11/01/09: End of an Era

Mourners came from all over the southland to enjoy Canes' beachfront property one last time. Normally I'd make fun of people wearing sun glasses in doors, but with the funeral like atmosphere, it was acceptable to want to hide the tears.
Only a few teams took advantage of our gracious offer to buy a pitcher to any halloween celebrators willing to extend costume wearing one more day. Those that did went all out. Laura and Teresa transformed Jack Tripper into Fred Flinstone, and played as Yabba Dabba Doo. Jamie and Jermane took part of the action, with Jamie commendably attempting to shoot with Tigger paws, and Jermane ridiculously pulling off Chef. Meg stole my wig and made a nice Gilly (from the watch-at-your-own-risk SNL skit). Jamie then changed and became Pete2 halfway through the afternoon. Damn.
Halloween Costumes

Mark and Daniel usually play together as Mexicali. A couple weeks after MexiCali's 9/26 win, Daniel decided he'd win the Fresno Satellite with Sean Coen. To complete the ménage - Sean paired up with Mark on 11/1 as Str8 Ballin'. They reached the championship match through the winner's bracket, taking down a slew of tough teams: Round 1: Schitzweak, a reunited Ryan and Troy (Troy's been living in Chicago). We know - it's not easy trying to follow a team where the name means absolutely nothing, as Ryan uses it with or without Troy, and Troy uses it with or without Ryan, and any of their friends simply play as Schitzweak2. It's ok if you're confused. Round 2: Grady & Castro playing as the cute combo name All American, from All Day and Team America Round 3: Bryan & Garrett playing as Team Khlomar, a Lamar Odom - Khloe Kardashian reference. This was a new couple name, ala Brangelina, and not a Halloween costume idea, despite Bryan's resemblance to Khloe. Round 4: Go Go Gadget Flow Round 5: 24/7
Tyler & I started this gangsta shit back in 2007. We originally thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do something fun, and hone our craft. We received a backlash when we tried to play in our 2nd tournament (6/2/07), and decided we'd rather concentrate on hosting good events than worry about the conflict of beating teams that we were working hard to recruit. With lower fields and some repeat winners over the last year, we've decided to play in the last two tournaments. Our main goal is to practice for the World Series. Should we win any such tournament, we'd give back to those in attendance in some fashion. In that respect, we apologize to those teams that we beat on Sunday as we traversed through the loser's bracket on our way to the final match. Unfortunately, you probably weren't going to win the tournament anyway. Mark was on point. Sean played well too - making up for a few misses by running his mouth. Congrats to them for their win, and for sealing their three-way partner swap.
11/1 Champs - Str8 Ballin

Details | Recap | Final Standings | Bracket