SCBP Boosh.

Fixty-six teams came out for pongleague's West Coast Classic in Lake Elsinore, with crews representing SCBP, IE, Norcal, and Vegas. With a grueling schedule planned, teams were to play 5 pool play games, a best 2/3 round, then a 32 team double elimination tournament. The upside to such a schedule is that every team was guaranteed a minimum of 7 games. The downside is that while most beer pong tournaments can be drawn out, this day was set up to be a marathon affair that could make even Mark Sanford jealous. The IE heat would make the day seem twice as long. If you like triple digit temperatures, Lake Elsinore is paradise. Those hoping to find reprieve in an air conditioned building (me) were disappointed to find no such luck inside the Trevi Entertainment complex. If a warmer atmosphere was chosen in favor of playing conditions, kudos to tournament management. AC ducts and fans blowing are an airborne ping pong ball's worst enemy.

Some people went hard into the first 5 pool play games, not respecting the difficulty of maintaining their buzz and level of play for 10 hours straight, especially with the heat and the reseeding break. A similar scenario is players that go to the World Series to try to win 50 grand, but then ruin the prospects of playing well when it matters (day 3) by partying hard on the strip on the nights of day 1 and day 2. In this tournament, the first four or so hours were somewhat meaningless, as each team would make the 2/3 round, so taking it easy was the heady way to go.

SCBP repped strongly, with 10 faithful teams making the final 28 team bracket. "Pongleague's Finest", aka Yugoslavian Pancakes, took one of the 4 byes as a top team with an undefeated record. Perhaps their opponents were intimidated by their fierce uniforms. Canyon Country's Wide Out hasn't played much together, but Sean (the original brainchild behind this event) has become a force over the last 6 months, getting the taste of victory at Sandbox. Timmy is no stranger as he's a small member of CC's pong elite. They too went undefeated, and claimed a bye with a top 4 spot. With Green Gnar unable to play, the third bye went to Shred the Man, a hybrid Fresno team not unfamiliar to SCBP as each player can be found in SCBP's Circle of Champions. Shaffs & Burns (aka Norcal's Finest) was the dominating #1 seed, and rightfully pegged as the team to beat. They have a lengthy resume, and backed it up as they rolled through numerous strong teams in both the prelims (including a perfect game) and in the cash games area. In the smoker's lounge, it was rumored that Byron used the hour break to get an ice water IV.

While the IE and Vegas groups were strong, the tournament looked to be a battle between North and South. The rivalry can be traced back to that of the Brooklyn (now LA) Dodgers and the NY (now SF) Giants. Little love is lost when dealing with these two regions. The dividing line is gray, but a choice has to be made. Quite a few of the not-so-north Bakersfield crowd wears norcal shirts, and while Jon & RJ of Silence are from the Bay Area, both went to school in Long Beach and are no doubt a SCBP team. The rivalry can make things tense, but make for a more dramatic outcome as well. In the semi-finals, undefeated Daniel/Byron would take on undefeated Wide Out, while SCBP Boosh paired up against norcal's Caboom. SCBP won both those matches, foreshadowing a good end for those with southland pride. Norcal took care of the loser's bracket, winning several north v south matchups. We Know eliminated Team America and then Silence. Shaffs & Burns took out All Day in a triumphic moment for norcal on the main stage. Wide Out advanced to an all-SCBP final table when they beat Daniel/Byron for a 2nd time. Wide Out's magical day would be ruined by SCBP Boosh, a team who got oblsiterated by Byron & Daniel in the prelims, but found the formula for their success as the tournament went on - just hit cups and don't look back. Boosh.

Bryan & Peter of SCBP Boosh.

Congrats to pongleague for a well-run event. The day was grueling, but the schedule was no secret. They set out to provide people a chance to win 5 grand and give them a bunch of games to get value for their entry fees, and we all got a full day of pong out of it. Things ran smoothly. The crowd was great as people got more energetic as the night went on. We'll be looking forward to their just-announced similar style event for August, another mega-tourney at about half the financial scale (both cost and prize).