2007 National RBI Tournament!!

[ultimate7]

For y'all who have seen some of the others play, or have played against them, does this seem like a fair representation of the Top Five seeds going into the tournament?

5. Jeff Bandur: The inaugural COTUT champion had to be very disappointed with his first round exit at the 2004 COTUT. Will he be motivated for the 2005 Ohio National RBI Tournament, or is this a trend of things to come?

Well his 2004 competition was pretty tough

[Gantry]

Who did Bandur play early on?

[fightonusc]

2004 Completed Bracket

[Attezzobal]

I'm with USC on all counts (except for his analysis of the other players), I've been playing "anything goes" my entire life and am very comfortable with Cali, Det, SF, and even Min and especially Sl, I'm also going through the rounds with OctoFranco as Hou, and he'll be teaching me Bo in time for the tourney...

I'll "just be happy to be there" as well, but am also hoping to finish fourth and be responsible for at least one 'major upset", so I'm a bit competitive, but getting knocked out early is definitely not going to keep me from having a good time, if that makes sense. But I also want to see where I stand when it comes to the rest of the rbi world.

Also, who plays what style? I can hold my own when it comes to a power game, but I'm a much better pitcher/baserunner/defender than I am home run hitter, so if it comes to small ball, I gotta give myself good odds (however, when it comes to a Cali/Det/Sf/Bo matchup, I try to play far too much small ball and work pitch counts to be as effective, and it tends to fuck me more often than not)

[JoeDirt]

Joe, what do you know about the non-Dee-Nee, non-COTUT veterans playing?

Not much...by that, I mean nothing at all.  That's one of the exciting things about the tourney, though.  I think there's going to be a major upshot in talent over last year's incredible COTUT--and that is in no way a slam against the COTUT.  The OH Nat'l Tourney is grateful for the COTUT and recognizes it as the leader in the RBI Tourney community.

[JoeDirt]

By the way, when is the draw for the brackets going to take place. I don't think there's any question that it should happen "live" on Dee-Nee.

This is currently scheduled to take place first thing Saturday morning so that nobody suspects "cheating" on my part.

[JoeDirt]

First of all, let me say that of the top four listed below, I think any can beat any of each other at any given time.  I really think it comes down to who is hot and who is not at the time of play.  I suspect that GDavis and Attez will be included on the list after the tourney.

I personally am extremely curious as to how these guys are:
- Steve Katz, NJ ($100 entry fee)
- Josh Payne, NY ($100 entry fee)
- Rob Conzelman,PA ($100 entry fee)

They haven't said shit since paying their money and they came out of nowhere.  I suspect they're all very good.

Here's my take on what is known from the 2004 COTUT:

1. Colin Foster: He's 14-3 all-time in COTUT play, and coming off of a second place finish at the 2004 COTUT. No one has a more illustrious track record at tournament RBI than Colin Foster.

Colin is very good and when hot, can be dominating.  Colin, like the rest, however, can fall prey to giving into a cold streak (2004 games vs. Riley)

2. Mike Riley: He's the defending COTUT champion, having gone undefeated through a tough field in that tourament. If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man.

Riley is extremely streaky--moreso for great to good to great to good, however.  And is a top talent...can be beaten, but you must bring your A game or hope he does not bring his (more than likely he'll be there with his best).

3. Mike Beales: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. The second-best all-time record in COTUT play, but only two seconds and a third to show for it. Still, perhaps the most consistant of all tournament RBI players.

Beales is a great player, too.  Beales holds his control practically in his mouth, though, and that's just fkn weird.  But get Beales on a hot streak and look out.  Beales was hot vs. Dirt and not vs. Riley and the results went accordingly.

4. JoeDirt: Will the home field advantage help JoeDirt, or will the distractions of running a tournament get to be too much for him. Last year's fourth place finish in the COTUT gives hope to the best of the Dee-Nee players.

Dirt, aka "tripod" to those in the know, is as streaky as they come.  Dirt falls prey to the head games--not from his opponent, but from his own head...and Keith Hernandez, I suppose.  Dirt consistently beats Riley 50% of the time, however, and Riley owned the 2004 COTUT...

5. Jeff Bandur: The inaugural COTUT champion had to be very disappointed with his first round exit at the 2004 COTUT. Will he be motivated for the 2005 Ohio National RBI Tournament, or is this a trend of things to come?

I cannot stress this enough--Bandur is clearly not in the same class as the above four.  Without meaning to disprespect Bandur (admittedly, I have only witnessed him play in one tourney), but Bandur should be considered as an average player when compared to the likely talent that these tourneys now draw.

[JoeDirt]

Dirt, I was told you'd be supplying transportation from the airport. Is this true? My flight gets in at 8:50 pm on Friday.

Did my website "tell" you this? 

It is true: http://ohio.rbicentral.com/rules.html#TourneyDate

In an effort to keep costs down to out of towners, I will do my best to act as a taxi to/from airport and hotel.  It should be noted that I will note be providing this service during/close to tourney times.

[JoeDirt]

What JoeDirt refers to as "seedings" are really just placeholders to set the brackets - and those will be done randomly.

Just curious--when did I refer to seedings?

Also, see the very last section from this page: http://ohio.rbicentral.com/rules.html#Lottery

[JoeDirt]

Well his 2004 competition was pretty tough

If by 2004 competition you mean an easy match up and if by tough you mean gay, then yes.

(Bandur played Ult in round one)

[fknmclane]

I'm going to be the one-legged man in this ass-kicking contest that is the Cousin to the COTUT.

[SmokedUBad13]

For y'all who have seen some of the others play, or have played against them, does this seem like a fair representation of the Top Five seeds going into the tournament?

1. Colin Foster
2. Mike Riley
3. Mike Beales
4. JoeDirt
5. Jeff Bandur

Other than that, I'm stumped.

That's a very fair analysis in my opinion.  Although, Trevor Martin was a last minute sub and never actually made it to the 3rd COTUT.  To the best of my knowledge, nobody knows anything about his talent.

I think given GDavis' track record in the last NYC tourney, he gets a top seed over Bandur.  The 2002 and 2004 tourneys were much tougher than the 2000, no disrespect to Jeff.  02 and especially 04 had quite a few out-of-staters...

True that the later COTUTs had more talent.  However, I don't think we can give GDavis a higher seed over Bandur simply because GDavis has never participated in a national tournament.  If we can even rank GDavis (which I don't think we can at this point), I'd rank him as tied with Bandur at the present time.  I can only say this because I know that Bandur is looking for some major revenge/respect in the Ohio tournament.  I've been practicing against him on a weekly basis.

For the record, Bandur and I will bring at least one quality NES to the tournament.  We're pumped and our practice sessions will be hitting code red soon.

[fightonusc]

By the way, when is the draw for the brackets going to take place. I don't think there's any question that it should happen "live" on Dee-Nee.

This is currently scheduled to take place first thing Saturday morning so that nobody suspects "cheating" on my part.

I would highly encourage that the pairings drawing takes place ASAP. This wpuld be a great way to spark some friendly banter from the participants in the weeks and days leading up to the tournament. For example, if two Dee-Neers wind up being drawn together in the first round - sparks would fly. I just think it is a way to increase interest in the tournament.

Perhaps we can get a Dee-Nee, non-partisan who isn't competing in the tournament to handle the drawing of the names. There are several candidates well thought of in the Dee-Nee community (Ultimate7, Beefmaster, Nightwulf) who I think we all could trust to do this fairly. (Those are just three names off the top of my head of people who aren't "real life" friends or "man crushes" of players in the tournament.)

I say, let's do the pairings ASAP and let the smack talk begin!

[fightonusc]

What JoeDirt refers to as "seedings" are really just placeholders to set the brackets - and those will be done randomly.

Just curious--when did I refer to seedings?

Also, see the very last section from this page: http://ohio.rbicentral.com/rules.html#Lottery

Sorry, I was thinking of the wording on the COTUT Web site. My bad.

[fightonusc]

So, what do we think of these odds for the tournament?

Foster: 5/2
Riley: 3/1
Beales: 7/2
JoeDirt: 4/1
Bandur: 10/1
Attezzobal: 12/1
GDavis: 12/1
Gantry: 20/1
fightonusc: 25/1
CFlood: 30/1
malnuboy: 50/1
fknmclane: 75/1
Field (any of the remaining four players): 20/1

[JoeDirt]

I think those odds are all fucked up:

* I believe people who don't "know" anybody involved and are still willing to throw down $100 and the cost of airfare/hotel/food and are willing to "waste" a weekend are probably pretty good players--not 20/1 odds.

* How can Foster have better odds than Riley when Riley beat Foster in two series?  Foster scored a total of one run in the first series, too...

* I cannot accept that I have worse odds than Riley (or Beales or Foster).  Riley and I have played probably 10,000 games and we agree, there's no way to say either of us is better than the other.

I understand you're likely to say that I finished 4th in the last tourney, but that's a handful of games as your sample size.  I have 10,000 games as my sample size.  True odds have to have Riley and I as equal or they are not true odds.

[Gantry]

I'd like to add that I deserve much worse odds than 20-1, as I've played maybe 3 curve games all year....

[RedBarron]

So, what do we think of these odds for the tournament?

Foster: 5/2
Riley: 3/1
Beales: 7/2
JoeDirt: 4/1
Bandur: 10/1
Attezzobal: 12/1
GDavis: 12/1
Gantry: 20/1
fightonusc: 25/1
CFlood: 30/1
malnuboy: 50/1
fknmclane: 75/1
Field (any of the remaining four players): 20/1

are we taking bets?

I'll put in $25 on JoeDirt --- espcially t 4-1 odds.

[malnuboy]

I should be with McLane on the 75-1 action, I got my friend Mike to start playing anything goes style to prepare for the tourney, but it doesn't help much considering he goes the complete game with Jack Morris everytime, and will hear nothing of it being any other way.

Anyhow, If McLane, Gantry, Flood, or myself wins this thing I will proudly drop the controller used to win it off at Cooperstown on my way home. I will also riot and burn the hotel down while I'm at it.

[GDavis]

I have myself ranked as #1 Dad.