CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – For the first time since June 20, 2020, cornhole returned to Coach Mike’s house in Clawson. It has been 25 months since Coach last hosted an event, but that event was monumental – it was the 2020 Preseason Kick-Off, which broke COVID-19 and quarantine protocols to bring this crew of flunkies together for some much needed debauchery.

Twenty-five months ago COVID-19 was raging, Tiger King was the rave of Netflix, and DaBaby had the #1 spot on the Billboard 100 locked down with his hit, “Rockstar”.

Hold on guys, Bushie just took a break from yelling at the clouds, “Who is the baby and why is it a Rockstar?”. No Bushie, it’s DaBaby, and that song meets the beats per minute and number of drops necessary to be called “a banger”.

The last event at Coach’s house was a phenomenal bash, and as you’d expect, this one was no different. Whether it was because we played at Coach’s house, which is always an enticing draw, or whether it was Jack’s farewell tour before he moves to Chicago, everyone came out of the woodwork to hang and play. 14 guys were there, and most showed up early and stayed late. Hell, Steve-O showed up on a Thursday! Tony came out of retirement! There were bitches in the living room getting it on, and we weren’t leaving ‘til six in the mornin’!

GAME OF THE NIGHT

This week’s Game of the Night featured the 1980s MSU stone-washed jeans crew, plus Mr. Cocksucker. Since some of you don’t know what that means – Tony and Bushie paired up against Steve-O and Nick.

Honestly, it’s amazing this game qualified for Game of the Night considering at least 50% of the participants were high as a kite.

Despite substance abuse, this was a well-played game. After three innings the score was tied 9 – 9, and Bushie held firm against Nick, giving up just one net point (Bushie scored three on Nick, while giving up four points). Bushie averaged 6 points per round through three innings, while Nick averaged 6.3 points per round. The majority of the damage was done at the opposite end of the boards with Steve-O and Tony taking turns with big scoring rounds.

The damn broke in the fourth inning, where Nick scored six points on Bushie and Steve-O added another against Tony, making it 16 – 9. They pushed the lead to 18 – 9 after the fifth inning, and inched closer to victory after the top of the sixth inning, 20 – 9.

Somehow Nick only managed two points in the bottom of the sixth inning, yet Bushie couldn’t capitalize, scoring only three points. At least Bushie kept his squad alive, 20 – 10.

After a 4 – 4 wash in the top of the seventh inning, Bushie conjured all his internal rage and dropped the hammer on Nick – a 10 – 4 round to close his team’s deficit to 20 – 16!

The bags flipped to Tony and Steve-O. Gramps – Tony’s nickname…like I said, he came out of retirement – alleviated the stiffness in his back just long enough to drain his first three bags. Meanwhile, Steve-O’s cleanse hurt him at the worst time, hunger pangs for 50 mg edibles derailed his focus. He conceded an enormous round, making only one bag on the board. Tony had an opportunity for a 4-bagger on his last throw, even though the game was over, and missed because of too much heat on the bag.

No matter, his 9 – 1 round completed his team’s 20 – 9 comeback and handed Steve-O and Nick a “choke”. That game-clinching round also earns Tony this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment. Congrats, Gramps! Like Ric Flair, it’s back to retirement. But it was great to see you!

NEWS AND NOTES

• Jack Daddy ended his 2022 season on the highest of notes, finishing with a 3 – 1 record. His 10.3 KPM isn’t his best, but it’s negatively impacted by the fact he made just 0.50 cornholes per round. His 61% accuracy was solid, especially given the conditions, which were extremely difficult for all players this week. The wind was swirling, but I also believe the unfamiliar sightlines caused players trouble. Regardless, Jack leaves us on a winning note and we only hope that this moment represents the end of a season, not the end of a career.

Jack, from all of us, we will miss you and prefer you to be local so we can spend more time together, more frequently. But, we understand this opportunity for you and your girl, and wish you both the best as you move to Chicago. Just two rules – 1) STAY IN TOUCH and 2) Please don’t become a Chicago sports fan!

We love you, brother, and will miss you dearly.

• As for the rest, I’m just going to post individual stats for quick browsing. Thank you to Coach for being such a gracious, amazing host (like always). Hell of a week, fellas.
• Nick – 19.7 KPM, 3 – 4 record, 6.2 points per round, 1.47 cornholes per round and 82% accuracy
• Turley – 18.5 KPM, 3 – 3 record, 5.8 points per round, 1.42 cornholes per round and 73% accuracy
• KP – 18.2 KPM, 5 – 2 record, 5.7 points per round, 1.39 cornholes per round and 73% accuracy
• Barker – 17.7 KPM, 2 – 0 record, 5.5 points per round, 1.36 cornholes per round and 70% accuracy
• Brent – 16.9 KPM, 4 – 2 record, 5.3 points per round, 1.31 cornholes per round and 66% accuracy
• Dibble – 14.9 KPM, 3 – 2 record, 4.7 points per round, 1.1 cornholes per round and 63% accuracy
• Tony – 13.5 KPM, 2 – 3 record, 4.3 points per round, 0.89 cornholes per round and 63% accuracy
• Bob – 12.5 KPM, 2 – 3 record, 3.9 points per round, 0.94 cornholes per round and 51% accuracy
• Bushie – 12.3 KPM, 3 – 4 record, 3.9 points per round, 0.88 cornholes per round and 53% accuracy
• Steve – O – 11.1 KPM, 1 – 6 record, 3.6 points per round, 0.74 cornholes per round and 52% accuracy
• Jack – 10.3 KPM, 3 – 1 record, 3.4 points per round, 0.50 cornholes per round and 61% accuracy
• Coach Mike – 9.3 KPM, 2 – 3 record, 3.0 points per round, 0.60 cornholes per round and 45% accuracy

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Last week we talked about the two new rookies, and their “welcome to the league moments”. What a difference one week makes – both players looked more comfortable on the boards, allowing their talent to shine.

Pete made a huge move in the Power Rankings, jumping from #16 last week to #11 this week. He threw a 14.9 KPM with 4.7 points per round, 1.04 cornholes per round and 66% accuracy. He was also impressive in his head-to-head match-ups this week, winning every single head-to-head match-up in all seven games he played, and obviously winning the aggregate head-to-head as well.

• Beat Turley head-to-head, 38 – 34 (one game)
• Beat Dan head-to-head, 113 – 105 (three games)
• Beat JV head-to-head, 17 – 11 (one game)
• Beat Bob head-to-head, 68 – 44 (two games)

Pete finished with a 3 – 4 record, but clearly did his part in all seven of those games. Pete has phenomenal mechanics, with one of the flattest bags in the league and a deadly airmail. As he gains more experience, Pete could easily become a perennial top five player in the league.

The other dynamic rookie, Dan, may have stayed at #8 in the Power Rankings, but his KPM jumped from 14.7 last week to 16.0 this week (he’s at 15.5 overall on the season). The rest of his numbers increased nicely week-over-week, as well:

• Points Per Round – 5.1 this week vs. 4.8 last week
• Cornholes Per Round – 1.07 this week vs. 0.84 last week
• Accuracy – 75% this week vs. 79% last week

Dan’s accuracy dropped a bit, but that’s a small sacrifice for seeing the bag go in the hole more often and to score more points every round.

It’s going to be difficult for either of these two to overcome the Rookie of the Year advantage Brent has, simply because of his Preseason Kick-Off Tournament championship and 18.5 KPM so far this season. However, both of these guys are capable of winning the Postseason Tournament and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them make noise in the Singles Tournament. If either guy has impressive runs in the final two tournaments of the year, it’s possible they leap to the front of the Rookie of the Year race.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

This may sound like a broken record week after week, but choosing this week’s Game of the Night was almost impossible. Of the 14 games played this week, nine were decided by six points or less and seven were decided by three points or less. Read that again – seven of 14 games were played to a score of 21 – 18 or closer. That’s unbelievable! For that reason, this week’s Game of the Night is a nod to all the close games – we’ll briefly recap and highlight all seven games decided by three points or less. Let’s dive in!

• Game 2 – Turley and Nick vs. JV and KP
  • Score: Turley and Nick win 21 – 20
  • Recap: Turley and Nick found themselves down 8 – 0 and 20 – 15, yet battled back to take this one. Nick weathered storms of 10 – 7 and 12 – 9 in the sixth and seventh innings against KP, which made the score 20 – 15 in favor of JV and KP. In the eighth inning, Turley tied it at 20 – 20 with an 8 – 3 round over JV, then Nick scored the final point in the bottom half of the inning to secure victory.
  • Stats: Turley scored 41 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 5.13 points per round, while JV scored 38 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 4.8 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 46 points and 12 cornholes, averaging 5.8 points per round, while KP scored 47 points and 13 cornholes, averaging 5.9 points per round.
• Game 3 – Dan and JV vs. Pete and Bob
  • Score: Dan and JV win 21 – 20
  • Recap: This game was TIGHT every round through the middle stages of the game, with Pete and Bob ahead 11 – 10 after five innings. In the sixth inning, Bob blew the lid off the game with an 8 – 1 round over JV, making the score 18 – 10. Pete added another point in the top of the seventh inning, making it 19 – 10. JV then ignited a rally with four points in the bottom of the seventh, 19 – 14. The teams traded points in the eighth, making it 20 – 15, and just like the previous game, you didn’t want to be the team with a 20 – 15 lead. Dan closed it to 20 – 19 with an 8 – 4 round, and Mr. Closer (JV) did his thing, outscoring Bob 4 – 2 to clinch the game, 21 – 20.
  • Stats: Dan scored 34 points and 4 cornholes, averaging 3.8 points per round, while Pete scored 35 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 3.9 points per round. At the other end of the boards, JV scored 44 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round, while Bob scored 42 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 4.7 points per round.
• Game 6 – Pete and Turley vs. Dan and Nick
  • Score: Dan and Nick win 21 – 18
  • Recap: This game was absurd. Pete and Turley raced to a 13 – 0 lead after just two innings, but Dan and Nick hung tough mentally and pieced together a 14 – 2 run over the next four innings, making the score 15 – 14 in favor of Pete and Turley. Across the next three innings, the teams exchanged points in a nip-and-tuck battle. The score was 18 – 17 in favor of Pete and Turley. In the 10^th inning, Pete and Dan played to a 10 – 10 wash, neither player willing to give an inch down. Nick threw fire in his half of the 10^th inning, draining three cornholes and building immense pressure on Turley. Turley managed just five points, including missing his final bag off the board to lose the round, 9 – 5, and the game, 21 – 18. For those scoring at home, losing that 13 – 0 early lead represents a choke for Pete and Turley, and a comeback for Dan and Nick.
  • Stats: Pete scored 54 points and 11 cornholes, averaging 5.4 points per round, while Dan scored 49 points and 11 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 52 points and 12 cornholes, averaging 5.2 points per round, while Nick scored 60 points and 14 cornholes, averaging 6.0 points per round.
• Game 8 – KP and Turley vs. Bob and Pete
  • Score: KP and Turley win 21 – 20
  • Recap: This game was tied at 6 – 6, then 11 – 11, then 18 – 18. Bob scored two points on KP to inch closer to victory, 20 – 18. Turley made it 20 – 19, but couldn’t quite find the hole enough to win the game. In the top of the eight, KP blocked the board with his first two bags, making life difficult for Bob. KP’s third bag pushed through blockers and into the hole, giving him a 5 – 2 lead through three bags. Bob scored his final bag on the board to cut the round deficit to 5 – 3, but that allowed KP to simply board his final bag for the win. He did, giving his team a 21 – 20 victory.
  • Stats: KP scored 34 points and 6 cornholes, averaging 4.3 points per round, while Bob scored 28 points and 3 cornholes, averaging 3.5 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 34 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 4.9 points per round, while Pete scored 38 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 5.4 points per round.
• Game 10 – KP and Nick vs. Dan and Turley
  • Score: KP and Nick win 21 – 18
  • Recap: Dan and Turley had an 18 – 10 lead, then survived a 12-point round from Nick (Turley scored 10 to limit the damage to two points) and an 8-point round from KP (Dan scored 7 to limit the damage to one point). With the score 18 – 13, Nick closed the deficit to 18 – 15 before handing the bags to KP, who closed the game with a 10-point round. KP sank three cornholes on his way to a 10 – 4 win, giving he and Nick a 21 – 18 win.
  • Stats: KP scored 36 points and 10 cornholes, averaging 7.2 points per round, while Dan scored 32 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.4 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 30 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.0 points per round, while Turley scored 31 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 6.2 points per round.
• Game 12 – KP and Turley vs. Dan and Bob
  • Score: KP and Turley win 21 – 18
  • Recap: The two head-to-head match-ups were quite interesting, with Dan absolutely working KP at one end and Turley destroying Bob at the other end. Dan and Bob held a late 17 – 12 lead before KP and Turley produced an 8 – 0 burst in one inning to take a 20 – 17 lead. Dan won the next round against KP, 7 – 6, keeping his team in the game (20 – 18). But similar to Game 8, Bob struggled in a clutch moment with the game on the line, scoring zero bags while Turley scored three points to win the game, 21 – 18.
  • Stats: KP scored 47 points and 8 cornholes, averaging 4.7 points per round, while Dan scored 56 points and 15 cornholes, averaging 5.6 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Turley scored 50 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 5.0 points per round, while Bob scored 36 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 3.6 points per round.
• Game 13 – Turley and Nick vs. Dan and KP
  • Score: Turley and Nick win 21 – 18
  • Recap: Turley and Nick almost choked this game away. They were up 14 – 0 through three and a half innings, then KP provided the spark his team needed with an enormous four-bagger against Nick to win the round 12 – 1. Suddenly, the game was 14 – 11. Nick responded nicely with rounds of 10 – 7 in the next two innings to put his team on 20 points. Dan held off Turley during that stretch by scoring four of his own points. The game was 20 – 15. Dan and KP cut it to 20 – 18 with three total points in the seventh inning, but couldn’t overcome the early hole they found themselves in. Nick held off KP in the eighth inning, scoring three points to win the game (he won the round 6 – 3 after KP tried to muddy the board and then failed to push any bags in on his final throw).
  • Stats: Turley scored 43 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 6.14 points per round, while Dan scored 39 points and 7 cornholes, averaging 5.6 points per round. At the other end of the boards, Nick scored 51 points and 13 cornholes, averaging 6.4 points per round, while KP scored 50 points and 14 cornholes, averaging 6.3 points per round.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT (“MSM”)

Week 8 featured so many candidates for the Mushroom Stamp Moment, but let’s continue to go rogue this week…normally the winning of the MSM hit a huge shot or round to clinch a game or ignite a game-changing run. This week’s MSM is different – flashback to the Game 6 summary above when the game was on the line, pressure was intense, Pete and Dan both threw a phenomenal round that ended in a 10 – 10. That round from both players earns this week’s MSM.

The honorable mention MSM goes to Bob. In Game 12 Bob hit one of the sickest shots you’ll see, defying physics when his bag rode the left rail (i.e., side of the board) and suddenly shifted hard right around two of Turley’s blockers, finding the bottom of the hole. It was such a hard right turn that Dan and KP looked at each other in amazement, wondering how the bag performed that way. Bob did win that round, 7 – 5, giving his team a 17 – 12 lead. But they went on to lose that game, which is partially why he isn’t rewarded with the MSM.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Nick was off the charts this week, registering a 20.4 KPM with 6.3 points per round, 1.6 cornholes per round and 79% accuracy. Those numbers helped him to a 6 – 2 record, including a comeback. Somehow Nick was #5 in the Power Rankings coming into the week, which I’m pretty sure is the lowest ranking he’s ever had. He jumped to #3 after this week’s performance.
• KP ended the night at 17.8 KPM, averaging 5.6 points per round and 1.34 cornholes per round with 73% accuracy. He ended the night with a 7 – 2 record and remains at #2 in the Power Rankings.
• Turley stays at #6 in the Power Rankings despite a 16.3 KPM. He finished the night with a 5 – 5 record and averaged 5.2 points per round, 1.10 cornholes per round and 75% accuracy.
• JV only played three games before retiring for the night. He finished 1 – 2 with a 13.9 KPM and averaged 4.4 points per round, 0.95 cornholes per round and 63% accuracy.
• Bob dropped from #14 to #16 in the Power Rankings, partially because of Pete’s surge and partially because Bob only produced a 12.1 KPM. His 1 – 7 record was abysmal, but if there is a silver lining in all of this, it’s that he had several opportunities to clinch close games. Despite coming up empty all night, those experiences could pay off in the future. Bob averaged 3.9 points per round, 0.76 cornholes per round and 59% accuracy.

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Mr. Cocksucker, the most decorated champion in LEG history, turned 40 years old this week! When reflecting back, it’s hard to believe we started the LEG shenanigans when he was 33 years old, and we’re still going at it seven seasons later. Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Part of the group’s birthday gift to Mr. Cocksucker was some new, rookie blood. Whether it’s swooping in sober at 9 pm and dominating when the rest of the group has been drinking for 3+ hours, or “aww shucks’ing” his way to a 21 – 0 win over innocent rookies, Nick basks in the glory of beating up on the less fortunate.

Enter stage right – his latest victims, rookies Dan and Pete. These newbies arrive with less fanfare than the current Rookie of the Year favorite, Brent, but only because they aren’t on the cornhole circuit making names for themselves. Both players have natural skills and love to play the game. LEG is the perfect environment for them to thrive.

Before thriving, they must take their customary lumps. Those lumps included the following:

• Dan and Pete partnering in Game 1 against Galz and KP. They lost the match, 21 – 9, in just six innings and had to deal with KP throwing rounds of 12, 10 and 12 on his way to averaging 8.7 points per round.
• Dan and Pete partnered in Game 6 against JV and Bushie. More to come on that in the Game of the Night.
• Pete losing his head-to-head battle against JV in Game 7, 31 – 25, and almost blowing an 18 – 14 lead to lose the game. JV put a 10-spot on Pete (won the round 10 – 5) to give his team a 19 – 18 lead, but he almost hit a 4-bagger that would’ve won the game. For Pete’s sake (see what I did there?), Bushie bailed him out in the bottom of the inning, recovering to win the game 21 – 19.
• Dan losing his head-to-head match with Nick in Game 15, 31 – 26. Barker was on fire, though, and carried Dan to a 21 – 12 victory.
• Dan and Dibble partnering in Game 16 against Coach Mike and KP. They lost the match, 21 – 3, and Coach outscored Dan head-to-head, 28 – 23.
• Dan and Barker partnering in Game 18 against Dibble and Bushie. They lost the match, 21 – 19, and Dibble outscored Dan head-to-head, 27 – 23. Even worse, Dan and Barker logged a “choke” with this collapse – they were leading the game 19 – 3 before giving up 18 unanswered points to lose the match.

While there were plenty of negative moments, both players also had a lot to be proud of. Pete finished his first night with a 12.6 KPM, averaging 4.1 points per round and 0.71 cornholes per round on 67% shooting. He also had a 2 – 3 record, and flashed potential as arguably the best airmail thrower in the league.

Meanwhile, Dan posted a 14.7 KPM and 4 – 4 record thanks to 4.8 points per round, 0.84 cornholes per round and a blistering 79% accuracy.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

The Game of the Night featured the rookies, Dan and Pete, against JV and Bushie. The rookies did a great job early in the match of keeping things close, until JV hit Pete with an 8 – 2 round to help his team take a commanding 13 – 5 lead. At this point, you’d expect a rookie pairing to collapse under such a large deficit, but they showed resilience when Dan immediately scored five points against Bushie (won the round 6 – 1) to vault his team back into the game – 13 – 10.

JV immediately pushed the score to 16 – 10 with another 8-point round (won the round 8 – 5). But Dan was there to the rescue again, winning the round 8 – 5 against Bushie and cutting the deficit to 16 – 13.

JV and Dan volleyed points back and forth for their respective teams, with JV scoring two more and upping the lead to 18 – 13. Dan immediately responded with three of his own to make it 18 – 16.

Serve was broken in the top of the seventh when Pete finally scored on JV, tallying two points to tie the game at 18 – 18. Dan wanted badly to capitalize on his partner’s big round by closing the game. He almost did, but threw an errant bag off the board and settled for two points, taking their first lead of the entire game, 20 – 18.

Here we go again – a clutch moment near the end of the game and the bags are in JV’s hands. He delivered three times in similar moments just last week. This time was no different, as he gave Pete a lesson in clutch performances. JV won the round 5 – 2, using two blocker bags to prevent Pete from easy hole access and then drilled an airmail to secure the game, 21 – 20.

Welcome to the league, rookies.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT (“MSM”)

Game 2 was a close match the entire game, with Bob and Brent leading the entire time against Bushie and JV. Bob and Brent held a 19 – 17 lead late in the game with the bags in Bob and Bushie’s hands.

Bob had an opportunity to apply tons of pressure on Bushie, but missed his first bag off the side of the board. That was the opening Bushie needed, and he proceeded to drill three consecutive cornholes to take a 9 – 2 lead in the round after three bags. Bob was helpless, his final bag did not matter. Bushie tried to cap a great round with a 4-bagger, but missed long off the back of the board. No matter, his 9 – 2 round gave his team their first lead of the game when it mattered most…to score 21 points and win the game 21 – 19.

Bushie earns this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment for delivering in a big time moment.

NEWS AND NOTES

• The Birthday Boy had a great night, going 4 – 3 with an 18.4 KPM and averaged 5.8 points per round and 1.35 cornholes per round on 78% shooting. He sank two 10-point rounds and two 4-baggers.
• KP threw a 21.0 KPM thanks to 6.5 points per round, 1.70 cornholes per round and 77% shooting. He added seven 10-point rounds and two 4-baggers. Despite those numbers, he finished with a 2 – 4 record.
• Brent was on fire, throwing a 20.9 KPM, 6.5 points per round, 1.71 cornholes per round, and 76% shooting. Those numbers helped him to a 2 – 1 record this week.
• Barker also played very well, going 4 – 1 with an 18.2 KPM, 5.7 points per round, 1.37 cornholes per round and 74% shooting. He knocked in two 4-baggers, matching his season total entering this week.
• Dibble went 3 – 3 with a 16.3 KPM, 5.2 points per round, 1.18 cornholes per round and 70% accuracy. Not a bad night at all, but he did slip from #2 to #3 in the Power Rankings.
• Bushie had an excellent week with a 7 – 4 record and 14.7 KPM. He was part of the huge comeback win in Game 18, scoring eight of his team’s 18 points during their game-winning streak. He scored 4.7 points per round, 1.0 cornholes per round and 68% shooting.
• Galz fell from #9 to #13 in the Power Rankings because of his 10.7 KPM. He averaged just 3.6 points per round and 0.56 cornholes per round on 61% shooting. A forgettable night for him.
• Coach really struggled, going 1 – 7 with an 11.2. KPM, 3.6 average points per round, 0.67 cornholes per round and 57% shooting.
• JV was less than stellar with an 11.7 KPM, causing him to fall from #7 to #10 in the Power Rankings. He averaged 3.9 points per round and only 0.66 cornholes per round on 64% shooting. He did, however, have some loud moments despite his overall inconsistency.
• Bob went 2 – 2 with a 12.4 KPM, averaging 4.0 points per round, 0.77 cornholes per round and 62% shooting.

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – For the second consecutive week we’re in birthday celebration mode…this time it’s double the pleasure, double the fun! Unfortunately the Double Mint Twins weren’t making an appearance, so we had to settle for Jack and Erik.

Last week’s celebration of Coach Mike overwhelmed the cornhole effectiveness, with most players throwing poorly. Maybe it was the hardened livers, maybe we were all still drunk and found our groove from seven days ago. No matter the cause, the effect was more entertaining cornhole this week, compared to last.

Normal nights kick-off with a friendly pillow fight, with both sides softly batting each other around until someone concedes the “match”. Not this week. This week’s opener was like the new porn star thoroughbred who couldn’t wait to bust a nut. Bob and JV challenged Paul and Rich, and it got out of hand quickly – Bob and JV jumped out to a 12 – 1 lead thanks to eight points from JV across two innings, and a 10-point round from Bob that contributed an additional four points.

The score through two innings was 12 – 1, which is impressive but also in the choke/comeback territory. SPOILER ALERT!

Somehow after two innings Bob outscored Rich head-to-head, 13 – 10. Well, that didn’t last. Bob’s 10-point second inning slipped through his fingers like sand in an hourglass. He followed that up with rounds of 1, 0, 3 against the most talented player to ever participate in LEG (Rich).

Bob woke the sleeping giant with his 10-point second inning, and was then swallowed by the giant. His team’s 12 – 1 lead quickly evaporated. JV did everything he could to score points against Paul. It didn’t matter. Rich produced scoring round of 7 (8 – 1), 7 (7 – 0), and 6 (9 – 3) to complete the comeback and hand JV and Bob a choke, 21 – 14.

It was a phenomenal comeback by Rich (Paul essentially did nothing, with all due respect). But can I ask a frank question? How the hell does someone throw a 10-point round and follow it up with rounds of 1, 0, and 3? Credit to Rich. He would’ve continued grinding until the “W” was in the left side of his column. Still, one can’t help but wonder about the result of this opener had Bob maintained even a shred of composure.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Choosing this week’s Game of the Night was incredibly difficult because five of the 15 games played were decided by four points or fewer. Ultimately, the choice was Game 5, which pitted JV and KP against Erik and Rich.

Points were difficult to score early in this game, with Rich and Erik leading 6 – 5 after three innings. In the top of the fourth inning, KP created a little separation by throwing a 4-bagger to win the round 12 – 7 over Rich, giving his team a 10 – 6 lead. JV added another point in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 11 – 6.

Rich and Erik scraped together three points in the fifth inning, cutting their deficit to 11 – 9, but JV and KP tacked on four more points in the sixth inning thanks to an 8 – 5 round for JV over Erik. The scoreboard was 15 – 9 after sixth innings.

In the top of the seventh inning Rich repaid the 12 – 7 favor to KP, throwing a 4-bagger of his own to rally his team within a point, 15 – 14. Erik hopped on the momentum train and outscored JV 5 – 2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving his team a 17 – 15 advantage.

Rich pushed the scoring run to 10 – 0 and upped the lead to 19 – 15 with a 9 – 7 advantage over KP in the top of the eighth.

A 15 – 9 lead for JV and KP was gone in the blink of an eye (1.5 innings), and they no longer had room for error. JV calmed the storm a bit with two points in the bottom of the eighth inning, 19 – 17.

KP delivered two enormous points in the top of the ninth to tie the game, 19 – 19. He won the round 7 – 5, and had an opportunity to win the game by making a cornhole with his final throw. His final bag was on target, but couldn’t push through two of Rich’s blockers to find the hole.

The bags were back in the hands of the league’s best closer, JV. Erik is a strong player, but his history of coming up big in end of game moments is not as decorated as JV’s. Add in the fact that Erik had only outscored JV in two of the eight innings leading up to this moment, what happened next was almost too predictable. JV recorded five points after his first three bags, while Erik missed the board with all three of his throws. The game was over, so JV tried a ridiculous airmail drag on his fourth bag. He missed it, but it didn’t matter because even if Erik went in the hole on his final bag, the round was still 5 – 3 for JV, which was good enough for a 21 – 19 victory. Erik’s final bag stopped short of the hole, giving JV a 5 – 1 final round to win the game.

Erik finished the game with 25 points and two cornholes, averaging just 2.8 points per round, which was significantly below his season average of 4.6 points per round. JV scored 35 points and 6 cornholes while averaging 3.9 points per round. Most importantly to JV, though, was the stat of closing out yet another game. The only stat he truly cares about is winning, and when it’s winning time he rises to the occasion. Unfortunately we don’t track games closed, but I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that JV would sit atop that list if we did track that stat.

The other end of the boards was lights out – KP scored 67 points and 19 cornholes while averaging 7.5 points per round, and Rich scored 73 points and 22 cornholes while averaging 8.1 points per round.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT (“MSM”)

This week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment is a bit unique. Normally we give this award for a specific

moment in a game, but this week’s award goes to someone who had an outstanding overall performance.

This week’s MSM is Rich’s total numbers. He was exceptional, shooting a 25.8 KPM, scoring 7.9 points per round, 2.27 cornholes per round, and 83% accuracy. He threw 12 total 10-point rounds and seven 4-baggers (i.e., 12-point rounds). It’s the most impressive week in the history of LEG, and for that reason deserves the week 6 Mushroom Stamp Moment.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Turley defied logic this week. He posted a 20.6 KPM while scoring 6.4 points per round and 1.56 cornholes per round on 83% shooting. Yet, he didn’t win a single game, going 0 – 3 with a -4.3 scoring differential. How does that happen? At least he can feel good about his performance, which included three 10-point rounds and one 4-bagger.
• Brent also had a great week, going 2 – 1 with a 20.8 KPM and averaged 6.4 points per round and 1.69 cornholes per round on 77% shooting.
• KP went 6 – 3 with a 20.3 KPM, averaging 6.3 points per round and 1.60 cornholes per round on 78% shooting. He finished the night with six 10-point rounds and one 4-bagger.
• JV had another strong week with a 5 – 3 record and 14.9 KPM. He averaged 4.7 points per round and 1.09 cornholes per round on 63% shooting. His most impressive stat was that he closed out three tight games with the winning points, which included the Game of the Night and games 12 and 14.
• Galz began his path to getting back on track this week, shooting a 14.1 KPM and averaging 4.4 points per round and 1.06 cornholes per round on 58% shooting. Galz hit two 4-baggers and another 10-point round tonight, good signs for his recovery. He still finds himself at #9 in the Power Rankings, which is hard to fathom given he’s never finished lower than fourth in the Power Rankings since joining the league in 2018.
• Erik had a less than stellar birthday week, posting just an 11.4 KPM. As outlined in the Game of the Night, Erik struggled. He scored 3.8 points per round and 0.62 cornholes per round on 63% shooting – all well-below his season averages. It should be no surprise he finished the night winless, 0 – 4.
• After a fantastic week 5, Jack dropped from #6 to #14 in the Power Rankings this week because of his 11.9 KPM. He did throw one 10-point round, but was much less consistent this week – scoring 3.9 points per round, 0.74 cornholes per round and 59% accuracy, while posting a 2 – 4 record.
• Paul finds himself at the bottom of the Power Rankings, dropping from #14 to #16 after shooting a 10.7 KPM on 3.4 points per round, 0.71 cornholes per round and just 50% accuracy.
• Bob had flashes of exceptional performance, as outlined earlier in this recap. Unfortunately for Bob, there were more moments of struggle this week, evidenced by his 11.9 KPM, 3.8 points per round, 0.84 cornholes per round and 52% accuracy. He did salvage the night with a 4 – 2 record, but most of that was due to having strong partners, as Bob only won one of his six head-to-head match-ups this week (29 – 28 against Erik in Game 6).