Jeremy Davis wins Del Val II Bill/Brian winDoubles

[JG]

Sorry for the delay gents, but here they are:

16 players participated (17, counting Jimmy's young son who filled in for a guy who came a little late), making 8 doubles teams. Each team played each other once for 7 games played, then were divided into A flight and B flight (4 teams each) for a double elimination tournament. In the Winner's brackets, it was a best of 3 series. In the Loser's bracket, it was single elimination:

[glow=red,2,300]Doubles Bracket results[/glow]:

A flight:
1) Bill Brooks/Brian Nelson - 7 and 0
2) Dan Davis and Jeremy Davis - 6 and 1
3) Jason James and Jake Plasky - 5 and 2
4) Jim Bernard and John Gaffney - 4 and 3

B flight:
5) Tim Coker and Doug Davis - 3 and 4
6) Jason Rufa and Justin Rufa - 1 and 6
7) Jimmy Bernard and Brad Lutz - 1 and 6
8) Dan Pettit and Wendell Smith - 1 and 6

In A flight, Bill/Brian beat Jim/John, and Dan/Jeremy beat Jake/Jason. Dan/Jeremy beat Bill/Brian to advance to the finals. In the loser's bracket, Jim/John beat Jake/Jason. Bill/Brian then beat Jim/John to reach the finals. [glow=red,2,300]Bill/Brian "double-dipped" Dan/Jeremy to win the A flight doubles[/glow]

In B flight, Doug/Tim beat Dan/Wendell and Jason/Justin beat Brad/Jimmy. Doug/Tim beat Jason/Justin to reach the finals. In the loser's bracket, Dan/Wendell beat Brad/Jimmy, then Jason/Justin beat Dan/Wendell to reach the finals. They forced an "if" game, but eventually lost to [glow=red,2,300]the B flight champs Doug/Tim.[/glow]

In Singles, the 16 players were divided into 2 8-team brackets, with each team playing each other in the bracket for a total of 7 games played. The top 8 finishers went to A flight, the bottom 8 to B flight:

A flight:
1) Bill Brooks - 7-0, 52 scored and only 8 allowed!
2) Doug Davis (Monkey Jr.!) - 7-0 also, but a worse +/-
3) Jeremy Davis - 6-1
4) John Gaffney - 6-1 also, identical +/-, but less goals scored
5) Dan Davis - 5-2
6) Brian Nelson - 4-3
7) Jim Bernard - 4-3
8) Justin Rufa - 4-3, in that order with the +/-

B flight:
9) Dan Pettit - 3-4
10) Jason James - 2-5
11) Pat Comiskey - 2-5
12) Jake Plasky - 2-5
13) Jason Rufa - 2-5
14) Brad Lutz - 1-6
15) Wendell Smith - 1-6
16) Tim Coker - 0-7

In the A flight, Bill beat Justin, Doug beat Jim, Jeremy beat Brian, and John beat Dan. John then beat Bill, and Jeremy beat Doug. The Winner's bracket final was John vs Jeremy, with Jeremy winning in 3 games. In the loser's bracket, Dan beat Justin and Brian beat Jimmy. Doug beat Dan, and Bill beat Brian. Bill then beat Doug, setting up a rematch with John. Bill beat John to reach the finals. [glow=red,2,300]Jeremy Davis beat Bill Brooks in the A finals to win the Del Val II for a 2nd straight year![/glow]

1) Jeremy Davis
2) Bill Brooks
3) John Gaffney

In B flight:
Dan beat Tim, Jason James beat Wendell, Pat beat Brad, and Jake beat Jason Rufa. Dan then beat Jake and Pat beat Jason James, setting up a Dan/Pat Winner's bracket final. Pat won the series, advancing to the B flight finals. In the Loser's bracket, Tim beat Jason Rufa and Wendell beat Brad. Jason James then beat Tim and Jake beat Wendell. Jake beat Jason to advance to the Loser's bracket finals, where he lost to Dan. [glow=red,2,300]Pat Comiskey then beat Dan Pettit to win the B flight singles.[/glow]

1) Pat Comiskey
2) Dan Pettit
3) Jake Plasky

Thanks to everyone who came out, especially some of the newer guys - Pat, Dan, Jason, Jake, Tim, and Brad. I had a great time hosting this event (with Jimmy). To be honest, though, Jim and I were both extremely disappointed with the turnout, falling well short of our goal of 32 players. Several players were "definites" only to never show up or pay the entry fee - no call, no email, nothing. We put $ out of our pockets to get trophies and some very nice giveaway items, and to get our tables in tiptop shape, and frankly we expected a little more in the way of turnout. We are both of the mindset that we are so discouraged that we are finished indefinitely with hosting any more large events at any off-site venues. The best we can do is a 16 player tournament 1 or 2 times per year out of my basement, where I have 3 tables. I apologize if this rubs anyone the wrong way or disappoints anyone, but the hard facts are indisputable - we have had declining attendance at every event we've run, and I don't think that is a reflection on us (I hope it isn't, anyway). We just feel that the interest in bubble hockey in our area is maxed right now, and we'd like to cultivate what we have rather than keep busting our humps for little or no reward. I'd have more fun and less aggravation having events at my home than what we have to go through for a bar event, so that is the way it will be. Jimmy is so discouraged he is even selling one of his tables, and I am considering doing the same.

Having said all that, thank you to everyone who has been supportive of our events and all the nice words about how we have done things - there are too many to thank personally and I don't want this to sound like a retirement dinner, 'cause I ain't retiring. But my hosting duties will be significantly curtailed. Our philosophy is if you come to our events we want you to have the best time possible, and I think in large part we've done that. So thanks again to everyone, and maybe I'll see some of you at the next tournament at my house in 2007, hopefully sooner.

[rufdawg]

Hi All
I would like to personally thank John Gaffney & Jim Bernard for their great work in putting together their Del Val Classic Tournaments and for keeping bubble hockey popular out in the south Jersey/Philly area. They are truly professionals and not only work hard at bubble hockey, but also play hard too. KONE guys (Sully & company) thanks for the pint glasses. I look forward to using them to drink some frosty brews out of this winter.

I agree with JG that the out of town turn out could have been much better. I played bubble hockey with over 40 other players at the St. Louis tournament and as far as I could tell, the two Davis brothers were the only out of town players besides me that attended both the St. Louis tournament and this Del Val tourney. I realize that its not cheap to buy a plane ticket to travel to these events, but it is worth it especially if you plan your weekend accordingly. I saw Dover, DE, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC over the weekend so I definitely got my money's worth out of my plane ticket. Other tournaments are also in large cities with many site seeing opportunities if you plan the weekend accordingly.

My challenge to all of you who have never been to a Chexx tournament is to get out to a tournament in the next year to see where you measure up to the best!!! I know I have some work to do, but I learn something a little different at each tourney and meet more great players and good friends.

Thanks
Ruf-dawg

[danpettit]

John and Jim,

Great job on the tournament. I had alot of fun. I hadnt played in 2 years, it was great to get back into it and your tables were in incredible shape. I was extremely impressed at how organized everything was. Great give aways and trophies. It is a shame that turn out was low. I'll let everyone I know that likes to play know about you guys for possible future tournaments. Great job again and I look forward to playing with you guys again in the future.

Thanks,

Dan

[TonynUtah]

Hey Jim and John, I'm sorry to see that you didn't get a good turnout for the Del val 2, you guys run a top notch event and it's unfortunate that people don't take advantage of that just twice a year. But I can totally relate to the work put into tournaments at outside venues with little commitment from players. I really do hate seeing the discouragement and the thought process that is leading you guys to selling a game. maybe you have more than you need between the two of you, but don't be to discouraged because of the turnout. Last January (2005) I came to the same conclusion that you are coming to now (but of course you have a better and deeper player pool than I have) but at that time I decided I would host tournaments at my home until the demand got to the point were I needed to change that. In fact I realized that it was rare for someone to just show up at a tournament in an outside venue, but that the chances were higher that a current player would bring a friend. So, that is what I do, tournaments are at my home! This goes to the point I made in my most recent email to some of you guys. I believe it's time to focus on the smaller leagues/tournaments and develop devotion and skill, that will then be interested in competing against others to represent their playing area. You are putting too much work into something that others aren't taking advantage of. So put it back on the players. Let KONE do their large tournament, feed into it once a year and then let all others know that you have a local/regional Del Val/ NJBHC tournament in your home. I have a Utah championship each year, and currently it's at my home. If someone wants to come here and play for that, great, but their going to get games, snacks and hardware if they place. Nothing more! For me, I'd play in your basement! If you have the Dev Val/NJBHC in March etc.. in your basement, and I wanted to play there, I'd still come to your house. People need to come to play, until that happens, the rest is all fluff and it's not appreciated.
So, best of luck, I hope you don't get to discouraged. JUst keep doing your thing, with low expenses & prep your local player group to go and kick butt at whatever national venue we come up with.
Chow
Tony

[Tardy23]

Well, I'm not sure how much more I can say that JG has not already said but here it is.
First of all, Thanks to those who attended the DVBCH II. It was great to see the returning players again and nice to meet the new players that attended. I have said this many times before, the nice thing about running these Tourneys is that you get to meet some great people.
As for the turnout, sure it was less that we would have liked but we made the best of it and in my opinion it turned out great in the end. We finished at a reasonable time and everyone got to play a good amount of games.
The problem as JG has stated is that it is very hard to get new people to show up at these events let alone show up for the next ones. We get the same "core" group with a few new guys sprinkled in. Heck, even some of the core guys have dropped off the map. When new players show up they think they have game but when they play the guys who are the better of the crowd they often get their A$$E$ handed to them and then they just fade away. Let's face it, the average guy does not want to spend an afternoon getting beat down in bubble hockey. That's not fun. Asking someone to dedicate a day to play bubble hockey is hard enough so add the fact that they lose more than they win so they just decide they won't come back. Even the guys who did well in the last DVBHC and placed 1st and 2nd in the B Pool (and live less than 5 minutes from the venue) never even showed up.
Add to that the guys who contacted us promised they would show, never did and never paid and this makes for a frustrating experience. The time, money and effort that is needed to pull these things off is unmeasurable (just ask Sully, Al and Tony) and after having three of these tourneys in the last year and a half we have come to the conclusion that we may have tapped out the market for now.
JG is very gracious and hosts league nights at his house and the group that we get is great. We are lucky to have that core group that we get for our league and based on what we have heard from some of the local guys who just played in the DVBHC II it looks like the number of players we have in the league may grow and that will be great. So CHEERS to JG for hosting the league and now that my basement is finished I hope to host a few nights at my house to give him a break from time to time.
So, it looks like the next Tourney will be in JG's basement and I'm fine with that. Less aggravation, money to put out and better yet...NO TABLES TO MOVE (I know my back will appreciate that one)...

[glow=blue,2,300]CHEERS ![/glow]

[Tardy23]

OK Peeps, Here is the link to the Photo's from the
DVBHC II...ENJOY !


pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/njbubblehockey/album?.dir=/d1ffre2&.src=ph


[glow=blue,2,300]CHEERS ![/glow]