BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Does the best team always win the championship in sports? It depends. In single-elimination formats like the NCAA Basketball Tournament or NFL Playoffs, it can be argued that some champions are not necessarily the best team. However, in multi-game series like NHL, MLB or NBA playoffs the best team is often crowned the champion because it’s more difficult to pull an “upset” throughout the course of a series.

So does that mean the triple-elimination LEG tournaments always crown the best team? Every tournament until now has seemed end with the best team standing at the end. But the 2020 Postseason Tournament might be the first time in history where the best team didn’t win. In fact, the best team wasn’t even close to taking home the title.

Below are the teams and I’ll let you guess who I’m referring to. By the way, if you’re as confused about what the hell “An Alf Is Sure” means, you aren’t alone. Say it fast. If you still don’t get it (I didn’t), here you go – “Anal Fissure”.

Team Name	Captain	Drafted Partner
“Bags of Glory”	Meyer	KP
“We Just Came in Our Pants”	Barker	Nick
“B1G Men”	Dan	Galz
“An Alf Is Sure”	Steve-O	JV
“Big Dick Eldricks”	Jack	Justin
“Pull & Tug Brothers”	Paul	Bushie
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Beyotch”	Bob	Turley

“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Beyotch”

Bob and Turley win the award for most creative costume, and for most time and effort put into their costume. The portrayal of Rick and Morty was spot on, down to the details of Turley making his bald head look like Morty’s brown hair.

Unfortunately for “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Beyotch,” their costumes were the best part of their day. They won their first round robin match of the day against “Pull & Tug Brothers,” 21 – 20, thanks to a walk-off 4-bagger from Bob! But they lost their next three round robin matches and continued to tumble in bracket play by losing three more straight games to fall into the Toilet Bowl.

In the Toilet Bowl, “Rikki-Tikki” lost their semifinal match, finishing their day with a 1 – 7 record and seven straight losses. A brutally underwhelming performance after a promising start to the day.

“Anal Fissure”

Steve-O is fresh off a 2020 Preseason Kick-Off title as Nick’s partner, and make no mistake about it, he was a major reason for their championship run. When he fell to the #5 pick and was still able to snag two-time champion JV as his partner, most assumed this would be a team to show up deep into the tournament.

Whatever magic these two drummed up in prior championship runs, they couldn’t replicate it as partners in this tournament. On the surface, their round robin was respectable with a 2 – 2 record. But a deeper dive into the box scores of their losses signaled danger ahead. They couldn’t keep pace with “B1G Men” or “We Just Came in Our Pants,” losing 21 – 3 and 21 – 7. Both of those teams appeared to be contenders and “Anal Fissure” got smoked.

In bracket play, they battled with “Pull & Tug Brothers” before losing a nail-biter, 21 – 17. Their reward was a loser’s bracket match with “We Just Came in Our Pants,” who handled them again with ease, 21 – 6.

On the brink of elimination in the double loser’s bracket, JV and Steve-O kept hopes alive with a 21 – 9 victory over “Rikki-Tikki”. That victory was the first of five total needed to get back to the championship match. “Bag of Glory” ended all hope for “Anal Fissure” in the next double loser’s bracket match, escaping with a 21 – 12 win that was much closer than the scoreboard would indicate.

The loss to “Bags of Glory” meant a trip to the Toilet Bowl for “Anal Fissure” – unfortunately all they found there was bloody stool from their own hemorrhaging fissures. Sure they advanced to the Toilet Bowl Championship by beating “Rikki-Tikki” again. However, it was a narrow escape this time, 21 – 19, after they had previously beaten them 21 – 7 in round robin and 21 – 9 in the tournament.

“Big Dick Eldricks” pounded the fissures like a Perkins waitress in the Toilet Bowl title match, 21 – 14.

“Bags of Glory”

Meyer earned the #1 pick in the Draft Lottery and selected KP because he bought the pre-draft hype around KP’s lofty #2 Power Rank and Singles Tournament championship earlier in the season, beating #1 ranked Nick twice in a row to claim that title.

Meyer clearly didn’t notice the “Buyer Beware” sticker attached to KP, warning potential drafters that he wasn’t ready to handle the target on his back from winning the Singles Tournament.

Any time someone is drafting #1 overall, one expects to receive a difference-maker. Meyer was fully relying on having a horse to carry him during battles with other premier players. He didn’t get that on this day because KP couldn’t hold his own against the likes of Nick, Galz, Barker, Justin, Dan, etc.

During the post-tournament press conference, KP was grilled by LEG media for his lackluster performance. “I couldn’t get comfortable with these flames dangling from the arms of my ice skating leotard. The flames kept brushing against my hand and the bag during my backswing and follow through, and it became a mental hurdle for me. One I clearly couldn’t overcome,” he said.

Ah, there it is! Refusing to take blame himself or to credit his opponents! Hey dipshit, that’s a faux ice skating leotard on a faux Chazz Michael Michaels, and you’re a faux cornhole player. Excuses are like assholes, and you are one.

For most of the day Meyer did his job, which was to hang with his opponent. KP didn’t come close to delivering his job, which was to be the best player in the league, a difference-maker that could conquer the best player on the other team.

Hence, it was no surprise when “Bags of Glory” had a mediocre 2 – 2 round robin session, followed by two straight blowout losses to start the tournament. They did salvage a few victories in the double loser’s bracket, before being eliminated and sent to the Toilet Bowl, where they were crushed by “Big Dick Eldricks” in the semifinals.

“Big Dick Eldricks” (“BDE”)

Coming into the tournament, Jack and Justin looked like a solid, middle of the pack squad. Justin hadn’t played at all this season and Jack had only played 13 total games during the regular season (though he did play in the Preseason Kick-Off and Midseason Singles Tournaments). It was hard to imagine two players with so few reps making much noise in a tournament.

However, they defied the odds and proved the old saying “stats are for losers” to be correct. Their round robin segment was just “okay,” finishing 2-2 with two blowout wins, but also two blowout losses. After starting 0-2 with losses to “Anal Fissure” (21 – 11) and “Bags of Glory” (21 – 6), they rebounded to beat “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Beyotch” (21 – 1) and “Pull & Tug Brothers” (21-11).

“BDE” was the #7 seed and in the first round of the tournament they drew #2 seed “We Just Came in Our Pants,” who was arguably the pre-tournament favorite. Justin faced Nick head-to-head, while Jack battled Barker at the other end of the boards. “Big Dick Eldricks” dominated Nick and Barker worse than a mandingo in a BlacksOnBlondes.com video. The underdogs raced out to a surprising 13 – 2 early lead and finished the upset with a 21 – 7 victory.

Sending the favorites to the loser’s bracket made every other team take notice, but “BDE” then had to refocus for their next match where they faced “Pull & Tug Brothers”. Maybe it was a natural letdown, or maybe “Pull & Tug Brothers” were playing at a high level – either way, “BDE” squandered a golden opportunity to advance in the winner’s bracket by losing a thrilling match, 21 – 20, to “Pull & Tug Brothers”.

“BDE” picked up a loser’s bracket victory over Rikki-Tikki, earning them another match against “We Just Came in Our Pants”. Was their first round upset a fluke? We were about to find out.

Jack and Justin once again jumped out to a huge lead, 17 – 8. The audience watched in awe, shocked by how easily Jack and Justin were handling a powerhouse team for the second straight game.

This time, however, “We Just Came in Our Pants” showed the championship mettle most expected. Rather than accepting the pounding, they battled back to make this a close match. “BDE” was up 19 – 18 and Justin had a chance to close the match late. He and Nick each had one bag remaining and were tied in the round with four points apiece. A cornhole from Justin would mean anything except a cornhole from Nick on his final bag would clinch the game.

Justin tossed his final bag, it was in the heart of the board but landed just on the front and fell backward to the ground! Inches separated Justin’s bag from being perfect and being a dud.

With the pressure off, Nick delivered the perfect bag and drained a cornhole to win the round 7 – 4, and the game, 21 – 19. “BDE” had their foot on the neck of a giant and stepped off. Credit “We Just Came in Our Pants” for a courageous comeback, but the sting of the loss was crippling to “BDE”.

The immediately lost their elimination match against “Bags of Glory,” 21 – 18 and dropped to the Toilet Bowl.

After a break in action, several beers and positive reflection on how well they played despite being eliminated, “BDE” rebounded and coasted to a Toilet Bowl Championship. They certainly would have preferred a Postseason Tournament title, but they enjoyed the hell out of the Toilet Bowl Championship and celebrated hard.

This is the team referenced in the opening of the recap. They looked every bit like the best team in the field, and had they finished the job in the second match against “We Just Came in Our Pants” they would have had a great chance to advance to the championship match.

Nonetheless, Jack and Justin had a great run and proved they were not a fluke.

“B1G Men”

Galz is always a dangerous player in tournaments, with one title under his belt, two runner-up finishes in Singles Tournaments, and several other deep runs. However, the last time we saw Dan he looked like a guy who doesn’t play often, but had a high ceiling of potential – he was inconsistent with accuracy, but threw a beautiful flat bag. With enough reps, he’d evolve into a very good player. Thing is, Dan lives near Howell so making it to Thursday night regular season matches is near impossible. So, where would he get the practice reps?

Evidently those practice reps come from his cottage, where he spends every weekend in the summer. Suddenly Dan was a consistent beast! He didn’t resemble the “old” Dan we were accustomed to seeing in past tournaments.

The new and improved Dan combined with Galz created a very competitive team. They went 3 – 1 in round robin play with blowout wins over “Bags of Glory” (21 – 2), “Anal Fissure” (21 – 3), and Rikki-Tikki (21 – 3). Their lone loss was to “We Just Came in Our Pants” and it was a nip-and-tuck match the entire way, with Barker coming through in the clutch to give his team a 21 – 19 win.

“B1G Men” marched all the way to the tournament semifinals before losing 21 – 14 to “Pull & Tug Brothers”. One might view the loss as an upset, but it was the second time “Pull & Tug Brothers” handed them a loss and both weren’t very close games – the other was a 21 – 11 victory for “Pull & Tug Brothers”.

Add another deep run to Galz’s resume. But, this one felt disappointing because they were on the cusp of landing in the title match. Dan was devastated by coming up short. He has yet to get a taste of a championship match, and this run was the deepest of his career. Don’t worry, Dan, you’ll have many more opportunities based on the way you’re playing.

CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST

Only two teams remained – “Pull & Tug Brothers” and “We Just Came in Our Pants”. One team was the pre-tournament favorite, while the other featured a dysfunctional pairing of players who often get under one another’s skin. It’s the equivalent of pairing Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau as teammates. Paul and Bushie are so not on the same page that they were the *ONLY* team who did not coordinate their costumes. Paul hilariously pulled off Ace Ventura, while Bushie came dressed as a yeast infection. Wait, no it was a bread box. Shit, that’s not right either…it was a bread baker named Bushbaker.

Anyway, how this team wound up in the championship match is beyond me. They had no team chemistry, often arguing early in the tournament about how much they were going to drink, were they allowed to smoke, etc. They were 0 – 4 in round robin and looked like the worst team in the tournament.

Their fortunes turned with a 21 – 17 first round victory over “Anal Fissure,” followed by a 21 – 20 win over “Big Dick Eldricks” and a 21 – 11 win over “B1G Men”. Who was this team, and what did they do with Paul and Bushie?

Two straight losses to “We Just Came in Our Pants” put them on the brink of elimination, but the found a way to beat “B1G Men” in the semifinals and advanced to the championship.

On the other hand, “We Just Came in Our Pants” went untested besides their two games with “Big Dick Eldricks”. They rolled to a 4 – 0 round robin record and dominated every other opponent in their trek through the loser’s bracket:

• 21 – 6 over “Anal Fissure”
• 21 – 6 over “Bags of Glory”
• 21 – 19 escape over “BDE”
• 21 – 12 over “B1G Men”
• 21 – 9 over “Pull & Tug Brothers”
• 21 – 16 over “Pull & Tug Brothers” to earn their spot in the championship

This team was so stacked that anything less than a championship would be a monumental disappointment, particularly considering they had just beating their title match opponent twice in a row, and they only had one loss compared to “Pull & Tug Brothers” having two losses – in other words, “Pull & Tug Brothers” had to win two straight against “We Just Came in Our Pants,” while “We Just Came in Our Pants” only needed one victory to claim the title.

The spectators were heavily in “Pull & Tug Brothers’” corner, cheering everything good for Paul and Bushie and everything bad for Nick and Winkler.

Even a hostile environment was not enough to shake “We Just Came in Our Pants”. They easily beat “Pull & Tug Brothers” in the first game, 21 – 12, ending any hopes of an upset.

Nick and Barker earned another LEG championship, the fourth of Nick’s career, and second of the 2020 season, and third of Barker’s career.

Adding salt to KP’s wounds, Nick and Barker were so impressive in their championship run that KP’s wife became a “We Just Came in Our Pants” groupie. Ouch.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

The 2020 Postseason All-Tournament Team consisted of the top four players based on votes cast among all players. Paul was voted to his first all-tournament team after carrying, while Barker and Nick both earned all-tournament honors for the third time in their careers. Bushie took home his first tournament MVP honor after leading “Pull & Tug Brothers” to a championship appearance. It was the second time in his career he’s earned all-tournament honors.

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Ordinarily, the Draft Lottery is held the day of a tournament, moments before the tournament begins. The process has always been this way because it creates suspense, uncertainty, and doesn’t allow partners much time to develop a strategy and team chemistry.

For the first time ever, teams were drafted in advance of the 2020 Postseason Tournament. The tournament theme is “Halloween” and we wanted to give partners the opportunity to coordinate their costumes ahead of time.

So, this tournament preview will be a bit different than normal because we can analyze known teams and their chances of claiming The Cup, rather than speculating about individual players heading into a tournament.

DRAFT LOTTERY

Monday night 14 players gathered on Zoom for the much-anticipated Draft Lottery. Six players were given the best odds at the #1 overall pick with seven lottery balls each – Jack and Bob, who were the last two players in the Power Rankings, along with four unranked players who haven’t appeared in a 2020 regular season match (Steve-O, Justin, Matt, and Dan).

The complete Draft Lottery odds are summarized in the table below.

Player	Power Ranking	Lottery Balls	Odds for #1 Pick
Steve-O	Not Ranked	7	11%
Justin	Not Ranked	7	11%
Matt	Not Ranked	7	11%
Dan	Not Ranked	7	11%
Bob	15	7	11%
Jack	14	7	11%
Paul	11	4	7%
Bushie	10	4	7%
Turley	8	3	5%
JV	7	3	5%
Barker	6	2	3%
Galz	4	1	2%
KP	2	1	2%
Nick	1	1	2%

As you can see, the players ranked higher in the Power Rankings had the worst odds for the #1 pick, which means the lottery is designed to significantly reduce the odds of a team being stacked with two highly ranked players.

The lottery wheel started spinning and out dropped the first ball…Matt!

The lottery wheel continued to spin and a second ball dropped, revealed Barker as the #2 pick! Two picks in and the Draft Lottery is already chaotic. Barker had just a 3% chance at the #1 pick, and after Matt earned that honor, Barker had only a 3.7% chance (2 out of 54 balls) at receiving the #2 pick!

The #3 and #4 picks stayed true to the odds with Bob and Jack earning those picks, respectively. Bob was ecstatic to receive the #3 pick because he knew he’d more than likely partner with one of Nick, Galz, or KP.

At #5 things got wild again. The lottery wheel selected JV’s ball despite only a 7.8% chance to earn that pick, compared to Steve-O, Justin, and Dan having an 18.4% chance at the #5 pick.

Paul received the #6 pick, which again went against the odds, meaning at least two of Steve-O, Justin, and Dan would not receive the #7 and final pick.

A few more rotations of the wheel and the final ball dropped. The #7 pick of the 2020 Postseason Tournament goes to Galz! He had just a 2.9% chance of getting that pick.

Meanwhile, Bob’s disappointment was visible on the Zoom call. Even with the #3 pick, he was now likely to miss out on a partnership with all three of the top ranked players.

The results of the draft are listed below.

Pick	Player	Partner Picked
1	Matt	KP
2	Barker	Nick
3	Bob	Turley
4	Jack	Justin
5	JV	Steve-O
6	Paul	Bushie
7	Galz	Dan

A CUT ABOVE THE REST

When scrolling through the teams it doesn’t take long to identify the favorites. Barker and Nick, the #6 and #1 players in the Power Rankings, respectively, jump off the page.

These two players combine for five LEG titles – two doubles tournament championships each and Nick adds a Singles Tournament. Without a doubt, Nick and Barker are the favorites to win The Cup, adding a third doubles tournament championship to their resumes.

Where this gets interesting is if these two can withstand the enormous target on their backs. Barker has been talking shit for weeks, including 48 straight hours of chirping in KP’s ear, boasting about how he’s the better player.

Nick doubled-down this week when KP had The Cup engraved for the 2020 Preseason Kick-Off title won by Nick and Steve-O. Knowing The Cup was getting engraved, he texted KP, “Might as well just put “XYZ” on there too 😉” (“XYZ” is a placeholder for Nick and Barker’s team name, which I won’t reveal in advance of the tournament).

Clearly Nick and Barker believe they are the favorites, and they are confident they’ll win the title Saturday. Question is, can their skills cash the check their mouths have written?

DARK HORSES

The remaining six teams are all balanced, at least on paper, and each of them has a legit shot to make a run at a title.

That being said, a few teams that I expect to make noise are Galz and Dan, as well as JV and Steve-O.

Dan was the last player to be selected in the draft, awkwardly waiting like the last kid picked for dodgeball in P.E. class. The difference is the kid in P.E. class is a known commodity and team captains purposefully avoid picking him. Dan, on the other hand, is an unknown to several guys in this league because he has only played in tournaments. So, guys like Bob and Jack don’t know Dan’s skills, and JV and Paul were always too smashed to remember how Dan plays.

Galz should feel good about the partner he received. Dan is ultra-competitive and athletic (point of clarification: he is not ultra-athletic), though he can’t make free throws to save his life. When you mix that with Galz’s tournament experience and past success, this team should vie for a title.

JV has two LEG championships under his belt, while Steve-O won his first in the 2020 Preseason Kick-off. Steve-O also made a run to the semifinals in the 2020 Singles Tournament, including handing Nick and KP upset losses along the way. He’s played exceptionally in 2020 and there’s no reason to think Saturday will be any different.

Meanwhile, JV has put up good numbers during the 2020 regular season, but he has also struggled for most of the year. Something has been off, despite his solid numbers. Last night while playing the week 16 schedule, it became clear what was missing – his killer instinct. JV thrives with the pressure on, and would rather throw bags with everything on the line. JV struggles to focus if there isn’t pressure.

Well, last night that killer instinct returned. The switch came back on and he looked like the player who won two titles in 2018 and finished runner-up in the 2019 Postseason Tournament, almost bringing his team back to win three straight games in the finals.

Steve-O and JV should have excellent chemistry, and both seems to be on an upward trend going into the tournament.

THE REST OF THE PACK

Let’s go rapid fire and touch on each of the remaining teams.

Matt & KP – this duo should also have an excellent shot. Matt was a mid-tournament substitute as Galz’s partner in the 2019 Preseason Kick-off and he won that championship with Galz. The downfall is that Matt has not played since then, and we don’t know what kind of rust might be on his game. Nonetheless, this 2020 Postseason Tournament will technically be a title defense for him and KP isn’t a bad running mate to have.

Bob & Turley – I LOVE TURLEY! I’m talking about his cornhole abilities, but I also love him. Who doesn’t? Turley is in the running for Most Improved Player, and he has the skills to lead a team on a deep tournament run. The question will be, is this the year he does it? Bob is also playing in his first LEG tournament, and that can be quite overwhelming. If Bob can fight through the nerves and slippery slope of a blackout (hey, we’ve all been there at one of these tournaments), I think these guys can make some noise.

Jack & Justin – Jack played well in the 2020 Preseason Kick-off, and has shown flashes of being a player capable of a 10.0+ KPM. Justin, on the other hand, has been a 10.0+ KPM player in 2019 (11.2 KPM) and 2018 (10.3 KPM). The success of these guys boils down to reps. Jack has only played 13 games this season (plus the Preseason Kick-off Tournament), while Justin hasn’t played in more than 12 months. If the lack of reps doesn’t hamper them, they have the talent to survive deep into the tournament.

Paul & Bushie – Oil and water. These guys aren’t the perfect mix. In fact, they bicker and rag on each other almost every Thursday. Even when Paul picked Bushie on Monday night, Bushie was trying to urge Paul to pick Dan instead. As Paul pondered his #6 pick he said, “What do you think, Bushie?” and before he could formalize his pick Bushie interjected, “Pick Dan!”

Chemistry could be an issue here. Exceeding their PAL (premium alcohol level) could also be an issue here. All that said, both guys are playing well right now. Bushie revamped his throw to a more consistent flat bag, while Paul has more confidence than he’s ever had and isn’t intimidated by anyone. This could be a great success, or it could be a goddam train wreck. Saturday will be fun to watch with this team.

PREDICTION

The easiest thing to predict would be a Nick and Barker championship. But I’m not going to do that. Why? Because I don’t believe it will happen. Draft Lottery chaos paired them together against the odds, and I think tournament chaos will keep them from becoming champions.

I really like Galz and Dan in this tournament. Galz has one title and has regularly made deep runs in other tournaments. Dan is also capable of elevating his game to be the Robin to Galz’s Batman. Don’t sleep on this team. My prediction is they drink from The Cup Saturday afternoon.

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – In the Singles Tournament Preview we highlighted the handicap system that was to be deployed for this tournament, and talked about how it could deliver some Cinderella run(s) in the tournament.

In fact, the handicap system worked exactly how it was designed – to level the playing field and create an environment where every match was up for grabs.

We saw countless upsets – 13 of the 35 matches resulted in the lower (worse) seed winning! Sure, the handicap contributed to some of those upsets, but credit needs to be given to the players who pulled the stunners because many of those instances were the result of really good play.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Cinderella stories in a bit.

SEED SWAPPING

Per usual, LEG tournaments always have a twist. Since the seeding was pre-determined based on Power Rankings, there was no need for round robin games. Yet, nobody really wants to jump into triple elimination tournament play cold and sober.

So, the commissioner implemented a one-game warm-up to allow players an opportunity to knock the rust off and consume some liquid confidence. The twist? The lower seeded player got to pick a higher seeded opponent, and if the lower seeded player won the warm-up contest then the two players flipped seeds. The warm-up games were straight up, no handicap allowed.

It started with #12 seed Steve-O picking his opponent, and he opted with #5 seed JV – strange because they were slated to play in the first round anyway. My hunch is Steve-O did this to mind-fuck JV out the gates.

• #11 Jack then picked #4 Galz
• #10 Coach Mike picked #2 Dibble
• #9 Paul picked #6 Erik
• #8 Bushie picked #1 Nick
• #7 Turley picked #3 KP

Clearly nobody wanted a piece of Nick, since four players passed on the opportunity to take the #1 seed from him. I can’t say I blame them, and props to Bushie for having big enough balls to take on the challenge.

After all warm-up games were completed, only one “upset” occurred, resulting in a seed swap – #12 Steve-O beat #5 JV, 21-6.

CINDERELLA STORIES

Steve-O parlayed his warm-up game upset into an incredible tournament run. He stole the #5 seed from JV and immediately turned around to whip his ass again, 21-2, in the first round.

Steve-O advanced to the second round against #4 Galz, jumping out to a big early lead before Galz slowly chipped away at the deficit. Steve-O held him off, beating him 21-16 to advance to the third round.

His reward in the third round? #1 seed Nick. At this point the edibles were kicking in and Steve-O had nerves of steel. He dominated Nick, 21-14, taking down his third straight victim. Don’t look now but Steve-O punched his ticket to the quarterfinals in the Winners’ Bracket.

He faced #3 KP, who was fresh off a tense upset win of his own over #2 Dibble, 21-15. Steve-O started with an 11-0 lead because of the handicap against KP. I’m not mentioning this as an excuse, but rather to offer the full picture to help explain what came next.

Steve-O kicked the match off with an opening bag cornhole. KP followed with a first bag miss.

Steve-O applied even more pressure when his second toss found the hole for three points. KP’s second bag landed on the board, holding on the back-right edge of the board for dear life.

Steve-O drained a cornhole on his third bag, giving him a 9-1 advantage in the inning. The pressure was visible on KP’s face and his shoulders slumped. His third bag landed on the board, but was essentially dead as it rested on the front left of the board.

Without missing a beat, Steve-O launched his final green Game Changer and it landed in the center of the board before sliding into the hole for a four-bagger!

LET ME REMIND YOU…this was the first fucking inning! Steve-O dropped a 12-point round right away, not even allowing KP the chance to get a feel for the match.

Steve-O led the inning, 12-2, and the game, 21-0. KP had one bag remaining and needed at least one point to extend the match. His final toss started at the center of the board, but slowly cut to the right. It needed to hang on! The bag hit the right side of the board, tumbled over his cliff-hanging second bag, and fell to the ground.

Final first inning score – 12-2, good enough for a 21-0 win. Steve-O handed KP a first inning bun run in the goddam quarterfinals of the Winners’ Bracket!

Click the link (volume up) for the closing moments of Steve-O’s 21-0 win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X6huwRjCdw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=KurtisPeters

Steve-O marched to the Winners’ Bracket semifinals.

Let’s pause here and pick up on a few more Cinderella stories.

Jack significantly outperformed his #11 seed. He lost his first round match to #6 Erik, 21-9. But he rallied with an impressive 21-17 victory in the Losers’ Bracket against #4 Galz (yes, that’s consecutive losses to start the tournament for Galz).

Up next was a huge match against #8 Bushie. Unfortunately for Jack, Bushie’s edibles were also kicking in and his laser focus helped him catch fire. Bushie beat Jack fairly easily, 21-14, and Jack was on the verge of elimination.

In the Double Losers’ Bracket Jack ripped off two consecutive wins to keep his hopes alive, beating JV (21-9) and Erik (21-14). An elimination match with Dibble awaited him.

Sadly, Jack’s slipper no longer fit. Dibble eliminated Jack, 21-14. But Jack ended his day 3-3 with a sixth-place finish, and wins over #4 Galz, #5 JV (well, #12 JV after the seed swap), and #6 Erik. That’s an exception tournament for the #11 seed.

Bushie crushed #9 Paul in the opening round, 21-5, before losing to #1 Nick in the second round, 21-10.

As we just mentioned, he won a big Losers’ Bracket match against Jack, 21-14, which advanced him to play #2 Dibble. Bushie was amped for this match, as these two have a nice rivalry going. Bushie couldn’t miss, and Dibble didn’t handle the adversity well. Bushie rolled Dibble like an avalanche, 21-7, and celebrated his victory like a kid who got the perfect gift from Santa Claus.

Click the link below for video of Bushie’s victory (volume up). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEVqJL3VHs&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=KurtisPeters

When you get this far into the tournament, the road most definitely isn’t easy. Bushie didn’t have much time to celebrate his win over Dibble because next on the docket was #1 Nick.

This was a hell of a match, tied 19-19 late in the game. Bushie sank a cornhole and added two on the board for five gross points. But that wasn’t enough to overcome two cornholes and two more bags on the board for Nick. Nick’s 8-5 win in the inning gave him a 21-19 Losers’ Bracket victory. Bushie hung tough, but Nick’s championship mettle was the difference in this one.

Bushie found himself in the Double Losers’ Bracket and had another date with #2 Dibble after Dibble survived the match with Jack, 21-14.

Dibble wasn’t ready to go home, and certainly not at the hands of Bushie again. Though it was a nip and tuck match, Dibble pulled away for a comfortable 21-15 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.

Bushie’s tournament was over with a 4-3 record. He was dominant in wins over #9 Paul (21-5) and #10 Coach Mike (21-10), while also picking up one of the best wins of the tournament in his 21-7 victory over #2 Dibble. He finished in fifth place, three spots ahead of his #8 seed. Overall, a solid 2020 Singles Tournament for Bushie.

BIG MEN

This was a Singles Tournament to forget for #9 Paul and #4 Galz…partially because they combined for a 2-6 record – Paul lost to #8 Bushie (21-5), #7 Turley (21-8), and #12 JV (21-14), while Galz lost to #5 Steve-O (21-16), #11 Jack (21-17), and #2 Dibble in an elimination match (21-18). To Galz’s credit, he did stave off elimination by beating #10 Coach Mike (21-11) and #7 Turley (21-12).

It was a disappointing tournament for both, but the real fun was these two thought they were “big men” and could party hard. Throughout the day these two could often be heard saying, “Paul, we’re big men, let’s have another,” or “Galz, I’m a big man, give me more.”

They were a riot, especially when they were glued to their tailgate chairs shortly after elimination, unable to stand.

Better days are ahead for these guys. Frankly, Galz deserved an “off” tournament after runner-up finishes in the 2018 and 2019 Singles Tournaments.

YOU ALREADY FINISHED?

Paul and Galz weren’t the only players with a short stay in the tournament. Coach Mike went 0-3 and wasn’t competitive, losing 21-5 to #7 Turley, 21-10 to #8 Bushie, and 21-11 to #4 Galz. However, it was Coach Mike’s wedding anniversary so he bounced early to enjoy dinner and an evening with his wife. Something tells me Coach Mike was the real winner on this day.

JV continued his trend of poor Singles Tournaments with a 1-3 record, losing his #5 seed to #12 Steve-O in the seed swap round, then losing again to Steve-O (21-2), #6 Erik (21-6) and #11 Jack (21-9). He did eliminate his arch nemesis, Paul (21-14), but that was little consolation for the #5 seed finishing in 10^th place.

Turley had been playing extremely well leading up to the Singles Tournament, and appeared to get things started on the right foot with a 21-5 first round victory over #10 Coach Mike.

He hung tough with #2 Dibble in the second round before finally losing, 21-16. A 21-8 Losers’ Bracket win over Paul reinstated some good vibes, but then the train came off the tracks.

In a key Losers’ Bracket match with #6 Erik, Turley was bun run (21-0). Neither player had a handicap in this match since both were essentially even in the Power Rankings coming into the tournament (#6 seed Erik and #7 seed Turley, both with a 10.8 KPM), making the bun run even more embarrassing for Turley.

After dressing himself, Turley lost to Galz in an elimination match, 21-12. He finished the day 2-3, which was quite disappointing considering he has the game to contend for a Singles title.

Erik finished the tournament 3-3, so it’s hard to consider him an underperformer. He won his opening round match against #11 Jack, 21-9, before losing a tough match to #3 KP, 21-17.

In the Losers’ Bracket he dominated #12/#5 JV, 21-6, and then handed #7 Turley the bun run. At this point, he was in good shape and playing well.

Erik was throttled in his next Losers’ Bracket match against Nick, 21-9. In fact, Erik received a 9-0 handicapped start, which means Nick beat him 21-0 without the handicap. Erik is an honorable man and respects the rules of the game. So, he dropped his drawers and joined the naked parade around the yard with KP and Turley, both of whom had just been dealt bun runs moments later (KP by Steve-O and Turley by Erik).

Erik then continued the theme of players losing the match immediately following a bun run when he lost in the Double Losers’ Bracket to #11 Jack, 21-14. No disrespect to Jack because he played great, as we outlined earlier. But this was a match Erik should have won, especially considering he beat Jack earlier, 21-9.

The way Erik ended his tournament leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but his seventh-place finish is just about on par with his #6 seed.

THE DEFENDING CHAMP

Dibble has had an incredible 2020 season, coming into the Singles Tournament as the #2 seed and narrowly missing out on the #1 spot.

He’s the 2019 Singles Tournament Champion and arrived in Beverly Hills hoping to retain The Belt.

After a first round bye thanks to his #2 seed, he held off pesky #7 Turley, 21-16, in the second round. KP then sent him to the Losers’ Bracket, beating Dibble 21-15.

Next was the disappointing Losers’ Bracket loss to Bushie, 21-7, sending Dibble limping to the Double Losers’ Bracket after just three games.

Impressively, Dibble was determined not to go away quietly. With his back against the wall, he ripped off wins over #4 Galz (21-18), #11 Jack (21-14) and #8 Bushie in a rematch (21-15).

In the quarterfinals he squared off with #3 KP, and like how he handled Bushie, he looked to avenge another earlier loss to KP.

KP was reeling a bit, coming off a 21-0 loss to Steve-O and a 21-8 thrashing from Nick. Dibble was licking his chops, hoping to hang a third straight “L” on KP.

KP started fast and never looked back. He used a 12-point round to clinch the game, beating Dibble, 21-12, to advance to the semifinals.

Dibble was frustrated because he was hungry for more, and felt he could have won a semifinal match against Steve-O had he beaten KP. Instead, he was done and couldn’t quite defend his title.

JUST THE THREE OF US

Let’s quickly take inventory of the 12 players, making sure we check off those we’ve recapped.

• #12 (formerly #5) JV
• #11 Jack
• #10 Coach
• #9 Paul
• #8 Bushie
• #7 Turley
• #6 Erik
• #5 (formerly #12) Steve-O
• #4 Galz
• #2 Dibble

We’ve lightly touched on #1 Nick and #3 KP, and #5 Steve-O story is about to continue.

We left off with Steve-O beating Nick, 21-14, and KP, 21-0, to advance to the semifinals in the Winners’ Bracket.

Nick recovered nicely after his loss, trouncing #6 Erik, 21-9, and then surviving #8 Bushie, 21-19, in the Losers’ Bracket. That set the stage for a key match with #3 KP, the winner advancing to play Steve-O in a rematch game.

Nick left no doubt who the better player was in this showdown. He put his foot on KP’s neck early and kept stomping until he choked him out, 21-8.

Nick knew he couldn’t give Steve-O any momentum in their rematch. Steve-O was accurate, but couldn’t hit a cornhole to save his life. Meanwhile, Nick was red hot and continuously posted 4+ point innings. Nick won relatively easily, 21-14.

Since that was Steve-O’s first loss of the tournament he fell to the Losers’ Bracket and immediately faced Nick again, this time with a trip to the championship on the line. Each player had beaten the other with ease in their previous two matches. So, it was no surprise that the rubber match was an absolute war.

Steve-O’s accuracy continued and he began finding the hole again. He had taken a 19-17 lead late into the match before Nick surged with three cornholes in one inning. Steve-O had managed four points to offset Nick’s cornholes, but he needed a cornhole on his final toss to keep the game alive (Nick up 9-4, and those 5 gross points would give him a 21-19 win).

Steve-O didn’t have any magic left in his bag. He missed the board on his final toss and lost the game. Nick advanced to the championship, while Steve-O fell to the Double Losers’ Bracket to play KP, who had just eliminated Dibble, 21-12.

Steve-O had the highlight of the tournament in his only other match with KP, giving him a bun run after one inning. But KP was determined not to get embarrassed again.

KP survived the first inning this time around, and then made quick work of Steve-O, winning 21-12 and advancing to the championship against Nick.

Steve-O was eliminated, but a semifinal appearance and four straight upset victories to start the tournament over #12 (formerly #5) JV, #4 Galz, #1 Nick and #3 KP might be more impressive than Nick or KP winning the title. That was a hell of a run by the #12 seed (before seed swapping), and his only losses were to #1 Nick (twice) and #3 KP.

EVERYTHING AT STAKE

Nick arrived in the championship with one loss, while KP had two losses. Nick easily won the only match between the two earlier in the tournament, 21-8.

In the history of LEG, no player or team has ever won a championship coming from the Double Losers’ Bracket. So not only did KP have no room for error (a loss eliminated him), but he had history against him and an opponent who is arguably the best player in LEG history.

As KP walked to the beer fridge with Nick to reload a championship beverage, he reminded himself – “you can’t win two if you don’t win one first.” He cracked a Two-Hearted and collected himself.

Game 1 of the championship was a rollercoaster. Both players had shining moments with 8, 9 and 10-point innings. Both players also struggled with bouts of inaccuracy where they had innings of 1, 2 and 3 points. Strangely, the highs and lows for each player happened at the same time, so nobody pulled away on the scoreboard.

Late in Game 1 KP had an 18-16 lead and the final throw of the inning. A cornhole would win the match, sending the championship to one final game.

Say what you want about KP, but he has shown an uncanny ability to perform in clutch moments during the 2020 season. He seemed to draw on that experience with his final bag as he tossed a gem that found the hole with ease.

21-16! Game 1 went to KP.

The 2020 Singles Tournament was down to a winner-takes-all match.

Nick’s frustration from Game 1 carried over, as did KP’s focus and momentum from draining a game-winning cornhole.

The game was never that close, though Nick can drop a 12-point round at any moment to totally flip a match. KP played the perfect chess match, balancing defending against huge innings while also capitalizing on his own scoring opportunities.

On this day he found a way to solve the puzzle against Nick, beating him in Game 2, 21-13, to earn the 2020 Singles Tournament Championship!

It was KP’s first Singles Tournament Championship and second LEG title overall (he partnered with Bushie to win the 2019 Postseason Tournament).

Meanwhile, Nick fell just shy of capturing his second Singles Tournament Championship.

Salute to all 12 players for creating the most competitive Singles Tournament to date, and congratulations to your 2020 Singles Tournament Champion, KP!

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Buckingham Avenue is set to host its first ever major tournament tomorrow. The crisp September air brought about tranquility for the tournament crew as they diligently continued preparations throughout the eve of the 2020 Singles Tournament.

Yet, that beautiful and serene site will turn to chaos in less than 24 hours. Let’s dive into the 2020 Singles Tournament preview and discuss three things to watch for, two questions and one prediction.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. This is the third annual installment of the Singles Tournament, and historically we haven’t had many upsets in this tournament. But history isn’t always the best indicator of things to come. There are some intriguing first round match-ups that could be ripe for upsets.
   • #5 JV vs. #12 Steve-O – JV is a dynamite tournament player, but that’s in a doubles format. He struggles to get the engine going in Singles Tournaments, and Steve-O has been spectacular in his last two tournaments (albeit, in doubles format). Steve-O hasn’t played a regular season event yet, so he was given the lowest seed based on the combination of not having any 2020 data and consulting his KPM from the prior few years. Despite honest attempts to rank Steve-O, he is likely under-seeded and that could cause trouble for JV.
   • #7 Turley vs. #10 Coach Mike – through 10 weeks of the 2020 season I would’ve picked Turley to win this match every day and twice on Sunday. But a month-long hiatus and new pancake toss upon return has given Coach the jolt he needs for the stretch run of the season. Be careful with this one because Coach Mike has been a different player the last two weeks.
   • “Party of Five” – no, not the show with buttermilk biscuits Jennifer Love Hewitt and Lacey Chabert…though I wish they were part of LEG…I’m talking about the cluster of players who are separated by 0.6 KPM points.
     • #6 Erik – 10.8
     • #7 Turley – 10.8 (he lost out on the #6 seed by hundredths of a point)
     • #8 Bushie – 10.6
     • #9 Paul – 10.5
     • #10 Coach Mike – 10.2

Not speaking to a specific match-up, but in general these guys could create havoc and flip this entire tournament on its head, especially given the handicap system that will be in place (more on that later). Don’t be surprised to see at least two of the players from this group make a deep run.

2. Two former champions reside at #1 and #2 (Nick and Dibble, respectively), and the runner-up to both of those champions sits at #4 (Galz). It will be very interesting to see what these guys do on Saturday. The championship matches between Galz and Nick in 2018 and Galz and Dibble in 2019 were epic battles. But every player has improved since those title bouts, and this marks the first time all three have participated in the same Singles Tournament. All of them are super close in cumulative head-to-head scoring this season:
   • Nick vs. Galz – Nick holds the edge, 364 – 349
   • Nick vs. Dibble – Nick narrowly holds the edge, 177 – 176
   • Galz vs. Dibble – Galz holds the edge, 293 – 282

As you can see, not much separates them in a head-to-head format this season. Only one can be the top dog. These guys will go head-to-head, it’s just a matter of when. Matches between these players will be events that cause all other games to pause so that every player can watch.

3. Watch out for #6 Erik. Erik has to get through #11 Jack in the first round, but if he does, a second round date with #3 KP awaits him. KP should be on upset alert right meeeeoooow. Erik has been a boss lately, recording KPMs of 13.3, 11.0, 16.1, 9.7 (a bit of a down week), 11.5, and 13.2 in weeks 7 – 12, respectively. This last half of the season he’s elevated his game, including beating up on some of the top ranked players. Combine that with the confidence he should carryover from the 2020 Preseason Kick-Off, where he finished runner-up and was voted to the all-tournament team, and he has the makings of a Cinderella run.

TWO QUESTIONS

1. How much will the handicap system impact the tournament outcome? This year a handicap system was developed by KP, JV, Erik and Nick with the goal of leveling the playing field as much as possible.

All 12 players voted on the option of a handicap system, or modifying the triple elimination tournament to be double elimination for the top four players (Nick, Dibble, Galz and KP) while all other players continued under triple elimination.

The handicap system won, 8-3-1, with the “1” being Steve-O saying neither approach mattered to him. As if we couldn’t see that answer coming…

So, that’s when KP, JV, Erik and Nick went to work devising a formula that produced sensible handicaps. Different methods were tested, including using player differentials in gross points per round and player differentials in KPM. Ultimately, the different methods produced almost the same exact results, which told the foursome they were either really smart and nailed the concept, or they were all really dumb.

The detailed handicap calculation and outcome will be available Saturday for each respective head-to-head match-up.

The handicap is critical against seeds #1 – #4, where Jack, for example, begins with an 11-0 lead if/when he plays any of the top four seeds. But, the handicap still applies against the entire field, so when Jack plays Paul, as another example, he will start with a 4-0 lead. It will be interesting to see how the higher seeds will handle the stress and adversity of starting in the hole before any bags are thrown.

The handicap could be a game changer, and if it does deliver Cinderella stories, the foursome who created the methodology will look even more genius.

2. Will one of the championship participants emerge from the Winner’s Bracket? More often than not, one player or team goes undefeated during tournament play and solidifies their spot in the title match with an unblemished record. This creates an incredibly difficult task for the title match challenger because they are saddled with two losses and have to beat their undefeated opponent three times to earn a championship.

It’s one of the most intriguing aspects of any tournament because the drama of the title match is directly linked to how difficult the odds are to overcome for the player/team coming from the Double Loser’s Bracket.

My guess is that nobody goes unscathed before reaching the championship and we will see a title match between a player from the Loser’s Bracket (i.e., someone with one loss) and a player from the Double Loser’s Bracket (i.e., someone with two losses). If that happens, we could have a championship match for the record books.

ONE PREDICTION

I can’t let myself off the hook without making a prediction of who wins the tournament. I can’t help but feel influence from outside forces as I ponder my prediction. Tonight I watched the #1 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, go down 0-3 in the conference semifinals to the Miami Heat. I also watched the #1 seed in the Western Conference, the LA Lakers, get blasted in their Game 1 match-up with the Houston Rockets.

Needless to say, things are wild right now, and being the favorite doesn’t mean much. The Bucks are done. The Lakers have time to bounce back, and certainly a four game series favors them, just like a triple elimination favors the top few guys.

Yet, I’m finding myself leaning toward a chaotic tournament. I think Nick and Dibble play well, but I think several other guys do as well and become road blocks for them to claim a championship. After being a bridesmaid twice, this feels like it’s Galz’s time to strap-on the belt. He wants it badly, though it’s not clear to me if he wants it for pride and bragging rights, or if it would go well with his collection of leather and BDSM toys.

Regardless his reasons for desiring the belt so badly, I predict Galz becomes just the second guy to hold a title in both the singles and doubles format, joining Nick.

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – Week 12 represented a last minute tune-up, and opportunity to jockey for seeding position heading into the 2020 Singles Tournament.

Several seeds were up for grabs, including the battle for the #1 seed between Dibble and Nick. Coming into this week Dibble held down the #1 spot with a 15.9 KPM, while Nick was nipping at his heels with a 15.8.

Nick played out of his mind, again, with a 17.9 KPM this week to drive his season KPM to 16.0! He finished 4-1 on the night with 71% accuracy. He drained two 10-point rounds and a 12-point round (more on that later), and outscored every head-to-head opponent, including besting KP in their three head-to-head match-ups, 112-86.

Add all of it up and the output is a #1 seed for Nick in the Singles Tournament.

Dibble had a great week as well, scoring a 15.1 KPM and going 3-3 overall despite starting his night with two close losses (21-19 and 21-16). But, it wasn’t enough to hold off Nick in the race for #1. Dibble slipped to a 15.8 KPM and will hold the #2 seed for the Singles Tournament.

The other seeding battles of interest were in the middle of the Power Rankings where #8 – #12 were separated by fractions of points. Coming into this week the Power Rankings for that group were as follows:
• #8 Turley – 10.7
• #9 Erik – 10.6
• #10 Bushie – 10.6
• #11 Paul – 10.6
• #12 Coach Mike – 10.2

Bushie benefited by staying home this week, and held on to his #10 seed.

Paul had been playing very well, but struggled this week with just an 8.6 KPM. He hit rock bottom in the last game of the night (Game 12) when he scored just one gross point in three rounds, easily becoming the worst single-game performance of the season (KP previously held that honor). Barker outscored him that game, 17-1, and Paul’s saving grace was the fact that Galz was his partner and outscored Dibble, 25-19, to prevent any chance of a bun run.

In fairness to Paul, he had a lot on his mind and was extremely stressed with his home buying process. Despite the bad week, Paul held his #11 seed because of the cushion he had on Coach Mike and the fact that Coach managed to post a 10.0 KPM. He likely needed something near 12.0 to overthrow Paul in the seeding.

The real battle was with Turley and Erik, with both players making a strong push for the #8 spot. Turley registered an 11.7 KPM and outscored Barker and JV in head-to-head matches on his way to a 2-1 record.

Turley’s lone head-to-head loss of the night was in Game 5 when he went against Erik. Turley’s team won the game, 21-17, but Turley couldn’t keep pace with Erik, losing 38-29 (including 10-7 in cornholes).

That one game was a critical piece to the #8 vs. #9 puzzle and fueled Erik’s run to a 13.2 KPM, which was good enough to leapfrog Turley for the #8 spot. Erik finishes at #8 with a 10.8 KPM and Turley finishes just fractions behind at #9 with a 10.8 KPM.

RAISING THE BAR

The league is always competitive, but this week had a different aura about it with the Singles Tournament on the horizon.

Twelve total games were played this week, and six of those were decided by five points or fewer.
• Game 1 – 21-19
• Game 2 – 21-16
• Game 3 – 21-17
• Game 5 – 21-17
• Game 9 – 21-17
• Game 11 – 21-16

Add on three more games of 21-14, 21-12, and 21-12, and that leaves only three games decided by 10 or more points this week.

The other aspect that stood out in week 12 can be summed up in one word – resiliency.

Of course we just outlined the theme of close games, but many of those games involved big runs when a team was down by a large deficit. The amount of grit and fight everyone showed was impressive, refusing to throw in the towel when faced with adversity.

Some of the highlights include:
• Game 1 – Erik and Galz jumped out to a 9-0 lead over Dibble and Coach Mike. In one inning Dibble and Coach totally erased the deficit and took a 10-9 lead, ultimately building a 15-10 lead. I won’t give away anymore on this game because we dive into the details of it in the “Game of the Night” section.
• Game 2 – A back-and-forth affair through five innings when the game was tied at 10-10. Then in the sixth inning KP gave his team (partnered with Coach Mike) an 18-10 lead, only to have Dibble (partnered with Galz) rally in the bottom of the sixth to close it to 18-16. KP and Coach were able to win 21-16, but Dibble and Galz got off the mat to avoid a 10-count.
• Game 3 – Coach Mike and Galz built an early 10-1 lead over Bob and Nick. But Bob and Nick chiseled away at the deficit and took a 17-15 lead after the eighth inning. Coach and Galz rallied to win, 21-17, scoring six net points in the ninth inning.
• Game 5 – Turley and Barker raced to an 11-5 lead over Erik and Paul, then Erik dropped a 7-0 fourth inning on Turley that triggered a 10-0 run for his team. Once Erik and Paul took a 15-11 lead, Barker and Turley responded with a 10-2 run to end the game, spearheaded by nine points from Barker and capped by Turley’s 5-4 win over Erik in the seventh inning.
• Game 7 – Nick and Dibble dominated this game early, taking a 12-3 advantage thanks to Nick kicking KP’s ass. JV and KP climbed back to within 12-11, but ultimately Nick and Dibble had too much firepower and pulled away to win 21-12.
• Game 11 – A common theme played out again in this game – Nick kicking KP’s ass. Nick started the game with a 7-0 first inning win and JV piled on with five more points against Turley in the first inning to make it 12-0. Turley and KP got off the ropes and produced a 16-5 run to get back in the game, trailing just 17-16 after six innings. But in the seventh inning JV and Nick put the game away, winning 21-16.
• Game 12 – Galz jumped on Dibble in the top of the first inning, 10-0, to give his team a commanding lead. In the bottom of the first, Barker outscored Paul, 8-0, to close he and Dibble’s deficit to 10-8. Those eight points from Barker sparked a 21-4 run and his squad won the game, 21-14. Technically this was a choke by Galz and Paul because they had a 10-0 lead and failed to win. But our formula and the statistics don’t recognize it that way because the 10 point lead happened after half an inning (the formula and stats only recognize it when it occurs after a full inning). Choke or not, it showed some serious intestinal fortitude from Barker and Dibble to rebound from a 10-0 deficit out of the gates.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

This week’s Game of the Night was Game 1, which pitted Erik and Galz against Dibble and Coach Mike. As we mentioned earlier, Erik and Galz jumped out to an early 9-0 lead thanks to Erik scoring four points against Dibble and Galz scoring five points against Coach.

Fortunes changed in the fourth inning when Dibble kicked off the inning with an 8-0 win against Erik, followed by Coach Mike sinking a cornhole to win the bottom of the fourth inning, 5-3. The 10-point burst gave them a 10-9 lead, but it didn’t end there. In the fifth inning Dibble drained three cornholes (missing his fourth bag for a 12-point round) against Erik and scored five more points to up the lead to 15-9.

After such a strong beginning, Erik and Galz were reeling. Galz gave his team one point in the bottom of the fifth to make it 15-10, but Dibble had just scored 13 points against Erik in the last two innings so the odds didn’t look good that Galz would see the bags again.

Erik calmed his nerves a bit when he sank a cornhole on his first toss of the sixth inning. He breathed a sigh of relief when Dibble missed the board on his first toss. Erik drilled another cornhole on his next toss, followed by a bag on the board from Dibble.

Erik’s confidently fired his third bag on the board to take a 7-1 lead, but Dibble made a much-needed cornhole on his third toss to cut the inning deficit to 7-4. Erik launched his final bag, hoping for a 10-point statement round. He missed long, but the bigger takeaway was his focus had returned.

Dibble’s final bag also missed (his was short of the board), which gave Erik three points in the inning (7-4). The score was now 15-13, advantage to Dibble and Coach.

Galz was excited to have the bags back in his hands and added four more points to his team’s total to take a 17-15 lead.

In the top of the seventh inning Dibble was perfect, hitting a cornhole and three bags on the board, on his way to a 6-4 inning win and tied the game at 17-17.

In the bottom of the seventh, Galz hit a late airmail to win the inning, 5-3, giving his team a 19-17 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning Erik appeared to feel the pressure of closing a game against Dibble. He scored only two of his four bags, and both were on the board. Luckily for Erik, Dibble also only scored two of his four bags, though one was a cornhole. Dibble’s 4-2 inning win tied the game, again, at 19-19.

Galz and Coach exchanged first-bag cornholes in the bottom of the eighth inning, and then the pile-up began. Galz started the traffic jam in front of the hole, layering his final three bags at the edge of the hole so that Coach Mike had no clear shot. Coach continued to play aggressively, trying to draw his bags around the wall and into the hole. He missed twice and his final bag rammed into the wall. He managed four points, but Galz had six perfectly executed points, good for two net points and a victory.

Each team had big runs, then traded blows in a knife fight before Galz and Erik prevailed, 21-19.

Dibble led all scorers with 44 points and 12 cornholes, besting Erik’s 34 points and nine cornholes in their head-to-head match-up. At the other end of the court Galz scored 37 points on 10 cornholes and Coach Mike had 25 points and four cornholes.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

The week 12 Mushroom Stamp Moment came in Game 4 when Nick blew open a relatively close game. After four innings Nick and Turley held a slight edge over JV and Barker, 11-9. In the top of the fifth inning Turley drained two cornholes and outscored Barker, 8-4, to give his team a 15-9 lead.

Turley then phoned to the bullpen and asked for the closer to take the mound. Enter Nick.

First bag – cornhole!

Second bag – cornhole!

Third bag – perfectly placed in the center just short of the hole, half the bag hanging in the hole.

JV threw his third bag and it somehow sneaked in the side door, avoiding taking Nick’s hanging bag with it. He gave himself hope after Nick’s early barrage of cornholes.

Nick had to throw an airmail on his final bag if he had any hope of dragging his dingleberry bag in for a 12-point round because JV placed a few nice blockers preventing an easy push shot.

As you can likely predict, Nick threw a dart that clipped the hanging bag and dragged it into the hole while his fourth bag airmailed into the hole for 12 points! His four-bagger was beautiful, and the 12-5 inning win was enough to clinch the game, 21-9.

Nick scored 32 points and made nine cornholes in just six innings. His airmail to score 12 points is easily this week’s MSM. Congrats Nick!

NEWS AND NOTES
• Galz sank his fifth 12-point round of the season (second to only KP, who has eight) and added three more 10-point rounds on his way to a 17.8 KPM and 4-2 record. He narrowly missed out on a week-high KPM thanks to Nick posting a 17.9. Given both players were like mirror images of each other this week, it’s fitting that Nick and Galz tied their week 12 head-to-head match-up, 46-46. Galz shot 67% and knocked in 1.43 cornholes per round, which was the best cornhole rate of the week. Galz will enter the Singles Tournament as the #4 seed.
• Barker went 3-2 with a 12.6 KPM while shooting 56%. His 0.88 cornholes per round this week continues to represent progress for Barker, but his usual accuracy was down this week. There is nothing wrong with shooting 56%, but that’s about 10-15% lower than what we’d expect from Barker. Once he puts the high cornhole rate together with 70% accuracy (and trust me, he will), he’s going to be extremely difficult to beat. Barker won’t play in the Singles Tournament, but he’d have been the #5 seed had he played.
• Bob was 0-3 with a 7.9 KPM, while shooting 42%. He had excellent opportunities for wins in games 3 and 9 this week, but fell just short in each (lost 21-17 in both). Bob will also miss the Singles Tournament because of his late start to his rookie season.
• JV had a bit of an off week with his 9.8 KPM, though he did have a 2-2 record. JV’s season KPM is still very good (11.9), but he’s battling through a bit of slump at the moment. He hasn’t found much success in the Singles Tournament because he thrives more in a partner environment. Nonetheless, he will be the #5 seed and is always dangerous if he can break through this slump.
• Finally, KP stumbled to a 1-4 record despite a 16.5 KPM on 65% shooting, 1.28 cornholes per round, and three 10-point rounds. KP will be the #3 seed in the Singles Tournament.

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – I’ve given Coach Mike an unusual amount of shit this year. He bore the brunt of my jokes in the week 2 recap, including tagging him with the nickname “Aunt Millie Mike” when he became king of the bun runs. Coach would be the first to tell you he deserved all the ribbing, so I won’t apologize for it…plus, it was funny as hell. So funny that I’m linking that recap again.

https://legcornhole.com/2020-week-2-recap/

The truth is, Coach has struggled this year. Prior to this week he had a season average of 10.0 KPM, 56% accuracy, scored 3.4 gross points per round, and averaged 0.56 cornholes per round. All solid numbers on paper, yet something wasn’t clicking with Coach. His energy is typically the roaring fire that fuels him, and this year it was flickering, at best.

After week 6, Coach took a break from LEG. Week 7 came and went…no Coach Mike. And the same happened in week 8, and week 9. And again in week 10. He stepped away for a month and drifted off into oblivion, often avoiding responding to text messages.

The reasons for his leave of absence are only known to him, and they should stay that way. But one thing became clear – he needed that break.

How do I know? He returned this week with a renewed spirit. His energy was up, and he revealed a new, saucy, pancake throwing style (how many players are going to change their mechanics this year?!?!).

Before the games began, Dibble was touting the work Coach put in over the prior weeks, practicing this new style toss. And then in Game 1, we all witnessed the fruit of his labor. Coach led off the top of the first inning for his squad – his first throw of the night, BANG! Cornhole!

That was much needed validation for Coach. The pancake toss is officially in his tool belt.

RIP ta da back-handed taint tickler.

Actually, the back-handed taint tickler should stay in the arsenal, and Coach knows it. His pancake toss has a nice cut (left to right movement) on it, whereas his back-handed taint tickler draws (right to left movement) and can trickle over blockers.

Coach Mike has the looks of becoming the most versatile player in the league if he keeps sharpening both styles.

Coach has a lot of paybacks to give, and his revenge tour kicked off this week.

He played five games and won them all. His KPM reached 11.0. He shot 61% and averaged 0.60 cornholes per round and 3.6 gross points per round. Everyone he played, he blew out – one of his four wins was a 21-18 affair, but the next closest was 21-13.

In Game 1, he and Erik were en fuego, racing out to a 9-0 early lead and looked so dominant that JV hollered to his partner, Bob, and asked, “Hey Bob, what kind of underwear do you have on?”.

Coach and Erik couldn’t complete the bun run, but they did win in dominating fashion, 21-6. Coach led all scorers with 22 points and five cornholes while also clinching the game with a 3-2 advantage over Bob in the sixth inning.

PAYBACKS ARE A BITCH

Coach and Erik were a lethal partnership, as they demonstrated with a 21-6 whipping to open the night. They partnered again in Game 6 against Dibble and Bob, and once again pounced on their opponent from the jump.

The first inning was about feeling out the opponent, and they still collected two points in the process to take an early 2-0 lead.

Then in the second inning shit got real. Erik drained three cornholes and was fractions from earning his first four-bagger of the season. His 10-point round was a thing of beauty. He outscored Dibble 10-0 and gave his team a 12-0 lead, and even though his team needed nine more points to win the game, the 10-point round was the death knell for his opponent.

Coach Mike chipped in one more point in the bottom of the second inning to make it 13-0, and turned the bags back over to Erik to keep the bun run alive.

Dibble was rattled, you could see he was feeling the bun run pressure. Erik fired first in the top of the third inning and made cornhole. Dibble’s first bag missed long off the board.

Erik’s second bag settled on the board to give him an early 4-0 lead, then Dibble missed again. Pressure mounting.

Erik missed his third bag, and turned away in disgust, as he desperately wanted to bury Dibble’s scoring hopes. Dibble responded with a critical cornhole to make it 4-3 (advantage Erik) with one bag remaining.

Erik missed again with his fourth bag, which set the stage for Dibble to either wash the round with one point, or erase his team’s bagel on the scoreboard with a cornhole. He tossed his final bag and it fell short of the board, as if he threw a 20 pound bag.

14-0.

And then ol’ Aunt Millie Mike stepped to the plate, ready to stuff buns with hot Italian sausage.

First pancake bag, CORNHOLE!

Second pancake bag, CORNHOLE!

Third pancake bag, on the board for seven points in the bottom of the third inning.

Meanwhile, Bob missed each of his first three throws, which secured the 21-0 win. On Coach’s last bag, he got aggressive and aimed for a cornhole to pad his stats. He missed, but it didn’t matter.

Coach and Erik deep-dicked Dibble and Bob in just three innings, with Erik outscoring Dibble 19-8 (5-2 in cornholes) and Coach topping Bob 17-7 (4-2 in cornholes).

It was Dibble and Bob’s first career bun run, and how fitting that it was at the hands of the Bun Run King.

25.6

Huh? Let me explain – in KP’s first game of the night (Game 2) he partnered with JV to battle Dibble and Galz. JV and KP pulled out a thrilling, 21-20 win that was a finalist for Game of the Night.

But the real story here was KP. He scored 79 points, averaged 7.9 gross points per round, and shot a ludicrous 92.5%, scoring 37/40 throws, including 21 cornholes. He added two 12-point rounds to his resume, just in this game, including a 12-7 dagger over Dibble in the 10^th inning to win the game.

At the end of the game his KPM was 25.6, which is easily a LEG record. Erik was scorekeeper and later confirmed that KP’s KPM during the middle of the game had reached 36!

KP finished the night at 19.6, also a new record for a single night KPM. He was 4-2 overall, shooting 76%, averaging 6.1 gross points per round, and dropped four 12-point rounds and one 10-point round for the night.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Game 5 pitted Nick and JV against Galz and Paul. This was a game of runs – Nick and JV raced out to a 5-0 lead, only to see Galz and Paul go on an 11-0 run to take an 11-5 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, JV stopped the bleeding with a 7-2 win over Paul, which pulled his team within 11-10. More importantly, his five points sparked an incredible 14-0 run, led by a monster seven point fourth inning by Nick (beat Galz 9-2).

It was 19-11, and Nick and JV appeared to be in complete control.

Galz found a way to eke out three points against Nick in the sixth inning – 19-14.

Paul’s been here too many times, especially against his nemesis, JV. He relished the opportunity to spoil a JV celebration. In the bottom of the sixth Paul drained two cornholes en route to a 7-2 win, which tied the game at 19-19. Paul’s final toss could have won the game had he knocked in another cornhole. Instead, he landed on the board to even the game.

Galz and Nick washed their half of the seventh inning, combining to go 8/8 and each scoring a cornhole.

The bags flipped back to Paul and JV. Could Paul spoil the celebration again, for the second consecutive inning?

First bag:

Paul – on the board for one point

JV – answered with one on the board

Second bag:

Paul – runs his bag up the middle of the board and into the hole for three!

JV – places another bag on the board

Third bag:

Paul – missed as his bag hit the front left of the board and continued off. That was an enormous missed opportunity for Paul, as he could’ve applied a lot of pressure with a scoring bag.

JV – his third toss landed in the middle of the board and took a big hop forward into the hole for three! He needed that shot, and gave himself a 5-4 advantage.

Fourth bag:

Paul – he played aggressively, trying to score three points, but settled for one on the board instead. That allowed him to draw even for the inning, 5-5. But, JV had one final bag.

JV – the guy performs bar tricks by counting the number of letters in a sentence within seconds of hearing a sentence. Do you really think he doesn’t know the situation and score? Of course he knew a cornhole would win the game, and against Paul? Ohhhhh daddy! Get your popcorn, folks.

He launched a rainbow that carried the other four bags on the board. His bag hit in the center of the board and curled into the hole for a game-winning cornhole!

JV was fired up, and celebrated a little harder knowing it would devastate Paul. A great game, and a great finish!

Galz led all scorers with 35 points and six cornholes, while Nick trailed just behind with 33 points and eight cornholes. JV scored 32 points and six cornholes, none bigger than the game-winner. Paul scored 27 points and five cornholes.

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

This week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment was a game-clincher. In Game 7 Bob and KP were partners and quickly fell behind their opponent, JV and Paul, 7-0 after the first inning. KP and Bob rebounded with a 19-4 run to take a commanding 19-11 lead.

But then the tide started turning again when JV and Paul closed the gap to 19-15 in the fifth inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, the match-up of Bob vs. Paul was critical because Paul has big-inning potential and could easily score the six points his team needed to pull a stunning comeback.

The two players exchanged misses and cornholes on their first two bags. Each player landed their third bag on the board, making the score 4-4 with one more toss remaining. Paul had an opportunity to cut his team’s deficit to 19-18 with a cornhole, and he threw first – off the board!

KP celebrated, knowing his partner couldn’t lose the inning.

As Bob prepared for his final bag, the tension of the moment didn’t seem to bother him. Maybe he’s too green to know any better? He launched, and immediately liked what he saw. The bag was tracking in the air, but was also carrying like it was launched out of a cannon. It carried, and carried, and then sailed through the hole for an airmail!

Bob with an airmail to cap a 7-4 round win and win the game, 21-15! He gets this week’s MSM, which isn’t easy given the array of incredible shots many players made this week.

Bob outscored Paul 29-19 and 6-3 in cornholes. He was the second leading scorer in the game, behind JV (30 points), and outscored his partner, KP (27 points).

NEWS AND NOTES

• JV posted a 14.1 KPM and 3-3 record while shooting 66% and draining 0.95 cornholes per round. His game-winner in the Game of the Night was incredible, but he also added two straight airmails during a nine point round in Game 9. He doesn’t flip the switch for every game on Thursday nights, but when he does turn it on, it’s must-see TV.
• Bob got better this week, building on his LEG debut in week 10. He had a 7.9 KPM and shot 43%. Though he was 1-4 overall, the one win was a special one for him because of his game-winning airmail that earned him the MSM.
• Dibble had an off-night, yet his numbers are still ridiculous. His KPM still ended up at 18.7, accuracy at 78%, and made 1.38 cornholes per round. Despite his off-night, he did enough to earn the #1 spot back in the Power Rankings. He also earns this week’s MVP for the spread he provided all of us. His smoked pig shots and armadillo eggs were fantastic! So was the sausage and mac and cheese. Dibble set the bar high as a host this week.
• Nick was excellent once again – 16.8 KPM, 74% shooting, and 3-3 record. He scored a 12-point round and three 10-point rounds. Somehow, he lost his one-week hold on the #1 spot in the Power Rankings despite those numbers. Regardless of Power Rankings, Nick is a handful and extremely difficult to beat.
• Erik jumped from #11 to #9 in the Power Rankings thanks to a 3-3 record and 11.5 KPM. He continues to prove how good he is, steadily producing ~11 KPM week after week.
• Paul had a solid night, posting a 10.5 KPM and delivered in the clutch several times. Unfortunately he was just 2-4 overall and dropped from #10 to #11 in the Power Rankings. He did add one foot snag against Galz, which was perfect timing because Galz had just popped a fresh Two-Hearted.
• Speaking of Galz, he solidified his #4 spot in the Power Rankings with his 16.1 KPM. He shot 72% and dropped 1.12 cornholes per round. His 3-4 record is not impressive, but two of his losses were heart-breakers – 21-20 and 21-19.

CLAWSON, MICHIGAN – It ain’t easy being right. I’ve often put my neck on the line, making predictions about winners of upcoming tournaments or breakout performances by various members of the league. A few examples of my work are as follows:

• Prior to the 2018 Preseason Kick-Off I predicted Barker would breakthrough and win a tournament title. Days later he partnered with JV and indeed won The Cup in that tournament. (evidenced here: https://legcornhole.com/2018-preseason-kick-off-tournament-preview/)
• Days before the 2019 Preseason Kick-Off I wrote about Galz building upon his stellar 2018 rookie campaign and expected he’d win the 2019 Preseason Kick-Off title. Once again, my forecast was accurate and Galz hoisted The Cup. (evidenced here: https://legcornhole.com/2019-preseason-kick-off-tournament-preview-the-road-to-the-cup-starts-here/)
• In 2019 I wrote several times about the potential I saw in Erik, and that it was only a matter of time before he broke through to become one of the better players in the league. This year he’s climbed to a 10.5 KPM, up from 7.5 and 7.3 in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Granted, I did lay an egg with my 2019 Singles Tournament prediction where I expected JV to take home the title, instead Dibble won (evidenced here: https://legcornhole.com/2019-singles-tournament-preview-aint-nothin-but-a-white-trash-party/). But my track record is so good I’m tempted to call myself Nostradamus, though all of you would argue “Nostradumbass” is better.

Call me what you want, my point in all of this is that I’ve struck gold yet again. Last week I wrote this about Jimmy in the “News and Notes” section (pay special attention to the bolded, italicized, and underlined text):

“All rookies struggle, but most rookies don’t look to overhaul their throwing mechanics in the middle of their first season like Jimmy is doing. Keep chopping wood, Jimmy. It will pay off and the tree will eventually fall. You don’t have to look any further than Erik for proof of that. In his rookie campaign (2018) he had a cumulative KPM of 7.3, accuracy of 43%, and a 14-35 record (or 29% winning percentage). A lot of those numbers are like you looking in the mirror – 6.6 KPM, 41% accuracy, and 27% winning percentage.”

One week later, there’s Jimmy posting a 10.5 KPM and using his new pancake toss to shoot 61% for the night and drop 0.52 cornholes per round (coming into this week he had a 6.6 KPM, 41% accuracy and 0.29 cornholes per round). He also finished the night 2-2 and was directly responsible for his team’s Game 9 victory – he partnered with Erik to battle Turley and Galz.

Jimmy and Erik won the game, 21-10. When I give credit to Jimmy for being “directly responsible” for the victory, it’s because he won his head-to-head match-up with Turley, 41-29 (including a 6-3 edge in cornholes), while Erik and Galz battled to a draw, 41-41 (by the way, there’s Erik again, playing the #3 ranked player to a draw).

With the score 17-10, Jimmy drained two cornholes and added two more bags on the board, good for an 8-3 advantage and clinched the game, 21-10.

In Jimmy’s three other games, he held firm in his head-to-head matches against Paul (lost 35-30, but averaged 3.75 gross points per round) and JV (lost 30-28 and 20-16).

I’ll reiterate, watch out for Jimmy.

A NEW #1?

Dibble burst onto the LEG scene in week 5 of 2019, posted a 14.6 KPM, and has been #1 in the Power Rankings every week since.

For the first time in more than one year, we have a new #1 player. This week Nick overthrew Dibble for #1, jumping to 15.6 and narrowly topping Dibble, who resides at 15.5. Dibble lost his top spot partly due to not playing this week. But let’s give credit where credit is due – Nick has been on a tear lately, using a three-week run from weeks 8 – 10 to elevate his KPM from 14.6 to 15.6. During that three-week stretch he’s posted mind-boggling KPMs of 19.1, 17.9, and 17.8.

He’s earned the #1 ranking because of how exceptional he’s played lately. The question is, can he hold on to that ranking?

WHAT ABOUT BOB?

JV is a lot to handle. Being his friend is easy because there is always an escape. Being married to him is probably a chore, and he’d admit that. Being his neighbor probably makes one want to hide their kids, hide their wife, lock all doors and windows, and soundproof the house.

Life was peaceful and quiet on Bob’s lovely Clawson street. Then JV arrived in July. Poor Bob didn’t have a choice. He’s had to shield his family from many things, including our dipshittery on Thursday nights when JV decides to host. Until this week…

For some reason Bob felt compelled to join LEG. He was giddy and smiling as he hopped the fence and entered the lion’s den. Many of us actually felt bad for him, like he was the slowest gazelle in the herd just waiting to get pounced by the king of the jungle.

But then we realized Bob *NEEDED* this! Occasionally he escapes to his garage for beers, puzzles, and serenity. He loves his family, but every man needs his haven.

Bob wasn’t the prey. He was the predator. You see, he’s been hunting us for weeks; watching out his window, salivating at the opportunity to join us.  And finally, he did.

Bob performed like almost all rookies not named Dibble – he was inconsistent, struggling to find his accuracy for much of the evening. His individual numbers won’t blow you away – 6.0 KPM, 30% accuracy, 0.38 cornholes per round, and 2.0 gross points per round. However, he was wise enough to identify some of the better players and make sure he partnered with them when he played. For that reason he finished the night with a 2-2 record.

Listen, there is no doubt Bob will get better. We can use countless examples as proof of that, one of which we covered in the opening of this recap. More importantly, LEG added a hell of a guy and we’re happy to have him in the league.

Welcome to LEG, Bob!

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Game 5 featured JV and Nick against Barker and KP. JV wasted no time taking the action to his former championship partner, Barker, dropping a 10-point teabag on his forehead in the second inning (10-5 inning win), giving his squad an early 6-3 lead.

Barker thought their bond was thicker than that, but quickly realized JV takes no prisoners. So in the third inning, Barker was ready for vengeance.

JV threw first and sank a cornhole. Barker answered with a cornhole on his first throw.

JV’s second bag also found the bottom of the hole for three points. Barker was dialed in, refusing to get embarrassed by his former partner. He used his second toss to score three points, evening things at 6-6 after two bags.

JV’s third toss looked like a rocket launching, but landed softly upon return to earth, nestling in front of the hole.

Barker fired his third bag, a high floater that carried JV’s blocker and swished through the hole for his third consecutive cornhole!

Down to his final bag of the inning and trailing 9-7, JV decided to play aggressively and aim for an airmail. He threw high, attempting to carry his blocker. The toss was on line, but flew too long as it missed the board long.

Barker’s fourth toss was his patented Joe Dumars rainbow, and like Joe D., Barker hit for three points with a second consecutive airmail! Barker capped an incredible 12-point inning with two beautiful airmails, closing his team’s deficit to just 9-8.

Barker’s four-bag inning initiated a 17-3 run that saw his team go from down 9-3 to up 20-12. Barker scored 16 of his team’s 17 points during the run, and the cherry on top was another near 12-point inning in the bottom of the sixth. He settled for a 10-point round, and won the inning 10-3 over JV.

JV and Nick scored two points in the seventh inning to keep hope alive, down 20-14. JV caused his opponents’ buttholes to pucker when he closed the score to 20-19 with an 8-3 advantage in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the top of the ninth Nick applied immediate pressure by making a cornhole with his first toss. KP responded with a cornhole.

Nick’s next three bags peppered the hole, but none of them fell in for three points. Meanwhile, KP’s second toss was also a cornhole, yet he missed his third throw wide of the board.

KP was down to his final bag. The inning score was tied 6-6, so he needed just one point to clinch the game. It seemed easy, but Nick had three bags on the board so KP had to be careful not to carry his toss too far, risking a bad bounce or ricochet off any of Nick’s blockers.

KP’s final bag was at the heart of the board, landing gently before sliding into one of Nick’s bags. It was safe, and accomplished it’s mission – score one point to win the game!

What a seesaw battle. Each player scored a 10-point round in this game, and Barker added a 12. The game totaled 49 cornholes and 210 gross points:

• JV scored 44 points and 9 cornholes, averaging 5.5 gross points per round on 81% shooting
• Nick scored 60 points and 15 cornholes, averaging 6.7 gross points per round on 83% shooting
• Barker scored 51 points and 12 cornholes, averaging 6.4 gross points per round on 84% shooting
• KP scored 55 points and 13 cornholes, averaging 6.1 gross points per round on 81% shooting

MUSHROOM STAMP MOMENT

The week 10 Mushroom Stamp Moment (“MSM”) occurred in Game 8. Barker and JV kissed and made up, partnering again against Nick and Bob. After six innings Barker and JV held a slight lead, 14-13.

In the top of the seventh, it happened. JV blew the doors off with three straight cornholes. His fourth toss didn’t find the mark. Though he was disappointed by not scoring a 12-point round, his 9-1 seventh inning was enough to win the game, 21-13, and earn this week’s MSM.

Bob was the recipient of JV’s 9-pointer. Rumor is Bob had a hard time explaining the mushroom imprint on his forehead when his wife questioned him Friday morning.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Barker was incredible with a 12-point round and three more 10-point rounds. He added a third airmail of the night in the seventh inning of Game 11 – he was down to his final bag and held a 4-3 advantage over Nick in the inning, but his team was down 20-7. He calculated the math in his head and said, “So I can’t lose this round, right?” before firing an airmail on his final toss. It was yet another display of his ridiculous skills. Unfortunately his team lost that game, 21-11. Barker still finished with a 3-2 record and he posted a 14.8 KPM on 68% shooting. The most impressive stat this week was his 1.0 cornholes per round. It is clear Barker is surging as championship season fast approaches.
• As mentioned, Nick’s 17.8 KPM this week helped him jump to #1 in the Power Rankings. He was 2-2 overall and shot 78% while scoring 1.26 cornholes per round.
• Big Guuuuuuurl (Turley) had a loud sixth inning in Game 1 when he scored a 10-point round thanks to an airmail on his final toss. That big inning gave his team a 19-13 lead (game was previously tied 13-13), and Turley closed the game, 21-13, in the very next inning. He dominated Erik in that game, outscoring him 32-20. Unfortunately that was Mike’s only win of the night, finishing 1-3. He did have a solid individual evening, recording a 9.8 KPM and shooting 58%. He stayed at #8 in the Power Rankings with a 10.7 KPM for the season.
• Erik dropped from #9 in the Power Rankings to #11. He didn’t play bad, it’s just that Paul played a bit better and Bushie moved up by not playing this week. Life is hard in the middle of the Power Rankings, where #8 – #11 are separated by just 0.2 KPM points (Turley is #8 with 10.7, while Erik is #11 at 10.5). Erik’s 3-3 record this week is good, as is his 57% accuracy. He just didn’t make enough cornholes (only 0.48 per round).
• Paul is one of the four players clustered between #8 – #11, coming in at #10 this week. He had a great performance this week with a 12.2 KPM, 3-2 record, 60% shooting, and 0.78 cornholes per round. He was also the reason Barker’s third airmail was all for naught in Game 11 – Paul had a Freddie Couples-like rhythm in the second inning when he drained four straight cornholes for a 12-point round. He beat Bob 12-1, and that 11-point advantage in the second inning was essentially the difference in the game since Paul and Nick won, 21-11.
• JV had a great performance with a 12.4 KPM, and supplemented it with a handful of his usual killer-instinct moments (refer to his 10-point round over Barker and MSM on Bob). He knocked in 0.77 cornholes per round while shooting 62%, both of which helped him go 2-2 for the night. He’s firmly at #7 in the Power Rankings, leading #8 by 1.1 KPM points and trailing #6 by 0.8 KPM points.
• Galz had a stunningly bad night, going 0-4 and posting an 11.0 KPM, which is low for his standards. His accuracy was good (64%), but the main driver of his “low” KPM was 0.54 cornholes per round, which was almost half his season average of 1.0 cornholes per round. Despite the off night, he’s still at #4 in the Power Rankings.
• KP was in the midst of a several-week slump. He seemed to begin climbing out of that this week, going 4-0 and scoring a 16.7 KPM. His 77% accuracy and 1.13 cornholes per round are positive signs, but he needs to string together several good weeks before we can claim he’s conquered the slump.

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – The anticipation for week 9 has been building for almost one month thanks to finally implementing Galz’s idea from 2019, which is to have a monthly “Belt Challenge.”

Let me explain. Every season we have three “majors” in the form of tournaments: 1) Preseason Kick-Off Tournament, 2) Singles Tournament at Midseason, and 3) Postseason Tournament. The beginning and ending tournaments are traditional doubles format, while the midseason singles is exactly as it sounds, a one-on-one tournament.

The doubles tournaments are played for The Cup, while the singles tournament is played for The Belt. The reigning Singles Champ is Dibble, and implementation of the “Belt Challenge” means Dibble will have to ward off the top challenger.

Galz’s idea was to have a monthly “Belt Challenge” to begin each season, and we’ve been slow to capitalize on this great idea until now. The challengers were determined by the top two KPMs from weeks 7 and 8 combined. Players had to play both weeks to be eligible, and that list included:

• Nick
• KP
• JV
• Turley
• Erik

Galz, Barker, Paul and Jack were not eligible because they only played in one of either week 7 or 8.

The top challengers were Nick and KP, who averaged KPMs of 16.0 and 14.1, respectively, across weeks 7 and 8. The two guys would play a one-on-one match this week with the winner advancing to play Dibble for The Belt.

With the 2020 Singles Tournament just around the corner on Labor Day weekend, this was an opportunity for the belt to switch hands before it’s back up for grabs to crown the 2020 champion.

THE BELT DRAMA

If tonight’s singles matches are any indication of what to expect Labor Day weekend, it should be an ultra-competitive tournament.

In the challenger match, Nick and KP squared off yet again. Nick has not played anyone more than he has KP during the 2020 season, with the two of them facing one another head-to-head in nine games. Things couldn’t get much more even between the two of them with Nick’s teams owning a 5-4 record during those games, including winning the last four games. On the other hand, KP owns the head-to-head scoring advantage against Nick, 286 – 275, and is the only player this season who has cumulatively outscored Nick head-to-head.

KP started the challenger match on fire, jumping out to a quick 14-5 lead. But KP knows how explosive Nick is, which means he’s never really out of a match.

KP continued to throw well, consistently posting rounds of 5, 6, and 8 points after his hot start. But Nick shifted into overdrive and began throwing rounds of 7, 8 and 10. In the blink of an eye Nick erased the nine point deficit and went on a 16-0 run to comeback and beat KP, 21-14.

With the late surge Nick earned the opportunity to challenge Dibble for the belt, which is fitting considering these two men are the only Singles Champions in LEG history (Nick in 2018, Dibble in 2019).

The championship match had a similar feel to the challenger match. Nick’s hot hand continued as he pounced on Dibble early, taking an 11-2 advantage. Dibble looked rattled because he had never faced that large of a deficit in his brief one-on-one career.

But then Nick lost his touch, leaving the door cracked. The big bad wolf (Dibble) didn’t have to huff and puff to blow the house down. He walked right through the front door with a four-bagger, registering an enormous 12-2 round to take a 12-11 lead.

Things were never the same after that. Suddenly Nick was shaken and couldn’t regain the focus needed to hang with Dibble. Dibble successfully defended his belt, finishing the game on a 19-0 run that was assisted by his 12-point round. He knocked Nick off, 21-11, and strapped the belt around his waist one more time.

Dibble will roll into the Singles Tournament in three weeks with an opportunity to repeat as Singles Champion.

PINCH ME, I MUST BE DREAMING

Speaking of big, bad wolves, Erik Wolfe continues to ascend toward the top of the LEG animal kingdom. He jumped one spot in the Power Rankings this week, rising to #9 overall. But more importantly, he raised his cumulative KPM by half a point!

He jumped from 10.2 to 10.7 after posting a 16.1 KPM this week! Only four other players have exceeded the 16.0 KPM mark in a given week – Dibble, Galz, Nick, and KP. Erik becomes the fifth player, joining exceptional company.

He solidified his KPM by going 3-0, which included team and head-to-head victories over Nick and Dibble. He outscored Nick head-to-head in Game 8, 26-25 (including 7-5 in cornholes), and outscored Dibble in Game 10, 43-40 (kept pace on cornholes, losing just 10-8).

Erik shot a blistering 76% while *also* dropping 1.06 cornholes per round. He added a 10-point round to his night, and continues to improve at a rapid rate.

MYSTERY MACHINE

Paul also had a great night, going 2-2 with a 12.3 KPM and 63% shooting. The highlight of his night was leading Jimmy to a win over Dibble and Turley in Game 1. He dominated the head-to-head with Turley, winning it 41-23 and dropping more cornholes, 10-6. Paul was brilliant down the stretch of that game.

Heading into the fifth inning the score was 12-11, advantage to Paul and Jimmy. Paul won his half of the fifth inning, 8-3, by using his final toss to push one of his other bags into the hole for three points, giving his team a 17-11 lead.

Turley answered right back in the top of the sixth inning with an 8-point round himself (winning 8-4) to cut the lead to 17-15.

Jimmy chipped in three more points against Dibble in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 20-15, and then Paul locked it down with a 9-4 seventh inning to win the game, 21-15.

Paul was inches from a 12-point round to close things out. He made his first two bags. His third bag was on target, hitting just before the hole and hopping over it before dribbling off the back of the board. He recovered nicely by sinking his last bag of the round.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

The week 9 Game of the Night pitted Nick and Bushie against Galz and Dibble in Game 7. Nick started the game blazing, posting rounds of 8-5 and 10-4 against Galz, helping his team to a 10-4 advantage after two innings.

In the third inning Bushie dominated Dibble by sinking three cornholes on his way to a 9-0 win, upping his team’s lead to 19-5.

Nick and Galz had a hard-fought top of the fourth inning with each player dropping two cornholes, but Nick ultimately outworked Galz, 8-7, for one point. He put his team on the doorstep of victory, leading 20-5.

Dibble began chipping away at the deficit, scoring a 10-point round in the bottom of the fourth inning. As impressive as his round was, he only managed three points because Bushie knocked in two cornholes and scored seven points. It was now 20-8.

Galz earned one point in the top of the fifth, followed by another great round by Dibble that produced three points (he beat Bushie, 8-5). It was now 20-12.

In the top of the sixth Galz and Nick played to a draw, while Dibble continued to hit the accelerator and gave his team five more points (he beat Bushie, 8-3). Dibble’s fourth, fifth, and sixth innings were awesome, scoring 10, 8, and 8 net points and 11 total gross points to get his team back in the game. It was now 20-17.

In the top of the seventh, both Nick and Galz were determined to deliver the dagger against one another. Galz threw first and drained a cornhole! Nick followed with a cornhole of his own to even things up.

Galz’s second throw also found the bottom of the hole for three points, while Nick’s second toss settled on the board just in front of the hole.

Galz fired a bully bag on his third toss and pushed Nick’s blocker out of the way enough to allow Galz’s third bag to fall into the hole for three!

Nick, facing a 9-4 deficit, needed to make a cornhole. He used his third bag to attempt a push shot, trying to push his second bag into the hole while also making cornhole with the other bag. He threw hard, but not hard enough, and his third bag piled on top of his second bag, both just short of the hole.

Everyone knew what Galz was going to do. He had a 12-point round on the line, so he pushed all his chips to the center of the table and splashed the f*cking pot by drilling a fourth consecutive cornhole on his final throw! What a four-bagger!

Nick had one more attempt to continue the game, but he was down 12-5 and needed to somehow make two cornholes on his final toss to extend the game. Good news for him was that he had two bags piled in front of the hole that were pushable (yes, I made that word up).

Once again, he threw hard hoping to blast into the blockers and take any combination of two bags into the hole. Unfortunately for Nick his toss was not hard enough and his two blockers held firm against his final bag. A three bag pile up and six points was not enough to offset Galz’s incredible 12-point Mushroom Stamp Moment!

Spoiler Alert: Galz wins this week’s MSM with his 12-point round, which capped his team’s 16-0 run to overcome a 20-5 deficit and claim victory, 21-20.

For those paying attention at home, that is indeed a “choke” for Bushie and Nick, their second of the season as partners and third of the season overall for each player. Galz and Dibble earned an incredible “comeback,” which was Galz’s first of the season and Dibble’s second.

Galz’s 12-point MSM was the perfect feather in his cap on an incredible night. He went H.A.M. with a 5-1 record and 17.0 KPM, shooting 74% and averaging 1.21 cornholes per round.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Nick added a third choke to his 2020 resume and lost his bid for The Belt. But he really was incredible, posting a 17.9 KPM as an encore to his 19.1 KPM in week 8. Those are numbers never seen in the history of LEG. He’s playing at an all-time level right now. The silver lining for the rest of the league is that his teams aren’t untouchable, despite the fact he’s playing at a historical level – this week he went 1-2. That said, all championship roads (The Belt and The Cup) will likely pass through Nick.
• Jimmy began tinkering with his throw, trying to work on the spinning pancake technique. He had some bright moments with it, including besting Dibble head-to-head in a pivotal round of Game 1. His KPM was just 5.7 this week, but the real disappointment was his inaccuracy – only 30% shooting. For the season he’s at 41%, and was at 44% for the year coming into this week. All rookies struggle, but most rookies don’t look to overhaul their throwing mechanics in the middle of their first season like Jimmy is doing. Keep chopping wood, Jimmy. It will pay off and the tree will eventually fall. You don’t have to look any further than Erik for proof of that. In his rookie campaign (2018) he had a cumulative KPM of 7.3, accuracy of 43%, and a 14-35 record (or 29% winning percentage). A lot of those numbers are like you looking in the mirror – 6.6 KPM, 41% accuracy, and 27% winning percentage.
• Turley has become steady Eddie lately, and this week was another “ho hum” 10.9 KPM, 2-2 record, and 53% shooting. Very solid night overall for Turley, and he maintains his #8 spot in the Power Rankings with a 10.9 overall KPM.
• Dibble retained his belt, had a thrilling comeback victory in the Game of the Night, and posted a 16.3 KPM. He finished with a 2-3 record and led all players with 1.29 cornholes per round.
• KP has been in a slump for several weeks. He started to crawl out of it this week with a 16.7 KPM and 2-3 record. His accuracy (68%) still isn’t where it needs to be, and he blew a golden opportunity in the challenger match for the belt. He has a lot of work to do if he’s going to get his game where it needs to be for the homestretch of the season.

BEVERLY HILLS, MICHIGAN – Seven points. SEVEN POINTS!!!

Entering this week, KP was ranked #2 in the LEG Power Rankings with a 14.9 KPM. But that ranking and shiny KPM ring hallow after witnessing Game 5 this week.

KP partnered with JV in a 21-10 loss to Turley and Erik, in which KP managed to score a dreadful SEVEN POINTS in this five inning match. He didn’t make a single cornhole, pathetically shot 35%, and averaged 1.4 gross points per round.

Think about that for a moment – 1.4 gross points per round. By comparison, the lowest player in the Power Rankings is Jimmy, a rookie, and he’s averaging 2.3 gross points per round this season. No disrespect to Jimmy; rather, it’s a simple point that KP was almost a full point less than that.

Diving deeper, in the history of LEG we’ve never had a player average that few gross points per round.

• 2017 – Joe Viviano averaged 1.5
• 2018 – Joe Viviano averaged 2.0
• 2019 – Joe Viviano averaged 2.0

Note: We didn’t have detailed statistics in the 2016 season.

Also, only one player has scored fewer than seven points in a game during the 2020 season and that was in week 2 (Game 6) when Coach Mike scored six points in a three round game. But, at least he averaged 2.0 gross points per round.

In other words, KP was historically bad in Game 5. Trash. Embarrassing. Awful.

Turley bent him over, shoved a dry thumb up his @ss, and went to pound town. Turley outscored him 26-7, and was directly responsible for leading his team to victory.

Things didn’t end there for KP. He didn’t have another individual game that was as bad as Game 5, but he won only two games tonight (finished 2-5 overall) and was part of an “unofficial” choke in Game 7 – he and Barker jumped out to a 13-3 lead over Nick and Turley, then gave up an 18-0 run to lose the game 21-13. The stat sheet won’t officially show a “choke” or “comeback” in this game because the algorithm can only recognize a 10-point lead at the end of an inning when calculating “choke” or “comeback.” This 13-3 lead was after the top of the third inning and therefore doesn’t officially count. Yet, it does. You cannot give up an 18-0 run, especially when you have a 10-point lead.

The 18-0 run only spanned two innings, and during that stretch KP was outscored by Nick in rounds of 7-0 and 10-4. In other words, KP allowed 13 of the 18 points, proving *he* choked (not his team).

KP finished with a 14.3 KPM this week, but shot a horrific 57% (he’s typically near 70%), and deservedly fell from #2 to #4 in the Power Rankings.

The 3-9 record he has posted the last two weeks is another indictment on how pitiful he’s been. He’s been more useless than a limp dick in a gangbang.

RUNNING SHIT AS IF HE’S THE MAYOR

The antithesis of KP is Nick. The most decorated player in LEG history is on a tear this season, and week 8 was no different. He posted an all-time single week KPM with 19.1 this week. You read that right – 19.1!

He was untouchable, posting a +9.5 scoring differential on his way to a 4-0 record. His 71% accuracy was unbelievable considering nobody else was above 58%, and he knocked in a ridiculous 1.54 cornholes per round.

He closed games better than Mariano Rivera, delivering knockout blows in Game 8 (9-0 to close over JV) and Game 9 (7-2 to close over KP). Don’t forget his 13 points that were instrumental in leading his team on an 18-0 run during their Game 7 comeback win. Nick jumped from #4 to #2 in the Power Rankings after this week’s dominating performance.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Game 6 pitted Nick and JV against Barker and Erik. Some may look at that matchup and think it’s a mismatch, but those people need to remember that Erik is establishing himself as a heavyweight in this league.

Nick delivered a monster first inning, beating Barker 8-2 to give his squad an early 6-0 lead. But after that early outburst, the rest of the match had the feel of a heavyweight title match.

Erik scored his team’s first six points to keep them within striking distance, down just 7-6. The third inning belonged to Erik and Barker, combining for five points and taking an 11-7 lead.

Barker upped the lead to 14-7 after outscoring Nick, 7-4, in the top of the fourth inning. But then the playlist flipped to death metal, JV threw in a fat dip, and the pep came back to JV’s step. In the bottom of the fourth he drained two cornholes, besting Erik, 7-1, and drawing his team within 14-13.

In the fifth he added two more points and Nick chipped in with one point as they took a 16-14 lead. Barker sensed things were spiraling out of control, so he delivered a much-needed 10-point round for his team in the sixth inning. He outscored Nick, 10-6, and his team nabbed the lead back, 18-16.

Death metal blasting? JV surging? Erik DGAF. In the bottom of the sixth he mastered the chess match with JV, smartly piling up blockers in front of the hole and in JV’s preferred throwing lanes. He upped his team’s lead to 20-16 in the process, handing the bags back to Barker for a close-out.

In the seventh, Barker and Nick exchanged cornholes on their first two throws. Barker dropped his third toss on the board for a 7-6 lead, then Nick missed the board with his third bag!

Barker had given his team a 21-16 lead with each player having one toss remaining. A cornhole would clinch the game, one bag on the board would require Nick to sink a cornhole with his last bag to extend the game.

Barker launched his final bag, and immediately looked away in disgust. He had pulled it left, and it didn’t have a chance from the moment it left his hand. Nick threw his fourth bag aggressively, trying to make a cornhole. He missed the cornhole, but his bag settled on the board for one point and a 7-7 draw for the inning.

A big missed opportunity for Barker, but he had confidence in his partner to close it out. Erik threw first and missed short of the board – a sign that he was feeling pressure.

JV applied an anvil when his first toss went in for three!

Erik needed to answer, but couldn’t. Again, he missed the board with his second shot, this time wide right. JV’s second bag drew from right to left and skipped up just short of the hole. He turned away, amazed the bag didn’t have momentum to carry into the hole. It was still good enough to give him a 4-0 lead midway through his side of the inning.

Battling tons of pressure, Erik delivered a bag on the board with his third shot and breathed a sigh of relief afterward.

JV has a flare for the dramatic, and to nobody’s surprise he went for a push shot with his third bag. He overthrew it, though, and missed the board entirely.

Motorhead screamed through the speakers, forcing Erik to throw his final bag like a QB trying to convert a key third down pass on the road in a hostile environment. He couldn’t convert, missing the board for the third time this inning, and Motorhead roared louder, like a crowd forcing a punt.

And then, JV took the punt return TO THE HOUSE! As he prepared to throw his final bag, he winked at KP, confirming the strategy KP anticipated – he was again going for the push, which would give his team the win.

He reminded himself not to overthrow the shot, and then he fired the bag at a lower trajectory than normal. It landed directly on the back of his bag sitting just shy of the hole, and this time it had all the momentum necessary to push the bag in for a cornhole and his final bag continued into the black abyss as well. Two cornholes on his final bag to post a 9-1 win in the inning, giving his team a thrilling 21-20 victory!

Erik had controlled the head-to-head with JV prior to that round, leading it 19-17 and held a 4-3 advantage in cornholes. But he succumbed to the heaviness of the moment, and JV capitalized like a shark with chum in the water. Because he’s a killer and delivered a 9-piece to win the game in electrifying fashion, JV gets this week’s Mushroom Stamp Moment!

“THE DRIBBLER”

Barker has started experimenting with his toss mechanics, adding more versatility to his game by changing launch angles in an effort to make more cornholes. He already has the high, feathery rainbow in his arsenal, which is great for accuracy and placing blockers on the board. But he believes his cornhole rate is unsatisfactory using that style toss. He’s mastered it, so now is the perfect time to add layers to his game.

The experiment worked this week, helping him to a 12.4 KPM. More importantly, he scored 0.84 cornholes per round this week, which is higher than his season average of 0.54 coming into this week.

As Bill Cosby would say, the proof is in the puddin’. Barker put the “O” in cornhole all night, including when he outscored Nick during their head-to-head match-up in the Game of the Night (40-38, including dropping 10 cornholes in seven innings).

In the fifth inning of Game 8 he was head-to-head with Erik, and was down 6-2 in the inning with one bag remaining. Erik had piled the board with three bags blocking the hole, causing Barker to consult his partner before throwing his final bag, “Is a cornhole available?” JV confirmed cornhole was available, though JV has never seen a hole he couldn’t hit.

Barker threw a low line-drive that hit the board early, dribbled over Erik’s blockers and into the hole. It was a hell of a shot, one that he is now capable of executing.

Barker, normally very humble, was so impressed by his shot-making skills that he turned to KP and nicknamed himself, “You can call me ‘The Dribbler’ after that shit!”

It’s a perfect moniker. “The Dribbler” started the night 3-0, then lost his last five games to finish 3-5. However, two of his five losses came as partners with KP and another loss was the 21-20 heartbreaker in the Game of the Night. He played exceptionally well despite the record, and is on pace to reinvent his game so that he can compete for championships again.

DROP ‘EM, BOYS

For the first time since week 2, we had a bun run! In Game 2 KP and Barker partnered to face JV and Turley.

Barker and KP sprinted to an 18-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Barker and Turley were tied, 4-4, and Turley had one final bag. Anything on the board would break the bun run, and he knew it.

His toss was a hard cut, moving right to left. It needed to hang on, but as it hit the board it spun harder left and fell off the board. “Are you fucking kidding me!” Turley yelled as he ripped his hat off and fired it into the bushes.

Barker laughed. KP laughed. JV winced and began pulling at his groin, fluffing himself.

KP delivered the knockout blow (shockingly) in the top of the fifth inning, sinking two cornholes and outscoring JV, 7-3, to complete the 21-0 victory.

This was JV’s second bun run of the season and third of his career. Meanwhile, it was Turley’s first bun run of the season, while he also has three for his career.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Despite the bun run, Turley played great this week. He finished 5-2 overall with a 12.9 KPM on 54% shooting. He added a 10-point round, and started paying rent in KP’s @ss because he spent so much time there – he outscored KP in both head-to-head match-ups this week, 41-32 and 26-7. He also had great games outscoring Barker (26-18 in Game 7) and Erik (25-18 in Game 3).
• JV finished 4-4 overall with a 13.1 KPM, and added two foot snags to his resume. Most impressive was his 0.95 cornholes per round. Similar to Barker, JV typically has a higher trajectory on his toss, which sometimes makes it difficult to hit cornholes. JV is also tweaking his throw, attempting to become more versatile. Scoring 0.95 cornholes per round and posting a 13.1 KPM while tinkering with your mechanics is impressive.
• Erik climbed into the top 10 of the Power Rankings this week thanks to his 11.0 KPM. He shot 50% and knocked in 0.75 cornholes per round while going 2-3 overall. Had the Game of the Night swung his way, he’d have found himself on the right side of .500 and feeling even better about his night. Nonetheless, he did a lot of great things, including foot snagging two bags tonight.