. gave up the remaining 12 points, he did so while playing well. Brendan started the game with rounds of 6, 8, 5, and 8. Jeff weathered the storm and then added seven quick points for his team before Scott tacked on six more points. Suddenly, “Step Brothers” was back in the game, down just 17 – 15 and possessing all the momentum after their quick 13 – 2 run. Jeff and Scott both missed prime opportunities in the final rounds, while Brendan and Turley capitalized on their chances, allowing them to escape with a 21 – 15 win.

The Winners’ Bracket quarterfinal featured #2 “Tool Time” vs. #8 “Erotic City” with the winner gaining a significant advantage by becoming the only undefeated team left in the tournament. “Erotic City” couldn’t have asked for a better start, building an 11 – 8 lead and winning every round during that stretch except one – an 8-point round for Brendan. Confidence was not an issue for “Erotic City,” but patience was…particularly for KP. “Tool Time” clung to a 14 – 13 lead, and it appeared KP grew tired of the blockers Turley continued to throw. He began throwing airmails and cut shots in hopes of putting pressure on Turley to have to push through his own blockers, rather than continue to allow Turley to nickel and dime by throwing bags on the board. KP failed to execute those more difficult shots, costing his team a chance to win. Turley had low-scoring rounds of 2, 4 and 4 points down the stretch, yet KP couldn’t capitalize, scoring 4, 3 and 3 himself.

“Tool Time” finished the game on a 13 – 2 run, capturing a 21 – 13 victory and sending “Erotic City” to the Losers’ Bracket.

LOSERS’ BRACKET LUNACY

“AJs in the House” (JV and Coach Mike) – JV and Coach looked as though they had found some mojo upon taking a 12 – 7 lead over “Log Smokers” in an important Losers’ Bracket match. But Bob and Dan F. combined for 11 points in consecutive rounds, leap-frogging into an 18 – 12 advantage. “AJs in the House” clawed back to a 20 – 17 deficit, but couldn’t get over the hump. “Log Smokers” held on for a 21 – 17 victory. That loss sent “AJs in the House” into a tailspin. They were eliminated after losing their next match to “Step Brothers,” 21 – 3. Lately, both Coach and JV have been searching to find the “fun” in tournaments again. Sometimes forgetting the results and focusing on enjoying the environment with friends is helpful. These two have great chemistry, and despite their 0 – 3 finish, they seemed to play with more joy than in recent tournaments. Hopefully that helps each player get back on the winning track in the future.

“Dickheads” (Nick and Steve-O) – Nick did his best to carry Steve-O back into contention, searching for their third LEG championship as partners. Unfortunately for Nick, Steve-O looked more like a SpaceX astronaut than a cornhole player. He booked a one-way ticket to Uranus, and “Dickheads” limped to two

more losses – 21 – 18 to “Log Smokers” and 21 – 11 to “Benoit Bag Boys”. Considering these two have two prior championships as partners, this tournament has to be considered a disappointment given their 1 – 3 record and early exit.

“Step Brothers” (Scott G. and Jeff M.) – “Step Brothers” looked to bounce back after a disappointing loss to “Tool Time” in the Winners’ Bracket. Unfortunately they faced “The Nature Boys” just when Galz was elevating his game. “The Nature Boys” handed “Step Brothers” a crushing loss, 21 – 7, pushing them within one game of elimination. They kept hope alive by beating “AJs in the House” in an elimination game, 21 – 3. With their backs still against the wall, “Step Brothers” looked good early against “Benoit Bag Boys,” taking a 10 – 9 lead. But “Benoit Bag Boys” pieced together a 10 – 0 run to blow the game open, 19 – 10, and eventually eliminated “Step Brothers” with a 21 – 14 victory. Considering they were the #3 seed, I’m sure “Step Brothers” felt as though they left some wins on the table. But, there are several positives for this team, including Jeff M. playing solidly in his first LEG tournament. He averaged 4.03 ppr, but more impressive is his 60% accuracy. That’s great accuracy, especially as a starting point. As he gains more experience, the accuracy will only increase, as will his cornhole rate (0.81 cornholes per round for the tournament). Even though Scott G. didn’t play to his usual standards, they still had an excellent opportunity to knock off “Tool Time” in the Winners’ Bracket. Who knows how things could’ve turned out had they won that match…it’s such a fine line between winning and losing.

“Benoit Bag Boys” (Dibble and Erik) – After earning the #1 seed, these guys went into a freefall. As previously mentioned, they were upset in the first round by #8 seed, “Erotic City”. “The Nature Boys” then rolled them 21 – 9 in the Losers’ Bracket, giving them no more room for error. Another loss, and their day was done.

After the blowout loss to “The Nature Boys,” Dibble slumped to the sidelines and murmured, “I don’t know what happens to me in these tournaments. I just can’t ever find it when it matters.” He stared at the updated bracket in amazement, trying to figure out how it unraveled so quickly.

Credit to Dibble and Erik, they avoided elimination for two more games, stringing together wins over “Dickheads” (21 – 11) and “Step Brothers” (21 – 14). But that earned them one more date with “The Nature Boys” and the result wasn’t any different. “Benoit Bag Boys” were sent packing after a 21 – 8 defeat, with Bushie outscoring Dibble head-to-head and Galz getting the best of Erik thanks to two huge rounds to end the game (10 – 5 and 9 – 7).

Erik played to his normal standards in this tournament, while Dibble was almost one full point per round lower than normal, and was 12% less accurate than his season average. Troubling numbers that are not a championship contending recipe.

“Log Smokers” (Bob and Dan F.) – This was a gritty team. “Log Smokers” weren’t always pretty to watch, but they kept battling in every match, refusing to give in. After losing their first match of the tournament, “Log Smokers” ripped off three consecutive wins in the Losers’ Bracket to fight back into championship contention. They beat “AJs in the House” 21 – 17, “Dickheads” 21 – 18, and “The Nature Boys” 21 – 4. Dan F. averaged 6.05 ppr during the three game win streak, but ironically lost head-to-head matches with JV (51 – 50 in total points) and Nick (49 – 48 in total points). Bob was the one who pushed his team over the top for those victories by winning his head-to-head matches handily.

The reward for “Log Smokers” winning three straight games was a showdown with “Erotic City,” the winner advancing for a shot at dealing “Tool Time” their first loss.

Dan R. was lights-out for “Erotic City,” averaging 5.7 points per round and scoring 13 of his team’s 21 points in a 21 – 9 victory.

“Log Smokers” dropped to the Double Losers’ Bracket, playing “The Nature Boys” in an elimination match, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

“Log Smokers” jumped out to an early 12 – 6 lead before surrendering a crippling 15 – 2 run by “The Nature Boys”. Bob and Dan F. combined to average just 1.75 points per round in the last two rounds of that game, which was their undoing.

Nevertheless, their fourth place finish and late surge through the Losers’ Bracket was something to be proud of. And, they were arguably the best-dress team at the event, looking every bit like Cheech and Chong.

“The Nature Boys” (Galz and Bushie) – We already know “The Nature Boys” made a run to the semifinals. What is most impressive is how they got there. Two consecutive wins in the Losers’ Bracket (21 – 9 over “Benoit Bag Boys” and 21 – 7 over “Step Brothers”), followed by a blowout loss to “Log Smokers” (21 – 4) put them in an elimination game against the suddenly resurgent “Benoit Bag Boys”. At this point Galz was on a tear, determined to carry Bushie as far as possible. They beat up “Benoit Bag Boys” 21 – 8 and avenged their earlier loss to “Log Smokers,” 21 – 14. In the win over “Log Smokers,” Galz closed the game with a 9 – 1 round over Bob, culminating a fantastic performance that saw him score 18 of his team’s 21 points.

The semifinal match against “Erotic City” was an uphill battle from the start. Bushie misunderstood the meaning of his team’s name – rather than representing Ric Flair, he interpreted “The Nature Boys” as he should consume every type of edible Mother Nature has to offer. Though he was floating, his dead weight was too much for Galz to carry any further.

Galz averaged 5.6 points per round against KP, but it wasn’t quite enough because KP averaged 6.4 ppr. At the other end of the boards, Dan stayed hot, averaging 5.5 ppr while scoring 14 of his team’s 21 points. “Erotic City” advanced to the championship with a 21 – 5 victory, while “The Nature Boys” made the podium with their third place finish.

Galz was excellent for much of the day, and deserved more consideration than he received for All-Tournament Team honors. Individually, he was also the best-dressed of any player at the tournament. If Bushie could have given anything besides a blank stare in the final handful of games, “The Nature Boys” might have had a legitimate shot to win a title.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Sandwiched between “Erotic City’s” Losers’ Bracket win over “Log Smokers” (21 – 9) and Double Losers’ Bracket win over “The Nature Boys” (21 – 5) was a rematch against “Tool Time”. Similar to the first match between these teams, “Erotic City” started well, taking a 10 – 5 lead. But “Tool Time” stuck to the game plan of “death by one thousand papercuts” and manufactured a 16 – 0 run over seven rounds to win in runaway fashion, 21 – 10.

Now, these teams faced off one final time with The Cup on the line. “Erotic City” was confident, starting each of the prior two games strong and possessing leads before ultimately losing.

“Tool Time” was also supremely confident, given their undefeated record meant “Erotic City” needed three straight wins to claim The Cup, while “Tool Time” needed only one victory.

“Tool Time” wasted little time in their pursuit of The Cup, stunning “Erotic City” with a 15 – 0 run to open the first championship match. It looked like they were going to waltz to a title.

KP tried to give “Erotic City” some life with four points against Turley, making the score 15 – 4. But “Tool Time” kept pounding, upping their lead to 18 – 4.

Dan R. and KP refused to go away easily, scratching and clawing to stay in the match with a 14 – 1 run during rounds 11 through 16, cutting their deficit to 19 – 18. KP scored 9 points during the run, while Dan R. added 5 points.

For the first time all day, Turley and Brendan were on the ropes, and visibly nervous. In the 17^th round KP had an enormous advantage with two bags sitting on the hole, and another bag on the back of the board. Meanwhile, two of Turley’s first three bags were on the board and out of play. KP contemplated a normal slide shot versus an airmail with his final bag, the goal being to take both bags on the hole in for three cornholes and a 10-point round. That would secure a victory, advance “Erotic City” to game 2 of the championship, and potentially be the momentum swing “Erotic City” needed for an improbable championship comeback.

This match was later in the day, and conditions had slowed down significantly. KP opted for the airmail, thinking a normal slide shot wouldn’t be enough to take all three bags into the hole. As soon as the shot left his hand, KP encouraged his bag, “Be as good as you look!” The airmail was on target, connecting with the two bags on the hole and the third bag on the back of the board. Instead of going in the hole, KP’s final bag trampolined off the board, taking one of his bags with it, while the two bags on the hole pinched together, refusing to fall.

Turley opted to softly board his final bag for a 3 – 2 round win, giving his team a 20 – 18 advantage. Fortunate luck for “Tool Time” and unfortunate physics for “Erotic City”. The errant shot from KP was deflating, once again demonstrating that “Tool Time” was more than happy living with the results of their opponents attempting shots with higher degree of difficulty.

Brendan added the final point needed for a title in the next round, and “Tool Time” celebrated their championship! They were smart and steady on a day where, for whatever reason, almost every player seemed to be a bit “off” their normal game. “Tool Time” deployed the proper strategy, and in hindsight, seven other teams wished they had executed it as well.

Brendan becomes a first-time champion with this win! Congratulations to him! Turley now has three consecutive championships, and seems poised to win more.

Dan was excellent in helping his team finish as runners-up. Questions continue to swirl about KP after reaching the championship for the fifth time, losing for the fourth time. Only time can provide those answers, but right now critics have a hard time viewing him as a championship player.

TOILET BOWL

As the first four teams eliminated, “AJs in the House,” “Dickheads,” “Step Brothers,” and “Benoit Bag Boys” qualified for the Toilet Bowl Championship. Dibble and Coach Mike rushed to leave the tournament early, leaving holes in two for the four teams.

So, Erik and JV partnered to form “AJs in the House 2.0” and “Log Smokers” slid into the Toilet Bowl as the fourth team.

“Dickheads” somehow managed to beat “AJs in the House 2.0” with Steve-O stumbling into just enough cornholes to help Nick squeak out a win.

“Log Smokers” won the rubber match against “Step Brothers” in the other semifinal, 21 – 14.

In the Toilet Bowl Championship, it felt like “Dickheads” were playing 1 vs. 2. In a surprise to absolutely no one, “Log Smokers” coasted to a Toilet Bowl Championship, 21- 10. Honestly, it’s a great consolation price for Bob and Dan F., given how well they played all day.

After winning the Toilet Bowl, Bob admitted to several players that he privately told Dan F. before the tournament that this was his goal. Congratulations, fellas! You are with good company on that trophy.

Bob, next time you put something in the atmosphere, try aiming for The Cup!

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

The top four players receiving votes from the rest of the group were named to the 2022 Postseason All-Tournament Team.

Dan R. helped lead “Erotic City” to a runner-up finish, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament Team for the second time in his career. He allowed the third-fewest points per round to his opponent, giving up just 4.15 ppr on the day, helping him record a +0.41 differential per round (“DPR”), the fourth-best of all players – in other words, Dan gained an average of 0.41 points on his opponent every round he played.

His “Erotic City” partner, KP, was also voted to the All-Tournament Team, marking the sixth time in his career that he’s received that honor. Though KP was well below his level of play throughout the season, he still managed the third-best points per round (5.43) and second-best DPR (+0.69).

Brendan was consistent all day and quite possibly the smartest player in the tournament, regularly daring his opponents to execute a higher risk shot. The strategy worked in his favor more often than not, evidenced by his +1.33 DPR, the highest DPR of any player in the tournament. When you factor in his membership on the championship squad, it’s a no-brainer that he was voted to the All-Tournament Team for the second time in his career.

Turley was named to the All-Tournament Team for the third time in his career, winning his first MVP honors in the 2022 Postseason Tournament. While Turley was not the best version of himself, he did help lead “Tool Time” to a championship while going head-to-head with the other team’s best player throughout most of the day, and still managed to post a +0.11 DPR.

Congratulations to Turley on his first MVP, and to Brendan, Dan R. and KP for their All-Tournament Team honors.

APPENDIX: THE STATISTICAL SLUMP

For the stat nerds out there, this appendix summarizes each player’s tournament statistics while also comparing to their season average statistics. Scott G. doesn’t have regular season statistics, so the numbers reflected below are his performance from the 2022 Singles Tournament. If this table isn’t enough to prove most players were “off” compared to normal, consider this…only three players made a 4-bagger during tournament play – Jeff. M., Erik and Nick (each player had one). Typically there are 5x that amount, or more.

	Season Average				Tournament Average
Player	KPM	PPR	Cornholes Per Round	Accuracy	KPM	PPR	Cornholes Per Round	Accuracy
Nick	19.6	6.1	1.53	76%	18.9	5.83	1.54	69%
Dan F.	None				18.2	5.69	1.41	72%
KP	19.6	6.1	1.52	77%	17.1	5.43	1.23	74%
Brendan	16.2	5.2	1.03	80%	16.0	5.19	0.97	81%
Scott G.*	18.9	5.93	1.44	75%	15.3	4.90	1.03	71%
Erik	15.2	4.8	1.03	69%	15.1	4.78	1.07	66%
Dibble	17.8	5.5	1.40	69%	14.7	4.59	1.15	57%
JV	15.0	4.7	1.08	64%	14.6	4.67	1.00	67%
Turley	17.0	5.4	1.19	76%	14.5	4.78	0.81	79%
Galz	14.0	4.4	0.99	62%	14.4	4.56	1.03	63%
Dan R.	None				14.0	4.56	0.85	71%
Bushie	14.3	4.6	1.00	64%	13.2	4.15	1.00	54%
Jeff M.	None				12.5	4.03	0.81	60%
Bob	12.6	4.0	0.84	59%	11.0	3.58	0.68	56%
Coach	10.8	3.5	0.66	55%	10.8	3.47	0.68	53%
Steve-O	12.1	3.9	0.75	60%	10.5	3.42	0.63	54%