5/26 SCBP Open Satellite Recap

The Cocksmen split up on Tuesday night, with Gary teaming up with Jaime (Just The Tip) and Kendon teaming up with RJ (Passion Bucket). Just The Tip lost early, but won 6 straight to reach the finals. While Gary can be good, Jaime was huge in that stretch, hitting more cups than Gary in some games, and stepping it up where it mattered most. In the loser's bracket semi-final, they took out Pure Filth, who had to hit 3 redemption shots to force OT. Dustin hit, then Brent hit. With Dustin stepping up to the table, host Bryan mused, "Welcome to the Splash Zone," a reference to Dustin's liklihood of knocking cups over if the shot doesn't fall (behavior that is not condoned). Before the shot, Yugo's Nick had moved from the green to the blue seats, and when the shot didn't fall, he got soaked.

After advancing through the winner's bracket, Passion Bucket had the edge, after beating Pure Filth, then Yugo Pancakes. Gary and Jaime took game 1, instilling a bit of insecurity in RJ and Kendon. One defining moment, with 5 cups left, Gary and Jaime both hit. Jaime took the rollback and missed, somewhat to Gary's chagrin. This possibly played into the strength of their team. On the next turn, Jaime took out the front of the 3 rack, giving Gary the chance to snipe the last two (an opportunity that likely would not have been there had he taken the rollback on the previous turn). Passion Bucket jumped out to a big lead in game #2, during which there was another crucial turn. Gary and Jaime faced a 6-2 deficit. Jaime hit. Gary hit. Then Gary missed the huge rollback on the 4 rack. A 3 cup redemption is difficult, but quite a bit easier than 4, where alternating back and forth is required. Passion Bucket cleaned up the 2 cups in the very next turn, and the 4 cup redemption proved to be too much.

This makes Kendon's third straight Tuesday night SCBP Open Satellite, all with different partners (Gary - 5/12 & Scott - 5/19). Kendon is not the most intimidating beer pong athlete. He's not freakishly tall (Scott). He doesn't employ a gravity defying lean (Mike). He doesn't have steroid enhanced arms or wrists (Donnie?). There is also little that is aesthetically pleasing about his ricochet-off-the-forehead shot. But he hits shots.

Putting together a good team in any sport takes chemistry. A lot of beer pong teams have one player who stands out as the better shooter. Most of these players (Gary, Scott, RJ, and yours truly to name a few) need the pressure on them. They like being the best player, taking any extra shots, and for the most part, they thrive in that role. Taking two good players and putting them on a single team does not always work out, as both players are used to being the #1 guy. Kendon is of a different mold. He'll put up shooting percentages worthy of #1 status, but he's always felt more comfortable as the #2. He'll gladly shoot 3/5 in the setup role and let his partner carry the team.

Essentially, Kendon is the Robert Horry of SCBP. Robert Horry didn't have the pedigree to be a #1 guy. He was never a star, but he happened to be on the winning team (7 championships with 3 different teams in 16 NBA seasons). He deferred to Hakeem (NBA championships in '94-'95), Shaqobe (NBA Championships from '00-'02), or Duncan (NBA Championships in '05 and '07). At the same time, he hit the big shots to make it happen (6 game-winning 3-pointers to win playoff games in those championship seasons). On a beer pong table, Robert Horry would have done what Kendon does - setup the #1 guy, hit last cups, and pick up RJ when he's headcasing.

RJ and Kendon of Passion Bucket