9/16 World Series of Beer Pong Satellite
That’s more like it Albuquerque! 24 teams, with players from as far away as Colorado! That’s right, our long lost cousins to the north have finally reappeared on the Southwest satty scene, bringing two teams out to compete with ABQ, Clovis, and El Paso. Add to that a Thorpe birthday celebration and some pretty badass karaoke singers (seriously, somebody sign that kid), it was a pretty awesome night of beer pong.
The biggest game in round one of the prelims was probably Clovis’s I Smell a Massacre versus El Paso’s Bang Cup. Though they kept the game close, Valdez and Vincent had trouble finding their rhythm, and ultimately lost the game by a cup.
One of the biggest upsets of the night came in round two, when ABQ’s Cheddar Fiends played Clovis’s Native Duo. Though I love the Native boys, since they have come to every single one of ABQ’s satellites, I didn’t think they had a chance against Edan and Glaser, who were arguably the favorites to win the whole thing. The ABQ boys lost the game by four cups, which was a big blow to their momentum.
Round three had a few good matchups, the first of which saw Burque Bombers facing Colorado’s Kobra Kai. Andy and David had been shooting at the top of their game most of the night, but the CO boys were out to make their drive worth it, and took the game by one cup.
No Chance faced Cheddar Fiends in this round as well. No Chance had a lot to prove going into this tournament, as many players have started talking about them as “once was” and “has beens”, while Edan and Glaser are the current top two ranked players in the city. Both teams knew it was going to be a tough hurdle, and No Chance narrowly came out ahead with a one cup victory.
Next Stop: Columbia (PeeWee and Corey, the other early favorites) faced the last minute El Paso/ABQ pair, Turtle Heads (Manny and Tony) in round three. The Turtle Heads, even though neither was sure they would even be playing in the satty that morning, were able to topple the favorites by one cup.
The upsets kept on running when Unsportsmanlike Conduct lost to Dos Sexies elsewhere in the round. Dos Sexies really doesn’t get the respect they deserve these days. Though they were a subpar team for most of their pong careers, in the last couple months they have definitely stepped up their game. They ended up running undefeated through prelims.
Round four is usually the most stressful round, as struggling teams usually know what they need in order to make the bracket. Clovis’s I Smell a Massacre faced ABQ’s Victorious Secret, who were 1-2 and needed a win in order to advance. Beth and AJ responded well to the pressure, and took down the top Clovis team by two cups.
Next Stop: Columbia, after having just lost their first game to Turtle Heads, needed to close out prelims with another win if they wanted a good seed. They faced the undefeated No Chance. PeeWee and Corey had knocked No Chance out of the tournament the night before with a 10-11 game, and were confident of a repeat. Unfortunately for them, their chance to knock out the tournament organizers would have to wait until bracket, as No Chance took the game by a single cup.
The last game of prelims saw Sonny on Unsportsmanlike Conduct (2-1) facing his regular partner, Glaser, on Cheddar Fiends (1-2). Edan and Glaser had been struggling to hit their stride all night, and with two losses already, couldn’t take a third if they hoped to win the bids. Unfortunately they continued to struggle through the last game of prelims, and ultimately lost by a cup. Both players were visibly distraught until someone looked at the night’s rankings and realized that Cheddar Fiends had somehow managed to slip into the 16th seed by a single cup. 1-3 -4 makes the bracket, folks.
Final prelim rankings below:
Most seasoned players will tell you prelims don’t matter. As long as you make the bracket, that’s when the games count. One of the bigger early upsets was when Victorious Secret sent Kobra Kai to the losers bracket in the first round. No Chance faced Burque Bombers in one of the longest, closest games of the night. It went triple overtime, including a three-cup by No Chance followed by a three-cup rebuttal from Burque. It finally ended with a No Chance win.
No Chance then went on to face Native Duo, with Derek Henio shooting lights out. Luckily Mike struggled just enough for the ABQ team to pull off the win. The winners bracket finals of that bracket had No Chance facing Bang Cup, in a heated match. Double OT, and No Chance found themselves advancing.
Kobra Kai recovered enough from their first round loss to battle it out to face No Chance in the finals of their bracket. With most of the out-of-towners cheering for Colorado, and the locals cheering for No Chance, it was the loudest game of the night. No Chance came out ahead, and advanced to their third satellite finals in a row.
In the other bracket, the ABQ talent was overwhelming. Cheddar Fiends, Next Stop: Columbia, and Unsportsmanlike Conduct ended up knocking each other out of the winners bracket. Turtle Heads finally met their end when Clovis’s Turning Point knocked them out in 10th place. Dos Sexies again surprised everyone by knocking out early favorites Next Stop: Columbia in the same round. In the bracket finals, Unsportsmanlike Conduct faced Cheddar Fiends for the second time. Edan and Glaser wouldn’t accept another defeat, and took the match in a single game.
It was an all-ABQ finals. I guess it just takes AZ not showing up for us to pull it off (don’t let it go to your heads). On one side was Edan and Glaser of Cheddar Fiends. After struggling all through prelims and barely getting into the bottom seed, they went undefeated in their bracket. I’m surprised I didn’t hear more “worst to first” chants. Edan had won a bid with Corey in the year’s first satty, and was eager to get another. Glaser had fought and struggled through several satellites, throughout the Southwest, and always seems to come up short (including the last ABQ satty where he and Gabe got second).
On the other side was No Chance, the team everyone had already laughed at and forgotten about. In the last two satellites they played, they made it to the finals and lost (both times to an ABQ team). They took a break for the last satty, and Gabe again was plagued by second place, when AZ’s Marx and Vance took the bids. Nobody had more motivation to break that second place pattern than No Chance.
The first game was moving very quickly at first. No Chance had a solid lead as David and Edan struggled to get in sync with each other. When No Chance had it down to one cup, they suddenly hit a slight wall, missing it with three shots. Cheddar Fiends took advantage, and closed the gap to three cups. At this point David’s nerves started getting the better of him, as he was visibly uncomfortable in his shot preparation. Gabe finally sunk the last cup for a 10-14 game. David hit the front of the three, but Edan had a rare miss in rebuttal which ended the first game.
The second game was much closer, as No Chance struggled early on, giving Cheddar Fiends enough time to make it to three cups first. Two 2-cup’s later, and Cheddar Fiends were facing a two cup rebuttal. Edan splashed the first with ease, as he had been doing all game. Glaser ignored the pressure that had been building all game, and sent the game into OT. At this point Glaser and Edan, along with all of the graduates of the Corey Bareford School of Pong on the sidelines started yelling and screaming at No Chance. One three ball later and it was back to Cheddar Fiends with a 3-cup rebuttal in front of them. Edan, one of the best rebuttal shooters in the region, easily took care of the front cup. Glaser stepped up for the split, and rimmed between the cups.
No Chance finally took another big win and secured their bids to Vegas. Congrats to Colorado’s Kobra Kai for going deeper in the tournament than any other out-of-town team. Also thanks to everyone who made the trip out! Next month will be a coed/40+ satellite, so be on the lookout for the announcement!
- Clawless
The biggest game in round one of the prelims was probably Clovis’s I Smell a Massacre versus El Paso’s Bang Cup. Though they kept the game close, Valdez and Vincent had trouble finding their rhythm, and ultimately lost the game by a cup.
One of the biggest upsets of the night came in round two, when ABQ’s Cheddar Fiends played Clovis’s Native Duo. Though I love the Native boys, since they have come to every single one of ABQ’s satellites, I didn’t think they had a chance against Edan and Glaser, who were arguably the favorites to win the whole thing. The ABQ boys lost the game by four cups, which was a big blow to their momentum.
Round three had a few good matchups, the first of which saw Burque Bombers facing Colorado’s Kobra Kai. Andy and David had been shooting at the top of their game most of the night, but the CO boys were out to make their drive worth it, and took the game by one cup.
No Chance faced Cheddar Fiends in this round as well. No Chance had a lot to prove going into this tournament, as many players have started talking about them as “once was” and “has beens”, while Edan and Glaser are the current top two ranked players in the city. Both teams knew it was going to be a tough hurdle, and No Chance narrowly came out ahead with a one cup victory.
Next Stop: Columbia (PeeWee and Corey, the other early favorites) faced the last minute El Paso/ABQ pair, Turtle Heads (Manny and Tony) in round three. The Turtle Heads, even though neither was sure they would even be playing in the satty that morning, were able to topple the favorites by one cup.
The upsets kept on running when Unsportsmanlike Conduct lost to Dos Sexies elsewhere in the round. Dos Sexies really doesn’t get the respect they deserve these days. Though they were a subpar team for most of their pong careers, in the last couple months they have definitely stepped up their game. They ended up running undefeated through prelims.
Round four is usually the most stressful round, as struggling teams usually know what they need in order to make the bracket. Clovis’s I Smell a Massacre faced ABQ’s Victorious Secret, who were 1-2 and needed a win in order to advance. Beth and AJ responded well to the pressure, and took down the top Clovis team by two cups.
Next Stop: Columbia, after having just lost their first game to Turtle Heads, needed to close out prelims with another win if they wanted a good seed. They faced the undefeated No Chance. PeeWee and Corey had knocked No Chance out of the tournament the night before with a 10-11 game, and were confident of a repeat. Unfortunately for them, their chance to knock out the tournament organizers would have to wait until bracket, as No Chance took the game by a single cup.
The last game of prelims saw Sonny on Unsportsmanlike Conduct (2-1) facing his regular partner, Glaser, on Cheddar Fiends (1-2). Edan and Glaser had been struggling to hit their stride all night, and with two losses already, couldn’t take a third if they hoped to win the bids. Unfortunately they continued to struggle through the last game of prelims, and ultimately lost by a cup. Both players were visibly distraught until someone looked at the night’s rankings and realized that Cheddar Fiends had somehow managed to slip into the 16th seed by a single cup. 1-3 -4 makes the bracket, folks.
Final prelim rankings below:
| # | Team | Wins | Losses | CD |
| 1 | Turtle Heads (ABQ/El Paso) | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| 2 | Kobra Kai (CO) | 4 | 0 | 13 |
| 3 | No Chance (ABQ) | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Dos Sexies (ABQ) | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Unsportsmanlike Conduct (ABQ) | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Native Duo (Clovis) | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 | Bang Cup (El Paso) | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Fire and Ice (CO) | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| 9 | Next Stop: Columbia (ABQ) | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | I Smell a Massacre (Clovis | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 11 | Paddle Faster I Hear Banjos (Clovis) | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 12 | Shake and Bake (ABQ | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Turning Point (Clovis) | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Burque Bombers (ABQ) | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 15 | Victorious Secret (ABQ) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Cheddar Fiends (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -4 |
| 17 | Duck Fat (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -5 |
| 18 | Jav John Silvers (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -7 |
| 19 | Beer Bongs (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -9 |
| 19 | Woman's Volleyball (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -9 |
| 21 | Winninger (ABQ) | 1 | 3 | -12 |
| 22 | Pong and Dong (ABQ) | 0 | 4 | -13 |
| 23 | Ace and Gary (ABQ) | 0 | 4 | -18 |
| 24 | Balls Wet (ABQ) | 0 | 4 | -21 |
Most seasoned players will tell you prelims don’t matter. As long as you make the bracket, that’s when the games count. One of the bigger early upsets was when Victorious Secret sent Kobra Kai to the losers bracket in the first round. No Chance faced Burque Bombers in one of the longest, closest games of the night. It went triple overtime, including a three-cup by No Chance followed by a three-cup rebuttal from Burque. It finally ended with a No Chance win.
No Chance then went on to face Native Duo, with Derek Henio shooting lights out. Luckily Mike struggled just enough for the ABQ team to pull off the win. The winners bracket finals of that bracket had No Chance facing Bang Cup, in a heated match. Double OT, and No Chance found themselves advancing.
Kobra Kai recovered enough from their first round loss to battle it out to face No Chance in the finals of their bracket. With most of the out-of-towners cheering for Colorado, and the locals cheering for No Chance, it was the loudest game of the night. No Chance came out ahead, and advanced to their third satellite finals in a row.
In the other bracket, the ABQ talent was overwhelming. Cheddar Fiends, Next Stop: Columbia, and Unsportsmanlike Conduct ended up knocking each other out of the winners bracket. Turtle Heads finally met their end when Clovis’s Turning Point knocked them out in 10th place. Dos Sexies again surprised everyone by knocking out early favorites Next Stop: Columbia in the same round. In the bracket finals, Unsportsmanlike Conduct faced Cheddar Fiends for the second time. Edan and Glaser wouldn’t accept another defeat, and took the match in a single game.
It was an all-ABQ finals. I guess it just takes AZ not showing up for us to pull it off (don’t let it go to your heads). On one side was Edan and Glaser of Cheddar Fiends. After struggling all through prelims and barely getting into the bottom seed, they went undefeated in their bracket. I’m surprised I didn’t hear more “worst to first” chants. Edan had won a bid with Corey in the year’s first satty, and was eager to get another. Glaser had fought and struggled through several satellites, throughout the Southwest, and always seems to come up short (including the last ABQ satty where he and Gabe got second).
On the other side was No Chance, the team everyone had already laughed at and forgotten about. In the last two satellites they played, they made it to the finals and lost (both times to an ABQ team). They took a break for the last satty, and Gabe again was plagued by second place, when AZ’s Marx and Vance took the bids. Nobody had more motivation to break that second place pattern than No Chance.
The first game was moving very quickly at first. No Chance had a solid lead as David and Edan struggled to get in sync with each other. When No Chance had it down to one cup, they suddenly hit a slight wall, missing it with three shots. Cheddar Fiends took advantage, and closed the gap to three cups. At this point David’s nerves started getting the better of him, as he was visibly uncomfortable in his shot preparation. Gabe finally sunk the last cup for a 10-14 game. David hit the front of the three, but Edan had a rare miss in rebuttal which ended the first game.
The second game was much closer, as No Chance struggled early on, giving Cheddar Fiends enough time to make it to three cups first. Two 2-cup’s later, and Cheddar Fiends were facing a two cup rebuttal. Edan splashed the first with ease, as he had been doing all game. Glaser ignored the pressure that had been building all game, and sent the game into OT. At this point Glaser and Edan, along with all of the graduates of the Corey Bareford School of Pong on the sidelines started yelling and screaming at No Chance. One three ball later and it was back to Cheddar Fiends with a 3-cup rebuttal in front of them. Edan, one of the best rebuttal shooters in the region, easily took care of the front cup. Glaser stepped up for the split, and rimmed between the cups.
No Chance finally took another big win and secured their bids to Vegas. Congrats to Colorado’s Kobra Kai for going deeper in the tournament than any other out-of-town team. Also thanks to everyone who made the trip out! Next month will be a coed/40+ satellite, so be on the lookout for the announcement!
- Clawless
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August 3rd-5th, 2012
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
Friday: WSOBP 8 Satellite
Saturday: $5k Doubles Main Event
Sunday: Singles Championships
Albuquerque, NM