As Day 2 of The Best Of The West (BOW) tournament in San Diego, CA, wound down late last night, the kickoff tourney champs were crowned and the preliminary schedule was wrapped up, paving the way for Day 3 action.
In the Kick-off Tourney, Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) claimed the cash and the top spot in the kickoff tourney for the 2nd straight year. This championship is actually Marx’s 3rd straight BOW kickoff tourney win, having won the tournament with Travis Carl in 2013 as well.
Before claiming this win, Marx and Pimentel had to take down another AZ/CA pairing of TJ Robinson (AZ) and Ryan Smith (CA). The entertainment value of this finals matchup did not disappoint! As Game 1 began, it felt like the making of an enormous upset – to everyone in the building except Big Mark and Marx.
The chatter was high on the end off the table that was occupied by Robinson/Smith and rightfully so, as every advantage needs to be capitalized on. (Especially, in a finals match and even more so against such highly touted competition.) Ryan Smith stepped up to the table with supreme confidence in himself to sink the last cup left on the table to put Pimentel/Marx against the ropes and force rebuttal shots.
…this is where things got interesting…
Smith, without skipping a beat, continued to talk trash as he gathered his shot, even requesting the direct attention of his opponents while shooting. However, given the extensive experience of the Marx/Pimentel squad, Marx decided to utilize a defensive strategy best left to the top players on the planet and does so in flawless fashion.
With only one cup remaining on both sides, and in the midst of a flurry of trash talk (with $2k on the line, of course), Marx intercepts Smith’s shot mid-air (leaving no chance for a miss) and fluently bangs his rebuttal shot all in one motion. (At this point, Tim Mozgov and Fredrick Weis might as well have been standing on the other side of the table.)
Game 2 didn’t turn out to be as close as the first as Marx/Pimentel completed their quest to repeat. My guess is because of the manhood that was all but stripped from them at the end of Game 1.
Sam Henshaw (LV) / Justin Spurrier (LV) and Adam Conrad (CA) / Justin Miller (CA) tied for 3rd.
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Day 2 also concluded preliminary play for the 10v10 Main Event!
In anticipation of this event, we had pondered the likelihood of Nor Cal continuing their dominance with a new roster. After Day 2, it seems that they are coming back down to earth, as they finished prelims (19-11, +5) and in the 4th seed. However, SOJO’s WSOBP battery mate (Tim “Byron” Findley) seems to have found a new Cali squad, “Cali’s Last Resort”, as they settled comfortably into the 3rd seed with a (19-13, +33) record.
Marx continued his quality play as he has led his Arizona squad to the top overall seed in preliminary play with a (22-8, +50) record.
Having almost zero hype leading up to BOW was the Las Vegas teams. The men (Kick Rocks) have secured the 2nd seed and the Vegas ladies have the top overall seed going into bracket play. A good showing for sure!
The returning ladies champs (Southern California) fell to (4-8, -22) and slipped into the 4th seed, as the 3-time ladies champion Arizona squad sits near the top of the bracket in a 2 seed with a (7-5, +13) record.
Who will take home the Main Event title and be crowned 2015’s Best Of The West?
Check back with us next week for complete tournament results!
[…] Late Sunday night concluded the 2015 “Best of the West” Pong Championships. If you haven’t been following the action, here’s a recap: This past Friday, June 5th, started the festivities with a $2,000 kick-off tournament, in which Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) clenched the title for the second consecutive year. Read more about their win here. […]