2011 Southwest Beer Pong Championships
This year’s Championships were a weekend full of surprises. I want to start off by saying how much I appreciate everyone who made the trip (however short or long the drive was) out to participate in the festivities. There was not a single fight or physical altercation of any kind this year, which helps to show how much this year’s tournament was about the game, not so much about the competition, even with two of DOE’s top25 in attendance.
Day 1: Singles Championships
Saturday was an endurance run for me. I started the day with morning beers at AJ’s, then hit up the Cork and Tap beerfest on Central, and then made my way to Coaches to get ready for the opening event of this year’s Championships.
The tournament got started pretty quickly, and right off the bat there were upsets. Virginia’s Thomas Reap lost his first round game against Arizona’s Solomon Hall. Reap made a tear through the losers bracket before losing a second game to Clovis’s Ian Hayes. With Reap out of the running, many breathed a sigh of relief, even though the tournament was still stacked with talent.
Arizona faced a rough time in the losers bracket, as they were forced to knock each other out of the tournament. Josh Bird knocked out Vance Anzaldua, only to be knocked out by Brandon Marx, who was in turn knocked out by Zach Luckey. Over on the winners bracket side, El Paso was killing it, with Niah Yoder and Isaac Aguirre facing off in the winners bracket finals. ABQ’s last hope in the tournament, David Glaser, was knocked out in 4th place by Luckey.
In the finals El Paso’s Niah faced AZ’s Luckey, in what would prove to be one of the many big upsets of the weekend. In game 1, Luckey made last cup with 5 to go on his side. Niah hit the first three but rimmed on the 2 rack. In game 2, it seemed like it would be a repeat when Luckey made the last cup with 4 to go. Of course all side games haulted and everyone crowded around the two finalists while Niah prepared to make his rebuttal shots. I’m sure this was the most intense moment in Niah’s pong career, with AZ and their supporters screaming at him, while El Paso and their supporters (including most of ABQ as well as Reap’s unmistakable voice) trying to back him up. Taking his time, Niah ran through all four cups to send the game into OT.
Luckey was visibly shaken in OT, smacking his head and talking quietly to try and psyche himself up. Unfortunately for AZ, Niah went on to take down the tournament, giving El Paso its first big win.
We held a doubles tournament after the singles had ended, and it seemed like ABQ might actually be able to take one down with four of the final six teams. Unfortunately, they each knocked each other out in the losers bracket, sending Cheech and Pong to the finals against Marx and Grove, who took the game down.
Day 2: $2k Doubles Championships
It was difficult getting up in the morning to get everything ready for the day ahead, especially after the craziness of the night before. After a few latecomers bringing in the last couple tables, we were able to get started with prelims a little after 2. Now if you’ve ever played in a PongList prelim tournament, you know how this next part goes. Ups and downs game after game, you get very little time to recoup after a loss or calm down after a win before the next game. Only 16 teams would be making the bracket after prelims were over, so every shot matter as cup differential would be a huge factor.
After prelims were finished, the biggest surprise of the weekend sat on the bubble at the 17 spot: The Best Alive. We really do appreciate Reap for making the trip out to play with his good friend Messiah, but unfortunately for them they wouldn’t be making a stand in the bracket. AZ sat at the top of the list with the only two undefeated teams, We’d Rather Eat Glass (Marx and Grove) and We Like Quickies Not Hickies (Luckey and Sol). In the third spot, surprising many locals, sat Hearts and Shit (ABQ’s John Dubois and Manny Marquez). We knew these two had talent, but weren’t sure how they would play as a team. No Chance came in at 4th, even after playing absolutely terrible in every game but one (against local rivals 10 Inches Soft). El Paso’s top ranked team wasn’t much of a surprise after Niah’s and Isaac’s performance the night before; Ron Burgundys.
Perhaps the second biggest shock in the teams that wouldn’t be making the bracket was ABQ’s 10 Inches Soft. For the past two months David and Sonny have been absolutely wrecking the hometown competition. They hit a roadblock in this tournament however, only managing to pull off 2 wins. A special shoutout goes to ABQ’s Chris Gillooly and Adam Huff of TBD. Gillooly had been on a good run lately preparing for his move to AZ, and Huff was fresh of a weekly win going into the Championships. After all was said and done, they were the only team to go 0-8. Buy them a shot next time you see them.
Final Prelim Stats:
Bracket play began with six ABQ teams in the field, five AZ teams, three El Paso teams, and two Clovis teams. Unfortunately for the hometeam, ABQ was forced to knock each other out of the running in the losers bracket. No Chance lost the first round game to Second Coming, and then had to play Cheech and Pong followed by BLUNT Trauma. They thought they were going to have to send another ABQ team home when they faced Burque Bombers, but Andy and David ended up pulling off the win ending No Chances….chances. In the other bracket, Victorious Secret was knocked out by two AZ teams, and Hearts and Shit knocked out Founders Day before taking their own AZ loss. This left Burque Bombers as the sole remaining ABQ team, until they faced Second Coming and were eliminated.
This left us cheering for the last remaining NM team, Second Coming, who played Marx and Grove in the finals of their bracket. It was again not to be for NM, though Second Coming were able to deny AZ a third place win by beating Will Pong For Food in the 3rd place match.
Though many were chanting how it was an all AZ finals, I do want to point out that Shane Grove was playing with Marx. So it was more a mostly AZ finals. Grove and Marx played against Luckey and Sol in the finals (continuing a recent trend in big pong tournaments of the top two seeds facing each other in the finals). Game 1 was a rush, with Luckey and Sol shooting a perfect game to take it down. The second two games were intense as well, but Sol lost his stride somewhere in the second game. It doesn’t take much of a mistake to allow Marx and Grove to take advantage, and they did just that. Congrats to We’d Rather Eat Glass Than Visit NM Again for winning the 2011 Southwest Beer Pong Championships (and for making me write that long ass name on the check)!
After the $2k was through we had enough time to throw another doubles. We decided it would be interesting to force players to change it up, making it a requirement that they play with a different partner than they did in the Championships. This is the part of the writeup where I talk about how awesome my wife is. People say I’m biased, which I am of course, but she proved herself again by shooting absolutely disgusting. We ran through the winners bracket (beating Marx, Corey, Lucas, as well as Vance along the way) before facing Marx and Edan again in the finals. It must have been too long between games because Beth did finally struggle in the end. Marx and Edan took it down (damn Marx for winning three out of the four tournaments!).
Thanks again to everyone who made it out and helped us with another successful year. I hope to see most of you again this weekend in Mesquite. If I don’t, Vegas is near!
-Clawless
Day 1: Singles Championships
Saturday was an endurance run for me. I started the day with morning beers at AJ’s, then hit up the Cork and Tap beerfest on Central, and then made my way to Coaches to get ready for the opening event of this year’s Championships.
The tournament got started pretty quickly, and right off the bat there were upsets. Virginia’s Thomas Reap lost his first round game against Arizona’s Solomon Hall. Reap made a tear through the losers bracket before losing a second game to Clovis’s Ian Hayes. With Reap out of the running, many breathed a sigh of relief, even though the tournament was still stacked with talent.
Arizona faced a rough time in the losers bracket, as they were forced to knock each other out of the tournament. Josh Bird knocked out Vance Anzaldua, only to be knocked out by Brandon Marx, who was in turn knocked out by Zach Luckey. Over on the winners bracket side, El Paso was killing it, with Niah Yoder and Isaac Aguirre facing off in the winners bracket finals. ABQ’s last hope in the tournament, David Glaser, was knocked out in 4th place by Luckey.
In the finals El Paso’s Niah faced AZ’s Luckey, in what would prove to be one of the many big upsets of the weekend. In game 1, Luckey made last cup with 5 to go on his side. Niah hit the first three but rimmed on the 2 rack. In game 2, it seemed like it would be a repeat when Luckey made the last cup with 4 to go. Of course all side games haulted and everyone crowded around the two finalists while Niah prepared to make his rebuttal shots. I’m sure this was the most intense moment in Niah’s pong career, with AZ and their supporters screaming at him, while El Paso and their supporters (including most of ABQ as well as Reap’s unmistakable voice) trying to back him up. Taking his time, Niah ran through all four cups to send the game into OT.
Luckey was visibly shaken in OT, smacking his head and talking quietly to try and psyche himself up. Unfortunately for AZ, Niah went on to take down the tournament, giving El Paso its first big win.
We held a doubles tournament after the singles had ended, and it seemed like ABQ might actually be able to take one down with four of the final six teams. Unfortunately, they each knocked each other out in the losers bracket, sending Cheech and Pong to the finals against Marx and Grove, who took the game down.
Day 2: $2k Doubles Championships
It was difficult getting up in the morning to get everything ready for the day ahead, especially after the craziness of the night before. After a few latecomers bringing in the last couple tables, we were able to get started with prelims a little after 2. Now if you’ve ever played in a PongList prelim tournament, you know how this next part goes. Ups and downs game after game, you get very little time to recoup after a loss or calm down after a win before the next game. Only 16 teams would be making the bracket after prelims were over, so every shot matter as cup differential would be a huge factor.
After prelims were finished, the biggest surprise of the weekend sat on the bubble at the 17 spot: The Best Alive. We really do appreciate Reap for making the trip out to play with his good friend Messiah, but unfortunately for them they wouldn’t be making a stand in the bracket. AZ sat at the top of the list with the only two undefeated teams, We’d Rather Eat Glass (Marx and Grove) and We Like Quickies Not Hickies (Luckey and Sol). In the third spot, surprising many locals, sat Hearts and Shit (ABQ’s John Dubois and Manny Marquez). We knew these two had talent, but weren’t sure how they would play as a team. No Chance came in at 4th, even after playing absolutely terrible in every game but one (against local rivals 10 Inches Soft). El Paso’s top ranked team wasn’t much of a surprise after Niah’s and Isaac’s performance the night before; Ron Burgundys.
Perhaps the second biggest shock in the teams that wouldn’t be making the bracket was ABQ’s 10 Inches Soft. For the past two months David and Sonny have been absolutely wrecking the hometown competition. They hit a roadblock in this tournament however, only managing to pull off 2 wins. A special shoutout goes to ABQ’s Chris Gillooly and Adam Huff of TBD. Gillooly had been on a good run lately preparing for his move to AZ, and Huff was fresh of a weekly win going into the Championships. After all was said and done, they were the only team to go 0-8. Buy them a shot next time you see them.
Final Prelim Stats:
| # | Team | Wins | Losses | CD |
| 1 | I'd Rather Eat Glass Than Visit NM Again (AZ + NV) | 8 | 0 | 35 |
| 2 | We Like Quickies Not Hickies (AZ) | 8 | 0 | 23 |
| 3 | Hearts and Shit (ABQ) | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | No Chance (ABQ) | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Ron Burgundys (El Paso) | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | Bang Cup (El Paso) | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | Will Pong For Food (AZ) | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | BLUNT Trauma (ABQ) | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 9 | Burque Bombers (ABQ) | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | Mangos (AZ) | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Founders Day (El Paso) | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| 12 | Cheech and Pong (ABQ) | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 13 | Second Coming (Clovis) | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 14 | Native Duo (Clovis) | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 15 | Victorious Secret (ABQ) | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 16 | Crunk and Hungry (AZ) | 3 | 5 | -4 |
| 17 | The Best Alive (El Paso + VA) | 3 | 5 | -13 |
| 18 | We Shart Greatness (AZ) | 2 | 6 | -7 |
| 19 | We Swim Naked (AZ) | 2 | 6 | -10 |
| 20 | 10 Inches Soft (ABQ) | 2 | 6 | -13 |
| 21 | Too Legit to Quit (Clovis) | 2 | 6 | -18 |
| 22 | Nutts and Berries (ABQ) | 1 | 7 | -19 |
| 23 | Little Monsters (ABQ) | 1 | 7 | -26 |
| 24 | TBD (ABQ) | 0 | 8 | -30 |
Bracket play began with six ABQ teams in the field, five AZ teams, three El Paso teams, and two Clovis teams. Unfortunately for the hometeam, ABQ was forced to knock each other out of the running in the losers bracket. No Chance lost the first round game to Second Coming, and then had to play Cheech and Pong followed by BLUNT Trauma. They thought they were going to have to send another ABQ team home when they faced Burque Bombers, but Andy and David ended up pulling off the win ending No Chances….chances. In the other bracket, Victorious Secret was knocked out by two AZ teams, and Hearts and Shit knocked out Founders Day before taking their own AZ loss. This left Burque Bombers as the sole remaining ABQ team, until they faced Second Coming and were eliminated.
This left us cheering for the last remaining NM team, Second Coming, who played Marx and Grove in the finals of their bracket. It was again not to be for NM, though Second Coming were able to deny AZ a third place win by beating Will Pong For Food in the 3rd place match.
Though many were chanting how it was an all AZ finals, I do want to point out that Shane Grove was playing with Marx. So it was more a mostly AZ finals. Grove and Marx played against Luckey and Sol in the finals (continuing a recent trend in big pong tournaments of the top two seeds facing each other in the finals). Game 1 was a rush, with Luckey and Sol shooting a perfect game to take it down. The second two games were intense as well, but Sol lost his stride somewhere in the second game. It doesn’t take much of a mistake to allow Marx and Grove to take advantage, and they did just that. Congrats to We’d Rather Eat Glass Than Visit NM Again for winning the 2011 Southwest Beer Pong Championships (and for making me write that long ass name on the check)!
After the $2k was through we had enough time to throw another doubles. We decided it would be interesting to force players to change it up, making it a requirement that they play with a different partner than they did in the Championships. This is the part of the writeup where I talk about how awesome my wife is. People say I’m biased, which I am of course, but she proved herself again by shooting absolutely disgusting. We ran through the winners bracket (beating Marx, Corey, Lucas, as well as Vance along the way) before facing Marx and Edan again in the finals. It must have been too long between games because Beth did finally struggle in the end. Marx and Edan took it down (damn Marx for winning three out of the four tournaments!).
Thanks again to everyone who made it out and helped us with another successful year. I hope to see most of you again this weekend in Mesquite. If I don’t, Vegas is near!
-Clawless
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Tuesday, September 13th
Southwest Beer Pong
Coaches Sports Grill
4 prelim games guaranteed
$5 per guy, girls free
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Tuesday, September 13th
Southwest Beer Pong
Coaches Sports Grill
4 prelim games guaranteed
$5 per guy, girls free
$200 added to prize pool
Albuquerque, NM
WSOBP VII Satellite
September 16th (tentative date)
Southwest Beer Pong
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4 prelim, top 16 advance to bracket
All-guy teams: $60
Coed teams: $45
All-girl teams: $30
Albuquerque, NM
September 16th (tentative date)
Southwest Beer Pong
Spectators Sports Bar
4 prelim, top 16 advance to bracket
All-guy teams: $60
Coed teams: $45
All-girl teams: $30
Albuquerque, NM