2021 R.B.I. Baseball & Tecmo Bowl National Championship.

[Gantry]

YES!  That a big ass DLP TV on the table there? 

[BeefMaster]

TBT has done an absolute metric shitload of work - there are stations set up for up to 30 players at a time tomorrow (including a couple big DLP TVs). He and Nate and Beales and the other guys I've met are all terrific folks, and I'm really looking forward to the day tomorrow.

[BeefMaster]

Also, we were presented with gifts for helping with the setup...

[nomaaa]

this thread has "fuck yeah" written all over it

[Gantry]

I can confirm that NATE NATE NATE and Beales are indeed good shits

[BeefMaster]

2-1 in group play... eating now before knockout stage.

[BeefMaster]

GODDAMMIT... I won my first game easily, then was the underdog in the 4-5 match-up. Tied 10-10, ball inside the 10, I went for it on fourth and one rather than kick, hoping to ice the game with a TD, and he picked my play then drove 85 yards to kick the game winner as time expired.

[BeefMaster]

I feel a little better about the quarterfinal game - the guy who beat me also beat TBT and is about to play in the finals. TBT for 3rd and I finished in 6th, losing the 5th place game 3-0.

[BeefMaster]

NATE NATE NATE = CHAMP CHAMP CHAMP

[BeefMaster]

0-2 in RBI so far. I swing at absolutely everything and have a lot of trouble scoring.

[BeefMaster]

Bridges just got upset in the quarterfinals by a new guy who also beat me for 5th in the Tecmo tourney. Beales and repeat winner Vic remain alive in the semis.

[BeefMaster]

Victor Lipari won his fourth Omaha RBI title in five years, sweeping Mike Beales in the best-of-three final series (and finishing the tournament 9-0). He was one out from the title when Beales got a solo shot from Wally Joyner to tie it, but then Vic walked it off with a Roy Smalley drive off the wall to plate the winning run in the 10th.

[BeefMaster]

Pic with the guy who did some AMAZING work organizing this whole thing.

[Bebop]

Reading this thread made my heart happy, glad the tourney was a success!

I swing at nearly everything too Beefy, even if I tell myself don't swing, don't swing, I almost always do anyways.

Gantry,what do you do in Mexico? Work thing or vacation?

[Gantry]

FUCK YEAH NATE NATE NATE!!!

I spend my winters there and work my normal schedule remotely.  Good way to do it...

[fathedX]

This is so cool.  Great pic too, you handsome fkrs

[BeefMaster]

I cannot say enough about how cool the experience was and how great a job TBT did in putting it together. It was a really interesting mix of super-competitive folks and Filthy Casuals like myself, but while the cream eventually rose to the top, it was a LOT more competitive than I expected. NATE NATE NATE won the Tecmo title, but he went to overtime in his quarterfinal game, against a guy who only beat me 3-0 (and I blew a couple scoring chances on a bonehead interception in field goal range and a scrambling screwup that cost me 10 yards in my last-ditch drive at the end). The heartbreaker I lost thanks to my questionable coaching decision was to the eventual runner-up - the guy beat TBT, who's probably the most consistent top-tier player on the planet.

I lucked out a ton in the group play in Tecmo - NATE, TBT, and a guy named Ben were probably the consensus top three coming in (Ben was the only other player with a previous title), and I was in a group that included none of them (I am unsure whether it was luck of the draw or TBT was being kind to me). Ronnie and Jerry, the new guys who got 2nd and 5th, were also in other groups. Because of that, I managed to go 2-1 in group play and snag the 5 seed, so I got a super-easy matchup in the round of 16 before losing to Ronnie in the quarterfinals.

I felt way more confident about my RBI skills than Tecmo (not that I've played a ton of competitive RBI, but thanks to Dee-Nee I know the game and rosters well, and I hadn't played original Tecmo in eons), but I think the competition was a lot tighter top-to-bottom. I went 1-2 in group play, but I only lost 2-0 to Vic (the eventual champ), and he won both his other group games 2-1 (including one in 14 innings; it didn't seem like he was sandbagging). Vic and Beales were definitely the best players there and deserved to be in the title game, but they never seemed unbeatable, and the upsets in the knockout rounds seemed earned, not just flukes. And in the RBI bracket, there were not many easy games - my 5-12 matchup in Tecmo was a laugher that I won 24-0, while in the RBI bracket the 12 seed pulled off a first-round upset.

[TbT]

Great recaps by Beefmaster.   BTW, Beefy was super awesome.  Funny guy!  Looking forward to hanging out with him again.

RBI Baseball recap.  Victor and Mark Bridges had gone the distance and given us 3 game series in the championship the last 2 years.  They had split those championships.  They were on a path to meet in the final 4 this year, but Bridges got upset in the super dangerous round of 8(single game elimination).  Dangerous for the elite players as that's virtually the only round where a solid player has a chance to pull off the upset.  Its best of 3 in the semi & championship.  Historically the lesser players always get swept in those rounds.  Bridges also has tourney titles in Columbus at a Joe Dirt tourney and in Chicago at Beales tourney.  Not sure his overall record, but hes got 3 titles, and a 2nd place, a 5th and maybe a 3rd or 4th between the 3 locations.

Beales had attended 3 times before and always got swept in semi finals by eventual champ Victor or Bridges.  He finally reached the championship round this year, but got swept by Victor.  I think Victor has swept Beales 3 straight times in late rounds.  Beales is  model of consistency.  Joe Dirt says Beales is really good at all 3 phases, but perhaps not elite at any single area.  Beales, Bridges & Victor typically win their groups as well in the opening round.

Fun fact about Victor:  Vic improved to 41-5 in RBI at this tourney winning 4 of the 5 times he's attended.  Dropped like a 5-0 game to Bridges in series clincher in 2019.    Of his 5 total loses, 2 came vs me in group play!  The other 3 vs Bridges in the championship rounds.  I damn near got him one year in the round of 8, but surrendered a homer in the 9th while I was leading to get the loss. 

Bridges steam rolled to 5th place smashing his next 2 opponents.         
Ronnie Kruger dropped a game 3 vs Beales in the semifinals, then won the 3rd place game. 

Ronnie as some of you may recall, got news that his mom died during Joe Dirt's tourney in 2006(?).  Solid player.  New attendee from Iowa City named Jerry knocked off Bridges in round of 8,  then got worked in semi-finals vs Victor.  Jerry Lost to Ronnie in 3rd place game.

We had a couple guys that were typically fixtures at making at run at 5th place, or even sneaking into the final 4 from Kansas and Iowa.  They laid a major egg this year opening things up for other players.  Generally this tourney from 4th-12th is super competitive.  Seemed to be more of the same this year.

[TbT]

Tecmo Bowl recap.  NATE NATE NATE  in his 9th tourney finally broke through for the title. He's attended Houston, Des Moines, Rochester, Green Bay & 5 Omaha tourneys with a litany of top 4 finishes.  His resume is now: 1st, 2nd(2x) 3rd(3X), 4th(2x), & 5th place with a 41-11 all time record at 9 tourneys.

Nate snuck by new comer Jerry in the round of 8 in a game that was shockingly competitive.  When it got to OT, I thought Nate was gonna lose by a FG.   Then he got by Ben in the semi-finals.  Ben was the only other player to win Omaha besides me.  Nate was able to take control in the 2nd half vs Ronnie to win the title.  If Nate had lost in the round of 8 vs Jerry, it would have been a major catastrophe for him.  He REALLY needed this one!    He might have sworn off Tecmo, especially if Ben won again.

Ronnie Kruger and I have some Tecmo experience vs each other.  We split 4 games back in 2006 at Dirt's tourney.  I kept in touch over the years.  A few years back went 4-1 vs him with a couple really comfortable wins and a close win in the mix when I was in Louisville KY for work.  I knew he was good enough to beat one of the top players, but not likely to win multiple games.  He lost to Ben in group play and Nate in championship, and got by me in the semis.

I faced Ronnie in the final 4.  he called Dallas vs Seattle.  I took Cowboys.  Herschel Walker had a great game with jukes.  He called a great game especially on 3rd downs.  I was up 7-3 early 4th facing 3rd & goal from the 5.  TD and the game is over.  He picked my play, I settled for a FG and 10-3 lead.  He went on a long drive to tie after a big kick return.  Similar fate Beefmaster had.  I won the toss in OT, but stalled at like the 40.  Ronnie avoided pass play-picks and QB run a ton to get the win in OT.  I rebounded to beat Ben in 3rd place game.  To avoid OT vs Ben, I needed a 4th and goal playpick.

Sucks to lose.  Wife was far more devastated than I was.  I've won so much by playing my ass off being perfect at all times in the face of every damn thing.  Eventually shit's gonna catch up to you.  I played pretty damn well vs Ronnie, but he was really on with his play calls at key times.  I just couldn't separate enough as a result.  In 14 tourneys that was the first time I didn't reach the championship.  Ran my Tecmo record to 83-3 in 14 tourneys in 8 cities/7 states with 12 championships, along with 2nd & 3rd place.  Played in some big tourneys out east with a couple 32 and a 40 player field.  Average size is about 20 players though.

I still don't feel too bad about the loss. Outside of like 1 mistake on defense that I can think of, I played really well.  I got him to a 4th and 5 on the last drive and just couldn't catch him in a play pick for the win.   Same deal when I lost the 2019 Omaha Championship.  Got Ben into a 4th & 5 on the last drive and missed on the playpick.  You play enough games your going to run into some stuff that's beyond your control.  Ben had a good showing beating Ronnie by like 7-9 points in group play, and nearly getting by Nate in the semis & losing to me in the 3rd place game.  Ben is now 31-7 at  6 tourneys in Omaha/Green Bay with 1st, 2nd(2X), 3rd, 4th, 5th on his resume. 

Back in the day I went through everyone in the championship games with Nate/Ben/Both Canadians/and the local guys I faced in Cincy, Columbus, & Pittsburgh.  Lately Ben was the main guy as I faced him in 3 straight title games. 

4 of us are going to Green Bay in Sept for a Tecmo tourney.  I'll get to prep for the games and not have to worry about running the thing and taking care of every little detail.  Hopefully I can roll in really sharp.  GB is a double elimination tourney with somewhat random seeding of the bracket.  Its on the heels of a Tecmo Super Bowl tourney earlier that day.  The TSB guys don't know all the ins and outs of TB, but the skills tend to translate well enough to TB.  The top TB players will find themselves in an occasional battle with the TSB guys.  That will be interesting to see if one of us loses a game vs the TSB guys.  I did last year vs a TSB guy, and smoked him in the rematch a few games later.  I had 1 other tough games vs a TSB guy, but pounded my opponent in  the championship games. The year before Nate, Ben, and I all had a close game vs a TSB player.

[BeefMaster]

Great recaps by Beefmaster.   BTW, Beefy was super awesome.  Funny guy!  Looking forward to hanging out with him again.

(internet hugs)

The fact that elite-ish play keeps the games extremely low-scoring is something I wasn't entirely prepared for, but I think it evened out the playing field a lot more than I expected. Other than the game with casual guy that I whooped in the Round of 16, I didn't play a single Tecmo game where a team scored more than 13 points, and most of the games I played or saw were within a single score. I lost by a field goal to a guy who beat TBT and a guy who took NATE to overtime, which suggests to me that if I played well, I could at least hang with the big boys and have a puncher's chance if they made a mistake.

Same thing in RBI - I did poorly, but three of my four losses were largely because I recklessly tried to squeeze an extra couple batters out of a gassed pitcher. I have no idea how anyone ever scores a damn run in 2SP RBI, because as much as I know that I can't hit for anything, even the elite guys strike out a TON against fresh pitchers. Again, it's very clear to me that I'm not as good as the elite players, but I pitch and field well enough that I should generally be able to keep the game close and hope for a lucky hit against a tired pitcher.

The amazing thing about Vic was that he almost never makes a mistake. He doesn't generally score a ton of runs, but I don't know if he gave up more than two runs in a game during the whole tournament. He's basically mastered RBI pitching and defense.